

 :     ,   ,   

  ,        , -     28         .
Journalists from a number of news outlets were blocked from entering a White House press briefing Friday  just hours after President Trumps railed against fake news and reiterated charges that the media is the enemy of the people during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee.

Reporters from The New York Times, CNN, Buzzfeed and Los Angeles Times were among the outlets that were banned from the off-camera gaggle with Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary.

Reporters from NBC News, CBS, ABC, Fox, Breitbart News Network, Washington Times and One America News Network were allowed to attend Spicers briefing. A reporter from the Hearst Newspapers, which owns The Chronicle, was also among those admitted. The reporter was serving as a pool reporter, whose notes are distributed to journalists who are not in attendance.

The Associated Press and Time magazine boycotted the briefing.

A daily press briefing had not been scheduled following President Trumps speech, however reporters were told a gaggle would take place in the briefing room.

In his CPAC speech, Trump criticized the media and said, I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. Its fake, phony, fake.

Trumps statements came one day after CNN reported that the FBI rejected a White House request to publicly knock down claims that Trumps advisers were in touch with Russian intelligence officials during the presidential elections.

In a statement, Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times said, We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest.

Jeff Mason, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, also released a statement, saying, The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how todays gaggle is being handled by the White House. We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff.

Here are some of The Chronicles recent coverage on Trumps relationship with the media:

 Trump Today: President slams FBI over leaked reports to media

 Trump Today: Presidents PAC emails media accountability survey

 Trump blasts media, anonymous sources  after WH uses them

 The Latest: Trump calls media enemy of the American people

 President Trump shares false news story on his Facebook page

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
Maybe they were a gift from President Putin?

During President Donald Trump's address Friday to the Conservative Political Action Conference, fans in the crowd waved tiny red, white and blue flags with the name TRUMP in white letters as they cheered.

There was only one problem  the flag was a tricolor with the white on top, blue in the middle and red on bottom  exactly the same as the Russian national flag  without the Trump branding, of course.

Evidently, someone at CPAC with international-flag knowledge noticed the similarity and ordered officials to come around and collect the flags. Waving Russian flags in front of a president suspected of shady connections and possibly unsavory deals with Russia does not look good.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Republican members of Congress arent alone in feeling the heat from constituents at town hall meetings this week. California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein will be the target at two Bay Area events over the next three days  and she wont even be at one of them.

Demonstrators are expected to be outside Feinsteins appearance at the Public Policy Institute of California Friday in San Francisco. And at 10 a.m. Sunday in east Oakland, several hundred anti-Trump activists will hold an empty chair town hall because Feinstein declined their invitation to attend in person.

Its part of their running complaint that Feinstein, the former San Francisco mayor who was elected to the Senate in 1992, isnt accessible enough.

Feinstein, who has not debated her Republican opponent in her last two U.S. Senate campaigns  state Sen. Dick Mountjoy in 2006 and Republican Elizabeth Emken in 2012  has no plans for any town halls during Congress current recess.

She will appear Friday in conversation at the Public Policy Institute of California, where people were invited to email questions in advance to the moderator. There will also be a brief question-and-answer period during the event.

Protesters, many organized by the group Indivisible, plan to demonstrate outside Feinsteins appearance Friday. The group, along with others, have organized actions outside Feinsteins house and San Francisco office over the past several weeks, urging her to reject all of President Trumps cabinet nominees and to hold a town hall. They also bombarded Feinsteins office with tens of thousands of phone calls and emails, so much so that her state director said our phone system is still broken by all the calls we are receiving.

Feinstein has voted against the confirmation of seven of 14 Trump cabinet nominees so far.

Others bristled that Fridays appearance in San Francisco was a ticketed event  even though tickets are free  and that there will only be 240 chairs in the room. By contrast, 900 people attended a town hall featuring Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, this week in Mariposa, one of three that McClintock held this month.

The (Friday) event was only ticketed to ensure the room didnt exceed capacity. No one has to pay to attend, said Feinstein press secretary Ashley Schapitl. The event will be webcast live so all of Sen. Feinsteins nearly 39 million constituents can watch. The video will also be archived so her constituents can watch it at any time.

But demonstrators say thats not good enough in this era where constituents are demanding more face-to-face accountability. They want Feinstein to do a more traditional town hall.

(Sunday) is not really a protest of the senator, said Liz Kelley, a spokeswoman for Indivisible East Bay, which is organizing the event at Elmhurst Community Prep school, which will feature UC Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff. She said the 600 tickets sold out in 45 minutes. Its a demonstration of our request that she meet with us.

Feinstein spokesman Schapitl said Feinstein will not do a town hall this recess as its only one week. The Senate is in session Monday so Sen. Feinstein will be traveling back to Washington, D.C., this weekend.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
Norwegian Air might make your European travel dreams come true with nonstop, one-way flights from the United States to the UK for as little as $65.

The deal was announced Thursday on Norwegian.com, where you can snag flights to travel to destinations that include Dublin and Edinburgh by this summer.
Math can be tough  whether you're a 10-year-old, or even a police officer.

Fifth-grader Lena Draper was working on her homework last week when she got stuck on a math problem. Rather than ask her teacher or parents on how to solve it, she instead contacted her local police department.

The inventive student messaged the Marion, Ohio, Police Department via Facebook for help. Behind the chat screen at the police station was Lt. B.J. Gruber, who was game to help the confused student.

"I'm having trouble with my homework," Lena messaged the Police Department. "Could you help me?"

"OK, with what?" Gruber responded.

"Well I don't understand (8+29)x15," she replied.

Gruber then explained how to go about solving the problem: "Do the numbers in the parenthesis first so in essence it would be 37 X 15."

Apparently pleased with that answer, Lena pressed further. "OK, now if I had this (90+27)+(29+15)x2. Which one would I do first?" she asked.

Being ever so helpful, Gruber answered, "Take the answer from the first parenthesis plus the answer from the second parenthesis and multiply that answer times two. Work left to right doing the work inside the parenthesis first."

As plenty of people on social media later pointed out, Gruber's response to that math equation was incorrect.

"Order of operations ... PEMDAS! (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication and division, addition and subtraction). For future reference," one Facebook user wrote, TV station WBNS reported.

The exchange between the officer and fifth-grader went viral after Lena's mom, Molly Draper, posted screenshots of the conversation on Facebook. Draper thanked the Marion Police Department for its help in her post.

Gruber, for his part, was good natured about getting the math wrong on the second problem.

"Hoping it is truly the thought that counts since apparently I cannot!" Gruber later wrote on the police station's Facebook page. "Especially since the answer was wrong, it was very nice for Molly to acknowledge our attempt to help her daughter with some math homework."

Gruber also took time to surprise the fifth-grader at her school Tuesday, sharing a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup together.

"This is probably the most unique message I've ever had," Gruber told Inside Edition. "This is the exact environment we try to nurture  this sense among children that not only can you come to us if you have a problem at home or at school, if we have time, we can answer homework questions, too."
BEIRUT  At least two attacks Friday near a Syrian town just recaptured by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from the Islamic State group killed more than 60, mostly civilians and including two Turkish soldiers, as the group retreats from one of its last remaining strongholds in northern Syria, Turkeys news agency and Syrian activists said.

In a hallmark Islamic State attack, a suicide car bomb went off outside a security office operated by the Syrian opposition in a village five miles north of al-Bab, killing 60 people. Most of those killed in Sousian were civilians who had gathered seeking permits and escorts to return to al-Bab, a day after it was liberated from the extremist group, a Syrian military commander in the city told the Associated Press. At least six fighters were among those killed in the attack, according to Turkeys Prime Minister, who spoke in Ankara.
A Russian Instagram model who has been chastised for risking her life dangling off a Dubai skyscraper says she deserves a reward for exposing the building's lax security.

Viktoria Odintcova, 23, recently posted acrophobia-inducing images on her Instagram account showing her hanging off the side of Dubai's Cayan Tower 1,000 feet above the street. Only a fellow model's grip is keeping her from plunging to a certain death.

Cayan Group, the building's developer, condemned Odintcova's stunt  performed without permission and lacking any restraints or other precautions  as irresponsible. The group reportedly is planning legal action against the model.

But Ordintcova, whose survival disqualified her for a Darwin Award, told The National in an email Sunday that she should be compensated for the stunt:

"We deserve a reward for disclosing weaknesses in the security of that building. We were at the rooftop of that building without any evil intentions, however someone else could have come out there to commit suicide or an act of terrorism."

Using that logic, bank robbers deserve rewards for revealing the incompetence of the guards employed by the banks they hold up.

Ordintcova eventually apologized after Dubai police demanded she sign papers pledging never to undertake "any dangerous moves that could endanger her life" in Dubai. She asked police to mail them to her.

The model said a video of her dangling from the building was not shot to bolster her online popularity, but rather so she could face and overcome her fears.

She also cautioned others not to imitate her daredevil actions, saying they "cannot be performed without professionals.

Indeed. Leave the really dangerous stuff to seasoned Instagram models. They know how to handle themselves in life-or-death situations.
MOSUL AIRPORT, Iraq  As Iraqi ground troops pushed into western Mosul on Friday, the countrys air force struck Islamic State group targets inside Syria for the first time in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by the militants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the Iraqi air strikes in Syria in a statement, saying the border towns of Boukamal and Husseibah were targeted in response to recent bombings in Baghdad linked to Islamic State group operations.

Iraqi forces closely supported by the U.S.-led international coalition pushed into the first neighborhood of western Mosul and took full control of the citys international airport and a sprawling military base on the southwestern edge of the city, according to Iraqi officials.

The territorial gains were the most significant yet in the battle, now in its sixth day, to rout militants from the western half of Iraqs second-largest city.

Troops pushed into the Mamun neighborhood and engaged in intense clashes with militants, according to an Iraqi special forces officer on the ground, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Federal police Maj. Gen. Haider al-Maturi said his forces pushed through concrete roadblocks and earthen berms set up by the Islamic State group, and succeeded in capturing around 30 percent of the Aviation District, the first district entering Mosuls western perimeter from the south.

There were fierce clashes. We faced car bombs, suicide attackers and mortar shelling, al-Maturi said. The battle ahead will be difficult and complicated because of the civilians around. Itll be street fights.

Al-Maturi said six Iraqi troops were wounded, including two officers. However, an AP team near the front line saw at least four wounded special forces members and the bodies of three soldiers, suggesting more intense fighting than the previous day. A Canadian medic volunteering at a front-line clinic said he had treated at least 10 wounded federal policemen. Iraqs military does not release official casualty figures.

The advances came a day after special forces joined the fight for western Mosul.

Both the Ghazlani military base and the airport will be key to the next steps in the daunting battle and will serve as a base of operations as Iraqi forces launch subsequent pushes into western Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River into two halves.

Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sarah El Deeb are Associated Press writers.
1 Blasphemy charge: A 42-year-old man who burned a Quran and posted the footage on Facebook has been charged with blasphemy in Viborg, Denmark, a striking decision by prosecutors in a country that is largely secular but has grappled with the role of Islam in public life. The decision to charge the suspect, who was not identified by the authorities but called himself John Salvesen on Facebook, stunned many Danes: No one has been convicted of blasphemy in Denmark since 1946, and the country has a long tradition of free speech; burning the flag is not a punishable crime. Simmering tensions between religious sensitivities and free speech have been a theme in Denmark since 2005, when the newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. The depictions outraged many Muslims, who consider such representations to be blasphemous. The blasphemy law has been invoked only a handful of times since its creation in 1866, most recently in 1971.

2 Military purge: Polands conservative government has replaced almost all of its military leadership after hundreds of officers left, an exit that coincides with a call from Warsaw to its NATO allies for help boosting its defense. With the government moving to rid institutions of officials appointed by the former ruling Civic Platform party, which it defeated in 2015 elections, 90 percent of the General Staff leadership and more than 80 percent of the armys top brass have gone, according to the Defense Ministry. The ruling Law & Justice Party has pledged to purge government of what its leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has called the worst type of Poles  people with ties to Civic Platform or the communists who ruled the country last century. It is also thinning out experienced soldiers who have served in wars alongside their allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Poland joined with other former eastern bloc states in 1999.
1 Africa aid: A group of countries pledged at least $672 million at an international donor conference Friday to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin. We have now started an important process, said Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, whose country pledged $192 million over a three-year period to tackle a serious humanitarian situation in the region encompassing Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. His German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel said Germany added $127 million. The United Nations has launched a more than $1 billion appeal for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region that are enduring the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa.

2 Nuclear pact: The U.N. agency tasked with monitoring Irans nuclear deal with six world powers has issued a report that indicates Tehran is honoring its end of the deal. Obtained by the Associated Press, the confidential International Atomic Energy Agency report said Friday that Iran is well below its permitted limit of low-enriched uranium, set at around 660 pounds, and is not producing higher grades. Low-enriched uranium is used to power reactors and other peaceful uses. Enriched further to weapons-grade, it can serve as the core of a nuclear warhead.
Feb. 24 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand dollar is heading into the end of the week up 0.5 percent against the US dollar, as the greenback struggled to gain any traction on ongoing jitters about the US, but stuck to a tight range on the day.

The kiwi was at 72.18 US cents as a 5pm in Wellington versus 72.27 cents as at 8am in Wellington and 72.01 cents late yesterday. It started the week at 71.84. The trade-weighted index rose to 78.40 from 78.26 at the beginning of the week, compared to 78.43 late yesterday.

The local currency benefited from a weaker US dollar this week after the market saw the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve as more dovish than anticipated. It got a further boost overnight after new US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated it would take time for fiscal policy reform to impact the US economy.

On the day, however, trading has been tepid. "The lack of data and any other influences mean it has ebbed and flowed" around resistance at 72.30 US cents, said Stuart Ive, senior foreign exchange dealer at OMF.

"Until we really know what's going on in the US these markets are somewhat subdued and nervous, partly because of the amount of time we are having to wait to see what the plans actually are," said Ive.

It continued to fare well against the Australian dollar, in particular after some weak data yesterday across the Tasman. It traded at 93.55 Australian cents from 93.65 cents late yesterday and from 93.53 early Monday.

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe's testimony to a parliamentary committee "didn't offer anything new to the mix," Ive said.

With little data of note later in the global trading day, he said markets will just "fade into the weekend without too much direction." Looking ahead, he said next week's Australian gross domestic product figures and manufacturing data out of China may cause some reaction. "If both of those pieces of data come out solid and to the upside we may see the Australian dollar coming back and the kiwi struggle," he said.

It slipped to 57.51 British pence from 57.82 pence and was at 68.19 euro cents from 68.14 cents. The kiwi was at 81.39 yen from 81.55 yen and rose to 4.9586 yuan from 4.9531 yuan.

New Zealand's two-year swaps rose 2 basis points to 2.3 percent while 10-year swaps rose 1 basis point to 3.46.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

SKC - ADDITIONAL US PRIVATE PLACEMENT FUNDING SECURED

Spark New Zealand Limited's Annual Meeting Results 2022

Fonterra Australia settles class action proceedings

PFI - Q3 Dividend, Development and Divestment Update

November 4th Morning Report

FPH to announce half year results on 29 November 2022

ATM - FDA approval to supply infant milk formula to United States

Steel & Tube - Adopts ESG World Platform

BGP - 3rd Quarter Sales to 30 October 2022

GEO - Quarterly Operating Update


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York City students, 10 of them in fact, are indeed proud to have received certificates of honor from Congressman Dan Donovan, nominating them to U.S. military service academies.

In order to be nominated, each teen was required to undergo a rigorous application process in which a local committee evaluated academic records, extracurricular activities, recommendations, and leadership skills.

Donovan awarded four nominations to the U.S. Military Academy, four to the U.S. Naval Academy, one to the U.S. Air Force Academy, and one to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

Congressman Donovan stated: "I'm honored to nominate the brightest students from our district to the U.S. service academies. Each nominee has worked hard and chosen the noble path of serving and defending our great nation. I applaud your patriotism and look forward to seeing your future accomplishments. It's truly a privilege to help build the next generation of servicemen and women."

The ceremony took place on Staten Island at the SSG Michael Ollis VFW.

The facility is named after hometown hero Army Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis, who stepped in front of a suicide bomber in Afghanistan to save a Polish soldier.

Donovan has pushed for further recognition of Ollis' heroism and valor, and he has sent a letter to the Secretary of the Army recommending him for the Congressional Medal of Honor. Ollis's parents attended the event and addressed the student nominees.



"Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis embodies the true American spirit. He gave his life for his country and his display of bravery, selflessness, and sacrifice is an example for all of us. The legacy of Staff Sgt. Ollis will live on through your service and dedication to protecting freedom."



The nominees must still earn admission to the service academy for which they were nominated. Congressman Donovan's 2017 Service Academy picks are:
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Staten Island NYPD detective known as the "Hipster Cop" for his fashionable wardrobe during the Occupy Wall Street protests is keeping his snazzy clothes but hanging up his badge.

Rick Lee's last day with the NYPD before retirement is Friday, Feb. 24.

Lee, 51, worked as a community affairs officer in the 1st Precinct, which encompasses the Zucotti Park site where protestors gathered in 2011.

As photos from the demonstrations spread, people took notice of the fashionably dressed officer who was a regular presence. His sartorial choices -- cardigans and skinny ties -- along with his hair swept to the side and cool glasses, garnered blog posts and news articles.

Lee said he's always been a fashionable dresser, and that even when the job required him to wear a suit, he put his personal stamp on it, like wearing a tweed suit with a bowtie.

"I always try to stand out as an individual," he said.

The Staten Islander laughs when he thinks about the whole "Hipster Cop" thing, but says it helped make him more approachable to the public during the protests, which he said, was the goal of being in community affairs.

"Here's this guy who kinda dresses cool, it's like 'Oh wow,'" Lee said. "It knocks a lot of walls down in trying to negotiate and trying to get things done with people."Yet, a police precinct is not necessarily known as a place where fashion reigns supreme. "I got my chops broken a lot about it," Lee said.

He didn't mind. "As long as I can fit into my skinny jeans, I'll be all right," he said.

Lee put in his retirement notice in January, and has been using up his vacation days ever since. On his last day in the precinct, he did, indeed, wear the skinny jeans he wouldn't have otherwise been able to wear during official work hours.

-- Associated Press information was used in this report.
AX236_1809_9.JPG

The New York Archdiocese is in contract with a Staten Island developer for the sale of the original Holy Rosary Church building and adjoining parish parcels. The 90-year-old stucco and wood-frame church, built by hand by Italian immigrants, is at 207 Sand Lane, two blocks from the South Beach boardwalk. Windows have been boarded up and the original stain-glass placed in storage. (Staten Island Advance/Anthony DePrimo)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The New York Archdiocese is in contract with a Staten Island developer to sell the original Holy Rosary Church building and adjoining parish parcels, the Advance has learned.

The 90-year-old stucco and wood-frame church, built by hand by Italian immigrants, is at 207 Sand Lane, two blocks from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk in South Beach. It served as a neighborhood mobilization center during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but has not been used for mass since 2015, according to the Rev. Michael Martine, pastor of Holy Rosary.

The decision to sell the church is not connected to the archdiocese's "Making All Things New" initiative, which closed or consolidated nearly a third of the Island's churches, he said.

According to the pastor, who announced plans for the sale at Sunday masses, the church suffered heavy water damage in March 2016 when the original pipes burst, causing water to damage the ceiling and walls. The building was deemed irreparable at that point, and will likely be demolished, along with the adjacent rectory building.

"As a result [of the damage], the archdiocese has recently entered into a contract with a reputable Staten Island developer for the sale of the property," Father Martine said.

The church's windows are boarded up, and its stained-glass windows have been placed in storage, he said. On Thursday, a surveyor was observed taking measurements of the property.

Since the property is in contract, neither Father Martine nor the archdiocese would disclose the developer or discuss details of the sale, which also includes the former rectory building adjacent to the church and a gravel lot alongside and in the rear of the building, abutting Arthur Avenue.

Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling, who is in Rome with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, referred questions to the pastor. Father Martine referred the Advance to the archdiocese real estate department, which is handling the sale. The department did not return phone calls seeking comment.

"The developer, I'm told, intends to build normal residential housing on the site, which is what the property is zoned for," Father Martine said.

The pastor said the proceeds from the sale would go toward the reduction of the parish debt incurred with the building of a new church, at 120 Jerome Avenue, as well as the Father Dominic Epifano Parish Center across the street, during the late 1990s and early 2000s. A new boiler will also be purchased for the adjacent Holy Rosary School, built in the 1950s.

"This sale will greatly improve the financial position of our parish. Toward this end, I believe this decision to be the correct one, made in the best interest of the parish," Father Martine said.

Steve Cognata, who owns the A. Azzara Funeral Home next door to the old church, said he has mixed emotions about the sale.

"That church is near and dear to my heart. I was baptized there, my children were baptized there," he said. "While it's sad to see the old go, it's natural for the generations to change hands. Hopefully, the parish will continue to grow and flourish."

RELIGIOUS ITEMS PRESERVED

Father Martine said the parish has preserved the large hand-carved wooden crucifix as well as a fresco painting that was displayed over the altar in the Sand Lane church. Both were restored and are hung in the daily mass chapel of the Jerome Avenue church.

A copper statue of Mary Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa), which stood on a pedestal outside the Sand Lane rectory, has also been preserved and restored by the Columbiettes of Madonna Council Knights of Columbus.

Father Martine said the three restored pieces will be dedicated during Holy Rosary's 90th anniversary celebration in October.

ST. MARY'S CHURCH ALSO A CONCERN

Meanwhile, members of the Committee to Save Mount Manresa turned out at last week's Community Board 1 meeting to voice concerns over St. Mary's Church in Rosebank, which was shuttered by the archdiocese under Making All Things New.

Committee member Barbara Sanchez noted that St. Mary's Church, on Bay Street, is zoned R4, which means that the property could be sold to developers for any type of housing.

She believes the church, whose doors are padlocked, should be landmarked, as it is an architectural focal point in Rosebank, with its prominent tower visible for miles around. It also has special meaning to many residents, who have had baptisms, weddings and funerals there, she said.

"We learned lessons from Mount Manresa ... it could get bought and torn down in a second," she said. "We are trying to be proactive."
CITY HALL -- Councilwoman Debi Rose launched a petition on Friday to name a Staten Island Ferry boat for the historic Sandy Ground community settled by freed slaves in Rossville.

"The earliest Staten Island ferry boats were named after places in New York City, including each of the five boroughs and many neighborhoods of Staten Island," Rose (D- North Shore) said in a statement. "I have asked the mayor and the Department of Transportation to return to that tradition and name one of the three new ferry boats after Sandy Ground, the oldest settlement of free African Americans in the United States."

The first of three new Staten Island Ferry boats will be named for the late Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis and the next boat class will also be designated for him.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week that Staten Islanders will get to decide what to name the next two boats.

"We always look forward to working with constituents and elected officials to determine the future names of our ferries," de Blasio spokesman Raul Contreras said on Friday.

RICH HISTORY

Rose said naming a ferry for Sandy Ground would help teach New Yorkers about the settlement.

The history of Sandy Ground dates back to one year after slavery was abolished in New York, when ferry boat operator Capt. John Jackson became the first African American to own property on Staten Island on Feb. 23, 1828.

Sandy Ground was settled by other African-American oystermen from Chesapeake Bay fleeing the restrictive industry laws of Maryland. Within walking distance of the Prince's Bay docks and the abundant oyster beds of the Raritan Bay, they found prosperity and freedom from persecution there.

Once a flourishing community of over 150 African-American families, Sandy Ground now primarily consists of a small collection of historic structures, five of which are designated as New York City landmarks, including a church, three residential structures and the cemetery.

Through the mid-19th century, Sandy Ground flourished and the booming oyster industry allowed residents to own their homes, property, boats and businesses.

The center of the community, the A.M.E. Zion Church, was also a major stop on the Underground Railroad, as Capt. Jackson brought slaves to Staten Island and New Jersey aboard the ferry boat he owned and operated. Descendants of Sandy Ground settlers still worship at the church.

"My hope is that the Sandy Ground ferry boat would honor the lives and legacies of the settlers of Sandy Ground by prompting future generations of New Yorkers and visitors to learn more about this settlement, which was, appropriately enough, founded by a ferry captain," Rose said.

FIRST BOAT COMING IN 2019

The mayor's office and the Department of Transportation will ultimately make naming determinations on the remaining two ferries. This will be done with community input, though exactly what form that will take isn't clear.

The Ollis class of boats will be the first added to the city's eight-ferry fleet in more than a decade, replacing the old Kennedy ship, the Andrew J. Barberi and the Samuel I. Newhouse.

The new 4,500-passenger vessels will be designed to operate more safely in extreme weather and will be modeled after the popular John F. Kennedy ferryboats, complete with outdoor promenades. All three will have the same design.

The first boat is expected to be delivered in 2019.
nws robbery

Police are asking for the public's help identifying a man sought for questioning in connection to an attempted robbery in Mariners Harbor. (Courtesy: NYPD)

(NYPD)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are still searching for a man sought for questioning in connection to an attempted robbery that occurred Jan. 16 in Mariners Harbor.

An unidentified individual entered the Forest Avenue Home Depot at approximately 9:15 p.m. and removed several items from a shelf, according to a written statement from the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

When confronted by a 24-year-old male employee, the individual pushed the victim and a physical altercation ensued, police said.

The man removed his shirt, brandished a box cutter, and fled the location empty handed. There were no reported injuries during the incident, police said.

The individual is described by police as a Hispanic male, with a light complexion, between 50 and 60 years of age, 5 feet 6 inches, 180 pounds and bald. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a blue coat, police said.

The Advance previously released a photo of the man sought for questioning that was provided by police and taken from surveillance footage.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then entering TIP577.
Screen Shot 2017-02-23 at 6.10.00 PM

Police responded to 601 Port Richmond Avenue in Port Richmond early Sunday morning for a report of alleged child neglect. (Staten Island Advance/Google Maps)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A family court judge will decide Friday whether to lift an order of protection issued on behalf of a 12-year-old disabled boy, who allegedly was neglected by his mother.

Ashley Bronte, 29, of Port Richmond Avenue in Port Richmond, was arraigned Tuesday on a felony charge of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, and charges of child endangerment.

Defense attorney Joseph Sorrentino said Thursday his client has cared for her son since he was born. He said the hope is that she's permitted to continue that care.

Police responded to Bronte's home early Sunday morning, at which time they allegedly found her 12-year-old son naked, dehydrated and with dried feces and urine on his body; rocking back and forth continuously, according to court records.

More than four hours passed between the time a neighbor reportedly first saw the boy pounding on the inside of a window at his home, and when Bronte returned home, police said.

Sorrentino said he wouldn't comment on where his client was during that time, but said medical records, school records and other evidence from the past 12 years will prove the child was not mistreated.

"He has had this condition his entire life, and received constant and intensive medical treatment," Sorrentino said. "If you're a neglectful mother, you're not seeing a lot of doctors."

Bronte told police at the time of her arrest that her son is blind, and suffers from epilepsy and a form of autism.

According to Sorrentino, school records show the boy was unable to attend school - even under the supervision of a paraprofessional -- due to his condition. He said the boy was transitioning to home school at the time of the incident.

He said if the boy was malnourished, it was a result of daily epileptic seizures that disrupt his eating, and that a doctor had placed the child on an experimental marijuana program for that reason.

Bronte was released from custody after posting a $15,000 bond set by Judge Raymond Rodriguez in Richmond County Criminal Court.

It wasn't her first run-in with the law.

Bronte was arrested in 2015 after police found her with 350 bags of heroin in her car, according to court records.

She's due back in criminal court May 4 for the charges of child endangerment.

Sorrentino said they hope, in the meantime, a family court judge will allow Bronte to care for her son.

"We understand the New York City Police Department and Staten Island District Attorney would initially be very concerned about the case and initially respond in a very aggressive manner," he said. "But, with time, we'll be able to show medical records, school records, doctors' records and other items that prove the child was not mistreated and not neglected."
BROOKLYN, N.Y.-- One of the Staten Island defendants busted for his role in a drug trafficking ring pleaded not guilty during his brief appearance in Brooklyn federal court Friday.

Joseph Calabria, 52, dressed in a blue jumpsuit, allegedly conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute oxycodone, prosecutors said.

During the appearance, Calabria was also detained until a bail package could be assembled.

"He'll answer all his questions in court," said Calabria's lawyer, Thomas Dunn, after the hearing.

Calabria's co-defendant, Vincent Maniscalco, 55, of Brooklyn, was released on bond. Conditions of his release included drug treatment, drug testing, no contact with his co-defendants and he's not permitted to have a weapon, the judge said.

The other defendants -- Michael Calabria, 49, a lifetime parolee, Stephen DelPriore, 55, Ugo Gallo, 46, Carol Monforte, 57, Glenn DePaulo 59, and Maria DePaulo, 55, -- did not appear in court Friday.

Devida Lombardo, 46, who was arrested in Arizona, appeared in Phoenix federal court on Friday.

The ring operated on Staten Island over a five-month period from September of last year to January of this year, officials said.

According to a criminal complaint, the DePaolos, Maniscalco and Monforte supplied oxycodone to Joseph Calabria, who distributed the drug to others.

Joseph Calabria was heard a number of times on wiretaps discussing oxycodone purchases with those four defendants, said the complaint.

The foursome typically refilled oxycodone prescriptions containing 120 to 180 pills and sold most of the drugs to Calabria, the complaint alleges.

On Jan. 9, Joseph Calabria and Monforte were caught discussing the transaction of 140-150 oxycodone pills, the same day Monforte filled a prescription for 180 pills, authorities allege.

"Carol, how many you have for me," he asks, the complaint said.

"I got to figure it out," she replied. "Between 140 and 150."

In a November conversation, the same two defendants are calculating the amount of 140 oxycodone pills, authorities allege.

"How many you got for me?" Calabria asks.

"140," Monforte replies.

"Okay, how much are they again? 15 right," he says.

"Uhh, I think it comes out to 21 and change," she replied. "I figured it out."

A second criminal complaint accuses Michael Calabria of supplying heroin to Gallo, who then distributed the narcotics.

Michael Calabria transacted tens of thousands of dollars with Gallo, and Calabria generally sold heroin to customers in $10 bags, that complaint said.

Delpriore is accused, along with Michael Calabria and unnamed others, of conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin.

The Calabria brothers, Lombardo and others allegedly conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute oxycodone.

Each defendant could face up to 20 years behind bars if convicted, said prosecutors.

Advance records show Michael Calabria and Ugo Gallo have criminal records.

Calabria is on lifetime parole after serving a sentence of three years to life for a 1990 drug-dealing conviction in Brooklyn.

Gallo, then living in Great Kills, pleaded guilty in February 2014 to a felony drug-sale charge for peddling heroin to an undercover cop and was later sentenced to two years in prison, said the Advance.

He was paroled in May 2015, according to online records of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A chiropractor who practices in Castleton Corners faces criminal charges after she was accused of subjecting a school crossing guard to a series of bizarre, threatening behaviors near her office.

Danielle Serini, 38, was arrested by the NYPD on Friday after she tossed a lollipop at, repeatedly gave the middle finger to and stuck out her tongue at an unnamed victim at the intersection of Victory Boulevard and Slosson Avenue in seven incidents that occurred in January and February, according to allegations in a criminal complaint.

Those encounters violated an order of protection issued against Serini last year after she was arrested on charges of stalking and harassment, the complaint alleges.

A source with knowledge of the investigations identified the victim as a school crossing guard who assists children from PS 29 and St. Teresa School who cross at that busy intersection.

Serini's lawyer vowed to fight the charges.

Allegations contained in a criminal complaint against Serini from 2016 suggest that some of the rancor stemmed from tickets issued by police to the chiropractor's patients.

Serini, who practices at 272 Slosson Ave. based on public records, has been charged with criminal contempt for violating the order of protection against the crossing guard that is in effect until June 22, according to the criminal complaint and the source.

Serini stuck out her tongue at the crossing guard on Jan. 12 at 7:52 a.m., according to the complaint and source.

The confrontations escalated as Serini allegedly drove by, rolled down her car window and gave the middle finger to the victim on Jan. 26, 27 and 31 and on Feb. 6 and 7, according to the complaint and source.

Serini allegedly threw a lollipop that landed in front of the crossing guard at about 8:30 a.m. Feb. 16.

Incidents against two crossing guards from last year, also at the intersection of Victory Boulevard and Slosson Avenue, are listed in the criminal complaint from 2016 that accused Serini of stalking and harassment, according to the source.

The 2016 complaint alleged that Serini spat at a crossing guard on May 5. Serini allegedly called the same crossing guard a derogatory term June 17 and flipped her the middle finger June 20.

That crossing guard ultimately obtained the order of protection.

Last April 29, Serini allegedly warned a second crossing guard to stop giving tickets to her patients and then followed up on May 2 with a threat to "permanently get rid" of that crossing guard, the 2016 criminal complaint said.

From April 29 through June 20, Serini allegedly repeatedly shouted and cursed at both crossing guards.

Serini's lawyer, Yan Katsnelson, said that he and his client fully intend on fighting the charges and clearing her name.

"These allegations are baseless and ridiculous," Katsnelson said. "This a complete waste of taxpayer money."

Public records indicate Serini was charged with misdemeanor stalking and harassment for an incident on June 20, 2016. She was arrested on June 22 and the temporary order of protection stemmed from those charges.

Katsnelson also said those charges were baseless.

-- Paul Liotta contributed to this report.
nws outlet.jpg

An upgraded electrical outlet on the Sen. John J. Marchi Staten Island Ferry boat.

(Staten Island Advance/Anna Sanders)

CITY HALL -- Staten Island Ferry riders may finally stop fighting over electrical outlets after recent city upgrades.

The Department of Transportation retrofitted outlets on five of the larger boats last year so they now include two traditional plugs as well as two USB ports for charging electronics, officials said.

The work was completed after the city researched which outlets worked best based on size and power.

"These replaced traditional outlets by retrofitting existing units, adding USB ports," DOT spokesman Scott Gastel said. "We began the process of changing out the outlets on the vessels after the USB ports were unveiled in the terminals last year."

DE BLASIO WANTED MORE OUTLETS

The city decided to install those additional USB ports after the Advance reported last summer that DOT quietly cut off electricity to outlets on ferry boats and in the terminals because riders fought over them.

Mayor Bill de Blasio had spoken with Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg about the issue and believed electrical outlets and charging stations were amenities ferry riders should have.

Capt. James DeSimone, the ferry's chief operations officer, previously played down the notion that the new outlets were an attempt to cut back skirmishes between riders wanting to charge their phones.

HISTORY OF OUTLET FIGHTS

The DOT said a request to cut off the electricity was originally made by NYPD. The city won't say when the electricity was shut off to ferry outlets, though officials are quick to note that the policy dates back to before de Blasio took office.

There had been altercations between riders -- a ferry worker was even punched -- and complaints about charging cords along the floors of the boats. Police were concerned about unattended electronics left charging.

The NYPD also said gangs took over particular outlets at the terminals and would remain there for several hours.

Over the summer, however, police were unable to provide any specific information about fights over the outlets or the gangs that were apparently hoarding them. The NYPD also couldn't say how many riders have reported their electronics stolen after leaving them charging in outlets.

FIVE BOATS GET UPGRADES

The city turned electricity back on after the Advance's story in July, though riders have noticed that some of the outlets still didn't work occasionally.

DOT said on Thursday that the electricity to the outlets is on and properly working on all boats and that they are routinely inspected and repaired as needed.

The new electrical outlets are only on the larger boats in the Molinari and Barberi classes for now, but DOT plans to install them on all vessels eventually.

The Guy V. Molinari, the Sen. John J. Marchi, the Spirit of America, the Andrew J. Barberi and the Samuel I. Newhouse ferries got the new outlets.

About 75 outlets were installed, each with two USB ports.

DOT was unable to say on Thursday how much the new outlets on the boats cost. The city spent some $20,000 on 10 new charging stations installed in the ferry terminals last September.

"They're intended to serve the passengers, whether they're here in the terminals or ultimately on the boats," DeSimone said in September when those were installed.

The next class of three ferry boats is expected to include amenities like outlets that fit the industry standard at the time of final design.

The first new boat is expected to be delivered in 2019.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Free preventive health care. Access to coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. No lifetime "cap" in which insurers can set a yearly or lifetime dollar limit on essential benefits.

Those were just a few of the reasons more than 200 people turned out Thursday night for a town hall at the Central Family Life Center in Stapleton.

The group included Staten Islanders, as well as residents throughout the city, who are concerned President Donald Trump could repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

"I'm here to keep my benefits," said Lillian Matus, a West Brighton resident and member of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.

"I want to put in my voice," added the retired certified nursing assistant. "There are so many changes now ... it's scary."

Karen Santana, who attended the meeting with her husband, Michael Decillis, and 4-year-old son, Parker Decillis, said that she traveled from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

"After the election, my family decided to become more involved," said Santana. "Everything is at stake for so many people."

LOOKING TO DONOVAN FOR ANSWERS

Those who attended the meeting, which was sponsored by 1199 SEIU and other community groups, called on Rep. Daniel Donovan not to back a repeal of the Affordable Care Act without a replacement that offers affordable health care for all Staten Islanders, maintains patient protections and preserves Medicaid funding.

The meeting was moderated by Favio Ramirez-Caminatti, executive director of El Centro Del Inmigrante and a member of the Staten Island Family Health Care Coalition. It featured a presentation of panel speakers, including Betel Manjura, deputy director of 1199 SEIU; Mark Hannay, director of Metro New York Health Care for All; the Rev. Karen Jackson, director of community initiatives for Project Hospitality; Catherine Lewis, an 1199 SEIU delegate and physician assistant; Patricia Kane, a nurse and treasurer of the board of directors of the New York State Nurses Association, and Timothy Foley, political director of the Committee of Interns and Residents for SEIU.

At the table where the panel members sat was an empty chair left for Donovan, who has declined to have a public town hall meeting with constituents.

"People are upset that Dan Donovan won't come out and answer people's questions," said Richard Reichard, who recently ran against against Donovan for Congress.

However, Donovan spokesman Patrick Ryan said the congressman met with 1199 SEIU leaders Wednesday to discuss health care and said he is more than happy to meet with them and any other groups or constituents who want to share their opinions or concerns.

The congressman recently held a telephone town hall speaking to 14,000 constituents and taking questions from 18 of them on topics, including the ACA.

Donovan is in constant communication with his constituents, granting meetings with every single person or group that requests one, and that will continue, Ryan said.

"Sadly, we have witnessed the true goals of a small percentage of people who are getting their tactics from a distributed manual on how to shout, name-call and disrupt. There's an important distinction between sharing opinions and shouting down people who have different views. That's not civil, not respectful and not productive, and we are not going to participate in a circus," Ryan added.

TOWN HALL STARTS WITH A SONG

Thursday's town hall began on a light note, with Ward Hill resident Billy Pilgrim performing a song about healthcare cuts that had the crowd cheering:

"We ain't got access to health care. Trump thinks it's too much like welfare. He says that's wrong, he won't go along. Obamacare, bye bye," sang Pilgrim, who was joined in his performance by a few others in attendance, including Kane.

Kane got more serious, however, when talking about the alarming numbers of people whose health care may be affected on the Island.

Citing numbers provided by the Staten Island Performing Provider System (SIPPS) -- an alliance of physicians, healthcare providers and social service agencies -- Kane noted that Staten Island has 130,000 Medicaid recipients and approximately 50,000 uninsured residents.

"This is an issue that's important to everyone. We are all human beings and we all need health care at some point in our lives," she said.

If the repeal of the Affordable Care Act were enacted, an estimated 2.7 million New Yorkers would lose coverage, Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported on his website. The estimated number of individuals at risk of losing coverage on Staten Island, based on current enrollment levels, is 56,882 people, according to the governor's office.

Rev. Jackson, who is a member of the Staten Island Family Health Care Coalition, said that "no lifetime cap" was just one of many things the coalition does not want to see taken away.

Jackson also brought up access to coverage for people with pre-existing conditions; coverage for people under the age of 26 on their parents' plan; the same healthcare costs for men and women (gender equity); free preventive health care; the ability to keep your current plan option; mental health resources; Medicaid expansion, particularly regarding eligibility; no co-pay for an annual physical, and no increased costs for people over the age of 55.

She noted that the coalition would bring these important aspects of the ACA to Donovan's attention.

"These are things we refuse to see gutted from our communities. These are life-saving provisions that we will fight for," Jackson said.

COMMUNITY CALLS FOR EXPANSION OF ACA

Evette Battle, a New Brighton resident who addressed the crowd, said that she recently lost two sisters, ages 47 and 53. She noted the need to expand the ACA, instead of making healthcare cuts.

Battle, who works for Head Start and suffers from asthma, noted that most families, including her own, are having trouble paying their bills and can't afford to lose any coverage.

"We still have to pay out of pocket," she said.

"I've been here 25 years and this is the biggest meeting I've ever seen here. We need to stick together and continue to stick together ... we are going full force, all the way, to get what's ours," Battle added.

Teresa Caliari, a Bulls Head resident and organizer of Staten Island for Change, a local chapter of Organizing for Action, told people to continue to reach out to Donovan to voice their concerns and ask for an appointment or request a town hall meeting.

Meanwhile, two rallies have been planned for Saturday. One will take place at noon at Donovan's office at 265 New Dorp Lane; the other will be at 2 p.m. at his Brooklyn office, located at 7308 13th Avenue.
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.
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...
Homebirth advocates in the US, the UK, Canada and elsewhere have long considered the Netherlands to be a paradise of homebirth midwifery. They havent been paying attention; Dutch perinatal death rates were found to be among the highest in Western Europe and Dutch mothers have been abandoning homebirth in droves.

When I started Homebirth Debate, the predecessor to this blog, almost 11 years ago, the Dutch homebirth rate was 30%. By 2015 it had dropped to 13%. Why such a precipitous drop in a relatively short time?

[pullquote align=right cite= link= color= class= size=]US midwives cite the Netherlands experience as proving the safety and desirability of homebirth at the same time that Dutch women are deciding the opposite.[/pullquote]

From Dutch News:

According to the Dutch association of gynaecologists NVOG the fall in home births is connected with an increase in the demand for pain relief which cannot be administered at home.

Dutch women are apparently deciding that the comfort of pain relief in labor is more important to them than the comforts of home.

In addition:

More honest information also contributed to home births becoming less popular. Time was when having your baby at home was the norm. But now women are told that this isnt always the best option. Half of women who choose a home birth end up in hospital, NVOG chair Jan van Lith told the paper.

The honest information was obtained from a number of papers that showed that the perinatal mortality rate at low risk homebirth was higher than at high risk hospital birth. The findings led the authors to conclude:

We found that the perinatal death rate of normal term infants was higher in the low risk group than in the high risk group, so the Dutch system of risk selection in relation to perinatal death at term is not as effective as was once thought. This also implies that the high perinatal death rate in the Netherlands compared with other European countries may be caused by the obstetric care system itself, among other factors. A critical evaluation of the obstetric care system in the Netherlands is thus urgently needed.

An economic analysis published several years later demonstrated that falling homebirth rates were associated with improved perinatal outcomes:

Historical data show that 7-day (28-day) mortality declined from 4.25 (5.35) deaths per 1,000 births in 19801985 to 2.42 (3.18) deaths in 2005-2009, while the share of hospital births increased from 61.25 percent to 72.06 percent. In addition, using a decomposition  we find that most of the mortality decline between 20002008 comes from newborns over 2,500 grams, who are more likely to be low-risk and thus eligible for home births.

Indeed:

Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that the rise in hospital births explains roughly 46 49 percent of the reduction in infant mortality in the Netherlands between 1980 and 2009.

Not surprisingly, thats not how Dutch midwives, who highly value the opportunity to act autonomously at home, see it. They too were interviewed for the Dutch News article:

Midwife association KNOV chair Mieke Beentjes thinks the problem lies with women being given the wrong information. In 2010 baby mortality in the Netherlands was the subject of much heated debate and at the time an unjustified link was made with home births. The effect of that is still noticeable, Beentjes told the paper.

The wrong information? Beentjes almost certainly believes that the right information comes from a series of papers by midwife Ank de Jonge, such as this one, that claim to show that homebirth with a midwife in the Netherlands is as safe as hospital birth with a midwife.

But as I have noted in the past, the combined intrapartum/neonatal death rates for both groups was higher than would be expected for a group of low risk women in midwifery care. Indeed, it is higher than the intpartum/neonatal death rate of 0.74/1000 (nullips) and 0.46 (multips) previously reported for high risk patients under the care of Dutch obstetricians.

De Jonge, of course, has been careful to leave out the death rates of Dutch obstetricians, though she has acknowledged that previous studies have shown midwifery mortality rates for babies of low risk women to be higher than those of obstetricians caring for high risk women.

So women who informed of the risks of homebirth are NOT being given the wrong information; they are being given all the relevant information and are choosing accordingly.

How ironic then that US, UK, Canadian and other midwives point to the Netherlands experience as proving the safety and desirability of homebirth at the same time that Dutch women are deciding the opposite.
Are you relatively new to this bustling metropolis? Don't be shy about it, everyone was new to New York once upon a time, except, of course, those battle-hardened residents who've lived here their whole lives and Know It All. One of these lifers works among us at Gothamistpublisher Jake Dobkin grew up in Park Slope and still resides there. He is now fielding questionsask him anything by sending an email here, but be advised that Dobkin is "not sure you guys will be able to handle my realness." We can keep you anonymous if you prefer; just let us know what neighborhood you live in.

This week's question comes from a New Yorker who doesn't get why people wear surgical masks while walking around the city.

Dear Jake,

I have been living in the city for awhile now and I would like to know what is up with the people who wear surgical masks while walking outside or riding the subway. I understand that they may have a respiratory problem, but is it weird I somehow take offense to it? I mean remember the uproar when the Olympics were in Beijing in 2008 and the athletes were ridiculed for wearing them in China?? Let it be noted that air quality here in New York is SIGNIFICANTLY better than in China. But do these people know something we don't? Are we the weird one for not wearing masks?

Sincerely,

Polluted Air or Polluted Ego?

Dear Polluted Air,



Jake wore this helmet during his entire presentation at the SoHo Apple Store (Courtesy Jake Dobkin Private Collection)

You certainly shouldn't be offended by someone's choice of headgear. I sometimes wear a bike helmet on the subwaydoes that make you feel like I'm somehow implying New York is a dangerous place where one is likely to get punched in the head? Of course notI have a reason for wearing the helmet (I left my bike somewhere and am going to get it), and likewise, the mask-wearers you see have their own reasons for sporting that look.

Quartz has a wonderful history of mask-wearing in Asia which you can read here. In summary, the Japanese started wearing masks during the 1918 Spanish Flu, and the masks became more popular after subsequent Earthquakes (which started fires that produced a lot of ash), other flu pandemics, and pollution outbreaks during the 1950s. Although the masks provide little protection from actual germs, they provide spiritual comfort in countries where protecting your breath (or qi) from bad air (feng) is part of local cultural tradition.

These traditions have only been strengthened by recent outbreaks: SARS in 2002; bird flu in 2006; and Ebola and Zika last year. They've also become a fashion statement for young Japanese, Koreans, and Chinese, who use them to "signal a lack of desire to communicate with those around them".

Given New Yorkers' desire for being left alone on the subway, I'm surprised this trend hasn't caught on here. In any case, the reason you are seeing the masks more often is a combination of their increasing popularity among Asian immigrants, and the rising population of Asians in New Yorkmore than a million live here now, according to the last census.

Are we weird for not wearing masks? Nothe masks have little utility, since they won't protect you from germs. Surgeons wear masks to protect you from their germs, not the other way around (some of the mask-wearers may just be thoughtful people shielding you from their cold germsif everyone did that during cold season, we'd be a much healthier city.)

There's also no need to wear a mask because of air pollution. In Beijing, readings of the PM2.5 ("terrible for you") particulate matter in the air are routinely above 500, in New York, they're often 1/10th as much or lower. So unless you are particularly enamored of Japanese fashion trends, this is probably a look you can safely ignore.

Recently in Beijing (via Shanghaiist)

It's natural to be interested when you see someone wearing a surgical mask for the first timebut it's something you soon get used to, especially if you ride the 7 train in Queens. Simply mind your own business and move on with your day.

Namaste,

Jake

NB. The best protection from germs on the subway is to wash your hands thoroughly when you get off (or use some Purell). Or better yet, touch nothing while you are on board.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Eyes on the Prize, the 14-hour TV miniseries that brought an unvarnished look at the American civil rights movement into living rooms across the country. Since it premiered, Eyes On The Prize has become a seminal document on the movement, examining its origins and strategies; the men and women, heralded and unheralded, who drove it; and its victories, as well as its most bitter defeats.

The series feels particularly urgent today, as many seek to resist the Trump administration. Recently, Gothamist discussed the significance of the miniseries with Jon Else, the author of Truth South, a new book that chronicles the making of Eyes on the Prize and tells the story Henry Hampton, the documentary filmmaker who dreamed up the project and spent years creating it. Else, who currently teaches at the University of California-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, was a cinematographer and producer of Eyes on the Prize. During the 1960s, he worked as a civil rights organizer in Mississippi.

On Saturday, February 25, Brookyn Museum is holding a free daylong screening of Eyes on the Prize and a roundtable discussion about the series, with Else on hand. Register here.

Who was Henry Hampton?

Henry Hampton was an African-American documentary producer born in segregated St. Louis, Missouri in 1940. He grew up under Jim Crow. His father was a surgeon, the medical director of the local black hospital. Henry, in high school, was an athlete, was tack smart.

Then, in 1955, when he was 15 years old, two things happened. That was the year that Emmett Till, a young black man from Chicago, was murdered in Money, Mississippi, and the photograph of Till's ravaged, beaten face was published in Jet Magazine. His mother had insisted on an open-casket funeral and Henry, like millions of young African-Americans from that generation, saw the picture of Emmett Till in Jet and was forever changed.

It was that photograph that made him realize that as a young black man his life was not worth much, if anything, in many parts of this country. He simply could not get the image of Emmett Till out of his mind.

The other thing that happened in 1955, which shaped him for the rest of his life, was that he contracted polio. He was at the beginning a quadriplegic and after a lot of physical therapy, regained the use of his upper body and one leg, but he spent the rest of his life walking with a steel brace on his left leg. His sister told me that until he had polio, he never understood what it was to be an outsider. And that had a lot to do with why he went on to make Eyes on the Prize, why he went on to spend his life doing films about the dispossessed, the poor, and the disenfranchised.

Hampton exerted a hell of a force field. If you took the force field of Henry Hampton, this incredibly magnetic, charismatic man, and you combined that with the force field of the American civil rights movement, that was unbeatable and that was irresistible. And he was able to attract an astonishing crew of young filmmakers to this scrappy little company that he had in Boston.

And there, in the late 1980s, then on through the early '90s, he created Eyes on the Prize. No one had ever done a big historical series about civil rights. The idea of big historical series that we take for granted, like a Ken Burns series or the American Experience, those had just been invented. And Henry was really in the forefront of that. We were kind of making it up as we went along.

What's the relevance of Eyes on the Prize today?

I began work on this book the week that Barack Obama was reelected by a wide margin and the book went to the printer the day that Donald Trump was elected. To be candid, on a bad day, since the election, I feel that Eyes on the Prize might be irrelevant. Throughout my entire lifetime until now, we as a nation have been on a sort of a drunken walk toward justice and toward equality and toward equal rights for all. There have been setbacks, but the trajectory has bent toward justice. We were headed in the right direction.

On a bad day, I feel that the legacy of Dr. King and the legacy of the movement that we chronicled in Eyes on the Prize is just slammed up against the legacy of George Wallace. Now, Henry would never have given up hope and, of course, I haven't given up hope. I hope the legacy of Eyes on the Prize is that it actually is an operating manual for how to run a successful movementthat's one of the reasons we made the series. Our senior advisor and in-house pastor, Vincent Harding, who had worked closely with Dr. King, believed, as Henry did, that these stories about organizing must be re-told in new ways by every generation of storytellers. Some social movements in the past vanished from history because storytellers failed to keep the vision alive.

But its relevance has to be tempered by an understanding that when we were involved in the civil rights movement back in the '60s and then when we were making Eyes on the Prize, this nation was operating in a moral climate in which we had people in Congress and we had a president, all the way from Lyndon Johnson even up through people like Ronald Reagan, who at least could be either convinced with moral suasion, or shamed into embracing the goals of the civil rights movement.

When President Johnson saw the Alabama state troopers attack peaceful men, women, and children on that bridge in Selma in 1965, he was ready to act. The difference now is that the Congress and the White House are now occupied by people who have not shown any evidence that they have a shred of understanding of the civil rights movement, that they have a shred of understanding of human rights.





Alabama state troopers attack civil rights demonstrators at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, March 1965..

That's a problem. Gone are the days when a local movement could leapfrog over a mad dog sheriffsome guy like Bull Connor or Jim Clark in Selmaby focusing media attention on violence and appeal to a sympathetic Congress and a sympathetic president.

As a new movement emerges, I'm counting on the strategists to come up with strategies and tactics that will actually work in this strange climate.

So if Eyes on the Prize is relevant, it's relevant to see how those young folks back in the '60s found really, really, really smart tactics to identify the levers to pull in the democratic system. Most of the levers that were pulled in the '60s are now busted, I'm afraid, so we've got to find new levers.

Did people on the ground back then feel such a sense of confidence that they would get at least some of what they were struggling for?

Henry and I were both in Selma in 1965 and standing in front of that courthouse and seeing those sheriffs dealing with local folks, you did not know that the center was gonna hold. Those local peoplewho drove the movementand the organizers, they didn't know what was going to happen. And I think a lot of us wake up in the morning now not knowing if the center is gonna hold.

But the thing that gives me hope is that today, as in the 1960s, there are millions and millions of Americans who are not confused about the arc of the moral universe. I think we've learned that the arc of the moral universe that Dr. King talked about, it doesn't just bend towards justice on its own, it has to be forced toward justice. Americans are perfectly capable, still, of forcing that trajectory toward justice. It's not gonna happen on its own.

What was the process for getting all these segregationists to speak candidly about their roles in the battles of the civil rights movement?

Hampton was schooled by Jesuits and he had a Jesuit notionhe was skeptical of true believers. That meant in the case of Eyes on the Prize that we really had to give Southern white resistors a voice. He understood that it would be stupid to resist segregationists as this monolith of mouth-breathing neanderthalsthat these were people who were a product of their culture.

Frankly, if I had been born in Mississippi in 1940, I might have shared some of their views. He was very interested in that notion of letting the audience know, "That could be me." These people committed evil, but were not necessarily born evil.

On our staff was a wonderful woman named Prudence Arndt, an associate producer. She was a white southerner and she could haul up her North Carolina accent, and she was the one who actually contacted almost all of the white southerners who agreed to be on camera.

When she contacted them, we never tried to hide what we were doing. We were always very clear that we were doing a film called Eyes on the Prize about the civil rights movement, and we always let people know who else we were talking to: We were going to be interviewing all of the living civil rights leaders, we were gonna be interviewing dozens and dozens of local people. But Prudence convinced them to come on camera.

Of the men who were on camera, almost all of them had rejected their former selves. Joe Smitherman, who was the mayor of Selma, is able actually to look back with a mournful chuckle at himself as this boy-mayor, this segregationist mayor who didn't have a clue. By the time we interviewed him, Smitherman was in his eighth term as the white mayor of Selma and he racked up about 80 percent of the black vote in the last two elections.





"I Have A Dream" speech at the March on Washington, August 1963..

He changed with the times. He was one of those people who was able to free himself from the white chains of segregation. Segregation was horrible for black people and, in a lot of ways, it was bad for white people also. Joe managed to do that. Mel Bailey, who was the sheriff in Birmingham, Alabama during the summer of 1968I think Mel Bailey understood in 1963 that he was on the wrong side of the street and he, too, came around.

George Wallace is a more complicated case. Our producer got him to go on camera. He had survived an assassination attempt. He was a born-again and it was kind of odd because he went on and on about how much he loved black people and he loved yellow people and he loved brown people and he loved all people and whatever he said back in the day was not racism, it was state's rights and what concerned him was not race, but federal usurpation of state power. I wasn't buying it.

When we were planning Eyes on the Prize, we had long discussions about how you interview segregationists, and a lot of the staff, mainly the black staff, felt you go with an all-white crew. You don't hide what you're doing. But our goal was to invite these people to be their best selves, to allow them to speak their truth, not our truthto allow them to be in a room with a camera and not have to edit their speech because of who was in the room.

In some cases we actually did use an all-white crew and in some cases when interviewing some of the Black Nationalists and Panthers, we used an all-black crew.

We were in a meeting once and one of the producers asked Henry Hampton, "Well, how do you interview the Klan? And he said, "Get a sheet."

I was a white northerner who went down to join the movement in 1964. I was in Mississippi in the summer of '64, I then went to work for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Atlanta, Georgia. So when we interviewed, for instance, William Simmons, the former head of the White Citizens Council in Mississippi, we interviewed him about white northerners coming down to his state and there was a long discussion back at headquarters before we went about whether or not I should engage him about my role as one of the northerners invading his state in the summer of 1964.

We decided that we would not do that. To this day, I wonder if that was the right thing to do. It would've made a much more interesting conversation. But our point in interviewing folks was to go back to the time period, let them go back to 1964, back to Selma in 1965, back to Oakland in 1972 and to not clutter up the storytelling with the present.

And Simmons was pretty forthright in his condemnation of the white northern kids who came down to reform the state of Mississippi to their liking. He spoke his mind. He was one of the few white southerners in Eyes on the Prize who was willing to speak candidly about how things went down in the 1960s.

Did those conversations give you insight into some of what we're seeing today, with this resurgence of white nationalism?

I was surprised as anyone when Donald Trump won this election. I had been in denial. I was as stupid as everyone else in not realizing that the monster sleeps with one eye open. I think working with Eyes on the Prize helped lull us into the idea that this was from the past. These white segregationists that we interviewed had changed their language, many of them had openly and resolutely embraced the cause of equality, and I think that lulled us into a kind of false security.

Henry Hampton used to say that the civil rights movement is like a river: once in awhile, it goes underground. Through vast in periods of the 20th century and the 19th century, it was underground. And then it resurfacesjust explodesinto this giant spring, and I think we forget that white tribalism and white nationalism, is also a river that goes underground. It's been very thoroughly underground for an awful long time. And I have to say that the real eye-opener to me was Evan Osnos's article that pointed out that all of the white supremacists groups, including the neo-Nazisthey all endorsed Trump. They thought he was great. And so those currents are obviously deeply embedded in our national white psyche. It's not just the Southan awful lot of this is going on in Idaho, in Colorado, in my own state of California. I'm astonished.

The thing about George Wallace was that George Wallace never killed anybody but he was more than happy to use incendiary rhetoric that got people killed. And in the campaign we saw a lot of that from Trump. We saw that from a lot of people around Trump. And incendiary rhetoric has consequences.

Let's see what happensit has to be tamped down. And thank God there are millions of Americans who are pushing back.

Look, I'm a white guy living in CaliforniaI can't tell if it's as ugly as it was back then. There are certainly places in America where people of color, because of their color or religion, it may be as bad as it was back then. In some places it may be worse.

How did Eyes on the Prize change your understanding of the civil rights movement?

I had been a full-time worker in the civil rights movement for a couple of years in the 1960s, so I came to Eyes on the Prize with a pretty decent inside view of the movementof the tactics, strategies, and shortcomings of nonviolence. I certainly understood the rivalries between the fiery young people of SNCC, and the more conservative preachers in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the more urban folks from CORE. What was new to me was the behind-the-scenes political work that was going on in Washington, D.C. in Congress and and with Lyndon Johnsona white southerner. All those backroom discussions that Nicholas Katzenbach describes for us in his interviewthat was all news to me

It also took Henry Hampton for me to really understand that the power of the civil rights movement came from below. It was not until working with Hampton that I fully understood how much the driving power of the movement came from from below, from maids and sharecroppers, farmers, janitorsordinary people in little towns all across the south,

I did feel it in Mississippi with those courageous local people who had everything to lose. We were white kids from the North, we were gonna go back home; they had to stay there at the end of that dirt road with the deputy sheriff just over the hill. I never really understood their numbers nor their power until I came to Eyes on the Prize.

Henry Hampton was insistent that it was what he called the "crooked timber of humanity." The families he saw in church fanning themselves in the southern heatthey were the ones who drove that movement, as much as the charismatic leaders such as Dr. King or a quietly charismatic guy like John Lewis.

We forget that in 1955, Dr. King was an unknown 26-year-old minister, just out of seminary, in Montgomery ministering to his flock. He was not a star that came in from outside to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott. That bus boycott was planned, executed, and victorious entirely because of local black people.

King emerged as a rock star from that but those local movements were the heart and lungs of the movement. I think we're seeing that now with Black Lives Matter. These are local movements that rise upin Ferguson, in Oakland, in Chicago, New York. They're local people that no one ever heard of.

How did the series impact the nation's understanding of the civil rights movement?

If you take thoughtful people who write reviews for newspapers and magazines as some sort of reflection of an American populationthey got it. They got that it was the Fanny Lou Hamers and the Anita Blackwells, Moses Wright in Money, Mississippiit was those guys that made the civil rights movement happen as much as Dr. King and Andrew Young. They also got the fierce rivalries and competition and sort of uneasy brotherly love between SNCC and SCLC and CORE.

I know it inspired young folks, for instance Bree Newsome, who is the young black woman who climbed the flagpole to take down the Confederate flag in South Carolina, she was galvanized by Eyes on the Prize. She saw it as a teenager.

In the early 90s, Henry Hampton got a letter from a young black politician in Illinois, Barack Obama, asking him to review the manuscript of a book that Barack Obama had written about his father. So someone was watching.

True South is available from Viking Press. Eyes on the Prize is available on Amazon's streaming service, and as a DVD box set. On Saturday, February 25, Brooklyn Museum is holding a free daylong screening of Eyes on the Prize and a roundtable discussion about the series featuring Jon Else. Register here.
By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent.

Agree
The bar carts and commissary counters in Grand Central Terminal don't seem to be coming back as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has furloughed the workers who ran them in the midst of an investigation into the beer operation's finances, according to a union rep.

The 18 trackside carts have been missing and the two snack counters have been closed since December, when auditors began looking through the books of the stands, which were cash only. Transport Workers Union Local 2001 president John Feltz said that as the investigation proceeded, his members continued to report to work, only instead of slinging beer, they had to answer questions from auditors. Last week, he said, MTA management informed the workers that they were being placed on furlough, and that the commissary operation was being discontinued.

"Thirty peoples lives were devastated by doing what [the MTA] did, at no fault of my members," Feltz said.

Details of the decision do not appear in the minutes of recent MTA board meetings. Feltz said he hopes to bring a group to the next one in March to get answers.

"My members families are entitled to an explanation about why they can or cant continue to be in this business," he said, adding, "Passenger rail always runs at a deficit but that commissary did bring money in to Metro-North."



(Nathan Tempey/Gothamist)

In recent years, the commissary and carts grossed more than $6 million annually.

Regarding reports that money had gone missing, Feltz said, "I know rumors are out there about what its all about, and those are complete falsehoods."

Any inventory issues were the result of "pure mismanagement," he said. Three staffers were suspended during the investigation, and Feltz said that the two managers have since retired with full pensions. The managers made $83,000 and $93,000 in 2015, according to payroll records.

MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said that in all 25 people have been furloughed. Four other rank-and-file commissary workers have retired, and one position was vacant at the time of the shutdown, he said.

A spokeswoman for the MTA's Office of the Inspector General said that its bar cart investigation is ongoing. Donovan reaffirmed this, and said, "As such, no decision on the future of the commissary has been made."

Commuters who regularly patronize the carts have said they miss the convenient source of cold beer, as well as the friendly faces providing it. Two petitions calling for the MTA to bring back the carts and counters have garnered more than 500 signatures. Several upper-level stores and lower-level food court eateriesin the terminal still sell beer.

The furloughed workers are collecting $55 a day in federal railroad unemployment, Feltz said, and the MTA has said it will try to look for new positions for them. None have been reassigned so far. Donovan said most have applied for positions as train-car cleaners.

In September, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy announced that the beloved in-train Metro-North bar cars, discontinued in 2014, are returning to the New Haven Line. No date has been set, and it's not clear if the latest changes with the commissary staff affect the plan.

Updated to include new information from the MTA.
Here's another reason to drink this weekend: New York City Beer Week begins its 11-day (that's more like two weeks, people) run on Friday night, with the official kick off party on Saturday in Greenpoint. Over the course of the hoppy celebration, dozens of breweries, beer bars and restaurants, and beer-related venues host tap takeovers, dinners, tastings, tours and even beer-related trivia events across the five boroughs.

To go check off everything on the list would be extreme, but the NYC Brewers Guild, who organize the annual event, have featured events like the opening bash, the all-inclusive tasting event NYC Brewer's Choice, and beer adjacent activities like the first annual NYC Fermentation Festival.

Many of the smaller events combine food with beer, like a beer and cheese pairing class at The Wine Lab, while others latch on to more esoteric adventures like the Swedes Singing For Beer event, a combination bar crawl and sing-along. Peep the full lineup here and remember to eat something before drinking and wear a jacket. Love, Mom.
Australian National University vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt says an on-campus pop-up village will signal the beginning of a new relationship between ANU and the Canberra community.

The pop-up is expected to open within six months and will aim to serve as a new precinct for food, drinks, shops and events.

ANU Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt serves food at Mr Papa. Credit:Stuart Hay Australian National University

BrodDogs and Mr Papa were announced part of the pop-up and The Burley Group of Walt and Burley fame will manage the village's bar.

It will also feature a new medium-size live music venue.
A reform of ACT adoption laws could see adoptees issued with birth certificates that reflect both sets of parents.

A taskforce convened to scrutinise the ACT's arduous adoption processes has recommended the territory government consider introducing integrated birth certificates.

An integrated birth certificate would allow people who have been adopted to retain a connection with their birth families. Credit:File

Currently, birth certificates are cancelled and reissued when a person is adopted.

Adopt Change chief executive Renee Carter said there were a number of problems with that.
The outcome had been that the funding allocations to the three sectors  independent, Catholic systemic and government  were arrived at without any agreed and common system of assessing real need at the level of each individual school. Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard's education reforms were 'politically gutless'. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen School funding has been "essentially based on a political settlement, sector-based and largely needs-blind", whereas the Gonski report proposed that it be determined on an educational, not political basis, be sector-blind and entirely needs-based, as well as being bottom up, not top down. But Gillard rejected Gonski's recommendations and stuck with the old, religion-based arrangements. Ken Boston was an architect of the Gonski reforms but has blasted attempts to implement the policies. Credit:Edwina Pickles

"We concluded that an additional $5 billion might be needed on top of the $39 billion being spent annually by the state and federal governments, because of the commitment given by the federal government [Gillard], after the review had started, that no school would lose a dollar as a result of the review. "This was an albatross around our necks," Boston said. Christopher Pyne may have been right when he coined the phrase 'Conski'. Credit:Latika Bourke State deals To disguise the true cost of Labor's politically gutless, bastardised version of Gonski, it was to be phased in over six years.

The second common misunderstanding was that the Gillard and second Rudd governments, having adopted Gonski's approach, then reached "Gonski agreements" with the states, promising additional "Gonski funding" over six years. Nothing Gonski about it. Gonski recommended that the loading for non-government schools as a proportion of "average government school recurrent costs"  a biased formula that meant public funding for new places for children in disadvantaged government schools automatically increased the federal government grants to non-government schools, without any consideration of disadvantage  should cease. Gillard, supposedly that great champion of needs-based funding, kept the biased formula alive. Gonski recommended that the basis for general recurrent funding for all students in all sectors be a "schooling resource standard" for each school, set at a level comparable with schools with minimal educational disadvantage. To this should be added loadings for schools according to their social disadvantage  low socioeconomic status, English language proficiency, school size and location, and indigeneity.

Calculation of the resource standard and the size of the loadings should be done by a "national schools resourcing body", similar to the former Schools Commission. Gillard wouldn't touch it. "Like the Coalition government, Labor has ducked the fundamental issue of the relationship between aggregated social disadvantage and poor educational outcomes, and has turned its back on the development of an enduring funding system that is fair, transparent, financially sustainable and effective in promoting excellent outcomes for all Australian students," Boston said. 'Politically gutless' The third misunderstanding  which Boston labels "the Fairfax view" (not this time, Ken)  is that most of the problems facing Australian education would be solved if we got the last two years of "Gonski funding". It true that, so as to disguise the true cost of Labor's politically gutless, bastardised version of Gonski, it was to be phased in over six calendar years, with the bulk of the cost loaded into the last two years, 2018 and 2019.

This was $4.5 billion, which the Turnbull government has cut to $1.2 billion over the four years to 2021. Even so, "providing the so-called 'last two years of Gonski funding' will not deal with the fundamental problem facing Australian education. Neither side of politics is talking about the strategic redistribution of available funding to the things that matter in the schools that need it, on the basis of measuring the need of each individual school," Boston said. Seeing eye to eye The fourth common misconception is that the two sides of politics are poles apart. At one level, yes. What they have in common, however, is that neither is genuinely interested in moving to needs-based funding. "The government and opposition are fluffing around the margins of the issue, and neither appears to understand the magnitude of the reform that is needed, or  if they do  to have the capacity to tackle it," Boston said.
Tim Upton is the global CEO of Canadian data classification company Titus. Credit:Stock Archive Inc. "Document classification is a very visible way of enabling a shift in accountability to the point of creation and also dramatically improves the effectiveness of data leak prevention tools." Catch of the Day disclosed its leak nearly three years after it occurred, but avoided prosecution because the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner had no power to act. Mr Upton said up to 97 per cent of data leaks stemmed from human error. He said the company's tools worked like a spell checker, prompting users to assign a classification, with built-in checks to recognise sensitive topics and keywords.

Just like eating an elephant, it is one byte at a time. Tim Upton Clients include the federal police, major banks, Human Services, ATO and Defence. Mr Upton said giving documents an identity also helped with release of data and disposal. In Canberra, he said most departments had already implemented email classification. "That's mature, now there's a realisation that email is the transport mechanism and needs to be protected, but sometimes there are a lot of things that go along with that.

"You wouldn't want to attach a sensitive document to a public email; that would be a data breach. We can prevent that happening before it occurs." Mr Upton said human oversight was important, and with increasing demand for open data, he said classification could assist. "A lot of organisations try to shut everything down because they don't know what they have," he said. "If only seven per cent of their data is truly of national security interest, then tag it as that. With the other 93 per cent, let it flow. "It's about enabling the sharing of information."

Mr Upton said governments could also get smarter about deleting documents that were no longer required. A 2010 strategy estimated agencies spent about $850 million a year on data centres, using 30,000 square metres of space. "Many organisations don't know what they have. If they did, then they could make decisions, like what to keep, what to discard, what to share, with whom, and what to protect," Mr Upton said. "Just like eating an elephant, it's one byte at a time. If they do nothing, and keep the status quo, the problem gets bigger every day with more unknown data being created every day. "If they start by giving that unstructured data an identity today, then the problem stops growing immediately.

"With time, the legacy data becomes less relevant and a smaller problem, and can be tackled in due course. "I think over time we will see more organisations doing this in the context of life-cycle management, not just the security context." Mr Upton wouldn't be drawn on high-profile government IT blow-outs, including Child Support and the tax office, but said removing old or unwanted data could have benefits. "I believe document storage could be done better if all the documents were labelled," he said. "I'm not sure of the problems they've had. Most organisations keep everything forever and end up scaling the systems to be really big when maybe they don't need to be quite so big and complicated.
"We encourage companies to publicly address the concerns raised," said Greg Yanco, the senior executive leader for market supervision at the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. 'Follies, frauds and fads' For Aandahl, who made his name covering Chinese companies listed in the US, the move is the next step after targeting its first Japan short in July. The 36-year-old director of research at Glaucus, who says his team spends as much as 700 hours researching one idea, is also active in Hong Kong, where he tends to highlight stocks he expects to lose most or all of their value. Glaucus plans to publish a report on at least one Australian company this month or early next month, Aandahl said, declining to identify the targets. He said shorting the country's banks wouldn't be attractive. "If you look at our track record, for the most part we are industry agnostic," he said in an interview earlier this month. "We short follies, frauds and fads -- that's what we look for."

The perception from foreigners is that the market is a little dopey and that the corporate regulator is a little soft. John Hempton, Bronte Capital Management In April 2012, Universal Travel Group voluntarily delisted from the US sharemarket, a year after Glaucus issued a report questioning the Chinese company's financial statements and advising investors sell the stock. In 2013 UTG settled a lawsuit with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. More recent successful bets include Tech Pro Technology Development, whose shares fell 86 per cent in one day after Glaucus questioned the company's accounting. Tech Pro vigorously denied the claims in the report. Aandahl's foray into Japan has been tough. Itochu Corp., a trading company, has risen about 30 per cent since Glaucus issued a "strong sell" rating. Itochu strongly denied the criticisms of its accounting. Shorting Westpac

Guennouni, also 36, set up Meridian Investment Management Advisory last year to make long and short bets on stocks. After starting his career at Goldman Sachs helping companies to manage risk using derivatives, he moved to Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management in 2007 and rose to partner at the hedge fund. From 2012 he worked for Occitan Capital Partners designing options strategies. One of Guennouni's first shorts at Meridian is Westpac. Australian lenders stand to suffer more than global peers as expected changes to regulations on risk-weighted assets dampen profitability, Guennouni wrote in a 46-page short report published last month. The trade doesn't depend on a hard landing in China or a commodities rout, he wrote. Shares of Westpac, which he sees as the lender most exposed to this risk, may fall from 30 per cent to 50 per cent, he said, without specifying a time frame. Westpac declined to comment. Widow maker Betting against the local banks has been so unsuccessful that the trade has been nicknamed the "widow maker." Expectations for a local housing-market crash or a sharp deceleration in China's economy have failed to materialise for bearish investors waiting for lenders' stock prices to slump.

"Most people have been shorting Australian banks as a part of a macro short on China and the economies linked to it," Guennouni said. Ours is "a bottom-up trade, not macro-driven." Short interest for companies in Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index on average accounts for 3.7 per cent of the shares freely traded, compared with 1.8 per cent for stocks on Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, according to IHS Markit data. That's also higher than the 2.1 per cent on Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average and 2.7 per cent for the S&P 500 Index in the US. For Chad Slater, co-founder of Morphic Asset Management, Australia "is one of the best places in the world to short -- hands down." It doesn't have transaction taxes like in the UK and Taiwan, and it's easy to find stocks to borrow, he said, a crucial part of the short-selling process. "It ticks every box," he said. Despite targeting companies in Australia for the first time, neither Aandahl nor Guennouni see broader issues with the market itself.
Landlords have been hit by steep land tax increases from soaring property values, in some cases more than doubling tax bills and making investments uneconomic.

Many landlords, property owners and lessors, confronted with sharp increases in land tax bills this month, were reacting with "shock or disbelief", agents and lawyers said.

Inner-city commercial property values rose more than most. Credit:Wayne Taylor

"In many cases they think there's a mistake," Teska Carson agent Barry Novy said.

If a property owner signed a 15-year lease with two 10-year options before the last land tax rise, they could be significantly out of pocket, he said.
Office landlords need to offer not just bricks and mortar for tenants, but have a "placemaking" focus, according to agents.

Speaking at the CBRE annual office market outlook conference last Wednesday, the senior executives on the panel said the new theme of placemaking was an integral part of an office lease.

DEXUS Property has upgraded its food court at Sydney's Grosvenor Place, to ensure staff in the building have relaxation spaces and healthy eating options.

The group's head of research, Stephen McNabb, said having a placemaking focus would help unlock value "through asset management and repositioning".

He told the 100-plus audience that real estate was moving "beyond functionality" and the trends were on wellness, end-of-trip facilities and now childcare in properties.
The logistics warehouse is fully leased to national textiles retailer Spotlight Group, with 4.5 years remaining on the lease and two 6 plus 6 years renewal options.

Cache Logistics Trust said it had acquired the 20,723-square metre centre in Laverton North at 217-225 Boundary Road on a "willing buyer, willing seller" basis.

Australia's industrial sector has been buoyed by consumer consumption, rent growth and yield compression.

The purchase comes as Australia's industrial sector has been buoyed by consumer consumption, rent growth and yield compression, according to CBRE's Marketview report.

A Singapore-based REIT with extensive industrial property holdings in Australia has purchased a $22.25 million facility from retirement-focused fund manager Challenger Life.

Spotlight is run by rich-lister Zac Fried and his uncle Morry Fraid, who are also part of the Home Consortium which has made an audacious bid to repurpose 700,000 square metres of former Masters stores into homemaker centres.

Cache owns a logistics warehouse in Chester Hill, in Sydney's west, leased to transport company McPhee Distribution, three distribution centres in Queensland, one in South Australia and another in Victoria in Somerton. It controls another 12 in Singapore and China.

The CBRE report said consumption was supporting demand for goods in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, which suggests improved conditions in the industrial sector this year.

Super prime yields compressed a further 10 basis points in the December quarter last year to a 6.9 per cent average across the country.

Non-core markets outside Sydney and Melbourne had potentially reached the bottom of the yield cycle with "buyers unwilling to pay higher prices or unable to obtain financing to be able to do so," CBRE said.
Tanya says she got a bad feeling when the man tried to take her picture with his cellphone. She'd been texting with him earlier that night, and he'd invited her to the Howard Johnson Inn near JFK Airportpresumably to pay her for sex, though she says they hadn't discussed specifics. "I was not trying to let him take a picture," she told Gothamist recently.

A few minutes later the man placed 200 dollars on the table and stepped out into the hallway, ice bucket in hand. Almost immediately, three men Tanya had never seen before walked into the room. "I told them I didn't touch anything, and they told me to put my hands behind my back, and that's it," Tanya recalled. (A pseudonym, at her attorney's request.)

Hours of waiting ensued. First, in a hotel room down the hall, where another handcuffed woman sat with several undercover officers. Three other women and a man were led in as the night dragged on, all apparently invited to the hotel by police, as Tanya had been. Officers loaded the group into an NYPD wagon early the next morning, and drove them to a nearby precinct and on to central booking, where Tanya waited in a cell for her arraignment. She was released around 4 p.m. the next day, with a prostitution charge.

In total, police from the NYPD's vice unit arrested six people on prostitution charges at the Queens Howard Johnson on the night of Thursday, February 2nd. Early Saturday morning, the 4th, vice arrested seven women on prostitution charges at the Roosevelt Hotel on East 45th Street in Manhattan. One man was arrested as well, and charged with promoting prostitution. Saturday night, vice made another prostitution arrest at the JFK Airport Inn in Queens.

"Each one of these arrests indicate that the individual was debriefed in regards to human trafficking," a NYPD source told Gothamist this week. "Investigators who made these arrests spoke to these individuals to determine whether there was a human trafficking aspect, or if that could be further investigated."

In Tanya's case, she said, no such briefing took place: "I think they were just kind of thirsty to arrest anybody."



The Roosevelt Hotel (Scott Heins / Gothamist).

A few days before these arrests, First Lady Chirlane McCray and NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill hosted a press conference at One Police Plaza to detail a new approach to policing sex trafficking in New York City. The goal, they said, is to build trust between victims and policeparticularly in immigrant communitieseven as President Donald Trump's immigration policy stokes fear of deportation.

"Today we are saying loud and clear that in New York City we do not punish people who are being hurt," McCray said. "We do not call them criminals."

From now on, O'Neill said, the department will focus its resources on pimps, johns, and traffickers. An anonymous 24-hour hotline will field tips about possible trafficking activity, and the public should expect "more undercover operations that target johns on the streets, and in hotels around the city." To achieve the goal, the NYPD is doubling the size of its vice enforcement unit.

"Like all crime, we can't just arrest our way out of this problem," O'Neill said.

But the weekend arrests indicate that, at least for now, targeting sex workers is still part of the vice mandate. As long as these arrests continue, attorneys and advocates say, any overture the NYPD makes to victims rings hollow.

"Just the word 'trafficking' causes people to want to pump up undercover police activity," Bill Dobbs, a longtime advocate for legalizing sex work in New York, told Gothamist.

"For the individuals who are stung or arrested," he added, "there are plenty of collateral consequences that flow from having an arrest or a conviction."

In pledging to focus on pimps and johns, the NYPD is adopting what sex work advocates call the "end demand" approach: eliminate the buyers of sex and exploiters of sex workers, and you eliminate the possibility of sexual exploitation, the logic goes.

"The City takes seriously the problem of sex trafficking," said Mayoral spokesman Austin Finan, praising the shift towards "more long-term cases against those who buy and sell people for sex."

Sonia Ossorio, president of the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women, also praised this tactic, calling it a "big step toward combating this form of modern-day slavery."

Under New York State Law, prostitution, defined as sex for a fee, is a misdemeanor offense. Sex trafficking, a felony, involves compelling another person to perform sex by force, fraud, or coercion. While neither is legal, sex worker advocates argue that not all prostitution is exploitative, and that attempts to focus policing on one side of the equation lead to criminalization all around.

"Many of our clients have been, or are currently, trafficked into sex work, but many are not," said Legal Aid attorney Kate Mogulescu, who heads up the organization's human trafficking advocacy program and is representing Tanya in court. "The NYPD should not escape scrutiny by using the rhetoric of trafficking, but then continuing to engage in the status quo."



(Mayor's Flickr)

"Now, more than ever, the police need to be seen as a resource: people who are going to help people, as opposed to picking them up and criminalizing them," said Griselda Vega Samuel, director of the Anti-Trafficking Program at Safe Horizon, a nonprofit that often partners with the city.

New York has passed legislation in recent years to relieve victims of trafficking. The state's safe harbor law protects children 17 and under from being charged with prostitution, and in 2009 the state passed legislation that can help human trafficking victims erase prostitution and related convictions from their criminal records.

But Trump's immigration policy raises the stakes. While the NYPD's sanctuary city policy limits cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE conducts independent investigations in New York City, and can access the NYPD's fingerprint database. New Department of Homeland Security memoranda make anyone who has entered the country illegally fair game for deportation, as well as visa holders who are arrested but have not yet been convicted of a crime.

Over the past decade, the NYPD has made thousands of prostitution arrests. In 2014, there were more than 1,700. Raids on massage parlors have also spiked in recent years: 649 people, mostly Chinese and Korean women, were arrested at these parlors in 2016, a significant increase from the 38 arrested in 2012. According to Legal Aid, 91 percent of the 2016 cases were against non-citizens.

At least two people arrested at the Howard Johnson Inn on February 2nd were not US citizens, according to Mogulescu.

Mary Caparas is a project manager at Womankind, a nonprofit that supports victims of domestic violence and trafficking in Asian communities. She supervises advocates who work with men and women arrested during massage parlor raids. "A lot of our clients have had an exponential increase in fear, given what's gone on in the last few months," she said.

"A reduction in arrests would be a start," Caparas added. "It's difficult to build trust when you are being handcuffed."



(Scott Heins / Gothamist)

Some of the NYPD's new anti-trafficking initiatives have yet to kick in. Commissioner O'Neill said that officers will be trained to interview potential victims "without further harming them." Roll call training is supposed to be expanded to include signs of trafficking, and the NYPD's new hotline will feature prominently in a new public awareness campaign.

"I commend them for thinking in this direction," said Crystal DeBoise, manager of the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center. "This is quite progressive for them to think that arrest is not helpful for people engaged in the sex industry."

Samuel, of Safe Horizon, said the NYPD has invited her organization on raids in years past, to offer translation services and to "try to identify those victims on the front end so that they're not being arrested."

"They have found that when we participate, the victim will be more willing to testify because they understand the officer isn't going to see them as a perpetrator," she said.

Since the first weekend in February, though, vice arrests have continued apace. Over the weekend of February 9th, Legal Aid was assigned 10 new prostitution cases (the organization is assigned the majority of new cases where the client can't afford an attorney). As of Monday morning, there were 18 new weekend cases.

Asked to comment on the arrests, a spokesperson for the NYPD said that they aligned with department protocol. "Enforcement of the law occurs in response to community complaints, 911 calls, and through the observations of officers," he said.

A few days after her night at central booking, Tanya said she was wary of confiding in the police. "They just treat everybody as a criminal," she said.

"They're not going to help us to the point of coming forward" with tips, she added. "If they're going to arrest you, what's the point?"
Pizza giant Domino's admits it made an "honest oversight" after being caught failing to comply with the law in relation to its multimillion-dollar advertising fund.

The issue, which Domino's chief executive Don Meij described as a "screw up", relates to the release of information on a fund which receives contributions from store owners of between 4-6 per cent of sales to pay for advertising and marketing campaigns.

In 2016 it collected more than $40 million from Australian franchisees.

Strict governance requirements around such funds legally require franchisors to send franchisees an annual statement detailing how much money is raised and how it is spent. The report is supposed to be sent by the end of November each year.
In November 2015, President Joko Widodo invited me to join him on one of his famous blusukan  or impromptu visits  through a bustling garment market in Central Jakarta. As local traders and shoppers crowded about us, I felt the energy, enthusiasm and excitement of a country with a dynamic future.

Indonesia's potential represents a golden opportunity for Australia. As I said on the day, the prospects for our two countries to work together  to grow our economies  have never been better. This weekend, Lucy and I will host President Widodo and First Lady Iriana Widodo during their first state visit to Australia.

I look forward to picking up where we left off in the markets of Jakarta by discussing ways to grow our 21st-century partnership.

Indonesia is a nation of extraordinary significance to Australia. We share a commitment to values such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Indonesia should be proud of its transformation over recent decades into a diverse and democratic nation, proving, as the President often says, that democracy, Islam and moderation are compatible.
You have to go back to 1829 to find the beginning of a presidential term as chaotic as the one this year.

In 1829, Andrew Jackson entered the White House after a handsome electoral victory. He thereupon removed 919 government officials  about 10 per cent of the administration  so he could fulfill numerous promises made to people during the election campaign. And so began the "spoils" or patronage system in US politics, which has ebbed and flowed ever since and is now flowing "bigly".

Donald Trump in the Oval Office, near a portrait of Andrew Jackson, a president with some similar traits. Credit:Alex Brandon

Jackson had other similarities with Donald Trump. He was very much an "America-first" president. The previous six presidents were more internationally inclined. Jackson also saw himself as "the direct representative of the common man" and very much anti-establishment. He was also in favour of abolishing the electoral college, just like Trump  at least until the 2016 election night.

Some of this history can help explain, if not the actions of Trump himself, at least historical trends behind the reasons people voted for him.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu returned the Prime Minister's warmth, saying "There is no better friend [than Australia] for the state of Israel."

But who would argue with our Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull when he said at the Central Synagogue in Sydney's Bondi Junction on Wednesday night, in the heart of his electorate, that the success of modern Australia was unimaginable without "the brilliance and enterprise of the Australian Jewish community"?

But when Israel is involved, politics is unavoidable. That's because feelings on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict run high, as they always will when questions of territory, sovereignty, equity, justice and human rights are involved.

The practical purpose of the historic first visit by a sitting Israeli Prime Minister to our shores is to deepen the business relationship between our two countries by "expanding co-operation in cyber-security, innovation and science, agri-tech, energy and resources and the environment".

Before and during the visit Mr Turnbull has appeared more eager to cement that friendship than some critics of Israel would like. In an article published by News Corporation he slammed the resolution adopted by the UN last December which accused Israel of breaching international law in expanding its settlements in the occupied territories. Mr Turnbull took aim at those who "insisted the government take the side of those in the international community who seek to chastise Israel - and it alone - for the continuing failure of the peace process".

Mr Turnbull said Australia would have voted against the resolution which passed by a vote of 14 to zero in the Security Council. Usually the US would have vetoed it, but instead abstained, signalling outgoing President Barack Obama's frustration over growth in the settlements that the US considers anathema to progress on a two-state peace.

Australia, rightly, supports a directly negotiated two-state solution. Mr Turnbull has pointedly reiterated that support during the current visit, "so that Palestinians will have their own state and the people of Israel can be secure within agreed borders".

But the broader conversation, like many others, appears to have shifted courtesy of US President Donald Trump, who departed from the long-held US position during Mr Netanyahu's visit there last week by suggesting a one-state solution was also acceptable if both sides agreed.

In Australia Mr Netanyahu has sketched what a one-state solution might look like - Palestinians could have self-government if they recognised Israeli statehood and remained under the security control of Israel.
John Mills, South Yarra Within the rules, but not the standards Of the many parliamentary rorts over the past few months, that the Speaker of the Victorian Parliament has been charging taxpayers nearly $40,000 annually in second residence costs to travel from his home in Queenscliff to attend parliament takes the cake. This from the very officer who has the responsibility to uphold the rules and standards. It might be within the rules, but it demeaned the position. No wonder politicians are viewed with such contempt. Steve Griffin, West Coburg It's time for a clean sweep

The Telmo Languiller scandal is so surprising because it's not surprising. It's quite clear that many members of parliament seek public office, not to serve the community, but to wallow in the fat salary, travel allowances, chauffeured limos, housing allowances and prestige. The current parliament should be dissolved and another elected in which the major parties can prove to the electorate that their candidates demonstrated a commitment to public service, prior to pre-selection. Brian Sanaghan, West Preston Masters of the double dip "How much more can we take?" (23/3) asks Josh Gordon. How much more must we? Would these people pay back if they were not found out? So Telmo Languiller is yet another MP who "made a mistake". He says he will pay the money back. Thank you so much! Mothers on maternity leave are in trouble for "double dipping". Our politicians are dab hands at it. Anne Flanagan, Box Hill North

Dual penalty The so-called Fair Work Commission's decision to cut Sunday penalty rates is terrible on two grounds. First, at a time of increasing inequality, for highly paid people  who typically don't work on weekends  to slash the incomes of some of the lowest-paid workers  who have no choice but to do so  is grossly unfair. Second, to do so within hours of the Reserve Bank Governor identifying slow wages growth as a problem for the economy illustrates the economic lunacy of the wage debate. Those same business owners who resent paying a living wage don't seem to realise why their sales aren't growing and their margins are under pressure. Decades ago Henry Ford doubled the wages of his assembly line workers, in part because with higher wages they could afford to buy the cars they built. Oh, for a leader with similar vision today! David Francis, Ivanhoe Widening the gap Forget the specious references to the needs of the 24/7 economy and 21st century workplaces, these ideals are meaningless to anyone struggling to make ends meet when they already have to battle with the insecure and unpredictable environment of casual labour. It's not as if these workers are out buying their next investment property on the booty of penalty rates. This will only serve to aggravate the increasing inequity of wealth distribution in this high-cost country.

Paul Miller, Box Hill South Doing their bit So Australia needs simultaneous wages growth for those who don't work on Sunday and a wages cut for those who do. I suppose it's only fair that everyone does their bit for economic growth and budget repair. Brendan Harrison, Bacchus Marsh Haves and have nots

Pollies' second home allowance of $37,000 and age pensioners, the unemployed and disadvantaged have to try and survive on much less, talk about a fair and just society. Nola Cormick, South Melbourne Legal, not fair There is a difference between legal and moral, a distinction that politicians seem to confuse  always to the benefit of themselves and the detriment of the taxpayer. Marie Nash, Balwyn

Word to the wise For his obsequious grovelling to Benjamin Netanyahu, Malcolm Turnbull gets a word of praise. It must feel really good. He doesn't get that many. Enjoy it while it lasts. John Laurie, Newport History reimagined On the state visit of the Israeli PM Netanyahu to our shores both he and our own PM waxed lyrical, invoking the Anzac spirit in demonstrating the close ties between the two nations. According to both men this kindred relationship originated 100 years ago with the liberation of the town of Beersheeba. This event could indeed represent the "closeness" between Israel and Australia were it not for a couple of inconvenient facts. Whilst the now city of Beersheeba is in Israel the actual state of Israel only came into existence in 1948, 50 years after the liberation alluded to by the two PMs. I doubt whether there were many Jewish people living in Beersheeba in 1917. Records only refer to local Arabs as the ones being released from the oppressive Ottoman Empire by the actions of the Allied troops. It appears that the Donald is not the only purveyor of alternative facts.

Jim Barnden, Richmond Remember when ... Bravo Benjamin Netanyahu for severely rebutting those two publicity-seeking ALP hasbeens, Hawke and Rudd. In the past Hawke was eager to use his support for Israel for self-advertisement. Now in his long post parliament dotage he wallows in a politically correct opinion. Frank Carleton, Longwarry A matter of trust

Four-year fixed-terms for federal MPs? No way: we don't trust them that much. Fixed three-year terms would improve democracy and save money. Brewis Atkinson, Tyabb Getting their fix Politicians should have foreseen problems with supplying reliable electricity to the nation. Instead they have been criticising the opposition and preparing for the next election. Countries around the world are opting for four- or five-year terms. Stability and certainty are essential for good government. Lesley Harbick, Albury, NSW

Not so pie in the sky As an alternative to Essendon Airport, I'd like to propose the extension of Webb Dock into Port Phillip Bay the length of a runway. Unlike Essendon, with two runways that cross at right angles, the new airport could be two parallel runways. It would be half the distance from the CBD, surrounded by low population densities, close to storage containers and arterials out of the city. The development could be funded by the sale of Essendon Airport land. Christopher Kelly, South Yarra Coal hard facts The lump of coal that Scott Morrison proudly showed off in Parliament was formed during the Earth's Carboniferous Period, which was 300 million years ago during the late Paleozoic Era. It would appear that the Liberal party's ideology on energy is from the same era.

Peter Thomas, Pascoe Vale Time for a buy back Peter Martin tells us that electricity prices are going to go up regardless of the rhetoric of Prime Minister Turnbull, Treasurer Morrison and Energy Minister Frydenberg ("Forget what you heard about coal", 23/02). The responsibility to the nation to supply the requisite electric power appears to be secondary to the urge to make as much money as can be squeezed from electricity users. Here's a "mad" idea. How about governments accepting the responsibility for the security of electricity. Start by not selling off any more publicly owned power stations and transmission lines. Then buy back those generators and grids that have been sold to "balance" budgets and then invest in renewable energy generators. "Private" is not always better. The "market" has failed us too often. Ken Rivett, Ferntree Gully No place for bigotry

Kevin Donnelly should know better than to confuse multiculturalism with cultural relativism ("Multiculturalism is no recipe for success", 23/2) . The benefits of the former are all around us. We are a nation to which successive generations of immigrants from many cultures have contributed to build this wonderful nation. This does not mean, as the cultural relativists would have us believe, that such evil practices as female genital mutilation are acceptable because the cultures that host them are off limits in terms of criticism. On the contrary, the values of multiculturalism assert that all cultures, while deserving of mutual respect, are open to criticism. Bigotry and prejudice are not values of multiculturalism. Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Blackburn Closer to home Kevin Donnelly appears to have overlooked that some cultural practices common to Western liberal democracies, including Australia, not only have been but continue to be unacceptable to a significant proportion of their own populations: the oppressive and/or genocidal assimilation policies inflicted by European colonists and their descendants on Aboriginal populations; the denial or restriction of safe contraceptive methods to women; the forced separation, and often also adoption, of babies born to single mothers; the denial of marriage laws to non-heterosexual couples; the victimisation of refugees; and the protection of paedophile clergy by their churches, to name a few. Penny Mackieson, Richmond

It will be our loss An Australian-born widow, I've shared my house for the past year with a young Iranian engineer with a BA and MA in mechanical and electrical engineering. He's worked in temporary positions well below his abilities and qualifications, delivered pizzas and flowers, and in several of these jobs was underpaid, exploited and been treated appallingly. I'm ashamed that this intelligent, enthusiastic and confident person should have been treated so badly. He won awards for innovation from his university in Malaysia and has a passion to work in alternative energy. His work skills visa expires soon and then Australia will lose this fine young man. All he needs is a chance and a decent, caring employer to give him a go and sponsor him. It will be Australia's loss if he has to leave. Jo Connolly, East Malvern Bitter indeed The movie Bitter Harvest may be rubbish, but it is of no dispute that Ukrainians were starved to death on purpose in their millions. For reviewer Jake Wilson (23/2) to suggest this may be "unhinged propaganda" and "favouring a point of view" is akin to Holocaust denial. It's a shame that the propaganda constructed by the Soviets and continued by the Russian state today, is still echoing down through the decades.

Kim Lester, Werribee A bit of a balls up If the AFL is contemplating stopping the umpire bouncing the ball then it should consider changing the shape of the ball to a sphere. And then it could stop players touching the ball with a hand, use a rectangular goal net and allow players to kiss each other when a score is achieved. Adrian Tabor, Point Lonsdale AND ANOTHER THING ...

Mr Speaker To misquote Shakespeare, "There is something rotten in the state of Victoria" when the speaker is paid about $40,000 for "second residence" costs (23/2). Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill Do pollies ever consider when they claim some absurd entitlement that this could mean fewer teachers, nurses, services and so on?

Tarn Kruger, Ballarat Clean coal We were all well and truly sucked in by "cool wool". Why wouldn't we fall for "clean coal"? Graeme Rose, Waldara If the Liberals can give us Clean Coal, then surely they can trumpet the glories of Healthy Tobacco.

Rod Oaten, North Carlton Scott Morrison, give back that lump of coal  NSW needs it. Andy Indrans, Taradale Q&A If politicians of whatever stripe appear on Q&A and behave like prats, they cop what they deserve.

Mike Puleston, Brunswick I know which silk I would wish to brief and it wouldn't be mumbles Brandis QC. Peter McNamara, Canterbury And also How many people agitating for "safe" injection rooms , would like one placed in their neighbourhood?

Trish Young, Hampton So NASA has discovered seven Earth-like planets? Unless they can confirm the absence of Trump-like or Dutton-like life there, I vote we stay put. Ramesh Rajan, Camberwell I wonder if anyone at the Fair Work Commission regularly works Sundays. Steve Melzer, Hughesdale
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has conveyed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Labor's concern about Israel's construction of settlements in occupied territories, in a meeting he described as "warm and productive".

Mr Shorten  flanked by foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong, shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus and Melbourne Ports MP Michael Danby on Friday  also raised Labor's support for a two-state solution, an outcome that Mr Netanyahu's government has backed away from in recent years.

"It was good to see the Prime Minister again," Mr Shorten said in a statement. The pair met previously in Israel when the Opposition Leader attended the Australia-Israel-Britain Leadership Dialogue in December.

"We want to see Israel safe and secure of its borders, we support the rights of the Palestinians people to have their own state," Mr Shorten said as he emerged from the hour-long discussion in Sydney.
Tony Abbott has pledged his "full support" for Malcolm Turnbull, just hours after launching his strongest attack on the government and calling for a range of conservative policy changes.

Mr Abbott said on Thursday night the government was drifting towards defeat, offering a five-point plan to make the next election winnable for the Coalition, including cutting back immigration and scrapping the Human Rights Commission.

Denying he was "taking pot-shots" at Coalition colleagues, Mr Abbott has received support from Tasmanian Liberal Eric Abetz, who accused Prime Minister Turnbull of name-calling in his response to attacks on Friday.

Amid criticism from colleagues, including Finance Minister Mathias Cormann for his latest intervention, Mr Abbott said the government needed "a clear direction and strong purpose for the rest of this term of Parliament".
An attempt by Tony Abbott to drag the Liberal Party to the political right has backfired spectacularly as former Abbott loyalists broke ranks in disgust at comments they viewed as disloyal to the party and a flagrant attempt to visit revenge on Malcolm Turnbull.

Senior ministers lined up on Friday to condemn a speech and related Sky News interview Mr Abbott had done on Thursday evening in which he had attacked Malcolm Turnbull's government as "Labor light" and as drifting to defeat.

Mr Abbott, who according to one report had recently told Liberal defector Cory Bernardi that he still coveted the prime ministership, had outlined a five-point plan to recover the government's conservative credentials through such things as cutting immigration, ending the renewable energy target, cutting taxes, cutting spending, and scrapping the Human Rights Commission.

The former leader-turned backbencher also questioned why Mr Turnbull had remained living at his Point Piper mansion in Sydney, rather than moving into the taxpayer-funded Kirribilli House across the harbour.
Two men who witnessed the murder of Reza Barati at the Manus Island detention centre in 2014 fear for their safety after the man they testified against escaped from jail.

Convicted killer Joshua Kaluvia escaped from the local jail for the second time last Saturday, prompting a warning to immigration officials to increase security at the detention centre.

Witness Benham Satah says he has not left his room since hearing of Kaluvia's escape.

Police commander David Yapu described Kaluvia as a "high-risk" escapee and said he had concerns for the safety of the community and the two witnesses.

"That is my big worry," Mr Yapu told Fairfax Media when asked about the safety of the witnesses. "The sooner we get him back behind bars, the better."
As Malcolm Turnbull awaits a possible request from Washington for an increased military commitment in Iraq, we get the ultimate insiders' account of how John Howard accommodated George W. Bush in the ill-judged invasion 14 years ago.

That accommodation was as effective in deepening (or consolidating?) Australia's alliance with the US as the war itself was ineffective for securing Iraq, exporting democracy, and extending American prestige.

While Australia enhanced its Washington ties by standing with the great global power when others would not, there is little doubt that US power was eroded by an unpopular and costly entanglement decried as illegal at the time and from which it has yet to extract itself.

It was a strategic disaster. There is a direct line between the power vacuum caused by the destruction of the civil, military, and bureaucratic fabric in Iraq since 2003 and the rise of Sunni terrorists such as IS.
Lady's, the new Downton Brooklyn restaurant serving honey butter pizza, brings their pies to your weekend hangovers with the launch of their new brunch this Saturday. Instead of honey, it's Maple Butter Pizza with calabrian chili and sea salt; Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Pizza with mozzarella di Bufala, country ham and hen egg; and Funghi y Uovo Pizza with wild mushroom, hen egg, pecorino and thyme. Non pizza dishes include a Frittata with confit potato, caramelized shallot, arugula and smoked trout and Baked Eggs with polenta, braised chicken, butter and roasted tomato. Don't skip out on the Lady's Bloody Mary, which is made with with vodka, San Marzano tomato juice, calabrian chili, clam juice.

Astoria's Studio Square hosts Wingfest: Queens! this weekend, offering drumettes and flappers from Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens as chosen by Time Out New York. Spots including Austin's Ale House, Flattops, Mokja and Munch will be serving their takes on the bar food staple, and attendees also get two "D.E.W. & a Brew" boilermakers, featuring a shot of Tullamore D.E.W. and a beer from Bronx Brewery. The Fest kicks off at 11 a.m.; tickets $35.



Elevation Charcuterie and Artisan Meats (Facebook)

Charcuterie Masters returns following a successful initial run last year, taking over Flushing Town Hall for the evening this Saturday. It's part meat celebration and part competition for charcuterie makers around the country (and Canada), who'll assemble their finest sausages, salamis, bacons, lardos, prosciutto, and pates for the event, plus NYC chefs making charcuterie-type dishes. General Admission tickets are only $60 and include unlimited samples of meat (sweats are free), plus wines, beers, and ciders from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.



(courtesy Bronx Brewery)

The Bronx Brewery is throwing a Live Life No Resolutions Party party on Saturday evening meant as a "celebration of all things indulgence, as we embrace making plans in the new year, not resolutions." Beginning at 7 p.m., head over for beers (two are included in the $35 ticket) and a sandwich from Arthur Ave's Mike's Deli (a choice of eggplant parm, italian combo or the "No Resolutions Special"). There will also be cigars, a DJ, a gif booth and other party-type experiences.



(courtesy Left Bank)

Timpano, the baked "pasta cake" made famous by Big Night, leaps off the screen and onto your plate this Sunday at Left Bank in the West Village. Their version, which they've been offering on a limited basis for years, includes fresh garganelli, meatballs, pork sausage, spinach, broccoli rabe, prosciutto cottoo, sopressata, mozzarella, fresh ricotta, aged provolone, hardboiled eggs, and tomato sauce. That whole mess of ingredients is encased in pasta, baked in a cast iron enameled "basin" and then sliced like a cake. Get a slice with a winter caesar salad for $25.

Sunday evening, fellow FCI grads Jonathan Wu of Fung Tu and Tyler Kord of No. 7 Restaurant join forces for a 6-course family-style tasting menu that's centered around broccoli. Dishes include Fried Char Sui Broccoli Florets with dill and grapefruit; Broccolini, Pressed Tofu and Peanuts; and Roti Double Decker Broccoli Tacos. Reservations ($50) are available on Resy.
If the Liberal Party were a schoolyard - and really, it is, isn't it? - there'd be excitable kids rushing about, yelling that oldest of rallying cries: "Fight, fight, fight."

Here's Tony Abbott squaring off with his five-point plan for victory, neglecting only to shout the as-yet unspoken sixth, which is that he must be returned as gang leader.

And here's Malcolm Turnbull drawing a new line with his toe, a metre back from the one he drew before, and muttering "I won't be provoked."

Which sounds like a fellow whose alert level has just moved from agitated to adrenally disturbed.
Remember how the Australian tax payers shelled out about $3 million to bring Oprah to Australia in 2010?

Well our Kiwi cousins have lured her to NZ for free.

Oprah, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling in New Zealand. Credit:Instagram/@oprah

Not only does New Zealand do equality and company tax better than us, it also charms more celebrities.

While we got Oprah cuddling koalas in a Camilla kaftan, the reigning queen of daytime TV, and actual monarch for many, is in New Zealand making margaritas, horse riding and dancing at a late night joint called Gin and Raspberry with Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.
Who needs a job when you can sit in a makeshift jungle in South Africa raking in the cash?

The key to beating the Centrelink queue and earning more than depleted penalty rates? Become a D-list celebrity.

Tziporah Malkah is on I'm a Celebrity to raise funds for a homeless woman's shelter, where she also hopes to lose 20 kilograms. Credit:Ten

The cast of the latest season of Ten's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here have a range of talents spanning singing, home cooking and being dumped by a real-life Ken doll on national television.

But the wily ones lined up how they could line their pockets before changing into their khakis.
Kellyanne Conway, the first woman to run a successful US presidential campaign, said Thursday that she doesn't consider herself a feminist "in a classic sense" because the term is associated with being "anti-male" and "pro-abortion".

Conway, who now serves as White House counsellor to President Trump, made her comments at the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor in Maryland, where she also praised Trump's hiring of women and encouraged women to run for president.

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Thursday, February 23, 2017. Credit:AP

"It's difficult for me to call myself a feminist in a classic sense because it seems to be very anti-male, and it certainly is very pro-abortion, and I'm neither anti-male or pro-abortion," Conway said during a conversation on stage with conservative commentator Mercedes Schlapp. "So, there's an individual feminism if you will that you make your own choices... I look at myself as a product of my choices, not a victim of my circumstances."

Conway also decried what she termed a lot of women having "a problem with women in power".
A scholarship program at RMIT University in Melbourne is providing rare opportunities for Mongolian photojournalists to hone their craft in Australia.

The independent journalism community in Mongolia is small  the Press Council of Mongolia, the country's first independent media council, was established only in January last year  but it is vibrant and growing.

The Naadam festival of Mongolia is a much loved and celebrated festival. Children ride in a 28-kilometre horse race, risking injury and even death. Old and young Mongolians run to the winning horse to touch its sweat as Mongolians believe this brings them good luck. Credit:Davaanyam Delgerjargal

"Pre-independence in 1990, Mongolia had three official government sanctioned media outlets. In 2017 there is thirst for news and media outlets and newspapers continue to provide a healthy rate of employment for photographers. This is in direct contrast to the western world, where employment through newspapers is in decline," Jerry Galea, photojournalist fellow at RMIT told Fairfax Media.

The scholarship winner for 2016, Mongolian photojournalist Davaanyam Delgerjargal, spoke to Fairfax Media.
A teenage girl with autism facing deportation after eight years living in Australia has been granted permanent residency, following an eleventh-hour intervention by the Assistant Immigration Minister.

Sumaya Bhuiyan, 16, had been ordered to book her flight out of the country by Friday, February 24. Her family's application for permanent residency was rejected in 2013 after immigration health checks found Sumaya had a "moderate developmental delay" that would result in significant cost to Australian taxpayers, her mother Nasrin Haque told Fairfax Media on Thursday.

Dr Nasrin Haque, left, with her daughter Sumaya.

But on Friday, the Assistant Minister for Immigration, Alex Hawke, reconsidered his refusal to intervene, and granted Sumaya permanent residency.

Dr Haque said she burst into tears when Mr Hawke called her with the news. "I feel better, much better today," Dr Haque said.
NASA scientist Carmel Johnston says there were some definite health benefits to being stuck in a closed environment 2500 metres above sea level for a year. Johnston and her colleagues lived together in a cramped 111 square metres of floor space. There were six tiny sleeping cubicles up in a loft, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a shower and an exercise area. For most of the time, they all stayed indoors. Every week or so, two of them were allowed outside for a walk while wearing a bulky space suit, mimicking exploration of the planet surface. Communication with the outside world was by email only  with a 20-minute delay built in to simulate the time it takes for signals to travel between earth and the real Mars. In one very important way, the HI-SEAS adventurers  earth-bound astronauts, as they prefer  were fortunate. During their entire time on the volcano none became seriously ill, nor sustained any injuries worse than a bruised knee.

In real life, even with the massive resources of NASA behind them, it would have taken half a day to get an ill or injured crew member to the nearest hospital. On Mars, even if it were feasible, round-trip evacuation could take up to 600 days. "If you break your leg on Mars it would be a very important thing," said Johnston. "I believe you would have some medical training on your crew so you would be able to either stabilise the injury enough to have someone telecommute in and tell you what to do. Or you may have someone on the crew who can do surgery. "You will have to have all those skills yourself. You have to, because you're not going to send someone all the way back to earth just because of broken leg. You're going to fix them up, put them on bed rest, and supervise their recovery."

Depending on your disposition, it's a thought that brings to mind either the slick medical bays of the USS Enterprise, or the rough-hewn wooden tables and saw-wielding barber-surgeons of Cook's HMS Endeavour. There were, however, some definite health benefits to being stuck in a closed environment 2500m above sea level for a year. "We were completely isolated, so we weren't introduced to the flu or other conditions that were going around the world that we would have been exposed to otherwise," she said. It's an interesting observation. NASA is on course to send people to land and perhaps live on Mars as early as the 2030s. Assuming they were properly screened and healthy at take-off, they could constitute the first-ever human community to be permanently free from viral diseases. Other misfortunes, though, will still occur: strokes, aneurisms, cancers, accidents, perhaps even serious injury through violence. Johnston's mission, after all, was designed to test tolerance in confined spaces.

There were tensions, conflicts and arguments, even among people who knew all they had to do to escape was walk outside and call in a helicopter. When such things happen, as they eventually will, decisions need to be made. The very ill contribute nothing and consume scarce resources. You can't call the ambos and get them to the hospital. "You would probably need a protocol for end of life issues," she said. "I know even for us we were several hours from help. In some places, like Antarctica, you can be days away from medical care if you have an aneurism or something like that. You could pretty much die right on the spot. "That pretty much could have happen to any one of us, and we were lucky that it didn't." Johnston and her colleagues came down from Mauna Loa at the end of August, after which she returned to her home in Montana. Next month she is heading this way for appearances in Sydney, Melbourne in Adelaide.
An admission that the Sydney Catholic archdiocese provides financial support for convicted paedophile priests has drawn outrage from sex abuse survivors at a royal commission.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher told the inquiry the church supports convicted Catholic clergy living in the community.

"That would include assistance with housing and some other kinds of assistance," he told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

"I am so angry at what they have done, I don't want to give them anything further by way of help, but throwing them back on their family or community ... others would say that's just the church washing its hand again of responsibility.
A man has been charged with assaulting two Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers after a security scare outside the Governor-General's residence in Sydney overnight.

Officers were called to Admiralty House on Kirribilli Avenue, Kirribilli about 9pm after reports three men were attempting to enter the premises before being approached by AFP officers.

It's alleged a 35-year-old man approached an AFP vehicle and began to hit it before lashing out at two AFP officers and pushing them in the chest.

In video obtained by Nine News, police can be seen pinning the man to the ground and trying to calm him down.
Education special report: Opinion

When examining NSW school rankings, it's important to consider that rankings don't take International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma results into account.

Trinity Grammar School Sydney students study the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. Credit:Giovanni Porttelli

Historically, the IB Diploma was the domain of international schools. This is no longer the case, with participation in the IB Diploma having almost tripled in popularity since the early 2000s.

At Sydney's Trinity Grammar School, we've also seen a growing number of students elect to take this challenging and rigorous education option.
A maths teacher from a school on Sydney's north shore has been charged with sexually assaulting a student several times over the past three months.

Daniel James Gillen, 40, was arrested at his home in Toukley, on the Central Coast, at dawn on Thursday.

He started as a maths teacher at the co-educational school early last year, according to a school newsletter.

Police allege he befriended a 14-year-old student and sexually assaulted her on at least seven occasions between December and early this year.

He also allegedly touched her indecently.
There is also a movement to change STEM to STEAM, including the arts as a necessary ingredient in the creative process. Certainly the design features of innovative products are critical to the success of many, from the computers we hold to the features of our bathroom fittings. To be able to market products, one must be able to tell the world about features and communicate effectively to a range of audiences. Schools are therefore finding ways to help students approach innovation that will lead to solving real problems and this necessitates an interdisciplinary approach that crosses the traditional curriculum boundaries. A growing movement called Maker Education has taken hold across the world and is finding its way into Australian schools. The belief in experiential learning, that is, learning by doing, has been alive and well in schools for some time and is a foundation to this movement.

What is different, however, is finding time to allow deep thinking or "play" where students can tinker with both ideas and materials to learn about and produce new products and solutions. By embracing maker education, teachers are able to engage learners of all ages with a student-centred approach to creative thinking. The maker movement community acknowledges that real science and engineering is done through tinkering. Due to the expansion of technology in schools, it is now possible to provide many of the tools and learning opportunities that scientists and engineers use. This exciting landscape provides multiple pathways to learning and projects for students that were unimaginable just a few years ago.

Students' curiosity is ignited and their resourcefulness drives them to solving problems and looking at the world in fresh ways. Maker education environments differ greatly depending on the school and its focus areas. Some schools create maker spaces out of classrooms, others use portable trolleys equipped with the necessary tools and materials to be brought into any learning area. Most environments will in some way link with technology and may include small electronic items such as LCD lights, circuitry, robotic parts, 3D printers or laser cutters. Other more traditional materials such as hand tools, cardboard, textiles, paint, glue, nuts and bolts may also be used creatively to build something. For girls, the maker movement is providing a way to unlock and shift the stereotypical attitude that hand tools and technology are boys' domain.

By engaging in the maker environment, young women can now see possibilities for their future in careers where they may help solve a range of problems linked with engineering. Girls, being highly social during their teen years in particular, are often excited by opportunities to improve the quality of life for people and animals. Solutions to real problems can range from improving artificial limb technology to tracking endangered wildlife. Using 3D printing, sensors linked to computers and shared databases, problems can be worked on individually or in collaboration with others across the world. At the same time, it is encouraging to learn that the number of girls entering science, mathematics and technology courses at universities is on the increase. Both boys and girls are showing development in social-emotional skills in maker environments where hands on, experiential learning is the true focus.

In a structured, student-centred approach, goal setting is paramount where students take ownership of their learning and their project. Solving problems with time to tinker with ideas and materials builds tolerance for frustration and develops an attitude of persistence. In her paper on "user-generated education", Dr Jackie Gerstein notes that individual passion and drive often flourish in this environment as maker education creates active brains and is more likely to engage emotions for learners. Sharing successes and failures is a reflective learning practice that naturally occurs in a safe maker education environment. In educating lifelong learners, teachers aim to also develop their students' skills of collaboration and teamwork. Understanding multiple points of view and being able to build on others' ideas leads to better overall solutions to many engineering problems.

Recent interschool robotics competitions have recognised the value in these skills by giving points to teams that not only collaborate between team members but also to those who reach out to solve other teams' problems. Adding value to others' work can also improve a sense of belonging for students involved in maker education. As educators prepare students for the future, change will be a certain reality for young people heading into the work force. The ability to be flexible and "make a job" as opposed to simply "finding a job" is a mindset that is now being nurtured by this trend in maker education. For Australia to be a leading country in innovation, it is crucial that we provide education that allows young people to be creative, self-directed, purposeful and confident in working with others. The maker movement is preparing students to be our future innovators and entrepreneurs .
The day before he was murdered, Michael McGurk told a businessman based in Hawaii that the following day he planned to "expose" Ron Medich, the man now accused of orchestrating his murder.

The wealthy property developer has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr McGurk, 45, who was shot in the back of the head outside his Cremorne home on September 3, 2009.

Evidence: Paul Mathieson, chairman of Amazing Loans. Credit:Andrew Quilty

After the murder, Paul Mathieson told police that, in February 2009, Mr McGurk told him he planned to "bring down" Mr Medich by secretly recording a conversation, which Mr McGurk later confirmed he had done.

Mr Mathieson also told police that he had met Mr Medich in New Zealand in May 2009. On that occasion Mr Medich, who was "angry and aggressive", told Mr Mathieson he was going to "fix" Mr McGurk.
Where there were four agriculture classes offered at the school in years 9-12 in 2007, now there are 15, including 68 students studying HSC agriculture this year.

Whether the bucolic shots are a drawcard is debatable. What's not is Barker's growth in students studying agriculture.

Brochures for agriculture study at Sydney's Barker College include images of rolling green hills and teens on horseback.

Between 1300-1400 students across NSW each year sit the HSC agriculture exam.

Scott Graham, Barker's head of agriculture, attributes the growth in student interest in part to Australia's highly technologically advanced industry and its relevance to students' lives.

"We impress on students the impact they can have in the world if they do something related to agriculture, since everyone needs food and fibre."

Students who graduate from agriculture at university level can move into careers as diverse as biosecurity, commodities trading, banking, carbon and water trading as well as animal sciences, grazing and farming.

Graham estimates about 60 per cent of agriculture jobs are based in cities rather than in rural areas.
Some choose a school based on family tradition, some for the location as part of a matrix of what transport works best. Some parents are motivated by a school's academic record, others base an enrolment decision on fees. Longer working days required of many parents has seen some schools offer extended programs to day students, including a to-8.30pm dinner service. It's a practical solution for parents juggling work and family in Sydney, where two incomes are often needed to pay a mortgage and school fees. Danny Stucci stays for dinner twice a week at school and is happy with more than just the food. "I like how they treat you. They treat day boys like it's our home too, not just the boarders' home," he says. Some schools have long offered after-school study groups and homework club alongside sport, music and extracurricular groups that see students staying on at school after the formal day ends.

And some parents have long enrolled their children in a supervised at-school extracurricular program each day of the school week. However, extending school hours services to include dinner is growing. At The King's School Parramatta, an extended day caters to parents who collect their sons after dinner between 8.30pm and 9pm. "The boundaries between that which traditionally operated at home and that which traditionally operated at school are now being dissolved," King's School former headmaster Timothy Hawkes told the Herald last year. "Most parents are in a dual-income situation," he said. "Many parents might be asset rich, but they are time poor  we can help out in that regard."

At Kincoppal-Rose Bay, where the library hosts a homework centre after school Monday to Thursday, extended enrolment is available to year 5-year 12 day students, who join boarders for afternoon tea and dinner, under the care of library staff, to 8.30pm. St Joseph's College headmaster Ross Tarlinton has said three quarters of the school's 500 day students use the extended day service each week. Around the river from Joeys at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview, an after-school study program for day students in years 7-12 operates Monday-Thursday to 7.30pm and costs $65 a student an afternoon. Extended school hours may be more than just a boon for working parents, however. The Australian Scholarship Group's Parents Report Card 2016 notes many parents are concerned about their child's time management skills and ability to complete homework, especially boys. "While it's a universal fact that many children generally don't enjoy homework, our findings show that parents believe girls have the edge on boys when it comes to independent study," the ASG's report notes.
Moves to scrap the 1am lockout in Queensland have been given the green light, with a parliamentary committee recommending a bill be passed.

In January, the government announced it would scrap the 1am lockout, which was originally proposed as part of a suite of measures to reduce alcohol-fuelled violence.

A Queensland parliamentary committee has recommended the 1am lockout be scrapped. Credit:Arsineh Houspian

From July 1, 2016, service of alcohol was required to stop at 2am across Queensland, or 3am last drinks in Safe Night Precincts, such as in the Fortitude Valley, and shots were banned after midnight.

A 1am lockout was due to come into effect in February.
Labor held the seat of Indooroopilly for three elections before Mr Emerson won it in 2009. Mr Emerson said his first house with his wife Robbie was at Auchenflower and his children went to schools in the area. Dr Miles said he would be running at the next state election, regardless of what the maps meant for him, but did not confirm which seat he would contest. "I haven't yet had the chance to discuss... these outcomes properly with my wife and my family. "Obviously we're established in the community that I currently represent."

The electorates close to Maiwar - Ashgrove (now Cooper) and Brisbane Central (now McConnel) - are already held by Labor ministers Kate Jones and Grace Grace. Mr Nicholls would not be drawn on whether the redistribution would benefit the LNP or Labor more across Queensland. "The changes are what they are," he said. "A lot of people will make claims about what the changes mean." Mr Nicholls also did not say how many LNP MPs he thought would need to change seats but said there was a phone hook-up yesterday.

"We will look at the maps over the next couple of days and we'll make some decisions in consultation," he said. Mr Nicholls also did not answer whether his own seat of Clayfield had become more marginal. The Greens will also need to decide what to do with their preselected candidates, including Michael Berkman in the old seat of Mount Coot-tha. Queensland Greens convenor Andrew Bartlett said it was too early to comment on the plan for Mr Berkman, with the boundaries still in the proposal stage, but they would need to re-examine preselection in a small number of seats. The Greens have also already preselected a candidate, yet to be announced, in the old seat of Ashgrove, which will be removed.

"It's less than ideal but that's what redistributions do and this one is a bigger and more disruptive one than usual because of the extra seats," he said. Mr Bartlett said he believed the new boundaries would strengthen their position in South Brisbane and McConnel. Queensland University of Technology politics expert Clive Bean said Maiwar would combine solid LNP territory in Indooroopilly and Labor/Green heartland in Mount Coot-tha. "It's not unusual to have urban seats in the metropolitan area that are like that, that have a good core of Liberal and a good core of Labor areas, so it's not like that's something new," Professor Bean said. "But, my guess  and obviously it's very early days and there'll be a lot of number crunching to go in the future and this is just a draft and could change  but my view is that seat will probably play more into the hands of the LNP and, therefore, it could be Labor on the outer there.

"It's really more Indooroopilly than it is Mount Coot-tha." The next state election is due by May 2018 but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has repeatedly said it is due about this time next year. Ms Palaszczuk has committed to fighting the next election on the new boundaries of 93 seats, rather than the old 89. Professor Bean said voters would punish Ms Palaszczuk if she went to the polls before the new boundaries came into effect. "To go in that period would seem so cynical to the electorate and it would give so much fodder to all the collective opposition parties," he said.
Alphabet's self-driving car business, Waymo, sued Uber Technologies for stealing trade secrets in the development of autonomous cars, accelerating an already-heated rivalry over the nascent technology.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in San Francisco federal court, accuses several employees of Otto, a self-driving startup Uber acquired in July, of lifting technical information from Google's autonomous car project. Waymo claims that Otto's "calculated theft" of Alphabet's technology earned Otto's employees more than US$500 million.

"Fair competition spurs new technical innovation, but what has happened here is not fair competition," Waymo said in the suit. "Instead, Otto and Uber have taken Waymo's intellectual property so that they could avoid incurring the risk, time, and expense of independently developing their own technology."

A representative from Uber didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Melbourne doctor who asked a patient for sex while offering to help her get a disability pension was twice warned by medical authorities not to cross professional boundaries with patients.

The Medical Board of Australia is now seeking to have general practitioner Hassan Alkazali's registration suspended "for a significant period of time", but not cancelled.

Dr Hassan Alkazali outside VCAT. Credit:Jason South

The Glenroy-based GP has been the subject of more than a dozen complaints over a decade, most relating to quality of care, and has been sanctioned at least five times but has continued seeing patients without conditions on his medical registration.

Dr Alkazali was last month found to have engaged in four counts of professional misconduct over inappropriate text messages to the female patient, and promises to help her get a pension for schizophrenia, a condition he could not have reasonably believed she suffered from.
Vicious infighting threatens to tear apart the congregation of one of Melbourne's largest mosques, amid claims that millions of dollars of donations have disappeared and accusations that a sheikh had behaved inappropriately with women.

The conflict came to a head last week when Sheikh Mohamad Abou Eid  who had been banned from Preston Mosque  told hundreds of worshippers on the street outside that he feared management of the mosque had misappropriated donations, and fees paid for burial and school services.

Sheikh Mohamad Abou Eid wears dark glasses as he walks to Preston Mosque before Friday prayers. Credit:Jason South

The Islamic Society of Victoria, which manages the mosque, reported allegations of inappropriate behaviour by the sheikh to the Board of Imams.

He was suspended, and, despite later being told the claims could not be proven, resigned from his position on Friday.
An alleged victim of a Trinity Grammar teacher has come forward after 40 years, saying the school knew he was abused and they are still protecting the teacher today.

The man, now in his 50s, came forward after Fairfax Media reported on Monday that school heads sent out a letter paying tribute to former teacher Christopher Howell's "extraordinary legacy".

Christopher Howell from Trinity Grammar publication 'The Grammarian' in July 2013.

"I've never been more disgusted with something than that letter," John*, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said.

"The vision of Howell was enough to make me sick, but what the school was saying about him; it was a lie and the school knew it was a lie and it protected him.
Some of the alleged breaches. A link to full text and documentation of alleged breaches is at https://tinyurl.com/jp34dg7 Credit:Emma Young Minister Frydenberg's departmental staff told Senator Ludlam in the hearing that the Minister had consulted his staff before deciding not to hand over the documents. The federal government is obliged to oversee the project because the site is home to nationally protected endangered species, including black cockatoos, two species of orchid and a native flowering herb with only 200 specimens remaining in the wild. Witness photograph Banksia woodland, which provides food for black cockatoos, is also nationally protected  but its endangered listing occurred soon after the project was referred to the federal government.

This meant public servants were obliged to proceed as though the woodlands were not endangered when setting their conditions, the inquiry heard. Witness photograph Compliance and enforcement assistant secretary Monica Collins said the department had received a "large number" of allegations of environmental breaches of matters under federal jurisdiction. Trained auditors qualified to do the job had been flown in from Canberra to investigate. Witness photograph

Those so far investigated had not been substantiated, apart from one minor matter in which Main Roads WA had failed to produce reports on time and had now been warned. "We have other allegations that we are still considering," she said. Some of the alleged breaches. A link to full text and documentation of alleged breaches is at https://tinyurl.com/jp34dg7 Credit:Emma Young "We take our responsibilities seriously." The departmental staff told the inquiry that a staffer for contractor AECOM was tasked with checking for potential black cockatoo nesting hollows and had found 26 trees with hollows.

They could confirm none of these had yet been felled but could not confirm AECOM's method of checking for nesting birds in the hollows or promise to release the survey results. "They are asking us to believe that they sent a team through a five-kilometre stretch of bushland," Senator Ludlam said. "Given the number of people on the site it is amazing that none of the volunteers saw it. "This inquiry was triggered by us saying if you don't hand this information over by a certain date we will hold an inquiry. "Now miraculously they have not been able to bring the documents."

The alleged breaches of the environmental conditions regarding the dead southern brown bandicoots were not under federal jurisdiction, the staff said, but were the affair of the state. The state declined to attend the hearing to respond to the allegations, despite invitations issued to Environment Minister Albert Jacob and representatives of the Environmental Protection Authority, proponent Main Roads WA and its contractors and subcontractors. WA professor Richard Hobbs, part of the Beeliar Group association of WA scientists formed late last year over concerns about the environmental management process, told the panel the breaches were "obvious and persistent". He said the fauna management plan complied with standard practice with bandicoots, but was poor in relation to reptile trapping. "These animals are cryptic and hard to trap effectively so the plan does not allow sufficient time," he said.

"Also it did not include turtles which were identified afterwards and again the trapping period was way too short. "It's all to do with the speed of the process, the rush of trying to get this happening [before the election] that makes the implementation of the plan so difficult. "Overall, the fauna specialists have had a tough job to do here and some at least are doing their best. But there are many problems." He pointed out the Fauna Management Plan was completed only days before work began and was not made available to the public until after work had begun. "The south west of WA is one of the declared biodiversity hotspots in the world with a huge diversity of flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world," he said.

"The Beeliar Wetland is one of the jewels in that crown, not just because of its biology, but because of its location in the middle of the city  its social value is huge. That is why you are getting such an emotive response." A colleague, UWA professor John Bailey, described Beeliar Regional Park as the Kings Park of southern Perth. "No one would dream of bulldozing Kings Park," he said. A strip of land about 25 metres wide and 4.5 kilometres long has been bulldozed, say protesters, and though there are substantial areas of bushland still waiting to be cleared work is progressing fast. The senate committee, which includes Labor, Greens and Liberal senators, is due to make its report on March 6.

This will be just five days before the state election that will decide whether the project continues under a Liberal government or ceases under Labor, which has promised to spend the money on other congestion-relieving measures. A Department of Energy spokesman said the Department of the Environment and Energy had requested information from the state EPA office more than a week ago and could not respond to the Senate until it received this information. A spokeswoman for Minister Jacob said the allegations were unfounded. "The Roe Highway extension is being constructed in accordance with the approved conditions and management plans. The Office of the Environmental Protection Authority has independent auditors on site daily when work is underway to monitor compliance with conditions. All allegations have been examined and there have been no incidences of non-compliance to date," she said. Dean Roberts, spokesman for Main Roads WA, said all work undertaken to date has complied fully with environmental conditions.
US President Donald Trump addresses conservatives. Credit:AP During his remarks, Trump said that in a matter of days, he would have a "brand new action" to keep the country safe, a reference to a second attempt at an executive order to restrict travel into the country from several majority-Muslim nations. Trump cited a series of terrorist attacks overseas and said: "We have to be smart, folks. We can't let it happen to us. We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country." Thumbs up from Trump supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Credit:AP "I will never ever, ever apologise for protecting the safety and security of the American people," Trump said, adding that he's even willing to get bad press for doing so.

Trump sought to portray his fledgling administration as one of action, ticking off multiple fronts on which he's already moved: pulling out of a major trade deal, reducing regulations, cracking down on illegal immigrants and clearing the way for construction of major oil pipelines. Trump also touted his efforts to "massively lower taxes" and replace the Affordable Care Act. He called it "the disaster known as Obamacare", to great applause. He also asserted that his presidency was already producing more jobs, and said it was time for all Americans to "get off of welfare and get back to work". He pledged "one of the greatest military build-ups in American history" and to "totally obliterate" the Islamic State terrorist group. "Nobody will dare question our military might again," Trump said.

The president also pledged to revamp the country's trade policies and reprised his core campaign promise of building a US-Mexico border wall. "For too long, we've traded away our jobs to other countries. We've defended other nations' borders while leaving ours wide open," Trump said, prompting cries to "build a wall". Trump pledged the construction of the wall on the US border with Mexico would begin soon, even though it is unclear where the money to pay for it will come from. "We're going to build a wall, don't worry about it," the president said. Trump used the opening of his remarks to again denounce the media, saying many stories about his administration are "fake news" with stories that rely on anonymous sources. Trump pointed to a Washington Post story this month that cited nine current and former intelligence sources who said Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn discussed US economic sanctions on Russia with that country's ambassador before Trump took office. Trump said he didn't believe there were nine sources. "They make up sources. They are very dishonest people," Trump said. The Post's stories helped lead to Flynn's resignation after further disclosures that he had misled administration officials, including Vice President Pence, over the nature of his conversations.

"We are fighting the fake news," Trump said. "It's fake, phony, fake." Trump, who has taken a combative posture toward several media outlets, derided CNN as the "Clinton news network", as he has done before. Trump's fledgling administration has given conservatives plenty to cheer, including many Cabinet selections and Trump's pledges to repeal the Affordable Care Act and pursue sweeping tax reform. During his speech, he called his victory "a win for conservative values". The speech marked the fifth time Trump has addressed the conference hosted by the American Conservative Union, which is showcasing how he has pushed the Republican Party and the conservative movement toward an "America first" nationalism that has long existed on the fringes.

Trump's first appearance in 2011 offered clues to his political ambitions. "America today is missing quality leadership, and foreign countries have quickly realised this," he said six years ago. "[The] theory of a very successful person running for office is rarely tested because most successful people don't want to be scrutinised or abused," he said. "This is the kind of person that the country needs and we need it now." In a speech on Thursday night, Pence touted the Trump administration's plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, declaring "America's Obamacare nightmare is about to end". Earlier in the day, Trump's chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and Stephen K. Bannon, the White House chief strategist, made a joint appearance. They declared that, contrary to some press reports, they are working hand in hand toward what Bannon described as an unending battle for the "deconstruction of the administrative state".
Lisbon: A former spy, convicted in absentia in Italy of snatching an Egyptian cleric off the streets and spiriting him out of the country under the US's controversial "extraordinary rendition" program, is in solitary confinement in Portugal and facing an uncertain future with Portugal set to hand her over to Italian authorities next week.

Portugal is likely to extradite former CIA officer Sabrina de Sousa to Italy on condition she is retried, her lawyer said on Thursday.

Sabrina De Sousa, a former CIA agent, denies she played a role in the kidnapping and rendition of an Egyptian cleric in Italy. Credit:New York Times

Ms de Sousa, who is a dual US-Portuguese citizen and denies involvement in the abduction, was detained by Portuguese police on Monday and is awaiting extradition in a prison in Porto. Italian prosecutors want her to serve a six-year sentence.

She is one of 26 people convicted in absentia on charges of abducting Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr from Milan in 2003 and taking him to be questioned in Egypt under the US "extraordinary rendition" program.
Bangkok: One of the most vocal critics of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly crackdown on drugs remained defiant after being arrested on Friday, declaring "I am innocent of these trumped up charges."

Senator Leila de Lima, 57, told reporters moments before she was taken to jail that "it is my honour to be imprisoned for the things I am fighting forplease pray for me".

Philippine opposition Senator Leila de Lima, center, is escorted to her detention on Friday, a day after a warrant for her arrest was issued. Credit:AP

For months Senator de Lima, a former human rights commissioner and justice secretary, has campaigned against the drugs crackdown ordered by Mr Duterte. The campaign has seen more than 7000 Filipinos killed, including children as young as five.

On Tuesday she called Mr Duterte a "sociopathic serial killer" and urged lawmakers to declare him unfit to be president.
Washington: In a week in which the US media has been found to be vastly more credible than Donald Trump, the White House has doubled down in its war with reporters, with Trump's chief strategist Stephen Bannon declaring the new administration to be locked in an unending battle against the media and other "globalist" forces.

Claiming that Trump was "maniacally focused" on keeping his campaign pledges, Bannon warned in a speech to a conservative political conference of a daily fight against the media  which he often brands as the opposition party.

On stage with White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, Bannon assailed the media as, to use a Trump phrase from last week, the enemy of the American people.

"The mainstream media ought to understand something: all those promises are going to be implemented," he said.
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao:--- The political developments in Curacao have taken a new high, on Thursday afternoon after MP Jacinta Constancia (MFK) walked up to the former Chairlady of parliament Giselle McWilliam (MAN) and dealt her a heavy blow in the face causing her to lose a tooth.

Police have since detained Constancia who told reporters that she does not know what went to her head, however, she will bear the consequences of her actions and also resign from parliament and turn her seat over to the party on which she was elected.

All of the hype that led to Thursdays physical attack started since the MAN lost their majority last Sunday and the government of Curacao requested that the government of Curacao dissolve the parliament of Curacao and call for new elections that are scheduled for April 28th.

According to information provided SMN News, this is not the first time Constancia got involved with police that she even has an ongoing criminal case. Constancia was imprisoned in 2015 she was charged with embezzlement, money laundering, forgery, and swindling. The case brought against Constancia was about the purchase of mouth masks which were not delivered. The case is known as the Dubnium case where NAF. 365,000.00 was paid for the surgical masks which were never delivered.Constancia was accused of swindling over Euros 150,000 (NAF 300,000.00) while she was the Minister of Health.

In a press statement, the prosecutor's office of Curacao stated that they took note of the events in the Parliament on Thursday afternoon. In response to these events, the Attorney General (PG) handed over over the case to the Landsrechereche of Curacao to investigate the criminal actions of MP Constancia.

MP McWilliam filed a complaint against her colleague MP Constancia who slapped her during a parliament meeting. McWilliam filed a complaint of abuse and threats against Constancia. Another MP Rozendal also reported threats by Mrs. Constantia. MP Constantia was arrested red-handed in respect assault and is currently in detention at the Landsrecherche to be heard as a suspect. The criminal investigation is ongoing. Later in the afternoon the board of MFK issued a statement stating that the party does not condone any type of physical abuse, as such, they issued a public apology to Ms. Gisella McWilliam and the people of Curacao.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Dutch Caribbean Coastguard detained three (3) people in the early hours of February 24th. All three with the Venezuelan nationality.

This morning around 00.30 o clock, the radar operator of the Rescue and Coordination Centre from the Coastguard detected a suspicious contact on the radar south of Curacao. A Super-RHIB patrol was immediately launched from sub-station Curacao. At Vrijgezellen Bay, an unlit vessel type yola was detected with three (3) people on board. All three with the Venezuelan nationality. None of them could show a valid residence permit so they were taken including the vessel to the coastguard pier in Parera. There they were handed over to the Police.The vessel was confiscated. The xcase is further under investigation.
GREAT BAY(DCOMM):--- Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), announces that Tiger Road in Cay Hill between Kooyman and Cross Fit will be closed.

This closure will take place on Saturday, February 25 at 6.00am and reopen at 5.00am Monday, February 27.

There will be no through traffic on Tiger Road. Kooyman drives through customers has to access the drive through the area via Panther Road on Kooymans parking lot.

The project entails the removal of damaged concrete, ground works and pouring the road.

The contractor carrying out the works is Bremer Deco-Crete & Landscaping B.V.

Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconveniences this may cause.
Snapdocs Vendor Pay Surpasses $2 Million in Payouts to Notary Signing Agents Facilitating Mortgage Loan Closings

SAN FRANCISCO, CA  (Marketwired)  02/23/17  , a modern technology platform that simplifies mortgage loan closings, today announced a major milestone: its Vendor Pay technology has issued more than $2 million in payouts to nearly 7,000 different notary vendors across the United States. Vendor Pay enables mortgage lenders and title companies to automatically compensate thousands of different notary vendors on a rolling basis through Automated Clearing House (ACH).

Moving toward a paperless environment and automating manual processes are two key steps to modernization that save companies time, money, and manpower, commented Snapdocs CEO Aaron King. Vendor Pay lifts a major burden off closing teams, eliminating the need to physically process checks and respond to ongoing inquiries regarding payment status from notaries, who increasingly are being tapped to execute mortgage closings remotely.

King added, Direct deposit is expected in our modern world; Vendor Pay helps our customers meet this expectation of their third-party vendors while on autopilot.

For decades, mortgage companies Accounts Payable (AP) departments have manually processed hundreds  even thousands  of notary invoices every month. Before Snapdocs rolled out Vendor Pay in July 2016, notary signing agents had to wait 30 to 90 days to get paid for handling mortgage closings. Snapdocs Vendor Pay decreases the wait time for payment to under 30 days and eliminates lost checks.

Adopting Vendor Pay was not only a big step toward bringing our closing operations fully in-house, but it has also helped us strengthen our relationships with notaries, commented Mike Harris, Owner of Satellite Signing Services. Maintaining good rapport with notaries supports smoother closing operations and a better borrower experience, which is one of our top priorities.

Vendor Pay creates transparency into payment status for all parties. For mortgage signings completed, notaries and settlement services companies can log into Snapdocs to track payments with progress indicators ranging from when a signing is complete to when funds are available in the notarys bank account.

Predictable, reliable payments through Snapdocs Vendor Pay make notary work competitive with other opportunities in the on-demand economy, said notary signing agent Aaron Rhine. I never have to hassle with cashing or losing checks, and it makes it much simpler to do my accounting.

Snapdocs technology platform modernizes mortgage signings, enabling secure document transfer, transparency regarding progress of every loan, and collaboration between all necessary parties throughout the closing process. It also allows settlement services companies to algorithmically source top-rated, well-qualified signing agents based on needs ranging from location to languages spoken. Snapdocs helps its customers rival the consumer experiences delivered by the most innovative companies from every industry, with on-demand information, positive face-to-face interactions, and a level of convenience only available with out-of-office mortgage closings.

To learn more about how Vendor Pay transforms the way mortgage lenders and title companies pay third-party vendors like notaries, go to .

Founded in 2012, Snapdocs provides a modern technology platform to replace outdated and wasteful workflows that are prevalent during the loan closing process. The company ranks and sorts mobile notary signing agents according to performance metrics and creates a more seamless workflow for lenders, title and escrow, document signing services, and real estate professionals. Snapdocs is an alum of Y Combinator, the prestigious Silicon Valley accelerator known for helping to launch trailblazing technology startups. To learn more, go to .

:

Lauren DuBois

(917) 573-2485
OVH Global Expansion Continues with New US Data Center

MONTREAL, QC  (Marketwired)  02/23/17  , a global leader in cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), today announced acquisition of a new data center facility in the US. Located in Hillsboro, Oregon, this facility joins Vint Hill, Virginia as the second US data center, with a third North American data center located in Canada. These installations will allow OVH to support its more than one million customers needs for global presence and respond to the growing demand for outsourced digital infrastructures throughout the world.

451 Research that cloud spending would reach $21.9 billion in 2016 and would grow to more than $44.2 billion by 2020. Existing cloud users are scaling their IT environments, while other businesses pursue IT modernization by migrating to the cloud for the first time. And of that demand, Global Industry Analysts the US market is the largest  estimated to be worth at least $7.5 billion by 2020.

OVH uses its patented green technology to run data centers with significantly less power. Proprietary water-cooled servers save energy on cooling and also enable the company to run the processors faster, as a result of the efficient heat transfer technology.

For years, leading tech companies have been trying to figure out how to cool their data centers for less money, said Pascal Jaillon, Vice President of Research & Development for OVH US. Legacy data centers have been using expensive forced air conditioning to cool servers. OVHs innovation in data center cooling is just the first of many that will be introduced in this growing market.

Coupled with Vint Hills east coast location, the new west coast data center will ensure redundancy and scale for US-based companies. Just 20 miles from Portland, the Hillsboro data center will house about 80,000 servers in 112,500 square feet. Announced in October, the Vint Hill data center is currently under construction and staffing up. Initial offers for businesses interested in expanding to the US data centers are targeted to be available in summer from the Vint Hill location.

With this new location, OVH now has 23 data centers around the world in 11 countries, spanning four continents. The Hillsboro data center extends the global fiber network, which delivers top performance with a capacity of 10+ Tbps ensuring optimal latency and security. To deliver a consistent level of service, OVH offers 32 points of presence worldwide and owns thousands of miles of fiber globally. All new data centers include anti-DDoS protection free of charge.

OVH is hiring for multiple roles based in the US. To learn more, visit:

In addition, OVH will participate in Lord Fairfax Community College Job Fair on March 6, 2017. For more information, visit:

To learn more about OVHs data center locations and offers, visit:

OVH is a leading global Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider that offers innovative products and services focusing on dedicated servers, private and public cloud. Founded in 1999, the company is an established partner for millions of professionals worldwide. OVH owes its success not only to a development model built on innovation, but also to maintaining full control over the supply chain, from server manufacturing and in-house maintenance of its infrastructure right down to customer support. OVH ensures stable and reliable product and service offerings to clients across all its brands, while providing the best value. Learn more about and follow the company on Twitter .

Image Available:

Media Contact

Guillaume Gilbert
ERICSSON Joins New IP Agency

NEW YORK, NY  (Marketwired)  02/23/17  Today the New IP Agency (NIA) welcomed Ericsson AB as its newest member. The New IP Agency (NIA) is an international non-profit organization that provides information, education, analysis, community services and independent testing to support and accelerate the development of a global economy based on open, advanced, virtualized New IP networks.

The NIAs community of virtualization professionals is dedicated to working with todays standards to create proven methodologies that will reduce or eliminate the need for costly, time-consuming and repetitive tests. Currently, service providers duplicate interoperability tests, often for the same technologies and functions  a process that takes up invaluable resources; adds to the sales cycle; and may reduce service providers interest in better, newer offerings.

Through the NIAs Technical Advisory Committee, Ericsson will help steer NIAs focus areas, including how service providers and vendors can work toward interoperability between the more than three-dozen standards currently operating within the virtualization ecosystem.

Ericsson is proud to join the NIA and help drive its independent work in accelerating the global development of telecoms. The new paradigm of innovative and open virtualized networks requires new ways of working with dimensioning, commissioning and support, and we are delighted to share our expertise and experience in these areas, says Martin Backstrom, vice president of the CTO Office and head of IT strategy at Ericsson AB.

Ericssons decision to join NIA is a historic moment for our organization. Together with Cisco, Huawei and Nokia, we now count all four of the leading NFV solution providers as members, accelerating the NIAs ability to move quickly to resolve the virtualization industrys most challenging interoperability issues, said Stephen Saunders, CEO of Light Reading.

Founded in 2016, NIA works with service provider and developer members on interoperability concerns amongst more than three-dozen standards and industry groups addressing virtualization. Through independent testing via partner EANTC and marketing with partner Light Reading, NIA members share knowledge and customer insight to improve product integration, performance and profitability.

Ericsson joins other leading developers, including Brocade, Cisco, Dell, ECI, Huawei, Juniper, Nokia, Mitel and ZTE. A full list of the NIAs membership may be found .

For information about NIA, please contact .

The New IP Agency (NIA) () is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) (pending IRS approval) independent initiative providing information, education, analysis, community services and testing to support and accelerate the development of a global economy based on open, advanced, virtualized IP networks.

Amy Averbook

917-743-2693
Maetrics launches NEW Training Courses for 2017

New public and in-house training courses announced

Maetrics, a leading global management consulting firm providing life sciences companies with deep quality, compliance, and regulatory solutions has launched its new series of public and in-house training courses for 2017. The independently CPD certified public training courses, provide company staff at all levels of development with key skills to understand the regulatory environment at this time of change.

The courses will be held in Birmingham with selected courses also available in Basel, Switzerland and can be accessed in an approachable one or two day format. Specifically, the theme of the new Medical Device Regulation (MDR) will be covered in a two-day training course. The CE Markings 93/42/EEC and the new MDR session aims to provide businesses with a practical overview of the major features of the Medical Devices Directive and of the new Medical Device Regulation. In this changing regulatory environment the course will help ground an understanding of key terminology, product classification, conformity assessment routes, Technical Files and Essential Requirements, while at the same time looking ahead at impending changes.

The EN ISO 13485 Internal Auditor course provides quality professionals in the medical devices industry with a practical guide to staying EN ISO 13485 compliant and having a programme of internal audits to support that. The course aims to equip delegates with the skills to plan, conduct, report and follow up an internal audit, and evaluate any corrective and preventive actions arising from the audit.

Early-booking rates are available:

 EN ISO 13485 Internal Auditor- 29/30th March and 13/14th September

 CE Markings 93/42/EEC and the new MDR, Birmingham -6/7th July and 12/13th September

Peter Rose, Managing Director of Maetrics, comments, The in-house and public courses, which accommodate a limited number of participants to ensure that they are run as interactive workshops are a key part of our varied and ranging service portfolio. They complement our consultancy services and complete our offering to the life sciences industry. Through our classes, businesses can provide staff with easy to manage, focused and interactive introductions to specific regulatory, quality and compliance aspects.

Visit www.maetrics.co.uk for more information or contact us on +44 (0)115 921 6200 for dates and venues.
SCSK to launch next-generation VDI solutions, Workspot VDI 2.0

TOKYO, JAPAN  (Marketwired)  02/23/17  SCSK Corporation () announced that it has completed the distributor agreement with Workspot, Inc. (), the leader in next-generation Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), and will start selling Workspots cloud-native, multi-tenant, and infinitely scalable VDI 2.0. DaaS 2.0 solution is planned to be released in 2017.

1. Background

Today the number of companies adopting VDI solutions to improve security, internal control, and BCP is ever increasing. In particular, financial institutions and manufacturing companies that deal with highly confidential information, such as personal data and/or design patents, are embracing VDI. However, there are many challenges that companies face when adopting traditional VDI solutions. Some of the most common problems include high costs and performance issues, due to the complicated architecture of traditional VDI solutions. On average it can take twelve months for large enterprises to fully implement VDI solutions, large sums of money spent on a proof of concept (POC) and hiring expensive engineers to set up the environment. One of the most common issues after implementation involves performance issues that are expensive and difficult to improve. SCSK will offer the Workspot VDI 2.0 solutions, which are based on simple and highly scalable architectures, differing from complex traditional VDI solutions.

2. Product Summary

Workspot VDI 2.0 is an all-in-one VDI solution, enabling IT to go from zero to client virtualization in 60 minutes. Workspot allows IT administrators to easily deploy thousands of virtual desktops in hours  instead of weeks or months  using Workspots web-based management console on infrastructure that resides on premises and/or in the cloud. Workspot DaaS 2.0 reinvents traditional DaaS and delivers the benefits of running VDI workloads on any Microsoft Azure region in the world.

The secret behind Workspots speed is its cloud-native control plane architecture. By separating the control and data planes, Workspot simplifies client virtualization deployments by replacing the complex mash that is the operational front end  including load balancing, brokering, databases, web portal, and provisioning services  with a cloud service. By eliminating those components, Workspot VDI deploys in 60 minutes, requiring only IT generalists, rather than expensive client virtualization specialists, and fewer IT resources overall.

Furthermore, the Workspot solution can work as a Mobile Desktop Management (MDM) platform which provides visibility into device usage, applies security policy on devices, and offers a remote wipe feature in case devices are lost.

SCSK provides a full lineup of services to support any area of IT solution required for businesses from system integration to IT infrastructure implementation, IT management, BPO (business process outsourcing), and IT hardware and software sales.

In addition, we take advantage of the capability to support a global IT system network for customers including Sumitomo Corporation, aiming for further leaps ahead as a global IT services company.

Workspot has reinvented Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with its cloud-native VDI 2.0 and Desktop-as-a-Service 2.0 (DaaS 2.0) solutions. With the ability to deploy thousands of virtual desktops in hours  not weeks or months  Workspot solves the corporate challenge of securely delivering apps, desktops and data to any device and helps organizations achieve unprecedented time-to-value for VDI implementations. A frictionless experience across mobile, Mac and PC platforms delights users with its elegance and simplicity. Based in Cupertino, California, Workspot was awarded the Best of VMworld 2016 Gold Award for Desktop and Application Delivery solutions. For more information, visit .

Kate Amery
Mobile World Congress 2017: Orange invites cloud security specialist Secucloud to its booth

German IT security specialist to present its innovative security concept on the Orange booth at MWC 2017

Hamburg, Germany. 24 February 2017  Whether we use our smartphones and tablets for online shopping, mobile banking or payments  even for financial transactions they have become an essential part of our everyday lives  and a very attractive target for hackers and cyber-criminals. The threat situation is growing continuously in Europe as in other parts of the world, as reports on the spread of the Android Trojan HummingBad have shown. Against this backdrop, the leading French telco Orange has invited the German IT security specialist Secucloud to its stand 3D10 in Hall 3 at this years Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. On the 1st of March, the Secucloud specialists will all day be demonstrating their cloud-based security solution ECS2 on the Orange booth. The solution enables telcos to protect the entire mobile internet traffic of their private and business customers with high-performance, enterprise-level security technologies.

Mobile devices are increasingly becoming the nerve centre of our digital life and the main gateway to the internet. This is unstoppable  in both our private and business activities, comments Dennis Monner, CEO of Secucloud. Hackers and cyber-criminals think up ever more sophisticated ways to get to our data and our wallets  so we also need new, innovative protection mechanisms to help us stand up to these online gangsters. Thats exactly what were doing with our cloud-based security concept. Just how easily and flexibly leading international telcos can protect their entire customer base using the latest enterprise security technologies is what were going to demonstrate at this years MWC.

Leading French telco welcomes Secucloud at its MWC booth

With a total of 263 million customers, Orange is one of the worlds largest telecommunications companies and the leading provider in its domestic market in France. It has a strong focus on mobile services, providing about 202 million of its customers with mobile phone and mobile internet services. Alongside an extensive offering for its private customers, its Orange Business Services division delivers IT and telecom services to corporate customers. The company is listed on the stock exchange, is present in 29 countries and generated revenues of 40,9 billion euros in 2016.

Efficient security in the cloud

Secucloud specialises in providing security for the internet of things. It offers a comprehensive, completely cloud-based enterprise-class security system for telcos and mobile phone operators that they can install directly into their network infrastructure. This enables them to protect their customers from all cyber-threats on the internet in a centralised way. Customers do not need to install any software on their devices, so no setup or maintenance is required. The Secucloud solution scales elastically and can protect over 100 million users effectively and in real time.
Certified GoBD-compliant data provisioning with Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle Financials Cloud

Posted by Publisher Software

With this seal of quality, the PDG add-on Digital Business Audit (GoBD/GDPdU), Version 3.0.1, has received official confirmation of being a GoBD-compliant export interface for the ERP systems Oracle E-Business Suite R11i, R12 and Oracle Fusion Financials Cloud. Oracle EBS and Oracle Cloud users can ensure correct provisioning of electronically analyzable data by using the PDG solution. At the same time, the add-on guarantees seamless transfer to the audit software in the description standard recommended by the fiscal administration.

The request for electronic data access by the fiscal administration within the purview of external audits is governed in the Principles for properly maintaining and storing books, records and documents in electronic form and for data access (GoBD). The GoBD also contain formal requirements on book-keeping and storing of tax-related electronic data and paper documents with reference to the Principles of Proper Accounting.

The PRIMUS DELPHI GROUP already supports over 100 companies in the implementation of GoBs into their Oracle applications and the provision of data during business audits with the help of its PDG add-on Digital Business Audit (GoBD/GDPdU).

The company is a specialized Oracle Platinum partner for Oracle E-Business Suite Financial Management and the Oracle Financials Cloud
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
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.
A massive heatwave and drought in the summer of 2015 destroyed much of the states corn crop.
Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city.

Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

A Heroin addict who walked out of a supermarket with a trolley full of groceries during a shoplifting spree in which he stole goods worth hundreds of pounds has been jailed.

Swansea Magistrates Court heard Richard Charles Manning's sudden spike in offending  after more than 12 months without offences  was triggered by an increased use of the Class A drug.

The court heard that he visited stores in Swansea, Neath and Ystradgynlais, stealing groceries, alcohol and perfume.

Sharon Anderson, prosecuting, said on two occasions in November last year Manning stole trolleys of groceries worth hundreds of pounds from the Tesco store.

The 43-year-old also struck twice at the Asda supermarket on Swansea Enterprise Zone during November and December, stealing bottles of perfume and alcohol  on one occasion his blood was found in a changing room after he had taken bottles in and injured himself removing their security tags.

His fifth target was Morrison's Neath on January 9, when to stole bottles of vodka and Jack Daniel's whiskey.

(Image: Western Mail)

Manning, of Maes-y-Deri, Cilfrew, Neath, pleaded guilty to five counts of theft when he appeared before the district judge sitting at magistrates court.

The court heard he has previous convictions for 57 offences  some 22 of which are for dishonesty matters  and was on a community order at the time of the shoplifting spree.

Steve Harrett, for Manning, said there had been a gap in his client's offending since the summer of 2015, and that the recent "tranche" of offences had been triggered by his increased drug use.

The solicitor said Manning wanted to get on a programme offering a heroin-substitute prescription but accepted "he is in no position to avail himself of that" at the moment.

For each of the five theft matters Manning was sentenced to four weeks in prison, each sentence to run consecutively. The district judge also revoked Manning's existing community order, and sentenced him to another four weeks in prison instead.
A mockup of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle seen during a media tour of the company's facilities at the Kennedy Space Center Feb. 17.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  The two companies developing commercial crew vehicles are confident that they will be ready to start carrying astronauts in 2018despite a recent report that concluded delays into 2019 were likely.

The comments by executives with Boeing and SpaceX, made at separate events here Feb. 17, came a day after a U.S. Government Accountability Office report on the program reported that NASA expects certification reviews of the two companies' vehicles, currently scheduled for 2018, will slip to 2019.

"The Commercial Crew Program is tracking risks that both contractors could experience additional schedule delays and its own analysis indicates that certification is likely to slip into 2019," the GAO stated in the report, which discussed technical issues both Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft are facing.

During a press conference outside Launch Complex 39A here Feb. 17, prior to the Feb. 19 launch of a Falcon 9 carrying a Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said she believed the company would still be able to fly a crewed Dragon mission in 2018.

"I'm confident we'll fly crew in 2018," she said. "The response to the report this morning was, 'The hell we won't fly before 2019.'"

Shotwell discussed one specific issue in the report that attracted media attention prior to the report's publication, concerns about cracks in turbines in the Falcon 9's engines. "We've flown with cracks in our turbine wheel since the beginning of the Falcon 9 program," she said. "We were comfortable with it for our commercial launches, the [Commercial Resupply Services] program was comfortable with it as well."

However, she confirmed that the company was working to eliminate the checks in engines that will be used on commercial crew missions. "The redesign has been in work for quite some time, and the final spin on that engine design we'll fly this year," she said.

SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk made similar comments. "Provided Dragon 2 demo missions go well, SpaceX is highly confident of being able to fly US astronauts in 2018," he tweeted early Feb. 18. Dragon 2 is an alternative name for Crew Dragon.

"They are often right," he tweeted later when asked why he disagreed with the GAO's report, "but, in this case, we have already retired so much R&D risk on Dragon 2, that I feel very confident of 2018."

Boeing officials, speaking at a media event Feb. 17 at the company's Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility here used to assemble its CST-100 spacecraft, also expressed optimism that they would be ready to fly astronauts in 2018.

"There is risk in the schedule, but we've also put margin in the schedule," said John Mulholland, vice president and program manager for the commercial crew program at Boeing. He said the company is focused on qualifying all the components that will be used on the spacecraft and build an initial series of vehicles for upcoming tests.

"We just have to fight through getting past component qualification and getting these initial test articles built and powered on," he said. "Once we get through that, our risk goes down significantly."

A structural test article of the CST-100 was shipped late last year to a Boeing facility in Huntington Beach, California, for an extended series of tests. Three other spacecraft are in various stages of assembly. One of them is being built for a pad abort test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in early 2018.

Two other spacecraft will be built for flight tests. One, designated Spacecraft 2, will first undergo environmental testing at another Boeing facility in El Segundo, California, then return to Florida to be refurbished for a crewed flight test in August 2018. The other, Spacecraft 3, will be built starting this spring for an uncrewed flight test in June 2018.

Mulholland said Boeing has made progress on other issues that previously delayed the schedule of test flights. The company closed two issues, involving aerodynamic loads the capsule placed on its Atlas V launch vehicle during flight and "ignition overpressure" loads on the spacecraft during a launch abort, in January. He also said the spacecraft did not have a problem with mass growth, although engineers continued to look for areas to reduce spacecraft mass to increase its payload.

"There's always going to be pressures on the development schedule and risks that we carry," he said. "We've got things in place today as we deal with the risks that are going to be ahead of us six to nine months from now, and taking proactive steps to try and mitigate them."

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
In the early development of Orion under the Constellation program, NASA studied having Orion visit the ISS. A provision of a new authorization bill would require NASA to reexamine that capability.

WASHINGTON  A NASA authorization bill passed by the Senate Feb. 17 would require NASA to reexamine the feasibility of using the Orion spacecraft to transport crews to and from the International Space Station.

The provision is one of the few major changes in the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, which the Senate approved by unanimous consent, compared to a bill that the Senate passed in the final days of the previous Congress in December.

The new language, including in a section of the bill about the Space Launch System, Orion and ground systems, calls on NASA to prepare a report within 60 days of the bill's enactment "addressing the ability of Orion to meet the needs and the minimum capability requirements described in section 303(b)(3) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010."

That section of the 2010 NASA authorization act, the last one to become law, states that one requirement of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle  the vehicle known as Orion  is to have the "capability to provide an alternative means of delivery of crew and cargo to the ISS, in the event other vehicles, whether commercial vehicles or partner-supplied vehicles, are unable to perform that function."

The language in the new bill would require NASA to confirm that Orion has the ability to carry out missions to the ISS. The NASA report would determine when Orion, launched on a vehicle other than the SLS, would be able to carry crew and cargo to the ISS. It would also assess the cost and schedule impacts to the program to perform that role, and how it would affect plans for deep space missions using Orion.

While the 2010 bill directed NASA to give Orion the capability to service the ISS, NASA has focused on the spacecraft's beyond Earth orbit missions, turning over access to the station to commercial crew providers. There's been little public discussion in recent years about using Orion to perform ISS missions.

Flying Orion to ISS would involve a number of challenges, including adapting it to an unspecified alternative launch vehicle. The first uncrewed Orion test flight, Exploration Flight Test 1 in 2014, launched on a Delta 4 Heavy, but there are no plans to human-rate that vehicle. Orion is currently not designed to carry a crew until its second launch on the SLS, no earlier than 2021, although NASA announced last week it is studying putting a crew on the first SLS launch, scheduled for late 2018. That mission would likely to slip to 2019 or 2020 if NASA does decide to fly that mission with astronauts on board.

The bill retains language from the version the Senate passed last year supporting NASA's commercial crew program. The new bill, though, includes a new subsection laying out objectives for the commercial crew program, which it defines as carrying astronauts "safely, reliably, and affordably," serving as a crew rescue vehicle while docked to the station, and being available as soon as practicable.

Those objectives, the bill adds, "shall be the primary consideration in the acquisition strategy for the Commercial Crew Program."

The addition of the Orion study is one of the few major changes to the 2016 bill. The new bill includes one new section regarding Space Act Agreements not found in last year's bill, directing NASA to publicly disclose its existing agreements and provide annual reports to Congress on those agreements and the benefits they provide to the agency.

The bill also adds to a section in the 2016 bill regarding NASA facilities and infrastructure, requiring NASA to develop policy regarding the leasing, transfer or demolition of excess infrastructure at NASA centers. Most other changes to the bill from the 2016 version are minor wording edits or updates to reflect the new name of the bill.

In a Feb. 17 statement about the bill's passage, the bill's sponsors did not mention Orion study language or other changes to the bill. "This bipartisan legislative achievement provides NASA and the future of the U.S. space program with the stability and certainty it needs moving forward with a new administration," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate space subcommittee and lead sponsor of the bill.

"This bill directs NASA to send humans to Mars, expand commercial space activity and ensures that work will continue on the next generation of rockets, engines and capsules that are currently being constructed in Florida and across the country," said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill.

The legislation now goes to the House, where its chances of passage are high. In an interview Jan. 30, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Science Committee, said he had been in discussions with Cruz to "pre-conference" the bill by working out any differences before it was introduced in the Senate.

"We've ironed out the differences and made some tweaks I think were responsive to various stakeholders' requests," he said in the interview. "As a result, I think it's going to be smooth sailing." The earliest opportunity for the House to take up the bill is Feb. 27, when it returns from its current recess.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
An artist's rendition of the surface of a planet in the TRAPPIST-1 system. The system contains seven Earth-sized planets that could  with the right atmosphere  support liquid water on their surfaces.

The TRAPPIST-1 system is home to seven planets that are about the size of Earth and potentially just the right temperature to support life. So how would life on these alien worlds be different than life on Earth? Here are some of the major differences.

Amazing night-sky views

Perhaps one of the most dramatic things that visitors to the TRAPPIST-1 system would notice is the view of the other six planets in the sky. In some cases, a neighboring planet might appear twice as large as the full moon seen from Earth. [Images: The 7 Earth-Size Worlds of TRAPPIST-1]

"If you were on the surface of one of these planets you would have a wonderful view of the other planets," Michael Gillon, an astronomer at the University of Liege in Belgium and an author on the new paper, said in describing the discovery. "You wouldn't see them like we see Venus or Mars, like dots of light. You would see them really as we see the moon.  You would see the structures on these worlds."

This chart shows the size of the TRAPPIST-1 star and planets compared to Jupiter and some of its large moons. (Image credit: ESO/O. Furtak)

All seven of the known planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system orbit closer to their star than Mercury orbits the sun. The innermost planet and the outermost planet are almost 30 times closer together than Earth and Venus at their largest separation.

The reason these seven planetary siblings can fit into such tight orbits is because their parent star is an ultracool dwarf star. It's about 2,000 times dimmer than the sun, and only slightly larger than the planet Jupiter.

Three of the known planets orbit the star in what's known as the "habitable zone," or the region around a star where the planet could have a surface temperature right for liquid water. The position of the habitable zone is different around each star  on a very dim star like TRAPPIST-1, which radiates significantly less heat than the sun, the habitable zone lies much closer to the star.

But there's no guarantee that a planet in the habitable zone of TRAPPIST-1 can host liquid water on its surface. Without an atmosphere, water won't remain a liquid in space. For example, on comets (which don't have atmospheres), water ice sublimates directly into a vapor when it is heated by the sun.

Perpetual twilight

Even though the seven known planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system orbit extremely close to their parent star, the natural lighting on these planets would seem very dim to a human visitor.

Ultracool dwarf stars produce significantly less radiation than sun-like stars, and most of TRAPPIST-1's light is radiated in the infrared wavelengths rather than visible wavelengths, according to Amaury Triaud of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge in England, a co-author on the paper describing the discovery.

TRAPPIST-1 would be able to warm the air on the surface of the seven planets, but the daytime skies would never get brighter than Earth's skies just after sunset, suffusing the world in a salmon-colored light, Triaud told reporters on Tuesday (Feb. 21).

This artist's rendition imagines what the seven planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system might look like. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Short years, eternal days (and nights)

The TRAPPIST-1 planets take almost no time at all to make one complete orbit around their parent star. Six of the planets make a complete an orbit in anywhere from 1.5 to 12.4 days. (The most distant planet's orbital period is thought to be about 20 days).

That means one "year" (or what scientists call the orbital period) on most of these planets is less than two weeks on Earth. But the orbital period of these planets is slightly upset by their neighbors.

"[The planets] tug and pull each other as they go orbiting around their star," Sean Carey, manager of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena, California, said during a NASA news conference on Wednesday (Feb. 22). Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists were able to see the seven planets each time they passed in front of the dwarf star, or what's known as a transit.

"What that does is it changes the timing of the transits a little bit, as the planets are tugging each other, so they (the transits) aren't happening as regularly as you would expect without the tug," Carey said.

A travel poster for the TRAPPIST-1 system. Planets in the system would undoubtedly offer great night sky views. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Even though the years are short in the TRAPPIST-1 system, the days would be very long  almost eternal, because the according to the scientists behind the discovery, it's very likely the seven planets are tidally locked, meaning that one side of each planet is always facing the star. The moon is tidally locked to Earth, which is we see only one side of our lunar companion (at least from the ground).

There's some debate about whether or not a tidally locked planet could host life. Some tidally locked planets might be uninhabitable because the side facing the star would become extremely hot, while the other side would grow extremely cold. But some models show that if the planet's atmosphere can dissipate heat across the planet's surface, then life could still find a welcoming home there.

To learn more about the differences between the individual planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system, check out this Space.com gallery.

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Despite the clouds and overcast skies, the Falcon 9 lifted off on time at 9:39 a.m. EST on Feb. 19.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  A storied NASA launchpad hosted a dazzling pyrotechnic display as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared to life on Sunday morning (Feb. 19), sending nearly 5,500 lbs. (2,500 kilograms) of cargo on a journey to the International Space Station.

The cargo, which included crew supplies, tools and science experiments, was packed inside a Dragon cargo spacecraft attached to the top of the 210-foot rocket. Falcon breathed fire and roared loudly as it quickly disappeared into low-hanging clouds after an on-time liftoff at 9:39 a.m. EST (1439 GMT) from NASA's historic gateway to space: Launch Pad 39A.

While the flight was one for the history books for many reasons, the primary reason had to do with the launch itself: This was the first time that the Kennedy Space Center (and Pad 39A) had hosted a launch since the final space shuttle flight in 2011. It also signaled the first time a private company had lifted off from this hallowed ground. [In Photos: ;SpaceX's 1st Launch from NASA's Historic Pad 39A]

Roughly 12 hours before the scheduled launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX invited members of the media to view the rocket on the pad. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

The historic site saw the launch of most of the Apollo moon missions as well as many space shuttle flights, including missions to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Sunday's launch marked a new era for Pad 39A, which SpaceX hopes will one day ferry astronauts to Mars and beyond.

The road to Mars began nearly five decades ago as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins strapped into their seats aboard the Apollo capsule, which sat atop the world's most powerful rocket at the time  the Saturn V. That vehicle, as well as many others that followed, was assembled in NASA's iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) before it was rolled out to the launchpad atop a massive crawler transporter. From my spot on the roof of that same building, I prepared to watch SpaceX make history by launching the first commercial rocket from a once-government-only facility.

Rain drizzled and gray clouds hung overhead as journalists, bystanders, NASA employees and researchers whose payloads were nestled in Dragon's trunk gathered to watch the launch. Members of the media were present in three different viewing locations: the press site, which is home to the iconic countdown clock and was the premier viewing location during the shuttle era; the NASA causeway; and the VAB roof  and each location offered a unique vantage point.

A view from in front of the massive Vehicle Assembly Building. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

For this launch, I was lucky enough to snag a coveted spot atop the VAB roof. As the largest single-story structure in the world, the VAB stands 525 feet tall (160 meters), and it's incredibly difficult to gauge how massive the building is until you are walking through it.

The building was previously used to mate space shuttle orbiters with their boosters and external fuel tanks for before flight. Before the shuttle launches, the building was originally designed to assemble the stages of the 363-foot (110 m) Saturn V rockets that launched astronauts to the moon.

A view of new SLS platforms being installed in the VAB's High Bay 3. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

Once inside, I could feel the history and promise for the future as we passed by crews working to upgrade the building to support NASA's heavy-lift rocket  the Space Launch System (SLS)  and other future endeavors.

About two-dozen journalists made the trek to the roof. First, we hopped on a service elevator that took us to the 34th level. Then, we walked across a catwalk to a special elevator that would take us the rest of the way to the roof. The roof elevator is tiny, only able to carry about six people at a time, so it took several trips before everyone was topside.

How many journalists can one VAB elevator hold? (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

The rain was coming down slightly harder as we stepped out onto the roof and quickly surveyed the terrain for a spot to stash belongings out of the rain. Like several others, I took shelter underneath one of the building's massive air vents. The rain quickly subsided, but the vent's overhang offered a nice reprieve from the rooftop's windy conditions.

Standing on top of the roof, we could see a plethora of launchpads spread out in front of us, including SpaceX's other pad  SLC-40, which was damaged in a Sept. 1 explosion  and the first-stage landing site (LZ-1) off in the distance.

Saturday's weather was absolutely perfect, but unfortunately there was an issue with the rocket, resulting in a 24-hour delay. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

Weather conditions didn't look promising for Sunday's launch. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

The weather conditions seemed inhospitable for a launch, as skies on Sunday were heavily overcast, with the threat of rain showers lurking nearby. Just 24 hours prior, the weather was absolutely perfect during the rocket's first attempt to launch, which scrubbed 13 seconds before liftoff due to an issue with the rocket's second stage. This time, it seemed less likely that Mother Nature would allow this Falcon to take flight.

But just in time, the weather cleared enough for the rocket to lift off, roaring to life as it climbed into the clouds. The rocket could be heard long after it disappeared from sight. Approximately 8 minutes later, the Falcon reappeared from its cloudy veil, this time descending toward its designated landing pad and unleashing a powerful sonic boom that thundered across the sky. The sound reached us just after the rocket had touched down, catching many viewers by surprise.

Witnessing a rocket launch is like watching the perfect physics experiment in action. First you see the bright flash of light and billowing smoke as the engines ignite, and the vehicle rises off the pad. Then, several seconds later, you can hear and feel the shockwave from the rocket. Emotion hits you like the wave of sound from the rocket, too.

This was SpaceX's first daytime landing at this site, and it was incredible to see the rocket go up, and then see its first stage head back to Earth. The previous two land landings were at night, so viewers could only see the glow from the engines as the Falcon launched and subsequently landed.

Despite the clouds and overcast skies, the Falcon 9 lifted off on time at 9:39 a.m. EST on Feb. 19. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

SpaceX now has eight landings under its belt, with three boosters touching down on solid ground at LZ-1. The company is not shy about its goals for reaching Mars in the next decade. In order for that to happen, however, the cost of space travel needs to be drastically reduced. Reusable rockets are the key to making this happen, according to SpaceX, and each time the company is able to safely launch and recover a booster intact, we inch one step closer to Mars.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
During the annular solar eclipse on Sept. 1, 2016, the disk of the moon almost covers the entire disk of the sun, but ultimately, a ring of light remains visible.

Update for Sunday, Feb. 26: The "ring of fire" annular solar eclipse amazed observers across South America and Africa. See our full story here: Moon Blocks (Most of) the Sun in 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse.

This Sunday (Feb. 26) brings the first solar eclipse of 2017. Unlike the total solar eclipse that will cross the continental United States in August, Sunday's spectacle is an annular eclipse, which means a sliver of the sun's surface will still be visible around the moon.

The moon will appear to block varying amounts of the sun depending on where you are located within the eclipse visibility zone. For those who are properly positioned along a narrow path some 8,500 miles (13,700 kilometers) long and averaging roughly 45 miles (72 km) wide, the dark disk of the moon will briefly be surrounded by a dazzling "ring of fire" as the lunar disk passes squarely in front of the sun.

Skywatchers positioned outside this path can still enjoy a partial solar eclipse. This spectacle will be visible to more than half a billion people living across the lower two-thirds of South America as well as the western and southern portions of Africa, as well as the sparse population in about half of Antarctica. If you won't be in the area where the eclipse is visible, you can watch the Slooh Community Observatory's live webcast of the eclipse here on Space.com. [Solar Eclipses: When Is the Next One?]

From all of these regions, skywatchers who scrutinize the sun, either by safely projecting its disk through a pinhole camera or with solar viewing glasses, will be able to see the dark silhouette of the new moon passing across some portion of the sun's face.

A map of the path of the Feb. 26, 2017, annular solar eclipse. The purple line shows the region where the "ring of fire" eclipse will be visible. A partial solar eclipse will be visible over a wider area. (Image credit: Map data 2017 Google)

Penny-on-nickel effect

Because the moon orbits Earth in an elliptical orbit, its distance from our planet can vary by as much as 31,000 miles (50,000 km). It is from within its dark, conical shadow (the umbra) that a total eclipse can be observed. But on Sunday, the moon will be 235,009 miles (378,210 km) from Earth  about 568 miles (914 km) too far for the tip of the umbra to reach Earth. So instead, it's the extension of this shadow tip  the so-called "negative shadow," or antumbra  that sweeps across the Earth. Because the apparent diameter of the moon under this shadow will appear ever-so-slightly smaller (less than 1 percent) compared to that of the sun, it will be unable to completely cover the sun, hence the ring of light that remains visible around the moon.

As an analogy, think of placing a penny on top of a nickel, with the penny representing the moon and the nickel representing the sun. No matter how you try, the outer edge of the nickel will always remain uncovered. The same holds true in this upcoming case involving the moon and the sun; even at the moment of greatest eclipse, a thin ring of sunlight will still remain in view. The Latin word for a ring-shaped object is "annulus," which is why the upcoming event is referred to as an "annular," or ring, eclipse of the sun.

How Solar Eclipses Work: When the moon covers up the sun, skywatchers delight in the opportunity to see a rare spectacle. See how solar eclipses occur in this Space.com infographic (Image credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor)

Zones of visibility

The path of the annular eclipse will cross the South Pacific Ocean, South America, the South Atlantic Ocean and Africa. Nations that will be within the path include Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In South America, the first landfall of the moon's antumbra will occur along the southern shore of the Gulf of Corcovado. Moving inland, the track crosses the Chilean village of Puerto Aisen and the larger town of Coyhaique before moving into Argentina. The so-called ring of fire will be visible from the towns of Malaspina and Camarones, which are situated along the coastal highway that runs from Comodoro Rivadavia and Rawson. Then, the shadow will head out over the open ocean waters of the South Atlantic, with its next landfall coming about 160 minutes later in Africa.

The moment of greatest eclipse will occur midway between the continents at 1452 GMT, when the moon will cover 99.2 percent of the sun's diameter. The width of the antumbra at this spot on Earth will have shrunk to just 19 miles (31 km), and the annular, or ring, phase will last just 44 seconds.

When the shadow arrives at the west coast of Africa at Lucira, Angola, its width will have increased to 44 miles (70 km), and the duration of the ring phase will have increased to just over a minute. But at this point, the sun will be low in the western sky as the eclipse track nears its end. Continuing east, the moon's shadow will pass over the village of Cuima, south of Huambo, and then race into northwest Zambia just prior to leaving the Earth just to the west of Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, producing a fantastically unusual sunset; instead of a reddened ball, the sun will resemble a fiery hoop.

Coming soon: the "big" event

As spectacular and unusual as an annular solar eclipse is, it falls far short of the magnificence of a total solar eclipse. Indeed, even just a narrow ring of sunlight remaining will be more than enough to kill off the effect of a sudden darkening of the sky that takes place during a total solar eclipse, allowing the brighter stars and planets to pop into view. And even with more than 99 percent of the sun obscured, the remaining sunlight will be more than enough to squelch the faint light of the sun's outer atmosphere  the glorious corona  which comes into view only during a total eclipse.

But now, the good news: After Sunday, the very next solar eclipse will be less than six months away, on Aug. 21. A total solar eclipse will be visible only in the continental U.S., while a partial eclipse will be visible throughout North America. It is the first total solar eclipse to be visible from the contiguous (48) United States since 1979, and the first total eclipse in 99 years that will sweep from coast to coast across the United States. It is certain to be one of the big news stories of 2017 and will be witnessed by many millions of people.

Indeed, that midsummer eclipse will take center stage, but not until after the sun and moon put on their "one ring" performance this coming Sunday.

Editor's note: If you have an amazing photo of the eclipse you'd like to share with Space.com and our news partners for a possible story or image gallery, please send your photos to our staff at spacephotos@space.com

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for Fios1 News in Rye Brook, New York.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
The late-winter sky contains a treasure trove of beautiful open star clusters that you can see with unaided eyes, binoculars or a small telescope. Mobile astronomy apps such as SkySafari 5 can guide you to the Tau Canis Majoris cluster, also known as NGC 2362 (shown inset) and many more.

Sprays of tiny diamonds against the black velvet sky, occasionally sprinkled with gems of ruby or topaz  open star clusters are among the most beautiful sights available to amateur stargazers. They delight the eyes and spark the imagination with their fanciful shapes, while telling astronomers about our galaxy's structure and evolution. These deep-sky objects, often overlooked in favor of the moon and planets, are visible all year round with unaided eyes  but binoculars or a backyard telescope make them shine. In this edition of Mobile Astronomy, we'll focus on using your favorite astronomy app to highlight the largest and brightest open star clusters you can see this time of year.

What are star clusters?

In galaxies like our Milky Way, new star formation occurs primarily in the spiral arms, where large clouds of hydrogen gas are concentrated. When a cloud collapses, localized higher-density regions of gas develop into individual stars by gravitationally attracting the gas and trace elements around them. Depending on the mass of hydrogen available, the number of stars produced from a single cloud can range from dozens to thousands, in a variety of sizes. Once the stars begin to shine, their combined solar winds blow away any leftover gas, leaving a cluster of stars. Astronomers call these objects open clusters.

While all of the cluster's stars have a common "birthday," they age at different rates depending on their mass. By comparing the aging massive stars with the smaller, younger stars, astronomers can study how stars of the same composition evolve over time. ['Wishing Well' Star Cluster Sparkles in Colorful New Views]

The slow rotation of the galaxy moves clusters through space. Over time, gravitational jostling can rearrange the cluster, drawing the stars closer together or ejecting individuals at high speed in random directions. Using their direction of motion, and their common age and composition, astronomers have been able to match several individual stars with their former clusters.

The nearest clusters cover large patches of the night sky anywhere from two to 10 times the moon's diameter, and the individual stars are plain to see. We'll highlight a few of these naked-eye objects below. The more distant open clusters resemble small, faint, fuzzy patches in the sky that resolve into individual stars when viewed through binoculars or a telescope. This is why the noted French comet hunter Charles Messier and his contemporaries listed many of them in a catalog of deep-sky objects published between 1771 and 1781: They needed a way to confirm that newly spotted comets weren't just a previously known cluster, nebula or distant galaxy, all of which resembled comets in early telescopes. Your astronomy app's search function will include the Messier List objects, usually labeled in the form "Mnn," where "nn" ranges from 1 to 110.

This artist's conception of our home, the Milky Way, viewed from above, illustrates how the galaxy's spiral arms abound with pinkish concentrations of glowing hydrogen gas where star clusters are being created. (Image credit: Nrisinger /Wikimedia Commons/Chris Vaughan)

Because the Messier List covers only 110 of the thousands of deep-sky objects, modern astronomers have created more comprehensive catalogs. Your app will contain a great many New General Catalogue (abbreviated as NGC) objects of all types. Both the Collinder Catalog of 471 open clusters, published in 1931 by Swedish astronomer Per Collinder, and the Melotte Catalogue of 245 star clusters, published in 1915 by British astronomer Philibert Jacques Melotte, specialize in clusters, in particular. Most clusters will appear in all three catalogs, and your app will display them as NGCnnnn, Coll_nn or Mel_nn.

British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore noted that Messier had missed many of the sky's best objects (and that he included only those visible from France), so he created his own list of an additional 109 showpieces. The Caldwell Catalog first appeared in Sky & Telescope magazine in December, 1995. Many of the finest star clusters are included in his updated list, and they will be designated as Cnn in your astronomy app.

Most of the sky's best open clusters are situated within or near the Milky Way, the plane of our galaxy arcing across the night sky. In late-winter evenings, it extends upward from the south, passing the bright star Sirius, splitting Orion and Gemini, and fading through Auriga and Perseus, where the outer rim of the galaxy is located. Dropping into the northern sky, it builds again toward Cygnus. The densest portion appears during the summer months. (Image credit: SkySafari App

Where to look for clusters

Because they form within the spiral arms, we tend to find open clusters concentrated along the plane of our galaxy  the faint band of light we call the Milky Way. A part of the Milky Way can be seen in the nighttime sky all year round, except for a period every spring. During evenings in late February, it rises from the southern horizon just to the east of the bright star Sirius in Canis Major (the Big Dog). It gradually fades in intensity as you follow it higher between Gemini and Orion, and overhead through Auriga and Perseus. This is where the outer rim of our galaxy is. When you turn to face north, you'll see the Milky Way brightens again as it drops through the "W" of Cassiopeia, toward Cygnus on the horizon.

Many of the night sky's best open clusters are in the constellations mentioned thus far. Your astronomy app will help you find them. Don't forget that, in summer, the center of our galaxy rises into view near the constellation of Sagittarius, bringing a different set of spectacular clusters to see. [Milky Way Galaxy Guide (Infographic)]

Clusters in mythology

Many of the brighter open clusters were noted by ancient astronomers and are associated with myths and legends. The Beehive Cluster, also known as Praesepe (Latin for "manger") or M44, is one of the richest star clusters in the sky. Located in the center of Cancer, it contains about 1,000 stars within a sphere 39 light-years across, situated at a distance of about 550 light-years from Earth. In his star catalog published in 135 B.C., Hipparchus referred to the cluster as Nephelion, or "Little Cloud." Claudius Ptolemy described the Beehive Cluster as "The Nebulous Mass in the Breast of Cancer." In 1609, Galileo Galilei became the first person to view the Beehive in a telescope, and noted 40 stars. In a dark, moonless sky, even naked eyes will spot its fuzzy glow. But binoculars or a small telescope will show much more.

Taurus the Bull's triangular face is actually formed by one of the nearest star clusters to us, at only about 150 light-years away. In your mobile app, it will be called The Hyades, named for the five daughters of Atlas in Greek mythology. It contains several hundred stars, with a half-dozen or so visible without optical aid under moonless suburban skies. The major stars are named Hyadum I, II, etc., which means first star, second star, etc. of the Hyades. Astronomers think the Beehive and Hyades stars were derived from the same gas cloud.

The Hyades cluster is a lovely target to scan with binoculars. It's too large to fit into a telescope's field of view, but many of the stars are revealed to be doubles under magnification. The bright orange star Aldebaran that sits at the southern corner is not actually part of the cluster. It is less than half as far away! The Hyades cluster is about 65 light-years across, and about one-third of the original stars have been detected escaping from the cluster. [How to Choose Binoculars for Astronomy and Skywatching]

One and a half fist widths to the right of Taurus' face is the beautiful star cluster known as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters. Your astronomy app will also refer to it as M45. It is made up of the young, hot blue stars Asterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygeta, Celaeno and Alcyone. In Greek mythology, they were the daughters of Atlas, and half sisters of the Hyades. To the naked eye, only six of the sister stars are usually seen, with their parents, Atlas and Pleione, huddled together at the east end of the grouping. Under magnification, hundreds of stars appear. The cluster is about 450 light-years away, and makes a wonderful target in binoculars or a telescope, where many more siblings are revealed! A large telescope under dark skies will also reveal blue nebulosity around the stars; this is light reflecting from unrelated gas that the cluster is passing through.

Galileo was among the first to observe the object in a telescope. In 1610, he published a sketch made at the eyepiece. Not surprisingly, many cultures  including Aztec, Maori, Sioux and Hindu  have stories related to this cluster. In Japan, it is called Suburu, and forms the logo of the eponymous carmaker. Due to its shape, some people mistake the Pleiades for the Little Dipper.

The beautiful Pleiades open cluster (also known as Messier 45) is a favorite of stargazers and astronomers. The stars toward the right are the seven sisters of Greek mythology  the daughters of Atlas and his wife Pleione. To the naked eye, it resembles a miniature Big Dipper, but a telescope reveals hundreds of members of this young cluster. Located only 430 light-years away, it's among the closest clusters to us. A long-exposure photograph reveals blue nebulosity between the stars  light reflected from gas and dust the cluster is passing through. (Image credit: SkySafari App

The winter's best clusters

Below is a list of some of the best open clusters you can see this time of year. I've included the common names and Messier numbers, the visual magnitude (smaller values mean they are brighter), the size in moon diameters, the constellation it's located in, and some notes of interest. If you search for them in your astronomy app, it will show their location in your own night sky and give you more information about each one, including high-resolution color images. If your device has a gyroscope and compass, enable the live sky mode in your app, and use it to point to the object.

The Pleiades The Seven Sisters, M45, Mel 22; Taurus; four moon diameters across; magnitude 1.5

The Hyades Mel 25 or Coll 50; Taurus; 11 moon diameters across; magnitude 0.5

The Beehive M44 or Praesepe; Cancer; two moon diameters across; magnitude 3.1

Double Cluster NGC 869 and NGC 884; Perseus; two moon diameters across; magnitude 3.8

This object is two adjacent clusters, each containing up to 200 young, blue-white stars about 7,000 light-years away. It's a breathtaking sight in binoculars or a low-power telescope eyepiece. It was described by Hipparchus in 130 B.C. but was omitted from Messier's list, despite its brightness.

Melotte 20 Alpha Persei Cluster; Perseus; 10 moon diameters across, magnitude 2.3

This is not a true open cluster, but rather an enormous, sparse grouping of hot young stars 600 light-years away, surrounding the bright yellow-white star Mirphak (alpha Per).

Tau Canis Majoris (NGC2362 or C64 or Mel 65; Canis Major; one-sixth moon diameter across; magnitude 3.8

This is a bright, compact cluster of 60 hot, blue-white stars with brighter star Tau Canis Majoris in the center.

The Double Cluster, known since ancient times, is a beautiful sight in binoculars and low-power telescopes. Located in the sky between Perseus and Cassiopeia, the hundreds of hot young stars are 7,000 light-years away. The contrast between the clusters and the golden foreground stars is apparent in this September 2016 long-exposure image by Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario. (Image credit: Ron Brecher , used with permission)

M35 NGC 2168 or Mel 41; Gemini; 1.25 moon diameters across; magnitude 5.1

This cluster is embedded in the Milky Way and is located about two finger widths above the three stars that form the western feet of Gemini. It is best seen in binoculars or a telescope, and features more than 100 brighter blue-white stars overlain on a rich field of fainter ones. Look for a short, curved chain of stars crossing the cluster.

Owl Cluster (C13 or NGC457 or Dragonfly/ET Cluster; Cass; one moon diameter across; magnitude 6.4

One of the most popular clusters for star parties, this cluster evokes a figure with two bright, yellow stars for eyes above an elongated group of stars forming a body, and two upswept chains of stellar "wings." Binoculars will show the cluster, but a small telescope is needed to see the critter clearly.

M36 Pinwheel Cluster; Auriga; one-third moon diameter across; magnitude 6.0

This cluster contains about 60 hot young stars in a compact but irregular shape, with chains of stars that suggest a crab.

M37 NGC 2099; Auriga; one-half moon diameter across; magnitude 5.6

One of the finest telescope clusters in the sky, it contains several hundred white stars with a bright, golden star in the center. The main cluster is wedge-shaped, and appears wider under magnification.

M38 Starfish Cluster; Auriga; two-thirds moon diameter across, magnitude 6.4

This irregular cluster contains chains of stars, some forming the shape of the Greek letter pi. It has a sprinkling of golden stars, including a bright one near its center.

M47 NGC 457 or Mel 68; Puppis; one moon diameter across; magnitude 4.4

This is a loose, bright cluster of about 50 stars located 12.5 degrees to the upper left of Sirius. It can be glimpsed with unaided eyes, but magnification reveals chains and clumps of stars.

M41 NGC2287; Canis Major; over one moon diameter across; magnitude 4.5

This is large and very bright open cluster of 100 white and yellow stars situated 4 degrees below Sirius. This cluster is visible to the naked eye under dark skies, but binoculars or a telescope reveal a rich grouping with a bright foreground star just to the lower left of the cluster.

This is just a sampling of the clusters you can see this time of year. Your astronomy app's search function will offer many more. For the best results, look for the ones that are higher in the sky and brighter.

The Owl Cluster captures the imagination with its two bright golden eyes shining above a stubby body and chains of stars forming delicate upturned wings. A favorite at public star parties, this object in Cassiopeia also goes by the names E-T Cluster, the Dragonfly Cluster and Caldwell 13. It is visible year-round. Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario, took this image through his 10-inch telescope in December 2014. (Image credit: Ron Brecher , used with permission)

Going beyond

It's well known that the stars in the night sky, while fixed in place on human time scales, move about due to gravitational forces and the galaxy's slow rotation. Thousands of years in the future, many familiar constellations will have different shapes, or will become unrecognizable. The process is called proper motion. Likewise, open clusters eventually dissipate.

By analyzing how much a star's spectrum is shifted blue or red, astronomers can determine its radial velocity  in other words, how quickly the star is approaching or receding from Earth. The Gaia mission launched by the European Space Agency is currently measuring the precise positions and lateral velocities (motions across the sky) of millions of stars. You can learn more about it by downloading the free Gaia Mission app for Android or iOS (opens in new tab). The data from Gaia will eventually be used to make astronomy apps more accurate. [Photos: Gaia Spacecraft to Map Milky Way Galaxy]

In a future edition of Mobile Astronomy, we'll dive into Moore's and Messier's lists, explore how to measure the sky with your hands and plan how to see this summer's solar eclipse from your backyard. Until then, keep looking up!

Editor's note: Chris Vaughan is an astronomy public outreach and education specialist, and operator of the historic 1.88-meter David Dunlap Observatory telescope. You can reach him via email, and follow him on Twitter as @astrogeoguy, as well as on Facebook and Tumblr.

This article was provided by Simulation Curriculum, the leader in space science curriculum solutions and the makers of the SkySafari app for Android and iOS. Follow SkySafari on Twitter @SkySafariAstro. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
NASA is studying the possibility of putting astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft's first flight using the Space Launch System megarocket, currently set to fly in 2018 without a crew.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  A safety oversight panel expressed concern Thursday about an idea, currently being studied by NASA, to put astronauts aboard the first flight of the heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket.

In a meeting yesterday (Feb. 23) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel said the reason to put astronauts aboard the debut flight of SLS must be compelling enough to override additional costs, scheduling impacts and safety risks.

Earlier this month, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot asked Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of human exploration and operations at NASA, to conduct a study on the feasibility of flying astronauts on what is currently planned to be an unmanned test flight of the SLS and Orion deep-space capsule in 2018. [Orion Explained: NASA's Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Infographic)]

"We are not proposing what the outcome of NASA's assessment should be," Patricia Sanders, the safety panel's chief, said at the meeting.

"But in the assessment we strongly advise that NASA carefully and cautiously weigh the value proposition for flying crew on EM-1," she added, referring to Exploration Mission-1, the debut flight of the SLS and Orion system.

NASA told SpaceNews the study will "examine the opportunities it could present to accelerate the effort of the first crewed flight and what it would take to accomplish that first step of pushing humans farther into space."

The agency declined to say when the study would be finished and why it was initiated.

In an email to Space.com, NASA spokeswoman Cheryl Warner said questions about the advantages of adding astronauts to the flight and potential schedule impacts would "likely be answered during the study."

Under the current plan, EM-1 would launch from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B in in late 2018 to put an unmanned Orion capsule into a looping orbit around the moon. A crewed mission would follow in 2021.

The safety panel's Sanders pointed out that the Orion capsule scheduled to fly on EM-1 currently does not include a full life-support system, software and other aspects needed for human spaceflight.

"Several changes would be required, adding complexity, unknowns and almost certainly risk, not to mention cost, schedule and potential opportunity cost implications," Sanders said.

"If the benefits warrant assumption of additional risk," she added, "we expect NASA to clearly and openly articulate their decision-processing rationale."

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
World View Enterprises, a private company that plans to sell balloon rides to the edge of space, has announced the grand opening of its new headquarters and a conjoined spaceport in Tucson, Arizona.

The new facility will soon be launching World View's non-crewed high altitude balloons, which could provide a low-cost alternative to launching payloads into space, according to company representatives. The balloons can carry instruments and equipment that could, for example, be used to consistently observe severe weather events or natural disasters. The balloon could also carry equipment for scientific investigations (opens in new tab), communications, remote sensing and wealth of other potential applications.

The newly completed Spaceport Tucson was built specifically to launch high-altitude balloons, and includes a 700-foot-wide (200 meters) launchpad. The spaceport is owned by Pima County (where it is located) but is operated by World View Enterprises, which now has its headquarters attached to the spaceport. World View employees have already started working out of the new digs, and the first uncrewed launches from Spaceport Tucson are expected to take place in the next few months, company representatives told Space.com. [World View's Near-Space Balloon Rides in Pictures]

"It is really the only [facility] in the world that has been built for the sole purpose of stratospheric flight," Jane Poynter, co-founder and CEO of World View Enterprises, said during a news conference yesterday (Feb. 23) to announce the grand opening.

The company also plans to eventually offer crewed balloon flights that will take passengers to a peak altitude of about 100,000 feet (30,000 m), where it's possible to see the curvature of the Earth and the blackness of space. World View currently hasn't announced when it will make its first crewed launches.

A stratospheric balloon manufacturing table in the new World View Enterprises headquarters is more than one-tenth of a mile (528 feet,160 meters) long. (Image credit: Courtesy of World View Enterprises)

Stratospheric satellites

World View' Enterprises' four co-founders spoke during the news conference about the untapped potential of the stratosphere. The commercial airline industry generates trillions of dollars per year utilizing the region of the atmosphere up to about 55,000 feet (16,000 meters), said former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, who is a co-founder of World View and serves as director of flight crew operations. Above about 500,000 feet (152000 meters), satellites are now prevalent, and the commercial space industry continues to blossom. But most of the stratosphere  between about 55,000 and 165,000 feet above the Earth  remains under used. There's very little air in the stratosphere (a limit for airplanes) and it would be extremely difficult to get something to orbit the Earth at such a low altitude, Kelly said.

"Trillions of dollars spent within the atmosphere, hundreds of billions of dollars spent in orbit around the Earth. But in the stratosphere, basically nothing," Kelly said. "So that's where this technology, using high altitude balloons up in the stratosphere, has essentially, at this point, with the opening of this building, opened an entire new world of business and aviation."

World View will use its new facility to manufacture its stratospheric balloons and assemble the spacecraft that are attached to the balloons, as well as for payload integration and flight mission control.

A look inside the new headquarters of World View Enterprises in Tucson, Arizona. (Image credit: Courtesy of World View Enterprises)

The company will also use the facility for developing its new uncrewed vehicles, called Stratollites, a name that combines "stratosphere" and "satellites." Stratollites can reach maximum altitudes of about 150,000 feet (45,000 meters) and remain above the same region of the Earth for days, weeks or months, according to the company website (opens in new tab). That means Stratollites could provide consistent monitoring of extreme weather or natural disasters, combat zones and ocean shipping routes affected by ice flows, company representatives said at the news conference.

"We want to focus [on] where we're truly differentiated from anything that anybody else is doing," Poynter said.

For example, hurricanes are monitored as they develop and begin to move, and this monitoring is done in such a way that scientists can't keep sensors directly over the storm for long periods of time, according to Poynter.

"If you have a Stratollite over a hurricane  you can, with great accuracy, we believe, understand where that hurricane is going, because we can track it all the way along and get complete data on the hurricane as it's building up and as it's moving," Poynter said. Providing people with more accurate trajectories could mean getting people out of harm's way, but also avoiding unnecessary evacuations, she said.

"We've really got something unique," Alan Stern, a World View co-founder and the company's chief scientist, said during the news conference. (Stern is also principal investigator for the New Horizons mission to Pluto.) "I think there's going to be a lot of demand for it," he said. "I think it's hard to forecast exactly where that demand will come from."

Compared with a traditional satellite, the Stratollites are cheaper to launch, and their closer proximity to the ground mean they can provide better image resolution of the ground, the World View representatives said.

"Last year, we were really focused on developing the technology of the Stratollite," Poynter said. "This year, we're really focused on rolling out the demonstrations with very specific instruments."

Yesterday, World View also announced the completion of a Stratollite mission, in conjunction with Ball Aerospace, that demonstrated "early capabilities for remote sensing applications from the stratosphere," according to a statement from World View (opens in new tab). The Stratollite vehicle, equipped with Ball Aerospace instruments, reached a peak altitude of 76,900 feet (23,400 meters) and was able to observe the ground with a resolution of about 16 feet (5 m)  precise enough to "track individual vehicles on the ground," Stern said.

The collaboration with Ball Aerospace "paves the way for future flights offering higher-resolution multispectral sensors for applications such as public safety, homeland security, and civic resource mapping and monitoring," World View representatives said in the statement.

"So we're real; we're out there; we're flying," Stern said. "We're flying for customers and for our own purposes." [Giant Balloon Trips to Near-Space: Q&A with World View CEO Jane Poynter]

The exterior of the new World View Enterprises headquarters and Spaceport Tucson. (Image credit: Courtesy of World View Enterprises)

A balloon ride to the edge of space

World View is already selling tickets to ride on passenger balloons that will reach altitudes of about 100,000 feet. The company previously announced that it would begin customer flights in 2017, but no exact date has been announced.

"We certainly will fly when it's good and safe to fly," Poynter said. "But we're making a lot of progress in a lot of areas, all the way from operations to balloon design and manufacturing."

Poynter and some of the other World View representatives said there is overlap and redundancies between the uncrewed and crewed vehicles, so the work that's been done leading up to the launch of Stratollites has been feeding into the company's human spaceflight program.

Kelly spoke during the news conference about the "life-changing" experience of seeing the Earth from such a high altitude.

"To see [the Earth] as a round ball in the blackness of space really changes your idea and your thought about our planet and about humanity," Kelly said. "So as a company, we are really looking forward to opening up that opportunity eventually to thousands of people around the world."

Right now, tickets for a trip on a World View balloon cost $75,000 per seat. Poynter said she thinks that the price could rise initially because of high demand but that eventually, the company expects the price to go down "pretty significantly." Poynter said she hopes to see the cost drop into "the $25,000 to $30,000 range."

In January 2016, the Pima County Board approved the construction of Spaceport Tucson, and gave operation responsibilities to World View Enterprises. The county also offered to spend $15 million on the facility in exchange for 20 years of lease payments from World View. That payment prompted a lawsuit against the county alleging that the board "violated the state's gift clause by extending its credit to a private company without a public purpose," according to an article in the Arizona Daily Star.

World View is not named in the lawsuit, the company representatives said at the news conference. When asked whether the outcome of the suit could affect World View's lease of the spaceport, Taber MacCallum, co-founder and chief technology officer for World View, said, "I'm sure there will be an equitable resolution if there is an issue, so it's really not a significant concern."

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement
For All U of U Health Patients & Visitors
Zajtman knew nothing about it. German officials never informed him that his phone had been tapped, the journalist says. He was horrified when he was contacted by SPIEGEL regarding the alleged surveillance by the Germans. "It isn't a good feeling to know that somebody was listening in when you're dealing with highly sensitive sources."

The Belgian journalist isn't the only reporter who was spied on. According to documents seen by SPIEGEL, the BND conducted surveillance on at least 50 additional telephone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses belonging to journalists or newsrooms around the world in the years following 1999.
'Self-Reinforcing'

There is an endless list of such examples: A mountain infantry unit had only 96 pairs of night-vision goggles available instead of the 522 it had been allotted -- of which 76 had to be loaned out to other units. Which meant they only had 20, of which 17 were damaged.

The lack of equipment, Bartels wrote in his most recent report, has led to a system of sharing by necessity. "It is often the case, with Navy units that are returning from a mission, for example, that as soon as they dock in their homeport, pieces of equipment are immediately dismounted from ships and then remounted on those vessels heading out to replace them, such as (radar devices). The components wear out much more quickly due to the frequent mounting and dismounting, such that the process becomes self-reinforcing."

One can imagine the Bundeswehr as a fire department which, due to a lack of money, has no hoses, too few helmets, hardly any ladder trucks and no oxygen masks. But the department isn't eliminated entirely just in case a fire breaks out.

Following cabinet consultations back in 2010, then-Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg of the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of Merkel's CDU, rejoiced at the government's decision to cut 8.3 billion euros from the defense budget by 2014, referring to it as a "unique opportunity" for "realignment." The German military still hasn't recovered.

The military had already shrunk in the two decades since the end of the Cold War, from more than half a million soldiers to just 205,000 in 2011. The number of Leopard 2 battle tanks at the Bundeswehr's disposal likewise plunged during that same time period, from 2,000 to 225. The additional cuts announced by Guttenberg, largely a consequence of the financial crisis, were a step too far. "The national goal of budget consolidation," Guttenberg said at the time, "is the most important strategic parameter" for the reorganization of the German military.

A Stream of New Euphemisms

In the future, the structures weren't going to determined spending needs, but spending needs were going to determine the structures. Classic areas of concern, such as alliance and national defense needs, were no longer seen as central. Operations overseas became the priority, determining personnel, materiel and munitions needs. NATO's eastern flank was still at peace and, according to the logic of the time, since the boys were in Afghanistan anyway, not as many tanks were needed at home.

The Defense Ministry invented a constant stream of new euphemisms to describe the measures taken to deal with the deficiencies. "Dynamic Availability Management," for example, shortened to the acronym DynVM, was used to describe a situation when one unit had to borrow tanks from another for exercises. And when just three surveillance drones were acquired instead of the 20 necessary, it was termed "minimum contribution."

Erhard Buhler still shudders when he is forced to use such terms. As commander of the 10th tank division, he was an immediate victim of the budget cuts. He was told by Berlin one morning that his base was slated for closure and had to give a press conference at noon, still largely in the dark about what was happening.

The lieutenant general is now head of the planning division in the Defense Ministry and thus responsible for the future constellation of the German military. In addition to the German flag, a large oil painting of Prussian King Frederick the Great hangs on the wall behind his desk. He continually pulls graphics out of a file folder showing the decline of the Bundeswehr.

The consequences of Guttenberg's "realignment," the graphics make clear, are hollow structures and a military that is slowly wearing out. There is a huge need for new, modern equipment. According to protocol, the army is supposed to have at least 70 percent of large pieces of equipment, such as tanks and armored vehicles, available during operations. In reality, though, it is often much less than that. Other systems, such as night-vision goggles, are often missing completely.

Buhler's colorful graphics make it clear how the 2010 budget cuts made it impossible for several years to pursue badly needed modernization efforts. Now, it will take several more years before that technology can be delivered to the troops.

Necessary Modernization

With much to-do, Defense Minister von der Leyen has since announced several "trend reversals," according to which the Bundeswehr is turning its back on Guttenberg's focus on overseas operations. In the future, national and alliance defense will once again determine structures within the German military. Russian aggression has led to a reinterpretation of the threat levels on NATO's eastern flank.

Since the seminal Harmel Report in 1967, compiled for NATO by the Belgian Foreign Minister Pierre Harmel, the alliance has viewed effective deterrence as an important partner alongside dialogue and negotiation. Security and the reduction of tensions are not contradictory, the philosophy holds, rather the one is dependent on the other. As such, rapprochement with Russia will only be possible if Moscow takes European military strength seriously. That becomes even more important if the U.S. under Trump withdraws from Europe .

After years of falling, the German defense budget is now climbing again. This year it is slated to rise by 8 percent to 37 billion euros. But even if Germany were to increase its budget to between 65 million and 75 million euros by 2024, thus fulfilling its 2 percent commitment, it would be far from being a "rearmament spiral." Rather, it would serve to complete the necessary modernization of the German military. It would fill up the hollow structures of today.

Buhler is following the political debate carefully. In his graphics, the lines for the next budget year and thereafter are dotted and drawn in red. And they come to an end in 2021 -- at 1.5 percent.
Brussels, February 24, 2017 (SPS) -The European Union (EU) should seize the opportunity of Moroccos accession to the African Union (AU) to reopen negotiations between the Sahrawi authorities and Morocco with a view to resolving the conflict, said EU MP Diane Dodds.

In a written question to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, the EU MP wondered about EUs efforts to facilitate constructive discussions between the Sahrawi and Moroccan governments to find a lasting solution to the conflict.

In the recent years, the EU has backed the UNs efforts to settle the Sahrawi conflict since Spain withdrew its forces in 1976.

The EU has always affirmed that it supported the efforts made by the Secretary General of the UN to reach a just, sustainable and mutually acceptable political solution to the conflict.

Some days ago, Belgiums FM Didier Reynders expressed the hope EU would play an active role in the Sahel and Maghreb regions

Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ramtane Lamamra welcomed, in Brussels, the position of Belgium concerning Moroccos accession to the African Union (AU), considering it as a fundamental change in circumstances.

I am delighted that my counterpart Didier (Reynders) has well received Moroccos accession to AU where it sits with SADR and Algeria and all the others, (the admission) constitutes a fundamental change in circumstances from which prospects should be open up, he said following a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders.

Lamamra regretted, in this regard, EUs approach towards the Maghreb which was until now a little distant and based much more on the bilateral cooperation with every Maghreb country rather than with a whole, homogonous and stable Maghreb, which addressed its political issues and which resolutely moves towards complementarity and integration.

Lamamra considered the issue of Western Sahara essential, urging Europe which is an economic giant to be also a political giant in the international relations. SPS

125/090/700
As farmers and crofters enter a busy time of year for lambing and calving, the losses that are caused by livestock worrying can be devastating.

Last year saw the highest number of instances from over the last seven years, prompting the union to renew its plea to dog owners to avoid fields with livestock, and keep dogs by their sides if out enjoying the countryside.

Figures, obtained by NFU Scotland through a Freedom of Information request, detailed that there had been 179 instances of livestock worrying, where the animals have been hurt or killed. That is up by 46 incidents on the previous year.

Highlands and Islands and Lothians and Borders saw the highest number of livestock worrying incidents, 36 and 27 respectively, with Aberdeenshire and Moray in third with 22.

As well as the ongoing day to day activity on livestock worrying, NFU Scotland has supported, for a second year running, a multi-partner awareness-raising campaign by the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime, which NFU Scotland is a member of.

Ayrshire farmer, Jimmy Ireland of Feoch Farm, has had an ongoing issue with dogs worrying sheep on his farm. He said:

Sheep worrying continues to be a burden on us, and it is not just the financial losses we suffer, but the stress it can cause for sheep, and the time we have to take away from the day to day running of our business to deal with such cases.

Those responsible just dont realise the damage their dogs can do by being amongst livestock. Ninety-nine per cent of those who are walking their dogs in this area are responsible, its the one per cent who are being careless, and they are the ones that need to be educated. We need dog owners to be mindful of going into fields, not just at this time of year during lambing and calving, but throughout the year.

I have been dealing with Police Scotland locally to push for prosecution for those responsible, but the issue continues to rear its ugly head time and again. Reluctantly we can be left with no option but to shoot a dog to stop it worrying our livestock.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

STAMFORD  A looming legal battle over a couples controversial refusal to remove racist graffiti from their garage door is not the first involving the homeowner.

Heather Lindsay, 59, who faces two ongoing foreclosure lawsuits on her Bulls Head home, once sued three men for sexual assault and tried to intervene in another court case.

Lindsay, who is white, and her partner, Lexene Charles, 56, who is black, made headlines last week after revealing the city of Stamford issued them a blight citation  which carries a $100 daily fine  one month after the couple found a spray-painted racial slur in front of their home.

Authorities said they have repeatedly offered to conceal or remove the N-word from the property at no cost, but the couple has refused, saying the sign helps them get police attention and makes a point about racism. Neighbors have complained to police about continuing to see the racial slur and said it is disturbing the peace in the quiet neighborhood.

I am not going to shut up until they do something, Lindsay said Thursday, two days after meeting with Stamford police detectives.

Assistant Police Chief James Matheny said investigators had a lengthy interview with Lindsay and they are pursuing every avenue to determine who committed this act.

No stone is being left unturned, he said.

The incident has shaken Charles, who says he has been staying on the living room couch at night with a hammer by his side.

I dont sleep, he said. I dont feel good. I am scared and afraid.

Lindsay said her home has been vandalized several times and at least three of her neighbors have yelled the N-word at her husband, but she claims police for years have refused to investigate those allegations.

Lindsay, who has lived in the house for more than 25 years, faces a foreclosure trial on the property scheduled for March 7. Its the result of more than $130,000 in unpaid fines stemming from a 2012 blight citation.

Andre Cayo, one of her attorneys, said the citation was issued because of debris, construction materials and a Dumpster that were in her yard during repair work for flood damage. He said Lindsay, who spent most of 2012 at her California home, had never received, or signed, the original notice. She discovered the fine when the city conducted a health inspection at her home, Cayo said.

Assurances

Cayo said several city officials, which included health department personnel and then-Mayor Michael Pavia, assured Lindsay in 2013 that the case had been resolved. But that same year, the city sued her for not paying the fines.

She had no idea what they were talking about, said Cayo, who also represents Lindsay in a foreclosure case filed by the Bank of New York for defaulting on her mortgage.

Even though the womans backyard has been cleared, the city requires homeowners cited with blight to provide a written notice once the problem is corrected. Cayo said it would not make sense to now pay those fines or provide a written notice, since his client disagrees with how the city handled the case in the first place.

I have no reason to advise her to send notice that whatever the problem was has been fixed, he said. What difference does it make if its $130,000 or $500,000?

Lindsay believes the blight citations and constant complaints about her home stem from her husbands race.

Its because my husband is black and Im white, she said.

Ted Jankowski, director of public safety, said the city and the police department are taking the current investigation very seriously. He said police have not found a witness who saw or heard anyone spray painting the sheet-metal garage door. The few security cameras in the area did not capture the incident.

Mayor David Martin said he plans to meet on Monday with the NAACP, which is working with the couple, to discuss the case.

Cayo, who had advised the couple to not remove the graffiti, said he appreciates the latest police outreach and no longer opposes getting rid of the graffiti.

She has decided to keep the sign because for years shes been ignored by the police, Cayo said. If the sign makes them not ignore her anymore, she will keep it up.

Other issues

Cayo and Lindsay said authorities and critics have tried to discredit the woman because of her health issues and traumatic past.

The former respiratory therapist, who is now on Social Security disability, lost a civil trial in 2013 in which she accused a Stamford doctor, the mans brother and his nephew of assault and rape. The court found her accusations lacked sufficient evidence.

Cayo said the court did not believe her story, a convoluted case spanning 2008 and 2009, because she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

She was traumatized to the point that she told me she couldnt even write her name, Cayo said.

The doctor, Ajay Ahuja, is now suing Lindsays former lawyer for malicious prosecution, arguing he litigated the case without probable cause.

The police did their investigation and they didnt find anything, Ahuja said Friday. Ultimately, I prevailed.

Lindsay has been trying to intervene in Ahujas lawsuit so she can clear her case, Cayo said.

Shes one of the most trustworthy clients that Ive had, Cayo said.

Lindsay said accusations that shes not credible are ridiculous.

Anyone who knows me, knows my character, she said.

Staff writer John Nickerson contributed to this story.

noliveira@stamford

advocate.com, 203-964-2265, @olivnelson
Our state is in danger of being slapped with the motto Connecticut: We dont have a pot to ...

Thats actually a polite way to put it, compared with much of the coarse public reaction to Gov. Dannel P. Malloys proposal to save $1.1 million  over two years  by shutting down seven rest areas. Yes, just as President Donald Trumps administration is challenging the rights of transgender students regarding public school bathrooms, Malloy wants to close some commodes to everyone.

The savings would come from the elimination of funding for a dozen state workers who maintain the rest stops, which are in Danbury, Southington, West Willington, East Willington, Wallingford, Middletown and North Stonington. This would have no impact on full service centers along the highways.

The state Department of Transportation tested the waters  and the bladders of drivers  last fall by limiting the hours of the rest stops to early daytime use.

To offer some accommodations, the DOT installed portable toilets. They were soon flush with complaints about vile conditions. The overflowing waste provided stark evidence of the need for the toilets.

The rest in rest stop is not always a euphemism. Many drivers really do need a reliable place to stop at any hour.

For most property owners, a bathroom would be the last place to seek savings. But Connecticut clearly has bathroom issues. A warning of things to come was apparent a couple years ago when DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker offered his reasoning for not installing them on smaller stops along the Metro-North line because riders could wait until they boarded a train.

That is insensitive to people with small children or health issues and unrealistic about the reliability of the arrival of the train carrying said portable toilet.

This is the fastest way to tell tourists they are not welcome, akin to a restaurant closing its bathrooms to diners.

Aside from the hygiene issues, there is also the high likelihood of the vacant structures being targets of graffiti, that reliable black eye to any neglected building. Maybe this is merely the governors way of making it clear that our state is truly in dire financial condition.

There isnt an app to offer an easy fix to this problem, but there may be an opportunity. The state should challenge federal laws that ban such stops from being privatized. As a result, Connecticut could turn them into income generators from the collection of rent from concessionaires. It would not be an easy fight, with lobbyists from fast food vendors at the other end of exit ramps sure to rally in opposition. But these are times to open new doors, not close ones that are needed.

Veteran travelers should remind the DOT of what a long drive was like before these facilities were built a few generations back. Take pity.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

STAMFORD  A Stamford judge delayed his decision until Monday on whether an accessory to commit murder charge will stand against one of three city men charged in the 2015 Leone Park slaying of Maxine Gooden.

At 3 p.m. Friday in a ground floor courtroom, Judge Thomas Collin said that he would make his decision after reviewing case law pertaining to the case handed in by Darnell Crosland, who is representing Deshawn Hayes.

Hayes, 24, is one of three men pulled over in a car fleeing from Leone Park less than 15 minutes after, Gooden, 43, and a mother of five children was shot and killed while selling her homemade Jamaican food in the West Side park on the night of Nov. 3, 2015.

Hayes, Morris Joel Moore, 24, of Cove Road have been charged with accessory to commit murder while Johonel Telemin-Valerio, 22, of Lafayette Street has been charged with murder. Each charge carries a maximum 60-year jail sentence.

The hearing attracted about 25 friends and family of Hayes, who has been in jail unable to make a $1 million bond since his arrest on the night of Goodens death.

After the postponement, Hayes mother Lilly Hayes said she hoped Collin on Monday will free her son. Hes not a murderer. We dont live by the gun, we arent murders. I hope the evidence speaks for itself. We arent saints by he certainly isnt a murderer, she said.

Hayes cousin Kevin Brown, 24, said, I hope that Judge Collin realizes that Deshawn should be released. There are family members here that care for him and love him.

but chances of that happening appear to be nonexistent. If Collin decides the murder charge wont stand, Brown is still faces two felony charges of manslaughter and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

While acknowledging Hayes release wont happen, Crosland said the accessory to murder charge should be thrown out

The case law is quite clear, mere presence is not enough and acquiescence isnt enough. They had to show he had the mental state to murder someone, and they did not do that, Crosland said.

Earlier, police investigators testified that a live bullet of the same caliber and manufacture as four shell casings found near where Gooden was killed was found in the Jeep that the three were pulled in after the shooting.

The three men also tested positive for gunshot residue and a 10 millimeter gun, matching the caliber of the shell casings and live round was found taken apart and stashed in the dashboard of the vehicle. Police said they found five live rounds in the guns magazine that perfectly match the casings left at the park and the live round in the car.

One crime scene investigator testified that in his 35 years with the department he has never seen such a gun or shell casings of that caliber.

But the lead investigator in the case, Sgt. Paul Guzda, testified that based on eyewitness accounts it appears that Hayes was sitting in the Jeep when the shots were fired.

Senior Assistant States Attorney Paul Ferencek is prosecuting Hayes on the legal basis that Hayes aided in Goodens murder and can therefore be prosecuted as though he were the person who shot the gun.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
I t is nearly a month since the crooks operating the HBOS Reading fraud were convicted over their scam, which drove scores of SME customers to the wall.

The victims claim they have spent years fighting to get HBOS, and subsequently Lloyds, to take their claims seriously but with no joy. Lloyds denies this, although Thames Valley Police Commissioner Anthony Stansfeld has criticised the unbelievable lack of support HBOS gave to his forces investigation.

At the time of the sentencing, amid the lurid headlines about prostitutes, yachts and luxury holidays enjoyed by the criminals, Lloyds said it was proactively contacting victims to offer compensation.

It repeated the claim to the Evening Standard on Wednesday. But that was news to the 10 victims who have contacted me since to say they have heard nothing. It was baffling, too, to the SME Alliance, set up by victim Nikki Turner to help others hit by the fraud.

The only SMEA member who has had any contact seems to have doggedly approached the bank himself. And all this despite Turner having been in contact with the Lloyds chairmans office over the issue since October.

Lloyds today repeated its claim that it had contacted victims, and was proactively engaging with those directly hit by the convicted fraudsters.

Simon Robinson of Remnant Media and Gill Blackburn of Multi-Sourcing Group beg to differ. Not only were their businesses directly affected, but their cases were so cut and dried that they constituted two of the three used in court as evidence. Robinson says the third has also not yet heard a peep from Lloyds.

Joanne Dove and Julie Probett, who provided victim impact statements, say theyve received no contact either.

Charles Neale and Ian Martin  whose business, the judge said, was one of those ripped apart by the fraud  report they have heard not a whisper.

Lloyds sources say its hard to find these people as theyve often moved and the events happened a long time ago. Would the bank have found it so hard to trace them if it was them who owed it money? I expect not, particularly when, like Robinson, theyve provided it with email and telephone details.

Gerry Metcalfe, Andrew Reade, Karl Capp, Charles Neale, Ian Martin, Joanne Dove, Julie Probett, Simon Robinson, Hannah Levitt and Gill Blackburn dont seem to be hiding. Nor does the SMEA.

Some, fed up with silence from Lloyds, are planning to sue. Who can blame them?

Lloyds chief Antonio Horta-Osorio has said sorry for the Reading crimes. He must match his words with deeds. Fast. These customers have suffered enough.
V ulture fund Cerberus Capital has come under attack from a group of MPs over allegations of exploitative business practices.

The US giant, the largest buyer of distressed debt in Europe, came under fire in a Westminster Hall debate this week after questions emerged over its treatment of customers and tax arrangements. The Wall Street investor has faced scrutiny since it snapped up the 13 billion Northern Rock loan book from the government in 2015.

SNP MP George Kerevan, who sits on the influential Treasury Select Committee, took aim at the Wall Street fund, accusing it of using prohibitively expensive fees to stop business customers refinancing their loans with rival lenders.

He said Cerberus has an exploitative and often inadequate business model. It claims to make a return for its investors in the range of 17% to 20% per annum, which is a staggering amount. The key way it makes its money is through tax avoidance, he claimed.

Simon Kirby, the City minister, dismissed the claims and said Cerberus had maintained the fair treatment of customers, after the Northern Rock sale.

He added the government had carried out thorough due diligence on Cerberus and the deal meant 5.5 billion had come back into the national purse, with 8 billion of liabilities off the governments balance sheet.

Cerberus declined to comment, although it has previously said most loans are resolved consensually with borrowers and it complies with all applicable tax laws and treaties.

The group has previously faced scrutiny in Northern Ireland over its purchase of bad loans from Nama, an arm of the government.

The group often buys books of distressed debts, normally from banks who want the bad loans off their balance sheets.

Labour MP Peter Dowd compared the firm to the three-headed mythological beast Cerberus guarding the gates of hell. It gets (customers) by the throat and they are trapped forever, he said.
R oyal Bank of Scotland boss Ross McEwan today insisted he wanted to stay at the bank until it was in profit as he fought City speculation that he was leaving  but raised the prospect of thousands of job losses for others.

He plans to cut costs by 2 billion, leading to inevitable branch closures and redundancies for the 92,000 staff.

McEwan wouldnt put a figure on the cuts. We talk to staff before we talk to anyone. But with 2 billion coming out in costs, there will be job losses across the business.

Asked whether he would be in place to unveil those profits, McEwan replied: I certainly hope so. I would like to be here.

The Kiwi has been struggling to turn around RBS for more than three years, with one source telling the FT Ross is so pissed off, that Id be staggered if he was still around in a years time.

RBS today reported losses for 2016 of 7 billion, taking the total flow of red ink in the last nine years to 58 billion. The bank predicted further losses next year when it is fined by the US Department of Justice for mortgage bond mis-selling. It forecasts it will finally become profitable again in 2018.

Unite national officer Rob MacGregor said: Having closed over 520 branches since 2014, RBS is chief among its competitors in shutting branches and slashing jobs.

The City is speculating that Chancellor Philip Hammond wants to start selling off the Governments 72% stake. The preference at the top of RBS is for them to have more time to get the bank into shape. RBS recently ditched the sale of its Williams & Glyn arm because of a lack of interest.

McEwan said today: We had 90% of the arrangements for setting up a bank done. It was a real disappointment for our technology team.

Beneath the write-offs, the core business made a profit of 4.2 billion. McEwan said: I knew when I arrived that underneath all the troubles that we faced, there was a strong bank. We have worked through the majority of our legacy issues. The loss is caused by 10 billion of one-off items, including 5.9 billion for potential fines and legal costs.

Ian Gordon at Investec thinks the shares are still a Sell. In a note titled Down, down, deeper and down he told clients: As ever, there is (we think) a perfectly respectable underlying business performance buried under all this, but we do not expect it to start to emerge before 2018, nor translate into anything akin to normal profitability before 2020.

Shares fell 3.4% to 241p.

RBS notes that it is still the biggest lender to the UK economy.
L abours defeat to the Tories in the Copeland by-election in Cumbria, which the party had held for more than 80 years, is a humiliation for Jeremy Corbyn and his moribund party. This is the first time a governing party had gained a seat in a by-election since Margaret Thatchers party won Mitcham and Morden in 1982.

The victorious candidate, Trudy Harrison, who increased the Tories share of the vote in this former Labour stronghold by more than eight per cent, hailed the victory as truly historic, while Labour MP John Woodcock called it a disaster, and even the shadow chancellor and Corbyn ally, John McDonnell, conceded it was a profound disappointment.

At a time in the electoral cycle when a credible opposition should be winning by-elections and riding high in the polls, Labour is in disarray: rejected, humiliated, ridiculed. It has all but collapsed in Scotland, where the Tory leader Ruth Davidson has emerged as the popular, unapologetic leader of Unionism. And in England the danger now is not that it will lose seats to Ukip  whose leader Paul Nuttall was rejected yesterday in the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election, which Labour held on a low turnout after a dispiriting campaign  but to Theresa Mays Conservatives.

The Copeland result was a vindication for the Prime Minister. When I interviewed her in Downing Street recently she had a simple message for Labour: we are coming after your voters  and she is.

Because of its embrace of the radical Left, May accused Labour of abandoning many of its traditional supporters. The party was not responding to their concerns on issues such as the impact of immigration on lower income levels.

True enough: Corbyn favours mass immigration and open borders yet is an economic protectionist  a classic Marxist position but electoral suicide in our new, emerging, post-liberal era in which populist movements are rising across Europe and an America First nationalist is in the White House.

I hope there are Labour voters, May told me, out there who will now look at us afresh and say, Labour hasnt responded to our concerns, it hasnt recognised what matters to us, but the Conservatives have seen that and are responding to it. I want our greater prosperity not to be confined to particular groups of people or a single part of the country.

The polls suggest that more than just disaffected Labour voters are looking at the Tories afresh, as we embark on the epic challenge of negotiating the Brexit settlement.

May believes Brexit was not only a vote to leave the European Union but a demand for change from those people  many of them in places such as Copeland  who felt ignored and excluded from prosperity and greater opportunity.

Her vision is for a Great Meritocracy (whereas Corbyns is for a socialist republic) combining greater social justice with enhanced social mobility. Its an intellectually fascinating and ambitious project and, if successful (and many doubt her, not least her own Right wing), it has the potential to condemn Labour to electoral oblivion.

Conservatives take Copeland in humiliating blow to Labour

The collapse of the Labour Party as a stable and credible political force is dismaying. Many of the partys problems precede Corbyn, who is sincere and determined but is not a national leader. But then neither was Ed Miliband, who misunderstood the financial crisis, which he believed had created a social democratic moment, and misread the country he sought to govern. Miliband treated politics like an elevated Oxbridge PPE seminar and introduced the new rules by which the party elected its leader, disempowering MPs and creating the opportunity for the far Left to capture the party. Nice work, Ed!

The distinguished Cambridge historian Robert Tombs has called the European Union a system of managed discontents. Something similar could be said of Corbyns Labour, except that its discontents are scarcely managed at all.

Most Labour MPs despise or are embarrassed by their leader. The MPs are divided and demoralised, with some pondering whether to follow Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed (whose departures created respectively the Stoke and Copeland by-elections) out of politics. The Corbynites are breaking up into factions (one hears talk of hard and soft Corbynites), and Corbyn himself is incapable of appealing to those who do not share his ideological convictions.

For now, the Labour leader retains the support of activists and members and, crucially, of Unite, Britains biggest union and the partys paymaster. But even his friends must accept that he is leading the party in only one direction  into the abyss.

On the eve of the two by-elections, Corbyn posted a message on Facebook: Whatever the results, the Labour Party  and our mass membership  must go further to break the failed political consensus, and win power to rebuild and transform Britain.

The statement was received with derision on social media. The idea that Labour can win power any time soon (notwithstanding some black-swan event) is magical thinking. Corbyns personal ratings among traditional working class, semi-skilled and unskilled Labour voters are catastrophically poor. He appeals to students, affluent metropolitans with degrees and minority groups. As for the majority of the electorate, forget it.

MPs are reluctant to challenge Corbyn because they know any leadership contest would revitalise his leadership, as happened last summer when the Welsh MP Owen Smith mounted an ill-considered challenge. Nor is there a pre-eminent candidate waiting in the shadows, as Michael Heseltine was in the last years of the Thatcher administration.

So Labour will continue to be the Zombie Party: too weak to win but too strong to die. Its founding mission was to defend the labour interest and to create a fairer, more ethical society. But Labour has lost its role, its confidence and sense of purpose. Obsessed by identity liberalism, bewildered by Brexit and led by a radical socialist, Labour can only look on helplessly as the Tories start to win seats in its former heartlands and hunker down for another decade or more in power.

Jason Cowley is editor of the New Statesman
Ribbed sweater dresses, denim pinafores and leather waistcoats were on the catwalk in Milan this morning as Diesel went back to the Nineties for its latest Gold collection.

Going all out to repackage grunge for the 21st Century consumer, the streetwear house offered up a host of easy to wear wardrobe solutions with a loose, slouchy silhouette taking centre stage alongside crepe-sole trainers.

Diesel, a denim brand by trade, is growing increasingly determined to expand its remit to include luxurious options for modern city dwellers. This collection was a demonstration of that with the brand adding pin-stripe tailoring - albeit of the dressed down variety - to its offering.

Charged with developing the quality of Diesel Black Gold, creative director Andreas Melbostad paid close attention to fabric choice today including coats in high quality shearling and dresses in butter soft leather as a means to win over the luxury consumer.

The collection, a far cry from the innovative offering Miuccia Prada showed the evening before, showed Diesel to be a brand that plays it safe with commercial gains very much at the top of its agenda. To this end, the showcase was a low key effort which delivered clothes which will be easy to shift when it lands in stores next autumn.

The show marks Diesel Black Gold's third since returning to the Milan schedule.

Diesel owner Renzo Rosso had previously shown his ready to wear Gold line in New York but swapped the U.S. fashion capital for his native Milan last year.

While the brand is often over look under the sea of fur coats and directional shift dresses that is Milanese fashion, it accounts for a significant role in the city's fashion landscape, particularly among those without the Euros to spend on extravagant fur coats.
With The Oscars just days away, attendees and designers will be meeting in LA for frantic final dress fittings and tweaks.

But one pair who seemingly won't be meeting up is Best Actress nominee Meryl Streep and Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld, after Streep allegedly pulled out of wearing the French fashion brand when Lagerfeld refused to pay her to wear his gown.

Speaking to WWD, Lagerfeld revealed that Streep had asked for an embroidered grey silk gown from his most recent couture collection with a higher neckline, but after Lagerfeld had finalised his sketches and set his seamstresses to work she backed out.

"I made a sketch, and we started to make the dress," Lagerfeld said. However a phone call came from a member of Streeps team days later saying: "Dont continue the dress. We found somebody who will pay us".

Chanel have a policy of not paying celebrities, no matter their status, although there is still great expense in dressing them.

"After we gift her a dress thats 100,000 euros [$105,000], we found later we had to pay [for her to wear it]. We give them dresses, we make the dresses, but we dont pay"

"A genius actress, but cheapness also, no?"

Despite this, there appears to be no hard feeling from Lagerfeld and he insists Streep is welcome to keep the dress.

"She could keep the dress because of the size. Its couture. Its perfect for her."

Responding to the claims made by Lagerfeld, a representative for Streep denied the claims to The Hollywood Reporter, saying it is against her personal ethics to be paid to wear a gown on the red carpet.

Academy Awards: Best Ever Oscars Dresses - In pictures 1 /93 Academy Awards: Best Ever Oscars Dresses - In pictures ES Composite 1954 1954

Audrey Hepburn wearing Givenchy NBC via Getty Images 1955 1955

Grace Kelly wearing Givenchy Getty Images 1958 1958

Sophia Loren wearing a fitted gown Getty Images 1968 1968

Faye Dunaway wearing Theadora Van Runkle Bettmann Archive 1969 1969

Barbra Streisand wearing Arnold Scaasi ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images 1978 1978

Goldie Hawn in silver wrap gown WireImage 1982 1982

Diana Ross wears red sequin gown Getty Images 1986 1986

Cher wearing Bob Mackie Bettmann Archive 1994 1994

Whitney Houston wearing a white pantsuit Corbis via Getty Images 1997 1997

Nicole Kidman wearing Dior Couture Vince Bucci/AFP/Getty Images 1999 1954

Celine Dion wearing Christian Dior AFP 1999 1999

Gwyneth Paltrow wearing Ralph Lauren Vince Bucci/AFP/Getty Images 2001 Bjork wearing Marjan Pejoski REUTERS 2001 2002

Julia Roberts wearing Valentino PA 2002 2002

Kate Winslet wearing Ben de Lisi Vince Bucci/Getty Images 2003 2003

Kate Hudson wearing Versace Kevin Winter/Getty Images 2004 2004

Charlize Theron wearing Gucci Getty Images 2004 2004

Angelina Jolie wearing Marc Bouwer Frazer Harrison/Getty Images 2005 2005

Charlize Theron wearing John Galliano for Christian Dior AFP/Getty Images 2005 2005

Cate Blanchett wearing Valentino Couture Carlo Allegri/Getty Images 2005 2005

Hilary Swank wearing Guy Laroche Vince Bucci/Getty Images 2006 2006

Michelle Williams wearing Vera Wang Frazer Harrison/Getty Images 2006 2006

Reese Witherspoon wearing vintage Dior Frazer Harrison/Getty Images 2006 2006

Diane Kruger wearing Elie Saab Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images 2007 2007

Penelope Cruz wearing Atelier Versace Getty Images 2008 2008

Marion Cotillard wearing Jean Paul Gaultier Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images 2009 2009

Anne Hathaway wearing Armani Prive Getty Images 2011 2011

Sandra Bullock in Vera Wang AFP/Getty Images 2012 2012

Kate Mara wearing Jack Guisso Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images 2012 2012

Emma Stone wearing Giambattista Valli Couture Getty Images 2013 2013

Jennifer Aniston wearing Dior Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2013 2013

Amy Adams wearing Oscar de la Renta Michael Buckner/Getty Images 2013 2013

Jennifer Lawrence wearing Dior Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images 2014 2014

Lupita Nyong'o wearing Prada Getty Images 2015 2015

Keira Knightley wearing Valentino Getty Images 2015 2015

Emma Stone wearing Elie Saab Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images 2016 2016

Naomi Watts wearing Armani Prive Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2016 2016

Jennifer Lawrence wearing Dior Couture Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2016 2016

Julianne Moore wearing Chanel Haute Couture Getty Images 2016 2016

Brie Larson wearing Gucci Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2017 2017

Karlie Kloss wearing Stella McCartney Getty Images 2017 2017

Nicole Kidman wearing Armani Prive Getty Images 2017 2017

Ruth Negga in Valentino Getty Images 2017 2017

Dakota Johnson in Gucci Getty Images 2017 2017

Alicia Vikander in Louis Vuitton and Bulgari Getty Images 2017 2017

Sofia Boutella in Chanel Haute Couture and Chanel Fine Jewelry Getty Images 2018 2018

Nicole Kidman wearing Armani Prive Getty Images 2018 2018

Octavia Spencer wearing Brandon Maxwell AFP/Getty Images 2018 2018

Lupita Nyong'o wearing Versace 2018 2018

Emily Blunt wearing Schiaparelli Haute Couture Getty Images 2018 2018

Gal Gadot in Givenchy Haute Couture AFP/Getty Images 2018 2018

Saoirse Ronan in Calvin Klein by Appointment Getty Images 2018 2018

Taraji P. Henson in custom Vera Wang Getty Images 2018 2018

Margot Robbie wearing Chanel Getty Images 2019 2019

Lady Gaga wearing Alexander McQueen Getty Images 2019 2019

Billy Porter wearing custom Christian Siriano Getty Images 2019 2019

Gemma Chan wearing Valentino Couture Getty Images 2019 2019

Tessa Thompson wearing Chanel Couture Getty Images 2020 Janelle Monae in Ralph Lauren Getty Images 2020 Natalie Portman in Dior AFP via Getty Images 2021 Marlee Matlin in custom Vivienne Westwood A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images 2021 Celeste in Gucci A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images 2021 Margot Robbie in Chanel Getty Images 2021 Amanda Seyfried in Armani A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images 2021 Laura Dern in Oscar de la Renta A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images 2021 Zendaya in custom Valentino A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images 2021 Reese Witherspoon in Christian Dior A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images 2021 Carey Mulligan in Valentino Getty Images 2021 Angela Bassett in Dolce & Gabbana A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images

Keep an eye on standard/fashion on Monday 27th as we dissect the the red carpet looks live and discover which designer Streep eventually wears
Imagine what you could do with $972,000! What the federal government wants to do with it is subsidize the Stonewall timber sale and burning project, which will destroy about 5,000 acres of big game, lynx and grizzly bear habitat northwest of Lincoln in violation of federal laws.

$972,000 to destroy wildlife habitat on public land? Most Montanans believe the federal government should be spending taxpayer money protecting fish and wildlife habitat on public land, not destroying it  and theres plenty of restoration work that needs to be done due to past logging damages.

Just to be clear, the $972,000 is what the Forest Service says in the Environmental Impact Statement that the federal government will lose on the timber sale.

The timber sale may well be bought by RY Timber of Townsend and Livingston, which is owned by the billionaire Yanke family from Boise, Idaho. RY Timber has been getting most of the timber from the Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest lately. $972,000 isnt a lot of money to the federal government or a billionaire but it is a lot to you and me. So why should we spend almost a million taxpayer dollars destroying fish and wildlife habitat on public lands? After all, how much money does a billionaire need? Isnt a billion dollars enough?

Much to its credit, wildlife biologists with Montanas Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks were so concerned that they wrote the Forest Service during the travel planning process for the Blackfoot area that although elk populations have generally increased in hunting districts that include Helena National Forest land since adoption of the 1986 Forest Plan, the number of elk that spend summer and fall on the Lincoln Ranger District have not.  FWP recommends that land managers provide enough secure habitat during fall to meet annual bull survival objectives while maintaining general bull harvest opportunity. Neither public land populations nor bull ratios in the Lincoln valley have increased despite the near elimination of antlerless harvest opportunity and the adoption of spike-bull harvest restrictions.

Montanas big game management agency also warned that due to degraded habitat on public lands, elk are now spending more time on private lands, which causes conflict with land owners as well as increasing the difficulty of managing the herd size due to loss of hunting opportunities on public lands, writing: The number of elk that spend the majority of the year on some nearby private lands has increased dramatically between 1986 and 2013. FWP has consistently urged the [Helena National Forest] to increase functional fall habitat security on the Lincoln Ranger District.

For $972,000, Montana hunters are going to find fewer elk on public lands in the Lincoln Ranger District since they will flee to inaccessible private lands after the federal government has destroyed their habitat on public lands.

We think it makes no sense to sacrifice public elk, lynx, and grizzly bear habitat to subsidize the timber industry with nearly a million taxpayer dollars, which is why the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council filed suit in Federal District Court challenging the Stonewall Vegetation Project.

Mike Garrity is the executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and a fifth generation Montanan.
A show inspired by a pioneering photographer whose story is set to be told in a film by actor Gary Oldman opens today.

Paul Mowatts show at Kingston Museum, where he is artist in residence, includes photographs and two video installations based on the work of Eadweard Muybridge.

The Victorian photographer was Kingston-born and died there in 1904. He is best known for his pictures of a galloping horse that proved all four hooves left the ground in motion.

Mr Mowatt uses modern techniques in his recreations of Muybridges trademark images of moving figures. He said: He is often overlooked though he was at one time regarded as the godfather of the moving image. Oldman has written the film, with the working title Flying Horse, and wants to direct it. It will look at Muybridges colourful private life which saw him stand trial for and be acquitted of the murder of his wifes lover.

Kinesis: Body In Motion runs until June 24, entry free.
Q uick! London rapper Stormzy has just announced hell be playing an impromptu gig in Camden this lunchtime, at 1pm.

The Croydon-born grime star tweeted simply: Castlehaven Park - Camden - 1PM - #GSAP.

Fans should head to Castlehaven Park, NW1 8RU for a chance to see him perform, about seven minutes walk from Camden Town underground station.

The show coincides with the release of Stormzys much anticipated debut album, Gang Signs and Prayer, which earned four stars from the Standards music critic David Smyth for its fast-paced, witty bragging that fast-tracked him to stardom. It features the likes of Ghetts, MNEK, Kehlani, Lily Allen and J Hus and has been praised and endorsed on Twitter by stars including Wiley, Ed Sheeran and Adele.

Among other things, Stormzy recently hit the headlines striking up an unlikely friendship at the Brits with TV presenter and crooner, Bradley Walsh.

Walsh said: Me and Stormzy. Were gonna do an album. Were gonna do an album of Nelson Riddle arrangements in grime form. Its gonna be called Griddle. Were looking forward to it, were gonna collaborate.
I t has been scorned by foodies for decades, but now the 70s favourite is set to make a comeback as a carvery trolley wheels its way into one of Londons most iconic restaurants.

Chef Claude Bosi will introduce the meat trolley at Bibendum, which is owned by Sir Terence Conran, when he takes the helm in March as part of his plan to make the restaurant accessible despite serving top-end food.

The Lyon-born chef, who held two Michelin stars at his last restaurant Hibiscus, admitted that fine dining has a bad name with diners who expect to sit for five hours and many courses then pay a fortune.

The carvery trolley will be available at weekend lunchtimes with an offering that changes daily from a selection including beef rib, rotisserie chicken, pork belly and lamb leg.

Read all the latest restaurant news and reviews

Diners will be able to opt for just one course if they wish and be out within half hour after a slice of meat, a galss of wine and a coffee, explained the chef.

Bosi added: The idea is to bring back a bit of activity between kitchen and front-of-house, and between front-of-house and the diner. People love to see dishes plated in front of them; there is magic to it.

Chef: Outside the iconic, very French, building / Patricia Niven

The restaurant will also feature an art-deco dessert and ice cream trolley serving twists on classics such as Paris brest, eclairs and trifle.

The restaurant will remain split between a seafood bar and cafe on the ground floor and a fine-dining restaurant on the first floor, in the way it always has been.

Dishes downstairs will include Cornish crab and lobster aioli along with oysters and fruits de mer, while upstairs will serve French and British-influenced dishes, of which several will be familiar either from Hibiscus or Bibendum in years gone by.

These will include oyster omelette, watercress and oscietra caviar and Galician beef filet a la Ficelle with smoked eels, beef jam and leaves.

There will be a set lunch at 36.50 for three courses  or 49.50 with half bottle of wine  as well as a new focus on dishes to share, including Dover sole farcie for two and roast chicken with seasonally rotating sides for two.

Fish supper: Some of Claude's dishes from two Michelin-starred Hibiscus will be seen at Bibendum

One thing there will not be is a tasting menu. Bosi explained: Chefs are in their comfort zone with tasting menus, Ive done it myself. But they take away a bit of the point of a restaurant; people are meant to be able to choose what to eat.

Claudes good friend Isabelle Legeron MW, founder of Raw Wine, will create the restaurants wine list, which will have a focus on Claudes home, Rhone and Burgundy.

Bibendum occupies a South Kensington building that was originally home to Michelin and has been responsible for launching the careers of chefs including Simon Hopkinson, Jeremy Lee and Phil Howard since its launch in 1987.

However, Claude admitted: I never knew Bibendum when it was at its best, as I wasnt in London then. He adds: But maybe thats good as Im not trying to recreate what it was but do my own thing.

In a recent ES Magazine interview Jamie Oliver listed Bibendum as the London building he would most like to buy, saying: Its beautiful and iconic. Terence Conrans had it a long time; I think its time he passed it on.

Perhaps he will drop in for a carvery lunch.

The Evening Standard is pleased to announce the launch of London Food Month, Britain's biggest food festival, taking place across the capital this June. Follow the link to find out more, or visit londonfoodmonth.co.uk to register your interest as a business.
O f all the platforms on which the headscarf debate seemed likely to rear its head, Lindsay Lohans transatlantic pit stop at Heathrow Airport was a surprising flashpoint. The Mean Girls star was flying from Turkey to New York via London when she was asked by immigration staff to remove a scarf she donned out of respect while working with refugees. The actress later claimed she had been racially profiled for the first time in my life.

Lohans travails were soon overtaken in a week in which headscarves were at the centre of political statements. Over the weekend, a delegation from Swedens self-proclaimed feminist government visited Iran, only to be rounded on internationally after female ministers on the trip were photographed wearing headscarves. On Tuesday, Marine Le Pen, leader of Frances Front National party, walked away from a meeting in Beirut with the Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian after refusing to cover her head.

The hijab has become a symbol around the world of how Muslim women are defined, says journalist Shaista Aziz, founder of the anti-racism digital platform The Everyday Bigotry Project. If a woman chooses to wear or not to wear a hijab, it should be a matter for only her. And note the word choice.

The Politics

For a flap of fabric, the headscarf has had a surprisingly dominant role in politics for years  especially in France, which has the largest number of Muslims in Western Europe and which bans hijabs in the public service and for school pupils. But this week the politicisation of the veil took centre stage  with France again the focus as Marine Le Pen cancelled a meeting with Lebanons Grand Mufti, the top cleric for Sunni Muslims, after refusing to wear a headscarf for the encounter.

Pass on my considerations [to the cleric] but I will not veil myself, Le Pen declared. Whether or not her refusal was a publicity stunt, it has created one of the few occasions when some feminists found themselves celebrating a move by the Right-wing Front National.

Le Pen has gained two million more female voters since her last presidential bid in 2012. Her move went down better than the Swedish politicians, who were last week mocked on social media for wearing headscarves in Iran.

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen meets Lebanon's Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rai / AFP/Getty Images

One viral photo showed members of the delegation in Tehran donning Islamic headscarves with the caption Walk of shame: Women of Swedens first feminist government in the world don hijab as they walk past Irans [President] Rouhani.

Then there was Iranian chess champion Dorsa Derakhshani, 18, who was kicked off her countrys national team for removing the headscarf required in her homeland to go bare-headed for a tournament in Gibraltar. Our national interests have priority over everything, the head of the Iranian Chess Federation declared. But thats unlikely to be checkmate in the hijabs long-running use as a political pawn.

Swedish politicians in Iran

The Brands

When LOreal Paris yesterday unleashed its All Worth It campaign with The Princes Trust, everyone was talking about Cheryls pregnant bump and Helen Mirrens incredible self- doubt. And the presence of headscarf-wearing YouTuber Amena Kin? That went largely undiscussed.

Its a sign of how speedily brands are now embracing hijabis  women wearing hijabs: campaigns by mega-brands including Apple, Uniqlo, Dolce & Gabbana and Danone. LOreal Paris wasnt even the only beauty brand to feature a hijab-wearing model in its latest campaign: so did Lancome, with make-up artist Sumra Khan one of the faces of its Teint Idole Ultra Wear foundation. Big business now sees the lucre in Generation M, the young, affluent millennial Muslims who are big spenders.

Over the past 18-24 months weve seen a huge turning point in brands recognition of young Muslims who believe that being faithful and modern go hand-in-hand, says Shelina Janmohamed, vice-president of Ogilvy Noor, an international consulting and marketing agency focusing on businesses that want to reach out to Muslims. Generation M is finally being recognised on the high street as consumers just like everyone else  which is what they want, to be able to go and buy clothes, food or any other product, but one that is tailored for them. Why, they wonder, does everyone want to talk burkinis all the time?

For the profit-pursuing brand manager, using hijabis in ads makes commercial sense: the modest fashion industry alone is estimated to be worth $484 billion, while two-thirds of Generation M are under 30 and with a global spend of some $2.6 trillion.

Thats one reason why Mariah Idrissi, the Wembley Park-born model who was scouted while working in a shop in Westfield and became the first hijab-wearing woman to be involved in a major campaign for H&M, has seen bookings rocket in recent months. Some brands are simply looking for the token hijabi to show diversity, and some genuinely want to broaden their market or appeal to an already active one, the 24-year-old adds.

Its refreshing, says Idrissi, to see the veil talked about in non political terms. From the start, one of my motivations as a model was to change conversations on the hijab from being so heavily focused on politics and negativity into the other great things Muslim women are achieving. Like any other woman, we share the same interests and hobbies  using a woman in a hijab for marketing shouldnt be something so difficult for people to digest.

Lindsay Lohan visits Syrian refugees in Turkey / Getty Images

The Fashion

In London, the UKs first modest fashion week took place over two days at the Saatchi Gallery in front of 3,000 people, mostly young Muslim women, where hijabs, burkinis and kimonos came to the catwalk. Launched by online fashion marketplace Haute Elan, the event was intended to showcase fashion more sensitive to faiths  in fact, anyone who prefers a more demure look. Leather caps were paired with hijabs, while statement It-bags were matched with floor-length, nude-coloured kimonos.

Modest fashion is not just for us, its something for everyone, says Idrissi. You dont have to be Jewish or Muslim to be modest  every woman can choose to dress so. Idrissi says the high street has yet to catch up to the demands for modest fashion, especially evening wear, although this year Debenhams will become the first major UK retailer to meet the gap, teaming up with London-based brand Aab to produce a line of modestclothing.

World Hijab Day 2017 - In pictures 1 /12 World Hijab Day 2017 - In pictures A child wears an American Flag head scarf at an event at City Hall for World Hijab Day in New York Spencer Platt/Getty Images New York City Police Officers Aml Elsokary (left) and Maritza Morales wear American Flag head scarfs at an event at City Hall for World Hijab Day Spencer Platt/Getty Images Sophia Herron wears an American Flag head scarf at an event at City Hall for World Hijab Day Spencer Platt/Getty Images Women wear American Flag head scarfs at an event at City Hall for World Hijab Day in New York Spencer Platt/Getty Images An Albanian Muslim woman poses (left) for a picture with other woman after inviting her to try on a headscarve (hijab) as a sign of support for women wearing hijabs during the World Hijab day in Tirana, Albania Armando Babani/EPA Sarah Rivali, 33, left, tries on a hijab with the help of Aicha Nahod, of Tunsia, on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque Russell Contreras/AP A Liberian female soldier of the Armed forces of Liberia (C) with fellow muslim women pose for photograph during the celebration of World Hijab Day at a local stadium in Monrovia, Liberia Ahmed Jallanzo/EPA Albanian Muslim woman makes a selfie picture wearing a headscarve (hijab) as a sign of support for women wearing hijabs during the World Hijab day in Tirana, Albania Armando Babani/EPA Women wear American Flag head scarfs at an event at City Hall for World Hijab Day in New York Spencer Platt/Getty Images

We started Aab almost a decade ago as a label that redefined modest fashion and one that caters for everyday modern wardrobe staples that are thoughtfully designed with the highest quality, says Nazmin Alim, founder and creative director at Aab. The partnership with Debenhams opens up some very exciting opportunities for us.

While modest fashion goes low, it also goes high. Max Mara, the Italian fashion powerhouse, unveiled its latest collection in Milan yesterday, with Gigi Hadid modelling modest, monochromatic trouser suits and sheer, Scandinavian-inspired roll-neck sweaters. Alongside Hadid, Max Mara called on the services of hijab-wearing model Halima Aden, a first for the fashion house. Max Mara empowers women; from all geographical areas, all creeds, all philosophies. Halima is ambitious, confident and beautiful, says Ian Griffiths, Max Maras creative director.

Hijab isnt fashion but it can tie into it, says Idrissi. The same girls who go to school with non-Muslim friends dont feel so different any more. Everyone can be included.

Follow Samuel Fishwick: @fish_o_wick

Follow Lucy Tobin: @lucytobin

Update. This article previously included an erroneous reference to the Turkish government having "repealed a rule that forced women in the military to wear a hijab". In fact, women in the military were, until the recent change in the law, prohibited from wearing a hijab - they can now choose whether to wear one. We regret the error. 27/2/17
I n 1991, the brilliant Canadian author Douglas Coupland published the novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, in which a group of navel-gazing Palm Springs proto-hipsters sit around telling one another semi-fantastical stories about their lives. It gradually became the book that captured a generation  a generation of young people who were born after the baby boom, in the 1970s or '80s, and found themselves aimlessly plodding through McJobs (low-paid, service industry work), targets of advertising and celebrity culture, and full of ennui.

Twenty-ix years later, ex-Sunday Times Style editor Tiffanie Darke has written another book about Generation X, asking whatever happened to the demographic. Looking back on the 1990s  the decade Gen Xers like herself came of age  and how they were defined by rave culture, Britpop and lad culture, she recaps where British Gen Xers came from in order to figure out where theyre going. These are the people who grew up obsessed with cool and who had few economic worries about the future, she argues. But now that theyre 40, theyve suddenly found themselves with purpose  lumped with children, big business and the task of political leadership, what are they to do with their newfound responsibility?

Now We Are 40: Whatever Happened To Generation X? is a big undertaking  to answer its own question it has to recap 25 years of history, take stock of todays world (culturally and politically), and present some suggestions for the future. For that reason, its a bit too generalising at points. Its not a book for historians but for anyone seeking a quick nostalgia hit or a bit of acerbic cultural commentary; a speedy read (testament to Darkes punchy writing) that offers more than a handful of interesting talking points on a generation that isnt much discussed.

We gave Tiffanie a call to ask what she thinks is the legacy of Gen X, as well as what millennials ought to learn from their elders.

Hi Tiffanie. So to begin with, why did you decide to write about Generation X?

The thing about demographics is, its a highly subjective science, but we all like to try to make sense of our lives and understand who we are and where we came from. Sometimes demographic classifications are helpful in that. I classified myself as Gen X because I read Douglas Couplands novel in 1991 and the way he described us back then was the way I felt about my life. Ive felt like a Gen X person since, but it became more conscious a few years ago, when it felt like everyone was talking about boomers and millennials but no one was talking about my generation at all. I thought, Everyone seems to have forgotten about Gen X. Are we interesting any more? Do we even self-define?

That was really my impetus for writing the book, but it was coupled with the fact that  and its such a cliche  the minute I turned 40 I had an oh-my-god moment about being older and that did manifest in me wondering where were all going. You are, at this stage, halfway through your life, youve still got energy, youre still working, still trying to make stuff happen, but doing it with experience and smarts behind you. If you pause to reflect, then maybe going forwards you can be more effective. The book was a way to recalibrate, it helped me move from crisis to a state of quiet optimism.

The book speaks to a bunch of prominent Gen Xers. How did you choose your cast of characters?

I knew the subjects I wanted to cover: music, food, fashion, parenting, digital. Alex [James, from Blur] is great on the music side of things, Martha [Lane Fox, founder of Lastminute.com] is great on digital, and Alice [Temperley, fashion designer] I thought would be good on fashion, but she was so good on parenting I ended up using her more for that. Primarily they were people I admired and knew were of the sensibility I was trying to capture, but with different areas of subject expertise.

You mentioned that we hear a lot more about millennials these days than Gen Xers. My feeling was that 'millennial' is used a lot because its a marketing term, so it was interesting to read in your book about how marketing affected your generation...

What happened with marketing for Gen X was a double-edged sword; we had all this cool cultural stuff that was going on, stuff that had only been covered by magazines like The Face and Arena and other underground style bibles  music, fashion, and art that had existed as counter-culture  and we exploded it into mainstream culture. I think the real tipping point in that was the Criminal Justice Bill [which barred free parties and anti-social behaviour]. It made partying and rave music go overground  it made it into a business. Cultural waves like rave, the Manchester scene, Britpop, techno, later jungle and drum and bass  brands thought, Lets pump some money into that, borrow some cool and sell more products. So things we thought were cool before just became part of everyday life.

What were the main differences between Xers and millennials that you identified when you were writing the book?

Its generally agreed through surveys and data that millennials have a different experience to Xers; theyre less hedonistic, more anxious, they drink less. And its for really good reasons. For me, there are three things that millennials lived through that define them:

Firstly, there was 9/11  a completely discombobulating experience whereby everything taken for granted, like safety and security and prosperity, suddenly felt like they seemed to disappear.

The second is a prevailing all must have prizes philosophy from when millennials were at school, whereby nobody was criticised for getting anything wrong, and everyone was really overpraised for everything. That makes the millennial mindset one that finds it hard to deal with criticism and failure.

And then the final thing is the 2008 crash  just as millennials were leaving school and looking for jobs there was this horrendous financial crisis.

Generation X had a much better hand, they had a prosperous time in the latter half of the '90s and the noughties, they had good free education and accessible housing. Thats why I think it behoves Gen X to be really understanding of millennials now and appreciative of what millennials have to offer us. Boomers have a go at millennials but this is a millennial world now. Its crafted by you guys as much as it is by us, and we need you. Weve got the experience but youve got the skills.

Lets talk about feminism for a second  in the book you talk about how Gen X women took their eye off the ball  what does that mean, and what does it tell us about feminism today?

For boomer women, the expectation was that you might meet somebody nice and start a good family. Gen X women were educated with the expectation that wed have careers and be independent. In the '90s, my experience was in the media  I got into the workplace and all the bosses were male at the newspapers and yet half their readers were female, so they had a clunking realisation that they needed to staff up with women, so people gave us jobs and promotions. At that point, we all thought the war was won, that we werent held back that we were women. You cant underestimate the Spice Girls part in that, either, 'Girl Power' was a simple message: five girls doing what they wanted, travelling around the world and making bucketloads of money. Feminism wasnt cool at all; Beyonce was interviewed in Vogue and asked if she was a feminist and she declined to answer the question.

Our experience was, Whats all the fuss about? But then weird stuff started to happen where girls started to try to impersonate boys by drinking booze, smoking fags, going to football matches. There was nothing wrong with that, but then raunch culture evolved out of it, and that was like, Yeah I can pole dance if I want to, its a fitness class and Yeah heres my thong hanging out the back of my trousers, Im so empowered. Girls like Katie Price and Gail Porter were taking their clothes off and posing on Page Three and saying This is an empowering thing because, look, its made me rich and successful and famous. Sex and the City happened. Ariel Levy wrote Feminist Chauvinist Pigs, the first book to really say, Hey guys, this isnt cool.

Of course, it later turned out that misogyny had never really gone away, it had just gone underground. What social media and digital did was allow misogyny an anonymous environment to articulate itself. Meanwhile, all those Generation X women who thought it was an equal-opportunity workplace have got to the point in their careers where they are having babies, and getting passed over for promotions and pay rises. We realised men are all being paid more than us for doing the same job... that has only come to light in the past few years... and that were not equal in leadership, either because we dont like the leadership that is there, because it doesnt suit us or were not being given the opportunities. So what I meant was that it felt like women were doing fine and then it was completely not fine. That Girl Power was very reductive, in retrospect.

What do you wish millennials had that you had as a Gen Xer, then?

For me, its tribal trends. Pre-digital there were organic movements that could grow and define themselves through music, fashion, culture or art or being somewhere  Sheffield, Manchester, south London  you chose what you wanted to be and you could just go there and do it with people who shared the same values as you. It was a community because you had to show up. You couldnt just click on it for five seconds. You had to absorb it. Now I worry that with digital a trend is a trend in an instant, or that you could put on 40 trends in a day. Its hard to describe or define cultural movements now because they all move so quickly.

And finally, what do you hope people take away from the book?

If youre part of Gen X, I hope it regenerates you, that you identify with the things I talk about and how that shapes you as a person and goes on to shape the next bit of your life. At 40 you can feel very tired but theres so much to play for. And for millennials reading, its good to know whats coming down the pipe and prepare yourself for the future, culturally, financially and politically. I wasnt thinking about that 10 years ago. But I think Ive got the message now.

Now We Are 40 is published by HarperCollins

Read more from Refinery29:

Check Out Dua Lipa's Brit Awards Photo Diary

Twitter Is Flipping Over Beyonce's Coachella Cancellation

Beyonce Has Dropped Out Of The Coachella Lineup
U nless you were living under a rather large rock, you probably saw Nasas latest exoplanet discovery - a potentially habitable solar system 40 light-years away from ours, with seven earth-sized planets in its orbit.

The incredible discovery, which the space agency hailed as an "accelerated leap forward" in the search for life in space, has given new hope to the idea of humans one day inhabiting other planets.

To help drum up excitement around the news, Nasa has released a stunning space tourism poster advertising what it could be like to holiday on a planet in the newly discovered solar system.

The tongue in cheek poster features a family gathered in a spacecraft on a 'planet hopping' holiday, gazing out onto Trappist-1e which, it says, has "been voted best 'Hab Zone' vacation within 12 parsecs of Earth."

NASA

Nasas newly discovered seven planets have all been found huddled around the same star  Trappist-1  in the constellation of Aquarius.

"The planet shown here [in the poster]", explain Nasa, "fourth from the TRAPPIST-1 star, is in the habitable zone, the area around the star where liquid water is most likely to be detected."

Sadly, a holiday here wont quite be as speedy as a trip to the Algarve. The fastest human spacecraft would currently get us there in about 200,000 years.

Scientists at yesterdays press conference, which was held in New York and streamed live on the Nasa website, explained that if we were able to travel at light-speed we would be able to reach the star in 39 years.

Meanwhile, a standard jet would take 44 million years.

Still, these posters certainly make for a nice piece of art to hang above the mantlepiece.

The Trappist-1 poster is the latest in a series of Nasa space travel posters to promote exoplanet science. Click through our gallery above to see them all.
T he boss of an international headhunting firm suffered a vicious homophobic attack while walking home with his partner from a night out in central London.

Sam Martin, 32, and his 27-year-old partner Tom Davies were subjected to a torrent of abuse from a stranger as they made their way home from a night out in Soho.

It worker Faisal Ahmed, 32, shouted "you f****** gay boy" at the couple, who were holding each other's hands in public for the first time.

Ahmed, who had been on an alcohol "binge" at the time of the attack, grabbed Mr Martin by the throat, punched him in the back of the neck and placed him in a headlock before dragging him onto the ground on Huntley Street in central London.

He was handed 20 weeks in jail with 10 weeks to be served in prison and the rest served in the community on licence after the attack on November 19 last year.

Mr Martin, a CEO of a global recruitment firm, who was treated in hospital for injuries to his neck, told the Standard of his "relief" at seeing their attacker jailed.

He said: "As a gay couple, the police and the justice system have supported us and that really helped given the fact that the incident made us feel more vulnerable. It has given us confidence in the system."

He grabbed the victim by the throat, punched him in the back of the neck and placed him in a headlock

A victim impact statement read out in court said the assault had left him feeling "shocked, embarrassed and ashamed to be gay".

The couple, who have been together for eight months, said it was the first time they had held hands in public when they were attacked.

Prosecutor Penny Fergusson told the court: "Mr Ahmed shouted 'f****** gay boy' at Mr Martin and Mr Davies to which they turned and replied, 'what?'

"As soon as this happened, Mr Ahmed grabbed Mr Martin by the throat. He turned to leave and Mr Martin produced his mobile phone and began to record.

"Mr Ahmed then punched Mr Martin in the back of the neck, had him in a headlock and dragged him to the ground."

The couple called the police and followed Ahmed, of Eversholt Street, Fitzrovia, to a pub in Tottenham Court Road where he was arrested.

Upon his arrest, police said Ahmed had shouted: "I punched him and he f****** deserved it."

The victims say they are now wary of going out at night

Mr Davies, an events co-ordinator, said: "We followed him on instinct because we wanted to get him arrested.

"Since it happened, we have felt really anxious.

"If I walk home from work and it's dark and I am on my own, I am so very aware."

Mr Martin added: "I just thought, I'm not going to let you get away with it.

"We wanted to make sure he didn't do it to anyone else."

Ahmed told the court that on the night of the assault he had been "on a binge" and was so drunk that he had no recollection of the incident.

Preet Sadana, mitigating, urged District Judge Julia Newton not to give him an immediate custodial sentence as he would lose his job with a London logistics firm and the ability to financially support his mother.

Sentencing, District Judge Newton, said: "This was a totally unprovoked assault. You uttered homophobic remarks and I think custody is appropriate.

"No credit can be given. You were found guilty following a trial and your punishment will be an immediate custodial sentence.

"I am sentencing you to 20 weeks in custody. You will serve half of that in prison, while the remainder will be served in the community."

He was also ordered to pay a 115 victim surcharge and handed a restraining order banning him from contacting the couple for two years.
F ive London teenagers  one aged just 15  have been charged in relation to suspected terror offences after police stormed homes across the capital.

The five males, ages 15 to 19, were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of planning to flee Britain to fight for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

The Mets counter terror detectives are investigating alleged plans by the teenagers, four of whom are schoolchildren, to travel to join the jihadist terror group after communicating with each other online.

The teenagers  most of whom cannot be named - were all charged with offences relating to preparing terror acts or distributing or collecting terrorist publications.

The 16-year-old boy from Lambeth is a charged with preparation of terrorist acts.

The 17-year-old, from Merton, is also accused of preparing terrorist acts as well as collecting terror-related information.

A 17-year-old from Hounslow is accused of preparing for a terror act and distributing terrorist publications.

The 15-year-old boy, from Waltham Forest, was charged with collection and distributing terrorist publications.

And Ahmedeltigani Alsyed, 19, from Hounslow, was charged with preparation of terrorist acts and collection of information.

All five have been remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday, 25 February.


A former suspect in the murder of Stephen Lawrence has been jailed for more than six years over a 4 million drugs plot.

Neil Acourt was arrested in relation to the racist attack on the 18-year-old, who was stabbed to death by a gang of white men at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.

The 41-year-old, also known as Neil Stuart, was described as the "man at the top" of the scheme funnelling huge amounts of cannabis to the North East of England.

Acourt, of Eltham, south-east London, was jailed for six years and three months at Kingston Crown Court on Friday for conspiracy to supply a Class B drug.

Stephen Lawrence was knifed to death in Eltham in 1993 / PA

The judge Recorder Paul Clements described him as being at a very high level in the plot, with others reporting to him.

He added: "Perhaps one of the problems with you is that, for various reasons, you have heard too much negativity about you and begun to believe the negative publicity about you.

"Perhaps it's time to walk away from that aspect of your personality and whatever or whoever it is controlling those parts."

He described the plot as a pre-planned and concerted effort to move substantial amounts of cannabis "that in any estimation would have kept the people of the Newcastle area in spliffs for many a long day".

The two-year conspiracy involved dozens of 600-mile (965km) round trips from London to the South Shields area, driving drugs up and bringing cash back.

Acourt's co-defendants were also handed substantial jail terms for their various roles.

The judge added: "Just look at you all - all six of you - all thoroughly ashamed of yourselves, all having ruined your lives by your involvement in this."

He continued: "There are people who can have a dramatically adverse reaction to smoking cannabis.

"At the very least it preys upon inadequate people who are hopeless and helpless, who don't have the necessary financial means to support their need for the drugs."

Acourt, a father of one, was a "buffer", handling more than a dozen bundles of cash, ranging from 15,000 to 40,000 each, in return for 2.5% of the money.

Jonas Milner, defending, said he "genuinely regrets" what he did and is a family man.

He has two previous convictions but no details about them were revealed in court because they are not drugs-related.

Acourt's childhood friend James Botton, 45, father-in-law Jack Vose, 63, and family friend Lee Birks, 55, were all recruited into the plot.

Vose was caught with around 220lb (100kg) of cannabis resin in the back of his white van in South Shields in February last year.

Vose, of Bexley, Kent, and Botton, of Greenwich, south-east London, were each jailed for four years and nine months.

Paul Beavers, 49, of Backworth, Tyne and Wear, was jailed for three years and four months and Daniel Thompson, 28, of South Shields, Tyne and Wear, for four years and two months.

All six previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply a Class B drug between January 2014 and February 2016.

Birks, of Orpington, Kent, had his sentencing postponed for medical reports.

In 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted at the Old Bailey of murdering Mr Lawrence and jailed for life.

Acourt was also arrested but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) formally discontinued the case against him after a meeting with the senior investigating officer.

Additional reporting by the Press Association
A white supremacist who idolised Adolf Hitler has been jailed for a terrorism offence and for posting racist, Islamophobic, homophobic and anti-Semitic calls to arms on social media.

Sean Creighton, 45, from Enfield, north London, told police that he was "a bit of a hater who hated for the people", Kingston Crown Court heard.

He posted an image of Adolf Hitler along with the message "kill the Muslims" online.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford told the court: "The defendant was a committed racist, a member of the National Front.

"He was enthralled by Nazism and Adolf Hitler whom he told police in his interviews was his God."

Creighton also had an electronic document entitled "White Resistance Manual 2.4" which contains details of shotguns, improvised weapons and explosives, and harassment.

Mr Sandiford described it as a "complete guide on how to prepare for and conduct a terrorist campaign".

Authors of the document said they want to exacerbate existing tensions, to smash Jewish power and influence, destroy the legitimacy of government and punish white people who have committed acts of treason against their own people.

The court was told that Creighton's actions showed links to and support for various groups such as neo-Nazi organisation Combat 18, National Action and Aryan Strikeforce.

Among the other posts he put on social media is an image of a gun alongside a Swastika and the words "Jews prepare to die".

Creighton also posted an image of an injured man alongside words intended to stir hatred of sexual orientation as well as a cartoon of a head in a noose, the court heard.

Creighton also posted a "threatening, abusive or insulting" image of a man holding a rifle in front of a black child.

The court was told that Creighton posted material to his 692 followers and that he had suggested no harm was done because he was contacting people who had similar views.

He pleaded guilty to eight offences, including a terror charge of collecting information which could be useful to someone committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

He also pleaded guilty to six counts of publishing or distributing materials that were likely to stir up racial hatred and a further count of possession of racially inflammatory materials.

Creighton was jailed for five years at the same court on Thursday.

Commander Dean Haydon, of the Counter Terrorism Command, said: "We are as committed to apprehending and prosecuting far right extremists who commit terrorist offences and promote hatred as we are those who support and promote ISIS.

Both are intent on destroying communities and pose a real risk if they are allowed to continue."
A hearing on a bill to prevent news outlets from posting certain photos of fatal crash scenes on social media before next of kin is notified drew tearful testimony from proponents, opponents and committee members Friday.

House Bill 553, carried by Rep. Amanda Curtis, D-Butte, would prevent news outlets from posting a photo of a fatal crash scene if the photo has enough detail to make it possible to identify victims before their family can be notified. The bill does not specify what in a photo makes a victim identifiable.

Curtis said she values free speech and struggled to bring the bill, but said there are 151 people who get to discuss the bill before it goes to a court.

I believe the right of privacy in relation to a loved one is somewhat a gray area, she said. I think were in a position where were balancing one groups right against another.

The first proponent, Maura Gruber, said she found out a loved one died in a fatal car crash on Jan. 17 when she identified his vehicle from a photo published by the Independent Record.

I was overcome with anger and devastation that the Independent Record would infringe upon Kris familys right to privacy and right to notification by easily posting photos before his next of kin had been informed, Gruber said. Ive had flashbacks and nightmares, and I dont think Ive slept in over a month.

Rep. Ellie Hill, D-Missoula, asked Gruber if the Independent Record apologized for publishing the photo.

I sent them a message and let them know that was how I found out, she said. The only response I received was that was never our intent and were sorry for your loss.

Gruber supports the First Amendment right to free speech, but said she doesnt think media organizations have held themselves to the highest standards of journalism.

Brandi Stevens said shes a journalism student, but supported the bill because she too found out a family member died in an accident via social media. A photo of the vehicle of her 17-year-old sister, Mariah, was posed on KTVH less than an hour after the crash, she said. Stevens said she took issue with the policy of media waiting to post names, but not photos that are identifiable.

John MacDonald, representing the Montana Newspaper Association, said he had sympathy for the people who spoke in favor of the bill and said he wished he didnt have to stand in opposition. MacDonald said the vast majority of newspapers in the state are careful and respectful in what they print.

I have to defend the rights of the free press and two constitutions and 70 years of case law that make it very clear the government cant tell the press what or when to publish, he said. The Montana Constitution goes even further than the federal constitution when it comes to the right of the press, stating that every person shall be free to speak or publish information free from government censorship.

SK Rossi of the ACLU struggled to get through testimony and also had a hard time standing before the committee.

I understand the bill. I appreciate its very narrowly tailored, but narrowly tailored doesnt mean its constitutional, Rossi said.

Rossi said if the bill became law, it would be struck down the first time it was challenged. The only exceptions to freedom of the press are in cases where national security is threatened, and even those are rare and narrow, Rossi said.

Rep. Lola Sheldon Galloway, R-Great Falls, said she had a personal situation where she found out a family member had died before next of kin was notified. She asked Rossi if there was any constitutional ground to make the media delay publication.

If you are upset about the way it was covered, you should use your voice to protest the behavior that caused that, Rossi said. Not the constitution that protects it.

Chairman Alan Doane, R-Bloomfield, asked MacDonald what would happen if someone exercised their own First Amendment right and shamed news organizations who post something they object to.

I bet you that my clients today would tell you that would be the absolute best approach, MacDonald said.

He said he encouraged anyone to reach out to newspapers or share on their own platform when they dont think an organization is holding themselves to a community standard.

Rep. Bob Brown, R-Thompson Falls, moved to immediately pass HB553, but Rep. Nate McConnell, D-Missoula, objected and said the committee should give the bill more thought. Brown withdrew his motion.
T he violent killer of banker Oliver Dearlove has been jailed for six years following a brutal one-punch attack in south east London.

Trevor Timon, a plasterer from Plumstead, killed Queens banker Mr Dearlove with a single punch in an "unprovoked and gratuitous attack in Blackheath.

The 31-year-old was jailed for manslaughter at the Old Bailey on Friday, sentenced to six years with a further five on extended licence.

He had admitted manslaughter but was cleared of murder following an Old Bailey trial.

Mr Dearlove and his friends were on their way home from a university reunion when they started speaking with a group of women in the street who had been out celebrating a birthday with Timon.

Oliver Dearlove died after being attacked on a night out

Timon took offence and told his victim "If you don't get out of my face I will knock you out, the court had previously heard.

He delivered a powerful left hook to Mr Dearloves head, knocking him unconscious.

A passing motorist stopped and gave him first aid but the victim died in hospital within 24 hours of the attack.

Afterwards, Timon fled to Ireland but returned days later and handed himself in to police, after confiding to one of the women "I'm scared, seriously, proper".

Oliver Dearlove: Timon punched the banker after an altercation with friends / Metropolitan police

Judge Mark Dennis QC said: "Oliver Dearlove was a young man of fine character with a long and promising future ahead of him.

His loss in such senseless circumstances has, as the court has heard, caused untold misery for his family and those close to him.

"Many lives have been turned upside down."

The judge told Timon: "This was a senseless death that occurred as a result of an act borne out of a flaw in your character which in the past has seen you display unnecessary violent conduct to others when, for reasons best known to you, you have become annoyed or wound yourself up."

Fatal attack: Murder victim Oliver Dearlove with his girlfriend Clare Wately / Met Police

Mr Dearlove's girlfriend Claire Wheatley broke down in tears as she described her heartbreak at losing her "Mr Right" and a "true gentleman".

She told how she received a text from him, saying "Love you bub", just hours before the "dreaded knock" at her door.

Ms Wheatley said: "In Oli's final moments he was surrounded by those who loved him who were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to say goodbye, for which we are all grateful for as we know that there are some who are not given this chance.

"Whilst I would like to think that Oli knew we were all there for him, the saddest part of it is that he never got to say his goodbyes and he was taken from us too soon. At 10:22pm, that evening Oli passed away and this would be the last time I would get to tell him I love him face to face.

"His death was not the result of an unfortunate event such as a car accident or life-long illness but as the result of a senseless act of one individual in one moment of time, with no real meaning or justification."

In a letter read to court, Timon said: "There is not a single day that I don't think of Oliver, his friends and family and the devastating effects my action has caused."

Additional reporting by PA.
P olice are hunting a man after a woman was groped by a stranger outside a north London Tube station.

The victim, a 22-year-old, was attacked by a man outside Golders Green station in the early hours of the morning.

She had left the station and gone outside to catch a bus when the man approached her and tried to engage her in conversation.

The woman walked away and went to the cab office next to the station, which was closed.

CCTV: Police want to speak to this man / British Transport Police

When she turned round, the suspect was standing directly behind her and grabbed her before touching her inappropriately, police say.

The victim managed to push him off and run into the station where she was able to board and train, leaving him behind at the station.

British Transport Police released a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to in connection with the attack, which happened at about 3.30am on Sunday, February 12.

They are also appealing for witnesses to the sexual assault.

Investigating officer, PC Mark Luker, said: Fortunately the victim was able to escape without any physical injuries, but the impact of an assault like this can be devastating.

She is being fully supported by our specially trained officers as the investigation continues. It is vital that we locate the man who is responsible for this sexual assault.

If anyone has any information about the incident or recognises the man shown in the CCTV images, they are asked to call 0800 40 50 40 or text information to 61016 quoting reference number 160 24/2/17.
D etectives are hunting two men after four people were seriously injured in an unprovoked attack on a night out in Muswell Hill.

Two men had their heads slashed, another victim required surgery on his ear and the fourth was stabbed in the neck in violent scenes in the upmarket north London suburb at around 4am on January 28.

Police released CCTV images of the assault on Muswell Hill Broadway as part of an appeal to trace two men.

The two men were standing outside the Socialite Bar when they were approached by another pair who attacked them after an exchange of words.

Appeal: Police want to trace this man / Metropolitan Police

As the attackers took off they wounded two other men outside the Metropolitan Bar which is down the road.

No arrests have been made and enquiries by police are ongoing.

"Unprovoked": Several people were attacked / Metropolitan Police

DC Rob Wrightson of Haringey CID said: This was a violent, unprovoked knife attack on several people out enjoying their night which could have had more tragic consequences.

We are keen to trace the people in the CCTV and speak to anybody else who witnessed the incident, or who may have information about what happened.

Officers from Haringey have described the attackers as two white males in their late 20s to early 30s.

Anyone with information should call Haringey CID on 0203 276 3079, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or tweet @MetCC
S cotland Yard seized a record 73 million from convicted criminals last year, including nearly 1m in cash found in a black cab.

The Met said the total was the largest confiscated in London in a single year since the Proceeds of Crime Act came into force in 2002.

The largest single cash seizure came when officers stopped a taxi in east London and found a black holdall in the passenger section containing 943,000 in notes.

Detectives believe the cash was being moved around London by a criminal network.

In another case police issued a 6,328,119 confiscation order after two men were convicted for a money laundering operation linked to brothels across London.

This red Ferrari was also among assets seized by police

The former owners of the East Village nightclub in Shoreditch, Ashley Sheldrick and Terrence Hart, were jailed for 18 years in total in 2015 for conspiring to run brothels and launder the profits.

Police believe the enterprise raked in more than 12 in three years using chip and pin machines in brothels.

The Met today released images of cash seized by police and assets confiscated from criminals, including a red Ferrari.

Outgoing Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, whose last day in office is next week, said: The Met is here to reduce crime and keep people safe. Its satisfying to see criminals pay back for the damage they cause communities through the assets weve recovered.

The message is loud and clear, crime does not pay and criminals who think it does will have to deal with the full force of the Met.

Scotland Yard seized a record 73 million from convicted criminals last year

However, it is unclear if the record 73 million total includes confiscation orders issued against convicted criminals where the sums have yet to be recovered.

Funds confiscated by the Met are paid to the Home Office and the force then receives a percentage to re-invest in crimefighting operations.

Last year the Met received a total of 8.89m back from the Home Office.

Since Sir Bernard was appointed Commissioner in September 2011, the Met has seized or confiscated 317.14m through the Proceeds of Crime Act.

In recent years detectives say they are increasingly targeting couriers moving big sums of cash round London for criminal Mr Bigs.

In 2014 the force seized 27m from criminal couriers, often people with no criminal convictions who are hired to carry cash around the city.
D etectives have seized millions of pounds worth of Class C drugs following an investigation into smuggling at Londons airports.

More than a million prescription-only tablets  believed to be diazepam  were uncovered, as well as half a million cigarettes and smaller quantities of other drugs.

Intelligence first led officers to raid a house in Hayes on Thursday afternoon, where they arrested a 42-year-old man on suspicion of importation of class C drugs, possession of class A drugs and money laundering.

They seized around 18,000 in cash from the home, on Coldharbour Lane, as well as a vehicle. They also recovered what is believed to a quantity of class A drugs.

Officers later searched a commercial address in Heston, Hounslow, where they found the tablets, cigarettes and other unidentified drugs.

The man was taken into custody at a west London police station and was later bailed to return to the station in late May. Enquiries are ongoing.

Superintendent Andy Jones, of the Aviation Policing Command, said: "This is an excellent piece of intelligence-led work in which officers have taken prescription-only Class C drugs out of circulation.

The Met targets all forms of criminality at London's airports, helping to deliver safe and secure airports at every level. We continue to work closely with all our partners in this regard."
S tars of stage and screen today issued a rallying call for Londoners to get involved with the Standards 2017 Comic Relief campaign.

Oscar-winner Mark Rylance, inset, joined fellow acting stars Damian Lewis and Helen George in backing our Evening Stand Up campaign.

All three posed for silly pictures in red noses to encourage Londoners to have a laugh for the cause.

Billions and Homeland star Lewis, 46, who is rehearsing for The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? which opens at the Haymarket Theatre next month, promised he and his fellow cast members would be fundraising for the cause.

Damians favourite joke Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many levels

Jokeathons at work, thats very easy, he said. I think a 24-hour game of charades would be fun, thats what every office space should be doing. Yes, we [the cast] will be doing that. On March 24. Thats what we will be doing.

The actor said he believed it was important to support charity, particularly one such as Comic Relief that works close to home.

Support: Mark Rylance / Nigel Howard

I am particularly interested in helping people both in London and the rest of the UK, he said. A damaged life here is not only damaging to the person but the people around them. That can have a long-lasting and far-reaching impact.

To submit your joke visit: standard.co.uk/eveningstandup

The actor said comedy was hugely important to him  and that his wife, the actress Helen McCrory, was the person who made him laugh the most.

Yes, god I think laughing is terribly important, he said. We forget to laugh as we are running around so much. Good comedians are worth their weight in gold. I absolutely love comedy.

Backing: Damien Lewis is supporting our Red Nose Day initiative / Alex Lentati / Evening Standard

My wife makes me laugh a lot. [Our humour] is very dry. Very cut and thrust. Im not always sure it is a joke. Or who is being laughed at, in fact.

One of his best on-stage experiences was a production of a 17th-century comedy. He said: The most fun I have ever had on stage was getting dressed up in five-inch heels and a dress for a Ben Jonson play called The Devil Is An Ass. I had enormous fun doing that.

When he wants a fun time he calls Apple Tree Yard star Ben Chaplin, Mr Holmes actor Nicholas Rowe or Captain America star Oscar Pearce  as they are all very funny.

Call The Midwife and Strictly Come Dancing star George, 32, urged Londoners to step outside their comfort zone to raise money for Comic Relief.

The Birmingham-born actress, who plays Trixie in the BBCs period drama, said: Comic Relief does such fantastic work around the world that it is a brilliant cause to raise money for.

Helens favourite joke A man goes to the doctor and says he has trouble hearing. The doctor says: Describe the symptoms. The man says: Homers fat and Marge has got blue hair

We filmed the Christmas special of Call The Midwife in South Africa. Being out there, you realise there are so many countries, beautiful countries, progressive countries, that have a darker side. Comic Relief helps those countries.

She added: I hate making a fool of myself but I think in this instance we should all put that aside and do it for this cause. I would say, even if you are as scared as me of making a fool of yourself that is what it is about.

Having fun with it for a really good cause. We should all go out there and put ourselves out of our comfort zone for Comic Relief. And do something different.

Despite her fear of looking silly she said she enjoyed a naughty joke, adding: I have a potty mouth and dont shy away from a dirty joke. I like toilet humour too. I am so immature.

She also praised her former Call The Midwife co-star Miranda Hart, describing the actress and comedian as one of the funniest people she knew.

She always brings a special energy on set, she said. We all love to giggle on that show so it was a lot of fun to do.

To submit your joke visit: standard.co.uk/eveningstandup
F our of the most outstanding state schools in London have been honoured at the Evening Standard School Awards this week.

For the first time, the work of the most inspirational teacher in the capital was also recognised at the ceremony.

Education Secretary Justine Greening celebrated the pupils and teachers who achieved outstanding success against the odds and those with excellent exam results.

The Jack Petchey Foundation, which sponsored the awards, gave the schools cheques each worth 1,000 to mark their success.

Ms Greening said the awards, running since 1999, gave the chance to recognise the amazing work that goes on every day in schools around London.

Angelina di Passio won the Jack Petchey Foundation Award for Inspirational Teacher of the Year

She said: As somebody who came through the state education system myself, the teachers here are some of the sorts of teachers who helped to absolutely transform my life.

If you told me when I was any of your ages that I would be stood here as Secretary of State for Education I absolutely would not have believed that.

What unlocks all of that potential that you have, and that any of us have, is the school that we get and the fantastic teachers who help us be this person we are inside, that might need a bit of nurturing and discovering.

"Teaching is an amazing profession we should really be celebrating.

Mike Sheridan, head of Ofsted in London, added: We know London schools do very well compared with those in the rest of the country, so the winners of these awards have been picked out from a group of schools with high standards.

Forest Gate Community School was a winner for outstanding achievement in challenging circumstances. Head Simon Elliott put its success down to raising the bar with pupils and staff.

Ashmole Primary School in Lambeth also took home a prize. Head Adam Hickman said the most nurturing thing it could do was to make sure pupils could read when they went to secondary. Pupil Lazuli King, 10, added: Our reading is really good. We had fun tests on the iPad but we dont need to do them any more because we have all reached our reading goals.

Pupils from Forest Gate Community School in Newham

The winners of the academic achievement awards were Scotts Primary School in Havering and Harris Academy Battersea.

Harris principal Dr David Moody said: Its great to have school success but when you get the individual kids results in August, thats when you punch the air.

The inaugural Inspirational Teacher award went to Angelina di Passio, from Ricards Lodge High School in Wimbledon, who put her success down to the huge enthusiasm of her pupils.

Ashmole Primary in Lambeth won the Outstanding Achievement in Challenging Circumstances Award

Ms Greening revealed that her own most inspirational teacher growing up in Rotherham had written to her when she became Education Secretary, his letter starting You probably wont remember me  She added: But as all of you pupils will realise, none of us forget our most amazing teachers.

Scotts Primary School, Havering, won the Academic Excellence Award / Nigel Howard

Harris Academy Battersea, Wandsworth

Academic Excellence Award

With the highest score in London in the Progress 8 measure, it is one of the top three schools in England. As Battersea Park School, it was one of the worst performing in London and was in special measures before it became an academy. Under executive head Chris Tomlinson and head David Moody, its A* to C pass rate in English and maths has almost doubled  from 44 per cent to 80 per cent  since 2014.

Forest Gate Community School, Newham

Outstanding Achievement in Challenging Circumstances Award

The school, in a deprived part of east London, was the only secondary in the capital to go from an Ofsted requires improvement to outstanding in the last academic year. Inspectors said the school had been transformed by head Simon Elliotts exemplary leadership. As a result, it is now in the top 13 per cent of all schools nationally with results significantly above average. Crucially, at a school where two thirds of pupils are pupil premium, disadvantaged pupils made exceptionally good progress.

Angelina di Passio, Ricards Lodge High School, Merton

The Jack Petchey Foundation Award for Inspirational Teacher of the Year

Ms di Passio, a history teacher, offers her pupils huge amounts of encouragement and support in life outside the classroom. She helped them stage their first ever model UN conference, advising them on researching their countries and resolutions. She supports students who have identified as LGBT+, setting up a fortnightly group and helping plan assemblies. She is also a caring and supportive form tutor.

Scotts Primary School, Havering

Academic Excellence Award

The only London primary to achieve 100 per cent of pupils at the expected standard, putting it at the top of the Evening Standards top 10. A large majority of head Jan Taylors pupils performed even better than expected. Scotts came third in reading progress in London this year. It has not been inspected by Ofsted since 2009, because it is an outstanding school, and for the last five years has been in the top 10 per cent of schools nationally. Over the last three years it has been ranked within the top five per cent and placed in the top 50 schools in the country.

Ashmole Primary School, Lambeth

Outstanding Achievement in Challenging Circumstances Award

This primary went from requires improvement to outstanding in two years. Head Adam Hickman said its dramatic shift in fortune was down to a change in culture, which is now unapologetic about its focus on reading, writing and maths. Ofsted witnessed highly effective teaching, with staff providing one-on-one and small group support both before and

after school. There was intense focus on the most disadvantaged pupils, resulting in excellent performance much higher than the national average.
A young mother today told how she lost her husband to male breast cancer as she appealed for funds to help find a cure for the rare disease.

John Tridgell, 43, a father of two girls, died on January 11, little more than a year from being diagnosed. He deteriorated suddenly two days after Christmas as the cancer spread to his brain.

A memorial appeal by his wife Jo, 39, to help fund the worlds biggest study into male breast cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research reached its 5,000 target in a day.

It has now raised more than 22,000.

Mrs Tridgell, a TV producer on Strictly Come Dancings sister show It Takes Two, told the Standard: What are the chances of being widowed at 39?

I wouldnt have expected it to happen to me, but it did. It can happen to anyone.

"It can happen at any time. Any money raised is for everyones benefit.

"We still dont know why some men get it.

Mr Tridgell, a marketing manager for LinkedIn, was diagnosed in November 2015 after visiting his GP, concerned he had pulled a chest muscle at the gym.

He was a non-smoker and ran half-marathons.

Mr Tridgell had received treatment for melanoma skin cancer a decade earlier but the cause of his breast cancer remains a mystery.

The couple, whose daughters Phoebe and Florence are five and three, moved into their Teddington home on the day he had a CT scan.

Mrs Tridgell said: John was such a healthy-feeling person, really successful at work. He had been there for a year and was set to be promoted. We bought a do-er upper house for life.

He had the day off work to move but was having his CT scan instead. I moved house with my dad. That was the Friday. On the Monday we were told he had terminal cancer.

Mr Tridgell continued to take part in a trial of an immunotherapy drug at the Royal Marsden even when he was placed in the control group offered the standard chemotherapy.

He was also involved in the ICR study, which since 2007 has investigated the genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors that increase breast cancer risk in men.

About 400 men are diagnosed with it in the UK each year and about 80 are thought to die.

The disease is possibly more aggressive than female breast cancer, although this may be due to later diagnosis.

He has contributed an awful lot to studies that will be ongoing past his death, Mrs Tridgell said.

It seems very wrong that for male breast cancer, the standard treatment is the same as for female breast cancer.

We need to find out what is causing it. John was endlessly positive before all of this, and through all of this.

Though we had been told there was no cure and it was all about management, we refused to accept that. We tried everything.

Donate at: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/make-john-proud
F riends of a Greenwich University student killed in a crash as he drove to lectures are hoping to raise 25,000 to send his body to Sierra Leone and pay for the funeral ceremony.

Foday Richard Koroma, 23, of Basildon, was killed when his Peugeot was sandwiched between two lorries on the A13 in Grays, Essex, on February 2.

His friend Muma Kaba, who has set up a fundraising website page, said: Richie was full of life, ambitious and had great aspiration of a future he never had the opportunity to meet.

He leaves behind his single mum, who is going through immeasurable pain trying to cope with the tragic loss of her only child.

Mr Koromas mother Phylicia Sheriff, 51, a critical care nurse at North Middlesex Hospital, said: He was my life. He was my joy. My happiness, my glory, my everything.

She said her son was 11 months old when his father Foday Anthony Koroma, a major general in the Sierra Leone army, was killed in the civil war. She wants to bury her son in a ceremony with all his fathers family.

Mr Koroma, a regular churchgoer at Greater Grace Temple in Barking, was studying for a public health degree.

Dr Vincent La Placa, programme leader at Greenwich University, said he was popular with fellow students and would be sadly missed. To donate, visit the fundraising page.

A man, 44, from Tipton in the West Midlands, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.


D ozens of fire fighters battled a blaze as flames ripped through a shop and flats in north London.

Some 72 fire fighters and officers worked to tackle the blaze which broke out in the ground floor of a shop, in Harrow Road, Westbourne Park, around 8.45am on Friday.

Dramatic footage posted on social media showed huge clouds of thick grey smoke billow into the air above the busy shopping street.

Andrew Potter, whose flat overlooks the fire, described the neighbourhood as "blanketed in smoke".

Thick smoke: Witnesses described smoke 'blanketing the neighbourhood' / Andrew Potter

He told the Standard: "We smelt smoke in our flat and went outside to find the building across the road completely enveloped in smoke.

"A number of fire crews are here and the cordon has been moved further back."

A spokesman for London Fire Brigade said parts of the shop and flats above where ablaze and urged residents to keep windows and doors closed.

Black smoke: A shop set alight in Harrow Road, Westbourne Pa / Jamie Page/Twitter

Station Manager Sam Kazmanli, who was at the scene, said: "This is a severe fire in a shop with flats above.

"Firefighters are working hard to stop the fire spreading further to neighbouring buildings.

Thick smoke: Residents have been warned to keep doors and windows closed / Filippo Agostini

"There is a lot of smoke in the nearby roads and we'd ask people to avoid the area if possible and close doors and windows."

Harrow Road was sealed-off to traffic as fire crews worked to extinguish the fire.

No injuries have been reported.
Thomas Weida, a retired Helena resident, announced he will seek the Democratic nomination for the seat occupied by Montana's lone U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke.

Weida, the eighth Democrat to make the announcement, said he decided to run after he realized Montanas core values are being threatened by party politics.

Rep. Ryan Zinke is waiting to be confirmed as President Donald Trumps nominee for interior secretary. If confirmed, Zinke will resign and the state will hold a special election in the following 100 days to choose a replacement.

The parties will hold a convention to select a candidate, with county-level committee members from each party deciding who runs in the special election.

Weida was raised in Deer Lodge and graduated with a degree in political science from the University of Montana in 1996. He has worked in management at UPS and later in construction and sales, which he said exposed him to the issues facing small business owners in the state.

Weida is the first to admit he lacks political experience and would have a lot to learn if elected. But hes confident in his ability to stand up for Montanans and make their voices heard as the states lone congressional representative.

Heres the thing. I dont think Im the most qualified politician for Montana, he said. I think I have chosen to live in this state and turned down better offers to move because I love the state and I love being part of the fabric.

He said he thinks most Montanans agree on core issues, such as keeping public lands public and creating good-paying jobs. He said hell also advocate for protecting social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

During the general election, many Republican constituents said they wanted an administration without career politicians and Weida said he thinks Democrats are also guilty of electing candidates to advance the party or who have been putting the same ideas forward.

Its been too much of the same, he said. Ive watched for the last nine elections as Democrats have put up candidates that make them feel good and feel good about themselves, but they dont work when it comes to a statewide election.

With only one representative in Montana, Weida said he can be the candidate that looks sensibly at the whole state and will prioritize the people over the party.

You cant play party politics when youre talking about one representative for an entire state, he said. 'Majority rules, minority rights' is a phrase I really believe in.

When asked what kind of specific solutions he had to major issues, such as health care, Weida said he was unsure.

The straight answer is none, he said. What I can say is Im vocal and accessible.

Weida said he wants to be able to tell his 14-year-old daughter he did everything in his power to protect the states values.

I want to pass on a state I was able to grow up in, he said.

Weida is hosting an event at Millers Crossing in Helena at 5 p.m. Monday to meet constituents and answer questions.

Other Democrats interested in the seat include state Rep. Amanda Curtis of Butte, state Rep. Kelly McCarthy of Billings, attorney John Meyer of Bozeman, musician Rob Quist of Creston, Gary Stein of Missoula, Link Neimark of Whitefish and Dan West of Missoula.

Republicans who are interested include former gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte of Bozeman, former Republican chairman Ken Miller of laurel, Dean Rehbein of Missoula, Sen. Ed Buttrey of Great Falls, Rep. Carl Glimm of Kila and Drew Turiano of East Helena.
T he Conservatives have dealt Labour a humiliating blow after snatching Copeland in a historic by-election victory.

Labour had been celebrating the night after the party had held off a concerted challenge from Ukip leader Paul Nuttall to retain Stoke Central, only to see Tory Trudy Harrison take Copeland.

It had been held by Jeremy Corbyn's party since the constituency was formed in 1983 but Ms Harrison defeated Gillian Troughton by 2,147 votes.

It is the first time a governing party has gained a seat in a vote outside of a general election since 1982, the year before the Labour leader was first elected to Parliament.

Ms Harrison said her victory showed the people are ready for change and that voters' dislike of Mr Corbyn had contributed to her win.

The Labour leader admitted the party had failed to get its message through in Cumbria.

In her victory speech, Ms Harrison said the result was a truly historic event.

She said: It's been very clear talking to people throughout this campaign that Jeremy Corbyn doesn't represent them.

They want a party which is on the side of ordinary working people, which will respect the way we voted in the referendum and which will build a country which represents everyone.

That's why they voted for me tonight.

Copeland

Candidate Party Trudy Harrison Con 13,748 (44.25%, +8.46%) Gillian Troughton Lab 11,601 (37.34%, -4.92%) Rebecca Hanson Lib Dem 2,252 (7.25%, +3.80%) Fiona Mills Ukip 2,025 (6.52%, -9.00%) Michael Guest Ind 811 (2.61%) Jack Lenox Green 515 (1.66%, -1.32%) Roy Ivinson Ind 116 (0.37%)

Con majority: 2,147 (6.91%)

6.69% swing Labour to Conservative

Electorate 60,602; Turnout 31,068 (51.27%, -12.53%)

In Stoke, the expected threat from Mr Nuttall failed to materialise with the party finishing second with 5179 votes.

The Ukip leader needed a police escort as he left the election count, but told journalists beforehand we are not going anywhere.

Gareth Snell makes victory speech after Stoke by election win

In his victory speech, Labour candidate Gareth Snell said: This city will not allow ourselves to be defined by last years referendum. And we will not allow ourselves to be divided by the result.

Victory: Labour candidate Gareth Snell celebrates with his wife Sophia after winning the Stoke Central by-election / Joe Giddens/PA Wire

So for those who have come to Stoke-on-Trent to sow hatred and division, and to try to turn us away from our friends and neighbours, I have one message  you have failed.

The former leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme local authority suffered a bruising election campaign after being forced to apologize for a string of derogatory Tweets about women.

Storm Doris battered the Potteries throughout polling day, which some speculated would lead to a low turnout.

However turnout was a higher than predicted 38 per cent.

Paul Nuttall gets a police escort as he leaves Stoke by election count

Labour has held the seat since 1950 and Mr Corbyn said: Stoke has rejected UKIPs division and dishonesty. UKIPs claim to represent the working class people as been exposed as a sham.

However he added both constituencies had been let down by the political establishment.

Mr Corbyn said: Our message was not enough to win through in Copeland.

Defeated: Ukip candidate and party leader Paul Nuttall after losing the Stoke Central by-election / Joe Giddens/PA Wire

In both campaigns, Labour listened to thousands of voters on the doorstep.

Both constituencies, like so many in Britain, have been let down by the political establishment.

To win power to rebuild and transform Britain, Labour will go further to reconnect with voters and break with the failed political consensus.

Campaign coordinator Jack Dromey, MP for Birmingham Erdington, said Stoke's result was a defining moment in British politics, adding arguably its the most important by-election in 20 years.

Stoke Central

Candidate Party Votes Gareth Snell Lab 7,853 (37.09%, -2.22%) Paul Nuttall Ukip 5,233 (24.72%, +2.07%) Jack Brereton Con 5,154 (24.35%, +1.80%) Zulfiqar Ali Lib Dem 2,083 (9.84%, +5.67%) Adam Colclough Green 294 (1.39%, -2.22%) Barbara Fielding Ind 137 (0.65%) The Incredible Flying Brick Loony 127 (0.60%) David Furness BNP 124 (0.59%) Godfrey Davies CPA 109 (0.51%) Mohammad Akram Ind 56 (0.26%)

Lab majority: 2,620 (12.38%)

2.14% swing Labour to Ukip

Electorate 57,701; Turnout 21,170 (36.69%, -13.24%)

Mr Nuttall, who was quizzed by reporters after his defeat on Hillsborough and the future of UKIP, said: Lots more seats will happen where we will have success in the future.

Additional reporting by the Press Association
U kip failed in the Stoke-on-Trent by-election because they were not tough enough on immigration, former party leader Nigel Farage has said.

Mr Farage - who warned last week that the contest was "fundamental" to the party's future prospects - said they needed to learn lessons after his successor Paul Nuttall failed to unseat Labour in a hard-fought campaign.

"I feel sorry for Paul Nuttall. He fought a hard campaign. I think there are some lessons to learn from it in terms of how we campaign, in terms of how we target," Mr Farage told the BBC.

"There is a debate in Ukip as to how strong we should be on the immigration issue. I personally think we should own it.

"So we will have to look at that and think: were we really tough enough, were we clear enough with the electorate? It has got to be looked at."

Ukip had seen Stoke - which voted overwhelmingly for Brexit in last year's referendum - as fertile ground for a challenge to Labour in a contest triggered by the resignation of former shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt.

However, Mr Nuttall's gamble of standing himself failed to come off as Labour's Gareth Snell held the seat with a majority of 2,620 - raising questions as to whether Ukip could take seats from Labour in its traditional heartlands.

Party chairman Paul Oakden said it could be another two decades before the party can take another seat in a by-election.

Victory: Labour candidate Gareth Snell and his wife Sophia / Getty Images

"Politics is a long game. It took us 23-odd years to win a referendum to get Britain out of the European Union," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"It may take that long for us to get a seat in Westminster via a by-election. But if that's how long it takes then that's what we will keep doing, because that's what we are here for."

Stoke had been regarded as promising territory by Ukip.

Mr Oakden acknowledged Mr Nuttall had endured a "difficult" campaign, in which he had to apologise over a false claim that he lost close friends in the Hillsborough disaster, but said he had the full support of the party.

Defeated: Ukip candidate and party leader Paul Nuttall after losing the Stoke Central by-election / Joe Giddens/PA Wire

"This party is absolutely behind Paul Nuttall as its leader. He is 12 weeks into his leadership. We are all going to support him moving forward. This is one step along a long road for our party," he said.

"He has had a difficult campaign. There is no doubt that he has been targeted by various unpleasant elements during the last four weeks.

"I think it was incredibly courageous of him to put his head above the parapet and stand to be the candidate for our party in this election.

"He did it to unify our party. I think by the evidence of the number of people who came up to support Paul during this campaign, that is what happened."

Mr Farage also defended Mr Nuttall over the Hillsborough row, saying: "He had a tough time. He paid the price for some mistakes that staff of his had made. I don't think that this reflects on Paul."
T heresa May has said Labour's "devastating" defeat to the Conservatives' in the Copeland by-election shows Jeremy Corbyn's party is "out of touch with the concerns of ordinary working people".

After travelling to Cumbria to hail triumphant Tory candidate Trudy Harrison's "astounding" victory, the Prime Minister issued a rallying cry to the Conservative Councillors' Association conference in Lincolnshire.

She said May's local elections in England, Scotland and Wales are now "absolutely vital" as Labour under Mr Corbyn pose a "danger" to local services.

Mrs May said the Copeland result showed that the Conservatives are the party "listening and responding" to working people across Britain.

A historic result: Labour candidate Gillian Troughton and the Conservative winner Trudy Harrison / Getty Images

"Let us not be in any doubt about what these results represent," she said.

"Copeland is a seat that Labour describe as their 'core vote country'. It has returned Labour MPs without exception since the 1930s. It is a seat they thought they would win this time. A seat where they expected to increase their majority.

"And it is true to say that the result is a devastating blow for them, and proof that Labour are out of touch with the concerns of ordinary working people.

"That statement is true, but insufficient.

"Because Labour didn't just lose Copeland. We - the Conservative Party - won Copeland."

The PM said she would be alongside Tory candidates "pounding the streets" in May's elections, which include all of England's county councils as well as the first elections for a new wave of metro mayors.

And she claimed hard-left "entryism" into Labour under Mr Corbyn's leadership mean Tory victory in the polls is even more crucial.

"Labour's local branches are changing," the PM said.

"Labour's councillors now dance to the tune of the militant unions and Momentum's hard-left activists, facing threats of candidate de-selection if they don't.

Jeremy Corbyn leaves his north London home following the election blow (Yui Mok/PA ) / Yui Mok/PA

"Last year, Labour's deputy leader (Tom Watson) warned of entryism in Labour by the far-left.

"This year, even the Stalinists in Momentum are complaining about being infiltrated by the Trotskyites.

"But for those of us who remember what Militant did to Liverpool, it doesn't matter what term you use - we can't allow Labour to get a foothold back in local government and let them do for local communities what they did to our country."

Mrs May also sought to reassure councillors worried about under-pressure social care budgets, telling them "we will work with you to help tackle the pressures from a growing and ageing population" through proper integration of health and social care and sharing of best practice.

"And in the medium and long-term, we recognise the need for far-reaching reform to encourage high standards across the whole country, and help address these demographic changes," she added.

The PM also reiterated her commitment to help companies worst-hit by a controversial business rates revaluation.

"Of course, different businesses will see different impacts," she said.

"That is why we have already announced 3.6 billion of transitional support to help those companies facing increased bills, and why I have asked the Chancellor and Communities Secretary to work to ensure there is appropriate relief in place for the hardest cases."

Additional reporting by the Press Association
K eira Knightley and Dominic West today said London is proud to stand with an Oscar-nominated Iranian film director who will boycott the awards in protest against Donald Trumps Muslim ban.

Trafalgar Square will hold an open-air screening of Asghar Farhadis The Salesman on Sunday hours before the ceremony gets under way in Los Angeles.

Farhadi is refusing to attend the Academy Awards, where his movie is nominated in the best foreign film category, even though Mr Trumps executive order banning travel to the US from seven Muslim majority countries has been blocked by the courts.

West said: Im proud to stand with Asghar Farhadi and all of those impacted by the morass of Mr Trumps travel ban at this time.

"I live in London - a city defined by diversity and openness. Trafalgar Square as a vast, free and open cinema on Oscars night is the perfect expression of all we value.

Stars address the prospect of political Oscar speeches

Knightley, said: All art is an attempt to understand the human condition. At a time when largely racist and nationalistic rhetoric is becoming political policy - this event is a celebration of our diversity and a reminder of our shared humanity.

The pair were joined by a host of leading film figures including directors Mike Leigh and Sarah Gavron and actors Noomi Rapace, Julie Christie and Stephen Mangan.

The Oscars: 89th Academy Awards in numbers

The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians is to perform after the screening which was organised by Mayor Sadiq Khan in partnership with Amazon Studios and Curzon Artificial Eye.
M uslims were today urged to raise their concerns about Britains terrorism legislation as the countrys new terrorism watchdog declared that he will be ready to recommend the abolition of unnecessary laws.

Max Hill QC said he wanted to take soundings from all quarters about the way that counter-terror powers were working and particularly wanted to hear from those groups, including Muslims, most affected by the legislation.

He said that he would also be examining the Terrorism Acts, and other relevant legislation, to assess whether there were offences introduced in knee jerk reaction to terrorist atacks that could be abolished because they were either little-used or had become outdated.

He added that his own experience as a former prosecutor of terrorism cases, during which he secured the conviction of the failed 21/7 bombers and the jailing last year of two Luton-based Islamic State supporters over a plot to kill a US serviceman, had shown him that parts of the law were less fit for purpose than others.

Mr Hills comments to the Evening Standard came in his first interview since being appointed this week as the countrys new independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.

He said that he was determined to listen to views from all sides, including critics, of the existing laws and to help ensure that the needs of national security and public safety continued to be balanced with the need to avoid excessive infringements on individual liberty.

He added: This is a golden opportunity to take soundings from all quarters and all parties to the debate. I would like to hear from those, particulary Muslims, whom the terrorism laws impinge on most.

I will be prepared to recommend the abolition of redundant or unnecessary parts of terrorism legislation that have been either introduced in knee jerk reaction to significant events, or have turned out to be of little use in actual cases.

As well as prosecuting terrorists, Mr Hill has also secured the conviction of other offenders, including Ricky and Danny Preddie, the killers of Peckham schoolboy Damilola Taylor. He was also the prosecutor in the unsuccessful attempt in 2015 to convict Met firearms officer Anthony Long for shooting dead Azelle Rodney during a 2005 police operation in Mill Hill to stop a suspected armed robbery.

Mr Hill emphasised, however, that he had also acted for the defence in many cases, including murder trials at the Old Bailey and representing a City banker under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for allegedly rigging the Forex foreign exhange market, and would be robustly independent in his new role as terrorism watchdog.
A suicide bomber who was paid up to 1 million compensation after being held in Guantanamo Bay may have used taxpayers money to fund terrorism, his wife has said.

Prime Minister Theresa May has faced questions over whether any of the compensation given to Jamal al-Harith was used to fund terrorist group IS.

Al-Harith died this week after carrying out a suicide car-bombing in a village south of Mosul, Iraq. He was pictured smiling in his vehicle before the attack.

His wife Shukee Begum told Channel 4 News that the sum of money he received from the British government was substantially less than the million pounds being reported.

She confirmed to the broadcaster that taxpayers money may have been used to pay for his extremist activities  including travel to Syria where he joined Isis.

Her comments came after the Government said on Thursday that it would investigate whether there was misuse in the compensation agreement with al-Harith.

Security Minister Ben Wallace told the Commons that he would if any breach was discovered, the Government would take steps to recover the money.

Ms Begum has previously told Channel 4 News that she had flown to Syria with her five children in 2015 to try to persuade her husband to return to the UK after he had joined Isis the previous year.

She said he refused and he tried to stop her returning to Britain herself but she eventually managed to escape with her children.

Ms Begum told the broadcaster that his radicalisation did not begin until 2013, almost 10 years after his release for Guantanamo Bay in 2004. She said his extremism was in response to atrocities committed by the regime in Syria.

She said that he husband was once stopped and questioned by UK authorities for six hours on his return from a trip to Gaza in 2009 but otherwise thinks he was not monitored by intelligence agencies.

The Mancunian, born Ronald Fiddler, had been taken to Guantanamo after being found in a Taliban prison in 2001, but was released to return to the UK along with other British detainees in 2004
D onald Trump has vowed that work to build a wall around the US border will start soon  way ahead of schedule.

The US President was addressing the Conservative Political Action Congress on Friday when he pledged to deport bad people from the country.

At the event in Maryland, the President said: Oh we are going to build a wall dont worry about it  were building the wall.

In fact its gunna start soon, way ahead of schedule. Way way way ahead of schedule.

Trump: The President addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference / AP

And remember, we are getting the bad ones out  these are bad dudes.

Whether its drugs or murder or other things  we are getting bad things out. Those are the ones that go first, and I said it from day one.

Basically all I have done is keep my promise.

The President also used the opportunity to heap further criticism on the media and, what he labels, fake news.

Pledge: The President vowed to start building the wall soon / AP

He said journalists should not be able to use anonymous sources for stories and should only be able to quote someone if they use their name.

"A source says that Donald Trump is a horrible, horrible human being, let them say it to my face," Mr Trump said.

"Let there be no more sources."

His comments came just hours after his own staff held a press briefing and refused to allow their names to be used  with Members of Trump's White House team regularly demanding anonymity.

Trump said he wasn't against all the press, just "the fake news media or press".

"I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources," he said. "They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name."


T he half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was killed by assassins using a highly toxic nerve agent, police have said.

Kim Jong Nam, who is estranged from the dictator, died last week after being assaulted by two women at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia.

The pair wiped the toxic chemical VX, which is on a UN list of weapons of mass destruction, on his face as he prepared to board a flight to Macau in China, investigators have said.

Malaysian police confirmed on Friday the nerve agent was used in his death after taking swabs from his face.

A man watches a television showing news reports of Kim Jong Nam's death. / AFP/Getty Images

Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the two women washed their hands before fleeing the scene.

Authorities are now sweeping the airport and other locations for the radioactive material.

Officials in South Korea and the US said they believe agents from North Korea assassinated Kim Jong Nam.

A Vietnamese woman, an Indonesian woman and a North Korean man have been arrested.

Police are also seeking seven other North Korean people in connection with the case.

CCTV footage appeared to show a woman approach Mr Kim, who is in his 40s, from behind.

He is then seen asking airport officials for medical help and rubbing his eyes as he stumbles.
C aitlyn Jenner has slammed Donald Trump for failing to protect the LGBT community after he reversed a directive on transgender access to public bathrooms.

The reality star, who has been a Trump supporter in the past, publically hit out at the President in a video posted to her social media on Thursday, calling it a disaster.

From one Republican to another, this is a disaster. And you can still fix it. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me, the former Olympian wrote on Twitter.

Jenner speaks directly to trans kids in the video, telling them that they are winning, even though it doesnt feel like it today.

I have a message for the trans kids of America, she says. Youre winning. I know it doesnt feel like it today or every day but you are winning.

Very soon we will win full freedom nation-wide and it is going to be with bipartisan support. You can help by checking out the National Centre for Transgender Equality and letting Washington hear you load and clear.

Donald Trump Inauguration Day - In pictures 1 /44 Donald Trump Inauguration Day - In pictures Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States AP US President Barack Obama (right) and First Lady Michelle Obama (left) welcome Preisdent-elect Donald Trump (second right) and his wife Melania to the White House in Washington Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images President Barack Obama stands at right as first lady Michelle Obama hugs President-elect Donald Trump at the White House in Washington Evan Vucci/AP The presidential motorcade drives down Pennsylvania Ave towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington Joe Raedle/Getty Images Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waves as she arrives with her husband former President Bill Clinton Rick Wilking/Reuters People gather on the National Mall prior to the inauguration Patrick Smith/Getty Images Donald Trump's children Ivanka Trump (L), Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump Jr, and Eric Trump arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington lex Wong/Getty Images US President Barack Obama (right) and First Lady Michelle Obama (second left) welcome Preisdent-elect Donald Trump (left) and his wife Melania (second right) to the White House in Washington Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the seats on the West Front of the US Capitol several hours before Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States in Washington Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, Vanessa Trump and Jared Kushner arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Drew Angerer/Getty Images Protesters chain themselves to an entry point prior at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Bryan Woolston/Reuters People begin to gfill in the National Mall a short time before Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States in Washington Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA Supporters and protesters turn out for the Inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump in Washington Theo Wargo/Getty Images A man walks a dog in a Donald Trump costume carrying a doll depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin holding an US flag as they head to join a demonstration at the US embassy in central London Hayoung Jeon/EPA President Elect Donald Trump's children Barron Trump (L), Tiffany Trump and Eric Trump arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Joe Raedle/Getty Images President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greet President-elect Donald Trump at the White House in Washington Evan Vucci/AP Former US President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter arrive for the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the US Capitol in Washington Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Demonstrators march on the street near a security checkpoint inaugural entrance Jose Luis Magana/AP Former US Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne arrive at the US Capitol in Washington Saul Loeb/EPA Demonstrators chant near a security checkpoint entrance to the inauguration, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington, ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration Jose Luis Magana/AP US Senator Ted Cruz arrives for the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the US Capitol in Washington Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Former US President George W. Bush and wife Laura Bush arrive John Angelillo/EPA The statue of Civil War General and former US President Ulysses S. Grant faces the Washington Monument and the crowd gathering for the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington Carlos Barria/Reuters A military helicopter lands at the US Capitol Rob Carr/AFP/Getty Images Protesters attack a man trying to pass at an entry point prior at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Washington Bryan Woolston/Reuters President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania arrives for a church service at St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington Alex Brandon/AP Protesters chain themselves to an entry point prior at the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington Bryan Woolston/Reuters Vice President-elect Mike Pence and his wife Karen, arrives for a church service at St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington Alex Brandon/AP The sun begins to rise behind the Capitol dome several hours before Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office as the 45th President of the United States in Washington Andrew GombartAFP/Getty Images Protesters move toward an entry point prior at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Bryan Woolston/Reuters The early morning sun lights up the Washington Monument as people gather on the National Mall prior to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Washington Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Protesters chain themselves to an entry point Bryan Woolston/Reuters US Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden leave the White House for the final time as the nation prepares for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in Washington Kevin Dietsch/EPA

Now I have a message for the bullies: Youre sick and because youre weak you pick on kids, you pick on women or anyone else you think is vulnerable.

Taking a swipe at Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Jenner added: Apparently even becoming the Attorney General isn't enough to cure some people of their insecurities.

As proof the Supreme Court will soon hear a very important Title IX case, thanks to the courage of a very brave young man, Gavin Grimm.

Mr President, we'll see you in court.

Jenner is a self-confessed Republican and said that shed vote for Trump over Hillary Clinton without hesitation ahead of the US elections.


E minem has been confirmed as the final headliner for Reading and Leeds Festival.

The US rapper, 44, will return to the annual event, four years after he first headlined the music event.

Famed for singles including My Name Is and The Monster, Eminem  real name Marshall Mathers  will share the bill with Muse and Kasabian.

Festival Republic Boss Melvin Benn said: Eminem returning to Reading and Leeds is beyond exciting. His 2013 headline performance was incredible and I cant want to have him back.

Headliner: Eminem previously headlined in 2013 / Theo Wargo/Getty

In addition to our third and final headliner (joining Kasabian and Muse) weve announced over 70 additional acts to this years line up - its looking stronger than ever.

While a handful of acts had already been confirmed, over 70 extra names were announced this morning.

Those making a return to the festival include HAIM, You Me At Six and Brit Award nominated Blossoms who stormed to number one with their self-titled debut album in August.

Pop performers Becky Hill and Charli XCX will take to the stage while grime and hip-hop fans will have Brooklyns Flatbush Zombies and Lethal Bizzle.

Dillon Francis and Sam Divine will be among those putting on DJ sets through the bank holiday event which will also welcome drum n bass veteran High Contrast.

They all join previously announced acts Major Lazer, Bastille, Two Door Cinema Club, Flume, Fatboy Slim, Wiley, At The Drive In, Architects, Korn, While She Sleeps, Tory Lanez, Glass Animals, Circa Waves, Against The Current and Danny Brown.

Reading and Leeds Festival takes place on August 25-27.
The Montana Senate voted on Friday against the confirmation of an appointee to the Board of Outfitters who had served in that position for 11 years.

Robin Cunningham, a fishing outfitter from Gallatin Gateway, has been appointed to the seven-member board by each of the last four governors and has served the last decade as chairman. He also serves as executive director of the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana.

"Governor (Steve) Bullock is disappointed that the Montana Senate failed to confirm a fishing outfitter and public lands enthusiast who has dedicated many years to public service under both Democratic and Republican governors," Spokeswoman Marissa Perry said in a written statement.

Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, chairman of the Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee, had initially scheduled the committee vote on Cunningham's appointment for March, but Sen. Tom Facey, D-Missoula, said Senate Resolution 16 instead came up during executive action at the Friday morning meeting.

Cunninghams confirmation was opposed by six Republican committee members: Buttrey, Dee Brown of Hungry Horse, Steve Fitzpatrick of Great Falls, Daniel Salomon of Ronan, Jason Small of Busby and Gordon Vance of Belgrade. Before the vote, some cited testimony by the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association about Cunningham potentially having a conflict of interest because of his paid leadership role with the fishing guides group.

My issue with Mr. Cunningham is that he is paid by ... as executive director of FOAM, Buttrey said, calling it an opening for potential conflict and legal liability.

Facey noted that previous members of the Board of Outfitters had been active or former presidents of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association, so questioned why involvement in one group would be more of a conflict than another. He also noted that none of the rules created and enforced by the board over the last several years have been challenged in a lawsuit or before the Economic Affairs Interim Committee, which has the ability to delay or cancel new rules after a hearing.

Mr. Cunningham has served the citizens of Montana, putting our safety and welfare first, Facey said. I see no reason Mr. Cunningham should not continue to serve on the board.

He was joined by Democratic Sens. Frank Smith of Poplar and Gene Vuckovich of Anaconda, as well as Republican Sen. Pat Connell of Hamilton, in supporting Cunninghams confirmation.

Later Friday afternoon, the Senate voted 32-18 to concur with the committees opposition.

"I'm still a little tender about it," Cunningham said when contacted after the vote, despite what he says was a maneuver by MOGA two years ago to oust him.

In 2015 MOGA promoted legislation requiring that Board of Outfitter appointees be confirmed by the Senate.

"Now I am the first product of that action," Cunningham said. "It was unsettling for the variety of proponents for my confirmation."

Cunningham's appointment had been supported by conservation and sporting groups, along with Montana Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Dan Vermillion. Some of those same groups  along with Cunningham  supported legislation this session that would require the Board of Outfitters to provide more information about their clients. MOGA opposed House Bill 290 calling it the "heavy hand of government."

"I think there has been a growing difference of opinion between board members on the mission of the board," Cunningham said. "I have sensed a shift toward convenience for the licensees. It's been going on for four years."
T he biggest night in the awards season calendar is nearly upon us as the A-listers gear up to walk the red carpet at the 89th Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday.

A year after the #OscarsSoWhite backlash, this years ceremony has been praised for its diversity, with films including Moonlight, La La Land, Fences, Arrival and Hidden Figures all up for awards.

The red carpet will kick off at 4pm EST, meaning that fans in the UK will have to wait up until midnight to see the first arrivals and catch a glimpse of the best-dressed stars.

Celebrating this years best film and filmmakers in 24 categories, the 89th annual Academy Awards are being held at the Dolby Theatre and is hosted for the first time by Jimmy Kimmel.

The Oscars 2017 Sizzle Featuring The Big 4 Nominations

When does it happen?

The ceremony kicks off at 7.00pm EST.

Who will be there?

Last years winners including Leonardo DiCaprio, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander will be on hand to present awards.

Nominees including Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Casey Affleck, Meryl Streep, Ruth Negga, Natalie Portman, Andrew Garfield, Denzel Washington and Naomie Harris will all attend.

Justin Timberlake, John Legend and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who are all nominated for Best Original Song are set to perform.

Who will win?

Best Picture will be a toss-up between Damien Chazelles La La Land and Barry Jenkins Moonlight, all depending on which direction the Academy want to go in this year.

Emma Stone seems like a pretty safe bet for Best Actress, as is Viola Davis for her role in Fences in the Supporting category.

Best Actor will either go to Casey Affleck for Manchester By The Sea or Ryan Gosling for La La Land, while Supporting seems likely to be awarded to Mahershala Ali.

Who is nominated?

Best picture

La La Land

Moonlight

Manchester by the Sea

Arrival

Fences

Lion

Hidden Figures

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Best director

Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea

Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge

Moonlight trailer

Best actress in a leading role

Natalie Portman, Jackie

Emma Stone, La La Land

Isabelle Huppert, Elle

Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

Ruth Negga, Loving

Best actor in a leading role

Ryan Gosling, La La Land

Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

Denzel Washington, Fences

Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge

Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic

La La Land: Behind the scenes

Best supporting actress

Viola Davis, Fences

Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures

Naomie Harris, Moonlight

Nicole Kidman, Lion

TODO: define component type brightcove

Best supporting actor

Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water

Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea

Dev Patel, Lion

Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

Best adapted screenplay

Moonlight, Barry Jenkins

Arrival, Eric Heisserer

Lion, Luke Davies

Fences, August Wilson

Hidden Figures, Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi

Best original screenplay

La La Land, Damien Chazelle

Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan

Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan

The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou

20th Century Women, Mike Mills
M ichael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson look close to having a heated argument in an exclusive clip from upcoming film, Trespass Against Us.

The Adam Smith directed film follows Chad Cutler (Fassbender) as he tries to leave the Irish travelling community and escape the criminal ways of his family.

The one minute clip shows Chad discussing his future with his father Colby Cutler (Brendan Gleeson) as they take a dip in a swimming pool.

Chad splashes his father as he gets frustrated with the life set out for him.

Trespass Against Us - Trailer

The future is in the interweb, thats where its all going, he says. The wise world business.

Quick to shut down his sons dreams, Colby says: No son of mine is about to start with any of that c***.

What the f*** do you know about computers? You cant even read. Cant be plotting dreams if you dont have a life now son.

Speaking about the film. Fassbender told Empire: Were dealing with very difficult dilemmas for this family, Fassbender told Empire for a recent issue, but it never feels like preaching. Its an honest and visceral story.

Glesson said: One of the issues is whether were stereotyping travellers, says Brendan Gleeson. Ive known travelling people, and they can do without negative stereotyping.

Trespass Against Us arrives is slated for UK cinema release on March 3.
Contact: Liberty Counsel, 407-875-1776, Media@LC.org; Press Kit



ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 24, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- On Tuesday, February 28, 2017, the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) will partner with two national grassroots organizations  Christians in Defense of Israel (CIDI) and Liberty Counsel  in the premiere of an exclusive 13-part original series, Why Israel Matters, designed to demonstrate in a powerful way the crucial importance of the Jewish state of Israel to Christians, to America, and to the world. For over forty years, faith-and-family television leader TBN has been a steadfast champion of the nation and of the people of Israel.

"From the moment TBN first went on the air back in 1973, we've taken seriously the scriptural promise that God will bless those who bless Israel," said TBN Chairman Matt Crouch. "Whether it's the scores of Holy Land tours we've guided over the years that have introduced countless thousands of people to the land of the Bible, or TBN's very own state-of-the-art studio in the heart of Jerusalem, we've always prioritized blessing and standing with Israel. Now we're proud to team up with CIDI and Liberty Counsel for an exciting new weekly show that will give viewers an up-close look at this nation and the people so close to the heart of God."

"There has never been a more important time for Christians and others of good will across America and around the world to stand in solidarity with the nation and people of Israel," said Mat Staver, Chairman of Christians in Defense of Israel and Liberty Counsel. "Why Israel Matters is designed to help viewers grow in their understanding of the strong bond each of us shares with Israel through our faith, our heritage and our worldview. Every viewer will be inspired and empowered to be thoughtful, compelling participants in the global conversation about Israel," said Staver.

Filmed on location and with many fascinating guests, Why Israel Matters explores the awe-inspiring wonder of this tiny miracle nation from its biblical roots and its heartbreaking history as a scattered people, to its tenacious reemergence as an independent nation and its role today as a model of courage, perseverance and hope that can inspire people throughout the world.

Each week, host Mati Shoshani will guide viewers through the fascinating elements of Israel's still-unfolding narrative. The beginning weekly episodes include:

Homecoming - unforgettable stories of Aliyah, the unique and often difficult journey taken by Jews who have chosen to return to their promised homeland  Israel!

Neighbors - the compelling account of how Israel has survived and thrived as an island of stability and beacon of hope and prosperity in the Middle East  a region torn by perpetual war, conflict and chaos.

Miracles - a look at the remarkable and world-changing advances Israel has made in the areas of technology, agriculture, and military security.

Survivors - a look at how Israel's challenging past gives its present-day citizens courage and perseverance to thrive and prosper in today's often hostile world.

Tune in Tuesday, February 28, at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT for the premiere of Why Israel Matters  only on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Air times include:

Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m. PT

Wednesdays, March 1 at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, and thereafter at 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT

Fridays, 4:30 a.m. ET / 1:30 a.m. PT



About the Trinity Broadcasting Network

Trinity Broadcasting Network is the world's largest and most watched faith-and-family broadcaster, reaching over 175 nations across the earth with inspirational and entertaining programming 24 hours a day in 14 languages and on 30 global networks. As the world's most influential non-profit religious broadcaster, TBN has led the way in expanding the impact of faith-based television across the earth through the creation of innovative content designed to reach every viewer demographic with the life-changing message of hope and grace. To find out more about the Trinity Broadcasting Family of Networks, visit us at tbn.org.

About Christians in Defense of Israel

With over 300,000 members and participants across America, Christians in Defense of Israel is one of the nation's foremost grassroots activist organizations committed to standing strong for Israel and the Jewish people. Find out more at www.CIDIsrael.org.

About Liberty Counsel

Liberty Counsel is an international litigation, education and policy organization. Liberty Counsel has a number of affiliated ministries, including Christians in Defense of Israel and Covenant Journey, a program that provides a life-changing experience in Israel for Christian college-age students who have leadership potential. Find out more at www.LC.org and www.CovenantJourney.org.For more information, visit the websites for CIDI and TBN.
I was pleased that federal judges did not rescind the injunction on President Trump's ban on immigration from certain countries. While the idea of "taking a breath" by imposing a temporary ban on people from countries where a volume of terrorists are known to have come from, until this country can decide how best to deal with the problem and ensure public safety, makes a kind of sense, the real solution, in my opinion, is not to ban but to achieve better vetting. And how do we know that the ban would be temporary?

I don't know the specifics of our vetting process. I have heard that the United States has more severe vetting than any other country in the world.

Before I retired, I completed a number of job applications which often included a psychological questionnaire. Employers wanted to explore the candidate's potential for violence in the workplace, for stealing, for social "normalcy." These areas were explored not by asking direct questions, but by phrasing the same question differently from different angles and asking it more than once. I believe this approach has a better chance of getting at the truth.

Maybe our vetting process employs these methods. I would hope that the best minds available are involved and surely an effective way of vetting can be devised. I still believe in the Statue of Liberty slogan -- "Give me your poor, your helpless" etc. I still believe in America as the great melting pot which can still welcome people from all walks of life. In diversity lies strength, and I think our history has proven that.

Therefore, let there be effective vetting to keep people safe, but this to be balanced by a continuing compassion and a realization that to be inclusive is still in America's best interest.

Bruce Porter, Decatur
Misha Rachlevsky has seen every corner of the world during his tenure as director of the Russian String Orchestra, but hes never been to Nebraska.

That will change when Rachlevsky and the rest of his orchestra arrive in Scottsbluff Monday.

I always tell people I have visited every U.S. state except Nebraska and Hawaii, Rachlevesky said. Now, I can tell people Ive been to Nebraska.

In a typical year, the Russian String Orchestra only plays about a dozen or so concerts while touring the U.S. This year, they are embarking on a month-long tour and will be at the Midwest Theater.

Rachlevesky said interest in the Russian String Orchestra was higher than most years. After touring the U.S., they will travel to venues in Europe and Asia.

But the venue doesnt matter, Rachlevsky said.

Getting to play music is his love, as is the case for other members, he said.

When asked about the tumultuous political climate in the U.S., Rachlevsky said he has visited the states through different presidential administrations. Music is a universal language, he said. It transcends political leanings.

The Russian String Orchestras home base is the Kremlin in Moscow, but Rachlevesky has enjoyed traveling around the world. The ensemble has played a variety of venues, from the Kremlin to intimate theaters in middle America.

Rachlevesky said he is excited to stop at the Midwest Theater and has always enjoyed playing for thousands one night and a small intimate venue the next.

Rachlevesky got his start at the College of Moscow Conservatory where he studied violin.

The Moscow native left the Soviet Union in 1993 before arriving in the United States.

After the Berlin Wall fell, Rachlevesky couldnt resist an opportunity to record Russian music for his own record label, according to his biography.

Rachlevesky called for auditions, and the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, today the Russian String Orchestra, was born.

Though he has seen many musicians come and go, his love of classical music remains unchanged.

Tickets are on sale at the Midwest Theater for $22 for members and $26 for non-members. The show is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
SPRINGFIELD  Tens of thousands of state government workers have sanctioned a strike against Gov. Bruce Rauner and his contract terms, union officials said Thursday, kicking a two-year dispute into an unprecedented higher gear.

Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 voted to authorize the union's executive committee to call a walkout "if no other path forward can be found," Executive Director Roberta Lynch said at a news conference in Springfield.

"We have come to this juncture today for one reason and one reason only: the refusal by Gov. Rauner to negotiate with our union," Lynch said. "Our members are more than willing to work to find a compromise with the governor, but we won't just roll over."

Lynch said 81 percent of those voting at more than 200 work sites statewide favor walking if necessary. She said turnout was about 80 percent of the union's 38,000 members.

Decatur AFSCME member Shawn Becker said he was heartened by the wide margin backing a strike vote but he said the last thing the rank-and-file members want is an actual strike. Becker is hoping the vote will provide enough of a push to persuade the governor to take his vacant chair at the bargaining table.

Personally, as a rank-and-file worker, I don't understand why the governor just stepped away a year ago and said, 'I'm done,'" said Becker, 47, a member of the support staff at the Decatur office of the Department of Children and Family Services.

Many times the union has said, 'Please come back, let's discuss this, let's take care of this.'

Becker said the union has made many concessions, and everybody realizes the state is in deep money trouble and benefits like health care are going to cost more. But Becker, who has a teenage daughter at home and whose wife suffers from leukemia, said one side can't afford to make all the concessions and give up everything.

This is one of the reasons I voted 'yes.' I had to decide, 'Do I just take it, or do I fight it' because there is the possibility of lessening the blow? he added.

The strike vote is the first in some 40 years of state-employee collective bargaining and the Republican governor was quick to condemn it. He said AFSCME's actions are unfairly hurting taxpayers and the Illinois' work force is the highest paid in America.

"Every day that goes by that we're not implementing our contract is well over $2 million in extra costs to our taxpayers," Rauner told reporters at the Capitol. "It's hurting taxpayers. It's not fair."

A strike could paralyze state government amid a nearly two-year budget deadlock between the first-term governor and Democrats who control the General Assembly. Lynch said officers who provide security at state prisons and juvenile detention centers would be required to report to work. That's a little less than one-third of AFSCME's membership.

The last contract expired in June 2015. Rauner wants a four-year wage freeze, increased employee contributions to maintain current health coverage, and a 40-hour workweek instead of a 37-hour one. His team stopped negotiating a year ago.

A state labor regulator last fall declared the process at an "impasse." That means Rauner can implement the contract terms he prefers  and the union can strike if it doesn't agree.

AFSCME has appealed that ruling and won a court-ordered halt to Rauner's unilateral contract enforcement. AFSCME told Rauner in January it would accept a wage freeze and agree to pay more toward health care, but Rauner rebuffed the offer.

The union strike vote in response received widespread support throughout Central Illinois, from the 100 union members in Coles County to some 300 more scattered across Iroquois, Ford, Champaign, Vermilion, Edgar, Douglas and Clark counties.

Dave Beck, AFSMCE regional staff representative for all eight counties, said union sentiment was the same everywhere: Nobody wants to strike, Beck said. But (state workers) are willing to do it.

The strike vote serves to add an extra note of urgency amid the chaotic state budget picture. Government grinds on largely because a court ordered that state employees continue to be paid.

Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan failed to convince a judge last week that paychecks without appropriation authority are unconstitutional. She has appealed to a higher court.
LINCOLN  The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission received the Land Stewardship Award from the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) on Feb. 16 during the 41st annual NWTF Convention and Sport Show in Nashville, Tennessee.

The award was presented to the Commission for promoting responsible forest management, wood procurement and manufacturing practices for the benefit of the nations forests, wildlife and people.

The Commission and the NWTF have a long history of partnering to enhance wildlife habitats across Nebraska. The Commission manages land on 290 wildlife management areas, which comprise more than 185,426 acres. Projects have included treatment of invasive species, controlled burns, improved hunter access, grassland and oak woodland restoration, as well as habitat maintenance.

Through its State Wildlife Action Plan, the Commission has identified 35 biologically unique landscapes. Within those landscapes, the agency displays the best management practices available to reverse downward trends in habitat quality. This allows private landowners and agencies alike to watch active habitat management in real time.

We are grateful to the National Wild Turkey Federation for this award, which recognizes the combined efforts of our staff, partners and private landowners, Commission Director Jim Douglas said. Habitat restoration is a team effort that has culminated in Nebraska being the top turkey-hunting destination in the country. All wildlife benefit from active land management.

Nebraska boasts an abundant population of wild turkeys across the state, including birds with characteristics of three subspecies  the eastern, the Merriams, and Rio Grande. Hunters in Nebraska can obtain three over-the-counter spring permits and enjoy high success and satisfaction rates harvesting turkeys on public lands.

The 2017 spring turkey season for archers opens March 25. Shotgun season opens April 15 (April 8 for youth). Purchase permits at OutdoorNebraska.org. For more information on turkey hunting in Nebraska, visit Outdoornebraska.gov/wildturkey.
With one hand holding a bottle of champagne and the other an oversized certificate declaring him the winner of $1 million from Publishers Clearing House, Bruce Saunders stood on the front porch of his western Davie County Monday and rattled off a list of things he plans spend his spend money on  medical bills, fixing his lawnmower and helping family members.
CHICAGO  Alarmed by President Donald Trumps campaign proposals to crack down on immigration and subsequent executive orders that called for barring refugees and expediting deportations, hundreds of churches, synagogues and mosques nationwide are considering the bold move to provide sanctuary to immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally.

When Trump was elected, it turned into an immediate priority situation, said the Rev. Beth Brown, pastor of Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, the first Chicago house of worship since the election to offer immigrants who are facing deportation a place to stay. (There are now about two dozen in the Chicago area considering becoming part of the sanctuary movement.)

As the political climate shifts, immigration activists say the nature of the sanctuary movement could change. Though federal authorities say they will continue to avoid raiding hospitals, schools and houses of worship, activists fear that sacred spaces could become targets under the new administration. Historically aimed at changing policies through public campaigns and protest, the sanctuary movement could be forced underground.

Last week, a mother of four with two misdemeanor convictions sought sanctuary in the basement of a Denver church after authorities denied her request for a stay of deportation. How her case plays out could determine how congregations play a role going forward.

Its about people committing to trying to keep the person safe and out of custody, Brown said. If its under the radar, if thats what people are saying is going to save somebodys life or keep someone from being separated from their family, wed follow that guidance.

The idea of sanctuary goes back centuries. Greeks and Romans offered limited protections to criminals who sought shelter in temples. From the fourth to 17th centuries, English law granted immunity to fugitives as long as they were inside a church.

The more contemporary approach to sanctuary as a political movement in the U.S. first unfolded in the 1980s. Drawing from sacred texts that teach loving thy neighbor and welcoming the stranger, churches and synagogues opened their doors to immigrants fleeing civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala.

In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld conspiracy convictions of several sanctuary ministers. But the same court also cleared the way for many of the Central American immigrants who were living in churches to seek asylum, which was hailed as a victory.

The movement resurfaced when deportations began to rise dramatically during the Bush and Obama administrations.

In 2006, Elvira Arellano, a former maintenance worker at OHare International Airport, took refuge with her 7-year-old son inside Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicagos Humboldt Park neighborhood. Arrested four years earlier as part of a post-9/11 sweep of immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally and working at airports, Arellano became the face of the new sanctuary movement.

The targeted immigration enforcement tactics go against the grain of what our faith traditions teach us, said the Rev. Noel Andersen of the New York-based Church World Service, which tracks the sanctuary movement. We believe that we have a higher calling and that we should respond to a higher law.

A 2011 memo from the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement further empowered the sanctuary movement. Federal agents were instructed to avoid sensitive locations including hospitals, schools and houses of worship unless there is an imminent risk.

According to Andersen, 250 congregations nationwide signed up to help shield immigrants after raids in 2014. Roundups in 2016 prompted more than 100 more to support the sanctuary movement. Now 800 congregations have stepped up to provide relief, he said.

Certainly theres more risk involved, and the fact that people are still so interested says a lot, he added.

Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Department of Homeland Security, said agents are still expected to abide by the 2011 directive.

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, she said in a statement.

Andersen said people arent just afraid of immigration enforcement. They also worry that political rhetoric might make legal immigrants more susceptible to discrimination, hate crimes or profiling by law enforcement.

What we understand sanctuary to be is expanding, and it is expanding beyond the world of just undocumented immigrants, Andersen said. We want to be a safe space or refuge for anybody who is vulnerable or targeted under this administration.

Andersen said most of the congregations that sign up for the movement agree to offer support for individuals in sanctuary  providing security, preparing meals, distributing fliers or organizing prayer vigils.

Only 13 churches in the U.S. have housed individuals, including University Church in Hyde Park. Of the 20 deportation cases that relied on sanctuary since 2014, five are still pending in the courts, Andersen said, including the case of a Bolingbrook father of five who sought sanctuary at University Church in April. For most cases, invoking sanctuary is a public declaration. But some sanctuary seekers negotiate with authorities privately while residing within the walls of the church.

Leaders at Lake Street Church in Evanston said the congregation has elected to become a sanctuary church, but citing uncertainty about the political climate, declined to say whether anyone ever moved in.

This is part of what were trying to figure out, said Shanti Elliott, the churchs immigration justice leader. The public nature is very important to sanctuary. On the other hand, a decision to declare sanctuary in solidarity with immigrants, who are very vulnerable and may be at risk, carries with that a commitment to protect them.

After invoking sanctuary in April, the Rev. Julian DeShazier, pastor of University Church, said he started spotting unmarked cars parked on the streets around the church. Volunteers accompany a person living inside the church 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Its a security measure for him traveling from one room to the next, DeShazier said. Its not to watch him but to watch those who are watching him.

That said, the protocol at University Church when there is someone in sanctuary is to not stand in the way if authorities show up and present the proper warrants.

That becomes obstruction of justice, he said. Were trying to obstruct what we believe is injustice. We want to follow the legal process and allow the opportunity to have due process in the same mode of resistance as civil rights or suffrage.
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.
Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (134) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (347) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (440) Jan 2014 (544) Feb 2014 (475) Mar 2014 (525) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (470) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (441) Oct 2014 (471) Nov 2014 (496) Dec 2014 (535) Jan 2015 (535) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (579) Apr 2015 (657) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (921) Nov 2015 (801) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (864) May 2016 (946) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (966) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (879) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (896) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (850) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (808) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (851) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (934) Jul 2019 (949) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (941) Feb 2020 (848) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (787) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (811) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (824) Jul 2021 (830) Aug 2021 (832) Sep 2021 (791) Oct 2021 (754) Nov 2021 (683) Dec 2021 (693) Jan 2022 (694) Feb 2022 (654) Mar 2022 (740) Apr 2022 (745) May 2022 (748) Jun 2022 (701) Jul 2022 (704) Aug 2022 (702) Sep 2022 (699) Oct 2022 (737) Nov 2022 (135)
The Canadian Embassy in Bucharest will organize in the coming months in partnership with the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry a series of events to inform Romanian companies and the public about the benefits the EU - Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will bring the Romanian economy.

Romanian companies interested in developing new commercial relations or strengthening existing ties with Canada-based companies are invited to complete a CETA Questionnaire put out by the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the diplomatic mission said in a release this Friday.

Canadian Ambassador to Romania Kevin Hamilton welcomed the successful completion of the approval process for the EU - Canada trade pact that will become operational in Canada once the Canadian Parliament ratifies it this spring. CETA reflects our commitment to generating economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic, through as extensively developed as possible commercial and investment relationships, the Ambassador said as quoted in the release.

President of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mihai Daraban made a presentation of the benefits CETA will bring to Romanian companies. "I'm sure Romanian entrepreneurs will take this new opportunity to expand their business. (...) As one of the countries benefiting from CETA, I hope that Romania will be among the first EU member states to ratify the agreement," he added.

On February 15 the European Parliament formally approved in Strasbourg the EU - Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. As CETA gradually comes into force it is estimated that the volume of bilateral trade relations between Canada and the European Union will increase: EU exports to Canada will grow by a yearly 23 pct, reaching up to 17 billion euros a year, while the GDP gains for the EU will be as high as 11.6 billion euro each year, the cited source said. In addition to reducing export tariffs the CETA will give an important boost to service exports and investments between Canada and Romania, enabling the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, it will increase the competitiveness of Romanian companies on the Canadian market and reduce company spending with exports without jeopardizing current standards on environmental protection and employee rights.

Agerpres
Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu welcomed on Friday, on a courtesy visit Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium in Bucharest Thomas Baekelandt, context in which they also talked about Romania's presence at the Europalia Arts Festival in 2019. Within the meeting "the excellent stage of the bilateral relations was hailed and appreciated, including in the area of cooperation regarding the administration and local communities of the two countries," a release of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) sent to Agerpres informs.

The two officials agreed upon the importance of continuing to boost the economic and trade relations, as well as with the presence of mutual investment in the two countries. Minister Teodor Melescanu offered assurances regarding the interest of the Romanian Government for Romania's successful presence, as a guest of honor, at the 2019 edition of the Europalia Arts Festival, the largest cultural event of Belgium.

Moreover, the necessity to intensify the cooperation and coordination between the two countries was underlined, in order to increasingly capitalize the mutual interest on the European Union level, as well as on the international level, the MAE mentions.
At a testimony on Monday, 20 February, in Bucharest over the developments in the December 1989 Revolution, Tokes Laszlo said that after the Ceausescus fled the city things developed under a scripted plan with the main aim of legitimising the new leadership in power, according to a press statement released by his press office on Thursday.

A former Reformed Christianity priest and currently a member of the European Parliament, Tokes was heard on February 20 as a witness by three prosecutors of the Military Prosecution Service with the Supreme Court as part of ongoing investigations into the December 1989 Revolution that toppled the Communist regime in Romania.

The statement says that "the spark that generated the revolution", as Tokes is also known, was asked about his part in the events that unfolded after December 22 1989, the day when the Iliescu regime came to power. More precisely, the question regarded the December 22-30 period, which includes the establishment of the National Salvation Front (FSN) and its first actions given that this was the time when the number of human casualties exceeded the number of victims during the mass protests that toppled the Communist regime.

Tokes said he agrees with the investigators that after the Ceausescus fled the city things developed under a scripted plan with the main aim of legitimising the new leadership in power.

The statement mentions that FSN invited to its steering board former dissidents of the late regime as well as emblematic people of the anti-communism revolution, such as the Reformed Christianity priest from the western city of Timisoara Laszlo Tokes. He told the prosecutors that he was never a decision maker, but by inviting him now and then to Bucharest, Iliescu and his acolytes attempted to legitimise their power.

"The FSN board plated a formal part, with the operative decisions made by Iliescu and the small circle of people close to him, which makes them responsible for the decisions because they were the ones leading the country back then. At that time, I was of too much good faith and a supporter of the so-called revolutionary government," said Tokes.

He added that his presence on CFSN proved to be a formal one, just for the show, orchestrated by Iliescu's team that did not last long.

"After Doina Cornea left the board in January 1990, I started being ousted by omission. I fell into final disgrace after the riots of March 1990 in Targu-Mures as I was in the US and Canada on an invitation and when I met US President George H. W. Bush I told him what had really happened, after which Iliescu started accusing me of separatism," said Tokes.

In his turn, Tokes's lawyer Kincses Elod hailed the resumption of investigations into the December 1989 Revolution 27 years after the event, voicing hope that the investigations will end with an indictment and the perpetrators will be indicted.

Tokes is said in the statement to have staunchly demanded over the past decades legal clarifications of the violent occurrences during the popular uprising in Timisoara that left many dead and much human suffering, and also for the responsible ones to be called to account. Tokes has also asked in time for an investigation of ensuing bloody events in the country as well as the circumstances of the violent miners' riots in Bucharest City and ethnic confrontations of March 1990 in Targu-Mures.

"Those responsible for the injury and death of hundreds of revolutionaries and opponents of the Communist regime are still unknown. Almost three decades later the only things we can say are some findings from the investigation of the miners' riots," Tokes is quoted as saying in the statement.

He voiced hope that these events will be clarified, sooner or later.

"There will be light and justice in the case of the violent events in Targu-Mures and those responsible for them will be identified and punished, because that is how the picture of those times will become complete. It is clear that the failed March 1990 attempt at Hungarian pogrom was the direct continuation of a civil war psychosis having been generated and perpetrated, a psychological and media war meant to stabilise and consolidate the post-Communist regime that came to power on December 22, 1989," reads the statement.

agerpres.
EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP)  Egyptian security officials say suspected militants have killed two Christians in the restive north of the Sinai Peninsula, days after an Islamic State affiliate vowed to step up a wave of attacks on the embattled minority.

The officials said Saad Hana, 65, was shot dead and his son Medhat, 45, was abducted and burned alive before their bodies were dumped on a roadside in el-Arish on Wednesday.

Prior to the attacks, an Islamic State group affiliate in Egypt released a video Monday showing the suicide bomber who killed nearly 30 people when he attacked a packed church in December and vowing more attacks on the country's Christian.

A narrator says in the 20-minute video that the Egyptian Christians are the extremist group's "favorite prey."

The video shows footage of Egypt's Coptic Christian Pope, Christian businessmen, judges and priests who either speak of the need to protect the minority or use derogatory terms to refer to Egypt's Muslim majority. The narrator says Christians were no longer "dhimmis," a reference to non-Muslims in Islam who enjoy a degree of state protection. Instead, the group describes the Christians as "infidels" who are empowering the West against Muslim nations.

"God gave orders to kill every infidel," one of the militants carrying an AK-47 assault rifle says in the video.

Egypt's Coptic Christians, who make up around 10 percent of the population, have been always a favorite target of Islamic extremists. Attacks on churches by Muslim mobs increased since the 2013 military overthrow of an Islamist president. Christians overwhelmingly supported the army chief-turned-president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, and extremists have used such support as a pretext to increase attacks against them.

The video shows footage of Abu Abdullah al-Masri, the militant who blew himself up at the central Cairo church in December. The attack, says the narrator, was "only the beginning."

"Oh worshippers of the cross ... the soldiers of the state are watching you," another masked militant identified as Abu Zubair al-Masri says.

The video carries the logo "Egypt" instead of the normal "Wilayat Sinai" or the state of Sinai. Wilayat Sinai, the name of the IS branch in Sinai, has claimed responsibility for dozens of suicide bombings and attacks, mainly targeting security forces and military across the country but primarily in Sinai Peninsula, where the army has been leading an anti-terrorism operation for years.

The IS message comes at a time when attacks on Coptic Christians have escalated in Sinai. In the past month, at least three Christians were gunned down in separate drive-by shooting attacks in the city of el-Arish.

El-Sissi has repeatedly assured Egypt's Christians of his goodwill toward the community, visiting the seat of the Coptic Orthodox church in Cairo on major holidays, but many in the ancient community complain that very little has changed in their lives since el-Sissi took office in 2014, especially in rural areas where Muslim radicals frequently attack Christian homes and businesses over a range of issues, including the construction or restoration of churches, land disputes or sexual affairs between members of each community.
National leader of the People's Movement Party (PMP, opposition) and former Romania's President Traian Basescu on Thursday claimed that there are prosecutors fabricating court files, despite statements to the contrary by chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi.

"There are some file fabrication methods, despite Mrs Kovesi's statements to the contrary, and our evidence is given by prosecutor Negulescu. Other things that I say are things learned from lawyers and defendants," Basescu told Romania TV private broadcaster.

He also named various prosecutors who are accused of fabricating court files.

"I am wondering just how much impudent you have to be to make such statements when an entire nation knows about the infamous Negulescu case. I can also tell you about other file fabricating prosecutors: Mrs prosecutor Rosu of DNA; Mrs Sutima, who once was office manager at the Public Prosecution Service, and Mrs prosecutor Petrescu of the Public Prosecution Service," added Basescu.

He explained some procedures used to fabricate files, adding that Kovesi should understand that it is wrong for her to try and cover the filth at the DNA and the prosecutorial offices in general.

"I am categorically taking responsibility for the process of consolidating Romania's institutions of force. It would be childish for me to say I did not want that to happen, because I did want it to happen. (..) I did not replace people from offices in a timely fashion. I mean, I should have stopped in the case of Kovesi after she served two terms in office at the General Prosecution Service. I should have also replaced [Romanian Intelligence Service officer] Coldea after six years in office. They were too young and power, their hunger for power, deformed them," said Basescu.

He said that no magistrate mentioned the observance of fundamental human rights at DNA's activity report meeting on Thursday. He added that he expected justice leader to state at the meeting that there are codes of law that have to be updated for the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR).

"I would have wanted today, when stock was taken activities, to hear justice leaders say that Parliament must fast-track the introduction of amendments requested under over 50 unconstitutionality rulings issued by the Constitutional Court. I would have liked to hear them say that Directive 343 of the EU, which Romania has until next April to introduce in the national legislation, has to be urgently addressed. What is the use of delaying it? I would have liked to hear that the New York convention on the fight against corruption has to be observed because Romania has ratified it (...). I expected these people to state that they have some codes of law still waiting to be updated," said Basescu.

Prosecutors do not fabricate files or evidence, they have no hidden agenda and they do not play political games, DNA chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi told a DNA activity report meeting on Thursday.

agerpres.
DECATUR  Keith Halliburton took a big step toward getting out of jail Thursday, but he's not free yet.

Macon County Circuit Judge Thomas Griffith reduced his bail from $1 million to a $50,000 recognizance bond, meaning he doesn't have to put up any money, in a court hearing, but Halliburton was sent back to the Macon County Jail because he remains subject to a hold based on a previous federal case.

Halliburton had been facing charges of being a drug dealer after Decatur police said they arrested him in possession of 27 pounds of cannabis and a quarter kilo of cocaine in March of 2016.

But that case is in trouble after Griffith had earlier ruled that police violated the terms of a search warrant in their arrest of Halliburton, 37. The judge then ordered all the drug evidence, along with incriminating statements made by Halliburton, to be suppressed.

The Macon County State's Attorney's Office is appealing that ruling and presented evidence Thursday, including a recorded conversation from jail, that tried to portray Halliburton as a major-league drug dealer who knows no other way to make a living. The prosecution argued Halliburton should still be the subject of a substantial bond.

Griffiths disagreed and announced the bond reduction, saying you are ordered released on this case before pointing out to Halliburton, dressed in a black and gray prison jumpsuit, that he must remain in custody until the federal proceedings are resolved.

The federal case dates back to a previous narcotics conviction in 1999 in which Halliburton had received a 20-year sentence for cocaine possession. He was supposed to be at a half-way house when Decatur police arrested him in a sting operation tied to the delivery of a 19-pound cannabis shipment sent by parcel post. Other drugs were then allegedly found in his vehicle.

Halliburton's lawyer, Todd Ringel, had successfully argued that police had denied Halliburton his constitutional rights by arresting him before the drug package he picked up had actually been opened.

Halliburton's family were delighted after Thursday's bond reduction ruling and believe he will soon be home with them. Halliburton's wife and the mother of six children, Dara Halliburton, said Ringel's law firm, the Johnson Law Group, will now be retained to act for the family to resolve the outstanding federal issue.

I prayed, and God sent me Mr. Ringel, said Dara Halliburton, 37, speaking after Thursday's hearing.  My husband is not a bad person, and we want to get back to raising our kids. He has a passion for his kids.

Dara Halliburton said she had been angry earlier when a police detective called to give evidence Thursday described her as receiving a call from her husband while in jail in which he asked her to make contact with his drug supplier. Dara Halliburton said the call had been nothing to do with drugs.

And I don't do that (drug dealing), she added. I'm a worker; I work hard for me and my kids.

But in testimony during Thursday's hearing, detective Jeff Hockaday said he believed her husband was trying to continue the drug enterprise even though locked up.

Under questioning from Assistant State's Attorney Jane Foster, Hockaday had described Halliburton as a major drug dealer who knew nothing else and, at one time, was thought to be the biggest dealer in the city.

Hockaday said Halliburton had once offered to be a police informant but had been turned down because it was feared he was just looking for a license to sell drugs in our community.

The judge, however, said he had to deal with the case before him and, with the evidence removed, there was no reason not to reduce Halliburton's bond and clear the way for his release.

Speaking after the hearing, Ringel said he had no idea what the nature of the federal hold on his client was. He said it could be anything from other charges to a parole violation.

And we'll be more than happy to represent Mr. Halliburton in the federal matter, he said.
Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!

Your notification has been saved.

There was a problem saving your notification.

{{description}}

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Karen Frame has essentially built the same company twice using different technology.

In the 1990s, she designed information kiosks for natural-food stores. On the verge of a national rollout for Wild Oats (a chain that was later acquired by Whole Foods), her company fell victim to a financial scam and had to be dissolved.

Two decades later, Frame runs another company providing coupons and information to folks interested in natural products. Instead of hoping shoppers will visit in-store kiosks, her new company, Makeena, reaches them through their mobile phones and the internet.

To achieve a better result than she did the first time, Frame is relying on her experience as an attorney and officer at several technology companies. Shes also relying on an accelerator program run by Prosper Women Entrepreneurs, a St. Louis group dedicated to helping women launch successful businesses.

Makeena is based in Boulder, Colo., but Frame has rented an apartment here during the program. She grew up in Champaign, Ill., so she liked the idea of working with down-to-earth Midwesterners for three months. Shes soaking up business wisdom from people such as Tina Klocke, a Prosper mentor and former chief financial officer at Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Early this month, Makeena took a bold step by acquiring CommonKindness, a natural-products coupon site based in Sausalito, Calif. The firm says the deal makes it the No. 2 online platform for grocery coupons behind industry leader coupons.com.

Frame emphasizes, however, that Makeena is a data business, not a coupon company. It expects to make money by selling information about shoppers  which stores they visit, how much they spend and what they buy  to retailers and consumer-products companies.

Frame, 53, is an accountant and lawyer by training. She learned computer programming as a grade-schooler and began shopping at natural food stores while in law school at the University of Illinois. Those interests formed the foundation for her first startup, which folded in 1998, and for Makeena, which she launched in 2014.

She hadnt planned to grow by acquisition, but the deal took shape after she met the founder of CommonKindness in November. I could see how Makeena could become a lot bigger much quicker, she said.

If Makeena wants to be in the data business, scale is important.

She can really move the needle on how many people she has interacting with the platform and how much data she collects, said Mary Jo Gorman, managing partner of the Prosper accelerator.

Frame wants to raise $1 million in capital to integrate the acquisition and boost sales efforts. Learning to pitch to investors is an important part of the Prosper program.

Karen has done a great job listening to us and learning the kinds of things she needs to say to the investors, Gorman said. Shes a fast learner.

Frame will move back to Boulder after the program ends next month, but shes open to possibly having a St. Louis office someday. Shes also exploring ways to collaborate with some St. Louis technology firms.

Boulders thriving technology and natural-foods sectors, Frame says, dont always talk to each other.

The natural products industry people are not technology types, and the tech folks thought Makeena was just a coupon app, she said. Were not; we straddle the two different worlds.

In St. Louis, shes found it much easier to talk with people from various industries. Everybody is really collaborative, Frame said. I feel very fortunate and grateful that Prosper has been here for the next phase of growing the company.
Emerson has been in the St. Louis area for 132 years. Now local leaders will try to prove the region should be its corporate home for the decades ahead.
By late June, expect to see less potentially harmful dust billowing from brick walls where workers are using power tools to remove old mortar.

While the amount of dust will drop, at least one owner of an area tuckpointing firm said he thought the cost to tuckpoint brick walls would rise. Felipe Colon owns a small tuckpointing firm that gets most of its jobs from homeowners in Soulard, Benton Park and other south St. Louis neighborhoods.

Dust reduction at tuckpointing job sites and places where workers cut stone or concrete is a requirement of a contested rule by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA says the rule, which employers must meet by June 23, will affect 2 million workers at more than 600,000 workplaces nationwide.

Colon said a way to reduce dust was to attach shields and vacuum hoses to the power grinders tuckpointers use to tear out old mortar between bricks. He said that the shields were cumbersome and that there was another problem: The vacuums are just horrible. They clog up nonstop.

As a result, tuckpointing jobs will take more time, Colon said. And time is money. In addition, expensive scaffolding is needed to support dust-collection equipment, rather than the easily moved ladders and planks tuckpointers often use to reach tops of walls, Colon said. Homeowners will pay more to get their brick walls in shape after the OSHA rule is in force, he said.

Its going to sticker-shock people, he said.

St. Louis, a red brick city, is a tuckpointers feast. During its rapid 19th-century growth, St. Louis gained thousands of immigrants, including skilled masons who crafted the citys elaborate brickwork. A 2011 documentary by filmmaker Bill Streeter describes the citys brick heritage. As some city neighborhoods redevelop, homeowners are increasingly calling on tuckpointers to make their old brick residences look like new.

OSHA says its crystalline silica rule is meant to limit workers exposure to silica dust thrown into the air by drills, grinders, masonry saws, jackhammers and other power tools. Respirable silica exposure can cause silicosis, lung cancer, other respiratory ailments and kidney disease, according to the federal agency responsible for workplace safety.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2015 that silicosis contributed to 1,437 deaths in the United States from 2001 to 2010. Annual silicosis-related deaths fell to 101 in 2010 from 164 in 2001. Regardless, limits on workplace exposure to silica dust should be maintained because of the growing number of workers engaged in jobs such as hydraulic fracturing and installation of engineered stone counters, the CDC said.

OHSA said the silica rule gave employers flexibility in meeting its requirements. Grinders may have vacuums or a device that sprays water to control dust, and workers may wear respirators.

Dave Keim, OSHAs assistant area director in St. Louis, said states offered employers free advice on how to comply with the rule. In Missouri, the consultations are done by the Division of Labor Standards, part of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Employers in Illinois can get advice from the states On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program. OSHA will not fine or penalize employers over violations if they fix problems found.

Keim said most employers the rule affected were prepared to meet the new requirements.

They already have the equipment in place, he said.

OSHAs rule is opposed by trade and business groups that object to the cost of compliance and by labor organizations that say it provides inadequate worker protection. Challenges filed in federal courts around the country were consolidated last year in a case pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Meanwhile, contractors are proceeding as if they must comply.

Matt Dwyer, association manager of the Mason Contractors Association of St. Louis, said many contractors would wet cut brick, mortar, concrete and stone to meet the OSHA rule.

Others, such as ProPoint Tuckpointing of St. Louis, plan to equip their grinders with vacuums. Owner Curtis Kealoha said he would add the equipment in March. He said he already hung tarps at job sites to control dust.

Working in tight quarters, dust is always a problem, he said.

Business is good, Kealoha added. ProPoints expects to complete 350 jobs this year, nearly double the number last year. Other tuckpointing companies said they were looking forward to a busy 2017.

Kealoha said job prices should remain stable because he planned to absorb the vacuums cost.

Were not expecting this to fluctuate our prices, said Kealoha, adding that job time might decrease once workers get skilled at using the new equipment.

Colon said jobs would take longer because workers must stop every 30 to 40 minutes to empty bags used to collect vacuumed dust. OSHAs rule will force many small outfits to close, he added.

Its going to put a lot of small guys out of business, he said. A lot of guys cant afford vacuums or scaffolds.
DECATUR  Valentine's Day may have come and gone, but Decatur still needs a public display of affection.

And maybe a pep talk, too.

That's what the executive committee of the local NAACP concluded when members decided to sponsor a Community March/Caravan on Saturday leading in to a program on the second floor of the Decatur Civic Center.

The purpose is to give expression to what people like about the city and their hopes and desires for the future.

You often hear, especially from the younger set, how people can't wait to get out of Decatur, said Jeanelle Norman, branch president for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The idea behind this event is to build a sense of community.

Participants are encouraged to line up near the downtown Macon County Law Enforcement Center, 333 S. Franklin St., prior to the march/caravan to the Decatur Civic Center and either carry signs or display them in their vehicles.

Norman said seats aboard a Decatur trolley will also be available, during the parade and after the program to return people to their vehicles.

The step-off time is 11 a.m., with the program to follow at noon.

We want our game-changers to speak out about what's happening in Decatur, Norman said.

Lineup begins at 10:15 a.m., with pedestrians encouraged to gather in the parking lot at Washington and Franklin streets and vehicles to line up on Macon Street between Franklin and South Main streets.
With new owners and a plan to adapt the century-old office building, the giant Railway Exchange Building in the middle of downtown may be empty for only a couple more years.

The new owners of the Railway Exchange, built in 1914, plan to fill about half of the 1.2 million-square-foot building with apartments and build out the rest with a combination of office space, common areas and ground-floor retail.

Joining Hudson Holdings, which purchased the 21-story building at the end of January, is Amos Harris, the local developer involved with the MX District (Mercantile Exchange), the Laurel apartments and the National Blues Museum just to the north on Washington Avenue.

Harris, who described himself as a local partner, said the plan was to build out an estimated 600 or so apartments in the structure, some luxury and others with lower rents. Construction could start by the third quarter of next year.

Were going to try and do a mix to meet the market demand, he said.

Harris was in St. Louis Thursday with Andrew Avi Greenbaum, a founder and principal of Hudson Holdings of Delray Beach, Fla.

Hudson is very excited to add such a monumental asset to our portfolio, Greenbaum said in a statement. We are looking forward to working closely with the city of St. Louis on this historic adaptive re-use project.

Beyond apartments, figuring out what to do with the other half of the space is still a work in progress. There might be 100,000 square feet or so of office space, although Harris said that at this point the amount was still a guess. A health club, pool and maybe even a day care center might also be part of the amenity mix.

Thats one of the options, but theres a ton of options out there, Harris said.

New York-based MLK Real Estate Capital arranged the $20 million in financing for Hudson Holdings to purchase the building. It was a challenging transaction to finance the purchase of such a large building that isnt producing any income, MLK managing principal Solomon Kinraich said.

There were a lot of obstacles to overcome, Kinraich said.

The Railway Exchange Building has been empty since 2013, after Macys closed its downtown location, leaving vacant a building that takes up an entire city block in the heart of downtown. Bordered by Sixth, Seventh, Olive and Locust streets, the Railway Exchange once housed Famous-Barrs flagship department store and the offices of its parent company, May Department Stores, which was acquired by Macys parent in 2005.

The building had been owned by Rick Yackey, who bought the Railway Exchange in 2010 but was unable to move forward with a redevelopment.

Hudson Holdings has undertaken a number of historic renovations in the Midwest, including the nearly century-old Huntington Building in downtown Cleveland, the Textile Building in Cincinnati, and the Mark Twain Building in downtown Kansas City.

The developers are still putting together a financing package for the redevelopment, and they expect to present a larger plan seeking development incentives from the citys economic development arm in the coming months.
WASHINGTON  A majority of Americans say it is important to keep federal funding for an expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor under the Affordable Care Act, even as Republicans work on repealing and replacing former President Barack Obama's health care law, according to a poll released on Friday.

The 2010 law known as Obamacare expanded Medicaid in more than 30 states with the help of increased federal funding, extending health insurance to millions of Americans.

Eighty-four percent of respondents in a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll said it was important that federal support for the expansion remain in place.

The Republican-led Congress and the administration of President Donald Trump have said repealing and replacing the law  under which more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans received health insurance, many through the Medicaid expansion  is a top priority. They have vowed to unveil legislation to begin doing so next month.

Republicans have long opposed Obamacare on grounds it was government overreach and that it simply led to higher insurance premiums for many Americans.

Early Republican proposals have included capping the amount of money states receive for Medicaid programs.

But the Kaiser poll found that the Medicaid expansion has broad bipartisan support. Ninety-five percent of Democrats, 84 percent of independents and 69 percent of Republicans said it was "very" or "somewhat" important to continue to provide federal funding for the expansion.

In the 16 states with a Republican governor that expanded Medicaid, 87 percent of residents said it was important that federal funding for the expansion be maintained.

Missouri, with a GOP-led Legislature, has refused to expand Medicaid despite the availability of federal funds.

The Kaiser poll also found that 48 percent of Americans view the health care law favorably while 42 percent view it unfavorably, the highest level of support tracked by Kaiser since 2010.

A poll released on Thursday from the Pew Research Center also found that support for Obamacare had reached a new high, with 54 percent saying they approved of the law.
Ameren Missouri reached a unanimous settlement Thursday that would grant the utility authorization to increase revenue by $92 million, less than half of the $206 million total that it had sought in its push for rate increases.

The agreement between all parties involved in the case still needs to be reviewed and approved by the Missouri Public Service Commission over the next month, though the PSC staff was one of the entities to sign off on the announced settlement.

Consumer and environmental groups applauded the settlement, particularly because it will spare customers a sizable boost in fixed rates, after the utility agreed to scrap plans to implement a monthly $4.89 energy grid access charge.

Residential ratepayers currently pay $8 per month in fixed fees. In the wake of the settlement, Ameren is adjusting their targeted increase in fixed rates to $9 monthly.

Its a reasonable compromise, said John Coffman of the Consumers Council of Missouri. It reached a good middle ground on overall rate increase and design.

Environmental groups argued that the additional fixed costs would diminish the financial incentives for energy efficiency.

This is a pocketbook issue, said Andy Knott, a representative of the Sierra Clubs Missouri Chapter, in a statement. Customers should be rewarded, not punished, for energy conservation.

Ameren representatives had said that the $206 million it originally sought would result in a 7.8 percent increase in costs for a typical residential customer.

In a statement, Ameren Missouri President Michael Moehn called the $92 million agreement a fair resolution that would allow the company to recover our investments in cleaner and more dependable energy while keeping our electric rates among the lowest in the United States.
This is not a prank, Jimmy Kimmel tweeted in December. Yes, I am hosting the Oscars.

Sunday nights show, airing on ABC, is Kimmels third time on the big awards stage, after hosting the Emmys last year and in 2012.

Although Kimmel is typically an entertaining host, this years Oscars could be a low-rated show. A poll by the Hollywood Reporter found that 60 percent of Americans couldnt name one best picture nominee. For the record, the eight nominated movies are Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight.

The same Hollywood Reporter poll found the potential audience divided on politics in acceptance speeches. Of the 800 people surveyed, divided equally between those who voted for President Donald Trump and those who voted for Hillary Clinton, 68 percent of the Trump voters said they disliked political speeches at awards shows; 22 percent of Clinton voters agreed.

Kimmel told the industry paper Variety that he didnt think his opening monologue would be very political, but there will be some element of that to the show.

But writing for the show goes up to start time and beyond, so a lot of it depends on what happens, Kimmel is quoted as saying.

Announced presenters for the show include Amy Adams, Halle Berry, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Scarlett Johansson. Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Sting and Lin-Manuel Miranda will perform nominated songs.

The official Oscars website pokes a little fun at itself in providing details on watching the show. A common question, the site says, is Do I need to dress up if Im just watching at home? The answer to that last one is yes  yes, you do.

89th Oscars

Ceremony  7:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC

Red carpet  4:30 p.m. on E! and 6 p.m. on ABC

More info  oscar.com
Local attorney Gregory Willard just got back from Norfolk, Virginia, where he got the latest news on the upcoming commissioning of a new Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford.

Willard, an attorney with Doster Ullom & Boyle in Chesterfield and an adjunct professor at St. Louis University's law school, also is the co-chairman of the ship commission committee.

""I was down at the Norfolk Naval Base meeting with officials to further plan the commissioning," Willard said, then explained the process.

"In a few weeks, they will take it to sea for 'builder's trials.' Then they bring her back in, do what they need to do and then send it out for what they call 'acceptance trials'," he said.

Willard has a long history with the late president, serving as his White House staff assistant and personal aide. Also, he has acted as a personal attorney for Ford and his wife, Betty Ford. Along with the ship duties, he also is a trustee for the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

"I'm hopeful that a firm commissioning date will be set soon, for sometime this summer," he said.
Cleaning up clutter is literally mind over matter, but that doesnt mean that it has to be a wrenching test of willpower, discipline and endurance.

Many wellness professionals, meditation enthusiasts and psychologists note that cleaning clutter is as simple (and as hard) as letting go.

Letting go of our obsessive thoughts often helps us let go of our irrational attachment to a multitude of random objects that plague many of us throughout our lives.

Bridget Rolens of Pathways to Mindfulness based in Springfield, Ill., said, Focusing on the body and breath helps get us out of the mind. It can help us step out of the mind thats obsessing. If youre thinking, I need to declutter, I need to declutter, but I cant. What am I going to do? Then you cant relax in the body.

If you can relax, from there it might be easier to approach the decluttering process with more equanimity (akin to calm or levelheadedness) and less grasping.

She said that she likes the question of What prevents me from letting go? instead of Why cant I let go? She said, Why questions can get us back into our heads and arguing with ourselves. A what question is more concrete.

Where to start?

Books, old magazines and notebooks are a common source of pleasure, angst, frustration and confusion.

Leo Babauta of the Zen Habits blog explained that books are the perfect example of why physical clutter flourishes when the mind is cluttered.

Clutter, he said, is a manifestation of a) holding on to the past and b) fear of what might happen in the future.

This constant erratic churning of emotions attending to memories and worries usually means we cant enjoy the present, which means that you cant truly enjoy anything.

In a blog post, he said, We hold on to books weve already read, as trophies of our reading accomplishments. We hold on to books we might read in the future (but probably wont), with the optimism that our future selves are going to be more amazing readers than weve ever been in the past.

Were afraid of being unprepared for the future, but the truth is we can never be totally prepared. We cant control the outcome of the future, and trying to do so means that were never really living in the present moment. Were always preparing for what might (or might not) come.

Christian Jarrett, a cognitive neuroscientist, examined the psychology of ownership, to explain why we value things more highly as soon as we own them. Neural studies, he said, show that our sense of self and the things we own become mentally entangled. We imagine things magically imbued with the essence of the owner. This entanglement creates the chicken vs. egg argument of whether the clutter came first from within or without.

Yvette Bowlin of the Declutterist blog, thedeclutterist.com, and author of The Declutter Code: 10 Simple Steps to Clarity, (which is also available via Kindle and soon on audiobook) insists that clutter starts on the inside.

Its less about mind over mind, and more about mind before matter, she said.

In the book, Bowlin writes that messy minds lead to messy lives. Clutter, she writes, is not an external problem: It starts in your head.

Our thoughts become things  literally, said Bowlin, speaking by phone from San Diego. She said anxieties arent tangible, but our attempts to placate those anxieties usually are. If we get to the root of why we buy or keep something thats not essential to our survival, she said, its usually about trying to manifest comfort, safety and love.

Or, more succinctly, things that cant be bought.

Stillness, she said, is the only way to get to a place of peace and clarity. And peace and clarity is a great place to figure out what you need.

You dont have to become a minimalist to declutter. Keep what you love, but ask yourself if you love what you keep.

Or perhaps an easier question is, do you love how you feel?

Decluttering isnt so much about getting rid of the things as it is about getting rid of the dependence on them to give us a happiness that it cant give, said Rolens, who explained that creating space generates freedom.

Its not hard to declutter when youre not afraid that youre giving up on my last chance at happiness  although no one in their right mind will say that thats why they are holding on to something, she said. Theyll say it might be useful someday.

But, what if it really might be useful someday?

Bowlin says the answer is simple. If you feel like you want to prune items from your closet, vanity, garage, living room, desk, yard or what have you, then you should. If it feels like a worthy pursuit, do it.

You can get rid of the clothes that you dont like (no matter how much they cost)  the clothes that dont flatter you or the clothes you dont wear because they dont fit, because you know who you are, Bowlin said. You know that I dont like this or I dont fit into this anymore, and so why am I keeping this around to remind me that I made a bad decision or I dont fit this and wont fit in it anymore?

Meditation is really beneficial, especially if you are an adrenaline junkie who thinks you cant sit still, Bowlin said. The more comfortable you are in your own skin with your inner demons and inner chaos, the more peaceful and clearheaded youll become.

Find the time

Ugh, but who has time to meditate?

You do.

Your goal is simple stillness. Set a timer for three minutes to start.

Dont aim for nirvana.

And be gentle with yourself. Do not resist the wandering of your mind. Instead, celebrate the awareness that your mind has wandered, Bowlin said. Then bring it back to your meditation with kindness.

Make it a game. Meditating is fun  OK, that might be a stretch.

Think of it as training your mind to come back to the present to come back to stillness after it has wandered. Wandering is part of the process.

Imagine standing on one leg. Youre going to teeter and probably fall.

But standing on one leg helps you gain strength, concentration and balance. If you fall, you do not lose the strength, concentration or balance that you cultivated.

The same is true of meditation. When your mind wanders, you begin again.

Whenever you remember to come back (to the meditation), thats success, Bowlin said. Mediation helps train the mind, she said.

Ideally, youd sit quietly in a comfortable position, but you can also go for a walk or perform a simple repetitive task like folding the laundry, washing the dishes or pulling weeds. Try to do it listening to natural ambient sounds not music or television. As you relax into whatever you chose use your breath as a focal point.

A classic meditative chant attributed to spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh is Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out.

Or simply think Im breathing in ... Im breathing out.

Then what?

Just observe. Notice.

Notice the filling and emptying of your lungs. Notice the length of each breath. Notice the heat at the tip of your nostrils. Notice sounds but instead of listening to them, notice how you hear them. Notice what body part itches first. And then dont scratch. Notice the sensation. Notice everything that arises and subsides for as long as you can. Then when your timer goes off. Notice it and the feeling that arises before you jump up and run for the first task you can perform to get away from yourself.

So wait, will throwing things away clear mental clutter? Can I clean first and meditate later?

If youre saying, I need to declutter. I need to declutter, that can be like a fist clenched in your stomach. So you have to invite the body to relax and let go. You cant exhale if you dont relax, said Rolens.

And you cant let go if your fist is clenched.

Note: Rolens will teach a free introduction to mindfulness meditation from 7 to 8 p.m., March 30, at Masterpeace Studios, 17 Selma Avenue, Webster Groves. The introduction is followed by a presentation from 8 to 8:30 p.m. about the six-week Mind Body Stress Reduction class offered at the studio for $225.
Something Brother Emile told me took on greater meaning just hours after we met.

It was Monday at a downtown coffee shop. We were talking about fear and trust, about the difficult process of breaking down barriers between people of different faiths, races and backgrounds, to build more unified communities that respect one anothers differences.

Fear is the great enemy, Brother Emile said.

A few hours later, news broke of the horrific vandalism that had taken place over the weekend at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, a historic Jewish burial ground in University City. Vandals toppled more than 180 headstones at the cemetery in an act that those with relatives buried there called hateful and anti-Semitic.

What followed was a lesson in brotherly love. On Tuesday, people of all faiths flocked to the cemetery, asking what they could do to help. Thousands of miles away, in New York, a Muslim activist named Linda Sarsour started an online fundraising site to help pay for damage to the Jewish cemetery; within 48 hours the site had raised more than $90,000.

On Wednesday, Gov. Eric Greitens, who is Jewish, and Vice President Mike Pence toured the cemetery and helped volunteers with cleanup efforts.

There is no place in America for hatred or acts of prejudice or violence or anti-Semitism, Pence said. I must tell you, people of Missouri are inspiring the nation by your love and care for this place. You make us all proud.

It was a far cry from the message of division, most of it black and white, displayed to the nation in August 2014 during the unrest in Ferguson that followed the shooting of Michael Brown.

Ferguson is why Brother Emile came to St. Louis. The 60-year-old native of Ontario, Canada, came here to learn about our regions historic division and, he hoped, do something to bridge the chasms that divide us.

A member of the monastic order of brothers who live in Taize, France, Brother Emile is a Catholic, like about half of his fellow 100 brothers. The others are of various Protestant faiths. The Taize brothers are a unique religious order that way, made up of brothers from different Christian faiths, with a mission of planting seeds of love and unity around the world.

In 2015, as a result of the racial wounds opened by Ferguson, Archbishop Robert Carlson invited the Taize brothers to host a Pilgrimage of Trust in St. Louis. For decades now, the Taize brothers have traveled the world hosting such pilgrimages. They went to Johannesburg, South Africa, behind the Berlin Wall, to Rwanda, Paris, London, Barcelona. Theyve been to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and inner-city Chicago.

For the next three months, Brother Emile will be living at Jesuit Hall on the St. Louis University campus and working with pastors and others from various Christian denominations to prepare for a Memorial Day weekend Pilgrimage of Trust that will include a march, several prayer services, and workshops put on by people such as the Rev. Starsky Wilson, who was co-chairman of the Ferguson Commission.

The goal is to ultimately get Christians from diverse backgrounds to come together in unity, open up to learning about those who are different than they are  black and white, Catholic and Baptist  and then to head back to their communities to plant the seeds that will help St. Louis grow into a less-divided place.

Its a daunting challenge, Brother Emile realizes.

Its not just the racial divide, Brother Emile says. People tend to live here in silos.

Breaking out of them involves getting out of our comfort zones.

That was the point Nicole Hudson made on Facebook after she found out about the vandalism at the Jewish cemetery.

When people talk about systemic racism, many only hear black and white, see individual people and acts, and thats part of its power as a tool to keep the machine rolling along, wrote Hudson, the lead catalyst at Forward Through Ferguson, the successor organization to the Ferguson Commission.

What happened at the cemetery in U. City, what is happening at Standing Rock, whats happening with immigration law  its all different dimensions of the same poison  Its up to all of us who can maybe see the horror in one of those events to get really clear on how they are connected. To get uncomfortable and confused and upset and then clear again. Because it really is all connected. And it really is time for us all to say and mean enough.

At Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery last week, a horrific act that could have divided was ultimately trumped by hope.

Fear lost. Love won. Come Memorial Day weekend in St. Louis, Brother Emile and his new friends hope to spread that message throughout the city, one uncomfortable moment at a time.
GREENVILLE  A former inmate of the federal prison here was sentenced to an extra six months behind bars after he was caught with synthetic pot, the U.S. Attorney's office said Friday.

Mario L. Gordon, 37, of Chicago, is already serving 30 years in prison on a 2002 conviction for possession with intent to deliver cocaine. Gordon admitted possessing K-2 at the prison on July 1, 2016, prosecutors said.

Gordon is scheduled to be released in 2022. His current location is not listed in an online directory.
CLAYTON  A St. Louis County jury Thursday acquitted a Jennings landlord of shooting at a man who was rummaging through scrap metal at the defendants apartment complex in 2014.

Robert Keith Bennett, 59, stood trial on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Jurors found him not guilty on both.

He was accused of shooting at Reginald Tucker, 49, of Florissant, on Feb. 28, 2014, at the Rolling Hills Apartments in Jennings.

Tucker testified that Bennett deliberately shot at him while Tucker was collecting scrap metal from behind an apartment building in the 8800 block of Maya Lane.

Tucker told jurors he is a disabled Army veteran, a part-time roofer and has been junker for years who collects and sells scrap metal to make ends meet. He said he was not stealing.

Bennett, the owner and operator of the 128-unit apartment complex, testified that he shot at Tuckers pickup in self-defense because he was scared Tucker was coming toward him and might be armed. Bennett said he initially thought Tucker was illegally dumping but realized he was taking scrap metal.

Bennetts lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, said, I think the jury took its time looking at the issues. Mr. Bennett is thrilled and ready to get back to his life.
MARYLAND HEIGHTS  An Overland man spit at a Maryland Heights jail officer through a "spit sock," exposing the officer to the hepatitis C virus, charges filed Thursday say.

Joseph M. Hardy, 26, of the 9500 block of Mirian Avenue, was charged with endangering a corrections employee, a felony.

Maryland Heights police picked up Hardy on Thursday morning at the St. Ann police station on a "failure to appear" warrant on a speeding ticket, police say. He told Maryland Heights officers he takes medication for hepatitis C, prompting police to take him to DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton to determine if he was healthy enough to be jailed.

On the way back to the Maryland Heights police station, Hardy spit on the plexiglass barrier in the squad car, prompting police to put a "spit sock"  a mesh-like head covering designed to block someone's spit  over his head as they brought him into the station.

As police restrained Hardy, he managed to spit through the sock, splashing Maryland Heights Officer Greg Johnston on the cheek and eye, charges say.

Bail for Hardy was set at $20,000. His previous convictions in St. Louis and St. Charles counties includes misdemeanor assault and violating a protection order.
WENTZVILLE  A woman suspected in the stabbing of a worker at the General Motors assembly plant in Wentzville turned herself in at the Wentzville police headquarters about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.

A female employee was stabbed five times Wednesday night. Her injuries were not life-threatening, said Wentzville police Maj. Paul West. Authorities described her injuries as moderate.

West said the attacker apparently hid in a bathroom inside the plant with a Taser and a knife. Authorities are investigating how she got inside. She was not employed at the plant.

The victim was attacked about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday inside the General Motors plant, at 1500 East Highway A. The attacker then ran off.

The suspect is in her 20s and is from north St. Louis County, West said.

Police did not release details about the circumstances leading up to the attack.

The plant employs about 4,600 people and operates 24 hours a day. In November, the plant boosted security after threats against minorities were found scrawled on bathroom walls at the facility.

Plant spokesman Darin Copeland said the stabbing was an isolated incident. Plant officials secured the facility afterward, and there is no known risk to other employees, he said.

In addition, Copeland said, We have no information to suggest this is related to previous threats at the facility.
WEBSTER GROVES  Webster University leaders named two new deans this week, including one from within the private college.

Associate business dean Simone Cummings was tapped by Webster President Beth Stroble to lead the university's Walker School of Business and Technology. She takes over in June.

Simone has a proven capacity to lead, Stroble said in a statement, adding that Cummings "has made significant contributions not only to the Walker School but to the university community."

Two years after Cummings joined the university as an associate professor in 2013, she became associate dean of academic quality assurance for the business school. In a statement, she said her goal as dean is to increase enrollment and the business school's reputation.

Cummings received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Washington University, and her doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to Webster, she was a faculty member at both Washington University and Simmons College, a women's college in Boston.

University leaders announced Thursday that Anton Wallner, an associate dean at Barry University in Florida, joins Webster as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences this summer. Wallner is currently the associate dean of undergraduate programs and a chemistry professor at Barry.

Now more than ever, the importance of a liberal arts education, disciplinary knowledge and professional experience are crucial to be successful and competitive in today's diverse world. This we will pursue and achieve together," he said in a statement.

The future of liberal arts hinges on strengthening connection between natural sciences and social sciences, as well as between liberal and professional education, Webster provost Julian Schuster said in a statement. Dr. Wallner joins the Webster University at the pivotal moment when our teaching and research is steadily crossing boundaries of traditional disciplines.

Prior to working at Barry University, Wallner was an assistant and then associate chemistry professor at what is now Missouri Western State University. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his master's from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and his doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.
JEFFERSON CITY  After years of fruitless debate, the Legislature this week took its first tentative step toward creating a statewide prescription drug database  but critics wondered whether the proposal would serve to block more effective measures.

The Missouri Senate gave initial approval Wednesday evening to a proposal offered by the very lawmaker most responsible for keeping the state the last one in the nation without such a database.

It wasnt the measure many expected to pass, and opponents say it would impose limits on physicians not found in the other 49 states.

Under the plan from Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, the states roughly 30,000 medical professionals wouldnt have direct access to patient records. Instead, they would submit a patients name to the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, which would grant access only if it determined the patient was a potential abuser.

All other states put the information at doctors fingertips as long as they have an authorized username and password. A group of Missouri counties, including St. Louis, St. Charles, Jackson and Ste. Genevieve, plan to launch a similar program in April. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prescribe even more openness, recommending doctors allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners access to the list.

But where doctors and medical experts see an essential tool in combating opioid addiction by making it harder to doctor shop  when addicts visit multiple doctors seeking similar prescriptions  Schaaf sees an invasion of privacy.

Thats why he has spent the last five regular legislative sessions thwarting attempts by Sen. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, and Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, to give medical professionals comprehensive access.

He has warned of hacks like the one in Virginia, which exposed 35 million records. He has offered studies showing the rise of heroin overdoses in other states with databases, though research published in the New England Journal of Medicine rejects the connection. He once even said people who overdose on drugs were removing themselves from the gene pool.

Then on Wednesday, he said he sensed time, term limits and counties were working against him. He bemoaned the governors announcement making passage a priority in a Facebook Q&A last week. And in a move he compared to euthanizing a beloved pet, he urged colleagues to support his more limited plan while privacy-minded senators remained a force in the chamber.

Im going to vote for this bill ... and Im going to say to myself, What did I just do? he said. But I think this is the lesser of two evils because if you dont pass something, were going to end up with something worse.

At a Thursday news conference, he said his proposal would balance privacy and public health.

We perfected a version of (a prescription drug monitoring database) that protects the liberty and privacy of Missouri citizens, he said. If (Schatz and Rehder) care about what they say they care about  saving lives  this is PDMP that can do that.

Opponents werent buying it.

This makes things worse and not better, said St. Louis County Councilman Sam Page, a physician who pushed for the countys database initiative. This system is cumbersome, unprecedented and makes it more difficult for doctors to treat patients with complex and dangerous problems.

I have no idea what Robs trying to do other than put as many hoops between doctors and this information as possible.

The Missouri Medical Association panned the result, calling Schaafs effort a fake PDMP.

Rehder stressed that Schaafs measure ignored the will of the states largest counties, which contain nearly half its population.

This is about local control, she said. Its not for me to tell people how to keep their citizens safe sitting here in the state Capitol.

The Senate perfected the measure Wednesday night by a solid vote of 20 to 13, with 8 Republicans and 5 Democrats dissenting.

In the days before the vote, Schaaf seemed to extend debate on other legislation far beyond serious discussion, prompting speculation he was doing so to force a favorable vote on his bill.

Politics is like playing chess, Schaaf said. If youre good, you advance your legislation. Im using the tools available to me to achieve my goal which is to protect the privacy of the people of Missouri.

Regardless, Rehder, whose own legislation has twice commanded majorities in the House, confirmed Thursday she would remain ardently opposed to Schaafs bill.

I appreciate his willingness to try and compromise, Rehder said Thursday morning, but this to me is a medical tool and its important for doctors to be able to see their patients history without an additional barrier to helping people who are sick. Without that taken care of, I cant support his bill.

Schatz isnt giving up either.

He read aloud a long list of his bills supporters Wednesday night, including doctors, law enforcement associations and pharmaceutical companies such as Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, which makes the highly abused painkiller oxycodone.

His bill is scheduled for debate in upcoming weeks and he said the Senate can pass both bills and the let House or governor decide.

But the St. Joseph senator has no intention of letting that happen. I fully intend to filibuster if they dont want to compromise with me, he said. Id just as soon not have a PDMP. Would they rather have a database that protects privacy or no database at all?
WASHINGTON  Republican St. Louis-area members of Congress have avoided the raucous town hall meetings that many of their colleagues around the country have confronted this week.

Some have had tele-town halls, in which constituents are invited to participate via telephone. Some took congressional trips. Some say they prefer to have smaller meetings.

All have avoided the media clips of angry protesters confronting Republicans over the prospective repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act and other issues.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., was on a congressional trip to Europe during this weeks break. Protesters, some carrying Wheres Roy signs, picketed his office in Clayton Tuesday.

Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, has been having small meetings in his district.

The congressman prefers one-on-one or small group meetings instead, Shimkus spokesman Jordan Haverly said. Hes been doing both over the district work period.

Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, had a tele-town hall last week, in which about 7,500 participated.

The calls allow Davis to connect his constituents with other congressional leaders, his spokeswoman Ashley Phelps said, and to provide helpful insight into timely issues like repealing and replacing Obamacare. Congressman Davis has always done tele-town halls and will continue to do them.

Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, issued a statement saying she has had several tele-town halls, with tens of thousands of constituents in my district, and [I] find them invaluable to learning more about their needs and opinions.

She added: I plan to host several in the near future, so if you live in Missouris 2nd District and have thoughts on how we can fix Obamacare, because it absolutely needs to be fixed, cut down on government intrusion, help re-build jobs and discuss how I can be a better representative, stay tuned because Ill be calling you soon.

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, blamed protesters elsewhere for distorting the process.

In-person town hall meetings have been derailed across the country in an effort to disrupt the honest conversation that representatives need to have with their constituents, Bost spokesman George OConnor said.

He said Bost had hosted smaller meetings with health care professionals at two hospitals in Southern Illinois, as well as with farmers, students at Murphysboro High School and a dozen individual constituents in his district offices.

Michael Stark, a real estate agent from Camdenton, Mo., said he listened in on a tele-town hall Wednesday night conducted by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth.

A Democrat, Stark said he questioned whether they were a good use of tax dollars and was upset when Luetkemeyer did not push back on crazy questions from some callers, such as whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions would prosecute Hillary Clinton. That was a reference to Clintons use of a personal email account while she was secretary of state.

I do think they should do them in person, Stark said. The thing about the phone calls are not only are they obnoxious, they lack any personalness at all. To me the town halls on the phone seem phony, they seem staged.

Luetkemeyer spokeswoman Kristina Weger said that listening to and responding to his constituents are top priorities for the congressman.

She said Luetkemeyer had had more than 1,000 meetings in his district over his eight years in Congress and takes live questions on radio shows that air throughout central and eastern Missouri every month. She said Luetkemeyers offices responded to more than 5,000 constituent queries in January.

Blaine also frequently holds tele-town hall meetings, including one last night, where he answers live questions from constituents and roughly 8,000 callers are on the line at any given time, Weger said Thursday.

John Barack, 66, a retiree from St. Louis who worked in sales and marketing, has been among those appearing outside Blunts office to ask for a town hall.

I assume he doesnt want to hear a bunch of people complain about the Republican claim that they are going to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Barack, a self-described knee-jerk liberal, said.

But decrying a level of discourse in general he described as awful and coarse, Barack also said he understood why some members of Congress, after seeing colleagues shouted down in town hall events, might not want to have their own.

Absolutely, I understand that, Barack said. But I heard somebody today say, Do your job. Thats part of it. The need to put country before party.

As a Democrat whose party is not in power, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill has not been the target of pickets as Blunt has. But groups favoring President Donald Trumps nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court are running advertising in Missouri urging McCaskill to support Gorsuch.

The Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative group favoring Gorsuchs confirmation, said it had spent about $1 million on advertising urging McCaskill to support the nomination, part of a $10 million buy nationally to pressure Democratic senators in states Trump won.

Im not sure if shes aware, but she certainly wont be swayed by outside special-interest ads, her spokesman, John LaBombard, said.

McCaskill was on a fact-finding tour of the Mexican border earlier this week, although she conducted a listening session in Hillsboro on Friday for people covered by the failing Central States Pension Fund.

Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, said he planned to schedule a town hall on protecting all of the progress that the Affordable Care Act has achieved in the near future.

He said he had had meetings this week in St. Louis, University City and Maplewood.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said earlier this week that protesters disrupting town halls were part of an organized Astroturf effort by liberal activists. Critics said that underestimated the worry about the repeal of Obamacare and other issues.

The liberal Progressive Chance Campaign Committee sent out on Thursday a fundraising email to its 1 million members and urged them to show up at GOP members town halls.
The signs are sprouting on lawns and street corners like pre-spring dandelions.

Welcome to election season again, when community members far and wide eye boards, council and other elected seats of all sizes for a chance to leave their mark.

Its a big ballot on April 4. Seats on the Decatur city council, mayor and school board are up for grabs, as are dozens and dozens of other positions. Candidates have been on the trail for months.

We applaud them all. Its easy to be cynical in this era of so much nasty conflict and callousness on the national political stage, not to mention the extraordinarily lethargic pace of state budget talks. We seem to be about as far from the civic-minded ideals of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as imaginable.

Given all the mud-slinging, we sometimes wonder why anyone would seek public office at all. The topic has come up lately while the Herald & Review editorial board has been meeting with candidates over the past several days as we craft our endorsements. What do you hope to achieve? Why are you running? Why now?

Their answers on the whole have been encouraging  they want to give back, they want to make the community better, they see a bright future.

We understand the allure. There is no better place to see the republic at work than at the local level, where our elected representatives make choices that influence our quality of life. Theyre trusted with our taxpayer dollars to fill potholes, hire superintendents and pick policies too numerous to mention. Theyre on the front lines.

Its democracy on full display, where the best elected officials excel by using their title and influence to do the most good for the most people. The best elected officials read every board packet and are in constant contact with constituents, even those who didnt vote for them. The best elected officials think creatively and compromise. The best elected officials listen more than they talk.

Thats an important quality we worry is being lost in this current political ecosystem  the back-and-forth of a constructive dialogue. We hope we add to that conversation at the debates were hosting next week at the Civic Center with the NAACP Decatur Branch. Decatur City Council candidates will square off at 6 p.m. March 1, followed by mayoral candidates. School board candidates debate at 6 p.m. March 2.

We see plenty of opportunities to learn from one another about our common mission of helping this community.

Will everyone agree? Of course not. But, in our view, everyone is coming from the right place. The trick is to disagree without being disagreeable.

We should all listen closely to the answers. After all, Election Day is only a month away.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama shook hands with lawmakers as he strode down the middle aisle of the House of Representatives before his final State of the Union, breaking into a wide smile when he saw a very familiar face.

"Eliot, you're here," Obama said.

"Would I be anyplace else?" Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., replied.

For nearly three decades, Engel has been on the aisle for every presidential address to Congress. For a fleeting moment, it's just him and the president - two Republicans and two Democrats since he began the tradition in 1989 - shaking hands in a show of support for the leader of the free world.

Engel could be someplace else Tuesday night, when President Donald Trump strides down the House's center aisle to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress. It's not technically called a State of the Union this early in a presidential term, but Trump's speech will have the same bells and whistles.

Engel, according to his staff, has not decided what to do for the Trump speech. He may not decide until the day of the address. Other Democrats who have previously angled for prime seats have decided to distance themselves from Trump, whose first month in office has prompted outrage from most congressional Democrats.

"I have no desire to sit on the aisle and shake the president's hand," said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., who has traditionally positioned himself just off the aisle and leaned over his colleagues to get a moment with the president.

Not this time. He'll be in the chamber, but far away from the aisle.

This is just the latest example of how Trump has scrambled the most basic of traditions in Washington. On Jan. 20, for Trump's inauguration, a third of House Democrats publicly declared they were boycotting the swearing-in ceremony, led by civil rights icon John Lewis, D-Ga., who declared Trump an illegitimate president because of alleged Russian meddling with the 2016 election contest.

In the Senate, Democrats have turned the normally brisk pace of confirming a new president's Cabinet into an unprecedented slog - even for less controversial nominees. And this week, thousands of liberal anti-Trump activists have descended on town hall meetings with lawmakers to protest the new president.

Now, even Tuesday's introduction of the president to a joint session of Congress will be watched for political motives.

Lawmakers and senior Democratic aides said that they do not expect a boycott of the speech, nothing like the more than 60 who refused to attend the inauguration.

Because every lawmaker gets to invite one guest to sit in the gallery above, many Democrats are planning to use that ticket as a form of protest. Pascrell is bringing George K. Yin, a University of Virginia law professor who has argued that Congress has the power to compel Trump to release his tax returns.

Other Democrats will bring children of undocumented immigrants who could be deported if Trump reverses one of Obama's executive orders, while some plan to bring Muslim religious leaders from their districts in protest of Trump's travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority nations, Democratic aides said.

But the "aisle hogs," as they are affectionately known, are one of the great bipartisan traditions of these presidential speeches. It remains to be seen whether Democrats will back away from that tradition.

Aides to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who like Engel traditionally grabs an aisle seat, did not respond to a request for comment about her plans. She boycotted the inauguration, so if she does take an aisle seat, it could make for a potentially awkward moment.

Those prime seats are not reserved for anyone, so a lawmaker has to arrive early to claim a spot - sometimes a few hours before the speech. Tradition dictates that Republicans sit on the side to the president's right as he enters and Democrats on the left.

But there's no rule to it, and one Democratic aide suggested that if the party's "aisle hogs" give up those seats, Republicans will gladly grab them to be seen back home by conservative voters shaking Trump's hand.

If that's the case - if only Republicans greet the president - Washington will look even more polarized on Americans' television screens Tuesday night than it already has.

In 2008, for President George W. Bush's final State of the Union address, the first group of people to greet the outgoing Republican president as he entered the House chamber included Reps. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., Al Green, D-Texas, and G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., along with Engel, Jackson Lee and now-retired Democrats Steve Israel, N.Y., and Jesse Jackson Jr., Ill.

But Trump is different, and no one is sure how to respond to him.

Pascrell all but guaranteed that his side of the aisle will not produce a "You lie!" moment like the one during Obama's September 2009 joint address on health care, when Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted the accusation during the president's speech. "He's the president, duly elected," Pascrell said of Trump. "He deserves our respect."

But don't expect Democrats to just sit there idly if Trump turns his fire on them as he does in his rallies and on social media.

"If he gets too out of order, I'll walk the hell out," Pascrell said.

When he entered the chamber last year, Obama looked happy to be greeted by a bipartisan collection of well-wishing lawmakers. With a live mic near him, he made clear that there were some faces that a president should expect to see when they walk down that aisle.

"I'm going to miss you, man," Obama told Engel.

Turns out, Trump also might miss Engel - and a few other regular faces - on Tuesday night.
A broad-ranging bill that would block the collection of soil and other samples to check for evidence of health hazards is a wrong-headed attempt to put private landowners rights above those of the public. The Missouri Legislature needs to send this bill to a well-monitored garbage dump.

Environmental organizations are rightfully concerned about the potential harm that House Bill 206 could wind up inflicting on water and land resources by preventing regulators from doing their jobs. The bill, introduced by Rep. Jeff Pogue, R-Salem, could give landowners a green light to pollute at will while reducing government regulators powers to enforce environmental and public health laws.

Imagine the consequences: Lets say a health inspector traces a salmonella outbreak to a specific restaurant or grocery store. Under Pogues bill, the inspector would have to get written consent from the landowner to collect samples suspected of harboring the bacteria. An owner who wants to evade bad publicity or a health shutdown could simply deny access by invoking Pogues law. How many more people could become ill while the process is underway?

A small brush fire at the West Lake Landfill two years ago is an example of other potential consequences. The fire was quickly extinguished by local firefighters, who conducted air monitoring while it was burning. The Environmental Protection Agency took samples to confirm that contaminants from the site, where radioactive waste is stored, were not released.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which monitors West Lake and the adjacent Bridgeton Landfill, where an underground fire has burned since 2010, reviewed data from monitors near the landfills. Pogues bill would have delayed or blocked all such actions.

Its difficult to estimate the danger to public health and resources if there had been an emergency and regulators had to run around collecting permission signatures before they could act.

How about sampling water from, say, a meat-packing plant for E. coli bacteria? Or sampling grass and dirt from miles of privately owned property when a tanker carrying volatile substances overturns on the highway? What about testing concentrated animal feeding operations that generate millions of tons of manure annually and require special treatment plans to dispose of waste safely?

Once a pollutant or contaminant leaves a property, the difficulties mount for law enforcers attempting to hold the owner responsible.

A second condition in the bill would require anyone seeking to conduct tests or surveys to submit and deliver letters and descriptions of the tests or surveys to the county commission.

Pogue did not return calls seeking an explanation for why he introduced this bill. A similar bill last year died in the Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, which is where this years bill currently resides.

Thats also where it should die.
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?
If you have friends in Indiana, give them a call - they might be brand new millionaires.

One winning Powerball ticket was sold for Wednesday night's drawing, worth an estimated $435 million, was sold in Indiana. More specifically, Lafayette, Indiana.

The numbers drawn were 10-13-28-52-61 and Powerball 2.

Powerball is played in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The top prize drops back to $40 million for the next drawing Saturday night.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are incredibly small, at one in 292.2 million.
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.
As we have since July 2006, each Friday well post our sampling of cigar news and other items of interest from the week. Below is our latest, which is the 519th in the series.

1) According to Cigar Aficionado, U.S. Representatives Tom Cole (R-OK) and Sanford Bishop (D-GA) have introduced a bill that would change the predicate date of newly regulated tobacco productsincluding premium cigarsand provide a 21-month grace period for new products seeking FDA approval. While the so-called Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTC)the bill giving the FDA the power to regulate cigarsdidnt pass until June 2009, the legislation sets February 15, 2007 as the cutoff date for tobacco products to be grandfathered in as exempt from needing FDA approval before being sold or marketed in the United States. There were hopes the FDA would modify that date, but they did not. As a result, products introduced past that date will be subjected to the FDA approval process. The bill, known as the FDA Deeming Authority Clarification Act of 2017, would change the predicate date for premium cigars from February 15, 2007 to August 8, 2016, the day the FDA officially took over regulatory control of the cigar industry. The lawmakers have argued that makers of newly deemed products have been unfairly required to look back over nine years for grandfathered or predicate brands that could be used for a Substantial Equivalence application.

2) As a recent article points out, the FDA, the agency that now regulates handmade cigars, even has trouble applying common sense to food regulation. For example, foods like nuts and avocados are incredibly healthy for you. However, thanks to the FDA standards, these healthy fats cannot be marketed to consumers as healthy products. Meanwhile, low-fat, but high-sugar, foods like Frosted Flakes cereal and Pop Tarts are considered healthier under the FDAs definition.

3) La Aurora has announced a new line called ADN Dominicano, which features Andullo tobaccoa leaf that is hard-to-work and offers an inspiring aroma and sweetness. The rest of the blend includes filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, Pennsylvania, and the Cibao Valley of the Dominican Republic; a Cameroon binder; and a Cibao wrapper. Four vitolas will be available: Churchill, Gran Toro, Robusto, and Toro.

4) Famous Smoke Shop is expanding its exclusive Romeo y Julieta series with a new Habano-wrapped line called House of Verona, which will be available in five vitolas: Churchill, Robusto, Corona, Short Magnum, and Toro. Previous collaborations between Famous and the Altadis-made Romeo y Julieta brand include House of Montague and House of Capulet. Each House of Verona format will retail for about $5 apiece.

5) From the Archives: With another bill to protect cigar rights introduced (see item #1), now is a good time to revisit how to effectively advocate for your rights. Just taking the time to contact your legislators is step one, but once youve decided to do it, here are some suggestions for maximizing your effectiveness.

6) Deal of the Week: Mardi Gras is just around the corner, and this Mardi Gras sampler will load you up with ten good smokes for just $30: EPC NWC Selectos de Oro, La Aurora Connecticut Robusto, La Jugada Habano, Casa Magna, Alec Bradley Prensado, Recluse Draconian, Espinosa Alpha Dog, Wild Bunch Crazy Jack, La Palina Oscuro, and Asylum Dragons Milk. Act quickly. This deal is likely to sell out, and the cigars would otherwise run you almost $90.

The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys
Tandoor Indian Grill closed earlier this month, about seven months to the day since the owners opened the doors with much fanfare in the former home of Pastabilities at 134 E. Main St.

Vinai Nekkanti, who co-owned Tandoor with his wife Suneela Monavarthi, said the lunch buffet never caught on like it did at their other restaurant, Gateway to India in Springfield, then the business suffered through three months of problems keeping the space warm enough for customers.

Starting in October, we incurred losses of $10,000 every month, and we just could not afford to keep it open, Nekkanti said.

Even more heartbreaking to the couple, who have lived in Forsyth for the past nine years, is the number of people who told them they'd heard good things about Tandoor but had not gotten around to trying it.

We were hoping for the best but did not get enough support from the dining public, he said.

nnn

A newly constructed Love's Travel Stop service station containing an IHOP Express restaurant has opened near the Interstate 70 exit in Greenup.

Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores spokeswoman Kealey Dorian said this site offers a parking area for 92 semitrailers and a 12,000-square-foot Travel Stop building, plus a Love's Truck Tire Care Center that will open in a couple of weeks. This facility is on Illinois 130, south of I-70.

Dorian said the Travel Stop's store will sell snacks, soft drinks and other general convenience items, as well as auto supplies, electronics and other goods for truck drivers. She said the stop also will provide showers, truck scales, and the center's tire and light mechanical services for truck drivers.

In addition, Dorian said the Travel Stop's restaurant area will feature an IHOP Express and a Chester's Chicken. Dorian said Love's just started hosting IHOP Express restaurants last year and Greenup will be the seventh location for one, with the next nearest Love's IHOP being in South Jacksonville.

Dorian said both the Travel Stop and the IHOP Express will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Greenup will be the first Love's Travel Stop location on the nearly 180-mile stretch of I-70 between Belleville, Ind., and Greenville, Dorian said.

"For us, we saw a very significant gap where we were not offering services," Dorian said.

nnn

The Pizza Hut restaurant in Mattoon has been closed by the franchiser due to the location not being profitable, according to a company official.

Vonnie Walbert, a spokeswoman with franchiser MPC International, said the profits were not enough to justify keeping the Mattoon Pizza Hut open or making the major facility improvements needed at the location.

Pizza Hut had been open in the building at 721 Charleston Ave. in Mattoon for more than 30 years.

Walbert said most of the staff members from the closed restaurant have been transferred to MPC's Pizza Hut franchise locations in Charleston and Effingham.

nnn

First Busey Corporation, the holding company for Busey Bank, has announced plans to acquire First Community Financial Partners, Inc., the holding company for First Community Financial Bank.

First Community operates as a state chartered commercial bank with nine branches in Will, DuPage and Grundy counties, which encompass portions of the southwestern suburbs of Chicago.

The transaction is anticipated to close mid-2017. Upon completion of the holding company merger, it is anticiapted that First Community Financial Bank will merge into Busey Bank in late 2017.

This business combination is consistent with our strategy of expanding into markets with both population and commercial density in the Midwest through disciplined partnerships with companies who have similar operating and cultural philosophies. Joining two of the best community banks in Illinois together offers significant growth possibilities for the combined customer, associate, community and shareholder base, said Van A. Dukeman, First Busey president and chief executive officer.

nnn

Have you opened a business in or around Macon County? Have you expanded or moved to a new location? Have you taken ownership of an existing business? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to call one of the reporters listed below to spread the word in a future On Biz column. You will be glad you did.
In his Facebook page Tankian writes:

Please join me and a coalition of Armenian artists and activists from around the world in Yerevan Armenia to help monitor the upcoming Parliamentary Elections in early April to ensure transparency and accountability. Please watch the video below and visit https://www.change.org/p/justice-within-armenia for more info.

VIDEO

Top photo: Serj Tankians Facebook page
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan flies to Belgium on February 26 for a two-day working visit, during which he will meet with leaders of various European Union leaders, including President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.

Sargsyan, according to his press office, will also give a talk at the Carnegie Research Center. The press office doesnt say what Sargsyan will talk about.

The Armenian president will also meet with Armenian community business people.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has said Pakistan would welcome Turkey to join the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Interacting with the media persons in Ankara, Turkey on Friday, he said Central Asian states and Turkey together could bring a boost to the CPEC.

He said our future vision focuses on establishing linkages with the Central Asian republics from Khunjarab to China to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

The prime minister said that during his meeting with Turkish President wide ranging issues including Syria, Russia, Daesh, Free Trade Agreement and enhancing economic cooperation came under discussion. He said major development is happening in the Turkey Pakistan cooperation.

Responding to a question, Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan is a well-wisher of Afghanistan and wants stability and peace there. A peaceful Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan and the region. He said feasibility work is in under way on Peshawar-Kabul motorway while over sixty percent development work has been completed on Peshawar to Jalalabad highway.

Turning to internal situation, Nawaz Sharif said that there is a marked difference in load shedding between 2013 and 2017. Long power outages have immensely decreased and the industrial sector is being provided electricity without any outages.

The Prime Minister said that motorway was built in 1998 and needed repair after 10 years, but unfortunately no attention was given to its maintenance.

In 2013 we then started to take care of this project. Work on 13 motorways projects is under way at a cost of 1100 billion rupees.

In response to a question regarding irresponsible reporting by media regarding unfound terrorist blast incidents, the Prime Minister said that it is extremely positive that discussions against such irresponsible reporting have started from within the media as self-accountability is the best way forward.

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif arrived in Islamabad on Friday afternoon after his three-day official visit to Turkey.

During his visit the Prime Minister held one on one meeting with his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He also signed different agreements and MoUs for cooperation in different fields.
Two high profile terrorists, allegiance to Jamatul Ahrar, killed in Pakistani armys Operation Rad-ul-fasaad conducted at Pak-Afghan border.

In a statement issued by ISPR said that security forces fired shells on the hideouts of Jamaatul Ahrar inside Afghan border , in result two high profile terrorists- Wajehullah alias Aharar and Hikmatullah alias Qari Zubair- were killed.

Also Read:Police officials among 14 martyred in Lahore suicide bombing

ISPR said that the both terrorists are the mastermind of Lahore blast at Chairing cross, that killed 14 people, and most wanted to security forces.

Also Read:Investigating Lahore attack from every angle: Punjab IG

Security sources confirmed that Hikmatullah alias Qari Zubair was the incharge of Punjab Transit camp in Afghanistan.
An Anti-terrorism Court (ATC) on Friday allowed Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar to travel to Iran against furnishing Rs2 millions as surety.

It is to be mentioned here that mayor Karachi is on bail in a case regarding to facilitate treatment of terrorists at Ziauddin Hospital.

On Friday the court heard an application filed by Akhtar seeking permission to go abroad on an official visit and pleading the court to return his passport for the purpose.

Public Prosecutor and Mayor Karachi along with his counsel appeared before the court.

The court allowed the application of Mayor Karachi and ordered him to furnish Rs2 millions as surety.

Later talking to media outside the court, Akhtar complained of lack of powers. He said that Sindh government was working on mega projects but kept the elected mayor of the city away from the projects.
American Water Works Co. (NYSE: AWK) released fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 earnings on Tuesday after the market closed. The country's largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility capped off a strong performance for the year with a solid quarter that had no surprises.

Shares of American Water rose 0.7% on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 was down slightly. The stock has returned 15.4% for the one-year period through Wednesday, versus 24.1% for the broader market. However, it's a decisive outperformer over longer periods, and has returned 372% since its April 2008 IPO, versus the S&P 500's 108%.

Here's how the quarter worked out for American Water and its investors.

American Water Works' key Q4 numbers

Metric Q4 2016 Q4 2015 Year-Over-Year Change Revenue $802 million $783 million 2.6% Operating income $248 million $232 million 6.9% Net income $101 million $99 million 2% GAAP earnings per share (EPS) $0.57 $0.55 3.6%

Analysts had estimated that American Water would earn $0.57 per share on revenue of $820.5 million, so the company hit the earnings projection on the bull's-eye but fell short on revenue. For the full-year 2016, year-over-year revenue increased 4.5% to $3.30 billion, GAAP EPS declined 0.8% to $2.62, and adjusted EPS jumped 7.6% to $2.84. A 7.6% annual growth rate is strong for a water utility.

American Water's 2016 GAAP earnings were negatively impacted by an after-tax charge of $0.22 per share in the third quarter related to a binding settlement for all consolidated claims arising from the Freedom Industries' chemical spill in January 2014.

Performance by segment

American Water's regulated business continues to drive its earnings, as shown below.

Segment Q4 2016 EPS Q4 2015 EPS Year-Over-Year Change Regulated business $0.55 $0.54 1.9% Market-based business $0.07 $0.06 16.7% Parent ($0.05) ($0.05) -- Total GAAP EPS $0.57 $0.55 3.6%

EPS for the core regulated business was up $0.01 per share, driven by continued strong revenue growth partially offset by the timing of certain operation and maintenance expenses. EPS for the market-based business was up $0.01 per share primarily due to price redeterminations in the military services group.

For the full-year 2016, its Keystone Clearwater Solutions business, which supplies water and related services to natural gas exploration and production companies in the Appalachian Basin, had a neutral effect on 2016 earnings, as American Water had been projecting.

Record acquisitions in 2016

American Water made six acquisitions in 2016, three of which closed during the year and added about 42,000 new customers, and three of which are pending and will add about 40,000 new customers. The year marked a record for acquisitions.

Closed acquisitions include the wastewater system assets of the Sewer Authority of the City of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Environmental Disposal Corporation, a wastewater utility operating in New Jersey; and the wastewater system assets of the Borough of New Cumberland in Pennsylvania. Pending acquisitions include the wastewater facility of McKeesport in Pennsylvania; the Shorelands Water Company in New Jersey; and Meadowbrook Water Company in California.

American Water is based in Southern New Jersey, and a bulk of its operations are in its home state and neighboring Pennsylvania, which is why all the acquisitions except one are located in these two states. The company's strategy is to expand near where it already operates, as this results in increased efficiencies.

Investors can probably expect about a 10% dividend hike in 2017

In its earnings release, American Water included that it foresees a 2017 dividend increase at the high end of its long-term EPS growth target of 7% to 10%.

American Water has raised its dividend every year since it went public in 2008.

Key efficiency metric continues to improve

American Water's operation and maintenance (O&M) efficiency ratio for 2016 improved to 34.9% from 35.9% for 2015. This ratio reflects how well the company is controlling costs in its core regulated business; the lower the number, the better.

The company has made steady progress in lowering this ratio in recent years, as it was 44.2% in 2010. Given its great progress, American Water set a new and more challenging goal. Its former goal was to achieve 34% by 2020; its new goal is to reach 32.5% by 2021.

2017 and long-term EPS growth targets

American Water reaffirmed its 2017 earnings guidance to be in the range of $2.98 to $3.08 per share. Adjusted EPS came in at $2.84 in 2016, so this guidance represents projected EPS growth of 4.9% to 8.5%. Wall Street estimates that it will earn $3.04 per share in 2017.

The company also reaffirmed its 7% to 10% annual EPS growth rate target through 2021. This target is comprised of 4% to 6% EPS growth from infrastructure investments in its regulated business, 1% to 2% EPS growth from regulated acquisitions, and about 2% EPS growth from its market-based segment.

In short, American Water posted a solid quarter to a great year. As previously noted, a 7.6% annual growth rate is strong for a water utility. And based upon the company's 2017 and long-term guidance, investors should expect continued strong growth ahead.

10 stocks we like better than American Water Works

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 American Water Works 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

Beth McKenna 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.
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.
A Bay of Plenty regional councillor reckons the Port of Tauranga is miserly, a bit of a bludger, and needs to do more for the city.

Andrew von Dadelszens balcony overlooks Takitimu Drive. Every morning he sees the traffic congestion, especially the amount of trucks, and thinks the Port is to blame.

Port of Tauranga is a huge asset for the Bay of Plenty and its time for them to step up and support the community that has sacrificed so much to ensure the ports success. Tauranga traffic is creeping back towards gridlock and a lot of this is as a result of the big trucks that service our port.

In his view, the Ports social investment is plain miserly, and thinks they should be giving back more the community.

Supporting the Half Ironman; a four year commitment to the TECT Rescue Helicopter ($62,000 per annum); sponsoring a scholarship for a handful of Maori tertiary students and a $6000 donation to foodbank just does not cut the mustard.

He wants to see the Port investing a marine research centre, or a stadium in the Tauranga Domain, or even a museum.

Put a million dollars into a stadium and well call it the Port of Tauranga Stadium if you like, says Andrew.

Tauranga City is New Zealands fifth largest city and yet we lack the amenities of cities half our size. Our corporates need to step up and the Port needs to show leadership  and not just remain a bludger.

Sooner or later, the citys residents will get fed up. The Port has a lot of good will at the moment, but they need to ensure they keep it.

Mayor Greg Brownless thinks the Port has a positive impact on the area, and would welcome any extra public contributions they wished to make.

If the Port did seek to improve the citys amenities, the mayors preference would be for a museum, rather than new stadium.

I think people have been waiting a lot longer for a museum than a stadium. The big factor holding us up is the ongoing annual expenditure running a museum, which is where we would need the help.

It would have been nice if the city council had received some shares at the time of local body amalgamation. If this idea addresses some of that unfairness, then great.

Port of Tauranga CEO Mark Cairns has declined to comment on the matter.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush is coming clean to the public and admitting a 34-year-old drink drive conviction.

Mike says he is waiving his right to be covered by the Clean Slate Act to a third party, to disclose the conviction.

He wants to do this to provide context to a response he provided to the media that is likely to receive some attention.

New Zealand Police was recently asked by media whether I have any convictions. I have replied today saying that while police is not permitted to pass on details covered by the Clean Slate Act to a third party, I am waiving my right, to disclose a conviction for drink-driving.

The incident happened 34 years ago while I was an off-duty detective constable in Auckland in 1983.

I was 23 years old at the time and had been in police for five years.

Mike pleaded guilty and was convicted.

He received a $250 fine and was disqualified from driving for six months.

I didnt lose my job at the time because it wasnt until 1991 eight years after it happened  that the then Commissioner of Police made it clear that subsequent drink-drive convictions for a police officer could place their career in jeopardy.

It was extremely poor judgement by me 34 years ago, for which I am sorry.

I make no excuses. It is something I deeply regret and have reflected on ever since, says the current Police Commissioner.

My name and occupation were reported in an Auckland newspaper at the time, as was standard for drink-driving cases back then.

Many of my colleagues and friends are aware of it, and it was disclosed to the State Services Commission as part of the process for appointing me Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner. I have always been prepared to talk about it if asked.

Mike says there has been a significant change to New Zealands attitude and culture regarding drink-driving in the past 34 years, and Police has had a big part to play in driving that change.

Alcohol plays a significant role in death and injury on our roads, and I am personally committed to doing all I can to prevent the harm it causes.
A 65-year-old man who admitted lying to the court in order to avoid seizure of $190,000 worth of commercial woodworking machinery, received a home detention sentence, despite protests from police.

Police prosecutor David Pawson called for a jail sentence for Karl Dean Zajonskowski, unemployed of Mount Maunganui, saying its required as a deterrent and a denunciation, to send a message to Zajonskowski and others that they cannot mislead the court.

Zajonskowski appeared for sentence in Tauranga District Court this week on a single charge of making a false statement, which he admitted during a District Court judge alone hearing. The charge carries a three year jail sentence.

David says Zajonskowski undermined himself while giving evidence to the point where he had no choice but to plead guilty, and that he still had no insight into his offending.

In 2012, Zajonskowski ran up bills of more than $368,000 setting up a joinery manufacturing business DNA Modular Creations in Mount Maunganui.

Police say he didnt pay the supplier of the machinery Philbro Holdings Ltd, and he didnt pay North Sawn Treatment Ltd the lease on the building.

A year later when the building owners started proceedings to seize machinery in lieu of rent, Zajonskowski swore a High Court affidavit stating the machinery was his personal property and in his possession for some time.

When Justice Heath discovered the statement was false, Zajonskowski blamed his lawyer. He then prevented his lawyer from giving evidence, says David. Zajonskowski lied to the High Court and he lied to the District Court

And he still doesnt think hes done anything wrong.

When Judge Glen Marshall asked what the loss was and who the victim was, the case was stood down for discussion.

While it was said the amount owed on machinery was $197,800, the actual loss was $29,000 in arrears on rent, plus storage, the prosecution said.

Judge Marshall accepted there was no loss in the end, but misleading a Court, particularly the High court was a serious matter.

He sentenced Zajonskowski to four months home detention and 200 hours of community service.
The finalists in the 2017 Central Plateau New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards have announced, following the completion of the preliminary judging.

General Manager Chris Keeping says judges had been extremely impressed with the quality of entrants this year.

"This is an incredibly busy time on the farm, and it shows the high-calibre of the entrants that they are continuing to run their business and do their jobs on a daily basis, as well as prepare for the competition," he says.

"The Dairy Industry Awards arent just about winning, they are about education, networking and growth. The people living and breathing the dairy industry have upbeat and positive attitudes. The future looks good."

The Central Plateau Dairy Industry Awards will be held on March 15 at Rotoruas Energy Events Centre. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.

Regional winners progress to the national final and are judged by a national judging team to determine the national winners and place-getters of each competition.

National winners will be announced on Saturday May 6 at Sky City Auckland.

Central Plateau Dairy Trainee of the Year finalists:

Taegan Fogarty-Wallace Damon Harris Beaudine Hay Taylor Macdonald Donna McKinley Liam Sangster

Central Plateau Dairy Industry Awards

Cliff Ballinger Colin Tremain Dylan Hilhorst Ryan Orchard Anthony Kiff

Central Plateau Share Farmer of the Year entrants:

Carlos and Bernice Delos Santos Herman Lagerwey Mark and Adelle Pacey Amy Seymour and Reece Wine
Papamoa joins Ohope and Mount Maunganui as one of the countrys top 10 beaches, according to the TripAdvisor 2017 Travellers Choice Awards Best Beaches in New Zealand.

This is the first time three Bay of Plenty beaches have been listed in the awards, with Mount Maunganui claiming pole position for the fourth year in a row, Ohope Beach climbing one place to sixth and new addition Papamoa Beach rounding out the list in 10th place.

Mount Maunganui was also named as one of the Top 5 beaches in the South Pacific.

Piha Beach, Auckland, and Oriental Bay, Wellington, took second and third respectively ahead of Ninety Mile Beach, Whangamata, Kaiteriteri, and Auckland beaches Takapuna and St Heliers.

Now in its fifth year, the Travellers Choice Awards Best Beaches are determined by the quantity and quality of traveller reviews and ratings for beaches on TripAdvisor gathered during a 12-month period.

While Mount Maunganui was praised for its picturesque beauty, TripAdvisor users hailed Papamoa Beach as one of the best beaches in the world, adding that it was less crowded and a great place to relax.

Tourism Bay of Plenty CEO Kristin Dunne says claiming three spots in this years list is a fantastic achievement and is thrilled to see Papamoa Beach recognised in the Top 10.

Ohope and Mount Maunganui have always been two of our flagship beaches, but were very happy to see Papamoa join them on the list this year. As a growing area, with more opportunities and events than ever before, we hope to see it become a permanent fixture in the Top 10.

TripAdvisor is one of the key ways international and domestic visitors learn about our region, and to have these top spots along our coastline recognised as must-see attractions is something to be celebrated.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our beaches, as well as the activities that our coast enables, and look forward to preserving the coast for many more years to come.

Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller says this title is significant because it isnt voted on by a professional panel of judges or industry insiders, but by actual travellers  real people who choose to visit our little slice of paradise. Its great to see we are making such an impression.

We are very fortunate to live in such a pristine natural environment, but its not just stretches of white sand that make a beach great  its the people you encounter from the man fishing in the surf, the woman walking her dog, to the young family having a picnic.

"We have a great community here in the Bay who are always welcoming.

The good news comes hot on the heels of the launch of Tourism Bay of Plentys No Place Like Home campaign, a community initiative focussed on equipping residents with a comprehensive knowledge of what is available in their own backyard.

The campaign launched at the end of January with a community survey, which asked residents what they love about where they live and what attractions they spend time at.

Will Mount Maunganui claim the title of number-one attraction in the region as voted by residents? The results will reveal all on Monday, February 27.

Kristin says the survey will not only inform residents of what there is to see and do, but also celebrate these attractions and activities.

We look forward to educating and inspiring our residents with the survey results, as well as taking the next step in the campaign and helping grow the region further. Its truly by locals for locals, and we are excited to have you join us on this journey.

To keep updated with the No Place Like Home campaign, visit www.noplacelikehome.nz

TripAdvisors 2017 Travellers Choice Awards Top 10 New Zealand Beaches:

1. Mount Maunganui Beach  Mount Maunganui

2. Piha Beach  Piha

3. Oriental Bay - Wellington

4. Ninety Mile Beach  Kaitaia

5. Whangamata Beach - Whangamata

6. Ohope Beach  Whakatane

7. Takapuna Beach  Auckland

8. Kaiteriteri Beach  Kaiteriteri

9. St Heliers Beach  Auckland

10. Papamoa Beach - Papamoa
Pupils at Bellevue Primary School are getting a boost in reading skills this year thanks to a unique charity.

Donors Choice matches teachers and students with sponsors who are interested in supporting school projects.

Bellevue Primary deputy principal and the schools literacy support person Pam Seath wanted 30 licences for a software package for students, who are either struggling with or making a start with reading.

Bellevue School didnt have the finding available to provide the programme, so it was raised by Donors Choice Charitable Trust and presented to the school by Tauranga MP and Transport Minister Simon Bridges.

The software will complement other classroom programmes such as guided instructional reading phonics, word skills, buddy reading.

More than 800 New Zealand schools have access to the Steps programme and it is showing excellent results, especially with children who have learning difficulties, says trustee Ken Knott.

Donors Choice is an idea he took from a similar US based website called Donors Choose which has proved a very successful concept.

It often helps when funding though normal channels is not available , and has provided more than $US350 million matching sponsors with teachers.

Surprisingly data gathered over many years indicates that the average amount required for a project is only about $350-$500, says Ken.

It impressed Ken so much, he discussed it with Bernie Harvey and Stephen Hatfield, who are now the other two trustees.

Ken says he approached Donors Choose about using their idea and they didnt mind, as long as he changed the name.

They first thought I wanted a franchise, but they said they were too busy.

The next donation will be for a school orchard, and then they will return to fund raising, says Ken.
The manager of the Tauranga Womens Refuge has been selected as the Labour Party candidate to contest the Bay of Plenty electorate in Septembers general election.

She is Angie Warren-Clark who has worked in the electorate for ten years in the field of domestic violence and is a non-practicing barrister and solicitor who has two grown children living overseas.

Angie and her husband Blair own a building business and live in Papamoa in the heart of the Bay of Plenty electorate. The seat is held by Nationals Todd Muller with a 15,000 majority.

Labours President Nigel Haworth says Angie joins a growing list of energetic and fresh candidates who will stand for Labour in 2017.

Our focus is on electing a strong, Labour-led government next year that will rise to the challenge, back the Kiwi Dream and build a better New Zealand.

Angie Warren-Clark won the candidacy before a meeting of party members last night. She also ran for the Labour Partys Tauranga candidacy but was pipped by Merivale School principal Jan Tinneti.
The Labour Partys rolling out its heavy guns next Wednesday with party leader Andrew Little heading to town to deliver his State of Tauranga address.

Andrew will talk about his motivations, his vision for New Zealand with specific reference to local issues and Labour Party plans for the region  specifically economic development, housing, health and education.

Its the fifth outing in Andrews state of the regions series and building on his combined state of the nation address with Greens co-leader Metiria Turei.

The Labour Party is inviting the people of Tauranga to hear Andrews plan to build a better New Zealand where cities and regions thrive and where everyone has a fair shot at the kiwi dream.

The visit comes a fortnight after Merivale Primary principal Jan Tinneti won the partys candidacy for the Tauranga electorate in the September general election.

Andrews State of Tauranga address will be delivered at the Cornerstone Pub, 55 The Strand. For more information go to nzlp.nz/stateoftauranga.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia visited London this week for further meetings related to the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, and one of those meetings was with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire MP.

This meeting was arranged to discuss transit through land borders for which the UK is responsible once Brexit is finalised, a problem which is relavent to Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.

Brokenshire, who previously served as a Home Office minister, is already familiar with details of the land border between Gibraltar and Spain and has discussed it with chief minister Fabian Picardo and Dr Garcia in the past.

Late last year the deputy chief minister also addressed delegates at the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Cardiff on the specific challenges faced by Gibraltar.
Young fashion designer Gabriella Sardena has become the first Gibraltarian to participate in the prestigious and exclusive CSM showcase at London Fashion Week. She is also the first designer from Gibraltar to study at the CSM (Central St Martin's University of the Arts) in London, where she is taking a Masters of Art course after obtaining a degree in Fashion at the Metropolitan University of Manchester. Fashion writers have described her as "a name to watch".
The main thing the sherry and whisky trade have in common is the use of old sherry butts from Jerez to age Scotland's premium product. Last week Richard Peterson, chief distiller of White & McKay, was in Spain for one of his regular meetings with head winemaker of Gonzalez Byass, Antonio Flores. But this time they did not discuss barrels, rather the launch of two new single malt whiskies the Scottish firm will be selling in Spain via the sherry company. The presentation culminated with a lunch at which whisky and sherry were served to partner the food, something that can possibly rate as a first, though not to everyone's taste.

Digging a little deeper, there are other areas where the two products have common ground. Both have experienced a drop in sales, which in the case of sherry started three decades ago, and the gradual climb back has been cleverly underwritten by concentrating on the exceptional and unique old sherries still held in bodegas' stocks and which will never be made again. The finos and manzanillas that we enjoy as an aperitif every day are not in the same category, nor aspire to be.

In the same way that a list of the top-ranking Spanish wines would not include any sherries, the last published list of best-selling whiskies does not feature a single Scotch. All are Canadian, American and Japanese brands, something truly surprising considering where whisky was born. And while part of the sherry recovery has been due to the fact that buyers consider limited production an added attraction, there is no such thing as limited-production whisky. If you have the raw materials, you can make whisky until the cows come home.

Both drink sectors have finally concluded that the buyer demands a quality product above everything else, and has no problem paying for it. While run-of-the-mill blended whiskies will still continue to be drunk in vast quantities worldwide, as will their equivalent in sherry terms, these are low price, low profit lines, and the real money is in up-market labels and expensive presentations.
Chefs, restauranteurs, wine makers, sommeliers and representatives of hospitality schools met on Monday in Marbella to see the presentation of the publication 'Who's Who in Gastronomy, Malaga 2017'. The book is edited by Prensa Malaguena and has nearly 200 entries rating the best cuisine in Malaga.

How to get your copy, free: The 'Who's Who' restaurant guide is available with every purchase of Diario SUR on Saturday 25 February.

The guide, written by the SUR food critic Enrique Bellver, was created over two years as he visited various establishments in the province. It is the first of its kind to be printed in Spanish and English in Spain.

The aim of the guide is to help the many thousands of visitors to Malaga province each year take advantage of the different cuisines that the Costa del Sol and inland areas offer; gastronomy that "is a landmark in Andalucia and much of Spain", in direct competition with legendary Basque cuisine, according to Bellver himself.

Enrique Bellver has been a food critic for SUR since the 90s and was faced with the task of rating many, many establishments. He narrowed the task down to those businesses that he had visited at least once between the end of 2015 and 2016 and which, when they appeared in the 'Malaga en la Mesa' weekly supplement had achieved a rating of between 7 and 10.

"There has never been a ten but there will be one day," Bellver said in reference to the meteoric rise in the quality of Malaga cuisine.

The guide was launched at the Melia Don Pepe Hotel in Marbella, at an event with almost 200 guests which included the 'leading lights' of gastronomy and catering, provincial authorities and mayors. The editor-in-chief of SUR, Manuel Castillo, who opened the event, said that the guide highlighted the value of Malaga gastronomy, as well as the importance of training in catering schools in the province from which "innovative young people willing to take risks" have emerged. "Malaga is in fashion, and its gastronomy, too," said Castillo.

Free with the Spanish SUR

The full colour guide, which is in Spanish and English, is included inside the Spanish SUR newspaper at newsagents tomorrow, Saturday 25 February.

It is more than just a directory of good restaurants, the guide reviews 193 businesses on the Costa del Sol and inland, listing their address, telephone number, opening hours, average prices and a brief description about the type of food you can expect to receive there. It includes interviews with some of the chefs and also wine and gourmet product recommendations.

The 148-page guide has sections for creative (restaurants whose menu continually evolves), classic, seafood and Asian cuisine, hotel restaurants, tapas bars and steakhouses.
More than fifty people gathered at the Villa Luisa in Benalmadena last week to celebrate the golden anniversary of the British Society on the Costa del Sol.

Among the guests who attended the event were current and former members, along with several past presidents and administration staff.

The guests enjoyed a buffet lunch and drinks while reminiscing about the society's achievements on the coast over the last 50 years.

The British consulate gave the club considerable encouragement when it started in 1967

The British Society, which was started by English couple Fred and Mona Heap, is one of the longest serving expat clubs on the Costa del Sol.

When the couple first arrived in Torremolinos in 1963, there were no British clubs on the coast, and so they decided to do something about it. The British consulate gave their plan considerable encouragement and the society was born in the early part of 1967.

Membership soon began to grow and by 1978, the British Society had more than 400 members, but over the years the membership numbers have dwindled.

At present, the club has around 60 members, but they need more people to join in order to ensure the club's prosperity.

related news British Society prepares to mark 50 years

Nick Potts, the society's secretary, told SUR in English, "Membership numbers have fluctuated over the years, but they have been sufficient to maintain a very valuable aid to a pleasant life for the British on the Costa del Sol."

Sandra Addison, current president, acknowledged all of the members who, over the years, have made the club what it is today.

"Today is a very special day, because 50 years is something we should all be very proud of. I hope it will continue for many years to come," Sandra said.
On October 9 1987 an article in SUR in English informed of the forthcoming opening of the first branch of the Royal British Legion in Spain.

This year, the Legion will be celebrating its thirtieth year on the coast and it is down to the sheer hard work and determination of certain people who have endeavoured to keep the flag flying.

One of these people is 80-year-old Mary Le Corney, who has recently stepped down as district secretary, a post she has held for over 20 years.

Born in Graves End in Kent, Mary, with her husband Ray, came to Spain for the first time to celebrate their honeymoon in 1962.

In 1985, they decided to come to live in Torremolinos.

Mary comes from a military background, so it was normal for her to have an interest in the Legion; however, her introduction to the RBL on the coast came about under rather unfortunate circumstances.

Following a nasty fall, from which she broke her ankle, Mary spent several days in hospital. It was here that she first learned of the RBL on the Costa del Sol.

"One day, I noticed that the husband of another patient was wearing an RBL badge, so I asked him if he was a member. He informed me that he was the secretary of the Torremolinos branch," Mary told SUR in English.

This was the only introduction Mary needed, because once fit and well, she joined the Torremolinos branch, and she has been an active member ever since.

Mary was soon persuaded to get more involved, taking up the positions of district chairman and district training officer.

For the last twenty years, she has been the chairman of the Torremolinos branch. She has also held the same position in the Benalmadena branch for the last ten years.

However, Mary is quick to point out the tireless work of the officers and other committee members.

"We've had some very good people in the Legion over the years, very hard working people, although they have not always been recognised for their efforts," Mary explained.

Today, the Torremolinos branch has just over 30 members, but when Mary first joined in 1989, there were around 150 members.

"We have struggled to stay alive because we just don't have the people anymore. Members have either returned to the UK, or they have died. We need younger people," Mary said.

Although she is stepping down from the district council, she is not retiring from her duties in local Legion business.

"I have had some wonderful times and I would not give it up for anything," Mary said with passion.

The highlight of her time with the Legion came just four years ago.

The vice-chairman of the district at that time suggested that Mary be presented with a gold badge because of her loyalty to the Legion.

However, the board of trustees had other plans. They had decided to present Mary with life membership; one of the Royal British Legion's most prestigious credits.

"I was absolutely gobsmacked. It was the most outstanding thing to happen as far as I was concerned. It was absolutely phenomenal," Mary said gleefully.

Even though Mary had worked as a teacher for 35 years, she was in no rush to retire when she first arrived in Torremolinos.

"I needed something to do; I couldn't just sit on the beach all day for the rest of my life, and so I joined the Legion. I wouldn't have missed it for the world," she said with conviction.
A replica of the Nao Victoria, the 16th century vessel which was the first to sail around the world, is now open to the public at the Alcaidesa Marina.

The decks of the sailing ship can be visited at the port from today until Tuesday 28th February between 11am and 6pm, before it continues its European tour to other parts of Spain, France, England, Belgium and Holland.

Tickets are available online at www.fundacionnaovictoria.com, and on the vessel itself.
Banks that are planning to move their London operations to EU cities as a result of Brexit are expected to choose their new locations within the next few months. The competition for this post-Brexit business among other major European cities is therefore entering its most important phase. Madrid's pitch has so far focused more on the benefits of life in the Spanish capital rather than on Spain's banking sector, citing factors such as fewer rainy days and lower living costs than close rivals such as Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin. Yet a spate of recently-announced investigations into senior bankers accused of financial misconduct might well boost Spain's standing for banks fleeing London.

Last week the National Court in Madrid confirmed that Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez and Fernando Restoy - respectively former Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Spain - and Julio Segura, ex-chief of the securities regulator CNMV, are under investigation in connection with Bankia's disastrous share sale in 2011. The bank raised three billion euros from the stock offering in a desperate attempt to stay afloat. Almost two billion euros worth of shares were sold to retail investors, yet just a year later Bankia almost collapsed and required a 22-billion-euro state bailout. Spain's National Court has upheld a claim that Ordonez, Restoy and Segura went ahead with the 2011 share sale despite numerous warnings from an inspector that it would result in substantial losses. They will testify in a few weeks' time.

Whether or not they are meant as proof that the Spanish financial services sector is finally cleaning itself up, these investigations can't hurt Spain's reputation in the eyes of banks such as Citigroup and UBS, both of which are sizing up Madrid as a post-Brexit location for their London operations. The same can be said about the fraud trial in which Rodrigo Rato, former IMF boss and deputy prime minister of Spain, is currently a defendant. If the bankers in either case are found guilty of their alleged offences, their sentences could reinforce the message that Spain no longer tolerates fraud in banking or politics.

Madrid's bid to portray both itself and Spain as a whole as a serious financial hub has also been strengthened by the recent conclusion of another high-profile fraud case. Last Friday, the King of Spain's brother-in-law, Inaki Urdangarin, was sentenced to six years and three months in prison for pocketing millions of euros of public money through a bogus charity. His wife the Infanta Cristina, sister of King Felipe VI, was acquitted and handed a relatively negligible civil fine of 265,000 euros. For many who followed the case, it was symbolic of whether or not Spanish royals are above the law (and there is arguably now a verdict and sentence to support each side of that debate).

In the long run, though, it will take more than the occasional flurry of fraud crackdowns to prove that Madrid is a world-class banking hub. Indeed, the Spanish financial services regulator is currently setting up a fast-track accreditation service, in English, for banks looking to relocate from London. Madrid has also been touting its links to emerging Latin American markets and its large amount of vacant and relatively cheap office space. If the Spanish capital also maintains its apparently tougher stance on corruption, it is well placed in the beauty contest for post-Brexit business.
Over recent years Budapest has gained a reputation as one of Europe's most exciting and cultural cities. It is fully deserving of this unofficial accolade, and not just because of its gargantuan parliament building (the third largest in the world after the Pentagon and Bucharest's), its great castle or its fascinating history. The Hungarian capital combines modernity with tradition and the chic with the shabby in a manner all of its own.

You are in fact getting two cities for the price of one if you choose Budapest as a weekend getaway. Up until their unification in 1873, Buda and Pest were separate cities sitting on the west and east sides of the river Danube, respectively. Though now joined in several places by myth-laden bridges, these two districts have retained their own styles and atmospheres. Pest, where most of the nightlife, restaurants and hotels are located, is (mercifully) flat, whereas Buda's castle sits on top of a steep hill, from which the entire city can be surveyed. The centre of Pest easily rivals Paris, London or Madrid for its range of designer bars and high-class restaurants: its network of beautiful old streets feel cosmopolitan and expensively sophisticated. Buda, on the other hand, feels more local, more low-key and traditional - although there are plenty of hotels and restaurants here too.

The Pest side of the Zsabadsag (or 'Liberty') bridge is a good place to stay. Around the junctions of Kalvin Ter and Kecskemeti streets, where quaint old townhouses sit alongside giant glass-fronted banks, you are just a ten-minute walk from the inner city and the parliament in a busy local area. On and around Raday street, the queer paradoxes that define this part of town are everywhere, with sleek drinking spots sitting alongside scruffy apartment buildings and gloomy Soviet-Era office blocks. Raday is also lined with eateries offering everyting from traditional Hungarian goulash to Mexican fajitas.

Eating fajitas when in Budapest, though, would be a wasted opportunity. Goulash, the most famous dish of Hungarian cuisine is available in most restaurants in the city centre. It comes in a miniature pot hanging from a metal frame, with a ladel for serving, and accompanied by giant hunks of bread. If that doesn't sound particularly sophisticated, suffice to say it is divine. A rich, paprika-infused stew of meat (usually beef) and vegetables, its smoky flavours and meltingly-tender chunks of meat are incredibly filling. You might want to wash it down with a hit of palinka, a traditional Hungarian fruit brandy. Palinka is potent stuff and perhaps not for everyone - but it comes in loads of different flavours and is supposed to have medicinal effects.

To eat goulash or drink palinka in Budapest, incidentally, you will need to stock up on forints, because although Hungary has been a member of the EU since 2004, it decided (wisely, you might say) to not to join the single currency.

From this part of town you are about a ten-minute walk - or two-minute rickety-old-tram-ride - away from Budapest's legendary parliament building. Seven years after Buda and Pest were joined in 1873, the Hungarian parliament decided to build an administrative structure to celebrate the city's unification. During its construction, which lasted from 1885 to 1904, about half a million precious stones and 40 kilograms of gold were used. Yet the effect is one of understated might rather a flashy display of wealth and power. Sadly, its architect - local boy Imre Steindl - went blind and died two years before its completion. Today, the Hungarian government struggles to fill this vast space and conducts business in a only a small proportion of the parliament's 691 rooms.

To visit Buda castle, the city's other great historic attraction, you'll need to cross the Danube, which often freezes during winter when tempartures can hit minus 20 degrees - even more of a shock if you're arriving from Malaga. The so-called "Chain" (i.e. suspension) bridge is the most famous of the city's several historic crossing points, and was designed in 1839 by English architect William Tierney Clark. Construction finished in 1849 and was overseen by the Scottish engineer Adam Clark who, according to an amusing apocryphal story, killed himself when a fundamental flaw in the bridge's design was pointed out: namely, that the stone lions at each end lacked tongues. You can decide for yourself whether Clark's mythical suicide was justified as you cross the dark, faintly menacing waters of the Danube on your way to Buda castle.

Nowhere else in Budapest represents the city's troubled history better than this sprawling castle, which dominates the city's western skyline, as parliament dominates the eastern. The original Royal Palace (the central building in the complex now known as Buda Castle) was built by Hungarian Kings between 1247 and 1265, but it was destroyed by an invading Christian army in the siege of 1686. Its Baroque replacement (itself rebuilt in the mid-nineteenth century) suffered the same fate in the Second World War. Yet the mid-twentieth reconstruction that sits atop the hill today is a stunning achievement, providing the perfect spot from which to contemplate the violent upheavals that have shaped Budapest's many-sided personality.
About 20 people attended Ninth District Congressman Morgan Griffiths town hall meeting at the W. Skip Bishop Town Hall. Attendance was divided with ardent Griffith supporters and others who oppose his positions.

Questions and comments were sometimes spirited, often with several people speaking at once. Griffith gave five minutes and sometimes more to each issue and allowed everyone to speak who wished to, even though the entire session went well beyond the allotted two hours.

One woman asked why Griffith wants to repeal the estate tax, also known as the death tax. Some people have a gazillion dollars. (Estates of less than $5.45 million are exempt from the tax.)

Griffith said the tax can hurt, even destroy a family business. Sometimes they have to sell the business to pay the tax, Griffith said. That hurts the family, as well as their employees.

One person asked why Griffith wants to shut down the Environmental Protection Agency. The environment needs to be protected, but the Agency sometimes acts illegally and their actions have been overturned in court.

Clean coal technology needs to be developed, Griffith commented. Even though coal is only mined in six of the 28 localities in the Ninth District, every other locality in the district except Martinsville and Henry County has direct ties to the industry.

Griffith said he could see a future where renewable energy predominates, but until then were still going to need to use coal. We need to look at it globally; China and India are far worse with pollution.

He said when he built his house, he considered adding solar panels. I also think there is a lot of potential in algae technology.

Among other issues discussed:

*President Trumps Cabinet: Griffith said some of them I support, and some of them I have some concerns with. He mentioned Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

Im concerned with her voucher proposals, he stated. In poor school systems, like Detroit and Washington, DC, they would work, but they could harm small, rural school systems.

*Health insurance: Some people said Obamacare had been a big help for them, but one man said we had been paying $300, but when we were forced to take Obamacare it went to $1,400 a month.

Griffith said whatever insurance plan is eventually decided on, no one will lose their coverage.

One woman asked how many Ninth District residents have enrolled with an insurance exchange through the Affordable Care Act. Griffith replied, its a small number, probably less than ten percent. (During the meeting, one of Griffiths staff members checked the statistics and found that the number of Ninth District residents enrolled in the ACA is 4.7 percent).

Immigration: Griffith said he favors immigration: if someone has a job, a place to live, and someone signs for you, theyre welcome, whatever their country of origin or religion.

He noted, There have been issues with every wave of immigrants. There were some criminal elements in the Irish immigration, and the Italian immigration.

One woman said Im an immigrant, a Muslim. Im legal, although it took me five years to get it.

Term limits: Griffith said, We have elections every two years. It might be a good idea to have term limits for bureaucrats.

He asked rhetorically, How do we decide on pipelines? FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), who arent elected. That is something that should be determined by elected officials.

Griffiths constituent office hosts town hall meetings in Floyd every month, but Griffith isnt able to attend all of them when Congress is in session. When he is not able to attend, staff members are present to hear concerns.

The Ninth is Virginias largest district, Griffith said. From Covington, to Martinsville, to the Cumberland Gap is a six-hour drive.
By Jasmine Gomez and Don Cazentre

SYRACUSE, NY -- The Syracuse Winterfest bills its annual Chili Cook-off as its signature event. This year, those heading downtown for the festivities Saturday can get a second helping.

There are two chili events happening almost simultaneously this year. One is the official Winterfest Chili Cook-off, held this year in Clinton Square. The other is the alternative "Chili Walk" put on by the merchants in nearby Hanover Square.

If you're heading downtown you can easily do both. Each has it own format.

The reason there are two? It starts with last year's Winterfest, when organizers dropped the Chili Cook-off after some confusion over a new process for obtaining health permits. That led the merchants in Hanover Square, which had been home to the Chili Cook-off for 30 years, to stage their own alternative event, which was successful.

This year, Syracuse Winterfest director Bill Cooper said he decided to consolidate his events in Clinton Square to save costs for police protection and fees related to street closings and blocking access to parking meters. That meant pulling the Chili Cook-off out of its traditional Hanover Square home.

The Hanover Square merchants responded by continuing their own, non-Winterfest chili-themed event.

Here's a look at the two events:

When: Saturday, Feb. 25, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Clinton Square

At this signature event, participating restaurants and organizations will cook chili and compete to see who can claim bragging rights and a cash prize. Entries into this competition will offer samples to the public at around 2:30 p.m once the celebrity judges have claimed theirs. The judges will participate in a public tasting. A People's Choice award will also be given to the chefs the public votes as their favorite. Six participants had completed applications with the health department as of mid-day Friday. They were identified by the health department as Marriott Syracuse Downtown; Red Hot Chili Preppers, Syracuse Chili Poppers; V. James Granito; JR's Chili and Daniel Monti. At least one other competitor, Syracuse Suds Factory, confirmed to syracuse.com it would participate.

When: Chili Walk is noon to 11 p.m. Pub Crawl starts at 4 p.m.

Where: In and around Hanover Square

Participating outlets in the Chili Walk are Wild Will's, The Evergreen, Maxwell's, JRyan's, Wolff's Biergarten and Soup 'r Salads (near the square at 308 S. Warren St.). Each will be serving free chili samples inside. The pub crawl starts at 4 p.m., and includes Wild Will's, The Evergreen, Maxwell's, JRyans, Wolff's Biergarten and World Martini Bar. It's passport-style event with prizes.

Syracuse Winterfest continues

Here are other highlights from the remaining Winterfest schedule:

SATURDAY, FEB. 25

Cosmopolitan Mix-Off

12 p.m. - 4 p.m.

At this mix-off, downtown restaurants will compete to see who makes the best cosmopolitan. Tickets to sample these cocktails and vote go for $5 and can be purchased at participating restaurants or day-of at the GoMini's in Clinton Square. Participating establishments include Black Olive, Peppino's Neapolitan, and World Lounge & Martini Bar.

See a full list of participants here.

Margarita Mix-Off

12 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Downtown restaurants will try their luck at making the best margarita in town. For $5, participants can sample all the creations and vote for who they think served the best drink. Some of the participating establishments include Otro Cinco, Syracuse Suds Factory, and Black Olive. The winner will be announced at the Clinton Street Pub after the mix-off. Tickets can be bought for presale at any of the participating restaurants or at the GoMini's unit in Clinton Square.

See a full list of participants here.

Sandwich Stroll

12 p.m - 4 p.m.

Try something new without committing to the whole sandwich during this competition. For $5, participants can try a sample a variety of sandwiches at restaurants like The Modern Malt Bakeshop, Liehs & Steigerwald, and Aster Pantry and Parlor. Participants will be able to vote for their favorites and the winner will be announced at the Clinton Street Pub after 5 pm.

See a full list of participants and sandwiches available for sample here.

SUNDAY, FEB. 26

Mardi Gras Brunch

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Enjoy a New Orleans-inspired brunch experience at the Sky Armory. The event will feature live music and a cash bar full of drink specials to get you into the Mardi Gras spirit. The event is $30 per person and reservations can be made at 315-473-0826.

More information about this event can be found here.

Chowder Cook-Off

11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

This competition, presented by the Updowntowners of Syracuse, will bring restaurants and others head to head to determine who makes the best chowder in town. The competition will be hosted by a panel of celebrities, but at about 2:30 p.m. the public will be able to taste samples and vote for who gets to go home with the People's Choice award.

Bloody Mary-Mix Off

12 p.m. - 4 p.m.

This event will pit downtown area restaurants and bars against each other as they compete to make the best Bloody Mary in Syracuse. Tickets for this event also go for $5 and can be purchased at participating Winterfest restaurants or at the GoMini's unit in Clinton Square. Participating establishments include Funk n' Waffles, J Ryan's, and SKY Armory, among others.

See a full list of participants here.

Hammond Jammin XIII

12:00 p.m. - 6 p.m.

This free event will feature performances from Central New York keyboard artists. Performers include Gerry Testa with the Rhythm Method, Erik Hoffman with the New Daze, and Rick Jewett and the Lawless Brothers, and more. More information about this event can be found by calling 315-458-8753.

A full list of performers can be found here.

Wing Walk

12 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Find the best wings in town during this Winterfest favorite. Participating restaurants and bars include Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Saltine Warrior, and Shaughnessy's. Tickets for this event will be $10 until 3 p.m. February 20 or can be bought for $12 the day of in Clinton Square.

See a full list of participants here.

The entire Winterfest schedule can be found here.
Canada US Border Refugees

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer extends his hand to help a young man from Yemen to cross into Canada at the U.S.-Canada border into Canada near Hemmingford, Quebec, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. A number of refugee claimants are braving the elements to illicitly enter Canada. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)

(Paul Chiasson)

Small rural roads in northern New York that end near the U.S.-Canadian border are being used by refugees and others to walk illegally into Canada, according to Canadian officials.

Cabs carrying single people or whole families pull up to these open, unfenced paths to Canada. The people inside will unload their suitcases, then walk across the border. Most of the paths only have old "Do Not Enter" signs and small markers to signal where the U.S. ends and Canada begins.

A Somali man carries his belongings after crossing into Canada over the U.S.-Canada border near Hemmingford, Quebec, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. A number of refugee claimants are braving the elements to illicitly enter Canada. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)

These paths have been used in the past, but Canadian officials are beginning to see an increase in the number of illegal crossings that some advocates link to President Donald Trump's moves against refugees and undocumented immigrants.

The biggest increase in illegal crossing has been into the province of Quebec, which borders the northeast New York, Vermont and Maine, said Constable Erique Gasse, a media relations officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The northeastern town of Champlain in Clinton County is where most people seem to be crossing, he said.

"They get a warning before crossing saying that if they cross our border they're going to be arrested, but they always want to be arrested," he said.

In Canada, after someone is found crossing illegally, they are immediately detained and vetted, Gasse said. If they are not found to be a security risk or a fleeing criminal, they are put in touch with the Canadian Border Services Agency to be processed, he said.

Last Friday, a woman and an infant child crossed a snowy gully at the end of a road in Champlain, New York, according to an NPR report. The woman, dressed in a snow coat and white hat, held a baby in one arm and dragged a black, wheeled suitcase in the other.

Canadian police officers, waiting on the Canadian side, warned her she would be arrested if she crossed there, according to the report. The woman nodded, then headed across regardless. The mounties then helped her with her baby and luggage.

Exact figures on how many people have crossed illegally are hard to come by.

Canada has seen an uptick in the number of people coming through the U.S. land border entry points legally seeking asylum, according to the Canadian Border Services Agency.

In 2016, 7,021 people passed through Canadian land borders seeking asylum, compared to 4,316 in 2015, according to the agency.

The Quebec land border crossings have seen 452 people pass through with refugee claims this January, according to the agency. If that rate continues, that would be 5,424 refugees for the year.

That would be more than double the 2,525 refugees who sought asylum though the Quebec crossings in 2016. The number has been increasing in recent years: 879 in 2014 and 1,049 in 2015.

The agency does not separate the data based on how the person entered the country and has not kept track of how many of those crossings were illegal, said Patrizia Giolti, a spokesperson for the CBSA. The numbers represent the total number of refugee claims coming in from those regions.

Family members from Somalia are helped into Canada by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers along the U.S.-Canada border near Hemmingford, Quebec, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. A number of refugee claimants are braving the elements to illegally enter Canada. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)

People differ on what has caused the increase.

Gasse of the Canadian Royal Mounted Police said he does not believe the increase is a direct result of Trump's policies because it's been seen over a period of years. However, others working with the refugees think differently.

Paul Caulford is the cofounder and medical lead of the Canadian Center for Refugee & Immigrant Health Care in Ontario. Since mid-December, the office has seen a drastic increase in the number of patients coming in with similar stories, he said.

"You have people who have been in the United States for two to four months, with no intention of leaving, and feeling like they're forced to leave because of the risks of deportation," Caulford said.

He said the center has about 50 people who crossed into the country illegally, either walking or on transport trucks. The people crossing in Upstate New York have predominantly been former U.S. refugees from Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries, according to officials.

A group of eight refugees - four of them children - darted across the Canadian-U.S. border on Friday in northeastern New York, according to Reuters. One of them told reporters they were originally from Sudan and had been working in Delaware for two years, but were leaving because "nobody cares about us," according to reports.

Many of the people Caulford has seen have had to be treated for frostbite after being outside for hours in winter snow and cold, waiting for their next ride. Mothers have had it the worst, as they seem to try to shield their children from the cold, Caulford said.

A family of asylum claimants crosses the border into Canada from the United States, Monday, Feb. 20, 2017, near Hemmingford, Quebec. A growing number of people have been walking across the border into Canada to claim refugee status. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Some who have crossed into Manitoba, a providence north of Minnesota and North Dakota, became so frost bitten they needed to have fingers amputated, according to news reports.

On Jan. 28, the day after President Trump enacted his executive order travel ban barring Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. and halting travel from people in seven other countries (regardless of U.S. citizen status) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted a welcome message to refugees.

To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 28, 2017





Trudeau reaffirmed this stance Tuesday, saying Canada will continue to take in people seeking asylum from the U.S., Reuters reports.

Central New York refugee advocates say few people from Central New York have decided to flee to Canada, but they said there has been a drastic emotional reaction since Trump's first executive order.

Fear among the Central New York refugee and immigrant population has been heightened since then, said Haji Adan, the executive director of Refugee and Immigrant Self-Empowerment in Syracuse.

People come into their office all the time wondering if they'll have to leave, he said. People who have been in this country for years and are in the process of getting their green cards or become citizens are worried a new order may override their status, he said.

"One of the things that I've come to notice is that people say their families in other countries are calling us to find out whether we are safe or not [...] we're supposed to be calling them to see if they're safe, now they're calling us because they're worried about us," Adan said.

He said the biggest concerns are people trying to bring family here from other countries.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, along with Canada's border services agency and the public safety minister, are seeking more resources to handle the increase in illegal crossings and refugees, according to CBC News.

Caulford said around Christmas, the health care office put out a warning to other hospitals around Canada's southern borders about the possible increase in refugees. He said while governments may not be prepared for the increase in displaced people, a humanitarian change needs to be made.

"What we do have control over is our own way we choose to respond," he said.

Reporter Kira Maddox covers crime and safety for Syracuse.com. She can be reached anytime: Email | Facebook | Twitter
Orangelotexit

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office posted on its Flickr page this rendition of a proposed on-ramp from the state fair "Orange'' parking lot onto Interstate 690. The ramp and other parking lot improvements will cost $20 million, to be paid for out of the Upstate Revitalization Initiative.

(Courtesy governor's office)

The New York state Legislature returns to work next week to shape the fiscal 2017-18 state budget. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's $152.3 billion spending proposal would boost school aid by $1 billion to $25.6 billion, phase in a middle-class tax cut, pour hundreds of millions more into economic development projects, make SUNY colleges tuition-free and invest $2 billion over five years in municipal water and sewer infrastructure, among many other things. The governor says his budget stays under the 2 percent tax cap.

Locally, Cuomo proposes a total of $70 million for the next phase of renovating the State Fairgrounds in Geddes, $53 million to finish connecting the Erie Canalway and Hudson River Valley Greenway trails across Upstate and $35.8 million to upgrade Syracuse's Hancock Airport.



Cuomo's budget also includes a number of policy proposals that would bring ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to Upstate residents; put a lid on prescription drug prices; require the state to "buy American," and enact a familiar menu of legislative ethics reforms.



We'll bite off on a couple of these proposals today, with more to come in the five weeks left before the April 1 budget deadline.



State Fair: Do we really need a gondola?



The state spent $50 million last year to begin a substantial transformation of the fairgrounds. Fairgoers responded by setting an attendance record. This year, Cuomo proposes to spend another $50 million -- some of it to build an exposition center, $15 million of it to install a year-round gondola connecting the fair to the Lakeview Amphitheater across Interstate 690. A gondola is a novelty but won't do much to ease traffic congestion that plagued both venues last summer.



To fix that, the governor proposes to spend $20 million to pave parking lots used by amphitheater patrons and build a new interstate ramp. The parking lots and the ramp are necessary. But we object to Cuomo paying for it by dipping into the $500 million pot of money set aside for the Upstate Revitalization Initiative.



The Cuomo administration justifies the spending because it will support tourism related to the amphitheater. But the URI was intended to fund groundbreaking initiatives like the drone testing corridor and the proposed inland port. To the average Joe, now it looks like just another pot of money for the governor to tap at will. Tim Knauss reports that about $150 million of the $500 million has already been spoken for. More than a year after Central New York won the statewide competition, the process of applying for the URI money, then deciding how it gets spent, remains opaque -- even to some of the people who advise the governor on local priorities.



Here's an idea: Instead of building a gondola, use that money to build an interstate ramp and pave amphitheater parking lots. If there's any left over, we know of some water pipes that need repair.



Ride-hailing services: It's about time



We'll bang the drum again for changes to state law that allow ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft to operate across New York state. (They operate in New York City under an agreement with taxi regulators.) These "transportation network companies" use mobile phone technology to make calling for (and paying for) a ride nearly frictionless. Drivers, working as independent contractors, use their own cars and work as much or as little as they want .



The main hang-up in New York has been insurance coverage. A bill proposed by the governor, and one recently passed by the state Senate, essentially allow for drivers to flip the switch on insurance coverage -- putting the TNC's group policy in force when they are working and putting their own policies into effect when they are not. A hang-up for us is language in the governor's bill that exempts from disclosure records of complaints against TNCs made to the Department of Motor Vehicles. (The Senate bill omits this provision.) With proper privacy safeguards for drivers and passengers, this information should be open for public inspection.



Organized opposition comes from the taxi industry, which sees TNCs as unfair competition, and labor groups which think the "gig economy" exploits workers. Taxis will simply have to adapt to this disruptive innovation. Workers who choose to drive for a TNC go in with their eyes wide open; it's up to them to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of being an independent contractor.



Lawmakers also should weigh the benefits and drawbacks of TNCs. We think they'll find the benefits -- to travelers, students, people who can't afford cars and workers whose transportation needs take them outside of bus routes and schedules -- outweigh the arguments against them.
St. Larence fishing.jpg

Fewer American anglers are fishing on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence River these days because of Canadian rules and regulations.

(1000 Islands International Tourism Council)

Pat Snyder, a long-time St. Lawrence River charter boat captain gets irritated when he recalled how two years ago Canadian officials stopped him on the river and wrote him a $300 ticket for some live crabs on his boat.

"It was crazy. I wasn't fishing with them. They were in my live well. I was heading to my island on the Canadian side to cook a shore dinner," he said. "I probably could have fought it, but that would have taken a whole day. I just paid it that day with my credit card and said the hell with it."

Recreational boating is a big part of the St. Lawrence River tourism scene.

For the past few years there have been hard feelings expressed by American recreational boaters, fishermen, and charter boat captains about Canadian regulations and how they're enforced on waterways shared by both countries.

There is hope for a major thaw in the situation this year with the expected passage of new regulations by the Canadian Parliament. The legislation would ease the burdensome and unpopular call-in process now required when American boaters cross over to the Canadian side.

However, that same promise was made last year by some Canadian lawmakers and it didn't happen. In addition, It's uncertain how actions by the Trump administration and recent reports of immigrants streaming illegally into Canada from this country will impact things.

Meanwhile, there are numerous stories of tough, but at times inconsistent enforcement by Canadian border officials on the water, coupled with confusing, ever-changing regulations. The newest twist is that the Canadians this year will be hitting American fishing charter boat captains -- who are already paying nearly $400 for a Canadian working permit - with a special tax on every time they cross the border with clients.

Canadian boaters and anglers who cross over to the American side face fewer regulations, no similar costs, such as work permit requirements or special taxes. Same goes for Canadian scuba diving charters that routinely come over on our side. Canadian anglers, though, must possess a New York fishing license and obey the fishing regulations.

All across the Northern New York State border from Lake Erie, the Niagara River and western Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain, the Canadian policies appear to be taking their toll on tourism and recreational fishing.

Gary DeYoung, director of tourism for the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council, said it's difficult to quantify losses. Anecdotal evidence is that some fishing tournaments and individual anglers have decided to stay away from the St. Lawrence River.

"One indicator is the number of short-term and non-resident fishing licenses sold by vendors in St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties," he said. "In 2010, local sales of those licenses tallied over 18,000. In 2015, the same license sales tallied less than 11,000."

Bill Hilts Jr., outdoors promotions director for Niagara Tourism and Conventions Corporation, said he's heard numerous complaints by charter boat captains getting pulled over on the Niagara River.

"There are around 75 (New York) fishing guides on the Niagara River, Lake Erie and Western Lake Ontario. Most of them have given up fishing on the Canadian side," he said.

What really irritates a number of U.S. anglers, Hilts said, is that it's the Americans who are paying with their taxes and fees for costs of stocking brown trout, steelhead and lake trout in the Lower Niagara. The Canadian anglers, who don't have to put up with the tangle of regulations put on the Americans, are reaping the benefits, he said.

Some of the problems, say many, spring from a 2011 incident in which an Upstate New York angler, Roy M. Anderson, a Thousand Island Park resident , was stopped by Canadian Border Services Agency officials in the Gananoque Narrows. Anderson was informed his boat was in Canadian waters and that he didn't properly report in - a law that at time was on the books, but was rarely enforced.

It's not clear exactly what transpired between Anderson and the officers. What's clear is that Anderson was told he faced a $1,000 fine and that if he didn't pay up he and his friend would be put in handcuffs and his 23-foot boat would be towed to a Canadian port. Anderson ended up paying the fine with a credit card. The situation, though, turned into an international incident and eventually his fine was reduced to $1 following talks between Canadian and American officials.

Things have been frosty on the waterways ever since, with the Canadians more and more adamant about enforcing the letter of their laws, said New York charter board captains and others interviewed.

Prior to the Anderson incident, in most cases fisherman and recreational boaters who were just passing through and didn't anchor or set foot on the Canadian side (either on the Canadian side or on a Canadian island) weren't required to call Canadian customs. A passport was required by Canadian law, but rarely asked for.

Today, all boaters crossing the Canadian side have to call in (1-888-Can pass). In addition, they are required to report information from (and have in their possession) certain documents. Anglers and recreational boaters alike must have either a passport, birth certificate or enhanced driver's license. If they have a DWI, drug charge or any firearms charges on their criminal record, they are not allowed to enter Canadian waters.

A big problem, Hilts said, is that there are no clear guidelines about when the call has to be made. "Should it be before you cross, when you're on the border or when you're actually in Canadian waters. We haven't been able to get a definitive answer on that," he said.

Anglers must have in their possession a Canadian fishing license and Canadian outdoors card. They cannot have in their possession any live bait bought on the American side, with the exception of worms - and the worms must be in newspaper or worm bedding. Plain dirt is not allowed. Possession of American-bought crayfish or minnows can result in a $250 fine. In addition, fines can be handed out if there are any alcoholic beverages on the boat.

The Canadians require that tickets be paid on the same day they're written. Canadian customs officials have the power to seize one's boat if the person is unable to pay. Fines can be as much as $25,000. Once again, Canadian anglers who fish the American side face no similar restrictions.

Two Canadian lawmakers, Sen. Bob Runciman (Ontario-Thousand-Islands and Rideau Lakes) and Member of Parliament Gordon Brown (Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes) have introduced a bill in the Canadian Parliament that would eliminate the need for American recreational boaters, anglers and fishing guides to report to Canadian customs when passing through Canadian waters. Exceptions would be if one sets foot on Canadian side or anchors their boat in Canadian waters.

The Thousand Islands is a unique area where the border zig-zags among islands - making it difficult at times for visitors to determine one's position in relationship to the U.S. Canadian border.

Earlier this month, NYS Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, and Gary De Young, director of tourism for the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council, spoke before the Canadian Parliament's Senate Defense and Security Committee in favor of the bill.

DeYoung told the Canadian lawmakers that the St. Lawrence River attracts large numbers of transient and recreational boaters. He noted the Thousand Islands is a unique area where the border zig-zags among islands - making it difficult at times for visitors to determine one's position in relationship to the border.

"In light of publicity surrounding enforcement of border rules, some boaters have decided to simply avoid the area rather than deal with the border," he said. "Fairly or not, many Americans take the current policy as an affront and an indication they are not welcome in Canada."
Obama

Barack Obama speaks during his final presidential news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington.

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais | AP Photo)

Paris -- Some French citizens are trying to persuade Barack Obama to run for president of their country.

Obama doesn't speak French, The Washington Post noted. He would also be prevented from running because he's not a French citizen.

At least, not yet. He could run if he became naturalized.

A group of four friends launched the campaign to draft Obama "after a drink," one of the people behind the effort told NPR.

France's presidential campaign has been rocked by a corruption scandal involving a previous front-runner. The candidates also include a far-right leader and a "radical centrist," according to the Post.

"We were thinking about French politics and saying we were fed up with the fact that all the time we had to vote against someone," the organizer of the Obama effort said, according to NPR. "I think the whole world would love to have him as president."

Posters with the slogan "Obama17" have been appearing around Paris over the past week, according to the Post. The posters naturally include the slogan "Oui on peut," French for "Yes we can."

A website is also urging French voters to sign a petition promising to vote for Obama if he enters the race. The goal is to get 1 million signatures before March 15 in the hopes of convincing Obama to run, the Post said.

The total is up to 27,000, according to NPR.

Organizers say the campaign to draft Obama isn't meant to be taken entirely seriously.

"It's definitely a joke," the organizers who spoke to NPR said. "But it could make people think a little about what we could do differently in French politics. The idea was to make people wake up."

No word from Obama on whether he'd consider a run yet. French voters go to the polls in April

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Google + | 315-454-2112
Donald Trump

President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Md.

(Alex Brandon / AP)

OXON HILL, Md. -- President Donald Trump used an appearance Friday at a major gathering of conservatives to rip the news media, defend deportations and tout his "America first" philosophy.

Trump has gotten mixed receptions at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where true believers -- whether self-described libertarian, constitutionalist or pro-lifer, or fiscal or foreign policy hawk -- have eyed him with suspicion. But he arrived Friday triumphant, via Marine One and surrounded by Secret Service to paint himself as a kindred spirit and activists embraced him.

"Now you finally have a president. It took a long time. It's patriots like you that made it happen, believe me," he said, as the crowd cheered.

Trump skipped the event a year ago in the heat of the GOP primaries, and was skewered. Speaker after speaker warned that time was running short to keep the presidential nomination for a more reliable conservative.

"It's great to be back at CPAC. ... I love this place. I love you people," Trump said Friday after flashing two thumbs up. "I wouldn't miss a chance to talk to my friends. These are my friends."

A helicopter whisked Trump from the White House just a few miles away. Victory has blunted the concerns, and the packed-to-capacity ballroom at the Gaylord National resort erupted in cheers as the president strode on stage in blue suit and red tie.

Trump launched into a critique of the news media, complaining of negative stories that cite anonymous sources, and demanding an end to the use of unnamed sources. Last week, Trump created an uproar when he declared the news media was an enemy of the public.

On Friday he insisted that he only views "fake news" as the enemy -- though he seemed to be reserving the right to define which news outlets and reports deserve that label.

"We're fighting the fake news. ... They are, they are the enemy of the people," Trump said. "I'm not against the media, I'm not against the press. I don't mind bad stories if I deserve them. ... I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources. They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name."

Roughly an hour earlier, senior White House officials -- speaking on condition they not be identified by name -- spoke with reporters at the White House to push back against a CNN report alleging that White House chief of staff Reince Priebus had pressured the FBI regarding its inquiry into Russian meddling in the campaign and administration.

Trump made no effort to explain the discrepancy in his administration's recurring use of "background" briefings and his irritation at the use of anonymous sources.

"This place is packed. There are lines that go back six blocks and I tell you that because you won't read about it," Trump said -- though no such lines existed.

At one point he claimed that the line to get into his speech stretched six blocks; in fact, the event was only open to registered CPAC attendees and reporters outside the hotel during the speech witnessed no line, let alone a six-block queue. But being a fabulist hasn't deterred his supporters and didn't seem to faze CPAC attendees.

He joked at the outset that unless the crowd took their seats, "the dishonest media will say he didn't get a standing ovation."

Trump spoke for 48 minutes and earned cheer after cheer.

He touted his crackdown on illegal immigrants, saying it will save "countless dollars" that can be used to rebuild inner cities, and countless lives."

"These are bad dudes," Trump said of the people being targeted for deportation. "We're getting bad people out of this country, whether it's drugs or murder. ... Those are the ones that go first."

Trump promised a middle-class tax cut, and "the greatest military build-ups in American history," though he didn't explain how to pay for that. "Nobody will dare question our military might again. We believe in peace through strength and that's what we will have."

In defending his push to reshape trade deals and return manufacturing jobs, he added, "It's time for all Americans to get off of welfare and get back to work."

After Trump mentioned Democrat Hillary Clinton and her comment calling his supporters "deplorable," many in the crowd chanted "Lock her up!" -- a common refrain at Trump campaign rallies.

All of these lines and promises were crowd pleasers.

"People need to support Trump. He's going to change America, like Obama said he would -- but in a good way," said Nancy Berger, 69, a retired business woman from Lake in the Hills, Ill., near Chicago.

She initially backed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for the 2016 nomination but eventually warmed to Trump and now supports him whole-heartedly.

"Abso-(expletive)-lutely," she said. "The vitriol -- my gosh. But he's tough enough to take it. And when he's not, maybe there's a bit of revenge in him. 'I'll show you bastards.' That's a good thing."
Sean Spicer

White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017.

(Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP Photo)

WASHINGTON -- Friday's 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 Donald 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 Trump's 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, as 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' Association protested.
2017-02-22-dn-schumer3.JPG

U.S.Sen. Charles Schumer visited the Bayberry neighborhood of Clay to talk about President Donald Trump's plan to cut or eliminate federal mortgage, state, and local property tax deductions on Feb. 22, 2017.

(Dennis Nett)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says he will bring a message from suburban Syracuse homeowners back with him to Congress next week: Keep your hands off our federal tax deductions.

Schumer, D-N.Y., said he will likely make a Senate floor speech against President Donald Trump's tax plan, mentioning how it would hurt homeowners he met this week while visiting June Baycura's house in the Bayberry neighborhood in Clay.

The homeowners told Schumer they rely on the federal mortgage interest deduction, and the state and local property tax deduction, to offset one of the highest state tax burdens in the nation.

"I heard directly from hardworking homeowners and taxpayers in Clay who depend upon these vital and fair deductions to make ends meet," Schumer said Friday. "I heard them loud and clear, and I will bring this message directly to the floor of the Senate next week."

Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said Democrats will oppose plans floated by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to cut back or eliminate the tax deductions originally aimed at helping homeowners.

New York would be among the hardest hit states in the nation if homeowners are no longer allowed to deduct their state and local property taxes, according to state officials and tax experts.

New York taxpayers stand to lose a total of $68 billion that they now deduct from their federal taxes if Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan move forward with their tax reform plans next year, according to state officials and tax experts.

The average New York taxpayer who files an itemized return would lose about $4,500 in property tax deductions if they are eliminated, and the average federal tax bill would increase 30 percent, according to an analysis by state tax officials.

Contact Mark Weiner anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
Reince Priebus

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Donald Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official said late Thursday.

The official said Priebus' request came after the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was not accurate. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to.

The New York Times reported that U.S. agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trump's 2016 campaign team.

Priebus' discussion with FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

"The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," said Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations "only when it is important for the performance of the president's duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective." When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus' communications with McCabe. The official was not authorized to disclose the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.

The FBI would not say whether it had contacted the White House about the veracity of the Times report.

CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI to weigh in on the matter.

Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including about U.S. sanctions policy.

Still, Trump and his advisers have denied contacts with Russian officials during the election. Last week, Trump said "nobody that I know of" spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.

Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, telling Fox News that "the top levels of the intelligence community" have assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were "not only grossly overstated, but also wrong."

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Priebus' comments opened the door for FBI Director James Comey to discuss the bureau's investigation publicly.

"If the White House chief of staff can make public claims about the supposed conclusions of an FBI investigation, then Director Comey can come clean with the American people," Wyden said.

Justin Shur, a former Justice Department public corruption prosecutor, said it was imperative that Justice Department investigations not be swayed by political considerations.

"As a general matter, investigations and prosecutions should be about gathering the facts and the evidence and applying the law," Shur said.

During the campaign, Trump and other Republicans vigorously criticized a meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, husband of Trump's general election opponent. The meeting came as the FBI -- which is overseen by the Justice Department -- was investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address and personal internet server.
Rochester schools.jpg

Rochester City School District students.

(Photo courtesy Rochester City School District Facebook)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Rochester officials are planning to travel as far as Puerto Rico to increase diversity among the city's public school teachers.

The Rochester City School District is aggressively recruiting teachers of color to close a large racial gap among teachers, who are predominantly white, and students, who are predominantly not white, according to a report by News 10 WHEC.

The district is two months ahead of its typical recruiting schedule this year, according to the report.

That's because 80 percent of teachers in the district are white, while only 10 percent of students are white.

Here's the rest of the racial breakdown among students in the district:

57 percent black

28 percent Latino

3 percent Asian

Rochester officials told News 10 WHEC they are among plenty of urban district nationwide that are struggling with race gaps among students and teachers.

Last year, 90 percent of Syracuse teachers were white while 76 percent of students identified as students of color. The Syracuse City School District created a fellowship program in partnership with Syracuse University to recruit more teachers of color to the area.

Buffalo Public Schools faces a similar gap.

Rochester and Buffalo school districts are working together to recruit more teachers of color. They are planning a tour of historically black colleges and universities, as well as a possible visit to Puerto Rico.

Rochester officials said they have gone to Puerto Rico in the past to recruit teachers. The last recruitment trip was six years ago, they said.

Reporter Julie McMahon covers education. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992
Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan: The U.S. rejected refugee Anne Frank  let's not make the same mistake again
TROUP POWELL BRIDGE

The Troup Howell Bridge with Rochester in the background as seen from the Ford Street Bridge.

(File photo)

Rochester was unanimously reaffirmed as a sanctuary city by its council on Tuesday, TWC News reports.

The city has not prosecuted undocumented immigrants since the resolution was passed in 1986. Mayor Lovely Warren says all are welcome to the Rochester community. She adds that the city government is not going to allow its resources to be used by the federal government.

While President Trump warned he would cut funding to sanctuary cities, Rochester officials say they are following New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's protocol to prevent this from happening.

"As a government entity we're required to comply with the constitution and with the law of the land," Brian Curran, Rochester city attorney, tells TWC News. "So we're going to comply with the laws, but not volunteer to do things we don't think we should be doing."

The most-recent resolution contains many aspects from the original resolution. For example, city employees cannot inquire or request proof of immigration status when providing services, unless required by law, TWC News says.

However, this year's resolution also includes a new item saying city resources will not be put toward a registry of people's national origin, religion or race.

Additionally, some legislators are hoping to make Monroe County a "sanctuary county," TWC News reports.

Mark Muoio says he plans to send a letter to County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo and County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn for their support.
FORT EDWARD, N.Y. (AP) -- A former upstate New York firefighter who chaperoned his fire department's teen dances has been sentenced to three years in prison for raping underage girls.

Justin S. Martindale pleaded guilty last month to three counts of rape.

Glen Falls' The Post-Star newspaper reports he met two of the three girls while chaperoning the dances in Granville.

The girls were 15 and 16 years old at the time. Martindale was 20. One girl says she pushed him away but he wouldn't stop.

The rapes occurred between 2012 and 2016.

Defense lawyer Michael Martin calls the case "a very sad situation." He says Martindale did a lot for the community through volunteer work and has admitted "his mistakes."
Feb. 24--Racing a March 31 deadline to cut down trees before the annual return of the endangered Indiana bat, Millennium Pipeline Company has asked federal regulators to let it start chopping despite the company's lack of key permits from the state.

The request comes as litigation and regulatory hurdles have raised questions as to whether Millennium's natural gas pipeline, and in turn the $900 million Competitive Power Ventures power plant it plans to connect to in Wawayanda, will come online on schedule.

In a letter dated Feb. 6, Millennium asked the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to allow it to begin clearing some trees along its pipeline right-of-way by Friday. The company requests authorization for "limited, non-mechanized tree clearing activities" on about 18 acres that aren't wetlands.Millennium is limited to cutting down trees between Oct. 31 and March 31 for its $39 million, 7.8-mile pipeline in order to avoid destroying potential tree roosts of the endangered Indiana bat.

The pipeline would feed natural gas to the 650-megawatt CPV power plant under construction off Route 6. Millennium says even though it has not received a Clean Water Act water-quality certification from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, it doesn't need it for areas where wetlands or water bodies won't be affected.

The request has met resistance. In a letter dated Feb. 14, Lisa Burianek, deputy bureau chief of the state Attorney General's Environmental Protection Bureau, opposed Millennium's motion. She says Millennium lacks two key, federally required permits before it can begin site work: The Clean Water Act authorization and a state Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.

"Even if Millennium's fragmentary approach were valid (and it is not), the SPDES General Permit for discharges applies to the entire project, including uplands," she writes.

Also opposing the request is local activist Pramilla Malick, chair of the group Protect Orange County. She says the group will "explore all remedies" to stop early tree clearing.

The request comes as Millennium continues to fight the DEC for permits in a lawsuit being heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. Millennium says the DEC has failed to act on Millennium's permit requests within one year. It's asking judges to issue the permits instead. Until the permits are awarded, Millennium cannot begin construction.The DEC says it has until Aug. 30 to act. Oral arguments aren't scheduled for the case until March 3.

If Millennium wins its appeal and gets the go-ahead from FERC, it would have less than a month to clear the majority of the trees along the right of way. Millennium has also filed eminent domain proceedings against a handful of local residents in Supreme Court in Orange County. Those proceedings can't move forward either until Millennium receives its permits, a judge ruled last week.Michelle Hook, a spokeswoman for Millennium, said the company recognizes that clearing of the right-of-way may not be completed by March 31.

Hook said if crews were lined up and weather cooperates, Millennium could clear trees in as little as 10 days to a month. She estimated it would take four to five months to install the 16-inch pipe. If forced to finish in November, Hook said Millennium believes it can still make CPV's target for commercial operation of February 2018.

Tom Rumsey, CPV's vice president of external affairs, said Millennium's March 31 deadline to finish clearing trees is key, but won't postpone CPV's commercial operation date. CPV's contractual deadline date to begin operation is February 2018.

"Construction of the project continues to proceed on schedule, and CPV intends to exercise its options in order to keep with the project schedule," Rumsey said via email.

CPV has argued that if Millennium's pipeline isn't built on schedule, the power plant couldn't go online until mid-July 2018.Air permits allow the power plant to operate for 30 days on fuel oil. When asked if CPV plans to burn fuel oil if it cannot access natural gas in time, a CPV spokeswoman declined to comment.

___

By James Nani

The Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.

(c)2017 The Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.

Visit The Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y. at www.recordonline.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Top Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin just hired big-name Washington attorney Paul Clement for as much as $175,000 to defend their gerrymandered voting districts.
Greek MR engineer guilty of pollution cover-up

An MRs Chief Engineer (CE) was this week found guilty in a US Federal Court of falsifying the ship's oil record book to cover up illegal pollution discharges.

The vessel berthed at North Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. Due to the guilty verdict, Panagiotis Koutoukakis, a Greek national, faces up to 25 years in prison for two felony charges. Herbert Julian, who succeeded Koutoukakis as CE, was found guilty of a conspiracy charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years. The jury's verdict announced on Wednesday followed a three-week trial in the Federal Court in Charleston, South Carolina. Both men will be sentenced after the Federal Government prepares a pre-sentencing report, probably in the next two or three months, local media reported. According to court documents, Koutoukakis was CE on the Aegean managed MR Green Sky at the time the pollution violations occurred. Prosecutors claimed that Koutoukakis ordered crew members to bypass the ships oily water separator and discharge oily waste overboard six times from May, 2015 through July, 2015. He then failed to record the discharges as required by law in the ships oil record book. A US Coast Guard investigation started in August, 2015 when the Green Sky berthed at North Charleston. Court records showed that crew members told the USCG at the time that bilge waste was being discharged illegally. They said they had been instructed to use a magic pipe - a hose that is used to bypass the ships oily water separator. Green Skys Master, Genaro Anciano, had previously pleaded guilty in Charleston to one felony charge of obstructing a USCG investigation. He has yet to be sentenced.




ICS warns IMO on CO2 reduction strategy

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) chairman, Esben Poulsson, has set out what the industry would like the IMO to achieve as part of its CO2 reduction strategy for the shipping sector.

Speaking in Indonesia at The Economist magazines World Ocean Summit, Poulsson feared that unless IMO makes significant progress, the industry could be vulnerable to regional action, not only from the EU  which is considering incorporating shipping into the EU Emissions Trading System  but also from Canada or California, which have already introduced carbon pricing. We are confident IMO can adopt an ambitious strategy by 2018 matching the spirit of the Paris Agreement. However, IMO needs to agree a baseline year for peak CO 2 emissions from shipping, as well as setting out some serious long term aspirations for dramatically cutting the sectors total CO 2 by the middle of the century he said. ICS stressed that IMO should adopt objectives for the entire sector, not for individual ships, in the same way that governments have already agreed CO 2 commitments for their national economies under the Paris Agreement. IMO also needs to agree a mechanism for delivery, which ICS would like to see in place by 2023. If IMO decides to develop a Market Based Measure, ICS said that the clear preference of the industry is for a bunker fuel levy. Poulsson added that any IMO goals that are sufficiently ambitious to allow shipping to play its part in achieving the United Nations 2 degree climate change target should also be realistic. Ambitious CO 2 reduction objectives will only be achievable with alternative marine fuels, which do not yet exist, although we are very confident that they will be available in the not too distant future observed Poulsson. Widespread availability of alternative fuels (such as hydrogen or fuel cells) is not expected for at least another 20 - 30 years. ICS claimed that the sectors total CO 2 had already been reduced by more than 10% between 2007 and 2012. However, projections for trade growth  over which the industry has no control, due to population growth and improved global living standards  suggest that dramatic reductions in the sectors total CO 2 will be difficult to achieve in the immediate future until alternative marine fuels become widely available. In the meantime, ICS argues that any CO 2 reduction goals agreed by IMO must also address the legitimate and valid concerns of developing nations about the potential impacts on trade and sustainable development. According to the UN, 60% of maritime trade now serves developing nations. In addition, the ICS has published its latest Flag State Performance Table, which can be downloaded via the ICS website - www.ics-shipping.org/docs/flag-state-performance-table ICS director of policy & external relations, Simon Bennett, said: This years ICS Table continues to highlight the sound performance of all of the worlds major flag administrations, regardless of whether they are open registers or so called traditional maritime flags. But in response to feedback from IMO member states, our member national shipowner associations have agreed to some further refinements in order to make the Table as objective and useful as possible. For example, flag states, which do not qualify for the US Qualship 21 programme have not been given negative performance indicators in the latest table. The list of flag states qualifying for Qualship 21 now varies considerably from year to year. We therefore no longer currently view non-inclusion as being an indicator of negative performance Bennett explained. However, flag states that continue to qualify for the US programme are still given a positive performance indicator. An important development in the previous 12 months was that participation by maritime administrations in the IMO Member State Audit Scheme became mandatory. ICS therefore intends to add a new field to address this for inclusion in the next Annual Table in 2018. Meanwhile, ICS secretary general Peter Hinchliffe is to step down in May, 2018.




Markets - VLCC pressure mounting

The pressure on VLCC owners mounted as the week progressed. Rates softened at a steady pace.

With about 30 cargoes fixed ex MEG up to 10th March and more than ample supply of tonnage in sight, charterers are not in a rush to cover whatever is left for 1st decade, Fearnleys reported. A drop in rates was also recorded in the Atlantic loading areas, such as W Africa and Caribs, but not as significantly as seen in MEG. Londons IP week may have distracted charterers a bit, but with the general consensus of weaker levels ahead there are limited reasons to expect any change to the recent trend. Suezmaxes experienced reasonable gains last week with TD20 rates hitting WS85 and earnings close to $25,000 per day. Both consistent activity and renewed confidence were the contributing factors, however, as the week progressed the momentum was lost, as charterers waited to see who would get their subs for 1st decade dates before unveiling fresh stems. The Black Sea market has seen just a trickle of cargoes to wet the owners appetites. Rates stabilised at WS82.5 for TD6. The outlook for the coming week is softer, as charterers look to take back market control. In the North Sea and Baltic, owners managed to squeeze charterers for some time, as the number of ships with firm itineraries willing to provide full flexibility was rather small. However, this weeks IP activity has taken its toll and pushed rates down, as the business level was slow at best. We also believe that further down the line, the position list will open up, and as such, rates will continue to soften, Fearnleys said. This week in the Med and Black Sea, rates firmed. It looked to be rather gloomy last week until the first half of the Black Sea programme came out mid-week. The 2nd decade gave the owners a reason to hold back, as it showed a healthy amount of stems. Consequently, rates moved upwards about WS10, ex Black Sea. Ceyhan Botas stems were also up this month, so it looks like we will stay at three digits for the remainder of this week and next, Fearnleys concluded. Meanwhile, robust demand from the Middle East and intra-Asia, as well as a flurry of both planned and unplanned refinery outages, supported Singapore gasoline cracks, Ocean Freight Exchange (OFE) reported ADNOC recently bought nine 27,000 tonne cargoes for March/April delivery, as its 127,000 per day RFCC remains shut due to a fire. The shutdown of Pertaminas 125,000 per day Balongan refinery and TPPIs reformer in Tuban also led to firm buying from Indonesia, Asias largest gasoline importer. Singapore onshore light distillate inventories has hit their lowest point in five weeks, falling by 1.54 mmb to 12.76 mmb for the week ending 15th February, despite net imports of 404,000 barrels. The decline in onshore stocks could be attributed to traders turning to chartering vessels for gasoline storage, OFE said. At least four LR2s have been taken on short-term timecharters of up to 90 days at rates of around $11,750/day. Upcoming peak refinery turnaround season, as well as an expected spike in summer demand, will further tighten the Asian gasoline market over 2Q17. At least 1.8 mmb/d of refining capacity in Asia is likely to be offline in March, up by 85.4% year-on-year. Heavy maintenance at state-owned refineries in China accounts for around 1 mmb/d, which may put a dent in gasoline exports. We may see a surge in arbitrage cargoes from the West should ample inventories in the Atlantic Basin persuade traders to move some barrels to Asia, OFE concluded. Newbuilding activity included Enesel, which was thought to have ordered two VLCCs at Hyundai, according to South Korean news reports. The new vessels are expected to be delivered in the second half of 2018 and they were believed to have cost around $83 mill each. According to broking sources, DryShips and Pantheon Tankers are also in talks with South Korean shipyards about new orders. George Economous DryShips recently re-entered the tanker sector by buying a VLCC and taking a Dong-A newbuilding Suezmax in a Hyundai Samho resale deal for about $43.7 mill. She is to be delivered in June of this year. The VLCC was reported as the 2011-built Orthis bought for about $57 mill, brokers said. Remaining in the VLCC S&P market, Mercuria was said to have taken the 1999-built DHT Phoenix for $18.5 mill, while brokers were circulating a 1995-vintage Danish built VLCC for sale with a rather high asking price of $24 mill. Brokers lists said it was ideal for storage duties. In an unusual transaction, the 1993-built VLCC Varada Blessing was auctioned this week through a court-ordered listing on Taobao.com, the Chinese e-commerce platform better known for low-cost consumer goods. The VLCC was sold for $11.7 mill at the close of her third time at auction - the two previous rounds failed to go over the reserve price. In the charter market, brokers reported that Trafigura had fixed the 2003-built Aframax Silvaplana for two to three months at $11,750 per day, probably for storage. In the MR sector, Vitol was thought to have fixed the 2010-built FPMC 22 for six months at $11,500 per day, while NORDEN was said to have taken the 2009-built Rita M for six months at $12,500, plus an option for another six months at $13,000 per day. There was also some Handysize activity reported with ST Shipping taking the 2008-built sisterships Histria Tiger and Histria Prince for 12 months at $12,950 per day each, while Newton was said to have fixed the 2008-built Melody for six months for $15,000 per day.




Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
When Disney announced last week that it was parting ways with YouTube personality Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg (PewDiePie), it meant the Internet personality would no longer be backed by its Maker Studios division.

As it turns out, PewDiePie was just the first casualty of what's to be a major scaling back of support for YouTube content creators.

A source familiar with the matter tells The Wall Street Journal that Disney is laying off roughly 80 people and aims to reduce the number of YouTubers it supports through Maker Studios from more than 60,000 currently down to around only 300. Those said to be losing their jobs include both Maker employees and others that worked for the consumer products unit's digital-publishing division, we're told.

The insider notes that Disney only wants to back those with large followings that are family-friendly enough to work with its other divisions.

The move has reportedly been in the works long before last week's PewDiePie incident.

Despite the initial shock, the reduction in support might not be as catastrophic to YouTube creators as it would seem. Former and current employees tell the publication that the vast majority of those participating in Maker Studios' YouTube partner program have long made very little money.

Disney purchased Maker Studios in 2014 for $675 million.

Lead image via Bloomberg
We've all heard of Google Fiber, the supposed pinnacle of internet service providers. The platform is slowly rolling out across the country, but Google has also just expanded its capability to include wireless service as well. Google's very first gigabit connected wireless customer is a Denver apartment complex. The connectivity is offered through Google's recently acquired Webpass service, not their usual Fiber service.

Webpass offers "Point-to-Point wireless" to businesses, apartment buildings, and condos in several large metropolitan areas. While Webpass as an ISP has been around for more than a decade, this week marks the first new rollout as part of Google's internet team.

Running buried fiber optic cable is extremely expensive and not even possible in some locations. In remote or metropolitan areas, there's no economical way to get high speed internet service to customers without using new wireless techniques like this. The way Google's Webpass service works is as a replacement for the "last mile" of wiring. That is usually the most difficult and expensive since it means running wires from distribution centers to each individual house or building complex.

With Webpass, Google can run a single fiber optic cable to the transmitter unit placed high above a city, then have multiple receiving units located far apart in the city. The devices transmit on the newly available 3.5GHz unlicensed spectrum that was used by naval radar systems until it was made available to Google and others by the FCC. The service isn't really designed for single home use, but for large apartment complexes or office buildings instead.

Years of red tape and lobbying by utility companies have made Google Fiber's growth rather slow. To counter this, Google Fiber has cut staff and is now focusing on wireless technologies as well. Look for it to come to a city near you in the not so distant future.
When Uber's autonomous SUVs arrived in Arizona earlier this week, it was a welcome bit of news for a company still rocking from revelations of sexism and the #deleteuber campaign. But it looks as if the ride-hailing giant's problems aren't about to end anytime soon. Waymo, the Alphabet-owned autonomous car firm, has launched a lawsuit against Uber over claims it stole self-driving technologies.

It seems Waymo, which was spun off from Google into an independent company back in December, is accusing former engineer Anthony Levandowski - who left Google to found self-driving truck company Otto - of stealing almost 10GB of "sensitive, secret, and valuable internal Waymo information" before walking out the door. Other Google employees who followed Levandowski to Otto also took data with them, according to Waymo's suit. Uber acquired Otto last year.

The complaint, filed in federal court in California, mostly centers around Waymo's propriety LiDAR system, which is used by self-driving cars to view the world around them. It says the technology took years to develop, while Uber built a similar system in just nine months using the stolen designs.

"The configuration and specifications of our LiDAR sensors are unique to Waymo," the company said in a medium post. "Misappropriating this technology is akin to stealing a secret recipe from a beverage company."

There are also claims that Levandowski met with Uber executives while he still worked for Waymo in January last year - one day before he formed Otto.

It seems Waymo became aware of the alleged theft after it was CC'd an email by accident. "Waymo was recently - and apparently inadvertently - copied on an email from one of its LiDAR component vendors. The email attached machine drawings of what purports to be an Uber LiDAR circuit board," states the complaint. "This circuit board bears a striking resemblance to Waymo's own highly confidential and proprietary design and reflects Waymo trade secrets."

Waymo wants the stolen information returned and asks the court to block Uber and Otto from using its self-driving tech. An Uber spokesperson said: "We take the allegations made against Otto and Uber employees seriously and we will review this matter carefully."
A family pet became a true watchdog by barking at noises in the house to wake the owners, with the husband finding a burglar, then yelling at the burglar who fled the residence.

It happened at about 3:40 a.m. Wednesday at a condo on Waterford Circle, Madison police said.

The barking dog alerted the 28-year-old man and 29-year-old woman that something was wrong.

"Upon being awakened, the husband went to investigate and thought he saw a flashlight beam," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "He yelled out and the burglar fled."

The garage door had been left open overnight, giving the burglar access to an unlocked door into the condo.

No description of the burglar was given.
Amazon is keen on protecting customer data and it's still refusing to turn over Echo recordings requested in a murder investigation, going for a First Amendment argument.

For those unfamiliar with the whole matter, Amazon received an order last year to turn over audio from an Echo device, along with account and subscriber information, to help solve a murder investigation.

More specifically, Arkansas police have been investigating James Andrew Bates, accused of murdering friend Victor Collins in November 2015, and requested Amazon to hand over the audio recordings for Bates' Echo speaker just in case Alexa overheard the murder.

Amazon Alexa Speech Protected By First Amendment

Amazon agreed to hand over subscriber information and purchase history, but drew a line when it came to Echo recordings. Two months later, Amazon is still keeping a firm stance in the matter and it has now filed a motion to quash the search warrant requesting Echo audio recordings.

The company argues that the speech of Alexa, the digital assistant at the heart of Amazon Echo, is protected by the First Amendment. Consequently, Amazon wants the warrant thrown out since First Amendment rights would apply in the case of Bates' interactions with Alexa on his Amazon Echo.

Amazon argues that not only are the users' voice commands protected as free speech, but the Alexa Voice Service as well. Both requests and responses to Alexa included details that would disclose a lot about the user and their interests, Amazon argues, therefore the government should protect the speech.

Moreover, since Alexa's responses somewhat reflect both the users' and Amazon's speech, Alexa should also have protection, Amazon's lawyers argue.

"At the heart of that First Amendment protection is the right to browse and purchase expressive materials anonymously, without fear of government discovery," explained the legal team. "The responses may contain expressive material, such as a podcast, an audiobook, or music requested by the user. Second, the response itself constitutes Amazon's First Amendment-protected speech."

Alexa's Responses Are A Constitutionally Protected Opinion

Amazon's lawyers went further to argue that Alexa's selection of what details to include in a response is a "constitutionally protected opinion," much like the rankings of search results on Google. Consequently, Alexa should qualify for "full constitutional protection."

At the same time, Amazon also argues that the government has to prove that it really needs the data it's requesting. Otherwise, people would think twice about seeking and getting information and content in their own homes

This is not the first time when law enforcement tries to access data from a device only to meet resistance from the device makers. Technology companies are always trying to protect their users' data and privacy and government data requests often make things difficult, but it's good to see that major players such as Amazon are willing to stand up for their customers and argue in court to moot requests that overreach.

It remains to be seen whether Amazon's argument to protect Alexa and the Amazon Echo under First Amendment rights will be successful, but it's nonetheless a compelling approach that could set important precedents.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
At this day and age, there's still a noxious conversation  undeniably insufficient, if not absent, conversation altogether  regarding race inequality and politics, especially when set against the foreground of the criminal justice system. As a result, Google is doubling its efforts to support those committed to fighting racial injustice and inequality this year.

Google Shells Out Funds For Racial Justice Efforts

The company has announced that it is donating $11.5 million in grants to groups using data to pinpoint and highlight problems and attempt to search for solutions for racial inequality in the criminal justice system, as reported by USA Today. The amount is significantly more than the figure Google has given in the past regarding similar causes.

Better Data Can Be Part Of The Solution, Google Says

"We believe better data can be can be part of the solution, which is why we're investing in organizations using data and evidence to reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system," said Justin Steele, Principal of Google.org, the company's charitable arm.

"We must find ways to improve the accessibility and usefulness of information."

Center for Policing Equity, a research center that concerts with police departments and communities nationwide in order to track use of force and police stops, is one of the groups Google will lend funding to, receiving $5 million  the largest among the grants. Engineers at Google will also devote their time to bolster the organization's database, as per USA Today's report.

Google is also committed in supporting two California-based organizations focused on leveraging data to bring more equity in the country's justice system. Google is giving $1.5 million to Measures for Justice, which will be used to establish a web-based platform that allows anyone to cull snapshots of their local justice system's treatment of people, which will then be examined under the basis of offense history and across various categories of race or ethnicity, gender, age, and indigent status.

Other organizations Google has announced support for are Impact Justice, with its Restorative Justice Project, aiming to prevent nearly 2,000 youth, primarily those of color, from entering the juvenile justice system. Google will also give grants to JustLeadershipUSA, Defy Ventures, Code for America, and more.

While platforms such as Facebook Live and other livestreaming applications have paved the way for broadcasting the some police officers's appalling treatment of civilians, most concerningly those of color, there's still no firm ecosystem to keep a cache of all filmed incidents. Steele said that a big focus of the grants was the apparent lack of national data for police behavior and criminal sentencing, an area Google engineers were most disappointed with.

Google believes that all 10 organizations it'll provide with funds can affect and incite change around the bias deeply rooted in the country's criminal justice system.

Finally, Steele said that a person's racial background shouldn't pave the way for the justice system's mistreatment of them, or the mishandling of their cases. He says that Google is proud to support the organizations, and it's hoping that their focus on data and community-driven solutions will be tantamount to a more just society.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Federal Communications Commission, now led by Donald Trump appointee Ajit Pai as its chairman, has started chipping away at the net neutrality rules that the Obama administration implemented.

Former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, before he stepped down from his post last month, warned against the planned pushback by the Trump administration on the net neutrality laws. Pai, if he is indeed planning to repeal all net neutrality laws, will not be able to do so quickly due to the processes involved.

The new chairman, however, has the support of the majority of the commissioners of the FCC, and while there has been no outright statement that net neutrality will be dismantled, the moves to weaken its policies have already started.

Net Neutrality Transparency Suspended

The FCC on Feb. 23 voted 2-1 along party lines for the suspension of net neutrality transparency requirements for broadband providers with less than 250,000 customers.

With the suspension, more ISPs will no longer have to publicly disclose information to customers regarding the price of their service, other fees such as service charges, and any data caps that they will implement. Such information helps customers in making informed decisions on which broadband provider to sign up with.

Under the Obama administration, the exemption from the transparency requirements was only given to ISPs with less than 100,000 subscribers. The vote by the FCC, however, protects ISPs of up to 250,000 subscribers from what Pai refers to as "needless regulations," and presents the first major regulatory action against the Obama administration's net neutrality laws.

Major Broadband Companies Benefit From FCC Ruling

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, the lone Democrat in the FCC, was the one who voted against the move, claiming that it would exempt billion-dollar companies from being transparent with their customers. The ruling only expanded the exemption from transparency rules to ISPs to those with less than 250,000 subscribers, which meant that it would not apply to major companies such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon, but many ISPs owned by conglomerates will be involved, Clyburn noted.

"Many of the nation's largest broadband providers are actually holding companies, comprised of many smaller operating companies," said Clyburn, adding that the new order by the FCC will affect even major broadband companies as the connection count requirement is not checked at the holding company level.

Pai, however, defended the ruling by saying that the ISPs, instead of focusing on the paperwork previously required by the transparency rules, should now spend their resources on building out better broadband services to the rural parts of the United States. The FCC has actually just released the rules for its rural broadband fund auction, wherein $2 billion worth of funds is available for ISPs to develop broadband networks in rural areas.

Consumers On The Losing End

Consumer advocates, meanwhile, argue that the expanded exemption will significantly hurt consumers. Customers should know the details behind the pricing practices of ISPs, and have the right to know if a broadband provider is throttling internet traffic.

"How can it be good for consumers if companies conceal anything about the price, speed, and data caps for their broadband service?" asks Public Knowledge general counsel Ryan Clough.

Pai is seemingly just starting though, and supporters of net neutrality should prepare for more of such moves from the current FCC chairman.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The blue-eyed boy of the rumor mills is undoubtedly the Samsung Galaxy S8 despite the fact that it will not be announced at the Mobile World Congress this month.

Close on the heels of the spec sheet for the Galaxy S8+, the smartphone's bigger sibling, surfacing online courtesy Evan Blass, comes news that the supposed specification sheet of the Galaxy S8 has also leaked.

The spec sheet for the smaller Samsung Galaxy S8 has been shared by TechnoBuffalo and it is nearly identical to the one shared by Blass. The authenticity of the spec sheet is not known and the publication does not reveal its source.

At first glance, it seems one is looking at the same spec sheet, barring one difference  the 5.8-inch screen size vis-a-vis the 6.2-inch Quad HD+ of the Galaxy S8+.

What Does The Specs Sheet Reveal?

The Galaxy S8 spec sheet points to a 4G LTE compatible device and reveals that the smartphone will tout a 5.8-inch (full rectangle) Quad HD+ Super AMOLED screen. Taking the rounded corners into consideration makes the screen of the device 5.6 inches per the spec sheet.

The Galaxy S8 will boast a 12MP dual pixel primary camera and also be equipped with an 8MP selfie snapper.

The spec sheet also affirms a previous rumor that the Galaxy S8, like the Galaxy Note 7, will be kitted with an iris scanner. It is also rumored that the smartphone may have a fingerprint scanner embedded on the rear of the device or on the screen itself. However, the latest leak does not mention anything about the fingerprint scanner.

The Samsung smartphone, like the predecessor Galaxy S7, will offer support for Samsung Pay and is also secured by Samsung Knox. The Galaxy S8 will also offer support for wireless charging per the spec sheet, but consumers will need to buy the charging pad separately.

The spec sheet does not detail the processor for the Galaxy S8, but it is expected that the Snapdragon 635 will power the U.S. variant of the smartphone. The latest Exynos 9 8895 CPU could power the other variants.

The memory of the Galaxy S8, however, is shared by the spec sheet and it points to 4 GB of RAM and not 6 GB, as suggested by some rumors. The handset will have 64 GB of on-board storage according to the leak and consumers will welcome the news that the Galaxy S8 will offer expandable memory support.

The Galaxy S8 will also be dust and water resistant and be IP68 certified. The smartphone will be powered by Android, but the leak does not mention which version. However, it can be safely assumed that the Galaxy S8 will come pre-loaded with Android 7.0 Nougat and not Marshmallow.

The much-awaited Samsung flagship will also come with AKG-tuned earphones per the leak. The battery capacity of the smartphone has not been detailed in the latest leak.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Last time you sent a text message using your Android phone, chances are you used the native Google Messenger app that shipped with it. Now that is bound to change after Google announced that the app will be replaced by a new SMS application called Android Messages.

Rebranding Or Replacement?

Some are calling the move a rebranding, pure and simple. For this crowd, Google is merely changing the name because why not? The massive tech company could spend millions of money obsessing about naming conventions and how it correlates with whatever market data it has and we could not care less because it has the resource to do it.

However, the name change appears to have been prompted by a more remarkable improvement. While we cannot say at this point if Google has built the new or rebranded text messaging app from the ground up, there is still the fact that it worked to integrate the so-called Rich Communication Services.

Universal Text Messaging Standard

This technology is curious because it requires the cooperation of carriers for a so-called universal messaging platform. It is reportedly aimed at improving the overall messaging experience possibly to challenge internet-based messaging apps, including Apple's iMessage.

According to Google, the change should underscore the way the Android native SMS app is about to become like Android itself in the sense that it will become a collective effort by the industry. Strangely, some of the leading U.S. carriers are not yet identified as partners. Sprint, however, has adopted it last December while T-Mobile has reportedly announced it will jump into the RCS standard bandwagon later this year.

Android Messages Features

What this means is that the Android Messages will be able to increasingly offer features found in applications like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Viber, among others. These include group chat, media file sharing, picture messages and location-sharing. The word is that users could even enjoy all these functions even when they are in a phone call. It will also include the capability to use the Wi-Fi network to send messages.

Again, it is important to remember that the slew of SMS apps today can only send photos or MMS, GIFs and emoticons. Sometimes, these limited media could even take ages to send. This is probably the reason why Google has rounded up carriers not just in the United States but also around the world.

At this point, Android Messages is already capable of RCS and is available for download at the Play Store. Digital Trends, however, noted that the app is still hampered by the fact that carriers and handset manufacturers still deploy their own SMS apps. So the recent rebranding and the standardization initiative should lead to improved and richer SMS messaging in the future as these carriers begin to adopt Android Messages for a more seamless texting for the Android public.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Depression is not as uncommon as thought and affects more than 4 percent of the global population. The mental condition, if not treated in time may lead to physical and mental disabilities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released some figures pertaining to depression on Thursday, Feb. 23. The figures suggest that depression is now the leading cause of physical and mental disabilities worldwide.

"You can see one in 20 people in the world have it and then it has quite a high level of impairment or disability associated with it," said Dan Chisholm, Health System Adviser at WHO,.

Depression More Likely To Affect Women

The report suggests that the ailment affects 2 percent more women - between the ages of 55 and 74 - when compared to men in the same age bracket. It was also observed that women were more susceptible to depression when compared to their male counterparts.

A year-long campaign named "Depression: Lets Talk" was conducted by WHO in October 2016, with the purpose of emphasizing the problems associated with depression. The awareness campaign involved three categories of people: young, pregnant and new mothers, as well as the elderly, who comprised the largest group.

The campaign report notes that suicide abetted by depression was the second leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year olds globally. It also aimed at creating awareness about post- and pre-natal depression in pregnant women, encouraging them to talk about the same to health officials. The WHO states that around 15 percent of pregnant women tend to suffer from acute depression.

The illness was seen more in the elderly as they tend to be isolated from the community with growing age and passage of time.

Statistics Supporting Study

According to the reports, corresponding data reveals that more than 260 million people were affected with anxiety disorders, which accounts for more than 3 percent of the global population.

Additionally, in 2015, more than 4 percent of the population was observed to be living with depression. It incurred an 18 percent increase over a period of 10 years.

WHO's Response To Depression

The WHO's Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) has been considering cases of depression as a priority.

It provides services in countries for people with mental, neurological and substance abuse disorders. These services are provided by health workers.

The programme emphasizes on the fact that with proper care and assistance millions of people suffering from mental disorders such as depression can begin leading normal lives.

Photo: Joe Penna | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Google has announced that it has cracked the Secured Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1) cryptographic function, marking a milestone that spells both danger and opportunity for the computing world.

The unprecedented feat was achieved through the real-world collision attack on the cryptographic algorithm, which led to the production of two PDF files that contain similar SHA-1 signature.

What Is SHA-1?

As a mathematical algorithm, the SHA-1 is capable of transforming a digital object into a hash or its representation. For example, if the algorithm is used to convert or verify an email signature, the SHA-1 will transform it into a string of 40 characters.

The elaborate combination of numbers and the way SHA-1 attaches such strings into digital objects makes it an effective mechanism to authenticate digital files. Here, identical files can have the same SHA-1 hash but two different files cannot be identified with the same string of characters.

However, that is what exactly the researchers at Google were able to achieve. With help from peers at CWI Institute in Amsterdam, they successfully created two different files with the same SHA-1 footprint.

Impact On Security

Google's successful breach is a critical security issue because the SHA-1 function is currently used in financial processes. Specifically, the algorithm is said to be still widely used to validate credit card transactions. It is also employed to verify electronic documents and software updates.

"It is now practically possible to craft two colliding PDF files and obtain a SHA-1 digital signature on the first PDF file which can also be abused as a valid signature on the second PDF file," the webpage dedicated to the initiative explained.

Google cited a specific example to demonstrate the breach's impact. When one creates a rental agreement that involves a digital signature, it is now possible for one of the parties to create another rental agreement with different clauses or provisions but with the same valid signature.

SHA-1 Ban

To be fair, SHA-1, which was developed back in 1995, has already been labeled as unsafe. This was highlighted back in 2011 when the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology officially deprecated the algorithm especially in transactions conducted in federal agencies. Some companies have also followed suit especially after incidents involving the SHA-1 vulnerability affected even Apple. The algorithm was also partly blamed for the Dropbox hack that exposed 68 million user accounts.

Again, many companies still use it even after such bans. For example, Mozilla has allowed Symantec last year to issue a SHA-1 certificate to Worldpay just to accommodate more than 10,000 payment terminals that have not been upgraded. These terminals were given the green light to communicate with servers that process consumer transactions.

According to Google, many applications also still use the algorithm and it hopes that its practical attack will serve as an opportunity for the industry to adopt safer alternatives. In the meantime, you can protect yourself from risk by using Chrome for your transactions because the browser automatically treats those with SHA-1 certificates as insecure.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Allo, the "smart" messaging app from Google, was released in September 2016 and was welcomed by people. Within just a week of its release, it was reported that the app crossed 5 million downloads, which bears testimony to its initial popularity.

However, since then, the popularity of Allo has waned. This is due to the fact that people are more comfortable using the Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp rather than the Google chat offering.

The company has been trying to promote Allo incessantly and in a bid to retain mobile users, Google has been updating the app to provide the best experience possible.

Google it seems is now set to take a new route with Allo and will foray into a new territory - desktop. A tweet from Nick Fox, the VP of Communications Products at Google, indicates that the company is currently developing the desktop version of Allo.

What The Tweet Reveals

Fox stated in the tweet that the desktop version of Allo is in very early stages of development, but it will be making its way to desktops soon.

Still in early development, but coming to a desktop near you... #GoogleAllo #SneakPeek pic.twitter.com/f7QNFH7IHO  Nick Fox (@RealNickFox) February 24, 2017

The Google Assistant will also be present in the desktop version just like it is present in the mobile version as well. The picture in the tweet also shows the use of stickers during a chat, confirming that this feature would likely be carried over to the desktop version of Allo.

The image in the tweet suggests that the Allo chat application can be opened as a tab on Google Chrome and not as a standalone app. Users may question this decision as many would feel that it would perhaps be better as an app rather than as a web page.

"I don't want to be required to always keep a chrome tab or window open just for messaging. If I can write my message then close out the window until I get a notification for another message, I'd be cool with that. Also, messaging should also work even if chrome isn't running," noted a Redditor after the tweet came to light.

It is also unclear how Google Allo will work since the app on the phone is linked to the user's mobile number. With the desktop version, tying it to the Google account may possibly be more convenient.

Possible Release Date

Per the tweet, it is clear that the work on the desktop version is in the nascent stages and would likely take some time to be completed. Even though the image indicates that most of the important bits are already in place, Fox obviously disagrees.

Therefore, interested users will perhaps have to wait for some time before they can get their hands on Allo on their desktops or laptops.

You can download the Allo for iOS and Google Play smartphones till then.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Dane County Medical Examiner identified the man who died as Gregory K. Currie, 60, of Wisconsin Dells.

An 18-year-old Madison man was arrested on a tentative charge of homicide by negligent use of a motor vehicle after a two-vehicle crash Thursday night on Highway 51 that killed a Wisconsin Dells man.

Noah Davis was being held in the Dane County Jail following the crash that occurred at about 11:15 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 51 and Highway CV in the town of Burke, the Dane County Sheriff's Office said.

Authorities had not released the name of the man killed pending notification of family.

A preliminary investigation showed the 60-year-old man was turning onto Highway 51 north from Highway CV when his SUV was struck by Davis' Chevy Trailblazer that was traveling south.

"Driver speed appears to be a contributing factor in the crash," said Lt. Jeff Heil. "Driver impairment is suspected, due to marijuana, a glass pipe and drug paraphernalia found in the suspect's vehicle."
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
United Airlines will be doubling its flights from Madison to the New York City area with a second daily non-stop to Newark Liberty International Airport beginning in May.

The new flight was announced by Dane County Regional Airport officials on Thursday.

"This additional flight is a testament to the high quality and excellent service of our airport," said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. "Continued expansion of service is great for local residents and business travelers and is a critical part of our efforts to maintain a strong local economy."

The flight, No. 4414, will begin on May 5, leaving Madison at 6:20 p.m. and arriving in Newark at 9:27 p.m. The airline currently has a 12:09 p.m. flight, arriving at 3:24 p.m.

The new flight will use a 50-seat Embraer 145 aircraft, same as the flight earlier in the day. The plane is from ExpressJet and will be a United Express flight.

United is one of two airlines serving the New York metropolitan area from Madison. Delta also has daily flights into LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Dick Wolfs Chicago is about to get a little bigger when Chicago Justice joins the landscape Wednesday.

First, some background. A lifetime ago in 1990, Wolf created a little series about the police who investigate crimes and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.

It was called Law & Order, and it stood out from the pack mostly because it cared little for the lives of its characters beyond their jobs as homicide detectives, precinct lieutenants, assistant district attorneys and medical examiners. The camera followed them as they interacted with the witnesses, bystanders, judges and defense attorneys who peopled the streets, apartment buildings, crime scenes and courtrooms in New York City, where the series took place.

In its original form, the series ran for a good 20 years without straying (too much) from its original formula; occasionally we got peeks into the private lives of the main characters, but rarely did those peeks overtake the premise of any one episode. Detectives turned over, district attorneys and their assistants moved in and out of the offices, and through it all the crime stories of New York were told, punctuated by a distinctive ching-ching sound that denoted a change in location and the passage of time.

Wolf went on to create a few spin-offs, though not in the traditional sense where one character leaves to branch out in his own show. These were more shows of the same world, with a different focus: Law & Order: Criminal Intent, where viewers saw the story unfolding from the criminals perspective as well as the detectives on the case; the still-running Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in which sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous, and relegated to the titular squad; and the short-lived Law & Order: LA, which tried to transplant the formula to California and Law & Order: Trial by Jury, which focused only on the judicial portion of the criminal process.

The Law & Order world felt the same no matter which area you visited; all had the hallmarks set up in the original: crime scene leads to investigation leads to suspect leads to court proceedings leads to more investigation leads to trial leads to judgment, and the process starts over again the following week. Or at least it did most of the time; continuing storylines and recurring offenders cropped up every once in a while, especially on L&O: SVU, which may be why its the lone L&O on the air.

These days, Wolfs focus is on another city and the public servants who work to keep it running. In 2012, he signed on as an executive producer  and later a writer  of Chicago Fire, a drama of the lives and loves of the men and women of Firehouse 51. Two years later, Wolf and others put together Chicago P.D., about the uniformed officers and an elite intelligence unit within District 21 of the citys police department. The link between the shows exists in the siblings Gabriela (Monica Raymund), of Chicago Fire, and Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda), of Chicago P.D.

The emergency-room setting of 2015s Chicago Med  also a Dick Wolf production  is a common place for members of both Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire casts, so why shouldnt there be a courtroom involved as well? Enter Chicago Justice, premiering Wednesday after episodes of Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. set up a continuing story that starts with a massive, deadly blaze, which leads to a hunt for the suspected arsonist, until the case lands in the capable hands of the Cook County States Attorneys Office, and prosecutor Peter Stone (Philip Winchester).

Stones boss, Cook County States Attorney Mark Jefferson (Carl Weathers), views the world through a political prism, which puts him at odds with Stone who, in a nod to Wolfs original Law & Order, is the justice-at-all-costs son of New York District Attorney Ben Stone (played, as an assistant district attorney during the shows run, by Michael Moriarty). And, linking the new show to its predecessors, Sedas Antonio Dawson is the offices lead investigator, which of course opens the door for references to the rest of Wolfs Chicago.

While Wolfs New York might have mainly steered clear of the worlds outside the jobs of its law enforcers and prosecutors, his Chicago has remained quite intimate with what goes on outside the walls of the firehouse, precinct, ER and, now, courtroom. Its a small world on the small screen. Chicago Justice premieres at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Ch. 15 before moving to Sundays at 8 p.m. on March 5.

Hollywood glamour: The 89th Oscars, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be held Sunday with red carpet coverage starting bright and early at 6 p.m., and the awards ceremony starting at 7:30 p.m., on Ch. 27. Notable TV connections include Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Preacher vet Ruth Negga, nominated in the best actress category; Viola Davis, of How to Get Away with Murder, Octavia Spencer, of the defunct Red Band Society and, occasionally, Mom and Michelle Williams, of Dawsons Creek, all nominated for best supporting actress; and best supporting actor nominees Michael Shannon, of Boardwalk Empire, and Dev Patel, of The Newsroom, Lucas Hedges, of The Slap and Mahershala Ali, whose lengthy TV credits include Luke Cage, House of Cards and Treme. And that best actor nominee, Denzel Washington? He was on St. Elsewhere way back in the day.

The revolution is televised: When We Rise, a four-part miniseries starting Monday, chronicles the lives of young people who fought for social justice in the fields of gay rights, desegregation and womens equality. Starring Guy Pearce, Mary-Louise Parker, Rachel Griffiths and Michael K. Williams, the four-part, eight-hour When We Rise, created by Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black, airs Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and March 4 at 8 p.m. each night on Ch. 27.

He will find you: Ever wonder how retired CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) acquired his special set of skills that came in handy in those Taken movies? NBCs Taken, created by Luc Besson, the writer of the film on which this series is based, turns back the clock on Mills career to show how he developed said skills. When his sister is murdered, Mills (Clive Standen) is consumed with revenge, and in the process is inadvertently pulled into an elite intelligence operation led by Christina Hart (Jennifer Beals). Taken premieres at 9 p.m. Monday, following the two-hour premiere of The Voice at 7 p.m., on Ch. 15.
The family of Tony Robinson, who sued the city of Madison after he was killed by Officer Matt Kenny in 2015, has settled a federal civil rights lawsuit with the citys insurer for $3.35 million.

Robinsons grandmother, Sharon Irwin, called the settlement bittersweet. But city and police union leaders decried the settlement, which they said was a business decision made by the citys insurance company, which will pay the claim.

The settlement was made over Kennys strong objections, said Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association and one of Kennys attorneys.

Matt was prepared to go to trial and have a forum in which he could confront the wild accusations the Robinson family has been making for quite some time, Palmer said. Nothing about this agreement, which includes no admission of wrongdoing, changes the fact that he has been fully and repeatedly exonerated.

The settlement is the largest in state history for a police shooting, surpassing the previous record of $2.3 million the city agreed to pay the family of Paul Heenan in 2015 to settle a civil rights lawsuit against the city and the former police officer who shot and killed him.

I understand there was tremendous pressure on the remaining parties to the lawsuit to settle the case rather than have this matter continue with no end in sight, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said in a statement, adding that the city  which had been dismissed as a defendant in the case last week  was not involved in the settlement and had no ability to influence the court or the parties in approving it.

Unfortunately, the way the case was concluded leaves the public and all local governments still struggling to understand how police officers are to proceed in dangerous situations when confronted by individuals who are impaired by substance abuse or mental health issues, Soglins statement said. The mayor and City Attorney Michael May did not make themselves available for interviews.

Kenny shot the unarmed Robinson after the teen, who had taken hallucinogenic mushrooms, punched Kenny in the head and knocked him into a wall during an altercation in the narrow stairway of a Williamson Street apartment home on the night of March 6, 2015. Police had been called to the area after reports that the 19-year-old Robinson had been running in traffic and battering people.

In May of that year, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne determined the shooting was a lawful use of deadly force and declined to bring criminal charges. A state review and an internal investigation also found Kenny acted appropriately.

Both sides had motive to settle

Irwin and family attorneys David Owens and Anand Swaminathan said the citys insurer, Wisconsin Municipal Mutual Insurance Co., settled because it knew Kennys story wouldnt hold up in court.

Their attorneys came to us Monday night with an offer, said Andrea Irwin, Robinsons mother.

Efforts to reach WMMIC for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.

Irwin and Robinsons father, Tony Robinson Sr., said they agreed to settle because they wanted to spare the family from having to go through a trial. And my son deserves some sort of peace, Irwin said.

Owens said police opposition to the settlement is misplaced, contending that forensic experts hired by the family would have disputed Kennys claim to investigators that all of the seven shots were fired in close range while Robinson was aggressing toward him.

If they had known what happened that day, they would not want Kenny in their department, Owens said.

The family also had been prepared to dispute Kennys description of the altercation in the stairwell and that he suffered a concussion after Robinson punched him in the head, Owens said. He said the only head injury suffered by Kenny was a minor cut and that it wasnt caused by a punch. He also maintained there was no objective evidence that Kenny suffered a concussion, although Palmer produced medical documents that showed a diagnosis of a concussion on two return visits to doctors after the incident.

Impact on taxpayers unclear

The lawsuit, brought by the family against the city on Aug. 12, 2015, was due to go to trial on Feb. 27. The city was removed as a defendant by U.S. District Judge James Peterson last week after he found no evidence to suggest that city practices or procedures led to Robinsons death. The citys insurance company remained involved, however, because Kenny, who was also named in the lawsuit, is insured under the citys policy with WMMIC, May said in an email responding to a series of questions by reporters.

The insurance company has the authority to make settlements under its policy with the city, May said, adding that the city does not need to approve any settlements and cannot tell WMMIC not to settle.

The city pays a retention fee, similar to a deductible, of $350,000 a year, which was used up long ago in this case, May said. It was unclear how the settlement would affect the citys premiums, which have ranged from $364,000 to $436,000 a year over the last seven years.

Attorneys for the Robinson family sharply disputed Soglins assertion that the city had no involvement in reaching the settlement.

Under state law, the city is responsible for paying any verdict or judgment against Officer Kenny, they said in a statement late Thursday. The city had to approve the settlement; and the city had to contribute financially to the settlement.

The attorneys said they will continue to push the city to fire Kenny, who was placed on paid leave while the shooting was being investigated and has since been assigned to the departments training section and mounted patrol.

Police: Kenny was thrown under bus

The family has also asked federal authorities to investigate how Madison police investigated the shooting. U.S. Attorney John Vaudreuil confirmed Thursday that his office and the U.S. Department of Justices Civil Rights Division have been reviewing the case since it obtained investigators files more than a year ago.

Swaminathan, who grew up in Madison, said he hopes, at a minimum, that Madison police will reopen its investigation. Soglin should demand the internal investigation that was never done, Swaminathan said.

Police Chief Mike Koval said the settlement helps neither side.

No amount of money is ever going to equate with or compensate adequately the loss, the pain and the grief the Robinson family has to contend with, Koval said. But similarly, this is an officer who has basically had his career marooned and placed on a desert island for the past two years, subject to the court of public opinion.

The Madison police union also expressed opposition to the settlement.

The settlement is tantamount to throwing him under the bus, said Dan Frei, president of the Madison Professional Police Officers Association. Frankly, given how the plaintiffs in this case (the Robinson family) have publicly demanded justice, Im actually shocked they would settle it short of having their day in court.

State Journal reporters Molly Beck and Bill Novak contributed to this report.
The Southern University Agricultural Center could have a medical marijuana program in production by the end of the year.

The center plans to issue a request in mid-March for a vendor to run the medical marijuana program.

Janana Snowden, director of Southerns Institute of Medicinal Plants, said the contract would be with a single vendor, with the demonstrated ability to run a medical marijuana contract. The contract will be for five years. The initial investment is expected to be between $5 million and $7 million. Southern recently formed the medicinal plant institute to handle its medical marijuana program.

Marijuana would be grown at Southerns agricultural experiment station, which is located five miles away from campus. Snowden said local law enforcement has approved the location and it will be secured with 24-hour surveillance.

Snowden and Southern officials discussed the medical marijuana program at a town hall meeting Thursday at the Ag Center. The meeting attracted a crowd ranging from students in T-shirts to professionals in business suits.

Bobby R. Phills, chancellor of the Ag Center and dean of the College of Agriculture, said hes already met with 30 vendors who expressed interest.

One of the cornerstones of any land grant university is the ability to educate and train and conduct research, Phills said. Were pleased to have an opportunity to be one of the licensees for this great state venture.

The Legislature passed a bill in 2016 giving the Southern and LSU ag centers a monopoly on the medical marijuana business. But they won't be selling anything smokable. State law requires the medicine to be in a liquid, such as an oil or spray; capsules or pills; gelatin-based chewables; topical applications; trans-dermal patches; or suppositories.

Only patients suffering from conditions such as HIV, cancer, seizures, epilepsy, Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis will be eligible for medical marijuana.

Any vendor who applies to run the medical marijuana program will go through a background check, looking at their criminal history, sources of funding and other ventures the owners are involved in. Its very similar to applying for a gaming license, said Winston Decuir Jr., attorney for the Southern University Board of Supervisors.

Dr. Rani Whitfield, a local family medicine doctor, said medical marijuana has great potential as a treatment for some medical issues. Whitfield said he attended a medical conference in Denver where doctors talked about a 5-year-old girl who was suffering from a disorder that caused her to have up to 50 seizures a day. After 20 months of taking cannabis oil, the girl was having a handful of seizures a month and was able to talk and feed herself.

I dont want to say its a wonder drug, Whitfield said. More research needs to be done, but this is a great opportunity for Southern University to do that research.
A Baton Rouge car dealer accused of a murder-for-hire scheme in the slaying of his ex-wife had an expectation of privacy to his cellphone records that led authorities to him and one of his three alleged accomplices, and ultimately to the body of his former wife in May 2015, the man's attorneys told a state judge Thursday.

But a prosecutor argued that while Hamid Ghassemi had an expectation of privacy in the contents of his cellphone, no such right exists concerning the phone's records held by his cell service provider.

Ghassemi's lawyers, Tommy Damico and Brent Stockstill, also allege that East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's Cpl. Edward Nicholson Jr. intentionally misled 19th Judicial District Court Commissioner Quintillis Lawrence into signing a search warrant in April 2015 for Ghassemi's phone records.

East Baton Rouge Parish Assistant District Attorney Dana Cummings, while acknowledging that Nicholson did a "poor job" in drafting the search warrant application, said the officer was merely trying to find 54-year-old Taherah Ghassemi, who had been reported missing by her son, before she turned up dead.

Nicholson, Cummings told District Judge Lou Daniel, "simply was not trying to mislead anyone."

But Stockstill argued that Nicholson "intentionally misrepresented" information in the search warrant application, telling Daniel that nothing contained in the application makes Hamid Ghassemi a suspect in his ex-wife's disappearance. Stockstill added that the document states no legitimate purpose for authorities to obtain Ghassemi's phone records.

"Realistically, they got lucky because they obtained records they shouldn't have been entitled to," Stockstill argued.

Hamid Ghassemi is asking Daniel to throw out the phone record evidence. The District Attorney's Office is opposing that request.

"When he (Nicholson) doesn't follow the law, there should be ramifications," Stockstill argued.

"The remedy," Cummings retorted, "is not to exclude the evidence."

The judge took Thursday's arguments under advisement and said he will issue a ruling March 3.

Nicholson testified last year at a hearing in the case that Hamid Ghassemi made a death threat against Taherah Ghassemi in late 2013 while she was working at a Wal-Mart in Denham Springs.

Taherah Ghassemi disappeared from her North Laurel Creek home in April 2015 and was found May 16 of that year in a shallow grave in rural St. Helena Parish. She had been shot once in the head. Her son, Hamed Ghassemi, reported her missing April 12, 2015.

Hamed Ghassemi was in the courtroom Thursday.

His father, Hamid Ghassemi, 66, and the three co-defendants  Tyler Lee Ashpaugh, 22, and Skyler Williams, 19, both of Denham Springs, and Daniel Humberto Richter, 35, of Walker  are being held without bail on first-degree murder charges.

Authorities have said cellphone records led them to Hamid Ghassemi and Ashpaugh, and eventually to Taherah Ghassemi's body.

Hamid Ghassemi's phone records show he received a call from Ashpaugh about 12:45 a.m. the morning after his ex-wife disappeared, the Sheriff's Office has said. Ashpaugh's phone records indicate he had been at the woman's house the night she went missing and at the sites where her burned car was located and her body was found, authorities said.

Ashpaugh, according to sheriff's officials, told detectives he went with Richter and Williams to Taherah Ghassemi's home and kidnapped her. She was put in the trunk of her 2004 Jaguar sedan and driven to a heavily wooded area near Pine Grove, where she was buried.

Hamid Ghassemi, who owned Import One and Import One Elite on Airline Highway, is accused of paying $10,000 to have her killed. He owed her $1 million in a divorce settlement, but Hamid Ghassemi's lawyers say the money had been paid before she was found dead.

Richter once worked at one of the car dealerships, detectives have said.

Taherah Ghassemi's burned car was discovered April 12, 2015, on a stretch of Chalma Avenue in Baton Rouge surrounded by fields.
A Walker man and his 19-year-old fiancee were given a July 24 trial date Friday in the fatal 2015 stabbing and strangling of her convicted molester.

Jace Crehan, 23, and Brittany Monk are charged with second-degree murder in the July 4, 2015, slaying of Robert Noce Jr., 47.

Noce's body was found inside a 55-gallon plastic drum in his Zachary trailer. His death came less than two weeks after he was put on probation for sexually abusing Monk when she was a child. Noce was the former boyfriend of Monk's mother.

Crehan, according to court documents, told sheriff's detectives that Monk was with him when he stabbed Noce six times, strangled him with a belt and pulled him inside the plastic container. He said he threw the knife into a pond in Denham Springs.

Monk's DNA was detected on rubber gloves found inside the container, court documents indicate.

Crehan and Monk remain behind bars. She was 17 and seven months' pregnant when Noce was killed. She delivered a baby boy four days after pleading not guilty in the case. Crehan entered the same plea.

State District Judge Tony Marabella is presiding over the case.
From left, Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, and Rep. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, listen to Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne as he presents Gov. John Bel Edwards' Fiscal Year 2017-2018 Executive Budget proposal to them and other members of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 at the State Capitol.
Another defendant in the racketeering case against members of a Jefferson Parish auto theft ring has pleaded guilty, leaving six people still 
A Madison man who traveled with four other people throughout Wisconsin to use counterfeit $100 bills for purchases has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Cornelius Stewart, 22, was sentenced in federal court in Madison on Thursday by U.S. District Judge William Conley. Stewart pleaded guilty in November to a charge of passing counterfeit U.S. currency.

According to information from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Steward and the other four co-defendants went to stores and restaurants from Janesville to Baraboo, using the fake money to make small purchases so they could get real money in change.

The suspects were arrested in February 2016 following a shopping spree in Janesville.

The four co-defendants, Danesha Phillips, 23, her brother Marlo Phillips, 19, Dominique Gaunichaux, 19, and Parish Barbary-Wheatherby, 21, all of Madison, pleaded guilty to federal charges and will be sentenced in March and April.

Conley said Stewart's sentence was warranted because of previous state court convictions on counterfeiting charges, his role in making the bills and the leadership role he had in the group.

Eight police departments and two sheriff's offices in south-central Wisconsin helped in the investigation, all in coordination with the U.S. Secret Service, the federal agency that investigates currency counterfeiting crimes.
Marcus Rappel pleaded guilty to killing Tara Costigan. In response to community outcry over the deaths, police flagged a significant structural overhaul with a fresh focus on family violence as ACT government promised law reforms and a funding boost to help meet overwhelming demand for crisis services. For ACT Domestic Violence Crisis Service chief executive Mirjana Wilson, the city's painful awakening began with the announcement of anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty as Australian of the year in January 2015. Jewles Woodhouse of Toora Women's House attending a fundraising walk at Lake Burley Griffin in honour of Tara Costigan. Credit:Jamila Toderas "That incident of Rosie's catapulted the issue into the mainstream and then in that short amount of time we lost four of our own community members. For services like DVCS, that shocked us into this time where we had skyrocketing demand but also we were seeing bits of Tara's story, there was a man killed by his stepson, there were children, and it was all compounded into this really short amount of time."

Wilson said Canberrans had since engaged and grappled more openly with the problem and started a broader conversation on what domestic violence was and how victims could seek help. "In that two-year period we've been on an extraordinary journey." Yes, it's changed our family, but it's changed Canberra. Michael Costigan But she stressed there was more work to be done. 'So many women related to her' When Tara Costigan Foundation acting chief executive Nadia Pessarossi first heard on the radio of the death of Costigan, a 28-year-old mother-of-three, she responded with disbelief. "I thought, that can't be right? I think it resonated because she was a young mum, too. So many women could relate to her."

Costigan was killed when Rappel smashed his way into her Duggan Street home wielding an axe as she breastfed their newborn daughter and her sons watched television. He chased her into the laundry before fatally striking her in the neck and shoulder and causing her to fall to the ground as she clung to their baby. Costigan's family tried frantically to save her but she died at the scene. Rappel was arrested and charged with murder. Amid the public grief that flowed, Costigan's relatives spoke at her funeral of a mother who put her three children before anything else and tried fiercely to protect them until the end. "Even as she faced her death, she did so in an act of defending her children and sister," the family said. Her large, close-knit family want her remembered for the "beautiful soul" that she was, always smiling, and willing to help others. "She was bright, bubbly, and her enthusiasm for life was infectious," the family said in a statement issued by her cousin Nathan Costigan. "She worked extremely hard to get to where she was in life. The odds were against her, but she never gave up."

Swift action The bittersweet groundswell of outrage, condemnation and community backing after Ms Costigan's murder was as swift as it was powerful. Canberrans sprung to action. A campaign to raise money for her three children generated more than $100,000 and friends organised the first Walk for Tara, which saw more than 4000 people to walk around Lake Burley Griffin to show their support. One of the organisers, Emma Luke, said at the time the event was for Tara, "but at the same time we're walking against domestic violence and raising awareness and support for other people. We want to use what's happened to our friend Tara. There's a lot of people who have gone through this." The ACT's domestic violence crisis service experienced an overwhelming spike in demand for support and information after the killing as many women sought help for the first time.

The murder horrified Rosie Batty, who urged Canberrans to maintain the anger and sense of injustice they felt over the deaths of Ms Costigan, and other women, at the hands of men. "There has to be that horror and there has to be that anger from the community that says 'Oh my god, how can it be that we now have two women a week dying?' What is it about this ambivalence we have? It's one woman in three who will experience domestic violence, it's one in four children." In July last year, the ACT government responded to the community's calls by announcing an unprecedented $21.4 million family safety package, to be spread over four years and largely funded by a $30 annual levy on all households. It included funding for measures including a full-time family safety coordinator-general and dedicated safe families team and an integrated case management system and coordination of services for family violence victims. The government also overhauled domestic violence laws, widening them to include emotional, psychological and financial abuse, in response to three reports urging an overhaul of fragmented and flawed domestic violence strategies to better protect victims. ACT Policing also set up two new dedicated family violence and community safety teams in a significant restructure designed to strengthen its response to domestic abuse. The force's family violence unit reviewed 3400 cases of family violence reported to police in its first year.

The Costigan family set up the Tara Costigan Foundation in her memory to lobby governments, raise awareness and provide post-crisis domestic violence support to women through its Tara's Angels program. It's motto is "together we are strong". The foundation will host the National Family Violence Summit in Canberra from Tuesday  the second anniversary of Costigan's death. Long way to go Michael Costigan said this week he expected Rappel's sentence would provide some sense of closure for his family as many still struggled with their grief and anger. "We take it one day at a time. I can't explain, none of us can explain to anyone how we feel because we don't entirely know how we feel. It's so raw, it's so new for us every single day. Our family is as strong as we are because of the love we have for each other, but also because of the way Canberra has loved our family and embraced the whole idea of 'Together we are strong'."

He hoped to model "love and respect" to Tara Costigan's two sons and vowed he would continue to fight for better awareness of domestic violence and promote respectful relationships. Wilson said while the ACT's action on domestic violence was heartening and there was a more sophisticated understanding of the complexities and multiple needs linked to domestic violence, there was still a long way to go. She said there needed to be better understanding that domestic violence took in a broad spectrum and included acts that weren't necessarily physical or sexual but could include stalking, isolation and financial or psychological abuse. There also need to be more discussion about how the problem affected children and how they could best be helped, what could be done to help male perpetrators of violence, and about gender equality and its role in domestic abuse. "It's not just a victim's issue, it's a family issue and whole-of-community issue. We can't just keep mopping up the damage." The push to raise awareness of domestic and family violence in the past two years meant more women were coming forward, and there needed to be adequate services and programs to help them. "What I worry about is if it goes off our radar and we think our job is done, we might find ourselves in a position where we get another death or two and we start all over again," she said. She welcomed the ACT's family violence levy, dedicated domestic and family violence prevention minister and its funding commitment for services and programs over the next several years, but said the response needed to be sustained.
Mr Mensink says he can't let his new girlfriend down, after promising her an overseas adventure so they could bond.

Clive Palmer's nephew, Clive Mensink, says he can't abandon his nine-month long overseas trip to answer liquidators' questions about the collapse of Queensland Nickel.

Former Queensland Nickel managing director Clive Mensink.

He says the trip is very important to him as a "new page" in life after his 2015 divorce.

"The thought of my personal relationship being damaged at this critical time of my life following my recent divorce distresses me greatly and is causing me mental anguish and pain which I find unbearable," he says.

His elderly family

Mr Mensink says he must keep his plans to visit his late father's family in The Netherlands, because they are very old.
Nestle chief executive Mark Schneider. Credit:Bloomberg Nestle reported organic sales growth  the measure removes currency fluctuations, acquisitions and asset sales  of just 3.2 per cent last year, the second-lowest growth rate in two decades. Nestle is not alone. Changing consumer tastes, especially in the developed world, have seen sluggish sales at key rivals Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Kraft Heinz. Batato believes future success lies in innovation in order to met changing consumer tastes. "We are a company that produces everything from chocolates and Maggi [noodles] to health products and health science products," he says.

If we took the view to delist every single supplier who is doing the wrong thing today, it will not improve the situation. Magdi Batato "Innovating in every spectrum, that is key to success. We have been around for 150 years, and we want to be around in another 150 years." That mantra, and respect for his company's long history, underpins Batato's business philosophy. Few companies have encountered as much hostility as Nestle over the past four decades. In the 1970s, Nestle was the target of a campaign protesting the marketing of infant formula in developing countries. In the years since, there have been allegations ranging from labour exploitation to corporate espionage on critics. Culture change

For a time, Nestle was a company people loved to hate. On Batato's watch there has been a slow but noticeable change in culture. Asked about Nestle's past, Batato recalls a Greenpeace video clip that went viral in 2010. It showed an office worker opening a KitKat chocolate bar and finding an orangutan's finger. The video was produced by Greenpeace to highlight how Nestle buys palm oil  a key ingredient in many of its products  from plantations that were once rainforest and home to the last orangutans in Indonesia. Nestle initially took legal action and had the clip removed from YouTube. Now, the company is working with NGOs in Indonesia to try and save the rainforest.

"We have come on a big journey, absolutely it has been," Batato says. "In 2010, organisations such as Greenpeace among others were talking orangutans and KitKat and deforestation. Now we have shown them what we are doing. We engaged the Forest Trust, which is an NGO that has boots on the ground in Indonesia, to look as sustainability issues around deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia." Action on labour A second area that Batato has taken action in is the exploitation of child labour. In 2015, Batato appeared on CNN to self-report that Nestle had uncovered child labour exploitation on fishing boats in Thailand that supplied its factories. It was a brave move. "But child labour does exist," Batato says.

"We cannot say it doesn't. Every reasonable person who has gone to Africa, gone to Asia, who has seen the farmers and factories, can tell you that it does exist. It is part of their life. Do we accept it? No. Are we going to stay quiet and do nothing? No. "But making a big declaration that tomorrow morning we are going to see it disappear, sometimes the problem is bigger than us, bigger than a company even the size of Nestle." Eighteen months on from that admission on CNN, and Nestle has taken action to eliminate child labour from its suppliers on Thailand. Nestle can now trace 99 per cent of its Thai seafood to a specific fishing vessel or farm. It has funded a training program for migrant fishing industry workers in Thailand, to educate them about their basic rights. The company has also funded a training vessel for the industry in Thailand, to teach safety and lift industry standards. But, Batato admits, it is a drop in the ocean when dealing with a supply chain as vast as Nestle's.

"The problem is, we can't just stop using a supplier," he says. "People ask why we don't boycott them. We did that in the case of palm oil. We delisted suppliers. We delisted coffee suppliers in South America who were using child labour. "But it doesn't always solve the bigger problem. There is no one-size fits all solution. If we took the view to delist every single supplier who is doing the wrong thing today, it will not improve the situation. "It will cut the income of those who rely on this income. It is lose-lose. But, with our size, we believe we can change things over time. We can make things better, we can make an impact, and making an impact is not delist left, right and centre every time. It's about working with our suppliers, making them change, and if they are stubborn and won't change, then we will delist them." It's those changes, Batato believes, that will ensure Nestle's long-term future.
The recently released Closing the Gap report is tough reading. It delivers clear-eyed facts about the lack of progress in Indigenous wellbeing, including infant mortality, health and education. If anything can, this report should shock some of our policymakers out of their ideological trenches.

Closing the Gap is the action plan to overcome Indigenous disadvantage that went with then prime minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the stolen generations nine years ago. Its latest report card has provoked much grief and dismay.

Credit:Getty Images

Across the nation, the child mortality rate is less than 100 deaths per 100,000 children under five years old. But for Indigenous children the rate is almost double that and in the Northern Territory it is three times as high.

The lives of Indigenous men are 10.6 years shorter than for their non-Indigenous counterparts; for women, it is 9.5 years less.
Elizabeth Morris, Elsternwick The wealth gap grows wider and wider If you have a business that makes things, how do you decide how much to sell them for? One option is to charge inflated prices. Another is to set a price that takes into account the cost of production, puts something aside for future product development, and allows you a reasonable but not excessive profit. Which is fairer? If your business employs people, you might pay them the legal minimum, with no job security, holidays or sick pay. Or you can pay them a wage that reflects the effort they put in, and the value of what they produce. Growing inequality of wealth suggests that too much of the former is going on. Either that, or the rich inherited their money from an earlier generation who had even fewer qualms. They should remember Napoleon Bonaparte's dictum that religion is what keeps the poor from killing the rich  and hope the churches do not get any emptier. Miranda Jones, Drummond

And my wage keeps shrinking... I will yell "yippee" in July every year when I get my annual pay decrease. Thank you, Fair Work Commission. You understand I am too poor to retrain, so you will kill me humanly by degrees, instead of in one hit as the employers' group requested. Michael Simon, Northcote THE FORUM Ferguson's about face

Former ACTU president Martin Ferguson has called on unions to accept the Fair Work Commission's decision on penalty rates. He has transformed to the conservative side of politics since taking up employment in the private sector. He clearly believes employers create jobs, cutting wages generates new employment, and employees are simply a business expense. He argues that future cases to the commission will be determined "on their merits". As a former union official, he must know that employers who want to cut penalty rates will rely on the arguments accepted by the commission in the current case. The most important generator of economic activity is consumer demand; this is the major generator of employment. Our economy is experiencing weak consumer demand. When workers digest the implications of the commission's decision, many will curtail expenditure in expectation of tough times ahead. This decision is a job destroyer. Neil Foster, Melbourne Low-paid hit hard

The announcement of a reduction in penalty rates is a savage blow to ordinary Australians. While the corporate sector and big business pay their executives more than generous salaries, and politicians enjoy their generous perks, governments stand by whilst ordinary people are fleeced. Where is the fairness? Graeme Skinner, Eltham A young person's lot Get a well-paid job, they said. You are being paid too much on Sundays, they said. Stop feeling entitled, they said. Rent my properties and subsidise my investment in them via your taxes, they said. Get a job cleaning up the social mess that we have created, they said. But we will not pay you, they said. Because it is an internship. Jennifer Morris, Parkville

Equitable taxation Improving the income of the less well-off leads to increased spending, as their needs are many and various. This stimulates the economy and has a knock-on effect for businesses, employment and, ultimately, revenue for the government via taxation. Improving the income of the wealthy leads to increased investment in off-shore tax havens and family trusts, where capital stagnates. Wayne Swan proved that the "trickle-up effect" worked during the GFC. Tax cuts for lower-income earners and tax increases for the wealthy is not only more equitable; it is sensible. Debra Shill, Nicholson The real poo issue Bayside City Council is complaining about people not picking up their dogs' droppings in sporting grounds and reserves (The Age, 24/2). What I object to far more is people who pick up the "leavings" in those little plastic bags, tie them up tightly and then dump them along creek lands and beside trees. These can be found in parklands along the Darebin Creek and probably elsewhere. At least dog poo will degrade naturally, but it becomes a much worse problem when it is in plastic bags.

Lesley Taskis, Kingsbury A mug is a misfortune Oh dear. I was with Clare Boyd-Macrae, and her love of tea ("Even the best coffee isn't my cup of tea", Comment, 23/2), all the way until she mentioned the mug. In the bush perhaps, but in one's home? As Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest would have exclaimed: "In a mug?" Roger Foot, Essendon $40,000? Luxury.

The idea that if you work hard enough you will be financially rewarded is a total lie. I keep reading about executives' obscene salaries and politicians' entitlements with a combination of disbelief and horror. I worked full-time as a classical pianist for 23years. If I earned $40,000, I thought it was a pretty good year. To learn that the state government's speaker, Telmo Languiller, gets that much annually for his second home makes me sick. There are many people who work very hard and make well below the "average" wage. The age of entitlement is well and truly alive for some. Claire Cooper, Maldon Get rid of the trough How disappointing, yet another snout in the trough. Even more disappointing is Treasurer Tim Pallas's comment: "Quite frankly,there's always a way around rules". The simple solution: take away the trough.

David Graver, Elwood Illogical boundaries I am amazed at the bizarre boundaries proposed for Melbourne Girls College. Families living in some parts of Kew, Hawthorn and Toorak will still be included in the school's enrolment boundary while many families in Richmond, where it is located, will be zoned out (The Age, 24/2). Are all schools the same? I would have expected some objective data: the distance to school (radius), the community (suburban centres) and transport access (arterial roads and trains). I wonder where the bureaucrats' houses might be? Michael Pitcher, Richmond RIP, postal service

The spectacularly self-congratulatory speech of the outgoing Australia Post CEO, Ahmed Fahour (The Age, 24/2), was extraordinary. Worse was his spiteful dig at Pauline Hanson's so-called humble beginnings, saying that running Australia Post was "a little bit more complicated than running a fish and chip shop". I am not a supporter of Ms Hanson's policies. However, if ever further proof were needed of Mr Fahour's contempt for those he seems to view as lesser mortals, then this must be it. The post office was once regarded as a service, not a business, but no more. Whereas a fish and chip shop still provides a service, and is still affordable to the rest of us, the under dogs. Rosemary Taylor, Castlemaine Hold board to account

Ahmed Fahour has resigned from Australia Post following criticism of his salary, despite having done an excellent job. Members of the board, which set his salary, have been noticeably absent in either defending him or explaining their position regarding the parameters they chose in setting his salary. These are the weasels who should be held to account. Charles Clarke, Alphington Bottom line: we paid Taxpayers actually funded Ahmed Fahour's exorbitant salary every time they went into a post office and were told by the regretful staff that the cost of postage for their mail had gone up, once again. Jeltje Fanoy, Clifton Hill

Five-point disaster Tony Abbott's white-anting of the Coalition's leadership (The Age, 24/2) illustrates the disaster that the party has created. He tries to rewrite history by continuing his diatribe against the Human Rights Commission (who's the bully?), linking electricity price rises to renewables development and rising house prices to immigration (Muslims only?), reforming the Senate (didn't they just do that?) and claims that our armed forces are about protecting our country (I missed the latest invasion). He needs to leave the Coalition and, like Cory Bernardi, form his own party. I am sure he will have support to do so, particularly from the Coalition. Kim van den Berghe, Highton A safe haven? Seven planets with size and mass similar to Earth's have been discovered orbiting a single star (The Age, 23/2). Travelling at the speed of light, we could get there in 39years. It is a good thing the planets are so close. It might be quicker than waiting for the Turnbull government to pass the carbon dioxide emissions legislation that we need.

Robbert Veerman, Wandin North The brutal truth What an embarrassment it should be to run the headline  "Australian men longest lived (in world)  for now" (The Age, 23/2). How can we celebrate this and brag about our "strong universal health system" when the life expectancy of Indigenous Australians is 10years lower than the rest of the population? Until we recognise facts such as these, the gap will never be closed. Christine Sebire, Echuca Please, turn it down

Why do builders take it for granted that neighbours want to listen to the bass lines of their radio channel? We have the technology for personal listening. Yours, inundated. Madeleine Love, Marysville AND ANOTHER THING George Stockman, Berwick

Penalty rates No doubt the Fair Work Commission worked through the weekend to bring down its judgment. George Migios, Box Hill Now there's no reason why the FWC can't meet on Sundays, yes? John Patrick, Wangaratta

It's a pity the FWC doesn't set the pay of chief executives. Rod Matthews, Fairfield Don't shop on a Sunday. Power to the people. Lisa James, Lalor Can we look forward to a cheaper latte?

Andrew Fawcett, Warrnambool Will cuts to penalty rates and company tax boost the economy, or increase the divide between the haves and have nots? Jennifer Del Prete, Pascoe Vale South Australia Post Surprise, surprise. Ahmed Fahour has resigned. And the payout will be?

Dave Quinn, Collingwood I'm good at pushing the envelope. I'll do the job for half his salary. Tim Durbridge, Brunswick Perhaps we can move back to a postal service rather than a slow logistics business. Rex Niven, Eltham

Furthermore The Christian Brothers spent $1.5million defending a paedophile (23/2). Did this come from government funding for private schools? Josephine Perry, McCrae Build the youth detention centre on the site of the old fruit and vegetable market in Footscray. Central location, no residential areas close by. David Smithwick, Mansfield
A man who pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting of another man outside a town of Madison gas station last year was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

Kortney D. Moore, 29, turned himself in four days after the May 11 shooting. He pleaded guilty in November to a reduced charge of first-degree reckless homicide for killing Elijah Washington III, 28, in the last of three gang-related fatal shootings in just more than three weeks in the city and town of Madison last spring. Police have not arrested anyone for the first two.

After prison, Moore will spend another 10 years on extended supervision, Dane County Circuit Judge Ellen Berz said when she handed down the sentence at the end of an emotional, two-hour hearing that was packed with friends and relatives of both Moore and Washington.

This is a very sad day, Berz said, noting the extended families of both men moved to Madison to escape the kind of senseless killings they now found themselves caught up in, with fatal consequences and suffering on both sides.

All the violence and fear needs to stop, Berz said. We have to think about our children. There are no winners on either side. All this has to stop. It needs to stop.

Moore originally was charged with first-degree intentional homicide. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge under a plea agreement in which Assistant District Attorney Andrea Raymond agreed to seek no more than 20 years in prison for Moore. She asked for 18 to 20 years in prison, followed by another 10 on extended supervision.

But Berz said that was too much, noting Moores decision to turn himself in, his lack of a violent record, his having a job at the time of the shooting, his apparent remorse and the fact that he feared for his own life due to his close ties to the first two men killed in last springs violence.

Moore was the brother of the first man slain, Martez Moore, 30, who was killed outside OGradys Irish Pub, 7436 Mineral Point Road, on April 19. He also was a friend of Darius Haynes, 38, whose car was riddled with bullets while he sat inside it May 10 at a Verona Road gas station.

In addition, shortly after Martez Moore was killed, according to court testimony Thursday, Elijah Washington referred to himself in a social media posting as a BDK, which stood for Black Disciples Killer. Because Martez Moore had been a member of the Black Disciples gang, Kortney Moore had reason to fear Washington when they saw each other inside the Capitol Petro Mart, 2570 Rimrock Road, on May 11, Raymond acknowledged.

Washington also had been armed with a loaded revolver  found cocked and with its safety off  at the time of the shooting, said Moores lawyer, Robert Hurley, who asked for eight years in prison and eight years supervision.

But Washington had turned to leave and Moore could have just locked the door after him, Raymond said.

Instead, he followed Washington outside and fired eight times, hitting him four times, including in the back, as he tried to run away, and that wasnt self-defense, Raymond noted.

It was shoot first and ask questions later, she said. The citizens of Madison need protection from that.

In search warrants unsealed in August, police said Washington was a cousin of William Flowers, whom police described as a person of interest in Martez Moores death.

The warrants also stated the shootings of Moore and Haynes were over a dispute between gangs on the South and West sides of Madison over someone snitching.

Flowers, 26, has not been charged in any of the cases.
An uncivil war has broken out in the federal parliamentary Liberal Party, within the government of Australia.

Exaggeration? A livid Malcolm Turnbull doesn't seem to think so, judging by his demeanour.

And there's no exaggerating the anger of moderates Julie Bishop, Christopher Pyne, and even Abbott's old mate and right wing fellow traveller, Mathias Cormann.

The normally reserved, ultra-cautious, philosophically conservative Finance Minister, who stuck with Tony Abbott to the bitter end, has angrily cut the tag.
Karl Lagerfeld has broken through the fourth wall (that would be the one where we don't talk about money, and also the one where we don't disparage Meryl Streep) to talk about money and insult Meryl Streep.

In an interview with fashion bible Women's Wear Daily, the outspoken designer claimed that Streep backed out from wearing a customised Chanel dress to the Oscars this weekend because the luxury fashion house would not pay her to wear it.

Meryl Streep has denied the reports. Credit:Jordan Strauss

In typical Lagerfeld fashion he lamented, "A genius actress, but cheapness also, no?"

Streep has since denied the designer's claim, with her management issuing a statement to The Hollywood Reporter saying it is against her personal ethics to accept payment for wearing gowns to red carpet events.


Catholic schools in the Hunter and mid North coast could, for the first time, be asked to pay rent to the church for the land they stand on under proposals being considered by the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

The initiative is encountering resistance from some Catholic educators, who fear such a plan risks diverting a portion of government funds intended for Catholic schooling into the administrative coffers of the church.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Currently no Catholic schools in any of the eleven dioceses in New South Wales pay rent to church authorities. Any decision to proceed would set a new precedent, generating potentially millions of dollars for diocesan funds.

"The majority of Catholic educationalists are privately appalled at the approach being taken" one source told the Herald. "It would not pass in the court of public opinion. Many of us fear that it would imperil legitimate claims for government funding of Catholic education if it was perceived those funds were being diverted to provide a revenue stream for the church."
Retired North Sydney MP Jillian Skinner spent her last days in office bedding down her legacy with a final newsletter to constituents and a friendly interview with her local newspaper.

The six-page glossy newsletter, which arrived in residents' mailboxes on Thursday, carried a foreword by the Premier Gladys Berejiklian noting Mrs Skinner's "outstanding achievements", alongside one from the member herself that enumerated the times she had been elected and thanked residents for the honour of serving them.

Jillian Skinner named hospital infrastructure among her achievements. Credit:Chris Lane

Among her efforts on their behalf Mrs Skinner singled out moves towards a tunnel to ease congestion on Military and Spit roads and the representations she had made on behalf of her constituents, which included letters, delegations, community gatherings, ceremonies and events "so numerous it would take pages and pages to list them".

But the newsletter has caused cynicism in the electorate, with some residents dismissing it as electioneering on behalf of whichever Liberal candidate contested the byelection. Mrs Skinner has endorsed local mother-of-four Jessica Keen.
A woman walking along a footpath on Sydney's north shore has been struck by an out-of-control car and critically injured, police say.

Police said the Toyota sedan was travelling along Victoria Avenue near Chatswood Chase Shopping Centre in Chatswood just before 8.30am on Friday when it left the road.

It first struck a pram, before hitting the woman who was walking nearby along the footpath.

The vehicle then crashed into a pole, hit a motorbike and flipped onto its side, coming to rest on the footpath outside a Chinese restaurant.
The new electorate names brought on by the Electoral Commission of Queensland's major statewide redistribution had the potential to cause mass confusion among voters, one of the state's leading political scientists has warned.

One in particular that had Queensland University of Technology academic Clive Bean scratching his head was the renaming of Brisbane Central to McConnel, after the founder of Queensland's first children's hospital, Mary McConnel.

"Why they had to change the name of a central city seat like that, I'm not quite sure," Professor Bean said.

"Perhaps they just felt that the boundaries had changed sufficiently and it wasn't quite the seat it used to be.
An accused pedophile identified in the investigation into two jailed Queensland child abusers has been extradited to Brisbane and will remain in custody.

Craig Edward Broadley, who is allegedly involved in a worldwide pedophile ring that abused the adopted son of a gay Cairns couple, did not apply for bail during a brief appearance at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday morning.

Peter Truong and Mark Newton were jailed in 2017.

Police say they identified the 42-year-old New Zealand man during examinations of the chat logs, images and videos on electronic devices seized from Peter Truong and Mark Newton.

Truong and Newtown were jailed for 30 and 40 years respectively in the United States in 2013 after they admitted buying the boy as a newborn from Russia and abusing him.
The father of a three-year-old girl killed by a 100kg man who stood on her stomach in a moment of anger says he is "disgusted" by the 9 year jail sentence handed to his child's killer.

Harley Woodford, 22, was alone with his partner's daughter Bella Lawrence in their Horsham home on September 16, 2015, when he tripped over her as he was tidying up after dinner, the Supreme Court in Melbourne heard on Friday.

His partner had gone for a drive with her two other children to try to settle the couple's baby.

Bella, who weighed less than 14 kilograms, was rolled onto her back.

Woodford reacted "in sudden anger", stepping on her stomach with his full 100kg weight, Justice Jane Dixon said.
It was a week that saw major breakthroughs in the mysterious disappearance of Avondale Heights woman Karen Ristevski.

But while her body has been found and her husband Borce named as a key suspect, more questions have been raised than answered in the baffling case.

It began on Monday when a bushwalker stumbled between two logs and made the grisly discovery of a woman's badly decomposed body in scrub at the base of Mount Macedon.

Melbourne was left on tenterhooks as the remains were taken away for forensic testing.
A crash between a car and a small truck in country Victoria has claimed the life of a man, pushing the Victorian road toll to 32 so far this year.

The crash occurred late on Friday afternoon at Newlyn North, near Daylesford, on the Midland Highway.

The Victorian road toll for 2017 has risen to 32.

In a statement police said the male driver of the car died at the scene, while a passenger was transported to hospital in a serious condition.

Police said the male truck driver was not injured in the crash and stopped at the scene to offer assistance.
Remember Geoff Shaw, the member for Frankston? This is what Daniel Andrews as opposition leader had to say in June 2014 when debate was raging in the parliament over allegations he used his parliamentary vehicle to make deliveries for his hardware business.

"If anyone in this chamber wants to know why we are regarded as being for the public purse instead of the public good, if anyone in this chamber wants to know why we are held in such low regard by the hardworking people of this great state, then look no further than the conduct of the member for Frankston and the Premier's protection of him."

Former Frankston MP Geoff Shaw arriving at parliament at the height of his expense scandal in 2014. Credit:Justin McManus

What a difference an election win makes. About 32 months after he accused his predecessor of ducking for cover, it is Mr Andrews who has gone to ground.

About the need to reform Victoria's entitlements system after The Age revealed lower house speaker Telmo Languiller claimed almost $40,000 to live outside his western suburbs electorate in Queenscliff, the premier's office had this to say:
A woman was sexually assaulted three times and bitten on the arm during a horrific attack at a music festival in January.

The 21-year-old was at the Rainbow Serpent Festival outside Ararat in south-west Victoria when an unknown man grabbed her by the throat, pushed her against a van and assaulted her.

A scene from last year's festival, during which 40 attendees were arrested. Credit:Francesco Vicenzi

The woman managed to get away but the man grabbed her and sexually assaulted her another two times. The attacker also bit the woman twice on the arm when she tried to push him away.

Police are appealing for festivalgoers with more information to come forward about the incident, which took place between 3pm and 7pm on January 26.
Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota is seeking election as chairman of the Democratic Party. Credit:AP "Ultimately, we'd like to have a few Republicans stand up to rein him in," Inslee said. "The more air goes out of his balloon, the earlier and likelier that is to happen." Yet Democrats acknowledge that there is a wide gulf between the party's desire to fight Trump and its power to thwart him, quietly worrying that the expectations of the party's activist base may outpace what Democratic lawmakers can achieve. Peter Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, is also bidding to be chairman of the Democratic Party. Credit:AP "They want us to impeach him immediately," Democratic lawmaker from Kentucky, John Yarmuth, said of the party base and Trump. "And of course we can't do that by ourselves."

Some in the party also fret that a posture of unremitting hostility to the President could imperil lawmakers in Republican states that Trump won last year, or compromise efforts for Democrats to present themselves to moderate voters as an inoffensive alternative to the polarising President. Bernard Sanders is supporting Keith Ellison. Credit:AP Rarely in history have Democrats been so weakened. Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress and 33 governorships, and they are preparing to install a fifth conservative  Neil Gorsuch  on the Supreme Court. Further, because of changes to Senate rules that were enacted under Democratic control, the party has been unable to block Trump's cabinet nominees from being confirmed by a simple majority vote.

Democrats, in other words, have few instruments at the moment to wound Trump's administration in the manner their core voters are demanding. Still, a mood of stiff opposition has taken hold on Capitol Hill, with Democrats besieged by constituents enraged by Trump's actions  and lawmakers sharing their alarm. "We have to fight like hell to stop him and hopefully save our country," said Democratic Senator from Oregon Jeff Merkley, echoing the near-apocalyptic stakes liberal voters are giving voice to at thronged town hall meetings. Senator Thomas Carper of Delaware, a middle-of-the-road Democrat up for re-election in 2018, cautioned that loathing Trump, on its own, was not a governing strategy. He said he still hoped for compromise with Republicans on infrastructure funding and perhaps on a plan to improve or "repair" the Affordable Care Act.

"There is this vitriol and dislike for our new President," Carper said. "The challenge for us is to harness it in a productive way and a constructive way, and I think we will." But Carper said the deliberations over Trump's cabinet appointments had woken up Democrats, recalling that he heard from thousands of voters about Scott Pruitt, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and Betsy DeVos, his education secretary. Virtually every message expressed seething opposition, he said. At times, Democratic frustration with Trump has flared well beyond the normal range of opposition discourse. In Virginia, Tom Perriello, a former congressman seeking his party's nomination for governor, apologised after calling Trump's election a "political and constitutional September 11".

And in New Jersey, Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs banker and ambassador to Germany, drew criticism in his campaign for governor after likening the political moment in the United States to the rise of Adolf Hitler. However, among rank-and-file Democrats, it is far from clear that the rhetoric of heated opposition is unwelcome. A survey published by the Pew Research Centre on Wednesday found nearly three-quarters of Democrats said they were concerned the party would not do enough to oppose Trump; only 20 per cent were concerned Democrats would go too far in opposition. A handful of liberal groups have sprung up threatening to wage primary challenges against incumbent Democrats whom they see as insufficiently militant against Trump, raising the prospect of the same internecine wars that plagued Republicans during former president Barack Obama's administration. In the race for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, which concludes with a vote in Atlanta on Saturday, the restive mood of liberal activists has buoyed a pair of insurgents, Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, against the perceived front-runner, Tom Perez.

Perez, who was Obama's labour secretary, is still seen as a favourite in the race, and he has been backed by former vice-president Joe Biden. But he has struggled to dispel the impression that he is an anointed favourite of Washington power brokers. And Ellison and Buttigieg have continued to collect high-profile endorsements: on Tuesday, Ellison won the support of lawmaker and civil rights leader John Lewis of Georgia, while on Wednesday Buttigieg was endorsed by Howard Dean, the former party chairman who remains admired on the left. In a sign of how little heed Democrats are paying to traditional forces, Ellison remains viable despite being bluntly attacked as "an anti-Semite" by Haim Saban, one of the most prolific donors to the party and its candidates. Christine Quinn, a vice-chairwoman of the New York state Democratic Committee who was a prominent surrogate for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton last year, said she backed Ellison, who was the first Muslim elected to Congress, in part because of the forcefulness of his criticism of the White House.

"This is not a normal Republican President and these are not normal times," said Quinn, a former speaker of the New York City Council. "This isn't a time for polite parties any more. This is a time to take a different posture of true aggressiveness." Martin O'Malley, a former Maryland governor who has endorsed Buttigieg, said impatient Democrats might even challenge members of their own party in their enthusiasm to take on Trump. O'Malley said the party base plainly wanted leaders who would be "willing to fight the fight and, where necessary, filibuster and otherwise obstruct". He said he expected younger, fired-up liberals to run against some Democratic incumbents as well as Republicans. "That's a good thing and it's overdue," he said. So far, the most prominent leaders of the Democratic Party's activist wing, including senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have not encouraged challenges to sitting Democratic lawmakers who have accommodated Trump.

Merkley, an ally of Sanders, suggested liberals seeking scalps would get no help from progressive senators if they try to unseat Democratic senators from conservative West Virginia, Montana, Missouri and North Dakota, calling those lawmakers "perfectly suited to those states". However, two mayors in Democratic cities have got a taste of what awaits those who do not bow completely to the demands of the anti-Trump forces. When Carolyn Goodman of Las Vegas, a Democrat turned independent, and Levar Stoney of Richmond, Virginia, a Democrat, resisted deeming their municipalities "sanctuary cities", they were each met with anger from supporters of expanding protection against deportation for unauthorised immigrants. "They want change to happen overnight," Stoney said of the newly energised activists. Nowhere is it more clear, however, that the protesters are leading the politicians than on Capitol Hill.

Senate Democratic leaders had hoped to capitalise on Trump's nomination of Tom Price as health secretary by assailing Republicans for wanting to trim Medicare, an issue Democrats aim to run on in 2018. But Price was vastly overshadowed by the nomination of DeVos, who galvanised the new activists like no other cabinet pick. "Part of what I think the Bernie campaign taught us, even the Trump campaign taught us, and now the resistance is teaching us, is just ditch the consultants and consult with your conscience and constituents first," said Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, warning his fellow Democrats: "It's a fool's errand to try to plan this out like it's a traditional political operation." Merkley boasted that "we're doing things in the Senate that are less conventional", efforts he said which were aimed at conveying to anti-Trump voters that, "Hey, we're here and we're fighting." Those efforts have included tactics such as walking out on nomination hearings and opposing even less-controversial cabinet appointments, such as that of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, wife of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. The fear factor is real, said Adam Jentleson, a former Senate Democratic aide.
Kim Jong-nam, in grey, gestures towards his face while talking to airport security shortly before his death. Credit:Fuji TV/AP The two women are said to have doused their hands in a poison, possibly one of them with a part-A potion and the other with a part-B additive, a concoction that became lethal only when the two mixed them on Kim's face. Yet the leaked footage shows only one of the two women accosting Kim  from behind. Other reports suggest a poison was sprayed in Kim's face and according to China Press, a Chinese-language newspaper in Malaysia, his last words were: "Very painful, very painful. I was sprayed liquid." North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, last year in Pyongyang, and his late half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, in Narita, Japan in 2001. Credit:AP Kim's reported use of the word "spray" recalled Netanyahu's humiliation in 1997 when, during his first stint as Israel's prime minister, he approved a plan by the intelligence agency Mossad to assassinate Hamas leader Khalid Mishal  which was then spectacularly botched.

Just as Pyongyang chose the territory of Malaysia to unleash its attack on Kim, so Mossad chose to go after Mishal in the streets of Jordan's dusty little capital, Amman. The Facebook page of Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese suspect in the death of Kim Jong-nam. Credit:AP In both cases the government setting out to kill was prepared to burn a friend  in the case of the Mishal attack, one of only two Arab states that had diplomatic relations with Israel. Netanyahu was determined to avenge a recent series of bloody Hamas suicide attacks in Israel. But the Mossad team's blunders left Jordan's King Hussein holding all the aces. Khalid Mishal and his security detail walk the streets of Doha, Qatar, in February 2013. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Mishal's life hung in the balance for days. But his bodyguard had captured two of the Mossad attackers, who were thrown into prison  and King Hussein announced theatrically that he'd happily hang them. When it emerged that four of their accomplices were holed up in the Israeli embassy, the king threw a military cordon around the mission. Hussein then got on the phone to Washington, demanding the unquestioning support of the Clinton White House  Netanyahu had to be ordered to hand over the formula for the poison and an antidote. If Israel refused to comply, the king would tear up the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, signed in 1994 in the first optimistic days of the Oslo peace process. September 25, 1997: Khalid Mishal is rushed between hospitals in Amman, Jordan, after Israeli agents injected a poison into the Hamas leader's ear. The audacity of Netanyahu's venture meant that Hussein was able to demand and win the release from an Israeli prison of Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, and dozens of other long-term Palestinian prisoners. In the assassination business, poison usually is preferred over a bullet, because the cause of death might go undetected and if it is administered correctly, death might not occur for some time after what ideally would have been a surreptitious attack.

That was certainly Israel's plan for Mishal. And it seems likely that the North Koreans would have intended Kim to have died on the flight he was due to board, rather than making a spectacle of themselves and of his death in a foreign country. Mishal survived the attack  in which a poison was sprayed in his ear. His doctors concluded that the Mossad team had sprayed a little less of the drug than was required for him to die over a period of hours, quietly and seemingly of natural causes. Did Kim's attackers apply too much of their chemical weapon? Malaysian doctors have concluded an autopsy, and a statement from the inspector-general of police on Friday said a preliminary analysis of substances taken from Kim's face identified a "VX nerve agent". In Mishal's case the drug was levofentanyl, an incredibly powerful derivative of the widely used surgical painkiller fentanyl, which, experts believe, had been shelved by its Belgian producers because it had no medical application  but which was then acquired by Mossad. If Mishal had quickly ingested a large quantity of levofentanyl, he would likely have died very quickly. His doctors were puzzled  they could find no research on the efficacy of administering the precursor drug fentanyl through the ear, in which the tougher tissue of the eardrum effectively acts as a shield.

But looking through a killer's prism, and not a doctor's, the thinking became clear  the Israelis had wanted Mishal to die in his own time, so they needed the drug to be absorbed slowly. Ideally, his attacker was to have brushed past him, spraying the drug into the Hamas leader's ear as an accomplice distracted Mishal by popping a pre-shaken can of fizzy drink. Had they not botched that street encounter, Mishal's family and colleagues probably would not have connected his bodily system shutting down to bumping into someone in the street  the expectation was that his only symptom would be a need for sleep, from which he would not awake. But that deliberately delayed action became the plan's fatal flaw  the hours in which the Israelis had expected Mishal to die became the hours in which Jordanian doctors might save him. Both governments, Israel in 1997 and North Korea nearly 20 years later, resorted to censorship in efforts to keep their people in the dark on the detail of their acts and the uproar they provoked. And in both cases they would have been relying on whispers, not megaphones, to convey the message to their target audience  the Hamas leadership in the case of Israel; the wider Kim family and activist dissidents in the case of North Korea. Netanyahu wore his shame quietly. He really had no choice  the Clinton administration was remarkably friendly to Israel, yet at the time of the attack on Mishal, not a single senior Clinton official was prepared to defend the Israeli prime minister.

Pyongyang, however, is kicking like a mule. On Thursday, it accused Beijing of hypocrisy for suspending coal imports from North Korea, in punishment as much for the Kim killing as for its recent ballistic missile test, analysts say. Kim Jong-nam was reportedly being warehoused by Beijing  if for no other reason than as a bloodline successor to the North Korean leadership, he was a useful pawn at China's end of the regional chessboard. But Pyongyang has saved its most vitriolic language for the Malaysian government, blaming it for Kim's death, demanding that the body be handed over and that the "innocent" women be freed. No government likes to see its territory used a killing field. So Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak likely took great satisfaction in informing Pyongyang that a requirement of Malaysian law must be met before Kuala Lumpur could hand over Kim's body  a DNA sample was required from the victim's next of kin. Kim Jong-un is not expected to provide a blood sample any time soon.
Several major news outlets found themselves blocked from attending a White House briefing with press secretary Sean Spicer in the latest sign of worsening relations between the Trump administration and the media attempting to cover it.

The New York Times, CNN, the Los Angeles Times and Politico were among the news organisations prevented from attending on Friday, according to posts by reporters from those outlets on Twitter, as were several foreign news organisations. The Associated Press and Time declined to take part. The White House was said to have invited press organisations to the event.

The three major broadcast networks - CBS, ABC, and NBC - were invited to the briefing, as were several news outlets that play to a conservative readership, such as Breitbart, The Washington Times and One America News Network.

The manoeuvre threatens to cut off some of the nation's most prominent and esteemed news organisations from a daily event that has for years been seen as ingrained in the White House press beat. It also puts a metaphorical barrier between a "gaggle" that allows for the dissemination of information by the President of the United States to the world and the public that elected him to the office.
Auto Lab Radio Talk - LIVE From NYC Saturday February 25, 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 25, 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 25, 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

Tim Cacace-Master Mechanix

David Goldsmith - Urban Classics Auto Repairs

Joseph Guarino-Joe Guarino's 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 25, 2017

Robert Erskine, Senior European Correspondent, Suffolk England

SHORT OF BREATH - LONDON'S SUFFOCATING AIR

John Russell Senior Correspondents

2017 SUV's - LEXUS' RX 350 AND LARGE LX570

Russ Rader, Vice President Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

2017 BUICK LaCROSSE EARNS TOP SAFETY PICK AWARD

Robert Sinclair-AAA Northeast

ROAD DE- ICERS CAUSE $3 BILLION IN VEHICLE RUST DAMAGE ANNUALLY
U.S.Crude Oil Imports From Saudi Arabia and Iraq Recently Increased . HUH?







Washington DC February 24, 2017, U.S. crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, two of the United States main sources for imported crude oil, have risen since reaching relatively low points in 2014 and 2015. On a combined basis, crude oil imports from these countries are the highest since late 2012. However, recent market developments, including the November 2016 agreement among certain members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce production and the recent widening of price differences between Dubai/Oman crude oil and U.S.-produced Mars crude oil, suggest that U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq are now becoming less attractive to U.S. refiners.

In late 2016, high production in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as well as seasonally low internal demand in Saudi Arabia, contributed to record crude oil exports from Iraq and near-record exports from Saudi Arabia, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI). Saudi crude oil exports reached 8.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in November 2016, the highest level since May 2003, before declining to 8.0 million b/d in December. Saudi exports generally increase from August to November as seasonal declines in domestic consumption increase availability of crude oil for export.

In Iraq, exports reached a record high of nearly 4.1 million b/d in November 2016 and remained at that level in December. According to JODI data, Saudi and Iraqi production levels were relatively high prior to the pledged January 2017 production cuts , with December 2016 volumes up 321,000 b/d and 700,000 b/d, respectively, from their year-ago levels, creating an opportunity to increase exports.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Joint Organizations Data Initiative

Although crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq increased in November and December, transit times result in delays before these shipments arrive in the United States. Shipments take about seven weeks to reach the U.S. Gulf Coast from the Persian Gulf after traveling around the southern tip of Africa. Using a smaller vessel capable of transiting the Suez Canal in Egypt, a voyage from the Persian Gulf to the U.S. East Coast takes an estimated five weeks. Traveling from the Persian Gulf to the U.S. West Coast on a Trans-Pacific route requires about six weeks.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Reuters

Note: Click to enlarge. U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Reuters

Given transit times, cargos exported from Saudi Arabia and Iraq in November and December 2016 would be expected arrive in the United States between December 2016 and February 2017. Imports from Saudi Arabia into the United States increased for five consecutive weeks, rising from 1.0 million b/d for the week ending January 6 to 1.3 million b/d for the week ending February 10. Similarly, U.S. imports from Iraq grew for five consecutive weeks, increasing from 373,000 b/d for the week ending December 9, 2016, to 723,000 b/d for the week ending January 13, 2017.

The trend of increasing U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq seems unlikely to continue given recent market developments. The price difference between Dubai/Oman medium, sour grade oil, which serves as a benchmark price for similar grades produced throughout the Middle East, and Mars, a U.S. crude oil with similar properties, was relatively low during 2016. For this reason, medium and heavy crude oils from Saudi Arabia and Iraq were relatively attractive to U.S. refiners because they produced a profitable slate of finished products when processed in complex refineries.

After OPEC announced crude oil production cuts in late November 2016, the relative price of Dubai/Oman crude oil rose because the supply reductions pledged by Middle East producers disproportionately affected medium, sour crudes. In January 2017, the price premium of Dubai/Oman over Mars reached its highest level in more than a year, likely encouraging U.S. refiners to process more domestic medium, sour barrels while reducing imports of comparable grades from the Middle East.

Principal EIA contributors: Jeff Barron, Matthew French, Mason Hamilton
NACS Files Comments with EPA To Keep Point of Obligation







NACS urges the agency to keep the current compliance structure in place under the Renewable Fuel Standard.

WASHINGTON DC February 23, 2017; NACSonline reported that this week, the public comment period on the Point of Obligation Petition under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) closed, with many retailers and marketers, including NACS, sending in comments urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to not change the point of obligation.

In late November, EPA asked for public comments regarding its denial of a petition from a small group of merchant refiners for EPA to begin a rulemaking on shifting the point of obligation from the refiner, manufacturer or importer of the fuel to the position holder, the entity that holds title to product immediately prior to sale of those fuels at the terminal. Obligated parties are responsible for demonstrating compliance with the RFSs annual renewable volume obligations.

On Wednesday, NACS submitted its comments to EPA in support of the agencys proposal to deny the petition. Changing the point of obligation would undermine the RFS and lead to higher prices at the pump for consumers, said NACS.

NACS comments also responded to claims by some refiners that the costs of acquiring the credits for showing compliance with the RFS, so-called Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), are too onerous for them. Based on data from a report prepared by Argus Media Group Consulting Services, NACS explained that obligated parties consistently incorporate expected RINs costs into their obligated products pricing. In other words, those refiners are not being threatened by overly burdensome RINs compliance costs.

NACS also rebutted incorrect assertions that large retailers are making windfall profits from RINs sales and that small retailers are placed at a disadvantage to large retailers because of the current RFS structure. RIN value is passed along to consumers in the form of more competitively priced (less expensive) retail fuel to entice the customer to stop for gas and come into the store, NACS said.

Many large retailers do sell RINs and pass along the value to the consumersomething small retailers could also do, presuming they are not stymied by a supplier, NACS said. Small retailers could work with organizations that exist today to help them realize benefits from blending renewable fuels and RIN trading. Despite assertions to the contrary, the fact that some small retailers are now at a disadvantage because their branded suppliers have chosen not to pass along values obtained from renewable fuel blending is not something that will be fixed by changing the point of obligation. Changing the point of obligation would inject massive disruptions into the fuels marketplace that will hurt large and small retailers alike, and the American consumer most of all.

In addition to NACS, most fuels value chain stakeholders, including the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA), the National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATSO), Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) oppose changing the point of obligation. These groups are joined in their opposition by important fuel end-users, including truckers, railroads, and the American Highway Users Alliance, which represents millions of U.S. driversall of whom understand the negative effects that would be brought about by a change in the point of obligation.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers also sent a letter to EPA opposing efforts to change the point of obligation. U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Ed Markey (D-MA) told the agency that the RFS as it is structured currently, has been remarkably successful at driving significant investments in the biofuels sector and urged EPA to finalize its decision to reject the petitions for rulemaking to change the RFS structure as soon as possible.

Read the NACS comments to EPA.
Green, Safe, Efficient Vehicles: AWS Abfallwirtschaft Stuttgart Invests In Natural Gas Drive

Official commissioning of the vehicles on 23 February 2017 in Stuttgart

Natural gas drive helps to ensure clean, quiet waste disposal operations in the city

Premiere for the new natural gas engine in the Mercedes-Benz 936 engine family

Comprehensive range of safety equipment: Active Brake Assist 3, Lane Keeping Assist, Stability Control Assist and Emergency Brake Assist, rain/light sensor

Positive experience with natural gas-powered Econic NGT waste collection vehicles  additional costs offset after around 3.5 years

Stuttgart  Seven Mercedes-Benz Econic NGT (Natural Gas Technology) models with an environmentally friendly natural gas drive system and extensive safety features are set to take over waste collection and disposal duties in the city of Stuttgart, the regional capital of Baden-Wurttemberg. The official commissioning of the vehicles took place on 23 February 2017 at the AWS operations site in Burgholzstrae in Stuttgart-Munster. Peter Bauer, Head of Product Management Econic, Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks unit, handed over the seven Econic NGT models to Dr Thomas He, CEO of the local authority-owned enterprise AWS Abfallwirtschaft Stuttgart, and Dirk Thurnau, Technical Mayor of the City of Stuttgart. The new natural-gas vehicles have already proven their worth during trials that have been running in Stuttgart for the past six weeks.

"The purchase of the latest generation of the Mercedes-Benz Econic NGT is of particular importance for Mercedes-Benz Trucks. The regional ties to Stuttgart play just as big as role as AWS's long and intensive relationship with Mercedes-Benz products," stated Dr Ralf Forcher, Head of Marketing, Sales and Services Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks. Since the market launch of the Econic in 1998, the regional capital has pursued an ongoing policy of purchasing Econic vehicles to replace its conventional waste disposal vehicles. Now the Econic NGT is joining AWS's waste disposal fleet in Stuttgart for the first time.

AWS Stuttgart has been involved with the Econic and Econic NGT from the outset as a development partner. The local authority-owned enterprise has provided some valuable suggestions on the specific operational requirements for the waste disposal vehicle of the future. Econic product manager Peter Bauer confirms that this forward-thinking investment will make an important contribution towards ensuring a positive environmental track record. The key reason behind this lies in the innovative drive technology with economical fuel consumption combined with very low CO 2 and noise emissions.

"AWS is taking on the issue of fine dust emissions in Stuttgart," stated AWS CEO Dr Thomas He. "And we are delighted that, when it comes to tackling the issue of exhaust gases and increasing safety in our extremely emission-laden city centre, we have an outstanding partner in Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks."

Agile, low-emission vehicles for Stuttgart

With their 3900 mm wheelbase, AWS Stuttgart's new, full air suspension Econic NGT waste collection vehicles are extremely agile. This is an immensely important advantage when it comes to busy urban traffic in Stuttgart's city centre. They have a permissible GVW of 26 t, which is identical to the diesel variant of the Econic.

The Econic vehicles with natural gas engine boast very low nitrogen oxide, particulate and noise emissions. The pass-by noise emissions of the Econic measured in Stuttgart at 78 dBA are audibly lower than those of a Euro VI diesel engine, which have been measured at 80 dBA. The tank holds up to 600 l of natural gas, allowing high ranges for daily waste collection operations.

For the first time the seven new Econic NGT models in Stuttgart feature the new Euro VI M 936 G natural gas engine with a displacement of 7.7 l and a powerful output of 222 kW (302 hp). The configuration of the fuel-efficient BlueTec in-line 6-cylinder engine is, in many respects, identical to that of a conventional diesel engine; however, the natural gas engine in the Econic NGT burns a prepared mixture of natural gas and air rather than a diesel/air mix.

Because combustion of the alternative fuel natural gas by the monovalent, innovative Econic natural gas engine produces virtually no particulate or fine dust emissions, compliance with Euro VI limit values can be achieved without the need for SCR technology with AdBlue, post-injection processes and particulate filters for exhaust gas cleaning. The CO 2 emissions measured during AWS Stuttgart's operations are actually around 23 percent lower than those of a Euro VI diesel engine, and where biogas is used, it is possible to reduce CO 2 levels even further.

Tax relief on natural gas until 2026 means additional costs can be offset in around 3.5 years

The German cabinet's decision to extend tax relief on natural gas as a fuel until 2026 has provided a boost to the market for climate-friendly natural gas drive systems in Germany: the additional expense involved in purchasing the Econic NGT is offset by lower fuel prices, that means that purchasers will continue to enjoy this benefit for some time to come. "Despite the higher cost of purchasing a natural gas-powered waste collection vehicle, the saving on fuel bills that can be achieved with a complete switch from diesel to natural gas is going to offset our additional costs after around three and a half years," concluded Dr He.

Econic acts as a safety benchmark

The low positioned driver's cab with panoramic windscreen, large windows on the driver's side plus a fully glazed folding door on the co-driver's side ensures that the driver enjoys optimum visibility . The large field of view and the low sitting position allow the driver to have direct eye contact with other road users, in particular more vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

The safety equipment on the Stuttgart NGT vehicles includes numerous systems which set new standards when it comes to preventing traffic accidents: Stability Control Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Emergency Brake Assist, the latest-generation Active Brake Assist (ABA 3) and a rain/light sensor are just a few examples. In addition, the Econic NGT features disk brakes all round, an immobiliser plus a central locking system with remote control.

As an option the Econic NGT can be equipped with additional innovative safety technologies and assistance systems to enhance road safety. These include adaptive cruise control to prevent rear-end collisions plus Sideguard Assist.

High operational efficiency

At AWS Stuttgart operational safety, efficient processes and good working conditions for the driver are paramount. To increase operational efficiency in summer and in winter, it is vital to ensure pleasant climate conditions in the driver's cab. Air conditioning with a pollen filter is therefore a must in AWS Stuttgart's new Econic NGT, as is a further innovation: the new Truma natural gas auxiliary heating system which, with seven weight-optimised steel composite gas bottles, not only delivers a constant supply to the heating system, whether the vehicle is stationary or mobile, but also offers a payload advantage of 400 kg.

The AWS drivers particularly appreciate the wide opening angle of the driver's door and the low entry, which has just two steps. These design highlights of the Econic NGT allow comfortable access and significantly reduce the risk of injury when exiting the cab. The generous interior dimensions of the cab allow for a row of four seats and offer plenty of stowage space for equipment and weatherproof clothing for the driver and crew. A switch on the B-pillar which operates the folding door on the co-driver's side is another new, comfort-enhancing feature. Other new additions include a refuse program with automatic shift into neutral and the bodybuilder emergency stop switch in the instrument support. Fitting an Eco package limits the vehicle speed to 85 km/h with constant acceleration, which simulates a three-quarters load status and locks the kickdown function.
The Dane County Board reaffirmed its policy on immigration inquiries Thursday while denouncing two of President Donald Trumps executive orders focused on immigration and deportation.

The board passed two resolutions objecting to Trumps policies on deporting undocumented immigrants and refusing refugees from predominantly Muslim nations.

One resolution, sponsored by Sup. Carousel Bayrd, denounces Trumps executive order signed Jan. 27 that prioritizes deporting undocumented immigrants who have been charged or convicted of any crime or otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security.

The resolution reaffirms county policy barring county employees from inquiring about a persons immigration status. County policy also requires employees other than law enforcement to consult with its corporation counsels office before disclosing immigration status or other confidential information to any government institution or individual.

We are stating our values and what we prioritize, Bayrd said. We will not record, document or provide immigration status (to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

The resolution also asks the Dane County Sheriffs Office to change part of its policy on cooperating with ICE. That aspect of the resolution was not discussed during the meeting.

Sheriff Dave Mahoney told the Wisconsin State Journal that he does what he has to do to maintain life, safety and security of the jail and part of that includes sharing information with ICE.

The Sheriffs Office asks about the immigration status of every person booked into the jail and shares that information with ICE, regardless of the crime. The Sheriffs Office will not, however, keep a person jailed past his or her scheduled release date.

Mahoney said Sheriff Office employees do not ask questions about immigration status unless someone is booked into the jail.

When we interact in the community, immigration status has no bearing on the interactions or actions that (deputies) take, Mahoney said.

Several supervisors voiced support for the resolution, recalling stories of how their families immigrated to the United States.

The resolution passed on a voice vote with Sups. Dave Ripp, Michael Willett and Ronn Ferrell abstaining.

Another resolution, also sponsored by Bayrd, denounced Trumps Jan. 27 order suspending entry of refugees to the United States for 120 days and indefinitely barring Syrian refugees. The resolution also denounced the executive orders suspension of entry for citizens of seven mostly Muslim nations.

A federal court ruled Feb. 4 that the ban was unconstitutional and blocked the executive order, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision Feb. 9.

The resolution passed 29-1, with Willett voting no. Ripp and Farrell abstained.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...
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...
President Donald Trumps pick of Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster to replace his disgraced national security adviser, Michael Flynn, reassures on many levels.

McMaster is a serious warrior scholar. Those who know him speak highly of his lack of pretense and praise his battlefield experience. That experience includes reforming U.S. counterterrorism strategy to defeat insurgents in Iraq, a plan developed in part in Colorado as McMaster ran Fort Carsons 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in 2004. McMasters approach won praise during the 2007 surge in Baghdad.

Prior to that, McMaster led an armored regiment in Americas first Iraq war in a famous battle against a much larger Iraqi Republican Guard force. Outnumbered, but not outdone, McMasters role in the battle led to comparisons to Gen. George Patton.

Heady stuff indeed. But theres more: McMaster also is a student of the responsibility to think and speak independently on issues of national security. His book, Dereliction of Duty, published in 1997, takes a deep dive into the behind-the-scenes actions and inactions by the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Johnson administrations execution of the war in Vietnam.

One of the then-young doctoral candidates thesis arguments is that civilian and military advisers too often held their counsel when Johnson ignored important advice. As The Associated Press reported, the book won McMaster the reputation for having the courage to speak truth to power.

As Congressman Mike Coffman, R-Colorado, tells us, McMasters book found that had the joint chiefs stood up to the president, they wouldnt have gotten so deeply into that quagmire.

Hes somebody who will stand up to the president when he disagrees with the president, Coffman said, and I think we need that now.

Good to know, given the dizzying collapse of Flynn, a Trump pick whose out-of-the-gate actions were a disaster and an embarrassment. We railed against Flynns dishonesty in dealing with top Trump officials about the nature of his conversation with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

McMasters critique of the Johnson administration reminds us that one of the books Trump strategist Stephen Bannon suggested to some during Trumps transition to the White House: The Best and the Brightest, David Halberstams 1972 look into errors by the Kennedy administration that pulled the U.S. into Vietnam.

As Bannon told columnist Marc Tracy, Its great for seeing how little mistakes early on can lead to big ones later.

Given the early turmoil of Trumps moves on the National Security Council, including giving Bannon unprecedented power among the advisers, we hope that Trumps choice of McMaster is evidence he has learned from his mistakes with Flynn and now appreciates the need for a balancing counterpoint to the much-less-experienced Bannon.

In accepting the new role, McMaster said he looked forward to doing everything that I can to advance and protect the interests of the American people.

We wish him all the best in accomplishing his goals.
I first met Cinderria, an 18-year-old woman of color, in a library in Downtown Madison. She approached the table marked Voter ID Assistance and explained that with the 2016 presidential primary only a few months away, and despite several trips to the DMV, she still didnt have a valid ID as mandated by Wisconsins strict new laws. It turned out she needed a Social Security card but wasnt sure how to obtain one.

Proponents of voter ID laws dont want to acknowledge that Cinderrias case is far from unusual. Experts project that in Wisconsin alone, 300,000 eligible voters lack the ID necessary to cast a ballot. Across the country, 32 states have some form of voter ID law, creating a crisis of disenfranchisement not seen since the civil rights era.

These ID laws dont touch all groups equally: Voters of color, like Cinderria, are hit hardest. The elderly, students and low-income voters also are disproportionately affected. (A new study published in the Journal of Politics, for instance, found that strict ID laws lower African-American, Latino, Asian-American and multiracial American turnout.)

States that have implemented voter ID laws have shown little to no interest in helping their citizens comply. And the advocacy organizations that oppose these laws have few resources for direct voter assistance. Instead, groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have focused on challenging voter ID mandates in court. Thats essential, but its not enough. As court battles proceed, we must acknowledge our collective obligation to voters like Cinderria by investing in on-the-ground, in-person support.

Before the 2016 election, a group of us in Madison recognized the problem and got to work, partnering with local organizations such as the League of Women Voters and NAACP. As one coalition, we collaborated with social service agencies, churches, food pantries, employers, schools and election administrators.

Outreach continued through the November election and is ongoing for spring elections. But tons of work is left to do in Madison, to say nothing of the state or nation as a whole.

The right to vote is not denied only in large volume. Our democracy deteriorates every single time an older voter cant find transportation to a distant DMV, and every single time a working mother cant afford the fees associated with redundant paperwork to prove her citizenship.

Having worked one-on-one with would-be voters, a nefarious truth about these laws has become clear to me. Not only do the requirements hamper individuals in the short term, they also can send a long-term signal to historically disenfranchised communities that theyre not invited into their countrys democratic process  a feeling all too familiar to those who were born before the abolition of Jim Crow.

We cannot return to the era of literacy tests and poll taxes. Its crucial all voters are offered help because they must not lose the belief their vote is precious and their participation essential to our democracy. These voters are our neighbors, our co-workers and, at the most basic level, our fellow citizens. Their rights are as valuable as those of any big-spending campaign donor.

Despite repeated assurances from voter ID proponents that these laws arent discriminatory and are easy to comply with, lived experience proves the opposite.

Cinderria was finally able to obtain an ID, but only weeks after we first met. I traveled with her to the DMV to make sure nothing went wrong.

Claudelle, a voter in his 60s whose mother mistakenly spelled his name Clardelle on his birth certificate, was refused an ID with his correct name twice.

On a trip to the DMV with a 34-year-old named Zack, we were given inaccurate information on how to receive a free ID to vote. A recording of that interaction prompted a federal judge to order retraining of DMV workers across Wisconsin.

The voters affected by these laws  who, again, are more likely to be low-income, transient and elderly  often are unreachable through social media campaigns or other online communication. That makes in-person outreach indispensable.

A young Madison woman named Treasure, for instance, was unable to obtain an ID until neighborhood canvassers knocked on her door and gave her accurate information and assistance.

Such work is not an admission that voter ID laws arent worth fighting. They are. It represents, rather, a commitment to fight suppression at every level. We have no choice but to organize, lace up our shoes and meet would-be voters where they live and work.
A Kansas man allegedly shot two Indian-American men and a bystander after yelling anti-immigrant slurs Wednesday night.

Adam Purinton, 51, allegedly opened fire on the two Indian-American engineers in an Olathe, Kansas, bar, in an incident Kansas police say was premeditated. Purinton then left the bar and traveled to a nearby Applebees in Clinton, Missouri, where he allegedly remarked that he had shot two Middle Eastern men, and that he needed a place to hide.

Purinton confronted the men while drinking at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe around 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Get out of my country, Purinton allegedly told the two Indian-American men, according to at least one witness. Others told the Kansas City Star that he had been making racial slurs before he allegedly shot and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla and injured Alok Madasani, who worked with Kuchibhotla at Garmin International. A bystander, Ian Grillot, attempted to intervene, and was shot non-fatally in the hand and shoulder.

Purinton then allegedly fled the scene, while police used helicopters and a K9 unit to search for a man they described as being in his early fifties. Meanwhile, Purinton reportedly crossed the Missouri border, and began drinking in the Applebees bar approximately five hours later. There, he allegedly told a bartender that he had murdered two Middle Eastern men and wanted to lay low. The bartender called police, who arrested Purinton. He was unarmed at the time of his arrest.

Police have since charged Purinton with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated murder. During a Thursday press conference, Johnson County district attorney Steve Howe said that officials were investigating whether the murders could be prosecuted as a hate crime, and whether Purinton had violated civil rights laws.

This is so very fresh, Howe said. We dont want to talk about things until were absolutely sure of Purintons motive.

Purintons neighbors told the Star that he may have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and may have been diagnosed with other serious illnesses. Public records show Purinton had a number of hunting licenses, suggesting he had access to a gun.

The two surviving victims reportedly suffered serious injuries. Madasani was critically injured, a GoFundMe account in his name claims. Grillot faces a lengthy recovery, his sisters wrote on his own GoFundMe page.

Garmin, the Olathe-based company where Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked as engineers, confirmed the casualties in an email to employees on Thursday.

Unfortunately, two associates on our Aviation Systems Engineering team, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, were shot, the company wrote. We are devastated to inform you that Srinivas passed away and Alok is currently recovering in the hospital.

Purinton is being held on a $2 million bond while investigators continue gathering information in his case.
BATTLE CREEK, Mich.After 55 minutes of boos, grave concerns and complaints, Rep. Justin Amash seemed to be looking to break the tension at his afternoon town hall.

You look happy, Amash said with a nervous but hopeful laugh before handing over the microphone to a constituent, adding, This will probably be a doozy of a question."

The constituent went on to ask about the congressmans positions on federal oversight over natural resources.

The scene is emblematic of the boisterous 90 minute town hall meeting Amash hosted Thursday afternoon in a recreation center gymnasium in downtown Battle Creek.

The four-term Republican from Western Michigan, known for his admiration of Austrian economics, strict adherence to the Constitution and a penchant for wearing jeans and zip-up sweaters (both of which were on full display) was slated to spend 60 minutes with constituents who gathered at the Full Blast Recreation Center.

But for 90 minutes, Amash fielded questions on health care, the environment, immigration, gun control and the Department of Education from an angry crowd of roughly 300 people at noon on a Thursday, only ceasing to take questions and comments when he was informed by aides that their allotted time with the venue had run out.

While the Amash town hall featured questions on multiple topicsthe congressman says he doesnt pre-screen questionsit was repeal of the Affordable Care Act that dominated. Amash has long opposed Obamacare, arguing that the federal law needs to be repealed and health care left to states.

NO! and SINGLE PAYER were common refrains to Amashs attempts to further explain his health care policy policy positions.

Moreover, signs reading Save the ACA dotted the crowd and following the event, one constituent advised him, dont touch Medicare or Medicaid.

As Amashan Arab-American whose parents immigrated from Palestine and Syriaattempted to explain how his parents would have been banned under President Donald Trumps stalled immigration executive order, he was interrupted again with yells of GOOD! by a handful of attendees.

In spite of the angry and concerned constituents who appeared to run the political gamut, including a self-proclaimed gun-toting, bleeding heart commie asking the congressman about his ties to right wing groups like Club for Growth, Amash tried to a strike an even-keeled, congenial tone.

Socialism and nationalism are dangerous ideologies for our country in the long run, a flustered Amash said, having just advised attendees to read the Federalist Papers. We have a very good country with a good system. We dont want to become like Europe.

But many constituents in Battle Creek, 120 miles west of Detroit, werent having it.

Its good for the oligarchs! one man in the crowd shouted.

Long known as a company town and colloquially as Cereal Citydue to its status as the world headquarters for Kelloggs CerealBattle Creek has found hard times in recent years. The global food maker is no longer the largest employer in the city of just over 51,000. Instead that honor goes to a subsidiary of a Japanese auto manufacturer.

Given that Battle Creek fits the notion of a Rust Belt city almost perfectly, some of the anger at Amash and other politicians may not be surprising. But todays town hall wasnt all fire and brimstone.

Several attendees just wanted to share their story with Amash in the hopes that he might listen. That included Battle Creek resident and Vietnam veteran, Tomi Ailene Morris, a transitioned woman concerned about not only yesterdays order by President Donald Trump withdrawing federal protections for transgender people, but also about the suicide rate for LGBT teenagers.

Morris, who was profiled in 2015 by local newspaper the Battle Creek Enquirer, told The Daily Beast she was fairly impressed with Amashs willingness to listen, but still hopes for more opportunities to talk with the representative.

He answered better than most politicians, and he at least listened to me. Thats step one, Morris said. Id just like to sit down and talk to him. Between me and him and (tell him) what I believe.

The same went for fellow Battle Creek resident Bonnie DiGennaro, who The Daily Beast spotted carrying around the book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, by journalist and activist Naomi Klein. DiGennaro said she had just begun reading the book, but prior to the start of the town hall had given Amash a copy of another climate-focused book, The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy, by climate scientist Michael E. Mann.

DiGennaro said that like Morris, she just wants her congressman to listen, think, and hopefully at least skim the book, adding that Amash said he would do that.

So I gave it to him and hoping that he will at least, perhaps change his position on global warming, she said. He was at another town hall meeting and he said he did not believe that global warming was a result of human activity.

During the town hall, Amash said he believed the climate is changing, but was not convinced humans are are main cause.

"The question is what extent it's human caused," Amash said. "And to what extent we should devote resources to addressing it, versus the effect it has on our economy."

Amash has a lifetime score of 15 percent from the League of Conservation Voters.

The good news for Amash constituents like DiGennaro and Morris: they should get more chances to ask their congressman follow-up questions. Amash said he aims to continue doing more town halls, even at a time when representatives all over the country are facing the wrath of their constituents.

Its our job. we have to communicate with constituents, hear from constituents, learn from constituents, Amash said. Its an honor to be in this position, people elect me to represent them and its my duty to be here.

Nick Manes is a journalist based in Grand Rapids, Mich. Follow him on Twitter at @nickrmanes
ISTANBULBacked by Turkish air, armor and artillery support, Free Syrian Army forces announced on Thursday the capture Al Bab, a major stronghold of the so-called Islamic State in northern Syria, following a two and a half months of battle.

The city had served as the headquarters for ISIS intelligence operations, including terror attacks in Europe in 2015 and 2016. It is also an important stepping stone on the way to Raqqah, the capital of the putative ISIS caliphate.

Al Bab is free and under Free Syrian Army control after intensive operations against Daesh [ISIS], said Col. Abu Firas, official military spokesman for FSA forces in the Turkish-backed Operation Euphrates Shield. He said operations were now under way to clear the outskirts of the city.

The fighting may not be entirely over, because some ISIS militants may still be hiding in the vast water tunnel network beneath the town. Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said Thursday that almost all of Al Bab is under control now and sweep operations are currently under way.

Videos posted by the Free Syrian Army showed troops posing for celebratory photos in the towns main square, conducting minesweeping operations and driving in convoys through the town.

There is no doubt that ISIS had gone down to a major defeat.

Today, we liberated Al Bab completely, said Fahim Abu Ahmad, the commander of the Sultan Murad Division, in a widely distributed video. He was speaking on behalf of the joint operations room located in the village of Hwar Killis.

In another big setback for the extremists, U.S.-backed Iraqi forces stormed Mosul airport Thursday and captured the main runway. And in eastern Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Defense Forces captured three more villages in the vicinity of Raqqah.

The capture of Al Bab upended the playing field in Syrias multi-layered war, which started as a national uprising against President Bashar al Assad just under six years ago and took on the added dimension of a war against terror when ISIS emerged from the fighting to control vast swaths of territory of Iraq and Syria.

The U.S., Russia, Iran, and Turkey all have forces in Syria, and the alliances theyve formed with forces on the ground intertwine in sometimes baffling ways. The battle for Al Bab has given new prominence to some players and left others in the dust.

The Free Syrian Army ground force that claimed victory in Al Bab Thursday, a collaboration of locally based anti-regime militias, had fallen into obscurity due to infighting, a lack of concerted outside support, and the judgment of many observers they were no longer a player.

Before taking office last month, President Donald Trump said the U.S. didnt know anything about the forces that its been backing with arms in a program administered by the CIA.

Now that force is back on the map, it intends to use its new credibility to try to shape the battlefield in the months ahead, as the Trump administration steps up efforts to capture of Raqqa.

The Obama administration had intended to use the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces militia as its spearhead to capture Raqqa, a largely Arab city.

We refused that, said Mustafa Sijari, the political commander of the Mutasem Brigade, whos also a spokesman for the FSA part of the Euphrates Shield operation. We want to be the only part involved in the operation for taking Raqqa. We are now in a position to insist on that demand. We proved our efficiency, and the U.S. government can no longer say we cant do it.

Theyve paid in blood. According to Abdullah Agar, a Turkish security expert, the FSA lost some 470 fighters and had more than 1,700 wounded in the Turkish-backed fighting in Syria that began last August.

Also back on the map is Turkey itself, which provided special forces, heavy armor, weapons and ammunition to the FSA fighters. After ousting ISIS from Jarablus, the FSA in mid-September announced its next target was Al Bab.

Turkey has been criticized in Washington for not playing a prominent role in the U.S.-led war against ISIS. And many commentators depicted the Euphrates Shield operation as driven by Ankaras fear that the U.S.-backed Kurdish Peoples Protection Units militia (YPG) would seize a corridor in Syria along the Turkish border, and try to split off predominantly Kurdish territory from southern Turkey to form a Kurdish state.

But as of Thursday, Turkey can claim a central role in liberating some 770 square miles of territory from ISIS at a loss of 69 soldiers.

Defense Minister Isik also called on the U.S. to drop the Obama administration plans to use YPG-led forces to attack Raqqa. Our wish is not to launch the operation in Raqqa with the terrorist elements of the YPG but to do it with the FSA force and local fighters from Raqqa, Defense Minister Issa said Thursday. In such an operation with coalition forces, we will give the necessary support.

While the FSA and Turkey have regained credibility by capturing Jarablus and Al Bab, the main losers, apart from ISIS, appear to be the YPG militiawhich attempted to capture Al Bab, and the Assad regime, which opposed Turkeys intervention and sent its own forces to capture the town, only to fail.

The biggest single military obstacle in the Al Bab battle was the network of fortified underground water conduits dug by the Syrian government before the war to bring water from the Euphrates river to Al Bab, according to FSA spokesman Sijari. They connect Al Bab to two nearby towns, Bzaa and Qabbasin, and ISIS used them to move from one town to the other.

They made the job of the Turkish air force very difficult, he said After we captured the town of Bzaasuddenly ISIS returned and attacked us from behind. But FSA fighters were able to obtain a map of the network and destroyed all the key junctions, he said. Hopefully they will no longer serve that function.

The FSA announced Thursday night it had captured both Bzaa and Qabbasin as well.

As for the network of alliances between outside powers and internal players, it shows every sign of remaining as complex as it was, and not subject to the simple remedy of blowing up the points of intersection.

Russia and Iran back the Syrian government forces as well as the foreign militias fighting the Assad regimes political opponents. The U.S. backs the anti-government rebels as well as the Kurdish Peoples Protection Force (YPG) militia fighting ISIS. But the YPG has support from the Assad regime, Russia and Iran as well as from the U.S.

Turkey is at war with ISIS but also with the YPG, which is an extension of the PKK fighting Ankara inside Turkey. Russia conducted a number of airstrikes in the Al Bab operation in coordination with Turkey but also bombed Turkish forces, saying it was an accident, and Turkish media reported that a drone lofted by Iran had killed Turkish troops. The U.S. refused for several weeks to assist Turkey on the Al Bab front but then relented and contributed frequent airstrikes.

Special correspondent Duygu Guvenc contributed from Ankara
Its barely a month in, but the Trump administration has already brought great news for Americas private prison companies.

On Feb. 21, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded a memo that former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates issued last summer which moved to end the departments reliance on private prison companies. The Justice Department announced the policy change on the afternoon of Feb. 23, and didnt immediately explain why the announcement came two days after the change.

Yates initially issued the memo phasing out contracts with private prison companies after the departments inspector general concluded that prisons they managed had more safety and security incidents than their public counterparts.

Yates memo didnt have an immediate or massive impact on the number of federal inmates housed in private prisons. The inspector general report said that as of December of 2015, private prisons housed 22,660 federal inmates. Currently, they house 21,000 federal inmates.

Still, Yates memo had powerful symbolism: It signified that the federal government had serious reservations about contracting with private companies to incarcerate people, and was gradually trying to change. Sessions move reverses that decision, and signals thatat least for the next four yearsthese companies wont face the stigma that comes with federal distancing.

In his memo reversing Yates move, Sessions suggested that phasing out the use of private prisons could lead to overcrowding.

The memorandum changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureaus ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system, he wrote.

A Justice Department spokesman reiterated that sentiment in a statement provided to reporters.

This will restore [the Bureau of Prisons] flexibility to manage the federal prison inmate population based on capacity needs, he said.

The companies that will benefit from the change told The Daily Beast they feel validated.

Our company welcomes the memorandum by the Attorney General reinstating the continued use of privately operated facilities, which has been long-standing practice and policy at the Federal level, said Pablo Paez, a spokesman for GEO Group. We believe that the decision made last August was based on a misrepresentation of the report issued by the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General.

And Jonathan Burns, a spokesman for CoreCivic, told The Daily Beast that his company is pleased with the change.

The Attorney Generals announcement validates our position that the Departments previous direction was not reflective of the high quality services we have provided to the federal government for decades, he said. We look forward to continuing to serve our federal government partners by helping them address our countrys most pressing correctional challenges.

This change isnt the only Trump Administration move that will increase the federal governments reliance on private prison companies. Recent memos from the Department of Homeland Security indicate that the administration will dramatically expand the use of immigrant detention. And most immigrants in detention are kept in privately managed facilities65 percent last year, according to USA Today.

Private prisons draw consistent criticism from activist groups, who hold that they have significantly worse outcomes for prisoners and detainees, and that incarceration is a core government function that shouldnt be outsourced to publicly traded companies.

Handing control of prisons over to for-profit companies is a recipe for abuse and neglect, said David Fathi, who heads the ACLUs National Prison Project. The memo from Attorney General Sessions ignores this fact. Additionally, this memo is a further sign that under President Trump and Attorney General Sessions, the United States may be headed for a new federal prison boom, fueled in part by criminal prosecutions of immigrants for entering the country.

And the controversy became a campaign trail during the presidential contest. Hillary Clinton criticized them during one presidential debate, while Trump defended them. And one pro-Trump super PAC took contributions from a subsidiary of one private prison company, drawing criticism from activists and transparency groups.

By the end of the campaign, it was clear Trump was the last, best hope for private prison companies.

And, after just over a month in office, hes delivered.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland  Last year, this was Ted Cruz country. Today, it was The Donald J. Trump Show.

At the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference hosted by the American Conservative Union at National Harbor, Trump made his triumphant CPAC homecoming on Friday morning, not as a reality-TV star or a birther novelty as he has in the past, but as a nationalist iconand the leader of the free world with a Secret Service detail.

I love this place," Trump said to the adoring, excitable crowd of College Republicans, conservative activists and voters, and pro-Trump luminaries such as Scottie Nell Hughes. Trump fans were packed into the hotel ballroom, with many spilling over into the press pen.

Liars! and fake news! some of the rowdier attendees jeered.

They were gleefully following the lead of their new president, who kicked off his speech with another salvo at the media and investigative reporting that revealed bad behavior in his nascent administration.

Sure, the president hit his classic, campaign-trail standbys: Obamacare doesnt work, Trump repeated. (Kill it! a supporter shouted at the stage.) He opined on building that wall. He spoke about how the Democratic primary was rigged against Bernie Sanders and in favor of Hillary Clinton. Were getting bad ones out, he said, discussing his hardline immigration policies. None of these big quagmire deals, he said, riffing on trade. He promised to keep the radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country. He smirked as his supporters started a  LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP! chant.

But he led with hisand his White House staffs favorite political and rhetorical pastime: political and rhetorical pastime: bashing reporters.

The media didnt think we would win, Trump reminded the crowd. The pundits didnt think we would winThey underestimated the power of the people: you.

Trumps repeated digs at the dishonest media were met with USA! USA! chants from the room.

Never underestimate the peoplenever, he continued.

For all his time serving as commander-in-chief, Trump has enjoyed a new career as the worlds most famous media critic. Allegedly fake news is the biggest thorn in President Media Critics side.

I want you all to know we are fighting the fake news. Its phony. Fake! he said to applause and laughter.

The president repeated his line that mainstream media outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, and NBC News are the  enemy  of the American people.

They arethe enemy of the peoplebecause they have no sources, they just make it up, he claimed, soldiering on in his long-running crusade against the media.

He encouraged reporters, including the many gathered in the room to hear him speak, to never use anonymous sources. The president was still upset with a CNN report from Thursday that said that the FBI had rejected a request from the White House to knock down reports on communications between Trump allies and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Let their name be put out there, he dared. Let them say it to my face.

The audience happily played along. CNN SUCKS! some yelled, as others booed. I LOVE YOU DONALD! another belted out. We love you, Mr. President! several exclaimed.

"[The media] doesn't represent the people, it never will represent the people, and we're going to do something about it, Trump promised.

Left-leaning protesters, for the most part, sat this one out. There was one skinny young man in the audience who screamed, FASCIST! at the president, and was quickly escorted out by security.

However, much of the antipathy at CPAC towards President Trump wasnt coming from outsidersit was coming from within the ACU itself.

If [the ACU endorses Trump], it will be the darkest day in this organizations history, Thomas Winter, first vice chairman of the ACU and former Human Events editor, warned the ACU board of directors in the summer of last year.

Multiple board members also told The Daily Beast that board members this week were similarly worried about the fascist and Jew-hating and white nationalist elements that have infected the Republican Party, in the form of the racist, pro-Trump, and nationalist alt-right .

The revolution is here, and its bloody, man, one ACU board member told The Daily Beast earlier this week. The craziest elements of the [party] have managed to get every single thing they wanted over the past year. I care about the [conservative] movement and I care where it goes. This is the shape our movement is in today.

Still, in public, ACU leadership wanted everyone to know that everything was roses between them and President Trump.

We will continue to have your back, ACU chairman Matt Schlapp said, introducing Trump on the mainstage.

On Thursday, Kellyanne Conway, who now serves as a counselor to the president, addressed the CPAC audience, and talked about how Trump had, in her view, revitalized a withered American conservatism.

Tomorrow, this will be TPAC, Conway told the crowd.
The mysterious email arrived days after our story was published.

We were investigating the July 2016 arrest of Michelle Hadley, a quiet, goody-two-shoes MBA student in Orange County, California who had been accused of impersonating her exs new wife on replies to Craigslist rape fantasy ads.

At the time, prosecutors claimed Hadley had not only pretended to be Angela Maria Diaz, but also sent her graphic emails threatening her life and that of her unborn child. Diaz claimed strangers appeared at her condo and assaulted her because of the ads, and she told police she believed Hadley was behind the attacks.

And someone named Lacey had more to say about it.

In August, Lacey cryptically contacted The Daily Beast and offered intel on Diaz. She also claimed she was having an affair with Angelas husband, a U.S. Marshal named Ian Diaz. I have been a close friend and dated Ian (quite currently), despite his marriage to Angela Diaz, the victim in this case, the email began.

The sender claimed that Ian Diazwho is Hadleys former fiance and happened to be fighting her in court for ownership of the condo they once owned togetherwas cheating on Angela during their marriage.

She was attacked, almost raped and stalked, yet this man continually contacts other women and has really no business doing that, the supposed tipster added. Angela is a really pretty nice girl and has been a victim of not only Michelle, but her cheating hubby.

The bottom of the message contained photos of Angela and Ian, and one snapshot of Angela with a scruffy black dog. I have these pictures so you can see for yourself how she is, the sender concluded. The media needs to investigate this.

The messages stopped after we asked Lacey to provide proof of her identity and she refused.

It wasnt until January, when the Orange County DA dropped all charges against Hadley and announced that Angela Diaz herself was now under investigation, that we began to wonder if we had been catfished by Diaz or someone affiliated with her alleged convoluted crimes. (Calls to Diazs lawyer were not returned by press time; well update with her response once we hear back.)

At a press conference last month, prosecutors announced they had exonerated Hadley and that she had been falsely accused.

Now they had their sights on Diaz and accused her of orchestrating a Gone Girl-style plot in an attempt to put Hadley away for life.

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas was forced to concede that cops prime suspect ended up being the innocent victim of a diabolical scheme, which was allegedly masterminded by the spouse of Hadleys ex.

I dont think we have a clear statement of what her motive might be, Rackauckas told reporters, before adding, You have a love triangle. Maybe a [desire] to put the dagger into the older relationship, but all thats just speculation at this time.

Diaz, a 31-year-old daughter of an Arizona doctor, is incarcerated on a $1-million bond and awaiting trial on a litany of charges including kidnapping, false imprisonment, falsely filing a police report, grand theft and forgery.

She faces 12 years and eight months in state prison, in addition to 11 years in county jail, prosecutors say.

Authorities say Diaz sent intimidating messages to herself and made it appear that Hadley was the author. Some of them were sinister and Biblical in tone, describing Hadley as Lilith and Diaz as Eve. Diaz also allegedly pretended to be pregnant with the U.S. Marshals baby and forged doctors notes.

Prosecutors have not charged Ian Diazor suggested any involvement by himin his estranged wifes case, and Ians lawyers did not return messages left by The Daily Beast. Court records show Ian Diaz, 39, filed for a marriage annulment in September 2016.

Allison Margolin, Angela Diazs attorney, said she believes there might be other conspirators in the alleged plot against Hadley.

Its still unclear who was involved and how many suspects there are. Its not clear to me why Angela is being singled out and somehow [pegged as] the mastermind of the entire situation, Margolin told The Daily Beast.

She described Diaz as a much easier target for prosecutors than the U.S. Marshal.

People are innocent until proven guilty, Margolin said. When the government is publicly telling their side of the story, and the defense hasnt had the opportunity to see all the evidence, I think people should look at that skeptically.

Meanwhile, Michelle Hadleywho lost her job, her apartment and dropped out of business school because of the false allegations against heris left to pick up the pieces. She filed a notice of claim against the Anaheim Police Department for her wrongful arrest and launched a blog to write about her arrest and post-setup life.

The top of her new website declares, 2 false arrests. 86 days in jail. But that wont stop me from loving, laughing, or living.

Hadley is slated to appear on the Today Show this morning, and her story is getting the Dateline treatment tonight at 10/9c in a one-hour episode titled Diabolical, a segment on which I discuss the case.

In an interview with The Daily Beast on Wednesday, the 30-year-old Hadley said, I dont want people remembering me as the girl who has suffered for this. I want to be remember as the girl who fought back.

The bookworm was arrested twice: Once in June after Diaz contacted police, and again in July after she was bailed out of jail. She spent three months behind bars while her parents and attorney, Michael L. Guisti, feverishly advocated on her behalf.

Hadley blamed Anaheim cops for refusing to consider evidence she believes would have absolved her of any crime. During the Dateline special, she tells correspondent Dennis Murphy, I appreciate the apologies. But the apologies dont rebuild your life and the apologies dont undo whats been done.

According to Hadley, Anaheim police dropped the ball big time by allegedly failing to conduct a thorough investigation that included obtaining IP addresses and certain camera footage at the condo building, where she once shared a home with the federal lawman and where Diaz had claimed to be attacked by men seeking rape fantasies.

While cops havent released a motive, Hadley believes Angela Diaz might have targeted her because she filed a lawsuit against Ian Diaz over their condominium. The timing on it all perfectly coincides with actions on the real-estate property, Hadley told The Daily Beast. She says the alleged setup had nothing to do with a love rivalry.

What love triangle? I wasnt in the picture. Why would she go after me? Im just the ex, Hadley said, adding that shes never met Angela before.

The tone of all her fake e-mails pretending to be me  she is complimenting herself. Its really weird. If the cops read this at all, [they should have thought] Why would Michelle be complimenting her?

Prosecutors say Diaz impersonated not only Hadley, but two of her hubbys former flames.

Investigators told The Daily Beast they believe Lacey, whose last name is being withheld by The Daily Beast, is another ex-girlfriend whose identity Diaz tried to assume.

In August, when asked for proof of identity, Lacey told The Daily Beast she works for Apple and cannot risk my job. Then she forwarded an email that she had sent to an Anaheim detective working on the Hadley case.

The detective on the case has heard my story, the sender stated in her third and final email to The Daily Beast. How sad and sorry we should all feel for this poor woman [Diaz]. Angela knows nothing more than how to be a dutiful and good wife it seems yet shes being attacked from all sides. Someone should speak out for her.

When asked about Lacey, the Anaheim Police Department confirmed a detective did receive emails from the same address.

Sgt. Daron Wyatt said those missivessimilar to emails that make up Diazs criminal casewere sent under someone elses identity.

The email address is based off a real person. There is a real Lacey. We did contact her  and our investigation has confirmed she did not send the email, Wyatt told The Daily Beast.

Wyatt, however, would not confirm whether police suspected Angela Diaz of pretending to be Lacey online. He cited the pending investigation. The department confirmed involvement of other parties in the case, Wyatt said. Not Michelle [Hadley].

A woman who is believed to be the real Lacey did not return emails or phone calls left by The Daily Beast.

Danny Becerra, an investigator for the Orange County DA, told The Daily Beast that Lacey was probably somebody [Ian Diaz] had dated in the past. As far as the type of relationship and how long, I dont know.

Becerra said authorities are tasked with combing through a thousand pages worth of emails that Diaz allegedly sent herself and determining which IP addresses and devices those messages came from.

A lot of them were being sent from an IP address from their [Ian and Angelas] home. Whos behind the computer? Thats all part of the investigation, Becerra said.

Lacey isnt the only past love Angela Diaz allegedly imitated.

A search warrant affidavitfiled in Diazs native Arizonaalleges Diaz posed as her ex-boyfriend in menacing emails that she sent to herself and used as ammunition against Hadley. Those messages, delivered under the name Jason Ray, were included in Diazs petition for a restraining order against Hadley, too.

One May 2016 email from Jason Ray began, You have not heeded my warnings and will have to be hurt in order to see the truth about Him, referring to Ian Diaz.

YOU NEED TO WATCH YOUR BACK, the message warned, according to court papers.

Another email, titled The Truth, stated, DO WE HAVE TO HURT YOU TO MAKE YOU SEE THIS?

IAN IS A SNAKE, SATAN AND IS A SINNER . You are disposable and I hope to GOD ON HIGH you are put in your place.

I WILL PROVE TO YOU THE TRUTH, no matter the cost.

Jason Ray likely refers to Jason Rayburn, a California cop who had dated and broken up with Diaz before she married the U.S. Marshal. It wasnt until Diazs arrest that he learned she was allegedly impersonating him.

According to the affidavit reviewed by The Daily Beast, Diaz contacted Anaheim police in May 2016 to report Hadley was sending her threatening messages through a LinkedIn account with the name Jason Rayburn.

I located Jason Rayburn who told me he never had a [Linkedin] account but he did have a dating relationship with Angela that lasted 8 months until he discovered she had lied about having cervical cancer and being an attorney, an Anaheim detective stated in the document.

Reached by phone, Rayburn confirmed that Diaz had apparently been impersonating him online. He told The Daily Beast that police questioned him as part of the Diaz investigation and that he could not comment in detail.

Still, his twisted liaison with Diaz, who then was named Angela Connell, still haunts him.

They met at a pub where Rayburn, a bassist, had just performed with his band. The cop stood at the bar when Diaz allegedly made a beeline for him. Like a lion on the Serengeti, she saw her wounded gazelleor the guy who was paying the tab, Rayburn recalled. We carried on a conversation for several minutes and exchanged numbers.

Soon after, they moved in together. But, according Rayburn, the relationship took a strange turn with drama that consumed him and his friends and family.

At the time, Id literally felt like I was living in a Lifetime movie or the Oprah Network or something, Rayburn said, adding that he experienced crazy, over-the-top caliber stuff that matches what Hadley allegedly encountered.

When asked about Diazs pending criminal charges, Rayburn said he wasnt surprised. There was incredibly devious stuff going on, Rayburn said. Stuff that a normal human being wouldnt devise. Im fortunate to be out of the situation now.

It truly reaches the level of almost unbelievable, what the human mind is capable of, he said.
Felix Sater is an immigrant who did prison time for stabbing a man in the face with the broken stem of a margarita glass, and he would surely qualify for the label bad hombre were he from Mexico instead of Russia.

It was only by becoming a federal informant that Sater avoided a possible 20-year term for a $40 million fraud in which the feds figure many of the victims were elderly.

Saters father also became an informant after being convicted of joining a Mafia soldier shaking down small businesses in Brooklyn for nearly a decade.

None of that stopped Donald Trump from having extensive business dealings with Sater that included the high-rise Trump SoHo New York hotels and condos. Then, after Saters rap sheet was widely publicized, Trump said he hardly knew the man.

If he were sitting in the room right now, I really wouldnt know what he looked like, Trump says in court papers from a 2013 law suit.

Yet, even as the Trump administration was preparing plans to ramp up deportations, the presidents longtime personal attorney sat down for coffee in a Manhattan hotel with this Russian immigrant.

According to The New York Times, Trump attorney Michael Cohen and Sater were party to some amateur diplomacy aimed at settling the Russian war on Ukraine with a plan to push Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko out of office.

Cohen insisted to The Daily Beast that the Times account was wrong and that he had not been involved in the peace plan. He declined to comment on whether he was troubled by Saters criminal background and organized crime ties.

I will not respond to this question as I am not knowledgeable of all aspects to his past, Cohen told The Daily Beast via email.

Cohen did acknowledge sitting down briefly with Sater at a Manhattan hotel last month.

I was asked to meet him for a quick coffee and agreed, Cohen told The Daily Beast. When asked, I was unaware who was going to be joining the meeting and never agreed to or worked on any diplomatic plan for Ukraine.

The person who joined the meeting was Andrii Artemenko, a rich Ukrainian member of parliament of dubious reputation in his home country. Artemenko claims to have material evidence of Poroshenkos corruption so compelling as to force the Ukrainian president from office.

The Times stands by its account, saying that Cohen had told the paper that he delivered a copy of the plan to the office of then-National Security Adviser Mike Flynn shortly before Flynn was fired. The plan is said by the Times to involve Russias withdrawal from Ukraine and a referendum on the fate of occupied Crimea: namely, whether or not the peninsula, which Russian forces seized almost bloodlessly in 2014, would be leased to Russia for a term of 50 or 100 years. Artemenko reportedly insists that their peace proposal was met with approval among senior aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sater did not respond to a request for an interview with The Daily Beast before this article was posted. He was quoted elsewhere denying that he had been engaged in actual diplomacy. He did tell Fox News that the effort is just his latest contribution to his adopted land.

What could be wrong in helping stop a war and trying to achieve peace? he said. I have done so much for my country and thought that promoting peace was a good thing.

Sater is certainly experienced in promoting things, principally himself. And what he has done for his countrytwo big Mafia cases for the FBI, a failed effort to buy Stinger missiles in Afghanistan on the black market for the CIA, and supposedly obtaining Osama bin Ladens cellphone numberseems to have been undertaken largely to escape punishment for what he has admitted in court having done to this country.

Much about Trumps presidency, and the cast of characters it has assembled, challenges even the most imaginative Hollywood screenwriting, but Saters backstory is an especially remarkable example. Having emigrated to Brighton Beach from the Soviet Union when he was 8 years old, he might have been the archetype of the self-made immigrant Trump has nothing but admiration for, provided of course theyre from certain non-Muslim countries.

In his early twenties, Sater had a three-year stint as a successful broker on Wall Street before he slashed that mans face open in El Rio Grande, a Manhattan bar, causing the victim a wound which required 110 stitches and earning the perpetrator a felony conviction for assault.

Sater served 15 months at Edgecombe Correctional Facility. He was released on parole, prison records seen by The Daily Best show, in September 1995. A month later, his investment firm, White Rock Partners, changed its name to State Street Capital Markets.

Sater mostly escaped public notice until 1998, when the manager at a Manhattan Mini Storage in SoHo opened a cubicle Sater had rented under a false female name (the account was in arrears) and made an interesting discovery. In addition to a 12-gauge shotgun and two 9-millimeter pistols were a box and gym bag containing documents that led the FBI to a massive pump-and-dump stock fraud, racketeering, and international money laundering scheme, the architects of which were later shown to be Sater and two of his longtime business colleagues, Gennady Gene Klotsman and Salvatore Lauria. Both were with Sater at El Rio Grande the day he turned a margarita glass into a weapon. By the time the evidence was uncovered in SoHo, Sater and Klotsman had gone to Russia; Lauria had also skipped town. They returned and were arrested.

According to a 1998 indictment of Sater filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, Sater violated the terms of his agreement with the National Association of Securities Dealers, which instructed him to restrict his activities at White Rock largely to clerical duties, for which he would receive a minimal salary. In fact, [Sater] received substantial compensation greatly exceeding his agreed-upon salary, and he took part in activities at White Rock and State Street, including the handling of securities and account statement.

As Sater and his co-defendants would later admit when pleading guilty, White Rock and State Street made money by lying about the worth and ownership of securities, encouraging brokerage firms to peddle the artificially inflated stocks, then laundering the proceeds through various off-shore accounts. All told, they stole about $40 million, much of it from elderly investors, including Holocaust survivors.

Moreover, their illicit activities involved four different Italian mafia crime families, as a subsequent grand jury indictment in 2000 stated. Specifically, from March 1993 to October 1996, Frank Coppa Sr., a captain in the Bonnano crime family; Eugene Lombardo, an associate of that family; Daniel Perisco, an associate of the Colombo family; Joseph Polito Sr., an associate of the Gambino family, Ernest Butch Montevecchi, a soldier in the Genovese family among others, devised, implemented and oversaw fraudulent schemes to manipulate the price of securities of four different companies and fraudulently induc[ed] investors to buy and hold these securities, according to the indictment, also filed in the Eastern District of New York.

Sater, Klotsman, and Lauria, who had already pleaded guilty to the 1998 complaint, were listed as unindicted co-conspirators in this later case, which clearly netted much bigger fish for the feds based on an accidental haul at the Mini Storage. They all turned on their former mob accomplices, as did Saters father, Mikhail Sater, also known as Michael Sheferofsky.

The father was indicted in 2000 on two counts by then-U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch. Sheferofskys accomplice in that case was Butch Montevecchi, who also figured in the younger Saters case. Both men pleaded guilty to extorting restaurants, food stores, and a medical clinic in the Russian enclave of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn through intimidation and violence from December of 1990 to January of 1999. The father got off with three years probation in exchange for cooperation that included wearing a wire in a case against a group of Polish immigrants perpetrating major Medicaid fraud in Greenpoint in Brooklyn.

U.S. Attorney Lynch seemed to make ample use of the Saters, who were a unique father and son team, both working as informants with the same Mafia henchmen, but different FBI handlers on different cases. In a letter addressed to U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch during her confirmation hearing to become Barack Obamas attorney general, she wrote that as a decade-long informant Felix Sater provided information crucial to national security and the conviction of over 20 individuals, including those responsible for committing massive financial fraud and members of La Cosa Nostra.

If the reference to national security seems a bit out of place in characterizing a domestic crackdown on organized crime, then that might be because of what Sater, Klotsman, and Lauria allegedly got up to when they were overseas.

As recounted in The Scorpion and the Frog: High Crimes and High Times, a 2003 book Lauria later co-authored with former Associated Press journalist David Barry, the three associates became spies for the CIA, tasked with offering U.S. taxpayer money to buy Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that had gone missing from the covert U.S. campaign to oust the Soviets in Afghanistan. Those missiles, it was feared, were destined for Osama bin Ladens al Qaeda. The idea, according to the book, was to give the Russian government the funds to purchase 10 Stingers on the black market in Afghanistan, and then turn them over to the Sater, Klotsman, and Lauria, who would then relinquish them to their Langley handlers.

I think it was Felix who made the deal to buy 10 Stingers and originally the total sale price was going to be $350,000, Barry told The Daily Beast. So $35,000 per Stinger, which is about what somebody would have to pay for one of those things back then.

The quid pro quo with the U.S. government was purportedly as follows: In exchange for helping to secure the very weapon that helped defeat the Red Army in Afghanistan and thus hasten the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sater, Klotsman, and Lauria would buy a get-out-of-jail-free card for their Wall Street malfeasance.

Lauria has since repudiated his own book, whose publication he tried to have stopped, calling it a work of fiction. Barry insists, however, that based on his independent corroborative spadework, featuring court documents, interviews and open source material, the story of espionage-for-freedom is true.

The Russians would go to Afghanistan to handle this because thats where the missiles werewithout tipping off bin Laden that the Stingers were ultimately going to the CIA, says Barry. They supposedly photographed the serial number of one or more of the Stingers so that the person they were dealing with in the Agency would be able to verify it.

Barry said that while the CIA was eager to exploit any and all contacts, even among those connected to the New York underworld, the FBI, which had embarked on a similar and more notorious collaboration with Boston mobster Whitey Bulger, wasnt as keen. The feds still wanted to nail them all.

What eventually scuppered the arrangement, Barry added, was Klotsmans greed. The other Russian-American multiplied the buy price tenfold, now asking for $350,000 per missile for a total of $3.5 million for all 10. The FBI at that point, according to what Sal told me, said, Fuck this, were not making deals with mob-connected Wall Street gangsters. They had no interest in the Agencys making a deal.

Sater, whom Barry variously described as a bad guy and tough son of a bitch, returned to the U.S. first, without the Get out of Jail card, still facing the possibility of long prison terms. Then came the 9/11 attacks.

Until the tragedy of September 11, the matter of my sentencing was a big weight hanging over my head, Lauria says in the as told to book that Barry wrote. It was very likely that I would do serious time; the question was how much. But a few days after September 11, I got a call from [Sater], telling me that the information we had provided about Osama bin Laden was now being actively pursued, and our situation had improved. Three days before the attack on the World Trade Center, the Taliban or al Qaeda had assassinated the man we had hoped would be our contact, Ahmad Shah Massoud, the man who had become the Northern Alliance leader.

The book continues, [Sater] had gotten a call from a boss of a new section in the FBI who wanted to talk to him about the whole Stinger deal. We had done a careful job of putting it together We had provided the actual serial numbers of the Stingers, which had been available in 98, and we had passed on what we thought was an active cell phone number for bin Laden.

The book goes on, To our way of thinking at the time, we had provided a way to reach bin Laden that should have been important to the U.S. government. [Klotsman] had fouled the deal by raising our asking price for the Stingers from $300,000 to $3 million. Now the information was deemed important, even though the Stinger deal had not gone through. [Sater], for all his other faults, was a very patriotic guy and a diehard Republican, and he was anxious to help the country any way he couldparticularly if it served his purposes.

Saters lawyer, Robert Wolf, would later describe the books version of the failed Stinger deal as fabricated and insist that neither Klotsman nor the FBI were involved. Wolf would also say that fairness required noting that Sater had received high praise from the feds for gathering intelligence on nuclear weapons as well as terrorism and helping to make important criminal cases as he worked to escape punishment for his own crimes. One reason he was so successful in the criminal cases was that he was at the center of the scheme.

By 2002, Sater had reinvented himself yet again, this time as a managing director of a real-estate development firm called the Bayrock Group, founded by the Kazakhstan-born Tevfik Ari. His co-defendant and fellow FBI and CIA informant, Lauria, eventually joined him there.

Bayrocks offices are, conveniently, in Trump Tower, which is how Saters checkered path intersected with the current U.S. president. Court papers say that Sater and Trump first met in 2003 through a leasing agent for the tower. Trump professes when asked about Sater in a sworn deposition not to know him well at all.

Nevertheless, for five years, Sater and Bayrock did deal after licensing deal with the Trump Organization, all over the country. A 2006 Rocky Mountain News article quoted Sater as describing the ideal location for a Trump-named building in Denver, Colorado, while traveling in Moscow with Trumps son, Donald, Jr. Email correspondence obtained by Forbes showed direct contact between Donald, Jr. and Sater in discussions about a Florida high-rise.

In the end, another building in SoHo would be the source of the former FBI moles unwanted media attention.

In 2007, the Charles Bagli of The New York Times profiled Sater owing to Bayrocks involvement in developing the Trump SoHo. Sater, Trump and three of the latters childrenDonald Jr., Eric, and Ivankaattended the unveiling ceremony for the 46-story luxury condo-hotel in the chic Manhattan neighborhood. Trump, Arif, and Sater were photographed standing next to one another at that event.

Bagli recounted Saters history with assault and stock manipulation and yet, in a 2013 deposition related to a separate libel case, Trump claimed that Sater may have directly brought a Fort Lauderdale project to him years earlier, while denying any knowledge of his ties to organized crime. I dont think he was connected to the Mafia. He got into a barroom fight.

Whether or not Trump was lousy at due diligence or his fleet of lawyers simply couldnt Google the name Felix Sater (which would have brought up a 1998 Businessweek article citing his implication in the Mini Storage affair and ensuing fraud case) remains unclear. And Saters decision to add a t to his given name to make it Satter should not have greatly complicated matters.

However, the offering plan filed with New York State for the Trump SoHo, averred that there were no prior felony convictions of Sponsor, referring to Bayrock and another developer involved in the project known as the Sapir Organization. At this time, Sater had an ownership stake in Bayrock, according to correspondence obtained by Forbes.

In October 2009, 11 years after his indictment, Sater finally faced sentencing for his financial crime in a closed Brooklyn courtroom. He addressed the judge.

Yes, I am guilty of the things that I have done, he said. The worst thing that could happen, your honor, despite whatever sentence you impose on me I went into real estate development and I built a very successful real estate company a Trump project. I built the whole thing. Years ago, they wrote an article in the newspaper, Executive With Ties to Donald Trump Has Criminal Past. The next month, I had to leave my company, the company I had built with my own hands.

He spoke of his parents and his sincerity was somewhat undercut by those who knew of his fathers conviction for years of racketeering.

I hated myself, despised myself for doing the things that I was doing while I was doing them, because my parents did not sacrifice what they sacrificed to have me come to this country and become a criminal, he said.

Sater was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine rather than the $40 million in restitution he might have been required to pay and to serve no jail time rather than as many as 20 years.

In 2013, Saters connection to Trump, who was still two years shy of running for national office, caused the mogul one of his many moments of pique with a member of the international press. Trump stormed out of a BBC Panorama interview when asked by John Sweeney, Shouldnt you have said, Felix Sater, youre connected with the Mafia and youre fired. Trump replied by suggesting Sweeney might be thick and that he could not break a contract with Bayrock even if Saters mob ties were established to his satisfaction.

Saters tenure at Bayrock wasnt just confined to leveraging the Trump brand. He was accused of threatening gruesome acts of violence against erstwhile business associates who were in a position to disclose his shady history. In 2007, the manager of one Trump hotel-condo in Phoenix, Arizona, sued Sater after he allegedly threatened to get a cousin to electrocute the managers testicles, dismember him and leave him dead in the trunk of his car. Sater reportedly settled that case out of court, but denied the charges. The manager was apparently satisfied with the settlement, for he has since said he wished Sater, the best of luck.

By 2010, Sater was out at Bayrockbut in at the Trump Organization. He reportedly brandished a business card naming him as a Senior Advisor to Donald Trump. He also had a valid email address at the organization, a phone number that had previously belonged to one of Trumps general counsels, and his own office in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.

Saters role as an employee of the Trump Organization also came to light when he was accused of shaking down one of his former colleagues at Bayrock.

Jody Kriss, the former finance director of Bayrock, alleged that he was entitled to a share of the $227 million profits in the Trump SoHo project. As reported by The Daily Beast in August 2016, Kriss claimed, in a court case filed in Delaware, that he was owed $7 million for his work on the project but offered a settlement of only half a million dollars. His principal antagonist in recouping his investment, he said, was Felix Sater.

In sworn testimony, Kriss stated that his money had become entangled with an Icelandic financial company known as FL Group, which seemed to draw Russian investors in favor with Vladimir Putin. (Bayrock founder Tevfik Arif was also part of this deal.) According to Kriss:

Felix Satter [sic] told me that the deal with FL prohibited me from getting the rest in that I could either take the money and shut up or risk being killed if I made trouble. I knew at that time Satter had served a prison sentence for first degree assault (stabbing someone in the face with a wine glass stem) and with learning what would soon become common knowledge, that Satter had had a decades-long involvement with the New York and Russian mafia and had just in 2007 been sued in a civil action in Phoenix.

The Delaware case ultimately was dismissed because of jurisdiction; but the judge stated on the record that the case could have otherwise proceeded. Saters defense team has denied the allegations.

In a separate and still-pending suit to which Kriss is a plaintiff, this one filed in New Yorks Southern District, he has alleged that tax evasion and money-laundering are the core of Bayrocks business model.

The defendants have argued that the suit amounts to a shakedown, but the judge has ruled that Kriss has enough of a case to warrant moving forward.

As for Sater, he had coffee the other day with the president's personal lawyer and discussed a peace plan for Ukraine. He was apparently not among the immigrants Trump had in mind when he spoke to a gathering of CEOs on Thursday about his deportation efforts.

Were getting really bad dudes out of this country at a rate no one has seen before, Trump said.
Milo Yiannopoulos is working on a secret new media venture that will allow him to stay in the United States, according to reports.

Given that Yiannopoulos is a British citizen living in the United States on a work visa, some observers had assumed that his resignation from Breitbart following his controversial comments which appeared to excuse pedophilia in some circumstances meant he would soon be leaving the country.

Not so fast, according to TMZ this morning, which reports that Yiannopoulos, who was banned from Twitter after provoking online harassment of a black actress, Leslie Jones, and has made a series of offensive comments about feminists, transgender people, Muslims and Black Lives Matter protesters, is in the country on an O-1 visa for "aliens of extraordinary ability."

The Daily Beast understands that an O-1 allows individuals to work for a number of different organisations provided they channel their work through one agent, while TMZ suggests that the professional trolls new backers, have agreed in principle to file the necessary paperwork.

Immigration issues aside, its been a spectacularly bad week for Yiannopoulos, who lost a book deal and a national speaking role in addition to resigning from his gig at Breitbart, after he suggested that on occasions it was acceptable for adults to have sex with 13 year olds.

The extraordinary claim was made by Yiannopoulos during a videotaped interview in which he discussed how he himself was sexually abused by a priest at the age of 14.

The tape surfaced shortly after Larry Wilmore attacked him during an appearance on Bill Maher's show last weekin which Maher was accused by many of giving Yiannopoulos an easy ride and failing to seriously take him to task for his offensive comments, instead treating him largely as a comic turn.

However, in the wake of Yiannopouloss dramatic downfall this week, Maher sought to take credit for the events, saying, What I think people saw was an emotionally needy Ann Coulter wannabe, trying to make a buck off of the lefts propensity for outrage. And by the end of the weekend, by dinnertime Monday, hes dropped as a speaker at CPAC. Then hes dropped by Breitbart, and his book deal falls through. As I say, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Youre welcome.

Defending himself from claims of being an apologist for pedophilia, Yiannopoulos said in a statement that his comments were the "usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humour," and added: "I will not apologize for dealing with my life experiences in the best way that I can, which is humour. No one can tell me or anyone else who has lived through sexual abuse how to deal with those emotions. But I am sorry to other abuse victims if my own personal way of dealing with what happened to me has hurt you.

The 32-year-old wrote on Facebook: I would like to restate my utter disgust at adults who sexually abuse minors.
It took more than a decade to transform the old Royster-Clark fertilizer factory into a thriving mixed-use development on Madisons East Side.

City officials should make sure it doesnt take that long to repurpose or replace the massive Oscar Mayer plant, which is closing at the end of next month.

So far, so good.

The State Journals Judy Newman reported this week on the first serious contender to buy the Oscar Mayer plant and headquarters at 910 Mayer Ave. Reich Brothers Holdings, with offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, is exploring possible uses for the site and contacting area contractors and developers.

Thats encouraging news, with Oscar Mayers parent company Kraft Heinz pledging to keep the community informed of progress as it seeks a buyer.

The 72-acre property with 1.7 million square feet of warehouse and production space will leave a glaring void on the East Side following a long and painful decline in meat processing jobs.

Candidates in the spring election for Madison City Council should be knowledgeable and active on the issue. So should other city officials. This is much more important than banning plastic bags or encouraging hip-hop equity in the local music scene.

Madison needs to get this right, which will take some time for planning and negotiation with private developers. Yet the citys gauntlet of committees cant be too picky or prescriptive or the site will stay vacant. That would be an awful fate for the North and East sides of the city if the plant isnt transformed into a vibrant use.

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin says he wants good jobs on the site, rather than housing. Jobs should be a priority. The city is losing about 1,000 jobs at the facility. Yet a creative proposal that includes a residential component with jobs should be acceptable. Madison officials will need to be flexible, as will any developer or tenant.

Its important to remember that Madisons economy is strong. Epic Systems, the health information software giant in Verona, added more jobs last year than Oscar Mayer is eliminating. And a construction boom Downtown (thanks in part to Epic employees) has created opportunities for businesses large and small, as well as job seekers with a variety of skills.

Madison is on much stronger financial footing that many other communities that are losing large, traditional employers.

Yet the size and prominent location of the Oscar Mayer site, along with the companys history of generously donating to community causes, mean the city will suffer if something doesnt fill this big void.

Neighborhoods surrounding the plant have the most at stake. But the impact of a vacant plant will be felt across the region.

City Hall should put renewal of the site at the top of its to-do list.
Even though its been two days since I heard what the White House officially thought of my daughter, when President Trump, Attorney General Sessions, and Secretary DeVos decided to withdraw President Obamas guidance that protected transgender students under Title IX, Im still in shock.

My 14-year-old daughter Kylie is a transgender teenager and this fall she starts her freshman year of high school in Michigan.

Just like all girls her age about to enter into the life-changing new adventure that is high school, she is filled with excitement and nerves. Yet unlike many of her classmates, including her twin brother, Kylie will leave home with the added pressure of being the target of discrimination not by her classmates, but by the U.S. government.

While we live in a community that has helped my daughter feel loved and respectedas any child shouldthere so many other parents and students who dont have that luxury, and will now live knowing their government doesnt either.

When Kylie came out to our family over the holidays in 2014, she was just 12 years old and we were hopeful the world was more tolerant, understanding, and accepting for our daughter than ever before.

For years, I sensed the anxiety and fear that tormented Kylie and, as any parent knows, there is nothing as difficult as watching your child struggle. When she finally told me, everything began to make more sense. The world she was once afraid of was giving her confidence and strength. She was an inspiration to me and everyone else who met herI simply could not be prouder of who my daughter is today.

But like any parent, I wanted to protect my child and make sure she has the same opportunities as others. I was worried about how she might be treated by her classmates, teachers, and other parents. Back then I never could have imagined how supportive school administrators, teachers, and middle schoolers would be. Since March 2015, Kylie has been able to attend school as the girl that she is because leaders in the community were willing to listen, support her, and find solutions that worked for everyone.

When we moved south of Kalamazoo, her dad and I had never met the principal of our local public school, but knew how important it was to sit down with him and find a way to all work together. So, we met with the principal and the school counselor, and as they heard about Kylie, they told me that they wanted to work with us.

Even though they didnt have experience with transgender students, I could tell they cared and they wanted to try and find a solution. The first step he took was to bring in a counselor from a LGBT resource center to offer trainings to teachers in the school, as well as educate the community on what it means to be transgender, why the community faces a higher risk of suicide, and how can schools logistically help students.

Most of us realize that going to the bathroom is something we all have to do, and thanks to supportive teachers and classmates Kylie has been able to use the girls restroom at school without issue. The only one who had any nerves about my daughter using the restroom was Kylie herself, because she was afraid of what other people might think. Once she saw how everyone treated her equally at school, her nerves went away.

My family is so fortunate to live in a community that is open and accepting, that has a school that truly embraces what it means to nurture a positive and safe environment that allows my daughter to get a quality education.

But I know that all students are not as fortunate as Kylie. For example, we are closely watching Gavin Grimm, the teenager in Virginia who is heading to the Supreme Court in just one month to make the case that transgender students should be able to use the bathroom just like any other student. Gavins and his familys journey are a shining light for us during a time of great uncertainty.

With his head held high, Gavin Grimm gives us hope, especially as the Trump administration last night announced that they will ignore transgender students protections under Title IX. This has struck fear into the hearts of many parents of trans teenagers.

While Betsy DeVos supposedly stood up to President Trump and Attorney General Sessions this week, she ultimately put her own job first.

In fact, she has demonstrated a long history of anti-LGBT sentiment, including contributing millions of dollars to anti-LGBT organizations that are not only opposed to transgender students but even advocate for conversion therapy, which aims to use coercive counseling and religious teachings to convert someone from being LGBT.

Its biased and abusive and has been thoroughly rejected by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, National Association of Social Workers.

As a parent, I would do anything to protect my child and I expect the person responsible for running our schools to do the same. Secretary DeVos is stepping aside while the administration makes it harder for the U.S. government to protect transgender students who just want to use the restroom they are comfortable with. Its frightening to think we are governed by people so hateful, that they believe our sons and daughters dont deserve a learning environment that emphasizes their safety and privacy.

Every child in this country deserves a high quality education, which also includes the important social experiences that help to shape young people and teach them how to treat others. No child deserves to grow up as separate but equal in the eyes of their classmates.

I hope that millions of other parents, families, and kids will make their voices heard and join me in standing up for students like Kylie and Gavin. Our government must follow the model set by our community and work to guarantee the safety, security, and privacy of all students.
If being a pig farmer was enough to make Joni Ernst a United States senator, if that one ad about castrating hogs was enough to make her one of 100 people with enormous influence over every aspect of U.S. policy making, then it ought to be enough to make Chris Peterson a genuine Man of the People and the face of the anti-anti-Obamacare movement erupting across the land.

It was Peterson, a pig farmer from the Hawkeye State, who told Republican Senator Charles Grassley the other night that he was on Obamacare and that he wouldnt be able to afford insurance without it, and who said to the senator: And with all due respect, sir, youre the man that talked about the death panels. Were going to create one great big death panel in this country [because of the fact] that people cant afford to get insurance.

You remember Grassley and his infamous tweets from 2009 about pulling the plug on grandma and all that. It was insanely demagogic. The actual proposal in question was some language in the House version of the Affordable Care Act that would have required Medicare to cover voluntary consultations between individuals and their doctors about end-of-life care. It was one of the worst examples (not the worsttheres always Sarah Palin for that) of plainly false fear-mongering that helped make the law so unpopular.

Well, its not so unpopular now, and all this ought to be making Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell very nervous indeed, because what were seeing here is almost without precedent in American history.

Whats important about this weeks protests is that these are middle Americans protesting for government. Stop and ask yourself when that has happened lately. We can probably count on one hand the number of times it has happened ever. Such uprisings are almost always anti-government, from Shays Rebellion in the 1780s right on up to the Tea Party. Theyre almost never pro-government.

The other kinds of protests were accustomed to are those by particular groups making demands of the governmentAfrican Americans demanding the right to vote, women demanding equality. These two categories are each others opposite to the extent that the former want government to limit its reach and the latter want government to expand it.

But whats going on at these town halls isnt like either of those. This is people saying: government, youve actually done this good thing that helped me and my family; dont take it away. If youve not read or seen the remarkable exchange between an Arkansas woman named Kati McFarland and GOP Senator Tom Cotton, you should check it out here. Shes the one who asked the audience how many were affected by the ACA and everyone stood up. Now, affected by could mean negatively, in theory; but the shout of ACA! ACA! that echoed through the auditorium showed pretty clearly that affected by meant enjoying the benefits of it.

She then went on to say that she was from a Republican, military, NRA family, but that she had a rare connective tissue disorder that made Obamacare a godsend to her: Without the coverage for pre-existing conditions, I will die. That is not hyperbole. I will die. Without the protections against lifetime coverage caps, I will die. Without the Obamacare exchange health care plan that I have elected to continue after my Cobra that is going to kick in after I turn 26 this coming Sunday, I will die. Will you have a replacement plan in place to prevent coverage gaps the second the repeal goes through?

If you want to convince yourself that George Soros paid her to be there, be my guest. I can promise you that whatever they might or might not say publicly, Ryan and McConnell know better, and they know very well why what were seeing that these town-hall meetings might be a crisis for them.

Its a policy crisis because the Republicans have no policyno intention to do the things that need to be done to help make things better. In poll after poll, people say, quite reasonably, that the main fixes theyd like to see to Obamacare are lower premiums and lower drug prices. Okay. How do you get these things? You start in on the former by ensuring that more healthy people sign up, which means having more states and governors trying to implement the thing in good faith. You start in on the latter by letting the government negotiate prices, which means taking on the pharmaceutical industry. The Republicans have no intention of doing either.

But more than that its a political crisis. Conservatives have known for a long time that once people receive a benefit, you face quite a challenge in taking it away from them. Bill Kristol said this to congressional Republicans back in 1994 in his famous memo explaining to them why they had to fight Hillarycare tooth and nail, and plenty of people on the right said it in 2009-10 as Obamacare was passing.

And they were right.

Even Republican, military, NRA families sometimes have rare connective tissue disorders. And they can see through the snowstorm of propaganda and recognize when the government actually got something right and helped them. They dont want the freedom that Ryan promises. Theyre already well aware that the rich and the poor are equally free to die prematurely from lack of health insurance, but that the rich for some reason rarely avail themselves of the opportunity to do so.

And finally, Ryan and McConnell are very aware of the implications of this uprising for Medicare and Social Security. Yes, Social Securitylate last week the House GOP unveiled a new plan to save Social Security, and its about as grim as youd expect.

They may not listen to Black Lives Matter protestors. But if they stop listening to pig farmers and NRA members, this accidental and nightmarish moment may implode sooner than we thought.
Obama Calls Out Dr. Oz for Selling Political Snake Oil

GET ELECTED WITH THIS SIMPLE TRICK!

The former president took shots at Dr. Oz for his endorsement of quack medical products while campaigning for John Fetterman in Pittsburgh.
I must admit, of all the places that I have been in the world and of all the places I want to go Japan intrigues me the most.

The mix of ancient traditions and cutting-edge modern living means it's a place that constantly surprises, and is therefore totally unique.





When planning a trip to Japan for the first time visitor the real challenge is knowing where to start. You will never see everything you want to in that first trip but I like the idea of getting a little taster of many things that Japan has to offer. If you love the country I am sure you will be back to explore deeper!





A temple in Kyoto





As the written language and speech is so different to English, you also have to ask yourself if you don't speak Japanese, will it be simpler and easier to go for an organised itinerary with a guide, or will you take on the challenge of organising and planning it all yourself? However, with a completed organised tour often you don't have the flexibility.





With the tour below you can have the best of both worlds. A private guide to provide a personalised service on your first day in Tokyo as well as a private guide on your first day in Kyoto and then detailed documentation to assist you with the rest of your travels, including transfers and transportation and all accommodation. So you have the benefit of knowledgeable guides but the freedom to do what you want the rest of the time, within the constraints of an organised trip. highlights of Japan tour below you can have the best of both worlds. A private guide to provide a personalised service on your first day in Tokyo as well as a private guide on your first day in Kyoto and then detailed documentation to assist you with the rest of your travels, including transfers and transportation and all accommodation. So you have the benefit of knowledgeable guides but the freedom to do what you want the rest of the time, within the constraints of an organised trip.





Tokyo

Tokyo





The tour starts with a couple of days in Tokyo to see it in all its neon glory. Orientate yourself

to the most populated inner city area in the world

with your personal tour guide. Visit the world's largest freestanding tower , the Skytree broadcasting hub whilst stopping for a bowl of ramen i

n

Akihabaras neon maze. For dinner, you are spoilt for choice as there are so many places eat in Japan , choose from simple street food or

one of the many Michelin star restaurants for which Tokyo is known. There are so many cool things to do in Tokyo you will be spoilt for choice!





A tasty bowl of ramen





The next day, take a trip on a cable car up Mt. Takao to see Tokyo from above. Another idea is to visit the sleepy coastal town of Kamakura - the once 12th-century capital of Japan, and see the giant buddha for which Kamakura is famous.

This

prominent resort town is home to dozens of Buddhist Zen temples and Shinto shrines.





The giant Buddha in Kamakura

Hakone

Mount Fuji





After Tokyo take a short train ride to Hakone, a mountainous town west of Tokyo to indulge in its hot spring resorts or onsens. Take in views of Mount Fuji, an active volcano and Japan's highest peak.





A Japanese onsen





In Hakone stay in a traditional ryokan inn featuring tatami mats rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may wear yukata, a casual Japanese kimono.





Kyoto





A Japanese bullet train





Next stop Kyoto, on the bullet train ! The high-speed bullet train races surprisingly quietly through Japan at speeds of up to 320 KM per hour and is known for its punctuality.





Bamboo groves





In Kyoto, the cultural heartland of Japan, visit one of the 1600 Buddhist temples, 400 Shinto shrines and no less than 17 UNESCO world heritage listed sites. Your personal tour guide can show you this beautiful city. Visit a tea house or stroll through the bamboo groves. Immerse yourself in the traditional culture for which Japan is known for and adored.





Nara

The Todaiji temple



Only a 40-minute train journey from Kyoto is Nara, a compact city which is easy to see in a day. Nara, the capital city of Nara Prefecture, is known for some of Japan's oldest temples and monasteries. Take a rickshaw ride to Todaiji temple - the largest wooden building in the world which houses a giant buddha.



Only a 40-minute train journey from Kyoto is Nara, a compact city which is easy to see in a day. Nara, the capital city of Nara Prefecture, is known for some of Japan's oldest temples and monasteries. Take a rickshaw ride to Todaiji temple - the largest wooden building in the world which houses a giant buddha.

The deer that roam free in Nara park





Finally, visit Nara Park, one of the oldest parks in Japan, at the foot of Mount Wakaku

to take

in the natural beauty and see the hundreds of deer that roam free. According to local folklore, these deers were considered sacred until WW2 and now they are designated 'national treasures' a

nd are protected as such.



This whistlestop tour of Japan can be done in little over 10 days and is an introduction to Japan, perfect for the first time visitor. For an alternative check out this This whistlestop tour of Japan can be done in little over 10 days and is an introduction to Japan, perfect for the first time visitor. For an alternative check out this Japan itinerary by travel2next. I am hoping to go to Japan next year and can't wait to see and explore this beautiful melting pot of culture, tradition and modernity. It's a country that will give me the most amazing memories and one which I think I will never forget.













pin for later
Press Promotion

Croxsons accepted as Gold Patron of UKVA

Croxsons, family owned glass packaging and closure business, is proud to announce that it has been accepted as a Gold Patron of the UKVA from January 2017. Involvement with the UKVA is a sign of Croxsons commitment to continue its support of the ever-growing UK wine industry.

Having supplied glass packaging and closure solutions for nearly 145 years, Croxsons has long-established relationships within the wine industry. Croxsons Tim Croxson says: Being the sole glass bottle manufacturer to be accepted as a Gold Patron of the UKVA is in itself a great honour and we are delighted to be associated with such a key industry organisation. We are dedicated to supporting our customers and their industries and look forward to what the future holds.

The company prides itself on its customer relationships - A Family of Packaging, a statement recently included in its revamped logo design, which conveys the importance it places in nurturing its business relationships. A good example of this is Croxsons ongoing association with Devon based Lyme Bay Winery, the majority of whose glass range is filled into bottles sourced by Croxsons. Whilst the Lyme Bay range includes some standard varieties like the 750ml and 375ml Bordeaux wines with BVS closures, it also has some rarities that Croxsons have provided through a tailored solution, such as the 350ml Avenire and 350ml Lyrica.

James Lambert, Lyme Bays managing director comments: We have worked with Croxsons for many years and they form a core part of our supply chain. They provide us with a wide range of glass bottles and are always able to adapt to our ever changing needs. Their flexibility is excellent and we work well with their experienced team. They are also members of the UKVA which clearly indicates Croxsons commitment to the industry.

Croxsons will be exhibiting on stand F44 at the forthcoming Packaging Innovations exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham, on 1-2 March 2017.

For more information on the UKVA please visit www.ukva.org.uk. For more information on Croxsons please visit www.croxsons.com.

24 February 2017 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, news editor
Former Labour MP Tom Greatrex, now chief executive of the NIA, said: "The UK nuclear industry has made it crystal clear to the government before and since the referendum that our preferred position is to maintain membership of EURATOM." [3] Although Horizon, whose reactors would use US nuclear fuel, says it is reassured by the government's commitment to put new regulatory arrangements in place quickly. [4]

The Hinkley Point C station in Somerset could also face renewed problems. EDF has warned that Brexit could increase "the costs of essential new infrastructure developments and could delay their delivery". EDF, which also operates Britain's existing nuclear plants, has said it would prefer if the UK stayed within EURATOM and that if not it would be "essential that the UK establishes equivalent safeguards arrangements".

"However, if the UK ceases to be part of EURATOM, then it is vital the government agree transitional arrangements, to give the UK time to negotiate and complete new agreements with EU member states and third countries including the US, Japan and Canada who have nuclear co-operation agreements within the EURATOM framework."

EDF is also worried that Brexit will affect the movement of people and delay the delivery of Hinkley Point C [5]. It could also impact upon its costs. For the reactor builders, being outside the nuclear common market as well as the single market and having no freedom of movement may lead to higher prices if tariffs and customs checks are introduced or if restrictions are imposed on foreign nuclear scientists and engineers. [6]

Nuclear safeguards - the implications

Leaving EURATOM is also likely to add to the workload of the UK's nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), which is busy assessing designs for new nuclear reactors including the Chinese Hualong One design.

And as nuclear engineering consultant John Large points out, "The main burden of the UK leaving EURATOM will be the need for it to cover its nuclear non-proliferation safeguards commitment and for this it will have to either set up a separate, independent agency or bring these treaty responsibilities into the Office for Nuclear Regulation."

The Green Party's only UK MP Caroline Lucas raised the safeguards issue in Parliament last August when she asked the business and energy secretary "what steps would be needed to replace EU Atomic Energy Community safeguards inspectors with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Inspectors to implement safeguards provisions."

The reply did not address the fact that currently international inspections of UK nuclear plants and materials to ensure there is no diversion of materials to military misuse is verified by EURATOM on behalf of the IAEA. [7]

A quarter of all time spent on nuclear inspections throughout the EU is carried out in Britain, due to the scale of nuclear fuel fabrication and waste management facilities, such as Sellafield. Without EURATOM ONR will need to undertake many more inspections to meet IAEA requirements.

The Government will have to find extra cash, but it will also struggle to hire and train the necessary new staff especially when ONR is already struggling to keep up with the assessment of several new reactors designs (EPR, AP1000, ABWR and Hualong One). [8]

As proliferation expert Dr David Lowry puts it: "It is now time energy and foreign ministers and their advisors turn their attention to what they are going to do to ensure nuclear safeguards continuity in the UK post Brexit to avoid the UK becoming a nuclear rogue state." [9]

Fusion - nuclear research scientists angry

Membership of EURATOM is also a condition for Britain hosting what is currently the largest nuclear fusion experiment in the world. Based at the Culham centre in south Oxfordshire, the Joint European Torus project involves some 350 scientists exploring the potential of fusion power, backed by funding from almost 40 countries in the EUROfusion consortium.

According to Nature, scientists are shocked and angry about the EURATOM exit. Depending on whether and how the UK negotiates a way back in to the organization, the move could endanger British participation in the world's largest fusion experiment, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in southern France.

It could also curtail operations at the Joint European Torus (JET), a nuclear-fusion facility in Culham. The facility is a half-sized version of ITER which currently receives around 56 million annually from EURATOM. Steven Cowley, a theoretical physicist at the University of Oxford who until last year was director of the Culham Centre described the decision to leave EURATOM as "bonkers". [10]

According to the Trade Union representing nuclear scientists, the Culham Centre signed a 283m contract in 2014 for running the Joint European Torus facility until 2018, with similar contracts expected in the future.

This sum accounts for more than a quarter of the overall European Fusion Programme budget over the same period - a budget funded in part by the EURATOM Horizon 2020 programme. The UKAEA also brings EURATOM money directly to the region and UK industry by winning ITER (global fusion project) contracts. [11]

Wider impact in Europe

The political impact in the EU remains equally unclear. Britain has been one of Europe's most active supporters of nuclear power. Brexit could tip the balance of member states towards an anti-nuclear majority.

And what then? Just as the International Whaling Commission has become an essentially anti-whaling UN agency, might EURATOM states seek to use the treaty to block, not support, the construction of new nuclear power stations in Europe. Its main role would then be to supervise the sector's long term decline.

The complications around the UK withdrawal from EURATOM could also put a spotlight onto the EURATOM Treaty itself, whose legal status and many of its functions are out of step with the modern EU and may once again lead to calls for it to be abolished. [12]

EURATOM Mark II?

The UK secretary of state for exiting the European Union, David Davis, told parliament on 31 January 2017 that the UK will seek an alternative agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if it fails to negotiate "some sort of relationship" with the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) during Brexit negotiations. [13]

The idea of a new pan-European nuclear group is also being floated, according to former conservative MP Tim Yeo who chairs the trade group New Nuclear Watch Europe.

The successor group is envisaged as a wider Europe-based pro-nuclear club including the 27 European Union member states as well as countries outside the bloc that are also developing new nuclear power plants. As well as the UK the group could include Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus and potentially Russia. [14]

Time for reform - or abolition



The UK nuclear establishment is going to have its work cut out to make sure that Brexatom does not add to the delays in its proposed new nuclear reactor programme already in prospect as a result of financial problems at EDF, Areva, Toshiba, Engie and Hitachi.

There will be widespread support for efforts to avoid any hiatus in the safeguarding of the huge quantity of fissile material in the UK. But as Hans-Josef Fell, president of the Energy Watch Group and a former member of the German parliament for the Greens points out the UK's exit from EURATOM should be seen as an opportunity.

It's a clear sign that it is possible for anti-nuclear countries like Austria, Ireland and Germany to unilaterally leave the Treaty - even a unique chance to dissolve Euratom. He says the core task of EURATOM is to support the nuclear industry. After Chernobyl and Fukushima ending that support is long overdue. [15]

The UK Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) recently pointed out that it sees "the EURATOM Treaty as one of the most direct ways the nuclear industry has promoted nuclear power in Europe over the past 60 years. It has often been the inside track from which pro-nuclear governments have ensured support for nuclear power within the European Commission." [16]

For instance, in 2014 the European Union's Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager had less leeway in evaluating the UK's Hinkley Point C financial support scheme than it would have done for a non-nuclear project because of the EURATOM Treaty, which is meant to support and encourage investment in nuclear projects where needed.

"This means that if member states choose to invest in nuclear energy, the EURATOM's objective to facilitate that investment becomes an objective of common interest that the Commission should take into account in its state aid assessment", she said. [17]

So the Commission approved the UK Government's plans to subsidise Hinkley Point C despite the fact that even the UK government itself expects solar and wind power to be cheaper than new nuclear power by the time Hinkley Point C is completed. [18]

Not surprising then that the NFLA sees this as "an ideal time for a major and all encompassing reform of the EURATOM Treaty to take account of the changed energy market in the EU, where renewable energy is rapidly expanding and nuclear power is in decline." [19]

Pete Roche is editor of the No2NuclearPower website which produces a free daily nuclear news service.

Sign up to receive No2NuclearPower Bulletin by e-mail here.

This article was originally published in Nuclear Monitor #838 and is reproduced here by kind permission of the author. This version includes some updates by The Ecologist.

References
From colleagues at Vermont, this notice of a clinical opening:

Job Description:

The Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic (ENRLC) at Vermont Law School and Earthjustice are partnering to expand our environmental justice capacity through the creation of a new environmental justice initiative. We are hiring an attorney professor who will be located at the ENRLC and will work with Earthjustice's Healthy Communities program and as part of the ENRLC's growing environmental justice program area. Cases and projects will include Vermont and New England-based initiatives as well as efforts at the national level and in other areas of the United States.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Earthjustice Clinical Professor will be a full-time attorney housed within the ENRLC. This position will be dedicated to working on environmental justice issues, with cases and projects chosen in collaboration between Earthjustice and the ENRLC. Specific responsibilities include:

In collaboration with and under the direction of Earthjustice and ENRLC attorneys, developing and implementing a suite of environmental justice cases and projects. Cases and projects may include state and federal litigation, influencing administrative agencies, legislative work, client counseling, and other advocacy.

Managing and fostering relationships with co-counsel, clients, and partners.

Coordinating with and contributing to other aspects of environmental justice campaign work, including education, outreach, and messaging.

Supervising and providing extensive feedback to students on project and casework.

Supervising one or more junior attorneys in the LLM Fellowship program.

Teaching in the ENRLC seminar program.

With other ENRLC faculty and staff, assisting in the administration of the ENRLC through regular participation in staff meetings, helping with the student recruitment process, assisting with public relations materials and reports, etc.

Participating in the life of the law school through attendance at faculty meetings and campus events, service on committees, and the like.

Requirements:

Minimum 7 years of significant legal experience, including litigation.

Licensed in Vermont or willing to become immediately licensed in Vermont.

Environmental justice experience preferred.

Demonstrates an awareness and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds and orientations.

Contributes to the creation of a diverse, equitable and inclusive work culture that encourages and celebrates differences.

Must possess: cultural competency and significant exposure to vulnerable, disadvantaged and/or ethnic minority populations; solid grounding in some aspect of environmental law that is relevant to the projected work of the environmental justice initiative; good narrative skills; history of supervising others in a legal context; excellent communication, analysis, and writing skills; demonstrated good judgment and sensitivity in a variety of situations; very strong academics, initiative, and work ethic; the ability to work exceedingly well with others; project management capability, including strong creative and strategic thinking skills; and a commitment to engaging in clinical teaching.

Additional Information:

This is a two-year position with the possibility of becoming permanent.

Application Instructions:

Please submit a cover letter, resume, law school transcript, writing sample, and references to Chantelle Brackett, Human Resources & Payroll Manager, Vermont Law School, PO Box 96, South Royalton, VT 05068. Electronic applications are strongly preferred and can be submitted online here. Applications will be considered as they are submitted. The position will remain open until filled.

More info available here.
Approximately 50 senior citizens from throughout Franklin County turned out Thursday for a free meal at the Henry Fork Church of the Brethren on Doe Run Road.

Franklin County senior citizens can be treated to a free meal once a month thanks to a joint effort by the Henry Fork Church of the Brethren and the Living Waters Assembly of God, located next door to each other on Doe Run Road, just off South Main Street in Rocky Mount.

The meal, prepared by master chef Robert Iuppa, is served starting at 11 a.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month, according to Rev. Ron Coleman of the Henry Fork Church and Roger Jones, pastor of Living Waters.

The program ends at 1 p.m. to allow time to eat and enjoy the fellowship. On occasion, the group will play bingo for prizes given by the churches.

Expenses for the project, which was started last August, is shared 50-50, according to the two ministers.

We would like to emphasize the meal is for any senior citizen in the county, regardless of church affiliation, Jones said. This is all about fellowship and good food. Weve had as many as 100 [people] one month, Coleman added.
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 ...
Get to know the candidates for Iowa House District 99

Incumbent Rep. Dennis Cohoon and challenger Matthew Rinker weigh in on the issues ahead of Election Day in the race for Iowa House District 99.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

STAMFORD  A growing Canadian mobile payments firm is swiping into southwestern Connecticut after winning one of the states top investment competitions.

The Toronto-based Dream Payments this week opened its first U.S. offices in the citys South End, in the Comradity co-working center on Canal Street. With the arrival in Connecticut, Dream executives said they found an ideal location for launching their services in the U.S. later this year and connecting with corporate partners.

Stamford seemed to be a great area in terms of being a tech hub, Brent Ho-Young, Dream Payments CEO, said in a video-conference interview this week. But its not only about tech, its also about where employees will enjoy living and working. We just heard really good feedback.

Founded in 2014, Dream grabbed the attention of Connecticut investors last year after entering the state-chartered investment and consulting organization Connecticut Innovations VentureClash investment challenge. Dream would win the competition, earning a $1.5 million investment from Connecticut Innovations to support the development of its U.S. operations.

We wanted to provide them a smooth landing and create a network in which they could come hit the ground running, said Matthew McCooe, Connecticut Innovations CEO. Were really confident that Dream will be a great success for Connecticut and for all the investors.

Comraditys collaborative environment highlighted the appeal of Stamford, Ho-Young said.

Youre not off on an island; youre with like-minded folks that are trying to accomplish big things, Ho-Young said. And youve got that support structure not only from CI, but the other startups that are on a similar mission.

Clay Keller, Dreams cloud and network architect, is the firms first Stamford-based employee. He will lead a Connecticut contingent that could eventually expand to about a dozen, covering areas including business development, account management and operational support.

I build, maintain and support all company environments and services, Keller said. Theres a push now to move our infrastructure off physical devices and go completely virtual network in everything. Im going to spearhead that initiative.

The other firms with offices at Comradity have welcomed the arrival of Dream, said the co-working spaces husband and wife co-founders, Jim and Katherine Kern.

The first time that Clay arrived, immediately there were people asking him about what his technology is and seeing some possibilities about how to integrate what Dream is doing with what theyre doing, Katherine Kern said.

Dream executives are targeting a fourth-quarter roll-out of their firms services in the U.S. Servicing several thousand businesses in Canada, the firm provides businesses with cloud-based mobile technology to accept debit and credit cards and contactless payment platforms like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. The firm also produces online reports and analytics, so clients can manage their businesses on mobile devices.

One of the reasons that we find Dream so attractive from our perspective is that we can easily facilitate the expansion of their operation in a fashion that is economically feasible for them and valuable for us because we like to be part of a growth operation, Jim Kern said. We are also very strong believers in the type of technology that Dream is bringing to the shores of the U.S.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
HS Football: North Penn upsets Pennsbury in instant playoff classic

With the game on the line, North Penn coach Dick Beck opted to go for the win with a two-point conversion attempt against Pennsbury.
Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) will join other Girl Scout councils across the country February 24-26 to participate in National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend 2017, celebrating all the fun, learning, and excitement Girl Scouts have experienced while selling cookies for 100 years.

To celebrate, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois will kick off its spring Girl Scout Cookie Booth Weekends. During Cookie Booth Weekends, troops across southern Illinois set up shop at local venues including shopping centers, gas stations, places of worship and at community events. Girls work together as a team to sell cookies directly to customers, while developing their abilities in goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.

Additional council-wide Cookie Booth Weekends will be held March 4-6 and March 10-12. Area troops may continue to hold cookie booths through the end of spring. Find a local Girl scout cookie booth by visiting www.girlscoutcookies.org or using the official Girl Scout Cookie Finder app, free for iOS or Android phones or mobile devices.

In addition to cookie booths, customers can order Girl Scout Cookies online through March 19 using Girl Scouts safe, interactive Digital Cookie platform. Digital Cookie combines traditional sales activities with todays technology to help girls learn more about online marketing and ecommerce. Girls are able customize their personal sales website and then use e-mail to invite friends and family to order cookies from the comfort of their home. Customers can choose to have cookies delivered to them or to purchase cookies to send to American military members.

When a girl participates in the Girl Scout Cookie Program, she learns essential life skills, her confidence soars and her leadership skills develop in powerful everyday ways. Every sale is one more opportunity for her to lead, speak up and discover her true potential. Funds raised by the Girl Scout Cookie Program power new adventures and enriching activities such as troop travel, summer camp and community service projects. In addition, proceeds from the program help GSSI recruit and train adult volunteers, deliver quality programs, maintain camp properties and provide financial assistance so Girl Scouting is available to all girls.

The Girl Scout Mission is: Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. Todays Girl Scouts not only enjoy camping and crafts, but they also explore math and science and learn about diversity, good citizenship, leadership and teamwork. Girl Scouts helps transform girls into G.I.R.L.s (Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, Leaders) as they learn essential life skills that will stay with them forever.

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois serves 12,500 girls and 4,800 adult volunteers in 40 1/2 counties in southern Illinois. Girl Scouting has inspired more than 50 million girls and women since its founding in 1912. For more information, please contact Chief Communications Officer Jay Strobel at 618.692.0692, ext. 1108 or jstrobel@gsofsi.org.

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois is a not-for-profit organization supported by various United Ways throughout the region. Girl Scouts is a Proud Partner of United Way.
The power of collaboration between higher education institutions is at the forefront of this weeks episode of Segue, Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles premier radio show highlighting the ideas and issues at the University and beyond. This week, SIUE Chancellor Dr. Randy Pembrook sits down with Lewis & Clark Community College (L&C) President Dr. Dale Chapman to discuss their institutions ongoing partnerships through various projects between the schools and much more.

Chapman kicked off his academic career by receiving his associates degree from Northern Community College. He earned a bachelors from the University of Kentucky and a masters from Michigan State University. He went on to study at Harvard University and achieved an EdD. His tenure at L&C extends 24 years and under his leadership, the College has experienced enrollment increases in 19 of the last 20 years. L&C currently enrolls approximately 14,000 students. Chapman has also overseen over $200 million in construction and capital projects.

Pembrook kick started his own educational journey at L&C, earning an associates degree before achieving both bachelors and masters from SIUE.

Students attending L&C are encouraged to look into one of its 21 2+2 programs. The College collaborates with SIUE and several other institutions to allow students to follow specific curriculum, while attending the first two years at L&C and then transferring to study their intended major at SIUE.

Once students find their path at L&C, our full-time advisors on campus work tirelessly to ensure that students can seamlessly transition to four-year institutions, Chapman says.

For me, the seamless transition was exactly why I went there in the first place, Pembrook says. There was a respect between the two institutions, and it was the natural, next step for me in my education.

For some, its an economic issue, but in my case, had it not been for community college, I would have not been ready for the dominant university scene that we have here, Chapman says, We advantage students by getting them ready to head on to larger schools and toward baccalaureate and doctoral degrees.

Recently, SIUE and L&C established a reverse transfer agreement. This allows students studying at the four-year institution to transfer credits back to the community college to assist students by counting their credits earned at SIUE to an associates degree at L&C. All the while, the credits they received at SIUE will apply toward their baccalaureate degree.

With the reverse transfer program, you can count the courses you have taken at SIUE toward an associates, and you count the same credits toward the degree youve been working toward all along, Pembrook says. It can truly benefit a student, who will receive an associates degree while working and pursuing a bachelors in that field.

The program is also beneficial for students, who already have a bachelors degree and want to work toward a technical degree, Chapman says. Within the agreement, you can count those credit hours from the previous bachelors, and with the additional technical credit hours, they can complete a new associates degree in just around 30 credit hours.

The SIUE Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Research, Education and Outreach continued its partnership with L&C with its contribution to the Swarovski Waterschool in Southwestern Illinois. The Waterschool is located at L&Cs National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC) along the Mississippi River. The institutions are working to develop courses for middle school students to educate and create an appreciation for water use, sanitation and hygiene based around the Mississippi River.

The Swarovski Waterschool has worked in regions around the world, including Austrias Hohe Tauern national park, the Ganges River in India, the Yangtze River in China, the Nile in Uganda and Amazon in Brazil.

They realized they did not have any programs operating in North America and with the third or fourth largest watershed in the world, the Mississippi River seemed to be the best place to start, Chapman says. They contacted us and said they would like to frame the Mississippi River Swarovski Waterschool project here.

Students from SIUE and L&C work together at the center through paid internship programs. In one of the organizations first projects, they sent out 150 backpacks to flood-torn schools in Baton Rouge, La., containing notes of encouragement to middle school students with educational materials pertaining to the organization.

Students were working in an abandoned community college simply because it was on high ground and most students were living in motels, Chapman remembers, The children wrote messages back and reminded us that we were all connected by the Mississippi, and were thankful for the words of encouragement. Were extremely proud of the work we do.

SIUE and L&Cs collaboration does not stop there. The SIU School of Dental Medicine (SDM) students work closely with L&Cs dental hygienist and assistant students for a more fulfilled academic and practical experience.

Our students at L&C are extremely advantaged by having your top-notch Dental School in the Alton area, Chapman says. The dentists you are training are working directly with our hygienists and assistants in situations like Give a Kid a Smile Day, which is a wonderful event for the students and a great service to the community.

Another L&C initiative is the endowed Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities, located in the historic Lincoln School in Edwardsville. According to Chapman, the Centers mission is to become the premier interdisciplinary global research and education center where scholars, leaders and learners from SIUE, L&C and other institutions use the humanities as a lens to see issues like food and water shortages, and communicate the urgent need for change.

On Thursday, March 30, the Center will welcome legendary UCLA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to speak at its fundraiser in SIUEs Meridian Ballroom. Tickets are $200 and can be purchased by visiting the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities website.

As president and chancellor, respectively, Chapman and Pembrook believe that their roles in higher education have been some of the most fulfilling positions they have served in throughout their careers.

The people in this area have historically valued intellectual development and saw that it could change lives, as it changed yours and mine, Chapman says, It is our job to think strategically, and sometimes tactically, about how we can position our institutions for the greater good of the people we serve.

Tune in to Segue at 9 a.m. to WSIU 88.7 FM The Sound to hear the conversation between these two dynamic leaders in its entirety.

SIUE Marketing & Communications
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dandy Koswaraputra (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

The plan to introduce bar codes for media companies, an initiative launched by the Indonesian Press Council announced on National Press Day in Ambon on Feb. 9, goes beyond simply fighting the proliferation of fake news.

It is intended to help to build the nations media and internet literacy.

It also shields media companies from unfair business practices in the increasingly fierce competition for lucrative digital ads. The bar-code system, contrary to what critics say, is a self-regulated policy designed to protect media companies reputations.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Hana Hanifah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

In September 2015, Afif Sunakim walked out of prison, having served five years of a seven-year sentence for attending a terrorist training camp in Aceh. Within five months, he led the terrorist attack on Jakartas Sarinah department store.

Ten months later in November 2016, another convicted terrorist, Juhanda, killed a 2-yearold girl when he threw a Molotov cocktail into a church compound in Samarinda. Juhanda was previously imprisoned for plotting to bomb the Center for Science and Technology Research (Puspitek) and a church in Banten. In total, he served 42 months after receiving three remissions.

These were attacks that Islamic State (IS) group supporters mounted in Indonesia in 2016, both committed by convicted terrorists who had been freed before serving out their full sentences. The victims of the Jakarta and Samarinda attacks should serve as a tragic reminder that Indonesias approach to counterterrorism and deradicalization in prison is not bulletproof.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Kyunghoon Kim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

Indonesian economy is facing two intertwined problems: declining export share and declining manufacturing share. The exports-to-GDP ratio decreased from 34 percent in 2005 to 21 percent in 2015, the lowest since 1986. Over the same period, the manufacturing share of GDP declined from 27 percent to 21 percent, the lowest since 1988. These challenges have led the government under President Joko Jokowi Widodo to emphasize the importance of production-driven economy and exports of manufactured goods.

In this regard, Indonesias state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in high value added manufacturing sectors have recently shown impressive progress.In March 2016, railway company Industri Kereta Api (INKA) exported 15 train cars, the first batch of 150 train cars ordered by Bangladesh Railways; marking the first time INKA had exported passenger trains to a foreign country.

In May, the ship manufacturer PAL Indonesia completed its first warship export by delivering a strategic sealift vessel to the Philippines defense department; PAL is currently building a second warship for the same client.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Mirza Tirta Kusuma (The Jakarta Post) Virginia, US  Fri, February 24, 2017

Most Muslims have read the Quran in its original Arabic text. They believe that reciting the Quran is a holy act in itself, which brings Gods blessing to them. As good as these intentions are, they miss out on the very reason the scripture identifies itself as the divine purpose behind its bestowment, i.e. to serve as guidance to mankind (hudan li an-nas).

Can people be guided if they do not understand the language of the guide?

The Quran invites people to not just read it but also make an effort to discern Gods message.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Troy Patterson (Bloomberg)  Fri, February 24, 2017 13:18 2081 a291276806121264c0bd211cde1a2221 2 Lifestyle Hublot,watches,Watch-Collection,fashion,#fashion Free

The debut of Hublots Classic Fusion Italia Independent collection gives new meaning to the concept of checking the time.

The six watches, their respective dials and straps busy with houndstooth, tartan, and Prince of Wales patterns, are the fruits of a collaboration among a trio of companies: Swiss watchmaker Hublot, design company Italia Independent, and venerable Naples tailor Rubinacci, which supplied the textiles that lend the timepieces their panache and prestige.

Luca Rubinacci, a third-generation tailor and master of the houses Milan outpost, explained the pedigree of the cloth. When my father took over the business in the 60s, he found 8,000 suit lengths of fabric dating back to the 1930s, and we still have a few hundred left, Rubinacci said. His father was fascinated by the way those fabrics draped, Luca continued, so we kept buying the remaining stocks of old manufacturers, and we now have the biggest vintage stock fabric, counting more than 20,000 lengths.

Read also: Mercedes unveils most luxurious SUV to date

Having a suit made from such distinguished cloth is the province of connoisseurs such as Lapo Elkann, Italia Independents founder and artistic director. Elkanns company has previously worked with Hublot on a special edition of its Big Bang Unicovery sporty and aggressive, as Hublot chief executive Ricardo Guadalupe put it. By comparison, these half-dozen watches, each made in the tradition of the 45-millimeter Classic Fusion chronograph familiar to Hublot fans, range from just over $15,000 to $35,100 and carry themselves with swank formality.

Lapo had this idea of working with these specific fabrics from the 1930s, Guadalupe said, speaking of the particular nattiness of the patterns, which echo those of suits and jackets Rubinacci has made for Elkann. Its very British, very trendy at the moment.

Guadalupe is the first to concede that one of these will notat least, should notbe anyones primary timepiece. Rather, theyre for the collector looking to spruce up a fairly casual outfit. Its not [to be worn with] the traditional British suit, he said, suggesting a jacket, but maybe jeans, you know, or very nice shoes. Highly polished, of course.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (Associated Press) Tokyo  Fri, February 24, 2017

Fans of Haruki Murakami have rushed to Japanese bookstores to get his latest work with an esoteric title.

"Kishidancho Goroshi," or "Killing Commendatore," is a two-part story about a 36-year-old portrait painter and the mysterious incidents that happen after his wife divorces him and he moves into an old house on a mountainside west of Tokyo.

Murakami has described it as a very strange story.

People buy copies of the new book written by Haruki Murakami at a book store in Tokyo shortly after midnight, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Murakami's new book "Kishidancho Goroshi," or "Killing Commendatore," is a two-part story about a 36-year-old portrait painter and the mysterious incidents that happen after his wife divorces him and he moves into an old house on a mountainside west of Tokyo.(Kyodo News/Fumine Tsutabayashi)

Read also: Murakami's new book to be released Feb. 24 in Japan

Some devoted fans lined up outside stores on the eve of Friday's book launch.

Shinchosha Publishing Co. said overseas availability is not yet known. No details are known yet on translations.

Murakami's previous novel was "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage," released in Japan in 2013.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Michael Liedtke (Associated Press) San Francisco, United States  Fri, February 24, 2017

A self-driving car company founded by Google is colliding with ride-haling service Uber in a court battle revolving around allegations of betrayal, high-tech espionage and greed.

The brewing showdown emerged late Thursday in a lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court by Waymo, a once-secretive self-driving company hatched by Google eight years ago.

The 28-page complaint accuses Anthony Levandowski, a former top manager for Google's self-driving car project, of stealing pivotal technology now propelling Uber's effort to assemble a fleet of autonomous vehicles for its ride-hailing service.

The alleged chicanery occurred in late 2015, before Levandowski left to found a startup called Otto that is building big-rig trucks that navigate highways without a human behind the wheel. Uber bought Otto for $680 million last year, and Levandowski is now overseeing Uber's effort to develop and dispatch cars driven by robots.

Uber and Levandowski didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The dispute highlights the high stakes in the race to build self-driving cars that promise not only to revolutionize the way people get around but also the automobile industry. Waymo and Uber are two of the early leaders, while long-established car companies such as Ford, Toyota and General Motors are scrambling to catch up.

Waymo's lawsuit also will escalate the tensions between Google and Uber, two one-time allies that are morphing into rivals. Google invested $258 million in Uber, but its mapping subsidiary Waze is now expanding a carpooling service that could lure riders away from Uber. The budding rivalry prompted a top Google executive, David Drummond, to resign from Uber's board of directors six months ago.

Read also: Self-driving vehicles to be tested near Haneda Airport

Waymo now operates as a subsidiary of Google's corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., but its roots are in Google, where Levandowski worked for years.

The complaint cites evidence Levandowski loaded 14,000 confidential files on a laptop before leaving to Otto. The alleged theft included the designs for circuit boards needed for "LiDAR," an array of sensors that enable self-driving cars to see what's around them so they can safely navigate roads.

Waymo contends other former Google employees also stole trade secrets before leaving to join Otto. Without the alleged skullduggery, Waymo alleges that Levandowski and the other former Google employees wouldn't have been able to build the Otto technology that generated the windfall from the Uber sale.

Although it has been around for less than a decade, Uber already has a reputation for testing legal boundaries.

The San Francisco company has tangled with authorities in California and around the world about how much of its drivers' histories should be covered in background checks and whether those drivers should be treated as contractors ineligible for employee benefits. Late last year, Uber quickly suspended a test of its self-driving cars in San Francisco after regulators revoked the vehicles' registrations for not having the proper permits.

Waymo is seeking a court order prohibiting Uber from relying on its technology in its self-driving vehicles as well as damages that could be tripled on some of the infringement claims if it prevails in court.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Masajeng Rahmiasri (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017 17:58 2081 a291276806121264c0bd211cde1b4912 1 Books Harry-Potter,books,novel,jk-rowling,#HarryPotter,Indonesian-artists,#books,book-cover,illustration Free

Indonesian Potterheads may look forward to expanding their collection as a locally designed cover of the Harry Potter novels is slated for release in March.

The genius behind the new cover is Nicholas Filbert, an Indonesian illustrator who previously created the local cover for Ryan Graudins The Walled City book, and released a coloring book titled Fantasia.

The upcoming covers will feature Harry Potter characters and the fantastic beasts of the magical world, all drawn in the illustrators signature detailed painting style. For these covers, my goal was to push one of the most interesting aspects of the Harry Potter world, which is the Fantastic Beasts, Nicholas said in a Facebook post.

Read also: J.K. Rowling has the best replies to Trump supporters and trolls

Diniarty "Dini" Pandia, senior fiction editor of Gramedia Pustaka Utama publisher who is responsible for the Indonesian edition of Harry Potter, said that the decision was made when the publisher decided to reprint the book by J.K. Rowling, which has long been out of stock but is still high in demand. I thought there had to be something else to get more hype [for these books]. Then, an idea to use the work of a local illustrator came to mind, Dini told The Jakarta Post.

She stated that the agent from Rowlings side had initially offered to simply purchase one of the existing covers. But, that makes me more eager to create an Indonesian cover. Who knows, maybe it could go international later? Dini said

The new cover version is scheduled to be released gradually, with the first batch containing first and second volume of the series to be released in the Jabodetabek area on March 13 or 20. The book will later be distributed in other parts of Indonesia.

The book's final volume is slated for June 1, or 25 days before the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter release in the United Kingdom.

The first and second volumes featuring the new cover will be sold at Rp 128,000 (US$9.6) and Rp 138,000, respectively. (kes)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Qraved (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017 10:37 2081 a291276806121264c0bd211cde196898 3 Food martabak-samyang,martabak,samyang,korean-noodle,korean-foods,qraved,#Qraved,food,#food Free

Martabak has been dominating the Indonesian street food scene for a long time now, and keeps getting stronger with the rise of "modern martabak," which use lots of different modern-day toppings and fillings, from mozzarella cheese to Nutella.

The latest martabak sensation in Jakarta as per now is filled with Samyang. Samyang itself is a Korean instant ramen brand that has gained quite a reputation in the past few years in Jakarta for its spicy taste, characterized by many as challenging and trendy.

If you're curious to try the combination between of martabak and Samyang in Jakarta, here are some places for you to visit.

Martabak Yuk

A post shared by Martabak Yuk (@martabakyuk) on Jan 5, 2017 at 1:19am PST

What's the difference between Samyang martabak served by Martabak Yuk and any other martabak joints? Martabak Yuk's creation will make you hungry due to its thick portion of Samyang noodles. Surely, this is a portion to share with several friends.

Martabak Rakyat

A post shared by Martabak Rakyat (@martabakrakyat) on Feb 21, 2017 at 8:43pm PST

Aptly called The Red Hot Samyang Martabak, this dish by Martabak Yuk does sound like a challenge. Martabak Rakyat adapts Samyang characteristics very well to this dish, even just by judging from its look. If youre not keen on spicy foods, you might want to stay away from this dish.

OTW Food Street

A post shared by OTW Food Street Kelapa Gading (@otwgading) on Feb 22, 2017 at 3:28am PST

In OTW Food Street, the Martabak Samyang is combined with eggs to create a thicker, yummier sensation compared to others. Coming at an affordable price and modern modifications of street foods, this joint also serves different kinds of creative martabak that you might want to try.

Read also: Must-try burger joints in Senopati

Martabak Gue

A post shared by Martabak Gue (@martabakgue_id) on Nov 16, 2016 at 3:57am PST

Located in the Greenville area in West Jakarta, most people visit Martabak Gue for its porky martabak. The addition of Samyang flavor adds a nice color to Martabak Gue's selections, which features a roasty aroma from the pork they put inside the Martabak Samyang.

Martabak Bruno

A post shared by JAKARTA FOOD BANGERS (@jktfoodbang) on Dec 13, 2016 at 5:39am PST

Since its introduction to the public around six weeks ago, Martabak Original Beef Samyang by Martabak Bruno has attracted lots of customers and has become one favorite martabak joints in the city. The red hot color is too hard to ignore, depicting its hot and spicy flair really well.

Sensasi Martabak

A post shared by Sensasi Martabak and Nongkrong (@sensasimartabak) on Jun 24, 2016 at 1:43am PDT

If you live in the West Jakarta area, especially around Binus University, Sensasi Martabak would sound familiar. Offering a variety of modern martabak dishes, Martabak Samyang Hot Spicy is a must-try. You can even add barbecue chicken as an additional filling to make this spicy dish even richer. (kes)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Desy Nurhayati (The Jakarta Post) Nusa Dua, Bali  Fri, February 24, 2017

A global plan to save coral reefs from extinction as a result of climate change, pollution and poor fishing practices was launched on Friday at the World Ocean Summit in Bali.

The initiative, called 50 Reefs, brings together leading ocean, climate and marine scientists as well as conservation practitioners from around the world. The initiative will compile a list of 50 reefs most in need of protection.

This will be the first global plan to save the most biodiverse ecosystem on the planet.

Read also: Saving ocean requires global effort, cooperation:

The initiative comes at a perilous moment for coral reefs. Current estimates indicate that 90 percent of reefs will have disappeared by 2050.

"Some of the most disastrous effects of climate change are on the ocean floor and therefore out of sight. In fact, 90 percent of coral reefs are expected to disappear by 2050 and saving the remaining coral reefs is vital. Without coral reefs, we could lose up to a quarter of the world's marine biodiversity and hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people would lose their primary source of food. We must not allow this to happen," said Michael R. Bloomberg, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change.

The 50 Reefs initiative builds on the work undertaken by the Ocean Agency and the Global Change Institute located at the University of Queensland. (yan)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

Province-owned enterprise Bandara Internasional Jawa Barat (BIJB) has stated that it will sign a contract with state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura (AP) II for the management of under construction Kertajati Airport in Majalengka, West Java.

"It is because they have a BUBU [airport operator permit]," BIJB president director Virda Dimas Ekaputra said on Friday.

BIJB is currently in charge of constructing facilities on the land side of the airport with an investment of Rp 2.1 trillion (US$157.5 million).

(Read also: BIJB upbeat Kertajati Airport can open in Q1 2018)

He said BIJB might give AP II five years to operate the airport as it also would work on getting its own BUBU and operate it after that.

The airport, which is designed as an international airport, is being developed on 4,000-square-meters of land. It will be located 72.7 kilometers from Husein Sastranegara International Airport in the provincial capital of Bandung. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Laurie Kellman and Jonathan Lemire (Associated Press) Washington  Fri, February 24, 2017

There was candidate Donald Trump in Colorado, waving a rainbow flag emblazoned with a "LGBTs for Trump," a photo opportunity meant to signal he was a new brand of Republican when it comes to protecting LGBT Americans.

Four months later, faced with a major decision point on the issue, Trump's White House held up another slogan: defense of states' rights.

The administration's decision this week to revoke guidance on transgender students' use of public school bathrooms was an early test of Trump's loyalties  between the gay and lesbian community he said he supports but largely did not support him, and the social conservatives who helped drive his victory. It's a tension Trump could find difficult to manage throughout his presidency, when the hot-button social issues he worked hard to avoid during the campaign are impossible to ignore.

"In a weird way and sometimes a clumsy way, I think President Donald Trump is trying his best to balance issues of LGBT equality and the constituency of evangelical Christians that helped propel him to the White House," said Gregory T. Angelo, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, which represents LGBT conservatives. "On LGBT issues in less than a month, we have seen the president go into two separate directions."

Late in January, the White House released a statement declaring Trump would enforce an Obama administration order barring workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual identity. The unusual announcement of a decision not to act  essentially affirming the status quo  followed an internal debate over revoking the order. Trump sided with LGBT activists at the urging of his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, White House adviser Jared Kushner, both of whom are viewed as moderating influences on the president.

This week, Ivanka Trump and Kushner were publicly silent on the transgender bathroom debate.

The restroom decision set off tensions within the administration. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos expressed reluctance to rescind protections for transgender students and clashed with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who supported it, according to a person familiar with the conversations but not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions and so requested anonymity.

After Wednesday's announcement, DeVos released her own statement, stressing that the administration had a "moral obligation" to protect LGBT students, which she said was "not only a key priority for the department, but for every school in America." Speaking Thursday to the Conservative Political Action Conference, she framed it as a legal matter, "a very huge example of the Obama administration's overreach."

Trump addresses the annual gathering of conservatives Friday.

The administration painted the decision as a states' rights issue.

"We are a states' rights party," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer. He also confirmed that the timing took into account a filing deadline for a Supreme Court case on transgender rights.

As for Trump, he said, the president "has a big heart" when it comes to transgender children but is not going to tell schools what to do.

Deferring to the states on the restroom issue could satisfy some of Trump's core supporters while costing him very few votes, some Trump allies say.

"Trump understands he would never have won without the strength of the evangelical vote," said Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, who added the policy would energize Trump's religious base.

"Those who favor liberal social policy are not likely to vote for Trump in any case," Reed said. "The voters in the middle won't cast their ballots based on abortion or transgender issues---they will vote on jobs, the economy and national security."

Roughly 9 million Americans identify as LGBT, according to a study by The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. That number includes 150,000 transgender people ages 13 to 17.

White House spokeswoman Kelly Love said the administration did not have any more actions or executive orders on LGBT issues planned, but gay rights advocates says they are worried about other policies that may come from the White House or Congress.

Human Rights Legal Director Sarah Warbelow points to efforts in Congress to allow people with religious objections to gay marriage, for example, to deny government or private business services to same-sex couples.

During the campaign, Trump  who supported HIV charities and began allowing openly gay people at his clubs decades ago  said at an NBC town hall that he would permit transgender icon Caitlyn Jenner to use any bathroom she wanted. He said, "People go, they use the bathrooms that they feel is appropriate."

He quickly backed off that statement, telling Fox News' Sean Hannity: "I think that local communities and states should make the decision ... The federal government should not be involved."

But Jenner aimed a video tweet late Thursday at the president, holding him accountable for his campaign promise: "Well @realDonaldTrump, from one Republican to another, this is a disaster. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."

The Trump administration directive has no immediate impact because a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the Obama guidance in August. But in adjusting his own position, Trump was moving toward more than his party. Polls suggest a slim majority of Americans are squeamish about allowing transgender public school students to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificates. In one, a July 2016 poll by Quinnipiac University, people were asked specifically about the situation in public schools. Americans said by a 56 percent to 36 percent margin that schools should not be required to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. (dan)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

Publicly listed lender Bank Victoria International is officially operating as a foreign exchange bank following capital injection from its new shareholder.

DEG  Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, a German investment and development company, has subscribed a rights issue of 780 million new shares of Bank Victoria, equal to Rp 277.67 billion (US$20.78 million).

With DEG, one of the biggest investment companies in Europe, controlling 9 percent of Bank Victoria shares, the lender has leveled up its financial capacity and secured approval from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to become a foreign exchange bank.

(Read also: Indonesia drafting rules to end bank secrecy)

Our new status will enable us to conduct remittance and trade financial transactions, which becomes our focus this year, Bank Victoria president director Daniel Budirahayu said on Thursday.

He further explained that the additional capital would be used to expand through the opening of branches in Medan, Makassar, Semarang, Surabaya and Denpasar this year.

Established in 1992, Bank Victoria went public seven years later. It has 103 operational offices in Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

Daniel said the lenders management was committed to developing the bank from a Tier 2, with core capital of between Rp 1 trillion and Rp 5 trillion, to Tier 3 bank, with core capital of between Rp 5 trillion and Rp 30 trillion, within five years. Bank Victorias total equity stood at Rp 2.7 trillion in December 2016. (dra/hwa)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Nusa Dua, Bali  Fri, February 24, 2017

The Banten provincial administration has criticized the slow development of the Serang-Panimbang toll road initiated by the central government. The toll road was initially slated to be completed in 2018. However, the completion date has since been pushed back to 2019.

The administration asked the government to monitor the progress of the project.

We urge the central government to monitor the project more closely so there will be a guarantee of its success, Wahyu Wardhana, head of the Banten Investment Agency, told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the 2017 Regional Investment Forum at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center on Thursday.

(Read also: Tanjung Lesung to add 10,000 rooms to welcome travelers)

Despite the approaching deadline, Wahyu explained, construction had yet to begin. The track plan is done but we havent seen any construction at all.

The 83.9 kilometer-long highway is expected to accelerate economic growth in the Tanjung Lesung special economic zone in the province. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

Garuda Indonesia's low-cost subsidiary, Citilink, has begun welcoming a new fleet of Airbus A320 new engine option (neo) aircraft from the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France.

Citilink has ordered 35 aircraft from the European manufacturer since it developed the new version in 2012. The 180-passenger capacity A320neo will join 45 aircraft of the previous model, the A320 current engine option (ceo), which Citilink already owns.

The delivery will be completed by 2021. This year, Citilink will receive five aircraft.

"We will use them for medium-length routes like to Eastern Indonesia, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and to Shanghai," Citilink acting president director and finance director Mega Satria said during the welcome ceremony at the Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF) AeroAsia Workshop in Cengkareng, Banten, on Friday.

(Read also: Citilink begins flights serving Jayapura, Papua)

According to Airbus data, the A320neo features two engine options, Pratt & Whitney's PurePower PW1100G-JM and CFM International's LEAP-1A. Citilink's aircraft use the latter. Along with improvements to airframe and winglets, fuel efficiency has been increased by 15 percent compared to the A320ceo.

As of January, Airbus had received 5,069 orders of the new aircraft since it began production in January 2016. German airline Lufthansa was the first to receive one on Jan. 20 last year. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24 2017

What will happen if the nations legal system penalizes consensual sex outside of marriage?

Around 2 million couples with unregistered marriages nationwide could face criminal charges, according to the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan).

The commission has said civil liberties are at stake as the Constitutional Court is set to decide on a judicial review petition initiated by a group of conservative academics last year to criminalize both consensual sex outside of marriage, including same-sex relationships.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Hana Hanifah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24 2017

In September 2015, Afif Sunakim walked out of prison, having served five years of a seven-year sentence for attending a terrorist training camp in Aceh. Within five months, he led the terrorist attack on Jakartas Sarinah department store.

Ten months later in November 2016, another convicted terrorist, Juhanda, killed a 2-year-old girl when he threw a Molotov cocktail into a church compound in Samarinda. Juhanda was previously imprisoned for plotting to bomb the Center for Science and Technology Research (Puspitek) and a church in Banten. In total, he served 42 months after receiving three remissions.

These were attacks that Islamic State (IS) group supporters mounted in Indonesia in 2016, both committed by convicted terrorists who had been freed before serving out their full sentences. The victims of the Jakarta and Samarinda attacks should serve as a tragic reminder that Indonesias approach to counterterrorism and deradicalization in prison is not bulletproof.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post)  Fri, February 24 2017

Democracy or economic development, which comes first? On Wednesday, President Joko Jokowi Widodo picked his answer, and it was a wake-up call for us.

In his speech, before leaders of the Hanura Party, Jokowi said democracy has gone too far and that freedom of speech, which in the past few months manifested in frequent street protests, has taken its toll on the countrys economic growth.

Not only is this a throwback to the authoritarian regime of president Soeharto but the President has inverted the logic in the relationship of democracy and economic development as well.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post)  Fri, February 24 2017

Marthina Walilo, a 42-year-old housewife from Hubikiak district in mountainous Jayawijaya regency, Papua, said she remembered how hard it was to get decent service from her nearest community health center (puskesmas).

Back then, it felt like the reception desk opened at noon and closed at noon [actual daily operations were open for about an hour]. It was a similar case for its laboratory, as it was frequently not attended by a nurse. [People] who had waited a week needed to wait another month to have their blood samples drawn, she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Realizing she and other local residents have the right for better access to health services, Marthina, better known as Mama Tin, oftentimes voiced her complaints to the Hom-Hom Puskesmas, but to no avail.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab, a longtime nemesis of Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, will be presented as a witness in the latters 12th blasphemy hearing on Feb. 28, Ahok's defense team have revealed.



Witnesses presented by the prosecutors will be Abdul Chair Ramadhan, an Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) criminal law expert, and Rizieq Shihab, the FPI leader, Ahoks lawyer, Edi Danggur, told reporters on Thursday.

(Read also: Rizieq skips police questioning citing fatigue)



He said that Rizieq would testify as a religious expert and had been recommended by the MUI in a letter signed by MUI executive Sodikun and secretary-general Anwar Abbas in November last year, tribunnews.com reported.

Rizieq, who has been named a suspect for allegedly insulting state ideology Pancasila, has been in the forefront of mass demonstrations against Ahok.



Last year, he led two large rallies to demand the prosecution and imprisonment of Ahok for an alleged blasphemous remark made during a working visit to Thousand Islands in September last year. (fac)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Winny Tang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017 08:42 2081 a291276806121264c0bd211cde18ab0f 4 Business tax,tax-reform,economic-inequality,income-inequality,#Inequality,tax-revenue,tax-collections,Sri-Mulyani,tax-avoidance Free

As inequality widens, the government is pushing for tax reforms to reduce the gap through coordination with other countries.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Thursday that one of the solutions to fight inequality was improving the governments ability to maximize tax collection from taxpayers.

The countrys tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio now stands at below 11 percent, the lowest among its regional peers, despite it being the largest economy in Southeast Asia.

The government has previously attributed the low ratio to the fact that many taxpayers opt to hide their assets overseas in tax haven countries, such as Panama or the Cayman Islands.

Sri Mulyani said many other countries also fell victim to tax evasion practices and that they had decided to work together to prevent tax evasion.

The solution is the Automatic Exchange of Information [AEoI]. If there are Indonesian taxpayers who want to open a financial account in other countries, we will have the ability to access information regarding this, she said during the launch of a joint report on inequality by non-governmental organizations INFID and Oxfam.

The AEoI is endorsed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the G-20. It allows participating countries to exchange taxpayer information with each other.

The global policy has been agreed by 101 countries and will go into effect next year.

The government plans to maximize the data exchange to push for higher tax revenues, which it will use to fund various healthcare, education and other social security services, to reduce inequality as its end goal.

We must ensure that there will be no more places for tax evaders to hide their assets, the minister added.

Sri Mulyani, who served as World Bank managing director, also urged the public to closely scrutinize the government in an attempt to create a credible and transparent institution, which will eventually help close the gap between the richest and the poorest, with uncorrupt policies.

During the event, INFID and Oxfam reported that Indonesia was facing a serious threat to its future prosperity with the countrys widening gap between the rich and poor.

(Read also: Wealth of four richest Indonesians equal to wealth of 100m poorest)

The report, titled Towards a More Equal Indonesia, finds that Indonesia has the sixth worst inequality of wealth in the world, with the wealthiest 1 percent of the population owning nearly half, or 49 percent, of total wealth in 2016.

The number of billionaires increased to 20 in 2016 from only one in 2002. Last year, the collective wealth of the richest four billionaires was US$25 billion, more than the total wealth of the bottom 40 percent or roughly 100 million people.

The report notes that both the Gini coefficient and the Palma index for consumption, though underestimating the true scale of inequality, show a marked upward trend over the past 20 years, with inequality in urban areas consistently higher than in rural areas.

Indonesia is facing inequality challenges that are multidimensional. Nevertheless, President Joko Widodo has opportunities to prove that Indonesia can be a leading country in the global fight against inequality, Steve Price Thomas, the advocacy and campaign director of Oxfam International, said.

INFID and Oxfam recommend that the government impose a 45 percent income tax rate for people with incomes above Rp 10 billion ($748,502) a year.

The top tax band is set far too low, with anyone earning over Rp 500 million annually paying a tax rate of 30 percent, which means that those earning Rp 1 billion or Rp 100 billion pay the same rate, the report says.

Developed countries tax their wealthy citizens higher, namely 50 percent in Belgium and 51.5 percent in Denmark.

By increasing the tax revenue potential, Indonesia could gather funds worth Rp 836 trillion that could be invested to public services to reduce the inequality, the report states.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Winny Tang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24 2017

As inequality widens, the government is pushing for tax reforms to reduce the gap through coordination with other countries.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Thursday that one of the solutions to fight inequality was improving the governments ability to maximize tax collection from taxpayers.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

The government expects the grand launch of the new Kertajati international airport in Majalengka, West Java, to occur in June next year.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said Friday that after checking the progress of construction, he anticipated Kertajati Airports grand launch, which would mark the kicking off of commercial operations, would be in February or March next year, later than expected.

So far, construction progress on the airport, which is expected to handle 8.6 million passengers each year, has reached 32 percent.

(Read also: Ministry appointed to develop Kertajati)

Budi said the runway needed to be extended to 3,000 meters, from the 2,500 meters at present. "At that time, the airport should be able to welcome a Boeing 737," he said.

Kertajadi Airport, worth Rp 10 trillion (US$750.18 million), is being built to ease aircraft and passenger congestion at the countrys main gate, Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Tangerang, Banten, and also replace the Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, West Java, as the commercial airport of the region.

Budi, however, said that despite the delayed launch, a soft launch could still be carried out in January or February next year, which would be followed by a trial operation. (lnd)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24 2017

The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) is stepping up efforts to lure more retail investors into the capital market, this time through the proposed introduction of a tax incentive on dividends paid to small-scale investors.

The bourse is preparing a proposal to the Finance Ministry to nix income tax on dividends paid by publicly listed companies to small-scale investors. Dividends are currently subject to tax rates ranging between 10 percent and 30 percent depending on the status of the shareholders and whether they are registered taxpayers.

This measure aims to support our Yuk Nabung Saham [Lets collect stocks] campaign and to express [IDX] alignment toward the whole society, including those from the middle-lower segments, IDX development director Nicky Hogan said on Thursday.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

Indonesias bid to protect its marine areas has gained support in the form of a US$23 million investment in the Blue Abadi Fund, which is on track to be the worlds largest marine conservation trust, designed to conserve the countrys Birds Head Seascape.

The support was announced by Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund and the Indonesian government at the World Ocean Summit in Bali on Friday.

The Birds Head Seascape is the global epicenter of marine biodiversity, encompassing more than 225,000 square kilometers in West Papua, Indonesia, and home to more than 70 species of reef fishes, corals and crustaceans found nowhere else on the planet.

The announcement comes just five months after the fund initiative was introduced. Once the fund is fully capitalized, the seascape will contain Indonesias first sustainably financed marine protected area network (MPAs).

The Blue Abadi Fund will help secure the long-term financial sustainability of the Birds Head Seascape by providing grants to local communities and agencies so they can sustainably manage their marine resources into the future.

The future of our planet depends upon the wisdom of communities, said Peter Seligmann, chairman and CEO of Conservation International. Through the Blue Abadi Fund the global community joins with local communities to secure the long-term health of the Bird's Head seascape, arguably the most diverse marine region of Planet Earth. (ary)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

The government is teaming up with fund management companies to prepare for the launch of a limited participation mutual funds (RDPT) product by March this year. The government hopes this scheme will support the development of the countrys priority tourist destinations.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the RDPT scheme was expected to collect around Rp 1 trillion (US$75 million) from investors this year as an alternative source of funding.

One of fund managers involved in the preparation, Arief said, was state-owned fund manager Bahana TCW Investment Management.

If we can accelerate the [launch], this mutual funds product will be the [countrys] first in the tourist sector," he said on Wednesday as quoted by Kontan.co.id.

(Read also: Big plans in store for Indonesia tourist destinations)

In the long run, the scheme could potentially bring in Rp 57 trillion in alternative funding to support infrastructure development in the tourist sector.

Arief said the RDPT product was designed to have a maturity period of eight years and was convertible to equity.

The alternative funding scheme is necessary because of limits in the state budget and minor foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector. The government needs at least Rp 200 trillion this year to develop infrastructure at its 10 designated priority destinations. To date, it has only secured Rp 30 trillion for the purpose. (rbk/hwa)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

The worlds largest polyester value chain company Indorama has injected US$25 million investment into its subsidiary, PT Medisafe Technologies, which produces rubber gloves.

With the move, Medisafe will build its sixth plant at its North Sumatra complex, which has existed since 1989.

After the expansion, production capacity is expected to increase to 2.7 billion rubber gloves per year and give employment to 1,700 people, Indorama chairman Sri Prakash Lohia says.

"Indonesia is our main pillar to grow in the Asia-Pacific, the existence of high-quality local products in the international market is a base to develop this rubber glove industry further," Sri Prakash said in a statement issued on Friday.

Medisafe and YTY chairman Vikram Hora said 99 percent of their products were exported to the United States and Europe.

Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto appreciated the investment. He also hoped that companies in the rubber industry could build research facilities so that they could boost the export quality of the product.

"Indonesias rubber glove exports in 2016 reached $232.5 million, placing this industry in second position after the tire industry as the biggest rubber derivatives [exporter]," he said during the inauguration of Medisafes factory.

The ministry's downstream chemical industry director Teddy Caster Sianturi said the country's rubber manufacturing industry had not reached its maximum potential because as the second biggest natural rubber producer in the world, only 20 percent of annual raw natural rubber production was being utilized by domestic industries. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

The Jakarta Police have suspended the detention of treason suspect Firza Husein due to her health condition, which was reported to be worsening during her custody at the Kelapa Dua detention center in Depok, West Java.

"We suspended her detention on Wednesday," Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said as quoted by antaranews.com on Thursday.

Besides health reasons, Argo said her release was based on the consideration of the police.

The police have not banned Firza from going abroad but require her to report her whereabouts to the police, Argo said.

Firza was arrested at her residence in East Jakarta on Feb. 1 due to her lack of cooperation with the police investigation into her role in a suspected treason plot. The police suspect that her and 10 other individuals planned to overthrow the government on Dec. 2 last year, only hours before a rally demanding the arrest of Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama for alleged blasphemy.

(Read also: Jakarta Police consider suspending treason suspect Firzas detention)

Besides the treason case, the police are also investigating an intimate WhatsApp conversation that allegedly took place between Firza and Islam Defenders Front leader Rizieq Shihab.

Dahlia Zein, Firza's lawyer, said that her client would clarify the rumor as Firza has claimed that it was not her who was involved in the steamy conversation.

"In the next two or three days, we will hold a press conference," Dahlia said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Thursday. (cal)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

The Jakarta administration plans to develop an IT-based system for supervising child-friendly integrated public spaces (RPTRAs) in response to a lack of human resources.

Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama said city officials were currently preparing an app to supervise and control all activities carried out in RPTRAs across the capital.

(Read also: For many Indonesians, quality public services earned, not given)

"Supervision of all RPTRAs in the future will be conducted by an IT-based system, like an app," said Ahok on Friday.

Currently, he said, the city still uses a manual data system in which the managing bodies of RPTRAs make reports on paper.

"That creates difficulties when we need to find data quickly," said Ahok.

The city currently has 1,000 officers who manage 184 RPTRAs. This year, the administration plans to build another 200 RPTRAs. (dmr)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

To anticipate the mass exodus for Idul Fitri this year, state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga plans to open at least seven extra toll booths at the major Cikarang Utama toll gate in Bekasi, West Java.

The new toll booths would add to 13 booths that the firm was currently running, said Jasa Marga president director Desi Arryani on Friday.

"The main gate [that will experience the mass exodus] is the Cikarang Utama gate, so we will have 20 booths operating instead of the usual 13," she said.

Furthermore, Jasa Marga, which operates one of the countrys most congested toll roads, Jakarta-Cikampek, will also, among others, build four extra parking bays for people travelling during the festive time.

(Read also: Cikarang Utama toll gate braces for 117,000 Jakarta-bound vehicles Sunday)

As the country with the biggest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia annually experiences a mass exodus of people flocking to their hometowns for Idul Fitri, which will fall on June 25 this year.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi applauded the plan, stating that the additional toll booths should be able to cater to the 5,000 cars each hour expected to pass through the gate, according to the ministrys estimates. It is estimated the 20 booths will be able to serve 6,000 cars per hour.

"Police will also coordinate [the traffic] because they will deploy a lot of personnel [for Idul Fitri]. We will also fix level grade crossings," he said. (lnd)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a statement on Friday that he looked forward to welcoming Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo to Australia this weekend, saying the visit would highlight Australias deepening economic and strategic links with Indonesia.

Jokowi and First Lady Iriana are scheduled to spend the weekend in Australia to discuss several things with Turnbull. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has said the visit will, among other issues, push the ongoing negotiations on the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) that Jakarta expects to conclude this year.

Turnbull confirmed in his statement that the IA-CEPA would be included in the discussion.

The bilateral relationship with Indonesia is vitally important to both countries and has never been stronger, Turnbull said in the statement.

As close friends and neighbors, Australia and Indonesia have a long, shared history. And as multicultural democracies, our countries have developed a strong 21st century partnership spanning broad areas of cooperation, including trade, tourism, counterterrorism, education and disaster relief, the prime minister went on.

I look forward to my talks with President Widodo and returning the warm hospitality I enjoyed during my visit to Jakarta in 2015, Turnbull said.

Jokowi was slated to return the visit on Nov. 6-8 last year but because of the domestic political situation with a huge rally of Muslim protesters on Nov. 4, the palace decided to cancel the visit. (evi)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Corry Elyda and Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24 2017

President Joko Jokowi Widodo says the project he initiated as Jakarta governor, the countrys first MRT system, will be a source of pride when the city co-hosts the Asian Games in 2018.

Jokowi inspected MRT construction for the fourth time on Thursday, at the Setiabudi underground station in South Jakarta to mark the completion of the drilling process of the underground portion of phase one connecting Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta.

The MRT will commence operations in March 2019 prior to the presidential election.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Corry Elyda and Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017 09:14 2081 a291276806121264c0bd211cde18f0c0 4 City MRT,MRT-Jakarta,Jokowi,Mass-Rapid-Transit,Asian-Games Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo says the project he initiated as Jakarta governor, the countrys first MRT system, will be a source of pride when the city co-hosts the Asian Games in 2018.

Jokowi inspected MRT construction for the fourth time on Thursday, at the Setiabudi underground station in South Jakarta to mark the completion of the drilling process of the underground portion of phase one connecting Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta.

The MRT will commence operations in March 2019 prior to the presidential election.

Construction will be completed during the Asian Games in [August] 2018, he said.

The MRT is hoped to reduce chronic traffic congestion in the metropolis.

Jokowi said he was eager to push ahead with the long overdue project, nearly a quarter century after the first feasibility study was carried out in the 1990s during the Soeharto era and about 15 years since Japan offered support for the construction.

(Read also: Jokowi to inspect completed tunnel)

The President said the city administration did not need to worry about funding for the following MRT construction phases.

It [the funding] can be from a combination of city and state funds. We can also use the public-private partnership [PPP] scheme or investment, he said.

While completing the first phase, a detailed engineering design (DED) is being prepared for the second phase.

Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama said the President had asked him to speed up the DED and commence construction of the second phase.

He also asked us to speed up the MRT lane connecting the east and west parts of Greater Jakarta, Ahok said.

The 13.5-kilometer second phase will connect the traffic circle to Ancol Timur in North Jakarta, which is expected to start operations in 2021, while the 87km third phase will connect Cikarang in Bekasi to Balaraja in Tangerang, Banten. The latter will start construction in 2020.

Accompanying Jokowi on his visit were State-Owned Enterprise Minister Rini Soemarno, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, Jakarta Governor Ahok and MRT Jakarta president director William Syahbandar.

With the completion of the drilling, the underground part of the 15.7-km first phase is 80 percent complete. However, owing to slow progress in the elevated portion, from Senayan to Lebak Bulus, both in South Jakarta, the entire construction is just 65 percent complete.

Reggie, a resident of Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta said he had noticed construction progress as weeks went by.

Meanwhile, Andam, 31, a private employee who works at the Wisma Nusantara building near an MRT station being built near the traffic circle, said she often saw construction crews working nonstop at the site from the early hours of the day.

The first phase is expected to serve 173,000 passengers per day with 16 sets of rolling stocks.

MRT Jakarta corporate secretary Tubagus Hikmatullah expected the rolling stocks to arrive from Japan in March or April 2018.

He said, however, that the MRT would not be ready in time for the Asian Games, as the company would conduct a trial run of the 16 sets of rolling stocks gradually.

The project is likely to face roadblocks, among others, land acquisition and cost overrun, partly due to new standards for antiseismic buildings. The Jakarta Financial Management Board (BPKD) estimated that the cost of the project, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the form of a soft loan worth 125 billion (US$1.1 billion), would increase by up to Rp 3 trillion ($225 million).
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Anton Hermansyah, Viriya P. Singgih and Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

As tension between the government and United States-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) continues, President Joko Jokowi Widodo has made his first comment on the matter, indicating that he would take firm action if necessary.

Freeport, Indonesias oldest foreign investor, has been in a deadlock over its future operations in Indonesia, as the government requires the companys local subsidiary PT Freeport Indonesia to convert a contract of work (CoW) signed in 1991 into a special mining license (IUPK) in return for an export permit extension.

Freeport Indonesia has repeatedly rejected the idea of contract conversion and stated that if the dispute was prolonged, it may take the case to international arbitration, a move that many deem would be costly for both parties.

We want to reach a win-win solution, because this is a business matter, Jokowi said on Thursday. Now, I will leave this matter to the ministers. However, if [Freeport management] are really difficult to deal with, I will take action.

On Feb. 17, Freeport Indonesia sent a notification letter to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry describing areas of dispute between the two parties.

The issues included the obligation for miners to divest a 51-percent stake within a decade of production, the governments role in determining base selling prices for minerals, and the contract conversion requirement, all ruled under the new Government Regulation No. 1/2017.

Freeport Indonesia has stated it would be possible to commence international arbitration if no settlement was reached within 120 days of it sending the letter.

Article 21 of Freeports CoW states that the government and Freeport Indonesia can settle disputes by arbitration in accordance with the 1976 Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) if they cannot reach an amicable settlement within 120 days.

One of the advantages of using arbitration over litigation is that the process is quicker, as a binding ruling can be determined within around three to six months. Nonetheless, the greater the complexity of the case, the longer it takes to conclude, Hanafiah Ponggawa and Partners managing partner Constant Marino Ponggawa said.

He explained that the appointment of a presiding arbitrator could take months, as the arbitrators of both the petitioner and the defendant were often involved in a debate over the ideal person to act as presiding arbitrator. According to Marino, fees for an arbitrator could reach millions of US dollars, depending on the reputation of the appointed person.

He said the arbitral tribunal would typically choose a neutral country to host the hearings.

Then, whatever the decision made by the end of the arbitration process, it has to be followed by the losing side, Marino said. Moreover, UNCITRAL is the legal body of the United Nations system. Hence, it can make international lobbies to ensure the compliance of its ruling.

(Read also: Jokowi threatens to take action if Freeport are 'difficult')

Earlier this week, Freeport chief executive Richard Adkerson said the company expected to find a win-win solution during the dispute settlement period as the Grasberg mine was too important for either party to neglect.

Its an important asset for the company. Its an important, vital, natural resource for the Republic of Indonesia. [] But we have to find a way to work together, and Freeport is committed to trying to do that, he said.

Under the CoW, Freeport Indonesia was initially required to sell 51 percent of its stake to Indonesian entities by 2011, or 45 percent if it had sold a minimum of 20 percent in the local stock market. Freeport owns 90.64 percent of Freeport Indonesia, while 9.36 percent is owned by the Indonesian government.

In response to the case, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government was undertaking transitional negotiations to tweak the management of the mining industry for the sake of investment and national interests, such as job creation, exports and state revenues.

There will not be private, murky negotiations any longer. We just want to abide by the law and try to be better in explaining this situation to the investors.

Since commencing operations more than five decades ago, Freeport is synonymous domestically with gold, not copper, and is usually perceived with suspicions. All affairs related to the company have always been political, with many Indonesian politicians and activists referring to it as a symbol of US economic imperialism in Indonesia.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan has said the government hopes that the maritime sector can contribute up to 25 percent to the countrys economy within the next 10 years.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said that currently, the maritime sector contributes 11 percent to the economy.

It is our ambition. It can be achieved if we work more efficiently. The problem is, there are inefficiencies in the sector at the moment, Luhut said on the sidelines of the 2017 World Ocean Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Friday.

He said major contributors from the maritime sector included fisheries, tourism and energy.

(Read also: Seeking a breakthrough in maritime diplomacy)

As an example of inefficiency, Luhut said Indonesia could only exploit some 10 percent of its potential in fisheries, which is estimated at around US$30 billion.

Our efforts are not optimized. We still have to fight illegal fishing, he said.

He also underlined the importance of the fish farming business, the potential of which could one day outstrip traditional fishing.

Fish farming is also important to prevent overfishing, he added.

On the subject of maritime tourism, Luhut said the government would continue to develop potential tourist destinations to attract more visitors to the country.

International events like the ASEAN Games and the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Annual Meeting in Indonesia will be used to promote the Indonesian tourist industry, he added. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Fri, February 24 2017

Representatives of broadcasting media from 40 countries with Muslim populations pledged on Wednesday to guard society from radicalism and other extreme values that led to disharmony.

The participants of the International Conference & the fifth Annual Meeting of Islamic Cooperation Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (IBRAF) have agreed to cooperate to reduce the negative impacts of digital media.

The commitment was included in the declaration of Media for World Harmony, which was read out by Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil in front of the delegates of the forum in Bandung, West Java.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

More than 50 companies will explore the possibility of taking part in the Bontang oil refinery project from state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina during its public expose next Tuesday.

Pertamina processing and petrochemical megaproject director Rachmad Hardadi said the firm would be looking until the end of April for a strategic partner, either a single firm or a consortium of investors, for the project.

More than 50 potential partners, whom, we believe, have world-class competency for a processing and petrochemical megaproject, have said that they will attend the Bontang GRR [grass roots refinery] project expose on Feb. 28, Rachmad said during a press conference on Friday.

This is not only a good sign for the Bontang GRR project, but also shows that the investment climate in Indonesia for this sector remains enticing, he added.

(Read also: Pertamina to build $9b oil refinery in Bontang)

Pertamina seeks to control a minimum share of between 5 percent and 25 percent in the refinery project.

The Bontang refinery in East Kalimantan will have an initial production capacity of 300,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) after construction is completed, which will be in 2023 according to plans.

The development of the refinery is part of Pertaminas long term plan to increase its domestic refinery capacity to more than 2 million bopd in the next decade. (lnd)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua  Fri, February 24, 2017

The Papua Police deployed additional personnel from its Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit to Sugapa, the main town in Intan Jaya regency, on Friday to strengthen security following clashes between supporters of election candidates that left one person dead.

The 81 deployed officers are in addition to the current 400 personnel on duty there [in Sugapa], Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw said in Jayapura on Friday.

Besides sending the 81 Brimob officers the Papua Police also received backup of 200 personnel from the National Police headquarters, who will be sent to regions that are conducting plenary meetings on the regional elections results.

The extra backup followed a clash on Thursday during the plenary meeting of 2017 Intan Jaya regional election. The plenary decided not to consider the votes from eight polling stations from Wandai and Agisiga districts as the local officials were still completing the count and had not yet delivered the ballots to the Intan Jaya Regional Elections Commission (KPUD). The counting should have been completed before the KPUD started the plenary meeting on Feb. 22.

Several people objected and called for the plenary to be delayed.

The arguments led to a clash that claimed the life of one man, Kolengan Wenda, 45, Waterpauw added.

The clash continued the next day as eight houses of campaign workers of one candidate were set on fire on Friday morning.

The police are looking for one suspect who is reported to have incited the mob to start the blaze.

Four pairs of candidates ran in the Intan Jaya regional election during the simultaneous regional elections in 101 regions nationwide on Feb. 15. The pairs running for the regent post were Bartolomius Mirip - Deny Miagoni, Yulius Yapugau - Yunus Kalabetme, Natalis Tabuni - Yan Robert Kobogoyauw and Thobisa Zonggonauw - Hermanus Miagoni.

No precise information has been provided on which candidates supporters were involved in the clashes.

Intan Jaya was among 11 regencies and municipalities in Papua that held regional elections this year. Waterpauw said that apart from the incident in Intan Jaya, the local elections in Papua ran smoothly and safely. (rin)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24 2017

As the House of Representatives launches a second attempt to deliberate a controversial tobacco bill, public resistance is growing stronger.

After groups of doctors and medical practitioners expressed rejection of the bill earlier this week, children and activists have been gearing up for a rally in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta this Saturday, which will be followed by other rallies in Padang, West Sumatra, and Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, to reject the bill.

If children are sick [because of smoking], what will become of this country? Putri Lestari, an eighth grade student from Bekasi who will participate in the rally, said to The Jakarta Post.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017

In a move to promote greater transparency, the Culture and Education Ministry is requiring all senior high schools nationwide to go digital when executing their bureaucratic activities with the ministry.

The ministry's education data center (Dapodik) contains detailed information on schools in the country, from infrastructure information to the number of teachers and students in each school.

Each school needs to input and update the information, but the verification is conducted by a separate body within the ministry.

Senior High School Development Directorate (PSMA) director Purwadi Sutanto said Friday that he expected all senior high schools to send their project proposals to the directorate through a digital platform called the electronic infrastructure (e-sarpras).

"We will look at the Dapodik to check their proposals. For example, if a school proposes a computer lab, we will check whether it really has no computer lab," Purwadi said in a statement on Friday.

Purwadi said besides promoting transparency, the new system would slash possible red-tape and help reduce the use of paper.

"This will cut on complicated bureaucracy," he said.

(Read also: Digital literacy: A growing demand)

Launched last year, the e-sarpras is being used by around 2,000 out of 13,000 senior high schools across Indonesia.

"We want this new system to be gradually used by [senior high] schools," Purwadi said. (yan)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Mirza Tirta Kusuma (The Jakarta Post) Virginia, US  Fri, February 24 2017

Most Muslims have read the Quran in its original Arabic text. They believe that reciting the Quran is a holy act in itself, which brings Gods blessing to them. As good as these intentions are, they miss out on the very reason the scripture identifies itself as the divine purpose behind its bestowment, i.e. to serve as guidance to mankind (hudan li an-nas).

Can people be guided if they do not understand the language of the guide?

The Quran invites people to not just read it but also make an effort to discern Gods message.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, February 25 2017

Private lender BCA and carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) launched their annual joint travel fair on Friday, which offered discounted airfares mainly to overseas destinations to encourage Indonesians to travel abroad.

The fair, which runs from Feb. 24 to 26 at the high-end Gandaria City shopping mall in South Jakarta, sells solely Singapore Airlines flights and tries to benefit from a rising interest from Indonesians wanting to explore foreign countries, including uncommon destinations, according to SIA public relations spokesperson Glory Henriette.

For Indonesians, popular destinations are mostly countries in Asia, such as Japan, South Korea or Hong Kong. As Indonesia is one of our most loyal markets, it will be advantageous for both of us and the travelling public," she said during a media gathering on Friday.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Jourdan Hussein (The Jakarta Post) Stanford, California  Sat, February 25 2017

Growing up Muslim in Indonesia is a privilege. It is not hard to live as a member of the majority, and this can lead us to have a narrowed worldview, usually at the expense of minorities.

Are Muslims and Javanese the majority in Indonesia? Probably. What about Chinese and Christians? Probably the minority. Shiites or Ahmadi? Probably marginalized.

With privilege comes a responsibility to speak up for fairness, against injustice.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Lynda Ibrahim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, February 25 2017

When you travel with a genuine willingness to soak in the atmosphere of the destination, there are almost no boundaries of what you can enjoy. Thats the quality I value most in travel mates  the ones who arent boxed in just a particular category, be it adventure, shopping, or culinary. Focus is useful, but it doesnt mean your itinerary should be dull.

And thats what Central Javas capital Semarang served us up during our recent trip. My friend Miss TamTam found out that we both had always wanted to see Lunar New Year celebrations in Semarang, so we worked out our schedules to make it happen.

Lying on the northern coast of Java, Semarang port has been bustling with regional trade for centuries and hence became one of the oldest settlements of Chinese immigrants on Java, shown by the citys culinary pride loenpia (spring rolls) and the quaint Confucian temple Tay Kak Sie. Built in 1746, the temple still stands elegantly to this day deep in Semarangs Chinatown.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Su Zhou (China Daily/ANN) Beijing  Fri, February 24, 2017

Nearly half of the interviewees from major overseas tourism destinations in a recent survey said that Chinese outbound tourists have improved their manners in the past five years.

The China National Tourism Administration released a report on the survey on Wednesday. The survey interviewed 3,650 people from 10 overseas tourism destinationsthe United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwanon the image and behavior of Chinese outbound tourists.

The results showed that nearly half of overseas interviewees said they have witnessed an improvement in Chinese tourists manners in the past five years. Interviewees from Indonesia, France, Singapore, the UK and the US gave positive feedback on Chinese tourists behaviour.

However, neighboring countries such as Japan did not, with only 18.9 per cent of Japanese interviewees saying they had witnessed an improvement.

When asked to rank the image of Chinese tourists from one to 10, overseas interviewees gave an average ranking of 5.2.

China has been the worlds largest outbound tourism market for the past four years. During the recent seven-day Spring Festival holiday, more than 6.15 million visits were made by Chinese mainland tourists to overseas destinations.

However, bad behavior of Chinese tourists has also led to criticism from many overseas tourism destinations.

The CNTA report said that despite there being no difference in how Chinese and overseas interviewees define bad behaviour, the overall ranking of Chinese outbound tourists manners is not that high.

Guo Lufang, a professor of tourism and city management at Zhejiang Gongshang University, said many Chinese tourists dont have much experience travelling overseas or knowledge about diversified cultures.

Sometimes Chinese tourists do not realise their behaviour is not suitable in certain cultural settings, Guo said. Some act in the same way when they are abroad as they do at home.

Liu Simin, the Chinese Society for Future Studies vice-president of tourism, said that in addition to tightening government or industry regulations on this issue, it is also necessary to educate people about good manners from a young age, even starting from kindergarten, which would set solid foundations for education on civilized tourism.

This article appeared on the China Daily newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Stevie Emilia (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017 17:05 2081 a291276806121264c0bd211cde1b1199 4 Destinations Japan,winter,travel,destination Free

I first saw captivating photos of Ogimachi villages gassho-zukuri houses in Shirakawa-go, covered in deep snow nearly 10 years ago, and had been wanting to visit ever since. The chance finally came my way and it was like stepping into a fairytale world.

Shirakawa-go and its neighboring Gokayama region, nestled in the Japan Alps stretching from Gifu to Toyama prefectures, were declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995.

These villages are famous for their traditional gassho-zukuri houses, whose triangular thatched roofs resemble the hands of Buddhist monks clasped together in prayer. These houses, most of them built about 200 to 300 years ago, are the only ones of their kind in Japan. No nails were used to construct the roofs, which have large attic spaces allocated to cultivating silkworms. The houses, whose architectural style was developed over many generations, were designed to survive the regions heavy snowfall during winter. Our guide Akiko Ako Konishi said most families in these villages, cut off from the rest of the world for a long time in the past, survived on the cultivation of mulberry trees and silkworms. Heavy snow greeted our group of journalists and bloggers, who were invited by Cathay Pacific and the Japan National Tourism Organization, at Ogimachi village.

(Read also: Asia's first vertical forest to be built in China)

The snow was almost swallowing my boots and walking was a challenge but the place was crowded with tourists from all walks of life.

Armed with an English walking map handed out by Ako, we followed the path that took us to heart of the village, which hosts some 60 houses. It felt like stepping back to the time of the Edo period.

In the village, we could go inside the Wada House, the most prominent of these houses, which was also designated an important cultural property of Japan in the same year as the UNESCO declaration.

The Wada House, which opens from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is also the villages largest house, showcasing its impressive structures and architectural style of the early Edo period, which was built based on old wisdom unique to the villages environment.

The main building is a large, singled-roofed three-story structure with a huge hall with a sunken hearth, a living room, a room with the familys Buddhist altar, a guest room and sleeping rooms.

Inside, domestic utensils on display showed they were used with great care while the houses shiny black ceiling showed that hundreds of years had passed in the place where people lived and earned their livelihoods.

Ako said the houses were private properties with families living in them while many had transformed into inns and guest houses for tourists wanting to get a real experience of staying there  from enjoying food while seated around a fire pit to taking a stroll around the quiet village.

The village is amazing in summer and spring time but during winter, its truly an extraordinary sight, said Ako.

In the back of my mind, I could picture these houses in spring, surrounded by cherry blossoms, with pine tree-covered mountains in the background, a fairytale land during all seasons.

Topics : Japan winter travel destination
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 24, 2017 11:37 2081 a291276806121264c0bd211cde1a0191 1 News kalijodo,RPTRA-Jakarta,#Kalijodo,transjakarta,bus,double-decker,new-route,routes,city-tour-bus,travel,tourism,#tourism Free

City-owned bus operator Transjakarta has opened a new city tour route using double-decker buses. The tour will travel from City Hall to Kalijodo in Penjaringan, North Jakarta.

Tempo.co reported that the new route aimed to accommodate local residents who wanted to visit Kalijodo's new green open area and child-friendly integrated public space (RPTRA).

Transjakarta director Budi Kaliwono said three double-decker buses would be operated every day to cater to the free-of-charge service.

(Read also: Transjakarta to operate boats to Thousand Islands)

The buses are scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

The company hopes that the new route will encourage Jakartans to use the public facilities at Kalijodo.

Kalijodo used to be Jakarta's oldest and largest red-light district.

Under the current city administration, the area has been transformed into a green space and RPTRA with a wide array of facilities, including jogging and bicycle tracks, a skate park, an amphitheater, toilets and outdoor fitness facilities. (jes/kes)
State Sen. Daniel Squadron and State Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou visited a Lower East Side senior center yesterday as part of a campaign to restore funding for NYC senior programs.

They made a stop at the Good Companions Senior Center, located at 334 Madison St. Its a facility within the Vladeck Houses run by Henry Street Settlement. Also yesterday, Squadron stopped by a center on Bayard Street run by the Chinese American Planning Council.

In Governor Cuomos budget proposal, he calls for shifting federal funds from the citys Department of Aging to child care services. In the past, the city had flexibility in how it allocated those funds. City officials have estimated that the shift could result in a $17 million shortfall in the Department of Aging and force the closure of 65 senior facilities.

On the Lower East Side, 13 centers could be impacted. They include facilities such as the BRC Neighborhood Senior Center at 30 Delancey St., the Grand Street Settlement Senior Center at 80 Pitt St. and the Weinberg Center for Balanced Living at the Educational Alliance.

In a statement, Squadron said, New Yorks senior centers do more than provide food and resources  they create community. Forcing centers to close or cut services would essentially leave seniors out in the cold, plain and simple I urge Senate Leadership and my Assembly colleagues to ensure funding is protected.

Squadron, whos in the middle of a district-wide tour of senior centers, has started an online petition in support of his campaign.

Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Niou is taking up the fight to restore state funding to Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs). The governor is proposing a cut of $700,000 in the the program, which offers services to people who wish to stay in their communities as they grow older. Several NORCs are located on the Lower East Side. Shes also calling on the state to add $5 million to the budget for the expansion of the program across the state.

Finally, Niou is asking legislative leaders to fund settlement houses, which are currently not included in the budget. She wants $4 million to support community-based social services offered by the not-for-profit organizations. There are six major settlement houses on the Lower East Side.
I first met Dani Shapiro in 2011, at One Story magazines annual debutante ball, where she was being honored with an award for her mentorship of younger writers. I interviewed her that night about her teaching career and in the course of our conversation she told me that she tries, above all, to teach patience. When I asked how one goes about teaching patience, she offered a piece of advice that has stuck with me since. She said, Immersion in the work creates patience. And then she paused and reconsidered: Or maybe its that patience creates immersion in the work.

Both formulations, I think, are wise; but it was the fact that she had the presence of mind to pause and rethink her answer in the midst of a crowded party that struck me as the real object lesson in patience. You can sense that same calm in Shapiros new book, Still Writing, a writing guide that is partly advice gleaned from years of teaching, and partly a memoir of Shapiros own growth and struggles as a writer. Its a book that focuses on process more than craft, and in particular, the importance of routine. Shapiro is candid about her own habits of procrastination, as well as the rituals that have helped her to overcome her worst impulses.

I interviewed Shapiro in late September, just before her book was due to hit the shelves. She spoke to me from her home office in Connecticut, which she describes in detail in Still Writing, including the antique chaise lounge where she often sits to read and write.

The Millions: So, I feel like I know exactly where you are because Ive read all about your workspace in your book.

Dani Shapiro: Ha, yes, Im not on the chaise lounge, but Im looking at it.

TM: And were you writing this morning?

DS: The irony of Still Writing being about to come out is that Im not getting any writing done at all. Im doing the stuff that writers do when we are about to get a book into the world. It becomes over-stimulating at a certain point. Im not remotely able to always practice what I preach. For me when Im working on the book, I pretty much just work on the book. Theres the writing and then theres the talking about the writing. And I feel like they occupy really different places in a writers life.

TM: When does this stage of nervous expectation come to an end in your experience? When will you be able to write again?

DS: You know, one of the things that I increasingly understand over the years  not that it makes the process easier, not that I understand it better  is that so much goes into a book  giving it everything weve got, holding nothing back  so that when a book goes out into the world, its like watching your toddler making its way across the highway during rush hour. It feels like a defenseless and vulnerable newborn and it requires a lot of support. And also, nothing is ever enough. I dont know a writer who actually feels, Oh, excellent, I got that great Times review. I have a friend who got a beautiful Times review for his debut novel and I was so pleased for him. And he called me up and the feeling was more of relief than joy  of crossing that thing that you had been so worried about off the list. And, Im just going to be really honest here, in the last five minutes before you called me, I saw on Twitter a really lovely review of Still Writing and in the same five minutes I also saw that an essay that I had written for Ploughshares, one that I hoped would make it onto the list of notable essays in Best American Essays, didnt make it onto the list. And so there you have it. I would like to be the kind of person who appreciates kind words from a friend rather than looking for my name on some list. I mean, who even reads the list of notable essays except for people who are hoping to be on it?

I bring up that example because this is a noisy, noisy world were all in. Thats not going to change. And I think for writers and for anyone in a solitary profession, theres always this Pavlovian response to want to know more and to want to know whats going on. And theres such a danger in that. And when Im writing I really do shut it down. I actually wrote an essay about this called #amwriting. Theres this hashtag on Twitter, #amwriting, and I started looking at it and thinking No, youre not! And so I wrote this essay about it on n+1, about trying to do the work. For writers, the Internet really is like crack. Almost every writer I know struggles with it or has found a way to really shut it down. We require all these tools and rituals, whether its a different computer or whether or its writing by hand, which is what I do when Im starting something new. Theres such freedom in a notebook. And theres this great program Freedom, which allows you to work on your computer without going online.

TM: Yes, I actually just reinstalled after reading your book. I had it on my old laptop and recently Ive been really distracted. It has to do with trying to balance childcare with writing time. So I realized I had to start using Freedom again.

DS: For me new motherhood was a very conflicted time. The feeling of carving out the time to write and feeling like somehow it was a luxury or frivolous in some way. Like it was not something I needed to be doing. Which is ridiculous because I support my family with my writing. But somehow if Id have to put on nice clothes and go to a law firm and have a boss it would be  well, women in that position are conflicted, too. But with writing you have to make it happen and you cant just show up for it. And I think thats where the Internet comes into play.

TM: Being on the Internet can feel very productive.

DS: Yes, it can be in the name of research, it can also be email. I feel it in my brain, I can feel when its been a few hours since Ive gone into my inbox. When I go online my brain feels like its sizzling. Its not a good way to think for someone who needs to make intuitive and imaginative and memory-based connections. Someone who is operating at a different frequency.

TM: What inspired you to write this kind of book, a writing guide for writers?

DS: Well, I first of all never thought I would write book-length nonfiction after Slow Motion. But in 2008, 2009, I was in that state of being in-between, which I talk about in Still Writing. Its never comfortable, no matter how many books I write, it always feels like this time its going to be different, this time its going to be over and I wont have an idea. But then Devotion presented itself as the next book. And it wasnt the book I would have picked. It was another memoir  and a spiritual memoir, my god! And so I wrote Devotion and that really ended up being a life-altering journey. And I had to get past my own resistance about it because I had a job to do. And just as when I wrote Slow Motion I had a feeling that it was going to change my writing life. In my novels before Slow Motion my obsessions were leading me around, and in my subsequent novels I think I have been a bit more in charge. Writing Slow Motion gave me a new lens, a different way of entering my imagination because I had taken care of writing that memoir. And so I had the sense that when I was writing Devotion that it was changing my lens again. But when I was working on Devotion, I also started working on a novel. Which I never do. And I started talking about it, which I caution people not to do. I wrote myself right into a wall. It was some of the best writing Ive ever done, it was fragmentary, a collage, a hybrid fiction that employs nonfiction within it. A gray area, blurred boundaries. Its something Im very interested in right now. But its very tricky territory. And for the first time in my writing life I put a big chunk of writing in the drawer.

And in the meantime, for the last number of years, Ive had a blog. Initially I had a blog because everyone told me to have a blog. And when I started, I thought what can I regularly blog about that feels like a deep enough well? And the answer was: the process of writing. The creative process itself. What it takes to do the work, what are the pitfalls and the joys, the struggles and the privileges. We do what we do alone in a room. Yet were struggling with the blank pages. People call it different things. Its a leap of faith or lunacy that makes you feel that what you are going to fill it with is something thats going to connect with other people. And so I started this blog and over the years I got tons of notes and it was from such a range of writers. And they always said the same thing: This is what I needed to hear today. I never thought about turning it into a book  even when people wrote to me and asked if it was going to be a book. And finally, it was in that space of finally putting a big chunk of a novel into a drawer that I thought, well, maybe this is the book Im supposed to be working on.

I sold Still Writing based on the fact that I had a blog. But I didnt look at the blog when I wrote Still Writing. I really wanted to start from square one and find a way to structure a memoir hybrid that would hopefully be useful and so that it didnt feel like assembled material.

TM: Its interesting that the book springs from that experience of getting stuck. Did you feel as if you were writing it for yourself, in a way?

DS: One of the things that I felt was that the minute you really think you know something, youre in trouble. I remember I was being interviewed for a literary magazine as I was working on the novel that I put in the drawer. And they asked if I had ever had to put a novel in a drawer. And I said no, Id been lucky that it hadnt happened to me. But I was thinking to myself, That would never happen to me. And meanwhile I was working on the very thing that I ended up putting in a drawer.

In Still Writing, I was thinking more of, what do I need to remind myself of? I think thats one of the reasons I love teaching. There are these moments when I teach when I say something and I realize its true and I hadnt thought of it in that way before. And thats when teaching is at its most alive. And I think this book came from my teaching self as much as from my writing self. I think it comes from the twenty years of teaching and especially the kind of teaching that I do, which really has a lot to do with trying to help people find courage.

Speaking of moments when I say something that I realize is true: years and years ago I was teaching an MFA course and I remember saying that I thought voice was practically synonymous with courage. And when I said it, I thought, thats right  you cant find your voice without having that sense of courage. Its not confidence. It has nothing to do with confidence, it has to do with moving past fear, embarrassment, mortification, shame. Its knowing where youre writing from.

TM: How aware of the genre were you when you began? Did you read other writing books or look to any others as a guide?

DS: I went back and I looked at a lot of them. Because I had to ask myself the question of why do we need another book on writing? I went back to the ones that I found most illuminating, the one I could just dip into always. The one that was model for me and that I felt I could add to in some way is Annie Dillards The Writing Life. Its pure wisdom. It doesnt instruct exactly. It goes very deeply into the head of a writer. And theres nothing sugarcoated about it. Its not saying everyone can do this. And Ive come to this recently lately, this idea that there are two kinds of teaching now when it comes to teaching writing. Theres writers who are coming to the workshop or a retreat because theyre trying to get it right with every fiber of their being. And then theres this other world of writers who will go to a workshop or a retreat because theyre trying to get it down. And getting it down and getting it right are two different things. For some writers getting it down is enough. And I think that has more to do with writing as a kind of therapy or catharsis. And getting it right has nothing to do with that. With Dillard, you see the absolute clarity and wisdom of her intention. She says a good book takes ten years. And I feel like reading that to my students who want to have a book deal by the time they graduate.

Stephen Kings On Writing I owe a debt to because the first half of that book he writes in bits and pieces  not in any kind of narrative way  about what formed him as a writer. A light bulb went off for me. I saw I could incorporate memoir, and it gave the book the chronology of beginnings, middles, and ends. It was a little scary to look at my process, because its a Pandoras box, the question of what am I going to find? What did it mean to be an only child? What did some of the painful or difficult life lessons that I learned early in my life, what did they have to do with forming my subject matter?

Bird by Bird by Annie Lamott was also an influence. Another book, one that I actually didnt know if it would still speak to me, was Natalie Goldbergs Writing Down The Bones. Goldberg has a kind of spiritual cast to her writing and shes someone who has a spiritual practice.

As I read them, I felt like what I wanted to do was different enough. It didnt feel like thats been said, thats been done. And the reason Im saying that is because in writing every other book Ive had the feeling that I had to write it. Still Writing didnt feel like I had to write it.

TM: I was wondering about that, because in Still Writing, you describe how your books announce themselves. And I wondered if this one had announced itself.

DS: Other people kept announcing it to me! It was one of those moments of realizing that there was something that I had apparently been doing for a few years without consciousness of it, something that was striking a chord. I cant imagine approaching a piece of fiction that way.

TM: So, may I ask  knowing you do not like to talk about work in progress, and knowing that you are currently in a state of nervous expectation  if you are working on something new?

DS: I will give you a very reserved yes. But I have a piece of short fiction coming out in a couple weeks that Electric Literature is publishing. Ive mostly been working on that short story, Supernova. Actually, its about two of the characters from the novel that is in the drawer. Because I really, really was and am attached to the characters and even though it was in the drawer, it had a heartbeat. It was alive. So I pulled them to see what would happen if I gave them a life of their own away from the larger work surrounding it. Aside from that short story there is the strangeness ofwell, I taped an hour with Oprah!

TM: I was going to ask you about that  I saw a notice on your website. What show is it for?

DS: Its called Super Soul Sunday and its on her network. Its amazing in terms of the company. She interviews people like Elie Wiesel and Maya Angelou. And she actually has Annie Lamott coming on. And this great Buddhist teacher called Jack Kornfield. And Karen Armstrong who has written some of the best spiritual biographies. Its about what she loves to do, which is to have a deep conversation about how to live a meaningful life. Its what shes interested in. I couldnt believe it when I got the call. It was very instructive to get that phone call because obviously I wasnt expecting it. And around my house were pretty regularly waiting for phone calls. But its a law of nature that the phone never rings when youre waiting for. The day I got the call from my agent about Super Soul Sunday I was shocked. Ive been shocked before by bad news. I didnt know good news could shock you in the same way. The next morning I said to my husband, Did I dream that? I really think I may have dreamt that. The good news can also emerge out of the ether, out of the blue. Anything that has ever happened to me hasnt been when I was waiting for it.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
WASHINGTON DC - Chicago city officials and Illinois lawmakers that defend cities, counties and municipalities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration law enforcers might do well to consider a new survey that showed 2000 registered voters as overwhelmingly opposed to sanctuary jurisdictions.

The poll, conducted by the Harvard Center for American Political Studies, showed that 80 percent of the respondents said they think cities that arrest illegal aliens for crimes should be required to turn them over to immigration authorities.

Only 20 percent of registered voters say they oppose cities being required to turn criminal illegal aliens over to the feds.
If I was not an avid user of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, then I would not have found out about the latest terror attack in Pakistan.

attack Thewas directed at a shrine in the cultural heart of Pakistan, Lahore, killing more than 80 people and further injuring up to 250 more. Yet there was very little, if any, fitting media coverage of the event. Yet, go back to the Paris attack in November of 2015 and the attacks on the metro and airport in Brussels in 2016, and there was substantial coverage accross all media platforms and a ubiquitous feeling of resentment.

All three of the aforementioned attacks had the same perpetrator; The Islamic State. Why then was there selective coverage and attention?

Sadly, this selectivness of media coverage and lack of political attention exhibits signs that how highly human and national security and safety are regarded is dependant upon the region it is affecting. Western governments, media organisations and leaders have for many years stressed that terrorism is the universal enemy which demands solidarity and action. Where was the solidarity for Pakistan?

Obama in 2014 declared that the Islamic State are the biggest contemporary threat to US, as well as to international security. They certainly reinforced that with their attack on Pakistan, making the absence of a sincere reaction all the more bewildering.

Sweden Additionally, Donald Trump's recent passing of the executive order banning Muslims from seven different countries from entering the United States for 90 days had the fundmental aim of eradicating and preventing terror. Thus Trump should be enraged by the terror attack in Pakistan and should be demanding an international response. Instead he is citing non-existent terror attacks inrather then addressing a terror attack that actually transpired.

The sad reality is, there is more chance of him classifying the Pakistan terror attack as 'fake news' than responding and paying it the attention it requires.

Nevertheless, it is not just Trump. Leaders and media organisations accross the Western world have paid little or no attention to the terror attack that has sent shockwaves across Pakistan. The silence on this matter in the Western world speaks volumes.

By contrast, in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attack, world leaders united together and marched in solidarity in Paris to send out a clear message that the world is united against terrorism. It appears that feeling of unitedness is very hollow, because there was no such thing for Pakistan. Likewise, subsequent to the Paris attack, millions of people took to social media using numerous hashtags such as '#PrayForParis' and '#JeSuisParis', and it is estimated that within the first 24 hours of the incident, there were 430 million interactions such as tweets, statuses, posts, likes and comments all expressing sympathy and support for the country and its victims, and rightly so. Snapchat even created a filter for both the Brussels and Paris attacks and even provided live news about each episode. Unfortunately, there was no such thing for Pakistan.

Where were the Snapchat filters, the hashtags, the front page headlines, the rallies against terror and the march for solidarity in Lahore? Citizens of Lahore were on the receiving end of a ferocious attack just like those citizens of Brussels and Paris were. But it appears, your life is valued a lot less when you come from a non Western country. Apparently race, culture, religion and lifestyle now determines whether your life is valued enough to make breaking news, front page headlines and invoke a social media response if you are on the receiving end of a terror attack.

Everyone has been engrossed with the Trump adminstration and their stance on security threats, but when a real life scenario occurs whereby security is breached and lives are lost, because those lives do not belong to a Western community, their level of importance drop significantly.

So in future, when leaders of the Western world appear in the media alluding to how terrorists are a threat to humanity, you will know they are merely playing with semantics. What they really mean is terrorists are only a threat to humanity if those humans are based in the west.
Gap years. Theyre ever popular, and the art of taking time out to find oneself in a foreign climate has become some sort of a rite of passage now for the interesting, adventurous - or more often, affluent - young adult.

It makes sense then, that E4 have chosen gap years as the topic for their latest comedy drama, which debuted tonight.

Channel 4 have got a long history of choosing shows that strike a chord with their younger audience - Skins, Fresh Meat and The Inbetweeners were all massive hits for the channel and Gap Year looks like its about to join that list.

Penned by the man behind Plebs and Fresh Meat, comedian and writer Tom Basden, the series is an eight-part exploration of South East Asia. Starting in China, the characters (and the cast and crew) move on to Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The programme centres around two best friends who decide to throw wind to the likes of Zante and Malia, and decide China is the best place for a lads holiday... sorry, gap year. Model-cum-actor Anders Hayward is great as the lovelorn and desperate (if not a tad pathetic) Dylan who drags his good friend Sean - played by BAFTA-nominated Ade Oyefeso - to the Far East.

Oyefeso is especially funny, playing a character whos definitely three dimensional. The two have some great chemistry, and the dynamic between them offers Gap Year some unexpected gravitas and really moves the show past comedy and into drama.

They are joined by American Ashley (Brittney Wilson) and square student May (Alice Lee), who embarks on a sort of home-coming trip to really get to grips with her Chinese-American heritage.

T he group is completed by the award-winning comic Tim Key, who offers a hysterical performance as Greg, a character in the early midst of a mid-life crisis. He knits the cast together and creates a large portion of the show's obvious humour.

Ill confess, I didnt expect to enjoy the first episode as much as I did. Too often it seems that shows about students, or for students, miss the mark. Theres a fine line between relatability and patronisation. Watch the majority of teen films, and youll see what I mean.

The creators of Gap Year seem to have not only negotiated this tightrope, but theyve also landed spectacularly on the other side. Perhaps it works so well because its self contained - just when the gags begin to produce smirks rather than giggles, the episode ends.

Or maybe it is the way the creators are open to realistic suggestions from the younger cast. Theres a real touch of Basdens Fresh Meat humour throughout the first episode, but the new characters, new story, and new ideas keep it, well, fresh.

The next seven episodes will see the characters explore new locations, gain new cultural experiences, and make new relationships and I cant wait to watch them as they do so.
Tentang Situs Slot Online Resmi MGS88 Nama Situs  MGS88 Minimal Deposit  Rp. 10.000,- (Sepuluh Ribu Rupiah) Proses Deposit   2 Menit Metode Deposit  Bank Transfer,  Pulsa,  E-Wallet Judi Online Terbaik  Slot Online,  Judi Bola,  Casino Online,  Togel Online,  Tembak Ikan Provider Slot Gacor Mudah Maxwin  Pragmatic Play,  PGSoft,  MicroGaming,  Habanero Slot Gacor Gampang Menang  Gates of Olympus,  Sweet Bonanza,  Wild West Gold,  Starlight Princess Win Rate 98%

RTP Live Slot Gacor Tertinggi Hari Ini Terbaru Terlengkap

Selamat datang di halaman RTP live dan informasi soal slot gacor hari ini dari situs MGS88 yang setiap hari selalu update. Berdasarkan RTP Live MGS88, Anda bisa mendapatkan informasi tentang slot online yang saat ini yang sedang Gacor atau onfire dengan persentase yang terbukti akurat, ini bisa menjadi rekomendasi anda sebelum memilih permainan slot online di situs MGS88. Cek RTP Slot sekarang juga bosku

Klik Provider Slot Untuk Mengetahui RTP Slot Secara Real Time

Selamat datang bagi kalian yang sedang mencari situs RTP Live terlengkap dan terkini hari ini. Sangat sesuai jika Anda mengunjungi website MGS88 RTP live untuk informasi tentang permainan slot yang lagi gacor dengan slot RTP yang terupdate. Persentase kemenangan yang kami berikan tentunya diambil dengan data yang sangat valid dan hanya untuk permainan slot yang tersedia di situs MGS88. RTP yang tersedia juga akan selalu diperbarui setiap hari berdasarkan level kemenangan yang diberikan kepada member kami.

Memang sih untuk bermain slot itu tergantung hoki dari setiap pemain, Namun RTP live atau bocoran slot dari yang kami sediakan ini adalah data autentik dari banyaknya pemain yang telah bermain dan mencapai kemenangan tinggi. Sederhananya, kalau banyak pemain yang menang di dalam 1 permainan slot, karena itu permainan slot tersebut akan mempunyai persentase RTP yang sangat tinggi.

Namun kami tegaskan sekali lagi, ini bukan sebuah paksaan kami situs MGS88 untuk anda bermain di game slot yang mana. Ini bisa dijadikan sebagai referensi atau tolok ukur, boleh dicoba kalau anda mempunyai feel yang kuat dalam memainkan permainan game slot. Anda dapat mengakses kapan saja dan di mana saja selama anda siap bermain. Jangan ragu untuk bertanya ya seputar pola putaran terhadap kami, sebab kami juga menyediakannya loh.

Apa itu RTP Live?

RTP Live ialah informasi mengenai persentase tertinggi saat ini dari hasil RTP Live dengan bocoran kemenangan pemain saat ini. RTP Live merupakan singkatan dari Return To Play atau bisa juga diartikan sebagai Return to Player. Karena itu, para pemain slot sekarang jika ingin mengetahui seberapa besar kemenangannya, bisa dengan memainkan permainan yang akan dimainkannya dan bisa untung dengan mudah dan tentunya maksimal.

Apa itu RTP Slot?

RTP Slot juga dikenal sebagai return to player atau pengembalian ke Pemain. RTP slot ialah persentase dari nilai pengembalian semua uang yang dipertaruhkan pemain dari waktu ke waktu. Dengan kata lain, RTP juga dianggap sebagai salah satu fitur slot yang mengembalikan uang pemain saat pemain kalah.

Persentase digunakan untuk menghitung RTP dalam permainan slot. Misalnya, jika slot memiliki RTP 97%, itu berarti untuk setiap 100.000 koin yang hilang di slot, slot dapat mengembalikan 97.000. Jika Anda mengetahui RTP sebuah permainan slot, Anda dapat memutuskan permainan slot mana yang akan dimainkan tanpa kerugian besar.

Apakah Angka Persentase RTP Slot Itu Penting?

Biasanya pemain slot itu tidak memperhatikan RTP dalam permainan yang akan dimainkan, biasanya setelah anda mengisi saldo utama anda akan langsung buru-buru memainkannya. Yang terakhir 90-96% mempengaruhi jumlah kemenangan. Semakin tinggi jumlah RTP yang digunakan, semakin luas peluang untuk mendapatkan keuntungan.

Akan namun itu segala tak secara 100% menjamin kemenangan kau dalam bermain, RTP itu cuma sebagai kalkulasi pengeluaran anda saja selama bermain slot.Dengan adanya RTP, kau dapat mengerjakan pengaturan atas uang yang akan kau pertaruhkan nanti pada ketika bermain.Untuk itu pada ketika kau bermain slot dan telah mengalami banyak kekalahan di satu permainan, direkomendasikan kau pindah ke permainan slot lainnya yang RTP nya lebih tinggi dari permainan yang tadi kau mainkan.

Keuntungan Menggunakan Bocoran RTP Slot Hari Ini

Situs MGS88 Akan dengan senang hati akan beberapa keuntungan yang didapatkan jika anda bermain slot dengan menggunakan RTP Live yang telah disediakan. Berikut Keuntungannya :

Peluang Kemenangan Meningkat Tentu saja, saat bermain slot online, menang adalah hal yang paling penting. Di sinilah RTP berperan sebagai metode atau metode baru yang akan membantu Anda memilih permainan slot persentase tinggi. Mendapat variasi dalam Memainkan Game Slot Pastinya banyak pemain slot online yang hanya memainkan 3-5 permainan slot saja. Namun dengan RTP Live slot akan memberikan banyak game slot lain yang bisa anda coba. Tentunya semua permainan slot memiliki potensi kemenangan yang besar, jadi jangan hanya mengandalkan beberapa permainan saja. Menambah Pengalaman Dalam Bermain Slot Keuntungan terakhir adalah Anda tentu saja menambah pengalaman dan keahlian dalam permainan slot online. Dengan berbagai macam permainan slot yang dimainkan, Anda pasti mengetahui karakteristik dari setiap permainan slot yang Anda mainkan. Akibatnya, Anda pasti bisa dianggap sebagai pemain slot yang andal, yang pasti akan meningkatkan peluang Anda untuk menang besar menggunakan RTP.

Daftar 8 Situs Dengan RTP Slot Live Tertinggi Hari Ini

Ada banyak penyedia mesin slot online di internet. Tetapi tidak semuanya memiliki peluang tinggi atau RTP Live Slot yang sangat tinggi. Tapi jangan khawatir, berikut ini adalah situs slot gacor yang akan memberikan bocoran slot dengan RTP Live Tertinggi:

RTP Live Slot Pragmatic Play (RTP Slot 97.85%) RTP Live Slot PG Soft (RTP Live 96.15%) RTP Live Slot Habanero (RTP Slot 95.89%) RTP Live Slot CQ9 (RTP Live 98.83%) RTP Live Slot Spade Gaming (RTP Live 94.99%) RTP Live Slot Micro Gaming (RTP Slot 95.39%) RTP Slot Live Top Trend Gaming (RTP Live 96.14%) RTP Slot Live JOKER123 (RTP Live 97.45%)

Itulah Daftar 8 Provider Slot Gacor dengan RTP Live teratas diatas tentunya kami analisa terlebih dahulu. Anda bisa membuktikannya langsung dengan mengklik banner atau meprovider game slot yang sudah tersedia di atas. Saran kami yaitu Anda harus memainkan semua penyedia slot di atas untuk mencapai peluang kemenangan terbaik.

Daftar Slot RTP Live Tertinggi Sering Kasih Jackpot

Selain mempertimbangkan RTP Slot Gacor yang ada, sebenarnya ada banyak faktor penting untuk menang dalam permainan judi online. Sebab ada banyak game yang memiliki fitur dan mekanisme unik dan bisa membantu anda meraih Jackpot yang sangat besar.

Berikut ini akan kami ulas daftar 5 game slot paling populer karena sering memberikan jackpot:

RTP Live Gates of Olympus Gates of Olympus adalah game slot teraneh dan terbaik di Indonesia. Karena permainan mesin slot ini paling populer karena kakek Zeus dapat mengizinkan pengganda x500. Selain itu, fitur dan mekanik Gates of Olympus juga sangat menguntungkan untuk memenangkan Grand Jackpot. Secara teoritis, RTP slot langsung Gates of Olympus bernilai 96,50%, yang berarti peluang Anda untuk memenangkan MaxWin cukup tinggi. RTP live Sweet Bonanza Sweet Bonanza adalah permainan slot terpopuler kedua. Game slot bertema buah dan permen yang lezat ini sepertinya akan menarik banyak perhatian karena tergolong slot gacor yang mudah menang. Secara teoritis, slot Sweet Bonanza RTP bernilai 96,48%, yang berarti peluang Anda cukup tinggi untuk memenangkan jackpot. RTP Live Wild West Gold Wild West Gold adalah permainan slot bertema koboi yang juga populer di kalangan penggemar konspirasi. Permainan slot Wild West Gold sendiri kerap menawarkan kejutan jackpot bagi para pemainnya. Selain itu, nilai RTP Live Slot menunjukkan indeks tertinggi hari ini, yang berarti sangat layak dan sangat direkomendasikan. RTP Live Starlight Princess Slot Starlight Princess ini memiliki gaya dan fitur yang mirip dengan Gates of Olympus. Perbedaannya hanya pada desain dan karakter gamenya saja, karena memiliki fitur dan mekanik yang sama tentunya RTP slot teoritis pada game slot ini sama yaitu 96,50%. RTP Live Cash Elevator Mungkin sebagian dari Anda baru mengenal slot Cash Elevator. Namun dari data benchmark yang diungkap, ternyata banyak sekali yang menikmati permainan slot ini. Dengan fitur dan mekanisme unik seperti Lift up and down asli, slot ini juga memiliki slot RTP Live dasar 96,64% yang juga memiliki mekanisme yang sangat menguntungkan untuk memperlancar tingkat kemenangan besar.

Bocoran Jam Main Slot Gacor Hari Ini

Dalam bermain permainan slot online itu tidak bisa dilakukan dengan sembarangan yah. Jadi, Jika anda bermain pada waktu tertentu seperti yang akan kita bahas sesaat lagi, ada kemungkinan anda untuk mendapatkan kemenangan lebih tinggi. Jam RTP Slot Gacor merupakan bocoran jam main slot yang akan memberikan anda kapan waktu yang pas dalam bermain game slot.

Tentu saja seluruh provider slot online memiliki jam tertentu dalam memberikan peluang kepada para pemainnya untuk mendapatkan kemenangan. Disini kami akan memberikan anda Bocoran Jam Slot Gacor yang Paling Akurat Hari ini:

Jam Slot Gacor Pragmatic Play 02:30 WIB - Jam 05:25 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Habanero 14:26 WIB - Jam 17:38 WIB Jam Slot Gacor CQ9 00:45 WIB - Jam 05:53 WIB Jam Slot Gacor PG SOFT 14:25 WIB - Jam 17:35 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Joker123 17:41 WIB - Jam 20:42 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Microgaming 22:30 WIB - Jam 00:35 WIB

MGS88: Situs Judi Slot Online Gacor Pay4D Resmi dan Terpercaya

MGS88 adalah situs game slot online Gacor terbaru yang bermitra dengan Pay4D, Pay4D sendiri merupakan daftar situs game slot online terpercaya dengan berbagai macam permainan judi yang mudah dimenangkan seperti Game Bola, Casino Online, Slot Pay4D, Tembak Ikan dan Pay4D Online Permainan togel seperti Singapura, Hongkong, Sydney dan lain-lain. Tujuan utama kami adalah menjadi situs judi online Pay4D yang menyediakan layanan judi online terbaik di Indonesia.

Kami juga salah satu situs resmi PAY4D di Indonesia yang pasti akan membayarkan semua kemenangan kepada semua member kami, karena kepercayaan dari semua member kami adalah prioritas utama kami sebagai mesin slot 4d Asia terbaik di Asia, khususnya di Indonesia.

Dalam melakukan sistem transaksi sistem simpanan dapat dilakukan dengan mudah melalui mobile banking dan electronic banking berupa bank BCA, BSI, BRI, BNI, Cimb Niaga, Permata dan Mandiri. Selain itu, transaksi e-wallet juga tersedia melalui Dana, Gopay, LinkAja dan Ovo serta dapat digunakan untuk pulsa tanpa dipotong.

Untuk mempermudah dan kenyamanan dalam melakukan registrasi atau melakukan setiap transaksi, MGS88 menyediakan layanan live chat dan Whatsapp terhubung langsung dengan customer service online 24 jam.

Mengenal Istilah Dalam RTP SLOT

Di slot RTP Live Anda akan melihat berbagai fitur yang mungkin tidak Anda pahami masing-masing. Namun jangan khawatir, disini sebagai situs slot gacor MGS88 kami akan memberikan penjelasan lengkap mengenai tentang istilah yang ada di RTP SLOT dibawah ini.
Brit, 52, arrested for theft in Phuket

PHUKET: A 52-year-old British man is currently being held at Phuket Provincial Court where he is awaiting trial after being arrested for theft.

crimepolicetechnologytransport

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 24 February 2017, 02:32PM

Machin is now being held at Phuket Provincial Court where is is awaiting trial. Photo: Cherng Talay Police

At just after 1am yesterday (Feb 23), Lt Col Saard Wongweangjan together with Lt Col Chaiyut Kongkaew of the Cherng Talay Police arrested British national Mr Charlie Machin, 52, at a property in Soi Na Koh, Moo 3, Cherng Talay following a tip-off that he was suspected of stealing items, including an iPhone 6 from a foreign woman in Cherng Talay.

Using the Track My iPhone app police discovered the phone was at a property in Soi Na Koh, Moo 3, so went to inspect.

Police found Machin in the house along with the stolen iPhone. Police also discovered further items; two iPhone 6, an iPad, Cannon camera, Macbook, two brown wallets, four passports, key chain, external hard disk, black bag, and Yamaha motorbike.

Machin was taken to Cherng Talay Police Station and charged charged with theft.

When being questioned by police Machin also told officers that he had hidden a further 38 stolen item inside his property which police have now seized.

Today (Feb 24), Lt Col Sakon Krainara also of the Cherng Talay Police confirmed to The Phuket News that Machin admitted to stealing the iPhone from a Russian woman, Ms Tatiana Motora, in Cherng Talay and that the other items had been stolen from Kamala, Thalang and Sakoo.

He has since been transferred to Phuket Provincial Court where he is awaiting trial, Lt Col Sakon said.
French tourist in ICU in Bangkok following deadly Krabi crash

PHUKET: An 18-year-old French tourist injured in an accident in Krabi last Wednesday (Feb 15) which left a mother, daughter and taxi driver dead has been transferred to a hospital in Bangkok where he is being treated for a brain haemorrhage.

tourismtransportaccidentsdeathpolice

By Yutthawat Lekmak

Friday 24 February 2017, 10:23AM

French tourist 18-year-old Julien Remy Viallet has been transferred to Samitivej Hospital in Bangkok where he is receiving treatment for a brain haemorrhage sustained in the deadly crash. Photo: Krabi Pitak Pracha Rescue Foundation

Betrice Brigitte Bureau, 55, and her daughter Victoria, 18, were pronounced dead at the scene after the SUV they were travelling in was slammed head-on by an out-of-control 10-wheeled truck south of Krabi Town last Wednesday.

The 18-year-old and Alain Nicoles Bureau, 52,  Mrs Bureaus husband and Victorias father  were in critical condition following the accident. (See story here.)

I can confirm that 18-year-old Julien Remy Viallet, who suffered serious injuries in the crash, was transferred to Samitivej Hospital in Bangkok on Sunday (Feb 19), Lt Col Piroat Chanachai of the Nuea Khlong Police told The Phuket News.

He is being treated in the the hospitals ICU for a brain haemorrhage, he said.

However, I can also confirm that Mr Bureau, who was not as seriously injured as first believed, has been released from hospital and returned to France on Monday (Feb 20).

The bodies of Mrs Bureau and her daughter have also been returned to France, he added.

Meanwhile, the driver of the 10-wheel truck, Boonlit Sangsaen, has also now been released from the hospital following the accident.

Mr Boonlit was released from Krabi Hospital on Sunday and came to Nuea Khlong Police Station on Monday to speak about the case, Col Piroat said.

He was told that he is charged with reckless driving causing death and injury.

However, he will not go to court until all the documents from Nuea Khlong Police Station have been sent to the Public Prosecutor, who will draft an indictment to the court and then the court will call Mr Boonlit to attend trial.

But that will take at least one week to two weeks, Col Piroat added.
Phuket court sets June date for Aussie tourist Keatings trial

PHUKET: Fears have been raised that Australian tourist Thomas Keating will be stuck in Thailand for a further four months until the Phuket Provincial Court hears the evidence against him at a court hearing scheduled for June.

tourismaccidentsdeathpolice

By Tanyaluk Sakoot

Friday 24 February 2017, 06:24PM

Aussie tourist Thomas Keating (in blue shirt) arrives at Karon Police Station on Feb 9. Photo: Premkamon Ketsara

Mr Keating has already entered a plea of guilty to the court to the charge of reckless driving causing death for the jet-ski accident that killed his girlfriend of two years, Emily Collie, on Feb 17. (See story here.)

However, according to the Phuket Provincial Court public register, Mr Keating must present himself in court at 10am on Friday, June 23 to hear the verdict for or against him, The Phuket News learned today (Feb 24).

A court official explained to The Phuket News today (Feb 24) that although Mr Keating has entered a plea of guilty  the court will still have to receive the evidence against him and then hand down its verdict.

Presently, Thomas Keating has been released on bail by the court, but his passport is being held by the court and he cant go out of the Kingdom of Thailand during this time, the court official said.

Sorry, we cannot give more information, the official added.

The official declined to reveal the amount of bail posted to release Mr Keating.

However, the extra four months delay in the trial does not concur with the understanding explained by Maj Patiwat Yodkwan of the Karon Police as recently as Monday this week (Feb 20).

Speaking to The Phuket News on Monday, Maj Patiwat confirmed that Mr Keating had presented himself in court last Friday (Feb 17) and acknowledged the charge of reckless driving causing death made against him.

It will still take a further four or five days for the court to reach a decision in this case against Mr Keating as judges still have to examine all documents and evidence relating to the case, Maj Patiwat said. (See story here.)

A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade today told The Phuket News, The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to an Australian man who has been charged over a jet-ski accident in Thailand, and his family, in line with the Consular Services Charter.

The Australian Government is unable to interfere with the sovereign legal processes of other states, the spokesperson said.

Mr Keating has expressed unbearable sorrow over the death of Ms Collie, his 20-year-old girlfriend of two years from the north-east Victorian town of Kyabram.

This was a tragic accident. However, I take responsibility for what happened, Keating said in a statement several days after the crash.

And I have decided that the best thing is to accept a charge of reckless driving leading to death

I would like to express my unbearable sorrow at the loss of my soulmate, Emily, who I loved more than anything in this world, as well as my never-ending apologies and condolences to Ian and Sally Collie and the rest of their family.
Thai man, 96, found hanged in Phuket property

PHUKET: A 96-year-old Thai man was found at his home in Thalang last night. His wife believes that health issues finally got too much for the man.

deathhealthpolicesuicide

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 24 February 2017, 10:41AM

Police inspect the house in Thepkrasattri where the man was found hanged. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

At 11pm yesterday (Feb 23), Capt Chatree Choowichein of the Thalang Police was informed by an official from Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (OrBorJor), Mr Sakchay Chaowai, that one of his neighbours had hanged himself at a house on Moo 5, Baan Muang Mai in Thepkrasattri.

When police arrived at the scene with Kusoldharm rescue workers they found Mr Pracha Kruaphanit, 96, hanged with a white nylon rope.

We believed he died not more than half an hour prior to our arrival, Capt Chatree said.

Mr Prachas wife, Ms Waraporn Kruaphanit, 90, told police, My nieces and I live in the front part of the house and my husband lived in the back. I believe that my husband had stress due to his illnesses.

He just came out from Vachira Phuket Hospital yesterday after being admitted for six days, she said.

I think he must have hanged himself as he was stressed about his health issues, she added,

We have no doubt that he committed suicide, Capt Chatree said.
VX nerve agent found on Kim Jong-Nam face: Malaysia police

MALAYSIA: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Uns half brother was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare, Malaysian police said today (Feb 24).

crimedeathmurderpolice

By AFP

Friday 24 February 2017, 02:53PM

Kim Jong-Nam (grey suit), half-brother of North Koreas leader Kim Jong-Un, speaks to airport authorities at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13. Photo: Handout/AFP

Releasing a preliminary toxicology report on Kim Jong-Nams murder at a Kuala Lumpur airport, police said the poison used by the assassins was the odourless, tasteless and highly toxic nerve agent VX.

Traces of VX  listed as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations  were detected on swabs of the dead mans face and eyes.

Leaked CCTV footage from the brazen attack on February 13 shows the portly Kim being approached by two women who appear to put something in his face.

Moments later he is seen asking for help from airport staff, who direct him to a clinic.

Malaysian police said he suffered a seizure and died before he reached hospital.

The national police chief said today that detectives would look for the source of the deadly VX.

We are investigating how it entered the country, Khalid Abu Bakar said.

The chemical is illegal. It is a chemical weapon.

However he added that if the amount of the chemical brought in was small, it would be difficult for us to detect.

A leading regional security expert said it would not have been difficult to smuggle VX in a diplomatic pouch, which are not subject to regular customs checks.

North Korea has previously used the pouches to smuggle items including contraband and items that would be subjected to scrutiny if regular travel channels were used, said Rohan Gunaratna, the head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.

He added North Korea has manufactured VX in the past.

The North Korea intelligence service has been very active in Thailand, Malaysia and in Indonesia and today pose a threat to the region, Gunaratna said.

Khalid has previously said the woman who ambushed Kim from behind clearly knew she was carrying out a poison attack, dismissing claims that she thought she was taking part in a TV prank.

The lady was moving away with her hands towards the bathroom, Khalid said earlier this week.

She was very aware that it was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands.

Under the international Chemical Weapons Convention 1997, countries must declare stockpiles of VX and are obliged to progressively destroy their supplies, although North Korea is not a party to the treaty.

In his brief written statement released today, Khalid said scientists were continuing to analyse other exhibits from the autopsy.

Malaysian detectives are holding three people  women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man  but want to speak to seven others, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.

One man wanted for questioning, who is believed to be still in Malaysia, is a senior North Korean embassy official.

Police have acknowledged that his diplomatic status prevents them from questioning him unless he surrenders himself.

North Koreas state media broke a 10-day silence yesterday (Feb 23) on the murder, launching a ferocious assault on Malaysia for immoral handling of the case and for playing politics with the corpse.

The Norths official KCNA news agency said Malaysia bore prime responsibility for the death, and accused it of conspiring with South Korea.

No next-of-kin have yet come forward.

North Korea has never acknowledged the victim as the estranged brother of leader Kim Jong-Un and the lengthy KCNA dispatch avoided any reference to the dead mans identity, calling him only a citizen of North Korea bearing a diplomatic passport.

The only known use of VX is as a chemical warfare agent and the US governments Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as the most potent of all nerve agents.

It is possible that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, would be lethal, the CDC said on its website.

All nerve agents cause their toxic effects by preventing the proper operation of an enzyme that acts as the bodys off switch for glands and muscles.

Without that switch, the glands and muscles are constantly being stimulated, and eventually tire and become unable to sustain breathing.

Saddam Hussein was accused of using the agent during the 1980s.

VX was used by Japans Aum cult in the 1994 murder of an office worker in Osaka, and in the attempted murder of two other people.

The doomsday cult led by guru Shoko Asahara used sarin nerve gas for a deadly attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. Asahara was sentenced to death for the subway murders as well as producing deadly substances, including sarin and VX.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
What county auditors want voters to know ahead of the midterm election

Forty-one South Dakota county auditors spoke with the Argus Leader about the sanctity of elections in the state.
Louise Carhart

carhartl17@grinnell.edu

Last Wednesday, Feb. 22, Professor Kathleen Newman, an associate professor of cinematic arts at the University of Iowa, gave a talk on cinema and the growing international participation in the creation of culture. Newmans work examines the globalization of culture, as our world continues to export media across borders and oceans. Her talk focused on the Latin American perspective and responded to the increase of Latin American films in the global cinema scene.

As a founding member of the Latino Caucus of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS), Newman has worked on a variety of projects and books that examine the cultural implications of widespread media in the Latin American market. She has edited a number of books on Latin American cinema, world cinema and transnational practices associated with globalization. Her current project looks at Argentine silent cinema as one of these transnational practices and theorizes on the concept of peripheral modernity.

Her talk focused on this kind of work; for Newman, the intersection of national culture and a global influence have implications for domestic and world culture. These implications are a result of the interconnected global economy and the exchange of culture is a relatively new study. Newmans field is a developing one, but she is at the forefront of globalization media studies.

In addition to the connections between globalization and film, Newman is interested in how politics manifest in cinematic fictional narratives. This work has led Newman to examine how directors and artists translate present-day situation into fictional accounts, especially in terms of movements and oppression. She has looked at the rise of democracy in Argentina and the corresponding cinematic movements that promoted feminist thought.

Newman believes that the category of national cinema must be studied along with the transnational category when approaching films that were made for an audience larger than their home country. She has suggested that national cinema no longer exists, rather in our interconnected world all forms of art have influences and connections to art made abroad. In addition, Newman looks at the uneven balance of exported films. The flows of art are often unequal, as certain countries and artists are prioritized over a more diverse selection of movies.

At Grinnell, the Center for Humanities has made an effort to include more films from Latin America and other regions of the world. This past Tuesday, Feb. 21 the program sponsored a screening of The Pearl Button, a Chilean film by Patricio Guzman. For students like Xena Fitzgerald 17, the film depicted much of what Newman studies in terms of the intersection of film and politics.

The film considers the ocean as a way to examine the genocide of the indigenous people who depended on the ocean for sustenance and canoe travel, Fitzgerald wrote in an email to The S&B. Layered on top of the narrative of the indigenous people, the film also addresses the murders under the [Pinochet] dictatorship and the bodies that were dumped into the ocean.
By Keli Vitaioli

vitaioli@grinnell.edu

The Department of Residence Life and the Gender-Inclusive Housing Committee conducted a survey last week to gauge student opinions on gender-inclusive housing in residence halls. While certain halls have both gender specific and mixed gender floors, the availability of gender-inclusive housing on campus remains limited.

The committee is using this survey to gauge the housing needs of the current underclassmen at the College. The major intention of this survey is to really help meet the needs of the underclassmen on campus as well of future Grinnell students says Geneva Guadalupe 17, a member of the committee. I think its important we understand what students needs are on campus, whether in terms of housing or other personal situations as we try to move to improve the housing situation on campus.

With the new academic year coming soon and the final results of the survey coming in, the aim of the committee is to have largely gender inclusive housing across campus with pockets of gender specific housing for students who prefer it.

I think the big things [are] wiping the slate clean for students who require such housing, and starting over based on student representation and what students want their communities to look like and specifically the number of restrooms, said Leah Reuber, Assistant Director of Residence Life.

The results of the survey are slowly pouring in, and as expected, students have expressed overwhelming support for more gender-inclusive housing. However, a large portion of the student body remains uninformed about not only the current plans for gender inclusivity, but how the committee plans to uphold these in the future.

The survey served as a barometer of student perspective on an issue that is intrinsically linked to every aspect of life at Grinnell. The process of realizing the need for change in terms of housing began early last year.

There seemed to be a natural opportunity and need for us to bridge how our housing works with the needs of our students, Reuber said. Over the summer, this was something I realized to work on, and with the help of Lauren Myers [technical assistant] I reached out to several administrators for suggestions for student representatives.

This led to the formation of the Gender-Inclusive Housing Committee. The committee is a coalition of students and staff members from Residence Life working together and providing input on this particular issue. The committee includes Joe Rolon, Director of Residence Life, Mira Lamb 17, Toby Baratta 17 and Zach Steckel 18, as well as Guadalupe.

The members of the committee span from those involved with Residence Life to those on SGA.

I received an email at the beginning of the academic year saying that I had been recommended to be a part of this committee, Guadalupe said. This was partially due to my campus involvement, and my involvement with Res Life, as I had previously been a CA.

Baratta and Steckel both serve on the SGA cabinet, as Diversity and Outreach Coordinator and Assistant Treasurer, respectively.

I was not invited to be on the committee as a member of SGA specifically, but rather as a student who had been involved in Res Life. I personally think its a fantastic initiative, and I am glad to be a part of it. Since Toby and I are both on SGA cabinet, we realized SGA was going to have to be a little more involved than we previously believed, Steckel said.

In terms of longer impacts of the committee, Guadalupe believes that it is not wise for the committee to be disbanded immediately after it has achieved its goal of attaining gender inclusive housing.

I think its really important we continue to ensure that the Committee remains in order to keep a check on the efforts and progress that they have made to have gender inclusive housing on campus, and make certain that they continue to deal with student needs on this issue, Guadalupe said.

The committee plans to hold a Town Hall at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. in JRC 101 on Monday, March 13th in order to answer questions and provide more information to the student body at large.
By Mineta Suzuki

suzukimi17@grinnell.edu

If good coffee is a pleasure, Sam is a treasure. Sandra Sam Cox has been living in Grinnell for her entire life of 48 years. She has owned Saints Rest, the only coffee shop in town, since 2013.

My favorite part of the town is a sense of community. Its really beautiful, safe and diverse because of the College, Cox said.

Though she has long put her roots down in the community, she was not always an expert in running a coffee shop.

I got a degree in fashion merchandising as I thought I would like to be in the fashion industry. I think I just thought really small, which is sometimes a problem with the small-sized town. You dont always learn to dream big,  but the world is a pretty big place and you should think bigger, Cox said.

But she finds joy in her new life project, establishing Saints Rest as a communal space for everyone. And it has been successful so far.

I get to know a lot of people. Stemming from college students that are 18 years old through my retirees that are in their 70s, 80s and 90s to the new high school students.  I get to develop long-term relationships, Cox said.

Certainly there are challenges to maintain a local business. In such a small town like Grinnell, the fear of big chain competition is dire.

The rumor [that Starbucks might open in Grinnell] has circulated a couple times, and it is circulating again. I have heard that when Starbucks comes into communities like ours, the [local] coffee shop actually ends up doing a little better, simply because people tend to support that coffee shop even more. But to be honest, I am of the other opinion that it would only hurt my business, Cox said.

Indeed, neighboring towns such as Newton and Marshalltown face similar problems. But for now, she aspires to improve things inside her own cafe.

I think dogs should be allowed. Thats my newest complaint. Sometimes I wish [Saints Rest] were bigger, simply because  it gets crowded in here and we dont have enough space. I always think about what we can do to grow our business, Cox said.

That is why she keeps coming up with new baked goodies and supported the reopening of the 1854 Deli, which serves fresh salads and sandwiches, making Saints Rest an attractive venue for non-coffeeholics.

Additionally, she strives to do more with the cafe, by hosting various events such as live concerts and art workshops, as well as political gatherings. Recently, for example, there was a community meeting at Saints Rest in response to the Trump administrations executive order on the immigration.

I think part of it is because [Saints Rest] is considered more of a neutral area.  So anything that anybody reaches out to me on, I try to be very supportive and if I can donate my time and product, I will.  I just feel like thats one way of giving back, Cox said.

Through her intimate interactions with the customers, Cox keenly observes general demographic changes in students.

In my opinion, there are a lot more kids with discretionary income, who have more money to spend in my shop, so Im very fortunate for that, and who dont necessarily have to have those jobs outside of class.  The employee pool that I used to have is getting smaller and smaller, too, Cox said.

However, what remains the same, from her point of view, is the academic rigor of the College.

Do I think your workload is crazy? Yes. Ive seen what you guys do. That takes a special person to put your nose to the grindstone and turn out that stuff, Cox said.

Whether as fuel political activism or a guilty escape from homework, Cox will continue to give students and community members a warm hug in a mug.

We are very community driven. We are very fortunate that all different kinds of people come in here and that it has become a hubbub for activity.
By Andrea Baumgartel

baumgart1@grinnell.edu

To the excitement of many local Grinnellians, Mayor Gordon Canfield filled the two previously vacant seats in Veterans Memorial Commission this past Monday, Feb. 20. The two new appointees are Gwen Rieck, who assumes the role as Vice Chair and is a former U.S. Air Force nurse; and Marie Andrew, who will be the recording secretary and who served in both the U.S. Army as well as the Iowa Army National Guard.

Before these positions were filled, the commission was left it in limbo and unable to consider the future of the vacant Veterans Memorial Building that holds a great deal of meaning in the hearts of community veterans and non-veterans alike.

The one obstacle remaining is the resignation of Chad Rose  leaving yet another vacancy to be filled by the Mayor. However, with the reinstitution of two more gender-balancing seats, immediate decision-making was allowed to commence at the first meeting following the commissions multi-month dormancy.

Most notably: the decision to accept Tom Lacinas proposal to transform the building into a nationally-recognized artist residency.

Lacina, a local lawyer, farmer, art aficionado and former Grin City Artist Collective property owner drafted, in the words of Canfield, the most fleshed-out plan we have. In his proposal, Lacina outlines a specific vision for the building.

Currently, Lacina proposes to use funds from a tax levy, set for November 2017, as well as grant-writing to renovate the building into a space where around two to three dozen artists per year could set up their own working space, synthesize and collaborate with other artists, and let their creative processes flow for the benefit of the public. The residency will very much be grounded in honoring veterans, by encouraging and favoring all veteran applicants, although non-veteran applicants would still be accepted, as well as potentially forging more opportunities for local veterans to engage in art themselves.

The artists could meet and interact with the community and engage in Central Park, downtown and school activities and public events. The artists might provide shows at spaces downtown, participate and encourage art and music therapy, attend potlucks and other social events in Central Park, be involved in college activities, and work with youth programs at our schools and in our many youth organizations, Lacina wrote in his now-accepted proposal.

The attitude of freshly-minted commission member Andrew is positive, but practical. The proposal seems like a viable one. I do know that art therapy and music work for veterans and other people, she said.

However, Andrew very much emphasized that this is a plan that will take a lot of money and a lot of work  from everyone.

If the community can raise the money, then yes, Andrew said when asked of her overall approval of the plan. But we need people to get involved. We still need more veterans, especially the younger ones, and other people in the community to participate. It has to be a combined effort.
By Candace Mettle

mettleca@grinnell.edu

Iowa Republicans, led by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, have introduced The Election Integrity Act (officially called House Study Bill 93) to combat voter fraud. However, many have expressed concerns about the intent of the law, including election auditors, civil rights lawyers and Iowans.

According to the Des Moines Register, election auditors found only 10 cases of voter fraud out of the 1.6 million cast in Iowa in November. Out of the 10, most incidents occurred due to human error that officials quickly corrected. Considering the drastically low number of cases, voter fraud has not yet been found to change the outcome of any election conducted in Iowa.

The Election Integrity Act states that voters must bring with them a drivers license, state ID and other official forms of identification to be eligible to vote. Polling monitors will then scan the card to verify the eligibility of the voter, specifically if the voters name appears in an electronic voting list. Signature and absentee ballot verification will also measure the validity of a voters ballot.

Iowans without any official identification will automatically receive a voter identification card in the mail. Currently, at least 85,000 Iowan residents would need to obtain a voters identification card.

Political Science professor Peter Hanson echoed the same concerns that many have over the bill.

Studies suggest that the effects of voter ID laws can be significant; it can disfranchise thousands of people if they have to jump through all the hoops that are necessary to vote, Hanson said. If you think about the history of the United States, there are always laws that seem innocuous on the face that have been used to suppress the vote in the past.

Hanson cited the civil rights movement, and what led up to it, as an example of the implications of voter fraud provisions. As the results of the civil rights movement showed, designed measures to prevent certain groups of people from voting ceased. However, as more states move to adopt laws claiming to prevent voter fraud, it undoes all the progress made from the U.Ss past.

I simply look at voter ID laws as an attempt to resurrect a new kind of barrier, Hanson said.

Hanson believes that HSB 93 has a real chance of passing successfully through the legislature. Currently the Republican party holds a near absolute majority, and Hanson believes that the bill has clear partisan effects and goals.

People who are likely to be affected are disproportionally democrats, which has led most observers to conclude is what were seeing here is not about combating voter fraud, but its rather about partisan agenda, Hanson said. For that reason Im skeptical of these laws.

I think we need to make it easier for people to vote, we need to encourage people to vote and I think that any law which make it more difficult and in particular one that cuts disproportionally across the population and singles out vulnerable groups or those targeted in the past is really troubling.

Voting, according to Hanson, is the single most important means to ensure that citizens can effectively protect their interests.

[People] can mobilize and they can demonstrate and they can put pressure on members of congress, but [if] that pressure doesnt translate in votes, [then] it doesnt have a lot of meaning, Hanson said.

As Hanson said, the civil rights movement found success through reminding their congressmen, mainly ones from the Democratic Party which held pro-slavery and Jim Crow stances in the past, that they are constituents of their districts too. In turn, congressmen had no choice but to respond to their constituents.

its a puzzle to how Democrats became supportive of civil rights, Hanson said. A big part of the answer is that [they] responded to black voters so by and thats the north of course so the most important thing you can do is to allow all citizens their rights is the right to vote.

Lawyers from the ACLU of Iowa and election auditors believe that HSB 93 will complicate and prolong voting. Iowa has one of the highest voting turnout numbers in the country due to its accessible polling stations and long period for ballot submission.

The consequences of these laws are real and we should be concerned, Hanson said.

Secretary Pate told the Des Moines Register that the bill will strengthen confidence in Iowan voters and maintain the fairness of elections within the state. However, Secretary Pates office could not be reached for further comment.
By Philip Kiely

kielyphi@grinnell.edu

Dhruv Bakshi 17, who hails from Jakarta, Indonesia, came over 9,700 miles to get to Grinnell. Sam Burt 17 traveled two blocks. Of everyone with publicly listed home addresses on the campus database, Burt came the shortest distance to what Google Maps defines as the center of campus and Bakshi came the furthest. From almost 10,000 miles apart, the two ended up living across the street from each other on East Street this year.

Burt always knew that he wanted to come to Grinnell.

In a lot of ways, Ive always known that I would come here. My first conscious recollection of this is in second grade [when] my best friend moved away and I wrote him a letter that was just when its time to come to college, go to Grinnell College,  We did not reunite, but that was my first idea of what going to college meant, Burt said.

Bakshi took a while longer to hone in on the college.

Im originally from Mumbai, India, which is a huge city and back home English is my first language and so everybody went to the same system in the eleventh, twelfth, which was IB  so there was no thought into where I would go to study, it was more like I am going to go to the US and study, and after I figured that out I was like where do I want to go in the US. I had always lived in big cities  so I narrowed my focus to small liberal arts colleges in almost the middle of nowhere, Bakshi said.

After he came to Grinnell, his family moved to Jakarta, positioning him almost exactly across the globe from Grinnell.

Now I do live in Jakarta. I came to college when I was in Mumbai, but a year and a half in my family shifted to Jakarta, Indonesia. I guess I call that home now. In my heart, home will always be Mumbai, India, but when I go home, I go to Jakarta, Indonesia, Bakshi said.

Burt goes home regularly by foot. When Bakshi returns home, which he does every winter and summer break, he takes a series of flights across either the Atlantic or Pacific.

I usually take between three and four flights  usually it is about 36 hours, Bakshi said.

The two are both very connected to Grinnell, but in different ways.

My best friends are still my best friends here, because they all went here, so thats a big part. The kinds of places that I liked to go are still the kinds of places that I like to go, Burt said.

After my family moved to Jakarta my identity with Grinnell has become stronger. At least I can call this place home, at least Im here for most of the year. When my family was in Mumbai I was always like Mumbai, Mumbai, Mumbai. Now I feel like [Grinnell] is the closest place I have to home. I go back to Jakarta and its far, my family is there but I dont feel to connected to the city, Bakshi said.

After graduation, Burt plans to stay in the area.

Im planning on spending a bit time here just to save up some money before I move anywhere just because living is so cheap here. There are places in Iowa City and Des Moines that Im looking at. I have some friends in Colorado, thats a really good place  the kinds of jobs that are available there more match my interests, Burt said.

Bakshi will return to Indonesia and ultimately to Mumbai.

I really miss India, I love India. I do eventually plan on going back there, but not immediately. Immediately, Im going to spend this summer traveling the US, because I dont know when Ill be back next. I plan to go back to Indonesia, but not Jakarta, because Indonesia is a really beautiful country, Bakshi said.
Air India is planning to revive some international routes in Africa which became defunct in 2006-2007. Increase in the number of Indians living in Kenya and Tanzania is one of the main reasons why Air India feels it could be commercially viable to revive these routes.

In the recent past, Air India has launched operations in Vienna and is also planning to launch operations in Washington and Copenhagen.

A lot has changed since 2006. There are Indians now living in Kenya and Tanzania. I know of many Indian teachers who are living in Kenya and Tanzania. Commercial viability of an international route depends on the passenger load factor, said Lally Matthews, Secretary of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO).

Although India has bilateral agreements with several African countries like Kenya, Zambia, Seychelles and Yemen, most of them are not being utilised. Air India is operating its flights only to South Africa at the moment. According to the tourism industry, many expatriates mainly from Gujarat living in Kenya and Tanzania who would like to visit India.

Air India officials said government support from Kenya and Tanzania is also a criterion for launching the operations.

The government must agree on the number of passengers that is to be carried from Kenya and Tanzania. A separate agreement is signed for that, said K R Krishnan, Senior V-P of travel consultancy firm, Nivalink.

In order to promote its business interests, Air China operates to Kenya and Tanzania. Likewise, India also needs to increase the business opportunities for Indians by launching direct flights to Kenya and Tanzania, he said. If Air India operates to Kenya and Tanzania, business is also expected to grow as India can export a number of commodities to these two countries, said Krishnan.

Only a few airlines like Emirates and Etihad operate to Kenya and Tanzania. Today all the flights which go to Kenya and Tanzania are through Dubai. One has to wait for almost six to eight hours in Dubai before embarking on a flight to Kenya and Tanzania. So a direct flight to Kenya and Tanzania will certainly help, said Sanjeev Joshi, director, Tourism India Management.

Air India has sent a survey team of officials to Kenya and Tanzania and has received reports regarding the potential of launching such an operation. We dont hire a hotel at market rates and therefore we have to see which hotels are there in Kenya and Tanzania, said an Air India official.

Outbound tourism is also growing to Kenya and Tanzania as the wildlife safaris in these countries are a major tourist attractions.

Passenger load factor and cost of operations are two of the main factors in deciding if the airline will launch operations on a certain route. Also Air India will have to see which aircraft are supported by the airports in Kenya and Tanzania, said an Air India official.
After arresting Mohit Goel, Director of Noida-based Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd, police said they were searching for four more directors of the company that launched the world's cheapest smarphone.

Goel was detained late on Thursday after an FIR was filed by Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises, alleging that Ringing Bells defrauded it of Rs.16 lakh.

"We are trying to arrest four other directors  Anmol Goel, Dharna Garg (Mohil Goel's wife), Ashok Chadha and Sumit Kumar  named in the FIR," Superintendent of Police Salman Taj Patil said.

As news of Goel's arrest emerged, several other distributors reached the police station, describing their suffering at the hands of the company, the official said.

In the FIR, Ayam Enterprises claimed it was persuaded by Goel and other company officials to take up the distributorship of "Freedom 251" (costing less that $4) smartphones in November 2015.

In India, each phone was to cost Rs.250.

"We paid Rs.30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. But it delivered us product worth Rs.13 lakh only. Upon follow-up, we could get products plus money totalling Rs.14 lakh," the company said.

According to Akshay Malhotra, one of the distributors of Ayam Enterprises, Goel contacted him two years ago to become the clearing and forwarding (C&F) agent for his products.

Malhotra paid Rs.30 lakh to Goel in four instalments but Goel did not supply the consignment even after the promised delivery time lapsed.

After much persuasion, Goel supplied the first consignment of mobile phones, called 'Freedom 251', worth Rs.8 lakh. After finding them substandard in quality, Ayam Enterprises returned them to Ringing Bells.

Ayam Enterprises was later forced to accept power banks and LFD bulbs from Goel in place of mobile phones, Malhotra claimed.

After registering the FIR under sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471 and 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code, police arrested Goel from his residence at ATS Towers at Indirapuram on Thursday.

A report in TeleAnalysis, a leading news portal on the telecommunication and technology industry, claimed in December that Ringing Bells owners had shut down the company and opened a new firm, MDM Electronics Private Ltd.

Ringing Bells later refuted these charges.

After announcing that it had delivered 5,000 'Freedom 251' smartphones to customers in July last year, Ringing Bells said it would deliver 65,000 more to those who had booked the device in cash on delivery (COD) mode.

After that, no new numbers were shared. The company has since forayed into making TVs and other smartphones, burying the Freedom 251 dream.

The company in mid-February last year had planned to deliver 2.5 million handsets before June 30. Ringing Bells received mammoth  over 70 million  registrations before its payment gateway crashed.

The world's cheapest phone made a splash across the globe, with almost every big media house writing about the "miracle device".

Doubts were initially raised over Ringing Bells' handset after some experts said no smartphone could be manufactured for less than Rs.2,000.
The WTO's trade facilitation pact will help promote global trade in several ways such as facilitating movement of goods and effective functioning of ports, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said.

She said that the implementation of the agreement will also help in reducing transactions costs, cut turnaround time of ships, which comes with cargo and provide real time information on data.

"I look forward for the rapid improvement in the ways in which we handle our trade. Customs and Commerce will work together," she told reporters here.

The agreement, which seeks to ease customs norms, came into effect yesterday with two-thirds of WTO members ratifying the pact.

The minister said India would fund all its projects like upgradation and digitising infrastructure for implementation of the WTO's trade facilitation agreement (TFA).

She also said that the Shipping Ministry along with the Customs and the Commerce departments are working to strengthen logistics support for traders.

"It will lead to reduction in transactions cost," she added.

The ministry, she said, is also talking with Railways Ministry on this issue.

They are also identifying areas which requires legislative changes for the smooth implementation of TFA.
The AAP on Friday announced the names of 109 candidates in its first list for Delhi civic body polls to be conducted in April.

"This is the first list of 109 candidates for civic polls. The selection process of the names the candidates for the remaining wards is going on. Another list will be announced soon," said Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Delhi Convener, Dilip Pandey.

The selection procedure for the 109 candidates continued nearly for a month. Out of 109 announced candidates, 64 are youth and 49 are women.

The names were finalised in a meeting of the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on Thursday.

The AAP earlier this month had formed a 10-member screening committee to pick nominees for the 272 municipal wards in the national capital.

The screening committee includes Pandey, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Water Minister Kapil Mishra and all seven Vice Presidents of the Delhi unit.

The screening committee had shortlisted the names of two-three candidates from each ward out of which PAC finalised 109 candidates.

Pandey said that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corrupted all the three civic bodies in the national capital.

"I hope Delhi people will this time vote for AAP and free Delhi from corruption," he added.
A senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Sudhir Kumar now posted as the chairman of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) was arrested on Friday from Jharkhand in connection with the test paper leak scandal which surfaced earlier this month. This is the second arrest of IAS officials in the state in the past six month for their alleged involvement in fraud, extremely worrying the IAS association.

Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer, was arrested along with his four relatives by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to investigate the paper leak scandal.

The SIT was looking for the chairman for another round of questioning but he mysteriously went missing since the scandal surfaced in the first week of this month.

Soon after arrested, all were brought to Patna and interrogated by the police, police said. The details of their quizzing, however, are not known. Those also arrested include IAS officials brother, his sister-in-law and nephew. Reports said two of the relatives arrested by the police had also appeared at the clerical test which was conducted by the BSSC although the tests were cancelled later by the state government following reports of question paper leak.

The SIT has arrested the chairman on the basis of concrete evidence of his role in the test paper leak, Patnas zonal inspector general of police NH Khan told reporters on Friday.

However, his family alleged the IAS officer was having a good track record and was being implicated under political conspiracy. The IAS association too opposed his arrest saying it would provide all support to Kumar and even bear the legal expenses incurred on fighting his case in the court.

Questioning his arrest, the association sought for a CBI probe into the matter to bring out the truth.

What was further surprising RJD chief Lalu Prasad too wondered over his arrest saying the later is known as an honest and upright officer. Sudhir Kumar is known as a kada (strict) officer. It has to be seen now under what circumstances, his arrest was made. Until I get facts, it will not be fair for me to comment over the issue, said Prasad.

Earlier this month, BSSC secretary Parmeshwar Ram was arrested after police came to know about his close links with the big racket involved in illegal appointments in governments departments after taking hefty money ranging between Rs.10 lakh to Rs.15 lakh per student.

Rams arrest followed a massive raids at his Patna-based residence during which the police seized candidates admit cards, attendance registers and other such incriminating documents pointing to the officials direct involvement in the racket. So far, 27 people have been arrested in this case since the probe was handed over to the SIT.

This is the second arrest of IAS officials in the past six months, indicating the steel frame is slowly getting rusted. Earlier in July last, a younger IAS officer of 2013 batch Jitendra Gupta was arrested by the vigilance sleuths for allegedly taking bribe of Rs.80,000 from truckers plying on the GT road in Kaimur district. This was his first posting as the IAS officer. At that time as well, the IAS association has strongly protested his arrest.
Delhi Police's Crime Branch has begun its probe into clashes between ABVP and AISA members in Delhi University's Ramjas College.

"Since it was Mahashivratri, students were not present in the campus. Police will begin recording the statements of students tomorrow and will collect all the video evidences in the matter," said a senior police officer.

Officers analysed all the complaints received from both the parties, he said.

Meanwhile, there was police presence in the campus and adjoining areas today to ensure peace despite it being a holiday.

Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP supporters. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on 'Culture of Protests' which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

Tension continued to simmer across Delhi University's North Campus on Thursday with students' groups holding protests against police "high-handedness" during the violent clashes even as three policemen were suspended for "unprofessional" conduct.

While students of JNU and DU who are members of All India Students Association (AISA) staged a protest at the Delhi Police Headquarters at ITO, the Congress' student wing National Students Union of India (NSUI) took out a peace march to Maurice Nagar police station, near the North Campus.

ABVP, on its part staged a protest reiterating that "they will not allow any repeat of JNU like events in Delhi University".

While the DU authorities maintained that the varsity proctor's office is looking into the issue, the HRD Ministry had yesterday sought a report from the university over the issue.

A case was registered in connection with the violence and on Thursday it was transferred to Crime Branch.
U.S. President Donald Trumps buy American and hire American focus may adversely affect the H1B visas which allow skilled-workers from around the world to apply for jobs in American companies.



The H1B visa holders can apply for permanent residency in the US and can buy property in the country. These visas were sometimes used by some companies in the USA to hire foreign workers at a lesser cost than their American counterparts.

People from India receive more H-IBs than any other country. In 2015 alone, 253,377 Indian were either given new H-IB visa or their previous H-IB visa was extended.

Canada and China are other two countries which send many skilled workers to the United States through this programme. Some 63,626 Canadians and over 36,000 Chinese were able to get this visa in 2015.

Mexicans were also among the top entry gainers through H-1B visa, with over 20,000 getting a chance to pursue jobs in the field of technology, science, medicine in the United States under the H-1B programme.

The proposed new legislation proposes to limit the entry of highly-skilled workers into the country to stop companies replacing American workers. The bill will affect primarily Indian IT giants such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro. The U.S tech industry may be hurt as well as many H-1B visas go to big American companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft Corp.
Laughter is not just the best medicine, its good for ones pocket too. The increasing band of stand-up comedians will vouch for this as big corporate houses and even start-ups are hiring them with good offers to lift employees' mood in their offices, besides creating brand value.

Companies like Nestle India, Amazon, leading mobile and data solutions provider Matrix, Muthoot Group among others, are scouting for good comedians to promote their brand activities through television commercials and giving live performances at their corporate get-togethers. Besides stage shows, stand-up comedians are called for corporate events, dealer meetings, script and content development for brands, columns in magazines and even for weddings, house parties and bachelor parties.

Salaries offered to these comedians are attractive. Once established, a comedian can earn Rs 20-30 lakh a year. A little-known stand-up comedian can bill Rs 5,000-20,000 for a show, while a popular one can get corporates to cough up Rs 1 lakh or more.

Stand-up comedians such as Vir Das, Hussain Dalal, Angad Singh, Sorabh Pant, Rohan Joshi and Amit Tandon have been hired by companies for brand promotions, content development and script writing.

Probably, the best example of a company using a stand-up comedian for brand promotions was initiated by Nestle India in September 2014. It engaged Dalal to promote Nescafe Coffee, where he portrayed the role of a struggling stand-up comedian who stammers. "The biggest strength of a stammering comedian issuspense, Dalal said in the advertisement. The advertisement ends with, Thank god for coffee. It kept me go..gogoing and kept you aaawake. The advertisement not only created laughter but also evoked empathy among viewers about mocking people who are speech-impaired.

Comedians bring out humour from day-to-day activities. They perform satire on politicians, technology, traffic, culture, and the like and use Hinglish to create the punch in their performances.

"Humour as a route to communicate the brands message makes a lasting impact. These comedian artists deliver the right message with the right humour," said Balbeer Singh, who conducts comedy shows in and around the Capital.

Its a tough job and doing public shows isnt enough to sustain a family. One has to look for other day jobs," said Atul Khatri, who started doing stand-up comedy three years ago and quit his day job with an IT company in Mumbai. He now earns handsomely by doing shows for companies.

Mumbai-based comedian Angad said, "We are constantly active on social networks. The more fans or followers we get provides an edge for casting directors to give us a break.
The Border Security Force (BSF) on Friday handed over to Pakistan, the body of Rashida Begum who was shot on Thursday night while trying to enter Indian territory.

The dead body was handed over to the Pakistani Rangers at the Pargwal sector of Jammu district in a company commander level meeting.

Earlier, a meeting with Pak Rangers was held and a photo of the woman was shown to the Rangers who then agreed to take the body.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday called for resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the policy of "bullet for bullet" will only worsen the situation in the state.

"If you want to improve the situation in Kashmir, then the only way is to start a dialogue. The talk of bullet for bullet will only make the things worse," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

He said India and Pakistan need to come together and resume the stalled dialogue process to resolve the long standing Kashmir problem.

"Bullet cannot be an answer to a bullet. Bullet can be answered by patience, love and through dialogue. We should desist from that and hope India and Pakistan come to the dialogue table and a new phase of talks will resume so that this problem is resolved," the former Chief Minister said.

Abdullah, who was a union minister during the previous UPA government, said it was "imperative that an effort be made towards restoration of peace (in Kashmir). Both the countries should talk peace.

There is no other option."

He said poor people in the state would be the worst affected by lack of tourism because of violence.

"Death and destruction should come to an end so that the people of Kashmir can live in peace. The tourism season is about to start and if this death and destruction continues, who will come here? Who is going to suffer because of that? It is the poor people here who depend on tourism," he said.

Abdullah also demanded constitution of a judicial commission to look into the reasons for youths joining militant ranks and people rushing towards encounter sites to save holed up militants during counter-insurgency operations.

"We have to take into account their (militants') sentiments. What is the reason for their taking up arms? A high-level judicial commission should be constituted to look into what is compelling the youth to take up arms," he said.

Referring to the warning of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to the youth against interfering in anti-insurgency operations, Abdullah said "That is not right. That is unfortunate because if you have to address a problem, the solution does not lie in the gun but talks."

"Dialogue is the only way and we have to tread that path.

There is some reason why people are doing this (protesting near encounter sites). We have to look into that reason and address that reason so that the guns stop and peace prevails in the state," he said.
The Congress, which suffered a rout in Maharashtra civic polls, on Thursday said it will introspect on the reasons for the loss, even as the issue of infighting continued to haunt the grand old party.

"We will introspect. We will look for the reasons why Congress party did not do as well. We need to sit down and introspect about the reasons," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

"We will rebuild our cadre, we will look at the reasons and we will ensure that Congress party emerges out stronger as a voice of people of Mumbai," he said.

However, senior party leader Milind Deora said the Congress failed to check infighting and expose the Shiv Sena-BJP's backdoor alliance and inspire the people of Mumbai.

"Sadly, Congress failed to halt infighting, play up local issues, expose Shiv Sena-BJP's backdoor alliance and inspire Mumbai to vote for change," the former Congress MP from South Mumbai said.

Deora later tweeted, "Congress needs to regain Mumbai's trust and re-establish relevance by replacing current urban narrative with a more credible alternative one."

Congratulating the BJP and the Shiv Sena for their good performance in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, Surjewala said the two parties will now have to provide good governance and fulfil their promises made to people of Mumbai.

He said the Congress, as a responsible party, will sit in opposition and continue to strive for all the issues dear to the public.

The Congress was routed in civic polls in Maharashtra, with BJP winning 82 seats in the fiercely fought BMC polls, just two seats behind the estranged saffron ally Shiv Sena.

Both, however, were well short of the magic figure of 114 needed to control the civic body.

In the counting of votes held on Thursday, the Congress was relegated to the third position with 31 seats, whereas the NCP and Raj Thackeray's MNS were reduced to single digit figures of 9 and 7 seats, respectively.

Surjewala said, "We humbly accept the verdict of the people of Mumbai. Why we were unable to win over the hearts of the people of Mumbai and why we could not win more seats despite the fact that Shiv Sena and BJP have jointly ruled over BMC for last 20 years."

He said one thing is extremely clear that in BMC, Shiv Sena and BJP have ruled together for last 20 years, but the problems of people of Mumbai, be it potholes, be it drinking water, be it immeasurable traffic, be it transparency and absence of corruption, be it excessive regulatory controls has not ended. .
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Riday cautioned New Delhi against any effort to suppress the political aspirations of the people of Kashmir through administrative and military mechanisms.

Addressing party legislators and workers at a function in Srinagar, Farooq said statesmanship and sagacity demanded that New Delhi should initiate political engagement with the alienated youth of the state rather than resorting to a confrontational and aggressive approach by issuing threats of harsh measures.

When we demand that New Delhi should engage with the politically isolated, alienated and anguished youth of the state, we are not condoning violence or turmoil  nor are we supporting strife.

"To the contrary, by asking New Delhi to talk to these young men, we are seeking that the root cause of alienation be addressed rather than continuing with the policy of treating the symptoms through operational and administrative mechanisms. That is a tried, tested and failed approach and has yielded nothing but a loss of young lives on all sides, Farooq said.

He said the turmoil and hostility in Kashmir was in itself a result of extra-constitutional intrigues by successive regimes in New Delhi that went against all constitutional safeguards and promises that were provided to the state at the time of accession.

Before looking at external factors and blaming the problems in J&K on terrorism, New Delhi should read contemporary history of the state with objectivity and then only will it realize that the simmering political issue in the state is the outcome of New Delhis overt and covert acts of constitutional impropriety and injustice with the state and its people, the National Conference president stressed.

These young men we see out on the streets today dont care about their lives, their livelihood or about their personal grievances but are full of resentment and hostility because of how New Delhi has always and continues to see and define them through the narrow, conventional prism of law and order dynamics," Farooq added.
The Centre has cleared a Rs.17,000 cr deal for jointly developing with Israel a medium-range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) for the Indian Army, officials said on Friday.

The missile will be the latest in a series of SAM systems being jointly developed with Israel for the Navy and the Air Force. The deal will be implemented by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).

The approval comes ahead of a possible visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel later this year. 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

According to officials, the proposal was shown the green light on Wednesday by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

From 2012 to 2016, Israel supplied 7.2 per cent of arms to India, as per the survey by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)  an international think-tank that researches on conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.

According to it, India is the largest buyer of Israel's weapons with a 41 per cent share of its exports.
India and Bangladesh on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the sustainable development of Sylhet city with financial aid from India.

Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Additional Secretary of the Economic Relations Division Shah Md. Aminul Haque and Sylhet City Corporation CEO Enamul Habib signed the tripartite agreement on Friday in Sylhet, a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith witnessed the signing.

Under the MoU, three projects  construction of a five-storeyed Kindergarten & High School Building, a six-storeyed Cleaner Colony Building and Development of Dhupa Dighipar area  will be implemented with Tk 24.28 crore.

The signing was the follow-up of an earlier MoU which was signed by the two governments in April 2013 for the implementation of sustainable development projects in socio-economic sectors of Bangladesh.

"Sylhet is an ancient city and a historically vibrant city. It had been a part of the former Assam province of India. It has been a focal point for 1971 Liberation War. Many eminent personalities of Bangladesh come from this very city. It has been a hub of commercial activities. We are proud to be associated with this city, that too in the educational field," the High Commissioner said, bdnews24 reported.

"We are happy that Government of Bangladesh decided to construct a building for persons who are engaged in cleaning the city," he said, referring to one of the projects which is the construction of a six-storied Cleaner Colony.

"We all should take care of the people around us who are making our surroundings habitable," he said, referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Mission' launched in October 2014.

"It has created a general awareness among the people of India, including the rural and remote areas of the country about keeping our surroundings and environment clean".

He highlighted India-Bangladesh relations that began with the 1971 War of Independence and hoped that "this good relationship will continue for times immemorial".

The Indian government will carry out similar sustainable development projects for Rajshahi at the cost of Taka 210 million. A MoU has recently been signed in Rajshahi in this regard.

The High Commissioner said the Indian government also sanctioned an amount of Taka 120 million for the sustainable development of Khulna city. "A MoU for the Khulna projects is likely to be signed shortly," he said.

The inking of the agreement comes a day after Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar was in Dhaka and called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to discuss preparatory aspects of her proposed visit to India in April, besides other aspects of bilateral relations.
An Indian-American engineer was killed and two others injured after an American man opened fire at them on Wednesday in a Kansas city bar after shouting get out of my country.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, a 32-year old engineer employed with the Garmin headquarters in Olathe was out with his friend and colleague Alok Madasani when the attacker believed to be an ex-navy serviceman fired shots at them mistaking them for Middle Easterners.

Kuchibhotla died at the hospital while Alok also an Indian, sustained bullet injuries. Another identified as Ian Grillot, a white-man who tried to save the Indians was also injured during the shooting incident.

The a 51-year-old shooter, Adam Purinton was charged with murder and attempted murder on Thursday.

Kuchibhotla, originally from Hyderabad was a B Tech in electrical and electronics engineering from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in 2005 and attained masters degree from the University of Texaas, El Paso.

Kuchibholta who was working as an aviation engineer in the Olathe-based technology company is survived by his wife Sunayan Dumala who is also an engineer working in Kansas.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked as software engineer in Rockwell Collins till 2014 before moving to Kansas.

Madasani has a B Tech from Vasavi College of Engineering in 2006 and completed his masters at the University of Missouri Kansas City.

Indias External Affairs Minister Susma Swaraj on Friday expressed shock over the incident and sent condolences to the bereaved family.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family,"the minister tweeted.

Kuchibholta is the first casualty of the racial, religious and ethnic discrimination that followed after the US election and the appointment of controversial President Donald Trump after Jews and Muslims residing in US reported surge of attacks on them and their institutions.
The horrific Kanpur train accident in November 2016 that killed 149 people was a conspiracy and the perpetrators carried it out sitting across the border in Nepal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

Kanpur rail accident in which hundreds were killed was a conspiracy and the conspirators carried it out sitting across the border (Nepal), Modi said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier in February confirmed that Dubai-based Shamshul Huda, was the "mastermind" for the sabotage behind the Indore-Patna Express train accident in Kanpur on November 16, 2016.

Backed by the ISI, Huda was arrested by Nepal Police after being deported from Dubai.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent Huda, was also a known operative of fake Indian currency and has a network in Nepal.
The results of civic polls in Maharashtra should not be considered a referendum on the demonetisation, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Friday.

He also suggested that as with the sterilisation during the Emergency, people's anger may manifest itself later.

BJP made impressive gains in the civic elections in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra.

"It only shows that the Indian people are extremely patient and stoic. But that does not mean that there is no anger. During the Emergency there was a widespread belief that sterilisation was forced on the people. There were no street protests But that does not mean that people have accepted it," the former Finance Minister said here.

"Assuming that the story (about anger regarding sterilisation) was true and assuming that the anger of the people is justified, they expressed their resentment at an appropriate time. No election is a referendum on any one issue," Chidambaram said at an interactive session here.

"Demonetisation has affected practically every family in India everyone is nursing a grievance," he said.

Due to the note ban decision of Narendra Modi government, the economy will grow at 6 to 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal and the NPAs of banks will rise, he predicted.

To a question about Jammu and Kashmir, he said the situation there was grim, and a series of mistakes were made which are "almost too late" to correct now.

He also criticised recent controversial comments of the Army Chief Bipin Rawat. "General Rawat said anyone interfering with security operations will be treated as anti-national.

That's, I think, thoughtless, intemperate words," the former Union Home Minister said.

About Mukesh Ambani's telecom venture Reliance Jio, he said "disruption" is good, as it promotes innovation.

"Disruption is good advent of Jio has forced the telecom industry to consolidate that is good for the country. Imagine if the voice becomes totally free, you will never stop talking. That's is the kind of disruption required in this country," Chidambaram said.
Officials of the Indian Consulate General in Houston are in touch with the wife of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an Indian engineer who was killed in a shooting incident in US' Kansas state, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Friday.

"I have received a report from Anupam Ray CGI Houston," Sushma Swaraj tweeted late Friday evening.

"Our mission staff hv met with Sunayna Kuchibhotla. Indian Government is with her in this hour of grief. We assure her of all our support," she said.

The Minister also said that Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna was also in touch with her and was her keeping her updated.

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night.

Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country", "terrorist" before shooting them.

Purinton, according to reports, provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they are better than him.

To avoid unwanted scuffle, the bar management asked him to leave the place, only to find him back at the bar later with gun when he fired at the Indians.

Ian Grillot, 24, an American who tried to save the Indians, was also shot at, media reports quoted police as saying. Grillot was recovering in a hospital while Madasani was discharged.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) called it a hate crime.

Police said Purinton, 51, fired multiple rounds and fled the bar. He was arrested on Thursday morning in Clinton city in neighbouring Missouri state when a bartender told police that he had bragged about killing "two Middle Eastern men", The Kansas City Star reported.

The US "strongly" condemned the shooting and said it has reached out to Indian consular officials to offer support.

The US Embassy in New Delhi expressed full faith in the US authorities investigating the matter. "We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice," the statement said.

Purinton has been charged with first-degree murder.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke said.

Kuchibhotla hailed from Hyderabad while Madasani is from Warangal town in Telangana. They were aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.
Stung by repeated barbs by BJP leaders at former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the voice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "feebler even than that of a mouse".

"The voice of PM, who has given the clarion call of Make in India, is not of a roaring lion, but even feebler than that of a mouse," Rahul told an election meeting in Mahsi assembly constituency here that goes to polls on February 27.

His retort came hours after BJP president Amit Shah at a rally in Azamgarh, nearly 300 km away, mocked Rahul for "often asking" as to what the Modi government has done for the country.

"Rahul Baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a PM who speaks. You had given a PM who did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard by you and your mother (Congress president Sonia Gandhi)," Shah had said.

Peeved over the remark, Rahul questioned, "What is the utility of these punchlines?"

Ridiculing Modi's 'Make in India' campaign, he said almost everywhere items 'Made in China' are readily available. "Even my phone is made in China," he said.

The Congress leader accused the PM of spitting communal venom and spreading hatred since the SP-Congress alliance was forged.

Rahul said, "PM Modi has been benevolent towards the rich and has waived their loans, but not the loans of farmers."

In an apparent reference to the PM's "adopted son of UP" remark, Rahul said Modi might claim relationships wherever he wants "but relationships should not be confined to lip service."

"PM Modi made a film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge (promising achchhe din), but it later became Sholay (of Gabbar Singh fear) when notes were banned," he said.

"Not a single person accused of keeping black money has been jailed and 94 per cent of black money is still stashed away in foreign countries," he added.
Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday called for coordinated efforts between security forces to deal with the menace of stone pelting during counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir, officials said.

The army chief discussed the issue with local army officers during security review meetings at headquarters of counterinsurgency units.

Rawat arrived in Srinagar on Thursday and was briefed on the prevailing security situation and recent operations conducted by the security forces.

The Army chiefs statement comes close on the heels of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullahs remark that the Kashmiri youth have picked up arms "for a cause" and cannot be intimidated with death threats.

Meanwhile, the army chief had on February 15 warned locals against supporting militants.


External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday expressed shock over the shooting incident in the US in which an Indian-origin man was killed and another injured.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani were shot at a bar in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night by a former Navy serviceman who mistook them for "Middle Easterners".

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family," the minister tweeted.

Swaraj said she had spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Navtej Sarna and that "two Indian embassy officials have rushed to Kansas".

According to her, "Alok Madasani, who was injured in the incident, has been discharged from the hospital".

During the incident an American, who tried to intervene, also received injuries, an External Affairs Ministry statement said.

"The deceased and the injured person are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe," the statement said.

"Consul R D Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. Vice Consul Harpal Singh is also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas.

They will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased and will be in touch with local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action," the minister said.

"They will also meet the community members in Kansas," the statement said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Yoga can be the answer to the problems of the world and bring world peace as it can create the spirit of oneness.

Speaking in Coimbatore where he unveiled a 112-foot tall Shiva statue on the occasion of Maha Shivratri, Modi said: Today whole world wants peace, not only from wars and conflicts but peace from stress, and for that we have Yoga. If the body is a temple of the mind, yoga creates a beautiful temple.

India has given the gift of Yoga to the world, by practising Yoga a spirit of oneness is created. The essence of yoga has not changed. Yoga is the catalytic agent for transformation, he added.

Modi also warned against rejecting an idea just because it is ancient.

Rejecting an idea just because its ancient, can be potentially harmful, he said.

The statue dedicated to Adiyogi (a form of Lord Shiva who according to the Hindu tradition is considered the first of yogis) has been funded by Isha Foundation, founded by the popular yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev.


Nagalands new chief minister, sworn in on Wednesday, is none other than the ruling Naga Peoples Front president, 81-year-old Shurhozelie Liezietsu. A veteran politician, he took over from TR Zeliang, who had to step down for trying to trifle with Naga customary law that forbids womens participation in any decision-making body.

Had he obliged the Nagaland Tribe Action Committee and the Joint Action Committees plea to postpone polls to the local urban bodies (on 1 February) to enable them to further discuss the matter, Zeliang may have been able to save his chair. The leaders of the two organisations had said they were not against the election being held, but their ire was against reservation of 33 per cent seats for women.

Nagaland enjoyed comparative political stability when Neiphiu Rio was chief minister from 2003 to 2014 though, at one point of time, the state had to be brought under a short spell of Presidents rule. Rio quit to contest the parliamentary election and is now the states lone MP.

He could have been the natural choice to take over from Zeliang but for the fact that he is under suspension for anti-party activities. It is not surprising that Shurhozelie said he became the chief minister because of circumstances, would not stick to the post for long and make room for the younger generation. Rio made the big mistake of quitting when he was in his third term, his ambition then was to become a Central minister.

When that did not materialise, he started dabbling in state politics and also supported the dissidents against Zeliang.

The NPF-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland led by Zeliang took office in June 2014 but within six months his government turned shaky when 11 of his ministers deserted him, expressing lack of confidence in his leadership.

They also accused him of financial mismanagement and arbitrarily appointing MLAs as chairpersons of various government corporations, just to keep them in good humour.

An astute politician, adept at defending his post, Zeliang sought a trial of strength on the floor of the House and luckily for him the entire eight-member Congress opposition voted as a bloc in his favour. Little wonder all of them were suitably rewarded and later merged with the NPF.

His government also included four BJP members. He claimed it was done for the sake of unity and for early settlement of the Naga problem. Zeliangs position was always shaky with the dissidents constantly in action, their objective being not to break the government, but to seek a change in leadership. Whether Shurhozelies entry will end dissident activity remains to be seen.
Before partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947, the state of Jammu and Kashmir, located in the northern most corner, adjoining Central Asia and Tibet had a population which was 80 per cent Muslim. Now the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has 68 per cent Muslim population  the rest are mainly Hindus Buddhists and Sikhs.

Hindus are dominant in the Jammu region, Buddhists in Ladakh and Muslims are dominant in Kashmir (almost 99 per cent after the exodus of the Pundits who made up nearly five per cent of the population prior to the exodus). Each of these religious and ethnic groups of J & K have their own cups of joy and sorrow  their own share of good or bad luck.

First let me discuss the good and bad luck of the non-Muslims. I consider them extremely lucky since by a strange chain of events in 1947-48, fate allowed them to remain with India. Had there been no Maharaja in Jammu and Kashmir and had it been a part of British India, the entire state of J&K from Gilgit to Lakhanpur would have automatically merged with Pakistan. The Maharaja saved them by signing on the accession treaty. In the normal course they would have faced a disaster. Everyone knows that most Muslim nations, particularly Pakistan, do not have an admirable track record of protecting minorities.

Most of the Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs, Sindhi and Baluchi Hindus , Bengali Hindus had to seek shelter in India in millions. Even the Kashmiri Hindus were thrown out from their homes but luckily for them, they got 43 years time and half of their state was still available for their relocation. The Jammu Hindus were very lucky that they did not have to relocate after the huge upheaval in the sub continent. For this great favour they have to thank their fate first and then the Maharaja.

The Hindus and Sikhs of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir were both lucky as well as unlucky. Unlucky, because they had to leave their hearths and homes, and lucky because they had Jammu next door to settle down again.

The major sorrow for Jammuites is that they have very little political and bureaucratic clout. That they have very little clout is apparent from the fact that the state civil service is called Kashmir Administrative Service and not J & K Administrative Service; All India Radio Jammu is called Radio Kashmir; no Hindu or Sikh was ever allowed to head the state government, and of the 87 assembly constituencies, the Hindus are in an important position in less than 30 constituencies.

The Muslims dominate 57 out of 87 constituencies and naturally the state government will always remain under the thumb of Muslim-oriented parties like the National Conference or PDP. The Hurriyat Conference does not participate in elections. Had they participated, they would have also been dominant in the government even if they had been parrots of our enemy.

In such a scenario, it is but natural that Jammu ministers and bureaucrats, specially if they are non-Muslims, do not get their rightful share in government and in portfolios. The coveted portfolios, like Home, Planning, Finance, Agriculture etc. are usually not earmarked for them. Exceptions, of course, were sometimes there. Devi Das Thakur had been Finance minister in Sheikh Abdullahs cabinet.

But even as Deputy Chief Minister from the Congress party, Mangat Ram Sharma was allotted only Industries and Transport which were considered relatively unimportant. Sharma had told me privately, after the allotment of portfolios, Humein mehkumey kuchh naram miley hain (I have got soft portfolios). He was a bit disappointed.

Even the present Deputy Chief Minister, from Jammu BJP, does not have A-plus category departments. I dont know about his satisfaction or dissatisfaction because when I knew him he was a Reader in the university.

Now let us discuss the fate of the Muslims in J & K. In normal circumstances they should have been in the grip of army dictators of Pakistan. They would have not known the flavour of democracy and secularism and an impartial Supreme Court. They would have been deprived of human rights like the people of Balochistan/Sindh. It is their good fortune that India took them under its benevolent democratic umbrella.

Unfortunately they do not realise this and they cannot integrate themselves with India mentally. They feel that it is their misfortune that destiny has thrown them on the wrong side of the international border. The recent expressions of religious bigotry by a large number of Hindus in northern and western India has unnerved them. Immature statements of our army generals and the Defence Minister have frightened them. They feel that the Indian armed forces are terrorising them their freedom fighters (whom Indians call terrorists) are being brutally massacred. That is their cup of sorrow. How much of that is genuine and how much of it is unjustified only history will determine, because Pakistan and India have not yet arrived at an amicable settlement on this issue. We can only pray that all misunderstandings are removed and the Kashmiris can live with dignity and honour within the framework of India.

Indo-Pak talks must go on continuously without any third party interference. My personal opinion is that the cup of sorrow for the Muslims of J & K will be emptied if India recognises POK as a part of Pakistan, Pakistan recognises Ladakh and Jammu as an integral part of India, and India recognises Kashmir valley as an autonomous region under her own benevolent umbrella.

The writer, a retired IAS officer, is former Financial Commissioner, Jammu and Kashmir.
The Pakistan Government has listed Hafiz Saeed, founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and four of his associates, under the countrys Anti-Terrorism Act, which provides for the imposition of restriction on their movements and opportunities to address the media. On 30 January, Saeed and his associates were placed under house arrest in Lahore, provoking protests from his supporters and other political parties. Saeed, in a video shortly after his detention, claimed that Pakistan was compelled to act against him because of President Trumps cordial relations with Narendra Modi. He also described the step as an attempt to sabotage what he called the freedom movement in Kashmir. In an editorial, Pakistans influential newspaper, Dawn, said that from among the many explanations for detention and subsequent arrest of Hafiz, the obvious inference is that Washington exerted pressure on Islamabad to make it amenable to New Delhis demands. The paper also remarked that Pakistan has an appalling record of bringing to justice those who are wanted for terrorism here or abroad.

There is little doubt that the house arrest and the listing of Saeed under the Anti-Terrorism Act was an attempt by Pakistan to reaffirm the mans anti-terrorism bona fides to the US administration and to dissuade Trump from adding Pakistan to the list of countries that cannot send their citizens to the United States for 90 days. Trumps Chief of Staff had suggested that Pakistan may also be added to the list. This may have upset and frightened the administration in Islamabad, and hence this response.

Michael Kugalman of Woodrow Wilson Centre, in his article in Dawn on February 1 said some pressure on Pakistan may also have come from China. Though Hafiz does not pose a threat to China, Beijing fears that his rantings against India might jeopardize the China-Pakistan economic corridor. At present, China does not want strained relationship between India and Pakistan lest a souring of ties threatens Chinese workers and investments in Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Army, action against Hafiz was taken in the national interest.

Hafiz was branded as the mastermind behind the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. The UN has declared Lashkar-e-Taiba as a terrorist organization. Hafiz was placed under house-arrest, but later released by the Lahore High Court citing lack of evidence. Under US pressure, Pakistans federal and provincial governments did make halfhearted appeals against these orders, but these were dismissed by the Pakistan Supreme Court due to lack of proof, despite several Indian dossiers.

Hafiz is today a very powerful man in Pakistan, running charities and educational facilities all over the country. His Fatah-Il-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) is the largest NGO in Pakistan with vast financial and human resources. In the wake of the 2005 earthquakes in Kashmir and the 2010 floods, LeT activists had come to the rescue of the affected. It has now become a mass organization, particularly in Punjab, and its conventions draw huge crowds. It has set up up a vast religio-political training centre at Muridke near Lahore, reportedly from funds donated by Arab businessmen. Students in the academy are imparted spiritual as well as martial training. JUD, according to Mir Amir, has transformed the area between Lahore and Gujaranwala into an Islamic state.

Many in Pakistan are sympathetic towards LeT. A public opinion survey conducted by Pew in 2010 showed that 58 per cent of the respondents nationwide had an adverse impression about Taliban and other extremist groups. As regards LeT, public opinion was evenly split  34 per cent in favour and 34 per cent against. Hafiz even runs stealth courts that decree punishment. It is also the rallying point of anger and frustration against India. It is difficult for the army to dump Hafiz Saeed and take firm action against him. LeT has always remained loyal to the military establishment. The consistent feature of this relationship with the army is explained by LeTs obsession with India which resonates with that of the Pakistan military. Indeed, LeT shares with the army its Punjabi base.

Christian Fair in her book, Fight to the End, refers to the 2004 manifesto of LeT  Hum kyon jihad kar rahe hai. It concedes that the Pakistan army helps and supports LeT  Muslims are brothers, and an organization should not target them. In operations in Kashmir, LeT militants displayed more discipline and restraint than other terrorists and compared to other groups they were involved in fewer cases of rape of Indian-Kashmiri women. It did not resort to suicide attacks but introduced a new form of violence  the suicide missions.

The army fears that if it goes in for total confrontation with LeT, it will drive more and more of its cadres into the Pakistani Taliban as has happened with such outfits as Sipahi Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and some sections of Jaish-e-Mohammad. According to Stephen Tankel (Storming the World Stage), some members of Lashkar-e-Taiba did call for a revolt against the Pakistan government when Musharraf decided to side with America after 9/11. But this contention was rejected by its leadership. Lashkar-e-Taiba has remained focused on Kashmir and after the 2006 outrage in Afghanistan, it has not attacked Pakistan. Which is why the army did not feel compelled to go against it.

Pakistani officials and generals fear a mass revolt if Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa used their extensive network to mobilize and foment unrest. But for all its strategic restraints in the aftermath of 9/11, Lashkar is a jihadi organization with a record of waging Pan-Islamic campaigns. India-held Kashmir may be its primary target but not the apotheosis of Lashkar-e-Taibas jihad. The Pakistan authorities may not be willing now to initiate firm action against LeT, but it can do something to restrain its leaders and contain its activities. But it will be difficult for Pakistan to put them on public trial because that will expose ISIs links and support to this organization.

The writer, Senior Fellow of the Institute of Social Sciences, had served as Director-General, National Human Rights Commission, and National Police Academy.
During the presidency of George HW Bush, his Secret Service detail was reputedly under orders that if anything happened to him, they should immediately shoot his vice president Dan Quayle  to prevent him becoming president. In the present US administration, the orders are: if anything happens to Vice President Mike Pence, first shoot President Donald Trump.

The selection of a US vice president is always a tricky business. Every president hopes to find a person who can complement, not supplant him. Invariably, the choice falls on someone with more experience than ambition, on a man who can be trusted to remain a patient Prince of Wales than a restless heir apparent in waiting.

Some US presidents suffered the same disease that the Guelph Georges did: they hated their potential successors. President Dwight Eisenhower disliked his vice president Richard Nixon, refusing on one occasion to defend him during a corruption investigation. Then Nixon endured being spat upon by angry Venezuelans during a tour to their country in 1958. John F. Kennedy saw his VP Lyndon B. Johnson as a useful Mr Fix-it Southerner rather than his anointed torch-bearer. Nixon, when finally president, in the few hours that he did sleep never dreamed that his VP Gerald Ford would succeed him.

Dan Quayle reached the highest level of his incompetence when he became Bush seniors VP. The White House must have quaked when Quayle pronounced: I have made good judgements in the past. I have made good judgements in the future, or misspelt before an elementary class the vegetable as potatoe.

Today, Trumps White House must be watching with apprehension whenever his Vice President Mike Pence opens his mouth. Pence, like Quayle, is from Indiana, but there the similarity ends. Anyone, though, who saw VP Mike Pence at his press conference with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels this week realised that while Trump may well be a Svengali, Pence was certainly not his Trilby.

Pence articulated US foreign policy regarding shared financing of Nato with consummate diplomacy and precision. Within a few sentences, he restored the confidence of the Europeans in USs leadership of the English-speaking world. And with a snake-oil salesmans sleight of tongue, he explained away the inconsistencies between his presidents indefensible pronouncements and USs more enduring global commitments and interests. At a stroke, he demonstrated why a good vice president can be more precious than a bad president. VP Mike Pence is not a mouthpiece VP: in time he may well reveal himself as the Svengali behind Svengali.

The US experience with VPs may explain why Pakistani leaders are loath to nominate deputies. Where others look for running mates, they prefer accomplices. Ayub Khan as a former chief of army staff-turned-elected president did not choose Yahya Khan as his successor. He chose the Pakistan Army whose head happened to be Gen Yahya Khan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto saw his own successor in Benazir and, after her, Bhutto-ism. Ziaul Haq anointed Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the man who had midwifed him into power. Asif Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif share a disease known as congenital myopia: they cannot see a successor outside their family circle.

Mr Sharif must envy Zardaris Houdini-like skills in being able to escape with such oily dexterity from every trap. Ironically, while Zardari and Gen Musharraf enjoy their retirement abroad, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is finding his retirement home in Park Lane in jeopardy. Like some modern Laocoon, he finds himself and his two sons entangled in the suffocating coils of the serpentine judicial system.

Neither he nor his protagonist Imran Khan had expected the delivery of a judicial verdict on Panamagate to be such prolonged labour. The public is tired, the press is tired, court functionaries are tired, my lordships must be tired. Only the legal counsel are not. They remain indefatigable in their pursuit of the elusive white stag of truth.

Now that civil courts have been supplemented by military courts, is it time to practise reverse osmosis, to let military jargon seep into judicial parlance? If so, shouldnt the concept of surgical verdicts become a feature of the judicial process?

The new Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa, in making punitive strikes against terrorist bases in Afghanistan and within Pakistan, has demonstrated that while he may be Nawaz Sharifs choice, he is his own COAS, and that even Punjabs administration can no longer enjoy a fraternal exemption.

When Gen Bajwa took over, he said that terrorism, not India, was the prime enemy. Today, he uses his double-barrelled guns to fire in two directions  westwards against Afghanistan and simultaneously eastwards against its behind-the-curtain Svengali.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani public, to its cost, has learned a new adage: power corrupts, and corruption in power all too often leads to immunity.

Dawn/ANN
In January 2015, students in south India displayed remarkable initiative at a civic festival. Ten students from East/West School, Bengaluru, lit street lamps by walking on special footpaths  they focused on piezo-electric energy with tiles powered by this form of electricity. These tiles, manufactured by a UK-based company, gave 0.05 watts of electricity, to light street lamps over a certain distance. The converted mechanical energy made this concept possible by providing the requisite power for lighting a street.

We are assailed by an obvious question: what is piezoelectric energy? It is an electric charge which accumulates in certain types of solid matter. Piezo-electricity was discovered in 1880, by French physicists, Jacques and Pierre Currie. Their discovery was all about converting available energy from the environment  that allows self sufficient energy supply, for small amounts of electric loads such as sensors and radio transmitters. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion of a body or system, so this can be converted into electric energy by virtue of the piezo-electric effect. Piezo elements convert the kinetic energy from vibrations or shocks into electric energy. This explains how those students in Bengaluru, precipitated piezoelectricity by walking on tiles, which accumulated and then provided electricity for street lights. Each tile, however, costs Rs 40,000.

But let us not despair about the costs involved because another student, Maanasa Mendu, who is an Indian-origin US school-goer, has created a model, which accumulates piezo-electricity and costs a mere five dollars. Mendu, a 13-year-old girl, has displayed extraordinary application of mind and her achievement is remarkable  it exemplifies the fact that the answer to Indias energy needs could indeed be blowing in the wind.

Mendu from Ohio, USA, has presented Harvest, her prototype renewable energy gathering device at the Young Scientist Challenge. This is a tale involving an unusual pursuit by Mendu, who visited her grandparents in rural India and observed something in their home, which certainly never occurred in the US. The electricity supply went off almost every day and remained so for hours at a stretch. It was summer in India and a fan was desperately needed. A small battery inverter could barely function since the electricity which returned for a few hours, did not suffice to charge the battery. Power cuts in rural India are common because the electricity is diverted elsewhere. Mendu empathised with millions of people who were compelled to endure this hardship, and as a substitute used kerosene lighting. This was the backdrop that helped formulate Mendus creation, elucidating her sense of determination and intelligence. Her design of Harvest mimics a small outline of a tree that uses piezo-electric energy harvesters to capture power from the wind and rain. Mendus device utilises solar leaves plants to gather vibration energy. The entire concept works via solar cells and piezo-electric material, or material that generates electricity currents when exposed to movement or vibration; so when the weather is rainy, windy or even sunny, the device can gather energy.

Mendus ambition is to expand the future of Harvest for commercial distribution. She named this design Harvest since it is made to harness solar and wind power to provide cost efficient energy. Discovery Educations chief executive officer, Bill Goodwyn, said, Each year, the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge reminds us of the inspiring ingenuity that results when we empower our youngest generation to apply science critical thinking, and motivate to solve real-world problems. Discovery Education is honoured to stand alongside 3M in congratulating Maanasa and the rest of the years finalists on their impressive innovations that foreshadow a bright future for our own nation. Mendu received a cash award of $ 25,000, from Discovery Education 3M, as for her creation.

This chapter is likely to be a beginning for Mendus journey towards reaching greater goals for mankind. Renewable energy was an important item in the agenda of The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Paris, and all nations were advised to create and follow plans for a safer world with a healthy environment ensuring lower levels of CO2 emissions. The recently identified Anthropocene Era has affirmed that mankind alone can save the environment and it is dynamic proposals, like Harvest, which needs to be encouraged and developed.
Afghan Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal on Thursday called for reopening of the border that Pakistan closed a week ago due to a series of terrorist attacks that killed over 100 people in Pakistan.

Pakistan said that it closed the border over "security concerns" as those who claimed last week attacks were "from the Afghan side of the border". However, Afghanistan denies the statements.

"As part of the quick de-escalation of the prevailing tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan, as agreed in our talks with the relevant Pakistan authorities a couple of days ago, Torkharm, Spin Boldak and other crossing points should have reopened by now, but unfortunately still remain shut," Zakhilwal said in a statement.

"In fact, formal trade and transit crossing points between our two countries, under no circumstances, should have been closed in the first place, both as per Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade and Transit Agreement and also Afghanistan's land-locked country transit right as per international rules," the Afghan envoy said in the statement which was posted on social media.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria has said that a decision regarding opening of Pakistan-Afghan border will be taken in due course of time.

"Pakistan has continued to maintain and emphasize that effective border management is vital for preventing cross border movement of terrorists. Pakistan is ready to work with Afghanistan on those issues in a spirit of mutual respect, trust and cooperation," the spokesman said at his weekly briefing.

The spokesman said issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan need to be addressed through constructive and positive engagements.
China has made a "mistake" of ignoring science and technology experts from India, Chinese official media said on Friday, underlining that the Communist giant should attract high-tech Indian talent for maintaining its innovation ability.

"China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe," an article in state-run Global Times said.

"China has perhaps not been working hard enough to attract science and technology talent from India to work in the country," the tabloid daily from the group of ruling Communist Party of China which has been carrying articles critical of India almost on daily basis in recent months said in a rare positive write-up.

"Over the past few years, China witnessed an unprecedented boom in tech jobs as the country became an attractive destination for foreign research and development centres."

"However, now some high-tech firms are turning their attention from China to India due to the latter's relatively low labour costs. Attracting high-tech talent from India could be one of China's options for maintaining its innovation ability," it said.

Referring to reports that US-based software firm CA Technologies has disbanded its almost 300-person research and development team in China while setting up a team in India with some 2,000 scientific and technical professionals over the past few years, it said, "with a sufficient young talent pool, India is becoming increasingly attractive."

"China cannot afford to risk a decline in its attractiveness for high-tech investors. The nation is among the third echelon in cutting-edge technology fields and is working to catch up with the US and the result of its efforts will decide whether China will maintain its status as an emerging global economic power," it said.

China in recent year boosted the budget for technological innovation by allocating billions of dollars of incentives for start-ups and research firms as it witnessed decline of its labour force due to rapid increase in old age population.

China has carried out a lot of measures, including increasing research spending and creating a favourable investment environment for high-tech firms, to enhance its innovation capability.

"However, one issue has become increasingly prominent: The talent pool in China is not large and flexible enough to meet demand for the rapid expansion of innovation capability," the article said.

"In Silicon Valley, a considerable number of software developers working there are born outside the US. China should also strive to attract more foreign talent into the country as it aims to build itself into a world-class research hub," it said.

"A total of 1,576 foreigners were granted Chinese permanent residence in 2016, registering an increase of 163 per cent from the previous year. It seems that China is aware of the importance of tapping into international talent," it said.

"Some reports claim that the cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker, which means Indians could see their revenue more than double if they came to work in China," it said.

"Some enterprises in Southwest China's Guizhou Province provide convenience for Indian talent in terms of housing, insurance and transportation and could enjoy a much better standard of living in Guizhou cities than in Bangalore," it said.China has made a "mistake" of ignoring science and technology experts from India, Chinese official media said on Friday underlining that the Communist giant should attract high-tech Indian talent for maintaining its innovation ability.

"China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe," an article in state-run Global Times said.

"China has perhaps not been working hard enough to attract science and technology talent from India to work in the country," the tabloid daily from the group of ruling Communist Party of China which has been carrying articles critical of India all most on daily basis in recent months said in a rare positive write-up.

"Over the past few years, China witnessed an unprecedented boom in tech jobs as the country became an attractive destination for foreign research and development centres."

"However, now some high-tech firms are turning their attention from China to India due to the latter's relatively low labour costs. Attracting high-tech talent from India could be one of China's options for maintaining its innovation ability," it said.

Referring to reports that US-based software firm CA Technologies has disbanded its almost 300-person research and development team in China while setting up a team in India with some 2,000 scientific and technical professionals over the past few years, it said, "with a sufficient young talent pool, India is becoming increasingly attractive."

"China cannot afford to risk a decline in its attractiveness for high-tech investors. The nation is among the third echelon in cutting-edge technology fields and is working to catch up with the US and the result of its efforts will decide whether China will maintain its status as an emerging global economic power," it said.

China in recent year boosted the budget for technological innovation by allocating billions of dollars of incentives for start ups and research firms as it witnessed decline of its labour force due to rapid increase in old age population.

China has carried out a lot of measures, including increasing research spending and creating a favourable investment environment for high-tech firms, to enhance its innovation capability.

"However, one issue has become increasingly prominent: The talent pool in China is not large and flexible enough to meet demand for the rapid expansion of innovation capability," the article said.

"In Silicon Valley, a considerable number of software developers working there are born outside the US. China should also strive to attract more foreign talent into the country as it aims to build itself into a world-class research hub," it said.

"A total of 1,576 foreigners were granted Chinese permanent residence in 2016, registering an increase of 163 per cent from the previous year. It seems that China is aware of the importance of tapping into international talent," it said.

"Some reports claim that the cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker, which means Indians could see their revenue more than double if they came to work in China," it said.

"Some enterprises in Southwest China's Guizhou Province provide convenience for Indian talent in terms of housing, insurance and transportation and could enjoy a much better standard of living in Guizhou cities than in Bangalore," it said.
Underlining their shared concern on the menace of "cross-border terrorism", India, Rwanda and Uganda have condemned it and said "resolute and credible steps" must be taken to eliminate safe havens and terror sanctuaries.

"Our co-operation with African countries is well- appreciated and well-known And, on the phenomenon of terrorism, which is a matter of concern for us, and also for them (Rwanda, Uganda), there is a total meeting of minds. We have all condemned it in all forms," Vice President Hamid Ansari said on Friday.

The Vice President was interacting with the accompanying media delegation en route to New Delhi from Kampala, which he left late last night after concluding his five-day two-nation tour, which also took him to another East African country Rwanda.

His visit to Rwanda, first high-level visit from India, was from February 19-21 and to Uganda from February 21-23, was the first bilateral high-level visit since 1997.

Both Rwanda and Uganda issued joint statements with India, asserting there was "no justification" for terrorism.

"Both leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stressed that there can be no justification for any act of terrorism, irrespective of motivations, wherever and by whosoever committed."

"In this context, both sides underlined their shared concerns on the menace of cross-border terrorism and stressed the importance of international efforts to prevent and fight terrorism," the Rwanda-India Joint Statement said.

On February, addressing a gathering at the University of Rwanda, Ansari had, in a veiled attack on Pakistan, said, "Threat of terrorism is a major hurdle in our quest for peace and India also faces it from across its borders" and had called for "concerted international efforts" to deal with this menace in a "comprehensive manner".

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Ansari too issued a joint statement in Entebbe, condemning the menace of terrorism.

"Vice President Ansari and President Museveni unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stressed that there can be no justification for any act of terrorism, irrespective of motivations, wherever and by whosoever committed."

"In this context, both sides underlined their shared concerns on the menace of terrorism and stressed the importance of international efforts to prevent and fight terrorism," the India-Uganda Joint Statement said.

All three leaders agreed that "resolute and credible steps must be taken to eliminate safe havens and sanctuaries that provide shelter to terrorists and their activities."
China on Friday said it has no intention of devaluing the yuan to boost exports, and expressed readiness to coordinate its economic and trade policies with the US.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused China of manipulating the value of yuan and keeping it artificially low as a means of favouring exports, although Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was more cautious about such claims, Efe news reported.

"China has no intention to gain trade advantages by devaluing its currency there's no basis for sustained depreciation of the yuan," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang at a press conference.

Geng also urged that Washington view the yuan exchange rate "in an objective light" and reiterated China's intention of continuing to reform its exchange regime, while stressing Beijing's willingness to coordinate with US authorities on the matter.

"He (Mnuchin) said he is interested in an early meeting with his Chinese counterpart. We also want to establish working relationships at various levels with the US to have effective communication and coordination," Geng noted.

His statements hinted at, but did not confirm, the possibility of such a meeting during the G20 Finance Ministers' summit in Baden-Baden, Germany, on March 17-18.

"China has the willingness and the sincerity to have coordination with our US colleagues to push forward China-US relations on a sound and healthy track," he added.

He recalled that, following his confirmation as head of treasury, Mnuchin had held a friendly and constructive conversation with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, Chinese central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, as well as his counterpart Xiao Jie.

"The China-US relation is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. It not only bears on the well-being of the two peoples, but also concerns peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region," he added.


Activists held a protest outside a local slaughterhouse against the killing of a bull that escaped and became an instant TV celebrity as it was pursued by police in a scene like jallikattu.

Police hit the bull with tranquilizer darts which killed it.

Several dozen people  virtually all of them non-Hindus  held a candlelight vigil on Wednesday night to mourn the bull, which they named Courage.

"No one deserves cruelty, abuse, torture or murder," a protester said in a WABC TV report.

Another said: "We're here fighting for our brother."

"Today (Wednesday) we're paying respects to a life lost, a beautiful life."

The bull escaped from Aziz Slaughterhouse in a neighbourhood with a lot of immigrants on Tuesday and ran for its life through a residential area.

TV reports showed the bull being chased by police like it was jallikattu, except that some were in vehicles and they fired tranquilizer darts at Courage.

The scene captured the hearts of steely New Yorkers making Courage an instant celebrity.

"They saw him running for life like you would or I would if we were faced with pain or fear or imminent death," WPIX TV quoted Jill Carnegie, the head of 'Vegans of New York', which organised the candlelight vigil, as saying.

Courage kept running with several darts stuck to its body before it collapsed.

The bull was taken in a police van to an animal care facility in Brooklyn where it died.

According to authorities, the bull would be saved from the butcher's knife and given freedom at an animal sanctuary.

Last year, a bull named Freddie escaped from another slaughterhouse in the city.
Outgoing Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae on Friday urged the Nepal government to take all the parties into confidence before going for polls.

At a farewell programme organised by the Reporters Club Nepal, Rae said: "India, as the largest democracy in the world, supports every move and effort made for strengthening democracy in Nepal. It has been our policy continuously over the period of time.

"And it is my request to the government of Nepal to take all the political parties into confidence before going for the (local) polls which is going to take place on May 14."

India has consistently advocated  since the promulgation of Nepal's new Constitution  that all sections and stakeholders in the Himalayan nation should be onboard in the constitution-making process and Rae's statement, which echoed the same, was also the first official Indian reaction on the announcement of the local polls.

After completing his three-and-half-year-long term in Nepal, Rae is retiring from the Indian Foreign Service after he leaves Kathmandu on March 1. India has not announced his successor yet.

"The diplomatic assignment in Kathmandu is a prize posting for any Indian diplomat whose job is challenging, complex and sometimes frustrating too," he said.

He said Nepal-India bilateral relations have always been positive, and both countries should seek to make them stronger in economic, social, cultural and other aspects.

He stressed on emphasising economic cooperation between the two neighbours to develop people-to-people connectivity.

Noting that a Rs 34 billion agreement has been reached for constructing the Mahakali bridge and 15 roads, he said that when the bridge is built, it will especially benefit people of Nepal's far western region and India's Uttarakhand state in various aspects.

"Next project is the ongoing Pancheshwor Hydropower project. It is our target is to approve Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project by June," he said.

Rae said that another issue is railway connectivity, adding that Indian Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had announced that he wanted to build Kolkata-to-Kathmandu and Delhi-to-Kathmandu rail links.

He said a smooth outline for executing Indian projects in Nepal has been made and some positive progress will be seen soon.

Rae added that they currently had five connectivity projects, of which two  Jogbani to Biratnagar Railway and Janakpur-Jainagar-Bardibas Railway  were in rapid construction process.

He added that the third project was the Integrated Check Post (ICP) built on 165 acres separately in Raxaul and Birgunj, while another ICP was under construction in Biratnagar, and two more would be built in the near future.

He further said that the Hulaki Rajmarg and other bus services would also be helpful in establishing people-to-people connectivity. "There are bus services from Kathmandu to Delhi, Kathmandu to Banaras, Pokhara to Delhi, Mahendranagar to Delhi, which have positively impacted the people and the relations between the two countries."

"Another initiative is that the Indian cabinet has already approved a budget of $1 billion for the Arun III Hydropower Project. This project will gain rapid implementation from ground level very soon," he said.

He said India has also been taking the initiative to start work on the Koshi High Dam Project, noting that this will help in irrigation and flood control in Bihar, and Nepal will have direct access to sea.
Top US envoys on a working visit to Mexico have tried to allay fears that Trump administration is preparing to massively deport undocumented migrants back across the border.

The reassurances came on Thursday night during a joint press conference by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, following their meeting with Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Luis Videgaray and Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong here.

"Let me be very very clear, there will be no, repeat no mass deportation. Everything at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be done legally and according to human rights system in the US," Xinhua news agency quoted Kelly as saying.

President Donald Trump's vow to crack down on undocumented migrants has struck fear into immigrants living in the US.

Mexican officials are concerned that massive deportation could lead to a humanitarian crisis along the border.

Kelly said: "The focus of deportation will be on the criminal element that has made it into the US. All of this will be done, as it always has been, in close coordination with Mexican government."

While there will be "no use of military force" in deportation proceedings, "we will approach this operation systematically, in a results-oriented way, in an operational way, and in a human dignity way", said the retired Marine Corps general.

Earlier, Trump had described the deportation campaign as "a military operation".

Tillerson said the two countries "reiterated our joint commitment to maintaining law and order along our shared border by stopping the potential terrorist and dismantling the transnational criminal networks moving drugs and people into the US".

The US Secretary of State said officials also discussed trade and energy ties, in addition to fighting cross-border crime, but gave no details.

"We agreed that our two countries should seize the opportunity to modernise and strengthen our trade and energy relationship," he said.

Tillerson noted crime went both ways across the border.

"Similarly we underscored the importance of stopping the illegal firearms and bulk cash that is originating in the US and flowing into Mexico. There's no mistaking that the rule of law matters on both sides of the border," he said.

Videgaray said: "There is concern and irritation among Mexicans about what are seen as policies that could be harmful for Mexico and abroad."

"Today (Thursday) we have taken a step in the right direction," the Mexican minister said, stressing the importance of cooperation.

Mexico and the US are already at odds over Trump's plan to build a wall along their border and his attempts to pressurise Mexico into giving concessions on trade.

The US President wanted to renegotiate a two-decade-old agreement signed by Mexico, the US and Canada, claiming it had unfairly benefited Mexico at the expense of US workers.
US President Donald Trumps decision to rescind protections for transgender students under which they were allowed to use bathrooms suitable to the gender they identify with has met with criticism from the activists and civil rights groups.

Obama administrations guidelines were aimed to explain that transgender students have got specific protections under Title IX, a federal law that bars gender discrimination in American schools. This particular interpretation of the law asked schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice.

The American Federation of Teachers and other bigger organisations such as Apple and Microsoft have opposed the taking back of the protections for the students.

The Trump administration reportedly said that the earlier guidelines did not provide "extensive legal analysis" of how its position was consistent with Title IX. According to the agency reports, US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos defended Trump's reversal of bathroom regulations, saying the issue is "best solved at the state and local level".

US officials have said that the Obama administrations interpretation of prohibiting transgender students from using facilities that align with their gender identity violates federal anti-discrimination laws.

(With inputs from agencies)
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.


remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Displaced Iraqis flee their homes due to fighting between Iraqi special forces and Islamic State militants, on the western side of Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 2017. The Iraqi security forces advance comes as part of a major assault that started five days earlier to drive Islamic State militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
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 ...
The former director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was sentenced by the Spanish national court to four years and six months in prison for misappropriating bank funds.



Rodrigo Rato on Thursday, was found guilty of misappropriating funds from the now extinct Caja Madrid bank, which he led at the time, by using credit cards for irregular and undeclared expenses.



His predecessor at CM Miguel Blesa was also found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison for the same crimes, Efe news reported.



Over the course of several years, the two directors spent more than 15 million euros ($15.8 million) on personal expenses.
Three decades after he created disciples like Viswamohan Bhatt, Daya Shankar and Tarun Bhattacharya, sitar legend Pt Ravi Shankar would be remembered at a grand concert in Kolkata on March 5.

However, apart from Pt Bhatt, Pt Daya Shankar and Pt Bhattacharyathe golden trio, Pt Bickram Ghosh, who later emerged as a celebrated percussionist, would also join them.

The concert will be held at Calcutta Rowing Club on March 5 and would start at 6.30 pm. Rush for tickets have already been seen among the classical music lovers in the city.

In 2013, they held a similar concert to play tribute to their guru.

The trio have accompanied Ravi Shankar around the world and played Veena (Bhatt), santoor (Bhattacharjee) and Shehnaiya (Daya Shankar) at his concerts in several countries like Japan, USA and other countries.

This is our tribute to our Guru Pt Ravi Shankar. This is as per Guru-shishya parampara (tradition), Bhatt told THE WEEK.

Daya Shankar said, Whenever we, the golden trio, performed in the name of our guru, we received much appreciation and acclaim.

Bhattacharya told THE WEEK, We, the trio, received all respect and honour just because of the talim (training) we had received from Pandit ji. We will hold concert on March 5 and would keep doing it in the future.

Bhattacharyas Santoor academy is the main force behind holding such a grand concert.

Ravi Shankar, a three-time Grammy winner, is credited with introducing Indian classical music to the West.
On a day when Army Chief General Bipin Rawat called for coordinated efforts by security forces to deal with the problem of stone pelting by civilians during anti-militancy operations, a veteran politician in Kashmir said the youth in the state were fighting for their rights and not for becoming an MLA or MP.

Everyone loves life, nobody wants to die. They (youth) have promised God that they will sacrifice their lives for justice,'' National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said at a party function in Srinagar.

''This fight was started in 1931. We want both countries (India and Pakistan) to do justice to us,'' he said.

The former union minister said India had forgotten the promises it made in 1948 to Kashmiris. ''The new generation of Kashmiris do not fear guns and have embarked on the path of justice, he said.

Abdullah urged Center to engage the alienated youth of the state politically.

''We are not condoning violence or turmoil,'' he said. We want that the root cause of alienation is addressed rather than continuing with the policy of treating the symptoms through operational and administrative mechanisms.''

That approach, he said, had failed and yielded nothing but the loss of young lives on all sides.

Earlier, the army chief reinforced the need to maintain high vigil, after attending the wreath laying ceremony of the soldiers who were killed in a midnight ambush at Shopian on Thursday.

Rawat, accompanied by Northern Army Commander Lt Gen D. Anbu and general officer commanding of 15 corps, Lt Gen J.S. Sandhu, visited the Victor and Kilo Force Headquarters where he was briefed on the prevailing security situation and on the recent operations conducted by the security forces.

"The army chief discussed the issue of stone pelting during the operations and impressed upon all to synergise efforts with other security agencies in dealing with such situations effectively, said Colonel Rajesh Kalia, defence spokesman at Srinagar.

Last week Rawat said those disrupting anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir would be considered as over ground workers of terrorists.
Election is the time when political parties and leaders realise the value of voters. Undoubtedly, citizens' right to vote is invoked every now and then during election campaigns.

However, it was a different story this time when at least in two villages in Kanpur Dehat region of Uttar Pradesh, people decided to boycott polls. The reason -- conspicuous absence of basic amenities in their villages, even after 70 years of independence.

Asuwapur village in the Bhognipur assembly constituency has 462 voters, as per the official records, where only one person had cast his vote. In Nagwa, another village that has 275 voters, no one came forward to exercise their right to franchise.

In both the villages, the villagers boycotted polls on issues of power, water and roads.

The villagers drew a Lakshman Rekha in Asuwapur village on the polling day and asked fellow-villagers to not cross the line in order to prevent them from going to the polling booth. No one yielded to the repeated attempts of administrative officials to cast their votes.

The villagers even put up a banner which exhorted not to vote. After much persuasion, the officials could force only one villager to caste his vote. The village has no power, only one hand-pump for drinking water and virtually no roads.

Though contestants have repeatedly been assuring these villagers about basic facilities for the past many polls, these proved to be hollow promises.

Both the villages were part of the third phase of polling.
The US Embassy in New Delhi has condemned the shooting in Olathe, Kansas, in which one engineer of Indian origin lost his life and another was seriously injured. An American citizen was also injured. "We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of [Srinivas] Kuchibhotla. We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime. US Federal authorities are also investigating the case. We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice,'' said a press release issued by the Embassy.

Charge d'Affaires MaryKay Carlson said, "The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study and live. US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case though we recognise that justice is a small consolation to the families in grief."

Kuchibhotla from Hyderabad and Alok Madasani from Warangal and were working at a firm called Garmin in Olathe. The ministry of external affairs said that consul R.D.Joshi was rushing from Houston to Kansas and vice consul Harpal Singh was also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas to render aid to the victim and help bring back the mortal remains of the deceased. "They will also meet community members in Kansas,'' said a statement by MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

The two Indians were allegedly shot at by Adam Purinton, 51, a navy veteran, at a bar, where he yelled at them to get out of his country. The local police have called it a possible hate crime.

The way the incident is dealt will be keenly watched. US President Donald Trump had, during his campaign, said Indians would find a true friend in the White House. He has been all praise for the Indian diaspora, but his recent announcement of proposing a rethink on the H1-B visa has rattled India, given that the bulk of those visas are issued to Indian software engineers like the two victims of this hate crime.
Over 1,200 mispallalim were on hand Wednesday night the eve of 28 Shevat visiting Kever Yosef in PA (Palestinian Authority) occupied Shechem. The visit was approved by security forces, who were on hand to protect the group.

According to a Kol Berama Radio report, a number of Shechem residents were taken into custody after they were found in possession of firebombs and a pipe bomb which they planned using against the group. Bchasdei Hashem they were apprehended before the perpetrated the attack.

Mispallalim are also transported in armor-plated buses designed to withstand gunfire and small explosives. Persons are prohibited from coming in their own vehicles.

For persons interested in joining one of the over 20 visits a year escorted by the IDF, one may visit the Minhelet Kever Yosef registration page which is in Hebrew only.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Six months after an ISIS terrorist plowed a truck into a Bastille Day crowd, killing 86 and wounding 434 people including five local Jews, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship) is teaming up with the World Jewish Congress (WJC) to help defend the Nice Jewish community against new threats, as part of The Fellowships efforts to safeguard Jews worldwide.

In response to requests from the Nice Jewish community since the attack, The Fellowship and WJC will each be providing financial assistance, along with French Jewish organizations, for a series of security upgrades, including security systems and materials, for local communal institutions.

Implementation of the project will be carried out by the Security Department of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), which has undertaken similar operations for Jewish communities in many parts of the world. The WJC congratulated The Fellowship for undertaking this important security initiative, and is pleased to be of assistance in this endeavor.

Since the end of World War II, the Nice Jewish community has grown from about 2,000 people to more than 25,000 today, and includes an Ashkenazi and Sephardi synagogue, a butcher, restaurants and a mikveh. The Musee Marc Chagall, containing the painters works on biblical themes, is situated in Nice.

In 2016 The Fellowship helped fund nearly $100,000 in security upgrades at more than two dozen French-Jewish communal institutions, including schools and synagogues, operated by the religious organization Chabad in the wake of terror attacks in Paris, Toulouse and elsewhere.

The aid was part of more than $3.5 million in security funding that The Fellowship began providing to Jewish communities in 32 countries after the terror attacks in Mumbai against Chabad and other Jewish communal targets. The funds, which were allocated to local institutions through the Jewish Agency, or directly to Chabad and others, helped fund security upgrades at community centers, schools, and synagogues across Asia, North Africa, Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe, and the FSU.

Last summer The Fellowship was helping 28 members of the Nice Jewish community to prepare to move to Israel, and was conducting an aliyah (immigrate to Israel) seminar only a few blocks from where the ISIS attack occurred. The Fellowships local aliyah effort was part of a wider campaign across France to help Jews who wish to move to Israel.

In 2016, more than 2,800 Jews from Belgium and France immigrated to Israel with The Fellowship, part of the more than 4,500 Jews from 24 countries who made aliyah with The Fellowship in 2016. Most of those countries  including Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Turkey and Ukraine  are experiencing a rise in anti-Semitism or economic hardships.

As weve unfortunately seen over the past few years, murderous terrorists are targeting Jews and so many others, from Mumbai to Nice, while Jewish communities are facing intensifying anti-Semitic threats and attacks, said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, The Fellowships president and founder. With partners like the World Jewish Congress, we are doing our utmost to defend Jews everywhere from this terrible scourge, while helping those who wish to move to their Jewish homeland.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Police on Wednesday 26 Shevat arrested a 51-year-old male who was threatening passers-by with a large knife in Bnei Brak. He got onto a bus and began shouting Ala Akbar and Itbach el Yahud (slaughter the Jew) and brandished the knife which he waved randomly.

Police arrived and ordered the man off the bus. Police report the man is Jewish and the incident is not viewed as a nationalist incident.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Police spokesman unit)
Jerusalem District Court Judge Moshe HaKohen has rejected the plea bargain agreement reached in the case of former Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, handing down a stricter sentence.

Justice HaKohen added an additional year of prison to the sentence, from 3.5 to 4.5 years.

As per the earlier agreement, Rabbi Metzger is compelled to pay a NIS 5 million fine. It is unclear if the higher court accepted this portion of the agreement. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has also received requests to revoke the former Chief Rabbis semicha.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Some residents returned home to sort through waterlogged furniture, toys and clothing after being abruptly evacuated when a surging creek carrying engine fuel and sewage water inundated thousands of homes in San Jose.

With water levels from Coyote Creek receding late Wednesday, officials said some of the 14,000 evacuated residents would be allowed to return home, although an evacuation order remained for parts of the city. Authorities warned residents to be careful about hygiene and handling food that may have come into contact with flood water.

The water is not safe, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said. There is contamination in this water and the contamination runs the gamut.

Residents in knee-high rubber boots waddled through inundated street to get to their homes, passing by cars submerged in muddy water.

Victor Chen, his two children, ages 8 and 10, and his wife evacuated Tuesday night and returned to their home on 21st Street earlier Wednesday.

Its really tough to see. A home is all we worked for, and our family is all here, Chen, 42, told the San Francisco Chronicle. And we had to leave it behind when the water was rising.

Toys, extra mattresses, a TV, bikes and clothing were all ruined after the garage, dining room and one of the childrens bedrooms were flooded.

Liccardo acknowledged that the city failed to properly notify residents to evacuate during a flood emergency early Wednesday when some people said they got their first notice by seeing firefighters in boats in the neighborhood.

If the first time a resident is aware that they need to get out of their home is when they see a firefighter in a boat, thats a failure, Liccardo said at a news conference. We are assessing what happened in that failure.

Liccardo declined to go into detail, saying there would be time for reflection after the emergency was over.

Updated maps showing the evacuation areas were being posted on the mayors website.

Flood warnings were in place until Saturday because waterways were overtaxed, and another storm was forecast Sunday.

The city began alerting residents of the flood situation on Tuesday via social and mainstream media and sending emergency alerts to those who had signed up for it, said city spokesman Dave Vossbrink.

When water levels changed dramatically overnight, they sent police and firefighters door-to-door during the dramatic overnight evacuation.

It was scary, said Irma Gonzalez, 59, whose two-story apartment complex is alongside the creek. She was awakened about 2:30 a.m. by police pounding on her door. They were like, Youve got to hurry up and go! Move it!'

Gonzalez spent the night at her sisters house and said she was thankful for the wakeup call and evacuation. Its better than to wake up and have water coming in.

Several residents faulted the city for failing to provide proper warnings.

The city dropped the ball on making sure that people were notified of the potential impact of this flood, said resident Jean-Marie White, whose house and backyard were flooded. Nobody had any clue.

About 300 people stayed in emergency shelters set up by the city, while many found other accommodations.

Bob Benjamin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the water level in 30-mile long Coyote Creek reached a 100-year high during this weeks storm.

Downpours in the past few weeks have saturated the once-drought-stricken region and wreaked havoc for residents. At least four people have died as a result of the storms throughout the state in the past week.

Assistant San Jose City Manager Dave Sykes said officials first became aware of the rising water late Tuesday when firefighters began evacuating about 400 people from a low-lying residential area.

City officials did not believe the waters would spread to other neighborhoods and did not expand the evacuation orders.

Coyote Creek flooded after Anderson Dam in Santa Clara County reached capacity during heavy weekend rains.

Managers of the dam are taking advantage of a break in the storms to draw down the reservoir, which is supposed to be limited to 68 percent of capacity because of earthquake concerns but is now at 100 percent, said Jim Fiedler, a chief operating officer at the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

He said it could take nine weeks to bring it down to normal levels. Inspectors in 2010 discovered the dam is vulnerable to a major quake and $400 million is being spent to make it earthquake-proof by 2024.

(AP)
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is praising the media at a time when the Trump administration has accused reporters of being dishonest and delivering fake news.

Ginsburg told the BBCs Newsnight program in an interview Thursday that she reads The Washington Post and The New York Times every day, and that reporters are trying to tell the public the truth.

The 83-year-old justice did not comment directly on President Donald Trump, but said she was encouraged by the massive womens march in Washington, the day after his inauguration Jan. 20, when demonstrators protested his election victory.

Ive never seen such a demonstration, both the numbers and the rapport of the people in that crowd, she said. There was no violence, it was orderly. So yes, we are not experiencing the best times, but there is there is reason to hope that that we will see a better day.

Ginsburg, who leads the high courts liberal wing, was openly critical of Trump in media interviews before his election. She later said she regretted her ill-advised comments in which she dismissed Trump as a faker who really has an ego.

Ginsburg told the BBC she is optimistic about the future and Americas ability to change direction.

When the pendulum swings too far in one direction it will go back, she said. Some terrible things have happened in the United States but one can only hope that we learn from those bad things.

She noted the example of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, calling it a dreadful mistake.

Ginsburgs comments came before a scheduled appearance later Thursday at George Washington University where she planned to promote a book featuring a collection of her writings.

(AP)
Seeking to tamp down growing unease in Latin America, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly pledged Thursday that America wont enlist its military to enforce immigration laws and that there will be no mass deportations.

Only hours earlier, President Donald Trump suggested the opposite. He told CEOs at the White House the deportation push was a military operation.

Kelly, speaking in Mexicos capital, said all deportations will honor human rights and follow the U.S. legal system. He said that includes multiple appeals offered to those facing deportation. Kelly said the U.S. approach will involve close coordination with Mexicos government.

There will be no use of military forces in immigration, Kelly said. There will be no  repeat, no  mass deportations.

Yet while Kelly and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tried to alleviate Mexicos concerns, Trump was fanning them further with tough talk about getting really bad dudes out of this country at a rate nobody has ever seen before.

Its a military operation, Trump said Thursday while his envoys were in Mexico City. Because 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 who are here illegally.

It was an altogether different message and tone from Kelly and Tillerson, who traveled here to meet with top Mexican officials at a time of intense turbulence for U.S.-Mexico relations. Indeed, Trump acknowledged he had sent his top diplomat south of the border on a tough trip.

In contrast to Trump, Tillerson and Kelly focused on what they described as a solid U.S. commitment to work closely with Mexico on border security, illegal immigration and trafficking of drugs and weapons  issues Trump has made a central focus of his young presidency, much to Mexicos dismay. Both Tillerson and Kelly appeared to downplay any major rift between the U.S. and Mexico.

In a relationship filled with vibrant colors, two strong sovereign countries from time to time will have differences, Tillerson said. We listened closely and carefully to each other as we respectfully and patiently raised our respective concerns.

For Mexico, that patience appeared to be running short.

Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray noted the public and notorious differences between the countries and said the Mexicans had raised the legal impossibility of a government making unilateral decisions affecting another country. Videgaray has previously raised the prospect Mexico could seek recourse at the United Nations or elsewhere for U.S. moves violating international law.

It is an evident fact that Mexicans feel concern and irritation over what are perceived as policies that may hurt Mexicans and the national interest of Mexicans here and abroad, Videgaray said.

Mexico has been incensed that the U.S. announced  without Mexicos sign-off  that people caught crossing the border illegally will be sent back to Mexico  even those from third countries who have no connection to Mexico. Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, Kellys Mexican counterpart, said that concern had come up, too.

Both countries said it was positive that the neighbors remained committed to working through the disputes diplomatically, though there were no indications they were any closer to a resolution. As the Americans wrapped up their Mexico visit, they remained at odds with their hosts over the deportations and over the massive border wall Trump has vowed to construct at Mexicos expense.

Trump spoke during the presidential campaign about using a deportation force, and his Homeland Security Department at one point considered using the National Guard to help with deportations, although the White House has said that idea has been ruled out.

The Homeland Security Department didnt immediately respond to requests to clarify why Trumps remark about a military operation had conflicted with that of Kelly, who blamed the media for misreporting. At the White House, spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump hadnt been speaking literally. He said Trump used the military operation phrase as an adjective to describe the precision with which immigration enforcement was being carried out.

Tillerson and Kelly were meeting behind closed doors with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto before returning to Washington. Pena Nieto recently canceled a trip to Washington over Trumps insistence that Mexico pay for the wall. It has not been rescheduled.

In addition to sending border-crossers from third countries into Mexico, new memos signed by Kelly this week prioritize deportation for anyone charged or convicted of any crime, rather than just serious crimes. That potentially subjects millions in the U.S. illegally to deportation, including many Mexicans.

Those policies have raised fears in Mexico about the possibility of deportee and refugee camps emerging along Mexicos northern border. Mexican officials were also apprehensive that a forthcoming report ordered by Trumps administration listing all current U.S. aid to Mexico is intended to threaten Mexico into compliance over immigration or the wall.

Mexico has also raised concerns about Trumps pledge to overhaul the trade relationship and possibly apply steep taxes to Mexican products, a move with profound impacts for Mexicos export-heavy economy. Tillerson said the leaders had agreed the trade relationship needed to be modernized and strengthened.

(AP)
Mayor Bill de Blasio will be questioned voluntarily by federal prosecutors Friday in connection to fundraising activities for his campaign.

An official familiar with the matter said that it is a voluntary interview. The mayor has had extensive preparation this week ahead of the meeting.

Mayor de Blasio has not been subpoenaed. It is something of a tightrope walk for the mayor who has volunteered to answer questions, but has not been granted immunity from prosecution.

Todays meeting comes as the U.S. Attorneys office potentially wraps up a lengthy investigation into the mayors fundraising and campaign activities.

De Blasio voluntarily agreed to sit down with federal investigators and he has not requested or been offered immunity to do so.

His office says the mayor and his aides have always acted appropriately.

The mayor is also under investigation by the Manhattan District Attorneys office in connection with state senate campaigns he assisted in 2014.

Mayor de Blasio will be accompanied by counsel at the interview.

(Source: WABC.com / NY1)
Investing in politics is finally paying off for billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson.

The dividends will be displayed this weekend as some of the nations top fundraisers assemble at his Venetian hotel in Las Vegas for the annual meeting of his signature political organization, the Republican Jewish Coalition. Among those paying their respects will be Vice President Mike Pence and Ronna Romney McDaniel, the new Republican National Committee leader.

While Adelson often attracts big-name conservatives, the RJC and its mega-donor benefactor have rarely enjoyed such a strong political position as now. He had a private dinner at the White House earlier this month, just days before a visit from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where President Donald Trump announced an abandonment of a decades-old U.S. position supporting separate states for Israel and Palestinians.

With Jews deeply divided about Trump  he was criticized for being slow to condemn recent threats against Jewish community centers that have raised antisemitism concerns  the RJC provides the White House at least one steadfastly supportive national Jewish group.

He has gone much farther in his comments and in articulating his views in terms of the strength of his pro-Israel message than any president I can remember recently, said Matt Brooks, the RJCs executive director. That is very well received.

The three-day gathering, expected to attract about 600 people, will start the RJCs planning for a 2018 midterm election that will mark Trumps first electoral test as president. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa are among the other speakers.

The RJC provides an elite network of fundraisers who help Republicans up and down the ballot  especially in states with larger Jewish populations  while also lobbying Republican lawmakers and administration officials for pro-Israel policies.

Adelson, 83, isnt entirely responsible for the influence enjoyed by the RJC, whose board of directors is a whos who list of top Republican fundraisers. Lew Eisenberg, the top RNC fundraiser in 2016, is just one such example.

The group is now running digital ads promoting David Friedman, the presidents pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel. The advertising is running nationally and in specific states to put pressure on Democratic senators Chuck Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Chris Coons of Delaware and Bill Nelson of Florida.

Pence, who is scheduled to address the gathering Friday evening, is expected to assure RJC members that theres no distance between the administration and the groups goals. Trump, meanwhile, has softened some of his campaign pledges to conservative Jews, such as moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Pence is probably the best person in the administration in terms of a combination of seniority and the way that Republican Jews see him, said Tevi Troy, a policy adviser and Jewish liaison for President George W. Bushs White House. There is still discomfort within the Republican Jewish ranks about Trump.

The vice presidents activities ahead of his RJC speech, which included a meeting with Netanyahu, a tour of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany and a visit to a suburban St. Louis Jewish cemetery damaged by vandals, have boosted his standing with the group. Brooks called Pence one of the most pro-Israel members of Congress during his tenure in the U.S. House, while dismissing a question on whether he might be more popular than the president with RJC members.

Trump was widely criticized by Jewish groups  even mildly by the RJC  when the White House late last month released a statement marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day that failed to mention Jewish victims. Aides stood by the statement by saying it was meant to be an inclusive message not intended to marginalize Jewish victims.

While the RJC has backed Trump ever since he secured his partys nomination last year  even if a bit less robustly than for past Republicans  the courtship wasnt always smooth.

I had one conversation with Sheldon and all he wants to do is protect Israel, Trump told MSNBC in November 2015. But I dont want his money. I dont need his money.

Adelson and his wife, Miriam, contributed at least $82.5 million to conservative causes during the 2016 election cycle, ranking first among Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Four years earlier, theyd given at least $93 million.

Adelson, who is listed by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as the 15th richest U.S. resident with an estimated fortune of $27.6 billion, didnt respond to an interview request made through RJC spokesman Fred Brown.

Brooks said the group is already lining up against some Democratic incumbents for the 2018 midterm elections, including Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. The group is also looking at races in Florida and Indiana, he said.

As the RJC meets in Las Vegas, the liberal Jewish group J Street will convene in Washington for its annual meeting. That gathering will hear from two Democrats unsuccessful in 2016 national campaigns, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Kaine, who was Hillary Clintons running mate.

American Jews traditionally back Democrats by large margins in presidential elections, although the RJC argues it has helped increase support for Republican candidates.

Trump received just 23 percent of the Jewish vote nationally, according to exit polls, down from the 30 percent that Romney received in 2012. Still, Trumps proportion was larger than what Senator John McCain received in the 2008 presidential election and it was also slightly higher than the share secured by Bush in 2000.

We have been chipping away and solidifying a significant chunk of the Jewish vote, Brooks said. Weve been putting millions and millions of dollars into that effort and its paying significant dividends.

(c) 2017, Bloomberg  John Mccormick
More than a year has passed since London Stock Exchange Group chairman Donald Brydon took tea with his opposite number from Frankfurt Joachim Faber and cooked up the idea of a 20 billion merger of equals between Europes two largest share markets.

The trouble is that it was never a merger of equals, since Deutsche Boerse would control the larger share in the unified exchange, the German chief executive of the Frankfurt market Carsten Kengeter would be chief executive of the enlarged group and income would be reported in euros rather than sterling.

There was a solemn promise that the headquarters would be in London but as regulatory scrutiny moves to its final stages, and a pure Brexit becomes more likely, predatory noises from Germany become louder.

Deutsche Boerse wants to buy LSE for 21billion, which critics say is against the UK's interest

German politicians in Deutsche Boerses home state of Hesse are understandably demanding the HQ is in Frankfurt.

As always with takeovers, those with most to gain are advisers and top executives.

The chief executive of LSE Xavier Rolet has the chance to cash in his shares and options, collect at the very least 10 million and retire to his vineyard.

As for Kengeter, his bit of local trouble with German investigators over unwise share dealings should instantly disqualify him from becoming chief executive of the merged exchange.

It comes as something of relief that the estimable former chancellor, Lord Lawson, together with 40 other bigwigs at this late stage, have decided to join the fight against the deal.

They want it postponed until at least Britains future relationship with the European Union has been settled. We might well ask why it has taken so long for this valiant group to emerge? Among the reasons is the round-the-clock lobbying of politicians in the Commons in an effort to suppress any incipient opposition.

Deutsches controversial boss Carsten Kengeter has a powerful role in the negotiations

It is shameful that when Parliament had its first chance to be heard earlier this week, at the instigation of veteran Eurosceptic Bill Cash, only a handful of MPs turned up. Even more disturbing is the fact the over-active Commons treasury committee has failed to hold hearings and pass judgement on a deal which could end centuries of independence for one of the Citys key institutions. That has been a clear act of dereliction.

There has been an equally rigorous lobbying campaign in Brussels. The admirably independent EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, one of the few officials who dared to take on the might of Apple, is under intense pressure from European politicians to approve the transaction, despite negative effects on competition.

The concern in France and Germany is if Frankfurt does not secure control of the LSE and its clearing arm LCH Clearnet, hopes of wrestling the lucrative euro-clearing operation away from the City are crushed.

There is a peculiar view in Brussels that all euro trading should be on the Continent rather than in the deepest and most liquid foreign exchange markets in London. It is this inflexible, rule-based approach that has contributed to the EUs troubles since the Greek crisis flared up in 2009-10.

It is utterly spineless of the Government to suggest there is no way it can stop the merger. Earlier this week the deputy governor of the Bank of England Sir Jon Cunliffe made a powerful case for keeping euro denominated clearing in London, rejecting the notion it could somehow be damaging to stability.

The bully pulpit of Downing Street is powerful. Strong words from the Prime Minister or the Chancellor, threat of regulatory intervention or a lengthy probe on the merits of the deal could still kill it stone dead.

Rosss struggle

Hard to claim life is getting better when your company has just declared a loss of 6.94 billion and run up an accumulated deficit of 58 billion of losses. But that is essentially the message of Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan.

The difficulty is that so much of RBSs future is out of his hands, ranging from the fines still to be imposed by the US over mortgage securities to permission from the European Union to abort the Williams & Glyn experiment.

Amid all of this, RBSs success in colonising the mortgage market and re-establishing itself as the corporate and small business bank of choice is lost.

Lloyds and Barclays have shown there is life after crisis. RBS is blocked by nervous ninnies at Westminster unwilling to start placing shares in the market, re-establishing the banks ability to stand alone.
The heat in London's property market is fading fast, with house prices in the capital growing at their slowest pace since June 2013.

In the year to the end of January, the cost of a home in London increased by 6.4 per cent, with growth expect to hover around zero this year, property consultancy Hometrack said.

While the capital's housing market is cooling, house price growth in popular cities like Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool is surging.

Slowing down: House prices in London grew at their slowest pace since June 2013 last month

Property prices in London are now around 85 per cent higher than they were in 2009, with the average home costing over 480,000, Hometrack said.

In the last year, the cost of a home in Bristol increased by 9.5 per cent to an average of 263,200, while in Oxford prices went up by 9.2 per cent to 430,200.

In Manchester, property prices have gone up by 8.3 per cent to an average of 150,600, while in Liverpool they have increased by 7.1 per cent to just above 116,000.

UK CITIES ANNUAL HOUSE PRICE GROWTH Bristol, 263,200, 9.5% Oxford, 430,200, 9.2% Manchester, 150,600, 8.3% Southampton, 223,200, 8% Birmingham, 147,400, 7.4% Liverpool, 116,200, 7.1% Bournemouth, 275,600, 6.6% London, 486,600, 6.4% Portsmouth, 221,100, 6.4% Leicester, 160,500, 6% Glasgow, 115,200, 5.7% Leeds, 154,700, 5.5% Nottingham, 140,300, 5.4% Cardiff, 192,900, 5% Sheffield, 128,500, 4% Edinburgh, 200,700, 3.7% Newcastle, 123,900, 3.5% Belfast, 126,100, 2.8% Cambridge, 418,100, 2.2% Aberdeen, 186,200, minus 3.7% Source: Hometrack

In Scotland, house prices in Glasgow increased by 5.7 per cent to an average of 115,200, while in pricier Edinburgh, prices grew by 3.7 per cent to around 200,700.

Out of all the UK's big cities, Aberdeen was the only one to see house prices fall in the past year, with house prices down 3.7 per cent to an average of 186,200.

Richard Donnell, insight director at Hometrack, said: 'Growth in London has been superseded by large regional cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

'When you consider that house prices in London are 85% higher than they were in 2009 it is not surprising that the pace of increases is slowing toward a standstill as very high house price increases mean affordability is stretched.'

Mr Donnell said the timing and scale of future house price growth in general would depend upon the outlook for jobs, incomes and mortgage rates.

Experts claim April's stamp duty hike has hit the top end of London's market hardest, with investors unwilling to fork out the additional costs.

In its last set of data published in December, the Office for National Statistics said UK house prices had increased by 7.2 per cent in the year, up from 6.1 per cent a year earlier.

Bristol: House prices in Bristol have increased by 9.5 per cent in the past year

The average UK house price was 220,000 in December, which is 15,000 more than in December a year earlier.

London continues to be the region with the highest average house price at 484,000, followed by the South East and the East of England, which stand at 316,000 and 282,000 respectively, the ONS said.

In December, the most expensive London borough to live in was Kensington and Chelsea, where the cost of an average house was 1.3million.
British Airways owner IAGs profits soared 31 per cent after strong performances from its three legacy airlines British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus  and it expects to do even better next year.

The groups pre-tax profits for 2016 climbed to 2.36billion (2billion), up from 1.8billion a year earlier, on revenue down 1.3 per cent to 22.6billion.

Earnings per share for the 12 months to December 31st 2016, which rose 26 per cent to 88.5 euro cents, comfortably outperformed analysts consensus forecast of 83.1 cents.

Tails up: British Airways owner IAG was boosted by a 31 per cent increase in pre-tax profits

The company is also proposing a 17.5 per cent increase in its full-year dividend, to 23.5 cents and said today it planned to buy back 500million of its own shares during 2017.

However, IAGs profits were dented by a decline in profits at Spanish low-cost subsidiary, Vueling.

Its results also took a 460million (390million) hit from adverse currency movements, largely resulting from the effect of the weak pound on BA after last Junes Brexit vote.

The groups strong performance were despite a backdrop of economic uncertainty, increased competition and the heightened risk of terrorism facing airlines in Europe.

Willie Walsh, IAG's chief executive, described 2016s results as 'a good performance in a challenging environment'.

'Weve made good progress and continue to build on all weve achieved in our first five years,' said Walsh, referring to the period since the group was formed after the merger of BA and Iberia.

Walsh said that the airline had carried more than 100m passengers in 2016 - double the number BA and Iberia combined carried in 2010, a year before IAG was created.

IAG said that at current fuel prices and currency exchange rates, it expects operating profit for 2017 'to show an improvement year-on-year'.

Looking up: IAG chief executive Willie Walsh described the group's results as 'a good performance in a challenging environment'

The group has continued to benefit from restructuring and cost-cutting in addition to a sharp drop in fuel costs after slump in oil prices that began in mid-2014. Its fuel costs fell by about 20 per cent last year.

But competition is heating up in the lucrative long-haul market, where budget operators such as Norwegian Air Shuttle are expanding. The Scandinavian carrier said it would expand its trans-Atlantic flights using Boeing 737 Max single-aisle planes from this summer to serve smaller US cities.

IAG will begin its transatlantic discount long-haul flights from Barcelona, initially using two Airbus SE A330 planes from June.
The boss of British Airways has fought back after a barrage of complaints over a decision to scrap free in-flight sandwiches.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA-owner International Airlines Group, has faced claims the carrier is no better than its budget competitors Ryanair and EasyJet after it decided to charge for meals on short-haul economy flights.

BA sells a range of Marks & Spencer sandwiches, and travellers also have to pay for tea, coffee and alcohol.

British Airways has scrapped free meals on short haul flights in economy class, instead offering a selection of Marks & Spencer salads and sandwiches

It has caused customers to moan that it is no longer worth paying a premium for a BA flight compared to a budget rival.

Research by the Mail found a return flight to Malaga from Gatwick with British Airways with a cabin bag, gin and tonic, sandwich and a coffee in the first week of April will cost 260.65  according to yesterdays prices.

By comparison, a similar journey  but from Stansted, would cost 224.58 with EasyJet and 188.58 with Ryanair.

But as he unveiled the annual results yesterday, Walsh, 55, said: You only need to travel with Ryanair and British Airways to appreciate the difference.

The boss of British Airways has fought back after a barrage of complaints over the decision to scrap free in-flight sandwiches

Consumers value what they get from BA. If they didnt, you wouldnt have customers or see the numbers growing. Sales on board have been well in excess of what we expected.

'Its a greater, better choice of food.

Consumers value what they get from BA. If they didnt, you wouldnt have customers or see the numbers growing

BA announced it was going to scrap free food on short-haul flights in September last year.

It replaced them with a selection of sandwiches from M&S, with the service being introduced from January.

At the time, a Ryanair spokesman joked: We welcome BAs conversion to the Ryanair way.

The changes come as BA faces the prospect of an inter-continental fares war with trans-Atlantic rivals such as American Airlines promising to reduce fares, and newer carriers such as Norweigian offering to fly travellers to the US for as little as 69.

SO, WHO'S THE CHEAPEST?

A price comparison of all the airlines showed that gin and tonics were the cheapest on EasyJet, while BA offered the best value cup of coffee.

IAG reported higher profits in the year to December 31, up more than 30 per cent to 2 billion.

But revenue slid 1.3 per cent to 16.8 billion, and it warned the fall in the pound since Britains Brexit vote had delivered a 389 million hit.

YOU'LL PAY MORE IN DUTY FREE TOO... Sandwiches available on BA flights are more expensive than on the High Street. The same Marks & Spencer sandwich could have three different prices  one on the flight, one in the airport terminal and one in supermarkets. A bacon roll costs 4.75 on BA flights, but if travellers were to pick it up at the airport terminal before boarding the plane they could get it for 4. If they were to buy it in a supermarket it would cost just 3.25. A cheese ploughmans is 3 on flights, 2.60 in the terminal and 2.25 in stores. Crisps cost 1 on flights, 85p in the airport and 70p on the High Street.

Walsh insisted he was relaxed about Brexit. People talk about this in the context of the UK and Europe but BA flies all around the world, he said.

IAG has benefited from reduced cost thanks to the low oil price.

Walsh, who is due to be paid 2.4 million for 2016, said: It was a good performance in a challenging environment. In 2016, we carried more than 100 million passengers  double the number British Airways and Iberia carried in 2010, a year before IAG was created.

The group has been under pressure to offer low prices to compete with budget rivals and amid economic uncertainty. Revenue per passenger fell 5.4 per cent over the year.

George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: Despite holding a premium position in the sector, IAG has been caught up in the trend for lower fares as increasing supply squeezes prices.

However, with much of the supply coming in to the bottom of the pricing scale, there is an argument to say the group has a degree of insulation that more value-focused rivals lack.

It announced a full year dividend of 23.5 euro cents per share, up 17.5 per cent on last year.

IAG shares rose yesterday 4.5 per cent or 22.5p to 527p.
Standard Life has been forced to set aside 175 million for mis-selling pension annuities after a probe by the City watchdog.

The Financial Conduct Authority found a string of large companies had sold annuities - which provide an income for life - to 90,000 people in poor health without telling them they could shop around for a better deal.

Those who bought the products are entitled to compensation ranging from 120 to 240 for each year they held them.

Red card: Standard Life has been forced to set aside 175 million for mis-selling pension annuities after a probe by the City watchdog

Standard Life has launched a review to see how many of its customers were affected and will use the cash to pay them.

But the insurer unveiled a 9 per cent rise in profits to 723 million, largely driven by a rise in investment profits and stronger performance in India and China.

Bosses bumped up the total annual dividend by 8 per cent to 19.82p per share.

Investors, however, pulled 2.6 billion of cash out of the Standard Life as turmoil gripped markets.

Prudential also announced it was examining the mis-selling claims yesterday.
A new luxury home cinema sound system has been launched that costs more than the average price of a home.

At a cost of 200,000 for the technology and at least an extra 65,000 to cover installation costs, you'll need a deep pocket to buy the new home cinema kit - which is the first of its kind to be launched in Britain.

The total cost is more than the average value of a home in Britain, which currently stands at 205,240, according to figures published by Nationwide Building Society.

Pitch perfect! The top-end home cinema includes hidden speakers that are built into the walls

There is a way to create the home cinema experience for closer to 10,000, as we explain below - but it will be less deluxe than this 250,000 version.

So what do you get for your money? On an exclusive visit to a London showroom to try out the new home cinema experience, there was a lot of technology jargon including a 'THX4K display digital projection' and a 'giant floor-to-ceiling multiway auto-masking system'.

But it is the speakers that are the real stars of the show as they are the same type used in Hollywood's finest screening rooms - although you can't actually see them as they are built into the walls. This is the first time that the Meyer speakers have been available in Britain within a residential rather than a commercial setting.

A team of installers are required to strip the walls back to the bare brickwork before being able to add the Meyer speakers.

The luxury home cinema costs 200,000 for the technology and at least an extra 65,000 to cover installation costs

High tech surround sound! Everything can be operated at a touch of a button from a tablet

Until now, the high quality of Meyer's professional sound systems have not been available in home cinemas in this country. But the British company Cornflake included them in the design of the new home cinema, which includes 15 speakers.

SPECIFICATION LIST  Meyer Sound  Front speakers: Acheron Designer  2no. subwoofers: X-800C  Surround speakers: HMS-5  Screen: Dynamic Multiway Masking Screen  Projector: JVC DLA-Z1  Processor: Trinnov Altitude 32 (16 channels)  Acoustic insulation and calibration: CATS packs  Acoustic fabric to walls and ceiling: Carlucci di Chivasso Cohesion CA1338/053 from Ace Contracts Advertisement

Meyer Sound's Andy Willcox said: 'The goal of all this technology is to envelop the audience and transport then into the story.

'The viewer really shouldn't be thinking whether a sound is coming from an overhead loudspeaker or from the sidewall.

'Designed for optimal performance behind perforated screens, Meyer's loudspeakers were developed specifically for cinema, in collaboration with top industry and technical professionals.'

Robin Shephard, chief executive of Cornflake, said: 'Demand for home cinemas is phenomenal, especially in London where many homeowners have excavated a large, and often dark, basement to create extra living space, which is perfect as a media den.

'Clients strive for acoustic and visual perfection and are prepared to invest substantially in high-end technology to ensure exquisite quality, combined with luxurious decor. Some of the private cinemas currently being built in London homes rival those found in Hollywood A-Listers' pads, complete with motion-sensor seating, air conditioning, acoustic insulation and professional calibration.'

It's the first time that homeowners in Britain have had access to such a high-spec home cinema

Installers strip the walls back to the bare brickwork before adding the Meyer speakers

If you're looking to install your own home cinema but have a more modest budget, what are your options and how much can you expect to spend?

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN HOME CINEMA FOR 10K Yamaha RX-A3060 multichannel amplifier Oppo UDP-203 4K UHD Blu-ray player ATC C1 5.1 speaker package LG OLED65E6V OLED TV.Fact-box text Advertisement

A discerning shopper should be able to put together a good home cinema kit for around 14,000, according to Simon Lucas, editor of What Hi-Fi? magazine.

This could consist of a Yamaha RX-A3060 multichannel amplifier, an Oppo UDP-203 4K UHD Blu-ray player, a PMC Twenty 23 5.1 speaker package and a LG OLED65E6V OLED TV.

He explains that the cost can be reduced by switching the speakers for the ATC C1 5.1 package. The price then becomes more like 9,000.

Mr Lucas said: 'This system has utter authority and fidelity. In terms of picture quality, the combination of 4K Blu-ray player and OLED TV means pictures are as sharp, as detailed, as high-contrast and as out-and-out lifelike as can currently be achieved. Sound is expansive, dynamic - it can go from very quiet to very loud and back again in an instant - and loaded with detail. No matter if you want to hear a pin drop or if you want your neighbours to profoundly fall out with you, this system will deliver.'

However, this system doesn't have a projector, and so how much can you expect to spend with this equipment instead of a TV?

Mr Lucas suggests that for a state-of-the-art home cinema, then 4K is required - with the most affordable worthwhile 4K projector being the Sony VPL-VW520ES.

However, it is around 8,000, whereas the LG OLED is more like 3,500.

Mr Lucas added: 'There are pros and cons to using a TV verses a projector. Undoubtedly projectors are better value if you want a truly massive picture - to get a 100 inch TV (the Sony projector is easily capable of beautiful images at 100 inches plus) you'd be looking at something upwards of 15,000.

'But a projector needs a screen, and it needs darkness in order to work properly, and it doesn't have TV tuners, smart apps or any of the other stuff a decent TV comes equipped with.'
Toronto, Feb. 24 (IBNS): The outbreak of mumps in young adults in several provinces in Canada had been a cause of great concern to the public health officials, media reports said.

Mumps is a viral and contagious disease causing swelling of the salivary glands in cheeks and spreads through saliva and respiratory droplets .

"It can also be associated with deafness, meningitis," said Dr. Sarah Wilson, medical epidemiologist with Public Health Ontario. "There are

significant complications but fortunately for most people, it's an unpleasant, uncomfortable experience that resolves," CBC News reports said.

19 cases of Mumps in Ontario so far compared with the usual annual count of five to 23 has alarmed health officials.

Toronto Public Health was investigating 14 lab-confirmed cases of Mumps since January compared to the average of four cases each year for the last five years.

All of the cases have been confirmed in adults aged 18 to 35, with the investigation focused on bars on the west side of downtown, a place where infection spreads easily.

Dr. Monika Naus, medical director for immunization programs at the BC Centre for Disease Control also confirmed outbreaks in Nova Scotia in 2007 and in 2016 in Whistler, B.C. occurred in bars.

Naus recommended self-isolation of the infected individuals for nine days, in particular for the first five days.

While Canada was considering booster vaccination in young adults for Mumps the U.S. federal officials were looking into the benefits of a third dose.

"Although the disease has not been serious, the disruption and expense it has caused for local and state health officials has been significant," said Mona Marin, a viral diseases expert with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CBC News reports said.



(Reported by Asha Bajaj)

Imgae of Mumps infection: Wikipedia
That headline is a more interesting question, I think, for people of the general age (50- or 60-plus) who read this blog than younger people. As it turns out, two new studies released just this week has some answers.

One involved face-to-face interviews with 1,016 adults living in Germany. The other featured similar interviews with 1,002 adults living in Spain. As reported in Pacific Standard,

Asked if they would want to have an exact time stamp on their eventual death, 87.7 percent of Germans said no. Only 4.2 percent said yes, while 8.2 percent were uncertain.



A similar percentage, 87.3 percent, did not want to know the cause of their death...



Spanish participants'...answers on the negative news items were very similar to those of the Germans.

In announcing the publication of the study, lead author, Gerd Gigerenzer of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin wrote that deliberate ignorance is a widespread state of mind and

...was more likely the nearer the event. For example, older adults were less likely than younger adults to want to know when they or their partner would die, and the the cause of death.

That makes sense to me. Until 40 or so, most of us believe we are immortal so the idea of one's own death is mainly hypothetical. At my age now, nearly 76, death has become very real and recently, I find Gigerenzer's deliberate ignorance a state of mind I'm clinging to for - well, dear life.

Since mid-November, a mystery malady has been plaguing me. His disinterest in the many symptoms led me to fire my previous physician and I found a new one I like better. There is no obvious diagnosis so since late December, I have been undergoing the many tests he has arranged for me.

About once a week, sometimes twice, I drive to the giant medical center he is associated with for a screening  sometimes for blood, other times for x-rays of this or that body part and this week a bone scan.

These are not just to track down what my malady might be. It is also that because I've spent the greater part of my life avoiding doctors and most medical tests, the new doc wants a baseline for future reference.

I can't argue with that but here's the problem: I'm just about the best example you're ever going to find of Gigerenzer's deliberate ignorance.

In our brave new world of electronic medical records, I can find out the results of the tests almost by the time I drive home. And when that doesn't happen, they are posted by the next day when an email alerts me to their availability. It never fails  except -

Except once. And that's where my deliberate ignorance kicks in, leaving me now gasping in fear when I allow myself to think about that exception.

Every result so far has been in the healthy range of whatever was being tested. I've been incredibly lucky that way all my life.

But for all that good news, there was this: no email and nothing posted to my online medical records after the CT scan of my lungs for cancer two weeks ago. It's not that I've missed it. I check for it every morning.

Let's see if I can explain the emotion of this. With no posted results, I can live in (supposedly) happy deliberate ignorance. But not really. I smoked for many decades and three relatives died of various cancers so this test is more fraught that simple blood draws.

The question rolls around in my head: What could that anomalous missing report mean?

As my thinking goes, there must be something so terribly wrong with that CT scan that they don't want to cause a heart attack by having me read it at home alone.

I could email or phone the doctor but as much as this is eating at me, I also don't want to hear terrible news. So I wait and worry trying to be happy in my deliberate ignorance until my next scheduled doctor appointment in early March - which, given these circumstances I would rather skip so to remain in my "deliberate ignorance."

I'm fully aware that there could be other reasons for not posting scan results (although I can't figure what they would be). That doesn't help. And I am equally aware that my fear of a deadly diagnosis is not in keeping with my genuine relief at living in a state with an assisted suicide law, as we've discussed in these pages.

Inconsistency, thy name is human.

My uneasiness in this circumstance is not unique and the growing sophistication of medical tests and diagnoses will soon leave many more patients in similarly difficult emotional places at much younger ages, as the researchers note:

...gene-based medicine 'will put more and more people into situations where they have to decide whether they want to know future health issues.'

The reporter of the Pacific Standard story explained further:

In the not-too-distant future, well be able to discover whether we are prone to a variety of diseases. Knowing such information could help us make major life decisions in an informed, thoughtful way.



But we can only take advantage of this information if we can...emotionally handle the knowledge of when and how we are likely to die. And when that subject is broached, our impulse seems to be to run as fast as we can in the other direction.

Yup. That is exactly what I'm going through right now  terrified of a bad diagnosis that will turn me into a professional patient. I've been afraid of that for as long as I can remember.

The full study, co-authored by Rocio Garcia-Tetamero of the University of Granada, is available online in the Psychological Review. [pdf]
Kolkata, Feb 24 (IBNS): District Governor Rtn Shyamashree Sen handed over cheques to meritorious students in a ceremony organised by Rotary Calcutta West Ridge on Saturday afternoon.

She appealed to the parents to let the students flower and especially the girls to make their own career first before settling down in marriages.

Maitreyee Biswas who continued studies with the help of Rotary after HS exam stood First class First in MA-Philosophy from Kalyani University.

She is now doing BEd The other beneficiaries are Sarbani Pal, Monidipa Dolui,Sushovan Paul and Suman Chakraborty.

Club President Rtn Indrajit Bhattacharya informed the gathering that Soumya Ghosh coming from an extremely financially stressed condition recently cleared MA in Economics with 70% marks from Jadavpur University.Rotary helped him since HS Exam.He is now doing M Phil in Economics.
MBABANE  Minister of Home Affairs Princess Tsandzile and her husband have been taken to court over allegedly unpaid share profits of E6 million demanded by a former director of a company partly owned by the latter.



Dumisa Gwebu said he resigned as a Director of Eco-Rev Distributions (Pty) Ltd under duress but he did not give up his shares. The company, which was incorporated in 2006, is situated on Portion 2 of Lot 1007 at Sidwashini Industrial Site.



It is in the business of supplying blank sheets for number plates and selling signage material. The company started trading in 2010.

Its directors, as per a meeting of the Board of Directors held on October 11, 2010, are Musa Mdluli (60 per cent) and January Masina (40 per cent).

These two remained after the resignation of the minister and Gwebu as Directors who held 44 per cent and six per cent shares respectively.

Gwebu stated that he and Princess Tsandzile had been appointed as shareholders through a resolution that was partly written and verbal on June 30, 2007. Gwebu submitted that he was allocated six per cent shares, which he alleges to hold to date.



The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court. The respondents, Masina, the minister, her husband and the company, are yet to file responding papers. Gwebu is represented by Derrick Jele of Robinson Bertram.



Gwebu alleged that he resigned as a director of the company on February 2, 2010 and he has remained a shareholder ever since. He told the court that on a number of occasions he requested Mdluli and Masina to pay him his share of the profits as a shareholder but they have allegedly ignored him.



In fact, the first respondent (Mdluli) told me that I had resigned as a director and therefore I am not entitled to any profits, he submitted.
(comments)



Some of the decisions coming out of Cabinet these days are giving us a very concerning indication that the days of overnight decrees are creeping back into our governance.



Waking up to the imposition of Christianity as the sole religion to be taught in schools was hard enough, but this weeks order to have vernacular as a medium of instruction for our primary school learners has many of us wondering if we are ever going to get our priorities straight.

Of all things that are urgent and necessary in this country, we choose to busy ourselves with confusing children so as to divert attention from the hard decisions we need to take to move this country forward.



Today we expect the Finance Minister, Martin Dlamini, to table a budget that will fund economic growth, create jobs, alleviate poverty and ensure food self sufficiency. Why do we want to speak nice siSwati while many hungry citizens can hardly speak because of hunger brought about by a poor budget allocation towards agriculture over decades? When will food come first with a minimum 13 per cent slice of the national budget?



Education, no doubt, takes the largest chunk of the national budget but this money has hardly been enough to render our education system effective or efficient. Our university is crumbling, there is insufficient funding on scholarships, schools lack basic necessities and it is in these areas that we expect to hear good decisions being taken to address them.



There are many creative ways to preserve our language but nothing beats a self driven love of the mother tongue. To love something is to be attracted to it and in this case, let us first build some pride in our country by making it prosperous.



Let us build this economy into one to be reckoned with; one that is a destination of choice for all would-be-investors so that the benefits of their investment can flow into addressing our basic needs and providing us with the best education money can buy. Let us first be proud to call this country our home and the rest will then take care of itself. The Finance minister can get the ball rolling in this direction by announcing all the right decisions from today!
Guwahati, Feb 24 (IBNS): Coordinating Committee (CorCom), an apex body of six insurgent groups of Manipur, has called for a state-wide shutdown on Saturday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the poll-bound state.

PM Modi will visit Manipur on February 25 to address an election campaign rally in Imphal.

CorCom has said that the shutdown will be imposed at 6AM on Saturday and will be effective until PM Modi has left Imphal.

Following the shutdown call, security measures in Manipur have been beefed up, especially in Imphal, to ensure that law and order situation remains under control.

The two-phase Assembly elections in Manipur are scheduled for March 4 and 8.

Meanwhile, the Centre sent more security personnel to the poll bound state to maintain the law and order situation.

A top official from the Union Home Ministry said that the Centre has sent 30 additional companies to Manipur as 250 companies are already engaged to maintain the law and order situation in the state.

On the other hand, the Union government airlifted more petroleum products in Manipur.

The more than three month long economic blockade of the state imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC) has resulted in several problems, including scarcity of essential commodities, petroleum products, and drugs.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Bengaluru, Feb 24 (IBNS): BJP Yuva Morcha on Friday staged demonstration demanding resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his alleged payoff to Congress high command, media reported.

Late on Thursday, BJP spokesperson and MLA, S Suresh Kumar, during a press conference, alleged that a 'diary' belonging to Congress MLC Govindaraju, said to be a close to the state chief minister, has provided details of payoffs by state Congress members to their national leaders.

He demanded that the CM must resign on 'moral grounds'.

The 'diary' was apparently among the documents seized when the Income Tax Department raided three MLCs in March 2016, media reported.

Image: AIR News Twitter
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Mark Hallum

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) announced a bill designed to save downstate residents from paying taxes on upstate power plants.

If passed into law, the legislation would prevent the utility rates from going up for New Yorkers who do not benefit from nuclear power plants, many of which are struggling financially.

The ratepayer-funded nuclear power plant subsidies solely benefit upstate plants, yet downstate residents who receive minimal benefit from their operation will fund nearly 60 percent of this subsidy, Avella said.

This increase is fundamentally unfair to those downstate residents who benefit little, if anything, from the operation of the upstate plants.

The utility hike known as the Zero Emission Credit is set to take effect in April to raise $500 million per year to bail out power companies providing nuclear energy.

Avella sent a letter to the Public Service Commission expressing his approval for Gov. Andrew Cuomos mission to reduce greenhouse emissions, but disapproval of the attempt to burden his downstate constituents with spiking utility rates.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Mark Hallum

U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and Mayor Bill de Blasio called Homeland Securitys new move to prosecute illegal immigrants a tactic which will result in mass deportations and divide families.

Homeland Secretary John Kelly released memos this week detailing how the department will carry out President Trumps executive orders to broaden the definition of a criminal alien, while expediting deportations and enlisting local law enforcement to act as immigration officers.

The Trump administrations latest immigration proposal is clearly a step toward mass deportations  actions that will make our country less secure and erodes our judicial process by allowing for fast-tracked deportations, regardless of circumstances, Crowley said. Instead of focusing resources on comprehensive immigration reform, President Trumps plan creates a system where individuals seeking asylum are immediately detained, families are forcefully separated, children are punished for fleeing extreme violence, and local law enforcement officers are required to act as immigration agents.

He warned that the Trump approach will make the country less safe and fly in the face of the nations value systems.

By expanding the 287(g) Program, usually only applicable to the border region, to other parts of the nation, Homeland Security plans to partner with police who will act as immigration agents in what the memos describe as a force multiplier which has led to the identification of about 402,000 undocumented immigrants between 2006 and 2015 in local jails after arrests, according to one memo.

Immigrations enforcement agents will also have the right to detain and remove any individual who cannot prove he or she has been living in the United States for over two years, another tactic used to turn immigrants back swiftly in the border region.

Kelly is also calling for the hiring of 5,000 Border Patrol agents and 500 additional Air and Marine personnel assigned to strategic locations as needed.

The undocumented immigrants will be deported without a hearing or review except for unaccompanied children unless they are seeking asylum or could face persecution if returned home.

This dramatic policy shift is hard evidence of the Trump administrations interest in needlessly tearing apart families and spreading fear in immigrant communities. By targeting those without serious convictions, those who have merely been charged with offenses, or those recent arrivals  including unaccompanied children  who have posed no safety threat to our neighborhoods, the president has chosen the politics of division over our nations safety, de Blasio said. Let us be clear: immigrant communities living in fear under these rules will be less likely to report crime or partner with law-enforcement agencies to make our communities safer. These New Yorkers will be less likely to involve themselves in neighborhood fabrics at the center of sustained safety and prosperity. Families torn apart will only add to the marginalization of already economically and culturally vulnerable communities.

James Hong, acting executive director of the MinKwon Center for Community Action in Flushing, said Trumps executive orders and recent ICE raids are reminiscent of the The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur, which put a 10 year moratorium on labor immigration from China.

Immigration issues are Asian-American issues, Hong said. With 78 percent of Asian-Americans in New York City being immigrants, it is impossible for us to stay silent in the face of these raids and executive orders. The MinKwon Center and its allies in the community are already seeing waves of confusion and fear, even among those with legal status. It is a travesty that instead of acknowledging the tremendous contributions of immigrants to this city, the federal government is targeting New York for its enforcement.

According to ICE, an alleged MS-13 gang member originally from El Salvador named Estivan Rafael Marques Velasquez was arrested in Queens on Feb. 16 after being released from Rikers Island when he should have been transferred to ICE custody, according to the agency. A statement by Enforcement and Removal Operations New York Field Office Director Thomas Decker said the citys sanctuary policy is a safety risk for residents.

This man is by his own admission a member of a violent street gang and he was released back into the community. Honoring a detainer request is not about politics, it is about keeping New York citizens safe, Decker said. ICE continues to welcome changes to the citys current policy which is creating a potentially unsafe environment for its residents. ICE remains steadfast in solidifying its relationship with local law enforcement in the interest of public safety and national security.

According to the New York Post, the ICE raids in New York City nabbed about 40 individuals.

A 49-year-old man from Jamaica who has been convicted of sexual assault of a victim under the age of 11 was arrested in the Bronx; a 51-year-old man who was once convicted of sexual offense against a child was arrested in College Point; and a 30-year-old man convicted of rape was arrested in Jamaica.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Patrick Donachie

A program created to buy back distressed mortgage notes held by the federal government that was championed by southeast Queens lawmakers is seeing promising results thus far, according to testimony at a City Council oversight hearing.

But new regulations enacted by the Trump administration have made continuing the project much more difficult, City Councilman I. Daneek Miller (D-St. Albans) said this week. He, along with Councilmen Donovan Richards (D-Arverne) and Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica) were strong advocates for foreclosure relief in southeast Queens.

The Community Restoration Fund, partially funded by the Council and administered by non-profits such as Center for NYC Neighborhoods and the Mutual Housing Association of New York, targets neighborhoods hit hard by the foreclosure crisis in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crash. Miller said it was incumbent on officials to do something for southeast Queens, where he said one out of every three foreclosures in New York had occurred.

If you look at the impact on that community, those who stay and those who leave, the billions of dollars in wealth that is lost, the billions of dollars in services we dont access, he said. We knew we had to do something about it.

Housing and Urban Development, the federal agency, periodically conducts auctions of pooled delinquent mortgages, which are often sold to private equity firms or hedge funds for large costs and potentially larger profits. Municipalities would find it nearly impossible to financially compete with these private investors.

The fact of the matter is the way they were bundled, it did not allow for anyone other than those groups to participate, Miller said about the mortgage pools. They would bundle 200 to 400 homes for a region. No one had those types of resources.

HUD agreed to negotiate with non-profits and municipalities throughout the country, however, giving mission-driven organizations an opportunity to help endangered homeowners modify their mortgages to stay in their homes. Miller said the new process offered New York a way to aid some homeowners. In June 2016, the city became the first municipality to help fund the purchasing of mortgage notes from the federal government.

David Cort, the city Housing and Preservation Departments deputy commissioner for strategy, research and communications, said the CRF was set to buy distressed mortgages for 24 homes. The fund had connected with 22 of the borrowers and completed initial intake counseling for 13 of them. A credit committee had reviewed eight of the borrowers and approved five thus far.

By assisting troubled homeowners and putting them on firmer financial footing, we will encourage financial empowerment and encourage the preservation of the citys housing stock, he said.

Since Donald Trumps inauguration, the negotiations between non-profits and municipalities and HUD about purchasing distressed mortgage notes have been halted. Municipalities can still buy mortgage notes, but must currently compete with private equity firms and hedge funds.

Miller said the mortgage buyback program was always going to be one small piece of a holistic approach to foreclosure prevention, but he was hopeful he could continue to make the case to Washington based on the merits and results of the program.

Those who have strived to be a part of Americas middle class, how do we retain and sustain that? Miller asked. This is the bailout that never happened to Main Street. Mortgages arent being forgiven  theyre being modified.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Phil Orenstein

We hear that the ICE raids on criminal illegal aliens throughout our nation and in New York City have brought needless panic to the immigrant communities in Queens.

But 38 out of the total 41 New York City deportations were convicted criminals, rapists, child sex offenders, thieves, and drug dealers.

This fear and hysteria could have been avoided if irresponsible politicians and media outlets were not so quick to grandstand President Trumps immigration Executive Orders with false rhetoric and lies, to vilify our president.

Deceptive terms like anti-immigrant and Muslim ban when referring to Trump and his immigrations policies, used to stoke the flames of outrage, are disgraceful lies.

The news about 100,000 National Guard mobilizing as a deportation force is another example of one of the many fake news stories out there and an outrageous lie as well.

Some local politicians were spreading lies that ICE was terrorizing and rounding up hardworking people. Trump is not to blame for the fear spreading in immigrant communities.

This is the unintended consequences of efforts to sabotage our presidents policies, which are in keeping with his campaign promises to fulfill our governments No. 1 role, keeping Americans safe.

We are all immigrants, and we law-abiding citizens who love America, have had enough of the malicious abuse of our presidents agenda, including our citys sanctuary policies, harboring certain classes of criminal aliens, in defiance of federal law.

Instead of working with our president, and assuring the public against irrational fears of deportation, Mayor de Blasio and our City Council members are up on their high horses undermining President Trumps every move, undermining America, and they should hang their heads in shame.

Its time to finally vote all these incompetent hacks out of office.

Phil Orenstein

President

Queens Village Republican Club
Hyderabad, Feb 24 (IBNS) : Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, who made a Rs. 5-crore git to gods from the public exchequer-a kind of a splurge that created a stir- has been taken to the court of law by, activists, NDTV reports.

Rao's gift to Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala angered activists, who along with Aam Aadmi Party's Lubna Sarwath have filed a petition in the Hyderabad High Court demanding the Chief Minister pay for such gifts out of his own pocket.

Rao made the offering to fulfil his promise if Telengana got the statehood.

Telangana became a separate state in June 2014.

The activists also want to know who paid the expenses for the Chief Minister's extended family, who went for the thanksgiving trip to Tirupati.

The activists say they want a white paper on expenses incurred from Government funds.

in the form of offerings for religious purposes. "The logistics and expenses for his family and relatives and ministers should be paid by them from their account,''NDTV quoted Dr Sarwath as saying.
By Bill Parry

Two City Councilmen from northwest Queens demanded state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) reverse course and rejoin the mainline Democrats in Albany.

Councilmen Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and Costa Constantinides joined dozens at a rally outside the Jackson Heights post office Feb. 23 where organizer Susan Kang explained the communitys anger after Peralta announced he was defecting to the Independent Democratic Conference last month, ensuring Republican control of the state Senate.

I want to emphasize that is a grass roots movement. This is a result of citizens getting together and saying this is not okay, Kang said. We elected Democrats to provoke a progressive agenda in Albany. Albany is broken and it will stay broken and the IDC is one of the main reasons why. It is not only the constituents of the senators in the IDC that are hurt by this decision, its all of New York state. These senators are keeping all of New York state hostage from the progressive policies we deserve and voted for. Why should California have all the fun?

Kang went on to list the major pieces of legislation Republicans have been blocking in the Senate including the Dream Act, Criminal Justice Reform, Voting Reform, Campaign Finance and Ethics Reform, and tenant protections to keep New York affordable.

We went out and we petitioned for Sen. Jose Peralta, Dromm said. We went out on the ground and did the work for him. We went out and asked people to vote for him. We put our power where our mouths are and made that happen in this community.

Constantinides remembered knocking on doors for Peralta during his Senate campaign in 2010.

He has betrayed this community in this way, going to caucus with the party of Trump at a time when our values are under attack, he said. Where immigrant families are feeling unease and possible deportation, he stands with the party that wont defend them.

At the same moment, Peralta was at the Langston Hughes Library in Corona updating East Elmhurst homeowners on $33 million in upgrades the citys Department of Environmental Protection is investing in their decaying sewage system to prevent severe flooding every time it rains  something theyve been battling for decades. The night before, Peralta hosted a forum at PS 19 to discuss steps he is taking to protect immigrants in his district in the face of President Trumps federal raids.

I want to make sure that my constituents know that they are not fighting alone against this administration, and this is why it is very important that they know what to do in case officers ask them about their immigration status, if they are approached or if they are taken into custody, Peralta said.

He was very aware of Dromm and Constantinides taking part in the Jackson Heights rally. Peralta stood by his decision to join the IDC, where he believes he can best effect progressive change on issues like affordable housing, economic development, healthcare, school funding equity and homelessness reforms.

Look, over time people will come to realize that Im still the same progressive that Ive been for the last 14 years, Peralta said. Now more than ever its important to have that seat at the table so we can push back at what is happening at the federal level that may trickle down and negatively affect us as a state. Now more than ever we cannot sit on the sidelines for the next two years. My community couldnt afford that. Elected officials in other districts can sit on the sidelines for the next two years, but the average income for families in my district is $30,000 to $35,000 a year and people depend on services that they might be denied. I simply cant stand by idly watching. I hope people understand this as time goes by.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Prem Calvin Prashad

Feb. 19th marks the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, a 1942 decree from President Franklin D. Roosevelt that ordered the internment of Japanese Americansas well as some German and Italian nationals in American concentration camps during World War II.

Internment hit Japanese Americans the hardest, with 120,000 removed from their homes, two-thirds of whom were American citizens. Most were forced to sell their land, businesses and homes.

American civil rights activist Fred Korematsu, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, challenged the constitutionality of Order 9066, but it was upheld in 1944 by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision. The majority ruled that security measures were necessary, while the dissenting justices alluded to, either implicitly or overtly, the role Korematsus race played in the decision to intern him.

Though the decision in Korematsu v. United States, was never overturned, it has remained in legal study as a cautionary study in prejudice informing jurisprudence. Similar allusions have been made to Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 court case that affirmed segregation as constitutional under the doctrine separate but equal.

Later reviews by the government found minimal evidence of Japanese-American disloyalty and that the decision to intern them was fraught with racism. Concerns over their loyalty were due to racial prejudice.

Indeed, prior to the war, Japanese Americans faced considerable discrimination and attempts to curb their immigration to the United States. The war against the Empire of Japan was frequently framed by newspapers and anti-immigrant organizations as a war against their race, charging that Japanese-Americans could never assimilate, in spite of compelling evidence that many second and third generation immigrants had done exactly that.

Subsequent commissions have criticized the decision to violate the constitutional rights of Japanese-Americans and affirm their loyalty during the war. Reparations of $20,000 were made to 82,219 during the Reagan administration.

In the wake of 9/11 and subsequent terrorist attacks, as well as the election of Donald Trump as president, there have been renewed calls to resurrect internment for Muslim-Americans.

One supporter, in particular, Carl Higbie of the Great American PAC, noted in an interview the precedent for interment. Indeed, in addition to draconian immigration restrictions, Republicans have called for a Muslim Registry to register Muslims in the United States.

Yet many critics see the registry as a possible first step toward internment. At the outbreak of the war, Japanese-Americans were forced to register, an effort supported by civic organizations such as the Japanese Americans Citizens League to prove loyalty.

The U.S. Census Bureau denied for almost 50 years that it had played any role in internment, before admitting to providing the addresses of Japanese-Americans to military authorities. An earlier form of the registry, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, was enacted in 2002 and proved to be largely a failure, disrupting the lives of thousands of permanent residents, with zero terrorism convictions.

The Homeland Security Office of The Inspector General suggested in 2012 that the program be terminated. Supporters of the registry would have the program resurrected and possibly expanded to U.S. citizens.

Survivors of internment, most of whom were children during internment, have used the anniversary to speak out against the proposed internment of Muslim-Americans.

The most prominent has been actor George Takei, famous for his portrayal of Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek, whose family was interned in Arkansas and California. Takei produced a Broadway show called Allegiance, which portrays the lives of Japanese-Americans during internment.

A cinematic version of Allegiance screened in theaters across the country Sunday, as part of the Japanese American Day of Remembrance. As part of the events on that day, the ACLU as well as Japanese American civic groups and Muslim advocacy groups gave talks on the correlation of internment to the presentday political climate.

In a video produced by AJ+, several former internees also discussed their experiences in the camps. One survivor, Gloria Imagire, recounted, Whats happening to the Muslims right now, its really close to the hearts of Japanese-Americans because it happened to us.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Patrick Donachie

Members of the Townsend Harris High School community continued to criticize the interim principal installed at the school, with an online petition calling for her immediate removal. The news comes as the Queens borough president sent a letter to the head of the Department of Education bemoaning what she said was a lack of information on the process of selecting a permanent principal.

Rosemarie Jahoda was installed as interim principal in September, and parents, teachers and students soon became critical of her approach, accusing her of turning Townsend Harris into a terrible environment for those who attended, according to a Chang e.org petition calling for her immediate ouster.

Members of the schools Parent Teacher Association and students said she was being uncaring toward members of the Muslim Student Association, who were harassed after the presidential election, and irritated by suggestions that she should greet students in the hallway. Parents also accused her of hewing too closely to DOE policy when it negatively impacted students.

The DOE announced it was commencing a C-30 process to find a permanent principal, with interviews set to begin in early March, according to a DOE spokesman. Jahoda is still the interim principal, but the Chang e.org petition suggested Jahoda be immediately replaced with Assistant Principal Ellen Fee. The petition currently has over 1,000 signatures.

We need someone who knows and cares for Townsend Harris, and we need this person now. How much more damage can Jahoda do while we wait for a new principal? the petition read. We dont want her even in the building with us. Ms. Fee should take over now while the DOER finds a new principal, and they should consider Ms. Fees qualifications for the permanent job while she is acting principal.

Townsend Harris Student Union President Alex Chen sent a letter to The Classic, the schools student newspaper, addressed to the entire school community about a rally on the steps of City Hall scheduled for Friday. In the letter, the senior detailed a number of grievances he and other members of the student community had about Principal Jahoda.

Seniors, all of whom can now vote this November, make your voices heard as Bill de Blasio prepares to run for re-election. As mayor of NYC, he has authority over the Department of Education, which has not been hearing our voices even though they keep saying they are, Chen wrote. Lets go straight to the mayor.

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz wrote to Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina Feb. 21, requesting more information on the C-30 process. She said the deadline for permanent principal applications had passed Feb. 15, and her staff had reached out to Elaine Lindsay, the superintendent of the district containing Townsend Harris, without response. She said she was troubled by the silence and the continuing controversy unfolding at the school.

Accusations and troubling accounts are occurring on a daily basis and the students of our system deserve to know that the DOE is providing the tools, atmosphere and attention needed to fulfill our responsibilities to them, Katz wrote.

A DOE spokesman said the department was listening to feedback from the school community. He also said Jahoda currently remained interim acting principal, and that the entire process could take up to 90 days from when it started Feb. 1.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Patrick Donachie

About two dozen animal advocates held a vigil on the curb outside of Aziz Slaughterhouse in Jamaica Wednesday evening in memory of a bull that escaped from the facility the day before, leading police on a wild chase throughout the streets of southeastern Queens.

The bull was subsequently captured by the NYPD but died in the midst of being taken to an animal care facility in Brooklyn.

The event was put on by Vegans of New York, and attendees held placards and candles, urging those who watched the escape unfold on television and social media to consider the many bulls and cows that did not have a chance to run for their lives.

The advocates also asked the city to take responsibility for such situations since slaughterhouses are permitted in city limits. They stressed the NYPD needed to be properly trained to contain and care for animals that escape slaughterhouses.

The bull is the second to escape from the Aziz Slaughterhouse, located at 151-24 Beaver Road, since the start of 2016. In 2012, the state Legislature barred any new slaughterhouses from being developed within 1,500 feet of a residential dwelling in New York City, but that did not pertain to already established slaughterhouses.

The slaughterhouse is located a few blocks from the center of downtown Jamaica, where the bull was first spotted Tuesday morning.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

Your weekend calendar: Feb. 25-26



Cumbia River Band  Cumbia River Band is Martin Vejaranos brand new project that draws from a festive repertoire of Colombian Cumbia standards. These all-time favorite Cumbia hits will take you back to the golden years of the genre as well as inspire you to dance and contemplate the joy and energy that this Cumbia River Band brings along. Featuring tuba, accordion, clarinet, percussion and voice, the band delivers a captivating sound.

When: Saturday, Feb. 25, at 10 p.m.

Where: Terraza 7, 40-19 Gleane St., Elmhurst

Cost: $10, free for children 12 and under

Contact: (718) 803-9602

Website: www.terra za7.com



Pirate Petes Parrot  The play revolves around Pirate Pete, a lovable rogue on a mission to find his beloved runaway parrot, Polly. Armed with an endearing crew of misfits, Pete embarks on a journey complete with songs, sword fights, and plenty of audience interaction.

When: Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m.

Where: The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd St., Long Island City

Cost: $10 for children, $15 for adults; $40 family four-pack

Contact: (347) 978-5367

Website: www.secre tthea tre.com



The Beauty of Ballet  The 45-minute, family-friendly presentation will illustrate how students develop into accomplished classical ballet dancers, alternating examples of advanced classroom training exercises with the performance of excerpts from notable ballets.

When: Feb. 26 at 1 and 3 p.m.

Where: Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave., S, Corona

Cost: Free

Contact: (718) 760-0064

Website: www.queen sthea tre.org



Silence  Martin Scorseses latest film is an adaptation of Shusaku Endos celebrated novel about Christian missionaries in 17th-century Japan.

When: Feb. 26 at 5:15 p.m.

Where: Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria

Cost: $15

Contact: (718) 784-0077
Beaver County preparing for robust Election Day turnout

As the Nov. 8 midterm election approaches, nearly 114,000 people are registered to vote in Beaver County.
Patna, Feb 24 (IBNS): Senior IAS officer and chairman of Bihar SSC Sudhir Kumar has been arrested on Friday in connection with question paper leak of clerical examination in state, according to media reports.

Reportedly, he has been arrested from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

Media quoting police sources reported that four of his family members have also been detained in the question paper leak case.

Allegedly, a set of handwritten answers to questions for a test conducted by BSSC surfaced in public domain hours before the examinations scheduled early this year.

The state government had to cancel the examination as preliminary evidence indicated the secrecy of the papers may have been compromised, media reported.




This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Albany

A Troy man is accused of murder after a 1-year-old died while in his care, prosecutors say. An Albany woman faces misdemeanor charges in the same case.

David Bridges, 22, and Rebecca Patrick, 21, were arraigned Thursday, according to the Albany County District Attorney's office.

An unsealed indictment alleges that on Feb. 6 at South Allen Street, Bridges recklessly engaged in conduct that "created a grave risk of death that ultimately resulted in the death" of the baby, who was not named. The indictment also alleges that between Dec. 14 and Feb. 6, Bridges and Patrick "engaged in an injurious way toward the infant."

Prosecutors did not provide details about the circumstances or how Bridges, Patrick and the baby are related.

Bridges was arraigned on counts of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a minor. Patrick was arraigned on two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Both pleaded not guilty before Judge Thomas A. Breslin in state Supreme Court of Albany County.

Bridges was sent back to the county jail; Patrick was released to the supervision of the Probation Department. No new court dates have been scheduled at this time.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Police are searching for a 6-year-old girl they believe was taken by her father after he fatally stabbed someone in Connecticut early Friday morning. New York State Police shared the Amber Alert Friday morning, which includes two Capital Region counties.

Aylin Sofia Hernandez could be in the Bronx with her father, a suspect wanted for a double stabbing in which one person was killed and another critically wounded, Bridgeport police said.

Residents of Columbia and Greene County are asked to look for a grey 2017 Hyundai Sonata with Connecticut license plate AG91925.

The four-door sedan is being driven by the girl's father, 39-year-old Oscar Hernandez, who is the murder suspect, police said.

Hernandez is described as a 5-foot-3 Hispanic man with short, brown hair and brown eyes, weighing about 185 pounds.

Six-year-old Aylin is described a 4-foot Hispanic girl with black hair and brown eyes, weighing 55 pounds.

No clothing description was given for the father or daughter.

Bridgeport police Capt. Brian Fitzgerald said one person is dead after a stabbing on Greenwood Street around 2:45 a.m.

Asked if the girl is considered to be in danger with her father, Fitzgerald said, "we don't know his state of mind."

Hernandez fled the scene after fatally stabbing one person and critically wounding another. He is believed to have abducted Aylin at about 3:30 a.m., the New York State Police said.

Hernandez was last seen driving on Jennings Street in the Bronx and is believed to still be in the New York City area, State Police said at about 6:30 a.m.

If you see the vehicle, Hernandez or Aylin, or have any information about the abduction, call 911 immediately.

Reporting by the Connecticut Post was used in this report.
The Hoosick Falls Village Board felt the outrage of residents when it voted Thursday night to postpone a special meeting on a controversial settlement with two companies blamed for polluting village water.

Hoosick Falls residents are upset about the abrupt cancellation of tonight's meeting, say board could have at least heard their concerns pic.twitter.com/t9Oplnyx5I

Mayor David Borge opened the meeting to announce that a last-minute family emergency had come up for one of the board members and that, in hopes of having the full board present, the meeting would have to be postponed until Monday.

The abrupt cancellation prompted immediate outcry and shouts from the nearly 100 residents who had gathered at the Armory to voice their concerns over the settlement.

"I think it's a cowardly move," said Desiray Rice, a resident who showed up Thursday. "I understand that they want the whole board here for voting. That's fine. But we all came out here to express our opinions, our fears, our doubts about this deal and they need to listen."

Village mayor says an emergency came up with one of the board members and tonight's meeting is postponed until Monday at 6 pm https://t.co/PyMM0rLo0d  Bethany Bump (@bethanybump) February 23, 2017

The deal being considered is a $1.04 million settlement offer from Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International, the two companies blamed for contaminating the village water supply with PFOA.

The agreement would cover the costs of village expenses for engineering, water sampling, and legal and public relations advice since the contamination was first discovered in 2014. But it would also limit the village's ability to bring future claims against the companies  a provision that prompted vehement opposition from community members and environmental advocates, including Judith Enck, a former administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Village officials say the agreement would only limit their ability to sue over contamination of three existing wells that have already been fitted with filtration systems.

The agreement was revised, they say, to retain village rights to pursue claims associated with new wells, alternative sources of water, extensions or additions to the current municipal water supply system, contaminants other than PFOA, and contamination beyond the water supply, like the village landfill.

"I think the board just wants to get this done and over with," Rice said.

Borge will not be seeking re-election next month, and has been urged by community members to table the matter for the next administration to consider.

The overwhelming sentiment from residents who showed up for Thursday's meeting, as well as a meeting last month on an earlier draft of the settlement, was for the board to slow down negotiations with the company. Many said they felt the village was being rushed into a settlement before it knows the true extent of the contamination.

"I feel badly for the board member and whatever was happening with their family," said resident Jennifer Plouffe, who said she learned of the water contamination the day she bought her house. "But they had enough for a quorum. They should have at least taken public comment. People scheduled this in their day. This just adds to the really deep current of distrust here in the community."

Monday's meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Armory.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

South Of Mosul, Iraq

Closely supported by the U.S.-led international coalition, Iraqi forces secured a series of cautious advances on Thursday, pushing into a sprawling military base outside of Mosul and onto the grounds of the city's airport, where they took control of the runway.

The three-pronged attack began just after sunrise, with three convoys of Iraqi forces snaking north across Nineveh's hilly desert on Mosul's southern approach. Iraq's special forces joined federal police and rapid response units in the push  part of a major assault that started earlier this week to drive IS from the western half of Iraq's second-largest city. By afternoon they had entered the Ghazlani military base south of the city, as well as the airport.

Iraqi helicopters circled above Mosul firing down onto the city's southwestern edge. Coalition and Iraqi airstrikes that hit targets inside Mosul sent plumes of white smoke into the air on the horizon.

"We've broken the first line of IS defenses," said Iraqi special forces Lt. Yaser Mohsen, whose troops captured the key village of Tell al-Rayan, where Islamic State snipers had been slowing the government offensive. They then moved to the edge of Mosul's western Mamun neighborhood, where they were working to surround it before punching into the city.

Several armored coalition vehicles could be seen in the line of military vehicles, and security officials said coalition troops were embedded with the forward advancing forces, advising the Iraqi troops as they conducted the assault. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

The cautious advance stood in sharp contrast to the first days of Iraq's push into Mosul from the east, when Iraqi forces quickly advanced deep into the city's congested neighborhoods, where they were hit with heavy IS counterattacks, including dozens of car bombs that struck the slow-moving Iraqi convoys with deadly consequences.

Clashes at Mosul's airport continued for hours, with IS militants hunkered down inside several airport buildings.
Guwahati, Feb 24 (IBNS) : Security forces have arrested a suspected ISIS operative, who might be a key to the terror group's plan for Assam and other parts of north east India.

The suspected jihadi, identified as Alomgir Hussain, was arrested by the Karimganj police from Badarpur Mission road area in Barak valley on Thursday. .

According to police, Alomgir, son of late Asab uddin of Mission Road Badarpur went to Bangladesh without Passport few years ago and also went to Singapore and few Islamic countries.

A top Assam police official said that, the man had visited Singapore with Bangladesh Passport and finally came back to India in 2013 through a secret route.

"After arrival he purchased of landed property worth crores of rupees and a big RCC house. He also motivated few youths in Barak Valley to establish a ISIS module in Assam," the top police official said.

"He is also a fund collector of the jehidi organization," the top cops said.

Meanwhile, Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay said the police have taken the matter seriously and started investigation from corners.

"We are not yet sure that, the man was working for ISIS in Assam. Some youths of the state are in touch with ISIS," Sahay said.



On the other hand, a top source of Investigation Bureau (IB) said that ISIS has planned to establish its module in every state across the country and some overground organizations are still working for the terrorist group.

The IB source further said that, over 150 youths of Assam are in touch with ISIS.

Recently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested dozen of ISIS operatives from different parts of the country.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)


REMY GABALDA

The fear, anger and frustration that fuels the Donald Trump phenomenon simply reflects the experience of many average Americans today. They feel like their lives are under assault and that they are helpless and powerless in the face of an enemy that they can't identify.

Trump, because of his innate xenophobia, has identified Muslims, or Mexicans, or the Chinese as the source of that assault. He has identified the wrong source.
When the class ended, one of the students hung back at the professor's request. As a guest lecturer on a local college campus this week, I got to overhear the exchange.

"Please don't flunk me," the student asked.

"It's not flunking you should be worrying about," the professor said, as she fished into a stack of papers and handed one back to the student. "It's your writing. You need to do a better job. Write it again. Pay attention to what you're trying to say."

Left alone in the classroom, the professor talked quietly about what has become her abiding concern as she teaches students who are mostly in their last semesters of formal education. Few students can write clearly, she said  not even short essays, let alone longer papers that synthesize a lot of material. The young man who got his single-page paper handed back was "only marginally worse" than others in his class, she said.

More Information Rex Smith is editor of the Times Union. Share your thoughts at http://blog.timesunion.com/editors. See More Collapse

You hear the concern from professors at both big research universities and many smaller institutions: College students, who are the top two-thirds of high school graduates, show up for higher education without communication skills considered basic a generation ago.

Nancy Zimpher, the State University of New York chancellor, has often complained about the $70 million SUNY must spend annually on remedial training for unqualified enrollees, much of it on language skills. Her focus on writing isn't new. More than a decade ago, as a member of The National Commission on Writing, she signed onto a report called "The Neglected R," warning that unless schools do a better job of teaching writing, students won't be prepared to succeed in college or in life.

"American education will never realize its potential as an engine of opportunity and economic growth until a writing revolution puts language and communication in their proper place in the classroom," the report said.

That hasn't happened yet.

The problem isn't that kids can't punctuate, or even that their grammar is imperfect. Excellence in those areas is too much to wish for right now. More troubling is that too many students can't analyze information and marshal their thoughts about it into a coherent argument. They can write passably about their feelings, but when they're given data or text to explore and weigh, many can't tell you what it's about.

After all, as one of my mentors in journalism used to say, "You can't write writing." In journalism, we write reporting. Everybody writes from what they have observed or read and then analyzed. When we teach young people to write, we're teaching them how to assess what's out there and present it to others.

If you think the absence of that skill isn't at the root of many of our country's problems right now, you're not paying attention. We're awash in opinion, but short on fact-based analysis.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

Writing is a craft, and like other crafts  woodworking, fly-fishing, knitting  skill develops through practice and close observation of the masters of the craft. The great novelist William Kennedy achieved his Pulitzer-level skills by interviewing every author he could find, reading great books (starting when he was just a kid in Albany) and writing for hours a day.

But our schools, weighted down with curriculum requirements aimed at developing science and technology skills, don't require as much reading and writing as they once did.

As with many issues these days, change is coming faster than we've prepared for it. The good jobs that are going begging aren't just high-tech positions  which we increasingly must fill with well-educated immigrants (don't get me started)  but also positions requiring communication skills that too few college graduates are developing. Education reformer Marc Tucker noted in a recent essay that "jobs for truck drivers, hamburger flippers and grocery store checkout clerks are disappearing fast" and that "the ability to write well and think critically" is key in the 21st-century economy.

Yet the theatrical spectacle now showing in Washington often focuses instead on the myth that America's middle class can be rebuilt with jobs in factories and coal mines, ignoring such realities as automation and competing fuel sources. Nor will our students be better prepared for jobs needing analytical and communication skills if we label tax subsidies of private and charter schools as education reform.

Good writing begins with reading  lots of it  and develops by disciplined practice of writing under the care of good writers. We need to ask not only schools, but also families, to give this critical skill all the attention it deserves. It will help millions of young men and women, and also the country they will soon enough lead.
Nenagh councillors have urged Tipperary County Council to make sure its voice is heard when it comes to implementing the new National Planning Framework Strategy 2040.

The plan was announced earlier this month by Minister Simon Coveney and designed to set out how Ireland will develop over the next number of decades.

Councillors were reassured at this month's Nenagh Municipal District Council meeting that Tipperary will be making a submission in its own right as well as joint submissions with counties in the Mid West and the South East.

The submissions will put Tipperary to the forefront, senior planner Sonya Reidy told councillors.

Earlier, Cllr Ger Darcy said that the previous National Spatial Strategy, under which Nenagh was ignored as a hub or gateway town, did a lot of harm to North Tipperary. It was focused on Ennis and Limerick.

The Fine Gael councillor said this part of Tipperary suffered for years by having no Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). However, under the former Mid West Regional Authority councillors had been able to get Nenagh at least into the blueprint to promote the area.

But, he warned, South Tippeary will have "different ideas" and it was important to remember that.

As an example of how the region had suffered, he pointed to how Shannon Airport had declined day after day when it was governed by Dublin Airport Authority. The first step towards progress was when it became independent of the DAA. However, we need to keep promoting Shannon as Dublin can't cope any more, he said.

Cllr Darcy also pointed out that with third level colleges in the region, and especially in UL in Limerick, Nenagh had huge potential for high-tech industry, especially under Brexit.

Look at First Data, he said in reference to the US global financial giant that is opening a R&D facility in the town.

This is an opportunity we should grasp and not make a hames of," he said.

Cllr Hughie McGrath also stated that Shannon should be developed, saying: I can't understand why we are not focusing on Shannon as a major international hub. Dublin doesn't need another runway.

District Cathaoirleach Cllr Phyll Bugler also called for greater links beween Tipperary, Limerick and Clare, and was backed by Cllr Mattie Ryan and Cllr Michael O'Meara.

Shannon's competition is Knock and Farranfore, said Cllr Bugler. We need to work with Limerick as being near Limerick can only bring advantages.

strong limerick links

Cllr O'Meara maintained that having strong links with Limerick would make the region more vibrant.

There are moves to make Limerick the country's second city and it would be a big advantage for us to push that. The infrastructure is there. What would be good for Limerick would be good for Nenagh, he said.

Cllr Seamus Morris claimed the new strategy would be hugely important for this region, saying Dublin and the East coast had grown to unsustainable levels.

The last spatial strategy collapsed. I've been banging the drum for a long time about keeping our resources here., he said.

Cllr Morris said that in relation to plans to pump 330 million litres of water a day from Parteen Basin to Dublin, Irish Water has been spinning yarns about how much water Dublin needs.

He believed that by allowing the plan to go-ahead, the region was saying it did not need the resources.

We need a proper spatial strategy for the country, he declared. When Parteen Basin is sucked dry we will have nothing left here.

Cllr Morris also pointed to developing Shannon Airport and pointed out that Foynes had the second deepest port in Europe. He claimed the port had thousands of acres locked in for development but Tipperary had never been asked to have any say in its development.

I'd rather be sending my kids in the road there than up to Dublin, said Cllr Morris.
New Delhi, Feb 24 (IBNS): Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley left for the United Kingdom (UK) on Friday to represent India at the reception by Queen Elizabeth II to launch UK-India Year of Culture 2017, according to media reports.

The reception will be held at the Buckingham Palace in London on Feb 27.

During his five-day visit, Jaitley will meet foreign investors as well as chief executives of British companies.

He will deliver a talk at London School of Economics on Saturday on the topic, Transforming India: Vision for the Next Decade'.

The Finance Minister is also scheduled to hold Roundtable Meeting with prospective issuers and leading investors and fintech leaders among others, according to a tweet by the ministry.

On Feb 27, the minister will have a business interaction with over 100 business leaders from UK-India Business Council, said the Finance Ministry.

Arun Jaitley will meet meet with his UK counterpart and the Chancellor of Exchequer on Feb 28.

He will meet with CEOs at a meeting being organized by the Confederation of British Industry before leaving for India on Feb 28.

Image: Arun Jaitley Twitter
Considering Options with Business VoIP

For a business, there is probably no greater asset than the telephone in all its forms and technologies. Communications with customers and with fellow employees is vital. Organizations today need to be global and operate in real-time, and have room to grow. They also need telephony features that were once complex, such as conferencing, find-me-follow-me and presence. At the same time, they need to keep costs down and reliability up, which means using a solution that offers flexibility and good call quality. For all these features, organizations of all sizes are turning to business voice over IP, or business VoIP.

If youve made the decision to go with business VoIP, youre not alone. The technology, however, comes in different flavors and configurations, so before you spend money, consider your companys needs and budget.

According to Kyley Del Bosque writing for Business2Community, companies have a number of options. You might choose a peer-to-peer system, which enables internal communications but doesnt involve the public network. You might choose VoIP in or VoIP out calling, which allow outside calls only into and out of your VoIP network respectively. If your needs a broad, you may wish to choose a two-way service that allows all sorts of calls in both directions.

Your companys specific needs will depend on the business applications you have in mind, wrote Del Bosque. Consider your employees and the work they do. For example, sales reps who place a lot of calls to potential customers will probably want the capability to dial outside their network, while customer service reps will care more about the capability to receive calls, not place them. It all depends on the workflows youre managing.

While youre making the decision about the type of business VoIP that will work best for your organization, be sure to speak with your IT team and ensure you have the right hardware and network for the solutions youre considering. Reliable broadband Internet connectivity is a must for a successful business VoIP system. New business telephones may or may not be necessary, depending on the provider and type of solution you choose.

If you have a good understanding of what you need in a VoIP system and how it will fit into your overall plans, you can begin to look for a provider, wrote Del Bosque. You want one thats reliable, affordable and well-suited to your company and the industry you operate in.

Please enable JavaScript to view the

Edited by Maurice Nagle
Call Center Scheduling in an Era of Bots

When we think of robots, its common to think of science-fiction inspired humanoid menaces from Isaac Asimov books or Blade Runner. While its still fun (or scary) to imagine the future, most robots today bear little resemblance to Hollywoods imagination. They are an automated arm working in a factory doing repetitive tasks, or a virtual bot guiding us through doing our taxes with text bubbles.

A glimpse of the future, however, was available at this years Consumer Electronics Show (CES (News - Alert)) held in Las Vegas in January when Korean electronics giant showcased its new customer support robot that will debut at Seouls International Airport later in 2017. The robot  which looks a bit like the robot of our imaginations  will help passengers with simple questions and even guide them to where they need to go.

If youve got a lot of money to burn and know someone who knows someone, you may even be able to bring a robotic assistant into your home, according to The Australians Andrew Baxter.

In the home, Emotechs Olly and LGs Hub will soon be at the beck and call of occupants, he wrote. Linked to all the houses smart devices through the internet of things (IOT), they will respond to simple voice commands to turn the lights, oven, washing machine and kettle on and off. Hub will even scan the contents of your fridge, offer some recipe suggestions, guide you through the preparation and cooking, and reorder the ingredients for next time.

While its not Isaac Asimovs vision yet, these are first steps to getting humans more comfortable with interacting with smart machines. Ollys major feature is that its artificial intelligence (AI) platform can recognize human types: it learns whether you prefer more leisurely conversation or a fast and direct approach. As this type of robot-human interaction becomes more common, expect to see more customized customer support bots in stores and deployed virtually on websites or phone apps.

When it comes to customer service bots, its important for companies using them to get not only the bot-customer relationship right, but also the bot-human agent relationship right. Bots, after all, have a limit to what they can do, so it will be common for customer support bots to pass off customers to human agents and provide some background to the interaction thus far. While its a boon to customer support, it may also be a scheduling challenge.

Call center scheduling is already a complex process. Managers create forecasts to predict call and contact volume, then build schedules to best suit those forecasts. Going forward, managers may have to add another element to call center scheduling: predicting when and how many calls handled by bots will enter the customer service queue. More automated, twenty-first century call center scheduling solutions already make allowances for omnichannel customer support. Manual methods, already nearly impossible to apply to multichannel contact center environments, will likely become obsolete.

Edited by Alicia Young
[February 24, 2017] Antibe Therapeutics Enters into Regional Licensing Deal

Antibe Therapeutics Inc. ("Antibe" or the "Company") (TSXV: ATE, OTCQX: ATBPF) is pleased to announce today that it has signed an exclusive licensing and distribution agreement with Laboratories Acbel SA ("Acbel") for ATB-346 in Greece, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Algeria and Jordan. Acbel is a pharmaceutical company with a strong sales and distribution presence in the Balkan region. Antibe will receive an upfront, non-dilutive payment of $1.1 million (800,000), and is entitled to receive a 5% royalty on net sales of ATB-346 in these countries. The agreement has a 30-year term with contemplated renewals thereafter. Acbel, through its affiliates and partners, is the largest seller of naproxen in this region, which represents approximately 1% of the global market for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ("NSAIDs"). The global market for NSAIDs is in excess of US$12 billion (Evaluate Pharma). Antibe's CEO, Dan Legault, commented, "We are delighted to have concluded this agreement with Acbel. By delivering on our regional licensing strategy, Antibe has obtained non-dilutive funds that can be immediately deployed for our ongoing clinical trials. Of perhaps greater importance, this agreement represents an important validation of our drug development program, and its market value, by a leading regional pharmaceutical company well versed in the NSAID market." ATB-346 is a novel anti-inflammatory drug, designed to spare the gastrointestinal tract of the ulcers and bleeding normally associated with NSAIDs. In a recent Phase 2 clinical trial, ATB-346 was found to be highly effective in reducing the pain associated with osteoarthritis of the knee. Antibe will now initiate two larger Phase 2 double-blind trials: a placebo-controlled dose-ranging study to determine the go-to-market dose, and an active comparator tral to demonstrate superior GI safety.



Antibe also has two other therapeutic candidates in development: ATB-352 and ATB-340. ATB-352 is a non-addictive analgesic for treating severe acute pain and ATB-340 is a GI-safe derivative of aspirin. Antibe intends to leverage data across its programs to secure licensing agreements whenever possible. About Antibe Therapeutics Inc.

Antibe develops safer medicines for pain and inflammation. Antibe's technology involves linking a hydrogen sulfide-releasing molecule to an existing drug to produce a patented, improved medicine. Antibe's lead drug ATB-346 targets the global need for a safer, non-addictive drug for chronic pain and inflammation. ATB-352, the second drug in Antibe's pipeline, targets the urgent global need for a non-addictive analgesic for treating severe acute pain, while ATB-340 is a GI-safe derivative of aspirin. www.antibethera.com.

Antibe's subsidiary, Citagenix Inc. ("Citagenix"), is a leader in the sales and marketing of tissue regenerative products servicing the orthopedic and dental marketplaces. Since its inception in 1997, Citagenix has become an important source of knowledge and experience for bone regeneration in the Canadian medical device industry. Citagenix is active in 15 countries, operating in Canada through its direct sales teams, and internationally via a network of distributor partnerships. www.citagenix.com. Forward Looking Information

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements, which may include, but are not limited to, the proposed licensing and development of drugs. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions "will", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "propose" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied in this news release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in this news release include, but are not limited to, the Company's inability to secure additional financing and licensing arrangements on reasonable terms, or at all, its ability to execute its business strategy and successfully compete in the market, and risks associated with drug and medical device development generally. Antibe Therapeutics Inc. assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005525/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 24, 2017] Avesis Helps to Fund and Staff Oral Health Screenings for Kentucky Children

Avesis Incorporated, a company that has been providing vision, dental, and hearing benefits for nearly 9,000 client groups since 1978, is proud to contribute toward the dental health and oral health education of approximately 3,000 Kentucky school children in Jefferson County. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005511/en/ Pictured above in the foreground left to right: Dr. Theresa G. Mayfield, Assoc. Dean for Clinical Affairs at U of L School of Dentistry; Dr. Jerry W. Caudill, Avesis KY State Dental Director; Dr. Hector R. Martinez, Vice-Chair of the Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry and Special Care Department. Pictured in the background are some of the dental students and faculty from UofL who participated in the event. Photo courtesy: UofL In honor of National Children's Dental Health on Give Kids a Smile Day, a program of the American Dental Association, six Louisville, Kentucky elementary schools participated in a dental "screening bltz" on February 3.



Avesis donated approximately one-third of the entire dental screening budget for this year's screening blitz program for the Jefferson County Public Schools. Joining with about 200 UofL faculty, staff, and students, Avesis also provided four Avesis Dental Provider Relations Representatives, three of them Kentucky-licensed dental hygienists, who participated at the schools. "We are honored to participate in such an important oral health cause, especially in Kentucky," said Dr. Jerry Caudill, Kentucky State Dental Director of Avesis. "We are always looking to encourage opportunities like these throughout the state and are happy to be able to contribute both personally and financially to the oral health of Kentucky's children."

"We are committed to helping improve the health of Kentucky's children. Community engagement is at the heart of this dental school, and that's why we close our clinics for the day to travel into the community to offer free screenings and teach kids about dental health," said T. Gerard Bradley, B.D.S., M.S., Dr.Med.Dent., dean of the UofL School of Dentistry. According the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cavities are the most common chronic disease of children and adolescents aged 6 to 19, yet they are largely preventable. Nearly one-quarter of all children under the age of five have cavities. This program meets the needs of a largely underserved population. On Friday, February 3, at Camp Taylor Elementary School, Dr. Caudill, who represents Avesis on the Give Kids a Smile Day screening blitz steering committee, presented the check on behalf of Avesis to the University of Louisville School of Dentistry students; Dr. Theresa G. Mayfield, Assoc. Dean for Clinical Affairs; and Dr. Hector R. Martinez, Vice-Chair of the Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry and Special Care Department. For nearly 40 years, Avesis has been a national administrator of vision, dental, and hearing care plans. Avesis is a wholly owned, standalone subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), one of the nation's largest mutual life insurers and a leading provider of employee benefits. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005511/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Global Night Vision Scope Market Driven by High Demand from Special Forces: Technavio

The global night vision scope market size is projected to reach USD 1,045.33 million by 2021, growing at a CAGR of close to 11% 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/20170224005180/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the global night vision scope market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)

In this report, Technavio covers the market outlook and growth prospects of the global night vision scope market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the approximate number of shipments of night vision scopes to the military and civil end-user segments.

The military end-user segment is the leading revenue generator for the market, contributing over 86% of the overall shares (2016 figures). Night vision scopes are in high demand from special forces such as covert ops, counter terrorism, hostage rescues, high-value targets, and person hunting teams.

Technavio's research study segments the global night vision scope market into the following regions:

Americas

EMEA

APAC

Americas: largest night vision scope market segment

"The Americas is the largest night vision scope market segment, generating almost 55% of the overall revenue. The high amount of investments made by the US into the defense and military sector is mainly responsible for the dominance of the market segment," says Gaurav Mohindru, one of the lead analysts at Technavio for tools and components research.

Additionally, initiatives such as the Future Soldier 2030 initiative is increasing the adoption of night vision goggles







Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=56651

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.

EMEA: fastest growing night vision scope market segment

EMEA is the fastest growing night vision scope market segment, showcasing a CAGR of almost 12% over the forecast period. This high growth rate is due to increased investments made into the defense sector to provide state-of-the-art facilities to soldiers from countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UK, Russia, Germany, France, and Italy. The demand for night vision goggles is further expected to increase, as governments tighten security to maintain law and order. Additionally, the increasing popularity of wildlife photography in Africa is creating demand for night vision scopes from the region.

APAC increased defense budgets to drive growth of market segment

"APAC is almost on par with EMEA in terms of the growth rate, with countries such as China, Japan, and India investing continually in the defense sector. China has announced to further increase its defense budget in order to ensure security, especially over the South China Sea," says Gaurav.

The defense budgets of India and Australia have also increased significantly to combat tensions around the South China Sea and ensure maritime security. The increasing budgets will drive the demand for night vision scopes, thereby driving market growth.

The top vendors in the global night vision scope market highlighted in the report are:

ATN

Newcon Optik

Night Optics

Bering Optics

Armasight

Browse Related Reports:

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 construction, unit 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 [email protected].

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005180/en/
[February 23, 2017] HanesBrands' Continuing Education Program for Employees is Transforming Lives in Central America and the Caribbean

When Felipa Benitez joined HanesBrands' Honduras operations seven years ago, she could not read or write. Today, the 34-year-old mother of two is one of the latest HanesBrands employees to hold a new high school diploma after participating in the company-sponsored continuing education program. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170223006540/en/ Felipa Benitez could not read or write when she joined HanesBrands in Honduras in 2009. By participating in the company's continuing education program, Felipa recently earned her high school diploma - and has received a scholarship to attend college. (Photo: Business Wire) Felipa, a facilities assistant at Hanes' corporate office in Villanueva, Honduras, joined 150 of her colleagues last month to don robes and celebrate all the pomp and circumstance of the country's seventh and latest graduation ceremony. Felipa is now continuing on to college. "I am grateful for the support I received through the company's education program," said Benitez, who received a college scholarship during the graduation ceremony. "My life has completely changed." Since its inception in 2009, more than 2,000 HanesBrands employees in Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic have earned high school diplomas, more than 10 have earned college degrees, and another 1,500 are currently participating in high school, technical, college and even post-graduate college programs. Many of these employees have secured promotions or moved to higher-level roles within the company. "Hanes has provided more than 250,000 hours of education to develop the talent of its employees, support families and enrich the communities where we operate in Central America and the Caribbean," said Maria Elena Sikaffy, vice president of human resources, Hanes Central America and the Caribbean. "And the entrepreneurial spirit we recognize in our employees has motivated us to continuing to invest in extending our education programs." Benitez began her employee educational journey at a first-grade level andstudied for seven years to earn her high-school degree.



"From the moment I began the program, I decided to do my best so I could set a good example for my daughter," Benitez said. "I also wanted make everyone who encouraged me - my family and coworkers - feel proud." The region's employees also have access to technical training designed to enhance their skills in textile manufacturing. Hanes opened the first technical school of its kind in the region within its large El Salvador Textiles fabric plant in 2014. In 2015, similar programs were launched in two of the company's plants in Honduras, and last year, Hanes opened the first bleach-and-dye training center in the Dominican Republic.

Hanes is also supporting employees who have even greater aspirations by developing higher-education programs in partnership with local universities in El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. "Offering life-changing educational opportunities benefits both our employees and our company," said Eduardo Valerio, manager of organizational development, Hanes Central America and the Caribbean, who noted that Hanes offers employee discounts on college tuition and scholarships to outstanding students. For manager-level employees, the company introduced an International Master of Business Administration (MBA) program in El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, which focuses on supply-chain management. It was launched in partnership with the prestigious EUNCET Business School, a center for higher education associated with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain. "This ambitious program, which includes classes in operational subjects such as supply chain strategy, organizational vision and leadership development, is a key part of the company's competitive strategy," Valerio said. "Hanes is focused on remaining a highly competitive company in the future, and that requires developing the next generation of leaders today." The first class of MBA students graduated last July in El Salvador, followed the next month by a graduating class in Honduras. About 80 managers have completed the program, and 40 are currently enrolled. Hanes has been operating in Central America and the Caribbean for more than 40 years, and currently has 30,000 employees in the region. The company's corporate social responsibility programs have been recognized by the Honduran Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility (FUNDAHRSE), the Salvadoran Rotary Club, and the Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI). In 2015, The Great Place to Work Institute named Hanes the third best multinational company to work for in Central America and the Caribbean, the first apparel company to garner such an honor. HanesBrands HanesBrands, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., is a socially responsible leading marketer of everyday basic innerwear and activewear apparel in the Americas, Europe, Australia and Asia/Pacific under some of the world's strongest apparel brands, including Hanes, Champion, Playtex, DIM, Bali, Maidenform, Bonds, JMS/Just My Size, Leggs, Wonderbra, Nur Die/Nur Der, Lovable, Berlei, and Gear for Sports. The company sells T-shirts, bras, panties, shapewear, underwear, socks, hosiery, and activewear produced in the company's low-cost global supply chain. A member of the S&P 500 stock index, Hanes has approximately 70,000 employees in more than 40 countries and is ranked No. 448 on the Fortune 500 list of America's largest companies by sales. Hanes takes pride in its strong reputation for ethical business practices. The company is the only apparel producer to ever be honored by the Great Place to Work Institute for its workplace practices in Central America and the Caribbean, and is ranked No. 167 on the Forbes magazine list of America's Best Employers. For seven consecutive years, Hanes has won the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star sustained excellence/partner of the year award - the only apparel company to earn sustained excellence honors. The company ranks No. 172 on Newsweek magazine's green list of 500 largest U.S. companies for environmental achievement. For more information about the company and its corporate social responsibility initiatives, including environmental, social compliance and community improvement achievements go to www.Hanes.com/corporate, and connect on Facebook (News - Alert) (www.facebook.com/hanesbrandsinc) and Twitter (News - Alert) (@hanesbrands). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170223006540/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 23, 2017] Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker to Address 2017 Stanford GSB Graduates

Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, MBA/JD '85, will deliver the 2017 graduation address at Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) on June 17. Penny Pritzker served as the 38th U.S. Secretary of Commerce from June 2013 to January 2017. As Secretary of Commerce, Ms. Pritzker served as a key member of President Obama's economic team and in this role worked closely with the business community to advance the President's priorities of expanding growth and opportunity for all Americans. As the country's chief commercial advocate, Secretary Pritzker led the Administration's trade and investment promotion efforts. "We are honored to have Secretary Pritzker deliver this year's GSB graduation speech," said Jonathan Levin, the Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean, Stanford GSB. "Her robust experience in both the private and public sector, and her deep commitment to entrepreneurship will undoubtedly provide unique and inspiring insights to the graduates." As Secretary of Commerce, she was focused on providing American businesses and entrepreneurs with the tools they need to grow and hire. Guided by conversations with more than 2,100 CEOs and business leaders, Secretary Pritzker developed a strategic plan and policy blueprint for the Commerce Department comprised of five pillars: trade and investmnt, innovation, environment, data, and operational excellence. This work led to a revitalized agency as she expanded and institutionalized the SelectUSA initiative, the first federal program focused on attracting foreign direct investment to the United States, which to date facilitated more than $22.5 billion in inbound investment.



Secretary Pritzker also created the Department's first ever comprehensive digital and data agenda, which had broad impact including the development of the first ever cyber security framework now used by a wide range of businesses and the completion of the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield, which helps facilitate more than $290 billion in trans-Atlantic commerce. Secretary Pritzker also served as the chair of the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE) program, an initiative that deployed 21 of America's most successful entrepreneurs to inspire and cultivate the next generation of entrepreneurs around the world. Improving skilled workforce training in our country has been a longtime passion of Secretary Pritzker; during her tenure, she worked with Vice President Biden and Labor Secretary Tom Perez to use job training funds and programs more effectively. As such, she responded to the concerns of the business community and expanded the Department's priorities to include for the first time skills development, assuring federal training expenditures are job driven, strengthening regional workforce development efforts, and facilitating new research on the value of apprenticeships to employers.

In February, Secretary Pritzker returned to PSP Capital Partners as Chairman. Before joining the Obama Administration, she started five companies and led dozens of businesses in diverse sectors such as Vi, a premier housing offering for older adults, The Parking Spot, an off-site airport parking provider, and Trans Union, a financial information services provider. She has also served on the boards of a number of major corporations, such as Hyatt Hotels, LaSalle National Bank, the William Wrigley Company, and non-executive Chairman of TransUnion. In 2015, Secretary Pritzker became the inaugural recipient of the "Commercial Diplomat of the Year Award" by Foreign Policy Magazine. Secretary Pritzker also received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, an honor given to individuals who have served with distinction in public life. Secretary Pritzker earned J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Stanford University, and her bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University. She and her husband Dr. Bryan Traubert have two children and reside in Chicago. In 2010, the GSB developed the alumni speaker program with past graduates delivering the commencement speech as a means to inspire graduates in their future careers. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170223006758/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 23, 2017] StreetShares Foundation Rewards Three Veteran Business Owners with $10,000

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The StreetShares Foundation announced today at Bunker Labs DC the winners of its monthly Veteran Small Business Awards. StreetShares Foundation is granting three winners awards of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000, supported by JPMorgan Chase & Co. February Winners 1st Place: Brian Zimmerman, Marine Veteran and Founder of Income Designers (Castle Rock, Colorado) 2nd Place: Richard Sanders, Army Veteran and CEO of SHplates (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 3rd Place: Jaime Velez, Army Veteran and Co-Founder of PingMomo (Chicago, Illinois) "We're thrilled with the enormous support we've received from veteran business owners, sponsors and supporters from across the country," said Mark L. Rockefeller, Director of the StreetShares Foundation. "This week is National Entrepreneurship Week, but every week is Veterans Entrepreneurship Week here. We encourage all veteran supporters to join us." About the Winners

Brian Zimmerman spent nine years in the Marines. While working full time, he built side businesses to earn more income. After attending Purdue University's Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans, he realized he could build a business on his passion for teaching others how to build wealth.



"Income Designers is not about getting rich quick," said Zimmerman. "It's about showing others who may be struggling financially, how they can create extra income." Richard Sanders, Army veteran, used ruck plates, usually used for military training, and turned it into a business. Sanders created decor from steel plates using his patented technology to engrave customized images with lasers. Plates are typically 1-inch thick, weighing up to 40 pounds. Sanders' mission is to continue to donate to dozens of charities, hire veterans and mentor youth.

Jaime Velez, started a tech company called PingMomo. As a single parent, he found it challenging to transport his children before and after school. "As an Army combat engineer, when you see a problem, you have to solve it," Velez said. "PingMomo was created to solve the transportation problem for parents by leveraging social communities and bringing them together with technology." He met his partner, Jan Gorospe, at Bunker Labs, Chicago. The mobile app will launch on iOS soon. About StreetShares Foundation StreetShares Foundation, located outside of Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit affiliated with StreetShares, Inc. The mission of the StreetShares Foundation is to inspire, educate, and support veterans' business ownership. Awards are given monthly to veteran, current reserve, active duty members and military spouse business owners. Contact:

Shauna Vo Pulayya

347-330-4104

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/streetshares-foundation-rewards-three-veteran-business-owners-with-10000-300412779.html SOURCE StreetShares

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 23, 2017] Revcontent Acquires Machine Learning Content Recommendation Company, Rover, to do for Discovery What Google Did for Search

Today, Revcontent, the fastest growing content recommendation platform, announces the acquisition of machine learning company, Rover, for its advanced personalization and recommendation technology. A powerful testament to Revcontent's rapid growth and visionary mindset, the acquisition of Rover is the next step in delivering personalized discovery, one recommendation at a time. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170223006802/en/ Founded by John Lemp in Sarasota, Florida, Revcontent announces its acquisition of Rover to continue building their vision of personal web. (Photo: Business Wire) "Revcontent and Rover share a vision of a personalized web, a web that helps users discover content they love that they never knew existed," said Revcontent CEO, John Lemp. "We have a unique opportunity here, to do for discovery, what Google (News - Alert) did for web search. For Vijay, me and the Rover team, this was always the holy grail and together with Revcontent, we're about to make the future arrive sooner. After our first meeting with Chris Maynard, Richard Marques and the rest of John's leadership team, it became instanty clear that this was a perfect fit in terms of culture, technology and vision," added Jonathan Siddharth, CEO of Rover.



Following the acquisition, Rover will operate as Revcontent's Silicon Valley headquarters and continue spearheading advanced machine learning initiatives. Jonathan Siddharth and Vijay Krishnan founded Rover while at graduate school at Stanford University out of the same research lab where Google was born. Rover has raised about $7 million in venture capital from prominent investors including the creator of Google Adsense, the Former Director of Performance Ads at Twitter, and the Head of Product at Dropbox (News - Alert). Other investors include early execs from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Pandora, and more. "The synergy between the two companies was immediately clear to me. With the performance of Rover's machine learning technology and Revcontent's focus on the success of its publishers and advertisers, I expect the combined company to rapidly become the leader in content recommendation advertising," adds Stephen Oskoui, Rover's lead investor and a Venture Partner at Founders Fund, a top tier venture capital fund in Silicon Valley.

With Rover's machine learning technology, Revcontent's personalization will be 3X more granular than Facebook (News - Alert). The acquisition of Rover's machine learning recommendation technology will allow Revcontent's media partners, such as Forbes, The Atlantic, and Newsweek, to build deeper relationships with their users, learning more about their true tastes and preferences, so they can create more of the content their users enjoy. Media partners will also employ Internal Discovery powered by a user's interest graph, recommending other content from their site that a user is most likely to be interested in. Revcontent's brand advertisers such as The New York Times, Conde Nast, and Yahoo! can identify unique segments of users who are most likely to be interested in their content, products, and brand, helping them rapidly acquire their most valuable customers. Rover's technology is expected to increase recommendation engine performance substantially, resulting in increased revenue opportunities for publishers by delivering higher eCPMs and greater performance for advertisers, while helping users discover great content. Higher publisher payouts align with Revcontent's mission of helping support quality journalism, free speech, independent thought and the spread of big ideas, all of which are crucial for democracy as a whole. Rover founders Jonathan Siddharth and Vijay Krishnan, are joining the Revcontent team as the Senior Vice President of Technology and the Senior Vice President of Data Science, respectively. The entire Rover team will continue on with them at Revcontent. Rover's apps which have more than 40 million registered users across all platforms, will continue to be supported as part of the company's long term strategy to build a deeper, more direct relationship with its users. Revcontent and Rover are excited for the future of personalized content recommendations and their potential to inspire people by sparking their curiosity. Those inspired today will move the world forward tomorrow. Bearing this simple motto in mind, media brands can spread more powerful ideas and connect the world more intimately: an interactive, personalized web of thought. About Revcontent: Revcontent is the world's fastest growing content recommendation network, powering 250 billion content recommendations per month. Revcontent partners with the largest media brands in the world such as Forbes, Newsweek, The Atlantic, International Business Times, and more. Revcontent's headquarters lies in Sarasota, Florida with global offices including London, San Diego, San Francisco, New York, and more coming soon. Revcontent reaches 92% of US households, according to Quantcast and has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post (News - Alert), Fox News, and more. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170223006802/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 23, 2017] AdVoice Launches World's First Telco Ad Network in India

MUMBAI, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- India's advertisers can now access India's largest inventory of targeted mobile audio ads through the continuously globally expanding AdVoice telco ad network. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161101/434880LOGO )

AdVoice enables advertisers to play audio ads to mobile callers. It replaces the call-waiting tone of Bharti Airtel subscribers who have opted in for the Reward Tunes service. AdVoice provides the technology, the online campaign booking platform and manages the ad sales, whereas Bharti Airtel's network gives advertisers a wider reach than any other media in India. The mobile targeted audio ad unlocks 10-15 seconds of a consumer's undivided attention while initiating a phone call. It is literally in their ear. There is an astonishing amount of unlocked inventory available considering the statistics: an average of 500 minutes per caller per year is spent on waiting for calls to be picked up. With some 1800 calls per subscriber per year, there is a potential of 1.8 trillion impressions in India. Serving these udio ads instead of the traditional call-waiting tone has a wider reach than any other medium. There is a unprecedented pool of active mobile phone connections in India. Over 1 billion, with 65% of the population still on feature phones, thereof 30% living in media dark rural areas.



Mobile phones have a scale that is unprecedented. They outnumber TV's, PC's, Tablets and Radios or daily newspapers for that matter. Mobile advertising is a $100 billion industry globally, yet mobile operators don't benefit from it as their inventory is not accessible by digital advertisers. By 2020, 1 in every 3 advertising dollars is spent on mobile advertising and AdVoice provides Telcos with inclusion into this eco-system. We profile the base in compliance with the digital ad industry standards and enable brands, media agencies and DSP's to reach their preferred audiences via the Telco channels.

Neither TV, nor Radio, nor Digital can reach these - let alone - all of India's audience segments. AdVoice can. Dennis Oudejans, CEO of AdVoice, states that "serving ads during the call-waiting benefts the advertiser with measurability, zero wastage, advanced targeting, captive audiences and lead generating capabilities as callers can express product interest by pressing a key." Targeted audio jingles work on any phone and with millions of daily impression inventories AdVoice places itself in the top of the nation's leading ad networks alongside Facebook and Google. Globally, there are 15 billion audio ad impressions daily. This is four times the number of Internet searches. AdVoice's journey has just begun. About AdVoice AdVoice is the world's first and only global telco ad network that enables marketers to target consumer audiences via SMS, USSD, Video Streaming and Audio formats such as Ring Back Tone, IVR and streaming. AdVoice's online interface and profiling engine make telco's inventory accessible in a digital and programmatic way thus giving advertisers the highest level of reach, targeting, lead generation and analytics. AdVoice

Igor Hendriksen

Marketing Director

[email protected]

+971(0)56-899-6945



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
New Delhi, Feb 24 (IBNS): Cautioning New Delhi against an effort to suppress the political aspirations of the people of the state, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah on Friday said that militants were asacrificing their lives for the cause of freedoma.

The boys joining militant ranks are sacrificing their lives for freedom of their nation and turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir was in itself a result of extra-constitutional intrigues by successive regimes in New Delhi that went against all constitutional safeguards and promises that were provided to the State at the time of accession, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said during a party function at Nawa-e-Subh complex here in Srinagar.

Before looking at external factors and blaming the problems in J&K on terrorism, New Delhi should read contemporary history of the State with objectivity and then only will it realize that the simmering political issue in the State is the outcome of New Delhis overt and covert acts of constitutional impropriety and injustice with the State and its people, the National Conference President added.

India and Pakistan are not able to understand this. This fights started in 1931. We are not anybodys enemy. But we are asking both the countries to do justice with us. You forgot promises made in 1948,said the NC president.

But a new nation has taken birth which doesnt fear guns. It is striving to achieve the freedom of this nation, he said.

(Reporting By Saleem Iqbal Qadri)




[February 23, 2017] Tinggal Aims to be The Default-Operating Platform for Small Hotels

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tinggal, an online marketplace for high-quality hotels, started early 2016 with a mission to provide gold standard budget accommodation in Indonesia. Tinggal is introducing disruptive technology to bridge the gap between the large pool of budget accommodation and today's user who's technology driven. The company started less than a year ago with a few hotel partners. It now offers more than 400 hotel and accommodation options with over 3,000 high-quality rooms daily in more than 16 cities across Indonesia. Tourism has clearly become one of the focus areas and a critical priority for the Indonesian government besides manufacture and agriculture. Targeting 20 million tourists by 2019, Indonesia is in need to expand and leverage its properties by connectng them to the internet, as today's digitally savvy travelers. Tinggal has seized this opportunity by providing high-quality rooms in Indonesia's top destinations such as Bali, Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Lombok, Bogor, Manado, Yogyakarta, and Malang.



Arjun Chopra, Co-Founder of Tinggal said, "We've always believed in the enormous opportunity which Indonesia offers to travelers. Our 100% focus in this market has enabled us to generate 40% more bookings month over month for our hotel partners. This clearly demonstrates the booming budget travel segment in Indonesia. There are currently 40,000 small hotels and are expected to grow by 30% plus in the next 2-3 years. Most of these small hotels are family-run operations that are always struggling with sales, marketing, support, and operations." Tinggal gives all the hotel partners a dedicated interfaces, 360-degree imagery technology along with powerful travel data and trends live from the platform to enable hotel owners position their properties competitively while helping them collect well-deserved profits. Tinggal also offers its customers quality rooms starting from IDR125,000.

Tinggal has also signed significant partnerships, to name a few - Booking.com, Expedia, Permata Bank and Line offering more value to its users. Tinggal is also powering almost the entire travel category for Qoo10 Indonesia where it offers free and high-quality hotels as well as exclusive packages. About Tinggal Tinggal is an online marketplace for travelers to book high quality independent hotels with more than 400 hotels. Tinggal is backed by Mangrove Capital Partners, Vikas Saxena (CEO, Nimbuzz), Prafulla Mathur (Founder & CEO, WudStay), as well as Simile Venture Partners. www.tinggal.com Contact: Jessica Theresia

+62-21-7988411

[email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170223/8521701122-a

Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170223/8521701122LOGO

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 23, 2017] Amazon and Lianlian Pay power Japanese sellers on the exploration of Chinese market

TOKYO, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On Feb. 21, 2017 Global Selling to China JP Sellers Recruitment Event, hosted by Amazon.cn and China's leading 3rd party payment provider Lianlian Pay, was held in Grand Prince Hotel, New Takawana in Tokyo. The cooperation of both Parties will facilitate Japanese local sellers to bring their products to the Chinese market by taking care of sales platform, payment and foreign exchange. This Event attracts more than 300 local sellers who are interested in the booming market of China. China's cross border e-commerce has grown into an impressive giant market with years of rapid development. As statistics shows, the transaction volume of China's cross border e-commerce in the first half of 2016 has reached 2.6 trillion yuan, and the transaction volume of annual import has reached 1.2 trillion yuan. This number is expected to reach 2 trillion yuan in 2018. While Japan, as the key export country in China's cross border e-commerce business, is well recognized fr its products by Chinese consumers in recent years. The cross border B2C e-commerce sales volume from Japan to China in 2016 has reached 61.385 billion yuan. And the percentage of Japanese goods sold on China's cross border e-commerce platform ranked first in the Nov. 11 Online Shopping Festival in 2016, while before that, Japanese sellers 'sales channels are only restricted to China's local e-commerce platforms.



Japanese sellers can set up online stores directly on Amazon.cn and enjoy more excellent merchant service. This seller recruitment event helps Japanese sellers find a new way to explore the booming market of China. Besides selecting a premium platform, payment service also plays a key role in completing the cross border transaction for e-commerce sellers. Chinese buyers pay RMB when purchasing the goods from Amazon.cn, while Japanese sellers may prefer the funds to be settled in JPY. One difficulty, the currency exchange, can be solved by the Chinese receiving account product, which is offered by Lianlian Pay and powered by World First.

Lianlian Pay, China's leading third party payment provider, is certified with required licenses, and is dedicated to providing payment service to e-commerce platform and internet platform. The Chinese receiving account provided by Lianlian Pay powered by World First, is a product designed for the Japanese sellers on Amazon platform. With this product, Japanese seller on Amazon.cn can receives the sales funds collected from Amazon.cn in CNY and settled in JPY. Typically, the funds will arrive at seller's local JPY bank account within 3 working days. In the meantime, to attract more sellers to use this service, Lianlian Pay launched a promotion activity for Japanese sellers in first half of this year. For the Japanese sellers who apply for Chinese receiving account successfully by 31st March, 2017, 20% off of the fees will be offered for using this assigned RMB bank account to collect funds from Amazon.cn by 30th, June, 2017.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 23, 2017] Precision Agriculture Market Analysis By Component (Hardware, Software & Services), By Technology (Variable Rate Technology, Remote sensing, Guidance Systems), By Application, By Region And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025

NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global precision agriculture market is expected to reach USD 43.4 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Precision agriculture is a farming technique which enables the efficient farming and improves the productivity with the application of various technologies. The technology provides the sustainable management of the resources for enhancing the food productivity.



The fingerprint sensing technology has become a widespread and reliable biometric technology, resulting in further developments of the technology. The rising popularity of the sensing technology has largely attributed to the increasing development of electronic devices, such as smartphones, with the growing demand for security.



With the growing advancements in the technology, the penetration of these sensors is expected to increase, owing to the flagship smartphones to be equipped with the technology. The growth in the market is dominated by tier one players, which include Samsung, Apple, Huawei, and other existing Chinese brands, such as Xiaomi, LeTV, and OnePlus, offering affordable flagships.



Mobile payments are expected to further fuel the penetration and availability of fingerprint authentication technology. Approximately, 50% of the smartphones are expected to be embedded with precision agriculture, as services, such as Android Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay, are gaining traction.



With the increasing trend of online retailing through mobile phones, mobie commerce is also projected to boost the sensing technology over the forecast period. The increasing applications of mobile wallet coupled with the continuously rising online shopping have also contributed to the industry. Integrating digital wallet has become one of the mobile e-commerce or m-commerce trends in the market, which is expected to aid in substantial growth in the coming years. Furthermore, transitions from mobile web to store app are also trending as the factors driving the precision agriculture market.







Although, biometrics technology-based devices are employed to counter security issues, theft ,or misuse, biometric data poses a severe risk to individual privacy, which can further hinder the market growth over the forecast period.



Further key findings from the report suggest:





Precision agriculture are gaining traction in the market, owing to the increasing awareness for enhanced production and less wastage



Variable rate technology is anticipated to witness significant growth over the forecast period, owing to the increased adoption of technology across the industry



The Asia Pacific region is projected to witness enormous growth with the increasing adoption of advanced technology in the countries, which include South Korea , China , and Japan



The prominent players of the precision agriculture market are Dickey-John Corporation, Precision Planting, Inc., Raven Industries, SST Development Group, Inc.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04717549-summary/view-report.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com





__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/precision-agriculture-market-analysis-by-component-hardware-software--services-by-technology-variable-rate-technology-remote-sensing-guidance-systems-by-application-by-region-and-segment-forecasts-2014---2025-300413062.html SOURCE Reportlinker

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 23, 2017]

Unabiz Announces IoT Connectivity from S$1 Per Year

Commercial Launch from 1st IoT-Dedicated Network Operator in Asia

SINGAPORE, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- UnaBiz has officially launched the first IoT (Internet of Things) dedicated network in Singapore at the inaugural UnaDay.

Six months after its incorporation with Sigfox and ENGIE, and barely three months after being granted the FBO (Facilities-Based Operators) licence from IMDA, UnaBiz, the exclusive Sigfox network operator in Singapore and Taiwan, is now fully operational to deliver commercial grade connectivity and services for IoT in the city-state, starting from as low as S$1 per device per year.

Attended by an impressive panel of industry partners, representatives of government agencies and the media, the inaugural UnaDay was graced by the presence of Mr Christophe Fourtet, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Sigfox.

Henri Bong, CEO & Founder of UnaBiz, opened the event by announcing the LPWA network (low-power, wide-area) outdoor coverage at 95% of Singapore's population and territory. The French technology essentially addressed the four greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: ultra-low power consumption, low capital and operational expenses, efficient and secure data handling, and long-range coverage.

With a fully operational network for connected objects nationwide, UnaBiz is capping its network subscription charges at S$1 per device per month, which comes with a data plan for up to 140 messages per day. Qualified channel partners who commit to volume can ultimately enjoy subscription charges from as low as S$1 per device per year. Jonathan Tan, Vice President Business Development & Sales, UnaBiz said, "Sigfox's technology is built for massive deployment and we are offering ultra-low cost connectivity to grow exponentially the base of devices that can access the network. Compared to existing local networks, businesses on our global network can generate savings of at least 90% off data plan subscription charges."

The network operator also honoured its incredible ecosystem of partners. From multinational solution providers, such as Dimension Data, Fujitsu and Kyocera, to device manufacturers, such as Advantech and Aztech, over thirty ecosystem partners participated in the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) signing ceremony on the occasion.

Among them, leading fibre broadband provider MyRepublic shared their decision to partner with UnaBiz. "MyRepublic shares UnaBiz's vision for a vibrant and accessible IoT eco-system in Singapore. We look forward to working with UnaBiz to develop an exciting suite of IoT solutions, reach new market segments and fast-track the adoption of IoT." - Yap Yong Teck, MD MyRepublic Singapore.

Andy Cocks, Chief Technology Officer, Dimension Data said, "What UnaBiz is doing in Singapore is part of a global IoT movement led by Sigfox. I believe this is a game changing technology that will make IoT a reality for thousands of companies in Singapore, at a palatable price point."

Representatives from local tertiary institutions such as NUS Enterprise, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic were also present. "The collaboration with partners such as UnaBiz and Sigfox provides our students with access to technologies that help hone their skills in developing smart solutions. Students from courses such as our Specialist Diploma in Internet of Things (IoT) gain relevant hands-on training to respond to industry needs," said Mr Oh Chin Lock, Director, School of Informatics & IT, Temasek Polytechnic.

The event concluded with the announcement of UnaBiz Ventures, a new entity set up to support start-ups to join the IoT Revolution and bring their ideas from conception to reality. Aspiring entrepreneurs can leverage on UnaBiz's ecosystem of experts and developers to accelerate their go-to-market process and deploy solutions in Singapore and beyond, where the Sigfox's network is readily present in 30 other countries globally.

"This is just the beginning, we have built an impressive ecosystem in mere six months, a clear sign of an enormous appetite and an accelerating demand for IoT solutions in the local market. We are proud to kick off the IoT Revolution in Singapore in alignment with the goal of becoming the first Smart Nation in the world. We are confident that our strategy and solutions will soon be replicated across Asia and beyond," said Henri Bong, CEO & Founder, UnaBiz.

Media Contact

Fu Shuhui

Field Marketing Manager | www.unabiz.com









Singapore

[email protected]

About UnaBiz

UnaBiz is an end-to-end Internet of Things (IoT) solutions company dedicated to accelerate the adoption of IoT worldwide. As the exclusive network operator of Sigfox's low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) in Singapore and Taiwan, UnaBiz is the first Iot dedicated network operator in Asia to roll out a nationwide IoT network.

UnaBiz aims to shape the future by providing cost-effective and energy-efficient IoT solutions, that include wireless infrastructure, devices and more. This ubiquitous network will allow businesses to connect millions of devices simply, affordably and globally.

UnaBiz helps businesses collect and analyse data from millions of devices allowing them to maximise the efficiency of their resources and increase productivity, by facilitating detection and control of anomalies, accelerating resolution or even preventing them entirely. Our objective is to help businesses realise the true value and full potential of IoT.

For more information, see www.unabiz.com.com and follow on UnaBiz on LinkedIn.

About Sigfox

Sigfox is the world's leading provider of connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT). The company has built a global network to connect billions of devices to the Internet while consuming as little energy as possible, as simply as possible. Sigfox's unique approach to device-to-cloud communications addresses the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption, and global scalability.

Today, the network is present in 31 countries and on track to cover 60 by 2018 -- covering a population of 486 million people. With millions of objects connected and a rapidly growing partner ecosystem, Sigfox empowers companies to move their business model towards more digital services. Founded in 2010 by Ludovic Le Moan and Christophe Fourtet, the company is headquartered in Labege near Toulouse, France's "IoT Valley". Sigfox also has offices in Paris, Madrid, Munich, Boston, San Francisco, Dubai and Singapore. For more information, see www.sigfox.com and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

About ENGIE

ENGIE develops its businesses (power, natural gas, and energy services) around a model based on responsible growth to take on the major challenges of energy's transition to a low-carbon economy: access to sustainable energy, climate-change mitigation and adaptation, and the rational use of resources. The Group provides individuals, cities and businesses with highly efficient and innovative solutions largely based on its expertise in four key sectors: renewable energy, energy efficiency, liquefied natural gas and digital technology. ENGIE employs 154,950 people worldwide and achieved revenues of EUR69.9 billion in 2015. The Group is listed on the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges (ENGI) and is represented in the main international indices: CAC 40, BEL 20, DJ Euro Stoxx 50, Euronext 100, FTSE Eurotop 100, MSCI Europe, DJSI World, DJSI Europe and Euronext Vigeo (World 120, Eurozone 120, Europe 120 and France 20).

For more information, see www.engie.com and follow on Twitter @ENGIEgroup

ENGIE is present in Singapore for over 20 years, where it employs around 1,600 employees. Besides offering energy efficiency and facility management services, ENGIE trades a wide range of energy financial products as well as LNG, conducts R&D projects and holds a 30 per cent stake in Senoko Energy, which is the largest electricity generator in the country.

Annex A

UnaBiz Ecosystem Partners

1) Advantech Co. Singapore Pte Ltd

2) Ascent Solutions Pte Ltd

3) Aztech Technologies Pte Ltd

4) Cyclet Electrical Engineering Pte Ltd

5) Dimension Data Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

6) KYOCERA Communication Systems Singapore Pte Ltd

7) Viseo

8) Astek Singapore Innovation Technology Pte Ltd

9) Fujitsu Asia Pte Ltd

10) GRID Communications Pte. Ltd.

11) LKH Precicon Pte Ltd

12) MyRepublic Ltd

13) PCI Limited

14) Schneider Electric South East Asia (HQ) Pte Ltd

15) Sunseap Energy Pte Ltd

16) Adi-Designs

17) BeyondEdge Pte Ltd

18) Konbini Vending Automation Pte Ltd

19) Nuratech Labs Pte Ltd

20) Pevoli Enterprise

21) PTGEM Pte Ltd

22) SpaceAge Labs Pte Ltd

23) V&V Innovations Pte Ltd

24) Swee Lee Holdings Pte Ltd

25) MicroSec Pte Ltd

26) NUS Enterprise

27) Republic Polytechnic

28) Singapore Polytechnic

29) Temasek Polytechnic

30) IOTSG

31) IDA PIXEL Labs

32) Avnet

33) Microsoft

34) ST Microelectronics

35) Trusted Objects

36) Wisol


[February 24, 2017] HELLA India Awarded 'Auto Component India of the Year'

NEW DELHI, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HELLA India Lighting Ltd, subsidiary of one of the world's leading automotive suppliers HELLA KGaAHueck & Co., has added yet another feather to its cap. Auto Components India presented HELLA with 'Auto Component of the Year' award, in an event marking the magazine's first-ever awards. The ceremony was held at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai. The recently held award ceremony is an outcome of a lengthy selection process made by a jury comprising experts internal and external to Auto Components magazine. HELLA scored high on parameters of Technology, Innovation, Affordability and Quick Time to Market to win the award. Later in the evening after the awards ceremony, HELLA India Managing Director, Mr. Ramashankar Pandey was also part of a panel discussion with leaders and experts in the auto industry to discuss 'Digitisation in CVs'. The discussion focused on the rising use of electronics in Indian commercial vehicles (CVs) in response to regulatory needs and customer demands, thereby putting the spotligt on technologies such as onboard diagnostics, preventive maintenance, driver assistance systems, remote monitoring, lighting systems, and more, to improve safety, efficiency and lower total cost of ownership.



Speaking about the award, Mr. Pandey said, "This coveted award not only underlines our excellence in bringing first lighting solutions to the country but also in raising the standards of safety, reliability and styling for the industry at large. The award shall also go a long way in strengthening our OEM partners' confidence and our suppliers too." About HELLA

HELLA India Lighting Ltd (HILL) brings 'Technology of Tomorrow for the Life of Today' to Indian roads. Members of the Management Board of the HELLA Group, Germany, along with all employees of HILL, have adopted the new strategy for the company to focus all future activities around the central theme of ensuring road safety on Indian roads. In this regard, for the special OE segment, HELLA India focuses on state-of-the-art technology products manufactured at their Derabassi plant, near Chandigarh and safety awareness campaigns through its strong independent aftermarket network. HELLA KGaAHueck& Co., Lippstadt: HELLA is a global, family-owned company, listed on the stock exchange, with approximately 32,000 employees at 100 locations in more than 35 countries. The HELLA Group develops and manufactures lighting technology and electronic components and systems for the automotive industry and also has one of the largest retail organizations for automotive parts, accessories, diagnostics, and services within Europe. Complete vehicle modules, air conditioning systems, and vehicle electrical systems are also produced in joint venture companies. With more than 6,000 people working in research and development, HELLA is one of the most important innovation drivers on the market. In addition, with sales of 5.8 billion in fiscal year 2014/2015, the HELLA Group is one of the top 40 automotive suppliers in the world and one of the 100 largest German industrial companies. Media Contact:

Sanya Bajaj

+91-9711871891

PR Coordinator, HELLA India



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 24, 2017] With SHAREit's Newly Developed Video Player Function, Users Can Share and Watch Videos at the Same Time

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 80 million SHAREit users in Indonesia welcomed its android version update in Jan. 2017. This version mainly updated functions of video watching, memory management, and content distribution. Video Player: Watch videos while sharing them SHAREit strives to bring a perfect experience to users. The release of the Video Player function enables users to watch the video on the SHAREit platform right after receiving it rather than depending on any third party software or platform. In this way video transmitted can be enjoyed right away, which makes the sharing experience better. App Manager: Analyze system to improve performance Most people who love to share encounter the problem of too much conten being shared taking up most of the phone's memory. Functions like App Manager are there to solve such problems.



In new versions, SHAREit increased the App Manager function to manage phone memory, which can intelligently help users analyze phone memory to clean up junk easily by deleting unnecessary large files to save storage memory. In this way performance is improved tremendously which solves the problem of insufficient space during the sharing process. Group Share: Group sharing at any time

In addition to new functions such as Video Player and App Manager, SHAREit has also upgraded the priority of original Group Share to put it on the system's front page together with contents cleaning and files history. When users open SHAREit, they can clearly see the button for Group Share under "receive" and " send". Upon clicking the button, they can form groups with their friends, family, colleagues, etc., and directly share various content with them instead of building connections one by one, which not only saves time but also can draw them more closely to family/friends. Just imagine what kind of changes Group share will bring to life, with efficiency of learning materials sharing and work file distribution improved by several levels. There is no network data cost, also neither worry about spending too much time due to a slow network, nor the risk of leaking files because of an unsafe network. In the age of the internet, people can't live without networks. Network speed not only affects the speed of sharing but also quality of life. In China, slow networks have become a nightmare for many as users always have to wait when they want to share interesting things with friends. SHAREit is devoted to providing a much faster sharing experience for users all around the world, with system versions updated one by one, with more functions being developed to improve users' living standards. An application lock (which protects users' privacy by adding a password to applications) and SHAREit replacement (one-click data backup and restore) released earlier have been well received globally. Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170224/0861701360

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 24, 2017] MyRealGames.com Declares March Parkour Games Month

LONDON, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The popular games website, MyRealGames.com has announced its latest drop of new titles for the weeks ahead and declared March to be Parkour games month. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/471499/MyRealGames_Logo.jpg ) Parkour is the name given to free running, the extreme sport that calls on competitors to make their way around urban obstacles by jumping or climbing around, under or over them. The cult challenge has spawned a number of video games and MyRealGames.com, the number one free games download destination on the net, has the best of the best for players to enjoy this spring. Set to motivating music to get gamers in the mood for rolling, jumping and climbing, the all new Parkour GO calls on players to grab their head for heights, head on to the roof of gravity-defying skysrapers and make crazy jumps to complete the course. Bigger climbs mean more adrenaline in the cool 3D environment.



MyRealGames.com's Nikolai Veselov said, "We're really excited to bring the cult urban adventure that is the extreme sport of free running to MyRealGames.com this month with our new Parkour games. Capturing all of the adrenalin of the best urban assault courses, the skyscrapers and ever harder daredevil jumps literally take March to exhilarating new heights! As always, there's a great selection of other fresh new titles to enjoy too." Also new to MyRealGames.com for the month of March is a host of new titles within the ever popular hidden object games free selection. Consistently one of the most popular genres on the site, the hidden object titles promise a refreshing change of pace for free runners looking to slow it down and exercise their sleuthing powers.

One of the new crop of hidden object games is Taken Souls: Blood Ritual, a hidden object and puzzle brain teaser free to download to PC. Set in a dark and moody London, Taken Souls: Blood Ritual calls on gamers to help solve a serious of dastardly murders as detective James Voodoo faces a mystical phenomenon. With the crimes linked to a global conspiracy, players are taken to over 50 destinations around the globe as the fight against crime goes international. Also new this month is the hidden object, PC downloadable Apothecarium World. With more than 60 beautiful destinations to explore, Apothecarium World is set in Renaissance Italy. Once a beautiful hub of culture, it has been hit by the dreaded plague, causing fear to run through the streets. Rumors are that a hidden city holds the cure, but does it exist? This is the challenge inquisitive players will face as they search Italy and solve puzzles to find all the missing pieces. To find out more about MyRealGames and to play any of these games visit http://myrealgames.com/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 24, 2017] SHAREit Becomes the No. 1 Cooperation Partner for Companies Entering the Indian Market

NEW DELHI, India, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, as one of the three "national apps" in India, SHAREit has a total of 870 million users worldwide. In India alone, there are more than 250 million users. Large market share and rapid expansion of user group have brought SHAREit a growing global influence. In 2016, SHAREit's excellent performance in the Indian market attracted numerous international giants for business cooperation, including not only Google, Samsung, Amazon, and YouTube, but also emerging domestic companies like ZUK, Huawei and UC. With huge support from its users, SHAREit has triumphed with 73 home page hits in the Google Play Store and enjoyed a soaring popularity in international markets. Meanwhile, the cooperation with Google has deepened, and SHAREit has become an important partner of Google. Both sides have made their own endeavors through mutual cooperation. A mobile internet company with a product topping the utility category of the Google Play Store in more than 30 countries, SHAREit was awarded the title of Google Top Developer in md-2016, which means that Google has fully acknowledged SHAREit's entire product line, signifying full trust and confidence of global users in SHAREit's products.



On Dec. 9, 2016, the Google Developers convention was held in China for the first time. SHAREit was invited to this event. During this event, SHAREit's excellent performance attracted the attention of many guests. The deep cooperation with Google has increased the fame of SHAREit, while a joint promotion campaign with Amazon India has further enhanced the influence of both companies in youth communities in China.

The youth communities of people aged from 18 to 35 have long been a vital force of China's online consumption and mobile internet and is a major user group of SHAREit. In 2016, SHAREit united with Amazon, the global E-commerce giant, in a joint promotion campaign and received positive feedback among the young user group. More and more people would like to share Amazon's special offers with their families and friends through SHAREit. In addition to cooperation with international giants like Google and Amazon, SHAREit, the most promising Chinese mobile internet company in India, also serves as a high-quality content distribution channel for promising Chinese companies which aim to expand to India. In the past year, dozens of Chinese companies, including Huawei, ZUK and UC, have launched advertisements through SHAREit. They provided Indian consumers with high-quality products while promoting the development of China's mobile internet industry. The development of the company and the improvement of the market complement each other. The excellent performance of SHAREit in the Indian market owes not only to its excellent user experience of content sharing, but also to Chinese consumers' pressing demand of a fast content-sharing experience in this day and age. The company believes that in 2017, with a rising India, SHAREit will bring more surprises to Indian people.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 24, 2017] OT Confirms Its Leadership in eSIM with the World's First GSMA Security Accreditation in the Consumer Space

OT (Oberthur Technologies), a leading global provider of embedded security software products, services and solutions, has successfully achieved the GSMA Security Accreditation Scheme certification (SAS (News - Alert)-SM) for its eSIM subscription management solution for consumer devices at its European data center. OT thus becomes the first player worldwide to obtain this certification for the Consumer remote SIM provisioning (RSP) server also known as the SM-DP+ (Subscription Management Data Preparation). With OT's eSIM subscription management solution, mobile operators can offer global connectivity services meeting the consumer market needs. They can remotely allocate their subscription credentials onto the devices, without any compromise on the security. OT's subscription management solution accreditation complements the recent certification of OT's factory in Vitre, France with SAS UP v7.0 for the production of OT's eSIM called DakOTa. DakOTa offer addresses both: the M2M market with DakOTa v3.1 1 , already selected for a worldwide deployment by an industrial OEM,

, already selected for a worldwide deployment by an industrial OEM, the consumer market with DakOTa 4.0, giving the possibility to consumers to manage their connectivity plans directly on their devices, in compliance with GSMA (News - Alert) phase 2 specifications2. "Our state of the art datacenters are a key asset to operate and host business critical solutions for our customers. These certifications are yet another proof towards our clients that OT is fully committed to security and data protection aspects in the eSIM environment. GSMA accreditation for both eSIM prouction and the SM-DP+ capabilities of our solution confirms our legitimate position in the Consumer and IoT markets." said Viken Gazarian, Deputy Managing Director of Connected Device Makers business at OT.



1. compliant with GSMA M2M SGP.02 v3.1 specification

2. GSMA SGP.22 v2.0 ABOUT OBERTHUR TECHNOLOGIES

OT is a world leader in embedded digital security that protects you when you connect, authenticate or pay. OT is strategically positioned in high growth markets and offers embedded security software solutions for "end-point" devices as well as associated remote management solutions to a huge portfolio of international clients, including banks and financial institutions, mobile operators, authorities and governments, as well as manufacturers of connected objects and equipment. OT employs over 6 500 employees worldwide, including almost 700 R&D people. With a global footprint of 4 regional secure manufacturing hubs and 39 secure service centers, OT's international network serves clients in 169 countries. For more information: www.oberthur.com Download The M World,

All you need to know about the latest trends of the Mobility world, available on AppStore and Google (News - Alert) Play www.oberthur.com/themworld FOLLOW US

Twitter

LinkedIn View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005249/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 24, 2017] CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. Reports Financial Results for 2016

CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. ("CanniMed" or the "Company") (TSX:CMED) today released its financial results for the year ended October 31, 2016. The financial statements released included the audited statement of financial position of CanniMed as at October 31, 2016 together with the audited consolidated financial statements of Prairie Plant Systems Inc. ("PPS") for the year ended October 31, 2016. Following a corporate reorganization, PPS became a wholly-owned subsidiary of CanniMed on November 1, 2016. For complete details of the audited Statement of Financial Position of CanniMed, the audited consolidated financial statements of PPS and associated Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") please refer to the Company's filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or the Company's website (www.CanniMedTherapeutics.com). "Significantly increased sales, improved adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations1 and a clear focus on our core business following divestment of our power business were the catalysts for which we were waiting to complete our Initial Public Offering in December 2016," said Brent Zettl, President and CEO, CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. "Our business continues to flourish. CanniMed currently holds more than 20,000 patient records and continues to grow exponentially with January 2017 sales quantities being the highest on record to date. As the only GMP-compliant cannabis producer in Canada, our manufacturing and production process ensures cleanliness and prevention, resulting in reliably safe products." Fiscal 2016 Highlights Increased sales from continuing operations by 69% to $9.8 million, with gross margins of 84%.

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations 1 improved $2.0 million to near breakeven.

improved $2.0 million to near breakeven. Completed a corporate reorganization, including the spin-out of its U.S. power generating subsidiary, P.M. Power Group, Inc. ("PM Power"), in preparation for an initial public offering of shares.

Completed construction of a new biosecure growth chambers to augment its existing growth facilities with a new 62,000 sq. ft. growing building.

Sold 945 kg of dried medical marijuana equivalent at an average selling price of $9.65 per gram.

Commenced production and sale of concentrated cannabis oils.

Achieved excellent safety performance with no recordable incidents during the year.

Completed $9.5 million convertible debenture offering. When combined with the $2.0 million raised during fiscal 2015, total proceeds raised from the issuance of convertible debentures was $11.5 million.

Recorded a loss of $8.0 million on derivative instruments relating to convertible debentures resulting primarily from increases in the value of the conversion right to acquire the Company's shares.

Recorded net loss of $12.9 million on discontinued operations of PM Power, shares of which were distributed to PPS shareholders. Subsequent to Fiscal 2016 Continued strong sales growth, with total sales of 349 kg of dried medical marijuana equivalent, an increase of 83% over the first quarter of 2016.

Completed initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange to raise gross proceeds of $69 million.

Holders of $11.3 million of convertible debentures elected to convert their debentures into shares of CanniMed.

Signed exclusive Canadian licensing agreement with CTT Pharma for Cannabis Orally Dissolvable Thin Film Wafer.

Confirmed CanniMed products contained "no detectible" amounts of 56 pesticides and fungicides through independent laboratory analysis.

Continued support of clinical studies, including the CAPRI Phase IIa clinical trial of medical marijuana treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee (the "CAPRI Trial"), and research studies including pediatric epilepsy and neuropathic pain with two Canadian universities. Revenue Revenue from continuing operations for the year ended October 31, 2016 increased 69% to $9.8 million from $5.8 million for the previous year. This increase was attributable a 30% increase in herbal sales volume to 757 kg, and to the introduction of the Company's oil product line during fiscal 2016, which generated an additional 188 kg of dried marijuana equivalent sales. Net Loss For the year ended October 31, 2016, the Company recorded a net loss from continuing operations of $9.9 million, or $2.71 per share, net of tax. The major component of this was a non-cash loss on derivative instruments of $8.0 million related to the convertible debentures. Operating Expense For the year ended October 31, 2016, general and administrative expense for continuing operations was $3.6 million (2015 $2.1 million), a 71% increase. This increase was attributable to increased delivery, distribution and salary costs associated with increased sales. Professional fees were also higher year over year. For the year ended October 31, 2016, sales and marketing expense of $3.3 million was relatively unchanged year over year. Research and Development Research and development costs for the year ended October 31, 2016 were $1.4 million (2015 - $1.2 million). Research and development tax credits were $0.2 million (2015 - $0.4 million). Research and development work is directed primarily towards plant-based materials for pharmaceutical and agricultural applications, and includes the CAPRI Trial. Recent Developments Initial Public Offering On December 29, 2016, the Company completed an initial public offering ("IPO") and on January 30, 2017 the underwriters' overallotment option ("OAO") was exercised, resulting in total gross proceeds of $69.0 million to the Company. A total of 5,750,000 common shares of CanniMed were issued at $12.00 per share, pursuant to the IPO and the exercise of the OAO. Common shares of CanniMed began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on December 29, 2016. Conversion of Debentures During December 2016 and January 2017 the holders of a total of $11.3 million of convertible debentures exercised their conversion rights, resulting in the issuance of 2,057,060 common shares of CanniMed. Corporate Activities During Fiscal 2016 Expanded License Granted for the Production and Sale of Cannabis Oils The Company's licenses under the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations were amended on January 12, 2016 to include the production and sale of cannabis oil. The Company has developed three edible cannabis oil products as a complement to its line of seven CanniMed herbal products currently available. Debenture Financing During 2016 the Company completed a debenture financing in two tranches to raise a total of $9.5 million. Each debenture was convertible into Class "A" shares of PPS at $22.00 per share (the "Conversion Rate") at the option of the holder; after adjusting for the corporate reorganization (See Corporate Reorganization and Spin-out of PM Power below), this conversion rate was $5.50 per common share of CanniMed. Letter of intent with CTT Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc. to License CTT's Orally Thin Film Wafer On August 11, 2016, the Company announced that it had entered into a letter of intent with CTT Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc. to license CTT's Orally Dissolvable Thin Film Wafer technology. This industry-first collaboration will enable CanniMed to develop and commercialize this novel, smoke-free, drug delivery system in Canada. Corporate Reorganization and Spin-out of PM Power In October 2016, PPS completed a corporate reorganization (the "Reorganization") to distribute the shares of the PM Power business to its shareholders. The Company had acquired PM Power in 2014 for $11.7 million and, during the period of the Company's ownership from August 23, 2014 to October 31, 2016, PM Power generated positive income and cash flows and served as a component of the Company's business strategy. As a result of the Reorganization, ownership of the PM Power business, with net assets of $8.1 million, was transferred to shareholders of PPS and the PM Power business is no longer part of the continuing business of the Company. PM Power's turbines continue to be a potential source of back up power for the grid and, in addition, PM Power has agreed to distribute electricity to the Company's U.S. plant growth facility in accordance with the terms of a power purchase contract entered as part of the Reorganization. About CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. The Company is a Canadian-based, international plant biopharmaceutical company and a leader in the Canadian medical cannabis industry, with 15 years of pharmaceutical cannabis cultivation experience, state-of-the-art, GMP-compliant plant production processes and world class research and development platforms with a wide range of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products. In addition, the Company has an active plant biotechnology research and product development program focused on the production of plant-based materials for pharmaceutical, agricultural and environmental applications. CanniMed Ltd., through its subsidiaries, was the first producer to be licensed under the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, the predecessor to the current Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. It was the sole supplier to Health Canada under the former medical marijuana system for 13 years, and has been producing safe and consistent medical marijuana for thousands of Canadian patients, with no incident of product diversion or recalls. For more information, please visit our websites: www.cannimed.ca (patients) and www.CanniMedTherapeutics.com (investors). Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including the risks described in CanniMed Therapeutics Inc.'s documents filed with applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities which may be viewed at sedar.com. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. does not undertake to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise, unless required by applicable securities legislation. Non-IFRS Financial Measures and Reconciliations The Company utilizes non-IFRS financial measures as supplemental indicators of operating performance and financial position. These non-IFRS financial measures are used internally by the Company for comparing actual results from one period to another. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow. Accordingly, such information is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("EBITDA") and Adjusted EBITDA The Company uses EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental financial measure of its operational performance. Management believes EBITDA to be an important measure of its capacity to generate cash flow from operations as it excludes the effects of items which primarily reflect the impact of long-term investment and decisions and finance strategies, rather than the performance of the Company's day-to-day operations. The Company measures EBITDA as net earnings (loss) from continuing operations plus income taxes expense (recovery), interest expense and depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA removes non-cash expenses such as loss on derivative instruments, share-based compensation and non-cash expenses within cost of sales. The Company believes that these measurements are useful in measuring the Company's ability to service debt, meet other payment obligations and in comparing the Company's financial performance from period to period. Furthermore, Management believes that certain investors and other stakeholders use this information to evaluate the Company's performance. The following table provides a reconciliation of the Company's calculation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA:







Calculation of EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA, from Continuing Operations Years ended October 31 2016 2015 Loss from continuing operations $ (10,418 ) $ (3,424 ) Deferred income tax expense (recovery) (471 ) (531 ) Finance costs 1,489 846 Depreciation and amortization 832 1,017 EBITDA from continuing operations $ (8,568 ) $ (2,092 ) Share-based compensation 435 571 Loss on derivative instruments 8,038 86 Unrealized gain from changes in fair value of biological assets (3,797 ) (3,509 ) Non-cash amounts within cost of sales Realized gain from changes in fair value of biological assets 3,237 2,311 Depreciation and amortization 521 461 Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations $ (134 ) $ (2,172 )

1 Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure with no standard definition under IFRS. See the "Non-IFRS financial performance measures and reconciliations" section of the Company's MD&A. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005339/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
New Delhi, Feb 24 (IBNS): Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday paid tributes to three soldiers killed in a militant ambush in south Kashmiras Shopian district on Thursday.

General Bipin Rawat, who had arrived in Srinagar on Feb 23, paid rich tributes on Friday to the soldiers, L Nk Gh Mohi- Ud-Din, Sep Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejith MJ and expressed his grief and condolences to the bereaved families, said a spokesman.

On his arrival, the Army Chief had first met the other injured soldiers at the Army Base Hospital in BB Cantt and wished them speedy recovery.

The Army Chief along with Northern Army and Chinar Corps Commanders Lt Gen D Anbu and Lt Gen JS Sandhu, visited Victor and Kilo Force Headquarters where he was briefed on the prevailing security situation and on the recent operations conducted by the security forces, said the spokesman.

He also reviewed the collaborative measures of security forces towards ensuring peace and calm in the region and interacted with local commanders and troops urging them to continue discharging their duty with utmost professionalism.

Rawat also discussed the issue of stone pelting during operations and impressed upon all to synergise efforts with the other security agencies in dealing with such situations effectively.



(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)


[February 24, 2017] Swiss Specialty Pharma Company Santhera Pharmaceuticals Announces Opening of U.S. Office in Burlington, MA

Santhera Pharmaceuticals, a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative treatments for rare mitochondrial and neuromuscular diseases, announced that it will be establishing U.S. operations in Burlington, Mass. Santhera Establishing U.S. Operations Santhera's U.S. operations are being led by Todd Bazemore, Chief Operating Officer of Santhera Pharmaceuticals (USA), Inc. The U.S. operations will initially be staffed to focus on regulatory and clinical operations support, medical affairs, patient advocacy liaison and commercial strategy. "A strong presence in the U.S. is an important next step in our mission to advance novel treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and other rare neuromuscular and mitochondrial diseases," said Todd Bazemore, COO of Santhera U.S. "We chose the metropolitan Boston area for our U.S. operations because it is one of the main centers for the biotech and pharma business globally with a unique confluence of academia, life science companies, and clinical expertise." Idebenone in DMD Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is one of the most common and devastating types of muscle degeneration and leads to progressive muscle weakness starting at an early age. DMD is a genetic, degenerative disease that occurs almost exclusively in males with an incidence of up to 1 in 3,500 live male births worldwide.1 DMD is characterized by a loss of the protein dystrophin, ultimately resulting in muscle weakness and wasting and early morbidity and mortality due to respiratory failure. In DMD, the progressive respiratory muscle weakness results in respiratory symptoms such as inability to cough and clear mucus, frequent airway infections, sleep-disordered breathing and the need for assisted ventilation. Addressing the progressive loss of respiratory function is a hallmark in DMD and an urgent unmet medical need for these patients. In a Phase III clinical trial (DELOS) conducted in DMD patients not taking glucocorticoids, Santhera's lead therapeutic candidate, idebenone, demonstrated a clinically significant slowing in the loss of respiratory function, regardless of the underlying genetic mutation. Santhera is now enrolling patients in a new Phase III trial (SIDEROS) in 60 centers across the United States and Europe to confirm the efficacy of idebenone in 266 patients who are currently taking a stable dose of glucocorticoids. The first patient was enrolled at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), Department of Neurology in September with Jeffrey Statland, MD. In the U.S., the SIDEROS trial will be conducted in 24 study centers with the goal of having this trial fully enrolled by end of 2017. If successful, this study will provide data that supports the use of idebenone in all DMD patients experiencing respiratory decline irrespective of their glucocorticoid use or genetic mutation. "Idebenone is generating a significant interest among researchers, physicians and the patient community. In slowing the loss of respiratory function in all patients irrespective of their mutational status, this drug candidate has the potential to expand the current treatment paradigm for DMD," said Thomas Meier, PhD, CEO of Santhera. "Our presence here in the U.S. will enable us to expand our engagement with physicians, their patients, and families as the SIDEROS trial moves forward while we continue our efforts to find a regulatory path for early approval." "There is high interest from investigators and the patient community in therapies that hold the promise of maintaining respiratory function in patients with DMD," added Oscar Henry Mayer, MD, Medical Director of the Pulmonary Function Testing Laboratory at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Lead SIDEROS Investigator for the U.S. "A patient an caregiver survey conducted by Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy clearly demonstrated that the DMD community highly values treatment options for respiratory complications."



About the SIDEROS Trial SIDEROS is a phase III, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with idebenone in approximately 266 DMD patients receiving concomitant glucocorticoids. Patients with declining respiratory function on any stable glucocorticoid treatment scheme and irrespective of the underlying dystrophin mutation or ambulatory status will be eligible. Study participants will receive either idebenone (900 mg/day; given as 2 tablets 3 times a day with meals) or placebo for 78 weeks (18 months). The primary endpoint of the trial is the change from baseline to week 78 in forced vital capacity % predicted (FVC%p). Secondary endpoints include changes from baseline in % predicted peak expiratory flow (PEF%p), time to first 10% decline in FVC and change from baseline in inspiratory flow reserve. Patients completing the trial will be offered the opportunity to enroll in an open label extension study in which all patients receive idebenone.

The study will be conducted at about 60 centers in the United States and Europe. Patients wishing to enroll in the study should contact their neuromuscular clinic physician. Further information about the study is available under www.clinicaltrials.gov. About Idebenone in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is one of the most common and devastating types of muscle degeneration and results in rapidly progressive muscle weakness. DMD is characterized by a loss of the protein dystrophin, leading to cell damage, impaired calcium homeostasis, elevated oxidative stress and reduced energy production in muscle cells. This results in progressive muscle weakness and wasting and early morbidity and mortality due to respiratory failure. Idebenone is a synthetic short-chain benzoquinone and a cofactor for the enzyme NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) capable of stimulating mitochondrial electron transport, reducing and scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and supplementing cellular energy levels. DELOS was a phase III, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial which randomized 64 patients, not taking concomitant glucocorticoids, to receive either idebenone (900 mg/day) or matching placebo. The trial met its primary endpoint and demonstrated that idebenone can slow the loss of respiratory function and reduces bronchopulmonary complications. The statistically significant and clinically relevant outcomes of the phase III DELOS study were published: Buyse et al., The Lancet 2015, 385:1748-1757; McDonald et al., Neuromuscular Disorders 2016, 26: 473-480 and Buyse et al., Pediatric Pulmonology 2016: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ppul.23547. The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) and the Swiss regulatory authorities Swissmedic are currently assessing a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for idebenone under the name RAXONE in DMD patients with respiratory function decline who are not taking concomitant glucocorticoids. The indication would include patients who previously were treated with glucocorticoids or in whom glucocorticoid treatment is not desired, not tolerated or is contraindicated. About Santhera Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceutical products for the treatment of orphan mitochondrial and neuromuscular diseases. Santhera's lead product RAXONE (idebenone) is authorized in the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein for the treatment of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). For Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the second indication for RAXONE, Santhera has filed a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) in the European Union and Switzerland. In collaboration with the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Santhera is developing RAXONE in a third indication, primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), and omigapil for congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD), all areas of high unmet medical need. For further information, please visit the Company's website www.santhera.com. RAXONE is a trademark of Santhera Pharmaceuticals. Disclaimer / Forward-looking statements This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG. This publication may contain certain forward looking statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. These statements could be affected by, among other things, risks and factors referred to in the Risk Factors section on Santhera's web site (http://www.santhera.com/investors-and-media/investor-toolbox/risk-factors). Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. 1 National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Genetics Home Reference, Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy, https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/duchenne-and-becker-muscular-dystrophy#statistics View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005112/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 24, 2017] Tufin Appoints Bhanu Sareddy to the Position of Vice President, Services and Support

BOSTON, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tufin, the market-leading provider of Network Security Policy Orchestration, announced the appointment of Bhanu Sareddy to the position of Vice President of Services and Support. In this role, Bhanu is responsible for developing and implementing innovative services designed to meet the ever-changing needs of all Tufin customers, and ensuring value realization and customer success among the Tufin user base. Bhanu has over 20 years of experience in technical support and services leadership in the network and security industries. He will be based in the Boston, MA office and will report to Ruvi Kitov, CEO, Tufin. "Bhanu is a strong addition to Tufin's executive team and its presence in North America, and will help drive the vision of the management team in comprehensive solutions and customer success," said Ruvi Kitov, CEO, Tufin. "Bhanu's calling as a support and services leader goes beyond customer satisfaction. He listens to and understands the needs of our customers, and is dedicated to doing what it takes to ensure that they are leveraging or solutions to best meet the needs of their organizations."



"Today's networks are vast and complex, and are increasingly the target of advanced cyberthreats," said Bhanu Sareddy, VP of support and services, Tufin. "Adding to the challenge is the constant drive for businesses to keep up with ever-changing technology and the latest solutions. Tufin's Support and Services team is dedicated to helping our customers derive the greatest value from Tufin solutions, enabling them to not only meet but surpass their business needs." Most recently, Bhanu was VP of Services and Support at Fuze, a unified communications and telephony company. Prior to Fuze, he was VP of Consulting Services at Aveksa, which was acquired by RSA in 2013. Earlier in his career, he was a services architect at Netegrity, and later became the VP of Practice Services after its acquisition by CA.

About Tufin

Tufin is the leader in Network Security Policy Orchestration for enterprise cybersecurity. More than half of the top 50 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 turn to Tufin to simplify management of some of the largest, most complex networks in the world, consisting of thousands of firewall and network devices and emerging hybrid cloud infrastructures. Enterprises select the company's award-winning Tufin Orchestration Suite to increase agility in the face of ever-changing business demands while maintaining a robust security posture. The Suite reduces the attack surface and meets the need for greater visibility into secure and reliable application connectivity. Its network security automation enables enterprises to implement changes in minutes with proactive risk analysis and continuous policy compliance. Tufin serves over 1,900 customers spanning all industries and geographies; its products and technologies are patent-protected in the U.S. and other countries. Find out more at www.tufin.com. Follow Tufin on Twitter: @TufinTech Read more on Tufin's blog: Suite Talk Media Contact:

Justin Ordman

[email protected]

617-237-0922 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tufin-appoints-bhanu-sareddy-to-the-position-of-vice-president-services-and-support-300413252.html SOURCE Tufin

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 24, 2017] Chervon acquires SKIL Power Tool Brands from Bosch

Chervon, one of the world's top 10 manufacturers of power tools, outdoor power equipment and related products, has completed the purchase of the SKIL and SKILSAW brands from Robert Bosch Tool. The acquisition gives Chervon complete control over the SKIL and SKILSAW businesses in the North American market. Part of a tremendous growth period for Chervon, the company is relocating its North American headquarters to Naperville, Ill. By May of 2017, Chervon will have hired or transitioned more than 100 employees in North America with plans to grow to up to 200 strong within the next several years. Chervon and SKIL: Building on a shared heritage of innovation "Both Chervon and SKIL are pioneers in the power tool market, making the acquisition a natural fit for us. We specialize in combining cutting-edge technology with exceptional quality to deliver the best tools to our end-users. SKIL complements our existing brand portfolio and approach, and further strengthens our competitive position in the global power tool and outdoor power equipment industry," said Peter L.Q. Pan, President of Chervon (HK) Ltd. For more than 20 years, Chervon has been at the forefront of power tool and outdoor equipment innovation. The company was the first in the world to mount lasers to portable power tools in 2003. Later they purchased FLEX, the inventor of the angle grinder based in Stuttgart, Germany, and in 2014, launched the first high capacity Lithium-Ion battery-driven outdoor power equipment line, EGO, now th number one brand in its category.



Similarly, SKIL is a highly regarded tool brand with a deep heritage of innovation and quality for both professionals and consumers. In 1924, SKIL invented the world's first electric hand saw and built its reputation as one of the top DIY power tool brands. SKILSAW is widely accepted as the brand of choice for professionals. Through the acquisition, Chervon aims to leverage that equity and infuse both brands with capital investment and new product development resources while staying true to the heritage and positioning of the brands. Expanding the SKIL and SKILSAW Product Lines

"SKIL and SKILSAW are iconic brands with incredible awareness. We will maintain the high standards professionals demand of the SKILSAW brand and provide the resources to expand the assortment with a focus on professional cutting, leveraging our worm drive technology," said Bill Boltz, CEO of Chervon North America. Chervon's new North American Headquarters in Naperville As a result of tremendous growth for Chervon over the last decade, the company is relocating its North American headquarters to a 124,000-square-foot facility at 1203 E. Warrenville in Naperville, Ill. Chervon will move in to its state-of-the-art headquarters in May of 2017, hiring and transitioning more than 100 employees in North America with plans to grow to up to 200 strong within the next several years. About Chervon CHERVON has always committed to helping to build a better world by building better tools. We focus on hand-held portable power tools, stationary bench tools, laser and electronic equipment and outdoor power equipment. With world-class R&D, testing and manufacturing capabilities; collaborating sales & marketing groups; industrial design professionals and service teams throughout the world, we are able to provide satisfying solutions that meet or surpass our customers' expectations. Over more than 20 years, CHERVON has earned its reputation for continuous innovation and dedicated pursuit of professionalism. Today, CHERVON-built products are sold by more than 30,000 stores in 65 countries. We pride ourselves on being a TOP 10 player in the global power tool industry. For additional information please visit CHERVON online at www.chervongroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005572/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[February 24, 2017] Pfizer Prices $1,065,000,000 Debt Offering

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced the pricing of $1,065,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 4.20% notes due 2047. This offering is expected to be sold to professional institutional investors in Taiwan, with application to be made to list the notes on the Taipei Exchange. Pfizer intends to use the net offering proceeds for general corporate purposes, including to repay a portion of its outstanding commercial paper. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on March 17, 2017, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. BNP Paribas, Taipei Branch and Deutsche Bank AG, Taipei Branch are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Deutsche Bank AG, Taipei Branch, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Mizuho Securities USA Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Standard Chartered Bank, Academy Securities, Inc., Seibert Cisneros Shank & Co., L.L.C. and The Williams Capital Group, L.P. are acting as structuring agents for the offering. Each structuring agent, other than Deutsche Bank AG, Taipei Branch, is an entity not licensed in the Republic of China, has not offered or sold, and will not subscribe for or sell or underwrite, any of the notes. The offering of these securities is being made only by means of a prospectus. Copies may be obtained by calling BNP Paribas, Taipei Branch at 1-800-854-5674 or Deutsche Bank AG, Taipei Branch at 1-800-503-4611. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the notes, nor will there be any sale of the notes in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. About Pfizer At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. e strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world's best-known consumer health care 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 one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we 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, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us.



Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements made 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. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. We have tried, wherever possible, to identify such statements by using words such as "will," "may," "could," "likely," "ongoing," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "target," "forecast," "goal," "objective," "aim" and other words and terms of similar meaning or by using future dates in connection with any discussion of, among other things, expectations regarding the completion of the notes offering and the use of proceeds. A list and description of risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, including in the sections thereof captioned "Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results" and "Risk Factors," in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, in our Current Reports on Form 8-K, and in the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus, in each case including in the section thereof captioned "Risk Factors." You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors. Consequently, you should not consider any such list to be a complete set of all potential risks or uncertainties.

We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will be realized, although we believe we have been prudent in our plans and assumptions. Achievement of anticipated results is subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary materially from past results and those anticipated, estimated or projected. You should bear this in mind as you consider forward-looking statements, and you are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law or by the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC (News - Alert)"). You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our reports on Form 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and our other filings with the SEC. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005660/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Fact check: What's true, what's not in Indiana candidates' election ads

IndyStar fact checked claims in some of the latest TV ads so voters know which claims are based in truth ahead of election day
Guwahati, Feb 24 (IBNS): Security forces have apprehended a NSCN (R) cadre in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday.

Kohima based Defence PRO Colonel Chiranjeet Konwer said that, in the series of intense operations on underground outfits, delivering yet another blow to ULFA(I) and NSCN(K), the Jairampur Battalion under the aegis of DAO division conducted a successful operation at Kharsang village Friday morning.

Based on specific intelligence about presence of one cadre trying to terrorize and attempting forced extortion at Kharsang village, security troops launched search operation in the remote area and apprehended a NSCN (R) cadre identified as Sampit Kitman.

The security personnel recovered Narcotics and blank extortion note in possession from him.

Post spot interrogation he admitted allegiance to NSCN(R), he further divulged that he has been actively assisting and acting as Rajapio for the organisation.

The security forces has been carrying out aggressive operations in the South Arunachal Pradesh and this apprehension has struck a blow to the extortion activities being carried out by the underground cadres of the group in the area.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
New Delhi, Feb 24 (IBNS): Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Friday expressed shock over the killing of Indian engineer at a Kansas city bar shooting in USA.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family," Swaraj tweeted.

In what is treated as a hate crime in USA, the Indian engineer was shot dead and two others were injured when an American man opened fire on them at a Kansas city bar after shouting "get out of my country".

Swaraj said that she has spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Navtej Sarna.

"He informed me that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to Kansas," the Minister informed.

According to media reports, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, who was working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting on Wednesday night, while his colleagues Alok Madasani and Ian Grillot, an American, who reportedly tried to save the Indians, were also injured in the shooting.

"Indian Ambassador has also informed me that Alok Madasani who was injured in the incident has been discharged from the hospital," Swaraj posted.

The Minister also promised to provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family.

"I have spoken to the father and Mr.K.K.Shastri brother of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Hyderabad and conveyed my condolences to the family," she wrote.

Swaraj said she will make all arrangements for the transportation of the body of Srinivas .

"We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderbad," said she.

According to The Kansas City Star, the Olathe man who reportedly told the victims to get out of my country before he shot them in an Olathe bar was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the death of one of the victims.

The killer has been identified as 51-year-old Adam W. Purinton. It was a tragic and senseless act of violence, said Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke.

According to Kansas City Star, Kuchibhotla died at a hospital after the 7:15 p.m. shooting in Austins Bar & Grill near 151st Street and Mur-Len Road.



The victim's company Garmin issued a public statement: Were saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last nights incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow."



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed her shock at the incident: " I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotia has been killed. My hearfelt condolences to the bereaved family," she tweeted.

The accused is reportedly a Navy veteran.

The Indian consulate said Consul Ravindra Joshi and Vice Consul Harpal Singh rushed to Kansas to assist the shooting victim.

Meanwhile, support started pouring in as a page was created on GoFundMe by someone to help the victim's family.



A post on the site read: "My name is Brian Ford and I live in Shawnee, KS. (About 15 minutes from the location of the shooting at Austins bar and grill in Olathe, KS.)

"I am not related to either victim, but have a close friend who works at Garmin, where Srinivas and Alok both worked. I was motivated to start this page the morning after the shooting because I couldn't find a way to donate to the two men who were targeted. (A third victim was shot when he stepped in to help - his sister had already set up a funding page for his medical care.)"

"Any raised funds are expected to be used for medical and funeral expenses, as needed."
(Update, 3/1/2017, 02:30 p.m. PST: The dev kits are now available from the Manus VR website. The company is also selling wrist straps for the HTC Vive Tracker for 200 and a hand-washing set for 50. A license for Unity 5 and Unreal Engine 4 plugins costs 500; a MoCap license costs 2,000. Manus VR also offers one year of technical support for 2,500.)

Manus VR announced that its Development Kit will debut for 1,000 EUR on March 1. This will give devs the chance to experiment with the company's gloves, which offer full finger tracking, thumb tracking, haptic feedback, and other features that are supposed to make VR experiences more immersive.

Manus VR said the dev kits are "compatible with leading VR and Motion Capture Systems such as the HTC Vive, Xsens, Vicon, PhaseSpace and OptiTrack." The company will provide a pair of gloves; an SDK for C++ and C#; and a variety of tools for Unity 5, Unreal Engine 4, and Motion Builder.

Previous dev kits cost $250; it's not clear why the gloves quadrupled in price in just 11 months. Perhaps it has something to do with Manus VR's work with organizations like NASA and the resulting improvements made to the hardware. The company implied that was the case in a press release:

"Since we started shipping our engineering samples last year, weve received an incredible demand for a professional data-glove" said Stephan van den Brink, CEO at Manus VR. Working closely with our early access developers such as NASA, MIT and Cambridge University we were able to enhance our product to an unpreceded level.

Improved hardware could help Manus VR. We had a (literal) hands-on (Editor's note: Hands-in?) with the product in June 2016 and found that it had a lot of promise but ultimately fell short of its goals:

This is all very much a work in progress. At times, not every finger was tracked, in particular my pinky, and often other fingers as well. Sometimes the tracking was just slightly off, although during Pillow's Willow (which doesn't require too much fine motor precision), I didn't really experience any latency or inaction. Thumb rotation is a crucial, natural element, so that will be a welcome addition. In the full arm demo, all of my joint movements looked quite natural, but my shoulders seemed as if they had been moved in by a few inches on each side of my body.

Still, those problems did little to hurt the hype surrounding Manus VR's gloves. Who doesn't want to reach out to grasp virtual objects with their own hands instead of a motion controller, gamepad, or other input device? (Not to mention the Minority Report feel of navigating interfaces with gestures.)

Each glove boasts a "high quality rechargeable battery" and is hand washable. Manus VR said the Development Kit is expected to ship in Q2 2017, and more information is available on its website. You can see the glove in action--albeit in a rather limited tech demo--in the video below.

Manus VR didn't say when its glove might be released to consumers. The company might want to hurry: A prototype glove peripheral from Oculus was recently spotted in a photo shared by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and companies like NeuroDigital have also been working on similar concepts.
New delhi, Feb 24 (IBNS): Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari on Friday said that the East African Community is taking shape as an Economical and Political Community and many of our programmes and initiatives in the region will no longer be purely bilateral but will have to be adapted to work for the entire community.

He was addressing the Media Onboard Air India One aircraft while returning back from a 5-day visit to Rwanda and Uganda.

The Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Vijay Sampla and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.



The Vice President said that there had been a gap in high level visits to both of these countries and this visit filled that gap.

He further said that the level of discussions in both the countries were extremely warm and cordial, adding that his meetings went beyond pro-forma.

The meeting with the President of Uganda was substantive and productive and reinforced our long standing ties, he said.



The Vice President said that India's approach, as long standing friends, has been to give our African partners assistance in their developmental programmes in those areas where they want and it is them to convert that into specific requests.

He further said that the broader issues of India's approach to cooperation with African Countries are well known and well appreciated.

"One issue of concern to both I diamond and Africa is scourge of terrorism and there was a total meeting of minds in condemning terrorism in all shapes and forms," he added.



The Vice President said that the visit of Kigali Genocide Memorial was a tribute to the determination of the people of Rwanda and that he was glad that they were able to overcome that heart-rending disaster and re-build their country.



Reacting to a question on trade imbalance, the Vice President said that there was trade imbalance with Uganda as India exports a lot of things to them and their export basket to India was presently limited.

He further said that there are two ways to address this; one by increasing the products in their export basket and two; instead of exporting finished goods from India to Uganda, some Indian manufacturers could set up their manufacturing units in Uganda.



Responding to a question on Parliamentary cooperation with both countries, the Vice President said that there is a need for having more Parliamentary interactions.

He further said that a Parliamentary visit from Rwanda and Uganda will expose them to what is happening in India and witness our developmental programmes.



Reacting to a question on India sustaining engagements with Africa, the Vice President said that it was a part of Government's policy and that the India-Africa summit and various other initiatives make this evident.

He further said that the sheer size of Africa with 54 countries and one billion people, create enormous chances of cooperation and of sharing our experience and skills which are useful to them.

Africa also has enormous resources which can be useful as India's development requirements come up, he added.


Razer announced the new Power Bank to make sure people don't have to worry about their laptop, smartphone, or other portable gizmos dying on them.

The Power Bank has a 12,800mAh battery that Razer said can add up to six hours of battery life to its Razer Blade Stealth Ultrabook. The device is also compatible with other USB Type-C compatible laptops such as the Dell XPS 13 or Asus Zenbook, and the USB Type-A output ports will allow people to plug in their smartphones, tablets, e-readers, and other devices, too. (No word on how much extra battery life Power Bank will offer those products.)

Razer said the Power Bank supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and Apple fast charge, which means it can "refuel devices up to four times faster than conventional charging." Power Bank can simultaneously charge up to three devices thanks to its two USB Type-A ports and the USB Type-C connector. The Power Bank itself recharges in approximately two hours via the Razer Blade Stealth 45W adapter--which costs an additional $50.

The Power Bank will be available from Razer's storefront in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, and France starting March 2017. It will cost $150 / 170 / 145. More information about the product, which was designed to fit in "most pockets" and match Razer's aesthetic, is below.
Most anyone would be ecstatic if they were on the receiving end of a $500 million judgment, but evidently, cash isnt enough for Zenimax. Reuters reported that ZeniMax is seeking to block sales of all products that rely on ZeniMaxs code. The company filed for a permanent injunction against Oculus in the same court that presided over the lawsuit.

If granted, the injunction against Oculus would put a stop to sales of the Oculus Rift VR HMD and Samsungs Gear VR. ZeniMax purports that Oculus distributed the code in question to developers, too, which could put some VR games at risk.

At the beginning of February, the first major battle between ZeniMax and Oculus came to a bitter end. In 2014, shortly after Facebook acquired Oculus, ZeniMax famously filed a lawsuit against Oculus and its parent company. ZeniMax argued that Oculus had misappropriated trade secrets regarding VR technology and breached a non-disclosure agreement.

After three years of waiting, the trial between the two companies began in January, and it didnt go well for Oculus. After three weeks of arguments, the jury deliberated throughout the final weekend of January and delivered a severe blow to Oculus on February 1.

The Jury cleared Oculus of the misappropriation charges but sided with ZeniMax over the non-disclosure agreement. The courts awarded ZeniMax $500 million and ordered Oculus to pay $300 million of that. The rest of the funds will come from the pockets of Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe.

Days after the judgment, John Carmack responded to the situation with a post on his Facebook page in which he expressed his displeasure with the outcome. He argued that the methods used by ZeniMaxs expert were questionable, and he insinuated that the prosecution used vague terms to help sway the narrative.

Oculus, of course, isnt satisfied with the outcome and intends to continue fighting the judgment. Following the court's ruling, Oculus said it would file an appeal.

We reached out to ZeniMax for a comment but have yet to receive a response. We also spoke with Oculus, which had this to say about the situation:

ZeniMaxs motion does not change the fact that the verdict was legally flawed and factually unwarranted. We look forward to filing our own motion to set aside the jurys verdict and, if necessary, filing an appeal that will allow us to put this litigation behind us.

Evidently, Oculus isnt ready to go down without a fight, but there's more at stake here for the VR industry in general; the loss of a major player this early could be a major setback for the entire market.
We generally look pretty favourably on any institution that sets out to immortalise the artform of rock n roll, but when you end up with a situation that pits it against the very rock stars who are meant to be honoured there, its not an ideal situation to say the least.

Thats what were looking at here, sadly, as one of the biggest collections of historical rock and roll material in the world has become embroiled in a legal dispute with some of rocks biggest names  all over some decades-old concert recordings.

At the centre of the storm is Wolfgang Vaults, a repository dedicated to the collection, restoration and preservation of important pieces of music history, but of course it makes a little money along the way. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, it was once described by The Wall Street Journal as the most important collection of rock memorabilia and recordings ever assembled, and valued at over 100 million USD, but its those recordings that have dragged The Rolling Stones legendary guitarist Keith Richards, The Whos axeman Pete Townshend, R.E.M frontman Michael Stipe, and Talking Heads David Byrne into a messy legal battle.

The case stems back to 2015 when the National Music Publishers Association led its members to file suit against the companys founder William Sagan, The Hollywood Reporter details, claiming that it doesnt hold the requisite licenses to be streaming these recording. Sagan countersued for defamation, of course, and the case has become more and more complicated from there. His company has gone on the offensive, demanding depositions of a host of the musos whose concert recordings are in question, which has dragged the aforementioned Richards and Stipe into the battle.

Its a complex case with all sorts of implications over issues of copyright, with Sagans side arguing that by allowing their concerts to be recorded, musicians created an implied license for the recordings to be replayed and redistributed at a later date, as well as pointing to a complete lack of action from the artists and apparent rightsholders until very recently.

Originally seeking to rope in dozens of rock stars with depositions, Sagan and Co. ended up settling for only the big, Rolling Stones-sized fish listed above. Not quite feeling like being caught up in court proceedings, Richards et al have employed various methods to avoid having their day in court, and the case has raised more and more questions over who, if anyone, can actually claim ownership over these recordings. As of now, the cranky guitarist wont have to appear in court over the matter, but he will have to answer 25 written questions  poor Keef.

You can read more details about the case on The Hollywood Reporter, and itll certainly be an interesting one to watch unfold  perhaps in a decade our mobile phone recordings of that Kanye show will be coming under a similar level of scrutiny.
PPCA and the Australia Council have announced they will be offering another series of $15,000 grants, to assist Australian artists with new sound recordings.

The successful applicants of the 2016 grants included: Martha Marlow, Barney McAll, Robbie Miller, Sophie Payten, Sean Congues and Johnny Mackay from Children Collide, who have all used their funds to record new projects.

Dan Rosen, PPCA Chief Executive Officer said We are really pleased to be able to offer these grants again, and contribute to the diversity of Australian music. The response to last years initiative was incredibly strong and a great indication of the quality of our recording artists.

We look forward to working with the Australia Council again to help more local artists realise their musical ambition.

Applications are now open and will close on 26 April. To apply for a grant, head here.
New-to-market pizza joint destined for Kennesaw

MOD Pizza , an industry leader in the "create your own pizza" segment, has signed its first Atlanta area lease. MOD Pizza will open in Kennesaw at Kennesaw Marketplace, at the corner of Cobb and Barrett Parkways. The pizza joint will occupy a 2,390 square foot space, originally leased to competitor Pie Five Pizza. Pie Five retreated from the Atlanta market last year and abandoned their plans to develop a number of locations while still keeping open existing restaurants in Newnan and McDonough.





MOD, which stands for "made on demand," was founded in Seattle in 2008 by husband and wife Scott & Ally Svenson* and today includes about 200 locations across 20 states and a few in the United Kingdom.





Last month, MOD Pizza announced it had signed its ninth franchisee: Southern Pie, LLC. The franchise group, led by Robbie Hill and his daughter, Kimberly Hill Hayden, will develop MOD stores in Georgia and Alabama. The Hills are multi-industry entrepreneurs who have built and operated successful construction and healthcare companies, and also operate a number of Bojangles franchises in the southeast.

Sources say that Southern Pie may open as many as three MOD Pizza restaurants in the coming months but that the Kennesaw restaurant will likely be the first to open.

Other possible MOD locations could include Fuqua Development's Peachtree Corners Town Center across from The Forum in Norcross or Decatur Square from developer S. J. Collins Enterprises.

An 11 inch pie is the standard, and most commonly ordered size of pizza at MOD. While the exact price differs slightly by location, the standard pie is often about eight bucks and comes with unlimited toppings.

MOD enters the Atlanta market at a time when competitor Blaze Pizza is preparing its local debut with a location in Decatur and competitor Pieology recently closed its only area location in Alpharetta

MOD and Pasadena, California based Blaze are the two largest players in the "create your own" quick serve pizza industry, each with about 200 locations. Rancho Santa Margarita, California based Pieology is a close third with over 130 locations. Last summer Pieology acquired Carlsbad, California based Project Pie, a competing concept started by James Markham. Markham has played a major role in the entire industry, having co-founded MOD (2008)* and later co-founded Pieology (2011), before starting Project Pie (2012.)

Athens based Your Pie started in 2008, and according to its website, has 39 locations, with 11 more "coming soon."

Although not listed on the website, a Kennesaw location of Your Pie is in the works.

Brothers Jac ob and Justin Patters on took over the Roswell Your Pie in 2015 and have said they plan to open a number of new locations in the coming years, inclu ding one in K ennesaw.

Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint , started by Moe's Southwest Grill co-founder Matt Andrew, already has a Kennesaw location on Chastain Road. Uncle Maddio's started at Toco Hills in 2009 and began franchising in 2010. Unlike Blaze, Pieology, Your Pie and MOD, Uncle Maddio's has seen numerous franchise failures with reports of at least 18 closures, and 27 active units.

Are you excited for the opening of MOD Pizza in Kennesaw? Have you been to MOD Pizza before? Where else would you like to see MOD Pizza open?
"Mike Shanin interviews U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder about key issues in the new administration including education and healthcare. Then Mary Anne Murray Simons, Jim Heeter, Patrick Tuohey and Steve Mirakian discuss the battle over a vetoed budget bill in Kansas which was ultimately sustained by the Senate after a House override, the continuing debate over a JOCO alternative to KCI and Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch."

Even the most passionate disagreement over public policy seems mundane amid today's news of gunfire and hate crime . . . Still, that doesn't mean it's not important.And so, this evening we focus on the localof Kansas City discourse . . . Here's a glimpse oftonight . . .You decide . . .
TKC READER: The 800-million April Bond Scam Continues

NEARLY every City, State or other municipal government, that has had their credit turned to JUNK, have received a credit warning EXACTLY like this before things blew up.

"The negative outlook reflects the growth of the city's pension obligation and, when coupled with the elevated debt burden, the increase of fixed costs outpacing revenue growth."

The City is borrowing, WITHOUT a vote of the people, $153,645,000.00

We're told that the upcoming GO bond is desperately needed to fund projects because the City has such a tight budget.Tony's Kansas City is the ONLY place that called BS on this, and again,that see this for what it really is.by our Mayor, Lying-Sly James.This is a threat to. It's like telling the City, your current actions are NOT prudent and you better slow down before you make a costly mistake.Detroit, Chicago, and all the other poorly run cities across our nation that have gone belly up, have first been warned with awarning.Here is what the report said:Here's a bit of a surprise.This current rating was performed at the request of the city because they are borrowing through Special Obligation Bonds scheduled to be sold this month.Of that, 31-million is taxable. Which means the city would only issue taxable bonds for non-government entities. If you're thinking that sounds like your tax-dollars supporting non-essential projects (or private business gifts) you would be correct.Perhaps that 31,000,000 could go to curb-streets-and sidewalks and not some private entity.So the city says there is a budget crunch that taxpayers need to cover it with an $800,000,000 GO bondAt the same, andin the same breath, the City sells 150-MILLION special obligation bonds paid for with extra funds (those are your tax dollars by the way).Remember, last year they sold more than 300-million special obligation bonds, again, paid for with your extra tax dollars and not a new tax increase.That's $450,000,000 in roughly 12 months, all supported withthe City seems to have lying around for everythingbasic infrastructure projects.Could not some of the $450,000,000 issued over the last year be used to fill some pot-holes and fix a few sidewalks, since it's entirely supported with extra tax-dollars the city seems to find when it wants something voters won't approve?#############








GIVEN THE TOUGHER KANSAS ECONOMY, INCREASED VIOLENCE OVERALL AND NOW AN ALLEGED HATE CRIME . . . HAS OLATHE BECOME THE WORST CITY IN THE GOLDEN GHETTO???

First a recap and more reporting on a tragic spate of gunfire that left one dead and could be prosecuted as a hate crime . . .And so . . .Last year suburban denizens threw "shade" at the problems of Overland Park but as of late a great deal of bar crime, home burglaries and political turmoil has hit this somewhat rural community and caused increased fear for the future.You decide . . .
Die Linke vice-president and Bundestag member Sahra Wagenknecht said that if remaining in the unified currency proves too hard for Greece then the country should "decide for its people"

The latest call for "Grexit" being heard out of Germany has a far-left coloring, as Die Linke vice-president and Bundestag member Sahra Wagenknecht said that if remaining in the unified currency proves too hard for Greece then the country should "decide for its people".

Wagenknecht, who is married to veteran leftist lawmaker Oskar Lafontaine and who represents the more radical wing of the leftist party, was quoted by the German daily "Rheinische Post".

"...there are, however, indications that the economic recovery (in Greece) after the harsh measures taken, will be easier," she said, while at the same time sharply criticizing German FinMin Wolfgang Schaeuble.

"... he (Schaeuble) knows or at least should know that Greece is bankrupt."

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
The "gains" of last Monday's Eurogroup have already been reflected on the Greek political climate

The "gains" of last Monday's Eurogroup have already been reflected on the Greek political climate. The government is buying time as 2017 and 2018 are free from measures, according to government officials.

This time is necessary so that the programme agreed with the institutions is concluded, the economy recovers and the country taps the markets. Meanwhile, the social programme, or the so called parallel programme, will be fully implemented.

"The key message has been given and this is the restoration of stability, the final end of risky and catastrophic scenarios and the consolidation of confidence in the Greek economy," government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos on Tuesday said during a press briefing.

Government sources stressed to the Athens Macedonian News Agency the importance of European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici's statement. Moscovici said that "the Eurogroup allowed the return of the institutions in Athens in order to create a balanced package."

The same sources said that the Greek government insists on asking German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to adopt more realistic positions because the 3.5 percent surplus target for 10 years is not realistic at all.

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
Image: twitter.com/sarbanandsonwal

Guwahati, Feb 24 (IBNS) : In a bid to expedite the utilization of central funds, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal issued stern directions to all government departments to complete proper utilization of the same within Mar 31, 2017.

While reviewing the fund utilization of government schemes in a meeting held today in the CMs conference hall at Janata Bhawan, the Assam CM further asked the departments to take appropriate measures to utilize the fund following due rules and procedures.



Noteworthy to mention that as against the release of central fund of Rs. 12,584.80 crore by the previous state government from April 1, 2015 to Feb 23, 2016, the present state government has released an amount of Rs. 17,690.81 crore upto Feb 23, 2017.



Sonowal said that the central government is very much eager to release more funds for expediting development in the state.



Keeping this in mind, all government departments will have to spend the fund within a fixed time frame adding that proper use of the fund will have to be ensured, the Assam CM said.



Sonowal also asked the heads of the departments to visit Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao every fortnight to take stock of progress of work and utilization of fund.



Sonowal also directed the concerned Deputy Commissioners to strictly monitor the execution of works to ensure their quality.



The Assam CM reviewed the implementation of PMGSY in the state under which eight thousand kilometres of roads to be constructed connecting 5,766 villages and directed the PWD department to ensure completion of the work within fixed timeframe.

Further as a partner state of the forthcoming International Handloom Expo to be held at Gujarat, the Assam CM also directed the Handloom & Textiles Department to showcase the colourful handloom products of different communities of the state to take it to an international level.

Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam VK Pipersenia and other senior officials of state government were present in the meeting.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Turkeys provocations in the Aegean are mostly linked with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans referendum on changing Turkeys state system and his responsibilities as president,

Turkeys provocations in the Aegean are mostly linked with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans referendum on changing Turkeys state system and his responsibilities as president, main opposition New Democracys (ND) shadow minister for foreign affairs George Koumoutsakos said on Friday.

I have already said that Turkey will possibly seek escalation of the tension in Aegean, he said in an interview with Eidiseis newspaper, referring to the possibility of an incident with Turkey.

Koumoutsakos also harshly attacked the government over the recent Eurogroup agreement on Greece:

These measures will impact all tax-payers but most of all those that are financially weakest and pensioners. I dont believe that by imposing these measures he (prime minister Alexis Tsipras) pushes early elections further away.

On the possibility of return to the drachma, Koumoutsakos said that nobody can be certain with Mr. Tsipras.

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
Greek police arrested nine individuals in three cities in Greece accused of being involved in a human trafficking ring. After a prolonged operation that took place in Athens, Thessaloniki and Katerini, the special immigration unit arrested five Greek nationals, four Pakistanis, while a Greek and a Bulgarian, who were already in custody, were identified as the ring leaders. Eleven more individuals are also accused of similar charges. According to the police report, the criminal group was involved in trafficking illegal immigrants via the land borders between Turkey and Greece. After investigations Greek police determined their illicit activities has started in October 2016.

Two of the ring members were responsible for finding immigrants in Turkey and transporting them across the Evros river borders between Greece and Turkey. Once over the borders two other members would transport the immigrants in Vans to special refugee processing camps in Thessaloniki, Athens and Thebes. Authorities estimate the ring has managed to transport over 200 illegal immigrants into Greece. During the arrests police confiscated 1 hand gun, 1 hunting rifle, 2 magazines and 35 cartridges.

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
A deal for the creation of the first casino-resort in Cyprus is expected to be signed in the coming weeks, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said

A deal for the creation of the first casino-resort in Cyprus is expected to be signed in the coming weeks, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on development plans and public expenditure control.

He added that the government is nearing the final steps on signing the agreement, with only a few details remaining to be clarified.

Sigmas correspondent has learnt that the issue will be brought to the cabinet for a decision as soon as possible, so the process can move forward.

According to Sigmas information there will be a study on the project, which when completed will move to the National Authority for Gaming and Casinos, which is expected to issue the necessary licenses to be constructed in Limassol.

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
Boosting investments in Macedonia and the creation of a Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki was discussed in a series of meetings with U.S. Ambassador to Greece

Boosting investments in Macedonia and the creation of a Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki was discussed in a series of meetings between U.S. Ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt, and the regional governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas and city mayor Yiannis Boutaris on Friday.

During the meeting with Tzitzikostas, American diplomats presented the projects supported by the United States in Greece, according to a press release by the regional government.

Mr. Tzitzikostas told the American diplomats that Central Macedonia could attract important investments in the coming years in various sectors in which the United States are interested in and have innovative businesses. He also explained the efforts to ensure that the region of Western Macedonia will be the first to exit the crisis, the press release said.

The meetings were also attended by the U.S. Consulate General to Thessaloniki, Rebecca A. Fong.

In Pyatts meeting with Boutaris, the mayor expressed his intention to speed up the creation of the Holocaust Museum, noting the aim is to promote the citys history and spread the message of Never again. He also said the Holocaust is an event of exceptional importance for Thessaloniki, as a large part of its population perished.

Concerning the issue of refugees, Boutaris briefed the ambassador on the REACT program which is being implemented by the municipality in cooperation with the UNHCR.

On his side, Pyatt said he wants to make Thessaloniki known as a gateway to the Balkans and informed about his countrys intention to offer know-how for the Holocaust Museum, the municipality said.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
The total value of non-oil trade between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia reached Dh17 billion ($4.6 billion) in 11 months during 2016, based on statistics that focussed mainly on the imports through Abu Dhabis land, sea, and airports, a report said.



According to the official statistics, Saudi Arabia came in second place on the list of the countries that traded mainly in non-oil products with Abu Dhabi from January to November 2016, while China came first place in the list, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency.



Trading ties between the entire UAE and Saudi Arabia are growing steadily, according to financial and economic experts. They also expect a future increase of trade between the two countries, which could further strengthen their overall economic ties.



The experts added that the increase in trade between the UAE and Saudi Arabia is consistent with the distinguished ties between both countries on different levels during previous decades. The joint economic and trade committees between the two countries have also contributed to facilitating the trade through various sea and land ports.



The value of trade exports of non-oil products from Abu Dhabi to Saudi Arabia reached around Dh3.62 billion during the 11 months of 2016, while the imports reached Dh10.7 billion.



The value of re-exported products from Abu Dhabi to Saudi Arabia reached around Dh2.8 billion during the same corresponding period in 2016.
American travelers rejoice; Ireland and Scotland are just a few bucks away. Approved to begin its low-cost airline operations for its US to Ireland and Scotland routes, Norwegian airlines promises rates as low as $32 per flight by using fuel-efficient airplanes in its US to Ireland and Scotland routes. Londoners may also rejoice as the airline has received clearance to fly direct from London Gatwick Airport to Greece's Rhodes.

According to Travel and Leisure -- citing an FAA spokesperson -- the Norway-based airline company has received clearance to use Boeing 737-800s from New York's Stewart International airport, Rhode Island's T.F Green Airport and Connecticut Bradley International Airport for budget travels to Ireland and Scotland. Stops would include Cork, Ireland and Edinburgh, Scotland.

Norwegian Air Communications Director Anders Lindstrom said that the company was "excited" to "announce our new transatlantic 737 -MAX flights" complete with "routes, start dates and fares." The company has yet to announce the publishing of the latter information Lindstrom has mentioned.

Norwegian Airlines also has plans for London travelers heading to Greece. According to Express UK, from London's Gatwick Airport, British travelers could head directly to Rhodes without having to go with interconnecting flights in the country's other Islands. Norwegian Airlines had not flown directly to Rhodes until its new program, but flies only to four other islands -- with one airport near the Island.

According to Express UK, the direct London, Rhodes, and Greece budget flights would begin by June 17 and could cost Londoners about 30 per flight. Norwegian Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Ramdahl said the Norwegian is dedicated to "offering UK passengers even more choice and lower fares than ever before" to popular European destinations.

Ramdahl added that Rhodes in Greece is "a fantastic addition" to its growing number of UK direct flight services. Norwegian Airlines flies direct budget flights from London to Corfu, Crete, Kefalonia and Santorini.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Being in an airplane 35,000 ft above the ground can alter travelers' taste buds. Therefore, a well-made brew is needed to challenge the issue. Now, Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong Beer Company, and McCann Worldgroup have teamed up to create the world's first in-flight beer.

The beer known as Betsy was named after Cathay Pacific's first aircraft - the Douglas DC-3 which flew during the 1940s and 1950s. Advancement in technology has led the brewery to craft a beer with aviation science and traditional brewing techniques to create a drink that tastes superbly up in the air.

General Manager and Marketing at Cathay Pacific Airways Julian Lyden said in a press release that they want passengers to experience something memorable for the first time. "Betsy beer is a great example of this. A beautifully crafted product designed purely with the traveler, and beer lover, in mind," she said.

And since Betsy is a wheat beer, passengers will get to taste less bitterness in the drink. HK Beer Company made the brew to increase its carbonation of more than 10 percent so that it can enhance the receptors on the tongue.

And for all of its worth, the world's first in-flight beer has Vitamin B because it's considered as an unfiltered brew. Some of the ingredients of Betsy include dragon eye fruit and New Territories honey from Hong Kong and Fuggle hops from Kent, UK.

At the moment, the beer is only available for first and business class passengers of Cathay Pacific. They'll need to wait five days more for the beer to roll out in all aircraft with flights between Hong Kong and the UK.

However, the Betsy beer can also be availed in Hong Kong and London Heathrow airport lounges. Some restaurants in Hong Kong like Mr. and Mrs. Fox, Cafe Gray Deluxe, Plat du Jour, Public, Sugar and The Continental are selling the beer by March.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
New York, Feb 24 (Just Earth News): Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, the United Nations health agency on Thursday reported, estimating that it affects more than 300 million people worldwide a the majority of them women, young people and the elderly.

An estimated 4.4 per cent of the global population suffers from depression, according to a report released on Thursday by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), which shows an 18 per cent increase in the number of people living with depression between 2005 and 2015.

Depression is different from usual mood fluctuations and short-lived emotional responses to challenges in everyday life, the WHO said.

According to the report, which was released on Thursday ahead of Aprils World Health Day, prevalence rates seem to peak in adults at around 60 years of age, but are also seen in teenagers.

When long-lasting and with moderate or severe intensity, depression may become a serious health condition leading, at its worst, to suicide. According to the report, some 800,000 people kill themselves every year, a significant number of them young adults between the ages of 15 and 29.

Depression results from a complex interaction of social, psychological and biological factors, WHO said, adding that depression can lead to more stress and dysfunction and worsen the affected persons life situation.

To reduce depression, the UN agency recommends effective school-based programmes and exercise regimes.

Different psychological and psychosocial treatments were also noted in the report, which notes that health-care providers may offer behavioural activation, cognitive behavioural therapy [CBT], and interpersonal psychotherapy [IPT], or antidepressant medication (such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors [SSRIs] and tricyclic antidepressants [TCAs]).

Among the findings, however, the authors caution against using antidepressants to treat children or to quickly offer them to adolescents.

Some psychological treatment formats for consideration include individual and/or group face-to-face psychological treatments delivered by professionals and supervised lay therapists.

Credit: WHO

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Feb 24 (Just Earth News): Welcoming the representatives of the Syrian Government and its opposition to the United Nations-facilitated negotiations that opened on Thursday in Geneva, Staffan de Mistura reiterated the need to work together for a political solution.

We face an uphill battle. It will not be easy, the UN Special Envoy for Syria said, but we must apply ourselves to this task.

Lets try to work together to end this horrible conflict and lay the foundation for a country at peace with itself, sovereign and unified, he noted.

Making reference to the Palais des Nations where the intra-Syrian negotiations are being held, he said the UN headquarters in Switzerland was a symbol unifying all of us given its history and could be the place where Syrians started a long, hard journey to peace.

He stressed that after six years of conflict, people are waiting for a relief from all suffering and dream for a new road out of this nightmare.

de Mistura is continuing to push for a resolution to the conflict based on UN Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) that endorsed a road map for peace process in Syria, including specific language on governance, constitution, elections, and even how negotiations should be timed.

On Thursdays intra-Syrian negotiations follow talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, where participants agreed on how to monitor the ceasefire effort started in December 2016.

As in Astana, representatives of Russia and the United States are among the Security Council Member States present at the discussions.

Syrian women and children bearing the brunt

The Special Envoy also pledged to do everything to promote the role of Syrian women in the political efforts.

Earlier on Thursday, he was greeted by a group of Syrian women holding a vigil in Geneva for relatives and friends  sometimes children  who had been arrested, abducted or are still missing apparently as a result of the Government or the opposition.

Calling them Syrian mothers, wives and daughters, de Mistura said they were symbolic of everyone still missing in this horrible conflict.

He pledged to raise the issue of detainees, abducted and missing people as part of the ongoing discussions.

Meanwhile, the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday urged participants to the talks to put Syrias children first.

In a statement UNICEF Regional Director Geert Cappelaera said at least 20 children were reportedly killed in attacks in the country since the start of this year, and many more injured.

The numbers are a grim indication that the cessation in hostilities announced last December has yet to result in real gains in protection and humanitarian assistance for all children in Syria, Cappelaera said.

What if these were your children? he asked.

UN Photo/Violaine Martin

Source: www.justearthnews.com
1134 travel organisations from 60 Countries are exhibiting at the OTM 2017. These include National and State Tourism Organisations, Hotels, Airlines, Destination Marketing Companies and other suppliers serving leisure as well as business travel and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Events) markets.



(TRAVPR.COM) INDIA - February 24th, 2017 - Exhibitors from a record number of 60 countries are showcasing their destinations in OTM 2017, the three day travel trade show from 21 to 23 February, at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre. This is by far the largest number of countries participating in any trade show in the country.

1134 travel organisations from 60 Countries are exhibiting at the OTM 2017. These include National and State Tourism Organisations, Hotels, Airlines, Destination Marketing Companies and other suppliers serving leisure as well as business travel and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Events) markets.

7392 travel trade visitors have pre-registered to attend the show. In addition, more than 500 buyers from travel trade and corporate sectors have qualified for special hosting privileges.

In addition to buyers from across India, international buyers from countries like Kuwait, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia and Thailand are also being flown in.

Mumbai is the largest source market for leisure and MICE travel in India. It accounts for some 60% of the outbound travel market in India, considering it is the most popular gateway for the entire West and South India.

A brand-new addition in OTM 2017 is the co-located BLTM- Business & Luxury Travel Mart. It is focused on the Business, Luxury and MICE segments, where qualified hosted buyers will meet the sellers by appointments.

Indian citizens whether travelling abroad or within the country are a much coveted and one of the fastest growing market for leisure as well as business travel segments.

Indian citizens whether travelling abroad or within the country are a much coveted and one of the fastest growing market for leisure as well as business travel segments.

According to the data published by Indias Ministry of Tourism, 20.38 million Indians took foreign trips out of India in 2015 (11.1% higher than 2014). The number of domestic trips within India was a whopping 1432 million (11.6% higher than in 2014). In contrast, the number of foreign tourist arrival was 8.03 million (4.05% higher than in 2014). OTM caters to all of these markets.

UNWTO estimates the number of Indian outbound travellers will grow to approximately 50 million in 2020, contributing $28 billion in expenditure.

To tap into this lucrative market, 59 foreign countries are participating in OTM 2017. These include Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Dubai, Egypt, Fiji, Fujairah, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Ras Al Khaimah, Romania, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sharjah, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam and country representations from Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Ecuador, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mongolia, Morocco, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Tanzania, United Kingdom, USA, etc.

This is by far the largest number of countries participating in any travel trade show in India.

###
When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site.
The lack of affordable housing is a dire problem in many major metropolitan areas. It is a complex issue, brought about by increased demand, falling home ownership rates among millennials, real estate speculation, and gentrification. Aiming to suggest one possible solution to a growing affordable housing crisis in Oakland, California, students from Laney College built this net-zero, solar-powered tiny home as part of a competition organized by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) last year.

 Laney College

 Laney CollegeDubbed

The Wedge, this economical, 200-square-foot home on a 20-foot trailer is designed for local residents who have been priced out of traditionally blue-collar neighbourhoods. The house has been designed with a "balanced energy system" that keeps maintenance costs low. The team explains some of the details of this net-zero energy building:

The Wedge is designed and built to produce as much energy is consumed. The Wedge generates its own power via an array of solar panels installed on the roof and is designed to run solely on its own generated power. Power from the solar panels is used to charge a bank of batteries so that there is enough power at all times to run lights, cook and use other devices within the home that consume electricity even when the suns not shining. An inverter is used to convert power from the 24 volt DC bank of batteries to standard household power of 120 volts AC for a limited number of devices requiring AC power. In general though, most of the lighting and other devices in the house are powered directly from DC power.

The Wedge gets its name from its distinct, jutting shape, which informs the sitting area on the interior, offering a sloping surface to lean against. There is built-in storage in the L-shaped seating, as well as the stairs leading up to the main sleeping loft.

 Laney College

 Laney College

It is also flexible in terms of occupancy, as it features two lofted beds -- one fitting a queen-sized bed, the other for a single bed -- meaning that the home is not designed just for singles and couples, but potentially for families too.

 Laney College

 Laney College

To keep the kitchen streamlined, everything is incorporated into the large counter, including a smaller-sized refrigerator, pantry and two-burner induction stovetop.

 Laney College

The dining and work surface has customized furniture that can tuck underneath.

 Laney College

To keep water usage low in a state that's been experiencing water scarcity for some time, a composting toilet is used in the bathroom. Greywater is reused for watering farm produce, after being filtered by a natural gravel and wetland plant based filtration system. The hope is that tiny houses like The Wedge can be incorporated somehow into a development plan that includes urban farming initiatives.

 Laney College

The team explains their electrical system further, which includes a solar panel array, as well as a battery bank to store surplus power. While there is an inverter to convert the 24 volt DC current into 120 volt AC, the design tries to eliminate the loss of power through conversion:

In general, we tried to power most of the lighting and other devices in the house directly from DC power so as to avoid the overhead of perhaps 10 to 10 percent that is incurred when converting power from the the 24 volt DC battery bank to 120 volt AC.

This approach has some trade-offs, though:

Our hot water will be heated with electricity and once again we chose to do that using 24 volts DC so as not to incur a power conversion overhead. We replaced the 120 volt 1650 watt heating element in a conventional 10 gallon electric water heater with a 24 volt 600 watt heating element and as a result it will take longer to heat our water. We have attempted to address this issue by setting a higher temperature on the water heater and using a thermostatic mixing valve.

 Laney College

The affordable housing crisis is a complex one indeed, one that will require not just the construction of smaller, cheaper homes. It'll require a sea change in policy, bylaws, building codes and how our social and economic systems work -- but certainly, smaller, more energy-efficient homes can be part of a bigger solution. Having won a bunch of accolades for the SMUD competition, including "Best Architecture" and "Best Design", The Wedge is now on sale for USD $55,000.

[Via: Tiny House Swoon]
Islamabad, Feb 24 (Just Earth News) Over the past fortnight, a series of bomb attacks claimed by a slew of armed groups has claimed the lives of more than 120 people and injured several more, raising concerns about the protection of human life, said Amnesty International.

All those suspected of responsibility for this horrific wave of violence must be brought to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts and without recourse to death penalty, said Nadia Rahman, Amnesty Internationals Pakistan campaigner.

Pakistans authorities have a responsibility to protect the lives of everyone in the country, and they must do so while upholding international law and standards. Resorting to cruel and inhumane methods will not address the root causes of the problem and risks perpetuating a cycle of violence.

A week ago more than 80 people were slain at the famed shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Sindh. Cities attacked earlier include Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, and Dera Ismail Khan.

After the Sehwan attack, the Pakistan authorities claimed to have killed 100 terrorists. No details have been disclosed about any criminal investigation, who was targeted, what their involvement was in the attacks, and why they were not brought to justice in fair trials.

The victims of these attacks deserve true justice, not a campaign of violent revenge in their name, said Nadia Rahman.

Pakistan's government has announced a new offensive, Operation Radd ul-Fasaad, and the paramilitary Rangers force has been given special powers to operate in Lahore and other parts of Punjab.

Amnesty International calls on the authorities to ensure that any security operations adhere to Pakistans obligations under international law.

The organization has documented crimes under international law and human rights violations under paramilitary troops in Karachi, including where people were subject to arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment, denied access to lawyers, medical support, and guarantees of a fair trial.

The injustices we saw in Karachi must not be revisited on people in Lahore or other parts of the country, said Nadia Rahman.

Pakistans parliament is currently debating proposals to revive the mandate of military courts to try civilians, after a two year mandate lapsed on January 7.

Amnesty International considers that the criminal jurisdiction of military courts, in Pakistan and in any other country, should be limited to trials of members of the military for breaches of military discipline; it should not extend to crimes under international law or human rights violations.

In accordance with international law, Amnesty International opposes the use of military courts to try civilians and, along with other organizations, has documented a catalogue of human rights violations flowing from them, including coerced confessions, opaque processes, executions, and unfair trials.

Every government has a responsibility to protect peoples lives and take necessary measures to provide for their security, but military courts are not the solution, said Nadia Rahman.

The only way to tackle with attacks on human rights is with justice, truth and reparation, not further human rights violations.

Image: UN Photo
Kansas, Feb 24 (IBNS): In what is treated as a hate crime in USA, an Indian engineer was shot dead and two others were injured when an American man opened fire on them at a Kansas city bar after shouting "get out of my country".

According to media reports, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, who was working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting on Wednesday night, while his colleagues Alok Madasani and Ian Grillot, an American, who reportedly tried to save the Indians, were also injured in the shooting.

According to The Kansas City Star, the Olathe man who reportedly told the victims to get out of my country before he shot them in an Olathe bar was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the death of one of the victims.

The killer has been identified as 51-year-old Adam W. Purinton. It was a tragic and senseless act of violence, said Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke.

According to Kansas City Star, Kuchibhotla died at a hospital after the 7:15 p.m. shooting in Austins Bar & Grill near 151st Street and Mur-Len Road.



The victim's company Garmin issued a public statement: Were saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last nights incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow."



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed her shock at the incident: " I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotia has been killed. My hearfelt condolences to the bereaved family," she tweeted.

The accused is reportedly a Navy veteran.

The Indian consulate said Consul Ravindra Joshi and Vice Consul Harpal Singh rushed to Kansas to assist the shooting victim.

Meanwhile, support started pouring in as a page was created on GoFundMe by someone to help the victim's family.

A post on the site read: "My name is Brian Ford and I live in Shawnee, KS. (About 15 minutes from the location of the shooting at Austins bar and grill in Olathe, KS.)

"I am not related to either victim, but have a close friend who works at Garmin, where Srinivas and Alok both worked. I was motivated to start this page the morning after the shooting because I couldn't find a way to donate to the two men who were targeted. (A third victim was shot when he stepped in to help - his sister had already set up a funding page for his medical care.)"

"Any raised funds are expected to be used for medical and funeral expenses, as needed."

Alok Madasani who survived the attack

Image: Facebook
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 24

The anti-snatching, robbery and dacoity-detection cell of the crime branch has arrested three snatchers, including one who, along with his accomplice, had robbed an Army man. The police claimed to have solved three cases of mobile phone snatching and one of robbery.

Shewale Sandip, a sepoy in the Army, was robbed off his luggage by two boys at Hallo Majra on February 20. While one of the accused, Neetu, was nabbed by the complainant the next day, the second accused was absconding.

Based on the complaint, a team of the crime branch, led by Inspector Amanjot Singh, initiated an investigation. The police said Vikas, alias Bunty, a resident of Nayagaon who was involved in the robbery, was arrested.

During the interrogation, Vikas revealed the names of two more persons, Monu and Ankit, both residents of Hallo Majra, who were involved in cases of mobile snatchings in the past.

Both accused were then arrested. The police have recovered three mobile phones from the accused.
S Nihal Singh

WITH the crucial election for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly past the half-way mark, the conflict between Mr Narendra Modi the BJPs street fighter, and the PM of the country has taken on a sharper edge. Mr Modi is no respecter of conventions, but it was a sound convention that for Assembly elections the PM makes a symbolic speech, leaving it to others to abuse opposition parties.

Mr Modis decision to be the chief campaigner in UP, as in other Assembly elections, flows from his single-minded devotion to rule the most important state in the Hindi heartland and in the process augment the partys strength in the Rajya Sabha. Apart from abusing opposition leaders, Mr Modi has introduced a communal tinge to the discourse by suggesting equal electricity supplies for Hindu and Muslim festivals.

Mr Modis thrust has largely been in decrying the leading opposition figures in a vocabulary the common man would understand. The law and order situation in the state leaves much to be desired and the PM aimed the ruling Samajwadi Party. And he had choice words to say in idiomatic Hindi on the alleged deficiencies of individual opposition leaders.

This raises a major dilemma for the Prime Minister fulfilling his responsibilities as the countrys leader. Surely, a PMs role is to unify the country taking the best of everyone. But his taunts and digs at opposition leaders will remain in public consciousness long after memories of the election campaign have receded.

During his intense campaigning in UP, Mr Modi has ranged over a variety of issues, from demonetisation to development. But the development theme has often been given second place to invectives. Is it a sign of desperation that no insult is out of bounds to win seats? UPs Chief Minister and leader of the Samajwadi Party, Mr Akhilesh Yadav, has proved a doughty campaigner, taking Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi under his wings, as it were.

Indeed, the dilemmas presented by Mr Modi in running the country and insulting opposition leaders are many. To begin with, the efficacy of a leader in rallying the country at a time of crisis is greatly reduced. In a parliamentary system, leaders belong to the majority party and their loyalty in the first instance is to the party, but that presupposes primary loyalty o the country. A PM belittling the leaders of the opposition, admittedly in campaigning, is an unwelcome intrusion in the healthy running of a democracy.

The moral of the story is that some conventions are good and need to be cherished. Apart from BJP president Amit Shah, there are a host of capable rabble rousers in the party who can fly the BJP flag in Assembly elections. Nobody objects to Mr Shah claiming all the virtues in the world for his party, but a Prime Minister compromises his position by becoming a partisan to paint the opposition black.

Perhaps the problem lies in Mr Modis concept of governance, which tilts to the presidential form, instead of a parliamentary kind. In his view, it is Modi ki sarkar that is fighting the UP election, and all elections. Believing that it was the Modi magic that won the BJP its victory in the 2014 general election, he has personalised every subsequent election at state level.

The fallacy in this argument is that what happened in 2014 may not be repeated nearly three years later. Inevitably, the initial sheen has worn off nearly three years later and the compromises a government  any government  has to make in the process along the way shine an unattractive light. It was at a meeting of party leaders with the then speaker of the Lok Sabha that led Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee to indicate his preference for a presidential form of government. Mr Modis own style has left no room to doubt that he endorses his ailing leaders view. But a highly personalised form of government is a problem in a country as diverse as India.

Indeed, the time has come to put the presidential form of government on the table. Let it be debated far and wide, instead of being brought in by stealth. If the symbolism of replacing Mahatma Gandhi by Mr Modi at the spinning wheel on the official Khadi calendar were not enough, Mr Modis taking over the UP election campaign is a telling sign of his intentions. In the meantime, the party must make a compact with its mentor, RSS, on the contours of a projected presidential system.

The other side of the coin is that, depending upon the UP election result, Mr Modi will have to own up his responsibility for greater glory or downturn. The BJP has gone to great lengths to put its best foot forward; certainly, Mr Shah has been assiduous in his devotion, first in selecting candidates, and in electioneering. Perhaps in giving the billing he has to UP, he has magnified his partys desperate need for victory.

Much is tied to UP elections because the next stage of the edifice being built for the BJP requires a run of successes, and Mr Modi has given so much time and effort for the cause that a setback would sit ill on the ceremonial Rajasthani turban he is fond of wearing on ceremonial occasions. There is time yet to to make more election speeches.

At one level, Mr Modi takes to campaigning like a duck takes to water. At another level, governing the country unhindered by electioneering must come as a relief to an administrator will a plate full of problems. He must also be wondering how long the effect of name-calling opposition leaders will take to wear off.
K V Prasad

It has been just about a month since Donald Trump assumed office as the President of the United States. Every country in the world and its leaders are watching with bated breath what the Trump presidency will mean for them and the country.

India is no exception. First signs of the way the wind is blowing across the Potomac came when President Trump picked up the phone and spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi drawing the broad contours of what the nature of engagement of his administration is going to be.

Since then other senior members of his Cabinet spoke with their counterparts Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar, respectively. The immediate takeaway is one of continuing the policy of deeper engagement with India.

Diplomatic decency and pragmatic attitude of the new US administration is not enough to calm down the great sense of uncertainty over the impending move to raise the bar in the grant of coveted H1B Visas for the highly-skilled technical persons from India's IT sector.

Over the past few weeks, the Indian IT majors and its huge battery of workforce are in an animated discussion on the future what with the new mandarins in the White House planning to raise financial barriers to make it difficult for this category of visa applicants. Remember, this is not the first time that the US built in measures to make the visa more expensive in the hope that the companies will be forced to offer jobs to highly skilled IT professionals available in the United States rather than import cheap labour.

The debate in the US on hiring of top overseas IT professionals is going on for a while. Interestingly, the then Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates had argued in favour of a lower visa fee. He emphasised that Microsoft hires top engineers from India or A category students, talent not available in the country. Responding to a question on jobs for the homegrown B and C category students, Bill Gates responded it was these A category foreign engineers who were creating jobs for the B and C category US students. In one of his last visits to the Capitol Hill as Microsoft Chairman, Gates told the Congressional members that the Government's stance towards highly skilled foreign technical professionals should be in response to the policy of neighbouring countries.

For instance, Gates said Microsoft opened an office just across the border in Canada to employ foreign born employees who could not get the US visa. So in effect the jobs for few top engineers created more for the local population albeit in another country and not America.

With a change of regime, the Indian IT industry is still to come to grips of what lay in store for them. The government is waiting for the companies to formulate their response to the emerging situation amid a strong voice from Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani that the protectionist move could well be a great opportunity for the India.

The hike in visa fee some years back remained unresolved during President Obama's tenure. According to American immigration, despite the last fee raise, there was no drop in number of applications from India.

Ironically, categorical assertions from the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj notwithstanding that resolution of the visa issue remains a top priority for the Modi government, there was little movement on this front.

A change cannot occur that easily since it is the U S Congress that wrote the law which the Obama administration implemented. Now unless the members of Congress on the Capitol Hill are convinced, it cannot be reversed. The H1B law was enacted in 1990, and tweaked several times over by the Congress. It raise and lowered caps which is now stagnant at 65,000 per year since 2004 while the fee under another law, American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act, was raised to $4000.

This fund goes to train the citizens in the sector. A single application fee could be anything up to $14,000. Between 2013 and 2015, the applications received by authorities in this category ranged from nearly 3 lakh to 3.48 lakh. Of these 65,000 get through the lottery system while 20,000 are for those who majored in the US. In the present case, the Trump administration's hints of doubling the wage for IT foreign professional from the existing $ 65,000 to $ 1,30,000 has scared the daylights of the Indian IT majors. Currently three separate Bills are under consideration in the U S Congress - one in the Senate and two in the House. These are now under referral to multiple committees.

PM Modi hoed the field by telling the Congressional delegation in India this week that they take a reflective, balanced and farsighted perspective on the movement of skilled professionals. Ironically, the delegation included Jan Schakowsky and David Cicilline, both leading proponents of Make it in America, offshoring prevention and working to reward companies that hire American workers.

Just as leading Indian industrialists sense an opportunity, the Indian IT majors should quickly organise themselves to have a forceful voice on the Hill both by marshalling the services of strong Indian-Americans and pool resources to hire professional lobbyists who know how to work inside the Beltway. There is enough scope and time to mould a favourable opinion among the lawmakers on the Capitol Hill. What is required is to craft innovative strategy and have a talk with the famed K Street boys in Washington DC. It is time the industry started playing like big boys instead of relying solely on the government to push its case. Just a presidential order cannot change the way the Congress works.

kveprasad2007@gmail.com
After Rajasthan, Gujarat and Chandigarh the BJP has extended its municipal poll winning spree to Maharashtra where it has spread its footprint far and wide, winning zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls as well. Its prize catch, however, was Pune, which it snatched from Sharad Pawars Nationalist Congress Party. No less significant was the party finishing a close second to the Shiv Sena in Indias richest municipality, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which has a Rs 37,500-crore budget and unspent cash reserves of Rs 41,000 crore.

The NCP and the Congress contested the elections separately though the two parties had ruled the state jointly for 15 years from 1999 to 2014. Majorly losing the vote of the poor to the BJP the Congress has retained some presence in rural Maharashtra. In the BMC its seats have reduced to 31 from 52 and the NCP has to make do with nine seats, down from 13. Raj Thackerays Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has had to eat a humble pie with just seven seats in the 227-seat BMC. The anti-incumbency vote, which usually went to other parties when the BJP-Shiv Sena collectively fought the elections, was this time pocketed by the BJP. Mumbai has a considerable Gujarati presence. Apparently, non-Marathi immigrants who are often made to feel insecure by locals, have reposed their trust in Modi's BJP.

The Marathi vote obviously has stayed with Uddhav Thackeray. It was his first BMC election after the death of Balasaheb Thackeray in 2012 and he took a calculated risk by breaking away from the BJP. Though the BJP claims the Maharashtra win is an endorsement of demonetisation, the Shiv Sena had criticised the note ban and it too has improved its electoral tally, even if a clear majority has eluded it. The BJP rise in Maharashtra is rightly attributed to the kind of governance and political skills Devendra Fadnavis has displayed after taking over as Chief Minister. When Uddhav unilaterally terminated the alliance he seized the moment and took control of the party, mounting a strident campaign against corruption in the Sena-controlled BMC. From a little known Vidarbha leader Fadnavis has emerged as a top BJP face in Maharashtra.
Tribune News Service

Rohtak, February 24

The All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) has ruled out further talks with the committee appointed by the state government. The samiti said that the committee was powerless and the state government had been adopting double standards in cases against members of the Jat community and other communities.

We may talk to the state authorities, provided that the government representatives sent for holding the talks have the authority to take decisions on our demands, said AIJASS leader Yashpal Malik while addressing a news conference here today.

Malik apologised to mediapersons for the insulting and threatening behaviour shown towards the reporters present at the dharna site in Jassia village on February 21. He promised that the dignity of the dais would be maintained henceforth and such episode would never be repeated in future.

In response to a query, he reiterated that they would observe a black day across the state on February 26, increase the number of dharnas from 20 to 30 with effect from March 1, stage a joint demonstration in New Delhi on March 2 and announce the further plan of action on that day.

The AIJASS leader alleged that certain BJP leaders were involved in the conspiracy behind the arson-violence episode witnessed during the Jat agitation for reservation in February 2016, while certain police officers sheltered those attacking members of the Jat community.

Rohtak BJP MLA Manish Grover was behind the conspiracy to convert the peaceful agitation into violence. He used his influence to arrange explosive material used by the rioters. It was perhaps due to his role in inciting the riots that he was rewarded with the post of a state minister, Malik alleged.

He further alleged that a woman leader of the ruling party had incited the agitators to burn the house of Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu, while then Jhajjar SP Sumit Kumar sheltered those who had attacked Jat youths. He cited several other instances where no action had been taken against BJP leaders/workers allegedly involved in the arson.

The AIJASS leader demanded a CBI inquiry into the aforesaid allegations, accusing the state government of having double standards. He also demanded strict legal action against the police officers who had acted in a biased manner.

Earlier, the AIJASS core committee held a meeting and decided to continue and intensify the agitation. Addressing the protesters at Jassia village, Malik castigated the state government for not fulfilling the promises made by it last year.

Grover said he would be able to comment only after reading Maliks remarks.
Rohtak, February 24

The Jat organisation spearheading the stir in Haryana for quota in government jobs and educational institutions for them, on Friday decided against talking to the government for setting up a panel to resolve their grievances.

The All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti (AIJASS) decided against participating in formation of the proposed four-member panel saying the panel is to have no powers to redress their grievances.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The Jat body took the decision following a meeting chaired by its president Yashpal Malik at Jassia village in Rohtak today.

The four-member committee is to have no powers to take any decision. Under such circumstances the Jats reject the formation of the committee and will not go for any dialogue with the government, he said vowing to intensify the stir.

Following talks with Jat leaders on February 20, a five-member panel of Haryana Chief Secretary DS Dhesi had decided to constitute a four-member committee to resolve various issues, including withdrawal of criminal cases, lodged against Jats during the stir last year.

The proposed panel was to have two members each from Jats and the government, but Malik decided to back out of the talks for its formation saying the government is discriminating against them and is not in favour of giving justice to them.

In future we will not hold any talks with such a committee either which has no powers with it, he said.

Talks with government are now only possible if the state government accepts our demands and do justice to Jats, he said.

The BJP government in Haryana is conspiring to save some persons of its party, including its MP Raj Kumar Saini for instigating people of the state against Jats, he alleged.

Seeking immediate action against police officers  DSP Anil Yadav, DSP Amit Bhatia, and Inspector Manoj Verma  for ordering acting against peaceful protesters at the Government College, Nekiram at Rohtak during the stir last year, Jats sought immediate arrest of some BJP leaders and workers, including Saini, Sanjeev Rana, Rajeev Rana, Ravinder Dhiman, Raju Kaushik and Shailender Rajput.

He said the state government has failed to take any action against many of the BJP leaders and workers for indulging in the violence during last year.

Under a well-planned conspiracy, BJP leaders and many party workers had attacked Jats during the last year violence, but no action has been taken against them, he said.

He also demanded a CBI probe into the conspiracy of BJP leaders and workers who were responsible for instigating Jats. He said the government is merely making false promises of withdrawing cases against them.

He also urged the Centre to ask the Khattar government to do justice with the Jat community.  PTI
Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 24

The Aam Aadmi Party has accused the Congress and the BJP of engaging in a give-and-take deal as far as the allotment of land to Ramdev at Sadhupul in Solan district is concerned.

The U-turn by the Congress government led by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has not surprised us at all, said Mohender Sofat, former minister and an AAP activist.

Its the Cabinet decision that the land should be restored to Patanjali Yogpeeth, he said.

The land was allotted to Ramdev by the previous BJP government on the ground that such a centre would be helpful in generating jobs, Sofat said.

But the Virbhadra government created a great hue-and-cry and cancelled the lease terming it illegal. The Congress even lodged an FIR against Acharya Balkrishan, deployed police force at the site for days to get the possession of land, he added.

The drama went on for years and Virbhadra had a change of heart after four years attacking the BJP on the land lease, Sofat said. But now the Chief Minister had come out with the same plea that BJP leader PK Dhumal had made at that time that the centre would provide employment to the youth, he added.

Sofat claimed that the Congress and the BJP are fooling the people of the state as they wasted taxpayers money on the legal battle and deployment of police force. Some people say the Governor is behind this as he is close to Ramdev, Sofat charged.

The BJP leadership, which is talking about the mafia raj, attacked the Congress saying it had taken a U-turn on Ramdev land lease, Sofat said. This is nothing but a case of match fixing between the BJP and the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party will raise the issue in the Assembly elections, he warned.
Srinagar, February 24

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday paid tributes to the three soldiers killed in militant attack in Shopian district on Thursday, even as he called for coordinated efforts by security forces to deal with the problem of stone-pelting.

A week after warning of tough action against those impeding counterinsurgency operations in Kashmir, Gen Rawat asked security agencies to synergise efforts to effectively deal with the problem of stone-pelting during operations, an Army official said.

Gen Rawat was taking a security review meetings at headquarters of counterinsurgency unitsKilo Force and Victor Forcehere, an Army official said.

He also underlined the need to maintain high vigil.

The Army Chief had on February 15, while paying tributes to soldiers killed during two encounters a day earlier in Kashmir, warned of tough action against those civilians who were impeding the counterinsurgency operations in the Valley by resorting to stone-pelting.

His statement evoked sharp reactions from both mainstream parties, including National Conference and Congress, and separatists who insisted the Kashmir problem cannot be addressed militarily.

Despite the Army Chiefs warning, there has been no let up in stone-pelting against security forces during their counterinsurgency operations and three such incidents have taken place since February 15.

Gen Rawat, who arrived here on Thursday, was briefed on the prevailing security situation and recent operations conducted by the security forces.

He also reviewed the collaborative measures of security forces towards ensuring peace and calm in the region.

The Army Chief interacted with local commanders and troops urging them to continue discharging their duty with utmost professionalism.

Gen Rawat, accompanied by Northern Command Chief Lt General D. Anbu and Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen J.S. Sandhu, also paid tributes to the three soldiers killed in a militant attack in Shopian district of Kashmir yesterday.

He laid wreaths on the coffins carrying the mortal remains of the soldiers, one of whom was from Marhama area of Anantnag district.

As the entire nation salutes the martyrs...the army gave a befitting farewell to its brave-hearts today in a solemn ceremony here, the official said.

Gen Rawat also expressed his grief and offered condolences to the families of Lance Naik Ghulam Mohi Ud Din, Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejith M.J. Gen Rawat also conveyed his anguish at the death of an elderly lady, Taja Begum, in the terrorist attack, the official added.

Wreaths were also laid on behalf of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti by Minister of Rural development and Panchayati Raj Abdul Haq Khan, Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Nabi Lone and other officials from civil administration and security agencies.

The Army Chief had yesterday met the injured soldiers at the Army Base Hospital and wished them speedy recovery.

The General also appreciated various humanitarian initiatives undertaken by the troops to bring succor to common people and exhorted them to sustain this positive engagement with the local populace.  PTI
Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 24

The Border Security Force (BSF) last night shot dead a woman intruder in Pargwal sector on the International Border (IB).

Sources said despite being challenged a number of times, the intruder did not stop heading towards the IB, forcing the BSF to open fire. It was only after retrieving the body that her gender was known. This is for the first time that a woman intruder has been shot dead on the IB.

On February 21, the BSF had shot dead a terrorist in the Keri area of Rajouri sector. The BSF also apprehended a Pakistani national while crossing the IB near the Paharpur border outpost in Hiranagar sector.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

On the intervening night of February 23 and 24, BSF troops of 97 battalion observed suspicious movement close to the Paharpur border outpost. They challenged the intruder, but he did not pay heed to the warnings and kept heading forward. The troops then apprehended the youth, who was later identified as Azhar (21) of Nallian village in Narowal district. He seemed to be mentally unsound.

Meanwhile, the BSF and Pakistani Rangers today held a Commandant and Wing Commander-level flag meeting at the Border Post No. 15 on Indian request in the Kathua sector. The Pakistani delegation was headed by Wing Commander Lt Col Asmat Ullah Khan, while the Indian delegation comprised Commandants Bhupinder Singh and K Ganesh and five others.

The Indian team raised issues like firing on BSF troops from the Pakistan side, repeated objections raised by Pak Rangers as regards maintenance work on the Indian side, and hunting by Pakistani nationals close to the border area. the BSF PRO said.

Pak Rangers reportedly assured the Indian side that they wanted to maintain good relations with the counterpart border guarding forces and such meetings should be arranged more frequently in bordering areas.

The Pakistan Rangers also raised objections such as burning of sarkanda which, they said, spread to their side and damaged telephone wires, etc. he added.
Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 24

National Conference leader and three-time state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today came out openly in defence of militants, saying they have made a promise with God and are sacrificing their lives for freedom.

Farooqs rare pro-militant rhetoric, which came at a time when the levels of violence and sympathies for militants have significantly shot up, illustrated a stark change of heart for a political leader who had once advocated a full assault against militants and their backers.

If our children are offering sacrifices today, they do not want to become MLAs or MPs or minister. They offer sacrifices (to demand) their rights: this is our land, we are its owners, Farooq said, addressing a gathering of his partys workers and leaders at an event commemorating the death anniversary of his brother Sheikh Nazir.

The NC leaders new-found love for the separatist cause has a remarkable similarity to the soft-separatist politics of his partys arch-rival PDP, which had blurred the lines between the mainstream and separatist politics during its years as the opposition party.

Though Farooq did not make a clear mention of militants  instead referring to them as they, his speech was laden with references indicating he was eulogising the new generation of armed youth.

Farooq, who has three times served as the CM, said everyone loves life and no one wants to die. They have made a promise to God that he is the giver and taker of life, but we will give our lives for the freedom of this land, he said.

He said a new nation has been born, which does not fear guns. This (new) nation strives to achieve the freedom of this country, Farooq said.

He also criticised the policy of responding to bullets with bullets. If someone says bullets will be responded with bullets, (should know) that they are not afraid of bullets, he said.

The former CM linked the current phase of fighting to the 1931 agitation, which became the ladder to leadership for his father Sheikh Abdullah.

He complained that promises made in 1948  a reference to the implementation of UN resolutions on J&K which called for plebiscite  have been forgotten and asked India and Pakistan to do justice with us.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 24

Three days after a truck mowed down a man to death at the Ban toll plaza on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the National Conference (NC) has slammed the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for failing to put in place the road safety and medical emergency measures on the highway leading to frequent accidents.

The party has also written a letter to the Director General of Police (DGP) SP Vaid, requesting him to look into the working of the entire toll plaza administration, which, according to it, was allegedly bordering hooliganism and becoming a source of extortion.

This stretch (Jammu to Udhampur) of road has taken a high toll with some commuters either succumbing to their injuries or suffering disabilities mainly due to lack of adequate safety measures like lighting, barriers, road signs, reflectors, designated pedestrian facilities, crossings, underpasses for ensuring safe movement, security of the road users and medical facilities, MLA from Nagrota and provincial president of the National Conference Devender Singh Rana said in a statement here.

He referred to the most shocking death of a young employee of the Ban toll plaza, Surjeet Kumar Sharma, son of Ram Nath Sharma, resident of Jagti, on its premises in broad daylight on Tuesday and said in the event of the accident it was the responsibility of the NHAI to provide immediate rescue and medical assistance but tragically the service was deficient.

He also quoted the recent example of Ghulam Mohammed, son of Siraj-ud-Din, resident of Tada, who met with an accident on January 31, 2017, and Sanjay Verma, son of Rudri Ram, resident of Bandsoo, who met with an accident on February 14, 2017, saying they were battling for their lives after having suffered serious brain haemorrhage because the precious time was lost due to delay in shifting them to Medical College Hospital as they were allegedly not rescued by the NHAI or its mandated agencies.

The MLA also hit out at the PDP-BJP dispensation for looking to the other side as far as vulnerability of this important road stretch on the highway was concerned that has put the lives of people in jeopardy. He warned against attempts of promoting Mafia raj under active political patronage.

In his letter to the DGP, the NC leader expressed concern over growing allegations of NHAI-contractors-criminals-government officials nexus, saying he was getting perturbed over frequent complaints of travellers being reportedly harassed, manhandled and threatened at the toll plaza.

There have been alleged instances when travellers have been physically assaulted for reasons best known to those who are managing the plaza and the authorities who are supposed to maintain an oversight into their management, he alleged.

Sources said the DGP had directed the IGP, Jammu, and IGP, Traffic, to look into the issues raised by the NC leader.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 23

Three Army men were killed and five others, including two officers, wounded in a militant attack in south Kashmirs Shopian district last night. A woman was also killed in the exchange of gunfire.

The attack prompted Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to rush to Srinagar to assess the situation. In less than two weeks, nine Army men, including an officer, have been killed and 15 injured. The high casualty level in the Army is being seen with concern by the security establishment.

In the latest attack, personnel of 44 Rashtriya Rifles were ambushed at Mulu Chitragam, 60 km from here, while they were returning after a search operation at Kungnoo village. Incidents of militants laying a night ambush are rare. This incident clearly indicates that the militants are now adopting offensive strategies to counter anti-insurgency operations by the Army and other security agencies.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Sources said the militants suddenly appeared from narrow alleys and targeted Army vehicles with automatic weapons. An Army vehicle came to a halt after a bullet hit its driver. The militants then fired volleys of bullets on the vehicle, injuring eight soldiers, including a Lt Colonel and a Major. Three soldiers, including one from south Kashmir, succumbed to their injuries at the Armys 92 base hospital in Badamibagh, Srinagar.

The troops travelling in other vehicles fired at the militants, but they managed to escape taking advantage of darkness. The condition of the injured Major is stated to be critical, an official said.

A woman was also killed in the crossfire. She was hit by a stray bullet inside her house, he said. Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A police officer said they were trying to ascertain whether the forces were given false information about militants presence at Kungnoo.
Amarjot Kaur

We couldnt but stop noticing the sign of Ik Omkar tattooed on Adams hand and he ironed the fine two lines between our brows with a smile. This I got tattooed from Nankana Sahib. I was all of 7 or 8 then. In fact, I am a staunch believer of Guru Nanaks teachings. Perhaps that defines my stage name Khyber 13. I borrowed number 13 from Nanaks famous teaching Tera Tera (that dispels the shallow idea of belongingness) and Khyber is where my roots are, he says.

Born to a Sikh family in Mardan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, Ajay Kumar Makol (Adam), 21, who is a DJ at S Cafe & Bar, first visited India when he was only eight years old. My mother, who is an Indian, didnt quite identify with the idea of wearing a hijab in the village, and since we are a minority there we had to take every sort of discrimination in our stride because we knew any act of retaliation could inflict misery, sometimes even death, on us. So, she moved here and started working with NGOs that provide mid-day meals to children. My father is a photographer in Pakistan, he says.

Brought up in a village called Pir Baba Buner, Adam sought his primary education at Sky Hawk Public School in Khyber before he enrolled as a student in Adarsh Public School, Sector 20.

In India, I sat next to a girl in the classroom for the first time and she was wearing a skirt. I felt so shy. I was surprised to see female teachers. In Buner, girls and boys are made to sit separately and female teachers are few and far between, who only teach girls. Of course, it was a culture shock, especially for a boy who was coming from a village in Pakistan, he says.

Back then, Justin Biebers Baby was a popular hit among the masses and it pretty-much appealed to Adam who wasnt so fluent in English. I looked for its lyrics and then started listening to a lot of pop music. It was only after I finished school that the idea of DJing came to my mind and I wanted to pursue it, he shares. Initially, I played free-of-cost gigs at clubs but later I was signed with Gaah.

Adam shares that back in Pakistan, he was taught Gurmukhi in school and that religious discourses were imparted at the Gurdwara, where he also learned to play harmonium. I also play rubab, and that too because Nanak Jis played the instrument, he adds. I want to loop the sound of rubab with electronic music. Not only has Adam played an opening gig for the Neuclya concert that took place in Chandigarh, recently, he has also been signed as an artiste with Gaah, an indie artiste management company in the city.

India has given me so much. It gave me recognition and new opportunities. In Pakistan theres not much scope for DJing because there is no clubbing culture there, but then, I so miss the food and the rich street performances by street musicians in Lahore. For now, I want to focus on my passionDJing and study further, he says. Adam is currently studying at Khalsa College in Sector 26.

amarjot@tribunemail.com
New York, February 24

The killing of an Indian-origin man shows the worst and the best of America the undercurrent of bigotry and the heroism and the generosity, which are often the dominant traits.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

A 24-year-old man rushed to overpower the gunman, who shot dead Srinivas Kuchibhotla and injured Alok Madasani, and himself took several bullets in the Wednesday night attack at a bar in Olathe, Kansas state.

Civil rights organisation, Hindu American Foundation (HAF), said: "It is these acts of heroism in our communities that make America great." Ian Grillot, who has been hailed a hero, brushed off the accolades.

"I did what anyone should do for another human being," The Kansas City Star showed him saying in a video recorded at his hospital bed.

"It is not about where he's from or his ethnicity." Grillot was injured in the neck, chest, vertebrae and hand by shooter Adam Purinton, a former Navy serviceman.

A stranger who had never met the two Indian-origin men has started a fund-raising campaign for them.

Video courtesy: The University of Kansas Health System

Brian Eric Ford, 39, set up an account on the online site GoFundMe for raising funds, jointly for the family of Kuchibhotla and Madasani.

"I've been pretty closely following since the election the rise in white nationalism," the Kansas City graphic artist told The Star.

"I thought this was a chance to do something to show support for these communities that are being attacked." As of Thursday night, 816 people had contributed $29,726 to the fund, which has a target of $50,000.

Another GoFundMe account set up for Kuchibhotla's family by Kavipriya Muthuramalingam raised $217,440 from 5,843 people by Thursday night, exceeding the goal of $150,000.

Kuchibhotla is survived by his wife Sunayana, according to the GoFundMe page.

Purinton was on Thursday arrested in Clinton city in neighbouring Missouri state after a bartender reported to police that the man said he had killed "two Middle Easterns" and was looking for a place to hide, the Star quoted the local police as saying.

Before the shooting, Purinton made racist comments and told the two engineers to "get out of my country", according to witnesses.

"Clearly there was some racial motivation," Ford, a witness, told the Star.

HAF called the attack a "hate crime" and although it had all the hallmarks of a bias attack, authorities have not labelled it one, asserting they were still investigating the angle.

Purinton has been charged with pre-meditated murder and attempted murder.

IANS
Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, February 24

The Shiv Sena which has emerged as the single largest party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is being wooed by both the Congress and the BJP for an alliance to control the country's richest civic body.

Within hours of the Shiv Sena bagging 84 of the 227 seats in the civic body, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ashok Chavan extended a hand of friendship to Uddhav Thackeray and suggested that the Sena ally with the Congress.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The Congress, which has been reduced to a nonentity with just 31 seats, can come into prominence by supporting the Shiv Sena to form the government.

Chavan said the Shiv Sena adroitly played the secular card in Mumbai and got its Muslim candidate selected from minority-dominated areas.

He further added that a decision on tying up with the Shiv Sena would be taken by the Congress party's high command.

Sources say leaders of the Congress party have initiated backroom negotiations with the Shiv Sena for a tie-up.

On the other hand, the BJP, which came a close second with 82 seats, has considered the idea of getting back with the Shiv Sena despite their acrimonious fall out.

In the run up to the elections both Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had called each other names.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told a Marathi television channel here that the leadership of both the Shiv Sena and the BJP were mature enough to decide on an alliance.

Both the Shiv Sena and the BJP have no option but to come together again, Gadkari has been quoted as saying.

The BJP leader however hit out at the Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamna for its attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The Sena chief is however keeping his cards close to his chest.

Thackeray refused to speak to the media on Friday. However, shortly after the Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party in the BMC, Thackeray told reporters that he needed to some time to plan his next step.

He said the next mayor of Mumbai as well as the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra would be from the Shiv Sena.

Who will be Mumbais mayor?

The BJP and the Shiv Sena are set for yet another bruising battle, this time over whose candidate gets to be the mayor of Mumbai.

The Shiv Sena received a further boost after two Independent corporators joined the party on Friday.

Its mouthpiece Saamna today said the next mayor of Mumbai would be from its party.

Even though the BJP got 82 seats in the BMC, the next mayor of Mumbai would be from the Shiv Sena only, the editorial said.

The newspaper also accused the BJP of misusing its official powers in the state and central government to damage the Shiv Sena in the BMC elections.



According to sources in the Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray would hold a meeting of its senior office bearers on Saturday and decide on the next course of action.



On the other hand, the BJP too is trying hard to boost their numbers. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters on Friday that the BJP was confident of getting its mayor elected to the BMC.



However he refused to speak on the partys strategy to gain a majority in the Mumbai civic body.



Both the Shiv Sena and the BJP are wooing the three remaining independent corporators in the BMC, according to sources.






Imphal, February 24

Manipur Police on Friday recovered a hand grenade and a bomb in Imphal West district where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address an election rally tomorrow.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The recovery comes even as an apex body of six rebel groups in Manipur has given a call for a "complete shutdown" in the state tomorrow to protest against Modi's visit, saying it was aimed at "hoodwinking the people of Manipur".

The Prime Minister will address a rally at Langjing Achouba ground in Imphal West district in support of BJP candidates in the ensuing Assembly polls.

A Chinese-made hand grenade was found near the gate of BJP candidate Soibam Subhachandra's residence at Ningombam Leikai, 9 km away from the Achouba ground, while another bomb was found in front of another BJP worker O Sunil's residence in Thoubal district, 40 km away from the rally venue.

The shutdown called by the Coordination Committee (Corcom) will begin at 6 am and continue till the Prime Minister leaves the state, a Corcom press release said.

"Narendra Modi's visit to Imphal on February 25 is another trip aimed at hoodwinking the people of Manipur," the release said.

Essential services like medical, media, water supply, electricity and fire services would be outside the purview of the shutdown, the statement said.

Police have intensified frisking all over the state capital to ensure that there was no loophole in the security arrangements for the Prime Minister's visit.

State police commandos under the supervision of Additional SP S Ibomcha and led by DSP Thankhochon and OC Thaingampou carried out search operations and house-to-house verification at Taobungkhok Awang Leikai. Polling for the 60-seat Manipur Assembly will take place in two phases on March 4 and March 8. PTI
Gonda (UP), February 24

Buoyed by the success of the BJP in local body elections in Maharashtra and some other states after demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he was committed to root out corruption.

Odisha, where there is so much poverty, starvation, unemployment and where the BJP did not even have foothold to place its flag, people have given so much support that everyone is taken aback... even the poor of Odisha have come with the BJP, Modi said at an election meeting here.

Yesterday, Maharashtra gave its verdict and the Congress has been wiped off. Be it civic body polls in Odisha, Maharashtra, Chandigarh or panchayat polls in Gujarat, in three months wherever there were polls, whether the BJP had any presence or not, people used their third eye and ensured its victory. This means that my responsibility has increased, he said.

The BJP scored an emphatic win in the Maharashtra civic polls, emerging as the largest party in eight of the 10 municipal corporations, while finishing a close second to the Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Modi invoked Lord Shiva on Mahashivratri and said people, with their third eye, can see what is good for them and what is bad.

...we do not get intoxicated by power. It gives us inspiration to work for the people with full dedication, he said, adding his fight against corruption and black money will continue and he will not allow those who had plundered the country for 70 years to go scot free.

Addressing the election meeting in the region close to the Indo-Nepal border, Modi referred to the recent train tragedy in Kanpur and said findings showed it was a conspiracy and the conspirators carried it out sitting across the border.

Kanpur rail accident in which hundreds were killed was a conspiracy and conspirators carried it out sitting across the border... Gonda is adjoining Nepal... if the cross-border foes want to carry out their work, is it not necessary that more vigil is maintained in Gonda? Modi posed.

Gonda needs to elect only those who are full of patriotism, only then we can do anything good for Gonda, he said.

There should not be any mistake in these elections...be it the SP or the BSP, not a single seat should go to them...100 per cent seats should be won by the BJP, Modi asserted.

Reaffirming his commitment to stamp out corruption, Modi said, Since I took stern steps against corruption and banned notes, big forces are out to mislead the country. But, the poorest of the poor can detect the truth. He took the opportunity to slam his bitter political foes Mulayam Singh Yadav of the SP and Mayawati of the BSP, saying his note ban decision forced them to come on the same page.

Referring to some problems which he said were unique to this region, Modi claimed tenders were floated to encourage adoption of wrong practices in examinations, like mass copying.

In Gonda, even theft is carried out as a trade... tenders are floated for allotting examination centres...this is not good for anyone and this should be stopped... this auction of examination centres should be stopped, he said, adding he was afraid of speaking on this issue as it could give the idea to others to follow this trade of SP which needs to be stopped.

Akhileshji your family has moved forward... you studied in Australia and your children are also studying in schools having huge fees, but what will happen to the children of Gonda? Crime attached with education will spoil the coming generations, he said.

Referring to the PM Fasal Bima Yojna introduced for the benefit of people, Modi said though BJP-ruled states like Chhattisgarh and Haryana have made 50 per cent achievement, only 14 per cent farmers got it in UP. Why is Akhileshji so angry with farmers? Samajwad mein kisan dikhayi nahi detey (Do farmers have any place in socialism)?

Will those who do not realise your problems be able to help you in any way? the Prime Minister asked the audience in his typical style.

No was the loud reply from the crowd.

The Prime Minister also attacked the opponents for seeking evidence for surgical strikes and politicising the issue of one rank, one pension for ex-servicemen, saying it was like humiliating army personnel.

They (previous UPA government) had made a provision of Rs 500 crore while Rs 12,000 crore were required and army personnel helped us by agreeing to payments in instalments for implementing OROP, Modi said.

The Prime Minister said kesariya (saffron) Holi will be celebrated in UP and the first decision by a BJP government will be loan waiver of farmers.

Modi also said a positive outcome for the BJP in the first four phases of UP polls was evident from the worry writ large on the Chief Ministers face.  PTI
Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, February 24

The BJP candidate from Mao (ST) Assembly constituency of poll-bound Manipur, Woba Joram, has been issued a show-cause notice by the Returning Officer for purportedly mentioning during a TV interview that he had already spent Rs 2.02 crore on the present election and voters in his constituency would be bribed for voting in his favour.

The EC notice dated February 23 was signed by Returning Officer Ng Roben Singh with a copy marked to the Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur. The candidate has been asked to show cause within 48 hours.

As mentioned in the notice, the interview was telecast by a New Delhi TV channel on February 22 at 9.06 pm.

The notice said, The maximum prescribed limit for election expenditure in the state is Rs 20 lakh and any expenditure beyond the said limit will amount to corrupt practices under Sec 123 (6) of the RP Act.

It said influencing or inducing a person to exercise electoral right by offering a gratification is an offence under Sec 171 (B) (1) of the IPC.

The poll candidate has, therefore, been asked to provide clarification/explanation in writing regarding the contents of the video footage of the TV interview, which has been attached with the notice in a CD, at an early date, preferably within 48 hours, for onward submission to the Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur.
Coimbatore (TN), February 24

Extolling the ancient Indian discipline of Yoga, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for efforts to protect nature and mould human activities to bring them in sync with ecological surroundings.

He also termed unity in diversity as the speciality and strength of the Indian culture.

This (Maha Shivaratri celebrations) symbolises a spirit of vigilance, that we have to protect nature and mould our activities in sync with our ecological surroundings, he said addressing a gathering after unveiling a mammoth 112 feet bust of Adiyogi Lord Shiva at Isha Yoga Foundation here.

Underlining the need for peaceful coexistence, Modi said, Lord Shiva is everywhere and referred to the bull, peacock and mouse that were the vehicles of the Lord and his sonsGanapathy and Karthik.

He also talked about the venomous snake Vasuki curled around Shivas neck to emphasise the importance of peaceful coexistence.

He asked people to remain united, insisting unity in diversity was special to Indian culture.

Praising the ancient practice of Yoga, whose goal is to bring the practitioners body, mind and spirit in tune with each other, Modi told the gathering that by practising Yoga, a spirit of oneness is created. Oneness of mind, body and the intellect, oneness with our families and with the society we live in, with fellow humans and with birds, animals and trees.

This is Yoga, Yoga is a journey from me to we, he said, emphasising Indias biggest strength was its diversity.

Modi began his speech by greeting people in Tamil Ungal Ellorukkum En Anbana Vanakkam, (My loving greetings to all).

Founder of Isha Foundation, Jaggi Vasudev, said the bust of Adiyogi was built in eight months. He also lauded Modi for practising Yoga.

Before unveiling the giant Adiyogi bust, Modi lighted the Maha Yoga Yagna and released the book Adiyoga: The source of Yoga, which deals with yogic sciences.

Modi was shown around various places in the Isha Yoga complex, including the Dhyana Linga, Surya Kund, Nandi statue and the inner and outer corridors (prakaras) by Sadhguru Vasudev.

The Prime Minister offered aarti and showered flower petals over the Dhyana Linga.

He later sat in the Dhyana Linga mandapam, where a yogic dance was performed by a group of youngsters to the accompaniment of traditional music and Sanskrit shlokas.

Modi briefly sat alongside Vasudev in a meditative posture.

The city and the venue of the event was placed under a multi-tier security cover by police and the Special Protection Group, which guards the Prime Minister.

Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami received Modi on his arrival here.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi also attended the event.

The statue and the foundation are located in the foothills of Velliangiri mountains in the Western Ghats.

The bust was unveiled to coincide with Maha Shivaratri celebrations.  PTI
Jitendra K Shrivastava

Tribune News Service

Patna, February 24

The special investigation team (SIT) on Friday arrested the chairman of Bihar Staff Service Commission (BSSC) Sudhir Kumar from Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand in connection with the paper leak in the Commission.

The SIT team also detained four of his relatives for questioning.

Sudhir was a suspect since the paper leak came to light. Several politicians used to call me for favouring their candidates but I never did so, Sudhir had claimed soon after the scam came to light.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had ordered to set up the SIT to probe the scam. The SIT is led by Patna SSP Manu Maharaj.

With this, the SIT has arrested over 30 people in connection with paper leak last month. BSSC secretary Parmeshwar Ram was arrested earlier, while owner of the printing press Vinit Kumar Aggrawal and manager Ajay Kumar were arrested from Ahmadabad as the question paper was printed there.

The SSP said, Sudhir was a suspect and was arrested from Hazaribagh district. Four of his relatives are also being quizzed. We are committed to bringing out the truth and put the guilty behind bars.

Another job scam surfaced on Thursday as former vice-chancellor and present JD-U legislator Mewalal Chaudhary was suspended by the party for his alleged involvement in appointing 161 assistant professors and junior scientists to Bihar Agriculture University. The probe committee has registered a case against Chaudhary at Sabour police station in Bhagalpur district.
Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 24

High quality new generation coronary stents being manufactured by top foreign firms are gradually disappearing from city hospitals.

Renowned institutes like Ganga Ram Hospital and Metro Heart Institute, which handle much of the national capitals load of coronary stenting procedures, have begun reporting shortages saying offshore firms like Abbot and Boston Scientific are rationing supplies of high generation stents due to price capping by India though first generation stents, pioneered much earlier, are available.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Dr RR Mantri, cardiologist with Ganga Ram Hospital, says stents of top quality, the ones with the capacity to dissolve in the body, are not available at prices capped by the government. Senior cardiologist acclaimed for angioplasties Dr Purshottam Lal, who heads Metro Heart Institute at Noida, says he had predicted these shortage to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority when the matter of stent price capping was being debated.

You cannot bracket all kinds of stents in one category. At my institute, patients ask for Boston Scientific or Abbot stents to be implanted to unclog arteries. High generation imported stents come at a price. They will not come at such a low price. The companies will pull back and the market will shift to countries willing to procure these life-saving devices at fair prices which the makers demand. That is not to say you should not cap the prices, but there has to be price differential depending on the stent quality. You cant equate the quality of Indian-made stents with foreign-made stents, Dr Lal said.

The Health Ministry told the NPPA that the quality of all stents is the same. I want to ask them on what basis did they reach the conclusion? Where is the clinical data and research which says all stents, Indian and imported, are similar quality? Let the Government make that data public, Dr Lal told The Tribune, saying stents are life-savers and cannot be treated casually under drug pricing.

He called for fair pricing based on quality which is determined by research.

Meanwhile, the NPPA has ordered all hospitals to make coronary stents available at recently capped prices even as patients begin to face a shortage of high generation stents with cardiologists saying the manufacturing firms are blocking supplies following recent stent price fixation.

The NPPA recently fixed the ceiling price of bare metal stents (BMS) at Rs 7,260 as against Rs 45,000 previously and of most used drug eluting stents (DES) at Rs 29,600 as against Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,75, 000 previously.
Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sultanpur, February 24

Booked for murdering a woman who had charged him with rape in 2013, Samajwadi Partys sitting MLA from Sultanpur Sadar Arun Kumar Verma is currently under rough weather in this lucky bellwether seat of UP.

Arun Verma is crying foul, but his main rivalsBJP and BSPare trying their best to dislodge him from the seat that always sends to Lucknow a representative whose party forms the government in the state.

This is the kind of folklore that surrounds Sadarone of the five seats in the missing-in-action BJP MP Varun Gandhis LS constituency Sultanpur. CM Akhilesh Yadav launched his election campaign from here. As per BSP leader DS Mishra, it was to use the totkaempiricism, if it can be so defined in Englishthat Sadar is the one lucky seat that has always returned the candidate whose party formed the government in Lucknow.

In these elections, Mishra claims his party candidate Raj Prasad Upadhyay is in 100 per cent winning position much ahead of his closest rivals BJPs Sitaram Verma and beleaguered SP candidate Arun Verma.

Similar assertions are being made by BJP supporters like Deepankar Sharma. We are winning Sadar, he claims.

Sitaram Verma (BJPs import from the BSP) fits the caste-based equations here perfectly, he adds. This apart, the curious coincidences surrounding the seat do make it an interesting reference point for political observers. From the Congress in 1969 to the SP in 2012, all parties elected in the state had won the Sadar seat, called Jaisinghpur before delimitation in 2009.
Naveen S Garewal & Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 23

The Indian National Lok Dals (INLD) attempt to dig the defunct Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal ended in the arrest of two party MPs, 18 MLAs and 73 workers as they tried to cross over into Punjab via the Shambhu barrier today.

The Jal Yudh Sammelan, planned for over a month, ended without any violence with half-a-dozen INLD workers performing symbolic digging at the Punjab-Haryana border (instead of the canal), after the Punjab Police effectively sealed all routes to the canal.

Edit: Avoid confrontation

Following a Supreme Court directive to both states to maintain law and order, the security agencies in Haryana repeatedly announced on loudspeakers asking INLD workers not to breach the law and return.

Unwilling to relent, the INLD workers broke three cordons, manned by a handful of personnel, of the Haryana Police. They were, however, stopped in their tracks by the Punjab Police before they could cross the barricading.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

To prevent any untoward incident, the Punjab Police told Haryana Leader of the Opposition Abhay Chautala, INLD chief Ashok Arora and other leaders to cooperate.

The police told the INLD rank and file that unless they vacated the area within 10 minutes, they would be arrested as failure to leave the area would amount to violation of Section 144 (prohibiting assembly of five or more at one place) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

All through it was apparent the Shiromani Akali Dal-led coalition government in Punjab had instructed the state police not to use force.

The Punjab Police personnel offered bottled drinking water to the protesters even as they minded them not to get close to the sharp iron barricading.

The INLD first held a rally at the Sabzi Mandi in Ambala and then marched towards the Shambhu barrier, 2 km east of the rally site. On the way, the Haryana Police had set up three lines of defence. Each was easily breached by the protesters, though warnings were issued by the civil administration of Ambala.

The protesters stopped only when they reached Punjabs first line of defence. Punjab Police asked the protesters to leave the area within 10 minutes or face arrest.

Chautala, while addressing supporters in front of the barricading, asked them to turn away after symbolic digging with spades. He soon made a U-turn and requested the Punjab Police to let them march into the neighbouring territory peacefully. He asked his party workers to climb down from the barricading. While some workers turned around, Chautala persisted with his request for allowing senior party leaders to enter Punjab peacefully.

The police then arrested 93 protesters  two party MPs, 18 MLAs and 73 workers  and made arrangements for early resumption of traffic on the Ludhiana-Ambala highway. Traffic remained suspended on the highway for around 12 hours. While traffic was diverted, many stranded commuters were seen walking across the Ghaggar bridge carrying their luggage.

Those arrested were taken away in two private buses and produced in the court of Rajpura Sub-Divisional Magistrate, who remanded them in judicial custody till February 27. All those arrested have been sent to the Patiala Central Jail.

The Punjab Police monitored the situation using modern equipment, including drones fitted with cameras. Aerial surveillance was conducted every few minutes. Besides, 10 companies of paramilitary forces and nearly 5,000 policemen were deployed.

The dispute between Punjab and Haryana is currently pending adjudication in the Supreme Court, which has directed both states and the Government of India to ensure peace. Punjab has been maintaining it has no water to spare.

Traffic hit for 12 hrs

Traffic remained suspended on the Ludhiana-Ambala stretch of the national highway for around 12 hours. The movement of traffic was restored around 9 pm after remaining suspended since 9 am. While traffic was diverted to alternative routes, many commuters were seen walking across the Ghaggar bridge, carrying their luggage over to the other side
OUR Bombay contemporary says:--The Indian Government is not willing to curtail the rights of Indians to drink liquor and other intoxicants. The press might be gagged but not the drinkers mouth. The Government of Fiji, however, enforces the law that in the colony no intoxicating liquor should be sold to Indian under any circumstances whatever without a written doctors order. We believe that this prohibition is intended to enable Indian workmen to give the best of their labour to the planters who employ them and is therefore an economic measure. Nevertheless it is worthwhile to enquire whether this law has benefited Indian coolies and enabled them to save their earnings. It is suggested that the Government does not prohibit gambling and other vices. The inference is that Indian coolies are demoralised. Prohibition of liquor will undoubtedly benefit the working class. Will Government adopt this reform?
AT the Gokhale anniversary meeting held at Bombay on the 20th instant, Sir Stanley Reed made a speech on what were the striking characteristics of the late Indian statesman that were greatly admired by Englishmen. The greatest strength of Mr. Gokhale was his knowledge, and few men in their time worked so laboriously and studiously as did Mr. Gokhale. High officials were struck with his admirable knowledge and they paid a high tribute to his work. Another quality of Mr. Gokhales was his ideal of unselfish personal sacrifice for the service of the country. This ideal was saturated with the spirit of the people of the West and they found, at the present crisis in Europe, some inspiration in the spirit of sacrifice as taught by Mr. Gokhale.
Sajeda Momin

At a time when dissent and debate in universities across India are under threat, there is one educational institute which is celebrating its long-held tradition of encouraging students to be daring, inquisitive and thought-provoking. As you walk through the campus of Presidency University in the heart of Kolkata, huge banners bearing life-changing questions raised by its alumni stare you in the face.

What is the future of a fledgling nation?, Can one man build an army?, What is the cure for poverty?, Can Indian cinema touch the world? are just some of the mysteries of life solved by past students of Presidency thanks to the educational grounding they received at their alma mater, which is celebrating its bicentennial this year.

From freedom fighters to Presidents, Nobel laureates to Oscar award winners, poets and philosophers to pioneering scientists  Presidency has given all these to the Indian sub-continent. Its distinguished alumni have left their impressive mark in academia and all walks of life across the world.

The first of its kind

Presidency started its journey in 1817 when a group of English and Bengali men, including Raja Rammohan Roy and David Hare, decided to raise funds through public subscription and establish a college that would provide western and liberal education to boys from respectable Hindoo families. This would be a first in the whole of Asia.

Until the 18th century, education in India was restricted mainly to the traditional Sanskrit tols and madrassas and there was no place where students could learn the sciences, arts and technologies of the world. Hindoo College was started on January 20, 1817, in two parts as a school and college where the languages of instruction were English, Bengali and Persian.

Though established to educate Hindu children, the founders of Hindoo College, had resolved to impart secular, non-denominational education. Within three months of the beginning of classes the number of students rose from 20 to 69 and from 1824, the College started receiving partial financial support from the British government.

In 1852, it was proposed that the College be opened to all communities and in 1855 when the government finally took it over, it separated the junior section which became the Hindoo School and the senior college was renamed Presidency College. All impediments to admission of non-Hindu students were removed from Presidency.

In 1857, Calcutta University was established and Presidency College became affiliated to it. Ironically, despite being the pioneer of university education in India, Presidency was not given university status until 2010 when an Act passed in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly finally made it Presidency University. It was only in 1944 that girls were admitted to Presidency, but ever since it has been co-educational.

Time to celebrate

Thousands of Presidencians as the alumnae call themselves descended on Kolkata recently to mark the beginning of their alma maters 200th anniversary, which will be celebrated with programmes and events throughout 2017. The revelry was kick-started at dusk on January 6  marking the first day classes were held in 1817  with a spectacular ceremony at Prinsep Ghat on the banks of the Hooghly river. A soulful musical performance by the Presidency choir was followed by a laser show that threw light on the rich history of the college.

Other events included a vintage car rally, a heritage walk starting from the house of alumnus Swami Vivekananda to the Presidency University and ending at the famous Coffee House where Vice-Chancellor Anuradha Lohia hosted a lunch for the old boys and girls. A Global Education Summit gathered leading scholars, scientists, authors, academics and administrators from all over the world.

In pursuit of knowledge

Alumnus and chairman of the Presidency mentor group Sugata Bose said he was looking at an enabling and non-interfering role from the state government for the educational institute to flourish. Bose, a Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament and academic at Harvard, is the grand-nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who founded the Indian National Army pre-independence. The young, radical Netaji was famously expelled from Presidency in 1916 for tripping up one of his professors for making anti-India comments.

Alumnus Amartya Sen set the ball rolling by recounting Presidencys secular character. It is very important to recognise the institute was born out of a civil society initiative and is probably the oldest institution in the world which has no religious connection Sen told the august gathering in the newly spruced-up Derozio Hall.

Delivering the Founders day address were both President Pranab Mukherjee and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In his address, Dr Manmohan Singh said, I believe that every university must give the freedom to pursue knowledge even where the knowledge may be at odds with established intellectual and social traditions. We must guard this freedom very zealously  a legacy established by Presidency.

The state government has sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the year-long celebrations as well as Rs 50 crore to renovate the heritage campus on College Street. It has also provided land at Rajarat, outside Kolkata and in Kurseong in north Bengal for two new campuses. With the extension of space, the university hopes to add many new departments, a museum of history and a digitalised archival library of valuable documents written by eminent personalities and alumni of the university.

The bicentenary provides Presidency the opportunity to rejuvenate and enable it to play a significant role in the global transformation of university education in the 21st century and for the next 200 years.

Notable alumni & achievements

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee -Poet & writer, composed Vande Mataram

Swami Vivekananda-Founder of Ramakrishna Mission

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose-Founder of the Indian National Army

Dr Rajendra Prasad -First President of India

Abu Sayeed Chowdhury-Second President of Bangladesh

Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem-Sixth President of Bangladesh

Mohammad Ali Bogra-Third Prime Minister of Pakistan

Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose -Pioneering scientist

Amartya Sen -Nobel Prize in Economics

Satyajit Ray -Oscar award-winning filmmaker

Satyendranath Bose -Physicist, who discovered Bosons

Jyoti Basu-Longest serving CM of West Bengal

Aparna Sen-Actor and filmmaker
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, February 24

Maha Shivratri was celebrated with fervour in the region today. Devotees thronged temples to pray on the day. People also organised havans at their homes and sought blessings from Lord Shiva.

In Mussoorie, people were seen queued up right from early morning to pour water on Shivling. Processions were also witnessed.

In Uttarkashi, which is considered the residence of Lord Shiva, a kalash yatra and a symbolic baraat (marriage procession) were taken out by various religious and spiritual bodies. Women folk from Badahaat, Badagaddi and Birpur Dunda performed dance on Raso and Tandi beats. The processions began from Ramleela ground and passed through Kashi Vishwanath Chowk, Hanuman Chowk, Main Bazaar, Bhatwadi road, Bhairav Chowk and ended at Kashi Vishwanath temple where the devotees offered milk, Ganga jal and fruits.

People welcomed the procession by showering flower petals. Students from several schools were present on the occasion. Foreign tourists too participated in the processions enthusiastically. Neils from Switzerland and Theresa from Germany said it was their second visit to Uttarkashi but joined the procession for the first time.
Washington, February 24

The White House has expressed "deep disappointment" over the conviction and sentencing of Indian-origin Sabrina de Sousa, a former CIA agent, by a court in Italy.

"We are deeply disappointed in de Sousa's conviction and sentence," a White House official told PTI amidst news reports that de Sousa, has been taken into custody in Portugal to be handed over to Italy in coming days to serve a four-year prison for her alleged role in the 2003 kidnapping of a radical Muslim cleric.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The previous Obama Administration had refused to provide her with any kind of help, much to the distress of many in the intelligence community.

In response to a question, the White House said it is following "her case closely, but beyond that we have no comment on the allegations" in this case.

The State Department has been following the proceedings closely and has been in touch with de Sousa, the official said.

"We appreciate the efforts of the Italian Government to challenge the prosecution before the Italian Constitutional Court.

"The US Government takes its obligation to assist US citizens overseas seriously," the White House official said, reflecting a change in US policy towards Sabrina de Sousa under the Trump Administration.

As a CIA agent stationed in Italy, De Sousa, 61, was involved in the alleged kidnaping of Egyptian-born-cleric Abu Omar outside a Mosque in Milan, Italy on February 17, 2003.

Omar, a radical Islamic cleric was imprisoned till 2007. A Italian court convicted De Sousa in absentia along with 22 other Americans in 2009.

"De Sousa was just following orders and she has since publicly criticized renditions. She would be the first to see the inside of a jail for this and that would be so wrong  she is just a scapegoat," her lawyer, Dario Bolognesi, said.

De Sousa was arrested in Portugal in 2015 when she was visiting from US to meet her ailing mother.

Thereafter she appealed before the court, which was turned down early this week.

She was taken into custody for deportation to Italy.

"We are requesting that the four-year sentence be turned into a program of restricted movement, outside jail, involving social services work," Bolognesi said.

The Acting State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner said State Department has asked its European counterparts what their next steps may be.

"But we are not in a position to detail those discussions," he said. PTI
Beirut/Istanbul, February 24

An Islamic State car bomb killed more than 50 people on Friday in a Syrian village held by rebels, a war monitor said, a day after the jihadist group was driven from its last stronghold in the area.

The blast in the village of Sousian hit a security checkpoint controlled by rebels fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor of the war based in Britain, said more than 50 people died including over 30 civilians. Two rebels contacted by Reuters put the total death toll at at least 40.

One of the two, a fighter with the Sultan Murad Brigade near al-Bab, said: It was done on a checkpoint but there were a lot of families there gathered and waiting to get back to al-Bab.

Therefore we have many civilian casualties. The Turkey-backed rebels drove Islamic State from the town of al-Bab on Thursday, following weeks of street battles near where Ankara wants to establish a safe zone for civilians.

Turkeys military said on Friday that Syrian rebels had taken full control of all of al-Bab, and that work to clear mines and unexploded ordnance was under way.

Sousian is behind rebel lines about 8 km (5 miles) northwest of al-Bab, around which Ankara has long supported the formation of a security zone it says would help to stem a wave of migration via Turkey into Europe.

A second blast took place 2 km south of Sousian later on Friday, but it was unclear whether it was from a vehicle bomb or a planted device such as a mine. There were reports of casualties but no immediate details, the Observatory said.

Islamic State said in a social media posting that it was behind the Sousian attack, having acknowledged on Thursday it had lost control of al-Bab.

Syrias main conflict pits President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shiite militias, against rebels that include groups supported by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.

However, both those sides, as well as a group of militias led by Kurdish forces and supported by the U.S., are also fighting Islamic State, which holds large parts of northern and eastern Syria.

Mines and cells

As mines laid in and around al-Bab claimed lives for a second day, the Sultan Murad Brigade fighter said many IS cells were still operating there.

It is very dangerous. Our search and clear operation is still under way, he said.

Two Turkish soldiers were killed on Friday while clearing mines in the town of Tadef south of al-Bab, Turkeys military said in a statement. On Thursday, several Turkey-backed rebels were killed by a mine in al-Bab, the Observatory said.

Turkey directly intervened in Syria in August in support of rebel factions under the FSA banner to drive Islamic State from its border. It also wants to stop Kurdish groups gaining control of the region.

After taking al-Bab on Thursday, Turkish forces shelled Islamic State in Tadef, the Observatory reported.

The area immediately to the south of Tadef is held by the Syrian army and its allies, which have in recent weeks pushed into Islamic State territory in that area from Aleppo and advanced towards the Euphrates river.

Further east, the Syrian Democratic Forces, Kurdish-led militias backed by the United States, have in recent weeks taken dozens of villages from Islamic State as they close in on the groups Syrian capital of Raqqa.  Reuters
Islamabad: A deadly explosion that killed 10 persons here was "not an act of terrorism" and was caused by gas leakage, the government in Pakistan's Punjab province on Friday said. Ten people were killed and 30 others injured after the explosion hit a market in a posh locality in Lahore yesterday. Earlier, local police and administration officials had stated that explosion was caused by a planted device.

Yesterdays explosion was not an act of terrorism. Forensic experts have not found any explosive material from the site. It was an accident and caused by gas leakage,

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said, adding a number of gas cylinders were present on the site and leakage had also been confirmed. He also blamed private TV channels for airing rumour of another blast in the Gulberg area that caused panic in the city. PTI
Beirut: A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab on Friday, killing 51 persons in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from the Islamic State. The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in Susian village, 8 km northeast of Al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The blast devastated the twin command posts and also wounded a large number of fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group said. It had earlier said 42 persons, mainly rebels, had died, but later clarified to say the majority of those killed were civilians. There was no immediate claim for the attack, but rebels blamed it on the IS, which had put up fierce resistance in Al-Bab for weeks. afp
Washington, February 24

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to ensure the US nuclear arsenal is at the "top of the pack," saying the United States has fallen behind in its weapons capacity.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

In a Reuters interview, Trump also said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea "very easily if they want to," ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to exert more influence to rein in Pyongyang's increasingly bellicose actions.

Trump also expressed support for the European Union as a governing body, saying "I'm totally in favor of it," and for the first time as president expressed a preference for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but said he would be satisfied with whatever makes the two sides happy.

Trump also predicted his efforts to pressure NATO allies to pay more for their own defense and ease the burden on the US budget would reap dividends. "They owe a lot of money," he said.

In his first comments about the US nuclear arsenal since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump was asked about a December tweet in which he said the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capacity "until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."

Trump said in the interview he would like to see a world with no nuclear weapons but expressed concern that the United States has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity." I am the first one that would like to see ... nobody have nukes, but were never going to fall behind any country even if its a friendly country, were never going to fall behind on nuclear power.

"It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack," Trump said.

Russia has 7,000 warheads and the United States, 6,800, according to the Ploughshares Fund, an anti-nuclear group.

"Russia and the United States have far more weapons than is necessary to deter nuclear attack by the other or by another nuclear-armed country," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the independent Arms Control Association non-profit group.

The new strategic arms limitation treaty, known as New START, between the United States and Russia requires that by February 5, 2018, both countries must limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to equal levels for 10 years.

The treaty permits both countries to have no more than 800 deployed and non-deployed land-based intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and heavy bombers equipped to carry nuclear weapons, and contains equal limits on other nuclear weapons.

Analysts have questioned whether Trump wants to abrogate New START or would begin deploying other warheads.

In the interview, Trump called New START "a one-sided deal." "Just another bad deal that the country made, whether it's START, whether it's the Iran deal ... We're going to start making good deals," he said.

"We're very angry"

The United States is in the midst of a $1 trillion, 30-year modernization of its aging ballistic missile submarines, bombers and land-based missiles.

Trump also complained that the Russian deployment of a ground-based cruise missile is in violation of a 1987 treaty that bans land-based American and Russian intermediate-range missiles.

"To me it's a big deal," said Trump, who has held out the possibility of warmer U.S. relations with Russia.

Asked if he would raise the issue with Putin, Trump said he would do so "if and when we meet." He said he had no meetings scheduled as of yet with Putin.

Speaking from behind his desk in the Oval Office, Trump expressed concern about North Korea's ballistic missile tests and said accelerating a missile defense system for U.S. allies Japan and South Korea was among many options available.

"There's talks of a lot more than that," Trump said, when asked about the missile defense system. "We'll see what happens.

But it's a very dangerous situation, and China can end it very quickly in my opinion."

China has made clear that it opposes North Koreas nuclear and missile programs and has repeatedly called for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and a return to negotiations between Pyongyang and world powers.

But efforts to change Pyongyang's behavior through sanctions have historically failed, largely because of China's fear that severe measures could trigger a collapse of the North Korean state and send refugees streaming across their border.

Trump's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month in Florida was interrupted by a ballistic missile launch by North Korea.

Trump did not completely rule out possibly meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at some point in the future under certain circumstances but suggested it might be too late.

"It's very late. We're very angry at what he's done, and frankly this should have been taken care of during the Obama administration," he said.

According to Japanese news reports, the Japanese government plans to start debate over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, and the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system to improve its capability to counter North Korean ballistic missiles.

The strength of Trumps remarks in favor of the EU took some Brussels officials by surprise after his support for Britain's vote last summer to exit from the EU.

"I'm totally in favor of it," Trump said of the EU. "I think it's wonderful. If they're happy, I'm in favor of it." Statements by him and others in his administration have suggested to Europeans that he sees little value in the Union as such, which Trump last month called a vehicle for Germany." Reuters
Amitabh Bachchan has turned down an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to the Buckingham Palace.

Amitabh Bachchan has turned down an invitation from the Buckingham Palace

By Indo-Asian News Service: Amitabh Bachchan will not be able to attend the reception of UK-India Year of Culture, a "rare invitation", which was sent to the megastar by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Amitabh was invited by the royals for a special reception to launch the UK-India Year of Culture later this month.

His publicist said in a statement, "Yes, Mr Bachchan has been given a rare invitation by Queen Elizabeth and Buckingham Palace to grace the UK-India Year Of Culture reception, but unfortunately due to prior commitments, he will be unable to attend."

advertisement

Currently, the actor is gearing up for the launch of Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar 3 trailer, scheduled for the first week of March.

His upcoming projects include Ayan Mukerji's tentatively-titled film Dragon that will see him alongside Ranbir Kapoor, Kabir Khan's production Thugs Of Hindostan where he is working with Aamir Khan and Aankhen 2, that will see him working with Arjun Rampal and Anil Kapoor.

ALSO READ: Amitabh and Jaya living separately, says Amar Singh

PHOTOS: Amitabh and Rekha together again. The love story, in Rekha's own words

ALSO WATCH: 33 years on, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan greet Rekha at Screen Awards

--- ENDS ---
New Delhi, February 24

The US Embassy here on Friday strongly condemned the killing of an Indian, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, and injuries to another Indian and an American during a shooting incident in the US state of Kansas.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

"The US Embassy in New Delhi strongly condemns the tragic shooting in Olathe, Kansas, resulting in the death of an Indian citizen and injury to an Indian and an American," the embassy said in a statement.

"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured." A 51-year-old US Navy veteran opened fire, killing Kuchibhotla, 32, and injuring Alok Madasani, also 32, and an American in a bar in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night.

The attacker identified as Adam Purinton mistook the Indians for "Middle Easterners" and reportedly yelled "get out of my country".

Ian Grillot, 24, was injured when he tried to intervene to save the Indians.

Kuchibhotla hailed from Hyderabad while Madasani hails from Warangal town in Telangana. They were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

The family of Kuchibhotla was shocked over the incident and has sought help from the state and central governments in bringing his body back home.

In its statement, the US Embassy said, "We have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims".

"We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime. US federal authorities are also investigating the case. We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice." "We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families," US Charged' Affaires Mary Kay Carlson said in the statement.

"The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live. US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief," she added.

IANS
London, February 24

British Prime Minister Theresa Mays Conservatives secured a landmark victory in a parliamentary byelection on Friday, strengthening her hand ahead of Brexit negotiations as her rivals suffered damaging setbacks.

The Conservatives captured the northwestern seat of Copeland that Labour have held since 1935, the first byelection gain for a governing party for 35 years and a result that piles pressure on the oppositions under-fire socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn.

In the central English seat of Stoke-on-Trent, Paul Nuttall, leader of the populist anti-EU UK Independence Party, failed to overturn a Labour majority despite the fact almost 70 per cent of the citys voters backed leaving the European Union at last years referendum. That cast doubt on his future too.

The Conservatives also increased their share of the vote in Stoke from the 2015 election. The two results point to Mays tightening grip on political power following the Brexit vote, and will be used as evidence that her strategy of pursuing a clean break with the EU has stemmed rising right-wing populism without denting her ability to take votes from an increasingly left-wing Labour Party.

Although Labour avoided the worst-case scenario of two defeats, Corbyn is likely to face renewed criticism. The result ... is a disaster for us. We should not try to insult peoples intelligence by suggesting other than that, Labour lawmaker John Woodcock told BBC radio.

In an email to party supporters, Conservative Chairman Patrick McLoughlin said the result was an important show of support for Mays Brexit plans.  Reuters
By Press Trust of India: Berlin, Feb 24 (PTI) Scientists have discovered fossil of a giant penguin with a body length of around 150 centimetres, dating back to about 61 million years, a finding which shows that the flightless birds possibly lived alongside dinosaurs.

The new find dates back to the Paleocene era and counts among the oldest penguin fossils in the world.

advertisement

The bones differ significantly from those of other discoveries of the same age and indicate that the diversity of Paleocene penguins was higher than previously assumed.

Scientists from Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Germany postulate that the evolution of penguins started much earlier than previously thought, probably already during the age of dinosaurs.

The fossil sites along the Waipara River in New Zealands Canterbury region are well known for their avian fossils, which were embedded in marine sand a mere four million years after the dinosaurs became extinct.

"Among the finds from these sites, the skeletons of Waimanu, the oldest known penguin to date, are of particular importance," said Gerald Mayr of the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt.

"What sets this fossil apart are the obvious differences compared to the previously known penguin remains from this period of geological history," said Mayr.

"The leg bones we examined show that during its lifetime, the newly described penguin was significantly larger than its already described relatives. Moreover, it belongs to a species that is more closely related to penguins from later time periods," he said.

The penguin lived about 61 million years ago and reached a body length of about 150 centimetres - making it almost as big as Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi, the largest known fossil penguin, which lived in Antarctica around 45 to 33 million years ago, thus being much younger in geological terms.

"This shows that penguins reached an enormous size quite early in their evolutionary history, around 60 million years ago," said Mayr.

In addition, scientists assume that the newly discovered penguin species also differed from their more primitive relatives in the genus Waimanu in their mode of locomotion: The large penguins presumably already moved with the upright, waddling gait characteristic for todays penguins.

"The discoveries show that penguin diversity in the early Paleocene was clearly higher than we previously assumed," said Mayr.

"In turn, this diversity indicates that the first representatives of penguins already arose during the age of dinosaurs, more than 65 million years ago," he added.

advertisement

The study was published in the journal Science of Nature. PTI MHN SAR MHN

--- ENDS ---
Photo: Central Freight Lines

Central Freight Lines has signed a letter of intent to buy certain assets of Virginia-based Wilson Trucking, a 91-year-old less-than-truckload carrier with 29 terminals in the Southeast.

The acquisition expands CFLs coverage to the Southeast and Puerto Rico, which the company expects to improve its competitive position in the LTL and distribution markets. CFL operates 56 terminals in the West and Southwest regions of the U.S.

This is very good news for the many loyal customers of Wilson, said C.L. (Chuck) Wilson, chairman and CEO of Wilson Trucking. Central Freight Lines has been in business for over 90 years just like us, and Im confident our customers will be quite impressed with the many quality services they offer.

CFL is a Waco, Texas-based LTL common carrier operating 1,600 tractors and 8,000 trailers in 17 states.
Spartan maintenance director wins award

Nathan Lober, director of maintenance at Spartan College of Aeronautics, was named 2016 Will Rogers Flight Standards District Offices Maintenance Technician of the Year by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Spartan honored Lober with a surprise ceremony on among his co-workers and Spartan College students. He was nominated by the Principal Inspectors for Spartan and selected by a group of safety professionals that cover the district.

Lober manages maintenance for Spartans fleet of airplanes at the flight campus in Jenks. He was a student at Spartan and has worked there since 2011.

Firestone/Hibdon donates to Tulsa Tech

Firestone Complete Auto Care/Hibdon Tires Plus donated $5,000 to the transportation programs at Tulsa Techs Broken Arrow campus for student needs and extra-curricular activities to keep students engaged about a career in the automotive industry.

We are grateful to corporate partners like Firestone Complete Auto Care and Hibdon Tires Plus for their dedicated support of our students, said Dr. Steve Tiger, Tulsa Tech Superintendent and CEO. The generosity of industry partners and leaders in our community to support career training and our students is unmatched.

Bridgestone Americas, Inc., parent company for Firestone Complete Auto Care/Hibdon Tires Plus, has a tradition of supporting and partnering with schools that are NATEF certified, in order to continue the growth of the industry and supply a highly-skilled workforce to their stores. Through the Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund, the company contributes millions of dollars through grants and other contributions in support of causes that champion childrens programs, education and the environment and conservation.

Womens Business Breakfast to be March 2

The next Womens Business Breakfast will be at 9 a.m. March 2 at 36 Degrees North, 36 E. Cameron St., as a way for small business owners to meet and connect.

Attendees can market their businesses through interactive discussion and activities, learn from other women entrepreneurs and professionals in the area and hear the latest in resource services for the Tulsa area. Event coordinators are REI Womens Business Center, The Mine, The Forge, OSU Riata Center, Tulsa Technology Center, Tulsa Community College and the Tulsa Regional Chamber.

To register, visit reiwbc.org.

Sapulpa among leaders in Main Street investment

Main Street programs in Sapulpa and Claremore were among the leaders in the state for private investment into the programs in 2016, according to numbers released by the Oklahoman Main Street Center.

Sapulpa invested $30 million into the program, while Claremore invested $15 million. Enid was the leader at $40 million.

Since joining the Oklahoma Main Street Center last August, Ive seen first-hand the hard work and dedication of the states Main Street programs to the revitalization of their communities and historic areas, said Buffy Hughes, Oklahoma Main Street Center director. We are proud of all the time and effort the program directors, board of directors and numerous volunteers contribute to the success of their local programs.

Private investment efforts in Sapulpa, which began the Oklahoma Main Street program in 1990, show how important the citys downtown area is to city leaders, said Carl Prescott, board president of Sapulpa Main Street.

By continuing to reinvest, thru monetary means, and especially the untold amount of voluntary time by Main Street board members, directors, and friends of Main Street over the past 27 years, this program will continue to thrive and continue to keep Sapulpa on top, he said. Im very proud to be a part of this organization for the past four years and look forward to continually helping in any way possible.

Claremore Main Streets milestone reflects the commitment made by the community their district, said Jessica Jackson, program director for Claremore Main Street.

Its heartening to see the community support Main Streets mission and invest in our downtown, she said To achieve a milestone like $15 million in reinvestment, it just reminds us of the difference we are making in Claremore. Our historic downtown is shining again, and theres nothing better to see.

Sawyer Manufacturing makes welding rod bucket

Sawyer Manufacturing Co., a manufacturer of pipeline and welding equipment, has added a welding bucket to its list of products.

The bucket, a rather simple object, can hold more than 400 pounds and is designed with four pre-formed partitions with the purpose of keeping welding rods separated.

Our new Welding Bucket, like all welding buckets, is a simple storage device for welders, but what separates ours from the others is its size and strength, shop supervisor John Morelock said. Its huge and will last forever.

The bucket is strong enough to hold a 2009 full-sized Ford Super Duty crew cab truck without buckling. Morelock said.

CTCA adds oncologist/hematologist, promotes 1

Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southwestern Regional Medical Center hired Kathryn Arrambide as a medical oncologist and hematologist and promoted Kevin Tulipana to medical director of hospital medicine.

Arrambide has extensive experience in treating blood cancers and disorders, as well as lung, breast, cervical, uterine and advanced-stage cancers. She is a graduate of University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Tulipana, who joined CTCA in January 2015, is a graduate of Truman State University and Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine & Surgery.

Mach to lead Garvers Oklahoma Water Team

Garver, a Tulsa-based engineering, planning, architectural, and environmental services firm, recently promoted project manager Mary Elizabeth Mach to lead its Oklahoma Water Team to lead the team in projects that include water and wastewater treatment plants, distribution system and sewer lines, water reuse and master plans for the state.

Nothing is more critical to society than water, Mach said. Oklahoma is facing a multitude of water and wastewater infrastructure needs. So weve certainly got our work cut out for us, but Garvers Oklahoma Water Team is committed to finding solutions to every problem our clients  and the people of this state  are facing.

Mach has bachelors degree from Oklahoma State University and a masters degree from the University of Oklahoma.
In November, voters overwhelmingly approved State Questions 780 and 781 because they know Oklahoma incarcerates too many nonviolent, low-level offenders. In 2015, 75 percent of Oklahoma prison admissions were nonviolent offenders, a trend that is costly to taxpayers, destructive to families and yields little to no positive results in crime reduction.

To start fixing this problem, SQ 780 makes nonviolent drug possession offenses and low-level property offenses misdemeanors instead of felonies, triggering cost savings from decreased corrections spending.

SQ 781 invests those cost savings into rehabilitation programs to treat addiction and mental health conditions that often contribute to anti-social behavior and go untreated in prison.

Voters in November loudly and clearly approved these significant reforms for our criminal justice system. The changes take effect in July but, unfortunately, this legislative session has already seen misguided efforts by legislators to gut the voters wishes before they even take effect. This is precisely the type of political dishonesty that has voters so upset with elected officials across the country.

Not even three months after the vote, politicians are claiming voters didnt know what they were doing, and that legislators need to fix a problem voters created.

The reality is voters acted on the problem of over-incarceration for drug use and mental illness that legislators have ignored. Voters placed these questions on the ballot and passed them because legislators refused to act.

Yet today, some legislators who want to undo the voters work are trying to pull the wool over voters eyes by spreading a myth that the state questions decriminalized drugs in school zones, putting children in jeopardy. That is 100 percent false.

Drug dealing in school zones  or anywhere  is still a felony under these state questions. Voters did nothing to lessen the punishment of drug dealers.

Voters did reclassify simple possession of drugs for personal use as a misdemeanor crime and said possession is better addressed by treatment than incarceration.

Nevertheless, some legislators have filed House Bill 1482, which totally guts the voters work, claiming it fixes a problem that the state questions did not create and does not exist: decriminalization of drugs at schools.

Make no mistake: This bill is a Trojan horse to undermine the voters wishes.

Dont believe the bill authors misinformation about this bill. Geographic analysis of the language shows it turns a huge portion of the state into a felony drug possession zone. The bill says anyone possessing drugs for personal use is a felon if within 1,000 feet of a school, college, university, day care, church, fairgrounds or recreational area.

This means if a student is caught with a small amount of a drug near a school, university or basically anywhere else, he/she is a felon for life. It is a far better policy to connect that young person with treatment than to send them to prison.

Because of over-incarceration, Oklahomas prison population is expected to grow 25 percent in the next decade at a cost of $2 billion. The state treasury is already strained, and bad bills like HB 1482 will make it worse without improving public safety.

Instead of spreading dishonest information and emotionally charged rhetoric about a voter decision that hasnt even taken effect and will make our prison spending challenge less severe, politicians would be better served giving these measures a chance to work. Legislators should shelve House Bill 1482 and any bill like it so the voters wishes can take effect.

Oklahoma politicians would do well to remember an important rule of politics: Listen to the voters. It is worthwhile.

Kris Steele is chairman of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform and former speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
By Press Trust of India: tributes to soldiers

Srinagar, Feb 24 (PTI) Army chief General Bipin Rawat today paid tributes to the three soldiers killed in militant attack in Shopian district yesterday, even as he called for coordinated efforts by security forces to deal with the problem of stone-pelting.

A week after warning of tough action against those impeding counterinsurgency operations in Kashmir, Gen Rawat asked security agencies to synergise efforts to effectively deal with the problem of stone-pelting during operations, an army official said.

advertisement

Gen Rawat was taking a security review meetings at headquarters of counterinsurgency units-- Kilo Force and Victor Force-- here, an army official said.

He also underlined the need to maintain high vigil.

The Army Chief had on February 15, while paying tributes to soldiers killed during two encounters a day earlier in Kashmir, warned of tough action against those civilians who were impeding the counterinsurgency operations in the Valley by resorting to stone-pelting.

His statement evoked sharp reactions from both mainstream parties, including National Conference and Congress, and separatists who insisted the Kashmir problem cannot be addressed militarily.

Despite the Army Chiefs warning, there has been no let up in stone-pelting against security forces during their counterinsurgency operations and three such incidents have taken place since February 15.

Gen Rawat, who arrived here yesterday, was briefed on the prevailing security situation and recent operations conducted by the security forces.

He also reviewed the collaborative measures of security forces towards ensuring peace and calm in the region.

The army chief interacted with local commanders and troops urging them to continue discharging their duty with utmost professionalism.

Gen Rawat, accompanied by Northern Command Chief Lt General D Anbu and Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen J S Sandhu, also paid tributes to the three soldiers killed in a militant attack in Shopian district of Kashmir yesterday.

He laid wreaths on the coffins carrying the mortal remains of the soldiers, one of whom was from Marhama area of Anantnag district.

"As the entire nation salutes the martyrs...the army gave a befitting farewell to its brave-hearts today in a solemn ceremony here," the official said.

Gen Rawat also expressed his grief and offered condolences to the families of Lance Naik Ghulam Mohi Ud Din, Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejith M J. PTI MIJ TIR

--- ENDS ---
Correction

This story originally misidentified the party affiliation of Rep. Meloyde Blancett. The story has been corrected.

OKLAHOMA CITY  A panel looking into allegations of improper conduct by state Rep. Dan Kirby made no findings on sexual harassment, its chairman says.

Rep. Josh Cockroft, R-Wanette, chaired the House Rules Committee, which ultimately recommended that Kirby be expelled from the lower chamber.

In a Feb. 20 letter addressed to whom it may concern, Cockroft wrote, The committee did not find that Rep. Kirby had committed sexual harassment.

But the panel did find his behavior so troublesome that it recommended he be expelled by the House, which would require approval of two-thirds or 69 members. Kirby, R-Tulsa, resigned earlier this month after the committees recommendations were released.

Cockroft said Thursday that he was asked by House Speaker Charles McCalls office to render an answer to a specific question posed by Kirby.

Kirby inquired with a specific question and was given a specific answer, McCall said.

Sen. Ralph Shortey, R-Oklahoma City, is a consultant for Kirby. He said Kirby requested the letter because Kirby is entering the job market and wanted to show that sexual harassment was not part of the committees findings.

It was not within the ability of a legislative panel to find someone guilty or innocent, according to Cockroft. He said the panel is not a court of law.

McCall, R-Atoka, charged the panel with looking into allegations of wrongful termination and sexual harassment after it was learned that former House Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, approved a $44,500 settlement involving one of Kirbys former assistants to resolve a claim.

Hickman said an internal investigation found no sexual harassment but that it was cheaper to settle the claim than to litigate.

A second former executive assistant came forward alleging Kirby asked her to send him nude pictures and took her to a strip club.

In one exchange, Kirby and the executive assistant were discussing her getting a full-time job with his office, according to the report. He says, Now about those pics!!!, according to the report.

In another message, he tells her that he wishes she were in his bed right now, according to the report.

Kirby has said the two were in a personal relationship, something the woman has said was untrue.

Kirby has denied wrongdoing.

Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa, served on the panel investigating the matter.

She said panel members were looking into an inappropriate sexual relationship between a representative and an employee.

Blancett said that regardless of whether the relationship was consensual, it was inappropriate behavior.

Another member, Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, said he found Kirbys behavior so heinous and shocking that he voted to recommend expulsion.

All the findings are within the report that was released to the public, McCall said. You can look back and look every specific issue, but ultimately the committee did find that the conduct of Rep. Kirby warranted expulsion.
FOX television in the US will withdraw scenes from future replays of 24: Legacys fourth episode after producers apologised for using footage of a terrorist attack in Kenya.

The footage from the September 2013 attack on Westgate mall in Kenyas capital was used to depict a fictional terror attack in Egypt.

67 people died as a result of the attack in Kenya.

Producers Evan Katz and Manny Coto in a statement, We regretfully included news footage of an attack in Nairobi. It will be removed from all future broadcasts and versions of the show,.

In the statement said they apologised for any pain caused to the victims and their families and are deeply sorry.

But the episode is due to air in Australia on TEN this Sunday night, in the second of two episodes screening.

TEN is yet to advise of any changes to its playout.

No word how removing scenes will affect the shows very own ticking clock.

Source: Hollywood Reporter
In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election results announced on Thursday, the Congress trailed at a distant third and won just 31 seats (down from 58) in the 227-member body, its lowest tally so far.

By India Today Web Desk: A day after the Congress was routed in the high-pitched Maharashtra civic polls, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asked if the Sonia Gandhi-led party is willing to introspect why it is even losing the role of the main Opposition party.

"It (the Congress) is struggling to survive by becoming the tail-ender in an alliance in (various) states...Is the Congress willing for an introspection as to why this is happening? Having denied to the Congress the position of being the ruling party, the electorate is now well on its way to deny it a role even as a principal opposition," Jaitley wrote on Facebook in a small piece titled "The Squeezing Out of the Congress Party".

advertisement

In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election results announced on Thursday, the Congress trailed at a distant third and won just 31 seats (down from 58) in the 227-member body, its lowest tally so far.

SANJAY NIRUPAM TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONGRESS' POOR SHOW

It was a huge setback for the Congress which ruled Maharashtra for 15 long years till 2014 in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party. The debacle forced its Mumbai unit chief Sanjay Nirupam to accept moral responsibility and resign.

In other parts of Maharashtra, the Congress lost Solapur and Amravati to a resurgent BJP. In Zilla Parishad elections, the party came down from 419 to 293 seats, while the BJP went up to a stunning 410 from 165 in 2012.

Jaitley said the Congress's "disruptive role in Parliament" on demonetisation has projected it "more as a fringe rather than a mainstream political party".

"In any case, a party which has governed India for more than half a century cannot afford to take a stand which supports excessive use of cash and ridicules the new tools of technology which will enable digital transactions to be a substitute for cash. The Congress has lost its image as a responsible political organisation," he wrote.

Full text of Arun Jaitley's blog:

The Squeezing Out of the Congress Party

The 2014 General Elections delivered an absolute majority for the BJP and overwhelming majority for the NDA. This was a surprise for many. The bigger surprise, however, was that the Congress got relegated to just 44 seats in Parliament.

Since May, 2014 India has seen many State and local elections. The BJP has increased its vote in each of these elections. It has done exceedingly well in States like Maharashtra, Haryana and Assam where it traditionally played a second fiddle to regional parties. The results of the local elections in Odisha and Maharashtra have shown that the BJP is capable of winning major States on its own. The first message of these elections is that BJP has become a pan-India party which is now fast spreading its roots even in the eastern and southern States. The forthcoming election for the Karnataka Assembly will reassert this.

advertisement

But what about the Congress? In Odisha, it got squeezed out of the contest. In Maharashtra, it got pushed to third or fourth place in most cities. It is not even a major contestant in States like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. It is struggling to survive by becoming the tail-ender in an alliance in these States. Many in the Samajwadi Party are wondering if it was worth leaving 103 seats for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. Is the Congress willing for an introspection as to why this is happening? Having denied to the Congress the position of being the ruling party, the electorate is now well on its way to deny it a role even as a principal opposition. Once out of the power, the Congress refused to accept the reality. Its disruptive role in Parliament has projected it more as a fringe rather than a mainstream political party. It has failed to behave like a natural party of governance. It is seen as anti-reformist, anti-growth. Scandals of the 2004-2014 continue to tumble out.

The Congress Party's stand on demonetization of high value currency is costing it dearly. Tax evasion enables a small percentage of the population to unjustly enrich itself at the cost of the exchequer. Public resources get reduced and hence the expenditure on the vast section of population is reduced. The poor have overwhelmingly supported the demonetization. The Congress Party has lost its traditional constituency of the poor electorate to the BJP. In any case, a Party which has governed India for more than half a century cannot afford to take a stand which supports excessive use of cash and ridicules the new tools of technology which will enable digital transactions to be a substitute for cash. The Congress has lost its image as a responsible political organisation. From a natural party of governance, it has moved to the fringe. It's policies have alienated its constituency of the poor aam aadmi.

advertisement

Parties which adopt dynastic succession as an alternative to merit-based leadership creation, suffer from a natural disadvantage. Tall leaders do not grow in such parties. The strength of the party overlaps with the charisma of the current generation of the dynasty. If the current representative of the dynasty lacks the ability to lead the Party or the country, the Party suffers. It becomes a crowd around a fading dynasty. This now seems obvious in the case of the Congress.

advertisement

ALSO READ | Why Congress became irrelevant as Mumbai voted for Shiv Sena, rest of Maharashtra largely for BJP

--- ENDS ---
On March 14th CNN will host #MyFreedomDay, a student-led day of action against modern-day slavery.

CNN will organise anti-trafficking events to generate awareness of the multi-billion dollar industry of human trafficking. The CNN Freedom Project will amplify the voices of these young people seeking real social change around the world.

Tony Maddox, EVP and Managing Director of CNN International said: Children and young people are very often the victims of modern-day slavery, but they are also some of the most energized and engaged activists against it. #MyFreedomDay is designed to provide a focal point for their actions, bring attention to their efforts and link them with others fighting this criminal enterprise in every corner of the globe.

On March 14 CNNs television networks will show the world what students, schools and communities are doing to fight slavery with live coverage of their anti-trafficking rallies. CNN correspondents around the world will also report on these various student-hosted events.

Driving #MyFreedomDay is a simple question: What does freedom mean to you? CNN is asking young people to share their responses via text, photo or video across social media using the #MyFreedomDay hashtag.

That content will be showcased in a dynamic, interactive video wall on CNN.com/myfreedom and across CNNs television and social platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. CNN will complement those user-generated submissions by publishing a series of stories that highlight real-life examples of how children are approached by human traffickers in addition to recent studies and statistics from support organizations.

CNN.com/myfreedom
On Monday Four Corners presents Oceans of Plastic, by French filmmaker Vincent Perazio, looking at how plastics are impacting the oceans of our planet.

Life without plastic is almost unimaginable. Its become central to the way we live our lives  from everyday items like food packaging and water bottles, to sophisticated high end products. But how many of us know what happens to that plastic when we throw it away?

We quantified and estimated that 8 million metric tonnes of plastic entered the ocean (in one year). Environmental Engineer

Scientists say vast amounts of our discarded plastic is ending up in the ocean.

Theres so much plastic going in and we have no idea where it is. Oceanographer

Working out where that plastic ends up and what impact it has on our oceans has become a major concern for many marine scientists.

Submarine pilots know when they are at the bottom of the sea because they see the plastic. Environmental Scientist

On Monday night, Four Corners brings you this thought provoking story from French filmmaker Vincent Perazio in which he examines the work of these scientists investigating our plastic waste.

Some are undertaking research to see if plastic is making its way into the food chain, others are looking into the impact on marine life and the environment.

Its not worth throwing away plastic bags. You should just season them well and eat them directly because theyre going to end up back on your plate in one way or another. Marine Scientist

Once there is so much plastic in the seas, there is nothing to eat for the filter feeders, for the fish, for the whales. Oceanographer

The program asks confronting questions about whether or not we need to change the way we deal with the plastics we throw away.

Its not about not using plastic, its about using them much more smartly. And what that, in my view, is going to take is rethinking the way we produce, use and dispose of plastics. Professor of Marine Biology

Monday 27th at 8.30pm on ABC.
New sci-fi comedy interstitial, Trip for Biscuits, begins on iview next week, featuring Good Games Steven Bajo ODonnell as part of a hapless crew of space cadets, messing with aliens and all things galactic.

The series is created by Dave Cartel, Timothy Powell and Steven ODonnell and produced by Robot Panther.

Trip for Biscuits is a fast-paced 18 x 10 minute disaster-comedy series that follows Bajo (Steven ODonnell) and his misfit crew as they try to carry out their bizarre missions. The team lack the life skills required to deal with everyday situations  let alone cope with the unusual and dangerous phenomena they are investigating.

Its been twenty-two years since a mysterious burrito truck took off with Bajos parents, and he has dedicated his life to finding them since. In his relentless pursuit for answers, Bajo has picked up some genuine scientific skills (some would say at the expense of his social skillset), but unfortunately no leads on his parents.

After landing a job with PI firm Spatial and Extra-terrestrial Phenomena Investigations (SEPI), Bajo is amazed to discover that the Earth is populated with a bizarre array of aliens  you wouldnt believe the amount of weird stuff that goes on right under our noses. SEPI specialise in alien cases and while they definitely arent winning any business awards, they do let him use their resources in his quest to find his parents.

At SEPI Bajo realises that missing parents may only be half of his problems  for starters, his boss Dan Driver (Mansoor Noor) is money-obsessed and has no PI experience whatsoever. The intel agent Violet (Charlotte Nicdao) has trouble containing her emotions, which is ironic seeing as her brain is contained in a fish tank. Then there are Bajos field agent partners  inane hipster Tosh (Reef Ireland) who prioritises styling over snooping, and amateur weapons enthusiast Amy (Kate Mylius), Dans teenage niece, who shoots first and then shoots again, usually skipping the questions part altogether.

Already kind of struggling to complete a mission without accidentally wiping out their mark or writing off the company car, the team also has to contend with the Illacks  a mysterious alien race who live in food trucks and abduct humans  who may have something to do with Bajos missing parents

Consequently, most of their time is spent bickering and trying to deal with the growing set of problems they are doomed to perpetuate. These guys have turned out of control into an art form  reminding us that when you mess with aliens, things can go horribly, horribly wrong.

Production details: Trip for Biscuits is an original comedy scifi series created by Dave Cartel, Timothy Powell and Steven ODonnell. Head Writer and Director: Dave Cartel. Series Producer: Timothy Powell. Executive Producers: Colin South and ABC TV Childrens Chris Rose. Produced in association with Screen Australia and Film Victoria, Trip for Biscuits is a Robot Panther production for ABC Television.

Friday March 3rd on iview.
Two years on, Nine and Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder have both made a grovelling apology to billionaire Gina Rinehart for The House of Hancock.

It follows Rinehart suing both companies for injurious falsehood and misleading and deceptive conduct.

Last week NSW Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum dismissed the proceedings after the parties agreed to an out of court settlement. Each party will pay their own costs.

In a joint statement published on Nines website the companies said:

In February 2015, Nine broadcast a two part mini-series, produced by Cordell Jigsaw, about in particular, Mrs Gina Rinehart and her parents, Hope and Lang Hancock, and her husband, Frank Rinehart. That mini-series was a drama, not a documentary, and certain matters were fictionalised for dramatic purposes.

Nine and Cordell Jigsaw accept that Mrs Rinehart had a very loving and close relationship with her mother, father and husband, and has with Hope and Ginia. They also acknowledge the significant contribution that Mrs Rinehart has made to Australia through her years of hard work and dedication and by her investment in this country, to its industry, economy and to the employment of Australians and by her longstanding support of elite sport and numerous worthwhile charities.

Nine and Cordell Jigsaw accept that Mrs Rinehart found the broadcast to be inaccurate. That was certainly not the intention of Nine or Cordell Jigsaw, and each unreservedly apologises to Mrs Rinehart and her family for any hurt or offence caused by the broadcast and its promotion.

Reports now claim the miniseries wont be released again on DVD, streamed, or sold overseas.

A statement from Hancock Prospecting said, Mrs Rinehart and others who truly knew the Hancock family and Mrs Rinehart, were disappointed such an inaccurate and distorted miniseries against their family, family members who greatly contributed to our country, was aired by Channel Nine, which did not depict the actual people, and is pleased that she has received a public apology.

This case was not about money. It was about Mrs Rinehart standing up for her deeply loved family members to try to stop the further spreading of unfair and grossly disgraceful falsehoods about her family, especially when certain of her family members are no longer here able to defend themselves.

This matter was not just about the fundamental right of Mrs Rinehart and her family not to have lies and misrepresentations spread publicly about them, but Mrs Rinehart hopes that this matter will lead to the greater protection of others from such unfair conduct by the media and lead our politicians to activate long overdue reform in this area.

The outcome will likely make it more difficult for bio-dramas to take dramatic license with their subjects.

The former husband of Ita Buttrose Alasdair Macdonald recently sued ABC over Paper Giants, claiming the miniseries depicted him as a man so threatened by the success of his wife that he deserted her and his family. The case was settled out of court.

Source: Fairfax, News Corp
SBS last night held a community forum where members of the public heard from Board members and senior management.

Insight presenter Jenny Brockie led the 90 minute Conversations with SBS  Board Community Forum at its Artarmon headquarters, following the first Board meeting for 2017.

In attendance were the recently appointed Chairman of SBS, Dr Hass Dellal AO, Managing Director Michael Ebeid, Directors Dot West, Bill Lenehan, Daryl Karp and Peeyush Gupta, as well as senior SBS management.

The lively discussion touched upon the diverse communities that SBS serves, the SBS Radio Services Review, the importance of promoting languages, the need to serve younger audiences, SBS VICELAND, older audiences, digital technology, SBS On Demand, and Indigenous employment.

SBS Chairman, Dr Hass Dellal, told the audience: I have a passion for SBS, and I know that you all have a passion for SBS. We have served the early migrants that came to this country really well, and we continue to serve them. We now have that same responsibility and obligation for Australias newer communities, to really serve them well. Thats what were about. We serve them through the stories we explore, and we do that through consultation.

There are so many important issues to tackle and we need to make sure we are for all Australians  Indigenous Australians, new arrivals, as well as the earlier migrant communities  so we all come together as a nation.

Simply being a culturally and ethnically diverse nation does not constitute a successful multicultural country in the absence of good policy and good consultation. SBS was one of those good policy decisions. Its ours, its all of ours, he added.

SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid said: The media sector has changed more in the past five years than it has in the past 50. One of the things that weve been really focused on is evolving SBS to ensure were keeping up with the way that audiences are consuming media.

Thats what were focused on, using technology to reach more Australians, be available to more communities, and continuing to evolve. But importantly we are making sure that our content is distinctive to every other network, and that has never been more important to us.

Were proud to be a network that reflects what you would see walking down any street in any city or town in Australia, more than any other network, he added.

Forthcoming public events will be published on the SBS website.
By Press Trust of India: Melbourne, Feb 24 (PTI) Older people with back pain - the leading cause of global disability - have a 13 per cent higher chance of dying prematurely, a new study has warned.

The study by researchers at University of Sydney in Australia of 4,390 Danish twins aged more than 70 years investigated whether spinal pain increased the rate of all-cause and disease-specific cardiovascular mortality.

advertisement

Low back pain is a major problem, ranked as the highest contributor to disability in the world, researchers said.

"Our study found that compared to those without spinal pain (back and neck), a person with spinal pain has a 13 per cent higher chance of dying every year. This is a significant finding as many people think that back pain is not life-threatening," said Associate Professor Paulo Ferreira, from the Universitys Faculty of Health Sciences.

"As this study was done in twins, the influence of shared genetic factors is unlikely because it was controlled for in our analysis," Ferreira said.

"With a rapidly growing ageing population, spinal health is critical in maintaining older age independence, highlighting the importance of spinal pain in primary health care as a presenting symptom," lead author Matthew Fernandez from the Faculty of Health Sciences, said.

Researchers said back pain should be recognised as an important co-morbidity that is likely to impact peoples longevity and quality of life.

"Policy makers should be aware that back pain is a serious issue - it is an indicator of peoples poor health and should be screened for, particularly in the elderly," said Ferreira.

Recent research has also found that commonly prescribed medications for back pain such as paracetamol and anti-inflammatory drugs are ineffective in treating pain and have side effects.

"Medications are mostly ineffective, surgery usually does not offer a good outcome ? the best treatment for low back pain is a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity. People need to get moving," Ferreira said.

Few studies have examined the potential reduced life expectancy associated with spinal pain in an ageing population, particularly after controlling for familial factors, including genetics.

This study follows previous research which found that people with depression are 60 per cent more likely to develop low back pain in their lifetime.

The study was published in the European Journal of Pain. PTI SAR SAR

--- ENDS ---
Tottenham Hotspur have broken the UEFA Europa League attendance record after 80,465 turned out at Wembley to watch their round of 32 second leg against Gent.

That bettered the previous high of 75,180 set when Manchester United hosted Liverpool in the round of 16 last term. United have had three of the competition's top five attendances, all of which have involved an English club. Earlier this season 73,063 were at Old Trafford for the visit of Fenerbahce, the biggest crowd for a group stage fixture in the UEFA Europa League.

Highest attendances in the UEFA Europa League

1. 80,465  Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Gent, 23/02/2017, round of 32 second leg

2. 75,180  Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool, 17/03/2016, round of 16 second leg

3. 73,063  Manchester United 4-1 Fenerbahce, 20/10/2016, group stage

4. 67,553  Dynamo Kyiv 5-2 Everton, 19/03/2015, round of 16 second leg

5. 67,328  Manchester United 1-2 Ajax, 23/02/2012, round of 32 second leg

United win 4-1 in front of record group crowd

Group stage record: 73,063  Manchester United 4-1 Fenerbahce, 20/10/2016

Final record: 52,347  Atletico Madrid 3-0 Athletic Club, 09/05/2012, Bucharest



Highest attendances in play-offs/qualifying

1: 65,190  Borussia Dortmund 5-0 Wolfsberg, 06/08/2015, third qualifying round second leg

2: 64,200  Borussia Dortmund 7-2 Odd, 27/08/2015, play-off second leg

3: 56,932  West Ham United 0-1 Astra Giurgiu, 25/08/2016, play-off, second leg

4: 53,914  West Ham United 3-0 Domzale, 04/08/2016, third qualifying round second leg

5: 52,034  Schalke 04 6-1 HJK Helsinki, 25/08/2011, play-off second leg
In modern times, racial inequality is only a topic for essays and debates. But it was not long ago that people killed others and meted out inhuman punishments just because one race was thought to be better than another. One of the most atrocious cases of injustice due to racial difference in the 20th century is George Stinneys case. In 1944, George Stinney, a 14-year-old African American boy, was accused of murdering two white girls and convicted within 10 minutes by an all-white jury. He was then executed by electric chair. Keep reading this article to find out whether he got justice or not.

On March 23, 1944, the bodies of two white girls, Betty June Binnicker and Mary Emma Thames, were found in a ditch. George Stinney was arrested on the suspicion of murdering the girls.

George Junius Stinney, Jr. was an African-American boy living in Alcolu, Clarendon County, South Carolina. Alcolu was a small mill town divided into two by railroad tracks. The black residents lived in one part of the town while the white residents lived in the other.

On March 22, 1944, two white girls, 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 8-year-old Mary Emma Thames, went out riding on their bicycle looking for flowers. In their way, they passed George Stinney and his sister Katherine and asked them if they knew where to find maypops, a type of flower.

Later that day, when the girls did not return home, search parties were organized. The next morning bodies of both girls along with a railroad spike were found in a ditch filled with muddy water on the black side of town. Both had suffered severe head wounds. 14-year-old George Stinney along with his 17-year-old brother Johnny were arrested a few hours later on the suspicion of murdering the girls. Later, Johnny was released, but George was held.

After his arrest, George Stinney was interrogated by several white officers. Within an hour, a deputy announced that Stinney had confessed to the crime.

After his arrest, George was interrogated by several white officers in a locked room with no other witness aside from the officers. Within an hour, a Clarendon County deputy, H.S. Newman, announced that George Stinney had confessed to the crime. In his handwritten statement, he had stated I arrested a boy by the name of George Stinney. He then made a confession and told me where to find a piece of iron about 15 inches were [sic] he said he put it in a ditch about six feet from the bicycle.

According to the confession, George Stinney wanted to have sex with Betty June Binnicker. But he could not do so until her companion, Mary Emma Thames, remained on the spot. So, he decided to kill Mary Emma. When he went to kill Mary Emma, both girls fought back. Thus, he decided to kill both the girls with a 15-inch railroad spike. It was the same railroad spike that was found in the ditch along with the girls bodies.

To date, no confession statement signed by Stinney is known to exist.



Advertisements

The day after interrogation, George Stinney was charged with a first-degree murder. Until his trial, he was kept at a jail in Columbia and wasnt allowed to see his parents.

The day after he was arrested, Stinney was charged with first a first-degree murder based on the confession narrated by the deputy. His father was fired from his job. His family had to immediately vacate the housing provided by his fathers employer.

Due to the risk of a lynching attempt, Stinney was kept in a jail in Columbia, 50 miles away from the town. In the jail, he was questioned alone, without his parents or attorney.

On April 24, the trial took place at Clarendon County Courthouse, and the entire proceeding took only one day. The all-white jury gave a guilty verdict within 10 minutes. Stinney was sentenced to death in the electric chair.

The trial took place on 24 April at Clarendon County Courthouse. There were more than 1,000 people in the courtroom but no blacks were allowed. At 10 am, the jury selection began, and it ended just after noon. The trial commenced at 2:30 pm. The only evidence against Stinney was the three police officer who testified that Stinney had confessed to the murders. Stinneys court-appointed defense counsel Charles Plowden did not challenge it. There was no physical evidence that linked Stinney with the murders.

The closing argument concluded at 4:30 pm. The jury retired just before 5 pm, and within 10 minutes, they returned a guilty verdict with no recommendation for mercy. Since the law in South Carolina at that time stated that anyone over the age of 14 is an adult, Stinney was regarded as an adult and was sentenced to death in the electric chair. No appeal was filed as Stinneys family had no money to pay for a continuation.



Advertisements

Stinneys family, local churches, and the N.A.A.C.P. pleaded with Governor to stop the execution, but he did nothing. He was executed on the morning of June 16, 1944.

Stinneys family, local churches, and the N.A.A.C.P. appealed to Governor Olin D. Johnson to stop the execution. But Johnson responded by saying that It may be interesting for you to know that Stinney killed the smaller girl to rape the larger one. Then, he killed the larger girl and raped her dead body. Twenty minutes later he returned and attempted to rape her again, but her body was too cold. All of this he admitted himself. Even though the medical examiners report supports no such assertions.

In less than three months after the crime, George Stinney was executed at the Central Correctional Institution in Columbia on June 16, 1944. Stinney walked to the execution chamber at 7:30 am with a bible under his arms. Since he was just 51 tall and weighed just over 90 pounds, the law officers faced difficulty in strapping him to the electric chair for adults. Executioners noted that the straps did not fit him, and an electrode was too big for his leg They had to sit him on the bible to fit in the chair properly. George Stinney is the youngest person executed in the US in the 20th century.

The case was reopened in January 2014 and included testimony by Stinneys siblings. On December 17, 2014, Judge Carmen Mullen vacated Stinneys conviction.

In 2004, a local historian, George Frierson started researching the case. His work gained attention, and eventually, new evidence was gathered. In January 2014, this new evidence was presented in a court hearing. The evidence included in testimony by Stinneys siblings who claimed that Stinney was with them at the time of the murders.

On December 17, 2014, Judge Carmen Mullen overturned Stinneys conviction and said that the South Carolina court had failed to grant a fair trial in 1944.

[source: wikipedia.org, murderpedia.org, independent.co.uk]

Also see: 18 Offensive Facts that would make you think twice about the world we live in
We often fail to notice the things around us that are tiny, the ones that dont catch our attention easily, or the ones that need things to be traced all the way back to the source. Each of these so-called useless facts often times have special significances. A little effort made on their analysis could justify the real reason behind their presence. In this article, we have researched 24 useless facts that cover a wide range of domains that run the gamut from humans to animals to everyday things to science and statistics.

1 The solid tip of a shoelace is called an aglet and the hole in the shoes in which the laces are threaded is known as an eyelet.

An aglet, a small sheath, often made of plastic or metal, is used on each end of a shoelace. The word aglet comes from the Old French, aguillette, which is the diminutive of aguille, meaning needle. The original word for needle in Latin is acus which is the root of the word aglet.

An aglet keeps the fibers of the lace firm and prevents it from unraveling. Its narrow profile makes it easier to hold and easier to feed through the eyelets. An eyelet is a ring inserted into a hole through the shoe tarps. The word eyelet comes from the Old French, oillet, which is diminutive of oil, meaning eye. The original word for oillet is oculus which means eye in Latin.(source)

2 The color that you see in total darkness is called Eigengrau, which is dark gray and not black.

Eigengrau, dark light, or brain gray, is the uniform dark gray background that many people report seeing in the absence of light. Eigengrau is a German word which means intrinsic gray. The first usage of the word dates back to the nineteenth century.

The dark gray color seen by the eyes in perfect darkness is as a result of signals from the optic nerves. The intrinsic source of noise in the retina produces random events indistinguishable from those triggered by real photons. Eigengrau is perceived as lighter than a black object in normal lighting conditions because the contrast is more important to the visual system than absolute brightness. For example, the night sky looks darker than eigengrau because of the contrast provided by the stars.(source)

Advertisements

3 Adolf Hitler had a micro penis as well as just one testicle

Two historians, Jonathan Mayo and Emma Craigie, have claimed that Hitler is believed to have suffered from a condition known as hypospadias, a congenital defect of the penis which left him with a tiny, deformed penis. They have uncovered the Nazi leaders medical records which confirm his deformity. An excerpt from their book Hitlers Last Day: Minute by Minute promulgates the fact.

Hitler himself is believed to have had two forms of congenital abnormalities: an undescended testicle and a rare condition called penile hypospadias in which the urethra opens on the underside of the penis.

The urban legend that he really did only have one testicle was confirmed when Hitlers long lost medical records were found. The medical notes made during a prison check-up in 1923 say that the Nazi leader suffered from right-side cryptorchidism, an undescended right testicle. Hitler was mocked for decades by Britains schoolchildren who sung a 1939 rhyme, Hitler Has Only Got One Ball.(source)

4 43% of all people born prior to 1800 died before the age of five.

In 1800s (image below: red line), countries such as Yemen, India, Iran, South Korea and others had a child mortality rate higher than 50%. In the following 150 years (image below: orange line), some countries substantially reduced their child mortality rate whereas 30% of the worlds population had a child mortality under 10%. Other countries were still the victims of poor health. More than half of the world (57%) had child mortality rates that were still higher than 20%. The world was clearly divided into developed and developing countries.

In 1960 child mortality was still 18.5%. Almost every 5th child born in that year died in childhood. Over the last few decades, child mortality has plummeted. According to the 2013 data records, global health has improved drastically, particularly in those countries that had the worst health in the 1950s. They experienced the most dramatic improvements. China, for example, reduced its child mortality from 28.4% to now 1.3%. The global average child mortality rate fell to 3.4%, a tenfold lower rate than two centuries ago.(source)

Advertisements

5 It is physically impossible for a pig to look up to the sky.

Pigs cant look up into the sky because the anatomy of their neck muscles wont let them look completely upwards. They can see the sky only by lying down, but not in the standing position. The only other way left to see the sky is to look in the mud for the reflection.(source)

6 The King of Hearts, often called as Suicide King, is the only king without a mustache.

The King of Hearts in a deck of playing cards is the only king without a mustache, but not because of any superior personal hygiene. He originally had one. The original design of the card was lost during many rounds of reproduction, as a result of centuries of bad copying by English card makers. A similar blunder caused his ax to become a sword. The King of Hearts is also sometimes called the Suicide King because he appears to be sticking his sword into his head.(source)
Syrian refugee Firas al Ahmad, 30, looks out of the window at his father's house in Irbid, Jordan, the day before he left for the United States.  UNHCR/Houssam Hariri

IRBID, Jordan  As he packed his familys belongings into four large suitcases just hours before departing for a new life in Dallas, Texas, 30-year-old Syrian refugee Firas al Ahmad said he felt like he was being torn in two.

Im leaving because of my kids, for their future. I hope they can get a good education and have a better life than the one that I have lived, Firas said. The hardest part is that I am leaving my family behind, especially my father.

Together with his wife Samira and their three children, the former car mechanic from rural Homs was staying at his fathers small apartment in the northern Jordanian city of Irbid before boarding a flight to the United States, where the young family is being resettled.

Im leaving because of my kids, for their future. I hope they can get a good education and have a better life."

Sitting together on low cushions spread around edge of the bare living room, Firas and his father Hammoud exchanged few words as they sipped glasses of sweet tea and counted down the hours until saying their goodbyes. As Firas described his feelings about the journey ahead, both men bowed their heads to hide their tears.

The conflict in Syria is approaching its sixth tragic anniversary in March. Firas and his family are among a tiny minority of the 4.9 million Syrians currently living as refugees in neighbouring countries in the region selected for resettlement each year.

Jordan: Syrian family prepares for a new life in Texas

Resettlement programmes in the United States and other developed countries are designed to offer a lifeline to the most vulnerable refugees, including children at risk, survivors of torture and those with medical needs. Last year governments offered 140,000 resettlement places for refugees globally, and in total less than one per cent of the worlds refugees are ever resettled.

Firas and his family fled to Jordan at the end of 2013 with his father, brothers and aunt. As the fighting intensified around their homes near Homs, work dried up and it became impossible for them to afford even the most basic essentials. We left because our kids could have been killed at any moment, Samira explained.

The last three years as refugees in Jordan have been tough on the family, with the lack of legal work opportunities making each day a struggle to get by. With no prospect of an improvement in their situation, Firas said he had no hesitation when UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, contacted him early last year about possible resettlement in the United States.

What followed was an intensive year-long process of UNHCR selection interviews, medical checks and security screening by U.S. federal agencies including the FBI and Department for Homeland Security. Once complete, they were told that their resettlement had been approved and began the process of selling their furniture and moving out of their apartment in Shobak, 200 kilometres south of the capital Amman.

Syria is everything, it is everything to me. The minute the war is over I will go back."

To those in the United States and elsewhere who fear that refugees pose a threat to security, Firas stressed that he and others like him were the ones fleeing from danger.

He hopes he can put his skills to use and find work as a mechanic once they settle in Dallas. But if it had not been for the conflict that drove them from their homes, and the hardship of exile in Jordan, he said he never would have considered moving to the United States and starting all over again.

Syria is everything, it is everything to me. The minute the war is over I will go back. Even now I wish it would end today, before we leave, so that we could go home.

The family is now in the United States.

Additional reporting by Houssam Hariri in Jordan.


Islamists oppose idol worship and consider the Lady Justice statue anti-Islamic.

By AP: Thousands of people marched in Bangladesh's capital on Friday to demand a Lady Justice statue be removed from the Supreme Court complex.

The statue of a woman holding a scale and sword in her hands was installed in December outside the court building. The sculpture is wrapped in a sari, a Bangladeshi revision of the usual representation, the Greek goddess Themis blindfolded and clad in a gown.

advertisement

Islamists oppose idol worship and consider the Lady Justice statue anti-Islamic.

Supporters and sympathizers of the hardline Hefazat-e-Islam group joined the protest in Dhaka's Baitul Mokarram mosque after Friday's weekly prayer.

A mass movement across the country would occur if Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government did not meet the protesters' demand immediately, said Junaid Al Habib, a leader of the Hefazat-e-Islam.

"Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority country, its 92 percent people are Muslims, we cannot accept any idol in front of the Supreme Court," he said.

In 2008, protests led to the removal of a statue of a Bangladeshi mystic poet at a road crossing near Dhaka's international airport.

The country of 160 million people is ruled by secular laws, but radical Islam has been rising.

In recent years dozens of atheists, liberal writers, bloggers and publishers and members of minority communities and foreigners have been targeted and killed.

--- ENDS ---
Those who do not listen to them are made to stand in the front of the class and their pants are pulled down. But it does not stop there. They are then threatened to be sent to a dark room where a dog there would bite their private parts.

By Nolan Pinto: A nearly half a century old school in the Ulsoor area of Bengaluru does not cane students any more. They properly follow all the laws regarding not beating naughty children. So how do they correct those children who do not listen to them?

Their method is nothing less than pure torture for little children. Those who do not listen to them are made to stand in the front of the class and their pants are pulled down. But it does not stop there. They are then threatened to be sent to a dark room where a dog there would bite their private parts.

advertisement

One mother decided she would not accept this come what may. It was 10 days ago when she found out what was happening to her daughter. "She once told me the teacher removed her coat and scolded her," she said India Today adding she thought it was nothing big.

A few days later when she had gone to pick her daughter, she saw another child's mother arguing with the teacher. His shorts were allegedly pulled down by the teacher and he was in a miserable state. This mother then had doubts and asked her daughter what the teacher did to her.

That is when she says her daughter playfully told her the teacher did the same thing to her as well.

"I was angry with what happened to my daughter and realised the school management will pay no heed to this so I wrote a blog seeing help," she says.

In her blog dated February 10, she explained in detail what all happened. These are the excerpts from her blog.

FACEBOOK BLOG THAT STARTED IT ALL

"Each morning started with her crying & requesting me not to send her to school. At first I ignored her as I thought maybe she needs time to adjust in her new school. But later when I asked her the reason of her daily crying, she told me that her class teacher used to beat her regularly. So I requested her class teacher not to beat her. But after giving her three more chances to stop beating, she continues to beat my child as well the other children. Then I decided to complain to the Principal & her initial statement was 'No we don't beat any kids here as beating is banned in school."

The young mother then went on to state in detail how children are punished by the teachers.

"Instead of beating, they came up with a new way of punishment. Pulling down the pants of kids forcefully & making the rest of the class taunt them with words like shame shame puppy shame. And the next part is threatening them that they will be taken to one dark room where one dog is kept and it will attack their private parts."

advertisement

Her pleas to register an FIR also was allegedly not taken seriously by the Bengaluru Police Commissioner whom they met last Wednesday. They were along with the school authorities summoned on Thursday by the Child Rights Commission but there has been no progress yet on that front.

The mother, only after the intervention of India Today, was able to register an FIR at the Ulsoor police station. A case has now been registered under sections 11 and 12 of the POCSO Act and under sections 323, 342 and 109 of the IPC against the principal and the class teacher.

Also read: West Bengal: Corporal punishment lands two school kids in hospital, teachers suspended

Also read: Watch: School students in Bihar vandalise school property after tour gets cancelled

--- ENDS ---
And so, the hype continues for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." That being said, here's a brief roundup on this week's "Star Wars: Episode 8" spoilers.

"Star Wars: Episode 8" Spoilers: Supreme Leader Snoke's Origin & Identity

In "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Supreme Leader Snoke (portrayed by Andy Serkis, who is best known as the voice of Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy) was introduced as the leader of the First Order, a group that was formed and taken after the Galactic Empire, which was defeated by the Rebel Alliance in "Return of the Jedi." He was also the master of Kylo Ren a.k.a. Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa who crossed over to the "dark side." Now, the question is: who is Supreme Leader Snoke, really?

According to Express UK, Supreme Leader Snoke's origin and identity are expected to be revealed in the upcoming movie. There's also a canon novel series set between "Return of the Jedi" and "The Force Awakens" that seems to point out Gallius Rax (Fleet Admiral and later on, Third Emperor of the Galactic Empire) and Snoke being one and the same. However, the latest canon novel titled as "Empire's End" seems to tell otherwise.

Well, "Empire's End" concludes with - brace yourselves - Rax getting killed by Rae Sloane (Grand Admiral of the Galactic Empire) in the Battle of Jakku, the desert place where he originally came from. Thus, Snoke couldn't be Rax as he will be literally dead before "The Force Awakens" ever happened.

"Star Wars: Episode 8" Spoilers: Benicio Del Toro's Yet-To-Be Revealed Character

Just a few weeks ago, award-winning actor Benicio del Toro was announced to portray a yet-to-be-revealed character in the highly anticipated "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." However, that didn't stop fans from guessing who it will be. According to a more recent post from the aforementioned publication, there's even one guess that he will be portraying Vicrum Fett - a possible relative of Boba Fett, a bounty hunter introduced in "The Empire Strikes Back" as the second major villain after Darth Vader. He is also known to work for Jabba the Hutt, a slug-like alien who runs Desilijic-Hutt Cartel and handles a group of hunters, assassins, and smugglers under his thumb.

However, there's another guess that practically made fans think more about Benicio's would-be character in "The Last Jedi." And if you watch "Star Wars: Rebels," you might know who this is already. A Jedi padawan who goes by the name Ezra Bridger can be who the award-winning actor might be portraying. He is described to be a key character during the early days of rebellion versus the Empire. The only problem is, he is also described to be struggling with the temptation of fully crossing over to the "dark side" like Kylo Ren. Regardless of these guesses, however, the fact remains that everyone will only get to confirm all these and more when "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is officially released this December.
By Press Trust of India: Ujjain (MP), Feb 24 (PTI) Union Minister Uma Bharti today asserted her right to enter the sanctum sanctorum of famous Mahakaleshwar temple here in her capacity as a sadhvi on the occasion of Mahashivratri.

Bharti managed to secure entry to the temples sanctum on the basis of her status as sadhvi despite the fact that temple authorities had barred the entry of others on the day owing to huge rush of the devotees to have darshan of Lord Mahakal.

advertisement

Eye-witnesses said she was initially stopped by the officials as the administration had barred the entry into Garbh Grah (sanctum-sanctorum) in view of the rush during the Mahashivratri. Ujjain Collector Sanket Bhondwe, who is the chairman of the temple committee, informed her about this rule, but the Minister was visibly annoyed, witnesses said. Union Water Resources minister told the officials that she was a Sadhvi (spiritual leader) and therefore they cannot prevent her from entering the sanctum-sanctorum to offer jal (water) to the deity. Bhondwe later told PTI that "we allowed her only to offer water, and did not allow any other person (to enter)." The bar to entry in the sanctum sanctorum was meant to avoid inconvenience to the people, and because of this system, more than 2.5 lakh people could have darshan, he said. Meanwhile, Bharti said in a statement later that she went to the temple only after getting a permission from Mahant of Udasin Akhara Prakash Puri, who looks after issues regarding the temples customs. She only performed Jalabhishek as she had the due permission and it was also allowed to other mahants and priests of the temple, she said. On Mahashivratri every sadhu has the right to perform Jalabhishek, she said, adding that she was a Dikshit Sanyasi (properly initiated spiritual leader). The senior BJP leader also praised Madhya Pradesh government for making unparalleled arrangements during the Simhasth (Kumbh) mela last year. PTI Cor MAS ADU KRK RCJ

--- ENDS ---
NASA has just announced that it discovered a new solar system with seven habitable planets the same size as Earth. The announcement was made in a press conference it held at its headquarters in Washington.

The newly discovered solar system is called the TRAPPIST-1 system which can be found in the Aquarius constellation, which is around 40 million light-years away from our solar system. Given the distance, it will take humans millions of years before they reach the new solar system using present rocketry technology.

TRAPPIST-1 has a total of 7 planets, three of which were discovered a year ago by NASA scientists, revolving around a cool, reddish star which is 10 times smaller than the Sun. Thus, the planets receive reddish light similar to krypton instead of white light.

Unlike the planets in our solar system, these 7 exoplanets are orbiting closer to their star than Mercury is orbiting around the sun. According to Michael Gillon, an astronomer from the University of Liege in Belgium, you will be able to see the other planets like how we see the moon when we're standing on the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system.

As scientists celebrate this new discovery, some theoreticians argue that since these planets are closely orbiting their star, they might receive a lot of ultraviolet radiation. NASA scientists countered that although there is a likelihood for the theory, the planets are also potentially life-sustaining because they are still within the "Goldilocks zone" - not too hot, not too cold.

They also added that from among these 7 exoplanets, the scientists said that one of the planets with the most potential to sustain life is the TRAPPIST-1f because it is not too hot nor too cold compared to the other ones in the system.

They said they will continue to study the planets using the Hubble Space Telescope to look for signs of methane and water. The scientists added that they will be able to gather more in-depth data next year when the James Webb Space Telescope, a next-generation telescope, will be launched.
Nearly 2,500 students from the University of Iowa will lose their scholarship this coming school year. The school announced it in a letter from the university's president because of a lack of state funding.

University of Iowa president Bruce Harreld expressed his sadness and disappointment in a letter that announced the news. He assured the students who are recipients of various scholarships that the withdrawal is not a reflection of their academic performance. Rather, the loss of scholarship grants is the result of the lack of state funding.

The Iowa Legislature has cut its funding to the university by $8 million because of a shortfall in state revenues. These sizable cut in funding led the University of Iowa officials to take a careful look at every expenditure the institution is making. They also added that cutting the scholarship will save the university more than $4 million.

Five of the scholarship programs that will be affected are Iowa Heritage, Iowa Heritage Transfer, Iowa Heritage Presidents, Iowa CC 2+2, and CC Academic Scholarship.

Harreld said he talked with state officials and told them that the funding cut will affect the university's budget in the coming years. He reasoned out, however, that if the state allows the university to raise its tuition, then it will be able to provide funding for its resident students.

The specifics for the proposed tuition raise includes a $715 tuition increase for non-resident graduate students while resident undergraduates will have a $171 increase for the year 2018. Further down 2019 - 2020, the proposed increase is $784 for resident undergraduates and $1,119 for non-residents.

The University of Iowa is not the only academic institution affected by the funding cut. The Iowa State University also had an $8-million cut from its funding while the University of Northern Iowa had a $2-million cut from its base funding.
Former Texas Tech president M. Duane Nellis has been announced as the 21st president of Ohio University. Nellis is also known for being a proponent of developing university research.

The announcement was made on Wednesday morning by Ohio University's Board of Trustees, The Columbus Dispatch reported. A special meeting was held at the school's Dublin campus, which is the location of a new branch of its Heritage College of Ostheopathic Medicine as well as other health-sciences programs.

M. Duane Nellis will be taking over the role of former OU president Roderick J. McDavis. McDavis resigned earlier this month, on Feb. 17, to work with a national search firm that helps with higher education-related jobs.

According to ABC6, David Descutner is serving as interim president before Nellis officially takes on the role in a few months. Descutner is a former dean and executive vice provost.

Nellis was among the four finalists after a national search. The other three withdrew from consideration.

The former Texas Tech president will be starting his six-year term on Jul. 1. He will have an initial annual base salary of $475,000, as per Ohio University's announcement.

Nellis said that he is thrilled to become a part of the university, which he described as one of the nation's "best transformative learning communities." He added that the school is committed to focused teaching, student access and scholarly research.

He has background in earth sciences, focusing on mapping, satellite sensing, land and water resources as well as geospatial analysis. He was also able to teach, conduct research and work in administrative positions with Kansas State University. He was the University of Idaho's president from 2009 to 2013 before he worked for Texas Tech.

The incoming Ohio University president will be formally hired at next month's Board of Trustees' meeting. The Board is finalizing his contract as well as his wife's contract, who is set to be paid $35,000 a year for her role as first lady of the institution.
President Donald J. Trump and his administration have decided to retract the past guidance on transgender bathroom protections in public schools. The announcement was made through letters .0 from the Department of Education and Department of Justice on Wednesday.

The letters made the reversal of the administration's position on the issue to the Supreme Court as well as public schools across the nation, NBC News reported. The Obama administration previously instructed public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that were aligned to their chosen gender identity. This was issued as an interpretation of Title IX, specifically with the prohibition of sex discrimination in education.

Currently, though, the Trump administration has revoked the key guidance on the policy used as basis for transgender bathroom protections. The letter notified the court that the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division will not rely on the guidance anymore but instead will focus on the legal issues involved.

The issue on transgender bathroom protections has caused tension within the Trump administration, according to the New York Times. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is adamant in revoking the civil rights put forth by former President Obama while Education Secretary Betsy DeVos initially refused to relent because she was thinking about the potential harm that will be done to transgender students if the protections were retracted.

Sessions then took his proposal to the White House, seeing that DeVos would not relent and he needed her in order to be able to move forward. Republicans said that President Trump took the side of the attorney general and told the Education secretary to drop her opposition.

The Chicago Tribune noted that Betsy DeVos said that the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights will continue to examine discrimination in schools. However, she did concede that schools, communities and families can find solutions for the issue on transgender bathroom protections and access.
Donald Trump has been vocal about reminding people about his intelligence and his educational achievements. However, archived records from the University of Pennsylvania proved otherwise.

The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that President Donald Trump graduated from Wharton in 1968. Trump has been criticized for allowing several media outlets to report about how he graduated first in his class at Wharton.

Records at the University of Pennsylvania and even the classmates of the president dispute his claim. In Oct. 1968, The Daily Pennsylvanian published a list of 56 students who were able to get in the Wharton Dean's List that year. Trump's name was nowhere to be found.

University of Pennsylvania's archived record of the 1968 Commencement Program showed no indication that Trump graduated with honors. The program listed 20 Wharton award and prize recipients, 15 cum laude recipients, four magna cum laude recipients and two summa cum laude recipients - none of whom were Donald J. Trump.

There are 366 graduates who were awarded their diplomas in 1968 while 56 students were on the Dean's List. With Donald Trump's absence from the list, it is implied that he may not have been as outstanding academically.

UPenn spokesperson Ron Ozio said that the higher education institution is not allowed to release the academic records of alumni. The details that can be made public are the graduation date, degree and major.

According to Essence, the University of Pennsylvania verified the list. It is also similar to the list of the 1968 graduating class which was shared on social media last year.

Donald Trump went to Fordham University for two years before transferring to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics.

Speaking to New York Daily News last 2015, Nancy Hano, who went to Wharton at the same time as Trump, noted that she does not remember him being first in the class. She added that the president should show his transcript if he claims to have graduated first in the class.
The New York-based College Board, the owner of the SAT college entrance exam, said that it will tighten their security measures after the incidents of cheating and test-stealing the previous years.

According to the Reuters, part of the measures the board will be taking will include reducing the number of times the test is given outside the United States and adding more numbers of auditing test centers. The College Board said in a statement this week that the efforts will be invested on the "most robust and direct actions taken by a college exam provider".

They also said that the names of the people who are involved in cheating will be submitted to the government agencies in the US and across the world, according to UPI. But they also said that they will just continue reusing the test forms overseas that were already used in the US.

As reported last year, the College Board failed to take the security issues under control. What was happening was that the Asian companies collect the questions from the previous years' exams and give these to their clients as practice materials. These questions would then reflect on SAT exams conducted overseas, which is definitely an unfair practice.

So the company said that they will have more test center audits done worldwide. This way, it will be a lot easier for students as well as educators to report cheating incidents. But there are critics who would say that these steps will not be enough, and that the questions should not be reused.

Bob Schaeffer, education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, said that is it not enough to reduce the reusing of the questions, because with the help of technology and social media, the spread of test questions will be impossible to prevent, and the only way is to really stop using the same test questions.
Multi-talented and award-winning host Ellen Degeneres has teamed up with giant retail store Wal-Mart to send 41 kids who belong to the most underserved community in New York to college.

DeGeneres stunned a group of 41 senior high schools from Summit Academy Charter School by awarding them a $1.6 million-scholarship from Wal-Mart. The scholarship gives these students an opportunity to choose any four-year degree course in any state college in New York.

What makes these scholarship even more special is the fact that most of the recipients will be the first in their families to go to college. This also means that 100 percent of the seniors from Brooklyn's Summit Academy is going to go to college.

Looking at the faces of the students at first glance, they all look like your ordinary teenager with hopes and dreams. However, hearing their stories will break your heart but, at the same time, will encourage you because of their perseverance to rise above their situation.

Summit Academy Charter School was founded by Natasha Campbell after she felt that more could be done in the lives of the children in Red Hook. It was also an act of defiance to prove all those who think that "nothing good can ever come out of Red Hook."

The community's reputation was not unfounded as Campbell herself testified. According to her interview on The Ellen Show, only 4 percent of Red Hook's population had gone to college and 28 percent of the children under 16 live in poverty. Moreover, the children who live there have no choice of going to the best schools in Brooklyn. Aside from that, it is also one of the scariest neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

With these realities, the school's role is not just to provide quality education for the students but also to create a safe environment for these kids. Therefore, school became not just a place of knowledge for the students but became their family. A kind of family who supports their dreams and pushes them beyond their limitations to reach their dreams.

With the $1.6 million scholarship gift from Ellen and Wal-Mart, the reality of that dream becomes much clearer. Furthermore, Summit Academy can proudly say that something good has finally come out of Red Hook.
United Nations/United States of America Workshop on the International Space Weather Initiative: The Decade after the International Heliophysical Year 2007 Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States of America, 31 July - 4 August, 2017 Organized jointly by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Boston College Co-organized and co-sponsored by the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) and the Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP)

Available Information

Report of the Workshop



A/AC.105/1160

Overview

The International Heliophysical Year 2007 (IHY) drew scientists and engineers from around the globe in a coordinated observation campaign of the heliosphere and its effects on planet Earth. Building on these activities, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space launched the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI) in 2009.

ISWI is a program of international cooperation to advance space weather science by a combination of instrument deployment, analysis and interpretation of space weather data from these instruments in conjunction with space data, and the communication of the results to the public. While the ISWI was formally concluded as an agenda item of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 2012, its activities continue under the framework of a new agenda item on Space Weather and under the Expert Group on Space Weather, established by the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee.

The present Workshop marks the 10 th anniversary of IHY, and will consider future international cooperation in space weather activities linked to the preparations for the 50 th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE+50) under its thematic priority 4. "International framework for space weather services".

For details, see Information Note

The Workshop will also be informed about the preparations towards UNISPACE+50, which will be held in 2018.

Thematic Sessions

As a preliminary suggestions the following are the three components of the workshop. These components of the workshop will help develop a coherent international policy towards an appropriate response to space weather.

Part 1: A high level international forum on the economic and societal effects of extreme space weather. This forum will include keynote speakers from major international organizations followed by a panel session to discuss issues and policies for acknowledging space weather as a global challenge.

Part 2: International Space Weather Initiative session focusing on, but not limited to:

Instrumentation

Magnetosphere, Ionosphere, and Thermosphere

Coupling

Modelling

Capacity-building, Education and Outreach

Part 3: A flagship event for UNISPACE+50 will be focusing on international framework for space weather services

Objectives and Expected Outcomes

The main focus of this workshop will be on recent advances made in scientific research by utilizing ISWI instrument data in conjunction with space mission data in adding significant new knowledge on space weather phenomena near Earth and interplanetary space. It is to highlight achievements made over the past ten years and to show-case the worldwide development of science, capacity building, and outreach

In order to strengthen the ongoing processes in the lead up to UNISPACE+50, the specific objectives of the workshop will be to:

Strengthen international coordination and cooperation on space weather products and services, indirectly contributing to the thematic priorities: Global partnership in space exploration and innovation; International framework for space weather services and Capacity-building for the twenty-first century;

Continue efforts in space weather education, especially also for students from developing nations. IHY and ISWI have contributed to significant progress in the development of space science schools that encourage students to consider a career in space science;

Develop a coherent international policy towards an appropriate response to space weather.

The expected outcomes of the workshop are:
By India Today Web Desk: In 2006, when he rebelled against cousin Uddhav Thackeray being given the charge of Shiv Sena and formed his own party - the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) - it was expected that his party would pose a serious threat to Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra.

Eleven years after, Raj Thackeray's MNS, which operates on the motto of 'sons of the soil', is looking for ways to keep itself afloat in the political scenes of the state.

advertisement

The MNS was relegated to just seven seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election, results of which were announced on Thursday (February 23). While the MNS struggled to win seats, the other two rival parties BJP and Shiv Sena produced spectacular results winning 82 and 84 seats respectively.

Even the Congress with 31 seats has performed far better than the 'local' MNS. So, Raj Thackeray's politics of 'Marathi Manoos' has been rejected by people of Mumbai?

MNS NEEDS A SHIFT IN STRATEGY

While it will be too early to script MNS's political obituary, it is also a fact that Raj Thackeray needs to overhaul his party's strategy if he wants it to play a relevant role in Mumbai, Maharashtra politics.

Ever since it was founded, MNS has drafted itself as an organisation which is against outsiders (read north Indians - people from Bihar, UP in particular).

When other parties raked up issues like corruption in the BMC and development, MNS's ploy to utilise 'Mumbai for Marathis only' for political gains seems to be failing. MNS must understand that its goons attacking auto drivers, street hawkers from Bihar, UP will not win it popular support.

From 28 seats in last BMC election to seven this year. From 13 Assembly seats in 2009 to just one in 2014, support for MNS has witnessed a massive slide over the years. Time has come for Raj Thackeray to rebrand his kind of politics before MNS suffers an untimely demise.

WATCH: BMC election 2017: Is it victory or defeat for BJP with party losing Mumbai?

ALSO READ:

BMC election: We are the no. 1 party, says defiant Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra civic elections: How Jaldoot paved way for BJP's success in drought-hit Latur

--- ENDS ---
Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle is promising to boost traffic at smaller airports on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean when it starts service to Europe this summer from Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.

Norwegian Air announced Thursday that it's opening new flight crew bases and plans to hire pilots and flight attendants at Rhode Island's T.F. Green Airport and Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., about 60 miles north of New York City. Year-round flights from those airports to Edinburgh, Scotland, begin in June, and to four airports in Ireland and Northern Ireland in July.

There also will be flights to Edinburgh from Connecticut's Bradley International Airport, near Hartford. Officials who represent the three Northeast airports and their counterparts in Ireland celebrated the deneme bonusu move as a boon for family vacationers, business travelers, and local jobs and tourism.

"Everyone would rather fly out of here than schlep to Boston," said Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo, speaking Thursday morning during a news conference at the airport in Warwick, just south of Providence and about an hour's drive from Logan Airport in Boston.

Norwegian Air's move creates the first year-round international flights for the Rhode Island airport after years of expanding runways, building hotels and making a commuter-train connection.

"People thought we were a little far-reaching, and finally all the pieces are starting to come together," said Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, a Republican.

One-way flights bound for Europe started at $65 for the first 10,000 seats, but Betboo were already selling out Thursday morning. Once the introductory phase is over, flights will start at $99. Some Europe-bound flights were on sale for more than $300 on the airline's website Thursday.

The service includes flights to Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports in Ireland, and to Belfast in Northern Ireland.

The company won permission from the Obama administration in December for its disputed plan to expand flights to the United States, but did not receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration until Friday evening, spokesman Anders Lindstrom said.

Several large U.S. airlines and their labor unions opposed the expansion, arguing it would threaten U.S. jobs. They have accused Norwegian Air of getting around Norway's labor and tax laws by operating new flights with a subsidiary based in Ireland called Norwegian Air International.

The Transportation Department approved a foreign air-carrier permit for the subsidiary in December, but pilot unions and other opponents are pushing Republican President Donald Trump to overturn the decision. White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested earlier this month that the country would benefit from the arrangement because U.S. workers would build the planes and serve them.

Rhode Island state officials say they expect Norwegian Air to seek money from a $1.5 million state incentive fund designed to attract new commercial routes to the airport.

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
Small UTSA student organization makes big impact in earthquake ravaged Nepal

Students in a Nepal village now have a place to read thanks to a partnership with the Nepalese Student Association at UTSA.

(Feb. 24, 2017) -- When Roadrunners see a need, they immediately step in and help, even when it's on the other side of the world. Members of the Nepalese Student Association at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) are seeing the fruits of their labor with the opening of a new library in a rural village in Nepal.

The student organization, consisting of just 15 members, wanted to do something to help their home country, still ravaged from a deadly 2015 earthquake. They heard there was a lack of resources for students in the Chumpy village. In response, the UTSA students collaborated with non-profit Prosperous Nepal to contribute to the creation of a community library.

The Nepalese Student Association held fundraising events on campus and sold water on the side of a busy San Antonio street. They also donated some of their own money, raising $1,100 to buy books and study materials for the library.

"There was not any public library in that area before," Dipendra Wagle, Nepalese Student Association founder and current member said. "The main purpose of establishing this library is to provide resources to students and the people who educate them."

The library will also provide vocational training to the village community.

"I think it's a proud moment to represent the UTSA family by helping the people impacted by the earthquake read, learn and prosper," said Wagle.

Students, villagers and representatives from Prosperous Nepal were at the library for its dedication and opening earlier this month.

The Nepalese Student Association at UTSA hopes to expand the library into an e-library, offering free access to critical information in literacy, likelihood skills, women's empowerment, health, agriculture and technology. The UTSA students are now accepting laptop and desktop computer donations to further the e-library project.

- Courtney Clevenger

-------------------------------

Learn more about the project and how you can help on the Nepalese Student Association's Facebook page.

Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UW Law Student Lands Elite Fellowship in New York City

UW third-year College of Law student Halinka Zolcik, from Gillette, is the first UW student selected for an Immigration Justice Corps Fellowship, one of the most prestigious legal fellowship positions in the country. (UW Photo)

University of Wyoming third-year College of Law student Halinka Zolcik, from Gillette, is the first UW student selected for an Immigration Justice Corps Fellowship, one of the most prestigious legal fellowship positions in the country.

She is among 25 students awarded the fellowship among hundreds of applicants nationwide. The coveted positions are reserved for the best of the best embarking in careers in immigration law, and are usually filled with graduates from prestigious law colleges such as Harvard University, Yale University and Georgetown University.

Zolcik has been paired with Prisoners Legal Services of New York as her host organization. She will begin her fellowship duties in September, after completing the bar exam.

The Immigration Justice Corps is a fellowship program that was created by Chief Judge Robert Katzmann of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation. The two-year fellowship matches the countrys most talented law school graduates with top host organizations in New York City and surrounding areas to serve as legal advocates in immigration.

Born in Prague, Czech Republic, Zolcik immigrated to the United States as a small child with her family. She grew up in Gillette and, as a first-generation immigrant, was drawn to immigration law through her own experience. She chose to attend the UW College of Law for its robust clinical programs and the opportunity to gain practical skills, a decision that has proven instrumental to her success.

Zolcik currently serves as the student director in UWs International Human Rights (IHR) Clinic, where she carries a caseload of clients seeking help through the U.S. immigration system. The clinics faculty director, Assistant Professor Suzan Pritchett, supervises Zolcik.

With Pritchett at the helm, the clinic has expanded from asylum cases into other forms of humanitarian relief efforts, including special immigrant juvenile status, U visas, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) advisement issues, green card process adjustment and family-based petitions.

Working in the clinic, Zolcik has gained valuable experience on a variety of immigration issues. She has already appeared in the Denver Immigration Court five times this semester, and has performed every aspect of representing a client from start to finish, Pritchett says. Zolcik learned about the fellowship opportunity through the clinic.

Halinka is an exceptional student, Pritchett says. I encouraged her to apply for the fellowship because I was confident that she would be a strong contender for one of the positions. Her hands-on experience in the IHR Clinic has guaranteed that she is ready to hit the ground running in a fast-paced advocacy environment. I think that was a major factor in her selection for the fellowship position.

The application process for the fellowship is long and rigorous, she adds. Zolcik had to submit numerous essays and letters of recommendation, and go through multiple interview rounds. With a carefully crafted portfolio of all her work in the clinic, she blew the interview panel away, Pritchett says.

The interviewers on the panel didnt know anything about the University of Wyoming. They were surprised that we do immigration work here and also by the breadth and depth of the work that we do in the clinic, Zolcik says. At UW, you can get this experience that rivals other clinical programs on an international level. The panel members said they had never seen a current law student with that much experience.

Among her many talents, Zolcik is an accomplished linguist, fluent in five languages -- English, Czech, Polish, French and Spanish.

During the interview, members of the panel would randomly switch to Spanish just to test that I actually spoke multiple languages, she says. It really throws you off to immediately switch languages, so it was a very intimidating experience.

Pritchett stresses how impressive this achievement really is.

Not only was Halinka up against students from some of the most competitive law schools in the country, but she also was up against recent graduates who have already served as immigration court clerks and federal law clerks for the past two years, she says. The fact that her abilities and experience at UW can rival those other people is not something that should be taken lightly.

Zolcik credits her success to Pritchett, the IHR Clinic and her UW College of Law education.

I am so grateful for the clinic experience, she says. Here, we are able to take on numerous clients and have the incredible supervision of Professor Pritchett. Additionally, the small class sizes allowed me to do multiple things, such as the clinic, while still being able to excel academically.

Zolcik says the colleges Trial Practice Program also is a factor in her advocacy abilities. Through the course, she polished her trial skills and became confident in a courtroom.

Halinka is a really good lawyer in a difficult multicultural lawyering environment, Pritchett says. Navigating the different needs of each client, overcoming language barriers, and interpreting the legal system and communicating that to the clients so they feel well represented is a challenge. She advocates for her clients with compassion, but also shows real strength both in her written advocacy and in the courtroom.
After Thursday's result day, today Sena had something more to cheer as it's two rebellion candidates Snehal More from Vikhroli and Tulsidas Shinde from Dindoshi joined Shiv Sena again

By Mayuresh Ganapatye: On day two after the BMC win, celebration continued at Matoshree. All elected Shiv Sena corporators along with workers came to Sena Bhavan to meet and greet their party chief Uddhav Thackeray.

After Thursday's result day, today Sena had something more to cheer as it's two rebellion candidates Snehal More from Vikhroli and Tulsidas Shinde from Dindoshi joined Shiv Sena again. Another independent corporator from Andheri West Changez Multani extended his support to Shiv Sena bringing the party's tally in BMC to 87.

advertisement

"By heart we are Shiv Sainks. During election some miscommunication took place between us thus we decide to contest independently. Now again we have joined Shiv Sena," said corporator Snehal More's brother-in-law Sudhir More.

Uddhav today doge the question of alliance with the BJP. On being asked about independent corporators joining and supporting Sena, Uddhav said, "Let me enjoy this moment as Mumbaikars have given mandate to us for consecutive 5th time. At appropriate time you will get to know about alliance and numbers."

Shiv Sena to get that magic number 114 now needs 27 corporators. Congress has 31 corporators, NCP 9 and MNS 7. Uddhav has not revealed so far who he gonna approached for support. "So far we have not got any offer from BJP or Shiv Sena. We are meeting with our party chief and senior leaders next week in which we will discuss the BMC issue. But one this is clearly we will extend our support to party who's got higher numbers and it will be issue-based support," said NCP Mumbai chief Sachin Ahir.

ALSO READ:BMC election results: What's next for Raj Thackeray's MNS after the big debacle

WATCH: BMC election 2017: Is it victory or defeat for BJP with party losing Mumbai?

--- ENDS ---
Wyoming State Science Fair March 5-7 at UW

Qualified Wyoming students will showcase their original science, technology, engineering and mathematics research during the Wyoming State Science Fair Sunday-Tuesday, March 5-7, at the University of Wyoming.

At the State Science Fair, student research may cover areas as diverse as robotics, environmental management, behavioral and social science, computational biology and chemistry.

The public is invited to view the student research displays in the Wyoming Union Ballroom and Family Room during public viewing times Monday, March 6, from 5:30-8 p.m.; and Tuesday, March 7, from 7-10:30 a.m. The public also is welcome to attend the awards ceremony at 8 a.m. Tuesday in the College of Arts and Sciences auditorium.

Students at the fair will vie for the opportunity to qualify for two prestigious science competitions. For students in grades 9-12, the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), in Los Angeles, Calif., is an opportunity to meet student-scientists from throughout the world and the chance to win prizes worth up to $75,000, says Erin Stoesz, Wyoming State Science Fair coordinator.

Students in grades 6-8 have an equivalent national competition, Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering Research Scholars). The 30 finalists will be selected later this fall for an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C.

These are among the largest and most prestigious pre-college science competitions in the world, Stoesz says. She is a past winner of nine ISEF awards during a three-year span. Quality of idea and research counts at all levels. The winners at both ISEF and Broadcom MASTERS are the science leaders of the future.

Participation in the science fair engages students in real-life science experiences, and it gives them opportunities to interact with professionals and share their ideas with the public, Stoesz says.

Science fair is a life-changing and memorable experience for so many students, myself included, she adds. The experience should be fun and educational for every student, regardless of whether they go home with an award.

Students competing this year also will participate in enrichment activities and laboratory tours on the UW campus, discussions with UW researchers and a presentation by UWs Office of Admissions. All competitors will receive T-shirts, welcome bags and an opportunity to meet fellow competitors, Stoesz says.

The UW Department of Physics and Astronomy will host events for Wyoming State Science Fair participants during the opening day from 5-8 p.m. These include planetarium shows in the Harry C. Vaughan UW Planetarium; tours of the rooftop STAR Observatory; physics demonstrations; and a pizza dinner.

The demonstrations and dinner will be in the Michael B. Enzi STEM Facility. And in honor of this summers solar eclipse, the department is adding eclipse activities, also in the STEM building.

Stoesz adds that UW has hosted the Wyoming State Science Fair for many years and continues to be highly supportive of the event. More than 100 judges, community and campus volunteers are contributing to this years science fair. Many local and national organizations, UW departments and industry also sponsor special awards.

For more information, call Stoesz at (307) 766-9863 or email estoesz@uwyo.edu.
"This is a disaster. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."

By India Today Web Desk: In Donald Trump's world of 'Alternative Facts', a promise to emancipate the LGBTQ community is probably synonymous to taking decisions that are the exact opposites of Obama.

While his previous executive orders including the infamous travel ban have proved catastrophic for understandable reasons, his most recent decision is troubling his own clan of supporters--including a certain, Caitlyn Jenner.

advertisement

Also Read: Here's what Donald Trump eats in a day

Jenner, who hasn't shied away from being vocal about her support for Trump on most occasions, has now, taken to her Instagram account and thrashed POTUS' decision to not give transgender students the choice of using restrooms in sync with their gender identities.

"This is a disaster. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me," tweeted Caitlyn.

Caitlyn Jenner, who is often hailed as the most famous transgender woman of all time was known to the world as Bruce Jenner before famously coming out in the 2015 issue of Vanity Fair. She had reportedly, chosen Trump over Hillary Clinton in an interview given before Election Day. But now, Caitlyn has slammed Trump for his take on a decision that is being seen as a major setback for the LGBTQ community.

Also Read: What FLOTUS Melania Trump is really like, according to her designer--not body language experts

Trump who--contrary to the views of the conservative Republican Party--had maintained he would protect the interests of the LGBTQ community, has now gone back on his word after the inclusion of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in his team.

According to reports, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos felt "uneasy" about not giving transgender students the freedom to use their choice of restrooms and stood against Jeff Sessions' inclination, but in the end, Trump decided to side with Sessions and DeVos had to drop her opposition.

--- ENDS ---
The Election Commission has ordered to register FIRs against three candidates in Uttar Pradesh after India Today investigation showed them indulging in electoral malpractices. The poll panel also issued show cause notice to a candidate in Manipur, who was exposed by India Today.

By India Today Web Desk: The Election Commission has taken cognizance of an India Today investigation, which exposed leaders of three different political parties for bribing voters in the ongoing Assembly elections.

The Election Commission of India has directed that FIRs be immediately registered against the candidates who were exposed in the India Today investigation cash-for-votes scandal 2017.

The Election Commission noted that the sting operation by India Today covered three candidates contesting Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. BSP's Ateeq Ahmad Saifi contesting from Moradabad, SP's Atul Garg from Agra North and Peace Party's Rakesh Balmeeki standing in the election from Agra Cantt were caught on camera admitting to adopting unfair means.

advertisement

READ| Cash for votes scandal 2017: Election Commission orders probe into India Today investigation

In its statement, the poll panel said that the three candidates seemed to have made "statements to the effects of bribing of voters, suppression of election expenses and threatening to attempt booth capturing (in case of Rakesh Balmeeki)."

The Election Commission directed the district election officers "to file FIRs" against these candidates under the Representation of People Act, 1951. The poll panel has sought an action taken report by Saturday.

Election Commission orders FIRs against three candidates in UP. Election Commission orders FIRs against three candidates in UP.

Also read | Cash for vote: BJP candidate under scanner for distributing money in Mumbai

SHOW CAUSE NOTICE IN MANIPUR

In another case, where India Today exposed electoral malpractices in Manipur, the Election Commission has issued a show cause notice to BJP candidate Woba Joram.

Woba Joram is in the fray from Mao constituency (reserved ST seat) of Manipur. India Today investigation showed that Woba Joram spent far more money than the permissible limit to contest elections.

Joram had told India today that he had already spent Rs 2.02 crore for the present election and mentioned that the voters in his constituency would be bribed in his favour during the election by paying them in cash.

Also read | Manipur Assembly election: Political storm over India Today expose on cash for votes scandal

The Election Commission notice to Joram says "the maximum limit for election expenditure in the State is Rs 20,00,000 and any expenditure beyond the said limit will amount to corrupt practices" under the Representation of People Act.

It also says that bribing a voter is an offence under the Indian Penal Code. The poll panel has sought a reply by Saturday.

Show cause notice issued by Election Commission to BJP candidate Woba Joram in Manipur.

Earlier, the India Today investigation had shown how candidates of various political parties were blatantly violating Election Commission guidelines. Leaders were caught admitting that they had already spent more than Rs 4 crore in this assembly election.

These candidates also admitted that they were collecting money to bribe voters and to give them booze. Candidates also spoke of how they paid large sums of money to elders in the village so that they could help sway voters.

advertisement

ALSO WATCH|

--- ENDS ---
Regulatory body urges seafood firms to register online

Vietnams National Agro Forestry Finishes Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD) has encouraged local and seafood producers to apply for e-certificates though the national single window registration system. The single window regulations are on the websites of the Vietnam National Single Window, the General Customs Department and NAFIQAD. Seafood producers can contact the regulatory bodys local representatives to received instructions on how to apply for e-certification.

The move is especially important as seafood business will need to prepare for e-signatures and e-certification of product packages that will be exported to South Korea and China from March 1. In addition, NAFIQAD will stop receiving complaints and appeals over wrong information in paper certification for products sent to China and South Korea. Officials have said that local seafood businesses have been unwilling to use the new e-system but should get used to them as NAFIQAD will stop receiving paper registration in the near term.

RELATED: Pre-Investment Advisory Services from Dezan Shira & Associates

Gia Lai province offers incentives to investors

Gia Lai province officials have offered financial assistance of US$44,000 and administrative reforms to investors wanting to come to the province. The authorities have also implemented reforms to help the business climate such as shortening time to register assets to 14 days; this is further expected to be shortened to 10 days by 2020. Government officials have also told relevant ministries to obey to policies to support local investment projects. Authorities have also approved 61 projects in different sectors worth a total of US$1.1 billion for the 2016-2018 period. In addition, investors have invested in around 12 projects worth around US$880 million; four sectors belong to high-tech agriculture.

Businesses complain over infrastructure fee at Hai Phong port

Hai Phong port operators have started collecting fees for an infrastructure upgrade which has not gone down well with businesses. Japanese firms have complained that the new infrastructure fees, which is imposed on containers moving through the port, are too pricey and confusing. The fees range from US$11 per 20 cubic foot container for regular goods to up to US$100 per container for goods temporarily imported for re-export.

Businesses have argued that as per international norms, port authorities must first invest in the infrastructure before charging fees. They have also warned that the high port fees could force them to go to ports in Thailand and have urged authorities to review the fees. Officials from the Vietnam Private Sector Forum (VPSF) have also stated that the new fees result in more paperwork which result in 2-3 hour delays. Customs clearance due to the imposition of the fees also now takes half a day longer than before.



About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email vietnam@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. 

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 Vietnam 2017

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.

Managing Contracts and Severance in Vietnam

In this issue of Vietnam Briefing, we discuss the prevailing state of labor pools in Vietnam and outline key considerations for those seeking to staff and retain workers in the country. We highlight the increasing demand for skilled labor, provide in depth coverage of existing contract options, and showcase severance liabilities that may arise if workers or employers choose to terminate their contracts.
Highlights are that the value of new business (VONB) increased 28 per cent to a new record of $2.75 billion and 31 per cent increase in annualised new premiums (ANP) to $5.123 billion. The firms IFRS operating profit after tax (OPAT) rose 15 per cent to $3.981 billion.

AIA has delivered an excellent set of results in 2016. We have achieved record new business profits, significant earnings growth, strong free surplus generation and a step up in shareholder dividends. Todays headline figures, with VONB up by 28 per cent, and our consistent track record of year-on-year profitable growth are the direct result of the strong fundamental growth drivers in the Asia-Pacific region, our highly-diversified and resilient business model and our commitment to building a high-quality, sustainable business for the long term, Mark Tucker, AIAs group chief executive and president, said.

AIA Board of Directors has recommended a further step up of 25 per cent in the 2016 final dividend from higher base in 2015 to 63.75 Hong Kong cents per share. This dividend uplift reflects the firm excellent financial performance and its confidence in the future outlook for AIA.

We have made an excellent start to 2017 with strong value of new business growth in the first two months of our financial year. We have clear strategic priorities in place and are committed to building on our strong competitive advantages by helping our customers meet their long-term financial needs through our products and services. This provides us with a strong foundation to deliver profitable growth and long-term value for our shareholders, as we help our customers live longer, healthier, better lives and plan for a brighter future, Tucker said.

Established in Vietnam in 2000, AIA has been protecting the financial health and welfare of Vietnamese people. Today, 17 years after its inception, AIA Vietnam has grown to be a trusted brand in Vietnam. AIA Vietnam serves the holders of over 660.000 policies across the country. Until the end of December 2016, AIA has paid out a total of over VND2.548 trillion for insurance benefits with up to more 340,000 cases.

AIA Vietnam is proud to be part of the groups excellent set of financial results in 2016, with Vietnam being a key market in the region. The strong business performance is attributed to the increased quality of agency force through our Premier Agency strategy, our expansion of innovative distribution models across Vietnam and our partnership with banks. Our success is also a result of our leading the market with innovative customer services centres such as nest by AIA, AIA Exchange and AIA NEXT, said Wayne Besant, AIA Vietnams CEO.

Most notably, 2016 marked the launch of AIA Vitality in Vietnam, which is the first of its kind app-driven wellness programme that motivates our customers to live healthier lives.

We are excited about the opportunities ahead of us and will keep striving to make a positive difference to the lives of Vietnamese people," said Besant.
Bui Thanh Son, Permanent Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam and SOM Chair of APEC 2017, said that, Vietnam is proud to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) this year, a decade after we first hosted the forum in 2006. The past decades of reform and robust integration have enabled Vietnam to contribute effectively to co-operation under the aegis of the APEC.

Our experiences in joining a region-wide network of free trade agreements (FTAs) with most APEC members and our successes in promoting inclusive growth and sustainable development are stories worthy of sharing, Son said.

According to him, the Vietnamese leaderships commitment to build an action-oriented government of integrity as well as its tireless work to serve the people and businesses will add to APECs common efforts to facilitate a more open business environment. Vietnams structural reforms, improvements to market economy mechanisms, policies and regulations, and administrative reforms are all in line with the APECs goals.

We believe that the APEC must demonstrate its vitality, dynamism, and responsiveness, that it must assume global leadership in addressing the challenges of today, and that it remains an incubator of ideas, an engine for innovation, and a driver for regional economic growth and integration, Son said.

Themed Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future, APEC 2017 will advance a regional agenda with the following priorities proposed by Vietnam:

- Promoting sustainable, innovative, and inclusive growth

- Deepening regional economic integration

- Strengthening MSMEs' competitiveness and innovation in the digital age

- Enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change

Building on APEC's achievements, Vietnam, as the host of APEC in 2017, will continue to place regional economic integration among APEC's top priorities as it moves toward achieving the Bogor Goals. At the same time, new initiatives need to be taken in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris COP 21 Agreement.

These will set a solid foundation and create momentum to reach APEC's objectives in the future. Specifically, APEC will work toward advancing the Bogor Goals and shaping APEC's post-2020 agenda, envisaging the eventual realisation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the multilateral trading system, promoting APEC Connectivity and Supply Chain Connectivity, promoting regional and global value chains and supporting Industry, facilitating cross-border e-commerce, and promoting investment and services liberalisation and facilitation.

Key meetings for APEC 2017
Warren Mundy, managing director of Australias BlueStone Consulting Pty., Ltd. and former commissioner of Australian Productivity Commission, told VIR that, In Vietnam, state-owned enterprises dominate many important markets, such as electricity, gas, oil, minerals, telecommunication services, domestic air transportation, credit financing, and railways. That is unfair for private firms.

Mundy formerly worked with the Vietnamese Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) on economic reform.

According to experts, private firms in Vietnam find it difficult to join these markets as they lack the favourable business conditions of the SOEs and do not have the scale or resources to take up the gauntlet in a fair competition. That is why many SOE-dominated fields lack competitiveness.

Transparency, openness, and a strong commitment of robust SOE and institutional reforms are central to ensuring a level playing field for all enterprises.This would also help Vietnam lure in more foreign direct investment (FDI), Mundy said on the sidelines of yesterdays workshop on the economics of competition policy at the on-going APEC First Senior Officials Meeting and Related Meetings in the south-central city of Nha Trang.

Rory McLeod, the chair of APECs Economic Committee and director of New Zealands Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, also told VIR that if the Vietnamese government wants to attract more private investment, it should give more space for private firms and rein in SOEs.

In New Zealand, private firms and SOEs are competing on the same playing field and SOEs receive almost no privileges from the government. In Vietnam, the economys competitiveness is undermined by ineffective SOEs, McLeod said.

Experts also warned that if the Vietnamese government continues overindulging SOEs without paying due attention to private enterprises, it will be difficult to improve the economys overall competitiveness.

And without competition, SOEs are free to indulge in business as usual. Many SOEs have been suffering losses, such as Cienco 5, five out of Electricity of Vietnams 50 companies, 11 out of PetroVietnams 31 companies, seven out of Urban Infrastructure Development Investment Companys 24 companies, and six out of Vinacomins 57 companies.

Meanwhile, in Vietnamese private firmsalmost exclusively small- and medium-sized enterprisesare playing an important role. They make up 97 per cent of the countrys total enterprises and produce 41 per cent of its GDP, 33 per cent of the state budget, and 77 per cent of employment.

According to CIEM director Nguyen Dinh Cung, the Vietnamese government has attempted to relegate SOEs to the same regulatory framework as the private sector.

Nevertheless, the state has created many advantages and privileges for SOEs in several areas, Cung said. The state is creating technical barriers for private enterprises, while providing itself with competitive advantages by resource allocation and rescuing many SOEs.

For instance, the existing laws and regulations on land assignment and rent for business and production do not discriminate between SOEs and non-state enterprises. However, SOEs hold 70 per cent of land dedicated to production and business purposes.

According to Cung, under the umbrella of the state, SOEs have been causing various forms of market distortions (see chart).
Waterway vehicles in HCM City. The city will launch two river bus transport routes this year.- VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hai

The aim is to ease traffic congestion on roads, city authorities have said.

The project, invested in by Thuong Nhat Ltd Co, will be carried out on the Sai Gon River, and at Thanh a, Ben Nghe and Tau Hu canals.

The first route will connect Bach ang Wharf on the Sai Gon River with Linh ong ward in Thu uc District. Nearly 11 kilometres long, it runs along Sai Gon River and Thanh a Canal with seven stops.

The second route will run from Bach ang Wharf to the Lo Gom area in District 8, along Sai Gon River, Ben Nghe and Tau Hu canals. It is nearly 10.3 kilometres long and has seven stops.

The ticket is expected to cost VN15,000 (US$0.65) per ride, according to the company.

Thuong Nhat Ltd Co says in the first phase it will have a fleet of 10 boats that can carry 60 passengers each. Together, the two services can serve 5,000 passengers per day.

Earlier, the citys Department of Transport submitted to the municipal Peoples Committee a project to build two river bus routes under a BOO (Build-Own-Operate) model.

The investor will build all passenger stations along the route except for the Bach ang Wharf, where the investor proposes using existing facilities.

The company had initially planned to put the service in operation in 2016, but had to delay the opening until this year.

Experts have said that it was time, after years of discussion, to make use of the network of waterways to reduce worsening traffic conditions.

The city, with a relatively dense network of waterways, sees water transport as an appealing alternative for both locals and tourists.

Last year, city officials said that a floating market, among other waterway tourism services, will function as a major attraction.

Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the Department of Transport, has stressed the need of developing waterway transport for both passengers and goods.
An IMF team will return to Athens early next week to resume discussions on the economic reforms still needed. (Photo: AFP/Philippe Huguen)

In a blog written by the International Monetary Fund's chief Greece negotiator, its chief economist, and its general counsel, the fund rarely mentions the crisis-ridden country by name.

But the descriptions clearly fit Greece's current negotiations with its eurozone partners, which have been a source of months of conflict with the IMF.

The IMF repeatedly has said Greece's debt is not sustainable, and the country requires debt restructuring, but European governments, especially Germany, have resisted providing more debt relief and dispute the fund's analysis, instead calling for more economic policy steps.

The blog, by chief economist Maurice Obstfeld, European chief Poul Thomsen, and Sean Hagan, head of the legal department, warn of the dangers of not facing up to the debt situation.

"Pretending that unpayable debts can be repaid will only sap the effectiveness of the debtor's adjustment efforts, ultimately making all parties lose more than if they had promptly faced the facts."

The central focus of the IMF dispute with Europe has been over whether Greece can deliver a primary balance, or budget surplus before debt repayments, of 3.5 per cent of GDP, far in excess of the 1.5 per cent the IMF says is feasible.

Fund officials have praised the massive effort already made by the Greek people and have cautioned against imposing further austerity, although they say some reforms remain incomplete, including on the tax and pension system.

An IMF report warned last month that Greece's debt will become "explosive" in the long run without debt relief.

When a country's debt is unsustainable even after a tough reform program, "it is not feasible - either politically or economically - for the problem to be solved through further belt tightening," the blog says.

"Any assessment of debt sustainability needs to be underpinned by realistic - rather than heroic - assumptions regarding future growth prospects."

IMF TEAMS RETURNS TO ATHENS

The months of bickering have delayed progress on Greece's 86-billion (US$92.4 billion) bailout programme agreed in 2015. But officials said progress was made this week to bridge the gap.

An IMF team will return to Athens early next week to resume discussions on the economic reforms still needed.

However, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters Thursday the fund continues to insist that Greece will need both reforms and debt restructuring in order for the IMF to participate in the loan programme.

While the debt relief can be implemented at a later stage, "we need an up front, credible commitment," Rice said. "Debt relief is equally important as agreement on policies."

In the blog post, the officials stressed that "when sovereign debts are unsustainable ... some degree of debt relief, coupled with a strong but credible adjustment programme, is the only means to make the best of a bad situation."

The blog also reiterates that the IMF cannot provide funding to country's that face an untenable debt position.

"When sovereign debt is unsustainable, the IMF's legal framework precludes it from providing financial support unless the programme includes specific measures - normally including a debt restructuring - that credibly address the debt sustainability problem within the medium term."

With such debt creating pressures on the country's finances, a loan programme "that fails to address unsustainable debt is likely to exacerbate such problems because it will create further uncertainty regarding the member's future," the IMF officials said.
By Press Trust of India: Imphal, Feb 24 (PTI) The Centre will deploy an additional 30 companies of Central paramilitary forces in Manipur for smooth conduct of the state assembly election.

Manipur Chief Secretary O Nabakishore told reporters here that altogether 280 companies of Central paramilitary forces will be deployed for election duty in the state which is experiencing more than three-month long economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council along the highways of the landlocked state.

advertisement

The Chief Secretary said the "state is ready for elections."

Manipur will witness the highest Central forces deployment for the upcoming two-phase elections.

The election for the 60-member assembly will be held on March 4 and 8. PTI COR RG MRJ

--- ENDS ---
A view of the landmark Lotte Centre tower in Hanoi.-VNA Photo

The mall will span 7.3 hectares within the approximately 200,000-sq.m complex, together with another department store, a supermarket and a cinema, all to be directly operated by Lotte affiliates.

The South Korean English-language daily said construction is set to begin in the first half of 2017, for completion in 2020.

The company declined to provide Viet Nam News with additional details about the project, saying details would be sent to local media later in the process.

Last month, the Dau Tu (Investment) online newspaper reported that the project, previously known as Ciputra Ha Noi Mall and owned by the Citra West Lake City Development Company Limited, was acquired by Lotte early this year. It was started in 2007 with an estimated investment of over US$2 billion but has been stalled for various reasons.

The total investment capital of the new Lotte project is expected to reach nearly $300 million.

The Lotte Group has invested $400 million in the 65-storey Lotte Center Ha Noi mall, which is currently the second tallest building in the capital.

The giant corporation plans to expand its retail operations in Viet Nam through mergers and acquisitions and plans 60 shopping malls in the country by 2020, a fivefold increase, according to Nikkei.

The company has 285 Lotte shopping centers in Asian countries including China, Indonesia and South Korea, and it views Viet Nam as one of the fastest-growing retail markets in the region.

In October 2016, Lotte Mart launched its e-commerce channel in Viet Nam, following the introduction of Lotte Shopping TV in 2012.

Besides providing South Korean products to Vietnamese consumers, Lotte plans to export Vietnamese products like coffee, dried fruit, wooden artifacts and ceramics back to its home market.
The project is going to be located in Yen Phong Industrial Park. It has been approved in principle by the government earlier, and the government is going to give to the project all the incentives that are available to a large-scale project.

With this project, Samsung Displays total investment in Vietnam is going to be $6.5 billion.

There is no confirmation from Samsung but experts said that Samsung Displays expansion of investment in Vietnam may be related to Apples plan to switch to using AMOLED screen.

Samsung is the only company in the world with exclusive technologies and the capacity for mass production of AMOLED screens to meet the demand of Apple. At the moment Samsung is holding a 95 per cent share of the global market for AMOLED, producing an average 200 million products a year.

With this investment, Samsung reaffirms its position as the biggest foreign investor into Vietnam at the moment. The expansion also somewhat clears the doubt of the public that Samsung may postpone its investment plans in Vietnam, which boiled after Lee Jae-yong, Samsung Electronics vice chairman and the son of Samsung group chairman Lee Kun-hee was arrested on February 17 as part of a probe into corruption and influence-peddling that caused President Park Geun-hye to be impeached.

At the moment Samsung has registered $17.3 billion of investment in Vietnam. Besides $6.5 billion by Samsung Display is $9.5 billion investment by Samsung Electronics, including $5 billion in Thai Nguyen, $2.5 billion in Bac Ninh and $2 billion in Ho Chi Minh City, and the $1.2 billion Samsung Electro-Mechanics project in Thai Nguyen.

Samsung Display first invested in Vietnam in 2014 with $1 billion. Only a year later the company decided to raise the capital to $4 billion and at the moment $6.5 billion. The project in Bac Ninh is going to produce the newest generation of displays to supply to Samsungs mobile device manufacturing facilities in Vietnam as well as to export.
Russia has used its veto six times at the UN Security Council to shield Syria from punitive action. (Photo: AFP/Kena Betancur)

Britain, France and the United States are pushing for a ban on the sale of helicopters to Syria and sanctions on 11 Syrians and 10 entities linked to chemical attacks in the nearly six-year war.

The measure follows a joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which concluded in October that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chemical attacks in 2014 and 2015.

"This is the significant response that the Security Council committed to do in the event of proven use of CW in Syria," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The US, UK and France are very clear that this is an issue of principle," he said. Russia's ambassador said at a meeting last week that Moscow would block the measure, said the diplomat.

Russia has used its veto six times to shield its Damascus ally from any punitive action.

China, another veto-wielding Security Council member, is expected to abstain in the vote.

France and Britain presented a first draft on imposing sanctions on Syria in December, but held off on action to give the new US administration time to study it.

Another Security Council diplomat said the trio was moving ahead now that US President Donald Trump's administration was fully onboard with the push for sanctions against Syria.

The vote could take place as early as Monday or Tuesday.

"We hope it will come to a vote as quickly as possible," a US official told AFP.

BLACKLISTING SYRIAN COMMANDERS

The draft resolution, seen by AFP, would impose a global travel ban and assets freeze on 11 Syrians, mostly military officials including the head of Syrian air force intelligence and the commander of air operations in areas where attacks occurred.

These commanders are said to have been involved in an assault by helicopters that dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin.

Among the entities that would be blacklisted is the CERS research centre in Damascus, described as responsible for developing and producing chemical weapons, and five firms said to be front companies for CERS.

The draft resolution would also ban the sale, supply or transfer to the Syrian armed forces or to the government of helicopters or related materiel including spare parts.

The proposed measure would set up a sanctions committee that would report to the Security Council on designating individuals and entities to a new blacklist.

Syria has denied using chemical weapons while Russia has dismissed the investigative panel's findings as "inconclusive." The panel also found that the Islamic State group had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.

The Security Council is due to discuss chemical weapons use in Syria during a meeting on Friday.

The United States last month blacklisted 18 senior Syrian military officers and officials over the use of chemical weapons, but there have been no UN sanctions imposed on Syria due to Russia's opposition.
Tran Thanh Liem, vice chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee (fourth right), meet with American businessmen in Binh Duong on February 22.-Photo baobinhduong.vn

This was revealed by chairman and CEO of the group Hari Achuthan at a working session with local authorities on February 22.

He noted that the company is devising projects for two renewable energy plants in the country, including the first solar power factory in Phuoc Dinh Commune (Thuan Nam District) and Vinh Hai Commune (Ninh Hai District) in the south central province of Ninh Thuan.

The construction of the plant, which is designed with capacity of 100 MW and total investment of US$150 million, will begin in the third quarter of 2017. The plant will be put into operation in July 2018.

The US group hopes to cooperate with Binh Duong to build a solar lighting system instead of the current high-pressure lamps, he said.

Tran Thanh Liem, vice chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee, welcomed the Americans firms plans to invest in renewable energy projects.

With over 10,000ha of industrial land, Binh Duong is a suitable location to build a solar power plant, he said.

Along with Ha Noi, HCM City and Dong Nai, Binh Duong has high consumption of over one billion kWh of electricity per year. The power demand for production is always high, estimated at 12 per cent per annum, he noted.

Binh Duong is also one of the five leading cities and provinces nationwide in drawing foreign direct investment (FDI), with over 2,800 FDI projects worth $25.5 billion.

In 2016, the locality attracted more than $2 billion in FDI, including over $1.3 billion from 240 newly-licensed projects and $675 million through an increase in capital from 123 existing projects.
The Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) will take drastic measures to recover around VND33 trillion (US$2.6 billion) of non-performing loans (NPLs) this year.-Photo vietnambiz.vn

Dong said that to meet the target VAMC would focus on restructuring and classifying its bad debts, so that it can sell its secured assets and recoup the debts.

An analyst group specialised in restructuring enterprises with bad debts will also be set up to boost the debt settlement, he said.

VAMC will coordinate with relevant bodies under the central bank to submit to the Government and the National Assembly a project on restructuring and handling bad debts to ease VAMCs operations, Dong said.

This project will also be expected to strengthen capital, technology and human resources of VAMC to ensure that it is strong enough to settle bad debts.

Trading of bad debts under market mechanism will be also undertaken this year to meet the target, he said.

Besides the recovery of bad debts, VAMC will also buy VND25 trillion of NPLs from credit institutions this year.

According to VAMC, the company purchased VND30 trillion of bad debts from credit institutions last year.

It had also collaborated with creditors to recover loans and sell mortgaged assets with a total value of more than VND20.6 trillion. Specifically, VND469 billion in bad debt was sold, nearly VND5.5 trillion recovered from the sale of assets used as collateral, and some VND14.7 trillion retrieved via authorisation for credit institutions.

Settlement of bad debts at credit institutions is also expected to be positive this year after some institutions announced they would buy back all the NPLs they had sold to VAMC.

Vietinbank chairman Nguyen Van Thang said that in 2017 his bank would focus on settling bad debts and buy back all the bad debts it sold to VAMC, three years earlier than planned.

From 2007 to 2010, Vietinbank recouped nearly VND10 trillion of bad debts through a provision of risk loans and sales of bad debts. The banks bad debt ratio was kept under 1 per cent by the end of 2016.
Hung told VIRs Ha Buu about the joint ventures two-decade journey to establish the first-of-a-kind industrial park in Vietnam, ushering in new businesses and sectors, and providing products and services on par with international standards.

What are the remarkable achievements along VSIPs journey over the past 20 years?

Our vision when establishing VSIP was to channel foreign investment into Vietnam and to create a robust foundation for this investment in the form of infrastructure facilities for businesses as they set up in the country. We recognise that this vision was ambitious in its breadth and scale as we combined land development and optimisation with world-class infrastructure offerings, a talented team, service framework, as well as community integration and welfare. Today, it fills me with pride looking back on all that we have delivered.

VSIP has pioneered organisational and operational management, being the first industrial park to have a dedicated management board which works closely with investors to provide timely support and helps them overcome their challenges.

VSIP has also successfully applied valuable experience from our Singaporean partners towards planning and attracting international and domestic investment for industrial development. We have also developed and implemented an international marketing strategy, while growing talent to cater for the needs of investors from diverse countries. Today, VSIP has attracted investment from more than 30 nations.

We can see that VSIP has made significant contribution to the development of the provinces where you operate. But how do you evaluate the current potential for socioeconomic growth in Vietnam, and how does VSIP work to tap into this potential?

Vietnam has a long way to go before catching up to neighbours like Thailand in terms of urbanisation, per capita income, and the size of the manufacturing base. 70 per cent of the Vietnamese population still lives in rural areas with agriculture as a predominant profession, and we are slowly witnessing a growth of urbanization in line with the rise of the middle class and growing aspirations. Approximately 42 per cent of Vietnams population is under the age of 25, with more and more youngsters willing to move to bigger cities.

In terms of foreign direct investment in 2016, newcomers accounted for over 70 per cent of the total FDI volume in the manufacturing sector, which shows strong indication that Vietnam is indeed being looked at as the new manufacturing hub in Asia.

VSIP has also been an enabler to unlocking the economic potential of its host provinces, bringing a wide range of benefits across Binh Duong, Bac Ninh, Haiphong, Hai Duong, Nghe An, and Quang Ngai.

Binh Duong is a great example to demonstrate how VSIP can contribute to the growth of Vietnam at large. We have been a key partner in Binh Duongs transformation from a predominantly agricultural setup (the agricultural sector accounted for 97 per cent of the economic output) in 1996 to a thriving industrial province today. The economic structure of Binh Duong witnessed a spectacular reversal, with the industrial and services sectors today playing a major role and accounting for 97 per cent of the provinces economic output.

We hope to replicate this growth across Vietnam in the coming years by supporting industrial activities and contributing to rising the overall development initiative.

Moving forward, what are VSIPs plans to keep the development momentum, while meeting investment trends and the needs of investors?

In addition to creating world-class facilities, we also aim to build self-contained facilities to serve the needs of companies operating within them. VSIP is a customer-oriented company. We serve the needs of our tenants. Today, companies expect more from their operating spaces, what with advanced infrastructure and specialist skills playing a bigger role.

In terms of maintaining our momentum towards attracting investment to Vietnam, we recognise that investor confidence towards doing business in Vietnam has improved, and we welcome this sentiment.

Ultimately, our focus is to redefine the existing supply chain model to help businesses fully capitalise on VSIP, including growing supporting industry sectors, improving logistics processes, and facilitating the exchange of goods and supply of raw materials. VSIP is therefore exploring innovation hubs for Vietnam. We believe that Vietnam can embrace greater sophistication that foreign investors expected from industrial facilities, and look forward to the governments support to prepare Vietnamese talent in terms of education and skills development.

You have showed confidence in VSIP as a successful symbol of Vietnamese-Singaporean partnership, but how do you assess support from the two governments?

From the early days, VSIP has been benefiting from firm support and deep interest from both the Vietnamese and Singaporean governments. The ambition was to develop a community-based industrial park model which met international standards and was sustainable at the same time.

We are proud that VSIP is now a symbol of the strong bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Singapore, our partnership over the past twenty years and that we play a role in further cementing this relationship. Governments and businesses now understand Vietnam as a market better and we benefit from the invaluable knowledge-transfer from our Singaporean partners.
CIC has acted after an RTI was filed by Gurugram-based information activist Harinder Dhingra, had also asked what the bank had done to recover the loan.

The bank, however, did not furnish any information apart from how much the airlines owed it.

By Siddhartha Rai: Troubles are mounting for embattled businessman Vijay Mallya as the Central Information Commission has asked the Oriental Bank of Commerce and several probe agencies to explain a loan extended to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

The one-time billionaire, who moved to Britain last March, is wanted in India in connection with loan defaults of Rs 9,000 crore. The decision of the CIC, dated February 10, came against the backdrop of an RTI application in which the petitioner had asked from OBC the "total outstanding of M/s Kingfisher Airlines" towards the bank as also "details of security/collateral held by your bank", apart from "third-party audit conducted" by the bank to "verify the value of the collateral of M/s Kingfisher Airlines".

advertisement

The petitioner, Gurugram-based information activist Harinder Dhingra, had also asked what the bank had done to recover the loan, the names of officials who had processed it and the notings on the file of the loan. M/s Kingfisher did not respond to Mail Today's queries despite repeated attempts till the filing of the story.

Dhingra has accused the OBC of having lent the once premier air carrier Rs 54.52 crore without any collateral as guarantee for the loan.

PETITIONER SMELLS FOUL PLAY

"It is strange that such innocuous information that pertains to public money be denied in the name of hampering investigation," he said.

"It is also strange that the bank does not know of what happened to the money it lent to the company- it doesn't know if the company has been declared a defaulter. There is at this moment not even the preliminary investigation has been launched and yet we can't get information."

The bank, however, did not furnish any information apart from how much the airlines owed it, stonewalling behind Section 8 (1) h of the RTI Act, arguing that "the matter was pending investigation before different investigating agencies and disclosure of the information could hamper the investigation process."

Mallya, once called the King of Good Times for cavorting with celebrities and publishing a much-sought-after swimsuit calendar, has been mired in a growing series of legal battles following the collapse of his carrier and was last month charged with conspiracy and fraud by the CBI.

CIC NOTES LOOPHOLES' IN BANK'S CONDUCT

In another revelation, the CIC order also noted that the bank did not even know whether it had declared Kingfisher Airlines a "willful defaulter". "?the representative of the Respondents (OBC) was unable to state whether the borrower had been declared a willful defaulter by the Respondent Bank or not".

The commission, however, took strong exception to the bank's denial to furnish information sought by the RTI application by simply invoking the stonewalling clause of the RTI Act.

"It is clear from the above (CIC quotes from Delhi High Court judgment of 2007) that information cannot be denied by the CPIO by merely invoking Section 8 (1) h, without giving adequate justification as to how disclosure of the information would impeded the process of investigation," it said. "The representative of the Respondents did not make any submissions to provide such a justification?" Unsatisfied with the answer received, the commission has asked the three investigation agencies-CBI, ED and SFIO-to put their submissions regarding why and how, if at all, the information could be detrimental to the investigation, before the next hearing of the case, on April 3.

advertisement

The commission also asked that M/s Kingfisher Airlines also be represented at the next hearing, in case they want to make any submission. While the bank might have denied releasing the details to the petitioner, the commission asked the central public information officer (CPIO) of the bank to "file to the commission a report regarding the current status of the loan, the amount outstanding and whether the borrower has been declared a willful defaulter or not." The report is to be filed by March 20.

Also read: Time not right for my return to India, Vijay Mallya tells UK daily

Also read: Vijay Mallya: I am the football in Team UPA vs Team NDA, police know nothing about business

advertisement

Also read: Vijay Mallya: Kingfisher a 'public service', not a 'private toy'

--- ENDS ---
A government order for one of the countrys major financial institutions to overnight replace its logo because it was too similar to that of the Ministry of Economy and Finance will hurt investor confidence, experts have said.

Acleda Bank this week changed its logo in a nationwide operation that cost the bank more than $3 million. Hun Sen also later ordered a microfinance institution to change its logo.

On Wednesday Prasac Microfinance was ordered to change its logo, which included three currency symbols that Prime Minister Hun Sen said could lead to it being mistaken for a state institution.

Hun Sen ordered the National Bank of Cambodia to convene an urgent meeting with Prasac to discuss the issue.

Financial institutions that need a new logo have until March 10 to make changes.

Nget Chou, a senior consultant with Emerging Markets Consulting, said that the abruptness of the order had raised eyebrows among shareholders and investors in Cambodia.

So we [should] have a survey. We cant take a personal opinion or the view of a small group to make a decision. Its a lack of scientific analysis. We failed to verity that opinion with the view of the public, he said, referring to suggestions that the change would lead consumers to misidentify brands.

He added that the claim that there was confusion between the branding of private financial companies and state institutions was questionable.

Bun Mony, an advisor to the Cambodia Microfinance Association and a former bank CEO, agreed, saying there was little evidence of confusion.

He added that even though people may report borrowing money from the state, it was just a common term for money lenders.

So they borrowed money from banks. They know [because] they signed [contracts] with the companies, banks. They know they are private, but to make it easy they say borrow money from the state. Thats their way of speaking. Actually they know they borrowed from private companies, he said.

Sim Senacheert, president and CEO of Prasac, said on Thursday the microfinance institution had already received approval for a new logo.

I think its not really a big issue. It only gave us more [work], because we did not have a budget and action plan for that, he said.

Seung Sophary, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said the requirement for financial institutions to change their branding immediately was because the government was concerned that citizens were being exploited.
Laos has said it will proceed with plans for the controversial Pak Beng hydropower project following a meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) this week.

The $2.3 billion project is the third such dam Laos is building on the Lower Mekong mainstream, much to the dismay of environmental groups and downstream communities who stand to be affected. The dam is expected to be approved and completed in 2024.

It would follow two other mega-projects Laos has undertaken on the Mekong: the Don Sahong and Xayaburi dams, which have become major concerns for environmentalists.

We are trying our best to support the Mekong countries meeting the needs for country development but balancing interests and needs in ensuring the sustainable development and management of the Mekong basin, Pham Tuan Phan, the CEO of the MRC, said in a statement.

The MRC is committed to stakeholder engagement as a continuous and step by step process. We want to share with you what we know and have, he added.

Daovong Phonekeo, the permanent secretary of Laos Ministry of Energy, told VOA Khmer that his government welcomed the comments, but said that the concerns had already been addressed.

We welcome any legitimate concerns and then we will look at the concerns. What is the background of the concerns? It is legitimate or just to mention it and then without any explanation? he asked.

When the developers studied [the proposal], they address those concerns already. What are the new additional concerns? he asked.

He said a thorough environmental impact assessment had already been carried out.

When asked about the feasibility of Pak Beng, he said, I dont see any problems ... unless for example there is financial crisis, or no demand. If there is still demand since people want to have electricity then we have to develop.

International Rivers said in a statement that moving ahead with the project was premature.

It ignores important lessons from previous regional consultation processes, including the need for comprehensive project studies and sufficient time to enable meaningful evaluation of both the potential costs and benefits of projects by Mekong countries and their people.

Meaningful reform and basin-wide studies needed before advancing new Mekong dam, the statement said.

After the forum, Vietnam Rivers Network issued a statement saying that prior consultation processes should be re-evaluated to include overall impacts of large dam projects.

It added that the prior consultation process for the Xayaburi and Don Sahong had concluded despite ongoing concerns from Vietnam and Cambodia.

The MRC also closed the consultation process without any announcement regarding the final decision for these two projects. These cases show that if the Pak Bengs Prior Consultation Process continues in the same way as previous cases, it will not hold any meaningful and practical significance, the statement added.

Prior to the meeting, Cambodian environmental groups asked the government to reject the project, alarmed by the potential impacts on fisheries and sediment flow in the Mekong.

It is expected that 25 villages in Laos and two villages in Thailand will be directly affected by construction of the Pak Beng dam, with an estimated 6,700 people re-settled, according to International Rivers.

Thailand has said it will conduct further studies of Pak Bengs impacts.
There is a "reservoir of public support" in Europe for something like U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban on citizens from seven majority Muslim states, according to a poll by London policy institute Chatham House. As Henry Ridgwell reports from Dresden, Germany, the poll indicated support for ending Muslim immigration averaged 55 percent across 10 European countries.
The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

U.S. President Donald Trump Tuesday explicitly condemned anti-Semitism, following a wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centers. But many Muslim-Americans are upset that the president hasn't taken similar steps to address concerns about anti-Muslim sentiment, asVOA's William Gallo reports.
By Press Trust of India: Los Angeles, Feb 24 (PTI) Climate change and diminishing ice cover is causing spring to come sooner to some plant species in the Arctic, while other species are delaying their emergence amid warming winters, a new study has found.

The study covers 12 years of observations at a West Greenland field site near Russell Glacier, a dynamic front protruding from the massive inland ice sheet that covers most of the island.

advertisement

Each year from early May to late June, researchers looked daily for the first signs of growth in plots enclosing individual plant species.

Led by the University of California, Davis in the US, researchers found that warming winters and springs associated with declining arctic sea ice cover created a mixture of speed demons, slowpokes and those in between.

One sedge species now springs out a full 26 days earlier than it did a decade ago. This was the greatest increase in the timing of emergence the researchers have seen on record in the Arctic.

"When we started studying this, I never would have imagined wed be talking about a 26-day per decade rate of advance," said Eric Post, a polar ecologist from the UC Davis.

"Thats almost an entire growing season. Thats an eye-opening rate of change," said Post, who has been studying the Arctic for 27 years.

But other species are in no rush, despite the Arctics short growing season. Onset of growth for the gray willow has not budged, and a dwarf birch species is beginning its growth only about five days earlier per decade.

While how early a plant emerges from its winter slumber depends on the species, the study demonstrates that the Arctic landscape is changing rapidly.

Such changes carry implications for the ecological structure of the region for years to come.

"The Arctic is really dynamic, and its changing in a direction that wont be recognizable as the same Arctic to those of us who have been working there for decades," Post said.

Previous studies have shown how such changes are affecting caribou in the region. Caribou come to the study site each year during calving season to take advantage of the nutritious plants needed to recover from winter and provide for their newborns.

However, as the emergence of plant species in spring has shifted, the caribou internal clock, driven by seasonal changes in day length, has not kept up.

The food is still there but the pickings are not as nutritious as they were at first growth. As a result, fewer calves are born and more die early in years when spring plant growth outpaces the caribou calving season.

advertisement

"Thats one example of the consequences of this for consumer species like caribou, who have a limited window to build up resources before going into the next winter," Post said.

The study was published in the journal Biology Letters. PTI MHN SAR MHN

--- ENDS ---
Despite U.S. President Donald Trumps comments that it may be too late to strike a deal to halt North Koreas advancing nuclear program, advocates for engagement argue that Trump is uniquely positioned to reach a breakthrough toward resolving the increasingly tense security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

I have some kind of hope that President Trump, that he would come up with a quite unimaginable deal with North Korea that could really bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, said Moon Chung-in, a professor emeritus at Yonsei University in Seoul.

Defense first

Trump this week emphasized bolstering U.S. military capability in the region, including deploying the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea to counter North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns efforts to accelerate the countrys nuclear and missile development capabilities.

In an interview with Reuters Thursday Trump said, Its very late. Were very angry at what hes done.

In the last year, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests, a satellite launch using banned intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology, and fired numerous short and midrange missiles from submarines and mobile land based launchers.

Before taking office in January Trump sent out a tweet saying, It wont happen! in response to the North Korean leaders public message saying his country is prepared to conduct an ICBM test. And in February the U.S. president stood alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to condemn a North Korean midrange missile test.

Losing strategic patience

On Thursday Trump again put the onus on China to restrain its economically dependent ally in Pyongyang and said his predecessor, President Barack Obama, should have resolved the issue of North Koreas increasing nuclear capabilities.

Beijings recent ban on all North Korean coal imports brought a rare rebuke from Pyongyangs official KCNA news agency Friday that said China is dancing to the tune of the U.S.

The Trump administration has called on China to apply more economic pressure, but few think Beijing is ready to abandon its ally.

The mistake will be to say, Oh, great, the Chinese are shutting down the border. Theyre going to solve the problem for us. Thats the wrong way to understand whats going on, said John Delury, an associate professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University in Seoul.

The Obama administrations policy of strategic patience, which relied on increasing sanctions and diplomatic isolation, failed to pressure Pyongyang to suspend its nuclear program.

Critics say the policy failed, in large measure, because Beijing will not enforce harsh measures that might result in instability at its border, the collapse of the Kim government, and the increased power and influence of the United States and South Korea in the region.

Breaking the cycle

This stalemate has accelerated a cycle of North Korean provocations in defiance of United Nations resolutions banning the countrys nuclear and missile programs, followed by international condemnation and further sanctions that so far have had only limited impact.

Pyongyangs relentless efforts to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the U.S. mainland add new urgency to devise a strategy against this threat to U.S. security.

Analysts say there are no good military options to take out the Norths nuclear and missile facilities without triggering a deadly counter attack on allies South Korea and Japan, and even possibly starting a full scale war.

Thus, engaging North Korea is the only realistic way to reach a peaceful resolution. But that would require the Trump administration to take the initiative.

If the U.S. does not move, Pyongyang will not move, and the stalemate will continue and a stalemate could become more risky and dangerous, Moon said.

The dealmaker

Chinas ban on North Korean coal along with informal talks that are being organized between former U.S. officials and North Korean representatives could offer Trump an opportunity to open a new channel of dialogue.

Trump, who sees himself as a dealmaker and who has been critical of his predecessors, could be willing to break with the past and try a more unconventional approach.

Donald Trump is uniquely positioned to move on that and he is strangely immune to criticisms that would stop a Democrat or a Republican dead in their tracks, Delury said.

Any deal to get even a temporary nuclear freeze from Pyongyang will require real concessions that could include the suspension of U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises and later more incentives like a formal peace treaty and other security guarantees and economic assistance to reach the ultimate outcome of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

The political winds in South Korea also seem to be changing with liberal pro-engagement forces gaining popular support in the wake of conservative President Park Geun-hyes impeachment amid a corruption scandal. If the countrys Constitutional Court rules in favor of the impeachment, a new presidential election will follow soon.

Of course negotiations would require time and intense coordination, and could be undone by North Korean provocations and violations, as has happened with past agreements, but advocates say it may be time to try again.

Under a 2005 six party joint agreement with South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan, North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic aid, security guarantees and improved diplomatic ties.

But Pyongyang failed to live up to its commitment and conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.

Youmi Kim contributed to this report.
A nearly year-long standoff at Standing Rock between Native American water protectors and U.S. military engineers has ended, after state and local police evicted the last of the protesters.

Police teams began to move into the Oceti Sakowin camp near Cannonball, N.D. around mid-morning Thursday, working to clear buildings of the several dozen protesters who remained. Shortly after two p.m. and some four dozen arrests later, they declared their job was done.

Symbolically the closing of the camp was a tough day for the water protectors, the tribes and those across the world standing in solidarity with Standing Rock, said Phillip Ellis, a spokesman for Earthjustice, the nonprofit environmental law organization representing the Standing Rock Tribe in its challenges against the pipeline.

The Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), was designed to transport a half a million barrels of crude oil a day more than 1,600 kilometers from the Bakken oilfields in northwest North Dakota to refineries and other pipelines in Illinois. By mid-2016, the pipeline was all-but-completed, save for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River in land seized from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

During the final weeks of Barack Obamas presidency, the Army Corps of Engineers delayed a decision that would have allowed ETP to begin underwater drilling, and called for additional environmental impact studies.

But in January, President Donald Trump issued a directive calling on the Department of the Army and the Army Corps to take all necessary and appropriate steps necessary to permit construction and operation of the pipeline, citing the national interest. He noted that the DAPL and XL Keystone pipeline together would create thousands of new jobs for Americans.

Ellis maintains that Trump and the Army Corps of Engineers have acted in violation of the law and an 1868 treaty with the Sioux.

In January, the Administration said it would work closely with all parties involved as the pipeline project developed. In his regular press briefing Thursday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, our team has been in contact with all the parties involved.

However, Standing Rock Tribal Chairman David Archambault II released a statement shortly afterwards, saying, That claim is absolutely falseWe repeatedly asked for meetings with the Trump Administration, but never received one until the day they notified Congress that they were issuing the easement.

Pipeline safety

The oil industry has long contended that transporting oil through pipelines is far safer than by truck or train. But studies have shown this may not be the case:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires all oil spills and other industrial accidents to be reported to the U.S. Coast Guards National Response Center, information which the Center makes available on its public website.

The environmental non-profit Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LBB) recently examined the accident history of ETP and its Sunoco subsidiary. Their findings show that ETP/Sunoco was cited in 69 accidents during 2015 and 2016. The majority of them  51 percent  involved pipelines. The spills ranged in type and magnitude; in all, more than 111,000 gallons of pollution ended up being released into the environment and tens of thousands of gallons flowed into ponds, streams and rivers.

What our report focused on is the fact that Energy Transfer Partners, whether in pipelines, refineries on shore or other infrastructures, has a history of polluting drinking water sources, said Anne Rolfes, LBBs founding director. And our feeling in looking at this information is that the Standing Rock Sioux are absolutely right in being concerned about their drinking watyer because this company has a past.

ETP did not respond to VOAs request for comment.

Looking forward

The protests may have ended, but the fight against the pipeline will continue, say organizers.

On February 14, the tribe filed a motion in federal court, asking a judge to set aside Trumps pipeline reversal to be set aside.

Weve asked for an expedited schedule so we can get a ruling on this case before oil starts flowing through the pipeline, said Ellis. The judge initially gave a 3 week schedule to rule on this motion. He has yet to set a court date, but we expect it could happen by the first week of March.

In the meantime, organizers and supporters plan a march on the White House March 10th, said Ellis, to peacefully - but powerfully - show solidarity with indigenous people around the world.
Conservatives can expect a daily fight with the media and others in the "opposition," chief White House strategist Steve Bannon said Thursday.

Bannon was one of the main speakers on the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Washington, the country's biggest yearly gathering of conservatives.

WATCH: Bannon Says Corporatist Global Media Opposed to Economic Nationalist Agenda

Bannon, who is among the most controversial conservatives because of his earlier harsh comments about minorities, said the media opposes President Donald Trump's "economic nationalist agenda."

"Every day is going to be a fight," he warned.

Bannon was joined by White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who called the president a uniter of Republicans and conservatives of different beliefs, pointing to himself and the sharp-tongued Bannon as an example.

WATCH: Priebus Says Trump 'Brought Together Party, Conservative Movement'

"And I've got to tell you, if the party and the conservative movement are together, similar to Steve and I, it can't be stopped," Priebus said.

Conway address

Earlier Thursday, CPAC heard from top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, who said Trump "went right to the grass roots and brought you along. He made a lot of people feel like they were a part of the movement."

Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to address the conference Thursday night.

Trump's speech to CPAC on Friday will be the highlight of this year's conference, which has been energized by Republican control of the White House and Congress for the first time in 10 years.

CPAC leader Matt Schlapp told VOA he saw "a little more of a populist strain" running through the event this year, with Trump serving as the driving force.

"I will agree that there is a little more of a populist strain to conservatives these days. I don't know if it's a change in philosophy, but I do know this: It's because they are so discouraged about what's been happening in Washington, D.C., over all these years," he said.

Watch: Top White House Officials Praise Trump at CPAC

Not all have endorsed Trump's brand of conservatism, and his past appearances at CPAC have drawn mixed reactions. Many of his stated and past positions on issues put him at odds with conservative orthodoxy.

Three-group coalition

But Schlapp said there was an "alive and vibrant" coalition made up of three kinds of conservatives: those who care about the culture, those who simply want less government and lower taxes, and others who say the country needs a strong defense.

Schlapp said all were discouraged about what has been happening in Washington in recent years.

"They just feel like no matter how many elections they win, they lose ground, and government grows and taxes increase," he said.

While conservative Republicans gathered in Maryland, opposition Democrats met in Atlanta to choose a new leader of the Democratic National Committee.

Former Obama Labor Secretary Tom Perez and U.S. Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota are the front-runners to lead the party, which is trying to pick up the pieces after November's election losses.

The moderate-voiced Perez has the backing of more mainstream Democrats, while the outspoken Ellison is supported by the more liberal elements of the party.

But all sides say the Democrats need a leader who can harness the anger and energy coming out of anti-Trump protests and put the party back in control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.
Brazilian President Michel Temer appointed a lower house lawmaker from his ruling PMDB party, Osmar Serraglio, to be justice minister on Thursday, a choice aimed at appeasing disgruntled members of his party. Temer's spokesman said Serraglio, 68, had accepted the job.

PMDB lawmakers, whose support is vital for passage of Temer's unpopular austerity measures, were unhappy he had too many members from allied parties in his cabinet and pushed for inclusion of one of their own.

Won't interfere with kickback scandal

Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that Serraglio was tipped for the post. Serraglio succeeds Alexandre de Moraes who was confirmed by the Senate to become a Supreme Court justice on Wednesday.

Serraglio, a five-term congressman from Parana state, was an ally of former lower chamber speaker Eduardo Cunha, who was stripped of his seat and arrested last year on corruption charges.

Serraglio has said that, if appointed, he would not interfere in the investigations under way in Brazil's biggest ever graft scandal that threatens to ensnare dozens of politicians for allegedly taking kickbacks from engineering firms seeking government contracts.

The president had to deal with the malaise in his party, a Temer aide told Reuters on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the appointment.

Temer enjoys a majority in Congress, but some PMDB lawmakers want to water down his proposal for reform of Brazil's costly pension system, a key item on his agenda to restore fiscal discipline and business confident in a stagnant economy.

Lawmaker breaks with Temer

The first signs of revolt appeared on Thursday when lawmaker Fabio Ramalho said he was breaking with Temer because the PMDB caucus from his state of Minas Gerais had been overlooked in the distribution of cabinet posts.

The appointment of Serraglio was the last drop, Ramalho, who is deputy speaker of the lower chamber, told Reuters. Most of us will vote against the pension reform as sent here. It will have to be changed.
Billions of dollars in flood projects have eased fears of levee breaks near Californias capital and some other cities, but state and federal workers are joining farmers with tractors in round-the-clock battles this week to stave off any chain-reaction failure of rural levees protecting farms and farm towns.



As the wet winter forces operators of dams to send more water roaring downstream, the struggle to spot and shore up weak spots in nearly 1,600 miles of levees in the Central Valley is unrelenting, said Rex Osborn, spokesman for emergency operations in San Joaquin County, one of the nations main farm and dairy counties.



Hundreds of workers with the state conservation corps, engineers, water experts, emergency-management officials and others were scrambling again Thursday to lay down more rock and earth on levees where flood water was threatening to burst through saturated berms.





Theres a flood fight taking place at a dozen different places right now, Osborn said of the levees in his county.



If they just hold and do their job, Osborn said. But if one thing throws it off ...

Repair money short

Once the waters ease sometime this summer, California lawmakers will look at releasing $500 million to patch and upgrade the states strained flood control system.



But Jeffrey Mount, a flood-control expert and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California think tank, and other experts say Central Valley levees alone need billions of dollars in work.



Northern California has received more than twice the normal amount of rain and snow this winter, breaking five years of drought. Full rivers and water surging from dam spillways are pouring water into the Central Valley, a 450-mile-long depression running north and south through the heart of California. The region absorbs runoff from coastal mountains and the Sierra Nevada.

Winter rains used to turn the Central Valley into an inland sea hundreds of miles wide each rainy season. The capital, Sacramento, flooded regularly, forcing one governor, Leland Stanford, to row a boat to his 1862 inauguration, according to state lore.



As recently as 1997, Central Valley levee breaks flooded hundreds of square miles and caused billions of dollars in property damage. Nine people died in floods that winter.



Massive spending since then, including a $5 billion bond issue approved by state voters, has strengthened the system of levees, wetlands and weirs that protect the nearly 500,000 residents of Sacramento, along with the people in most of the smaller vulnerable cities elsewhere in the Central Valley.





So far, thanks partly to Californias flood-control efforts and partly to the luck of breaks between storms, experts said, the Central Valley has been spared from major levee breaks this time around. Flooding that forced thousands from San Jose this week came from an overfull reservoir that caused a creek to top its banks, not from a levee break.



If the system hadnt been here, all the major cities would have been under water this winter, said Joe Countryman, a flood-prevention veteran on the Central Valleys flood-control board. I can tell you that for sure.

Farmers own, maintain levees

In rural areas, farmers and others who own and primarily benefit from the levees are expected to maintain them and be the first responders when trouble strikes. Fewer than half of the 1,600 miles of Central Valley levees qualify for repairs through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, whose standards limit, for example, any trees along riverside levees.



Along the San Joaquin River, farmers rolled out in tractors and other heavy equipment, working through the night, earlier this week when they noticed a 30-foot break in a levee after a filling dam upstream had to release more water, alfalfa grower Tom Coit said.



The emergency work that farmers and federal and state workers are doing on the rural levees now is saving their own fields and cattle while preventing the single levee break that could set off a chain of breaks, threatening farm towns downstream, said Osborn, the San Joaquin County emergency spokesman.



Its a fight that farmers and public employees will be fighting until midsummer, when the runoff from Sierra Nevada snow eases, said Mount, the water expert.



Thats when California should start another round in its fight for the levees, Mount said  $20 billion in long-needed maintenance and improvements statewide, including preparing for the stronger flows that are coming more often as the climate changes.



When we wake up, and the waters have passed through ... were going to see a very tired, damaged, levee system, Mount said.
Countries in Southeast Asia are talking one-on-one with China about shared rights to fish and fossil fuels in the contested South China Sea, but nationalism or lack of political trust may snarl any agreements and shift focus to informal economic deals.

Senior leaders from China and Vietnam met last month to talk about maritime cooperation that could include a joint search for undersea oil or gas. It was Chinas latest effort to talk privately with a maritime rival since a world arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled in July that the basis for Beijings claims to about 95 percent of the sea lack legal merit.

China has spoken as well with Malaysia and the Philippines about the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea thats prized for fish, fuel reserves and marine shipping lanes.

Everyone wins

Agreements with China would reduce tension in Asias widest-reaching sovereignty dispute by giving everyone something it wants without any loss of any countrys effective control of islets in the sea. China rejected the arbitration ruling but has sought since to improve relations with the other countries on its own.

Chinese President Xi Jinping last year lauded the pursuit of bilateral agreements.

Talks on the South China Sea are being held largely in private, but experts forecast eventual deals on fishing rights or fishery management. China, Vietnam and the Philippines are particularly keen on fishing rights with their vessels spanning much of the sea.

First thing that they want to do is to identify the fishing rights. And I think thats important because you have to come up with some kind of discipline or some kind of practice in terms of division of labor or the areas of fishing activities, said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think tank in Taiwan.

In a sign of how a fishery deal might work, since 2006 Vietnam and China have jointly patrolled fisheries in the shared Gulf of Tonkin. Last year, the two sides extended the patrol route.

After Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing in October, China stopped turning away Philippine fishing boats from contested waters around Scarborough Shoal west of Luzon Island, news reports said.

But economic deals not formally tied to the maritime dispute can come under fire if relations worsen.

This week, Philippine Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay, acting as chairman of an ASEAN foreign minister meeting, said he had grave concern about Chinas moves to militarize artificial islands in the disputed sea.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he found the comment baffling and regrettable. Deals reached during Dutertes Beijing visit are being put into action, he said, and China has promised to quit construction in the sea.

Oil exploration tricky

Since at least 2013, China and Vietnam have talked about joint oil exploration, and a Sino-Philippine oil discussion began in October.

The U.S. Energy Information Agency estimates there are 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the sea. Brunei, China, Malaysia and Vietnam now do their own prospecting, and the Philippines has taken exploration bids from private companies.

But joint fossil fuel searches lack appeal because the sharing of any discoveries would imply giving up sovereignty of the tract where it was found, said Carl Baker, director of programs at the think tank Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu.

Resource-sharing deals work legally if signatories lay aside the sovereignty questions, but populations at home may still suspect their governments are giving in, said Douglas Guilfoyle, associate international law professor at Monash University in Australia.

Theyre harder to pull off in practice than in theory, Guilfoyle said. There are practical negotiating issues, but then the other issues of politics, trust and whether your citizens will ultimately support such a thing.

Changes in a countrys leadership could hurt deal-making, he said, and some countries lack a history of political trust to start. Dutertes predecessor, for example, became angry enough with China to file suit in the world court of arbitration. Duterte moved to make up with Beijing after taking office in June.

Two-way deals may include how to avoid mishaps at sea, heading off the likes of deadly clashes between Vietnam and China in 1974 and 1988. Separately, China is set to pursue a code of conduct framework this year with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after years of resisting it.

The association code should be consistent with any bilateral ones, said Herman Kraft, political scientist at University of the Philippines Diliman.

Chinese foreign investment

Without specific deals on how to use the sea, China may instead use its nominal GDP of more than $11 billion, the worlds second largest, to increase trade, investments or development aid to the Southeast Asian maritime claimants, which are eager to grow their own economies.

Beijings 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative is set up to allocate money from a $40 billion fund and $100 billion in Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) equity for infrastructure construction in Southeast Asia, a boon to Chinese companies that find the home market too competitive.

In tentative signs of economic largess deals, Vietnam started to see a surge in Chinese tourists last year, while the Philippines expects $24 billion in development aid as well as investments from China following the presidential dialogue in October.

In November, Malaysia and China signed 14 memoranda of understanding on business cooperation. China was set to sell Malaysia four ships for national defense and make 55 billion ringgit ($12.4 billion) in soft loans for a railway line. Malaysia already counted China as its top trading partner and source of direct investment.

It seldom criticizes China openly over its maritime activity, even though both sides claim the same parts of the seas Spratly Island chain.

Beijing may ask other countries to remain quiet about Chinas land reclamation at sea, increased military presence on some of the islets or coast guard journeys through waters frequented by other parties, analysts say.

(The Chinese) are investing heavily in providing aid and support and infrastructure, said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan. They are trying to show on one hand Chinas strength in doing so or on the second to dissuade other countries from disputing China over South China Sea.
China for the first time became Germany's most important trading partner in 2016, overtaking the United States, which fell back to third place behind France, data showed on Friday.

German imports from and exports to China rose to 170 billion euros ($180 billion) last year, Federal Statistics Office figures reviewed by Reuters showed.

The development is good news for the German government, which has made it a goal to safeguard global free trade after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on imports and his top adviser on trade accused Germany of exploiting a weak euro to boost exports.

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has suggested that the European Union should refocus its economic policy toward Asia, should the Trump administration pursue protectionism.

"Given the protectionist plans of the new U.S. president one would expect that the trade ties between Germany and China will be further strengthened," said Anton Boerner, head of the BGA trade association.

The main reason for the reduced trade volume with the U.S. was a drop in American exports to Germany, Boerner added. Neighboring France remained the second-most important business partner with a combined trade volume of 167 billion euros. The United States came in third with 165 billion euros.

In 2015, the United States had climbed to the top of the list of Germany's most important trading partners, overtaking France for the first time since 1961.

Separately, Germany's Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations said on Friday it expected exports to Russia will probably rise at least 5 percent this year, their first increase in years given Western sanctions.

"Optimism among German exporters is rising further," said Clemens Fuest, head of the Ifo economic institute. He said export expectations increased in February, pointing to overall strong trade figures in the first quarter of 2017.

"Made in Germany"

Looking at exports alone, the United States remained the biggest client for products "Made in Germany" in 2016, importing goods from Europe's biggest economy worth some 107 billion euros.

France remained the second-most important single export destination for German goods with a sum of 101 billion euros, the data showed. Britain came in third, importing German goods worth 86 billion euros.

Britain accounted also for the biggest bi-lateral trade surplus: Exports surpassed imports from Britain by more than 50 billion euros, the figures showed.

The United States came in second with a bi-lateral trade deficit: German exports to the U.S. surpassed imports from there by 49 billion euros.

This means that Britain and the U.S. together accounted for roughly 40 percent of Germany's record trade surplus of 252.9 billion euros in 2016.

The figures are likely to fuel the debate about Germany's export performance, its trade surplus and global economic imbalances ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Baden-Baden mid-March.

($1 = 0.9483 euros)
Law enforcement officials in North Dakota have officially cleared the site of the Dakota Pipeline Access protests, arresting a few dozen activists who had refused to leave the encampment.

Most of the protesters had left the Oceti Sakowin camp before the Wednesday evacuation deadline.

On Thursday, officers methodically checked buildings and arrested anyone they encountered, including a man who climbed atop a building and stayed there for more than an hour before surrendering.

As the officers worked, cleanup crews began razing buildings on the 2.5-square-kilometer (1-square-mile) parcel of federal land.

Threat of spring flooding prompts deadline

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had set a 2 p.m. Wednesday deadline for the camp to be cleared, citing the threat of spring flooding.

Native Americans and environmental activists have lived at the camp since August fighting construction of the pipeline, which they say threatens the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's water resources and disregards the land's sacred status.

At the height of the protests thousands lived at the site, but its population dwindled to just a couple of hundred as the pipeline battle moved into the courts.

Pipeline will end in Illinois

The 1,885-kilometer (1,171-mile) pipeline, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir in North Dakota formed by a dam on the Missouri River. It is designed to transport up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil a day from North Dakota to Illinois.

The protests have been led by Native American tribes, particularly the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux, whose reservations are downstream from the construction site.

In September, the Obama administration temporarily blocked construction in hopes of conducting a review of the project, but a federal court later ruled the project could continue.
President Donald Trump has ordered the federal government to account for all U.S. assistance to Mexico over the past five years, as part of his effort to shore up security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly were in Mexico on Thursday for meetings with top Mexican officials about immigration and other matters.

Among points of tension is the possibility of Trumps administration using U.S. aid to Mexico as leverage for his demands that Mexico pay for a border wall and do more to stem illegal migration.

Trumps January 25 executive order gives the heads of government agencies 60 days to identify and quantify all sources of direct and indirect federal aid or assistance to the government of Mexico since 2012. It does not indicate what will be done with the information.

While it is difficult to quantify the indirect support the U.S. provides to Mexico through multilateral institutions, direct aid is readily available online.

The main sources of the assistance are the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which jointly operate the website www.foreignassistance.gov.

Its figures state:
The Trump administration's move on Wednesday to rescind guidance allowing transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice has raised the stakes for an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case that could deliver a landmark decision on the issue.

The court is due to hear oral arguments on March 28 on whether the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia can block Gavin Grimm, a female-born transgender high school student, from using the boys' bathroom. A ruling is due by the end of June.

A key question in the case is whether a federal law, known as Title IX, which bars sex discrimination in education, covers transgender students. The Education Department under Democratic President Barack Obama said in guidance to public schools last May that it does, but the Republican Trump administration withdrew that finding Wednesday.

Lawyers for Grimm say that the definition of sex discrimination in Title IX is broad and includes gender identity. The school board maintains that the law was enacted purely to address "physiological distinctions between men and women."

Power of Title IX

If the Supreme Court rules that Title IX protects transgender students, the decision would become the law of the land, binding the Trump administration and the states.

"This is an incredibly urgent issue for Gavin and these other kids across the country," said Joshua Block, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who represents Grimm.

The Trump administration's announcement "only underscores the need for the Supreme Court to bring some clarity here," he added.

The administration on Wednesday did not offer its own interpretation of Title IX, with the Justice Department telling the court only that it plans to "consider further and more completely the legal issues involved."

The administration is not directly involved in the case.

Lawyers for both Grimm and the Gloucester County School Board have urged the court to decide whether Title IX applies to transgender students rather than taking a narrower approach by sending the case back to a lower court.

In a court filing Thursday, the ACLU said that, regardless of the administration's position, the court "can  and should  resolve the underlying question of whether the Board's policy violates Title IX."

The school board's lawyers made similar comments in their most recent court filing, saying that the meaning of the federal law is "plain and may be resolved as a matter of straightforward interpretation."

But the court could take a more cautious approach and send the case back to the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That court's April 2016 ruling in favor of Grimm relied on the Obama administration's interpretation of the law.

Kyle Duncan, a lawyer representing the school board, said the court must at a minimum throw out the appeals court decision because "the entire basis for that opinion" was the no-longer extant Obama administration interpretation.

Justice Kennedy: Pivotal vote?

With the eight-justice court likely to be closely divided, Trump's Supreme Court nominee, conservative appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch, could end up casting the deciding vote if he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate in time. Otherwise, the court, which is divided equally between liberals and conservatives, could split 4-4, which would set no nationwide legal precedent.

Clues as to how the high court could rule can be gleaned from its decision last August to temporarily block the appeals court decision in Grimm's case from going into effect. That emergency request from the school board did not require the justices to decide the merits of the case.

The vote in favor of the school board was 5-3, with Justice Stephen Breyer, a liberal, joining the four conservative justices. Breyer made clear in a statement at the time that his vote would not dictate how he would approach the case if the court took up the issue.

That decision indicated that the court is likely to be closely divided at oral argument. Grimm's hopes may rest in Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who voted against Grimm last summer but has sometimes sided with liberals in major cases, including several on gay rights.

But even lawyers closely following the case are not sure which way Kennedy could go.

"If I could predict that, I would be down in the casino," said Gary McCaleb, a lawyer with conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, which backs the school board.
By Radhika Bhalla/Mail Today: It was one of those rare events that had the Capital excited with anticipation. Five aficionados in the fields of fashion, fragrance and decor -Sunil Sethi, President FDC, Sussanne Khan, interior designer, Ashish N Soni, fashion designer, Vinod Nair, fashion and luxury writer, and Kalyani Chawla, entrepreneur -came together to present the first-ever 'Alchemy' of their creativity for whiskey brand, Chivas.

advertisement

The terrace of The Leela Palace, Chanakyapuri was converted into a lavish display, and true to the buzz that the evening had created, their presentations were a delight to the five senses.

Sussanne Khan, Ashish N Soni, Vinod Nair, Kalyani Chawla and Sunil Sethi.Photo:Mail Today

The curated space began with a large bar room called 'The Matter of Taste' envisioned by Sethi, with the minimal aesthetic of an experienced eye. "Everything in the bar has been handcrafted and created all out of metal," he shared while walking around the rectangular set-up. "This is the first time I have created a bar in such an expanse. Just like in life there are highs and lows, there are columns that represent the different stages and different parameters of luxury." Along with it, a large wall contained glass bell jars with the 85 flavour notes that go into crafting the alcohol.

Kalyani Chawla laid out a feast for an imaginary morning after, with an imaginary guest list.Photo:Mail Today

Walking in, the vestibule room called 'Tales of Handcrafted Luxe' was a treat for fashion enthusiasts as Nair handpicked some of the most iconic looks from museums across the world. "I thought I would tell a story, so I'm working with the sense of hearing," he said. And what a story it was -it started with the display of the first-ever tuxedo or dinner jacket created by Henry Poole & Co. at Savile Row for the Prince of Wales in 1860. "The story goes that the prince liked it a lot, and he had a friend coming in from the US from a place called Tuxedo Park in New York in 1868. The prince told him to try it and the friend got another one made by Henry Poole. He took it back to New York, wore it at parties and everyone liked it. Since the man from Tuxedo Park wore it, it became known as the tuxedo," narrated Nair. Other standout pieces included the famous rainbow shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo created for actress Judy Garland in 1938, clutch bags by Judith Leiber, a patch of the world's most expensive fabric called vicona, one of the first wrap dresses by Diane Von Furstenburg and two Chinese lions by Lladro.

advertisement

Also Read:Malaika Arora is the brand ambassador for Satya Paul's latest collection

The third room was an ode to the Scottish Highlands by Sussanne Khan, who transported guests to the mountain wilderness with 'On to the Highlands'. "We wanted to create a room that had the energies of nature from Scotland, so we did a green landscape on the walls with lavender flowers, put faux fur on the chairs, got oak barrels made an antiquated them, and even put coal in gunny bags in the tub," said Khan to Lifestyle. "It took us six months to put it together, and it's crazy how much of R&D and design went into it. It's been an amazing journey, and it's a very novel concept, no one has done it before. I'm happy to be a part of the first five to do this."

Designer Ashish N Soni surprised all with his range of perfumes, with one having as many as 70 notes. Photo:Mail Today Designer Ashish N Soni surprised all with his range of perfumes, with one having as many as 70 notes. Photo:Mail Today

Meanwhile, Chawla curated an elaborate room of 'The Morning after the Night before' brunch spread with all the people she would like to invite to it- fashion editor Anna Wintour, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and author Gabriel Garcia Marquez to name a few.

advertisement

Last but not least, Ashish N Soni surprised his followers with a perfume range that he specially crafted with leading perfumeries of the world. "Scents are something of a personal passion," said Soni. "I decided to create a fragrance inspired by whiskey. We took the idea to the leading perfumers of the world- Bloom Perfumery, which has a contemporary sensibility, and Floris London, which is the official perfumer to the queen of England and to many royal families across the world."

Vinod Nair pulled out some of the most iconic fashion pieces from museums across the world, like these Rainbow shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo made in 1938 for actress Judy Garland.Photo:Mail Today

Soni crafted three scents, and one of them has as many as 70 different notes. The large room that they were placed in also had an installation that was created by those specialising in parametric design.

--- ENDS ---
Poland faces the possibility of losing its voting rights in the European Union over issues related to democracy and the rule of law. The EU is trying to determine whether to apply Article 7  a measure intended to punish countries seen as violating fundamental rights.

In its 60-year history, the European Union has never had to trigger Article 7.

When the regional grouping gave Poland until the end of February to implement several reforms to its judicial independence and democratic institutions, it seemed that Article 7 might be the next step if the EU determined that Poland was not putting enough reforms in place. Even though the deadline passed this week, it is not clear what steps the commission can take next.



Much has changed in Poland since the 2015 win of the conservative right wing PiS, Law and Justice Party. The party blocked the initial picks for the Polish constitutional court and presented its own candidates. That was followed by a crackdown on media outlets and journalists, mass demonstrations against proposed extremely conservative laws and political appointments on all levels. That led the European Commission to warn Poland.

Situation described at 'dramatic'

Katarzyna Morton is an active member of KOD, the Polish Committee for the Defense of Democracy. She describes the situation under the current government as dramatic and fears the country is heading toward becoming a modern authoritarian state. Morton says she hopes the EU keeps following up on current Polish developments, adding the tone of the EU will matter.

The EU really has to work on the way they say things to be sure that some Polish people who are in favor of the government or just perhaps do not understand EU so well, won't take it as a threat but will understand that the EU is working in their favor and wants them to succeed in their citizenship.

Triggering Article 7 could lead to another crisis within the EU while the bloc is already dealing with growing anti-EU sentiment, along with Brexit  Britain's decision to leave the EU  and an ongoing migrant crisis.

Little room to maneuver

Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska of the Center for European Reform says the European Commission has little room to maneuver and might lose this battle with Poland.

If the commission does not respond, it would face criticism from liberals in the European Parliament and it looks weak in the eyes of external actors; but, by interfering in this political conflict, the risks of antagonizing the Polish public is the last thing the commission would like to have because of growing euroscepticism.

Gostynska-Jakubowska also points out that it's questionable whether the commission has sufficient democratic legitimacy to push through something so politically sensitive as Article 7.

Poland feels it has complied

The request for reforms was made after previous recommendations were sent to Warsaw, but no real progress was recorded.

Poland feels its parliament has adopted enough reforms that comply with European standards regarding the functioning of constitutional courts and says there is no systematic threat to the rule of law in Poland. Activists such as Morton disagree, saying she does not notice any reforms being implemented.

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told local media earlier this week that he expects the matter will be closed.

Waszczykowski had a public exchange of words during a conference in Germany last week with EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans on Polish constitutional reforms. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement earlier this week accusing Timmermans' actions and words of being politically motivated.

Unanimous vote triggers Article 7

While the commission searches for a way forward, diplomatic tensions between Warsaw and Brussels remained unresolved as the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the head of the European Commission's representation to Poland on Thursday over language used by an EU document that Poland called unacceptable.



The commission is to discuss the matter with member states on what steps to take on the Polish issue.



Gostynska-Jakubowska says shifting the responsibility to member states will not solve the issue: There won't be political will among member states to take further action. EU treaties are pretty clear about this; it is the decision of member states on whether to activate Article 7 or not.

Triggering Article 7 needs unanimity among all member states, and Hungary has already said it would veto any such a decision. The current president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, happens to be a former Polish president.

The next meeting of EU leaders is to take place after the first week of March in Brussels. The issue with Poland is expected to be discussed, but it's unlikely the process for triggering Article 7 will start.
President Donald Trump is giving himself too much credit for sending criminal foreigners out of the country and saving money on fighter planes. He's getting too much credit from one of the few women with a top White House job for elevating women in the administration.

A look at some statements Thursday by Trump and presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway:

TRUMP: "We're getting gang members out, we're getting drug lords out, we're getting really bad dudes out of this country, at a rate nobody has ever seen before. ... It's a military operation because what has been allowed to come into our country, when you see gang violence that you've read about like never before and all of the things, much of that is people who are here illegally. And they're rough and they're tough, but they're not tough like our people. So we're getting them out."

THE FACTS: Trump is broadly embellishing his brief track record on immigration and wrongly branding the deportation effort a military operation.

The number of people expelled from the country since Trump took office Jan. 20 has not been released. No available data supports his claim that immigrants in the country illegally are being expelled at a rate "nobody has ever seen before." Deportations were brisk when Barack Obama was president.

Altogether in January, 16,643 people were deported, a drop from December (20,395) but a number that is similar to monthly deportations in early 2015 and 2016.

This month, Homeland Security officials have said 680 people were arrested in a weeklong effort to find and arrest criminal immigrants living in the United States illegally. Three-quarters of those people had been convicted of crimes, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said. The remaining 25 percent were not. The government has not provided information about who was arrested in that roundup, so it's impossible to determine how many gang members or drug lords were in that group.

That effort was largely planned before Trump took office and was alternately described by the administration as a routine enforcement effort and a signal of Trump's pledge to take a harder line on illegal immigration. During the Obama administration, similar operations were carried out that yielded thousands of arrests.

The 680 arrests were not carried out in a military operation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, responsible for finding and deporting immigrants in the country illegally, is a civilian law enforcement agency.

Trump plans to increase enforcement, but Kelly contradicted him Thursday over the nature of that initiative:

"There will be no use of military forces in immigration," Kelly said while visiting Mexico. "There will be no  repeat, no  mass deportations."

TRUMP, at a White House meeting with manufacturers, again claimed credit for a $700 million savings in the military's contract with Lockheed for the F-35 fighter jet. Speaking to the defense contractor's CEO Marillyn Hewson, he said: "Over $700 million. Do you think Hillary would have cost you $700 million? I assume you wanted her to win."

THE FACTS: Cost savings for the F-35 began before Trump's inauguration and predate his complaints about the price tag.

The head of the Air Force program announced significant price reductions Dec. 19  after Trump had tweeted about the cost but weeks before Trump met about the issue on Jan. 13 with Hewson.

"There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever of additional F-35 cost savings as a result of President Trump's intervention," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the aerospace consulting firm Teal Group. He said Trump appears to be taking credit for prior-year budget decisions and for work already done by managers at the Pentagon who took action before the presidential election to reduce costs.

CONWAY, at a conference of the Conservative Political Action Committee: "He has been promoting and elevating women in the Trump Corporation  in the Trump campaign, in the Trump Cabinet, certainly in the Trump White House. It's just a very natural affinity for him."

THE FACTS: No such elevation of women has taken place, when Trump's choices for the Cabinet and top White House aides are compared with those of other presidents in recent decades. Indeed, there's been backsliding.

Cabinet: Trump has nominated four women for Cabinet or Cabinet-level jobs. That's fewer than Democrats Barack Obama (seven) and Bill Clinton (six) had for their first Cabinets, and the same number as Republican George W. Bush chose out of the gate.

As well, women chosen by Trump are in less senior positions  both in prominence and in the line of succession to the presidency  than some of the women nominated by his predecessors. For example, Obama's first secretary of state, a top-tier post, was Hillary Clinton. Bush made Condoleezza Rice his secretary of state in his second term. Clinton's first Cabinet had a woman as attorney general. Trump's top four Cabinet positions  secretary of state, attorney general, treasury secretary and defense secretary  are all filled by men.

Looking more broadly, women occupied as much as 35 percent of Obama's Cabinet at their maximum numbers, compared with the historic high of 41 percent during Clinton's second term, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Women make up 17 percent of Trump's Cabinet choices, the center found. At their height, women comprised 18 percent of Ronald Reagan's Cabinet, the same percentage under George H.W. Bush and 30 percent under George W. Bush, the center found.

Trump chose Elaine Chao for Labor, Betsy DeVos for Education and Linda McMahon for the Small Business Administration. As for jobs that are not traditionally part of the Cabinet but considered Cabinet-level, Nikki Haley is ambassador to the United Nations and Trump has not named someone to lead the Council of Economic Advisers.

White House: The percentage of women in top White House jobs is shaping up to be lower than during at least five of the last six presidential terms, according to an analysis Monday by USA Today.

The high for women in senior West Wing jobs was 52 percent under Clinton in 2000, the analysis found, while the percentage dipped to 28 percent in 2008, under George W. Bush. For Trump, it's 23 percent of known staff.

The White House quarreled with USA Today's findings, saying the percentage is actually 31 percent, but refused to back up its figure by giving names or titles for those it considers senior.

As for White House staff overall, the percentage is "nearly the same" as for past administrations, the White House told the paper.
French far-right presidential front-runner Marine Le Pen offered a preview this week of what Frances foreign policy might look like if she is elected. She canceled a meeting with a top cleric in Lebanon over demands she wear a headscarf, and rejected the European Union, NATO and global trade deals in a keynote speech in Paris that favored an independent, France-first course.

French policy will be decided in Paris, she said Thursday, addressing a packed audience in a conference hall near the Champs Elysees. No ally, no treaty, no alliance will decide policy in its place.

Le Pen is running ahead in the polls despite being dogged by allegations of misusing EU funds. While many surveys find her winning the first round of voting in April, she is widely predicted to lose the May runoff vote. Yet in an election season marked by unpredictability and upsets, analysts are cautious about placing their bets, and mainstream EU leaders are tracking the popularity of Le Pen and other European nationalists with alarm.

A respect of culture and peoples

In her speech, the 48-year-old National Front party head lambasted past EU and U.S. foreign policy for errors in the Middle East and toward Russia, and outlined a new French relationship with Africa free of meddling but not indifferent.

I dont want to promote a French or Western system, she said. I dont want to promote a universal system, but to the contrary, I want to promote a respect of culture and peoples.

While Le Pen has been largely shunned by many in the EU, she got red-carpet treatment in Lebanon earlier this week, where she meet with the countrys Christian President Michel Aoun and Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who warned her against confounding Islam with terrorism.

But she pointedly canceled a meeting with Lebanons grand mufti after refusing to wear a headscarf for the event, although his office said she had been told beforehand it was required.

While Le Pens tough stance on radical Islam, immigration and dual citizenship might put off many Arab countries, she might find common ground in the fight against terror, said Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, Paris office head of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

In a 2015 visit to Cairo, for example, she praised President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi for his fight against extremism, and got a kind of official treatment by Egyptian authorities, Lafont Rapnouil noted.

Champion of oppressed people

Le Pens discourse Thursday, touching on the Middle East, Africa and the United States, offered a stark counterpoint to her National Fronts more abrasive grassroots image as an anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, populist party. She described France as a champion of oppressed people, which speaks out for the voiceless and carries something powerful and great.

She took no questions and continued calmly after a bare-chested Femen protester sought to interrupt her remarks before being carried, still shouting, out of the room.

Yet much of Le Pen's discourse was thin on specifics. She called for environmental security without defining it, and did not address key issues like whether France would stick to the Iran nuclear agreement under her leadership or to a two-state solution in the Middle East peace process.

If you dont pay attention to the details and just listen to the rhetoric, it sounds very French, very classical legalism, Lafont Rapnouil said of Le Pen's traditional discourse. If you pay a bit more attention, its a clear departure from the kind of mainstream foreign policy followed by France since the Cold War.

Like Le Pen, other presidential candidates are trying to bolster their international profile. Former economy minister Emmanuel Macron, who is running as an independent, met with British Prime Minister Theresa May during a visit to London this week, where he delivered a pro-EU message.

Former front-runner Francois Fillon, now battling a fake-jobs scandal, briefly met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel late last year in Brussels, according to reports.

EU bashing

Both candidates support remaining in the EU. Le Pen, by contrast, is sharply against the bloc, vowing to renegotiate Frances membership if elected and hold a Frexit referendum if that fails. Adding to European concerns, far-right Dutch candidate Geert Wilders, another EU basher, is similarly coasting in the polls ahead of March elections in the Netherlands.

The European Union is not the solution, its the problem, Le Pen said Thursday.

It will be a very difficult and cold relationship with other European leaders if Le Pen becomes president, said analyst Philippe Moreau Defarges of the Paris-based French Institute for International Relations. "Of course, Mrs. Merkel or Theresa May will receive Mrs. Le Pen as head of state, but it will be a big European crisis, an earthquake, if shes elected.

Le Pen had kinder words for U.S. President Donald Trump whose November victory she praised early on and described as a harbinger of her own.

After sharply criticizing the Obama White House, she predicted the Trump administration represented almost a change of software that will not only be positive for the world, but positive for the United States.

Like Trump, Le Pen has embraced nationalist, law-and-order policies and a crackdown on immigration. She is also skeptical of multilateral institutions and trade agreements. But experts caution not to draw easy parallels.

Unlike the U.S. president, Le Pen has been in politics for years, holding both local office and a seat in the European parliament.

I think shes more prepared and classical in terms of institutions than Trump so far seems to be, Lafont Rapnouil says.

Not business as usual

Still, he predicts a Le Pen presidency would be tumultuous, and realizing her promises like getting France out of the Schengen passport-free travel zone or the European Union would be challenging.

On another level, most of her proposals would raise legal questions, he added, that would likely end up in French and European courts. This would not be business as usual, for sure.

On defense, Le Pen reiterated her distaste for NATO, instead calling for a policy based on French national interests, and demanding a spending hike to two percent of GDP, increased to 3 percent by the end of her five-year term.

On the Middle East, she called for rapprochement with the Syrian government and Russia in the fight against Islamist terrorism, saying Moscow had been badly treated both by Europe and by previous U.S. administrations.
France's presidential race took a new turn on Thursday as independent Emmanuel Macron raised the curtain on a partnership with veteran centrist Francois Bayrou to help him beat the far-right's Marine Le Pen.

"Political times have changed. We cannot continue as before. The National Front is at the gates of power. It plays on fear," Macron said, referring to Le Pen's once-shunned party.

Opinion polls appeared to show the 39-year-old Macron, a political novice who has never held elected office but who has soared to become a favorite to enter the Elysee, was already benefiting from the new-born alliance announced on Wednesday.

After meeting Bayrou, the fresh-faced former investment banker said he saw the new partnership as a turning point "not only in the campaign but also in French political life" - meaning it would be a break with the left-right rotation of power that has dominated French politics for decades.

Standing with Bayrou, a 65-year-old centrist who has run for president unsuccessfully three times, Macron told reporters they stood between France and a Le Pen regime of "fear."

All polls say Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigrant and anti-European Union National Front, will come first in the initial round of voting on April 23 but lose to either Macron or conservative candidate Francois Fillon in the May 7 runoff.

Two new opinion polls released as they met showed Macron still neck-and-neck with Fillon.

A third poll, collected by Ifop Fiducial over the past three days and thus including some reaction to Wednesday night's tie-up with Bayrou, showed Macron's first round score boosted by 3.5 points to 22.5 percent, ahead of Fillon on 20.5.

Polls have suggested that Bayrou has the support of about five percent of French voters, and his backing for Macron could prove crucial to his election success.

In an interview with Les Echos newspaper on Thursday, Macron, who says he wants to transcend the classic left-right divide, outlined his economic plans mixing tax cuts and a reduction in government jobs.

Socialists Boost

The Socialists are given little chance of making the runoff after five years of unpopular rule by Socialist President Francois Hollande.

But Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, who routinely trails in fourth place in opinion polls, received a boost when Greens candidate Yannick Jadot withdrew from the race after striking an agreement with Hamon's camp.

Opinion polls show Jadot would win only a tiny percentage of votes in the election - between 1 and 2 percent - but the move is a step forward in Hamon's hopes of unifying left-wing forces Hamon has sought to persuade hard-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has a strong core support of over 10 percent, to pull out as candidate and join forces with him to give the Left a chance of retaining power.

Melenchon has so far refused to do so, referring to the Socialist campaign train disparagingly as a "hearse."

After Jadot's announcement on Thursday, Melenchon said he remained open to dialogue with Hamon and had not "closed any door."

Le Pen, in a speech on Thursday dedicated to foreign policy, suggested France should pull out of NATO's military wing and praised Russia as a "decisive force" in the world.

"The historic ties that have linked us with the United States since the War of Independence does not prevent us from leaving NATO's integrated command structure," she told supporters.

The campaigns of both Le Pen and of Fillon, a former prime minister, have been shaken by investigations into allegations that they misused public money. Both have denied wrongdoing.

Fillon, 62, was once the frontrunner but is now engulfed in a scandal over salaries paid to his wife and children out of public funds for work they are alleged to have not carried out.

He says they did the work for which they were paid.

Le Pen is facing accusations she paid her chief of staff and bodyguard illicitly from European Parliament funds that she is now being pressed by the assembly to repay.

Florian Philippot, one of Le Pen's main aides, said on BFMTV that the National Front would not turn up if she was summoned to appear in court over the EU fake jobs affair.
Authorities in Gambia have arrested the former head of the National Intelligence Agency, which has been accused of systemic human rights abuses while it was under the control of ousted former President Yahya Jammeh.

Officials said Yankuba Badjie and eight other NIA employees were arrested Monday. No specific charges were listed.

Jammeh, Gambia's ruler since 1994, when he took power in a coup, formed the intelligence agency, which became notorious for alleged intimidation, torture and killings of government opponents.

Jammeh lost a bid for another term in power in an election in December. He refused to step down, but pressure from Gambia's neighbors and others persuaded him to leave Banjul last month and go into exile.

The small West African nation's new president, Adama Barrow, has promised a truth commission and investigations into alleged human rights violations carried out under Jammeh, as well as the release of political prisoners. He stripped the intelligence agency of its powers and renamed it the State Intelligence Services after taking office.

This week's arrests were the first since international pressure forced Jammeh to flee to Equatorial Guinea. Since then, the new government has been slowly uncovering the conditions Jammeh left behind.

A government report out this week said the former president and his allies had "destroyed" Gambia's economy.

Revenue collected by the country's telecommunications company, Gamtel, were diverted to an account at the Central Bank controlled by Jammeh beginning in 2014, according to an investigation by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Associated Press reported. The account accumulated more than $5.4 million, all of which was withdrawn at some point before Jammeh left the country, AP said.

Jammeh is accused of stealing millions of dollars in his final weeks in power, and Barrow's government has said he left the state coffers virtually empty.
A suicide car bomber has killed at least 35 people and wounded many others in a Syrian village near al-Bab, just one day after Turkish forces and their rebel allies took much of the strategic town from Islamic State.

The blast Friday struck an opposition security post in the village of Sousian, killing many civilians along with opposition forces.

People had gathered at the security office where many of them were seeking permission to return to al-Bab, which had been the scene of heavy fighting for months.

The Turkish and rebel forces moved into the town Thursday after Islamic State fighters withdrew, ending the battle for the IS stronghold, according to Turkish media and Syrian activist groups.

"Almost all of al-Bab is under control now and a sweep operation is ongoing," Fikri Isik, Turkey's defense minister, told the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency.

IS fighters were reportedly heading south to other IS-held Syrian territories. A few scattered IS fighters remained hiding among locals, according to reports from the town.

A Syrian monitoring group said Turkish-backed forces are moving neighborhood by neighborhood to secure al-Bab.

"The northeast neighborhood of the town has not been combed yet," said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that has monitors on the ground across the country.

Clearing the city

Rebels and Turkish forces found landmines and other explosive devices while sweeping districts recently recaptured from IS fighters, he said. And this has slowed the process to clear the town entirely of remaining IS fighters, analysts said.

"IS fighters may be among the civilians, so they [Turkish forces] have to be extremely careful," said Metehan Demir, a Turkish military analyst in Ankara. "I would say it will take at least another week or so to make sure that IS has been cleared of al-Bab."

At least 127 civilians were killed, including 38 children, in this week's final assault on al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory reported.

IS had held thousands of civilians in al-Bab and used them as human shields to deter advances by the incoming forces.

With al-Bab under Turkish control, questions are being raised as to what the next move for Turkish forces would be.

Turkish officials have said their next objective after al-Bab is to go after IS in their de-facto capital of Raqqa. Ankara has also said that it wants to dislodge the Kurdish fighters from the town of Manbij.

Those moves may face Trump administration opposition, analysts say.

"Turkey desires to go to Manbij and Raqqa, but there is a problem with Washington," analyst Demir said. "The U.S. does not seem anxious about Turkish contribution in Raqqa."

Joint strategy

Washington and Ankara have held discussions in the past week over a joint strategy to fight IS, American and Turkish officials said.

"On the issue of fighting [Islamic State], we  that is Turkey and Saudi Arabia  will be cooperating with the United States," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week. "We believe that the fight from now on will be more effective and that we will be able to clear both Syria and Iraq" of IS.

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led coalition, has made significant advances on IS near Raqqa, seizing tens of towns and villages in the northern and western parts of the province.

The SDF has also cut off a supply line that connects Raqqa to Deir Ezzor, another IS stronghold in eastern Syria.

The Kurdish YPG is the backbone of the SDF. But Turkey views it as a terror group and has vowed to combat them in parts of northern Syria.

Kurdish military officials, however, say that Turkish military is incapable of leading the offensive toward Raqqa.

"It took Turkey and its allies more than two months to reach al-Bab," said Nasir Hajj Mansur, a Kurdish commander with the SDF. "So Raqqa is going to be even harder for them if they decided to head there."
Israeli authorities have rejected a request from Human Rights Watch to grant a work permit to its regional director, accusing the group of engaging in Palestinian propaganda, the group said Friday.

The decision was Israels latest step against human rights groups and other advocacy organizations that it accuses of bias against the Jewish state.

Israels Interior Ministry issued its ruling this week, some six months after Human Rights Watch asked for permission for its New York-based Israel and Palestine director, Omar Shakir, to be able to work in the country.

In a letter dated Monday, the ministry said the groups reports have engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of human rights. The decision, it said, was based on a recommendation from Israels Foreign Ministry.

He said the decision was connected solely to the groups activities and had nothing to do with the ethnicity of Shakir, a U.S. citizen of Iraqi descent.

Shakir, a Stanford-educated lawyer, has also done work on human rights in Egypt, Pakistan and at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, according to his biography.

The New York-based group monitors human rights in over 90 countries, including nations throughout the Middle East. It said it has direct access to most of these countries, but said a small number of them, including Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Uzbekistan and Venezuela, have blocked access to its staff.

The denial letter came as a shock, given that we have had regular access to Israel and the West Bank for nearly three decades and regularly engage Israeli authorities, Shakir said in an email. Branding us as propagandists and fake human rights advocates puts Israel in the company of heavily repressive states like North Korea, Iran and Sudan that have blocked access for Human Rights Watch staff members.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. did not agree with Israels characterization of Human Rights Watch.

HRW is a credible human rights organization and even though we do not agree with all of their assertions or conclusions, given the seriousness of their efforts, we support the importance of the work they do, Toner said.

Human Rights Watch has published a series of reports that were highly critical of Israel, especially after wars or periods of heightened violence with Palestinian militants. For instance, it accused Israel of committing war crimes during fighting with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014. Israel harshly rejected the findings of that report.

The group has also issued reports critical of the Palestinians. For instance, last year it accused the internationally backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the rival Hamas militant group in Gaza of arbitrarily detaining journalists and activists. It also has criticized executions carried out by Hamas.
A U.S. federal court sentenced an Israeli national to 30 months in prison Thursday, 10 years after he was indicted for stock fraud.

Jacob "Kobi" Alexander was extradited from Namibia last year, where he had fled to avoid punishment.

"Kobi Alexander thought he could outwit the law, not once, but twice  first,by committing the crimes he's accused of, and a second time by leaving the country when he became aware his actions had caught up with him," the FBI's William Sweeney said Thursday.

Alexander pleaded guilty to charges of securities fraud for changing the dates on stock options of a communications software company between 1998 and 2006.

The scheme netted him about $30 million. Alexander was also accused of lying to investigators and attempting to bribe a witness. He fled to Namibia with his family to avoid being charged. Alexander eventually agreed to pay $60 million in forfeiture and civil settlements, according to the Department of Justice.

U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said Thursday's sentencing "should send a powerful message to high-ranking executives that corporate rank is no shield to criminal liability."
Italy's top organized crime prosecutor expressed concern about increased cannabis traffic from Albania while meeting with justice officials in the Balkan nation Thursday.

Saying marijuana shipments from Albania had increased threefold since this time last year, Franco Roberti called the influx a result of expanding cannabis growth on the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea and said that sales of the illicit drug were linked to financing Islamist extremism.

Addressing journalists after a news conference that unveiled Albania's nationwide operation to prevent the planting of cannabis, Roberti called his findings "more than a mere investigative hypothesis."

"We are convinced, based on our verification, that at least part of the revenue from drug trafficking is possibly financing radical Islamic activities, so potentially it finances terrorist activities," he said.

Earlier in the day, Albanian police said more than 3,000 officers had spread out across the country to check greenhouses, "old army depots and tunnels or abandoned houses where cannabis seeds and small plants may have been hidden," according to The Associated Press.

Planning strategy

Roberti was in Albania for meetings with justice officials, aimed at "understanding with the Albanian counterparts, the factors leading to this increase in drug trafficking from Albania to Italy, and to discuss ways on improving bilateral strategies and cooperation."

He speculated that one factor might be increased demand for cannabis in Italy, where strict anti-cultivation laws discourage consumers from growing the plant themselves.

Roberti also said corruption was a byproduct of organized crime in both countries, and that "Italy and Albania share a common interest in fighting organized crime and corruption, which appear to be increasingly connected."

Last year, Albanian authorities destroyed about 2.5 million marijuana plants, four times more than the year before. Many metric tons of cannabis were seized at border crossing points or from boats bound for neighboring Italy or Greece.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Albanian service. Some information came from AP.
Indian officials expressed shock at the shooting death of an Indian engineer at a bar in the United States. U.S. authorities are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.



The incident was widely reported by Indian media and drew strong reaction on social media. Tens of thousands of Indians study and work in the United States and many say they are concerned about what they perceive as anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Trump administration.



But many young Indians and Indian-Americans in India have a more ambivalent reaction to the news.



Part of me wishes I was home to be part of the protests and actions for peace, but another part of me is scared to see what will be waiting for me and the other desi Americans abroad right now when I get back, Yasin Khan, an Indian-American from Connecticut currently in Darjeeling, told VOA.



Khan, like other Indian-Americans, says she was not shocked by the horrible news coming from her country, claiming that unfortunately shootings and hate crimes are not new.



Growing up in America these kind of things happen so much, Vishnu Reddy, an American medical student at Manipal University in South India, told VOA. Im definitely planning on going back to the states and settling there  I grew up there. I feel more at home there. And no I wouldnt say that this changes my mind at all.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Friday that any loss of life is tragic, but said it would be absurd to link the killing to President Donald Trump's rhetoric. He said it was too early to determine a motive for the attack.



Indians who do not call the United States home may have more reservations about moving there as anti-immigrant rhetoric increases.



New form of racism?



Clearly it hurts some peoples ideas about migrating to the US, said Kshitij Agrawal, an engineer with Intel in Bangalore. I mean its not so shocking because incidents like this have happened, but its a new form of racism thats coming out.

Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died of the wounds he sustained when a man allegedly opened fire in a crowded bar in suburban Kansas on Wednesday. Another Indian and an American who tried to intervene were injured in the incident.



The Kansas City Star quoted a witness as saying a man shouted Get out of my country before shooting at the Indian men.



Adam Purinton, 51, was arrested hours after the shooting and has been charged with murder and attempted murder.



Kuchibhotla, who earned an engineering degree in India, went on to pursue a postgraduate degree in electronics from the University of Texas and then worked in the United States. He and his wounded colleague, Alok Madasani, both from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, worked at Garmin International, a GPS navigation and communications company.



Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said in a Twitter post, I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family."





She said Madasani, who was injured, has been released from the hospital.



An Indian Foreign Ministry statement said that two Indian embassy officials were going to Houston to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action.



Official condemnation

Condemning the shooting, the U.S. embassy in New Delhi said in a statement that the United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the word to visit, work, study and live.



U.S. Charge d Affaires MaryKay Carlson said U.S. authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case.



Referring to the incident, an Indian lawmaker and a former junior foreign minister, Shashi Tharoor, tweeted that the vicious racism unleashed in some quarters in the U.S. claims more innocent victims, who happen to be Indian.



Such comments came amid rising concerns among middle class Indians  who have long aspired to study and work in the United States, that President Donald Trumps rhetoric on immigration and jobs could fuel a climate of intolerance. Most Indian immigrants to the United States are technology professionals.



In Washington, Jay Kansara, from the advocacy group the Hindu American Foundation, called for the shooting to be investigated as a hate crime.

Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and their families, he said.



Indian media reports also highlighted the role of the American who pursued the assailant, some referring to him as a hero.
Two firemen- Hari Om and Hari Singh Meena were charred to death when a cylinder exploded when they trying to cut the shutter.

By Mail Today Bureau: Two firemen in their late 40s were killed and two of their colleagues received critical burn injuries as they were trying to douse a fire in a restaurant in West Delhi's Vikaspuri early on Friday. At around 5.30 am, the fire department received a call of smoke billowing from Chatkora Food and Snacks Corner in Lal Market.

advertisement

Three fire tenders, along with 10 firemen from Janakpuri fire station, were rushed to the spot. To find whether anyone was trapped inside, the firemen started cutting the restaurant's shutter. Soon after they cut it open, a cylinder set off. The impact of the blast was such that one of the firemen, Hari Singh Meena, was flung into the air with fire blazing all over him. His colleague Hari Om started to run as fire engulfed his whole body too. The other firemen, Naveen and Ravinder Singh, were also cutting open the shutter, but escaped the maximum impact as they were standing a few metres away. They too received critical burn injuries.

Hari Om (49), a resident of Dwarka, was rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital where he succumbed to injuries. Meena (48), who was rushed to Park Hospital in Khyala, was declared brought dead.

ABOUT THE FIREFIGHTERS

Hari Om's cousin Baljeet Dahiya, a firefighter himself, said Om joined the service 26 years ago. He is survived by his father, wife and two children - a son in class XI and daughter pursuing B.Tech from a private institute.

Meena, who hailed from Rajasthan, is survived by his wife, two daughters and a four-year-old son. His family is in a state of shock as they lost the sole bread earner of the family. During investigation, it was learnt that there were four gas cylinders - two commercial and two domestic - at the restaurant.

"One of them may have exploded due to gas leak. The exact reason is yet to be ascertained," a fire official said. Naveen (32) and Ravinder (33) were admitted to BLK hospital where they are undergoing treatment. Naveen has a two-month-old son.

"A case of deaths due to negligence has been registered and a probe initiated," said Vijay Kumar, DCP (West).

Also read: Hyderabad: 6 killed as fire breaks out in air cooler manufacturing unit

Also read: Fire in godown in Bhiwandi near Mumbai; four dead, two injured

--- ENDS ---
Over the years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued immigration holds, also known as detainers, on individuals the agency has been seeking to deport.

But despite the latest guidance on immigration enforcement, the practice has sheriffs departments skeptical about the legality of these requests.

Between Friday and Wednesday, Maricopa County, Arizona, released 33 undocumented immigrants from custody even though all had ICE detainers.

Although ICE was informed about the individuals in custody, federal agents did not arrest them once these immigrants were released from the county jail.

Last week, the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office [MCSO] announced his office would no longer honor immigration detainers. In conjunction with the sudden reversal of a long-standing practice of honoring immigration detainers, the sheriff also implemented a restriction prohibiting the arrest of individuals with detainers by ICE officers within the confines of the facility, an ICE official told VOA.

Maricopa authorities confirmed the county sheriffs office was no longer honoring immigration detainers because of the threat of litigation and the need for clarification on the legality of immigration holds.

Fourth Amendment issue

Sheriffs office spokesman Mark Casey said late Friday the Maricopa County attorney told county officials to immediately put a stop to the practice of holding a suspected undocumented immigrant for up to 48 hours after a criminal judge had ordered their release.

We received legal advice late Friday that other jails around the country that were doing the same thing had been sued, and they were losing those suits on the basis of the Fourth Amendment, Casey said.

The Arizona Republic reported that the 33 people were not arrested on high-level crimes, rather on charges that included criminal damage, drug possessions and driving under the influence. Some were released on bail, others on their own recognizance.

An ICE official confirmed these charges to VOA, adding some were charged with reckless driving and resisting an officer.

The federal agency also said that while the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office did let ICE know they were releasing their inmates, they would not allow ICE to arrest them inside the jail, forcing officers to monitor the parking lots for these individuals.

Yasmeen Pitts OKeefe, ICE spokesman, said the federal agency is working to locate and arrest those released. As of Wednesday, five of the 33 individuals suspected of being in the country illegally had been detained.

ICE will continue to seek to collaborate with all law enforcement agencies throughout the State of Arizona, including the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office, to help ensure that individuals who may pose a threat to our communities are not released onto the street to potentially reoffend and harm individuals living within our communities, OKeefe said in a statement.

48-hour hold

The American Civil Liberties Union says ICE uses detainers as a way to hold people for 48 hours without due process and, in many cases, without any charges pending or probable cause of any violation.

The practice has raised constitutional concerns and has local enforcement worried.

We need some sort of process that will allow us to do this lawfully, and were prepared to negotiate that process, working with ICE and with our attorneys to figure out what works for everybody, Casey said.

Federal courts have recently reviewed the legality of immigration detainers. According to findings, holding someone on a detainer after they have completed their local or state custody is essentially a new arrest that must meet Fourth Amendment requirements.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) reports that an immigration detainer is not a warrant, and the initiation of investigation indicated on some detainers does not provide a legal basis for detention. Even a few minutes of detention may be a Fourth Amendment violation if there is no sufficient justification for detaining the person or prolonging the stop, according to ILRC.

The Northern District of Illinois has ruled that detainers issued out of the Chicago Field Office exceed ICEs own statutory arrest authority.

Although findings from the Illinois court mentions the Chicago office, legal experts take its analysis national, so any jail holding people on ICE detainers is risking liability for that detention.

Next steps and legal answers

While sheriffs wait for more legal answers, in Maricopa County, Casey said they will continue to assist ICE in accordance with the law.

One way to do that, he said, is to call immigration officials and let them know when suspected undocumented immigrants will be walking out of jail.

It takes five to eight hours to go through the release process. So when we get an advisory from a court that says free this person the clock starts ticking.  We call ICE and say, Hey this person that you have a hold on is walking out of here in five to eight hours, Casey said.

ICE officials can then stand outside the county jail and take them into custody on their immigration concerns.

The next step in the process, Casey said, is a meeting county officials requested with ICE.

Weve asked ICE to meet with us  so that we can begin the process to figure it out how to do this lawfully, he said.
The leader of Macedonia's Social Democrats said on Thursday he expected to be able to form a new government in March, ending a two-year political crisis in the wake of a wiretapping scandal that brought down the previous administration.

Zoran Zaev said he had secured the support of ethnic Albanian parties and expected to complete talks on forming a government in early March.

The conservative VMRO-DPMNE party at the center of the scandal had tried but failed to form a coalition after winning a December election but falling short of a majority in the 120-seat parliament.

"Now we have to agree on the distribution of ministries and the future government reform platform," Zaev told reporters while on a trip to Sarajevo. "I am very optimistic that in the first half of March Macedonia will have a government led by Social Democrats."

The Balkan nation's two-year political crisis was triggered by a surveillance scandal that forced veteran VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski to resign a year ago.

The crisis was the worst since Western diplomacy helped drag the country of 2.1 million people back from the brink of civil war during an ethnic Albanian insurgency in 2001, promising it a path to membership of the European Union and of NATO.

VMRO-DPMNE won 51 seats to the Social Democrats' 49 in December's poll.

Macedonia's ethnic Albanian parties had made their support for any potential coalition conditional on the passage of a law backing broader use of their language in the country.

The Democratic Union of Integration, the biggest ethnic Albanian party in parliament, said on Wednesday it had agreed with the Social Democrats on such a law but did not give details and suggested agreements were needed in other policy areas.

Albanian is currently an official language only in municipalities where Albanians account for more than 20 percent of the population.

"It's true that yesterday we overcame an important hurdle.

But there are still other issues that have to be agreed if we are to decide to govern together in the next period," DUI spokesman Bujar Osmani told reporters. "We have to align our party platforms for the entire mandate."

The other two ethnic Albanian parties, Besa and Alliance for Albanians, which together have eight seats in the parliament, have already said they will support Zaev to form a government.
The White House has denied media reports that a so-called deep state of the United States government is withholding information from President Donald Trump in an effort to undermine his administration.

The deep state  a term apparently first used in Turkey in the 1990s  refers to a secretive, informal network of officials in a countrys military, intelligence and security services, and other parts of the government, who have influence, regardless of the administration formally in power. The term has been used to describe the situation in countries with a history of rule by the military, like Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt.

Citing current and former officials, a recent Wall Street Journal story reports that U.S. intelligence officials  considered to be part of an American deep state  have withheld sensitive intelligence from the president over concerns it could be leaked or compromised. An unnamed White House official denied this in the Journal piece, saying, "There is nothing that leads us to believe that this is an accurate account of what is actually happening."

So, what exactly is this supposed deep state that has been referenced by news organizations from Fox News to The New Yorker magazine?

It is based on the notion that American presidents come and go, but a permanent bureaucracy that includes intelligence agencies, national security and the U.S. military remains in place.

The term also implies that what happens at the very top of the United States government may be to a greater or lesser degree just window dressing, and that beneath the surface are those with real power (for example, Cabinet-level deputies who stay in place during a change of administration), deciding what policies will be implemented.

Historic examples include the Soviet era under Mikhail Gorbachev, whereby the KGB was publicly denounced, glasnost and perestroika were encouraged and, ultimately, the entire Soviet Union fell apart.

Russian experts point out, just a decade or so later, a mid-level KGB official named Vladimir Putin becomes president.

Other analysts say the American public learned of a kind of deep state after the 9/11 terror attacks under former President George W. Bush. During his two terms, there were reports of torture, CIA secret prisons and the National Security Agency listening in on Americans' private conversations without warrants.

Under President Trump, very public tensions have erupted with members of the bureaucracy in a manner that observers say never have happened before in modern American history.
Former president Barack Obama can not run again for president in the U.S., but that isnt stopping a group of French fans who are trying to get him to run in their upcoming election.

Paris has been canvassed with Obama17 signs, which urge people to visit a website to sign a petition for the former U.S. president to run.

According to the website, Obama is their choice "because he has the best resume in the world for the job.

The site also alludes to the rising popularity of right-wing parties in France.

"At a time when France is about to vote massively for the extreme right, we can still give a lesson of democracy to the planet by electing a French president, a foreigner," according to the website, which is in French.

According to ABC News, a spokesman for the group behind the website said, We started dreaming about this idea two months before the end of Obama's presidency. We dreamed about this possibility to vote for someone we really admire, someone who could lead us to project ourselves in a bright future.

Theres just one catch to their plan: To be president of France, you have to be French.

The latest French polls show Marine Le Pen of the right-wing National Front party in the lead. The election will be held in April.
Deaths caused by heroin overdoses in the United States quadrupled between 2010 and 2015, according to a new report.

The National Center for Health Statistics says there were 12,989 overdose deaths involving heroin in 2015. In 2010, the number was 3,036. In percentages, heroin caused 8 percent of drug overdose deaths in 2010, and now it accounts for 25 percent.

The center cites dropping prices and increasing potency for the rise in deaths.

Furthermore, experts say they believe the opioid epidemic caused by prescription painkillers may also be driving people to use heroin as the drug is usually much cheaper.

"You are 40 times more likely to use heroin if you started with opioid painkillers," Rich Hamburg, the executive vice president for the non-profit Trust for Americas Health, told the Reuters news agency. "Heroin is part of America's larger drug abuse problem."

Death from overdosing on prescription painkillers like oxycodone actually fell over the period of the study, dropping from 29 percent of all overdose deaths in 2010 to 24 percent in 2015.

Overdoses deaths from cocaine also fell, albeit slightly, the study said.

The states with the highest rates of overdose deaths in 2015 were West Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio, the study found.

Overdose deaths increased for all age groups, but rose the most among those 55 to 64, the study said.
Militants ambushed an army patrol in Niger on Thursday, killing 15 soldiers and wounding 19, the Defense Ministry said, occurring in an area near the border with Mali where violent Islamists have been seeking to expand their reach.

"A search operation is underway to neutralize the terrorists," the ministry statement said of the attack just outside the town of Tiloa.

Militants and allied criminal gangs have long exploited the areas around the vast, desert border between Mali and Niger to launch attacks, even after a French-led military intervention pushed insurgent groups back from northern Mali in 2013.

Attacks in Niger are much rarer than in Mali, although militants in the past year have been expanding across borders in the fragile Sahel region into Niger and Burkina Faso.

Gunmen riding motor bikes and other vehicles raided a village and killed five soldiers in Niger in November.

Assailants kidnapped a U.S. aid worker in central Niger a month earlier.
U.S. President Donald Trump this week explicitly condemned anti-Semitism and the recent spike in anti-Jewish incidents reported since his inauguration.

Now some are pressing him to do same against anti-Muslim acts.

Speaking Tuesday, Trump called the anti-Semitic acts horrible and painful, and condemned bigotry, intolerance, and hatred in all of its very ugly forms.

The remarks followed public criticism that he had failed to forcefully condemn a series of bomb threats against Jewish community centers across the country and vandalism at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis.

Vice President Mike Pence visited that cemetery Wednesday, joining in clean-up efforts and echoing Trump's condemnation.

There is no place in America for hatred or acts of prejudice or violence or anti-Semitism, he said.

Many Muslim Americans are now hoping the White House will take similar steps to address concerns about rising levels of anti-Muslim incidents across the country.

But they aren't optimistic.

I don't expect him to, says Shahed Amanullah, a tech entrepreneur and former State Department senior adviser in President Barack Obama's administration.

Part of that pessimism has to do with Trump's public statements on Islam, which have been much darker than those of his predecessors.

Early in the campaign, Trump proclaimed "I think Islam hates us." He also promised a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the U.S.  a proposal he later backed away from but which remains on his website.

Since becoming president, Trump has attempted to temporarily restrict immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries a ban he says is aimed at preventing terrorism. But many view it as a partial fulfillment of his campaign promise to ban Muslims.

Perhaps the bigger concern is that Trump has surrounded himself with several senior advisers who have explicitly embraced anti-Islam views, says Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

It's a great concern to us that he continues to employ some of the nation's most notorious Islamophobes in the White House, Hooper told VOA.

Trump aides

Hooper specifically points to Trump's chief strategist and former Breitbart News executive, Steve Bannon, who has long portrayed the West as being at war with political Islam.

Breitbart News is an iconoclastic far-right website embraced by some in the so-called alt-right movement, which includes a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism.

During his time as a Hollywood filmmaker in the mid 2000s, Bannon produced a script of an unreleased documentary-style movie that depicted Muslims taking over America and planting an Islamic flag on the U.S. Capitol.

In 2010, Bannon declared Islam is not a religion of peace Islam is a religion of submission. Just over a year ago on his Breitbart radio show, Bannon warned of the danger of Muslim immigration, saying the U.S. is the wrong place for sharia-compliant Muslims.

Michael Flynn, who served as Trump's first national security adviser, tweeted last year that Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL. Flynn was forced to resign earlier this month, but for reasons unrelated to those comments.

Stephen Miller, a Trump senior adviser, and Sebastian Gorka, a deputy assistant to the president, have also frequently depicted the fight against Islamic terrorism in religious terms.

White House officials reject the notion that those comments reflect prejudice against Muslims.

Recognizing the threat of radical Islamic terrorism doesn't make you anti-Muslim, White House spokesman Michael Short told VOA, adding: Get serious.

Short also pointed to Trump's comments earlier this week condemning bigotry in all its forms and his desire to unite the country.

Different approach

The Trump administration's rhetoric on Islam goes against the counterterrorism strategy embraced by U.S. administrations since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

In the aftermath of those attacks, President Bush insisted Islam is peace and said the acts of violence violated the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith.

Watch: Muslim-Americans Ask President Trump to Address Their Concerns

Former President Barack Obama was hesitant to even use the words radical Islamic terrorism, arguing that it painted Muslims with a broad brush and risked bolstering the narrative of extremists that insist on a battle between the West and Islam.

We are not at war with Islam, Obama said during a 2015 summit on violent extremism. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.

Tamara Sonn, a professor at Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, argues that Trump seems unwilling to make that distinction.

And that runs the risk of lending credibility to terrorists, who are trying to convince other Muslims that the West is, indeed, at war with Islam, she says.

But Trump's willingness to use the phrase radical Islamic terrorism has pleased many conservatives, including Republican allies in Congress, who see it as evidence that Trump is serious about the war on terror.

This potent threat to our civilization has intensified under the Obama administration due to the willful blindness of politically correct policies that hamper our safety and security, Senator Ted Cruz said in a statement last month.

It is time to call this enemy by its name and speak with clarity and moral authority, he added.

Rise in anti-Muslim incidents

The debate isn't just political, it has practical implications, both in terms of foreign policy and at home, where there's been a spike in reported cases of religiously motivated crimes against Muslims.

The number of anti-Islam hate groups in the U.S. nearly tripled during the past year growing from 34 in 2015 to 101 in 2016, according to a report last week by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

But there are also signs of a countervailing trend.

According to a series of polls by the University of Maryland, public attitudes toward Muslims steadily improved during the year-long presidential campaign, even at a time when public rhetoric about Islam was unusually heated.

In November 2015, 53 percent of respondents said they had a positive view of Muslim people. Nearly a year later, that figure had increased to 70 percent.

Even as Islamophobia has been mainstreamed in America, we've also seen the fight against Islamophobia be mainstreamed, says Amanullah, who is confident about the future for American Muslims.

I will put my faith in the Constitution and my neighbors any day of the week, he says.
In dry northern regions, the melting from winter snowpack is crucial for filling reservoirs, irrigating crops and providing drinking water.

In northern Colorado, communities get 80 percent of their water from snowpack, so knowing the water content of snow helps them plan ahead.

But, unlike other weather data about rainfall and storms -- gathered from orbiting satellites -- the dazzling, reflective nature of snow makes it hard to measure the depth of a snowpack from space. In fact, NASA weather scientists report that currently, worldwide estimates of the water stored in snow may be off by 30 to 50 percent.

So NASA is launching an ambitious project to create a new snow satellite.

Ground measurements

The traditional way to measure snow depth and water content involves shovels. U.S. Forest Service scientist Frank McCormick says researchers tromp through the snow to selected areas, then do some serious digging.

Theyll dig a snow pit down to bare ground so that they can take very detailed measurements  everything from temperature to water thats in the snow," he said.

Mountain snowpack can be so heavy, snow pits can be more than five meters deep. After theyre completed, scientists take careful measurements that accurately reveal that locations snowpack levels and water content.

But on a global scale, McCormick says, digging snow pits isnt practical, noting, We would need thousands upon thousands upon thousands of sites throughout the world.

Measurements from space

Thats why NASA launched SnowEx, a five-year project to design a satellite that will accurately measure snowpack while orbiting the earth. This means the satellite will someday measure snowpack everywhere.

SnowEx Project Leader Edward Kim says knowing snowpacks water content, when its likely to melt and so on, could help over a billion people. [For] one out of every six people in the world," he points out, "the majority of their water, that they use for drinking and agriculture and industry, comes from snow.

To design the satellite, 100 SnowEx scientists are teaming up to figure out the best ways to remotely measure snowpacks depth, its water content, how surface dust and temperature affect snow, and more. As a first step, theyre putting snow sensors above the earth  though not as high as a satellite, yet.

At busy, noisy Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Kim points over his shoulder at a big propeller plane. The plane has an unusual bumpy nose and pointy tale. He says that's because the plane is equipped for measuring snow.

The airplanes carry the sensors of the same type that would eventually be on a satellite, he said.

Inside the plane, half a dozen scientists are fine-tuning 10 kinds of weather sensors, including microwave and laser. They stay on board, monitoring their instruments, as pilots fly over pre-selected snowy mountains, and high, snowy mesas. Theyre seeking accurate snow measurements, even when craggy peaks mean snow is at different levels in the peaks and the valleys. Even when trees and forests hide the snow.

Get the data

To fine-tune their airborne measurements, the SnowEx team will compare them with traditional snow pit data. SnowEx scientist Charles Gatabe says fitting it all together will require complex calculations, but at its hearts, the goal is simple: Get the data, look at the data, and say what the data is telling us.

Theres so many people dependent on snow, he stresses, adding, and given this changing climate, who knows what happens? So if we can get a very good handle how to predict, you know, the changing snow, and the changing climate, I think its going to benefit a lot of people.

NASAs SnowEx team plans to use this data from this five-year project to make better predictions about snowpack around the world, including someday through a snow satellite. And they share their data in open access, to help people around the world, wherever there is snow.
When people think of Cape Canaveral, Florida, they usually associate it with Americas space program. The Kennedy Space Center is where NASA launched the Saturn V rocket that put the first men on the moon in 1969.

The real Florida

Since then, the area has been the site of many more launches into space. But as national parks traveler Mikah Meyer recently discovered, there is also an abundance of wildlife and other natural wonders to explore and admire in the immediate vicinity.

At Canaveral National Seashore for example, almost 40 kilometers (24 miles) of undeveloped beach is home to more than 1,000 types of plants and more than 300 bird species.

Take a ride with Mikah

Since ancient times, this barrier island has provided sanctuary to many threatened and endangered species, including sea turtles who nest on its shores.

Mikah, whos on a mission to visit all of the more than 400 sites within the National Park Service (NPS), found it fascinating that Canaveral National Seashore makes up the largest stretch of undeveloped beach on Florida's East Coast.

As somebody who drove down the entire coastline, I can tell you that there has been development along the entire Florida coast, such that everywhere either has a house or a condo or a hotel, and this is one stretch where you can go and there is no development, he said.

That lack of development attracts many locals and tourists, who come to enjoy nature in its most primitive form. And without the pollutants that normally result from development, the water is cleaner too, Mikah noted. That, in turn, attracts fish... and fishermen.

Walking along the dunes during his recent visit, he noted how the waters were just inundated with fishermen as far as the eye can see... even though it was a weekday.

Ancient landscapes

At the NPS sister park, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Mikah and his companion Andy Waldron traveled along the Black Point Wildlife Drive around several shallow marsh impoundments and through pine flatwoods.

We saw a number of alligators of all sizes and sorts, Mikah explained. And a bunch of birds, not just hanging out but actively running across the water and dipping their heads in and eating and catching fish, he added.

He also saw a wild boar in the distance, wading through the shallow water, but Mikah was most impressed with the 'gators living so close to the ocean.

It was very interesting the ecosystems that they live in, the natural versus salt water," he remarked. "And just seeing a live gator in the wild was so cool because so often we see them in zoos or contained areas.

Mikah and Andy strolled along a wooded trail and a pristine, undeveloped shoreline, much like the first natives and early settlers must have done. They stayed just a short while, but long enough to imagine just how those lands and waterscapes must have seemed to all who came before them not too long ago.

Mikah invites you to learn more about his travels in Florida and all across America by visiting his website, Facebook and Instagram.
The Mexican government made clear to visiting U.S. emissaries that it will not accept deportees from third countries under any circumstances, the interior secretary said Friday.



Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said in an interview with Radio Formula that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly asked Mexican officials during their Thursday visit if they would host deportees from other countries while their immigration cases are processed in the U.S.



"They can't leave them here on the border because we have to reject them. There is no chance they would be received by Mexico," he said.



"They asked us that while their legal process is happening there if they could be here,'' Osorio Chong said. "And we told them that there's no way we can have them here during that process.''





The visit by the U.S. secretaries came at a tense moment in U.S.-Mexico relations. President Donald Trump has carried his tough campaign talk about immigrants and factory jobs that moved to Mexico into the White House, ordering the building of a border wall, stepped up deportations and a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.



A memo published by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this week suggested that U.S. immigration officials could deport immigrants in the country illegally to the contiguous country they had entered from, which in the vast majority of cases would be Mexico. Most of the immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years have been Central Americans.



Osorio Chong also said Friday that if the U.S. government tries to pressure Mexico by threatening to withdraw funding from the nearly $2.5 billion Merida Initiative to fight organized crime, Mexico will let that money go.



The initiative that was started in 2008 is winding down with most remaining funding going to Mexican states implementing reforms to the justice system, Osorio Chong said. In its early years, Merida outfitted Mexico's military with helicopters and trained its security forces.



"If that resource could be an issue for pressure or if they want to pressure the government, honestly, we have no problem, none, if they withdraw it," he said.



The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Delhi University's Khalsa College decided to postpone a street play competition in the aftermath of the violence at Ramjas College that resulted in several students and professors, among others, getting injured.

By Parbina Purkayastha: After Delhi University's Ramjas College witnessed major clash over a cultural seminar, SGTB Khalsa College, also a DU institution, decided to postpone a street play competition that was to be held as part of its ongoing cultural festival. The institution has decided to hold off on organising the event until peace and normalcy returns to the university.

Initially, reports did the rounds that the decision to postpone the event was taken in response to threats received from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the RSS-affiliated student organisation, and Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) members. However, Khalsa's principal, Dr. Jaswinder Singh, clarified that the decision was not taken under pressure but was arrived at after a joint discussion that involved college students, DUSU and the Delhio police.

advertisement

"In view of clashes that have taken place in the campus, the student themselves approached me and we jointly decided...to resolve it together. The decision is to postpone it (the plays) for sometime till peace is restored and then we shall proceed," Dr. Singh said. said Dr. Singh, the principal.

'NOT AWARE OF THE CONTENT OF PLAYS'

When asked about the content of the scripts of the plays, Dr. Singh said, "Since the teachers and myself haven't gone through the script, we have decided to take time. Students did not say that it contains anything which is anti-national but every play contains some social issues."

The principal went on to say that some issues involve tensions between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots and students articulate these tensions. "Students these days are active in politics and we expect them to become politicians later on. They are trained in the university and these activities are important for them. These street plays deal with social issues and the student have liberty to express their views," he added.

PEACE AFTER DAYS OF UNREST

Meanwhile, after a few days of violence and unrest, the situation was largely peaceful across Delhi University. There was a heavy deployment of police around the north campus.

"There is no fear in the campus, our fest is on and we are continuing it peacefully," Dr. Singh said, adding that students wants peace to be restored and that it is painful that students and teachers were injured in the days of unrest. "One should voice his/her opinion but please don't get into any physical violence," Dr Singh implored.

ALSO READ: Ramjas College principal under scanner for not informing cops about Umar Khalid's talk in JNU campus

ALSO WATCH: Ramjas unrest: ABVP enjoys government and institutional patronage, says Umar Khalid

--- ENDS ---
U.S. President Donald Trump touted his "America First" agenda in an address to thousands of conservatives Friday in the third and final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference, held this year just outside Washington.

WATCH: Trump on conservative values he says helped him win election



Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the event Thursday, telling a throng of fellow conservatives that the Trump White House is in the "promise-keeping business."

Pence was the the most senior Republican so far to speak to the CPAC, the country's biggest yearly gathering of conservatives.

The crowd arrived at the Maryland hotel at National Harbor in an energized mood, with Republicans in control of the White House and Congress for the first time in 10 years.

WATCH: Pence downplays Town Hall protests over Obamacare

Conservatives' push

In what sounded like a rousing campaign speech, Pence called his boss, President Trump, a man of "conviction, vision and courage" and said Trump is already delivering on the promises he made to the American people during the campaign.

Watch: Top White House officials praise Trump at CPAC

Pence said the media and the Democratic opposition are still trying to dismiss Trump and the conservative movement. But he said this is the time to prove that conservative answers are the best answers for the country - more jobs, less taxes, a strong military and respect for the Constitution.

Earlier Thursday, chief White House strategist Steve Bannon told conservatives they can expect a daily fight with the media and others in the "opposition."

WATCH: Bannon: Corporatist Global Media opposes economic nationalist agenda

'Nationalist agenda'

Bannon said the media opposes Trump's "economic nationalist agenda," warning that "every day is going to be a fight."

Bannon was joined by Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who called the president a uniter of Republicans and conservatives of different beliefs, pointing to himself and the sharp-tongued Bannon as an example.

"And I've got to tell you, if the party and the conservative movement are together, similar to Steve and I, it can't be stopped," Priebus said.

Pence, Bannon and Priebus were the opening acts for the main attraction at CPAC, when Trump himself speaks to the gathering Friday morning.

Not all Republicans have endorsed Trump's brand of conservatism, and his past appearances at CPAC have drawn mixed reactions. Many of his stated and past positions on issues put him at odds with conservative orthodoxy.

Democrats meet too

While conservative Republicans have gathered in Maryland, opposition Democrats are meeting in Atlanta, where on Saturday they will choose a new leader of the Democratic National Committee.

Tom Perez, former labor secretary in the Obama administration, and U.S. Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota are the front-runners to lead the party, which is trying to pick up the pieces after November's election losses.

The moderate-voiced Perez has the backing of more mainstream Democrats, while the outspoken Ellison, a Muslim, is supported by the more liberal elements of the party.

But all sides say the Democrats need a leader who can harness the anger and energy coming out of anti-Trump protests and put the party back in control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.
More than half of Hispanic immigrants who were neither born in the United States nor have a permanent resident card said they were concerned about their place in the United States, even before the Trump administration made clear its intentions to aggressively crack down on illegal immigration, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Thursday.



The survey, taken in December and January, showed that 55 percent of Hispanics surveyed who were foreign born and neither U.S. citizens nor legal residents - a group Pew said was the most likely to be in the country without authorization - said they had serious concerns about their place in America after President Donald Trump's election. Their concerns were shared by 49 percent of Hispanic lawful permanent residents.



But that number changed significantly for Hispanics who are born in the United States or naturalized U.S. citizens. Fifty-nine percent of U.S.-born Hispanics said they were confident about their place in America, along with 60 percent of those U.S. citizens who were foreign-born.



"Those who are most concerned are those at most risk for deportation, people who don't have U.S. citizenship,'' said Mark Hugo Lopez, Pew's director of Hispanic research. "Among U.S. born Hispanics, most are confident about their place in America after Donald Trump's election.''



Overall, about half - or 49 percent - of Hispanics in the United States say they are confident about their place in America. The same percentage said the situation for Hispanics at the end of 2016 and in the first month of 2017 was about the same as it was a year ago under then-President Barack Obama.



All of this was before the Trump administration this month announced its policy of making an enforcement priority any immigrant in the country illegally who is charged or convicted of any offense, or even suspected of a crime. That could include people arrested for shoplifting or minor offenses - or simply having crossed the border illegally. The Trump administration memos replace narrower guidance focusing on immigrants who have been convicted of serious crimes, are considered threats to national security have recently crossed the border illegally.



Before those actions, Hispanics in the United States were split on deportation.



Fifty-two percent of Hispanic adults - regardless of immigration status - said they worried "not at all'' or "not much'' about the deportation of themselves, a family member or a close friend. But 47 percent also said they worry "a lot" or "some" that they or someone they know will be deported.



Lopez said those numbers could be changing.



"While it's not much different from what we've seen in the past with surveys we've done on Hispanics, we would need to remeasure this given what's happened in the last few weeks,'' he said.



About 40 percent of Hispanics in the survey said before Trump's inauguration that they thought he would be a terrible or poor president, with 24 percent saying terrible and 15 percent saying poor. A little more than a fifth, or 22 percent, said they thought he would be a good or great president, with 16 percent saying good and 6 percent saying great. Twenty-eight percent said he would be average.



The bilingual telephone survey of 1,001 Hispanic adults was conducted from Dec. 7, 2016, through Jan. 15, 2017. The survey's margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
A Philippine opposition senator and leading critic of President Rodrigo Dutertes deadly anti-drug crackdown was arrested Friday on drug charges but professed her innocence and vowed she would not be intimidated by a leader she called a serial killer.

Sen. Leila de Limas arrest came a day after the Regional Trial Court in Muntinlupa city in the Manila metropolis issued the warrant for her arrest along with other officials who have been charged by state prosecutors for allegedly receiving bribes from detained drug lords.

De Lima has denied the charges, which she said were part of an attempt by Duterte to muzzle critics of his crackdown, which has left more than 7,000 drug suspects dead. She questioned why the court suddenly issued the arrest order when it was scheduled Friday to hear her petition to void the three nonbailable charges.

If they think they can silence me, if they think I will no longer fight for my advocacies, specially on the truth on the daily killings and other intimidations of this Duterte regime, its my honor to be jailed for what Ive been fighting for, she said before policemen took her into custody at the Senate.

A history opposing Duterte

A police convoy, trailed by media vans, took de Lima to the main police camp, where officers will take her photograph and fingerprints before her detention.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella called de Limas arrest a major step forward in the administrations anti-drug war.

When de Lima headed the governments Commission on Human Rights, she tried unsuccessfully to have Duterte prosecuted when he was mayor of Davao city for allegedly unlawful deaths that occurred during an anti-drug crackdown in the city. No witnesses came forward then to testify against the mayor, human rights officials said.

Duterte expanded the crackdown nationwide after becoming president last June, and de Lima has continued to criticize him after winning a Senate seat last year.

In one of her strongest statements against the president this week, de Lima called Duterte a sociopathic serial killer who has not been made to answer for more than 1,000 deaths during his crackdown in Davao city as its mayor and now for the thousands of drug suspects killed in his national fight against illegal drugs.

She urged Dutertes Cabinet members to declare him unfit to serve as president. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II warned that such remarks were seditious, but de Lima replied that Aguirre and Duterte are the rebels and inciters against a constitutional order that values life and due process above everything else.

Case may be a 'wake-up call'

Prosecutors allege that de Lima, while she was justice secretary under former President Benigno Aquino III, received bribes from detained drug lords to finance her senatorial campaign, and they say some of the drug lords would testify against her. The bribes were allegedly solicited by her former driver and lover, who was also charged and arrested Thursday in northern Pangasinan province.

Duterte has lashed out at de Lima with foul language, calling her a sex-crazed immoral woman whose election opened the portals of the national government ... to narco politics.

De Lima said the case against her might be the wakeup call the country needs, referring to the absence of a public outcry in the country over the killings in the anti-drug campaign.

De Lima said people were starting to fight back, citing recent accounts by a former militiaman and a retired police officer who acknowledged their roles as assassins in the Davao deaths and Dutertes alleged involvement in the killings.
Pope Francis told his followers Thursday that it was better to be an atheist than one of "many" Catholics who he said led hypocritical double lives.

"So many Catholics are like this," he said during morning Mass at his residence at the Vatican. "There are those who say, 'I am very Catholic, I always go to Mass, I belong to this and that association,' " the head of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church said, according to a Vatican Radio transcript.

But, he suggested, those people should also say, " 'My life is not Christian, I don't pay my employees proper salaries, I exploit people, I do dirty business, I launder money, [I lead] a double life.' "

He then quoted a sentiment he said he had heard often: "But to be a Catholic like that, it's better to be an atheist."

Francis has surprised the church before with his stance toward atheists. Less than two months after his election in 2013, he said Christians should see atheists as good people if they do good.

He has also taken other unorthodox positions. He condemned sexual abuse of children by priests as being tantamount to a "Satanic Mass" and said Catholics in the Mafia excommunicate themselves. He also told his own cardinals to not act as if they were "princes."
U.S. Representative Leonard Lance, who has held more than 40 town hall-style meetings with constituents in his central New Jersey district, has never faced a crowd like he did on Wednesday.

The Republican endured catcalls, chants and caustic questions from more than 1,000 residents at a local college, while hundreds of others outside brandished signs with messages like "Resist Trump."

Parallel scenes have played out across the country this week during the first congressional recess since Donald Trump became president. Republican lawmakers returning home confronted a wave of anger over a spectrum of issues, including immigration, health care and Trump's possible ties to Russia.

The raucous meetings are the latest in a relentless series of rallies, marches and protests that shows no signs of abating more than 30 days into the new administration.

The anti-Trump energy has prompted talk of a liberal-style Tea Party movement, in reference to the protests in 2009 that helped reshape the Republican Party and arguably laid the groundwork for Trump's surprise electoral victory last year.

"Some of the lessons to draw from that are persistence, repetition, not taking 'no' for an answer," said Victoria Kaplan, the organizing director for the grassroots progressive group MoveOn.

Since the day after Trump's inauguration, when millions of protesters joined women's marches worldwide, left-wing organizers have sought to harness that anger to fuel a lasting political campaign.

Hundreds of progressive groups have sprung up across the country - some affiliated with national organizations like Indivisible or MoveOn - to help coordinate.

At town halls in New Jersey and Virginia this week, constituents came armed with red "disagree" signs they held aloft to register their disapproval of what they heard from their representatives.

Some U.S. senators, such as Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, have faced weekly protests outside their offices, and a Pennsylvania health care network set up a "town hall" this week with an empty suit in place of Toomey, who declined to attend.

More marches are scheduled across the country in the coming months, including several major events in Washington, tied to gay rights, science and a push for Trump to release his tax returns.

Just the beginning?

The sheer volume of protests - last week, there were three nationwide calls for action within a five-day span - has some political observers wondering how long it can last.

But several experts who study protests said the level of outrage may be increasing, rather than subsiding, after a tumultuous first month in which Trump's words and actions created fresh outrage among liberals almost daily.

"We're not anywhere near reaching a saturation point for protest," said Michael Heaney, the author of "Party in the Street: The Antiwar Movement and the Democratic Party after 9/11" and a University of Michigan professor. "If anything, it's just getting started."

The key for organizers is to convert large-scale protests into sustained action by building databases of names and encouraging locally based events, experts said.

"You can't just have the diehards," said Dana R. Fisher, a University of Maryland professor who studies collective action. "And then you need to channel them into new types of activism."

When Fisher surveyed participants at the women's march in Washington, she found one-third were attending their first protest - the highest percentage she has ever observed.

"This is unprecedented," she said. "But there's nothing that's not unprecedented about the Trump presidency." Some Republicans have dismissed the protests as manufactured. Trump on Tuesday tweeted that "so-called angry crowds" in Republicans' districts were "planned out by liberal activists."

Firing on all cylinders

But Kaplan of MoveOn said the vast majority of actions were "organic." A weekly conference call the group hosts to discuss the movement has attracted a bigger number of participants each week, with 46,000 people joining the latest discussion.

"We are firing on all cylinders to catch up" with grassroots protests, she said. "That is a demonstration of energy and sustainability."

Experts also said social media has made it far easier to organize mass protests quickly and efficiently.

In what Kaplan said was a sign the protests are having an impact, many Republicans have eschewed town halls this week to avoid confrontations. There were fewer than 100 in-person Republican town halls scheduled for the first two months of the year, compared with more than 200 in the same period in 2015, according to a Vice report.

In Louisiana on Wednesday, residents shouted down Republican Senator Bill Cassidy as he tried to explain his health care proposal. Scott Taylor, a freshman Republican representative in Virginia, sparred with hundreds of impassioned constituents on Monday at his own event.

Like Lance, whose district voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump, Taylor is already a midterm target for Democrats. Taylor said in an interview after the town hall that he recognized many of the attendees from the local Democratic Party.

"It's not like they're just some new organic people who just came about and are concerned," Taylor said.

But not everyone was a Democrat. Austin Phillips, a 22-year-old Trump voter, told Taylor at the town hall he was worried about losing healthcare coverage if Obamacare is repealed.

"Trump has talked about wanting to repeal it," Phillips, who is self-employed and purchased insurance through an exchange created by the law, said in a later interview. "If they quickly repeal it with no replacement lined up, then theoretically everybody would lose their insurance."
Russia says it will veto a draft U.N. resolution blaming the Syrian government for some chemical weapons attacks in Syria if it is brought to a vote.

"The resolution prejudges the results of the investigation, it is one-sided [and] based on insufficient evidence," Russian Deputy U.N. Envoy Vladimir Safronkov told reporters after a closed meeting of the council to discuss the issue.

The Security Council created a special OPCW-U.N. (The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) Joint Investigative Mechanism  known as JIM  in August 2015 to study several chemical weapons attacks that took place in Syria since 2011 and identify "to the greatest extent feasible" individuals, entities, groups, or governments who were perpetrators, organizers, sponsors or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons in Syria.

Three chemical attacks confirmed

In October, the joint investigation concluded that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chemical attacks in 2014 and 2015.

"There is tremendous pressure over JIM to get to sort of one-sided results of investigation," Safronkov said. "When we created JIM we said that investigation should be impartial, objective, independent  it's not the case right now because of that pressure."

Russia has deployed six vetoes in the past six years to protect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from Security Council action.

Haley frustrated with Russia

"It is ridiculous. How much longer is Russia going to continue to babysit and make excuses for the Syrian regime?" U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley asked. "People died because of this and the United States isn't going to be quiet about it."

Britain, France and the United States have been working for months on a draft security council resolution that would sanction the Syrian regime for its use of chemical weapons and say they plan to bring it to a vote in coming days.

Delattre says evidence is clear

"We now have the clear evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria against civilian populations, and we also have converging indications that such weapons continue to be used in this country," France's envoy Francois Delattre told reporters. "If you think about it, on a scale of threats to peace and security, we are at 10 here."

"You had an overwhelming vote to say we need an investigative mechanism that would prove that these chemical weapons were being done by the Syrian regime, now ... the results have come out and people don't like what the results are," Haley said in reference to Russian objections.
Astrobiologists seeking to understand where life might be found on Mars, and what form it might take, are finding that the Atacama desert in Chile, the driest in the world, may hold some important clues.

Since a 2003 study that examined microbial life in the 'Mars-like soils' of the Atacama, astrobiological research - the study of life on Earth to understand how it may form elsewhere in the universe - in the desert has grown dramatically.

"It is much cheaper than traveling to Mars," said Armando Azua, a Chilean astrobiologist at the Blue Marble Space Institute in the U.S., who grew up in one of the Atacama's few populated areas.

"It is the driest and oldest desert in the world, a unique place where life had no choice but to adapt to the lack of water."

Still, even in this harsh environment, scientists have found life - usually at the microbiological level - clinging on.

"We think that even in those places on Mars where previously it was thought life would not be found, because they were too dry for anything to survive, well we've found places just like that on Earth and there are still different kinds of microrganisms," said Azua.

Scientists are currently investigating if fungi or other organisms could adapt and harvest high levels of ultraviolet radiation as an energy source, in the way that fungi found near the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster was apparently feeding off the area's high levels of radiation.

Azua's team identified a patch of the Atacama that was the driest of all, where centuries may pass without any rainfall.

They dug down, and found a whole host of thriving bacteria.

"If we can show that in the Atacama desert, life is capable of tolerating extreme dryness...that will open up tremendously the possibilities of finding life not only on Mars but elsewhere in the universe," he said.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says it is concerned about the latest anti-immigrant violence in South Africa and warns of a further escalation if the root causes of the xenophobic riots are not tackled.

IOM condemns the spate of anti-immigrant violence organized by individual citizens and community associations in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, and in the South African capital of Pretoria.

It is calling for calm and for an end to the attacks, looting and burning of property owned by foreign nationals earlier this week.

South African protesters accuse the African migrants of taking their jobs and being responsible for a rise in crime.

IOM spokesman Itayi Viriri says those who have grievances against the migrants should not take the law into their own hands. Instead, they should air their complaints with the local authorities.

There is no real tangible evidence that there is an increase in crime because of migrants. On the contrary, research shows that immigrants who go to South Africa do not harm the long-term employment prospects and wages of native-born workers. In fact, quite a lot of them create small businesses. And, in fact, most of those who are being targeted now are small-business owners, he said.

Viriri told VOA that IOM fears the violence could get worse because migrants say they plan to mobilize themselves for their own protection.

Right now, what is happening is that we have also a situation whereby some of the migrants, unlike last time, say they are going to protect themselves and by that virtue sort of escalate the whole situation. Before, we did not have maybe a situation whereby the migrants said they were going to stand up for themselves or not wait for police protection.  Obviously, that is very worrisome because it escalates the whole situation far more than it is, Viriri said.

Indeed, a standoff between anti-immigrant protesters and migrants Friday during a march organized by the Mamelodi Concerned Residents in Pretoria turned violent. Police had to use tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to try to disperse the groups.
A second suicide car bomber hit the location of an earlier explosion Friday in a Syrian village near al-Bab, a day after Turkish forces and their rebel allies took much of the strategic town from Islamic State (IS) fighters.

The death toll reached 65 people, including many civilians, rebel fighters and at least two Turkish soldiers, according to local media and Turkish officials.

The first blast Friday struck an opposition security post in Sousian, killing many civilians along with opposition forces and two Turkish soldiers.

People had gathered at the security office, where many of them were seeking permission to return to al-Bab, which had been the scene of heavy fighting for months.

The second attack came as local residents and rescue teams were retrieving bodies of those killed in the earlier attack, reports said.

IS claimed responsibility for the first attack in al-Bab, saying it had killed eight Turkish soldiers and 60 rebel fighters, according to the pro-IS Amaq news agency.

As IS is losing ground in al-Bab, observers predict, the terror group will rely on such attacks to indicate competence against Turkish forces and Syrian rebels.

They will keep trying to infiltrate their opponents positions, said Zara Seyda, a Syrian reporter who is covering the fighting in al-Bab. This loss came heavy on [IS] and its supporters, so they will make up for it carrying out such attacks.

IS fighters have carried out similar suicide attacks in the past after losing territories in Iraq and Syria, analysts say.

This [suicide attack] is more like avenge as opposed to fighting strategy, said Sadradeen Kinno, a Syrian affairs researcher. They soon come out with a statement, condemning these rebels as apostates and then they will put the al-Bab loss behind.

Securing al-Bab

The Turkish and rebel forces moved into the town Thursday after Islamic State fighters withdrew, ending the battle for the IS stronghold, according to Turkish media and Syrian activist groups.

Almost all of al-Bab is under control now and a sweep operation is ongoing, Fikri Isik, Turkeys defense minister, told the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency.

IS fighters were reportedly heading south to other IS-held Syrian territories. A few scattered IS fighters remained hiding among locals, according to reports from the town.

A Syrian monitoring group said Turkish-backed forces are moving neighborhood by neighborhood to secure al-Bab.

The northeast neighborhood of the town has not been combed yet, said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that has monitors on the ground across the country.

Clearing the city

Rebels and Turkish forces found land mines and other explosive devices while sweeping districts recently recaptured from IS fighters, he said. And this has slowed the process to clear off the town entirely from remaining IS fighters, analysts said.

IS fighters may be among the civilians, so they (Turkish forces) have to be extremely careful, said Metehan Demir, a Turkish military analyst in Ankara. I would say it will take at least another week or so to make sure that IS has been cleared of al-Bab.

At least 127 civilians were killed, including 38 children, in this weeks final assault on al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory reported.

IS had held thousands of civilians in al-Bab using them as human shields to deter advances by the incoming forces.

With al-Bab under Turkish control, questions are being raised as to what the next move for Turkish forces would be.

Turkish officials have said their next objective after al-Bab is to go after IS in their de facto capital of Raqqa. Ankara has also said that it wants to dislodge the Kurdish fighters from the town of Manbij.

Those moves may face Trump administration opposition, analysts say.

Turkey desires to go to Manbij and Raqqa, but there is a problem with Washington, analyst Demir said. The U.S. does not seem anxious about [a] Turkish contribution in Raqqa.

Joint strategy

Washington and Ankara have held discussions in the past week over a joint strategy to fight IS, American and Turkish officials said.

On the issue of fighting [Islamic State], we - that is Turkey and Saudi Arabia - will be cooperating with the United States, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week. We believe that the fight from now on will be more effective and that we will be able to clear both Syria and Iraq of IS.

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led coalition, has made significant advances on IS near Raqqa, seizing tens of towns and villages in the northern and western parts of the province.

The SDF has also cut off a supply line that connects Raqqa to Deir Ezzor, another IS stronghold in eastern Syria.

The Kurdish YPG is the backbone of the SDF. But Turkey views it as a terror group and has vowed to combat them in parts of northern Syria.

Kurdish military officials, however, say that the Turkish military is incapable of leading the offensive toward Raqqa.

It took Turkey and its allies more than two months to reach al-Bab, said Nasir Hajj Mansur, a Kurdish commander with the SDF. So Raqqa is going to be even harder for them if they decided to head there.
After at first covertly sending thousands of undocumented Afghans to fight on the Syrian front, Iran is trumpeting their sacrifice with increasingly public funerals for the fallen and a giant rally planned for Friday in a Tehran square.

Authorities in Kabul and human rights groups have roundly criticized the Iranian government for sending Afghans living in Iran to Syria to fight alongside forces of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in support of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Thousands of Afghans from Iran are in the Fatemiyon Brigade, the second-largest group of foreigners fighting for Assad in Syria. Western media estimate their numbers at between 10,000 and 12,000. Many of the Afghans were reportedly sent against their will, Human Rights Watch reported, or agreed to fight because of economic remuneration to their families.

Roughly 3 million Afghans live in Iran. Most settled there after fleeing war and conflict in their homeland. Many Afghans in Iran lack basic rights and live without a formal status. About 950,000 are classified as refugees.

Commemoration ceremonies

According to Iranian pro-state Mashregh News, the Tehran municipality will hold a ceremony on Friday to honor at least four members of the Afghan militia killed in Syria.

"A commemoration ceremony for the Fatemiyon Brigade martyrs will be held on Friday in Tehran," the pro-IRGC news portal said.

Sayed Hassan Sajjadi, a high-ranking conservative cleric with links to the IRGC, has been reportedly invited as a keynote speaker to the event.

There are no official figures as to how many Afghans from Iran have been killed in Syria. But one civil rights activist in Kabul who advocates for Afghans in Iran told VOA that their casualty numbers are more than 1,000.

Afghan lawmakers last year strongly condemned Tehran for sending refugees to Syria. They also criticized the Afghan government for keeping silent and demanded that the issue be thoroughly investigated. The Afghan foreign ministry said investigations have been launched.

For years since Iran's military involvement in Syria began in 2012, funerals of the fallen Afghans were kept from public view.

Increased military involvement

But increasingly, as Tehran has trumpeted its military involvement in Syria, high-ranking Iranian commanders and officials have been present at the funerals. The ceremonies are often packed with civil servants, university students and faculty.

One Afghan civil activist who attended a rally for Afghan fighters in the holy city of Qum last year said Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, was among the attendees.

Families of fallen fighters are often invited to funerals and rallies and their travel expenses are paid for by the government-funded martyr's organization.

Fatemeh Zia  a relative of fallen Afghan fighter Mehdi Ahmadi, who will be honored in Tehran Friday  said she was invited by the government to attend the commemoration ceremony.

We received a phone call from the Fatemiyon brigade and they informed us of his death, Zia said.

The ceremonies for fallen Afghans are religiously based honoring the fighters as Shi'ites the Muslim majority in Iran.

Tehran said its forces are in Syria to protect the Zeinab Shrine in Damascus, a Shi'ite holy site. Iranian-backed forces have been a major backer of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in its war with rebel groups across the country.

Analysts say Iran is holding rallies for fallen Afghans to rally domestic support for its involvement in Syria on religious grounds.

Iran is trying to divert the attention from Tehran's support for Assad and turn it into something bigger and sacred by glorifying Afghans and Pakistanis killed in Syria, Rasool Nafisi, a Washington-based Middle East researcher, told VOA. These casualties help turn domestic attention in Iran into a Shia and religious subject.
Zoo officials say that lizards died of shock after being taken out of their enclosures during hibernation by a zoo ranger without seeking any permission.

Internal food supply documents of zoo show that ration for all the hibernating reptiles and animals were being bought except monitor lizard.

By Shashank Shekhar: Spate of deaths of animals inside the Delhi zoo continues as all four monitor lizards have died here.

Though the zoo officials blamed its ranger for negligence causing death of reptiles, the documents accessed by Mail Today show that the ranger only played a whistleblower and informed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) about 'illegal' capture of five monitor lizards by zoo officials ahead of the incident.

advertisement

According to a senior ministry official, the zoo ranger on January 28 sent a complaint via email alleging that that overnight five monitor lizard were 'illegally' brought to the zoo at the time when internal records reflected that there was no reptile since December 20.

"It came to my notice that there are five monitor lizards in that beat number 7 where replies are kept. However, as per my knowledge there was no monitor lizard in the previous records. After enquiry, the keeper and head keeper told me that three monitor lizards were brought from outside and the remaining two has been captured within the zoo premises and transferred to beat number 7 as per orders given to them by the animal section in-charge," wrote the zoo ranger in his complaint which was accessed by Mail Today.

RANGER MAKES ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ZOO

In his complaint, the ranger also mentioned that animal section in-charge has instructed zoo keepers to hide the information of transfer of monitor lizard by others. If the allegation by zoo ranger is found true then it makes for a case of hunting under Wildlife Protection Act which says hunting includes capturing, killing, poisoning or trapping any wild animal. Monitor lizards is endangered species and are protected under Schedule I part II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

However, the zoo officials have different story to narrate, which claims that lizards "died of shock". Zoo curator Riyaz Khan denied commenting about the death of lizards but in other media reports he was quoted as, "Lizards died of shock after being taken out of their enclosures during hibernation by a zoo ranger without seeking any permission. We have taken disciplinary action against the staff."

LIZARDS DIED OF SHOCK: OFFICIAL REPORT

Two reptiles had died on February 1 and 2. The remaining ones were kept under special care, but they were unable to recover and died on February 11 and 15. The curator also said the lizards go into hibernation from November to March and are not disturbed during this period. No food or water is given to them during this period.

advertisement

But an animal expert at World Wildlife Fund told Mail Today that monitor lizard do not hibernate but they brumate which is hibernation-like state to handle temperature extremes. In brumation an animal does not exactly sleep, but slow down metabolism and continue to feed. The animal experts claimed that reptile do not die if they are disturbed even during hibernation and death of all the four reptiles should be investigated. Another zoo official said reptile brumate only if temperature is below 8 degrees but in zoo temperature is maintained above 18 degrees so reptiles remains active.

Internal food supply documents of zoo show that ration for all the hibernating reptiles and animals were being bought except monitor lizard. Since December no ration was taken for four monitor lizards. "Snakes hibernate but still food for them is procured by zoo but they had stopped doing so for monitor lizards, raising suspicion. If the monitor lizards were present in the month of December and January then were zoo officials not buying food for them? Food supply is stopped only after mortality of an animal," a zoo official said. The deaths of the lizards have turned murkier but ministry is yet to take any action. Delhi zoo is custodian of animals but has failed to protect and increase population of animals.

advertisement

Also read: Patna Zoo releases pair of peacocks in bungalow compound of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav

Also read: Party animals? Stolen zoo medicines may be used as party rape drugs

Also read: Why tigress Jamuna escapes from Indore zoo enclosure

--- ENDS ---
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed border cooperation in a phone call on Thursday as pressure mounted in Canada over rising numbers of asylum seekers arriving from the United States.

The phone call, which followed a positive meeting between the two leaders in Washington last week, also covered the softwood lumber trade dispute, among other issues, Trudeau's office said in a statement.

The number of asylum seekers crossing into Canada at isolated and unguarded border crossings has increased in recent weeks amid fears that Trump will crack down on illegal immigrants, and photos of smiling Canadian police greeting the migrants have gone viral.

The White House said Trump emphasized the importance of working closely with Canada on cross-border issues, "including implementation of his administration's actions to protect America from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals and others."

Officials say Trump will soon issue a new executive order to replace the administration's directive suspending travel to the United States by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries.

While Trudeau has won positive headlines for his welcome to refugees and has so far avoided political fallout with Trump, opponents and allies alike are pushing the Liberal government for a solution to illegal border crossings.

Brian Pallister, the Conservative premier of the province of Manitoba, called on the federal government for more resources to deal with the influx of asylum seekers, some of whom have lost fingers to frostbite in the dangerous crossing.

Asylum seekers cross illegally because Canada's policy under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement is to turn back refugees if they make claims at border crossings.

While Pallister said his province will welcome those in need with "open arms and open hearts," his call for a national strategy to deal with the arrivals adds to opposition criticism that Trudeau has put national security at risk by embracing asylum seekers.

As of Feb. 13, some 3,800 people had made an asylum claim in 2017, up from the same period last year and on track to approach the 2008 peak of 36,867, said Scott Bardsley, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. Warmer weather could spur more arrivals.

Polls show Canadians are split over whether Canada should be accepting more or fewer refugees.

But even Liberal legislators are starting to hear from constituents concerned about a sudden influx of the mostly African, Middle Eastern and Asian asylum seekers.
President Donald Trump repeated his recent attacks on the news media Friday morning during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, arguing that no journalists should be allowed to use anonymous sources in their reporting.

Trump, speaking to a crowd of thousands of supporters at the country's biggest annual gathering of conservatives, accused members of the media of making up anonymous sources in their critical stories of Trump in order to make him look bad.

"I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources. They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use their names," Trump said. "There would be no more sources."

WATCH: Trump on 'fake news' and information leaks



Reporters routinely allow sources to appear in stories anonymously if the subject matter is confidential or secret in nature, so the sources can avoid repercussions.

Trump specifically referred to a Washington Post story published this month in which nine current and former intelligence sources said former national security adviser Michael Flynn misrepresented his conversations with a Russian ambassador regarding U.S. sanctions levied against that country.

Trump said the nine sources were made up by the reporter who wrote that story.

They make up sources. They are very dishonest people, Trump said.

The president said nobody loves the first amendment more than he does, but he said reporters hide behind its protections to publish lies about him.

"Many of these groups are part of the large media corporations and they have their own agenda  and it's not your agenda," Trump said. "It doesn't represent the people, it will never represent the people, and we're going to do something about it."

Washington Post responds

Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron responded to Trump's comments almost immediately in a statement, standing behind the report and saying it has since been proven true by on-the-record reporting.

The story led directly to the generals dismissal as national security adviser. Calling press reports fake doesnt make them so," Barron wrote.

Several Trump supporters VOA spoke with after the speech said they agreed with the president in his belief that reporters make up fake sources to hurt him.

Hunter Dworksy, a former state director for the Trump campaign in Delaware, said Trump's words and actions are routinely misrepresented by corporate media outlets like CNN and NBC, and Trump calls out those outlets because they undermine his biggest asset, which is his ability to connect with people.

"He [Trump] is a guy that is talking to you. He hits you right in the heart and that's how he gets his message across," said Dworksy.

Ariel Kohane, a Manhattan Republican official and member of the group Jews for Trump, said he is glad to have a leader who is willing to criticize reporters when he feels they have misrepresented the truth.

"We have to get the facts, and we have to call the media out on it," he said.

Trump did specify that he didn't think the entire media was "an enemy of the people," but just the "fake news media," which he said represents a smaller portion of reporters who actively misconstrue his words.

In fact, in covering my comments, the dishonest media did not explain that I called the fake news the enemy of the people  the fake news, Trump said. They dropped off the word 'fake.' And all of a sudden the story became the media is the enemy.

"America First' agenda



Following his attacks on members of the media, Trump laid out his vision for the conservative movement, which he said represents the idea that "we are a nation that put, and will put, its own citizens first."

WATCH: Trump on conservative agenda he says helped him win election



The crowd then broke out into a chant of "USA, USA, USA."

Mexico border wall



Trump said the building of a border wall along the southern U.S. will start "very soon," and that its construction is "way, way, way ahead of schedule."

WATCH: Trump on building of wall to protect US border



Trump spoke briefly about his immigration policies, which he said are aimed at getting "bad people" out of the country  drug dealers and murderers, he said.

"We will not let them back in. They're not coming back in, folks," Trump said of those people deported under his new, stricter guidelines on illegal immigration. "If they do, they'll have bigger problems than they ever dreamed of."



Trump's speech was the highlight of this year's CPAC and gave the event a newly energized spirit, with Republicans in control of the White House and Congress for the first time in 10 years.

Pence stresses 'promise keeping' pledge



Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the event Thursday, telling a throng of fellow conservatives that the Trump White House is in the "promise-keeping business."



In what sounded like a rousing campaign speech, Pence called his boss, President Trump, a man of "conviction, vision and courage" and said Trump is already delivering on the promises he made to the American people during the campaign.



Pence said the media and the Democratic opposition are still trying to dismiss Trump and the conservative movement. But he said this is the time to prove that conservative answers are the best answers for the country - more jobs, less taxes, a strong military and respect for the Constitution.

Economic nationalism

Earlier Thursday, in a rare public appearance, chief White House strategist Steve Bannon told conservatives they can expect a daily fight with the media and others in the "opposition."



Bannon said the media opposes Trump's "economic nationalist agenda," warning that "every day is going to be a fight."



Bannon was joined by Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who called the president a uniter of Republicans and conservatives of different beliefs, pointing to himself and the sharp-tongued Bannon as an example.



"And I've got to tell you, if the party and the conservative movement are together, similar to Steve and I, it can't be stopped," Priebus said.



Past appearances

His speech Friday marked the fifth time Trump has spoken at the annual conference, and was received by the crowd markedly better than in past years.

Trump made his first appearance at CPAC in 2011, at the time a well-known reality television star. He floated the idea of launching a presidential campaign during his speech, but succeeded in turning the crowd against him when he insulted Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a favorite for president among that year's attendees.

"I like Ron Paul, he's a good guy, but honestly he has zero chance of getting elected you have to win an election. And I tell you if I run and if I win this country will be respected again," Trump said.

Trump didn't end up running for president in 2012, and he skipped CPAC that year as well, but Trump did speak in 2013 and he used the opportunity to criticize failed 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for not running a more aggressive campaign.

In 2014 and 2015, Trump's speeches previewed several familiar themes seen throughout his presidential campaign -- attacks on Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton and pledges to "make America great again."

"I think in 2016, you'll probably be running against Hillary. I think it's going to be a tough race, but I think that it's going to be a race that by that time will be so bad, that the Republicans will likewise take that and then you can actually end Obamacare, which is a total catastrophe," Trump said during his 2014 speech.
President Donald Trump told the heads of more than 20 of the largest U.S. manufacturers Thursday that he planned to bring millions of factory jobs back to the United States.

Trump said the United States had lost one-third of its manufacturing jobs since the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, and that 70,000 American factories had closed since China joined the World Trade Organization.

Experts say trade and company efforts to take advantage of cheaper labor overseas contributed to the decline of U.S. manufacturing employment, but many economists say the rising tide of automation played a major role in the loss of high-wage factory jobs.

To boost the economy and employment, Trump has said he will change tax policy, cut regulations and spend more money rebuilding roads and other infrastructure, though many details have not yet been announced.

"Everything's going to be based on bringing our jobs back, the good jobs, the real jobs," he said Thursday.

The chief executive officers of General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Dow Chemical and other firms gathered at the White House, where they discussed regulations on minerals extracted in conflict zones, export regulations for military hardware, business taxes and problems finding technically skilled workers for manufacturing jobs.

Focus on creativity

MIT research scientist Andrew McAfee told VOA the U.S. education system was doing a great job of turning out the kinds of workers "we needed 50 years ago." He said schools and employers should put more emphasis on "encouraging creativity" and helping students not just learn to solve problems, but to "figure out what problem we should go chase down next."

He said technology is "lousy at that."

A study by the Deloitte consulting firm says that the U.S. economy will create 3.5 million manufacturing jobs over the next decade, but that more than half of them may go unfilled because companies cannot find people with the right skills. The problem grows from the retirement of millions of baby boomers and the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

The key to closing this gap is training and retraining for workers, Senator Chris Coons said in a recent Capitol Hill speech. But the Delaware Democrat said the United States had cut its investment in retraining by half over the past 30 years and now spends just one-sixth the amount that other advanced industrial nations put into upgrading workforce skills. He said that hurts economic growth and employment over time.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told the same gathering the problem was the "mismatch" between workers' current skills and "the needs of the industry."

Other nations' systems

Both lawmakers said Americans should study the system used by Germany, Austria and other nations for apprenticeships, technical training, and updating and upgrading workforce skills. In Germany, companies, schools, unions and government officials work together to figure out what skills are needed for jobs today and in the future, what gaps exist in workers' knowledge, and how to organize appropriate classes and training.

The head of science, technology, engineering and math education at a North Carolina community college said many of his students were already involved in programs that blend academic skills with on-the-job training in a system that borrows ideas from the German model. Chris Paynter said many different kinds of companies are involved, so the program offers a blend of core skills and training customized for the needs of the particular firm that employs the apprentice.

While there has been a lot of concern about manufacturing jobs, Harvard University's James Heskett said the automation and trade that cut jobs from factories could also hurt employment in the far-larger services sector. In a recent blog post, the emeritus professor from Harvard's business school said there might be an even larger job crisis ahead.
President Donald Trumps travel ban has been frozen by the courts, but the White House has promised a new executive order that officials say will address concerns raised by the judges who have put the policy on hold.

The first order was met by legal challenges, confusion at airports worldwide and mass protests. The White House has forecast smoother sailing the second time around. White House press secretary Sean Spicer predicted it will be implemented flawlessly because of the due diligence of officials. But no matter what the new policy says, lawsuits challenging its aims are expected.

Questions and answers about the path ahead:

When is the order coming, and what will it say?

The White House says it expects to issue a new order next week, though it has not said exactly when.

Trump aide Stephen Miller said at a Fox News town hall this week that the new order would be very similar to the first, with mostly minor technical differences in response to opinions by judges who have blocked it. He insisted any new order would produce the same basic policy outcome.

The Justice Department has said the Trump administration would be abandoning the original order, which should render moot ongoing court challenges to that order. But the president and the White House press secretary have also recently said that they intend to fight for the merits of the original order in court, even as they draft a replacement.

The new order could go into effect immediately and would not be blocked by the court ruling that has kept the existing order on hold, said David Levine, a professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Levine said new regulations and laws are assumed to be legal until a court says otherwise.

Its valid unless its invalid, Levine said.

Can we expect court challenges to the new order?

Almost certainly. For one thing, Washington state and Minnesota, the two states whose lawsuit led to a court order that halted the executive order, could move quickly for a court order putting any new ban on hold.

In refusing this month to reinstate the travel ban, which a judge in Washington state had blocked from taking effect, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals identified significant constitutional questions with the administrations plan to temporarily suspend the refugee program and to halt immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations.

Its hard to imagine a bulletproof order that could assuage the concerns of the immigrant rights community and other potential challengers, said Jon Michaels, a UCLA constitutional law professor.

My sense is, there will be challenges, and challenges will be at the very least plausible challenges, Michaels said.

A repeat of the chaos that the original order sparked is possible, said Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. It will surely be a mess, he said. But the administration insists that wont be the case.

Spicer said Thursday the administration has sought feedback and guidance and done this in an unbelievably comprehensive way to ensure that the departments and agencies that are going to be executing and implanting this fully are aware of whats happening.

He said the administration is expecting potential new court challenges, but suggests the White House will be better prepared.

Will the new one pass constitutional muster?

Thats hard to say at the moment.

The 9th Circuit decision, for instance, said the first order may have violated the constitutional rights of green-card holders to notice and a hearing before their travel was restricted, so any new policy may have to address that concern to be viable.

The Justice Department has argued that a ban that exempts green-card holders and focuses only on foreigners from the seven nations who have never entered the U.S. would be entirely legal. But the court said Washington state and Minnesota might have a valid claim that even some of those foreigners have a constitutional right to challenge the ban.

Foreigners outside the United States have, at best, limited rights to sue in U.S. courts.

A narrowly tailored ban that focused on foreigners from the seven countries who have never entered the U.S. would also not do away with the states concern that the administration is illegally targeting people on the basis of religion. The First Amendments establishment clause bars favoritism or discrimination on the basis of religion.

To beat the religious discrimination argument, the government may also have to overcome statements outside of court by Trump and aides, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Challengers of the ban have held those statements up as evidence of discriminatory intent. The statements include Giulianis claim that Trump had asked him how to legally pull off a Muslim ban, and Trumps own interview statements that Christian refugees had been disadvantaged.

The 9th Circuit did not fully address the issue in its order, but did note that courts assessing the motive of a government action can take into account statements by decision-makers.

Those statements hinting at intent may prove hard to dispose of even if the policy changes, said Chris Edelson, an expert on presidential power at American University in Washington, D.C.

If the administration says, Hey, we want to have a ban that applies to the people from these seven countries, what I would tell the administration is, OK, we can try, but theres a possibility the courts say that theres a constitutional problem here, he said.

What might happen to the existing challenges?

If the original executive order is formally rescinded and replaced, as is the prerogative of a president, then lawsuits challenging it would be effectively nullified as the focus turns to the new policy, legal experts say.

Even so, arguments made by lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota that appeared to sway the 9th Circuit could easily be recycled in another or amended legal challenge.

But it may not be that easy for the administration to escape the shadow of the current challenge before the 9th Circuit, said Simona Grossi, an expert in federal court procedure at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. The new order would have to be free of the constitutional problems raised by the original order and the administration would also have to show that the original order will not be resurrected in the future, she said.
Top Turkish officials are increasing pressure on the United States to dissolve the American military partnership with Syrian Kurds in the battle against Islamic State.

With just days to go before the Pentagon is expected to deliver to U.S. President Donald Trump a new war plan to defeat Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, Turkey, a NATO ally, is urging Washington to earmark Syrian opposition groups aligned with Ankara for the push to drive Islamic State militants from their de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.

This week, there has been a parade of senior Turkish officials making the point publicly time and again, urging the U.S. to drop its support of the Kurds and exclude the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, from the assault to capture Raqqa.

Instead, they want the U.S. to train and arm Syrian militias who have been fighting alongside the Turks in northern Syria in Operation Euphrates Shield, a months-long Turkish intervention in northern Syria west of Raqqa aimed at clearing both IS and the YPG from territory close to the Turkish border.

If heavy weapons and armored vehicles that have been delivered to the YPG would be given to the opposition groups, there would be no more Daesh problem, Turkeys European Union minister, Omer Celik, told a group of journalists this week while in Poland, using an acronym for IS.

Turkey sees the YPG as a terror group and an offshoot of its own outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has been waging an insurgency in Turkey for more than three decades.

It remains unclear whether the Trump administration is going to be any more successful than Barack Obama's in juggling the competing demands of Ankara and Syrias Kurds. There is deep skepticism in Washington that Ankara can assemble even a force large enough, drawn from Syrias rebel militias to attack Raqqa. In the past the militias, whose main enemy is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have dismissed efforts by Washington to persuade them to see IS as a priority.

Turkish officials have voiced confidence in recent days that their argument will prevail in Washington, if not with the Pentagon, at least with the White House, which has wanted to improve U.S.-Turkish relations more broadly.

Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isk, who announced on Thursday that the Syrian town of al-Bab had been largely captured from IS by Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces during the Euphrates Shield operation, told reporters in the Turkish capital that the Trump administration is evaluating whether to abandon the YPG as a partner.

Turkish hopes appear to be misplaced, say analysts, who point out heavy armor was supplied to the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces on January 31, 11 days into the Trump presidency.

Syrian Kurds also are convinced the Pentagon will maintain its alliance with the YPG and their Arab SDF allies. Their confidence was boosted this week by a visit to the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani by U.S. Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The Turkish effort to persuade the new U.S. administration to abandon the Kurds began on February 8 when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a phone call with President Trump, emphasized that the PKK is considered a designated terrorist organization by the U.S.

According to Turkish officials, Erdogan stressed it was not a good idea to side with one terrorist organization against another and warned of bitter consequences if the U.S. persists in its alliance with the Syrian Kurds.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yldrm conveyed a similar message to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence last week at a security conference in Munich.

During the last few weeks, U.S. and Turkish defense and intelligence chiefs thrashed out plans for an assault on Raqqa. But according to U.S. officials, a Turkish delegation of diplomats as well as defense and intelligence officials visiting Washington on February 13 and 14 was rebuffed when it argued for the Kurds to be excluded from the assault on Raqqa.

U.S. defense chiefs were the most vocal in pushing back on the Turks, a Pentagon official told VOA on condition of anonymity.

The Turks had no clear battle plan to offer and we are under pressure from the White House to come up with a plan to take Raqqa quickly," he said. "If we switch now and drop the SDF, it would delay an attack on the city by several months, possibly even a year."

Analysts argue the Trump administration has little appetite for delaying an assault on Raqqa. They say theres deep Pentagon skepticism even of Ankaras seriousness about an offensive on the IS stronghold.

Recapturing Raqqa is not Turkeys main and immediate goal, argued Ferhat Gurini, Middle East editor of RSON, a Danish political quarterly.

The Turks have publicly indicated their next target is the Kurdish-controlled town of Manbij  part of their bid to ensure Syrian Kurds are blocked from linking Kurdish cantons along the border with Turkey.

Securing some agreement from the Turks may well be essential for a Kurdish-dominated SDF assault on Raqqa to take place, though. Ankara could disrupt an offensive on Raqqa by escalating attacks on the YPG in northern Syria  and by mounting a full-scale assault on Manbij.
The United States and Russia need to enhance communication to avoid accidents in the skies over Syria because airspace is shrinking as Islamic State loses more territory, a top U.S. Air Force general said Friday.

General Herbert Carlisle called for greater communication, stopping short of coordination, with Russia over Syria through a channel that Moscow and Washington already have for avoiding each other. In 2015, they agreed to create a ground communication link and outline steps their pilots could take to avoid an inadvertent clash over Syria.

"It is going to become more and more complex as time goes on, and as we continue to squeeze ISIS and take continually more territory away from them, it becomes even more complex," Carlisle told reporters, using an acronym for Islamic State. He leads the Air Force's Air Combat Command.

The militant group is under pressure from a U.S.-led coalition and Russian airstrikes, as well as on other fronts. Turkey-backed rebels drove IS from al-Bab, Syria, on Thursday, and Iraq has ordered its air force to strike IS positions inside Syria in retaliation for recent bomb attacks in Baghdad.

Earlier this month, the top U.S. and Russian military leaders agreed to enhance communication to avoid "unintended consequences" in Syria.

Despite the latest safety effort, U.S. President Donald Trump's defense secretary has ruled out fuller military collaboration with Russia, in a blow to Moscow's hopes to mend ties with Washington after Trump's election.
Iraqi military officials say U.S.-backed forces pushed deeper into the western half of Mosul after launching several attacks to recapture Islamic State's last main stronghold in the city.

The advances come one day after counter-terrorism troops regained control of the airport in Mosul that had been controlled by the extremist Islamic State group since 2014.

The troops took full control Friday of the Ghozlani army base, and have entered the Mosul neighborhood of al-Mamoum for the first time in months.

The Iraqi takeover of the airport gives its troops access to Mosul from the southwest and for the first time control of an area along the west bank of the Tigris River.

IS insurgents were pushed out of eastern Mosul in January but the militant group still controls the western section of the city, which is divided by the river.

Iraqi forces launched a new bid to retake the western areas of Iraq's second-largest city on Sunday after saying in late January they had liberated eastern parts of the city.

Airport takeover



Iraqi Lieutenant General Raid Shakir Jaudat said Baghdad's forces, backed by drones and heavy artillery, advanced on the airport from several positions. At first, accounts of the airport takeover said there was little Islamic State resistance, but later there were reports of Iraqi firefights with militants encamped in airport buildings.

One Iraqi special forces officer reported Islamic State fighters targeted Baghdad's fighters with a suicide car bomb and dozens of bombs dropped from drones. The officer said there were at least a dozen casualties, although many were light injuries.

"Daesh (Islamic State) resistance is not inconsiderable, but they are trying to save their strength for inside the city," First Lieutenant Ahmed al-Ghalabi of the Rapid Response force said outside the airport's main entrance.

Another commander, Hisham Abdul Kadhem, said, "Right now, thank God, we're inside Mosul airport and in front of its terminal. Our troops are liberating it."

Little was left inside the airport, and what was once a runway was littered with dirt and debris. Other buildings in the airport complex had been leveled by Islamic State forces.

The Iraqi forces also seized an Islamic State weapons storage warehouse, as well its one-time headquarters and barracks.

But the advance to retake the remainder of western Mosul may take some time. It took three months for Iraqi forces to seize control of the eastern part of the city.







Civilian safety



International relations professor Houchang Hassan-Yari of the Royal Military College of Canada told VOA's Persian service the concentration of civilians in western Mosul will make it harder for Iraqi government forces and their coalition allies to retake that part of the city.

"Comparing this situation to the recent battle for the Syrian city of Aleppo, Syrian government forces and their Russian allies directly attacked civilians (as they retook the city last November and December), said Hassan-Yari on VOA Persians NewsHour program. In Mosul, Iraqi government forces and their U.S.-led coalition partners have significantly restricted themselves in terms of the firepower they are using, in order to save the lives of civilians.

Damascus and Moscow have denied targeting civilians in Aleppo.

WATCH: Mosul Residents Flee as US-backed Offensive Widens

U.S. forces have played a key role in the advance of Baghdad's troops, launching airstrikes and providing advisers on the ground. On Thursday, U.S. forces were seen in the front lines of the attack.

The American forces are not supposed to be engaged in the fighting under Washington's terms of the U.S. involvement in Iraq. But a coalition spokesman, Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, said Wednesday that in recent weeks they have gotten so close to the front that they have come under attack near Mosul and returned fire.

Thousands of Iraqi forces have been involved in the advance on Mosul, while U.S. officials say they believe that only about 2,000 jihadists remain in the city. But the fight for control of densely populated western Mosul is likely to be fierce. It includes the Old City and its narrow streets, which are impassable for some military vehicles.

Residents of western Mosul report that food supplies are dwindling, but residents on the liberated eastern side of the city are expressing their support.

On Wednesday, an army plane dropped thousands of letters from residents of the retaken eastern side into the western area.

One letter said, "Be patient and help each other... the end of injustice is near." It was signed "People from the east side."





Mattis' surprise visit



Earlier this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited Iraq and vowed that the U.S. will support Iraq in its fight against Islamic State jihadists.

When asked if the United States would stay in Iraq after the battle for Mosul had ended, he said, "I imagine we'll be in this fight for a while and we'll stand by each other."

There are an estimated 750,000 civilians in western Mosul, essentially under siege by Iraqi forces, along with IS fighters.

Many of those civilians in western Mosul were forced out of the eastern part of the city during heavy fighting there last month.

Meanwhile, aid agencies are worried and preparing for the possibility that up to 250,000 people might flee Mosul in the coming days or weeks.

The U.N. refugee agency has said it is focusing its efforts on building new camps to house the displaced. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has completed eight camps and says it is planning to start work at another site south of Mosul.

Parisa Farhadi, Babak Azma and Sara Dehghan of the VOA Persian service contributed to this report.
U.S. President Donald Trump's $1 trillion proposal to fix the nation's crumbling infrastructure is expected to be the primary focus of the country's governors as they gather in Washington for three days of meetings.

Health care reform, education, childhood hunger and cybersecurity will also dominate policy discussions at the annual winter gathering of the National Governors Association, according to the NGA.

California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday announced a $437 million plan for flood control and emergency response following a scare over the near-failure of a dam spillway that forced about 200,000 people to evacuate.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer called the situation "a textbook example" of why Congress needs to pass a major infrastructure funding bill.

The meeting, which began Friday, comes on the heels of executive orders signed by Trump designed to get tougher on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. by cutting off billions of dollars in federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities. These are U.S. cities and counties that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Trump's plans include deputizing local law enforcement agents to act as immigration agents.

Virginia Governor and NGA Chairman Terry McAuliffe told reporters at the meeting Friday that he considered the new measures "immoral and illegal." He said he wanted to reassure Virginia's many foreign-born residents that they would be protected from harassment.

"I'm not going to let my local law enforcement officers be used for ICE [immigration] officials," McAuliffe said. "We're going to make sure that we continue to be open and welcoming."

"Virginia is where the first immigrants [to the United States] came in 1607," he continued. "And we're going to protect our heritage, and we're going to work hard to protect the civil liberties of everybody."

Oregon Governor Kate Brown, also a Democrat, told VOAs Urdu service We have a statute that prohibits law enforcement from treating immigrants as criminals. She went on to say, State agencies will not participate in any type of Muslim registry.

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a Republican, said: Something thats always incredibly important to me, is to protect the civil liberties of everybody, whether youre documented or undocumented.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert, also a Republican, told VOA, We recognize that refugees come, usually running away from terror; theyre not terrorists themselves. He said Utah teaches refugees skills to find work in the state where they are integrated into society. We have about 65,000 of them in Utah. It works very well for us, he added.

One of the orders signed by Trump also authorizes the construction of a wall along the southern border the U.S. shares with Mexico and the hiring of thousands of immigration enforcement officers, potentially setting up a faceoff between the Trump administration and state officials.

Trump's Homeland Security Department at one point considered using the National Guard to assist with deportations, but the White House said last Friday that it had ruled out the idea.

During the governors' gathering, they'll meet with Trump and other members of the new administration, as well as with members of Congress on Capitol Hill.

"Now more than ever, governors' involvement is paramount as Congress and the administration develop new policies that affect our citizens," McAuliffe said.

Earlier this month, the NGA submitted a list of 428 "shovel ready" infrastructure projects to the administration. The NGA has not made the final list publicly available, but lists from individual states include a range of transportation, energy, water and other projects.

In December, the NGA, under guidance of the Trump transition team, asked the states to submit up to five projects. But the western state of California alone submitted 51 projects that state officials said would require an investment in excess of $100 billion.

Trump promised throughout his presidential campaign to invest up to $1 trillion to repair aging roads, bridges and transportation centers. That is far less than the $3.6 trillion the American Society of Civil Engineers said is needed by 2020.

Advisers to the president have said the projects could be funded by public-private partnerships instead of relying entirely on federal spending.

While the administration has suggested that the projects be evaluated by a bipartisan panel, Congress is also expected to play a significant role in the development of an infrastructure program.

The NGA, which holds two annual meetings, said a record number of 46 governors would attend the winter meeting in Washington.

The NGA describes itself as "the bipartisan organization of the nation's governors" that "promotes visionary state leadership, shares best practices, and speaks with a collective voice on national policy." It is composed of the governors of the 50 U.S. states and five territories.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday placed two alleged leaders of the militant group Nusra Front in Syria on its sanctions blacklist.

U.S. authorities said the two men, Iyad Nazmi Salih Khalil and Bassam Ahmad al-Hasri, helped oversee Nusra's operations in Syria, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The U.S. action orders American companies to cut off all ties with the men and freeze any assets.

As of last year, Khalil was the group's third-highest ranking official, strengthened its security and intelligence operations responsible for assassinations and ran prisons notorious for torture, U.S. authorities said.

While controlling less territory and manpower than Islamic State, U.S. officials view Nusra as a continuing threat in Iraq and Syria. Nusra now calls itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, since severing its ties with al-Qaida last year.

Separately, the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted a Syria-based company, Mechanical Construction Factory, for its alleged ties to a Syrian government agency that produced non-conventional weapons.
The U.S. Justice Department has reversed an order by the Obama administration to phase out the use of private contractors to run federal prisons.

In a memo made public on Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the Obama policy impaired the government's ability to meet the future needs of the federal prison system.

The Obama administration said in August 2016 it planned a gradual phase-out of private prisons by letting contracts expire or by scaling them back to a level consistent with recent declines in the U.S. prison population.

It said privately operated prisons were less safe and a poor substitute for government-run facilities.

The [Obama administration] memorandum changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system. Therefore, I direct the bureau to return to its previous approach, Sessions said in a letter dated Tuesday to Thomas Kane, acting director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Shares of the two leading U.S. private prison companies gained in after hours trading, with GEO Group up 2.15 percent and CoreCivic up 3.44 percent.

Thirteen of the federal government's 146 prisons are privately run. Together, those 13 housed 22,600 inmates as of December 2015, down from about 40,000 in 2014.

The Bureau of Prisons began contracting with private companies in 1997 at a time of severe prison over-crowding.
His dig at the Prime Minister came a day after Modi said he takes inspiration from the "loyal" and "hard working" animal and was amused that UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was "afraid" of Gujarat's donkeys.

By Press Trust of India: Joining in the slanging match over the "donkey" barb targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Digvijay Singh today said he "indeed worked like a donkey".

"Modi ji, you very rightly said that you indeed work like a donkey," he tweeted.

His dig at the Prime Minister came a day after Modi said he takes inspiration from the "loyal" and "hard working" animal and was amused that UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was "afraid" of Gujarat's donkeys.

advertisement

Modi said the criticism of donkeys by Akhilesh only reflected his "casteist mentality" and "the feeling of hatred does not suit him".

"In elections, opponents criticise each other Akhileshji I can understand if you attack Modi and BJP but I am amused that you have attacked donkeys are you afraid of donkeys, that too these are thousands of kilometres away?" Modi had said, addressing an election rally in poll-bound UP.

Modi had said,"The people of this country are my masters, I take inspiration from the donkey because I work for people day and night...donkeys are loyal to their master."

Addressing a poll rally in Rae Bareli three days ago, Akhilesh Yadav had said, "There comes an advertisement on Television that features donkeys. I will ask the megastar of this century (Amitabh Bachchan) to stop campaigning for donkeys."

His comments came on a tourism advertisement for Gujarat featuring Bachchan promoting the state's wild ass.

ALSO READ: Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls: Voters disillusioned as 'gadha politics' take precedence over actual political debate

ALSO READ: Gujarat Tourism's 'gadha' ad: A mocking Akhilesh has a request for megastar Amitabh

ALSO WATCH: PM Modi hits back at Akhilesh: Even donkeys are loyal and responsible

--- ENDS ---
The commander of U.S. forces in Africa has told VOA the only way to restore peace in Libya is to bring rival factions together, and that will require cooperative efforts by many parties, including Russia.

General Thomas Waldhauser, who heads the U.S. Africa Command, discussed the continuing political chaos in Libya while in Germany for the recent Munich Security Conference.

Libya is a checkerboard of separate, divided power centers: The internationally backed Government of National Accord controls only part of Tripoli, while rival power bases vie for control over the rest of the capital and other cities. Along the North African coast, the head of the Libyan National Army, General Khalifa Haftar, holds sway over much of eastern Libya through his House of Representatives.

Waldhauser says Haftar's influence "is something to be dealt with," and that eastern Libya "is where a political solution ... has to take place," in large part because the army chief controls most of Libya's oilfields.

"This is where it all begins," the American commander says, and also where Russia comes in.

Russia invests in Libya's oil

Waldhauser noted it is apparent Russia wants to become actively involved in trying to resolve Libya's political unrest  not least for its own economic interests  and said he welcomes that.

Russia's state-owned oil giant Rosneft has offered billions of dollars in investments to Libya's National Oil Company (NOC), and officials of the two companies announced Tuesday in London that they have a preliminary agreement to pursue a development program. Russia also committed itself to buying an undisclosed share of Libya's future crude oil output.

The AFRICOM chief said the key to political progress in Libya, which would enable the country to get the greatest benefit from such international deals, is cooperation between the Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital and Haftar and the Libyan National Army in the east.

"The goal is to get those two together," Waldhauser said. "The goal is to get those two to talk, and the goal is to make some accommodation in that regard."

Kremlin's broader influence

Russia has been trying to gain a larger grip on oil supplies in the Mediterranean and extend its influence in the Middle East and North Africa more broadly. Rosneft's agreement with NOC, announced at an international oil conference in the British capital, was in addition to a separate deal for Russia to prefinance crude exports from Kurdistan, making Rosneft the first major oil company to take an active role in the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq. Rosneft also recently acquired a stake in the Zohr gas field in Egypt.

The Libyan oil company estimates it needs $20 billion to reach its production goal of 2.1 million barrels per day within five years.

Turning again to Libya's political situation and rivalries, Waldhauser said many parties are trying to assist.

"The Egyptians and Russians are also involved in trying to get this all together, because at the end of day a political solution is going to require" the participation of both General Haftar and Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj of the GNA, the U.S. commander said.

U.S. supports Tripoli faction

U.S. forces also have been actively fighting against the Islamic State group in Libya  most notably last month, when American B-2 bombers flew a 9,400-kilometer mission from their base in the central U.S. to strike IS training camps in Libya  and Waldhauser says the extremists' efforts to expand in the north African nation have taken a significant setback.

"It has been very complicated and it continues to remain very complicated. Perhaps, if it's possible, even getting more complicated," Waldhauer added. "Our official government position is to support the GNA. And at AFRICOM, we've had a very good and close relationship not only with our State Department personnel, but with Prime Minister Surraj as well."

The AFRICOM chief, who oversees U.S. military operations throughout Africa, was speaking in Munich last week about American participation in Operation Flintlock, a joint military exercise hosted by seven African nations.

American forces in Africa are eager to build partnerships in the sub-Saharan region to tackle terrorists  particularly Islamic State extremists, but also other dangerous groups. Waldhauser said the U.S. works to strengthen its regional partnerships by helping African nations develop their infrastructure, with training and also with crisis response.

U.S. can help in crises

"Many times we think of [crisis response] as a military operation," the American commander said. "But crisis response is something we would be very, very involved in if there was a humanitarian disaster  famine in Somalia, for example; the Ebola breakout is another example. We do pay close attention to that."

Nigeria is a key regional partner, and the United States is providing intelligence support and other assistance in the country's fight against the Islamic State-affiliated terror group Boko Haram. A Nigerian representative to the Munich Security Conference, Major-General Babagana Monguno, said the increasing expansion of terror groups across national borders means international cooperation is vital.

"The uprising in Libya and the eventual capitulation of the Gadhafi government resulted in a southward flow of arms and human beings," Monguno said. "The most natural place in sub-Saharan Africa for this flow was Nigeria."

Importance of 'battlefield ethics'

In the course of their efforts to suppress Boko Haram, Nigerian military forces have been accused of human-rights abuses by Amnesty International and others. Waldhauser said the United States takes such allegations against its partners seriously.

"We understand the requirement for battlefield ethics," he told VOA. "We make it part of our training, and we try to continue to emphasize that ... in the legal system [of the partner nations] and in our discussions with key leaders, as well."

Operation Flintlock 2017, which is just getting underway, will bring together 2,000 service personnel from more than 20 African, European and North African nations.
Senior Trump administration officials have confirmed White House chief of staff Reince Priebus had a conversation with senior FBI officials about published news reports on alleged communications between officials from Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.

The discussions between the White House and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the subject of an ongoing FBI probe could violate longstanding Department of Justice ethics rules restricting such White House contact with the FBI on pending investigations.

But the senior administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reporters early Friday, strongly denied media reports (CNN and Associated Press) that the FBI refused a White House request to publicly repudiate a New York Times report that alleged communications between close Trump associates and Russian government officials during the 2016 campaign.

'What can we do about this'

CNN reported that Priebus reached out to FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, asking them to debunk stories about alleged Trump associates' contacts with Russia.

Comey refused.

Senior administration officials told reporters Friday that McCabe initiated the conversation with Priebus after a White House meeting, telling him there was nothing to the reports.

Officials said Priebus asked McCabe "what can we do about this" and that the White House was getting crushed on the story.

Comey reportedly called Priebus and told him the agency could not issue an FBI statement debunking the report,according to senior officials.

Pelosi calls for investigation

Democratic House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement Friday calling for the Justice Department to investigate Priebus' contact with the FBI.

The Trump White House has been caught trying to pressure the FBI into undermining a vital national security investigation into explosive ties between senior Trump officials and Russian intelligence agents, an action which is in violation of Department of Justice rules and may be illegal, Pelosi's statement read.

Trump has been dogged by persistent questions about his potential ties to Russia since he won the 2016 presidential election.

Russia interference being probed

U.S. intelligence services have concluded Russia intervened in the U.S. election by hacking into Democratic National Committee emails and leaking them, as well as pushing fake reports aimed at hurting the reputation of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

U.S. intelligence services and several congressional committees are investigating Russia's interference in the U.S election.

Last week, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned following reports he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his frequent contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition period before Trump's inauguration.

Trump and his team members deny having had contacts with Russian officials during the presidential campaign.Last week, Trump said nobody that I now of talked to Russian intelligence service officials.

Early Friday, the president took to Twitter to blast the FBI and demand that leakers be found.

"The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even ... find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW," he tweeted.



Trump on Friday also continued his sharp criticism of the media during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Later in the day, prominent media outlets, including The New York Times, CNN and Politico, were excluded from a briefing with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Yemeni security officials say a suicide bomber killed at least eight soldiers Friday at a security base in the southern city of Zinjibar.

The bomber, disguised as a driver delivering a load of wood, blew up his vehicle at the gate of the Yemeni military base after failing to get inside.

Heavy gunfire ensued as other assailants tried to enter the base, injuring 10 others.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but a military source said al-Qaida has carried out similar attacks in the area.

Southern Yemen has been the target of a series of suicide bombings by extremist groups as the Yemeni government has failed to restore security after pushing Houthi Shi'ite militias and allied forces out of the south in 2015.
At 21, Shagofa Alikozay is a bright woman who isn't far removed from childhood in Afghanistan, which she illustrates with her photos, sketches and poetry.

Her goal is to bring to light the challenges, problems and miseries of living in one of the world's poorest countries, a place riven by war and religious extremism, where going to school can take a back seat to earning money and where women struggle for equality.

And now, hoping to foster change, she's shining the light brightly, with one of her photos winning a national award and being displayed in Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C.

The photo, of an 8-year-old boy named Pardes, was taken during a break in his work washing cars on the streets of Kabul. It is on display at the Smithsonian's Turquoise Mountain exhibit, showing the youthful exuberance that even the drudgery of Pardes' job can't diminish.

"Kids are the future of Afghanistan, and that is why most of my work is focused on them," Alikozay, who is from Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, told VOA. "I do all this to bring a positive change in the lives of these kids."

The photo simultaneously tells the story of the past, the present and the unknown future for the country. The cars in the background belonged to two former kings of Afghanistan, Amanullah Khan and Mohammed Zahir Shah.

Pardes, who accompanied Alikozay to the Smithsonian exhibit, hopes his flash of fame can help improve his life.

"I want to go to school and become a police officer," he said. "I also want to do photography."

Alikozay also is an accomplished sketch artist, has written several books, and has a blog where she publishes her own poetry and articles about Afghan kids and women. One of her poems won a BlogHer "Voices of the Year" award.

"I want back my happy homeland, my smiling faces. I want God to erase all this violence, these screaming mothers, this sky of smoke," the poem says. "I have speech for those who would silence speech. My heart burns to explain these problems, this terror, with honesty."
Traditional South African beer, brewed for centuries by peoples such as the Xhosa, is in danger of disappearing, according to Slow Food International, an organization trying to revive local food cultures.

Slow Food International says growing numbers of South Africans are abandoning the brew  made from ingredients such as corn malt  in favor of mass-produced lager.

Nomsa Khiwa lives in a village in South Africa's Eastern Cape region and has been making the beer, called umqombothi, for almost half a century.

First, she crushes corn with a large, round rock. Later she'll add sorghum, yeast and water to the maize, cook the mixture in a pot on the fire and ferment it.

Khiwa worries, though, that her days as a brewer are numbered.

"This is the worst year of business ever for me," she said. "The young men do not drink traditional beer anymore. They want the fancy beer in bottles. There's no money anymore in umqombothi."

Elderly men gulp umqombothi from plastic containers in Khiwa's tavern.

They clearly enjoy the tan-colored, sour, thick, gritty beer.

Khiwa, however, plans to sell commercial beer from now on, and to stop brewing umqombothi.

"This is a dying art," she said. "People are just not interested in their history anymore and their [traditional] food.  We are losing the culture of food."

Melissa de Billot leads Slow Food South Africa's Ark of Taste project, which aims to "rediscover and revive" traditional foods and drinks, including umqombothi.

Younger crowd

At a bar in Johannesburg, youngsters clutch bottles of lager. Most scoff at the mention of umqombothi. A few say they've never tasted it.

De Billot is not surprised.

"Kids not wanting to sit down with granny and grandpa and learn the trade of making umqombothi the traditional way," she said. "We have become so detached from nature and our roots; we've become this highly urbanized animal."

She says the desire for "fast beer" isn't confined to the cities. Even in the rural areas, more people see factory beers as status symbols and reject umqombothi as "unsophisticated."

"That is what the trend is and that's what people want and that's what they believe to be, or they've been told, is the good life," she said.

But, as de Billot says, this so-called "good life" is sometimes just the opposite.

More money, more problems

In her rowdy tavern, Thembeka Mbuso says that since she stopped brewing umqombothi two years ago to sell more expensive commercial beer, she makes more money. However, she also has more "problems."

The mass-produced beverages are higher in alcohol than traditional beer.

"My customers fight," Mbuso said. "Then my husband has to try to stop them. It is dangerous for him because sometimes they use knives and broken bottles. When people were drinking the old-style beer, such things did not happen so much."

But Slow Food and assorted partners, including black backyard brewers and white middle-class housewives, have started what de Billot calls a "push back" to save traditional beer.

"Suddenly the like-minded people find each other," she said. "People are just starting to talk and communicate and social media's now amplifying that and it's just suddenly exploding."

In the huge township of Soweto, some young farmers have banded together in the name of umqombothi, raising hopes that perhaps there is a place for both modern beer and traditional brew in South Africa after all.
Thank you! You've reported this item as a violation of our terms of use.

This content was contributed by a user of the site. If you believe this content may be in violation of the terms of use, you may report it.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
This is how a 7-year-old challenged Trump's wall in front of Republican Senator Tom Cotton and made him speechless.

By India Today Web Desk: Republican Senator Tom Cotton, during a town hall event in Springdale, Arkansas, was fielding questions from his constituents when he was silenced by a 7-year-old boy, Toby.

Toby Smith condemned President Donald Trump's decision to make the Mexico wall and expressed his views in front of the Senator without any fear.

He said, "Donald Trump makes Mexicans not important to people who are in Arkansas who like Mexicans," Smith said. "He is deleting all the parks and PBS Kids just to make a wall and he shouldn't do that. He shouldn't do all that stuff just for the wall."

advertisement

Take a look at the video here:

The entire hall applauded for the little boy's courage making Senator Tom speechless about the situation.

Also watch: Trump to unveil revised version of travel ban order

--- ENDS ---
I recently came across these leather table goods by Belgium designer Bjorn Verlinden, owner and founder of Double Stitched. Since 2009 he has been designing leather handbags and accessories and recently in collaboration with Lechaperon a table wear collection in black buffalo leather consisting of large round placements, glass coasters and napkin rings.



Lechaperon is a slow shopping platform in a fast moving world where selected designers are offering timeless and sustainable everyday objects. More Belgian design I discovered can be found here: Limburg desigtour by Comosie

pictures via lechaperon follow vosgesparis on | instagram | pinterest | bloglovin | facebook
24: Legacy. Photo: Fox

The producers of 24: Legacy are apologizing after Mondays episode of the Fox drama depicted a fictional terrorist attack by using real news footage from a 2013 terrorist attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi. The incident, in which gunmen opened fire, claimed the lives of 67 people. 24: Legacy used footage from the attack in its plot about a terrorist attack in Egypt, representing the fictional incident with video from the real tragedy. Its unclear how or why footage from the Kenyan attack was included, but executive producers Evan Katz and Manny Coto are apologizing for the inclusion and promising to remove it from future broadcasts of the episode. In Episode 4 of 24: Legacy, we regretfully included news footage of an attack in Nairobi  It will be removed from all future broadcasts and versions of the show. We apologize for any pain caused to the victims and their families and are deeply sorry, they said. The firestorm around the insertion started after the episode aired, as viewers voiced their anger by tweeting the hashtag #SomeoneTellFox.
Photo: Getty Images, Paramount Pictures

We are gathered here today to ask the last big important question of the Obama era: Why, mere days before he handed over the White House to Donald Trump, did a powerful and intelligent man named Barack Hussein Obama II ask to watch the unholy abomination called Monster Trucks? Anonymous sources dished to The Hollywood Reporter that the Obama White Houses final screener requests included the movie thats literally about a monster who lives in (and operates) a truck. Could it be that Obama  unlike everyone else in America, including the people who made it  saw something promising in the idea of an animal-pickup hybrid? Obama is a cool dad. He knows better than to presume to know the movie habits of his cool family. Is it that hes a big fan of Lucas Till and his symmetrical jaw? Maybe Obama is simply an optimist. Or maybe it wasnt Barack at all who requested the movie, but another one of Joe Bidens little pranks.
Its disorienting to remember that Romeos balcony-side protestations take place just a few days before the fatal plunge of that happy dagger into Juliets heart. Meet-cute, courtship, marriage, brawl, mix-up, disaster, and death. All in less than a week. With Shakespeare doing the writing, the stakes feel so high that you dont even notice the absurdity of it all until you stop and reflect.

This episode of Big Little Lies begins on the morning of the first day of school at Otter Bay Elementary, and ends on the evening of the second. Its a remarkable choice, not because such a fast clip of treachery and upheaval is uncommon in TV dramas, but because making it all feel so real and urgent is a slippery trick, especially when characters declare things like, The war is on! It definitely isnt Shakespeare, but damn if it isnt good.

For Jane, this is 48 hours of mommy hell. Fresh off the public shaming delivered by Septa Renata, her son, Ziggy, isnt keen to dive back into Otter Bay, a sentiment most of us would share if our first day at school concluded with an I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!style condemnation. Ziggy wants to know why exactly he and his mother have moved to Monterey  information Jane isnt keen to share while shuttling a 6-year-old out the door. Still, it raises the question: What would possibly lure a single mother away from the family that is helping raise her son? Why move to a new town where she knows nobody and seemingly doesnt have enough work?

Janes later response to Tom, the charming owner of the charming seaside cafe where the moms escape to after school drop-off, doesnt ring as entirely truthful. Of course she wants a better life for her son. Sure, the schools are great. But that cant be the whole story, right? The moody flashbacks of Jane wandering the beach in a blue party dress, coupled with present-day Jane pounding the sand on a desperate run, are obvious signals that theres more to learn about her past.

Janes trouble in Serious Mothering is compounded by two incidents. The first  Ziggys exclusion from Amabellas birthday party  she can shrug off with a bit of quick spin: Ziggy doesnt know Amabella very well, so it isnt all that strange that he wouldnt garner an invite to a party that will supposedly be even better than last years bouncy house. (As if anything is better than a bouncy house.) But its hard to tell who she is trying to convince of this bit of selective truth-telling  Ziggy or herself.

The next day, when Janes called into the principals office to learn that Ziggy  in an act orchestrated by the Leon Bridgeslistening, wise-beyond-her-good Chloe  kissed Amabella as a way to make up for the invitation debacle, its easy to see why she breaks down in tears. Just two days into the school year, her son has already been branded a strangler and sexual assailant. Because this is 2017, the situation is addressed more like a Geneva Conventionshattering international atrocity than a schoolyard smooch. (As the principal so astutely frames it, In my graduate thesis, I coined the term helicopter parent. But these gems, theyre fucking kamikazes.) Bonnies outright refusal to even consider that Skye was involved  I dont believe my daughter would ever sanction nonconsensual touching  drives home how much these parents have imprinted adult perceptions onto childrens behavior. Sanctioning? Consent? This is the language adults use when theyre intent on whipping up desirable social identities for their children, and on hoisting their own egos up the flagpole.

If Jane brings the waterworks to this episode, then Madeline is its fire, raging her way through a series of revelations, inconveniences, quips, and run-ins with one very zealous traffic director. While the tenor is serious enough  her indignation at Bonnies poor decision to take Abigail for birth control is justifiably righteous, for instance  Madelines rage is almost delightful. She spins up the way most of us want to but cant find the cojones to, turning herself into a Tasmanian devil of satisfying bitchiness, telling a sanctimonious yoga instructor not to shush her, and putting said traffic director in his place. You can go fuck yourself on the head is headed for the canon of perfect TV comebacks.

Of course, Madeline is acting out against lifes little injustices, because its bigger ones are knocking her around much harder than shed like. Although she courts the image of chief muckraker, every fire she stokes singes her just a little bit more than she can bear. Lingering resentment over Nathans evolution from deadbeat dad to doting husband and father is obviously at the heart of her rage. Shes deeply distressed by Abigails admiration of Bonnie  whose soul might as well be tie-dyed  and she converts that energy into a Hadron Collider of fury, blasting Ed, Renata, Abigail, and everyone else who crosses her path.

Meanwhile, the rage lurking inside Celestes perfectly aligned house spews out within the first few minutes of the episode. To justify her matchmaker-ish meddling with Ziggy and Amabella, Chloe later explains to her mother, Its what you guys do when you get mad at each other. Big hug, kiss, bang, everythings better again. She also unknowingly offers a twisted, pint-size interpretation of the rot lurking at the center of Celeste and Perrys relationship.

The fight starts like any other marital spat, with Perry accusing Celeste of not keeping him informed of the boys school schedule. Its the sort of disagreement that couples often find themselves in the middle of without knowing how they got there. Perry keeps at it, though, telling Celeste that he thinks she kept the information from him so she can have the boys all to herself. Furiously packing his suitcase for a business trip to Vienna, the argument escalates until Perry suddenly snaps, slapping Celeste across the face with a terrifying clarity of purpose.

The speed with which Celeste slaps him back suggests this isnt the first time things have turned violent, and that it might not be an entirely one-sided exchange. Sometimes I think he likes to fight because it leads to sex, she explains to Madeline over wine, without revealing the physical violence that accompanies their fighting. Sometimes, I think I like it too. Indeed, Celeste and Perrys latest bout leads to rough, pounding sex against the wall of their otherwise orderly home.

The scene is sexy and revolting all at once, since its entirely unclear whether Celeste holds any power. Perry grips her wrists so tightly, and enters her so violently, that its difficult to say whether its consensual. Is she channeling his rage into sex to save herself? Is he raping her? Dont, Celeste told him seconds earlier, but was she talking about the hitting? The sex? Both? She later Skypes Perry in the middle of the night, waking him to the site of her gauzy, black robe falling off her shoulders, and her fingers splayed on her own breasts. Compared with Madeline and Eds sweet, slow dance in their basement, the scene feels vile and violent, despite its participants dual complicity.

Nearly every review of Big Little Lies has mentioned how well it avoids the pitfalls of affluence porn. Despite the oceanfront backyards and luxury cars lined up outside Otter Bay Elementary, the show empathizes with the extraordinarily affluent in a way that the rest of us can find palatable. Here, with one of the most unpalatable scenes in recent TV memory, Big Little Lies might launch a thousand conversations about fictive domestic violence, especially considering the national debate that followed Sansas brutal rape on Game of Thrones. But before we toss out indictments of Big Little Lies as overly indulgent or unsettling in its uncertainty, its worth noting one thing: This happens everywhere, even in the shiny glass houses we think we can see inside of.
Caitlyn Jenner. Photo: Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Glamour

Caitlyn Jenner has chimed in on the Trump administrations decision to revoke federal guidelines aimed at protecting transgender students in public schools. In an Instagram post shared Thursday evening, Jenner begins her message by directly addressing transgender teens who are impacted by the reversal in school policy. I have a message for the trans kids of America, she begins. You are winning. I know it doesnt feel that way today or every day, but you _ are _ winning. Jenner continues the post by directing supporters of the winning side to the National Center for Trans Equality, where they can find ways to help. She then directs her attention to the bullies in the matter, and, finally, addresses President Donald Trump in the accompanying video.

In addressing the bullies, Jenner writes: You suck. Youre losers and youre going to keep on losing. Because youre weak, you pick on kids or you pick on women or anyone you think is vulnerable. Jenner also takes a swipe at Attorney General Jeff Sessions, though she doesnt mention him by name. While the new memo to public schools is jointly signed by the heads of the Department of Education and Justice, the New York Times and other outlets have reported that Sessions is the one who spearheaded the move to revoke the previous guidelines on trans youth.

The Obama administration saw the protection of trans youth in schools as falling under Title IX, which prevents discrimination based on sex. The federal guidelines dictated that school districts receiving federal money allow students to use the facilities (i.e., bathrooms and locker rooms) of their choice. That policy has since been challenged in court, and Sessions cited the current litigation as reason for revoking the guidelines.

The larger issue of transgender rights is still, however, scheduled for deliberation before the Supreme Court next month when it hears the case of Gavin Grimm. Grimm, a young trans students from Virginia, came into the national spotlight in 2015 when he sued his school district for instituting a policy dictating students must use the bathrooms corresponding with their gender at birth. While the Supreme Court could opt to not hear the case anymore after the Trump administration withdrew the policy that spurred the litigation, both sides are pressing for a decision.If anything, the confusion caused by this recent action by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education only underscores the need for the Supreme Court to bring some clarity here, said Joshua Block, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, according to NPR.



In Jenners Instagram video, she directly addresses President Trump. Jenner, a Republican, was one of the notable celebrity guests at a pre-inauguration dinner for Trump. Trumps decision, however, to approve the rollback of protections for trans youth in public schools is clearly not sitting well with Jenner. This is a disaster and you can still fix it, Jenner says in the video. You made a promise to protect the LGBT community. Call me.



This post has been updated throughout.
Photo: NBC

Rejoice, Human Beings, because things on the Dr. Ken season finale are about to get pretty meta. The upcoming episode of the ABC sitcom  which stars Community alum Ken Jeong as a delightfully narcissistic doctor  will feature Community creator Dan Harmon as a guest star. But while Harmons appearance is enough to make Community fans gleefully shout Inspector Spacetime! in thanks, its the premise of his arrival that makes it all the more appealing. In the episode, Harmon will be playing himself as the creator of a new TV comedy set at a community college. He sees Jeongs character perform stand-up at an open mic and invites him to audition for a part on his show  with blissfully little idea what hes getting himself into. Does the role call for a Spanish professor with false credentials? Who knows! Will he develop Changnesia as a result? Potentially! Theres only one thing we can think of at this point, besides the March 31 air date: Go Greendale, go Greendale, go.
Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out. Photo: Universal Studios

This post contains major spoilers for Get Out.

Jordan Peeles Get Out is the rarest kind of movie, one that presents audiences with something weve never seen before. The film follows a black man, Chris, who goes home to meet his white girlfriends parents and falls into an elaborate trap. A veteran comedian, Peele uses humor to keep viewers engaged as he builds a narrative around a most insidious villain: the veiled racism of white liberal elites. From the hero to the setting to the nature of the beast at the movies core, Get Out subverts the genre in fundamental ways, providing the best example of why horror will be our most powerful form of screen activism in this period of raw and rampant social unrest.

In her 2011 book Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films From 1890s to Present, Robin R. Means Coleman chronicles 120 years of black representation in the genre, and what she finds is chilling. With the exception of a few brief eras  the empowerment narratives that proliferated during the Blaxploitation boom of the 1970s, the whole and full, diverse and complex presentation of blackness in the urban horror wave of the 1990s  the story of black characters in horror (and, frankly, Hollywood in general) has been one of erasure, whitewashing, or gross and damaging misrepresentation.

But starting with his protagonist, Peele flips the genre on its head. Daniel Kaluuyas Chris is a promising photographer spending a weekend in the suburbs, a place black characters have largely been barred from in horror films. (They were nowhere to be found in the teen slasher eras endless residential sprawl.) And he avoids falling into the genres hoariest tropes. He doesnt die first. His story is not catalyzed by violence against a black woman. He is not a brutal beast, or a sexual maniac. Instead of a hunter, he is the hunted  but what makes him prey is not his racial inferiority. In a novel twist, Chris is a target because of his perceived superiority in almost every way.

Early films like A Nigger in the Woodpile (1904) were packaged as comedies for white audiences, but for black viewers they were horror films, with disgusting illustrations of black characters (often played by white actors in blackface). It wasnt until 1968, when George A. Romero cast Duane Jones as the lead in Night of the Living Dead, that a black man starred in a major horror film. Jones was presented as capable, strong, decisive, and trustworthy  which still didnt save him from being shot dead by an angry mob in the end. But little changed after Living Dead: Black characters still lived and died at the whims of white ones, and were typically presented as either intellectually inferior, entirely expendable, or both. As Coleman observes, the tropes were switched up the black-focused films of the 1990s: In movies like Tales From the Hood and Def by Temptation it was Whiteness that became the symbol of deficiency, with white characters filling the sidekick, buffoon, and villain roles long assigned to black performers.



In Get Out, though, the collection of white people that Chris encounters arent so obviously abhorrent. Their racism is rooted not in the brutality of lynch mobs but is instead disguised as progressiveness. Their bigotry grows out of entitlement and appropriation. They covet Chris as a kind of fetish object, seeing him only as a composite of myths theyve heard about enhanced sexual prowess and innate physical superiority. They see cultural capital and a cool factor in him that they cant replicate. It is black excellence that the white people in Get Out desire. Even as theyre about to do unspeakable things to him, theyre convinced Chris should be honored by the attention.

This is a kind of violence we rarely see presented onscreen, the endless series of microaggressions that largely define how people of color, women, and those in the queer community interact with the world every day. The choice to set the film right now now also stands out. You dont have to look far to find a film about black people overcoming racism that happened safely in the past, but that Peele uses his film to take aim at current forms of degradation  the ones that arent so glaringly sinister as men in white hoods  makes Get Out an exceptional entry in the genre.

Any kind of phase that horror goes through seems to have some kind of social allegory going on, Peele told Vulture recently. The big risk here [is] to do something this on the nose. Normally you would hide some racial discussion in something that isnt so obvious, something about DNA or monsters. Instead, he ditched monsters in favor of rich white guys with God complexes  something equally frightening.

Get Out happens to be the first in a wave of socially conscious thrillers that wrap a narrative of fear around the gross indignities of everyday life. In the French film Raw, which hits our shores in March, cannibalism is a metaphor for women coming into their emotional and intellectual own. In the Sundance movie Bitch, a housewife hemmed in by domestic commitments takes on the characteristics of a dog and begins living on all fours. In all of these movies, the villains are intimately connected to our heroes; the great horror struggle of our age is not man versus outsider but man versus neighbor. Even in your own home, youre not safe from danger.

Earlier indies like Teeth and Felt took similar approaches to the mundane horrors of living while female, but just as the language of identity politics has increasingly entered public discourse, now higher-profile horror films are entering the fray. The Nicolas Winding Refnproduced Maniac Cop remake will turn a 1970s exploitation movie into an examination of police brutality, and with Donald Trump already announcing that his reelection campaign will share the same tagline as The Purge: Anarchy  Keep America Great  the fourth film in James DeMonacos franchise is practically writing itself. Peele himself has no intention of leaving social-commentary horror behind. Pretty much all of my ideas are in this category I would call social thriller, he explains. What human beings are capable of when we get together can be the most beautiful thing in the world, or it can be the most evil demon that we have to deal with. I intend to make a series of films that all deal with this social thriller, the demon that is us.

Discrimination is all around us, but unless it affects you personally, its easy to miss  until theres a glitch. Horror films are the sledgehammer of cinema; they can create those glitches, force people to stop and examine the conflicts around them in all their grisly reality. As Coleman says in Horror Noire, Horror has always been attentive to social problems in rather provocative ways, and says she saw the ostensibly post-racial era at the end of the last decade as an ideal moment for digging into this filmmaking, race-making, and ideology-making phenomenon.

Much has changed in the six years since Horror Noire was published. The nastiness of the presidential election, paired with the subsequent entrance of Donald Trump into the White House, exposed the idea of the post-racial era as the lie it always was. Its a decades-old truism that horror films respond acutely to conservative governments, but that doesnt change the fact that the genre looks to be increasingly vital in the coming years. The Vietnam era brought about the nihilistic violence of Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes; the monolithic super-killers of the Reagan years had Jason Voorhees and Michael Meyers acting as sin hunters for the moral majority, culling the wicked, oversexed youth; and the Bush years saw the horror of the War on Terror mirrored in the torture-porn run of Saw and its imitators. Now, we have Trump, whose version of right-wing nationalism has turned newspaper front pages into chronicles of dystopia. Peeles social thriller seems like the most appropriate artistic response.

Fear is such a compelling emotion, one that is used for a lot of evil, Peele explains. But I feel like in art, in horror movies, fear is used in a positive way. Its used to entertain and its used to help us look at our own fears, our own horrors, in a way that helps us get through them. Story is an opportunity to see life through someone elses eyes. If it feels real and it feels grounded, there is a catharsis. A broadening of someones perspective is possible.
Photo: HBO

Spoilers ahead for the Girls episode American Bitch, which is streaming early on HBO Go and HBO Now.

This weeks episode of Girls  in which Hannah Horvath spends the entire half-hour with an older man she barely knows  will remind you of another bottle episode in which Hannah Horvath spends the entire half-hour with an older man she barely knows.

Im referring to season twos One Mans Trash, which places Hannah inside an impeccably renovated Brooklyn brownstone owned by a hot doctor named Joshua (Patrick Wilson). When the episode first aired back in 2013, it marked an especially divisive moment for an already divisive show. Slates Guys on Girls discussion asked, Was that the worst episode of Girls ever? then more or less concluded that it was, because it was too difficult to believe that Hannah and Joshua would have such a spontaneous fling. Todd VanDerWerff raved about the episode for The A.V. Club while also acknowledging that it represented everything people who hate Girls hate about Girls. Meanwhile, Vultures Matt Zoller Seitz argued that what made the episode so compelling was the way it toggled between fantasy and reality, without ever clarifying on which side of the line it fell.

Any of those interpretations could also be applied to American Bitch, the potentially polarizing episode that HBO just aired. Co-starring Matthew Rhys as Chuck Palmer, a well-known author whos been outed online for putting young women into uncomfortable, allegedly non-consensual sexual situations, American Bitch is a tense verbal dance between Chuck and Hannah about the power imbalance inherent in male/female interactions. While the episode doesnt have the dreamy fantasy quality of One Mans Trash  its ultimately more nightmare than fantasy  I totally buy the idea that the ChuckHannah face-off could be a situation conjured by Hannahs brain rather than something that actually happened to her. Like One Mans Trash, Girls never confirms that one way or the other.

Watching these two bottle episodes back-to-back reveals other parallels  and for those who remain unmoved by the Patrick Wilson escapade, it may elevate your opinion of One Mans Trash. Together, the pair serve as bookends on Hannahs journey that tell us something about the degree to which she has evolved into an older, somewhat wiser woman.

Behind the scenes and within their respective narratives, the episodes share several things in common. Both were written by Dunham and directed by frequent Girls collaborator Richard Shepard. Both cast Dunham opposite the male star of a prestige FX drama, though, to be fair, Wilson hadnt yet appeared in Fargo when One Mans Trash, so thats more of a coincidence than anything else. Like many bottle episodes whose trajectories are dictated by the words exchanged between two characters, both episodes unfold like stage plays, with the dialogue and events taking on a heightened theatricality that distinguishes them from the rest of Girls.

Both also feature Hannah entering the home of a man she knows only from afar, after being a third-party witness to his clash with another person: Hannah heads to Joshuas after watching him fight with Ray over trash from the coffee shop that winds up in his garbage cans; she visits Chucks, by invitation, after writing an essay in which she defends a woman who claims that the author sexually assaulted her.

In Joshuas pristinely renovated townhouse, the camera lingers lovingly on material things, from pieces of art and his high-tech shower to half-full decanters of liquor. At Chucks, we see stacks of his books waiting to be autographed, bookshelves overflowing with even more books, and framed photos of him next to acclaimed novelists like Toni Morrison. Joshuas belongings represent the pretty, pricey things Hannah wishes she could afford to buy herself someday. Chucks possessions represent everything that Hannah, the aspiring writer, wants to become.

In this way, American Bitch takes the material of One Mans Trash and bends it a little. In the former episode, Hannah initially expresses skepticism about entering Joshuas house, noting that he could be another Ted Bundy. But within mere minutes, shes kissing him and their relationship gets physical. In the latter, Hannah is even more aware that Chuck may pose a threat to women, but crosses his threshold regardless. However, while she is cognizant of herself as a sexual being in Chucks presence  at one point, she runs to the bathroom and pats down her underarms and crotch to making sure she isnt emitting any off-putting odors  shes much more interested in earning his respect than his romantic interest. During their argument in the kitchen, Hannah tries to explain why Denise, Chucks accuser, might have complied with his sexual demands even though she didnt want to. Its not so she has a story, she says. Its so she feels like she exists. Both Joshua and Chuck make Hannah feel like she exists, but for much different reasons.

With only seven more episodes left in the final season of Girls, it seems fair to assume that Hannah Horvath wont pull a full, 180-degree personality turn. In season six, as she was in season two, shes still the kind of woman who will go to a strangers house seeking, consciously or subconsciously, some form of validation. (In both episodes, its notable how often Hannah is complimented: Joshua tells her she is pretty, while Chuck repeatedly calls her a smart, funny writer.) Shes still the kind of woman who, while visiting an older man, will acknowledge past experiences where she felt like she was abused by an authority figure. And she still wont leave when its clear that maybe she should. This is especially true, obviously, at Chucks apartment; The minute he asks her to lay down with him, if not sooner, she should have gotten out of there. The fact that she doesnt, and that she even touches his penis for a second, illustrates the potency of the lopsided sexual power dynamic she described. Hannah intellectually understands that Chuck has predatory qualities, but like so many women who know theyre smarter than to fall for his b.s., she lets herself be seduced by him anyway. (To her credit, the seduction is very brief.)

Nevertheless, as most people do in their 20s, Hannah has evolved in incremental but important ways between seasons two and six. American Bitch highlights that development in two key moments. The first occurs during the portion of Hannahs conversation with Chuck when he seems to be acting like a more normal, mentor figure.

What are you dreams for the next five years? he asks her.

I want to write, she says, directly and sincerely. I want to write stories that make people feel less alone than I did. I want to make people laugh about the things in life that are painful.

Now, compare that to what she tells Joshua: Please dont tell anybody this, but I want to be happy. Later in that monologue, she adds: I just want to feel it all.

Both men respond using almost the exact same words: Thats a good goal. Its also not clear whether either of them are listening to her. The truth is that both goals are somewhat self-indulgent  Hannahs gonna Hannah, after all. But the writing one is much more clear, and it brings other people into the equation. Hannah still wants certain things for herself, but shes also starting to think more deeply about the impact she can make, rather than about how life makes her feel.

The second scene that feels significant is the closer. In One Mans Trash, Hannah, left to her own devices at Joshuas after he goes to work, puts one final bag of trash into the garbage can  in this case, its his garbage and the act is actually considerate  and then leaves the brownstone. Then we see her walk away, alone, on an empty street. Its a little sad, as though shes walking away from that perfect dream that she can never have because shes, to use her words, the crazy girl that a man like Joshua will tire of.

In American Bitch, the last shot also finds Hannah walking away, this time from Chucks apartment building. But with Rihannas Desperado blasting on the soundtrack, I saw something empowering in Hannahs departure  one might even call it a sexit, the term she invents in the beginning of One Mans Trash. Saved by the interference of another girl  Chucks daughter  Hannah is able to escape from Chucks trouser snake and from Chuck in general. Shes still walking alone, but this time, shes swimming upstream against a tide of women who are going into Chucks apartment building, suggesting that there will always be another young lady willing to lay down with him if Hannah doesnt.

The image of all those women dissolves into a haze, which is the strongest case American Bitch makes that perhaps it is all a Hannah Horvath daydream, or maybe a short story she wrote that, like Chucks work, is based loosely on reality. Either way, what happens is reflective of a change in who Hannah is. Shes even walking in a different direction, toward the bottom of the frame as opposed to the top, as she did in One Mans Trash.

Hannah no longer wants all the things, as she once told Joshua. She wants to be her own woman. She still hasnt fully figured out how to do that, of course. But that last shot in American Bitch affirms that shes headed in the right direction.
Lena Dunham is not Hannah Horvath. Girls is not nonfiction. Hannah Horvath is her own character, apart from Dunham or any real person, even as Girls responds to and incorporates real-world criticism.

I say all that because American Bitch is the most excessively, openly, frankly self-aware episode Dunham has ever written. If an episode of Girls could also be a think piece about the show Girls (think pieces also being a genre of internet writing that blossomed hand-in-hand with the Girls era of TV), the first three-quarters of American Bitch would be it.

The setup is this: Hannah arrives at an unbelievably fancy apartment building, which we soon learn is the home of an acclaimed novelist named Chuck Palmer (played by Matthew Rhys). Shes not there to interview him, or to ask him for mentorship, or for any other likely Hannah scenario. Shes there because she already wrote about him. After discovering that Chuck had sex with several college-aged women while on his book tour  its implied that he used his celebrity to take advantage of those women  Hannah wrote a piece for a feminist website about her anger at discovering that her literary hero is actually a disappointing creep. Now, improbably, Chuck has asked Hannah to come to his home so they can talk about what she wrote.

Chuck wants to share his side of the story, he tells Hannah, and to explain why she was so mistaken in writing a takedown. Shes a good writer, he tells her repeatedly. Shes funny. She should be using [her] funny to write about important stuff, and his sexual encounters with college students are not important. Sitting there in his fantastically furnished apartment, surrounded by his Pen/Faulkner awards and photos of himself with Toni Morrison and piles of his own books, Chuck Palmer is unquestionably an asshole. Youre prepared for that probability from the moment Hannah walks into his home and he tells her to make sure her shoes dont touch his suede boots. Youre pretty sure of it when Hannah compares his four accusers to victims of the Salem witch trials, and Chuck shoots back, Im the witch! And then you know without a doubt when he stands in his gorgeous kitchen and says, Look, I get there are kids dying in Africa, blah, blah, blah, but this is fucking hard for me, while pouring himself coffee in a mug that says I <3 Chuck on the side.

Hes terrible. Hannah repeatedly points out that even if the women consented, Chucks overwhelming privilege still makes those sexual encounters sleazy at best. Whats more, she defends her own rightness in writing about the accusations, even if her only sources are the internet posts written by some of these young women. Im obligated to use my voice to talk about things that are meaningful to me, she tells him. Hannahs trying to give more voice to marginalized figures, and its infuriating that Chuck cant see the power imbalance baked into his sexual encounters. She admires you, Hannah tells him, describing the college girls. And then you unbuckle your pants. Whats she gonna do next?

The whole thing has the outlines of a Socratic dialogue, with two characters giving voice to opposing sides of an argument. On the one side, Palmer stands up for the right to privacy, for what he views as consensual sexual encounters, and for his own righteousness and victimhood. On the other, Hannah argues that however much Chuck might like to see himself as being punished, he cannot remove his privilege from the equation. Nor, she tells him, can he expect his sexual relationships to go without remark if hes a public figure who insists on having sex with vulnerable younger women.

The Socratic sensibility would seem overwhelming, except that everything about the episode  the direction, the set design of his apartment, Rhyss performance  refuses to let Chuck become an undifferentiated, featureless voice. Though hes pushed into the role of Privileged White Male Literary Elite, your eye and your ear keep catching on details. He has what looks like a framed honorary degree hanging up in his bathroom. In the hallway outside the entrance to his House Beautifulworthy library is a photograph of the entrance to that same library. Rhys plays Chuck with fabulous opacity, alternating between edgy frustration, flattery, candidness, and self-absorption.

And so, there are two tricks to American Bitch. (Okay, there are many tricks to this episode, but for the purposes of this recap, lets stick with two.) The first is that much of the episode is an argument about a young woman whos standing up for her right to write about her own perspective in the face of overwhelming, establishment-enforced privilege. But in that argument, Hannah is not the Lena Dunham stand-in  Chuck Palmer is. Like Dunham, Palmer has a position of immense privilege and a massive public platform. He is critically lauded, and now hes also publicly loathed for various elements of his private life. Do people have the right to write unconsidered, uninformed things about him on feminist blogs? Of course they do. Yet Chucks complaints about his aggrieved, embattled public image are also fair. There are children starving in Africa and its fucking hard for him. Both are true.

Of course, the added fillip of Chuck Palmers gender twists the debate, pushing it far beyond a simple identification with Dunhams own circumstances. Hannahs right to say that Chucks masculinity insulates him from criticism and distances him from the women hes taken advantage of. When he congratulates himself on giving those women a story, and Hannah counters that theyre doing it so they can feel like they exist, thats a case of privilege versus invisibility. Hannahs account of being rubbed by her fifth-grade teacher is a more specific indictment of a paternalistic, culturally protected breed of privilege, one that values male attention as the only way to demonstrate worthiness.

The second trick of American Bitch is what happens at the end. It certainly feels like a trick, anyway. Hannah walks into Chucks home, full of wariness and defensive self-articulation, and then shes slowly wooed by his flattery and apparent openness. The trap is set: Hannah gamely follows Chuck to his bedroom and even voluntarily lies down next to him. When she finds herself touching his penis, were as surprised as she is. (For all his stellar moments in the episode, this is when Rhys really runs away with it, as his handsome, intelligent impression of curious engagement is suddenly transformed into a delighted, wicked, wolfish smile.)

Its a trick because we, like Hannah, have been taken in by Chuck, and then were stuck sitting through his daughters flute performance and marveling at our own naivete. Its also a trick because this is the moment when Girls reasserts itself. The first section of this episode is so nakedly, blatantly nonfictional  its such a direct take on all of the issues swirling around Dunham, not to mention feminism and privacy and privilege and creative license and internet culture  that we feel like weve suddenly been taken behind the curtain, beyond fiction. That sense is bolstered by Hannahs quiet, uncharacteristically self-contained argument, and also by the constant real-world signifiers of literary culture. Chucks awards, the very real discussion of Philip Roth novels, the offhanded mention of a negative piece about him in the Awl and a positive review in the Times: This isnt Girls anymore. Its an essay about Girls.

Thats when the trap is finally triggered  when Chucks dick pops out from his pants like a trapdoor springing open  and we realize, no. This is an episode of Girls. This is still Hannah Horvath, experiencing the kind of misadventures Hannah always does, finding herself in another improbable, inappropriate, unlikely scenario. And now shes caught in the bizarre, unnerving hilarity of sitting through a teenagers home flute performance next to her fallen, then risen, and then fallen again literary idol. The meat of American Bitch is a fascinating snarl of metafictional, philosophical ideas about culture and the self (capped off by the possibility that the titular American Bitch could well be Dunham), but the foundation is a beautifully constructed, very simple, almost fairy-tale-esque narrative. Girl arrives for battle; girl befriends a villain in disguise; villain waits until his prey is in position and then pounces.

The moment Chuck unzips his pants is the moment the fictional machinery clunks back into place, framing this entire argument within the world of Girls. As is so often the case, though, the last shot of the episode offers a final twist. Hannah walks away from Chucks apartment, fully freaking out. In the out-of-focus background, we see a dozen women breeze past her and then, unerringly, walk into Chucks building. Its the fairy tale again, the monster luring new heroines into his fortress. Maybe Chuck invited them all there to discuss their writing. Maybe the women will accuse him of something. Theyre faceless; we cant know. That facelessness, that invisibility, is precisely the point.
Who killed Wes? Its the question that has plagued us all season, and we finally got the answer in last nights finale. And it was an answer no one could have predicted.

If you guessed that Laurels father paid a goon to kill Wes and blow up Annalises house, you are a genius. You are an actual genius and you should be using your powers to solve bigger problems than the ever-expanding web of lies and deception that is How to Get Away With Murder.

Annalise starts the episode in her Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, railing against the concept of Alcoholics Anonymous while Connor sprints in the streets. Connor is running and that represents how he wishes he could run from his problems. See? Ive read a poem and this show is a poem. Connor briefly tries to lean in front of a bus, but turns away at the last minute. When he gets back to his apartment, Oliver tells him that theyre having a hearing to get the charges dismissed. Oliver thinks its time Connor reveals his BIG SECRET.

Because Annalise is finally getting her groove back, she directs Bonnie in the hearing by scribbling notes and whispering exactly which objection to make. The ADA is on the stand and tries to explain away how she had Wess body moved. The Keating Gang believes that Atwood perjured herself, but they cant get too caught up in that because Charles Mahoney is being released from jail. Life comes at you fast, gang. After the hearing, the DA calls in Nate to asks him to carve I HEART THE DA into his arm to prove his loyalty to the justice system. Too bad Nate has already given Annalise the ADAs Wi-Fi password. Annalise hands the Wi-Fi password over to Oliver to get hackin! The gang gets together to find any evidence about literally anything. Somehow in this massive pile of evidence, Laurel gets the folder with the 4x6 photos of Wess burned face.

Connor takes Michaela into the bathroom to finally spill his secret. On the night of the fire, Connor got Annalises voice-mail, went over to the house, and found Wess body lying on the floor in the basement. He tried to do CPR on Wes and got a little too aggressive and snapped Wess bones. He freaked out and  quietly left? He didnt have his phone! Laurel takes this information waaaay too hard and tells Connor to fucking kill himself. If Ive asked it once, Ive asked it 200 times: When did Laurel fall this in love with Wes? So much that shes telling people to kill themselves. She needs to settle the hell down.

Annalise takes Connor aside because hes demanding to know if she really killed Wes. Annalise tries to talk Connor through the stages of grief and calmly tell him that hes just confused and if he would just listen  ALL YOUR SONS ARE DEAD AND YOU CANT REPLACE ME WITH THEM. Okay, so Connor isnt calmed down by Annalise, not even when she speak in a quiet tone. They come out of the bedroom and Annalise asks Laurel to forgive Connor, but she doesnt care because Wes is still dead. Take a drink every time Laurel reminds everyone that Wes is dead or says WHO KILLED WES. Laurel goes to the hospital to get an ultrasound and get some information from her OB-GYN. Afterward, she runs into Meggie and who cares. Who actually cares about Meggie?

Connor decides that the only way to get the case thrown out is to introduce his wild, game-changing testimony because it would invalidate the MEs report and destroy the case. Somehow the more realistic compromise is to put Laurel on the stand because it was already established that Laurel was at the scene of the crime. Unfortunately, the DA has a thick red folder full of secrets about Laurel  turns out she was kidnapped as a teen but signed an affidavit saying it was all a lie. So, shes a big ol liar who commits perjury all the dang time and her testimony almost has the opposite effect. The motion to dismiss the case is denied. Connor goes to the DA and wants to take Wess immunity deal and tell the truth.

The gang cant find Connor, so they storm over to his apartment to see if Oliver knows where he is. Earlier in the episode, Oliver found that a certain number kept calling the ADAs phone right after major events in the case. If they can trace that number, they might be able to find out who is behind this whole thing. Is it the Mahoneys? An evil Annalise from a parallel universe? Because Connor refuses to leave the DAs office, Asher snaps and decides to call the number! Connor hears a phone vibrating in the DAs office. I genuinely gasped ALOUD. Connor finds the phone ringing in the DAs desk just as the DA comes in the office with his deal. We flashback to the night of the fire and we see Connor running out of the house and a goon is sitting in a car parked nearby. UH-OH.

Okay, now its time for part two of this megafinale. Nate is leaving Wes in the house again and theres a shadowy figure lurking nearby. Wes calls Annalise and leaves her a voice-mail, confessing to the murder of Rebecca and Sam, when that shadowy figure suddenly grabs and strangles him. Back in the present, the Keating Gang is searching all over for Connor. By search, I mean busting into the courthouse and the police station and DEMANDING that Connor be produced. Asher sees the DA go into the bathroom at the courthouse and Bonnie teleports into the bathroom to confront him.

Elsewhere, Nate drops Annalise off at a fancy restaurant and shes wearing an adorable new wig and outfit. Its time for Annalise to confront what shes been running from for years. Shes sitting down with the matriarch of the Mahoney family. Annalise wants to declare a truce with Sylvia Mahoney.

Meanwhile, the DA heads into a dirty basement because hes locked Connor up. This is too outrageous! How will this stand? This is just the most illegal thing Ive ever seen a DA do (on a television show). Annalise and Sylvia are speaking at the same time, but somehow in the din, its revealed that Wes wasnt Wallaces son. He was Charless son! Charles raped Wess mother, who worked as a housekeeper for the Mahoneys. Annalise accuses Sylvia of supporting a rapist over her grandson and says she failed at raising a good son. Sylvia snaps back, Im the only real mother here. JAW DROPPED. FACE CRACKED. These episodes are really doubling down on the Annalise had a son who died thing.

The DA shows Wess phone to Connor and says that hell find a way to prove that he was responsible for Wess death. Connor keeps resisting the DA, but for how much longer? In the middle of all of this craziness, Asher decides this is the best time to confess his true feelings for Michaela. Read the room, Asher. Michaela tells Laurel that she isnt sure if she knows how to love someone or how to be loved in return.

Connor doesnt take the DAs deal quickly enough, so hes being arrested. To get immunity, he tells the DA that Oliver made a copy of Annalises phone. Annalise realizes that the DA is probably after the voice-mail that Wes left for her, so she decides the only reasonable course of action is to make it seem like Wes blew up the house as an act of suicide. Laurel, of course, hates this idea and claims that Annalise is selling Wes out to save her own ass  and the asses of everyone in the room, including Laurels pregnant ass. She proposes a difference plan to get vengeance for Wes.

At last, the big moment. We get to find out exactly what happened to Wes. The lurking goon stuck Wes in the neck with a needle (after he left a voice-mail for Annalise), which slows his reflexes and causes him to stumble to the ground. The lurking goon strangles Wes, arranges his body in the basement, then breaks the gas line to set the house on fire. I guess this guy is part of the show now?

In the present, Annalise goes to the DA to ask for a truce. She paints Wes as a violent criminal, a man who was secretly a monster. If the DA doesnt take the confession that Wes left on her phone, she will come after him. She will take down the DAs office piece by piece. I would definitely watch that show. Unfortunately, we wont get that show because the DA takes the voice-mail to the judge and tells her that Nate brought it to him. He wants to drop all charges. SOMEONE HERE IS LITERALLY GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER!

Connor returns home to Oliver, who asks him to marry him. Annalise heads to her Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and finally opens up. She tells the group about how she brought Wes into her life and then destroyed it because she couldnt stay away from him when she knew she would be a terrible influence. She breaks down sobbing and says that Wes was her son. So, like, a son to her?

Oh? Laurels plan? Shes going to get Michaela to seduce Charles Mahoney in a bar so she can confront him. Laurel and Asher watch while Michaela puts her best moves on the father of their friend, who is a rapist. I dont want to yuck anyones yum but  yikes. Fortunately, Michaela has a change of heart because shes able to tell Asher that she loves him. Laurel reveals that the last part of her plan was to shoot Charles Mahoney in the face. She rushes out of the club to finish the job herself and is stopped by Dominic. The lurking goon! Hes an old family friend. Dominic was hired by Laurels father to take out Wes.

This means were gonna get more Laurel next season, doesnt it?
By India Today Web Desk: Amid US visa row, China wants more Indian innovators, admits to ignoring high-tech talent from here

An article in the state-run Global Times says country made a mistake by ignoring Indian talent. The article, interestingly, comes amid worries in India over whether the US could restrict H1B visas for Indian IT professionals.

Indian killed in Kansas bar shooting: Donald Trump behind murder, says Srinivas Kuchibhotla's family

advertisement

Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed in a shooting incident in a bar in Kansas City in the United States on Wednesday night.

Stats: India's worst collapse ever in Test history

India lost their last seven wickets for 11 runs against Australia in the first Test in Pune.

Lipstick Under My Burkha row: Dear Censor Board, stop shoving sanskaar down our throat

Alankrita Shrivastava's Lipstick Under My Burkha was refused a censor certificate for being "lady oriented" and exploring women's sexual fantasies.

--- ENDS ---
We expect nothing less. Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for EJAF

Never one to betray her brand, moon queen Lana Del Rey has expectedly joined the masses of witches worldwide in their quest to vanquish Donald Trump. Lana tweeted last night an open invitation to her coven to participate in the first of a series of binding spells cast against Trump to block his evil forces, beginning Friday at midnight and continuing onward every waning crescent moon at midnight. (So also March 26, April 24, and May 23.) And because Lanas a good witch (though maybe also a little bit satanic), shes not spilling centuries-old witch secrets, and asks that you please just Google the ingredients to the spell rather than sneak a peek at her Book of Shadows. Lest Lana be forced to put another spell on you, and now youre hers forever.


Leslie Jones. Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Aint nothing gonna break Leslie Joness stride. At least, thats the impression the New York Times got at one of Joness sets in a run of shows at Carolines comedy club in New York City. Performing for a packed audience at what the Times called a high-volume show (which, duh, of course, Leslie Jones), the SNL star and longtime stand-up relayed the mixed emotions and results of having her computer hacked and private nude photos shared online last year. One downside is that your elderly aunt will see your nudes, for example; however, there is an upside. They dont understand how many people Ive actually tried to show that to, Jones joked. You really just helped a sister out. Thank you for the distribution.

The photo hack was part of a more extensive racist and sexist online campaign aimed at Jones and orchestrated in part by alt-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos, whose list of formers now outnumbers his list of currents (former Breitbart editor, former CPAC speaker, former Simon & Schuster author). In her set, Jones did not address Yiannopoulos directly, but she did reach out to her female fans who might find themselves dealing with the male gaze and all its permutations in the future. Own your craziness, she advised, before reminding the crowd, All women are like me now. We make our own money. Or, put another way, the best revenge is your paper.
John Mayer. Photo: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for Alicia Keys

The search for everything is a pretty comprehensive endeavor, so its no big surprise that John Mayer needs more than one swipe at it. A month after releasing The Search for Everything Wave One, his first debut in three years, Mayer has dropped The Search for Everything Wave Two. The second EP contains another four tracks, two of which  Emoji of a Wave and Roll it on Home  contain wave imagery right in the title. Mayer teased Wave Two with some good vibes, tweeting, Im truly releasing these songs and its a beautiful feeling. Catch the surf with Moondoggies latest wave below.
Sara Bareilles. Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

Last year deeply sucked on many levels, not least of all because of the seemingly endless stream of pop-culture deaths. Anyone tackling tributes to these monumental losses, therefore, better be a pro and a half. Thankfully, this Sundays Academy Awards will bring out the big guns in the form of expert emotional chanteuse Sara Bareilles. Bareilles, who is about to step into the lead role in Waitress  the Tony-nominated Broadway show she wrote the music for  will perform during the Oscars In Memoriam segment. Its not yet clear which song (or songs) the Grammy-nominated Bareilles will be performing, but given the circumstances she will certainly be up there for a while. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that an extended version of the broadcast segment, with over 200 individuals acknowledged, will be available online after the show. The ceremony itself airs on ABC this Sunday starting at 8:30 p.m. eastern, and will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
By Press Trust of India: Suryapet (Telangana), Feb 24 (PTI) Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President N Uttam Kumar Reddy today blamed it on the policies of the ruling TRS Government for the existing "unemployment crisis" in the State.

He was addressing a public meeting here in his constituency Huzur Nagar as part of CPI (M)s Mahajana Padayatra, being led by CPMs state secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram.

advertisement

Reddy said that the TRS Government has completely "neglected" the jobless youth in the State.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has himself admitted in the Assembly that there are 107,744 vacancies in various departments in the State and he also said that the government has so far filled only 4,295 posts, Reddy said citing the CM.

"Not even a per cent of identified vacant posts have been filled during the last 33 months. Further, not a single new job has been created during the last 999 days since TRS came to power. KCR has provided employment to all his family members, but left the jobless youth in Telangana to their fate," he alleged.

The TPCC chief said that the KCRs Government has proved to be a "bane" for poor jobs aspirants.

"KCR is simply not concerned or interested in addressing the issue of unemployment. At one side he neglected filling up of vacant posts and failed to create new jobs. On the other, he supported the demonetisation decision which snatched away lakhs of jobs in the private sector since November 8 last year," he said.

Reddy also slammed the Chief Minister for not clearing the dues towards fee reimbursement.

KCR is playing with the lives and careers of nearly 14 lakh students and their families in Telangana as he failed to honour the commitment that he gave on the floor of the Assembly on clearing the dues, he further said. PTI GDK RMT SDM

--- ENDS ---
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

COLLIDE Unpreviewed

An American backpacker (Nicholas Hault) in Europe aids a robbery to pay for a girlfriends medical emergency, only to find himself targeted when it goes wrong. Rated PG-13. Profanity, some sexuality, drug material, violence, frenetic action. 1 hour, 39 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

GET OUT 

Jordan Peele (Key and Peele) shifts from comedy to horror with telling effect with a young black man finding something sinister in a weekend visit to his white girlfriends family. Rated R. Profanity including sexual references, bloody images, violence. 1 hour, 43 minutes. RJ16, SG16.

ROCK DOG 

Calculated by-the-numbers kids animation about a Tibetan dog who wants to be a rock guitarist. Rated PG. Cartoon mayhem. 1 hour, 30 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

Also showing

A CURE FOR WELLNESS 

Bizarre goings-on at a European sanitarium create an atmospheric mix of psychological thriller and horror that leaves audiences puzzled and guessing until the end  and maybe afterwards. Rated R. Profanity, sexual content, graphic nudity, disturbing and violent images. 2 hours, 26 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

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. Parents and dog owners should be advised that dogs die in the film. Rated PG. Thematic elements, some peril. 1 hour, 40 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

ELLE 

Isabelle Huppert gives a mesmerizing performance as a ruthless businesswoman who tracks down her assailant and adds him to her complicated relationships. Rated R. Profanity, disturbing sexual content, brief graphic nudity, some grisly images, violence including sexual assault. RJ16.

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.

FIST FIGHT H

Clunky, gag-driven comedy about two battling high school teachers (Ice Cube and Charlie Day) that lands few comic punches. Rated R. Frequent profanity, sexual content, nudity, drug material. 1 hour, 31 minutes. RJ16, SG16.

THE GREAT WALL H

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.

HIDDEN FIGURES HHH

Moving story of three female African-American mathematicians who overcame others prejudice to play key roles in the manned space program. 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.

JACKIE HHH

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 Cinema 6.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 HHH

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 HHH

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 HHHH

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 HHH

Moving account of an Indian boy separated from his family, who tries to reconnect decades later as an adult. Nominated for 6 Oscars, including Best Picture. Rated PG-13. 2 hours. RJ16, SG16.

RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER 

Milla Jovovich steps up again to defend humanity. Rated PG-13. Violence. SG16.

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, drug use, violence and terror.1 hour, 42 minutes. SG16.

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.

WHY HIM? 

Father Bryan Cranston tries to chill his college-age daughters romance. Rated R. Frequent profanity, sexual material. 1 hour, 51 minutes. SG16, RJ16.
By Press Trust of India: Jammu, Feb 24 (PTI) A female Pakistani intruder was shot dead and another was arrested by the BSF when they tried to infiltrate into Indian territory along the International Border (IB) in different sectors of Jammu division.

The female intruder was killed in the Pargwal sector of Akhnoor tehsil last night, a senior BSF officer said.

advertisement

He said the BSF men deployed on the IB challenged her to stop but when she did not pay heed to the warning, she was shot dead by the jawans.

A meeting was also held with the Pakistan Rangers where they were shown the pictures of the deceased woman and they agreed to accept the body, the officer said. The body would be handed over to the Rangers today.

In the second incident, a Pakistani national moving in a suspicious manner near the border fence was arrested by the BSF in Kathua sector.

The officer said that the questioning of the arrested person was going on. PTI TSS AB DK BSA

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: envoy

New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) Parleys are on between India and China over the issue of a ban on Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar by the UN and such "discussions take time", Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui said today.

He, however, asserted that China was against terror outfits and any form of terrorism.

advertisement

Earlier this week, Indias Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had held strategic dialogue with his Chinese counterpart during which issues ranging from Beijings opposition to designation of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN and Indias bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) were discussed.

"Discussions are going on. (Indias) Foreign Secretary (Jaishankar) was in Beijing two days ago. The discussions were very good and covered everything," Luo said.

But he declined to comment on what were the aspects on which China was opposing a ban on Azhar.

"Just wait (for the outcome of the discussions). Chinas support to India and every country on matters related to terrorism will always be there. Some discussions are going on. It takes time.

"China is against any form of terrorist activity and organisation. So, on this matter, China will always be in same line with the international community and take concrete measures," Luo said after inaugurating Chinese visa application service centre here.

Asked about Chinas aversion to support Indias bid for entry into the NSG club, the envoy said, "It is the same (discussions are on)."

After his talks, Jaishankar, during his media interaction in Beijing, had hit out at China for demanding "solid evidence" for getting Azhar banned by the UN, saying the extent of his actions were "well-documented" and the "burden of proof" was not on New Delhi.

China has blocked Indias efforts to get Azhar declared as a global terrorist by the UN.

Commenting on the emergence of ISIS in the Af-Pak region and the six-party talks on Afghanistan held early this month in Russia, Luo said peace in the war-torn country is paramount for stability within that nation as well as in the region.

Asserting that Afghanistan was a neighbour of several central Asian countries, he said therefore, peace in Afghanistan is not only important for that country, but also for the region.

"So all countries concerned are making joint efforts to help Afghanistan and the region to maintain peace. That is good," he said. PTI PR PYK SC

--- ENDS ---
Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India is in touch with the US at every level to lobby against moves in the US Congress that could impose curbs on H-1B visas for skilled Indian workers.

By Reuters: India has stepped up its lobbying effort against moves in the US Congress to impose curbs on visas for skilled workers that threaten the country's tech sector, which employs more than 3.5 million people.

Speaking to news agency Reuters, Minister of State for the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman said India had reached out to the administration of President Donald Trump to stress the importance of India's $150-billion IT services industry to US citizens.

advertisement

"India's investments in the United States have provided jobs to US citizens," she said in an interview. "That has to be brought to the notice of the US administration."

The comments come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Washington to keep an open mind on admitting skilled Indian workers.

Indian software companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd shot to prominence in the 1990s by helping Western firms stamp out the "Y2K" bug.

Trump's "America First" rhetoric on jobs, however, has put their biggest market under threat.

BILL IN US COULD RESTRICT H-1B VISAS

A bill was introduced in the US Congress last month to more than double the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders, which could significantly boost costs for IT companies, whose margins are already being squeezed.

New Delhi has backed a move by NASSCOM, India's high-tech industry association, to lobby U.S. lawmakers and companies to urge the administration not to crack down on allowing its skilled workers into the United States.

A NASSCOM delegation is now in the United States to make its case to officials on Capitol Hill, where Congress is located, and in the White House.

"We will have to engage with the new administration," Sitharaman said. "Our engagement at every level is intact and continuing."

ALSO READ: PM Narendra Modi urges US to keep an open mind on H1-B visas for IT workers

The United States is India's biggest trading partner, but trade in goods between the two countries has been stagnant, at around $67 billion, for the last three years. Indian software exports to the US rose more than 10 percent, to $37 billion, in the last fiscal year from a year earlier.

Indian nationals are by far the largest group of recipients of the 65,000 H-1B visas issued annually to new applicants under a cap mandated by Congress. More than 60 percent of the US employees of Infosys hold H-1B visas.

A global pact on services trade would go a long way towards settling disputes over professional visas, Sitharaman said.

advertisement

"If only there is a framework...you will know how movement can happen and how certain restrictions can or cannot come," she said. "It's time for countries to sit together and look at it."

ALSO READ: Amid US visa row, China wants more Indian innovators, admits to ignoring high-tech talent from here

ALSO WATCH: Trump's curb on H-1B work visas: A big blow to Indian IT sector

--- ENDS ---
The Waco Federation of Womens Clubs will have its annual Spring Style Show and luncheon Thursday.

Seating times are available at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Featured will be styles from Laurens, of Marlin, and Chicos, of Waco.

Tickets are $25 and must be purchased in advance.

Call 723-1139 or email 2900wfwc@gmail.com.

Rattlesnake Roundup

The 48th annual Oglesby Lions Club Rattlesnake Roundup will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Oglesby Community Center, 117 Main St. in Oglesby.

Included will be demonstrations in the snake pit by Jackie Bibby, barbecue, burgers, a bounce house slide, carnival games and a mechanical bull.

Admission is $5 and is free to ages 5 and younger.

Reicher college fair

Reicher Catholic High School, 2102 N. 23rd St., will host a college information fair from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

The event will include discussions, workshops and university booths. Subjects including applyTexas, FAFSA, ACT, SAT, NCAA will be addressed.

Lunch will be available to purchase from the Vanilla Bean Bake Shoppe.

For more, call 752-8408.

East Waco cleanup

Group W Bench Litter Patrol is having a Clean Our Circle community litter erasing event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at East Waco Park.

Social hour and registration will start at 10 a.m.

Volunteers will clean about 20 city blocks.

Keep Waco Beautiful will provide pickers, bags, gloves and water.

Snacks will be provided by Lula Janes, Starbucks and Papa Johns. Hooters will offer gift certificates and coupons.

Mosheim supper

The Mosheim Community Center, at 3222 Farm-to-Market Road 217 west of Valley Mills, will host a chili and stew supper from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday.

Cost is $8 or $5 for ages 12 and younger.

For information, call Bob McCarn at 945-3962 or Jarrod Gunter at 640-3143.

Rummage sale

Lakewood Christian Church, 6509 Bosque Blvd., will have a rummage sale from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

CASA info session

CASA of McLennan and Hill Counties will present a CASA 101 information session at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the CASA offices, 2223 Austin Ave., Suite D.

Addressed will be the need for CASA volunteers and how to become a CASA volunteer advocate.

For more, call 304-7982.
The Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday proposed to commit $115 million of its discretionary funds toward the rebuilding of Interstate 35 in Waco, clearing the way for the project to start in two years.

The discretionary funding, to be adopted March 30, would help bankroll the $300 million first phase of the I-35 project from 12th Street to North Loop 340.

The rest would come from state funding allocations from the Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization and Texas Department of Transportation Waco District over the next few years.

TxDOT Waco District engineer Bobby Littlefield said there should still be enough to fund Greater Wacos second-highest priority project: a $35 million interchange at Highway 84 and Speegleville Road. That project is set to start late next year.

The Waco MPO board preferred to bid the entire eight-mile I-35 project from North Loop 340 to South Loop 340 to save money and shorten construction time. It endorsed a two-phase project this week as Plan B.

Littlefield said the proposed funding commitment is nonetheless a victory for Waco, and he expects the Texas Transportation Commission board will finalize it next month. He said he is pleased to see the proposal in the week of his retirement from TxDOT.

For the last four years, Ive been working with the MPO trying to pursue funding opportunities for I-35, and we finally got there, Littlefield said. Like I told the MPO, Ive been in this business for 33 years and Ive never been able to get everything I wanted.  In this case we got a substantial amount to get a very needed and worthwhile project off the ground.

Waco MPO director Chris Evilia agreed.

When you think about it, this is a pretty good deal for Waco, Evilia said. Wed love to get all of I-35 done. But were getting the most important part of the project funded.

More money possible

Evilia said theres a chance the transportation board could approve more funding for the I-35 project at its August meeting, after the revenue picture from recent voter-approved propositions becomes clearer. He said its possible the commission will have an additional $3 billion to $4 billion to spend on statewide needs.

Thats still in play, but for right now they cant make that commitment right now, he said. There are some really big projects out there in places with unbelievable congestion levels in the big cities that could soak up every dime the commission has.

The projected cost of the loop-to-loop project is $433 million if bid as a single project, or $492 million for a two-phase project.

Under the two-phase scenario, the first phase would take up to four years, while a second phase would take another three years. Littlefield said the two phases could run concurrently, but in any case, expect delays.

A lot of that is going to be painful, he said. Currently we have six lanes, and thats going to be reduced to four. Well still have the frontage roads open, and Loop 340 will be an alternate route.

Included work

The project will completely overhaul the Waco section, which is almost a half-century old. The work includes:

rebuilding and widening the main lanes from six to eight lanes

rebuilding many frontage roads

relocating on-off ramps and reducing the total from 42 to 26

replacing the main lanes on the Brazos River bridge

replacing all highway bridges, including the Business 77 interchange, which will be simplified and reduced to two levels. The 11th-12th Street overpass will become an underpass and will have bike-pedestrian connections, as will the reconstructed Fourth-Fifth Street bridge.

In addition to the Texas Transportation Commissions discretionary funding of $115 million, the MPO will contribute $80 million from its state funding allotment for road improvements over several years.

The TxDOT Waco District, which serves McLennan and seven other counties, would contribute $90 million from a new state funding stream meant to connect rural and urban areas.

That leaves a funding gap of about $15 million, which Littlefield said could be filled with district discretionary funds or a fund meant for bridge replacement.

He said the $300 million is only an estimate, and if the cost is higher, TxDOT may need to value engineer the project, trimming some aesthetic features.

We will never sacrifice safety or anything that is directly related to traffic, Littlefield said.

Evilia said the Interstate 35 work in Waco will benefit cross-state travelers and locals alike.

I-35 is used by many Wacoans as an arterial road to get from one side of town to another, he said. This should make all that travel easier.

Bike, pedestrian

He said the work will also improve bike and pedestrian connections between Baylor and downtown Waco.

Evilia credited Littlefield for ensuring that both the I-35 and Highway 84 overpass projects were ready in time for funding.

If it werent for him and his staff making sure everything is ready to go, we wouldnt have been able to use those dollars, he said.

The Texas Transportation Commission passed a resolution Thursday thanking Littlefield for his 33 years of service, including four in Waco.

We were hoping to twist his arm to stay a little longer, Evilia said.
If theres one thing Prosper Waco and Waco Independent School District leaders can agree on, its that theres no one-shot answer to improving education, health and financial stability in the city, Waco ISD Board President Pat Atkins said.

But with 29 initiatives implemented and at least three more in the pipeline since Prosper Waco launched in 2013, the collaboration between the two entities and many others will keep the city moving forward, Atkins said.

Prosper Waco executive director Matthew Polk gave an overview of the organizations progress at Thursday nights school board meeting. Prosper Waco focuses on bringing resources and community leaders together.

While Polk didnt go into all of the projects, he highlighted areas specific to education and showed how both health and financial stability can push others toward success.

Thats really what collective impact is about, realizing for a community faced with various challenges like poverty and so forth, theres not a silver bullet, Polk said.

He focused on the independent program Project Link, which connects Wacos graduating seniors to post-secondary education or workforce opportunities. When the program started, it only served Waco High School and La Vega High School. It expanded within the past year to University High, Polk said.

Based on data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, about 50 percent of Waco ISD students have moved on to a higher level of education in recent years, Polk said. Waco ISD has more than 15,000 students, over 80 percent of who are economically disadvantaged.

Among the students who are served by Project Link at University High School and La Vega last year, 73 percent enrolled in higher education this fall, Polk said. Small data points like that, those progress measures are encouraging and encourage our efforts to be collaborative and be strategic toward helping students reach higher education goals and ultimately, their financial security goals.

He said Prosper Waco is still looking at how to support students as they work through higher education.

At the other end of the public school pipeline, Prosper Waco is looking at data to identify what skills students are entering Waco ISD with and where achievement gaps might exist, Polk said.

Polk also said a new $3.4 million system of care grant implemented in October will connect social workers with students across several districts. It focuses on school-based mental health services, transitional age youth and respite services.

A new initiative called the Waco Foundation Employment Network is starting work to improve placement for entry-level job seekers. Job training, social service agencies, staffing agencies and employers are participating in the network, Polk said.

Every time you do something for a family, you do something for Waco ISD, Superintendent Bonny Cain said.

As for whats next, Prosper Waco wants to keep working with Waco ISD to improve communication.

The organization is also working on addressing transportation issues in the city and some other gaps, but Polk said nothing has officially been implemented yet.
Parties involved in preparing a reorganization plan for Waco-based Life Partners Holdings claim they are owed $37.5 million in fees and expenses for their work, but the U.S. Department of Justice is contesting that figure at the urging of creditors.

United States bankruptcy trustee William T. Neary called that figure disproportionately high, in a court filing. Neary has objected to requests, including Dallas law firm Thompson & Knights claim to more than $26 million.

T&K billed excessive fees in connection with its employment and preparation of its fee applications, according to the filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth. Some of the fees and expenses billed by T&K do not meet the standards for reasonableness promulgated by the bankruptcy court.

The firm filed a defense of its request Wednesday, saying it took on substantial risks in the case and that at the time the firm took over, no one could have realistically predicted the extraordinary results that have been achieved.

Thompson & Knights work prevented Chapter 7 liquidation and preserved and created hundreds of millions of dollars in value that will be paid to Life Partners investors, according to its filing.

The court has already approved $22.5 million in interim expenses and fees for the firm, according to Law 360.

Thompson & Knight, which has expertise in bankruptcy issues, was hired as an adviser to Thomas H. Moran, who served as trustee for Life Partners Holdings in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. Moran had experience in the life settlement industry but had never served as a Chapter 11 trustee.

Neary claims in his filing that T&K should have its request for $26 million reduced because of self-inflicted delays. These delays caused a competing reorganization plan to arise that complicated and delayed the process for months.

The issue of how much in fees the parties will receive affects the amount bankruptcy creditors will receive.

The federal trustee also raised issues about staffing inefficiencies at Thompson & Night; the billing of costs for meals and travel, which were not allowed; miscounted hours; and improper billing for conferencing sessions involving the parties.

The filing comes three months after a federal judge in Fort Worth approved a reorganization plan for Life Partners, once a powerhouse in the viatical industry.

Life Partners filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015 amid allegations it and founder Brian Pardo defrauded investors and put $1.4 billion in premiums at risk.

The action means Pardo has no further involvement in the entity he created in 1991 to broker sales of life insurance policies from terminally ill patients to investors from around the world.

The Securities and Exchange Commission imposed an almost $47 million judgment against Pardo and Life Partners for purposefully underestimating the life expectancy of clients selling policies, falsely inflating their value. The case prompted the bankruptcy filing.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Russell F. Nelms confirmed the reorganization plan after trustee H. Thomas Moran II spent months identifying 22,000 investors, holding town hall-style informational meetings in several cities and holding five weeks of hearings before Nelms in Fort Worth.

The ruling preserves a portfolio of life insurance policies with a face value of $2.4 billion and provides a more certain future for $1.4 billion in premiums, Moran said in a prepared statement at the time.

However, allegations in Nearys filing place preparation of the plan and requests for compensation under fire from previously defrauded investors in Life Partners.

In addition to fee applications from estate professionals and Mr. Moran, various creditor constituencies have filed applications for allowance of substantial contribution claims totaling at least $5.7 million, Neary wrote in the filing.

The bankruptcy court so far has allowed $500,000 of that total, he wrote.

Thompson & Knight is seeking $26 million in fees and expenses, which represents 70 percent of the total.

David Alford, a Waco attorney who specializes in bankruptcy issues but is not involved in the Life Partners case, said it is not unusual for a federal trustee to weigh in on the validity of claimed administrative fees and expenses related to a bankruptcy action.

He said fees appropriate for the settlement of a bankruptcy and approval of a plan all depends on the facts of the case.

David M. Bennett, a Thompson & Knight attorney who worked on the case, could not be reached for comment.
After 20 years, the big Outdoor Retailer trade show is leaving Salt Lake City  not because it ran out of space or got a better deal elsewhere but because Utah lawmakers opposed an expansion of the industrys biggest federal subsidy.

To most Americans, national parks and monuments are places to enjoy the outdoors while preserving natural and historical treasures. To the Outdoor Industry Association, theyre also a business necessity. It calls public lands the backbone of the industrys sales.

Utah elected officials do not support public lands conservation nor do they value the economic benefits  $12 billion in consumer spending and 122,000 jobs  that the outdoor recreation industry brings to their state, Rose Marcario, the president and chief executive of Patagonia, declared in a statement announcing that her company would no longer attend the Salt Lake City show.

Other industry leaders, including Polartec and Arcteryx Equipment Inc., quickly joined in. Then after a conference call with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert that ended on a curt note, the shows organizers said theyll go elsewhere when their contract expires next year. Colorado is campaigning for their business.

At issue is the December designation of 1.35 million acres of federal land as Bears Ears National Monument. How to preserve the area has long been a contentious subject in Utah. President Barack Obamas late-term action thrilled environmentalists and tribal leaders, upset ranchers and other rural residents, and thwarted oil and mineral development and the blue-collar jobs it might mean. The Republican governor, legislature, and congressional delegation all opposed the designation. In response, the legislature passed a resolution calling on the Trump administration to reverse Obamas decision. When the governor signed it, calls for the boycott began.

Since it frankly acknowledges that its sales depend on public lands, is the outdoor industry applying a moral veneer to its quest for profits? Or is it using a corporate fig leaf to promote managers political views? The two motives are in fact impossible to separate. And when it comes to public lands, the outdoor industry shares the view of pioneering labor leader Samuel Gompers: We do want more, and when it becomes more, we shall still want more.

As Ive previously written, the industry is one example of a much larger cultural and economic phenomenon: the shift from function to meaning as a source of economic value and, with it, the melding of consumption, politics and identity. What we buy increasingly expresses who we are.

Brands built on specific political or cultural values will inevitably take public stances, using their economic clout to influence public policy, whether out of genuine conviction, cold-eyed market positioning, or both. Its not surprising that Patagonia Inc., the outdoor apparel brand most prominently built on its political stances, led the anti-Utah charge.

The bigger question is whether in the Trump era brands that arent traditionally political will feel forced to choose sides. Overtly political shopping is on the rise. Every week seems to bring a new boycott: against North Carolina over its bathroom bill, Nordstrom Inc. stores because they carry  or discontinue  Ivanka Trumps merchandise, Kellogg Company for dropping ads on Breitbart News, Under Armour Inc. for its chief executives nice words about Donald Trump, Starbucks Corporation for pledging to hire refugees, and on and on. Wegmans Food Markets Inc. recently sold out of Trump Winery products in Virginia. The reason: calls for the chain to drop the wines, which produced a pro-Trump backlash.

Wine, breakfast cereal, workout clothes and business apparel arent inherently political goods. Brand choices choices may reflect largely unconscious tribal affinities, but they allow some play. You can eat organic food and vote Republican or drive an SUV and vote Democratic. Conservatives can enjoy Meryl Streep and liberals can esteem Clint Eastwood. Vote right, live left, an urbanite conservative advised me many years ago. Despite Trumps frequent attacks on Jeff Bezos, Americans of all stripes like Amazon.com.

Now, however, that pluralism is at risk. We seem headed toward an economy of red brands and blue brands, red employers and blue employers, with no common ground. In this context, the outdoor industrys action is a disturbing bellwether, as is the increasing partisanship of once-evenhanded fashion magazines like Vogue.

Outdoor activity appeals to Americans of all political persuasions, and the countrys western landscape has long helped define the national identity. People can disagree over how best to enjoy and protect that landscape, and how to weigh preservation against other values, while still sharing much in common. Enforcing the party line by declaring an entire state off limits is an extreme step.

Writing with the memory of religious wars, insightful French wit Voltaire in 1733 offered a peaceful alternative. Go into the London Stock Exchange  a more respectable place than many a court  and you will see representatives from all nations gathered together for the utility of men, he wrote:

Here Jew, Mohammedan and Christian deal with each other as though they were all of the same faith, and only apply the word infidel to people who go bankrupt. Here the Presbyterian trusts the Anabaptist and the Anglican accepts a promise from the Quaker. On leaving these peaceful and free assemblies some go to the Synagogue and others for a drink, this one goes to be baptized in a great bath in the name of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, that one has his sons foreskin cut and has some Hebrew words he doesnt understand mumbled over the child, others go to their church and await the inspiration of God with their hats on, and everybody is happy.

Once the great solvent of difference, commerce threatens to become its enforcer. And everyone is unhappy.

Virginia Postrel is the author of The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion.
Israel has proven itself over the years to be the 51st state in the United States. It is the tail wagging the dog. Its political prowess and influence are probably the equivalent of eight or 10 U.S. states combined.

Israel is a serious welfare state. It receives, from the United States, more foreign aid than any other country in the world. Roughly 10 percent of its population is so religious that they are exempt from military service and draw state welfare so they can spend their days doing religious activities, such as praying at the Western Wall.

About 2 percent of the Israeli population is Christian, and most of the Christian population is Palestinian. The Palestinians have hoped for years to have a nation of their own in the Middle East. Thus, we hear of the traditional view of the two-state solution of Israel: Israel and Palestine as separate, side-by-side states.

The Palestinians have languished with this hope for decades, only to have their hopes dashed time and again. And now more dashed hopes: Time magazine reports Israel approved 2,500 new building permits in the disputed West Bank just four days after Donald Trump took office. Some Israelis appear almost giddy at the prospect of finally rolling over the Palestinians once and for all.

During his subsequent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump said famously that he would be happy to support a one-state or two-state solution, whichever was agreed to by both Israelis and Palestinians  a position that prompted outrage by Palestinians and leaders worldwide who see the two-state solution as critical for Mideast peace. Tragically, many evangelical Christians in the United States are fully on board with the Israeli destruction of all hope of the Palestinian people.

Through the years, much of the Israeli narrative has been to promote the view that all Arabs are Islamic terrorists. Therefore, when someone in the United States hears the words, Arab or Palestinian, they often automatically think terrorists. In this narrative, all Arabs should be treated with the same distrust and disdain that many Americans have for both Muslims in general and Islamic terrorists in particular. This rather paradoxical disconnect in thought leads to the illogical conclusion that Arab Christians in Israel are really just Arab terrorists simply because theyre still Arabs. It is as irrational as it sounds.

When it comes to the issue of a Palestinian State or the issue of the Arabic people in general, many evangelical Christians seem to leave their Bibles at home. Suddenly the words of Jesus have no application to the environs of the Middle East. The only thing that matters is the final big battle of Armageddon near the biblical place called Megiddo, in the Jezreel Valley, south of modern-day Haifa, Israel.

Jesus says our final judgment will include whether we invited in or welcomed the stranger (Matthew 22:35). If the Palestinians and Palestinian Christians are strangers to us, then our work as Christians must be to figure out how to welcome and invite them in.

Our faith does not tell us to usurp their privileges, which seems to be the plan behind the West Bank settlement movement. If Israel allows enough squatters to build enough settlements, then the logical conclusion is the land is theirs. Israel seems to hope that the public sentiment will be the view that the squatters removal is inhumane. They cannot be just forcibly removed from where they are living and putting down roots  even though, yes, it is someone elses property.

However, this is precisely what has been done to the Palestinians by the Israelis. The ancient land of Palestine, in the hands of the Palestinians for centuries, has been forcibly taken from them by the Israelis with the quiet and at times not-so-quiet support of the Christian evangelical community in the United States.

In doing so, we Christians help push aside the stranger. How do we now regain our Christian integrity and invite in or welcome the stranger?

Hal Ritter is a retired minister, counselor and educator.
WASHINGTON  While serving as Oklahomas attorney general, new Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt coordinated closely with fossil-fuel companies and special interest groups working to undermine federal efforts to curb planet-warming carbon emissions, newly released emails show.

More than 7,500 pages were released under court order Tuesday evening after an Oklahoma judge ruled that Pruitt had been illegally withholding his correspondence, which is public record under state law, for the last two years.

Pruitts office was forced to release the emails after he was sued by the Center for Media and Democracy, a left-leaning advocacy group. Other emails are still being held back pending further review by the judge.

The Republican-dominated Senate voted on Friday to confirm President Donald Trumps pick to lead EPA. Democrats had sought to delay the vote on Pruitts confirmation until the requested emails were released, but Republican leaders used their slim majority to push Pruitt through.

The emails show Pruitt and his staff coordinating their legal strategy with oil and gas industry executives and conservative advocacy groups funded by those profiting from fossil fuels, including the billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch. While serving as Oklahomas elected state lawyer for the last six years, Pruitt sued federal agencies more than a dozen times to challenge stricter environmental regulations.

Among the emails is a series of 2013 exchanges between Pruitts staff and Richard Moskowitz, general counsel for the Washington-based American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers. The lawyer detailed the industrys plan to seek waivers from the federal rules boosting the use of renewable fuels and asked Pruitt to make a specific legal argument under air pollution regulations known as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The email was copied to Thomas Bates, then Pruitts first assistant attorney general.

We think it would be most effective for Oklahoma to file a separate waiver petition that emphasizes severe environmental harm, as this argument is more credible coming from a state with primary responsibility for achieving and maintaining attainment with the NAAQS, Moskowitz wrote.

Moskowitzs email was then forwarded to Pruitts deputy solicitor general, P. Clayton Eubanks, who replied that he knew little about the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and asked for further instructions about what the trade group wanted them to do.

I think it is safe to say that AG Pruitt has an interest in the issue, Eubanks wrote. Hopefully I havent missed the boat too much on these questions but I want to make sure I fully understand what Oklahomas role will be.

Now working at EPA, Pruitt did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
By Press Trust of India: From Kunal Dutt

On board Special Aircraft, Feb 24 (PTI) Underlining their shared concern on the menace of "cross-border terrorism", India, Rwanda and Uganda have condemned it and said "resolute and credible steps" must be taken to eliminate safe havens and terror sanctuaries.

"Our co-operation with African countries is well- appreciated and well-known... And, on the phenomenon of terrorism, which is a matter of concern for us, and also for them (Rwanda, Uganda), there is a total meeting of minds. We have all condemned it in all forms," Vice President Hamid Ansari today said.

advertisement

The Vice President was interacting with the accompanying media delegation en route to New Delhi from Kampala, which he left late last night after concluding his five-day two-nation tour, which also took him to another East African country Rwanda.

His visit to Rwanda, first high-level visit from India, was from February 19-21 and to Uganda from February 21-23, was the first bilateral high-level visit since 1997.

Both Rwanda and Uganda issued joint statements with India, asserting there was "no justification" for terrorism.

"Both leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stressed that there can be no justification for any act of terrorism, irrespective of motivations, wherever and by whosoever committed."

"In this context, both sides underlined their shared concerns on the menace of cross-border terrorism and stressed the importance of international efforts to prevent and fight terrorism," the Rwanda-India Joint Statement said.

On February, addressing a gathering at the University of Rwanda, Ansari had, in a veiled attack on Pakistan, said, "Threat of terrorism is a major hurdle in our quest for peace and India also faces it from across its borders" and had called for "concerted international efforts" to deal with this menace in a "comprehensive manner".

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Ansari too issued a joint statement in Entebbe, condemning the menace of terrorism.

"Vice President Ansari and President Museveni unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stressed that there can be no justification for any act of terrorism, irrespective of motivations, wherever and by whosoever committed."

"In this context, both sides underlined their shared concerns on the menace of terrorism and stressed the importance of international efforts to prevent and fight terrorism," the India-Uganda Joint Statement said.

All three leaders agreed that "resolute and credible steps must be taken to eliminate safe havens and sanctuaries that provide shelter to terrorists and their activities." PTI KND AMS AKJ AMS

--- ENDS ---
WAHOO  The Saunders County Democrats will host a county-wide meeting Feb. 25 at the Wahoo Public Library.

The 11 a.m. meeting will discuss programs of the state party, summer parades and receive nominations for the groups vice-chair.

According to Saunders County Democrats Chairperson Mikel-Jon Divis, the group has long existed, but is currently undergoing a rebuilding phase.

My goal is to be more visible as a group, Divis said.

That will include a county-wide meeting once every three months during a non-election year at different locations throughout the county, Divis added.

He said the group represents the countys approximately 4,000 registered democrats.

Were a voice for those roughly 4,000, he said.

Registered democrats or independents may attend meetings, but only registered democrats are able to vote.

Saunders County Democrats Communications Coordinator Emily Koehler said despite not being a major election year, the party remains active with future goals.

This year the Democratic Party lost over 1,000 seats nationwide, so its pretty important to get county party involvement back up, so that way we can get democrats back in office, Koehler said.

Rebuilding the county party is not just a goal in Saunders County, Divis said.

Since Jane Kleeb was elected the Nebraska Democratic Party chair in December 2016, the state party has become more involved in providing assistance to build county democratic parties, he added.

The county parties fall in line and adopt the state partys same initiatives, as voted on by representatives from each countys party, Divis said.

According to the state partys website, some sectors of interest include economic development, public education, government, human services and natural resources.

Koehler said rebuilding support at the county level is vital.

Over the last years we have lost a lot of participation and involvement in the rural areas specifically, she said. Its important to have at least a two-party political system to avoid tyranny of the majority.

Divis added that political engagement from both major parties is important.

We can still work with anyone in the county to promote a strong democracy, he said.

For more information, visit the groups Facebook page or website at www.saundersconedemocrats.com.

Questions or requests for the groups periodical newsletter can be directed to Koehler at saunders.ne.democrat@gmail.com.
PRAGUE  Participants will be sharpening pool cues early Saturday morning, readying for the sixth annual Bohunk Billiards Classic at the St. Johns Parish Hall in Prague.

Single-contestant play starts at 10 a.m., but players arrive around 8 a.m. to begin practicing and warming up for the days events, said Jamey Hanis, chairman of the Prague Improvement and Maintenance Project.

Eight pool tables in the parish hall will host nearly 60 participants from across the area, including Omaha, Columbus, Schuyler, North Bend, Snyder, Leshara and Fremont, Hanis said.

The singles tournament is double elimination and will follow Valley National 8-ball League Association (VNEA) rules, Hanis said.

Payouts for the top eight spots in the tournament max out between $250 and $300, depending on the number of participants, he said.

Entry into the tournament closed Feb. 18, but the $25 each participant paid add to sponsorships dollars that will go toward new park equipment in Prague and the summers annual Beer Barrel Days.

Hanis said construction for the park is set for this spring and the equipment should arrive the second week of April, weather permitting

Saturdays billiards tournament is open to all able ages.

We have teenagers to people in their early 80s, Hanis said.

There is no skill-level requirement either. Hanis said some players are mainly there to donate funds toward the cause and have fun, but for others, pool is definitely their hobby or sport.

At the higher level, theres a lot of strategy that goes with your future shots, he said.

The tournament wraps up around 9 p.m., which makes for a long day, Hanis said.

The pool tables move in the night before, but the days activities include the trio of organizers filling kitchen shifts, bartender shifts and clean-up afterward.

Lunch service begins at 11 a.m. at the Parish Hall.

We have different volunteers all day. Martin Prochaska prepares all the pork for sandwiches and then others donate and serve salads and desserts, he said.

Hanis also said much of the tournaments success can be attributed to the sponsors.

Our sponsorships are great. Lots of them have been doing it for the last six years, he said.

Hanis said spectators are welcome to attend.
The Smithsonian Institution announced at a ceremony today that the Apollo 11 command module Columbiathe only portion of the historic spacecraft to complete the first mission to land a man on the moon and safely return him to Earthwill be exhibited at The Museum of Flight on the fiftieth anniversary of its Moon flight. The iconic capsule will leave the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum for the first time in 46 years for the two-year traveling exhibition Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission.

The Museum of Flight will be one of four destinations for Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission during its national tour beginning in April 2018. The exhibition comes to The Museum of Flight in Seattle March 16-Sept. 2, 2019, making it the last stopand only West Coast destinationof the tour. Following Seattle, the Apollo 11 command module will return to Washington, D.C., where it will be part of a new gallery opening in 2020 at the National Air and Space Museum.

Past adventures to the Moon begin this year at The Museum of Flight in May 20, with the opening of Apollo. Using rare artifacts from the Museum of Flights collection, this major exhibit will immerse visitors into the early story of spaceflight and into the Apollo Moon missions. Apollo will will be modified with the opening of the Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission.

About Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission

Through original Apollo 11-flown objects, models, videos and interactives, visitors will learn about the historic journey of the Apollo 11 crew-Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission will include an interactive 3-D tour, created from high-resolution scans of Columbia performed at the Smithsonian in spring 2016. The interactives will allow visitors to explore the entire craft including its intricate interior, an interior that has been inaccessible to the public until now.

>On July 24, 1969, Apollo 11 met President John F. Kennedys 1961 challenge to land a man on the moon and return him safely to the Earth. The exhibition will explore what led the United States to accept this challenge and how the resulting 953,054-mile voyage to the moon and back was accomplished just eight years after the program was authorized. Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission will examine the mission and shed a light on some of the more than 400,000 people employed in NASA programs who worked through the trials, tragedies and triumphs of the 20 missions from 1961 to 1969 before Apollo 11.

The tour will mark the first time Columbia will leave the National Air and Space Museum since the museum opened to the public in 1976. Before entering the collection, the command module traveled on a 50-state tour throughout 1970 and 1971 covering more than 26,000 miles. It then went on display in the Smithsonians Arts and Industries Building before the current National Air and Space Museum was built on the National Mall.

Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission is made possible by the support of Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos, Joe Clark, Bruce R. McCaw Family Foundation, the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, John and Susann Norton, and Gregory D. and Jennifer Walston Johnson. Transportation services for Destination Moon are provided by FedEx.

The traveling exhibition previews part of a new gallery opening at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which is slated to open in 2020. Destination Moon at the museum will tell the story of human exploration of the moon, from ancient dreams to the Apollo program to the missions happening right now.





About The Museum of Flight

Founded in 1965, the independent, nonprofit Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, serving more than 560,000 visitors annually. The Museums collection includes more than 160 historically significant airplanes and spacecraft, from the first fighter plane (1914) to todays 787 Dreamliner. Attractions at the 20-acre, 5-building Seattle campus include the original Boeing Company factory, and the only full-scale NASA Space Shuttle Trainer. With a foundation of aviation history, the Museum is also a hub of news and dialogue with leaders in the emerging field of private spaceflight ventures. The Museums aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast. More than 150,000 individuals are served annually by the Museums onsite and outreach educational programs. The Museum of Flight is accredited by the American Association of Museums, and is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field halfway between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum admission for adults is $23 on-site and $21 online. Youth 5 through 17 are $14 on-site and $13 online, youth 4 and under are free. Seniors 65 and over $19 on-site and $18 online. Groups of ten or more: $21 per adult, $13 per youth, Thanks to Wells Fargo, on the first Thursday of every month, admission is free from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. And parking is always free. There is a full lunch menu cafe in the Museum and a limited menu cafe in the Aviation Pavilion, both operated by McCormick & Schmicks. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Feb 24 (PTI) Indias concerns over sovereignty relating to the USD 46-billion CPEC is "unwarranted", Chinese state media today said, asking New Delhi to take an "objective and more pragmatic" view of Chinas ambitious Silk Road project.

The comments in an oped piece in Global Times comes after Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on February 22 co-chaired the upgraded India-China Strategic Dialogue in Beijing.

advertisement

After the dialogue, Jaishankar told reporters that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which runs through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), violates Indias sovereignty.

The CPEC is part of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative, the official name of the Silk Road initiative.

Reacting to Jaishankars remarks, the article said Indias concerns were "unwarranted". "China respects Indias sovereignty concerns. Taking a strong stand on territorial issues is important, but its hoped India could adopt an objective and more pragmatic attitude towards the One Belt, One Road proposal."

Chinas Foreign Ministry is yet to react to Indias stand.

The article, however, asked India to take part in the Silk Road summit to be held in Beijing in May, stressing the "potential economic benefits" of CPEC and packaging it as a project promoting greater regional cooperation.

Chinas President Xi Jinping has convened the summit. Leaders of about 20 nations have confirmed participation, the Chinese foreign ministry has said without identifying them.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickramasinghe are expected to attend the event.

Calling on India to soften its stand, the article said, "New Delhi fears that the CPEC, passing through the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, would serve the purpose of granting legitimacy to Pakistans control over the region, and by promoting the construction of the corridor, China intends to meddle in the Kashmir dispute. These concerns are unwarranted."

"China has no intention of interfering in the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. China has long believed that the two neighbours should solve their dispute through dialogue and consultations, and it has repeatedly emphasised that the construction of the CPEC would not affect its stance on the issue," it said.

Chinas OBOR initiatives stated aim is to link countries in Asia, Africa and Europe to promote "an open and inclusive global economy" by building regional trade networks and enhancing connectivity for future growth.

Also, the article said,"India should not view Pakistans development as a threat. As long as India is willing to, China, Pakistan and India could cooperate to tap the vast economic potential in the disputed Kashmir region." PTI KJV ABH

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
By Dave OMalley

In 1967, just 22 years after the end of the Second World War, when the producers of the epic motion picture Battle of Britain contracted with the legendary Group Captain Hamish Mahaddie, RAF to wrangle extant Spitfires from across the United Kingdom, there were only 14 airworthy examples in the world  from a full production run of more than 20,000 of all marks. The film production company restored another three Spitfires to round out the roster for the film as not all the owners of flyable Spits were keen on lending them for use in the film. According to Peter Arnold, who, along with Gordon Riley and Graham Trant, authored the two expansive volumes of Spitfire SurvivorsThen and Now, 85 Spitfires have flown since that date. Thats a 600% increase in flyable airframes. Today he estimates that 56 Spitfires and Seafires are currently flyable. As early as 1960, author Bruce Robertson in Spitfire Story of a Famous Fighter, put the number of survivors (airworthy and otherwise) at just 80. When a reprint of the same book came out in 1973 , that number had grown to 127. Today, Arnold, Riley and Trant have calculated that number to be 282 Spitfires (both flyable and non-flyable) and build projects under way. That extraordinary growth is the result of one thingthe belief held by certain people that a Spitfire should be free to dance the skies and tell the stories of those boys from so long ago. These people are the men and women of the warbird world and the people who fund them.

There are those who believe that an inanimate object as precious and as central to world history as a Supermarine Spitfire should be grounded, conserved, roped off and displayed to ensure its continued existence for all those who would study it. To fly it or even to take it out of doors is to diminish the lifespan of the object. To display it in anything but its original markings and condition is to alter history. To fly it is risking too much.

Then there are those who think it isnt an inanimate object at all and should not be kept in captivity, no matter how well-intentioned. Historical artifacts are often experienced only through interpretation and sight. See it, read the plaque, move on. But a Supermarine Spitfire played its role in a very real worldone with smells, sounds and textures as well as visual qualities. As such, it is better understood in its environmentthe environment that its pilots lived, fought and died in. With nearly all Second World War Spitfire pilots now dead, soon only the aircraft themselves will remain to tell the story.

Inanimate objects are those without a soul or life force, like a rock or a dinner plate, but a Spitfire has a soul, one that remains in its bones forever. That soul that life force spread into its structure the first time a pilot plunked his ass on its seat and stroked its leather-wrapped spade-grip or toggled a switch with a finger tip. The smell of very human sweat and even blood are mixed with those of high octane petrol, glycol leaks and sun-heated paintwork. From that first moment on, the movements of its ailerons and its tail feathers, the pace of its heart beat, the heights to which it climbed and the vectors it followed were all expressions of a pilots desire. We can never look at a Spitfire and see only metal and fabric, for our perspective is altered by history, by youth, by blood and bone.

Soon, another aircraft will join the growing flock of free-range SpitfiresSupermarine Spitfire Mk IX, RAF serial number TE294. Twenty years ago, nothing more than a pile of rotting metal and loose components, TE294 had almost been subsumed by the earth from which she cameher aluminum and steel structure corroding and breaking down in a scrapyard in South Africa, her wings long gone, component parts stolen or vandalized. Only to someone who could recognize her broken, twisted and rusted bones was she still a Spitfire. In the 1990s, TE294 was rescued, the decline to dust arrested, and the long, long journey to living warbird commenced. From South Africa, her boxed bones travelled to British Columbia, Canada, where a group of passionate volunteers at the Comox Air Force Museum took on her daunting rebuild as a millennium project and as an homage to the wartime pilots of 442 Squadron, a Search and Rescue squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force still residing on the flight line at 19 Wing, Comox.

For a number of years, the Comox team made steady progress, but continued funding the extremely expensive enterprise became problematic. Mike Potter and Vintage Wings of Canada were approached to offer assistance in terms of expertise, facilities and above all funding. The transition of control to Vintage Wings was not without controversy and detractors, but the Comox Air Force Museum website explains it best: In 2000, the Comox Air Force Museum, with a grant from the Y2K Millennium Fund, purchased TE 294 and embarked on the Y2K Spitfire Project. The project was funded entirely by donations and grants from the general public and the restoration proceeded slowly. By 2007 only the fuselage and tail section had been completed and it was becoming obvious that a massive infusion of cash would be needed if the project was to continue. In 2008, the Museum presented a decision paper to the Wing Commander of 19 Wing, Comox. It concluded that unless a new owner could be found the Museum would be compelled to shut the project down and dispose of the unfinished aircraft. The Wing Commander accepted the findings, and the plane was offered to other museums and agencies who might be interested in completing the restoration. Vintage Wings of Canada, a Heritage Foundation based in Gatineau, Quebec, was willing to take over responsibility for the project in-situ and provide the estimated $1.6 million [Considerably more-Ed] required to finish it to flying status.

The project has made steady progress for a number of years and passed many milestones, none of which would have been possible without the funding and support of Michael Potter, founder of Vintage Wings of Canada. Throughout this build, Mike has steadfastly supported, encouraged and funded the Vintech teams in both Comox and in Gatineau. It is because of Potters considerable interest in Canadian military aviation history and his substantial financial support that soon the Roseland Spitfire will become the very first true Canadian Spitfirebuilt from the spars up in Canada by Canadians for Canadians. Without Potters involvement in this project, it is fairly certain that it would not be today a Canadian Spitfire, with the project going to Great Britain or the United States. Not only is this aircraft the first Spitfire to be built in Canada from a data plate, it is indeed the first Spitfire ever to be built from scratch in North America. Given the extraordinary connection to the Spitfire we as a nation have, the coming first flight of Y2-K will be a national event, one we hope will be shared with many millions of Canadians to come.

There are many people who have been critical to the rebuilding of this remarkable aircraft, the first of which were the original Y2-K team members from Comox. Their creative and audacious idea now seems close to reality. In addition, the Comox Vintech Aero teamKen Hazell, Dean Sept, Kaven Tremblay, Henry Bukach and Terry Chesterbuilt the main fuselage, cockpit and tail assembly. The quality of their work took our collective breath away when the fuselage was unveiled at a special hangar dinner in October of 2014.

Now that the end of the rebuild is in sight, I asked Ken Wood how he feels about this incredible accomplishment. There is so much I dont know, he said, but I have learned a lot in the years that I have spent on this project. The jump from a traditional parts changer AME to a full-on restoration of a vintage warbird of this caliber is unimaginable, requiring a whole other mind set. Its like learning a totally new trade. You cant just order the part and install it, you literally have to make the tool before you can even make the part, and the part has to fit. Talk about measuring twice and cutting once! You have to measure ten times cause if you screw up, it could have monumental side effects both in time and money.

Yes there have been many sleepless nights, and there will be more, but to have been given the opportunity to find out what it is I am really capable of is an honor. None of this would be remotely possible without the determination of Mike Potter, for his never failing desire to reach a goal, no matter what. The resources required, not just financial, but knowledge, sub-contracts and personnel are enormous. It is certainly a team effort and Im glad to be a small part of it. There is still so much to learn.

The truth is, I cant push Ken Wood to put himself in the centre of this accomplishment, no matter how hard I try. Any attempts are met with a quiet shaking of the head and a sweep of the arm across the hangar floor where his fellow AMEs are labouring. Its a team effort he says, and no one person is responsible for this except maybe Mike Potter. Ive had so much help from some incredibly talented peopleadvice and support from British Spitfire builder Ian Ward in the beginning along with structural help from Mario Geuvrement, systems support from highly experienced warbird engineers Paul Tremblay, Andrej Janik, Guy Richard, Mark Dufresne, Gerry Bettridge, Andre Laviolette, Pat Tenger and aircraft painter Korrey Foisey. It takes more than mechanics to build something like this though it needed the support of men like Kevin Forbes, president of Vintech Aero who has listened and supported and had my back on this project all along. Instead of putting up road blocks, Kevin has swept ahead, expediting delivery of key subcontracted components and writing some pretty substantial cheques along the way. Thanks to Shannon Wattie as well for sorting out all the invoices and accounting. The work itself is rewarding, theres no doubt, but working with these guys has been humbling.

There will be a few weeks of paper work to prepare, bringing everything to a close with ts crossed and is dotted, but Wood is confident that before the end of this summer, a completed Roseland Spitfire will be rolled from the hangar and chocked in front of the ramp on a fine and clear flying day. To some who will be present, it will be a beautiful object with a beautiful history. But to others, the ones of us who know in our hearts that she is more than aluminum, steel and fabric, this first Canadian Spitfire will have been born with a remarkable soulone of indescribable melancholy and exuberant joy. As every piece of her was formed and made fast to other pieces, it was with the memory of young Arnold Roseland in mind. His beautiful life, his sacrifice, his loneliness, his last terror-filled moments have become part of this machines story, spiraling in its DNA, amping through its emotional wiring, surrounding its metal like some ghostly magnetic field. As she climbs with a thundering heart into the sky once again, I will think of Rosey and all that he never got to do. I will think of his courage, the heartbreak of his family and his beautiful memory. I will think of his sons and the father they really never knew.

I will also think of all the effort that it took to get her to this point, the friends I have watched build her, and the man who was determined to make it happen. I will likely cry.

Thanks to Dave OMalley and Vintage Wings of Canada for allowing us to republish this update. To sign up for the Vintage News, the monthly newsletter of Vintage Wings of Canada, click HERE.

[inpost_galleria thumb_width=200 thumb_height=200 post_id=28631 thumb_margin_left=3 thumb_margin_bottom=0 thumb_border_radius=2 thumb_shadow=0 1px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) id= random=0 group=0 border= show_in_popup=0 album_cover= album_cover_width=200 album_cover_height=200 popup_width=800 popup_max_height=600 popup_title=Gallery type=yoxview sc_id=sc1487904546915]
Shireena Sambyal, who plays Kunal Jaisingh's ex-girlfriend Riddhima in Ishqbaaz, got married recently.

By India Today Web Desk: Shireena Sambyal, who plays Kunal Jaisingh's ex-girlfriend Riddhima in Ishqbaaz, tied the knot with her pilot beau Vishnu Rao on Feb 15, in a lavish ceremony.

Shireena broke the news on Twitter: "15/02/2017- A new phase with a new name. 'Mrs Shireena Sambyal Rao'."

Picture courtesy: Twitter/Shireena Sambyal

Picture courtesy: Twitter/Shireena Sambyal

Picture courtesy: Twitter/Shireena Sambyal

Also read: Ishqbaaz's spin-off Dil Boley Oberoi rakes in TRPs; cast excited

advertisement

The actress looked breathtaking in a bright red lehenga and heavy jewellery; red bindi and a dash of red lipstick completed her look.

The couple got engaged last year and Vishnu's proposal was really special. He took his ladylove to Iceland and proposed to her in front of a church. Obviously, Shireena said yes.

Also read: Dil Bole Oberoi review: The show is an overdose of Ishqbaaz

The couple met through a common friend and after going on several lunch and dinner dates, they started dating.

A hearty congratulations to the newlyweds.

--- ENDS ---
Rents in Waterford City have risen by 11.3% in the last year and the average rent is now 1191. In the rest of Waterford,...
HOT on the heels of Waterford City being named the Best Place To Live, it was announced this week that 27m is to be...
Valentines Day is a time to reflect and appreciate the relationships in our lives. However, it can also be a time to reflect on...
The team at Waterford Walls has hardly been able to contain its excitement this week as it brings another exciting artwork to the city....
Empty and derelict pubs in Waterford can now be converted into houses without the need for planning permission. The Minister for Housing Darragh OBrien has...
WATERFORD is marking time with a new museum in the Viking Triangle. The Irish Museum of Time is the first of its kind in the...
IMAGINING Arts was about all we could do over the last 18 months or so, but now we need imagine no more. Celebrating its 20th...
The state government had in December 2015 envisaged the idea of supplying drinking water through rail service from Sangli district to parched Latur.

By Press Trust of India: When Maharashtra government first announced to send a water train to drought-hit Latur in 2015, one would have remotely imagined that it would reap a major political success for BJP in the Congress pocket borough.

Making a strong inroad, BJP is likely to win the polls to Latur Zilla Parishad with the party leading on 30 seats out of total 58.(Final tally is awaited.)

advertisement

A Congress stronghold for the past six decades, Latur has been home to two former chief ministers and nine former Home ministers of Congress.

The state government had in December 2015 envisaged the idea of supplying drinking water through rail service from Sangli district to parched Latur.

BJP spokesperson Ram Kadam said, "We succeeded in giving a strong message of BJP cares for rural people and we can solve their issues. The water train was not only for the city but we provided (water) to neighbouring areas. We also undertook several works of Jalyukta Shivir. This perception benefited us largely."

Kadam was also the in-charge of Latur looking at the water train project.

THE WATER TRAIN'S JOURNEY

The train, named Jaldoot, was run jointly by Indian Railways and state government, carried 50 wagons of water from Miraj junction and traversed 340-kms away to Latur city. There, the water was collected in a well located near railway tracks and was further carried into the city.

It would take nearly 14 hours to fill Jaldoot, carrying 25 lakh litres of water.

Since its first trip on April 11, 2016, the train made 106 ferries till August to Latur.

WATCH: BMC election 2017: Is it victory or defeat for BJP with party losing Mumbai ALSO READ:

Maharashtra civic polls in nutshell: BJP second best to Shiv Sena in Mumbai but top across state

Modi congratulates Devendra Fadnavis after BJP hits new high in Maharashtra civic elections

Why Congress became irrelevant as Mumbai voted for Shiv Sena, rest of Maharashtra largely for BJP

--- ENDS ---
A GoFundMe page created to support the family of Kansas shooting victim Srinivas Kuchibhotla raised over 260,000 dollars in less than 15 hours.

By India Today Web Desk: Srinivas Kuchibhotla, a 32-year-old US-based engineer, was one of the two Indians who was shot at by a drunk racist man in a Kansas bar on Wednesday. Later that night, Srinivas died from his gun shot wounds.

As Srinivas's family deals with the horror of his murder, some of his friends opened a GoFundMe page yesterday in an effort to provide them with some financial support.

advertisement

"We've set up this fund to help them with the funeral expenses and other ongoing grief/recovery support costs," reads the description. "This includes the very expensive process of carrying his mortal remains back to India, so his parents can say goodbye one last time to their beloved son."

In less than eight hours, the page crossed its goal amount of 150,000 dollars.

Also read:

Indian killed in Kansas bar shooting: Donald Trump behind murder, says Srinivas Kuchibhotla's family

US embassy condemns Indian-origin engineer's killing in Kansas City bar shooting

"Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone," reads the GoFundMe page. "He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being."

As of now, the page has raised 261,996 dollars in 15 hours, with as many as 7,189 people contributing.

Here are some of the moving messages that people from across the world left on the page:

Source: GoFundMe

Source: GoFundMe

--- ENDS ---
Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed at a bar in Kansas City by a gunman who shouted 'get out of my country' before opening fire.

By Reuters: Working, partying and travelling across the United States, Indian aviation engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was living his American dream in Kansas City.

That dream was shattered on Wednesday.

A local man shot dead Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani in a case U.S. federal authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime.

Local media quoted eyewitnesses saying the attacker shouted "get out of my country" before opening fire as the colleagues shared an after-work drink in a local bar.

advertisement

The shooting has sparked outrage in India, with criticism mounting that U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" rhetoric is fuelling intolerance towards immigrants.

The Indian government expressed its shock and condemned the incident, but Kuchibhotla's relatives called for more action.

"The government should voice this out strongly, because our brothers, sisters and our relatives are there," Kuchibhotla's brother, Venu Madhav, told Reuters Television, standing outside his home in the southern city of Hyderabad.

"If you really look into this incident, this is not done by a teenager or a burglar," Madhav said, referring to the 51-year-old attacker.

Through a window, relatives could be seen sitting quietly, one woman wiping away tears.

Kuchibhotla was one of many ambitious young Indians who go abroad each year in search of a better education and career prospects.

More than 3 million Indians live in the United States. As a community, they are twice as well off as other Americans, with an average household income of more than $100,000.

The Southern Poverty Law Center said the number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second year in a row in 2016, linking the increase to Trump's presidential candidacy, and this week's incident has further heightened concerns among Indians about their treatment there.

"Thank God my son survived the firing," Madasani's father, Jaganmohan Reddy, told The Hindu newspaper.

"After the nightmarish incident, do we really need to go and work in (the) U.S.?"

THE AMERICAN DREAM

After obtaining a bachelor's degree in technology in India, Kuchibhotla left his home town of Hyderabad for El Paso, Texas, to pursue a master's degree in electrical engineering, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He then worked as a software and systems engineer at Rockwell Collins, Iowa.

Married about four years ago, Kuchibhotla, who called himself "Srinu" on his Facebook page, and his wife spent their early years of marriage watching Bollywood movies, celebrating New Year's eve by clicking selfies and travelling across the United States.

"Four states, 1,500 miles, three days and finally at Dallas to end year 2013," his wife wrote on her Facebook page at the time.

advertisement

Later, Kuchibhotla switched jobs to join Garmin International as an engineer, working on designs and flight test activities.

On Thursday, he and his colleague Madasani were at Austins Bar and Grill in Kansas when the shooting took place.

Kuchibhotla's former colleague, Kavipriya Muthuramalingam, fondly remembered him as a dear friend who would never be confrontational.

"It's tragic," she told Reuters. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

WATCH: Kansas bar shooting: Gunman who killed Indian engineer arrested ALSO READ:

US embassy condemns Indian-origin engineer's killing in Kansas City bar shooting

Kansas shooting hero Ian Grillot: It's not about where he's from, or ethnicity. We're all humans

Indian killed in Kansas bar shooting: Donald Trump behind murder, says Srinivas Kuchibhotla's family

--- ENDS ---
Kareena Kapoor Khan has fully resumed work after giving birth to Taimur and was seen shooting for a jewellery brand.

By India Today Web Desk: Kareena Kapoor Khan had promised that her fans would not miss her for long, and she did not disappoint. The actor was back on her toes less than two months after her pregnancy and dazzled the Lakme Fashion Week ramp in a gorgeous white and gold ensemble. On Thursday, the actor stepped out to shoot for a jewellery brand, looking effortlessly chic.

advertisement

Kareena's manager Poonam Damania shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the shoot at Mehboob Studios, where Bebo looked gorgeous in an olive green top paired with black leggings. Make-up artist Mallika Bhat also shared a picture on her Instagram account.

#kareenakapoorkhan at Mehboob studios for Malabar Gold and diamonds#shootlife#friends#fun ???????????? A post shared by Poonam Damania (@poonamdamania) on Feb 23, 2017 at 3:42am PST

Fun day at shoot with this gorgeous diva ??????#kareenakapoorkhan#malabargoldanddiamonds#funtimes#friends#gorgeous# @poonamdamania @alpakhimani ????????? A post shared by Mallika Bhat (@mallika_bhat) on Feb 23, 2017 at 3:49am PST

Meanwhile, it is being reported that Kareena will begin shooting for her post-pregnancy comeback film Veere Di Wedding in May this year. The film, which also stars Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania, is the story of four friends who travel from Delhi to Europe.

ALSO READ: Kareena Kapoor Khan is back after having a baby, and how!

ALSO WATCH: Saif and Kareena become proud parents to a baby boy, Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi

--- ENDS ---
If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now!

Submit
By Ashraf Wani: Suspected militants attacked a police post in south Kashmir's Kakpora Pulwama late Friday.

The militants hurdled a grenade towards the post, but no immediate damage was reported from the resultant explosion. The attackers also fired gunshots.

No casualties or injuries were reported.

--- ENDS ---
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Feb. 24, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 24, 2017 | 09:31 AM | PADUCAH, KY

Police in Downtown Paducah spent part of Friday morning trying to catch the culprit that smashed through a window of Mister Penguin along the 300 block of Broadway, but it's not a person. It's a turkey.



Witnesses report the turkey broke the window of the store, then apparently "strutted" himself over to the front door of another neighboring business, marched up the stairs, and tried to push open the door.



Scanner traffic of the Paducah Police channel indicated the turkey was been spotted by police, and was described as a male turkey and considered dangerous due to it having "spurs". The McCracken County Emergency Dispatch Center said the bird was still on the loose late Friday morning.



Police were contacted a couple of times Friday afternoon, but WestKentuckyStar received no word on whether the bird was captured.


Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required.

Your Full Name: (optional)

Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required.
Astros take World Series title over Phillies in six games
By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 24, 2017 | 07:27 AM | PLANO, TX





J.C. Penney announced Friday morning it expects to close 130 to 140 stores, and two distribution facilities located in Florida and California.According to multiple media outlets including The Associated Press, the retailer will identify the underperforming stores by the middle of March, and those stores will close by June 30.The stores that will be affected represent about 14 percent of the company's store portfolio, but less than 5 percent of annual sales, according to reports.Local J.C. Penney stores that will be waiting on the news include Paducah, Murray, Carbondale, Cape Girardeau and Union City.The retailer said associates who will be impacted by the closures will receive separation benefits and help finding another job.In connection to this effort, the company is offering a voluntary early retirement program to about 6,000 employees.The company said the closures will help the company to better compete against online retailers."During the year, it became evident the stores that could fully execute the company's growth initiatives of beauty, home refresh and special sizes generated significantly higher sales, and a more vibrant in-store shopping environment," said Marvin R. Ellison, chairman and chief executive officer."We believe the relevance of our brick and mortar portfolio will be driven by the implementation of these initiatives consistently to a larger percent of our stores. Therefore, our decision to close stores will allow us to raise the overall brand standard of the company and allocate capital more efficiently."J.C. Penney, one of the nation's largest department stores, currently operates more than 1,000 locations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico and employs about 100,000 employees.The company sold its headquarters in Plano, TX, and is leasing it to lower its overhead, the Financial Times reported.
By The Associated Press Feb. 23, 2017 | 10:10 PM | FRANKFORT, KY

Local government pension funds would break away from the Kentucky Retirement Systems under a bill headed to the Kentucky Senate after winning committee approval.

Republican Sen. Joe Bowen of Owensboro, the bill's lead sponsor, says the separation would allow state leaders to focus on chronic funding woes for state pension funds.

The bill approved Thursday by the Senate State and Local Government Committee would separate the County Employees Retirement System from KRS.

The measure would create a nine-member board to oversee the new pension agency for about 230,000 local government workers and retirees. Bowen says his bill allows for an orderly transition period in which the new pension agency could contract with KRS for various services.
By The Associated Press

By The Associated Press Feb. 24, 2017 | 09:17 AM | WASHINGTON, DC

Democrats have tapped former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear to deliver the party's response to President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.

That's the word on Friday from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. They also announced that immigration activist Astrid Silva will deliver the Spanish language response to the speech.

In a statement, Beshear said "real leaders don't spread derision and division  they build partnerships and offer solutions instead of ideology and blame."

Beshear embraced the 2010 health care overhaul and expanded coverage for Kentuckians.

The choice of the former governor stands as a counterpoint to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has promised to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care law.
Beijing has told Delhi that its projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were 'purely commercial' and without prejudice to its view that the status of PoK was for India and Pakistan to resolve.

By Ananth Krishnan: China's state media said on Friday that India's concerns on the economic corridor through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were "unwarranted" and that China's stand on Kashmir remained unchanged.

On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said that India was still considering an invitation from China to attend a high-profile Silk Road Summit in Beijing in May. Stressing that India was a "pro-connectivity country" with a number of regional connectivity projects, the Foreign Secretary added that it was a fact that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was part of China's Belt and Road Initiative and "violates Indian sovereignty because it runs through PoK".

advertisement

Responding to his comments, a Friday commentary in the Communist Party-run Global Times, a hard-line tabloid published by the People's Daily, said: "New Delhi fears that the CPEC, passing through [PoK] would serve the purpose of granting legitimacy to Pakistan's control over the region, and by promoting the construction of the corridor, China intends to meddle in the Kashmir dispute."

"These concerns are unwarranted," the commentary said. "China has no intention of interfering in the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. China has long believed that the two neighbours should solve their dispute through dialogue and consultations, and it has repeatedly emphasized that the construction of the CPEC would not affect its stance on the issue."

The paper added that "China respects India's sovereignty concerns". "Taking a strong stand on territorial issues is important, but it's hoped India could adopt an objective and more pragmatic attitude toward the One Belt, One Road proposal.... It does not target any third country, but hopes more countries become a part of it."

Yet China, for its part, has often adopted maximalist positions when its sovereignty has been challenged, pushing back against exploration projects in the disputed South China Sea and even objecting to countries merely hosting Tibetan or Taiwanese leaders.

Beijing, nevertheless, has told Delhi that its projects in PoK were "purely commercial" and without prejudice to its view that the status of PoK was for India and Pakistan to resolve. "By joining the CPEC, India will not only benefit economically, but could also make itself a pioneer in regional economic integration to better fulfill its ambition of becoming an influential regional economic power," the Global Times said. "China and Pakistan have frequently invited India to the CPEC, and we hope India responds to the call."

--- ENDS ---
As excitingly dynamic as ever, the draw for the last-16 of the UEFA Europa League has just concluded in Nyon.

Manchester United, the Premier Leagues sole remaining representatives, have been pitted against FC Rostov, currently seventh in the Russian top tier and yet to return from their winter break.

All being well, Jose Mourinhos motley crew will make the trip to Russia on Thursday 9th March with the return leg at Old Trafford pencilled in for the 16th.

The UEFA Europa League last-16 draw in full

Celta Vigo vs FC Krasnodar

APOEL Nicosia vs Anderlecht

Schalke vs Borussia Monchengladbach

Lyon vs Roma

FC Rostov vs Manchester United

Olympiakos vs Besiktas

Gent vs Genk

Copenhagen vs Ajax

If United dont win this outright, itll be a poor tale.
Sources say, he had not stepped out of the house since the moral policing incident.

By Revathi Rajeevan: Days after being shamed in a video by moral police on Valentine's Day, a 23-year-old son of a daily wage labourer was found hanging dead outside his house in Kerala's Kollam district.

Aneesh and his female companion were subjected to moral policing by a group of men at Azheekkal beach who not only browbeat them but also videotaped their shaming. In the video, the couple can be hear pleading the men to let them go.

advertisement

The accused can be heard asking the girl if she would lift her dress for anyone.

Aneesh had filed a police complaint against the men who harassed him and his friend, soon after which the five accused were apprehended.

Condemning the incident, Kerala Chief Minister P Vijayan has ordered the state police chief to check such incidents.

Aneesh's mother found his body after returning from work on Thursday night at their residence in Anagatta, Palakkad district.

The 23-year-old boy was a co-ordinator of an e-literacy programme in Attapady in Palakkad district.

Sources say, he had not stepped out of the house since the moral policing incident.

State human rights commission has registered a suo moto case in the case and has asked Palakkad and Kollam district police chiefs to submit report on the incident within three weeks.

The body has also asked Palakkad medical officer to submit post-mortem report.

The commission has also asked police to ensure social media is not misused.

WATCH:

Also read | Bajrang Dal's V-Day warning to Odisha lovebirds: Will marry you off if we catch you

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Feb 24 (PTI) Facing rare criticism from its close ally for failing to stand by it in its hour of crisis, China today sought to stave off pressure from the US for not cracking hard on reclusive North Korea, saying the crux of the problem was the dispute between Washington and Pyongyang.

advertisement

Refuting President Donald Trumps remarks that China could solve the security challenge posed by North Korea "very easily if they want to," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said "the crux of the North Korean nuclear issue is the problem between the United States and North Korea".

"We hope the relevant parties can shoulder their responsibilities, play the role they should and together with China play a constructive role for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and for its denuclearisation," he told a media briefing here, answering a spate of questions on North Korea tensions.

He also tried to deflect criticism from North Korea itself for banning imports of coal from North Korea as per UN sanctions, after Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile raising concerns in the US, Japan and South Korea.

State media in North Korea, regarded as Beijings close ally, hit back at Beijing, accusing it of "dancing to the tune" of the United States.

The commentary published by the Korean Central News Agency did not mention China by name or the coal ban, but referred to a "neighbouring country" which often claims to be friendly.

Geng tried to play down the criticism from Pyongyang and said the UN sanctions were a clear signal of opposition from the international community about North Koreas nuclear programmes and that China was obliged to enforce them.

"We are willing to work with North Korea to promote the stable and healthy development of relations," Geng said, adding North Korea was well aware of Chinas position on its nuclear programme.

Geng also declined to go into the Malaysias conclusion that Kim Jong-nam half-brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un was killed by "VX nerve agent," declared by the UN as a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD).

He also parried questions aboutKim Jong-namsfamily members residing in Macau reportedly under the protection of the Chinese government.

"As per VX and nerve gas and WMD so far we have seen preliminary information released by the Malaysian side. There has been no conclusion in this incident," he said.

advertisement

Meanwhile, state-run Global Times said "it would not faze Beijing in the least if Pyongyangs state-run news agency continues to complain about the imposed sanctions". PTI KJV SUA AKJ SUA

--- ENDS ---
In the show of one-upmanship between the two camps, Chief Minister and Sasikala loyalist E Palaniswami's government has planned a number of official events and programmes in Amma's memory, including offering free food to poor and release a special Amma souvenir to claim her legacy.

By India Today Web Desk: The bitter war over J Jayalalithaa's legacy returned in Tamil Nadu today on her 69th birthday, with both the O Panneerselvam and VK Sasikala factions trying to trump each other in holding events and claiming their ownership of the ruling party, the AIADMK.

In the show of one-upmanship between the two camps, Chief Minister and Sasikala loyalist E Palaniswami's government has planned a number of official events and programmes in Amma's memory, including offering free food to poor and release a special Amma souvenir to claim her legacy.

advertisement

The OPS camp, on the other hand, will be holding a meeting of the AIADMK rebels and hoist the party flag. OPS himself has planned a visit to Jayalalithaa's Assembly constituency, RK Nagar.

Here are the LIVE updates:

When I was CM,I initiated enquiry to #Jayalalithaa's death but it went upside down;Govts should enquire;We'll keep fighting: #OPanneerselvam pic.twitter.com/VVKk0cfkve&; ANI (@ANI_news) February 24, 2017

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami planted a sapling to mark the late chief minister J. Jayalalithaa's 69th birth anniversary.

O Panneerselvam addresses workers on Jayalalithaa's birthday: Highlights

- It is because of Amma's struggle we are here, says O Panneerselvam.

- We want answers about Amma's death.

-Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswamy holds a massive programme at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai.

Chennai: #Jayalalithaa's birth anniversary celebrations at AIADMK headquarters; Deputy GS TTV Dinakaran & CM Palaniswami pay floral tribute. pic.twitter.com/EkL7AennIb&; ANI (@ANI_news) February 24, 2017

Deepa Jayakumar, niece of former chief minister Jayalalithaa arrives at the Jaya memorial.

"I'm not eyeing Poes Garden," says Deepa.

Earlier, Deepa had said that she would be making a big announcement on Jaya's birth anniversary.

HERE'S WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

From Sasikala camp, AIADMK presidium chairman KA Sengottaiyan will lead J Jayalilthaa's 69th birth anniversary and also release a souvenir. Both the factions have asked party cadres to organise feasts for the poor. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and other top leaders from Sasikala camp will participate in public meetings from February 24 to 28 to commemorate the birth anniversary. Expelled leader O Panneerselvam, along with other rebel leaders is scheduled to participate in various functions. In addition, Sasikala camp is set to distribute welfare aid to poor. Sasikala said every year Jayalalithaa's birthday was celebrated with fervour, but "I never thought this year will turn out to be so challenging." "That Amma is not with us makes me more sad. After having celebrated her birthday with her for the past 33 years, I feel lonely this year in her memories. My thoughts revolve around her," she had said. "Let the events held to mark Amma's 69th birth anniversary be done with the intention of upholding her fame and with the wish that Amma's government should deliver more pro-people initiatives and serve them," she said. She exhorted party workers to distribute welfare measures to the poor, conduct mass feeding, install bedecked portraits of the late Chief Minister for public view and pay rich tributes to her.

advertisement

WATCH: Jayalalithaa's birthday celebrations in Tamil Nadu: War for legacy between EPS and OPS camps

ALSO READ | Sasikala plays victim card, says OPS camp went against Jayalalithaa too

--- ENDS ---
Built in 1729, the Tarakeshwar temple of West Bengal becomes the centre of attraction for devotees on Mahashivaratri. This is the only occasion when the doors of the temple are not closed even during the night.

By Manogya Loiwal : Mahashivaratri Puja is one of the biggest festivals that is celebrated with much fanfare and which could be noticed by any outsider - second only to Durga Puja - in West Bengal.

The pilgrims go every year to Tarakeshwar to perform the rituals as they worship Lord Shiva on Mahashivaratri that is being celebrated today.

This festival has seen most of unusual and spiritual happening going around this year. Hundreds of thousands of devotees visited the Tarakeshwar temple this year.

advertisement

MAHASHIVARATRI AT TARKESHWAR TEMPLE: THINGS TO KNOW The Tarkeshwar temple, situated in Hooghly district of West Bengal, is 288-year-old. A fair is organised at Raj Bari- a place adjacent to the Tarakeshwar temple- on the occasion of Mahashivaratri. On Mahashivaratri, this temple remains open throughout the night. Mahashivaratri is the only occasion when the temple doors are kept open the whole night. The chief priest of the temple, referred to as Maharaj, said, "People from different parts of the country come here to worship. Many people come here and temple has provided them with facilities. The temple door remains open the entire night and it will get closed in the wee hours." Another priest Sanjib Chakrabarty said, "Huge number of devotees come to this temple. The temple is crowded today. This is the only temple in West Bengal devoted to Lord Shiva where people from all parts of the country visit to offer prayer. On this day the temple remains open the entire night for the devotees to perform their rituals." The number of devotees this year seems to be higher than previous years much against the anticipation of low turnout due to demonetisation. The local administration has tightened the security at the Tarkeshwar temple for Mahashivaratri. Every single person is being thoroughly checked before being allowed to enter the temple. "We have our duties here. It is Shivaratri today, so we will check each and every person and then we will let them enter," said a civil cop. The temple management is happy with the security arrangements. "This year security has been tightened and it is really good that the security is strong this time," said Khagendranath Chatterjee, a priest at the Tarkeshwar temple. Arijit Chakraborty, a devotee, said, "I have visited many temples but I find this temple the best. Here the temple of Baba Tarkesh is very much lively. If you visit this temple with an honest heart then whatever you wish it will come true." There is a story about how the temple was built. In 1720s, a devotee saw Lord Shiva in his dream. He followed the trail of the dream and stopped at the place, where Tarakeshwar temple is standing today. Devotees believe that Lord Shiva visits this temple every year to fulfill the wishes of people. "I have got more than my expectations. All my wishes have been fulfilled. After worshiping here I feel very relaxed." said Tapati Chakrabarty, another devotee.

--- ENDS ---
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobas chief judges have asked Ottawa for permission to scrap preliminary hearings in an effort to cut the time it takes for criminal trials to move through the provinces clogged courts.

Court of Queens Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal confirmed Friday that a letter from him, Court of Appeal Chief Justice Richard Chartier, provincial court Chief Judge Margaret Wiebe and provincial Justice Minister Heather Stefanson was sent to federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould in December requesting a meeting to discuss the idea, part of a proposed four-year pilot project.

Joyal said they are still waiting for an answer, but he noted with optimism that Wilson-Raybould said Friday she is open and willing to work collaboratively with the provinces to reduce delays, including possible reforms to the use of preliminary inquiries.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chief Justice Glenn Joyal

Preliminary inquiries are held in cases involving indictable offences  serious crimes including murder, for example  in order for a judge to determine whether there is enough evidence to send the case to trial.

All we want right now is a conversation with (Wilson-Raybould), Joyal said, adding that preliminary hearings are not a constitutional right for people accused of crimes.

A pilot project by definition is temporary but one plus one is two. If you take away half the time that is being spent on cases now, there is time to reprioritize other matters. It is the right thing to do if people dont deserve to be in custody they deserve to know that earlier than later.

Manitoba Justice Minister Heather Stefanson told reporters Friday afternoon that a preliminary hearing is a dress rehearsal that duplicates the subsequent trial.

Essentially, the preliminary hearing is a full-blown trial, a pre-trial, said Stefanson. This doesnt take the rights away (from) anybody.

In an email to the Free Press Friday, Wilson-Raybould said she is aware of Manitobas proposal.

I am listening and keeping an open mind on the subject this government is committed to an evidence-based approach to ensuring a just and efficient criminal justice system.

Wilson-Raybould also noted there is currently a committee made up of the judiciary, federal and provincial justice officials, and members of the private bar looking at how often preliminary inquiries are held in Canada and their impact on the justice system. She also said the Senate committee on court delays could also comment on the issue in its final report expected next month.

As first reported by the Winnipeg Free Press in January during a year-end interview with Joyal, the top judges have been looking at scrapping preliminary inquiries since 2014, especially now in the wake of the Supreme Courts recent recommendations to toss criminal charges due to lengthy trial delays.

The high court decided last July that superior court cases (Queens Bench in Manitoba) will now have up to 30 months to be completed, from the time the charge is laid to the conclusion of a trial. Provincial court trials should be completed within 18 months of charges being laid, but can be extended to 30 months if there is a preliminary inquiry.

Eliminating preliminary inquiries was a recommendation made in 1991 in the final report of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, headed by former Manitoba judges Alvin Hamilton and Sen. Murray Sinclair.

NDP justice critic Andrew Swan was asked Friday why he didnt try to eliminate preliminary inquiries during his five years as attorney general: The short answer is, the Driskell inquiry.

Manitoba spent millions on the James Driskells wrongful murder conviction inquiry that might have been saved by conducting a preliminary hearing, Swan said.

Driskell was convicted in the shooting death of Perry James Harder in 1991 and spent 12 years behind bars. The conviction was later quashed and an inquiry in 2007 slammed Winnipeg police and prosecutors for their handling of the case.

Having a blanket denial of preliminary hearings isnt the way to go, Swan said in an interview. A good preliminary hearing can result in a case being resolved.

Joyal said Friday that preliminary hearings lengthen the process  creating delays leading to potential memory issues for witnesses, the possibility of re-traumatizing victims and adding to pre-trial custody for the accused  outweighing their benefits to the point they cant possibly be justified going forward.

But Joyal said the judges decided they couldnt wait for defence lawyers to get onside. He said during a meeting with the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association (Manitoba) in 2015, then-president Darren Sawchuk indicated the association would not support the elimination of preliminary hearings.

We will not be immobilized by the need to get a consensus, Joyal said. This is not a surprise. Weve been talking about this for four years it is a really challenging period of time and we cannot remain inert.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

14--002
The festival that is not only celebrated in India and Nepal but also in parts of West Indies, holds different meanings andsignificancefor different communities.

By India Today Web Desk: Today, February 24, marks Mahashivratri.

The name of the festival that roughly translates to the 'great night of Shiva' is celebrated with fanfare and enthusiasm by the Hindu community across India and some parts of Nepal.

Also Read: Shiva Trilogy author Amish Tripathi announces two new books

Also Read: Meet Amish Tripathi, India's literary popstar who dared to see the gods as mortals

advertisement

As per the Hindu calendar, Shivratri is celebrated on the new moon day in the month of Maagha. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the festival owes its origins to several versions, one of them being a celebration of Shiva and Parvati's marriage to each other.

Some other facts about the festival of Mahashivratri are as follows: According to some, Shivratri is celebrated as the day when Shiva saved the world from the pot of poison that emerged from the ocean during Samudra Manthan. If legends are to be believed, Lord Shiva drank the poison and stored it in his throat--which made his throat turn blue (which is why he also came to be known as Neelkanth). Yet another legend goes on to say that Shivratri is celebrated as the day when Brahma and Vishnu got into a major tiff about their supremacy over each other and an angry Lord Shiva punished them by taking the form of a massive fire that spread across the length of the universe. Vishnu and Brahma then got into the race to find the end of the fire and prove their prowess--only to be dismayed. Brahma resorted to a lie, and angered Shiva greatly who cursed that no one would ever pray to him. Though for some the festival of Mahashivratri is celebrated during the day, others celebrate it during the night by organising a series of 'jaagrans'(a night-long celebration replete with prayer ceremonies and religious hymns). Shivratri festivities differ in various parts of India. Where in Southern Karnataka children have the leverage to indulge in mischief and then ask for punishment (symbolic of Shiva punishing Brahma for lying), Kashmiri Brahmins celebrate Lord Shiva's marriage to Parvati by starting the festivities 3-4 days prior to the main festival. Out of the 12 Shivratris in the year, the Mahashivratri is considered to be the most auspicious one. The festival is not only celebrated in India and Nepal but also in parts of West Indies which apparently over 400 temples across the country.

Also Read: Do you know why Magh Bihu is celebrated?

--- ENDS ---
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C.  In 2008, then-prime minister Stephen Harper apologized to the aboriginal peoples of Canada for the crimes committed against them in the residential school system. Its sometimes difficult to see where this has made a difference.

Canadas aboriginal population tends to have lower levels of education, lower average income, higher levels of incarceration and higher incidence of health issues than the rest of the nations population.

We know it will take generations to heal our country and at times the process can seem overwhelming.

LYLE STAFFORD / TIMES COLONIST FILES An aboriginal student works on a paddle at Victoria High School in Victoria. Aboriginal culture is taking a prominent place in B.C. schools.

Faced with such a situation, its important to look at where progress is being made and to emulate programs that work.

I have the privilege of being part of one of the most progressive and effective school systems in Canada. Prince George has more aboriginal students than any other school district in British Columbia. Our administrators have worked with aboriginal leaders in our region to establish an innovative program that has a tremendously positive impact, not only on aboriginal children but on all students in the Prince George School District.

One measure of success is graduation rates. These fluctuated for aboriginal students in Prince George over the years but rarely rose above 50 per cent. Today, 61 per cent of aboriginal students graduate and the next goal is to reach 80 per cent, which would be on par with the non-aboriginal population.

Other areas of success are not as measurable but certainly as significant. I was recently at a meeting of social studies teachers where it was noted the visible pride our students express in having aboriginal heritage. One teacher said it was so refreshing to see students celebrating who they are from a young age  and that she had never even mentioned to people she was Metis until she was well into her 30s. Another teacher noted this was likely a result of the declarations of Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Others, however, said it was more likely the impact of local action.

What are some of the local things making a difference?

Aboriginal culture is taking a prominent place in our schools. A few weeks ago, a work of Metis art was unveiled to hang near the entrance to my school. Fiddlers performed jig music in the common area during lunch and everyone was served stew. One could not help but feel the joy so prevalent in this rich culture.

There are also numerous curricular supports. Student artwork is breathtaking but aboriginal content permeates all areas of study.

In our examination of genocide, for example, we take a thorough look at the residential school system and how and why it has had such a devastating effect on First Nations peoples. This lesson became especially real for my students when two of their classmates got up together and spoke about how their families had been directly affected. The issue was no longer far away or in a book, it was walking among us and it was clear that we are all part of the healing process.

Whats most thrilling about this entire journey is that it takes us back to the way things used to be and the way theyre meant to be. Aboriginal and European cultures lived in symbiosis in this part of the world for many years. Fur traders were welcomed and everyone benefited. As a non-aboriginal teacher, Im never made to feel like an outsider. Its clear were moving forward together.

In a world thats just beginning to become aware of the devastating and lasting effect of colonialism, we are a beacon of hope. As we come together and improve our system, we demonstrate that positive change really is possible.

Gerry Chidiac is an award-winning high school teacher specializing in languages, genocide studies and work with at-risk students.

 Troy Media
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

UNTIL now, aboriginal leaders appear to resist any attempts to change their specialized system  a separate legal regime, with transfer payments and special entitlements, that applies only to aboriginal people. The lions share of the transfer payments and special entitlements go to reserve residents.

These leaders maintain it is necessary for all aboriginal people to have this separate system in order to preserve aboriginal culture. They insist that reserves must stay, so that aboriginal people can carry on living as their ancestors did with the same customs and way of life.

I believe they are wrong.

NATHAN DENETTE / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES A woman and young boy walk through the streets in the northern Ontario First Nations reserve in Attawapiskat, Ont.

In the first place, reserves are artificial creations of the federal government. They were meant to be temporary sanctuaries for aboriginal people until they could become full participants in the life of the country.

After that, reserves would no longer be necessary. That was a time when special entitlements might have consisted of a blanket and $5 a year.

If only those benefits had remained in place, reserves would eventually have morphed into ordinary rural municipalities. It was the long list of benefits dreamed up by well-intentioned politicians and judges, believing they were helping a desperately poor people, that virtually cemented reserves in place as seemingly permanent institutions.

Free housing and no income tax or GST  regardless of income level  along with a grab-bag of special hunting and fishing rights, are some of the benefits.

Isolating people on reserves was a bad idea from the start. It prevented aboriginal people from naturally adapting to a rapidly changing world. In an age before reserves and government money, aboriginal culture naturally adapted to change, such as the fur trade and then the buffalo economy. It was only the isolation, and then the infusion of money from Ottawa, that froze reserves in time, creating todays dependent and deeply troubled communities.

Reserves also have very little to do with traditional life. In the past, aboriginal people in this part of the continent were semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers. The work ethic was extremely strong, as survival depended on it.

There were no such things as welfare or transfer payments, or any of the social pathologies, such as drug and alcohol abuse, that inevitably afflict dependent communities. Pre-contact aboriginal culture thrived for thousands of years in a harsh environment. Todays reserves bear little resemblance to those strong communities. Reserve culture and the aboriginal culture of the past are two very different things.

Then what is the real reason for the strong resistance of the aboriginal leaders to any real change in the status quo? How much of it has to do with the transfer payments from Ottawa and money?

Bottom line, many aboriginal leaders are doing very well financially under the present system. On reserves, the powerful families and their associates form a ruling elite  an oligarchy  that controls the billions of dollars that flow to them from Ottawa every year like clockwork.

They also enjoy free housing and no income tax regardless of how large their salaries grow. These benefits are paid for by ordinary Canadians, many of whom earn far less than these leaders.

The ordinary Canadians whose taxes pay for the system must then use their own after-tax dollars to deal with their living expenses, including housing and their childrens tuition.

Lest this be considered some kind of racist diatribe targeting aboriginal people, let me point to the fact that probably at least as many of the people who have attached themselves to the aboriginal money pipeline from Ottawa are not even aboriginal.

The partnership between aboriginal leaders and my former profession  the legal profession  has been incredibly lucrative for both. During the residential school claim stage, one law firm alone billed more than $50 million in fees. There are lawyers who are paid handsome salaries just to find victims  both real and imagined  and obtain large settlements for them (taking a healthy chunk for their firms, of course).

And the victim industry shows no sign of slowing down. The lawyers who are only too eager to appear before the steady series of aboriginal inquiries, or those who put their creative powers to work in the thriving treaty rights game, hope this largesse lasts forever.

There are many others besides lawyers: consultants, who attach themselves to aboriginal causes; contractors who build and rebuild free houses on reserves; entire universities that utter not a critical word about this corruption  all want the money to keep flowing.

But what of the great majority of poor aboriginal people who are living on reserves and in cities  how do they benefit from this mountain of money?

The answer is that they dont. If you are on welfare, paying no income tax is of little value. If your children dont make it through school, free university education is irrelevant. If you are caught in the welfare trap, none of this helps you. Health entitlements, such as free antibiotics, dont spare you from belonging to what is by far the unhealthiest demographic in the country.

The stark reality is that these are the very people who need the help and they are not getting it. Education and job training are desperately needed to help these people escape from their state of dependency by entering the work force. Many other Canadians who are not aboriginal also fall into this category. But sufficient money is not there to help them because it is being siphoned off by people who are financially secure.

The aboriginal leaders and their cohorts resist any attempt to focus government assistance on the people at the bottom. They rely on the myth that all aboriginal people need special help. It is not true. A disproportionate amount of aboriginal people need special assistance, but the growing aboriginal middle class does not.

Brian Giesbrecht was a provincial court judge from 1976 until 2007. He is retired.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The foreword to Amnesty Internationals annual report was sobering, outlining Secretary General Salil Shettys concerns that 2016 was a year of misery and fear. Mr. Shetty points, in part, to the rise of hate speech in large parts of Europe and the United States making the world a darker and more unstable place.

Donald Trump, whose campaign for the presidency in the U.S. was viewed by many as xenophobic and misogynistic, was singled out for exemplifying a global trend toward angrier and more divisive politics. Here in Canada, as the Conservative party moves toward selecting a new leader, some candidates are keen to follow Mr. Trumps lead in angry politics.

Should we be concerned Canada is about to erupt in Trump-like rhetoric? Right now, at the federal level, the Liberals seem intent on ensuring this country is regarded as a safe place for refugee claimants. Most recently, a Liberal MP, in an apparent bid to take a stand against Islamophobia, put forward a non-binding motion asking the government to study systemic racism and religious discrimination.

PAUL CHIASSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS Asylum claimants near Hemmingford, Que.

It was met by criticism from the Conservative leadership hopefuls. Kellie Leitch told a crowd in Toronto: We need to fight back against all of this politically correct nonsense. Kevin OLeary called the motion a slap in the face to other religions. Other Conservative leadership hopefuls were also quick to denounce the study, with one notable holdout  Michael Chong.

Theres a backlash brewing as the number of refugee claimants walking into Canada at both Emerson and the New York-Quebec border climbs. Those who believe the asylum seekers are illegitimate and potential security risks are certainly making their views known on comment sections of this newspaper and in social media. As the numbers rise, their voices may grow stronger.

A recent poll from Angus Reid Institute suggests that a sizable minority feel the federal government is letting in too many refugee claimants. The poll released earlier this week shows 47 per cent of respondents feel Canada is taking in the right amount, but 41 per cent feel the number is already too high. Among Conservative voters that number jumps to 62 per cent who think Canadas doors are too open. As well, 25 per cent of those polled said Canada should have adopted a travel ban similar to the one temporarily imposed by Mr. Trump closing down the borders to immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

This is potentially a wedge issue that could be exploited for partisan reasons, particularly as the Conservative leadership race heats up.

Here are some facts to compare with the rhetoric. So far, involvement in Islamic State terrorism in Canada has come from individuals who were born here and became involved online. So far, the only mass murder based on religion has been the six men killed while worshipping in a mosque in Quebec City. The man charged with the crime  a white Canadian  was known to be a Trump supporter. So far in Canada, our jobless rate is falling and our economy is expected to grow.

So far in Canada, we have not suffered after doing the right thing and offering a safe landing for those fleeing war and chaos.

Lets hope a Trump-style backlash is something cooler heads within the Conservative party and in Canada in general reject, and this time next year, Amnesty International does not point to this country for playing a role in the rise of hate speech.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  U.S. Rep. Tim Walz got a standing ovation with his opening line at a town hall meeting Thursday night in Rochester.

Good evening, Walz told the standing room-only crowd in the Community and Technical Colleges Charles E. Hill Theater.

The response may have been because of his political affiliation, or the respect he carries across his southern Minnesota district from Democrats and Republicans alike  but most likely because he had the courage and conviction to show up and speak face-to-face with constituents.

Amid the turmoil of the Trump administrations early days, federal lawmakers are facing hostile crowds across the nation, and some have chosen to ignore or not attend town hall meetings scheduled during their first 2017 break. Walz instead moderated a mostly friendly audience and fielded questions on everything from national security policy to LGBTQ protections to campaign finance reform.

The Democrat stressed moderation and attempting bipartisanship in response to many of the questions, referring several times to false choices presented by politicians of both aisles.

When referring to preserving natural resources, for instance, Walz referred to the wild spaces of national forests and protected land as one of our great legacies, but said that conservation and economic development are not mutually exclusive.

We should do economic activity in a responsible manner, Walz said.

Similarly, answering questions regarding proposed bans on refugees and immigrants from several predominantly-Muslim countries and gun control, Walz also advocated a measured approach.

The key, Walz said, is to never act in a reckless manner.

You can protect this nation, Walz said. But you can do so with something that doesnt do a blanket coverage, generalizing an entire religion.

In other security issues, he supported a bipartisan measure in the House to investigate Russian involvement in the 2016 election. The Senate is also proposing investigation into the matter, an effort spearheaded by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.

Walz said that while there was no evidence of votes being changed or the outcome being changed, there was evidence of attempts to influence the process, which he said affects a fundamental sacredness of the election process.

While he encouraged his colleagues to answer the question, Walz said if an independent investigation found nothing, they should drop it.

It does not have to be a witch hunt, Walz said.

He also said he supported fixing the healthcare reforms enacted by the Affordable Care Act, but insisted it needed to be done in a way that preserves the good aspects of the bill expand and promote access to health care.

What I cannot vote for is something that pulls off the protection without something to replace, Walz said.

He also pushed for maintaining Social Security and floated a number of different ways to increase funding, including raising the wage cap and or taxing wages over very large amounts, like $5 million.

Around the country during this Congressional recess week, several Republican lawmakers have faced protests and tough questions about health care and other issues.

Some have gone as far as avoiding the events, which have a tone that echoes tea party groups that rallied against President Barack Obama and his health care overhaul in the summer of 2009.

Comparatively, the response in Rochester was measured, according to several attendees, with minimal disruption, talking over one another or jeering.

Larry and Cindy Unger of Rochester said the event was pretty tame, but that Walz also had a lot of support in the area and knew his audience.

It was a good tone, Larry said. He wants to be bipartisan.

Cindy said Walz responded equally to all sorts of questions.

I thought he was balanced, Cindy said.

Walz narrowly won his sixth term in Congress in November, winning with just more than 2,500 votes. Hes a moderate Democrat who has done well in a politically moderate district, since ousting Gil Gutknecht in 2006.

Walz campaigned with creating a functioning Congress as a high priority for him.

Thursday night, he spoke on a number of issues he has worked toward, or has promoted in the past, including non-partisan redistricting, campaign finance reform, and driving bipartisanship in Congress through returning to a system of committee review for proposed legisation, similar to that in many state legislatures.

A process that allows bills to go through subcommittee and committee processes would increase cooperation, Walz said.

It would ratchet down the angst, and people would believe that we can do things again, Walz said.

Other priorities Walz listed for this year included fixing the Affordable Care Act, more popularly referred to as Obamacare, and tax reform.

In a short introduction before he answered questions for several hours, Walz said that town hall meetings and interaction between legislators and citizens was what democracy was supposed to look like.

Democracy is a participant sport, Walz said. We do it together, we make the decisions.

Democracy is a participant sport. We do it together; we make the decisions. U.S. Rep. Tim Walz Democracy is a participant sport. We do it together, we make the decisions. U.S. Rep. Tim Walz
The latest winter snowstorm came, left, and came again Friday in the Winona region, bringing several slushy inches of snow and precipitation.

By late Friday, with snow again beginning to fall and more predicted overnight, between 1 and 3 inches was reported across Winona, with similar totals across much of southeast Minnesota, though totals always vary widely depending on location, wind and other factors.

An additional 1 to 3 inches of snowfall was predicted to come throughout the evening and overnight into Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

A blizzard warning, later downgraded to an advisory, was issued across much of the state Thursday and led area schools and businesses to close, change events and alter plans for Friday and into the weekend.

It still isnt clear how much more is headed to the area, given that the forecasts through Saturday have still ranged wildly from lots of rain, to several inches of snow, potentially combined with heavy winds that may cause near whiteout conditions in rural areas.

The latest forecasts Friday, however, concluded that the snow apocalypse once predicted for the area will never materialize.

Forecasts call for sun, clear skies, and highs in the mid-30s by later this weekend. Daytime highs are expected to jump back into the unseasonable mid-40s by the middle of next week.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has continued to advise travelers to stay home or plan ahead. For updated information on road conditions, drivers can visit 511mn.org or call 511.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
Baraboo High School could host as many as 1,000 visitors Saturday during the Wisconsin School Music Associations Solo & Ensemble Music Festival.

The competition invites middle and high school-aged students from local districts to perform vocal and instrumental solos, duets, trios and ensembles in front of a judge. The judges, who specialize in a specific musical field or instrument, score the performances based on how well students execute their piece of music.

Baraboo High School instrumental music teacher Griffith James said the judges are educators as well as talented critics.

They not only give a score to these kids, but whats more important is theyre giving a critique of their abilities and what they can do to improve, he said.

Students are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals for their performances. Should a student earn gold for a particularly difficult composition, they could advance to a statewide contest in the spring.

James is in charge of managing this years festival. He said Baraboo High School hosts the contest every six years. As many as 650 performances could take place at 12 sites throughout the day.

James said 164 Baraboo students will perform about 100 compositions during the festival. The contest invites students from the Reedsburg, Portage, Sauk Prairie and Wisconsin Dells school districts as well.

James said he has high hopes for Baraboos student musicians.

I expect a number of our choir and band events will go to state this year, he said. We have some outstanding soloists and groups that are doing very well.

Baraboo High School choir teacher Lynn Gunnell said 10 to 20 chorus students generally advance to the state contest each year.

While they want to see as many students advance to state as possible, both James and Gunnell said the preparation that takes place before the contest is more important than the final outcome of a performance.

I think all the kids have really enjoyed working on their pieces, Gunnell said. Thats the point of the festival.

Parent and student volunteers are helping to organize the event, including working the high school cafeteria to sell concessions throughout the day Saturday. James said the high volume of visitors could generate about $2,000 in sales, but most of the money will be used to pay for the expenses of hosting the festival, like purchasing food and tuning pianos.

Remaining funds will benefit the high schools music programs, he said.

James added that hes grateful for all the help hes received from parents, students, high school staff and faculty in making the event possible.
More then 60 acres of the140-acre Malda Air Port is used by farmers to cultivate produce. Even as farmers tell India Today how they paid to be able to farm on the airport land, an official dismisses the idea that the farmers pose a security threat.

By Manogya Loiwal : The Malda Air Port, located a few kilometers away from the India-Bangladesh international border, does not witness much air traffic. A tiny bungalow-like concrete structure serves as its terminal and the aerodrome attends to Air Force helicopters, small aircraft and the occasional passenger flight. Flight operations, though rare, take place around four times every week.

However, what really stands out about this 140-acre facility is that nearly half of the land at this airport is used by farmers to cultivate produce. The farming, which has been going on for more than a year now, doesn't take place near or besides the airport. It takes place inside the facility.

advertisement

Local farmers have turned more than 60 acres of the airport, which has a 3,600-foot runway, into a cultivation ground. And perhaps more surprisingly, the farmers have been able to do so with the active support of authorities with the airport in-charge boldly claiming that the farmers aren't a security threat.

'NOT A THREAT'

Arobindo Saha, the official in charge of the Malda Air Port, told India Today that the government has given the farmers the land to cultivate and that he is not in a position to raise any opposition considering that higher authorities have given permission. But, interestingly, in his conversation to India Today, Saha indicated that he personally sees no reason to oppose the farming.

According to Saha, instead of posing a security threat, the farmers are actually a form of security as they look after and guard the land. And in any case, the area is a not a high-security zone, he adds. However, Saha also told us the the farming will soon come to an end.

GOVT OFFICIALS COMPLICIT?

India Today spoke to a number of local farmers who cultivate a range of vegetables on the airport land. All of them admitted to paying off either an official from the government or the airport authority or an intermediary to win the right to farm on the land.

The price per acre can range from Rs 6,000 to Rs 18,000 with one local farmer, Adhir Mandal, telling India Today that bidding takes place to decide who gets to farm on the land. Dilip Ghosh, who cultivates cauliflower, spinach and tomatoes, among other produce, told us that he has not faced any interference from the government as long as he forks up the money whenever he is asked for it.

Click here to Enlarge The farmers cultivate a variety of vegetables at the Malda airport (Photo: Bhaskar Ray)

Another farmer, Kanon Mandal, who paid Rs 32,000 for five acres of land, further said, "I cannot say how much we pay, but the person who used to contact us, we used to pay him. Yes, we do see aeroplane everyday but it never bothered us." Sukhan Mandal, also a farmer, meanwhile had to pay the airport authorities for the privilege of farming within the facility. "Initially, when we took the place we had to pay around Rs 1 lakh. We cultivate different types of vegetables, airport authorities never objected."

advertisement

The farming has been going for at least a year, and local officials are seemingly making the most of it. Apart from the possible corruption, the question of whether the practice compromises the security of the airport, even though it does not see much use, remains unanswered.

(With inputs and photos from Bhaskar Ray)

Also read | Wave goodbye: 7 airports eliminate the need of getting hand baggage stamped

Also watch | Security forces now working on plan to make Indian airports into fortresses

--- ENDS ---
Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt is only two communities away from creating a county-wide records management system for law enforcement. One of the two communities is Beaver Dam.

Dodge County agreed to replace New World, its public safety record management system, to Spillman Technology in the fall of 2015.

Spillman will provide computer hardware, software, maintenance services and support services for a little more than $1 million. The system will be used for dispatch, corrections and records management. It has been a hope for the police and the sheriffs office for many years. The system will not go live until Jan. 1, with payments being made on three dates while the system is put in place.

But Beaver Dam and Theresa still have not agreed to become part of the county-wide system, Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt said at the county board meeting Wednesday.

The annual maintenance fee is about $130,000, Schmidt wrote in a letter to the board. This annual maintenance fee is in line with previous fees for similar systems and had we continued with New World that annual maintenance fee would also be nearing that dollar amount.

Fifteen of the 17 agencies in Dodge County have signed on.

As part of those negotiations, the city of Beaver Dam has requested that future maintenance, beginning in 2019, be paid from Dodge County sales tax, Schmidt said. These negotiations are ongoing.

The Dodge County Board voted 19 to 10 against using more than $29,000 from the sales tax to go toward the maintenance of the program. Many board members said the sales tax was meant to be used for building projects, and not for something like maintenance of a software package.

Police Chief John Kreuziger said the city of Beaver Dam does not have a problem paying its fair share, but finds problems with the maintenance and training fees that have been suggested.

Kreuziger said that Schmidt has been meeting with him, BD Mayor Tom Kennedy and BD city attorney Maryann Schacht.

There is nothing wrong with the software, Kreuziger said. It will be good for Dodge County.

Kreuziger said that Beaver Dam has used New World in its squads for the last few years and still uses its old record management program at $7,000 per year after hearing about concerns about the New World program.

Installation of New World in Dodge County began in summer 2013, replacing a system that had been used since 2000. Complaints about the software began before the system was fully implemented. Many updates have caused additional problems.

The training that is scheduled will cost all the municipalities $52,000 with full-time department employees costing $720 and part-time employees costing $360. Employees who work part-time for other agencies are not required to do so twice.

Beaver Dam has 37 full-time employees who would need to be trained at a cost of $26,640. Kreuziger said 13 of the Beaver Dam officers also work part-time for other agencies in Dodge County but there is nothing written in the contract about payment back to Beaver Dam.

He thinks it is my responsibility to go back to the part-time agencies and work out an agreement, Kreuziger said.

He was also told that they couldnt just send a few officers there to learn the program, Kreutiger said.

He wants to make sure everyone gets training first in order to get it right, Kreuziger said.

We have New World in our patrol vehicles, Kreuziger said. However, with all the New World problems we did not want to convert all our old records over to New World, so we kept Cisco (for that purpose only).

For New World, Beaver Dam would have had to pay $4,350 in 2016-17. The fee for Spillman would be $14,280.

In 2019 and subsequent years each department will be charged $280 per computer, with Beaver Dam having 57 computers.

Without knowing what will happen with this software, we will have to keep Cisco up and running, Kreutziger said. Its $7,000 (half) to keep our current system.

We want to work out an agreement on the training and maintenance costs, Kreutziger said. We have to be good stewards of the taxpayer money to negotiate a fair agreement.

Both the sheriff and the police chief said they will be meeting in the future to discuss the program.
Melissa Ruf took a cue from her twin sister to create an award-winning piece of artistic expression.

Ruf, a senior at Mauston High School, created Twenty-One Pilots, a very detailed, lifelike depiction of the popular rock band. The drawing earned Ruf a Silver Key Award from the Scholastic Art Awards program. Rufs work was honored at a reception on Feb. 11 at the Milwaukee Art Museum and the drawing will be displayed at the museum through March 19.

Ruf, who enjoys drawing people, was inspired by her sister Olivia, also a talented artist at MHS.

My sister is a huge fan and their music has really helped her through a lot, Ruf said. I told her, Olivia, you really enjoy them so send me any picture you can find. It just so happened it had a crocodile in it and I thought, Yeah, I can do that because it presented some different textures.

Ruf and her sister attended Twenty-One Pilots recent show at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.

They were awesome, Ruf said. Theyre really good.

Almost 3,500 entries were submitted from artists across the state and only 300 received a Gold Key Award, Silver Key Award or Honorable Mention. Ruf said the feeling of being honored among the best high school artists in the state is still hard to describe.

I was really surprised that I had gotten it, Ruf said. I never realized, until we took the piece to the art museum, how many entries there were. It made me really happy and ecstatic to really be a part of all those amazing artists from around Wisconsin.

After seeing the impressive work on display in Milwaukee, Ruf is satisfied with taking home a Silver Key Award.

From what I was told, between the gold and the silver, the gold ones required technique and they were just out of this world, very creative and original, Ruf said. Mine was the drawing of a photograph so it lacked that originality, but the technique was there so thats why I got silver.

For the Ruf twins, their art dreams wont end in high school. Both Melissa and Olivia plan to attend Iowa State University in the fall; Melissa will major in graphic design, while Olivia wants to pursue art therapy.

With budgets tight, art programs in Wisconsin schools continue to face cuts. But Ruf said the Scholastic Art Awards emphasize that art is still a valuable creative outlet for thousands of students throughout the state.

Its encouraging to know that we can go places with art, Ruf said. If we can keep it up, we can take it to another level. A lot of people think you cant do much with an art degree, that its just another extra-curricular, but its more than that. Everywhere you look theres art. Building designs, photography... Its really inspiring to see people can take that and have it for a career.

Melissa tends to focus on the fine detail of faces, while Olivia enjoys a fast-paced, cartoonish style. It takes time and persistence to craft a new piece and Ruf praised art teacher Libby Hansen for being patient and supportive. Hansen said it was the first time in her career shes entered students work in the Scholastic Art Awards program.

It was exciting to have one chosen right away and to have it win Silver Key is fantastic, Hansen said. Her work is amazing and its non-stop, she produces all the time.

Since completing her award-winning piece, Ruf has challenged herself in class by finishing drawings under a strict time limit.

Shell do a drawing of a person and then another one in a short amount of time, Hansen said. The biggest disconcerting thing about drawing people is it doesnt look like them when youre done, but you can look at even her 10-minute sketches and be like, Oh, thats so-and-so. She has a definite talent and a gift.

While she said there isnt sibling competition between the two, Melissa said Olivia encourages and challenges her to bring her best.

Olivia is awesome in her own way and she can draw anything in the drop of a hat, Ruf said. I take hours to draw something. We are different in our own ways and just try to encourage and motivate each other.
The best thing to come out of President Donald Trumps surprise press conference Feb. 16 is that he once again demonstrated his mastery of the very media who created him. Its an odd love affair for a twosome that appears to despise each other. Its Love, American Style.

On Feb. 16, the president called a news conference to nominate his second candidate for labor secretary. The White House put out the announcement and sent the media scrambling to get all of its reporters in place. Granted, when the president calls a presser youre going to jump, but in this case it was designed to demonstrate his mastery over the national press.

Once the White House press corps was all assembled, the president let loose. Whether you support the new president or despise him, everyone can agree it was a press conference for the ages. No one had ever seen anything like it and, for some reason, the drive-by media was surprised.

This is the same guy that baited the press with his unusual campaign style. It was his unorthodox approach that grabbed headlines while they rushed to portray the man as crazy and out of touch. They failed. They may have thought they were crushing his campaign, but they actually were creating him.

The day after the presser, the morning news shows blared that this new president is unstable. They could not believe that the president would chastise them in this manner and it was now time for him to pay the price.

As they failed to kill his campaign, they are failing to kill his presidency. In fact, they have emboldened him. Its not necessarily that theyre completely wrong; its simply because no one believes them.

A FOX News poll shows that more people believe that the Trump administration is more likely to tell them the truth than the national media. Granted, the poll is statistically close, but it is a long way from the days of the Richard Nixon administration. In those days, President Nixon couldnt buy an audience that would believe him.

The national media is no longer trusted and Trump has capitalized on its self-inflicted damage. Any trust of the media capitulated with the complete lack of coverage over Hillary Clintons email scandal. It was exasperated further with the narrative that the Russians hacked the 2016 election.

The American people are smart enough to know the election systems were not hacked. They also are smart enough to recognize that the Russians did hack into the Clinton campaign machine. And they also recognized that the Russians did not actually write the emails.

Voters are even smart enough to recognize foreign governments always are attempting to influence elections. If that is not true, then why did then-candidate Barack Obama campaign in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East back in 2008? The American overseas vote certainly wasnt going to tip the scales.

If you follow the narrative that the Russians influenced the election, then how is it that Clinton actually won the popular vote? Accepting the lefts narrative, its conclusive that the Russians actually hacked the election for Clinton (they simply failed to recognize we vote as a democratic republic and not as an Athenian democracy).

Theres also the medias ridiculous notion that campaign representatives speaking to the Russian government somehow is an unspoken crime. Then-President Obama knew this information and said nothing. This is because, as it was often reported deep into the story, presidential campaigns reaching out to foreign governments is not unusual. If the Russians werent the current hot button, then why are we not hearing about the other governments Trumps people also spoke with during the campaign?

The national media spent a couple years misrepresenting the importance of the fact that Clinton not only breached national security while storing sensitive government information on her private server, the Russians almost proved it. If the Russians could get the emails of her campaign manager, how difficult was it to get the classified information she illegally stored in her closet?

On Feb. 17, the White House press corps, along with their national media subsidiaries, failed to recognize theyre losing to Trump. Theyre also embedding the support of the everyday people who voted for him.

The national press can keep to their one-sided messaging and continue losing the battle, or they can embrace Trumps unusual style. Either way, hell probably continue to make this a one-sided relationship suitable for a 1970s sitcom.
Allen L. Gifford

Allen L. Gif Boppy Gifford, 79, of Arlington, a kind-hearted, jovial man with a gentle, playful humor, shed his ailing, fleshly body on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, at St. Marys Hospital in Madison.

Allen was born March 6, 1937, the son of Sidney and Carmen (Berkvam) Gifford. He proudly served his country during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Allen married the love of his life, Robin Chamberlain, on Dec. 14, 1963. He worked for Madison Crushing and Excavating and Del Monte for many years and was a proud member of Local No. 139 Operating Engineers. Allen loved tinkering in his garage, was an excellent mechanic, and also painted many cars over the years. He enjoyed snowmobile racing and taking rides in the country.

Gif loved all his pets, especially his little dogs, Skippy and Ollie, and they loved him in return. It wasnt uncommon for every pet in the house to nestle into Gifs lap. In recent months, two cats and a small Chihuahua shared that cozy place. But his great loves were Jesus, his girls, Robin, Pam, Bridget and Abbi, all his pets, and his family farm, Frogshackle Acres. Aldo Leopold said, There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot. Gif loved his 150 acres of woods and marsh located north of Portage. He loved hearing the Sandhill cranes, looking for sign of deer, turkey and other critters. He enjoyed many family picnics under the shade of the old oak trees and took great pride each fall when friends harvested deer off the acreage. He was a poor joke teller but when something struck him as funny his clear blue eyes would twinkle and dance as hed chuckle and re-count his silly story. He was a proud, active member of Wyocena Community Church and loved singing in the choir for many years.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Robin; his daughters, Pam (Glenn) Puntney and Bridget Boo Gifford; his grandchildren, Abbi Gifford, Riley Puntney and Cody Puntney; his sister, Jean (Roger) Arnce; his brothers-in-law, James (Jeannette) Chamberlain, Rick (Karen) Klemp and Mike Klemp; his sister-in-law, Peggy (Mike) Blaska; other relatives and many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Carmen and Sidney; and his brother, Steve.

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at Wyocena Community Church in Wyocena, with the Rev. Mark Brandel officiating. Inurnment will be private. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, at Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home (www.pmmfh.com) in Portage, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at the church.

The family would like to thank Dr. Harnish for years of devoted care and overseeing Gifs health. Also, deep appreciation to the countless ER teams at St. Marys Hospital who would get Gif through what he came to call his annual tune-up.
Coordinating Committee (Corcom), a top body of six insurgent groups in Manipur, has called for a complete bandh in the state on Saturday to protest against Modi's visit and called for a curfew until he finishes his speech.

By Manogya Loiwal : Security has been tightened for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public rally in Imphal today ahead of the Manipur Assembly election after bombs were recovered on Friday from Imphal West district, where he is supposed to speak.

Polling in Manipur will be held in two phases -- on March 4 and 8.

Manipur police have started round-the-clock search operations and intensified frisking all over the state to prevent any untoward incidents after a hand grenade and a bomb were recovered on Friday from Imphal West district, where the rally is supposed to take place. A team of Manipur Police officials, led by additional SP S Ibomcha Singh, conducted search operations at Langjing Achouba ground, which is the venue.

Security has been tightened at the venue of PM Modi's rally in Imphal.

advertisement

A Chinese-made hand grenade was found near the gate of BJP candidate Soibam Subhachandra's residence at Ningombam Leikai, 9 km away from the Achouba ground, while another bomb was found in front of another BJP worker O Sunil's residence in Thoubal district, 40 km away from the rally venue.

INSURGENT GROUPS AGAINST MODI'S VISIT

This recovery comes even as Coordinating Committee (Corcom), a top body of six insurgent groups in Manipur, has called for a complete bandh in the state on Saturday to protest against Modi's visit, saying it was aimed at "hoodwinking the people of Manipur".

Corcom has called for a curfew from 6 in the morning, to remain in effect until PM Modi finishes his speech and leaves the Manipuri capital.

A statement issued by Corcom said, "Essential services like medical, media, water supply, electricity and fire services will be outside the purview of the shutdown."

The venue of the rally was shifted from Kangla Fort to Langjing Achouba after Irom Sharmila's People Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) raised objection, saying that the fort was a sacred place for the people of the state.

MANIPUR CM's CLAIMS ABOUT BJP FALSE: RAM MADHAV

Meanwhile, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav and Assam Finance Minister Hemanta Biswas have already reached Imphal for the rally. The duo, along with Manipur BJP chief Ksh. Bhabananda, inspected the venue of Modi's rally.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will definitely say something which is very important for the state of Manipur," Ram Madhav said. The false claims made by the Manipur Chief Minister O. Ibobi about BJP and the fear and suspicion among the Manipuri populace about the framework agreement signed between the NSCN-IM and Govt of India, will all be resolved when the prime minister speaks on Saturday, Madhav asserted.

280 CENTRAL FORCES COMPANIES IN MANIPUR

Meanwhile, the Centre will deploy an additional 30 companies of Central paramilitary forces in Manipur for the smooth conduct of the state assembly election.

advertisement

According to Manipur Chief Secretary O Nabakishore, a total of 280 companies of Central paramilitary forces will be deployed for election duty in the state, which has experienced more than a three-month-long economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council along the highways of the landlocked state.

Nabakishore said the "state is ready for elections."

Also read: Manipur: With just Rs 4.2 lakh Sharmila out to challenge multi-crore BJP-Congress campaign

Also read: Manipur elections 2017: Economic blockade won't impact poll process, says election commissioner Nasim Zaidi

--- ENDS ---
African Unions planned overhaul may affect its ties with China

The AU's latest meeting was different. It showed the organisation is serious about finding practical, lasting solutions to contemporary continental problems.

The African Union (AU) held its 28th Summit in Addis Ababa recently. The meeting was markedly different to previous ones.

Specifically the decision to deeply reform the continental body was given new life and uniquely, a report to bring this about was drafted by Rwandan President Paul Kagame. This formed part of a process that kicked off at the mid-2016 summit. Then Kagame  supported by a pan-African advisory team  was given the task of coming up with reform proposals. Importantly, it was recognised that previous attempts at institutional reform had been ineffective.

The reports recommendations can be summed up as less is more. They include the need for fewer strategic priorities and addressing bureaucratic bottlenecks. They also call for a better division of labour between the AU and member states, regional economic organisations and continental organs and institutions. The need to lessen the AUs dependence on external funding also featured prominently.

In relation to Africas external relations  and in the interest of political and operational efficiency  it was recommended that partnership summits such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and Japans Tokyo International Conference on African Development convened by external parties should be reviewed with a view to providing an effective framework for AU relations.

Besides partnership summits, external engagement in Africa is mainly carried out at the country level. To make sure that the African agenda isnt externally driven, the report recommended that a central body be created to map, monitor and implement projects. And it recommends a change to Africas bilateral engagements.

What remains to be seen are whether the factors that prompted the reform of Africas partnerships have been addressed and how and when the changes will be implemented.

Changes to forum meetings

Normally partnership summits are attended by a host of African leaders. At the sixth China-Africa forum meeting in South Africa in December 2015, 48 African leaders were in attendance.

The Kagame report proposes a much smaller delegation made up of the troika (the current, former and incoming AU chairs), the chairperson of the AU Commission and the chairperson of the regional economic communities.

These changes may have implications for Africas relations with China. Since 2000 China and African state representatives have been meeting on a triennial basis through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Importantly in 2018 the seventh forum is expected to take place in Beijing.

A handful of representatives meeting China on behalf of the continent is a commendable approach. For years commentators have been advocating for a more unified African voice in engaging external partners, who were at an advantage, as the African side scrambled to forge a common position. Arguably, more can be achieved with fewer voices and with greater consistency and continuity.

The AU and China have already been collaborating more closely. The former became a full forum member in 2011 and China deployed a permanent mission to the AU in early 2015. China also built the impressive new headquarters for the AU in Addis Ababa and has also committed to supporting the bodys Agenda 2063.

Its still not entirely clear what the impact of the new format on the actual forum ministerial meetings and summits will be. Will it replace the consultation with the African ambassadors in Beijing and host country of the forum ministerial or summit, who together with the Chinese forum secretariat have traditionally managed the forum process?

If so, would this effectively create joint secretariat based in Addis Ababa? This might be a much more appropriate forum given that the city is also the seat of Africas key summits and meetings. Consultations with heads of state  or internal African canvassing of views on what Africa wants from China  would also be much easier.

The opening ceremony of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2015. GCIS

But to realise any of this the chronic failures of the lack of capacity, poor accountability, fragmentation and low levels of trust need to be addressed urgently. Whether this proposal will be ready for 2018 is another issue. For now, forum activities and projects remain funded  and thus largely driven  by China.

Until the details of how this new type of partnership would operate are known, some outstanding nuances should be considered.

First is the symbolic use of summitry. Platforms like the forum are stages where actors showcase their identities, affiliations and role in the world. The symbolism of the long-standing China-Africa friendship, reflected by images of Chinas President Xi Jinping brushing shoulders with several African heads of state at the sixth forum, could be potentially scrapped.

Second are Chinas bilateral relations with African states. Some nations hold a longer history of relations with China, than the AU. Summits also double up as a reason to make bilateral visits where an impressive laundry list of agreements are often signed. It remains to be seen how bilateral relations (the level at which forum agreements are actually implemented), will be affected by such a new arrangement.

Certainly a better organised AU would fill an important gap in the regions relations with China. The question is whether the changes will be put into effect. In Kagames words:

to fail Africa again would be unforgivable.

Yu-Shan Wu, Senior Researcher, Foreign Policy, South African Institute of International Affairs, University of the Witwatersrand. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
27-year-old Sepoy Mandeep Singh was martyred in a gun-fight with militants, who mutilated his body before crossing over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on October 24.

Sepoy Mandeep Singh was killed in a ceasefire violation along LoC in Machhal sector of Kashmir.

By Anindya Banerjee: Four months after they lost their son, Sepoy Mandeep Singh in a ceasefire violation along LoC in Machhal sector of Kashmir, parents of the slain soldier are still waiting for the compensation promised.

27-year-old Sepoy Mandeep Singh was martyred in a gun-fight with militants, who mutilated his body before crossing over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on October 24.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh to Singh's kin and promised a government job to a family member.

advertisement

His offer also included a promotion to the slain soldier's wife who is a head constable with the Haryana police.

Wreath laying ceremony for martyred sepoy Mandeep Singh.

But according to Singh's family, they have not received the ex-gratia neither has anyone approached them for a government job yet.

Mandeep Singh's family members today marched from India Gate to the Prime Minister's office at Raisina Hill in capital to claim their compensation.

The martyr's brother Sandeep said,"So far we haven't received a single penny. We have come here to meet the prime minister and we are hopeful."

Whereas, the Army says that the compensation amount has been disbursed.

Another family member told India Today, "We demand promotion for my sister. She was promised to be made a DSP during the funeral."

Being a Mahashivratri holiday, they could not meet the prime minister but are determined to fight for their due.

Also read: Kashmir terror attack: 3 Army jawans and a woman killed by militants; Hizbul claims responsibility

Also read: After Musharraf admits using Kashmir militants as tools, Pakistan minister calls Hafiz Saeed a threat

--- ENDS ---
Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit

Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools:

Portfolio Monitoring

Top Stock Lists

Premium Reports

Stock Screeners

Live News Feed

Premium Support

Free for your first month.
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, a technology company, focuses in the areas of automation and digitalization in Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. It operates through Digital Industries, Smart Infrastructure, Mobility, Siemens Healthineers, and Siemens Financial Services segments. The Digital Industries segment offers automation systems and software for factories, numerical control systems, motors, drives and inverters, and integrated automation systems for machine tools and production machines; process control systems, machine-to-machine communication products, sensors and radio frequency identification systems; software for production and product lifecycle management, and simulation and testing of mechatronic systems; and cloud-based industrial Internet of Things operating systems. The Smart Infrastructure segment offers products, systems, solutions, services, and software to support sustainable transition in energy generation from fossil and renewable sources; sustainable buildings and communities; and buildings, electrification, and electrical products. The Mobility segment provides passenger and freight transportation, such as vehicles, trams and light rail, and commuter trains, as well as trains and passenger coaches; locomotives for freight or passenger transport and solutions for automated transportation; products and solutions for rail automation; electrification products; and intermodal solutions. The Siemens Healthineers segment develops, manufactures, and sells various diagnostic and therapeutic products and services; and provides clinical consulting services. The Siemens Financial Services segment offers debt and equity investments; leasing, lending, and working capital financing solutions; and equipment, project, and structured financing solutions. Siemens Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Munich, Germany.
While the investigators have been cautious in blaming Pakistan or its intelligence agency ISI for Kanpur train tragedy, PM Modi told an election rally at Gonda in UP that the derailment was a conspiracy hatched across the border.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Addressing an election rally at Gonda in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today blamed Pakistan for Kanpur train derailment. About 150 people had lost their lives in the train tragedy November last year.

Modi stated that the Kanpur train derailment was a conspiracy hatched across the border. He said that the people of the city need to elect those who were full of patriotism.

advertisement

The Kanpur train derailment case is being investigated by multiple agencies including the National Investigation Agency. The investigators involved with the case have, however, stayed away from naming ISI or confirming a foreign hand behind the derailment.

An informed source, privy to probe details, said, "The investigation is in nascent stage."

WHY MODI RELATED KANPUR TRAGEDY WITH PAKISTAN: THINGS TO KNOW PM Modi was addressing a poll rally at Gonda, which will go to poll in the fifth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh. Gonda is close to the Indo-Nepal border and the PM expressed concerns about its safety. "A rail accident happened in Kanpur, few people have been caught. Police found out that it was a conspiracy from across the border. If such people, who will help (conspirators), get elected from here, will Gonda be safe? Will nation be safe then," asked PM Modi. PM Modi's comment is in sharp contradiction to investigations so far by UP police, central railway board and even National Investigation Agency (NIA). These agencies are yet to draw any conclusion on a Pakistan link to Kanpur train derailment. A senior officer of the NIA refused to comment on the issue. The probe conducted by three agencies did not pick any forensic evidence of explosives. The recovery of technical evidence in the form of audio clips is still being examined. A team of NIA has gone to Nepal to make further probe. But no strong leads have emerged so far. However, a clear Pakistani ISI link emerged to Ghorasahan in East Champaran district of Bihar, where an IED was discovered in October last year. Bihar Police had arrested three murder case accused identified as Moti Paswan, Umashankar Prasad and Mukesh Yadav, who spilled beans of ISI link. They told the Bihar Police that the ISI had planned the derailment of Indore-Patna Express in November last year. Moti Paswan told the police that he visited Kanpur rail track before the train derailment. Police also recovered two WhatsApp audio clips from the phone of one of the accused. Two suspects could be discussing Kanpur derailment. Paswan is said to have confessed to having been involved in the train derailment along with two others including Zubair and Ziaul, who have been arrested in Delhi. The NIA earlier this month said that Dubai-based Shamshul Huda was the "mastermind" for the Ghorasahan sabotage behind the Indore-Patna Express train accident in Kanpur on November 16 last year. But, a similar link has not been confirmed by the NIA. Intelligence agencies suspect that Shamshul Hoda could be behind the derailment as he is said to have extensive network of sleeper cells in Delhi, Kanpur, Patna and Nepal. Hoda is further understood to have been in touch with one Sheikh Shafi in Pakistan. Sheikh Shafi is believed to be one who gives regular instructions through Hoda on how to carry out terror attacks in India.

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Srinagar, Feb 24 (PTI) Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah today kicked up a controversy by saying that the new generation of militants in Kashmir were fighting for "freedom".

"These boys have left (for the path of militancy). Everyone loves life, nobody wants to die. They have made promise to God that you decide the matters of life and death but we will sacrifice our life for the freedom of this nation," Abdullah said at a function held at National Conference (NC) headquarters here.

advertisement

The NC chief said the new generation of Kashmiris was fearless and were "not scared of guns".

"A new generation has taken birth which does not fear guns. It is striving to achieve freedom for this nation," he said.

The former Union minister said the boys "rendering sacrifices" were not aspiring to be MLAs, MPs or ministers.

"They are giving sacrifices to demand their right: (they say) this is our land and we are its rightful owners but they (India and Pakistan) do not understand this," he said, asking the party workers not to forget these sacrifices.

Lashing out at both India and Pakistan, Abdullah said the two countries "have not done justice" to Kashmiris.

"We are not anybodys enemy...This fight started in 1931. But we are asking both the countries to do justice to us. You even forgot promises you made in 1948," he said. PTI MIJ TIR GSN TIR

--- ENDS ---
'Sarajevo Roses' blossoms in U.S. debut at W&M

Debuting their film in America Roger Richards, director and producer of Sarajevo Roses, and Peggy Meder, executive producer, appeared on Feb. 21 at Tucker Hall theater for the film's American premiere. Photo by Jim Ducibella

An intimate connection Maya Ruza-Wilkerson (far left), a native of Bosnia who traveled from Richmond to attend the Feb. 21 premiere of "Sarajevo Roses," chats with her friend Mary Merrill (center), Peggy Meder, executive producer, and Roger Richards, the film's director and producer, 45 minutes before the movie started. Photo by Jim Ducibella Photo - of - Hide Caption

Two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Roger M. Richards introduced the United States premiere of his documentary Sarajevo Roses: A Cinematic Essay on Feb. 21 with a thought-provoking experiment. He asked the audience at William & Marys Tucker Hall theatre to imagine waking up to find society collapsed: stores closed, electricity shut off, neighbors become enemies.



This was the world Richards witnessed as a photojournalist during the 1992-1996 siege of Sarajevo. Reporting from the Bosnian city at the height of the siege, he felt compelled to share its residents stories. Richards spent the next 24 years making Sarajevo Roses and insisted, This can happen anywhere. Its a human story, not a story of a stranger.



Synchronicity brought Sarajevo Roses to Williamsburg. When Richards learned of William & Marys Bosnia Project, he decided it would be the films first stop on its tour of U.S. colleges. He was joined at William & Mary by executive producer Peggy Meder and associate producer Harry Brown, who interacted with audience members before and after the event.



Financial support for the screening came from many sources: W&Ms Bosnia Project, the Reves Center for International Studies, Russian and post-Soviet studies, the Roy R. Charles Center for Academic Excellence and the Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations.



Begun in 1999, the Bosnia Project is the universitys longest-running international service trip. Each summer a small group of undergraduates, after extensive study and mentorship under faculty advisor and Associate Professor of Government Paula Pickering, spend four weeks teaching children English and media skills in Sarajevo. The course culminates in the children producing their own short documentaries and fictional films.



William & Marys students work alongside education students from the University of Sarajevo. In the classroom, the co-teachers model as well as teach intercultural communication. Outside the classroom, the pairs often become close friends, providing each with a genuine window into the others culture.



The impact of Sarajevo Roses relies on the opportunity it offers for human connection. Rather than relying on explanatory or sensational voice-overs, Richards centered on five survivors of the siege. They recounted their lives during the war and their continuing struggles to recover in its aftermath, even though more than two decades have passed and three of them have made successful lives in countries other than Bosnia.



It was Richards intent that stark footage of burning skyscrapers, apartment blocks and suburban homes demand that the viewer recognize Sarajevo as a modern city no different than any in Western Europe or the U.S. Rather than focus primarily on the war itself, something he said many other films had done, he wanted to tell the human side.



In several scenes, small insets of war footage appeared on screen at the same time the films main characters were shown conversing with the camera/audience. Thus, Richards was able to bring their words to life.



Richards said he couldnt presume to answer the questions his film asked, and there are many he said that still trouble him: How can modern civilization be so fragile? How is humanity capable of genocide? Can survivors ever be whole again?



When asked how the literary form of the essay informed the documentary, Richards pointed to its origin, essay, from the French term meaning, to attempt.



So an essay is an attempt, he said.



Sarajevo Roses, Richards said, may not have answers, but there are many warnings. Even in societies as integrated as Bosnias, the characters he profiled said, politicians and propaganda can convince ordinary citizens to accept, condone and participate in genocide.



One of the subjects, a musician and psychiatrist named Asim Haracic, summarized that reality by saying, Every human seems to have that small fascist in their head, and it would be very dangerous not to recognize that.



Richards reinforced that notion by showing a plaque on the rebuilt Sarajevo City Hall that read: Do Not Forget: Remember and Warn!



It is a sentiment, Richards hoped, that his film would move people to do.
Harjot Kaur, a 1992 batch IAS officer and Uma Shankar Prasad, 2006 batch IAS officer were found guilty by the probe committee that was set up by Nitish Kumar soon after the tragic incident happened.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today cracked down on two senior IAS officers, Principal Secretary of the Tourism department, Harjot Kaur and Uma Shankar Prasad, Managing Director of Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation in connection with the boat tragedy incident in which 25 people lost their lives.

Harjot Kaur, a 1992 batch IAS officer and Uma Shankar Prasad, 2006 batch IAS officer were found guilty by the probe committee that was set up by Nitish Kumar soon after the tragic incident happened. Pratyaya Amrit, Principal Secretary of Disaster Management department and Patna DIG, Shalin were part of this two member probe team which after conducting the investigation had submitted a detailed report to the state govt last week.

advertisement

The boat which capsized in the Ganga was carrying people who were returning to NIT ghat after participating in the kite festival which was organised across the river on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. The festival was organized by the Tourism department and the probe report found that adequate arrangement were not made by the department for the event which included lack of adequate number of boats to ferry people.

The report said that because of lack of adequate number of boats for the festival, the boat which capsized was overloaded leading to the incident.

A notification in this regard has been issued by the General administration department of the state govt.

ALSO READ:Bihar boat tragedy: Meet the man who fished out bodies from GangaBihar boat tragedy: Case registered against boatman

--- ENDS ---




China News on Women





Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page
By Press Trust of India: From Kunal Dutt

On Board Special Aircraft, Feb 24 (PTI) Acknowledging that India does not have enough parliamentary interactions with Rwanda and Uganda, Vice President Hamid Ansari today said the government will step up legislature-level cooperation that would give parliamentarians a first-hand experience about the countrys foreign policies.

The Vice President also underlined that there was "gap from our side" in the frequency of high-level visit to such countries, and these gaps would be filled.

advertisement

"During the interactions with the President of Senate in Rwanda and the Speaker of Ugandan Parliament, it was felt that in both places, parliamentary interactions were not enough and I will agree with that...something I will go back to, and in consultation with Lok Sabha Speaker work out, how best we can bridge this gap.

"Because in both countries, MPs play an important role in shaping support towards government policies," Ansari told reporters.

The Vice President was interacting with reporters en route to Delhi from Ugandan capital Kampala after concluding his five-day two-nation tour, which also took him to another East African country Rwanda.

"This was first high-level visit from India to Rwanda and after 1997, no such visit has taken place to Uganda, from our side. The gap was from our side, as they have been participating in Indian Africa Summit and Vibrant Gujarat events," he said.

Ansari, also Chairman of Rajya Sabha, said, both "the countries received India with exceptional warmth and held talks with us. And, I must say the cordiality was evident."

The issue of parliamentary interactions came up during Ansaris meeting wih Rwandan Senate President Bernard Makuza and Speaker of Ugandan Parliament Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga.

"It is a valid point they raised in both countries. But, there are constraints from our side, their sides...It is not that they don?t meet, they meet in parliamentary interactions in Geneva, but that is not enough interaction. A visit by parliamentary delegation will boost understanding of Africa, and what are the areas of policies, which goes a long way in shaping governments policies," he said.

Ansari visited the two countries from from February 19-23, accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla, four MPs -- Kanimozhi, Ranvijay Singh Judev, Ranee Narah and P K Biju, and senior officials.

Rwanda has nearly 64 per cent seats reserved for women in its parliament and Uganda has also made a policy to send at least one woman representative from each district.

The Vice President had said that this visit was part of a "conscious effort" by the Indian government to "intensify interactions" with Africa. PTI KND PMS

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
Advocacy group Sikh Coalition has appealed to every Sikh-American to exercise extra vigilance and caution during this period of heightened vulnerability.

By Press Trust of India: A Sikh civil rights group has appealed to members of the Sikh-American community in the United States to be extra vigilant in the wake of a possible hate crime in Kansas City that left one Indian engineer dead and another injured.

The Sikh Coalition said its prayers go out to the family of 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was killed when 51-year-old Olathe resident Adam Purinton shot him at a bar in the city on Wednesday.

advertisement

Another Indian engineer Alok Madasani was injured in the incident. He was released from hospital yesterday. Purinton has been charged in Johnson County District Court with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and his bond has been set at USD 2 million.

WHAT THE SIKH GROUP SAID

The advocacy group urged "every Sikh-American to exercise extra vigilance and caution during this period of heightened vulnerability."

It urged members of the community to call up law enforcement agencies immediately if they had been a victim of hate violence or had received threats of violence.

Also read | It's not about where he's from, or ethnicity. We're all humans: Kansas shooting hero Ian Grillot

Kuchibhotla worked in aviation systems for Olathe-based Garmin Ltd. Madasani was his co-worker at Garmin.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence", Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke said in The Kansas City Star.

Another individual Ian Grillot, 24 was reportedly shot while attempting to stop Purinton.

MADASANI RECOVERING

Grillot said he was happy to see Madasani was recovering.

Following the shooting, Olathe residents went to the bar where the incident took place to lay flowers and offer condolences to the staff, patrons and victims' families.

Also read | Indian killed in shooting in Kansas city bar in US; gunman who yelled 'get out of my country' arrested

"You just can't help but your heart goes out to them, and it's such a sad story for the community but I just wanted to support and of course honour the lives of everybody involved", nearby business owner Amber McCracken said in a report in KSHB Kansas City.

The shooting has shaken the tight-knit Indian community in Olathe, according to Shabina Kavimandan, who was among those laying flowers at the site.

--- ENDS ---
UK's NuGen congratulates new Cumbrian MP

24 February 2017

Share

NuGeneration has congratulated Copeland by-election winner Trudy Harrison following last night's result in Whitehaven, as the company moves forward with plans to build a new nuclear power plant at Moorside. NuGen, which is the UK joint venture between Japan's Toshiba Corp and France's Engie, said it would work closely with the newly-elected British member of parliament as it "continues to build a robust business case" for the project.

The by-election in the seat of Copeland, in which the Sellafield site is located, was triggered by the resignation in December of Jamie Reed as a member of parliament for the UK's Labour Party. Reed resigned to become head of development and community relations at Sellafield Ltd. Conservative Party candidate Harrison, who worked as a technical clerk for Sellafield Ltd for five years until 1998, won with 13,748 votes to 11,601 for the Labour Party's Gillian Troughton.

NuGen CEO Tom Samson said he was committed to a close working relationship with Harrison "to help underpin the region's biggest-ever private investment". The project will be "transformational for the area", he added.

NuGen said on 14 February that Toshiba is committed to Moorside despite announcing it would reduce its exposure to reactor construction projects outside Japan. NuGen 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.

National media have noted the historic significance of Harrison's victory. Copeland, created in 1983, and its predecessor constituency Whitehaven have returned Labour MPs since 1935. It is also the UK's first by-election gain by a governing party since 1982.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
The Great Migration was a relocation of African-Americans from the rural south of the United States to the cities of Northeast, Midwest, and West between 1910 to 1970. More than 90% of the African-American population lived in Southern America before 1910. By 1900, fewer than 25% of the African-Americans were reported to have been living in urban areas. However, by the end of the Great Migration, over 80% of African-Americanw had moved to urban areas, the majority of which were in the North. The majority of the African-Americans were driven out of the rural areas by the low economic opportunities and discriminatory segregationist laws.

The Great Migration Pattern

The Black Migration began at the start of the new century with over 200,000 leaving in the first decade. However, the numbers increased with the onset of the World War I and progressed throughout the 1920s. By 1930, over one million southerners had relocated to different regions before the Great Depression of the 1930s led to the closure of several industries in the North, leading to a significant reduction in the migration. The second round of the Great Migration began around 1940 with about 1.5 million African-American moving north followed by another one million in the 1950s, and a further 2.5 million people in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Great Migration came to an end in the late 1970s with the setting in of deindustrialization in the Rust Belt Crisis. The Black Americans migrated from the 14 states in the south, most notably Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia. In the first wave of migration, eight major urban cities attracted a majority of the African-Americans including New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis. Other destinations such as the West Coast cities attracted the second wave of migration. There was a clear migratory pattern during the Great Migration that linked particular cities and states in the South with the corresponding destination in the North. Many African-Americans also migrated into Canada.

Causes Of The Great Migration

The Great Migration from the South to the North was triggered by the increased segregation, widespread racist ideologies, and lynching that claimed about 3,500 lives between the 1880s and 1960s. Lack of social and economic opportunities in the South also triggered the Great Migration to the North. Lack of adequate labor force in the northern factories as a result of the World War I created more opportunities in the north as well. The labor agents were subsequently forced to recruit southern workers with the companies of the North offering incentives to encourage African-American to relocate to the north.

Effects Of The Great Migration

The Great Migration significantly lowered the rural black population in the South, reducing the population growth in the region. The increasing number of the African-Americans in the north changed the population dynamics of large cities. However, racism was still heavily prevalent, even within the urban environment of northern cities. Residential discrimination in particular was rampant with white homeowners preventing migrants from purchasing or renting apartments in their neighborhood with a concept known as blockbusting.
Email Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter

Sign Up Free | The WPJ Weekly Newsletter Relevant real estate news.

Actionable market intelligence.

Right to your inbox every week. Go Thank you for your interest!

You will now be receiving our Weekly Real Estate Newsletter.

Real Estate Listings Showcase

According to the Miami association of Realtors, Miami-Dade County single-family home sales, median prices, and dollar volumes all increased year-over-year in January 2017.Led by a significant surge in traditional sales and transactions for properties listed from $200,000 to $600,000, Miami single-family home sales rose 4.4 percent last month. Median sale prices ($310,000) and dollar volume ($397 million) expanded 14.8 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively."Miami real estate opened 2017 with strong sales for single-family homes," said Christopher Zoller, the 2017 MIAMI chairman of the board. "Now that the uncertainty of the election is over, home buyers are coming off the sidelines. There is high demand for homes priced from $200K to $600K. As reflected in our January statistics, we are also seeing Miami single-family home sales for properties from $600K to $1 million showing strong gains."More homebuyers are taking advantage of current mortgage rates, which despite their increases are still at historic lows. According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage is 4.15 percent.Total existing Miami-Dade County residential sales -- which posted a record year in 2013 and near record years in 2014 and 2015 -- decreased 3.3 percent year-over-year from 1,790 to 1,731.Single-family home sales rose 4.4 percent year-over-year from 821 in January 2016 to 857 last month. The Miami single-family homes market is coming off a 2016 in which it posted the third-most annual sales in county history. Existing condo sales -- which are competing with a robust new construction market -- decreased 9.8 percent year-over-year, from 969 transactions to 874.Sales for mid-market Miami single-family homes, or properties listed from $200,000 to $600,000, increased 22.5 percent in January, from 476 to 583. Homes sold in the $200K to $600K range represent 33.7 percent of total Miami single-family home sales.Sales for Miami single-family homes listed from $600,000 to $1 million increased 62.3 percent in January, from 53 to 86.Miami single-family traditional sales also posted gains, jumping 19.3 percent from last year. This growth in traditional sales, from 612 to 730 transactions, is great news for the local market.Total sales volume for all properties accounted for $702.3 million last month, a 5.2 percent decrease from the $740.5 million sales volume a year ago. These sales do not include Miami's multi-billion dollar new construction condo market.Miami-Dade County single-family home prices jumped 14.8 percent in January 2017, increasing from $270,000 to $310,000. Miami single-family home prices have now risen for 62 consecutive months, a streak spanning more than five years. Existing condos increased 8.4 percent, from $205,000 to $222,250. Condo prices have increased in 66 of the last 68 months.Despite the rise in prices, Miami real estate remains a major bargain. A condominium in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach cost $170,000 in 2016 Q3, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The average cost of a 120 square meter apartment in 2016 in the prime inner city areas of London ($4.1 million), Hong Kong ($3.1 million), and New York ($2.2 million) were at least ten times higher, according to Global Property Guide.Total Miami distressed sales declined 44.7 percent year-over-year, from 398 to 220 last month. Only 12.7 percent of all closed residential sales in Miami were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 22.2 percent in January 2016. In 2009, distressed sales comprised 70 percent of Miami sales.Short sales and REOs accounted for 2.9 and 9.8 percent, respectively, of total Miami sales in January 2017. Short sale transactions dropped 35.4 percent year-over-year while REOs fell 47.0 percent.Nationally, distressed sales accounted for 7 percent of all sales in January, down from 9 percent a year ago.The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Miami single-family home sales was 61 days, a 27.1 percent increase from 48 days last year. The median number of days between the listing date and closing date for single-family properties decreased 1.7 percent to 113 days.For condos, the median time to contract increased 13.3 percent to 85 days. The median number of days between the listing date and closing date increased 4.8 percent to 131 days.The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes decreased 1.0 percent to 94.5 percent. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums decreased 0.5 percent to 93.4 percent.In addition to competing sales from new construction units, the lack of access to mortgage loans continues to impact existing condominiums. Of the 9,307 condominium buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, only 12 are approved for Federal Housing Administration loans, down from 29 last year, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and FHA.Nationally, total existing-home sales expanded 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million in January from an upwardly revised 5.51 million in December 2016, according to NAR. January's sales pace is 3.8 percent higher than a year ago (5.48 million) and surpasses November 2016 (5.60 million) as the strongest since February 2007 (5.79 million).Statewide closed sales of existing single-family homes totaled 16,779 last month, up 5.2 percent from January 2016, according to Florida Realtors. Statewide condo closed sales totaled 7,209 last month, up 6.2 percent compared to January 2016.The national median existing-home price for all housing types in January was $228,900, up 7.1 percent from January 2016 ($213,700). January's price increase was the fastest since last January (8.1 percent) and marks the 59th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes last month was $220,000, up 10.1 percent from the previous year, according to Florida Realtors. The statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties in January was $161,000, up 6.6 percent over the year-ago figure. January marked the 62nd month in a row that statewide median prices for both sectors rose year-over-year.Miami cash transactions comprised 43.4 percent of January total closed sales, compared to 52.7 percent last year. Miami cash transactions are more than double the national figure of 23 percent. Miami's high percentage of cash sales reflects South Florida's ability to attract a diverse number of international homebuyers, who tend to purchase properties in all cash.Condominiums comprise a large portion of Miami's cash purchases as 59.5 percent of condo closings were made in cash in January compared to 27.1 percent of single-family home sales.Inventory of single-family homes increased 5.2 percent in January from 6,262 active listings last year to 6,590 last month. Condominium inventory increased 13.8 percent to 13,284 from 15,111 listings during the same period in 2016.Single-family homes have a 6.0-month supply, which indicates a balanced market. Existing condominiums have a 13.4-month supply, which indicates a buyers' market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six and nine months supply of inventory.Total active listings at the end of January increased 11.0 percent year-over-year, from 19,546 to 21,701. Active listings remain about 60 percent below 2008 levels when sales bottomed. New listings of Miami single-family homes decreased 3.0 percent, from 1,816 to 1,871. New listings of condominiums decreased 3.8 percent, from 2,742 to 2,637.Nationally, total housing inventory at the end of January rose 2.4 percent to 1.69 million existing homes available for sale, but is still 7.1 percent lower than a year ago (1.82 million) and has fallen year-over-year for 20 straight months.Most Miami preconstruction condo developers require a 50-percent cash deposit on new units. The deposit is not only one of the highest in the United States but is significantly higher than the 20 percent required during the last real estate cycle. The large cash deposits show how committed Miami's preconstruction condo buyers are to the local market.Sixty-four condo towers with 6,760 units have been completed in Miami-Dade County east of I-95 in the last five years since the start of 2011, according to a Jan. 23 report from preconstruction condo projects website Cranespotters.com and M.A.R.
Mark van Dongen

By: Tanya Clark WorldWideWeirdNews.com

A woman is facing up to life in prison after being accused of using acid to kill her much younger boyfriend because he wanted to end the relationship, according to police in the United Kingdom.

Westbury Park police said that they have arrested 47-year-old Berlinah Wallace, after being accused of killing 29-year-old Mark van Dongen.

Wallace was initially charged with causing Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), but after Dongen died, she was charged with one count of murder.

According to the police investigation, Dongen moved from Belgium to the United Kingdom, to attend the Bristol University.

At some point, he met the much older woman, and he began a relationship with Wallace. When Dongen decided to end the relationship, Wallace became angry.

One day, Wallace poured acid over the body of her boyfriend, causing him to suffer burns on 80% of his body. Dongen was rushed to the hospital, where he stayed for 15 months.

Last month, Dongen died of his injuries.
Maryanne and Tommy Pilling

By: Mason White WorldWideWeirdNews.com

(Scroll down for video) A couple is proving to the world that love has no borders, and that everyone deserves to be loved and happy.

Lindi Newman of the United Kingdom, said that her mother was criticized for allowing her daughter to marry her lover as they both have Down syndrome.

Newman said that her sister, Maryanne, was 24 years old when she met 37-year-old Tommy Pilling, at a school for special needs students.

Maryanne fell in love with Tommy, and brought him home to meet her family. After dating for 18 months, Tommy asked her mother for permission to ask her daughter to marry him.

Newman said that her mother agreed, and she took him to a jewelry store to choose a ring. Tommy then proposed and Maryanne said ayes.a

The couple got married at the St. Marys Church in Shoeburyness, Essex, in July 1995. They have been together ever since and they are very happy.

Maryanne, 45, and Tommy, 59, are preparing to celebrate their 22 year marriage anniversary.
By Press Trust of India: Los Angeles, Feb 24 (PTI) Actor Orlando Bloom paid a visit to Diffa, the southeast region of Niger and met kids affected by Boko Haram violence.

The 40-year-old actor interacted with children and families in the region, where over 240,000 internally displaced persons reside and receive aid from a UNICEF-supported psychosocial unit, reported People magazine.

advertisement

"As a father, it is hard for me to imagine how many of these children are caught up in this conflict. During my trip I have heard dreadful stories about children fleeing on foot, leaving everything behind, including the safety of their homes and classrooms," Bloom said.

The actor, who shares six-year-old son Flynn with ex-wife Miranda Kerr, said it was hard to imagine what the children in Niger had endured.

"I saw the depth of the pain and suffering these kids are going through. This is not something any child should experience," he said.

In addition to Niger, the UNICEF goodwill ambassador, also visited the rural commune on the border of Nigeria. PTI SHD SHD

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Islamabad, Feb 24 (PTI) Pakistan and India should have friendly and good neighbourly relations and avoid hatching conspiracies against each other, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said.

Sharif told reporters accompanying him on his visit to Turkey that even during the election campaign in Pakistan, his party did not adopt the policy of "India bashing" and ended this negative tradition.

advertisement

"We [Pakistan and India] should maintain good relations and avoid involving in conspiracies against each other," he said, without elaborating.

India and Pakistan relations have been strained for the past over an year. The bilateral ties nosedived particularly after an attack on Indian Army base in Uri on September 18 last year by terrorists from across the border. Nineteen Indian soldiers were killed in the attack.

Ten days later, India conducted "surgical strikes" on terrorist launchpads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as a response to the Uri attack.

Sharif said Pakistan was grateful to Turkey for its support on the Kashmir issue, according to a report in Dawn.

He also expressed gratitude for Turkeys stance on Pakistans inclusion in the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group, which India is also vying.

Talking about recent incidents of terrorism in the country, Sharif said some elements who were upset with the progress of Pakistan were behind the current spate of terror incidents. He expressed the governments resolve to eliminate terrorism at all costs.

"With our firm resolve, we will defeat those who are not digesting Pakistans success on different fronts," he said, adding the involvement of a foreign hand in terror activities in Pakistan could not be denied, according to the report. PTI ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
The students union at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London recently demanded the removal of white philosophers from the university curriculum.

The unions Educational Priorities statement for 2016/17 outlined demands for far-reaching changes to curricula and teaching under the heading, Decolonising SOAS: Confronting the White Institution, opposing what it describes as the structural and epistemological legacy of colonialism within our university.

Our aims, they write, are to make sure that the majority of the philosophers on our courses are from the Global South or its diaspora. SOASs focus is on Asia and Africa and therefore the foundations of its theories should be presented by Asian or African philosophers.

SOAS, founded in 1916, is one of Europes most elite higher education institutions. It was established to promote the long-term interests of British imperialism in Africa and Asia by training a cadre of colonial administrators. Alumni include countless heads of state, diplomats and civil servants in the former colonial countries.

Under the cover of anti-colonial rhetoric, the students union advances a racialist perspective: If white philosophers are required, then teach their work from a critical standpoint. For example, [by] acknowledging the colonial context in which so-called Enlightenment philosophers wrote within [emphasis added].

The classification of philosophers based on their skin colour, rather than their place in the historical development of human thought, is combined with an attack on the entire progressive tradition of the Enlightenment. A period of great intellectual awakening during the 18th century, the Enlightenment was a product of enormous advances in science that profoundly altered mans understanding of the universe and his place within it.

The SOAS campaign is part of the broader Why is My Curriculum White? movement by student unions nationally, calling for an end to the Eurocentric educational curriculum and the dominance of white social institutions. It is supported by the National Union of Students (NUS), sections of academia and columnists in the Guardian newspaper. NUS President and former Black Students Officer Malia Bouattia is a prominent spokesperson for the campaign. The movement began at University College London (UCL) in 2014 and spread to universities in London, York, Warwick, Nottingham and Kent. It also gained a presence at Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester universities in recent months.

The social interests motivating the campaign are revealed by the alternative slogan adopted by the campaign: Why isnt my professor black? Its promotion of identity politics, based on race, gender and sexuality, is a bid for social privileges and influence. In line with this, there are demands [t]o proactively encourage greater representation of BME [Black and Minority Ethnic] academics in teaching and research positions and support heterodox research and knowledge production and to redistribute university resources as a form of reparative justice.

A blog on NUS Connect complains that universities and institutions of further education have a fundamental role and responsibility towards the progression of thought, and instruction of social mobility [emphasis added]. The failure of the academy to recognise certain subjects taught by BME academics as core subjects, means they are over-scrutinised compared to their peers, more likely to suffer from casualisation (receiving temporary or part-time contracts only), threatening both job security and the ability to resist conforming to abject requirements.

Rather than launching a joint struggle against the attack on education and working conditions, the campaign is purely concerned with the circumstances faced by BME students and professionals, on the grounds that the task of universities is to promote social mobility.

This echoes the Rhodes Must Fall campaign that was initiated in 2015 by privileged social layers in South Africa and which spread internationally.

Last summer, undergraduate students at Yale University in the United States protested the canonical status of writers such as Shakespeare, Chaucer and Milton, claiming, It is unacceptable that a Yale student considering studying English literature might read only white male authors.

At SOAS, a number of academics gave qualified support for the demands by the student union. A blog on the SOAS web site stated that there is no question of white philosophers being removed from the curriculum at SOAS; Plato and Kant will remain at the table. Yet beside them, now, thinkers from the rich and longstanding non-Western philosophical traditions of Asia and Africa are taking their rightful places. [1]

The blog continues:

Any critical thinker will want to ask how it could be that the great European philosophers of the Enlightenment could write so profoundly about the liberating potential of knowledge, could hail the slogan of the French Revolution, liberte, egalite, fraternite, at the very same moment that Europe was colonising much of the globe and participating in the slave trade.

An attack on the Enlightenment

This amalgam of the progressive ideals of the Enlightenment with the crimes of colonialism and the slave trade is ahistorical and reactionary. Firstly, it ignores the work of Guillaume Thomas Raynal and other thinkers opposing slavery, not to mention the crucial influence of the Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality in shaping events such as the Haitian slave revolt led by Toussaint Louverture in 1791.

The issue of slavery was hotly debated by the philosophers, so that Denis Diderots Encyclopaedia (1772) says of the trade, This buying of Negroes, to reduce them to slavery, is one business that violates religion, morality, natural laws, and all the rights of human nature... If commerce of this kind can be justified by a moral principle, there is no crime, however atrocious it may be, that cannot be made legitimate... Men and their liberty are not objects of commerce; they can be neither sold nor bought nor paid for at any price.

It calls for the freeing of all slaves, stating that the sale of a slave is always invalid because, This Negro does not divest himself and can never divest himself of his natural right; he carries it everywhere with him, and he can demand everywhere that he be allowed to enjoy it. It is, therefore, patent inhumanity on the part of judges in free countries where he is transported, not to emancipate him immediately by declaring him free, since he is their fellow man, having a soul like them.

The colonial empires that emerged in the 16th century were not the result of the ideas of rich white men, but were critical to the emergence of a global capitalist economy. Karl Marx explained the origins of modern industry in terms of the primitive accumulation of capital in the first volume of Capital:

The discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalised the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production. These idyllic proceedings are the chief momenta of primitive accumulation. On their heels treads the commercial war of the European nations, with the globe for a theatre If money according to Augier, comes into the world with a congenital blood-stain on one cheek, capital comes dripping from head to foot from every pore with blood and dirt. [2]

The resources brutally extracted from colonial conquests were used to develop vast banking and manufacturing enterprises, accelerating the proletarianisation of the domestic population and the establishment of the modern capitalist state.

The interests of the newly emerging bourgeoisie increasingly came into conflict with the old feudal system based on a rigid social hierarchy crowned by a parasitic nobility and justified by the state church. Broad socio-economic developments undermined the old political structures. These social contradictions were to erupt in the great bourgeois democratic revolutions of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, principally the American and French revolutions, whose leaders were profoundly influenced by the great Enlightenment philosophers.

The Enlightenment originated in the scientific revolution of the preceding two centuries that undermined the ideological domination of official religion. Rather than mankinds problems being the eternal consequence of original sin, its leading figures believed that the application of rational analysis could discover the truth underlying all aspects of the natural world and human society. Human beings were potentially perfectible if social conditions were engineered correctly.

This undermined the Divine Right of Kings and absolute rule, and gave ideological form to the simmering social grievances of the emerging bourgeoisie against feudal society. However, as David North explained in a 1996 lecture Equality, the Rights of Man and the Birth of Socialism:

it would be simplistic and superficial to see in the work of the Enlightenment nothing more than the narrow expression of the class interests of the bourgeoisie in its struggle against a decaying feudal order. The advanced thinkers who prepared the bourgeois revolutions of the eighteenth century spoke and wrote in the name of all of suffering humanity, and in doing so evoked universal themes of human solidarity and emancipation that reached beyond the more limited and prosaic aims of the capitalist class. [3]

There were inevitable historical limitations to the realisation of the goals of the Enlightenment. Despite the genius of Rousseau, Locke, Hume et al., they could not escape their historical epoch. Although many thinkers of the time were critical of private property, slavery, colonialism and their attendant social evils, their ideals could not be fully realised in the context of the capitalist society that emerged from the bourgeois revolutions.

The realisation of a socialist society without class distinctions based on scientific economic planning depended upon the emergence of the working class and its political struggle against the bourgeoisie.

Socialism and the Enlightenment

Socialism was both the great heir to the Enlightenment and its negation. It was Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels who proved scientifically that it was only the working class in a political struggle against the bourgeoisie which could realise the principles and goals of social emancipation, equality and the Rights of Man. It necessitated the abolition of private ownership of the means of production and the ending of class exploitation through socialist revolution. This was confirmed by the October 1917 revolution in Russia, led by Lenin and Trotsky.

These historical truths are anathema to the academics and middle-class students involved in the decolonise education movement. They use whiteness as a pejorative term for the entire Enlightenment tradition. Their struggle for social privilege requires the encouragement of racial divisions and an attack on the philosophical roots of Marxism. Their obsession with race is driven by their opposition to social equality.

The identification of the Enlightenment with colonialism is set out in The Postcolonial Enlightenment by Daniel Carey and Lynn Festa, in deliberately obscure academic language:

Irremediably Eurocentric, the ideas grouped under the rubric of Enlightenment are explicitly or implicitly bound up with imperialism. In its quest for the universal, Enlightenment occludes cultural difference and refuses moral and social relativity. Inasmuch as its values are identified as coextensive with modernity, the Enlightenment naturalizes a teleology in which all roads lead inexorably to an episteme associated with the West. Frozen in the dark backward and abysm of the primitive or savage, non-Western populations are stripped of the agency and historicity that underwrites civilized advancement. The doctrine of progress, in turn, legitimates imperial conquest under the guise of the civilizing mission, while the celebration of reason disqualifies other belief systems as irrational or superstitious. Enlightenment becomes alternately the engine of a relentlessly totalizing historical spirit and the ideological sugar coating designed to disguise the bitter nature of empire from both its victims and its perpetrators. Cast in these terms, any vestiges of the Enlightenment that remain within a theory become a sign of insufficient liberation [emphasis added]. [4]

Via citations of historic agency, we therefore have the elevation of cultural differences as opposed to class interests, the replacement of scientific thought with moral and social relativity, and the repudiation of the goal of social progressof socialismin favour of the preservation of capitalist society, albeit with the necessary culturally sensitive veneer provided by the national bourgeoisie and its petty bourgeois ideologues.

Postcolonial theory is a trend of postmodernist philosophy that emerged in the context of the independence struggles that broke out in the former colonial countries in the period following the Second World War. It represents an attack on the Marxist analysis of imperialism as being based on the economic domination and division of the world by monopolistic banks and corporations. Instead, colonial dependence is cast in terms of psychological and cultural factors. Its proponents were influenced by poststructuralism, psychoanalysis and the critical theory of the Frankfurt School.

Frantz Fanon, Edward Said and the dead end of bourgeois nationalism

Frantz Fanon, a psychologist and philosopher, is the major representative of this tendency. His influential book, The Wretched of the Earth, sets out a supposedly anti-imperialist political strategy that rejects the Marxist insistence on the revolutionary role of the working class, focusing instead on issues of race, and fixating on the lumpenproletariat, criminals and other social layers which have been excluded from the processes of production. Fanon discusses the psychological aspects of colonial rule and advocates violence as a cathartic means for the oppressed individual to free themselves from colonialism. His work is cited as a key influence by various bourgeois nationalist movements and the black nationalist Black Panther party.

Another key figure is Edward Said, author of Orientalism (1978), who advanced the theory of cultural imperialism that reduces classic works of art to propaganda in the interests of imperialist domination. His ideas are based on the irrational and subjective conception that Western scholars cannot provide an objective insight into the colonial world.

Notwithstanding their leftist pretensions, these were ideologues of the bourgeoisie. They opposed Marxism on the basis of nationalism, insisting that the oppressed masses could be liberated from imperialist rule under the leadership of the national bourgeoisie and through the establishment of capitalist nation states in the former colonial countries. Fanon was a member of the National Liberation Front during the Algerian War of Independence (19541962) against French colonial rule. His work influenced a number of bourgeois nationalist movements. Said had a senior role in the Palestine Liberation Organization for over a decade.

The perspective of bourgeois nationalism has proven to be a historical dead end. Far from liberating the oppressed masses, the bourgeois regimes became the mechanism through which the imperialist powers maintained their grip over the former colonial countriesruthlessly suppressing the workers and peasants, overseeing the repayment of colossal state debts to international financial institutions and plundering raw materials.

None of the pressing problems confronting the masses in these countries can be resolved under the leadership of any section of the national bourgeoisie, or on the basis of national policies.

The history of Africa and the Middle East since decolonisation has proven the theory of Permanent Revolution developed by Leon Trotsky. This states that in the oppressed countries, the democratic and national tasks that in an earlier historical period were associated with the rise of the bourgeoisie can, in the epoch of imperialism, be achieved only through the independent revolutionary mobilization of the working class based on a socialist and internationalist perspective.

Today, the real class character and function of the post-colonial regimes established in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere is clear. The coming to power of the national bourgeoisie was used to preserve imperialist domination, rather than end it. As is epitomised by the ANC regime in South Africa, only a narrow layer of the bourgeoisie and upper middle class politicians, academics and administrators has grown wealthy through presiding over the continued brutal exploitation of the working class and oppressed rural masses.

These same social interests motivate the decolonise education movement. They do not constitute an oppositional trend of any kind and their demands for the allocation of employment and privileges through positive discrimination and affirmative action are without a shred of democratic content. Rather, mirroring the bourgeois nationalist movements evolution into the direct agencies of imperialism, their objective is to integrate an upper middle-class layer into the echelons of academia, big business and the capitalist state.

It is not accidental that the decolonise movement has nothing to say on major contemporary world issues, such as the neo-colonial wrecking operation conducted by the major powers across the Middle East. They do not want to overthrow imperialism, but to gain their seats at its table.

References

[1] Study at SOAS Blogs, Plato will remain but time for non-Western thinkers to be given their due, say SOAS academics, January 2017.

[2] Karl Marx, Capital, Volume I, Chapter 31.

[3] David North, Equality, the Rights of Man and the Birth of Socialism, October 1996.

[4] Daniel Carey and Lynn Festa, The Postcolonial Enlightenment, OUP Oxford, February 2009.
The intruder has been identified as Rashida Begum. The BSF killed her near the Chak Phagwari post on the International Border in Akhnoor sector of Jammu region, a police officer said.

By Ashwini Kumar: BSF personnel late on Thursday night shot dead a Pakistani intruder who crossed the International Border into Pargwal area of Jammu.

The intruder has been identified as Rashida Begum. The BSF killed her near the Chak Phagwari post on the International Border in Akhnoor sector of Jammu region, a police officer said.

Her body was retrieved by the BSF during search operations today.

advertisement

Sources said that a Pakistani villager was heard screaming from across the border that Begum had crossed over to the other side and her body should be handed back to Pakistan.

INTRUDER'S BODY HANDED OVER TO COPS

The intruder's body has been handed over to the police. The BSF may hand over the same to Pakistan Rangers.

"The intruder was repeatedly warned against crossing the border but when she paid no heed to the same, troops had to fire at her to foil the intrusion," the officer said.

Also read | Kashmir terror attack: 3 Army jawans and a woman killed by militants; Hizbul claims responsibility

Meanwhile, DIG of BSF Jammu Frontier Dharmender Pareek has told India Today that the picture of the woman intruder was shown to Pakistani Rangers and they have confirmed that she belongs to their country. A flag meeting will be held between BSF and Pak Rangers at 5pm (IST) on the international Border and Rashida Begum's body will be handed over them.

Pareek said, "It is a serious matter that a Pakistani woman was sent here to check security arrangements. She can be a ploy of Pakistani intelligence agencies and we are also looking into this possibility."

BSF sources said this is the first time in 26 years of terrorism and cross-border firing that a Pakistani women intruder was killed while crossing the international border.

--- ENDS ---
Under mounting pressure from Spains 6,150 dockworkers, the State Coordinator of Sea Workers union (Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores del MarCETM) has called for strike actions in March. Dockers are facing a savage attack on their working conditions by the Popular Party (PP)-led government, port companies and the European Union (EU).

The strike announcement follows the governments decision in early February to approve a unilateral legislative decree that would adhere to a 2014 ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The ruling says Spain was failing to meet the requirements of the EU Treatys freedom of establishment principle.

Under the current system, Spanish ports require employers to give preference to members of stevedoring societies in each port, known as Public Limited Company of Dockworkers Management (Sociedad Anonima de Gestion de Estibadores PortuariosSAGEP), which are funded by contributions from port companies. Dockworkers must be members of the SAGEPs, which recruit and train port workers before making them available to terminal and cargo operators.

The ECJ has found that the SAGEPs limited port companies options for sourcing workers and last July levied a 15.6 million fine on the Madrid government.

To avoid the penalty, the CETM union has proposed substituting the SAGEPs closed system for one where the companies would not have to be legally bound to contract workers from the SAGEPs pool. This option was rejected by the countrys minister of public works, Inigo de la Serna, in collaboration with the National Association of Dockworkers Companies and Ship Consignees (Asociacion Nacional de Empresas Estibadoras y Consignatarias de BuquesAnesco). The Spanish government wants to use temporary employment companies to recruit workers without training and dismiss those already working.

The port companies and the government see an opportunity to claw back concessions they were forced to give in a previous period. The Platform of Investors in Spanish ports (Plataforma de Inversores en Puertos EspanolesPIPE), a lobby consisting of major companies working in the ports (Noatum, OHL Concesiones, Algeposa, Boluda o Berge), defends the complete liberalisation of the sector and a 60 percent slash in dockworkers wages, claiming this would bring in 2.4 billion to the Spanish economy. These points are included in the report, Advancing towards a more competitive port system, completed by the consultancy PwC.

The report says the average salary of 67,800 a yeara figure challenged by dockworkerswould be reduced to 26,934 after the wage cut. The implementation of these reforms would have a very positive impact on port costs, the report states.

The draft law from the Ministry of Public Works would mean abolishing the SAGEP system in three years, with companies having to contract 75 percent of the workers in the first year, 50 percent in the second and 25 percent in the third. By the fourth year, there would be no one with the current contract. The state will pay for the redundancies imposed on the workforce.

The union says the new employment rules would cut 8,000 jobs.

The Spanish bourgeoisie unleashed a propaganda offensive accusing dockers of being privileged, part of the last labour aristocracy, of nepotism and of barring women. Despite, or because of this, dockworkers have received enormous sympathy as evidenced in the Twitter hashtag #SOSestiba (SOS dockers), which became Trending Topic in the whole of Spain last week.

The PPs imposition of savage austerity measures and job and wage cuts demands the smashing of any signs of independent working class action and a resort to ever-more dictatorial measures to achieve this. It is fully aware that this small section of the working class can paralyse the economy, with around 60 percent of Spains exports and 85 percent of imports passing through ports. This is more than half of the countrys foreign trade with the EU and 96 percent with third countries.

The main aim of the CETM, the General Union of Workers (Union General de Trabajadores), Workers Commissions (Comisiones Obreras) and the General Confederation of Labour is to isolate and suppress dockworkers actions and to close ranks with the PP government and the European financial elite. The unions have made it clear from the start they will do nothing that threatens the profits of big business or stops the capitalist offensive.

On February 14, after a meeting with the CETM, the government made it clear it would not retreat. The unions then called for limited and largely ineffectual strikes every other hour on February 20, 22 and 24. Three days before they were set to begin, however, the unions called them off to allow more time for talks.

On Monday, the government once again signaled it would not change any parts of the law. The following day, facing the growing anger of dockworkers, the CETM called for nine days of stoppages across dozens of Spanish ports. Instead of shutting all the ports at once, however, the strike will take place on alternate days at each port, undermining the impact of the walkout.

Antolin Goya, leader of the CETM, said the announcement was only the presentation of a notice and the union might not execute our right to strike and not carry it forward. If the Council of Ministers does not present the decree today, we will withdraw the notice and sit down to negotiate, Goya declared.

The pseudo-left Unidos Podemos is intervening to preserve the union bureaucracys grip over the dockworkers. On February 15, representatives of the party met with the CETM and CCOO. In their press statement on the meeting, they accuse the government of not showing any intention to negotiate and make agreements, before claiming that most of the port companies, except JP Morgan-owned Noatum Ports, were ready to make an agreement with the unions.

The statement urges all parliamentary groups to reject the decree law prepared by the Government to resolve this labour dispute without listening to the demands of those affected and following the guidelines of investors like JP Morgan.

The various groups orbiting in or around Podemos such as Revolutionary Left (Izquierda Revolucionaria), Class Struggle (Lucha de Clases) and Class against Class (Clase contra Clase), have all posted articles that have uncritically cited the unions strike calls and glorified the workers militancy, as if this were enough to stop the political gang-up of the companies, the government and the unions that workers confront. Their main role is to prevent workers from drawing political conclusions from the experiences the Spanish and international working class have had with the trade unions, which have, for decades, imposed the dictates of the corporations and their respective capitalist governments.

The dockworkers struggle is part of an international battle against the privatisation of ports and the destruction of dockers jobs and living standards. In the United States, the International Longshoremens Association has threatened to shut down the ports on the Atlantic Coast and hold a demonstration in Washington, D.C., against outsourcing and the destruction of jobs. ILA officials were invited to speak at a February 21 rally of protesting Spanish workers at the port of Algeciras.

There is a powerful sense among workers that they need to unify their struggles across international borders against the global shipping and stevedore companies. This is only possible, however, if rank-and-file workers conduct the struggle over the heads of the pro-capitalist and nationalist unions.
There is something bizarre about the media campaign around Martin Schulz, the German Social Democratic Partys candidate for chancellor and designated party chairman. Unexpectedly named as the SPDs candidate in this years parliamentary elections, Schulz, until recently the European parliament president, has been celebrated in the media as a superstar.

Der Spiegel devoted two front pages to Schulz in quick succession, the first featuring Schulz with a halo and the headline Saint Martin. The second depicted him as Chancellor Angela Merkels conqueror and a beacon of hope for liberal democracy. In special broadcasts, countless interviews and talk shows Schulz has touted his campaign for justice.

As early as three days after he was chosen, headlines reported increased support for the SPD in flash polling. At SPD headquarters, high spirits prevailed. In recent months, the Social Democrats were steadily declining in opinion polls. They never even reached 20 percent.

A week ago, the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA) in Erfurt reported that the SPD has overtaken the Union, the alliance between conservative parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), in opinion polls. While other opinion researchers warned of premature assessments and the former Emnid head Klaus-Peter Schoppner said he did not believe what the INSA presented as a change in mood, the report dominated the media.

Merkeldammerung, the twilight of Merkel, was in the air and the SPD was rising like a phoenix from the ashes, wrote the Augsburger Allgemeine. Schulz was recognized as a saviour and had from virtually nothing made the party a favourite to win the election. The Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung wrote excitedly of the Schulz Effect that had already brought more than 1,000 new party members into the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Suddeutsche Zeitung applauded and offered advice. Under the title, What the SPD must do now, it wrote that the newly strengthened Social Democrats were at risk of moving too slowly. Schulz had given his frustrated comrades confidence and had spread a spirit of optimism. Schulz now had to carry out a decisive change in course and must convincingly work out what social justice means today. The Suddeutsche asked: How can it be that three quarters of all children of academics go to college, but only every fourth child of a worker? How can it be that most Germans save up less during their hard working lives than citizens from the rest of Europe? According to the paper, Schulz would have to provide clear answers to those questions.

The claim that Schulz is the reviver of the SPD, who will lead the party back to its traditional values and the fight for greater social justice is absurd. The former mayor of the small town of Wurselen near the Dutch border embodies like few others the abhorrent politics of the SPD. As a veteran member of the conservative Seeheim Circle and de facto leader of a Grand Coalition in the European parliament, he belongs to the right wing of the party.

Schulz has always defended the Hartz welfare laws, calling them necessary reforms, even though today everyone knows that the Agenda 2010 of the Schroder-Fischer government introduced unprecedented social cuts and forced millions of workers to spend their lives in precarious and low-paying jobs. Today Schulz speaks only of a few revisions that would have to be made to the Agenda 2010. He will not even commit himself to increase the measly minimum wage on which no one can live.

During his time as president of the European parliament, Schulz actively participated in enforcing the diktats of the German government and the EU-Troika against Greece. In recent years, Schulz repeatedly travelled to Athens to force the Greek government to comply and carry out massive social cuts. The pension, education and social systems were completely destroyed in this EU country and millions of workers and their families were thrust into bitter poverty and desperation.

If Schulz today says things are not fair in Germany and he wants to use his election campaign to fight for greater justice, that is pure hypocrisy. Workers know very well that the SPD spent 15 years out of the past two decades in government and oversaw the ministry of labour and social affairs. The SPD is hated as a Hartz IV party. No one, least of all Schulz, will change that.

But Schulz does not address himself to the workers and unemployed. His shallow talk of reform is directed at the many thousands of SPD functionaries and the well-paid trade union bureaucrats who are part of the upper middle class. With a mixture of moralizing phrases and EU demagogy, he seeks to mobilize these layers and the bureaucratic apparatuses of the SPD and the trade unions to carry out the great power interests of German imperialism. He would even be willing to form a coalition with the Greens and the Left Party to do so.

Last Sunday, Schulz appeared at the SPD Employees Conference in the Bielefeld municipal hall. On a stage displaying the tools of various trades and a banner reading Work in Germany, Schulz spoke to an assembly of prominent SPD members and trade unionists. They received him with a standing ovation and enthusiastically applauded every criticism of the Merkel governments policies, even though SPD minister Andrea Nahles shaped its labour and social policies.

The atmosphere in Bielefeld contained a certain nostalgia for the 1970s. But even then a right-wing social democrat by the name of Helmut Schmidt took over leadership of the SPD. Fifteen trade union bureaucrats were imbedded in his first cabinet in 1974, serving as ministers and secretaries of state. Supported by the bureaucratic apparatuses of the SPD and trade union, Schmidt suppressed strikes, built up the state and introduced a wave of social cuts that continue to this day.

In light of the profound political shifts that have begun in the US with the presidency of Donald Trump, a section of the ruling class in Germany considers the power constellation of the SPD and union bureaucrats to be entirely reasonable. Hence the media hype around Schulz and his portrayal as Messiah of the SPD.

Sigmar Gabriel, the outgoing chairman of the SPD, has made clear that the transfer of party leadership and Schulzs candidacy for chancellor, combined with his own move from the ministry of economics to the foreign office and the naming of Frank-Walter Steinmeir as president of the federal republic, is part of a social democratic offensive in foreign and domestic policy following Trumps election.

In an extensive interview with the Handelsblatt, Gabriel said Trump was bitterly serious, but this was no reason for timidity. If Trump begins a trade war with Asia and South America, he would also open up opportunities for us  Europe should now work quickly on a new strategy for Asia. We must now use the space that America leaves open. If US protectionism leads to new opportunities for Europe throughout Asia, we should take them.

To emphasize this German grab for world power, Gabriel envisioned a core Europe under German leadership. He called for strengthening Europe, the development of a joint foreign and security policy and, above all, the building of our own strategy for Asia, India and China.

At the Munich Security Conference last weekend, these questions were discussed once again. Conference leader Wolfgang Ischinger stressed that after Trumps election, a joint EU foreign and security policy is more necessary than ever before. Germany would have to play a stronger and more politically conscious role. At the same time, a massive increase in military spending was agreed upon.

While Chancellor Merkel agreed, and even she has distanced herself from Trump, the Union alliance is divided on foreign policy. The CDUs Bavarian sister party, the CSU, works with ultra-nationalist parties like the Hungarian Fidesz and has frequently come to Trumps defence.

For two decades the red-green government played a key role in using brute force to realize the Agenda 2010 and at the same time laid the foreign policy groundwork for the first foreign deployment of the Bundeswehr and a significant upgrading of the military. Now the SPD will once again take on the leading part in carrying out the interests of German imperialism.
Earlier this month, Britains right-wing tabloid press screamed about the damage health tourism was doing to the National Health Service (NHS).

The Express, owned by soft-porn millionaire Richard Desmond, fulminated against Health Tourism Outrage. The pro-Conservative Daily Mail proclaimed, Health tourism chaos draining the NHS, quoting Whitehall research that puts the cost to taxpayers of health tourism at anywhere between 200 million and 2 billion a year.

Rupert Murdochs Sun plumbed new depths, condemning a supposed 500k health tourist, who in fact was an expectant mother, returning to Nigeria from the US when she experienced complications and had to be taken to hospital from Heathrow.

The Daily Mail wrote of the woman, A hospital in Luton is chasing a 350,000 bill racked up by a Nigerian mother, saying the shocking figure exposes the scale of abuse of the crumbling NHS by health tourists.

The mother was subjected to this inhumane treatment by the Mail hate sheet, despite it being forced to acknowledge: The woman had been transferred from another hospital nearby due to complications during the pregnancy and the babies spent two months on the paediatric intensive care unit. The local NHS Trust was cited as saying that it could not refuse treatment if there was a danger to life.

The Sun attacked NHS staff too, in an article headlined, Shocking health tourism abuse exposedfor allegedly bringing their relatives to Britain for free treatment.

The headlines were prompted by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announcing that the government planned to collect 500 million a year from so-called health tourists, following publication of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee report NHS treatment for overseas patients.

Nowhere to be found in the lurid press coverage was the fact that the 500 million the Tories are seeking to obtain represents under 0.5 percent of the current NHS budget of 107 billion.

As the footnotes of the parliamentary report attest, the much reported 2 billion a year the NHS is said to be losing to health tourists turns out to be a completely made-up figure. It is not based on any scientific examination of actual costs that might be chargeable under the current rules.

The report asserts as a fact: The research also estimated that the total cost to the NHS of treating people who were not ordinarily resident in this country was around 2 billion. However, the footnote for this statement refers to another document by the National Audit Office, in which a further footnote about the figure points out, There is significant uncertainty about the amounts that are potentially chargeable.

In oral evidence to the committee, the senior civil servant at the Department of Health, Permanent Secretary Chris Wormald, said the 2 billion figure was a very rough estimate from which we came to the figure of 500 million as the chargeable amount.

When pressed on how the figure of 500 million had been arrived at, Wormald said it was based on a series of assumptions about the number of people here [i.e., in the UK].

To implement the governments proposal means turning doctors and other medical staff into border guards, whose responsibilities would include checking the immigration status of those they are meant to treat.

For the Tory government, this initiative has absolutely nothing to do with the money that might be recoverable from overseas visitors for receiving health treatment in the UK. Blaming foreigners, immigrants and asylum seekers for the dire state of the National Health Service, which has been eviscerated by tens of billions of pounds in cuts since 2010, has long been a staple of government propagandafaithfully repeated by their media echo chamber. This whipping up of nationalism is now being ramped up, as a central element of the governments Brexit agenda.

The attack on health tourists is vital in diverting the publics attention from the ruling elites plans to completely gut the NHS, turning over those elements that could turn a profit to the private sector. Moreover, scapegoating foreign health tourists is just a prelude to introducing charges throughout the NHS for everyone for such routine matters as GP visits.

In the last months, a number of developments point to the dire situation already confronting the NHS.

* Sustainability and Transformation Plans: These mark a significant step towards the dismantling of the NHS. Their aim is to exacerbate the crisis in health care to the point of collapse in order to justify wholesale privatisation.

* Spending Cuts: The Tories are imposing 22 billion in efficiency savings on the NHS by 2020. In 2018-19 NHS spending per person in England will go down in real terms. This prompted the chief executive of NHS England to say lets not pretend thats not placing huge pressure on the service.

* Staff shortages: In England, 96 percent or 214 out of 224 acute hospitals operated without an adequate level of nursing staff during day shifts last October, while 85 percent of them did not have the right staff levels on nightshifts. According to Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, There are already at least 24,000 nursing vacancies in the UK and its getting worse every day.

* Closure of Accident & Emergency Departments: 24 A&E units could face closure over the next four yearsseven units have been already identified, and a further 17 face an uncertain future.

Those immediately at risk include departments in East London, West Bromwich and Birmingham. Others threatened include Dewsbury and District Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary in West Yorkshire, Poole Hospital in Dorset, Southport and Warrington hospitals on Merseyside, Darlington Memorial and University Hospital of North Tees, Southend University Hospital and Broomfield Hospital in Essex.

This would represent the closure or downgrading of 14 percent of Englands type one emergency unitsthose that are consultant-led and offer comprehensive 24-hour services. The effect would be to send emergency cases to a smaller number of units. Dr. Chris Moulton, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said, Even hospitals that could cope with a large increase in emergency attendances do not have sufficient bed numbers or other facilities to care for the accompanying surge in admitted patients.

The urgent care centres that would replace some of the A&E departments would only offer a limited service and would not have the wide range of medical expertise or equipment available in Accident & Emergency units.

In 2012 the Socialist Equality Party launched the NHS FightBack campaign, warning that the destruction of the National Health Service as a universal and comprehensive service free at the point of delivery was underway. In order to defend public health care as a social right, not a privilege, the working class must begin to organise a counteroffensive against the government, which must be waged independently of Labour and the trade unions on the basis of a socialist programme.

For further information, contact NHS FightBack.
For the past month, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) in the US has been silent on the raging conflict between the Trump White House and the intelligence agencies over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Day after day, Trump and his opponents in the CIA and their alliesthe bulk of the corporate media and the Democratic Partyhave traded blows on a critical question of imperialist foreign policy: Washingtons posture toward Moscow.

The Democratic Party, sections of the Republican Party and the corporate media, in close coordination with US intelligence agencies, have been engaged in a systematic campaign to hijack popular opposition in order to promote aggression against Russia. The pages of the New York Times and other publications have for months been filled with unsubstantiated charges of Russian hacking of the elections and denunciations of Trump as a poodle of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Yet the ISO and its web site, socialistworker.org, have studiously ignored what is undoubtedly the most profound crisis of the American ruling class since Watergate.

The virtual silence of the ISO on this matter is explained by the fact that the organization, as with similar groups like Socialist Alternative, functions as a faction of the Democratic Party. On foreign policy, the ISO has long lined up with that faction of the ruling class and CIA that has demanded more aggressive action in Syria and against Russia. Rather than revealing its positions openly, it has chosen to keep silent and tacitly support the media-driven, anti-Russia campaign.

What little the ISO has published on the subject since the election of Trump in November confirms this analysis.

For a period of over two months, from Election Day (November 8) to January 11, Socialist Worker did not produce a single article on the issue of Russian hacking, which was dominating the media at the time. This same period saw the rout of US-led proxy forces in Syriawhich the ISO has promoted as revolutionariesculminating in the fall of Aleppo. The Obama administration responded by expelling 35 Russian diplomats, followed by a new round of sanctions against the country.

It was not until January 11 that Socialist Worker published its first article that even addressed the subject, and this was written by a reader of the web site, not a staff writer. The piece, Cynical uses of the hacking allegations, casts doubt on the claims made by the intelligence agencies, without saying anything about the motivations behind them. The accusations come off as yet another desperate, pathetic attempt by the Democratic Party to blame anyone and everyone for its electoral lossanyone, that is, except for...you know, the party itself.

After making this statement, directed at criticism over the tactics of the Democratic Party, the writer goes on to state, The allegations of Russian hacking are indeed quite serious and absolutely warrant further investigation. However, there should not, he concludes, be a rush to judgment.

On January 17, in Looking for villains everywhere but in the mirror, International Socialist Review editor Lance Selfa, stepped in to assure its allies in the Democratic Party that it is quite willing to rush to judgment. It's quite possibleeven likelythat the Russian state would try to influence the US election if it was able to. However, if the allegations are true, Selfa adds, what Russia did to win the election for Trump mattered far less than what Clinton and the Democratic Party did to lose it.

In this more or less official response by the leadership, the ISO abandons any substantive challenge to the claims of US intelligence. The author gives backhanded credence to the witch-hunt against Trump while conveniently saying nothing about the lack of evidence presented by the intelligence agencies.

A day later, on January 18, in an article titled Do American spies have the goods on Russia? Socialist Worker writer Mukund Rathi takes things a step further, writing, I would be surprised if Russiaa major imperialist power in competition with the UShad no involvement whatsoever in the hacking of Democratic Party e-mail accounts, with the aim of embarrassing a political rival, if not swaying the whole presidential election. While stating that we should protest when scaremongering about Russian cyber-spies is used for the purposes of US imperialism, Rathi insists that this doesn't mean we can't acknowledge that Russia is also an imperialist power, capable of intervening in elections, US and otherwise.

Beneath the surface of this plague-on-both-your-houses position, the ISO lends credibility to the faction of the intelligence apparatus spearheading the campaign for war with Russia.

The last article that addressed the subject appeared January 20. In a piece titled Its up to us to resist Trump, the ISO lines up directly behind the Democratic Party and the military-intelligence apparatus one last time:

Dozens of Congressional Democrats have said they will boycott the inauguration after Trump belittled Georgia Rep. and civil rights movement hero John Lewis for calling Trump an illegitimate president because of allegations of Russian interference in the election.

It's nice to see our country's official opposition party actually engaging in some opposition [!] after most Democrats spent the first weeks after the election pledging to find ways to collaborate with Trump. But let's be clear that whatever the Russians did or didn't do is a drop in the ocean compared to the many more important reasons why we need to oppose Trump.

The fact that the articles author categorizes the right-wing, anti-Russian campaign as engaging in some opposition rather than as an internecine struggle within the state between two reactionary camps of US imperialism reveals the political role of the ISO as a left cover for but one faction of the ruling class.

Since January 20, the only comment appearing on the ISOs web site on the subject is a brief, two-paragraph letter from a reader, posted on February 16. Framed as a response to the January 11 article, the reader asserts that Russia deserves more scrutiny, admonishing Socialist Worker for being too reserved in accepting the seriousness and likely truth of the hacking charges!

In all of these articles, there is no examination of the actual class interests behind the anti-Russia campaign or examination of the implications of the Democratic Partys call for aggression.

The anti-Russian campaign is an indication of the deep crisis taking place within the American ruling class. A growing rift over the strategy of US imperialism has placed, at least for the time being, a significant section of the political establishment and military-intelligence apparatus against the Trump administration, namely over accusations that Trump is too soft on Putin. Some of its most visible political figures include Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and left Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren.

The politics of the ISO align with the interests of this rival section of the political establishment and intelligence agencies. It is for this reason that Socialist Worker has said so little on the subject. Any too candid a statement would reveal their support of US imperialism in its already advanced preparations for war with Russia.

Over the past five years, the ISO has been one of the main cheerleaders of the bloody US-backed proxy war in Syria. Socialist Worker has peddled article after article presenting a false narrative that the CIA-backed rebels constitute democratic forces in a revolutionary struggle against the bourgeois regime of Bashar Al-Assad and his principal ally, Russia. (See, The International Socialist Organization and the fall of Aleppo)

This is nothing new. The entire political orientation of the ISO ultimately finds its origins in the late Max Shachtman, an ex-member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) who repudiated Trotskyism in 1939 when he characterized the USSR as an imperialist power.

Shachtmans theoretical break from Marxist politics consisted of an appraisal of the Soviet bureaucracy as a new ruling class and that imperialism and Stalinism should be opposed equally. This political line, associated with conceptions such as bureaucratic collectivism, represented the abandonment of any defense of the Soviet Union despite its encirclement by the imperialist powers.

Shachtman went on to play a counterrevolutionary role. Infamously, he supported the US imperialist intervention into Korea in the 1950s. Leaflets prepared by the Shachtmanites were airdropped to Chinese and North Korean soldiers, urging them on the basis of socialist arguments to surrender to the American invaders. Shachtman himself, after abandoning revolutionary socialist politics altogether, became a vocal supporter of the imperialist war in Vietnam and loyal advisor to AFL-CIO President George Meany.

The ISOs hue and cry over imperialist Russia is in keeping with its Shachtmanite origins. Organizations like the ISO represent privileged sections of the upper middle class whose interests align with those of US imperialism.
This is Palaniswami's first meeting with Prime Minister Modi after he took office on February 18.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met the new Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

This is Palaniswami's first meeting with Prime Minister Modi after he took office on February 18.

Amid absolute ruckus in the Assembly, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader Edappadi K Palaniswami won the confidence motion, ending a 10-day political uncertainty in Tamil Nadu which had begun with caretaker CM O Panneerselvam's revolt against the AIADMK general secretary.

advertisement

Backed by party chief V K Sasikala, he was supported by 122 members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

PM Modi in a telephonic conversation had congratulated Palaniswami on taking over as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. "Spoke to Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami & congratulated him on taking over as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu," Modi tweeted.

PM Modi was today in Coimbatore to unveil the 112-foot tall Shiva statue on the occasion of Mahashivaratri.

--- ENDS ---
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- A local LGBT support group is speaking out after the Trump administration revoked a directive to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their chosen gender identity.

The guidelines were introduced during the Obama administration, with the justice and education departments advising school districts across the country to protect trans students against discrimination.

But Wednesday, the Trump administration stated that policy about transgender bathrooms should be decided at state and local levels.

PFLAG Tallahassee says this reversal puts these students in even more danger.

In a statement, "Equality Florida" says the president "has put an even bigger target on the backs of children who already face tremendous levels of bullying and harassment."

The Florida Democratic Party expressed displeasure with the Trump administration's decision about the rollback. Florida LGBTA Democratic Caucus President Terry Fleming issued the following statement:

Democrats believe that everyone should be treated fairly with the respect and dignity they deserve  especially our students. Every child deserves to be able go to school without fear of being bullied and harassed. The Florida Democratic Party will always stand up for transgender students and Donald Trumps attempts to turn the clock back on civil rights will be defeated.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A 85-year-old man has been arrested in Tallahassee for inappropriately touching a minor under 12-years-old.

The Tallahassee Police Department said that Mahmoud Raji was arrested on Wednesday for lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under twelve years of age.

According to a probable cause document, the incident happened at Victoria Grand Apartments.

The victim's father told police that he and his two children, a son and a daughter, were in the rec room of the apartment's clubhouse playing pool. Raji, who the family knew as "Mahmoud", was also in the clubhouse.

The father told police that they were familiar with him as they have seen him frequently (Raji also lived there) and shot pool with him before. However, this was the first time the father had left the victim alone with him.

After playing for a while, the father left for about ten minutes to go to a computer. His daughter left with him, while the victim stayed to keep playing.

The document said that when the father came back, the family left and went back to their apartment. When they did, the victim told his father that "the old man" had touched him "in a way he did not like," demonstrating how to his father.

Police said that the father called them, relaying what the victim had told him.

When officials reviewed the surveillance footage, they saw that Raji had touched the victim inappropriately several times, even after the victim pulled away from him.

After review, Raji was arrested and transported to the Leon County Jail. Police later found that he was not an American citizen as his passport from Iran was servicing as a temporary U.S. visitor visa.

Raji had his first appearance yesterday. He was released for pre-trial supervision and had to surrender his passport to law enforcement.
By Press Trust of India: Bengaluru, Feb 23 (PTI) Fresh cases of sexual assault have been slapped against a non-teaching staff of a pre-school here arrested for allegedly abusing a three-year old girl following complaints by more parents of similar offence.

Police today said they have also booked the school management under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) for failure to report the offence.

advertisement

Additional cases were filed against the accused who worked as a supervisor at the school as more parents came forward to report similar incidents of sexual assault by him on their children, police said, adding his house was searched.

"POCSO case:6 FIRs against arrested accused under investigation-house searched. Sec 21:POCSO Act initiated against school Management," Additional Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru East Hemant Nimbalkar tweeted.

The man was arrested on February 18 and a case was registered under provisions of the POCSO act following a complaint from the parents of the three-year-old girl.

The incident came to light when the child complained to her parents that the man had misbehaved by touching her private parts.

A group of parents who had earlier staged a protest near the school yesterday met city police chief Praveen Sood seeking a speedy probe and action against the school management.

Based on the complaints from parents, police had earlier taken the principal and members of the school management into custody for questioning.

Parents have alleged that the principal and the management members did not initiate action against the accused and tried to defend him initially.

They have also claimed that CCTV footage would not be available as the accused was in-charge of CCTV operations at the school. PTI KSU VS ZMN

--- ENDS ---
Economic Watch: Securities watchdog stresses strict supervision China's securities watchdog has said it will attach greater importance to supervision in the capital market.

Central bank reiterates prudent, neutral monetary policy China's central bank reiterated Friday in a quarterly report that it will implement a prudent and neutral monetary policy while keeping liquidity basically stable.
YAKIMA, Wssh. -- "Neither Wolf Nor Dog," an independent film that debuted a year ago at four theaters, including the Yakama Nation Heritage Th
By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Feb 24 (PTI) The Trump administration, which is formulating its Af-Pak policy, should suspend Pakistans non-NATO ally status and cease military aid and assistance payments to it to prevent Islamabad from undermining Americas interests, a former top Pentagon official has said.

"As the first step, the Trump administration should suspend Pakistans non-NATO ally status and cease military aid and assistance payments," Christopher D Kolenda, a Pentagon senior advisor from 2009-2014, said in an op-ed highlighting the Pakistan policy of duplicity in Afghanistan.

advertisement

"Lets stop being manipulated by Pakistan. Its time for the United States to restore dignity in its relationship with Pakistan," he said in the opinion piece published in The Hill.

The United States should be prepared to add more penalties if necessary if these actions will not compel Pakistan to turn against the Afghan Taliban, he added.

Kolenda is currently an adjunct senior fellow at CNAS and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy.

Even under a robust US-led sanctions regime in the 1990s, Pakistan was supporting insurgencies in Kashmir and Afghanistan, while still pursuing their nuclear program, he noted.

"These actions will, however, stop the mad practice of subsidising Pakistan while it undermines the US interests," Kolenda asserted.

He said that the US should come to grips with the fact that it cannot accommodate the competing interests of India, Pakistan, Iran, and others in Afghanistan and instead, the US should back an Afghan declaration of regional neutrality in exchange for commitments of non-interference in the war-torn country.

"A regional forum, perhaps managed by the UN, will be needed to monitor and enforce these agreements. This way, no regional actor controls Afghanistan, and Afghan officials are less prone to play regional powers against the one another," he argued.

The former Pentagon official recommended that America should also consider a "peace dividend" for Pakistan once Afghanistan achieves sustainable peace.

"This could include resumption of aid and assistance and consideration for a civil-nuclear agreement," Kolenda said. PTI LKJ ASV AKJ AKJ

--- ENDS ---
Ruslaan Mumtaz and his wife Nirali Mehta have been on an extended Valentine's Day vacation in Mauritius.

By India Today Web Desk: His Bollywood career may not have turned out the way Ruslaan Mumtaz would have liked, but personally, he is on a high. The Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar actor is enjoying marital bliss with his wife Nirali Mehta and the lovebirds are currently holidaying in Mauritius.

Ruslaan, who is enjoying an extended Valentine's Day getaway, posted pictures from their romantic vacation on his Instagram account. Nirali also shared a few photos on her account. The couple is definitely having a blast on their beach vacay and giving the rest of us relationship goals.

Happy valentine's day. Spread the love. #valentinesday #love #romance #mauritius #ileauxcerf #waterbaby #niraan2017 A post shared by Ruslaan Mumtaz (@ruslaanmumtaz) on Feb 14, 2017 at 9:26am PST

advertisement

Ruslaan and Nirali met during Shiamak Davar's dance classes and it was love at first sight for them. They tied the knot on March 2, 2014.

ALSO SEE: Akshay-Twinkle and kids Aarav-Nitara return from vacation

ALSO SEE: Hrithik and ex-wife Sussanne holiday with their sons in Dubai

ALSO WATCH: Biggest Bollywood weddings of 2016

--- ENDS ---
Even before IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot was summoned to a private meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Bayit Yehudi) at the Glilot Base, in which he was informed of the decision to extend his term , he already knew that the second part of his term would look different.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Shortly before the meeting, he decided to raise the Central Commands alertness level ahead of a violent outburst in the West Bank to the same alertness level that exists vis-a-vis the Gaza Strip.

Chief of Staff Eisenkot. The appointments announced were received with without reservations or noise, which is quite unusual (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

In the past 18 months, the army has allocated some NIS 4 billion (about $1 billion) in order to provide an operational response to a possible surprise on the borders. In the work plan for 2017, Gaza was given preference, a great deal thanks to the PR surrounding the Hamas tunnels. The working premise was that Gaza is the weak, less stable link among the five fronts wthat could suddenly erupt: The Golan Heights, Lebanon, Sinai, Judea and Samaria and Gaza.

But new figures were introduced in the beginning of the year, changing the strategic picture and opening a new chapter of uncertainty, which the army must interpret and perhaps even add other bricks to the building of power in order to deal with the situation. The plan known as the IDFs strategy, which has so far served as the power buildings foundation, will undergo renovation and completion.

On January 18, two days after the Glilot meeting, Defense Minister Lieberman went public with the decision to extend the chief of staffs term. As far as Eisenkot was concerned, one layer of uncertainty had been removed, but he was troubled by a different problem: The operation he was about to undergo the following day.

Now that those two obstacles have been removed, he is returning to his office for two more years, in which he will try to navigate the ship by adapting it to the changes taking place in the region and around the world. His next two years as chief of staff may be characterized by much more turmoil, with much more uncertainty, compared to the past two years.

Eisenkot (L) with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Photo: Yair Sagi)

The Trump era is one of the main variables that have entered the picture, and it is already shaking the ground in the West Bank. The chief of staffs decision to raise the Central Commands preparedness was made when the talk began about moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. The American policy is unclear at the moment, and in the meantime both the Jews and the Palestinians in the territories are conveying unrest. The settlers expectations for a dramatic change, and the anxiety among the Palestinians, may break through the damn that has been curbing the flood of violence until now.

The changes in the American administration are not the only thing shaking the ground. So is the scent of elections detected by Israeli politicians. Such an atmosphere creates radical comments and moves on the part of the statesmen, such as predictions of a summer war in Gaza or announcements of construction in the territories. And when politicians smell elections, the armys recommendation have very little influence on the political leaderships considerations, and all that is left for the army is to prepare for possible outcomes on the ground.

The Trump era is leaving its mark not only on the territories. While the new administration is busy shaping its American policy in Syria, Israel has an interest in increasing its level of influence on the regional processes. The IDF is a main factor in raising the profile of the Israeli involvement in the areas on fire. This includes not only direct military activity, like airstrikes attributed to Israel, but also tight cooperation with other security organizations in neighboring countries, which are operating under the American umbrella.

On the eve of his visit to Washington, Netanyahu sat down with the General Staff and listened to briefings and recommendations on how the Israeli security interests can integrate into the American policy in the region. The Trump administration is demanding, for example, the establishment of at least two secure areas for Syrian refugees: One near the Turkish border, and the other on the Syria-Jordan border, where Israel has clear interests. Stability in Jordan and in the Golan Heights are a key feature, as far as Israel is concerned, for any future agreement in Syria. In order to make it clear to Syria and to Iran and Israel is serious about this, the Northern Command is preparing for a reality in which the Assad regime will regain control of the Syrian Golan Heights.

While the past two years have been defined by the army as a window of opportunity for building the power, the next two years are being defined as an influential time. Israel wants to become much more involved in regional agreements that have implications on its security. Israel has anyway been engaging in the past few years in military diplomacy with its partners in a bid to thwart the Iranian threat on the countries of the Middle East. This includes low-intensity fighting, aimed at stopping the Iranian satellite groups from growing stronger.

A written and binding combat doctrine regulates the direct and indirect use of military force as part of the shared regional interests. The plan is that the Sunni alliance, directed by the Trump administration, will curb the influence of the Iran-led Shiite axis. The new doctrine takes into account that Israel is cooperating with Russia for the first time, at least on the level of understandings, out of an assumption that the Russians plan on staying here for a long time.

Succession battle heating up

During the second part of Eisenkots term, which began last week, he will also complete the round of appointments that he will work with till the end of his term. In the next two years, the entire General Staff will be in his image.

In May, Major-General Aviv Kochavi will take office as deputy chief of staff instead of Major-General Yair Golan, and that will basically kick off the succession battle between the two generals over Eisenkots positon. Kochavis appointment reflects not only Eisenkots appreciation towards him as a military man. It is also a statement made by a chief of staff with a lot of self-confidence, who feels very comfortable in his seat. His comments about the Elor Azaria affair did not affect his image, definitely not in the army.

Eisenkot with Major-General Aviv Kochavi, who will become his deputy in May (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Next month, the state comptroller will release a report criticizing the evaluations of the Military Intelligence Directorate, which was led by Major-General Kochavi, on the eve of Operation Protective Edge. The parts of the report which focus on the missing measures, skills and combat doctrines for dealing with the tunnels were humbly accepted by the IDF, which is now investing billions in fixing the faults, including the construction of a physical barrier with technological components for the detection of tunnels around the Gaza Strip.

The army does not accept, however, the criticism on its working premises regarding the tunnel threat on the eve of the operation, and believes that the picture presented by the comptroller is too black and inaccurate considering the results of the operationa relative calm and deterrence.

If Eisenkot had any doubt in regards to Kochavis appointment as the next deputy chief of staff, it had nothing to do with the comptrollers report, but only with the fact that there was another worthy candidateMajor-General Sami Turgeman.

The rest of the appointments announced by Eisenkot were received without reservations or noise, which is quite unusual. People who were not selected retired quietly, even if they did feel deprived. Major-General Amikam Norkin, head of the IDFs Planning Directorate, was supposed to replace Major-General Amir Eshel as the Air Force commander this coming May. Eisenkot has decided to postpone the appointment until Norkins designated replacement in the Planning Directorate, Brigadier-General Amir Abulafia, completes an 18-month term as commander of the 162nd Armored Division, one of the most important centers of knowledge of the offensive activity in the Gaza Strip. If Gaza catches fire in the summer, although there are no warnings that that could happen, the replacement may wait until September. The unexpected departure of Major-General Hagai Topolansky, head of the IDFs Manpower Directorate, after his computer was stolen, did not create any shocks either. Major-General Moti Almoz, who replaced him, will continue serving simultaneously as the IDF spokesperson till May.

Brigadier-General Amir Baram. Headed t the General Staff (Photo: Gur Dotan)

In the latest round, Major-General Tamir Yadai was appointed head of the Home Front Command, Major-General Muni Katz was appointed commander of the Depth Corps, Major-General Nadav Padan was appointed head of the Computer Service Directorate and Major-General Eli Sharvit was appointed Navy commander.

All the appointments made by Eisenkot in the two rounds have one thing in common: They are not only people who he had worked with for a long time, got to know personally and developed a relationship of trust withthey also all come from the top of the combat systems. That is the precondition, and that is also the message.

There is no wonder that the list of candidates for promotion in 2018, who will serve the next chief of staff, includes veteran brigadier-generals like Lior Carmeli (currently the Judea and Samaria Division commander), Amir Baram (commander of the 91st Division), Mopti Baruch (head of the Doctrine and Training Division), Yitzhak Turgeman (head of the Operations Division) and others.

Brigadier-General Lior Carmeli (Photo: IDF Spokespersons Unit)

While he was recovering at home, Eisenkot was able to dedicate some time to his biography reading hobby, to surf the Internet (mainly news websites) and to think about the appointment of the next IDF spokesperson. As far as he is concerned, the IDF spokesperson is not just another professional appointment. His model is a person who grew up in the army, not in the media. It has to be someone who is very close to him, with whom he will be able to share his thoughts and hesitations.

He found the right person for the job right under his nose: His military assistant, Colonel Ronen Manelis, who has been working with him for years. Not to mention the fact that he is also attracted to the field: As a cadet in the Tactical Command College, he volunteered to produce and edit Army Radio programs. Now he will have the chance to satisfy his natural curiosity as an intelligence person on the other side, in the media world.

Air Force revolution

Every Sunday, at 7:30 am, the chief of staff holds a discussion to follow up on the implementation of the IDFs multi-year plan and the building of power with the relevant generals. Eisenkot is fighting tooth and nail for the Gideon Plan. Fortunately for him, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) is a convenient partner, who is promising the army budgetary stability.

In late 2016, the General Staff Forum engaged in self-examination: Are the directions of the work plan correct? Is the money going where it should? The answer is yes. The Gideon Plan will reach maturity this year upon the completion of the equipment supply levels, and will provide a response to the threats in the three to five coming years. In 2017, the Air Force will undergo another revolution, alongside the reception of the F-35 planes: An increase in unmanned aircraft. The world of cyber will also receive a further boost.

In the summer, the Planning Directorate will submit a plan on the building of power in the years 2020 to 2030 for the approval of the General Staff and political echelon. In this plan, the IDF is focusing again on its preparedness vis-a-vis a nuclear Middle East. The restrictions on Iran as part of the nuclear agreement will be lifted in 2025, and the army must adopt the most advanced technological solutions in light of the old-new threat: A lot of artificial intelligence, unmanned weapons, new combat perceptions, and perhaps even a different organizational structure. Its possible that there will no longer be a need for the regional commands, and that the military organization will look more like technological incubators. That is also something the IDF is already thinking about today.

In this whole race, there is one critical issue which remains behind: The individual. In the past two years, the army has fired 2,500 people, including 120 officers in the ranks of lieutenant-general to brigadier-general. Entire systems which are not directly related to the operational activity have been cut down by 17 to 25 percentthe Military Rabbinate, the chief education officer, the Behavioral Sciences Department, the chief of staffs advisor on womens affairs, and more. The career army has dropped beneath 40,000 people. The new contractual engagements model for the career armywhich includes changes in the pension structure, early contract annulment and morehas negatively affected peoples feeling of security. Even the reservists are showing signs of wearing out.

And if that were not enough, for over a year the army has been dealing with a scathing report by the commissioner for IDF soldiers' complaints about the poor maintenance of the War Reserve Stores Units as a result of problematic treatment of the professionals serving in them. The IDFs Technological and Logistics Directorate, headed by Major-General Aharon Haliva, is now taking over the War Reserve Stores Units. Hundreds of millions of shekels will be invested in them, and the non-commissioned officers serving there will get a significant increase in their salary. A young non-commissioned officer in initial career service will receive an addition of NIS 1,500 a month. The big money, however, will be invested in building modern storerooms.
Police are now claiming that 31-year-old Avishai Ben David and his wife are connected to the explosive device placed in an apartment building two days ago.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The explosive device was found in an apartment in Rishon LeZion. Police also found a gun and bullets along with several other explosive devices, and claim that Ben David used the apartment, which belonged to an elderly woman currently staying in a nursing home.

Avishai Ben David (R) with his lawyer (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

It is suspected that the two arrested were hired as mercenaries by a third party.

Ben David was arrested last week along with 61-year-old Avner Harari as suspects in the celebrity-targeting bombing case. On Thursday, their remands were extended by a week.

Ben David's wife who was also arrested for involvement in the case cracked under investigation and admitted that the explosives and firearms belonged to her and her husband, who then admitted to it as well.

Avner Harari: 'The police are using me as a gimmick' (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Judge Ido Druyan stated that the investigation is moving impressively fast, saying that in addition to the mounting evidence, new information is being revealed daily.

Harari claims that his arrest was carried out to appease populist demand. "The police are using me for rating, like a gimmick," he claimed. "My hands are clean and I have no involvement in anything. I'm on my way to an (photo) album. That's what's important," Harari joked, commenting on the amount of pictures the media took of him over the past few days.
UNITED NATIONS - US Ambassador to the UN. Nikki Haley has met with the parents of an Israeli soldier whose remains have never been returned after he was killed in Gaza.

Haley told Leah and Dr. Simcha Goldin on Wednesday that she'd work with them and Israeli diplomats to advocate for the return, the US mission said. Lt. Hadar Goldin and two other Israeli soldiers were ambushed and killed by Hamas militants after a UN-backed cease-fire took effect in Gaza in August 2014.
The University of Central Lancashire and University College London in Britain were forced to cancel the Israel Apartheid Week events, which were supposed to take place next week, following the intervention of Friends of Israel associations in the UK.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The cancellation of these events is part of the struggle against the Israel boycott movement on campuses.

The main reason for the cancellation is the fact that Britain has recently adopted a new definition of anti-Semitism that also includes incitement against Jews in the form of the demonization of Israel.

BDS demonstration

University College London announced on Thursday that it had decided to cancel the Apartheid Week event, organized by the Association of Palestinian Students due to the fact that the group did not follow standard procedures.

University College London (Photo: Shutterstock)

The organizers of the event posted on their Facebook page: "Friends, you've heard of the blockades and harassments by Israeli soldiers. It is much worse. Apartheid did not die with South Africa. It is thriving and has become a normalized part of the oppression of the Palestinians by the State of Israel."

Earlier this week, the Friends of Israel in the British Academy convinced the University of Central Lancashire to cancel Apartheid Week because it goes against the government's new definition of what is considered anti-Semitic.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon said in response: "We are delighted that Britain stands at the forefront of the struggle against the boycott and BDS movements. Britain's vigorous activity should serve as an example to all enlightened countries in the world."

In past years, many universities in the UK and worldwide held such apartheid events, which would usually serve as a stage for incitement against Israel.

Last year, the events at University College London turned violent and Jewish students were forced to barricade themselves in the dorms after pro-Palestinian students threatened them and wreaked havoc on campus.
French media reported on Friday morning that an investigation was launched Tuesday after two Jewish youths were attacked in a dispute with two other motorists outside of Paris, which was announced only Thursday evening by the Bobigny public prosecutor's office.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



A fight broke out in Bondy, Seine-Saint-Denis, between the 17-and 29-year-old Jewish brothers and the two aggressors at a red light. The victims, who were traveling in their vehicle, said they had been the stared at insistently before being threatened: "I'll kill you, you dirty Jew."

French National Police (File photo: AP)

The reports further state that one of the assailants took out a hacksaw and beat the older brother, wounding his hand. He was issued 10 days of sick leave. His brother's shoulder was injured, as well.

Patrons in a nearby bar also reportedly beat the two Jews.. The unidentified assailants fled.
After long negotiations, during which Jerusalem municipal workers went on strike and protested, an agreement was reached on Thursday: The team appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, led by his office's director general, Eli Groner, decided to grant 700 million shekels to the Jerusalem Municipality for 2017.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The agreements were made possible by the mobilization of government ministries to increase financial support for the city. Groner instructed that a professional team be established, to be headed by the director general of the Interior Ministry and with the participation of representatives of the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministers of Finance and Jerusalem Affairs, which will complete the staff work on the outline of a permanent multi-year grant to the capital. The team will present its recommendations to ministers by Jerusalem Day, which falls at the end of this May.

Jerusalem in January during the strike (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

During the strike, city workers did not collect the garbage from the streets and on the third day of the strike shut down municipal kindergartens. Mayor Nir Barkat endured harsh criticism during the strike. After a meeting between Netanyahu, the industrial action ceased.

(Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Gruner welcomed the agreement: "Jerusalem is a city with special, unquestioned symbolic status. The budget is intended to strengthen Jerusalem, not only as the capital of the Jewish people, but as a focal Zionist center whose residents would like to remain here and develop it. All the government is committed to this mission."

(Photo: Gil Yohanan)

The mayor commented, "The government recognized my position that we must close the gap in our budget. Thanks to this agreement we saved the pain of laying off thousands of employees. We can continue ensuring more education, sanitation, culture, more welfare and jobs."

Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage, Ze'ev Elkin added, "I sincerely hope that this is only the first step in the list of stepsto strengthen (Jerusalem's) economic power and thus the national power of Jerusalem."
GENEVA  The United Nations' human rights office said on Friday that the 18-month sentence handed down to Israeli soldier Elor Azaria for killing 'a wounded Palestinian' was "excessively lenient" and "unacceptable".

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Azaria, who shot Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in the head after he was incapacitated following a knife attack he instigated in March 2016, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment on Tuesday. The show of leniency drew Palestinian outrage.

Ravina Shamdasani talks with press

X

"We are deeply disturbed at the lenient sentence given by the Tel Aviv Military Court earlier this week to an Israeli soldier convicted of unlawfully killing a wounded Palestinian in an apparent extrajudicial execution of an unarmed man who clearly posed no imminent threat," UN human rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a news briefing in Geneva.

Elor Azaria with his mother at his sentencing (Photo: Tomer Appelbaum)

"It also stands in contrast to the sentences handed down by other Israeli courts for other less serious offences, notably the sentencing of Palestinian children to more than three years' imprisonment for throwing stones at cars. This case risks undermining confidence in the justice system and reinforcing the culture of impunity."

Manslaughter carries a maximum punishment of 20 years under Israeli law, she said.

"This case risks undermining confidence in the justice system and reinforcing the culture of impunity," Shamdasani said. "This is a chronic culture of impunity we are talking about."

More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces since the most recent upsurge in violence began in the West Bank in September 2015, she said.

Azaria is the only member of the Israeli security forces to have been brought to trial for such a killing, she added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday at the start of its main annual session that lasts until March 24
Dozens of Palestinians, including foreign activists, gathered on Friday to mark the 23rd anniversary of the closure of Shuhada Street in the West Bank city of Hebron. The protestors threw shoes at a poster bearing Trump's image, in protest against his policies, deemed to be anti-Palestinian.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The street was closed by the IDF in 1994 after the Hebron mosque massacre by Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli settler who went on a rampage inside Al Ibrahimi Mosque, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers.

The anti-Trump protest in Hebron ()

X

During the protest, participants hung up a poster of US President Donald Trump and threw shoes at it while chanting slogans against the American leader.





Issa Amr speaking at Hebron protest (Photo: Reuters)

Organizers said they were protesting against Trump because he did not see Palestinians as equals.

"Today, we are here to send a message to Trump administration, that we exist. We deserve full rights as everybody in the world. We disrespect this president who does not see us as equal human beings with everyone. Palestinians will not give up their rights. They will not give up their freedom. As Palestinians, we are working for justice, equality and self-determination. Today, he will get this shoes which was (were) made in Hebron. It is a Palestinian product, this is a Palestinian product, he will get it in his face, him and anybody supporting him," said Issa Amr, coordinator of Youth Against Settlements which organized the event.

Trump poster hit with a shoe (Photo: Reuters)

One of the protesters, Munther Amireh, called for the street to be reopened.

"Years after the massacre of al-Ibrahimi mosque and the continuous closures on the city of Hebron, we came here to raise our voice to call for the opening of Shuhada street, Tal al-Rumieda, and to be with the residents of this area who refused to leave," he said.

The IDF fired tear gas and to break up the protest.
For the roomful of archaeologists, scholars and Iraqi cultural officials on Friday, each neighborhood conquered in Mosul brought them one step closer to learning the fate of the ancient sites and artifacts seized by ISIS.

At a two-day UNESCO conference, Iraqi officials asked for money and expertise to reclaim the cultural heritage that is on the verge of complete destruction. At sites wrenched back from ISIS, soldiers have found trenches filled with historical treasures that were apparently intended for eventual sale, even as the extremists filmed themselves using explosives and sledgehammers to destroy ancient structures. Officials at the UN cultural agency said it will take years, if not decades.

"It's not just one monument destroyed by one event. We're talking about an entire region that has suffered for years a massive devastation," said Francesco Bandarin, assistant director-general.
By Press Trust of India: From Kunal Dutt

On Board Special Aircraft, Feb 24 (PTI) Vice President Hamid Ansari today said that Indias ties with Africa has been reinforced with his productive visits to Uganda and Rwanda, amid New Delhis renewed focus on the resource-rich continent.

"All in all, it was a good, productive visit and reinforced our long-standing ties with the African countries," Ansari told reporters on board his special aircraft during his return journey after his five-day visit to the two nations.

advertisement

"Our focus on Africa is a critical part of the outlook towards the world," he said, adding that the two East African countries received India with "exceptional warmth".

In Uganda from February 21-23, Ansari held talks and reviewed the bilateral ties with President Yoweri Museveni.

"We remain committed to working together in trade, investment, development corporation, agriculture, IT defence cooperation domains. We also agreed to expand cooperation in the energy sector and training of personnel for space programme and peaceful use of atomic energy," Ansari said.

India and Uganda have made "tremendous strides" in the development of renewable energy capacity and therefore would be in a position to enhance mutual cooperation in the sector, according to a joint statement issued on February 22.

Ansari announced a "gift from India to Uganda" of medicines worth USD 2 million and medical equipment worth USD 1 million, the statement said. Museveni thanked Ansari for the "gift" that would help address health needs in his country.

Uganda also expressed desire to replicate Indias schemes for digital inclusion and praised New Delhi for deputing an ICT expert in the Office of the Minister for Information and Communications Technology.

"As long-standing friends, we are there to give them (African nations) assistance in areas they need," Ansari said.

He said India will discuss the possibility of starting air services to Uganda, home to about 30,000 Indian-origin people.

"Air India has its own limitation and priorities. But, based on a large Indian community, it could make it possible for a public or private sector airline to fly to Entebbe Airport. So, let us go back and discuss it with the Ministry of Civil Aviation... But, presence of direct services will certainly be of great help," Ansari said.

India and Rwanda, however, have signed an agreement during this visit to start a direct flight between Kigali and Mumbai from April 3. (MORE) PTI KND ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
Train passengers arriving from Tel Aviv found themselves facing a locked gate after arriving at their final destination at the Be'er Sheva station Thursday night.

Several passengers risked their lives by walking on the train tracks to alert personnel they were there. Only then did the train workers open the gates for them.

Israel Railways issued a statement, saying that they "apologize for the inconvenience."
Democrats have invited immigrants and foreigners to President Donald Trump's first address to Congress in an effort to put a face on those who could be hurt by the Republican's policies.

Lawmakers typically get one guest ticket apiece for presidential addresses, as they will for Tuesday's prime-time speech, and the invites often go to family, friends or someone from back home. To send a message to Trump, Democrats have invited an Iraqi-born doctor who discovered elevated levels of lead in the blood of many children living in Flint, Michigan; a Pakistani-born doctor who delivers critical care to patients in Rhode Island and an American-born daughter of Palestinian refugees who aids people like her family in their quest to come to the United States. "I want Trump to see the face of a woman, the face of a Muslim, and the face of someone whose family has enriched and contributed to this country despite starting out as refugees," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., whose guest Tuesday will be Fidaa Rashid, a Chicago immigration attorney.

Soon after taking office, Trump issued an executive order temporarily banning all entry to the US from seven Muslim-majority nations and pausing the entire US refugee program. The order sparked worldwide confusion about who was covered by the edict, with thousands gathering at airports and in other settings to protest. An appeals court blocked the order.
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru said he and President Donald Trump had a "cordial and constructive conversation" during their meeting at the White House.

Kuczynski told reporters after the gathering that he discussed Trump's plans for the construction of a wall along the border between Mexico and the United States.

The Peruvian leader said he told Trump that he is interested in the free movement of peoplehe emphasized "legally"-and also told the US leader, "we prefer bridges to walls." He said the conversation focused on immigration, trade and other "subjects of common interest."
YORK  Thinking of Bill and Evonne Williams as patriotic and energetic understates the case by light years.

The couple has organized  and drummed up the money for  10 flights of veterans to visit their respective wars memorial in Washington, D.C.

The numbers presented by Bill Williams over a luncheon meeting Wednesday at York Country Club with 45 in attendance are impressive: 1,500 World War II vets, 600 veterans of the Korean Conflict and 500 who served the military in Vietnam.

Williams was in town at the Chamber of Commerces invitation to drum up support for the 11th and final flight May 1 in which 650 Vietnam vets will make the trip to see the wall commemorating their war. The airlift will require four airliners and, of course, a patrol boat load of money.

It will be the largest group of its kind from a single state to have visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

Williams, chairman of Patriotic Productions, and his wife, he said, will concentrate after May 1 on their main task of remembering and honoring every Nebraskan lost to terrorism by way of the couples traveling  and sadly still growing  Remembering Our Fallen exhibit

The first Vietnam flight this past June 6 took 500 Nam vets in three planes.

The May 1 trip, he said, is a $600,000 deal at the rate of $87,000 for each of the four aircraft.

Two are paid for, he said, with two to go.

The emotional peak of the Honor Flights has become the reception veterans receive upon arrival in D.C. from patriotic Americans, capped only by the thousands of flag-waving patriots and well-wishers who greet them  no matter the time of day or night  upon their return to Nebraska.

For the coming trip, Williams said he expects 5,000 or more people to greet the men and women as they deplane and walk through the Lincoln Airport.

The first Nebraska Honor Flight domino was tipped over in the fall of 2007 when he and his wife, having heard of similar flights from other states, asked themselves, Why not Nebraska.

Plans were announced to the public, however the pace of donations at first was underwhelming.

Then one day the phone rang, Williams told his York audience. On the other end was the voice of Cara Whitney, wife of Dan Whitney, the Nebraska native known to the world as Larry the Cable Guy.

Cara asked what the total cost would be for one airplane.

I told her it was 70 thousand dollars, recalls Williams. She said, Done.

The Whitneys gave more than money. With no less than the wildly popular Larry the Cable Guy himself beating the drum, that first flight and all those since skyrocketed.

Williams said $1.5 million in donations made it possible to take 1,500 veterans of World War II on seven flights in just a years time.

The couple has attended some 70 funerals to bid farewell to Honor Flight participants and half the time, he said, theyre dressed in their Honor Flight shirt.

Korea veterans could not be left out, he said. They are the little brothers of the World War II guys and never got the credit they deserve.

This is our finale so its a big one, Williams said, lamenting the fact far more Vietnam veterans have applied than could ever be accommodated  even on four airliners.

Two combat veterans of Vietnam, he said, are screening the applications. Those who faced the longest and worst mortal combat are given highest priority.

The door remains open, however, for other Vietnam vets to participate.

Williams said as each plane unloads, matching shirts will be available so vets waiting on the ground will be able to join those who made the trip and experience the homecoming walk through the airport so they, too, can bask in the warmth of gratitude and excitement they were denied on their home soil upon returning from that war.

Anyone within reach of the York News-Times is invited to donate to this final flight by contacting the York Area Chamber of Commerce at 402 362-5531.
315th AW hosts second annual Tuskegee Airmen Career Day

More than 150 middle and high school boys from 17 Lowcountry schools attended the second annual Tuskegee Airmen Career Day here Feb. 23.



The boys toured the inside of a C-17 Globemaster III, visited the 373rd Training Squadron facilities, and participated in a career fair at Nose Dock 2 on the flight line. Students were able to see the Military Working Dogs up-close, try on a 90-pound explosive ordnance disposal bomb suit, and learn about more than 15 different civilian and military career fields.



The Tuskegee Airmen Career Day was created in the spirit of the Women in Aviation Career Day, which has been held at Joint Base Charleston for nearly a decade for local schoolgirls.



For many, it was the opportunity to speak with two original Tuskegee Airmen that was the most rewarding event of the day. (Ret.) Lt. Col. Enoch Woody Woodhouse and Dr. Eugene Richardson, Jr., both original Tuskegee Airmen, attended the career day and made themselves available to the students.



Im here tell our story to the students, and I'm here for the ones that couldnt be theyre the real heroes, said Woodhouse, a recipient of the Medal of Honor. (The real heroes were the fallen Tuskegee Airmen) who were shot down in combat, giving their lives believing that excellence in performance will always trump indifference.



The Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group gained notoriety as the first African American fighter pilots during World War II, identified in the sky by the red colored tails on their aircraft. While escorting bombers, they participated in some of the most iconic battles of the war along the Italian peninsula, including the invasion of Salerno, and the battles of Montecassino and Rome before they moved onto the South of France, the Balkans, and finally Germany.



Their actions, during more than 15,500 combat sorties, earned them more than 95 Distinguished Flying Crosses.



At the time, they were young African American males fighting on foreign lands for the freedoms of a nation. Meanwhile, many of those same freedoms still escaped them back home. Nevertheless, they served their country with honor, pride, and became some of the greatest figures in U.S. Air Force history.



Were here to tell the story of the Tuskegee Airmen and the difficulties we overcame, said Richardson, the morning of the Career Day in Charleston. We want to encourage young people to push forward, have faith, and head for success.



Not only were The Tuskegee Airmen an inspiration to the local youth, but also many of the Airmen in attendance. One of those Airmen was Maj. Anthony Pierce, 89th Airlift Squadron C-17 instructor, who traveled from Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to be the guest speaker for the days events.



The Tuskegee Airmen have been an inspiration to me since middle school, said Pierce. I knew I wanted to be a pilot, and my career progression started after hearing their story.



As a country, Pierce admits we still have many obstacles to overcome in 2017. However, his hope is that the story of The Tuskegee Airmen and the challenges they overcame 75 years earlier will continue to inspire young people the way it inspired him early in his life.



Today, Pierce has volunteered nearly 15 years to educating young people on aviation careers and continues following his dream as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, like his heroes did so many years before.



This event gives students (in the Charleston community) more than motivation, said Pierce. It brings exposure to show them the careers that are out there, and what they can do with their lives.


By Press Trust of India: From Kunal Dutt

On Board Special Aircraft, Feb 24 (PTI) The visit to Rwanda and Uganda has reinforced the long-standing Indo-African ties, Vice President Hamid Ansari today said, underlining that the focus on Africa was critical to Indias outlook towards the world.

"All in all, it was a good, productive visit and reinforced our long-standing ties of India and African countries," Ansari told reporters aboard his special aircraft on his return journey after concluding his five-day visit to the two countries.

advertisement

"Our focus on Africa is a critical part of the outlook towards the world," he said.

During his visit to Uganda from February 21-23, Ansari held talks with President Yoweri Museveni during which both the sides reviewed the entire gamut of the bilateral ties.

"We remain committed to working together in trade, investment, development corporation, agriculture, IT defence cooperation domains. We also agreed to expand cooperation in the energy sector and training of personnel for space programme and peaceful use of atomic energy," he said in a joint presser with Museveni after the meet on February 22.

India and Uganda said in a joint statement that both countries have made "tremendous strides" in the development of renewable energy capacity and therefore would be in a position to enhance mutual cooperation in the energy sector.

It further said Ansari announced a "gift from India to Uganda" of medicines worth USD 2 million and medical equipment worth USD 1 million. The Ugandan president thanked him for the offer that would help address health needs in his country.

Ansari said both the countries received India with "exceptional warmth".

During the bilateral talks, Uganda also expressed its desire to replicate some of Indias schemes for digital inclusion while implementing its public key infrastructure project and thanked India for deputing an ICT expert in the Office of the Minister for ICT.

"India agreed to share its experience and expertise in this regard," the statement said.

"As long-standing friends, we are there to give them (African countries) assistance in areas they need, we have no prescription to offer. Some areas we already have in the pipeline and some will be coming," Ansari said.

"At genocide memorial, we witnessed the determination of the people of Rwanda to overcome a heart-rending episode and revitalize their country," he said. PTI KND ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
Significant investments in infrastructure, a revitalised central business district, an expanded university, and multibillion-dollar investments from the state government are rapidly turning this regional centre into to a potential global city.

We are doing our bit as a council to attract investment, jobs and opportunity, Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes told news.com.au.

And with the City of Newcastle Council projecting population growth of about 33% by 2036 and property prices on the rise, Newcastle has become a viable option for cash-strapped Sydney investors.

There are now more houses in Sydney worth more than $2m than there are worth under $600,000, according to new data from CoreLogic. In contrast, the median house price in Newcastle is only $530,000.

Construction is booming in Newcastle after the value of approved developments soared 70 per cent last year to take the total green-lighted to more than $3 billion over the past five years, Nelmes said. Another bumper 12 months is expected to follow, with $106 million in building go-aheads in the first month of the financial year and $270 million in applications.

The city used to be an industrial powerhouse, but it is now transforming on a number of fronts, becoming one of the most vital [cultural], business and heritage hubs in New South Wales, said Kevin Mason, senior buyers advocate at Propertybuyer.

With new light rail projects linking bus, ferry, and light rail timetables scheduled to be completed by 2019, Newcastles economy is expected to receive a major boost. Tens of millions of dollars on road projects are also being spent in and around the city.

The Hunter Expressway, Tourle Street and Mayfield improvements, as well as an inner-city bypass, all boost transport options and promote growth at a local level, Mason said. The breadth of development in the pipeline is incredible, and its only just at the start of its ascendancies. Were only two years into the best ever decade for infrastructure spending, and the ripple effect of Sydney is truly taking hold.

Related stories:

Suburbs Property Investors Need To Keep An Eye On In 2017

Why You Should Be Investing In New World Cities
Stiri pe aceeasi tema

- Adapostul de noapte Filantropia Ortodoxa din Statia C.F.R. Alba Iulia, a implinit marti, 1 noiembrie 2022, 14 ani de activitate social filantropica. Cu acest prilej, a fost organizat un eveniment festiv care a marcat anii de munca in folosul comunitatii, pentru persoanele defavorizate, fara adapost,

- Presedintele PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, a declarat, aseara, la Craiova, ca social-democratii vor face nominalizarea pentru functia de premier cand o sa-i vina timpul si considera ca nu vor fi probleme anul viitor. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook

- Social democratii suceveni au reactionat dupa o serie de actiuni pe care presedintele Consiliului Judetean si al PNL Suceava, Gheorghe Flutur, le-a facut in ultima perioada, si i-au transmis ca trebuie sa inteleaga ca nu tot ce se intampla bun in judetul nostru se datoreaza domniei sale. Prezentam

- The Administration of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (ARBDD) is organizing, on Tuesday, in far eastern Chilia Veche, the first debate of the Management Plan of the Reserve, a document that establishes the measures to protect natural habitats with an impact on economic activities, according to

- Liderul PSD Iasi Maricel Popa lanseaza un atac dur la adresa liberalului Alexandru Muraru, numindu-l un ins fara rezultate profesionale, un habarnist in ale administratiei, ale carui realizari ca deputat sunt doar ca se plimba intr-o limuzina de lux si doua vizite in SUA al caror unic efect este

- The Olt Court decided, on Friday, that the defendant Gheorghe Dinca, sent to trial for murder, human trafficking and other crimes in the case of the disappearance of the teenagers Alexandra Macesanu and Luiza Melencu, must serve a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and Stefan Risipiteanu, accused

- PSD Campia Turzii a fost gazda intalnirii zonale a organizatiilor locale social-democrate din zona Campiei Turzii, la care au participat si lideri din conducerea judeteana a partidului. Alaturi de Presedintele PSD Cluj Alexandru Cordos, Subprefectul Razvan Ciortea, Consilier judetean Laura Pop Chiorean,

- The Plenary of the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM) on Friday gave a favourable opinion, with observations, the draft modifications to the Justice laws, CSM sources told AGERPRES. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro 
By Press Trust of India: From Fakir Hassen

Johannesburg, Feb 24 (PTI) The South African government today lauded leading NRI billionaire Lakshmi Mittals steel unit in the country for its initiative to move products via rail instead of road transport.

ArcelorMittal South Africas (AMSA) initiative to remove cargo from the road network and transferring it to rail transport was in line with the governments national economic development objectives, Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said at the opening of AMSAs Isando Distribution Centre near O R Tambo international airport here.

advertisement

The centre was established to migrate AMSAs final product steel dispatches from road to rail from its production facilities in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal province and Saldanha in the Western Cape province to its customers in the economic hub of Gauteng province.

"We welcome this project because it ticks a number of boxes in regard to the economic development objectives that government has set itself," Davies said.

The government had identified the crucial role that transport and rail in particular plays in achieving the strategic objectives of competitive and sustainable industry development leading to job creation, poverty alleviation and positioning South Africa as the investment destination of choice in Africa, he said.

According to AMSA Chief Executive Officer Wim de Klerk, the establishment of the centre is the first stage in a long- term strategic initiative to migrate all domestic steel dispatches from road to rail.

The second stage of the initiative will entail the migration of steel dispatches into sub Saharan Africa from road to rail, through the establishment of distribution hubs in various locations in the region.

AMSA was born out of the ailing former state-owned steel manufacturer Iscor which Mittal first rescued almost two decades ago before he bought it out to become part of his global company.

After threats of closure and huge job losses in the past a few years amid the global downturn in the steel industry, and cheaper Chinese imports, government intervention has given AMSA a new lease of life. PTI FH CPS AKJ CPS

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Sara Ali Khan is being choosy about her maiden Bollywood project. While Karan Johar has taken the star kid under his wing, the 21-year-old is not letting KJo take all the calls. And the latest buzz is that Sara has given a thumbs down to Dharma Productions' SOTY 2. While rumours were doing the rounds that Sara has been signed opposite Tiger Shroff for the sequel, seems like this is not happening.

advertisement

According to a report in Miss Malini, Sara is not keen on doing a two-heroine film, and wants to be launched as a solo heroine. A source close to Dharma Productions was quoted as telling the website, "Sara will make her debut only in a solo-heroine film. Because of all the media pressure, Karan is getting very anxious about Sara's debut. He has taken on the responsibility of introducing her. And he wants Sara to be as successful as his other Student Of The Year debutante Alia Bhatt. The correct vehicle for Sara's debut is awaited."

Earlier, the reports of Saif being unhappy with Sara's debut with Dharma Productions went viral. But the Rangoon actor rubbished the rumours, saying that he was happy that his daughter was making her debut in a Karan Johar film. And this statement somehow "confirmed" the news that Sara will be seen in SOTY 2.

But the source has a different story to tell. "Saif has done no such thing. Saif only said that his daughter Sara will make her debut in a Dharma film. That's a fact. Saif didn't say anything about Student Of The Year 2. Karan Johar has taken on himself the task of introducing Sara to the silver screen. During the last one year, Karan has offered Sara every Dharma production including Karan Malhotra's comedy with Hrithik Roshan (which has now been shelved) and Student Of The Year 2."

Her debut has been kept under the wraps for quite some time. We need to wait and watch when the official announcement happens.

ALSO READ: Saif slams rumours, says it will be a matter of pride if Sara becomes as successful as Alia

ALSO READ: I'd like Sara to be in a more stable profession, says Saif Ali Khan

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) The Supreme Court has directed the government to pay disability pension to the kin of a soldier, who was discharged from service due to schizophrenia, observing that the disorder was caused due to his work.

The apex court said that an army personnel is recruited after extensive medical tests and if he develops any mental disorder later, it would have been caused due to work.

advertisement

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi directed the government to pay disability pension to the kin of former armyman Laxmanram Poonia, who was denied pension on the ground that his psychiatric disorder was not triggered because of his job.

Poonia, who was discharged from service in 2009 due to his ailment, had died in 2015 during the pendency of the matter.

"In the absence of any evidence on record to show that the appellant (Poonia) was suffering from any such disease like schizophrenia at the time of entering into the military service, it will be presumed that the appellant was in a sound mental condition at the time of entering into the military service and the deterioration of health had taken place due to military service," the court said.

The government had contested the plea saying the medical board, in its report, had opined that disability was neither attributable to, nor aggravated by military service.

Poonia was discharged from service in October 2009 as per the Army rules and his claim for grant of disability pension was dismissed.

He had challenged the order before the tribunal which had also rejected it, holding that the disability being constitutional in nature, the disease was not connected with military service.

Poonia had said that due to continuous and restless duty hours for several days, he suffered hypertension resulting in lack of sleep and hunger. He had said he was admitted at military hospital in November 2007 due to critical condition.

He had said that he was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia like psychotic disorder and discharged from the hospital in March 2008. But in 2009, he had to be readmitted to the hospital thrice due to the illness.

Before being discharged from service, a medical board had examined him and opined that though the disability was assessed at 60 per cent for life, it was neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service. PTI RRT ABA SJK RKS ARC

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
<b>Muharram in Karbala</b> <br><br> The origin of Muharram lies in the prosperous city of Karbala. The roots of it can be traced to the aftermath of the battle of Karbala in 680 BC. One of the most important cities of Iraq, it saw the killing of Prophet Muhhamad`s grandson Husayn Ibn Ali. He was killed by the military forces of Yazid I, the man who was the then Umayyad caliph. <br><br> Muharram is also symbolic of the divide between Shiah and the Sunnis as the former observe the occasion while the latter dont. It is due to the fact that the Shiah sects belief was in the instatement of someone from Muhammads lineage as the next Caliph while the Sunnis wanted to choose a leader from the community itself. <br><br> The Karbala Mazaar (tomb) is significant as Muharram started from here, after the death of Imam Husayan was observed on this spot. Millions of pilgrims from all over the world visit the 1300 year old Mazaar, situated a hundred kilometres away from the capital city of Baghdad. It is believed that the heavens gates are opened for those who breathe their last here. <br><br> Its significance to the Shiah Muslims is next to the holiest centres of Mecca and Madina. <br><br> However, it was never recognised by Saddam Hussain, who was a Sunni supporter. It was under his reign that the Karbala mosque was attacked and damaged. It is from this place that the Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is trying to bridge the divide between the two sects of Islam. <br><br> It is believed that a mere touch of the tomb of Imam Husayan can make a persons wishes come true. Muslims the world over observe a fast on the day of Muharram and many Shiah followers also self-flagellate as a mark of their sorrow towards the battle of Karbala and the death of Imam Husayan. <br><br> A huge inflow of Shiah pilgrims starts from ten days before the festival. <br><br> The mosque, made up of gold, silver and precious stones, is a true symbol of sacrifice and martyrdom even today.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) School buses will now have to be equipped with GPS, CCTV arrangements and speed governors as per the revised guidelines issued by the CBSE to ensure greater safety of children.

These guidelines have been issued on the directions of Human Resource Development minister Prakash Javadekar after a recent school bus accident in Uttar Pradesh, official sources said.

advertisement

"Windows of the bus should be fitted with horizontal grills with mesh wires. School buses should be fitted with speed governors with maximum speed limit of 40 km/h.

"GPS and CCTV arrangement should be made compulsorily in each vehicle and should be in working condition all the time," a CBSE circular said.

"The management and the head of the school will be held responsible for any lapse and it could lead to disaffiliation too. School buses will have to be fitted with alarm bells and sirens," it said.

"School authorities have also been directed to voluntarily evolve an arrangement, that in each school bus at least one parent should be present who can oversee the conduct of the driver and the other staff," the circular said.

For security of students a transport manager and a "well-trained" lady attendant will have to be designated. Schools will have to provide a mobile phone inside the bus to be used in emergency situation, it said.

Students will be asked to give their feedback on the transport facility, especially about the driver, the circular said.

Last month, 12 minor school students and their bus driver were killed and 35 children injured when their vehicle collided with a lorry near Etah in Uttar Pradesh. PTI ADS NSD

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Feb 23 (PTI) Trial in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case began today only to be adjourned for two weeks when defence lawyers objected to a legal point while a Mumbai police official was deposing as the first witness in a CBI court here.

Sub-inspector Ganesh Dalvi had arrested the former driver of Indrani Mukerjea.

advertisement

However, an objection by defence lawyers on a legal point led to adjournment of the trial for two weeks.

Arrest of Shyam Rai, prime accused Indranis former driver, by Dalvi had blown the lid off the murder.

Dalvi told the court that he detained Rai as he was seen moving around in a suspicious manner, and arrested him after finding that Rai was carrying a pistol.

"During the interrogation Rai said he wanted to tell us something, so I brought two panch (independent) witnesses," Dalvi said, deposing before judge H S Mahajan.

However, at this point Shrikant Shivde, lawyer of co- accused Peter Mukerjea, former media baron and Indranis husband, took exception.

Shivde said Rai is not an accused (in Sheena Bora case) but only a witness (as he has turned approver), and his statement before the police was inadmissible as evidence.

Advocate Sudeep Passbola, lawyer of main accused Indrani, said as it was a statement made by an accused before the police, the court cannot record it.

Prosecutor Bharat Badami said Rai himself will also be examined as a witness in the case.

The court ordered that Dalvi shall not reveal names of any accused as named by Rai but can give details of spots (of alleged abduction, murder and disposal of Sheenas body).

Shivde said the defence lawyers wanted to challenge this order before the high court and sought two weeks adjournment.

Judge Mahajan then adjourned the hearing till March 16.

Advocate Shreyansh Mithare, lawyer of the co-accused Sanjeev Khanna, said they will move the high court next week. "We will file a writ petition next week," Mithare said.

Sheena, Indranis daughter from an earlier relationship, was killed on April 24, 2012, but the crime came to light only in August 2015 after Rais arrest. PTI VI KRK ZMN SRE

--- ENDS ---
The three soldiers were killed in a militant attack on their convoy in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir. A civilian caught in crossfire was also killed.

Three jawans were killed in Shopian in an ambush by terrorists. (Photo: PTI)

By Shuja-ul-Haq : Top brass of Indian Army today paid tributes to the three soldiers killed in a terrorist attack in Shopian area of Jammu and Kashmir. Army chief General Bipin Rawat paid respects to the gallant jawans today.

"General Bipin Rawat, who had arrived in Srinagar yesterday, paid rich tributes today to the gallant soldiers, L Nk Gh Mohi- Ud-Din, Sep Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejith MJ and expressed his grief and condolences to the bereaved families," an Army official said.

advertisement

READ| Kashmir terror attack: 3 Army jawans and a woman killed by militants; Hizbul claims responsibility

SHOPIAN MARTYRS: THINGS TO KNOW The three soldiers were killed in a terror attack on their convoy in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir. A civilian caught in crossfire was also killed. The three soldiers were Lance Naik Ghulam Mohiuddin Rather, hailing from Bijbehara in South Kashmir, Sapper Sreejith M J, a resident of Palakkad in Kerala, and Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar of Rajasthan. Terrorists of the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen terror group had ambushed an army convoy, killing three personnel and wounding five others, including two officers, in South Kashmir's Shopian district yesterday. The Army chief laid floral wreaths on the coffins carrying the mortal remains of the three soldiers, one of whom hailed from Marhama area of Anantnag district. On his arrival yesterday, the Army chief had first met the injured soldiers at the Army Base Hospital in Badamibagh Cantonment and wished them speedy recovery. This was General Rawat's first visit after he made a comment that was considered as a warning to those disrupting security operations by the troops. He also reviewed the security scenarios by speaking to the concerned officers. "The Army chief along with Northern Army and Chinar Corps Commanders Lt General D Anbu and Lt General JS Sandhu, visited Victor and Kilo Force Headquarters, where he was briefed on the prevailing security situation and on the recent operations conducted by the security forces," said the Army official.

--- ENDS ---
Parents are on edge as the move may push their kids' fees up to Rs 1.67 lakh a year from about Rs 26,000 now.

The cost to run the institution on its own would be the primary concern for the management.

By Arpan Rai: Even as Delhi University is still reeling from a rash of violence that engulfed students and teachers of Ramjas College this week, another top institute of the varsity has set off a snowballing controversy.

Sources confirmed to Mail Today that the governing body of the prestigious St Stephen's College "has called an emergency meeting on Saturday, a holiday, to discuss an autonomy plan, which has started giving students and faculty the jitters."

advertisement

Parents are on edge as the move may push their kids' fees up to Rs 1.67 lakh a year from about Rs 26,000 now.

Delhi University this month formed a committee for its colleges that are seeking autonomy or university status after the central government announced such provisions for educational institutions across the country in the annual budget.

NOT AN AUTONOMOUS DECISION

Principal John Varghese couldn't be contacted and he did not respond to messages sent to his cellphone on Friday. However, the "sudden autonomy call" evoked strong reactions from the faculty. The decision of going from a constituent institution under DU Act to a self-financed autonomous body in itself will change the character of St Stephen's significantly.

Moreover, the cost to run the institution on its own would be the primary concern for the management. The immediate fallout - covering cost - may be borne by students, who have already started discussing a possible fee hike. "It requires a participatory and consultative discussion with all the stakeholders. If there's any haste behind this decision, it could prove to be a disaster and a futile exercise. We have no historical records to certify the excellence of institutions that have gone autonomous. We need to study what was wrong about their project and process," said NP Ashley, assistant professor of the English department.

FEE HIKE, A CONCERN

The buzz about a possible fee hike had been picked up by everyone this reporter met on the college campus. "Currently, the average fees for students across wide spectrum of courses St Stephen's offers is between Rs 26,000-27,000 a year. But the financial autonomy will result in sharing the Rs 20-crore funding provided by the University Grants Commission for the 1,200 college students. If that has to be paid on own, it will be approximately Rs 1,67,000 per student every year," said a professor, requesting anonymity.

Nandita Narain, president of the Delhi University Teachers' Association, told Mail Today that a looming fear of this move mounting financial pressure on students coming from different sectors remains the biggest concern of the college faculty.

"If the college wants financial autonomy, then we will have to look at charging higher fees from students. St Stephen's is for ordinary students and a destructive decision of picking autonomy will invite troubles,'' she said. "Even UGC guidelines recommend consultation with stakeholders, of which there is no indication so far." Yavnika Chopra, a student in the English department, said, "Even though the college maintains autonomy in admission process and enjoys an exclusive system of students' governance, to go fully autonomous without any consultation will be an arbitrary decision."

advertisement

Other top colleges such as SRCC, Ramjas, Hansraj too have approached the university and human resource development ministry officials, seeking greater autonomy and decision-making powers. "I would be tremendously worried about the college's decision to go autonomous," said Joseph Roy, an ex-Stephenian.

"We want to go abroad for further studies but we do not know how the foreign institutions will treat an independent degree from St Stephen's. It can potentially affect the light in which my application will be viewed." Students are questioning the hurried manner in which the Saturday meeting has been called, in a way "violating any deliberative process before such a big decision". "We want to know the intentions for going autonomous as this decision affects us all," said a student. "We haven't even discussed or are in the know of what autonomy is being proposed - financial or academic."

Also read: Experts doubt St. Stephen's admission process

Also read: 17 ad hoc professors of Delhi University college sacked without notice, were identified as 'surplus'

Also read: Bengaluru: Kendriya Vidyalaya principal arrested for harassing female students

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
America today would be proud, proud because it has come off age. I am not sure whether Claudette Colvin is alive, but one thing is for sure- she would be a proud person when the President-elect finally walks on the red carpet leading to the White House. Way back in 1955 at the age of 15, she had refused to give up her seat in a Montgomery bus to a White person. <br><br> What a moment it would be! <br><br> History of America is full of events which would inspire the President and ensure that whatever wrongs had been done in past are corrected and since Jan 20th of 2009 it is a new beginning. <br><br> For example, just imagine how Adolf Hitler would have reacted, if only he was alive to see Barack Hussein Obama occupy the worlds most important address- The White House. <br><br> Jesse Owens in 1936 Berlin Olympics had given Adolf Hitler a bitter pill as the infamous dictator walked out of the presentation ceremony as he could not digest the defeat of the so called Aryan race. Many from among the white press in USA wrote, For an athlete, race and religion never mattered. <br><br> Then came 1960, when a man called Cassius Marcellus Clay rewrote history by winning the most coveted Olympic gold in Rome. The world saw a new beginning as Cassius Clay symbolized all of what that the pluralistic world in US had meant. The victory was a watershed event in sporting history and papers all across the globe showered praises, some in over-enthusiasm and in an appetite for catchy headers went on to write, 'black gold.' <br><br> Clay was an emotional man and he went on to throw his Gold medal in the river Ohio. Four years after his historic victory in Rome, he went on to become the member of Nation of Islam and adopt a new name Muhammad Ali. <br><br> Indeed Ali was disenchanted, as the last thing a hero, or for that matter anyone, wants to hear is the being called untouchable. <br><br> But come Jan 20, there is a man who vows and I quote, To continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. <br><br> At this moment, I stand convinced that Obama is the man who promises to ensure that no one ever is forced to throw away his gold medal again, that no one is ever turned away from any school just because he/she happens to be a <i>Black. </i> <br><br> A lot of talk has taken place about Barack Hussein Obamas candidature before he was officially elected as the Democratic Partys Presidential nominee and many believed that United States was not ready to accept a Black as President. <br><br> The debate here is not just about the Black race but, I think, about all that is unjust, all that is unfairly humiliating and all that is not called terrorism but is more deadly. It cant be of the supremacy of one race over the other. Obama, when confronted by his pastor Jeremiah Wrights comments on race, did not go defensive; there was no need as here is a man who believed in Gandhis principle of truth. <br><br> The man of the moment rightly claims that America at the moment is hungry for the message of unity. Unity which is not just of Whites, Republicans, Democrats, rich, poor neither segregated by religion but bonded by common aspiration of humanism. But let me just correct President Barack Obama here, it is the world, and not just America which is hungry of unity, peace and above all a role model. <br><br> Virtue of humanism is never bonded by geographical limitations, so when the world celebrated an Afro- Americans triumph against all odds, they had a hope that finally truth triumphed over evil. No matter whose President Obama is, world today looks upto him as the harbinger of change. <br><br> One can rightly argue against my high hope- but he gives us the- Audacity to Hope. <br><br>
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Territorial Administration and Development of Armenia Davit Lokyan briefed President Serzh Sargsyan on the priorities, programs of the Ministry and the implementation process of the Presidents instructions on February 23.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Armenian Presidents Office, in his report Minister Lokyan touched upon the works of elaborating of development strategies for all the provinces for the period of 2017-2025 as part of the reforms, priorities of territorial development, the steps for ensuring proportional development of the regions.

Davit Lokyan also reported on the urgent issues, the investment projects in the provinces, as well as the works aimed at developing new concept for territorial administration.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. It is very troubling that Azerbaijani authorities have initiated criminal proceedings against MEPs who were in Nagorno Karabakh as referendum observers, MEP Soraya Post said in an interview with Armenpress.

This is not helpful at all and is not how mature countries conduct their business. We will certainly have a thorough discussion in the European Parliament on how to proceed. This will not stand, Soraya Post said.

Azerbaijan declared MEPs Frank Engel (Luxembourg), Jaromir Stetina (Czech Republic) and Eleni Theocharous (Cyprus) as internationally wanted. They visited Karabakh to take part in the Constitutional referendum as international observers.

Syuzi Muradyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The first Russian tourists to travel to Armenia on their internal passports arrived in Armenia on February 23.

On the day of initiating the decision, 20 Russian citizens arrived to Zvartnots airport on internal passports and 7 in Shirak airport. The entry of Russian citizens on internal passports will also contribute to inease of passenger flow, development of tourism and economy growth, Satenik Hovhannisyan, spokeswoman of the General Department of Civil Aviation said.

The Government of Armenia approved the decision on January 19.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Ambassador to Estonia Tigran Mkrtchyan (residence in Vilnius) visited Tallinn to take part in the ceremonies dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Estonia where he held a number of meetings, press service of the Armenian MFA told Armenpress.

During a meeting with Director General of the National Library of Estonia Janne Andresoo, Ambassador Mkrtchyan thanked Mrs. Andresoo on holding the exhibition entitled Coverage of the Armenian Genocide in the first pages of international media in the library, as well as appreciated the traditional productive cooperation between the library and the Embassy.

Janne Andresoo stated that she is interested in developing constructive cooperation with the Armenian Embassy.

During the meeting proposals on implementing a number of programs with the National Library were discussed and at the same time it was emphasized to give a legal base to the relations between the national libraries of Armenia and Estonia.

At the end of the meeting Ambassador Mkrtchyan gave the National Library of Estonia books on Armenian history.

Later that day Armenias Ambassador had a meeting with Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister of Estonia Rein Tammsaar during which they discussed the necessary steps to be taken jointly towards further deepening of the bilateral economic ties.

Ambassador Mkrtchyan said one of the priorities of Armenias Government is the development of high technologies, and considering the great Estonian experience in this field, he highlighted the need to hold forums and meetings in this field in both countries.

Rein Tammsaar said Estonia highly appreciates deepening the friendly ties with Armenia, and all preconditions exist to establish cooperation in various mutually beneficial economic sectors.

Thereafter, Ambassador Mkrtchyan met with Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Estonia Marko Mihkelson during which they exchanged views on further developing the bilateral ties.

At the request of Marko Mihkelson, Ambassador Mkrtchyan talked about the regular gross ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact which further escalates the tension in the region and leads to new casualties.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian community of Turkey insists the Patriarchal election issue can only be resolved by the resignation of Patriarchal Vicar Archbishop Aram Ateshyan.

Istanbuls Armenian Agos newspaper talked to representatives of the community, who gave their opinions on the process.

Last week, the announcement ofFather Sahak really deeply saddened me. It is impossible to fill the position of a spiritual leader like him. I think what Father Sahak has said is absolutely true: It is already necessary to hold the Patriarchal election. Why are they attempting to stop it?, 47 year old Mari Sivajoghlu said, adding negative rumors within the community on Ateshyan have badly impacted the reputation of the Patriarchal See.

I hope peace will be established. However I cant say how is Ateshyan refuses to resign, she said.

I am very sad. I very much respect and trust Father Sahak. I trust his spirit, his knowledge and honesty, another representative of the community said.

30 year old Tamar Naljin, who happens to be the assistant of lawmaker Garo Paylan, asked why should the Armenian community have waited for 8 years if the Patriarchal election issue is solved just by writing the date on a paper. Why is the timing being decided now? Why did we wait for the states permission for the election for years? These are questions that must be asked.as well as why the Catholicos interfered only after 8 years.

We dont only want a religious leader, we need someone who will represent the Armenian community of Turkey entirely, she said.

Ateshyan must step down, another local said.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Army of Nagorno Karabakh responded to another Azerbaijani disinformation. Senor Hasratyan, spokesman of the NKR Defense Minister, responed to the Azerbaijani false information on Facebook

A short time ago it became known from the Azerbaijani agitprop that the Armenia side has carried out a sabotage infiltration attempt as usual and has been pushed back as usual, however, with one difference, this time the anti-sabotage operation was headed by personally the former military commissar, former police chief, and now already defense minister (concurrently commander of anti-sabotage group) Zakir Hasanov. Mashalla, Hasratyan wrote.
By Press Trust of India: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Feb 24 (PTI) Outgoing Indian envoy to Nepal Ranjit Rae today urged the government here to take all the political parties into confidence before conducting local bodies polls in May.

"As the largest democracy in the world, India supports every move and effort made for strengthening democracy in Nepal. It has been our policy continuously over the period of time," Rae, who is set to retire at the end of this month, said at a farewell function.

advertisement

"And, it is my request to the government of Nepal to take all the political parties into confidence before going for the polls which is going to take place on May 14," he said.

Nepal government has decided to hold the elections for local bodies across the country in one phase on May 14.

Ambassador Rae said Nepal-India relations have always been positive and both the countries should do more for making them stronger in the economic, social, cultural and other sectors.

He stressed on promoting economic cooperation between the two countries and developing people-to-people contacts as Nepal and India were "close neighbours".

"There have been several efforts to develop people-to- people connectivity between Nepal and India," he noted.

"An agreement of Rs 34 billion has been made for constructing Mahakali bridge and 15 roads to develop people-to-people connectivity. When Mahakali bridge construction is completed, it will especially benefit people of far-western region in Nepal and Uttarakhand in India," Rae said.

"This bridge will develop connectivity and bring a positive change in the people of these areas," he said.

Rae said the next project is that of Pancheshwor Hydropower and the target is to approve a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for it by June.

"After Mahakali bridge is completed, it will be very benificial for Pancheshwor Hydropower Project," he said.

Rae also expressed confidence that the Pancheshwor project would be very beneficial to the people of the area.

"Another important issue in the relations between Nepal and India is Railway connectivity and Railway Minister of India Suresh Prabhu has recently announced that he wanted to build railways connecting Kathmandu to Kolkata and Delhi soon," the envoy said.

He said the third project was the Integrity Check Post (ICP) built on 165 acre land separately in Rakshaul and Birjung.

"These ICP projects are very impressive and have been established as world class trade and financial centres," Rae said.

He also said that another ICP was under construction in Biratnagar and two more would be built elsewhere in the near future.

Rae said India has also been taking initiative to start the Koshi High Dam Project.

advertisement

"If this Koshi High Dam Project is completed it will greatly help in irrigation and flood control in Bihar, and Nepal will have direct access to sea," Rae said. PTI SBP ASK AKJ ASK

--- ENDS ---
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The new agreement between Armenia and the European Union may be signed in near future, Tigran Sargsyan - Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), said in Berlin, reports Armenpress.

I think it will be signed in near future, he said. Armenias stance has always been that we must work both with the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union. We must not contradict these two vectors.

Sargsyan said Armenia and EU had to re-start the work on the new agreement since the previous one was blocked by Brussels. Unfortunately, in the final stage of talks the European partners adopted tougher stance so we re-launched the process, he said.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Executive Director of the Development Foundation of Armenia (DFA) Karen Mkrtchyan gave an interview to fDi Magazine of the Financial Times on Armenias economic advantages, the Foundation told Armenpress.

 In 2017, we will make a major push to inform the global investor community about the advantages Armenia has to offer as a gateway to the regional markets, Mkrtchyan told chief-in-editor of fDi Magazine Courtney Fingar. Mkrtchyan talked about one-stop shop investor support services by attaching great importance to acquiring first-hand information for the potential investors interested in Armenia.

We will also continue with our export promotion activities by helping Armenian exporters participate in international trade fairs and organizing our landmark export promotion event, the Made in Armenia trade show, he said.

The DFA Executive Director informed that during this year investment forums will be held in the United Arab Emirates, France, Italy, Lebanon, Canada and the US.

The Armenian Diaspora will also take part in these events. In 2017, we will undertake key outreach missions to various Diaspora communities to further engage them into making investments in Armenia, Mkrtchyan said, adding that by the end of this year a forum will be held within Diaspora-Armenians who are engaged in garment industry in order to discuss the development prospects of the sector in Armenia and find optimal ways of cooperation to establish a globally competitive textile industry.

Asked how can the small market be turned into an advantage, Karen Mkrtchyan said: Armenias geographic position and its integrated trade links with many regional economic blocs make it an attractive gateway to regional markets: full membership of the EEU, a common border with Iran and a GSP+ [Generalised Scheme of Preferences-plus] trade regime with the EU allow companies located in Armenia to have easy access to these markets. Moreover, having a small market, Armenia offers a liberalized and open economy.

As for Armenias potential in tourism and attracting foreign investments in this sector, Karen Mkrtchyan said the government has identified tourism as a key driver of its economic development plan. He informed that Armenia works with both international financial institutions and foreign investors on tourism infrastructure development, on the one hand, and attracting investments on the other hand.






YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Ministers of Armenia and Georgia Karen Karapetyan and Giorgi Kvirikashvili agreed on the issue of finding an alternative route to Upper Lars, Gruzia Online reported.

If you are interested whether there will be an alternative to Lars, I can assure you that yes, there will be. Later I will speak about the remaining issues, now I will not open the brackets. We agreed on both Lars issue and energy corridor, Karapetyan said.

Armenias PM said his visit was productive, warm and constructive, stating that he completely carried out the plan by which he arrived in Georgia. The sides agreed that the Armenian-Georgian relations can be viewed in regional context, by utilizing the opportunities of the two countries. The heritage we have must be maintained and transformed to the next generations, Karen Karapetyan said.

During the talks the two PMs discussed also the situation of Armenians living in Georgia. As for Armenia, Karen Karapetyan said 20-30 years later he sees Armenia as a country everyone will be proud of.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will pay a working visit to Brussels, Belgium on February 26-28, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress.

During the visit the President will hold high-level meetings with the leaders of all EU structures - President of the European Council Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini, President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, as well as President of the European Peoples Party Joseph Dole, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

In Brussels, President Sargsyan will meet with the experts of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. At the Carnegie Endowment, Serzh Sargsyan will deliver a speech.

In the framework of his working visit, President Sargsyan will also have a meeting with the representatives of the Armenian business community.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy will continue working on ensuring the visit of European figures to Karabakh, Gaspar Karapetyan  Chairman of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy, told a press conference in Armenpress.

He said Azerbaijan with Lapshins case was trying to hinder this process, however, it saw that it failed.

Lapshins case had no impact, thats why Azerbaijan declared the European lawmakers, who visited Karabakh, as internationally wanted. In fact, the European lawmakers visited, are visiting and will continue visiting Karabakh. They also announced about this, Gaspar Karapetyan said, adding that this year as well the delegations of European figures will visit Nagorno Karabakh since they need to personally understand the issue.

For years the European figures were perceiving the Karabakh issue in the following way: war, territorial issue. However, in recent years the reality has changed due to significant works, various segments of society are informed about the real issue of Karabakh. Moreover, by visiting Karabakh European figures have a chance to personally talk with the local residents, understand how they imagine their future, Karapetyan said.

The Armenian National Committee of Europe plans to intensify the works with the tourism companies of Europe this year. The goal is to boost the visits of European tourists to Nagorno Karabakh.

In near future I am planning to hold a meeting with a major tourism company. The company sells a large number of tourism operator packages. There is a preliminary agreement according to which the companys representatives must visit Armenia, Karabakh to assess the tourism opportunities, he said, stating that Karabakh has many tourism opportunities, especially with religious emphasis.

An event was organized in Belgium in 2016 during which Karabakhs tourism, economic opportunities were presented.










YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. During his official visit to Georgia, Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan was received by Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia His Holiness Ilia II. Welcoming the Prime Minister of Armenia, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia expressed confidence that the Premiers visit would contribute to the development and strengthening of relations between the two friendly peoples, Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia.

The Georgian and Armenian peoples boast centuries-old ties of brotherhood and friendship. The cooperation between our two churches is anchored on warm and friendly relationship. The governments of both countries should do their best to foster cooperation and ensure the well-being of our nations. We are pleased to see that the Armenian culture is flourishing today. At the same time, we should not be content with what has been done so far: we have to think what to do to ensure our peoples prosperity, the Catholicos of All Georgia said.

Thankful for the reception, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan conveyed best regards and warm greetings of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II. The Premier expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the talks with his Georgian counterpart, noting that they had discussed economic agenda and a wide range of issues related to the strengthening of cultural exchanges.



There is huge untapped potential for developing cooperation between the two brotherly States, and we are ready to take all necessary steps to that effect, the Head of the Armenian Government said.

Karen Karapetyan expressed gratitude for the attention shown to the Armenian community and the Armenian cultural heritage by Georgian authorities and the Georgian church. The role of the Armenian Apostolic and the Georgian Orthodox Church in the two nations life was emphasized on either side.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. With the participation of three friar bishops, Aram Ateshian, General Vicar of Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, Bishop Sahak Mashalyan, president of the spiritual council of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, and Garegin Bekchyan, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Germany Archbishop a number of meetings took place on February 23-24 chaired by the Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II.

Prior to the meeting on February 23 the Catholicos and the bishops visited the Mother See where they raised their prayers for the centuries-old Patriarchy of Istanbul, and for overcoming the current challenges, as well as for the restoration of peace and solidarity within the Istanbul-Armenian community. They also prayed for Archbishop Mesrob II Mutafyan, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul), who remains under constant medical care at St. Savior hospital.

The recent incidents in the Armenian Patriarchy in Istanbul, the stir over the Patriarchal election and disagreements were touched upon during the meetings.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Catholicos of All Armenians urged the clergymen to spare no efforts to reinforce mutual understanding, solidarity and spiritual fraternity among the clerics and the Istanbul-Armenians. It was the behest of His Holiness Karekin II to organize Patriarchal elections in line with the rules and traditions of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The bishops provided the Catholicos with necessary information on the situation and proposed ways out. Discussions revolved around the proposals leading to some key agreements, including the election of the locum tenens by March 15. As a result, the powers of the General Vicar will be suspended. Another key agreement is that all the friar bishops have equal rights to run for locum tenens.

Following the election the Religious Council will set a commission comprised of clergymen and secular people to organize the handover-acceptance as prescribed by law.

Following the election of the locum tenens an Initiating body will be set within 10 days, which headed by the locum tenens will organize the election of the Patriarch of Constantinople according to standard procedures. The Initiating body shall report on the works of organizing the Patriarchal elections to the Religious Council and the public on monthly basis.

The Initiating body shall ensure equal conditions the Patriarchal candidates for their election campaign.

In case a Patriarch is not elected within 6 months a motion of no confidence towards the locum tenens and the Initiating body can be tabled by the Church congress and the heads of community establishments.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan continued violating the ceasefire regime in the northern direction starting from February 24 morning, using different-caliber mortars, including 120 mm and D-44 canon, the press service of the Defense Ministry of Artsakh (NKR) informed Armenpress.

Particularly intensive violations were recorded at about 10:00-11:30. A total of 50 projectiles were fired 36 of which from D-44, the rest from mortars. It is noteworthy that during this period Azerbaijan targeted not only military positions but also Talish village with 120 mm mortar and 4 D-44 projectiles. The Armenian side suffered no casualties.

The front line units of the Defense Army retaliated in order to suppress the attacks and prevent its future provocations along the front line. At the moment the situation is relatively calm, reads the statement of the Defense Army.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. 511 passenger vehicles with a total value of 9 million 745 thousand and 879 USD were imported to Armenia from the EAEU member states, particularly Russia and Belarus in 2016. The number of imported cars has declined by 69.1%, but the total value has increased by 52.1%, Armenpress reports, citing the data released by the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC).

458 passenger vehicles were imported to Armenia from Russia in 2016 amounting to 9 million 211 thousand and 466 USD. The number of cars has declined by 71.6% against 2015 but the value has increased by 59.3%.

Belarus exported 53 passenger vehicles to Armenia in 2016 with a total value of 534 thousand and 410 USD. The number of imported vehicles from Belarus has increased by 35.9%, and the total value has also increased by 8.2%.

As refers to trucks, the number has increased by 50% against 2015 and the total value has also increased by 85.7%. 183 trucks were imported to Armenia from the EAEU member states with a total value of 4 million 179 thousand and 641 USD.
By India Today Web Desk: We all know that Govinda is coming back to the big screen with his brand-new film Aa Gaya Hero. He has been on a promotional spree for the movie's promotion; he recently appeared on The Kapil Sharma Show along with Shakti Kapoor for the same.

While TKSS shoot appears to have gone smoothly, we cannot say the same thing about The Voice India Season 2 shoot. According to reports, Govinda was supposed to report at 11 am on the day of shoot, but a day before he informed the makers about a delay of 2 hours due to his other professional commitments. The makers obliged and expected Govinda to be on the sets at 1pm.

Photo: Yogen Shah

advertisement

However, Govinda was nowhere in the picture even at 1pm. After waiting for some more time, the makers decided to shoot half the episode without the superstar, which meant his performance too was cut short.

Photo: Yogen Shah

Well, if the reports are indeed true, Govinda is still living up to his reputation of being a late-lateef, as the actor was known to delay even his film shoots in his heydays by several hours.

--- ENDS ---
Macron has pledged to cut business taxes and reduce the state payroll by 125,000 people

France's centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron gave the first clear outlines of his economic programme Friday, promising a mix of public spending cuts and fresh investment to stimulate sluggish growth.

The 39-year-old former economy minister has surged from outsider to a frontrunner ahead of elections in April and May but faces constant criticism from rivals that his policy platform is too vague.

Giving figures for the first time for his pro-business agenda, he promised to cut 60 billion euros ($63.5 billion) from state spending over five years and aims to reduce the public payroll by 125,000 people.

While proposing to extend France's unemployment benefits system to the self-employed, he also said he would withdraw payments for people who twice turned down jobs that they were qualified for.

"I want a system of rights and responsibilities," Macron told RMC radio.

The pledge to trim the size of the state was coupled with a promise of a new 50-billion-euro stimulus plan designed to boost the French economy, which grew by 1.1 percent last year.

Mathieu Plane, a senior economist at the independent French Economic Observatory at Sciences Po university in Paris, said the proposals positioned Macron between his rivals.

Leftist candidates Jean-Luc Melenchon and Benoit Hamon as well as far-right leader Marine Le Pen have pledged new public spending initiatives, while conservative rival Francois Fillon is promising a dose of austerity.

"Macron has positioned himself as a relatively moderate alternative," he told AFP.

Erik Nielsen, an analyst at banking group UniCredit, said he liked the measures, reflecting the financial markets' generally favourable opinions of the former investment banker.

"It's close to the Scandinavian model, which has worked very well," he told AFP.

- Leftist alliance -

The latest poll published late Thursday showed a gain for Macron, who sewed up a potentially vital alliance with fellow centrist Francois Bayrou on Wednesday.

Story continues

Other recent polls have shown Macron and Fillon neck-and-neck.

The poll by Ifop-Fiducial showed far-right leader Le Pen winning the first round with 26.5 percent and Macron coming second with 22.5 percent, ahead of conservative Francois Fillon on 20.5 percent.

Le Pen and Macron would then go head-to-head in a run-off on May 7 which Macron would win by 61 percent to 39 percent if it were held today, the poll forecast.

Le Pen refused on Friday to attend scheduled questioning by investigating magistrates about claims she broke the rules on the use of European Parliament funds by using the money to pay for staff in France.

She told AFP she would not speak to anti-corruption investigators during the campaign because she feared she would not get a fair hearing.

The election remains highly uncertain, with analysts cautioning against predictions after a series of surprises in France and abroad that have wrong-footed observers.

The unstable international background -- from Donald Trump and Brexit to the surge of rightwing nationalism -- is mirrored by an anti-establishment and angry mood in France.

France's leftist candidates, who between them have enough supporters to mount a serious challenge, are advancing towards a common front ahead of the first round on April 23.

On Thursday, environmentalist Yannick Jadot dropped out of the race and threw his support behind Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, while Communist-backed Melenchon said he was "open to discussion" on an alliance.

Hamon welcomed Melenchon's gesture while implying he was the only candidate that could unite the fractured left.

"I respect Jean-Luc Melenchon and his great intelligence, but my conviction is that in the work we have to do talking to all parts of the left, I have a central role that enables me to undertake this," Hamon told France 2 television.

Hamon's signature proposal is creating universal basic income -- a state welfare payment for all adults -- which he says would cost around 300 billion euros a year.

Melenchon has proposed an investment plan of 100 billion euros financed by government borrowing and a 90-percent income tax on top earners.

Macron will unveil his full programme on March 2.

As part of his economic plan, he pledged to reduce taxation on companies from 33.3 percent to the European average of 25 percent, while proposing the elimination of housing tax for the majority of French citizens.

He said he would not change the highly contentious retirement age, increased to 62 for most people in the private sector under former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
PSA chief executive Carlos Tavares repeated assurances that Opel would remain "a German company" during a press conference in Paris, on February 23, 2017

French carmaker PSA's boss Carlos Tavares, pushing plans to buy General Motors' European brands Opel and Vauxhall, had a "constructive" talk Friday with the head of Britain's biggest trade union about the project, the union said.

Len McCluskey, head of the Unite union, said the London meeting was "relatively positive" and the two sides had agreed to "engage constructively" in future.

"Mr Tavares gave assurances that current production commitments would be met should the takeover with PSA go ahead," McCluskey said in a statement.

The planned takeover by PSA, which owns the Peugeot and Citroen brands, was unveiled last week but has sparked fears in both Germany and Britain that the prospective new owner could cut non-French jobs.

PSA has been active in trying to win backing for the acquisition, with chief executive Tavares on Wednesday securing the support of Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and also holding a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

PSA said after Friday's talks that Tavares had "repeated his commitment to dialogue under existing agreements and the PSA group's ethical approach".

Tavares said he wanted to develop the "iconic" brand as "part of Britain's automobile sector heritage".

Vauxhall employs around 5,000 people in Britain.

Britain's plans to quit the European Union have created uncertainty across the business world, particularly in the car sector which is dependent on imports and exports with the European Union.

Opel operates some 10 factories in Europe spread across six countries, and had 35,600 employees at the end of 2015 -- 18,250 of them in Germany.

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.

Britain, where it sells vehicles under the Vauxhall brand, is Opel's largest European market.
RBS, bailed-out by the British government following the 2008 financial crisis, posted its ninth consecutive annual losses last year

Royal Bank of Scotland said Friday that annual losses more than trebled in 2016 on litigation and restructuring costs, triggering more job cuts and a fresh round of savings.

RBS, bailed-out by the British government following the 2008 financial crisis, posted its ninth consecutive annual losses last year.

Its net loss for 2016 came in at 6.95 billion ($8.7 billion, 8.2 billion euros), up from a loss after tax of 1.98 billion a year earlier, RBS said in a statement.

"There will be job losses that we will have to go through to get this business back into shape," said chief executive Ross McEwan, who would not be drawn on an exact figure.

The Edinburgh-based lender said it had been hit by litigation and conduct costs of almost 5.9 billion, largely over its role in the 2008 US subprime housing crisis.

It suffered also restructuring charges totalling 2.1 billion during 2016.

"These costs are a stark reminder of what happens to a bank when things go wrong and you lose focus on the customer, as this bank did before the financial crisis," added New Zealand national McEwan.

RBS is around 73-percent owned by the British government after the lender was saved with 45.5 billion of taxpayers' cash in the world's biggest banking bailout at the height of the global financial crisis.

It has meanwhile reported total losses of around 60 billion since the state rescue.

In recent years, McEwan has overseen a massive overhaul of operations, slashing the bank's investment banking activities and axing tens of thousands of jobs.

On Friday, RBS said it would slash operating expenses by a further 2 billion over four years, with 750 million of savings being made in 2017.

- 'Past not behind us' -

RBS is setting aside 6.7 billion to cover potential US fines over the alleged mis-selling of mortgage securities that precipitated the 2008 global financial meltdown.

The system-wide failure in 2008 of complex securities derived from residential mortgages caused a cascading wave of bankruptcies and crises that sparked a global recession, leading to tens of millions of job losses around the world.

Story continues

RBS joins several banks implicated in the global financial crisis, including Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse.

"The past is not completely behind us, with our dealings on residential mortgage backed securities and Williams & Glyn... two significant issues that we still need to resolve," McEwan added on Friday.

RBS 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 Williams & Glyn unit.

In a bid to address the problem, the British government last week proposed plans for RBS to fund initiatives worth 750 million to help small UK lenders win business.

In trading Friday, RBS shares slid 3.4 percent to 240.90 pence on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was down 0.6 percent overall at 7,230.53 points nearing midday in the capital.

The situation at RBS is in sharp contrast to Lloyds Banking Group -- another UK lender rescued with taxpayers' money following the financial crisis -- which is both profitable and close to a full return to the private sector.

Results from RBS cap the annual earnings season for Britain's major banks, which are facing uncertain times also as the country prepares for Brexit.

Barclays on Thursday said it returned to profit after slashing provisions set aside for legal and compensation costs linked to foreign exchange and insurance scandals.

But profits at HSBC have plunged on huge writedowns and restructuring charges, while it warned this week of uncertainty over Brexit and Donald Trump's economic policies.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) Two days after violent clashes were witnessed at Delhi Universitys Ramjas college, the students residing on North Campus are living in fear.

While colleges were closed today due to holiday on Maha Shivaratri, the students residing in hostels and PG accommodations in the areas said they felt "uneasy" to roam around the campus which had heavy police deployment.

advertisement

"We were there at the protest when the ABVP started attacking students. I resisted but when I saw the intensity with which they were beating people, I stepped back to ensure my safety but kept on making a video using my phone. But I have noticed from the window that few boys on motorcycles have been doing rounds of our PG and am not sure if the two are connected. I am too scared to step out," said a DU student on the condition of anonymity.

Ritika Bhalla, a SGTB Khalsa student said, "There is still such heavy deployment of police and the moment you take out your phone to click or record something there are eyebrows raised. It feels so uneasy to even walk around".

"There is an atmosphere of fear in the entire DU community which is leading not just suspension of classes but cancelling of various cultural events that are to take place in different colleges.

"It was earlier today that a street play competition of Khalsa College was cancelled following the threat by the DUSU President that any objectionable stuffs might face consequences. This atmosphere of fear is destroying the environment of the entire university and is creating a fear in students," Aman Nawaz, Secretary of DU unit of Left-backed All India Students Association (AISA).

ABVP on its part maintained that they will not allow any "anti-national" activities on campus.

"We did not pelt stones and did not initiate the clash. We do not want any kind of violence but we will not allow any anti-national activity on campus," Amit Tanwar, President of DU Students Union (DUSU) said.

Ramjas principal Rajender Prasad said, "We have a called a staff council meeting tomorrow to assess the reasons behind the violence on campus and take further action."

Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP supporters. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on Culture of Protests which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

While the DU authorities maintained that the varsity proctors office is looking into the issue, the HRD Ministry had yesterday sought a report from the university over the issue. PTI GJS IKA

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
After a meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull gas providers Shell, Santos and Origin Energy gave a commitment to increase local supplies

Shell has confirmed it will invest $300 million to develop a shale oil and gas reserve in southern Argentina, executives said Friday.

Argentina oil company YPF said in a statement it would partner with the Anglo-Dutch company Shell to exploit the huge Vaca Muerta reserve.

Exploration of the field has yielded "excellent results," it quoted Shell Argentina boss Teofilo Lacroze as saying.

US and French firms are among the other international companies working on exploiting the 30,000 square kilometer (12,000 square mile) reserve.
MIAMI  Nina Dolci returned to the industry nearly a year ago. Now her first-ever anal has dropped today on Brazzers' Big Wet Butts site. Co-starring with Dolci is Keiran Lee.

In Ninas Workout," she demonstrates her training routine, getting hot and sweaty in the process. A strenuous exercise session can work up quite the appetite, but food isnt what Dolci craves  its Lees member.

Dolci commented, Shooting my first anal for Brazzers was laid back and professional. This experience reminds me of when I first got into the business. Keiran was a dream to work with, and I cant say enough great things about him. Any girl looking to lose their anal virginity on camera should request him!

Dolci will be available for shoots again in late June. Email her directly at [email protected]

Follow Nina Dolci on Twitter and Instagram,
5 Causes of Nursing Home Resident Anxiety Unfortunately, for many reasons anxiety happens more often by long-term care residents than by those who live in
The owner of the Ambassador Bridge has taken legal action in his fight to allow the shipment of hazardous material along his privately owned international crossing, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Documents from the U.S. District Court show the Detroit International Bridge Company wants to overturn a decision by the Michigan Department of Transportation that prohibits the shipment of materials, such as explosive gases, flammable material, organics and poison.

The Bridge Company  owned by billionaire Matty Moroun  argues the department of transportation does not have the authority to prohibit the shipment of hazardous materials across a privately owned bridge.

Moroun's two bridge companies  he also owns the Canadian Transit Company, which operates the Canadian side of the crossing  have been losing money because of the limitation, according to the court documents.

"The DIBC and the CTC have lost and continue to lose millions of dollars in revenue from decreased truck traffic," the filing states.

Profits vs public safety

Hazardous materials are permitted to cross the international border by way of the Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry.

The company's president Greg Ward said Moroun is putting his profits ahead of public safety by once again trying to overturn the well-established regulations.

"You're prioritizing your income over what is in the best interest of the public," he said.

Moroun's bridge company applied to have the routing for hazardous material reviewed by the department of transportation back in 2008. The court documents filed by the bridge company say the department, by 2012, recommended hazardous material be permitted across the Ambassador Bridge.

Two years later, the department's director Kirk Steudle "reversed the recommendations of his professional engineering staff," according to the court documents.

The bridge company claims Steudle's decision creates more hazardous waste traffic on state-owned toll routes, which results in more revenue for the state.

More than 25 per cent of all merchandise trade between the U.S. and Canada crosses the Ambassador Bridge. It's estimated that between $500 million and $750 million USD in trade and an average of 10,000 commercial vehicles pass daily over the Ambassador Bridge.
By Alexandra Alper and Noe Torres MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico on Thursday expressed "worry and irritation" about U.S. policies to two of President Donald Trump's top envoys, giving a chilly reply to the new administration's hard line on immigration, trade and security. The U.S. government this week angered Mexico by saying it was seeking to deport many illegal immigrants to Mexico if they entered the United States from there, regardless of their nationality. It is the latest point of friction between neighbors that have also been at odds over Trump's vow to build a wall on the border and his attempts to browbeat Mexico into giving concessions on trade. Comments by Trump about a "military operation" to deport criminals added to the tense atmosphere in Mexico City, and prompted a clarification from Homeland Security chief John Kelly. "There exists among Mexicans worry and irritation about what are perceived to be policies that could be harmful for the national interest and for Mexicans here and abroad," Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told a news conference. He was speaking after talks in the Mexican capital with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security chief John Kelly, who later met with President Enrique Pena Nieto. The Mexican leader scrapped a summit meeting with Trump in January as tensions rose. Both sides on Thursday pledged further dialogue on migration, trade and security issues. Two Mexican newspapers leaked comments from Videgaray that bolstered the perception that Mexico is taking a more robust approach to its dealings with Trump, following jibes that Pena Nieto should stand up to his counterpart. If the United States taxes imports from Mexico, there will be a response that "hits them where it hurts," La Jornada and Reforma reported Videgaray as saying, based on recordings obtained of a closed door session with lawmakers on Wednesday. Videgaray warned of counter-taxes and tariffs targeting U.S. congressional districts most reliant on exports to Mexico if Trump started limiting trade. Kelly and Tillerson were more measured in their words than either the Mexicans or Trump, who on Thursday said a military operation was being carried out to clear "bad dudes" such as gang members and drug lords from the United States. But Kelly said there would be "no use of military force in immigration operations," and "no, repeat, no" mass deportations. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump's comment was meant to describe the "flawless" manner that U.S. immigration and border authorities worked. 'A COMPLEX TIME' Looking stern as he stood beside the U.S. visitors, Videgaray said it is "a complex time" for U.S.-Mexican relations, which have gone downhill quickly since Trump's election last November. Videgaray and Pena Nieto have been criticized at home for being too willing to engage with Trump, who has repeatedly cranked up tension with the country ahead of key meetings. Opposition politicians and a handful of protesters demanded that Pena Nieto should snub the visitors, and even Economy Minister Idelfonso Guajardo had said the meeting with the president on Thursday might not happen, depending on the tone of the talks in the morning. Mexico relies heavily on exports to its neighbor. But stakes are also high for the United States, not least because a breakdown in relations with Mexico could affect extensive cooperation on the fight against narcotics and on stemming the flow of Central American illegal immigrants that reach the U.S. border. The two countries need to strengthen intelligence sharing, as well as take more action to stem the flow of weapons and drug money from the United States and to shut down criminal organizations, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said. "Mexico needs the United States, and the United States also needs Mexico, our countries will always be neighbors so the best thing would be to have agreements that work for both equally," Osorio Chong said. In a concession to Mexican concerns, both Kelly and Tillerson acknowledged the need to stop arms and drug proceeds moving south, and praised Mexico's extensive programs to turn back Central American immigrants traveling north. "There is no mistaking that the rule of law matters along both sides of our border," Tillerson said. None of the officials made direct references to the deportation of immigrants from third countries to Mexico, or to paying for the border wall planned by Trump, a red-flag issue for Mexico. (Additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Christine Murray, Adriana Barrera and David Alire Garcia in Mexico and Ginger Gibson and David Shephardson in Washington; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Alistair Bell)
The Ontario government's recent move to boost rebates for electric vehicles is under fire, amid revelations that a senior Liberal staffer has been hired by electric car-maker Tesla.

Ian Myrans left his post as director of policy to Environment and Climate Change Minister Glen Murray and joined Tesla this month. At about the same time, the government announced it was removing caps on its electric vehicle incentive program that had previously prevented buyers of Tesla models from getting the maximum rebate.

"This certainly doesn't pass the smell test," deputy PC Leader Steve Clark said Thursday during Question Period. "Was this just a coincidence?"

"You've got someone leaving the minister's office and going to a company that is now benefiting from these decisions," PC Leader Patrick Brown told reporters at the Legislature.

The Wynne government introduced a cap on electric vehicle rebates last year. It meant that buyers of vehicles costing more than $75,000 could receive a maximum subsidy of $3,000.

Earlier this month, the government tweaked the rules for electric cars costing $75,000 to $150,000. It means such vehicles as the Tesla Roadster are now eligible for rebates of up to $14,000.

Murray denied any connection between the change in policy and Myrans's move to join Tesla.

"This is someone who followed all the rules," Murray told reporters at Queen's Park, calling Myrans "a man of immense character and great integrity."

"As soon as he was approached about a job possibility, he immediately went to the [provincial] integrity commissioner to have those discussions before anything else happened," Murray said.

He said the policy change was made by the Ministry of Transportation, and it was decided before Myrans was approached to work for Tesla.

The Wynne government first came under pressure for giving incentives for luxury electric vehicles when CBC News revealed taxpayers had handed $770,000 in subsidies to buyers of vehicles costing more than $100,000.

Story continues

"If we're talking about encouraging an average family to buy a Chevy Volt instead of a non-electric vehicle then sure, I think that makes a lot of sense," NDP leader Andrea Horwath said Thursday. "But when you're talking about millionaires and luxury vehicles it makes no sense whatsoever. I don't think people in Ontario would support that type of rebate, it's excessive."

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca wouldn't confirm if Tesla models are the only new vehicles to which the rebate change applies.

"I'm not personally aware of the price point of every single vehicle offered by every single auto manufacturer," he said. But he defended the principle behind the rebates.

"It is about giving people more of an opportunity to enter this particular segment of the market, as that segment of the market is growing, because I think there's a collective understanding we need to do more to fight climate change, particularly in the transportation area."
Former Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti an ex-minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla have been indicted on drug trafficking charges.

By Reuters: Former Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti and an ex-minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla have been indicted on drug trafficking charges, the US embassy in Guatemala said on Friday.

Baldetti and Lopez, who were tied to a corruption scandal in Guatemala, are facing charges in a Washington DC court for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine in the United States, the embassy said in a statement.

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
Photo from The Canadian Press

The first thing you notice is the sky.

Thats because stepping onto Highway 81 on the outskirts of Pembina, N.D., is kind of like what I imagine entering outer space must be like: flat, vast, endless and awesome.

Between Pembina, on the North Dakota side, and the Manitoba community of Emerson, the landscape is as empty, lonely and silent as a place can get.

In the summer of 1986, I didnt make the exact walk that migrants are making into Canada from the U.S. right now. Theyre doing it in the middle of a western Canadian winter, but I had the same end goal in mind.

The difference was it was my home: I was able to walk along the highway, up to the border, safe in the knowledge that there was no way theyd reject me at customs, even if I was down to my last $20, whereas thanks to a quirk of Canadian immigration law, the migrants must travel overland in order to bypass customs and claim refugee status from inside the border.

The migrants  from places as far away as Ghana and Somalia  are at what they hope to be the tail ends of journeys that have taken them around the world.

Back then, fresh out of college, I was returning from a road trip that took me to New Orleans, northern Mexico and back to Texas  where I was stuck with $40, not enough money to pay for a one-way trip home on a Greyhound bus.

I had one choice, which was to hitchhike from the Texas-Mexico border, where I spent a night in the San Antonio suburbs with a coyote  another name for a human smuggler  whose people hadnt arrived when I stumbled across him standing on the shoulder of Interstate 95 one sweltering afternoon on the outskirts of Laredo, Texas.

In those days, it was migrants coming from troubled Central American countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala, who hoped to find a better life in the U.S.

These days, Laredo stands just as good of a chance of being the launch point for the same migrants who are wandering off the roads in North Dakota and through the frigid, waist-deep snow that connects North Dakota and Manitobas unprotected border.

Story continues

Four days after I set out from Laredo, I had made it all the way north to Pembina.

I had no reason to be nervous about crossing the border on foot back into Canada, unlike those refugees whose lives are on their backs and futures completely uncertain  but I was nervous just the same.

Maybe it was the endless June sky. Maybe it was the awesome and impressive silence that engulfs you as you walk up a lonely four-lane blacktop a few kilometres back to your homeland. Maybe its just the sound your footsteps make, crunching gravel as you keep to the shoulder of the road.

I do know what snow sounds like when you trudge through a deep drift of it, because I grew up playing in it, and know how to dress for it, how to wrap the scarf just so that your breath can warm your face and you can use the tail end of it to cover your nose to prevent frostbite.

I doubt those Somalis know that, though.

It never occurred to me then that 30 years later, people might one day travel halfway across the world in February to get dropped off in a field before walking for 12 hours through snow and -30 C temperatures to start new lives.

Well, here we are.

Two words: layer up. Dont let the sun in the high, blue Prairie sky fool you.

Canadians  particularly on the Prairies  are pretty nice, but the winters they endure are downright nasty.
THURSDAY, Feb. 23, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- If you want to add years to your life, 10 daily servings of fruits and vegetables may be the best recipe you can follow, a new analysis suggests.

The benefits appear to come through lower rates of heart attack, stroke, cancer and early death. And if everyone found a way to get 10 daily servings of produce, 7.8 million premature deaths would be avoided each year worldwide, the British researchers estimated.

Exactly how much in the way of fruits and vegetables is that? Anywhere from 10 small bananas or apples to 30 tablespoons of cooked spinach, peas, broccoli or cauliflower -- or roughly 800 grams of produce, the researchers said.

At least five servings (400 grams) of fruits and vegetables each day is what is currently recommended by many health agencies.

"Although five portions of fruit and vegetables is good, 10 a day is even better," said study author Dagfinn Aune, of the School of Public Health at Imperial College London.

But even just over two portions a day made a difference in the review, the researchers added.

Eating 2.5 portions (200 grams) of produce on a daily basis was associated with reductions in: heart disease (by 16 percent); stroke (18 percent); cardiovascular disease (13 percent); cancer risk (4 percent); and premature death (15 percent).

The results for 10 daily servings were even stronger: a 24 percent reduced risk of heart disease; a 33 percent reduced risk of stroke; a 28 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular disease; a 13 percent reduced risk of cancer; and a 31 percent reduction in premature death risk.

"Fruit and vegetables have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and to boost the health of our blood vessels and immune system," Aune said in a university news release.

"This may be due to the complex network of nutrients they hold. For instance, they contain many antioxidants, which may reduce DNA damage, and lead to a reduction in cancer risk," Aune explained.

However, the study did not prove a cause-and-effect link between eating more fruits and vegetables and longer life.

"Most likely it is the whole package of beneficial nutrients you obtain by eating fruits and vegetables that is crucial in health," Aune said.

"This is why it is important to eat whole plant foods to get the benefit, instead of taking antioxidant or vitamin supplements (which have not been shown to reduce disease risk)," Aune noted.

Together, the 95 studies the Imperial College London scientists analyzed included almost 2 million people.

In their review, the researchers also found signs that these types of produce seemed to confer the greatest benefits: apples, pears, citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower), and green and yellow vegetables (such as green beans, spinach, carrots and peppers).

The study was published Feb. 22 in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

More information

For more about proper diet, try the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Seven Republicans in the Iowa Senate are backing bills that propose the reinstatement of Iowa's death penalty, with most pointing to the 2005 death of a 10-year-old girl from Cedar Rapids who was kidnapped and murdered as a reason.





Iowa abolished the death penalty in 1965. State law currently authorizes life sentences in prison for convictions of first-degree murder and the most serious cases of rape and kidnapping.





Sen. Jerry Behn, R-Boone, a lead sponsor of the legislation, said he wants to prevent future deaths like that of Jetseta Gage, who was abducted from her grandmother's residence nearly 12 years ago and was found slain the next day in a mobile home southwest of Iowa City. The girl had previously been a victim of sexual abuse.





Behn on Thursday introduced Senate File 335, which would reinstate the death penalty, but only for multiple offenses in which a minor was kidnapped, raped and murdered. His bill has five co-sponsors, including Sen. Brad Zaun of Urbandale, the chairman of the Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee, which would likely consider the measure.





A second death penalty bill, Senate File 336, sponsored by Sen. Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City, would apply to the multiple offense of sexual abuse and first-degree murder of the same person.





Behn has introduced similar legislation in the past, but it appears to have a better chance of being debated this year with Republicans controlling both the Iowa House and Senate.





"We have a strange situation in Iowa," Behn said. "If you kidnap somebody, you can get life in prison. If you rape somebody, you can get life in prison. If you kill somebody, you get life in prison. So in effect, there is a perverted incentive to murder your victim so that nobody can testify against you."





Zaun told The Des Moines Register on Thursday he is open to considering Behn's bill in a Senate subcommittee and having a debate on the issue.





"I am not someone who is a proponent of the death penalty, per se, but in a particular case where a child is raped and killed, I support the death penalty," Zaun said.





Iowa's last execution was on March 15, 1963, at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison when Victor Harry Feguer, a federal inmate, was hanged for murder. Thirty-one states authorize the death penalty.





After the killing of Jetseta Gage, Roger Bentley of Brandon was found guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping. He is serving a life sentence in Iowa's prison system. His brother, James Bentley, was subsequently convicted of sexually abusing Jetseta Gage, and he was also found guilty separately on federal charges.





Sen. Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, who served in the Iowa House when lawmakers debated the death penalty in the 1990s, said Thursday she would opposed efforts to reinstate capital punishment in Iowa.





"I believe that with our current law, you get a life sentence in Iowa and life means life. You will spend the rest of your life behind bars," Jochum said. "They can think about all the horrible things they did, and maybe someday they will see the light and ask for forgiveness."





In 2006, President George W. Bush signed "Jetseta's Bill" into law to strengthen penalties against sexual predators who assault and kill children. However, a death penalty provision was removed from the bill in Congress.

 | 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: The Desmoines Register , William Petroski, February 23, 2017
An article in the state-run Global Times says country made a mistake by ignoring Indian talent. The article, interestingly, comes amid worries in India over whether the US could restrict H1B visas for Indian IT professionals.

By India Today Web Desk: China has made a "mistake of ignoring" India's science and technology talent, Chinese state media said in an article published today. The article noted that the Communist nation may be best served by attracting high-tech Indian experts in order to maintain its innovation ability.

The article appeared in the state-run Global Times, which noted that the country has ignored Indian talent while attaching a "greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe."

advertisement

It was a rare positive write-up about India from the tabloid daily that has been carrying articles critical of India almost on a daily basis in recent months. The timing of the article is also interesting as it comes during a period when there are worries within India that US President Donald Trump's 'America First' rhetoric might result in the United States restricting H-1B visas for Indians.

India relies on these visas to send its software experts to the US on project work. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in fact, has urged Washington to keep an open mind about admitting skilled Indian workers into the US.

WHAT THE GLOBAL TIMES ARTICLE SAID: "China has perhaps not been working hard enough to attract science and technology talent from India to work in the country." "Over the past few years, China witnessed an unprecedented boom in tech jobs as the country became an attractive destination for foreign research and development centres." "However, now some high-tech firms are turning their attention from China to India due to the latter's relatively low labour costs. Attracting high-tech talent from India could be one of China's options for maintaining its innovation ability." The article went on to refer to reports that US-based software firm CA Technologies has disbanded its almost 300-person research and development team in China while setting up a team in India with some 2,000 scientific and technical professionals over the past few years. The article added, "With a sufficient young talent pool, India is becoming increasingly attractive." "China cannot afford to risk a decline in its attractiveness for high-tech investors. The nation is among the third echelon in cutting-edge technology fields and is working to catch up with the US and the result of its efforts will decide whether China will maintain its status as an emerging global economic power." "One issue has become increasingly prominent: The talent pool in China is not large and flexible enough to meet demand for the rapid expansion of innovation capability." "In Silicon Valley, a considerable number of software developers working there are born outside the US. China should also strive to attract more foreign talent into the country as it aims to build itself into a world-class research hub." "A total of 1,576 foreigners were granted Chinese permanent residence in 2016, registering an increase of 163 per cent from the previous year. It seems that China is aware of the importance of tapping into international talent." "Some reports claim that the cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker, which means Indians could see their revenue more than double if they came to work in China." "Some enterprises in Southwest China's Guizhou Province provide convenience for Indian talent in terms of housing, insurance and transportation and could enjoy a much better standard of living in Guizhou cities than in Bangalore."

Also read: How Trump's new executive order on H1B visas will dent Indian IT sector

Also read: PM Narendra Modi urges US to keep an open mind on H1-B visas for IT workers

--- ENDS ---
By Katie Paul RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Salman starts a month-long Asian tour on Sunday to build ties with the world's fastest growing importers of Saudi oil and promote investment opportunities, including the sale of a stake in its giant state firm Saudi Aramco. The octogenarian monarch, who has overseen the launch of an ambitious economic reform plan since his accession two years ago, is expected to visit Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and China. In a sign of the importance which the kingdom places on strengthening economic ties with Asia, Indonesian officials say Salman will be accompanied by a 1,500-strong entourage including 10 ministers. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih and Aramco executives will travel with him, sources told Reuters, on the king's first trip outside the Middle East and North Africa since he visited the United States in 2015. Saudi officials are keen to court Asian investors for the sale of a 5 percent stake in Aramco in 2018, which is expected to be the world's biggest IPO, and have solicited financial advice from banks with links to China. Asian banks and companies are also expected to play major roles in the kingdom's plans to develop non-oil industries and expand its international investments, all part of the crude exporting giant's attempts to reduce dependence on oil revenues. The kingdom in August signed 15 preliminary agreements with China - ranging from house-building in Saudi Arabia to water projects and oil storage - during a visit by the king's powerful son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is spearheading the economic reform plan. It has also agreed to invest up to $45 billion (36 billion pounds) in a new technology fund with Japan's SoftBank Group. <9984.T> While it pushes ahead with its diversification efforts, Saudi Arabia is at the same time seeking to cement its position as the world's biggest oil exporter and establish itself as the dominant oil supplier to Asia's emerging markets. In China, which is challenging the United States as the world's biggest oil consumer, Saudi has just been pipped by Russia as the top supplier. MALAYSIAN DEAL Saudi Arabia has yet to announce Salman's trip, but officials in Malaysia say he will start his tour there on Sunday, accompanied by his son Prince Mohammed. Aramco is expected to sign an agreement during the visit to collaborate with Malaysia's state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) on its Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project. The king, who is thought to be 81, will travel to Jakarta and Bali in Indonesia from March 1-9, and Japan from March 12 to 14, officials in those countries told Reuters. Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the government hopes the visit will bring Saudi investments of up to $25 billion. Jakarta's state-owned energy company Pertamina and Aramco are working together to upgrade Indonesia's largest refinery complex and are looking at other opportunities. Indonesian television said the Saudi delegation will stay in seven 5-star hotels in the Bali resort area of Nusa Dua. Salman is also expected to go to China, although neither Saudi nor Chinese officials have confirmed the visit, before spending the last two weeks of March on holiday in the Maldives, according to a Maldives diplomat. Local newspaper Mihaaru reported that three resorts have been reserved for his stay. MILITARY TIES Asia also figures in the kingdom's plans for military cooperation, with Malaysia and Indonesia listed as members of a Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance formed just over a year ago. Riyadh's announcement of the counter-terrorism alliance in December 2015 took many people by surprise, including officials of some member countries, and it is not yet clear what role it will play. Washington remains Saudi Arabia's chief military partner, but Riyadh has adopted a more assertive policy in response to what it perceived as U.S. disengagement from the region under former President Barack Obama. China has traditionally played little role in Middle East conflicts or diplomacy, despite its reliance on the region for oil. But it has been trying to get more involved in efforts to end Syria's six-year-old civil war, where Riyadh supports rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad. Last year China also offered support for Yemens government, which is backed by a Saudi-led Gulf Arab coalition in a war against the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement that controls much of the country. China has had to tread a careful line, though, as it also has close relations with Iran. President Xi Jinping visited both Saudi Arabia and Iran Tehran in January last year. (Corrects date of U.S. visit in paragraph 4) (Additional reporting by Praveen Menon, Ben Blanchard, William Mallard, Rania El Gamal, Fergus Jensen; editing by Sami Aboudi and Dominic Evans)
Hamilton, Bermuda, 24 February 2017 - Hoegh LNG Holdings Ltd. ("Hoegh LNG") will release its 4Q 2016 financial results on Tuesday 28 February 2017 at 07:00 am CET. In connection with this, Hoegh LNG will hold a webcast at 09:00am CET which will immediately be followed by a Q&A session.

The dial-in numbers for the webcast is as follows:



Norway +47 21 00 26 13

United Kingdom +44 (0)330 336 9104

United States +1 719 325 2238

Participant passcode: 279751

The webcast is accessible via a link on Hoegh LNG's website or at: http://webtv.hegnar.no/presentation.php?webcastId=44475894

* * *

About Hoegh LNG:



Hoegh LNG provides floating energy solutions and operates world-wide with a leading position as owner and operator of floating LNG import terminals; floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), and is one of the most experienced operators of LNG Carriers (LNGCs). Hoegh LNG's vision is to be the industry leader of floating LNG solutions and the strategy is to continue to focus its growth plans in the FSRU market, with the objective of securing long-term contracts with strong counterparties at attractive returns. Hoegh LNG is a Bermuda based company with established presence in Norway, Singapore, the UK, USA, South Korea, Indonesia, China, Lithuania, Egypt, Colombia and Turkey. The company employs approximately 110 office staff and 500 seafarers.

Contacts:

Sveinung J. S. Sthle, President and Chief Executive Officer, Telephone +47 975 57 402

Steffen Freid, Chief Financial Officer, Telephone +47 975 57 406

Erik Folkeson, Head of IR, Telephone +47 414 21 769

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act or the Continuing Obligations of Oslo Brs
AIM: MARL

TSX-V: MARL







24 February 2017



Granite House, La Grande Rue,

St. Martin, Guernsey, GY1 3RS

Channel Islands





Equity issue in relation to completion of Awale Resources SARL Acquisition in Cote d'Ivoire and exercise of options with Director Dealing

Mariana Resources Limited ('Mariana' or 'the Company'), the TSX.V and AIM (MARL) listed exploration and development company with projects in Turkey, South America, and Cote d'Ivoire confirms that following completion, to acquire an 80% interest in Awale Resources SARL ("Awale") in the Ivory Coast as announced 7 October 2016, as consideration ordinary shares in the Company have been issued. Options have also been exercised into ordinary shares and funds received.

In terms of the announcement regarding the acquisition of Awale on the 7 October 2016, 723,511 ordinary shares in Mariana will be issued as final consideration.

Regarding options exercised the following shares will be issued:

250,000 GBP0.425 per share for a total consideration of GBP106,250

140,000 GBP0.30 per share for a total consideration of GBP42,000

25,000 GBP0.20 per share for a total consideration of GBP4,500

Included in the above issuance of exercised options (totalling 415,000) to Director Eric Roth these have been exercised and subsequently sold at an average price of C$1.21. Mr Roth's direct holding remains the same at 649,371 Ordinary Shares (0.51% of total issued share capital).

Admission to AIM

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and the TSXV. Dealings are expected to commence on or about 2 March 2017 ("Admission").

Following Admission, there will be a total of 125,740,551 ordinary shares on issue.

Mariana will be presenting at PDAC in Toronto from 5-8 March 2017, please come and visit us at booth 2708 to learn more about the significant high grade Gold and Copper Hot Maden project as well as our exciting portfolio.

**ENDS**

Glen Parsons (CEO) Mariana Resources Ltd +61 2 9437 4588 Eric Roth (COO) Mariana Resources Ltd +56 9 8818 1243 Karen Davies (IR) Mariana Resources Ltd (Canada) +1 604 314 6270 Rob Adamson RFC Ambrian Limited (Nomad) +61 2 9250 0041 Will Souter RFC Ambrian Limited (Nomad) +61 2 9250 0050 In U.K. Oliver Stansfield Brandon Hill Capital (UK Broker) +44 20 3463 5061 Jonathan Evans Brandon Hill Capital (UK Broker) +44 20 3463 5016 Camilla Horsfall Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 20 7138 3224 Megan Ray Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 20 7138 3203

About Mariana Resources

Mariana Resources Ltd is a TSX.V and AIM (MARL) quoted exploration and development company with an extensive portfolio of gold, silver, and copper projects in South America, Turkey, and Ivory Coast.

Mariana's most advanced asset is the Hot Maden gold-copper project in northeast Turkey, which is a joint venture with Turkish partner Lidya Madencilik (30% Mariana and 70% Lidya) and which is rapidly advancing to development. On January 17, 2017, Mariana released the results of a Preliminary Economic Study ("PEA") which demonstrated exceptional potential economics for the Hot Maden Project (after-tax NPV and IRR of USD 1.37B and 153%, respectively) based on a development scenario incorporating a 1Mtpa underground mining / processing operation and the production of two saleable concentrates (a copper-gold concentrate and a gold-pyrite concentrate). This PEA was based on the updated (July 25, 2016) mineral resource estimate of 3.43 Moz gold equivalent (Indicated Category) and 0.09 Moz gold equivalent (Inferred Category) (100% basis) in the Main Zone, as well as a maiden 351,000 Moz gold equivalent (Inferred Category) (100% basis) resource in the New Southern Discovery. Elsewhere in Turkey, Mariana holds a 100% interest in the Ergama gold-copper project.

On October 7, 2016, Mariana announced the signing of a binding Term Sheet to acquire an indirect 80% interest in Ivory Coast-focused private exploration company Awale Resources SARL ("Awale"). Through the transaction Mariana will gain an immediate foothold in an established exploration portfolio with known gold mineralisation and artisanal gold workings, and which comprises i) 3 granted contiguous licenses (1,191 km2) in the Bondoukou area, and ii) 4 licenses under application (1,593 km2) in both the Bondoukou and Abengourou areas. The Boundoukou concessions lie along the southwestern extension of the Birimian Bole-Nangodi greenstone belt in adjacent Ghana, host to a number of high grade orogenic gold deposits.

In southern Argentina, the Company's core gold-silver projects are Las Calandrias (100%), Sierra Blanca (100%), Los Cisnes (100%), and Bozal (100%). These projects are part of a 100,000+ Ha land package in the Deseado Massif epithermal gold-silver district in mining-friendly Santa Cruz Province.

In Suriname, Mariana has a direct holding of 10.2% of the Nassau Gold project. The Nassau Gold Project is a 28,000 Ha exploration concession located approximately 125 km south east of the capital Paramaribo and immediately adjacent to Newmont Mining's 4.2Moz gold Merian project.

In Peru and Chile, Mariana is focusing on acquiring new opportunities which complement its current portfolio.

Hot Maden Mineral Resource Estimate - Main Gold-Copper Zone (2 g/t AuEq Cut-off) Indicated Mineral Resource Domain Tonnes Au Cu Zn AuEq Au Cu AuEq t g/t % % g/t* Ounces Tonnes Ounces** Main Zone LG 463,000 1.1 1.1 0.3 2.4 17,000 5,000 36,000 Main Zone HG 4,501,000 3.9 1.9 0.2 6.3 570,000 87,000 908,000 Main Zone UHG 2,086,000 32.7 3.5 0.1 36.9 2,195,000 73,000 2,476,000 Mixed Gold-Zinc 17,000 7.5 3.1 3.6 11.2 4,000 1,000 6,000 Peripheral Lodes 60,000 2.1 0.4 0.4 2.5 4,000 5,000 Total 7,127,000 12.2 2.3 0.2 15.0 2,790,000 166,000 3,431,000 Inferred Mineral Resource Domain Tonnes Au Cu Zn AuEq Au Cu AuEq t g/t % % g/t* Ounces Tonnes Ounces** Main Zone LG 395,000 1.7 0.9 0.03 2.8 21,000 4,000 35,000 Main Zone HG 31,000 3.9 1.6 0.1 5.8 4,000 6,000 Main Zone UHG 6,000 39.1 2.1 0.01 41.6 7,000 8,000 Mixed Gold-Zinc 4,000 1.7 0.4 2.4 2.2 Peripheral Lodes 282,000 3.2 0.9 0.1 4.3 29,000 2,000 38,000 Total 718,000 2.7 0.9 0.1 3.8 62,000 7,000 88,000



Hot Maden - Southern Gold-Copper Zone (2 g/t AuEq Cut-off) Inferred Mineral Resource Domain Tonnes Au Cu Zn AuEq Au Cu AuEq t g/t % % g/t* Ounces Tonnes Ounces** South Zone LG 396,000 2.8 0.7 0.0 3.6 35,000 3,000 46,000 South Zone HG 583,000 5.3 0.7 0.0 6.1 98,000 4,000 114,000 Main Zone UHG 224,000 22.2 1.0 0.0 23.4 160,000 2,000 169,000 Mixed Gold-Zinc 44,000 9.0 1.0 3.2 10.2 13,000 15,000 Peripheral Lodes 104,000 1.9 0.3 0.0 2.2 6,000 7,000 Total 1,352,000 7.2 0.7 0.1 8.1 313,000 10,000 351,000

*Au Equivalence (AuEq) calculated using a 100 day moving average of $US1,215/ounce for Au and $US2.13/pound for Cu as of May 29, 2016. No adjustment has been made for metallurgical recovery or net smelter return as these remain uncertain at this time. Based on grades and contained metal for Au and Cu, it is assumed that both commodities have reasonable potential to be economically extractable.

*-The formula used for Au equivalent grade is: AuEq g/t = Au + [(Cu % x 22.0462 x 2.13)/(1215/31.1035)] and assumes 100 % metallurgical recovery. **-Au equivalent ounces are calculated by mulitplying Mineral Resource tonnage by Au equivalent grade and converting for ounces. The formula used for Au equivalent ounces is: AuEq Oz = [Tonnage x AuEq grade (g/t)]/31.1035

Safe Harbour

This press release contains certain statements which may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as at the date of this press release and include, without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, the realization, cost, timing and extent of mineral resource estimates, estimated future exploration expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, and requirements for additional capital. The words "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimate", "forecasts", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "may", "will", or similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the effects of general economic conditions; the price of gold, silver and copper; misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements; risks associated with international operations; the need for additional financing; risks inherent in exploration results; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters; currency and commodity price fluctuations; title matters; environmental liability claims; unanticipated operational risks; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or in the completion of development or construction activities; political risk; and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's annual financial statements for the most recently completed financial year which is available on the Company's website at www.marianaresources.com . Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and have 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 forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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.
English Icelandic

Islandsbanki's 2016 Consolidated Annual Financial Statements

Highlights in 2016 were:

Profit after tax was ISK 20.2bn in 2016, compared to ISK 20.6bn in 2015. The profit in 2016 was driven by strong core income and the completion of the sale of Borgun's, the Bank's subsidiary, shares in Visa Europe, compared to a high net loan impairment gain in 2015.

Return on equity was 10.2% in 2016, compared to 10.8% in 2015.

Earnings from regular operations was ISK 15.1bn, compared to ISK 16.2bn in 2015. Return on equity from regular operations on 15% CET1 was 10.7% in 2016 compared to 12.4% in 2015.

Net interest income amounted to ISK 31.8bn in 2016 (2015 ISK 28.0bn) up 14%. The net interest margin rose to 3.1% in 2016 (2015: 2.9%), in part due to a reversal of previously impaired interest, high interest rate environment and rising equity levels.

Net fee and commission income was ISK 13.7bn in 2016 compared to 13.2bn in 2015.

A one-off loss of ISK 1.7bn was recognised due to building damages in former headquarters at Kirkjusandur and relocation to new headquarters.

Cost to income ratio was 56.9% in 2016 (2015: 56.2%), the cost to income ratio excludes the Bank tax and one-off cost items. 55% is the long term target.

Total assets amounted to ISK 1,048bn (Sep16: ISK 1,068bn), whereby loans to customers and liquidity portfolio account for 93% of balance sheet.

Loans to customers grew by 3.3% in 2016 to ISK 688bn. Total new lending was ISK 163bn across various lending divisions, but strengthening of the ISK had some dampening effect on the growth of the portfolio.

Ratio of loans more than 90 days past due and impaired was 1.8% (FY15: 2.2%).

Deposits from customers closed at comparable levels to 2015. Expected outflows with the easing of the capital controls have not come to fruition.

Total capital ratio was 25.2% and CET1 ratio was 24.9% as a result of the subordinated loan of EUR 138m being prepaid in September.

The liquidity position is strong and exceeds internal and external requirements. At December 2016, the Bank's liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) was 187% (Sep16: 195%) and the total net stable funding ratio (NSFR) was 123% (Sep16: 126%)

Leverage ratio was at 16.0% at Dec16 compared to 18.1% at Dec15, indicating a moderate leverage

The Bank has issued three notes in FX over the period. Making the Bank fully market funded, Islandsbanki issued a 4-year EUR 500m (ISK 65bn) 1.75% Fixed Rate Note, corresponding to a spread of 200 basis points over mid-swaps in August (now trading at Z+97bp). This followed a USD 35m private placement in January and EUR 75m tap issue in May.

Islandsbanki is the only Icelandic bank to have two international credit ratings. In October 2016, S&P upgraded the Bank to BBB/A-2, with a positive outlook, and in January 2017 Fitch upgraded the Bank to BBB/F3, with stable outlook

Highlights in 4Q16 were:

Profit after tax was ISK 4.6bn in 4Q16 (4Q15: ISK 3.9bn).

Return on regular operations on 15% CET1 was 11.7% in the quarter (4Q15: 12.8%).

Net interest income amounted to ISK 8.1bn in 4Q16 (4Q15: ISK 7.0bn).



Net fee and commission income was ISK 3.8bn in 4Q16 (4Q15: ISK 3.2bn).

Birna Einarsdottir, Chief Executive Officer:

Islandsbanki returned another solid performance in 2016, a year that was marked by several milestones in the Bank's development. Our core operations continued to produce stable income and consistent returns. Loan portfolio restructuring has been finalised, all holdings in non-related businesses have been divested, and asset quality continues to improve.

The Bank successfully raised its profile in capital markets, at home and abroad, with a EUR 500 million benchmark bond, which has performed very well in the aftermarket. In December 2016 the Bank paid the Government an extraordinary dividend of ISK 27bn, bringing the total dividends in 2016 to ISK 37bn, thereby taking the first steps towards capital optimisation and eventual privatisation.

The Iceland sovereign ratings were all raised in the past year, to A-3/A-/BBB+, reflecting the progress the country has made towards full capital account liberalisation and declining debt levels. Indeed, Islandsbanki, the only bank to have two international ratings, also received upgrades to BBB by both Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.

For four years in a row, Islandsbanki has been named Iceland's #1 bank in the Icelandic Customer Satisfaction Index. For eight years running, we have been voted Iceland's most professional bank and its best provider of financial

services to companies. The year culminated in the move to our new headquarters, where the activity-based working environment will surely bring organisational flexibility and greater support for our relationship banking model and our vision to be #1 for service.

Investor Presentation in Icelandic

Today at 12.30 pm Icelandic time, Birna Einarsdottir, CEO of Islandsbanki, and Jon Guni Omarsson, CFO, will present the financial results to market participants, followed by a Q&A session. The meeting is conducted in Icelandic and held on the ground floor of the Bank's new headquarters at Hagasmari 3.

Investor call in English

The Bank will also host an investor call in English to present the results at 2 pm Icelandic time. The call will start with a short macro update on the Icelandic economy, followed by a review of the financial results and Q&A. Please register by replying to ir@islandsbanki.is. Dial-in details and presentation will be sent out two hours prior to the call.

All presentation material will subsequently be available and archived on www.islandsbanki.is/ir.

For information on Islandsbanki's financial calendar and silent periods see http://www.islandsbanki.is/english/investor-relations/calendar/.

For further information:

 Investor Relations - Tinna Molphy, tinna.molphy@islandsbanki.is, tel +354 440 3187.

Media Relations - Edda Hermannsdottir, edda.hermannsdottir@islandsbanki.is and tel: +354 440 4005.

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cbcda273-376b-4b9d-ba8d-9bcaa86010fb

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cd88192b-7964-4a3d-9c73-0562a4befc0c

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/353a3d10-08cf-4f97-bf8d-79a1fcb58fa7

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6c98625b-19a7-4787-ba26-03f38e8a1668

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/22a9aa80-e9e7-4315-9d26-210740af2efd

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/92719051-421b-4ea3-a52a-a1badd0ece98
AbdurRakib wrote:

Once numbering in the millions worldwide, it is estimated that the wolf has declined to 200,000 in 57 countries, some 11,000 of them to be found in the lower 48 United States and Alaska.

A. it is estimated that the wolf has declined to 200,000 in 57 countries, some

B. the wolf is estimated to have declined to 200,000 in 57 countries, with approximately

C. the wolf has declined to an estimate of 200,000 in 57 countries, some

D. wolves have declined to an estimate of 200,000 in 57 countries, with approximately

E. wolves have declined to an estimated 200,000 in 57 countries, some





Please Explain



2017 New Question (Book Question: 299)

AbdurRakib

[noun] + [noun modifier]

some 11,000 of them to be found

some 11,000 of them

to be found

with approximately 11,000 of them to be found

some

approximately

I read that book some fifteen years ago.

He ate some eight pieces of chicken that night.

declined to an estimate of 200,000

once numbering in the millions worldwide

wolves have declined to an estimated 200,000

estimate

is estimated

wolves have declined



Magoosh Test Prep





Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.  William Butler Yeats (1865  1939) Mike McGarryEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.  William Butler Yeats (1865  1939) Signature Read More

DearI'm happy to respond.First, let look at what happens after the last comma. We have an absolute phrase : the form of an absolute phrase is. As the name suggests, the absolute phrase stands on its own: it provides information for the whole of the attached sentence with modifying any particular work, and its grammatical structure is independent of the rest of the sentence. After the comma, we get the correct absolute phrase. . . .The noun phrase is "," and here, the noun modifier is the passive infinitive "." The absolute phrase is elegant. Rhetorically, it is a spineless mealy-mouthed move to replace this elegant structure with an awkward prepositional phrase ". . ." Technically, this is grammatically correct, but its a bit awkward and wordy, and it looks like a craven misfit compared to the absolute phrase.Incidentally, the use of "" in this context is as a synonym for "." Other examples:This usage appears frequently in sophisticated English.Now, what comes before that second comma. The phrasing "" is awkward and clumsy: both (C) & (D) use this and should be eliminated because of it.Before the first comma, we have a modifying phrase "," and this phrase needs to touch the noun it modifies. The indirect structure in (A) delays the target noun in an awkward way, so (A) is incorrect.This leaves (B) & (E). Choice (B) is passive and indirect and wordy, and has that awful preposition after the final comma. By contrast, (E) is powerful and direct:. . .. . .The estimation part is simply about the size of the number, the mathematical details of the sentence: that's not where the main action is, so "" or "" is should not be the main verb. The main action that happened in the real world is that "." That was the main action, and the main verb in the sentence should reflect the main action in the real world.Does all this make sense?Mike_________________
With political campaigning in Uttar Pradesh devolving to constant mudslinging among opponents, voters on the ground have been turned off by an apparent lack of political debate on issues like development.

By Siraj Qureshi: As the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh comes to a close, the general perceptions regarding politicians and their politics have started to change among the people of the state.

Judging from the public's reactions to the abysmally low levels of political debate in this campaign cycle, both, the educated and influential class as well as the common man are becoming disillusioned with politics and are getting turned off by the way Prime Minster Narendra Modi, his generals, and the opposition leaders are slinging mud at each other.

advertisement

Three phases of voting still reaming in the Uttar Pradesh, and voters are not willing to listen to the tirades of either Modi or Akhilesh Yadav over who said what and about whom. While the two leaders are busy hurling slogans and epithets at each other in the name of political debate, the people are focusing on weighing the development work done by the contenders and the promises that the candidates have made.

Social activist Deep Sharma believes March 11 will prove to be the doomsday for at least two major political parties in the state, one of which appears to be the BSP, while the other could either be the Congress or the BJP, as the Samajwadi Party has deeply set roots in the state's politics. The BJP or the BSP, on the other hand, have not been bale to develop this level of penetration in the lowest rungs of the society.

THE BAR HAS BEEN LOWERED

However, Sharma said, considering manner in which Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has made personal attacks targeting PM Modi, a lot of his sympathisers could switch camps. Until now, Akhilesh had been the symbol of clean and gentlemanly politics in Uttar Pradesh and this sudden transformation from a dove to a hawk may not sit well with many. Even during the 2014 parliamentary elections, the political debate had not been dirtied down to this level.

Sharma went on to note that in 2014, Narendra Modi had contested the parliamentary elections on the issues of development, education, employment, and terrorism, while during this Assembly election, Modi seems to have a one-point agenda of attacking Akhilesh Yadav and his so-called lack of governance. This kind of negative politics may do him good at first, Sharma said, adding that however, Modi's own words may come back to bite him later.

Akhilesh, on the other hand, Deep Sharma notes had been focusing his campaign on the development he has done in the state and his campaign slogan was "Kaam Bolta Hai". However, by the time the elections were midway through, he yielded to the continuous poking by Modi and Amit Shah, finally losing his cool, giving birth to Uttar Pradesh's 'Gadha Politics'.

advertisement

Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad Chairman Sami Aghai told India Today that such language could hardly be expected from the prime minister of India. At one time, when the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had made that infamous 'Nani Yaad Dila Denge' speech, the opposition had a field day over this issue and now, political debate has stooped to such a low level that Rajiv's speech appears quite innocuous in today's circumstances.

Also read: Gujarat Tourism's 'gadha' ad: A mocking Akhilesh has a request for megastar Amitabh

Also watch: PM Modi hits back at Akhilesh: Even donkeys are loyal and responsible

--- ENDS ---
A Zimbabwean man, Given Dube, has caused uproar after he claimed to be God and said there is nothing like the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Zimbabwean man claims to be God, he believes he created 'heaven and earth'

The 27-year-old who is the founder of Umuzi ka Nkulunkulu church in Pumula South, told his followers to call him God because the Holy Spirit descended on him and declared him God.

PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App

According to Zimbabwe News, Dube gave his members a Holy Book to use for daily guidance. He also claimed that he was Gods host on earth.

Dube told his congregants that he is the God who created heaven and earth and has power over all creation.

Read what he said below:

I am being used by a spirit which I cannot even see. I only saw it in a vision once when it first appeared to me in 2008 when I was in Chipinge for National Youth Service training.

Since then, God spirit speaks to me and I hear his voice and that spirit uses me. For people to believe me, I write everything down and that is the holy book referred to as Uluju Lwezulu.

I am God and do not need anyone to explain my words. I have written this book and it guides people in their daily lives.

When Jesus came to earth, not all people listened to him and he was even killed. Now I have come, some have listened and I will guide them.

They believe the lies they are being told that Jesus is coming back again. I can tell you that he is not coming back again as the religious leaders use that to instill fear in people.

I am God and I plan. I just command and it happens. You also have to understand that I dont expect everyone to see me as their God, but they first have to accept the word and understand, so only church members recognize me as their God.

I command, I can stop diseases and wars in the world or even command them to happen. This is a different belief from Christians who are still waiting for the coming of Jesus; I am already here.

Men of God in Zimbabwe have petitioned the government to stop Dube from spreading his believes but Dube keeps growing in influence.

Na wa oo!

Watch video: Amazing acrobats from Abuja

Source: Legit.ng
The law enforcement agency said, "It is Mallya's perspective that banks are making him the scapegoat. That's not the case on the ground." ED added that Mallya, however, was free to move the Supreme Court if he had a problem with the investigation.

By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The Enforcement Directorate has said that if liquor baron Vijay Mallya has a complaint against the investigation going on against him in the loan default case, he could raise the issue in the Supreme Court.

The law enforcement agency said, "It is Mallya's perspective that banks are making him the scapegoat. That's not the case on the ground. Mallya could say whatever he wants, but there is a strong case against him."

advertisement

Given the track record of UK authorities in previous cases, ED is not too hopeful that Mallya would face extradition.

So far, there has been no response from the UK government on the extradition request sent by the Indian government.

NO GROUNDS FOR MY EXTRADITION: MALLYA

Only recently, in an interview to Reuters, Mallya had said that the Indian government had no grounds to have him extradited.

"Indian authorities have no grounds to extradite me from Britain and I will not be leaving. Government-owned banks are trying to hold me personally responsible for the failure of India's largest airline and to repay their debts"I have a counter claim for that too. That is in the judicial system right now."

"Recovery of loans made to a PLC is a purely civil matter. The Central Bureau of Investigation, at the behest of the government, converted it into a criminal matter. And then charges of defrauding banks and money-laundering appeared. I will contest all this legally. I firmly believe they have absolutely no case against me whatsoever."

Also read | Govt moves a step further over Vijay Mallya's extradition

Also read | Special CBI court issues fresh non-bailable warrant against Vijay Mallya in loan default case

--- ENDS ---
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
By Press Trust of India: From Aditi Khanna

London, Feb 24 (PTI) One of the key voices demanding Balochistans freedom has said that he would approach friends like India to seek help for their cause.

Amir Ahmed Suleman Daud, officially known as His Highness the Khan of Kalat, welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modis intervention in favour of Balochistan during his Independence Day address from the Red Fort last year.

advertisement

"India is one of the powers of region, the biggest democracy in the world. The Prime Ministers [Modis] was the only voice we heard in a long time coming out of the neighbourhood and appreciated the intervention. We know we have got a friend," Daud told PTI at a media briefing in London yesterday.

Pakistan had criticised Modi for mentioning the people of Balochistan in his address, seen as indirect support to the Balochistan freedom struggle.

"In the last few days, people of Balochistan, Gilgit, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have thanked me, have expressed gratitude, and expressed good wishes for me," Modi had said, in a significant policy shift on the region.

Daud, who has been living in exile in Wales in the UK for the last few years, indicated that he plans to approach India and other friendly countries like the US to seek help for the cause of Balochistans independence.

"We are confident we will get help from a lot of friends, especially from the West and India. We are happy the Republicans are in power in the US; we have lots of friends in the US Congress. Maybe also China can become a friend. We would like to say to them that they are coming through the wrong actor in this game [Pakistan]," he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Daud addressed a seminar entitled Balochistan Re-visited within the British Parliament complex, organised by the UK-based Democracy Forum, during which he accused Pakistan of "colonising" the sovereign state of Kalat.

"Until August 1947, all treaties state clearly Kalat Balochistans position as independent and sovereign. Why we lost our independence was the result of a change in British policy and geo-politics," he claimed.

Daud claims that Kalat remained independent until March 28, 1948, when it merged under duress with Pakistan.

He now plans to lobby international organisations, including the United Nations, to "pay the debt to his homeland".

"We will approach parliaments of the world and make our issues known. We are an occupied land; we did not accede," he said. PTI AK NSA

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
Shivangi Joshi's mother is helping her daughter with the preparations of her on-screen wedding.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Actress Shivangi Joshi, who is gearing up for her onscreen marriage in popular soap opera Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, got emotional after watching her real mother helping her for a pre-wedding sequence on the show.

The cast of the show recently shot for Naira's (Shivangi) 'haldi' sequence. For the same, Shivangi's real mother helped her around on the set.

advertisement

Also read: Fire on the sets of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai

"My mother really enjoys being on set while I shoot. And most recently, with the wedding sequences being shot, she's been around all the time helping here and there in every way possible," Shivangi said in a statement.

"Recently, we shot for my 'haldi' sequence and I wasn't even aware that she actually prepared the 'haldi' for the sequence. I was surprised at first, but later understood as I saw her enjoy with the crew helping them prepare for the sequence," she added.

Also read: Confirmed: Mohsin Khan is dating Shivangi Joshi

Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai is aired on Star Plus.

--- ENDS ---
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 ...
The Algerian police Wednesday announced the arrest of 12 members of Ahmadiyya religious community accused by authorities for promoting the outlawed movement.

The men were arrested at Chlef, north of the country, the national police announced in a statement aired on radio.

Members of this movement were in possession of documents promoting their doctrine, the police said in the statement.

The leader of the movement who has not been named and other four members have been locked up while four have been placed under court supervision. The three others have been freed, reports say.

A court has sued the movement for creating association without authorization, crime against Islam and proselytism.

The Ahmadiyya movement was founded in Punjab, India, in the 19th century. It preaches the teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (18351908) and rejects claims that Prophet Mohamed is the last Prophet.

The movement, outlawed by Saudi Arabia-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), reportedly appeared in Algeria in 1990s and boasts hundreds of members in the country.

It is the first time Algerian authorities are cracking down on the movement. Authorities arrested dozens of the community members across the country several weeks ago, according to local reports.

London-based Amnesty International in its 2016 report has slammed Algerian authorities for persecuting Algerians of other religions or Algerian Muslims not belonging to Sunnite Islam.

Authorities have targeted members of the Ahmadiyya community, arresting more than 50 people in the Blida and Skikda governorates and elsewhere in the country for their faith, the NGO said.
Ford GT Competition Series, shown in Daytona for first time weeks after winning Rolex 24, offers weight-saving innovations, such as lightweight, race-inspired Perspex  acrylic engine hatch cover and bulkhead Gorilla Glass 

acrylic engine hatch cover and bulkhead Gorilla Glass Limited-edition Ford GT model features lightweight carbon fiber racing stripes, A-Pillars, andside mirrors;, unique engine hatch with integrated venting distinguishes rear view

Interior of lightest Ford GT features Alcantara suede with red accents and exposed carbon trim

DAYTONA, Fla., Feb. 23, 2017  Ford is showing the ultra-lightweight Ford GT Competition Series for North America in Daytona, the site of its win at the Rolex 24 in January.

The Ford GT Competition Series was engineered to build on the cars innovative lightweight and aerodynamic design. The track fans ultimate production car removes weight higher in the vehicle and shifts the center of gravity closer to the track for even better road-holding, and to maximize its 647 horsepower engine.

The Ford GT has racing in its blood, said Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, global product development, and chief technical officer. The Competition Series was developed with the most hardcore track enthusiasts in mind, providing a tailored set of lightweight features and unique livery to match.

For example, the innovative lightweight, race-inspired Perspex acrylic engine hatch cover with manual latch and carbon fiber prop rod reduces weight near the roof and shifts the balance of weight lower in the car.

Similarly, the bulkhead Gorilla Glass behind the driver is about half as thick  and lighter  as on other models.

All performance features from the standard production car remain, including the FIA-certified steel roll cage and active aerodynamic system. Items not essential to performance  including air conditioning, radio and speakers, stowage bins and cupholders  are eliminated.

Weight-reducing optional equipment  such as performance-enhancing carbon fiber wheels, and titanium lug nuts and exhaust  are standard on the Competition Series.

Copious carbon

The Competition Series also looks the part with unique gloss carbon fiber stripe, mirror caps and A-pillars, as well as exposed carbon fiber lower body trim in matching gloss finish.

Inside, the Competition Series maintains the lightweight interior and keeps the same driver-centric elements of other models, including the F1-styled steering wheel with key functional controls. Ebony Alcantara suede is used on the seats, instrument panel and headliner.

Exposed carbon fiber accentuates the console, registers and door sills. Anodized red paddle shifters and instrument panel badge bring accent color to the cabin, while a unique center console plate and steering wheel fascia account for the deleted infotainment controls and screen.

The Competition Series is offered in six Ford GT colors  Shadow Black, Frozen White, Ingot Silver, Liquid Blue, Liquid Grey and Triple Yellow  and is available in North America for all announced production years.

The car will headline Fords large display  alongside its broader lineup  outside Turn One at the Daytona 500 this weekend.

Visit FordGT.com to view exterior and interior options or to configure your own Ford GT supercar.
Credit: Bill Kuffrey/public domain

Flashbacks of scenes from traumatic events often haunt those suffering from psychiatric conditions, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). "The close relationship between the human imagery system and our emotions can cause deep emotional perturbations", says Dr Svetla Velikova of Smartbrain in Norway. "Imagery techniques are often used in cognitive psychotherapy to help patients modify disturbing mental images and overcome negative emotions." Velikova and her team set out to see if such techniques could become self-guided and developed at home, away from the therapist's chair.

Healthy people are also emotionally effected by what we see and the images we remember. Velikova explains, "if we visually remember an image from an unpleasant interaction with our boss, this can cause an increased level of anxiety about our work and demotivation." There is great interest in ways to combat such everyday negative emotional responses through imagery training. But she warns, "this is a challenging task and requires a flexible approach. Each day we face different problems and a therapist teaches us how to identify topics and strategies for imagery exercises."

To find out if we can train ourselves to use imagery techniques and optimize our emotional state, Velikova and co-workers turned to 30 healthy volunteers. During a two-day workshop the volunteers learnt a series of imagery techniques. They learnt how to cope with negative emotions from past events through imagery transformation, how to use positive imagery for future events or goals, and techniques to improve social interactions and enhance their emotional balance in daily life. They then spent the next 12 weeks training themselves at home for 15-20 minutes a day, before attending another similar two-day workshop.

Velikova compared the results of participant psychological assessment and brain activity, or electroencephalographic (EEG), measurement, before and after the experiment. "The psychological testing showed that depressive symptoms were less prominent. The number of those with subthreshold depression, expressing depressive symptoms but not meeting the criteria for depression, was halved. Overall, volunteers were more satisfied with life and perceived themselves as more efficient" she explains.

Following analysis, the EEG data showed significant changes in the beta activity in the right medial prefrontal cortex of the brain. Velikova notes that this region is known to be involved in imaging pleasant emotions and contributing to the degree of satisfaction with life. There were also changes in the functional connectivity of the brain, including increased connectivity between the temporal regions from both hemispheres, which Velikova attributes to enhanced coordination of networks linked to processing of images. She concludes, "this combination of EEG findings also suggests a possible increase in the activity of GABA (gamma -aminobutyric acid), well known for its anti-anxiety and antidepressant properties."

Velikova and co-workers' results indicate that self-guided emotional imagery training has great potential to improve the everyday emotional wellbeing in healthy people. The team is now further exploring how the approach affects the cognitive function of healthy people. With minimal professional intervention, this technique could be developed to be a cost-effective aid for those with subthreshold depression. It could also be promoted by businesses to help improve workforce morale and drive up productivity.

More information: Svetla Velikova et al, Can the Psycho-Emotional State be Optimized by Regular Use of Positive Imagery?, Psychological and Electroencephalographic Study of Self-Guided Training, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2017). Journal information: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Svetla Velikova et al, Can the Psycho-Emotional State be Optimized by Regular Use of Positive Imagery?, Psychological and Electroencephalographic Study of Self-Guided Training,(2017). DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00664
Activation of the brain's fear network, visualized using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Credit: Dr. Tina Lonsdorf, Systems Neuroscience UKE Hamburg

Mental, social and inherited factors all play a role in anxiety disorders. In the journal Molecular Psychiatry, a research team from Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wurzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany, describes a hitherto unknown genetic pathway for developing such diseases: They pinpointed at least four variants of the GLRB gene (glycine receptor B) as risk factors for anxiety and panic disorders. More than 5000 voluntary participants and 500 patients afflicted by panic disorder took part in the study that delivered these results.

In Germany, around 15 percent of adults suffer from anxiety and panic disorders. Some people may have an extreme fear of spiders or other objects while others have breathing difficulties and accelerated heart beat in small rooms or large gatherings of people. With some afflicted persons, the anxiety attacks occur for no apparent cause. Many patients suffer from the detrimental impacts on their everyday lives - they often have problems at work and withdraw from social contacts.

How are fear and anxiety triggered? How do anxiety disorders arise and evolve?

Scientists from Munster, Hamburg and Wurzburg have looked into these questions within the scope of Collaborative Research Center (CRC) TR 58 funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Their goal is to develop new therapies that are better tailored to the individual patients. Anxiety disorders can be treated with drugs and behaviour therapy for instance.

Gene triggers hyperekplexia

The discovery that different variants of the GLRB gene are associated with anxiety disorders might also contribute to the development of improved therapies. The gene had been known to the researchers for some time, albeit only in connection with a different disease:

"Some mutations of the gene cause a rare neurological disorder called hyperekplexia," explains Professor Jurgen Deckert, member of the CRC and Director of the Department of Psychiatry at the JMU University Hospital. The patients are permanently hypertonic and show pronounced startle responses, which may even cause sufferers to fall involuntarily. Similar to persons suffering from anxiety disorders, these patients develop behaviour to avoid potentially frightening situations.

The "fear network" in the brain is activated

But the GLRB gene variants that have recently been associated with anxiety and panic disorders for the first time are different from the ones described above. They occur more frequently and presumably entail less severe consequences. But they, too, trigger overshooting startle responses, and as a result may excessively activate the brain's "fear network". High-resolution images of the brain activities of study participants provided the clues for the Wurzburg scientists.

"The results point to a hitherto unknown pathway of developing an anxiety disorder," Deckert says. He believes that further investigations are now necessary to determine whether these findings can be harnessed to develop new or individual therapies. For example, it is conceivable to bring the "fear network" that is misregulated by the GLRB gene back on track by administering drugs.

More information: J Deckert et al, GLRB allelic variation associated with agoraphobic cognitions, increased startle response and fear network activation: a potential neurogenetic pathway to panic disorder, Molecular Psychiatry (2017). Journal information: Molecular Psychiatry J Deckert et al, GLRB allelic variation associated with agoraphobic cognitions, increased startle response and fear network activation: a potential neurogenetic pathway to panic disorder,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/mp.2017.2
Credit: Northeastern University

At a time when the country is steeped in nationalist sentiment, and the Trump administration is focused on rolling back the Affordable Care Act, Northeastern University professors Patricia Illingworth and Wendy E. Parmet are making the case for expanding healthcare to non-citizens in the U.S.

Calling it a "moral obligation" and a "global public good," Illingworth and Parmet suggest that healthcare is a human rights issue, and that extending coverage in the U.S. to non-citizens could actually alleviate both the cost and care burdens on everyone. In fact, the researchers co-authored a book on the subject, The Health of Newcomers: Immigration, Health Policy, and the Case for Global Solidarity, that ties together their expertiseIllingworth, professor of philosophy and fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard University; and Parmet, the Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law.

We asked them to explain what role the U.S. should play in providing healthcare for non-citizens and what consequencesgood or badmight be associated with that. Here are their joint answers.

What sort of obligation does the U.S. have to extend healthcare to non-citizen immigrants?

The U.S. is a party to several international agreements that recognize a right to health and condemn discrimination in the recognition of that right. The U.S., however, has not ratified the U.N. covenant that speaks most precisely to the issue. Moreover, any internationally-recognized right is likely unenforceable within U.S. courts.

Nor does the U.S. Constitution establish any broad right of non-citizens to government-supported healthcare. Nevertheless, non-citizens within the country do have constitutional rights, and there are circumstances (for example, in prisons) in which the government is obligated to provide non-citizens with access to healthcare. Federal and state statutes also provide many classes of non-citizens with rights to healthcare.

There is, moreover, a moral obligation to provide newcomers with healthcare. Ethics focuses on universal norms and requires that we treat people the same unless there are morally relevant differences among them. With respect to health, there do not appear to be such differences.

Healthcare and the social determinants that impact health ought to be distributed on the basis of health needs. In addition, the right to health applies to all people as a moral right. Because health is a global public good, there are utilitarian reasons to promote the health of all. Everyone benefits when we support health.

In addition, when a global perspective is taken on health, rather than a national one, a case can be made that the health of people in poor countries has been impacted adversely by the activities of rich countriessuch as the environmental harms caused by the manufacturing activities of multinationals. Many of these conditions drive migration. Put differently, the activities of people in affluent countries are, in part, responsible for the health of the global poor, the very people who migrate. Affluent nations may have corresponding duties of justice to newcomers that can be fulfilled through healthcare.

To what extent would covering non-citizen immigrants put a financial strain on our healthcare system? How do you balance the financial cost with the human rights obligation?

Providing equal coverage for non-citizens should not put a significant financial strain on our healthcare system. Immigrants as a whole are younger and healthier than non-citizens. They also tend to use fewer healthcare resources.

However, because so many immigrants are uninsured, they have less access to primary care. That means that preventable illnesses are more likely to end up requiring expensive treatment in hospitals. As a result, we all end up paying for the care of uninsured immigrants, just in ways that are extremely inefficient and bad for their health. Since the costs to affluent nations may be higher if we do not provide immigrants with equal care, financial considerations should not be decisive. However, even if the costs were greater by extending equal care to non-citizen immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, the moral obligation to provide equal access persists.

Are there developed nations that do cover non-citizen immigrants? If so, how are their healthcare systems similar to or different from ours and do they succeed or fail in providing coverage to non-citizen immigrants?

All developed nations, including the U.S., provide some non-citizens access to healthcare coverage. Some nations, such as Canada and Switzerland, offer coverage to a higher percentage of non-citizens than does the U.S. But other nations, including many we think of as having "universal healthcare," exclude undocumented immigrants from their healthcare programs. Interestingly, there seems to be no correlation between the type of healthcare system that a nation has and its treatment of non-citizens. Non-citizens can be covered or excluded regardless of how the nation organizes its healthcare system.

What are the benefits to expanding healthcare coverage?

First, non-citizens themselves will have better access to healthcare, especially primary care and prevention, which they now often are unable to obtain. As a result, they should experience fewer preventable illnesses and achieve better management of their chronic conditions.

Second, the hospitals and safety net providers that treat non-citizens will face fewer uncompensated costs and financial strains.

Third, the doctors and nurses who treat non-citizens will be able to treat their patients without having to worry about who will pay for needed care.

Finally, citizens will be healthier, as infectious diseases will be diagnosed and treated more quickly and communities will be freed from the emotional and economic burden (not to mention the productivity losses) of having to care for untreated members of their community and family. As we show in the book, health is a public good; the health of one affects the health of all.

Do you think it's possible that the U.S. healthcare system will eventually expand to fully include non-citizens?

Solidarity is often defined as a willingness to carry costs for othersto incur some costs on their behalf. Some studies have suggested that diversity is an obstacle to social trust, cohesion, and the willingness to help "strangers." There is evidence, however, that people living in affluent countries are able to trust others with their healthmedical tourism, transplant tourism, and, of course, the medical brain drain, are good examples of the ability of people to trust strangers when they are most vulnerablethat is, when they are sick. It may turn out that because health reflects our shared humanity, it is a sphere in which trust, social connection, and solidarity are possible. We are encouraged by the solidarity with newcomers that took place during the recent protest, "A Day Without Immigrants." In a show of solidarity, many businesses closed to underscore the value of immigrants in our communities. Apparently, some people in the U.S. are willing to carry costs for newcomers.
A new study in rats suggests that nicotinamide riboside (NR), a form of vitamin B3, may be useful for treating or preventing nerve pain (neuropathy) caused by chemotherapy drugs. The findings by researchers at the University of Iowa were published recently in the Journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain (PAIN) and lay the groundwork for testing whether this nutritional supplement can reduce nerve pain in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Although chemotherapies have improved cancer survival rates, many of these drugs also cause debilitating side effects that decrease the quality of life of patients and survivors. In particular, many anti-cancer drugs cause chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN)nerve damage and pain.

"Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy can both hinder continuation of treatment and persist long after treatment has ended, severely affecting the quality of life of cancer patients," says Marta Hamity, PhD, UI assistant research scientist and first author on the study. "Our findings support the idea that NR could potentially be used to prevent or mitigate CIPN in cancer patients, resulting in a meaningful improvement in their quality of life and the ability to sustain better and longer treatment."

A recent report from the American Society for Clinical Oncology states that there is an unmet need for treatments that can alleviate CIPN.

The new study led by Hamity and Donna Hammond, PhD, UI professor of anesthesia and pharmacology at the UI Carver College of Medicine, tested the effect of NR in female rats that were treated with paclitaxel, a chemotherapy commonly used to treat breast and ovarian cancer.

The researchers found that paclitaxel, given at doses that mimicked the amount a human patient would receive, caused peripheral neuropathy in the rats, which lasted at least five weeks beyond the end of the chemotherapy.

The team used a standard test to assess the pain caused by CIPN. They measured the rats' increased sensitivity to a light foot poke. Untreated rats did not withdraw their foot when light pressure was applied. However, treatment with paclitaxel made the rats hypersensitive to this light touch and caused them to withdraw their foot.

NR boosts levels of an important cell metabolite called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Previous animal studies, including work from the UI lab of study co-author Charles Brenner, PhD, have shown that increasing NAD+ levels with NR can protect against many types of nerve damage. The new study found that the NR supplement increased levels of NAD+ in the rats' blood by about 50 percent.

Prophylactic treatment with daily doses of NR (200 mg/kg) for seven days before chemotherapy was started and continued for 24 days after the chemotherapy ended prevented the hypersensitivity to touch in the rats. This protective effect lasted for at least two weeks after the NR supplementation stopped.

Furthermore, the UI researchers also devised a new method to measure how unpleasant the rats with CIPN found the light touch. Rats were given a choice between a dark environment, where their feet were repeatedly poked, and a brightly lit environment. By nature, rats prefer the dark. The team found that untreated rats tolerated many pokes before they were prompted to leave a darkened area. In contrast, rats with CIPN would leave the dark chamber after a fewer number of pokes and remain in the light. Rats getting both chemotherapy and the NR supplement behaved more like untreated rats and tolerated more poking before leaving the dark.

"The touch sensitivity test measures the threshold where a light touch that normally is not painful is now perceived as painful because of the neuropathy. For example, people with CIPN can find the light touch of clothes or typing on a keyboard painful," Hamity explains. "In the case of the 'escape' test, we were trying to mimic how unpleasant a normal stimulus can be because of the neuropathy, and if that would cause you to avoid it even if it means choosing an activity that you don't enjoy. For example, typing can become so painful that you avoid doing it even if it means not being able to work."

When NR treatment was started 14 days after the chemotherapy treatment, it reversed touch hypersensitivity in some, but not all, of the animals. However, it was still able to reduce the "escape" behavior in all the rats.

The study is the first to measure this behavioral impact of CIPN as well as the hypersensitivity to touch. Measuring the effect of potential therapies on both dimensions of pain perception may provide better preclinical information that can lead to more successful clinical trials. The study also is among the first to use female rats to investigate CIPN.

Hammond is encouraged by the study findings but cautious about what they may mean for human therapies.

"The preclinical literature is rife with drugs that alleviate chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy but that fail to do so under rigorous clinical testing," she says. "We believe we are using a model that is more clinically relevant - but the true test of that will not be made until the clinical trial is done."

More information: Marta V. Hamity et al, Nicotinamide riboside, a form of vitamin B3 and NAD+ precursor, relieves the nociceptive and aversive dimensions of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy in female rats, PAIN (2017). Journal information: Pain Marta V. Hamity et al, Nicotinamide riboside, a form of vitamin B3 and NAD+ precursor, relieves the nociceptive and aversive dimensions of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy in female rats,(2017). DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000862
(HealthDay)A large new analysis suggests there may some type of link between Parkinson's disease and the risk for stroke.

However, the study can't prove that one condition causes the otheror even which direction the link might travel, the researchers said.

For example, maybe Parkinson's somehow raises a person's odds for ischemic strokethe type that's caused by a clot and makes up the vast majority of strokes. Or, it could be that having a stroke weakens the brain, raising the risk that a patient will develop Parkinson's.

Or, as one expert who reviewed the findings said, a separate, unknown factor might independently link the two conditions.

"There may be some processes that occur with aging that increase the risk of both stroke and neurodegenerative disorders" such as Parkinson's, said Dr. Andrew Feigin, a neurologist at Northwell Health's Neuroscience Institute in Manhasset, N.Y.

More study will be needed to unravel the connection, said a team of researchers led by Dr. Benjamin Kummer, of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

In the study, Kummer's team tracked outcomes for a sample of about 1.6 million U.S. Medicare recipients between 2008 and 2014.

The study found that the incidence of ischemic stroke among those already diagnosed with Parkinson's was just under 2 percent, compared with less than 1 percent for those who did not struggle with Parkinson's.

The investigators also looked at the situation from the opposite perspective. They found that among people who had suffered a stroke, nearly 1 percent went on to develop Parkinson'scompared to less than half a percent of people with no such medical history.

The study also supported evidence from prior studies linking strokes and Alzheimer's disease. Kummer's team found that the incidence of Alzheimer's among patients who had experienced a stroke was more than 3.5 percent. This compared with just over 1 percent for those who'd never experienced an ischemic stroke, the researchers said.

Dr. Ajay Misra is chair of neurosciences at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. He said the finding suggests that, for seniors, "both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease [have an] increased incidence of stroke soon after the diagnosis is made."

Misra stressed that patients can take steps to minimize the risk of stroke and neurological illness, however. "Risk-reduction strategies for both are commonabstain from smoking and excessive alcohol intake, get regular exercise, weight control, control of high blood pressure and the prevention of diabetes," he said.

The study was to be presented Thursday at the International Stroke Conference in Houston. Findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information: There's more on strokes and depression risk at the There's more on strokes and depression risk at the National Stroke Association

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
The deadly fungus, Candida auris, which has been found in hospitals, is resistant to entire classes of antimicrobial drugs, limiting treatment options for those infected. First reported in 2009, the fungus has been linked to invasive infections in nine countries, including the United States, and has caused at least two hospital outbreaks involving more than 30 patients each. Now, in a first-of-its-kind study published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, microbiologists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have provided previously uninvestigated details pertaining to C. auris drug resistance and growth patterns. Based on specimens collected from around the globe, the comprehensive study also provides evidence that a new investigational drug (SCY-078) may help to cure these infections.

"This emerging fungal species has started to infect patients globally, causing invasive infections that are associated with a high death rate," said Mahmoud Ghannoum, PhD, MBA, FIDSA, Professor and Director of the Center for Medical Mycology in the Department of Dermatology at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. "It is multidrug-resistant, and some strains isolated from patients are resistant to all commercially available antifungal drugs. Multidrug-resistance used to be reported for bacteria only, and now we must add fungi to the list."

Ghannoum led the investigation of 16 strains of C. auris collected from infected patients in Germany, Japan, Korea, and India. The researchers tested the isolates against a battery of 11 drugs, belonging to different classes of antifungals, to identify drug concentrations that could combat infection. While most samples proved at least partially resistant to drugs tested, low concentrations of an investigational drug (SCY-078) "severely distorted" the fungus and impaired its growth, providing an important step towards the development of this drug to treat C. auris infections. Fungi exposed to the drug could not divide, suggesting it could halt infections or limit their spread. Ghannoum's study is the first to provide details related to the effects of the investigational drug on C. auris.

The fungus lurks on catheters in intensive care units, where it forms highly drug-resistant communities, or biofilms. Ghannoum's team exposed fungi in the laboratory to silicone surfaces mimicking catheters. Under high-powered microscopes, they found C. auris formed relatively thin biofilms that weakened when exposed to the investigational drug. The findings were strain-dependent, but suggest applicability for the new drug to combat catheter-associated infections in particular.

Previous studies have shown the drug is effective against other Candida species that cause catheter-associated infections, including C. albicans and C. tropicalis. Said Ghannoum, "This drug is especially promising because of its broad anti-Candida activity, including activity against drug-susceptible and resistant strains."

The study is also the first to report C. auris does not germinate and produce spores like other fungi, a surprise given its ability to rapidly spread in hospitals. The researchers also discovered only certain strains produce destructive enzymes that commonly help fungi establish infections in body tissue. Despite these apparent weaknesses, the fungus is able to maintain extreme drug-resistance and infect patients. According to the paper, the "multidrug-resistant phenotype of C. auris comes with a major fitness cost."

Ghannoum's research provides a foundation for clinical trials to further study the investigational drug and informs doctors desperate for new ways to treat infections caused by C. auris. Said Ghannoum, "Understanding the virulence of C. auris and showing that the investigational drug is effective may lead to the development of new medications to combat this emerging health threat."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is actively tracking C. auris infections. Said Ghannoum, "Eradication of Candida auris from hospitals is very difficult and in some cases has led to closing hospital wards." People staying in hospitals for extended periods of time are most at risk. Laboratory workers who identify the species in a patient sample are encouraged to contact state or local public health authorities, or candidaauris@cdc.gov.

More information: Emily Larkin et al, The Emerging: Characterization of Growth Phenotype, Virulence Factors, Antifungal Activity, and Effect of SCY-078, a Novel Glucan Synthesis Inhibitor, on Growth Morphology and Biofilm Formation, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (2017). Journal information: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Emily Larkin et al, The Emerging: Characterization of Growth Phenotype, Virulence Factors, Antifungal Activity, and Effect of SCY-078, a Novel Glucan Synthesis Inhibitor, on Growth Morphology and Biofilm Formation,(2017). DOI: 10.1128/AAC.02396-16
One in five physicians working in medical microbiology and infectious diseases is suffering from burnout, bullying and poor work-life balance, according to a study published in European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases.

The findings, which come from a survey of more than 400 young doctors working across Europe, also show that women's experiences are worse than men's, and that the situation is worse for doctors working in southern and eastern European countries.

Overall, the survey reveals that nearly 22% have experienced bullying at work. Many also reported burnout, including feeling worn-out (63%), unappreciated (48%) and frustrated (68%). Women, in particular, were more likely to feel that they were 'achieving less than they deserved'.

Men, on the other hand, were more likely to turn to alcohol, as were doctors working in northern or western European countries (34%).

Around 63% reported having to work beyond their normal hours on a regular basis, and the survey suggested that this is having an impact on their ability to meet personal commitments.

The study also shows a mixed picture in terms of parental leave allowance for clinicians during training for clinical microbiology and infectious disease specialisms. Those working in southern and eastern Europe were less likely to be allowed parental leave during training. Overall, women were less satisfied with the parental leave they were allowed to take.

The survey, which included responses from 416 participants with an average age of 32, was conducted anonymously online by the Trainee Association of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).

The leading authors of the report were Dr David Ong, president of the Trainee Association of ESCMID and resident in clinical microbiology at University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands and Dr Alberto Enrico Maraolo, vice-president of Trainee Association of ESCMID and research fellow in infectious diseases at University of Naples Federico II, Italy.

Dr Ong said: "This survey suggests less than ideal working conditions and worrying levels of dissatisfaction among young clinicians working in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases. It's notable that, while the situation in some parts of Europe is worse than others, even high-income countries seem unable to create good working conditions for staff in this area.

"Parenthood is perceived by a number of study participants as having a negative impact on the professional career of young physicians, and this seems especially pronounced for women.

"This is a growing and worrying issue since the number of women entering the medical profession is rising, and this includes women working in clinical microbiology and infectious disease specialisms. One solution might be providing mentoring programmes, role models and flexible career structures, which can better support female physicians."

The study was funded by ESCMID. It was supervised and co-authored by three members of the ESCMID Executive Committee: Prof. Evelina Tacconelli, ESCMID Education Officer; Prof. Maurizio Sanguinetti, ESCMID Professional Affairs Officer and Prof. Mario Poljak, President of ESCMID.

Prof. Tacconelli said: "Having an adequate work-life balance is important for individual physicians, but it is also important because it affects the quality of the medical care they give to patients.

"This survey suggests that conditions vary within Europe with worse conditions in southern and eastern European countries. This is a risk because it could mean doctors choosing to work in countries where working conditions are better, with shortages in other countries.

"It's important to acknowledge that the issues raised in this research are also affecting young doctors working in all specialties. However, ESCMID is one of only a few international medical societies investigating these factors and seeking solutions."

Prof. Sanguinetti added: "Issues of equality and professional development are major concerns to ESCMID and its members, and we will use the finding of this research to guide our discussions at national and European levels."

Medical microbiology and infectious diseases are still not recognized as individual medical specialties in all European countries.

Prof. Poljak said: "We are already lobbying the governments of European countries where these medical specialties are not yet recognized and seeing progress, for example, recently in Spain and Romania. We believe better recognition would raise the profiles of these specialties, improve professional development and improve job satisfaction. All these will ultimately improve medical care of patients suffering from infectious diseases."

More information: A. E. Maraolo et al, Personal life and working conditions of trainees and young specialists in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases in Europe: a questionnaire survey, European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (2017). A. E. Maraolo et al, Personal life and working conditions of trainees and young specialists in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases in Europe: a questionnaire survey,(2017). DOI: 10.1007/s10096-017-2937-4

Provided by European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Police in Nigeria are reportedly guarding offices of the mobile phone giant MTN in the capital Abuja after protesters against xenophobic attacks in South Africa tried to storm it on Thursday.

According to BBC, the offices were sealed off and no-one was being allowed to enter the building.

An unnamed senior manager at the Abuja office allegedly confirmed the development.

We had to hurriedly lock up and go home. I dont see them as protesters but as people who came to steal and cause confusion.

It is a case of invasion. They came, opened the gate, entered and harassed people. They stole customers phones; they stole the phones and laptops of staff. There were up to 30 policemen but they didnt do anything to stop them, Nigerias Daily Post newspaper quoted the manager as saying.

The source condemned the invasion, saying that the protesters could have made their point in a more civilised way, the report said.

Meanwhile, reports indicated that the telecoms giant released a statement, expressing its concerns and calling for calm.

Stop killing our people

MTN Group expresses concern over the violence. MTN requests people to exercise restraint and remain calm, MTN stated, according to BrandArena Africa.

Earlier reports indicated that Nigerians staged an anti-xenophobia protest outside the South African embassy in Abuja on Wednesday, calling on authorities to stop attacks on African nationals.

The protest, organised by members of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, urged the South African government to urgently address the situation.

The protesters carried placards such as South Africa we say stop killing our people and chanted slogans denouncing the attacks, the report said.

We are doing this because of the killings taking place in South Africa, we want to express our displeasure over that and urge them to take measures to address the situation.

We presented a petition in which we want them to call their people to order. We have foreigners here and it will not be good if there is reprisal attacks that will not make world a peaceful place to live, one of the protesters was quoted as saying.

Outbreaks of xenophobia violence were recently reported in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

In the last week, more than 20 shops have been targeted in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, and at least 12 houses have been attacked in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, reports said.

News24

Now read: Cell C will not sell to Telkom
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has allowed Eskom to raise tariffs by 2.2% in the 2017/18 financial year.

The allowed revenue of R205 214 million for the 2017/18 financial year will now result in a percentage increase of 2.2%, Nersa chairperson Jacob Modise said on Thursday.

Addressing the media in Pretoria, Modise said the allowed revenue is Eskoms full year revenue, as determined in the Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD3) decision.

In the MYPD3 decision, Nersa approved an 8% average increase per annum for a period of five years, starting from the 1st of April 2013 to the 31st of March 2018.

Modise said the reason for the lower percentage increase is due to the base adjustments made in the preceding years as a result of the approved Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) balances for Eskom.

He emphasised that the decision on Eskoms allowable revenue was not new as it was made in February 2013 as part of the MYPD3 decision.

You will recall that as a result of the RCA reconciliation, the Energy Regulator approved 12.7% for 2015/16 and 9.4% for 2016/17 instead of the average increase of 8%. The 2.2% increase, taking into account the adjustments already given, maintains the approved allowable revenue for the last year of MYPD3, he said.

Modise said the only decision that needed to be considered by Nersa on Thursday was the retail tariffs structural adjustments that arise out of these revenues to enable Eskom to table in Parliament by 15 March 2017, as required by the law.

The only new matter that was considered by the Energy Regulator today was the potential financial harm that may be occasioned by Nersa not being able to process new RCA applications as a result of the interventions of the Gauteng High Court.

In this regard, Nersa has decided to allow Eskom to make a new application that will be considered in accordance with Section 4 of the Electricity Regulation Act, should they wish to, which application will be considered through a full public consultation process.

Modise said the approved revenues of R205 214 million will be able to cover all of Eskoms allowed costs, plus a return to the value of R33 667 million, as per the MYPD3 decision.

The decision by the Gauteng High Court has resulted in Nersa being unable to process RCA applications until its appeal has been heard and decided upon, Modise said.

Nersa is appealing the North Gauteng High Court judgment in which the court set aside the regulators decision to grant Eskom a tariff increase.

The decision under review concerns Nersas approval of the RCA application for the tariff year 2013/14, which culminated in a 9.4% increase in the average tariff for standard customers for the 2016/17 financial year.

Nothing prevents Eskom from making an application to Nersa for relief should it consider any possible cash flow risks and implications thereof on its financial sustainability.

The Energy Regulator would, upon receipt of such an application, embark on a public consultation process as required by the law before making its decision, Modise said.

SANews

Now read: Unbundle Eskom to drive down electricity prices
In an interview with Aktualne news agency of the Czech Republic, European Parliament member (MEP) Jaromir Stetina (Czech Republic) commented on his recent visit to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh) along with two fellow MEPs, and for which Azerbaijan declared an international search for them. We present below the abridged version of this interview.

I and my two colleagues from the European Parliament had visited Nagorno-Karabakh at the invitation of the NKR parliament.

We were in a team of [international] observers [i.e. observing Mondays constitutional referendum] comprising 100 people.

The fact is that Azerbaijani laws do not function in this territory, for already 25 years.

As a journalist, I visited Karabakh in the [19]90s; during the years of that terrible war. The position of Azerbaijan, which considers Karabakh to be its own, is based on the policy of Stalin, who had annexed this Armenian territory to Azerbaijan, with the rule of divide and rule.

Did you get anything for the trip?

() I never get anything for my work, either as a journalist or as a politician. I only obey my conscience, in both the first and the second role.

Was your trip [to Nagorno-Karabakh] organized under any sponsorship by the EU?

() I am a member of the European Parliaments Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence. The essence of my work is to visit regions of conflicts, to form my own sense about them.

Were you expecting that Azerbaijan would give an order for your arrest?

Yes, I knew that such a thing is possible. This is a part of Bakus [respective] campaign, which began about a month ago, when Russian [Israeli] blogger [Alexander] Lapshin was arrested in [the Belarusian capital city of] Minsk; this is a part of the intimidation policy of Azerbaijan.

Are you not fearful that they can extradite you, too, to Azerbaijan [just like Lapshin]?

I will not go to Minsk.
Turkmenistan becomes regional energy center

Kishida pledges to strengthen Japan's naval and military capabilities

Germany and eight other EU member states plan to expand sanctions against Iran

NYT: Kyiv plans total evacuation in case of power outage

Iran reveals new air defense missile

IRGC neutralizes terrorist group in southwestern Iran

Bahrain to continue building relations with Israel after Netanyahu's victory

Iran says it confiscated a large batch of U.S.-made munitions

Iran successfully launches Ghaem 100 rocket, making the US nervous

U.S. sends warplanes to Iran

Washington Post: US privately urges Ukraine to show willingness to negotiate with Russia

Parisien: French man wins  160 million in European lottery

U.S. decides to block number of seats on planes because of the increase in passenger weight

BMW M4 turned into a pickup truck

Blinken calls on Israel and Palestine to urgently de-escalate tensions

Romania signs deal with Norway for purchase of over 30 F-16 fighters

Stoltenberg: The alliance has no plans to change nuclear positions and deployments

Tagesschau: Nearly 200,000 people took part in strikes at industrial enterprises of Germany

Teenagers hacks Uzbekistan senate website

Artsakh Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis fired at tractor in Khramort village of Artsakh

Rally participants' statement: Artsakh can't be a part of Azerbaijan

Person accused of arson in Russia cafe confesses

Fars: Iranian Foreign Ministry reported UAV deliveries to Russia a few months before the start of the UAS

Bayramov: Azerbaijan, Armenia leaders next meeting will take place in Brussels this month

Unity rally of participants start march in downtown Yerevan

North Korea launches 4 ballistic missiles

Council of Border Guard Troops commanders discusses situation at CIS external borders

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan joins rally in downtown Yerevan

Russia oil, natural gas companies plan to collaborate with Iraq

Armenia army intelligence troops 30th anniversary is solemnly celebrated (PHOTOS)

Rally of unity in support of Karabakh kicks off in downtown Yerevan

Pentagon announces sending 8 NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine

Armenian Apostolic Church Supreme Spiritual Council meeting ends, Armenia and Artsakh security discussed

Tropical Storm Nalgae death toll climbs to 155 in Philippines

Artak Beglaryan is appointed advisor to Artsakh Minister of State (PHOTOS)

US House committee extends deadline for Trump to produce documents on Capitol attack

Over 200 elephants die in Kenya amid drought

13 dead in cafe fire in Russia

Armenia Security Council chief to head for Poland, Netherlands, Lithuania

Rishi Sunak: State cannot fix all problems

Newspaper: To what extent Armenia adheres to sanctions on Russia?

Biden accuses Twitter of spewing lies

Newspaper: There are active political processes in Karabakh

Qatar FM slams hypocrisy of calls to boycott World Cup

France, Singapore and Switzerland begin joint testing of experimental digital currencies

Oil war is Biden's biggest mistake

Japan considers possible deployment of hypersonic missiles by 2030

Germany to install better air defense system over Defense Ministry buildings

Erdogan and Stoltenberg discuss war in Ukraine

Armenian MOD: Azerbaijani Armed Forces open fire in direction of Armenian positions

True cost of Europe's rejection of Russian gas

White House tries to explain Biden's statement about freeing Iran

Former Pakistani Prime Minister: Either we will have a peaceful revolution or a bloody one

Aramyan: Why are police officers' salaries increasing, while defense officers' are not?

Pentagon and U.S. weapons manufacturers to discuss Russia, human resources and supply chain

Ankara says U.S. may approve sale of F-16s to Turkey within few months

IMF: Turkey should tighten monetary policy and give the Central Bank more independence

Pope urges religious leaders to keep the world from brink of abyss

Putin awards Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II with Order of Honor

U.S. says G7 countries realize need for coordinated response to China

Round-the-clock curfew is introduced in Kherson

Borrell says they can't put China and Russia on same level

Olaf Scholz calls on China to influence Russia

G7 foreign ministers express 'unwavering commitment' to protecting Ukraine, criticized PRC and IRI

Political technologist explains why Pashinyan was elected chairman of board of ruling party in Armenia

Erdogan signs up for TikTok

China's army is constantly preparing for war amid provocative U.S. actions

Kalin: Armenia is constructive about normalization of relations

Poland asks EU to suspend fines

Putin: Situation in Ukraine was deadly for Russia

Portugal to test a four-day workweek

US embassy in Armenia issues statement ahead of November 5 protests in Yerevan

Dollar, euro go up in Armenia

Baku authorities once again refuse to allow PFPA to hold protest rally

Iranians commemorate anniversary of US embassy seizure

Richard Kauzlarich: Azerbaijan, Armenia FMs meeting in Washington 'will send message to Putin'

Russia ratifies protocol on requirements for length of service of EEU bodies' employees for pensions

Armenia deputy defense minister in Russia, discusses military cooperation

Yerevan receives proposal to hold Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan interparliamentary talks

Health minister: We will work with fallen Armenia detainees relatives one more time after which bodies will be buried
YEREVAN.  The first Russian Federation (RF) citizens on Thursday arrived in Armenia with internal passports.

On the very [first] day of the making of the decision, 20 RF citizens with internal passports arrived in Zvartnots airport [in capital city Yerevan], and 7 citizensin Shirak airport [in Gyumri, the second largest city of Armenia], Satenik Hovhannisyan, Press Secretary of the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia, wrote on her Facebook account. The RF citizens entry [to Armenia] with internal passports also will contribute to an increase in passenger traffic, tourism development, and economic growth.

As a result of the talks which the PMs of Armenia and Russia conducted recently in Moscow, an agreement was reached, according to which, as of Thursday, February 23, Russian citizens can travel to Armenia with internal passports.

To note, however, Georgia does not accept Russian citizens with internal passports into the country, and therefore these persons will not be able to come to Armenia by land, via Georgia.
The Azerbaijani ambassador to Bulgaria, Nargis Gurbanova, has attempted to intimidate the countrys residents.

She issued an open letter in connection with a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh by National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB) political party leader Valeri Simeonov and several other NFSB members, as well as regarding the subsequent Bulgarian media reports on this visit.

The 24 Hours periodical of Bulgaria published this letter, reported Haqqin.az news agency of Azerbaijan.

Accordingly, the Azerbaijani ambassador threatened Bulgarian residents with criminal prosecution.

Azerbaijan has the right to initiate legal action against any individual, or legal person, that carries out any activity against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, assured the Azerbaijani diplomat.

After the arrest of Israeli Russian blogger Alexander Lapshin, who was extradited to Azerbaijan for visiting the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), an unprecedented number of international observers arrived in Artsakh to monitor its constitutional referendum on Monday.
YEREVAN.  The increasing of Armenias recognition in the whole world is one of the priorities for 2017, chairperson of the State Committee for Tourism, Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, said at a press conference on Friday.

In her words, the aforesaid committee plans to carry this objective out by way of digital technology.

The Russian version of our website will be set up soon, noted Zeytuntsyan. In addition, the most effective method for increasing Armenias recognition is the familiar trips; this implies an invitation to the country for prominent bloggers and journalists, who will [then] publish interesting articles about Armenia.

Head of the State Committee for Tourism added that the third method is the road show presentations.

We invite the representatives of [Armenias] communities, explained Zarmine Zeytuntsyan. [And] we present Armenian cuisine, wine, dances, and songs within the framework of these presentations.
YEREVAN.  Armenia is at a crucial phase, since much may depend on the upcoming parliamentary election.

Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski, noted about the above-said at a press conference on Friday.

In his words, the ordinary citizens perception of elections is important. Switalski stated that this is why they support the civil society.

But, as per the EU diplomat, the most important thing is political perception, which, according to him, is to what extent the people believe that election results are consistent with the political preferences of the population

Piotr Switalski argued that Armenians want to have great confidence in elections, and added that a positive scenario is expected after the parliamentary votewhich is slated for April 2.
YEREVAN.  The first solar panels will soon be manufactured in Armenia, and a plant, which will be one of its kind in the region, will be set up for this objective.

The Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources, Hayk Harutyunyan, informed that the production of these solar panels will get underway in the second quarter of the current year, the ministry informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

At the initial phase, the respective company plans to supply solar panels to the domestic market of Armenia.

In the next phase, however, these panels will be exported to regional and other countries.
YEREVAN.  Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan, who is in Georgia on an official visit, met with the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II.

Ilia II welcomed the Armenian PMs visit to Georgia, and expressed confidence that this trip will contribute to the further development and strengthening of ties between the two friendship nations, Press Office of the Government of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Karapetyan, for his part, conveyed to the spiritual leader of Georgia the respects and warm greetings by President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II. Also, the PM expressed satisfaction with the results of the talks with his Georgian colleagues, during this visit. In addition, he expressed gratitude for the attention which Georgian authorities and the Georgian church show toward the Armenian community and Armenian cultural treasures in Georgia.

At the ensuing talk, the interlocutors underscored the role of the Armenian Apostolic and Georgian Orthodox Churches in the lives of Armenian and Georgian peoples and the two countries.
YEREVAN. - The Prosecutor Generals Office of Armenia has issued a statement in connection with the claims of the Azerbaijani representatives on declaring international search for the European Parliament MEPs Frank Engel (Luxembourg), Eleni Theocharous (Cyprus,) and Jaromir Stetina (Czech Republic) for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the statement, the international documents regulating extradition specify the unacceptability of this on the ground of ethnic affiliation or political views. The international search on the same ground is ruled out as well. This is enshrined by Article 3 of the Constitution of the Interpol, according to which it is strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character, the statement says.

It is also noted that the Office of the Prosecutor General takes measures for such cases (in particular those launched under Article 318 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code) not to proceed and the data on such citizens not to be included in the Interpol base. It also keeps in touch with the Interpol administration, informing it in detail on the political and ethnic background of the criminal prosecution.

As to the search in the framework of the CIS, the relevant documents do not contains such a provision, the statement reads. In this connection, the Prosecutor Generals Office of Armenian has initiated introduction of provisions ruling out search for people based on political motives.
Prime Minster of Armenia Karen Karapeyan has agreed with his Georgian counterpart on the alternative to the Upper Lars checkpoint.

Karapetyan told the aforementioned to journalists on Friday, Sputnik-Armenia reports.

If you are in interested in whether there will be an alternative to Lars, I can assure you that there will! As to the rest, I dont want to open the brackets yet. We have agreed both on Lars and energy corridor, the Armenian PM noted.

He also called his visit fruitful, warm and constructive, stressing that he has fully implemented the program which he came to Georgia with. The sides agreed that it is also necessary to consider the Armenian-Georgian relations in regional context, using the capacities of both countries.

It is necessary to preserve and hand down to the succeeding generation the heritage that we have. Currently we are not sure that they [the new generation] will be able to preserve the relations that we have. Therefore, we must contribute to this in every possible way, Karapetyan said.

Within the framework of the negotiations, the PMs of the two countries also discussed the situation of Armenians residing in Georgia. Karapetyan noted that after 20-30 years he sees Armenia as a country which everyone will be proud of.

Since the morning, the Armenian delegation led by PM Karen Karapetyan visited the Armenian St. George and St. Ejmiatzin cathedrals. The delegation was met by the leader of the Georgian diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, Vazgen Mirzakhanyan. The guests lit candles in St. George and laid flowers at the tombs of the Armenian public figures in the cathedral courtyard.
YEREVAN. - Armenia will impose fines for the poor service of video cameras at polling stations, as per the draft amendments to the Code on Administrative Offences.

The bill was approved at the session of the Armenian parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Affairs Friday.

According to Deputy Minister of Justice Artur Hovhannisyan, the fines will be stipulated for the failure to fulfill or insufficient fulfillment by the staff of the obligations related to serving the surveillance cameras at the polling stations.

Taking into account the fact that such matters may be related to challenging the election results, they will be considered for a period of maximum one month.

During the parliamentary elections, which are slated for April, surveillance cameras ensuring live broadcast will operate at polling stations.
STEPANAKERT. - Since Friday morning the Azerbaijani armed forces have been violating the ceasefire regime in the northern direction using mortars of different calibers, including 120 mm and D-44 divisional gun.

The violations were especially intense from 10:00 am till 11:30 am. Overall, 50 shells were fired, 36 of which from D-44 divisional gun and 14 from artillery-type weapons. It should be noted that during this time the adversary targeted not only military bases but also Talish village, towards which it fired 4 shells from 120 mm mortar and D-44 divisional gun.

According to the press-service of the Artsakh Defense Ministry, the Armenian side has suffered no losses as a result of the shelling.

The vanguard units of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Defense Army carried out retaliatory actions to suppress the offensive actions of the Azerbaijani armed forces and to prevent the further provocation of the latter.

Currently, the situation at the frontline is relatively calm.
On the second day of their official visit to Georgia, the members of the Armenian Government delegation led by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan on Friday visited Heroes Square of Tbilisi and laid flowers at the memorial.

Afterwards, Karapetyan headed for Armenian St. George Cathedral of Tbilisi, where he was met by the leader of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, and representatives of the Armenian community of Georgia.

The Armenian PM laid flowers at the tombs of Sayat-Nova and renowned Armenian generals in the cathedral courtyard. Archbishop Mirzakhanyan served a prayer and wished strength and courage to the Government led by PM Karapetyan. Furthermore, the leader of the Georgian Diocese stressed that they believe in the success of the Government led by Karen Karapetyan in favor of the development and progress of Armenia.

Karapetyan also visited St Ejmiatsin Church of Tbilisi, where he laid flowers at the monument dedicated to the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Apart from this, he toured the Cultural, Educational and Youth Center "Hayartun" operating by the church and met with the representatives of the Armenian community.

Touching on the details of the results of his official visit to Georgia, the head of the Armenian Government noted that he considered it very essential, constructive, warm and meaningful. During the meetings, reference was also made to both bilateral and regional relations. Our delegation is quite satisfied with the results of the visit and the treatment we were honored with. We discussed all the spheres which are of mutual interest to us. We have reached agreements on all the directions. Moreover, we have arranged on giving new quality of regional nature to our economic cooperation so that we can more often come up before the external world with great joint market. This will be the sphere of tourism, our new free trade zone, which we are creating with Iran, and other spheres. We have spoken on business expansion and agreed on using the Georgian experience in the sphere of tourism. We have also agreed to transfer our experience in the sphere of information technologies to the Georgian side. This constructive visit makes me excited and obligated, Karapetyan noted, adding that the Georgian partners were proposed to use Armenia as a platform for entering the EAEU market. Apart from this, agreement was reached on holding an open housefor Georgian businessmen, during which different programs will be discussed with them in Armenia. Referring to the issue on the alterative path to the Upper Lars, the PM said: We have discussed the issue. Be sure, there will be one.

In his words, apart from the economic relations, during the negotiations reference was also made to the strengthening of ties between the two peoples. Karapetyan stressed that enormous work should be done in this direction. We have an issue of establishing ties between the generations to come and we have [thus] agreed to use different platforms to organize the communication of the youths. We also talked about the issues of Georgian Armenians, including Javakheti Armenians, the educational sphere, textbooks and teacher training. There were no issues regarding which we could have a misunderstanding, Karapetyan noted.

Asked how he sees Armenia in several years, the PM expressed conviction that it will be a state, which every Armenian, regardless of their place of abode, will be proud of. We have the right to and potential for this. We should set ambitious issues before us, which will be realizable if we all unite. It is simply necessary to believe and help each other in order to move forward.

Moreover, Karapetyan informed that in the morning he met with the Georgian Armenian businessmen and listened to their proposals, as well as issues of concern, which the Armenian Government will soon respond to.

The representatives of the Armenian community of Georgia thanked the PM for visiting the country, providing detailed information on his visit and responding to all the questions.
The presentation of the book 15 questions, 15 answers to know everything about the NKR in 10 minutes published by France-Karabakh Friendship Circle was held at the National Assembly of France on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Sumgait pogrom anniversary.

The publication of the book was aimed at disseminating trustworthy information about Artsakh in the Francophone environment, the press-service of Artsakh parliament informed Armenian News  NEWS.am.

During the event, the participants touched on the history of national liberation struggle, which was launched in Artsakh 29 years ago, as well honored the memory of the Armenian victims of the pogrom committed by the Azerbaijani authorities and that of Gurgen Margaryan, who was killed by Azerbaijani officer R. Safarov on 19 February 2004.

In his speech, Chairman of the France-Karabakh Friendship Circle, Francois Rochebloine, welcomed the constitutional referendum held in Artsakh and renaming of the Circle into "France-Artsakh one.

The event was also attended by the deputies of the French parliament, senators, Armenian Ambassador to France, Vigen Chitechyan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Artsakh to France, Hovhannes Gevorgyan, mayors, and media representatives.
Head of the Armenian delegation to the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly of the Eastern Partnership, Artak Zakaryan, along with the head of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, Samvel Farmanyan, on Friday sent a letter to President of the European Parliament, Mr Antonio Tajani.

Armenian News  NEWS.am learnt the aforementioned from the Facebook page of the Head of the Armenian parliamentary Committee on Foreign Relations, Artak Zakaryan.

The officials have also sent a letter to the members of the Bureau of the EURANET Parliamentary Assembly, EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, heads of all the political groups of the European Parliament, as well as the leadership of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs in connection with declaring international search for the European Parliament MEPs Frank Engel (Luxembourg), Eleni Theocharous (Cyprus,) and Jaromir Stetina (Czech Republic), who were on an observation mission during the constitutional referendum held in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Armenian representatives noted that as a result of the unacceptable policy conducted by Azerbaijan recently the MEPs have found themselves in a situation where not only their mandate is restricted but also where their freedom is threatened. The letter stresses that this step is nothing but a new threat aimed against democratic and pan-European values.

It is important that such treatment by Azerbaijan receive harsh criticism by the international organizations, the letter reads.

Furthermore, the MPs stressed that tolerating such policy conducted by Azerbaijan has resulted in that country making decisions not only within its borders but also beyond them. In this context, special reference was made to the renowned blogger Lapshins case, which, according to them, must have served as an alarm for condemning such policy and taking relevant steps against it.

Moreover, Zakaryan and Famanyan expressed hope that such an unacceptable and cynical policy conducted by Azerbaijan will receive adequate response from the relevant interparliamentary institutions.

Earlier, Azerbaijani media reported, citing the Prosecutor Generals Office of Azerbaijan, that, purportedly, the aforementioned three MEPs were wantedthrough Interpolfor visiting Nagorno-Karabakh to conduct an observation mission during Mondays constitutional referendum there.
Sheriff's Deputy Wins 2017 Hearing Loss Prevention Award

The 2017 Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award honors those that have contributed to the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus through effective practices or innovations directed to those who are exposed to noise at work.

The National Hearing Conservation Association and NIOSH announced that Ryan Lee Scott, a deputy sheriff with the Alachua County Sheriff's Office in Florida, is the recipient of the 2017 Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award. The award honors those that have contributed to the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus through effective practices or innovations directed to those who are exposed to noise at work; he is scheduled to receive it Feb. 24 at the NHCA Annual Hearing Conservation Conference in San Antonio.

Scott demonstrated initiative and innovation in examining noise exposure among police officers and presenting potential solutions, the co-sponsors announced.

"Hearing is a critical sense for a police officer, who uses it to communicate and monitor the safety of community members, fellow officers, and themselves," said NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard. "Deputy Sheriff Scott is a pioneer, examining the noise exposure problem among his colleagues and developing an innovative approach to bring solutions to the law enforcement community."

They reported that Scott contributed to studies on the high-level impulse sounds produced by firearms and interventions that can minimize the risk, and he developed an educational workshop, "Firearms Training and Hearing Loss," for the law enforcement community. He has invested his own time and money to develop, travel, and deliver his training sessions.

His presentation will be available at http://www.safeinsound.us/winners.html at the awards ceremony.
The Massive MIMO system during its recent trial at BT. Credit: University of Bristol

The quest for highly efficient 5G wireless connectivity has been given a boost thanks to a collaboration between a team of 5G engineers from the Universities of Bristol and Lund, National Instruments (NI), and BT, one of the world's leading providers of communications services.

The research team has undertaken field trials of a massive MIMO system at the BT Labs in Adastral Park, Suffolk. The trials were conducted in a large indoor hall mimicking a stadium environment and outdoors within the Adastral Park campus.

The goals were to test massive MIMO spatial multiplexing indoors and improve the understanding of massive MIMO radio channels under mobile conditions with untethered devices. While carrying out these field experiments, the team obtained promising results indicating that this technology could offer spectrum efficiency figures in excess of the 100 bits/s/Hz mark, improving upon the capacity of today's long term evolution (LTE) systems by ten times.

It is expected that techniques such as massive MIMO, which offers full spatial multiplexing - where multiple data streams are transmitted at the same time and on the same radio channel - will become a crucial part of future 5G networks; the next generation of mobile technology.

The research team, consisting of five PhD students from Bristol's EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Communications and a researcher from Lund University, under the leadership of Professor Mark Beach, worked with the BT research team, led by Ian Mings, to assess the performance of a 128 element Massive MIMO system operating at 3.5 GHz at BT's Adastral Park campus.

Initial experiments took place in BT's large exhibition hall and used 12 streams in a single 20MHz channel to show the real-time transmission and simultaneous reception of ten unique video streams, plus two other spatial channels demonstrating the full richness of spatial multiplexing supported by the system.

The system was also shown to support the simultaneous transmission of 24 user streams operating with 64QAM on the same radio channel with all modems synchronising over-the-air. It is believed that this is the first time such an experiment has been conducted with truly un-tethered devices, from which the team were able to infer a spectrum efficiency of just less than 100bit/s/Hz and a sum rate capacity of circa two Gbits/s in this single 20MHz wide channel.

The quest for highly efficient 5G wireless connectivity has been given a boost thanks to a collaboration between a team of 5G engineers from the Universities of Bristol and Lund, National Instruments (NI), and BT, one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Credit: BT

In addition to the indoor trials, a series of outdoor experiments were conducted with the array at a height of around 20 metres. This enabled far field array characterisation, multi-element handset performance as well as experiments to improve the understanding of the massive MIMO radio channel under mobile conditions to be carried out.

Mark Beach, Professor of Radio Systems Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Manager of the EPSRC CDT in Communications, explained: "We are delighted to be collaborating with BT. Massive MIMO is a key technology for 5G and the research team's achievements last year with massive MIMO arrays, which are cellular base stations with more than 100 antennas, demonstrates that this technology could deliver ultra-fast data rates to high densities of smartphones and tablets."

Professor Tim Whitley, Managing Director, Research and Innovation at BT, added: "The BT Labs have a long history of pioneering wireless research, and with the acquisition of EE, we're excited to once again be at the forefront of mobile technology development. Massive MIMO has the potential to significantly boost available data rates in future 5G mobile networks, and we're pleased to be able to explore that potential with leading academics in the field at the University of Bristol."

The experimental system uses the same flexible SDR platform from NI that leading wireless researchers in industry and academia are using to define 5G. To achieve accurate, real-time performance, the researchers took full advantage of the system's FPGAs using LabVIEW Communications System Design and the recently announced NI MIMO Application Framework. As lead users, both the Universities of Bristol and Lund worked closely with NI to implement, test and debug this framework prior to its product release. It now provides the ideal foundations for the rapid development, optimization and evaluation of algorithms and techniques for massive MIMO.

The state-of-the-art platform was made possible thanks to hardware provided by Bristol Is Open, a joint venture between the University and Bristol City Council that aims to make Bristol the first open programmable city in the world.

Spectrum and power efficient wireless communications are core to Bristol University's Communication Systems and Networks (CSN) Group and the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT in Communications as well as to the Department of Electrical and Information Technology at Lund University.

The researchers are now processing the data sets and aim to publish their findings in leading journals in the near future as well as adding enhancements to the system in preparation for further trials.
A police officer checks his phone inside the forensic department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan)

The banned chemical weapon VX is considered by some experts to be the nastiest of the nasty nerve agents known to exist. With a consistency similar to motor oil, it lingers for long periods in the environment and even a tiny amount causes victims' bodies to flood with fluids, producing a feeling of drowning before death.

So when Malaysian authorities announced Friday that VX was to blame for the Feb. 13 death of the North Korean leader's exiled half brother inside a busy Kuala Lumpur airport, it raised nearly as many questions as answers.

First, with a substance so potent, how is it possible that the two women who allegedly attacked Kim Jong Nam with it could have survived? Second, given that particles can remain in the environment for possibly weeks after being released, why didn't the airport undertake specialized decontamination measures to ensure the public's safety?

"The other chemical agents like sarin, tabun, those kinds of things, they're way below this. They're toxic, yes, but this is the king," said John Trestrail, a U.S. forensic toxicologist who has examined more than 1,000 poisoning crimes.

He said an amount of VX weighing two pennies could kill 500 people through skin exposure. It's also hard to acquire and would likely have come from a chemical weapons laboratory, making it more likely that the attack was executed by a government. Police are seeking the second secretary of North Korea's embassy in Malaysia, but embassy officials have vehemently denied any involvement.

He and other experts stressed the importance of having the results confirmed by an independent reference laboratory, especially given the nerve agent's rarity.

VX is an amber-colored, tasteless, odorless chemical weapon first produced in the 1950s. When inhaled or absorbed through the skin, it disrupts the nervous system and causes constriction and increased secretions in the throat, leading to difficulty breathing. Fluids pour from the body, including sweat, spontaneous urination and defecation, often followed by convulsions, paralysis and death. Kim Jong Nam sought help at the airport clinic and died en route to a hospital within two hours of being attacked, police said.

An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.

Police officers guard the main gate of forensic department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan)

But Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, questions how no one else fell violently ill in the attack on Kim Jong Nam, who had been living abroad for years after falling out of favor with his family, including North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The two womenone Vietnamese, one Indonesianrecorded on surveillance cameras thrusting a substance into Kim Jong Nam's face as he was about to check in for a flight home to Macau, apparently did not suffer serious health problems. Malaysian police have said they were not wearing gloves or protective gear and that they washed their hands afterward as they were trained to do. However, authorities said Friday that one of them vomited afterward.

Both have been arrested along with another man. Authorities are also seeking several others, including an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo.

"If they used their bare hands, there's just no possible way that they would have exposed him to VX unless they took some sort of precaution," Goldberger said. "The only precaution I know of would be administration of the antidote before this went down."

No passengers, airport workers or medical personnel who tended to Kim Jong Nam at the clinic or hospital have been identified as having been sickened. Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the terminal at Kuala Lumpur's airport, used by budget carriers such as AirAsia, since the apparent assassination was carried out a week and a half ago.

No areas were cordoned off and protective measures were not taken. When asked about it a day after the attack, airport spokesman Shah Rahim said there was no risk to travelers and the airport was regularly and properly cleaned. But officials announced Friday that the facility would be decontaminated.

"It's as persistent as motor oil. It's going to stay there for a long time. A long time, which means anyone coming in contact with this could be intoxicated from it," Trestrail said. "If this truly is VX, they ought to be calling in a hazmat team and looking at any place these women or the victim traveled after the exposure."

VX, which is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, has been used before. The Japanese religious cult Aum Shinrikyo used the nerve agent in the 1990s, killing one victim they believed was a police informant.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Total Solar eclipse 1999 in France. Credit: Wikipedia, by Luc Viatour.

A spectacular "ring of fire" solar eclipse Sunday will regale skygazers in South America and southern Africa, with seafarers in the nearby Atlantic getting a front-row view too, astronomers say.

The eclipseduring which the Sun will all but disappear as the Moon crosses its pathwill be most visible in a 100-kilometre (62-mile) band cutting through Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A so-called annular solar eclipse occurs when the Earth, Moon and Sun line up.

But even when perfectly aligned, the Moon is too far from Earth to completely block out the Sun, creating instead the impression of a fiery ring.

At first, it will look as if a "bite" has been taken out of the Sun, said Terry Moseley of the Irish Astronomical Association, stressing that viewers should not observe the eclipse unfold with the naked eye.

"This 'bite' gradually gets bigger and bigger as the Moonwhich is itself invisiblemoves further and further in front of the Sun," he told AFP.

"As about 90 percent of the Sun is covered, you'll notice a distinct drop in temperature and brightness, and a change in the quality of the light which is hard to describe."

As the day darkens, birds and animals may enter a night-time routine, thinking sunset is nigh.

At the height of the eclipse the Moon will be right in the middle of the Sun, leaving "a perfect, beautiful, symmetrical ring" of light around the edge before exiting on the other side, said Moseley.

For people just outside the band of optimal viewing, the phenomenon will appear as a ring thicker on one side than the other, said Moseley"not symmetrical, but still an amazing sight."

Cloud-free?

Anyone further afield will see little or nothing.

It will take about two hours for the Moon to move across the face of the Sun, but the "ring of fire" peak will last a mere minute.

Starting in the southeast Pacific Ocean at sunrise, the eclipse will hit solid land at 1221 GMT in southern Chile, near the town of Coyhaique, then cut through Argentinanear Camarones Bay on the eastern coastbefore hitting the South Atlantic.

At sea, the eclipse peak will last 44 seconds and "only be visible to any ships that happen to be in the right place at the right time," said Moseley.

It will reach Angola south of the town of Benguela around 1515 GMT, then move to Zambia and DR Congo just before the Sun sets and the light show ends.

According to the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa (ASSA), the eclipse can be safely observed using a basic pinhole projector.

Punch a tiny hole in a piece of paper with a sharp pencil, hold it into the Sun, and project the image onto a second sheet.

The gaps between tree leaves make for a similar effect on the ground, says the ASSA website, calling this "the coolest and safest way to watch a solar eclipse".

To look at the Sun directly, one would need special glasses.

Weather is the only potential spoiler.

NASA's eclipse website recommends watching the weather forecast a day or two before the eclipse, and picking somewhere with a cloud-free prediction.

"Good weather is the key to successful eclipse viewingbetter to see a shorter eclipse from clear sky that a longer eclipse under clouds," it says.

 2017 AFP
A view of The 606 from near the Humboldt Park Boulevard overpass looking east. Credit: North Carolina State University

An in-depth study of Chicago neighborhoods in 2011 and 2015 suggests that parks and greenways could play a role in reducing crime. During that time, crime of all types decreased at a faster rate in neighborhoods along Chicago's 2.7-mile Bloomington Trail  better known as The 606  than in similar neighborhoods, according to research published in Environment and Behavior.

The new elevated greenway, built on an abandoned railway line northwest of downtown, connects diverse neighborhoods. University researchers from Clemson and North Carolina State drew on census data to find Chicago neighborhoods that shared similar socioeconomic characteristics with neighborhoods along The 606. Using City of Chicago crime statistics, researchers compared crime rates for June-November 2011, before the greenway opened, with rates for the same period in 2015, the trail's first year of operation.

"Rates of violent, property and disorderly crime all fell at a faster rate in neighborhoods along The 606 than in similar neighborhoods nearby," said lead author Brandon Harris, a Chicago resident and former city Park District intern who chose The 606 for his dissertation research at Clemson. "The decrease was largest in lower-income neighborhoods along the western part of the trail."

Several factors could have contributed to a greater drop in crime along The 606 over the four-year period, said co-author Lincoln Larson, an NC State faculty member who has previously studied greenway use in urban Atlanta and suburban San Antonio.

"We know that having a well-designed greenway can increase residential and commercial activity, bringing in more foot traffic that pushes out crime in the neighborhood," Larson said. "People along the trail may also be having more positive interactions and feeling a greater sense of community among neighborhoods, which prompts them to take ownership in the trail."

After looking at crime patterns on a city scale, researchers zoomed in on crime rates within walking distance  a half-mile  of The 606. Their analysis showed that property crime decreased at a faster rate in neighborhoods closest to the trail, said co-author Scott Ogletree, a Clemson graduate student. There were no significant differences in rates of violent or disorderly crimes.

Ogletree noted that the city invested in lighting, installed security cameras, increased police presence and added access points along the trail, which tourism officials promoted as a "must-see" destination for visitors.

Before a recent uptick, Chicago crime rates had been falling in many neighborhoods. Could investments in park-based urban revitalization be part of a long-term solution?

"A growing body of evidence suggests that's true, but there are a few counter-examples," Larson said, adding that keeping the trail in good condition is vital to prevent crime. "It's not just the presence of parks that matters," he said. "Design and programming for parks is also critical, especially considering some of the troubling crime trends in Chicago over the past year."

Harris said one example of quality neighborhood programming is The 606 Moves, a dance workshop offered in pocket parks along the trail with support from the city.

Officials must also consider how revitalization and increased development affect residents, said Harris, who is doing follow-up research on those issues. "Cities must be very careful when constructing a trail through a minority enclave. Revitalized spaces can be transformative, but they must be inclusive, safe and welcoming to all parties."

More information: Brandon Harris et al. Different Views From The 606, Environment and Behavior (2017). DOI: 10.1177/0013916517690197
Scientists at the Bimini Biological Research Station in the Bahamas show the laser photogrammetry technique in action: pointing two lasers of a known distance (20cm) parallel to the shark. This is a non-invasive technique in which we can accurately estimate the size of sensitive animals, such as the great hammerhead shark. Credit: Eugene Kitsios for Bimini Biological Research Station

New information on the migration patterns of the Great Hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran, will help to protect this endangered species, scientists suggest.

A target of both the recreational fishing and shark-fin trade, the global population of the instantly recognizable Great Hammerhead shark is estimated to have declined by ~80% over the last 25 years.

The Great Hammerhead has been listed on the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) as endangered since 2007. It has also recently been included in CITES Appendix II, which regulates the international trade of threatened species.

Despite recognition of its threatened status, effective protection and management has so far been hampered by a lack of information about the shark's behaviour.

However, new research published in Frontiers in Marine Science, gives a ray of hope. By defining the sharks' use of particular areas, this study gives marine management and conservation officials the ability to limit the sharks' interaction with their greatest threat  humans.

Importantly, this study looked at the temporal as well as the spatial aspect of the sharks' movements.

Dr Tristan Guttridge, who led the study at the Bimini Biological Research Station, Bahamas, explains why this is so vital: "Knowing when the animals are likely to be in certain places will be critical in developing effective management strategies" he said. "For example, our data could be used to create so-called 'time-area closures', where certain areas are closed to particular activities, like fishing, at different times. The aim would be to reduce harmful interactions with the sharks."

Dr Charlie Huveneers of the Southern Shark Ecology Group in Flinders University, Australia, agrees. "New information about movements of Great Hammerheads will help managers and regulators to ensure sustainable catches, and to improve international regulation and management" he said. "Thanks to the combination of methods used by the authors, the study has revealed complex movement patterns, with broad-scale migrations across jurisdictions as far North as Virginia, USA, as well as seasonal site fidelity in Florida and the Bahamas."

The team of researchers tagged the sharks with both acoustic and satellite tags, and used photo identification and laser photogrammetry. They were able to observe return-migrations of over 3000km. They also discovered that the sharks came "home" after migrating away to find food, pup or mate, and that they returned to the same sites for up to five months. This type of predictable behaviour makes them particularly vulnerable to fisheries.

"Recreational fishing in the USA is likely having quite an impact on great hammerheads" explains Guttridge. "We know that hammerheads are the third most common shark reported by Florida recreational fishing charter boats, and great hammerheads specifically are considered one of the most attractive species to catch by clients," he added.

Migratory animals not restrained by international borders

This study is the first to provide evidence that Great Hammerheads return to particular areas after migrations, rather than the perhaps more common perception of these sharks as "ocean wanderers." This discovery has great implications for marine management, and the development of MPAs (Marine Protected Areas).

However, many challenges remain in securing a safe future for these sharks. Like these highly migratory animals, management strategies will need to cross jurisdictional and international borders in order to be effective.

"We have only just scratched the surface of defining key spatial hotspots, but clearly for these highly mobile sharks, we need international cooperation" said Dr Guttridge, "and unfortunately, sharks refuse to acknowledge national boundaries."

The implications of the temporal aspect of migrations will also need further investigation. The sharks will be more vulnerable at different times.

"For our team, the next challenge is identifying what they are doing in these locations" said Guttridge, "as there are more sensitive life stages, such as pupping/mating sites that are a priority for conservation efforts."

More information: Tristan L. Guttridge et al. Philopatry and Regional Connectivity of the Great Hammerhead Shark, Sphyrna mokarran in the U.S. and Bahamas, Frontiers in Marine Science (2017). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00003

Provided by Frontiers
What do Airbnb hosts write in their profiles to help potential guests to trust them?

Cornell researchers will present a paper on this question at the 20th Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Computer-Supported Work and Social Computing, scheduled for Feb. 25 through March 1 in Portland, Oregon. The paper, "Self-disclosure and Perceived Trustworthiness of Airbnb Host Profiles," has received an honorable mention for best paper at the conference.

Authors Mor Naaman, associate professor of information science at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech; Xiao Ma, doctoral student in the field of information science, Cornell Tech; Kenneth Lim Mingjie '15; and former Cornell communications professor Jeff Hancock, now at Stanford University, studied the perceptions of trustworthiness in Airbnb host profiles. They used a mixed-methods research approach, combining qualitative analysis, large-scale annotation and online experiment to find out what hosts write about, how trustworthy they seem and whether these perceptions lead to choice of host.

"We are very interested in trust and how it's formed online, as it will enable the next generation of peer-sharing and shared economy services," Naaman said. "Airbnb is a great example with a publicly available dataset that allowed us to start examining this topic in depth."

When researchers asked people to rate Airbnb profiles for trustworthiness, they found the longer the profile text, the more trustworthy it is perceived to be. But length isn't everything: Not all topics are created equal. The language of hospitality (e.g. "We look forward to hosting you") is most effective in establishing the perception of trustworthiness rather than listing a life motto as suggested by Airbnb.

In addition, signaling theory predicts that hosts show trustworthiness by disclosing more about their origin, residence, work or study, which are more difficult to fake than interests or beliefs.

"Trust is deeply intertwined with safety," said Ma, lead author. "Guests want to know if they'll be safe, treated well and the property is well maintained, etc. We found that profiles which signal hospitality end up being more successful. A show of hospitality is an explicit gesture that is directly relevant to the transaction."

As part of their research, the team produced the first systematic coding scheme and accompanying dataset for analyzing self-disclosure in online profiles.

"It would be great if Airbnb and peer-sharing communities could formalize or commoditize these findings," Mingjie said. "Trust is a modality that is a lot of time based on physical appearances. When we are faced with a paragraph of text online, it would be wonderful to have some alternative signals to make good decisions."

The full paper is available from the Social Technologies Lab's website, where the researchers also made available all the data used for the study.

More information: Self-Disclosure and Perceived Trustworthiness of Airbnb Host Profiles. DOI: 10.1145/2998181.2998269
Approximately 4,000 people in the Netherlands are affected by arm damage: they have to do without the use of their hand or part of their hand, their forearm or even a complete arm. The majority of these people have a prosthesis. This prosthesis may be purely cosmetic, or have a gripping function, enabling the user to carry out everyday activities. The latter may either be body-powered or myoelectric. A myoelectric prosthesis is controlled by electrical signals associated with the user's muscle contractions, and is powered by electric motors. Body-powered prostheses are controlled by bodily movements. These movements are transmitted to the gripping mechanism via a harness on the shoulder and a cable.

Cybathlon

'In many ways, a body-powered prosthesis is better than a myoelectric version', explains doctoral candidate Mona Hichert. 'This was demonstrated, for example, last year during the CYBATHLON competition in Zurich. In the Powered Arm Prosthesis Race, people carried out everyday activities using a prosthetic arm. A student team from Delft was the only team to participate using a body-powered prosthesis, and easily won from the big commercial teams.'

Body-powered prostheses are also lighter, cheaper and more reliable, while they also offer the user feedback regarding the movements of the gripping mechanism and the grip force exerted on objects.

Fatigue

'Unfortunately, approximately half of the users are so dissatisfied with their body-powered prosthesis that they avoid actively using it. Existing prostheses require a lot of strength to use them, which can result in pain and fatigue during or after use. Users also complain about the comfort and appearance of the shoulder strap. To cut to the chase: these prostheses need to be improved'.

9 out of 10

During her research, Hichert did indeed demonstrate that existing prostheses demand too much operational force from the user. 'In concrete terms, I have shown that, in the case of 90 per cent of prostheses, more than half of the users report not being able to use the prosthesis for a whole day without experiencing fatigue and pain. This potentially explains why people avoid using their prosthesis. The required amount of force therefore needs to be reduced. When less operational force is required, people also have greater control of their prosthesis and can manage the gripping strength they apply to objects more effectively'.

Prostheses of the future

In her research, Hichert concludes that in order to allow users to use their prosthesis for the entire day  and every day  without becoming tired, and to enable efficient feedback and control of the gripping mechanism, operational force should not exceed 38 N for the average female user, or 66 N for the average male user. A long operation movement stroke, and hence a large cable excursion, does contribute to increased control of the gripping mechanism. Lowering the required force also makes it possible to replace the shoulder harness with an anchor point, which can be easily applied to the user's back with a sticker.

Delft Cylinder Hand

'Concrete improvements such as this are currently being implemented in the Delft Cylinder Hand (DCH), which resulted from research conducted by Gerwin Smit, my colleague at TU Delft. After being awarded a Veni grant, he is currently researching how prosthetic hands such as the DCH can be made even faster and easier to control'.

Clinics

'My dissertation highlights the problems with commercially-available prostheses, and outlines the areas that prosthetics developers need to address if they want to satisfy the user, so that ultimately, more prostheses are actually used. Finally, I remind clinics that when prescribing a prosthesis, they should pay due consideration to the fact that not all prostheses are suitable for all users. After all, my research has demonstrated significant variations in user capacity'.

More information: User Capacities and Operational Forces, Requirements for Body-Powered Upper-Limb Prostheses': repository.tudelft.nl/islandor  ?collection=research
A solidified lava flow over the side of a crater rim of Elysium. Credit: NASA HiRISE image, David Susko, LSU.

Mars' mantle may be more complicated than previously thought. In a new study published today in the Nature-affiliated journal Scientific Reports, researchers at LSU document geochemical changes over time in the lava flows of Elysium, a major martian volcanic province.

LSU Geology and Geophysics graduate researcher David Susko led the study with colleagues at LSU including his advisor Suniti Karunatillake, the University of Rahuna in Sri Lanka, the SETI Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, NASA Ames, and the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie in France.

They found that the unusual chemistry of lava flows around Elysium is consistent with primary magmatic processes, such as a heterogeneous mantle beneath Mars' surface or the weight of the overlying volcanic mountain causing different layers of the mantle to melt at different temperatures as they rise to the surface over time.

Elysium is a giant volcanic complex on Mars, the second largest behind Olympic Mons. For scale, it rises to twice the height of Earth's Mount Everest, or approximately 16 kilometers. Geologically, however, Elysium is more like Earth's Tibesti Mountains in Chad, the Emi Koussi in particular, than Everest. This comparison is based on images of the region from the Mars Orbiter Camera, or MOC, aboard the Mars Global Surveyor, or MGS, Mission.

Elysium is also unique among martian volcanoes. It's isolated in the northern lowlands of the planet, whereas most other volcanic complexes on Mars cluster in the ancient southern highlands. Elysium also has patches of lava flows that are remarkably young for a planet often considered geologically silent.

"Most of the volcanic features we look at on Mars are in the range of 3-4 billion years old," Susko said. "There are some patches of lava flows on Elysium that we estimate to be 3-4 million years old, so three orders of magnitude younger. In geologic timescales, 3 million years ago is like yesterday."

In fact, Elysium's volcanoes hypothetically could still erupt, Susko said, although further research is needed to confirm this. "At least, we can't yet rule out active volcanoes on Mars," Susko said. "Which is very exciting."

Susko's work in particular reveals that the composition of volcanoes on Mars may evolve over their eruptive history. In earlier research led by Karunatillake, assistant professor in LSU's Department of Geology and Geophysics, researchers in LSU's Planetary Science Lab, or PSL, found that particular regions of Elysium and the surrounding shallow subsurface of Mars are geochemically anomalous, strange even relative to other volcanic regions on Mars. They are depleted in the radioactive elements thorium and potassium. Elysium is one of only two igneous provinces on Mars where researchers have found such low levels of these elements so far.

"Because thorium and potassium are radioactive, they are some of the most reliable geochemical signatures that we have on Mars," Susko said. "They act like beacons emitting their own gamma photons. These elements also often couple in volcanic settings on Earth."

In their new paper, Susko and colleagues started to piece together the geologic history of Elysium, an expansive volcanic region on Mars characterized by strange chemistry. They sought to uncover why some of Elysium's lava flows are so geochemically unusual, or why they have such low levels of thorium and potassium. Is it because, as other researchers have suspected, glaciers located in this region long ago altered the surface chemistry through aqueous processes? Or is it because these lava flows arose from different parts of Mars' mantle than other volcanic eruptions on Mars?

Perhaps the mantle has changed over time, meaning that more recent volcanic eruption flows differ chemically from older ones. If so, Susko could use Elysium's geochemical properties to study how Mars' bulk mantle has evolved over geologic time, with important insights for future missions to Mars. Understanding the evolutionary history of Mars' mantle could help researchers gain a better understanding of what kinds of valuable ores and other materials could be found in the crust, as well as whether volcanic hazards could unexpectedly threaten human missions to Mars in the near future. Mars' mantle likely has a very different history than Earth's mantle because the plate tectonics on Earth are absent on Mars as far as researchers know. The history of the bulk interior of the red planet also remains a mystery.

Susko and colleagues at LSU analyzed geochemical and surface morphology data from Elysium using instruments on board NASA's Mars Odyssey Orbiter (2001) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006). They had to account for the dust that blankets Mars' surface in the aftermath of strong dust storms, to make sure that the shallow subsurface chemistry actually reflected Elysium's igneous material and not the overlying dust.

Through crater counting, the researchers found differences in age between the northwest and the southeast regions of Elysiumabout 850 million years of difference. They also found that the younger southeast regions are geochemically different from the older regions, and that these differences in fact relate to igneous processes, not secondary processes like the interaction of water or ice with the surface of Elysium in the past.

"We determined that while there might have been water in this area in the past, the geochemical properties in the top meter throughout this volcanic province are indicative of igneous processes," Susko said. "We think levels of thorium and potassium here were depleted over time because of volcanic eruptions over billions of years. The radioactive elements were the first to go in the early eruptions. We are seeing changes in the mantle chemistry over time."

"Long-lived volcanic systems with changing magma compositions are common on Earth, but an emerging story on Mars," said James Wray, study co-author and associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech.

Wray led a 2013 study that showed evidence for magma evolution at a different martian volcano, Syrtis Major, in the form of unusual minerals. But such minerals could be originating at the surface of Mars, and are visible only on rare dust-free volcanoes.

"At Elysium we are truly seeing the bulk chemistry change over time, using a technique that could potentially unlock the magmatic history of many more regions across Mars," he said.

Susko speculates that the very weight of Elysium's lava flows, which make up a volcanic province six times higher and almost four times wider than its morphological sister on Earth, Emi Koussi, has caused different depths of Mars' mantle to melt at different temperatures. In different regions of Elysium, lava flows may have come from different parts of the mantle. Seeing chemical differences in different regions of Elysium, Susko and colleagues concluded that Mars' mantle might be heterogeneous, with different compositions in different areas, or that it may be stratified beneath Elysium.

Overall, Susko's findings indicate that Mars is a much more geologically complex body than originally thought, perhaps due to various loading effects on the mantle caused by the weight of giant volcanoes.

"It's more Earth-like than moon-like," Susko said. "The moon is cut and dry. It often lacks the secondary minerals that occur on Earth due to weathering and igneous-water interactions. For decades, that's also how we envisioned Mars, as a lifeless rock, full of craters with a number of long inactive volcanoes. We had a very simple view of the red planet. But the more we look at Mars, the less moon-like it becomes. We're discovering more variety in rock types and geochemical compositions, as seen across the Curiosity Rover's traverse in Gale Crater, and more potential for viable resource utilization and capacity to sustain a human population on Mars. It's much easier to survive on a complex planetary body bearing the mineral products of complex geology than on a simpler body like the moon or asteroids."

Susko plans to continue clarifying the geologic processes that cause the strange chemistry found around Elysium. In the future, he will study these chemical anomalies through computational simulations, to determine if recreating the pressures in Mars' mantle caused by the weight of giant volcanoes could affect mantle melting to yield the type of chemistry observed within Elysium.
The Government of Myanmar and WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) announced today a comprehensive plan to protect the country's diverse fisheries and marine lifeincluding dolphins, sea turtles, and other speciesand other marine resources.

The plan titled "Marine Spatial Planning for Myanmar: Strategic Advice for Securing a Sustainable Ocean Economy" was unveiled at this week's World Ocean Summit in Bali, Indonesia. Sponsored by The Economist, the event (Feb. 22-24) provides marine experts and decision-makers with a forum for examining and promoting sustainable uses of the oceans and marine resources.

The new marine spatial planning strategy was produced by Myanmar's Department of Fisheries, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, with technical guidance from WCS, University of Exeter and Pyoe Pin (a program that provides assistance to democratic and accountable governance). The strategy's central goal is to provide decision-makers with a reliable road map for ocean space management and to create the conditions needed for economic and ecological sustainability and prosperity.

"The Union of the Republic of Myanmar is focused on balancing natural resource use across all production sectors, while providing investment opportunities, and economic prosperity for its people. We believe this strategy provides us with a robust structure through which to develop this goal and our ocean economy," said U Hla Kyaw, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (Department of Fisheries). "Our aim is to work with public and private partners to bring this vision to life for the people of Myanmar."

"The Pyoe Pin program has been working to support different key actors to work together to create a model of good governance across Myanmar's coastal states and regions, such that the enabling conditions for co-managing marine fisheries resources now exists," said U Aung Kyaw Thein, Strategic Advisor to Pyoe Pin. "Adopting area based management will ensure that our fisheries and marine resources are secure, and also drive upward flows of economic and social benefits to small-scale fishers."

As mainland Southeast Asia's largest country, Myanmar boasts a vast marine region covering some 486,000 square kilometers, most of which is currently unprotected. The country's extensive coastal areas provide vital habitats for species such as the finless porpoise, several species of sea turtle, and the dugong (a relative of the manatee).

The waters of Myanmar also contribute significantly to the country's economy and provide livelihoods for an estimated 1.4 million inshore and offshore fishers. Local and commercial fisheries also provide protein for millions, but illegal fishing has decimated local fish populations and could put the country's food security at risk if not regulated. The country's sovereign waters are also being explored for coastal development (tourism, ports) opportunities and gas reserves.

"Myanmar is a country undergoing great change as its engagement with the international community increases," said Martin Callow, Advisor to WCS's Myanmar Marine Conservation Program. "At the same time, the country's irreplaceable marine heritage is at risk from this new spirit of openness. The new marine spatial planning strategy fills an urgent need to understand current and future marine resource use and how these activities can be combined into a coordinated plan for a sustainable ocean economy."

"Our new National Coastal and Marine Resources Management Committee is fully supportive of this marine spatial planning strategy and, this committee, chaired by the Vice President and supported by respective coastal Chief Ministers, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC), the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, and the Navy, look forward to working with partners to enable the development of our sustainable ocean economy", said U Khin Maung Yi, Permanent Secretary of MONREC.

The strategy is a multi-faceted initiative featuring a number of programs focused on: building consensus and developing capacity; developing institutional arrangements; and strengthening data knowledge on marine life, resources, and the scale and scope of various extractive activities such as gas exploration and commercial fishing.

Myanmar representatives and scientific collaborators also announced the publication of a supporting documentthe "Myanmar Marine Biodiversity Atlas"which will provide natural resource managers with a foundation of spatial data for directing management strategies. Specifically, the atlas contains a comprehensive overview of the country's marine environment, it oceanographic characteristics, and the distribution of its abundant marine life. The atlas and strategy will be used in tandem to devise strategic approaches to support sustainable fisheries, and to establish a balance between marine conservation and marine protected area creation with ocean-based industries.

"It has been a great privilege to develop with partners a resource that can be used in future marine spatial planning activities", said Dr. Matthew Witt from the University of Exeter's Environment and Sustainability Institute. "We hope the atlas will help guide discussions and decision support around sustainable use of Myanmar's coastal and offshore environments, upon which many are dependent for food, employment and biodiversity services"

"We commend the Government of Myanmar for taking the first crucial steps needed to protect its marine resources for future generations with this new strategy," said Jason Patlis, Executive Director for WCS's Marine Conservation Program. "As evidenced in this first-ever marine atlas, Myanmar's waters play a critical role for the health of the global ocean, and the Government's efforts will benefit not only its own citizens, but the region and the world."
Payment Hackathon to Inspire Innovation Around Charitable Giving  Hyperwallet

Visa will lend its support to the event in Austin, March 14th

Austin, Texas  Hyperwallet, a leading global payouts provider to millions of independent workers, announced today that it will be hosting its first Hyperwallet Hackathon in Austin on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. The company invites developers to collaborate and experiment with emerging payout technologies in order to improve the speed, access, and efficiency of charitable funds distribution during a disaster situation. Presented with support from Visa, the event is expected to attract the attention of Austins vibrant developer community. Donations and proceeds from the event will go to support non-profit organization Upbring and its disaster response programs.

The fast, efficient, and secure distribution of funds is critical during a disaster situation when individuals often dont have access to their money through traditional means, explained Bill Crowley, Chief Product Officer at Hyperwallet. Were very excited to see what new solutions the developer community can build using Hyperwallets evolving platform of payout APIs and integrations.

Using Hyperwallets developer sandbox and API integrations, which includes real-time, direct-to-card capabilities care of Visas new Visa Direct network, participants will have eight hours to hack their solution. The Visa Direct API is already helping power real time payouts for Hyperwallet users in a number of different use cases, said Cecilia Frew, Head of US Push Payments at Visa. By turning to the developer community, were eager to see new solutions that can help get funds distributed fast and securely if disaster strikes. Aside from Hyperwallets technology, hackers are free to leverage any third-party APIs and/or existing public services.

Participants will present their solutions for judgment by a panel of industry experts, and cash prizes will be distributed to the winners immediately following the event. The panel will include Hyperwallet Chief Product Officer Bill Crowley, Visa Vice President of Product Innovation Kelly Alpert, and HomeAway Software Architect Bryan Campbell.

This is a great opportunity for the developer community to come together and make a real impact in future disaster relief efforts, explained Brent Warrington, Hyperwallets CEO. Hyperwallets global payout platform is designed to facilitate instant, or near-instant, payments to individuals almost anywhere in the world. Were confident that our participants will find new and exciting ways to harness that capability and make a positive difference.

Developers can register for the event for free at www.hyperwallet.com/hackathon. Participants are required to register as individuals, but are encouraged to compete on teams (with a maximum of three members per team).

For more information, please contact press@hyperwallet.com.

About Hyperwallet

Hyperwallets payout platform provides growing organizations with a frictionless, transparent, and reliable way to manage payments and enhance the payees experience almost anywhere in the world. Trusted by enterprise, ecommerce, and on-demand platforms, Hyperwallet makes it easy to pay up to 7 billion people in a singular payment environment. Put your payees in control with enhanced financial management tools, integrated payment tracking technology, and user-friendly compliance and identity verification. Hyperwallet has offices in San Francisco, Austin, London, and Vancouver. You can learn more at http://hyperwallet.com.

Other Point of sale news:

PointofSale.com does not sell products or services. Please visit the POS Retail software page, POS hardware, Credit Card Processing and POS Hospitality pages (see left side menu above) to find great POS products from various vendors. Please let vendors know youve seen their products here. Thank you. For sponsorship information see the link below on the Footer menu.
Lauretta Onochie, an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, has agreed that former President Goodluck Jonathan actually made millionaires during his time, but that this was done through stealing.

Stella Oduah's accounts in 21 banks were recently frozen by the EFCC.

Onochie was reacting to the freezing of 21 accounts allegedly belonging to Stella Oduah, a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and former minister under Jonathan.

Oh yea, Ex-Pres. Jonathan made many millionaires. Princess Stella Oduah was one of the more than 40 alleged thieves. They allegedly stole their ways to wealth, Onochie, the personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on social media, said.

READ ALSO: I am not indebted to any bank - Stella Oduah

She wondered how much could be in the 21 accounts frozen by a high court in Lagos.

He accused the former president of watching idly while these kleptomaniacs freely helped themselves to our commonwealth.

But she (Oduah) sits comfortably in our hallowed chamber, summoning and investigating. Another word for hallowed is holy!

She added that in 2016 which she called the year of recession, the current administration has been able to create 88,000 rice farmers in Kebbi state alone making them millionaires.

Most were not worth 100,000 before then. There are new millionaires in Gombe, Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia state, etc. That's how to create millionaires, the Buhari way.

In 2017, there will be more millionaires as more states have joined the Anchor Borrowers Programme and other millionaire-making schemes.

READ ALSO: EFCC recovering over 100 vehicles missing in Agric Ministry  Minister

President Buhari is teaching us again, that hard work pays. That's the change Nigerians voted for. Let the whistlers continue to blow! She said.

Source: Legit.ng
- Senator Ahmed Makarfi has said PDP lost 2015 presidential election because the party did not present a northern candidate

- He also said the the party became non-challant towards the people's complain and that contributed to the loss of the elections

Senator Ahmed Makarfi, on Friday, February 24 said the party would have won the 2015 presidential election if it had presented a northern candidate.

Daily Posts reports that Makarfi listed reasons PDP lost 2015 election as:

1) PDP stopped interacting with the people, a situation he said the opposition capitalised on.

2) Markafi also said imposition of candidates was partly responsible for the failure and warned that all the crisis in the party and must be resolved.

PDP lost 2015 elections because we didn't present a northern candidate - Makarfi

READ ALSO: Makarfi's aide attacks Okorocha for insulting PDP

Makarfi reportedly said: PDP would have won the 2015 presidential election straight away with a northern candidate.

The reason is that, it would have been impossible to make an issue out of this North and South thing. We would have broken the Norths gang up so to say against the PDP.

Again, we became too comfortable. A little bit of arrogance sometimes. We were not communicating well with the people.

Because we were not communicating well, we failed to get what the people were saying, and of course, that made it easier for propaganda to be used against us.

And that propaganda went deep that we couldnt do anything again.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on Legit.ng News App

Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the chairman of a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has issued a strong warning to Ali Modu Sheriff to vacate the Wadata Plaza secretariat of the party.

Makarfi also warned Nigerias security agencies flush out Sheriff from the office so as to avoid another round of chaos in the party and the country.

Sheriff was declared the authentic chairman of the party by a Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, but the faction led by Makarfi has rejected the ruling saying it would head to the Supreme Court.

Source: Legit.ng
When the Goodluck Jonathan administration was in power, certain prominent Nigerians were very vocal.

Some of them carried on as if they were official spokespersons of the government, while others were always on hand to issue threats to those who oppose the government or its policies.

A number of them threw caution to the wind in their utterances and carried on as if they were untouchable because of their closeness to the then government.

The moment the Muhammadu Buhari administration came on board last year, these individuals recoiled back to their shells and have practically kept mute ever since.

READ ALSO: Your aide is embarrassing the presidency  Akwa Ibom elders tell Buhari

Legit.ng lists five prominent Nigerians who have gone kept their calm since President Buhari came on board.

Read below:

1. Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

The chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) was very vocal during the Jonathan era. A former national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Oritsejafor was always in the news, adding his voice to public discourse, engaging in public policy debates and most notably defending the then president.

The cleric has since gone quiet since Buhari became the number one occupant of Aso Rock.

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

2. Asari Dokubo

Known as Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo in his inner circles, the former Ijaw Youth Council president and former militant leader, was so vocal that his comments always made headlines in major newspapers. Dokubo was always quick to come to the defence of the Jonathan administration on any issue.

He also went as far as threatening those opposed to the government and at some point vowed to initiate the break-up of Nigeria. He has been initiate the break-up of Nigeria. He has been Missing in Action since Buhari came to power.

Asari Dokubo

3. Chief Edwin Clark

He always referred to the former president as his son. Chief Clark was so relevant that those who needed direct access to Jonathan went through him. He was also very vocal at the time, with his penchant for playing the ethnic card whenever public opinion swayed against the former president.

Interestingly, Clark retired from partisan politics few months after Jonathan left office and in what many say was a betrayal of trust, the Ijaw chief publicly ridiculed Jonathan.

Chief Edwin Clark

4. Chief Tony Anenih

After Jonathan fell out with his political god-father and former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Bayelsa born lecturer-turned-politician practically adopted Chief Anenih as his god-father. Anenih on his part, repaid the trust bestowed on him by always shielding the president from political arrows thrown at him by the opposition. At different times, he came to the defence of Jonathan at different public fora.

The former minister of works also showed his love for Jonathan by resigning as the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees chairman for the former president to head the position after the elections. He has since gone underground since Buhari replaced Jonathan.

Chief Tony Anenih

5. Mike Omeri

The former boss of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) is the perfect example of how not to behave in public office. Omeri was carried away in his quest for relevance and practically became the unofficial spokesman of the Jonathan administration.

He abandoned his duties as the head of NOA and was clearly partisan, hobnobbing with the powers that be. He has since been sacked and has gone out of circulation.

Mike Omeri

6. Marilyn Ogar

The controversial former spokesperson of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) has gone into hiding after she was compulsorily retired from service following investigation into allegations of bribery and professional misconducts against her.

Ogar was known for her careless statements which portrayed the DSS as a partisan organisation. Nothing has been heard from her since she left public service.

Marlyn Ogar

Source: Legit.ng
Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether 

Read more
When Colin Tan took over a company called Lianbang Ventures in 2005 in order to revive an abandoned shopping mall project in Melaka, his friends used to tease him about the firms name. That was when Tan decided to choose a company name that will endure.

Ive always liked the name Hatten, as Im an admirer of Japanese culture, says the 33-year-old. It was fortuitous that the word hatten means growth and development in Japanese. He therefore decided to name the company he co-founded with his brother, 34-year old Edwin, Hatten Group.

Over the past decade, Hatten Group has become a leading property player in Melaka, where it is headquartered. Hatten Groups core businesses range from property development and investment to hospitality, retail and education. The group has a landbank of 215 acres, mainly in Melaka, with some parcels in Cyberjaya, Selangor and Seremban.

Tan: As a developer, we want to create quality and iconic projects. And people dont just want a property  they want quality amenities with healthcare, wellness or lifestyle facilities.

As the developments became increasingly large-scale and mixed-use, the Tan brothers decided to spin off their development arm into a separate Singapore-listed entity called Hatten Land. We are seeking to expand through mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures or strategic alliances with international business partners as we want to grow at a faster pace, says Tan.

This was done via a reverse takeover of the Singapore Exchange-listed VGO Corp. The RTO process was kick-started when VGO Corp, formerly known as sporting goods chain World of Sports, acquired privately held Sky Win Management Consultancy in June last year.

Sky Win Management Consultancy was in turn a company controlled by the Tans and owned a portfolio of four development projects in Melaka. The acquisition cost of Sky Win Management Consultancy totalled $386 million, and would be made via the issue of close to 1.188 billion consideration shares at 32.5 cents a share.

Story continues

--thisisapagebreak

SGX listing

On completion of the acquisition of Sky Win Management, VGO Corp was renamed Hatten Land on Jan 26. Assuming the 123.1 million new shares are fully placed out, the indicative market capitalisation for Hatten Land will be $393 million.

Trading of Hatten Land shares on the Catalist board of the SGX will start on Feb 28. Tan has been appointed executive chairman and managing director of Hatten Land, while Edwin is executive director and deputy managing director.

Hatten Lands initial portfolio of four development projects in Melaka are three mixed-use projects (Hatten City Phases 1 and 2 and Harbour City on Pulau Melaka) and the Vedro by the River mall.

Hatten City Phases 1 and 2 are located in the city centre fronting the Malacca Straits. The RM628 million ($200 million) Phase 1 was completed in March 2016. Within the complex are Elements Mall, with 1,530 strata shops; the 745-unit SilverScape Residences; Hatten Suites, with 589 serviced apartments; and the 277-room DoubleTree by Hilton, which is managed by Hilton Worldwide. As at end-June last year, 34% of the strata shops at Elements Mall were sold, while 85% of units at SilverScape Residences and 93% of Hatten Suites were taken up.

Hatten City Phase 2 is scheduled for completion in 2H2017. The project was valued at RM363 million last June, and is made up of Imperio Mall, with 786 shops; and the 950- unit Imperio Residences. The building has a stepped facade, with the cascading terraces providing a jogging path with views of the coast and the city. Imperio Residences is said to feature 10 cabana villas, each spanning three levels, with a floor area of 3,930 sq ft, private swimming pool, private lift lobby and private parking space for two cars. As at June 2016, about half of the residences were sold, while 60% of the shops were taken up.

Scheduled for completion in 2H2017, Hatten City Phase 2 comprises Imperio Mall, with 786 shops; and the 950-unit Imperio Residences

Under development is Harbour City on the reclaimed island of Pulau Melaka, fronting the Malacca Straits. The RM849 million mixed-use development sits on a six-acre site and comprises the Harbour City Mall, with 1,831 shops; a water-theme park; and three hotel blocks  the 648-unit Harbour City Suites, the 637-unit Harbour City Resort and a 325-room luxury hotel. The development is targeted for completion in phases from 2H2019 to 1H2020.

The fourth development, Vedro by the River, was last valued at RM65 million. The mall sits on two acres of land and will have a gross floor area of 213,547 sq ft when completed in 1H2017. So far, 65% of the 736 shops in the mall have been snapped up.

--thisisapagebreak

Development land pipeline

Hatten Land has the right of first refusal when it comes to acquiring development parcels from the privately held Hatten Group, which is also controlled by the Tans. On Feb 10, Hatten Land announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tans to exercise the call option for the acquisition of five development sites, of which four are 99-year leasehold sites in Daerah Melaka Tengah. The fifth is a freehold site in Cyberjaya.

One of the leasehold sites in Melaka is a 2.05-acre land parcel with a plot ratio of 5.8. It is slated for the development of an integrated project with a hotel and serviced apartment block called Thea Wellness. The second site is a 9.34-acre parcel at Kawasan Bandar I that will be used for a mixed-use project called MICC. The project will comprise a mall, cineplex, convention hall and auditorium, meeting rooms, a hotel block and a serviced apartment block, with a plot ratio of 4.0. Both Thea Wellness and MICC have obtained development approval.

The third site is a 66-acre land parcel with a plot ratio of 6.0 located on six parcels of land at Kawasan Bandar XL. The land parcel is still at the reclamation stage. The fourth site  also at Kawasan Bandar XL  is made up of three leasehold sites totalling 17.69 acres with a plot ratio of 6.0, which can be amalgamated and developed into a mixed-use project with a Movie Town theme, comprising retail, residential and hospitality components. Concept planning is still underway.

The fifth site at Cyberjaya is a 25.55-acre freehold land parcel with a plot ratio of 5.2. It will be developed in three phases, with a mix of retail, office, residential, hospitality units and a hospital. The projects concept plan is still in progress. The acquisition will be made through the purchase of the entire issued and paid-up capital of Admiral Merger Sdn Bhd, which owns the development rights to the land.

Completed in March 2016, Hatten City Phase 1 comprises Elements Mall, with 1,530 strata shops; the 745-unit SilverScape Residences; Hatten Suites, with 589 serviced apartments; and the 277-room DoubleTree by Hilton

Large-scale, distinctive projects

Each project has a distinctive theme, says Tan. The developer is able to secure relatively high plot ratios for its large-scale, mixed-use projects. We have an established track record, he adds. As a developer, we want to create quality and iconic projects. And people dont just want a property  they want quality amenities with healthcare, wellness or lifestyle facilities.

In hindsight, his foray as a developer into Melaka was an opportune one as being a developer in the state is not as capital-intensive as it is in Singapore, says Tan, who is a Singapore citizen. There was also very little competition then.

According to Tan, the main guiding force behind the brothers venture into the property business is their father, Eric Tan Eng Huat, who remains an adviser and mentor at Hatten Group. Eric Tan shot to fame in Singapore in the mid-1990s when he acquired more than 30 properties and sites in Geylang, earning him the moniker Geylang king.

When Hatten Group first started developing projects in Melaka, the population was around 750,000, recounts Tan. Melaka is a small state and its population was estimated to be around 900,000 as at 2016.

Tourist arrivals in Melaka increased significantly following its inclusion in the list of Unescos World Heritage Sites in 2008. Tourist arrivals hit a new high of 15.7 million in 2015, with tourism receipts up 39.5% y-o-y, the highest annual growth since 2010.

According to Tan, the developer is developing iconic projects that will put the state on the international tourist map. He sees the target audience for Hatten Lands developments being wider than just the residents in Melaka. If you look at a 200km radius, that includes Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, which means a population of 15 million, he estimates.

The current buyer profile for Hatten Lands properties is 69% Malaysians, with Singaporeans making up 15%, while Chinese and Taiwanese make up 3% each.

Vedro by the River, which sits on two acres of land, will have a gross floor area of 213,547 sq ft when completed in 1H2017

--thisisapagebreak

Retail supply

The retail scene in Melaka had been relatively stagnant, hovering between 3.7 million and 3.9 million sq ft between 2010 and 2013. It was only in 2014 that several new malls opened, including The Shore Shopping Gallery in Melaka city centre and Freeport AFamosa Outlet in Alor Gajah. Today, Melaka is said to have 19 shopping centres and eight hypermarkets, with total retail space of 4.7 million sq ft.

Of the 19 shopping centres, 14 are located within the city. The increase in retail space, coupled with sluggish sales, however, has contributed to a decline in average occupancy rate, from 83% in 2014 to 80% in 2015. Nevertheless, major malls in Melaka, such as Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall and Aeon Mall, continue to have an occupancy rate of 90% to 100%.

Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall, which was the abandoned mall that the Tans revived when they first took over Lianbang Ventures 12 years ago, is still the biggest and most visited mall in Melaka today. Those who purchased the strata shop units at RM1,800 psf in 2006 were able to sell them for about RM3,000 psf in the resale market, according to Tan. Most of the upcoming malls developed by Hatten Group are also strata malls. Generally, the selling prices of these strata retail units in Melaka range from RM1,500 to RM3,500 psf.

Residential supply and demand

Besides the retail segment, Tan believes that the other real-estate sectors, ranging from residential to serviced apartments and hotels, have also benefited from Melakas elevated profile following its inclusion on the list of Unesco World Heritage Sites.

Based on the latest figures from the National Property Information Centre, as at 3Q2016, Melaka had an existing housing stock of 167,676 units, of which condominiums and apartments accounted for 10,060 units (6%). However, in terms of residences under construction, the total number of units was 30,326, with condos and apartments making up 1,980 units (6.5%).

In the planning stage are another 13,542 units, of which 2,329 units are condos and apartments (17.2%). Notable upcoming developments include Impression City, Melaka Gateway, Cheng Ho City and Eco Marine Theme Park.

For the first nine months of 2016, about 6,720 residential units were sold in Melaka, just 1.5% lower than the 6,824 units recorded over the same period in 2015. The whole of 2015 saw total transactions of 8,914 residential units, 3% fewer than the 9,187 units in 2014.

Despite the contraction in home sales in 2015, total transacted value saw a moderate increase of 1.7%, from RM1.94 billion in 2014 to RM1.97 billion in 2015. This reflects the 8.4% y-o-y increase in the House Price Index in 4Q2015.

--thisisapagebreak

Future growth

With the upcoming Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail having a stop at Ayer Keroh, Melaka, sites in the area are likely to benefit from their proximity to the train station, says Tan. Incidentally, Hatten Groups landbank includes several prime sites in Ayer Keroh.

The expansion of the Malacca International Airport and the introduction of weekly scheduled flights between Guangzhou and Melaka are likely to boost the number of Chinese tourists. In fact, mainland China is already the top contributor of foreign tourists to Melaka, with 29.3%, followed by Singapore (26.7%), Indonesia (14.8%), Taiwan (3.2%) and Japan (2.8%), based on 2015 tourist arrival figures.

However, what has really grabbed everyones attention is the announcement last September of the RM30 billion Melaka Gateway project. The land reclamation project is a joint venture between Malaysian master developer KAJ Development, which will hold a 51% stake, and Powerchina International, which will take the lead in bringing in investors and handling the construction of the project. Construction is reportedly underway, and slated for completion by 2025.

Melaka Gateway is a mixed-use development off the coast of the city centre, with three reclaimed islands and one natural island occupying a total area of 5.52 sq km. The first three islands will be used for tourism, commercial, property and maritime developments.

The fourth island, Pulau Melaka, has been earmarked for a maritime activities centre with a container and bulk terminal, shipbuilding and ship-repair services, as well as a maritime industrial park to be developed by KAJ Development, Chinas Guangdong state government and Chief Minister Incorporated (CMI), an entity wholly-owned by the state.

Expansion plans

Pulau Melaka is where Hatten Land will be developing its 99-year leasehold Harbour City project.

Harbour City will sit on close to 100 acres of reclaimed land on the island of Pulau Melaka, fronting the Malacca Straits

Tan is also open to partnerships and joint ventures with other developers for his upcoming projects. We have had Chinese developers with similar interests coming to discuss with us, he says. And that is why we want to list Hatten Land, as it will give us a greater platform to collaborate with more international business partners in our future developments.

While Melaka remains Hatten Lands main focus for now, Tan is also interested in expanding the companys presence in Southeast Asia.

This article appeared in The Edge Property Pullout, Issue 768 (Feb 27, 2017) of The Edge Singapore

Related Articles From TheEdgeProperty.com.sg
Iraqi forces on Friday entered west Mosul neighbourhoods, a key stronghold in the shrinking "caliphate" of the Islamic State group, which replied with deadly suicide attacks in Iraq and Syria. As the war on the world's most violent jihadist group escalated, Iraqi warplanes struck IS militants inside neighbouring Syria, a first that Damascus said was coordinated between the two governments. In yet another key landmark in the bloody offensive to retake Mosul, the largest city ever held by the jihadists, elite Iraqi forces punched into districts of the west bank for the first time. The interior ministry's elite Rapid Response force, which retook Mosul airport on Thursday, kept its momentum and broke into the adjacent Jawsaq neighbourhood. They were met by mortar fire and snipers but also by ululating women celebrating the end of more than two and half years of tyrannic rule and by men begging for cigarettes. "I don't have any left, I swear, I don't have any left," said one government fighter as his convoy advanced slowly down the street. The elite Counter-Terrorism Service that did most of the fighting in the four-month-old Mosul offensive entered a neighbourhood further west along the city's southern limits. "We entered the outer edge of Al-Maamun neighbourhood," said Staff Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, a top CTS commander. - 'Moving fast so far' - "IS is using vehicle bombs -- this morning three were destroyed. We have some injuries from the weaponised drones and mortars," he told AFP just south of Mosul. It was not immediately clear whether Iraqi forces would keep venturing deeper into west Mosul or consolidate their positions on the edges ahead of dangerous operations towards the centre. The fight "has moved very fast so far but we'll see what happens in the next stage. It might be more difficult," Saadi admitted. The narrow streets of the Old City, home to the mosque where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance as IS leader and proclaimed the "caliphate" in July 2014, could become a death trap. They will be impassable for some military vehicles, forcing Iraqi forces to go on dismounted raids. IS has covered some streets with roofs to block aerial surveillance. The loss of west Mosul would be a death blow to the jihadists' claim they are running a "state" and leave the city of Raqa in neighbouring Syria as the only major urban centre they still control. IS still holds scattered pockets of territory across Iraq and Syria but has suffered a string of setbacks in the past year and over the past few hours also lost their last bastion in Syria's Aleppo province. Turkey said Friday its troops and the Syrian rebels it backs had fully retaken the town of Al-Bab after weeks of fierce IS resistance, but the jihadists replied with a deadly suicide bombing there, killing 51 people. IS claimed the attack outside Al-Bab, in Susian. - Syria bombing - "Al-Baghdadi's dogs could not bear their huge loss, and their suicide bombers have begun to take revenge," said field commander Abu Jaafar of the Mutasem Brigades. After a lightning advance, the rebels became mired in a drawn-out conflict in Al-Bab which proved to be the bloodiest fight in Turkey's campaign, where Ankara suffered most of its 71 losses thus far. An IS suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden vehicle and gunmen also attacked an Iraqi position near Jordan Friday, killing at least 15 border guards, officials said. IS has lost most towns in its traditional western Iraqi bastion of Anbar province but still has desert hideouts from which it continues to harass the security forces. Friday's raid was the deadliest to date against the border guard. For three years jihadists have crossed the Iraq-Syria border unimpeded, but on Friday it was the Iraqi government that carried out its first cross-border air strike. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that the air force struck targets on the Syrian side of the border, in Albu Kamal and Husseibeh areas. - Cross-border strike - The target was IS militants the Joint Operations Command said were responsible for car bombings in Baghdad last week, including one that killed 52 people. A source close to Syria's foreign ministry told the pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan that the strike was conducted "in full coordination" with Damascus. "We are determined to track down terrorists trying to kill our sons and citizens wherever they are," said Abadi, who has met top US defence officials all week, including Pentagon chief Jim Mattis when he visited Baghdad. A Pentagon spokesman said Friday the US had provided intelligence to help the Iraqis in the strike. The 60-nation coalition dominated by the United States has carried out more than 10,000 strikes on IS targets since 2014, and recently stepped up its involvement to help Baghdad retake Mosul. Forces on the ground officially in an advisory capacity have increasingly been involved in combat and have been more visible than ever on the front lines since the push on west Mosul began on February 19. Abadi urged his forces to exercise the utmost caution when retaking west Mosul, where the United Nations believes around 750,000 civilians are trapped with dwindling food and medical supplies.
Zalora is reported to be in talks of an acquisition with Indonesian retail giant MAP Group

After pulling-back from the Philippines, Rocket Internets online beauty store Zalora is reportedly on its way out of Indonesia.

A TechCrunch report stated that Zalora is currently in talks for an acquisition with retail giant MAP group.

The news came only one day after conglomerate Ayala Group bought a 49 per cent stakes in BF Jade E-Services Philippines Inc., which owns and operate the Zalora brand in the country.

Zalora is under the management of Global Fashion Group (GFG), which was created by Rocket Internet in 2012 to manage its fashion e-commerce business across the world.

e27 has been reaching out to Zalora and GFG for comments, and will update accordingly.

Consolidation is in fashion

In Indonesia, the year 2016 has proven to be a challenging one for fashion e-commerce startups. Startups such as Berrybenka and SaleStock laid off a considerable amount of its employees, while smaller players such as Lolalola were forced to close down business.

MAP Group has been known to make efforts to branch into e-commerce and it launched of MAP EMALL last year. The group operates various department stores and fashion outlets, and it has partnerships with global fashion brands such as Zara, and Marks & Spencer.

The deal is likely to be part of the companys move to strengthen its foray into e-commerce; which, when combined with the groups strong offline presence, might actually create a positive impact.

An O2O approach is believed to be a working formula for some e-commerce platforms in the country, with Berrybenka CEO Jason Lamuda stating that the companys pop-up stores were able to increase overall sales in a city by two to four times. It is also able to increase online sales by 1.5 to two times.



Image Credit: alenin / 123RF Stock Photo

The post After Philippines, Zalora reportedly retreating from the Indonesia appeared first on e27.
AFP News

The UN's COP27 climate summit kicked off Sunday in Egypt with warnings against backsliding on efforts to cut emissions and calls for rich nations to compensate poor countries after a year of extreme weather disasters. An alarming UN report said the past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, with an acceleration in sea level rise, glacier melt, heatwaves and other climate indicators. "As COP27 gets underway, our planet is sending a distress signal," UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement, calling the report a "chronicle of climate chaos". Just in the past few months, floods devastated Pakistan and Nigeria, droughts worsened in Africa and the United States, cyclones whipped the Caribbean, and unprecedented heatwaves seared three continents. The conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh also comes against the backdrop of Russia's war on Ukraine, an energy crunch, soaring inflation and the lingering effects from the Covid-19 pandemic. But Simon Stiell, the UN's climate change executive secretary, said he would not be a "custodian of backsliding" on the goal of slashing greenhouse emissions 45 percent by 2030 to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above late 19th-century levels. "We will be holding people to account, be they presidents, prime ministers, CEOs," Stiell said as the 13-day summit opened. "The heart of implementation is everybody everywhere in the world every single day doing everything they possibly can to address the climate crisis," he said, noting that only 29 of 194 nations have presented improved plans as called for at COP26 in Glasgow last year. Current trends would see carbon pollution increase 10 percent by the end of the decade and the Earth's surface heat up 2.8C, according to findings unveiled last week. Promises made under the 2015 Paris Agreement would, if kept, only shave off a few tenths of a degree. Britain's Alok Sharma, who handed the COP presidency to Egypt, said that while world leaders have faced "competing priorities" this year, "inaction is myopic and can only defer climate catastrophe." "How many more wake-up calls does the world -- and world leaders -- actually need?" he said. - 'Loss and damage' - The COP27 summit will focus like never before on money -- a major sticking point that has soured relations between countries that got rich burning fossil fuels and the poorer ones suffering from the worst consequences of climate change. The United States and the European Union -- fearful of creating an open-ended reparations framework -- have dragged their feet and challenged the need for a separate funding stream. After two days of intense pre-summit negotiations, delegates agreed on Sunday to put the "loss and damage" issue on the COP27 agenda, a first step towards what are sure to be difficult discussions. Stiell said inclusion of loss and damage on the agenda after three decades of debate on the issue showed progress. "The fact that it is there as a substantive agenda item I believe bodes well," he told reporters. COP27 president Sameh Shoukry of Egypt said it would be unproductive to speculate on what outcome the negotiations will lead to, "but certainly everybody is hopeful." "Anything that we do effectively has to be on the basis of our common efforts and that we leave no one behind," he said. Shoukry also noted that rich nations have not fulfilled a separate pledge to deliver $100 billion per year to help developing countries green their economies and build resilience against future climate change. He lamented that most climate financing is based on loans. "We do not have the luxury to continue this way. We have to change our approaches to this existential threat," he said. - US-China tensions - After the first day of talks, some 110 world leaders will join the summit on Monday and Tuesday. The most conspicuous no-show will be China's Xi Jinping, whose leadership was renewed last month at a Communist Party Congress. US President Joe Biden has said he will come, but only after legislative elections on Tuesday that could see either or both houses of Congress fall into the hands of Republicans hostile to international action on climate change. Cooperation between the United States and China -- the world's two largest economies and carbon polluters -- has been crucial to rare breakthroughs in the nearly 30-year saga of UN climate talks, including the 2015 Paris Agreement. But Sino-US relations have sunk to a 40-year low after a visit to Taiwan by House leader Nancy Pelosi and a US ban on the sale of high-level chip technology to China, leaving the outcome of COP27 in doubt. A meeting between Xi and Biden at the G20 summit in Bali days before the UN climate meeting ends, if it happens, could be decisive. One bright spot at COP27 will be the arrival of Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose campaign vowed to protect the Amazon and reverse the extractive policies of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro. bur-lth/mh/lg
AFP News

The UN's COP27 climate summit kicked off Sunday in Egypt with warnings against backsliding on efforts to cut emissions and calls for rich nations to compensate poor countries after a year of extreme weather disasters. Just in the past few months, climate-induced catastrophes have killed thousands, displaced millions and cost billions in damages across the world. Massive floods devastated swaths of Pakistan and Nigeria, droughts worsened in Africa and the western United States, cyclones whipped the Caribbean, and unprecedented heatwaves seared three continents. The conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh comes in a fraught year marked by Russia's war on Ukraine, an energy crunch, soaring inflation and the lingering effects from the Covid pandemic. But Simon Stiell, the UN's climate change executive secretary, said he would not be a "custodian of backsliding" on the goal of slashing greenhouse emissions 45 percent by 2030 to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above late-19th-century levels. "We will be holding people to account, be they presidents, prime ministers, CEOs," Stiell said as the 13-day summit opened. "The heart of implementation is everybody everywhere in the world every single day doing everything they possibly can to address the climate crisis," he said. Current trends would see carbon pollution increase 10 percent by the end of the decade and Earth's surface heat up 2.8C, according to findings unveiled last week. Promises made under the 2015 Paris Agreement would, if kept, only shave off a few tenths of a degree. "Whilst I do understand that leaders around the world have faced competing priorities this year, we must be clear: as challenging as our current moment is, inaction is myopic and can only defer climate catastrophe," said Alok Sharma, British president of the previous COP26 as he handed over the chairmanship to Egypt. "How many more wake-up calls does the world -- and world leaders -- actually need?", he said. In a dire warning, the UN's World Meteorological Organization said the past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, with an acceleration in sea level rise, glacier melt and heatwaves. "As COP27 gets underway, our planet is sending a distress signal," UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement. - 'Loss and damage' - The COP27 summit will focus like never before on money -- a major sticking point that has soured relations between countries that got rich burning fossil fuels and the poorer ones suffering from the worst consequences of climate change. The United States and the European Union -- fearful of creating an open-ended reparations framework -- have dragged their feet and challenged the need for a separate funding stream. Delegates agreed on Sunday to put the "loss and damage" issue on the COP27 agenda, a first step toward what are sure to be fraught discussions. Inclusion of the agenda item "reflects a sense of solidarity and empathy for the suffering of the victims of climate induced disasters," said COP27 president Sameh Shoukry of Egypt. "We all owe a debt of gratitude to activists and civil society organisations who have persistently demanded the space to discuss funding for loss and damage," he said to applause. Shoukry also noted that rich nations have not fulfilled a separate pledge to deliver $100 billion per year to help developing countries green their economies and build resilience against future climate change. He also lamented that most climate financing is based on loans. "We do not have the luxury to continue this way. We have to change our approaches to this existential threat," he said, calling for solutions that "prove we are serious about not leaving anyone behind". - US-China tensions - After the first day of talks, more than 120 world leaders will join the summit on Monday and Tuesday. The most conspicuous no-show will be China's Xi Jinping, whose leadership was renewed last month at a Communist Party Congress. US President Joe Biden has said he will come, but only after legislative elections on Tuesday that could see either or both houses of Congress fall into the hands of Republicans hostile to international action on climate change. Cooperation between the United States and China -- the world's two largest economies and carbon polluters -- has been crucial to rare breakthroughs in the nearly 30-year saga of UN climate talks, including the 2015 Paris Agreement. But Sino-US relations have sunk to a 40-year low after a visit to Taiwan by House leader Nancy Pelosi and a US ban on the sale of high-level chip technology to China, leaving the outcome of COP27 in doubt. A meeting between Xi and Biden at the G20 summit in Bali days before the UN climate meeting ends, if it happens, could be decisive. One bright spot at COP27 will be the arrival of Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose campaign vowed to protect the Amazon and reverse the extractive policies of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro. bur-lth/fz
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong (right) at a joint press briefing on Monday (20 February 2017).

The Singapore Islamic Scholars and Teachers Association (Pergas) has written to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to highlight the Muslim communitys concerns about the situation in Palestine, saying the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict is regrettable and worrying.

The letter, written in Malay and dated 17 February, expressed Pergas hopes that Lee would bring up the matter during the two-day official visit to Singapore by Israels Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday and Tuesday (20-21 February).

In the letter, the President of Pergas, Ustaz Hasbi Hassan, said, Israels occupation has lowered the value of human lives. It has caused the lives of children, women and the elderly.

The blockage and control of Gaza has ravished the basic human rights for protection, housing, health, education and more. The upholding of these rights has been agreed upon by the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which urge Israel to stop illegal housing on Palestinian land, he said in the letter.

Ustaz Hasbi stressed that as Muslims and citizens of Singapore, Pergas stands by the values of harmony and justice and, like any other community, rejects any form of tyranny, invasion and repression.

Violence will only beget violence, and peace could never be achieved as long as discrimination, tyranny and repression still exist, he said.

Pergas understands the Singapore governments policy on such matters, which has been affirmed by the appointment of former Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Hawazi Daipi, as Singapores new non-resident representative to the Palestinian Territories. Hawazi assumed the position in November last year.

We support the governments policy and hope that Israel and Palestine can work together towards peace and harmony. We also hope that all forms of repression and violence will cease with justice prevailing for both parties, Ustaz Hasbi said.

Prime Minister Lees reply to Pergas

In a letter addressed to Ustaz Hasbi dated Tuesday (21 February), Lee thanked Pergas for expressing its concerns about the situation in Palestine and the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Story continues

Lee said he fully understands these concerns. Singapore is friends with both Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, and many Arab countries, he added.

While the situation is complex and progress is difficult, Singapore has always urged Israel and Palestine to resume direct negotiations and work towards a just and durable solution to this longstanding conflict, Lee said in the letter.

Lee also reiterated Singapores position in the letter, saying that the Republic is convinced that a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, however hard to achieve, is the only way to bring peace and security to both peoples.

The prime minister has stated Singapores position and concerns to Netanyahu during his visit here and last year. In the letter, Lee said he has explained to the Israelis that the Middle East matters to Singapore.

People all over the world are seized with the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and with the plight of the civilians caught up in the conflict. For Muslim communities particularly, it is an emotional matter.

Singapore is in Southeast Asia, surrounded by Muslim-majority countries. And we ourselves have a substantial Muslim population, who are an important part of our harmonious multi-ethnic population, Lee said.

He added that Singapore fervently hopes for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, which will contribute to a more stable Middle East and a safer world.

I thank you for supporting Singapores position, which reflects the interests of our nation, Lee concluded in the letter.

additional reporting by Vernon Lee

Related story:

COMMENT: The security and religious factors behind Israeli PM Netanyahus low-key visit to Singapore
Tax help can cost a lot of money. Pros charge $150 an hour on average to do a federal and state return, according to the National Society of Accountants. Help with planning, back taxes or audits can cost even more. But there are a few ways to get human tax help for free.

Where to Get Free Help With Taxes

1. Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)

What it is: A federal grant program that helps community organizations provide free tax-prep services to low- and moderate-income individuals, the disabled, the elderly and limited-English speakers.

How it works: Taxpayers can get face-to-face help from local, IRS-certified volunteers. Generally, the income limit is $54,000. Volunteers wont prepare the Schedule C (sorry, freelancers), the complex Schedule D (sorry, investors) or forms associated with nondeductible IRA contributions, investment income for minors, premium tax credits, requests for Social Security numbers or determinations of worker status.

In a lot of communities, [people] can just dial 211 to find out information about the nearest VITA site and get more information about whether or not they qualify, says Rebecca Thompson, project director of the taxpayer opportunity network at the Corporation for Enterprise Development, which focuses on fighting poverty.

Get help from the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

2. Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE)

What it is: A federal grant program that gives money to community organizations to provide people with free tax help. Although the program was established to help people 60 and older, and still prioritizes serving them, theres actually no minimum age requirement. Trained volunteers provide the assistance.

How it works: Similar to VITA, community organizations and nonprofits use the grant money to provide help. Most TCE sites are operated by the AARP Foundations Tax-Aide program.

The TCE program and the VITA program use, as a base, the same training program [for volunteers]. They use the same certification test and, for the most part, the same software, says Fran Rosebush, deputy director of the Corporation for Enterprise Development.

Get help from the Tax Counseling for the Elderly program.

3. AARP Tax Foundation

What it is: A nonprofit arm of AARP that operates the Tax-Aide network of tax preparation sites for the IRSs VITA and TCE programs.

How it works: AARPs Tax-Aide connects taxpayers with tax counselors who have advanced IRS training. It also operates an online FAQ page where you can submit tax questions to IRS-certified volunteers. You dont need to be an AARP member to get help.

Get help from the AARP Tax Foundation.

4. IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service

What it is: An independent organization within the IRS that protects taxpayer rights.

How it works: You can turn to the Taxpayer Advocate Service if youve already tried to resolve your tax problem through normal IRS channels or you think an IRS process isnt working the way it should. Theres at least one Taxpayer Advocate office in every state.

Get help from an IRS taxpayer advocate.

5. Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs)

What it is: A federal grant program that gives money to legal-aid and legal-services organizations to help low-income taxpayers or taxpayers who speak English as a second language. Law schools and business schools also are common providers. Some charge nominal fees.

We dont prepare tax returns, generally speaking, but if somebody, for example, has their refund frozen and they need help figuring out why, they can call low-income tax clinics, says Christine Speidel, an attorney at Vermont Legal Aid, which runs clinics in the state.

How it works: The program generally provides representation for people in IRS disputes, including audits, appeals, collections and litigation. It also can help respond to IRS notices and fix account problems. Typically, the income ceiling is 250% of the federal poverty rate, but some programs have a little wiggle room, Speidel says. Sole proprietors are usually welcome, she adds.

Get help from the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic program.

6. IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers

What it is: Local IRS offices across the country.

How it works: Services vary by office but can include basic tax-law assistance, payment arrangements, procedural inquiries, help with IRS letters and notices and other support. Youll need to schedule an appointment and provide a valid photo ID and taxpayer identification number, such as your Social Security number.

Get help at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center.

7. Military OneSource

What it is: A Department of Defense program that provides financial and legal resources, among other things, to military members and their families. The tax program is called MilTax.

How it works: Trained MilTax consultants are available by phone seven days a week during tax season from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET at 1-800-342-9647. After April 18, theyll be available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. MilTax is part of the VITA program, which means you also can get face-to-face help on base or nearby.

Get help from Military OneSource.

8. The tax pro down the street

What it is: A certified public accountant, licensed attorney, enrolled agent or someone who has completed the IRS Annual Filing Season program. The IRS also requires anyone who prepares or helps prepare federal tax returns for compensation to have a Preparer Tax Identification Number, so be sure to look for that.

How it works: To get free help, all you might need to do is ask. According to the National Society of Accountants, 89% of tax pros offer free client consultations worth more than $100.

Seek help from a credentialed tax professional.

9. Your tax software

What it is: Many versions of do-it-yourself tax software come with free help from a tax pro via phone, chat, email or even face-to-face via your cell phones camera.

How it works: Tax software providers frequently offer free help, though its more common among the higher-end paid versions. Audit support and audit representation are often provided, though you might have to pay extra.

Where to find: Companies such as TurboTax, H&R Block, TaxAct and TaxSlayer offer free help for all or some of their tax software packages.

Republished by permission. Original here.
IT companies are being forced to reshape their business models in a world where technologies are moving to the cloud in droves. Many need help making the transition, which is where companies like Microsoft, through the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN), play a vital role.

MPN equips Microsoft partners with training, resources and support, enabling them to become more competitive in todays marketplace.

One person responsible for helping partners take the leap into cloud-readiness is Karen Fassio, marketing director for the Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft, the group that manages MPN. She recently spoke with Small Business Trends via telephone to discuss why IT providers should be transitioning to the Microsoft Cloud and share resources Microsoft can offer to aid in that process.

Fassio describes her role as helping IT providers take a look at the opportunities that becoming cloud-ready presents and figure out how they can reshape their business, their solutions and even the talent on their teams.

She uses a variety of approaches to accomplish that task: The Microsoft Partner Network portal, the Cloud Ready Analyzer (a tool that helps IT companies assess their cloud-readiness) and working with teams to do partner-facing events and activities.

She also communicates regularly with the partner support community, which she says numbers in the hundreds of thousands, through digital media to make them (the partners) aware of all the resources Microsoft has available.

There is a lot of marketing transformation that Im leading with our team so that we are ensuring that Microsoft is connecting and creating a relationship with our partners in a more personalized manner, she said. In that way, they start experiencing a more connected, cohesive message from Microsoft.

In addition to listing her direct responsibilities, Fassio outlined some of the ways the Worldwide Partner Group working through the MPN helps IT companies make the shift to becoming cloud-ready.

Microsoft Cloud as Integration Point

Fassio said that through its cloud-based products and services (Office 365, Azure, CRM, etc.), Microsofts role is to serve as an integration point for IT providers  a backend solution that providers can build on in configuring solutions to problems their customers have. In some cases, that means a mix of on-premise and some cloud components, all in the cloud, or a hybrid of Microsoft products and other technologies.

Cloud Migration and Licensing Administration

Two additional areas where Microsoft can assist partners, according to Fassio, is in helping them migrate their customers to the cloud and in licensing, to help them close deals.

Regarding migration, she said, We have created paths and migration solutions that make that easier to do because it sits inside a connected Microsoft technology suite.

She added that with the advent of the cloud, administration of licensing has become more sophisticated.

A lot of the licensing that comes with these solutions can all be served through the cloud solution provider program, she said, It takes the bulk of the licensing administration, tracking and utilization out of the realm of having a partner needing to manage that. Now the partner can focus on the solutions they are building for their clients while licensing-related tasks are managed by the indirect provider.

Proof of Concept and Managed Services

Fassio emphasized two critical aspects of becoming a cloud-ready business are using proof of concept, which she refers to as a trial or starter engagement to get a customer moving in the direction of the cloud, and managed services.

Managed services enables providers to utilize a subscription model that creates long-term recurring revenue rather than a point in time solution or licensing-only opportunity, she said. With both the proof of concept and managed service, you can move into more custom engagement, which is where a lot of our partners provide more differentiated value and earn stronger margins.

Working with Other Partners

Fassio cited another advantage of becoming cloud-ready is that providers can move beyond their area of expertise by aligning with other partners who have differing skill sets.

By going to the cloud, you have more options for stitching together different solutions that dont necessarily have to be in your own skill set, she said. That way, you can build something that is much more comprehensive with other partners that are also in that space.

Cloud Competency Partner

Not only does MPN help IT companies shift to the cloud, but it also helps them gain expertise through the cloud platform competency program, which, according to Fassio, is a training and support program focused on a particular area of competency.

For example, we have competencies that are focused on what we see partners building their practices on, she said. We also have a competency centered on productivity, for those partners doing a lot of Office 365 engagement and who are moving customers from a client based model to online models that can easily scale by customer demand and usage.

Fassio added that MPN has other competencies programs focused on Azure and Dynamics CRM.

Regarding competency, she said, Partners who are part of this program are basically identifying themselves as having expertise in a particular technical area. Youve made an investment to become cloud-ready, and now Microsoft knows who you are and can help put you in front of customers so that when they are looking for solutions in your area of expertise, your business can show up inside our customer engagement engines.

Cloud Ready Analyzer

The Cloud Ready Analyzer mentioned previously, is a tool designed to help IT companies that are struggling with the transition to becoming cloud-ready. Partners take a self-assessment of their current states and compare that to where they want to go.

I think what most people find is that the Analyzer helps break down each of the key areas of transformation in a very consumable, actionable way, Fassio said, so that you can see the next step to get your business ready for the cloud.

Additional Resources

Microsoft has no shortage of resources to help IT companies not only become cloud-ready and gain proficiency but also to grow their business.

We have tracks for independent software vendors, managed service provider and resellers, Fassio said. There are different types of scenarios that try to base them off of to help a partner go from where they are to where they want to do.

She recommended that partners start by delving into the MPN profitability resources, which, she said can help people think not only about the market and where the customers are but also how peers like themselves are thinking about transition.

MPN Provides End-to-End Solution

Fassio stressed that the Microsoft Partner Network is an end-to-end solution where partners can learn how to build and grow their business.

We have tools that help you assess your marketing state; we provide guidance on the types of marketing activities you should engage in, and we have tools and templates and guided resources to help you develop a different marketing approach, she said.

Besides that, the network has peer-to-peer communities and in-person events that let partners connect and build relationships, enabling them to support and learn from each other.

In concluding her remarks, Fassio stated that MPNs goal is very pragmatic:

When it comes down to it, our goal is to help our partners understand that Microsoft is on this journey with our partners. As we learn, we share. As we see new opportunities, we surface these and put resources in place to help partners take advantage of them as demonstrated through guided resources weve provided that help partners determine their personal business transformation and configure their profitability in the cloud.

Visit the Microsoft Partner Network website to learn about all the resources Microsoft has available to help partners transition to the cloud and grow their business in the process.
The programme in the bar will focus on retro and oldies.

Font size: A - | A +

IT WAS my dream to bring the Luna bar back to life, said Martin Petrus, the new operator of the legendary bar in the underground of the Kyjev Hotel at Kamenne Square in the centre of Bratislava.

Petrus knows the bar, whose design has not actually changed since its opening in the 1970s during the previous communist regime. At first he worked in the hotel as a student, later he worked for the development company Lordship, the current owner of the hotel. After he agreed with the hotels owners upon rental of the bar, he launched its restoration. He plans to open the bar and thus fulfil his dream at the end of March.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

Original in a new outfit

Petrus wants to preserve everything original, authentic and still usable in the bar. Though the bar has been closed since 2011 its design has not actually changed since its opening. But he wants to modernise the toilets and extend the bar by turning the original kitchen into a zone for smokers. He also needs to build a new cloak-room because the original wooden one has disappeared. Thus, future guests will also find in the main bar area well-known tapestry boxes or the original bar table.

In the Luna bar everything has remained authentic, only movable things like chairs and tables have disappeared, Petrus told The Slovak Spectator.

Even though the design of the lost furniture is known, Petrus does not plan to replace these items with replicas because that would be too expensive.

We will rather go in the way to preserve the original design, but we will buy new furniture in original colours and style, said Petrus.

Experts would welcome preservation of the original interior design and furniture in the form the designers used for this projects space.

Zuzana Michalovicova, the curator of the furniture collection at the Slovak Museum of Design, recalled that the Kyjev Hotel belongs among the important buildings of Slovak architecture from the second half of the 20th century. One of its creators was architect Ivan Matusik, who worked on it as well as the adjoining department store, now Tesco, with his colleagues.

We have to perceive the interior of the Luna bar as a complex whole with a distinctive artistic solution characteristic of the 1970s, Michalovicova told The Slovak Spectator. Round taborets and armchairs were designed and manufactured to fit this space.

Michalovicova also recalled that a sound-light object by artist Milan Dobes used to be in the bar. Petrus also remembers this piece of art. However, it is no longer in the bar.

In its place, only a hole remains in the wall, said Petrus. If anyone has it at home, in a garage, I would be pleased if he or she would bring it back.

Oldies style and a retro look

After being extended by the smokers area, the bar will have a capacity of about 300-350 people. Petrus would like to draw into the bar those people who managed to enjoy its atmosphere in the past but also younger visitors.

During a certain period of time the Luna bar was one of the best bars in Bratislava, said Petrus.

Petrus promises a rich programme for visitors.

We will focus on retro and oldies styles as the whole space will remain authentic, he said. We will not play any techno or anything similar because this does not fit into this bar at all.

Petrus plans to re-open the bar in a grand style. He plans the Grand Opening for invited guests for March 31. Afterwards, on April 1, the bar will ceremonially open for the general public.

What will happen with Kamenne Square?

Though Petrus refused to specify how long he has rented the bar or investments he has made into its restoration, it seems that the time period is in his interest.

Otherwise I would not have gone into it, said Petrus.

Thus, the plans for resuscitating the bar indicate that the project for rebuilding of Kamenne Square is far from sight for now, even though such plans have been discussed for years.

Kamenne Square, despite being in the centre of the city and close to the core of its Old Town, is far from being a show-window of the capital.

Over the past 10 years there have been several plans put forth for its revitalisation  from its radical, complete rebuilding to a sensitive revitalisation. But none of the plans have materialised.

The developer, in cooperation with the city council, also planned to announce an architectural contest for the future look of Kamenne Square. But this has not happened so far.

Now, Bratislava city council promises to initiate an extensive discussion about the future use of the public space on the square.

The new look of Kamenne Square should result from an agreement between private owners of land, buildings on or near Kamenne Square, and the city of Bratislava which owns the public space on it.

We realise that to find a consensus on the new look of Kamenne Square will be complicated and that this will require cooperation of all affected sides, Ivana Skokanova, spokesperson of the city council told The Slovak Spectator. She did not specify the vision of the city council about what the square should look like.

In the meantime, the city council clinched, with the non-governmental Slovak Governance Institute (SGI) and via the so-called national project of participation, an agreement in which it wants to find out for what purposes the public space on the square should be used.

The project should start in April 2017 and will last 18 months, Ctibor Kostal of SGI specified for The Slovak Spectator. One of its results will be an elaboration of background papers for an architectural competition concerning the future look of the square.

The city owns less than 3,600 square metres of land on Kamenne Square. The private owner, the development company Lordship, owns more than 12,000 square metres of land and several buildings including the Kyjev Hotel.

Tesco Stores SR, operating the department store, owns some land on the square too. Tesco and Lordship, as owners of 90 percent of the land bordered by Rajska, Dunajska and Spitalska streets, announced in May 2014 the signing of a cooperation agreement, a part of which was an agreement on a joint course during revitalisation of this area.
Not our problem, say police, who blame cultural specifics and habits of foreigners.

Font size: A - | A +

Every working day, the area in front of the immigration office in Bratislava is filled with people trying to find their way in, locate the machine that issues queuing tickets, and navigate the throngs already resigned to spending most of their day in this drab corner of Petrzalka.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

Despite repeated promises by the authorities that waiting times and client handling processes at the office would improve, third-country nationals  citizens of countries from outside the European Union  who sometimes have to wait from the early hours in order to be sure of securing a meeting with a police officer, report little change.

This particular department of the Office of Border and Alien Police  which is the official English name of the immigration office, but is more commonly known as the foreigners police  is located on Hrobakova Street, in the middle of Petrzalka. It is the only place where foreigners living in Bratislava can process their residency-related papers.

Now, as well as the long queues in front of the office, these third-country nationals say they are having to deal with unofficial waiting lists which are being used to impose some kind of order in the queue before the office itself opens. The police deny any knowledge of such lists.

Read also:

Read also: Foreigners' police still 'nightmare' (video included) Read more

Police do not recognise waiting lists

Clients are handled based on the centralised automatic ticket system and not based on some kind of list created by foreigners waiting in front of the alien police department, Ivan Hambalek, deputy head of the Office of Border and Alien Police, told The Slovak Spectator.

Several foreigners that The Slovak Spectator spoke to, however, said they have experience with the unofficial waiting lists.

The lists are quite new, Jeff Kirk, a DJ and English teacher from the USA living in Slovakia since 2011, told The Slovak Spectator. He was visiting the office for the first time in about a year.

Kirk complains that even though clients of the office have reported the practice to the police, officers have done nothing about it.

Opinions differ

The lists are usually administered by a single person, who calls out names. People who have entered their names on these unofficial lists arrive shortly before the office on Hrobakova Street opens, jumping the queue of foreigners who have been waiting for longer.

Since there are no police officers present in front of the building, just an area where queuers congregate in front of the door, nobody can confirm who actually arrived at the office first, he added.

Visitors can only obtain a number from the official ticket-issuing machine after the office door is opened, by which time the queue has been organised.

Diogo Augusto Miranda, a medical student from Brazil, confirmed he has seen such a list.

I asked one of them if they were working for the police and they said no, that they were just organising and stuff  in other words, just making money out of the situation, Augusto Miranda said.

Moreover, he added that people who are not even on the list arrive just as the office is about to open, only for the list-makers to place them at the top of the list, ahead of those who have been waiting since very early in the morning.

Read also:

Read also: Foreigners sleep in front of alien police office (UPDATED) Read more

Bad or good?

Some people, however, welcome the practice as introducing at least a hint of organisation to the previous chaos. The Slovak Spectator spoke to one third-country national who actually signed onto the list. He said that there is a man who comes to the office and stays there to hold the place for several people. When foreigners whose names are on the list come, they just take his place.

The people responsible for the list stay in front of the building the whole night and take care of it. Anyone who turns up during the night can sign their name on the list and then come later, just before the police open the door, he said.

Kirk says that the people responsible for the lists are certainly hired by firms. These people even have bodyguards, he added.

Obviously, thats not the main problem, we all know that, but if it was already a terribly long wait before that, with those lists things got even worse, Augusto Miranda said. He hopes the police will find a way to finish with this circus.

Police respond to complaints

The police say there is not much they can do about it. A few days after public-service broadcaster RTVS first reported on the unofficial waiting lists, in mid-February, the police posted a short bilingual notice, saying they do not operate any list with the names of foreigners.

Every person has the right to get a ticket representing the exact time when the person came, the notice reads.

Moreover, the police say they carried out an inspection in front of the foreigners police building on Hrobakova Street on February 22.

During this check-up no waiting list circulated among foreigners, Hambalek said.

After opening the premises, foreigners can take a ticket from the queuing machine inside the office and wait until their number is posted, he added.

Hambalek stressed that not all the misunderstandings that occur in front of and inside the building of the immigration office can be solved within the competencies of the Interior Ministry or the Office of the Border and Alien Police.

It remains a mystery why other client points in Slovakia (handling registrations or drivers licences) do not experience the same problems as our department, Hambalek said. Perhaps this situation is partially caused also by the habits, cultural specifics and social ethics of some clients that they have brought from their native country.

Read also:

Read also: FAQ: EU Citizens - dealing with immigration authorities Read more

Few ways to avoid queues

There are some issues that foreigners can handle without having to visit the foreigners police office in person. Residency permits, once issued, can be sent by police to clients upon payment of a 3 fee.

The law, however, stipulates that any application for residency needs to be submitted in person, without any option to mail it, according to Hambalek.

We agree with the claim that the alien police department in Bratislava has been dealing with too many clients every day, and this number is increasing every year, Hambalek said.

The police say they are trying to adopt measures to tackle the problem, for example by increasing the number of police officers dealing with residency applications, and by separating the departments dealing with EU and non-EU citizens.

Moving to new premises?

Some readers have pointed out to The Slovak Spectator that the office assigned to deal with EU citizens also deals with foreigners from non-EU countries, like Canada.

Hambalek explains this could be the case for those who request permanent residence. The EU office is also assigned to deal with requests for permanent residence. However, most foreigners coming to the country request temporary residence.

Since the number of clients is expected to continue growing in the coming years, the Office of Border and Alien Police plans to move to bigger, more modern and more comfortable offices in Bratislava. The move has been postponed repeatedly and even now Hambalek says he cannot specify when it will happen.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirms that it has also received complaints about unofficial waiting lists in front of the immigration office. While the IOM declined to comment further about the situation, saying it did not have sufficient information, the head of IOM Bratislava office, Zuzana Vatralova, suggests that the process could be made smoother if foreigners or their representatives could make an appointment at the department in advance.
It seems to be the fate of military sites and objects in Bratislava that none of them were ever used for the purposes they were built for - cavernas from WWI, bunkers from WWII, nuclear shelters or the anti-aircraft missile base from the Cold War could never test their prowess.

Font size: A - | A +

Bratislava and its surroundings, the forests and fields, may appear somehow boring and lacking in places of interest to visit, however, hiding in their midst are many important sites and objects of historical military significance.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

Thanks to various volunteers, more and more of these important sites connected with recent defence systems of the city are being uncovered step-by step. Braislavas secrets are being revealed for the modern inquisitive eye. No, we do not speak about Bratislavas magnificent castle or the medieval walls, which used to serve military purposes long-ago, but rather about sites and objects from various decades of the 20th century (WWI, WWII, "Cold War").

Chronologically, we shall mention the caverns from the First World War (WWI). These were built by the Austrian-Hungarian Army (the territory of Slovakia being a part of Austrian-Hungarian empire) against the expected invasion of the Russian Army. However the Russian Imperial forces never came near Bratislava, so they never experienced actual combat. You can find them in various hilly locations like Lamac, Sitina or Dlhe Diely in the predominantly deciduous forests. Some of them are unaccessible, some of them have been cleaned recently or they are being cleaned by volunteers now. One of these is located close to the famous Kamzik TV Tower on the hill of the same name.

A core interest for military enthusiasts in Bratislava are more recent concrete "shelters" - bunkers from 1930's built by the Czechoslovak Army against the imminent invasion of Hilters German military forces. Presently, the city of Bratislava borders two adjoining countries - Austria and Hungary. However, the town limits in 1930s were different though and Petrzalka (in German Engerau) was a separate village. Some of the bunkers, in Petrzalka as well as near Devinska Nova Ves are now at the edge of the city as well as at the edge of the country. Although built against Nazi German forces, these objects were used by the Germans themselves during the war due to fact that some parts of Bratislava became a part of German Reich in 1938. They were returned to Czechoslovakia just after the war and became part of the Iron Curtain area during the Communist regime, with entrance forbidden to the general public.

Read also:

Read also: Blog: Pressburg, Pozsony or Post-communism - what is Bratislava? Read more

Another category of military sites are the nuclear shelters, most of them built in 1950's and 1960's. The ones in Bratislava were prepared for roughly 40 000 people. The most important one was supposed to serve the highest Communist leaders. However, one nuclear shelter with a capacity for several hundred people now serves as a music club with suitable name Subclub (formerly U-club). It is located under the ground, inside the castle hill and has been in operation since 1993. If you are energetic enough through to the early morning hours of a Friday and Saturday, this is the place to be. The other part of the structure is used as a shooting hall.

(Source: Authentic Slovakia)

One of the newest military objects in the territory of Bratislava was built ironically just a few years before the fall of Iron Curtain. The anti-aircraft missile base on the top of Devinska Kobyla Mt. was built in early 1980's to protect the Slovak capital city against potential invasion from the West. Some 150 soldiers spent several years in-situ. After the fall of communism in 1989, the army started to leave the area gradually (for a period leaving just one last security guard and his dog). Interestingly, just a few years ago it was still forbidden for the general public to enter. Now the gate is gone and no more signs stop you from entering. Presently, the abandonded huge hangars, as well as the administration building, are inviting spots for graffiti painters or paintballers.

It seems to be the fate of military sites and objects in Bratislava that none of them were ever used for the purposes they were built for - cavernas from WWI, bunkers from WWII, nuclear shelters or the anti-aircraft missile base from the Cold War could never test their prowess. We can just hope people will always be allowed to use them for different interests other than the military ones for which they were first designed.

Peter Chrenka is one of the founders of Authentic Slovakia, offering guided tours beyond the ordinary.
George Louis (1660-1727) became the King of Great Britain and Ireland despite some unusual circumstances. He was German born and bred and couldnt speak a word of English. There were at least 50 other people with closer blood ties to the throne than him but as he was the only one who was a Protestant - and the 1701 Act of Settlement prohibited Catholics from ascending the British throne - he got the job. He arrived in England from Hanover in 1714 with two cooks and two mistresses and on the 20th of October of the same year was crowned in Westminster Abbey. There was muted celebration and a number of riots. He really wasnt popular.

In 1682 George married the beautiful Sophia Dorothea of Celle but it wasnt the happiest of marriages. The trouble started before they had even met. When Sophia first heard that she was to marry George she shouted I will not marry that pig snout! and threw a miniature of him against the wall. Things didnt improve when they did finally get together. She fainted. She fainted again on meeting her future mother-in-law.

George seemed happy enough with the marriage plan because it guaranteed him an additional income of 100,000 thalers a year - a large amount of money at the time. His mother was happy too

One hundred thousand thalers a year is a goodly sum to pocket, without speaking of a pretty wife, who will find a match in my son George Louis, the most pigheaded, stubborn boy who ever lived, who has round his brains such a thick crust that I defy any man or woman ever to discover what is in them. He does not care much for the match itself, but one hundred thousand thalers a year have tempted him as they would have tempted anybody else.

His new wife Sophia Dorothea was an attractive but uncouth woman. She had no manners, didnt understand court etiquette and worse than that she had a lover, the dashing Count Philip Christophe von Konigsmarck. George and Sophia fought bitterly over her infidelity - and his too.. George would leap on her, tearing out her hair and trying to strangle her, forgetting perhaps that he had two mistresses of his own - a tall, thin one and a short plump one, the pair of them earning the nickname Elephant and Castle.

The arrival of the second mistress in Georges life, the Castle of the Elephant and Castle pairing, was not announced in a particularly discreet or sensitive way. No private letters or quiet words for George. He simply stood up at a ball held at Herrenhausen in Germany and told everybody. Sophia who was also at the ball was so offended and insulted by this affront that she immediately scuttled home to her father who was living just up the road in Celle. Daddy was not amused by her behaviour and sent her back to George without delay. This new woman in Georges life was another German, Melusine von der Schulenburg, a tall, skinny and unattractive woman described by one contemporary writer as of a lank bony hideousness that was later to distinguish her in England.

Undeterred George 1st installed her in Kendal House just off the Twickenham Road in Isleworth and opposite where the West Middlesex hospital now stands. The local Isleworthians, noticing her lank bony hideousness, immediately dubbed her The Maypole which was marginally better perhaps than her German nickname The Scarecrow!

George and Melusine, who enjoyed the title the Duchess of Kendal, seemed to get on very well indeed, prompting Robert Walpole to say that she was as much the Queen of England as anyone was.

Melusine, who bore the King three illegitimate children, was an avaricious woman who made a good living selling public titles, offices and patent rights. These included the licence to supply Ireland with a new copper currency. Melusine sold the licence to William Wood, a Wolverhampton merchant, who flooded the country with an inferior, debased coinage. He got a bad reputation. She got 10,000.

George and Sophia divorced in 1694 on account of her alleged adultery and Sophia was imprisoned on the Kings command in Leineschloss Castle in Germany. Unfortunately her relationship with the dashing and multi-named Count Philip Christophe von Konigsmarck ended in the same year when he mysteriously disappeared during a futile attempt to help her escape. The rumour was that he was murdered on King Georges instruction. In August 2016 a human skeleton believed to be the bones of Konigsmarck was found under the Leineschloss castle during a renovation project.

King George eventually died on 11th June 1727. He was never a popular monarch for a number of reasons - his inability to speak English, the widely reported greed of Melusine and the rumoured ill treatment of his wife. For all that he was seen by most of his subjects as a better alternative to the Roman Catholic Pretender James

His heart was in Hanover He was more than fifty years of age when he came amongst us: we took him because we wanted him, because he served our turn; we laughed at his uncouth German ways, and sneered at him. He took our loyalty for what it was worth; laid hands on what money he could; kept us assuredly from Popery I, for one, would have been on his side in those days. Cynical and selfish, as he was, he was better than a (catholic) king out of St. Germains [James, the Stuart Pretender] with the French kings orders in his pocket, and a swarm of Jesuits in his train.

William Makepeace Thackeray

One of the abiding stories about George and Melusine concerned the promise he made that if he died before she did he would return from the dead and pay her a visit. Melusine so believed him that on those odd occasions when a raven or any other large black bird crashed into the windows of her house in Isleworth she was fully persuaded that it was the soul of her beloved monarch and would treat the injured bird with tenderness and respect.
Apple CEO Tim Cook

Getty Images News

Apple has submitted a legal document to the European Court of Justice arguing that the European Commission's investigation into its tax affairs in Ireland was based on "fundamental errors," The Financial Times (FT) first reported.

Last August, the commission ordered Apple to pay Ireland 13 billion (11 billion) after it found that the Cupertino company had a favourable tax regime in the country that constituted to illegal state aid.

In the document, published by the European Courts of Justice on Monday, Apple makes 14 pleas in its appeal against the commission's finding.

Apple's two main claims are:

Brussels made fundamental errors when interpreting a) the Irish tax law and b) how Apple makes its profits. The investigation was unfair.

The pleas specifically claim that the commission failed to conduct "a diligent and impartial investigation" and that it breached the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Apple argues that the commission did not give it the "right to good administration" because it failed to sufficiently explain how it reached its verdict.

Margrethe Vestager

ReutersAt the time of the ruling, Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition commissioner, said: "Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies  this is illegal under EU state aid rules.

"The commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years. In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1% on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 per cent in 2014."

Vestager said in Ireland last month: "The rules on state aid and special tax treatment have been clear for a long time. What has changed recently is that multinational companies have been pushing the boundaries of aggressive tax planning."

A spokesperson for the European Commission told Business Insider: "The Commission will defend its decision in court."

Story continues

Apple and the European Courts of Justice did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

These are Apple's 14 pleas:

1. First plea in law, alleging that the Commission erred in its interpretation of Irish law.

 The applicants consider that as non-resident Irish companies, they were only liable to Irish corporation tax under Section 25 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 on chargeable profits attributable to activities performed by their Irish branches. The Opinions properly reflected the branches chargeable profits and did not therefore confer an advantage. The Commission also erred by finding that profit allocation under Section 25 must be under the arms length principle (the ALP).

2. Second plea in law, alleging that the ALP does not operate as the test for State aid in tax assessments under Article 107 TFEU.

 The Commission was wrong to find that Article 107(1) TFEU required Ireland to calculate the applicants taxable profits under Section 25 in accordance with the Commissions ALP.

3. Third plea in law, alleging that the Commission made fundamental errors relating to the applicants activities outside of Ireland.

 The Commission made fundamental errors by failing to recognise that the applicants profit-driving activities, in particular the development and commercialisation of intellectual property (Apple IP), were controlled and managed in the United States. The profits from those activities were attributable to the United States, not Ireland. The Commission wrongly considered only the minutes of the applicants board meetings and ignored all other evidence of activities.

4. Fourth plea in law, alleging that the Commission made fundamental errors relating to the applicants activities in Ireland.

 The Commission failed to recognise that the Irish branches carried out only routine functions and were not involved in the development and commercialisation of Apple IP which drove profits.

5. Fifth plea in law, alleging that the Commissions presumptions are contrary to the burden of proof, OECD guidelines and unanimous expert evidence; the conclusion is self-contradictory.

 The Commission presumed that all of the applicants critical profit-making activities were attributable to the Irish branches without properly assessing the evidence, including extensive expert evidence showing that the profits were not attributable to activities in Ireland.

6. Sixth plea in law, alleging that the applicants were treated in the same way as other non-resident taxpayers in Ireland and were not afforded selective treatment.

 The Commission failed to prove selectivity: it has wrongly treated the applicants as if they were Irish resident companies and as if they should be taxed on their worldwide profits.

7. Seventh plea in law, alleging that the primary line must be annulled for a breach of an essential procedural requirement.

 The opening decision did not articulate the primary line of reasoning. If it had, Apple would have been able to present evidence which could and should have changed the outcome.

8. Eighth plea in law, alleging that there were errors of fact and assessment in the Commissions application of the TNMM to the Irish branches under the subsidiary line.

 The Commissions subsidiary line wrongly rejects expert evidence and fails to articulate what a correct profit attribution analysis would be.

9. Ninth plea in law, alleging that the alternative line is vitiated by breach of essential procedural requirements and manifest error of assessment.

 The Commission was wrong to compare the opinions with other opinions issued by Irish Revenue to third parties since the factual circumstances were different.

10.Tenth plea in law, alleging that the subsidiary and alternative lines do not enable calculation of a recovery amount.

 The decision does not contain any explanation of how much is to be recovered under the subsidiary or alternative lines, contrary to State aid rules and the principle of legal certainty.

11. Eleventh plea in law, alleging that the Commission violated the principles of legal certainty and non-retroactivity by ordering recovery of the alleged aid.

12. Twelfth plea in law, alleging a failure to conduct a diligent and impartial investigation.

13. Thirteenth plea in law, alleging a breach of Article 296 TFEU and Article 41(2)(c) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

14. Fourteenth plea in law, alleging that the decision exceeds the Commissions competence under Article 107(1) TFEU.

 The Commission has violated legal certainty by ordering recovery under an unforeseeable interpretation of State aid law; failed to examine all relevant evidence contrary to its obligation of due diligence; failed to reason the decision adequately; and exceeded its competence under Article 107 TFEU by attempting to redesign Irelands corporate tax system.

NOW WATCH: Super strong waterproof tape claims to stop the toughest leaks

See Also:
Bosnia has formally lodged its request at The Hague for a review of a UN court ruling that cleared Serbia of genocide in the 1990s. The 2007 judgement by the International Court of Justice exonerated it of direct responsibility for killings, rapes and ethnic-cleansing in Bosnia during the break-up of Yugoslavia. The intention of the revision is to establish the truth about what happened more than 20 years ago and (reveal the) involvement and responsibility Slobodan Milosevics regime had, said Bakir Izetbegovic, Muslim Bosniak member of the Bosnian tripartite presidency. Bosnian Serbs have condemned the move, with politicians threatening to block the work of the federal parliament in Sarajevo. Mladen Ivanic, a Serb member of Bosnian presidency, commented: Throughout my mandate, I did my best to prove that we have to look into the future. That we should leave behind things that we cant agree upon. The 2007 ruling concluded that genocide had occurred only at Srebrenica, where around eight-thousand Muslims were killed by Bosnian Serb forces, and not in other parts of Bosnia. While Serbia was cleared of genocide, it was also ruled that it had failed to prevent it.
ATHENS/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Greece said on Friday it was expecting an extradition request from Turkey for two Turkish soldiers who have claimed asylum and are suspected by Ankara of links to last year's failed coup attempt. The naval commandoes are accused of being members of a team that attempted to assassinate President Tayyip Erdogan on the night of July 15, a Turkish security official told Reuters. Eight other members of the Turkish military flew to Greece by helicopter last year in the aftermath of the failed attempt to topple President Tayyip Erdogan. Greece's top court has declined to extradite them, in a case which has strained relations between NATO allies Greece and Turkey. "We would expect that Turkey will submit an extradition request (for the two) ... this case looks a lot more serious," a Greek government official said, without giving details. The Turkish security official confirmed that was likely but did not say whether the request had been formally submitted. "They have been on the run since (the coup) and are being sought," the security official said, giving their names as Fatih Arik and Halit Cetin. He confirmed that Turkish authorities were in touch with their Greek counterparts over the issue. The two men, former members of a special operations unit in Turkey's navy, have been held at an undisclosed location in northern Greece since applying for asylum on Feb. 20. MASS ARRESTS Since the failed coup, which Ankara says was orchestrated by U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, some 40,000 people have been arrested in Turkey and more than 100,000 sacked or suspended from the military, civil service and private sector. Gulen denies the allegations. The trial of 47 Turkish soldiers charged with attempting to kill Erdogan during the failed coup is under way in the southern city of Mugla, near the luxury resort where Erdogan and his family evaded the soldiers, fleeing in a helicopter before their hotel was raided. Three of those suspects are being tried in absentia. Arik and Cetin are not part of that indictment, according to a copy obtained by Reuters. "They initially claimed doing different professions ... when we ascertained their identity, we realised they were members of the military," a Greek police official told Reuters. Greece's defence minister Panos Kammenos told Ant1 TV: "Greece condemned the coup attempt from its inception, and from there on it's Greece's courts which will decide, based on Greek laws and international conventions, the extradition or not of someone who seeks asylum." (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Lefteris Papadimas and Michele Kambas; Editing by Andrew Roche)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Irans Supreme Leader called on Palestinians on Tuesday to pursue an uprising against Israel, suggesting the Israeli government was a "cancerous tumor" that should be confronted until Palestinians were completely liberated. "... by Allahs permission, we will see that this intifada will begin a very important chapter in the history of fighting and that it will inflict another defeat on that usurping regime," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, according to his website. The Supreme Leaders bellicose comments, made during a two-day conference in Tehran focused on its support for the Palestinians, come at a time of increasingly heated rhetoric between Iran, Israel and the United States. While on a visit to Washington last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News that Israel and the United States had a "grand mission" to confront the threat of a nuclear Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump has already been highly critical of a deal hammered out between Iran and world powers, including the United States, in 2015 intended to partially lift sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Iran says its program is for purely peaceful means. When Iran carried out a ballistic missile test in late January, Trumps then national security adviser Mike Flynn said the administration was putting Iran "on notice". Ordinary Iranians have been posting their concerns about a possible military confrontation between Iran and the United States on social media. Khamenei did not mention any Iranian military attack against Israel in his comments on Tuesday and was focused on gains that Palestinians could make in any confrontation with Israel, which he described as tumor developing into "the current disaster". "The Palestinian intifada continues to gallop forward in a thunderous manner so that it can achieve its other goals until the complete liberation of Palestine," he said, according to the transcript of the speech posted on his website. (Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Alison Williams)
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Militants ambushed an army patrol in Niger on Thursday, killing 15 soldiers and wounding 19, the Defense Ministry said, occurring in an area near the border with Mali where violent Islamists have been seeking to expand their reach. "A search operation is underway to neutralise the terrorists," the ministry statement said of the attack just outside the town of Tiloa. Militants and allied criminal gangs have long exploited the areas around the vast, desert border between Mali and Niger to launch attacks, even after a French-led military intervention pushed insurgent groups back from northern Mali in 2013. Attacks in Niger are much rarer than in Mali, although militants in the past year have been expanding across borders in the fragile Sahel region into Niger and Burkina Faso. Gunmen riding motor bikes and other vehicles raided a village and killed five soldiers in Niger in November. Assailants kidnapped a U.S. aid worker in central Niger a month earlier. (Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By My Pham HANOI (Reuters) - "This is my husband," said 94-year-old Nguyen Thi Xuan, holding up a pillow wrapped in a Vietnamese flag, with a Japanese army shirt pushed inside. She sleeps with it every night. Xuan is among the few surviving widows of Japanese soldiers who were shipped home in the aftermath of World War II, many never to see their Vietnamese families again. Next week, Japan's 83-year-old Emperor Akihito will meet some of the widows and their descendants, during one of many trips he has made to soothe the wounds of the war. The story of the Vietnamese-Japanese families charts the ups and downs of the countries' ties at a time they are being brought closer by shared concern over the rise of China. While many Vietnamese resented Japan's occupation in 1940, less bloody than many of its other conquests, some also saw it as a step to ending French colonial rule in Indochina. Of more than one million Vietnamese deaths during the occupation, most were due to famine blamed on French and Japanese administrators rather than violence. Some, like Xuan, fell in love. "He spoke really good Vietnamese and often whispered Vietnamese songs," Xuan says of her husband, eyes twinkling. They married in 1945, after Japan's defeat, when about 100,000 Japanese soldiers were stationed in Indochina. Rather than return home, he stayed among some 600 former soldiers recruited by liberation leader Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh to bring military expertise to fight the French. About half the Japanese died in fighting or from disease, but when the Viet Minh beat the French in 1954, the Vietnamese government decided the survivors should be sent home. TORN APART Xuan's husband was in the first group of 71 soldiers to go home in 1954. They were not allowed to take families. Others left in 1961 and could take families, but by then some had had children with more than one wife. Some had to be left behind. The final goodbye to her father is burned in the memory of 63-year-old Nguyen Thi Van. "He promised to come back and pick us up. But he never could," she said. He died seven years after returning to Japan. The separated families struggled. Japanese blood was no asset when war broke out between Ho Chi Minh's communist North and the United States, now Japan's ally. "They called me a Japanese fascist and then we fought," said Nguyen Xuan Phi, Xuan's oldest son, describing his school days. The situation improved after the communist victory over the United States in 1975. The end of the Cold War brought a rapid improvement in relations with Japan. Japan has been Vietnam's biggest aid donor over four decades, Vietnam's investment promotion agency says. For private investment, it ranks second to South Korea. Both Vietnam and Japan have maritime territorial disputes with China and fear its growing regional weight. Both also back the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, whose future is in doubt after U.S. withdrawal. Although Akihito has no political power, his overseas trips often have diplomatic overtones. His first visit to Vietnam follows one in January by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who promised Vietnam six new coastguard patrol vessels, among other things. Akihito's visit will begin on Tuesday. After Xuan's husband left, she never had another relationship, she said. In 2005, the two were briefly reunited when he and his Japanese family came to visit. "I felt contented to see him again, though only once," Xuan said. "The past is past. Now is the time to move on." (Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
LIMA (Reuters) - The first Latin American leader to visit U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House said on Friday that he told Trump he prefers bridges to walls and favours the free movement of people across borders. However, Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski declined to comment specifically on Trump's proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking in a press conference following the meeting. "I don't want to get into the wall," Kuczynski, a former Wall Street investment banker said in a video distributed by his office. "We're interested in the free movement of people ... I emphasized that to President Trump and we prefer bridges to walls." Kuczynski has previously likened Trump's wall proposal to the Berlin Wall and once joked that he would cut off ties with the United States if Trump were elected president. Kuczynski later congratulated Trump on his surprise electoral victory and described their talk on Friday as "cordial and constructive." Trump called Peru, a country of 30 million in South America, "a fantastic neighbor" and said it was an honour to have Kuczynski in the White House, according to video showing the two posing for pictures after the meeting. Kuczynski said the two leaders only briefly discussed Peru's fugitive former President Alejandro Toledo, whom Peru had asked Trump to deport from the United States under a provision of migratory law that allows for deportations to preserve diplomatic ties. "This is a matter of the judiciary that was not discussed for more than a few seconds," Kuczynski said of Toledo. Up until a week ago, Kuczynski's centrist government had seen deporting Toledo as a better alternative to a potentially lengthy process of Peru's judiciary seeking his arrest and eventual extradition. Toledo is wanted in connection with a far-reaching graft probe and has denied prosecutors' allegations that he took $20 million in bribes from Brazilian builder Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL]. In discussing migration, Kuczynski said he emphasized to Trump that only 70 Peruvians out of 1 million living in the United States are in jail, 200,000 of whom are there illegally. "Peru has not exported criminals to the United States," Kuczynski said. "They're nurses, they're doctors, they're all sorts of people." (Reporting by Mitra Taj; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Lisa Shumaker)
WATCH: PokerStars Top 5 Hollywood Hands

February 24 2017 PokerNews Staff

Sometimes in life, stories seem to perfect even for Hollywood. That holds true in the poker world as well. The crazy action, all the bad beats and royal flushes we've witnessed over the years, don't even seem real sometimes.

Well, PokerStars went through their extensive video archive and tracked down the five craziest hands for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

5. Three in One

In the Prague Main Event in 2015, Chris Walker open-shoved for 985,000 under the gun. The extremely short-stacked Marc Macdonnell opted to call off his last 165,000.

Ilkin Amirov called from the cutoff and then Javier Gomez moved all in over the top for 2.58 million in the big blind.

For those who arent paying attention, thats a four-way all in with three players at risk.

And then, boom. A triple elimination just as quick from Amirov. The dealer burned one last time and put out a six. Amirovs kings held.

My telephone was bursting after that pot, Amirov said. I dont think Ill ever forget that pot.

4. Quads are Good

On Poker After Dark, Phil Ivey and Huck Seed were heads up playing for a winner-take-all prize of $600,000. Seed held a pair of eights on the button. He raised to 20,000. Ivey held a pocket pair of sixes and re-raised. Seed went all in and Ivey called.

It was over just as quickly as it started. Seed flopped two eights to secure the win.

3. Royalties

At the PCA, Paul Tedeschi was all in with a set of queens on a flop against Fabian Chauriye Rabah and Phillip McAllister, with the latter two involved in a side pot. The betting continued on the turn, and then the completed the board. Rabah bet 300,000 on the river and McAllister went all in.

I know that youre sick but I dont know if youre that sick, Rabah said.

McAllister told him to flip a coin. Rabah made a wise decision.

2. Fortunes Turned

In 2012 in Barcelona, five players saw a flop of and fireworks ensued. Aleksandrs Poplavskis bet 6,500. Rune Nikolaisen called. Vladimir Troyanovskiy went all in. Poplavskis reshoved, and Troyanovskiy called to create a massive pot. Poplavskis had the best of it with a flopped full house, but a ten on the turn improved Nikolaisen to a better full house. Then a jack on the river gave the pot to Troyanovskiy, who improved to queens full of jacks. You can't even make that up.

1. No Subtitles Needed

At the Brazilian Series of Poker, Ricardo Santana went all in on a board of , putting Ciro Gomes at risk for all of his chips. Gomes called and discovered that his set of kings was behind Santana's set of aces. Then the river revealed a king, giving Gomes the one-outer for quads.

Sharelines These hands seem too good to be true.
As soon as he came to the United States, according to court documents, Mahmoud Elhassan was looking for supporters of Islamist terrorism groups.

One of our forgotten prisoners, the Sudanese immigrant wrote on Facebook of a man convicted in a bombing plot. I wished to work with him one day, but the 1st day I came to the states I found that the disbelievers imprisoned him.

In 2014, Elhassan messaged a radical Sudanese cleric, saying, Here with you is a sleeper cell. He asked to be connected to like-minded young men, saying, I am feeling that I am alone and I dont have anyone but the brothers on the internet.

But the supposed ally the cleric found for Elhassan was actually an FBI informant. When he tried to help another man, Joseph Farrokh, travel to Syria, both were arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges. Elhassan, 26, will be sentenced Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

Elhassan, who lived in Woodbridge, admitted that he drove Farrokh to the Richmond Airport and then lied to agents about his friends plans. At first he appeared to be an accessory to Farrokhs plans. But prosecutors now say Elhassan was the instigator, having been radicalized long before the two met. Before his sentencing, Farrokh wrote in court filings that his allegiance to the Islamic State was shallow and brief, spurred by personal problems. He was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison.

Elhassans attorneys say he, too, was shaped by trauma. His father was abusive, according to his court filings, and his mother fled with her children to Egypt. They all made it to the United States as legal residents by 2012, but his mother died two years later. About the same time, the father of a woman Elhassan hoped to marry rejected his proposal. All along, he suffered from severe kidney and liver problems that have caused periodic hospitalizations.

The timing and particular circumstances of Mr. Elhassans conduct when viewed in the context of the emotional upheaval he was experiencing at the time of the offense, particularly his undiagnosed and untreated depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and perfect storm of tragic family circumstances can explain  but cannot justify  how he was drawn into such a simplistic and naive fundamentalist worldview at the heart of the resulting conduct, his attorneys wrote.

They ask for a sentence of four to six years; prosecutors want Elhassan to be behind bars far longer.

Childhood abuse cannot be an excuse for aligning with and supporting a terrorist organization, they wrote in their sentencing filing. Drawing a causal connection between childhood abuse and terrorism does a grave disservice to victims of child abuse.

The maximum sentence for Elhassans crimes is 28 years.
A warrant to search a Ford Expedition that a suspect tried to carjack before he and the victim were shot by police identifies the officers who fired their weapons.

Albuquerque police officers Mel Acata, Paul Bellgardt and James Ortiz all shot at Lee Brandenburg, who was trying to flee from police and carjack a Santa Fe woman, according to the warrant.

Brandenburg was shot in both his legs and Becky Nottke, of Santa Fe, was shot in her left leg, according to the warrant. Both survived.

Celina Espinoza, a police spokeswoman, said that all three officers have returned to active duty.

Brandenburg, 41, remained jailed on Thursday in connection to several felony cases against him, according to jail records.

Around noon on Feb. 10, a bail bondsman called police to report that Brandenburg had pointed a gun at him and fled from a motel in the 5000 block of Ellison NE. The bondsman was trying to take Brandenburg into custody after skipping on his bond but, when confronted, Brandenburg pointed a firearm at his own head and then at the bondsman, and fled, according to the search warrant affidavit, which was filed in the 2nd Judicial District court on Thursday.

The affidavit said police in the area spotted Brandenburg, who ran toward the Cracker Barrel in the 5400 block of San Antonio NE. Brandenburg kept pointing his weapon at his own head when police gave him orders.

He then ran to a nearby parking lot where he first tried to steal a mans Audi A3, then a Chevy Corvette that was locked and then he started pounding on the window of a Ford Expedition Nottke was driving.

Thats when Acata, Bellgardt and Ortiz discharged their firearms towards Mr. Brandenburg and stopped his actions, according to the affidavit.

The document doesnt say how many times the officers fired. The Expedition was marked with bullet holes and its back window was broken.

The warrant is seeking proof of ownership, bullets and fragments, blood and trace evidence, and to photograph evidence.

The shooting marked the third time Albuquerque police officers have fired their weapons on duty in 2017. Officers shot and killed Gilbert Lovato, who police were trying to arrest, on Jan. 7 and, on Jan. 26, police shot at and missed Moses Hernandez.
Insurance Back European Commission: The price cap of MTPL premiums in ROMANIA is not in line with EU law

The European Commission pointed out in the most recent Country Report that the Romanian Government decision regarding the maximum tariffs for the mandatory car insurance premiums (MTPL) is not in line with the EU legislation, including the provisions of the Solvency II Directive.



"This intervention in the price setting of insurance premiums in the absence of a general system of price control does not appear to be in line with EU law, in particular with the provisions of the Solvency II directive", as the European Commission stated in the report.



At the same time, "the measure is also likely to aggravate current distortions and put further pressure, in the short term, on the profit generation capacity of insurers".



Last year, the Romanian Government decided to introduce maximum tarrifs for MTPL policies. The tarrifs were calculated by the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) and take into account on the engine capacity, the car type and owner's age. These maximum prices (which became effective on 17 November 2016) are applied for a period of six months, as the Government decided.



"The cap on insurance premiums, which became effective on 17 November 2016, was triggered by the increase in these premiums inter alia due to measures taken to address shortcomings identified during the 2015 balance sheet review and stress test. The government argues that the increase is the corollary of a distortion in competition as two main insures exited the market and passed an emergency ordinance to cap the insurance premiums for 6 months. The maximum caps on the premiums were calibrated by the Financial Supervisory Authority and adopted by government decision in November 2016".



At the same time, the European Commission states that the initiative of the Chamber of Deputies where were proposed changes to the legal framework of ASF, breaks the rules of international best practice.



"The Chamber of Deputies initiated a proposal to amend the legal framework of the Financial Supervisory Authority. The proposal includes new provisions on revoking the mandate of the Authority's board members, which is not in line with international good practices and have implications for supervisory independence. In addition, Parliament launched the procedure to revoke the mandate of the President (Misu NEGRITOIU) of the Financial Supervisory Authority following measures taken after the 2015 balance sheet review and stress test of the insurance sector to address shortcomings related to compulsory car insurance. This is an indication of political pressure brought in response to supervisory actions and limits the independence of supervisors".





Author: Vlad BOLDIJAR on 23.02.2017





Archive



Comment this article

0 comments



Atention! "Comment" and "E-mail" are mandatory

Name:



If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered If you are not logged on, your name will appear preceded by '(Anonymous)'. For authentication, click here If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered E-mail:

Comment:

< 10.000 car.

Fill in the code from the image:








BETHESDA, Md.  Tim Bonds first heard the stories about the bones in the late 1960s, from construction workers who came to his fathers gas station in Bethesda, for a cold drink or a quick game of craps.

Change was stirring along this quiet stretch of River Road, home to a century-old community founded by freed slaves and known today as Westbard. The crews were excavating the future site of a 15-story apartment and office tower across from the new Westwood Shopping Center.

When they found a body, recalled Bonds, 57, theyd blow a whistle, and theyd shut the job down.

It seemed to him that the whistle blew pretty often. He remembers the men talking about human remains being pushed back under the dirt, down a steep slope toward a storm sewer, so excavation could resume more quickly. He and his pals sometimes slipped over to the site hoping for a glimpse of something ghoulish. But they never saw anything.

For a half-century, such stories were mostly forgotten. Then plans for new construction led to fresh details about the cemetery that historians say once stood on land behind the high-rise, and painful questions about what may have happened to the remains buried there.

The issue has pitted Montgomery County, Maryland, officials and the prospective developer against a tiny Baptist church whose members fear history will once again be bulldozed, this time to make way for an aboveground parking garage near proposed high-rises, townhouses and a revamped shopping center.

The county and the developer, New York-based Equity One, have promised to work with the community, and say no plans will be approved for the site until an archaeological investigation is complete. But members of Macedonia Baptist Church, the last standing vestige of the former black enclave, want to halt the process until Equity One agrees to include a museum about the former African-American enclave in its project.

It should be a place of reflection and a place for people to meditate about how important it is to preserve human rights, said Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, head of Macedonias social justice ministry. We need to memorialize this experience so that our children have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes.



The neighborhood that would become Westbard was home in the late 19th century to African-Americans who had worked on Montgomery Countys farms and tobacco plantations since before the Civil War.

By the 1950s, according to research by the Little Falls Watershed Alliance, about 30 families lived on the sloping terrain by the old Georgetown branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which would later become the Capital Crescent Trail. They farmed, worked as laborers or domestics in the nearby white neighborhood of Somerset, or toiled at Bethesda Blue Granite Co.s quarry near Willett Branch.

What I tell my grandkids, it was just like a lost colony, said Harvey Matthews Sr., 72, whose family farm was located in the area.

When I travel around the country and people ask where I was born, I tell them, Bethesda,  added Matthews, who recalls playing hide-and-seek at the cemetery as a boy. And they say, There were black people in Bethesda? 

There were also ballfields, a segregated elementary school and a tavern called the Sugar Bowl. And, according to research conducted by the county in preparing a new land-use plan for Westbard  deeds, state archives, the Congressional Record and old newspaper accounts  there was, at one time, a cemetery.

Historians with the Montgomery County Parks and Planning departments cite a 1911 tax assessment that shows the purchase of a one-acre parcel west of River Road, which includes what is now the parking lot behind Westwood Tower.

The buyer was Whites Tabernacle No. 39, a chapter of a black fraternal society called the Ancient Order of the Sons and Daughters, Brothers and Sisters of Moses. A notation on the assessment says used as a graveyard, and newspaper clippings say that James Loughborough, a prominent land owner and Confederate veteran, presented the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners in 1911 with a petition opposing a black burial ground at River Road.

At around the same time it purchased the River Road land, Whites Tabernacle sold a cemetery it owned in the Fort Reno section of Tenleytown. A 1914 Washington Post article mentioned a bill pending before the House of Representatives to allow disinterment of the Tenleytown graves. A later article said the site contained 192 bodies. In a 2015 report marked confidential, county senior planner Sandra Youla said the River Road site likely contained remains disinterred from the Tenleytown cemetery.

The society sold the cemetery in 1959, around the time that the African-American families of Westbard began to sell their land and scatter. Historians have been unable to document what happened to the graves.

River Road, meanwhile, started to boom. One of the most active builders was Laszlo Tauber, a Hungarian-Jewish surgeon and Holocaust survivor who made much of his fortune constructing office space to lease to the federal government. He headed a syndicate of other physician-investors that bought land in Westbard.

In 1966, Tauber developed plans for the high-rise, designed by prominent Washington, D.C., architect John dEpagnier. The upper floors would be apartments, the lower levels the offices of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

DEpagnier died in 1977. In 2015, county parks department researchers borrowed documents about the Westwood Tower project from his son Arnold, as part of their work on the land-use plan. On the day senior historian Jamie Kuhns and cultural resources manager Joey Lampl returned the materials, Arnold DEpagnier offered them his own memories of when the high-rise was built.

According to notes written by Kuhns and Lampl after the conversation, dEpagnier recalled riding a pickup truck with his father and a family priest, taking burlap bags with bones from the construction site to Howard Chapel, a historically black cemetery in rural northern Montgomery.

The priest and young Arnold fished in a nearby creek while his father dug a makeshift grave, according to the notes, which are on file at the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The architect buried the remains, and the priest blessed them.

DEpagnier recanted his story a year later, as Macedonia reviewed the countys historical findings and began pushing to memorialize the cemetery. I cannot say with any certainty that my vague recollections . . . are in any way accurate, he said in an email to Lampl. I recommend that you not consider any of those details as part of your work on this matter.

In an email to The Post, he wrote, I truly regret ever casually trying to recall my memories from so long ago.

Tauber died in 2002, at age 87. A spokesman for the charitable foundation run by his children, Ingrid and Alfred Tauber, said they have no recollection of their father mentioning a gravesite on the land his group had purchased.

All company documents related to Westwood Tower were shredded in 2015, 10 years after Tauber sold the building to a New York real estate investor. Equity One bought it in 2013, for $25 million.



Quiet disposal of remains was illegal but not unusual in the 1960s, experts in cemetery restoration say, especially in places where countryside became suburb and suburb became city.

In Alexandria, Virginia, the original Contrabands and Freedmens Cemetery was first disturbed by 19th-century brickmakers digging for clay. Roads and a gas station were built later. Construction of the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge  a federally funded project subject to preservation laws  led to the restoration of the cemetery and creation of a three-acre memorial dedicated in 2014.

While the Westbard plan does not use federal dollars, it coincides with a surge of interest in recognizing such sacred places, and, perhaps, a new willingness by governments to preserve them.

Equity One Executive Vice President William Brown said the firm stands ready to cooperate with the county and the church: Were not trying to do anything to desecrate remains or cover anything up.

The firm is close to hiring the Ottery Group, a cultural resource consulting firm, to examine the parking lot for evidence of graves. Montgomery Planning Director Gwen Wright said she is speaking with two prominent anthropologists about serving as independent peer reviewers of Otterys work.

Officials promise no construction will be approved without a full investigation, including ground-penetrating radar. If remains are located, police will be notified, as state law requires. County leaders say they will do what they can to pay homage to the site, perhaps as part of the proposed restoration of Willett Branch, the creek near the site that was lined with concrete in the 1950s to serve as a storm sewer.

But Macedonia Baptist Church members remain skeptical, saying they have been kept at arms length in their efforts to honor what Coleman-Adebayo calls a battlefield of memory.

At a planning board meeting Thursday, the Rev. Segun Adebayo, Macedonias interim pastor, said church members want the county to pay for the cemetery study instead of Equity One. The old saying is still true, said Adebayo, who is married to Coleman-Adebayo.  He who pays the piper calls the tune. 

Wright said her agency has no money to pay for such a study, which could be costly. She added that it is customary for the land owner to foot the bill.

Adebayo also called for a criminal investigation if test results show that graves were disturbed and remains were moved. Where did they go? Was it legal? Was it moral?

Earlier this month, members of Macedonia and neighboring River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation sang spirituals and placed flowers at the parking lot. Then the group moved to the sycamore trees near the Whole Foods parking lot, which Matthews said are all that remain of his familys farm.

Three dogs, two horses, chickens and pigs, Matthews said, fighting tears. This is my yard. I was here first.

With key decision-makers long deceased, a full accounting of what happened at the site is unlikely. No records have been located to confirm whether remains were found years ago, or to document the relocation of any graves after the cemetery was sold.

The desecration of this communitys historic burial ground decades ago was certainly a tragedy that should have been prevented, Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner, whose district includes Westbard, wrote to planning board chair Casey Anderson earlier this month. I do not have the historical knowledge of the events that led to that act, and perhaps neither do you. But we do have an opportunity to do things differently today and moving forward.

Bonds, who rents the land for his two service stations from Equity One, will lose his lease if and when the company starts building. Before he leaves, he said, hed welcome a resolution to the childhood mystery that unfolded down the street.

Id kind of like to see them find it, he said of the cemetery. Everybody whos lost should be found. I believe in history.
Mardi Gras with a New Mexico twist is what New Mexi Gras is all about.

The fundraiser for the New Mexico Jazz Workshops youth music programs will feature four music stages, food and drink, dancing, a silent auction, raffle prizes, swag bags, Mardi Gras beads and more. Entertainers include the Kari Simmons Band, Chris Cordova Jazz, Jose Ponce, and Stanlie Kee & Step In.

NMJWs youth music programs rely on fundraising events, grants and donations to operate.

We have two components through our Empowerment Through Music, which is our arts and social services program, and the reason that we call it this is we do not charge fees to the participants, Empowerment though Music coordinator Debo Orlofsky said. We raise money through grants and other fundraising efforts such as New Mexi Gras. Its why New Mexi Gras is so important for kids who might not otherwise be able to access music education.

The South Valley Band Project features rock-band classes provides services to under-served children. It provides instruction on playing instruments and teaches children how to play as part of a band during after-school classes at Ernie Pyle and Harrison middle schools, according to Orlofsky. The intervention component sends teachers to the Youth Diagnostic and Development Center and Camino Nuevo to work with juveniles who are incarcerated or on probation. The youths learn songwriting and do creative writing activities that lead to song lyrics or rap or spoken word. They also learn beat making and digital recording.

It really gives them an outlet for expressing very raw emotions and coming to terms with their experiences, Orlofsky said. Some of the songs that they create are kind of rough, but its a way for them to start processing all of the things they have been through, they have experienced.

Young jazz enthusiasts can sharpen their skills during NMJWs four-week Summer Jazz Camp at the Public Academy for Performing Arts. This is the first year NMJW will hold the camp.

Its like an intensive kind of class, youth education coordinator Debbie Dobson said.  They learn how to play jazz, they learn scales. They dont need to know how to play jazz before they get there. Theyll learn how to build confidence in soloing (and) small combo work.

New Mexi Gras: A Fundraiser for the New Mexico Jazz Workshops Youth Music Programs

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25

WHERE: Albuquerque Museum of Art, 2000 Mountain NW

HOW MUCH: $65 each; six-top tables in the R&B Room also available. Tickets and information, visit nmjazz.org
GAZIANTEP, Turkey  The biggest surviving rebel stronghold in northern Syria is falling under the control of al-Qaida-linked extremists amid a surge of rebel infighting that threatens to vanquish what is left of the moderate rebellion.

The ascent of the extremists in the northwestern province of Idlib coincides with a suspension of aid to moderate rebel groups by their international allies.

The commanders of five of the groups say they were told earlier this month by representatives of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey that they would receive no further arms or ammunition until they unite to form a coherent front against the jihadists, a goal that has eluded the fractious rebels throughout the six years of fighting.

The freeze on supplies is unrelated to the change of power in Washington, D.C., where the Trump administration is engaged in a review of U.S. policy on Syria, U.S. officials say. It also does not signal a complete rupture of support for the rebels, who are continuing to receive salaries, say diplomats and rebel commanders.

Rather, the goal is to ensure supplies do not fall into extremist hands, by putting pressure on the rebels to form a more efficient force, the rebel commanders say they have been told.

Instead it is the extremists who have closed ranks and turned against the U.S.-backed rebels, putting the al-Qaida-linked groups with whom the moderates once uneasily coexisted effectively in charge of key swaths of territory in Idlib, the most important stronghold from which the rebels could have hoped to sustain a challenge to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Moderate rebels still hold territory in southern Syria, in pockets around Damascus and in parts of Aleppo province where they are fighting alongside Turkish troops against the Islamic State.

But the loss of Idlib to the extremists has the potential to prolong  or at least divert  the trajectory of the war at a time when the United Nations is reconvening peace talks in Geneva aimed at securing a political settlement. The talks opened Thursday with little sign that progress was likely.

The Syrian government and its ally Russia will now be able to justify intensifying airstrikes against the area, perhaps in alliance with the United States, which is already carrying out its own strikes against al-Qaida targets in Idlib, analysts say.

Idlib is now basically being abandoned to the jihadis. This might be the end of the opposition as understood by the oppositions backers abroad, said Aron Lund, a fellow with the Century Foundation. They wont have any reason to support it.

The al-Qaida-backed offensive appears to have been triggered by the Russian push last month to make peace with the same moderate rebel groups that the United States had in the past sought, unsuccessfully, to protect from Russian airstrikes. The al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat Fatah al-Sham  which is still widely referred to by its previous name, Jabhat al-Nusra  has since led a series of raids, abductions and killings against moderate rebels, activists and Western-backed administrative councils across Idlib.

The most radical rebel groups have joined a new coalition created by Jabhat al-Nusra called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. More moderate ones have sought protection by allying themselves with the largest non-al-Qaida group, Ahrar al-Sham, which subscribes to a school of Salafist jihadism that is considered too extreme for the United States and its Western allies to countenance.

Al-Qaida is eating us, said Zakaria Malahifji, an official with the U.S.-backed Fastaqim rebel group, explaining why his group has chosen to join with the Ahrar al-Sham alliance. Its a military alliance only, for protection from al-Qaida, he said. Politically, we dont share their views.

Around a dozen U.S.-backed groups are still holding out against the pressure to join forces with the extremists, but they acknowledge their cause is increasingly hopeless.

Radicals are controlling every aspect of life, the mosques and the schools. They are radicalizing 14-year-old boys. Al-Qaeda ideology is spreading everywhere and we have been abandoned, said Lt. Col. Ahmed Saoud, a defected Syrian officer who commands a rebel unit in the U.S.-backed Free Idlib Army, one of the groups that has stood aloof from the jihadists.

Suspending the supplies seems guaranteed only to ensure that al-Qaeda continues to expand, the rebel commanders say. Of course if you cut off the moderate rebels, al-Qaeda will grow more powerful, Malahfji said.

Under the three-year-old program initiated by the United States, rebel groups that have been vetted by the CIA receive support in the form of salaries, light arms and ammunition and limited quantities of antitank missiles. The supplies are overseen by a military operations center known as the Musterek Operasyon Merkezi, or MOM, comprising representatives of the U.S.-backed Friends of Syria alliance.

But even if the supplies are restored, it is unclear whether the rebels will now be in any position to challenge al-Qaida. One rebel group burned its stores of ammunition rather than let them be captured by Jabhat al-Nusra. Some supplies have already been captured. A video posted on YouTube this week by the new Nusra-led alliance showed its fighters destroying a government gun position using one of the U.S.-made TOW antitank missiles that were supplied to the moderate rebels, presumably seized by al-Qaida allies.

Al-Qaida-linked groups do not yet control the main border crossings into Syria from Turkey, but they control the access routes and towns and villages around them, enabling them to commandeer any supplies that come across, said Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute.

The al-Qaida alliance now has almost total control over what goes through the border, Lister said. There has to be more rebel unity before the international community can take the risk.

The rebels now face an existential choice  to join the radical groups and risk being annihilated from the air by Russian and U.S. warplanes, or to unite to confront al-Qaida and its allies and risk defeat on the ground by the better armed and highly motivated Islamist militants.

Turkey, the rebels closest ally, is offering a third alternative: to leave the Idlib area entirely and head east to join the Turkish-backed operation, known as Euphrates Shield, underway against the Islamic State  a rival of al-Qaida. As Turkey presses to convince the United States that it can muster a force strong enough to provide an alternative to the Syrian Kurds to participate in the battle for the Islamic States capital of Raqqa, it has been heavily recruiting support among the moderate rebels of Idlib.

But Idlib rebels do not want to surrender their territory to the jihadists to go fight on a different front, said Capt. Mohanned Junaid of Jaish al-Nasr, another U.S.-backed group that last week lost an estimated 69 members in a massacre of moderate rebels by one of the al-Qaida affiliates.

The whole of Idlib will be painted black, and that will give justification to the regime and Russian jets to bombard it, he said.

Yet even with the moderate rebels confronting likely annihilation, feuds among them persist, precluding the alliance their international sponsors are seeking, said Saoud, the rebel commander. He is gloomy about the prospects for the rebels survival.

If we dont get any more support, we will just keep fighting each other and killing each other until we all are dead, he said. The regime will be watching us. This is what they want.
Tims is long gone, but Moes is on its way.

Moes Original Bar B Que will backfill the 4,200-square-foot Northeast Heights restaurant Tims Place left in late 2015.

Colorado-based Moes has about 50 locations around the country, but this will be its first in New Mexico. It should open by April at 8050 Academy NE.

Franchisees Chad and Cat McCall are bringing the brand to the Albuquerque market.

Moes started in Vail, Colo. in 2001 but has roots in Alabama where its three founders attended college and also learned fire roasting technique from a man named Moses Day. The companys subsequent expansion has been concentrated mostly in Colorado and the southern U.S., though there are locations as far flung as California and Maine.

A former friend brought the business to our attention, we did our homework on the concept, and visited several locations, Chad McCall said in an email. We feel the food speaks for itself and the Southern Soul Food Revival gives us a unique spin on an old favorite not currently offered in our market.
The Supremes. Marvin Gaye. The Jackson 5. Smokey Robinson. Stevie Wonder. The Temptations.

These are just a few of the legends that make up the Motown sound.

Each holds a great place in musical and cultural history.

At the helm is Berry Gordy, who found a way to cross the African-American artists into the mainstream.

The Broadway musical Motown: The Musical tells Gordys journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of so many legends.

It premiered on Broadway in 2013 and finished its run in January 2015, after 738 regular performances and 37 previews. It also received four Tony Award nominations.

The national tour began in April 2014 and has since made its way around the country.

The musical is directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and produced by Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Gordy.

It features more than 40 classic songs, including My Girl, Whats Going On, Dancing in the Street, I Heard It Through the Grapevine and Aint No Mountain High Enough.

Helping get the musical off the ground is Schele Williams, an associate director for the production.

Williams, who has an extensive career working on Broadway, says Motown: The Musical is one of the most fun shows to work on.

Theres a duality happening the whole time you are watching, Williams says. These are songs that are a part of the American culture. Some of these songs, I remember my mom and dad dancing in the kitchen to them. They were always a part of our lives.

And with Gordy involved in the production, Williams says, every aspect got his stamp of approval.

CJ Wright as Michael Jackson, center, with the Jackson 5. (Courtesy of Joan Marcus) Judith Franklin as Martha Reeves, center, in a scene from Motown: The Musical. (Courtesy of Joan Marcus) Chester Gregory as Berry Gordy, center right, with the cast of Motown: The Musical. (Courtesy of Joan Marcus) Jarran Muse as Marvin Gaye. (Courtesy of Joan Marcus) Allison Semmes as Diana Ross and Chester Gregory as Berry Gordy in "Motown: The Musical." (Courtesy of Joan Marcus) Gabriella Whiting as Florence Ballard, Allison Semmes as Diana Ross and Tavia Rive as Mary Wilson in "Motown: The Musical." (Courtesy of Joan Marcus) Prev 1 of 6 Next

Berrys whole mantra is Its gotta be the truth,  she says. Thats what made his company so successful. He was always trying to get the truth out of them. Everything feels authentic when you hear anything from Motown. Thats why its such an important story. This African-American man had a big dream, and it became even bigger.

Williams says there could easily be more volumes of Gordys story and that the musical tries to tell the stories of many of the artists.

One of those artists to break out and become a bona fide superstar is Diana Ross. With The Supremes, she was introduced to the world.

Then she left the band and began a highly successful solo career.

Allison Semmes takes on the role of Ross in the touring musical, and the role is a dream come true.

I started as a replacement for the original Broadway run, and I was Florence Ballard, Semmes says. Of course, the goal and the dream was to be Diana Ross. And I learned so much from playing the other characters and playing the different perspective. When I got cast for the role, it felt like the next step.

Semmes says stepping into the role was a rewarding and big challenge.

Its an honor to tell her story, she says. In the musical, we get to see Diana Ross from when she was the 15-year-old girl from Detroit until her successful solo career.

Both Williams and Semmes agree that the musical comes at a perfect time for the country.

We are so divided, Williams says. This story tells the struggle that Berry Gordy had in getting heard. And when he was able to achieve his goal, it was the music that brought people together. We need to come together again. This is why the music is classic.
BEIRUT  Turkish-backed rebels seized the Syrian town of al-Bab from Islamic State militants Thursday, ending a grinding offensive to push the extremist group from one of its final strongholds.

Launched in August, the operation has proved unexpectedly long and bloody, forcing Turkey to triple its original deployment amid dozens of combat deaths and hundreds of civilian casualties.

It has also driven a wedge between Turkey and the United States, which initially backed a Kurdish-led force to retake the northern border town.

Ankara views those Kurdish fighters as terrorists. Its operation also aims to thwart Kurdish hopes of establishing an autonomous zone along the Syria-Turkey border by preventing the Kurds from linking up territory east and west of al-Bab.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA), a loose coalition of Syrian Arabs and Turkmen, has been attacking al-Bab since early December, aided by Turkish warplanes, tanks and special forces units.

On Thursday evening, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring network said the rebels had full control of the town.

Al-Bab is free and under Free Syrian Army control after intensive operations against Daesh that lasted for months, said Col. Abu Firas, a spokesman for the FSA, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. Many gave their lives to return al-Bab to its people again.

Victory in the Islamic States final stronghold along the Turkish border would deepen Ankaras influence in an area of Syria where it has effectively created a buffer zone.

It would also allow Turkish-backed forces to press on toward Raqqa, the Islamic States de facto capital in Syria, complicating an earlier U.S. plan to back Kurdish fighters in that effort.

Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said the rebels were now combing al-Bab for mines. We will be able to say that al-Bab is fully cleared of Daesh once the sweeping activity is concluded, he told Turkeys state news agency.

Under pressure across Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State has lost more than a quarter of its territory to U.S.-backed forces over the past year. The areas it leaves behind are often badly damaged in the fighting, and the militants routinely booby-trap buildings before retreating.

In a video published by the opposition-linked Step News Agency, a rebel commander stood in front of a car rigged with explosives. We have defeated the Islamic State, and now we are on al-Babs northern highway, he said. This was one of their car bombs.

Although the commander appeared to pose unarmed for the cameras, another man clutched a weapon tightly, scanning the horizon for threats as gunfire crackled in the distance.

The Islamic State-affiliated Amaq News Agency on Thursday highlighted the al-Bab offensives heavy human and material losses, claiming that more than 400 Turkish soldiers and Syrian rebel fighters have been killed and at least 41 tanks destroyed.

Turkish officials have attributed the duration of the operation to their forces attempts to avoid civilian casualties. However, the Syrian Observatory said Thursday that Turkish shelling in the offensive has killed 444 civilians, including 96 children.

An estimated 100,000 people lived in al-Bab in 2011 when Syrias nationwide uprising against President Bashar Assad morphed into all-out war. Today, that figure is believed to stand in the low thousands.

Mustafa Sejari, an official with the al-Mutasim rebel group, said Islamic State fighters had used the areas remaining residents as human shields by preventing them from leaving their homes.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition gathered in Geneva for the resumption of long-stalled peace talks aimed at resolving the other war raging in Syria  a six-year-old conflict between forces loyal to Assad and the rebels. The battle against the Islamic State is not an issue in the Geneva talks.

Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations Syria envoy, set expectations low as he greeted the rival delegations at an opening ceremony at U.N. headquarters. Im not expecting miracles, he said. It is an uphill task.

De Mistura urged the sides to take advantage of a cease-fire brokered by Russia with help from Turkey and Iran. Though it has reduced the level of violence, fighting continues in many parts of the country.

But with Assads government now secure after defeating the rebels in Aleppo in December, diplomats and analysts said he is unlikely to compromise.

  

Sly reported from Geneva. Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report.
A federal judge has released a list of all requests made by U.S. prosecutors in Washington, D.C., to secretly collect certain data about Americans telephone, email and Internet activity from 2011 to 2016. The disclosure Wednesday continues an effort to bring more transparency to covert law enforcement activities.

The release of five years worth of information, while still bare-bones on details, was made by Beryl Howell, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, following a release in September that showed requests only for 2012.

The action came in a case brought by a journalist to unseal a much larger collection of information about court-ordered electronic surveillance in closed criminal investigations in the nations capital.

The disclosure shows case identification numbers for the sealed requests, the dates on which cases were filed, the reviewing judges, and what type of device or account was to be tracked. Not revealed are who or what activity was under criminal investigation and whether surveillance ended or any charges resulted.

A list of sealed requests for records from communication service providers is itself usually sealed, leading several legal experts to say that even the listing of how often law enforcement applied to judges to obtain individual electronic records in domestic criminal cases could serve as a model for court disclosure nationwide.

The data released Wednesday show the number of sealed requests fluctuated from 284 in 2011 to a peak of 310 in 2013 and a low of 189 last year.

Only 15 of the 1,444 cases covered by the requests have been unsealed, even in part, years after the monitoring began.

Prosecutors have agreed in court to release additional information about the five years worth of orders in coming months, including any substantive opinions, denials of requests, and data for three more years, dating to 2008, when electronic record-keeping began.

In September, prosecutors said on the basis of a preliminary assessment from the court that as many as 564 applications were filed in 2013. That figure included duplicates and may have included applications filed by government entities other than the U.S. attorneys office, according to a federal official familiar with the tally when asked about the lower number for 2013 released Wednesday.

The ongoing releases come in a case brought in 2013 by journalist Jason Leopold, then with Vice News and now BuzzFeed.

Jeffrey Louis Light, the attorney for Leopold, and Katie Townsend, litigation director of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which has joined the case, both said they were very pleased with the steady release of information, which they said will aid researchers, lawmakers and the public in tracking the scope, evolution and expansion of government conduct.

Im very happy to see things moving along, were continuing to get information on a regular basis that has never been available before, Light said.

The type of orders tallied on the released list do not give law enforcement investigators permission to listen in on calls or read the contents of email or Internet exchanges. But they do allow the collection of sender and recipient information, and the time, date, duration and size of calls, emails, instant messages and social-media messages, as well as device identification numbers and some website information.

Tracing electronic exchanges through a targets phones, website accounts and information such as Twitter feeds and other apps  even without being able to hear or see what was said  can help investigators map the individuals universe and any pattern and timing of activities.

The request to unseal records on surveillance applications comes as courts increasingly take up cases testing the constitutional limits of law enforcement searches in an electronic era.

Police seeking surveillance orders under a 1986 statute  the type of orders on the lists being compiled under Howell  must tell a court only how the information they are seeking is relevant to an investigation.

To get a traditional authority to listen in on a landline phone call, law enforcement authorities have to meet the more rigorous legal standard of probable cause and prove to a judge that their search will probably yield evidence of a specific crime and that alternatives to a wiretap are unavailable.
SAN JOSE, Calif.  Gloria Najar said it felt like an apocalypse when she returned home after being evacuated in a flood that sent waist-high water into homes and streets in San Jose.

Still, as she sorted through her water-logged possessions Thursday, she said she counts herself among the lucky.

The 57-year-old  one of thousands of people ordered to evacuate Tuesday  lost almost everything in her garage, but her second-floor condominium was dry.

It felt like an apocalypse. It was unreal, said Najar, who found that her $10,000 leather couch, another pricey velvet couch, kitchen items and other things Ive had forever were ruined in the garage.

All that was left was her bicycle, her daughters childhood tricycle and some family photographs that her now 37-year-old daughter, Katrina Santos, was spreading out to dry.

Im telling myself these things dont matter, as long as our home is OK, Najar said.

As she disposed of the damaged items, Najar said she was thinking of nearby homes that were flooded all the way to the roof.

About two-thirds of the 14,000 evacuated residents were being allowed to return home after Coyote Creek overflowed its banks then began to recede.

In one of San Joses hardest-hit neighborhoods, Khanh Nguyen lost everything. He spent Thursday hosing down and mopping up his ground floor apartment after removing his furniture, appliances and clothing, all destroyed by the flood.

Im worried. I dont have a place to live in, said Nguyen, who for now is staying with relatives.

People who went home were warned to be careful about hygiene and handling food that may have come into contact with flood water.

The water is not safe, Mayor Sam Liccardo said. There is contamination in this water and the contamination runs the gamut.

Liccardo acknowledged Wednesday that the city failed to properly notify residents to evacuate and had to resort to going door-to-door in the middle of the night to order many people to leave.

Some people said they got their first notice by seeing firefighters in boats in the neighborhood.

We are assessing what happened in that failure, the mayor said.

The city began alerting residents about flooding on Tuesday via social and mainstream media and sending emergency alerts to those who had signed up for it, city spokesman David Vossbrink said.

Officials sent firefighters late Tuesday to evacuate about 400 people from a low-lying residential area. City officials said they did not believe the waters would spread to other neighborhoods and did not expand the evacuation orders.

Flood warnings were in place until Saturday because waterways were overtaxed.

Councilman Tam Nguyen asked landlords to provide three months of free rent to victims of the floods in his working-class Latino and Asian district where 350 homes were flooded.

__

Gecker and AP writers Kristin J. Bender and Terence Chea contributed to this report from San Francisco.
A pending bill in the Legislature, HB 412, seeks to bring badly needed reform to the states gross receipts tax by removing ill-considered deductions and exemptions, thereby expanding the GRT tax base and enabling the GRT tax rate to be reduced. The latter is a well-recognized principle of state taxation  tax a broad base of economic activity at a low tax rate.

One aspect of this bill that should be widely embraced is in fact one of its most controversial provisions. That is reimposing GRT on food  though at a reduced rate.

There are more reasons to support the tax on food than many know:

 Its not at all clear that exempting food from GRT actually benefits the poor,

 The benefits of the food tax exemption flow almost entirely to the non-poor,

 The food tax break is a primary contributor to our current fiscal woes, reducing tax revenues by more than $200 million each year,

 These lost revenues are desperately needed for public education, early childhood development and Medicaid, which do benefit the poor, and

 Lost GRT tax revenue on food sales has forced cities and counties to increase their GRT rates on non-food items such as utilities and clothing, further burdening the poor.

Opponents of reinstating the food tax say that even though the poor get federal SNAP (food stamp) assistance, SNAP assistance only provides a portion of their food needs. Co-author Brian McDonald, a Ph.D. economist who headed UNMs Bureau of Business and Economic Research until his retirement, points to data that raises serious questions about this premise.

In fiscal 2015, SNAP assistance totaling $685.2 million went to 205,540 New Mexico households, with each household receiving $3,333 per year on average. By federal law, SNAP benefits have never been subject to GRT. The 2004 legislation eliminating food from the GRT tax base therefore provided little tax relief to the poor in New Mexico. New Mexico SNAP recipients today receive GRT tax benefits totaling $47.96 million  assuming a 7 percent GRT tax rate  by virtue of this federal exemption, not the 2004 New Mexico legislation exempting food.

How does the $3,333 in SNAP assistance each household received compare to the annual food purchases of similar households?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey data for that year show that the lowest 10 percent of households in the United States by income spent $2,566 on food at home  the closest data concept to the New Mexico GRT tax base on food. The second lowest 10 percent of households by income spent $2,432 on food at home.

Extrapolating this data to New Mexicos poor, the lowest 20 percent of households are receiving SNAP benefits, which typically cover most or all of their expenditures on food and which are not subject to GRT taxation by federal law. Under HB 412, these $685.2 million in food purchases by the poor will still be exempt from GRT.

The lower GRT tax rate proposed by HB 412 will give the poor in New Mexico real tax relief on their non-food purchases such as utilities, clothing, food consumed at restaurants and school supplies. Arguably, the poor in New Mexico will pay more GRT if HB 214 excludes food from the tax base because the GRT tax rate will have to be increased in order to generate the same level of tax collections with a smaller tax base.
We feel that it can never be a good thing for the people of New Mexico if one branch of our state government, whether the executive, legislative or judiciary, gains too much power over the other two. Our system of checks and balances enshrined in the state Constitution is designed to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.

It is not just a theoretical problem, either, because when our government is out of balance, there are real consequences in peoples lives. This is what is we are seeing in the fight over funding of the states courts, and to a lesser degree, in the acrimony over what level of funding is necessary to operate the Legislature.

The states executive, Gov. Susana Martinez, to put it bluntly, is bullying the other two branches of government. It is both wrong and reckless. The Legislature is the peoples branch. The judiciary is the branch that makes sure there is justice in our society.

Using her power of the pen to veto money approved by the Legislature to pay for its own and the judiciarys functioning, the governor has been hard at work playing partisan, political games. She recently did so in order to convince a distracted public that the state court system and the Legislature impose large, sprawling expenses upon the taxpayers. It is simply not true.

Combined, New Mexicos judiciary and Legislature make up just over 3 percent of the total cost of state government annually. The Legislature uses less than three tenths of one percent of the entire state budget. The remaining 96 percent of all spending is mostly absorbed by the executive branch, overseen by Gov. Martinez.

Our courts in New Mexico have been strapped for cash for quite a few years. Now its catching up. They need an emergency request of $1.6 million to pay jurors until July. The Legislature appropriated the funds for juries that were due to run out on March 1. The governor vetoed it twice and said the courts should be more frugal.

This creates a serious problem. Without jurors, there can be no jury trials, constitutionally guaranteed to all who face jail. State law requires that jurors be paid for their time. Without the possibility of jury trials, judges would be forced to dismiss charges against defendants, setting them free and conceivably putting public safety at risk.

At the start of every meeting of our citizen Legislature, the two chambers pass a measure to pay for the costs of functioning, for staff and so on. Earlier this month it passed with bipartisan support. Legislators generally know what it costs to put on a session, and governors tend to respect that amount. Its less than 3 tenths of one percent of the budget.

This year was different. The governor vetoed the Legislatures feed bill, called it irresponsible and said reduce the budget. To get the staff paid, legislators sent back a new bill that lopped off $300,000.

Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, a Republican like the governor, stated afterward that the Legislature has actually reduced its own budget repeatedly over the past years as revenues fell.

The judiciary and Legislature are branches of the state government co-equal with the executive under the states Constitution. It is wrong that Gov. Martinez is now causing havoc with their ability to carry out their work.

Our economy is in a long downturn. Gov. Martinezs willingness to starve state agencies to keep intact her reputation for never having raised taxes   her sole achievement  imperils many key services upon which we all depend. It also threatens the viability of the two other branches of government and our constitutional system of checks and balances.
New 2nd Judicial District Attorney Raul Torrez has wasted no time employing a new strategy of focusing prosecutions on what he calls the relatively small percentage of the criminal population that drives a disproportionate amount of crime.

Thank heavens.

The strategy  adopted in response to severely limited state funding, a state Supreme Court order requiring timely adjudication of cases and a troubling increase in crime  has the potential to deliver the Metro area the most bang for its prosecution buck.

But only if the judiciary concurs with his interpretation of the Supreme Courts Case Management Order.

Christopher Heh, 31, appears to fit perfectly into the new strategy. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center 13 times in 2016, primarily for drug and property crimes  including 11 felonies. But under former DA Kari Brandenburgs interpretation of the 2014 Case Management Order  which set strict deadlines for prosecutors to turn over evidence to defense attorneys  all of Hehs cases resulted in prosecutors filing nolle prosequi documents. Thats basically a dismissal of charges with the option of refiling them later. Prosecutors said they made the move to buy time for them to gather all their evidence to meet the CMOs deadlines. It also turned Heh loose to allegedly commit more crimes.

Heh, the son of a former Albuquerque police officer and mayoral candidate, is one of those repeat suspects who prosecutors are now pursuing under Torrezs new approach to ending the so-called revolving door that habitual offenders have relied on to escape justice.

So far this month, grand juries have returned indictments against Heh in three separate cases, according to a state court website. As of Thursday, he was still in MDC.

Thats because Torrez is interpreting the CMO as requiring prosecutors to present enough evidence at arraignment to justify moving forward, in contrast to Brandenburgs interpretation that prosecutors must present enough evidence to prove a case. And theres another fly in the ointment. A new constitutional amendment passed by voters last fall is supposed to allow certain defendants to be held without bail while awaiting trial.

Torrezs prosecutors used it to try to keep Heh behind bars. But 2nd Judicial District Court Judge Stan Whitaker denied the request, saying, Im not sure this is the case where he needs to be detained under the new bail amendment. Whitaker did set two $15,000 bonds and two $5,000 bonds that must be posted before Heh can hit the streets again.

Just as Brandenburg and Torrez have used their prosecutorial experience to interpret the Supreme Courts speedy-trial requirements  with drastically different conclusions  Whitaker and other judges are using their judicial expertise to interpret those rules plus the new constitutional amendment on no-bail incarcerations.

Hehs road to justice, which has already had far too many detours, will be an interesting test case for Torrezs method of trying to reduce crime while rendering justice to victims and defendants alike. It will be equally interesting to see how judges interpret the speedy-trial rules and the no-bail law toward that same end.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
The following is an open letter to Santa Fe police Sgt. Troy Baker, president of the Santa Fe Police Officers Association:

Dear Sgt. Baker:

We thought this would be a good time to write to you, in part to let you a know a little about the history of the NAACP, our nations oldest civil rights organization.

It was founded in 1909 by a group that included both white and black Americans, as the practice of lynching black people (otherwise known as mob murder) thrived and soon after a race riot in Abraham Lincolns hometown of Springfield, Ill. The NAACPs stated goal was to secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which ended slavery, established the equal protection of the law and mandated universal adult male suffrage.

At that time, in large swathes of the United States, there was no equal justice for black people under the racist Jim Crow system. There were legal obstacles created to keep African-Americans from voting, as well as blatant intimidation. These conditions, including the lynchings, continued for decades in America as the NAACP fought them by organizing, producing reports that exposed the effects of racism and going to court.

NAACP leaders were murdered during the civil rights era. Its Mississippi field secretary, Medgar Evers, was assassinated in front of his house in 1962. The organizations famous members include Thurgood Marshall, who, as NAACP counsel, spearheaded the legal fight against segregated schools and who became the first African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court; and Rosa Parks, whose refusal to move to the back of a segregated bus in Montgomery, Ala., spurred a boycott and helped push the civil rights movement forward.

The NAACP was criticized by some during those tumultuous times for continuing to work within the system, seeking change via legislative and judicial processes, rather turning to more radical means. The organization continues to advocate against discrimination and on other issues.

And FYI, Sgt. Baker, a white person can hold a leadership position in the NAACP. (Just Google Donald Harris, a white, Jewish native of Brooklyn who, in his late 70s, became head of the NAACP chapter in Maricopa County, Ariz. And as you have not steered away from controversial commentary in your own public communications, you probably should take heed of Harris being forced to resign after making a comment about a female reporters anatomy.)

We decided this information about the NAACP might prove useful to you after it came to light this week that you have used your personal Facebook page to post numerous bomb-throwing memes. One shows a Confederate flag with the words Now lets eliminate the N.A.A.C.P. which in name alone is racist as is its purpose! There is no room in this country for a separate race to have a membership where holding an office requires that you be black.

A question you might want to address, for those of us new to the memes you posted, is how a police officer such as yourself, sworn to uphold the law, might propose to eliminate a private organization like the NAACP.

On another topic, wed like to offer a piece of advice for when you encounter Muslim Santa Feans or, say, Muslims who come from around the world to exhibit during the International Folk Art Market or attend classes at the World College over in Montezuma. It probably wouldnt be a good idea to disclose sentiment expressed in another meme you put up online that says, Lets discuss what Islam has to offer and then lists things like rape, beheading, burning people alive, oppression of women and something called paedophilia.

As you probably know by performing the tough and under-appreciated job of police officer, many of the horrible crimes you attribute to what Islam has to offer are committed all too often here in New Mexico  even including beheading and burning people alive  by people raised as Christians.

Yet another post of yours made us wonder if you were among the police officers who were on duty as more than 10,000 people (thats the police departments estimate) peacefully marched through Santa Fe in protest the day after Donald Trumps inauguration. This meme shows a stick figure being run over by a car with the words All lives splatter. Nobody cares about your protest. Moral of the story  stay off the road!!

You may have been talking about Black Lives Matter or the pipeline protesters in North Dakota, and you told the Santa Fe Reporter you were just joking. But those are distinctions the Womens March walkers probably wouldnt appreciate.

We hope that you will take up the issues discussed in the Facebook posts with your fellow members of the Police Officers Association, the union you lead. Many Santa Feans probably want to know if the union will continue what amounts to an endorsement of views expressed in your extensive collection of publicly posted memes by keeping you on as the union president, and as its public face and spokesman. Please keep us informed on that point, by Facebook, if necessary.

We offer as a friendly suggestion that you volunteer to watch Eyes on The Prize, the 14-part documentary series on the civil rights movement in the U.S. thats been aired by PBS (Note: It will still be available on DVD even if Trump kills off public television). It would be understandable if your city government employers mandate that you see the series, taking cues from the movie A Clockwork Orange, if necessary, by propping your eyes open and forcing you to sit in front of a screen.

In any case, we hope the public discussion that your Facebook posts inspire will help Santa Fe residents reach across the severe divisions of American society today.

Sincerely,

The Journal North editorial board
MONTEZUMA, N.M.  Jan. 27 was a day Abdulrahman al-Rayyis will not soon forget.

I woke up hearing the news about the ban, the 17-year-old native of Iraq said, referring to the executive order President Donald Trump signed that banned refugees and individuals from seven countries from entering the United States.

It was a very depressing day, he said. Because, one day, you have all your plans set and, on another day, your plans all of a sudden change.

Al-Rayyis had plans to spend several years getting an education in the U.S. before returning home. But under Trumps order, if he left America, he wouldnt be allowed back.

So you have to choose between your education and your family, he said. Thats not an easy decision for any teenager.

Trumps executive order was struck down in court based on its constitutionality and legality, but the president has promised to sign a new one, likely next week, that reportedly would have much the same effect.

Al-Rayyis is one of 238 students attending the United World College-USA in Montezuma, near Las Vegas, N.M., a school founded in Cold War times on the principle that peace can best be achieved when young people come from around the world to live and learn together.

One of 16 UWC campuses in the world, calling it a college is a bit of a misnomer in America. Its students are age 16 to 19 and, on graduation, usually continue their education at a university.

Some 188 of the students at UWC-USA  80 percent of the enrollment  are international, coming from 75 different countries. Ten students were directly affected by the ban: two each from Iran, Iraq and Syria  countries specifically named in Trumps order  and four others from Palestine, Somalia, Somaliland and Tibet have refugee status.

Too much to handle

You can tell the students that are affected are under stress and feeling anxiety, said Nadia Sheppard, one of 50 Americans attending the school.

Sheppard, in her second year at UWC-USA, said that, while she likes the International Baccalaureate curriculum offered there, she didnt come for the academics.

I came here for the people and the relationships, she said. I have learned so much more about the world from the people around me.  It makes you very much globally aware.

Her roommate is from Hong Kong. Before, I knew nothing about the independence movement in Hong Kong and now I can tell you a lot about how Hong Kong is very much striving for independence from China, she said.

Same goes for Syria. Her best friend, whom she met at UWC-USA last year and is now attending college in New York, is from that country. They communicate frequently and Sheppard says her friend is stressed because, like al-Rayyis, she must choose between her family and spending three more years in America completing her education.

Al-Rayyis acknowledges hes feeling stressed. Because everything has changed, he said. People start treating you differently, youre now in the position of the victim, everyone is asking if youre OK  its just too much to handle all of a sudden.

And its not just me, he said. When I talk to others who are affected, they have social pressures and anxieties. Some days, they dont want to talk to anyone.

Al-Rayyis doesnt know yet what he wants to do in life. Hes thinking about becoming an attorney or maybe going into business. What is clear to him is that he wants to change the world in a positive way.

Its better to understand the world before you start changing the world, he said. And thats one reason why he came to UWC-USA. He felt interacting with other students from all parts of the world will help him gain that understanding. And maybe they can learn something from him.

What my country is going through, other countries have been going through. Or maybe theres a challenge youre facing back home, another country has successfully overcome that challenge. So that way you can broaden your perspective to look at other people and how they are dealing with their problems. And that will help you deal with your own problems, he said.

They dont want us here

Sheppard said one of the reasons she came to UWC-USA was to challenge her beliefs. Back home in North Carolina, too many people she knew thought like she did. There was little disagreement.

For that reason, she enjoys the Theory of Knowledge class, known as TOK, offered at UWC-USA.

Basically, what we do is discuss: How do you classify knowledge? How do you get knowledge? Having people from all over the world who come from different cultures and have radically different life experiences makes a class like TOK vastly more enriching, she said.

Something Ive realized in my year and a half being here is that it is such an incredible privilege to be American, she said. I have running water and electricity at home, I know my family is safe, I know that I can go home.

Thats not the case for her Syrian friend. Sheppard said even prior to the ban it was risky for her friend to travel home. If her name is the same or similar to someone on the Syrian governments watch list, she could be killed.

Sheppard also relishes the fact that she can speak freely without the expectation that shell be killed or thrown in jail.

Al-Rayyis also appreciates that.

A person from the U.S. might have a different opinion about how much freedom of expression they actually have but, to me, democracy and freedom of expression, they do mean a lot, he said.

This is al-Rayyis second stint in America. He spent about a month here a year or so ago as part of a state-sponsored student exchange program designed to integrate American and Iraqi youths to help form cultural bonds. Because he was with a group that time, and they traveled to rather liberal cities, and because, as a student at UWC-USA, he lives in relative obscurity, he said hes not felt discrimination in this country. But he knows it happens.

I understand that there are some people who dont want you to be here, he said. Theres this protectionist view against Middle Easterners, they see us as all scary and all of that, and thats why they dont want us here.

More harm than good

But thats because they likely never lived next door to a Middle Easterner, he said. Or theyve never met one, or at least never known one well enough to have an understanding of that persons life experiences or culture.

This is why what is happening politically is happening, because of the lack of understanding, he said of the unrest in the United States.

One thing al-Rayyis cant understand is the discrimination and prejudice exhibited by some Americans against Muslims.

Yes, the first I in ISIS stands for Islamic. But its not about religion.

ISIS is more of a political organization than a religious organization. The people who are the majority, who know what these groups are, they will never join them, he said. ISIS is fighting Muslims. Ninety percent of the Kurdish population are Muslims, yet they are the ones who have the most direct contact against ISIS; they are the ones who have the most losses against ISIS.

While al-Rayyis considers himself agnostic, his father is Muslim and is with peshmerga, the Kurdish forces fighting ISIS in Iraq. They are Americas allies, yet under Trumps order his father would not be allowed here.

Al-Rayyis also doesnt understand the reasoning behind the travel ban. First, he doesnt see it as a ban against countries that pose a threat to America.

Its a ban on countries (Trump) does not do business in, he said. If this is true, that its for the safety of the country, Iraq and Iran never sent a terrorist to the U.S. But 15 of 19 people involved in 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia had strong business links to Trump.

It doesnt make sense to him that the prime minister of Canada is welcoming people to his country and then you see the president of the U.S. say the exact opposite thing.

Carl-Martin Nelson, until Thursday communications director for UWC-USA, said that the colleges guidance counselors have begun suggesting that students from certain countries consider attending the United World Colleges in Canada or the United Kingdom where the ban is not an issue.

Sheppard says some people in this country dont know how much power the U.S. has. Its policies affect people all over the world.

Its very easy to forget that it affects people overseas, unless you know someone, she said.

Al-Rayyis agrees. Its affecting people, and thats the problem.

He doesnt believe the travel ban will be effective and could do more harm than good.

I dont think putting yourself in a box and hiding there will protect you, he said. Understanding each other is actually what will protect you in the end.
The politics surrounding Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales proposal for an ambitious pre-kindergarten education program financed with a soda tax exploded this week and even took on personal overtones.

Two city councilors  Joe Maestas and Ron Trujillo  have called for pushing back the date for a possible election on the tax on sugary beverages, part of a fight that is playing out at City Hall, on social media and via a political action committees press release.

Gonzales complained about an attack on his cousin and got an apology from Trujillo, published on Facebook. Meanwhile, both Maestas and Trujillo were criticized by a PAC supporting the mayors plan, and Maestas fired back on Twitter.

The PAC maintains delaying implementation of Gonzales effort to make pre-K accessible for every three- or four-year-old in Santa Fe would cost the city millions in terms of new jobs and the long-term benefits of having better educated children.

Wednesday night, when the City Councils main order of business was a resolution re-affirming Santa Fes immigrant-friendly policies in the face of presidential threats to cut federal funding for so-called sanctuary cities, the mayor and councilors found time for a fiery exchange over the soda tax.

Gonzales attacked the very idea of a new Maestas resolution, which is supported by Trujillo, to postpone putting the tax before voters until the next City Council elections in March 2018. The mayor wants the council to call a special election, at a cost estimated at $70,000 or $80,000, for as soon as May.

Gonzales said he was incredibly disappointed that Maestas brought forth his postponement proposal now, toward the end of a very long process in our community. The mayor first announced the soda-tax-for-pre-K plan on Nov. 9, about 3 months ago, although there was considerable planning behind the scenes before that.

He called Maestas resolution confusing, disingenuous and an end-run process. Gonzales said Maestas and Trujillo could just vote against the planned tax and pre-K-for-all program  scheduled for a public hearing and possible council action on March 8  instead of suggesting a delay in the tax election.

I want to state for the record that Im disappointed in that, but we will nevertheless continue to go forward, the mayor said.

Maestas responded that he didnt expect Gonzales comments to be so pointed for just introducing legislation. He said he supports pre-K, but wants more time for debate and that the mayor had not communicated sufficiently toward getting us all on the same level of understanding about his plan. He said many necessary actions, like getting a legal opinion on the citys authority to impose the beverage tax, havent taken place yet.

He urged working together, but added, You and I met one time, mayor, and you asked me to support it and I havent seen a thing.

Family matters

Gonzales also complained that Councilor Trujillo had brought the mayors family into the tax debate. He said Trujillo had called out a cousin of the mayor, referring to one of the owners of Patricks Fine Sodas, a local startup that is producing low-sugar beverages. Gonzales said he and Trujillo have previously been able to discuss differences without trying to bring in family members.

This dispute stems from an amendment that Gonzales introduced at Mondays meeting of the councils Public Works Committee that would exempt from the sugary drinks tax any beverages with less than 5 grams of sugar per 12 ounces. Representatives of Patricks Fine Sodas, including Gonzales cousin, were at the meeting and said the companys drinks have less than 5 grams of sugar, but that they still opposed the soda tax. Trujillo voted against the committees endorsement of the mayors plan.

On Tuesday, Trujillo posted a long statement on Facebook critical of the tax and what he said are administrative costs in the pre-K plan that would deflect funds away from educating children. The tax plan also is business unfriendly, Trujillo wrote, before adding a section suggesting that the low-sugar exemption inserted by Gonzales was a sweetheart deal for Patricks Fine Sodas. How convenient that now this distributor is now exempt, wrote Trujillo.

City Hall spokesman Matt Ross said Thursday the exemption for low-sugar drinks conforms to other soda tax plans in cities such as San Francisco, Oakland, Albany, N.Y., and Boulder, Colo. The intent is to focus the tax on high-sugar, low-nutrient beverages, said Ross.

Trujllo said in an interview Thursday that he had made a wrong assumption when posting his comments about the exemption. But he also said there had been no conversation dealing with these issues before the Monday committee meeting. Trujillo said his main objection to the tax is that it will hurt small businesses. These are family businesses in Santa Fe, these are real people, he said, adding, When we start setting taxes like this, it divides the community.

Trujillo later put up a new Facebook treatise apologizing for the prior post. I now realize there was never any intent to amend this tax to benefit his (the mayors) cousin and know that she has been treated like a regular constituent regarding this issue. He said he had deeply offended members of this family and that he was grateful for them being part of this community and starting their business to (help) this city to prosper.

He added: Anyone that knows me knows that I will stand up for the locals here in Santa Fe to ensure a better way of life for them.

PACs enter fray

Pre-K for Santa Fe, a group supporting Gonzales plan that has registered as a political committee organization with the City Clerks Office, issued a news release Thursday blasting Trujillo and Maestas for the resolution that would delay the tax election.

The two councilors have just placed an enormous obstacle in the middle of the road to success for a thousand Santa Fe children, said Sandra Wechsler, the groups spokeswoman, in the release, referring to the number of pre-K slots Gonzales plan hopes to make accessible to three- and four-year-olds with the $7 million program.

By proposing a one-year delay, these two councilors are telling a thousand kids and their parents you cant have the opportunity that others have.'

Maestas responded on Twitter, referring to Wechsler, who has worked on many political campaigns and describes herself on her LinkedIn page as a strategy consultant who believes deeply in social change as a strategy for competitive advantage. Maestas tweeted: Why is a paid consultant for the undeveloped soda tax against more community input?

Pre-K for Santa Fe attached a two-page report that says if the pre-K program is delayed for another fiscal year, the Santa Fe community would lose more than $9 million in immediate, medium-term and long-term financial benefits. Those benefits include the jobs created for those providing early childhood education services; more employment for parents who can put their children in pre-K; and costs that state and national studies have attributed to having fewer children in special ed classes, higher student test scores in elementary school, decreases in the number of students who are retained a grade, and lower juvenile and adult crime and incarceration rates over the years.

Opponents of the tax, including the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, the local Coca-Cola bottling company, the American Beverage Association, the state beverage association and the Greater Santa Fe Restaurant Association, also have registered a PAC. Its called Better Way for Santa Fe and Pre-K.
A Santa Fe woman got a call from someone earlier this month who said he was her grandson, Donald.

Donald then handed the phone to a William Keeley, who said he was Donalds lawyer. Keeley said Donald was in an accident in Massachusetts and was now in jail, and that the woman needed to send $2,000 to Gabriel Cruz in Massachusetts to bond Donald out.

The woman sent the money, and she sent another $2,000 when Keeley said Donald was charged with manslaughter and another $5,000 when the pregnant woman claiming to be the victim of the crash called to tell her she lost her baby in the accident and was willing to drop the charges in exchange for money.

The woman sent a total of $11,000 before she realized that the man who first called her was not her grandson and the person she talked to after that was not a lawyer.

They were scam artists.

These details from a Santa Fe Police report show some of the outrageous tactics scammers are willing use. The con artists often claim to be family members who are in jail and need money for bond and lawyers, a law enforcement officer asking for money to take care of a bench warrant or an IRS agent claiming back taxes are owed.

Juan Rios, spokesman for the Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office, said deputies believe the crooks are using temporary phones to carry out the scams because the phone numbers are often disconnected when investigators call them.

People who fall for the scams are often older. The sheriffs office sent the Journal 31 reports in which people were duped by scam artists. Seventeen were over 70 and three were over 80.

They prey on peoples fears, especially with the elderly population, Rios said. This is a population that comes from a different generation. They tend to want to accommodate the government or law enforcement.

The scammers often identify a family member by name or sometimes use names of real law enforcement officers. Rios said its easy to go on the internet and find personal information about scam targets, including who theyre related to. Officer information is also often readily available online.

Scammers typically ask a victim to purchase a prepaid credit card or gift card and then read them the card information over the phone. The money is not traceable that way because its not tied to a bank account, and it makes it impossible to get your money back.

Once you go to the store and buy the card, youve been had  the money is gone, Rios said. Its like putting your money into a black hole. By that time, its too late. We cant help them get their money back.

In another instance, a 77-year-old Santa Fe man got a call in November from someone who said he was a lawyer representing his grandson, Travis. The lawyer said Travis was in jail for a car accident and needed $4,000 for damages and legal counsel, according to a sheriffs office report.

The lawyer instructed the man to go to Target and buy four gift cards worth $1,000 each. He read the scammer the cards information over the phone and never heard from the caller again. The man then called grandson Travis, who said hed been home all day and was not in a car accident. The deputy taking the report called the supposed lawyers number, but it had been disconnected.

In July, a 78-year-old Santa Fe man lost $4,839 in a series of transactions to someone who claimed to be his 16-year-old grandson, stuck in jail in Mexico City and needing the money to bond out. In June, a 73-year-old woman lost $3,850 to a man claiming to be her son, who also was said to be in jail after a car wreck. The caller said hed broken his nose and thats why the woman couldnt recognize his voice.

Rios said its easy to recognize a law enforcement scam because officers dont seek payment over the phone, but its a little trickier when someones pretending to be a family member. His advice is to call other relatives to make sure youre not getting swindled.

Try to contact the grandson or try to contact the parent, he said. Peoples visceral reaction is to do something quickly.

Youre going to jail

Some who fall for the cons are being threatened with jail time if they dont fork over payments.

On Feb. 7, a 77-year-old Santa Fe man got a call from someone who said he was Lt. Vance Berry with the sheriffs office. Berry told the man that he was subject to several arrest warrants and he could take care of them off the record by purchasing prepaid credit cards.

Berry gave the man his cellphone number and told him to stay in touch. The man bought $3,000 in prepaid cards and gave the information to Berry over the phone. He was told he would get his money back in a federal check some time in the coming weeks. A deputy later called Berrys number and got a voice mail greeting that said, Hi, this is the sheriffs office. You have reached the desk of Lt. Vance Berry. If this is concerning a court matter, please leave a message.

The wife of a Journal North staffer got a similar call in September from a Sgt. Guess who claimed she had unpaid traffic tickets, warrants had been issued, and she could be held in contempt of court and sent to jail. The scammers mode of operation included stopping the conversation as if he was taking other police-related calls and the sound of a police scanner in the background.

When she told the caller that her husband, who was home at the time, had checked with the sheriffs office and confirmed there was no Sgt. Guess, the man hung up after saying, Youre going to jail, bitch.

According to reverse look-up sites on online, the call came from a phone on Marquis Street in Cuba, N.M.

Lt. Mike Post is a real Santa Fe County sheriffs deputy. In January, a woman got a call from a fake Lt. Post. The phony Post said the woman had an arrest warrant for missing jury duty and needed to pay $1,430 or else he would have deputies arrest her while she was at work. The woman went to Albertsons to buy prepaid cards and gave the information over the phone. This scammers voice mail greeting also told callers that they reached the sheriffs office.

Law enforcement will never call you on the phone and ask you to send money, Rios said. Police and the courts will never call about a warrant.

Rios said its hard to say if any of the cases are connected because the phone numbers are untraceable and he said he doesnt believe any suspect has been caught. He urges anyone whos been contacted by someone like this to call police.

Again, dont send money, Rios said. Tell your local law enforcement agencies and let them know. We can tell you youre being scammed and well look into it.
An ongoing federal investigation into fake Native American jewelry resulted in a second set of indictments earlier this month.

The investigation began in 2012 and has spanned several states, including New Mexico, where stores were selling jewelry actually made in the Philippines as Navajo or Indian, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.

The indictments filed as a result of this continuing investigation are not only about enforcing the law, but also about protecting and preserving the cultural heritage of Native Americans, Damon Martinez, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, said in a statement.

Imad Aysheh, Iyad Aysheh, Nedal Aysheh, Raed Aysheh and Nael Ali were all indicted earlier this month on conspiracy charges and for violating the Indian Arts and Craft Act. The group operates at least eight stores across the country, according to the indictment.

Ali, Christina Bowen and Mohammed Abed Manasra were indicted on similar charges in 2015 as part of the same federal investigation.

A federal court website indicates that some of the men from the recent case have already been appointed attorneys and pleaded not guilty to the charges, while others were still awaiting arraignment.

Attorney Jerry Daniel Herrera, who is representing Ali, said he wanted to review the case before commenting on it. Attorneys for the other defendants couldnt be reached for comment on Wednesday.

The indictment accuses Imad Aysheh of operating a business in the Philippines where the fake jewelry was made. Nedal Aysheh sent the business source materials to mimic Native American style.

The jewelry was then shipped to the U.S. and sold at various businesses around the country as Native American, according to the indictment. In one case, a federal agent spent nearly $1,900 to buy a bear pendant and bracelet, according to the court documents.

The stores involved in the scheme include Gallery 8 and Galeria Azul in Albuquerques Old Town, Momenis Gallery in Santa Fe and the Gallup Indian Plaza, according to the indictment and search warrant affidavits.

During the investigation, agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which led the investigation, visited stores in New Mexico, California and Alaska, and purchased the knockoff art, according to the indictment.
One of the men charged in a 2016 fatal shooting stemming from a game of beer pong pleaded no contest this week to aggravated burglary and aggravated battery.

Luis Delgado, 24, was arrested more than a month after the New Years Day 2016 shooting. In state District Court on Monday, a prosecutor said Delgado helped injure one man and murder another.

Joray Chavez and Robert McCoy were both shot during the party in northwest Albuquerque, with Chavez dying later at a local hospital. According to police, Nathan Ware got into a fight with the two over a game of beer pong  a game where teams throw ping pong balls into cups of beer.

Ware left the home after the fight, but returned later with two men, police said. He pointed to Chavez and McCoy, and said get them.

Prosecutor Daniel Roberson called Ware the mastermind behind the shootings.

Ware pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder, aggravated battery and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by four years of probation, according to court documents.

The strength of the evidence against Luis is not as strong, Roberson said during the hearing Monday.

According to a criminal complaint, police searched Wares cellphone and learned that he had been communicating with Delgado around the time of the shooting. Delgado also admitted forcing his way into the apartment with Ware and said he blacked out when he heard gunshots, police said.

His sentencing hearing has not been scheduled. He faces up to 14 years in prison.
City councilors delayed voting on a resolution Wednesday evening that would require police to test rape kits within three months after receiving them.

The council unanimously agreed to defer the issue to the March 6 meeting, after the Mayors Office and the Albuquerque Police Department said they had not yet prepared a report on the costs of implementing the resolution.

Councilor Pat Davis, the resolutions sponsor, told the Journal he was frustrated and disappointed that the vote was unable to move forward.

We spent a great deal of time at (meetings of the councils Finance and Government Operations Committee) hashing out everybodys concerns, said Davis. They didnt do the research despite knowing that this was on the calendar.

In a statement, Rob Perry, the top executive under Mayor Richard Berry, said the Mayors Office would continue to secure the appropriate financial resources and develop a long term and comprehensive plan that will assure the victims and the community that each (sexual assault) case is thoroughly and carefully examined.

APD did not respond to a request for comment.

New Mexico has the highest number of untested rape kits per capita in the nation, according to an investigation by the state auditor. Of the 5,302 untested rape kits counted in November, more than 3,940 were collected during investigations in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The Mayors Office and APD have argued that the citys crime lab does not have the resources to test new kits within a three-month period, let alone quickly work through the backlog.

APD Commander Jeff McDonald, who oversees scientific evidence for the department, told the council a 90-day rule would likely require at least $200,000 to cover salaries for three new DNA analysts and a lab technician.

But Perry called those numbers premature and said more time was needed to perform a full analysis.

I think were putting the cart before the horse, Perry said. To put a plan out there that says 90 days is great, but its dependent on so many things.

Davis also asked Perry and McDonald to come to the March 6 meeting with language for an amendment to the resolution. The implementation trigger would clarify that the 90-day rule would not go into effect until the crime lab was appropriately staffed and funded.

This is one of those promises we cant afford not to keep, Davis said at the meeting.
CANNON BALL, N.D.  Authorities this week cleared the last holdouts from a large Dakota Access pipeline protest camp on federal land in North Dakota, but it will be a while before the region returns to normal.

Theres tons of debris to be cleared. A main highway bridge remains closed. Hundreds of protesters are still in the area. The pipeline operator is rushing to complete construction and says oil could flow within 10 days. Looming over it all is a still-unresolved court battle.

This was beautiful North Dakota prairie in a sensitive watershed area, Gov. Doug Burgum said of the square-mile protest camp at the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers. Its only use prior to this was for cattle grazing.

But since August, it was home to hundreds and at times thousands of people who support the claims of Sioux nations that the $3.8 billion pipeline to move North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to Illinois threatens drinking water, sacred sites and tribal religious practices. Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners disputes that.

The Army Corps of Engineers ordered the Oceti Sakowin camp closed Wednesday in advance of spring flooding. About 200 protesters left peacefully, with another 56 being arrested over two days for defying the order to leave. Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs officers at the same time cleared the much smaller Rosebud camp just to the south, on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

Many who left those camps planned to go to one of three nearby camps, all of which are on the reservation.

They can get us out of Oceti, but they cant stop what we started here, protester Kate Silvertooth, of Loveland, Colorado, said Friday while shopping at a convenience store near the reservation town of Cannon Ball.

The status of the remaining protest camps is uncertain.

The longstanding Sacred Stone Camp has swelled to about 550 people with the influx of about 150 people this week, according to Joye Braun, a protest leader. But whether that camp and another known as Seventh Generation Rising are on private land or tribal land is in dispute. Protesters havent been able to get into another camp established on private land by the Cheyenne River Sioux because of an Indian affairs bureau roadblock. The Standing Rock Tribal Council also has made it clear it wants all of the camps to shut down.

We are working with the tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on an agreement to resolve the situation, Braun said.

Oil could be flowing through the pipeline as soon as March 6, according to William Scherman, an attorney for the pipeline operator.

The company has finished drilling the main hole under Lake Oahe and will soon be laying pipe under the Missouri River reservoir  the last stretch of the 1,200-mile pipeline.

The company got permission for the lake work last month from the pro-energy Trump administration, but American Indian tribes continue fighting in court. The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River tribes have asked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to overturn permission for the river crossing. Several groups including the National Congress of American Indians along with 34 other tribes on Thursday filed a court brief supporting the request.

Boasberg has scheduled a hearing Tuesday on a request from the Cheyenne River tribes to issue an injunction stopping the pipeline work.

Meanwhile, workers are racing against time to clean up hundreds of tons of debris at the camp before spring melt floodwaters wash it into the rivers. Trash and structures need to be cleared, some garbage will have to be dug up, and soil contamination from such things as fuel and human waste might also need to be removed.

This isnt just high school kids picking up garbage in a ditch along the road, Burgum said.

The cleanup could cost federal taxpayers as much as $1.2 million, according to Corps Col. John Henderson. Crews hope to complete the work in about a month.

Theres no set date for the reopening of a bridge on a main state highway outside the closed camp. The bridge has been closed since fires were set there in late October. Its being reopened in stages, with emergency vehicles currently the only ones allowed through.

___

Nicholson reported from Bismarck, North Dakota. Follow him on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/NicholsonBlake
SANTA FE  With red and green chile saturating nearly every facet of life in New Mexico, a legislative panel is supporting a measure to adorn special license plates with the hot peppers.

The House Transportation and Public Works Committee on Thursday gave a favorable recommendation to the legislation sponsored by Republican Rep. Cathrynn Brown of Carlsbad.

Brown says most New Mexicans cant go a day without enjoying chile and a new license plate would recognize the popular peppers.

Researchers say New Mexicos soil and weather combine to give peppers grown in the state a unique flavor and character.

Under the bill, vehicle owners would pay an annual $35 fee for the plate. Some of the revenue would go toward manufacturing costs, while most would be used for educational programs at the state Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.

TABLED: A bill seeking to increase New Mexicos voter rolls by tying drivers licenses to voter registration was derailed Thursday in a House committee.

Two Democratic lawmakers  Reps. Debbie Rodella of Espanola and Daymon Ely of Corrales  joined with GOP members of the House Local Government, Elections, Land Grants and Cultural Affairs Committee in voting to table the bill.

The sponsor of House Bill 28, Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, had described the automatic voter registration measure as seeking to modernize the states voter registration system.

It called for all New Mexicans with drivers licenses to be added to the states voter rolls, provided they were eligible to vote. Those wishing not to be registered would have had to opt out.

The bill was supported by Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, but critics pointed out that New Mexicans can already register to vote at Motor Vehicle Division offices statewide.

Prescriptions: A proposal aimed at harnessing the state governments purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices won a bipartisan endorsement Thursday from the Senate Public Affairs Committee.

In a written statement, Sen. Jeff Steinborn, sponsor of Senate Bill 354, said that negotiating for lower drug prices is just common sense, and urgent. By doing so, we could literally save the state millions of dollars every year.

The proposal would establish an Interagency Pharmaceutical Purchasing Council to help negotiate bulk purchases.

It won a recommendation of passage on a 7-0 vote and now heads to the Judiciary Committee. If passed there, it would head to the Senate floor.

Rep. Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces, is co-sponsoring the bill.
Surprisingly, the Arab states delegates present agreed with their the Zionist enemy. Saudi Arabias foreign minister stated that the Iranians have only stepped up the tempo of their mischief since the controversial nuclear deal between Iran and the worlds six leading powers.They are not alone, as the Trump administration placed Iran on notice at the start of this month and imposed a limited new set of sanctions, after Iran launched a medium-range ballistic missile test. Irans response was to test another one. Confrontation, even a conflict, may be coming, after the deal of 2015 was believed to have begun in an era of peaceful coexistence.

Its in Iran hands. Tehrans hardliners must consider their priorities, but an examination of their actions and rhetoric displays their belief that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear agreement, marked the end of their efforts toward rehabilitation, but its only part of what needs to be done by Iran.

The deal was to meant to limit Irans destabilising enrichment programme. Iran agreed, under its terms, to make no weaponisable plutonium. It also dismantled the centrifuges used to make enriched uranium, and eliminated nearly all of its stockpile. These restrictions continue for 15 years, and after that time limit is over, Irans nuclear activities will be subject to an inspection regime. In return, UN-mandated economic sanctions that had crippled Irans economy after the nuclear threat started to cause alarm in the mid-2000s were lifted.

To date, both sides have kept to the bargain. However, Donald Trump has railed against the deal, but has shown no sign of scrapping it. Most observers think it would be a mistake to do so.

However, there are other sanctions on Iran. America still has many that were imposed a decade age, to punish Iran for a number of transgressions, including human-rights abuses, support for terrorism and the development of weapons of mass destruction, and missiles that can be used to deliver them.

Although generally doveish, Barack Obama tightened these sanctions several times to penalize Iran for missile testing. The law mandating them was extended for ten more years last December. The Senate backed the extension by 99-0 and the House by 419-1. American firms are still banned from doing business with Iran, but the president has the power to waive sanctions. After the nuclear deal, former President Obama did this in many areas, for instance allowing Boeing join Airbus in selling planes to Iran.

These prior sanctions had nothing to do with the nuclear program, but instead with Irans record of making trouble. Iran is helpful in taking on Islamic state, but, as former Senator Joe Lieberman noted, it still poses the largest threat to the stability of the Middle East.

The Trump administration shouldnt tear up the nuclear deal. It may not be perfect, but its better than having Iran only months away from possessing nukes. Additionally, the nuclear deal does not stop America from being tough elsewhere. President Trump is right to apply targeted sanctions against the individuals and companies that are helping the Iran build itself up.
LAS CRUCES  A Las Cruces man was sentenced last week to 10 years and one month in federal prison for drug trafficking convictions, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in New Mexico.

Jessie Jesus Marquez, 37, was found guilty last year on six charges related to trafficking methamphetamine.

Marquez was one of 18 defendants indicted on Oct. 16, 2013.

The 43-count indictment alleged that Marquez and his co-defendants participated in a tri-state drug trafficking organization that obtained methamphetamine from Arizona and Texas and distributed the drugs in Otero and Dona Ana counties between January 2013 and June 12, 2013.

Among other charges, the indictment charged Marquez with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute on March 16, 2013, and April 17, 2013, and with using a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking crimes on three dates in April 2013 and on June 3, 2013.

The indictment was the result of an 11-month multi-agency investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration. During the investigation, law enforcement officers seized about 3.3 kilograms of methamphetamine and $16,000 in cash.

Marquezs co-defendants previously entered guilty pleas to various counts of the indictment, and Marquez alone proceeded to trial.

Marquezs trial on the seven counts of the indictment began on Jan. 25, 2016, and concluded on Jan. 27, 2016. The jury returned a verdict finding Marquez guilty on six of the seven counts against him.

The evidence at trial showed that agents intercepted numerous communications establishing Marquezs involvement in the conspiracy and in methamphetamine trafficking.



2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)

Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

_____
LAS CRUCES  Potential jurors in New Mexico should expect to see changes in how they are summoned for jury duty, court officials said this week.

Under the states new jury management system, currently being rolled out across the state, potential jurors will receive a one-page summons in the mail with instructions on how to fill out various other forms online, said Daniel Garcia, the state jury manager for the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Jury questionnaires and qualification forms will no longer be mailed to potential jurors, Garcia said. Those forms will now have to be filled out online, he said. They will be available online in English and Spanish.

The new system is meant to be more cost and time effective, Garcia said.

Were trying to get away from paper and make everything electronic, he said. Before, we would summons all of our jurors, and in the summons, wed include jury qualification and questionnaire forms, which they would complete on paper and then mail it back.

But this process was inefficient and courts experienced substantial delays with mail, he said.

With the new process, he said, everything is electronic, meaning that when jurors get summoned, theyre now directed to go to a website and they can then complete the forms on the website, hit submit and its automatically, instantly, transferred over to the jury system at the court.

Garcia said the new system will save the cash-strapped judiciary money in the long term. How much savings remains to be seen.

We wont know yet until we actually roll things out. But its saving in postage because of the weight and saving in printing, he said.

Potential jurors who do not have access to a computer or the internet will have the option to pick up paper copies of the forms at courthouses across the state, Garcia said.

Staff members from the Dona Ana County Magistrate Court and the 3rd Judicial District Court in Las Cruces spent this week training on the new system, which is cloud-based, Garcia said.

The Dona Ana County Magistrate Court implemented the system this week, the courts manager, Bernice Ramos, said. The court mailed out the new one-page jury summonses on Thursday, and potential jurors should expect to receive them by Monday, she said.

The 3rd Judicial District Court plans to mail out the one-page summonses by next week, the courts clerk supervisor, Alama Rodriguez, said. Potential jurors would then begin to receive the summonses sometime next month.

Garcia said all courts in New Mexico must implement the new system before July. The 2nd Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County and Albuquerques Metropolitan Court were the first courts to go live with the new system earlier this month, he said.

Court staff members said the new system would also save them time and resources.

Before we were receiving all that paperwork, and it was several individual people who had to screen the forms, said Susana Munoz, a supervisor at the Dona Ana County Magistrate Court. With this electronic process, the jury goes online and fills out the questionnaire and if they meet the qualification criteria, then theyre qualified. But before it was an individual that made those determinations. So were certainly saving on staff time.

With the new system, jurors are expected to receive information from the courts more quickly, Munoz said. For example, they can be alerted sooner if, say, a trial has been canceled and theyre no longer needed.

Were giving a lot of power back to the jurors, Garcia said.

Carlos Andres Lopez can be reached 575-541-5453, carlopez@lcsun-news.com or @carlopez_los on Twitter.



2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)

Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

_____
LAS CRUCES  A group of progressive activists wanting to meet face-to-face with Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., plans to hold a fake town hall, which will include a Pearce stand-in, to protest a lack of town halls by the congressman.

The group  WERE IN: Southern New Mexico, which is part of the Indivisible movement  plans to hold the event 1 p.m. Friday at Pearces Las Cruces office, 570 N. Telshor Blvd. A rally is slated for noon.

The failure of U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., to communicate face to face with his constituents even once during Congresss Recess Week of Feb. 18-25 has inspired a group of Truth or Consequences citizens to stage a Fake Town Hall, a news release stated.

Pearce is out of the country this week as part of his role as chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance, according to Pearces press secretary Keeley Christensen.

A participant at the fake town hall will wear a Pearce face mask, as a satirical stand-in for the representative, according to the news release.

Meanwhile, Pearce backers, coordinated by local Republicans, also are planning to attend the event to show support for the congressman.

Pearce did have a telephone town hall for the 2nd Congressional District last Wednesday, but some people complained about problems in accessing and participating in that event. The next day, more than 30 people gathered in front of Pearces office to express concerns.

Two Indivisible chapters, one from Las Cruces and another from T or C, organized last weeks protest and this weeks fake town hall.

Fridays town hall will feature questions posed to the mock Pearce. While the Fake Town Hall is not a sanctioned event, their questions will be serious and deserving of real answers, the news release stated.

The progressive-oriented Indivisible movement aims to employ protest and political tactics akin to those used by Tea Party protesters over the past decade.



2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)

Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

_____
LAS CRUCES  Police report a suspected drunken driver, whose 10-year-old son was in the vehicle, has been charged with child abuse after leading police on a pursuit late Wednesday evening and crashing his pickup into two marked police units.

Cesar Juarez, 29, of the 1600 block of Mahaney Drive, is charged with one count of child abuse, two counts of aggravated battery against a peace officer and one count each of aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, aggravated driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and driving while license revoked.

According to a Las Cruces Police Department news release, an LCPD officer spotted a white Chevrolet S-10 pickup traveling north on Mesquite Street about 11 p.m. Wednesday. The pickups license plate lights were not working and the vehicle was traveling above the posted speed limit, the release stated.

Police report the officer activated his units emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop but the driver of the S-10 failed to pull over. The pursuit went through a residential neighborhood and onto Spruce Avenue where the driver, later identified as Juarez, crashed into the officers patrol vehicle, the release stated.

Police report the crash forced the S-10 to veer into the concrete center median on Picacho Avenue, and then into a 2007 Chevrolet pickup in the area.

Juarezs Chevy S-10 continued westbound on Picacho, police report, but made a U-turn where another LCPD officer was able to briefly immobilize the pickup. As the officer attempted to exit his unit, Juarezs revved his engine and crashed into that patrol vehicle, the release stated.

According to police, it was at that time that officers noticed a young boy, identified as Juarezs 10-year-old son, in the pickup.

No injuries were reported and the young boy was turned over to the custody of a relative, the release stated.

Juarez was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he is being held on a $10,000 bond.



2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)

Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

_____
PHOENIX  Federal authorities say a 41-year-old man sought in an Arizona homicide has been arrested in Mexico and extradited to the United States.

The U.S. Marshals Service says Luis Dagoberto Sanchez-Velasquez was sought on a warrant charging him with homicide and burglary in the stabbing death of his nephew during a 2008 break-in in Phoenix.

The agency says Sanchez-Velasquez was extradited Thursday after being arrested in May 2015 in Oaxaca (wuh-HAH-kah), Oaxaca.
AUSTIN, Texas  A long-running lawsuit over Texas contentious voter ID law will move forward in federal court, even as the Republican-controlled Legislature considers how best to modify it.

A federal judge on Friday denied a request from the U.S. Justice Department and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to delay the case.

The Trump administration joined with Texas to ask that next weeks hearing be postponed until June when the Texas Legislatures session finishes. A bill revising the strict voter ID law was filed this week to address previous court rulings that found it discriminatory against poor, largely minority Texans.

The request nonetheless was the latest signal that the Trump administration may scrap the federal governments opposition to the law. President Barack Obamas Justice Department had joined civil rights groups contesting the law.
Amy Adams character in Arrival ascends on a vertical lift through a hole in the alien spacecraft, and gravity suddenly shifts sideways. When she finally sees the creatures, theyre behind glass, obscured by fog  looking like enormous black hands with seven fingers, purposefully designed by the filmmakers to be not-so-human.

Beyond the special-effects wizardry, the scene is a reminder that the word alien shares a root with the Latin alius, meaning other. The film, it turns out, is about overcoming divides not only between species, but also among nationalities, as Adamss linguist character works with colleagues from China, Russia and other countries where the oblong ships have been parked to figure out the aliens pictographic language.

These themes in Denis Villeneuves film, nominated for best picture and seven other Oscars, became especially resonant after the election of a strongly America-first president in a deeply divided nation, and are even more so now, amid immigration crackdowns. And, as the film shows, science fiction has a knack for helping us sort out our feelings about those different from us.

Its turned out to be loaded with political commentary, Arrival producer Shawn Levy says of the movies reflection of the immigration issue, something our filmmaking team doesnt regret, but this was largely unanticipated.

The films political themes were intended to be more timeless. The movie was always a commentary on a world that is often prone to fracturing, Levy says. It invests in the faith that cooperation among nations beyond borders can lead to global benefits.

Daniel W. Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University in Boston and the author of Theories of International Politics and Zombies, says science fiction movies like Arrival can be viewed as commentaries on his field. (Some spoilers ahead.) Realism  the theory of international relations as a power-wielding, zero-sum game  shows up in George Romeros zombie movies and in Independence Day, about a human-alien war, Drezner says.

Dr. Louise Banks, Adams character in Arrival, eventually realizes that the aliens view diplomacy as a non-zero-sum game, like liberalism, which argues that cooperation among nations leads to mutual benefits. The film also embodies constructivism, the view that differences result from such socially constructed norms as language.

You could argue that the aliens are trying to socially construct a norm of cooperation among the countries involved, Drezner says, so that humans will later help the aliens, who can see the future.

Drezner, who is also a Washington Post contributor, says that although the film doesnt get everything right about international relations  for one, the United States cuts off communication with other nations too hastily  it does show how language matters. One plot point hinges on how an alien image is translated. Similarly, Drezner says, a big step in Russian President Vladimir Putins relationship with President Donald Trump came when he gave Trump a compliment that was translated in some reports as brilliant, and Trump interpreted as genius, but is closer to colorful, vivid or flamboyant, according to the Guardian. Putin later clarified that he had meant bright.

Movie creatures have been echoes of the other since at least the 1930s, when the Flash Gordon serials villain Ming the Merciless was a yellow peril stand-in for our fears of Asian immigrants. In 1951, The Thing From Another World was a Cold War analogy. Later, Star Trek often commented on race relations.

Other sci-fi films more explicitly reference immigration  such as 2009s Sleep Dealer, in which our Southern border is walled off, but people in Mexico can still work in the States by piloting robots who do construction work or clean houses. Even the comedy Men in Black plays on the double meaning of alien  in the opening scene, a man who appears to be an undocumented immigrant smuggled in a truck turns out to be an extraterrestrial in disguise.

A prominent example of sci-fi weighing in on cultural divides is 2009s District 9, an apartheid analogy in which the protagonist, Wikus, heads an effort to relocate the prawn-like aliens from their Johannesburg ghetto before his sympathies shift.

Terri Tatchell, who wrote that film with director Neill Blomkamp, notes that in District 9, Arrival and even 1986s The Fly  one of her inspirations  the human protagonist takes on characteristics of the other creatures, which helps them see the nonhuman side.

Tatchell says her hope is that people would start out being totally disgusted with this alien and totally disgusted with this oppressor  and at the end be able to understand them a little better.

To Tatchell, the appeal of science fiction is less about global politics and more about how characters respond to unfamiliar situations. My takeaway is always a little more personal than all-encompassing. To me its all about empathy and what can you do to make change, what can you do if you were suddenly in that situation.

Jay Telotte, a Georgia Tech professor who studies science fiction film and TV, says that political metaphors can be found in genre films of all sorts. In Westerns and musicals, he says, the same thing happens  you find ways of displacing your anxieties and putting them into this other form. Its not as threatening, and certainly its not as polemical.

The HBO series Westworld, a sci-fi and Western mash-up, is a kind of meta-take on this displacement, depicting a future in which humans sign up to live in a Western environment where the characters are played by robots  another popular sci-fi version of people other than us.

Telotte cautions that no matter how topical these films might be, theyre unlikely to create big changes. Movies never solve problems, he says. We go to films that make us feel better about the things that are bothering us.

Films can create smaller effects, notes Lisa Yaszek, a Georgia Tech professor who studies science fiction. The Day After Tomorrow, the 2004 film about a new ice age, compresses the timeline of global warming into a ludicrous framework, she says, but helps to dramatize an abstract issue.

Scientists will invoke science fiction films to argue for or against certain lines of research, she says. A nanoscientist will say, The work I do is not science fiction. Its nothing like Michael Crichtons Prey. You shouldnt be worried about nanoswarms. 

Arrivals Levy recently sat in a Hollywood editing studio working on Season 2 of another sci-fi producing project, the Netflix series Stranger Things, when the creators of the show, the Duffer brothers, barged in to show him a video from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Like the main characters in Stranger Things, we are now stuck in the Upside Down  right is wrong, up is down, black is white, Rep. David N. Cicilline, D-R.I., announced, referring to the series parallel dimension, next to a poster saying Trump Things in the shows logo.

Like Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Eleven, we must remain focused on the task at hand and hold this administration accountable, Cicilline added.

Unbelievable, Levy says. To permeate culture in a way that helps people process life and current events  and I very much feel Arrival has done the same thing  its a little surreal.

If that congressman was able to get his message across to a dozen people who might not otherwise have it resonate, thats pretty satisfying.
Ed Schultz speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference would have been inconceivable a year ago. But Donald Trump is president now, and his brand of protectionism is having its moment.

On his MSNBC show in 2009, Schultz said that there are parallels between some of the things Hitler was saying and some of the things that were at the CPAC convention. He added, They are not Americans. In 2011, per CNN, Schultz called Trump a racist and said nobody wanted him to become president.

Schultz now hosts a nightly show on RT, which is a propaganda arm of Russia and funded by the Kremlin. At what for decades has been the signature cattle call on the right, he praised Trump as someone who is not bought and paid for by anyone. Then he expounded on what he sees as the horrors of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA.

Alluding to the intelligence communitys determination that his patrons in Moscow interfered with the presidential election in an effort to boost Trump, Schultz said during an afternoon panel: Full disclosure: The Russians did not tell Hillary Clinton not to go to Wisconsin. They didnt tell her not to go to Michigan either.

No one booed. Instead, heads nodded. The times, they are a changin.

The Trumpists are triumphant at a conference where not long ago they were viewed as figures of the fringe. Stephen Bannon, as head of Breitbart News, hosted forums outside CPAC in 2013 and 2014 called The Uninvited. Intended as counter-programming, he brought in guests with very controversial views about Islam and immigration that could never get speaking slots at the main conference.

Now the White House chief strategist, and intellectual force behind Trumps agenda, Bannon got a rock stars reception when he arrived Thursday. I think one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history was his immediate withdrawal from TPP, Bannon said, referring to the president. It got us out of a trade deal and let our sovereignty come back to ourselves!

Bannon threw around terms like globalist and corporatist as he touted Trumps economic nationalist agenda. Rolling back trade deals, he explained, is part of a broader push toward the deconstruction of the administrative state.

Reince Priebus, who viewed Trump anxiously when he announced his candidacy two years ago but is now White House chief of staff, told the crowd that The Donald will be one of the greatest presidents that ever served this country. Channeling his boss, he said the president has already put in the best cabinet in the history of cabinets. Then he led the crowd in chants of Trump, Trump, Trump.

They are all Trumpists now. . .

 Forty years ago this month, speaking at the same conference, Ronald Reagan offered a searing critique of Marxist-Leninism that could be read today as an indictment of Trumpism. All the facts of the real world have to be fitted to the Procrustean bed of Marx and Lenin, he explained. If the facts dont happen to fit the ideology, the facts are chopped off and discarded. I consider this to be the complete opposite to principled conservatism. When a conservative states that the free market is the best mechanism ever devised by the mind of man to meet material needs, he is merely stating what a careful examination of the real world has told him is the truth. When a conservative says that totalitarian communism is an absolute enemy of human freedom, he is not theorizing. He is reporting the ugly reality captured so unforgettably in the writings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Reagans 1977 CPAC speech remains one of the most important political addresses he ever delivered. Fresh off his loss to Gerald Ford in the Republican primaries, and Jimmy Carters victory in the general, the former California governor went on to presciently outline a vision for A New Republican Party that would unite fiscal, social and national security conservatives in common cause. His clarion call helped win him his partys nomination in 1980, ushered in the first political realignment since Franklin Roosevelt and allowed the GOP to win five of the next seven presidential elections.

 Alas, the Reagan Era is over. And if you needed another data point that the Party of Reagan has been hijacked, this weeks conservative confab offers many. Reagan embraced freedom in all of its forms  from the aspirations of Eastern Europeans looking to throw off the yoke of their Russian overlords to open markets and, to a lesser degree, open borders.

Its always fraught to speculate on what a historical figure, who died 13 years ago, would say about current events. But based on a decade of closely studying the 40th president, including countless hours reviewing his archives, it seems safe to stipulate the following: Reagan would frown upon the dark portrait that Trump paints of his shining city upon a hill. He would be disturbed by his protectionist and isolationist rhetoric. And he would be aghast at the 45th president repeatedly drawing false moral equivalency between the United States and Russia.

Reagan would never have suggested that Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent who presides over an authoritarian regime, is a stronger leader than Barack Obama. Among the many words Trump says that would never have come out of Reagans mouth: There are a lot of killers. Weve got a lot of killers. What, you think our country is so innocent?

But its much more than that: The Reagan Revolution was always more about ideas than a cult of personality built around a single man.

 Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, said during her appearance at CPAC Thursday that by the time Trump addresses the group, the conference will be known as TPAC. As in the Trump Political Action Conference.

Conways line spoke volumes about the way that the Republican Party has been altered by the rise of Trump, and it sparked alarm even among attendees at the conference, Yahoos Jon Ward reports. Two quotes from his piece:

I think thats dangerous, said Sarah Markley, a student at Grove City College near Pittsburgh. I think that we should first stick to our principles and look for somebody who embodies those.

I think thats dangerous, said Sarah Markley, a student at Grove City College near Pittsburgh. I think that we should first stick to our principles and look for somebody who embodies those.

Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin also bristled: Its conservative political action conference. Thats what it is. Itll be that 10 years from now. When I worked for Reagan, we didnt call it RPAC. So I would remind them about that.

Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin also bristled: Its conservative political action conference. Thats what it is. Itll be that 10 years from now. When I worked for Reagan, we didnt call it RPAC. So I would remind them about that.
The flying leap was caught on a camera.

You can see it in the clip of a Charleston, S.C., television stations live shot, which shows a man rocketing through yellow police tape as he hurls himself toward a Confederate flag.

Oh, you can see whats happening right now, a reporter says, as the man tries to rip the flag away from the person holding it and law enforcement officers begin to converge.

I didnt really see any crime committed, said Mary Smith, 25, a friend of the man who watched the scene unfold. I saw a heroic event, in my opinion.

I straightened the flag out and held it back up, said James Bessenger, 28, who was holding a plastic pole bearing the Confederate flag when the man rushed at it, as he described what happened next. He accomplished absolutely nothing, except spending the night in jail, and now hes going to have to buy me a new pole. Well done.

The man, Muhiyidin Elamin Moye, 31, who prefers to use the last name dBaha, was arrested and jailed afterward. But the footage of his leap spread online.

The Post and Courier reports that a judge on Thursday approved the release of dBaha, a Black Lives Matter activist in Charleston. DBaha faces a disorderly conduct charge, according to Charleston police. A bond court judge said he was also charged with damage to personal property, according to the Post and Courier of Charleston, although that was not included in the police departments tweet on the matter.

The encounter on Wednesday unfolded outside an event at the College of Charleston, where Bree Newsome, the activist who in 2015 scaled a flagpole to remove the Confederate flag in front of the South Carolina statehouse, was making an appearance, according to reports.

Bessenger, the chairman of the South Carolina Secessionist Party, said that he took issue with the college giving Newsome a platform, or, as he put it, kind of glorifying what she did. DBaha said that activists had read that Secessionists were coming to Newsomes event and wanted to let the group know that we will not receive that kind of intimidation.

We just really wanted to assure her that she was going to be safe in coming, that people that want to come and hear her speak will be able to come and hear her speak, he said.

DBaha said that on Wednesday night he was chatting with elders when he noticed Secessionists and the flag.

And I looked at our elders and I saw like, fear in their eyes, he said. And I saw them back up, almost. That was the moment for me. Were not going to pass this on another generation. Not another generation of people are going to be intimidated by this flag.

He said that he tried to wrestle the flag away from Bessenger to help them understand what it is to meet a real resistance, to meet people that arent scared.

Smith, a good friend of dBahas who said she basically had a front-row seat to Wednesdays incident, said she initially heard others react, then saw dBaha dart across the road. The flag came down, and next thing she knew, Smith said, dBaha, whom she described as passionate and bright, was on the ground with police.

Theres Muhiyidin, pulling a Bree Newsome at a Bree Newsome event, she said. Taking that flag down.

Bessenger said he had the flag out on a 20-foot pole for about five minutes before the encounter occurred.

I saw him charge at me, and I reached down, because usually Im able to protect myself, usually I have the means with me to protect myself, Bessenger said. And I didnt this time. So I went to protect myself, realized I didnt have what I would need to do that, and just faced him. But he didnt grab me. He grabbed the pole.

Bessenger said that he typically carries a weapon such as a firearm or a knife. He was not armed Wednesday, he said.

I didnt have time to get to a weapon, so no, I wouldnt have been able to use one, even if I had one, Bessenger said, when asked whether he would have used a weapon if he had one. He got the jump on me, I can admit that. I wasnt completely facing him when it happened, thats why you can see in the video, I reach down toward my ankle, but I dont even get all the way there before I stood back up. I didnt have time.

Bessenger said that he sees the Stars and Bars not as a symbol of racism but as a military flag that honors Confederate soldiers. Many others, however, see it as a symbol of slavery, oppression and white supremacy.

Opposition to the flag and other symbols of the Confederacy grew stronger in 2015 after Dylann Roof, a self-described white supremacist, fatally shot nine black parishioners at a historic church in Charleston, the same city where dBaha tried to strip Bessenger of the Confederate flag.

Newsome, the activist who was speaking Wednesday night, has previously said in a statement that she saw the Charleston church shooting as a turning point.

A white man had just entered a black church and massacred people as they prayed. He had assassinated a civil rights leader. This was not a page in a textbook I was reading nor an inscription on a monument I was visiting, Newsome wrote in a statement that was posted on Blue Nation Review. This was now. This was real. This was  this is  still happening.

Bessenger also said that in the aftermath of the confrontation, his groups website exploded with new applications. It raised about $4,000, Bessenger said, and attracted some new members.

So I guess I owe him a thank you, Bessenger said.

But dBaha had supporters, too. Smith is a member of the group Showing Up for Racial Justice, which set up a fund to help raise money for dBahas bail. Speaking to The Washington Post by telephone Thursday evening, she said that the last time she had checked the fundraising effort, it had received more than $10,000.

Our community really came together to back this man up, Smith said. We dont play.
JERUSALEM  The Israeli government is refusing to allow an American investigator from Human Rights Watch into the country, saying Thursday that the group is systematically anti-Israel and works as a tool for pro-Palestinian propaganda.

Officials at Human Rights Watch  one of the most prominent rights monitors in the world  denounced the decision to deny entry to Omar Shakir, its recently named Israel and Palestine country director. Shakir is a U.S. citizen. His parents were from Iraq.

The New York-based group shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 as a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines. One of the top backers of Human Rights Watch is financier and philanthropist George Soros.

Our staff cant work in Cuba, Egypt, North Korea, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. This is not a club that Israel wants to join, said Sari Bashi, Israel and Palestine advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. Bashi, an Israeli, is based in South Africa.

Authorities in Egypt in 2014 barred two senior executives of Human Rights Watch from entering the country as the pair were about to release a year-long investigation of mass killings of anti-government demonstrators at the hands of security forces.

In a letter dated Monday, Israels immigration service, which approves visas for foreign workers, said it based its rejection on an advisory from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which noted that for some time now, this organizations public activities and reports have engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of human rights.  It did not cite specifics in the letter.

Emmanuel Nahshon, a top spokesman for Israels Foreign Ministry, confirmed that Israel rejected the visa request for Shakir, basing its decision not on the individual but on its low opinion of Human Rights Watch.

We said no. Its very simple. We consider the group to be biased, systemically hostile toward Israel. In a way, we consider them absolutely hopeless, Nahshon said.

He said the refusal to allow the Human Rights Watch investigator into the country does not signal a new get-tough policy against nongovernmental organizations, as its critics charge.

This doesnt mean that Israel will not allow human rights organizations to work in Israel. On the contrary, were keen to work with them, Nahshon said. He added that decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

This decision and the spurious rationale should worry anyone concerned about Israels commitment to basic democratic values, Iain Levine, program director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Bashi said that in the past year, Human Rights Watch has not only reported on alleged violations by the Israeli government but also investigated and condemned the arbitrary detention of journalists and activists by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and executions by Hamas authorities in Gaza. It also probed and denounced a Jerusalem bus bombing claimed by a suspected affiliate of Hamas, the Islamist militant organization that runs the Gaza Strip and has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and Israel.

Homegrown rights groups here, such as BTselem and Peace Now, and global organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have long been accused by Israelis of unfair treatment. The Israel-based group NGO Monitor, which provides information to the Israeli government on Palestinian incitement, charges that Human Rights Watch disproportionately focuses on condemnations of Israel and promotes an agenda based solely on the Palestinian narrative of victimization and Israeli aggression.

On its website, NGO Monitor features a short video clip of Shakir speaking at the University of California at Irvine in 2010 in favor of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, which supporters say is designed to force Israel to end its almost 50-year military occupation and practices it compares to apartheid against Palestinians. Shakir was not working for Human Rights Watch then.

Israelis say the BDS movement seeks to delegitimize Israel. A number of U.S. governors and state houses have come out with executive orders and bills against the boycotts.

Israels right-wing government has recently targeted Israeli human rights groups for extra scrutiny and warned European governments to stop funding them. Members of anti-occupation groups, such as Breaking the Silence, which is composed of Israeli army veterans, have been called traitors.

The Israeli parliament in July passed a bill to increase transparency for Israeli NGOs that get most of their funding from abroad. Leaders of the nongovernmental organizations, who make up the core of Israels peace camp and are stalwarts of the dwindling left wing in Israel, said the law was written by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government to muzzle opposition to the military occupation of the West Bank.
On February 23, he told reporters that violations to the cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey continue across the country because Iran-backed militia continue fighting alongside the Syrian government.

Iran is the main obstacle to any kind of political deal, Hariri said, and also blamed Russia, Russia failed to control the regime and the militias that fight with the regime. They failed to control Iran.

Iran fuels sectarian strife across the broader Middle East region as well, according to Hariri. This a line is in agreement with that taken by Turkey, who backs Syrias opposition groups.

Hariri called on Washington to put pressure on Iran, who has spread tens of thousands of sectarian fighters.

There needs to be a regional, international effort to put a stop to Iranian interventions in the region. This is what is expected from the United States, he declared.
Six people have been arrested in connection with the killing of a 21-year-old man in Prince William County, one in a web of recent cases connected to the MS-13 gang in Northern Virginia, police said.

Several of the suspects in the death of Christian Alexander Sosa Rivas of Fairfax are MS-13 members, Prince William police said. The case also has ties to the gang-related killing of a 15-year-old girl in Fairfax County (Virginia), and the disappearance and return of two other teenage girls from the same county, police said.

Three male suspects, including one juvenile, were arrested Wednesday in Pennsylvania in connection with the Rivas killing, and another man was arrested in Pennsylvania on Thursday. Two women were arrested Feb. 12 in the Baltimore area.

Rivass body was found along the Potomac River in Dumfries on Jan. 12, police said. They have not offered a motive in the killing.

Edgar Oswaldo Blanco Torres, 24; Jose Martir Larios Espenal, 20; Angelica Maria Blanco, 19; Keyri Sujey Portillo Gonzalez, 18; Samuel Enrique Villalobos Sanchez, 18; and an unnamed 17-year-old boy have been arrested. None of them has a fixed address.

Blanco Torres, Larios Espenal and the unnamed juvenile have been charged with murder, police said. Blanco Torres, Blanco and Portillo Gonzalez have been charged with conspiracy to commit a felony. Police said the six suspects will be extradited to Virginia.

Police declined to comment on the arrests, saying more could be forthcoming.

Fairfax County police said at a news conference last week that information that turned up during the Rivas investigation led them to conclude that a missing Maryland teenager had been killed. Her remains were found this month near an industrial park in Springfield, Va.

Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. said Damaris Reyes Rivas, 15, of Gaithersburg, who left home in mid-December, was held against her will near an industrial park, assaulted and then killed in a savage and brutal fashion about Jan. 8. Her body was discovered Feb. 11 by police, just one day before the first arrests in the Rivas case.

Police said video evidence was among the clues in the killing.

Reyes Rivass mother told The Washington Post that her daughter had become involved with the MS-13 gang. She also said that her daughter had dated Rivas. They are not related.

The mother said her daughter had come to the United States from El Salvador in 2014. She showed The Post messages her daughter had received on Facebook, saying those suckers want to kill you while another added, They have already given permission to take you out.

Police announced last week that they had arrested 10 people, including six juveniles, in connection with Reyes Rivass death. Five have been charged with murder. Police have not specified a motive.

Prince William County police said that Rivas also was acquainted with Venus Lorena Romero Iraheta, 17, of Alexandria, Virginia, who police announced last week was missing and endangered before she returned home.

Two of the adults charged in Reyes Rivass killing were initially arrested in another case: the disappearance of Lizzy Rivera Colindres, a 16-year-old from Springfield, reported missing Jan. 15. She and her 5-month-old son returned home this month.

Jay Lanham, director of the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, said the area has seen an increase in activity in MS-13 and other gangs. He said the gang has found fertile ground, recruiting among unaccompanied minors who have come across the U.S. border in record numbers in recent years. Many do not have immediate family in the area.

These kids are certainly prime targets because of what the gangs are pitching to them in terms of belonging, Lanham said. They are recruiting kids down to the fifth grade, Lanham said.

  

The Washington Posts Tom Jackman contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump said Friday that his predecessors health care law covers very few people as he minimized the impact of replacing it. Thats only true if you consider more than 20 million people to be very few.

He took another mysterious poke at Sweden, too, and decried open U.S. borders that are not.

Heres a look at his statements at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday:

TRUMP: Obamacare covers very few people.

THE FACTS: More than 20 million people are covered by the two major components of former President Barack Obamas health care law: expanded Medicaid and subsidized private health insurance.

The Medicaid expansion, adopted by 31 states and Washington, D.C., covers about 11 million low-income people, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The fate of the expansion is a major sticking point as Republicans try to complete their repeal plan. Sixteen states with GOP governors have expanded their Medicaid programs.

The other, more visible, component is HealthCare.gov. The federal website and state-run online insurance markets have signed up 12.2 million people for this year, according to an Associated Press count earlier this month, based on federal and state reports.

This is lower than the 12.7 million who initially enrolled for 2016. But it is not dramatically lower when considering the problems the markets have had with rising premiums and dwindling insurer participation, not to mention Trumps vow to repeal the program.

Altogether, since Obamas law passed in 2010, the number of uninsured people has dropped by about 20 million and the uninsured rate has declined below 9 percent, a historic low.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48.6 million Americans were uninsured in 2010. Through the first nine months of last year, that figure was down to 28.2 million.

Although employers also added coverage as the economy recovered, experts say the vast majority of the coverage gains are due to Obamas law.

However, the progress in reducing the number of uninsured people appears to have stalled. The 28.2 million uninsured last year, from January to September, is not statistically different from the 28.6 million uninsured for all of 2015, according to the CDC.

___

TRUMP, repeating a week-old assertion that Sweden is an example of violence and extremism due to immigration: Take a look at what happened in Sweden. I love Sweden, great country, great people, I love Sweden. But they understand. The people over there understand Im right.

THE FACTS: Trump was ridiculed in Sweden after he warned at a rally in Florida that terrorism was growing in Europe and something terrible had happened in Sweden the previous night. But there had been no extraordinary trouble that night in Sweden, a country welcoming to immigrants.

Two days later, though, a riot broke out after police arrested a drug crime suspect. Cars were set on fire and shops looted, but no one was injured. Attacks in the country related to extremism remain rare; the biggest surprise for many Swedes was that a police officer found it necessary to fire his gun.

___

TRUMP: The U.S. is providing security to other nations while leaving our own border wide open. Anybody can come in. But dont worry, were getting a wall.  Were getting bad people out of this country.

THE FACTS: His wide-open border claim is bogus. The number of arrests of illegal border crossers  the best measure of how many people are trying to cross illegally  remains at a 40-year low. The U.S. government under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama roughly doubled the ranks of the Border Patrol in the last decade or so.

In addition, the number of people expelled from the country since Trump took office Jan. 20 has not been disclosed. No available data supports his claim, made Thursday, that immigrants in the country illegally are being expelled at a rate nobody has ever seen before. Deportations were brisk when Obama was president.

Altogether in January, 16,643 people were deported, a drop from December (20,395) but a number that is similar to monthly deportations in early 2015 and 2016.

This month, Homeland Security officials have said 680 people were arrested in a weeklong effort to find and arrest criminal immigrants living in the United States illegally. Three-quarters of those people had been convicted of crimes, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said. The remaining 25 percent were not. The government has not provided information about who was arrested in that roundup, so its impossible to determine how many gang members or drug lords were in that group. It is also unclear how many of those bad people have actually been deported.

That roundup was largely planned before Trump took office and was alternately described by the Trump administration as a routine enforcement effort and a signal of his pledge to take a harder line on illegal immigration. During the Obama administration, similar operations were carried out that yielded thousands of arrests.

___

TRUMP: We have authorized the construction, one day, of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines. And issued a new rule  this took place while I was getting ready to sign. I said who makes the pipes for the pipeline? Well, sir, it comes from all over the world, isnt that wonderful? I said nope, comes from the United States, or were not building it. American steel. If they want a pipeline in the United States, theyre going to use pipe thats made in the United States.

THE FACTS: Its not that straightforward. Trumps executive order leaves lots of wiggle room on how much U.S. steel is actually used. The order states new, expanded or repaired pipelines in the U.S. must use U.S. steel to the maximum extent possible and allowed by law. Thats not an all-USA mandate.

Whats judged possible in the Keystone XL project remains to be seen. Pipes for it are already purchased and stocked in yards. Contrary to his statement, Trump has not approved the project; rather, he revived it by asking TransCanada to resubmit its application.

TransCanada did so in late January while saying it needs time to review how any buy-American plan would affect the company. It has said the majority of steel would be from North America, but that includes Canada and Mexico.

Trumps Jan. 24 order on U.S. steel has little effect on the Dakota Access project because it is nearly complete.

The order gives the commerce secretary until late July to produce a plan on U.S. steel content. The presidents choice for the job has yet to be confirmed.

___

Find all AP Fact Checks here: http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd

___

Associated Press writers Cal Woodward, Jim Drinkard and Matthew Daly, and Alexander Panetta, Washington correspondent for The Canadian Press, contributed to this report.

EDITORS NOTE  A look at the veracity of claims by political figures
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.  The Latest on a hearing for a novelist accused of his wifes death (all times local):

1:55 p.m.

Michael Peterson said making an Alford plea in the death of his wife 16 years ago is one of the most difficult things hes ever done.

Peterson spoke to reporters on Friday inside the Durham County courtroom after making the Alford plea to a charge of manslaughter, which means he agrees that the prosecution has enough evidence to convict him, but can still say hes innocent.

Peterson says the next most difficult thing was to sit through his trial and listen to what he called lies, perjury, fake evidence, made-up evidence. He was sentenced to life in prison before a judge released him, saying prosecution witnesses had done flawed tests and misled the jury.

Peterson then put on a pair of sunglasses and left the courtroom.

__

12:10 p.m.

The novelist originally sentenced to life in prison in 2003 for the death of his wife at their North Carolina mansion is now a free man.

But before Michael Peterson left the Durham County Courthouse on Friday, both he and defense attorney David Rudolf received a scolding from Candace Zamperini, who called Petersons account of her sister Kathleens death a fictionalized story.

The 73-year-old Peterson made an Alford plea to a manslaughter charge during a hearing Friday in Durham County Superior Court. Under the plea, Peterson can still say hes innocent while agreeing the prosecution has enough evidence to convict him. Zamperini called the plea meaningless.

___

3:23 a.m.

The man once sentenced to life behind bars for the death of his wife in their North Carolina mansion expects to leave a courthouse as an officially free man.

Michael Peterson says hes agreed to accept an Alford plea in the 2001 death of his wife Kathleen, whose body was found at the bottom of a staircase. That means he agrees the prosecution has the evidence to convict him though he still maintains his innocence.

His attorney says prosecutors have agreed to sentence him to the eight years he already served. Hes been out of prison since 2011, when a judge ordered a new trial.

In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Peterson says he no longer theorizes on how his wife died. He says all he knows for certain is that he absolutely, positively had nothing to do with her death.
Since the election of Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers in at least 17 states have introduced or voted on legislation to curb mass protests in what civil liberties experts are calling an attack on protest rights throughout the states.

From Virginia to Washington state, legislators have introduced bills that would increase punishments for blocking highways, ban the use of masks during protests, indemnify drivers who strike protesters with their cars, and in at least once case seize the assets of people involved in protests that later turn violent. They come after a string of mass protest movements in the past few years, covering everything from police shootings of unarmed black men to the Dakota Access Pipeline to the inauguration of Donald Trump.

Some are introducing bills because they say theyre necessary to counter the actions of so-called paid or professional protesters who set out to intimidate or disrupt, a common accusation that experts agree is largely overstated. You now have a situation where you have full-time, almost professional agent-provocateurs that attempt to create public disorder, said Republican state senator John Kavanagh of Arizona in support of a measure there that would bring racketeering charges against some protesters.

Others, like the sponsors of a bill in Minnesota, say the measures are necessary to protect public safety on highways. Still other bills, in states like Oklahoma and South Dakota, are intended to discourage protesting related to oil pipelines.

Democrats in many of these states are fighting the legislation. They cite existing laws that already make it a crime to block traffic, the possibility of a chilling effect on protests across the political spectrum, and concerns for protesters safety in the face of aggressive motorists.

None of the proposed legislation has yet been passed into law, and several bills have already been shelved in committee.

Critics doubt whether many of the laws would pass Constitutional muster. The Supreme Court has gone out of its way on multiple occasions to point out that streets, sidewalks and public parks are places where [First Amendment] protections are at their most robust, said Lee Rowland, a senior attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

This is by no means the first time in American history that widespread protests have inspired a legislative backlash, says Douglas McAdam, a Stanford sociology professor who studies protest movements. For instance, southern legislatures  especially in the Deep South  responded to the Montgomery Bus Boycott (and the Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board) with dozens and dozens of new bills outlawing civil rights groups, limiting the rights of assembly, etc. all in an effort to make civil rights organizing more difficult, he said via email.

Similarly, he added, laws designed to limit or outlaw labor organizing or limit labor rights were common in the late 19th/early 20th century.

The ACLUs Rowland says the new bills are not about creating new rules that are necessary because of some gap in the law. She points out, for instance, that every single city and county in the United States already has laws on the books against obstructing traffic on busy roads.

Rather, Rowland says the laws intent is increasing the penalties for protest-related activity to the point that it results in self-censorship among protesters who have every intention to obey the law.

Even the accusations of paid or professional agitators, which President Trump has promoted, have been leveled at protesters before.

This is standard operating procedure for movement opponents, Stanfords McAdam said. Civil rights workers were said to be outside agitators, and the Tea Party was dismissed as an astro turf phenomenon  funded from on high by the Koch brothers and others  rather than a legitimate grass roots movement. In all these cases, including the present, the charges are generally bogus, with the vast majority of protesters principled individuals motivated by the force of deeply held values and strong emotion.

But today, social media has made it possible to organize larger protests more rapidly than ever before. The older laws are becoming less effectual in dealing with these kind of groups, said Michael Heaney of the University of Michigan, a political sociologist who studies protest movements. On top of that, the courts have said, look, the people have a right to protest in this way.  So on some level the new legislation represents an attempt by lawmakers to catch up with new realities of 21st-century protesting.

Heres a rundown of laws that have been introduced or voted on since the election of Donald Trump.

Arizona

Arizonas bill, introduced this week, would open up protests to anti-racketeering legislation, targeting protesters with the same laws used to combat organized crime syndicates. It would also allow police to seize the assets of anyone involved in a protest that at some point becomes violent. It recently passed the state Senate on a party-line vote and is now before the House.

Colorado

A bill under consideration in Colorado would strengthen penalties for tampering with oil and gas equipment. Its intended to prevent activists from shutting off pipelines, a tactic thats been used in other states.

Florida

A bill introduced by Republican George Gainer in the Florida Senate this month would provide criminal penalties for protesters obstructing traffic and exempt drivers from liability if they struck a protester under certain conditions. It was filed this week, and if enacted would take force on July 1.

Iowa

A bill supported by nine Republican sponsors would make protesters who intentionally block highways subject to felony charges and up to five years in prison. The bills lead sponsor told the Des Moines Register it was introduced in response to a November incident in which a protest against Donald Trump shut down part of Interstate 80 in Iowa.

Indiana

An Indiana Senate committee recently toned down a bill that would have allowed police to shut down highway protests using any means necessary. The current version allows police to issue fines for such behavior.

Michigan

A Michigan bill voted on late last year would have increased fines for certain mass picketing behavior, and made it easier for courts to shut down such demonstrations.

Minnesota

Bills currently under consideration in Minnesota would increase fines for protesters blocking highways and airports. A separate measure before the legislature would make it possible for jurisdictions to charge protesters for the costs of policing the protests.

Missouri

A Republican lawmaker has introduced legislation that would make it illegal for protesters to wear masks, robes or other disguises during protests deemed to be illegal.

Mississippi

A bill before the Mississippi legislature would make obstruction of traffic a felony punishable by a $10,000 fine and a five-year prison sentence.

North Carolina

A North Carolina Republican has pledged to introduce legislation making it a crime to threaten, intimidate or retaliate against current or former state officials, in response to an incident involving the heckling of Governor Pat McCrory. The Senator proposing the legislation, Dan Bishop, confirmed via email that he still intends to introduce the legislation, perhaps as early as next week, after consulting with potential co-sponsors.

North Dakota

A number of North Dakota bills have been introduced in response to the long-standing protests there against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The measure that drew the most attention was a bill that would have removed penalties for motorists who strike protesters with their car in some circumstances. That bill failed to make it out of the House, but a number of other measures increasing penalties for certain types of protest action are advancing through the legislature.

Oklahoma

Inspired by pipeline protests in North Dakota, the Oklahoma legislature is considering a bill that would increase penalties for trespassing on certain pieces of critical infrastructure, like pipelines and railways.

Oregon

A novel piece of legislation in Oregon would require public community colleges and universities to expel any student convicted of participating in a violent riot.

South Dakota

A Senate panel in South Dakota recently approved a bill that would increase penalties for certain acts of trespassing and blocking highways. Its a response to pipeline protests in North Dakota, and to the potential for similar protests in South Dakota if the Keystone XL pipeline gets built.

Tennessee

A Tennessee Republican wants drivers to be protected from liability if they inadvertently strike a protester who is blocking a roadway.

Virginia

A Virginia bill that would have increased penalties for people who refused to leave the scene of a riot or unlawful protest died in the state Senate last month. The bill had been requested by law enforcement.

Washington state

Washington lawmakers are considering a bill to increase penalties for people blocking highways and railways, acts that the bills sponsor has characterized as economic terrorism.
In the late 50s and early 60s, James Baldwin was a gay black intellectual living and writing essays and novels in New York and Paris. I was a low-income white kid living in North Carolina, being raised by a single mother and working construction jobs to save money for college. Somehow I stumbled onto Baldwin, the subject of a brilliant documentary, Raoul Pecks I Am Not Your Negro, up for an Academy Award on Sunday. No writer had a greater influence on my life.

My mother was a high school graduate working as a clerk selling socks, ties and underwear. We didnt have many books in the house; we couldnt afford them. In segregated Charlotte, N.C., one of the few (and very limited) insights I had into the lives of African Americans came through the radio. WGIV was one of the colored stations then common in the South. I found it, or it found me, with its music. WGIV was playing Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry when the mainstream white stations were spinning Pat Boone. Radio, like the Internet today, could transcend boundaries.

When I was 14, WGIV offered a prize to the first caller who could name the next gospel song. A devoted listener, I was the first to identify Ride On, King Jesus by the Soul Stirrers. My prize was a years subscription to Ebony magazine in 1955, the year Baldwin published Notes of a Native Son. I would have learned about Baldwin for the first time in the magazine, but I didnt get to read him until five years later.

In the summer of 1960, I worked on a construction crew at a segregated work site in Charlotte. White men were the carpenters; black men were the laborers. (As a summer kid heading for college, I was the exception  a white laborer.) The laborers were paid $1 an hour, working 10 hours a day, six days a week.

By far the best carpenter on the site was a black man named David. Under company rules, he could be classified only as a laborer. But when the project  an eight-story law building, which was very tall for the time  offered a difficult carpentry challenge, the on-site boss would ask David to take over. While David worked his magic, someone had to be on the lookout, watching to see if anyone from the construction firm was driving up. If we sounded the alarm, David would quickly put down the carpentry tools and pick up a broom or shovel before being seen breaking the racial code.

We had an unpaid 30-minute lunchtime each day. Wed sit on boxes of construction material and eat sandwiches, the black and white workers across from one another but having a single conversation. On a few occasions there was a spirited contest to see who could lift the most cement bags, with a white champion facing off against a black champion. I sat apart from all this; I enjoyed listening to the banter, but I was always reading a book, under the guidance of a librarian and the local public library. Here, finally, I encountered Baldwins Notes of a Native Son and the essays that would become part of Nobody Knows My Name.

Before reading his essays and novels, I saw race as a series of discrete issues  schools, employment and so forth. I knew, for example, how wrong it was to force the black men into laboring roles. But Baldwin expressed the systemic aspect of racial subjugation in a way I had not yet seen. He observed that much of our nations energy had been spent avoiding race, but an honest examination would show us how far we had fallen from the standard of human freedom we professed. The recovery of this standard demands of everyone who loves this country a hard look at himself, for the greatest achievements must begin somewhere, and they always begin with the person. If we are incapable of such an examination, he concluded more than half a century ago, we may yet become one of the most distinguished and monumental failures in the history of nations.

Id thought that the interactions on my job site had an easygoing quality, but Baldwin made me see the casual camaraderie in a different light. That jovial weightlifting competition between white and black workers felt like something more sinister when I read Baldwins penetrating observation of what he saw in the eyes of an older black man in the South: that he had never in his life owned anything, not his wife, not his house, not his child, which could not, at any instant, be taken from him by the power of white people.

In some ways, reading Baldwin confirmed for me what I was seeing at work every day: the extraordinary capacity of the black workers to endure. These were men who lived in South Carolina and rode five or six to a car in the predawn hours to an exhausting 10-hour workday, returned home late at night and did the same thing again six days a week. They suffered the indignity of seeing the best carpenter paid as a laborer and forced to hide his skill from management. Baldwin wrote: The really striking thing, for me, in the South was this dreadful paradox, that the black men were stronger than the white. I do not know how they did it, but it certainly has something to do with the as yet unwritten history of the Negro woman. I didnt have much of a window into my co-workers home lives, but everything else Baldwin wrote confirmed what Id seen on the construction site.

Baldwin altered even my view of my beloved home town. During my high school years, he made his first trip to the South, being drawn to Charlotte by photos of a few young black children walking through mobs to enter previously all-white schools. His essay Nobody Knows My Name: A Letter From the South was a searing read. This is a bourgeois town, Presbyterian, pretty  if you like towns  and socially so hermetic, he wrote of Charlotte.

The gentility Id thought praiseworthy suddenly looked like something else. I was also told, several times, by white people, that race relations [in Charlotte] were excellent. I failed to find a single Negro who agreed with this. He saw the South with a sharp outsiders eye that made him an Alexis de Tocqueville for our time. (Of course, he was also the most brilliant, subtle, witty essayist Id ever read at that age. The effect on a young white boy of that era is hard to overstate.)

Baldwin reached a snap judgment that resonated with me. The Southern landscape  the trees, the silence, the liquid heat, he wrote, seems destined for violence. After all, what passions cannot be unleashed on a dark road in a Southern night! A nation that averts its eyes from the hell of subjugation  and what subjugation does both to the oppressor and to the oppressed  is one that will never truly understand race.

Reading Baldwin made me see white men, including myself, differently as well. What price were we paying for the inhumanity of the system of which we were a part? Baldwin led me to understand how much of the race problem was a white problem. As Chris Rock would later put it, our national problem is not about race relations. It is about the fact that white people were crazy. Now theyre not as crazy.

What I read of Baldwin on the Jim Crow work site helped me make a decision. After I finished law school in the North, I would return to the South to teach political and civil rights to predominantly white students at the University of Mississippi. Maybe I could help us be a little less crazy.



Walter Dellinger, a professor emeritus of law at Duke University and a former assistant attorney general, is a lawyer in Washington.
WASHINGTON  Democrats have invited immigrants and foreigners to President Donald Trumps first address to Congress in an effort to put a face on those who could be hurt by the Republicans policies.

Lawmakers typically get one guest ticket apiece for presidential addresses, as they will for Tuesdays prime-time speech, and the invites often go to family, friends or someone from back home. To send a message to Trump, Democrats have invited the Iraqi-American doctor who discovered elevated levels of lead in the blood of many children living in Flint, Michigan; a Pakistani-born doctor who delivers critical care to patients in Rhode Island and an American-born daughter of Palestinian refugees who aids people like her family in their quest to come to the United States.

I want Trump to see the face of a woman, the face of a Muslim, and the face of someone whose family has enriched and contributed to this country despite starting out as refugees, said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., whose guest Tuesday will be Fidaa Rashid, a Chicago immigration attorney.

Soon after taking office, Trump issued an executive order temporarily banning all entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority nations and pausing the entire U.S. refugee program. The order sparked worldwide confusion about who was covered by the edict, with thousands gathering at airports and in other settings to protest. An appeals court blocked the order.

Trump has said he will issue another order along similar lines. Trump has also expanded the range of immigrants living in the country illegally who have become a priority for removal. The president has argued that the steps are necessary to protect the nation.

One of the people caught up in Trumps executive order was Sara Yarjani, a 35-year-old Iranian graduate student studying in California. She was held at Los Angeles International Airport for nearly 23 hours before being sent back to Vienna, Austria, where she had been visiting family. She was able to resume her studies at the California Institute for Human Sciences after a judge halted implementation of Trumps order. Shell attend Trumps speech as a guest of Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif.

Mr. Trump needs to see the people he has hurt, Chu said.

The focus on welcoming immigrants will also extend to the response that Democratic leaders plan for Trumps speech. Astrid Silva, who was brought into the United States as a young child, will provide the Spanish-language rebuttal; former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear will give the standard opposition-party response. Under President Barack Obama, hundreds of thousands of unauthorized youth brought into the country as children were given a reprieve from deportation.

While Trump vowed to immediately end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program during the campaign, he has kept it in place as president.

All will be on high alert for any Joe Wilson moments in Trumps first speech to a joint session of Congress since his inaugural address. Wilson, a longtime Republican congressman from South Carolina, shouted, You lie! as Obama addressed Congress in 2009 about his health care plan. The debate over Obamacare sparked strong emotions on both sides of the aisle, much as Trumps executive order and statements on immigration have done.

Trumps comments on immigration play well with his supporters, but unnerve some Republicans who represent congressional districts with quickly growing immigrant populations.

Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., invited a constituent he describes as a hero for helping to expose the Flint water crisis. He said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha came to the United States with her Iraqi parents, who were fleeing the regime of Saddam Hussein. She has recently questioned whether her family would have been allowed into the country under the policies of the Trump administration.

A group of Democratic lawmakers recently wrote a letter to colleagues earlier this month urging them to invite guests who have, despite discrimination, made positive impacts on their communities. One of the leaders of that effort, Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., asked Dr. Ehsun Mirza, the Pakistani-born doctor, to be his guest.

I am proud to call Dr. Mirza a friend, and I hope that his presence on February 28th will serve as a reminder to the president that true Americans come in every color and creed  and not all are born here, Langevin said.

___

This version of the story deletes a description of Mona Hanna-Attisha as Iraqi-born. Hanna-Attisha was born to Iraqi immigrants.
Philip Glass, the most famous and among the most-performed of living composers, turned 80 in January, and the year is being feted with Glass@80 celebrations all over the world. And yet, Glass remains a maverick; much of his music remains little-known, and many serious music lovers are convinced they dont like it. And few of those birthday celebrations are at the major cultural institutions in the country of his birth. The Kennedy Center? The National Symphony Orchestra? The Boston Symphony Orchestra or the New York Philharmonic? Look again.

Theres a lot of people that think they dont like that, says the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, without knowing what that is.

Davies, 72, knows well what that is. He is the conductor who knows Glasss work better than anyone. Indeed, he is in no small part responsible for Glasss evolution, over the second half of his career, as a composer of symphonic music and operas. He conducted the world premiere of Glasss first symphony in 1992, when the composer was already in his 50s, and commissioned and premiered many of the next ones, up to and including the 11th, which had its premiere at Carnegie Hall on Jan. 31, the day of Glasss birth.

And like Glass, Davies  who is coming to Washington Sunday with his wife for a duo piano recital at the Phillips Collection under the Glass@80 rubric  is perhaps not well understood by U.S. audiences. Hes thought of as a chamber music conductor, and a new-music guy  not least because he founded the American Composers Orchestra in the 1970s. Yet he has also done outstanding work with the traditional canon.

Take his recorded symphonic cycles. Ive now recorded all of the Haydns, he says, all of the Bruckners, in every version  were the only orchestra and Im the only conductor thats ever done that  Honegger, Schubert, and Philip Glass. He adds, with a smile, I probably have a fairly unique recording background.



How can someone as famous and prolific as Glass be so misunderstood? Its not just a question of whether you like the music, or think you like it; its a question of knowing that it exists. Although Glass has written 11 symphonies, Davies says that when a major American orchestra was recently approached about performing Glass, the response was, But he doesnt write symphonies.

Theres no question that Glasss symphonic music has undergone a considerable evolution since the first, Low Symphony, based on the David Bowie album of the same name. When Philip started writing orchestral music, he wasnt as skilled as he is now by a long shot, Davies observes. He had the sound, but practical things, like how to help instrumentalists get through long stretches of doing similar things, took longer to emerge. But, he says, Starting with the 2nd symphony, its a unique sound; he has his language.

Theres a nice saying, similar to what used to be said about Mozart: Its too easy for the amateur and too difficult for the professional, Davies adds. With Philip, [its] being able to play in tune accurately [and] be expressive with a minimum of virtuosic intention.

The rap on Glass, particularly from those who dont know his music well, is that it simply repeats over and over, and verges on the banal  and is very hard to play. One musician has recently expressed how even the repetitions of the earlier work, approached with seriousness, can become revelatory. In her compelling, biting, and often painful memoir The Skin Above My Knee, published this month, the oboist Marcia Butler writes about her experience playing the opera White Raven in 1991.

It makes you start to think about how the whole world is one enormous repeat, she writes. And you begin to develop a fascination with fractals and perfect proportions and certain colors like red and the golden mean and even the universal elements of the solar system that seem to hold the whole earth up and simultaneously keep it spinning. And repeating feels fundamental and natural and a God-given right.

In a memoir that pulls no punches when it comes to unflattering portraits of musical figures, Butler reserves high praise for Davies, although she does not name him.

This maestro is Gods gift to musicians, she writes. He uses his body parts to guide you and the world through this music. . . . His fingers tell you one thing, and later his elbows tell you something else. And when he uses his whole arm, it shows you something completely different. And he can change it up at will. Somehow, you know just what he wants. She adds, And when people do mess up their repeats, he just smiles. You want to play perfectly for him, because he is such a gentleman about the mistakes.

So why isnt Davies better known? In part because he left for Europe in the 1980s. Pigeonholing was an American sport, he says, and I wasnt interested. And in part, perhaps, because hes been more interested in focusing on developing his own orchestras than in playing the guest-conductor game of going around to U.S. orchestras leading the traditional repertory.

And work conditions in Europe have had a significant influence on the music hes commissioned from Glass. Take Symphony No. 11. We didnt put limits on the instrumentation or length of the piece, Davies says, all those things American composers [for American orchestras] are forced to deal with. Europe has some issues, but I still live on Treasure Island over there. . . . We have enough rehearsals to deal with the program were doing. Its a shoe box [in the United States]: a certain number of rehearsals, and then the concert. Its understandable, but it gets in the way of the creative process sometimes.

So, when Glass came over to work with the orchestra on the symphony in early January, he decided, after three days of rehearsals, that he needed to rewrite the ending. He was right; it paid off, Davies says. It suddenly became much more difficult to play and conduct, but it ripped the audience right out of their seats. That rewrite wouldnt have been possible on a U.S. orchestras rehearsal schedule.

Davies has had significant input on a lot of Glasss work over the decades. I know theres a real substance to what hes going to bring, he says, and he knows Im going to bring a critical point of view to it that he can trust. Were able to talk right down to the structure of the piece itself.

Its audible in the symphonic music  like the 5th Symphony, dedicated to Davies, which the Washington Chorus recently performed in Washington, D.C. Its also audible in the piano music. Glass wrote the first six of his 20 piano etudes for Davies, 20 years ago. That language has developed, Davies observes. The last 10 etudes were written for Maki Namekawa, Daviess wife, a former student of Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who has made something of a calling card of performing the whole cycle.

Glass told me this is the way he really loves to present to the audience, Namekawa says. To talk to the audience. Like reading poems. His pieces are very strong sentences. Im feeling like Im reading a poem for the audience. Its a beautiful moment; its really special.

And you can hear it in Four Movements for Two Pianos, which Glass wrote for the couple  whose duo concerts have been acclaimed by aficionados for many years  in 2008, and which they will play at the culmination of their Phillips recital.

Its [Glasss] instrument, Davies says of the piano. But as he says, now that hes been involved with Maki and myself, his piano writing has become more difficult. He doesnt have the ambition to play it himself; he wants to challenge us.

He cant do any more to promote Glasss music than hes already done. But as to gaining wider recognition for what Glass is really about, he can only be hopeful. There are signs that some orchestras are beginning to take note: The New York Philharmonic, for instance, is offering Glasss concerto for two pianos next season.

Theyre important American pieces, Davies says of Glasss symphonic work. I hope people will take a look at them.



Dennis Russell Davies and Maki Namekawa will play Shostakovichs Concertino for Two Pianos in A Minor, Stravinskys Le Sacre du Printemps, Schwertsiks Incidental Music to Macbeth and Glasss Four Movements for Two Pianos on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Phillips Collection.
Speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor in Maryland on Friday, President Donald Trump told a story of a friend named Jim who was apparently too scared to return to Paris, despite his long tradition of visiting the French capital.

The comments appeared to be the latest broadside from the U.S. president toward European immigration policies. Last weekend, he had repeatedly referred to apparent problems in Sweden  prompting a confused and at-times angry response from Swedes themselves, who said he was misrepresenting the issue.

Shortly after Trump made his comments about Paris at CPAC, Parisian Mayor Anne Hidalgo released a number of tweets that pushed back upon the depiction of the French capital. Addressing both Trump and Jim, she cited figures that showed that in the first period of 2017, U.S. tourist visits to Paris were up 30 percent over last year.

In a subsequent tweet directed toward Trump and Jim, Hidalgo posed with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse characters from Disneyland Paris. The Parisian mayor had been attending an event at the Eiffel Tower on Friday to launch a tourism campaign.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also took to Twitter after Trumps speech, noting that 3.5 million American tourists had visited France last year.

Paris has been the site of a number of terrorist attacks over the past few years, including a series of attacks across the city in November 2015 that left 130 victims dead. Trump has frequently referred to these attacks, and the White House included several on a list of underreported terrorist attacks released this month.

Trump had told the audience at CPAC on Friday that his friend Jim, a very, very substantial guy, had told him he had not been back to Paris for the past four or five years, because Paris is no longer Paris, according to Trumps retelling.

He wouldnt miss it for anything, Trump said of his friend, whose full identity is not clear. Now he doesnt even think in terms of going there.

Hidalgo has been mayor of Paris since April 2014. Last May, she had offered an even more candid perspective on Trumps views.

Mr. Trump is so stupid, my God, she had said while speaking to reporters with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
GOLD CANYON, Ariz.  An Arizona congressmans decision to cancel his in-person town hall has sparked demonstrations in a town east of Phoenix.

Dozens of people marched in Gold Canyon after Republican Rep. Paul Gosar changed his town hall from a physical event to a telephone conference. The change came after many Republican lawmakers faced intense reactions from rowdy crowds during town halls.

Gosar was joined on the Thursday call by a Virginia congressman.

KPNX-TV reports that the two lawmakers answered questions from seven different callers, but none of them offered opposing views.

According to KNXV-TV, Gosar says he isnt trying to avoid the public but instead to make sure anyone can participate in the discussion.

Rep. Martha McSally held a town hall Thursday, answering questions from Tucson-area residents for more than 90 minutes.

 This story has been corrected to delete an incorrect reference that said Gosar was the only Arizona lawmaker to schedule town halls during this weeks recess and add info on McSally event.
A new attempt to change New Mexicos system for funding dams, roadways and other infrastructure projects cleared its first Senate committee Friday.

Members of the Senate Rules Committee voted 4-2 in favor of the legislation, though a few senators expressed concern it would give too much power to top-ranking lawmakers.

The bill, Senate Bill 262, would create a legislative interim committee that would review and rank potential projects, then submit a plan before the start of each legislative session  similar to how the states annual budget process works.

Its one of several proposals to overhaul the states capital outlay system, which has increasingly come under fire for being inefficient and prone to funding pet pork projects.

Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, one of the sponsors of the bill that now goes to the Senate Finance Committee, called the current system flawed.

This is fully within our control  theres no reason we cant fix this, Cervantes said.

Elections: The state House wants to boost voter turnout by requiring cities, school districts and other nonpartisan governments to hold their elections on the same day in November.

The consolidated election would happen on a Tuesday in November of odd-numbered years.

In Albuquerque, for example, voters would elect a mayor, school board members and city councilors on the same day  rather than having a city election in October and a school election in February, as they do now.

House Bill 174 now heads to the Senate. It passed the House 38-29 late Friday.

Its sponsored by Republican Reps. James Smith of Albuquerque and Paul Bandy of Aztec and Democratic Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto of Albuquerque.

confirmed: The Senate voted Friday to confirm David Jablonski as secretary of the Department of Corrections.

Senators voted unanimously to confirm Jablonski to lead an agency that oversees about 7,500 prisoners in state and privately contracted facilities.

Jablonski previously worked as a member of the executive staff for Gov. Susana Martinez, where he oversaw multiple agencies involved in public safety.

He has served as deputy superintendent of the state Regulation and Licensing Department, and spent 14 years with the Corrections Department, including a stint as director of the Probation and Parole Division.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said Jablonskis experience in probation and parole will be important amid a state budget crisis that could mean prisoners get released earlier.

Gregg Marcantel previously led the agency. He retired in October.
On Monday, the Associated Press reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had fired several sophisticated rockets, in another defiant gesture toward Western adversaries. The launches were part of three days of military exercises led by the IRGC and several were shown on state television to underscore the message of Iranian military strength. General Mohammad Pakpour, the head of the IRGC ground forces, issued a statement saying, We are ready to give a crushing respond to any threat.

The AP notes that this statement and the associated maneuvers came less than two weeks after the White House put Iran on notice over its most recent ballistic missile launch and its various destabilizing activities in the Middle East. While there have been no explicit threats of war from the Trump administration, the president has personally declared that nothing is off the table. The vague nature of the administrations threats seems intended to keep the Islamic Republic guessing about the potential consequences of its actions.

In other words, the administration is interested in giving the impression that military action is a real possibility, even if that administration has no real intention of launching an invasion. Iranian statements referring to such things as a crushing response seem to suggest that such a possibility is recognized by the regime, although its declarations of readiness for war are nothing new.

White House officials may not be the only Western figures who are committed to giving the Islamic Republic due justification for these declarations. For example, Mint Press News reported on Tuesday that Alcee Hastings, a Democratic representative from the state of Florida, had sponsored a bill to give President Trump authorization to use military force against Iran. The article notes that Hastings was once considered a dove on such issues, but has adopted highly confrontational policy preferences with regard to Iran.

This is not to say that Hastings is actively pushing for war, and it is certainly possible that his bill is only intended to make Trumps vague threat more credible. Mint Press speculates about his motives at length and is highly critical of such aggressive Iran policies. But it also acknowledges that Trump may not take the political risk of following through on a military threat. Meanwhile, other commentators, including associates of the Iranian opposition coalition the National Council of Resistance of Iran, feel that follow-through on such a threat is not necessary, as economic sanctions and other pressures would be sufficient to constrain the IRGC and encourage a popular uprising by domestic opponents of the Iranian regime

Toward this end, Trump has made much more concrete threats on economic and diplomatic fronts, imposing sanctions on figures linked to the Iranian ballistic missile program and beginning a process that could lead to blacklisting the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. In this sense, Hastings move to authorize military force is simply indicative of the support that exists  even among Democrats and former doves  for a much stronger response to Iranian provocations than had been pursued under the previous administration.

This support was also highlighted on Monday by the Arab affairs magazine Majalla, via an interview with Elliot Engel, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Engel has long been critical of the nuclear agreement, and his membership in the Democratic Party underscores the fact that the agreement was on weak footing even before President Trump took office.

In the interview, Engel explained that his problems with the deal have much to do with the prospect of Iran receiving tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief, as well as new business dealings with the Western world, and channeling some of this capital into terrorist activities throughout the region and the world.

Even without taking direct aim at the JCPOA subsequent to taking office, this is the very thing that President Trump has sought to address by designating the IRGC as a terrorist group and cutting it off from access to American and European trade. The National Council of Resistance recommends isolating the IRGC completely and helping local populations to push it out of current spheres of influence including Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

To further justify these recommendations, the NCRI has also prepared documents detailing the extent of IRGC involvement in regional terrorism, and has held a press conference at its Washington office to expose details of the IRGC terrorist and paramilitary training program.

But the effort to cut off the IRGC from the US and its allies will require clear buy-in from those allies, and this is something that the Trump administration still must struggle to achieve. As soon as nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic concluded, many Western figures rushed to explore trade agreements with Iranian business, many of which are linked to the regime or the IRGC. While Trumps electoral victory in November was sufficient to halt some of these efforts, others have persisted, particularly among companies that do not have significant dealings with the US itself.

On one hand, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Air India Express had cancelled plans to begin scheduling flights to Tehran. The report indicates that this change was specifically a reaction to the Trump administrations imposition of new sanctions. But on the other hand, the French energy giant Total has neither halted nor confirmed its plans for gas exploration in the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian Oil Ministry insists that it still expects the Total deal to be finalized in the next two months, but according to E&P, officials have also aggressively criticized European Union governments and businesses for slowing their investment plans until it becomes clear whether the US will continue to suspend relevant sanctions. Their hesitance and the Iranian response both indicate that there are numerous Western entities waiting to be courted by both the Iranians and the Americans before they determine whether their Iran policies will focus on gaining access to the countrys energy resources or economically punishing its support for terrorism.
GOODYEAR, Ariz.  An Arizona elementary school teacher arrested for alleged sexual conduct with a 17-year-old girl whos a foreign exchange student has pleaded not guilty.

Maricopa County Superior Court officials say 36-year-old Joshua Schroder had his arraignment Friday.

Goodyear police arrested Schroder on Feb. 12 on suspicion of nine counts of sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Authorities say Schroder teaches at Rainbow Valley Elementary School in the Liberty School District and is the coordinator of a foreign exchange student program.

Hes been teaching fourth grade for the past decade.

According to court documents, the teenage girl is from Sweden and she exchanged more than 600 text messages with Schroder in the span of a month before the relationship allegedly turned sexual.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a noted critic of President Trump, suggested that she doesnt believe the country is in good hands but said she is hopeful about the future.

Were not experiencing the best of times, Ginsburg said Thursday on BBCs Newsnight, though she did not comment directly about the president.

But the 83-year-old jurist said the publics resistance to the new administration  on full display at last months Womens March protests  has given her reason to hope that we will see a better day.

A great man once said that the true symbol of the United States is not the bald eagle; it is the pendulum, and when the pendulum swings too far in one direction, it will go back, she told BBC.

Some terrible things have happened in the United States, but one can only hope that we learn from those bad things, she added, citing the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as an example.

Ginsburg, who leads the Supreme Courts liberal wing, repeated the sentiment during an appearance at George Washington University on Thursday.

I meant that we are not as mindful of what makes America great, Ginsburg told a crowd at the university, appearing to draw from Trumps signature slogan.

She cited examples, such as the freedom to speak ones mind and the idea that the United States is receptive and welcoming to all people, the Associated Press reported.

Ginsburg didnt talk about Trumps controversial executive order barring refugees and citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. But, according to the AP, she reflected on the inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

The White House has said that the president will soon unveil a revised order after the first one was blocked by federal courts.

Ginsburg also defended the free press, the target of repeated attacks from the president, who has called the media the enemy of the American People. The justice said she reads both The Washington Post and the New York Times every day and believes that reporters are trying to tell the public the way things are.

Trump has consistently attacked both publications and the media in general, dismissing negative stories about his administration as fake news.

What is important is that we have a free press, which many countries dont have, Ginsburg told BBC. Think of what the press has done in the United States.

She cited The Posts Watergate investigation. The work of Bob Woodward, now an associate editor at The Post, and Carl Bernstein, a former reporter, in exposing the Watergate scandal helped bring about President Richard Nixons resignation.

That story might never have come out if we didnt have the free press that we do, said Ginsburg, who noted that she lives in the famous Watergate building.

Ginsburg has earned the nickname Notorious RBG for never being shy about granting interviews or speaking her mind.

Her most recent remarks seemed more subdued and lacked the bluntness of her past criticisms of Trump. Unlike her Supreme Court colleagues who have avoided political commentary, the Bill Clinton appointee has made no secret of her dislike for the real-estate developer.

In July, she criticized Trump in three separate media interviews.

Predicting that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton would win, she told the AP in July that she refused to even think about the possibility of a Trump victory. In an interview with the New York Times, she said she couldnt imagine what the country and the Supreme Court would be like if Trump won.

For the country, it could be four years, she said. For the court, it could be  I dont even want to contemplate that.

She also called Trump a faker during an interview with CNN.

He has no consistency about him. He said whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego, she told CNN, questioning how Trump had gotten away with not turning over his tax returns.

Trump, as he is also known to do, fired back. He called the justices comments highly inappropriate in an interview with the Times and took to Twitter to call for her resignation.

Ginsburgs outspokenness about Trump later backfired, with some critics saying she had crossed the line. She later said she regretted the comments but fell short of apologizing  which Trump demanded.

Ginsburg is the oldest of the sitting justices. She told the BBC that she has a way to go, drawing from the experience of the Supreme Courts most recent retiree, John Paul Stevens, who left the bench at age 90.



YouTube video: Its not the best of times: Interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg  BBC Newsnight

URL: https://youtu.be/UQzClRA2QLM
Its been three years since then-Albuquerque police officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez made national news after fatally shooting homeless camper James Boyd, and more than two years since they became the first Albuquerque police officers to face charges for a shooting in at least 50 years.

Their cases ended Friday afternoon.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez announced his office will not retry the officers, who faced a murder trial that ended in a hung jury last year. Torrez said there were a number of mistakes made the day of the shooting, but that laws make it difficult to prosecute police officers for on-duty shootings. At no point during his announcement did he endorse or praise the officers actions the day of James Boyds death.

Torrez announced the decision during a news conference at his office, which had closed early Friday and was heavily guarded by Bernalillo County Sheriffs deputies in case there was some form of protest or demonstration. Metropolitan and district courthouses also closed early Friday afternoon in case there was public outcry to the dismissal.

But all was calm in Downtown as the highly charged and dramatic murder case that, in 2014, sparked large protests in the street came to an anticlimactic end.

There is no reason to believe the case against Detective Sandy and officer Perez could be tried better or more exhaustively at a second trial, or that a second jury could reach a different outcome, Torrez said.

There were a number of mistakes that were made, I think, Torrez said. If you asked or talked to people that were there that day, if they could go back and do things differently, I would imagine that everyone would tell you that they would try to do something differently. Hopefully the police department can learn lessons from what went wrong and we can develop a situation where were not in that situation again.

Former District Attorney Kari Brandenburg filed murder charges against the two officers in January 2015. But a judge disqualified her from prosecuting and attorney Randi McGinn was appointed as a special prosecutor. The 12-day trial late last year ended in a hung jury.

I respect the decision, she said after Torrezs announcement. I would hope there would be the same decision if it was reversed and a homeless man killed a police officer.

Both Torrez and McGinn said the case brought needed changes to the Albuquerque Police Department. McGinn pointed out that since a judge found there was enough evidence for the officers to stand trial for murder, the number of police shootings in Albuquerque has dropped significantly. Since the shooting, the police department has also started an ongoing, year-long reform effort that was the result of a Department of Justice investigation which found Albuquerque police had a pattern of excessive force, which included police shootings.

Last year, city police officers were involved in seven shootings, the fewest number of police shootings in at least seven years.

And the departments SWAT team, which was controlling the scene when Boyd was shot, hasnt fired a weapon in the line of duty since July 2014.

The community has seen that APD can actually do its job without killing people, McGinn said.

Luis Robles, Perezs attorney, said when his client learned that the case was over it was as if clouds had lifted.

Its finally over, Robles said. It wasnt until today.

Torrez said he hoped the case motivates people in the community to advocate on behalf of the homeless and people with a mental illness.

It revealed hard and uncomfortable truths about how we deal with, and often fail to deal with, people with mental health issues, he said of the shooting. It also served as a necessary catalyst for needed reform within the Albuquerque Police Department.

Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden said in a statement that the police department has learned from the Boyd shooting, which he said was a difficult event for the community. We have learned much from it. Through our ongoing reform efforts, we strive to be the banner police department in the nation and will continually grow and improve policing in Albuquerque.
Sitting before the D.C. Council in a crisp blue dress shirt, Preston L. Williams Jr. recounted the day he was first diagnosed with the cancer that was slowly killing him.

It seemed to be the longest day of my life, when time stood still, the firefighter said in advocating for new health and retirement benefits he wouldnt live to see.

Over a five-year period Williams was diagnosed three times with prostate cancer. He believed he was sickened by the fumes and chemicals that leached into his skin and seeped into his lungs during his more than 20 years battling fires.

He testified in 2012. He died in February 2016, only months before the nations capital joined a growing number of jurisdictions stating that because certain cancers in firefighters occur at such high rates, they should be presumed to come from on-the-job exposure.

Laws in nearly 40 states, including Maryland and Virginia, have expanded medical, workers compensation and disability coverage for such cancer cases, and departments across the country are revamping training and how they handle gear to try to reduce risks.

This is the hidden hazard and the silent killer in the fire service, said Matthew Miller, a Prince Georges County, Maryland, firefighter and cancer survivor who is developing cancer-prevention and safety reforms at his department. Were seeing just how bad the problem is.

In early February, a bill to create a national registry of firefighters diagnosed with cancer was introduced with bipartisan support to help track and research the issue, and in January Ohios governor signed into law a bill extending firefighters coverage for workplace cancers.

In October, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation added names of firefighters who died of cancer to its memorial honoring line-of-duty deaths for the first time since the foundations creation in 1992, with 24 cancer deaths among the 112 deaths in 2015.

Yet with awareness comes lingering anxiety from municipal governments, which fear setting a precedent for other public employees and triggering spiraling costs.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance, which tracks workers comp proposals and legislation nationally, counted nearly 90 first-responder cancer presumption bills in 2016. That number is already at 70 in the first six weeks of 2017.

Protracted legal battles have been fought to establish the work links to a cancer or expand the cancers covered as occupational hazards. This month, the state Supreme Court in the state of Washington sided with two firefighters whose insurance claims over melanoma had been denied as not tied to their jobs.

Cancer studies in emergency responders began in earnest after the cleanup at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York.

In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the final results of what is currently the largest study of cancer risk among career firefighters ever conducted in the United States. The study of about 30,000 firefighters over a 60-year span showed that compared with the general population, firefighters on average are at a higher risk for certain kinds of cancer  mainly oral, digestive, respiratory, genital and urinary cancers.

The CDC also found that firefighters who were exposed to more fires than their peers experienced more instances of lung cancer and leukemia, said Robert Daniels, the principal investigator of the project and a research epidemiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The risks come on many fronts, research indicates.

Fires carry soot and smoke from high-toxin synthetic material and electronics. Exhaust fumes from diesel fire engines present a hazard. The protective gear that insulates firefighters from heat and flames also raises body temperatures, opening pores to absorb chemicals.

Concerned with the results of the CDC study  and similar research coming out of Norway and Australia  fire departments and firefighters unions nationwide revamped safety policies.

Smoke on your gear and smoke on your helmet used to be a sign that youre an experienced firefighter, said Lt. Sarah Marchegiani of the Arlington County Fire Department in Virginia. But now people just recognize its a hazard and not worth it.

Tubes are hooked to fire engine exhaust pipes in District stations to vent fumes outside, said Kenneth Crosswhite, a deputy fire chief. Heavy protective jackets, helmets and pants are washed after every call, he said, and the city is looking to contract for professional decontamination services.

Within the next few months, Prince Georges County plans to equip firefighters with a second set of personal protective equipment so fresh gear will always be on hand.

Last year, Montgomery County in Maryland issued an order that firefighters keep on protective breathing gear even after flames are out as they open walls and ceilings and search for leftover hot spots. The order cited the growing scientific information linking cancer to firefighting.

The county also has low-tech strategies, said Jill Captain, a physician for Montgomerys Fire and Rescue Occupational Medical Services. Among those, firetrucks carry plenty of baby wipes for firefighters to use to clean their skin after a fire is out but while they still are at a scene.

At the same 2012 hearing where Williams asked that benefits be expanded, a city official warned about costs and untangling whether lifestyle or family history might have set a firefighters path to cancer. It was the kind of standoff repeated across the country since.

Then-deputy mayor for public safety Paul Quander also testified that many firefighters have second jobs, some at rural fire departments that might not practice the same standards for decontamination.

Were going to be responsible for future health-care costs that might not be due to working for the District of Columbia, Quander said.

Local governments often are vocal opponents because it is a cost issueand they have to be financially solvent, said Peter Burton of the National Council on Compensation Insurance, who added that the cancer presumption laws are among the top issues his organization has been monitoring since 2016.

A single leukemia claim could cost $3 million over an individuals lifetime, said Alexandria Deputy Fire Chief Jeffrey Merryman, who runs health, safety and risk management for his Virginia fire department. One firefighter there has received benefits under the states presumptive cancer law, and two others have the disease.

In Prince Georges County, 29 retired and sworn firefighters have filed occupational cancer claims since 2012, including Lt. Chris Hill, who died last year of brain cancer.

It was really scary, said his wife, Jennifer Hill. Not only was he fighting this battle hes never going to win . . . but he was unsure about his retirement and whether his family would have enough to survive after he died.

Municipalities fear funding individuals who may have developed cancer regardless of whether they were firefighters, according to a report produced for the National League of Cities in 2009.

Around the country, firefighters suffering from cancer and their families have engaged in contentious legal fights with local governments questioning who should be on the hook financially. In Philadelphia, a three-judge panel in October determined a retired firefighter could not claim workers comp benefits for his prostate cancer because he couldnt prove that he got sick from exposure on the job.

Amy Dant became a volunteer firefighter in Montgomery in 1995, when she was 19, and a paid firefighter in 2002. A routine checkup at the countys medical services unit detected a problem with her thyroid that was diagnosed in 2012 as cancer.

Her type of cancer was not a type that the states workers compensation program would presumptively say was a result of her job, Dant said, leaving her and her union to battle for benefits she ultimately received.

Around fire stations, there is keen awareness of cancer risks on the job, she said.

Todays attitude is totally different, Dant said.

The nonprofit Firefighter Cancer Support Network said it has provided assistance and one-on-one mentoring to thousands of firefighters and their families since the organization was started in 2005. But because awareness is fairly new, it is difficult to determine exactly how many have died or been diagnosed with work-related cancer, said Bryan Frieders, president of the network and a deputy chief with the Fire Department in Pasadena, Calif.

In the District, the fire lieutenant Williams, who grew up in Northeast, became a voice for firefighters with cancer.

Williams helped in New York after the 2001 terrorist attacks. A restaurant owner whose basement he cleaned gifted him a bottle of wine, but Williams couldnt wash off the soot when he took it home, recalls his widow, Katrina Williams.

He then realized the hazards of his job, and it prompted a family rule that is still enforced: no shoes in the house.

Less than 16 years into the only job he ever cared about, Williams, then 40, discovered he had cancer. It went into remission, then returned, then went into remission again only to return once more.

Legislation granting D.C. firefighters full early retirement and coverage for eight types of cancer  leukemia, breast, throat, prostate, ovarian, testicular, pancreatic and rectal  passed the council in 2012, but it took until 2016 to get it funded, with up to $7 million dollars a year authorized. Williams died before the money for the bill came through.

Katrina Williams said her husband was heartened when the cancer bill passed but frustrated by the lengthy refusal to fund it, leaving him and others without benefits he had championed.

She still has the dingy white helmet her husband wore, adorned with two small blue ribbons for prostate cancer awareness and covered with soot from his final fire.

We have to pay a debt, Katrina Williams said, to the people who save our lives.

  

Dan Morse and Mandy McLaren contributed to this report.
Acuvue Brand Contact Lenses along with LinEngage - the experiential marketing & activation agency of MullenLowe Lintas Group, have initiated a program to create awareness on the importance of eye health and promote early detection of refractive errors among young students in India. The diagnosis is conducted by trained optometrists and wherever appropriate, the students are encouraged to try contact lens, one of the effective vision correction options available today. This method of eyesight correction allows students to not only see better, but also feel more confident about their looks. It also enables them to continue with all their activities that could have otherwise been hampered due to use of spectacles.

Acuvue & LinEngage orchestrated this unique engagement initiative. Its an initiative that needs a deep understanding of the campus dynamics, youth mindset and the sensitive nature of the product. The first such trial was conducted recently across 3 colleges in Mumbai and plans are afoot to organize it across more colleges as well. About 2000 students have already participated and benefitted from the positive outcome of the program.

Commenting on the initiative undertaken by the company, Vivek Bhatnagar, Director  Vision Care, said: Anchored by a vision to bring healthy vision to people in India, Acuvue believes that this initiative will help the younger generation to become more aware and learn about the importance of eye-health at an early age itself. The initial feedback from students in Mumbai has been positive and we are looking to expand this initiative to other parts of the country.

Sharing the communication objective behind this initiative, Sriharsh Grandhe, EVP, LinEngage said: Contact Lenses in India has been a stubborn category with very little momentum. Primarily, there is a big lacking in consumer familiarity and misinformation. LinEngages specialized approach using technology for engaging with audiences interestingly has shown promise. We are excited about partnering with Acuvue in the consumer education initiative.

In India, Contact Lens as a category has not yet taken off and is used by a very small percentage of the population. Few reasons for its poor adoptions are:

Potential wearers have very little knowledge about CL and they carry many myths about them in their mind

The Optometrists are comfortable to offer specs instead of CL as the patient does not ask for CL; and also wearing CL is a more skillful job which many Optometrists do not possess or have low confidence in

The owners of optical outlets prefer to sell spectacles for two reasons: they are perceived to have high margins and also the owner has freedom to decide the price as there is usually no MRP on the product

With this initiative, Acuvue and LinEngage seek to create awareness on the importance of eye health and promote early detection of refractive errors among young students in India.
Tupperware India invites you to share your love for food with a delightful digital campaign which celebrates Indians and our love of food. Focused on the Tupperware refrigerator range, the campaign celebrates the love of food and empowers you.

In todays hectic schedules, Tupperware helps you cook faster, keep your food safe when refrigerated, hot-and-ready-to-eat whenever you like, even on a busy day. As part of this campaign, a brochure was released. Consumers are given a new Tupperware product and are asked to share their recipes created with the same.

Further, Ms. Amia Mehta-Lead Brand and Digital, Tupperware India says Tupperware has been part of the Great Indian family for the last 21 years. We are celebrating this month of love by applauding the bond between Tupperware products and consumers by talking about what brings us all together "Our Food"; hence, our new campaign: We cook, We eat, We love food.

Ms. Ambika Sharma, Founder of Pulp Strategy the agency behind the campaign said, Food is celebrated in India, it's how mothers show they care and spouses show they care, food is a very important part of our lives and celebrations. Our strategy has been to engage consumers while keeping the product at the heart of the engagement, while we celebrate a love of food.

Under this campaign, Chef Ayesha, one of the in-house fridge-whisperer is connecting over live chat to answer queries personally on Know your fridge in and out,' with some exciting goodies to be won. The campaign is live for the entire month of February.

For further details, log on to https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=%23CookEatLove+Tupperware
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Bern, 24.02.2017 - What is the current security situation in Tunisia? How can I apply for a new Swiss passport? My identity card was stolen in Barcelona - what do I have to do to be able to board a flight home? My son has been involved in a traffic accident in Thailand - what can be done to help him? The FDFA Helpline answers these and many other enquiries around the clock by telephone and email. The 250,000th enquiry was received in the night of 23 to 24 February 2017.

The FDFA Helpline, the central point of contact for all consular services in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), received its first call shortly after 8am on 3 January 2011. At the time, it was comprised of a small team of four. Since 1 May 2012, the Helpline has answered telephone and written enquiries from Switzerland and abroad around the clock. The Helpline team currently has 12 members. It answered about 15,000 enquiries in 2011; by 2016 the number had risen to 64,000. The flyer Plan well, travel safely, which is included as an insert in every Swiss passport, has helped increase public awareness of the Helpline. The FDFA Helpline has become the flagship of Switzerlands citizen-oriented and efficient consular network, as positive feedback from many members of the public demonstrates.

The Helpline receives a wide range of consular enquiries, about a quarter of which concern Swiss visa and entry requirements. It also receives general enquiries regarding emigration, stays abroad, living abroad and returning to Switzerland, as well as questions about the services provided by Swiss representations, including services related to registration procedures, identity documents, civil status, citizens rights, legalisations, confirmations, certifications, inheritance and estate matters, social assistance and deposited objects.

The Helpline also regularly receives enquires about the security situation, especially when significant events happen abroad. FDFA travel advice on the security situation abroad is posted online. The FDFA is not responsible, however, for foreign visa and entry requirements, as each country has its own requirements. The Helpline therefore refers such enquiries to foreign embassies and consulates in Switzerland. The Helpline advises Swiss citizens to carefully plan trips abroad and to consider taking out travel insurance. The FDFA also advises Swiss tourists and citizens planning to temporarily reside abroad to register in the online registration platform itineris to make it easier to locate them and keep them informed in a crisis.

Swiss nationals in difficulty can call the FDFA Helpline at any time of day or night on +41 800 24 7 365 or email helpline@eda.admin.ch. Consular protection for Swiss citizens abroad will only be provided after the individuals concerned have exhausted every means of helping themselves. In an emergency (accident, death, arrest, etc.), the relevant Swiss representation abroad will determine, together with the individual concerned, what options are available to provide assistance.

Address for enquiries

FDFA Communication

Federal Palace West Wing

CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland

Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53

Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55

E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch

Twitter: @SwissMFA

Publisher

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html




There was a murder in Benton County, Arkansas, and Alexa was in the room within Amazons Echo speaker. Now, the Benton County prosecutors are asking a court to force Amazon to hand over the recordings it may have picked up from the accused partys home where the murder took place. Amazon is denying their requests by claiming that investigators have not proven that the need for the recording outweighs the need for their customers privacy. Amazon feels that their customers constitution rights may be violated according to the first amendment. Amazon is willing to allow the judge to listen to the records to deem whether or not they are necessary to the prosecutors case. Amazon said in the court documents, Given the important First Amendment and privacy implications at stake, the warrant should be quashed unless the Court finds that the State has met its heightened burden for compelled production of such materials.

The case goes back to 2015 when Victor Collins was found murdered in a hot tub at the home of his friend, James Andrew Bates. Bates was charged with first-degree murder, for which he has pleaded not guilty. Bates had the Amazon Echo in his house at the time, and prosecutors think that Alexa may have recorded a confrontation between the two men. However, for Alexa to record anything, one of the trigger words must be first spoken. Chances of this happening during an argument or murder are very unlikely and Amazon, in an effort to preserve their customers privacy and his first right amendments, is refusing to hand over the recordings. Amazon said they would not turn over any information without a properly served and fully binding legal demand.

This incident brings up an interesting case with regards to peoples privacy and how much privacy they can expect when from Internet of Things devices. As such, it could likely set a precedent for other similar cases in the future, so it isnt surprising that Amazon is trying to do everything it can to avoid providing the authorities with any data collected by Bates Echo speaker. More information on the matter will likely follow soon.
First Google Immerse VR episode titled Racial Identity: Dezzies Story was released by the Mountain View-based tech giant on Thursday. As its name suggests, the five-minute episode explores racial identity, diversity, and acceptance by focusing on real people and their everyday interactions with the world. The episode follows Dezzie Dimbitsara, one of Googles UX Designers who talks about her first-hand experiences with racism, racial profiling, identity, and reveals how these phenomena are affecting her and her family on a daily basis. While the title of the episode doesnt suggest that the latest creation of Googles Immersion Team is about racism, the authors of the video claim that one cannot explore racial identity while ignoring racism.

The video takes place in Paris and allows viewers to have a 360-degree look at Dimbitsara and her everyday life, as well as her childhood home and the professional career shes currently enjoying. This Google Immerse VR episode is likely a sign that more similar videos and experiences will be released by the company in the future. It remains to be seen whether the VR content team of the Alphabet-owned firm will continue exploring racial identity in their future work, but their latest video certainly suggests that they intend to focus their creative energy on societal issues like racism. You can watch the full episode below.

Apart from bringing attention to the issue of racism, the first Google Immerse VR episode also represents another step in the companys endeavor to produce more meaningful content designed for VR headsets. While Racial Identity: Dezzies Story can be watched without a VR headset like the Daydream View, it cannot be fully experienced in any other way. On the other side of the virtual reality spectrum, Googles content team has also recently been hard at work creating VR experiences that were primarily designed to be entertaining, all with the goal of further promoting this emerging technology. The companys VR endeavors were recently even awarded with an Oscar nomination for a Google Spotlight Story Pearl which became the first VR experience to be nominated for an Academy Award in the history of the filmmaking industry.
Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona is getting ready to kick off, and one of the expected announcements from Motorola is the new Moto G5 and G5 Plus. Many leaks about the two devices have surfaced over the past few days, and now we have the results of the Moto G5 on GFXBench that reveal some relevant specifications.

It was already suspected that the Moto G5 would be running Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and according to the testing, this will be the case. It will be sporting a 5-inch Full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Leaks have suggested it will use the AMOLED technology. The listing indicates the brains will be provided by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset clocked at 1.4GHz, while Adreno 505 GPU will provide the graphics for the Moto G5. From its GFXBench scores, it is possible there will be two models  a 2GB and 3GB  possibly, for different regions depending on where it is released. It is also looking like it the test model is packing 32GB of internal memory, but a 16GB model may also arrive. The testing shows a 12MP primary camera that includes autofocus, flash, face detection, touch focus, and HDR capacity. The front-facing camera is a 5MP lens for selfies and video chatting. Leaks have mentioned that the battery will be non-removable and rated at a 2800mAh capacity.

The Moto G5 should feature an accelerometer, Bluetooth (leaks are leaning toward v4.1), GPS, gyroscope, light sensor, a pedometer, WiFi, and proximity sensor. There will be no NFC chip, which means no mobile payments, including Android Pay. If rumors are to believed, the Moto G5 should sport a front mounted home button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor. Rumors also have the price of the new Moto G5 coming in less than its predecessor, the Moto G4, at about $201 for the 2GB model and only $223 with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. In total, we expect Motorola to launch a Moto G5 Play, Moto G5, and a Moto G5 Plus. The three models will not be released at the same time, although rumors are indicating that the Moto G and Moto G Plus will be available shortly after their announcement at MWC.

Advertisement
Meanwhile, there are other adversaries whose relations with the Islamic Republic have not improved in any dimension, whether economic or rhetorical. And of course, at the top of this list of nations is the state of Israel, which the Iranian regime has repeatedly declared a target for outright destruction. Last year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched two nuclear-capable ballistic missiles with the message Israel must be completely wiped out written on their sides in Hebrew. The Jewish state was the most virulent critic of the JCPOA, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu viewed as paving the way to an Iranian nuclear weapon, and thus an existential threat to Israel.

In lieu of direct attacks using advanced weapons, the Islamic Republic follows through on its rhetorical threats against the Jewish state by supporting and promoting anti-Israeli terrorism by such groups as Hezbollah and Hamas. There was a distinct resurgence in this support at a two-day anti-Israeli conference held by the Iranian regime. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had used the event to call for another intifada, or uprising, by Palestinian groups. The report attaches some significance to the fact that this apparent call to arms came amidst a time of increasingly heated rhetoric by Iran and its adversaries, led by the new presidential administration in the United States.

Khameneis remarks referred to Israel as a fake nation and a cancerous tumor on the region. He also called the creation of the Jewish state in the years after World War II a dirty chapter in the history of the world. While this commentary is generally familiar, having been delivered to a conference that is held on an annual basis, the Washington Post claims that the precise content of Khameneis speech was some of the most vitriolic in recent years.

This vitriol can easily be seen as going hand-in-hand with the anti-American rhetoric that only seemed to intensify in the wake of nuclear negotiations with the previous US administration, and then again with the inauguration of the new administration, which is pursuing a much more assertive policy on Iran. A major talking point of the Trump campaign involved his disdain for the JCPOA, and his overall perspective on Iran has been linked to an effort to repair relations with Israel, which were damaged by Obamas and Netanyahus opposing viewpoints on that deal.

Netanyahu and Trump met last week amidst reports that they would be discussing mutual policies toward Iran while reaffirming the special relationship between their own countries. Trump subsequently expressed a firm commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, not just during the time period of the JCPOA but at any point in the future. Then, over the weekend, this commitment was reiterated by Vice President Mike Pence at the conference on international security policy that is held each year in Munich.

Pence also took the opportunity to identify Iran as the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism  a talking point that was echoed by representatives of a number of other Iran adversaries that were in attendance. For instance, Al Jazeera quoted Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir as saying that Iran is determined to upend the order in the Middle East and that it would be difficult for the international community to deal with the Iranian regime unless its behavior changed drastically.

Jubeir went on to call on Western and Gulf Arab nations to set clear red lines relating to this behavior, and to enforce them with economic sanctions and other such restrictions. This seems to be in keeping with the approach that the White House has begun pursuing under the leadership of President Trump, who recently ordered a review of the possible listing of the Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization.

This listing would inevitably lead to more comprehensive restrictions on doing business with Iran, notwithstanding the sanctions relief under the nuclear deal, since the IRGC controls large swaths of the Iranian economy. Such restrictions are also in keeping with the recommendations of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the leading Iranian opposition coalition, which has called for the complete blacklisting of the IRGC.

For the NCRI, this is a first step toward popular regime change, but it is not yet clear whether this prospect enters into the calculations of the Trump administration. The same cannot be so easily claimed about some of Irans other adversaries. Last summer, Saudi intelligence chief Turki al-Faisal attended an annual NCRI and explicitly declared support for the project of regime change. Whats more, this is not the only surprising alliance that the Saudi royal family appears to have made in recent years, as tensions and proxy wars between it and the Iranian regime have continued to escalate.

In its report on the Munich Security Conference, The Media Line claimed that remarkably similar diatribes against Iran by Saudi and Israeli delegates were indicative of an obvious but unlikely anti-Iranian alliance by the two countries. The conference and surrounding events also seemed to suggest that that alliance could expand, in the sense that other nations in the region might be interested in coordinating their strategies for confronting Iran over its world-leading support for terrorism and its destabilizing interventions into the region.

Another report by Al Jazeera pointed out that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently concluded a tour of the Arabian Peninsula and subsequently touched of an exchange of barbs between his government and that of the Islamic Republic. Erdogan personally accused Tehran of destabilizing the region, and Iranian officials responded by summoning the Turkish ambassador to answer for the comments. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu then elaborated upon Erdogans statements by referring to the Iranian regimes apparent efforts to make Syria and Iraq part of a Shiite crescent under the control of the Iranian supreme leader.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi warned the Turkish government against repeating these sorts of accusations, adding that the Islamic Republics patience has limits. However, a spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying, Instead of accusing countries that have criticized Iran, it should take constructive steps and review its own regional policies. This recommendation can easily be viewed as reiteration of the Saudi foreign ministers call for a dramatic change in Iranian foreign policy, in absence of which he and other critics of the Iranian regime will urge for international action in the form of sanctions and other punitive measures.
Fashion designer Christian Cowan and Google have partnered to celebrate the release of the Really Blue Google Pixel smartphones in the UK by creating an exclusive pair of Really Blue jeans. Aside from the Really Blue color, the jeans feature pockets tailored specifically to accommodate Googles latest flagship duo.

The Google Pixel and the Pixel XL have been released in three color options, Quite Black, Very Silver, and Really Blue, with the latter option being exclusive to the United States up until recently. Nevertheless, the Really Blue color variant was launched in the UK last week through EE, and to commemorate the event, the Mountain View tech giant approached the celebrity designer to create a pair of Really Blue jeans. Its awesome to be working with Google on this project, said the UK-based designer, adding that Really Blue is a unique color whose concept really appealed to him. The jeans borrow the same vibrant blue tone used by the Google Pixel smartphones and come with a custom-sized pocket designed to accommodate one of the Google Pixel phones, as well as a couple of different designs flaunting ruffles and glittery stars. Although the Really Blue jeans are available for purchase, prospective customers wont be able to simply place an order online and wait for the shipment to arrive. Instead, they are available for custom orders and can be purchased upon appointment. Having said that, the jeans dont have a conventional price tag, and prices will be quoted during a fitting session. Given how there are two Google Pixel variants with different dimensions, the pocket size of the Really Blue jeans will likely be determined during fitting.

The Google Pixel houses a 5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) display in a body measuring 143.8 x 69.5 x 8.5mm, whereas the Google Pixel XL accommodates a 5.5-inch panel with a higher resolution of 2560 x 1440, wrapped in a 154.7 x 75.7 x 8.5mm body. Otherwise, they are identical in nearly every aspect and perform equally well. In the UK, the Really Blue Google Pixel and the Google Pixel XL are available through EE with 32 GB of internal memory alongside an EE 4GEE plan starting at 40.99 and 45.99 per month, respectively.
Google is looking to streamline the speed of finding Google Drive located files on your smartphone, as the company has today announced that following a new update to the Google Drive app, users will be able to view files located in Drive, directly in the Google app search results. Google notes this has been made possible through the use of Firebase app indexing, which allows already-installed apps to be indexed by Google Search. As such, anyone looking to quickly find a certain file located within their Google Drive, can simply open the Google app, search for the file in question and then click on the In App tab that appears at the top of the page. Tapping here will bring up results from within apps, including within Google Drive.

Arguable, this might not be necessarily that much quicker than opening the Drive app to begin with and searching for the same file. However, the assumption here is that Google is making it easier to find a specific file, regardless of where it is located. So for instance, if you are less sure of where a specific file is located (in Gmail, in Drive, or elsewhere), then having to go to Drive first, check, then check elsewhere, you can simply just search using the Google app and have all the results come back to you. At which point clicking on the results will open the file in the correct and corresponding app, including Google Drive.

Google has announced that the update is already in the process of rolling out and therefore you should see it arrive on your device in due course. Google does note that this is a gradual rollout which mean that the full completion of the rolling out could take up to (and even longer) than three days, so all users might not see the update immediately, although they will see it eventually. Likewise, the feature is only listed to be dependent on a Google Drive update, so whether the Google app also needs to be updated, currently remains to be seen. Although, based on the announcement from Google, presumed not.
Google is looking to bring the experimental ride-sharing functionality of its Waze app to the United States, according to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal. Apart from the U.S., the Mountain View-based Internet giant is also planning to debut the service in parts of Latin America. That turn of events will see Waze start competing with the likes of Uber and Lyft once it rolls out its ride-sharing service to more territories in the coming months. That timeframe was provided by Noam Bardin, Chief Executive Officer at Waze, who recently said how the concept of carpooling became much more popular in recent years, implying that the companys decision to push into the said market is carefully timed.

While some industry watchers believe the Google-owned firm is late to the carpooling game, Waze is likely hoping that millions of people who use its navigational tool on a daily basis will be interested in becoming drivers. In that regard, Waze isnt entering the market without a pool of potential drivers that would be an integral part of its upcoming service. Furthermore, while Waze will almost certainly try to take a portion of the market from both Uber and Lyft, its service isnt identical to the other two. Instead of acting as a ride-hailing company, Waze is planning to operate as a true carpooling service that encourages drivers to pick up passengers who are already going in a similar direction. In that way, Waze drivers would not be working full-time but would instead only share travel expenses with the passengers they pick up. Getting people accustomed to the idea of picking up carpoolers will likely be the biggest obstacle to the companys vision and will directly affect the success of its business model, Bardin admitted.

If Waze succeeds in that endeavor, it likely wont take drivers away from Uber and Lyft, but it could easily take away some customers from both companies given how Waze rides are significantly cheaper than hailing an Uber or a Lyft. It remains to be seen whether the Google-owned company will manage to achieve that goal but more information on the matter should follow soon once Waze details its plans.
Two top executives of Samsung Group offered to resign in the aftermath of a corruption scandal that shook both the company and the entire country of South Korea. Samsung Groups President Chang Choong-gi and the conglomerates Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung have allegedly offered their resignations on Friday, anonymous sources familiar with the situation have said. Both men were labeled as suspects by the South Korean special prosecutors office that recently managed to enforce an arrest warrant against Samsungs Vice Chairman and heir Jay Y. Lee. Its unclear whether the two executives have offered their resignations in a formal manner or whether the offer was an unofficial one. Likewise, theres still no information on whether Samsung Groups Board of Directors (BoD) will accept their resignations and if it does, whether Chang and Choi will remain involved with the company in a different capacity. Samsung Group has yet to comment on these latest reports.

If the companys two executives truly resign, their departure will mark the latest consequence of the influence-peddling scandal that already did a lot of damage to Samsung. The conglomerates Vice Chairman Lee was arrested after the authorities uncovered evidence suggesting he paid more than $37 million in bribes to facilitate a 2015 merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. The merger of two Samsungs affiliates was not only meant to help the company but also personally benefit Lee seeing how it would streamline the succession proceedings within the company and grant more power to the part of the conglomerate thats controlled by the founding Lee family. While Lee admitted to donating the aforementioned sum to several organizations connected to the Korean President Park and her confidante Choi Soon-sil, he claims he was forced to do so and wasnt expecting anything in return.

The special prosecutors office apparently doesnt believe Lees defense as it already accused Samsung Groups Vice Chairman of bribery, perjury, hiding of assets, and embezzlement, in addition to charging him with concealing the proceeds of a criminal act. While most industry watchers believe Lees arrest wont necessarily affect Samsung in the short term, the companys global strategy pertaining to mergers and acquisitions may be affected if Lee ends up getting a prison sentence.
The hot buzz word in wireless mobile at the moment is unlimited  and now, after Verizon threw their hat into the ring, Sprint is countering with lower pricing and new features for their loyal customers  although that doesnt mean new customers are not being offered the same deal. Sprints Unlimited Freedom Plan that includes unlimited data, talk, and text will now be bumped up from optimized video to premium resolution video and starting in March, the mobile hotspot will increase to 10GB per line. For new customers, Sprint is touting the best Unlimited HD plan in an effort to check out their network reliability. Customers that already have the premium video option will no longer have to pay $20 per line per month for that service  it is now free.

New customers can have unlimited talk, text, and data for $50 a month for the first line as long as they agree to sign up for Sprint AutoPay. Two lines with cost you $90 per month and the third and fourth line are included in the $90. It works out to a family of four only paying $22.50 per line per month. The new customers will automatically receive the HD-quality video and the 10GB mobile hotspot per line. The family of four pricing is good through March 2018 and will then jump to $60 a month for the primary line and $40 a month for line two. Lines 3 and 4 will cost an additional $30 per month. This pricing includes the $5 per month per line discount for AutoPay.

These adjustments are just a continuation of the unlimited data wars between the four major carriers  Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint  as they all try to convince consumers that they are the best option. While Verizon and AT&T are typically civil with each other, the two smaller carriers, being T-Mobile and Sprint, love to take potshots at the two big players. After Verizon joined the unlimited data race, Sprint chimed in that Verizon was playing catch-up with Sprintagain. Sprint lowered their prices, temporarily, to make a good impression, but hard numbers have shown that the large price variance is only because of the free third, fourth, and fifth line. Once the discount is gone, Sprint is in the same ballpark as the others. If you have good reception from Sprint where you live, then this is likely to be a good deal for you.
User data of approximately 3,400 apps, websites, and online services was leaked online due to a bug in Cloudflare, an online content delivery network. The company acknowledged the incident on Thursday but stated that while hundreds of services were affected, theres no evidence that the issue has been exploited by anyone. The data that was exposed was cached by Internet search engines but seeing how everything was encrypted, the chance of anyone being compromised is relatively low. Regardless, Cloudflare was still accused of downplaying the significance of the incident seeing how the issue could potentially cause more problems in the future. Some of the affected services include the likes of Fitbit, OKCupid, and Uber, as well as 1Password. However, the latter service already commented on the incident and stated that none of its users were affected thanks to end-to-end encryption.

Regardless, cyber security experts are still recommending affected users to change their passwords as a preventive measure. Cloudflares John Graham-Cumming revealed that some sensitive information like authentication tokens and HTTP cookies have been exposed as a result of the bug, but no private SSL keys have been leaked. The problem was apparently caused by an HTML parser chain used by some Cloudflare features like Automatic HTTPS Rewrites and email obfuscation. After those features were turned off, Cloudflare established two teams in London and San Francisco who have managed to resolve the issue on a global level in less than seven hours, Graham-Cumming said.

Regardless, the issue has been present for a while and managed to expose user data from hundreds of websites and online services. Experts estimate that Cloudflare has been leaking data for months before Googles Tavis Ormandy from Project Zero started suspecting what was happening and notified Cloudflare about the issue. Google Search, Microsoft Bing, and other Internet search engines are currently in the process of purging their directories from the accidentally cached data, but seeing how many of them have public caches, its possible someone already made a copy of all the sensitive information leaked by Cloudflare. However, the risk of being compromised is still relatively low. Those interested in the technical details behind this entire ordeal can learn more by following the source link below.
A manifesto published by Facebooks founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week was met with heavy resistance from both the media and the tech industry. The latest critic of Zuckerbergs vision of the world is Jan Dawson, founder of technology research firm Jackdaw. In an essay published on Friday, Dawson reluctantly approved of Zuckerbergs willingness to admit that Facebook facilitated some major issues that are currently troubling the global community, but criticized his belief that the answer to everything bad Facebook ever caused is  Facebook.

Dawson noted how Facebooks consistent endeavors to only present people with content that they find pleasing and engaging, as well as opinions they agree with have consequently created millions of personalized media bubbles and online echo chambers, thus harming public discourse. A similar sentiment was recently even expressed by Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel who tried to use it as a basis to pressure Facebook and Google into revealing their algorithms. Naturally, Merkels attempt wasnt successful and the problem not only persists but is even amplified with time, Dawson claims, explaining how Facebook has immense power in shaping the media world that all consumers live in. The fact that Facebook users are rarely or never presented with views that dont reflect those of their own is troubling and results in societal polarization, the essay implies.

Dawson is extremely critical about Facebooks proposed solution to the issues outlined above as all of them are exclusively focused on Facebook. While he notes that Zuckerbergs attempt to keep people on Facebook is perfectly understandable, Dawson claims that everything he proposed will only worsen the situation and says that consumers should try to resist Facebooks growing power and not allow the omnipresent social network to have an even bigger role in their lives than it already does. Dawsons biggest example of Zuckerberg and Facebooks lack of self-awareness is the part of the manifesto that talks about the network turning into a tool that would allow communities to govern themselves, thus basically becoming an integral part of the democratic process. Ultimately, the author summarized his thoughts by saying the fact that Facebook finally acknowledged its power is a good thing, but everything it plans to do with it is the opposite.
Cruzs claims come during the White House debate over ways to approach the agreement, as well as congressional moves to impose non-nuclear sanctions for ballistic missile development, terrorism, and human rights violations against Tehran

At the Conservative Political Action Conference, Cruz told reporters, It was designed to facilitate cheating, and so the only reasonable inference is, of course theyre cheating. This deal was structured so that there are significant facilities in Iran immune from inspection, and indeed were trusting the Iranians to inspect themselves.

That was an area of disagreement between President Trump and me on the campaign trail. I advocated ripping the deal to shreds, Cruz claimed. He disgreed.

While on the campaign trail, Trump described it as the worst deal ever negotiated.

Now Cruz is focused on renegotiating the deal. What he (Trump) has said he intends to do is vigorously enforce the deal and renegotiate it so that it better protects our interests. If thats the path he has chosen, I encourage him to do exactly that.

Cruz is also focused the release of secret documents related to the Obama administrations diplomacy with Iran. He alleges that Iran almost certainly has violated the nuclear deal, and that the documents could shed light on those violations. We dont have enough of the details of the nuclear deal to assess [Iranian violations] with legal precision.

Cruz continued, Many of the details of that deal were hidden by the Obama administration because they were indefensible. I very much hope the Trump administration releases those details to the public. The public deserves to know whats in this deal.

Some of the documents are unclassified, and bipartisan calls to release them mounted as the Obama administration came to an end, and they have continued under President Trump.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian, who is in Moscow on an official visit, met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of MFA Armenia, following the private conversation between the two foreign ministers, expanded-format talks took place with the participation of the delegations.

Greeting Minister Nalbandian, Lavrov stressed the importance of the already traditional high-level visits for the development of the allied relations between the two states.

The Armenian foreign Minister, thanking for the invitation and the cordial reception, noted that the current official visit is symbolic, since it takes place in the year of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and it is also important since takes place ahead of the official visit of the Armenian President to Russia.

During the talks the Ministers discussed in detail the preparatory works of the upcoming visit of the Armenian President to Russia, the implementation process of the agreements reached between the two Presidents, as well as referred to other issues of bilateral agenda.

The FMs of Armenia and Russia discussed political, military-technical, economic, inter-parliamentary, humanitarian and cultural cooperation.

The sides also touched upon partnership in international organizations, including the UN, OSCE, CSTO, EAEU and CIS.

Nalbandian and Lavrov discussed urgent regional and international issues. The situation in the Middle East and the efforts to settle the Syrian crisis were touched upon. Nalbandian expressed gratitude to the Russian side for transporting Armenias humanitarian aid to Syria.

Nagorno Karabakh peace process was the key issue of the meetings agenda. The Armenian and Russian FMs shared the opinion that the peaceful settlement has no alternative. The importance of unconditional commitment to the 1994-95 trilateral ceasefire agreement, the inadmissibility of using force of the threat to use force, the necessity to implement the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg were highlighted.

During the ceremony following the meeting Sergey Lavrov handed the Order of Friendship to Nalbandian awarded to him by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Afterwards, Edward Nalbandian bestowed Medals of Honour of Armenian Foreign Ministry on a number of Russian MFA diplomats.

After the meeting Ministers Nalbandian and Lavrov gave a joint press conference and answered the questions of the reporters.

Following the press conference, Sergey Lavrov offered official dinner in honor of Edward Nalbandian.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. The delegation of Armenias Government arrived in Georgia with certain ideas that are directed towards the development of bilateral relations, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyn said at a meeting with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Kvirikashvili in Tbilisi, reports Armenpress.

Armenias PM arrived in Georgia on a two-day official visit on February 23. The official welcoming ceremony was held in the Georgian Government.

The Armenian-Georgian relations are at the highest level, but we also have great prospects. We came with certain ideas and will discuss them together with you with pleasure. I am confident that our meeting will be effective and productive. I am very thankful for hosting our delegation so warmly, PM Karapetyan said.

In his turn, the Georgian PM highlighted the good relations of the two countries. Georgia and Armenia have centuries-old friendly relations, and we must build our further relations based on these best traditions, Kvirikashvili said.

During the talks the Armenian and Georgian PMs discussed a wide range of cooperation issues and expressed readiness to deepen the friendly ties between the two states.








A post shared by HASSAN SNAP CHAT ..HASSANQ75 (@55569191) on Feb 23, 2017 at 11:06pm PST

As you can see in the image above, which comes from Instagram, this Red example of the reigning Sant'Agata Bolognese halo car is now prepared to set wheel on the street - as far as we know, this is the first example of the reinvented Aventador to reach its owner.We'll remind you the Italian automaker is only bringing 20 units of the Centenario to the world, while a similar number of Centenario Roadsters will be built - the open-an model made its debut back in August last year, at the Monterey Car Week.It's worth noting that the fortunate aficionado who will get to sit inside the 760 hp animal we're looking at has paid at least $1.9 million for the velocity beast.The Centenario is a tribute paid to Ferruccio Lamborghini, with the more arriving to celebrate the company founder's 100th birthday.As far as the tech side of the four-wheeled creature is concerned, the 6.5-liter naturally aspirated heart of the Centenario is the most powerful road car the Raging Bull has ever built.On the styling front though, the Centenario proved to be a bit of an opinion splitter, as it has happened with many recent Lamborghini halo cars.Nevertheless, there's no denying the Centenario's monstrous aerodynamic aura. To be more specific, the machine has a rear diffuser the size of Italy, while its rear wing can raise by 150 mm, while being able to shift its angle by 15 degrees.Here's to hoping Centenario owners won't treat their Lamborghinis as garage queens, so we can get to see one on the street soon.Photos of more Centenarios have surfaced and we're inviting you to check out the hypercars in their Sant'Agata Bolognese nest using the slideshow video below.
Marcus Fletcher, the man who got hit by karma, was frustrated that he found his car got stolen again, and the first car he had lost to thieves was not recovered.This time, the was carjacked at gunpoint, at about 10:35 pm, and his assailants took his wallet, a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, $30 in cash, his ID, credit cards, along with the 1995 Ford Escort he used to deliver pizza.While the carjacking left him unharmed, but understandably upset, he decided he could help make the police officers work harder on his case. Instead of honesty, he claimed that his four-year-old nephew was in the back seat of his green Ford Escort , and that the carjackers probably have the boy with them.It looks like the kidnapping report was credible enough for police officers, who began an intense search for Fletchers car. It was found on the street in the city, and it was locked and unoccupied, Philly notes.With no four-year-old nephew in sight, the detectives asked Fletcher for more information, including a detailed description of the kid, along with naming his parents.Moreover, the pizza delivery agent provided conflicting reports of the robbery, which raised suspicion among the police officers that handled the case. Eventually, he admitted he lied about the nephew part, and even explained his reasons to the police, pointing to the other investigation regarding his previous car.Police officers are still investigating the robbery that Fletcher suffered, because someone still needs to find the people that pointed a gun at him and took his belongings and livelihood.It is unclear if the Philadelphia police force will apply a financial penalty on Marcus Fletcher for lying about the true contents of his vehicle, but he might not get a free pass for the incident. No matter how desperate you are to retrieve your stolen property, do not lie to investigators, it will not help.
The official Im referring to is Volker Mornhinweg. The head of Mercedes-Benz Vans made an 180-degree backtrack. Speaking to Automotive News , Volker said: "In the past year the midsized truck market has come back a bit. General Motors is launching a midsized truck. We are watching developments very closely, and we will take a decision at the appropriate time," he concluded.If I may point out the ridiculousness of this situation, Mercedes-Benz knew from the very beginning that its a bad idea to limit the availability of the soon-to-be-unveiled X-Class. The United States of America is the biggest market for pickups , full stop. Initially, M-B said that the Nissan NP300 Navara-based mid-size pickup would be made available in the following markets: Europe, Latin America, South Africa, and Australia (including New Zealand).Supposing the board of directors agree to sell the X-Class in the U.S. (and Canada for that matter), Mercedes-Benz will find itself between a rock and a hard place. According to Mornhinweg, the production plant in Argentina is unlikely to have sufficient capacity to serve the U.S. market. This, in turn, made the Mercedes-Benz Vans big kahuna mumble something about the possibility of establishing a new U.S. production site for the X-Class.With reservations already open for the UK-spec model, the 2018 Mercedes-Benz X-Class is confirmed to use a turbo diesel V6 and 4Matic permanent all-wheel-drive. A transfer case with reduction gear, as well as two differential locks are in the offing as well. As for capability, the three-pointed star told expecting customers that its truck will boast a payload of more than 1.1 tonnes (2,425 pounds) and will tow 3.5 tonnes (7,716 pounds).
The Founders Series Model 3 , which is Teslas equivalent of Mercedes-Benz Edition 1 models, will be delivered to company employees first. Instead of offering the first completed units to customers, the company will hand those cars over to its employees.Teslas CEO, Elon Musk, confirmed the move to Teslarati , and also provided a reasonable explanation for the situation. While it may seem that Tesla is inexplicably favoring employees over customers, the automaker wants to be sure that the first people to drive production-built Model 3 cars will be familiar with the brand.The employees will also be more interested in ensuring the brand will succeed, and their feedback will be more concise than what regular users will provide.Moreover, Tesla is also a fan of updating its models through over-the-air-software, which can ensure that the first customer cars will not manifest any potential bugs or hiccups encountered by the early users.After Tesla completes delivering the Founders Series Model 3 units to its employees, it will continue to hand over the keyfobs of the automobiles acquired by clients close to its factory in Fremont, California. From there, production will be ramped up, and the distribution process will be operated as it is with conventional automobiles. Tesla will begin series production of the Model 3 in July, and its suppliers have learned that the company will make about 1,000 vehicles per week in the first month.In August 2017, Tesla wants to build about 4,000 Model 3 cars each week. September will bring another hike in production, while 2018 is supposed to reach maximum capacity.Tesla has a target of 10,000 Model 3 units per week when this car reaches its full capacity. If we consider the fact that a year has 52 weeks, Tesla intends to manufacture about 52,000 Model 3 cars in 2018. That is far from the massive number of pre-orders it received in the form of refundable deposits, and the faith of its customers might be put to the test of patience.
The answer obviously had to do with the joy these gear heads experience when getting together in a car park, but not everybody in the city was as happy about the unofficial event as those who attended it.The Japanese enthusiasts got together on the evening of January 12, with the meet taking place inside an underground car park in the Odaiba, Tokyo Bay's artificial island.YouTuber noriyaro, who constantly delivers adventures from the Land of the Rising Sun, attended the meet. From the very moment the vlogger arrived at the meet, he had a difficult time reaching the parking lot, due to the hefty police road blocks surrounding the area.It didn't take long for the Wangan Police to enter the underground parking and shut down the event. The drivers were obviously reluctant to leave the arena, but they were eventually persuaded to exit the parking.Fortunately for the juicy bit of the piece of footage at the bottom of the page, many of the drivers who had attended the event decided to get together at the Nikko Circuit for a drifting session later in the month.The camera aficionado once again joined them, which is how we end up with the tons of sideways action in this clip. The video features both exterior and in-cabin scenes, so, if you happen to be among those who use such clips to source new slip angle moves, this footage might just float your boat.Nevertheless, those of you who have an issue with stanced vehicles, such as the ND Miata in the clip below, might have to prepare for an unpleasant sight.




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
PhishMe CEO to Present at 2017 Roth Conference

PhishMe, the leading provider of human phishing defense solutions, announced today that Rohyt Belani, PhishMe CEO and co-founder, will present at the 29th Annual Roth Conference at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel resort in Dana Point, California being held March 12-15, 2017.

Rohyt Belani, co-founder and CEO of PhishMe will present on Tuesday, March 14 at 3:40 p.m. PT as well as host one-on-one meetings with interested investors at the conference. A recorded version of Mr. Belani's presentation will be available on www.phishme.com after the conference.

For more information on the conference or to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please contact a Roth representative.

Connect with PhishMe:







PhishMe is the leading provider of human-focused phishing defense solutions for organizations concerned about their susceptibility to today's top attack vector - spear phishing. PhishMe's intelligence-driven platform turns employees into an active line of defense by enabling them to identify, report and mitigate spear phishing, malware and drive-by threats. Our open approach ensures that PhishMe integrates easily into the security technology stack, demonstrating measurable results to help inform an organization's security decision-making process. PhishMe's customers include the defense industrial base, energy, financial services, healthcare and manufacturing industries, as well as other Global 1000 entities that understand how changing user security behavior will improve security, aid incident response and reduce the risk of compromise.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170223006408/en/
[February 23, 2017] Draper Teams Up With ASU to Provide "Semester in Silicon Valley"

Draper University in San Mateo, the enterprise founded by premier venture capitalist Tim Draper (Draper Associates, DFJ, Draper Venture Network) to train entrepreneurs, today announced that it is creating a four-month program for entrepreneurs in partnership with Arizona State University. "We are thrilled to be working with the talented faculty at ASU," said Tim Draper. "This is a program where you are going to learn, fail, and grow. You'll leave transformed and better for it." In the program, students will ideate, challenge, design, plan and present a startup company. Learning will be both individual and team-based. Students will gain an understanding of new methods in finance (Bitcoin), design (graphic), coding (webflow), marketing (viral, growth hacking), manufacturing (IoT, 3-D Printing) and direct sales. The program combines Draper University's signature hero training with the top entrepreneurship course of study from ASU. "We're excited to continue to evolve ASU's creative entrepreneurship teaching and learning environments, and our relationshp with Draper allows us to take them to the next level," said Michael M. Crow, president of Arizona State University.



Students will get tours of major Silicon Valley companies, a five day survival training course with Navy Seals, Special Forces and Army Rangers, and visits to tech conferences in the Bay Area. Students will hear from a variety of expert speakers, past speakers include Elon Musk, Tony Hsieh, Bill Hambrecht, Scott Cook, Tom Proulx, and others; will be trained through projects; and will participate in a hack-a-thon. The last half of the course involves actually planning and starting a business.

As they build their businesses, students will accelerate their businesses and will become aware of new ways of streamlining startups through platforms like AngelList, Crowdfunder, Docusign, LawTrades, and eShares. By the end of the four months, students should be emotionally, physically, intellectually and spiritually prepared to embark on a startup. Draper has taught more than 700 students from 62 countries. Graduates have started 300+ companies that have received over $50 million in funding. Arizona State University, which for two years has been designated by U.S. News and World Report as the most innovative university in the country, has a world class Entrepreneurship and Innovation program embedded in the university. To learn more visit: http://www.draperuniversity.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170223006705/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Modified On Jun 14, 2017 02:18 PM By Raunak for Jeep Renegade

The Compass is the most awaited global launch this year from the American off-road automaker, Jeep.

Jeep is prepping for the launch of the all new second-generation Compass in India in coming months. The Compass, Jeep's debutant made-in-India vehicle, is likely to arrive at FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) showrooms in the country around the third quarter of this year.

It is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated global launches from Jeep in recent times, like the Renegade. It will be built in four countries  India, China, Brazil and Mexico  and will be sold almost everywhere from Brazil to Beijing. The Compass was spied in Pune recently, which is in the vicinity of FCAs Ranjangaon manufacturing plant.

Perhaps, the automaker is about to wrap up testing of the Compass in the country as the launch is around the corner. The prices of the Compass in India are expected to be extremely competitive because, first off, it will be heavily localised and, second, courtesy the economies of scale (export+domestic production).

For the uninitiated, Jeep officially entered India with the launch of the Grand Cherokee and the Wrangler Unlimited SUVs in the country in August last year. Presently, FCA, which owns the brand, has a limited number of exclusive Jeep dealership in the country. But a mass-market product such as the Compass requires a much larger reach. So FCA will also retail the Compass from its recently opened and growing Destination Stores, which sell cars from all three brands  Fiat, Abarth and Jeep. The countrys first such retail outlet was opened in November last year in Mumbai.

Also read
[February 23, 2017] Photon Control Recognized by PROFIT 500 for Third Consecutive Year

Recaps Four Steller Awards and Thanks Employees BURNABY, BC, Feb. 23, 2017 /CNW/ - Photon Control Inc. ("Photon Control" or the "Company") (TSX-V: PHO), a leading developer of optical measurement technologies, is proud to announce its fourth consecutive performance recognition. PROFIT 500: Canadian Business and PROFIT ranked Photon Control Inc. part of its annual PROFIT 500, the definitive ranking of Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies. Published in the October issue of Canadian Business and at PROFITguide.com, the PROFIT 500 ranks Canadian businesses by their five-year revenue growth. Photon Control made the 2016 PROFIT 500 for the third consecutive year with five-year revenue growth of 106%. TOP 100 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES IN B.C.: Business in Vancouver ranked Photon Control in the "Top 100 Fastest-Growing Companies in B.C." and "Top 100 Public Companies in B.C." This is the sixth consecutive year that Photon Control achieved the Top 100, achieving the 38th spot, as well as achieving B.C.'s Top 100 Public Companies ranking. Business in Vancouver's list of B.C.'s 100 Fastest Growing and 100 Top Public Companies is one of the newspaper's signature annual features, and is ranked by percentage growth in revenue between the years 2011 and 2015, and 2015 net income respectively. Since 1994, the list has provided an overview of the economy's key growth sectors. It also provides readers with insights about what it takes to build a business in good times and bad. BIGGEST MANUFACTURERS: Business in Vancouver ranked Photon Control in the "Biggest Manufacturers in Metro Vancouver 2017" report. Photon Control was listed for the 1st time and ranked in the top 100 employers. Business in Vancouver's list of the top 100 manufacturers in the Lower Mainland is one of the newspaper's signature annual features, and is ranked by the total number of staff a company hs in the province of BC. For several years, the list has provided an overview of the growth of the manufacturing sector in the greater Vancouver area.



BC EXPORT AWARD: The Province of BC nominated Photon Control as a 2016 BC Export Awards Finalist in the category of "Advancing Technology & Innovation". The BC Export Awards are the province's most prestigious awards paying tribute to the success and innovation of BC companies. The awards are a celebration of the contributions exporters have made to both the provincial and national economy. Conceived in 1982, the program has recognized over 300 companies since its inception, reflecting the growth and diversity of BC's economy over the past 30 years.

"Companies become a part of the PROFIT 500 through innovative thinking, smart strategy and sheer grit," says James Cowan, Editor-in-chief of PROFIT and Canadian Business. "These companies demonstrate what Canadian entrepreneurs can achieve, both at home and across the globe." "I couldn't be more proud and grateful," said Michael Goldstein, Director and Acting CEO of Photon Control. "These prestigious recognitions remind our employees that their hard work and personal sacrifices for the benefit of our customers and shareholders make a difference and are recognized." About PROFIT and PROFITguide.com PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success is Canada's preeminent media brand dedicated to the management issues and opportunities facing small and mid-sized businesses. For 34 years, Canadian entrepreneurs across a vast array of economic sectors have remained loyal to PROFIT because it's a timely and reliable source of actionable information that helps them achieve business success and get the recognition they deserve for generating positive economic and social change. Visit PROFIT online at PROFITguide.com. About Canadian Business

Founded in 1928, Canadian Business is the longest-serving, best-selling and most-trusted business publication in the country. With a total brand readership of more than 1.1 million, it is the country's premier media brand for executives and senior business leaders. It fuels the success of Canada's business elite with a focus on the things that matter most: leadership, innovation, business strategy and management tactics. We provide concrete examples of business achievement, thought-provoking analysis and compelling storytelling, all in an elegant package with bold graphics and great photography. Canadian Businesswhat leadership looks like. About Photon Control Inc.

Photon Control Inc. designs, manufactures and distributes a wide range of optical sensors & instruments to measure temperature, pressure, position, and flow. These products are used by original equipment manufacturers (OEM) as well as end-users in the Semiconductor, Oil and Gas, Power, Life Science, and Manufacturing industries. Photon Control's products provide high accuracy and reliability in extreme conditions and are supported by a team of experts that offer onsite installation, training, and support. Photon Control Inc. also provides engineering services for customized optical measurement systems. Headquartered in an ISO 9001:2008 manufacturing facility in Burnaby, BC, Photon Control Inc. is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, trading under the symbol ''PHO". For additional information about the company, please visit www.photon-control.com/investorrelations.html. 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. SOURCE Photon Control Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The Campus Rape Frenzy: The Attack on Due Process at Americas Universities, by KC Johnson and Stuart Taylor, Jr. (Encounter Books, 370 pp., $27.99)

Sexual violence is a crime that merits prosecution with the full force of law. But a new book by Brooklyn College historian KC Johnson and journalist Stuart Taylor forces us to ask: What benefit is gained from an extra-legal system of campus justice that quashes equal protection, due process, and individual rights, creating perverse incentives for universities as they act as judge, jury, and punisher? When college administrators and faculty rush to make examples out of alleged perpetrators of sexual assault, the authors remind us that the operative word is allegedand that even in the campus bubble, the accused is still innocent until proven guilty.

In Until Proven Innocent, their 2007 study of the Duke lacrosse case, Johnson and Taylor showed how quickly academicians can abandon due process in favor of mob consensus. Now, in The Campus Rape Frenzy, they meticulously document how the White House, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), and political leaders have wielded federal power systematically to unmoor campus sexual-assault investigations from any pretense of fairness.

Currently, OCR guidelines direct colleges to apply a preponderance-of-evidencethat is, 50.01 percentstandard of proof in assigning guilt, and the guidance warns that if schools dont go after these cases aggressively enough, they risk losing federal funds. Though it later quietly backtracked, OCR in 2013 even endorsed as a blueprint a remarkably broad definition of actionable sexual harassmentincluding even speech that would not be offensive to an objectively reasonable person of the same gender in the same situation. In 2014, the agency told colleges to ensure that steps to accord any due process rights do not restrict or unnecessarily delay the protections provided by Title IX to the complainant. Johnson and Taylor document the resultdozens of chilling examples of colleges and universities abandoning due process in favor of publicly punishing alleged malefactors.

At Middlebury, investigators were taught to start by believing the accuser, who should always be called a victim or survivor, and told that a sexual assault investigation is not the time for just the facts. At Ohio State, officials refused to agree under oath that they had an obligation to adjudicate sexual-assault cases correctly; one administrator claimed that her responsibility to support students at Ohio State did not include an obligation to make sure that the hearing panel gets it right. With OCRs quasi-dictatorial support, college administrators have been all too eager to convict and punish students, while denying them the basic legal protections afforded by the criminal-justice systemrights as fundamental as that of cross-examining ones accusers.

Congressman Jared Polis even blithely mused: If there are 10 people who have been accused, and under a reasonable likelihood standard maybe one or two did it, it seems better to get rid of all 10 people. Never mind centuries of law and constitutional doctrine, since, he went on, were not talking about depriving them of life or liberty, were talking about them being transferred to another university, for crying out loud. And never mind the impact on a young person expelled from college on an unproven charge of sexual assault.

Anyone who values a free and fair society should worry about campus officials eager to convict without evidence. Fortunately, a ray of light in this dark wilderness is emerging through the American legal system. In 2014, Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III barred Duke University from expelling a student on a sexual-assault charge. He ruled that Duke deprived the accused of his rights in the disciplinary process and cleared the way for a lawsuit against the university with a likelihood of success. Similar suits against many other schools are underway.

If more rulings like Judge Smiths follow, the proud American tradition of due process may yet be revived. The foundation of a free society lies in its commitment to justice and the protection of the innocent. Johnson and Taylors book has sounded the alarm about mounting campus violations of due process, fairness, and decency. College trustees, administrators, and state and federal lawmakers should take note.

Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images
Age Of Anger: A History of the Present, by Pankaj Mishra (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 416 pp., $27)

A British writer of immense learning, Pankaj Mishra has authored a new book, Age of Anger: A History of the Present, that reflects an extraordinary breadth of reading. It opens as a conventional work of intellectual historyin this case, the history of modernization and its travailsbut soon becomes more of a collage of apercus organized around themes laid out by the path-breaking critic of modernity Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the 1920s Iranian writer Jalal al-Ahmed, and the Italian poet-cum-Duce Gabriel DAnnunzio, among many others.

For instance, Mishra pits Rousseaus finicky quest for authenticity against Voltaires heirs, the mimic men who try to replicate Anglo-French manners and mores. Mishra sees Voltaire as primarily a champion of enlightened despotism, while Rousseau is presented as a clear-eyed critic of liberal rationalism and cosmopolitan pretension. Mishra is sympathetic to al-Ahmeds obsession with the psychic damage or Westoxification imposed on the Islamic world by Western colonialism. Hes fascinated by DAnnunzio, who, in the wake of World War I, choreographed a disastrous fascist future that paved the way for Mussolini. DAnnunzio was the first Italian politician who decked out his supporters in black uniforms and stiff armed salutes. He cheered on the Italian armies as they conquered the Ottoman provinces that came to be called Libya and which, Mishra notes, suffered the worlds first aerial bombing in 1912. Libya became the testing ground for the New Man theorized by Nietzsche and Sorel.

Mishras loosely connected pearls of insight about belief, mindsets and outlooks are tied together by his anti-anti-Communism, an outlook echoed by todays anti-anti-Islamicism, exemplified in the pages of the British Guardian, which paints the Muslim world as the victim of Western liberalism. Mishras disdain for the liberal ideals of progress and reasoned choice, understood as excesses of individualism, will be familiar to readers of Elie Kedourie on nationalism, Jacob Talmon on the creation of secular salvationism, Christopher Lasch and John Gray on the paradoxes of progress, and William Pfaff on the pent-up violence of the modern world. But his discussion of the Nazi origins of Hindu nationalism will be eye-opening to many readers.

Mishras intermittent account of how the writings of Giuseppe Mazzini, the liberal nationalist founder of modern Italy, inspired nationalists in India and China places the problem of modernization in an illuminating context. On a darker note, Mazzini influenced Georges Sorel, whose anti-liberal paeans to the power of myth excited would-be dictators on both right and left. Sorel saw in the working class the collective incarnation of the Nietzschean superman. Mussolini first read Sorels work on violence when he was a socialist, but he continued to incorporate his ideas as he moved to develop fascism.

Mishra is right to argue that attempts to modernize traditional cultures involve, as in Italy and Germany, considerable psychic dislocation. It can produce a burning anger fueled by the emotional displacement of communal cultures fractured by the demands of economic individualism. But Mishra goes off the rails when he tries to assimilate the acquired insanity of Islamic jihad into the pains of modernization. Modernizationas in Iranoffered an alternative to the meld of entitlements and resentments borne of Islamic claims to rule over infidels. Islam has always been a political theology of the sword. Muhammad wasnt responding to modernization when he slaughtered the Jews of Medina.

The books failing is its lack of historical context and slipshod understanding of America. Mishra insists on seeing constitutionalist America, which had little interest in Britains Benthamism, as a utilitarian nation. He sees early twentieth-century social Darwinism as an American right-wing ideology when its appeal, as the great historian of liberalism Eric Goldman documented, was almost entirely to the liberal Left. Reading Mishras repeated references to Timothy McVeigh, one might think that the 1995 Oklahoma City bomber had inspired an army of imitators comparable in size and strength to al-Qaida. Mishra writes that centuries of civil war, imperial conquest and genocide in Europe and America has been downplayed in the West, which suffers from a lack of self-criticism. Its hard to take such an assertion seriously. Can Mishra really be unaware of the epidemic of political correctness and self-hatred infecting the universities and the broadsheet press?

Mishra disdains the new nationalism as an expression of irrationalist urges, concluding, in the words of Alan Bloom, that fascism has a future. But he has nothing to say about the E.U. autocracy thats governed Europe so ineptly. He seems unaware of the close connection between liberal nationalism and the practice of democracy. Hes similarly contemptuous of Donald Trump, proclaiming his administration a disaster even before the New York real-estate dealer took office. Trump may well turn out to be a failure, but Mishra seems not to grasp the connection between Barack Obamas insistence that Islamophobia is as great a problem as terrorisma view that Mishra sharesand Trumps rise to power. Similarly, the E.U., which proclaims itself an expiation of past nationalist excesses, has unwittingly midwifed a new nationalism.

A book lacking a conventional structure, Age of Anger repeatedly circles around the subject of modernization. Mishra doesnt so much conclude as exhaust his conceptual repetitions. Nonetheless, Age of Anger is well worth reading, even if its best approached like a rich buffet that should be selectively sampled.

Photo by Milos Bicanski
On February 1, rioting broke out in Berkeley to prevent a flamboyantly provocative Donald Trump supporter from speaking on the University of California campus. Black-masked anarchists beat and pepper-sprayed supposed attendees of the event and hurled explosive devices at police officers; the vandals ransacked and torched banks, retail businesses, and campus facilities. University and city police did nothing to quell the mayhem.

The Berkeley riot is a wakeup call, representing several converging trends in American culture: the virulent anti-cop hatred spread by the Black Lives Matter movement; police departments withdrawal from proactive policing in response to that hatred; academic victim culture; and anti-Trump hysteria. Such political violence is likely to spread if law enforcement does not resolve to suppress it at its first outbreak.

The roots of the police inaction during the recent anarchy can be traced back to a vicious, four-day anti-police riot in Berkeley in December 2014, in which Black Lives Matter and other radical groups participated. City police had used tear gas on the first night of violence to stop rioters from throwing bricks, rocks, metal pipes, glass bottles, and other dangerous objects at them. Nearly a dozen officers were injured; one officer, hit with a bag of gravel, sustained a dislocated shoulder. The next day, local leaders sharply criticized the police for what activists termed a police riot. So on the second night of anarchy, the department refrained from any crowd-control tactics, such as skirmish lines, that allegedly rile up protesters. The violence against civilians worsened, including multiple assaults, a robbery at gunpoint in the name of No Justice, No Peace, and shots fired at a homeowner trying to prevent damage to his backyard. Nevertheless, the second night of riots was deemed a relative success from the police perspective because officers had not had to use force to protect themselves. The official takeaway from the four-day breakdown of law and order was that it is better to allow widespread property damage than to use preventive tactics that risk confrontations with rioters and that might require officers to forcefully (and untelegenically) defend themselves. The department would only intervene in group lawlessness to protect life.

This distinction between preventing property damage and preventing personal assaults is of course specious. Rioters do not compartmentalize their behavior; allowing attacks on property will regularly lead to attacks on persons, in a literal demonstration of Broken Windows theory.

Fast forward to 2017 and the planned speech at Berkeley of Milo Yiannapoulos, an in-your-face provocateur who revels in violating politically correct taboos. (Scandal engulfed the Yiannapoulos brand this week, with the revelation of an interview in which he jokes about adult sex with minors, including his own underage experience with a priest. The Conservative Political Action Conference disinvited Yiannapoulos from its annual eventhe had been slated to speakand he resigned his position at Breitbart News.) On February 1, both campus and city police were woefully understaffed in preparation for Milos speech, undoubtedly due to the prevailing law enforcement philosophy of not looking confrontational. Bay Area activists had complained during the 2014 Fk the Police protests, as such anti-cop riots are locally known, that seeing police in riot gear made them feel anxious. But serious conflict at the Milo event was a certainty, and the appearance of dozens of so-called black bloc anarchists should not have been a surprise; these lawless assailants have been a regular feature of Bay Area protests since the early 2000s.

When flaming rockets started flying at the student union where Yiannapoulos was scheduled to speak, the University of California campus police retreated to the inside of the building and never reemerged. When the rioters fanned out to city streets (even though Milos speech had already been cancelled), police commanders had neither the tactical tools nor the manpower to crack down on the chaos. Only one arrest was made the entire night, by school police, for failing to disperse. The rioters most certainly took notice of their unimpeded reign. The violence continued the next day, with physical assaults against Berkeley student Republicans, both on and off campus.

The next week, the Berkeley student newspaper invited several current and former columnists to justify the anti-Milo violence. It was an easy assignment. The writers needed merely to recycle the maudlin victimology rhetoric that university administrators and faculty had fed them for years. It is a given on college campuses that an ever-expanding congeries of victim groups is under virtually lethal assault from all-encompassing racism. Allegedly marginalized students need allies in order to survive their college experience, as if they are attending classes in a war zone. Berkeleys Division of Equity and Inclusion has erected banners on campus that urge students to create an environment where people other than yourself can exist, as if anyone is at risk of not being allowed to exist on Berkeleys welcoming campus.

So it was no surprise that one of the pro-violence columnists wrote that he would fight tooth and nail for the right to exist. (And fight he did, by his own proud confession.) Allowing Yiannapoulos to speak could have endangered campus students . . . over their identities, he said. Another columnist opined that the black blocs attacks were not acts of violence. They were acts of self-defense. Such thinking accords with the hundred-plus faculty who sought to close down the speech on the ground that Yiannapoulos actually harms students through defamatory and harassing actions.

The police were the real culprits, according to another columnist. They are violent agents of the state who create an atmosphere that perpetuates violence on community members merely by their presence in riot gear. The expectation of peaceful dialogue was itself a violent act.

Several Berkeley professors circulated emails downplaying the significance of the violence. Deborah Blocker, associate professor of French, reported to her fellow profs about the anarchy on campus: Mostly this was typical Black Bloc action, in a few waves very well-organized and very efficient. They attacked property but they attacked it very sparingly, destroying just enough University property to obtain the cancellation order for the MY event and making sure no one in the crowd got hurt [emphasis in original]. (In fact, a woman was pepper-sprayed while giving an interview and her husband was beaten so badly that several ribs were broken, among other assaults on campus.)

A San Francisco Chronicle columnist, Otis Taylor, paid poetic homage to the soft raindrops and artificial snow of the riots shattered glass and echoed the notion that it was Yiannapoulos who incites violence; the rioters were merely rejecting bigotry. Taylor correctly observed that the protest (a.k.a. riot) was as much about Donald Trump as about Yiannapoulos: If the president thinks his inauguration was a celebration of his views, the after-party taking place in the streets should be a potent reminder of how differently people view the world. And him.

Taylors analysis provides a window into the future. Absent a radical change in police morale, periodic rioting and assaults on perceived Trump supporters and other disfavored persons will likely continue. Those assaults began before the inauguration; they have continued since then. In the Black Lives Matter era, police officers are hunkered down, fearful of using lawful tactics that will be labelled racist by politicians and the mainstream media. This is not just a Bay Area phenomenon. The listless response to the Baltimore rioting in 2015 anticipated the Berkeley passivity. The ideology of victimhood, pumped into the body politic by universities, easily morphs into a justification not just for the suppression of speech but also for violent resistance to imagined oppressors. College graduates have been told for years that the U.S. is systemically racist and unjust; the rioters nauseating sense of entitlement to destroy other peoples property and to sucker-punch ideological foes is a natural extension of this profound delegitimation of the American polity.

In 1838, speaking at the Young Mens Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln warned that there is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law. When the perpetrators of such injustice go unpunished, Lincoln said, the lawless in spirit are encouraged to become lawless in practice. The nations police must show an unwavering determination to restore order when it collapses; intelligence officers, including the FBI, must pay particular attention to rooting out mask-wearing anarchists. California and other states have laws against wearing masks to facilitate the commission of crimes. Politically correct concerns about head scarfs should not inhibit a crackdown on this pernicious trend.

Various pro-Trump groups have announced a freedom of speech march in Berkeley for March 4; By Any Means Necessary, a left-wing organization that participated in the Milo riots, has declared: Bring it on. Depending on who shows up, it may be the next test of the condition of law and order in the U.S.

Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
Ikea Foundation's website

The Ikea Foundation has given over 2m to Medecins Sans Frontieres and Save the Children for their work in Yemen, and is calling on other funders to do the same.

The Ikea Foundation gave 1.7m (2m) to MSF, and another 0.4m (500,000) to Save the Children to save lives and protect children and families in Yemen.

The foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of the owners of the Swedish furniture giant Ikea, is calling on other funders to do the same to ensure that the people of Yemen get the help that they need.

Per Heggenes, chief executive of the Ikea Foundation, said: The Ikea Foundation is proud to support MSF and Save the Childrens work in Yemen, and its why were encouraging other funders to do the same. The international community has not done enough to prevent children and families in Yemen from suffering. If we dont act now, the consequences are unthinkable.

Yemen humanitarian crisis

Civilians and hospitals have been indiscriminately attacked for nearly two years. Hundreds of health facilities have stopped functioning due to airstrikes and shelling, or because of lack of funding, supplies and staff. MSF is working in Ibb governorate  one just 20km from the frontline  where, in addition to treating trauma patients, teams are also performing surgery, providing maternal and paediatric care, and are responding to outbreaks of disease.

Bruno Jochum, general director of MSF, said: The war in Yemen has created a countrywide humanitarian crisis. Yet this emergency remains largely forgotten. Through this grant, the Ikea Foundation is giving financial support to our emergency action on the ground, and its backing of our life-saving medical action is recognition that more needs to be done urgently.

Grant Pritchard, Save the Childrens deputy country director in Yemen, said: Bombs are landing on homes, they are landing on schools, and they are landing on hospitals, resulting in the displacement of nearly 1 million children and the needless loss of nearly 1,500 innocent childrens lives while thousands more have been maimed since the conflict escalated.

We are grateful for the support from the Ikea Foundation, which will do much to improve the lives of thousands of hungry, malnourished and vulnerable children. And I hope that other donors will follow the Ikea Foundations example, given the catastrophic humanitarian crisis we are witnessing on the ground.

Save the Children estimates that ten million children urgently need help. According to the organisation, one Yemeni child dies every ten minutes from preventable killers like diarrhoea, malnutrition and respiratory tract infection. Over two million children are malnourishedand the number is rising.

The charity says that with the funding, Save the Children will focus on helping the most vulnerable children in Sanaa and Amran governorates. They will provide food baskets and help caregivers understand how best to nourish children under two. Mobile child-protection teams will be created, and support will be given to children who have become separated from their families.

Save the Children will also provide psychosocial support to children and caregivers who have directly experienced violence.
The Charity Commission and the Metropolitan Police Service have issued a joint alert to charities urging them not send cash overseas, after an increase in charitable funds being seized at ports.

In an alert this morning the commission, in collaboration with its partner, the Counter Terrorism Command at the Metropolitan Police Service, have advised charities not to use cash couriers.

Over the last two years police have seized in the region of 4m at ports under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000, including from representatives of charities or from people claiming the cash was charitable.

The commission said there has been an increase in the number of enquiries from police about individuals claiming to be carrying cash for a charity.

The regulator described cash couriering as a high risk activity which it advises against for a number of reasons. These include because securing the return of seized cash is difficult, carrying cash makes the individual a target for criminals and that cash couriering is difficult to audit.

It said charities should try to use formal banking systems to move money across international borders where possible and only courier cash in exceptional circumstances.

Any loss or seizure of charitys cash is considered a serious incident and should be reported to the commission.

Method known to be used by terrorists and criminals

Michelle Russell, director of investigations, monitoring and enforcement, said: The commission has seen an increase in the number of charities having cash seized from their fundraisers, agents and representatives at the UK border.

The effects of a cash seizure include the charities beneficiaries losing out, an impact on the charities activities and the loss of donor money - including the permanent loss of funds.

The commissions advice is simple: dont use cash couriers unless there is no other possible means of moving money - follow the regulatory advice issued today.

Commander Dean Haydon from the counter terrorism command said: Cash couriering is a high risk activity for any organisation or individual to undertake, and is a method known to be used by terrorists and criminals.

My advice to all charities is to send money safely and not to use a cash courier; if you do there is a real risk that without proper documentation and a clear explanation of the source and destination of the cash, the cash will be seized by the police and ultimately lost to the charity.

The full alert can be found here.


Among the dining venues aboard the new Seabourn Encore is Sushi, designed and decorated by designer Adam D. Tihany and located just off the Atrium on Deck 8.

The concept and execution of a sushi restaurant onboard is the brainchild of Seabourn Culinary Consultant Chef Anton "Tony" Egger, who is responsible for everything from the recipes, menus and service style to the choice of uniforms, china and tableware, according to a statement from the cruise line.

"I was an executive chef on Seabourn ships and also corporate executive chef for a while, so I'm familiar with the taste and expectations of Seabourn's guests," says Egger. "I love really good sushi myself, so I was committed to developing the best sushi dining experience, not only with impeccably fresh ingredients and expert preparation, but also with the cultural aspects of the Japanese sushi tradition."

Working with Japanese chef friends, Egger spent months developing a network of suppliers to ensure that quality ingredients, including Japanese fish and seafood and elements such as the special Japanese sushi rice, differently flavored vinegars and a variety of fresh Japanese produce can be supplied to the ship as it cruises the world, according to Seabourn.

His menus are ingredient-specific, no substitutions are permitted. If an ingredient is unavailable, the chefs will not serve the dish.

"The staff in Sushi, from the three specialized Asian sushi chefs to the wait-staff, all interact as one team, focused on the guests," says Egger. "You'll see the sommelier delivering food plates, the waiters fetching drinks, it feels like a family operation. But like in a family, when it comes to the preparation, there are specialists," he continued. "Properly cooked and vinegared rice is the heart of sushi, so one person is the rice master, for every meal, every day."

Seabourn's master mixologist, Brian van Flandern, has created two special cocktails for Sushi, a craft drink called the Sushi Verde, and a Yamazaki Whiskey Tea Ceremony for couples or quartets. The venue also offers a variety of hot or cold Japanese sakes, beers and a selection of wines to complement the menus. And in another bow to tradition, a selection of five distinctive Japanese teas are available, brewed in artisanal cast iron pots.

Sushi is open for lunch and dinner daily. In keeping with Japanese tradition, reservations are not required.
The Celebrity Equinox,will sail into the Port of New Orleans' Julia Street Cruise Terminal Sunday, Feb. 26, just in time for the finale of Mardi Gras festivities.

The Port is thrilled to welcome Celebrity Cruises back to New Orleans for an extended port call, said Brandy Christian, Port President and CEO. Celebritys brand is synonymous with luxury and we hope their guests enjoy all that New Orleans and the surrounding region have to offer.

We are excited to offer our guests the opportunity to experience the deep culture, history and fun that New Orleans has to offer, said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises. Mardi Gras and the amazing city of New Orleans is a big draw for our guests, and the perfect backdrop for them to create memories.

New Orleans Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest are part of Celebrity Cruises Signature Event Sailings that include key global events.

New Orleans is one of the most attractive cities in the world for travelers and our cruise partners find the Port of New Orleans to be a natural and efficient homeport and port of call, Christian said. We continue to strive to work with cruise lines to provide new and varied itineraries and a top notch experience for our guests.

New Orleans tourism officials predict a brighter future for international travelers, as Louis Armstrong International Airport launches two new direct international flights in 2017 to Germany and Great Britain.

Choosing New Orleans as a cruise departure destination also offers the unique charm and rich offerings of most exotic ports of call. This combination continues to draw visitors from around the world. The new, direct air service on Copa, Condor and British Airways makes cruising from New Orleans that much more attractive, said Kim Priez, Senior Vice President of Tourism for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Currently, the Port of New Orleans ranks as the sixth-largest cruise port in the United States.
The 2017 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) will wrap Wednesday with a half-day of sessions, and then hundreds of credit union leaders will head to Capitol Hill to speak to their elected officials. Wednesdays speakers include a number of elected officials, including chair of the House Financial Services Committee Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and others.

Former CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer will give the keynote speech Wednesday. A journalist with nearly 6 decades of experience, Schieffer will talk about the inner workings of Washington, D.C., during his address.

Once the general session is adjourned, credit union leaders will spend the rest of the day meeting with legislators, telling them how consumers will benefit from granting regulatory relief to credit unions.
The evolving regulatory technology marketplace presents both opportunities and challenges for credit unions.

Todays regtech providers are focused on the application of advanced, innovative technology, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, to the practice of regulatory compliance. In general, these providers and their products offer fairly cost-effective solutions. New products, creative business models and smart integration strategies have the potential to create economies of scale within the regulatory compliance function. Today, this is largely achieved through the process of compliance automation.

By automating otherwise time-consuming processes, credit unions can focus their people resources in other areas. Another benefit of automation, specifically when dealing with the compliance function, is a much deeper and valuable application of data. There are regtech solutions that propose to automate everything from modeling risk to updating compliance manuals.

Yet for every benefit of regtech integration, there is a potential downside. Many contemporary regtech providers operate in a cloud environment, which calls for increased diligence. Credit unions considering a partnership with any cloud-based vendor must ensure the potential partner has robust security protocols, as well as tested business continuity processes, in place. This is new technology, so the likelihood of bugs is fairly high. Is your credit union prepared to act as the guinea pig that will sniff out and help eradicate those bugs?

The other component to consider is how examiners will react to a regtech partnership. Regulators tend to err on the side of caution. They are conservative, and the idea of so much information being stored in the cloud, outside of the credit unions immediate control, could make an examiner nervous. Nervous examiners can equal increased scrutiny.

Regulators also tend to be concerned with vendors that are new to any line of business. That said, when it comes to regtech, every vendor is new. Its still an emerging field, after all. So credit unions should be prepared  perhaps even overly prepared  to explain how any regtech solutions in play at the cooperative adds value to the member while also protecting their personal data.

Before integrating a regtech solution at your cooperative, there are a few questions you might consider asking of the provider:

May we talk with your clients? You want to be aware of the vendors current customer base so you can understand how your credit union fits into their existing client profile. Tap their referrals for stories. How has the provider and its early adopters weathered first-mover storms? How have they worked with other credit unions to iron out the kinks? What were those kinks, and have they been fully resolved?

What are the qualifications of your principal employees? Dont be afraid to ask for resumes. You want to understand the backgrounds of those leading the company to ensure they can apply a 40,000-foot view to their products. What skills or experience do they bring to the table? Do they have the expertise to enhance the compliance function while also keeping sensitive information secure?

Which security protocols are in place and which are planned for the future? Fraud trends change. Malware, ransomware and phishing attacks evolve. How is the cloud-based regtech vendor prepared to not only thwart intrusion attempts today, but also into the future?

How does the product actually work? Having a good understanding of how regtech automation integrates with your systems is essential. Without this information, your credit union cannot prepare its own policies and procedures to play with the vendors solutions in the most efficient, most secure, way.

While there are some tasks that will never be replaced by good old-fashioned boots on the ground, embracing technology is smart. Innovation is the only way we can, as an industry, remain relevant to a rapidly changing consumer expectation of the financial institutions they choose to do business with. The compliance function is no different. As new and more demands on compliance officers and their teams emerge, we will have to evolve to manage both the day-to-day and the strategic needs of sound regulatory compliance. Regtech represents an outstanding opportunity to do our jobs better; we just need to do what we do best, which is to proceed with caution and diligence.
Increasingly, you hear people talk about getting consumers to like your brand. But liking a brand isnt enough. For your credit union brand to succeed, your consumers must love it. And for them to love it, they must feel some sort of intimate connection with it.

Yes, thats right  intimacy.

While intimacy and a financial institution brand may not seem to go hand-in-hand, there is definitely a place for it at your credit union. So, how can a credit union establish an intimate bond with its consumers? According to a recent report, the top five brands with intimate connections to Millennials are Apple, Nintendo, Netflix, Amazon and Disney. There are lessons to learn here. And dont shy away because of the Millennial reference. The examples below apply to any age demographic.

While the companies listed above may not have a lot in common on the surface, they all demonstrate ways in which brands can connect intimately with their consumers. Consider the following for your credit union:
[February 24, 2017] Global Healthcare Cyber Security Market By Geography Products Analyzers 2016 - 2023

The global healthcare cyber security market has been segmented into solution type, end user and geography. On the basis of the solution type, the healthcare cyber security market has been segmented into risk and compliance management, identity and access management, security information and event management, and intrusion detection system (IDS)/intrusion prevention system (IPS), firewalls, antivirus, antimalware software, data encryption software, and others. The identity and access management is the fastest growing segment in the healthcare cyber security market. The market for end users in segmented into pharmaceuticals & chemicals manufactures, medical devices companies, health insurance companies, hospitals and others. Pharmaceutical companies held the major share of healthcare cyber security market in 2014 and is expected to witness a substantial growth during the forecast period. During the past decade, cyber-attacks on medical device companies, insurance and pharma companies is on the rise, thus fueling the market growth of healthcare cyber security market.







Cyber security technologies and solutions are evolving due to the changing threat landscape, where threats are becoming smarter and damaging. In todays connected health environment, cyber security is no longer an option or afterthought whereas it is a critical strategic asset that is being addressed by every organization. Over the past decade, healthcare industry has implemented a healthcare information technology (healthcare IT) infrastructure to access, send and receive electronic health data. Given that medical records contain a wealth of information that can be used for identity theft and fraud (such as social security number, address or claims data), personal health information carries a higher value on the black market than other industries. The key factors driving the healthcare security market is the increasing cyber-attack threat. Recent estimates suggest that in the period from 2010 to 2014, approximately 37 million healthcare records were compromised in data breaches. Moreover, rise in the patent infringement cases, business records, medical identity fraud, and loss of patient health records are expected to boost the healthcare cyber security market during the forecast period of 2015 to 2023. However, lack of awareness about cyber security related to the healthcare industry would act as a restraining factor, thereby hampering the growth of the healthcare cyber security market.



Request a PDF Brochure with Report Analysis: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11078 Geographically, North America held the largest share of the healthcare cyber security market followed by Europe in 2014, due to the presence of highly developed medical and healthcare infrastructure, high spending on the healthcare information technology, presence of the major pharmaceutical and medical devices companies in the region and government initiatives which have led the growth of the healthcare cyber security market. Asia Pacific is the most attractive market for the healthcare cyber security market due to the rapid improvement in the healthcare industry, economic development in the countries such as China, Japan, India and Australia, which would further booth the healthcare cyber security market during the focus period. Rest of the world holds immense potential for the growth as there are untapped opportunities in the health care cyber security market.





Developing a cyber-security platform is no more an option today, it is a necessity. Some of the major players engaging in the health care cyber security market include Cisco Systems, Inc., IBM Corporation, MacAfee, Inc., Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Symantec Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, FireEye, Inc., Northrop Grumma Corporation, Kaspersky Lab and others.



The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.



Browse Full Research Report on Healthcare Cyber Security Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/healthcare-cyber-security-market.html About Us Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge. As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
It took nearly three years for federal prosecutors to indict a former bookkeeper who allegedly stole $1.6 million from a credit union vault.

A federal grand jury in Milwaukee, Wis., indicted Melisa A. Beyer on Feb. 14 with one felony count of embezzlement and one felony count of a making a false statement.

The 37-year-old Oshkosh woman worked as a bookkeeper at the $28.2 million Oshkosh Central Credit Union.

Starting in January 2007 and through April 2014, Beyer allegedly stole the funds.

Beyer reported on a form that the vault money count was $2,058,115 when she allegedly knew that this overstated the amount of money in the vault by $1.6 million, according to the indictment.
According to Digitimes:



Toshiba is looking to spin off its flash memory business with plans to sell more than half of the planned separate entity to one or more than one company, and reportedly will initiate a new process of the stake sale.



A recent Nikkei report has identified more than 10 companies as the potential bidders for a majority stake in Toshiba's flash business, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) being in the list.

Click here to read more ...




The high level of genetic diversity between individual tumors suggests that if it were to be developed, a broad cancer vaccine would be unlikely to work for more than 0.3% of the population, according to new research published in the open access journal Genome Medicine.

Next generation sequencing has revealed a wealth of information on the genetic diversity of tumors, which in turn has led to research into individualised treatments for cancer based on the molecular characteristics of a patient's tumor. Cancer vaccines are one type of prospective treatment that involves turning the patient's immune system against the tumor.

Dr Ryan Hartmaier, lead author from Foundation Medicine, USA, said: "A broad or semi-universal vaccine capable of targeting many different tumors would be seen by some as the 'holy grail' of cancer therapy as it wouldn't involve the time or cost of individualising treatment."

"We undertook comprehensive genetic analysis of over 60,000 unique tumors to look for sets of genetic alterations that could potentially be targeted to generate a semi-universal cancer vaccine. However, our findings demonstrate that even in the best-case scenario a vaccine would be useful for less than 0.3% of the population".

One way a cancer vaccine works is by recognising a biological molecule in a patient's tumor that is 'non-self' and turning the patient's immune system against it, as it would a bacterial infection. The key to producing a vaccine to do this is to work out what specifically in the tumor could be targeted. Neo-antigens are molecules produced by tumors as a result of tumor-specific genetic alterations that mark the tumor as being non-self. Individualised cancer vaccines could be developed for each person based on their own tumor neo-antigens but this isn't currently feasible or practical on a large scale.

In theory, a broad cancer vaccine that targeted multiple neo-antigens would only need to match up with one neo-antigen in every tumor to illicit a response, so could be used to treat many people with different cancers. However, not every alteration to a gene produces a targetable neo-antigen, something that could prove problematic to the design of a broad cancer vaccine.

Dr Hartmaier explained: "If we limit our analysis to a relatively small set of carefully selected genetic alterations, a large portion of the tumors we studied have at least one of these alterations, suggesting that there could be scope for a broad cancer vaccine. But because not all of these genetic alterations will produce a neo-antigen, we had to perform computer-aided analysis to predict which of the alterations would be targetable. We were able to predict that between 2 and 12% of the alterations would produce a neo-antigen."

"From these we were able to select a panel of 10 neo-antigens that could be applied to the maximum amount of unique tumors in our data set. This revealed that between 0.7 and 2.5% of the tumors in our study contained at least one alteration that would produce one of our predicted neo-antigens. We estimate this to encompass less than 0.3% of the population."

The researchers only looked at known cancer-associated genes in this study and they state that they cannot exclude the possibility that unknown genetic alterations exist elsewhere in the genome that could produce broadly targetable neo-antigens. Neo-antigens are also less likely to occur in cancer-associated genes so it is possible that many more neo-antigens exist outside of these regions. The researchers state that their computer model for predicting neo-antigens focussed on one particular biological pathway and further investigation needs to address other routes of neo-antigen production.

###

Media Contact

Alanna Orpen

Junior Press Officer

BioMed Central

T: +44 (0)20 3192 2054

E: alanna.orpen@biomedcentral.com

Notes to editor:

1. Research article:

Genomic analysis of 63,220 tumors reveals insights into tumor uniqueness and targeted cancer immunotherapy strategies

Hartmaier et al.

Genome Medicine Feb 2017

DOI:10.1186/s13073-017-0408-2

During embargo period, the article is available here: http://bit.ly/2lnz2F5

After the embargo lifts, the article will be available at the journal website here: https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13073-017-0408-2

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.

2. Genome Medicine publishes research and reviews that describe important advances in the application of genetics, genomics and multi-omics to understand, diagnose and treat disease.

Areas covered include, but are not limited to: precision medicine, novel methods and software, cancer genomics, disease genomics and epigenomics, immunogenomics, infectious disease, microbiome and systems medicine.

3. 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
Invasive aquatic species like round goby, Asian carp, and sea lamprey are a growing problem in New York State. Their presence impacts water quality, food supply, recreation and tourism, as well as human and animal health. Early detection is a critical first step in monitoring a species' spread and managing responses.

Scientists at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine have devised genetic tests that can detect the environmental DNA (eDNA) of invasive species in a waterway before they become established there. But there are more than 7,600 freshwater lakes and ponds and over 70,000 miles of rivers and streams in New York State, all of them potential conduits for the unwelcome species. How can the Cornell team watch them all for signs of a potential invasion? The answer: teams of young citizen scientists from schools located near a lake, river, or creek, who gather water samples to send to Cornell for analysis.

Dr. Donna Cassidy-Hanley, a senior research associate at the Cornell Veterinary College, had already worked with teachers across New York state to provide hands-on resources for teaching basic science. Teaming up with Cornell Professor James Casey, who developed the genetic tests, Cassidy-Hanley went back to those teachers with a new proposal: Engage your students in a hands-on research project with Cornell scientists that introduces them to invasive species, ecology, environmental management, and bio-informatics, and that has important real world impact.

The response has been amazing. "We had hoped to get five or six teachers involved in the pilot program," says Hanley-Cassidy. "We currently have 60 teachers across the state." Students at schools from New York City to small rural upstate towns have joined in the effort to monitor the spread of invasive fish, contributing critical data and learning about science firsthand.

Cornell sends participating classes free kits containing everything needed to collect water samples. Sample collection starts in the spring as soon as the ice melts and continues until the waters freeze in the fall. Cornell shares detailed test results with teachers and students as soon as the analyses are complete, providing a platform for further learning and discussion. Some classes travel to Cornell to see the laboratory where their samples are tested.

Casey is impressed with the quality of the samples. "I was surprised at how well the program works," he says. "Round goby have been identified at 38 separate sites across the state, including two sites in areas where round goby had not previously been found." The program is supported in part by a USDA HATCH grant, which covers activities in New York state. Word is spreading and teachers from other states are expressing interest in the possibility of similar program, The feedback from teachers and students is very encouraging. Student interest is high, even among students with little past interest in science, and extracurricular groups like ecology clubs have become involved. "Activities like this can have a game changing influence on attitudes and interests," Cassidy-Hanley says. "Seeing firsthand how invasives can affect fishing and boating, as well as the environment and the economy, helps students understand that science has a real impact on daily life."

###

February 27 through March 3 is National Invasive Species Awareness Week.

Maps that show participants and test results across the state can be seen by visiting https://tetrahymenaasset.vet.cornell.edu/invasive-fish-program/edna-testing-results/. The map on that page is not interactive, but the four species-specific links above it connect to maps that are.

Contact

Claudia Wheatley

claudiawheatley@cornell.edu

607-216-7724
Lawrence Livermore scientists have collaborated with an interdisciplinary team of researchers including colleagues from Sandia National Laboratories to develop an efficient hydrogen storage system that could be a boon for hydrogen powered vehicles.

Hydrogen is an excellent energy carrier, but the development of lightweight solid-state materials for compact, low-pressure storage is a huge challenge.

Complex metal hydrides are a promising class of hydrogen storage materials, but their viability is usually limited by slow hydrogen uptake and release. Nanoconfinement -- infiltrating the metal hydride within a matrix of another material such as carbon -- can, in certain instances, help make this process faster by shortening diffusion pathways for hydrogen or by changing the thermodynamic stability of the material.

However, the Livermore-Sandia team, in conjunction with collaborators from Mahidol University in Thailand and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, showed that nanoconfinement can have another, potentially more important consequence. They found that the presence of internal "nano-interfaces" within nanoconfined hydrides can alter which phases appear when the material is cycled.

The researchers examined the high-capacity lithium nitride (Li3N) hydrogen storage system under nanoconfinement. Using a combination of theoretical and experimental techniques, they showed that the pathways for the uptake and release of hydrogen were fundamentally changed by the presence of nano-interfaces, leading to dramatically faster performance and reversibility. The research appears on the cover of the Feb. 23 edition of the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

"The key is to get rid of the undesirable intermediate phases, which slow down the material's performance as they are formed or consumed. If you can do that, then the storage capacity kinetics dramatically improve and the thermodynamic requirements to achieve full recharge become far more reasonable," said Brandon Wood, an LLNL materials scientist and lead author of the paper. "In this material, the nano-interfaces do just that, as long as the nanoconfined particles are small enough. It's really a new paradigm for hydrogen storage, since it means that the reactions can be changed by engineering internal microstructures."

The Livermore researchers used a thermodynamic modeling method that goes beyond conventional descriptions to consider the contributions from the evolving solid phase boundaries as the material is hydrogenated and dehydrogenated. They showed that accounting for these contributions eliminates intermediates in nanoconfined lithium nitride, which was confirmed spectroscopically.

Beyond demonstrating nanoconfined lithium nitride as a rechargeable, high-performing hydrogen-storage material, the work establishes that proper consideration of solid-solid nanointerfaces and particle microstructure are necessary for understanding hydrogen-induced phase transitions in complex metal hydrides.

"There is a direct analogy between hydrogen storage reactions and solid-state reactions in battery electrode materials," said Tae Wook Heo, another LLNL co-author on the study. "People have been thinking about the role of interfaces in batteries for some time, and our work suggests that some of the same strategies being pursued in the battery community could also be applied to hydrogen storage. Tailoring morphology and internal microstructure could be the best way forward for engineering materials that could meet performance targets."

###

Other Livermore researchers on the study include Keith Ray and Jonathan Lee.

The research is supported through the Hydrogen Storage Materials Advanced Research Consortium of the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fuel Cell Technologies Office.

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
In an editorial to be published on Friday 24 February 2017 in the journal ecancermedicalscience, leading academics from across the UK explore the risks facing cancer care, treatment and research in a post-Brexit world.

The editorial is written by 6 doctors who represent cancer physicians, patient advocacy groups and genomics research (and includes Nobel Prize winner Sir Paul Nurse). The group is calling for Brexit negotiations to consider how UK groups continue to play an active role in cross continental projects, how UK Institutions are able to attract and keep international staff and how to handle regulatory issues going forward.

The authors write. "We need to take every opportunity to remind the UK government that cancer patients and cancer research could be significantly disadvantaged, unless great care is deployed in the negotiations of the legal and economic frameworks governing the UK's relationship with the EU beyond Brexit."

One of the lead authors, Professor Mark Lawler, Chair of Translational Cancer Genomics, Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, Queen's University Belfast and Vice President for Research and Innovation, European Cancer Concord, describes some of the uncertainties for British cancer research: "Research is no longer an ivory tower silo-type pursuit - collaboration is the key. UK scientists contribute enormously to the European research effort while having scientists from different countries within our research institutions and hospitals greatly supports our battle against cancer."

In the aftermath of the referendum, the group is calling for consideration of the regulatory and organizational issues facing cancer research and patient care.

Prof Lawler notes "[The group] have previously expressed lack of confidence that if [EU regulations] were lost as a result of leaving they may not be replaced by UK government. This particularly affects manufacturers of medical devices and tests unless the EU and the UK are able to share regulatory frameworks to allow ready import and export of such devices/tests."

The paper describes how uncertainty about research funding is discouraging senior researchers from relocating to the UK (although no studies have been published yet).

The editorial also highlights the key issue of how sensitive patient data is handled between the EU and the UK.

The authors note that some consideration for the role of UK research, especially in bioscience, has been part of planning so far, but that the future is far from certain.

"Some reassurance has been offered. But will the UK Government continue to fund researchers who have previously been able to compete for European grants? - that is the key question that needs to be answered." Prof Lawler added.

The authors conclude that "If when the Brexit negotiations are complete the UK government doesn't step up to fill the gaps in law, regulation, resource allocation and strategic alliances, cancer research and cancer patients will suffer."

###
One in five physicians working in medical microbiology and infectious diseases is suffering from burnout, bullying and poor work-life balance, according to a study published in European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases [1].

The findings, which come from a survey of more than 400 young doctors working across Europe, also show that women's experiences are worse than men's, and that the situation is worse for doctors working in southern and eastern European countries.

Overall, the survey reveals that nearly 22% have experienced bullying at work. Many also reported burnout, including feeling worn-out (63%), unappreciated (48%) and frustrated (68%). Women, in particular, were more likely to feel that they were 'achieving less than they deserved'.

Men, on the other hand, were more likely to turn to alcohol, as were doctors working in northern or western European countries (34%).

Around 63% reported having to work beyond their normal hours on a regular basis, and the survey suggested that this is having an impact on their ability to meet personal commitments.

The study also shows a mixed picture in terms of parental leave allowance for clinicians during training for clinical microbiology and infectious disease specialisms. Those working in southern and eastern Europe were less likely to be allowed parental leave during training. Overall, women were less satisfied with the parental leave they were allowed to take.

The survey, which included responses from 416 participants with an average age of 32, was conducted anonymously online by the Trainee Association of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).

The leading authors of the report were Dr David Ong, president of the Trainee Association of ESCMID and resident in clinical microbiology at University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands and Dr Alberto Enrico Maraolo, vice-president of Trainee Association of ESCMID and research fellow in infectious diseases at University of Naples Federico II, Italy.

Dr Ong said: "This survey suggests less than ideal working conditions and worrying levels of dissatisfaction among young clinicians working in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases. It's notable that, while the situation in some parts of Europe is worse than others, even high-income countries seem unable to create good working conditions for staff in this area.

"Parenthood is perceived by a number of study participants as having a negative impact on the professional career of young physicians, and this seems especially pronounced for women.

"This is a growing and worrying issue since the number of women entering the medical profession is rising, and this includes women working in clinical microbiology and infectious disease specialisms. One solution might be providing mentoring programmes, role models and flexible career structures, which can better support female physicians."

The study was funded by ESCMID. It was supervised and co-authored by three members of the ESCMID Executive Committee: Prof. Evelina Tacconelli, ESCMID Education Officer; Prof. Maurizio Sanguinetti, ESCMID Professional Affairs Officer and Prof. Mario Poljak, President of ESCMID.

Prof. Tacconelli said: "Having an adequate work-life balance is important for individual physicians, but it is also important because it affects the quality of the medical care they give to patients.

"This survey suggests that conditions vary within Europe with worse conditions in southern and eastern European countries. This is a risk because it could mean doctors choosing to work in countries where working conditions are better, with shortages in other countries.

"It's important to acknowledge that the issues raised in this research are also affecting young doctors working in all specialties. However, ESCMID is one of only a few international medical societies investigating these factors and seeking solutions."

Prof. Sanguinetti added: "Issues of equality and professional development are major concerns to ESCMID and its members, and we will use the finding of this research to guide our discussions at national and European levels."

Medical microbiology and infectious diseases are still not recognized as individual medical specialties in all European countries. [2,3]

Prof. Poljak said: "We are already lobbying the governments of European countries where these medical specialties are not yet recognized and seeing progress, for example, recently in Spain and Romania. We believe better recognition would raise the profiles of these specialties, improve professional development and improve job satisfaction. All these will ultimately improve medical care of patients suffering from infectious diseases."

###

[1] Maraolo et al. (2017) Personal life and working conditions of trainees and young specialists in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases in Europe: a questionnaire survey. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. doi:10.1007/s10096-017-2937-4

[2] Read RC, Cornaglia G, Kahlmeter G; for the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Professional Affairs Workshop group. Professional challenges and opportunities in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases in Europe, Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2011; 11: 408-415 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(10)70294-2

[3] Winfried V. Kern, Infectious diseases as a clinical specialty in Germany and Europe, Zeitschrift fur Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualitat im Gesundheitswesen, Volume 109, Issue 7, 2015, Pages 493-499 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1865921715001932
New information on the migration patterns of the Great Hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran, will help to protect this endangered species, scientists suggest.

A target of both the recreational fishing and shark-fin trade, the global population of the instantly recognizable Great Hammerhead shark is estimated to have declined by ~80% over the last 25 years.

The Great Hammerhead has been listed on the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) as endangered since 2007. It has also recently been included in CITES Appendix II, which regulates the international trade of threatened species.

Despite recognition of its threatened status, effective protection and management has so far been hampered by a lack of information about the shark's behaviour.

However, new research published in Frontiers in Marine Science, gives a ray of hope. By defining the sharks' use of particular areas, this study gives marine management and conservation officials the ability to limit the sharks' interaction with their greatest threat - humans.

Importantly, this study looked at the temporal as well as the spatial aspect of the sharks' movements.

Dr Tristan Guttridge, who led the study at the Bimini Biological Research Station, Bahamas, explains why this is so vital: "Knowing when the animals are likely to be in certain places will be critical in developing effective management strategies" he said. "For example, our data could be used to create so-called 'time-area closures', where certain areas are closed to particular activities, like fishing, at different times. The aim would be to reduce harmful interactions with the sharks".

Dr Charlie Huveneers of the Southern Shark Ecology Group in Flinders University, Australia, agrees. "New information about movements of Great Hammerheads will help managers and regulators to ensure sustainable catches, and to improve international regulation and management" he said. "Thanks to the combination of methods used by the authors, the study has revealed complex movement patterns, with broad-scale migrations across jurisdictions as far North as Virginia, USA, as well as seasonal site fidelity in Florida and the Bahamas".

The team of researchers tagged the sharks with both acoustic and satellite tags, and used photo identification and laser photogrammetry. They were able to observe return-migrations of over 3000km. They also discovered that the sharks came "home" after migrating away to find food, pup or mate, and that they returned to the same sites for up to five months. This type of predictable behaviour makes them particularly vulnerable to fisheries.

"Recreational fishing in the USA is likely having quite an impact on great hammerheads" explains Guttridge. "We know that hammerheads are the third most common shark reported by Florida recreational fishing charter boats, and great hammerheads specifically are considered one of the most attractive species to catch by clients" he added.

Migratory animals not restrained by international borders

This study is the first to provide evidence that Great Hammerheads return to particular areas after migrations, rather than the perhaps more common perception of these sharks as "ocean wanderers". This discovery has great implications for marine management, and the development of MPAs (Marine Protected Areas).

However, many challenges remain in securing a safe future for these sharks. Like these highly migratory animals, management strategies will need to cross jurisdictional and international borders in order to be effective.

"We have only just scratched the surface of defining key spatial hotspots, but clearly for these highly mobile sharks, we need international cooperation" said Dr Guttridge, "and unfortunately, sharks refuse to acknowledge national boundaries".

The implications of the temporal aspect of migrations will also need further investigation. The sharks will be more vulnerable at different times.

"For our team, the next challenge is identifying what they are doing in these locations" said Guttridge, "as there are more sensitive life stages, such as pupping/mating sites that are a priority for conservation efforts".

###
A group of researchers from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw has just published the results of their works on miniature device - a tripler - for generating femtosecond laser pulses in the UV. Not only does the device has three times higher efficiency than previously used setups, but also fits on a finger tip, thanks to using a unique software package, developed in Warsaw, during the design stage.

Although with new technologies lasers cover more and more spectral regions, some wavelengths are still not easily accessible. This includes the ultraviolet (UV) band around 300 nm, especially if short pulse durations and/or high intensities are needed. Often, UV pulses are generated via nonlinear processes such as second harmonic generation or sum frequency generation where new photons with higher energy and a new color are formed by summing up energy of the fundamental pulse photons. The efficiency of this processes, that allows near infrared laser pulses to be converted into UV is, however, very small.

For many years, analytical light propagation models or simple numerical simulations were used to design frequency converters. They allowed scientists to tweak different device parameters, typically one at a time. This approach resulted in the conversion efficiencies from un-amplified infrared femtosecond lasers to the UV third harmonic to stagnate at around 10%.

- It was like coming to the lab, tweaking one knob here, one knob there, while looking at the UV output power and trying to maximize it. And 10% is as good as one can get with this approach - says Michal Nejbauer, from the team of researchers based at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw, Poland.

But increasing computational power available, combined with clever programming tricks allowed for the global optimization of the frequency conversion process from infrared to UV to be used for the first time.

- Our newly developed, open-source simulation package - called Hussar - allows even an inexperienced user to build a complex, 3-dimensional, accurate simulations of multiple pulse propagation and interaction using simple blocks: input pulse parameters, material properties of the media and the processes involved - explains Tomasz Kardas, who developed the software - Once we define the input pulse parameters, such as energy, duration and spatial beam profile, we essentially start searching for the best design over a large space of parameters: the nonlinear crystal thicknesses, the beam size, the beam waist position, etc. And, to our surprise, once we found these optimum values, built the device and measured its performance, the output UV pulses were exactly as simulated. This kind of quantitative agreement between what one gets on the screen and then measures in the lab is rather uncommon in nonlinear optics.

But increasing the tripling process efficiency by a factor of three, to above 30%, was just the first step. The researchers also aimed at miniaturization - rather than using multiple components mounted on the laboratory table, their third harmonic generator (tripler) is just a tiny block of crystals stacked together.

- In fact, the 1-inch metal holder that keeps all the elements together is the biggest part of the whole setup - explains Pawel Wnuk , who took leading role in the device characterization experiments. As a result, the tripler prototype has the overall volume around 1000 times smaller than the traditional, previously used designs.

The miniature frequency tripler was developed within the MINIMODS consortium, coordinated by Glasgow-based M Squared Lasers LTD, made up of industry partners Laseroptik (Germany), Radiant Light (Spain) and Time-Bandwidth Products (Switzerland). Research partners include the University of Warsaw (Poland) and the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics (UK). The project, running between 2013-2015 and supported through the EC's Seventh Framework Programme FP7-SME, aimed to address barriers to expansion and innovation within the photonics industry, with focus on creating cost-efficient, compact tools and devices for integration into laser systems.

- Working in close collaboration with industrial partners was a new, interesting experience. We have learned a lot about how they approach research and product development - says Piotr Wasylczyk, who was the project principal investigator at the University of Warsaw. - I am not sure if they learned a lot from us, but the feedback we got from them on what we did and how was very positive.

The tripler works results are published this week in Scientific Reports (22/02/2017).

###

Physics and Astronomy first appeared at the University of Warsaw in 1816, under the then Faculty of Philosophy. In 1825 the Astronomical Observatory was established. Currently, the Faculty of Physics' Institutes include Experimental Physics, Theoretical Physics, Geophysics, Department of Mathematical Methods and an Astronomical Observatory. Research covers almost all areas of modern physics, on scales from the quantum to the cosmological. The Faculty's research and teaching staff includes ca. 200 university teachers, of which 88 are employees with the title of professor. The Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, is attended by ca. 1000 students and more than 170 doctoral students.

SCIENTIFIC PAPERS:

"Full 3D modeling of pulse propagation enables efficient nonlinear frequency conversion with low energy laser pulses in a single-element tripler"; Tomasz M. Kardas, Michal Nejbauer, Pawel Wnuk, Bojan Resan, Czeslaw Radzewicz and Piotr Wasylczyk; Sci. Rep. (2017)

Open access article available at:

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep42889

CONTACTS:

Piotr Wasylczyk

Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw

tel.: +48 505 004 059

email: pwasylcz@fuw.edu.pl

RELATED LINKS:

http://www.fuw.edu.pl/

Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw.

http://www.fuw.edu.pl/informacje-prasowe.html

Press office of the Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw.

IMAGES:

FUW170224b_fot01s.jpg

HR: http://www.fuw.edu.pl/press/images/2017/FUW170224b_fot01.jpg

Miniature tripler (in the silver mirror mount) generates intense blue and ultraviolet laser pulses form focused beam of infrared light (Source: UW Physics, Radoslaw Chrapkiewicz)

Movie showing the three laser pulses propagating in the linear and nonlinear crystals of the miniature tripler (3D simulation results): http://ufs.edu.pl/video/thg.mp4
Mars' mantle may be more complicated than previously thought. In a new study published today in the Nature-affiliated journal Scientific Reports, researchers at LSU document geochemical changes over time in the lava flows of Elysium, a major martian volcanic province.

LSU Geology and Geophysics graduate researcher David Susko led the study with colleagues at LSU including his advisor Suniti Karunatillake, the University of Rahuna in Sri Lanka, the SETI Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, NASA Ames, and the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie in France.

They found that the unusual chemistry of lava flows around Elysium is consistent with primary magmatic processes, such as a heterogeneous mantle beneath Mars' surface or the weight of the overlying volcanic mountain causing different layers of the mantle to melt at different temperatures as they rise to the surface over time.

Elysium is a giant volcanic complex on Mars, the second largest behind Olympic Mons. For scale, it rises to twice the height of Earth's Mount Everest, or approximately 16 kilometers. Geologically, however, Elysium is more like Earth's Tibesti Mountains in Chad, the Emi Koussi in particular, than Everest. This comparison is based on images of the region from the Mars Orbiter Camera, or MOC, aboard the Mars Global Surveyor, or MGS, Mission.

Elysium is also unique among martian volcanoes. It's isolated in the northern lowlands of the planet, whereas most other volcanic complexes on Mars cluster in the ancient southern highlands. Elysium also has patches of lava flows that are remarkably young for a planet often considered geologically silent.

"Most of the volcanic features we look at on Mars are in the range of 3-4 billion years old," Susko said. "There are some patches of lava flows on Elysium that we estimate to be 3-4 million years old, so three orders of magnitude younger. In geologic timescales, 3 million years ago is like yesterday."

In fact, Elysium's volcanoes hypothetically could still erupt, Susko said, although further research is needed to confirm this. "At least, we can't yet rule out active volcanoes on Mars," Susko said. "Which is very exciting."

Susko's work in particular reveals that the composition of volcanoes on Mars may evolve over their eruptive history. In earlier research led by Karunatillake, assistant professor in LSU's Department of Geology and Geophysics, researchers in LSU's Planetary Science Lab, or PSL, found that particular regions of Elysium and the surrounding shallow subsurface of Mars are geochemically anomalous, strange even relative to other volcanic regions on Mars. They are depleted in the radioactive elements thorium and potassium. Elysium is one of only two igneous provinces on Mars where researchers have found such low levels of these elements so far.

"Because thorium and potassium are radioactive, they are some of the most reliable geochemical signatures that we have on Mars," Susko said. "They act like beacons emitting their own gamma photons. These elements also often couple in volcanic settings on Earth."

In their new paper, Susko and colleagues started to piece together the geologic history of Elysium, an expansive volcanic region on Mars characterized by strange chemistry. They sought to uncover why some of Elysium's lava flows are so geochemically unusual, or why they have such low levels of thorium and potassium. Is it because, as other researchers have suspected, glaciers located in this region long ago altered the surface chemistry through aqueous processes? Or is it because these lava flows arose from different parts of Mars' mantle than other volcanic eruptions on Mars?

Perhaps the mantle has changed over time, meaning that more recent volcanic eruption flows differ chemically from older ones. If so, Susko could use Elysium's geochemical properties to study how Mars' bulk mantle has evolved over geologic time, with important insights for future missions to Mars. Understanding the evolutionary history of Mars' mantle could help researchers gain a better understanding of what kinds of valuable ores and other materials could be found in the crust, as well as whether volcanic hazards could unexpectedly threaten human missions to Mars in the near future. Mars' mantle likely has a very different history than Earth's mantle because the plate tectonics on Earth are absent on Mars as far as researchers know. The history of the bulk interior of the red planet also remains a mystery.

Susko and colleagues at LSU analyzed geochemical and surface morphology data from Elysium using instruments on board NASA's Mars Odyssey Orbiter (2001) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006). They had to account for the dust that blankets Mars' surface in the aftermath of strong dust storms, to make sure that the shallow subsurface chemistry actually reflected Elysium's igneous material and not the overlying dust.

Through crater counting, the researchers found differences in age between the northwest and the southeast regions of Elysium -- about 850 million years of difference. They also found that the younger southeast regions are geochemically different from the older regions, and that these differences in fact relate to igneous processes, not secondary processes like the interaction of water or ice with the surface of Elysium in the past.

"We determined that while there might have been water in this area in the past, the geochemical properties in the top meter throughout this volcanic province are indicative of igneous processes," Susko said. "We think levels of thorium and potassium here were depleted over time because of volcanic eruptions over billions of years. The radioactive elements were the first to go in the early eruptions. We are seeing changes in the mantle chemistry over time."

"Long-lived volcanic systems with changing magma compositions are common on Earth, but an emerging story on Mars," said James Wray, study co-author and associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech.

Wray led a 2013 study that showed evidence for magma evolution at a different martian volcano, Syrtis Major, in the form of unusual minerals. But such minerals could be originating at the surface of Mars, and are visible only on rare dust-free volcanoes.

"At Elysium we are truly seeing the bulk chemistry change over time, using a technique that could potentially unlock the magmatic history of many more regions across Mars," he said.

Susko speculates that the very weight of Elysium's lava flows, which make up a volcanic province six times higher and almost four times wider than its morphological sister on Earth, Emi Koussi, has caused different depths of Mars' mantle to melt at different temperatures. In different regions of Elysium, lava flows may have come from different parts of the mantle. Seeing chemical differences in different regions of Elysium, Susko and colleagues concluded that Mars' mantle might be heterogeneous, with different compositions in different areas, or that it may be stratified beneath Elysium.

Overall, Susko's findings indicate that Mars is a much more geologically complex body than originally thought, perhaps due to various loading effects on the mantle caused by the weight of giant volcanoes.

"It's more Earth-like than moon-like," Susko said. "The moon is cut and dry. It often lacks the secondary minerals that occur on Earth due to weathering and igneous-water interactions. For decades, that's also how we envisioned Mars, as a lifeless rock, full of craters with a number of long inactive volcanoes. We had a very simple view of the red planet. But the more we look at Mars, the less moon-like it becomes. We're discovering more variety in rock types and geochemical compositions, as seen across the Curiosity Rover's traverse in Gale Crater, and more potential for viable resource utilization and capacity to sustain a human population on Mars. It's much easier to survive on a complex planetary body bearing the mineral products of complex geology than on a simpler body like the moon or asteroids."

Susko plans to continue clarifying the geologic processes that cause the strange chemistry found around Elysium. In the future, he will study these chemical anomalies through computational simulations, to determine if recreating the pressures in Mars' mantle caused by the weight of giant volcanoes could affect mantle melting to yield the type of chemistry observed within Elysium.

###

David Susko led the team with LSU undergraduate student Taylor Judice from Lafayette, La., mentored by their advisor Suniti Karunatillake. This multi-institutional and international investigation was co-authored by Gayantha Kodikara at the University of Ruhuna in Sri Lanka; John Roma Skok, SETI Institute; James Wray at Georgia Institute of Technology; Jennifer Heldmann at NASA Ames; and Agnes Cousin at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie in France. NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program (MDAP) funded the project at LSU, which used data from several missions, including the 2001 Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
Inside NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope team completed the environmental portion of vibration testing and prepared for the acoustic test on the telescope. Engineers and technicians pushed the telescope (wrapped in a clean tent) through a large set of insulated steel doors nearly a foot thick into the Acoustic Test Chamber, where the telescope will be exposed to the earsplitting noise (and resulting vibration) of launch. These photos show the telescope outside (left) and inside (right) the acoustics chamber.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

For more information about the Webb telescope visit: http://www.jwst.nasa.gov or http://www.nasa.gov/webb

###
During 2017 and 2018, IOHK and Tokyo Tech will promote joint research in cryptocurrencies and blockchain related technologies among teams of researchers and professors of the two institutions. In particular, researchers from IOHK will join Tokyo Tech, while professors and graduate students will tackle industry challenges in this rapidly developing area of research.

Characteristics of the Collaborative Research Chair

Cryptocurrencies have been booming in several countries including Japan. This fascinating new area has the potential to revolutionize not only the banking systems but also societies worldwide by offering more inclusive and efficient means of making financial transactions.

As with any area in its infancy, numerous challenges lie ahead for blockchain in terms of basic research and engineering. This partnership aims to tackle such challenges. Furthermore, it also has the goal of developing young professionals and educating society about the advantages of this new technology. Charles Hoskinson, the CEO and Co-founder of IOHK, said: "This collaboration has two main goals: the first is to develop our business area, which is cryptocurrencies and blockchain related technologies, in the fundamental level. The second is to nurture and develop global talent in these areas in Japan."

Similarly, Tokyo Tech President Yoshinao Mishima declared: "This agreement is important because Tokyo Tech is seeking to enhance the collaboration with industries and universities in Japan and abroad by producing groundbreaking results in research and engineering which will be published in internationally renowned scientific journals and conferences."

Under the Collaborative Chair, researchers of both institutions will produce knowledge via joint activities as seminars and production of academic papers. Another activity is to open courses related to blockchain technologies, as, for example, lectures of cryptographic protocols and cryptocurrencies offered to Tokyo Tech students: pioneering this research area among educational institutions in Japan. Unlike the traditional university research partnership model, all research and developments undertaken in the laboratories will be open source and patent-free, meaning the research findings can help the industry at large.

Background of the Collaborative Research Chair

The creation of the Collaborative Research Chair is, in fact, the continuation of a 6-month joint work agreement between Tokyo Tech and IOHK. The former partnership started in July 1st 2016 and ended on December 31st 2016. During this 6-month period, Prof. Tanaka, the main researcher for the Collaborative Research Chair on behalf of Tokyo Tech, and his team were in contact with IOHK.

From 2017, the Collaborative Chair will enhance the established relationship with the addition of two IOHK researchers, Bernardo David and Dr. Mario Larangeira to the Tokyo Tech research team managed by Prof. Tanaka. They will work on daily basis with Tanaka's team, while allocated full time in the Tokyo Tech main campus: Ookayama campus.

The Input Output Cryptocurrency Collaborative Research Chair, along with a center at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, is the first in IOHK's growing global network of technology laboratories. IOHK expects to establish further research laboratories later this year, and in 2018.

Joint Interested Areas

Tokyo Tech and IOHK have agreed on joint research and other educational activities in cryptocurrencies and blockchain related technologies. The Collaborative Research Chair is specifically designed to:

1 - Research cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based technologies and related areas

2 - Nurture global talent and develop high-level expertise

3 - Promote research collaboration among researchers worldwide

Items to Realize

1 - Interdisciplinary Joint Research

Conduct research in fields related to blockchains, as for example, computer science, distributed systems, game theory, programming languages and cryptography. 2 - Education of Professionals

Design a graduate course specialized in blockchain related technology.

###

About Tokyo Institute of Technology:

Tokyo Institute of Technology stands at the forefront of research and higher education as the leading university for science and technology in Japan. Tokyo Tech researchers excel in a variety of fields, such as material science, biology, computer science and physics. Founded in 1881, Tokyo Tech has grown to host 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students who become principled leaders of their fields and some of the most sought-after scientists and engineers at top companies. Embodying the Japanese philosophy of "monotsukuri," meaning technical ingenuity and innovation, the Tokyo Tech community strives to make significant contributions to society through high-impact research.

Website: http://www.titech.ac.jp/english/

About IOHK:

Founded in 2015 by Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood, IOHK is a technology company committed to using peer-to-peer innovations to provide financial services to the three billion people who do not have them.

IOHK is an engineering company that builds cryptocurrencies and blockchains for academic institutions, government entities and corporations. It is also a research firm with dense academic connections in Europe, America and Asia with many employees holding PhDs in Computer Science, Math or Physics. IOHK focuses on practical, peer reviewed research to create live protocols, and the technological underpinnings to next-generation cryptocurrencies.

To learn more, visit: http://iohk.io
Small study in 16 people suggests technique is safe and might help improve mood, anxiety and wellbeing, while increasing weight

Small study in 16 people suggests technique is safe and might help improve mood, anxiety and wellbeing, while increasing weight.

Deep brain stimulation might alter the brain circuits that drive anorexia nervosa symptoms and help improve patients' mental and physical health, according to a small study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Despite having the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, there are few effective ways to manage treatment-resistant anorexia. While the study only included 16 patients, it suggests that the intervention is safe and could help improve some symptoms of anorexia, but more research is needed.

Worldwide, 0.5% of people have anorexia, and teenage girls account for the majority of cases. The eating disorder is characterised by persistent concerns about bodyweight, shape and size, leading patients to maintain a low weight. Many patients experience mood and anxiety disorders, deny their illness and avoid seeking medical help for it.

Chronic anorexia causes severe health problems as a result of malnutrition, including weak bones and muscles, sexual problems, infertility, heart problems and seizures. The condition can be fatal and those who become acutely ill are admitted to specialised hospital units to receive nutritional support, medical stabilisation and behavioural therapy.

The small study followed 16 women aged between 21 and 57 years old who had had anorexia for an average of 18 years and were severely underweight (with an average body mass index (BMI) of 13.8). They were selected for the study as all other available treatments did not work for them and they were at risk of early death because of anorexia.

All patients underwent deep brain stimulation, which involves implanting electrodes and stimulating areas of the brain that control dysfunctional behaviours. The technique is currently used to target the brain circuits involved in Parkinson's disease, dystonia, and tremors, where it has been shown to be highly effective in controlling symptoms.

The study looked at how safe deep brain stimulation was for patients with anorexia, and how it affected their BMI, mood, anxiety and wellbeing. Using PET scans, the researchers also looked at how brain activity changed after one year of stimulation.

Electrodes were placed into their subcallosal cingulate, an area located in the centre of the brain that has been shown to have altered serotonin binding in patients with anorexia. Once implanted, the electrodes stimulated the area for one year at a level of 5 - 6.5 volts every 90 micro-seconds.

The treatment had few serious adverse events; however, five patients had pain that persisted for longer than usual following the surgery (more than 3-4 days) and one had an infection at the site of the surgery which resulted in the electrodes needing to be removed and re-implanted. Most adverse events were a result of the patients' chronic anorexia and included having very low sodium and potassium levels. One patient had an unexplained seizure several months after their electrodes were implanted.

During the study, two patients asked to have the electrodes removed, potentially a result of them being uncomfortable with their weight gain. This meant that there were only 14 patients included at follow-up.

For these patients, mental health symptoms improved over the study with mood and anxiety symptoms reducing in five patients and depression reducing in 10 out of 14 patients. They also reported better quality of life.

While psychological symptoms improved soon after the stimulation began, changes in weight started after three months, suggesting that improving mental health symptoms may precede or even enable changes in weight. Over the course of the study, average BMI of the group increased to 17.3 - an increase of 3.5 points - and six patients achieved a normal BMI (of 18.5 or more).

When comparing the scan results for brain activity before treatment and after a year of stimulation, the researchers found that there were changes in the regions linked to anorexia, suggesting that deep brain stimulation was able to directly affect the related brain circuits. This included less activity in the putamen, thalamus, cerebellum amongst other areas, and more activity in the peripheral cortical areas which are also linked to social perception and behaviour.

"Anorexia remains the psychiatric disorder with the highest mortality rate, and there is an urgent need to develop safe, effective, evidence-driven treatments that are informed by a growing understanding of brain circuitry," said study author, Professor Andres Lozano, University of Toronto, Canada. "While our results show some early promise, more research will be needed before this becomes available for patients with anorexia. Our findings emphasise the need for continued research into novel neuromodulation strategies for anorexia nervosa, and for psychiatric disorders more broadly." [1]

"Our study suggests that a focal brain intervention, deep brain stimulation, may have an impact on the circuitry of symptoms that serve to maintain anorexia and make it so difficult to treat." said lead author, Dr Nir Lipsman, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Canada. [1]

The researchers note some limitations within their work, including that the group was small and there was no control group. In addition, all patients were aware they were being given treatment so the results seen could be affected by placebo effect. However, the authors note this is unlikely as the results lasted for a year and were confirmed with the brain activity scans.

Writing in a linked Comment Dr Carrie McAdams, University of Texas, USA, said: "Conventional treatment of anorexia nervosa includes behavioural modifications to improve feeding, combined with psychological therapy to address cognitive distortions related to self-esteem, eating, and body dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, after intensive treatment, nearly half of adult women with anorexia nervosa relapse within a year... This work shows how modern neuroscience can lead to a new treatment and simultaneously improve understanding of perpetuating factors in a complex, multifactorial disease... Both mood and social function warrant further examination as potential neural factors that might perpetuate anorexia nervosa in adults. Difficulty in changing these factors, which are not part of the diagnostic symptoms of anorexia nervosa, could contribute to the poor outcomes seen with conventional treatments."

###

NOTES TO EDITORS

The study was funded by the Klarman Family Foundation Grants Program in Eating Disorders Research and Canadian Institutes of Health Research. It was conducted by scientists from University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

[1] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article.

For interviews with the Article authors, please contact Alexa Giorgi, Senior Public Affairs Advisor at Toronto Western Hospital, Canada: E) Alexa.Giorgi@uhn.ca T) +1 416 603 5800 (ext 6776)

For interviews with Comment author, Carrie McAdams, University of Texas, USA, please contact E) carrie.mcadams@utsouthwestern.edu T) +1 214 648 4145

Emily Head

Press Officer

The Lancet journals, 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS

T: +44 (0) 207 424 4249

M: +44 (0) 7920 530 997

E: emily.head@lancet.com
The quest for highly efficient 5G wireless connectivity has been given a boost thanks to a collaboration between a team of 5G engineers from the Universities of Bristol and Lund, National Instruments (NI), and BT, one of the world's leading providers of communications services.

The research team has undertaken field trials of a massive MIMO system at the BT Labs in Adastral Park, Suffolk. The trials were conducted in a large indoor hall mimicking a stadium environment and outdoors within the Adastral Park campus.

The goals were to test massive MIMO spatial multiplexing indoors and improve the understanding of massive MIMO radio channels under mobile conditions with untethered devices. While carrying out these field experiments, the team obtained promising results indicating that this technology could offer spectrum efficiency figures in excess of the 100 bits/s/Hz mark, improving upon the capacity of today's long term evolution (LTE) systems by ten times.

It is expected that techniques such as massive MIMO, which offers full spatial multiplexing - where multiple data streams are transmitted at the same time and on the same radio channel - will become a crucial part of future 5G networks; the next generation of mobile technology.

The research team, consisting of five PhD students from Bristol's EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Communications and a researcher from Lund University, under the leadership of Professor Mark Beach, worked with the BT research team, led by Ian Mings, to assess the performance of a 128 element Massive MIMO system operating at 3.5 GHz at BT's Adastral Park campus.

Initial experiments took place in BT's large exhibition hall and used 12 streams in a single 20MHz channel to show the real-time transmission and simultaneous reception of ten unique video streams, plus two other spatial channels demonstrating the full richness of spatial multiplexing supported by the system.

The system was also shown to support the simultaneous transmission of 24 user streams operating with 64QAM on the same radio channel with all modems synchronising over-the-air. It is believed that this is the first time such an experiment has been conducted with truly un-tethered devices, from which the team were able to infer a spectrum efficiency of just less than 100bit/s/Hz and a sum rate capacity of circa two Gbits/s in this single 20MHz wide channel.

In addition to the indoor trials, a series of outdoor experiments were conducted with the array at a height of around 20 metres. This enabled far field array characterisation, multi-element handset performance as well as experiments to improve the understanding of the massive MIMO radio channel under mobile conditions to be carried out.

Mark Beach, Professor of Radio Systems Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Manager of the EPSRC CDT in Communications, explained: "We are delighted to be collaborating with BT. Massive MIMO is a key technology for 5G and the research team's achievements last year with massive MIMO arrays, which are cellular base stations with more than 100 antennas, demonstrates that this technology could deliver ultra-fast data rates to high densities of smartphones and tablets."

Professor Tim Whitley, Managing Director, Research and Innovation at BT, added: "The BT Labs have a long history of pioneering wireless research, and with the acquisition of EE, we're excited to once again be at the forefront of mobile technology development. Massive MIMO has the potential to significantly boost available data rates in future 5G mobile networks, and we're pleased to be able to explore that potential with leading academics in the field at the University of Bristol."

The experimental system uses the same flexible SDR platform from NI that leading wireless researchers in industry and academia are using to define 5G. To achieve accurate, real-time performance, the researchers took full advantage of the system's FPGAs using LabVIEW Communications System Design and the recently announced NI MIMO Application Framework. As lead users, both the Universities of Bristol and Lund worked closely with NI to implement, test and debug this framework prior to its product release. It now provides the ideal foundations for the rapid development, optimization and evaluation of algorithms and techniques for massive MIMO.

The state-of-the-art platform was made possible thanks to hardware provided by Bristol Is Open, a joint venture between the University and Bristol City Council that aims to make Bristol the first open programmable city in the world.

Spectrum and power efficient wireless communications are core to Bristol University's Communication Systems and Networks (CSN) Group and the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT in Communications as well as to the Department of Electrical and Information Technology at Lund University.

The researchers are now processing the data sets and aim to publish their findings in leading journals in the near future as well as adding enhancements to the system in preparation for further trials.

###

The University of Bristol has been collaborating with the University of Lund for several years on wireless research topics. Both universities have contributed to the development and testing of this software suite, as well as writing additional customisations to be used here at BT.

About the Communication Systems & Networks (CSN) Group

The CSN Group was formed in 1985 to address the research demands of the fixed and wireless communications sectors. It combines fundamental academic research with a strong level of industrial application. The Group has well-equipped laboratories with state-of-the-art test and measurement equipment and first-class computational facilities. Recently the Group has joined forces with the University's High Performance Networks (HPN) Group to form the Smart Internet Lab.

About the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Communications

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Communications is a state-of-the-art environment for training postgraduates to lead innovative research, future product development and exploitation.

The Centre will help to build UK capability in communications engineering by addressing the skills shortage in the sector. It will focus on Future Communications: People, Power and Performance; while communications technology is the enabler, the Centre recognises that it is people who are the creators, consumers and beneficiaries in terms of its broader applications.

About Lund University

Lund University seeks to be a world-class university that works to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition. The University is ranked as one of the top 100 in the world and tackle complex problems and global challenges and work to ensure that knowledge and innovations benefit society. The University has 42,000 students and 7,680 employees and provides education and research in engineering, science, law, social sciences, economics and management, medicine, humanities, theology, fine art, music and drama.

About National Instruments

Since 1976, NI has made it possible for engineers and scientists to solve the world's greatest engineering challenges with powerful platform-based systems that accelerate productivity and drive rapid innovation. Customers from a wide variety of industries - from healthcare to automotive and from consumer electronics to particle physics - use NI's integrated hardware and software platform to improve the world we live in.

LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

About BT

BT's purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world's leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services. BT consists of six customer-facing lines of business: Consumer, EE, Business and Public Sector, Global Services, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2016, BT Group's reported revenue was 19,042m with reported profit before taxation of 3,029m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit http://www.btplc.com

About Bristol Is Open

How cities work is changing. Bristol Is Open, a joint venture between Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol, is a research infrastructure to explore developments in software, hardware and telecom networks that enable more interaction between people and places and more machine-to-machine communication. The project uses a high performance software defined network as the city operating system, then internet of things platforms and big data analytics feed an emerging number of smart city applications. This is giving people more ability to interact, work and play with the city that they live in, and will help cities address some of the biggest challenges of modern urban life. This is the Open Programmable City.
The World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Appellate Body today confirmed that Russias import bans on live pigs, pork and other pig products from the EU is illegal under international trade rules.

The ruling concerns a ban imposed by Russia in January 2014 because of the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in areas in the EU close to the border with Belarus.

In an earlier ruling (19 August 2016), a WTO panel acknowledged that Russia's refusal to accept imports of certain EU products and to adapt EU-Russia health import certificates accordingly amounts to an EU-wide import ban.

The Russian measure is not based on the relevant international standards and violates the rules of the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement).

The panel made the same criticism of individual Russian bans on imports from Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia.

'A strong signal to Russia'

Commissioner Phil Hogan, who is currently on a visit to the WTO in Geneva, welcomed the Appellate Body ruling.

He said: "Today's ruling sends a strong signal to Russia on their obligation to respect international standards and the principle of regionalisation. This ruling confirms that EU pork is safe and meets international standards".

The panel underlined that WTO Members can exercise their right to determine their appropriate levels of sanitary protection and to restrict imports on the basis of sanitary concerns as long as they are effectively responding to real sanitary risks. This does not, therefore, concern products coming from disease-free areas.

The EU has one of the world's most efficient animal health and food safety systems, including high detection levels and stringent risk management rules.

Today's ruling reconfirms that the measures taken by Russia against the EU have little to do with any real sanitary or health risks, according to the European Commission.

The European Commission's Agricultural and Rural Development said EU products from disease-free areas are safe and there is thus no need for any country to maintain unjustified import restrictions

'Unjustified measures'

A spokesperson for the EC's Agricultural and Rural Development said: "Russia should withdraw its unjustified measures and allow EU companies to resume normal business with their Russian partners.

"For most of the products dealt with in this case, trade continues to be restricted by a politically motivated ban Russia imposed on EU agri-food products in August 2014.

"However, certain products such as pig fat, offal and live animals for breeding were covered by the sanitary ban addressed by the WTO and are outside the scope of the 2014 political ban.

"The EU will continue to use WTO procedures to ensure that international trade rules are effectively respected. WTO dispute settlement remains the strongest option to tackle significant trade barriers and to thus increase legal certainty and predictability for our companies."
Livestock-worrying in Scotland has hit a seven-year high following a sharp rise in the number of reported cases, according to NFU Scotland.

The farming union has written an open letter to the public urging them to keep dogs on leads when out and about in the countryside over the coming months.

NFU Scotland said there were 179 cases of worrying, where animals were injured or killed, in 2016. That is up by 46 incidents on the previous year.

As farmers and crofters enter a busy time of year for lambing and calving, the losses that are caused by livestock worrying can be devastating.

Last year saw the highest number of instances from over the last seven years.

The Highlands and Islands and Lothians and Borders areas saw the highest number of livestock-worrying incidents - 36 and 27 respectively - with Aberdeenshire and Moray in third with 22.

'Devastating consequences'

Gary Mitchell, Vice President of NFU Scotland commented: The worrying of livestock can have devastating consequences for a farmer and their stock and as these statistics suggest, it is becoming an increasing problem for Scotlands farmers and crofters.

Sheep are particularly at risk during the spring lambing period and we need dog owners to take action to prevent livestock worrying otherwise, if their dog is found worrying livestock they could face prosecution, as we have seen with some cases that have gone to court recently.

The farmer is also within their legal rights to shoot a dog if it is found to be worrying livestock  not a decision that is taken lightly.

We are appealing to dog walkers to avoid fields where very young livestock, or heavily pregnant ewes are present, and if there is no alternative route, owners should keep their dogs on a lead and under close control or at heel.
A cornerstone of President Donald Trump's campaign was tax reform. Specifically, Trump proposed the most radical simplification and overhaul of the U.S. tax code in many years. With a Republican majority in the House and Senate, whose tax-related positions aren't too far from Trump's, there's a realistic shot of getting it done. This can be especially welcome news for married couples, as part of Trump's plan calls for getting rid of the so-called "marriage penalty."

What is the marriage penalty?

In a nutshell, the U.S. tax brackets are set up create the so-called marriage penalty. Specifically, it might seem like the fair way to tax income would be one set of tax brackets for single taxpayers, and another set for married taxpayers that is exactly twice the single brackets.

As an example, single taxpayers who earn between $91,901 and $191,650 are currently in the 28% tax bracket. So, it might make sense for married taxpayers who earn between $183,802 and $383,300 would be taxed at the same rate, right? Well, the actual 28% tax bracket for married couples is significantly lower than that -- $153,101 through $233,350.

It's also important to mention that the tax brackets aren't the only form of marriage penalty in our tax code. For example, the child tax credit phases out at $75,000 of adjusted gross income (AGI) for singles and $110,000 for married couples, far less than twice the threshold for singles. In fact, there are several other ways married couples could be "penalized."

However, let's focus on the tax brackets. Most likely, if the marriage penalty was eliminated in the tax brackets, most other forms of the penalty would also disappear. For reference, here are the 2017 tax brackets for single taxpayers and married couples filing joint returns.

Tax Bracket Income Range (Single) Income Range (Married) 10% $0-$9,325 $0-$18,650 15% $9,326-$37,950 $18,651-$75,900 25% $37,951-$91,900 $75,901-$153,100 28% $91,901-$191,650 $153,101-$233,350 33% $191,651-$416,700 $233,351-$416,700 35% $416,701-$418,400 $416,701-$470,700 39.6% $418,401 and above $470,701 and above

Why it matters -- an example

The marriage penalty is best illustrated with an example. Let's say that an unmarried couple each earns a taxable income of $90,000. Under the current tax brackets, this would put each of them at the top end of the 25% tax bracket, and would result in federal income tax of $18,238.75 each, or a total of $36,477.50.

Now let's say that this same couple gets married, resulting in combined taxable income of $180,000. As you can see from the chart, this puts the couple well into the 28% tax bracket. According to these tax rates, the couple would now owe federal income tax of $37,284.

Suddenly, because the couple got married, their federal income tax goes up by more than $800. This is the marriage penalty in action.

And this may even be an understatement of the difference in taxes. If this couple has a child and remains unmarried, one of the parents would be entitled to file their return with head of household status, which has even more favorable tax brackets.

President Trump's proposal

As part of Trump's tax plan, the seven tax brackets that exist today would be consolidated into three. And as you can see in the chart below, the tax brackets for single filers would be exactly half of those for married joint filers.

Tax Rate Married Filing Jointly Single Filers 12% Less than $75,000 Less than $37,500 25% $75,000-$225,000 $37,500-$112,500 33% More than $225,000 More than $112,500

The result of this would be that whether a couple got married or decided to stay unmarried, their federal income taxes wouldn't be affected. In our previous example, the couple would pay the same amount of federal income tax before and after their wedding, assuming their individual incomes remained the same.

In addition, notice that head of household filing status isn't listed in the chart. That's because President Trump wants to get rid of it as well.

Will it happen?

Since President Trump's tax plan and the congressional Republican platform differ in certain areas, there is no way to know what the final modifications to the tax code will look like. However, the opposition to the marriage penalty is unanimous. In fact, the GOP's platform specifically says, "We urge marriage penalties to be removed from the tax code and public assistance programs."

Because of this, I'd be very surprised if any tax reform package didn't eliminate the marriage penalty for U.S. taxpayers.
The reintroduction of a tax on Scottish farms and estates with shoots and deer forests is just weeks away, but farmers are already eyeing the appeals process.

Business rates on shoots were abolished in 1995 but will be brought back on 1 April.

It is one of the first major milestones in the implementation of the Scottish Land Reform Act which got its royal assent last year.

Opinion is split over whether the tax will only hit the largest commercial shooting estates, or whether some smaller agricultural businesses will be caught in the crossfire.

See also: Unpredictable South West land market could perk up

The Scottish government told Farmers Weekly that the scheme could raise as much as 4m, but many properties would be eligible for 100% relief under the small business bonus scheme (SBBS).

Farmers await their rate

Forms asking landowners to provide detailed information on their land use and its sporting potential caused consternation among the farming community when they hit doormats last year.

The forms asked for details of who owned and exercised the shooting rights, details of leases, the type of land involved, and of species shot in recent years.

We had a huge volume of calls when the forms were received, due to the complexity and sheer volume of information requested, said Gemma Cooper, legal and technical policy manager at NFU Scotland.

Many of our farmers felt that the information being requested was unreasonable and an invasion of their privacy. There was also concern over the valuation methodology.

Despite the confusion, the majority of farmers are understood to have responded and sent paperwork to the Scottish Assessors Association (SSA).

Assessors are now determining a rateable value to each farm and estate in Scotland.

The methodology for assigning a value is unknown and it remains unclear how businesses that didnt return paperwork will be dealt with.

Katy Dickson, policy officer at Scottish Land & Estates, said her organisation, like NFUS, is opposed to the reintroduction of the rates, but is working with the SAA to understand the methodology being used.

Assessors are working hard to get all the information in to understand what the market is doing and then apply a methodology.

Rates will be published which can be negotiated and ultimately appealed.

Theres so little comparable evidence available that its difficult for the assessors to understand how sporting it let on an annual basis.

Grey areas

Tom Stewart-Moore, head of Knight Franks Scottish farm agency, said the words sporting potential had created a grey area.

Everyone is going to appeal this Tom Stewart-Moore, Knight Frank

He pointed out a 500-acre farm may have an existing shoot over 200 acres, but that the rest of the farm could be planted with a game cover crop, thus creating sporting potential.

Thats been the big question mark  where do you draw the line? No-one seems to know the answer to that, Mr Stewart-Moore said.

He added it was likely businesses in the Scottish Highlands would be the first to learn their rateable value, and that would be the yardstick for appeals.

Those based in central Scotland and the borders will look very closely at whats happening in the north for a comparable. Everyone is going to appeal this.

Potential impact

Some agents predict a negligible impact, but recommend all businesses should check their rateable value regardless.

Alex Jameson, partner at Strutt & Parker, said the SBBS threshold had recently been raised to 15,000/year from 10,000/year, allowing those falling below it to claim 100% relief.

Those with a number of diversified farm businesses may still exceed the threshold, but the majority will not, he said.

For most farmers in Scotland, sporting rates will not be an issue at the moment.

But even if you dont get charged this year you should still look at the rateable value and see if you think that its reasonable. If it isnt, then you should appeal.

CKD Galbraith partner Calum Innes agreed that most farmers would be exempt.

We havent seen the valuations yet but there are not many sporting leases that command a huge rent so its unlikely that there will be many significant valuations made, he said.




Haiti - Politics : Prisons tour by the Minister of Justice





Wednesday, while more than 40 prisoners have died since the beginning of the year in prisons in Haiti, in appalling circumstances, https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20157-haiti-flash-minustah-calls-on-authorities-to-take-urgent-measures.html Camille Jr. Edouard, the Minister of Justice visited prisons to inquire about the situation in which prisoners live [including lack of toilets in cells, food shortages, unsuitable water, care, presence of rats and insects in the cells, promoting the spread of diseases, insecurity and under effective of penitentiary agent https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20013-haiti-flash-nightmare-at-the-national-penitentiary.html ]



Minister Edouard, accompanied by: Himmler Rebu, Jean Danton Leger, Secretary of State for Public Security, of Jean Danton Leger, Government Commissioner for the Court of First Instance (TPI) of Port-au-Prince and Jean Gardy Muscadin, the Director of the Directorate of Prison Administration (DAP) visited the National Penitentiary and the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison.



During these visits, the delegation met with the staff of these prisons, whose very high overcrowding rate https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20013-haiti-flash-nightmare-at-the-national-penitentiary.html causes a promiscuity which contributes to the deterioration of hygiene conditions for the detainees.



Minister Edouard reiterated his firm determination to continue working on alternatives to incarceration and a better distribution of prisoners in prison centers...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20157-haiti-flash-minustah-calls-on-authorities-to-take-urgent-measures.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-20064-icihaiti-justice-3-prisoners-die-of-hunger-in-the-prison-of-les-cayes.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20020-haiti-justice-a-law-proposition-to-improve-the-lives-of-prisoners.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20013-haiti-flash-nightmare-at-the-national-penitentiary.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13410-haiti-justice-haitian-penitentiary-system-welcome-to-hell.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19870-haiti-flash-new-wave-of-deaths-at-the-national-penitentiary.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : Registrations at Concours national de la Chanson Francophone





Are you a talented performer or composer ? Do you sing in French ? Register for the French national song contest in Haiti and send your songs before March 1st 2017.



The French Embassy in Port-au-Prince, in partnership with the French Institute in Haiti (IFH), the Alliances Francaises (AF) in Haiti, the Alexandre Dumas French High School (LAD), the Swiss Embassy in Haiti, the Embassy of Canada in Haiti, the Haitian Bureau of Wallonia Brussels International, and the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie, organize the Contest called "Concours national de la Chanson Francophone" (National Francophone song contest), aimed at rewarding French-speaking musicians.



The contest is open to artists of any style in two categories:



Author composer interpreter.



Interpreter.



A candidate can register in both categories. In this case, the artist must make two different entries.



The contest takes place in 2 stages :

1. Pre-selection:

Submission of electronic applications (before 03/01/2017) containing:



2 French songs in MP3 format, which should not exceed 5 minutes each.



1 CV with presentation of the candidate and a letter in French explaining the choice of his 2 songs.



A photocopy of an identity document.



VCity of residence, telephone and e-mail address.



Upon receipt, a confirmation email will be sent to you.



Send your file by email to: inscription@institutfrancaishaiti.org



The file can also be deposited at the reception of the IFH or at the reception of the nearest AF (Cap-Haitien, Gonaives, Jacmel, Jeremie, Les Cayes) or LAD (only for high school students) by in an envelope by indicating "concours de chanson francophone".



Incomplete applications will not be considered...



The candidates selected by the listening committees (1 listening committee / AF +1 committee at the LAD + 1 at the IFH or 7 committees) will be personally notified. There will be 2 selected by the Committee, ie 14 candidates in total.



They must confirm their participation and transmit the choice of the song interpreted during the final.



2. Final :

The selected artists will be invited all expenses paid (national transportation + accommodation + expenses, according to modalities chosen by the Organizing Committee of the competition) to participate in rehearsals with professional musicians at the French Institute in Haiti on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 March / 2017.



The final will be held on Thursday, March 23 at 7 pm at the French Institute in Haiti. During this final, the songs should be interpreted by a maximum of 1 person, accompanied by professional musicians.



The order of the artists will be established during the final.



The jury will be composed of Haitian artists and music professionals, as well as representatives of the French-speaking partner embassies, IFH, AF, LAD and OIF.



Their decisions, like those of the listening committee, will be final.



Participating artists will see their talents rewarded :



1st Prize category Author - composer - interpreter :

- a possibility to record two songs at the IFH audio studio;

- a 3-month subscription to teh offer "evasion" of Canal + Haiti

- a Surtab electronic tablet;

- an invitation to participate in the first part of the Francophone Song Contest of the following year (2018).



- a possibility to record two songs at the IFH audio studio; - a 3-month subscription to teh offer "evasion" of Canal + Haiti - a Surtab electronic tablet; - an invitation to participate in the first part of the Francophone Song Contest of the following year (2018). 1st price interpreter category :

- a possibility to record two songs at the IFH audio studio;

- a 3-month subscription to teh offer "evasion" of Canal + Haiti

- a Surtab electronic tablet;

- an invitation to participate in the first part of the Francophone Song Contest of the following year (2018).



By entering this contest, you agree to be bound by these rules. Any breach of these rules will be sanctioned by the disqualification of the candidate.



The organizers reserve the right, in the interests of the event, without notifying the candidates, to cancel the event and / or to modify the modalities, without any compensation for damage being requested.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





Funeral of 20 detainees

Tuesday was held the funeral of recently deceased 20 inmates in extreme conditions at the National Penitentiary of Port-au-Prince. Recall that human rights organizations and the Minustah have asked the Haitian authorities to assume their responsibilities, without great results... https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20157-haiti-flash-minustah-calls-on-authorities-to-take-urgent-measures.html



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20178-haiti-politics-prisons-tour-by-the-minister-of-justice.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20020-haiti-justice-a-law-proposition-to-improve-the-lives-of-prisoners.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20013-haiti-flash-nightmare-at-the-national-penitentiary.html



Investiture of the new Government Youth

This Thursday morning at the Royal Oasis Hotel in the presence of the highest authorities of the country took place the investiture ceremony of the 4th edition of the Government Youth of Haiti (GJH). This edition of the Youth Government of Haiti, composed of 28 young people, comprises as many men as women https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20079-haiti-politics-list-of-members-of-the-new-youth-government-of-haiti.html



Jerry Tardieu against biological weapons

Deputy Jerry Tardieu (Petion-ville) met with a delegation of World Parliamentary Action to discuss the ratification of a Biological Weapons Convention



Development Plan of the PNH

Wednesday, at the police academy, in the framework of the implementation of the Development Plan (2017-2021) of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) in the presence of representatives of friendly countries of Haiti, was held the first meeting of the year of the "Committee for Implementation and Monitoring" (COMOS). Michel-Ange Gedeon, the Director General of the PNH and his team, have advocated several projects including, among others: border police, coast guards, penitentiary institutions...



Bill of Deputy Bodeau discussed in the Senate

Wednesday, the Law proposal of Deputy Gary Bodeau (Delmas) and Quaestor of the Bureau of the Lower House, on the creation, organization and operation of the National Service of Management of the Solid Residues (SNGRS) was put in discussion in the Senate.



Program of Development of Suppliers

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Haiti and the Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIH) are supporting the second training course of 33 Haitian consultants in the Supplier Development Program (PDF) launched in 2013 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-8133-haiti-economy-launch-of-suppliers-development-program.html . Let's recall that the PDF aims to encourage competitiveness between businesses and strengthen the value chains of strategic economic sectors in order to create decent jobs in Haiti.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Local activists encouraged after meeting with Tillis aide

Leaders of Hendersonville's Progressive Organized Women said they were encouraged that they were able to meet with a top aide to U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis to discuss their concerns about national issues.

Related Stories

The movement's leaders met with Jordan Shaw on Thursday.

POW's weekly rallies outside the Historic Courthouse have brought hundreds of people from Hendersonville and surrounding communities. While POW organizers Jayne Jennings and Kristi Boyer met with Shaw, about a dozen older citizens demonstrated in front of the courthouse, holding signs thanking Tillis for listening to his constituents.

"We respect that Senator Tillis sent his state director to meet with us," Boyer said in a statement. "He drove up here from Charlotte and said that although he'd done some other work up here today, his primary reason for coming was to meet with us."

Jennings said, "We agreed to a continuing open dialogue between the senator's office and our organization."

Jennings said that Shaw invited the POW directors to phone the Republican senator's office whenever there is something of great concern to the group.

"He said the senator is pragmatic and will take a common sense approach to things, but that Tillis wants to work in a bipartisan manner on issues," Jennings said. "That encouraged us."

Tillis said earlier this year he was ready to reach across the aisle and "...work together to produce results for the American people."

Shaw assured POW leaders that Senator Tillis stands behind this assertion.

Progressive Organized Women is a grassroots, non-partisan activist group of women and men based in Hendersonville. Begun in January by two local teachers, POW focuses on issues immediately before Congress and the Senate such as healthcare, immigration and Russia's involvement in the presidential election. Tuesday afternoon POW rallies take place in front of the Historic Courthouse. For more information, visit POWhendersonville.com.
European Hoteliers Report 5.1 Percent Occupancy and 7.6 Percent RevPAR Increases for January 2017

Hotels in Europe reported growth across the three key performance metrics in January 2017, according to data from STR.

Euro constant currency, year-over-year comparisons:

Europe:

Occupancy: +5.1% to 57.1%

Average daily rate (ADR): +2.4% to EUR99.25

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +7.6% to EUR56.66

Local currency, year-over-year comparisons: France

Occupancy: +9.2% to 55.8%

ADR: +3.1% to EUR120.43

RevPAR: +12.5% to EUR67.15

Frances January performance showed a bounce back from a weak January 2016 that was marred by security concerns in the country. The submarkets of Paris City Center (+29.7%),Charles de Gaulle Airport (+11.7%), Lyon (+44.6%) and Toulouse (+12.1%) all posted double-digit RevPAR growth for the month. STR analysts note that the countrys hotel performance should grow more stable as it becomes further removed from the terrorist attacks of the last several years.

Italy

Occupancy: +11.6% to 51.3%

ADR: +0.1% to EUR104.57

RevPAR: +11.7% to EUR53.67

Italy has experienced relatively flat supply from as far back as 2011, so any upswing in demand typically results in occupancy growth. Januarys RevPAR growth was the highest year-over-year increase the country has seen in the metric since Milan hosted the 2015 Expo. Performance in January was driven by RevPAR growth in Milan (+19.5%), Rome (+8.1%), Florence (+14.3%) and Turin (+10.0%).

Portugal

Occupancy: +17.9% to 46.1%

ADR: +8.5% to EUR80.71

RevPAR: +27.8% to EUR37.23

This marked the first time since 2008 that Portugals occupancy level exceeded 40.0% for the month of January. The countrys ADR also was the highest for the month since 1997. According to STR analysts, Portugal and other markets in Southern Europe, seen as safer destinations, have benefitted from a shift in demand from Northern Africa and other European markets. At the market level, Lisbon recorded a RevPAR increase of 27.8% to EUR51.08.

Download the Global Performance Review

STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com.
Give employees access to what is rightfully theirs In my former life as a financial analyst I examined financial stress intellectually. Before my current tenure with Silicon Valley Fintech company PayActiv, I spent 20 years in a different world. I was a credit analyst on Wall Street, analyzing the financial stress of sub-investment grade companies including investigating investment strategies in companies I believed could provide an attractive return. Trafficking in this business made me feel powerful and successful. Its what paid my bills. Back in those days, I was learning the meaning of financial stress. I made bets on companies that had sufficient cash flow to manage the debt on their balance sheet so that they could pay off their debtors on time. Hence they could avoid any dilution in the value of their business. Very often these companies had multiple alternatives to access the cheapest source of financing. I often made a long term investment in these companies because I believed in them. An added bonus was that some of these companies paid me a dividend while I waited to get my principal back at maturity. I was paid to take the risk. It was a sweet deal! Then the crash, and financial stress hit home among my friends and family. My Rude Awakening: It hurts! When the financial markets imploded in 2008, I learned quickly that there was more to financial stress than I had once known on Wall Street. Peop...
Just surviving a disaster or rapidly resuming operations is not always sufficient to guarantee the future of a company. Physical damage is often the easiest problem to deal with following a disaster. But quick repairs alone do not equate to business survival if you cannot produce goods and services or there is no one to buy them. Once the immediate crisis is passed, it is essential to have a business recovery strategy. A prime example of this is the experience of the Sheraton Hotel following the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11. The hotel had not been damaged in the attack and initially enjoyed several days of sustained bookings from stranded travelers and rooms provided to rescue workers. But it soon became apparent that the attacks had dealt a heavy blow to the tourist industry. Room cancellations soared and the outlook for the future was bleak. The Sheraton needed a new strategy if it was to survive. That strategy took the form of a partnership with Lehman Brothers, the global financial firm. Lehmans offices were located in World Trade Center Three and had been severely damaged in the attack. The firm was desperately seeking an operating location for its 6,500 employees. Owing to a pre-existing relationship and aggressive marketing by the Sheraton staff, within a few days Lehman Brothers contracted to use all 665 rooms of the hotel, its lounges and restaurant as office space. This relationship continued for several months until Lehman Brother...
For quite some time I have been reading articles urging HR to step up to the next level and ful-fill its potential to become a true corporate leader. According to some authors, the path to the so called C suite is paved with Metrics, Analytics, Performance Improvement, Engagement - a whole assortment of HR competencies that cannot fail, if only we would apply ourselves to them assiduously enough. While all these HR specialties are very well in their place, I could not disagree more that any one, or even any combination of them will lead to the promised seat in the corner office. Even if one were to take them to their ultimate level, these specialties would not enable HR to step up to the next level because they are based on the outmoded Newtonian concept of the world and how it operates. HR needs to embrace a new, modern paradigm that is much better suited to todays businesses with their agility, speed and lack of formal structure. What organizations need right now is Quantum HR! Newtonian Model Based upon Newtons laws of motion, this model views the world (and everything in it) as a ma-chine with, of course, the machine-like characteristics of rigidity, predictability, and certainty, where linear logic and either-or thinking prevail. Such a world views ambiguity as an anathema. Such a model of the world treasures analysis in which not only matter but problems can be re-duced to ever smaller...
Tags : downsizing microsoft restructuring

With valuable inputs from Prof. Kim Cameron and Sanjay Sathe, CEO of RiseSmart A company is only as good as its ability to live up to its core mission, and for the company to continue to thrive when that ability is compromised, restructuring and realignment must follow. In light of the recent announcement of Microsofts largest layoff to date, corporate downsizingand its proper handlingseems to be on everyones mind. CEO Satya Nadellas stated reason for the reduction of up to 18,000 employees was simple: the company needs to return to its core principles in order to continue to grow. Research has shown that in a variety of organizations and with a variety of employees, downsizing has produced negative rather than positive results at the individual and organizational levels of analysis, says Kim Cameron, Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigans Ross School of Business. However, downsizing does not need to be a unanimously negative event if properly handled. Per Cameron, the way in which downsizing occur[s] is the single most important factor in accounting for long term success. How can organizations, no matter the size or circumstance, mitigate or overcome potential negative outcomes as a result of downsizing? Perhaps we can begin by looking at Microsofts strategy. While pruning a workforce in order to create growth may seem paradoxical, Nadella may be onto...
On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) dramatically reshaping the current state of immigration in the United States. The EO's main points are: A 90-day travel ban on the issuance of U.S. visas and entry to the United States for any individual who is a national of the following "designated countries": Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The immediate halting of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for a period of 120 days. A review by the Department of Homeland Security of the information needed from foreign countries to accurately determine the identity of individuals seeking a visa or any other form of entry into the United States. The implementation of "uniform screening standards for all immigration programs." Requiring all individuals to apply for visas in person instead of "mail-in" or drop-box applications at U.S. Consulate posts abroad. As mentioned above, the 90-day travel ban halts the issuance of every type of visa to any citizen of the seven designated countries. This includes visas such as Bs, Fs, H-1Bs, green cards and more. Further, officers at U.S. airports, pre-flight inspection at foreign airports and border crossings are not permitted to allow any individuals from the designated countries onto their flight or into the United States, even if they have a valid visa. However, individuals with U.S. permanent resident "green cards" will be all...
Restrictive covenants are contractual terms usually contained in an employment agreement or letter or assignment, which could also be a part of a broader written employment policy. Restrictive covenants are essentially constraints on employee actions that can affect business value, property and market competition. These clauses are typically enforced post termination, but this can be problematic for international assignments depending on the country where work is performed by the employee.There are several basic areas that restrictive covenants cover that deal primarily with protecting a companys business interests: Non-competition covenants that restrict an employee from accepting a similar position with a competitor of the original employer. Non-solicitation covenants that prohibit the employee from contacting and/or soliciting the business of employer clients and customers. Covenants that limit the ability of a former employee to solicit their previous co-workers. Protection of confidentiality and non-disclosure of trade secrets, business information and intellectual property Naturally, all of these covenants would also apply while the employee is still working, but most of the time any conflict will arise after the employee has left their position. In which Industries are Restrictive Covenants most Relevant? Restrictive covenants play an important role for any business that gives employees access to sensitive information or valuabl...
Frictionless retail was a hot topic at the National Retail Federations Big Show 2017. It seemed like every booth, from supply chain vendors to point-of-sale providers, demonstrated technology to eliminate barriers and streamline the customers path to purchase. While retailers may be driving towards a frictionless customer experience, retail workforce management is still pretty abrasive. Retailers are struggling to fill shifts and execute promotions consistently. A recent EKN Research study sponsored by Axsium Group found that retailers spend less than desired time on training which impacts the customer experience and, ultimately, sales. Meanwhile, associates want a better employee experience. They want more control over their schedules, the shifts they work and the number of hours they work each week. They want to feel more connected to their employer. They want their voice to be heard. And, they want to be recognized and rewarded for their hard work. Traditional employee self-service and mobile workforce management applications help to eliminate some of the resistance but prevent workforce chafing. Right now, the best technology solution for frictionless workforce management is provided by the employee engagement solution providers. Employee engagement is a new class of software for messaging, training, task management, schedule management and more through an intuitive, easy-to-use app...
Dependable schedules can be mutually beneficial If you manage hourly employees, you know how many issues can come up when youre trying to schedule shifts. Hourly employees are often students, parents, or caregivers with very specific need scheduling needs. A dependable schedule helps employees balance their work lives and their home lives. It also gives them a chance to better themselves through education and training. Knowing one work schedule in advance means an employee can seek additional employment to help pay the bills and support their family. Dependable schedules also benefit you, the manager of hourly employees. When youre working with a solid schedule template, youre not spending hours trying to get shifts to fit together like puzzle pieces. When shifts and schedules are predetermined, you can easily fill spots if someone has to miss work. In addition, employees can be a part of that process because theyll know who is working and who can fill a shift. What Really happens when youre an Hourly Employee There are lots of benefits to having a dependable schedule for hourly employees. Lets look at some interesting facts about scheduling. Workers paid under $22,500 a year are most likely to have schedules that are not dependable. Seventeen percent of the workforce work in unstable shift schedules, including on-call work and split shifts. Being a part-time employee more than doubles t...
John Maynard Keynes famously predicted a ubiquitous 15-hour workweek by the year 2030  a direct result of technological advances, he claimed. Written in a 1930 essay, the feasibility of his prediction wanes as 2030 looms closer, and the 40-hour workweek remains the norm. Still, as many continue to question the efficacy of the 40-hour workweek, Sweden has experimented with a 30-hour one (just six hours per day, as opposed to eight). While still quite away from Keyness 15-hour workweek, the 6-hour workday trial has been shown to increase efficiency and reduce sick days when implemented. Of course, questions and doubts remain  How reliable are these trials? How is success measured? Could we garner similar positive results in the United States? And  the big one  how expensive is all this? Below, we delve deeper into the 6-hour workday experiment, and its various successes and failures: The Shortcomings of the 40-hour Workweek In 2014, Stanford University published a study demonstrating the nonlinear relationship between hours worked and output. John Hicks, another British economist, speculated that it has never entered the heads of most employers that hours could be shortened and output maintained, and the Stanford study essentially confirms this. It concludes that below an hours threshold, output is proportional to hours, but above a threshold, o...
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe is condemning the Trump administration for spreading "lies" about its handling of the Dakota Access Pipeline

Chairman Harold Frazier said his efforts to reach out to the new Republican regime in Washington, D.C., have been repeatedly rebuffed. That stands in contrast to claims from the White House that it has been in "constant contact" with tribal opponents of the pipeline.

Nothing could be further from the truth. These are lies on top of lies," Frazier said in a press release on Friday. "My team contacted the new administration at all levels only to have meetings and conference calls cancelled at the last minute.

Frazier reached out to the Department of the Army when President Donald Trump issued a Dakota Access directive four days after taking office. But he said he never heard back from the "acting" leader of the agency.

On January 27, 2017, I sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of the Army formally requesting government-to-government tribal consultation as required under Department of Defense Instruction and Policy on any decisions under Trumps January 24, 2017 memorandum," said Frazier, who already shared details of his efforts in a court filing on Wednesday . "I received no response, no contact, no consultation.

Frazier said the new president himself has stretched the truth when, earlier this month, he claimed he never heard anyone complain about the pipeline. That's a completely different story than the one trotted out by his press secretary Sean Spicer on Thursday.

If he was in touch with us, in constant contact, he would know that we oppose this attack on our homelands, our drinking water and our treaty rights and resources," Frazier said in response to the White House's claims. "Which is it? Are they in contact or not?

Consultation has been a central issue in the battle over the pipeline, which is all but complete except for a small portion in North Dakota. Tribes say their concerns about treaty rights, sacred sites and water resources were never fully addressed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and they hoped a new environmental review would give them an opportunity to raise those issues.

But the Army Corps shut the door by granting the final easement to Dakota Access without consulting either tribe. The Army also canceled the environmental impact statement without asking the tribes.

The tribes are now asking a federal judge to set aside the easement but the firm has indicated it will finish the pipeline before briefing on that matter is complete. Still, Cheyenne River is hoping an injunction can stop oil from flowing -- arguments are being heard in federal court on February 28

Indian Country #NoDAPL Briefs: Oglala Sioux Tribe (February 21, 2017) Pueblo of Pojoaque / Association on American Indian Affairs / University of New Mexico School of Law Natural Resources and Environmental Law Clinic (February 21, 2017) National Indigenous Women's Resource Center / 13 Tribes / 105 Non-Profit Organizations (February 21, 2017) National Congress of American Indians / 34 Tribes / 11 Tribal Organizations / 2 Civil Rights Organizations (February 22, 2017)

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

Related Stories: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe blasts Trump claim of 'constant contact' (2/24) Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe slams Trump for lack of consultation (2/23) Indian Country joins legal push to block Dakota Access Pipeline (2/22) Dakota Access offers up March 6 as earliest date for completion (2/22) Trump administration opposes injunction against Dakota Access (2/22) Trump team puts hold on pro-tribal Dakota Access legal opinion (2/22) Native Sun News Today: #NoDAPL campsites see their final days (2/22) Elizabeth Cook-Lynn: Dakota Access is everything wrong with US (2/22) Standing Rock Sioux Tribe hopes to see return of casino business (2/21) Dina Gilio-Whitaker: Sen. Hoeven raises red flags in Indian Country (2/20) Bureau of Indian Affairs issues 'trespass' notice to #NoDAPL camp (2/17) Hearing on injunction against Dakota Access moved to February 28 (2/17) Army Department formally cancels Dakota Access Pipeline review (2/16) Native Sun News Today: Dakota Access firms see spills, explosions (2/16) James Giago Davies: Tribes face bigger threat than Dakota Access (2/16) Monte Mills: Tribes turn to courts to battle Dakota Access Pipeline (2/16) Standing Rock leader vows to 'forgive' despite White House slight (2/15) Freedom Socialist: Voices from water protectors at Standing Rock (2/15) New leader of key House panel defends handling of Dakota Access (2/14) Dakota Access ready to start transporting oil sooner than expected (2/13) More tribes join effort to halt completion of Dakota Access Pipeline (2/13) Army Corps gave go ahead to Dakota Access Pipeline in key memo (2/13) Mark Trahant: Battle over Dakota Access Pipeline is far from over (2/13) Tribes head back to court in hopes of halting Dakota Access Pipeline (2/10) Dakota Access pushes to finish pipeline with Army Corps easement (2/9) Mark Charles: The real reason Trump hasn't heard about #NoDAPL (2/9) James Giago Davies: Dakota Access battle has got us divided again (2/9) Tribes promise fight to keep Dakota Access Pipeline out of homeland (2/8) Key Dakota Access document from Army Corps wasn't filed in court (2/8) J. Gabriel Ware & James Trimarco: City breaks with bank over DAPL (2/8) Tracy Loeffelholz Dunn: In defense of Native journalist Jenni Monet (2/8) Chelsey Luger: Media is still trying to divide and conquer our people (2/8) Peter d'Errico: Even Donald Trump can't trample over tribal treaties (2/8) Andrea Carmen/Roberto Borrero: Trump's slash and burn on treaties (2/8) Trump administration formally approves easement for Dakota Access (2/7) Mark Trahant: Native journalist charged by North Dakota authorities (2/7) Albert Bender: Donald Trump goes blitzkrieg on #NoDAPL movement (2/7) Dakota Access offers timeline as Trump finalizes decision on pipeline (2/6) Ladonna Bravebull Allard: Indigenous nations must stand our ground (2/6) Jenni Monet: I got arrested for reporting on the #NoDAPL movement (2/6) Ray Cook: Now it is time for all of us to stand down at Standing Rock (2/6) Frances Madeson: More tribes joining with #DefundDAPL movement (2/3) Mark Trahant: Donald Trump's 'logic' on the Dakota Access Pipeline (2/1) Winona LaDuke: Tribes emboldened by resistance at Standing Rock (2/1) Native Sun News Today: Tribes push back on Trump's pipeline orders (2/1)
Tensions continue to simmer as the Dakota Access Pipeline becomes more of a reality with every passing day.

The wealthy backers of the project are within weeks of completing the final portion in North Dakota. Oil could be flowing even before the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe are heard fully in federal court, their last avenue of hope now that President Donald Trump has turned his back on them without once engaging in government-to-government consultation.

The latest sign of the dramatic disconnect came directly from the White House on Thursday. Press secretary Sean Spicer claimed the new administration has been in "constant contact" with Standing Rock and North Dakota's governor.

"Our team has been involved with both the tribe and the governor there, and so we are not only -- we are constantly in touch with them," Spicer said during his daily press briefing . "And I think we feel very confident that we will move forward to get the pipeline moving. And so well have a further update on that, but I think we're in constant contact with the officials there."

But tribal leaders have strongly disputed the alternative characterization. Neither Standing Rock nor Cheyenne River were consulted when the Republican regime in Washington -- barely three weeks after Trump took office -- approved the pipeline without completing an environmental review.

Spicer claimed that the Trump administration has been constantly in contact with our tribe. That claim is absolutely false, Chairman Dave Archambault II from Standing Rock said in a statement on Thursday

We repeatedly asked for meetings with the Trump administration, but never received one until the day they notified Congress that they were issuing the easement, Archambault continued as he relayed a now familiar story of being slighted by the White House . I was on a plane to Washington, D.C. when the easement was issued. It was an insult to me and to the tribe.

In a press conference today, Sean Spicer claimed that the administration was constantly in touch with us. This is... Posted by Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Thursday, February 23, 2017

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Facebook: White House 'Fundamentally Wrong'



Chairman Harold Frazier from Cheyenne River shared a similar experience in a sworn declaration submitted in court this week. He said the Trump administration never responded to his requests for consultation before approving the pipeline even as the Army Corps sought his assistance in clearing the #NoDAPL encampment.

"The United States Army Corps of Engineers approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline is a clear case of allowing the fox to run the henhouse," the tribe said in an accompanying 56-page brief that seeks to overturn the pipeline's approval.

The two tribes are due back in court next week for arguments on a preliminary injunction against the pipeline. Additionally, both tribes are seeking summary judgment in hopes of setting aside the easement that the Army Corps granted to Dakota Access earlier this month.

The easement allows the firm to drill under the Missouri River and finish the 1,172-mile pipeline. According to a status update filed in court on Tuesday , work could be completed as early as March 6.

Dakota Access will be submitting another update on Monday ahead of the hearing, which takes place on February 28 at the courthouse in D.C. . The firm and the Army Corps are opposing the request for the injunction.

In addition to the court fight, Standing Rock leaders are preparing for Native Nations Rise in Washington. The event includes a symbolic camp near the Washington Monument starting on March 7 and concludes with a march to the White House on March 10.

Indian Country #NoDAPL Briefs: Oglala Sioux Tribe (February 21, 2017) Pueblo of Pojoaque / Association on American Indian Affairs / University of New Mexico School of Law Natural Resources and Environmental Law Clinic (February 21, 2017) National Indigenous Women's Resource Center / 13 Tribes / 105 Non-Profit Organizations (February 21, 2017) National Congress of American Indians / 34 Tribes / 11 Tribal Organizations / 2 Civil Rights Organizations (February 22, 2017)

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

Related Stories
Business Thilawa SEZ Commences Second Phase of Project

Vice President Henry Van Thio cuts a ribbon at a commencement ceremony for Thilawa SEZ Zone B on Friday morning. / Naing Lin Soe / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Rangoons Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) management committee members said they expect to complete the 250-acre second phase of the project in mid-2018, during a commencement ceremony at the SEZs new Zone B on Friday morning.

Thilawa SEZ is located between Kyauktan and Thanlyin townships, 14 miles from downtown Rangoon. The project is a joint venture between Burma and Japan; construction work on it began in late 2013 under ex-president U Thein Seins administration.

Both governments hold a 10 percent share and nine domestic firms integrated into Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings (MTSH) control 41 percent, and a Japanese private-sector consortium owns 39 percent.

Union Minister U Than Myint of the Ministry of Commerce said, Our country is trying to develop Thilawa, Kyaukphyu and Dawei SEZ projects. Among them, Thilawa SEZ project is one of the most successful zones.

The committee designated two phases for the implementation of the Thilawa SEZ and gave an incentive to foreign investors of seven years free from tax for those who would export products abroad. A tax break of five years was given to those who would export products domestically.

In 2014, 78 firms from 15 countries came to Burma to set up factories in Thilawa. Currently 24 factories, including domestically run ones, are operating there and some foreign companies regularly export products abroad. Total investment in the Thilawa SEZ has already reached more than US$1 billion, said chairman U Set Aung of Thilawa SEZs management committee.

Factories producing garments, construction sector-related materials, electronic products, steel materials and cement, motor vehicle parts, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment are located in the SEZs Zone A. The investors are from Japan, Singapore, China, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Sweden and the US.

U Set Aung said that within 18 months, the construction of factories had been 96 percent completed, and that the government had provided 85 percent of the jobs for Thilawa residents in Zone A, but he did not elaborate a total number of laborers. He estimated that Zone B implementation could take at least 18 months as well.

Many international investors already contacted us about making investments here. But the investors could build factories after Zone Bs construction is complete, said U Set Aung, who said he believes that Zone B could offer more than 400,000 jobs to locals.

For the second phase of Zone B, the authorities relocated three villages, including Shwe Pyauk, Aye Mya Thida and Shwe Pyi Thayar, said U Than Lwin, who attended Zone Bs opening ceremony on Friday.

The government and investors compensated villagers with a total of 27 million kyats for housing and land and 25 million kyats for farmland. But the rates varied, due to the SEZ committees rules and regulations for compensation schemes. Some residents opted for new homes rather than cash.

As the farmers gave up their land to investors, some were left without farmland on which to cultivate vegetables and headed to neighboring townships in search of new jobs.

Daw Tu, who is a longtime squatter in Shwe Pyauk village, told The Irrawaddy that investors built a new house for her family in the SEZ zone. Her elder daughter currently works at a wool factory and earns 150,000 kyats ($110) per month.

I am really happy with the arrangement, although our family is still in an inconvenient situation, Daw Tu said.

The Irrawaddy met with villagers at the ceremony and learned that many are currently unemployed.

One man, U Than Lwin, said, I hope to get a job here.

U Set Aung highlighted in his opening speech how delivering training to the local community to build their capacity and then provide them with jobs in the SEZ was a high-priority.

I dont really want to be in a situation where we have the SEZs around the corner, but the local community members are without jobs, said U Set Aung.
Burma Burmas National Education Plan Focuses on Lifelong Learning

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi delivers an address at the launch of the national education plan in Naypyidaw. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

NAYPYIDAW  Burma has officially launched a national education plan, which sets strategic directions for the countrys educational reform over the next five years.

Burmas State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi introduced the plan at a ceremony in the administrative capital Naypyidaw on Thursday.

The plan is the culmination of a nationwide comprehensive education sector review that was initiated in 2012.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stressed the importance of passion for learning in educational reforms and called on teachers and those implementing educational policies to instill passion for learning in people of all ages.

According to a summary report of the education plan, the governments policy will focus on the health of nursery and primary school students in all parts of the country including remote areas, and create an environment in which they can happily and actively learn through play.

The plan also provides informal education and lifelong learning for those beyond school age.

The problem with adults is that they think they have learned enough. But education is a lifelong process and they should be learning as long as they live, she said.

The ultimate goal of the national education strategic plan is to improve the learning process for students, and facilitate vocational education, research and innovation, said education minister Dr. Myo Thein Gyi.

We are working to make sure all school-age children go to and complete school, he said.

The plan is based on fundamental principlesnamely that education in Burma is a right of every child, regardless of race, sex, socio-economic or citizenship status, ability, or location; and that those who were not given the chance to go to school or dropped out should not be left behind, affirmed Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEF Representative to Burma.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
Burma Joint Coordinating Body Approves Peace Process Budget Proposals

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attended the JCB for peace process funding meeting in Naypyidaw on Feb. 23. / State Counselors Office / Facebook

The Joint Coordinating Body (JCB) for peace process funding, chaired by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has approved budget proposals of the peace process implementing bodies at its Feb. 23 meeting in Naypyidaw.

The JCB is comprised of 20 members10 from the government and 10 from ethnic armed organizations, both signatories and non-signatories of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA). NCA non-signatory representatives include the United Nationalities Federal Councils Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN), and Wa and Mongla representatives.

The State Counselor highlighted that the government is making efforts for inclusiveness in the countrys peace process, and has invited these groups to sign the NCA and participate in the upcoming 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference.

According to six points agreed upon during the meeting, participants said the joint funding scrutinizing body allowed the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) to receive US$2.5 million in funding this fiscal year from both national and international sources.

The Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC) was also given permission to seek $6.5 million in funds from international donors for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

The coordination team for the eight ethnic armed groups can receive $4.7 million over 18 months, which it requested for planning and logistics, said Pado Kwe Htoo Win from the Karen National Union.

The JCB also set a 60 million kyats (about $45,000) limit for the NRPC to spend on each national-level dialogue held in the country, and stressed the need for equal regional spending based on the availability of funds.

Pado Kwe Htoo Win said these funds would be used for issue and regional based political dialogue, but that national-level dialogue on ethnic issues was separately supported by international donors in the various states, respectively.

JMC director Dr. Min Zaw Oo said that as the committee had been effective, it was optimistic it could secure funding to expand its tasks given the approval of its estimated budget.

The JMC has been working on standard operation procedures (SOPs)the terms of references used to resolve disputes among NCA signatories.

Twelve of around 45 SOPs have been drafted, he said, and applied in recent conflicts in Shan States Mong Kung Township between the Burma Army and the Restoration Council of Shan State in Oct. 2016.

With additional funding, the JMC will be able to do more dispute resolutionboth at the state and Union levelsas well as hold trainings on capacity and confidence building between commanding officers, he added. Local JMCs would then be able to form and conduct public consultations on the JMC mechanism.

The JMC now runs with about 30 percent of the total staff it says is required, and the funding would increase the workforce.

Dr. Min Zaw Oo added that plans to start patrolling the joint monitoring mechanism in the states and build a computerized complaint system for field staff could also begin.

The JMC mechanisms funding has been unstable for the past year, since the government transition. It received partial support from the United Nations Development Program, but remains understaffed.

The UN also supports the JMC with technical assistance and this support will continue, as the JCB approved it on Thursday.

In addition to the JCB, the government has its own peace fund into which Burmese nationals can contribute to the peace process.
Burma U Wirathu Leads Protest in Solidarity with Dhammakaya Temple

Buddhist monks marched in Mandalay on Thursday after praying for their Thai counterparts in Bangkoks Dhammakaya Temple. / U Wirathu / Facebook

MANDALAY  Nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu led a prayer and protest at the Mahamuni Pagoda in Mandalay on Thursday to condemn the Thai governments raid on the Dhammakaya Temple in Bangkok.

Monks and local residents held photos of the 72-year-old abbot Phra Dhammachayowho is wanted by Thai police on charges of money launderingand signs saying pray for Buddhists of Thailand and Sasana Destroyer Prayuts government, Get out immediately from Dhammakaya.

We are showing solidarity with the Buddhist monks of Dhammakaya and praying peace will come upon Dhammakaya and Phra Dhammachayo, said Ma Ba Tha leader U Wirathu, who later claimed that 200 people attended the demonstration.

Thai police accuse Phra Dhammachayo of accepting US$40 million stolen from a credit union and originally sought to arrest him in June last year.

Last week the Thai military government ordered emergency powers to be used in the search and authorities faced off with monks and supporters at the temple.

I believe the incident is politically motivated as the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluk were disciples of Phra Dhammachayo, U Wirathu told The Irrawaddy after the event.

I know Phra Dhammachayo and his Dhammakaya well, they are Buddhist monks with strict discipline and I believe he has no relation to the money laundering, he added.

Dhammakaya Temple organized a mass donation in 2015 to strengthen religious ties between Burma and Thailand and awarded Buddhist nationalist group Ma Ba Tha an honorary award for safeguarding religion in 2016.

The accusations of the government of Thailand are a great insult to the abbot who is enthusiastically working for the flourishing of Buddhism and nationalism which is vital for the country, said U Wirathu.

We condemn the government of Thailand for this ugly action against Buddhism and request the government of Thailand to leave Dhammakaya and let Phra Dhammachayo, who is innocent, live in peace again, he added.

Nationalist Buddhist monks in Rangoon were reportedly planning to stage a protest at the Embassy of Thailand.
Burma UWSP Criticizes the Government Peace Process at Ethnic Summit

Ethnic armed group representatives gather in Panghsang on Feb. 22, 2017. / Myanmar War News / Facebook

RANGOON  Bao Youxiang, chairman of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), has criticized the government-led peace process and called on ethnic armed groups to develop a new one during a summit of ethnic armed organizations in Panghsang, the capital of the Wa Self-Administered Division.

As the summit kicked off on Wednesday, the UWSP chairman said that discussions between ethnic armed groups and successive governments since the National Convention in 1993 were confusing and unproductive.

He said that disputes between the government and ethnic armed groups could not be solved and that civil war could not be stopped, either by the military regimes or the latest civilian government.

Government efforts to force a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) still have not provided an end to the fierce clashes, he criticized.

Bao Youxiang urged participants to find a new peace process before the second 21st Century Panglong Conference begins in March.

Ethnic armed groups attending the summit included the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) or Mongla group, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) or Kokang, and the Arakan Army (AA).

The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and New Mon State Party (NMSP) were both invited to the summit but did not send delegations.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has urged the ethnic armed groups to embrace the Panglong Spirit, but she has only vaguely explained what she means by that, Bao Youxiang said. It is assumed that the Panglong Spirit refers to the equality and federalism pledge of the 1947 Panglong Agreement.

The UWSP chairman called on Panghsang summit participants to define a new Panglong Spirit that would match the practical realities of modern-day Burma.

In the past, he argued, the armed ethnic groups did not make clear their definitions of democracy, equality, independence, and self-determination.

This oversight allowed successive governments to take advantage of the armed groups, he said.

Bao Youxiang urged the summit participants to discuss their standpoints on the NCA, and to adopt better strategies for political dialogue with the government.

Over the past decades, previous military governments practiced a policy of divide-and-rule when it came to dealing with ethnic armed groups. Those governments pushed to hold separate negotiations with each ethnic armed group.

The UWSP chairman said he would not allow the Burma government to take the lead role in future discussions.

The MNDAA and SSPP also sent messages to the summit. MNDAA delegates suggested that China be invited to supervise the peace negotiations between the Union government and ethnic armed groups.

The MNDAA said they did not accept the terms of the NCA, and they called on the government to design a new ceasefire agreement that would be acceptable to all ethnic armed groups. They said they would not mind if they were left out of the political dialogue or subjected to military pressures because of their refusal to sign the current NCA.

SSPP members said Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government was not actually ruling the country. They pointed to the fact that the Burma Army still controls three key ministriesdefense, home affairs, and border affairsand that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi still cannot changes Article 436 and 59(f) of the military-drafted 2008 Constitution because the Burma Army controls 25 percent of the seats in Parliament.

Any hopes for achieving internal peace, establishing rule of law, or amending the 2008 Constitutionall issues that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has spoken loudly aboutare quickly fading, said SSPP delegates.

The SSPP pointed out that the Burma Army was not under the control of the government, according to the controversial 2008 Constitution.

SSPP members also accused the Burma Army of attacking ethnic armed groupsoften against the policies of Daw Aung San Suu Kyiin order to perpetuate its grip on power.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
News Former Student Activist Calls Out State Media for Use of Demeaning Name

U Hla Shwe, the last editor of the Oway Student Magazine in 1960s, pictured in March 2016. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  A state-run newspaper has failed to explain the use of the derogatory and embarrassing slang term kjat, meaning chicken, to describe the former editor of Oway Student Magazine in the 1960s, in a story published on Thursday.

The article covered a meeting held on Feb. 22 regarding the re-construction of the Rangoon University Student Union building, which was dynamited in July 1962 by then-ruling Gen Ne Win.

In attendance were National League for Democracy (NLD) executive leaders, Rangoons chief minister U Phyo Min Thein, former student union leaders from 1950s-70s, the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, as well as current university students who have called for the re-establishment of the student union, at the NLD headquarters in Rangoon.

State-run media published that the former 1960s-era student activist U Hla Shwe, also known as U Aung Thar, attended the meeting, which he did not. U Hla Shwe was the last editor of the Oway Student Magazine, the student unions annual publication, first published and edited by Aung San in 1935. It went on to feature the work of some of Burmas most influential writers.

The state-run newspaper published U Hla Shwes name as Kjat Hla Shwe, which is a demeaning expressionone once used covertly by former military intelligence officers in the 1980s to describe U Hla Shwe, who bred chickens to support his family.

U Hla Shwe was also a member of the secretariat of the former All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) from 1960-61.

Both the English and Burmese language editions made the correction on Friday that U Hla Shwe did not attend the meeting and said, we apologize for the mistake.

But the newspapers did not apologize for the defamatory title, U Hla Shwe said, and added that he wants a public statement released explaining the word choice.

U Hla Shwe told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the writer Tin Maung Latt [or pen name Ko Latt] came to his home and extended his apology, and promised to make a proper correction. But when it actually came out, it was not a satisfactory correction.

He added, When I went to the Kyemon office [the state-run Burmese edition of the newspaper] this morning, I was told that no one responsible was there and that I should leave. They made the correction that I did not attend the meeting, but the newspaper did not make any correction to that defamatory term of Kjat Hla Shwe.

The Ministry of Informations spokesperson U Ye Naing told The Irrawaddy on Friday that they had published the correction with an apology, with the consent of the person concerned, but they did not include the term [Kjat] as it was the wrong expression to use and they would not repeat it.

U Ye Naing said it had been printed due to a misunderstanding: his reporter mistook a man named U Hla Shwe who attended the meeting with the veteran student activist. U Ye Naing added that the reporter did not know that the term kjat would cause U Hla Shwe displeasure.

He added, We made our apology in accordance with our ethics and our editor-in-chief also apologized over the phone and the reporter went to apologize in person. The apology text published today was all agreed by U Hla Shwe and the reporter U Ko Latt.

The ministry spokesman said that they have done their best and if they receive more requests, they will address them in accordance with their news ethics standards and procedures.

U Hla Shwes family has spoken out as well. May Zune Oo, U Hla Shwes daughter, wrote in a public Facebook post that she was displeased by the way that the state media referred to her father, a former political prisoner. She said that she felt really hurt that a demeaning term had been printed to describe him in media run by a civilian-elected government.

I want to ask the current government and all the people: havent we been traumatized enough? May Zune Oo wrote, describing a childhood in which she could only visit her father in prison.

U Ye Naing was familiar with May Zune Oos comments. We hear now that his daughter is not pleased with it; we will explain more, and try to settle it, he said. Rangoon
News Govt Announces Plan to Protect Burmas Oceans

Haigyi Island / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  The Burmese government and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced a plan to protect the biodiversity of Burmas oceans on Friday at the World Ocean Summit in Bali, Indonesia.

The ocean space management plantitled Marine Spatial Planning for Myanmar: Strategic Advice for Securing a Sustainable Ocean Economyaims to maintain livelihoods that rely on the sea and protect Burmas dolphins, sea turtles, and other species.

It was produced by the Department of Fisheries and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, with support from WCS in the US, the University of Exeter in the UK, and local fair governance program Pyoe Pin.

The plan details a number of programs, including those to improve knowledge of local marine life and the scale and scope of extractive activities such as gas exploration and commercial fishing.

We believe this strategy provides us with a robust structure through which to develop our ocean economy, said U Hla Kyaw, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (Department of Fisheries), according to a press release.

Burmas oceans cover some 486,000 square kilometers, most of which is currently unprotected, and provide habitats for species such as the finless porpoise, several species of sea turtle, and the dugong (a relative of the manatee).

An estimated 1.4 million citizens livelihoods rely on fishing, according to the WCS.

The new marine spatial planning strategy fills an urgent need to understand current and future marine resource use and how these activities can be combined into a coordinated plan for a sustainable ocean economy, said Martin Callow, Advisor to WCSs Myanmar Marine Conservation Program.
News Govt Jails Maungdaw Border Guard Police for Negligence

Border guard police patrolling along Burma-Bangladesh border in Arakan State's Maungdaw. / Thaw Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy

NAYPYIDAW  A police court has handed down prison sentences to police officers for negligence over militant attacks on border guard police outposts in Arakan States Maungdaw Township in October last year.

The court sentenced the commander of the border guard police headquarters in Maungdaw Police Brig-Gen Maung Maung Khine to two years, deputy commander Police Col. Zeya Han to one year and commander of No. 2 Border Guard Police Battalion police Lt-Col Kyaw Teza to three years, U Zaw Htay, acting director general of Burmas Presidents Office told The Irrawaddy.

The police force reviewed the incidents and took actions dependent on the findings. They made a thorough internal investigation and the verdict was delivered by the police court, he said.

The Irrawaddy contacted the police officers concerned, but they declined to comment.

Police were punished in line with the code of conduct for civil servants regarding negligence, said lawmaker U Nay Myo Tun, who represents Htantabin Township in the Lower House.

It is unacceptable that armed men [police] were raided by those wielding knives. They were punished because of their negligence in security, he said.

The new government seems to be practicing carrot and stick policy when it comes to the performance of its staff, he added.

On October 9, an estimated 100 assailants attacked three border guard police outposts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships in Arakan State.

Following the attacks, the Home Affairs Ministry replaced Police Brig-Gen Maung Maung Khaing with Police Brig-Gen Thura San Lwin.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
News New Report Outlines Potential Framework for Resource Revenue Sharing

Members of ENAC launch their report and recommendations on federal natural resource management policy on Thursday, Feb. 23 in Rangoon. / Chan Son / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  A new research paper issued by the Ethnic Nationalities Affairs Center (ENAC) describes how natural resource revenue could be shared between Burmas central and state governments in a federal system.

ENAC works in support of the peace process between ethnic armed organizations and the Burmese government. Representatives from ethnic political parties, armed groups, civil society and community-based organizations contributed to the development of federal policies outlined in ENACs most recent report on natural resource management. Subsequent reports will cover seven additional areas: agriculture, health, land, internal displacement, trade and investment, humanitarian aid, and taxes. The first report, on education policy recommendations, was released in October 2016.

According to policies laid out in the new research paper, ENAC and its partners recommend that that state get 70 percent of natural resource revenue, and that 30 percent should go to the central government. Each state, the report recommended, should own its own natural resources in its respective territory.

The paper also stated that for mining projects to commence, a consensus with the local population must be obtained.

ENAC describes two strategies with which to potentially amend laws on natural resource ownershipthrough Parliament or through the peace process, within political dialogue.

Article 37 of Burmas existing military-drafted 2008 Constitution states that the government owns all natural resources from the air, water, and ground.

It needs to change, said Zo Tum Hmung, ENACs executive director and a researcher for the report.

ENAC members conducted research mainly in Arakan State, which is rich in natural gas, and in Kachin State, known for jade mining. The report revealed that locals felt they did not economically benefit from the harvesting of natural resources in their areas, as the revenue largely goes to the central government; they also lamented the environmental degradation associated with resource extraction.

Zo Tum Hmung said, We visited Arakan and found some houses that were very poor. This should not happen, because this is a state where gas is produced.

On his visit to Kachin State, he met the states chief minister and also went to the mines of Hpakant.

We saw a mining site where there were so many mining trucks they resembled a colony of ants. The mining companies drill as much as they want, and there is no proper system about where to drill. They do not care about environment, and the mountains could have landslides, Zo Tum Hmung warned.

He described witnessing the environmental degradation of the mining projects.

The river of Ohru has collapsed. The companies abandon unused mining soil, and it blocks waterways along the river. There is not even a proper bridge, even though this area produces a lot of jade, he said.

ENAC intends for the report to be used during the second 21st Century Panglong peace conference, scheduled for early March, according to Sai Nyunt Lwin, a member of ENACs board of directors.

Our country could decide in the future on a better system regarding how to share natural resources. This report was not only written for one organization or for a group of people. We need to find out the best way to share resources, and how to manage themthese things are very important, he said.

ENACs research included case studies from four other countries, including Sudan, Nigeria, Canada, and Aceh in Indonesia, outlining how these countries have shared revenue between the central and state governments. Two amended the Constitution in Parliament, regarding the issue of natural resources, and two made changes to policy through peace talks.

We could learn a lot from these countries. This relates to our country, as our country tries to amend the Constitution. Our country is also having a peace process. Our report will help our people a lot, especially those who are policymakers, said ENAC deputy executive director Nai Pon Nya Mon.
News Police Seize 450 Kilos of Cocaine From Shipping Containers

Container trucks line up on Strand Road near the Rangoon port. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Police seized 200 kilograms (441 pounds) of cocaine from a warehouse in Rangoons Shwepyithar Industrial Zone on Thursday, according to the state-run newspaper Myanma Alinn.

The company that operates the warehouse reported the cocaine to police. The company discovered seven sport bags filled with the drug while unloading imported sugar from a shipping container, the article said. Myanma Alinn did not identify the name of the company involved.

I heard that cocaine was seized from the industrial zone, but I still dont know the name of the company, said lawmaker U Yan Aung Min, who represents Shwepyithar Township in the Rangoon divisional parliament.

On Feb. 16, police made another seizure of 250 kilograms (551 pounds) of cocaine. Those drugs were smuggled in a similar way, hidden under bags of sugar imported by a company through the Shwepyithar Industrial Zone, according to the news report.

The total amount of cocaine seized by police, 450 kilograms (992 pounds), would be valued around 21 billion kyats (US$15.3 million) at market prices, the report said.

The first container of cocaine originated in Brazil and traveled through Singapore before reaching Burma, local media reported. Both containers were imported through the Myanmar Industrial Port.

On Jan. 24, police also seized smuggled logs from a container in the Myanmar Industrial Port. Further investigation led the police to nab more than 1,100 tons of smuggled teak and padauk wood from factories in the Shwepyithar and Hlaing Tharyar industrial zones, according to the Forest Department.
News USDP Urges Fixes to the Rangoon Bus Network

The USDP party held a forum called We Care for Yangon Transport on Friday in Rangoon. / Chan Son / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) urged the Rangoon regional government to immediately resolve the problems faced by commuters in the change of city bus systems.

Burmas former ruling party organized a forum on Friday titled We Care for Yangon Transport, where they discussed the challenges faced by commuters on the new Yangon Bus Service (YBS) that was launched by the regional government in January. Bus owners, lawyers, USDP members, and other invitees attended the forum.

The YBS replaced decades-old bus networks supervised by the Rangoon Division Motor Vehicles Supervisory Committeebetter known by its Burmese acronym Ma Hta Thawhich were notorious for poor maintenance and mismanagement.

We have heard there are more inconveniences and difficulties for the public in commuting on the YBS system than on the previous Ma Hta Tha system, USDP spokesperson Dr. Nanda Hla Myint said at the forum.

If the government had done more prior research on the necessary number of buses and bus routes, if they had gathered public opinions and suggestions, and if they had educated the public on the new bus system prior to launch, then the problems faced by commuters would be far less now, said Dr. Nanda Hla Myint.

But the Yangon Region Transport Authority (YRTA) has said they performed surveys before the YBS launch. And volunteers surveyed bus commuters during the first week of operations in order to gather feedback for the regional government.

One of the forum attendees, commuter Daw Khin Lay Myint from downtown Rangoon, complained that the insufficient number of buses was still causing overcrowding, delays, long waits at bus stops, and a shortage of buses late in the evenings. She also complained about the harassment of women passengers on overcrowded buses.

In the past, the buses were just crowded. But now, there is no space between passengers. Our feet cant even touch the floor sometimes because there are too many commuters on a bus, she said.

Commuter Ko Kyaw Kyaw Oo from Pazundaung Township complained that he has to pay higher fares under the YBS system because of the number of connections that he makes, and he faces delays in getting to work.

It has been over a month now, he said. They asked us to have a positive mindset about the new buses. But I wonder, if the public does that, will any of the problems get solved?

Lawyers and experts who attended the forum also pointed out the importance of law enforcement to regulate the companies that operate YBS buses.

USDP spokesperson Dr. Nanda Hla Myint said he was among those who welcomed the bus system change.

The bus system was changed because we wanted to have a better service than Ma Hta Tha provided. However, the government should have prepared more systematically before the change. Now that the new system is underway, we will suggest ways to make it more efficient for commuters, he said, adding that the USDP would also present suggestions at Parliament.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 24, 2017) - Otis Gold Corp. ("Otis" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:OOO)(OTC PINK:OGLDF) is pleased to announce that Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico") has agreed to acquire, by way of private placement, 14,420,000 common shares ("Common Shares") of Otis at a price of $0.35 per Common Share for proceeds of $5,047,000 (the "Transaction"). On closing of the Transaction, Agnico will own approximately 9.95% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on a non-diluted basis (after giving effect to the Transaction, but otherwise assuming that the number of issued and outstanding Common Shares as at the date hereof remains unchanged). The proceeds from the Transaction shall be primarily used for exploration at the Kilgore Gold Project located in Clark County, Idaho as well as working capital and general corporate purposes.

Otis' CEO, Mr. Craig Lindsay, stated: "We are very excited to welcome Agnico as a strategic investor in Otis. Agnico is an experienced global leader in the precious metals sector with a successful track record of identifying and building quality assets. We believe the Transaction serves to recognize the strong potential for growth at Kilgore. This investment will allow Otis to aggressively pursue its goal of defining an economic gold deposit close to infrastructure in an emerging gold district. We look forward to working with Agnico, and we thank the Agnico team for their confidence in Otis."

On closing of the Transaction, Agnico and Otis will enter into an investor rights agreement (the "Investor Rights Agreement") pursuant to which Agnico will have the right to participate in certain equity financings by Otis in order to maintain its interest of up to 9.95% in Otis. The Common Shares issued under this Transaction will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the closing date of the Transaction in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about February 28, 2017, and is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals and certain other conditions.

About the Kilgore Gold Project

The Kilgore Gold Project contains a current NI 43-101 (dated September 12, 2012) Indicated Resource of 520,000 ounces (oz) Au in 27.4 million tonnes at a grade of 0.59 g/t Au and an Inferred Resource of 300,000 oz Au in 20.2 million tonnes at a grade of 0.46 g/t Au (the "Kilgore Deposit"). The Kilgore Deposit is part of an extensive low-sulfidation quartz-adularia epithermal hydrothermal system hosted in Tertiary volcanic rocks and Aspen Formation calcareous siltstone, shale, and sandstone of Late Cretaceous age. Gold mineralization is of the disseminated, bulk-tonnage type similar to that comprising the classic volcanic-hosted gold deposits at Round Mountain, Nevada. The Kilgore Deposit exhibits attractive metallurgy with excellent gold recovery averaging greater than 80% at 1.5" crush size based on column leach test results (see Otis News Release dated June 5, 2012). A new NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate is planned for this year to include the newly recognized Sill/Aspen mineralization recently detailed in a News Release dated February 9, 2017.

The Qualified Person under National Instrument (NI 43-101) Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for this News Release is Paul D. Gray, P. Geo, who has reviewed and approved its technical content.

About the Company

Otis is a resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal deposits in Idaho, USA. Otis is currently developing its flagship property, the Kilgore Gold Project, located in Clark County, Idaho.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 24, 2017) -

Highlights:

Measured and Indicated Resources of 7.34 million ounces at 1.44 g/t Au and Inferred Resources of 1.43 million ounces at 1.43 g/t Au, as at December 31, 2016

Mineral Resource Estimate includes updated constraining parameters, in line with best practice

Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 4.82 million ounces at 1.57 g/t Au, post Nkran mining depletion of 270,471 ounces, representing no material change to the global reserve inventory.

Increased exploration program in highly prospective belt expected to add additional ounces in 2017

Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (TSX:AKG)(NYSE MKT:AKG) today publishes updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates, as at 31 December 2016, for the Asanko Gold Mine ("AGM"), located in Ghana, West Africa, as part of its annual filings. A technical presentation is also available on the Asanko website at: www.asanko.com.

The updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates reflect depletion from the first two years of mining, the application of updated constraining parameters for resource modelling, and includes the three deposits discovered in 2016; Akwasiso, Nkran Extension and Adubiaso Extension, two additional pits at Esaase, as well as an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Nkran pit, which has been prepared by a second independent expert CSA Global ("CSA"), a leading mineral consulting group.

Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Resource Estimate (Measured & Indicated) Tonnes

(Mt) Grade

(g/t Au) Ounces

(Moz) Nov 2014 DPP Resource (unconstrained pit shell) 144.26 1.71 7.94 Depleted Dec 2016 DPP (with constraining parameters) 143.46 1.61 7.42 Updated Dec 2016 MRE (with constraining parameters) 158.27 1.44 7.34 Variance between Depleted Dec 2016 DPP and Updated Dec 2016 MRE +10% -10% -1%

Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Reserve Estimate (Proven & Probable) Tonnes

(Mt) Grade

(g/t Au) Ounces

(Moz) Nov 2014 DPP Reserve 97.10 1.68 5.24 Dec 2016 DPP Reserves based on Depleted Resources 91.48 1.68 4.94 Dec 2016 Reserves based on Updated Resources 95.41 1.57 4.82 Variance between Dec 2016 DPP Reserves (Depleted Resources) and Dec 2016 Reserves (Updated Resources) +4% -6% -2%

Commenting on the announcement, Peter Breese, President and CEO, said, "Our global gold reserves have remained largely unchanged at 5 million ounces, supported by the successful 2016 near mine exploration program which added over 300,000 low cost ounces to the mineral inventory, offsetting mining depletion. We are very excited by the exploration potential that the AGM complex holds and anticipate adding more ounces to our resource base during 2017 from a considerable list of near mine high priority targets.

Our understanding of the complex Nkran mineralization continues to evolve as we mine deeper into the main ore zones. Although two respected independent experts have reached different conclusions regarding grades and tonnes of this complex ore body, the contained ounce profile remains very similar at a 0.5 g/t cut off. However, to be prudent, we have elected to use the more conservative CSA resource model for our corporate reporting, life of mine planning and future capital expenditure projects. As we start to develop and open up more pits, commencing with Dynamite Hill in H2 2017, the multi-pit nature of the AGM complex offers considerable flexibility and optionality through the life of the asset.

We are advancing with the Project 5M expansion, which will be funded from internal cash flows at current gold prices. Detailed engineering is progressing on schedule and all long lead items have been ordered. We expect to have the plant upgrade complete during H2 2017.

The updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate will now form the basis for a revised life of mine plan and multi-pit schedule, which is the final component of the Expansion DFS. Due to the complexity in planning a schedule for 11 different pits and the detailed design process, we now anticipate publishing the expansion feasibility study in Q2 2017. This will coincide with the completion of detailed engineering for the plant upgrade and the overland conveyor and an updated Control Budget Estimate for all our growth projects."

CSA Global Review

The new Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for Nkran is the outcome of a third party external audit carried out by CSA, which was commissioned by the Company in mid-2016. The scope of the review was for CSA to verify the modelling techniques applied by CJM Consulting ("CJM") to the original November 2014 Definitive Project Plan ("DPP) MRE (see press release dated November 13, 2014) and to verify the Company's grade control, mining, reconciliation methodology and the mine to metal accounting. The audit concluded that the MRE modelling methodology was appropriate for the style of mineralization at Nkran and that the grade control, mining, reconciliation methodology and the mine to metal accounting that was implemented at the mine was excellent.

As part of the audit, CSA also reviewed the geological modelling of Nkran, given the complex nature of the structural controls associated with the Nkran mineralization. The Nkran pit gold mineralization is controlled by a combination of sandstone rock units enclosed by steep shear structures and a later cross cutting and shallow dipping vein style of mineralization. The challenge for mineral resource estimation is the integration of the gold mineralization associated with both of these structures. CSA concurred with the Company's geological interpretation and acknowledge the existence of the flat structures but downplay the contribution of gold from them into the block model.

CSA compiled the MRE for Nkran and Dynamite Hill, and reviewed the Esaase Main pit MRE and concurred with the CJM estimate. CJM compiled the MRE for all the other deposits.

Mineral Resource Estimate

The MRE has been updated as at December 31, 2016 following two years of mining operations at the Nkran pit, infill drilling at the Dynamite Hill deposit, and the discovery and evaluation of the Akwasiso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension deposits.

In line with best practice, the AGM MRE has also been updated from previous Mineral Resources (using a 0.3 g/t Au waste determination and a 0.8 g/t Au cut-off) to Mineral Resources above a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au within a US$2,000 per ounce gold pit shell. The resultant resource estimate is fully compliant with the intent of the CIM 2014 Code (Canada) with respect to stating mineral resources that have a reasonable prospect of eventual economic extraction.

With regards to Nkran, the reserve has been depleted by 270,471 ounces during 2015 and 2016 due to mining operations through to the end of December 2016. In addition, the application of the constraining parameters has resulted in a further 352,000 ounce reduction when compared to the original unconstrained November 2014 DPP MRE. The MRE includes the grade control drilling data on a 10m x 5m grid below the December 31, 2016 pit floor.

Analysis was conducted using uniform conditioning, indicated kriging and ordinary kriging to align the mineral resource estimate methodology to reflect the reconciliation of production during 2016. The sensitivity of the indicated kriging method for ore zone delineation was analyzed in detail and the method confirmed to be appropriate for the Nkran style of mineralization.

During Q4 2016, additional infill drilling was completed at Dynamite Hill, which increased the resource estimate from 110,000 ounces to 180,000 ounces.

The Phase 1 drilling program at the Akwasiso deposit has provided the basis for an initial MRE. The Company is currently completing a second phase of drilling (4,800 metres) which aims to upgrade the considerable inferred resource at this pit to an Indicated classification. The results are expected in H2 2017.

There have been other incremental increases in the satellite pits due to an adjustment of Whittle input parameters such as an improved fuel price, mining and processing costs, process plant throughput and gold recovery rates.

Table 1: Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Resource Estimate (as at December 31, 2016)

Deposit Measured Indicated Total (M&I) Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Esaase Main 26.64 1.37 1.17 65.50 1.37 2.89 92.14 1.37 4.06 Nkran 5.58 1.67 0.30 34.71 1.68 1.87 40.29 1.68 2.17 Abore 2.30 1.39 0.10 4.68 1.33 0.20 6.98 1.35 0.30 Dynamite Hill - - - 3.80 1.45 0.18 3.80 1.45 0.18 Akwasiso - - - 4.61 1.20 0.18 4.61 1.20 0.18 Adubiaso 0.83 2.35 0.06 1.57 1.89 0.10 2.40 2.05 0.16 Esaase D 0.97 1.09 0.03 1.35 1.39 0.06 2.33 1.26 0.09 Esaase B 0.87 0.99 0.03 2.21 0.76 0.05 3.08 0.82 0.08 Asuadai - - - 1.97 1.21 0.08 1.97 1.21 0.08 Adubiaso Ext. 0.16 1.94 0.01 0.31 1.59 0.02 0.47 1.71 0.03 Nkran Ext. - - - 0.20 2.61 0.02 0.20 2.61 0.02 Total 37.36 1.42 1.71 120.91 1.45 5.63 158.27 1.44 7.34

Notes: All pits are at a cut-off of 0.5g/t Au within a US$2,000 per ounce of gold pit shell. Nkran includes depletion of 5.08Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 270,471 ounces. All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding. CSA Global undertook the MRE for Nkran and Dynamite Hill and reviewed the Esaase Main pit. CJM undertook and completed updates to the MRE on Abore, Asuadai, Esaase B and D zones, Akwasiso, Adubiaso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension.

Table 2: Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Resource Estimate (as at December 31, 2016)

Deposit Inferred Mt g/t Au Moz Esaase Main 0.95 1.37 0.04 Nkran 1.69 1.77 0.10 Abore 5.37 1.44 0.25 Dynamite Hill 1.19 1.43 0.05 Akwasiso 3.85 1.56 0.19 Adubiaso 0.30 1.98 0.02 Esaase D 1.17 1.24 0.05 Esaase B 2.46 0.84 0.07 Asuadai 0.92 1.61 0.05 Adubiaso Ext. 0.24 2.55 0.02 Nkran Ext. 0.02 1.12 0.00 Total 18.17 1.43 0.83

Notes: All pits are at a cut-off of 0.5g/t Au within a US$2,000 per ounce of gold pit shell. Nkran includes mining depletion 5.08Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 270,471 ounces. All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding. CSA Global undertook the MRE for Nkran and Dynamite Hill and reviewed the Esaase Main pit. CJM undertook and completed updates to the MRE on Abore, Asuadai, Esaase B and D zones, Akwasiso, Adubiaso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension.

Mineral Reserve Estimate

The Mineral Reserve Estimate ("MRev") update process commenced with the depletion of the 2014 November DPP MRev to the Nkran pit bottom, as at December 31, 2016. Since the re-commencement of mining operations at the Nkran pit in 2015, 5.08 million tonnes ("Mt") of ore have been mined at a grade average of 1.66 g/t Au for a total of 270,471 ounces of gold.

The mining depletion of the 2014 November DPP MRev reduced the reserve ounces in Nkran from 2.2Moz to 1.9Moz over the last two years, resulting in a 14% reduction in the Nkran reserve base, although this translated to only a 6% reduction in global DPP reserves.

The reserves for Nkran have been updated based on the more conservative CSA resource model, which has impacted the size and strip ratio of the final Nkran pit. This updated MRev reduced the Nkran ounces from 1.9Moz to 1.47Moz, a reduction of 23%. However, with the addition of new reserves for Akwasiso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension, as well as the reserves for Dynamite Hill, Abore and Asuadai, the global Mineral Reserves for the AGM complex have only been reduced by 2%.

Table 3: Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Reserve Estimate (as at December 31, 2016)

Deposit Proven Probable Total Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Esaase Main 22.8 1.40 1.03 36.5 1.38 1.62 59.39 1.39 2.65 Nkran 3.96 1.98 0.25 18.57 2.04 1.22 22.53 2.03 1.47 Abore 1.35 1.62 0.07 1.77 1.70 0.01 3.12 1.66 0.17 Adubiaso 0.96 2.19 0.07 1.23 1.92 0.08 2.19 2.04 0.14 Dynamite Hill 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.62 1.60 0.13 2.62 1.60 0.13 Akwasiso 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.03 1.38 0.13 3.03 1.38 0.13 Asuadai 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.08 1.23 0.04 1.08 1.23 0.04 Nkran Ext. 0.24 1.98 0.02 0.26 1.79 0.01 0.50 1.88 0.03 Esaase D 0.20 1.05 0.01 0.40 1.70 0.02 0.62 1.50 0.03 Adubiaso Ext. 0.11 2.26 0.01 0.10 1.68 0.01 0.22 1.98 0.01 Esaase B 0.10 0.83 0.00 0.00 0.92 0.00 0.13 0.85 0.00 Total 29.8 1.52 1.45 65.6 1.60 3.37 95.41 1.57 4.82

Notes: Nkran includes depletion since February 2015 of 5.08Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 270,471 ounces. Reserves excludes the ROM stockpile of 1.52Mt at 1.36 g/t Au for 66,669 ounces and the marginal stockpile of 0.43Mt at 0.67 g/t Au for 9,121 ounces. All pits are at a cut-off of 0.8g/t Au, except Esaase Main, Esaase B and D zones, which are at a cut-off of 0.6g/t Au. Reserves estimated at a US$1,300/oz gold price. All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding. Only Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources were converted to Mineral Reserves.

Expansion DFS Update

The updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate will now form the basis for a revised life of mine plan and multi-pit schedule, which is the final component of the Expansion Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS"). The detailed designs on all the AGM pits are being updated using current actual mining costs, improved diesel prices and improved gold recovery rates. Integral to the redesign and multi-pit schedule is a cut-off grade optimization that is also being run to confirm the best NPV outcomes for each pit.Due to the complexity in planning and scheduling 11 different pits and the associated optimization processes, the Company now expects to publish the Expansion DFS in Q2 2017.

Front End Engineering and Design ("FEED") for the plant upgrade and the overland conveyor from Esaase is progressing well and on schedule for completion in Q2 2017. Orders have been placed on all long lead items and the plant upgrade to increase throughput to 5Mtpa is anticipated to be installed and completed in H2 2017. The Company is well positioned to finance Project 5M from internal cash flow at US$1,250/oz gold price.

Qualified Person Statements

Malcolm Titley (CSA Global Principal Geologist; AIG), is the Qualified Person for the sign off of the Nkran and Dynamite Hill MRE. Charles J. Muller, (B.Sc. Geology (Hons), PR.Sci.Nat., MGSSA, a Director of CJM Consulting Pty Ltd. ("CJM") of Johannesburg, South Africa) is the Qualified Person for the sign off of the Esaase Main, Esaase B and D zones, Abore, Adubiaso, Adubiaso Extension, Asuadai, Akwasiso and Nkran Extension MRE. The MREv are reported in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 requirements and the South African Code of Reporting of Exploration Results (SAMREC), which is consistent with the CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines in Canada. Mr Titley and Mr. Muller have reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release. Phil Bentley, Asanko Executive: Geology and Resources (Pr.Sci.Nat.) is the Asanko Qualified Person under NI 43-101 guidelines who assumes technical responsibility for Mineral Resource contents of this news release.

The Reserve Statements were all prepared by Thomas Obiri-Yeboah, B.Sc. Mining Engineering (Hons), PR.Eng, a Senior Mining Engineer of DRA Mining (Pty) Ltd. ("DRA") of Johannesburg, South Africa. The reserve is reported in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 requirements, which is consistent with the CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines in Canada. Frederik Fourie, Asanko Senior Mine Engineer (Pr.Eng.) is the Asanko Qualified Person under NI 43-101 who assumes responsibility for the Mineral Reserve contents of this news release. Mr. Obiri-Yeboah has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

About Asanko Gold Inc.

Asanko's vision is to become a mid-tier gold mining company that maximizes value for all its stakeholders. The Company's flagship project is the multi-million ounce Asanko Gold Mine located in Ghana, West Africa. Asanko is managed by highly skilled and successful technical, operational and financial professionals. The Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighboring communities.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 23, 2017) - Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:ANZ) ("Alianza" or the "Company") announces that an application has been made with the Peruvian authorities (INGEMMET - Instituto Geologico Minero y Metalurgico) for nine concessions comprising six properties in central Peru. These new properties target base metals mineralization in the Peruvian Polymetallic Belt, a prolific region host to deposits such as the Cerro de Pasco Mine, where zinc, lead and copper ore has been mined for over 100 years.

Alianza's target properties were internally generated from a study that examined a range of criteria including metallogeny, regional geology, regional structure, private and public geochemical databases, favourable CSR conditions and local knowledge. Management is planning reconnaissance exploration programs for all six of these properties once the concession grants are completed. It is anticipated that this process will be completed in Q2 2017 and reconnaissance work will commence shortly thereafter.

"Alianza is acquiring these new concessions as a result of in-house generative work that identified 30 grassroots targets," stated Jason Weber, P.Geo., President and CEO of Alianza. "We are targeting large base metal deposits and this region of Peru is known for its lead and zinc production, with mines that were first developed over one hundred years ago. We are eager to visit these targets and ground-truth our ideas."

Financing Update and Amendment

Alianza's financing announced on February 15, 2017 has been increased to $625,000 for a total of 5,000,000 units. The units have also been amended to include one common share and one half common share purchase warrant valid for a three year period and now exercisable at $0.20 per share. The financing is fully subscribed and will close within 10 days.

About Alianza Minerals Ltd.

Alianza increases the chances of success in mineral exploration by using the "Prospect Generator" business model, focussing on gold and copper exploration in Latin America and Nevada.

The Company has 28.3 million shares issued and outstanding, and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE:ANZ). Mr. Jason Weber, BSc, P.Geo., Alianza's President and CEO is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Weber supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this release.
Vancouver, B.C., Canada / TheNewswire / February 24, 2017 - Deep-South Resources Inc. ("Deep-South" or "the Company") (TSX-V: DSM) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire from Teck Namibia Ltd. ("Teck"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Teck Resources Limited, the remaining 70% of Haib Minerals (Pty) Ltd. ("Haib Minerals") that it does not own in exchange for, among other things, 13.6 million common shares of Deep-South. Haib Minerals holds the Exclusive Prospecting Licence 3140 ("EPL 3140"), which hosts the Haib copper project ("Haib" or "the Property") situated in the south of Namibia. At closing, Deep-South will hold 100% of Haib Minerals. At closing, in addition to its current shareholding, Teck will hold 17,776,667 of the common shares of Deep-South, representing about 35% of the Company's share capital based on the common shares currently outstanding.

In addition to the Deep-South shares to be issued to Teck, Deep-South shall:

pay $400,000 to Teck in accordance with the following schedule:

First anniversary of the agreement: $200,000

Second anniversary of the agreement: $200,000

Teck shall hold a pre-emptive right to participate in any financing of Deep-South as long as Teck holds over 5% of Deep-South's outstanding common shares;

Teck shall be granted a 1.5% NSR. Deep-South shall have the option to buy back 1/3 of the NSR in consideration for $ 2 million;

If Deep-South sells or options the Property or a portion of the Property during the 36 months following closing, Teck shall receive 30% of the sale gross proceeds if the sales occurs during the first 24 months after the closing and shall receive 20% of the gross proceeds if the sale occurs between the 24th and 36th months after closing;

Teck shall be entitled to a production bonus payment that will be declared at the time the company takes the decision to start mine development. Half of the bonus shall be paid upon the decision to start mine development and the second half shall be paid upon commencement ofcommercial production. The bonus value is scaled with the value of the Capital expenditures as follows:

(All amounts C$ millions)

Development Expenditures Cash Payment $0 - $500 $5.0 $501 - $600 $6.7 $601 - $700 $8.3 $701 - $800 $10.0 $801 - $900 $11.7 $901 - $1,000 $13.3 $1,001 and over $15.0

Teck's shareholding will be topped-up post-closing (if necessary) so that Teck holds 35% of Deep-South's share capital based on the outstanding common shares as of the closing date.

The agreement and shares issuance are subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. This transaction constitute a fundamental change pursuing to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Mr. John Akwenye, Chairman of Deep-South stated, "We are delighted with this transaction. Haib is the largest known porphyry copper deposit in Africa and is situated in an ideal location adjacent to modern infrastructure and in one of the best mining countries in Africa. In becoming our largest shareholder, Teck is a strong shareholder to have in support of the Company. Haib has substantial exploration potential and is a quality asset that adds strong value for our shareholders."

About the Haib Copper Project:

The Haib project is a large copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit located in the Karas region of southern Namibia, 8 km from the Orange River and the South African border.

The deposit, discovered in the 1950's, has seen over 50,000 metres of drilling in the 1970's by companies such as Rio Tinto and Falconbridge Ltd.

Since 2010, Teck Namibia has completed over 14,000 metres of drilling with results such as: 121 m @ 0.5% Cu, 494 m @ 0.36% Cu and 30 m @ 0.81% Cu.

A report by Behre Dolbear, completed in 1996, has estimated a Historical Estimate at Haib in a range presented in the table below:

Haib Historical Estimate - Behre Dolbear / GSM Cut-off(%Cu) GFM Model Behre Dolbear's Model Kriging Inverse Distance Squared Nearest Neighbour Million Tonnes Grade % Cu Million Tonnes Grade % Cu Million Tonnes Grade % Cu Million Tonnes Grade % Cu 0.1 1350 0.23 1353 0.23 1331 0.23 1184 0.25 0.2 730 0.28 739 0.29 726 0.29 630 0.34 0.3 230 0.37 244 0.37 262 0.38 292 0.46

(GFM and Behre Dolbear models used the Kriging method as the basis for their estimate calculations. Kriging is a statistical estimation technique widely used for porphyry deposits. The Inverse Distance Squared and Nearest Neighbour methods, were used by Behre Dolbear for validation of the Kriging method estimates. Behre Dolbear report was produced from a geostatistical block model completed in 1996 by Great Fitzroy Mineral NL ("GFM")).

The Historical Estimate comprised principally the compilation and verification of all the drillhole data incorporating all available data to the end of the Rio Tinto Zinc programme completed in 1975 and comprising over 50,000 metres of drilling, assays and survey data.

The estimates of tonnages and grades quoted in this report were prepared prior to publication of National Instrument 43-101 in 2001 and are considered as Historical Estimates. The historical grades and resources terminology from the original historical reports are to be used only as a reference and should not be considered as a current mineral resource under NI 43-101 but are to be considered as Historical Estimates as per the NI 43-101 Rules and Policies.

P & E Walker Consultancy ("The consultant"), were engaged to prepare a technical review of all the historical data and reports and to act as Qualified Person. The Consultant did not have the mandate to classify the Historical Estimate as current mineral resource under NI 43-101. Deep-South is not treating the Historical Resource as a current mineral resource under NI 43-101.

P & E Walker Consultancy has prepared a technical review of all the historical data and reports. The NI 43-101 qualification report can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Peter Walker B.Sc. (Hons.) MBA Pr.Sci.Nat. is the author of the 43-101 qualifying report and is responsible for the technical part of this press release, and is the designated Qualified Person under the terms of National Instrument 43-101.

About Deep-South Resources Inc.

Deep-South Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company with a large Namibian shareholding, actively involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of major mineral properties in Namibia and Canada. Deep-South growth strategy is to focus on the exploration and development of quality assets, in significant mineralized trends, close to infrastructure, in stable countries.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLORADO--(Marketwired - Feb. 24, 2017) - Azarga Uranium Corp. (TSX:AZZ)(FRANKFURT:P8AA)(OTC PINK:PWURF) ("Azarga Uranium" or the "Company") has received notice that the Oglala Sioux Tribe has filed a petition for review of the decision made by the Commission of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the "NRC") pertaining to the 30 April 2015 partial initial decision of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (the "ASLB") regarding the Company's NRC license for the Dewey Burdock Uranium Project. The Company has not received notice of a petition for review filed by the consolidated intervenors (the consolidated intervenors and the Oglala Sioux Tribe are collectively referred to as the "Intervenors").

As disclosed in the Company's press release dated 28 December 2016, the ASLB ruled in favor of the NRC Staff and the Company on five contentions for the Dewey Burdock Uranium Project pertaining to groundwater usage, groundwater quality, ability to contain fluid migration, mitigation measures, and connected actions. The ASLB also ruled inadmissible two new contentions that were filed by the Intervenors after the evidentiary hearing. Subsequent to the ASLB decision on the above contentions, the NRC Commission decision denied the Intervenors petitions for review of the ASLB decision on these contentions or affirmed the ASLB's decision and dismissed the contentions.

"The previous decisions of the ASLB and NRC Commission support the technical merits of the Dewey Burdock Uranium Project and the Company believes that the decisions made by these agencies will be upheld," said Blake Steele, President of the Company.

The NRC license for the Dewey Burdock Uranium Project continues to remain in good standing and the Company will defend against any petitions for review filed by the Intervenors to the fullest extent possible. In addition, the Company will continue to work with its stakeholders to resolve the outstanding two contentions pertaining to the identification and protection of historic and cultural resources. The NRC Staff is continuing their consultation efforts with the Oglala Sioux Tribe in accordance with the ASLB directive so that the remaining two contentions may be resolved in a timely manner and the Company continues to facilitate this process to the fullest extent possible.

About Azarga Uranium Corp.

Azarga Uranium is a mineral development company that controls six uranium projects, deposits and prospects in the United States of America (South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado) and the Kyrgyz Republic. The Dewey Burdock Uranium Project in South Dakota (the "Project"), which is the Company's initial development priority, has received its Nuclear Regulatory Commission License and the Company is in the process of completing other major regulatory permit approvals necessary for development of the Project, including those from the Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information please visit www.azargauranium.com.
An artist's rendering of Centropolis, a 26-story office building that is under construction in Jongno District, downtown Seoul. / Courtesy of CTCORE



By Lee Hyo-sik

Centropolis, a prime office building opening in downtown Seoul next year, is scrambling to find tenants for its 26-story twin towers amid the city's high office vacancy rate.

In particular, the developer wants to lease space to big-name multinational companies, online game developers, e-commerce operators and others in the booming industries to raise the building's commercial value.

"When Centropolis is completed by June 2018, it will become a new landmark in Seoul, like the POSCO building in southern Seoul," said Lee Eun-ho, a senior managing director at CTCORE, Centropolis' developer.

"This prime office building is located at the heart of Seoul, sitting on a 7,900 square-meter site. We have no doubt that it will soon be one of the city's well-known business structures."

Centropolis is next to Jongno Tower in Insa-dong, one of Seoul's popular tourist destinations. The building will be 114 meters high and have restaurants and other amenities. The entire third floor will house a gym and other facilities that tenants can use free of charge.

"We raised 740 billion won ($643.5 million) in project financing to purchase the site and construct the buildings," Lee said. "We estimate the twin structure will be worth more than 1 trillion won.

"To be more precise, its value will be determined largely by our ability to attract blue-chip tenants. CTCORE will decide later this year whether to sell the structure or continue to maintain ownership."

Andy Park, a senior director at sales agency CBRE Korea, said the firm has been talking with several local units of multinational companies and large domestic firms seeking to locate scattered offices in one place.

"We will soon launch an aggressive marketing campaign to find tenants," he said. "We are negotiating with several foreign businesses looking to relocate to a new prime office building in downtown Seoul. We will be able to sign lease contracts with many Korean and non-Korean firms before the completion."

Seoul's office market, which has been struggling with oversupply over the past few years, will begin to rebound this year, according to Park, who said things would be much better for Centropolis when it opens next year.
MATTOON -- All are welcome to attend the second of five organ recitals at 3 p.m. on March 12.

Trinity Episcopal Church is located at 2200 Western Ave., in Mattoon.Trinity Church is sponsoring this five concert series.

This is the oldest Reuter Pipe Organ built in 1917. Reuter was located in Trenton when this organ was built. Actually the first Reuter built for Trinity Church, Mattoon, was blown away when a tornado struck the factory and took out the major part of a wall and Opus 1. (The same storm front produced a tornado that struck Mattoon and Cooks Mill.) The Reuter Company had taken out insurance, so Opus 2 was built and delivered by train.

The March recital will be the second recital in the series. It will feature Michael Fisher of Champaign.

Fisher is the organist of Emmanuel Memorial Episcopal Church, Champaign and is a Wisconsin native. He earned a bachelors degree in music and graduated Magna Cum Laude and received the Highest Distinction in Performance from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc. He then lived in Vienna, Austria and was a student of organist, composer and conductor, Anton Heiller.

After returning to the states he earned a masters degree in music from Northwestern University, where he was a student of Czech organist, Karl Paukert. He has been on the faculty of Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa and MacMurray College in Jacksonville and a teaching assistant at the University of Illinois, studying Organ with Jerald Hamilton and Paul Pettinga.

WILL Radio has also been a part of Fishers experience, working there for six years as an announcer/producer and then director of music programming.

Fisher has also worked as a full-time church musician in Long Beach, Calif. He did service work for John Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders in Champaign and has been organist for the First Presbyterian Church, Urbana, and First United Methodist Church, Champaign.

He recently had the privilege of playing the organ in the Third Symphony of Camille Saint-Saens with East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra, in Smith Recital Hall at the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana.

A reception will be held following the recital in the church under croft.

Future dates for the Centennial Organ Series are June 11, Sept. 10 and Nov. 19.
FREE NM MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAWSUIT EVALUATION Send your NM Medical Malpractice claim to a lawyer who will review your claim at NO COST or obligation.

GET LEGAL HELP NOW



New Mexico Medical Malpractice Claims

A provider/patient relationship existed

The provider was negligent in his or her duties

That negligence caused injury

That injury led to damages

Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose

Errors during surgery

Improper medication

Wrongful death

Failure to treat, or improper treatment

New Mexico Medical Malpractice Laws

New Mexico Statute of Limitations

New Mexico Medical Malpractice Lawsuits and Settlements

New Mexico Medical Malpractice Legal Help

Apr-27-20

New Mexico medical malpractice claims may be brought against any healthcare professional or organization if the standard of care fails to meet an acceptable level. When a patient suffers harm as a result of such failure, a New Mexico medical malpractice lawsuit may be filed against health care providers, including doctors, counselors, and psychotherapists, or institutions whose actions caused the harm. Medical Malpractice lawyers typically include claims of medical negligence in hospital malpractice complaints. Medical negligence involves any situation where a healthcare professional conducts his or her job duties in a way that fails to meet an accepted medical standard of care. It is not enough that the healthcare professional makes a simple error or that the patient is unhappy with the treatment provided. In the state of New Mexico, medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or other healthcare professional or institution breaches a standard of care when treating a patient, which results in an injury or death.Patients who wish to make a medical malpractice claim must show:Patients will likely be required to provide medical reports and diagnoses, testimony from experts, medical files and other related documents, and physical evidence to support their medical malpractice claims.New Mexico Medical Malpractice lawsuits can be filed for a number of reasons, including:Doctors at Johns Hopkins suggest that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US, right behind heart disease and cancer. After analyzing studies examining death rate information, they estimate at least 251,454 deaths due to medical errors annually in the US, not including medical errors in private homes and nursing homes. In 2008 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the inspector general reported 180,000 deaths by medical error among Medicare patients alone. But less than 20 percent of victims injured by medical malpractice in the US pursue claims for their injuries.When a plaintiff in New Mexico has made a successful case and the jury holds the defendant liable, the state caps non-economic damagesincluding pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, scarring, disfigurement, and similar losses stemming from the medical malpractice at $600,000. New Mexico law limits the total damages any one defendant must pay to $200,000, even if the total damages awarded to the plaintiff in the case is greater. If the total damages are greater than the limits placed on all defendants (which is $200,000 each), the balance is paid from New Mexicos Patient Compensation Fund.Economic damages include compensation for medical expenses, lost income, and other financial losses. Economic damages are not limited to a specific dollar amount, but New Mexico does limit the payment of future medical bills to amounts actually incurred. This means that, should an injured person need continual medical care, they can only receive damages for bills received rather than an amount based on future estimates of care.New Mexico does not have an affidavit or certificate of merit requirement (a sworn statement from an expert witness that must accompany the initial medical malpractice complaint in some states). It does, however, require the use of medical expert testimony in nearly all medical malpractice cases.Medical expert witness testimony must prove that a medical providers care fell below the generally-accepted standard of care, which defines negligence in medical malpractice cases. However, New Mexico does not impose any special restrictions on the testimony of expert witnesses in medical malpractice cases.A New Mexico medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed no later than three years from the date of an incident causing injury. In cases against state, county and local government, the statute of limitations is only 2 years. The shorter period applies under New Mexicos Tort Claims Act. For children who were under age six when the injury occurs, the time limit expires on the childs ninth birthday. Applying the statute of limitations can be difficult as some cases factor the date when the injury becomes apparent, not necessarily the date it occurred.Several variables have an impact on the time period for the statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims in New Mexico. These include; (1) the time that the claim is discovered, (2) whether the healthcare provider is a qualified healthcare provider under the Medical Malpractice Act, and (3) whether the healthcare provider is a public entity.For example if an injury occurs during surgery (an instrument is left in a surgical cavity, for example) but the patient doesnt experience any discomfort or pain until three years after that surgery, the statute of limitations begins from the date any symptoms are first noticed.Find more information regarding New Mexico statutes and malpractice coverage at the New Mexico Legislature In 2014 New Mexico court affirmed a $7.3 million medical malpractice verdict for MRSA infection following knee surgery. Besides suffering the infection, Lori Sandretto presented expert testimony that she might not have needed the knee replacement nor developed the chronic pain condition had her doctor handled the case differently.Also in 2014, a heart patient who alleged he was implanted with an unnecessary pacemaker was awarded $67.3 million.In 2015 An Albuquerque jury found a doctor and an intensive care unit nurse guilty of negligence over the death of a mother from high blood pressure during the birth of her third child. The award totaled $3 million.If you or a loved one has suffered similar damages or injuries, please click the link below and your complaint will be sent to a lawyer who may evaluate your claim at no cost or obligation.
Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving metals market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets.

Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials.

If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details.
RELX PLC provides information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Risk; Scientific, Technical & Medical; Legal; and Exhibitions. The Risk segment offers information-based analytics and decision tools that combine public and industry specific content with technology and algorithms to assist clients in evaluating and predicting risk. The Scientific, Technical & Medical segment provides information and analytics that help institutions and professionals to progress in science and advance healthcare. The Legal segment provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics that help customers in decision-making, as well as increases the productivity. The Exhibitions segment is involved in the events business that combines face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source products, and complete transactions. The company was formerly known as Reed Elsevier PLC and changed its name to RELX PLC in July 2015. The company was incorporated in 1903 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
MATTOON -- The American Forest Foundation (Washington, DC), in partnership with the Environmental Education Association of Illinois (EEAI) (Urbana), recently awarded Sarah Livesay the 2016 International Project Learning Tree Coordinator Gold Star Award during their annual meeting in Salt Lake City.

This award is given annually to the one state, provincial or international coordinator that has most increased the capacity for environmental education from among all of the countries served by Project Learning Tree, according to a press release.

Livesay has worked with EEAI for more than 18 years and currently consults to train and manage their team of 60 facilitators to deliver high-quality environmental education professional development to formal and non-formal educators statewide, according to a press release.

After a consulting engagement for the Japan Parks & Recreation Foundation in Tokyo, Livesay will return home to St. Joseph where she resides with her husband, Jeff, and two young sons, the press release reports. Her parents are Ron and Sue LeGrand of Mattoon.

Livesay is an alumna of both Mattoon High School and Eastern Illinois University and currently serves as a commissioner for the Champaign County Forest Preserve District.
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.
The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small, medium, and large businesses, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides online, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 954 branches and approximately 3,766 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,300 branches and a network of contact and support center internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada.
Ag Growth International Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes grain and rice handling, storage, and conditioning equipment in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company offers storage equipment comprising grain and bolted bins, hopper bins, smooth wall bins, temporary storage equipment, unloads and sweeps, water tanks, fuel tanks; and conditioning equipment, such as mixed flow dryers, fans and heaters, aerations, airaugers, aeration floors, vents and exhausters, stirrings, and accessories. It also provides portable handling equipment, such as portable augers, conveyors, grain vacs, post pounders, seed treaters, and accessories; and permanent handling equipment, including bucket elevators, chain and belt conveyors, enclosed belt conveyors, distributors, feed handling equipment, screw feeders and conveyors, and spouts and connections. In addition, the company offers towers, catwalks, ladders, all-steel buildings, flat storage buildings; batch blenders, bulk scales, declining weight blenders, vertical blenders, micro-dosing systems, mixers, milling equipment; and controllers, hazard monitoring equipment, monitoring and automation equipment, sampling solutions. Further, it provides cleaning and destoners, rice milling and processing equipment, bin unloads, blending and control systems, Liquid and dry fertilizer blending and conveying equipment, turnkey design and build construction solutions for seed and fertilizer facilities, and farm management software. The company markets its products under the AGI, Airlanco, Batco, Brownie, CMC, Compass, Danmare, Ezee-dry, Frame, Grain Guard, Grainmaxx, Hi Roller, Hutchinson, Improtech, Junge, Keho, Mayrath, Milltec, MMS, Neco, PTM, REM, Sabe, Sentinel, Storm, Suretrack, Tramco, Twister, Westeel, Westfield, Wheatheart, and Yargus brand names. It provides its equipment for agricultural commodities. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada.
 :

Joy review

Excited about 2016 we intend on increasing persons upgrades when the programs programmers will keep the level. Our company is also putting in a couple of even more hints and guides plus getting better shopper safeguard with the over the internet gambling opinions and on line casino whitelist. Our online players and audience all publish our the exact same passion for games plus they are constantly our first and foremost matter.



All you have to do today to collect your potential risk-absolutely free video game titles is signup with all your elementary information, together with label, surname, in addition to an email address. In most cases, you wont even have to complete a total registration until such time as you decide to downpayment into an on-line casino site. And, in case you are interested in promo resources from a on line casino within your The importance of game pace in the casino email, you could get a standalone e-mail address for these functions.

The new home does will include a Diamonds Lounge for 100 % Success organization Diamonds and Six Personalities-level members that may feature mild meal remedies and more affordable alcoholic beverages (drinking might also be on the market over the essential casino site floor and nonalcoholic liquids are complimentary).

In order to discover the hottest allowed advantage because of a precise gambling establishment, look into the bedroom evaluate to find out if they have a history of no down payment offers to triumph real cash. When they do, click through right through to look at the website and look for the newest supply you with.

Description: A software error appeared at the web server. The current unique problem places because of this application form stop the information on the applying miscalculation from currently being seen from another location (for safety and security underlying factors). It might, still, be viewed by web browsers functioning at the community host model.



On the net slot machines typically appear like  if youll pardon the pun  a crap take. In the event you log onto an internet gambling to spend time playing slot machines for real cash and are also confronted by a dizzying selection of slot machine games which youve rarely even viewed ahead of, its hard to know the place to start.

Link up with the towns younger superheroes (brought by Cartman when the Coon) when they conflict the bad Professor Chaos (Butters) along with his staff inside of a your five reel, 20 series match. The chief advantage in Reel Chaos could be the Mintberry Crunch Legendary Extra, where the peculiar about half-man, half-berry superhero arrives to help you overcome the not so good fellas; your multiplier boosts each and every time on the list of evildoers falls, creating a 260x brand bet payout feasible if all four are conquered.

Randy Rogers Strap With Josh Abbott Band WinStar Planet Casino April 10, 2015 When getting close the WinStar Entire world Casinos Rome entry ways, property of a World-wide Circumstances Core and a lot of terribly-provided copycat Italian sculptures, the.

Notice: The amount of paylines is fixed at 25, meaning you cant basic how big is your option on just how many outlines to experience. To fluctuate the body within your wagers and gain real money for free with this via the internet slots adventure, it is advisable to use the denomination to your credits by searching for the right quantity that fits your bankroll.

:  
Kalybos, Mzvee, Mama Zimbi and others at Princess Louis Marie Children's Hospital

Top Ghanaian celebrities like Akumaa Mama Zimbi, Mzvee and Kalybos were among personalities who put smiles on the faces of children at the Princess Louis Marie Children's Hospital in Accra on Val's Day.

They took time off their busy schedules to cook for the children, entertain them and also donated to them.

This was part of the 2017 edition of the 'F14 Val's CSR Cooking & Donation' ceremony organised by Abba Investments, in partnership with Wilmar Africa Limited, producers of Frytol and Fortune Rice.

It was a great scene for kids to watch Kalybos, Mama Zimbi, MzVee and Abena Ruthie cook and entertain them.

Kalybos in his usual style got everyone excited as though he was in character in one of his 'Boys Kasa' skit, while Mama Zimbi chose to dish out helpful advice to the parents present to help ease the pressure of caring for their sick children.

It was refreshing to see MzVee playing the role of chief server and an emotional motivational speaker at the event with Abena Ruthie, serving as the chief cook.

The hospital management received GH5,000, as well as products from Wilmar Africa Limited to support the work of the hospital.

Gideon Kwamla Oyiadzo (Jingles), Operations Director at Abba Investments, said, The cooking ceremony is to present an opportunity to share in the joy that we are all alive during this Valentine's season notwithstanding our status in life, health or financial challenges.

According to him, the programme was partly organised to cheer up parents and the teaching staff while reassuring them that all is well and that there is enough love to share.

Abba Investments is a project management outfit with the 'F14 Concert' as one of its key flagship programmes. The 'F14 Valentine CSR Celebrity Cooking' was introduced last year to give billed artistes for the 'F14 Concert' the opportunity to contribute their quota to the welfare of patients at the Princess Louis Marie Children's Hospital while they encourage the hard working nurses to do even more.

Princess Louis Marie Children's Hospital is 90 years old and happens to be the first ever children's hospital in Ghana. It was built in 1926 to cater for the needs of maternal and child healthcare delivery in the Greater Accra Region.


The Miss Ghana Foundation (MGF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)-Ghana, as part of its social intervention projects for the Miss Ghana @60 activities/ diamond jubilee celebrations to champion a drive on HIV, Ebola and feminine hygiene awareness campaigns using the 'Ghana Protect The Goal Campaign' as an umbrella.

The partnership will see the Miss Ghana Foundation support the prevention of HIV infections among Ghanaian youth, create awareness on Ebola virus and also take part in activation to promote female hygiene.

This would further empower Ghanaian youth, especially young women and adolescent girls, with knowledge on how to avoid infections related to HIV and Ebola, as well as educate girls about female hygiene. The partnership was signed in Accra on Monday, February 20, 2017.

According to Ms Inna Patty, CEO of Exclusive Events, organisers of Miss Ghana pageant, the Miss Ghana Foundation is delighted to work with UNAIDS Ghana and we are also delighted to be part of this great cause in support of awareness among the Ghanaian youth. The Miss Ghana Foundation is dedicated to various social intervention projects to impact lives of the less-privileged in society while creating social entrepreneurs and also training of our youth. One of our key areas is health and we are consequently happy to align with the UNAIDS to save our society from any disease or infections.

In his part, the UNAIDS Country Director, Girmay Haile, stressed the need to for innovative partnership to focus on prevention programmes to reduce new HIV infections in Ghana.

He said, What we see in Ghana is a national AIDS response that has shown progress but is equally challenged by attitudes and behaviours that keep putting more and more young people and adolescents at risk of new HIV infection.

Mr Haile also applauded the Miss Ghana Foundation for choosing to work on HIV, Ebola and female hygiene awareness with its pageants on the occasion of the diamond jubilee celebrations of Ghana @60.

The Miss Ghana Foundation is a registered charity arm of the prestigious Miss Ghana beauty pageant. Over the years, past Miss Ghana queens have taken up different social projects that help transform and positively impact lives of the most vulnerable or less-privileged in the society.

By Francis Addo (Twitter: @fdee50 Email: [email protected] )
CHARLESTON -- The co-founder of Volvo CEs Road Institute was recognized for pioneering the asphalt pavement industry.

The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) recently honored Tom Skinner, a 50-year industry veteran of the asphalt pavement industry, with a lifetime achievement award. The Associate Member Council Commendation award recognizes individuals for their life-long dedication to the asphalt pavement industry.

Skinner is the second recipient since the award was established in 2015.

Tom paved the way of the pavement industry  he entered the industry when the country was starting to build its first highways and he contributed to every stage of the industrys evolution in the U.S., said Brodie Hutchins from Wirtgen America Inc., a council member who nominated Skinner for the award.

Since 1960, Skinner has provided hands-on trainings for paving professionals on operational procedures. He helped establish the Blaw-Knox Training Center, which later became the renowned Road Institute of Volvo CE. Skinner retired in 2004 after serving as the director of parts and services at Blaw-Knox for 34 years.

Skinner attended his first NAPA meeting in 1988 and was a frequent speaker at events. He also provided many educational materials on topics including longitudinal joint construction techniques and helped review the widely used manual Hot Mix Asphalt Paving Handbook.

I couldnt say enough about Tom. He is an excellent, humble teacher who is motivated to improve the industry with the best expertise and knowledge, said Chris Connolly, chairman of the council. We nominate the recipients based on their years of service, involvement in the industry activities and their participation in the associations programs, and Tom simply exceeds all criteria.

Skinner has also been serving as a pastor at local Baptist Churches over the past five decades.

I greatly appreciate the support and love that Ive received from people whom I worked with, Tom said. Without their help and expertise, I wouldnt have achieved such accomplishment.

Setting the bar

Skinner started his career with Blaw-Knox in 1956, when highway construction techniques moved away from rigid concrete to flexible asphalt paving, according to a press release. Working with the companys field team during the 1960s, he became aware of peoples limited knowledge on machine operations, the press release states.

It was when the automatic grade and slope controls were first introduced to the market but neither contractors nor the states department of transportation understood how the system would help them and the industry, Skinner said. To show them how the real machine functions, I built a portable model that traveled with me for demonstrations at job sites.

To build channels for knowledge exchange, Skinner started hosting field trainings for operators at factories. In 1967, Skinners idea of an asphalt paving school became reality in a small room at the then Blaw-Knox factory in Mattoon, Illinois.

Later moved to conference rooms at a local motel, the school was so successful that the number of participants, including contractors and state personnel, soared to exceed 1,500 per year. To accommodate participants with larger classroom capacity, Skinner helped establish the Blaw-Knox Training Center in 1987 and opened its door to the public.

Currently, the school continues to offer both seminars and hands-on training for compactor and paving operators in Shippensburg and Phoenix under the new name, Road Institute of Volvo CE.

Throughout my career I worked to achieve maximum production with highest-quality finished product and lowest cost per ton, Skinner said. Those goals can only be achieved under cooperation among paving contractors, operators and agency personnel. The training center helped strengthen that cooperation.

Improving conditions for all

Skinner was also one of the first people to advocate for the use of fume control devices to help improve work conditions and prevent health issues for the paving crew, the press release reports. His efforts contributed to the signing of a law that requires fume controls on all asphalt pavers, according to the press release.

It is truly impressive that Tom brought the best expertise and experience to the field along with a caring heart, said Jay Hansen, executive vice president of NAPA. He exemplifies the value of our Associate Member Council, which consists of manufacturers, distributors, materials suppliers and engineers who work hard behind the curtains to support the asphalt pavement industry for successful pavement production.
Ex face of culture Africa Okechukwu Jennifer and the founder of "Queen Jennifer Unity foundation" releases new photos as she shows off new styles.

The Enugu born model shared the super attractive shoots recently.

Her eyes sparkling like a bright star in the sky.She has the stamina, beauty, and courage that one would always admire.

She is a genuinely caring lady who goes the extra mile to help any one in need or broken hearted.

Her foundation has been responsible in catering for the orphanage kids in Abuja.

Also,Plans are already in an advance level for her next project coming up in Lagos as she hopes to assist in sending displaced kids back to classroom.
24.02.2017 LISTEN

One of the major benefits of the vote of December 7, 2016, is the re-emergence of politics as a consensus building event. The Minority in Parliament heckled President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo when he presented the State of the Nation Address to the House on Tuesday. There were the usual scenes of Majority members cheering on the Head of State, while the Minority raised a number of concerns.

Beyond that, there was a general unity of purpose, with two former heads of state and one ex-vice-president listening attentively as invited guests. There was Flt-Lt. Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings. Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor, with his walking stick, was a notable presence. So was immediate past Vice-President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur. The only absentee was Mr. John Dramani Mahama, who, we learn, is still outside the country.

It is great to note that there is a certain realisation that politics does not need to divide us, and that is a healthy sign. We learn too that the new administration has started paying ex-gratia to ministers and other appointees who deserve to be paid under Article 71, virtually on the quiet. Not too long ago, payment of ex-gratia became a big struggle. For a long time, ex-President Kufuor and his staff were denied their monthly wages.

The Chronicle has not benefitted from any information from the National Democratic Congress secretariat in Accra, but we can speculate that the decision by the party to abandon its proposed protest march in Accra on Friday, February 24, cannot be unconnected with the emerging camaraderie in national politics since President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo occupied Government House.

Many political observers believed the new administration would change the name of the Flagstaff House to Jubilee House, the moment President Akufo-Addo took occupancy. However, Nana Akufo-Addo has cleverly stayed away from the controversy, suggesting in his State of the Nation address that consensus-building is necessary on the issue. He also intimated that the nation ought to look at the Founder's Day celebration, in order to collectively celebrate all those who contributed in founding the nation.

So far, the political temperature that reached boiling point as Ghanaians prepared for the vote, has reduced significantly. In Christian doctrine, one could sing Ebenezer, that is how far God has brought us.

In an emerging democracy as our own, it is fool-hardy to expect everything moving peacefully. The activities of a few foot soldiers, in the case of the ruling New Patriotic Party, the security apparatus known as the 'Invincibles', is creating a problem or two, which need to be dealt with.

The Chronicle has learned that the police officer allegedly assaulted by some renegade members of this party's security service, has declined interest in pursuing any charge against the perpetrators of the alleged assault against his person. All the same, we would like to believe that it is possible for some form of discipline to be initiated against identifiable members of the mob who visited mayhem on the said police officer.

We believe this will serve as a warning to those who would want to take the law into their own hands in the future. We would like to believe too that the threat issued by the leadership of the NDC at their press conference in Accra, yesterday, that they are waiting for the 2017 budget statement to punch holes into it, is the usual political rhetoric which spices the political game.

As they say, the opposition would have their say, while the government of the day would always have its way!
Former President John Mahama says his government did its best in the retrieval of GHC51.2 million wrongfully paid to businessman Alfred Woyome in 2012.

He said the former Attorney-General (A-G) Marietta Brew-Opong pursued this matter diligently resulting in the decision by Mr Woyome to refund some of the money.

Speaking to a Johannesburg-based radio station Power FM Thursday in South Africa, the former Ghanaian leader said they used the legal means to try and protect the interest of Ghanaian people in their attempt to get the money.

Mr Woyome who is a National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier was paid the money after he claimed he had helped Ghana to raise some money for the construction of stadia for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.

Mr Mahamas government was pressurised to retrieve the money after the Supreme Court (SC) ruled in 2014 that the money was wrongfully given to Woyome and must be refunded. Former Attorney General Martin Amidu had also pursued the matter in court for the money to be paid.

However, the former Presidents government was tardy in retrieving the money resulting in the agitation of Ghanaians.

He was heavily criticised by his political opponents especially the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for showing disinterest in the case.

But touching on the issue two months after he lost his bid to get re-elected, Mr Mahama said he put up a good fight despite the general impression out there.

We cannot be lovers of good governance but also be desirous of arbitrary justice, he said.

He said under an unconstitutional government, it would have been possible for Mr Woyome to be locked up and imprisoned for years until he paid the money.

Ghana is living under a constitutional justice, he said, adding although the wheel of justice grinds slowly the citizens must give the law a chance.

He said his government worked on the ruling given by the SC that the money be retrieved, urging his successor to continue the fight.

The person has paid some of the money...and I hope this government will continue from where we left off, he added.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | [email protected]
24.02.2017 LISTEN

The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Salifu Sa-eed, in an apparent move to work with key stakeholders, and all the people, is beginning a five-day tour of the region to interact with all the prominent chiefs and religious leaders.

The tour, which starts today, February 23, and ends on 27th February, 2017, will take the Minister to Yendi, Bimbilla, Nalerigu, Wulensi and Damongo to familiarise himself with the traditional authorities, religious bodies and party faithful before assuming office.

The Special Assistant to the Regional Minister, Abubakari Shani Bawumia, at a short meeting with the media in Tamale yesterday, disclosed that Salifu Sa-eed would arrive in Tamale this morning (Thursday), and would be received by party faithful at the Regional Coordinating Council to commence the familiarisation tour.

According to him, the Minister would make his first visit at the Gukpe Naa's Palace at 11:00am, proceed to the Dakpema's Palace, Bug-lana, Banvim-lana, Lamashegu Chief's Palace, and end at the Sagnarigu Naa's Palace.



The Regional Minister would continue the tour on Friday, 24th February, with a courtesy call on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, the leadership of Ambariya, visit Sheikh Bayan, the Regional Chief Imam, the leadership of the Christian Council, and climax the day with a call on the Catholic Archbishop of Tamale.

On Saturday, the Northern Regional Minister will visit the Overlord of the Gonjaland Traditional area, Yagbonwura Tumtumba Bore Essa I, in Damongo, where he will also be meeting with party officials in the area.

Shani Bawumia added that Salifu Sa-eed on Sunday 26th of February will continue the tour to Nalerigu, where he will pay a courtesy call on the Nayiri Naa Mahami Bohagu Sherigi, Overlord of the Mumprugu Traditional Kingdom, and also meet with party officials in the area.

Mr. Shani said the final day of the tour will see the Minister visiting Yendi, with a call on the Regent of Dagbon, Kampakuyana Yakubu Andani, and Bolinlana Muhammadu Abdulai, and then proceed to Nanumba North District, Bimbila and Wulensi for similar visits to the traditional authorities to end the tour.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sa-eed Salifu is expected to unite the region, serve as father for all, ensure law and order, and ultimately ensure the implementation of the policies and programmes of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

The Ministers Aide, therefore, appealed to party youth in the earmarked districts to welcome the Minister in a very decorous manner.

From Edmond Gyebi, Tamale
24.02.2017 LISTEN

The Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, has called on Parliament, and all stakeholders, to join hands to support the government to enforce peace and order at Bimbilla.

His call follows recent murders at Bimbilla, as a result of some chieftaincy disputes, which have still not been resolved properly for a very long time now.

At least, 10 people have been confirmed dead, and there are indications of possible additions, amidst a curfew, from 6pm to 6am daily.

On the floor of the House yesterday, Ambrose Dery, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nandom, urged the National Peace Council to lead the negotiation through alternative dispute resolution methods to ensure lasting peace.

Mr Speaker, I wish to assure you that the government shall continue to monitor the situation, and ensure that the situation does not deteriorate and affect others in the vicinity. Security is a collective responsibility, and I call on all persons/stakeholders to work with government to achieve peace, security and safety, for the benefit of all in Bimbilla, he remarked.

Giving a background into the matter, the Minister said the late Bimbilla Naa, Naa Abarika, died in 2001.

Since the performance of the funeral of the late Naa Abarika in 2003, the Bimbilla skin has been in crisis, which has festered and resulted in a number of clashes, violence and loss of lives over the period.

He continued that the Bimbilla skin, a paramount skin, had two skin gates, which ascend on a rotational basis to the Bimbilla skin  the Gbimayili gate and the Bangyili gate.

The late Naa Abarika was of the Bangyili gate, and thus, on his death, it was the turn of the Gbimayili gate to ascend the throne.

Regrettably, an intra-gate misunderstanding ensued in the Gbimayili gate, in pursuit of providing a successor to the Bimbilla skin, between the late Naa Andani Dasana and the late Naa Salifu Dawuni (Nakpa Naa).

Fast forward; the protagonists, namely the late Naa Salifu Dawuni and the late Naa Andani Dasana, both passed on.

Nakpa Naa Salifu Dawuni passed on naturally on 5th March 2014, but is yet buried due to controversy over the status of the burial and related matters.

The late Naa Andani Dasana, however, died with three of his elders as the victim of an attack on his palace on 19th June 2014.

A curfew was imposed on Bimbilla and its environs on 7th March 2014 to contain the resultant tension after the death of the late Naa Salifu Dawuni, and has since been renewed and reviewed from time to time.

According to the Minister, on Wednesday, 8th February, 2017, the regional Security Council (REGSEC) in Tamale received intelligence that a planned enskinment of one Mumuni Haruna at Bimbilla had the potential to adversely impact the peace.

Meanwhile, reacting to the statement, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, said there should be a better appreciation of what the Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, who happens to be the MP for the area, had done about the issue, though the latter had contributed to ensuring peace in the area.

He said government should not relax in tackling issues such as this, because that is why you have already stationed police and military presence in Bimbilla, and Mr Speaker, I say so to guide what future actions should be, and what future interventions should be.

He noted that Naa Abarika Andani was murdered, even when there was security presence in that particular area in 2015, but justice has not been done.

Mr Speaker, bear me to share some details. Following even the death of Nakpa Naa Salifu, who has since not been buried, since 2014, what are the underpinning cultural issues?

We need to understand; even as I see the roadmap that the Hon Minister for Interior has shared, and I am sure both cultures are similar. Who aspires to be the Bimbilla Naa aspires to the paramountcy.

The Minority further stated that it is a fact that both the Regional House of Chiefs and the National House of Chiefs have ruled in favour of the Naa Andani gate, which is now the matter pending before the Supreme Court, adding, at least, within the judicial organ of the House of Chiefs, there has been a decision which has not been respected.

By Maxwell Ofori, Parliament House
24.02.2017 LISTEN

The Minority in Parliament has raised serious concern over beneficiaries of the free Senior High School programme, stating that it would be a great deceit not to include the second and final year students of the 2017/2018 academic year.

The leader of the Minority, Haruna Iddrisu, who addressed a press conference yesterday to respond to the State of the Nation address delivered by President Nana Akufo-Addo, noted that most parents were made to believe that all SHS students are to benefit from the programme, and anything short of that would be deceitful.

We also hope that it is not first year students admitted in the 2017/2018 academic year who will be catered for under the programme. This will leave hundreds of thousands of second and final year students and their parents in the cold, after they have been led to believe that all SHS students were to benefit from absolutely free education, he said.

According to him, if their suspicion that the second and final year students are not part of the new policy proves to be true, then that step (free SHS) would not be significantly different from the progressive free SHS programme introduced by the Mahama administration, to which the NPP opposed.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, recently announced at the 60thAnniversary of Okuapeman School, the commencement of the free SHS, slated for September this year. His announcement met various commentaries for and against the policy, with some questioning the source of funding for the programme.

Not long afterwards, the Senior Minister was reported to have made public that the government intends using the Heritage Fund to finance the programme, which was rejected by the opposition.

Nevertheless, the MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, like many others, was expecting to hear something about it in the State of Nation Address (SONA), but the contrary was the outcome.

We note that the President and his spokespersons have sought refuge in the budget statement to be presented by the Finance Minister next week. We are told that the scanty detail provided in the SONA, on the key issues that matter to the people and the many promises made to the Ghanaian in the NPP manifesto and on campaign platforms, will be fleshed out in the budget.

We are also told that funding sources for the Free SHS promised, which many expected will be revealed in the SONA, in light of the Heritage Fund debacle, will now be disclosed in the same budget.

While we have substantial doubts that the President would not have loved to be the one indicating in clear terms where money will come from to fund this herculean promise, if, indeed, a credible source has been found, we will eagerly await the said budget statement to find out this, and many more, he said.

On the Energy Sector, the Minority could not understand why the President claimed that US$2.4 billion of debt has been left by the immediate past NDC government, but did not add that those were legacy debts accrued over a period spanning four governments under the Fourth Republic.

The Minority added that it was in recognition of the need to amortise those debts, and free up credit lines for the various utility companies, that the NDC government introduced the Energy Sector Levies.

They further noted that through that mechanism, the portion of the debt owed to the banks, amounting to about GH800 million, was restructured by leveraging some proceeds that had accrued from the levy.

That, the opposition said, gave the banks and the utilities substantial breathing space, while efforts were made to deal with the components of the debts owed to suppliers.

It must be recalled that President Akufo-Addo and the NPP promised, while campaigning, to scrap this levy. The President was, however, silent on the fate of this levy, which, perhaps, gives credence to indications by the Finance Minister that the levy will be maintained, contrary to their campaign promise.

We await word on what they will do with this important levy, which represents the most viable option to pay down the legacy debts which had crippled the country's utilities for years.

It is noteworthy that in opposition, the NPP claimed to be opposed to the Compact II signed by Ghana with the Millennium Challenge Cooperation, which focuses on a concession programme for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

We had always known, and we believe also, Ghanaians do know that this was nothing short of populism and political grandstanding intended to curry favour with the electorate and workers of ECG.

Still in the power sector, President Akufo-Addo indicated in his address that his government intended to list VRA and GRIDCO on the Ghana Stock Exchange. We are convinced that this is only a euphemism for the wholesale privatisation of both vital state power companies, and we urge President Akufo-Addo to come clear on the matter to foster proper national debate on the subject, the Minority stated.

By Maxwell Ofori, Parliament House
24.02.2017 LISTEN

A meeting called by the National Executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to discuss the way forward for the opposition party on Monday, this week, became an avenue for temper tantrums when the agenda for the meeting was made known to the participants.

According to The Chronicle sources at the meeting, the outburst of the members started when the conveners told the participants, who were mainly former ministers and deputy ministers in the immediate past NDC administration, that they must contribute a percentage of their ex-gratia to the party to ensure its smooth running.

The Chronicle gathered that immediately the leaders finished making the demand known to the former ministers and their deputies, the room momentarily went dead until a former lady minister from Accra mustered courage, and told the national executives of the party that until they render accounts for the millions of dollars given to them (leaders) in the form of donations by businessmen during the electioneering campaign, they would never contribute a pesewa towards the running of the party.

What even riled the former ministers most, The Chronicle was told, was when one of the leaders from the Western part of the country told them that the 2016 election was the first time a campaign for national elections was ran from the presidency, instead of the national headquarters of the party.

The said national executive further told the charged meeting that he knew three months to the elections that the NDC was going to lose.

One of the former ministers later told The Chronicle that the said national executive knew the NDC was going to lose the elections, as he told the meeting, yet he went in for motorbikes and claimed he was going to distribute them to soften 'hard grounds.'

Some of the former ministers would also not accept claims that the campaign for the just-ended elections was ran from the presidency, when most of the national executives were part of the campaign team.

A deep throat source told this reporter that one of the national executives was shuttling between the presidency and the party headquarters to collect huge sums of money to prosecute the campaign, but the said money rather ended in individual pockets.

A lady was also said to have collected huge sums of money to campaign along the coast, but a major part of the money went into her private pocket, which is evidenced in how the party lost terribly along the coast.

Some of the party followers who spoke to The Chronicle also alleged that some of the executives are harboring campaign pick-ups and had refused to surrender them to the party, now that it has lost power.

Some of the executives, according to sources, claim most of the cars have broken down and, therefore, no more roadworthy.

Ever since the NDC lost the presidential and parliamentary elections, the foot soldiers have leveled a multitude of allegations against the party leaders.

The Western Regional Deputy Women's Organiser of the party, Madam Araba Tagoe, for instance, threatened to expose all those who misappropriated campaign funds, instead of using them to garner votes for the party.

The firebrand party lady is, however, yet to honour her pledge to expose looters of the campaign funds.

Keep reading The Chronicle for more 'apo'.



By Emmanuel Akli
24.02.2017 LISTEN

Twenty selected youth from within the catchment area of AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) have completed three months in the field of apprenticeship certificate in wielding and fabrication and apprenticeship in auto electricals. It is to equip them with employable skills to eke out a living.

The US$20,000 programme saw five participants selected from each area of Binsere, New Dokyiwaa, Anyinam, Sanso and Bediem, totaling 20, aimed at producing marketable young engineering apprentices with practical skills for various employment opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.

Nana Ampofo-Bekoe, Sustainability Manager of AGA, explained that the mining company is doing its best to equip the youth from communities within which it operates to gain skills for employment.

Addressing the graduation of twenty apprenticeship trainees at Obuasi, under the auspices of the AGA, Nana Ampofo-Bekoe disclosed that the programme had trained over 500 apprentices in the last ten years, when it started as a pilot project.

Michael Nimako emerged the Overall Best Student, with Shadrack Bonna and Joseph Boahen the Best Auto Electrical and Wielding and Fabrication students respectively.

Mr. Opare Baidoo, Director of the AGA Training Centre, disclosed that the training facility has been dormant following the closure of the AGA for restructuring, but through the efforts of the Department of Sustainability to management, the facility has been vibrant, making it possible for organisations like Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and others to bring their workers to be trained and acquire skills.

Director Baidoo hinted that in due course automation system engineering courses, electronic fuel injection system and electronic panel would be introduced.

The Krontihene of New Edubiase, Nana Asirifi Asare II, who is also Chief Adomanu, urged graduands not to sit idle after acquiring skills from the training, instead they should put them into use.

Don't let this knowledge go waste; do something on your own, he added.

He told the participants that they were building their capacity in the job market, and what they learnt was very important.

An elated Overall Best Student, Mr. Nimako, thanked the AGA authorities for the opportunity to acquire skills, which is very essential in the Ghanaian job market.

He urged his students not rest on their oars, but put the knowledge acquired

From Richard Owusu-Akyaw
24.02.2017 LISTEN

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Unilever Ghana Ltd., Mr. Edward Effah, has congratulated President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on his assumption of office as President.

He has also pledged the support of Unilever towards helping to achieve the set objectives of the Akufo-Addo government.

Mr. Edward Effah, together with a 9-person delegation, indicated that Unilever, which is the largest producer and retailer of consumer goods in Ghana, believes that the decision of the Akufo-Addo government to create an enabling environment for the private sector to flourish, as well increase competitiveness for businesses, is the surest way towards creating wealth and prosperity for the people of Ghana.

He further noted that government's Planting for Jobs and Food initiative is a laudable one, and to this end, indicated that Unilever is ready to partner with government to establish a world class oil palm industry in Ghana.

Also present at the meeting was Yaw Nsarkoh, Executive Vice President of Unilever Ghana-Nigeria, who praised President Akufo-Addo for his clarity of vision regarding private sector development, as evidenced in the 2016 manifesto of the New Patriotic Party and the 2017 state of the nation address, delivered on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.

He also added that Unilever intends on building an industrial powerhouse in Ghana, in the course of the coming years .

On his part, President Akufo-Addo was grateful for the words of support from the leadership of Unilever and their desire to co-operate with his government to help return Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity.

The President was confident that with the support and co-operation of industry players, and the effective implementation of government's policies and programmes, Ghana's economy will, once again, be a major force to reckon with on the continent.

Describing the country as a wealthy nation, President Akufo-Addo added that the proper management of the economy will see the wealth of nation being manifested in the lives of the citizenry.

With his government's economic focus hinged on getting the productive sectors of the economy working again, the President urged Unilever to consider relocating their production units back to Ghana.

These production units were moved by Unilever to neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria over the last few years, as a result of the unfavourable economic conditions prevailing in the country.

The President assured that: We will do our best to create an enabling environment so that we can facilitate the inflow of investments into our country. Ghana should be at the centre of producing things again in the region and on the continent.

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, who was also present at the meeting noted that it was reassuring that Unilever is inspired by the President's vision, stressing that government will offer the necessary incentives to the private sector with the aim of industrializing the country.

Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Yofi Grant, assured that one of his major objectives will be the removal of bottlenecks to operations and a reduction

of the huge administrative costs bedeviling the establishment of businesses, so as to make businesses operating in Ghana more competitive.
24.02.2017 LISTEN

The unfortunate disaster that resulted in the death of six pupils at Bremang Gyamera, a community near Bremang Asikuma in the Central region recently, following the collapse of a dilapidated classroom block could reoccur at Asante Mampong if authorities do not take steps to avoid it.

The Patasi, Sesease and Kokoben D /A Primary School, popularly known as (PSK D/A Primary school) in the Ashanti Mampong Municipality is in a similar situation.

The teachers are threatening to boycott the school, built in 1965, which now passes as a deathtrap following its dangerous state. The foundation has been affected by erosion while the walls have developed serious cracks.

Mr. Elvis Atakora, the head teacher of the school told The Chronicle that teaching and learning materials are at the mercy of the weather, owing to the poor nature of the building.

The headteacher emphasised that since there are no walls, the students are always playing. He indicated that the nature of the building has compelled some parents to take their wards from the school to other schools in Mampong.

We are afraid of this skeletal structure and if care is not taken it will fall on us one day. Some of my colleague teachers who were posted here have quit the job, due to the bad state of building, the headteacher complained.

Mr. Atakora noted that he has been in the school for past ten years and there has not been a single renovation on the buildings and appealed to government and others to come to our aid.

From Richard Owusu-Akyaw, Mampong-Ash
MATTOON -- Kentucky native Kelly Prescott, who is blind, recently completed his studies at Lake Lake College and has been establishing his IT consulting service locally. Prescott's guide dog Bella, which he trained himself, has been with him every step of the way.

Prescott, 45, said he has been blind since birth due to retinopathy of prematurity, a disease that occurs in premature babies when oxygen used during neonatal care damages their retinas.

As adulthood approached, Prescott said he decided to pursue a career in computers because this field interested him and offered the opportunity to work with technology that assists those who are blind.

Prescott said this technology now includes eReader textbooks, cellphone apps that scan and read aloud text, and much more. He said many of these advancements have been made possible with open-source software, in which the copyright holder gives the public the right to modify this software.

"I would not be able to do much of the things I do today without the open-source software that I use," Prescott said.

For several years now, Prescott has been putting his personal experience to work as an open-source IT consultant. Prescott said he now provides IT security services to help small businesses protect their systems, general computer assistance, and backup and disaster recovery services for digital files.

Prescott said he married Sarah (Allison) Prescott of Mattoon three years ago and relocated to her hometown, where she works at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.

While settling into Mattoon, Prescott began looking for a replacement for his first guide dog, Inga. He said this boarder collie/German shepherd mix died in 2014 at age 14. Prescott said he found Bella at the Coles County animal shelter, adding that some observers considered her to be "out of control."

"That kind of drive translates into very good working ability," Prescott said. He added that, "I have to give her a lot to do or she gets antsy."

Bella has natural herding abilities from being an Alsatian German shepherd, Prescott said. Bella has been adept at using these abilities to trace routes through the familiar environments of Lake Land's campus and unfamiliar places such as professional conferences, he said.

Prescott said he trained both Inga and Bella to serve as guide dogs. He said training his own dogs enables him to customize the services that they provide for him.

Bella accompanied Prescott as he began pursuing an associate's in information technology with a focus on network administration at Lake Land.

Scott Rhine, who is an IT instructor/program coordinator at Lake Land, said he was worried at first that Prescott would have a difficult time in the information technology courses due to being blind.

However, Rhine said he found that Prescott was more knowledgeable about the course curriculum from the start than most students and excelled as the work got more advanced. He said Prescott deftly used eReaders and other technology to keep up with assignments and tests in his classes.

"(Kelly) has been a phenomenally excellent network administrator," Rhine said. The instructor added that, "He is exhausting to keep up with. That (open-source IT) is his passion."

Rhine said Prescott's passion will serve him well in front of the classroom, noting that he is arranging for Prescott to teach a class on Linux open-source software resources. He said Prescott is an administrator for a Linux operating system tailored for those who are blind.

Prescott earned his associate's from Lake Land in December with summa cum laude academic honors and is scheduled to take part in the commencement ceremony in May with Bella by his side. Rhine said Bella has always been well behaved in the classroom and on the rest of campus while serving Prescott.

"I have been impressed with both of them," Rhine said.
The trucks evacuating the refuse

24.02.2017 LISTEN

The chiefs and people of Whindo, a farming community in the Kwesimintsim Constituency, can now heave a sigh of relief, after their Member of Parliament (MP), in collaboration with the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) Waste Management Department, cleared a huge refuse dump in the area.

The cost of the evacuation of the refuse, which is estimated at GH7,000, is being born by the MP, Joseph Mensah.

Currently, a sum of GH5,000 has been given out from the pocket of the MP as part payment to the contractor evacuating the refuse.

The refuse dump, which has grown to the height of a storey-building, is reported to have been in existence for the last 35 years.

This was made known by the residents of Whindo when the Western File, together with the MP and his team, inspected progress of work, which is going on steadily.

Considering the stench emanating from the refuse dump, this has come as a huge relief to nearby residents.

Joe Mensah told this paper that he decided to finance the evacuation of the refuse dump from his own pocket due to the numerous appeals from the people of the area.

According to him, he received a complaint from the chief of the area to consider helping the community evacuate the refuse dump, because the stench emanating from it was unaccommodating.

Joe Mensah continued that considering the appeal from the chief, he decided to treat it with urgency hence his decision to finance the evacuation.

He said though he had no access to the Common Fund (CF), he considered the appeal a pressing one, hence his decision not to wait for money from the Common Fund.

For now, MP Joe Mensah said the STMA Waste Management Department is helping to evacuate the refuse by supplying some trucks for the exercise.

A resident of the area, Madam Matilda Ansah, who was at the site, expressed her heartfelt appreciation to the MP.

According to her, the refuse dump has remained so for the last 35 years.

Another resident, who also walked up to the site of the refuse dump, told the MP in the face; Thank you for making my hometown beautiful.

Compiled by Alfred Adams
A leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has contradicted comments by members of his party who oppose contents of President Nana Akufo-Addos recent State of the Nation Address.

Enoch Teye Mensah, a former Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, says the Presidents address on Tuesday adequately reflected the true state of the nation.

Anybody who wants to debate it here doesnt know what he is talking about, he said in an interview with online news portal Ghanaweb.

This view is in sharp contrast to the position of members of the opposition NDC, who see the Presidents address as merely an exercise to present a downbeat assessment of the economy.

During a presser shortly after the Presidents maiden address, the NDC Minority described the presentation as fraught with inaccuracies and untruths.

Nana Addo created an omission when he said charity begins at home, but failed to utter a word on the Bimbilla clashes, so we remind him that it is not just about what happens elsewhere but in his backyard. He is concerned about developments in The Gambia, and we are also concerned about the insecurity in Bimbilla, and we have already put them on alert that let nobody come tomorrow regretting that there is an incident in Bawku or in Yendi and now we are coming to single out life and property to be lost.

I think they must act on their intelligence. We heard practically nothing about Brexit and its implications on our trade relations with the UK. On health, he only decided to talk about the NHIS. The President was more on 'statement of problems' than suggesting solutions, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, had said during the press conference.

General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiediu Nketia, also criticised the President for proposing to implement policies he condemned during the previous John Mahama-led administration.

Johnson Asiedu Nketia

However, in a short one minute and forty-four seconds video, the former Ningo-Prampram legislator sought to defend the President, arguing that the presidents address was without fault.

It was fantastic. This is his maiden address to the nation and he touched on all the salient points, said E.T. shortly after the Presidents address in Parliament.

E.T. Mensahs pronouncement is a divergence from Ghanas political culture where members of a political party are wont to support the position taken by their parties on any matter.

Watch the video below.



Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | [email protected]
Some chiefs in the Northern Region have declared their unflinching support to the Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed.

The Chief of Tamale, Naa Dakpema Dawuni Alhassan, Gukpegu Naa, Alhaji Alhassan Abdulai and Lamashegu Naa, Ziblim Abdulai among others,expressed their excitement about Salifu Saeeds appointment.

They however implored the regional Minister to act as a unifier and galvanize all citizens in the area for constructive purposes.

Salifu Saeed,who officially took over office on Thursday January 23, 2017, paid courtesy calls on some traditional leaders, the clergy, and later interacted with party supporters.

He assured citizens of quality leadership desirous to fight poverty and youth unemployment considered as the regions commonest enemies.

He pleaded with the citizens to be law abiding and liaise with his administration and law enforcement agencies to sustain peace and unity that are missing in some identified areas of the the region.

Salifu Saeed appreciated the role of development partners in the regions transformation and promised to build cordial relations with them.

He said the Nana Addo-Bawumia led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is committed to fulfill the partys 2016 campaign promises.

He is scheduled to visit the overlord of Mamprugu, overlord of Gonjaland, the Dagbon Regent among other traditional leaders in the region.

He is touring the region with party bigwigs including the regional Chairman, Daniel Bugri Naabu, regional chief Scribe Sule Salifu, and Chairman of the NPP regional council of elders, Alhaji Musah Mima.



By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Paris (AFP) - Haunted by indelibly painful memories, deprived of schooling and strangers to their own families -- for former child soldiers returning to normal life is often as tough as being in combat.

They face daily battles that can last years as they piece their lives together.

"I had nightmares long after being freed. I had flashbacks of fighting in the bush," says Alhaji Sawaneh, a 30-year-old from Sierra Leone.

Forced to fight from the age of 10 with Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front, Sawaneh recounted his experiences to a Paris conference that focused on the estimated 246 million children living in conflict zones worldwide.

Some 17,000 child soldiers have been recruited since 2013 in South Sudan and roughly 1,500 in Yemen since 2015, according to data published this week by UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund.

In Nigeria and neighbouring states, the Boko Haram Islamist group recruited an estimated 2,000 child fighters last year alone.

Sawaneh says he bore arms for two years before UN peacekeepers rescued him in 2000.

A group of children stare at arms, handed in by 40 youngsters in Medellin, Colombia, during a disarmament initiative in 2009

A child protection agency took him under its wing and has been trying to locate his family.

"That is our priority -- to reconnect a child with his family is the best means of reintegrating him into society," explains Crystal Stewart, child protection advisor with an NGO, the International Rescue Committee.

Yet that process can prove time-consuming.

"When they are kidnapped young they don't necessarily know where they are from or how old they are. That sometimes requires painstaking research," added Stewart.

In the meantime, former child fighters are fostered, but Sawaneh said his hopes of finding a loving environment were soon crushed.

"My foster family made me work at home. I was like a slave," he said.

"But I harboured a dream -- to continue with my studies."

Eventually, he managed to secure a grant to go back to school.

'Stigmatised'

Yemeni artists work on a mural as part of a campaign to end the recruitment of child soldiers by tribal militias, in the capital Sanaa, in 2014

Studying was likewise what kept Alberto Ortiz going. The young Colombian hailing from a poverty-stricken family decided at the age of 12 to join the FARC rebel movement in a bid to escape his miserable surroundings.

"I thought I was going to solve all my problems and help my family financially," said Ortiz, now aged 22, who was also at the Paris conference.

"They (the FARC) told me if I'd had enough then I could leave -- but I found I was caught in a trap."

After three years he managed to escape and is now being aided by a government programme.

But family links have been severed.

"My father and my mother died during my absence. The other members of my family no longer wanted to talk to me. They were afraid of me."

Ortiz, now studying finance at Santiago de Cali university, also finds society shuns him for his past.

"People such as me are stigmatised. I only told my story to one friend. Nobody else knows," he added.

Helping former child fighters to recover their confidence and reintegrate into their communities is a long, drawn-out process.

"Former child soldiers can be rejected or killed because they have committed violence," explains Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's emergency programmes director.

The organisation is trying to convince local religious leaders, who have some influence over their followers, to welcome former fighters back into society.

"But it takes time," Fontaine adds.

Following the conference in Paris, Tunisia, Kazakhstan and Myanmar joined 105 other countries who have already signed up to principles and guidelines drawn up in 2007 on child fighters and their social reintegration.

In the ensuing decade, more than 65,000 children have been rescued from armed forces and armed, according to UNICEF, even if thousands of boys and girls remain in their clutches.
A ranking member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs has called on the African Union to intervene in the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says the attacks pose a great challenge to the security and economic advancement of the continent.

The MP for North Tongu told Joy News the close to 30,000 Ghanaians living in the southern African country are currently safe.

Many Black non-South Africans working in Pretoria will be on high alert as preparations are underway for a demonstration to express opposition to their presence and activities in the country.

Okudzeto Ablakwa

Mr. Ablakwa suspects the demonstrations could degenerate into attacks on Ghanaian nationals and other West Africans in the country.

Our immediate concern has to do with this march that the South African authorities have not been able to call off. At this point would have to take a serious view of this matter and assist the South African authorities to really nip this in the bud, he told Joy News.

He was, however, confident arrangements put in place by Ghanas mission in the country would forestall attacks on Ghanaians.

So far the arrangements that have been put in place appear quite adequate. They [Ghanas mission in SA] have put out a hotline and they are in touch with the Ghanaian associations in various regions of that country, the MP said.

In 2015, 7 people died in riots and looting of businesses run by foreigners in Johannesburg and in Durban.

South Africa suffered the most deadly wave of xenophobic violence in 2008 that left 62 people dead.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | GN
After 22 years of dictatorship, the great people of The Gambia are (almost) free. I say almost free knowing there still remains work to be done to sanitize the governing and security system that entrenched the dictatorship for over two decades. It took a lot of sacrifice from countless number of brave, relentless and courageous Gambians to bring about this liberating sense of political and social freedom. Heroes and patriots, the likes of the late Hon. Koro Ceesay, the late Calisco Prera (a former classmate), the late Solo Sandeng, the late Deida Hydara, the missing (presumed late) Chief Ebrima Manneh and of course our living legends; Halifa Sallah, Ousainou Darboe, Pa Nderry Mbye and the likes who had to involuntarily leave the country they so love without knowing if they could ever return, the servicemen who paid the ultimate price attempting to rid the Gambia of the Jammeh menace and many more I cant name here. I and many Gambians at home and abroad owe all of you, our gratitude.

This is not to say others not mentioned here have not made sacrifices to bring about the new Gambia. It is simply that I believe some were more equal than others. The sacrifices some these compatriots made, with no guarantees of success or expectations of been rewarded, is quite remarkable and ought to be highlighted prominently in any meaningful discourse.

To show this gratitude in word as well as in deed, I promise to offer myself to the service of the nation now more than ever before. I personally went through a whole array of emotions since December 1st. But the underpinning emotion that I continue to feel is a great sense of patriotism, pride in country and strong willingness to serve. I remind myself often of what John F Kennedy said to his countrymen in his 1961 inaugural address Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. In this spirit, I wish to begin by making certain observations of the present political, social, media, economic and security situation in The Gambia today.

I strongly believe that every measure including coercion should be taken to maintain the coalition as one wholesome body with all the players given their due stake on the way forward. Especially when it comes to choosing and deciding on the mechanisms and approach with regards to filing in candidates and contesting the VERY crucial national assembly elections slated for April 6, 2017. At least until the end of the 3 year Transition Period in the best interest of the country .This task will be made easy if the stakeholders feel adequately represented in the new Cabinet. That is why I am encouraged with the 5 new Cabinet Ministers to be chosen yesterday and look forward to see the trend continue when it comes to qualification and experience given the highest consideration in the last 3 posts, namely; Vice President, Minister of Petroleum and Minister responsible for the very critical Energy sector. No wonder why His Excellency, Adama Barrow is commendably and painstakingly doing his due diligence in the selection process. I urge him to be sensitive to the concerns of the less visibly represented partner in the coalition so far (i.e. PDOIS) into strong consideration, but do so without sacrificing the obvious need to fill these positions with Gambians who undoubtedly possess the highest competence, honesty and expertise to be able to effectively deliver to our people and nation. In the same light, I believe banning, censoring without due cause or harassing the disgraced APRC party or their militants and supporters should be avoided lest it will be a mistake and can even backfire. In that regard, I want to thank the Minister of Interior Hon. Mai Ahmed Fatty and the police for showing restrain in dealing with the incident in Kanfenda, West Coast Region and for booking and immediately granting bail to the juveniles caught up in the fracas. Lets follow the Rule of Law and show a good example in how new Gambia deals with its citizens.

On the social front, I am encouraged by the initiatives that are been taken to bring about social reconciliation especially after what we all collectively went through in the past two, three months. Our communities, villages, towns, cities and Regions urgently need healing and re-orientation. Some of these communities were totally destroyed from within due to the misappropriation of local political powers some of which were horned and earned for generations for cheap political expediency by the former government. In some cases, long serving traditional rulers, such as Alkalos, Seyfos were fired. They were replaced with political appointees who neither understand the history of the people, nor earned their trust. These misguided actions caused a lot of quite conflicts within the populationsome not so quiet, such as the Alkaloship drama in Kuntaur Fula-Kunda and Salikenni in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Some of these issues need to be handled with care to avoid exacerbating the political divisions that still remain and could widen further if not adequately and tactfully resolved by the new Minister of Local Government and Lands. Community and in some cases private properties forcefully and illegally confiscated by members and agents of the former government for selfish personal gains and those sold for profit must be recovered, returned to their rightful owners or in some cases adequately compensated. In this regard, I applaud the new government for setting up a commission to make sure these matters are investigated.

President Adama Barrows pronouncements of a free media and promise of a media friendly government is highly commendable. The media as is often said is the Fourth Estates of any democratic Government. The role of the media is establishing and maintaining good governance is as important as that of the Judiciary. The state of any media in a country truly reflects the political, economic and other condition of the citizens. A free and vibrant media in this new Gambia therefore, will truly reflect the New Gambia. In this spirit, I call for the urgent review of all draconian media laws and the introduction of those that reflect the true state of our new dispensation. I call on the Media (Gambia Press Union) to self-regulate by coming up with codes of conduct that guard against unprofessional acts and usurpation of the reclaimed freedoms. Much is expected of you, the vanguard of freedom of expression.

It has now been confirmed that the Jammeh government had betrayed the public trust in the management of our Treasury. D48.3 Billion in Debt, less than 2 months of import cover, parastatals in financial ruins and a slowing economic base due to mismanagement, endemic corruption and totally dereliction of duty. I agree that this is perhaps the tip of the iceberg as the Finance Minister indicated. A total and complete audit of the books is therefore needed in ascertaining the extent of the damage. The government should employ the services of an external audit firm (preferably one based in the Gambia) to augment that which the Auditor General of The Gambia should already be required to do in order to balance the books. All findings must then be forwarded to a Commission of Enquiry. The recommendations of such a commission will then form the bases for possible legal actions against those found to be wanting and the eventual recovery of these monies. In addition, the government can seek the help of the United Nations, EU, US and other international partners and agencies for facilitate the tracking and recovery of those funds that are expatriated outside of our jurisdiction.

Finally, I happen to belief the new Government have a daunting security challenge. Since the unceremonious departure of Yaya Jammeh, we have been hearing some unsettling news coming out of Gambia of personnel of our Armed Forces seizing Mosque keys, making requests on behave of the Armed Forces to the former exiled dictator for food rations etc. These actions, which clearly constitute a violation of Code of Conduct, resemble insubordination and if found to be true has to be addressed forth whit, to maintain order. The Chief of Defense Staff, Army Command, National Security Adviser, all have a responsibility in maintaining discipline and order within the security forces. A clear chain of Command needs to be established from the President and Commander in Chief to the private soldier given the truly civilian nature of the new government. This will help assure a truly Civilian Control of the Military as envisage. This cannot be truly accomplished without re-orienting the entire Armed and Security Forces to this important doctrine especially after what we had for 22years. This is in fact a quasi-military government.

In conclusion, the Gambian people can never allow nor afford what happened in 2004 be repeated. That was the gradual and systematic erosion of the rule of law induced by our maslaha and nang-deloo-njugal mentality. There cannot be sacred cows when it comes to the rule of law. There cannot be a reward system based on political expediency or who did what during the struggle. We must all ask ourselves what John F Kennedy reminded his countrymen in his 1961 Inaugural address: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. With this concept in mind, lets put aside all personal political interest and work towards building a durable foundation for a resilient democracy that our kids and grandkids deserve and can be proud of.

#MyTribeisGambia#GambiaHasDecided#OneGambiaOnePeopleOneNation#ForwardEverBackwardNever.

Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnonymousDaPatriot/
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah warned his administration will make no room for sycophants.

Mr. Osei-Mensah, speaking with staff of the Regional Coordinating Council, noted that, in his bid to undertake government policies and programs, I will not entertain any character that may be an impediment in my way.

My President is in a hurry to fix the country and restore its glory, so Im also in a hurry to make sure we succeed togetherwe must work for the forward march of this region.

The newly appointed Regional Minister met staff of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating council, as part of efforts to familiarise himself with all staff for an effective and efficient administration, during his tenure of office.

Mr. Osei-Mensah, lamenting on lackadaisical attitudes which often impedes growth, added that his administration will totally relinquish characters that will cripple what I intend doing for the region and country.

He assured all staff of his readiness to work with them in a free and open system, and further promised to give maximum respect to them, urging all to do same.

The Regional Minister had earlier met the Regional Security Council for a formal introduction.

He had also served as a guest of honour at the Annual Review of Ghana Health Service on his first day at post.

At the Annual Review held on the theme Efficient Financial Management-A Tool for Achieving SDG3, Mr. Osei-Mensah entreated the management of the GHS to ensure prudent use of their internally generated funds.

He assured them of governments unrelenting support towards the health sector and charged health officials to work assiduously in improving health conditions of all residents in the region.



By: LaurettaTimah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
There have been reports of calls from some National Democratic Congress members of the Ashaiman constituency to their Member of Parliaments, Ernest Norgbey, to drop his lawsuit against the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Madam Otiko Djaba at the Supreme Court.

The Ashaiman MP together with the MP for Juaboso Constituency, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, filed the lawsuit seeking to revoke Madam Djaba's appointment due to her failure to undertake the mandatory national service.

Gender Minister , Otiko Djaba

The MPs have since come under several attacks with some groups in Ashaiman demanding the withdrawal of the suit or face their exit from the National Democratic Congress.

But Mr. Norgbey has said he remains resolute in his legal action, in addition to the fact he thinks the protests against his suit are politically motivated by persons in the New Patriotic Party who may not even belong to the Ashaiman constituency.

Speaking in an interview with Citi News, those who are doing the press conferences and other thigs are not known NDC people. They are all NPP people who may never vote fo the NDC at any given point in time. This is politically motivated. They are not confirmed citizens of Ashaiman as they have termed themselves to be.

In the meantime, the MP said his case was still at the Supreme Court and that we are still waiting for the court to give us direction.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Dear IGP Mr David Asante-Apeatu,

I am moved by the recent police-cum-military brutalities inflicted on my fellow Kumawuman citizens in Kumawu-Bodomase to publish this open letter for your attention. I am Mr Rockson Adofo, a subject of the Kumawu Kodua Stool but for the past many years residing in Europe.

On Thursday, 16 February 2017, the Ghana Police Force of which you are currently the national head, in complicit with some armed military personnel, proceeded to Kumawu-Bodomase with intent to assault Kumawuhene Barima Tweneboa Kodua V and his elders.

From an interview granted to the media, I heard the then Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer ASP Mohammed Yusuf Tanko, say, on radio that the police picked up intelligence that there was going to be a clash between the supporters of the two rival Kumawu paramount chiefs at the late Kumawu Akyempemhene Nana Okyere Krapa IIs funeral scheduled to take place from Wednesday, 15 February 2017 until Saturday 18 February 2017. He went on to say that on the records of the police, there is only one paramount chief in Kumawu and he is the person of Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua who has sworn an oath of allegiance to Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and has subsequently been gazetted. Therefore, they had to go to Kumawu to stop the otherwise most publicly recognised and accepted rival strolling around as Kumawuhene.

In carrying out their intention, they assaulted not only Barima Tweneboa Kodua V and his elders but also, the entire retinue of mourners that were in procession with them to the funeral ground. They destroyed the kingly umbrellas which were over him and his sub-chiefs. They fired both plastic and live ammunitions as well as tear gas into the crowd and into the air as warning shots.

A video clip of the incident has since gone viral on the social networks; WhatsApp, YouTube and the Ghana internet news portals as well as being aired on the ABM television network in the United Kingdom.

The late Kumawu Akyempemhene Nana Okyere Krapa II was not only one of the sub-chiefs owing allegiance to Barima Tweneboa Kodua V but also, he was Barimas father by the Ashanti/Akan extended family tradition. Therefore, there was no way that Dr Yaw Sarfo, the other Kumawuhene going by the name Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, was going to attend the funeral. He had not been invited to the funeral as either Kumawuhene or a private citizen. He had not served notice to the bereaved family that he would be attending the funeral. How then was a clash going to take place between the two chiefs and their supporters at the funeral? How, when and where did the police pick up their intelligence as asserted by ASP Tanko?

If there was going to be a clash, do the police have to take sides or stand in-between to prevent the fight from taking place in the first place? Do the police now act as kingmakers, deciding who is a chief and who is not? Did the police have any orders issued to Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua from the courts indicating that he is the sole Omanhene of Kumawu and that any other person conducting himself as Kumawu Omanhene must be arrested or molested? Who ordered the police and the military personnel to move to Kumawu-Bodomase to commit that heinous assault against Barima Tweneboa Kodua V and his elders and the sympathising mourners come to pay their last respect to the late Nana Okyere Krapa II, Kumawu Akyempemhene?

Although police brutalities do at times occur in the civilized Western world, when they do happen, they get investigated and when the officers are found guilty, they get punished with a sack or imprisonment.

Did your police officers have any court warrant to forcibly resist Barima Tweneboa Kodua V from attending the funeral as a chief? In all the countries that I have lived in or visited in Europe, the police cannot force entry into ones apartment/house without a court warrant unless the situation relates to murder, Class A drugs, dealing in illegal weapons, and involvement in terrorism and acts of treason.

What dangers did he attending the funeral with umbrella over him pose to the Kumawu-Bodomase community hence warranting the police and the soldiers to inflict various degrees of injuries on the mourners and themselves (police) as a result of their unprofessionalism?

I am sorry to say a court action could likely be brought against the police for acting in bad faith.

Finally, the Divisional Police Commander in Effiduase Ashanti is alleged to have instructed the assaulting police to shoot and kill Barima Tweneboa Kodua V claiming it to be an order from above. Would you please investigate this claim to establish who gave him that order?

The perpetration of police intimidation with intent to cow the citizens of Kumawu traditional area from having the person of their choice as their paramount chief will not wash no matter what power from above is behind it. We are not living in a dictatorial regime but a democracy where the rights of citizens are respected.

I look forward to seeing what you could do to prevent the repeat of the unfortunate near-fatal incident that took place in Kumawu-Bodomase on Thursday 16 February 2017, as was masterminded and orchestrated by the police and the military.

Yours Faithfully,

Rockson Adofo

Dated: Friday, 24 February 2017
Written by Sir Article, Founder and CEO of Sircle Communications.

Heavy traffic is obviously commonplace in many capital cities around the world, and Ghana's capital city is no exception at all.

It is one of the most annoying problems in Accra, Ghana's capital city. It has always had adverse effects on national productivity, and that is quite difficult to quantify in monetary terms.

But I am not a resident of Accra or any of its environs; satirically speaking, I do not really wish to be one just because of heavy traffic.

I actually live in Sekondi-Takoradi, the most exciting place to be.

Well, as a very young and passionate entrepreneur, I usually make business trips to Accra. Yet one thing that really infuriates me is the traffic congestion in Accra, the capital city of Ghana.

Surprisingly, it nearly cost me a huge opportunity that is currently projecting my personality into true fame.

Alright, I had a magnanimous appointment at Okay FM  a radio interview on Abeiku Santana's drive time show two days ago. I was told to get there before 3 PM. I tried to beat traffic in Accra, but I inevitably failed.

Why? I got stuck in vehicular traffic when I set off from Tema Community 5 to Abeka Junction in Accra.

I reached the Peace FM building at approximately 2:55 PM; the host and the whole crew were furious with me because I was late, and they almost cancelled my interview. No amount of excuse could suffice to appease them.

Besides, I never cursed the traffic jam that almost ruined my great chance on a well-known Ghanaian radio station.

I actually learnt something profound from my entire experience of the traffic congestion in Accra. My lessons emanate from motivational philosophy and are worth sharing.

Before I delve into the 5 inspiring lessons the traffic jam in Ghana's capital city has profoundly taught me about life, I should enlighten you on the thought-provoking significance of the traffic light.

My ambitious friend in UCC, Henry Amedume, actually first drew my attention to what I am about to assert.

Okay, the red traffic light, in motivational philosophy, teaches people that they would be delayed in their journey towards success, so that other people could move on too.

For example, I have still not launched and sold copies of my motivational book to the general public  it means my red light is still on. Yet know a few young writers who have published, launched and started selling their books.

The yellow traffic light actually tells us to prepare to move on in life as we pursue our aspirations when the red light, i.e. circumstancial delays, is already on.

And the green traffic light really inspires folks to go forward, move on, or make progress when they are working on emerging successful in life. Most importantly, we should expect to get delayed by the red light in this enjoyable process.

So the next time you see the traffic light, you need not think it was an invention by J. P. Knight and Garrett Morgan to regulate road transport. It actually goes beyond its mechanical functions; it also has philosophical functions.

Now back to the lessons.

(1) The traffic jam in Accra has taught me to struggle to survive competition. Traffic congestion in Accra is like the survival of the fittest. As a driver, you ought to fight your way through tens and even hundreds of stuck vehicles to make progress in your journey.

(2) Also, have real patience. Impatient people would always complain about the messy nature of heavy traffic in Ghana's capital city. If you can't wait for several minutes in traffic because the red light is on, you can't wait for years to succeed in life when your success has delayed.

(3) Moreover, be really smart  that is what I have learnt from vehicular traffic in Accra. It is good to struggle to survive competition and also have real patience. But without the application of smartness, you may take much time when you could wisely reduce your time. Smartness in Accra's traffic congestion includes setting off very early to avoid rush-hour traffic, and using approved shorter roads to avoid heavy traffic.

(4) Again, don't rush to stay ahead. This is a very important lesson we should learn from Accra's traffic congestion. Does it make point three void? No, this point actually modifies the preceding point. In fact, life is really not a race though people make it look like a competition. If someone's green light is on and your red light is on, you should not worry or even feel envious. For very soon, the other person would be shown the red light and you would enjoy the green light. Remember, if you overlook the red light and rush to stay ahead, you would cause an accident which could harm you physically.

(5) Focus and always be alert. That is a thoughtful lesson to note. When the yellow light is on, or even when the red light is on, you just have to be alert and focused in order to go forward just in time after the green light shows up. Or else, you would be overtaken by others since you seem to be less serious.

Therefore, whenever you stay in vehicular traffic anywhere in Ghana's capital city, you should simply reflect on the inspiring lessons I have graciously shared today.

Source: sirarticle.blogspot.com
CHARLESTON -- A man was taken into federal custody this week on charges that he planned to sell methamphetamine.

Jason R. Vandal had been charged with delivery of methamphetamine in state court in Coles County but that case was dismissed in favor of the federal prosecution.

Vandal, 39, for whom court records list an address in Arthur, formerly of Mattoon, was reportedly found with more than an ounce of methamphetamine and more than $1,000 when he was arrested in Mattoon on Jan. 15.

He pleaded not guilty to the Coles County charge on Jan. 30 but that case was dismissed during a pretrial hearing on Tuesday, the same day he was taken into federal custody.

Federal court records show that a grand jury returned an indictment against Vandal on Feb. 8, charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

Vandal then entered a not-guilty plea to the federal charge during an appearance in federal court on Wednesday. His next hearing was scheduled for April 10 and his trial was tentatively set to begin on April 18.

The Coles County charge against Vandal would have required a prison sentence of at least six years with a conviction. The possible sentence on the federal charge would depend on a number of factors that would be determined were Vandal convicted.

Coles County Circuit Judge Brien O'Brien dismissed the state court case at the request of State's Attorney Brian Bower. County Public Defender Anthony Ortega represented Vandal.

Records in the Coles County case indicate that officers with the Mattoon-based East Central Illinois Task Force drug investigation unit observed Vandal in a vehicle and stopped him because of an outstanding arrest warrant.

After the methamphetamine and money were found in the vehicle, Vandal was questioned and admitted that he was selling the drug, the case's records say.

Records show that Vandal was also accused of delivering methamphetamine in Coles County in March 2014 and he was sentenced to prison when he pleaded guilty in that case in January 2015.
Parliament, an arm of government through its regular sittings plays roles that are crucial to our democracy, as such; these roles cannot be compromised for anything. Parliament and members of the house including the Speaker and his deputies form the legislative arm of Government. The legislative body is however the arm of Government solely responsible for law making. The Members of Parliament who in simple acronym are termed MPs are responsible for making laws to protect the ordinary Ghanaian from all sort of injustice

The parliamentary system practiced in Ghana was modeled entirely after the Westminster system probably because the Great Britain was our colonial master from 1821 till we finally gained our independence in 1957, with a prime minister, who was head of government and a president who was head of state. With time, changes have been made. The fourth republican parliament consequently is characterized by the multiparty, hybrid system which gives room for the appointment of more than half of the ministers of state from parliament, a role in governance among other features. I would like to however give a brief description of the roles of parliament and how crucial these roles are to national development and in protecting the integrity of the state. Four of Its functions are stated below;

Law Making:

The most important function of legislature is law making. Ordinary Bills can be introduced by the members of the Parliament or be sponsored by the executive. The Legislative body of the governance process is the machinery that provides room for monitoring the activities of especially the Executive. The law making functions of the house makes parliament very relevant in the democratic system since they are the representation of the 22 million Ghanaians. In the absence of a well constituted Parliament, the country cannot consider any bill for passage. Their acceptance or rejection of a bill however has both economic and social impacts on the country.

Control over the Budget:

The legislature has control over the budget of the executive (Government) and without its approval, the executive cannot spend even a single pesewa (the smallest denomination of the Ghanaian currency). In view of this, the legislature can in the same way, reduce governments proposed expenditure in a budget if it finds it overambitious. Parliament has the duty of also ensuring that budgets passed by the house are spent judiciously as budgeted for.

Oversight Responsibility:

Parliament reserves the right to ensure that the executive does not abuse its responsibilities, rights and powers accorded them in the constitution. Parliament also has the right to summon the executive to the house for questioning. The Parliament can remove the president, who is the head of the executive through a vote of no confidence. The Parliament can appoint a committee to investigate the affairs of the ministers. The parliament also Vet Ministerial appointees by asking them questions in relation to their appointment and how they intend executing their duties.

Amendment of the Constitution:

Lastly, in every democracy, the power to amend the constitution rests with the legislature of that country. If a clause or a part of the constitution seems to be unrealistic to justice and violates upon basic human rights and freedoms, the legislative body or parliament is responsible for deliberating and amending that part of the constitution to ensure it protects its citizens.

In executing these duties and functions, the Constitution stipulates fairness on the part of Parliamentarians and existing bodies within Parliament.

We are quick to state that, Parliament is the wheel to Ghanas growth and development and as such, the most powerful Arm of Government.

Soon after the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President, H. E Nana Akuffo Addo appointed Ministers Designate for consideration by Parliament. Now there is a hullabaloo surrounding the vetting proceedings which has to do with bribery allegations whispered on Radio Gold Fm by Hon. Mahama Ayariga, Member of Parliament for Bawku central leveled Minister Designate for Energy, Mr. Boakye Agyarko and the Members of the Appointment Committee. This scandal surrounds Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu, 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Chairman of the Appointment Committee in Parliament and Member of Parliament for Bekwai Conatituency in the Ashanti Region who has denied this allegation. In the same manner, Hon. Muntaka Mubarak, Minority Chief Whip of Parliament, Ranking Member of the Appointment Committee and Member of Parliament for Asawase in the Ashanti Region has come out to deny same allegation swearing on his faith, been the wheel of distribution of the said bribery monies to members of the Minority on the committee.

How much was the alleged bribery money? Its GH 3,000.

But, this is not the first time the legislative arm of government has being brought to a greater disrepute. In the year 2014, the Former Majority Leader and Former Minister of State, Hon. Alban S. K. Bagbin, MP, had stated that MPs receive bribe. The statement, captured in an audio recording and in transcript, is widely available on the internet and on social media. From the recording Mr. Bagbin revealed that MPs are also bribed by governments to vote for unpopular government policies. He pulled no punches and missed no words: at least there are some members who take bribe. And sometimes some governments, both sides, they are coming with some policies to the House that are very, very controversial; that even their members disagree with them. And they have had to influence the members through this bribery.(MPs Take Bribes: Bagbin Confirms 2014)

Prof. Stephen Adei and Hon. P. C Appiah Ofori, all alludes to same allegations of Parliament engaging in bribery.

Parliament and or its working bodies have a huge task to redeem its image by proving to the very constituents its members represent, the nation and the world at large that it is a House of Law and not Bribery. The outcome and image redemption is what the Hon. Joe Gharteys Committee sorts to achieve. But whichever way the outcome, as would be established by the bribery committee, still remains an indictment to Parliament, where it would be seen as concluded that;

Truly, there was bribery either given by Hon. Boakye Agyarko through Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu to Hon. Muntaka Mubarak or distributed to Minority Members to approve the nominations of the Minister Designate for Energy.

Truly, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, lied on the said bribery allegation which supposes that The House of Parliament is composed of Hon. Members who lie their way through on the floor of the House.

Its disgraceful, defamatory to members of Parliament, bad signal to the globe and shameful on the good image of the Legislating body and Ghana as a sovereign State. We believe the actors in the bribery saga deserve a severe punishment.

Parliament is a House of law and Honor and must be regarded as such.

NEVER AGAIN SHOULD BE THE WAYFORWARD



EAGLE EYE INTERNATIONAL
ACCRA, 23 February 2017  The Sanitation Challenge for Ghana (SC4Gh) team has announced a new website to promote the urban sanitation innovation Prize.

Conventional interventions have failed to solve the sanitation crisis facing over 85% households in Ghana. To address this, the SC4Gh was launched in 2015, with a particular focus on urban liquid waste management. The challenge offers prize money worth GBP 1.426 million to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), who develop and implement the most innovative solutions to increase access to sustainable sanitation services for all urban households.

The new website, sanitationchallenge4ghana.org - offers better access to information and updates about the contest, information on the 17 MMDAs that have reached the 2nd phase of the challenge, frequently asked questions, and a compilation of approaches and tools for implementing liquid waste management strategies.

Speaking on the launch of the website, Vida Duti, the IRC Ghana Country Director said:

We are excited to be part of this inducement prize for MMDAs, working with government as the local implementing agent of the SC4Gh. Stage 1 (Duapa Awards) of the contest was hugely successful with 48 entries and 21 MMDAs winning awards. Stage 2 (Dignified City Award) of the SC4Gh, which focuses on implementation of liquid waste management strategies, is in progress as planned with 17 out of the 21 MMDAs vying for the ultimate prize. IRC will continue to support Ghana towards the achievement of its national WASH vision; To provide sustained and appropriate water and sanitation services to all citizens by 2025. My hope is the redesigned website and its resources will contribute to this.

Be part of the innovative solution and join the campaign that rewards excellence in urban liquid waste management strategies. Welcome to the new SC4Gh website!
A total of 365 hotel chain development pipelines were reported in Africa in 2016, with 64,231 rooms. This is according to a report by the W-Hospitality Group; that provides advisory services in the hotel, tourism, leisure, and real estate industries to investors. This is a record 29.2% increase, from the 2015 numbers of 270 hotels and 49,715 rooms in the pipeline activity.

Furthermore, a JLL hotel research (Jones Lang LaSalle) predicts an investment of $1.7 billion in 2017, in hotels in Sub-Saharan Africa with $1.9 billion more in 2018. This is expected to increase the hotel rooms in the region from the current approximate of 257,000.

Swimming pool by the luxury resort hotel buildings: Image by Kaspars Grinvalds

Africa's continuous economic growth is incessantly attracting both domestic and international investors due to extensive business opportunities. The hospitality industry is a major beneficiary of these investments because of its lucrative nature, a factor that explains the increasing development of hotels.

A rising middle class especially concentrated in urban areas is also a contributor to the expansion of hotels in the continent. It is estimated that by 2030, Africas top 18 cities are likely to have combined spending power of $1.3 trillion. This will prompt more Africans to travel, internationally and domestically, as a result of growing disposable income, thus the need for more accommodation facilities.

However, even with the continuous growth in the hotel industry, the tourists demand in Africa surpasses the provision of accommodation. Data by UNWTO shows that Africa received 58 million international arrivals in 2016, with the number expected to grow further in coming years. The growth is not only influenced by the rash for investment, provision of affordable travel by travel agencies, and flexible visa requirements, but also the fact that major airlines have expanded their direct flights to most African countries.

Moves by travel stakeholders such as Jumia Travel to capitalize on this demand and offer diverse travel services including hotel booking, packages, and the just launched flights , is an assurance that the influx of tourists to Africa is only bound to go higher. Therefore, hospitality providers especially hotels have a huge gap to fill in meeting the consumers at their point of need and demand. The biggest challenge will perhaps be striking a balance between quantity and quality, as the new generation of travelers shifts focus from generic products to more customized and personalized experience.

Credit: Josephine Wawira
The former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh stole far more money from the state than previously thought, the new government has alleged, leaving the country with a monstrous debt of more than $1bn.

The autocratic former leader of the small west African country siphoned off at least $50m from social security, the countrys ports, and the national telecoms company, according to two senior ministers in new president Adama Barrow s government.

Jammehs private jet was bought with $4.5m (3.6m) taken from the state pension fund, they said. Many Gambian pensioners have been refused their pensions or given less than they are entitled to in recent years, despite having worked for the government all their lives. Some receive just $5 a month.

Jammeh was voted out of office after 22 years in power in December . He initially accepted the election result but changed his mind and refused to leave office or the country .

Under intense pressure from other African presidents and a regional military force positioned on the Gambias borders with Senegal, he finally fled to Equatorial Guinea in late January, taking a fleet of luxury cars with him.

It is unclear where the money allegedly taken by Jammeh is being held, if it has not been spent. Gambian ministers said they were relying on donors to help them pay salaries and would pursue Jammeh for the money, even if that meant going to his bolthole.

This is grave. The economy is in severe distress, said the interior minister, Mai Fatty. During the impasse I made mention of $5m. But that is just a drop in the ocean compared to what the ministry of finance revealed.

This is a reflection of the gross mismanagement of our economy by Yahya Jammeh and his APRC government. Their conduct amounts to total betrayal of the Gambian people, leaving behind them a monstrous debt of 48.3bn dalasis [$1bn].

As the minister of interior, I have a responsibility to ensure that all those mismanaged public funds are recovered. We will swing into action without any delay. And ministry will leave no stone unturned, if we have to go to Equatorial Guinea, we will.

Jammeh made rampant use of executive directives to obtain cash from state entities, he said. Close aides including Saul Badjie, commander of the republican guards, would allegedly take these executive directives and use them to make withdrawals.

More than $50m in income meant for Gamtel, the state telecoms company, was diverted to two accounts at the countrys central bank, which were then emptied of all but about $111,000, the minister of finance said.

Jammeh in his Hummer. He fled to Equatorial Guinea in January, taking a fleet of luxury cars with him. Photograph: Jason Florio/Corbis/Getty

About $67,000 from the ports authority was allegedly used for Jammehs private activities, including on gala dinners and T-shirts for his supporters, as well as payments to farmers working on his land and to his hospital, where he claimed he could cure HIV .

As well as money spent on the former presidents plane, it is claimed that another $40m was taken from the pensions fund, though it is not clear where all of it went.

Momodou Bajo, a pensioner in his 80s who worked for the Gambias public works department for more than 25 years, receives $30 a month, more than many, but struggles to get by.

I have a family to feed. I cannot buy a bag of rice from my monthly pay. Three years ago, social security officials came and asked us about our situation. They promised that they were going to increase our income. But nothing has since been done, he said.

We will never forgive Jammeh for taking our money. We worked hard for this country, built roads and spent days and nights in the bushes.

Amadou Sanneh, a political prisoner under Jammeh who was appointed finance minister the day after he was released from jail, said there was still much work to be done before the government could ascertain the full extent of the theft.

There are other accounts that we have not investigated. We have to pursue every angle, every public enterprise to establish the grand total, he said. The end of month is coming. But we will be able to pay salaries. The donors have expressed willingness to give budgetary support. Thats for our short term needs and with that help, we will be able to sustain the government afloat.

He said Jammeh had left the country with only $615,000 in international reserves.

Their conduct amounts to total betrayal of the Gambian people, he said, referring to Jammehs party, the APRC. This is a truly an APRC disaster  in human rights, politically, fiscally, and monetarily, economically and financially.

President Adama Barrow will take all steps and measures to ensure that all lost, stolen and misappropriated assets are returned to the Gambian people.
The MTN Ghana Foundation has collected 2,551 pints of blood at its sixth annual Save a Life blood donation campaign, exceeding its target of 2,017 pints.

The annual exercise gives staff of MTN and the general public the opportunity to show love on Valentines Day by donating a pint of blood each. This years blood donation exercise had 12 bleeding centres in all the 10 regions of Ghana.

The blood collected went directly to the National Blood Transfusion Services, 37 Military Hospital, Ridge Hospital and respective regional hospitals. At the end of the exercise, the following number of pints were collected from the various regions:

Greater Accra (MTN House & Graphic Road) 243

Western (Tarkwa & Takoradi) 322

Central (Cape Coast) 220

Volta (Ho) 95

Eastern (Koforidua) 207

Ashanti (Kumasi & Ejisu) 364

Brong Ahafo (Sunyani) 307

Upper East (Bolga) 253

Upper West (Lawra & Wa) 204

Northern Region (Tamale) 336

TOTAL 2551

Commenting on the exercise, the Executive Director of the MTN Ghana Foundation, Mrs Cynthia Lumor, said the exercise was a huge success and we owe it all to our partners and the benevolent donors who came to the various bleeding centres to participate in the exercise. We believe that as a result of this exercise we have been able to save many lives over the years and we are gratified at the support and collaboration we have received from well-intentioned partners and donors.

The MTN Ghana Foundation instituted the annual blood donation exercise, dubbed Save a Life campaign, in 2011 to support the restocking of blood at select blood banks. The program was initiated by MTN staff as part of the companys corporate social investments activities. Since the inception of the exercise, over 6,302 pints have been collected. The blood donation exercise was also initiated as part of MTNs interest in health.

In recognition for its efforts, the MTN Ghana Foundation was adjudged the highest corporate blood donor in 2013, second highest corporate donor in 2014 and one of the highest corporate donors in 2015.
Pretoria (AFP) - At least 300 people gathered for an anti-immigration march in the South African capital Pretoria on Friday, as President Jacob Zuma condemned xenophobic violence that has targeted shops and homes.

Tyres were burnt in streets near Pretoria in the morning, as tensions rise between some South Africans and migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere.

Shops and homes owned by foreigners have been looted and torched in recent weeks, with some locals alleging that the properties were brothels and drug dens.

Zuma called for restraint, saying in a statement that there had been "threats of violence and acts of intimidation and destruction of property directed at non-nationals."

"Residents in some communities blame non-nationals for the escalating crimes especially drug trafficking," the presidency said.

He called for South Africans not to blame migrants for the country's widespread crime problems, but said the government would crack down on drug-dealing and illegal immigrants.

The violence prompted Nigeria to summon South Africa's top envoy to Abuja on Thursday to raise its concerns.

Attacks against foreigners have erupted regularly in recent years in South Africa, fuelled by the country's high unemployment and poverty levels.

In the last week, more than 20 shops have been targeted in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, while residents in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, attacked at least 12 houses.

"We have decided to not to leave the house (during the anti-migrant march)," Alain Bome, 47, from Democratic Republic of the Congo who has been in South Africa for 14 years, told AFP.

"We know very well there have been attacks. We are scared because we know South Africans."

In 2008, South Africa experienced its worst bout of xenophobic violence, which left 62 people dead.

In 2015, at least seven people died in similar unrest in Johannesburg and the Indian Ocean city of Durban as African immigrants were hunted down and attacked by gangs.
24.02.2017 LISTEN

All the labour laws in Ghana forbid the security services particularly the police, the military and the prisons for using strikes and demonstrations to register their displeasures in addressing labour grievances. The labour Act 651 is crystal clear on that.

Any of such actions is termed as mutiny and a threat to national security and must be brought under control as quickly as possible because it can lead to civil unrest. It is on record all over the world, in places that the security personnel used violence means to address their grievances led to cases of excess forces where in some cases government were toppled.

Those governments that learned their lessons have since prioritised the needs of their security personnel to avoid possible instances of mutinies. We must also learn from from them.

I dont really know whether mutiny is a substantive criminal offence currently in Ghana since section 187 of Act 29/60 describes abetment of mutinous act by people who are not subject to military laws but not military officers themselves. In some countries, the punishment for mutiny is death. In Nigeria, very recently and during the insurgence of Boko Haram, 12 soldiers who became known as Miaduguri 12 were convicted to death after they were proven guilty by a court to have mutinied. In Britain, it was until 1998 that death penalty for mutiny was abolished. There are several examples of them and tells how mutiny is grievous.

What our laws are not really clear on, is whether mutinous act can be treated as just administrative disciplinary measures in the military and other security services or a criminal offence triable by a court of competent jurisdiction. I am still researching on it so I will not conclude for now .

During the military administrations, the court of marshals had the power to pronounce death sentences on mutinous soldiers after proven guilty but in present day Ghana, it is only a court of competent jurisdiction that can pronounce a death sentence on a person. Even if mutiny is a criminal offence with death penalty, it must be exercised under a court of competent jurisdiction.

The reason why these security services are barred from going on demonstrations and strikes is due to the fact that these are arm wielding institutions and considering the fact also that our beloved country Ghana had come out from successive military cum police coups not too long ago. The country is recuperating and still counting some of the losses that came with coups. It is therefore expected that that the needs of these security services be properly met in order not to destabilise the peace and stability of this country in their attempts to press for better conditions of services.

All the security services are classified as essential service providers. Here, one can conclude that, it is the services being rendered by these security personnel that are essential but not the security personnel and their welfare per se. It is what they do that matters but not who does what. No one wants to discuss the topic of security services embarking on demonstrations and strikes as an alternative means of addressing labour disputes but the fact is that have we as a country and people prioritised the needs of our security personnel as far as their welfare is concerned? Have adhered to the tenets of the constitution on how our security personnel should be equipped and maintained?

The laws again forbid these security services from forming unions which can make them have a united front to press for better conditions of services. In the landmark case of CEPS vrs National Labour Commission, the Justices of the Supreme Court in a majority decision of two-three ruled that CEPS has the mandate to form or join trade union of its choice due to the function they perform which is largely tax collection. Per the same ruling, our Justices set the terms categorically clear that the police, military and prisons cannot form or join trade unions also due to the functions they perform.

How then did the law framers expect the grievances of members of these security services to be address collectively since methods or channels of addressing grievances laid down in these services are designed for individuals? No group of security services members can come together and call for their grievances to be addressed as we have been seeing by the members of organized labours and other unions.

What must they do then?

In the spirit of good fate, the law entrusted the welfare of these securities service in the hands of their administrative heads and the government. The law is very instructive on how the needs of these securities services should be prioritised to avoid incidence of mutiny. Article 200 (3 ) for instance is very instructive on how the police should be equipped and maintain to maintain law and order by imploring the use of authoritative modal verb "SHALL " which is binding and very obligatory.

As to whether the government and the various administrative heads of the security services are committed to the welfare of our security personnel is something else despite their pronounced commitment to the welfare of our security personnel. What the IGPs, CDS, Director General of Prisons and others should know and be constantly reminded of is to prioritise the needs of their personnel first before any other thing. There is seem to abuse the laws that prevent security officers not to go on strikes. The best they can at times tell you is "KEEP QUIET AND SUFFER".

It was widely believed and said that during the term of Paapa J as the president of the Republic, he asked an IGP that what does he think can be done to improve the working conditions of the police personnel at the time? The IGP interestingly answered Paapa J and said "my boys are ok. They need nothing ". In fact the president was surprise to hear the IGP telling him that his boys are ok despite plethora of challenges confronting the service at the time.

Provision of descent accommodation, uniforms and booths as well as accoutrements for security services behoves on the heads of these security services. It is their duty that security personnel are well protected, maintained and equipped before performing any statutory duty.

Since members of these security services are not allowed by law to demonstrate or go on strikes, our collective bargaining power have been vested into the hands of heads of our security services to dialogue with government to ensure that our welfare needs are prioritised all the times but if you have an IGP who can tell the president that "my boys are ok" because he is ok, then one day we are likely to have members of security services using other unconstitutional means to address their concerns as it is currently happening in Cote Dvoire . Especially when some of us are being killed by armed robbers because we are not properly protected.

I am very sure in Cote Dvoire, there is equally laws preventing soldiers from mutinying with the hope that their welfare needs will be addressed but after they realized that the laws are disappointing them, they have devised other means to address their concerns which is raising eye brows. Laws are mere letters written down until human beings act on them. Those in authority must live according their mandates particularly our heads of security services.

We in the police have the C.I 76 otherwise known as Police Service Regulations 2012 which has been enacted to regulate the conduct of police officers as well as our welfare prescriptions. The C.I 76 was rushed through and passed because it protect the interest of few who are pending retirement leaving young ones like us who have some 30 years more to serve after serving some 8 years already. All the allowances listed in the C.I 76 which are supposed to bring financial reliefs to the ordinary police are inconsistent with Fair Wages and Salary Commission policies on salaries and allowances. Now it is a big problem to have the C.I. 76 fully implemented but interestingly, the punitive aspects are being enforced to letter.

The law didnt forbid members of the security services not employ demonstrations and strikes to address their concerns to enslave them. No !. The law believes that the needs of our security personnel will be prioritised. The problem is the people who are supposed to take care of our welfare as security personnel. They are hiding behind the screens that security officers are not supposed to demonstrate or go on strikes but the question is, what would make properly trained security officers in Cote D'Ivoire go on demonstrations. May be we should conclude that situations in Cote Dvoire are different from Ghana.

For us in the police service, the constitution is very instructive on it that, the police service SHALL be equipped and maintained to to perform its traditional role of maintaining law and order. That is what the law says and what the constitution says is authoritative and binding.

Take note of the the modal verb "SHALL ". It is instrctive, authoritative, commanding, binding and very obligatory.

The law assumes our needs and conditions of services will be prioritised by the government and our administrative heads that is why we our not allowed not go on demonstrations and strikes. If there is a problem, it is not the law but rather those who have been entrusted by the law to cater for our needs who seem to be very disappointing.

Ahanta Apemenyimheneba Kwofie III [email protected]

#Ahantasdiarries_24_02_17

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
Pretoria (AFP) - South African police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to break up clashes between local protesters and migrants in Pretoria on Friday at a march against immigration.

Shops and homes owned by foreigners have been looted and torched in recent weeks, with some South Africans alleging that the properties were brothels and drug dens.

Attacks against foreigners have erupted regularly in recent years, fuelled by South Africa's high unemployment and poverty levels.

Police in Pretoria formed lines to keep apart 500 protesters as tensions rise between some South Africans and migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere.

"We are fed up with people bringing drugs to the youth and the crimes that go with it," said a South African marcher who declined to be named.

As the stand-off continued, Clement Melfort, 26, a migrant from Zimbabwe who had come to see the march told AFP: "We are not afraid of fighting."

President Jacob Zuma condemned the latest wave of xenophobic unrest, saying that there had been "threats of violence and acts of intimidation and destruction of property directed at non-nationals."

"Residents in some communities blame non-nationals for the escalating crimes especially drug trafficking," the presidency said in a statement on Friday.

Zuma called for South Africans not to blame migrants for the country's widespread crime problems, but said the government would crack down on drug-dealing and illegal immigrants.

'We are scared'

In the last week, more than 20 shops have been targeted in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, while residents in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, attacked at least 12 houses.

"We have decided to not to leave the house (during the march)," Alain Bome, a 47-year-old from Democratic Republic of the Congo who has been in South Africa for 14 years, told AFP.

"We know very well there have been attacks. We are scared."

In 2008, South Africa experienced its worst bout of xenophobic violence, which left 62 people dead.

The Nigerian government this week called for the African Union to step in to stop "xenophobic attacks" on its citizens in South Africa, claiming 20 Nigerians were killed last year.

South African authorities dismiss such numbers, saying many violent deaths in the country are due to criminal activity rather than anti-immigrant sentiment.

In 2008, South Africa experienced its worst bout of xenophobic violence, which left 62 people dead.

In 2015, at least seven people died in similar unrest in Johannesburg and the Indian Ocean city of Durban as African immigrants were hunted down and attacked by gangs.
A 12-year-old Primary 5 pupil has allegedly been raped and killed by suspected armed robbers at Kpalsi, a suburb of Tamale in the Northern Region.

The Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), ASP Ebenezer Tetteh, who confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, said his outfit received a call that there was a robbery incident and dispatched a team to the place.

According to him, when the police got to the scene, the robbers had fled and it turned out to be not just robbery but also a homicide.

He indicated that the police were suspecting that the deceased was raped and killed by the robbers.

The body of girl has been deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital morgue pending autopsy.

ASP Ebenezer Tetteh disclosed that investigation at the hospital revealed that there were some traces of blood and semen on the private part of the deceased.

No suspects have been arrested by the police yet but they suspect that the distressed minor might have recognized one or some of the criminals and so they decided to kill her.

He called on the public to volunteer information to the police to apprehend the suspects.

DAILY GUIDE learnt that normally after school, the girl goes home, changes her uniform and goes to her parents' shop.

Eyewitnesses said at about 1pm, the parents of the deceased, realizing that their daughter was not at the shop as usual, decided to go to the house to find out if she was there.

According to them, the parents went home only to find their daughter dead in the room with blood around her private part.

FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale


Mercy Debrah

24.02.2017 LISTEN

The President has appointed yet another woman to a critical position in his government.

She is Mercy Yvonne Debrah Karikari, who has been appointed the Secretary to Cabinet.

A statement issued at the presidency, Flagstaff House under the hand of Eugene Arhin, acting Director of Communications yesterday said, pursuant to Article 76(3) of the Constitution, the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has appointed Ambassador Mercy Yvonne Debrah-Karikari as Secretary to the Cabinet, effective February 14, 2017.

She thus becomes the first woman in the country's history to be appointed to that position.

Ambassador Mercy Yvonne Debrah-Karikari is said to be a career diplomat with several years in the diplomatic service.

Until her appointment, she was Ghana's High Commissioner to Australia, with concurrent accreditation to New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and other countries in the Pacific region.

She joins the list of women the President has appointed to key positions, which have often been occupied by their male counterparts just like Frema Akosua Osei-Opare, who is the first woman to be appointed Chief of Staff in the country's history.

Of the 36 persons appointed by President Akufo-Addo to various ministerial positions in his government, 10 of them were women; Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey-Foreign Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama-Local Government, Cecilia Dapaah-Aviation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful-Communications, Gloria Akuffo-Minister of Justice, Catherine Afeku-Tourism, Otiko Djaba-Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mavis Hawa Koomson-Development Initiatives, Grace Afoley Quaye- Fisheries.

The number represents 27 percent of the ministerial appointees.

The NPP, in the 2016 Manifesto, promised to appoint at least 30 percent of women into public office.

The NPP, under the Kufuor-led administration, in demonstration of the importance of women and children in the society, set up Ghana's first Ministry for Women and Children's Affairs. Today, the NPP remains committed to gender equality and children's rights and will work assiduously to achieve the appointment of women to at least 30% of available public office positions, the party said under its Women Empowerment and Children's Rights Section of the Social Development chapter of its Manifesto.

With just 37 ministerial appointments, the President seems to be on course to fulfilling his campaign promise of ensuring that women will feature prominently in his administration.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent
Kofi Yamoah, Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), has commended government for planning to list the country's power companies  Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)  on the Accra Bourse to raise the needed revenue locally to finance their operations.

Speaking to BUSINESS GUIDE in an interview yesterday in Accra after a presentation by afb Ghana at the 'Facts Behind The Figures' session, Mr Yamoah said: I was very much excited and glad that it came from the highest person of the land. And I want his ministers to take a cue from it so that going forward we will begin to sound as we said and then implement it.

The Minority in Parliament kicked against government's plan to list the power companies on the GSE after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made the announcement in his maiden State of the Nation Address on Tuesday.

They also said if these companies are privatized, power tariffs would escalate.

But the GSE MD explained: If they become profitable and they get listed, it's also an opportunity for pension funds which we all contribute as workers so that these pension funds can invest in very profitable companies and ensure the security of pensioners going forward. So I see it also in that context that yes we must put profitable companies on this market, make it available for pension funds probably to invest in it and ensure the security of pensioners.

Mr Yamoah added that: It is also a way of making the market develop generally.

Brain nerves of the economy

There was also an argument that the power sector formed the brain centers of the economy and therefore privatizing these companies would be a dicey one.

But Mr Yamoah averred: As far as I am concerned, the brain for the economy in terms of GDP includes the likes of the cocoa, mining and financial services, particularly banks and insurance companies. The cocoa sector is liberalized. We have more than 20 licensed buying companies, and so if a brain sector like cocoa is liberalized, and you have private sector in it, then it stands no reason why you're saying that electricity is the brain centre of the economy so it shouldn't be privatized.

Financial sector

We have the financial services also as brain centres. There are 32 banks and counting, 26 general insurance companies, and these are all privatized and they are operating in this country.

The mining companies are private companies and they are operating in this country. They afford us one of key revenues in terms of foreign exchange. So if we have all these sectors that are also called brainy for the economy, privatized and operating already, then what is so brainy about power companies that we cannot put them on the market?

I discount those ideas. For me it's a way of making these companies much more efficient and consumers will be better off if these companies are much more efficient.

Foreigners' participation

Touching on this general area, Mr Yamoah disclosed that as a country we have not addressed that well.

Some of us have even advocated the fact in many of these sectors we need to make the companies there public and listed so that the general Ghanaian public can invest. Pension funds that we all contribute can also invest. That way, when dividends are being paid then part of those dividends remain in this country.

It's an advocacy that we have talked about but which we don't find some of our colleagues in other sectors supporting us but it's something that is very key. If we allow many of these banks, many of these mining companies, telecoms companies to be owned by Ghanaians, then the dividends that are due to those who are resident in this country will be paid in cedis and will remain in this economy.

It is unfortunate that when we speak about this advocacy of letting certain sectors of the economy be made to list on the stock exchange, we don't get the support, but I hope that this signal by His Excellency the President may be extended to such areas.

[email protected]

By Samuel Boadi
Nana K. Agyepong, General Manger of Co-Operative Unions Association (CUA) Ghana, has called for the amalgamation of small Co-Operative Credit Unions in the country to make them a stronger force in the financial sector.

He said the strength of co-operative credit unions lay in its numbers.

Mr. Agyepong disclosed that currently there were over 500 mushroom co-operative credit unions in the country, some of which have membership of 150.

The CUA General Manager disclosed this while speaking at the 9th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Ghana Revenue Authority's Co-Operative Credit Union (GRACCU) in Accra yesterday on the theme: 'Re-Inventing for Layers of Opportunities.'

He said GRA, for instance, has a number of credit unions in the country, adding that its current growth of 20.4 percent was impressive.

Mr. Agyepong said managers of credit unions would soon go through a pre- qualification training in order to enable them handle the funds of their members.

The CUA General Manager, however, urged the union to increase its loan portfolio, which currently stands at 46 percent of its assets to about 70 percent.

John Nyarko, Acting Registrar at the Department of Co-Operative Societies, in a keynote address, said GRACCU is one of the promising credit unions in the country, adding that it is a safe financial institution; it has quality products and services you can get from any financial institution and also trust.

Mr. Nayrko stated that Bank of Ghana was going to licence all co-operatives in the country, including credit unions.

He explained that nobody can operate without license from the Central Bank.

Godwin Aaron Monyo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Union, in an address, said efforts were underway to open satellite offices of the union at the Tema and Aflao collection points to bring the union closer to its staff in those areas.

[email protected]

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson


Political communication is not particularly different from other ways of using language. It is only sensitive and more political. Every one of us is, after all, a rhetorician. A mother cajoling her two year old son to finish his food is using rhetoric. Similarly, the government communications minister needs a bite of rhetoric to assure us that the President's extended stay in a foreign hospital is just a routine health check.

Communication (even before Marshall McLuhan predicted a global village) has ruled our lives, birthed our intentions and sometimes given us away. Quintilian identifies five steps of communication, which have come to be known as the 'canons of rhetoric': The whole art of oratory, as the most and greatest writers have taught, consists of five parts: invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery.

Missing cars

My friend Sam Leith, former editor of the Telegraph (UK), explains the sequence better: You think up what there is to say; you devise an order in which to say it; you light on the way in which you want to say it; you get all the aforementioned into your head; and then you take to your feet and let rip. The narration should have three qualities: brevity, clarity, and plausibility (Ad Harennium).

How did the Head of Communications at the seat of Government, Eugene Arhin, go about the matter of 200 cars being unaccounted for at the Presidency? The cars have been reported missing. The Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, had written to solicit public support in tracing the missing cars.

The communication on the missing cars has been very murky. Reactions from officials of the former government suggest that the communication bureau at the Presidency did not do all the necessary consultations before proceeding to issue the statement. This prompted the former Deputy Chief of Staff, Jonny Osei Kofi, to brand Eugene Arhin's statement as false, baseless and without merit.

Style and rhetoric

The former Chief of Staff said the claims represent a continuation of the distortions and the bad faith that have characterised the conduct of the NPP's side of the transition team. The Assets and Logistics Committee of the NPP Transition team, according to him, was given a detailed list of 641 as vehicles in the Presidential fleet. He adds that he finds it astonishing that Arhin claims the President has been compelled to use an old BMW car when there are new bulletproof Mercedes Benz cars available for his use.

Dear Mr. Government, can we please have better, fuller and more transparent communication? This is how a member of the OccupyGhana Movement reacted to some distasteful fallout from government communication. Some of the vehicles may have been bought cheap by their owners, as it's been the practice. We hear the chassis numbers of some of them have been tampered with. It's a veritable cocktail of truths, half-truths and near-truths. Are all 200 cars missing?

We have walked along this path before. We know what may have happened to the missing cars. We also know that they are not exactly missing. We are used to this kind of communication and we know the matter of the missing cars will eventually fizzle out. We also know we may walk this path again when another government comes along. It's our brand of politics which comes with its own peculiar rhetoric. We understand.

Context and stereotypes

What about our friends on the other side? Our words are more powerful and have timeless effect on people outside our context and our setting. When he heard about the missing 200 cars, a Canadian journalist who follows Ghanaian politics wrote to me to seek some answers. He had made similar inquiries when the Western Press lampooned our President over a few plagiarized lines in his beautiful inaugural address.

The same journalist told me years ago that former President Evans Atta-Mills had been nicknamed 'Mills est incorruptibles, French for 'Mills the incorruptible.' The world is interested in what happens in Ghana; they laud our good examples when we get it right. When we falter along the lines and hit below the standards we have set for ourselves, the world judges us and pin us down against our own standards.

When we get it right, we are marked good for following the best examples available elsewhere. We fit into popular stereotypes when we get it wrong, whereupon the earlier successes become a fluke or at best good efforts in the midst of many failures. Usually, we have to do twice as much or try a thousand times before we get it right. History has not been very kind to us, but we have proven that we have capacity to excel.

60th Anniversary

Take for instance the communication of the amount of money set aside for the celebration of our 60th Anniversary. We had been told that GH20Million will be spent and that the committee put together to plan the celebrations will be working for free. We had also been assured that the money will be paid by private and corporate stakeholders. We were not immediately told exactly what the money will be spent on.

We were left to fill the vacuum, guessing and suggesting activities and programmes that may be pursued. About a week later, the planning committee filled in the missing pieces at a press conference. Fuller and better communication would have carried us along with some idea of the details when the President made public the GH20Million figure. If you can tell us the price, then let's see the item.

It was all going well until the anniversary logo was tested. It is suspected that it bears a strange resemblance with the logo of the international cultural diversity. It has also been linked to the brand identity of an organization in India. This may not be plagiarism; it strikes me as a coincidence in concept development. We can pardon it.

Eugene Arhin carries upon his shoulders the unenviable task managing government communications. It is a slippery territory. He is not the official government spokesperson but he occupies an extremely sensitive position. He is up against an opposition that seeks to render his communication false, baseless and without merit. We can sell the message without messing up the messenger.

By Kwesi Tawiah-Benjamin
Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - The leader of Boko Haram's main faction, Abubakar Shekau, has admitted killing the group's purported spokesman over an apparent plot to oust him, he said in an audio recording obtained by AFP.

In the 50-minute tape of a meeting with the inner circle of his militant Islamist group, Shekau said he killed "Tasiu" -- also known as Abu Zinnira -- who appeared in several video messages.

"You should hear me: I killed Tasiu, hear me well," he told the gathering in Hausa, which is widely spoken across northeast Nigeria.

Shekau states the date of the meeting -- December 18 -- and said it had been called to discuss "those elements grumbling over the killing of Tasiu".

AFP received a copy of the recording earlier this month. The tape appears to have been meant for circulation only within the armed Islamist movement.

Shekau's claim appears to lend weight to reports of infighting within Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 in northeast Nigeria since 2009 and left 2.6 million homeless.

Leadership plot

Shekau has been the most visible face of Boko Haram over the years, claiming attacks and launching rambling, often barely coherent tirades against the government in a series of videos.

But Abu Zinnira has acted on occasion as de facto spokesman and appeared in video recordings, including those about the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the town of Chibok in April 2014.

He was always shown in military camouflage, wearing a turban and with his face covered.

In one video released in August last year, Abu Zinnira warned that the remaining girls still being held would die if troops attempted to rescue them.

He also renewed calls for the release of Boko Haram members in custody.

In the December audio recording, Shekau accused Abu Zinnira of plotting with another senior commander called Baba Ammar to take over leadership of the group.

He accused them of sending fighters to carry out raids without his consent, spreading rumours among his lieutenants that he intended to kill them and portraying him as unfit to lead.

Abu Zinnira and "other elements" had tried to make him out to the rank and file as being "not on the right track", Shekau added.

"Tell me, what is the punishment... for the people that plot against their leader?" he asked.

"By our code of allegiance we don't hesitate to pass appropriate sanction on any one of us that commit an offence."

'Devil's advocates'

Nigeria's military claims that Boko Haram, which in 2014 held territory across northeast Nigeria, is on the brink of defeat as a result of its counter-insurgency operations since early 2015.

Sporadic attacks and suicide bombings persist but analysts tracking the conflict have been intrigued by the apparent split in the group and how it may develop.

Last August, the Islamic State group, to which Shekau pledged allegiance in March 2015, announced that Abu Musab Al-Barnawi was now Boko Haram's leader.

Barnawi's father, Mohammed Yusuf, founded Boko Haram in 2002. He was killed in police custody in 2009, after which Shekau -- his deputy -- took over.

The Boko Haram insurgency has left millions of Nigerians threatened by famine

Shekau has rejected the change in leadership and maintained he was still in charge -- a position he reiterated at the December meeting.

Followers of the two factions have reportedly clashed while Barnawi has blamed Shekau's high-handed leadership style and his indiscriminate killings of his lieutenants for the split.

Ideologically, Barnawi's faction has opposed Shekau's indiscriminate targeting of civilians, vowing instead to hit "hard" targets such as the military and police.

Shekau in the recording denounced his detractors as divisive influences.

"Devil's advocates are at work, trying to instill doubt in the minds of our fighters after realising we are gathering momentum for real jihad," he said.

"They try to confuse whoever they see getting close to me and distance him from me, they are going about dampening the spirit of our fighters.
Secure Girls Talk is a free talk show event to bring young girls together for an evening of learning, sharing thoughts and networking. The talk will bring together about 150 ladies and resource persons. This event is targeted at female students at the various tertiary institutions in Ghana to help young female students SECURE and prepare them for a better future.

Secure Girls Talk is organized primarily by the Population Services International Ghana, the brand owners of Secure Oral Contraceptive and Protector Condom.

The maiden edition will be happening at the University of Ghana-Legon campus in partnership with University of Ghana, SRC on the 25th February, 2017 from 6pm to 9pm at the Institute of African Studies conference Hall, University of Ghana.

What to expect?

Learn about how to achieve personal goals in life without any unintended pregnancies becoming a barrier

Learn about the misconceptions of contraceptives

Learn about the importance of family planning

Learn about the secrets to successful long-term relationship.

The resource persons for the event are Mrs. Beatrice Dwamfour-Williams, Clinical Psychologist and Ass. Lecturer at the University of Ghana and Dr. Ameh Emmanuel, Obstetrician / Gynaecologist. The event will be moderated by Abena Nyamekye Owusu, a seasoned Broadcast journalist and TV anchor at GHOne TV.

This is an invitation only event. To request for a free invitation, kindly contact us Kofi  0556543296 Michael  0556543753 and Esinam  0200200240

Secure Girls Talk is supported by Population Services International Ghana. USAID and University of Ghana SRC. Stay tuned to #SecureGirlsTalk for social media updates and check out Secure Oral Contraceptive on Twitter | Facebook .

About Population Service International:

PSI is a global health organization dedicated to improving the health of people in the developing world by focusing on serious challenges like a lack of family planning, HIV and AIDS, barriers to maternal health, and the greatest threats to children under five, including malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition.
The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has commended the appointees of President Akufo-Addo for their show of great statesmanship in honouring and collaborating with their immediate predecessors.

The highest decision making body of Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Ghana particularly commended Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botwey, the Foreign Minister for hosting her immediate predecessor, Hannah Serwaa Tetteh and her deputy, Emmanuel Bombande to a send-off party in appreciation of their valuable services to mother Ghana.

The GPCC also commended Hon. Gloria Akuffu, and her immediate predecessor, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong for their display of political maturity and statesmanship in the name of mother Ghana at the ongoing maritime boundary dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast at the International Tribunal of the law of the sea (ITLOS) in Germany.

We believe that these positive attributes demonstrated by these illustrious daughters of our land must not be swept under the carpet but must be highlighted and shared so as to serve as positive examples to all others, the council noted.

This was contained in a communique issued by the council at the end of their annual national retreat to pray and deliberate on current national issues.

Support NPP Gov't

The council further encouraged Ghanaians to leave behind the rancorous of the elections and rally around and support the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration to deliver on the mandate and responsibilities that have been entrusted to them for the next four years.

It is our expectation that unity and a sense of nationalism, especially at the time when we are celebrating our 60th Independence Anniversary in a few weeks time will be our guiding principles in the years ahead of us as a nation,' the communique read.

The GPCC, however, raised concerns over the accusations and counter-accusations between officials of the current government and those of the previous government over the whereabouts of state vehicles and other assets and unlawful seizures.

The council believed that the setting up of the Office of the Administrator General and the coming into being of the Transitional Act would have put to rest this unending phenomenon of transitional excesses.

We strongly urge all sides to call a truce, let sanity prevail and allow the relevant state institution to address these in an orderly manner, the statement said.

The groups welcomed the decision by the Parliamentary leadership to set up a five-member committee to investigate the bribery allegation levelled against the members of the appointment committee and reaffirmed its commitment to work with other church councils to deal with the proliferation of false prophets.

We conclude by reaffirming our strong belief in the Ghanaian through the church of Jesus Christ, to rise once again to the challenge of nation building urging all to eschew all forms of negative attitudes that draw back national progress and sense of patriotism, the statement said.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri


Head of International Relations at Webster University, Ghana, Dr. Leonard Suransky, says the majority of presidents in Africa are bad leaders who are unfit to lead their countries to prosperity in the 21st Century.

He made special mention of Presidents Robert Mugabe and Jacob Zuma of Zimbabwe and South Africa, whom he said had worsened the plight of their citizens.

He also described Presidents Paul Kagame and Joseph Kabila of Rwanda and DR. Congo respectively as dictators who have manipulated the constitutions of their respective countries in order to perpetuate their rule against the will of their peoples.

Dr. Suransky disclosed this while speaking at a public lecture organized by Webster University Ghana on Wednesday under the theme: African Leadership and Development: 21st Century Challenges.

According to him, There are a lot of not-so-good African leaders; just a handful of them are good.

He condemned Mr. Zuma for allowing corruption to flourish in South Africa under his watch and also allowing the Gupta family of India to take over the country's economy in a scandalous manner.

The Gupta family has captured the South African state, he said.

Owing to greed Mr. Zuma, who accordingly has about 700 corruption charges leveled against him, has helped the Guptas in several ways in their corrupt undertakings, he added.

Reforms

Dr. Suransky called for free media and constitutional reforms across Africa to help address the leadership challenges facing the continent.

He contended that terrorism, water and environmental crisis facing the continent are directly due to poor leadership, which must be reversed in order to set the continent on the path of development and growth.

Followers Must Contribute

Dr. Akosua Darkwah of the Department of Sociology, University of Ghana (UG), in a presentation, urged citizens in Africa to rise up and demand accountability from their leaders.

In her opinion, for Africa to record any meaningful socio-economic developments, it will require a change of attitude among citizens on the continent.

The lecture, which was the fifth in the series of Webster University's quarterly public lectures, sought to provide an insight into ways in which African leaders, since independence, have failed to solve challenges facing the African continent.

It also sought to find out whether the current crop of African leaders have the vision, commitment and capabilities to move Africa forward through the implementation of sustainable solutions.

Webster University Ghana expressed the view that while the economies in Africa have been showing significant growth rates, there has been no commensurate improvement in the living standards of Africans in general.

BY Melvin Tarlue

[email protected]
Harmony Bobga Mbuton, president of Cameroons North West Lawyers Association, returned to The Stream on Al Jazeera this week, just over two months since the show originally explored the protests among his countrys English-speaking communities, who claim French-speaking President Paul Biyas government is treating them as second-class citizens.

The Stream host Femi Oke says that, since that show, The government of Cameroon has pulled the plug on the internet and banned public gatherings in the regions fraught with tensions. What started as strikes for bilingualism in the Northwest and Southwest territories have revealed very deep political divides that spread beyond language, culture and geography.

On The Stream in December, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Minister of Communications, promised negotiations but Mbuton says these broke down quickly. In fact, I was part of the negotiations that ensued and took place in Yaounde on 27-28 December 2016. The government had constructed the questions that had to be dealt with in the negotiation to suit their own purpose. We walked out of the dialogue and the next thing we heard was that they started arresting us, which is what forced me to flee from Cameroon, through Nigeria to here [Washington DC] now.

Mbutons wife and children are still in Cameroon, where he says, The situation is bad, comparing it to what happened in Rwanda when the genocide began.

He claims that people are being arrested and taken away, with their families unable to find out where. It is tipping into the point where the population is saying that even with their empty hands and sticks, they are ready to start providing resistance to protect themselves.

The media and internet blackout makes it difficult to verify claims like this; as Mbuton says, the internet ban has meant that the government has operated behind the curtains because there is no easy access to information within the territory anymore.

Mbuton says people are using smartphones to send images and information out to the world by traveling to the French-speaking parts of Cameroon where there is still internet, but its not flowing as it was.

Since the protests began nearly four months ago, Biya has signed a decree establishing a national commission to promote bilingualism and has addressed protesters several times in major speeches. At least several hundred protesters have been arrested. Some are being tried for terrorism for allegedly calling for secession of the Anglophone regions. They could face the death penalty if convicted.

Mbuton says the strike is ongoing and international protests are increasing. Even Cameroons recent victory at the African Cup of Nations was not enough to unite the country. The provocative move to go and show off the African Cup that was won by Cameroon was welcomed by ghost towns, says Mbuton. People abandoned the streets. Only the entourage from Yaounde was parading the streets  in military vehicles.



Earlier episode


A group calling itself the Coalition of Un-posted Allied Health Professionals has appealed to government to include in the upcoming budget, the financial clearance that will ensure their postings to the various public health facilities in the country.

On March 2, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to present the first budget of the Akufo-Addo government, which the over 500 unemployed allied health scientists will be monitoring to see if their wish will be granted.

The President of the coalition, Collins Agyemang, explained their plight, saying most of them have been waiting for postings for at least a year. For survival, they have been relying on family, he added.

We have been in the house for almost a year now we are done with our National Service, and are waiting for posting so we are pleading with the new government, as they are getting ready for the budget, to add our financial clearance in the budget so that we will get jobs.

For now we are being a burden to our families, taking small amounts of money from our parents every day as we wait for something to do and we are still waiting for our posting.

Mr. Agyemang expressed hope that after the reading of the budget, we can notice and be aware that we are part of those who will work this year.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The African Development Programme (ADP) has held the 2017 first Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (SPEFA) Forum for the Ga West Municipal Assembly in Amasaman with participants rating the assemblys service delivery as not so good.

The SPEFA forum, an educative public meeting took an innovative twist to get the citizens to experiment with critical tools in engaging duty bearers on issues that affected them. The Community Score Card was used to assess the service delivery indicators, and rating score of 1 to 5 with 1 being poor, 2=not so good, 3=average, 4=good and 5=Excellent and reasons for the score was administered.

Overall, all the service delivery indicators had a score below 2 (not so Good), ranging from a score of (1.3 to 1.8. District Average). Only two services (Responsiveness of public health workers in the district and Accessibility of Water) equaled the Not so Good score with a score of 2.3 and 2 respectively. The lowest score 1.3 was ease of obtaining building permit followed by 1.4 for Responsiveness of assembly staff to the needs of citizens.

In relation to the community/electoral areas, Okushibiade scored good for accessibility and excellent for quality of water. Manchie also scored excellent for access to information, responsiveness of public health workers in the district and ease of obtaining Business Operating Permit. Manchie again scored good for assembly education on local governance. Kuntunse community scored good for water and waste management related services.

Considering all the 11 indicators, Medie scored poor for all except Customer Relations of Waste Service Provider which had a score of 2. Fise-1 also score poor for all except Regularity of Waste Service Provider and Education on Local Governance which had a score of 4 and 2 respectively. Samsam Community score poor for all the 11 indicators.

Shockingly, the municipal capital (Amasaman) scored poor for 9 indicators, with Responsiveness of assembly staff to the needs of citizens and Ease of obtaining Business Operating Permit indicators recording a score of 2 and 3 respectively.

Computing the average scores per community/electoral areas, Medie had 1, Fise-1 had 1.3, Samsam had 1, Kuntunse had 2.4, Amasaman had 1.2, Pokuase had 1.7, Omanjor had 1.7, Okushibiade had 2.2, Manchie had 3, Afiaman had 2.1, Manhean had 1.6 and Fise-2 had 1.7.

From the above, it can be deduced that even though service delivery is generally not so good some areas such as Samsam, Medie, Fise and Manhean need serious service delivery improvements.

A section of participants decried the high level of apathy in the system as an impediment to development in the areas. For others it was a case of the negligence and failure of the authorities to identify its demarcated jurisdiction to generate adequate internal resources for the total development of the Municipality.

Participant from Manhean had this to say We know Manhean is under Ga West Municipal after authorities in Ga South revealed to us. Now we came to the Ga West office to pay our property rates the assembly rejected us. Against this background we think the Ga West assembly is not up to task

The Acting Executive Director of African Development Programme (ADP), Mr Charles Othniel Abbey noted that the Community Score Card (CSC), aims at strengthening citizens voice by creating a channel for direct feedback about a public services between service providers and service users. He also stressed that the process can also lead to quick and tangible results in terms of service delivery improvements, enhances community empowerment and helps build a trustful relationship between service users and providers.

Mr Abbey hinted this exercise is one of the best to track development in the future so we intend to conduct same by the end of the year, hopefully the 4th quarter to see how services have improved overtime. We will also share the finding and reasons for the score with the office of the assembly for them to have a clear feedback from the citizens on the services they are providing

The SPEFA program is a third component of the Local Government Capacity Support Project (LGCSP) with funding from the World Bank. It is coordinated by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) in 46 Metropolitan and Municipal assemblies in Ghana

The indicators used were: Responsiveness of assembly staff to the needs of citizens, Access to information.eg MTDP, AAP, budget. Waste Management-Regularity of Service Provider and Customer Relations of Service Provider, Access to good road and drainage in your locality, Responsiveness of public health workers in the district, Accessibility of Water, Quality of Water, Ease of obtaining Building Permit, Ease of obtaining Business Operating Permit and Assembly Education of community on local governance.

2017-02-24 133255

2017-02-24 133240
A former deputy Interior minister has urged President Akufo-Addo to tread cautiously in creating an office of Independent Prosecutor because it can become an uncontrollable monster.

James Agalga, during a debate on the President's State of the Nation Address, told Parliament the US experiment with the office of an Independent prosecutor showed some shortcomings which Ghana must learn from.

The creation of the office of Independent Prosecutor is part of the armoury of measures which President Akufo-Addo believes will help fight corruption, seen to be lacklustre due to political interference.

Explaining the rationale behind the move, Akufo-Addo told the BBC in January 2017, the office will be tasked with political crimefighting within government.

We have decided that we want to take the politics out of [the fight against corruption], so that the screams of witch-hunting and others will not arise, by establishing an office of a special prosecutor or somebody who will be independent of the executive and whose remit will be to investigate and tackle issues of corruption.

Hopefully, that person is going to be somebody who is going to command the respect of the society, and at the same time has an independent mind to make the decisions, he said.

There is huge public interest in this campaign promise and the seven-week-old government is expected to initiate the enactment of a legislation to create the office.

But touching on the subject in parliament, James Agalga said while he supports the move, it can cause 'havoc to the authority of the executive' if the prosecutor is overzealous and unaccountable.

He referred to warnings contained in a judgement delivered by US Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia in 1988 when the constitutionality of the law creating the office was challenged.

Scalia was worried that an "overzealous, unaccountable" independent counsel could pick his or her targets, and then prosecute them for even the most minor or technical offences.

Scalia was concerned that the appointed IP would weaken the authority of an elected Presidency, and expose the head of the executive branch to "debilitating criminal investigations".

His main argument is that the separation of powers into three arms of government could be disrupted by the creation of an Independent Prosecutor.

This is because the office reduces the power of the President exercised through the Attorney-General and hence violates the Constitution.

History has tested the two separate views in the 7 - 1 ruling on the US case and analyst have lined up to largely endorse Scalia's views.

President Bill Clinton who once described the law authorising the IP as a "foundation stone for the trust between the Government and our citizens" later found his government under seven separate investigations by mid-1998.

Twenty years after the independent counsel law was first passed in 1978, Congress declined to re-authorise the law after it expired on June 30, 1999.

Many say Scalia's views proved prophetic.



Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|[email protected]
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has said Ghanaians in South Africa are paranoid over xenophobic attacks in some parts of that country.

In Mamelodi, a suburb in Pretoria, there is general fear and apprehension within the various foreign communities including that of Ghana following a decision by a local to organize an anti-foreigner march today to protest at what he referred to as South African nationals being tired of enslavement and being deprived of job opportunities in their own country, she added.

She told Ghana's Parliament on Friday that, although no Ghanaian has been affected in the recent attacks, her outfit has adopted stringent measures to ensure the safety of Ghanaians living in South Africa.

There have been recorded cases of attacks on non-South Africans in recent times.

Tensions have heightened in that country following a group calling itself Mamelodi Concerned Residents notice of organizing a march today, Friday, in protest of what it said was foreigners taking over their businesses.

Several calls by leaders in South Africa as well as opinion leaders for calm have proved futile.

Photo credit: BBC

A similar incident occurred in South Africa in 2015.

The Foreign Affairs minister further disclosed to the legislators some safety measures Ghana's mission in South Africa had put in place:

The mission has visited many shops owned by Ghanaians in the sunny suburb of Pretoria informing them of the development and the need to activate all early warning signals using social media groups to provide information in case of any attacks.

[Ghanaian]Pretoria shop owners have been directed to close their shops immediately the threats are deemed as eminent.

The Ghanaian community in Mamelodi where the march against foreigners will take place today have also been advised not to open their businesses today and remain indoors while awaiting all clear signals from community leaders and the mission.

The mission has also written a note verbale to the department of international relations and corporation requesting their continued protection of Ghanaian nationals and all non-South African nationals as well as their businesses.

The mission in addition to its official numbers introduced a 24-hour mobile hotline that can also be accessed via social media including Whatsapp and telephone. The number is exclusively for any information relating to the xenophobic attacks and so far we have had a few calls.



By: Godwin A. Allotey & Sixtus Don Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
All 24 suspects arrested by the Ashanti Regional Police Command for allegedly attacking a lady alleged to have stolen money, have been granted bail.

The lady, who was accused of stealing 1,100 from a shop owner at the central business district of Adum in Kumasi, was captured on camera being beaten and stripped naked.

Some 24 suspects were subsequently arrested in connection with the incident.

But Citi News' Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Lauretta Tmah, said all the 24 suspects who were arrested on Wednesday morning were were granted bail today [Friday].

Explaining reasons for their release, Lauretta Timah said : A police enquiry bail has been granted to the accused persons within 48 hours of arrest to enable the Police conduct further investigations so this is the reason why all 24 were granted bail.

Asked whether the suspects were screened before they were released, Lauretta said :  all the suspects were taken to the CID for screening.

Giving details on the whereabouts of the victim, Lauretta said as at the day she made the formal complaint, she was given medical forms to fill and since then the Police say she has not yet returned so as at now; we don't know her whereabouts.

Police also said that she was directed to go the Komfo Anokye Hospital, and no case of theft has been reported. The police say they will not do anything if the victim does not turn upThey will decide on whether to follow up on the case or not.

Various groups and individuals have since condemned the incident, describing it as barbaric and unconstitutional.

The Gender Minister , Otiko Afisa Djaba also condemned the act and asked the Police to deal with the culprits.



By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @EfeAnsah
Newmont Ghana Women and Allies Network have donated GH45,742 to lead anti-breast cancer campaigner, Breast Care International (BCI) at a short ceremony at the Peace & Love Hospital, Baatsona, Spintex Road, Accra.

The cash donation is to boost BCI's countrywide outreach programmes which are aimed at educating and creating awareness about breast cancer through free breast screening.

Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addai, President of BCI and CEO of Peace & Love Hospitals, said the amount would bolster the campaign, and was highly appreciative of Newmont.

The Chairperson of the Accra Chapter of Women and Allies, Newmont Ghana, Neringa Berzinkaskaite, and the Chairperson of the Akyem Chapter, Elizabeth Hazel, were unanimous the donation was in line with their corporate social responsibility in reaching out to human centered organisations whose core objects were in line with those of Newmont.

They commended BCI for the sustained campaign against breast cancer, which they believe, had impacted positively on the public.

MTN/Arko Foundation

Elsewhere in the Ashanti Region, a delegation of MTN, led by the Manager of the Northern Sector, Afrakoma Baah-Obeng, has paid a courtesy call on Dr Wiafe Addai at the head office of BCI in Kumasi to familiarise themselves with operations of the facility and to explore ways of corporation between the two.

The BCI team, led by Dr Wiafe Addai, walked them through the various stages of breast cancer treatment and reiterated the urgent need to intensify the public education drive in a bid to reduce the incidence of the disease while fighting off ignorance and stigmatisation.

She charged corporate Ghana to assist BCI in whatever way possible to intensify the awareness creation exercise as poverty and ignorance combine to claim lives of some afflicted women.

A co-sponsored free breast screening programme by BCI and the Arkoh Foundation (an offshoot of BCI) at the Africa Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) followed the visit, and was at the instance of the Ladies Wing of the Harvest Chapel International, where Mrs Baah-Obeng doubles as the leader.

Dr Beatrice Wiafe-Addai stated that the primary consideration is to connect with schools and communities across the country for breast abnormalities.

The BCI outreach team encouraged the student population and its faithful to periodically examine their own breasts andreport any abnormality to health facilities for further examination.

She charged them to be ambassadors of the breast cancer public education programme and help spread the news that breast cancer is both treatable and survivable if detected early.


A SUSPECT teenage goat thief has been arrested and humiliated in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital.

The suspect, believed to be just 15 years old, was reportedly ordered to carry the goat around in public.

A picture of the teenage thief, carrying the stolen goat, had since gone viral on the social media.

The theft, according to reports, occurred at a place in the Asawase Constituency in Kumasi.

The teenage thief was said to have also stolen a motorbike in addition to the goat. The captors of the suspected thief, perhaps, wanted to humiliate him so they parade him in public.

Amid sobs, the teenager carried the goat from one area to the other in the community in broad day light.

Residents of the boisterous area were said to have lined up the road to catch a glimpse of the suspected thief.

Some of the people, who looked angry, reportedly rained insults and curses on the teenager, who looked calm.

Some of the people said cases of theft had increased in the area in recent times so they were happy the 15 year old had been arrested.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi


Authorities must ensure adequate protection for all refugees and migrants living in South Africa, amid the current protests in Pretoria and the escalating xenophobic tension and attacks in different parts of Gauteng Province, Amnesty International said today.

Two protests are currently underway in different parts of Pretoria, Atteridgeville and Mamelodi, against high inequality, poverty and unemployment. Another march is also taking place in the same area against xenophobia. A team from Amnesty International is on the ground monitoring developments, with spokespeople available for interview. The situation remains tense, with confrontations and violence occurring between the groups.

The situation in Pretoria is precariously balanced and could easily escalate into serious violence. To avoid a bloody and wholly unnecessary conclusion to this standoff, the authorities must take all measures necessary to ensure that violence does not escalate and to facilitate the assembly of those who are demonstrating peacefully, said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty Internationals Regional Director for Southern Africa.

The organisation believes that the latest spiralling xenophobic tension is being fuelled, in part, by longstanding police and criminal justice failures, including a failure to address toxic populist rhetoric that blames and scapegoats refugees and migrants for crime, unemployment and other social problems.

South African authorities have largely failed to address the outbreak of xenophobic crimes that has been seen in the country since at least 2008 and bring those responsible to justice. Failure to act upon this sends a worrisome message that such acts are tolerated by the authorities, said Deprose Muchena.

While respecting the freedom to express frustrations on socio-economic problems, the authorities have a duty to ensure effective strategies are in place to protect refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in South Africa against xenophobic attacks,

This cannot be allowed to continue, the authorities must take immediate action to protect those most at risk of being outed and facing attacks because of their nationality.
Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL.
Citi Business News has learnt telecom operators; Airtel and Tigo, have completed merger talks to make the two companies one entity in Ghana.

The talks which commenced last year were finalized early this year-2017, with persons familiar with the move asserting, that an announcement on the completion will be made soon.

It still remains unclear whether the two companies will be holding an equal share in the new stake.

Benefits of merger

Profits in the Ghanas telcom industry has been declining for some time as a number of challenges including Ghanas power crises, high cost of operations and low tariffs for telecom operators continue to hurt telecom operators.

The merger between the two is however expected to push the new entity to the number three spot of leading telecom operators in Ghana, after Vodafone which is at number two and MTN, which is the currently the biggest telecom operator in Ghana.

Ghana has six Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), MTN, Vodafone, Tigo, Airtel, Glo and Expresso.

Performance of telecom companies

According to statistics from the National Communications Authority (NCA), figures from the six companies, show mobile telephone subscriptions in Ghana increased from 36,613,987 at the end of second quarter of 2016 to 37,239,720 at the end of third quarter of 2016, indicating 1.7% quarter-on-quarter growth rate .

There was a year-on-year growth of 11.9%, from 33,270,440 in September 2015 to 37,239720 in September 2016, while mobile penetration rate increased from 131.9% in the second quarter of 2016 to 133.3% at the end of third quarter of 2016.

At the end of the third quarter of 2016, MTN had the largest share with a total Subscription of 18,050,144 representing 48.5% of the total mobile market in Ghana, followed by Vodafone with subscription of 8,158,527 (21.9%), Tigo 5,402,668 subscriptions (14.5%) and Airtel 4,697653 subscriptions (12.6%).

Glo and Expresso had a subscription of 828,162 and 102,566 representing 2.2% and 0.3% market shares respectively.

Leadership of new entity

It is unclear who will be at the helm of affairs following the union of the two companies or whether one of the current CEOs of the two entities Lucy Quist of Airtel or Roshi Motman of Tigo will be appointed to lead affairs following the merger.

The two have both been credited with a number of positive transformations in their respective companies.

Roshi Motman made history in Ghana a few years back when she was appointed the first woman MD of a telecom company, while Lucy Quist did same when she was also appointed the first female Ghanaian CEO of a telecom company.

The two companies have so far remained tight lipped over the merger, leaving customers and workers clueless over the developments and their fate.



By: Vivian Kai Lokko/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for the Keta Constituency, Richard Quashigah, has accused President Akufo-Addo of breaching the law in his creation and realignment of ministries.

According to him, the President was mandated to do so only by an Executive Instrument.

Raising the issue on the floor of Parliament, the Keta legislator said,

It appears to me that because the President was in so much of a hurry he breached the rules, the laws of our countries in appointing ministers of state and especially the creation of ministries and realignment of ministries.

He argued that based on the Civil Service Amendment Act 2001, which states that subject to the constitution, the President should by Executive Instrument publish in a gazette the establishment or re-designation of a ministry.

But the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensa-Bonsu, disagreed with Mr. Quashigah's stance, and insisted that there was an official publication on the creation and realignment of the said ministries.

'Senior minister position unconstitutional'

President Akufo-Addos creation of the senior minister position, currently occupied by Yaw Osafo Maafo, was also recently described as unconstitutional by another minority member, Mahama Ayariga, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central constituency.

Mahama Ayariga

Ayariga in an open letter to the President on the matter said, The Senior Minister post which you have created is demonstrably analogous to the office of Prime Minister. I will show, from a review of the history of the enactment of the 1992 Constitution, that there was a very conscious decision to avoid creating any office similar to that of a Prime Minister. The idea of having a Prime Minister was explicitly turned down.

But in a rebuttal, the Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South constituency, described Ayariga's argument as unfortunate and hollow, arguing that the constitution had not spelt out guidelines for the appointment of Ministers under a particular government.

It is very unfortunate because it has no substance and it is hollow. There is nowhere in the constitution that any ministerial portfolio has been created So far as they have ministerial roles and functions, the only Minister who has been given constitutional recognition is the office of the Attorney General so with due respect to him, I do not see how he will have any serious argument to press home either in the court or within Parliament because it is patheticI am afraid his argument is jejune. They don't see the light of state. And when you say a senior minister is it not a Minister of state? Is it a Minister from heaven? It doesn't make sense, Mr Atta Akyea said.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, has called on opposition parties to support the good initiatives by President Nana Akufo-Addo and his government.

Speaking on Peace FMs Kokrokoo programme, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah urged the parties, particularly the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), to stop predicting doom for the government.

He urged detractors of the Nana Addo government to make constructive criticisms and help the government to achieve its objectives instead of praying for its downfall.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem because it is in the peace of Jerusalem that you'll also find peace (quoting from Jeremiah 29:7, Hon. Oppong Nkrumah said, reminding the opposition parties that the failure of the government will have adverse effects on the entire nation with the parties not excluded.

Let's help him. Let's support him. We should pray for him. Let's support his government for its success will benefit all of us, he stated.

He further advised government appointees to remain focused on their tasks and effectively execute their duties.

This is not a time for you to do something to disgrace His Excellency. This is not an opportunity to perpetrate violence or do something to bring disgrace to the government because you think you haven't got something.

Also commenting on the Presidents State of the Nation Address on Tuesday, PNCs former National Youth Organizer Abu Ramadan called on the parties to assist President Akufo-Addo in order to improve the economy.

He urged the nation to embrace the vision of the President, saying its a country we're building and whoever lives in the country will benefit from the good governance, good policies and good initiatives of the government of the day. So, they should support the PresidentIn the NDC era, for every position in government where they found it difficult to appoint people; in this government there are 10 or 12 people competent to fit in every position.

Peacefmonline
Oslo (AFP) - Donor countries on Friday pledged $672 million in emergency aid for people threatened by famine after eight years of Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad region, but the sum is just a fraction of what the UN says is needed.

Fourteen countries meeting in Oslo agreed -- with the US conspicuously absent -- to contribute the $672 million (634 million euros) over three years, including $457 million for 2017 alone.

But the United Nations has estimated the Lake Chad region, which includes Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, needs $1.5 billion this year.

UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien was nonetheless optimistic that target would eventually be met.

"In one morning we have raised a third of that," he said.

Boko Haram took up arms in 2009 in pursuit of an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

Its insurgency has since spread to neighbouring states bordering Lake Chad, with frequent suicide bomb attacks.

Still, the hardest hit area has been northeast Nigeria, where at least seven soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack on military positions on Wednesday, according to a security source.

The conflict, which has left around 20,000 people dead and forced more than 2.6 million others to flee their homes, has aggravated an already difficult humanitarian situation in one of the poorest regions of the world.

People often have no access to schools, health care or agriculture, and it is difficult for humanitarian aid to get through.

"Nigeria and countries contiguous to the Lake Chad are experiencing one of the largest and gravest humanitarian crises in the world," Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said.

"They can't farm the land, markets have stopped working, and food prices have skyrocketed," French Development Aid Minister Jean-Marie Le Guen noted.

"Faced with these enormous needs the international response is still insufficient," he added.

The $672 million pledged over three years is aimed at helping 10.7 million people in need.

Famine threatens Lake Chad region

Abdou Dieng, regional head of the World Food Programme, described the challenge of getting aid to the "most vulnerable of the vulnerable."

"Faced with a famine we're ready to do anything, including airdropping food. But it's a zone where we have to be very careful ... we don't want it to benefit the terrorists. This type of intervention is expensive," he said.

US aid 'not factored in'

The 14 donor countries who made firm commitments on Friday were almost exclusively western European nations, with the exception of Japan and South Korea.

But the United States, whose new administration has said it intends to slash its development aid budget, was not among them.

"The US said they would come back with their contribution, so it is not factored in" to Friday's sum, Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende told reporters.

Washington had sent a senior official from its aid organisation USAID to the conference, but he gave no clear indication of US President Donald Trump's intentions.

Other countries are also expected to commit aid soon, including Canada.
A Hotel booking website, Jumia Travel has finally added flight services for travelers who wishes to do business, take holidays or visit attractive tourist sites in any part of the world particularly Africa.

Jumia Travel is now offering both domestic and international flights by major airlines in the continent including Kenya Airways, Rwandair Express, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways, KLM, Fly Dubai, Turkish Airlines, Air Arabia, and Air Seychelles among others.

The CEO of Jumai Travel, Paul Midy said its a new step for them as they aim to be the leading African Online Travel Agency, providing best customer experience for the travelers.

It is also part of our broader program to create a one stop travel shop providing accommodation, packages, and flights all on the same platform, in a bid to streamline travel in Africa, he stated.

Paul Midy added that as an Online Travel Agency, Jumia Travel will be working in partnership with different partners including Amadeus.

The service (now available on travel.jumia.com/flights ) enables the customers to find, compare, and book flights, as well as buy air tickets online with ease directly from various Airline companies across the world, he stated.

The CEO indicated that they want to offer to their customers, all payment options, credit card but also payment in cash or through mobile phone as well as the support of a local customer service available 24/24.

He indicated that accounting for only 3% of the worlds air traffic, Africa portrays massive potential for growth in the coming years, especially due to the increasing demand from the rising middle class and the growing African economies.

Jumia Travel aims at capitalizing on a market that is progressively driving hospitality demand in the continent. With the International Air Transport Association, IATA predicting a strong growth of 4.8% in passenger numbers in Africa in the next 5 years, this confirms our strategic commitment to provide infinite travel solutions to travellers, Paul Midy intimated.

He emphasised that the company recently launched its holiday packages to foster domestic tourism in Africa. By including flights in its packages, Jumia Travel will continue supporting easier access to both African and universal destinations, while at the same time remaining keen to maintain off-the-beaten path travel solutions.

Claire Staal, the Managing Director of Jumia Travel, Ghana posited that after several calls and appeals by clients to extend their services, Jumia Travel has launched the flights and packages services that will provide a one stop shop for clients around the globe who wants an easy and convenient way of transacting businesses.

Gloria Wilkonso Mensah, Country Manager of South African Airways, said it is good news to the airline industry because it will help improve their service delivery to a lot of clients both local and international.

According to her, it is a value added service to the product they sell which will save time and cost of doing business in around the world of destination.

Mr. Ben Anane Nsiah, Manager of Special Events, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) indicated that the primary function of the Authority is to facilitate the development of tourism in the country which includes similar initiatives.

According to him, they want business to thrive and growth in the country including all the intermediaries that play a key role to expand the sector.
Naa Mahama Family Union(NAMFU) of Bawku wishes to express it's profound gratitude to His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of the republic of Ghana for the appointment of one of its own, Alhaji Sule Yiremiah as a member of the council of state.

The family is overwhelmed with this consideration and believe this appointment is a clear recognition of Alhaji Sule Yiremiah's rich experience and competence.

We are very optimistic that Alhaji Sule Yiremiah possesses the wisdom and will proffer the best of advice to the President.

Thank you once again Mr. President for the confidence and honor bestowed on our father and the family.

We wish to also express a congratulatory message to our father upon his ascension to become a member of the council of state.

Thank you

God bless Alhaji Sule Yiremiah

God bless NAMFU

God bless the President

God bless Ghana

...... Signed......

Salifu Yakubu (Bigboy)

Head of the Family
In Remembrance and Celebration of Kwame Nkrumah's Exemplary Performance on Behalf of Unitary Ghana During 1951 - 24th February, 1966

In 1951, well before independence in 1957, the CPP caretaker government under Kwame Nkrumah created the Accelerated Development Plan for Education (ADPE) to fast-track education for all the people in the then-Gold Coast. The ADPE was further strengthened in 1961, following independence. Vast amounts of funds was spent on education and infrastructure systems that today, in 2017, still constitute the back-bone of education and the SHS system Akufo Addo now proposes to make freer for every Ghanaian without regard to their ability to pay, whether they pay their fair share of taxes or not.

Above, Ghana school enrollment data for you, for the period 1951 (pop ~5,436,555) through 1966 (~7,891,194).

Go around Ghana and name it, and it was most likely built under Kwame Nkrumah!

In fact, just about a week age when it was announced that some students at the Drobo-East Demonstration Primary and Junior High School in the Jaman South-District in the Brong-Ahafo Region were being "forced to study in an abandoned toilet building", a related commentary was that the "toilet facility was built in the 1960s for Drobo Senior High School". We will bet our bottom cedi that the building was most likely a ADPE facility, one of those the Nonentities, Liars and Crooks, (NLC) that overthrew Kwame Nkrumah did not complete. In the 21st century, that toilet facility has been converted into school.

Now, in 2017, President Akufo Addo wants to give Ghanaians free SHS, free SHS when kindergarten and elementary schools are under trees, rotten, or falling all over. They are talking about free SHS when over 95% of existing schools do not have plumbing or running water to control disease among children and in society. They are talking free SHS for even people like Akufo Addo with some of the highest incomes in the land. Those are the same people who do not pay income taxes on their high incomes in the first place because they have the clutch of a wart-infested Rawlings Constitution.

All of it would still be free to all of them even before the "Free SHS Plan" has been developed with the people, and approved by the people.

SOURCE OF GHANA'S ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT BEGUN IN 1966, (NOT 1957):

Dear reader, by all objective measures, by 1966, by most measures of economic performance, social development, and governance, Ghana was on its way. Ghana was practically at the liftoff stage of industrialization and fast-track social development exactly 51 years ago, today, this February 24th. Then, the Nonentities, Liars and Crooks, (NLC), with the aid and assistance of rascal civilians Komla Gbedemah, Kofi Busia, and the NLM-UP-PP cohorts, swallowed the playbook of the Johnson CIA like rottening fishes without identity, hope, or history.

They overthrew Kwame Nkrumah!

Yes, the arrested development of Ghana occurred exactly 51 years ago, today, (not at independence) when the liftoff stage of Ghana's industrial experiment was crudely aborted, and thus begun the downward spiral of the development of Ghana.

This is a fact!

Do not be fooled by what Akufo Addo, Bawumia, and the rest of the fast-talking politicians who for generations resisted the Unitary Ghana concept, individuals who will have you now believe that it all started coming down for Ghana at independence, in 1957, 60 years ago by their calendar.

It is all a big fat lie and there is no useful point for Ghana's school children.

It is a betrayal of the History and People of Ghana, from where we sit.

Pegging Ghana's downward spiral to independence day in 1957 allows them to escape their own role in the fall of Ghana, as so many records show today. No, momentous date for the downward spiral of Ghana is 24th February, 1966. But, it all started in 1965, in fact earlier, as records now show, with the subversion, and its culmination in the overthrow 24th February, 1966.

Fact is, by February, 1966, the year Kwame Nkumah's CCP was overthrown, Ghana was miles ahead of Singapore on practically every measure of economic performance. (Google and read about all of that in our series, "Only mad 60-year olds fault Kwame Nkrumah for Ghana's development quagmire").

See and know the facts in the data!

The GDP chart above shows that while Singapore had a higher GDP than Ghana in 1961, two years later in 1963, Ghana had surpassed Singapore so that by 1965, Ghana's GDP was almost 10 percentage points higher than Singapore's. Then, after 1965, beginning in 1966 and with the NLC at the controls, it all begun to go downhill, negatively. Beginning in 1969, Singapore never looked back at the Africans in Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana.

That is data you can take to your favorite bank!

Today, in 2017, only egoistical, mad men, only people like the ones we witnessed at the Flagstaff House chasing after a government vehicle operated by a police officer, only they and their employers, only those with their own selfish and diabolical political agendas, only they would attempt to conflate Ghana's fall in February 1966 with the superior performance of Ghana from 1951, through independence in 1957, and up to February 24, 1966, and the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah.

We believe that most Ghanaians are rational people.

We believe that most Ghanaians are objective, given fair and accurate facts.

With all due respect, every single Ghanaian ought to understand that rationally, by commonsense alone, the baseline, that starting point for "the hopeless State", "the failed Ghana", the bastardized Ghana constantly trumpeted by the Akufo Addos, the Bawumias, the Rawlings, the Kuffours, the Amoako-Baahs, the Wereko-Brobbeys, etc., the origin of that sorry baseline is NOT 1957, the year Ghana became independent of Great Britain.

Rather, that bastardized Ghana began in 1966 with the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah!

GHANA'S STRIVE FOR DIGNITY, DEVELOPMENT AND INDEPENDENCE HAD ITS DETRACTORS AT HOME:

In 1966, before the overthrow, Ghana had broken diplomatic relations with Great Britain, the second most important external actor in the overthrow.

For generations and hundreds of years before independence in 1957, the Gold Coast/Ghana, contributed in no small measure to the development or Europe and that same Great Britain, from Takoradi all the way to Singapore. Yes, Singapore, where just the other day former President Kuffour stood and proudly christened an oil drilling rig in his own name while bemoaning Ghana's aborted developmental agenda 60 years and counting in his sad self-serving song.

Mr. Kuffour, 16 years ago, had 8 years to do important things for Ghana, including fixing that fraud of a Constitution. Kuffour could have fixed that tax thing, but cared for other things more. The oil they found during his time, they screwed Ghana with the contract system to christened Ghana Hybrid System. It is now more than $6 billion in continuing losses to Ghana and Akufo Addo, the new Kuffour with the plan for the free SHS and factories for every district, cannot be bothered.

Ghana, allow all of the jokes to be on them!

Let all of the jokes be on the tradition that stood against the Unitary Ghana concept and in dark corners of foreign embassies and capitals from Lome, to Lagos, to Monrovia, to London, aided and abetted the maiden overthrow of that duly elected government of Ghana through the barrel of the gun and hollow cups of coup plotter narratives most of whose truth and fidelity have since 1966 fallen apart (as more reliable information have now become available).

The Akufo Addos, the Bawumias, the Rawlings, the Kuffours, and the Amoako-Baahs love to parade around town chanting coup-plotter narratives and throwing out sundry data, hollering that Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana was "broke" in 1966, that Ghana in 1966 had a very high, unsustainable national debt, and thus the overthrow.

But sure, in the early- to mid-1960s, Ghana had economic problems just as any other country. For one, the price of cocoa had been "engineered" downward as punishment for Ghana's strife for development, respect, and independence. And much of promised development aid had been withheld, even as they paid little for more products from Ghana.

As we observed in the "60-Year Old Mad Men" series, when Kwame Nkrumah's government was overthrown by Ankrah-Harlley-Afrifa-Nunoo-Deku traitor bunch backed by "rascal" Busia, Gbedemah, and the Johnson CIA, Ghana owned an amount from all sources that was less than 30% of Ghana's annual GDP at that time.

In comparison, the British national debt-to-GDP ratio, was 75%, in 1966.

Here is their own partial list of investments and development Kwame Nkrumah bought for Ghana, up to the mid-1960s:

Tema Harbour

Cape Coast University

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Accra-Tema Motorway,

Akosombo dam, (came on line in 1965)

Black Star Line

Construction of numerous schools and hospitals,

Ghana Medical School

Okomfo Anokye Hospital

Ghana Atomic Energy Commission

State-owned enterprises like Ghana Airways, Tema Food, GNTC, State Hotels etc Complex, GIHOC,

State farms

Valco (ours)

Schools (your've seen the table above on that one)

Railway Locomotives and improvements to rail services. (In our expose on Gbedemah this year, we showed that the then Finance Minister at one time ordered 24 Henschel engines for Ghana. Upon further checking, we can report that the about 5 of these locomotives were still in use 12 years ago, while Mr. Kuffour was president).



SUPPORTING DEVELOPMENT PLANS UNDER KWAME NKRUMAH:

Accelerated Development Plan for Education (ADPE) (1951/1961)

Consolidated Plan (1958-59)

Second Five Year Plan (1959-64)  dropped in 1961

Seven-Year Plan for National Reconstruction and Development (1963/64-1966 (Following the February 1966 coup, the 7YP was formally dropped).

To be continued.....

SOURCES/NOTES:

1. Ebony Magazine. Ghana's Industrial Revolution: Nation Toils to Close the Technology Gap, May 1964.

2. Ghana has failed after 60 years  Wereko-Brobby, (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-has-failed-after-60-years-Wereko-Brobby-512711).

3. Ghanas debt to GDP hits 74%- Ken Ofori Atta, (https://citifmonline.com/2017/02/21/ghanas-debt-to-gdp-hits-74-ken-ofori-atta/).

VISIT FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Read Mo'! Listen Mo'! See Mo'! Reflect Mo'!

Prof Lungu is Ghana-Centered/Ghana-Proud!

Subj: 51 Years Ago This Feb 24th, They Stole Ghanas Industrial Revolution!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/professorlungu

Support Fair-Trade Oil Share Ghana Campaign/Petition

https://www.change.org/p/ghana-fair-trade-oil-share-psa-campaign-ftos-gh-psa/

Brought to you courtesy www.GhanaHero.com24 Feb 17.

2017-02-24 162610

2017-02-24 162537
The Foreign Affairs minister says no Ghanaian individual or business has been attacked in the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

In an emergency address in Parliament Friday, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway who briefed the House on the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa said her outfit is taking steps to ensure that no Ghanaian individual or interest is harmed.

She also outlined measures her outfit has taken to protect Ghanaians working and living in the Southern African country.

Many black africans have been attacked in recent times by unemployed South Africans who have accused foreigners, mostly black aficans of taking their jobs.

In the past week, Nigerian nationals have been attacked in the capital Pretoria; on Monday, 34 foreign-owned shops were looted in parts of Pretoria, and a local group has called for a march on Friday in protest over immigrants it claims are taking over their jobs.

The attacks triggered condemnation by the Nigerian government and a call by MPs for Nigeria's ambassador to South Africa to be recalled.

But South Africa's foreign affairs department dismissed claims that Nigerian nationals were the targets of xenophobic violence.

Spokesperson Clayson Monyela said the attacks were nothing more than sporadic criminal incidents. The government also said inflammatory social media statements by South Africans and foreign nationals against each other were unnecessary.

Giving assurance of measures that has been taken to protect Ghanaians in SA, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey told Parliament that Ghanaian residents in the Mamelodi area have been asked to stay indoors as part of measures to prevent any attacks on them.

According to her, the Ghanaian mission in South Africa has also written to the South African government seeking for protection for Ghanaian citizens so they are not attacked.

Madam Ayorkor Botchway also told Parliament that contingency measures have been activated to deal with the situation.

She revealed that hotlines have been introduced and announced to the Ghanaian community to call if they feel threatened.

In reaction to her address by some Members of Parliament, Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak called for a boycott of all South African products and services in Ghana and across Africa in protest over the treatment meted out to foreigners in SA.

In 2015, seven people died in riots and looting of businesses run by foreigners in Johannesburg and in Durban.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) has condemned the recent acts of instant justice visited on persons suspected of committing crimes in parts of the country.

David Asante Apeatu has vowed to smoke out the perpetrators and put them before court.

Speaking at the Ghana Police Service annual West African Security Service Association (WASSA) get together at the police headquarters in Accra, Friday, the IGP said although the Service has chalked up a lot of successes, pockets of security challenges have been a drawback.

He singled out pockets of robbery, petty stealing, avoidable road accidents, communal clashes and the recent upsurge in mob action as some challenges which undermine police efforts to create a safe environment for all.

"Jungle justice must not have a place in our society. I want to assure that those who perpetrated those acts of lawlessness would be pursued and made to face the full rigours of the law," he said.

In January this year, the family of a taxi driver, Awudu Ibrahim, 22, lynched at Sawaba in Kumasi for knocking down a pedestrian demanded justice after the accident victim was treated and discharged for minor injuries.

The driver was dragged out of a gas station where he sought refuge after the accident and beaten to a pulp.

A graphic video of the deceased being beaten with sticks has attracted angry reaction after it went viral on social media.

Last Wednesday, police in the Ashanti Region capital, Kumasi, arrested an unspecified number of traders who stripped naked and beat up a lady alleged to have stolen items at the Kumasi central business district.

A screening exercise took place later to identify those who actually participated in the brutal treatment meted out to the unidentified lady.

This was after a video went viral on social media of a fair lady seen stripped naked and sexually assaulted in public by a mob over the alleged theft.

Mr Apeatu pledged that the Police Service will work to build on the successes chalked up by his predecessors, adding his administration would in the coming days roll out in full a new strategic direction towards dealing the problem.

"My strategic direction would accelerate our quest to translate our vision of becoming a world-class police service capable of delivering planned, democratic, protective and peaceful services to the standard of international best practice.

"In line with the government vision for the Ghana Police Service, my administration would review and restructure key elements of the service as well as provide the state of the art policing tools," he added.

According to him, he will pursue a comprehensive capacity building programme while recruiting critical skills, improve police-public ratio.

"At the center of this strategy is building a more motivated professionalized apolitical and client oriented police service. We are motivated by your SONA in which you made it clear that in which you told Ghana and the rest of the world that you are in a hurry to see progress and results.

We in the police leadership are also in a hurry to transform the police service and make it a world-class organization. In fact, we are in a state of urgency," Mr Appeatu said.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim |[email protected]
Asawase Member of Parliament (MP), Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka has urged African countries to boycott South African products in retaliation for the recent xenophobic attacks in that country.

He argued this would send a resounding signal to the South African government that the behaviour of its citizens conflicts with the cordiality that is expected to exist among the peoples of the continent.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament Friday, the Minority Chief Whip said he has stopped buying South African products since the last hate attacks in 2015.

I have never bought anything in South Africa apart from water, and food and I have said it in the pan-African parliament, he said, rallying his colleagues to do same.

Immigrants have been victims of discrimination and even violence in South Africa after democratisation in 1994.

The dream of some African citizens to eke out a living in the new country was short-lived after incidences of xenophobia increased.

Related Article: Xenophobic Attacks: No Ghanaian, business has been attacked in SA- Ayokor Botchway

At least 67 foreigners were reportedly killed between 2000 and 2007 in what was described by international media as xenophobic attacks.

The attacks were repeated in May 2008 leaving at least 62 people dead, although 21 of the people killed were South Africans.

Despite the assurance by the South African government to clamp down on lawless acts by citizens, the attacks started nationwide in 2015 against immigrants.

Some citizens of Nigerians, Eritrea, and Ethiopia suffered during the attacks.

The Nigerian government acted swiftly by summoning its envoy, warning a further attack on its citizens would strain the relationship that exists between the two nations.

However, two years later, Nigerians have been singled out for attacks by citizens of South Africa again.

The Nigerians have been accused of being notorious for drug peddling and illegal dealings in the country  activities South Africans have found worrying.

They [foreigners] should know that they are a guest in my house. I am treating them with respect. They should treat me with respect, an angry South African told the BBC.

Although Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway has said no Ghanaian has been affected in the recent events, the Asawase MP is pushing for a tougher sanction against South Africa.

Yes, we need to be diplomatic but the only way the blind man can see that the eye of the sighted is really red is to give him or her a knock, Mr Muntaka said.

The MP's suggestion, though unpopular with his colleagues, has been supported by an international relations expert, Dr Vladimir Antwi Danso. Although, he believes it is one of the many measures to employ in the bid to end the attacks, he advised it is too early to do that.

He told Dzifa Bampoh on Joy FMs Top Story Friday that the Ghana government has to summon the South African High Commissioner to answer some questions relating to the attacks.

Dr Antwi Danso wants nothing to be taken off the table in the attempt to arrest the situation.

There should be [some] economic sanctions...withdrawal of ambassadors, he proposed, adding that there is the possibility that Ghanaians might be attacked if the government does not act in a swift manner.

He, however, warned against reprisal attacks in Ghana since that might affect the relationship between the two nations.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | [email protected]
24.02.2017 LISTEN

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has welcomed the appointment of the new Communications minister and Director General of the National Communications Authority (NCA) with an industry cocktail.

The Chamber organized an industry cocktail on Tuesday to welcome the Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu Ekuful and the NCA boss, Joe Anokye.

The private cocktail was organized to provide a platform for industry stakeholders to network and build sustainable working relationships with the appointees to further enhance the development of the sector.

This government is willing to work with the private sector. I have no doubts that telecommunications is the biggest and best-performing industry in Ghana today, said Mrs Ekuful.

Mrs Ekuful has served on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communications in the last Parliament and held managerial roles with Westel Telecommunications and Zain Telecoms in 2009.

On his part, Mr. Anokye said, the regulator will collaborate with service providers to enrich formulation and implementation of all sector policies to achieve a win-win outcome for government, players and consumers.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Anokye was a Telecommunications service manager at NASA in the United States.

CEO of the Chamber Kwaku Sakyi-Addo said, these new appointees bring a wealth of corporate, legal, legislative, technical experience and insights to the Ministry and the NCA. We are confident that theyll bring these to bear in this new industrial revolution which telecommunications is today.

The Chairman of the Telecoms Chamber, Yolanda Cuba noted in her remarks that, the industry players will work with government to ensure a thriving sector which empowers and impacts the lives of Ghanaians.

Key officials attended the private cocktail from the NCA, MoC, Telcos, Tower Companies, Parliament, Revenue Authority, Environment Protection Agency, Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications, Radiation Protection Institute (GAEC), Google Ghana, Media, other industry players and their representatives

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
Rabat (AFP) - Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Friday asked the United Nations to take urgent measures to end "provocation" by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front threatening the ceasefire in the disputed Western Sahara.

Morocco insists that the former Spanish colony is an integral part of its kingdom, but the Polisario is demanding a referendum on self-determination.

The two sides fought for control of the Western Sahara from 1974 to 1991, with Rabat gaining control of the territory before a UN-brokered ceasefire took effect.

Mohammed VI spoke on Friday with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to deplore "repeated incursion by armed Polisario men" in the Guerguerat district, a royal court statement said.

The king said that Polisario "provocation" and "premeditated" action in the region took place a month before Morocco rejoined the African Union in January.

Morocco had quit the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1984 after the bloc admitted the former Western Sahara as a separate member.

Mohammed VI urged Guterres to "take urgent and necessary measures to put an end to this inadmissable situation which is seriously threatening the (1991) ceasefire and placing regional stability at risk," the statement said.

Tensions flared last year after the Polisario set up a new military post in Guerguerat district near the Mauritanian border, within a stone's throw of Moroccan soldiers.

The move came after Morocco last summer started building a tarmac road in the area south of the buffer zone separating the two sides.
Friday, February 24, 2017 A Reader Asks: How To Improve Albuquerque



Reader Vivian Harris writes: "Joe, I've enjoyed your articles over the years. I would like to ask what you think (in the best of all worlds) what the city could do to improve the economy and living conditions in Albuquerque."



It's not a question we've shied away from, Vivian, but with the city election fast approaching it's a good time to again take up that critical question,



This city has turned into an ongoing crime scene and that directly impacts the economy and the living conditions you inquire about. The inability of the city to effectively staff APD is the major reason. Chief Gorden Eden will argue that it is repeat offenders who are the culprit, but annual reports show crime has dramatically escalated precisely as staffing levels have sagged. The central question for the future well-being of our city is how long will APD remain understaffed? It has hovered at around 800 officers for several years, even as experts say we need at least 1,000. The next mayor who takes office December 1 needs to declare something akin to a state of emergency and finally deliver the protection citizens deserve.



Major money would be needed to award bonuses and incentives to good officers from other departments around the nation to attract them to a dangerous posting like Albuquerque. The city council and mayor can find that money but thus far have not had the will to do so. It is one of the greatest policy failures in the history of modern city government and will almost surely end Berry's hopes for any future political career.



Again, Chef Eden argues it's a case of locking up repeat offenders instead of releasing them again and again. No, Chief, the lousy economy, widespread drug addiction and an ill-prepared work force is creating more criminals who turn into repeat offenders.



In addition to an adequately staffed APD the city needs to establish credible community policing that can prevent crime from occurring. Give up those darkened windshields on police cars that conceal cops and that remind you of Darth Vader. Get out in the community and work the beat, the old school way.



For the mayoral candidates the most important and relevant question is whether they will clean house at APD where crime fighting has been an abject and historic failure. Without a new chief and command staff there will be no hope for a turnaround. Voters need to have that at the top of their minds when going to the polls.



That's a lot about crime, Vivian, but when Mayor Berry and his police chief point to a period from over a quarter century ago to show that the city's crime rate was once even higher, you're witnessing an unprecedented and complete abdication of responsibility. That also goes for the asleep at the switch city council. As with the mayoral hopefuls, voters need to hold the council candidates accountable in the coming campaign.



If we can't bring down the crime rate the question of making the city more attractive for economic development is academic. It's simply not going to happen. The last five years are proof of that. But we can get started in anticipation of that joyful day when crime starts its decline.



The city should divert funding from public libraries to after school programs in the worst performing public schools. It should also look at tapping into the $250 million in sales tax money the BioPark will receive in the next 15 years as approved by voters. Some of those proceeds could be put to use for education as we labor to build a work force prepared for the future and not one invested in becoming criminals.



This is the home of New Mexico politics.







Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.



( c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2017 This column is also appearing in the ABQ Free Press Reader Vivian Harris writes: "Joe, I've enjoyed your articles over the years. I would like to ask what you think (in the best of all worlds) what the city could do to improve the economy and living conditions in Albuquerque."It's not a question we've shied away from, Vivian, but with the city election fast approaching it's a good time to again take up that critical question,This city has turned into an ongoing crime scene and that directly impacts the economy and the living conditions you inquire about. The inability of the city to effectively staff APD is the major reason. Chief Gorden Eden will argue that it is repeat offenders who are the culprit, but annual reports show crime has dramatically escalated precisely as staffing levels have sagged. The central question for the future well-being of our city is how long will APD remain understaffed? It has hovered at around 800 officers for several years, even as experts say we need at least 1,000. The next mayor who takes office December 1 needs to declare something akin to a state of emergency and finally deliver the protection citizens deserve.Major money would be needed to award bonuses and incentives to good officers from other departments around the nation to attract them to a dangerous posting like Albuquerque. The city council and mayor can find that money but thus far have not had the will to do so. It is one of the greatest policy failures in the history of modern city government and will almost surely end Berry's hopes for any future political career.Again, Chef Eden argues it's a case of locking up repeat offenders instead of releasing them again and again. No, Chief, the lousy economy, widespread drug addiction and an ill-prepared work force is creating more criminals who turn into repeat offenders.In addition to an adequately staffed APD the city needs to establish credible community policing that can prevent crime from occurring. Give up those darkened windshields on police cars that conceal cops and that remind you of Darth Vader. Get out in the community and work the beat, the old school way.For the mayoral candidates the most important and relevant question is whether they will clean house at APD where crime fighting has been an abject and historic failure. Without a new chief and command staff there will be no hope for a turnaround. Voters need to have that at the top of their minds when going to the polls.That's a lot about crime, Vivian, but when Mayor Berry and his police chief point to a period from over a quarter century ago to show that the city's crime rate was once even higher, you're witnessing an unprecedented and complete abdication of responsibility. That also goes for the asleep at the switch city council. As with the mayoral hopefuls, voters need to hold the council candidates accountable in the coming campaign.If we can't bring down the crime rate the question of making the city more attractive for economic development is academic. It's simply not going to happen. The last five years are proof of that. But we can get started in anticipation of that joyful day when crime starts its decline.The city should divert funding from public libraries to after school programs in the worst performing public schools. It should also look at tapping into the $250 million in sales tax money the BioPark will receive in the next 15 years as approved by voters. Some of those proceeds could be put to use for education as we labor to build a work force prepared for the future and not one invested in becoming criminals.This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Links HOME

E-MAIL ME

About Joe

Google News

Real Clear Politics

Huffington Post

Drudge Report

The Politico

New Mexico newspapers

NM TV stations

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham

NM Legislature Archives Select: 9/28/03 - 10/5/03 10/5/03 - 10/12/03 10/12/03 - 10/19/03 10/19/03 - 10/26/03 10/26/03 - 11/2/03 11/2/03 - 11/9/03 11/9/03 - 11/16/03 11/16/03 - 11/23/03 11/23/03 - 11/30/03 11/30/03 - 12/7/03 12/7/03 - 12/14/03 12/14/03 - 12/21/03 12/21/03 - 12/28/03 12/28/03 - 1/4/04 1/4/04 - 1/11/04 1/11/04 - 1/18/04 1/18/04 - 1/25/04 1/25/04 - 2/1/04 2/1/04 - 2/8/04 2/8/04 - 2/15/04 2/15/04 - 2/22/04 2/22/04 - 2/29/04 2/29/04 - 3/7/04 3/7/04 - 3/14/04 3/14/04 - 3/21/04 3/21/04 - 3/28/04 3/28/04 - 4/4/04 4/4/04 - 4/11/04 4/11/04 - 4/18/04 4/18/04 - 4/25/04 4/25/04 - 5/2/04 5/2/04 - 5/9/04 5/9/04 - 5/16/04 5/16/04 - 5/23/04 5/23/04 - 5/30/04 5/30/04 - 6/6/04 6/6/04 - 6/13/04 6/13/04 - 6/20/04 6/20/04 - 6/27/04 6/27/04 - 7/4/04 7/4/04 - 7/11/04 7/11/04 - 7/18/04 7/18/04 - 7/25/04 7/25/04 - 8/1/04 8/1/04 - 8/8/04 8/8/04 - 8/15/04 8/15/04 - 8/22/04 8/22/04 - 8/29/04 8/29/04 - 9/5/04 9/5/04 - 9/12/04 9/12/04 - 9/19/04 9/19/04 - 9/26/04 9/26/04 - 10/3/04 10/3/04 - 10/10/04 10/10/04 - 10/17/04 10/17/04 - 10/24/04 10/24/04 - 10/31/04 10/31/04 - 11/7/04 11/7/04 - 11/14/04 11/14/04 - 11/21/04 11/21/04 - 11/28/04 11/28/04 - 12/5/04 12/5/04 - 12/12/04 12/12/04 - 12/19/04 12/19/04 - 12/26/04 1/2/05 - 1/9/05 1/9/05 - 1/16/05 1/16/05 - 1/23/05 1/23/05 - 1/30/05 1/30/05 - 2/6/05 2/6/05 - 2/13/05 2/13/05 - 2/20/05 2/20/05 - 2/27/05 2/27/05 - 3/6/05 3/6/05 - 3/13/05 3/13/05 - 3/20/05 3/20/05 - 3/27/05 3/27/05 - 4/3/05 4/3/05 - 4/10/05 4/10/05 - 4/17/05 4/17/05 - 4/24/05 4/24/05 - 5/1/05 5/1/05 - 5/8/05 5/8/05 - 5/15/05 5/15/05 - 5/22/05 5/22/05 - 5/29/05 5/29/05 - 6/5/05 6/5/05 - 6/12/05 6/12/05 - 6/19/05 6/19/05 - 6/26/05 6/26/05 - 7/3/05 7/3/05 - 7/10/05 7/10/05 - 7/17/05 7/17/05 - 7/24/05 7/24/05 - 7/31/05 7/31/05 - 8/7/05 8/7/05 - 8/14/05 8/14/05 - 8/21/05 8/21/05 - 8/28/05 8/28/05 - 9/4/05 9/4/05 - 9/11/05 9/11/05 - 9/18/05 9/18/05 - 9/25/05 9/25/05 - 10/2/05 10/2/05 - 10/9/05 10/9/05 - 10/16/05 10/16/05 - 10/23/05 10/23/05 - 10/30/05 10/30/05 - 11/6/05 11/6/05 - 11/13/05 11/13/05 - 11/20/05 11/20/05 - 11/27/05 11/27/05 - 12/4/05 12/4/05 - 12/11/05 12/11/05 - 12/18/05 12/18/05 - 12/25/05 1/1/06 - 1/8/06 1/8/06 - 1/15/06 1/15/06 - 1/22/06 1/22/06 - 1/29/06 1/29/06 - 2/5/06 2/5/06 - 2/12/06 2/12/06 - 2/19/06 2/19/06 - 2/26/06 2/26/06 - 3/5/06 3/5/06 - 3/12/06 3/12/06 - 3/19/06 3/19/06 - 3/26/06 3/26/06 - 4/2/06 4/2/06 - 4/9/06 4/9/06 - 4/16/06 4/16/06 - 4/23/06 4/23/06 - 4/30/06 4/30/06 - 5/7/06 5/7/06 - 5/14/06 5/14/06 - 5/21/06 5/21/06 - 5/28/06 5/28/06 - 6/4/06 6/4/06 - 6/11/06 6/11/06 - 6/18/06 6/18/06 - 6/25/06 6/25/06 - 7/2/06 7/9/06 - 7/16/06 7/16/06 - 7/23/06 7/23/06 - 7/30/06 7/30/06 - 8/6/06 8/6/06 - 8/13/06 8/13/06 - 8/20/06 8/20/06 - 8/27/06 8/27/06 - 9/3/06 9/3/06 - 9/10/06 9/10/06 - 9/17/06 9/17/06 - 9/24/06 9/24/06 - 10/1/06 10/1/06 - 10/8/06 10/8/06 - 10/15/06 10/15/06 - 10/22/06 10/22/06 - 10/29/06 10/29/06 - 11/5/06 11/5/06 - 11/12/06 11/12/06 - 11/19/06 11/19/06 - 11/26/06 11/26/06 - 12/3/06 12/3/06 - 12/10/06 12/10/06 - 12/17/06 12/17/06 - 12/24/06 12/31/06 - 1/7/07 1/7/07 - 1/14/07 1/14/07 - 1/21/07 1/21/07 - 1/28/07 1/28/07 - 2/4/07 2/4/07 - 2/11/07 2/11/07 - 2/18/07 2/18/07 - 2/25/07 2/25/07 - 3/4/07 3/4/07 - 3/11/07 3/11/07 - 3/18/07 3/18/07 - 3/25/07 3/25/07 - 4/1/07 4/1/07 - 4/8/07 4/8/07 - 4/15/07 4/15/07 - 4/22/07 4/22/07 - 4/29/07 4/29/07 - 5/6/07 5/6/07 - 5/13/07 5/13/07 - 5/20/07 5/20/07 - 5/27/07 5/27/07 - 6/3/07 6/3/07 - 6/10/07 6/10/07 - 6/17/07 6/17/07 - 6/24/07 6/24/07 - 7/1/07 7/1/07 - 7/8/07 7/8/07 - 7/15/07 7/15/07 - 7/22/07 7/22/07 - 7/29/07 7/29/07 - 8/5/07 8/5/07 - 8/12/07 8/12/07 - 8/19/07 8/19/07 - 8/26/07 8/26/07 - 9/2/07 9/2/07 - 9/9/07 9/9/07 - 9/16/07 9/16/07 - 9/23/07 9/23/07 - 9/30/07 9/30/07 - 10/7/07 10/7/07 - 10/14/07 10/14/07 - 10/21/07 10/21/07 - 10/28/07 10/28/07 - 11/4/07 11/4/07 - 11/11/07 11/11/07 - 11/18/07 11/18/07 - 11/25/07 11/25/07 - 12/2/07 12/2/07 - 12/9/07 12/9/07 - 12/16/07 12/16/07 - 12/23/07 12/23/07 - 12/30/07 12/30/07 - 1/6/08 1/6/08 - 1/13/08 1/13/08 - 1/20/08 1/20/08 - 1/27/08 1/27/08 - 2/3/08 2/3/08 - 2/10/08 2/10/08 - 2/17/08 2/17/08 - 2/24/08 2/24/08 - 3/2/08 3/2/08 - 3/9/08 3/9/08 - 3/16/08 3/16/08 - 3/23/08 3/23/08 - 3/30/08 3/30/08 - 4/6/08 4/6/08 - 4/13/08 4/13/08 - 4/20/08 4/20/08 - 4/27/08 4/27/08 - 5/4/08 5/4/08 - 5/11/08 5/11/08 - 5/18/08 5/18/08 - 5/25/08 5/25/08 - 6/1/08 6/1/08 - 6/8/08 6/8/08 - 6/15/08 6/15/08 - 6/22/08 6/22/08 - 6/29/08 6/29/08 - 7/6/08 7/6/08 - 7/13/08 7/13/08 - 7/20/08 7/20/08 - 7/27/08 7/27/08 - 8/3/08 8/3/08 - 8/10/08 8/10/08 - 8/17/08 8/17/08 - 8/24/08 8/24/08 - 8/31/08 8/31/08 - 9/7/08 9/7/08 - 9/14/08 9/14/08 - 9/21/08 9/21/08 - 9/28/08 9/28/08 - 10/5/08 10/5/08 - 10/12/08 10/12/08 - 10/19/08 10/19/08 - 10/26/08 10/26/08 - 11/2/08 11/2/08 - 11/9/08 11/9/08 - 11/16/08 11/16/08 - 11/23/08 11/23/08 - 11/30/08 11/30/08 - 12/7/08 12/7/08 - 12/14/08 12/14/08 - 12/21/08 12/21/08 - 12/28/08 12/28/08 - 1/4/09 1/4/09 - 1/11/09 1/11/09 - 1/18/09 1/18/09 - 1/25/09 1/25/09 - 2/1/09 2/1/09 - 2/8/09 2/8/09 - 2/15/09 2/15/09 - 2/22/09 2/22/09 - 3/1/09 3/1/09 - 3/8/09 3/8/09 - 3/15/09 3/15/09 - 3/22/09 3/22/09 - 3/29/09 3/29/09 - 4/5/09 4/5/09 - 4/12/09 4/12/09 - 4/19/09 4/19/09 - 4/26/09 4/26/09 - 5/3/09 5/3/09 - 5/10/09 5/10/09 - 5/17/09 5/17/09 - 5/24/09 5/24/09 - 5/31/09 5/31/09 - 6/7/09 6/7/09 - 6/14/09 6/14/09 - 6/21/09 6/21/09 - 6/28/09 6/28/09 - 7/5/09 7/5/09 - 7/12/09 7/12/09 - 7/19/09 7/19/09 - 7/26/09 7/26/09 - 8/2/09 8/2/09 - 8/9/09 8/9/09 - 8/16/09 8/16/09 - 8/23/09 8/23/09 - 8/30/09 8/30/09 - 9/6/09 9/6/09 - 9/13/09 9/13/09 - 9/20/09 9/20/09 - 9/27/09 9/27/09 - 10/4/09 10/4/09 - 10/11/09 10/11/09 - 10/18/09 10/18/09 - 10/25/09 10/25/09 - 11/1/09 11/1/09 - 11/8/09 11/8/09 - 11/15/09 11/15/09 - 11/22/09 11/22/09 - 11/29/09 11/29/09 - 12/6/09 12/6/09 - 12/13/09 12/13/09 - 12/20/09 12/20/09 - 12/27/09 12/27/09 - 1/3/10 1/3/10 - 1/10/10 1/10/10 - 1/17/10 1/17/10 - 1/24/10 1/24/10 - 1/31/10 1/31/10 - 2/7/10 2/7/10 - 2/14/10 2/14/10 - 2/21/10 2/21/10 - 2/28/10 2/28/10 - 3/7/10 3/7/10 - 3/14/10 3/14/10 - 3/21/10 3/21/10 - 3/28/10 3/28/10 - 4/4/10 4/4/10 - 4/11/10 4/11/10 - 4/18/10 4/18/10 - 4/25/10 4/25/10 - 5/2/10 5/2/10 - 5/9/10 5/9/10 - 5/16/10 5/16/10 - 5/23/10 5/23/10 - 5/30/10 5/30/10 - 6/6/10 6/6/10 - 6/13/10 6/13/10 - 6/20/10 6/20/10 - 6/27/10 6/27/10 - 7/4/10 7/4/10 - 7/11/10 7/11/10 - 7/18/10 7/18/10 - 7/25/10 7/25/10 - 8/1/10 8/1/10 - 8/8/10 8/8/10 - 8/15/10 8/15/10 - 8/22/10 8/22/10 - 8/29/10 8/29/10 - 9/5/10 9/5/10 - 9/12/10 9/12/10 - 9/19/10 9/19/10 - 9/26/10 9/26/10 - 10/3/10 10/3/10 - 10/10/10 10/10/10 - 10/17/10 10/17/10 - 10/24/10 10/24/10 - 10/31/10 10/31/10 - 11/7/10 11/7/10 - 11/14/10 11/14/10 - 11/21/10 11/21/10 - 11/28/10 11/28/10 - 12/5/10 12/5/10 - 12/12/10 12/12/10 - 12/19/10 12/19/10 - 12/26/10 12/26/10 - 1/2/11 1/2/11 - 1/9/11 1/9/11 - 1/16/11 1/16/11 - 1/23/11 1/23/11 - 1/30/11 1/30/11 - 2/6/11 2/6/11 - 2/13/11 2/13/11 - 2/20/11 2/20/11 - 2/27/11 2/27/11 - 3/6/11 3/6/11 - 3/13/11 3/13/11 - 3/20/11 3/20/11 - 3/27/11 3/27/11 - 4/3/11 4/3/11 - 4/10/11 4/10/11 - 4/17/11 4/17/11 - 4/24/11 4/24/11 - 5/1/11 5/1/11 - 5/8/11 5/8/11 - 5/15/11 5/15/11 - 5/22/11 5/22/11 - 5/29/11 5/29/11 - 6/5/11 6/5/11 - 6/12/11 6/12/11 - 6/19/11 6/19/11 - 6/26/11 6/26/11 - 7/3/11 7/3/11 - 7/10/11 7/10/11 - 7/17/11 7/17/11 - 7/24/11 7/24/11 - 7/31/11 7/31/11 - 8/7/11 8/7/11 - 8/14/11 8/14/11 - 8/21/11 8/21/11 - 8/28/11 8/28/11 - 9/4/11 9/4/11 - 9/11/11 9/11/11 - 9/18/11 9/18/11 - 9/25/11 9/25/11 - 10/2/11 10/2/11 - 10/9/11 10/9/11 - 10/16/11 10/16/11 - 10/23/11 10/23/11 - 10/30/11 10/30/11 - 11/6/11 11/6/11 - 11/13/11 11/13/11 - 11/20/11 11/20/11 - 11/27/11 11/27/11 - 12/4/11 12/4/11 - 12/11/11 12/11/11 - 12/18/11 12/18/11 - 12/25/11 12/25/11 - 1/1/12 1/1/12 - 1/8/12 1/8/12 - 1/15/12 1/15/12 - 1/22/12 1/22/12 - 1/29/12 1/29/12 - 2/5/12 2/5/12 - 2/12/12 2/12/12 - 2/19/12 2/19/12 - 2/26/12 2/26/12 - 3/4/12 3/4/12 - 3/11/12 3/11/12 - 3/18/12 3/18/12 - 3/25/12 3/25/12 - 4/1/12 4/1/12 - 4/8/12 4/8/12 - 4/15/12 4/15/12 - 4/22/12 4/22/12 - 4/29/12 4/29/12 - 5/6/12 5/6/12 - 5/13/12 5/13/12 - 5/20/12 5/20/12 - 5/27/12 5/27/12 - 6/3/12 6/3/12 - 6/10/12 6/10/12 - 6/17/12 6/17/12 - 6/24/12 6/24/12 - 7/1/12 7/1/12 - 7/8/12 7/8/12 - 7/15/12 7/15/12 - 7/22/12 7/22/12 - 7/29/12 7/29/12 - 8/5/12 8/5/12 - 8/12/12 8/12/12 - 8/19/12 8/19/12 - 8/26/12 8/26/12 - 9/2/12 9/2/12 - 9/9/12 9/9/12 - 9/16/12 9/16/12 - 9/23/12 9/23/12 - 9/30/12 9/30/12 - 10/7/12 10/7/12 - 10/14/12 10/14/12 - 10/21/12 10/21/12 - 10/28/12 10/28/12 - 11/4/12 11/4/12 - 11/11/12 11/11/12 - 11/18/12 11/18/12 - 11/25/12 11/25/12 - 12/2/12 12/2/12 - 12/9/12 12/9/12 - 12/16/12 12/16/12 - 12/23/12 12/23/12 - 12/30/12 12/30/12 - 1/6/13 1/6/13 - 1/13/13 1/13/13 - 1/20/13 1/20/13 - 1/27/13 1/27/13 - 2/3/13 2/3/13 - 2/10/13 2/10/13 - 2/17/13 2/17/13 - 2/24/13 2/24/13 - 3/3/13 3/3/13 - 3/10/13 3/10/13 - 3/17/13 3/17/13 - 3/24/13 3/24/13 - 3/31/13 3/31/13 - 4/7/13 4/7/13 - 4/14/13 4/14/13 - 4/21/13 4/21/13 - 4/28/13 4/28/13 - 5/5/13 5/5/13 - 5/12/13 5/12/13 - 5/19/13 5/19/13 - 5/26/13 5/26/13 - 6/2/13 6/2/13 - 6/9/13 6/9/13 - 6/16/13 6/16/13 - 6/23/13 6/23/13 - 6/30/13 6/30/13 - 7/7/13 7/7/13 - 7/14/13 7/14/13 - 7/21/13 7/21/13 - 7/28/13 7/28/13 - 8/4/13 8/4/13 - 8/11/13 8/11/13 - 8/18/13 8/18/13 - 8/25/13 8/25/13 - 9/1/13 9/1/13 - 9/8/13 9/8/13 - 9/15/13 9/15/13 - 9/22/13 9/22/13 - 9/29/13 9/29/13 - 10/6/13 10/6/13 - 10/13/13 10/13/13 - 10/20/13 10/20/13 - 10/27/13 10/27/13 - 11/3/13 11/3/13 - 11/10/13 11/10/13 - 11/17/13 11/17/13 - 11/24/13 11/24/13 - 12/1/13 12/1/13 - 12/8/13 12/8/13 - 12/15/13 12/15/13 - 12/22/13 12/22/13 - 12/29/13 12/29/13 - 1/5/14 1/5/14 - 1/12/14 1/12/14 - 1/19/14 1/19/14 - 1/26/14 1/26/14 - 2/2/14 2/2/14 - 2/9/14 2/9/14 - 2/16/14 2/16/14 - 2/23/14 2/23/14 - 3/2/14 3/2/14 - 3/9/14 3/9/14 - 3/16/14 3/16/14 - 3/23/14 3/23/14 - 3/30/14 3/30/14 - 4/6/14 4/6/14 - 4/13/14 4/13/14 - 4/20/14 4/20/14 - 4/27/14 4/27/14 - 5/4/14 5/4/14 - 5/11/14 5/11/14 - 5/18/14 5/18/14 - 5/25/14 5/25/14 - 6/1/14 6/1/14 - 6/8/14 6/8/14 - 6/15/14 6/15/14 - 6/22/14 6/22/14 - 6/29/14 6/29/14 - 7/6/14 7/6/14 - 7/13/14 7/13/14 - 7/20/14 7/20/14 - 7/27/14 7/27/14 - 8/3/14 8/3/14 - 8/10/14 8/10/14 - 8/17/14 8/17/14 - 8/24/14 8/24/14 - 8/31/14 8/31/14 - 9/7/14 9/7/14 - 9/14/14 9/14/14 - 9/21/14 9/21/14 - 9/28/14 9/28/14 - 10/5/14 10/5/14 - 10/12/14 10/12/14 - 10/19/14 10/19/14 - 10/26/14 10/26/14 - 11/2/14 11/2/14 - 11/9/14 11/9/14 - 11/16/14 11/16/14 - 11/23/14 11/23/14 - 11/30/14 11/30/14 - 12/7/14 12/7/14 - 12/14/14 12/14/14 - 12/21/14 12/21/14 - 12/28/14 12/28/14 - 1/4/15 1/4/15 - 1/11/15 1/11/15 - 1/18/15 1/18/15 - 1/25/15 1/25/15 - 2/1/15 2/1/15 - 2/8/15 2/8/15 - 2/15/15 2/15/15 - 2/22/15 2/22/15 - 3/1/15 3/1/15 - 3/8/15 3/8/15 - 3/15/15 3/15/15 - 3/22/15 3/22/15 - 3/29/15 3/29/15 - 4/5/15 4/5/15 - 4/12/15 4/12/15 - 4/19/15 4/19/15 - 4/26/15 4/26/15 - 5/3/15 5/3/15 - 5/10/15 5/10/15 - 5/17/15 5/17/15 - 5/24/15 5/24/15 - 5/31/15 5/31/15 - 6/7/15 6/7/15 - 6/14/15 6/14/15 - 6/21/15 6/21/15 - 6/28/15 6/28/15 - 7/5/15 7/5/15 - 7/12/15 7/12/15 - 7/19/15 7/19/15 - 7/26/15 7/26/15 - 8/2/15 8/2/15 - 8/9/15 8/9/15 - 8/16/15 8/16/15 - 8/23/15 8/23/15 - 8/30/15 8/30/15 - 9/6/15 9/6/15 - 9/13/15 9/13/15 - 9/20/15 9/20/15 - 9/27/15 9/27/15 - 10/4/15 10/4/15 - 10/11/15 10/11/15 - 10/18/15 10/18/15 - 10/25/15 10/25/15 - 11/1/15 11/1/15 - 11/8/15 11/8/15 - 11/15/15 11/15/15 - 11/22/15 11/22/15 - 11/29/15 11/29/15 - 12/6/15 12/6/15 - 12/13/15 12/13/15 - 12/20/15 12/20/15 - 12/27/15 12/27/15 - 1/3/16 1/3/16 - 1/10/16 1/10/16 - 1/17/16 1/17/16 - 1/24/16 1/24/16 - 1/31/16 1/31/16 - 2/7/16 2/7/16 - 2/14/16 2/14/16 - 2/21/16 2/21/16 - 2/28/16 2/28/16 - 3/6/16 3/6/16 - 3/13/16 3/13/16 - 3/20/16 3/20/16 - 3/27/16 3/27/16 - 4/3/16 4/3/16 - 4/10/16 4/10/16 - 4/17/16 4/17/16 - 4/24/16 4/24/16 - 5/1/16 5/1/16 - 5/8/16 5/8/16 - 5/15/16 5/15/16 - 5/22/16 5/22/16 - 5/29/16 5/29/16 - 6/5/16 6/5/16 - 6/12/16 6/12/16 - 6/19/16 6/19/16 - 6/26/16 6/26/16 - 7/3/16 7/3/16 - 7/10/16 7/10/16 - 7/17/16 7/17/16 - 7/24/16 7/24/16 - 7/31/16 7/31/16 - 8/7/16 8/7/16 - 8/14/16 8/14/16 - 8/21/16 8/21/16 - 8/28/16 8/28/16 - 9/4/16 9/4/16 - 9/11/16 9/11/16 - 9/18/16 9/18/16 - 9/25/16 9/25/16 - 10/2/16 10/2/16 - 10/9/16 10/9/16 - 10/16/16 10/16/16 - 10/23/16 10/23/16 - 10/30/16 10/30/16 - 11/6/16 11/6/16 - 11/13/16 11/13/16 - 11/20/16 11/20/16 - 11/27/16 11/27/16 - 12/4/16 12/4/16 - 12/11/16 12/11/16 - 12/18/16 12/18/16 - 12/25/16 12/25/16 - 1/1/17 1/1/17 - 1/8/17 1/8/17 - 1/15/17 1/15/17 - 1/22/17 1/22/17 - 1/29/17 1/29/17 - 2/5/17 2/5/17 - 2/12/17 2/12/17 - 2/19/17 2/19/17 - 2/26/17 2/26/17 - 3/5/17 3/5/17 - 3/12/17 3/12/17 - 3/19/17 3/19/17 - 3/26/17 3/26/17 - 4/2/17 4/2/17 - 4/9/17 4/9/17 - 4/16/17 4/16/17 - 4/23/17 4/23/17 - 4/30/17 4/30/17 - 5/7/17 5/7/17 - 5/14/17 5/14/17 - 5/21/17 5/21/17 - 5/28/17 5/28/17 - 6/4/17 6/4/17 - 6/11/17 6/11/17 - 6/18/17 6/18/17 - 6/25/17 6/25/17 - 7/2/17 7/2/17 - 7/9/17 7/9/17 - 7/16/17 7/16/17 - 7/23/17 7/23/17 - 7/30/17 7/30/17 - 8/6/17 8/6/17 - 8/13/17 8/13/17 - 8/20/17 8/20/17 - 8/27/17 8/27/17 - 9/3/17 9/3/17 - 9/10/17 9/10/17 - 9/17/17 9/17/17 - 9/24/17 9/24/17 - 10/1/17 10/1/17 - 10/8/17 10/8/17 - 10/15/17 10/15/17 - 10/22/17 10/22/17 - 10/29/17 10/29/17 - 11/5/17 11/5/17 - 11/12/17 11/12/17 - 11/19/17 11/19/17 - 11/26/17 11/26/17 - 12/3/17 12/3/17 - 12/10/17 12/10/17 - 12/17/17 12/17/17 - 12/24/17 12/24/17 - 12/31/17 12/31/17 - 1/7/18 1/7/18 - 1/14/18 1/14/18 - 1/21/18 1/21/18 - 1/28/18 1/28/18 - 2/4/18 2/4/18 - 2/11/18 2/11/18 - 2/18/18 2/18/18 - 2/25/18 2/25/18 - 3/4/18 3/4/18 - 3/11/18 3/11/18 - 3/18/18 3/18/18 - 3/25/18 3/25/18 - 4/1/18 4/1/18 - 4/8/18 4/8/18 - 4/15/18 4/15/18 - 4/22/18 4/22/18 - 4/29/18 4/29/18 - 5/6/18 5/6/18 - 5/13/18 5/13/18 - 5/20/18 5/20/18 - 5/27/18 5/27/18 - 6/3/18 6/3/18 - 6/10/18 6/10/18 - 6/17/18 6/17/18 - 6/24/18 6/24/18 - 7/1/18 7/1/18 - 7/8/18 7/8/18 - 7/15/18 7/15/18 - 7/22/18 7/22/18 - 7/29/18 7/29/18 - 8/5/18 8/5/18 - 8/12/18 8/12/18 - 8/19/18 8/19/18 - 8/26/18 8/26/18 - 9/2/18 9/2/18 - 9/9/18 9/9/18 - 9/16/18 9/16/18 - 9/23/18 9/23/18 - 9/30/18 9/30/18 - 10/7/18 10/7/18 - 10/14/18 10/14/18 - 10/21/18 10/21/18 - 10/28/18 10/28/18 - 11/4/18 11/4/18 - 11/11/18 11/11/18 - 11/18/18 11/18/18 - 11/25/18 11/25/18 - 12/2/18 12/2/18 - 12/9/18 12/9/18 - 12/16/18 12/16/18 - 12/23/18 12/23/18 - 12/30/18 12/30/18 - 1/6/19 1/6/19 - 1/13/19 1/13/19 - 1/20/19 1/20/19 - 1/27/19 1/27/19 - 2/3/19 2/3/19 - 2/10/19 2/10/19 - 2/17/19 2/17/19 - 2/24/19 2/24/19 - 3/3/19 3/3/19 - 3/10/19 3/10/19 - 3/17/19 3/17/19 - 3/24/19 3/24/19 - 3/31/19 3/31/19 - 4/7/19 4/7/19 - 4/14/19 4/14/19 - 4/21/19 4/21/19 - 4/28/19 4/28/19 - 5/5/19 5/5/19 - 5/12/19 5/12/19 - 5/19/19 5/19/19 - 5/26/19 5/26/19 - 6/2/19 6/2/19 - 6/9/19 6/9/19 - 6/16/19 6/16/19 - 6/23/19 6/23/19 - 6/30/19 6/30/19 - 7/7/19 7/7/19 - 7/14/19 7/14/19 - 7/21/19 7/21/19 - 7/28/19 7/28/19 - 8/4/19 8/4/19 - 8/11/19 8/11/19 - 8/18/19 8/18/19 - 8/25/19 8/25/19 - 9/1/19 9/1/19 - 9/8/19 9/8/19 - 9/15/19 9/15/19 - 9/22/19 9/22/19 - 9/29/19 9/29/19 - 10/6/19 10/6/19 - 10/13/19 10/13/19 - 10/20/19 10/20/19 - 10/27/19 10/27/19 - 11/3/19 11/3/19 - 11/10/19 11/10/19 - 11/17/19 11/17/19 - 11/24/19 11/24/19 - 12/1/19 12/1/19 - 12/8/19 12/8/19 - 12/15/19 12/15/19 - 12/22/19 12/22/19 - 12/29/19 12/29/19 - 1/5/20 1/5/20 - 1/12/20 1/12/20 - 1/19/20 1/19/20 - 1/26/20 1/26/20 - 2/2/20 2/2/20 - 2/9/20 2/9/20 - 2/16/20 2/16/20 - 2/23/20 2/23/20 - 3/1/20 3/1/20 - 3/8/20 3/8/20 - 3/15/20 3/15/20 - 3/22/20 3/22/20 - 3/29/20 3/29/20 - 4/5/20 4/5/20 - 4/12/20 4/12/20 - 4/19/20 4/19/20 - 4/26/20 4/26/20 - 5/3/20 5/3/20 - 5/10/20 5/10/20 - 5/17/20 5/17/20 - 5/24/20 5/24/20 - 5/31/20 5/31/20 - 6/7/20 6/7/20 - 6/14/20 6/14/20 - 6/21/20 6/21/20 - 6/28/20 6/28/20 - 7/5/20 7/5/20 - 7/12/20 7/12/20 - 7/19/20 7/19/20 - 7/26/20 7/26/20 - 8/2/20 8/2/20 - 8/9/20 8/9/20 - 8/16/20 8/16/20 - 8/23/20 8/23/20 - 8/30/20 8/30/20 - 9/6/20 9/6/20 - 9/13/20 9/13/20 - 9/20/20 9/20/20 - 9/27/20 9/27/20 - 10/4/20 10/4/20 - 10/11/20 10/11/20 - 10/18/20 10/18/20 - 10/25/20 10/25/20 - 11/1/20 11/1/20 - 11/8/20 11/8/20 - 11/15/20 11/15/20 - 11/22/20 11/22/20 - 11/29/20 11/29/20 - 12/6/20 12/6/20 - 12/13/20 12/13/20 - 12/20/20 12/20/20 - 12/27/20 1/3/21 - 1/10/21 1/10/21 - 1/17/21 1/17/21 - 1/24/21 1/24/21 - 1/31/21 1/31/21 - 2/7/21 2/7/21 - 2/14/21 2/14/21 - 2/21/21 2/21/21 - 2/28/21 2/28/21 - 3/7/21 3/7/21 - 3/14/21 3/14/21 - 3/21/21 3/21/21 - 3/28/21 3/28/21 - 4/4/21 4/4/21 - 4/11/21 4/11/21 - 4/18/21 4/18/21 - 4/25/21 4/25/21 - 5/2/21 5/2/21 - 5/9/21 5/9/21 - 5/16/21 5/16/21 - 5/23/21 5/23/21 - 5/30/21 5/30/21 - 6/6/21 6/6/21 - 6/13/21 6/13/21 - 6/20/21 6/20/21 - 6/27/21 6/27/21 - 7/4/21 7/4/21 - 7/11/21 7/11/21 - 7/18/21 7/18/21 - 7/25/21 7/25/21 - 8/1/21 8/1/21 - 8/8/21 8/8/21 - 8/15/21 8/15/21 - 8/22/21 8/22/21 - 8/29/21 8/29/21 - 9/5/21 9/5/21 - 9/12/21 9/12/21 - 9/19/21 9/19/21 - 9/26/21 9/26/21 - 10/3/21 10/3/21 - 10/10/21 10/10/21 - 10/17/21 10/17/21 - 10/24/21 10/24/21 - 10/31/21 10/31/21 - 11/7/21 11/7/21 - 11/14/21 11/14/21 - 11/21/21 11/21/21 - 11/28/21 11/28/21 - 12/5/21 12/5/21 - 12/12/21 12/12/21 - 12/19/21 12/19/21 - 12/26/21 1/2/22 - 1/9/22 1/9/22 - 1/16/22 1/16/22 - 1/23/22 1/23/22 - 1/30/22 1/30/22 - 2/6/22 2/6/22 - 2/13/22 2/13/22 - 2/20/22 2/20/22 - 2/27/22 2/27/22 - 3/6/22 3/6/22 - 3/13/22 3/13/22 - 3/20/22 3/20/22 - 3/27/22 3/27/22 - 4/3/22 4/3/22 - 4/10/22 4/10/22 - 4/17/22 4/17/22 - 4/24/22 4/24/22 - 5/1/22 5/1/22 - 5/8/22 5/8/22 - 5/15/22 5/15/22 - 5/22/22 5/22/22 - 5/29/22 5/29/22 - 6/5/22 6/5/22 - 6/12/22 6/12/22 - 6/19/22 6/19/22 - 6/26/22 6/26/22 - 7/3/22 7/10/22 - 7/17/22 7/17/22 - 7/24/22 7/24/22 - 7/31/22 7/31/22 - 8/7/22 8/7/22 - 8/14/22 8/14/22 - 8/21/22 8/21/22 - 8/28/22 8/28/22 - 9/4/22 9/4/22 - 9/11/22 9/11/22 - 9/18/22 9/18/22 - 9/25/22 9/25/22 - 10/2/22 10/2/22 - 10/9/22 10/9/22 - 10/16/22 10/16/22 - 10/23/22 10/23/22 - 10/30/22 10/30/22 - 11/6/22 website design by website design by limwebdesign
Africa continent is a combination of various excellent places, like deserts, rain forests, plains, rivers. Thousands of tribes started their history near rivers. The longest river in Africa was once a cradle for one of the most mysterious civilizations in the world. Many endangered species of Africa are concentrated around major rivers in Africa. Rainy seasons supply heavy streams in rivers; it helps them to become larger and longer. Africa is the continent of hundreds of tribes, and most of these tribes get their culture from the river banks. Africa is also a place with the longest river on the Earth.

Top 20 Largest Rivers in Africa

Longest river in Africa

The Shire River 402 km

It`s the largest river in Africa`s country  Malawi. The river name has been known as Chire or Shire. It starts from the Lake Malawi and flows into the Zambezi River. The length of the river is 402 km. It starts in the Lake Malawi and goes right to the shallow Lake Malombe. Then it leaves the lake and runs on the South through Liwonde National Park. Between the towns of Chikwawa and Matope, the river goes through the series of the waterfalls. Beyond Chikwawa, it enters the Mozambique plain, where it joins with the Ruo River. The last obstacle to the Zambezi river is the Elephant Marsh.

Senegal River 1086 km

It`s one of the major rivers in Africa that creates a border between Mauritania and Senegal. The headwaters of the Senegal`s river are the Bafing and Semefe. From there the river goes to the west through Talari Gorges. It flows gently through the Kayes. The river has two dams, the Maka-Diama Dam and the multi-purpose manantali Dam. According to the Joao de Barros, the chronicler in the 16th century, the river was given name after a local Wolof Chieftan.

Longest river in Africa

Draa River 1100 km

It`s one of the rivers in Africa. It`s considered to be the longest river in Morocco. It gets the formation from the combination of Imini River and Dades River. It comes from the High Atlas Mountains on the South ward to Tagouinte. From this place, the river goes strictly westwards to the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the year, the waters from the part after Tagounite fall dry. The Draa inhabitants are called Drawa, one of the most notorious Drawa is Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh. Outside the region of Draa, the word the Draa is mostly used as a reference to the dark skin people originated from the banks of the river.

Sankuru River 1 200 km

It`s a major river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The approximate length of 1 200 km makes the river one of the longest river in Africa and the longest tributary of Kasai River. The upper course of the river is also known as Lubilash. The flows of the river come from the northwards and reached westwards crossing through several towns. Most notable towns are Lusambo and Mbuji-Mayi. Sankuru River enters the Kasai River not far from Bana-Bendi.

Longest river in Africa

The Vaal River 1 240 km

It`s one of the major rivers of Africa and the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river comes from the different sources, like Breyten in Mpumalanga province, North of Ermelo, East of Johannesburg. Then the river goes westward to its conjunction point with the Orange River. The junction line is Kimberley in the Northern Cape. The flows of The Vaal River create borders between Free State on the South, Guanteng and North West Province, and Mpumalanga. The tributes to the river include the Riet River, Wilge River, Klip River, Renoster River, Vet River, Mooi River, Blesbokspruit, Bamboes Spruit, Waterval River, Vals River and Harts River.

READ ALSO: How many countries are in Africa?

Lomami river 1280 km

It`s the major tributary to the Congo River. The approximate length of the river is 1 280 km. It flows to the North West. The Lomami starts on the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the Congo-Zambezi divide near to Kamina. It goes to the north through the Ireme, Opala, Bolaiti, Kombe, Tshofa and Lubao before it connects with the Congo River at Isangi. The river name can be meet in the number of biological species, like the flowering plant Pavetta Lomamiensis and the monkey Cercopithecus lomamiensis. It`s one of the most influential rivers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo history.

Longest river in Africa

Benue River 1 400 km

This river was previously known as the Tchadda or Chadda River. Its length is around 1 400 km, and it`s considered to be the largest tributary to the Niger River. It`s one of the most important river routes fro the States of Nigeria. It comes from the Adamawa Plateau in Cameroon. It goes through the Ladgo Reservoir. The Benue River flows into Nigeria through the South of the Mandara mountains. It continues to flow through the Makurdi, Ibi and Jimerta. It finally connects with the Niger river in Lokoja. The river is also known for its flood with snakes. Around 200 people died from snakebites in 2013.

Volta River 1500 km

It`s one of the longest rivers in Africa. It goes directly through the Volta Region and Dagbon region. They are located in the Northern region of Ghana. The Volta river goes directly to the Atlantic Ocean. There are three main tributaries of the river, like the Red Volta, White Volta, and Black Volta. The Volta River is provided with its name from the Portuguese gold traders. On the lower Volta River, there is a reservoir impounded by the Akosombo Dam. This reservoir generates electricity for the Volta River Authority. The reservoir also provides transport water routes.

Longest river in Africa

The Blue Nile 1548 km

The Blue Nile is one of the largest rivers in Africa. Together with the White Nile, it becomes the major tribute to the Nile. The upper stream of the river is named the Abbay in Ethiopia, where it considered to be the holy river. Some Ethiopians identify the Blue Nile as the River Gihon. The river riches its maximum level during the rain seasons. The Blue Nile is the major reason for flooding for the Nile. It contributes the fertility of the Nile Valley. Therefore, The Blue Nile was also described in the many Egyptian myths and its considered to be a part of Ancient Egypt History.

Jubba River 1580 km

It`s one of the rivers in Africa that is located in the Southern Somalia. The beginning of the river is located on the border of Ethiopia. It`s the point where Ganale Dorya and Dawa rivers meet. The river flows directly to the Indian Ocean. One of the earliest mentions about the river is connected to the Jesuit Jeronimo Lobo in 1624. He mentioned that the river flows through the Ethiopia and goes directly to the Indian Ocean. The Primary regions of Jubba are savanna. The banks of the river are considered to be the richest lands for the farmland.

Longest river in Africa

Okavango River 1 700 km

It`s one of the rivers in Africa South West part. It`s considered to be the fourth longest river in that region. It starts in Angola, where it`s known for the Portuguese name Ria Cubango. It runs further to the south where it forms the border between Namibia and Angola. After that, it goes directly to the Botswana and right into the Moremi Game Reserve. The river does not have outlets to the sea. Therefore, it empties into the swamp in the Kalahari Desert. In the rainy seasons, The Okavango River can have an outflow to the Boteti River.

Limpopo River 1750 km

The river starts in the central Southern Africa and goes directly to the Indian Ocean. The approximate length of the river is about 1 750 km. The Limpopo is considered to be the second longest river in Africa that flows directly to the Indian Ocean. The first European who saw the river was Vasco da Gama, who later named the river as Espiritu Santo River in 1498. The lower course of the river was explored by St. Vincent Whitshed Erkine in the 19th century. Another European  J.F. Elton explored the middle course of the river in 1870.

Longest river in Africa

Kwango River 1 770 km

It`s one of the rivers in Africa that serves as transboundary between nations. In this particular case, it`s a transboundary between Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. This river passes through Malanje town in Angola. The Kawngo River provides the largest treasure of diamond resources. They are concentrated in Lunda Norte Province in the Chitanba-Lulo Kimberlite Cluster. The Kwango River was the cradle of the Rund Kingdom and the Kingdom of Kasanje until The Portuguese colonized and replaced it. The river was also a center of a slave trading.

Kasai River 2153 km

Kasai or Cassai is one of the longest rivers in Africa central part. It`s also one of the largest contributors to the Congo River. The river starts in Angola and also serves as a natural border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. The river joins the Congo in the Kwamouth. The Kasai tributaries include the Sankuru, Kwango and Fimi rivers. The Kasai basin is a perfect spot that consists of equatorial rainforests. It`s also considered to be the great fertile lands. The Kasai River is filled with diamonds. Around 60% of Belgium diamonds come from the banks of the Kasai River.

Longest river in Africa

Orange River 2200 km

What is the longest river in Africa`s South? It`s the Orange River. It starts in the Drakensberg mountains and flows westwards through South Africa and ends its flow in the Atlantic Ocean. The river forms the international borders between countries, like South Africa and Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. It also serves as a natural border for the several provinces in South Africa. The Orange River has been played the major role in the South Africa economy. It provides water, irrigation system and electricity from hydroelectric power.

Ubangi-Uele River 2270 km

Uele and Ubangi rivers are considered to be the largest rivers in Africa, which serves as tributaries for the Congo River. The combined length of Ubangi and Uele Rivers is 2 270 km. The Uele River is spelled as Welle River. It originates in the mountains close to the Lake Albert. It serves as one of the largest transport rivers between Brazzaville and Bangui. The overall drainage basin of the Ubangi-Uele river is 772 800 square km.

Longest river in Africa

Zambezi River 2574 km

The Zambezi river is considered to be the fourth longest river in Africa. It`s also the largest river that flows directly to the Indian Ocean. The Basin area of the river is 1 390 000 square km. It starts in Zambia and goes to Angola. Then it runs along the Eastern border of Namibia, along with the border of Zambia and Northern border of Botswana. It creates the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and flows to Mozambique. The Zambezi river crosses Mozambique in half and flows into the Indian Ocean.

Niger River 4 180 km

It`s the principal river in the West Africa. It`s extending length is about 4 180 km. The drainage basin of Niger River is 2 117 700 square km. The source of the river is in the South East Guinea, Guinea Highlands. The river flows through the Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria and right to the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. The main tributary is the Benue River.

Congo River (Zaire) 4 700 km

The Congo River is considered to be the second longest river in Africa. And it`s the second largest river in discharge after Amazon. The deepest level of measured depths in the river is 220 m. The river crosses the equator twice. The total area of the Congo Basin is around four million square km. It covers the 13% of the entire Africa landmass.

Nile 6 853 km

The Nile is regarded as the longest river in Africa and the entire world. The water resources of Nile are shared within eleven countries: Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Congo-Kinshasa, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. There are two major tributaries to the Nile: The Blue Nile and White Nile.

READ ALSO: Revolutionary paralysis treatment - WiFi

Source: Legit.ng
Ankara style became a new trend in fashion, originating from Lagos. Over a long term of years this native African vogue style was common only in Africa, nowadays it is worldwide famous, many international designers fell in love with this style. Many celebrities are fond of one-of-a-kind Ankara styles. Ankara fashion now is everywhere - in the streets, on the television, in fashion stores, show rooms. Is this style only for women? Of course, not!

We will prove you that beautiful Ankara styles for teens will capture your heart.

Ankara styles for teenagers

Do you still dont know Ankara style is? It is a use of a bright printed fabric, driven into hips by African fashion. Today, there are not only Ankara style garments but also bags, shoes, jewelry and accessories.

READ ALSO: Hausa ankara styles - Top 20 models you will adore

Years have passed and the understanding of the Ankara style has varied greatly, previously the prints on the fabric were only traditional, now, people create their own perception of Ankara prints, but still it did not lose its charm.

Ankara styles for teenagers

Latest Ankara styles are made not only for women, young ladies very often choose exactly this style for many events and even for everyday. Celebrities (not only African) visit different fashionable events wearing Ankara style, this also has a great influence. Teenagers usually follow the trends, Ankara prints are now in vogue, so the teens follow this stream. Consumption creates proposition, so many designers create Ankara styles for teenagers.

Ankara styles for teenagers

There are many ideas how outfits in Ankara style can spice your wardrobe. Just find a piece of cloth that will make you gorgeous and unforgettable. It can be short or long, totally African print or combined with one-tone fabric or lace. There are Ankara styles for teenagers for everyday, parties, wedding or other special events. Does not matter what it is, chitenge or kitenge, kente, dashiki, adiree and the many other variants of African prints, love to this style is eternal.

Ankara styles for teenagers

Short Ankara dresses

Ankara short dress is also known as a frock or gown. It is an outfit consisting of an attached bodies and a skirt, giving the effect of one piece. The form and style of the bodies and the skirt can be different. This garment creates a stylish and playful look, exactly fits the bill for teen fashion. There are tons of variants, just choose the one, suiting your taste.

Ankara styles for teenagers

Ankara styles for teenagers

Ankara styles for teenagers

Ankara and lace are a perfect pair, creating a stunning look. This is the latest and one of the desirable Ankara styles. The combination of Ankara fabric and lace in a Mermaid appearance is the style appreciated by most celebrities. If you will choose this style for a special event, a birthday, a prom or for a wedding, you can be sure that you will be an eye-catcher.

Ankara styles for teenagers

Ankara styles: tops

Ankara top is a must-have garment in your wardrobe! It can be perfectly combined with a skirt, shorts, jeans, trousers. Off-shoulders tops captured many hearts, you can transform your off-shoulder tops to a buttoned off-shoulder top! You can wear it as a casual piece of cloth or you can wear it to the party, flashing out it by glamorous bottom piece, a clutch and jewelry. For special events or weekend, you can choose the peplum top, which can be crafted in different ways, the main things are to cinch the waist with nip tuck effect, it creates different effects on different body shapes. Peplum can have variations, it can be asymmetric, triangular, half peplum, and full-on pleats. One more trend is a crop top, it will look perfect with a high waist skirt or trousers.

Ankara styles for teenagers

Ankara jumpsuit

If you need a cute but at the same time a bit casual garment, then Ankara jumpsuit is created for you. It can look too simple, but accomplish with a nice belt and you will see, how it changes. Off-shoulder style will make you look cuddlesome.

Ankara styles for teenagers

Ankara styles for teenagers

READ ALSO: Ankara jumpsuit styles

Girls, what are you waiting for? If you doubt what to wear for a special occasion or just want to refresh your wardrobe with something extra vogue and eye-catchy, off all doubts, Ankara style is waiting for you! You will love your look!

Source: Legit.ng
- Cameroonian government has deported no less than 517 Nigerians

- 313 of the repatriated Nigerians are refugees who fled from Boko Haram

- Nigerian federal government is working on an agreement to voluntarily relocate 85,000 others

The government of Cameroon has deported about 517 Nigerians who are in the country illegally. 313 asylum seekers who fled from the Boko Haram insurgence in northern Nigeria were also deported, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said efforts are ongoing to get details surrounding the action by the Cameroonian government and the condition of the affected Nigerians, Vanguard reports.

Cameroonian government deported 517 Nigerians, 313 asylum seekers included

READ ALSO: Who will rescue Nigeria from evil neighbours? By Bala Usman

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is reportedly worried about the deportation which he described as against international conventions. He has however appealed to the Cameroonian government to consider offering asylum to Nigerians who need it rather than forcefully deport them.

UNHCR Cameroon tweeted that: "The UNHCR is very concerned about these repatriations and continues to advocate for access to asylum and the principle of non-refoulement."

The UNHCR is also planning to sign an agreement with Cameroon and Nigeria in March 2017, for the voluntary return of 85,000 Nigerian refugees.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on Legit.ng News App

Recall that the Nigerian government recently declared that it has succeeded in ending the Boko Haram insurgence in Nigeria. This might encourage voluntary return of asylum seekers who fled the country to survive terrorism.

Meanwhile, no fewer than 163 Nigerians who have been stranded in Libya voluntarily returned to the country on Tuesday, February 14.

Their return was facilitated by the International Oganisation for Migration (IOM), following the federal governments request for its assistance after confirming that some Nigerians were willing to return home.

Source: Legit.ng
South Africas President Jacob Zuma has condemned acts of violence between citizens and non-nationals, his office said on Friday, February 24.

Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa against a background of near-record unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs from citizens and getting involved in crime.

Citizens in Pretoria are set to march against foreigners on Friday and domestic media are reporting vandalism and acts of violence in the Atteridgeville area west of the capital.

READ ALSO: South African High Commissioner promises to end xenophobic attacks

At least 20 stores in Pretoria owned by foreigners were looted on Tuesday, but police could not confirm that the attacks had deliberately targeted foreigners.

Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively.

It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers. The threats and counter-threats on social media must stop, Zuma said in a statement.

NAN reports that the Federal Government on Thursday urged the South African government to put in place measures to end the incessant xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in that country.

Minister of State Foreign Affairs Khadija Abba-Ibrahim, gave the task in Abuja during a second summon to the High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria, Mr Lulu Aaron-Mnguni, on the issue.

Recall that the Ministry had on Monday, summoned the South Africa High Commissioner over the matter.

NAN also reports that Nigerian buildings, properties and places of worship worth millions of dollars were destroyed by South Africans on February 5 and 18.

However, the minister said that no Nigerian lost their lives in the attacks contrary to reports in some media.

According to her, the reports that mentioned the killing of Nigerians in the xenophobic attacks are unsubstantiated.

READ ALSO: Killing of Nigerians in South Africa: FG sends strong message to South African government

The ministry has not received the report of any death of Nigerian in the latest incidents of attacks against foreigners.

The Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria is in constant touch with the Nigerian Union in South Africa, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) of South Africa, as well as the South African police.

All these agencies have confirmed that no Nigerian life was lost in the recent incident, she said.

Source: Legit.ng
Recently, students of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) went on a protest over the increase of school fees. The protest degenerated and led to the shut down of the institution.

7 most expensive universities in Nigeria 2017

With the ongoing economic hardship in Nigeria, many are worried about the rising cost of education. What are the most expensive universities in Nigeria, in 2017?

7. Ajayi Crowther University (N200,000 - N695,000)

Ajayi Crowther university is a private university located in Oyo state Nigeria. The religious studies facuty of the school pays as much as N200, 000, while the faculty of law pays between N670,000 and N695,000.

6. Covenant University (N790,000 - N814,000)

Covenant University is located in Ota, Ogun state, Nigeria. It is a private Christian university, affiliated with Living Faith Church Worldwide.

The architecture and engineering programmes are among the most expensive with their fees running into N814,000 or even more.

5. Afe Babalola University (N700,000 - N1,500,000)

Afe Babalola University is a non-profit private university located in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. It was founded by the lawyer and philanthropist, Afe Babalola, in 2009.

The students of the management and business faculty of the institution pay as much as N1, 577,000.

READ ALSO: JAMB 2017: 5 state universities and their admission rates in Nigeria

4. American University of Nigeria (N400,000 - N1,590,000)

American University of Nigeria is a private university in northeastern Nigeria that offers American style higher education programs at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels.

The tuition fees of the institution ranges from N400,000 - N1, 590,000.

3. Bowen University (N470,000 - N1,850,000)

Bowen University is a private Nigerian university owned and operated by the Nigerian Baptist Convention.

The faculty of Agriculture students pay as much as N530,000, while the students of medicine pay around N1,850,000.

READ ALSO: Despite bomb blast, see why students continue to rush for UNIMAID

2. Babcock University (N300,000 - 3,000,000)

Babcock University is a private Christian co-educational Nigerian university owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria.

Most of the faculties pay between N300,000 and N480,000, but the medical faculty students pay as much as N3,160,000.

1. Igbinedion University (N600,000 - 3,000,000)

Igbinedion University Okada, established in 1999, is regarded by some as the premier private university in Nigeria. Located at Okada in Okada, a town near Benin City, Edo state.

Computer science and Nursing students, pay about N600,000 and N700,000 while medicine students pay N3,000,000 which includes tuition, accommodation and other charges.

Below is a video of students speaking up about university admission problems:

Source: Legit.ng
- MASSOB has said it will ask its members to participate in 2018 election with conditions

- The Biafra group lashed out at Uwazuruike for saying violence will not bring their desire

- It said the former MASSOB leader was trying to protect his businesses

The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has lashed out at Ralph Uwazuruike for saying violence and guns cannot achieve Biafra but a non-violence approach.

The former leader of the group who left to form the Biafra Independent Movement (BIM) after he was expelled had said he had learnt that arms would not bring about Biafra but MASSOB countered accusing Uwazuruike of only thinking about protecting his business rather than achieving Biafra.

READ ALSO: Opinion: Oduduwa Republic inevitable

The Sun reports that the group said: From inception of the current struggle for Biafra actualisation and restoration, MASSOB, then under Uwazuruike who was expelled on November 30, 2015 at MASSOB headquarters, Okwe, lost about 1,000 members through gunshots by Nigeria security agents including hundreds of deaths of IPOB members through the same gunshots in many cities of Biafra land. How can Uwazuruike who claimed to be championing the cause of Biafra confidently and boldly declare that Biafra will be actualised without gunshots, what other gunshots did he want or referring to?

Is he referring to the former war of 1967-1970? He has no regard for the people that died through these gunshots, is it because his children and wife who are enjoying the comfort of his ill gotten wealth abroad have never experienced gunshots? Nigeria has already declared war against the people of Biafra, we have lost thousands of our people through gunshots by Nigeria Army, Police, DSS, armed Fulani herdsmen, Islamic fundamentalists, Customs Service etc.

MASSOB knows that Uwazuruike will not want or like Biafrans rising in defence of themselves or engaging in a war with Nigeria because he doesnt want to lose his numerous investments in Owerri, Port Harcourt, Lagos and Abuja. Our people are in detention, many are lost and killed by gunshots of our oppressors, yet, a forgotten person said there will be no gunshots.

On the issue of the 2018 census, MASSOB said that unlike un 2016 when it asked its members to boycott the exercise, it would allow it on some conditions.

It is unfortunate that Igbo misunderstood our position during the 2006 national census where MASSOB urged Biafrans to boycott the exercise which later recorded a low turnout.

The 2006 national census exercise was part of the yardsticks for MASSOB to showcase our strength, popularity and acceptance of Igbo. Also, our primary aim of opposing the last census was to draw the attention of international communities, including United Nations, to the plight of Biafrans. Although the low turnout of South-East during the last census exercise was used by our enemies and government to undermine and shortchange the status of Igbo in Nigeria, it is part of our sacrifice for Biafra and MASSOB.

As every revolutionary struggle for independence has its methodology and can adapt to any opportunity that will yield positive results, MASSOB is considering allowing next years national census because of the intervention of some prominent Igbo leaders and with the conditions MASSOB outlined which includes inclusion of religion to ascertain the actual number of Muslims, Traditionalists and Christians. The inclusion of religion will also enable us to know the number of oriental sects and religions in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: MASSOB to issue Biafra currency in exchange of Naira

Another condition is inclusion of ethnicity which will immensely assist in knowing the total number of indigenous people in Nigeria, it will also help in putting to rest the ethnic arguments of the largest Nigerian ethnic group or the major and minor tribes.

Every citizen residing outside his/her state of origin must be allowed to leave for his/her state for the counting, this also will enable us know the exact population of each state. Internationally, this is how census is being conducted.

Source: Legit.ng
- Divorced mother of one set her US$ 1500 wedding dress on fire in celebration of what she described as freedom from four tough years of marriage

- The 25 year old woman was in a relationship for 16 years, got married for four years, but recently parted ways with her childhood boyfriend

- She now has a brand new boyfriend who find her post-wedlock act quite cool and thrilling. Here is what exactly led the acrimonious divorce

A jilted 25 year of mother of one has set her wedding dress on fire in celebration of her recent divorce after four years of marriage.

The bizarre post-wedlock celebration was complete with wine and a photo shoot session. She described it as the day of freedom following four years of unhappy marriage and tough life.

READ ALSO: Mercy Johnson says powerful prayer for all mothers

The mother-of-one, pictured here on her wedding day four years ago, says her relationship 'wasn't a good one'

The said woman, identified as Katlynn McKee, kicked off her celebrations by dragging the US$ 1,500 wedding dress in mud, joyously tore it into pieces, then set it on fire as the camera rolled.

The couple reportedly stayed together for 10 years and got married for four years before calling it quit in the most unceremonious style possible.

Katlyn even enlisted the services of her original snapper to shoot the final episode, which she touted as the moment of freedom from hell.

READ ALSO: 200 brides ride in a truck to their mass wedding in Uganda (photos)

25-year-old Katlynn said destroying the dress had set her 'free' after an unhappy marriage

"My relationship was not working. We had been together since I was 16, and got married for four years, during which our love for each other faded. It was a huge relief to finally run out of it," says Katlynn, who has six year old daughter called Faith.

She had allegedly researched 'Trash The Dress' for inspiration just before she hatched a plan to set her wedding gown on fire while 'drowning in wine'.

"It was exactly the way I wanted it to be.It was my rebellion again the marriage and my way of communicating to everyone that I also deserve freedom," she says.

Katlynn, who works as a hairdresser, has since found herself a brand new boyfriend who she says like the act and the photos taken.As for the unnamed ex-husband, it was unbelievable what she did. But there is nothing he can do about it, especially now that Katlynne has moved on with her life, opening a completely new chapter.

READ ALSO: How TECNO Mobile made this Valentine remarkable for its fans with the #MyLovein140 & #MyLoveInOneSentence activities

Katlynn, who works as a hairdresser, said she was 'empowered' by the unusual shoot

Watch video of the mother who set her wedding dress on fire after divorce:

Source: Legit.ng
Below is Legit.ng's live coverage of the #ForeignerMarch in South Africa.

1.15pm' South Africa's national police chief Khomotso Phahlane says 156 people have been arrested in various incidents during the anti-foreigner march in Pretoria.

156 arrested as S'Africa anti-immigrant protests erupt in Pretoria

According to Phahlane, random acts of violence, looting and destruction of property had occurred during the protest.

However, it was unclear how many of those in custody were South Africans and how many foreigners.

Phahlane said anyone found to have been inciting violence would be prosecuted.

Police disperse the protesters

S'Africa anti-immigrant protesters

Somalian protesters in Pretoria

S'Africa anti-immigrant protesters

1pm' Recall that President Jacob Zuma had called for calm ahead of today's anti-immigrant march. However, many unemployed South Africans accuse foreigners of taking their jobs.

The main group behind the protests, Mamelodi Concerned Residents, has blamed foreign nationals for taking jobs and accused them of being involved in prostitution rings and drug cartels, accusations denied by immigrant communities.

South Africa experienced its worst outbreak of violence against foreigners in 2008, when more than 60 people died.

Two years ago, similar xenophobic unrest in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban claimed seven lives as African immigrants were hunted down and attacked by gangs.

12.50pm' The police are battling hard to keep South Africans and foreigners apart

12.45pm' Foreigners in South Africa's capital, Pretoria have stood their ground against a march by residents.

A video shared on Twitter shows one man saying that they do not want to fight but are "ready to protect our property".

12.30pm' Reactions have been trickling in following the on-going development.

12pm' Police have started using rubber bullets and stun grenades on a crowd of what looks like about 200 immigrants who were running along Eskia Mphahlele Drive in Pretoria.

The group is reported to have been running from town to join their fellow countrymen in an area with shops owned by Somali citizens.

Police opened fire on the crowd when it refused to stop with some lifting their hands in surrender while some were holding stones and sticks.

11.55am' Atteridgeville residents in Pretoria have described how protestors have started to block roads with burning tyres ahead of the planned anti-immigrant march which was scheduled for today, February 24.

11.30am' A large group of protesters has left the township on foot and is arriving in the Pretoria CBD. This comes on the heels of violence in Attridegville this morning.

Numerous roads have been closed as police confront the demonstrators, firing rubber bullets to disperse them.

Hundreds of protesters are expected to march to the Home Affairs Department to hand over a memorandum which outlines grievances against foreigners.

Police officers from across Gauteng have been deployed to monitor the anti-immigrant march.

March organisers, the 'Mamelodi Concerned Residents', say its unfair that the violence is now being blamed on South Africans.

11.00am' Foreign nationals gathered ongoing in Pretoria for the #ForeignerMarch

Following approval from the Tshwane Metro Police Department, the Mamelodi Concerned Residents has organized a protest against the illegal immigrants in Pretoria on Friday, February 24.

Tshwane Metro Police Department said that after much consideration it had decided to give permission for the #Foreignermarch to go ahead in Pretoria, but with conditions.

Xenophobia: Over 1000 protesters take to the streets in S'Africa (LIVE UPDATES)

Around 1,000 people are presently gathered on the streets, and the organisers said they are not targeting foreigners but the South African governments controls over immigration.

The march takes place with a backdrop of attacks against foreigners across select sections of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

In recent weeks, homes and businesses have been torched and looted in the name of stopping crime committed by foreigners.

The actions have been fuelled by both the sentiment that foreigners are committing crime in South Africa and that they have been able to economically prosper where locals have not.

Source: Legit.ng
- The Nigerian government on Thursday, February 24, debunked reports that some Nigerians were killed in a xenophobic attack in South Africa

- The minister of state for foreign affairs Khadija Abba-Ibrahim said no Nigerian live was lost in the attacks

- She said this after a meeting with the High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria

The Nigerian government on Thursday, February 24, debunked reports that some Nigerians were killed in a xenophobic attack in South Africa.

Since the past week, there have been series of reports of attacks on Nigerians by South Africans.

The attacks, the reports said were focused on Nigerian business owners in South Africa.

Also, Nigerian lawmakers on Tuesday, February 21, summoned the Nigerian Ambassador to South Africa to proffer solutions and prevent such attack on Nigerians living in South Africa.

READ ALSO: Xenophobia: Over 1000 protesters take to the streets in South Africa (LIVE UPDATES)

In the same vain, the Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the presidential adviser on foreign affairs called on the Africa Union to intervene on the matter.

However, speaking to journalists after a meeting with the High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria, the minister of state for foreign affairs Khadija Abba-Ibrahim said no Nigerian live was lost in the attacks.

She said the reports that mentioned the killing of Nigerians in the xenophobic attacks are unsubstantiated.

The ministry has not received the report of any death of Nigerian in the latest incidents of attacks against foreigners," Abba-Ibrahim said.

READ ALSO: Xenophobia in South Africa: 4 TERRIFYING things that will happen if Nigerians retaliate

The Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria is in constant touch with the Nigerian Union in South Africa, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, DIRCO of South Africa, as well as the South African police.

All these agencies have confirmed that no Nigerian life was lost in the recent incident.

The government is in touch with South African authorities to ensure the safety of Nigerians there, she said.

The minister also appealed to journalists to desist from escalating issues with unconfirmed reports.

Also, the South Africa High Commissioner to Nigeria said his government was on top of the situation.

Aaron-Mnguni said, The Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa will hold a briefing with the diplomatic community on Friday to fashion out more ways to solve the problem.

Source: Legit.ng
Family Christian Stores is going out of business and closing all of its nearly 250 stores, including one in Lincoln.

Christianity Today reported the news Friday.

The company had declared bankruptcy two years ago, and its President Chuck Bengochea told the publication that business conditions since have been "difficult."

Despite improvements in product assortment and the store experience, sales continued to decline. In addition, we were not able to get the pricing and terms we needed from our vendors to successfully compete in the market," he said

We have prayerfully looked at all possible options, trusting Gods plan for our organization, he stated, and the difficult decision to liquidate is our only recourse.

Family Christian Stores did not give a timetable for closing its stores. The Lincoln store at 5308 S. 56th St. is the only one in Nebraska.
The minister of science and technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, said that the federal government would redirect its energy to harness natural resources to bridge technology gaps in the country.

The chief secretary to the minister, Mr Taye Akinyemi, in a statement quoted on Friday, February 24, in Abuja, quoted Onu as saying making the remark when he received the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Jigawa State, Hajiya Rabi Eshaq.

According to him, the ministry will utilise natural resources to enable diversification of the economy to yield better results.

The minister called for synergy between the federal government and the state governors to convert natural resources of the country to diversify the economy, create jobs and wealth for all.

Onu said that the ministry would intensify efforts to move Nigeria from a resource-based to a knowledge and innovation-driven economy.

He pledged to support science and technology initiatives in the in the country for national development.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on Legit.ng News App

He said that the ministry would assist education institutions by distributing science equipment to secondary and tertiary institutions to encourage students to embrace science and technology early in life.

Onu said that the ministry would continue to strive to ensure that the country produced most of its technology needs locally.

The commissioner had told the minister that the aim of her was to establish a better relationship between the ministry and her state in the area of science and technology.

This is with a view to expanding the scope of science and technology in Jigawa state, Eshaq said.

Source: Legit.ng
- President Muhammadu Buharis media team has been under pressure lately

- Many say they havent handled the presidents health issues well

- Others say they are not to blame as they have limited information at their disposal

A report by Ynaija has focused on President Muhammadu Buharis media handlers and how they have handled the presidents health situation so far.

President Buhari's spokesman, Femi Adesina has not had it easy in recent times

While some have continually blamed the presidents media team, insiders believe that the presidents media team cannot be blamed, especially when they have not seen the president themselves and have to rely on the information fed to them by those close to the president.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on Legit.ng News App

An insider working for the APC quoted in the report said: Even when a little insincerity would have made their job easier and I believe they should be commended for staying truthful.

Femi Adesina could have claimed he spoke to the president but he was truthful about it, sincerity is in line with ethics and I think he did the right thing by stating the truth.

Theyve also done well to nip death rumours in the bud with pictures from the visit by the National Assembly leadership, and the president was thoughtful enough to hand over to his vice, whos performing excellently, in order to avoid another lacuna. So for me, Id say its been okay so far

Another APC insider quoted said: As an Image maker myself, you can only practice your trade to the extent your principal want it practiced.

In the case of Femi and his minions, they presently dont have access to the president. Its whatever instruction those around Mr President pass to them that they carry out.

I recently watched an Interview on TV where Adesina couldnt give a precise answer on when last he spoke with Mr President.

Interestingly, we have a President who lacks any iota for respect for our local media. So what more can we expect from his team of media managers?

READ ALSO: BBC makes comparisons between Big Brother Naija and Buhari's absence

Another insider said: But why would at least one of his media aides not have access to him given the sensitivity of their job, they are his image maker, and they cannot be giving information they were fed. But again this is one of the usual eccentricities that characterizes Nigeria.

The Buhari media team cannot be blamed as they can only work on whatever information is available to them.

Another insider also working for the APC said that he does not think the president has a media team.

His words: I dont think the president has a media team, in the absence of a team, theres nothing to say about how a non-existent team handled the presidents absence.

He continued: Buharis media team has done poorly in handling his absence, refusing to say what exactly is wrong with him, and with all sorts of contradicting statements from them and other government officials. They are fanning the embers of rumors.

Afenifere chieftain and elder statesman, Ayo Adebanjo recently said the presidency is not sincere about the true state of President Buharis health, adding that those around the president were taking Nigerians for fools.

Similarly, Former President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Dr Dozie Ikedife has expressed his displeasure over how the presidency is handling the presidents health situation.

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: The battle for 2019 begins as Buhari stays longer in London

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has dismissed some rumours that it is contemplating using the doctrine of necessity to remove President Buhari from office.

The position of the green chamber was made known by its spokesman, Honourable Abdulrazaq Namdas on Wednesday, February 22.

The National Assembly had on February 9, 2010 invoked the doctrine of necessity to empower then vice president, Goodluck Jonathan to act as president following the illness of late President Umaru YarAdua.

Source: Legit.ng
Chief Rotimi Akeredolu has been been sworn in as Ondo state's new governor.

BREAKING: Akeredolu takes oath of office, becoming new governor of Ondo state. Credit: Premium Times

Akeredolu, a senior advocate of Nigeria, on Friday took the oath of office as the sixth democratically-elected governor of the state.

He replaced Olusegun Mimiko.

Earlier, Ajayi Agboola was sworn into office as deputy governor.

READ ALSO: My biggest regret is not being able to pay salaries as governor - Mimiko

Premium Times reports that leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including Bola Tinubu and Bisi Akande attended the event held in Akure, the state capital.

Tinubus attendance signaled a truce between him and the new governor after the controversy that trailed Novembers gubernatorial elections.

Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors forum, also witnessed the transfer of power from the PDP to APC.

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and state governors of Ogun, Niger, Kogi, Sokoto and Oyo states were also all in attendance.

Source: Legit.ng
- Governor Aminu Bello Masari has spoken to President Muhammadu Buhari on phone

- The governor stated this in an interview with Voice of America (VOA) Hausa

- The governor directed the Emir of Katsina and his Daura counterpart to engage in special prayers for the president

President Muhammadu Buhari has spoken to the Katsina state governor, Aminu Bello Masari on phone.

File photo of President Buhari and Governor Masari of Katsina state

This was disclosed by the governor when he granted an interview to the VOA Hausa.

According to the governor, praying for the success of the president is a mandate for all meaningful Nigerians.

The governor also directed the Emir of Katsina and his Daura counterpart to engage in special prayers for the president.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on Legit.ng News App

His words: On Saturday I spoke with the president on phone, he is hale and hearty. All those castigating rumors on the health condition of the president should think twice and change their mindset.

The president is on vacation for medical check-up which is in line with the Nigerian constitution where he assigned all the responsibility to his vice at full autonomy pending when he comes back.

Therefore, the president did not break any law by leaving for medical vacation. Last Wednesday I called the Emir of Daura and that of Katsina directing them to engage in special prayers for the president, which they did during Friday session prayers.

He continued: We will not stop praying for the president, we shall keep praying till Almighty Allah answers our prayers. Praying for a leader is a mandate to every Nigerian irrespective of religion. Both scriptures direct us to pray for our leaders.

He concluded by appealing to all Nigerians to pray for President Buhari to succeed in good health and safe return to Nigeria.

Masari is the second governor the president has spoken to from London where he is on medical vacation.

READ ALSO: Unfulfilled promises holding President Buhari back in the UK - Adewale Giwa

The president spoke with Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on Wednesday, February 22 where he thanked Nigerians for all their prayers.

Meanwhile, the former acting governor of Taraba state, Alhaji Garba Umar has denied media reports that he was paid millions of naria as pension and severance gratuity by the state government.

Alhaji Umar made the clarification in a statement sent to Legit.ng and signed by the head of the former governor's media office, Ahmed Balla Gassol.

The statement affirmed that Alhaji Umar did not collect a kobo as pension neither did he and his appointees collecte severance gratuity from the state government.

Gassol said the official vehicles of Alhaji Umar were illegally withdrawn by the then acting governor, Sani Abubakar Danladi who reportedly paid himself millions of naria as benefits before leaving office.

He stated that the state government under Governor Dairus Ishaku has refused to recognize Alhaji Umar as a deputy governor and subsequently acting governor of the state.

He described Governor Ishakus refusal to recognize the two years administration of Alhaji Umar as a disservice to history and posterity.

Gassol further said if former governor Danbaba Suntai and Danlandi were paid their severance allowances, Governor Ishaku should shun political, religion and ethnic myopicness to pay Alhaji Garba Umar and his political appointees.

He stressed that its morally wrong for Governor Ishaku to be benefiting from a regime he has refused to recognize, honour and punished anyone associated to it.

Its a fact that Alhaji Garba Umar piloted the affairs of Taraba state for two years under which ever circumstances, he governed and his humble efforts today are bringing good tides to the state, he added.

Source: Legit.ng
The Federal Deposit and Insurance Corp. has issued a consent order against a tiny central Nebraska bank.

The order, which was signed Jan. 3 but not made public until Friday, directs Ashton State Bank in Sherman County to make a number of improvements, including having its board and management evaluated by a third party, eliminate non-performing assets from its books within 30 days, submit all loans to an independent review and correct weaknesses with internal controls and information technology.

According to its most recent financial report to the FDIC, the bank, which has less than $23 million in assets, saw its assets more than 90 days past due quadruple in the past year, from less than $250,000 to nearly $1 million.

The bank agreed to the order without admitting or denying any of the charges made by the FDIC.
Nigerians are starting to react to the series of xenophobic attacks launched on their people in South Africa. In truth, these attacks have sparked a whole lot of all over the world.

Some South African companies may be at risk in Nigeria because of the xenophobic attacks.

South Africans have become intolerant to Nigerians living in the country with the numerous attacks the latter have been subjected to. The prospect of travelling outside Nigeria to hustle is appealing to most Nigerians; but to think that Nigerians, being Africans, could suffer from the hands of other Africans like them in South Africa is unthinkable.

Although most of the South African cities are listed as parts of the most dangerous cities in Africa and all over the world, the crime rate in those parts tower above the levels of crime recorded in other places. Nigerians in diaspora used to feel a certain kind of safety outside their home country in the past; however, xenophobia has changed everything for the thousands of Nigerians living in South Africa.

The South African government has been asked to put an end to the xenophobic attacks in the country; over a hundred Nigerians have lost their lives to these ugly events and it is shocking.

Nigerians have kept quiet over the matter for a while because they wanted to promote peace at all cost. However, things have gone beyond repair with the constant threats made on the lives of Nigerians living there. We have considered some of the reasons Nigerians are being attacked in South Africa.

Not doing anything about the ethnocentric acts of South Africans will not do the South African government and business owners any good as there are some South African companies firmly rooted in Nigeria.

Check out the prominent South African companies that will be affected if this xenophobic attack continues:

1. Shoprite

Shoprite is a chain of retail outlets that has taken over almost every state in Nigeria. Known for the wide range of groceries they supply, this company is at risk of being affected if Nigerians choose to react to the killings of their love ones in South Africa because it is owned by a South African.

They may also protest for the brand to be taken away from the country if the best thing the South African government can do is to watch Nigerians getting killed even though they are tapping from the Nigerian economy.

READ ALSO: "Better to be an atheist than greedy CHRISTIAN"  Pope Francis denounces hypocrite believers

2. MTN telecommunications

MTN is a known telecommunication company in Nigeria even though it has South African origin. Already, the National Association of Nigerian students have asked the company to go back to its country because of the attacks.

If South African citizens cannot tolerate Nigerians and other people not from their country, the students think there is no point extending any form of kindness towards them. The body seeks to denounce the attacks and warn off other nations who may want to underrate Nigerians.

South African companies have been given an ultimatum to leave the country as a result of the xenophobic attacks. Nigerians have been bullied for too long according to them and that must stop.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on Legit.ng News App

3. DSTV

This is another company traced to be from South Africa. Like MTN, this widely patronized brand has close competition. If Nigerians revolt, it will affect their business here.

These are the most prominent South African companies in Nigeria. Others that are not popular in the country will also suffer a similar fate

Source: Legit.ng
- A lieutenant has been reportedly killed in a fresh attack by Boko Haram terrorists in Gajiram, a town 80 kilometers away from Maiduguri, Borno state capital.

- The lieutenant was killed alongside six other soldiers during an attack on a military formation in the area

A lieutenant has been reportedly killed in a fresh attack by Boko Haram terrorists in Gajiram, a town 80 kilometers away from Maiduguri, Borno state capital.

Punch reports that the lieutenant was killed alongside six other soldiers during an attack on a military formation in the area.

A civilian vigilante Babakura Kolo said a gun battle between the military and the terrorists lasted for about two hours killing three soldiers.

Kolo said after the attack, on Friday, February 24, the death toll of soldiers killed rose to seven.

READ ALSO: Army smash Boko Haram, free hostages in fresh clearance operation (photos)

Yesterday, three bodies of soldiers were found but four more bodies were found during a search, Kolo said.

Meanwhile a security source said three terrorists were also killed in the attack while troops of the Nigerian military are carrying out a cordon and search operation to fish out some of the insurgents around the area.

Kolo also said that the attack was possible carried out by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, a factional Boko Haram group.

READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Army Repels Terrorists Attack In Kogi And Geidam, 13 Dead

Last year, Barnawi had announced that his group had split from the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau's group.

The factional terrorists' commander had said his group will focus on hitting hard target like military formation and the police in opposition to Shekau's attacks on civilians.

However, sources said the insurgents went on a food stuff raid within the community.

It was also gathered that some of the arrested insurgents had told vigilantes that they obtain their food from Gajiram and Monguno, about 60 kilometres away.

Some displaced people were returning to their villages in the area to harvest their abandoned cornfields when they were intercepted by Boko Haram, Kolo said.

They killed some and took away others, he added.

Source: Legit.ng
- The leader of Boko Harams main faction, Abubakar Shekau, has admitted killing the groups spokesman

- Shekau said his action was over an apparent plot to oust him

- He said this in an audio recording obtained by AFP

The leader of Boko Harams main faction, Abubakar Shekau, has admitted killing the groups spokesman over an apparent plot to oust him.

Abubakar Shekau kills Boko Haram spokesman

In a 50-minute audio tape obtained by AFP, Shekau told some members of his inner circle that he killed Tasiu also known as Abu Zinnira who appeared in several video messages.

You should hear me: I killed Tasiu, hear me well, he told the gathering in Hausa.

He also stated the date of the meeting (December 18) and said it had been called to discuss those elements grumbling over the killing of Tasiu.

Shekaus claim appears to lend weight to reports of infighting within Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 in northeast Nigeria since 2009 and left 2.6 million homeless.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on Legit.ng News App

Shekau has been the most visible face of Boko Haram over the years, claiming attacks and releasing videos where he threatened and lambasted Nigerian authorities.

But Abu Zinnira has acted on occasion as de facto spokesman and appeared in video recordings, including those about the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the town of Chibok in April 2014.

He was always shown in military camouflage, wearing a turban and with his face covered.

In one video released in August last year, Abu Zinnira warned that the remaining girls still being held would die if troops attempted to rescue them.

He also renewed calls for the release of Boko Haram members in custody.

In the December audio recording, Shekau accused Abu Zinnira of plotting with another senior commander called Baba Ammar to take over leadership of the group.

He accused them of sending fighters to carry out raids without his consent, spreading rumours among his lieutenants that he intended to kill them and portraying him as unfit to lead.

Abu Zinnira and other elements had tried to make him out to the rank and file as being not on the right track, Shekau added.

Tell me, what is the punishment for the people that plot against their leader? he asked.

By our code of allegiance we dont hesitate to pass appropriate sanction on any one of us that commit an offence, he added.

READ ALSO: Boko Haram brides fear returning to their normal lives without their terrorist husbands

Last August, the Islamic State group, to which Shekau pledged allegiance in March 2015, announced that Abu Musab Al-Barnawi was now Boko Harams leader.

Barnawis father, Mohammed Yusuf, founded Boko Haram in 2002. He was killed in police custody in 2009, after which Shekau his deputy took over.

Shekau had rejected the change in leadership and maintained he was still in charge, a position he reiterated at the December meeting.

Followers of the two factions have reportedly clashed while Barnawi has blamed Shekaus high-handed leadership style and his indiscriminate killings of his lieutenants for the split.

Ideologically, Barnawis faction has opposed Shekaus indiscriminate targeting of civilians, vowing instead to hit hard targets such as the military and police.

Shekau in the recording denounced his detractors as divisive influences.

Devils advocates are at work, trying to instill doubt in the minds of our fighters after realising we are gathering momentum for real jihad.

They try to confuse whoever they see getting close to me and distance him from me, they are going about dampening the spirit of our fighters, he said.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Military To Use Robots Against Boko Haram

Meanwhile, the federal government has called for increased vigilance among Nigerians as Boko Haram escapees seek to integrate themselves into communities following the fall of their stronghold - Sambisa Forest.

Source: Legit.ng
There are numerous universities in Nigeria's education sector today. These higher education institutions are divided into government-owned institutions and private ones owned by individuals, corporate bodies, and religious institutions. Which are the best private universities in Nigeria today, and how much do they charge in tuition fees?

A view inside a university library. Photo: pixabay.com, @12019

Source: UGC

There are currently more than 100 private universities in Nigeria. These institutions vary in student enrolment, course portfolio, governance structures, fees, and numerous other attributes.

The best private universities in Nigeria

Here is a look at the top private universities in Nigeria and their fees. The ranking is based on data from the uniRank.

15. Baze University: 2,722,500  3,025,000

Baze University is a private tertiary institution in Abuja, Nigeria. It was founded in 2011 and offers basic standard university education. The university received its provisional license from the NUC on March 7, 2011. Since then, it has grown into one of the most sought-after institutions in Nigeria.

PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app!

14. Al-Hikmah University: 303,000  313,000

Al-Hikmah University is a Nigerian Islamic university in Ilorin, Kwara State. It was founded in 2005 by the Abdul Raheem Oladimeji Islamic Foundation (AROIF). Today, the institution has seven faculties and a postgraduate School. Its current course structure includes 50 undergraduate, 12 diploma and 43 postgraduate programs.

13. Caleb University: 214,500  353,500

University students. Photo: pexels.com, @Monstera

Source: UGC

Caleb University is located in Lagos and opened its doors in May 2007. The Federal Government of Nigeria gave the institution a provisional license to operate as a private university. It then commenced operations by admitting students into three colleges; the College of Social and Management Sciences (COSOMAS), the College of Pure and Applied Sciences (COPAS), and the College of Environmental Sciences and Management (COLENSMA).

12. Veritas University: 330,000  1,500,000

Veritas University is a private institution of higher learning located in Abuja. It was founded in March 2002 by the Catholic Church in Nigeria. The university then received its provisional operation license in 2007 and commenced admission of students in October 2008.

11. Bowen University: 485,900  2,999,500

Bowen University is a Nigerian private Baptist university owned and operated by the Nigerian Baptist Convention. The institution is located in Iwo, Osun State. Its main campus is housed in an expansive 1,300-acre campus of the Baptist College, one of the most popular teacher training institutions in Nigeria.

10. African University of Science and Technology: 600,000  2,800,000

The African University of Science and Technology (AUST) is a private university created as part of the system developed by the Nelson Mandela Institution (NMI). The institution's creation was in response to a request from several African Heads of State who sought to make the World Bank and African Union work together to create effective Pan-African centres of excellence.

9. Redeemer's University: 450,000- 650,000

Redeemer's University was established in 2005 by the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The institution is located in Ogun State in southwestern Nigeria. It offers degree programs in engineering, sciences, arts, management and social sciences.

8. Nile University of Nigeria: 2,400,000  5,750,000

A university graduand. Photo: pexels.com, @RODNAE Productions

Source: UGC

The Nile University of Nigeria is a private multidisciplinary university founded in 2009. It is located in Abuja and is a member of the Honoris United Universities Network. The institution currently has six faculties and offers more than 80 undergraduate and graduate programs.

7. Pan-Atlantic University: 2,312,500  2,835,000

The Pan-Atlantic University was founded in 1991. At the time, it was known as the Lagos Business School. In 2002, the institution received its charter following its federal approval to operate as a private higher education institution. The institution's Ajah Campus was completed in 2003, and its Ibeju-Lekki campus a few years later.

6. Skyline University Nigeria: 134,375 - 675,000

Skyline University is a privately-owned institution in Kano. The university was established in 2018, making it the first private university in Kano State. With degree courses starting at 134,375 per year, Skyline is among the most affordable universities in Nigeria.

5. American University of Nigeria: 1,850,000  2,660,000

The American University of Nigeria (AUN) is a private university located in Yola, the capital of Adamawa, Nigeria. The institution offers American-style undergraduate, graduate, and professional education. The university currently has over 1,500 students and is credited with being Africa's first development-oriented university.

AUN is also one of Nigeria's most expensive universities in terms of annual tuition fees.

4. Afe Babalola University: 800,000  2,500,000

Afe Babalola University, commonly known as ABUAD, is a private university located in Ado-Ekiti. It was founded in 2009 by the renowned Nigerian lawyer and philanthropist Afe Babalola. The institution has numerous academic programs grouped under its six colleges. Its school of engineering is quite famous and is reputed to be one of the biggest in Africa.

3. Babcock University: 157,824  1,977,200

Students in a library. Photo: pexels.com, @Kampus Production

Source: UGC

Babcock University is a private Christian university owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria. The university is located at Ilishan-Remo, between Ibadan and Lagos. While it's among the newest private universities in Nigeria, Babcock University is also among the best, an attribute that explains its high demand among prospective university students.

2. Landmark University: 532,000  675,000

Landmark University is a private Christian university established, owned, and operated by the Living Faith Church Worldwide. The institution is located in Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria. In 2014, Landmark University was ranked among the top five universities in Nigeria by Webometrics.

1. Covenant University: 937,500  1,002,500

Covenant University (CU) is a Nigerian private university in Ota, Ogun State. The institution was founded by David Oyedepo and opened its doors on October 21, 2002. Since then, it has risen into one of the best Nigerian universities. At some point, it became the first Nigerian university to be ranked in the 401-500 category of world universities by Times Higher Education.

Which is the cheapest private university in Nigeria?

Which private university in Nigeria is the cheapest? Caleb University is the cheapest Nigerian private university. Its program fees range from 214,500 to 353,500.

What was the first private university in Nigeria?

Igbinedion University became the first licensed Private University in Nigeria when it welcomed its first batch of students on October 15, 1999. The University is located in Okada, Edo State.

Which is the most expensive private university in Nigeria?

A student in a library. Photo: pexels.com, @Kampus Production

Source: UGC

The American University of Nigeria is the country's most expensive institution of higher learning. Annual fees for degree programs range from 1,850,000 to a whopping 2,660,000.

What is the best private university in Nigeria in 2023?

According to uniRank, Covenant University is currently the best private institution of higher education in Nigeria.

How many private universities are there in Nigeria?

There are currently 111 private universities in the country.

Where is Covenant University located?

The institution is located at KM 10 Idiroko Rd, 112104, Ota, Nigeria.

Which is the top-ranked university in Nigeria?

The University of Ibadan is the country's top university, according to the latest rankings. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It is the oldest degree-awarding institution in the country.

Are you looking for the best private universities in Nigeria? This guide has everything you need to know about these elite private institutions, their locations, brief history, and tuition fees.

READ ALSO: Full list of courses offered by Nnamdi Azikiwe University for 2022/2023

Legit.ng recently published an article about the courses available at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK). The university was established in 1991 when the old Anambra State was split into Anambra and Enugu States. Today, it is one of the best universities in Nigeria.

Like many other institutions of higher education in Nigeria, UNIZIK offers numerous diploma, degree, and graduate programs.

Source: Legit.ng
The Legislature on Friday soundly rejected a proposal designed to increase keno gambling activity in Nebraska by authorizing participation on mobile devices, including smartphones, within licensed areas of the state.

The bill (LB470) was killed on a 24-9 vote with a substantial number of senators choosing not to cast a vote on the motion offered by Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha.

Sen. Tyson Larson of O'Neill, sponsor of the bill, said keno revenue helps cities and counties "build parks and maintain good things," taking pressure off local property taxes.

Expanded keno gambling would result in nearly $500,000 in additional revenue for the state, Larson said.

Chambers said the proposal would "prey upon the weaknesses of your neighbors."

Keno gambling losses hurt Nebraska families, he said, plunging them into debt.

Chambers told the Legislature he would be prepared to engage in a time-consuming filibuster at all three stages of floor consideration to bottle up the bill if it survived his kill motion.

Provisions in the bill would also speed up gambling activity by reducing the required five-minute time interval between games at keno sites.

"People should be spending that money on shoes and kids," Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus said.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn said, "I don't think that's right" to encourage more gambling so that government can benefit from more revenue.

"People become addicted to gambling and their families suffer," said Sen. Roy Baker of Lincoln.

Larson suggested that rich people also gamble "and it's called the stock market."

Keno revenue is directed to "community betterment" purposes under provisions of current law.

In Lincoln, most of that revenue has been allocated to parks, recreation activities like swimming pools and city libraries.

Keno was authorized in Lincoln by a vote of the people in 1992 and approved by the City Council in 1993.

David Geier, executive director of the state's gamblers assistance program, told a legislative study committee in December that "it's predictable that rates of gambling disorder will increase" if keno gambling activity were to speed up by reducing the interval between games or by allowing participation on electronic devices.
The Federal Government has sacked all the nine directors of the nine directorates in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

The development is see as connected to the hard knocks the various key players in the sector recently slammed on the regulatory body in over the unstable state of the aviation sector particularly as it affected Arik Air and other airlines, Tribune reports.

The Federal Government has taken over the management of Arik Airways and announced lifeline to help keep the distressed company afloat.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest news on Legit.ng News App

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) explained that the governments decision is in line with its desire to sanitize in the countrys aviation sector to prevent a major catastrophe in the country.

Recall that in late December 2016, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority announced it had fined Arik Air N6m over its passengers complaints of delay and inability of the airline to ferry their luggage from London to Lagos from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of December, 2016.

The NCAA also directed the airline to pay affected passenger, the sum of $150 each as compensation for inconveniences suffered as a result of the delayed arrival of their luggage, within 30 days of the date of the letter.

Source: Legit.ng
Findings by Legit.ng shows that the special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, may have presented incorrect information based on a "CNN report he said he heard.

Shehu had revealed that Nigeria is the second largest producer of rice in the world on February 19.

The list produced in September 2016 shows that Nigeria is not close to the first 10 world producers of rice.

Speaking at a special interactive session with the youths organised by Citizens Support for Good Governance in Nigeria (SGGN) in Abuja, Nigerias capital city recently, Shehu further called on Nigerians to be patient with the government of President Buhari as the administration was doing more to shore up the economy.

But as I speak to you now, Nigeria just achieved the record of the second largest producer of rice in the world.

The rice revolution just started a year ago. Some of you from Nasarawa know the kind of things going on there.

A newspaper did an investigation in Kebbi and they found out that there were 48,000 new millionaires in Kebbi state alone last year for growing rice, he had said later adding that he got the report from the Cable News Network (CNN).

READ ALSO: Osinbajo meets with governors, ministers over rice

But a private investigation by Legit.ng shows that Nigeria is not even among the first 10 producers of rice in the world.

A report released in September 2016 by World Atlas puts the Asian continent as dominating the list of major rice producers in the world with India topping. Other countries, according to their rating from second to 10 positions respectively include: China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Phillipines, Cambodian and Pakistan.

List of the top 10 rice producers in the world as at September 2016.

Logically, it would be difficult for Nigeria to become the second largest rice producer in the world in just three months by-passing the other nine that have remained tops over the years.

The World Atlas report however agrees that Nigeria, Niger and Tanzania are some of the African countries exhibiting a positive disposition to the consumption of rice and thus maybe expanding its farming.

Ventures Africa also believes that Shehu lied in his comment.

READ ALSO: Violent protest erupts in Ogun market over invasion by customs officers

The closest semblance to truth in Garba Shehus statement is that Nigeria is the second largest importer of rice in Sub-saharan Africa.

The ranking was released by the United States Department of Agriculture. A statement from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in December 2016 puts Nigeria as the largest importer of rice in the world. So what branch of CNN provided Mr Shehu his data?

In February, 2017, Audu Ogbe, the minister in charge of Nigerias Agriculture and Rural Development, revealed that the country was targeting seven million tonnes of rice 2018.

He did not state Nigerias actual position on the list.

I think we have attained the level of being one of the largest producers of rice, even though many people are still in doubt about that.

So, for those who say it is not true, I think they need to take another look. I have been in Vietnam, the same kind of rice plantation you see there is what you see in Nigeria.

The only thing we need to add is the milling capacity, which we are increasing, he said while attributing the current hike in price of rice to the increase in the peoples demand for the product as, according to him, the country is feeding more than 193 million citizens as well as 100 million others in West and North Africa.

READ ALSO: Jonathan made millionaire thieves during his tenure - Onochie

The states currently producing rice in Nigeria, according to Chief Ogbeh, include: Adamawa, Kebbi, Kano, Ebonyi, Katsina, Jigawa, Taraba, Anambra, Enugu and Benue.

Source: Legit.ng
- Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of delta state has expressed hope that the Supreme Court will upturn the victory granted to Ali Modu Sheriff at Port Harcourt

- Okowa spoke on Friday at Ughelli, Delta state during the Delta central meeting under the Ahmed Makarfi faction of the embattled party

- He called on members to be calm and express hope in the party believing that victory will surely come their way

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state has expressed hope that the Supreme Court will upturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal proclaiming Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Addressing members of the Delta Central PDP in Ughelli, Governor Okowa stated that all the congresses from the ward to the zonal levels were not in dispute, except the national convention of the party which took place in Port Harcourt in May 2016.

Makarfi and Sheriff

"Because, we are committed to the PDP, we will not get it wrong, all the elections from the ward to the zonal levels are accepted, the problem we have in PDP is the convention we had in Port Harcourt which some people are challenging, but, it is our hope that we will get fair hearing at the Supreme Court because, they will be setting precedence," Governor Okowa said.

READ ALSO: Sheriff, Makarfi PDP faction clashed in Delta

He continued: "It is good that we are strong in Delta Central, we are strong in the state and the PDP is still very strong nationally which was attested to by the large turnout of party leaders at the recent meeting of the party in Abuja despite the short notice.

"We will continue to grow strong, it is going to be a clean sweep in 2019, but, we must not rest on our oars, we must ensure total reconciliation in the party.

Governor Okowa

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

He used the occasion to reel out some of the projects his administration has executed, assuring that with the ongoing repairs in the Forcados Trunkline and cessation of pipeline bombing in the creeks, the fortunes of the state would increase which will give room for the execution of more projects.

As usual of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Monday Igbuya, he moved a motion for a vote of confidence on Governor Okowa's administration, saying his administration has done well for the state.

Source: Legit.ng
Thomas "Tom" Wesley Dorn, 65 years, of Lincoln, went to be with the Lord on Feb. 21, 2017, at the Independence House at Coddington in Lincoln.
Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan on new media, has praised acting president Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for sacking 9 directors of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

Omokri is impressed by Osinbajo's swift and hard-working nature after sack of 9 aviation directors

In a post to his social media accounts late on Friday, February 24, Omokri hailed Osinbajo for taking prompt action by sacking the directors after a surprise visit to the Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Lagos on Thursday, February 23.

READ ALSO: Nigerians reportedly fight back in South Africa, confront protesters with guns

Omokri said Osinbajos hammer on the directors just about 24 hours after the impromptu visit on Thursday is evidence of good leadership.

He said: Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo visited Murtala Muhammed International Airport and did not like the state of the toilets he saw. The next day ALL Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority directors were FIRED. That is a leader!

Omokri is highly impressed with Osinbajo's leadership skills

"He did not have to unleash the army, or send EFCC after people. He did not make noise. He did not blame past administrations. He took responsibility and his small quiet action has reverberated around Nigeria. Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government have felt the impact. God thank you for Osinbajo!

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest news on Legit.ng News App

In other tweets, Omokri, who has professed growing love for Osinbajo, mocked President Muhammadu Buharis policies which he claimed have not improved the lots of Nigerians as much as those of acting president Osinbajo, who has just been in power for some few weeks.

Recall that Osinbajo visited Lagos airport on Thursday and personally inspected some of the facilities including toilets and carousels.

Source: Legit.ng
Sorry!

This content is not available in your region
A cheerful boss tells a slightly startled underling, Keep up the good work, whatever it is, whoever you are.

A financial executive raises his hand in a boardroom to ask, Whats a debenture?

A politician tells his publicist: Congratulations, Dave! I dont think Ive read a more beautifully evasive and subtly misleading public statement in all my years in government.

James Stevenson spent nearly 50 years at The New Yorker gently skewering lawyers, businessmen and other members of the upper middle class  some of the same highly educated and privileged people who read the magazine.

And when he died on Feb. 17 in Cos Cob, Conn., at age 87, he ranked among The New Yorkers most prolific artists, having drawn 1,988 cartoons. His final one, in 2003, showed a convention of Swiss bankers whose ID badges bore only their numbers, not their names.
Something else travelers do not always get with the basic economy fare: an actual price discount.

While airlines are loath to discuss pricing, the new basic economy class seats are expected to be in many cases the same price as the standard economy fare, meaning travelers will get less for the same price.

Instead, the old-fashioned economy ticket  the one with the niceties  is expected to cost more.

Yeah, the same product is going to be more expensive, said George Hobica, the president of Airfarewatchdog.com. Its like they were saying you were getting an introductory offer and that they were giving it away, but no longer.

The one upside? Basic economy travelers will still get soda and mini pretzels  for now.

For United, which began offering basic economy fares this week from the Minneapolis-St. Paul region to its seven hubs, a round-trip flight on May 9 from Minneapolis to Denver under the standard economy fare will cost $176. The new basic economy fare for the same flight will be $136.

Basic economy travelers will not be allowed to choose their seats or carry on a bag, so they would have to pay $25 each way to check their bags, raising the price of the basic economy fare round trip to $186. And basic economy fare passengers who try to sneak bags on board will be charged the $25 bag check-in fee plus a $25 gate-handling charge.

In other words, the standard economy ticket, the one expected to rise in price, may end up being a better deal in some cases than the new basic economy ticket.
New York could do without the power generated by the Indian Point nuclear plant, but making up for the loss of all that cheap electricity would be much easier if state officials changed their energy-efficiency policies.

That is a conclusion of a report issued on Thursday by two environmental groups on the implications of the long-running campaign to shut down Indian Point. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced last month that the two reactors at the plant in Buchanan, about 30 miles north of Manhattan, would cease operating by 2021.

Mr. Cuomo and environmental groups  including the two that issued the report, Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council  have railed against Indian Point for years, arguing that it posed a significant hazard in such a populous area. But supporters of the plant questioned how the state would replace the low-cost, carbon-free power produced there.

Indian Points two working reactors can produce about 16 million megawatt-hours of electricity per year, or about one-fourth of the amount consumed in New York City and Westchester County. A proposed transmission line could carry enough hydroelectric power to the city from Canada to make up for about half of Indian Points output. The rest of the shortfall would have to come from other sources  gas-fired plants, solar panels or windmills  or by reducing demand.
Ending months of anticipation and speculation, Mayor Bill de Blasio will meet on Friday with federal prosecutors and F.B.I. agents who have been investigating the mayors campaign fund-raising for nearly a year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A grand jury has heard evidence in the case, some of the people have said, but it remains unclear whether the investigation, focused on whether the mayor or others in his administration traded beneficial city action for donations to his 2013 election campaign or to his now-defunct nonprofit political group  or both  will result in charges. Either way, the interview is an indication that the expansive criminal inquiry is most likely in its final stages.

The session is expected to take place at the offices of Mr. de Blasios lawyer, Barry H. Berke of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, familiar ground to the mayor, who has held fund-raisers and meetings there, several of the people said. The meeting had originally been scheduled for two weeks ago, but prosecutors postponed it for reasons that remain unclear.

In recent weeks, investigators appear to have focused on a relatively new area in the inquiry, looking into the mayors relationship with a Brooklyn businessman who hosted a fund-raiser for him in October 2013, after the Democratic primary but before the general election, according to two of the people. Like others interviewed for this article, they declined to comment because they were not authorized to discuss the continuing investigation.
The occasion of Harry Belafontes 90th birthday landing within a few days of the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday makes it a good moment to think about what celebrity political activism looked like a half-century ago, when Mr. Belafontes service in the civil rights movement involved acting as a confidant to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and what it looks like now. Given the current tensions, the Oscars are sure to deliver a number of speeches, in greater volume than might ordinarily be expected, devoted to doing more than merely thanking the good people at Warner Bros. and William Morris Endeavor. Even if our sympathies perfectly line up with the substance of what is said, many of us will find ourselves annoyed  at the prospective opportunism, the posturing, the stridency, the absence of connection in some cases between words and meaningful action.

Hollywood, for the most part, has positioned itself as one of Donald J. Trumps chief institutional antagonists, and yet only a nation that had fully absorbed the values of show business could have elected him president. A culture that put a man whom many view as a pathological narcissist at the top of American government has also produced, rather logically, a response to his various offenses, among entertainers, that is tainted by a similar self-regard.

Consider the recent adventures of Shia LaBeouf, a former Disney Channel performer and star of the Transformers franchise (whose name precedes that slightly cringe-making combination of words in any Wikipedia entry: Shia LaBeouf is an American actor, performance artist and filmmaker). In collaboration with his artistic partners Luke Turner and Nastja Sade Ronkko, Mr. LaBeouf mounted an exhibit, He Will Not Divide Us, on an exterior wall at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens on Jan. 20, the day President Trump took office.

Perfectly suited to social medias ethos of self-reference, the project aimed to have passers-by look into a camera and speak the words, He will not divide us. The footage was streamed live, online  art as reality television  but what it ultimately intended to achieve is unclear. The piece was to be in place for the duration of the Trump presidency, although the artists maintained from the outset that the installation was not an expression of partisanship but rather a participatory performance artwork resisting the normalization of division.
When Snap goes public next month, one of the biggest winners will be Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Lightspeed, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, was the first institution to invest in Snap, the company that popularized disappearing messages, and it is now set to reap more than $1 billion from what began as a mere $485,000 investment.

But the big money for Lightspeed masks a complicated tale between the venture firm and Snap, the parent company of Snapchat. It is a story that offers a peek into the often opaque world of venture capital, into how start-ups begin and into the politics over money that accompany the relationships between companies and entrepreneurs. It is not a story that many of those involved want to discuss, especially with Snap executives now on a heavily hyped investor roadshow ahead of the public offering.

One of the biggest questions that Snap has faced from potential investors is why its two founders, Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, have retained such a hold on voting power in the company  power that public shareholders will not gain. Exploring that question helps explain how years-ago dealings with venture capitalists helped lead to this point.

At the heart of that is a Lightspeed venture capitalist, Jeremy Liew, and the terms he embedded in his 2012 investment in what was then known as Snapchat. The terms gave Mr. Liew outsize power over the companys future financing round. That ended up irking Snapchats chief executive, Mr. Spiegel, who took steps to reassert control over the company.
Six people wrongfully convicted of a 1985 Beatrice murder refuted arguments put before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals by Gage County, saying the $28.1 million judgment against the county for violating their civil rights should be allowed to stand.

Joseph White, Ada JoAnn Taylor, James Dean, Thomas Winslow, Kathleen Gonzalez and Debra Shelden were convicted in the rape and murder of 68-year-old Helen Wilson in her Beatrice apartment.

The six were arrested following a 1989 cold case investigation and spent a combined 75 years in prison before DNA testing in 2008 showed a seventh man, Bruce Allen Smith, committed the crime.

They were exonerated and later sued Gage County, former Sheriff Jerry DeWitt, Deputy Burdette Searcey and Reserve Deputy Wayne Price, who was also a psychiatrist for some of the six. White died in 2011; his estate is included in the civil rights case.

After a 2014 mistrial in U.S. District Court, the 8th Circuit Court ordered a retrial, and in 2016 a federal jury granted the $28.1 million award, plus attorneys fees.

The county appealed, arguing the judgment was contrary to previous rulings by the 8th Circuit about who had policy-making authority in the county; that the U.S. District Court erred in denying the county a retrial over comments made in court that the six were innocent; and that the court improperly defined reckless investigation in its instructions to the jury.

The standard defined by the court allowed the jury to find Searcey, Price and the county liable if it determined unreliable evidence had been gathered, not whether the investigation shocked the conscience.

Responding to those claims in a 103-page brief submitted Feb. 16, attorneys for the six said the investigators on the case reported to DeWitt, who was elected to run the Gage County Sheriffs Office in 1988, and who approved their actions and reports throughout the investigation.

According to the six, even though DeWitt was removed from the lawsuit, that did not mean he was not responsible for making decisions that led to their arrests.

[T]he jury found DeWitts decisionmaking directly resulted in plaintiffs damages, the brief states. The countys liability is predicated on DeWitts decisions, not his participation in the constitutional violation.

The six pointed to DeWitt signing off on an affidavit for and taking part in Whites arrest and interrogation, being present when Dean was interrogated and his requests for an attorney were ignored, and ordering Price to be a part of Deans interrogation team, among various other actions.

DeWitt always had the option to do what (Beatrice Police) Chief Don Luckeroth did -- stand up and say the wrong people were arrested, the brief says. Instead, DeWitt directed, authorized and ratified the use of the false, unreliable, and fabricated evidence accumulated by his deputies to cause all convictions.

Later in the brief, attorneys for the six waved away Gage Countys argument that then-County Attorney Richard Smith, who has qualified immunity in the case, was responsible for reviewing evidence and bringing charges against the six.

Smith was dismissed from this lawsuit for the precise reason that he was not an investigator, the brief states.

The six also tossed aside an argument by Gage County that the sheriff was only responsible for enforcing state law -- not setting local policy -- and that the County Board has no authority to supervise his office.

Leaning on several court cases, the six said counties have been held liable for the actions of law enforcement.

Nebraska statutes hold counties, not the state, strictly liable for injury to innocent persons caused in a vehicle pursuit by a countys law enforcement officer, the brief says.

Responding to claims by the county that the court erred in not ordering a mistrial after attorneys for the six said in court that they were innocent in the death of Wilson, the latest brief says this: it was always necessary for (the six) to establish their claim of actual innocence so that their damages could be appropriately determined.

In another matter, Gage County has argued that jury instruction improperly defined reckless behavior regarding the cold-case investigation into Wilson's death. Attorneys for the six said in the Feb. 16 brief that previous court rulings have upheld it as behavior so reckless it shocked the conscience.

"It would appear that the jurors understood that they were required to distinguish between negligence and recklessness," the brief says. "The only jury question came at the beginning of the jury's deliberation, and the request was for a definition of the term 'negligent.'"

In conclusion, attorneys for the six said the fourth appeal on the case from Gage County is as meritless as the prior three appeals and asked that the judgment be allowed to stand.

This court held, three times, that a jury was required to determine any conflicts in the evidence, and that is exactly what a jury did, they wrote. This court should defer to the jurys determination and the district courts conclusion that there are no errors warranting a new trial."
This Hamlet was originally meant to close the current season at Theater for a New Audiences Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn. It had been in production since 2014, but Mr. Gold parted ways with the theater  in particular its artistic director, Jeffrey Horowitz  last June over artistic differences.

[ Read the full article here ]

In a rare and controversial move, Mr. Gold offered his Hamlet to the Public, whose artistic director, Oskar Eustis, attempted to co-produce it with Theater for a New Audience. That effort failed, for logistical reasons. Last summer, the Public said that it was in talks with Mr. Gold to stage the play as part of its 2016-17 season, but until now the production hadnt been officially confirmed or announced.

Both Mr. Gold and Mr. Isaac are Public Theater veterans. Mr. Gold directed Fun Home there ahead of its Broadway run, for which he won a Tony. Mr. Isaac, a rising Hollywood star and a Golden Globe nominee for Inside Llewyn Davis, starred in Two Gentlemen of Verona and Romeo and Juliet at the Publics Shakespeare in the Park.

The prospect of the two of them collaborating on what is arguably the greatest play ever written is joyous, Mr. Eustis said in a statement.
Harold R. Denton, the unflappable federal bureaucrat who comforted Americans worried that the nations worst commercial nuclear power accident, at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979, would escalate into a doomsday catastrophe, died on Feb. 13 at his home in Knoxville, Tenn. He was 80.

The cause was complications of pulmonary disease and Alzheimers disease, his daughter, Elizabeth Baird, said.

Dispatched to the scene of the accident as President Jimmy Carters personal envoy, Mr. Denton was transformed overnight from a faceless government functionary into a very visible expert spokesman. He was hailed as a hero for the reassuring demeanor, forthright responses and resourcefulness that helped prevent a complete meltdown, by both the reactor and the public.

It was quite clear that Dentons easy manner, apparent candor and ability to speak plain English as well as nuclear jargon would make him the worlds most believable expert on the technical situation at T.M.I., Dick Thornburgh, who was governor of Pennsylvania at the time, wrote in his autobiography, Where the Evidence Leads (2003).
Ms. Conway said the stories of disarray in the White House, including recent accounts that she has been sidelined lately, were nothing more than tiresome palace intrigue. And without naming names, she said the attacks directed at her were really desperate attacks against the president by political enemies still sore about the election.

To try to remove me from the equation would remove one of his voices and one of his trusted aides. And that would be hurtful to him, she said. They didnt see this coming. They werent prepared for this result  even though they all ran around and said: Were a divided country! Were a divided country!

It was not as if the support for Mr. Trump, who will speak to the conference Friday morning, is not enthusiastic.

I always said hes not a stupid man. And if he has the right people around him hes going to do the right thing, said Daniel Cirucci of Cherry Hill, N.J., who was standing in line on Thursday evening to listen to Vice President Mike Pence, a conservative he said he deeply admired. I think he realizes the enormity of the job, Mr. Cirucci added. Now does that mean Trump is going to stop being Trump? No.

These should be good times for conservatives  and much of the time they are. They control not just the White House but both houses of Congress and appear on the verge of regaining a majority on the Supreme Court. They have not dominated so many state governments in close to a century.

But part of the subtext of CPAC this year has been how conservative leaders are trying to smooth out the rougher edges of their movement, not all of which involve Mr. Trump.
Hours before President Trump rescinded a federal policy allowing transgender students to use the school bathrooms that match their gender identities, his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, met with a representative of gay and transgender employees at the Education Department to warn of what was coming.

In her presence, an aide assured the employee that, as was widely reported, Ms. DeVos had resisted the move, according to people briefed on the Wednesday meeting. Yet she gave no public sign that there had been a rift within the Trump administration, or that she had come up short. She joined in the announcement of the new policy, and on Thursday, she told the annual Conservative Political Action Conference that the earlier federal guidelines were a very huge example of the Obama administrations overreach.

But people who have known and watched Ms. DeVos through the years  as a leading advocate of charter schools and school vouchers, a former Michigan Republican Party chairwoman and a major Republican donor  warn against thinking that she will be a meek team player. She may be publicly gracious, even in the face of setbacks, they say. But in her home state, she earned a reputation as a driven, relentless and effective political fighter, using her familys vast fortune to reward allies and punish foes, and working behind the scenes to pass legislation and unseat lawmakers who opposed her.

In Michigan politics, she instilled fear in a lot of people, and its not just because shes a billionaire, said Mike Cox, a Republican and former state attorney general. I found Betsy to be very determined, steely, when she sets her mind on a goal.
Eni F. H. Faleomavaega, American Samoas longest-serving nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives, died on Wednesday at his home in Provo, Utah. He was 73.

His death was confirmed by his sister-in-law, Therese Hunkin. She did not specify the cause.

Mr. Faleomavaega, a Democrat, became a congressional delegate in 1989 for American Samoa, a United States territory in the South Pacific, and held the position for 13 consecutive terms, until 2014.

His position allowed him to vote in a committee, but not on the House floor. He was a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on Natural Resources.

In 1996, Mr. Faleomavaega participated in a boycott of an address before a joint session of Congress by President Jacques Chirac of France. Days before Mr. Chiracs speech, France conducted a series of nuclear tests at the Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls in the South Pacific, despite worldwide protests.
WASHINGTON  The Justice Department said Thursday that it would continue to use private, for-profit prisons to house thousands of federal inmates, scrapping an Obama administration plan to phase them out because of problems.

It was the second time in two days that the Trump administration reversed an Obama-era policy. On Wednesday, it rescinded a directive that gave anti-discrimination protection to transgender students and allowed them to use the bathroom of their choice.

In a memo released on Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed federal prison officials to keep using the private prisons. He also withdrew a policy set out last August by Sally Q. Yates, then the deputy attorney general, who had ordered prison officials to phase out the use of the private facilities.
The emptying of the site ended a remarkable mobilization of activists to the remote patch of North Dakota prairie near the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers. The protest lasted months, drew international attention and was widely credited with leading to a temporary halt in construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Smaller numbers of protesters remain camped at other sites.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and protesters say the oil pipeline, which crosses the Missouri River nearby, will pose a grave threat to drinking water on the reservation and farther downstream if it ever leaks. Construction on the pipeline, which will carry oil from the Bakken fields in western North Dakota, resumed this month with support from President Trump, and the project could be finished this spring.

The North Dakota authorities said the closing of the main protest camp, which sits on Army Corps of Engineers land, was necessary to prevent pollution during imminent spring floods. The protest site had developed into a make-do city, with semipermanent buildings, medical tents and abandoned cars. If that washed into the Missouri River, the authorities said, the results could be damaging to the environment.
In 1994 and 1995, the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo used homemade VX to attack three people, one of whom died.

North Korea is estimated to have a chemical weapons production capability of up to 4,500 metric tons during a typical year and 12,000 tons during a period of extended crisis. It is widely reported to possess a large arsenal of chemical weapons, including mustard, phosgene and sarin gas, a United States Congressional Research Service report said last year.

The announcement by Malaysias police chief came just a day after North Korea denied any responsibility for Mr. Kims death, accusing the Malaysian authorities of fabricating evidence of Pyongyangs involvement under the influence of South Korea.

With the Norths reclusive government on the defensive about the Feb. 13 killing of Mr. Kim, the estranged half brother of Kim Jong-un, at the airport for the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, a statement attributed to the North Korean Jurists Committee said the greatest share of responsibility for the death rests with the government of Malaysia because Kim Jong-nam died there. And in what could be seen as a threat to Malaysia, the statement noted that North Korea is a nuclear weapons state.

But in a case that has been filled with mysteries and odd plot twists, North Korea still would not acknowledge that the man killed was indeed Kim Jong-nam. And it gave no indication that it would agree to Malaysias demands to question a senior staff member at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur in the investigation into Mr. Kims death.

Relatives and acquaintances of the two women Malaysia has accused of carrying out the killing, by applying poison to Kim-Jong-nams face as North Korean agents looked on, insisted they must have been duped into doing so, though the Malaysian authorities say otherwise.

I dont believe Huong did such a thing, said Doan Van Thanh, father of Doan Thi Huong, 28, a Vietnamese woman being held in Malaysia. She was a very timid girl. When she saw a rat or frog, she would scream.
SEOUL, South Korea  North Korea on Thursday criticized China in unusually bitter language for tightening sanctions, accusing its powerful Communist neighbor of mean behavior and dancing to the tune of the U.S.

The anti-Beijing commentary carried by the Norths state-run Korean Central News Agency, did not name China and was written by a writer named Jong Phil. While it was not a formal government statement, commentators in North Korea do not depart from the governments official position. Mr. Jong left no doubt about his target, referring to a neighboring country, which often claims itself to be a friendly neighbor.

Mr. Jongs commentary came five days after China announced that it was suspending all coal imports from North Korea for the rest of the year. China said the ban was part of its efforts to enforce United Nations sanctions aimed at ending the Norths nuclear weapons and ballistic-missile programs.

Its recent measures are, in effect, tantamount to the enemies moves to bring down the social system in the DPRK, the commentary said, using the acronym for North Koreas official name, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the U.S.
PARIS  The Muslim member of Bosnias tripartite presidency on Thursday asked the highest United Nations court to reopen a 2007 case that cleared Serbia of genocide during the war in Bosnia.

The request by the Muslim member, Bakir Izetbegovic, is likely to fan the simmering political tension in a region still torn by the war that broke up Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Nationalists and pro-Serb secessionists in Bosnia, who have received support from both Serbia and Russia, could be emboldened by the move, critics said.

Moscow has been courting Serbia and Bosnian Serbs, while also covertly intervening in neighboring Macedonia and Montenegro, as it tries to regain its historical influence in the Balkans.
Nebraskas community colleges would lose the ability to levy local property taxes on Jan. 1, 2020, under a measure (LB569) creating a task force to study the educational offerings and funding mechanisms of the six colleges.

Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson said more Nebraska students are using community colleges for academic transfer purposes rather than to pursue a vocational trade.

The expansion of students has made community colleges a feeder system for the university, which is not what the community colleges are for, Friesen said.

Under his bill, scheduled for a hearing Monday before the Education Committee, a nine-member task force would report "findings related to duplication of educational services, the cost of funding duplicate services, and the cost of outstanding bond obligations.

The report, due to the Legislature by Dec. 1, 2018, "shall also provide recommendations for alternative funding mechanisms for community colleges.

The timing would give lawmakers a little more than a year to fashion legislation identifying a new funding source for community colleges.

Under state law, community colleges can levy a tax of 11.25 cents per $100 of value. Last year, the six community colleges collected roughly $200 million in local property taxes.

Taking $200 million in property taxes off the table would be welcome to groups like the Nebraska Farm Bureau, who along with other organizations representing ag and business interests in the state have joined a coalition pushing for tax reform.

LB569 is not a statement against education, said Bruce Rieker, vice president for government relations for the Farm Bureau.

Its a position that our state needs to do a better job of balancing or spreading out the responsibility of education, he said. Theres an over-reliance on funding that has come from property taxes, and whether you own residential, commercial or ag land, theres a tremendous burden on those people to pay the lions share.

Rieker said Nebraskans United for Property Tax Reform hopes to find $600 million in property tax cuts to better re-balance the tax burden in the state.

But cutting one of the major funding sources for community colleges would bring them "to a screeching halt," said Greg Adams, executive director of the Nebraska Community College System.

Adams said unless the state replaces the $200 million in lost funding, the ability of community colleges to serve workforce needs across the state would be diminished.

If you look at the statutes that created the community colleges in the early 1970s, the colleges were meant to be a partnership between the school and a local economic community, he said. Extracting a property tax from each one of those areas, the Legislature believed, was a means of getting buy-in from that economic community with the college.

In addition to property taxes, the six community colleges receive about $100 million in state aid and charge students on average $2,700 annually in tuition and fees -- about $100 per credit hour.

Relying more on state appropriations could hamstring community colleges during economic downturns, when enrollment traditionally rises and when lawmakers look to cut budgets, said Adams, a former state senator.

Raising tuition costs could price credit and non-credit courses out of the market, said Central Community College President Greg Smith.

To make up the potential funding gap created by cutting property tax authority, Smith said Central would have to raise tuition and fees from $94 per credit to nearly $600.

Obviously, this is not tenable so we would start closing programs and learning centers and possibly one of our campuses, he said.

High-cost courses at the college, often specialized to meet the needs of the service area, like diesel mechanics and nursing, would be the first to go, Smith added.

Low-income and minority students seeking higher education would be at a further disadvantage, he said.

Given Nebraskas changing demographic profile, the long-term effect is a less educated workforce when exactly the opposite is needed to maintain the states economic vitality, Smith said.

Paul Illich, president of Southeast Community College, said removing property tax authority from the community colleges -- about 5 percent of the total local property taxes collected statewide -- would result in fewer trained workers in the state.

About 139,000 students were enrolled in credit and non-credit courses at Nebraska's community colleges in 2015-16.

We produce one thing: taxpayers, said Illich. They are graduates who pay taxes and fill a skill gap here in the state.

Ahead of Mondays hearing, Friesen said hes open to suggestions regarding community college funding.

My idea would be either we bring (community colleges) into the state college system we currently have -- obviously, we have to find the funding for it and how it gets distributed -- or we create another system," Friesen said.

I dont have a particular direction they should go.
In the United States, undocumented immigrants have always lived in limbo, officially illegal but often tolerated. But President Trumps new rules, aimed at reconciling that contradiction, risk deepening it. As a result, they could increase the burdens on undocumented migrants and, more broadly, on society.

A Community in Legal Limbo

This kind of underclass begins with a gap between law and reality.

Indias slums, for instance, are often portrayed as emblems of the countrys struggle with poverty. But they also signal Indias failure to keep up with its rapidly growing urban populations. People who migrate to cities, unable to find sufficient affordable housing, improvise sprawling settlements that become more permanent.

While cities often tolerate these illegal settlements  their residents help drive the economy  there is always a chance that slums can be cleared. Residents, living in legal limbo, cant get access to full state services or, often, rely on the protection of the police.

In China, the hukou system of residence permits has left an estimated 250 million people as a semipermanent urban underclass.

Rural laborers who move to cities for work have been vital to Chinas economic growth for decades. But the hukou system ties their right to services to their residential status.
A judge ruled Friday that one additional woman who says Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her will be permitted to testify at his trial later this year on charges that he sexually assaulted a former Temple University staff member in 2004.

Legal experts have said that the account of a second woman describing what she said was an act of sexual assault could strengthen the case against Mr. Cosby, 79, who has denied any misconduct.

But the judges decision was far from a full victory for prosecutors in Montgomery County, Pa., who had sought to introduce testimony from 13 women who have accused Mr. Cosby of assaulting them. The prosecutors had told Judge Steven T. ONeill of the Court of Common Pleas that the testimony of the group of women was important in showing a pattern of conduct by Mr. Cosby that bolstered the account of Andrea Constand, the former Temple employee.

Judge ONeill agreed to allow the testimony of the one woman, identified only as Prior Alleged Victim Six, in a one-page decision that briefly discussed his legal reasoning. The judge said that he had considered the evidence, the legal arguments and aimed for a careful balancing of the probative value of the other acts evidence and the prejudice to the Defendant.
Some dance presentations of solos and duets are little more than flash and glitter. Some of a Thousand Words, a new program by Wendy Whelan and the choreographer and dancer Brian Brooks, is quite another matter. In 2015, Ms. Whelan, an eloquent former New York City Ballet ballerina, offered a program by several choreographers, and Mr. Brookss contributions attracted special attention. Now they reveal how the interactions of two dancing people  their lifts, falls, changes of weight and entangling of bodies  can reveal inner feelings as well as technical prowess. Live music will be provided by Brooklyn Rider, a quartet that champions contemporary music; composers include Philip Glass, John Luther Adams, Tyondai Braxton, Jacob Cooper and Colin Jacobsen, a violinist with the quartet. (Tuesday, Feb. 28, through March 5 at the Joyce Theater; 212-242-0800, joyce.org.)
AMSTERDAM  Ed van der Elsken may not have become a household name, but his art has influenced a broad range of photographers, filmmakers and other contemporary artists. Here are three who expressed a direct connection to his art.

Nan Goldin

The contemporary American photographer Nan Goldin, known for her deeply personal snapshot-like portraits, and her wrenching, diaristic slide show, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, describes van der Elsken as her real predecessor and a brother, whose photographs of lovers are so naked I can feel the flesh.

Ed didnt quite get the attention he deserved, she wrote in an essay, Photographing as a Need, for the catalog of the exhibition Ed van der Elsken  Camera in Love. Yet when I was introduced to his work, I felt incredibly close to it. It felt the most tender to me, unbelievably sensitive, and so full of love. Like van der Elsken, Ms. Goldin has created a kind of document of her own life by photographing the people that either were my lovers, had been my lovers or I want as lovers.
AMSTERDAM  The Dutch postwar photographer Ed van der Elsken lived with, and through, his cameras.

They came with him into his bedroom, capturing life with his first, second and third wives; they were slung around his neck and across his chest as he traveled to Paris, Tokyo, Chile, central Africa and back home to his native Amsterdam. They joined him in his deathbed, as he recorded his own slow capitulation to cancer in 1990.

He was a man who would have liked to have transplanted a camera into his head to permanently record the world around him, wrote Beatrix Ruf, the director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and Marta Gili, the director of the Jeu de Paume in Paris, who have collaborated to present a major retrospective of his work for both museums.

That text comes from the preface to the catalog of the exhibition, Ed van der Elsken  Camera in Love, at the Stedelijk until May 21, before it moves to the Jeu de Paume, from June through September, and then to the Fundacion Mapfre in Madrid.
Mr. McOnie won an Olivier Award (Londons equivalent to the Tony) last year for the local premiere of In the Heights, and barely has his Wild Party begun before dancers are adopting Fosse-esque postures that, for their part, suggest the show is a cousin of sorts to Chicago, which also has a song about being a best friend. But here, as in New York, Mr. LaChiusas pulsating, jazz-saturated score remains the burnished glory of a work that offers a situation instead of a plot along with various go-for-broke numbers for its game ensemble  Ms. Ruffelle chief among them, but also Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as the dusky-voiced Velma to Queenies Roxie and the Tony winner Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line) inheriting Eartha Kitts role as a battle-scarred showbiz veteran who has seen it all. Which in the context of The Wild Party is saying a lot.

Wild barely begins to describe the gothic, sometimes grotesque landscape of Buried Child, Sam Shepards Pulitzer Prize-winning play from 1978 that I caught as it was approaching the end of its limited engagement at the Trafalgar Studios, through March 4. I dragged my heels somewhat on this one, having last year seen an earlier iteration of the director Scott Elliotts production Off Broadway that struggled to make the plays tragicomic components cohere.

This time around, though, a better-attuned London ensemble allows the high-voltage presence of Ed Harris, in his West End debut, to be the main attraction but by no means the only one. Accompanied as in New York by his wife, Amy Madigan, playing his onstage spouse, Mr. Harris continues to be near-definitive as the growly, grizzled paterfamilias, Dodge, presiding over a family in free fall whose anguished past is implicit in the plays title.

Remarking at one point that he might die any second now, Mr. Harris fully inhabits every forbidding, snarkily funny corner of a play from a writer with whom he has collaborated before both on stage (Fool for Love) and screen (The Right Stuff, in which the two were co-stars), both times in the 1980s. But where Ms. Madigans Jesus-loving Halie in New York seemed confined by the hectoring contours of the role, her performance is now considerably more shaded; the actress calls to mind no less a pitiable figure than Eugene ONeills Mary Tyrone, as this delusional matriarch ascends the stairs of Derek McLanes home-turned-battleground of a set.
The Vienna Philharmonic, which has worked in recent years to come to terms with its Nazi past, is displaying a 1941 letter, right, from its chairman, Wilhelm Jerger, asking Nazi officials to intervene on behalf of five Jewish musicians who had played in the orchestra. His entreaty was in vain, the orchestra says: All five were killed in concentration camps. In New York, meanwhile, an uproar greeted the news that Wilhelm Furtwangler had been tapped to succeed Toscanini as music director. He soon withdrew after public questions about his Nazi associations.

Letters from Mahler
Before Beethoven set it as an anti-Napoleon opera, and long before stage directors turned it into parables about Guantanamo Bay or Bergen-Belsen, Fidelio was an opera comique. It was called Leonore, ou lAmour Conjugal, and had its premiere in 1798 before a Paris audience still under the shock of Robespierres Reign of Terror.

The story, by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, a lawyer turned librettist, is the same one that inspired Beethovens only stage work: A political prisoners wife disguises herself as a man to gain access to his dungeon and spring him free. But for two centuries the music to Leonore, by the tenor and composer Pierre Gaveaux (1761-1825), remained a silent historical footnote.

On Thursday, Opera Lafayette, having presented on Feb. 19 what it called the modern premiere of Gaveauxs Leonore in Washington, brought it to the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College in Manhattan. The performance suggested, alas, that the silence of the past two centuries was largely deserved: Musically, this two-act opera, with stretches of spoken dialogue, yields few riches. And yet the themes that galvanized Beethoven are all there: attacks on abuse of power and extrajudicial violence against political opponents, empathy for the incarcerated  and the conviction that social justice begins in the home, with the love between two equal partners.

Gaveauxs setting emphasizes that celebration of domestic bliss, in keeping with the conventions of opera comique. The interactions between members of the jailers household are fresh and sweet, with tuneful arias and ensembles shaded only lightly, here and there, with a melancholic oboe.
Not long into a raucous, high-volume stand-up set she performed on Thursday night at Carolines on Broadway, Leslie Jones described the experience of having to explain to an elderly aunt why there were pictures of Ms. Joness naked body on her computer screen.

The awkward conversation followed an episode from last summer, when, amid a series of online abuses that Ms. Jones suffered, her personal website was hacked and explicit images of her were posted there.

Now I got to explain this to my aunties, said Ms. Jones, 49, a cast member from Saturday Night Live. They old, and they from civil rights. They just now getting computers.

Slipping into the quavering voice of one of these relatives, Ms. Jones said, She was like, Was it the Klus Klux Klan? She examined her nieces anatomy and added, I didnt raise you like that.
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy.

What do you think of it? What else are you interested in? Let us know: thearts@nytimes.com.

Bathroom Humor

The late-show hosts on Thursday took aim at President Trumps decision to reverse President Barack Obamas policy allowing transgender students to use the bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
A child from a rural eastern Nebraska county has died of the flu, according to a news release from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

It is not unusual for there to be some child deaths during a normal flu season, but they have been rare in Nebraska, usually about one a year.

Nationally, 34 children have died from the flu this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Nebraska child had not been immunized, but was otherwise healthy, said Dr. Tom Safranek, state epidemiologist.

Statewide, 32 deaths of adults, including five in Lancaster County, have also been attributed to the flu. Flu-related pediatric deaths are required to be reported, but not adult deaths.

Flu activity appeared to have peaked in early February but there is still a lot of influenza in the population, Safranek said.

Flu will likely continue through the end of March, he said.

Overall the number of influenza cases has dropped, but there has been an increase in influenza B, which is generally less severe and results in fewer hospitalizations, he said.

"While most people recover from the flu, it can also be a life-threatening illness," said Safranek. He continued to recommend the flu vaccination and use of antiviral drugs like Tamiflu as early as possible.

Doctors can prescribe an antiviral drug as a preventative measure to people, particularly those at high risk, who have been exposed to the flu, including grandparents or parents of a sick child, and residents of care facilities, Safranek said.

A generic version of Tamiflu is available this flu season, making it generally less expensive for many people, said Gary Rihanek, pharmacist with Kohll's Pharmacy, 800 N. 27th St.

The generic version still can retail at more than $100 for 10 pills, but Rihanek said the price will likely drop in future years.
JOURNEYMAN

By Marc Bojanowski

247 pp. Soft Skull Press/Counterpoint. $25.

Its been over a dozen years since Marc Bojanowskis acclaimed debut novel, The Dog Fighter. A first-person, highly voiced, minimally punctuated tour de force, it displayed both a bevy of literary influences and a youthful brio all its own. His second novel, Journeyman, retains the keen eye and sensitivity to language but dispenses with the linguistic pyrotechnics in favor of a more measured tone, one that thoroughly suits its reticent protagonist.

Nolan Jackson, the titular journeyman carpenter, doesnt like to spend too much time in one place. For years hes been crisscrossing the Southwest in his 1976 Ford Ranger, going from job to job. At 31, hes self-reliant, with everything he needs packed into his customized Airstream trailer. Rarely without his cowboy hat, he might be taken for a contemporary update of the archetypal Western hero, only with a nail bag on his belt instead of a six-shooter.

But somethings off with this Lonely Ranger  he has a tendency to admire the cut of his own shadow, and we learn early on that he wasnt raised among men who wore cowboy hats.

When he leaves a good job and a good woman in Las Vegas at the beginning of the book, its not because a co-worker accidentally immolates himself on a job site, but because Nolan cant bring himself to comfort the mans wife. He subsequently lies to his girlfriend about this loss of nerve, and his shame is redoubled. Too emotionally rigid to confront even this minor entanglement, he scribbles a goodbye letter and hits the road.
A PIECE OF THE WORLD

By Christina Baker Kline

309 pp. William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers. $27.99.

Christina Baker Kline sets herself a stark challenge in her new novel  giving flesh to the back story of the woman who crawls across a desolate field in Andrew Wyeths iconic painting, Christinas World. Anyone who has seen this work, a landmark of midcentury realism, already knows that in the course of this novel Anna Christina Olson is unlikely to scale the peaks of high society or discover the source of the Amazon. In A Piece of the World, Kline must dig deeper to find meaning in her heroines circumscribed existence, in a life played out against the backdrop of a stern, unyielding landscape.

Klines previous novel, Orphan Train, also emphasized lives forged in hardship. But that plot was kept spinning through the perils endured by thousands of orphans transported to uncertain fates in the rural Midwest of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A Piece of the World signals from the beginning that stasis will define Christinas outward existence. I think of my own life, she says. All the years, all the waiting that led to nothing.

Image

From childhood, a progressive disease hobbles Christinas mobility, yet she stubbornly refuses medical help and even the use of braces or a wheelchair, choosing to lurch in pain across the fields of her familys struggling farm on the salt-misted coast of Maine. No one seems to feel much pity for her, nor does she pity herself. Her parents dash her hopes of finishing school, relying on her to cook, clean and mend for them and her brothers. Meticulously, Kline documents the sheer physical toil required to survive in a home without electricity or running water, knocking the sheen off the nostalgic myth of an idyllic rural past.
I got a lot of emails from science teachers who said, Man Id love to use your book as a teaching aid, but theres so much profanity in it that we cant really do that, said Mr. Weir, 44, who is cheerful, hyper-analytical and casually profane, much like his protagonist. Its hard to get that by a school board.

Image

Apart from the four-letter words, The Martian is a science teachers dream text. Its a gripping survival story that hinges on the heros ability to solve a series of complex problems, using his knowledge of physics, chemistry, astronomy and math, in order to stay alive on a hostile planet. (The Washington Post called the novel an advertisement for the importance of STEM education.)

After getting dozens of inquiries from teachers, Mr. Weir, who describes himself as a lifelong space nerd, asked his publisher, Crown, if they could release a cleaned-up edition of the book.

The novel was pretty easy to amend, by simply replacing the foul language with tamer words like screwed, jerk and crap (Mr. Weir said there were occasional squabbles when he tried to lobby the censors to keep some of the less offensive swear words in.) A kid-friendly version came out last year, and it is now being used to help teach science in classrooms around the country.

At Synergy Quantum Academy, a public charter high school in South Los Angeles, students are conducting experiments based on the novel. In physics class, students will build miniature solar-powered cars, and during astronomy next month, they will try to grow potatoes as Watney did, using a chamber modeled on NASAs Lunar Plant Growth Chamber.
China could signal its commitment to a financial overhaul with any changes at the top of its central bank, the Peoples Bank of China. Zhou Xiaochuan, widely considered a reformist voice in China, is more than two years past retirement age, so predicting his departure has become a popular parlor game in Chinas financial world. Appointing Yi Gang, Mr. Zhous deputy, to the top could be seen as an endorsement of Mr. Zhous gentle advocacy of reform, though elevating Mr. Yi could also reflect Beijings lack of interest in rocking the boat.

The shuffle comes at a delicate time for Chinas financial leadership. Its competence was called into question in 2015, when conflicting signals contributed to a stock market crash and increased government controls. Experts say either the banking commission or the central bank could get added responsibilities should China try to streamline financial regulation.

Mr. Guo faces an immediate challenge in reasserting the authority of the banking commission, also known as the C.B.R.C. Like the Federal Reserve in the United States, the Chinese central bank has clawed away from banking regulators a considerable part of their authority to oversee whether banks are lending prudently. The Chinese central bank has also played an increasingly critical role in fighting money laundering and capital flight.

An appointment as the head of the C.B.R.C. today is not as significant as the same appointment five years ago because the Peoples Bank of China has taken over many of the regulatory oversight tasks, said Victor Shih, a specialist in Chinese finance and factional politics at the University of California at San Diego.

China could tip its hand on that matter after the annual gathering of the National Peoples Congress, its top lawmaking body, which begins March 5. It may then hold a top-level financial work conference in April on reorganization that was originally planned for January or February.

Some experts viewed the recall of Mr. Guo to Beijing as a sign that policy changes are coming. Its probably a signal for fundamental reforms in Chinas financial regulatory framework, said Zhu Ning, a Tsinghua University economist.

Mr. Guo could be in a good position to argue that the China Banking Regulatory Commission should have greater authority. He missed the spectacular plunge of the Chinese stock markets in 2015, the blame for which fell in part on his successor.
Tell me more about your parents.

My dad was born in Belgium, and grew up in South Africa. My mom was born in Hungary, and grew up in Venezuela. They met in college in Israel and then moved to Boston. They basically had just the money in their wallet, which got stolen the day they arrived, so they had literally nothing.

Slowly they did very well for themselves. She worked nights to put him through business school, and then he worked nights to put her through architecture school.

As kids, wed get an allowance, but they were always very strict about us managing our own money. They both struggled significantly in the early years. I dont know if its because theyre the offspring of Holocaust survivors on both sides, but the survival instinct was always very present.

You have to be independent, you have to always push and fight for what you want. I have two brothers, and we all have this tenacity, this innate need to push the limits, to always want more. In a way, that sort of breeds success, but theres a lot of stress that comes with that as well, because theres something to be said for complacency, and Ive never had it. I dont even know what that means.

Tell me about the culture of your company.

Accountability is really important. You are accountable to your team, and part of accountability means being responsive. So its not O.K. to not respond to an email. If youre that kind of person, youre not going to be here for very long. You have to be responsive, usually within 24 hours, and usually much faster than that.
Its been a tough week for Uber.

The company is still reeling after a former employee asserted that she had been sexually harassed and then ignored when she told the human resources department.

Now, Uber is being sued by Waymo, the self-driving car business that was spun out of Googles parent company, Alphabet.

Waymo accused Uber of using intellectual property stolen by one of Googles former project leaders. It said Anthony Levandowski, who runs Ubers autonomous car division, downloaded files from Google a month before leaving to start his own self-driving car company, Otto, which was later bought by Uber.

How did Waymo know this? The company said it had been inadvertently copied on an email from a supplier with drawings of an Uber circuit board design that bore a striking resemblance to its own (proprietary and highly secret) design.
COLONIA BERLIN, Bolivia  A few months ago, a representative from Cargill traveled to this remote colony in Bolivias eastern lowlands in the southernmost reaches of the vast Amazon River basin with an enticing offer.

The American agricultural giant wanted to buy soybeans from the Mennonite residents, descendants of European peasants who had been carving settlements out of the thick forest for more than 40 years. The company would finance a local warehouse and weighing station so farmers could sell their produce directly to Cargill on-site, the man said, according to local residents.

One of those farmers, Heinrich Janzen, was clearing woodland from a 37-acre plot he bought late last year, hustling to get soy in the ground in time for a May harvest. Cargill wants to buy from us, said Mr. Janzen, 38, as bluish smoke drifted from heaps of smoldering vegetation.

His soy is in demand. Cargill is one of several agricultural traders vying to buy from soy farmers in the region, he said.
Biased? Probably. Oppositional? Maybe. Essential? In theory. But the enemy? Not so much.

President Trump last week called the news media the enemy of the American people. But in interviews around the country this week, Americans of varying political affiliations, even those with serious misgivings about the media, largely allowed that the presidents characterization had gone too far.

I think that was a bit much, said Mark Huizingh, 67, a Trump supporter and furniture store owner in Grand Rapids, Mich. That was a little too strong.

Mr. Trumps presidency has exacerbated already deep ideological divisions in the country, and Americans on one end of the political spectrum increasingly find themselves unable even to look their counterparts in the eye. But if there has been one instance in the last month when the rift has not seemed quite as large, perhaps it has been the response to Mr. Trumps harsh rebuke of the media.

Still, the feeling toward the news media among those interviewed was far from warm and fuzzy. Many said they believed the media was flawed in general, and certainly when it came to the coverage of Mr. Trump and his administration.
The round-the-world cruise has long been one of those brass rings of retirement: the ultimate reward for a life well-lived (and planned).

Now, some are choosing to embark on such long-haul cruises permanently.

I decided I had enough of the corporate world, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life traveling the world, said Mario Salcedo. He was speaking by cellphone from Royal Caribbeans Freedom of the Seas in the port of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., during a regularly scheduled turnaround day, when one set of cruise passengers disembarks and, later in the day, the next set embarks.

Mr. Salcedo, 67, has been living aboard cruise ships for the past 20 years. Known as Super Mario by crew members, he not only lives on board, but also runs an online investment management business as he cruises the coastal waters of southern Florida and the Caribbean.

Mr. Salcedo estimates he has been on 950 cruises and logged 7,000 cruise days at sea. His standard regimen involves five hours of work in the morning, followed by activities such as dancing, seeing shows and scuba diving. While he still maintains a condominium in Miami, he spends very little time there: perhaps a few hours each week when his ship is in port, to check up on his property and enjoy breakfast at McDonalds.
According to the lawsuit, the fraud identified by Mr. Kraus involved accounting maneuvers using an off-balance sheet entity that made Wachovias books look better than they were. Insiders at the bank had a name for the entity: the Black Box.

If Wachovia wanted to hide certain loans from internal or regulatory review, bank officials would temporarily move them to the Black Box, Mr. Kraus contended. This was problematic because accounting rules stated that off-balance sheet vehicles must be demonstrably distinct from the entities transferring loans to them. The Black Box was not, so the loans in it should have been consolidated onto the Wachovia balance sheet.

How big was the Black Box? As of Aug. 1, 2005, it contained some $6 billion in loans and other assets, the lawsuit said. That amounted to almost 13 percent of Wachovias equity capital at the time.

The plaintiffs contended that the use of the Black Box obscured risks at the bank and violated Sarbanes-Oxley, the Enron-era law that required executives to certify the accuracy of their companies financial reports. The Black Box kept billions of dollars in commercial real estate loans outside the prying and meddling eyes of its regulators, shareholders, and risk management, internal control and accounting personnel, the lawsuit said.

Even more troubling, the Black Box deceived federal regulators about the state of Wachovias financial health, the lawsuit said. And in 2007 and 2008, when the bank received financial support from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other federal entities in response to the growing mortgage crisis, those payments were provided under false pretenses, the plaintiffs contended.

During the financial crisis, the government was offering financial institutions great deals to borrow at unbelievable rates, said Joel Androphy, a lawyer at Berg & Androphy and one of the lawyers representing the whistle-blowers in the Wells Fargo case. Banks were borrowing billions of dollars, but they had to certify that they were safe and sound. Wells and its predecessor were in a difficult financial situation, but if they had disclosed that to the government, they would not have been able to get the money at those rates.

The plaintiffs contend that taxpayers are owed damages reflecting the difference between what the banks paid for the billions of dollars in financial assistance and what they would have paid for that help if they had been truthful about their precarious financial position. If the former employees win their case, they will receive a portion of those damages.
The people of Krypton  home planet of Superman  ignored the warnings of scientist Jor-El right up to the moment their world exploded.

Eric Schafer  president of Telesis Inc.  sees a lesson in the Kryptonian mythology for planet Earth, where the debate on climate change continues to rage despite overwhelming scientific consensus that its major driver is human activity.

Telesis, parent company of Lazlo's restaurants and Empyrean Brewing Co., among other ventures, is acting now. The privately-owned family business is taking steps to make its Dairy House complex, the former Meadow Gold plant at Seventh and M streets, have a net energy footprint of zero by installing geothermal heating and cooling, efficient lighting and 940 solar panels.

And the entire building can be managed from a smartphone.

The biggest challenge of the net-zero goal, Schafer said, is getting employees to agree on where the thermostat will be set.

We got our people to 74 degrees this summer without much complaint. When we got to heating (in the winter) at 70, we got complaints, he said. We're trying to communicate as much as possible, that (these are) our goals and that is how we achieve them. And the hope is everybody we hired understood that coming in and is on board.

The Dairy House block, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, includes a dozen buildings packed into the block between Seventh and Eighth and L and M streets. The Lincoln Ice Co. built the first one in 1902 and was bought out by Lincoln Ice and Cold Storage in 1904, according to the National Register application.

A year later, the company started work on a cold-storage warehouse heralded then by the Nebraska State Journal as the largest and best-equipped establishment of the kind west of Chicago.

The Beatrice Creamery absorbed the ice company in 1909 and bought the buildings and land. One of the oldest industrial plants in Lincoln, the facility pumped out the Meadow Gold brand of dairy products for decades until the owner, Dean Foods, announced plans to close it in 2009.

Telesis, through a subsidiary named The Dairy House LLC, paid a little more than $1.2 million for the 174,000-square-foot former dairy plant and has spent $5.5 million renovating 30,000 square feet of that space and installing a geothermal system that includes 50 wells. Plans call for another 150 wells in the future.

The company has encountered some expensive surprises along the way, Schafer said, including the need for $90,000 worth of support piers in one of the buildings.

Because many of them were built for cold storage and have brick walls 4 feet thick in places, they havent needed to add insulation, he said.

Work is underway on a new Empyrean brewery, which will take up 24,000 square feet, and plans call for construction of a whiskey distillery. The Dairy House hopes to eventually fill portions of the complex with aging barrels of beer and liquor.

Now, the buildings house office space for Telesis subsidiaries, as well as manufacturing for one of its lesser-known branches, Data Security Inc., which makes machines that destroy hard drives and electronic devices. Government agencies and businesses use the machines to ensure classified and sensitive information doesnt fall into the wrong hands.

Completion of renovation work is expected to cost an additional $8 million, Schafer said.

Building new might have been cheaper, he said, but it would have been impossible to duplicate the buildings' character.

They are so unique. They provide plenty of challenges that people don't normally encounter.

Because it's a designated historic property, renovations must meet requirements of Lincoln's Historic Preservation Commission to protect the architectural heritage of the Haymarket. That includes making sure solar panels are not visible from the street and painting external electric cables to match the brick of the building.

Schafer said the solar and geothermal systems will pay for themselves through energy savings.

Telesis first dipped its toe into geothermal in 2002, putting it into Lazlo's South at 59th Street and Old Cheney Road to help with astronomical utilities costs. The system paid for itself in 18 months, Schafer said.

The company now has geothermal systems at most of its suburban restaurants, including Fireworks in Lincoln and Lazlo's in Omaha. The only one of its establishments without is Lazlo's in the historic Haymarket because there's not enough space for wells.

Once installation of the solar panels, which have a 5- to 10-degree pitch to the south, is finished at the Dairy House block, Telesis will be producing 85 percent of the energy it uses at the building, Schafer said. That ratio is expected to improve as renovations continue.

Lincoln company SWT Energy designed the solar system; J-Tech Solar, which has an office in Havelock, is installing panels on the eight sunniest roofs; and K Electric Co. is doing the electrical work. The system cost about $650,000, although that has been offset by federal incentives, said SWT Energy President Randy Schanteli.

Solar installation started in December but has been interrupted as contractors install new roofs on some of the buildings and deal with other issues, such as point-tucking parapet walls, said Jason Olberding of J-Tech Solar.

At 300 kilowatts, the solar array will be the largest customer-owned system in Lincoln, although it's much smaller than LES five-megawatt Community Solar installation near West Holdrege and Northwest 75th streets.

LES generally limits solar systems to 100 kilowatts, but because Telesis' subsidiaries are individual businesses with separate electric meters it was able to band together to create the larger system.

LES guarantees the rate it pays for power generated by systems with capacity of greater than 25 kilowatts for 10 years, but the rate is about to be cut for future business projects such as this one.

The Telesis solar system will bring LES to a total of about 1 megawatt of customer-owned electric generation, which is the mile-marker at which the utility has said it will cut in half the rate it guarantees to buy electricity from business systems. The halved rate will still be above the going wholesale cost of electricity.

Residential customers who install solar systems will always be able to offset their own electric use at the same rate at which they buy electricity.
It takes a certain amount of gumption for a designer to propose a collection that is the antidote to the unsustainable cycles of consumption.

After all, fashion arguably is responsible for those cycles  the constant stoking of desire for the new and the next; the endless influx of stuff thanks to the pre-collections and special collections outside of the traditional twice-yearly ones; the move to see now, buy now created to take advantage of the desire for immediate shopping gratification.

And while we are used to designers complaining about the unsustainable demands on creativity such cycles create, its not so common to hear them complaining about the shopping problem. (Most brands are more than happy about that, since it serves their revenue stream.) Or even admitting that there is a shopping problem.

But who among us hasnt looked at the latest order from amazon.com or netaporter.com and thought, Dont I have enough stuff?
That was really my leap of faith, she said. While teaching at Elon University, she received a grant from Time Inc. for a short film on the theme of Black Girl Magic, centered on the only girl to wear a hijab at a North Carolina high school during a time of anti-Muslim sentiment. She also earned a Tribeca Film Institute/ESPN Future Filmmaker Prize for McKayla, a short film about McKayla Hanson, a para-athlete amputee and cancer survivor from Flint, Mich.

Mr. Goff, at the same time, continued working on his documentary After Sherman, about the faith and resilience of Gullah-Geechee communities in the coastal Carolinas, as seen through the lens of land ownership and civic engagement, and for which the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, a Democratic state senator and minister, was a mentor and resource.

Then, on June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., where the senator was holding Bible study, and shot and killed him and eight other parishioners. Mr. Goffs father, the Rev. Dr. Norvel Goff Sr., and mother, Marie, had been in the church only 20 minutes earlier.

Mr. Goff and Ms. Hunt-Ehrlich immediately drove to Charleston to be with his parents as they attended the many wakes and funerals, and Mr. Goff filmed in the community for a year. His father, the presiding elder of the Edisto District of the South Carolina Annual Conference, served as Emanuels interim pastor and was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor in South Carolina, by Nikki Haley, then the governor.

I knew I was going to marry Madeleine, but the way in which she showed up for me and my family in that time period, I was like, This is not only my girlfriend and my best friend but truly my partner, whos willing to wholly experience everything that happens with me, said Mr. Goff, who proposed to Ms. Hunt-Ehrlich on a beach in Grenada in December 2015. It also scared me that I could have potentially lost my parents, and it just really made me want to affirm the love that I have for Madeleine, because tomorrow is not promised.

On Feb. 19, Mr. Goff, now a museum specialist in film at the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, and Ms. Hunt-Ehrlich, a visiting professor at Villanova, were married at the Harold Pratt House on 68th Street and Park Avenue. The ceremony, which wove together Jewish and Southern Christian rites, was officiated by the grooms father, and Rabbi James E. Ponet, the emeritus Howard M. Holtzmann Jewish Chaplain at Yale, assisted.
The Jewish Museum held its 31st Annual Purim Ball at the Park Avenue Armory on Feb. 22. Apparatus, a design studio in New York, hosted a fund-raiser for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center on Feb. 22 at its West 30th Street offices. And the annual Writers Guild Awards, which honor outstanding writing in film, television and new media, were held on Feb. 19 at the Edison Ballroom.
In Oregon, the first state to legalize aid in dying, the handful of patients using the law had been white and well educated, the author noted in an epilogue, leading him to wonder whether assisted suicide is a matter of necessity or more of a lifestyle choice by people who have always tended to control their lives and now wish to control their death.

(Even the terminology is perilous. The phrase assisted suicide, now used mostly by opponents, tends to signal disapproval. For a while, supporters preferred death with dignity. At least aid in dying doesnt imply that those who die without lethal prescriptions lack dignity.)

Judge Gorsuchs position is creating anxiety in a movement that recently celebrated victories in several states and expressed optimism about winning more. He has revealed tremendous personal hostility, said Kathryn Tucker, executive director of the End of Life Liberty Project.

I cant think of any other justice who has written so much on the subject or is so opposed, said Kevin Diaz, legal director of the advocacy group Compassion & Choices.

As an Antonin Scalia-style originalist, Judge Gorsuch presumably would find constitutional only those rights actually addressed in the Constitution or determined to be in the framers minds when they wrote it. Neither the document nor its authors had anything to say about a right to hasten ones death with lethal medication when terminally ill.
RE: ON MONEY

John Lanchester wrote about the blind spots in macroeconomics.

Lanchesters provocative claim that macroeconomics is still mired in a deep and unresolved crisis invites readers to forget everything that they should know about macroeconomics and about U.S. macroeconomic performance during and after the Great Recession.

John Keynes never thought that macroeconomics, as a social science, could prevent capitalist crisis. What Keynes instead showed is that capitalist crisis does not resolve itself; only activist countercyclical policy will do that. And that is precisely what Ben Bernankes Fed and the Obama stimulus package gave us. As the New York Times editorial board wrote in 2014 concerning the stimulus, it prevented a second recession that could have turned into a depression. To be sure, Keynesianism a la Bernanke and Obama did not address the changes in work, careers and real growth that rightly preoccupy Americans despite the steady tightening of the labor market. Congress bears the blame, though; it went AWOL after 2010.

It is a mistake to think that the Great Recession invalidated Keynesian macroeconomics. On the contrary, it came to the rescue. Rick Valelly, Swarthmore, Pa.
In those days, people still believed the recipe to make a popular film was to make a good film, Ms. Foster said. The way the economy has shaped the industry over the last 25 years, its ghettoized films into either big, dumbed-down mainstream movies that are trying to attract as many audience members as possible, and movies that are substantial and meaningful, which are relegated to a different sphere.

I asked winners, nominees and one of the shows writers about that years most memorable moments.

The Show Opener

A review in The New York Times described the 1992 ceremony as uncharacteristically lively, and that began with the first bit the writers devised for the host. Its a great entrance for Anthony Hopkins in the movie, so we knew it would work with Billy, Bruce Vilanch, one of the telecasts writers, said in a recent telephone interview. It was kind of irresistible.
One afternoon last summer, a team of prosthetic technicians hovered around Adam Taylor as if he were a racecar in for a pit stop.

The length of Mr. Taylors new right leg was off, so a technician rushed away to shorten it at a pipe cutter. An additional fabric liner was added to Mr. Taylors residual limb. But it was too tight, so the additional liner was removed to allow better suction for the prosthesis. Another technician knelt on the floor, fiddling with the alignment of the new foot.

When Mr. Taylors leg was fitted and he had on a new pair of Nikes, Chris Kort, the owner of Prosthetics in Motion, based in Manhattan, pointed him to a wheelchair for the 60-foot trip to a parallel bar walkway.

Why cant we walk there? Mr. Taylor asked, with a mix of urgency and agitation.

At the end of the five-hour appointment, Mr. Taylor, 36, walked out of the office on two legs, joining the ranks of thousands of New Yorkers who use artificial limbs to help them get around in a city that prides itself on walking and more walking.
When Alastair Gibson heard that the Waldorf Astoria was closing, he and his wife made reservations to stay there, even though doing so put a strain on their budget.

We said, If were going to New York, lets do it right, Mr. Gibson, a bakery manager from Biggar in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, said as he sat in the Waldorfs lobby after checking out on Thursday. Well never get the opportunity to stay here again.

For out-of-towners like the Gibsons, word that the Waldorf would soon take a two- to three-year hiatus for renovations had the urgent ping of a homing signal. They wanted to see for themselves what had made the Waldorf so famous for so long: the corridors where presidents, princes and princesses roamed; the restaurants that gave the world eggs Benedict, veal Oscar, Waldorf salad and Thousand Island dressing; the two-ton clock tower in the lobby topped by a little Statue of Liberty; and Cole Porters Steinway piano. Maybe even room service, which the Waldorf claims to have inaugurated.
On election night 1928, after his first campaign for public office, Herbert H. Lehman and his wife left a note on their bedroom door for their children: Dont wake us. Daddy has been beaten, but he doesnt feel badly.

Mr. Lehman awoke a few hours later to discover that, in fact, he had been elected lieutenant governor of New York (separately, at that time, from his partys nominee for governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt) in the first of a record eight statewide electoral victories that hasnt been equaled.

Yet Mr. Lehman, a Democrat who later became governor (elected in 1932 by a record plurality at the time) and then a United States senator, has been largely forgotten among New Yorks political figures, relegated to the name of a City University of New York senior college and of a high school. Both, for some reason, are in the Bronx, although he was more closely associated with the Lower East Side of Manhattan and with Lillian D. Wald, who founded the Henry Street Settlement.

Now comes Duane Tananbaum, an author and professor of American history at Lehman College, to correct the record in Herbert H. Lehman: A Political Biography (State University of New York Press, $44.95). Its billed as the first full-scale biography since Allan Nevinss in 1963, the year that Mr. Lehman died of a heart attack as he prepared to travel to the White House to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
LONDON  On Thursday, a storm lashed Britain with ferocious winds and driving snow. That same day, Englands main opposition parties faced a battering almost as fierce.

Two special elections for the Westminster Parliament took place, one in a Midlands constituency named Stoke-on-Trent Central, the other in Copeland in Cumbria, near the Scottish border. In Stoke, the Labour Party held on to its seat, just. In Copeland, Labour lost to the Conservatives. It was a shattering defeat, only the fourth time since 1945 that a governing party has taken a parliamentary seat from the opposition in a special election.

Stoke-on-Trent and Copeland are both historically rock-solid Labour districts. In both cases, Labour had won every election since the districts were created (Copeland in 1983; Stoke in 1950). It was said that you could put a red rosette, the Labour emblem, on a donkey, and it would walk to victory.

But these are not normal times. British politics is still feeling the aftershocks of last years referendum vote to leave the European Union. Across the Western world, insurgent parties and politicians have rocked the political establishment. Against this background, what was striking about the two special elections was, first, the crumbling of the opposition parties, both Labour and the U.K. Independence Party, which likes to portray itself as Britains populist upstart, and second, the resilience of the Conservatives, the party of government.
Once an instructor leaves the school system, the economic value of their teaching decreases about 75 percent. They can teach but their students cannot get credit for learning outside of the school environment.

While private, public and homeschooling parents are looking for educational opportunities that they will pay for, educational entrepreneurship is frowned upon and blocked by both sides of the political wars. Legislators push charter schools, online and tele-courses. Then ignore the highly-qualified Nebraska instructors who would gladly offer courses that meet state standards if our legislators would just set up a system to do so.

We need a new paradigm of educational choice, one that starts with providing the most options for the least amount of costs. If you look at the education news, students need P.E. classes in Bellevue, Lincoln students needs summer school. Parents and students need a choice of courses that meet state standards and they are willing to pay for.

There is a difference between school choice and educational choice. School choice offers some students a choice of Christian schools to attend. Educational choice allows parents to choose courses that meet state educational objectives while allowing students to individualize their education.

Laureen Greenwood, Lincoln
My Times colleague Nate Cohn started the discussion on Wednesday. He noted that the swing districts in the House tend to be well-educated and diverse, like Orange County, Calif. Most of these areas supported Hillary Clinton, not Bernie Sanders, last year.

The swing districts generally do not look very much like the Midwestern areas that won Trump the presidency (partly because those areas are heavily gerrymandered).

As Dave Weigel of The Washington Post later tweeted: Honestly the funniest 2018 result would be: Dems win the majority based on suburbs after reporters spend two years canvassing rural diners.

To be sure, Democrats remain underdogs to retake the House. But the president is probably helping their odds. Trump is governing in full accordance with the xenophobic nationalism that drove his campaign, Greg Sargent of The Post wrote. While Trump still remains very popular among blue-collar whites, those voters may not be all that decisive in the battle to wrest House seats from Republican incumbents.

What does this mean for the Democrats choosing the next chairman of their national committee tomorrow? The party certainly needs to improve on its 2016 showing in white America, in order to retake the Senate and state governments. But Democrats shouldnt make the mistake of fighting the last election. Their task is more complicated than trying to win a do-over of the 2016 presidential campaign in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
To the Editor:

Re All Is on Track, Bannon Tells Conservatives (front page, Feb. 24):

While the Trump-Bannon team, aided by its Republican minions, works diligently to deconstruct our federal government, Americans are starting a movement to stand up for the core values that our military and the police have fought and died for over these 241 years.

America is a great country, and not some dystopian dark hole in the Northern Hemisphere. We dont fear those from war-ravaged and oppressed countries but instead welcome them. We see it as a blessing that all races and religions have chosen America to improve their lives and raise their families.

We treat others with civility and respect. We dont intimidate and make fun of others because of disagreements in politics and religion. We promote diverse points of view to deny the entry of ignorance. We hold out a hand, not a fist. We are an optimistic society that looks back with fondness, and forward with optimism and confidence.

Trump supporters should think long and hard as to why we should all give our new president a chance while the White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon speaks of taking us back to a country of one culture. That, right there, is what scares me. Without the s in cultures, I do not recognize this country.
SEOUL, South Korea  After the 14th-century Korean ruler Taejo, founder of the Joseon dynasty, chose the youngest of his eight sons to succeed him, a spurned son killed the heir apparent and at least one of his other half brothers and eventually rose to the throne. Today, rumors of royal fratricide are again swirling, this time around the court of Kim Jong-un, the ruler of North Korea.

Last week, Mr. Kims estranged older half brother, Kim Jong-nam, died in Malaysia, the apparent victim of a nerve-agent attack in the Kuala Lumpur airport. The Malaysian police named several suspects, including a North Korean diplomat. Many South Koreans, without needing proof, are calling it a political assassination directed by Kim Jong-un. North Korea denies that.

The Malaysian authorities may never be able to prove that Kim Jong-un was responsible for the death. But the rampant speculation that Mr. Kim ordered the attack is enough to send a chilling message to the North Korean people: Kim Jong-uns reach and power can extend to all corners of the earth.

A head of state ordering a hit on his brother may sound medieval to modern ears. But in many ways, North Korea still operates like a feudal monarchy. The Korean tradition of leaders slaying their enemies and exiling potential claimants to the throne flourishes in Pyongyang.
Even more than politics, all weather is local. So, while most of the nation basked in record warmth this week, the West Coast was battered again by a system carrying enough water vapor to equal the flow of about 10 Mississippi Rivers.

The storm was the latest hydraulic dump from an atmospheric river, a term usually tossed around only by weather nerds like myself, but now part of daily conversations on the West Coast. These airborne streams originate in the Pacific, sometimes 300 miles wide and up to 2,000 miles in length, and become biblical downpours once they collide with coastal mountains.

The result is what you saw on the nightly news: dams falling apart, bridges cracking, highways under water, houses sliding down hillsides, gusts topping 190 miles an hour, and people trying to find their way through San Jose, Calif., in rescue boats. Snow in the Sierra is at Donner Party depths  53 feet has fallen at Mount Rose, for example.

But wait  isnt all this water from bruised skies a good thing? Didnt California just go through an existential drought for the ages? Is that the same governor, the unsinkable Jerry Brown, who ordered water rationing two years ago, now requesting a federal emergency to deal with too much water?
To the Editor:

Re Move Left, Democrats, by Steve Phillips (Op-Ed, Feb. 21):

I hope that the Democratic Party takes Mr. Phillipss advice and moves farther left. Then, with the two major parties dominated by their radical fringes, a centrist alternative can rise up and bring sanity to American politics and policy.

JAY MARKOWITZ

New York

To the Editor:

Lets not panic! Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost three million votes. She formed a very diverse coalition of voters, especially in urban areas, and her policies are pragmatic progressive. That coalition is what the Democratic Party should build on.

White working-class voters drifted to the Republican Party against their economic self-interest. We must understand their anxiety, but we need to be honest and explain that factories are not coming back to rural towns; coal is not going to replace natural gas; climate change is real and globalization is here to stay.

Directing their anger toward billionaires and millionaires got us Donald Trump. (He did anger better than Bernie Sanders). Look to California, a true blue state, as a role model for the rest of the country!
Many were willing to overlook Stalins Terror for the sake of anti-fascist unity. But Communisms second coming in the late 30s and early 40s did not long outlast the defeat of fascism. As the Cold War intensified, Communisms identification with Soviet empire in Eastern Europe compromised its claim to be a liberator. In Western Europe, a reformed, regulated capitalism, encouraged by the United States, provided higher living standards and welfare states. Command economies that made sense in wartime were less suited to peace.

But if Communism was waning in the global North, in the South it waxed. There, Communists promises of rapid, state-led modernization captured the imagination of many anticolonial nationalists. It was here that a third red wave swelled, breaking in East Asia in the 1940s and across the post-colonial South from the late 1960s.

For Geng Changsuo, a Chinese visitor to a model collective farm in Ukraine in 1952  three years after Mao Zedongs Communist guerrillas entered Beijing  the legacy of 1917 was still potent. A sober peasant leader from Wugong, a village about 120 miles south of Beijing, he was transformed by his trip. Back home, he shaved his beard and mustache, donned Western clothes and evangelized for agricultural collectivization and the miraculous tractor.

Revolutionary China only strengthened Washingtons determination to contain Communism. But as America fought its disastrous war in Vietnam, a new generation of Marxist nationalists emerged in the South, attacking the neo-imperialism they believed their moderate socialist elders had tolerated. The Cuban-sponsored Tricontinental Conference of African, Latin American and Asian socialists in 1966 introduced a new wave of revolutions; by 1980, Marxist-Leninist states extended from Afghanistan to Angola, South Yemen to Somalia.

The West also saw a Marxist revival in the 60s, but its student radicals were ultimately more committed to individual autonomy, democracy in everyday life and cosmopolitanism than to Leninist discipline, class struggle and state power. The career of the German student firebrand Joschka Fischer is a striking example. A member of a group named Revolutionary Struggle who tried to inspire a Communist uprising among autoworkers in 1971, he later became a leader of the German Green Party.

The emergence from the late 70s of an American-led order dominated by global markets, followed by the fall of Soviet Communism in the late 80s, caused a crisis for the radical left everywhere. Mr. Fischer, like many other 1960s students, adapted to the new world: As German foreign minister, he supported the 1999 American bombing over Kosovo (against the forces of the former Communist Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic), and he backed Germanys welfare cuts in 2003.

In the South, the International Monetary Fund forced market reforms on indebted post-Communist countries, and some former Communist elites proved eager converts to neoliberalism. Only a handful of nominally Communist states now remain: North Korea and Cuba, and the more capitalist China, Vietnam and Laos.
On todays episode:

 Jonathan Martin, who has covered the inside story of both political parties for years, discusses the message sent by President Trumps top deputies to the party faithful on Thursday: the Republicans are winning the fight  and it is a fight.

 With Moonlight nominated for eight Academy Awards this weekend, Nikole Hannah-Jones has a conversation with its director, Barry Jenkins, about making sense of the world you come from and what it means to leave it behind.

Background reading:

 Heres more on the message that Mr. Bannon and Mr. Priebus delivered at CPAC.

 Ms. Hannah-Jones writes about the parallel lives of Mr. Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, who lived in the same poor Miami neighborhood but hadnt met  until they made one of the years best movies.

Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Tweet me at @mikiebarb. And if that isnt enough, we can even text.

How do I listen?

If you dont see an audio player on this page or to subscribe to The Daily for free, follow the instructions below.
On Wednesday, President Trump rescinded protections for transgender students that had allowed them to use bathrooms according to their gender identity, an issue that has roiled recent political discourse.

Earlier in the week, one vigilant reader pointed out language that he felt needlessly distinguished between biologically born women and transgender women. The line came in a column on the resistance discussions to Trumps agenda that are taking place over dinners in private homes.

The columnist describes the attendees as: Most of the members are women or identify as women. This seems like a clumsy attempt to signify that some of the attendees as trans. If the person identifies as a woman shouldnt the Times refer to them as such? Randall Smith, Northampton, Mass.

The public editors take: The reader has a good point. Im not sure this was a distinction worth making in the first place.

Over the weekend and into Monday, letters came in referring to another topic at the forefront of the new White Houses agenda lately  illegal immigration. Several readers found headlines misleading in their descriptions of a new Trump proposal.

I get people can have legitimate beefs against the immigration rules coming out, but the headline is Trump Proposal Would Deport More Immigrants Immediately. Are you kidding me? That makes it sound like hes deporting people who immigrated here legally. Glen Powell, New Hope, Minn.

The Times has an article captioned Immigrants Hide, Fearing Capture on Any Corner.  Surely this is misleading and refers to unauthorized migrants / undocumented immigrants insofar as the word immigrant means someone in the United States permanently who has attained immigrant status under law. Yet it appears to be a troubling trend. I am a moderate Democrat and generally oppose the presidents harsh approach to targeting unauthorized migrants / undocumented immigrants. I dont want to live in a country where mass amounts of people are rounded up simply for seeking a better life here. However, I consider it counterproductive to use words which are misleading to further a serious debate. I would rather have a debate about policy regarding unauthorized migrants / undocumented immigrants rather than lambasting someone unfairly as anti-immigrant. From a newspapers perspective, apart from an opinion or advocacy piece, it is even more important to be accurate. Steven M. Ziolkowski, New York, N.Y.

The public editors take: The head of the copy desk, Jill Taylor, agrees with the reader that illegal would have made for a clearer headline, though she pointed out that, for space reasons, the desk took a calculated risk that readers whove been paying at least a little attention would not equate immigrants with all immigrants. Two reactions from me. First, I sympathize, as always, with the dilemma of the copy editor trying to fit undocumented immigrants into a headline. But making the choice to lose the qualifier distorts the meaning. Headlines that refer only to immigrants makes it sound like a World War II-style round-up. Deporting immigrants who are undocumented, and thus here illegally, is a much smaller subset of all immigrants, and aggressive deportation of this group has been pursued in past administrations too. Plus, with the occasional confusion that some White House directives are producing, clarity on what in fact is happening becomes all the more crucial.

Readers also took issue this week with another headline, this one on a story about the sentencing of an Israeli soldier who killed an unconscious Palestinian attacker. Specifically, readers were upset that the print headline didnt note the Palestinian had been the initial aggressor when he carried out a stabbing attack at an Israeli checkpoint in March before being killed. The print headline read: Israeli Soldier Who Killed Wounded Palestinian Gets 18 Months. The digital headline, on the other hand, read: Elor Azaria, Israeli Soldier Who Killed Wounded Assailant, Gets 18 Months in Prison.

While it should not be unexpected, it never ceases to shock me when I see such a headline. The fact that the word TERRORIST is somehow left out following Palestinian is a staple of NYT writing. Im not sure if this is the cause of lack of research, or just intentional ignorance. Miriam Rosen, New York, N.Y.

The public editors take: It can often be difficult to sort through the competing claims of biased reporting in coverage of the Middle East, with views so hardened on both sides and emotions running high. This headline, however, does seem to miss the mark by failing to signal a core element of the story.
In a really small room in a really big house, archaeologists found the body of a 40-year-old man. They knew he was special. He was buried with a conch shell trumpet and large shells from the Pacific coast, far from this crypt in the 650-room building known as Pueblo Bonito in what is now called Chaco Canyon, in New Mexico. He was adorned with more than 11,000 beads and pendants made of turquoise and more than 3,000 made of shell. But if he was special, he was just the bottom layer.

On top of him was a two-foot layer of sand, another body, wooden planks and then 12 more bodies, the bones mixed together. They were special, too. Flutes, ceremonial staffs, more turquoise, stores of ceramic vessels, remains of South American parrots and jewelry were found nearby. The elite group of 14 had been buried in the same tiny room over the course of 330 years, starting around the year 800. In a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications, scientists say they were all related to the same female ancestor, which could provide clues to the power structure of the ancient society that lived in Chaco Canyon.

Starting in the ninth century, a large, complex society grew in Chaco Canyon, with small scattered settlements, grand apartments, irrigation systems and connecting roads. Since archaeologists stumbled upon these structures in the late 1800s, theyve questioned how power was organized in Chacoan society. Was the community totally egalitarian? Did it have a single ruler? Did matrilineal family groups control ritual sources of power? Did associations of unrelated individuals, each led by the most capable, take charge?
Cue the Johnny Cash music. On Sunday, a ring of fire eclipse will blaze over parts of South America and the southern and western tips of Africa. Scientifically known as an annular eclipse, this solar phenomenon occurs when the moon moves in between the sun and the Earth but is too far away to completely block the sun as it would during a total solar eclipse.

Because you have this thin little ring around the edge of the moon where the sun pokes out, it gives it that ring of fire effect, said C. Alex Young, a solar astrophysicist from NASA.

The moons orbit around the Earth is elliptical, meaning that at some points it is farther away from the Earth than at others, according to Dr. Young. Annular eclipses occur when the moon is at or near its greatest distance, known as apogee.

The countries with the best chance to watch the ring of fire burn-burn-burn include Chile and Argentina in South America as well as Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. They are along something called the path of annularity. Thats where the moons shadow is cast on Earth, and it varies between 18 miles and 55 miles in width as it moves. Those outside of the line will be able to see a partial solar eclipse, which looks like some galactic giant took a bite out of the sun.
The Journal Star's editorial piece on Feb. 12 ("Gorsuch correct to defend judiciary") made reference to the President's characterization of Judge James L. Robart as "a so-called judge." Well, Trump should know about that. He received 2.8 million votes fewer than Hillary Clinton did. If Trump is not a "so-called President," nobody is a "so-called" anything.
For his bookshop and website One Grand Books, the editor Aaron Hicklin asked people to name the 10 books theyd take with them if they were marooned on a desert island. The next in the series is the actress Isabelle Huppert, who is nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Elle. She shares her list exclusively with T.

Since Im being sent to a deserted island I think I would bring books that I have not read yet and that I cannot wait to discover, Huppert says. At the same time I would not want to leave behind books Ive loved. What a torture! O.K. here is a list of the books I would bring with me. I would not have made the same two weeks ago and I wont be making the same in a month.

The Grass Is Singing, Doris Lessing

I always read this book again just to experience the delight of my first reading. I fell madly in love with everything in that book, the two main characters, Mary and Moses, and Africa not only described but conveyed through the writing. A true writer makes a continent come to life. I met Doris Lessing once in London while I was performing, in English, a Friedrich Schiller play.

The Pillow Book, Sei Shonagon

All of Japan is in this book. A true marvel. Set at the Emperors court during the 10th century, a woman takes notes and becomes our contemporary. I could have performed that woman. I feel very close to Mizoguchi and Ozus actresses.
As bad weeks ago, starting last weekend Uber has had one of the worst in tech industry annals.

Though it is believed to be wildly unprofitable (it is hard to say for sure since the company is private and doesnt have to disclose financial information), Uber is considered one of the great success stories of this generation of tech start-ups. Led by Travis Kalanick, the companys brash chief executive, Uber is believed to be worth close to $70 billion.

Now for the bad stuff: Uber has always been controversial, to say the least. It has regularly clashed with local regulators, competitors, critical reporters  even its own drivers.

Image

Over the weekend, a former Uber engineer wrote a post on Medium saying that she had been sexually harassed by a supervisor and that her complaints were brushed off by human resources. And Wednesday, The New York Timess Mike Isaac detailed a history of bad behavior inside the company.
When I learned about the Underground Railroad as a child, I always wondered about the last steps to freedom. Growing up in Richmond, Va., the former capital of the Confederate States of America, the remnants of slavery and the Civil War were a constant reminder of the past. I imagined slaves traveling through treacherous terrain, with bleary eyes and a lingering sense of trepidation, but with a steely determination to live in a country that would affirm their humanity.

Detroit, whose code name was Midnight on the Underground Railroad, was a pivotal location on the network. The Detroit River separates the United States from Canada, where slavery was abolished through the British Imperial Act of 1833. Though slavery was also illegal in Michigan when it was admitted to the Union in 1837, bounty hunters crossing state lines still posed a threat to black residents of Detroit. Fugitive slaves set their sights on what lay across its border: the city of Windsor, Ontario, and its southern neighbor Amherstburg.

As I drove through downtown Detroit and approached the Detroit River, a multitude of road signs directed me to both the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge, the citys two major arteries to Canada. But there was a significant landmark that I needed to visit first.

The Detroit neighborhood of Greektown, with its Romanesque architecture, is home to the Second Baptist Church, which dates to 1836 and is one of the oldest black churches in the Midwest. The church even predates Michigans admission to the Union by a year. The first members of the church broke off from the citys First Baptist Church because of discriminatory practices, and the split gave them an opportunity to aid runaway slaves more discretely.
On a brutally cold Saturday in January, my family and I are on the stairs of the National Museum of the American Indian, waiting to begin a NYC Slavery and the Underground Railroad Tour that covers the financial district. We are the only brown people in the 12-person group, and I am giving Sean OBrien, our white tour guide, a long side eye. After all, this is a tour of the Underground Railroad. Shouldnt the guide, like the people who moved toward freedom, carry some African DNA? Im beyond skeptical.

My children, at 8 and 14, are glowering. Just an hour earlier, my partner and I wrangled them from the warmth of their rooms and the sweet oblivion of their rerun streams of 90s sitcoms to this moment. The youngest yelled from upstairs, This is something you guys care about, not us! And he was right. Why would they want to spend a morning walking the freezing streets of Lower Manhattan? And if I werent a mom, I might have said this, and the tour would have been over before it began.

But I am a mom so instead, I yelled back up, You wouldnt be here now if your ancestors had whined about not wanting to go! The truth is, none of us really wanted to go. Easier (and warmer) to stay home and reread Colson Whiteheads phenomenal The Underground Railroad or watch the remake of Roots. Or even better, stream black-ish and have a few laughs while paying homage to our past. But, like our ancestors, we are not living in an easy time. Some of their tools, foresight and resistance are already very much needed. Be down in 15 minutes or every device will be taken away for a week.
Parker made sure to avoid the same fate of my own forefathers who toiled in the hot fields of the Deep South. When he learned that the doctor planned to sell him at auction, he persuaded a woman named Elizabeth Ryder to buy him, and he promised to repay her with earnings from a foundry. Because he had learned a trade, the widow could lease him to the foundry, earn money on his labor, and anything above the promised amount of the lease would be his to keep. The arrangement was common, but resulted in freedom only for some.

Rather than stay in the South, Parker settled in Ripley, making enough money to build the home next to his workshop, to marry and to raise children there. His career as a foundryman is the stuff of lore. He obtained a patent for a part that was in demand at tobacco factories, and became one of the richest men in the region, at that time a major trade hub in the United States.

He constantly risked it all for what he called his war with slavery. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 strengthened penalties for those who helped people escape slavery. For that reason, perhaps, he rarely sheltered runaways, and a tour of his house does not feature the crawl spaces and secret passageways that some on the Underground Railroad do.

What it does contain are the sort of exhibits youd expect: a mural detailing accomplishments like Parkers appearance at a world exposition for a part he created. But the real story lay in the relics from the foundry that are on display and adorn the home. Some door hinges on the ground level (an item that Id never thought of as decorative) are from Parkers foundry. Tools made from the foundry are shown as well. The stairs at the front entrance were made in the foundry, too; they just needed a fresh coat of paint.
Business acumen, by itself, produces little insight into these questions. Take the example of military downsizing. Surely corporate executives have some insight into the process; they may even have managed a downsizing or two. For example, Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary nominee, specialized in buying distressed assets such as firms in bankruptcy. He would provide a valuable perspective, correct?

Yet at the same time, this kind of experience does not speak to broader, systemwide consequences. What is known about how to minimize the effects on the towns surrounding military bases? For example, should new companies be recruited to these towns? Should people be encouraged to look for work elsewhere? If there are short run costs, will they last a year or a decade?

Or take tax policy. Companies spend vast amounts of resources navigating the tax system. Businesspeople know the loopholes and the kind of incentives and tax breaks that might be attractive for their own operations. After all, this was implicit in Mr. Trumps assertion that, I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them.

Even if Mr. Trump were to follow through on this promise, there is more to tax policy than fixing loopholes. Any discussion must recognize how taxes distort behaviors and choices: For example, even a high income tax without loopholes might cause some people who would like employment to decide to stay out of the work force. The discussion must also examine who actually will bear the brunt of the tax. These are the questions the council focuses on.

But the council brings more than just a different kind of expertise.

While cabinet members serve the country, they also have their private interests and ambitions. For some, these are primarily political. For others, they may be mainly business interests.

It is hard not to let these ambitions color policy making. Even when intentions are admirable, the mind is effective at warping perspectives to line up with self-interest.

The academics serving on the council have their own biases. They, too, have political preferences and party affiliations. In recent years, there has even been concern that academics research and policy advice are polluted by their business ties or speaking fees. But by and large the largest bias of academics lies elsewhere.
This is immersive journalism, she said, intended to drive empathy. But it also raises issues about taste and truth. I caught up with Ms. de la Pena by phone. Here are some excerpts from the conversation:

Q. How did this piece come together?

A. One Dark Night is sourced entirely from 911 calls, trial testimony and architectural drawings of the condo complex where the shooting took place. Im still an investigative journalist at heart, and it was very much the kind of story I used to cover as a print reporter. I really wanted to make a piece about the shooting, to be able to cast any kind of additional spotlight on the case using V.R.

Q. Why Trayvon Martin? Why not Freddie Gray or another tragedy?

A. Nothing other than I had the ability and I had the time and I felt I was the person to do it. Something clicked when I began investigating the Trayvon case.

Q. You say its meant to draw empathy. Do you acknowledge that videos of shootings can be interpreted in multiple ways, and that this piece is subject to such questions?

A. Definitely. Ive had a journalist say that they better understood Zimmermans position.

Were always trying to figure out what we can convey to the viewer and whats appropriate to show. For audiences not reading newspapers or watching broadcast TV, V.R. can reach them where they play. This is how you keep an informed global citizenry and keep democracy robust. What do we decide to shield them from? I think that that question is only going to be more pronounced as this media becomes more mature.
President Trumps speech on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference followed a familiar pattern: Blast the news media as dishonest, repeat a string of falsehoods and wrap up by promising to change the status quo.

I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news, Mr. Trump said. Its fake, phony, fake. They have a professional obligation as members of the press to report honestly. But as you saw throughout the entire campaign, and even now, the fake news doesnt tell the truth.

Here is an assessment of some of the claims Mr. Trump made.

Mr. Trump criticized the news media for distorting his criticism.

They did not explain that I called the fake news the enemy of the people. They dropped off the word fake.

False. Mr. Trump tweeted on Feb. 17, The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

All of the news organizations Mr. Trump named actually quoted the tweet in its entirety or specified the outlets he called fake.
WASHINGTON  Former Gov. Steve Beshear of Kentucky, a senior Democrat best known for putting the Affordable Care Act into effect in a deeply conservative state, will give his partys response to President Trumps address to Congress on Tuesday, Democratic congressional leaders announced on Friday.

In selecting Mr. Beshear, 72, Democrats opted to elevate an elder statesman from the belt of heartland states that Mr. Trump won handily, rather than highlighting one of the partys newer faces or a potential challenger to Mr. Trump in 2020.

In announcing the choice, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and Nancy Pelosi of California, the House minority leader, underscored Mr. Beshears distinctive credentials as a spokesman on health care.

The party is in the middle of a major push to derail Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, encouraging activists to swarm their members of Congress at town hall-style meetings and assailing Republican leaders for lacking a specific plan to replace the health care law.
WASHINGTON  The homebuilders lobby fears that an ambitious rewrite of the entire tax code will stifle the housing market. Retailers fret that it will make the cost of their imports soar. For charities and their representatives, the worry is that donations will be stunted, plaguing nonprofit groups that serve the neediest Americans.

President Trumps new Treasury secretary, Steven T. Mnuchin, casually predicted this week that the first true overhaul of the federal tax code in three decades would happen before lawmakers head home for their August recess. But theres a bit of a problem: That swamp Mr. Trump liked to talk about on the campaign trail? Its still undrained.

And now the dwellers of that so-called swamp are mobilizing to protect their patch of the bog, with armies of corporate lobbyists scrambling to protect their favorite provisions, exceptions and deductions before it is too late.

To those who are in the trenches, talk of enacting sweeping tax legislation in the span of a few months sounds like a mix of bravado, naivete and delusion. By definition, tax overhaul creates winners and losers on tax day, and with billions of dollars at stake, the prospect of revamping the system has already created fierce infighting among Republicans and a massing of lobbyist forces underwritten by a divided but well-heeled business community.
Forecasts in Lincoln calling for shorts earlier in the week predicted shoveling and plowing Friday.

Lincoln extended a record for number of February days above 70 degrees Wednesday, but a winter storm creeping over the state had snow in sight for the Capital City.

We have thunderstorms going on, we have snow and low visibility, said meteorologist Becky Kern of the National Weather Service in Valley. "This is a powerful storm."

By Thursday evening, the storm had already dropped heavy snow in the Panhandle and sleet and hail in parts of central Nebraska.

Sheets of pea-sized hail blanketed Lincoln, and Gretna also reported hail.

The weather swing comes as a winter storm spawned in the Rockies swept onto the Plains and met cold air spilling out of the north, Kern said.

Alliance hit 72 on Tuesday and topped out at 56 Wednesday before the winter storm, according to the National Weather Service.

The city of 8,400 reported 22 inches of snow Thursday.

Snow could begin falling in Lincoln after midnight with forecasts showing for 2 to 4 inches in Lincoln, Kern said.

Drizzle dropped over downtown Lincoln around 3 p.m.

School officials in the Omaha area canceled Friday classes and events ahead of the storm, but Lincoln Public Schools officials hadn't made a decision as of late Thursday night.

City officials said Thursday they planned to begin treating Lincoln streets at midnight when forecasts indicated the rain would turn to snow.

Twenty street-treatment rigs would spread salt and anti-ice brine, focusing on emergency snow routes, bus routes, arterials and school zones, a city news release said.

Steady winds around 20 mph could gust to 35 mph creating blowing snow in Lincoln and southeast Nebraska, Kern said.

Schools throughout the Panhandle already were closed Thursday morning, and a mix of rain and snow was expected to worsen into heavy, blowing snow Thursday night into Friday morning.

The weather service said the severe conditions could include whiteout, which would make travel extremely hazardous.

Many highways in northeast, north-central and northwest Nebraska were covered by snow, according to the Nebraska Department Of Roads' website.

Nebraska State Patrol officials Thursday issued a plea for Nebraskans to be prepared.

Dont be complacent because of the recent nice weather weve experienced -- this storm has the potential to make travel extremely difficult, dangerous, and even impossible in many areas, Col. Brad Rice, superintendent of the patrol, said in a news release.

Travelers can check on road closures and conditions by dialing 511 on a cellphone or checking 511.nebraska.gov.

Saturday should be mostly sunny but cold, with a high near 36 degrees, the weather service said.

Things should warm back up to the upper 40s Monday, but forecasters say there's a chance for rain and snow early Tuesday morning before becoming sunny again with a high near 52 degrees.

But meterologist Kern cautions: Winter's not over.
WASHINGTON  President Trump on Friday assailed the F.B.I. as a dangerously porous agency, charging that leaks of classified information from within its ranks were putting the country at risk  and calling for an immediate hunt for the leakers.

Mr. Trumps complaints were his latest attacks on his own governments law enforcement and intelligence agencies, which he has characterized as misguided, irresponsible and politically motivated. The criticisms appeared to be a response to a news report Thursday night indicating that a White House official had asked the F.B.I. to rebut an article detailing contacts between Mr. Trumps associates and Russian intelligence officials.

The report on Thursday night by CNN asserted that a White House official had called top leaders at the F.B.I. to request that they contact reporters to dispute the account, which appeared last week in The New York Times. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Friday morning that the CNN report was indefensible and inaccurate, and he has also called the Times article untrue.
WASHINGTON  President Trump turned the power of the White House against the news media on Friday, escalating his attacks on journalists as the enemy of the people and berating members of his own F.B.I. as leakers who he said were putting the nation at risk.

In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Mr. Trump criticized as fake news organizations that publish anonymously sourced reports that reflect poorly on him. And in a series of Twitter posts, he assailed the F.B.I. as a dangerously porous agency, condemning unauthorized revelations of classified information from within its ranks and calling for an immediate hunt for leakers.

Hours after the speech, as if to demonstrate Mr. Trumps determination to punish reporters whose coverage he dislikes, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, barred journalists from The New York Times and several other news organizations from attending his daily briefing, a highly unusual breach of relations between the White House and its press corps.

Mr. Trumps barrage against the news media continued well into Friday night. FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesnt tell the truth, he wrote on Twitter shortly after 10 p.m., singling out The Times and CNN. A great danger to our country.
So Mr. Firmans department began doing what many law enforcement officers around the country have learned to do: balance contradictory requests.

When the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency wants to deport one of his inmates, the jail sends a fax notifying ICE before the inmate is about to walk free  leaving it to federal agents to show up and make an arrest.

But the fax is not necessarily sent with a great deal of advance notice.

In the case of Ever Valles, 19, a Mexican national awaiting trial for car theft, the Denver jails fax was sent in the middle of the night in late December, 10 hours after Mr. Valles posted bail but less than a half-hour before he walked free. ICE was nowhere to be seen.

Last Friday, Mr. Valles was charged with a much more serious crime: murdering a man at a light rail station in a robbery gone awry. Now, Mr. Firman is in the eye of a political storm that highlights the precarious position confronting many law enforcement officials.

Immigration officials accused Mr. Firman of ignoring their detainer request. Had the officer for ICE been sitting at the fax machine, waiting for it to come in, it still would not have been enough time for us to come and get him, said Shawn Neudauer, an ICE spokesman.
The use of the verbal pause like conveys social solidarity among members of this age cohort, but is perceived as less intelligent by older listeners.

If everyone does it, whats the harm?

Once you start into the pattern, it becomes a crutch, Ms. Marshall said. It is not uncommon for people to use filler phrases such as like, so and you know, but it becomes a problem when the phrases are overused to the point of distraction.

She compared it to vulgarity: The occasional use is acceptable but when too frequent, it loses its meaning and signals to listeners that the person speaking is lazy about language.

It also matters when the speech disfluency occurs, Ms. Marshall said. If it happens before a thought is expressed, the speaker is more likely to be perceived as lacking confidence or competence, or as being unprepared. If it happens in the middle of a thought, the speaker is judged less harshly.

Speakers who are well known in their professions but overuse verbal pauses are still perceived as credible because they have built a reputation. Audience members will chalk up those habits to just the way they talk, Ms. Marshall said.

For instance, when Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court spoke, his discourse was nearly always crammed with fillers, Sean P. ORourke, director of the Center for Speaking and Listening at Sewanee: The University of the South, in Tennessee, noted in an email.

But newcomers who use as many interjections as seasoned professionals will be seen as less credible because they do not have the years of experience.
In the darkest of our rooms, I ease my light-sensitive child up from the crib. Then I bring her into the white of the morning, a bright fog threading its way from the sea up to our windows. Gently, I slide the sound processors of Annas cochlear implants above each of her ears, where surgically embedded magnets latch onto radio waves and transport sound into her brain. Before she was born, I had never heard of cochlear implants or CMV. This is our world now: navigating between sound and silence, still wondering how our daughters condition has been kept so quiet in a country where it has existed for centuries.

We live in more noise in the off-season, in Denver, where I had all my prenatal appointments. My pregnancy was unremarkable besides a mean bug in my second trimester that also afflicted Zaley. It may have been CMV, but Ill never know now.

We lounged around for weeks, watching Frozen, eating toast, drinking from whatever cup was closest to our hands. My OB told me not to come in until I was feeling better.

At that point, I already knew the results of the routine screening every pregnant woman undergoes; I had tested negative for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, H.I.V., rubella, chlamydia, and genetic diseases like Down syndrome and cystic fibrosis. Even though the likelihood of having a baby with congenital CMV is higher than for all of the above conditions put together, I was never tested for it during either of my pregnancies.

Now I rewind in my head, playing out a different scene: At my first prenatal appointment, I ask for a CMV test. I find out I have no antibodies for it. Im instructed to do some very simple, preventive things during pregnancy (the only time CMV is dangerous): Kiss Zaley on the head instead of the mouth, pour my own glass of milk instead of finishing hers.
JOHANNESBURG  Anti-immigrant protesters led a violent march into South Africas administrative capital, Pretoria, on Friday, and the police responded with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons.

President Jacob Zuma appealed for calm and condemned the latest wave of anti-foreigner violence to grip South Africa in recent years.

Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law-abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively, Mr. Zuma said.

It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers, he said. Let us isolate those who commit such crimes and work with government to have them arrested, without stereotyping and causing harm to innocent people.
BEIJING  For decades, North Korea could count on China as a loyal ally despite the erratic behavior of the ruling Kim dynasty. Beijing held its tongue, even as its neighbor engaged in saber rattling, nuclear testing and bombastic threats.

But by this week, things may have gone too far, with North Korea unleashing a tirade in which it deployed some of the most damning insults in its playbook, accusing China of dancing to the tune of the U.S. and styling itself as a big power.

Chinese observers of relations between the countries were left in disbelief about how rapidly those ties have deteriorated, particularly after Beijing decided to cut off coal imports that provide badly needed currency for the Norths economy.

At first many people thought it was a fake commentary, Cheng Xiaohe, associate professor of international studies at Renmin University, said of the tirade against China, published in the Norths state-run news media on Thursday. It is a big surprise that North Korea has launched such a strong attack against China. I expected an angry reaction  but not this strong.
TOKYO  At Tsukamoto Kindergarten, an ultraconservative school at the center of a swirling Japanese political scandal, children receive the sort of education their prewar great-grandparents might have recognized.

They march in crisp rows to military music. They recite instructions for patriotic behavior laid down by a 19th-century emperor. The intent, the school says, is to nurture patriotism and pride in the children of Japan, the purest nation in the world.

Now Tsukamoto and its traditionalist supporters  including the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe  are under fire. The school has been accused of promoting bigotry against Chinese and Koreans and of receiving illicit financial favors from the government.

A growing outcry has put Mr. Abes conservative administration on the defensive and drawn attention to the darker side of an increasingly influential right-wing education movement in Japan.
In a brief phone interview on Friday night, Mr. Madasani described the remarks made Wednesday by the man sitting near him and Mr. Kuchibhotla at the restaurant. He asked us what visa are we currently on and whether we are staying here illegally, Mr. Madasani said. (Both men were educated in the United States and were working here legally.)

We didnt react, Mr. Madasani said. People do stupid things all the time. This guy took it to the next level.

Mr. Madasani said he went in to get a manager, and by the time he returned to the patio, the man was being escorted out.

After Mr. Purinton was thrown out, Jeremy Luby, 41, a software developer, said he offered to pick up the tab for the two men, who thanked him during a brief conversation about work and cultural differences.

It was wrong what happened to them, Mr. Luby said. I thought it was a nice gesture to say, Im sorry someone was being rude to you like that.

After the shooting began, another patron, Ian Grillot, 24, said he tried to count the shots while he hid under a table. Thinking the gunman had run out of ammunition, Mr. Grillot said, he confronted him, only to be shot in the hand and the chest.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  For years, North Korea has rattled the world with its nuclear tests and its threats to visit a nuclear holocaust upon the United States. Now, the finding by the Malaysian police that Kim Jong-nam was assassinated with VX nerve agent is a stark reminder of the Norths lesser-known weapons of mass destruction: a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons.

Mr. Kim, the estranged elder brother of North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un, was killed on Feb. 13 when two women rubbed his face with the nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the police said on Friday.

If North Korean citizens were behind the killing, as Malaysian officials suggest, the use of VX raises several questions: Was the North Korean government using the attack to signal to the world its fearsome arsenal of such dangerous weapons? Or was the toxin simply an attempt to avoid detection in carrying out a brazen killing at one of the worlds busiest airports?

By using VX in an international airport in the heart of Asia, North Korea has sent a very clear message to the world that it will strike its enemies anywhere in the world, said Rohan Gunaratna, an expert on terrorism at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. It also demonstrates the North Korean response in the event of an attack against North Korea.
HONG KONG  The Malaysian authorities said on Friday that Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Koreas leader, had been killed by VX nerve agent applied to his face. The substance, listed as a chemical weapon, was kept for decades in the arsenals of many militaries, including that of the United States. But since the Chemical Weapons Convention came into force in 1997, most stockpiles globally have been destroyed.

What is a nerve agent?

A nerve agent, sometimes called nerve gas, acts on the nervous system of an organism and prevents muscles from functioning properly. The substance is derived from organophosphate pesticides, and military officials had envisioned dispersing it over a wide area  using a specialized artillery shell or bomb, for instance  to kill or incapacitate enemy forces and make the affected area impossible to safely move through.

How does it kill you?

The VX molecule interferes with the way glands and muscles function by blocking an enzyme that allows them to relax. That causes muscles to clench uncontrollably and, eventually, prevents a victim from being able to breathe. The lethal dose for VX ranges from about 10 milligrams via skin contact to 25 to 30 milligrams if inhaled. Early symptoms can include pinprick pupils, runny nose, wheezing and muscle twitching. Death can occur anywhere from within a few minutes to hours, depending on the dose and the method of contact.
DUBLIN  Cardinal Desmond Connell, who retired as the Roman Catholic archbishop of Dublin during a furor over the churchs handling of cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the clergy, died on Tuesday. He was 90.

The death, in Dublin, was announced by the current archbishop, Diarmuid Martin.

A theological scholar with training in metaphysics, then-Father Connell was a surprise choice when Pope John Paul II appointed him to lead the archdiocese of Dublin in 1988. John Paul named him a cardinal in 2001, making him the first archbishop of Dublin to be so elevated in nearly 120 years.

During his 16 years as archbishop, Cardinal Connell was a stalwart defender of church doctrine, particularly on social issues like contraception, divorce and homosexuality.

At times he came across as too doctrinaire. He criticized Mary McAleese, a Roman Catholic who was president of Ireland from 1997 to 2011, for taking communion in a Protestant church. At an awkward reception hosted by Bertie Ahern, the prime minister at the time, and his partner (the two were not married), the cardinal spoke of the primacy of marriage and the family. He once said that his Protestant counterpart, Archbishop Walton Empey of the Church of Ireland, wouldnt be regarded as one of the Protestant faiths high-flyers when it came to theological matters, a remark widely interpreted as a put-down.
PRAGUE  A former mechanic from a sleepy town in the western part of the Czech Republic had never even met a Muslim when he decided last year to travel to Syria to take up arms for the Islamic State.

On Friday, the mechanic, Jan Silovsky, 22, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison for his effort to join the terrorist group, the first Czech citizen convicted on terrorism charges.

He acted with the aim to join the Islamic States operations and induce significant harm or death, said the judge, Martin Kantor.

Mr. Silovsky faced 12 years to life in prison for supporting terrorism, but psychiatrists who evaluated his mental health said he had schizoid personality disorder, which significantly lowered his ability to control his own actions.
PARIS  Amid electoral upheavals around the world, including Brexit and the election of President Trump, France will hold a first round of national voting to elect a president on April 23.

Unless one candidate wins more than half of the votes, the two with the most ballots go on to a second round, held on May 7. Whoever wins that round is elected president.

Though there are 11 candidates in the first round, only a handful of them, from across the political spectrum, are leading in the opinion polls. Here is a look at who they are.
Mr. Mareshki, whose only previous political experience had been a stint on the City Council in Varna and an unsuccessful run for mayor of that city, his hometown on the Black Sea coast, stunned Bulgarians late last year by garnering 11 percent in the first round of voting for president, far above what the polling had predicted. It was a sizable achievement for a campaign that had no advertising budget and had staged few events.

Now he is hoping to capitalize on that strong showing by forming a new political party  which he calls Will, a word that in Bulgarian connotes strength of character  in parliamentary elections on March 26. His similarities to Mr. Trump, he believes, will help him.

I am a successful businessman who started a business and built it over almost 30 years into something very successful, Mr. Mareshki said. And I gained a lot of experiences in those years, so I am not afraid to speak directly to the people and call things by their real names.

Some relative newcomers to politics, like Mr. Mareshki, are more eager than others to accept the Trump comparisons. Others, who have been around a while, like to point out that it is Mr. Trump who is copying them with his nationalist themes and aggressive approach on immigration.

Mareshkis parallel with Trump is quite strong, said Daniel Smilov, an analyst at the Center for Liberal Strategies, a research group in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. They have differences in emphasis, but Mareshki says a lot of things that Trump says. The overlaps are quite significant.
Mr. Trump is not the only person pointing to what he considers to be the troubling consequences of immigration to Sweden. This month, a seasoned investigator with the police department in Orebro, Peter Springare, caused a stir with a Facebook posting in which he discussed the case files on his desk.

What Ive been handling Monday-Friday this week: Rape, rape, serious rape, assault rape, black mail, black mail, assault in court, threats, attack against police, threats against police, drugs, serious drugs, attempted murder, rape again, black mail again and abuse, Mr. Springare said. He went on to list the first names of the people he said were suspects, all but one of which were traditionally Middle Eastern.

The post, which was shared 20,500 times, led to an outpouring of support. People sent hundreds of flowers to Mr. Springares police station, and more than 170,000 people joined a Facebook group supporting him.

But both his superiors and the police in other departments said that they did not recognize his description, and that national levels did not resemble his claims.

Manne Gerell, a lecturer in criminology with Malmo University, said more immigrants than Swedes commit crimes, but the exact numbers are hard to determine. And on the national level, he said, the imbalance is not nearly as great as Mr. Springare suggested.

Still, it seems as if frustrations over the issue are spreading.

In 2014, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats gained 12.9 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections to become the countrys third-largest party, up from only 2.9 percent eight years earlier.
Boris Kollar, 51, Slovakia

Image Boris Kollar Credit... Sme Rodina

Mr. Kollar, a wealthy businessman, formed his own political party last year  Sme Rodina, or We Are Family  and shocked the Slovak establishment by earning 11 seats in the countrys 150-seat National Council on a platform of libertarian economics, Euro-skepticism and fierce opposition to more immigration. His slogan: Trust me, Im not a politician. A well-known tabloid figure and media celebrity, Mr. Kollar has 10 children from nine different mothers.

Bogoljub Karic, 63, Serbia

Image Bogoljub Karic Credit... Marko Djurica/Reuters

Mr. Karic, along with three brothers and a sister, built a family business empire that has expanded to telecommunications, construction, finance, media and international trade. He also started the private BK University. But his initial foray into politics ended with his fleeing into exile in 2006, under investigation by Serbias chief organized crime prosecutor, which he characterized as politically motivated. Mr. Karic returned to Serbia on Dec. 30, just days after the prosecutor ended the investigation without charges. Mr. Karic denies he will run for president in the coming elections, but notes that his party, the Strength of Serbia Movement, recruited 60,000 new members since his return from exile.

Aivars Lembergs, 63, Latvia

Image Aivars Lembergs Credit... Ilmars Znotins/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images

The extent of Mr. Lembergss wealth, and its source, are fairly vague, but he has used his business and political acumen to remain the mayor and chief political force in the seaport of Ventspils, an office he has held since 1988, the year before communism fell. Flamboyant, outspoken and a familiar figure in Latvian media, Mr. Lembergs made his fortune in the tumultuous years after the transition to capitalism. His politics are populist. He refers to NATO as an occupying force. And he remains the leading figure in a coalition between his party and the Union of Greens and Farmers, a strange-bedfellows conglomeration of environmental activists and conservative farm groups. He has faced repeated charges of corruption, money laundering, bribery and abuse of office.
JERUSALEM  The Israeli government has denied a work visa for an investigator for Human Rights Watch, a prominent advocacy organization, accusing the group of engaging in Palestinian propaganda.

Human Rights Watch, which has worked in Israel for three decades, denied the accusation, calling the visa rejection part of a pattern of actions by the right-wing government in the country to hinder the work of rights groups.

This Israeli government has been narrowing the space for democratic activity and is closing Israel off to those who dare to criticize its activities, said Sari Bashi, the groups Israel and Palestine advocacy director.

Human Rights Watch, which shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for being part of an international anti-landmine campaign, works in 90 nations and has official offices in 24 of them. On Feb. 20, the group received a notice that its application for a work visa for its investigator, Omar Shakir, had been turned down because, a letter said, the group had a pro-Palestinian bias.
Customers were told time and again, We sold your car for $10,000 but we put $6,000 of repairs into it, Mr. Boffetti said on the telephone. So minus our commission, heres a check for $3,000.

He added that some customers were not paid a cent for their vehicles. Anthony Marotto, for instance, told the Haggler that he was paid unsatisfactory amounts for six of the 10 cars he consigned to Dusty and a grand total of zilch for four of them.

At least Mr. Marotto was never threatened with a lawsuit. That happened to Stephen Kelly, who received nada for the 1970 Cadillac DeVille that he had consigned to Dusty. After posting a complaint to a Better Business Bureau of New Hampshire website, he got a call from Dustys owner, Stephan Condodemetraky, who is heard in a TV news report about the matter, broadcast last year, issuing a warning on a voice mail message:

You know, it took me about five minutes for me to locate you, sir. So its going to take about five minutes for my lawyer to locate you, too. And then were going to come after you personally. Thats after we file criminal charges with the police departments.

The Haggler thinks it is time for readers to meet Mr. Condodemetraky, a highly voluble character with an affinity for long explanations and a deep love of jargon. (Instead of jalopy he prefers materially problematic asset.) But first a little heads-up. Do not expect this guy to retreat an inch.

People are dishonest, he said during two surprisingly entertaining conversations last week. Mr. Condodemetraky said that Mr. Mastromarino, for instance, had completely misrepresented the state of his Road Runner, and that the repairs performed were required to sell the car for $23,000. Further, he said, those repairs were allowed under the terms of the contracts Mr. Mastromarino signed.

As for Mr. Marotto and the four cars that didnt yield him a dime, expensive and needed repairs wiped out any profit that he might have expected, Mr. Condodemetraky said.

Obvious question: Why not tell Mr. Marotto that he is going to wind up with nothing before the repairs or the sales occur?
If youve been watching the debate in Washington over what is to become of our health insurance plans, you know that Republicans already disagree on a whole bunch of things. Theyre not sure about what any new plan will cost. Theyre not sure how any new tax credits should work or who should get them. Theyre not sure about how Medicaid should operate.

But theres one thing they do know for sure: They want a whole lot more of us to have health savings accounts.

Theres a great deal to like about these accounts, which you can open and contribute to only if you are enrolled in a health insurance plan that has a pretty high deductible. They offer a rare triple threat to the tax man: You get a tax break on the money that goes in. You pay no taxes on the money as it grows, potentially over decades. Finally, you pay no taxes when the money comes out, as long as you use it on a long list of health expenditures.

Seems like magic, right? Well, it works nicely just as long as you can afford to save in the first place and as long as you dont skimp on necessary care to keep your account balance high. A high balance doesnt help if you die because you did not want to spend your H.S.A. money to have a doctor check a mysterious lump.
Dr. Bob Synhorst, 87, and his wife, Jeane, 83, were married in 1955. Gerald Gerdes, 88, and his wife, Verneda, 83, were married in 1954. Bill Norris, 78, and his wife Jan, 76, were married in 1963.

In recent years, each couple shopped for a retirement community that would meet their needs and wants. As each couple paused on Valentines Day to reflect on their many years of wedded bliss, they also gave thanks for finding a sweetheart of a lifestyle at The Landing at Williamsburg Village, whose amenities meet their social, spiritual and security needs.

Each couple paused last week to share details of how they met, how theyve made their marriage work, and how life at The Landing has contributed to the value of their time together:

Dr. Bob and Jeane Synhorst met in 1954 at Lincoln General Hospital, where Bob was an intern and Jeane was a student nurse. I needed help with an IV, and he was there, Jeane said with a smile. A year later, the friendship led to a wedding in Omaha and the beginning of what has been a 62-year marriage. They have 2 children, 2 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

Secrets to a happy marriage: Compromise  if each side gives 55 percent, it works out, Bob says, tongue in cheek. Its not a case of yours and mine, its a matter of ours, added Jeane.

Life at The Landing: Jeane enjoys playing bridge and is in charge of the driving. The Synhorsts enjoy their care-free lifestyle. With a great gym, a heated pool, and friendships formed with neighbors, the Synhorsts are happy at The Landing, where they moved last summer after a dozen retirement years in the Phoenix area.

Gerald and Verneda Gerdes were married in 1954 in Herkimer, Kansas. She lived near my maternal grandmothers house, and my cousin married her sister, said Gerald, who lived in nearby Wymore, Neb.

Secrets to a happy marriage: We do things together, says Verneda. We exercise together, and enjoy the many activities here.

Life at The Landing: We enjoy the friendships weve made visiting at mealtime, and the staff here is wonderful, said Gerald. The couple moved to The Landing on Dec. 15, 2014, from a Southeast Lincoln townhome they occupied for 19 years. Six of the couples seven children live in Nebraska. They also have 10 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

Bill and Jan Norris, both from Holdrege, were students at Nebraska Wesleyan University and were married 54 years ago in Holdrege. There was a time when Jan needed a ride from Wesleyan to Holdrege, and the rest is history, Bill smiled. Jan taught school and was an Avon district manager; Bills career included 16 years at National Bank of Commerce and 16 years as an administrative officer at NWU.

Secrets to a happy marriage: You give a little, you take a little, says Jan. Its all about compromise, added Bill, nodding in agreement.

Life at The Landing: Ive met a lot of people with amazing life stories. The staff and the residents are great, says Bill, also giving high grades to the library, the busy activity schedule, and the food quality. Jan enjoys the swimming pool and using the NuStep machines at the Wellness Center.

Are you ready to move into a retirement community youll fall in love with? Please call Senior Living Consultant Stacie Sumovich at The Landing at Williamsburg Village, (402) 328-2223, to schedule a tour.
Shortly after returning to the farm, Tubman set out on her own, guided through the night by the North Star and well-worn paths of the Underground Railroad up into Pennsylvania, where slavery was illegal.

Tubmans freedom proved to be bittersweet, as she would recount in her biography. In Philadelphia, she was free, working odd jobs, but lonely. Tubman began plotting her return home to bring her kin back with her: I was free and dey should be free also. I would make a home for dem in de North, and de Lord helping me, I would bring dem all dere.

In 1850, Tubman made her first trip back to Maryland, where, on the steps of the Dorchester County Courthouse (which was rebuilt in 1854 after a fire), Tubmans niece, Kessiah, was scheduled to be auctioned off. But Tubman had plotted with Kessiahs husband, who had been manumitted, to free his family. He secured the highest bid for Kessiah and their two children, smuggled them to a local safe house, then sailed up the Chesapeake to Baltimore, where Tubman greeted them and guided them to Philadelphia.

The rescue must have inspired Tubman. Over the next decade, she would return to Marylands Eastern Shore a dozen times, rescuing some 70 family members and friends.

Tubman was no-nonsense on these journeys, unwilling to suffer weakness among those joining her perilous flight. For the faint of heart she carried a pistol, telling her charges to go on or die, for a dead fugitive slave could tell no tales, Ms. Larson writes in her Tubman biography. She used disguises; she walked, rode horses and wagons; sailed on boats; and rode on real trains...She bribed people. She followed rivers that snaked northward. She used the stars and other natural phenomenon to lead her north.
2 of 7

Pregnancy can make it hard to talk, let alone sing, though professionals like Beyonce make it look effortless. How does pregnancy affect the ability to vocalize?
KCNA/Handout/European Pressphoto Agency

Images like this one might look silly, but they are rich with insights into the countrys military and politics. By using high-tech forensics and traditional detective work, analysts and intelligence agencies can use photos to track North Koreas internal politics and expanding weapons programs with stunning granularity.

Several experts walked us through this photo of Kim Jong-un, North Koreas leader, unveiling what he claimed was a new nuclear device. But the image, from March 2016, may show more than Mr. Kim intended: the possible range of the missile behind him, his relationship with the military, even his precise location.

The Bomb

North Korea calls this its first miniaturized nuclear warhead, small enough to fit on a missile. Analysts call it the disco ball.

Jeffrey Lewis, an analyst at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, used the photo to estimate the devices size, from which he deduced its weight  a few hundred kilograms  and its destructive yield, about 20 kilotons, roughly equivalent to the atomic bombs that the United States dropped on Japan.

But more important than yield was its small size  about 60 centimeters in diameter  which appears to match North Koreas claim that it can fit on their long-range missiles, a major leap forward for the countrys nuclear prowess.

Wiring Nozzle NUCLEAR WARHEAD Plug Wiring Nozzle NUCLEAR WARHEAD Plug

Analysts are unsure about the metal plug. It could be a routine component to trigger detonation or it could be used to inject gas, making the device more efficient. This would allow North Korea to build more warheads out of limited plutonium supplies, multiplying the size of its arsenal.

Theres also disagreement over the nozzle. Some suspect its a safety feature used to enter the nuclear pit just before detonation; others say it could be used to arm the warhead. Analysts hope new images will emerge that will help them solve these riddles.

The Outfit

Scholars of North Korean state media recognize Mr. Kims jacket from official portrayals of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the nations founding leader. The elder Kim is heavily celebrated in state media and closely associated with the Korean War. Mr. Kim, by borrowing his coat, is sending a message that North Korea is again on a war footing.

Mr. Kims grandfather, Kim Il-sung, shown in a North Korean propaganda magazine.

Such details help scholars to understand how Mr. Kim is constructing his legitimacy. By mimicking his grandfather, he is implicitly breaking with his father, Kim Jong-il, who tended to rule through institutions like the military and the Communist Party. Instead, Mr. Kim is asserting himself as the center of all authority, as his grandfather did. This pose can help experts better understand the governments internal dynamics and how it might behave.

The Entourage

Notice whats absent: military uniforms at an event to unveil a new military weapon. In a country where propaganda sets reality, and the political hierarchy can be life or death, such choices matter.

Thats why Michael Madden, an analyst, tracks appearances by North Korean officials. Here, he spotted civilian officials and two key military leaders: the head of the nuclear program and the head of missile forces, both in civilian clothing.

That sends a clear message: Mr. Kim is asserting that he runs the nuclear weapons program personally, cutting out the usual chain of command. This is not rule by the military anymore. This is rule by one man, said Joshua Pollack, who edits the Nonproliferation Review.

The body language is also significant: Mr. Kim is giving guidance as even top military officials dutifully take notes, a show of submission to his personal authority over this specific warhead.

The Missile

Even a glimpse of the intercontinental missile in the background reveals important information. David Schmerler, also with the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, noticed the white lettering, which is Korean for support. Missile airframes are fragile and so have to be rested where the frame is strongest  between the internal tanks.

Exterior of the KN-08 missile The KN-08, shown behind Kim Jong-un, is designed for a range of 7,200 miles, but has had no flight tests to date. Heat shield Warhead STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3 Possible nuclear device Possible electronics package AT LEAST 62 FEET Exterior of the KN-08 missile The KN-08, shown behind Kim Jong-un, is designed for a range of 7,200 miles, but has had no flight tests to date. Possible electronics package Heat shield Warhead Possible nuclear device STAGE 3 STAGE 2 AT LEAST 62 FEET STAGE 1 Exterior of the KN-08 missile The KN-08, shown behind Kim Jong-un, is designed for a range of 7,200 miles, but has had no flight tests to date. Heat shield Warhead STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3 Possible nuclear device Possible electronics package AT LEAST 62 FEET Exterior of the KN-08 missile The KN-08, shown behind Kim Jong-un, is designed for a range of 7,200 miles, but has had no flight tests to date. Possible electronics package Heat shield Warhead Possible nuclear device STAGE 3 STAGE 2 AT LEAST 62 FEET STAGE 1 Source: NTI/CNS

By measuring the number and size of those tanks, Mr. Schmerler was able to effectively X-ray the missiles interior and deduce information like the type of fuel used. Altogether, this reveals that the missile is designed for a range of thousands of miles  enough to reach Washington, D.C., if the technology is perfected.

Pakistan Saudi Arabia Iran China Mongolia Italy Russia Spain North Korea Norway Japan Guam Musudan 2,200 miles Australia Canada A Wave of Warheads The potential range of North Koreas current weapons, particularly the KN-14 and KN-08 missiles, would put most of the world in reach of its nuclear warheads. KN-14 6,200 miles United States KN-08 7,200 miles Mexico A Wave of Warheads The potential range of North Koreas current weapons, particularly the KN-14 and KN-08 missiles, would put most of the world in reach of its nuclear warheads. Saudi Arabia Italy China Russia Britain Musudan 2,200 miles Canada United States KN-08 7,200 KN-14 6,200 Estimated ranges Italy China Russia North Korea Britain Japan Musudan 2,200 miles A Wave of Warheads The potential range of North Koreas current weapons, particularly the KN-14 and KN-08 missiles, would put most of the world in reach of its nuclear warheads. Canada KN-14 6,200 miles United States KN-08 7,200 miles Source: The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

By Troy Griggs

Melissa Hanham, also of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, is pairing these findings with a series of photos North Korea has released of rocket engine tests, some for the KN-08. Analysis of the flame from the engine, particularly its color, confirm its designed to be able to reach the East Coast of the United States one day.

The Facility

North Korea did not name the location, but analysts figured it out by sorting through thousands of propaganda photos to identify clues.

They narrowed their search, in part, by examining photos where Mr. Kim wore the same outfit, reasoning that his proclivity for wearing the same clothing over a stretch of time would help them spot patterns. (Mr. Pollack also said they could roughly date an undated photo by Mr. Kims weight, which tends to fluctuate.)

That led them to an earlier photo of the missile facility, whose tiny architectural details and a banner matched those in the disco ball photo. Propaganda officials had not bothered to hide its location: the Chamjin missile factory just outside Pyongyang.

NORTH KOREA Area Shown PYONGYANG MISSILE FACILITY The missile facility is secluded within a small ring of mountainous terrain, just 10 miles from North Koreas capital city of Pyongyang. TAEDONG RIVER 1 MILE NORTH KOREA Area Shown PYONGYANG MISSILE FACILITY The missile facility is secluded within a small ring of mountainous terrain, just 10 miles from North Koreas capitol city of Pyongyang. TAEDONG RIVER 1 MILE NORTH KOREA AREA SHOWN PYONGYANG MISSILE FACILITY The missile facility is secluded within a small ring of mountainous terrain, just 10 miles from North Koreas capitol city of Pyongyang. TAEDONG RIVER 1 MILE NORTH KOREA 0.5 MILE AREA SHOWN PYONGYANG TAEDONG RIVER MISSILE FACILITY The missile facility is secluded within a small ring of mountainous terrain, just 10 miles from North Koreas capitol city of Pyongyang. Source: Terrain and aerial imagery by Google

Mr. Lewis has been monitoring the facility ever since. He watches how and when it is used, looking for bursts in traffic or new construction. By tracking which facilities are expanded and which are neglected, he can infer the same of whichever program a facility houses.

Satellite photos show this facility getting a recent upgrade  which Mr. Lewis was able to see up close by finding a matching propaganda photo. Such glimpses give him a feel for key weapons centers. He thinks he may even have spotted Mr. Kims car.

Before roof extension After MISSILE FACILITY Roof extension Before roof extension After MISSILE FACILITY Roof extension Aerial imagery by Google | Photo from KCNA video

These small observations add up, demonstrating that, as Mr. Pollack put it of North Koreas nuclear development, this is a deadly serious program.

Ms. Hanham believes some details may have been deliberately revealed to demonstrate the countrys growing capabilities. Whereas most such images are doctored, if only to improve Mr. Kims appearance, she noticed that this was conspicuously unretouched  perhaps a message to the foreign intelligence agencies who conduct such analyses.
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Bottom-Up is a direct and logical look at how we live our lives, conduct our business, manage our societies, and, most importantly, communicate with each other. Author Rob Kall explains it all in plain English. But don't let the readability of this book fool you into thinking that it's not important. Kall cuts to the heart of the most critical issues in communication today. This book is as important as game theory. And people will take notice."



John Kiriakou, former CIA officer and author of The Reluctant Spy and Doing Time Like a Spy
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

"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
SOMERS  Adventures in Lifelong Learning (ALL) provides an ongoing forum for seniors who have a mutual interest in intellectual stimulation and cultural enrichment. Those interested are welcome to an event as a guest to try out the group before joining.

ALL is affiliated with and meets at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, usually the first and third Mondays at 2 p.m., in Student Center Cinema, 900 Wood Road.

March lectures

March 6  FBI 101 with Leonard Peace, FBI Public Affairs specialist, FBI Milwaukee Division. Through the FBIs Community Relations Unit, Peace is responsible for educating the community about the FBIs programs, priorities and jurisdiction. He is also responsible for building partnerships between the FBI and cultural communities, business and civic groups, and members of the general public.

March 20  Infragard Wisconsin Membership Alliance, Protecting Wisconsin with Beth Schowalter, acting vice president, Infragard Wisconsin Membership Alliance. Infragard is a partnership between the FBI and both the private and public sectors, and recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Infragard is an association of businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile acts against the United States. Schowalter has more than 35 years of experience in the industry.

For more information, call the ALL office at 262-595-2793 or go to www.uwp.edu (keyword ALL).
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob Kall is tapping in, exploring, assessing, and clarifying this important new way of thinking that has been influenced by the civil rights movement; women's movement; and new, more effective ways of doing business. This will be an important book that can make changes in our world."



Dr. Linda Seger, author of twelve books, including the best-selling Making a Good Script Great, Spiritual Steps on the Road to Success and The Better Way to Win.
Dairy Not Found

Sometimes, authors delete their diaries after publishing them.



To see if the diary was renamed or re-published, please click here.
Quicklink Not Found

Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them.



To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here.
Progressive Content Not Found

Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing.



To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here.
In other words, a totalitarian system of government. This condition has been evolving right before our eyes and, yet, many Americans still can't seem to comprehend what is happening. America has undergone a slow but sure transformation of its democracy, a democratic republic, into this axis of power, control and intimidation.

We can dismiss and totally deny this notion but when we examine the current state of this country and its government there is no doubt that our democracy is, under siege. Of course, opinions such as this are of no real value on their own so let's provide facts and evidence to support that contention.

We need to view the America of today from two perspectives; one in which this transformation has been developing for decades and secondly how it is in great danger of greatly expanding under the rule of Mr. Trump and the Republicans.

The people of this country have seen Corporate America become extremely powerful and use its money, power and influence to take control of this government. We have heard that the banking industry "owns" Congress; that's a fact. While Corporate America was transferring this country's manufacturing sector, for the most part to China, its indentured servants in the Congress just looked the other way.

A large portion Congress is composed of politicians who submit to the directives that the masters of Corporatism issue. This president's cabinet is like a smaller version of Wall Street with Goldman Sach's influence being very prominent. If we think that inequality of income in America is bad right now just wait till those in power move ahead with their agendas.

We could accurately describe America as an oligarchy, one in which a relatively small portion of the richest and most powerful individuals in this country are in control and call the shots that determine the direction of this country.

In a democratic republic the U.S. Congress is charged with the responsibility of carrying out the will of the people. That is simply not happening as poll after poll indicates that the wishes of the American people on almost every key issue are not shared or being carried out by members of this Congress. Government of, by and for the people disappeared years ago.

A dictatorship and a developing police state go hand in hand in maintaining tight control over the people. This country has been traveling down that path for some time and now, with Trump in charge, there is no doubt that he has every intention of tightening that control.

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
It almost felt like a cross between a Town Hall and a pep rally. There was no screaming or shouting. Just a gymnasium filled with people who had plenty on their minds and over two hours to get their questions answered. (Those who weren't picked handed in cards with their queries. They were guaranteed that they would receive follow-up responses.)

A diverse group of constituents from the Northwest Bronx met with Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council member Andrew Cohen, for a forum that fielded concerns from local schools to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Mayor was accompanied by a complement of city agency brass, to either follow up on his responses, fill in the gaps, or personally meet those who were having problems.

As Cohen pointed out, Bronxites in this area hadn't received a mayoral visit since the days of Ed Koch.

De Blasio greeted the crowd with, "Good evening Northwest Bronx." There was a communal Pledge of Allegiance, and then lots of reciprocal shout-outs. Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz warmed up the audience by delivering some unflattering comments about Trump, before thanking the Mayor for "universal pre-K." Darcel Clark was introduced, and she assured those present, "You have a DA who is here for you." Cohen, who functioned as the MC, expressed his gratitude to de Blasio and laid out the ground rules: "Vigorous and respectful conversation. No speeches. Questions please."

Up for re-election, de Blasio did some politicking by running down his accomplishments after observing, "Everyone who is here in this room is here for a good reason."

Noting the current stats for high school graduates (72.6 percent), he added, "Fifteen years ago, it was under 50 percent." He stated, "Seventy thousand kids are in pre-K." De Blasio talked about police and community relations, affordable housing for seniors and vets, getting a rent freeze in place, and traffic safety. Then he told the audience, "I look forward to your questions."

The first inquiry was about the potential impact of Betsy DeVos on public education. De Blasio voiced concern about a reduction of federal revenue due to proposed tax cuts for the wealthy. "We have reserves," he said. "Now we fear Washington, D.C. more than loss of revenue."

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).


What WERE the Framers thinking as they codified Freedom of Speech?

(Image by John Trumbull, 1818 (derivative)) Details DMCA



So far we've examined the concept of constitutional originalism [1], and how it's been hijacked by the radical right. Then we explored the Electoral College [2] in disturbing detail, and saw how it has been used to marginalize minorities and disenfranchise the majority. Now let's take a look at free speech and see how it has been applied to collective organizations like corporations and labor unions.

LITERAL CONTEXT

The Second Amendment is said to guarantee our freedom of speech as it states, "Congress shall make no law" abridging the freedom of speech".." What were they thinking?

Look at the context - "Congress..." refers strictly to the federal government, and does not apply guarantees or restrictions to the authority of the States or their people. ""shall make no law" is specific to legislation that might be viewed by the States as federal government over-reach. The words themselves convey no guarantee of free speech whatsoever, but merely restrict Congress from abridging our freedom.

However, from the beginning the First Amendment was viewed as applying not only to Congress, but also to all parts of the federal government. Then in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment [3] formally expanded the protections in the U.S. Constitution so that the States are bound in the same way. "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Clearly, in 1789 free speech was an ideal - it had been incorporated into law with respect to speech in the English Parliament, and recently codified in the French Revolution. Since the beginning of the American republic, the First Amendment has been treated as though it explicitly guaranteed freedom of speech even though it did not. And it took a while to determine in principle, case law, and practice just exactly who was protected and what was protected - and application of law continues to evolve today.

How did freedom of speech evolve? It went from prohibiting Congress from making laws abridging it to requiring state and local governments - and even private entities - to themselves guarantee it. As noted, the Fourteenth Amendment constrained States to extend constitutional protections to its citizens. But it was primarily intended to protect freedmen of African descent from the States in which they resided as citizens, and years passed before the legal connection was completed. Freedom of speech was explicitly guaranteed in 1925 when the Supreme Court ruled in Gitlow v. New York [4] that the authority of the First Amendment - however interpreted - was extended over the States.

Never in our history have Americans universally enjoyed absolute freedom of speech. From the beginning, slaves and women were limited in their right to speak on their own behalf - if not by the laws of their states, then by their slaveholders or their husbands. So the freedom of speech - much like any other right and freedom in the founding documents - depends as much upon who you are as it does on what you say.

What if you are an organization like a corporation or a labor union instead of an individual citizen? The Constitution doesn't mention corporations, and the Founders had just rebelled against the English Royal Charters that had dominated trade since the Seventeenth Century. The Founders certainly would not have intended for such organizations to enjoy the rights of individual citizens. But political power came with the growing economic power of railroads and industry - especially during and after the Civil War. In 1886, the Supreme Court, in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad[5] ruled that equal protection conferred by the Fourteenth Amendment was extended to corporations as well as natural persons. This ruling was a necessary precedent that ultimately led to later decisions - including Citizens United v. FEC [6].

There is no evidence that the Founders included anything but the use of language - the written or spoken word - to fall under the rights and protections afforded by their documents. But as the application of law and principle evolved over the next two centuries, the definition of speech expanded. First, gestures and actions - whether or not accompanied by words - were recognized as symbolic speech in Stromberg v. California (1931)[7]. This principle was tested severely during the Vietnam War, as protestors burned flags and draft cards, and adopted attire associated with protest movements. Even art in its various forms - graphic, music, physical - is protected today.

Remarkably, the scope of speech was expanded to include the symbolic statement of spending money on political contests. When combined with the extension of rights to corporations under the Fourteenth Amendment, we get the bizarre result that corporations can spend money to buy political candidates by financing their election. Citizens United marked an expansion of freedom of speech that the Founders clearly did not intend and of which they would not approve.

Like expansions of protections, restrictions have also evolved. As early as 1798, the Sedition Act [8], restricted political speech against the government in order to suppress Democratic-Republican opposition to war with France. Ironically, within two years the Jefferson Administration refused to enforce the very act that was directed against them. The Sedition Act of 1918 [9] restricted speech in support of enemies and criticism of the government, Constitution, or symbols of the United States. It was repealed in 1921.

Political speech remains protected to this day. But in the past 240 years, many real and practical restrictions have been imposed on other forms of speech. You will be in violation of the law if you use your freedom to incite a riot, violate a copyright, pick a fight, create or propagate obscenity or child pornography, or harm another person with lies. You may also face a higher standard beyond these restrictions if you occupy a position of public trust. But you're okay if you're a corporation who wants to buy an election!

LIMITATIONS OF THE FRAMERS

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
The efforts of Long Island, New York's, Town of East Hampton to quell aircraft noise involving the town-owned airport have been negated by a federal appeals court. This has resulted in a move to have the town shut down its airport and open the more than 600 acres for other uses.

It's an issue affecting many people on Long Island. Helicopters particularly, ferrying well-heeled passengers between Manhattan and East Hampton, have been flying loud and low over the length of the island creating a terrible racket for folks from Nassau County through western and central Suffolk County and then Suffolk's East End. Each of those counties have a population of 1.3 million.

Thus the East Hampton Airport became during the warm-weather months Long Island's biggest noisemaker.

With the court's ruling, "we will again be subject to noise disturbance at any time of day or night," says Patricia Currie of Noyac, a co-founder of the new group Say NO to KHTO. (KHTO is the airport's aviation designation.)

East Hampton is seeking to go to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling. That may be a long shot. "We cannot let stand unchallenged a decision that completely federalizes our small community airport and strips the town of any meaningful local control of the town-owned airport," said East Hampton Supervisor Larry Cantwell following the November ruling.

Laying out East Hampton's priorities for 2017 at the town board's organizational meeting last month, Cantwell said: "The town's diligent efforts to gain local control of the East Hampton Airport through a thoughtful process and adoption of local laws was thwarted by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals nullifying local restrictions." He said that "absent a lawful strategy to significantly reduce noise, the future of the airport is likely to be called into question".

And that--with Say No to KHTO--is what is happening. "This huge tract of commercially-zoned land can better serve our community in a variety of ways," says Barry Raebeck of Wainscott, with Currie a founder of Say No to KHTO, and its chairman. "The airport is being operated at a huge cost to the community in lost jobs and lost dollars. We are actually subsidizing the destruction of our own environment and quality of life--simply to benefit the handful of commercial operators. This land could be used for wind- and solar-power generation, for affordable housing, for parks and recreation, and for low-impact businesses. Communities across the country are struggling against unwanted and unnecessary aircraft intrusion. East Hampton should once again be in the forefront of such socially sensitive and environmentally responsible efforts," declares Raebeck.

The website of Say No to KHTO (www.saynotokhto.com) says: "KHTO has become a hub for out-of-state air taxi operators peddling lucrative Hamptons flights, wine included. Our group consists of noise-affected residents from communities across the East End and those living in western Suffolk and Nassau Counties, up to 100 miles from KHTO, East Hampton's noisy polluting airport."

Say No to KHTO challenges what it describes as a "myth" that the field is economically important to East Hampton. It provides "about 25 jobs" and "generates no revenue for the town or its people." All its income must be used at the airport. The town "could earn $10 million to $15 million per year, perhaps more, if the property were put to other uses," says the group.

The East Hampton Airport noise issue has been hot for years. In 2015, aviation interests poured $250,000 into the campaigns of two town board candidates they considered supportive. Both were overwhelmingly defeated. The board thereafter voted on a set of restrictions that included an overnight curfew and limited hours for takeoffs and landings by aircraft that Federal Aviation Administration standards rate as noisy." The legislation noted that the year before there were a whopping 24,000 complaints about noise from aircraft using the field. "Noise complaints at East Hampton Airport far exceeded the level of complaints at major airports around the country," it said.

A U.S. District Court first heard the case brought by aviation interests and modified some of the restrictions. But the aviation interests still wanted the entire law eliminated and the federal appeals court in Manhattan complied, citing "federal preemption."

There have been moves elsewhere to close municipal airports. Santa Monica, California, because of noise, has been moving to shut down that city's airport. Chicago got rid of its Meigs Field in 2003--despite bitter opposition of aviation interests. Mayor Richard Daley "ordered city crews to destroy the runway immediately by bulldozing large X-shaped gouges," relates an Internet account. The next day he "defended" his action saying "it would save the city the effort of further court battles." What was Meigs Field is now a park featuring a 7,500-seat pavilion for music concerts, strolling paths and a beach.

State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. of Sag Harbor, an attorney, disagrees with the ruling, issuing a statement that "the court has expanded federal control at the expense of local government, eroding the concept of home rule. In doing so, the court has now raised the question of whether or not the Town of East Hampton should be in the 'airport business' at all. The health and safety of its residents must always take precedence over commercial enterprise." The ruling "causes all responsible persons to first reconsider whether or not the town should be in the airport business."
Treadmills at fitness centers are equipped with television monitors which I like because I can watch a news channel while walking a mile or two.

Recently the channel I was watching carried a speech by Georgia Congressman John Lewis.

It was a fine speech  a tad long, but what are politicians for if not for making long speeches? Lewis was speaking in Miami, Fla., to a scholarship group and stressed that if young people get an education and work hard they can attain success and achieve their goals.

It was a well-delivered and stimulating speech but the part I remember best  because I am beyond the part of life when I can get educated and achieve goals  was his recollection of his boyhood.

Lewis grew up on a farm near Troy, Ala., several decades before he boycotted the inauguration of President Donald Trump. He said his responsibility was taking care of chickens, a chore he loved because he liked chickens.

I identified with that.

I will let you in on a secret. I, too, was raised on a farm, although not owned by sharecroppers in Alabama. I was raised during the Depression on a farm near Lester Prairie, a small town in Minnesota 22 miles north of Arlington. I also took care of chickens, but didnt share Lewiss fondness for the critters.

Lewis told his audience that when he was a boy he wanted to be a preacher when he grew up. When he was about 9, he received a Bible from Santa Claus. Lewis told how he took the Bible and his brothers and sisters to the chicken coop. While they stood nearby, Lewis opened his Bible and preached to the chickens. He said a few cocked their heads to listen to him and others had their heads bowed.

That reminded me of a time when I was that age  or maybe a year or two older  and witnessed the serving of communion in the church our family attended.

Christians who receive communion are familiar with Matthew 26:26, which states that Jesus took bread and after giving thanks broke it and said to his disciples, Take, eat, this is my body ....

In my boyhood days, when communion was served, the ushers would let about 15 people at a time go to the front where they stood side by side, waiting to be served bread and wine. (Well, instead of bread, they received thin wafers, which stuck to the roofs of their mouths. In the church I attend in Racine, we receive pieces of real bread. Up in Lester Prairie today, they receive less than bite-sized biscuits with a hint of sweetness.)

Anyway, as the minister gave each communicant a wafer, he repeated Take, eat ... In like manner, he served each person a small glass of wine.

One evening when I was feeding cows, my mind went back to the communion. While I gave each cow her rations as she stood in her stall with her head in a stanchion, I said, Take, eat ... Although I didnt finish the quote, my mother heard me and seemed to be a bit aghast. I did that a few more times but not when Mom was there. Each cow had a cast iron cup nearby which dispensed water when she pressed down in it with her mouth, so I didnt serve wine.

Unlike Lewiss chickens, the cows didnt cock their heads or look down as if in prayer. But do you know what? After that, not one cow kicked anyone who milked her.
From Consortium News



Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C.

(Image by (Flickr Gage Skidmore) Details DMCA



One positive thing about a change in party control of the White House is that the new occupants sometimes release information that the old residents kept hidden because the facts were politically embarrassing or did not support some favored policy.

We saw this in the first days of the Obama administration when President Barack Obama declassified some documents relating to President George W. Bush's internal policy debates about torture and other abuses from the "war on terror."

However, as yet, we have seen nothing similar from the Trump administration even though some truth-telling might work very well for President Donald Trump, especially given his reputation for getting facts wrong. A commitment to transparency -- giving some truth to the American people on important topics -- could change Trump's image for the better.

Plus, by releasing information that was unjustifiably kept hidden during Obama's second term, Trump could underscore how Obama grew increasingly obsessive about secrecy the longer he remained in the White House, treating the American people as objects to be manipulated rather than citizens to be informed.

For instance, Obama kept the clamps on CIA analyses relating to the Ukrainian crisis, even regarding the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing 298 people and leading to a dangerous escalation in the New Cold War with Russia.

After the crash, the Obama administration quickly steered the Western media toward blaming President Vladimir Putin and got the European Union to join in economic sanctions against Russia.

However, after exploiting the rush to judgment against Putin, the Obama administration went silent, withholding U.S. intelligence evidence even from the official crash investigators. The more the administration learned about the tragic event and who was responsible the less it wanted to say.

At the time, I was told that the reason was that some senior CIA analysts were uncovering evidence that went in an inconvenient direction, suggesting a rogue Ukrainian operation connected to a hardline oligarch with the intent of shooting down a Russian jetliner, possibly even the one carrying Putin back from a state visit in South America, but instead brought down MH-17, which had similar markings.

To spread confusion and create some deniability for the attack, the scheme supposedly called for launching the missile from as deep inside "rebel-controlled" territory as possible.

A Closed File

The source described getting this briefing from U.S. intelligence analysts, but I was unable to get the CIA or the Office of Director of National Intelligence to provide any guidance. Instead, they clammed up, claiming that they didn't want to "prejudice" the official Dutch-led investigation (although I pointed out that the hasty U.S. finger-pointing at Russia had already done that).



President Barack Obama discusses the crisis in Ukraine for 90 minutes on March 1, 2014, with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(Image by (White House photo/Pete Souza)) Details DMCA



The refusal of the Obama administration to open its MH-17 files allowed the "Dutch-led" Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to be effectively taken over by Ukraine's unsavory SBU intelligence agency, which oversaw the care and feeding of Dutch and Australian investigators who decamped for long periods in Kiev.

The SBU's "evidence" became central to the JIT's investigation although the SBU was deeply involved in the war against the ethnic-Russian Ukrainian rebels and was even denounced by United Nations investigators for blocking access to alleged SBU torture centers. Beyond that, part of the SBU's mandate was to protect Ukrainian government secrets, so the SBU had obvious conflicts of interest.

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
From Reader Supported News

I've had some first-hand experience with pedophiles, and I can tell you that there is no hope for them. There is no therapy, no medication, that's going to make them better. It's in their nature, their psyche, to prey on children. And we have to protect our children from them.

I encountered my first pedophile on my fourth day in prison, where I spent 23 months after blowing the whistle on the CIA's torture program. It was my first day of work in the prison library, where I was hired to wipe off tables for $6.00 a month. Another prisoner asked me what I was in for and how much time I had. I told him and asked about his own case.

"Oh, I have 24 years," he said. I was shocked at the length of his sentence. It was my understanding that a prisoner had to have under 20 years to be placed in a low-security prison. I asked if he minded telling me what he was in for. "I got caught looking at crime scene photos," he said. I didn't understand. "Well, looking at photos of children having sex with adults is a crime. I got caught looking at the photos." I was repulsed. But he went on. "What really did me in was that subfolder." "All right," I said. "I'll bite. What was in the subfolder?" He got excited. "I like to masturbate looking at pictures of dead children. I have a friend who works in a morgue ..." I put my hands up. "Stop! Don't ever speak to me again! Understand?" He did.

A couple of months later I was working as a janitor in the prison chapel. We had a hard-and-fast rule in the chapel: Do not talk about your case. It was supposed to be a quiet place of reflection and meditation, right? But in reality, the chapel was a hangout for pedophiles, just like the library was. They felt safe there, unlike outside in the prison yard, and so they congregated there. And, as you can imagine, they all liked to talk about their cases. One pedophile, whom we called "Chomo the Giant," with "chomo" being prison slang for "child molester," was telling a group he was sitting with how wronged he had been. "She wanted to do it. She came on to me. She said it felt good. We love each other." He was talking about his 15-year-old daughter.

An 80-year-old pedophile in my housing unit was known as "Butt Daddy." That was the chat room userID he used to communicate with an undercover policeman in the sting operation that would eventually wrap him on the NBC television program "To Catch a Predator." When he was arrested, police found a set of handcuffs, rope, a body bag, and a bag of lime in the trunk of his car. Senior citizen or not, the guy meant business.

The point is that these examples are the norm. These are the kinds of people society is up against. "Father Mike" didn't do Milo Yiannopoulos any favors. Father Mike should have been prosecuted and sent to prison for as long as necessary to keep our children safe.

And Milo Yiannopoulos, in the meantime, ought to be silenced -- not because he is a "conservative provocateur," as the mainstream media describes him. He ought to be silenced because he and his opinions are a danger to our children.

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.
From Consortium News



Donald Trump picks settlements supporter David Friedman for U.S. Ambassador to Israel.

(Image by thenewsbay.net) Details DMCA



The U.S. will continue to support, arm and publicly defend the ongoing Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing, as things go from bad to worse, Baroud adds, noting that Israel -- with U.S. support -- has already reduced the Gaza Strip to a fenced-in prison, where well over a million Palestinians don't even have access to the basics such as food and clean water. Now, the Israeli government has turned its full attention to the West Bank, which is under siege with new Israeli settlements.

I spoke to Ramzy Baroud about the Netanyahu visit, the illegal settlement boom on the West Bank with its concurrent upsurge in settler violence, the implications of moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and the general daily brutalities of living under the iron fist of Israeli occupation.

Baroud is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story.

Dennis Bernstein: It is good to speak with you on the heels of the visit to the U.S. by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ["]

This is sort of how the visit, and, I guess, the story of Palestine and Israel, is being framed by the corporate press. This is coming off the BBC, but it's typical: U.S. President Donald Trump has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "hold off on settlements" in a joint press conference.

Mr. Trump also promised to deliver "a great peace deal" but said Israel and the Palestinians must both compromise. So that's the BBC's characterization. How would you frame the current visit?

Ramzy Baroud: Well, the current visit, really, is a culmination of a whole bunch of events that have been taking place for months now prior to Trump coming to office, and the inauguration, and the aftermath. There's a great sense of euphoria, a great deal of euphoria, among the Israeli political elites. The whole two state solution enterprise is dead. The whole era of being told what to do, or being pressured in any way, or being censured, even in the slightest, most gentle way by previous administrations, that era is over, done with.

And now we are entering into a new era in which Israel single-handedly dictates everything it needs to dictate. Not just on Palestinians but on the United States, thus the so-called international community. So I see this kind of as a celebration of the Israeli political triumph, over the American foreign policy, and the balancing act that they have been playing in the Middle East for, really, in the last 25 years since the Madrid peace talks in '91, until today. It's the end of all of that, and it's ushered in our new era, and that's an Israeli era, for sure.

DB: Well, just to set the tone. You say that "Trump's pick for the U.S. Ambassador to Israel [David Friedman], is to the right of Netanyahu. You want to say a little bit about that choice, and his desire to move the Embassy to Jerusalem?



Donald Trump picks settlements supporter David Friedman for U.S. Ambassador to Israel.

(Image by thenewsbay.net) Details DMCA



RB: Well, that's right. There was a recent article by a Professor Rashid Khalidi in the New Yorker, in which he said this is the first time in the history of U.S./Israeli relations that you could actually swap both ambassadors, the Israeli and American ambassadors, back and forth and you can't even tell which one is there to defend Israel's interests, and which one is there for American interests. There is this cohesion that is happening at last. And it's a perfect scenario for Israel.

The new pick for the ambassador [Friedman] is someone who is very much pro-settlements, does not even refer to the West Bank by its internationally recognized name. He refers to the occupied territories as Judea and Samaria. It's the land with the biblical reference, made by right-wing ultra-nationalists and religious Jewish politicians. So we are seeing something that's really unprecedented. The attempt at kind of dilly-dallying around this issue is over as far as American foreign policy is concerned.

American foreign policy, now, is exactly what Israel says it is. And I think it was really interesting what Trump said today in the press conference, when he said "I don't care, two states, one state, it's what you guys decide."

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
From Our Future



Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump

(Image by palmerreport.com) Details DMCA



Putin's an oligarch. So is Trump.

Putin runs a kleptocracy. So does Trump.

Both Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson have done business in Russia.

So why is money the one aspect of the Russia scandal people seem to talk about the least? Perhaps because it's the one area the U.S. intelligence community avoided when it accused Russia of helping Trump win the election.

The Russia story we've been hearing raised the intelligence community's popularity among Democrats and offered a convenient distraction from other national security stories. While many people were fixated on it, for example, this New York Times story by Charlie Savage was largely overlooked:

"In its final days, the Obama administration has expanded the power of the National Security Agency to share globally intercepted personal communications with the government's 16 other intelligence agencies before applying privacy protections ... far more officials will be searching through raw data."

Here are 11 principles progressives can follow when they hear about (or talk about) Trump and Russia.

1. Don't get ahead of the facts.

I don't know yet whether Russia's government interfered in the U.S. presidential election or not. Neither do you.

The recent report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) bears that organization's impressive seal. The eagle represents American sovereignty, we're told, while the arrows represent war and the olive branch represents peace. But the report itself is highly politicized and woefully short on evidence.

That's why Americans should support a thorough and nonpartisan investigation into Russia's possible role in the election. Reps. Reps. Elijah Cummings and Eric Swalwell have proposed an independent commission. It's hard to imagine why anyone, regardless of their politics or preconceptions, wouldn't support that idea.

In the meantime, Democrats may want to hit the pause button before getting too far ahead of the known facts. When people place partisanship above informed discourse, things can get very ugly very fast.

Case in point: Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager, Robby Mook, wrote recently about what he called "the complex infrastructure that Russia built to infect public discourse with false or stolen information." It "isn't going anywhere," Mook wrote, and "can be unleashed at any time, on any issue, domestic or international."

But the link Mook provides doesn't describe anything of the kind. It goes to a Buzzfeed article headlined How Teens in the Balkans Are Duping Trump Supporters With Fake News.

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
From Smirking Chimp

There's something about taxes that elected Republicans know, but most Americans are completely unaware of. It's the reason we keep falling for the perennial GOP tax scam, and Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and their buddies in the White House are getting ready to run this ruse on American working people all over again.

Here it is in a nutshell: Tax cuts for truly wealthy people increase their income and wealth; tax cuts for working people actually decrease their income and wealth over time.

Here's how it works.

If you're part of the top .1% -- say you're earning a million dollars a year -- and you get a tax cut, you'll keep more of the money you're earning. The main reason is because people in those income categories 1) generally have a high degree of control over their own income; and 2) they more often than not already are working under a massive tax cut -- at least a lower tax rate -- called the capital gains tax. But even setting aside Part II of that, truly super-high income earners, like the banksters on Wall Street or CEOs of large corporations, have a significant measure of control -- if not total control -- over their own income.

For working people, it's an entirely different story.

Let's say for the sake of argument that I'm a super-wealthy entrepreneur and I own the company you work for. While I can set my own paycheck (within the parameters of money available to the company), I also set your paycheck. But that's largely a "market function" -- that is, I pay as little as possible for the right talent to get the work done.

So if we live in a country where working people pay, to use round numbers for example, a 50% tax bracket, and I know that you need $50,000 a year after taxes to live, and pretty much anybody who's applying for your job will also demand at least a $50,000 take-home pay, I'll set the wage for that particular job at $100,000 a year. At a 50% tax rate, that gives you $50,000 after taxes.

As the company owner, let's say that I've set my own salary at $1 million a year, which means I'm taking home around $500,000 a year at a 50% tax rate (of course, taxes are progressive, but that's not relevant to this argument as Republicans want to "cut taxes for all income brackets," so for simplicity sake let's assume the "flat tax" Republicans say they love so much).

Now, what happens if Democrats come into power and say that they want to build a national high-speed rail system, and need to raise taxes to 60% to do it. What happens to my pay and to yours?

For me, my net take-home income goes down from $500,000 to $400,000 a year, but I can easily fix that by simply increasing my pay to $1.2 million. After all, this is a billion-dollar company, and a little bit here and there for me and my executives is no big deal.

But you -- and anybody else doing the particular job you're doing -- still need $50,000 take-home pay in order to live. So if your taxes go up, and I want to keep you as an employee, I'm going to have to raise your pay by enough to keep your take-home even.

This is why when taxes go up on working people -- as they did dramatically from 1913 to 1980 -- pay went up dramatically, too.

This is also why high-tax countries pay higher wages (and have better public services, paid for with those taxes). In Denmark, for example, the average full-time MacDonald's worker earns around $45,000 U.S. equivalent, although about 40% of that goes to taxes to pay for the national health-care system, one of the world's best school systems, and high-quality high-paid police who treat Danes with respect.

On the flip side, what happens when Republicans come into power and decide to cancel the government expenditures and "return people's income to them" by lowering taxes? Let's say they drop the tax rate from 50% to 25% (Reagan actually dropped the top rate from 74% to 25%). What happens to me and you?

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

War Propaganda And Canada's War For Terrorism





A (criminal war propaganda [1] ) article dated February 19, 2017, and published by TheWeeklyNews.ca, entitled "Canadian military planes flying over Syria", speaks volumes through omission.

Brig.-Gen. Shane Brennan reportedly disclosed that Canadian aircraft have flown between 20 and 30 missions over Syria in recent months. He said "We have done work in Syria," and that "(t)here's lots of work to do in Iraq. We are looking at all of the areas."

The article omitted a few important "details". The seemingly casual reference to doing "work in Syria" indicates Canada's on-going support for the criminal U.S/NATO strategy -- as outlined by Defense Intelligence Agency document 14-L-0552/DIA/287-293 [2] -- to use terrorists, including ISIS, to destroy the sovereign country of Syria and topple its legal government. The article also omitted the "detail" that the criminal "work" that NATO is doing in Syria includes the use of depleted uranium (DU) ordnances. Every DU bullet or missile fired by NATO or its allies is a weapon Of Mass Destruction.

The West also used depleted uranium ordnances in Iraq, so its willful use in Syria, is even more heinous. British Radiation expert Dr. Chris Busby, Fellow of the University of Liverpool in the Faculty of Medicine and UK representative on the European Committee on Radiation Risk, claims that, "by illegally using hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (DU) against Iraq, Britain and America have gravely endangered not only the Iraqis but the whole world," and that

these weapons have released deadly, carcinogenic and mutagenic, radioactive particles in such abundance that-whipped up by sandstorms and carried on trade winds - there is no corner of the globe they cannot penetrate-including Britain. For the wind has no boundaries and time is on their side: the radioactivity persists for over 4,500,000,000 years and can cause cancer, leukemia, brain damage, kidney failure, and extreme birth defects - killing millions of every age for centuries to come. A crime against humanity which may, in the eyes of historians, rank with the worst atrocities of all time. [3]

So, Canada's willful engagement in the pre-planned, criminal invasion of Syria -- including the criminal sanctions -- appears to be ramping up. And the fake MSM media, guilty on all counts of committing war propaganda, continues to aid and abet these crimes against Syria, these crimes against international law, and these crimes against humanity.





[1] Mark Taliano, Voices From Syria, Global Research Publishers, 2017, 36, 37

[2] Mark Taliano, Voices From Syria, Global Research Publishers, 2017, 16

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
The EPA has a new leader, Scott Pruitt. Of all of President Trumps Cabinet picks, none seem more nonsensical and overtly hostile toward the agency theyre about to lead than Scott Pruitt has been toward the Environmental Protection Agencyand this includes Rick Perry, who previously advocated dismantling the Department of Energy.

A bit about Scott: Hes a hard-nosed climate-change denier, who has sued the EPA 13 times. In fact, he, like many Trump appointees, hopes to dismantle the agency they control. Pruitts cozy ties with the Oklahoma oil and gas industry undermine almost any attempt towards conservation. Nearly 800 former EPA employees signed a letter opposing his confirmation. This is a man who hopes to roll back Obamas climate change policynotably that the government shouldnt be involved in any sort of environmental regulation.

Itll be nearly impossible for Pruitt to restructure the organization completelyeven Reagan couldnt manage that. But its certain he will likely eliminate most climate policies and make it tougher for the U.S.and worldto tackle global warming for years to come.

So now that Pruitt is in charge, what does that mean for the future of the agency and for science?

If history is a predictor, then Scott Pruitts tenure atop the EPA will look eerily reminiscent to President Reagans attempted dismantling of the agency back in 1989. Like Trump, Reagan hoped to dismantle the EPA and make life easier for industry. Environmentalist feared for the worst. Ultimately, though, Reagan, and EPA destruction failed. But the President did succeed in starving science. Not only did the Reagan administration starve and politicize environmental and conservation agencies but the government deliberately delayed attacking long-term issues like global warming linked to pollution, acid rain, air pollution and the contamination of underground water supplies.

This seems to be the most likely reality.

Pruitts already shownand shown again and again and again nine more timeshis distaste for any type of environmental regulation, particularly climate change.

As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt made his disdain for the agency no secret. His bio page quite literally says, a leading advocate against the EPAs activist agenda. During his time as AG, Pruitt has filed every lawsuit imaginable against the EPA, including rules on mercury pollution from coal plants; hes tried to thwart EPA efforts to clean the Chesapeake Bay; and hes most known for blocking President Obamas attempts to tackle climate change. To reiterate: Hes sued the agency thirteen times.

This is also a man, who, in an op-ed for National Review said: Scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind. Perhaps what he forgot to mention is that literally 97 percent of scientists agree that global warming is manmade, and his argument pertains to the incredibly small three percent.

Pruitts anti-environment record is so outstanding that, after his nomination, 800 former EPA employees signed a letter opposing his confirmation, citing Pruitts ties with the Oklahoma oil and gas industry, his opposition to federal regulation of air pollution, and his history downplaying global warming. The letter raises serious questions about whose interests he has served to date and whether he agrees with the longstanding tenets of U.S. environmental law.

The answer to those serious questions: It seems to be a middle finger.

Pruitts controversial confirmation comes in the wake of allegations that government science has a become too politicized. Members of the administration have argued publicly that the EPAs work on human-driven climate change is the result of the Obama administrations liberal biases. Of course, this fails to, again, like Pruitts beliefs, acknowledge that 97 percent (yes, were posting this again) of scientists agree on human interference.

A consensus among conservative representatives is that the EPA is making bad regulatory decisions based on bad science. Yes, bad science is the excuse, perhaps ignoring that facts tend to have no bias.

Representative Matt Gaetz of Hollywood, Florida, believes in this bad science so much that the bill he recently introduced to Congress aims: To terminate the Environmental Protection Agency. SECTION 1. TERMINATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. The Environmental Protection Agency shall terminate on December 31, 2018.

The purpose here is pretty fucking clear, some members in Congress hope to terminate the government agency tasked with guaranteeing clean air and water.

Concered? Dont worry. The government hopes to Make the EPA great again. Of course that might be pretty fucking difficult to manage when theres nothing left to make great. Its like saying, make coal great again Oh wait.

If the EPA was supposed to guarantee clean air and water, then that guarantee is already amiss. Last week, President Trump signed legislation quashing the Office of Surface Minings Stream Protection Rule, a regulation aimed to protect waterways from coal mining waste.

The main complaint of the provision is that it cost miners $50 million annually to maintain.

The Presidents remark, This will eliminate another terrible job-killing rule saving many thousands of American jobs especially in the mines.

Coal miners similarly rejoiced, with one miner, identified as Mike, at the Marion County Coal Company addressing the President, President Trump, we thank you very much for everything youve done for us. Everything youre doing for our industry is very much needed. Ive been mining in this industry for 40 years and this is a very exciting time in our industry. Thank you very much.

Of course, this wont revitalize the coal industry at all, an industry damaged more by automation and low-cost natural gas via fracking than by environmental regulations.

Repealing the Stream Protection Rule merely fouls the streams and rivers by mine tailings. It also incentivizes the age-old mining practice of blowing off mountain tops, the main aim of the protection rule. The repeal also means more greenhouse gas pollution from burning coal. It means the numerous species, like the 50 types of freshwater mussels, that live in waters affected by mining will more than likely die. And it also opens the risk of tainted water supplies that can last centuries. In total, the rule protected some 6,000 miles of streams and 50,000 acres of forest, which are now open to more destruction.

Some claim industry can regulate itself. But if a history of deregulation has shown us anything, its that industry cant regulate itself. Just look at West Virginia, with its extensive history with tainted water or the Wyoming town living with a contaminated water supply.

Top photo by Laurie Shaull CC BY-SA 2.0

Tom Burson is a travel writer, part-time hitchhiker, and hes currently trying to imitate Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? but with more sunscreen and jorts.
Coming into its third year, the Yeti Trans NZ presented by Shimano is prepared to deliver one of the finest enduro experiences on earth where the cinematic scenery is unrivaled; the trails are hand-selected for being steep, deep and chock full of roots and rocks; and there is always cold beer waiting in the chilly bin at the end of the day. Multiply this by five, back-to-back days, with new adventures, quite literally, around each corner.If youre not one of the lucky 130 lottery-entrants to experience the Yeti Trans NZ firsthand, you can vicariously follow the adventures on Pinkbike starting February 26, for daily recaps and Trans NZ for links to additional media coverage and live social media stream.This has been a very good, wet summer for trails on the South Island, said Megan Rose, founder and event director of the Yeti Trans NZ . I am excited to add a new stage on day one that will produce the biggest grin factor of the day, on the hardest day of the week, which happens to be straight out of the gate.The first two days of the Yeti Trans NZ will be headquartered out of Craigieburn, a small community built into the rugged hillside of the Southern Alps. Riders will be whisked away to Queenstown, to race in and around the Adventure Capital of the World for the final three days.This may be the last time that we combine Craigieburn with Queenstown as paired locations for a 5-day enduro stage race, Rose said. But youll have to wait and see where we are headed next.The Yeti Trans NZ will be represented by a melting pot of 14 countries, including 26 percent calling New Zealand home, 38 percent Australians, 15 percent Americans and the remaining 22 percent hailing from Singapore, Chile, Europe and Canada. Riders will have almost 130km of riding, 6120 m of climbing, 8008 m of descending (less climbing, more descending than last year) to make it to the finish line on March 2.I traveled to New Zealand for this race to capture the unmatched beauty of the country as a racer and behind the lens, said Nate Hills (Dillon, Colo.), Open Men. I have yet to explore this corner of the world and am excited to dive into new trails every day.Every year brings a completely new set of participants with fresh eyes for the tracks and scenery. I am always jazzed up when people are stoked on the newness of an area, said Ted Morton, Roses wingman for the week. I am most excited for day four in Alexandra. You never know what Phils creative mind will have in store with the pink dots.The Yeti Trans NZ collaborates with and donates to local clubs who support local trail building projects that in turn provide access to world-class riding. Kiwis thrive on recreating in the outdoors, and all of the clubs, communities, and Department of Conservation (DOC) have been incredibly supportive of sharing their backyard, Rose said.Roses goal in growing the event is to reach more viewers around the world. The event isnt about bringing in a stacked field of Pros its about the experience, the camaraderie, reveling in each day, watching the wildcard riders come into their element racing blind on the tracks, and sharing the stories.The Yeti Trans NZ will be posting regular updates on Facebook and Instagram throughout the week, and video recaps on Vimeo. Hashtag your photosto make their way onto the live stream of the Trans NZs Media HQ. For more information email megan@ridingbc.com or visit www.transnz.com About Megan Rose Megan has been riding and racing bikes all over the world for 14 years and organizing bike events for the past six years. She splits her time between British Columbia and New Zealand, running the Trans NZ and Trans BC. Over the past three years, Megan has personally raced in over 40 enduro races, timed over 68 days worth of enduro races, and personally organized 30 enduro races. Megan and her team look forward to bringing you the best of the best from all of these perspectives.
The Nomads take hygiene seriously, even in the middle of the jungle.

Shouldering bike for an almost 1.5-hour hike-a-bike was totally worth it!

Cresting the top of the hike-a-bike.

It was awesome! This is exactly the type of stuff that we rode here before and it's why we came back. f*ck yeah!  Jacquelyn Delacroix

It's like riding through Jurassic Park.  Marty Lazarski

The stoke was high at the end of the day.

Chris Johnston, and all the racers signed a souvenir shirt for Marino's family.

Marino Sr.

Botsy's shoulder got claimed by the trails today, but he's a glass-half-full-hey-here-is-another-place-to-hold-my-beer kind of guy.

Sharing battle stories from the day at basecamp.

Stage 1 today was an opportunity for redemption as the first three-quarters of it ran through the Prologue course. Almost everyone had a demon of some sort to work out on that trail  including that first sharp right that took a few people out yesterday. The course deviated at the bottom and left the sharp volcanic rocks behind as it flowed into a lush river valley and cooler temperatures.The longest transfer of the race, which included a 500-meter climb and a steep 1.5-hour hike-a-bike  so steep that bikes had to be shouldered, followed stage 1. Event Director, Jay Balabas describes Stage 2, which is a 300-meter descent, as the racers first true taste of jungle racing with lots of loose leaves and loam on the trails. It is definitely a departure from the previous stages. This is also the first stage where organizers pulled out the triple arrow steep signs, which rumor has it, will be used daily for the rest of the event. Eric Fourmentin said of his run, it was already so steep and we hadnt even seen the sign for the steep section yet! Chad Hendren said it was bike surfing the whole way down! And his buddy, Jordi Morrows expressed gratitude for all the snow riding hed been doing at home, without it I wouldnt have been so prepared!Racers were beyond enthusiastic as they railed the final loose and dusty corners and crossed the finish line. The smiles were huge as everyone high-fived, fist-bumped and excitedly shared their experience with anyone watching.That was worth the climb!Epic, nice! Can we do it again?Its all so yummy!That was my favorite! Lots of shit I like to ride! Oh man, Im happy!That was sick! Lets do it again!I only put in four pedal strokes in the whole stage!f*ck that was sick!My arms are so pumped they were starting to fall asleep.That is so what it is all about!Racers then liaised back to camp for a hot lunch before shuttling up to the final stage of the day. Stage 3 offered an 800-meter descent with plenty of steeps and loam  this is where the real jungle riding begins, said Jay. The steep and at times "double black diamond" terrain took a few people down, but overall the energy was high  even if extremely exhausted  at the end of the day. Nikola Starko expressed that she wasnt expecting it to be so dry, but, she says, the steep bits were super tech, but super fun!Credit for all of the memories made and stoke that was had today, and will be had for the next two days goes to the three main trail builders who have put in exceptionally long days to create the courses for this multi-day race. Marino Retana and his son, Marino Jr. Macho, along with Event Organizer, Paulo Valle, built all the trails that will be raced. When a last minute course change was required, Marino Sr. was up at the crack of dawn every morning cutting in the new trail in time for our arrival. Their enthusiasm and passion are what has allowed all of us to be here and we are grateful for their hospitality.After four stages the top three pro men are Cory Sullivan (3rd), Ludo May (2nd), and Alvaro May (1st). The top three pro women are Janea Perry (3rd), Amy Morrison (2nd), and Nikola Starko (1st). The full results can be found here. Today logged at least one sheared derailleur bolt, more than a few depleted brake pads, and a rider who went head first into a briar patch just short of the finish line. At the end of the day, its when things go wrong that makes for the best stories, the best memories, and the best people!
RACINE  Police are investigating a two-vehicle crash that sent a driver to the hospital.

It happened at approximately 1:30 p.m. Friday when two vehicles were reportedly traveling north on Lathrop Avenue. One vehicle may have attempted to pass another, causing one of the vehicles to lose control and crash into an apartment building on the 1900 block of Lathrop Avenue, according to police.

Police on scene were investigating how the crash occurred, but confirmed that one person was transported via rescue squad to Ascension All Saints Hospital.

No additional information was immediately available, and the incident continued to be under investigation.
Trickstuff Direttissima Details

 4-piston caliper

 Mineral oil

 Goodrich or standard hose options

 Average Power [Nm]: >150

 Weight: Front brake 277g / Daechle 203mm rotor 192g (actual)

 Pick your own colour options

 Made in Germany

 Price: 375 each / $396 USD (approx)

 www.trickstuff.de  Intended use: downhill, enduro, slowing down quickly 4-piston caliper Mineral oil Goodrich or standard hose options Average Power [Nm]: >150 Weight: Front brake 277g / Daechle 203mm rotor 192g ( Pick your own colour options Made in Germany Price: 375 each / $396 USD (

Construction

Rotors, Pads, and Housing

The Daechle discs are beveled to simplify wheel installation. Trickstuff's NG+ brake pads share the same shape as Shimano, to make finding replacements simple.

Bleeding

On the Trail

Issues

Pinkbikes Take:

The Trickstuff Direttissima's have really set a standard of performance and power in the braking world. The price and lack of tool-free adjustment puts them out of line of the general consumer, but racers and serious riders will love the feel and power, as will anyone who purely wants to add a touch of class to their machine. - Paul Aston

Trickstuff have been machining overly sexy, intricate and geeky mountain bike parts in Freiburg, Germany since 2003. Their first product was a humble brake pad, and they have added innovative and useful metalwork to their range ever since. The Direttissima is the king of their range, boasting massive stopping power, low weight and proudly marked with a 'Made in Germany' etching. Trickstuff even describes the Direttissima aswhich I cannot argue against at 375 each.The Direttissima is machined in the Trickstuff house in Freiburg, Germany. The part-time environmentalist in me likes the buy local theme, joining Hope and Formula as the few remaining brake manufacturers still producing in Europe.An 11mm-wide, band clamp connects the lever to the handlebar. There is an extra support, which braces the lever again the bar, decreasing flex, but also widening the total width of the lever clamp 24mm. This width could cause some problems for riders needing the levers close to the grip. It might also make it hard to find space for other controls. Trickstuff, however, has a range of mounts to combine the brake clamps with shifter or dropper post levers.The lever has four cartridge bearings on each side for super smooth action and durability. There is lever reach adjustment from "I like my lever hitting the grip before it works," all the way to "I have giant hands and want the lever miles away from me," via a 2mm hex key. There is no bite point adjuster or tool free option.The main lever reservoir capacity is 3ml of mineral oil, Trickstuff boasts that this is the largest on the market and will give the same power even when the brake pads are worn and the pistons are extended further towards the rotor.The caliper is a two-piece, CNC-machined, alloy unit. There are four Teflon coated pistons to lower friction and avoid lazy piston retraction.There are nine anodized colors to choose from, and customers can pick their shades of the lever, lever body, top cap, bolts, and caliper to suit all of their wildest `90's ano dreams.The Daechle discs have a trick stuffed up their sleeve that makes slotting wheels in a breeze  the outer edge of the rotor is beveled on each side at 60, so the rotors won't catch on the brake pads when installing the wheel. Does this turn the rotor into a sharpened cutting blade? No, there is still a flat edge on the outer surface of the rotor, this gives it a rounded feel to the touch, and is less sharp than two 90 edges.Discs are available in 140, 160, 180, 200 and 203mm sizes, in a six-bolt pattern. A few other weird shapes and sizes for Rolhoff'ers and Coda hub riders are available.Trickstuff's NG+ brake pads also share the same chamfer as the rotors. The plus sign of the NG+ relates to the pads which are thicker than most brands at 2.3mm, compared to 1.5mm-2mm on many brands (SRAM Guide pads are 2mm for reference). It may not sound like a big deal, but Trickstuff claims that difference can provide you with 15% to 50% more pad life than you currently enjoy (depending on which brand of brake you currently employ). The pads handily share the same shape as Shimano XTR-XT-SLX brake pads, so finding replacements should be easy wherever you are in the world.The Direttissima lever and caliper are connected via a standard kevlar hose, though I opted for the legendary Goodridge hose upgrade. Goodridge hoses are renowned as the strongest on the market; they're basically unbreakable, uncrushable and provide a more solid feeling since there is almost no expansion of the hose under brake pressure.The brakes arrived pre-bled with the hoses cut to the consumer-requested length, so installation was a breeze. After a few months, I decided to change to internal cable routing to tidy up my frame, which required bleeding. Trickstuff provides an in-depth bleeding manual on their site, with two options: the 'Quick and Clean' method and the 'Slow and Dirty.' The first method should be used for emergency use and the second for a 'perfect bleed.' Cornelius Kapfinger, from Trickstuff, suggested that most bleeding manuals and methods are only 90% accurate, where the Trickstuff method, although seemingly complicated, will achieve 100% accuracy and provide many years of trouble-free braking.I went for the Slow and Dirty method. Slightly complicated by the number of steps, the repetitious failsafe method, the need for two syringes with different size threads (one M4 and one M5) and only having two hands. With the help of a friend and some spare minutes, we managed to bleed the brake with success first time.I suggest adding the 29 Heinzelmann bleed kit made specifically for this brake. I made my own from various other syringes, but adding another few euros to the shopping cart won't hurt. You might even manage to get to four figures just for your braking setup.The Direttissima's have an unparalleled, lightweight lever throw before the brake pads contact the rotor. There is no noticeable pressure or friction to overcome, giving a weightless feel. The lever's pivot placement provides a great ergonomic angle, not bending my index finger out of line. The contact area at the fingertip is larger than that on most levers. It's also flat and smooth, which provides a sensitive feel.And to the power. The power is huge. I think they generate more power than Shimano's mighty Saint, and are getting close to Magura's superb MT7. But, power is nothing without control, thankfully the modulation of the Direttissima is light, followed by superbly progressive. The angle of the piston in the lever changes throughout the stroke, giving a true progressive curve and increasing power with more finger power.The bite point is solid, but not grabby, and builds through the stroke. Cro-magnon style fist-clenchers may have an issue feathering the power, but for the masses, controlling this brake should be safe, easy and intuitive.The original pair of Direttisma's I received last June did spring an oil leak at the top cap. Trickstuff said that this brake was an earlier model that didn't use thread lock on the top cap screws, which led to it coming loose. I lost some oil, and in the process of re-tightening, the seal got damaged. I returned the brakes, and they were upgraded to the thread locked screws and a new version of the seal  the Direttissimas were trouble free afterward. All production brakes have since been upgraded.I also broke a 180mm Daechle disc; luckily I spotted this before anything untoward happened. Trickstuff says they did have some problems with earlier Daechle discs when riders performed trials-like maneuvers and the rotors were stressed in a rearwards direction. These rotors have all been replaced by a new version with improved strength.Tiny hex bolts. The 2.5mm bolt for the lever clamp is too small, and the brakes wouldn't tighten enough for a solid fix on the handlebar without risk of rounding off the bolt (this is more of a problem with carbon bars). In the end, I could the tighten the bolt enough to make the levers stay put during riding, but it was still possible to move them easily by hand. I'm sure there are reasons for tiny bolts, like stopping people overtightening things, saving weight and letting the levers move in the event of a crash, but fiddly is frustrating. I had a similar gripe with the Trickstuff Deckele 'star nut.' In total, the brakes need 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 and 5mm hex wrenches, plus a Torx T10 and T27, then an 8mm wrench  of course, this is what's required for a full, nut-and-bolt rebuild of the brake and not the general adjustment, but I like simplicity.
Inside Gaming: New CFO for Wynn Resorts, Macau Rebound Slows

February 24, 2017 Martin Harris

This week's installment of Inside Gaming shares news of a Chief Financial Officer change for Wynn Resorts, looks at Macau's recent revenue upswing and wonders whether it may be about to end, tells of a Black Friday defendant's belated plea, and explain why it soon will be costing just a little more to stay in Las Vegas.

Wynn Resorts Announces New Chief Financial Officer

Yesterday Wynn Resorts announced a change to its executive team with the departure of Stephen Cootey as its Chief Financial Officer, effective March 1. Replacing Cootey will be Craig Billings, formerly of Aristocrat Leisure Limited, International Game Technology, and Goldman Sachs.

According to a Wynn press release, Cootey "will be departing the company to pursue other interests."

Cootey has served as Wynn's CFO since May 2014. An SEC filing by Wynn Resorts noted "Mr. Cootey's decision to resign was not a result of any disagreement with the Company relating to its operations, policies or practices."

During Cootey's tenure, Dore Entertainment, a Macau junket operator working inside the Wynn Macau (pictured above), was the victim of a major theft by a former employee resulting in lawsuits against Wynn. Meanwhile last summer saw the opening of the $4.2 billion Wynn Palace Cotai resort and casino, while construction on the Wynn Boston Harbor has begun with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission having approved final design plans for the $2.1 billion, 3.3 million-square foot property currently scheduled to open June 2019.

Wynn describes new CFO Billings as "a highly respected veteran of both the gaming and banking industries" who will bring "extensive experience in business innovation to the company."

See the presser for more on the CFO change.

Macau Revenue Upswing Nearing an End?

Focusing a little longer on Macau, January saw the Special Administrative Region enjoy a sixth-straight month in which gaming revenue had increased, a positive streak that followed 26 straight months of declines.

According to the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, gaming revenue increased 3.1 percent year-over-year for Macau in January, totaling 19.3 billion pacatas (about $2.41 billion USD).

Even so, industry watchers are anticipating the run of increases won't be lasting much longer. As The Motley Fool points out, it appears the "rally is running out of steam" since "the rate of increase [in January] was below analyst expectations, indicating the recovery may be petering out."

January's 3.1 percent increase was down from the increases shown over the final months of 2016 (ranging from 8 percent to more than 14 percent). While the vagaries of the calendar played a role (with one less Friday and Saturday than in January 2016), "VIP play at several specific venues was down by some significant amounts," notes The Motley Fool.

Of potential relevance to the drop in VIP traffic was an announcement from Beijing in December regarding limits to the amount visitors to Macau would be allowed to withdraw from ATMs, reducing the maximum from 10,000 pacatas to 5,000  yet another measure by President Xi Jinping's administration to limit opportunities for money laundering and other forms of fraud.

"Though not a dramatic rewriting of the rules, it still showed there are lingering concerns about money flowing through Macau," explains The Motley Fool, "...indicat[ing] to wealthy gamblers who prefer not to be in the limelight that the government still had its eye on the enclave."

Head over to The Motley Fool for more on what might be to come for Macau, including speculation about which casinos might be at risk moving forward.

Absolute Poker Founder Pleas Not Guilty to Black Friday Charges

On Thursday came news that Scott Tom, one of the original 11 individuals indicted on April 15, 2011  a.k.a. "Black Friday"  had finally returned to the United States to enter a plea in a Manhattan federal court.

The founder of the Costa Rica-based Absolute Poker, an online poker site on which federal prosecutors estimated U.S. residents lost an estimated $500 million, pleaded not guilty to charges that he violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and that he engaged in money-laundering conspiracy, reports Fortune.

Tom was released on a $500,000 bond after the hearing. His lawyer, James Henderson, said he expected a plea deal to be coming in short order. "There's going to be a resolution in this case quickly," said Henderson.

Tom's stepbrother, Brett Beckley, payments director at AP, was also among the original 11 defendents named in the indictment. Beckley was among the first to plea guilty to charges in 2012, receiving a 14-month prison sentence.

Read more about Tom's plea here, and for greater context regarding the events of April 15, 2011 and its lengthy aftermath, see "Black Friday: Reliving Poker's Darkest Day Five Years Later."

Resort Fees Going Up in March at Several Vegas Sites

Starting March 1, those "resort fees" we are more or less mindful of whenever we stay in a Las Vegas hotel-casino will be going up at 10 different locations, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Charges for on-site ameneties will be increasing from $1 to $3 a night at several properties, including Caesars Palace, Paris Las Vegas, the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino and the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

Starting next month, resort fees will be $30/day at the Flamingo, Harrah's, The Linq and the Rio. Meanwhile the fees will be $35 at The Cromwell, Nobu, Planet Hollywood, the Paris and at Caesars Palace.

Along with other added taxes, the "increased fees can inflate your daily hotel bill anywhere from $34 to nearly $40," explains the L.A. Times.

Visit the L.A. Times for more about the increase in fees.

Photo: Wynn Macau.
Top Absolute Poker Exec Back in U.S. to Face Charges

February 24, 2017 Mo Nuwwarah Editor

Absolute Poker founder Scott Tom has returned to the U.S. to face charges stemming from the Department of Justice's investigation and subsequent crackdown on the online poker industry, Reuters reported.

After the events of Black Friday on April 15, 2011, a Manhattan U.S. district attorney hit then 31-year-old Tom with charges of conspiracy to violate the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, violation of the UIGEA and operation of illegal gambling business. Each charge carried penalties of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Tom has also been connected to the superuser cheating scandal on Absolute Poker.

Poker Face Meaning  What Is a Poker Face and How to Get a Good One?

Rather than face the charges stemming from his involvement with Absolute Poker, which was based in Costa Rice and ranked as high as third in the worldwide market, Tom opted to live in Antigua, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Absolute Poker co-founder Brent Beckley faced the music, pleaded guilty and received a 14-month prison sentence.

Tom, however, has entered a plea of not guilty and been released on a $500,000 bond after returning to the U.S. voluntarily. His attorney indicated they'd likely be reaching a plea deal soon.

"There's going to be a resolution in this case quickly," the attorney said.

If recent events are any indication, Tom will likely get off lighter than his co-conspirator Beckley. Top PokerStars employee Paul Tate, who was also among those charged on Black Friday, went to court in November and received no prison time.

Photo courtesy of Jason Morrison/freeimages.com
Day 1a of the Unibet Open London 2017 Main Event is on the books. A total of 154 players showed up for the first starting day of the tour's first stop of its the 10th season. At the end of the day, hometown player Giulio Mascolo bagged the overnight chip lead with 327,600.

Mascolo leads a star-studded pack of 41 survivors, which includes two-time Unibet Open winner Mateusz Moolhuizen, 2016 Unibet Open Malta winner Martin Soukup and Belgian Unibet Ambassador Charlotte Van Brabander.

It was a clash of generations, between old-and-new-school poker players, as players from all ages and nationalities showed up to contest for the coveted title. Poker legends such as Willie "The Dice Man" Tann, Chris Bjorin, Joe Beevers and Sir Ben Roberts duked it out with the younger generation of stars, headlined by none other than Swedish phenom Viktor "Isildur1" Blom. All these players had one thing in common: They failed to advance to Day 2 and will not lift the trophy on Sunday night.

Reigning champion Dave Shallow's title defense came to an abrupt end in the early stages. Shallow suffered a bad beat with pocket kings against the pocket queens of [Removed:158] when the dreaded queen fell on the river. It wasn't the only former winner eliminated by Van Lancker, as Unibet Open 2016 Copenhagen winner Joni Liimatta also fell to the Belgian. Van Lancker ended the day with 305,800 in chips and sits in second place when Day 2 gets underway.

Zoltan Barabas was a long-time chip leader and looked unstoppable for most of the day. After the dinner break, a big hand with pocket jacks against Mascolo's pocket aces went awry and dropped Barabas down the leaderboard. With Barabas' chips, Mascolo found himself on track to the eventual end-of-day chip lead.

Two-time winner Mateusz Moolhuizen didn't have the best seating draw and had to battle with Soukop, Adrien Allain, Tamer Kamel and Sylvain Loosli for the majority of the day. Moolhuizen eventually emerged on top and finished the day with 176,000 in chips.

Unibet Ambassador Charlotte Van Brabander, who defeated Blom heads up yesterday to claim her third successive Ambassadors Battle Royale victory, also made her way to Day 2. Van Brabander was often seen on the feature table and ended up bagging 76,000 in chips.

Day 1b will start tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. local time, which again will feature 10 levels of 60 minutes each. On Saturday, the field will be combined and all players will return at noon.

The new winner of the Unibet Open 2017 London will be crowned on Sunday night. PokerNews will be on the floor throughout the weekend to provide live action of all the excitement in The Poker Room of the legendary Grosvenor Casino in London.
This article was created out of respect for SSgt Louis Cardin who bravely lost his life in the battle against ISIS during Operation Inherent Resolve.

By: devildogshirts.com

USMC SSgt Louis Cardin

End

-- During 2015 in Camp Legeune US Marines were training for a deployment that would shock the world. At the time, they did not know this. When the 26th MEU was sent underway, many Marines saw another booze-cruise. Just Marines sailing around the world, getting drunk, fighting from port to port. This was not the case for the Artillerymen of the 26th MEU. They would quietly insert in Iraq and take up position to provide fire-support for the ground forces during Operation Inherent Resolve.As the Marines detached from the 26th MEU and 2/6 they took up a hardened position on the outskirts of Mosul. Fire-base Bell is the name of the Marine position. The name "Bell" honored the late SSgt Bell, who lost his life to an IED in Kajaki District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2011.As the Marines continued to provide fire support they were attacked by ISIS militants. They took a large amount of indirect fire. The Marines were still out in the open inside the fire-base. SSgt Louis Cardin was not phased as he quickly lept into action and made sure his fellow Marines took cover. Unfortunately, SSgt Cardin did not make it in time. Four Marines, not including SSgt Cardin, would recieve Purple Hearts that day.The event undoubtably shook the world. American citizens, nor the media, had any idea that we had ground forces in Iraq at the time. However the attack and the death put american involvement in the spotlight.General Robert Neller the Commandant of the Marine Corps said this during the memorial, "The loss of a Marine is sad, but I thought about it: He was leading his Marines in combat," Neller said. "They were in indirect fire and he made sure everybody got in the bunker, and he just didn't make it in time. Is that sad? That's sad. But if you're going to go, you want to go in the fight."That is exactly what SSgt Cardin was doing when he lost his life on March 19, 2016, at the age of 27. Devil Dog Shirts reckognizes the bravery and valor of SSgt Cardin. He was the first Marine and second service member to lose his life battling ISIS.(This article was created out of respect for the brave Marines that took part in the operation in the battle against ISIS. Rest In Peace SSgt Louis Cardin, until Valhalla!)This article was written by: http://devildogshirts.com/
InsuranceHub Proud to Serve as Title Sponsor for March Event Established to Benefit Home of Hope at Gwinnett Children's Shelter

By: InsuranceHub

Attendees Enjoy Great Food & Good Times during the Sip & Swine BBQ Festival 2016

Contact

Kasie Bolling - Content Specialist

Out of Her Mind, LLC

***@outofhermindfreelance.com Kasie Bolling - Content SpecialistOut of Her Mind, LLC

End

-- Good things happen when you bring great food and great craft beer together for a great cause. The Second Annual Sip & Swine BBQ Festival is set to do just that on March 3 and 4 at Coolray Field. Designed to benefit Home of Hope at Gwinnett Children's Shelter with 100% of the proceeds, the event raised more than $60K for the local nonprofit during the festival's inaugural year in 2016. Serving as Title Sponsor, Lawrenceville-based InsuranceHub hopes to raise the bar on the fun, flavor and funds factor during this year's event."For us, it's all about corporate responsibility and giving back to the community that has supported our company for more than 30 years," said Jim Lloyd, President of InsuranceHub and board member for Home of Hope at Gwinnett Children's Shelter. "As a residential care facility that provides services for homeless children up to 17 years of age along with their young mothers, teaching them valuable life skills and serving as the next step towards independence, Home of Hope affords us an opportunity to impact the lives of two generations at one time. In addition to our role as Title Sponsor, most of our employees will be at Sip & Swine serving as volunteers to a truly worthwhile cause."Joining InsuranceHub in the role of Sip & Swine sponsors are Pitmaster level sponsors: Brand Properties, SEI Group and Eagle Rock Distributing Company. In addition to an excellent lineup of sponsors, the festival will feature hundreds of volunteers, 100 barbecue competition teams, 50+ food and craft vendors, and music on Friday evening plus local bands throughout the day on Saturday. Live performances include Georgia Red Clay from 1-3 p.m. and Laughlin from 3-5 p.m. on Saturday. Barbecue competition teams will include a blend of pro teams from all over the country and "backyard" teams  featuring a number of local businesses vying for the title of Grand Champion.3-10pm on Friday, March 311-6pm on Saturday, March 4Coolray Field, 2500 Buford Drive NE, Lawrenceville, GA 30043FREE to the PublicTo take part in the judging, visitors can purchase a People's ChoiceTaster Kit for $10 each  affording them nine samples + a chance to casttheir vote for best barbecue. Available Saturday March 4 from 11:30a.m. to 1:30 p.m.Coolray Field with overflow at North Metro ChurchInsuranceHub is technology-driven insurance agency that serves over 15,000 clients across the United States. Our goal is simple: make insurance easy. As a long-standing agency, we've developed strong relationships with some of the most respected insurance carriers in the industry. It's because of these relationships that we're able to provide our own customers with transparent choices and competitive rates. When customers choose to work with InsuranceHub, they are not only selecting an agency, but a partner that becomes a trusted advisor. Originally launched as a small Nationwide Insurance agency in Metro Atlanta in 1985, the Lloyd Pro Group Agency was rebranded as InsuranceHub in 2015 and has offices in Lawrenceville, Douglasville and Atlanta. For more information about InsuranceHub, visit www.insurancehub.com Focused on ending homelessness two generations at a time, Home of Hope at Gwinnett Children's Shelter is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and a residential care facility that provides services for homeless infants and children up to 17 years of age along with their young mothers. Home of Hope also offers care and services for homeless girls aging out of the foster care system at 18 years of age. It provides customized "Life Plans" that are designed around the physical, emotional and educational needs of the children it serves, while helping their mothers develop a plan of action to get back on their feet. Not wishing to serve simply as a place of refuge, Home of Hope at Gwinnett Children's Shelter is the "NEXT STEP" towards independence. It takes its guests from homelessness, to hopeful, to a home of their own. To learn more about Home of Hope at Gwinnett Children's Shelter, visit www.homeofhopegcs.org.
By: GZA

GZA Lindsey White

End

-- GZA a leading environmental and geotechnical consulting firm, announces that Lindsey White, a Scientist II in the Bedford office has received Soil Science and Wetland Apprenticeships following application review by the New Hampshire Board of Certification of Wetland Scientists.As such, White, who joined GZA in May of 2016, will remain in apprenticeship status until eligible to apply for and take the New Hampshire certification exams. To become a certified Wetland Scientist, she is required to complete one to three full years of field experience and demonstrate ability to complete field delineation plans and prepare wetland maps using federal and state standards. Soil Scientist certification will require White to fulfill a minimum of three years of field experience and demonstrate ability to practice as a Soil Scientist. During her apprenticeship, she will work with and be mentored by two supervisors.White is a graduate of the University of Maine with a Bachelor's degree in Ecology and Environmental Science. Prior to joining GZA, the Londonderry, New Hampshire resident was a Laboratory and Teaching Assistant at the University of Maine.Founded in 1964, GZA is a multi-disciplinary firm providing Environmental, Geotechnical, Ecological, Water, and Construction Management services. GZA maintains corporate offices at 249 Vanderbilt Avenue, Norwood, MA 02062. The firm has over 560 employees and operates 28 offices in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes and Appalachian Regions of the United States. For additional information, please call William Hadge, CEO at 781-278-3808 or visit the company's website at www.gza.com
Replacement of the HVAC units at the VW plant in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Volkswagen, Bratislava

Contact

Sara Di Clemente

***@melcohit.com Sara Di Clemente

End

-- Mitsubishi Electric Hydronics & IT Cooling Systems, through its brand Climaveneta has supplied 32 units to the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava.The plant was opened in 1991, covering a total area of 1.780.058 m, and manufactures five brands under one roof. The vehicles are mainly exported to European countries, China, the USA, and Russia. Following the most innovative operation models, the plant is divided into different bodies, each one focused on a particular production step and served by dedicated M&E plants and air conditioning units, to better satisfy the different needs of each area.According to Volkswagen Group's sustainability policy, in recent years the previous HVAC units have been replaced to achieve a higher energy efficiency and to respect the environment. That is to say from 2002 to 2016, 32 Climaveneta units (27 chillers and 5 close control units) have been installed for a total cooling capacity of about 16.000kW. High efficiency, no local CO2 emissions, and perfect internal temperatures all year round, these are the key factors of the HVAC unit replacement taking place at the VW plant in Bratislava, the key factors which lead to the choice of a Climaveneta solution.Follow Climaveneta:youtube.com/user/climavenetaweb, @ClimavenetaHVAC, linkedin.com/company/climaveneta, facebook.com/climavenetahvac/Media RelationsSara Di Clementesara.diclemente@melcohit.com
The European Union may be facing an unsettled year. As the year goes on there will be several important elections happening across Europe. Britain is aiming to trigger Article 50 by the end of March.

By: ukbullion.com

money- 1596016_ 1920- 1024x849

Contact

ukbullion

***@ukbullion.com ukbullion

End

--As we have discussed in recent blogs, the UK Government is aiming to start the formal process of leaving the EU this year. This comes at a crucial time due to the numerous European elections set to take place this year. The more important elections will take place in France, Germany and the Netherlands. This is due to the fact that all three countries are founding members of the European Union. France will be voting for its next president, The Netherlands voting for its next prime minister and Germany will be voting for their next Chancellor meaning Angela Merkel will be fighting for her job. It has been reported that Anti-EU parties are gaining popularity in each of the countries. There is a possibility the future of the European Union could be in trouble.Marine Le Pen is currently causing a stir in France. She is the leader of the French National Front party and she is running for president of France. Le Pen is catching up to current favourite Emmanuel Macron. If she is to be elected as French president then all hell might break loose for the EU. The French elections are to take place on 7th May 2017. If Le Pen wins the elections there is the possibility she will pull France out of the EU. There have even been talks to reintroduce the Franc. As France is one of the founding members of the EU and one of its largest economies, leaving would cause further devastation.Another one of the founding states which will be going through their own general elections is the Netherlands. Their general election will take place on 15th March 2017. The latest polls suggest that Geert Wilders is gaining popularity. However, Wilders is the leader of the Freedom party and his immigration and Anti-EU comments have landed him in trouble. The media are even calling him the Dutch Donald Trump. However, his popularity might spell trouble for the EU. Wilders has stated his first job as Prime Minister will be to hold an EU referendum of their own. The Netherlands is known for having coalition governments. Wilders will have to look for partners.A further major election which is happening this year is the German Federal Election. This is to be held on 24th September 2017. The current German Chancellor is Angela Merkel and it looks like she may have to fight to remain as Chancellor. If she wins, this will be her fourth consecutive term however she has lost a lot of popularity recently. Her reputation took a hit after her open door asylum policy. Due to this, since the policy was introduced there has been a growing interest in the far right party Alternative for Germany. The Social Democratic Party or SPD is also gaining popularity with candidate Martin Schulz even surpassing Merkel in the latest polls. However there are still 7 months to the election so it can go anyone's way.The EU is currently struggling to deal with Greece. After years of living beyond their means and amassing such a substantial debt, the country turned to the EU for bailouts. The country is currently on its third bailout since 2010. However, the International Monetary Fund has warned that Greece needs to rethink its spending or the country could possibly be forced out of the Eurozone. The EU is currently struggling to maintain the Greek debt crisis. However in order to receive a bailout, Greece will have to adhere to the terms and conditions set out by the European Union officialsYet another country causing pressure for the EU is Italy. They are currently looking for a bailout to rescue their struggling banks however they wish to bypass European rules and want to use state funding for the bailout. In December 2016 Italy voted whether or not to change the country's 1948 constitution. During the campaign, political party populist Five-Star Movement (M5S) gained popularity. The party led by Beppe Grillo has fast become one of the more popular parties and have gained their popularity due to their anti-austerity views. Many Italians believe the Euro is the reason for the decline in the economy since its launch in 1999. The Euro has taken a lot of criticism recently from various European countries, if they all start pulling away from the Euro this could cause disaster for the Eurozone.With the mounting pressure from the Greek debt crisis, the Italian debts and the numerous European elections, the Euro has come under pressure. 2017 will be a tense year. As the Pound depreciated when Britain voted to leave the EU, it will be interesting to see the effect the elections have on the Euro. The formal process of triggering Article 50 may also offer an insight into what will happen if other countries wish to leave the EU. It has been predicted that Anti-EU parties will do well in the upcoming European elections.In 2017, there is a lot happening politically. It is common knowledge that political uncertainty drives up the gold price.
RACINE  The Racine Zoo on Thursday announced two artists for the 31st annual Animal Crackers concert series.

Musician Gerald Albright will take the stage on Wednesday, July 26, and the well-acclaimed Booker T. Jones will perform Wednesday, Aug. 9.

Albright is a man of many talents and has earned his reputation as a musicians musician. He took up piano lessons at an early age and before heading off to college, he was already a polished saxophone player.

During that time, he decided to switch to bass guitar and join a jazz band. Over the years, Albright made a name for himself and in 1998 he was asked to tour with Phil Collins. He has also made numerous television appearances.

Jones was one of the first to help build the Memphis soul sound of the 1960s. He recorded many hits with Booker T. & the MGs as well as on his own, and he is also a producer and songwriter. Jones has worked with a notable range of musicians from Willie Nelson to John Lee Hooker, from Bill Withers to the Roots. Jones has also performed at the White House for President Obama, a performance which was aired on PBS.

Concerts will also be held July 12 and Aug. 23. Season tickets are on sale for $48 until Feb. 28. The cost increases to $60 after that. Individual tickets will go on sale as soon as all artists are announced. For more information, go to www.racinezoo.org.
Swedish iTunes gift card codes available via email delivery online

End

-- miTunes.tv currently have a sale on Swedish iTunes gift card codes. So if you are looking to set up a Swedish iTunes account or credit an exisitng account a visit to the website will ensure you save 5% off exisitng Swedish 150Kr and 250Kr iTunes gift card codes.These Swedish iTunes gift card codes are available from anywhere in the world!To order your Swedish iTunes gift card code visit the miTunes.tv website:The link above will direct you to the Swedish iTunes section. There are then two amounts to choose from "150Kr" or "250Kr", simply select the amount of credit you require for the account.Payment can be made via Paypal or using a credit or debit card - both options are very secure.Delivery of the iTunes codes will be via email - delivered straight to the registered email address inbox.After delivery the gift card code can be used to set up a new Swedish iTunes account or add credit to an exisiting account.These can be purchased from whichever country you live in - you do not have to live/be in Sweden to buy an iTunes gift card code or have a Swedish iTunes account.
By: PIET-Panipat Institute Of Engineering &Technology

Contact

PIET-Panipat Institute Of Engineering &Technology

9315601100, 9315602200

***@piet.co.in

0180-3059200 PIET-Panipat Institute Of Engineering &Technology9315601100, 93156022000180-3059200

End

-- PANIPAT INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (PIET), the Best Engineering College of 2017 is located at 70 mile stone on Delhi-Panipat highway. It is approved by AICTE, Govt. of India and affiliated to Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. This ten year old institute has consistently grown to make its way up to attain a status of being the best of 2017, and simultaneously the institute has retained its reputation to be hand in hand with changes flashing across the national screen.The smartly equipped air-conditioned class rooms, 20 computer labs with 1200 computers, 28 science labs and workshops fully loaded with latest equipments and supported by latest methodology, a 3000 capacity amphitheater which has hosted Bollywood and other pop stars like Javed Ali, Kumar Vishwas, Kapil Sharma, YoYo Honey Singh, NehaKakkar, Badshah, Amy Virk, Babal Rai, Hardy Sandhu, Sunil Grover (Dr. Mushoor Gulati of Kapil Sharma Show), Guru Rnadhawa and The Great Khali of WWE fame etc. makes it the choicest for the aspirants from all over the country and the neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, who all confide their trust in PIET, which is better known as a placement centre hosting the biggest companies all through the year. That is why it has been awarded as the "The Best Placements' in North India, Haryana and Delhi NCR for consecutive three years.In this ever buzzing campus February 2017 has been very special for an NSS Camp under the title 'UNNAT BHARAT ABHYAN', a direct and active participation in the Prime Ministerial Projects.11Feb was slated for an awareness session on '' to rural folks wherein 'drive was organised with the help and support of Mr. V K Baja, Deputy Manager, State Bank of India, Panipat, who joined the PIET NSS team of 30+ volunteers as Chief Guest of the Day along with Ms. Nisha Chhokar, Sarpanch, Pattikalyana, who was the Guest of Honour. Mr. Bajaj apprised the villagers on the new trends in vogue which makes life easier for all of us. The session also conveyed a non-verbal message of 'Woman Empowerment', another important mission, with the presence of the female village Sarpanch.12Feb was chosen to support '' project under which a team of 60 PIET volunteers conducted a practical cleanliness exercise by dusting clean the streets as well as nooks and corners of Pattikalyana. Some two trolley loads of garbage were cleared with the supporting hands of the residents and their Sarpanch.19Feb was an eye opening seminar onsponsored by the Deputy Commissioner's Panipat Office. The Special Guest of the day, Ms. Meenakshi Rathore, Fire Research Officer was accompanied by her team. Mr. H S Saini, District Fire Officer, spoke in detail to a gathering of around 150 students. He elaborated the dangers of fire and reiterated that these days every house is prone to the risk because of LPG, which is a highly inflammable and explosive gas.The PIET management comprising of Shree Hari Om Tayal, Chairman, Shree Suresh Tayal, Member Secretary, Mr. Rakesh Tayal, Member BOG along with Prof. Dr. K K Paliwal, Director PIET were all the time managing and supporting from behind to let the PIETinas become upright citizens as a monument of their mission and beliefs. They were always there to present the vote of thanks to all the distinguished guests on these days for their contribution in making the NSS a true 'National Social Service' in spirit.These are the factors which make PANIPAT INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (PIET) the, Haryana and Delhi NCR, an institute with strong global tie ups with universities of countries like USA, UK, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Holland and Singapore etc.Like us on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/ PIETCampusOnline/
* The vision of World Tea Coffee Expo Mumbai India is to expand the Indian Beverage business by providing all sourcing requirements under one roof.

By: SPR Pvt Ltd

5th edition of World Tea Coffee Expo 2017

Contact

SPR Pvt Ltd

***@publicrelationindia.com SPR Pvt Ltd

End

--Growing in size and stature every year, the 5th edition of World Tea Coffee Expo comes back to Mumbai from 16th Nov  18th Nov 2017 with a host of enhanced features and activities covering the entire gamut of the Hot Beverage sector. Globally recognized at a complete trade show for Tea, Coffee and allied sectors, the three day annual event shall witness about 90+ exhibitors from 8 countries showcasing latest innovative products, machineries, equipment, packaging, technologies, vending solutions, flavours, Retail Chains, certifications, Premixes, government boards etc.The 5th edition shall have additional features like an upscale Display showcase, wider range of networking events, a special section for e-commerce companies, more educational content and speakers at Conference and interactive workshops  including tasting sessions - by some of the best Baristas/Trainers, Tea Sommeliers and Chefs. 5th World Tea Coffee Expo Mumbai India is supported by Sri Lanka Tea Board and leading associations and chambers from across the world have pledged their support to this important industry initiative.Since its launch in 2013, the expo has brought global industry players closer, enabled mega deals in addition to being the definite launch pad for new products and technologies especially for start-ups and SMEs who aspire for national / international expansion but have low budgets.The 2016 edition hosted 67 companies - including Pavilions from Tea Board of India and Sri Lanka Tea Board  which showcased their best to a business visitor base of 3400+ which included senior level decision makers comprising of Retailers, Wholesalers, Distributors, hypermarkets/multi-product retail chains, Tea/Coffee Estate owners, potential franchisees, purchase managers of medium-to-large offices, HoReCa sector professionals many of whom placed large orders with exhibitors. The 2-day hi level conference discussed issues facing the sector and workshops on last day imparted technical skills. Experts from across India were a part of the conference and workshops."This niche Expo provides the perfect environment for the hot beverage industry to meet face-to-face and develop real business opportunities. WTCE facilitates participants to strike bulk deals, joint ventures/alliances, franchise deals, appoint marketing agents, knowledge-sharing, meeting government officials and generate large number of business leads." said Ms Priti Kapadia, Director, Sentinel Exhibitions Asia Pvt. Ltd, the organizers of this unique trade show.The global market for RTD (Ready-to-Drink)Tea and Coffee is expected to reach $150 billion by 2021 with an annual growth rate of 7%. The Asia-Pacific region is the largest market and also showing maximum growth. The Indian tea and coffee market is one of the largest in world in terms of production, consumption and growth prospects. However, future success depends largely on use of latest technology, seamless upgradation of existing facilities, adapting to ecommerce and cost effective processing  something WTCE strives for. For further information please log onto www.worldteacoffeeexpo.com or call on +912228625133 or email to info@worldteacoffeeexpo.comSPR Pvt LtdTel: +91 22 28625133dipika@publicrelationindia.com
Runemark monthly podcast series comes back with RUNECAST #5 by Idriss D

Contact

Runemark management

***@runemark.net Runemark management

End

-- The fifth monthly podcast in the Runecast series has been selected and mixed by Idriss D. Idriss manages some of the most respected record labels in Italy: the world-famous Memento, along with best friend and musical soul brother Fabrizio Maurizi, the experimental Aloe and Db Artists Musique. Backing up new and upcoming producers and providing them with large-scale tours and studio help on the studio side also is a major strength of the organization.Beginning its collaboration with Paris Freak'n'Chic Agency, T Agency and Orbeat Bookings, db Artists soon became exclusive partner for Clonk and Minus, and more recently has started representing Cadenza, the most acclaimed label nowadays, lead by renowned top dj Luciano.RUNECAST #5 is an exceptional vinyl mix, which was mixed using a rotary mixer. Idriss D tells a deep and underground story, serving a wide variety of undoubtingly strong compositions.Runemark Records approached the big man himself with a short interview concerning the latest RUNECAST by Idriss D.1. When did You understand that You've become a DJ?I was 12 or 13 years old, always listening the algerian music,recording it on k7, then listening to it, trying to put the kick in pauses. Mixing it on the decks. Me as a fan of black music I used to listen to funk: D Train, BB & The Q Band or Luther Vandross.2. What is the most important thing for You in a party?First is not to play a short set. Then is to catch immediately the attention of the crowd since the first record and to try tell a story, bringing the people to something they don't expect ..seeing smiles..3. You're the man behind Memento Records, which has a very underground sound. What is the vision of the label?The first record of Memento was in 2006. During that time I was really without any economic resources and counting coins to press vinyls, losing money and resisting releasing what I like really with no compromise. Keeping a high standard of research in the music. I try not to use the word underground, many people say this word like a "hype!".4. How has today's electronic music changed/evolved since You've started DJing?The numbers of djs around grew up a lot. (Smiles) All the kids want to be djs, which means the new generation is well prepared and ready to judge and critic. Of course this pushes us to work on our set a lot that the secret of a good dj is not to fall in the monotony. Then you have the EDM what really didn't scare me.. resistance is part of my life.5. Latest Runecast recorded by You is full of vinyl sound. Tell more about the podcast.Yes, since few years I'm back to the vinyl. I was a waxx vinyl pusher years ago. (I had a shop and distribution). And the feeling of carrying my bags was missing, playing good and unreleased promos, nice classics, being concentrated all the time in the mix. This podcast is a small story - almost 1 hour - of how to start a set from the beginning and how to finish it. I concentrated everything in a short time trying to be the most logic possible.Listen to RUNECAST #5 by Idriss D on Runemark Soundcloud page:https://soundcloud.com/runemark/runecast-5-idriss-dFollow Idriss D:https://twitter.com/idrissdhttps://www.instagram.com/idrissdofcFollow Runemark Records:https://soundcloud.com/runemarkhttps://www.facebook.com/runemarkmusichttps://twitter.com/Runemarkmusichttps://www.instagram.com/runemarkmusic
By: Minkels

Minkels Drop Away Panels

Contact

Minkels

***@minkels.com

+31 (0)413-311187 Minkels+31 (0)413-311187

End

--Minkels introduced its Drop Away Panels in 2016 to increase fire safety in data centres. Bas Jacobs, Product Manager Minkels: "Drop Away Panels are specifically designed roof panels for aisle containment. In case of fire in the data centre, the Drop Away Panels automatically soften and drop down so that they won't be an obstacle before the sprinklersare activated."The Drop Away Panels have been available worldwide for some time. The greatest demand for the Drop Away Panels currently comes from the United States and the United Kingdom where insurance contracts for data centre buildings demand that sprinkler and water mist systems are used. It is expected that the regulations for data centre buildings will soon be tightened up in countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Jacobs: "Standardisation in the field of data centre security is already being tightened considerably (e.g. the renewed European data centre standard, EN 50600). Therefore, we expect a boost in the demand for Drop Away Panels."Minkels is fully prepared for this demand since FM Approvals has certified the panelsas 'FM Approved'. Jacobs: "This means that the panels meet 'FM Global' insurance requirements. FM Approvals  the testing arm of international insurance carrier FM Global  rigorously tests products at the FM Global Research Campus, home to state-of-the-art facilities and laboratories. Products with the 'FM Approved' mark meet the highest standards for safety and property loss prevention. Minkels is the only data centre supplier in Europe that has received FM Approval in class 4651 (Suspended Plastic Ceilings). Minkels is enormously pleased with the certification. It is a confirmation of our commitment to quality and safety in the data centre."Minkels will present its product portfolio  including the Drop Away Panels  on several exhibitions worldwide. Among others, Minkels will attend Data Centre World (DCW) in London between 15 and 16 March and CeBIT in Hannover from 20 to 24 March, 2017.--------------------Minkels is a knowledge-driven producer and worldwide supplier of high-quality solutions for data centre infrastructure. Minkels is part of the brand portfolio of Legrand, a publicly traded company (NYSE Euronext Paris: LR) with worldwide sales in the low voltage installation, data network and data centre markets. Legrand operates in more than 180 countries and achieved worldwide revenues of 4.8 billion euros in 2015. Minkels' products stand out for their innovativeness and flexibility. Customers can always be assured of getting the very latest data centre technology, modular solutions that respond to evolving, customer-specific business requirements.For more information about Minkels, please go to www.minkels.com --------------------(1) The working of the Drop Away Panels is illustrated in a video ( www.youtube.com/ minkels_HQ ). White paper 05 'Integration of Aisle Containment with Fire Suppression Systems' offers additional information on the use of Drop Away Panels in an aisle containment environment. The white paper can be requested at www.minkels.com/whitepaper.(2) The panels (Minkels Drop Away Panels) have been FM Approved. This relates to the 'active' part of the roof which actually falls down.This press release and additional image material can also be found ONLINE.
Last year, the asset management company KGAL has set a new record. Of the total transaction volume of  3.0 billion alone  2.1 billion was made in the real estate segment, only  0,9 billion was accounted for by the segments of aviation and infrastructure. A large share of

[]
The new year begins with a decision of enormous impact for the future of Vienna International Hotelmanagement AG just one year after repositioning itself on the market as Vienna House. The entire equity stake will be acquired by Vienna House Capital, subsidiary of Thailands U City PCL (U City), with

[]
Late last year, at a dealer meet in Turkey, Bajaj Auto showcased two new products  the 160 NS and the 200 NS. Of the two, the 200 NS has been launched in India, but the 160 NS is no where to be seen.

To rub more salt on the wounds of fans waiting for the 160 NS in India, Bajaj launched the 160 NS in Nepal earlier this year. Now, a few months later, Bajaj has launched the 160 NS in India, with prices starting from INR 78,368, ex-Delhi.

Pulsar 160 NS is a completely new product which is based on a modified Pulsar 150 platform. New Bajaj Pulsars 160 cc engine is a single cylinder twin spark oil cooled BS4 engine. Power and torque ratings are slightly higher than the Pulsar 150, which is 15.02 PS and 12.5 Nm. The 160 NS delivers 15.5 PS at 8500 rpm and 14.6 Nm at 6500 rpm. It has a kerb weight of 142 kgs.

Engine gets electric and kick starter. New pulsar is crafted in 200 NS design theme, with muscular fuel tank and skinny side panels, giving a naked bike appeal overall. It is equipped with halogen head lamp, minimal head fairing, digital instrument panel with analog tachometer, new fuel filler cap, air deflecting cowl ahead of engine, silver finish centre stay and rear foot rest, underbelly exhaust, split seats, split grab handle, clear lens indicators, saree guard and split tail lamp.

The bike is suspended by regular telescopic fork on front and monoshock with coil-over spring at the rear. Braking is done by petal disc setup on front while the rear gets drum brake. Surprisingly, in export markets, Bajaj sells 160 NS with rear disc brake as well as ABS. Sadly, the India-spec does not get either.

[table id=143 /]

Front tyre size stand at 80/100-17 while rear tyre size 110/70-17. Tyres are from MRF and are tubeless. Ground clearance is at 176 mm, higher than that of 200 NS which is at 167 mm. Fuel tank capacity is 12 liters. It has a cruising speed of 90-95 kmph and a top speed of about 110 kmph. Colour options on offer are Saffire Blue, Passion Red and Glossy Pewter Grey.

New Bajaj Pulsar 160NS will rival with the new range of naked motorcycles like the Honda Hornet, Suzuki Gixxer, and so on. Below are the photos from Dinos Vault on Youtube.

Photos

Video

News Release
Average life expectancy is set to increase in many countries by 2030 -- and will exceed 90 years in South Korea, according to new research.

The study, led by scientists from Imperial College London in collaboration with the World Health Organization, analysed long-term data on mortality and longevity trends to predict how life expectancy will change in 35 industrialised countries by 2030.

Nations in the study included both high-income countries, such as the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Australia, and emerging economies such as Poland, Mexico and the Czech Republic.

The study, published in The Lancet and funded by the UK Medical Research Council, revealed all nations in the study can expect to see an increase in life expectancy by 2030.

The results also found that South Koreans may have the highest life expectancy in the world in 2030.

The team calculated life expectancy at birth, and predicted a baby girl born in South Korea in 2030 will expect to live 90.8 years. Life expectancy at birth for South Korean men will be 84.1 years.

advertisement

The researchers also calculated how long a 65-year-old person may expect to live in 2030. The results revealed that the average 65-year-old woman in South Korea in 2030 may live an additional 27.5 years.

Scientists once thought an average life expectancy of over 90 was impossible, explained Professor Majid Ezzati, lead researcher from the School of Public Health at Imperial: "We repeatedly hear that improvements in human longevity are about to come to an end. Many people used to believe that 90 years is the upper limit for life expectancy, but this research suggests we will break the 90-year-barrier. I don't believe we're anywhere near the upper limit of life expectancy -if there even is one."

Professor Ezzati explained that South Korea's high life expectancy may be due to a number of factors including good nutrition in childhood, low blood pressure, low levels of smoking, good access to healthcare, and uptake of new medical knowledge and technologies.

French women and Swiss men were predicted to have the highest life expectancies at birth in Europe in 2030, with an average life expectancy of 88.6 years for French women and nearly 84 years for Swiss men.

The results also revealed that the USA is likely to have the lowest life expectancy at birth in 2030 among high-income countries. The nation's average life expectancy at birth of men and women in 2030 (79.5 years and 83.3 years), will be similar to that of middle-income countries like Croatia and Mexico. The research team say this may be due to a number of factors including a lack of universal healthcare, as well as the highest child and maternal mortality rate, homicide rate and obesity among high-income countries.

advertisement

The UK's average life expectancy at birth for women will be 85.3 years in 2030. This places them at 21st in the table of 35 countries. The average life expectancy of a UK man meanwhile will be 82.5 years in 2030. This places them at 14th in the table of 35 countries.

The team also predicted a 65-year-old UK man in 2030 could expect to live an additional 20.9 years (12th in the table of countries), while a 65-year-old woman in the UK could expect to live an additional 22.7 years, up (22nd in the table of countries).

The research also suggested the gap in life expectancy between women and men is closing.

Professor Ezzati explained: "Men traditionally had unhealthier lifestyles, and so shorter life expectancies. They smoked and drank more, and had more road traffic accidents and homicides. However as lifestyles become more similar between men and women, so does their longevity."

Along with the US, other countries who may see only small increases in life expectancy by 2030 included Japan, Sweden and Greece, while Macedonia and Serbia were projected to have the lowest life expectancies at birth for women and men respectively in 2030.

Life expectancy is calculated by assessing the age at which people die across the whole population. For instance if a country has high childhood mortality rate, this will make average national life expectancy much lower, as would a country in which many young people die in injuries and violence.

Professor Colin Mathers, co-author from the World Health Organization explained: "The increase in average life expectancy in high income countries is due to the over-65s living longer than ever before. In middle-income countries, the number of premature deaths -- i.e. people dying in their forties and fifties, will also decline by 2030."

The team developed a new method to predict longevity, similar to the methods used for weather forecasting, which takes into account numerous different models for forecasting mortality and life expectancy. All the predictions in the study come with some uncertainty range. For instance, there is a 90 per cent probability that life expectancy for South Korean women in 2030 will be higher than 86.7 years, and a 57 per cent probability that it will be higher than 90 years.

The researchers chose the 35 industrialised countries in the study as they all had reliable data on deaths since at least 1985. The team then used this data, together with their new methodology to predict life expectancy to 2030.

Professor Ezzati added that these results suggest we need to be thinking carefully about the needs of an ageing population: "The fact that we will continue to live longer means we need to think about strengthening the health and social care systems to support an ageing population with multiple health needs. This is the opposite of what is being done in the era of austerity. We also need to think about whether current pension systems will support us, or if we need to consider working into later life."

Other findings from the research include:

 The five countries with the highest life expectancy at birth for men in 2030 were: South Korea (84.1), Australia (84.0), Switzerland (84.0), Canada (83.9), Netherlands (83.7)

 The five countries with the highest life expectancy at birth for women in 2030 were: South Korea (90.8), France (88.6), Japan (88.4), Spain (88.1), Switzerland (87.7)

 The five countries with the highest life expectancy for 65-year-old men in 2030 were: Canada (22.6 additional life years), New Zealand (22.5), Australia (22.2), South Korea (22.0), Ireland (21.7)

 The five countries with the highest life expectancy for 65-year-old women in 2030 were: South Korea (27.5 additional life years), France (26.1), Japan (25.9), Spain (24.8), Switzerland (24.6)

 The five countries in Europe with the highest life expectancy at birth for men in 2030 were: Switzerland (84.0), Netherlands (83.7), Spain (83.5), Ireland (83.2) and Norway (83.2)

 The five countries in Europe with the highest life expectancy at birth for women in 2030 were: France (88.6), Spain (88.1), and Switzerland (87.7), Portugal (87.5) and Slovenia (87.4).

 The UK's average life expectancy at birth for women will increase from 82.3 years in 2010 to 85.3 years in 2030. This places them 21st in the table of 35 countries (compared to 22nd in 2010).

 The average life expectancy of a UK man at birth will increase from 78.3 years in 2010 to 82.5 years in 2030. This places them 14th in the table of 35 countries (compared to 11th in 2010).
Understanding the environmental impact of using oil and gas wastewater as a road treatment may lead to safer water resources and stricter government regulations, according to Penn State researchers.

William Burgos, professor of environmental engineering, and Lara Fowler, senior lecturer at Penn State Law and assistant director of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment, will study this impact through research funded by the United States Geological Society.

"In the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, gravel road aggregate has a lot of clay and when you drive over it, it tends to kick up a lot of dust, so they need to use dust suppressants," Burgos said. "It just so happens that the northwestern portion of the state also has had a lot of oil and gas activity."

The expansion of natural gas production in Pennsylvania has led to the increased production of oil and gas wastewater. One legally permissible disposal option is to use the wastewater as deicing agents and dust suppressants on local dirt and gravel roadways. Partnerships between oil and gas companies and Pennsylvania townships provide a cost-effective way to meet both the disposal needs of the companies and the road treatment needs of the townships. The problem, however, is that there is growing concern about the migration of the contaminants within the wastewater once they leave the roadway.

"We're not aware of any detailed studies that have characterized the chemical composition and pollution potential from spreading conventional oil and gas wastewater onto roads," Burgos said. The researchers want to do just that.

The objective of the study is to investigate if spreading conventional oil and gas wastewater on Pennsylvania roads for dust suppression or deicing is having an impact on water resources. Through collaborations with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Center for Dirt and Gravel Roads at Penn State, and local Pennsylvania municipalities, the researchers will collect 10 to 12 oil and gas wastewater samples used for road spreading and characterize them for salts, metals, organics, and radium. The team will also run the same tests on several commercially available dust suppressants. These liquids will be reacted with road aggregate and subgrade material to determine how the various contaminants are transported to nearby water resources.

"First we want to characterize the wastewaters themselves," Burgos said. "Then we're going to take that material and react it by adding it onto the road materials based on an application rate used by most townships."

After applying the oil and gas wastewater or commercial dust suppressant, the researchers will simulate a rainfall event using distilled deionized water and analyze what is mobilized into the resulting liquid. This will allow researchers to better understand the fate and transport of the contaminants.

In addition, they will evaluate the existing laws and regulations associated with road spreading of oil and gas wastewaters, both in Pennsylvania and in other states.

"We want to know what level of government regulation addresses this activity," said Fowler. "We have to understand the laws as we think about what is allowed and what the potential impacts might be."
A study of tiny mineral 'inclusions' within diamonds from Botswana has shown that diamond crystals can take billions of years to grow. One diamond was found to contain silicate material that formed 2.3 billion years ago in its interior and a 250 million-year-old garnet crystal towards its outer rim, the largest age range ever detected in a single specimen. Analysis of the inclusions also suggests that the way that carbon is exchanged and deposited between the atmosphere, biosphere, oceans and geosphere may have changed significantly over the past 2.5 billion years.

'Although a jeweller would consider diamonds with lots of inclusions to be flawed, for a geologist these are the most valuable and exciting specimens,' said Prof Gareth Davies, of Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, who co-authored the study. 'We can use the inclusions to date different parts of an individual diamond, and that allows us to potentially look at how the processes that formed diamonds may have changed over time and how this may be related to the changing carbon cycle on Earth.'

Sixteen diamonds from two mines in north eastern Botswana were analysed in the study: seven specimens from the Orapa mine and nine from the Letlhakane mine. A team at VU Amsterdam measured the radioisotope, nitrogen and trace element contents of inclusions within the diamonds. Although the mines are located just 40 kilometres apart, the diamonds from the two sources had significant differences in the age range and chemical composition of inclusions.

The Orapa diamonds contained material dating from between around 400 million and more than 1.4 billion years ago. The Letlhakane diamond inclusions ranged from less than 700 million and up to 2-2.5 billion years old. In every case, the team were able to link the age and composition of material in the inclusions to distinct tectonic events occurring locally in the Earth's crust, such as a collision between plates, continental rifting or magmatism. This suggests that diamond formation is triggered by heat fluctuations and magma fluid movement associated with these events.

The Letlhakane diamonds also provided a rare opportunity to look back in time to the early Earth. The oldest inclusions date back to before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) around 2.3 billion years ago, when oxygen produced by multicellular cyanobacteria started to fill the atmosphere, radically changing the weathering and sediment formation processes and thus altering the chemistry of rocks.

'The oldest inclusions in the diamonds contain a higher proportion of the lighter carbon isotope. As photosynthesis favours the lighter isotope, carbon 12, over the heavier carbon 13, this 'light' ratio finding suggests that organic material from biological sources may have been more abundant in diamond-forming zones early in the Earth's history than we find today,' explained Suzette Timmerman, lead author on the study. 'Higher temperatures in the Earth's interior before the GOE may have affected the way that carbon was released into the diamond forming regions beneath the Earth's continental plates and may be evidence of a fundamental change in tectonic processes. However, we are currently working with a very small dataset and need further studies to establish if this is a global phenomenon.'
Researchers say 'benevolent bots', otherwise known as software robots, that are designed to improve articles on Wikipedia sometimes have online 'fights' over content that can continue for years. Editing bots on Wikipedia undo vandalism, enforce bans, check spelling, create links and import content automatically, whereas other bots (which are non-editing) can mine data, identify data or identify copyright infringements. The team analysed how much they disrupted Wikipedia, observing how they interacted on 13 different language editions over ten years (from 2001 to 2010). They found that bots interacted with one another, whether or not this was by design, and it led to unpredictable consequences. The research paper, published in PLOS ONE, concludes that bots are more like humans than you might expect. Bots appear to behave differently in culturally distinct online environments. The paper says the findings are a warning to those using artificial intelligence for building autonomous vehicles, cyber security systems or for managing social media. It suggests that scientists may have to devote more attention to bots' diverse social life and their different cultures.

The research paper by the University of Oxford and the Alan Turing Institute in the UK explains that although the online world has become an ecosystem of bots, our knowledge of how they interact with each other is still rather poor. Although bots are automatons that do not have the capacity for emotions, bot to bot interactions are unpredictable and act in distinctive ways. It finds that German editions of Wikipedia had fewest conflicts between bots, with each undoing another's edits 24 times, on average, over ten years. This shows relative efficiency, says the research paper, when compared with bots on the Portuguese Wikipedia edition, which undid another bot's edits 185 times, on average, over ten years. Bots on English Wikipedia undid another bot's work 105 times, on average, over ten years, three times the rate of human reverts, says the paper.

The findings show that even simple autonomous algorithms can produce complex interactions that result in unintended consequences -- 'sterile fights' that may continue for years, or reach deadlock in some cases. The paper says while bots constitute a tiny proportion (0.1%) of Wikipedia editors, they stand behind a significant proportion of all edits. Although such conflicts represent a small proportion of the bots' overall editorial activity, these findings are significant in highlighting their unpredictability and complexity. Smaller language editions, such as the Polish Wikipedia, have far more content created by bots than the large language editions, such as English Wikipedia.

Lead author Dr Milena Tsvetkova, from the Oxford Internet Institute, said: 'We find that bots behave differently in different cultural environments and their conflicts are also very different to the ones between human editors. This has implications not only for how we design artificial agents but also for how we study them. We need more research into the sociology of bots.'

The paper was co-authored by the principal investigator of the EC-Horizon2020-funded project, HUMANE, Professor Taha Yasseri, also from the Oxford Internet Institute. He added: 'The findings show that even the same technology leads to different outcomes depending on the cultural environment. An automated vehicle will drive differently on a German autobahn to how it will through the Tuscan hills of Italy. Similarly, the local online infrastructure that bots inhabit will have some bearing on how they behave and their performance. Bots are designed by humans from different countries so when they encounter one another, this can lead to online clashes. We see differences in the technology used in the different Wikipedia language editions and the different cultures of the communities of Wikipedia editors involved create complicated interactions. This complexity is a fundamental feature that needs to be considered in any conversation related to automation and artificial intelligence.'

Professor Luciano Floridi, also an author of the paper, remarked: 'We tend to forget that coordination even among collaborative agents is often achieved only through frameworks of rules that facilitate the wanted outcomes. This infrastructural ethics or infra-ethics needs to be designed as much and as carefully as the agents that inhabit it.'

The research finds that the number of reverts is smaller for bots than for humans, but the bots' behaviour is more varied and conflicts involving bots last longer and are triggered later. The average time between successive reverts for humans is 2 minutes, then 24 hours or one year, says the paper. The first bot to bot revert happened a month later, on average, but further reverts often continued for years. The paper suggests that humans use automatic tools that report live changes and can react more quickly, whereas bots systematically crawl over web articles and they can be restricted on the number of edits allowed. The fact that bots' conflicts are longstanding also flags that humans are failing to spot the problems early enough, suggests the paper.
Analysis of ancient human skulls found in southeastern Brazil are providing new insights into the complex narrative of human migration from our origins in sub-Saharan Africa to the peopling of the Americas tens of thousands of years later.

The many differences in cranial morphology, the study of skull shape, seen in Paleoamerican remains found in the Lagoa Santa region of Brazil suggest a model of human history that included multiple waves of population dispersals from Asia, across the Bering Strait, down the North American coast and into South America.

The findings published Wednesday (Feb. 22, 2017) in the journal Science Advances suggest that Paleoamericans share a last common ancestor with modern native South Americans outside, rather than inside, the Americas and underscore the importance of looking at both genetic and morphological evidence, each revealing different aspects of the human story, to help unravel our species' history.

"When you look at contemporary genomic data, the suggestion, particularly for South America, was for one wave of migration and that indigenous South American people are all descendants of that wave," says Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel, an associate professor of anthropology at the University at Buffalo and the paper's lead author. "But our data is suggesting that there were at least two, if not more, waves of people entering South America."

How people settled the Americas is a debate that has continued for years in the scientific community. It's now clear that the first human entry into the Americas began at least 15,000 years ago and dispersed quickly into South America following a coastal Pacific route.

The conundrum of conflicting data between morphology and genetics is among the issues fueling the debate of how people first entered the New World, but von Cramon-Taubadel's conclusions are similar to previous morphological research while also relying on a pioneering method to reach those conclusions.

"We've adopted and modified the method from ecology, but to my knowledge this method has never been used in an anthropological setting before," she says.

In the past, researchers have looked mainly at the overall similarities between the morphology of prehistoric skeletons from the Americas compared with the morphology of living people. Models of dispersal, each with a different number of waves that attempt to match existing data, have also been used.

But von Cramon-Taubadel's current research with Mark Hubbe, an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Ohio State University, and University of Tubingen researcher Andre Strauss, doesn't make any previous assumptions about dispersals. It looks at an existing population as descendants of many possible branches of a theoretical tree of relatedness and then uses statistics to determine where in the tree their sample best fits.

This method has the advantage of not needing pre-determined models of dispersal but rather considers all possible patterns of relatedness.

All living people, von Cramon-Taubadel explains, have a common ancestor, but not all fossils necessarily contribute to the ancestry of living people. Some populations of modern humans did not survive or made only a marginal contribution to living people. So fossils of these extinct humans provide few clues about the ancestry of living people.

"There are other fossils, particularly in the Americas and Eurasia where at the moment we are not 100 percent sure how they fit into the human picture," von Cramon-Taubadel says. "We could use this method to elucidate where they sit and to what extent those populations actually play a role in the modern ancestry of people in those areas."
Countries & Areas

Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe
This page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable. To help you find what you are looking for:

Enter Search Term(s):

Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL.

Thank you for visiting state.gov.
At the end of 2016 China put another Type 082B (Wozang class) minesweeper into service. This was the third of these new ships to enter service in the last 18 months. The first one appeared in 2005 and there are believed to be five in service. Each can serve as a mothership for three 100 ton USV (unmanned surface vessel) mine sweepers. The Wozangs are an updated version of the 400 ton Type 082 (Wusao class) that first appeared in 1985. About a dozen of these entered service and, as they were the first modern mine hunter design they went through a lot of changes before the first of the B version showed up in 2005. The Type 082B is a 575 ton non-metallic ship that is 55 meters (179 feet) long. Top speed is 46 kilometers an hour with a crew of 50. It is equipped to detect and destroy surface and bottom mines and is only armed with a twin 25mm autocannon and small arms for the crew. It draws only 3.3 meters (11 feet) of water, enabling them to operate close to shore. This ships can also carry and deploy six naval mines.

The only equivalent American ships are the Avengers, which began appearing in 1987. These are 1,300 ton, 72.3 meter (224 foot) long ships that draw only 4.8 meters (15 feet) of water. The crews are trained in navigating shallow areas. The Avengers are armed with two .50 cal. (12.7mm) machine guns, two 7.62mm machine guns, two 40mm automatic grenade launchers, and have a crew of 84.

While China has continued to upgrade its mine clearing (or countermeasures) ships the United States and most Western navies have not been ignoring the naval mine threat but have instead shifted to greater use of use of USVs and UUVs (unmanned underwater vessel) as well as unmanned mine detecting sleds towed by helicopters. The remotely controlled USVs and UUVs detect and destroy mines. China has yet to introduce much along these lines.

Naval mines remain a serious danger that even China is paying more attention to. As China becomes more dependent on raw materials and fuel being shipped in and exports shipped out, naval mines become more of a threat. While often ignored, naval mines are still a formidable weapon. But they just don't get any respect. The historical record says otherwise. Modern naval mines were widely used for the first time over a century ago, during the Russo-Japanese war (1904- 1905). These were contact mines floating in shallow water and kept in place with an anchor and chain. When the tide was right they would be just below the surface, ready to explode whenever struck by a ship. Some 2,000 of these mines were used to destroy sixteen ships during the Russo-Japanese war. That's one ship lost for every 125 mines used.

During World War I (1914-18), modern mine tactics were developed still more. Thousands of mines were laid to provide defensive barriers against enemy movement in the North Sea. Mines were used offensively by secretly placing them across known enemy sea routes. More than 1,000 merchant and war ships were lost because of the 230,000 mines used. That's over 200 mines used for every ship lost. During World War II a total of 2,665 ships were lost or damaged to 100,000 offensive mines. That's one ship for every 37 mines. Some 208,000 mines were used defensively to inhibit enemy movement and tie up his resources.

Naval mines achieved several striking successes during World War II. In the Pacific naval mines proved more destructive to the Japanese war effort than the atom bombs. During a ten week period between April and August 1945 12,000 mines were dropped off the Japanese coast by American bombers. These destroyed 1,250,000 tons of Japanese shipping (670 ships hit, 431 destroyed). That's 18 mines for each ship hit. The Americans had air superiority, so losses during these 1,500 missions amounted to only 15 planes, most of them to accidents. Had these missions been flown against opposition, losses would have been between 30 and 60 aircraft, plus similar losses to their fighter escorts. Still, these air delivered mines proved to be a devastating weapon.

A conventional submarine campaign was also waged against Japanese shipping. Comparisons to the mine campaign are interesting. A hundred submarines were involved in a campaign that ran for 45 months from December, 1941 to August, 1945. Some 4.8 million tons of enemy shipping was sunk. For every U.S. submarine sailor lost using submarine launched torpedoes, 560 tons of enemy ships were sunk. During the mine campaign 3,500 tons were sunk for each U.S. fatality. On a cost basis the difference was equally stark. Counting the cost of lost mine laying aircraft (B- 29's at $500,000 each) or torpedo armed submarine ($5 million each), we find that each ton of sunk shipping cost six dollars when using mines and fifty-five dollars when using submarines. This data was classified as secret until the 1970s. It indicates that mines might have been more effective than torpedoes, even if the mines were delivered by submarine.

The Germans waged a minelaying campaign off the east coast of the United States between 1942 and 1944. Only 317 mines were used, which sank or damaged 11 ships. This was a ratio of 29 mines used for each ship hit. In addition, eight ports were closed for a total of 40 days. One port, Charleston, South Carolina, was closed for 16 days, tying up not only merchant shipping but the thousands of men, warships, and aircraft dealing with the situation. American submarines also waged a limited mine campaign in the Pacific. For 658 mines used, 54 ships were sunk or damaged (12 mines per ship). No subs were lost. Considerable Japanese resources were tied up dealing with the mines. On the Palau atoll the port was closed by the mines and not reopened until the war ended. Even surface ships were used to lay mines. Three thousand mines were laid by destroyers. Only 12 ships were hit but these were barrier fields, not the ambush type mine fields that a submarine can create by sneaking into an enemy held area.

During World War II there was a major effort to develop better mine clearing methods. These efforts ended in 1945 but were resumed because of the experience in Korea during the early 1950s. The Russians had provided North Korea with 3,000 mines, many of 1904 vintage. These were used to defend Wonson harbor (on the east coast of North Korea). It took several weeks for UN forces to clear these, at a loss of a dozen ships hit. Half of these ships were destroyed. When the Korean War ended in 1953 the United States and Western nations in general realized they could no longer ignore naval mines.

During the Vietnam War over 300,000 naval mines were used, primarily in rivers. The vast majority were not built as mines but were aerial bombs equipped with magnetic sensors instead of fuzes. These bombs/mines used a small parachute to insure that no damage occurred on landing. In shallow water these makeshift weapons sat on the bottom and performed as well as mines. In North Vietnam, Haiphong Harbor was actually mined with 11,000 of these "destructors," as the U.S. Air Force called them, and less than a hundred conventional mines. Haiphong Harbor was shut down completely for months, and it took years to clear out all the American mines. The "destructor" mine design was so successful that it is still in use, using more modern electronics, as the Mk 62 mine.

During the 1991 Gulf War the Iraqis laid over a thousand mines off the Iraqi and Kuwaiti coast. The predominantly U.S. naval forces did not have sufficient mine sweeping resources to deal with this situation and had a helicopter carrier and cruiser hit and damaged while trying to clear the area. This effectively prevented any U.S. amphibious operations, although the Marines were not going to be used for a landing anyway. It took over a month of mine clearing after the fighting ceased to eliminate all the mines. In the meantime, two U.S. warships were damaged by these mines. In 2003, the Iraqis again tried to use mines, but were hampered by prompt American, British, and Kuwaiti action.

All this provided more encouragement to develop and build more effective mine detecting and clearing equipment. Despite that in any future war naval mines will again surprise everyone with how effective they are. It is feared that terrorists might get their hands on some bottom mines, but so far, there do not appear to have been any attempts.
The UN sponsored unity government known as the GNA (Government of National Accord) has been in Tripoli since early 2016 but has been unable to placate or unite the many factions that have been keeping the country in chaos since 2012. GNA controls all the government ministries located in Tripoli but the rival HoR (House of Representatives) government based in Tobruk controls eastern Libya and, more importantly, most of the oil production facilities. HoR is better organized, united and hostile to Islamic radicals and terrorists of any sort. The GNA made a major mistake early on by underestimating the Libyan Armed Forces and its leader general Khalifa Belgacem Hiftar. HoR and Hiftar have gained allies in western Libya while the GNA has done little of that in eastern Libya. For example, Hiftar has the support of many of the Berbers. Who tend to live in western Libya. Thus the ZRMC (al Zintan Revolutionaries Military Council) been working with Hiftar since 2014 and is based in the mountains southwest of Tripoli in and around the Berber town of Zintan. The Berbers have always been hostile to Islamic terrorist groups and early on cleared them out of Zintan and kept them out. The ZRMC attracted new recruits from all over the country because it was seen as a force that could eventually be used to defeat Islamic terrorist groups in Tripoli. But when the GNA showed up some factions of the ZRMC allied themselves with the new government. That did not last and more militias in western Libya are reconsidering their loyalties. This dispute is mainly about terms for transferring power (now held by tribes, militias and powerful men like Hiftar) to a new national government.

This lack of unity has long been a problem in Libya and is not easily solved. The current round began with the first post-Kaddafi national government. This was the General National Congress (or GNC), formed after the 2011 revolution to create a new constitution for the voters to decide on. The GNC was to rule until the constitution was approved and government elections held. Progress was slow and in late 2013 the GNC tried to illegally extend its power for another year. Despite that elections were held in 2014 but the GNC did not like the composition of the new House of Representatives (HoR). The UN recognized the HoR but most of the GNC members (who tended to be more tribal and religiously conservative) refused to give up power, took control of Tripoli and became known as the Tripoli government. The HoR and the government it had formed fled east to Tobruk and became known as the Tobruk government. HoR rallied most of eastern Libya behind them. The UN recognized the H0R and condemned the GNC.

In late 2015 the UN declared that it only recognized the GNA, which it helped form. The support is weakening even though the West, and especially the United States, still recognize the GNA. It was American air support that helped pro-GNA militias take the coastal city of Sirte from ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) in late 2016. But while the GNA was concentrating on Sirte the HoR had already rid itself of ISIL and most other Islamic terror groups and was able to take control of most oil production and shipping facilities in eastern Libya. HoR also gained the support of the other North African nations. HoR also gained the very public support of Russia. In addition to regular visits from general Hiftar Russia has agreed to sell HoR weapons. The GNA has asked NATO to provide assistance in recruiting and training a new military. Most of what was left of the pre-2011 Libyan armed forces was rebuilt by Hiftar, who was a Libyan Army officer who turned against Kaddafi long before 2011.

The state controlled Russian oil company has agreed to work with the Libyan NOC (National Oil Company) to repair, upgrade and expand Libyan oil facilities. One thing the GNA and HoR eventually agreed on was to cooperate when it comes to the Central Bank and NOC. Both these institutions are essential to pay for needed imports. With this understanding, and the more capable Hiftar forces controlling most of the oil facilities the NOC sees an opportunity to get production from 650,000 barrels a day at the end of 2016 to a million barrels a day by the end of 2017 and double that by 2022. Pre-2011 production was 1.6 million barrels a day. One thing that all Libyans can agree on is that the standard of living has declined sharply since 2011. Per capita income is about 30 percent of what it was in 2011 and that will further decline until oil shipments get back to pre-2011 levels. Mass starvation is no longer a theoretical threat or conspiracy theory. It is happening and that is causing many factions to become cooperative, for now.

Oil income, and who controls it, is the main reason why the GNA is losing its mandate and the HoR is now a contender, not a rebellious holdout. HoR has also shown itself to be more effective at dealing with the smugglers, especially the gangs that are getting rich moving illegal migrants and stolen (from Libya) oil across the Mediterranean to Europe. The HoR, partly because they have a more professional security force (led by Hiftar), also suffers less fighting between militias. Such armed squabbles are becoming more common in GNA territory.

The problem with Hiftar began when he insisted on remaining head of the armed forces after the GNA was created. Many factions in the GNA opposed that. The UN and the West wanted to limit Hiftars authority. Thus another former officer (and recent subordinate of and rival to Hiftar) was named GNA Defense Minister. Since 2014 Hiftar has had the support of many Arab nations who see him as the kind of strong man who could unify Libya. But many Western nations (and the UN) disagreed and feared that Hiftar wanted to become another dictator like Kaddafi. Most Libyans feel this is absurd as while Hifar was once a general in Kaddafis army he turned on Kaddafi in the late 1980s and was forced to flee the country. After that he was openly critical of Kaddafi and risked his life to return after the 2011 revolution to rally the eastern tribes against the Islamic terrorist groups that were blocking formation of a national government. Unfortunately the same qualities that make Hiftar an effective military leader are interpreted by many militia leaders as a threat to their power. Then there is the fact that many Libyans accuse the GNA of being imposed on Libya by the UN and the West. While this is all theoretical (as are most of the conspiracies Libyans use to blame their problems on) the lack of unity and growing economic crises are very real and immediate threats and are doing more to unite Libyans than anything else.

General Hiftar was recognized (by the HoR) as head of the Tobruk military in early 2015 and was expected to continue under the GNA. Before 2015 Hiftar was, technically, just another self-made warlord. Because he was a former Kaddafi general and long-time Kaddafi opponent Hiftar managed to create a coalition of tribal militias and army units in late 2013 and proved to be very effective fighting the Islamic terrorists in eastern Libya. Since early 2014 Hiftar has managed to get most of the post-Kaddafi armed forces under his control and backed Tobruk pleas for foreign assistance in obtaining more weapons and other military supplies. Hiftar has been effective but not as much as he could have been, at least according to some Western military officials. He is a career military man and one big advantage Hiftar has is that he takes care of his troops and uses tactics that minimize casualties among his followers. This makes Hiftar very popular with forces he controls and makes it easier to attract new factions (usually tribal militias).

The Hiftar problem is more complicated because many Arab government have been unofficially supplying him with military equipment and weapons. The main supporters (since 2014) are Egypt and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) who have sent over a hundred armored and unarmored trucks via Egypt. Although there is a UN arms embargo on all factions in Libya the UAE (and some other Arab states) have always backed the more secular Libyan rebels and recognized (along with Egypt and the UN) the HoR government. But these Arab states also back the GNA while still believing that Hiftar is best suited to continue as military commander. Despite an internationally recognized government the arms embargo the UN never made much noise about the UAE and Egyptian shipments because the vehicles, weapons and ammo go to what is left of the Libyan Army, which Hiftar has turned into the most effective counter-terror force in Libya.

Egypt gained something important because of its support of Hiftar and that was law and more order on its western border with Libya. Egypt is particularly important to the HoR because Egypt is again run by a former general and feels Libya needs the same kind of leader. But Egypt is under a lot of pressure from the UN to get behind the GNA, which Egypt sees as too cozy with Islamic conservative groups. Algeria feels the same way as do many Tunisians.

The Islamic State Heads South

By the end of 2016 most of the remaining ISIL members and their families (a thousand or so people, most of them armed) fled south from their former bases in Sirte and Benghazi. In eastern Libya the Hiftar forces are following the ISIL remnants to Derna (200 kilometers southwest of Benghazi). In early 2016 ISIL was driven from Derna, which they had been unsuccessfully trying to take since late 2015. Derna is about the same size (100,000 population) as the ISIL capital Sirte. The ISIL reverses at Derna were the result of stubborn local militias and the recent arrival of Hiftar forces. Hiftaris not popular with some of the Derna militias, especially those composed of Islamic conservatives and these groups eventually fought back. Now they are being pushed out of the area. The GNA accuses Hiftar of illegally attempting to take control of Derna while Hiftar says he wants to remove any Islamic conservative or terrorist militias still in Derna. Meanwhile the pro-GNA militias that drove ISIL out of Sirte are much less enthusiastic about chasing ISIL remnants south into desert. That is one reason GNA is calling on NATO for military assistance. Aside from the occasional airstrike and a hundred or so special operations troops on the ground, NATO prefers to keep its people out of Libya. Russia has a similar attitude as do the neighboring countries. All of these openly support Hiftar and note that Hiftar is able to keep up the pressure on ISIL in eastern Libya while the ISIL refugees from the central Libya coastal city of Sirte find that the GNA forces are not nearly as effective in dealing with potentially hostile militias in the south.

Cause And Effect

Not surprisingly Libya is one the ten most corrupt nations on the planet. Libya is 170 out of 176 countries ranked in 2016 for ability to resist corruption. Africa and the Middle East have long been the most corrupt regions in the world and staying clean is difficult even in the best of times. For example Somalia was rated the most corrupt nation in the world and has held that dubious distinction for a decade. Corruption in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The most corrupt nations (usually North Korea, Somalia or, since 2011, South Sudan) have a rating of under fifteen while for the least corrupt (usually Denmark) it tends to be 90 or higher. The current Libyan score is 14 compared to 34 for Algeria, 34 for Egypt, 41 for Tunisia, 35 for Niger, 37 for Morocco, 47 for Italy, 17 for Iraq, 41 for Turkey, 46 for Saudi Arabia, 28 for Lebanon, 41 for Kuwait, 66 for the UAE (United Arab Emirates), 29 for Iran, 29 for Russia, 40 for China, 28 for Nigeria, 45 for South Africa, 40 for India, 72 for Japan, 53 for South Korea, 12 for North Korea, 11 for South Sudan, and 74 for the United States. A lower corruption score is common with nations in economic trouble. Fixing an existing culture of corruption has proved a most difficult challenge and Libya was corrupt even when Kaddafi was in charge.

February 23, 2017: In the west (Tripoli) pro-GNA militias began fighting after one militia kidnapped four members of a rival group. Such violence has become more obvious since mid-2016 and much worse in 2017.

In the east the HoR government has banned anyone age 18-45 from leaving the country without receiving written permission from the government. This is a temporary measure to reduce the movement of Islamic terrorists or Libyans wanting to go join an Islamic terrorist group elsewhere. Such people can still get out of the country but it is more expensive and riskier as it usually involves a people smuggler.

February 22, 2017: Italy is working with the HoR to open a consulate in Tobruk. This comes after Italy reopened its embassy (to the GNA) in Tripoli on January 9th. Italy had shut down the embassy in February 2015. Back then Italy warned its citizens to stay away. But Italian companies and individuals will work in Libya, at least anywhere the locals can provide security. Growing violence, especially by Islamic militias caused more embassies to close in 2014 and 2015. Similar violence between pro-GNA militias is now making Tripoli less safe. Italy has noted that Tobruk is much safer, which is why it is negotiating with the GNA to allow a consulate in HoR controlled Tobruk. That consulate will act as an embassy to the increasingly powerful HoR government.

February 14, 2017: HoR and GNA officials met in Egypt to seek a way to unite the country. This meeting did not achieve that but everyone did agree on more such conferences. Another development was everyone there noting the the fact that the HoR was gaining support in Libya (and internationally) and the GNA was losing it. Egypt has long, and quite openly, supported Hiftar.

February 3, 2017: In the east (Benghazi) the army suffered several dozen casualties (and at least nine dead) as they cleared another neighborhood of Islamic terrorists who had long operated there. When the army clears a neighborhood it tends to stay clear of Islamic terrorists or gangsters. Benghazi used to be full of Islamic terrorists and unruly militias. But since 2014 the Hiftar forces have cleaned out one area after another.

February 1, 2017: In the southwest, across the border in Algeria (Illizi Province) Algerian troops patrolling the Libyan border had a tip about a route from Libya that was being used by Islamic terrorists and smugglers. The troops spotted and ambushed three Islamic terrorists coming from Libya and killed them. The three were smuggling 33 kg (73 pounds) of hashish.

January 27, 2017: Morocco rounded up a group of students (the leader was 20) who had organized an ISIL cell and obtained weapons. Police seized a submachine gun and seven pistols plus ammo and some explosives. The suspects said they had obtained the weapons from a smuggler operating out of Algeria. The weapons were traced to Libya, where several hundred thousand rifles, pistols and other weapons were stolen from government warehouses during the 2011 revolution. The students planned to kill politicians and bomb embassies.

January 20, 2017: In Tunisia officials from the Arab League and AU (African Union) signed an agreement to not send military forces into Libya and instead seek a political solution inside Libya. Most Arab Leagues support or favor the HoR as do all the neighbors of Libya.

January 17, 2017: In Algeria Libyan HoR officials met with Algerian leaders to discuss Algerian efforts to achieve a stable government in Libya. Egypt and many other Arab states, plus Russia, back HoR over the UN recognized GNA Algeria has regular talks with leaders from both governments and is not taking sides, at least not yet but clearly favors the HoR.
ExtraTorrent, RarBG, Demonoid, LimeTorrents, Torrent Downloads, TorrentProject, YTS and EZTV targeted by Australian authorities in a fresh crackdown after The Pirate Bay ban

Roadshow Films, Foxtel, Disney, Paramount, Columbia, and 20th Century Fox  these names are becoming larger than life for torrent lovers. Roadshow Films in particular. After getting a favorable Australian court verdict, these movie production houses are moving in for a kill to completely get rid of torrent websites from Australia.

Readers will remember that in December, at the Federal Court, Justice John Nicholas ruled that The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt and streaming service SolarMovie would all have to be rendered inaccessible to consumers in Australia. The judge also included a dozen of proxy and mirror torrent websites.

Immediately after the court order, the movie producers pressurized the Australian ISPs to block the big daddy of torrent websites, The Pirate Bay. More than fifty Australian Internet service providers started blocking The Pirate Bay at the ISP level.

However blocking TPB didnt suffice for the movie studios. They moved this week for the kill by pressurizing the ISPs to further block dozen more torrent websites. The new Australian blockade includes many popular torrent websites like ExtraTorrent, RarBG, Demonoid, LimeTorrents, Torrent Downloads, TorrentProject, YTS and EZTV. Movie streaming websites such as 123Movies, CouchTuner, Icefilms, Movie4K, PrimeWire, Viooz, Putlocker, WatchFree and WatchSeries are also targeted in this new round of blockage. The movie producers have been thorough to include direct download sites RlsBB and TehParadox and several proxy and mirror torrent website.Computer World reports that Roadshow Films is pressuring for a complete block of 41 torrent websites.

In the letter to the Australian ISPs like Telstra, Optus, Vocus, TPG, and their subsidiaries Roadshow Films is urging them to block the following websites.

 123Movies

 Alluc

 Bitsnoop

 Couchtuner

 Demonoid

 Extra.to

 ExtraTorrent.cc

 EYNY

 EZTV

 FMovies

 GenVideos

 Hdmovieswatch

 Icefilms

 Kinogo

 KissCartoon

 Limetorrents

 MegaShare

 Movie4k

 Phimmoi

 Piratebay.to

 PrimeWire

 Putlocker.ch

 Putlocker.plus

 Putlocker.run

 Putlockers.vip

 Rarbg

 RIsbb

 Shush

 Softarchive

 Spacemov

 Tehparadox

 Torrent Downloads

 TorrentProject

 Viooz

 WatchFree

 WatchSeries

 Xemphimso

 Xmovies8.org

 XMovies8.tv

 Yify Torrent

 YTS

If the Australian ISP follow the new order to the spirit, Australian citizens can no longer download torrents even for educational purposes. Many legitimate big files are transferred using torrents because they are.,..well big. This torrent block is going to hurt Austrialian torrent lovers and at the same time drive the use of VPN in Australia.

If you are in Australia and want to download torrents for educational purpose, you can use top three alternatives to The Pirate Bay or top KickassTorrents alternatives. You can also use VPN services to bypass the censorship but do remember that this would be in violation of the court order. You can get yourself the best VPN service from the list of 100 VPN services rated on their services and price from here.
The courts have ruled Republicans gerrymandered our state illegally into segments where Democrats could never win. This has been proven, this is illegal.

Now they want to cheat more. Cheat us, the taxpayers, into paying for more high-priced lawyers to defend their wrongdoing to the United States Supreme Court. They're giving the lawyers a blank check.

Meanwhile, our interstate reconstruction sits on hold. School funding has diminished. There is no slush fund for these lawyers. We don't want our tax dollars wasted. What is Walker doing with his budget?

They were caught. They should correct their (intentional) mistake and move on to create new districts that make voting fair for all. Please contact your state representatives and let them know we want honesty an integrity back in Wisconsin's government.

Cheryl Heck

Mount Pleasant
Pandora, by all accounts, is your typical sort of playful pup  though she might be a little more mischievous than most. Within a few months of rescuing her as a puppy, Pandora's owner Lucas Alves Magalhaes learned she has a penchant for digging around in their backyard, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. On one occasion, he'd even discovered his BBQ partially buried there, and the dog looking proud to have helped with its safekeeping. Still, nothing could have prepared him for what resulted from Pandora's most recent excavation.

Lucas Alves Magalhaes

Last week, Pandora was outside, doing her thing, when Magalhaes noticed she had dug up some mysterious object, and was traipsing about with it in her mouth. "I couldn't see what it was, so I called her in," Magalhaes told The Dodo. "When I lifted her head, I almost died from laughing."

Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs

Lucas Alves Magalhaes

Pandora suddenly had a goofy new smile.

Lucas Alves Magalhaes

As it turns out, during her digging, the dog had evidently happened upon some dentures, which she was now wearing as if they were her own teeth.

Lucas Alves Magalhaes

It was gross, yes  but also rather amusing.

Lucas Alves Magalhaes

After snapping a few photos for posterity, Magalhaes took the denture away from Pandora before she got too accustomed to her toothy treasure. But where did it come from in the first place? "An elderly couple owned this house before me, and I think maybe it was theirs," he said. "They may have changed their dentures and buried this one in the backyard. There's no other explanation, because I know it's not ours." And with that, Pandora was back to her old self again  at least until her next discovery.
This week, a stray dog was lying lifelessly in Echo Lake Park in Fort Worth, Texas - an infamous dumping ground for unwanted dogs - when Judy Obregon approached him. Obregon is locally known as "the dog lady" because she does what so many others can't - she walks around the dumping ground, searching for survivors among the dogs and puppies abandoned there. Some are wounded and bruised, others were likely once used as bait dogs in dogfighting rings, and all have been left to die. Too often, Obregon - who runs the The Abandoned Ones (TAO), a rescue organization that gives surviving discarded dogs another chance - finds mere carcasses. And so when she approached another unmoving body this week, she was almost sure it was yet another dead dog.

The Abandoned Ones

But then she saw the dog take a breath. So Obregon immediately rushed him to a local veterinary hospital. Staffers believed the dog had somehow ingested poison; bags that appeared to contain it were found nearby. The dog, whom rescuers have named Blue, was found just in time.

Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Guy And Wild Shark Have Been Best Friends For Decades

The Abandoned Ones

At the vet, Blue was very weak. But with a little care and encouragement, he managed to stand up on his own. He also managed to eat and drink plenty of water. In the following days, while Blue gained his strength and underwent some tests, he improved tremendously. He was even able to go on a walk. And despite all he'd been through, he was in great spirits, happy to sniff around the sidewalk. He was generally all smiles.

"Blue is doing better," Emily Walker, a volunteer with TAO, told The Dodo, explaining that he is currently boarding at the vet hospital so he can remain under supervision. But he seems like he'll be ready for a foster home soon enough.

The Abandoned Ones

"We are still looking for a foster for Blue," Walker said. "He is so sweet."

The Abandoned Ones
When the rescue team arrived, one rhino had already died, and the other was so badly injured they thought he'd probably die as well. Vrystaat and Impi, both 2-year-old male rhinos, lived on a South African "farm" (the term for a privately owned game reserve) close to the Botswana border. Their farm had anti-poaching security, and Vrystaat and Impi lived right next to the owner's house. But when the owner was away one night, poachers found a way to move in.

A group of rhinos on a reserve in South Africa | Saving the Survivors

"They were either waiting or they were just opportunistic," Dr. Zoe Glyphis, a veterinarian for Saving the Survivors, an organization that provides emergency vet care for rhino poaching victims, told The Dodo. Warning: Graphic imagesbelow The poachers shot Vrystaat - once through the shoulder, and once through the eyes. Then they hacked off Vrystaat's tiny front horn, which they could sell for a large amount of money.

Vrystaat after the attack | Saving the Survivors

Then they shot Impi through the abdomen, shattering his hip joint, but they didn't take his horns. "We think they shot Impi because he tried to protect Vrystaat," Dr. Glyphis said. Impy died from severe peritonitis, an inflammation of the tissue that lines the abdomen and abdominal organs, according to Dr. Glyphis. But Vrystaat had somehow - miraculously - survived. When the farm's owner returned the next morning and found the rhinos, he immediately contacted Saving the Survivors, asking for their help. A team that included Dr. Glyphis arrived as quickly as it could.

Dodo Shows Cat Crazy Fluffy Cat Wants To Sit On His Dad At All Times

Vrystaat getting help from the rescue team | Saving the Survivors

"On arrival at the farm we were met with the lifeless body of little Impi," Dr. Glyphis said. "It is the most gut-wrenching and heartbreaking sight to see these animals and what they are subjected to."

Saving the Survivors

The team started treating Vrystaat immediately.

Saving the Survivors

Saving the Survivors

"Unfortunately poaching is rampant everywhere in South Africa," Dr. Glyphis said. "There are very few places that are safe anymore."

Vrystaat with bandages over his wounds | Saving the Survivors

No arrests have been made yet for the attack on Impi and Vrystaat. Vrystaat is not out of the woods yet, and he has a long road to recovery, Dr. Glyphis said. He'll require constant wound cleaning, specialized bandages and doses of anti-inflammatories and antibiotics over an 18-month period.

Vrystaat without his bandages | Saving the Survivors

Not surprisingly, Vrystaat doesn't trust people anymore. "From being a hand-raised calf who was accustomed to being around people, he has become completely distrusting of humans," Dr. Glyphis said. Yet Dr. Glyphis remains hopeful for Vrystaat's recovery.

Saving the Survivors
So here we go again. Youre just days away from the RRSP deadline and youre scrambling to make a contribution.

Thanks to online banking and investing, February isnt as busy as it used to be at bricks-and-mortar banks in the hours leading up to March 1. And less than one quarter of Canadians even contribute to their plans, continuing a downward trend over the last decade due in part to the creation of the Tax Free Savings Account and in part to record personal debt levels.

But TD financial planner Shelley Smith says theres still a last-minute rush to get contributions in right up to the very last day.

She finds it funny that some people will spend hours or even days researching smartphones and mobile phone plan providers before deciding. But a major financial decision like planning for your future should take the same level of commitment, if not more.

Not to worry, though. She has tips for all the procrastinators.

The first step to making good RRSP decisions is to figure out if making the contribution is the right course of action in the first place, she says.

She recommends working with a financial planner to decide if a contribution makes sense for you and to help make recommendations on where to invest the money.

Other keys to remember

Know your contribution limit. For those in need of a quick response, the Canada Revenue Agency has mobile apps to help you gather information quickly and securely. If you dont have access to apps, check the available contribution room for 2016 amount found on the RRSP/PRPP deduction-limit statement on your latest notice of assessment (or notice of reassessment), or call the Tax Information Phone Service (TIPS) line at 1-800-267-6999.

Your contribution is separate from your investment decision. So you can get your contribution receipt now without rushing your investment decision. RRSP savings accounts and money-market mutual funds are quick and penalty-free investments where your contribution can sit temporarily while you decide if you want to put it in GICs, bonds, stocks, or other investments.

If youre too busy, your spouse can hit the bank for you. As long as he or she has your power of attorney. But most banks and financial institutions have extended hours to accommodate RRSP procrastinators.

Need more to contribute?

Consider an RRSP Loan. You can invest the money now; once your tax refund is in, you can use it to pay down the loan. But youll need to be disciplined with your payments in paying off the rest of the loan. Paying interest for longer than a year will eat into your returns.

Use money sitting in a low-interest savings account or a cashable GIC. Then use your refund to build back your savings, or consider contributing to your tax-free savings account.

Put big purchases on hold. Whether its a trip down south or a new car, postpone that expense for a month or two and put the money into your RRSP. Use your tax refund to help fund your splurge at a later date and feel great knowing your retirement savings are growing.

Dont time the market. Successful market timing requires two correct decisions: when to get in and when to get out. Guessing right once is a 50/50 proposition. Guessing right twice drops the odds to 25 per cent.

Get on top of it for next year. Trying to put together investment money before the deadline can be stressful, especially after the holidays. So set up an automatic savings plan, even if its only $50 or $100 a month, and you can take comfort in funding your future automatically.

Some of my clients who are not saving enough for retirement say they cant afford to contribute because there are too many demands on their money, while more of them say theyre saving for other priorities, Smith says.

The fact is, saving doesnt have to be complicated  or last minute.

SHARE:
Controversy continues to follow Canadian author Joseph Boyden. Accusations of similarities between one of his texts and a story by an Ojibway storyteller have now surfaced, barely a month after the authenticity of his indigenous identity came under question.

An article by Jorge Barrera published online by APTN focuses on similarities found in a small book by healer and storyteller Ron Geyshick called Te Bwe Win and a story titled Bearwalker that appeared in Boydens 2001 short-story collection Born With a Tooth. Boyden denies he copied the story.

The similarities were brought to light by Chuck Bourgeois, a graduate student at the University of Manitoba, who is quoted in the APTN piece. In a draft paper available on the University of Manitoba website, Bourgeois outlines the similar passages, and notes that the story by Geyshick contained details that made his story unique.

Boyden, award-winning author of The Orenda and Through Black Spruce, responded to the accusation on Twitter: I have always been fascinated by the oral stories that travel through communities. I first encountered this one in Fort Albany in the mid-1990s . . . I heard the story again in Moosonee.

He goes on to say that I saw it as a type of modern parable, a Christian story, filtered through the distinct local experience and lens. The story, he says, stuck with him and he eventually wrote the story Bearwalker.

The point is that Ron Geyshicks piece is not a story, its not a sacred legend. Its very much is own autobiography and hes talking very concretely about how he became a medicine person, said Bourgeois in a phone interview with the Star.

Boydens publisher, Penguin Random House, said that the author was in transit on Thursday and was unable to comment.

SHARE:
Get Out

Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Lil Rel Howery and Caleb Landry Jones. Opens Friday at major theatres. 104 minutes. 14A

A United Kingdom

Starring David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Jack Davenport, Tom Felton and Vusi Kunene. Directed by Amma Asante. Opens Friday at Cineplex Yonge-Dundas. 111 minutes. PG

Fifty years after Guess Whos Coming to Dinner jolted moviegoers with its frank depiction of interracial romance, moviemakers still find potency in the topic.

Its the theme of two films opening in Toronto theatres Friday  Get Out and A United Kingdom  which says something about the slow pace of social change and also about our collective desire to revisit stories.

Theres a vast difference of approach, and also of impact, between the audacious horror of Get Out and the serious historical drama of A United Kingdom.

Yet there are fascinating similarities: diverse love is met with diverse obstruction in both films, and symbols of class distinctions  a fancy tea cup and a sherry glass  make loud statements about the many small ways an authority figure can patronize a perceived subordinate.

Get Out will get the audiences out this weekend. Its the directing debut of writer/director Jordan Peele, known for his Key & Peele sketch comedy series with Keegan-Michael Key.

The movie proceeds with this scarily satiric notion: What if Guess Whos Coming to Dinner began as social commentary and morphed into a horrifying demonstration of taking cultural appropriation to extremes?

Daniel Kaluuya is Chris, an arty photographer who has been dating the liberally minded Rose (Allison Williams) for five months. Its now time to meet Roses parents: her neurosurgeon dad Dean (Bradley Whitford), therapist mom Missy (Catherine Keener) and excitable brother Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones).

Chris is a little worried: Do they know Im black? he asks Rose. His close pal Rod (Lil Rel Howery), an airport security official who thinks hes a detective, warns him not to go.

On the long road trip to the familys expansive and secluded rural estate, Chris and Rose tangle with a racist cop straight out of Central Casting.

Theyre in for a whole other brand of bigotry, however, when they reach the family manse, despite assurances that everybody would have voted for Barack Obama for a third term, if only theyd had the chance.

Peele takes his time getting into the terror aspect of the tale, although hints are there  why are the African-American groundskeeper (Marcus Henderson) and maid (Betty Gabriel) acting so strangely?  and the stalking camera and Psycho-esque soundtrack strings risk turning the dread into horror parody. But when the blood starts flowing, along with audience cheering, the battle for hearts and minds is well and truly on.

A United Kingdom, directed by Amma Asante (Belle), seeks to win people over in a quieter fashion. Its based on the true story of the unsanctioned love between African King Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), heir to the throne of Bechuanaland (now called Botswana), and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), a white office worker from London.

They caused an international incident  and scandalous headlines  in the late 1940s when they announced their intention to marry and to become the royal couple of Bechuanaland, a plan that upset both whites and blacks.

Oyelowo and Pike make for a convincing couple, even if the romance is the love-at-first-sight variety that requires a certain leap of faith. What sparked the roaring fires of this wild amour, a union that Ruths father (Nicholas Lyndhurst) warns will bring a life of insults and shame?

At least hes upfront about his ignorance and racism. Not so the many stiff-necked bureaucrats of the British government, who employ many deceitful euphemisms to oppose the marriage.

Among them are the sherry-sipping Sir Alistair Canning (Jack Davenport) who declares it a matter of diplomatic necessity to keep Seretse and Ruth apart. This diplomatic necessity includes appeasing the racist rulers of South Africa, who are about to enact the evil legislation known as apartheid. Bechuanaland borders South Africa, and it wouldnt look right to have a high-profile mixed-race couple right on the doorstep.

The bad guys dont all have pale faces. Seretse also gets serious pushback from his uncle Tshekedi Khama (Vusi Kunene), the regent of the Bamangwato tribe, who cant abide the thought of a white queen on the throne: Do not belittle your kingdom, he warns his nephew.

Other members of the tribe express similar views: Do you understand what Mother of our Nation means? a skeptical woman asks Ruth.

With so many conflicting voices and red tape tangling the narrative of A United Kingdom, its perhaps inevitable that Assante and screenwriter Guy Hibbert (Eye in the Sky) lose focus of the inspiring romance between Seretse and Ruth. There arent enough scenes of them together as a happy couple.

Fortunately, Oyelowo uses the gift for oratory he previously displayed in Selma to command all ears and eyes. Hes speaking not just to the crowd but also the future, as witness his response when a journalist asks him why hes fighting so hard against seemingly insurmountable odds: You have to start somewhere. Indeed, and the struggle never ends.

Also opening Friday: Colm McCarthys zombie horror The Girl with All the Gifts, starring Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close and Sennia Nanua, at Cinplex Yonge-Dundas; and Sebastian Langes Transcendental Meditation documentary Shadows of Paradise, featuring David Lynch, at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.

SHARE:
Its supposed to be easy this year: La La Land dances away with Oscars gold. Thats what most of the pundits, oddsmakers and advance kudos say.

Damien Chazelles romantic ode to Hollywood movies and musicals is indeed the film to beat at Sundays 89th Academy Awards, with a record-tying 14 nominations to its name. The last two films to have 14 noms, Titanic (1997) and All About Eve (1950), both took Best Picture along with numerous other Oscars.

But these two movies triumphed in years when a simple majority of votes could win Best Picture. The preferential ballot now employed for this category means that second, third and subsequent choices also factor in. This means challengers like Moonlight and Arrival, with eight nominations apiece, could snatch the top gold away from La La Land.

And we cant rule out a come-from-behind win by the crowd-pleasing Hidden Figures, currently the domestic box-officer leader among the nine Best Picture nominees, which also include Manchester by the Sea, Hacksaw Ridge, Lion, Fences and Hell or High Water.

There are also potential upsets in store for other categories. Heres my annual will/could/should predictions for Oscar night:

Best Picture

Will:La La Land or Moonlight

Could:Hidden Figures

Should:Moonlight

Why: The safe money is supposedly on La La Land to win, but I consider this category too close to call. Moonlights unique coming-of-age story has so much resonance to modern times, Im thinking  hoping  that the Academy will go for it. And Hidden Figures just might surprise everybody, much like Spotlight did last year.

Best Director

Will: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight, orDamien Chazelle, La La Land

Could: Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Should: Barry Jenkins

Why: Best Director and Best Picture were historically awarded in lockstep, but recent times have changed that unofficial tradition. If voters go La La Land for Best Picture, then I think theyll choose Jenkins for Best Director, which would significantly make him the first African-American director to win this honour. And if they choose Moonlight for Best Picture, then Chazelle for Best Director. Of course, they might go in an entirely different direction and choose Canadas Villeneuve, for his sci-fi wonder Arrival.

Best Actress

Will: Emma Stone, La La Land

Could: Natalie Portman, Jackie or Isabelle Huppert, Elle

Should: Natalie Portman, Jackie

Why: Front-runnerStone is all set to be the belle of the Oscars with her enchanting performance playing an aspiring Hollywood actress. But the inner fortitude Portman displayed as the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy impressed me more. Huppert is long overdue for an Oscar and a win is both possible and deserved.Theres a wealth of riches in this category: Ruth Negga (Loving) and Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins) would also be worthy winners.

Best Actor

Will: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

Could: Denzel Washington, Fences

Should: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

Why: Affleck and Washington each play tortured souls in their respective roles of defeated family men. Afflecks performance was bone deep and truly memorable; Washingtons was solid yet showy. But Denzel is a two-time Oscar champ and he won at SAG this year, so this may be a Casey at the Bat story  and you know what happened to that other Casey.

Best Supporting Actress

Will: Viola Davis, Fences

Could: Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

Should: Naomie Harris, Moonlight

Why: This is the easiest Oscar to call and the toughest to endorse. Davis will win for her tremendous performance as the stoic wife in Fences, although its arguably category fraud: she really should be up for Best Actress.

Williams defines strong support with her brief Manchester scenes, including one showstopper that breaks all hearts. But Harris exceeds all stereotypes and invites empathy with her moving portrayal of a junkie mom in Moonlight.

Best Supporting Actor

Will: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Could: Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water

Should: Mahershala Ali

Why: Ali has been the obvious choice here ever since he first wowed audiences at TIFF and other fall festivals with his deeply affecting and stereotype-busting portrayal of a fatherly drug dealer in Moonlight. It will be a huge upset if he loses  but if he does, the prize would likely go to Jeff Bridges for his wily lawman character of Hell or High Water.

Best Original Screenplay

Will: Manchester by the Sea

Could: La La Land

Should: Manchester by the Sea

Why: Voters often bestow this as a consolation prize to films they arent choosing for Best Picture, so Manchesterby the Sea may win for that reason. More than this, though, writer/director Kenneth Lonergan truly deserves recognition for finding a beating heart within the depths of tragedy and despair, and also some welcome notes of comedy. La La Land wins here only if voters are completely besotted by the film, which they may be.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Will: Moonlight

Could: Arrival

Should: Moonlight

Why: How do you find poetry in a crime-infested and crack-ridden Miami neighbourhood? Writer/director Barry Jenkins shows how with Moonlight, only his second film, which he adapted from an unproduced play by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Moonlight is heavily favoured to win, but it would be no shame if Eric Heisserers dramatic and impactful adaption of Ted Chiangs cerebral short story for Story of Your Life took the prize for Arrival.

And the rest 

Whether or not it wins the top prize, La La Land will likely be the overall winner Sunday. Those 14 nominations have to count for something, dont they? Besides possible wins for picture, director, actress and original screenplay, I see it taking gold for cinematography, editing, sound mixing, production design, score and original song (City of Stars).

Best Animated Feature to Zootopia, the wildly popular story of a world where the animals are running the show. (Insert Donald Trump joke here.) Speaking of animals, Best Visual Effects has to go to The Jungle Book for making believable and fearsome critters out of thin air and digital code.

Jackie was robbed of a Best Picture nomination, in my opinion, but it should at least win for Best Costume Design, especially for the perfection of that memory-laden pink Chanel dress worn by Portman. On the other hand, its up against the formidable La La Land and the flashy Allied, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Florence Foster Jenkins. And for the related category of Best Makeup and Hairstyling, I think the cosmic creations for Star Trek Beyond will boldly go for the gold.

Best Foreign Language Film looked like Maren Ades to lose, for her hilarious and heartfelt German father-daughter comedy Toni Erdmann. Im still calling for a win, but Trumps anti-Muslim travel ban may swing protest votes to Asghar Farhadis Iranian drama The Salesman. And we cant rule out the feel-good vote going for the lovable curmudgeon of Hannes Holms Swedish dramedy A Man Called Ove.

In my mind theres no contest for the Best Animated Short winner: Pearl, a father-daughter musical road trip that brought tears to my eyes and also happens to be the first VR film nominated for an Oscar. But the favourite looks to be Disney/Pixars Piper, a sweet story of a mother and baby sandpiper vs. scary waves.

Best Live Action Short is another tough call  theyre all good  but my favourite is La Femme et le TGV, an enchanting story in the Wes Anderson vein starring the rarely seen Jane Birkin as a lonely baker who finds love both rapid and elusive.

We could argue whether or not the nearly eight-hour O.J.: Made in America really qualifies as a film, but its excellence seals the deal as Best Documentary Feature winner  and thats in a category that includes the first-rate I Am Not Your Negro (opening Friday in Toronto) and 13th. As for Best Documentary Short, Joes Violin plucks the right strings with its story of shared musical interests between a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor and a 12-year-old Bronx schoolgirl.

Finally, if La La Land wins Best Sound Mixing as I predicted above, then Hacksaw Ridge will likely beat it for Best Sound Editing. Why? Because the Academy often chooses musicals for Best Sound Mixing but it loves noisier movies for Best Sound Editing. Hence war film Hacksaw Ridge, likely the only Oscar for Mel Gibson's comeback movie. Which seems about right  La La Land can't win everything, can it?

SHARE:
OTTAWAIndigenous leaders are slamming the government for racial discrimination and a lack of funding that forces too many children on reserves to be taken from their families into foster care.

Clutching a plush teddy bear at a Thursday morning press conference, indigenous childrens advocate Cindy Blackstock called on the Liberal government in Ottawa to show the same leadership and urgency for indigenous kids that it has shown in bringing Syrian refugees to Canada.

This is a country that stands up for human rights around the world and yet we are racially discriminating against little kids, she said.

I cant tell you how tired I am of seeing the government apologize to successive generations of First Nations children for problems they could have prevented, she said. The time for saying Im sorry and the time for sending condolences has got to be over.

Speaking later outside the House of Commons, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett acknowledged the problem. She said kids are absolutely being taken from their homes because of poverty and a lack of local services. While describing a disproportionate level of indigenous kids in foster care, she could not give an exact number because the government doesnt track that data.

The system is broken and we have to reform it, she said. That includes a push to give each provincial and local agency working in indigenous communities $25,000 to gather foster care statistics and determine where money is needed, she said.

We are exerting every ounce of political muscle on this.

The indigenous leaders  including Blackstock, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde and Ontario Sen. Kim Pate  were marking the 10th anniversary of a human rights tribunal case that led to a landmark decision last year. The tribunal concluded that the federal government discriminated against thousands of indigenous kids for failing to provide adequate funding for services.

In response to the human rights ruling, Ottawa set aside $382 million last summer to pay for health care under Jordans Principle. Named for a little boy who died in 2005, the principle is meant to guarantee that indigenous youth with pressing health problems receive care quickly  whether Ottawa or a province pays for it can be figured out later.

The funding is part of a wider commitment to spend $1 billion on indigenous health and childrens services over five years.

Blackstock, Bellegarde and Pate, however, argued the government is still to failing to address disparities between the quality of health and child welfare available to kids on reserves  which are funded by Ottawa  and services for children in the provincial systems.

They also said the rollout of this new money is too slow.

The fact that this is not seen as an emergency is a travesty in this country, said Pate.

Health Minister Jane Philpott said the government is making progress, especially when it comes to releasing more money for urgent-need cases that apply under Jordans Principle.

Weve got a lot more work to do, but were determined to make sure there is no child who will go without the care that they need, she said.

As of early February, Health Canada had allocated $40 million of this new money for 3,200 indigenous children in need of urgent care, said Sony Perron, senior assistant deputy minister with the departments First Nations and Inuit Health Branch.

New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash accused the government of dragging its feet. Pointing to the creation Wednesday of a ministerial panel to review laws and policies affecting indigenous people, more than a year into the Liberal mandate, Saganash questioned the governments will to act rather than undergo more consultations.

Most files for First Nations, Inuit and Metis people are urgent, because theyve been neglected for so long, he said. (The government) promised a lot of things to indigenous people in this country, and they failed them.

SHARE:
OTTAWAVice-Admiral Mark Norman, who was abruptly removed as the second-in-command of Canadas military, denies that hes done anything wrong and looks forward to being cleared, according to his lawyer.

High-profile Toronto lawyer Marie Henein, who successfully defended broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi, now has Norman as a client and, in a forceful statement, said she hopes he can soon return to his post.

Its been just over a month since Norman was abruptly and mysteriously removed as the vice-chief of defence staff. In a statement issued Thursday, Henein broke the silence he has maintained since his ouster.

Vice-Admiral Norman looks forward to being cleared and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing. He has at all times served his country honourably and with the sole objective of advancing the national interest and the protection of Canada, Henein said.

Norman is the former head of the Royal Canadian Navy who took over as vice-chief of defence staff last August in a ceremony where he was praised as loyal and tireless.

Henein highlighted Normans 36 years of unblemished service and said his lifelong commitment to this country and to the protection of Canadians has earned him the highest regard of his peers.

It would be a profound disservice to us all if a national hero and widely respected Canadian who has served under numerous governments was caught in the bureaucratic cross-fire, she said.

It is our sincerest hope that an objective investigation is concluded quickly and that Vice-Admiral Norman returns to his post serving all Canadians, she said.

Heinen is a prominent lawyer who has represented high-profile clients such as Ghomeshi, former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant, and now Norman, with his distinguished military career hanging in the balance.

Norman was forced out from his post in early January by Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff. Vance has been tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding Normans sudden departure, saying only it was the right thing to do.

The decent thing to do for Admiral Norman is to let happen what is happening and not speculate and not try to find sources that may not have all the information, Vance said last week.

The military said at the time that Norman was temporarily relieved of his duties  Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd, the commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, is filling the post on an interim basis.

But Vance and others have refused to clarify what allegations sparked Normans removal, what investigations might be ongoing or how long they might take.

Normans sudden and unexplained departure has rattled the ranks within the defence department at a key time as the military is planning extensions to ongoing deployments in Ukraine and Iraq, a new peace support mission and the roll-out of a new blueprint to guide the armed forces over the next two decades.

Read more about:

SHARE:
VANCOUVERWith all hands on deck on Parliament Hill to keep Canada/U.S. relations on as even a keel as possible, the last thing Justin Trudeau needs is a political storm in British Columbia. With the province heading to the polls this spring, there are clouds on the horizon.

Donald Trumps presidential victory has already forced the Liberal government to tweak  to use a word that is currently in fashion in political circles  its agenda. The aftershocks of the American election will continue to be felt on Parliament Hill for the balance of the Liberal mandate.

Unexpected uncertainty on the trade and refugee fronts to name just those two has propelled the Canada/U.S. file to the top of the pile. It is testimony to the amount of political energy that has been diverted to dealing with the new Washington reality that there is still no date officially set for the federal budget.

Somewhat lost in the Trump brouhaha is the upcoming first real test of Trudeaus high-wire act on climate change and energy development.

A Liberal government in Ottawa would not usually be adverse to the election of a New Democrat government in B.C. Premier Christy Clarks Liberals and their federal counterparts are ultimately little more than cousins twice removed.

With some notable Prairie exceptions, the federal Liberals have tended to be the net beneficiaries of the rise and subsequent decline in popularity of provincial NDP governments.

After Bob Raes tenure at Queens Park, the federal NDP was shut out of Ontario. More recently, the fall of Nova Scotias one-term New Democrat government was soon followed by the loss of the partys federal seats in that province. After a historical breakthrough in Alberta, heartbreak at the national level ensued.

But Trudeau has gambled an uncommon amount of political capital on premier Clark. A Liberal defeat on May 9 in B.C. would come at a significant loss to his federal government.

The federal approval of controversial Clark-supported energy developments such as the Site C hydro dam and Petronas LNG project has alienated many of Trudeaus 2015 B.C. supporters. More than a few feel betrayed by the prime minister.

Those moves did help secure the provinces approval of Kinder-Morgans pipeline expansion plan.

Trudeau could count on no such support from an NDP government. It would align with the many constituencies that are still determined to block the pipeline.

That could have a domino effect on the already shaky fortunes of Albertas New Democrat government.

Premier Rachel Notley needs the Kinder-Morgan project to be on track to at least have a shot at re-election in 2019. Trudeau, in turn, needs Notley to have that shot or else risk having his carbon-pricing policy turn into a national apple of discord on the eve of his own re-election campaign.

With a bit more than two months to go to the provincial vote, a Mainstreet poll published a few days ago showed the NDP and the Liberals tied at 37 per cent in voting intentions. Clark has beaten longer odds. The New Democrats had a double-digit lead on her party at the start of the last election campaign.

She has an approval rating that her Ontario colleague Kathleen Wynne  who routinely finishes last on the provincial popularity scoreboard  can only envy. Her NDP rival has to worry about bleeding support to the Green party.

But large swings in voting intentions over the short period of a campaign have become familiar features of Canadas electoral dynamics with the chips not always falling where they were expected. As Trudeaus victory demonstrated, it is a foolish incumbent that counts on a split in the opposition vote to prevail.

The B.C. Liberals are asking for a fifth consecutive mandate. Two decades is a long time for a party to be in power  even under two leaders.

This week, Clark brought in the latest of a series of balanced budgets. But if balanced budgets were key to re-election, Stephen Harper would still be prime minister.

If you ask B.C. insiders who are otherwise sympathetic to Clarks Liberals whether they are confident of her re-election, the answer is universally equivocal. Harpers uninspiring last campaign is still fresh in many of their minds. It was a textbook example of the perils of running on an unambitious platform.

Not all provincial elections are must-watch events nationally. Most of British Columbias past campaigns have not fallen in that category. This one will.

Chantal Hebert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Read more about:

SHARE:
OTTAWAJournalists who want access to Parliament Hill may soon have to undergo fingerprinting and criminal background checks by the RCMP.

The move, revealed Friday, has sparked concern among journalists who fear it will give too much power to police and parliamentary staff to screen reporters assigned to cover activities on the Hill.

The idea that the RCMP would vet journalists . . . doesnt work for us, said Tonda MacCharles, president of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery and an Ottawa-based reporter with the Toronto Star.

They dont get to decide who we are as journalists. They dont get to decide who can and cant have access for their job in our view, she said.

Security has been overhauled on Parliament Hill since Oct. 22, 2014, when a gunman shot dead a soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial, then stormed the centre block of Parliament where he was killed in an exchange of gunfire with RCMP and security staff.

According to a House of Commons document, this most recent proposal has its roots in a 2015 internal audit that concluded that security screening should be done on all individuals who have regular access to parliamentary buildings. That audit has not been made public.

Last year, the Board of Internal Economy, the all-party committee that oversees the administration of the House of Commons, directed staff to implement mandatory screening for all new members of the press gallery, along with new employees, contractors, interns and volunteers who work in parliamentary offices.

The committee is hoping to have the new screening in place by summer.

Under the system, journalists would have to undergo a criminal record check done by the RCMP by having their fingerprints verified against a database.

This will determine whether they match those of anyone convicted of a criminal offence, the documents states.

The results of that check would highlight any potential security concerns and any adverse information could be grounds to deny a journalist access.

That decision would be made by parliaments corporate security access office which would weigh the seriousness of the criminal convictions and factors such as the age at the time of the offence and degree of rehabilitation.

Denial of access could be appealed to the Clerk of the House of Commons and the Speaker for review.

At a press gallery meeting on Friday, journalists raised concerns about the proposal, notably the demand for fingerprints. As well, the House of Commons has not said what type of past criminal convictions might bar a journalist from getting access to the Hill.

Were opposed in principle that they would do it and, in the second instance, the mechanism around it, she said.

As well, MacCharles said that parliamentary officials have yet to lay out their rationale for introducing security screening of journalists.

Theres never been an incident where a journalist has posed a security threat so whats this about. Whats its justification, she said.

The parliamentary press gallery currently oversees the granting of temporary and yearly media passes to journalists who have been vouched for by their media outlets.

Heather Bradley, a spokesperson for Commons Speaker Geoff Regan, said that the screening plan has yet to be finalized.

Discussions and consultations are currently underway regarding the security screening process, in order to strike an appropriate balance between safety and access to Parliamentary sites. The security of all is the top priority, Bradley said in an email.

Such security screening of journalists is not in place at Queens Park, where the Legislative Press Gallery oversees the distribution of media passes, said gallery president Allison Jones, a reporter with Canadian Press.

SHARE:
She is a f***ing criminal and deserves to be in a prison cell.

Youre a c***.

Go to hell you wrinkly bitch.

Dirty dyke.

And these arent even the worst comments about Premier Kathleen Wynne recently posted on social media.

From threats of rape to homophobic slurs, shes not alone in being targeted online. Female politicians across the country, from all parties, are routinely on the receiving end of vitriolic  and often violent  comments on social media. So much so their staff must set up filters to screen out commonly used abuse  in the case of Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, those include slut, c*** and bitch.

Whether it happens on the street with a comment somebody makes to you, or whether it is a nasty tweet that someone targets you with, it is harassment, said Womens Minister Indira Naidoo-Harris. Its harassment, its bullying and its an attempt to really use scare tactics. The bottom line is that people are really trying to stop you from being a voice and ruin your credibility, and basically use fear tactics in order to silence you.

Naidoo-Harris likens the current climate to that of her childhood, growing up under apartheid in South Africa. I understand very well what its like not to have a voice  this attempt to silence women and politicians today in the society that we live in reminds me of that.

Last year, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel went public about the sexism shes faced in Parliament and online, and Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley is routinely threatened. During the U.S. election, crowds chanted lock her up at the mention of Hillary Clinton.

Horwath said she watched with dismay the way Clinton was treated, a woman with such credentials, with such capacity and such smarts  and how all of that was set aside in such a nasty way, in such an ugly way  by someone whos trademark has been insulting people and treating people badly. Its like its created a lot more room for these things to happen, with less criticism.

While women in power have always been a target, todays social media attacks are really intense and persistent and obviously highly gendered, said Nancy Peckford of Equal Voice, a group that encourages more women to run for elected office. A few years ago, it launched a Respect Her social media campaign.

It didnt explode all of a sudden, she said of the online abuse, but it has gained traction as more women are elected and take on prominent roles.

Back in the late 1990s, when Horwath was a Hamilton city councillor, she recalls being the target of sexist remarks, but there was not a lot of head-on vitriolic hate and ugliness like there is now.

Its disappointing that this kind of ugliness has just found this place to thrive on Twitter and Facebook, she said. Its almost like those platforms have provided a space where, for some reason, people dont believe social norms and proper civility need to be observed, and thats disturbing.

Progressive Conservative MPP Laurie Scott, who has had to call the police over some of the harassment shes suffered, said after 17 years in public life, things have not changed for the better for women.

Its actually worse  the violence against women, the normalcy of the threats and the treatment of women, said Scott, her partys womens issues critic. Thats a sad thing to say.

She believes the proliferation of online pornography and violent video games have caused a cultural shift, normalizing that its OK to be rude and threatening to women.

The growing ugliness online has some worried about younger women being turned off politics. Even today, at best, most legislatures comprise roughly one-third females, some as low as 10 per cent.

Wynne recently told reporters she doesnt want to stifle political debate, but believes that most of that really negative attack is unacceptable to Ontarians. I dont believe the level of civility that I encounter every single day in Ontario is reflected in those comments.

Tory MPP Lisa MacLeod, who at one time was mocked for her weight and has received death threats online, has since become very strict about trolls.

Literally, the best thing Ive ever done is hit the block button, said MacLeod, adding her male colleagues arent targeted in the same way unless they are really outspoken on a controversial issue. I enjoy social media; I enjoy the back and forth but Im not putting up with people berating me  I deserve a safe space on the Internet just like everybody else.

PC Leader Patrick Brown, who considers social media the Wild West, said anyone in public service should immediately denounce any examples of this when we see it arise. Not ignore it, not sweep it under the carpet  theres no place for it.

The issue, however unpleasant, has started a conversation Peckford doesnt think would have happened even five years ago. A recent study found that 42 per cent of female politicians reported being denigrated on social media  but 80 per cent would not be deterred by it.

Sylvia Bashevkin, a professor at the University of Toronto who has studied women in politics, said whats happening is a wake-up call that the problems experienced by female politicians over the past 100 years are very much alive.

She is, however, heartened by actions like the womens marches in January, a mobilization that could help to counterbalance trends.

Ontario MPPs say while the online abuse takes a toll, they dont let it silence them.

In fact, it emboldens me, added Scott. But it shouldnt happen.

Read more about:

SHARE:
In 2013 at the Manning Networking Conference, a consistently cheerful and low-key annual gathering of Canadian conservatisms various streams at Ottawas convention centre, the big crowd draw was Ron Paul.

Ron Paul  some readers will already have forgotten  was a long-time member of the House of Representatives from the 14th District of Texas. He was (and remains) a hardcore libertarian, convinced that freedom would blossom if the U.S. federal government were shrunk to about the size of a dinner muffin. This message got him close to nowhere against Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican primary race. But for a minute in 2013 it was possible to imagine that, in some hard-to-conceive future world without Barack Obama, Ron Paul or his son Rand or somebody who thought like them might become president someday.

That happened to be the minute Paul found himself in Ottawa. He was mobbed. Young conservative political staffers, party members and hangers-on packed the hall where he spoke. They gave him a rapturous standing ovation. They crowded around him as he left the hall, so that it became difficult for anybody else to battle their way through the clot of admiring libertarian humanity.

Probably a lot of the same people are at the Manning conference this week, cheering a distinctly different strain of conservatism. This week the big applause lines include anger at the media and the elites, evocations of the shadowy Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros as a funder and organizer of protests against Donald Trump and various other flavours of paranoia, self-pity and obsession with image.

Canadian conservatism, in other words, is today a little more Trumpified than it was only a few months ago.

What changed? Only the movements leaders. The base is the same. But the bases instincts have morphed to suit the preferences of its leaders because of a powerful phenomenon we might as well call followership.

We think a lot about leadership and not much about followership, even though there will always be far more followers than leaders. Its not a partisan or ideological phenomenon. My examples so far have been conservative, but there are examples from across the spectrum.

Many years ago, when I worked at Conrad Blacks National Post, my boss was in an extended feud with Jean Chretien. Chretien buttonholed me at a poultry industry reception in Halifax. Politics is weird. He started bending my ear about what a nasty so-and-so that Conrad Black was. I took pains to forget the details of Chretiens argument as it happened because at least one of my colleagues had written about a conversation with Chretien and found himself deposed by Blacks lawyers for his troubles. I liked both men and thought their argument was bringing out the worst in both.

But my point is that while Chretien was bending my ear, a cluster of Liberal MPs and their spouses gathered around us, and quite spontaneously, several of them started cheerleading. Thats right, prime minister! one said. And we love you for it!

Within months, some of those MPs and their families would begin industriously betraying Chretien because Paul Martin, who seemed to offer a brighter prospect, had let it be known he was available for Chretiens job. One of followerships most distinctive characteristics is its flexibility.

In its purest form, followership goes galloping past mere loyalty to become the reflexive self-abasement that nobody likes except a political boss. Lyndon Johnson famously prized loyalty  expressed as the willingness to abandon ones family, life and hopes in favour of the continued advancement of Lyndon Johnson  above more common attributes, like intelligence or a regard for rules.

In its more diluted forms, followership becomes a political culture whose eccentricities match the leaders perceived preferences for  and to me this seems crucial  no good reason. The National Post once quizzed young Conservative staffers in Ottawa about their lifestyles. Every one of them claimed to get their coffee at Tim Hortons, because that was part of the partys branding at the time, and apparently none of them could imagine making coffee at home or getting some at McDonalds. Its followership that makes people mortgage their brains like that.

Followership takes its cues from leaders, and since one of the leaders on offer is Donald Trump, this seasons followership is unusually self-pitying and chaotic, with gusts to nastier stuff. If theres any consolation, its this: much of it wont last. The pack will be happy to imitate the next new leader. Some day.

Paul Wells is a national affairs writer. His column appears Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

SHARE:
What is police culture?

Many of us think we know the answer to that question: The insularity of policing, the thin blue line that separates a paramilitary institution from the public it is committed to serving, the resistance to genuine civilian oversight, with judges and juries often complicit in their reluctance to hold law enforcement accountable.

Cops see it in the reverse. Their culture underpins their strength, their solidarity in a job that is often thankless, over-scrutinized and over-bureaucratized.

Its difficult to go beyond the enigma of police culture without at least agreeing on a definition. No such definition is to be found in Action Plan: The Way Forward, Modernizing Community Safety in Toronto, the transitional task force report a year-long in the crafting and formally endorsed Thursday by the Toronto Police Services Board.

Over the decades, weve had quite a few similar analytic documents drafted, accepted, saluted as gospel, then shelved to gather dust.

Read more: Report on overhauling Toronto police blasted at board meeting

The landscape has scarcely shifted. It was something like 30 years ago when neighbourhood policing was first promoted as a new-age mantra. Chief David Boothby got the top job,, way back in 1994, essentially on a promise to embrace community policing as an integral ethos of the department.

Yet here we are again.

A key component of this latest task forces recommendations is a deconstructed approach in the service-delivery model  this time with community policing the operational priority and officers assigned as embedded in all Toronto neighbourhoods for a minimum term of three years.

It sounds sensible enough: getting cops out of their cars and engaging with specific communities  collaboration, partnerships and empathy among the oft-repeated language in the report  so theyre not seen as invaders sweeping in to victimize locals.

Yet how the Toronto Police Services intends to fulfill this re-deployment, while continuing to meet its basic obligations during a three-year freeze on hiring, while simultaneously shuttering divisions (at least one is designated for mothballing); realigning and combining divisions, with no plan in place for increasing the presence of smaller sub-stations, which is what residents have been clamouring for, especially in communities at risk, and cutting the budget by $100 million  none of which has been addressed with any credibility  remains to be seen.

Modernization is the buzzword, with top-to-bottom efficiency avowed, but the gorilla in the room is money.

Cops who complain theyll be required to do more with less  or worse, less with less  are not entirely off the mark. Putting one officer in a car instead of two might help solve understaffing and alter the financial bottom line, but it also puts cops at risk, particularly the more theyre expected to get out of those vehicles and patrol a neighbourhood.

You try telling the spouse or parent of a police officer that their loved ones will have to assume more of the dangers of lone patrolling to please the bean-counters.

Mike McCormack, president of the police association, an historically intractable outfit, is doing the unions main task: attempting to protect jobs. It has already made it clear the rank and file wont take new marching orders lying down, telling CP24 yesterday that the union might file a grievance over redeploying officers to high-crime neighbourhoods, as is currently the case as extra cars are sent to the northwest quadrant of the city to cope with a spike in gun crimes

Shape-shifting, McCormack now claims that priority redeployment will undermine the objective of community policing by removing cops from neighbourhoods with which theyve become most familiar.

It is just a shell game. It is just removing officers from one community to another, where they are not familiar with the neighbourhood, theyre not familiar with whats going on. Then there is a depletion of resources within that division.

Is this a clash of cultures?

Or is there legitimacy to McCormacks beef on health and safety grounds?

Were back again to what police culture means and if everybody is speaking a different language.

The report is thin on practicalities and specifics. If we seriously hope to reduce violent encounters with the mentally ill, for example, the starting point is obvious: Increase the number of mobile intervention crisis teams (which include a mental health nurse) and expand their hours of operation past 11 p.m.

John Sewell, ex-Mayor Radical  and even more irascible now as head of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition  roasted the report, and the board, on various fronts.

Culture change: What youre saying in this report is . . . the police are going to make culture change on their own, theyre going to pull themselves up by their boot straps. What nonsense! Thats not the way culture change happens in any organization.

Sewell ticked off a list of what the report doesnt mention: Hiring senior management from outside policing to get some really good managers in policing. Start to hire officers by job descriptions, not recruits at the bottom. Start to get serious about police training so that theyre training with other people, rather than isolating them on their own and pretending that theyre different from the rest of the world.

All of those things relate to culture change.

Therefore, theres no culture change thats going to happen.

Cops are going to continue on. Theyve got a very, very, very tight culture, different from anything else. Theres not one thing in here that says theyre going to change. And putting existing officers in charge of that . . . its not going to make any change.

Crucially, nowhere does the report address basic accountability  what too often cops do wrong when ordinary people transect with them, incidents that become public only because somebody happened to record them with a smartphone.

Weve seen entirely too much of this.

Or, as one add-odd deputant-activist pleaded: Theres not a word in the report about how we are going to deal with the rogue police element that weve always had.

We cant rely on the public walking around with cameras.

The board, however, seemed entirely pleased with the contents of the report, produced under a task force co-chaired by board chair Andy Pringle and Police Chief Mark Saunders.

Observed board member Councillor Shelley Carroll, entirely too smugly: There must be real change in this document or the (police) association wouldnt be so nervous.

Thats the gauge were using now?

Really?

And they wonder about skepticism.

SHARE:
Health Canada is considering banning smoking in apartments and condos. Im surprised it took this long. Ending smoking has been a hard road for decades.

Smoking was banned in workplaces in 1985 and on all Canadian flights in 1994.

I dont know when lighters disappeared from car dashboards or parents took those heavy ashtrays the size of UFOs off their mid-century coffee tables.

Did I dream these things?

Can you imagine if someone lit up on a plane now?

The outrage, the flight attendants hustling over, zip ties securing the wrists of the outrageous  and shamefully dated  scofflaw wholl be hustled away when the plane lands. A dim view is taken. It just isnt done.

If smoking isnt allowed in public buildings, why shouldnt it be banned in buildings where people live?

Secondhand smoke seeps into hallways, elevators and condo units. It sneaks into ventilation systems. Smoking on the balcony means smoke on every other balcony, (although how often do you see people in Toronto use their balconies?) Those little cafe tables and chairs next to the Gardiner are a dream deferred.

The inevitable quarrel will be about what is public and what is private. That TTC rider who put his boots on the seat and was upbraided by another passenger? There was an exchange of insults, a scuffle and both left the train.

The man who broke TTC rules was like a smoker; you cant smoke on the TTC, because it harms other passengers. TTC floors are foul  salt, dirt, dog leavings, food, whatever eats the food  so your boots are filthy. So you cant put your boots on the seats because it makes other passengers clothes grubby.

This year, I bought a white winter coat after the police suggested pedestrians should make themselves more visible to drivers. But I took it back because the cleaning costs from riding the TTC would have been prohibitive. Youd look like smokers yellowed teeth.

Theres a reason Torontonians wear black coats in the winter; its protection from people such as that male passenger. They need to hide the dirt. As for whoever it was at Metrolinx who referred to the TTC on an office whiteboard with the words cesspool and the great unwashed, they may have been describing buses and subway cars, themselves.

Theyre unwashed by the TTC and made filthy by riders such as the man in the video.

The TTC passenger was mixing up public and private, dirty and clean. He crossed the boundaries and took matter out of place, which is the anthropologist Mary Douglass definition of dirt . . . or maybe Trump in the White House.

Filth should be on floors, not chairs.

So should boots.

As for the woman who complained, she didnt sit on the mans boots. She rightly sat on a seat she was entitled to, and, if his boots were there, they should not have been.

Matter out of place.

As for smoking, the great Jenny Diski, who died last year of inoperable lung cancer, wrote a book called Stranger on a Train about travelling on the smoking cars on Amtrak in the U.S.

These cars are the equivalent of a smokers condo in a smoke-free building. They were grey, the air was grey, the ashtrays overflowing, the floor scarred and scratched. They were basically Diskis lung writ large.

David Sedaris, a lifelong smoker who finally quit by going to Japan where they take cleanliness seriously, wrote that airport smoking lounges were always peopled by a man with a hole in his throat and a wife hauling an oxygen tank, the servicemen from Abu Ghraib, two prisoners handcuffed to federal agents and the Joad family.

Do airports still have these places?

Smoking is out of place now. Soon smokers in condos will be, too, because the line between public and private is more defined. The fact that no man is an island also means that no man can watch child pornography at home, because his use of it creates the very industry that sexually tortures small children. He is the engine.

Equally, trolls who send violent threats to women online are learning that they werent as anonymous as they thought. Whats private could easily be public. Its almost all retrievable. Were all walking blackmail targets.

The world changes. Things that women used to have to tolerate at work are considered criminal offences now. Your female body, once public, is private.

On the TTC, youre told to think less about your private comfort and more about the collective good. No manspreading. No spitting. Dont block the door!

Yes, Line 2 is growing mould, little flakes of rust are floating and the doors dont close so much as slam shut. All the more reason to gather up junk, juice boxes and discarded banana skins, to hunt down frail people and guilt them into taking your seat.

Ask yourself: Am I the one exhaling the smoke? Is that my footprint on the seat? Am I the matter out of place?

SHARE:
In 1874, two Toronto inventors demonstrated a working electric incandescent light bulb  five years before Thomas Edison produced one that was commercially viable.

Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans couldnt convince the public of its brilliance and werent able to secure funding to continue their research so they sold their patent to the famous American inventor for $5,000.

Today  143 years after their contribution to light as we know it  the same fundraising problem is frustrating a dream to put up a plaque to commemorate the pairs scientific efforts in Toronto.

Bruce Gates wants to put a plaque on the spot where the inventors experiments took place, but cant come up with the $6,500 necessary to make it happen.

So far, he said, its a dead end.

After reading about the two almost-famous inventors, Gates got the idea to celebrate them while in Paris for a holiday. He thought, hey, Toronto is a City of Light, too, since we had a role to play in developing the light bulb.

The honour he dreams of could be made possible through Heritage Toronto, which offers four types of plaques to remember key people, places and events in the citys history:

Century house: Torontonians who own houses built 100 or more years ago can apply for a custom-made historical marker commemorating their propertys longevity.

Heritage property: Recognizes properties listed or designated under the City of Torontos heritage register. There are 150 of them across the city.

Commemorative: Tells stories of important people and events in Torontos history where they happen. The 300 plaques across Toronto are each made of enamel or bronze and about 61 by 38 centimetres (24x15 inches) big.

Toronto legacy: Historical plaques similar to the famous Blue Plaques of London, England. The 40 that are up in Toronto recognize the citys greats by indicating where they lived or worked.

The city agency relies on plaque applicants to lead fundraising efforts, said Camille Begin, the plaques and markers coordinator with Heritage Toronto.

We do hope this plaque project will be realized soon, she said.

The small Heritage Toronto staff finishes 45 or 50 plaque projects and 100 house plaques a year on average, contributing to what Begin sees as the diversity of heritage in this city.

Gates reached out to Enbridge, General Electric, Hydro One and Philips in his efforts to raise funds for a commemorative plaque.

I never heard back from a single one, Gates said.

The Ontario Power Authority and the Financial District BIA were also contacted, with no luck.

Another requirement for potential applicants is securing permission from the property where they want to put up a plaque.

Gates is hoping it could be installed where the two Toronto inventors toiled on their breakthrough bulb on what was once 87 Adelaide St. W.

That building doesnt exist anymore with the First Canadian Place complex closest to that address, between York and Sheppard Sts.

Begin hasnt given up hope, noting that another project that had been on hold for several years  which commemorated the first airplane flight over Toronto in 1910  recently found the funds it needed to make a plaque happen.

We rely on the community because this entire project is community based and every project is a collaboration, she said. We tell our stories with the residents.

Gates doesnt want to give up, either.

Every time I turn on a light bulb I like to think that Torontos DNA is in it.

SHARE:
Two talks organized by the Canadian Journalism Foundation recently threw light on the sore issue of sorely needed diversity in North American media  but only one did it intentionally.

Changing the Face of Media was a deliberate discussion on diversity and discrimination on Wednesday.

Politics and Democracy in America held last week focused on challenges to the role of media in the Trump era. The discussion moderated by the CBCs Neil Macdonald included The New York Times Susanne Craig, the Washington Posts David Fahrenthold, and the Stars own Daniel Dale. All are consistently brilliant journalists who offered important insights.

And yet.

Absent was the role of racism and xenophobia that were the hallmarks of a divisive election campaign as well as the first weeks of an undignified U.S. presidency. It was an audience member who addressed racial tensions when she said, Now we have a white supremacist essentially behind the throne.

At this, Macdonald felt compelled to say, Im not sure its fair to call Steve Bannon a white supremacist.

I found this need to defend Bannon astounding and dispiriting because it came from no less a voice of authority than Macdonald, a respected industry veteran, who had earlier called out Trump for his narcissism and for his relentless stream of lies.

For his part, Macdonald told me by email he was not defending Bannon, I merely expressed a hesitation to use a facile label.

I would say Bannon is a nativist, even a far-right nationalist. Certainly an isolationist. Most unappealing, at least to me. But white supremacist? Id need proof.

If a man who openly called his news organization a platform of the supremacist Alt-Right (which Dale pointed out, too), who thinks white America is at war with Islam (as opposed to Islamic extremists) and is upset by the browning of engineering schools isnt a white supremacist, I dont know who is.

White supremacy brings up images of lynchings, men in white cone hats, burning crosses. While its comforting to consign it to the dusty reels of history, in reality it is far more commonplace than that.

In the workplace, it overlooks structures that benefit whites and manifests in the assumption that everyone operates on a level-playing field from which whites just happen to come out first, and that others simply dont measure up.

The term white supremacist is rapidly becoming just as fraught as the word racist  you can spew racist bile but cannot be called one. You can impose supremacist ideologies, but not be called out for it.

The s-word is such a sure-fire deal-breaker in any meaningful conversation on race, that nobody at Wednesdays talk on diversity even mentioned it. The bright logo from the Trump Tower nearby was a constant reminder that the media needs diverse voices now more than ever.

The discussion, moderated by Global News Angie Seth, had the feel of support group therapy for those who had got a foot in newsrooms but were feeling the effects of otherness.

Desmond Cole, activist and my fellow columnist, who sought to distinguish between diversity and anti-racism, talked about dismantling the Mad Men-esque boys club and including voices that have not been included thus far.

The Globe and Mails Hannah Sung, who was also part of a year-long diversity committee at the paper, pointed out that talking too much about race and identity can lead to a social penalty.

This is true. Minorities who have not internalized existing racial hierarchies hesitate to talk about race from fear of self-alienation, of being pigeon-holed, of reminding others of their differences, of being seen as threatening and of playing the race card. It took me years to mention race with any seriousness and it took a particularly tough stiffening of resolve to dive into writing a column on it.

Huffington Posts Arti Patel pointed to her constant struggle between, Do you write to educate an audience or for an audience? If she writes about, say, South Asian wedding dresses, is she writing to explain it to a white audience or writing to people familiar with that culture?

Buzzfeeds Scaachi Koul, who once faced a harsh backlash for seeking diverse writers, brought up tone-policing. Its not just what we say, now we have to be concerned about how we say it.

I can see why such talk would be uncomfortable for majority journalists. It is unfamiliar, and given the shrinking market, it would feel like they are being asked to make room for others by moving out themselves. More than that, though, it fundamentally threatens mid-level and senior editors who developed their nose for news with homogenous cultural yardsticks and a stated neutrality that went largely unchallenged.

Last weeks Trump discussion mirrored newsroom attitude across North America. Race is viewed as a topic separate from the mainstream, as if policy discussions on education or crime or voting rights or immigration are divorced from racial issues.

This presents a distinct challenge: if white journalists think their beats dont involve race unless it involves a racist incident, what role are minority journalists expected to play?

For this discussion to have been effective on Wednesday, it needed to have been more than an in-group exchange of ideas. It needed, if not their buy-in, at least the presence of big media bigwigs.

Shree Paradkar tackles issues of gender and race. You can follow her @shreeparadkarShree Paradkar tackles issues of gender and race. You can follow her @shreeparadkar

SHARE:
Be they patients or colleagues, no one was spared from nurse Stacy Hintons verbal attacks.

Shut the f--- up and OK, lets go, you f------ idiot are some examples of what she said to patients at Lakeridge Health in Whitby.

Or  as the College of Nurses puts it  words to that effect.

To her colleagues, it was unsolicited information about her sex life on more than one occasion.

In one case, she provided too much information about a parking lot romp before work.

All of these allegations, stemming from late 2014 to early 2015, were found to be true by a panel of the colleges discipline committee, which decided on Friday to yank Hintons licence at the urging of the colleges lawyer.

A table reserved for Hinton remained empty for the three-day discipline hearing, which included two days of testimony.

Many of the members colleagues said she was intimidating, they were a bit scared of her, the colleges lawyer, Emily Lawrence, told the five-member panel.

She was boisterous, loud ... A big personality.

Lawrence said it took two young nurses several months to gather up the courage to complain about Hinton to their employer. Many other colleagues then came forward in the subsequent investigation.

A spokesman for Lakeridge Health said Hinton worked at the hospital from 2011 to 2015.

Lakeridge Health takes professional conduct seriously, said Lloyd Rang. When we encounter concerns, we investigate fully and we act accordingly.

The discipline panels professional misconduct decision includes findings that Hinton verbally, physically and emotionally abused patients.

In one case, she failed to provide a patient with a blanket. In another, she placed her hands on the mouth of a patient who was screaming, pushed her head back into the pillow and told her to shut the f--- up.

Or words to that effect.

On more than one occasion, Hinton also made obscene hand gestures to patients when they werent looking and she mimicked the vocalizations of a patient with aphasia, a condition that hinders a persons ability to speak and understand language.

Lawrence told the panel Hinton engaged in a disturbing pattern of interactions with patients and staff ... The findings reveal a lack of empathy, a lack of professionalism, and a lack of respect for staff and patients.

The member has not explained herself.

Hinton, who also at one point went by the name Stacy Cruickshank, already lost her licence last year for nonpayment of fees, according to the colleges online public register. She had been registered since 1999.

Despite no longer being a member, Hinton still fell under the jurisdiction of the discipline panel because her actions took place while she was still working.

If the panel had chosen not to revoke her licence, Lawrence proposed an eight-month suspension with conditions, including meeting with a nursing expert, saying Hinton would have to show that she can change what is clearly her default behaviour.

SHARE:
Its often said: Theres never a cop when you need one.

Under the envisioned transformation of the Toronto Police Service, the mantra could become: You dont need one much of the time. Somebody else will do  a bylaw officer, a technician, a dogsbody. Those details, like so much else contained in the modernizing action plan endorsed Thursday by the police services board, have yet to be addressed. The action plan contains only the sketchiest of practical planning.

Magical thinking or a more efficient model for providing service?

Chopped down to its essential doctrines, The Way Forward is about doing more with less (money) or less (traditional police work) with the bodies available and the emphasis on must-attend deployment  swapping out primary response, as has been the practice since policing was invented, for priority response, such as shooting calls and bank robberies, the personnel adjustment bracketed around a renewed focus on neighbourhood-centric policing. Take cops from over here, put them over there  into the community as freshly graduated recruits for a minimum of three years  and fingers crossed that familiarity will breed enhanced relations with the public along with a more intimate knowledge of the problems relative to a specific area.

Anyone whos ever dialed 911 after, say, discovering a home break-in, will know from experience that it can take hours for a cruiser to show up. Its a low priority for overextended cops, particularly with the current three-year freeze on hiring, aimed at shedding costs. Its not, however, a low priority for the person whos been victimized and often distraught. Put another way, its a reversal of the broken-window theory of criminology: That local disorder (i.e. the broken window) will generate and sustain more crime, leading to increased fear and withdrawal from police by residents, thereby leading to more crime, more disorder and less social control, hence further degenerating of at-risk neighbourhoods.

Read more:

Whatever police culture is, it needs changing: DiManno

Report on overhauling Toronto police blasted at board meeting

As things stand now, primary response units  cops in cars  answer all calls regardless of the level of priority so those calls stack up. Those responders must resolve the call in its entirety, as the report notes, from assessing immediate safety concerns to evidence collection and submission of reports. This can be time consuming, and reduces the availability of officers to respond to other calls for service.

In other words, calls more important than yours.

About two million calls to the TPS communications centre were received last year, out of which approximately 675,000 were calls for service, where a police response was requested but not strictly necessary, resulting in 445,000 officer-dispatched incidents.

Those calling for help deemed not strictly necessary  vehicle damage, property damage, thefts under $5,000, bicycle thefts, graffiti and driving complaints  were urged to make their pleas via telephone reporting or on the departments existing online reporting portal. The portal option is either unknown to complainants or unpopular.

Weve all grown up with 911 drilled into our heads. Trouble  call a cop.

Now, if the reports recommendations are put into practice, they dont want you to call a cop. Or, at the very least, they dont want you to necessarily expect a cop who will investigate the matter. Instead, the response would be shifted to something  its makeup still undetermined  called an Investigative Support Unit. Maybe a constable, maybe not, also undetermined at this point. Maybe just a city-employed civvy  and you can imagine what impact he/she would have on, as an example, your next-door neighbours blasting music at 3 a.m.

Alternative policing, essentially; pseudo-cops on your TPS app.

This, purportedly, will actually speed up response, reporting and resolution.

As if. Nothing in the report quantifiably backs up that claim.

Its outsourcing by another name, like dealing with a customer service call-centre and we all know the frustration that entails. So, even as we expect police officers to do more, by turning them into quasi social workers, we apparently must resign ourselves into the looming reality of law enforcement being less available when we need them most. Because our needs are, well, nagging and of minor consequence; such a damn imposition.

Most cops are not detectives. They dont investigate major crimes. They do the donkey work of policing, which is where most of the public intersects with law enforcement. It should be considered valuable work rather than a waste of their time. Yet the reports authors  resulting from a task force co-chaired by Chief Mark Saunders and services board chair Andy Pringle  clearly view it as wasteful. Their modernized police force would replace curbside cop service with bureaucratic widgets.

At the same time, however, the fiscally-slammed TPS, ordered by city council to trim its billion dollar budget by about $100 million, wants to get its hands on 911 user fees. Did you even know there was such a thing? Probably not, unless scouring your phone bill, although often these fees  similar to operator charges that were once free  are usually lumped into monthly charges on your bill. They dont appear as per-call charges. That monthly fee can range from 14 cents on a landline to 75 cents on a wireless phone.

Millions of phone lines.

Recommendation 23 from the report: Implementing a cost recovery fee that would recoup the cost of providing these services to all land and wireless telephone users.

That money does not come back to the public safety answering point, which is the TPS, for the city of Toronto, explains Tracy Finn, 911 co-ordinator for the police communications centre. None of the funding that is collected from 911 in Ontario comes back to provide the funding for 911.

Only Ontario and Manitoba have systems which fail to recoup 911 fees, money which at this time goes to the service carrier. Altering the format would require legislative changes at Queens Park and likely CRTC involvement.

Were interested in exploring that, says Finn. Theres been conversation with the city manager because more research is needed to go forward, says Finn. We dont know what its going to look like at this point.

How much money raked in, potentially? No idea.

One final note, to underscore how out of step the Toronto Police Service is with these technological times: Officers still make their notes in traditional paper memo books, as they have since the mid-19th century, which now have to be entered manually into desktop computers back at the station.

The report proposes that all officers be issued with smart mobile devices within the next two to three years and not just for the purpose of note-taking but to access data and analytics. Right now many cops are using their personal phones.

Tasers, guns, batons, cuffs, body-cameras, radios  but no itsy-bitsy company-issued cellphone? Hello?

Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

SHARE:
U.S. President Donald Trumps plans for extreme vetting of migrants may seem a stark contrast to Ottawas openness approach, but the two countries systems are more closely aligned than many people would like to believe.

Trumps stance on immigrants and refugees cannot be more different from Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus. That contradiction was on full display at their joint news conference at the White House after the two leaders recent first meeting in Washington.

We cannot let the wrong people in and I wont, Trump told to reporters, vowing a program of extreme vetting for migrants. Its much more than toughness. Its a stance of common sense.

Trudeau added, We continue to pursue our policies of openness towards immigration and refugees without compromising security.

Despite the general impression that Canada has more tolerant and lax border security than its neighbour to the south, experts on both sides of the border say the countries have similar security screening processes to keep suspected terrorists and criminals out.

Weve had a very close partnership with Canada. Canadians are our trusted counterparts. Obviously theres a tremendous amount of information-sharing between our intelligence and law enforcement services, said John Sandweg, former acting general counsel to the Department of Homeland Security and former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

I have never had a sense that there are any concerns about the quality of the Canadian screening. Certainly, theres a sense in the U.S. that Canada is more open and welcoming than the U.S., but not in a way that compromised security or adopted lesser standards from the security perspective.

In January, Trump created an international uproar when he signed the executive order to suspend Americas refugee program and immigration to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries  Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  out of terrorism concerns. The moves have been blocked by U.S. courts.

Sandweg said the U.S. already has a thorough screening system, especially for refugees, with multi-layered interviews, biographical information and biometrics matching, as well as multiple checks against databases and watchlists run by different intelligence and enforcement agencies.

The U.S. State Department, Homeland Security, National Security Directorate, National Counterterrorism Centre, FBI, Department of Defense, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are all involved in the process, which includes at least three interviews, three fingerprint screenings and three background checks.

I have no idea how you can enhance the vetting system (more) than it already is. It is run against the entire U.S. holdings. It is not just looking for just name matches. It is also looking for links and association of friends and family members to addresses and telephone numbers, any sort of matches that might raise suspicion, said Sandweg.

The officers are exceptionally versed in the conflict areas, in the history and culture. They are very skilled in terms of ferreting out peoples stories. Things like barring someone from the country could sound appealing to the public but I dont think it is a real improvement in any way.

Peter Showler, former chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, pointed out that none of the 19 terrorists in the attacks on the U.S. on September 11 were refugees and none were from the seven countries included in Trumps travel ban. In European terror attacks, including those in Paris and Brussels, most were either born or raised in Europe, and many were of Moroccan descent.

Showler said Republican politicians and media in the U.S. like to paint Canada as the weak link in the North Americas security parameters and blame Ottawa for lax border enforcement.

It is all fear-mongering nonsense, said Showler, who recently worked as a consultant in Beirut for the United Nations Refugee Agency. In Europe, those involved in the attacks were second-, third-generation immigrants who were petty criminals, disengaged in the host country and converted to be terrorists. It is so much easier to find a scapegoat than to look at the real security issues. It is easy to dump on the refugees.

Toronto immigration lawyer Robin Seligman said the U.S. and Canada are much more aligned in their border enforcement since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on America.

Both countries have adopted similar measures, including the use of biometrics technology, to screen overseas travellers before they come to North America. In Canada, the global case management system has been in place for years to allow authorities to access migrants or visitors records for such things as criminality and personal details.

The U.S. and Canada systematically check the others visa and immigration databases for immigration and border related purposes, including visa and refugee resettlement applications, for third country nationals, said Immigration Canada spokesperson Nancy Caron.

In 2013, the bilateral information sharing based on a biographic match (name, date of birth and passport number) was implemented. The biometric-based information sharing began in 2015, which helps facilitate legitimate travellers and protect against identity fraud.

The impression of us being lax in security is incorrect. Officials here know ahead of time if the person trying to come in ever had a deportation order or was a criminal, Seligman said.

Trumps extreme vetting rhetoric is just for public consumption. It is not backed up by any substance. The hysteria is unjustified. Canada is doing a good job at vetting.

How refugees get to Canada

Those destined for resettlement from camps overseas are first screened by the United Nations Refugee Agency, whose refugee status determination process includes detailed interviews, and biometric and anti-fraud measures such iris scanning. The registration data is then entered into a global system. War criminals are flagged.

The refugees are then triaged and about 1 per cent of them are selected for resettlement by countries like Canada and the U.S. The most vulnerable individuals such as women, children, the elderly and sick are given priority. The others will remain in their initial host country, with the expectation that they would be repatriated to their homeland when the circumstances change.

Canadian visa officers then interview the candidates, identify any inconsistencies in their stories, collect their biographical information and biometric data such as fingerprints and digital photos, and run their names through databases of the Canada Border Services Agency, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, RCMP and Interpol.

Upon arrival at the port of entry, the border agency again checks the identity of the new arrivals as the last gatekeeper. Enforcement officials retain the right to turn away travellers based on suspicions about their identity or documents.

Those refugees who make it to Canada on their own and then make inland asylum claims dont have to go through the United Nations screening, but they must still undergo all the checks and clearances to be considered admissible to Canada before they are scheduled for an asylum hearing by the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

How refugees get to the U.S.

The same screening by the United Nations Refugee Agency applies to refugees destined for resettlement from camps. Candidates referred to the U.S. are interviewed by the Department of Homeland Security, which looks for fraud and considers credibility. Officers also verify the refugees biographical information, take fingerprints, and gather details on the individuals history, refugee experience and other information. The officers then decide if the person qualifies for refugee status under U.S. law.

Multiple, detailed security checks are carried out by the State Department and Homeland Security based on the refugees information, comparing biometrics, personal data, and the refugees application against U.S. government databases and terrorism watchlists from security, counterterrorism, military and intelligence agencies. The process includes three background checks and three fingerprint screenings.

Cases are then reviewed at U.S. immigration headquarters, while some are referred for additional assessment before final approvals by Homeland Security.

Refugees must go through a final security check before leaving for the U.S. and upon arrival at an American airport.

Asylum seekers inside the U.S. must file their asylum claims within one year of their arrival. They must go through extensive fingerprinting, background and security checks to determine eligibility before their cases are reviewed by asylum officers.

Source: Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Human Rights First

Read more about:

SHARE:
It is hard to imagine a better gift for Donald Trump than the one Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave him during that recent White House visit: a framed photograph of Trump and Pierre Trudeau on stage together at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in 1981.

For Trump, who expertly played the politics of nostalgia in the presidential campaign  you know, making America great again  the photo captures him in a heady time for U.S. Republicans, and an era that many American voters might regard as really great in retrospect.

In November 1981, Ronald Reagans first term as president was well under way: hed already lowered taxes by 25 per cent, held a famous showdown with air-traffic controllers and appointed Sandra Day OConnor to the Supreme Court. The sunny Reagan had even survived an assassination attempt in March 1981.

As for Pierre Trudeau, it was a pretty good time for the former prime minister, too. In fact, earlier on the very day that photograph was taken in New York on Nov. 5, 1981, Pierre Trudeau had signed a momentous deal with all provinces  except Quebec  to patriate the Canadian Constitution. Historians tend to describe this as a signature moment for Pierre Trudeaus time in power, for good and for bad.

Many of those photographs Canadians have seen of the constitutional deal being reached  a smiling Pierre Trudeau, fingers in his belt loops, flanked by Jean Chretien and other smiling cabinet ministers, for instance  were also snapped on Nov. 5, 1981.

In John Englishs definitive biography of Pierre Trudeau, titled Just Watch Me, events later in the day are described this way:

On the evening of November 5, while the anglophone premiers celebrated in Ottawa and Rene Levesque returned, bitter and rejected to Quebec City, Pierre Trudeau flew to New York to accept the Family of Man award for international excellence.

English calls this night a turning point in Pierre Trudeaus career, and maybe in the history of Canada, too.

Trudeaus departure marked the end of his intense focus on the Constitution and the beginning of his concentration on international issues, he writes.

I dont know whether Justin Trudeau or his staff were aware of the significance of the date and the occasion in the photo they dug up from the archives to give to the new U.S. president. I only stumbled across the coincidence while looking up what was going on in Canada and the United States roughly around the time the photograph was taken.

But its kind of fun to imagine what Trudeau the father might have said if someone told him that night that the man at the podium would some day be president of the United States, and that Trudeaus own, eldest son, then just about to turn 10 years old, would be the prime minister who had to deal with this Trump fellow.

Its also worth noting that the photo captures a moment  the very day  when Trudeau the elder turned his attention from domestic to international matters; a fixation that came in his final years of being prime minister.

Justin Trudeau, his son, in contrast, has seemed to be focused on international matters, especially those in the United States, from the minute he walked into office. Not long after his swearing-in to office in November 2015, Trudeau was immediately jetting around the world to foreign summits and he spent his early months in power sealing his relationship with Barack Obama with repeat visits and dinners.

For a while there last spring, it was almost easier to find Justin Trudeau in New York or Washington than it was in Ottawa. Thats another big difference between the two Trudeaus (and there are many more.)

In the midst of their current U.S. fixation, Justin Trudeau and his team have been looking for any and all ways to find common ground with the new Trump administration. They might want to add the politics of nostalgia to that list.

Though Justin Trudeau came to power with the help of lots of young voters who werent even alive when his father was in power, there is no question that some of his support also came from older Canadians, who wanted to make Canada great again  as great as they believed it was in the early 1980s when Pierre Trudeau was signing big constitutional deals. Political memories can be selective.

Trump said hed be keeping the 1981 photo in a special place. Perhaps Justin Trudeau is keeping a copy too  not just as a memento of a big day in his dads life, but as a reminder that Trump and the Trudeaus, and political life itself, have moved in wildly unpredictable directions in the 35-plus years since the picture was snapped. Nostalgias not what it used to be.

Read more about:

SHARE:
For women in public life it is the best of times, it is the worst of Twitter times.

More women occupy positions of power and influence in Canadian politics than ever before. Thats the good news I delivered to a group of politically engaged young women from across the country  our future leaders  visiting Queens Park this week.

We cannot be oblivious to the bad news of Twitter trolls spewing misogyny that ranges from vile to violent. But we must not let the virtual reality of social media obscure the political realities of mainstream Canadian society, nor allow Donald Trumps misogyny presidency to cast a dark shadow here.

Ontario has a female premier, whose main rival in the 2013 Liberal leadership was also a woman. The leader of Ontarios NDP is a woman. And the front-runner in the 2015 PC leadership race (until the home stretch) was a woman who boasted majority support among Tory MPPs; had she won, all three major party leaders would have been female.

Women make up about 40 per cent of Ontarios cabinet, including senior portfolios such as education, treasury board, skills training, social services, public security and the deputy premiers post. This week, a female sergeant-at-arms took charge of security in the legislature.

Thats the backdrop for the backlash on social media  a reminder that we can worry about Twitter bile but need not overstate it, lest we deter women from public life. My point, during a panel discussion on women in politics, wasnt to minimize the hate  only to put it in perspective for audience members ranging in age from 18 to 23 pondering a career in politics.

For we can no more eliminate online misogyny than we can rid the Internet of homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and racism of all descriptions. Like the endless war on terror, any battle to tame Twitter could prove to be an eternal campaign of whack-a-mole.

Live by social media, die by social media? Surely thats a false choice.

It was hard not to be discouraged when organizers from the Daughters of the Vote event revealed to our panel that many of the audience participants were openly mocked and attacked on Twitter this week, mostly for daring to wear the Islamic hijab. Without minimizing the impact of taunting tweets, my own response was to restate three themes.

First, the very fact that veiled Muslim women were the targets serves as an unwelcome reminder that hatred comes in all descriptions. Jews have been fighting anti-Semitism for 2,000 years  but that hasnt stopped them from standing up for their rights.

Second, we cannot wish away the web, nor minimize the haters who inhabit an Internet where inhibitions are non-existent. But inside our houses of parliament, a climate of zero tolerance is steadily being applied to male politicians who have been disciplined and expelled from their parties in recent years, both in Ottawa and at Queens Park, for misconduct toward women.

Third, looking out at a group of nearly 100 talented women brimming with idealism and ambition, I realized the obvious: As much as we worry about virtual bullying of vulnerable students  which is a real and growing problem  the next generation of political leaders will have grown up surrounded by the slings and arrows and aspersions of social media.

Sadly it is nothing new for them, but they will have the inner strength and resilience that comes from firsthand experience to overcome it in their own way. One member of the audience approached me later to ask about the criticism she often faces  both in person and online  for asserting herself with self-confidence, and wondered if there was another way to describe or recast her approach.

I told Khadija Waseem that she had answered her own question, for assertiveness and self-confidence are the very traits I try to instill in my teenaged daughters  using those precise terms. Waseem and I agreed  as my 13-year-olds did when I sought their views the night before  that just as women need not apologize for asserting themselves in a mans world, they must not acquiesce to hatred and hostility in the Internet world.

And that is perhaps the greatest example our woman politicians have provided in recent years: After first overcoming age-old barriers to entry in politics, they now face an endless barrage of online misogyny.

By resisting and persisting, not acquiescing, these elected politicians are acting as true role models for the young women who might follow in their footsteps. Not as victims, but as victors.

Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn

Read more about:

SHARE:
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICAPolice fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and a water cannon Friday as the latest wave of anti-immigrant protests broke out in South Africas capital, while President Jacob Zuma condemned anti-foreigner violence and appealed for calm.

A petition the protesters handed to the foreign ministry, seen by The Associated Press, suggested that the government teach foreigners to speak properly. They are arrogant and they dont know how to talk to people especially Nigerians, the petition said.

Resentment against foreigners has sometimes turned deadly in South Africa amid accusations that they take jobs from locals in a country where unemployment is above 25 per cent. Others are blamed for drug-dealing and other crimes. In 2015, anti-immigrant riots in and around the city of Durban killed at least six people. In 2008, similar violence killed about 60 people.

Police on Friday tried to keep protesters apart from foreigners who gathered to express alarm about recent attacks. Police Commissioner Khomotso Phalane said 136 people had been arrested in the past 24 hours.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation in a statement criticized authorities for giving permission for a march of hatred.

South Africans should not blame all crime on non-South Africans, the statement from Zumas office said. It cited recent reports of violence in Pretoria and hate speech on social media.

Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively, Zuma said. It is wrong to brandish all nonnationals as drug dealers or human traffickers.

The periodic backlash against foreigners has hurt the tolerant image South Africa has tried to present to the world after the long struggle to stop the harsh discrimination of white minority rule, which ended in 1994.

An Amnesty International statement blamed authorities failure to address toxic populist rhetoric that blames and scapegoats refugees and migrants.

The president said South Africans are not xenophobic, and he called on everyone, citizens and non-citizens, to work together to combat the countrys high crime rate.

Despite South Africas high unemployment, the country is one of Africas largest economies and remains a draw for people from far more impoverished nations across the continent. Businesses run by Somalis, Ethiopians and others are often targeted in anti-foreigner protests.

Amid the anti-immigrant sentiment, government data show the number of foreign-born people in South Africa has declined. A report last year said the 1.6 million foreign born people was down from 2.2 million in 2011  in a country of more than 55 million people.

Zumas statement acknowledged complaints about companies that hire illegal immigrants and said the foreign affairs office will be cracking down on all employers who continue with this practice, which is dangerous as it pits locals against nonnationals.

SHARE:
EL-ARISH, EGYPTSuspected Islamic militants gunned down a Christian man inside his home in northern Sinai, officials and a priest said Friday, the latest in a string of sectarian killings there that has sent hundreds of Christians fleeing and raised accusations the government is failing to protect the community.

The militants stormed the home of Kamel Youssef, a plumber, on Thursday and shot him to death in front of his wife and children in the town of el-Arish, said two security officials and the priest.

The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, as did the priest, fearing retaliation by militants. The priest said initial reports that the mans daughter was kidnapped and killed turned out to be incorrect.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Egypts Daesh (also known as ISIS) affiliate, which is based in the Sinai Peninsula and which in December carried out a devastating suicide bombing against a Cairo church, vowed in a video earlier this week to step up attacks against the embattled Coptic Christian minority. It described them as infidels empowering the West against Muslims.

That stoked panic among Christians, who before Thursdays death had already seen six members of their community killed in recent weeks.

Over the past two days, around 75 Christian families  hundreds of people  have arrived from Sinai in the city of Ismailia on the Suez Canal, according to Mina Thabet, a researcher with the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms who visited the families.

They brought suitcases of clothes, but left most of their belongings behind, hoping to be able to return soon. Some reported receiving death threats on their cellphones.

The scene here is really painful, Thabet said.

Christians in northern Sinai have been fleeing in waves over recent years because of militant threats, and the community that before 2011 numbered up to 5,000 people has now dwindled to fewer than 1,000, said the priest. There are no official statistics on the number of Christians in cities or across the country.

But the priest, who also left el-Arish, said the flight in recent days is unprecedented in size. He blamed lax security.

You feel like this is all meant to force us to leave our homes, he said. We became like refugees.

The displacement underscores what many rights activists said the failure of the Egyptian government in providing the minimum level of security to the Christians in this volatile region of northern Sinai, where the military has been battling for years against militants.

This was a test to the government. It failed and its management of the crisis was terrible, Thabet said.

He pointed to the failure to step up security for Christians despite public threats by Daesh or help them as they fled. After pressure on social media, authorities agreed to put up the fleeing Christians in government housing in Ismailia.

A day before Youssefs killing, militants killed a Christian man and burned his son alive, then dumped their bodies on a roadside in el-Arish. Three other Christians in Sinai were killed earlier in drive-by shootings or attacks on their homes and shops.

Youssef Tawfiq said his father Gamal, a teacher, was shot to death on Feb. 16 by two masked gunmen 200 metres (220 yards) from a heavily fortified army post in el-Arish. He said no government official or agency provided any support to the family after his fathers death.

I feel like I am carrying a mountain over my shoulders, he said. We loved our country but our country doesnt love us.

The Coptic Church issued a brief statement Friday and, as it traditionally does, stuck close to the governments line in the war on terrorism.

They aim to strike our national unity ... in the face of terrorism, which has been exported to Egypt from abroad, it said.

The militarys fight against the Sinai militants, who vowed allegiance to the Daesh, has been bitter.

Hundreds of troops have been killed, the military has razed hundreds of houses to stop alleged militant infiltration through tunnels from neighbouring Gaza, and President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in 2014 declared a state of emergency and curfew there after suicide bombings killed more than 30 soldiers. Still, the insurgency has shown little sign of calming.

The northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, bordering the Gaza Strip and Israel, has been a battleground since 2011, when the region sank into lawlessness during the 18-day uprising that led to the ouster of longtime autocratic President Hosni Mubarak.

But the militant campaign accelerated after the military  then led by el-Sissi  overthrew elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

Christians, mainly belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church, make up an estimated 10 per cent of Egypts population and have suffered decades of discrimination and attacks by Islamic militants. Those attacks increased after 2013.

A total of 30 Christians in northern Sinai, including Copts in the military and two priests, have been killed since 2013, said the priest.

In December, a Daesh-affiliated suicide bomber blew himself up inside a landmark Cairo church, killing around 30 worshippers, mostly women.

Read more about:

SHARE:
PARISThe French financial prosecutors office decided Friday to open a judicial inquiry surrounding the allegedly fake parliamentary aide jobs that conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon gave to his wife and two of his children.

After a preliminary investigation opened Jan. 25, the prosecutors office decided to move forward with the case. However, no one was named in the judicial investigation on a list of charges, including misappropriation of public funds, abuse of public funds and influence trafficking.

It was a sign that the prosecutors office intends to question others in the case, enlarging the circle of those who risk being charged, an official in the prosecutors office said.

The decision to take the Fillon case to a new level comes as the French presidential campaign moves into full steam.

Fillon, a conservative and former prime minister, had been the front-runner for the French presidency, but his candidacy has stumbled after the allegations. Fillon admits that he hired his wife and children as parliamentary aides, a practice that is legal in France.

However, there are suspicions that neither his wife Penelope nor a son and daughter actually worked for the pay  which totalled as much as 1 million euros ($1.4 million) over many years.

Read more:

French presidential candidate Fillon facing heat following embezzlement probe

French front-runner says hell drop out if judge investigates Penelope Affair

Fillon has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to carry on his campaign amid the probe. However, he has said he would end his presidential bid if changed.

The announcement came in the midst of a Fillon campaign rally Friday in Maisons-Alfort, outside Paris.

If I am attacked, so relentlessly attacked, it is because I clash with the spineless consensus that only likes the right when it walks in the shadows, Fillon told the crowd, suggesting that his legal troubles were part of a bid to bring him down.

The move by the financial prosecutors office means the case will now be turned over to investigative judges who can file formal charges or throw the case out. The statement by prosecutors attributed the decision to open a judicial investigation in part to the long time period covered in the case.

Since the scandal erupted, centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen have moved ahead of Fillon in the polls for Frances two-round, April 23-May 7 presidential election.

Le Pen, however, is dealing with her own corruption scandal linked to aides in the European Parliament.

One close aide was placed under investigation this week. Le Pen refused to appear before an investigating judge for questioning on Wednesday. Her bodyguard, who once served as her aide for several months, was questioned and released.

Read more about:

SHARE:
OLATHE, KAN.In the middle of a crowded bar, Adam Purinton yelled at two Indian men to get out of my country, witnesses said, then opened fire in an attack that killed one of the men and wounded the other, as well as a third man who tried to help.

Hours later, the 51-year-old former air traffic controller reportedly told a bartender in another town that he needed a place to hide because he had just killed two Middle Eastern men.

In India, the father of one of the wounded men called Wednesdays attack in the Kansas City suburbs a hate crime, but authorities on Friday declined to discuss a motive as they investigated. The shooting swiftly stoked fears about the treatment of immigrants, who feel targeted by U.S. President Donald Trumps promises to ban certain travellers, build a wall along the Mexico border and put America first.

Read more:

Distraught Indian father warns parents against sending children to U.S. after Kansas shooting

Kansas bar shooting that left 1 dead was racially motivated, witnesses say

The president has been especially vocal about the threat posed by Islamic terrorist groups. Both of the Indian men were Hindu.

The slain man was identified as Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32. His widow said he came to the U.S. in 2005 to pursue a masters degree at the University of Texas at El Paso and worked in Iowa for six years before moving to the Kansas City area.

He did not deserve a death like this, Sunayana Dumala said Friday at a news conference organized by her husbands employer, the GPS device-maker Garmin. I dont know what to say. Weve read many times in newspapers of some kind of shooting happening somewhere. I was always concerned, Are we doing the right thing staying in the U.S. or America? But he always assured me good things happen in America.

Though she did not mention Trump by name, she directed anger at the U.S. government, asking what officials would do to stop hate crimes.

Not everyone will be harmful to this country, she said.

Purinton was jailed on murder and attempted murder charges. His first court appearance was scheduled for Monday.

A bartender at Austins Bar and Grill in the suburb of Olathe said Purinton used racial slurs before firing. He was taken into custody about five hours later after speaking with another bartender at an Applebees some 70 miles away in Clinton, Mo.

The Kansas City Star reported Purintons comments to the second bartender. The paper did not cite its sources.

The other men who were shot were identified as 32-year-old Alok Madasani, who was released from the hospital Thursday, and 24-year-old Ian Grillot, who remained hospitalized.

Madasanis father, Jaganmohan Reddy, said he had spoken with his wounded son by phone from India and was worried about his safety.

I request other parents to think twice before sending their children to the United States, he said.

As engineers for Garmin, Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked at the companys main campus just a mile from the scene of the shooting. Garmin is one of the regions best-known employers.

Local police were working with the FBI. Spokesperson Bridget Patton said the federal agencys role is to help determine if a civil rights violation occurred.

Purinton, who is being held on $2-million bond, was moved Friday from Missouri to Kansas. Because he has not yet appeared in court, he did not have an attorney formally assigned to his case.

Beverly Morris, who has lived next door to Purinton in Olathe for about 20 years, said he never made her feel unsafe.

He seemed like a good guy, Morris said, but anybody who knew him knew he had a drinking problem.

Another neighbour, Michael Shimeall, told the Star that Purinton seemed friendly and never showed a temper or anything like that.

He recalled that Purinton was helpful with neighbours when they had to dig out after snowstorms or pick up a tree blown down by wind. He said Purinton had photos of the ships he served on in the Navy and other Navy items in his home.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records from the 1990s indicate that Purinton was a pilot and was licensed to work in an airport control tower. Agency spokesperson Elizabeth Isham Cory says Purinton left the FAA 17 years ago in 2000.

At the time of the attack, bar patrons were watching a college basketball game on television. When Purinton began harassing the two men, Grillot stood up for them, bartender Garret Bohnen told the Star.

Witnesses also told the newspaper about Purintons yelling about leaving the country.

As the gunfire began, Grillot hid under a table until nine shots had been fired. Believing the suspects magazine was empty, he chased the gunman in hopes of subduing him.

A bullet went through his right hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery but fracturing a vertebra in Grillots neck.

Another half inch, I could be dead or never walk again, he said Thursday from his hospital bed in a video from the University of Kansas Health System.

He did not describe what led to the shooting, saying only that he felt compelled to intervene to help others.

I was just doing what anyone should have done for another human being, he said.

The Indian government said its diplomats would monitor the Kansas investigation. Kuchibhotla was from the southern state of Telangana, and his body was to be transported to the capital city of Hyderabad, where his family lives.

Mourners poured into Hyderabad. His parents have another son working in the United States.

SHARE:
OXON HILL, MD.When Ronald Reagan spoke to the Conservative Political Action Conference two months into his presidency, he invoked conservative philosophers of yore, hailed Barry Goldwater, and spoke in lofty tones of American idealism and goodness.

President Donald Trump, appearing at CPAC a month into his presidency, did  not that, at all.

The crowd loved it.

Donald Trump said 8 false things in his speech at CPAC on Friday

Trump, continuing to be Trump, gave a Friday speech almost indistinguishable from one of his campaign rally addresses  jabs at Hillary Clinton and all. Alternating between scripted nationalism and improvised monologuing about himself, the Republican president bashed the news media, insulted U.S. allies, mocked pollsters and pundits, complained that America never wins at anything, disavowed responsibility for solving global problems, and vowed to stand up for workers, gun owners and people he said have been harmed by Obamacare.

The crowd  young-leaning, mostly in suits, in a ballroom in the Washington suburbs  ate it all up, as per usual. When Trump scoffed at Clintons suggestion that some of his supporters were deplorables, the room erupted in a chant of lock her up. Trump, who promised during the campaign to prosecute Clinton, did not respond.

Trump made his usual promises, all of which are popular with Republicans: a border wall, a hard line on illegal immigration, a military buildup, a massive tax cut. In perhaps his most startling remark, he described the fake media as the enemy of the people, as he did on Twitter a week prior  a remark described by retired Navy Admiral William McRaven, who led the raid against Osama bin Laden, as perhaps the greatest threat to democracy in his lifetime.

In his speech, Trump wrongly accused the media even of inaccurately covering his enemy of the people tweet. He offered a kind of clarification: he was not saying the media is an enemy of the people, merely the fake news segment  a claim belied by his specific mention of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and the New York Times.

He dismissed free speech concerns, saying the First Amendment also gives him the right to denounce the media. He then called for the abolition of anonymous sources, though senior officials in his administration themselves insist on being quoted anonymously.

Because they have no sources, they just make em up when there are none, he said. I saw one story recently where they said, Nine people have confirmed. Therere no nine people. I dont believe there was one or two people. Nine people, he said  apparently referring to an accurate Washington Post article that led to Trumps firing of national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Trump also renewed his criticism of Swedens intake of Muslim refugees, insisting he was right with the Saturday claims that prompted confusion and criticism from the American ally. (Trump was objectively wrong, at least, in his claim that something dire had happened in Sweden the previous night.) And reprising a story that has irked France, another ally, he said one of his friends  Jim, a very substantial guy  is no longer willing to visit Paris.

Trump, who made his first speech to the conference in 2011, used previous CPAC events to build his political brand, testing out policy positions and slogans that would become his trademark. But he had also faced opposition from CPAC conservatives who had seen the former Democrat as a poser. He dropped out of last years event, during the presidential campaign, to do a rally in Kansas  prompting organizers to tweet, Very disappointed @realDonaldTrump has decided at the last minute to drop out of #CPAC -- his choice sends a clear message to conservatives.

Things have changed. This years event has been so Trump-friendly that senior aide Kellyanne Conway said Thursday that it would be known as TPAC by Friday. Trumps chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and chief of staff, Reince Priebus, made a joint Thursday appearance. Vice-President Mike Pence capped the day with a speech in which he said Trump reminded him of Reagan, a conservative icon.

I wouldnt miss a chance to talk to my friends. These are my friends, Trump said, vowing to return year after year.

As always, Trump made a series of false claims  that the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement had endorsed him (unions of their employees did, not the agencies), that he has approved the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada (he has merely invited TransCanada to reapply for approval), even that there was a six-block line to enter the building (there was no line at all by the time he spoke).

Trump elaborated on the America First credo he emphasized in his inaugural address. His movement, he said, is centred on a conviction that America will put its own citizens first.

Global co-operation, dealing with other countries, getting along with other countries is good, its very important. But there is no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency or a global flag. This is the United States of America that Im representing. Im not representing the globe, Im representing your country, he said.

His philosophy on foreign affairs has little in common with the traditional Republican belief in muscular international leadership. But he drew applause throughout the speech, yet more evidence of how he has bent the conservative movement to his view of the world.

Now you finally have a president, finally, he said. Took you a long time.

Read more about:

SHARE:
MINEOLA, N. Y.Lucille Conlin Horn weighed barely 2 pounds when she was born, a perilous size for any infant, especially in 1920. Doctors told her parents to hold off on a funeral for her twin sister who had died at birth, expecting she too would soon be gone.

But her life spanned nearly a century after her parents put their faith in a sideshow doctor at Coney Island who put babies on display in incubators to fund his research to keep them alive.

The Brooklyn-born woman, who later moved to Long Island, died Feb. 11 at age 96, according to the Hungerford & Clark Funeral Home. She had been suffering from Alzheimers disease.

Horn was among thousands of premature babies who were treated in the early 20th century by Dr. Martin Couney. He was a pioneer in the use of incubators who sought acceptance for the technology by showing it off on carnival midways, fairs and other public venues. He never accepted money from the tiny babies parents but instead charged oglers admission to see the babies struggling for life.

Horn and her twin were born prematurely. She said in 2015 that when her sister died, doctors told her father to hold off on a funeral because she wouldnt survive the day.

He said, Well, thats impossible. Shes alive now. We have to do something for her, Horn said. My father wrapped me in a towel and took me in a cab to the incubator. I went to Dr. Couney. I stayed with him quite a few days, almost five months.

Couney, who died in 1950 and is viewed today as a pioneer in neonatology, estimated that he successfully kept alive about 7,500 of the 8,500 children who were taken to his baby farm at the Coney Island boardwalk. They remained there until the early 1940s, when incubators became widely used in hospitals.

He also put infants on display at the Worlds Fair and other public venues during his career. Theres no estimate on how many still are alive today.

Horn worked as a crossing guard and then as a legal secretary for her husband. She is survived by three daughters and two sons. She said she met Couney when she was about 19 and thanked him for what he had done.

Ive had a good life, she said in 2015.

After a funeral Tuesday, she was buried at the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, next to her twin sister.

SHARE:
MOSUL AIRPORT, IRAQAs Iraqi ground troops pushed into western Mosul on Friday, the countrys air force struck Daesh targets inside Syria for the first time in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by the militants.

Meanwhile, at least 60 people were killed in Daesh attacks near a key northern Syrian town captured only a day earlier from the extremists by Turkish forces and their Syrian opposition allies.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the Iraqi airstrikes in Syria in a statement, saying the border towns of Boukamal and Husseibah were targeted in response to recent bombings in Baghdad linked to Daesh operations there.

Iraqi forces closely supported by the U.S.-led international coalition pushed into the first neighbourhood of western Mosul and took full control of the citys international airport and a sprawling military base on the southwestern edge of the city, according to Iraqi officials.

Read more:

Iraqi forces retake Mosul airport in push to reclaim key Daesh-controlled city

Iraqi forces launch major offensive to drive Daesh from western Mosul

The territorial gains were the most significant yet in the battle, now in its sixth day, to rout Daesh militants from the western half of Iraqs second-largest city.

As Iraqi warplanes struck Daesh targets across the border, militants in northern Syria staged a suicide car bomb attack outside a security office operated by the Syrian opposition in a village five miles (eight kilometres) north of al-Bab, killing at least 60 people. The town had been controlled by Daesh since late 2013, but the militants finally retreated Thursday after more than two months of intense fighting.

Most of those killed in the village of Sousian were civilians awaiting permits and an escort to return to al-Bab, a Syrian military commander in the city told The Associated Press. At least six fighters were among those killed in the attack, according to Turkeys prime minister, who spoke in Ankara.

Hours after the first explosion in Sousian, another car bomb attack was reported in the village, killing at least eight people, according to activist groups. There were no further details on the attack, and the Aleppo Media Center later took down the report.

An additional explosion was reported south of al-Bab, where two Turkish soldiers were killed when an explosive device went off as they were removing landmines, Turkeys military said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights corroborated the report, saying the explosives detonated near Tadif, an Daesh-controlled town south of al-Bab. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, however, called the explosion a suicide attack. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the accounts.

In Mosul, meanwhile, Iraqi forces pushed into the Mamun neighbourhood and engaged in intense clashes with Daesh militants, according to an Iraqi special forces officer on the ground, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Federal police Maj. Gen. Haider al-Maturi said his forces pushed through concrete roadblocks and earthen berms set up by Daesh, and succeeded in capturing around 30 per cent of the Aviation District, the first district entering Mosuls western perimeter from the south.

There were fierce clashes. We faced car bombs, suicide attackers and mortar shelling, al-Maturi said. The battle ahead will be difficult and complicated because of the civilians around. Itll be street fights.

Al-Maturi said six Iraqi troops were wounded, including two officers. However, an AP team near the front line saw at least four wounded special forces members and the bodies of three soldiers, suggesting more intense fighting than the previous day. A Canadian medic volunteering at a front-line clinic said he had treated at least 10 wounded federal policemen. Iraqs military does not release official casualty figures.

Earlier on Friday, the spokesman of the Joint Military Operation Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, said Iraqi forces had also retaken the military base adjacent to the airport.

The advances came a day after special forces joined the fight for western Mosul.

Both the Ghazlani military base and the airport will be key to the next steps in the daunting battle and will serve as a base of operations as Iraqi forces launch subsequent pushes into western Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River into two halves.

Iraqi authorities declared the citys eastern half fully liberated from the Sunni militants in January, three months after launching the operation to take back Mosul.

The United Nations estimates about 750,000 civilians are trapped in western Mosul. The initial numbers of displaced have been low, but Iraqi forces have yet to punch into the sectors dense urban neighbourhoods, an operation that is expected to be the most difficult yet. The western half of the city is denser, with older neighbourhoods and narrower streets that will likely complicate the already difficult urban combat ahead.

Read more about:

SHARE:
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIAThe poison used to kill the estranged half brother of North Koreas leader at a crowded air terminal in Malaysia last week was the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent, police said Friday.

The revelation that VX nerve agent, deadly even in minute amounts, was used in the Feb. 13 attack boosted speculation that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam, the outcast older sibling of North Koreas ruler.

The case also raised questions about public safety, although there was no sign that any bystanders had fallen ill. Police said one of the alleged attackers had been vomiting in the hours after the attack, but there were no reports that anyone else had been sickened.

Read more:

Kim Jong Uns half-brother was attacked with VX nerve agent, officials say

North Korea denies it was behind death of Kim Jong Uns half-brother in Malaysia

War of words continues between North Korea, Malaysia in wake of Kim Jong Uns half-brothers death

Police had gone more than a week saying the airport was safe, even though it had not been decontaminated after a mysterious and deadly poisoning. After the announcement that VX was to blame, The Associated Press asked Malaysias Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar in a text message whether decontamination would take place. He responded, We are doing it now.

He later said police were arranging for the atomic energy agency to decontaminate the airport and sweep all locations which we knew that the suspects went to.

Asked if people should avoid the airport because of fears of contamination, Khalid said, No. No. No. But I dont know. I am not the expert.

Director-General Hamrah Mohamad Ali of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board later told The Associated Press in a text message that although his office did receive a police request for technical assistance, VX doesnt come under his jurisdiction because its not radioactive. Police did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The airport operator said in a statement issued Friday that the KLIA2 terminal where Kim was attacked is safe. Malaysia Airports said workers who attended to Kim and who clean the airport are healthy, and that anyone exposed would have shown symptoms within 18 hours.

VX nerve agent was detected on Kims eyes and face, Khalid said earlier in a written statement, citing a preliminary report from the countrys Center for Chemical Weapons Analysis.

According to Malaysian investigators, two female suspects coated their hands with the liquid toxin and wiped it on Kims face as he waited for a flight home to Macau, where he lived with his family.

Kim sought help from airport staff but he fell into convulsions and died on the way to the hospital within two hours of the attack, police said.

Malaysian police say the women  one Vietnamese, one Indonesian  washed their hands immediately after the attack as theyd been trained to do, and had practiced the attack in Kuala Lumpur shopping malls.

Malaysian police had initially said no one besides Kim Jong Nam had been sickened. But Khalid told reporters that one of the two women accused of wiping the toxin on Kims face became sick later and suffered from vomiting. He declined to say which woman had been sick but said she is no longer under treatment.

Khalid said police were still investigating how the lethal nerve agent entered Malaysia.

VX nerve agent has the consistency of motor oil and can take days or even weeks to evaporate. It could have contaminated anywhere Kim was afterward, including medical facilities and the ambulance he was transported in, experts say.

Dr. Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said even a tiny amount of VX nerve agent can be fatal. An antidote can be administered by injection. U.S. medics and military personnel carried kits with them on the battlefield during the Iraq War in case they were exposed to the chemical weapon.

Its a very toxic nerve agent. Very, very toxic, he said. Im intrigued that these two alleged assassins suffered no ill effect from exposure to VX. It is possible that both of these women were given the antidote.

He said symptoms from VX would generally occur within seconds or minutes and could last for hours starting with confusion, possible drowsiness, headache, nausea, vomiting, runny nose and watery eyes. Prior to death, a victim would likely have convulsions, seizures, loss of consciousness and paralysis.

The toxin was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, and is banned under an international treaty. But North Korea never signed that treaty, and has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons program that has long worried the international community.

Outside experts believe North Korea has the capacity to produce up to 4,500 metric tons of chemical weapons a year, and could raise that to 12,000 tons during a crisis. Its current inventory has been estimated at 2,500 to 5,000 tons.

It is suspected of being particularly focused on mustard, phosgene, sarin and V-type chemical agents  substances including VX that are designed to poison through contact and remain lethal for long periods of time. The Norths development of such agents has been of special concern because of fears it might try to put them in artillery shells for an attack on South Koreas capital, potentially threatening the lives of millions.

Joseph Bermudez, a well-known North Korea analyst, wrote an article for the respected 38 North website in 2013 that said the North is capable of not only employing significant quantities and varieties of chemical weapons across the Korean Peninsula but also using those weapons worldwide using unconventional methods of delivery.

He also said there is a growing body of evidence indicating the North has shared chemical weapons capabilities with Syria, Iran and others.

In addition to the suspected attackers, Malaysia has arrested a North Korean man said to be an information technology worker at a Malaysian herbal supplements company and is seeking at least seven people, including the second secretary of North Koreas embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Kim Jong Nams very public assassination has unleashed a diplomatic crisis. North Korea has denounced Malaysias investigation as full of holes and contradictions and manipulated by Pyongyangs enemies.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman pointedly defended his countrys work on Friday, saying at a news conference, The entire world knows that the investigation has been objective, impartial and also transparent.

He said the North Korean ambassador continues to be delusional and spew lies and accusations about the Malaysian government, and noted that Pyongyangs top diplomat in Kuala Lumpur must realize that he must enjoy the confidence of the government of Malaysia.

Read more about:

SHARE:
In 1952, the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association published a letter to the editor from a Chicago veterinarian named A.G. Misener, who described a surgery his practice had been performing on cats: the removal of their front claws.

This is a relatively simple surgical procedure, Misener wrote, and, we believe, a practical measure.

That letter was the genesis of what Minnesota veterinarian Ron Gaskin, who considers himself a historian of cat declawing, calls a Chicago urban legend  a surgery that was dreamed up in one clinic and ended up being adopted by practitioners across the U.S.

It was never investigated for long-term safety, or whether it generated pain later on in life, Gaskin said of declawings origins. It was never researched that way.

More than six decades after Miseners letter was published, many cat owners continue to have the family feline declawed, chiefly driven by a desire to prevent kitty from scratching up the furniture. But the surgery is the subject of a growing divide in the veterinary community, with critics saying it amounts to a painful amputation that can lead to behaviour problems in cats and others arguing that it prevents some owners from euthanizing scratch-happy cats. About 20 countries, mostly in Europe, have banned the procedure, as have San Francisco, Los Angeles and six other California cities. Some veterinary clinics refuse to perform the surgery.

Now the debate has reached the statehouse in New Jersey, where the General Assembly last month approved a bill that would add declawing, or onychectomy, to the list of criminal animal cruelty offences. The measure, if passed by the state senate, would make New Jersey the first to impose a statewide declaw ban; New York is considering a similar law. But the bill is facing strong opposition in Trenton.

Im a cat owner myself, and theres no way we could ever take away the cats claws, New Jersey Assemblyman Troy Singleton, a Democrat, the bills sponsor, said in an interview after the vote. Not only is it barbaric, its an inhumane thing to do.

Critics, including some veterinarians, agree. They say owners who choose to declaw their cats  and there are no firm figures for how many do, though some estimates hover around 25 per cent  are blithely unaware of the gravity, apparently thinking its not unlike what happens when we humans whip out the clippers to trim our toenails.

Its a total misnomer  it should really be called de-knuckling, said Jennifer Conrad, a veterinarian who is founder of the Paw Project, which campaigns against declawing. Its an amputation at the last bone of every one of your cats toes. And it is one of the most painful routinely-performed surgeries in all of veterinary medicine.

Conrad said that while cats may receive pain medication to take the edge off any post-operative agony, patients typically experience a sort of time-released pain some years later. As a by-product, she said, cats can develop difficulty moving around and often reach their height of misery when using the litter box. That can lead to a sad domino effect, she said: Cats tend to quit their boxes and start taking care of business elsewhere, eroding their popularity in the household. That they can no longer scratch to defend themselves  and start biting instead  expands their new status as unwelcome residents. All that can lead to cats being surrendered to shelters.

But even if the procedure sounds gruesome, the ban on it is hardly a shoo-in in New Jersey, where Singleton said he anticipated opposition to the idea  from veterinarians. Now that weve seen the bill pass in one house, Im sure theyll turn the volume up and become a little more vociferous, he said after the Assembly vote.

It didnt take long for more vociferous to arrive. Among the detractors is the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association (NJVMA).

I guess the first statement Ill make is that were not pro-declaw, were anti-euthanasia, Richard Alampi, the associations executive director, said in an interview. Our concern is that there are owners that may choose, for various reasons, not to have a cat if they cant get it declawed. Or, if they have an intact cat, tempted to relinquish it or abandon it if they cant get it declawed.

Alampi also said that the NJVMA surveyed its 470 member practices and found that the veterinarians in New Jersey perform an average of nine declaw procedures per year  which, he acknowledged, is not a figure that indicates a massive public demand for it.

But Alampi denied that the procedure is akin to amputation or that it results in severe pain. He said the Resco technique of declawing  also called the guillotine is a method that hasnt been taught in vet schools for years and has now been mostly replaced by laser surgery. However, the laser procedure still involves amputation of the last toe bone, resulting in the same potential for paw problems, pain and behavioural issues, some veterinarians say.

Alampi characterized some opponents to declawing as animal rights activists. Some view animals essentially not as animals but as small people in furry coats, he said.

Nicholas Dodman, a board certified veterinary anesthesiologist and animal behaviourist who is a professor emeritus at Tufts University Veterinary School, did not concur with Alampi. He said many cat owners do not request declawing, but vets often offer it as part of a package when they spay or neuter their cats. Those owners, many unaware of the implications, often agree.

Read more:

Van Veen: Declawing cats should be a last resort

How to keep your indoor cat entertained every day

Defenders of declawing start coming up with all these reasons why it must continue. And really, a lot of the reasons are fallacious, said Dodman, author of the recent book Pets on the Couch: Neurotic Dogs, Compulsive Cats, Anxious Birds, and New Science of Animal Psychology.

Some cat owners, of course, specifically request the procedure, usually to prevent damage to their furniture or curtains, and sometimes in a bid to protect a human in the household who has health issues  such as immunodeficiencies or bleeding disorders  from being scratched.

If the New Jersey legislation advances all the way, cat owners and veterinarians alike will have plenty of motivation to dodge declawing: Veterinarians who perform the procedure and people who pursue it would face a fine of up to $1,000 or six months in jail, or both, as well as a civil penalty of between $500 and $2,000.

Conrad, the Paw Project founder, has been consulting on the New Jersey and New York legislative efforts. She has long performed reparative surgery on declawed big cats, a procedure that involves reattaching tendons to improve grasping abilities. But fuelled by a desire to eradicate declawing, she willed herself into the role of politico to help pass the bans in the California cities. In 2013, she directed a documentary, also called The Paw Project, that chronicles her efforts to help enact the California bans, and widens out to become a political thriller of sorts.

For those passionate about this topic, a modest political thriller is playing out in New Jersey. The pivotal next scene involves the bill advancing through the state senate. And if it does, the climax would unspool in Gov. Chris Christies office, where hell decide whether to sign it.

SHARE:
Hate crimes in New York City, particularly against Jews, have spiked in the past 100 days, a trend police officials say is probably connected to ethnic bias and xenophobia that emerged during the 2016 election campaign.

Between the Nov. 8 election and Feb. 19, the New York Police Department received 143 hate-crime complaints, 42 per cent more than during the same period a year earlier. Seventy-two of the post-election offences targeted Jews, compared with 39 a year earlier, according to data provided by the department.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

The spate of incidents in New York  home to more Jews than anywhere except Israel  mirrors a trend throughout the U.S. and western Europe. Recent incidents include the desecration of more than 170 graves at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis earlier this month, and more than 50 bomb threats made to Jewish community centres in 26 states in the past 60 days, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which received a Feb. 22 telephoned bomb threat at its Manhattan headquarters.

Based on the timing and the extraordinary increase weve been seeing, not only in New York but around the nation, you have to conclude that the presidential campaign was the major factor, said Stephen Davis, the NYPDs deputy commissioner for public information. To be cautious about casting blame, one would have to consider the heated nature of the rhetoric on both sides during the election.

Responding to a similar upswing in crimes throughout New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Feb. 23 offered a $5,000 reward to anyone giving information to help arrest perpetrators, and $25 million to religious schools to pay for security cameras and other protective measures. He also deployed extra state police to investigate such incidents.

Republican Donald Trumps candidacy drew unsolicited support from white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. He attracted criticism for television ads decrying global special interests and depicting Democrat Hillary Clinton with Jewish business leaders such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein, hedge fund investor George Soros, and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen.

Trumps appointment of Stephen Bannon, a former executive with the conservative website Breitbart News, as chief White House strategist drew more criticism, while the ADL questioned the presidents judgment in observing Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27 without mentioning the Nazis systematic deportation and murder of six million Jews. By the time Trump condemned a national wave of threats against Jewish centres with a statement on Feb. 21, hed already waved off two questions on the subject at news conferences, once describing himself as the least anti-Semitic person that youve ever seen.

Read more:

Why did Stephen Bannon namecheck a philosopher loved by Nazis, neo-Nazis and Fascists?

Pence condemns anti-Semitic vandalism in visit to Missouri cemetery

Anne Frank Center calls Trumps anti-Semitism statement pathetic

I dont recall a time when white supremacists have felt they have a more welcome door in the White House, said Oren Segal, director of the ADLs Center on Extremism in New York. While bomb threats are not new, the sheer number is new. Haters are emboldened and the internet has given them broader impact. They feel their ideas are more welcome than ever before.

Cuomo, a Democrat mentioned as a possible 2020 presidential candidate, declined to hold Trump responsible for the outbreak, saying I want to keep this out of politics to the greatest level I can.

In New York City, however, where almost 90 per cent of voters rejected Trumps presidential bid, Mayor Bill de Blasio has blamed the presidents rhetoric for inflaming ethnic hate.

No one should mince words about it, de Blasio, whos running for re-election this year, said at a Feb. 17 news conference. The horrible, hateful rhetoric that was used in this election by candidate Trump and by a lot of his supporters directly connects to an increase since the election in anti-Semitic incidents, anti-Muslim incidents, and anti-LGBT incidents.

Of 72 anti-Jewish acts in New York City since Election Day, police classify 40 as criminal mischief, such as Nazi swastikas scrawled as graffiti on subways or buildings, 22 as aggravated harassment, four as assaults, and three as terroristic threats. Among other groups targeted during the 105-day span, 16 involved sexual orientation, 13 attacked Muslims, and 12 were directed against blacks, according to the departments Davis.

Read more about:

SHARE:
ALEXANDRIA, VA.Mahmoud Elhassan was born in Sudan and came to America in 2012 on a green card to join his family. Within two years, he was advertising himself online to a radical cleric as a one-man sleeper cell.

Elhassan, 26, a taxi driver from Woodbridge, VA., was sentenced to 11 years in prison Friday for attempting to provide material support to Daesh. Elhassan was arrested last year in an FBI sting after he convinced a friend, Joseph Farrokh, to join Daesh and helped him get there by driving him to the airport.

At Fridays sentencing hearing, Elhassan tearfully renounced his support of Daesh and apologized to his family, to the American people in general, and to the Muslim community for defaming their image.

I was just kind of isolated, Elhassan told U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga as he tried to explain his actions. All the stuff I was saying made me feel like a full man.

The sentence fell in between the request of prosecutors  who sought punishment closer to the 28-year maximum called for under sentencing guidelines  and the 4- to 6-year term sought by Elhassans attorneys.

Prosecutor Dennis Fitzpatrick said a long sentence was in order because Elhassans conduct was the culmination of years of support for terrorist causes. In 2014, he communicated online with a radical Sudanese sheik, Mohammed Ali al Jazouly, telling him, here with you is a sleeper cell. Six months before that, he opened a Facebook account with the words solo wolf in Arabic superimposed over a picture of a wolf stalking its prey.

He was radicalized when he entered the United States, Fitzpatrick said at Fridays hearing.

Elhassan came to the FBIs attention after he wrote to a person who had been convicted in a terror-related case; that convict is not identified in court records, but by then had become a government co-operator.

In the sting operation, Elhassan convinced Farrokh to join Daesh and drove him to the Richmond airport, where Farrokh was arrested before boarding a flight that he intended to be the first leg of a journey to Syria.

Elhassans lawyer, Thomas Durkin, said his client deserved a measure of mercy. Durkin said Elhassan suffered abuse as a child growing up in Sudan. At age 9, his mother took him to Egypt. At age 18, his mother left for the U.S., leaving Elhassan to care for his younger siblings.

Shortly after Elhassan arrived in the U.S. to join his mother and his older siblings, his mother died. In 2015, he fell in love with a Somali woman living in Atlanta, but his marriage proposal was rejected because the womans father looked down on Elhassans Sudanese heritage, Durkin said.

For a few months in 2015, Elhassan and friends set up a prayer table outside the Verizon Center in Washington, seeking to proselytize people to Islam.

Durkin also questioned the utility of federal sentencing guidelines in terrorism cases, in which a so-called terrorism enhancement routinely pushes the recommended sentence to the statutory maximum, no matter the circumstances of the case.

Trenga agreed that the terrorism enhancement renders the guidelines less than completely useful in terror cases.

Farrokh, the co-conspirator, was previously sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison.

Read more about:

SHARE:
An old story has resurfaced. It is made more piquant by the addition of Donald Trump to the mix but it is old nonetheless.

It is about how much sovereign control over their country Canadians are willing to give up in exchange for easier access to the United States.

The latest version of this story is the controversy over a new Canada-U. S. agreement governing the pre-clearance of travellers passing through select airports and rail hubs.

Simply put, it would modify the rules that allow U.S.-bound travellers to clear American customs in Canada and vice versa.

The new version, embodied in federal Bill C-23, also adds two rail hubs and two additional airports to the eight sites in Canada where pre-clearance already takes place.

But thats not the controversial part. What have spooked some, including New Democrat MPs, are the new powers given U.S. border agents operating in Canada.

They would be granted the right to detain for an unspecified amount of time travellers who have entered the pre-clearance area and then changed their minds, the power to conduct strip searches in certain situations and the potential authority to carry arms.

American border officials would also be exempt from some aspects of the Criminal Code and Firearms Act.

Canadian border agents operating in pre-clearance areas in the U.S. would have equivalent powers.

When all of this was first announced last year, Barack Obama was still U.S. president and critics were sparse.

Most reportage at the time focused on the convenience of being able to preclear U.S. customs at two more airports  Quebec Citys Jean Lesage and Torontos Billy Bishop.

Canadians to soon have easier access to U.S. was The Stars headline. It was fairly typical. But with Trumps ascent to the U.S. presidency, all of this changed.

Now everything to do with the U.S. is being viewed in light of a president seen by many Canadians as erratic and hostile to foreigners.

On Tuesday in the Commons, the New Democrats moved an amendment to Bill C-23 that would effectively kill the new arrangement.

The partys public safety critic, Matthew Dube, cited the climate of uncertainty at the border caused by the discriminatory policies of Trump.

But if there are flaws in the new arrangement (and I think there are) they predate Trump. Since 9/11, successive Canadian governments have tried to persuade the Americans that a wide-open border between Canada and the U.S. need not be insecure.

Even Ottawas decision to take full part in the Afghan War was designed, in part, to keep the Canada-U. S. border open to traffic.

The Canadian idea was to create a common security perimeter around North America in exchange for easier movement across the Canada-U. S. frontier.

The American idea, however, was to have both: a common security perimeter around North America and a tightened regime at the Canada-U. S. frontier.

Armed U.S. law officers would operate alongside Canadian police on the Canadian side of the border. U.S. drones would undertake surveillance along it.

Last summer Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberal government quietly agreed to share biographical and other data on Canadians travelling overland to the U.S.  and vice versa.

Not all of this has worked out exactly as planned. The joint policing idea, for example, has been more difficult to implement than expected.

But that is what all of this is about. It is not about Trump. It is not driven by his personal biases. Rather, this is about a long-standing American demand for tighter security on its northern border.

Washington could have agreed to expand the number of pre-clearance sites under the old rules. It didnt.

Instead, it said to Ottawa: If you want easier access, you have to give up something; you have to give American border officers more authority in Canada. You have to let them detain people they think should be detained and do strip searches if necessary. You have to let them carry  and use  weapons if their Canadian counterparts are similarly armed.

And Ottawa agreed. Because more than anything, it wants to keep that border as wide open as possible.

Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi struck a poignant note this week by revealing an intensely personal perspective on justice.

Speaking to a Toronto luncheon, the attorney general recounted how his father, a free speech advocate, was once arrested and held in a Pakistani jail for nine months. The Naqvi family  who would later immigrate to Canada  felt helpless, abused and without recourse.

The lesson Naqvi wished to impart was crystal clear. A fair and equal justice system is a fragile structure. Only constant vigilance can prevent court processes from being eroded by expediency or political gain.

What a pity it was, then, that Naqvi proceeded to denigrate a cornerstone of Canadian criminal justice: the preliminary inquiry. By calling for its elimination in order to speed up the trial process, Naqvi seriously muddied his overall message.

Ending the right to a preliminary inquiry, a pretrial discovery hearing where Crown witnesses give evidence, is a tired idea that arises every time a tempest erupts over trial delays. It should come as no surprise it is being floated yet again in the wake of a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last July that imposed stricter time limits on criminal court proceedings.

There is pleasing simplicity to the idea that erasing a supposedly cumbersome procedure can help solve the problems that plague our courts. But if it is so sensible, why is it that preliminary inquiries never do end up being abolished?

The answer: wiser heads invariably prevail.

To begin with, preliminary inquiries are habitually misperceived. Far from being common, recent statistics show they are held in less than 3 per cent of all criminal cases.

Preliminary inquiries are also viewed by critics to be a needless dress rehearsal for an inevitable, forthcoming trial. In reality, they allow both the Crown and the defence to hear witnesses testify and assess the strength of the case prior to trial. Evidence may also emerge during the preliminary inquiry that police acted improperly or that a key witness is either unreliable or not credible.

This process of testing evidence prior to trial often paves the way for plea negotiations. Prosecutors may even withdraw charges and defendants, seeing the strength of the Crowns case, may opt to plead guilty.

Judges presiding over preliminary inquiries have the power to rule that there is insufficient evidence for a case to proceed to trial. This doesnt happen often, but when it does, it cuts short a horrendous ordeal for an accused person and prevents the wasting of significant resources on a full trial.

Opponents of the preliminary inquiry process often evoke the spectre of scheming defence lawyers who intentionally drag out cases in hopes of exhausting the court system. It is important to note that in the rarest of cases where this may happen, the Crown has the ability to bypass the preliminary inquiry stage altogether with permission from the Attorney General.

Naqvi is not wrong to decry court backlogs. Indeed, he is observant to see the ramifications that lie ahead after the Supreme Court of Canadas decision last year in R. v. Jordan.

However, it is critical to understand that in setting a 30-month limit for Superior Court criminal cases, the Supreme Court specifically accounted for the time that is taken up by a typical preliminary inquiry. Eliminating them would be a red herring. The Supreme Court would simply respond by reducing the outside limit further to reflect the change.

Criminal courts are not fast food restaurants. Their primary function is not to rush out convictions and sentences, with a side order of justice. However, there is good news for reformers such as Naqvi. Should he choose to engage in productive discussion with the defence bar and other justice system players, sound proposals can be found to speed up trials.

For example, some preliminary inquiries could potentially be held in boardrooms without need of a judge or courtroom, much as examinations for discovery are conducted in civil proceedings.

In addition, increased legal aid funding could reduce the number of unrepresented defendants who currently clog the courts. Another useful reform could see the introduction of pretrial charge screening by experienced Crown counsel; a procedure that has allowed provinces such as B.C. to weed out weak prosecutions and conserve precious court resources.

In its Jordan judgment, the Supreme Court called upon all justice system participants to work together to ensure timely justice. The task is feasible. However, it needs to begin with a recognition that the goal of reduced delays must be met without gutting vital checks and balances in the court process.

Daniel Brown is a criminal defence lawyer and a Toronto director with the Criminal Lawyers Association.

SHARE:
It would be ideal if every person who has something important  and largely, secret  to reveal to the public through the media about matters of public interest could be fully identified.

Clearly, readers would prefer that: numerous credibility studies tell us readers most believe news reports that fully identify sources and question those reports that rely heavily on confidential, unnamed sources. The Stars journalistic standards guide reflects this, stating that the public interest is best served when news sources are identified by their full names.

That is a lofty ideal, however, and largely impossible for any journalist or news organization that vigorously pursues investigations in the public interest. The reality is that some sources who have vital information they believe the public should know often cannot reveal their identities to the public. They require anonymity and journalistic protection.

Sometimes these sources livelihoods are at stake; sometimes their personal safety; sometimes both. In order to reveal what they know, such sources need to know with all certainty that their identities will remain confidential to the public and that journalists could not be forced to turn over any information about them to legal authorities.

In Canada, journalists can and do promise some sources confidentiality and make clear that they are not in the business of turning information over to the state. But as things stand now, Canadian law does not fully support these critical journalistic promises.

That is why editors of news organizations across Canada went to Ottawa last week to express their support for an important Senate bill that aims to more fully protect confidential sources from unwarranted police intrusion.

Bill S-231, the Journalistic Sources Protection Act, seeks to protect the privilege of journalistic sources, and secrecy, Conservative Senator Claude Carignan said on introducing the private members bill late last year.

As the Stars Alex Ballingall and Bruce Campion-Smith reported last week, this bill aims to amend two government laws  the Evidence Act and the Criminal Code  to protect journalists sources from being identified or placed under surveillance by police.

The changes would stipulate that the identity of sources would be revealed to authorities only in rare circumstances, and would involve a hearing before a judge to determine whether the information could be obtained in any other way.

Speaking before the Senate committee studying the bill, Michael Cooke, the Stars editor, made a strong and compelling case for why this bill ought to be made the law of our land. As he told the committee, Canada is one of only a few Western democracies without some form of a shield law that protects the essential journalist-source relationship.

Cooke cited the Stars investigation into allegations of crack cocaine use by former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, as a story rooted in a series of whistleblowers and that led, ultimately, to Ford admitting he had lied about his drug use. Clearly, this was an important matter of public interest.

What people sometimes forget, or do not know, is that many journalistic investigations begin with a reporter being given confidential information from a whistleblower, he said. Like the proverbial pebble starting an avalanche, sometimes all it takes is a concerned citizen or civil servant confiding in a reporter.

The basis of this is confidence, it is trust, trusting the journalist, Cooke said. If whistleblowers fear that their identity will be revealed, through a search warrant or judicial order targeting a journalist, they will be much less likely to come forward.

The changes we seek today will protect good journalism from baseless interference from the police and frivolous investigations that serve only to have a chilling effect on the whistleblowers and sources that turn to the media seeking to right wrongs in our society, The Stars editor said.

Indeed, these serious concerns about source protection have taken on considerable urgency in Canada given recent revelations that investigators with Montreals police force spied on a newspaper columnist to find out which of its members was leaking information to the media.

Such police monitoring of journalists is a serious threat to freedom of the press. Democracy depends on courageous sources who tell journalists things that powerful people seek to keep secret and on those sources knowing that the law protects their confidentiality.

Indeed, this private members Senate bill matters to journalism and to democracy. On this, I concur fully with the Stars editorial published earlier this week: The government should heed the call from newspaper editors across the country and support a Senate bill that would protect freedom of the press.

SHARE:
Time is catching up with Coca-Cola (KO) .

For far too long, the soda giant has watched its core products lose favor while continuing to drag its feet when it comes to cost-cutting and revamping its business. What's an investor to do?

The iconic soda company just released its latest batch of quarterly results, and the news was bad. Revenues dropped yet again, by some 5.9%. And volume for its core soda portfolio dropped about 2%. Profits were also under pressure.

But it gets worse.

Coca-Cola stated that it doesn't foresee a profit improvement in 2017. The company expects earnings to decline 1% to 4%. And some analysts think that might even be too optimistic.

Now, with its core portfolio of products in decline, Coca-Cola risks becoming what the Boston Consulting Group categorizes as a "market dog," with a lower market share and a lower growth rate. Coca-Cola needs to affect a major change and reduce its costs enough to buy time for it to further shift its product offerings.

Right now, the company's cost of goods sold is running at some 40% of revenues. But Coke's marketing and administration costs nearly equal its operating costs, and they have been rising even as revenues have been falling.

Slicing marketing for Coke soda and cutting personnel would free up cash for a further push into bottled water products, juices and perhaps even snacks.

A good model for cost control and focusing on emerging consumer trends is Nestle (NSRGY) , which has walked right by Coca-Cola to control 11 of the biggest bottled water brands, including Acqua Panna, Arrowhead, Deer Park, Perrier, Poland Spring, Pellegrino, and others.

Until Coke could prove its willing to enact aggressive chance, it may be better to avoid the stock despite a healthy dividend yield of more than 3.5%.

As I've just explained, Coca-Cola needs to ramp up reforms to deliver better returns for shareholders. But if you're looking for other growth opportunities, we've found a genius trader who turned $50,000 into $5 million by using his proprietary trading method. For a limited time, he's guaranteeing you $67,548 per year in profitable trades if you follow his simple step-by-step process. Click here now for details.

The author is an independent contributor who at the time of publication owned none of the stocks mentioned.
Updated with comments from President Trump.

Conservatives are just as surprised about Bernie Sanders' popularity as Hillary Clinton, but they think they've got an antidote to young Americans' growing affinity for progressive politics -- education, explanation and, oddly enough, Uber.

"You can't have Uber and a socialist-run healthcare system," said Greg Dolin, senior fellow at the American Conservative Union Foundation and associate law professor.

Dolin appeared at a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. on Thursday examining the Vermont Senator's political rise. Themed "FREE stuff vs. FREE-dom," the conversation centered on the apparent rise in openness to socialist and left-leaning politics among Americans, especially those born in the 1980s and after.

"Nothing says progress like a 74-year-old European socialist," said Representative Ron DeSantis, a Republican from Florida. (Sanders is 75.)

Moderator Mercedes Schlapp of The Washington Times joked that Sanders had been invited to the panel discussion but couldn't attend because "he's hanging out with his socialist friends."

Despite their jokes, conservatives recognize Sanders is onto something with young Americans.

Over 80% of under-30 voters voted for Sanders in Democratic Party primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, and more than two-thirds of millennials say they would be willing to vote for a socialist.

The self-described Democratic Socialist garnered 13.2 million primary votes, about 3.7 million short of Clinton. He placed third in his home state of Vermont during the general election thanks to write-ins.

Conservatives say they think they can win Sanders supporters over. Panelists seemed to agree that the problem is largely one of understanding -- simply put, millennials supporting Sanders and socialism just don't get it.

"The reason millennials are in love with socialism...is because they haven't experienced it," said Dolin.

"They have absolutely no concept of reality," said The Heritage Foundation's Ana Quintana.

Sanders campaigned for the presidency on a platform of free public education and a single-payer "Medicare for all" healthcare system. He continues to support such policies in the Senate, where his popularity has rendered him a leading voice on the left.

"There isn't anything that's free, somebody is going to pay for it," said DeSantis.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, the billionaire daughter-in-law of the founder of Amway, said in a speech later in the day that she looked forward to telling Sanders "to his face that there's no such thing as a free lunch."

Mention of Sanders' name during an interview with Senator Ted Cruz earlier in the day was met with boos.

President Trump delivered a sort of complement to Sanders while addressing the CPAC audience on Friday. "We got a lot of Bernie support, so actually, I like Bernie," he said.

To be sure, the young Sanders supporters conservatives are hoping to reach are nowhere to be found at CPAC.

"He didn't appeal to me because I just know better. We can get into the policy, but I just fundamentally disagree with him," said Max Michael, an Ohio student wearing a "Socialism Sucks" t-shirt. "[Socialism] is organized crime essentially. It is a political justification for theft."

Cody Leach, an Alabama college freshman in a "Make America Great Again" hat and "Roll Trump Roll" pin who pointed out his Twitter profile bio reads, in part, "Laissez-Faire Capitalist," is not a Bernie Bro, either.

"I think he represented the anger and the anxiety of a lot of young people," he said. "I understand the cost of college, it's incredible, it's absurd really the way that it's inflated. But they don't understand that the cost is inflated because the government has gotten more involved."

Despite an inclination to brush Sanders' popularity aside or simply say those who support him don't get it, conservatives are aware they've got to do more than that to get votes.

Quintana suggested socialist-leaning millennials "get a one-way ticket to Cuba" to see what's happening.

DeSantis took a more pragmatic approach. If Trump and Congressional Republicans are able to achieve the economic growth they've promised through tax reform and regulatory rollbacks, "I think that experience will change some attitudes," DeSantis said.

Or maybe Sanders supporters will eventually wake up and discover their love for capitalism.

"Millennials are fairly amenable to capitalism, because guess what? Guess who's using Uber and not taxis?" said Dolin.
Budhi Gandaki hydel land acquisition: Compensation payment distribution begins

The District Administration Office (DAO), Gorkha, on Thursday initiated the compensation distribution process to residents of three VDCs for their land acquired by the Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectric Project. The DAO has distributed Rs 47.27 million in compensation to 32 households12 in Ghyalchowk and 20 in Darbung VDCs.
Those who thought Al Gore's visit to Trump Tower in December was a good sign for the Trump administration's commitment to combating climate change might have another thing coming. Experts who doubt the validity of global warming are pretty excited about President Trump.

"Nothing has made me prouder than the fact that Donald Trump is now president," said Steven Milloy, a bio-statistician who runs the website Junk Science, a website that seeks to debunk scientific findings.

Milloy presented with a handful of other climate change critics in a session at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

He predicted the administration will "turn loose" the American energy industry, though he admitted it might not be easy.

"It's going to be a real war with environmentalists, there's no question about that," he said. "But we're going to move the EPA in the right direction."

New agency head Scott Pruitt has made a name for himself by suing the Environmental Protection Agency as Oklahoma's attorney general.

Milloy, who said he was part of Trump's EPA transition team, also believes the United States will drop out of the Paris climate agreement and could potentially back out of the United States Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), signed in 1992. Also on Thursday, more than 300 scientists sent a letter to Trump urging him to withdraw from the UNFCCC.

Tony Heller, who blogs under the pseudonym Steven Goddard at "Real Science," delivered a presentation on what he says is fake news on climate change. One of the many graphs he showed was titled "Fake Human Attribution for Sea Level Rise."

"This is not science, this is just fake news," he said.

Opening up the panel, James Delingpole, a British columnist who currently works at Breitbart, argued that "control freaks" have been drawn to the environmental movement.

He discussed his role in the Climate Research Unit email controversy, coined "Climategate," during which over 1,000 private emails between climate change scientists were published online. He was first to break the story in 2009 and on Thursday bragged it was "the greatest scientific scandal in history."

Such a celebration of Trump's election among climate-change questioners may be cause for consternation among those worried about the future of the planet. But the president has signaled he plans to take a pro-energy, less-than-environmentally-friendly approach.

Prior to his election, Trump on more than one occasion declared that climate change is a Chinese hoax.

Since his inauguration, Trump has sent signals that he will prioritize business and short-term economic growth over combatting climate change and protecting the environment.

He signed legislation ending a coal mining rule under the Obama administration aimed at protecting waterways. He is also reportedly preparing executive orders that will ease regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, federal coal leasing and water protection.

Pruitt will address the CPAC on Saturday, where he will likely provide more guidance on where the Trump administration is headed on environmental regulation and on any action on climate change.
Amazon (AMZN) has moved to to quash a search warrant for it to turn over audio recorded by one of its Amazon Echo devices near an alleged murder in Arkansas, citing free speech concerns, but the case could affect sales of the popular device as well.

In a 16-page memorandum filed Feb. 17 in the Benton County Circuit Court in Arkansas, Amazon argued turning over the recording in connection with a Bentonville Police Department investigation would "chill users" from exercising their free speech in their own homes.

"The publicity generated by this search warrant in particular has led to numerous articles raising concerns about the use of Alexa-enabled devices and other in-home intelligent personal assistants, and in particular whether use of such devices exposes customers' audio recordings and information requests to government review," wrote the company's attorneys at Davis Wright Tremaine and Conner & Winters.

In the case at hand, James Andrew Bates is accused of murdering his friend, former Georgia police officer Victor Collins, in Bentonville in November 2015. Collins was found dead in a hot tub in Bates' home, but Bates has pleaded not guilty and alleged Collins died of accidental drowning. Near the tub was an Amazon Echo that was playing music and could hold clues as to how Collins died.

The Amazon Echo contains seven microphones that can pick up sound from anywhere in a room even if music is playing, the company said. While audio from its surroundings is not stored directly on the device, that audio is stored in Amazon's cloud, as well as on the Alexa mobile app for Android, iOS and Amazon Fire devices. (Amazon noted users can review the recordings and delete them, but the relevant recordings still exist.)

While Amazon said it turned over subscriber information and purchase history for the device to police, it refused to turn over audio from a 48-hour period from Nov. 21 to 22, 2015, when Collins died, because it said the action would violate Bates' First Amendment rights. The commands that users speak to the voice-activated installed helper on the device, Alexa, as well as the responses of the artificial intelligence to those requests should be protected, the company argued.

Amazon.com users should be able to browse and purchase "expressive items" on the site without being afraid of the government knowing what those items are, the papers said. In addition, Alexa's responses to the user can contain "expressive material," such as what podcasts, audiobooks and music were purchased through the company, it said.

To prevent Amazon Echo users from being afraid to exercise their free-speech rights in the privacy of their home, authorities need to show a "compelling need" for the audio recordings from Bates' Amazon Echo and prove that they have exhausted other means to acquire them, Amazon continued. If the police department can prove "a heightened showing of relevance and need for any recordings" and Amazon turns the data over, it should still be reviewed by a judge first to be sure there is a connection between the audio and the death of Collins, the company concluded.

According to media reports, prosecutors have said they will soon respond to the motion. No hearing on the matter has been scheduled.

Experts, meanwhile, have sided with Amazon.

There's no question that the First Amendment protects your right to seek and receive information anonymously, such as through Amazon.com or at a library, without having to fear the government looking over your shoulder, First Amendment Coalition Executive Director David Snyder said. In addition, the amendment protects the response that a device like the Amazon Echo gives a user, he added.

"This is like a high-tech version of a case where a person's library books they checked out are protected by the First Amendment," Snyder explained.

This protection, however, "is not limitless," Snyder added. In other words, just because the First Amendment applies to Amazon's case doesn't mean the police can't get the recording. First, the police department needs to show a heightened need to obtain the recording, which it has a good chance at doing considering the case involves alleged murder. Second, the department needs to prove that there's a connection between what was recorded and Collins' death.

"This may be the catch for Amazon," Snyder said.

The case could scare people away from buying Amazon Echo devices in the future, particularly if Amazon ends up having to turn over the audio, he noted.

"If [people] think everything they say near the device will be available to the government, then that will factor into their purchase," Snyder said.

But the most important implication of the case, he maintained, is the broader potential "chilling effect," meaning people could be deterred from looking up information about controversial topics for fear that the searches would one day be analyzed by the government and misinterpreted. If people think their web or Amazon.com searches will appear on a billboard one day, they will adjust their searches accordingly.

"This kills our ability to learn and communicate," Snyder said.

CUNY School of Law professor Ruthann Robson agreed with Snyder, saying that Amazon's argument about the First Amendment applying to the Echo device is "on solid ground." Rather than claiming that Alexa is a person who has free speech rights, the company is arguing that it has a First Amendment right to the data recorded from both the user and Alexa, she explained. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized a corporation's First Amendment right to its data in the past, such as drug prescriptions from physicians.

"Consumers are becoming more and more aware of the incursions on their privacy by technology; Amazon may rightly fear for its bottom line," she concluded.

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners has estimated that Amazon has sold 5.1 million of the $180 Amazon Echo devices since their introduction two years ago.

Amazon did not immediately return a request for comment on the case's potential effect on Echo sales.
Put aside the political noise and punditry and just focus on the numbers, especially corporate earnings reports. This rule especially applies to the turbulent energy patch, which continues to get whipsawed by rumors, hopes and fears.

Full-year 2016 earnings are now on the books for the world's largest integrated oil and gas companies, all based in the U.S. or Europe. These "super majors" are the bellwethers of the worldwide energy industry and in recent months they've witnessed their share of roller-coaster rides.

Let's take a quick look at the latest operating results of the world's three biggest energy companies, in descending order of market capitalization. The upshot from these numbers, as you'll see, is that Big Oil continues to struggle and investors should avoid the following stocks for now. There are better places for your money.

ExxonMobil (XOM)

The world's largest oil company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.7 billion, a year-over-year decline of 40%. The plunge was largely caused by a one-time impairment of $2 billion. Excluding the impairment charge, fourth-quarter earnings per share were 90 cents, exceeding the average analyst estimate of 70 cents. Upstream earnings from producing oil and gas reached $1.4 billion, an increase of $528 million from the previous year.

For full-year 2016, Exxon Mobil earned $7.8 billion (which includes the $2 billion impairment), a plunge of 51% from the $16.2 billion earned last year. Cash from operations for the year was $22.1 billion, down from $30.3 billion the previous year.

For the first time in more than two decades, ExxonMobil failed to find as much new oil as it produced. The company's reserves replacement ratio for the year dropped to 67%. ExxonMobil also executed its sharpest reserves drawdown in modern history, removing 3.5 billion barrels of oil sands in western Canada from its reserves. If you're looking for growth, seek opportunities elsewhere until XOM turns around its fortunes.

Royal Dutch Shell (RYDAF)

Shell reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1 billion vs. $1.8 billion in the year-earlier quarter. The company blamed the earnings decline on lower oil and gas prices, but expenses associated with its merger last year with BG Group also played a role.

Shell's buyout of BG lifted reserves from 11.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) at the end of 2015 to 13.2 billion BOE at the end of 2016, for a reserves replacement ratio of 208%. BG added about 2.4 billion BOE, which means without the acquisition Shell's reserves would have fallen on a year-over-year basis, as they did in 2015.

Chevron (CVX)

Chevron whiffed on Wall Street's earnings expectations. The culprits: reduced refining margins, lower oil and gas prices, and tax charges. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $415 million, compared to a $588 million loss in the same period a year ago. However, EPS came in at 22 cents, far below expectations of 64 cents.

For full-year 2016, Chevron posted a loss of $497 million. Cash from operations for the year was $12.8 billion, down from $19.5 billion the previous year.

Chevron generated 2.59 million BOE per day for the full year. Total proved reserves by the end of the year were 11.1 billion BOE, for a reserve replacement ratio of 95%. Chevron spent $22.4 billion on capital expenditures last year, down from $34 billion in 2015.

After a rough year, all three companies face further dangers in 2017. To be sure, oil prices are hovering above $50 a barrel, the threshold considered to be the "break even" point for energy companies. But oil prices have been volatile and could easily plunge again on any indication of bad news.

Most analysts are calling for a market correction as well as a recession in 2017. President Trump's "America First" trade policies also could launch a full-blown trade war. In light of rising economic and geopolitical risks and in the wake of the energy sector's generally poor operating performance in 2016, your best bet is to avoid the super majors for now.

Boring, Predictable, No-Surprises Strategy Safely Generates $67,548

If big, triple-digit winners get your adrenaline pumping, then stop reading this right now. Because this probably isn't for you... Only traders who would calmly enjoy raking in an extra $67,548 with no surprises or hiccups will appreciate this strategy. In fact, over the course of 1,586 days, I've been leisurely collecting giant payouts with this boring approach. I win 8 out of every 10 trades - GUARANTEED. Click here to join me.

John Persinos is an analyst and editor at Investing Daily. At the time of publication, he owned none of the stocks mentioned.
The first signs of a rebalancing in the oil market may come from the other side of the Earth.

An RBC research note circulated to investors Friday argues that a hike in the Official Selling Price (OSP) for Saudi light and sweet crude in Asian markets could be a leading indicator that some oversupply concerns are finally abating.

Since Saudi Arabia and the other OPEC nations agreed in November to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day, Asian countries have increasingly turned to African countries that operate in the Atlantic Ocean Basin like Angola for their fix. According to the RBC note, West African oil exporters are currently sending 2.2 million barrels a day to Asia  200,000 barrels more than their 2017 average output.

"I think a lot of people generally think about the global oil overhang as a broad-based term," RBC strategist and note author Michael Tran said. "It's really locational and regionalized in terms of where the overhangs and the deficits really are. When you look at a place like Asia, Asia is really tight. They need to pull barrels from other places to fund their demand."

For Asia, Saudi Arabia is often that "other place." 32% of all Asian crude oil exports among the 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member states come from Saudi Arabia, by far the largest percentage for an individual nation (The United Arab Emirates is in second with 19%).

The light, sweet crude that the Saudis send to Asia is primarily used for gasoline. Functionally speaking, the OSP for the oil is, depending on the health of the market, either a markup or a discount off the per-barrel Dubai benchmark price for the commodity.

Data collected by RBC shows that the Saudi light crude OSP to Asia is currently priced at a slight 15 cent-per barrel premium to Dubai crude. Dubai crude was selling at about $54.18 a barrel Friday afternoon.

A sustained hike in the OSP to Asia could be a sign that the oil glut in the Atlantic Basin is disappearing, Tran argued.

"The OSP to Asia in the 2010-2014 time period averaged $1.65 over Dubai. In the time since the world price collapse back in mid-2014, that OSP has averaged a discount of 34 cents to Dubai," he said. "Right now, we're slightly north of flat. I would think that while there's no magic number...I would look at more of a trend. If you see several months where you see a material uptick, that would suggest that the market is certainly tightening. If we saw a 30 cent hike two or three months in a row, I think that would be quite significant."

Any signs of a recovery, no matter how small, could be cause for celebration in Saudi Arabia. The Arab nation's government is preparing to sell a 5% stake in oil producer Saudi Aramco in 2018. The initial public offering of Saudi Aramco shares is expected to be the most valuable float in history and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman publicly estimated the total value of the company at $2 trillion in April 2016.

"If prices can really be shored up, if market share can really be shored up [for Saudi Arabia], then I think the IPO, etcetera, it all will really fall into place," Tran said.
Former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Daniel Gallagher compares Dodd-Frank to "Frankenstein's monster," but he knows the 2010 financial regulations law isn't going away anytime soon, even with Republicans in control of the White House and Congress.

"You need those 60 votes," he said in an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, referring to the U.S. Senate threshold to pass legislation.

Washington Republicans and deregulation advocates aren't giving up that easily. While a complete repeal of Dodd-Frank might not be on the table, they plan to use other avenues to roll back regulations and regard incoming SEC Chairman Jay Clayton as a welcome change.

"He's got a big task ahead of him," said Gallagher, a Republican Obama appointee to the SEC who served from 2011 to 2015. "He's going to have capacity, because he's that kind of guy, to have a real proactive agenda of whatever he wants."

Clayton has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, but if and when he is, Gallagher said he hopes he will take on the task of reevaluating what he says are more than 100 SEC rules that have been finalized or are in process -- something his predecessors have avoided.

"There's no history at the SEC of rethinking bad rules once they're in place, there's no real pattern or practice of retrospective review," he said.

Even before Clayton's arrival, the rule revision process has begun, though the impetus has been through Congress, not regulators. President Donald Trump on Feb. 14 signed legislation brought about through the Congressional Review Act scrapping a rule that requires U.S.-listed oil and gas companies to disclose payments to foreign governments, the goal being to curb bribery.

"It's the most anti-competitive provision I've ever seen in any statute," said Gallagher, who voted against the rule while at the SEC, one of 16 dissents he issued during his tenure.

Among the SEC rules that could be targeted for revision are a handful related to executive compensation, including those requiring disclosures on hedging and pay on performance and standardizing clawbacks on executive pay.

Also up for a rethink may be a pay ratio rule that requires publicly-traded companies to disclose median employee pay ratios in comparison to their CEOs. "Just make it U.S. only, make it mean instead of median, and you've cut 95% of the costs on that rule," he said.

Beyond regulatory rollbacks, Clayton will have other items on his agenda as well.

"His background is on the deal side, so I wouldn't be shocked if he had a big capital formation agenda," said Gallagher, who is now president of advisory firm Patomak Global Partners LLC. "I know he's very interested in market structure issues that have been going around the agency for a while, both on the equity and fixed income side."

Clayton and other executive branch appointees such as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will have some leeway on financial regulation enforcement.

In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Feb. 23, Mnuchin said the administration wants to make sure America has "good" and "sound" regulation but also "regulation that creates economic growth and makes sure banks are lending."

"I'm from a rural state, and a lot of the banks that really are the engines of the small towns are really small banks, and Dodd-Frank has crushed them," said Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin speaking at a panel on regulation at CPAC on Thursday. "It's top-down nameless, faceless rules from Washington telling people who can get a loan and who can't, and it's killing our economy."

Executive branch action aside, members of Congress are also working to overhaul the regulatory environment to make it friendlier to business, they say. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., speaking on the same panel, outlined a number of legislative avenues for change.

He named the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS Act), a bill that would require Congressional approval of any rule that would impose compliance costs of over $100 million a year. Another option-a sunset provision that terminates regulations unless they are formally renewed.

House Republicans recently revived the Holman Rule, a rule through the appropriations process that allows lawmakers to slash the pay of individual federal workers.

"Congress can take out someone's salary," DeSantis said. "Just imagine if we were to do that."

Congress could also take aim at the Chevron deference, under which courts have agreed to defer to federal regulators' implementation of ambiguous federal laws. DeSantis said even if legislators can't tackle it directly, they have an ally in Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, who does not support it.

While the GOP can chip away at regulations, financial and otherwise, even its fiercest critics admit a Dodd-Frank repeal is highly unlikely.

"Killing it is unfortunately not as easy as Obamacare will be," said Gallagher. (While Republicans don't yet have a consensus on how to tackle the Affordable Care Act, they'll likely do so through reconciliation, which requires 51 votes.)

Wall Street has already begun to price in what it anticipates will be an eased regulatory environment and lower taxes under Trump. The president has developed an affinity for bragging about the stock market's gain under his administration, on Thursday tweeting a Fox Business story about the S&P 500's gains.

But using ever-unpredictable equities markets as a measure of success is risky business.

"The Dow goes up, the Dow goes down, no one knows exactly why," Gallagher said. "I've learned as a policymaker you regulate not to the times."
Repeats story published Feb. 24.

Corporate culture starts at the top of any organization. That's putting Uber Technologies' newest board member, Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington, in a tough situation.

On Feb. 19, a former Uber employee, Susan Fowler, detailed allegations of sexual harassment during her tenure at the San Francisco-based company. After reporting a manager for inappropriate sexual advances, upper management told Fowler that "they wouldn't feel comfortable punishing him for what was probably just an innocent mistake on his part." She was also told that his was the manager's first offense, though she would later learn it was not.

"Women were transferring out of the organization, and those who couldn't transfer were quitting or preparing to quit," Fowler wrote in a blog post. "There were two major reasons for this: there was the organizational chaos, and there was also the sexism within the organization."

Following her post, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick promised a thorough investigation, holding what employees called an "honest, raw and emotional" meeting at the company's San Francisco headquarters earlier this week.

Huffington, Uber's lone female board member, also stepped up, despite only becoming a director in April 2016. She promised to work with Liane Hornsey, Uber's recently hired Chief Human Resources Officer to conduct the investigation. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is also working with Uber to investigate Fowler's claims.

"I hope that by taking the time to understand what's gone wrong and fixing it we can not only make Uber better but also contribute to improvements for women across the industry," Huffington wrote in a company blog post on Tuesday. "Change doesn't usually happen without a catalyst."

Huffington has vowed to "hold the leadership team's feet to the fire on this issue." She didn't respond to e-mails asking for further comment.

A report by the U.K.'s Financial Reporting Council in 2016 advised that while boards are expected to determine whether a company's purpose is aligned with its strategy and business model, "Directors should not wait for a crisis before they focus on company culture."

But Uber waited for a crisis and now faces an uphill battle to change the culture that had women leaving or wanting to quit.

Uber is not the only company in Silicon Valley with gender discrimination and sexual harassment issues. Since 2014, Alphabet Inc.'s Google (GOOGL), Facebook Inc. (FB) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) have all faced criticism for its treatment of female employees. Furthermore, a recent study, called "Elephant in the Valley," surveyed more than 200 senior level women and found that 60% of those working in tech reported unwanted sexual advances.

Still, those companies were able to put the scandals and lawsuits behind them -- without a global boycott like #DeleteUber, which made a resurgence following Fowler's allegations.

The movement began in late January after the company turned off "surge pricing" at New York's JFK airport in light of protests against President Trump's executive order banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, leading many to think the company was profiting off the protests, and was perpetuated by Kalanick's position on the president's business advisory council, which he eventually left under pressure.

Granted, the other tech giants are more established than Uber, which was founded in 2009. Additionally, they have more women on their board, and for a longer amount of time than Huffington's tenure at Uber.

According to BoardEx data, Alphabet, Apple and Facebook all have at least two women on the board. BoardEx is a business unit of TheStreet.

For Alphabet, Diane Green, who heads Google Cloud, was elected a director in 2012, while both Ann Mather and Princeton University President Emeritus Shirley Tilghman have been directors since 2005. Apple has BlackRock Inc. (BLK) co-founder Susan Wagner and Grameen America CEO Andrea Jung on its board. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and Susan Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of The Gates Foundation, sit on Facebook's board. Sandberg was elected in 2012; Desmond-Hellmna joined in 2015.

Even the automotive companies venturing into ride-sharing, such as Ford Motor Co. (F), have multiple female board members. Kimberly Casiano and Ellen Ruth Marram have served on Ford's board since 2003 and 2013, respectively. (General Motors Co. (GM) is reportedly partnering with Uber rival Lyft to test self-driving cars; GM, whose CEO is Mary Barra, has five women on its board.)

Having women in corporate leadership positions is positively correlated with the firm's characteristics, including "the absence of discriminatory attitudes toward female executives," a global survey conducted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found in 2016.

"Analysis of a global survey of 21,980 firms from 91 countries suggests that the presence of women in corporate leadership positions may improve firm performance," the authors of the study wrote. "This correlation could reflect either the payoff to nondiscrimination or the fact that women increase a firm's skill diversity."

Chief executives of S&P 500 companies with the highest percentage of women on their boards highlighted the importance of diversity in the boardroom to consulting giant McKinsey in January.

"Leaders must make sure that everyone understands the benefits to the organization, the results these decisions bring, and the power of talented women and all that they have achieved for the company," said Fabrizio Freda, CEO of Estee Lauder Cos. (EL).

"The women on the board challenged management the most by drawing on their understanding of how more than half of the country would feel about these new products," Dan McCarthy, CEO of Frontier Communications Corp. (FTR), said. "It really changed the entire direction of the discussion."

Alphabet, Apple and Facebook are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells APPL, FB and GOOGL? Learn more now.
Amazon.com (AMZN) and Snap may feel push-back from investors, with some concerned about the e-commerce giant's Echo sales and the latter group potentially skeptical of the social media image-sharing company's valuation heading into its IPO.

Amazon is seeking to quash a search warrant issued by Arkansas authorities, who are investigating a 2015 murder. The victim, Victor Collins, was found dead in a hot tub at the home of James Andrew Bates. And stationed near the hot tub was an Amazon Echo, which was playing music at the time.

The Internet of Things (IoT) device is capable of picking up ambient sounds while it is playing music and these recordings are stored in the Amazon cloud, not the device. As a result, Arkansas authorities want access to those recordings to see if it provides information and clues to Collins' death. Bates, who has pleaded not guilty, alleges Collins was the victim of an accidental drowning.

Amazon, however, is fighting the search warrant, citing the first Amendment which allows U.S. citizens the right to free speech. The e-commerce titan argues that turning over the recordings would "chill" Echo users from speaking freely within their own homes.

Should that be the case, it could potentially put a dent in Amazon's Echo sales and other manufacturers' IoT devices that rely on voice commands. It would also come at a time when consumers and businesses are becoming more comfortable with IoT devices.

Research firm Gartner estimates that 20.8 billion devices will be connected by 2020, up substantially from the 6.4 billion in 2016, when an estimated $235 billion was spent on services to support the IoT devices.

Amazon dipped 0.82% to close at $845.24

Social media and image-sharing company Snap is facing skepticism over its valuation as it heads toward an IPO.

The company reportedly was at one time aiming for an IPO valued in excess of $25 billion but decided to set its initial pricing range at $14 to $16 a share, pointing to a more muted valuation of $18.5 billion on the high side of that range.

However, even at this range, some folks believe it's a gamble and the reception at its road show has been somewhat cool.

This bodes well for rival Facebook (FB) , since the fewer billions that Snap can raise in its IPO means less money that it will have in its arsenal to compete against Facebook.

Facebook rose 0.06% to end the day at $135.44.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) plunged 6.9% after issuing its full-year guidance below analysts' expectations.

The enterprise company released its first-quarter earnings results after the markets close Thursday, noting it expected full-year earnings in the $1.88 to $1.98 per share range, a drop from its previous forecast of $2 to $2.10 a share.

The company is still struggling to get its bearings after having spun off its printer and PC business to HP (HPQ) over a year ago.

"Near-term execution issues," were cited among the reasons for the drop in the full-year guidance, along with higher commodities prices for server memory chips, foreign exchange headwinds and an order shortfall, according to its CEO Meg Whitman.

For the first quarter, Hewlett Packard Enterprise beat Wall Street's earnings estimates by a penny but failed to meet analysts' revenue estimates. The company reported adjusted earnings of 45 cents a share on revenue of $11.41 billion, whereas analysts were expecting 44 cents a share on revenue of $12.07 billion.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise's revenue dropped 10%, compared with year-ago figures, with it taking a hit in declining sales in its enterprise servers, networking and storage and software businesses.

Meanwhile, TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer, who owns Hewett Packard Enterprise in the Action Alerts PLUS portfolio, noted in a recent post that while the company's first-quarter results were "undoubtedly disappointing," its restructuring, refocusing and its acquisition efforts will help bolster its fundamentals beyond this year.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Ex-President concerns stagnation of constitution implementation

Former President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has expressed his displeasure over the stagnation of the implementation of the constitution even after 18 months of it promulgation.
Aviva plc provides various insurance, retirement, investment, and savings products in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and internationally. The company offers life insurance, long-term health and accident insurance, savings, pension, and annuity products, as well as pension fund business and lifetime mortgage products. It also provides insurance cover to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses for risks associated with motor vehicles and medical expenses, as well as property and liability, such as employers' and professional indemnity liabilities. In addition, the company provides investment management services for institutional pension fund mandates; and manages various retail investment products, including investment funds, unit trusts, open-ended investment companies, and individual savings accounts for third-party financial institutions, pension funds, public sector organizations, investment professionals, and private investors. It markets its products through a network of insurance brokers, as well as MyAviva platform. The company was formerly known as CGNU plc and changed its name to Aviva plc in July 2002. Aviva plc was founded in 1696 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on London Offices and Retail around the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at 13.7bn (British Land share: 10.3bn) as at 30 September 2020 making us one of Europe's largest listed real estate investment companies. Our strategy is to provide places which meet the needs of our customers and respond to changing lifestyles - Places People Prefer. We do this by creating great environments both inside and outside our buildings and use our scale and placemaking skills to enhance and enliven them. This expands their appeal to a broader range of occupiers, creating enduring demand and driving sustainable, long term performance. Our Offices portfolio comprises three office-led campuses in central London as well as high quality standalone buildings and accounts for 65% of our portfolio. Our Retail portfolio is focused on retail parks and shopping centres, and accounts for 31% of our portfolio. Increasingly our focus is on providing a mix of uses and this is most evident at Canada Water, our 53 acre redevelopment opportunity where we have plans to create a new neighbourhood for London. Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our places, which are designed to meet high sustainability standards, become part of local communities, provide opportunities for skills development and employment and promote wellbeing. In April 2016 British Land received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the UK's highest accolade for business success for economic, social and environmental achievements over a period of five years.
In 2016, China for just the first time became the biggest trading partner of Germany. China overtook both the United States and France with the U.S. dropping to third place and France remaining in second indicated new data released on Friday.

German exports to and imports from China increased in 2016 to over 170 billion equal to $180 billion, showed figures from the Federal Statistics Office.

Get

Warning: Undefined variable $CompanyName in /home/accttr/public_html/wp-content/themes/responsalambre/single.php on line 65

alerts:

This development is likely welcomed by the government of Germany, which has put a goal of safeguarding global free trade following the threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to place tariffs on all imports. At the same time, his top trade adviser accused Germany of taking advantage of a weak euro to increase exports.

Sigmar Gabriel the Vice Chancellor of Germany has suggested that the European Union refocus economic policy towards Asia if Trump continues to pursue his protectionism policies.

The BGA trade association in Germany said that given the plans of protectionism by the new White House administration it is only logical that trade ties between China and Germany would become stronger.

France remained Germanys second largest business partner with trade volume between exports and imports of 167 billion. The U.S. was third at 165 billion.

The U.S. during 2015 became Germanys biggest trade partner overtaking France after France had been at the top since 1961. The U.S. was helped in 2015 by an upturn in the U.S. economy and a much weaker euro.

On Friday, in a separate statement the Committee on Eastern European Relations in Germany said it was expecting exports into Russia would likely increase by a minimum of 5% in 2017. That would be the first increase of its kind in years due to Western sanctions.

Looking just at exports, the U.S. was still the largest client for German made products last year, importing goods from the largest economy in Europe worth close to 107 billion.

France was the second largest export destination for goods made in Germany with a total amount of imports of 101 billion from Germany.

Britain represented the largest bi-lateral trade surplus with Germany. Exports from Germany surpassed its imports from Britain by over 50 billion, showed figures.

The U.S. was second with a bi-lateral deficit in trade as German exports into the U.S. surpassed U.S. exports into Germany by over billion.

That means Britain and the United States together represented close to 40% of the record trade surplus of Germany that in 2016 totaled 252.8 billion.
Free treatment of breast and uterine cancer on cards: Minister Khadka

The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) says it is working to bring a programme to provide free treatment to women suffering from breast and uterine cancer.
Residents of the town of Avdiivka have been again left without water due to the attacks by militants.

Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services Hennady Zubko wrote this on his Facebook page.

"Water purification installation has been damaged due to the attacks by militants. The town is again without water. As the Netherlands supports the ratification of the agreement between Ukraine and the EU, the orcs do not calm down and continue shelling," he wrote.

In turn, Chairman of the Donetsk Regional Civil and Military Administration Pavlo Zhebrivskyi says that it is necessary to immediately make a decision on the demilitarization of the zone near Donetsk filtration plant. "We talked about it many times with the OSCE and the UN mission, but now it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive solution," he stressed.

ish
One Ukrainian soldier was wounded in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) area in eastern Ukraine over the past day.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a press briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

No Ukrainian soldiers were killed, but one soldier was wounded as a result of the armed hostilities near Luhanske in eastern Ukraine in last day, Motuzianyk said.

ish
First Deputy Chairman of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug has stated that the SMM observers recorded shelling from the center of Donetsk.

He stated this during a press conference, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Last week, on Friday night, our observers in the center of Donetsk heard more than 90 shots of undetermined origin, and 127 shots from the same position the next night. On Wednesday night, our colleagues in occupied Debaltseve heard only for two hours 298 undetermined origin explosions and fire from heavy machine guns," he said.

He said that the attacks by Ukrainian soldiers had been also recorded in the Svitlodarsk arc area in Donbas.

However, Hug said that over the past week a decrease in the number of ceasefire violations in Donbas by 20% was observed compared to the previous week.

ish
One Ukrainian soldier was killed, two servicemen were wounded in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) area in eastern Ukraine over the past day.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO Andriy Lysenko said this at a press briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. One Ukrainian soldier was killed, two soldiers were wounded as a result of the armed hostilities in eastern Ukraine in last day, Lysenko said. ish
Successful experience of ProZorro operation allows Ukraine to offer effective tools for improving the quality of international public procurement, particularly, the electronic portal for the aggregation of messages about international tenders.

First Economic Development and Trade Deputy Minister of Ukraine Maksym Nefyodov said this at a meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on public procurement, held in Geneva, the press service of the Economic Development Ministry informs.

He noted that the positive experience of ProZorro system implementation in Ukraine could be useful for improving the quality of international procurement. "The access to information is currently the main obstacle to cross-border public procurement. There are a lot of sites, containing information about the tenders. We offer a ProZorro-style solution: to create an open electronic aggregator portal that automatically collects the relevant data on tenders," the Ukrainian official noted.

This approach will help to bring the quality of international tenders to the next level.

ol
Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk has taken part in regular joint revision of the portfolio of World Bank projects in Ukraine.

This is reported by the press service of the Finance Ministry of Ukraine.

The progress of implementation of joint projects and further steps to ensure their effective implementation were discussed during the portfolio revision.

Danylyuk noted the importance of participation of the World Bank in the reform process aimed at modernizing and restructuring the national economy, in particular regarding the introduction of new approaches to budget planning within the framework of public finance management reform, changes in the system of social protection and health care.

ol
The Government continues to work on increase of pension payments to citizens.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said this at a meeting of the National Tripartite Social and Economic Council, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We are working on these proposals, and our task today is to ensure the growth of pension payment for Ukrainian pensioners. And we are very close to such proposals," Groysman said.

According to him, the creation of fair pension reform is an important task for the authorities in 2017.

ish
The Lower House of the Parliament of the Netherlands has endorsed a bill which stipulates ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

The document was supported by 89 out of 150 MPs. 55 MPs voted against, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

To complete the ratification procedure, the document must also be approved by the Upper House of the Parliament of the Netherlands.

The vote is expected to take place after March 15.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko already praised the decision of the Lower House of Dutch Parliament regarding the approval of ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

"I welcome the decision of the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament regarding the ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. I thank Mark Rutte and the parliamentary majority for the far-sighted position and support for mutually beneficial project. We are looking forward to the decision of the Senate," Poroshenko posted on his Facebook page.

ol
Govt mulls pvt financing to build oil storage plants

The government is considering private finance initiatives to construct petroleum storage plants in all provinces. Under the initiative, a private sector company would finance and provide a public service, popularly known as the public-private partnership financing model.
Canadian parliamentary opposition has proposed an assistance plan to Ukraine and urged the Government to take concrete steps to support Ukraine in confronting Russian aggression.

Canadian Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Peter Kent has presented this plan, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"Canada has been a reliable ally and helper of Ukraine for a long time. Since the sovereignty of Ukraine continues to be at risk, Canadian Government should take concrete steps to reassure Ukrainians that Canada will continue to support them in the face of Russia's military aggression," Kent said.

"As the violence and tension in eastern Ukraine continue to grow, Ukraine needs an increase in Canadian support but not decrease," Kent added.

ish
Kansas man charged in shooting of two Indians in possible hate crime

A Kansas man was charged on Thursday with shooting to death an Indian man and wounding a second Indian man and an American in a bar, and federal authorities are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
Discuss the prevalence of UAB, specifically as it relates to aging. Recognize the challenges and complexities of treating UAB. Recall and discuss possible treatments for UAB. Explain the pathophysiology of myogenic and neurogenic UAB.

We are pleased to invite you to attend the 3rd International Congress for Underactive Bladder (CURE-UAB). This 1.5 day program will feature the cutting edge research, clinical care, and technological advancements for underactive bladder.The event will feature presentations from a world renowned faculty, panel discussions, work groups, and poster sessions. This international gathering will appeal to basic researchers, nurses, clinicians, academicians, industry representatives, and other stakeholders from the fields of urology, geriatrics, gynecology, neurology, and general medicine.Objectives of this years CURE-UABCURE-UAB provides an unparalleled platform for learning, participating, networking, collaborating, and discussing the emerging field of underactive bladder. CURE-UAB is supported by the Robert B. & Ann S. Aikens Urology Research Fund.
The term of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director, Richard Cordray, isnt over until July 2018, but some have expressed concern that PresidentTrump will try to dismiss him early. (Brennan Linsley/AP)

In a preemptive move, Democrats, consumer groups and civil rights leaders have been mobilizing to defend the head of the federal consumer watchdog agency should President Trump try to fire him.

Since the inception of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Republicans have denounced the entity, which was created under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act in the wake of the financial crisis. Its critics think the bureau is too hostile toward the financial services industry.

Republicans have introduced legislation that would change the CFPBs leadership structure, replacing the one-person directorship with a five-person commission, which could effectively slow or stymie the agencys aggressive consumer protection actions in an effort to get a consensus.

The term of the current director, Richard Cordray, isnt over until July 2018, but some have expressed concern that Trump will try to dismiss him early.

Under existing law, the president can remove Cordray only for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.

[Appeals court will reconsider ruling on consumer agency]

The CFPB was designed to be as independent as possible so that it wouldnt become a pawn of politicians beholden to campaign contributors from the financial industry. Thats why its structured to have a single director who can be removed only for cause and why the Federal Reserve, not Congress, controls its budget.

Last year, bureau critics rejoiced in an opening that could oust Cordray after a three-judge federal appeals court panel ruled that its leadership structure is unconstitutional. But the CFPB appealed the decision, and, this month, the full court agreed to revisit it.

So now proponents are concerned that Trump is being urged to fire Cordray because of allegations of employment discrimination at the bureau.

In an email, a White House spokesman declined to comment on the presidents plans regarding Cordray.

In 2013, the CFPB identified disparities in employees performance ratings by race, age and office location, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. After the disclosure, the House Financial Services Committee launched an investigation.

Over the course of several hearings, five CFPB employees testified about allegations of discrimination. Several others submitted anonymous written testimony.

The GAO was asked to review personnel management and organizational culture at the bureau and found heightened concerns related to fair treatment.

The agencys Office of the Inspector General also conducted an audit in response to a congressional request. It identified four areas in which the agency could improve its diversity efforts.

[Advice for retirees rattled by Trump]

But both the GAO and the OIG concluded that Cordray had taken steps to foster a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

In a letter last month to Trump, the union representing the CFPB employees said it was satisfied with Cordrays commitment to addressing discrimination claims, writing: In no way could the directors actions in these matters constitute a basis for a dismissal for cause.

The Congressional Black Caucus also wrote to Trump, declaring that Cordray had done nothing to give the necessary cause for his removal from office.

Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee also commended Cordrays efforts to address the employment issues, including providing merit-pay increases and making lump-sum payments to affected employees. And the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza and the National Urban League released a joint statement in support of the CFPB and Cordray, writing that the director has worked to fix a flawed employee performance system.

Any effort to weaken the agency or undermine its leadership would risk severe impacts on our communities  including communities of color and low-income families who are most vulnerable to financial abuse, the groups wrote.

Wade Henderson, president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in an interview that any effort to use agency employment issues [would be] for the purpose of accomplishing a political result.

One of the main arguments used by the CFPBs opponents is that its not accountable. Yet the director has to report to Congress. The discrimination allegations were scrutinized in congressional hearings.

Diversity is one of our most fundamental strengths, both as an agency and as a nation, and it contributes directly to our success in delivering results for American consumers, Cordray said in a statement. Weve been working hard on these issues since we opened our doors.

Even while dealing with its own issues, the CFPB has levied fines against companies for discriminatory mortgage, auto and credit-card lending practices affecting African American and Hispanic consumers.

I find it hypocritical that some politicians might deal the race card to try to get what they want, which essentially is to protect those companies that have discriminatory practices that have harmed minority consumers.

It would be appalling if the employment problems at the CFPB were used to oust Cordray. Doing so could emasculate an agency that has done so much good for all consumers.

Read more:

Two-thirds of Americans arent using this easy way to save for retirement

Will your pension be there for you when you need it?

Apply early or delay: When is it wise to collect Social Security?

Write Singletary at The Washington Post, 1301 K St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or singletarym@

washpost.com. To read more, go to wapo.st/michelle-singletary.
Khayar tree logging rife in Khotang VDC

Timber smugglers, in collusion with community forest representatives, are cutting down Khayar trees (Acacia catechu) at Durchhim VDC in Khotang and exporting them outisid the district, according to villagers.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration released a pair of memos authorizing federal authorities to deport undocumented immigrants more aggressively, directives that are in line with President Trumps executive orders on border security and immigration. The measures laid out in the memos seek to shorten the sometimes years-long deportation process for many immigrants, often to the detriment of immigrants existing due process rights.

As the changes roll out, theyll reverberate throughout the deportation pipeline, affecting the numerous government agencies and courts involved.





When government officials try to deport someone, there are two paths they can take. The expedited process, which bypasses the court system, is quicker  it typically takes about two weeks, according to Phil Torrey, the supervising attorney for the Harvard Immigration Project  and is used to deport people who havent been in the country very long. It allows the government to quickly filter out immigrants who are not owed more protection by the Constitution or international treaties. Those who pass the expedited process enter the normal process.

The normal process, by contrast, affords immigrants more due process rights and takes longer  typically around two or three years but as many as 10, according to Torrey and Leon Fresco of Holland & Knight LLP, an immigration law firm. This process goes through the court system.

One of the major changes outlined in Trumps memos narrows who is eligible for the normal process. Under President Barack Obama, the expedited process was used only for immigrants who were apprehended within 100 miles of the border and had been in the country fewer than 14 days. Even within that group, some people were diverted to the normal process. The memos indicate, though, that Trump will use the expedited process for immigrants who have been in the country for as long as two years  the statutory maximum  and will make few exceptions.

For the people affected, In a sense, thats a decrease [in due process rights], Fresco said. And he says the change will bring both practical and constitutional issues. I dont know how you determine someones been in the country 22 months as opposed to 26 months, he said. I think the court would have a hard time saying a person [whos lived in the country two years] didnt have some federal court due process right.

Once an immigrant is in court, however, their rights to a translator, access to a lawyer at their own cost or pro bono, and to have a judge explain whats happening are unaffected by the memos. The mechanics of the deportation process are largely maintained, but the few changes could prove significant.





Some of the most significant changes proposed in the memos dont actually affect the process itself  they affect who enters it. They call for substantial increases in the number of immigration enforcement and border security agents, as well as detention facilities. And they broaden which immigrants are considered priorities for deportation beyond those with serious criminal convictions, directing agents to detain and deport anyone with a minor conviction such as driving without a license. This broader criteria will cause a large swath of the immigrant community to be prioritized, according to Torrey and Fresco.

Of those who begin the process, its likely more cases will end in deportation, according to Torrey. By redirecting people to the expedited process and making it potentially more difficult to establish the credible fear required to apply for asylum, fewer immigrants will get the chance to plead their case in court. And since parole qualifications were tightened, immigrants may be more likely to spend significant time in detention, which can lead them to accept a loss in court more readily. If the persons detained the whole time  and the appeals process can be long  a lot of times they dont appeal for that reason, said Torrey.

Trump administration officials have clarified that these memos are not meant to prompt mass deportations and will take time to implement.

As a practical matter, the immigration [system], until it gets scaled up, cant create mass deportation, Fresco said. But what it can certainly create is mass anxiety.

Aaron Steckelberg and Samuel Granados contributed to this graphic.
Hannah confronts an acclaimed author she once admired (guest star Matthew Rhys) about some disturbing allegations. (Craig Blankenhorn/HBO)

(All times Eastern.)

Say Yes to the Dress: 10 Years of Yes! (TLC at 8) Ahead of next weeks season premiere, the show celebrates its 10th anniversary with this three-hour retrospective.

Sunday listings

Fox News Sunday (Fox at 9 a.m.) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D).

White House Chronicle (WETA at 9) A discussion about how citizens and businesses can protect their digital data against increasingly sophisticated hackers.

Sunday Morning Futures (Fox at 10) Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.

This Is America & the World (WETA at 10 and WHUT at 7:30 p.m.) Muslim Americans discuss life in the United States.

The Oscars

E! Live From the Red Carpet (E! at 5:30) Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic are at it again.

Oscars Opening Ceremony: Live From the Red Carpet (ABC at 7) Robin Roberts, Michael Strahan and Lara Spencer lead ABCs red carpet coverage.

The 89th Academy Awards (ABC at 8:30) Jimmy Kimmel hosts the annual ceremony, where Moonlight, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Fences and Hidden Figures are among the films vying for best picture. The broadcast will also feature performances by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sting, Justin Timberlake and John Legend.

Live From Hollywood: The After Party (ABC at 12:05 a.m.) Blackish star Anthony Anderson hosts this post-ceremony special, checking in with the evenings big winners and other celebrities attending the post-Oscars Governors Ball.

Prime-time Listings

Big Little Lies (HBO at 9) Jane deflects her sons questions about their move to Monterey.

The Walking Dead (AMC at 9) An Alexandrian is forced to navigate the horrors of Negans compound.

Homeland (Showtime at 9) Carrie pursues a new lead.

Last Week Tonight (HBO at 11) John Oliver analyzes the weeks news.
From its very first moments, Get Out puts viewers in a squirm-inducing state of discomfort and outright hilarity that doesnt let up until its go-for-broke final act. The sly, sure-footed directorial debut of Jordan Peele  one half of the brilliant comic duo Key and Peele  this horror film has roots as firmly planted in the works of Jonathan Swift as John Carpenter, interweaving acidic social satire between the jump scares. As deeply serious as it is deeply funny, Get Out is perfectly timed to jolt audiences out of their midwinter blahs, delivering classic genre whammies with a generous serving of cultural critique.

That opening scene, by the way, takes place on a leafy residential street at night, when an African American man is chatting on his phone, trying to find an address. When a low-slung white car begins to follow him, what seemed like a lighthearted jab at white suburbia takes a far darker turn. After a credits sequence accompanied by an eerie-sounding vocal score, Get Out introduces its chief protagonists: Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a gifted aspiring photographer, and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), who is preparing to take him to meet her parents upstate. Do they know that Im black? he asks tentatively. She swats his concern away. My dad would have voted for Obama a third time if he could, she says brightly. The love is so real.



Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, a man who goes to meet his white girlfriends parents, in Jordan Peeles auspicious directorial debut, Get Out. The movie will have you rolling in the aisle, but also squirming in your seat with its jump scares and observations on race in 21st-century America. (Universal Pictures)

Eh, not quite. When Chris and Rose get to her familys sprawling property, things seem askew in a too-perfect, Stepford-Wife way. Her parents, Missy and Dean (Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford), are warm and welcoming, with Dean addressing Chris as my man and showering him with hugs. But Walter (Marcus Henderson) and Georgina (Betty Gabriel), the African American groundskeeper and cook, seem suspended in a state of constant glazed docility. Roses brother Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones) seems determined to give Christopher Walkens Annie Hall brother a run for his money as creepiest movie sibling of all time. Whats up with all of that?

[Jordan Peele made a woke horror film]

The answers come eventually in Get Out, but not before Peele has established a note-perfect tone of both dread and sharp-eyed humor when it comes to race. If his first sequence grievously recalls the death of Trayvon Martin, Chriss misadventures with Roses family and their seemingly well-meaning friends bring to mind everything from 19th-century slave auctions to James Baldwin in the recent documentary I Am Not Your Negro. Here are the moral monsters of which he speaks, committing unspeakable acts borne of their willful blindness and heedless, voraciously self-perpetuating privilege.



Allison Williams as Rose Armitage. (Justin Lubin/Universal Pictures)

Milton Lil Rey Howery as Rod Williams. (Justin Lubin/Universal Pictures)

The precise form that sense of superiority takes remains a progressively more disturbing mystery throughout most of Get Out, during which Chris makes frantic calls to his best friend Rod (Lil Rel Howery), a fast-talking TSA agent who provides most of the films comic relief by way of such timeless observations as: Dont go to a white girls parents house. Taking cues from such masters as Carpenter, George Romero, John Frankenheimer and Alfred Hitchcock, Peele assuredly ratchets up the tension until an action-heavy final act in which the gore splurts and splatters with particularly cathartic satisfaction.

Anyone expecting Get Out to be a shallow take on racial animus is in for a far more nuanced, unsettling experience: Peele, who is biracial, does something far more sophisticated in taking notions of assimilation, cultural appropriation, white liberal pieties and the fetishizing of black bodies to their most existentially fatal extreme. Like all great movies, Get Out faithfully obeys the conventions of its genre  in this case horror films shot through with brutal wit and sharp-eyed allegory  while getting at profound psychic and political realities. The shocks and the laughs are thoroughly entertaining, but its the truth of Get Out thats so real.


Transgender teen Gavin Grimm talks with reporters during a protest outside the White House in support of trans students, two days before President Trump rescinded a federal rule on transgender bathrooms in public schools. (Oliver Contreras/Sipa USA via AP)

Can we please stop playing politics with our kids?

Shortly after the Trump administration announced Wednesday that it was rescinding federal guidance requiring public schools to treat transgender boys and girls like other boys and girls, a move that will jeopardize their safety, I received an email from the worried mom of a transgender teen.

My 16-year-old daughter told me she was transgender when she was 13, she wrote me. I was shocked.

I figured that the mom was about to voice her anxiety about what rolling back the school protections could mean for her child. A 2015 study from GLSEN, an organization that champions LGBT issues in K-12 education, reported 75 percent of trans students saying that they felt unsafe at school. A similar study from the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA Law School that conducts research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy, concluded that more than half of all transgender young people report attempting suicide at least once in their lives. These are  or should be  deeply upsetting statistics to everyone. I also hope theyll remind us that when were talking transgender law and policy, court cases and political riffs, were talking about people. Kids  our kids  to be perfectly clear.

But then I read further down in her letter and came to this section:

What has happened is that therapists that I took her to for help did not question her beliefs but made her think she should transition and that I should blindly accept her assertion, she told me. They pushed me to accept hormone treatment, which I refused.

Although the mother did allow her daughter to change her name and pronouns, it was grudgingly: I know 100 percent in my heart that this is not real and I live in a constant state of anxiety about the psychological and physical damage this is causing, she wrote.

Of course, I too might be confused at first if I had a child tell me that they were transgender  much as my own parents were when I came out to them as gay. And I dont condone pushing anyone into hormone therapy. So I forwarded the letter to several parents of trans and gender-nonconforming kids and teens to get their read.

Debi Jackson, the mother of 9-year-old Avery, who started to identify as a girl when she was 4, empathized with worried mom to a point, telling me, I understand that fear. No matter what age our kids are, this comes out of nowhere and we dont know a lot about it. We question ourselves [even as we try] to be supportive as our kids explore the boundaries of the gender spectrum. But, she said, showing your child that youre not going to judge as they go through this process is so important.

Another mom, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her childrens identity, told me that shes had plenty of drama with her gender-nonconforming teenager. Every day I try to figure out where the line is supposed to be between supporting a child and encouraging a transition, she wrote. Of the letter-writer, she said: It sure sounds as if this particular mom is not trying to figure that out, that shes decided what side shes on about an issue where there neednt be sides at all. She advises: Just love your child.

What do the experts say? I reached out to Diane Ehrensaft, Ph.D., a developmental and clinical psychologist at the University of California at San Francisco and author of The Gender Creative Child, who says, We should always listen to parents. Yet the parent [should] also listen to their child, as at the end of the day, that child . . . will be the arbiter of their own gender identity.

Next month, the issue will garner still more attention when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the case of Gavin Grimm, the 17-year-old transgender student from Gloucester, Va., who sued his school for not allowing him to use the boys restroom. On Thursday, he told MSNBC: Right now, transgender students are probably feeling alone, and they are probably feeling afraid because their government has just basically said that the protections that they do have, they dont feel that those are deserving of still being there.

In the meantime, it doesnt take federal guidelines or the Supreme Court to help us do the right thing for our kids. Heres my advice:

Get to know trans kids. Read interviews with them and their parents. As Debi Jackson said about other moms and dads: Try to relate to them as a parent to a parent, understanding that theyre not out to push anything onto you or your family. They just want the same things for their kids as your kids  thats a fair shake.

Use the name and pronouns that your kid (or another trans young person) relies on. If youre not sure, ask  without judgment.

Stand up for trans kids. Even if your own kid is not transgender, tell your childs school that you want all kids to be protected from bullying and bad bathroom policies.

Listen to the kids. If youre the parent of a transgender child, heres Ehrensafts beautiful advice: Just remember, when it comes to a persons true gender self, it is not for us to say, but for them to tell, but while they are exploring, the final word may not be out  so for that period consider it poetry in motion, with you as scribe and the youth as poet.

Or to say it again, because you really cant say it enough: Just love them.

Agree or disagree with my advice? Let me know in the comments section below.

You can reach the author on Facebook at facebook.com/stevenpetrow and on Twitter @stevenpetrow. Join him for a chat online at washingtonpost.com on March 7 at 1 p.m.


Ivanka Trump listens as her father delivers remarks at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on Tuesday. (Kevin Dietsch / Pool/EPA)

On Tuesday morning, Ivanka Trump put on a navy turtleneck and heels that appeared to be from her own besieged collection, and accompanied her father to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Ivanka is here right now  Hi, Ivanka, President Trump said from a podium, gesturing toward his daughter, who stood on the masking-tape mark laid out for her. She clasped her hands in front of her, smiling and nodding at appropriate intervals, a poised act of filial duty.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, she was being eviscerated. The night before, in response to bomb threats at Jewish community centers nationwide, Ivanka had tweeted out a call for tolerance. Her detractors found great irony in this. Your father [peddled] hate in the campaign and gave a voice to all these white nationalists to come out, one wrote. Why r u in all [Donald Trumps] mtgs? wrote another. We, the People, did not elect you to play any role in WH!

It was a 24-hour whiplash that has come to represent a typical day of Ivanka-in-Washington. The week prior, shed played an integral role in the Canadian prime ministers visit  but was lambasted for an Oval Office photo with him and her father, where she was the one sitting at the presidential desk. She attended the insidery Alfalfa Dinner in her fathers stead  but her silver dress became a meme when someone noted its resemblance to foil blankets worn by refugees that the president was, that very night, trying to block. She made working women her primary cause, only to see Nordstrom drop her clothing brand after a boycott and diminished sales.

I think at times shes very excited, said one Ivanka friend of several years. And at times shes very overwhelmed.

Throughout Trumps campaign, Ivanka was perceived by many as a stabilizing force. Those who were turned off by his bombast could take comfort in her moderation. She moved easily in socially liberal circles. She hung out with Chelsea Clinton. She was, gushing profiles suggested, her fathers favorite child and trusted adviser.

Then President Trump refused to soften his positions, as many had expected he would do once in office, overturning protections for the environment and forging ahead with a border wall. And now a new set of challenges arises for the personal brand Ivanka has carefully cultivated, through her years as a real estate executive and Apprentice co-star.

Is she truly as moderate as fans believed? Was she ever as influential? As first daughter, she has high visibility but no actual duties. Can she navigate official Washington relying on the same graciousness and playful, Everymom Instagram posts that once helped win her widespread, nonpartisan respect?

Or does Ivanka fall off her tightrope and become the first casualty of her familys foray into politics?

[Wheres Melania? A quiet start for a reluctant first lady.]

Admirers are troubled by criticism of Ivanka. People may be looking at her and carrying out their disagreement with her father, but the class with which she has conducted herself . . . is going to bode well for her down the line, said Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), who served on the presidential transition team with her.

Her response has been to maintain a laser focus on her causes, such as pay equity and making child care more affordable. Shes pushing a message that she cares about, which is women that work, said her brother Eric Trump. Shes been writing about this for years and years and years. Shes been talking about it for years.

But some observers think she will have a hard time finding traction in Washingtons corridors of influence.

The tumult and uproar that was generated by so much of what this president did in the first month of office has made it to where her capacity is very much narrowed, said a Republican who has met with her. She is going to be implicitly damned by some of his policies, and it will be very, very hard for her to navigate.



Ivanka Trump at a White House meeting with manufacturing CEOs on Thursday. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

For years, Ivanka has maintained an image as a social liberal who is also one of her fathers closest advisers. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Making her mark

In 2013, Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) invited Donald Trump to a roundtable on public-private partnerships. Trump sent Ivanka instead. I was extremely impressed, said Barletta, who later served on the transition team. When she spoke about a project, it was obviously not because she had been briefed by someone else, he said, but because shed done her own research.

Another Ivanka story, from another fan: Whatever service she attends, shes among the first to arrive, said Marvin Hier, the rabbi who delivered a prayer at Trumps inauguration and who has encountered Ivanka at Passover retreats since her conversion to Judaism. Sometimes you hear, Is it sincere, did she just do it for the family? But my observation is shes very sincere.

Ivanka rolled out her move to Washington with the same level of care and preparation. She hosted a dinner for chief executives and female journalists in the penthouse apartment of her friend Wendi Deng (Rupert Murdochs ex), to talk about women and economic empowerment.

She was very genuine, said guest Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. She was very curious about the work we do. The conversation made an impression: On Thursday, she tweeted a photo of herself at a meeting of an Urban League affiliate in Baltimore.

[From diet pills to underwear: Chinese firms scramble to grab Ivanka Trump trademark ]

Such dinners have become hallmarks of Ivankas tenure in Washington: private, curated gatherings focused on select issues. She recruited Dina Powell, a former Goldman Sachs executive and State Department official serving among the presidents senior economic advisers, as her unofficial Washington sherpa.

The two spearheaded a meeting that typifies Ivankas goals: a roundtable with her father attended by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and top female executives from both countries, discussing ways to elevate women in cross-border business endeavors.

She was an important voice in the conversation, said Chrystia Freeland, Canadas minister of foreign affairs. Freeland noted that Trudeau has made it a priority to promote feminist issues, so we were happy to find that was common ground with the White House.

The meeting occurred, a White House official said, in part because Ivanka wanted it.

She was instrumental in recruiting the U.S. business leaders who participated, as well as thinking through the agenda, the official said. Ivanka personally made phone calls inviting the CEOs and proposed topics, such as the hurdles women face in getting access to capital.

It was Ivanka at her most Ivanka: the type of player she has long seemed eager to present herself as. Capable, confident, and entirely unobjectionable. The type of woman to post on Instagram a newsy photo of her father at a press conference with the Israeli prime minister  followed immediately by a glowing photo of herself at the National Museum of Natural History, catching butterflies with her toddler son. A source close to her said she plans to visit a different Washington museum each week.

She and her husband, Jared Kushner, have hosted a Shabbat dinner. Theyve sampled local restaurants  Masseria near Union Market has become a fast favorite. Theyve enrolled their children at a local Jewish school.

Their every public movement has been plumbed for meaning.

Phillip Bloch, the stylist and TV personality, who has known Ivanka since she was a girl, watched her arrive in town for her fathers inauguration and marveled at the brilliant optics: When she stepped off that plane wearing that green jacket and green shift dress, and had her baby on her hip, you could just tell she was coming to Washington to make her mark.



Ivanka with her daughter Arabella Kushner visiting the Supreme Court on Wednesday. (Molly Riley/AP)

Ivanka and her father at the business roundtable with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

A difficult position

Its one thing to make a mark on Washington; the trick is to not let it bruise you.

No matter how unobjectionable Ivankas actions and causes may be, shes undertaking them against the backdrop of a divisive presidency, in a majority-Democratic city where even a trip to the gym can become a political act.

She used a fake name when she showed up for a Solidcore class a few weeks ago. The gyms owner still called her out on social media, asking to discuss how her fathers policies threaten the rights of many of my beloved clients.

Meanwhile, Ivankas husband is in the West Wing, too, serving as one of her fathers advisers. This month, word leaked out that, together, Jared and Ivanka helped kill an effort to roll back the Obama administrations LGBT protections. It was a bit of news that, at a fraught time, bolstered the couples reputation as social liberals and influential players  although this week the Trump administration announced it would not defend at least part of the protections, revoking guidelines allowing transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice.

The two of them also reportedly got language critical of a global climate deal struck from an anticipated executive order. Ivanka was also behind a White House discussion on human trafficking.



Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump walk toward Marine One for trip with her father to a South Carolina Boeing plant last week. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Publicly, Ivanka has remained silent on many of the controversies, painting online an idyllic picture of the Trump White House. But the soft-focus social media posts that made her relatable can end up backfiring when her detractors juxtapose her cultivated messages with her fathers often ham-handed ones.

Ivanka, it seems, is caught between a rock and a Trump place  representing her father even when shes not, by dint of who she is and the visible roles she has played in his campaign and White House.

In Washington, I think youre measured by how effective you are, said Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican who, like Ivanka, is a 30-something from New York and has met her along with a group of female lawmakers to discuss womens issues.

Stefanik said she hopes Ivanka will reach out again to GOP congresswomen, many of whom were dedicated to these issues well before the Trump presidency.

Over time the issues Ivanka is pushing will find natural allies, Reed said. As we get further down the path of people realizing that President Trump is here, and he will be our president for at least four years, they are going to start to focus on what can bring us together, he said.

Indeed, Ivanka and her husband with their bipartisan tendencies have been secure lines for people disinclined to reach out to her father, a source close to them said.

In the eyes of some, Ivanka is not walking a tightrope, but rather a skinny and vital bridge.

The morning after her trip to the museum and social media bludgeoning, she was back on Twitter, this time with a photo of herself and her daughter in front of the Supreme Court. Im grateful for the opportunity to teach her about the judicial system in our country firsthand, she wrote.

Was she signaling her respect for the branch of government that her father had blasted for blocking his attempt to ban refugees? Or was she simply touring her new city?

Her Twitter fans chimed in, praising her parenting skills and patriotism. The backlash quickly followed: How nice, she can take a casual day off work whilst millions of Americans cant afford child care and health care, replied one detractor, as Ivanka became, once again, the Trump in the most complicated spotlight.

Jonathan OConnell contributed to this report.

Correction: An earlier version of this report described Eric Trump as Ivanka Trumps older brother. He is younger.
Buster, a Labradoodle, takes a romp through Congressional Cemetery. The cemetery has 500 people on a waiting list for the opportunity to let their dogs run free. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

He had bounded, tongue lolling, past chalk-white headstones and weathered obelisks and poked his snout into the pool of still water on Mausoleum Row. But when he came at twilight to Congressional Cemeterys south end, a lonely bottomland packed with the remains of dead children, even Oliver the dog slowed his gait to a contemplative stroll.

It just makes me really happy to be able to see him run around like this, said Claudia Rauch, a 36-year-old Capitol Hill resident who works in marketing. My moms from New Orleans, and theres just sort of a tradition there of cemeteries being really cool places.

Rauch and her brindle lab mix had just been admitted to what in recent years has become one of Washingtons most exclusive clubs: Congressional Cemeterys K9 Corps, a group of about 600 people and 770 dogs with privileges to freely roam the cemeterys 35 acres. The pair had come off a waiting list of 500 with an average wait time of three to four years.

Congressional Cemetery was established in 1807 on the west bank of the Anacostia River. Its permanent occupants  including J. Edgar Hoover, Marion Barry Jr. and Vice President Elbridge Gerry, namesake of gerrymandering  lack the luster of the presidents and astronauts buried five miles away at Arlington National Cemetery.

But if it is still not a top-tier destination for the dead, Congressional has become fashionable among the dog-loving living to an extent its founders could not have dreamed.

John White watches as several dogs play together in Congressional Cemetery. White works at the cemetery checking the dogs' tags upon entry and also walks dogs for members. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

In a city where a booming economy and population have brought demographic changes, it is perhaps a sign of changing tastes that the K9 Corps has instituted a $75 wait-list fee to thin out applicants while some elite social clubs of old Washington are atrophying.

[The Washington Club closes its doors]

Once admitted, members pay between $285 and $385 annually depending on how many dogs they own and must periodically volunteer, said Paul Williams, president of the Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery.

I can walk my dog here at 7 oclock at night, in the dark, and I feel perfectly safe, said Susan Urahn, 60, a member of the K9 Corps who serves on the cemeterys board. I mean, where can you do that?

Some of these dog walkers, like parents who apply to ultra-competitive preschools before their children are born, have reserved spots before adopting a dog. Such was the strategy for Brynn Barnett, a Hill East resident who anticipated how her neighborhood cemetery would eventually appeal to her Cavachon, Harley.

I knew I was getting a dog, said Barnett, who joined in 2011. I didnt want to miss my opportunity, so I went ahead and signed up.

Today, facing extended waits, applicants sometimes opt to repeatedly pay a $10 entrance fee that allows nonmember dogs access for the day.

These hopeful souls can be found wandering in the gloaming at Congressional Cemetery, following the flitting shapes of dogs between the cenotaphs, unsure of how much longer they must dwell in wait-list limbo.

I get the feeling we didnt make it this year, Wes Ammerman, a 29-year-old employee of a health-care consulting firm, said as Skylla, his Australian Cattle Dog mix, padded into the darkness ahead. My last hope was that it maybe got sent to our spam filter if they emailed me.

This month, K9 Corps members  including a few fresh off the wait list  were gathering in the cemetery chapel for their annual orientation session.

The crowd, ranging from lower-to-late middle age, was what one might expect at an independent film festival or farm-to-table restaurant; the agenda included vaccination rules and protocols for reporting dogfights.

K9 Corps Committee head Stephen Brennwald, a criminal defense lawyer, admonished the crowd to play it straight on the latter front. I tell my clients, Just tell the truth,  Brennwald said. Tell the truth, tell us what you know about it and we will be fair.

The K9 Corps originated in the late 1970s, when a small group of Hill East residents began walking their dogs as a kind of informal citizens patrol in what was then a derelict property owned by Christ Church, Williams said. The church still owns the cemetery, which is managed by the nonprofit.

The group began tending grave sites and donating money for the cemeterys upkeep. But it has only been over the past several years that its popularity exploded.

Other offbeat initiatives have been launched to gin up interest in Congressional Cemetery, such as an on-site beekeeping operation that generates the Rest in Bees line of honey and a Notes from the Crypt series of chamber music concerts.

But the dog club is the most prominent  and lucrative  component of the cemeterys renaissance. Last year, club dues and wait-list fees totaled $216,000, nearly one-quarter of the cemeterys annual revenue and almost as much as was brought in by the sale of grave plots.

Williams said cemetery caretakers from across the country approach him at industry conferences, perplexed and fascinated by the unusual coexistence of dogs and the dead.

Theyre initially very skeptical. Theyre like, We ban dogs. We dont even allow photographs. No way,  Williams said. And then they see the finances, and their heads start spinning.

The arrangement at Congressional Cemetery could scarcely have been foreseen by our ancestors, who took a very different view of graveyard propriety, according to Raymond Coppinger, a professor emeritus of biology at Hampshire College who has studied the evolution and history of domestic dogs.

Indeed, some aspects of burial rituals were probably developed to prevent canine scavengers from digging up and feasting on corpses, thus impeding the passage of the deceased into the afterlife, Coppinger said.

The reason our religious ancestors had us buried six feet underground, and put us in vaults or boxes, is so that dogs couldnt eat us, he said. Theyre famous all over the world for eating dead bodies.

The fear of being eaten by dogs is something of a fixation in ancient literature: Priam, king of Troy, spends many lines of the Iliad giving vent in vivid terms to anxieties about being devoured by his pets when his city falls to the Greeks.

Homer was obsessed with dogs, Coppinger said.

More than 3,000 years later, some still side with the blind bard in disapproving of dogs on the loose near our mortal remains. Even leashed dogs are banned from 300-year-old Rock Creek Cemetery in Petworth, cemetery manager Carlton Carpenter said.

Do you want somebodys dogs to do their business on the graves of your children or parents? Because thats whats unfortunately happening, or being allowed to happen, said Joe Davis, national spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which last year weighed in on a successful push to ban dogs from Rhode Islands veterans cemetery. It comes down to judgment. It comes down to character.

Even at dog-friendly Congressional Cemetery, rules are in place to preserve its identity as hallowed ground. Humans must pick up after their pets. Balls and Frisbees are not allowed. Since 2015, when several dogs romped through a memorial service, animals have been barred entry during funerals.

Its not a dog park. Its a cemetery, Barnett said.

The K9 Corps four-legged members sometimes seem alert to that reality. As Rauch and Oliver walked past the section of Congressional known informally as Babyland  where children who died during the 1918 influenza pandemic were buried  the dog stopped to survey the grave markers, his form silhouetted by the winter skylines burnt-orange glow.

But memento mori have little hold on the mind of an unleashed canine, and Oliver soon loped into the next field, stopping to lift a hind leg along the way.
Dr. Jenifer Smith, who took over as head of the Districts troubled Department of Forensic Sciences in 2015, said no one involved in developing faulty Zika testing still works for the city. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The number of pregnant women in the District who may have been infected with the Zika virus last year  but who were told they were not because of botched tests at a city lab  has reached nine, D.C. officials said Thursday.

Thats a jump from the two women who D.C. officials initially said had been incorrectly given a clean bill of health. And the number appears likely to rise further.

Jenifer Smith, director of the Districts Department of Forensic Sciences, said in an interview with The Washington Post that the nine were found among more than 200 samples retested so far by a federal lab. Results from the remaining 100 women who may have been given faulty readings are expected back in the coming days.

Smith said the city does not know whether any of the nine women have given birth. She said city health officials are working to quickly notify the womens doctors so they can be informed.

We havent hidden from our problems . . . and we wont, Smith said of releasing the latest batch of bad news for the department. The Districts forensic services division is still recovering from a 10-month suspension of its DNA testing following questions raised about the integrity of its work.

Regarding the Zika mishap, Smith said that no one involved in the inaccurate testing still works for the city, but she declined to say how many lab workers that entailed. Smith also declined to say whether those employees had resigned under pressure.

District officials announced on Feb. 9 that the city had arranged for retesting of 409 Zika tests, including 294 for pregnant women, that had originally been tested in the citys lab between July 14 and Dec. 14. 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.

[D.C. lab botched Zika testing involving pregnant women]

The Districts Public Health Lab was one of 45 facilities across the country approved to run a test for Zika to find antibodies in the blood of people previously exposed to the virus.

The District appeared to be the only jurisdiction in the country to have mishandled the test, according to the CDC. Prior to July 14, Zika tests from residents of the District were performed by the CDC.

Anthony Tran, who took over as director of the lab late last year, said the discovery of a calculation error forced lab officials to suspend the testing and question the reliability of its Zika test results.

Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who chairs the councils public safety committee, said the botched testing would be a major topic of the councils annual oversight hearing into lab performance, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

Allen said he was deeply concerned not just for what it means for the integrity and accuracy of the testing taking place at DFS, but also for the women and families that have had their confidence in testing for Zika and their childs health thrown into confusion and questions.

Natalia Barolin, a clinical nurse coordinator at Marys Center, which provides care for many low-income immigrants in the District, said officials from the city lab had conducted two conference calls with providers in recent days to brief them on the latest findings.

She said many doctors on the calls raised concerns about the timing of the tests and about whether they should have confidence in results from tests submitted more recently.

Providers have a lot of questions, but the city is being very proactive in reaching out to them, she said.

Of the nine samples that have been returned as positive, eight are in a class considered likely to be Zika infections, but that could be inconclusive for women who had spent significant periods in Brazil or other countries where viruses exist with similar profiles.

Federal health officials have been able to complete a follow-up test on one of the nine samples and positively identified the woman as having Zika, Smith said.

Researchers have concluded that a Zika infection during pregnancy is linked to a distinct pattern of birth defects called 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.

According to a study published in December, about 6 percent of Zika-infected pregnant women in the United States had a baby or fetus with at least one birth defect related to the viral infection.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent were redoing more than 400 tests for the Zika virus that had been mishandled by the Districts public health lab. Almost 300 are being retested by the CDC, the remainder are being re-tested by other public health labs approved by the CDC. The story has been updated.

Lena H. Sun contributed to this report.
Lions and other exotic animals would be banned as pets in Arlington County. (Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images)

Arlington County is one of the few places in the Washington area where residents can raise monkeys, crocodiles or other unusual pets  but that opportunity soon might be put on a leash.

The County Board is considering whether to make it illegal to keep wild and exotic animals  including wolves, coyotes, panthers, bears, lynxes, hedgehogs, tarantulas and any snake longer than four feet  within the 26-square-mile confines of the rapidly urbanizing Northern Virginia suburb.

Arlington residents who already own such critters would be able to keep them, but they would have to register them with the county government.

The idea of tightening the regulations came from animal rights advocates, said county spokesman Kurt Larrick, and from animal control officers who still remember a 2008 incident when exotic snakes got loose in north Arlington and caused a standoff with an emergency first responder.

There also was a 2010 incident involving animal control officers and a lemur, Larrick said. Since the 2008 standoff, the county code has barred poisonous reptiles and any type of pig.

A Cuban crocodile, which would also be banned. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

Although there are bans on exotic animals in place in Fairfax and Prince William counties, the city of Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park, the District and the entire state of Maryland, ownership of such creatures is apparently big business in the United States.

A 2014 National Geographic article said experts believe that more exotic pets live in American homes than are cared for in U.S. zoos.

The magazine cited numerous tragic incidents that have resulted: a Texas 4-year-old was mauled by his aunts mountain lion; in Connecticut, a 55-year-old womans face was permanently disfigured by a friends pet chimpanzee; and in Ohio, an 80-year-old man was attacked by a 200-pound pet kangaroo.

Chelsea Lindsey, spokesperson for the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, said her organization supports the proposed pet ban. We want to keep the county safe, and there are certainly exotic animals that are not safe to own, she said. Rather than retroactively bringing in a law after an incident happens, this is a good idea.

No wild exotic animals have been surrendered to the leagues shelter in recent memory, she said, and it is not clear how many people in Arlington own pets that would be banned under the proposed rules.

On Saturday, the County Board will decide whether to hold a public hearing on March 18 regarding the code change. A staff report on the proposal notes that county laws regulate animal treatment in general but has few prohibitions.

Therefore, large reptiles and monkeys, for example, can now be kept in Arlington homes. These and other wild and exotic animals, along with snakes over four feet in length, can be difficult to handle and can exhibit unpredictable, aggressive behavior toward humans and other species, the report says.

Prohibiting them, the report adds, would protect residents and animals from harm or mistreatment. No such ban on exotic animals exists in Loudoun County or Alexandria, Arlington officials say.

Adam Roberts, chief executive of Born Free, an organization that advocates keeping wildlife in the wild, applauded Arlingtons proposal.

The exotic pets problem is pervasive from coast to coast, he said, adding that there are more tigers in American homes than in the wild around the world. If animals escape or if animals attack or if animals are confiscated, it becomes a public problem to address.

Roberts pointed to Ohio, which cracked down on exotic pets after the release in 2011 of 56 animals from the private Muskingum County Animal Farm by their owner, who then killed himself. It took authorities days to find and kill the animals.

Larrick, the county government spokesman, noted that traditional pets are still more than welcome and adored in Arlington. But for them, too, the rules must be followed.

The proposal before the county board would lower the age at which dogs have to be licensed with the county from 6 months to 4 months. Cats, as well as common aquarium and small-cage animals, still would not need to be licensed.

patricia.sullivan@washpost.com
Del. Dereck E. Davis, sponsor of the minimum wage measure, said it lacked support to get out of committee in this legislative session. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

A bill in the Maryland General Assembly that would prohibit counties and cities from increasing the minimum wage in their jurisdictions lacks the votes needed to move forward this session.

I dont believe the support is there, said Del. Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince Georges), the bills sponsor and chairman of the House Economic Matters Committee.

He said that the bill will die in committee.

Davis said he introduced the measure last month because he thought it would help the state recruit and retain businesses. He said he was influenced by his participation last year on the Augustine Commission, a task force aimed at making Maryland more business-friendly.

One of the key issues  above taxes  was inconsistency and constantly changing rules, he said.

Davis faced fierce opposition to his proposal from labor unions, which argued that the measure would suppress wages, and local elected officials, who viewed it as a power grab.

Under the measure  similar to laws in place in Oklahoma, Alabama, South Carolina, Texas and Missouri  local governments could set base pay only for their own employees.

Montgomery and Prince Georges counties require employers to pay minimum wages that are higher than the state requires businesses to pay.

This month, a coalition of Maryland organizations sent a letter to House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), urging them to oppose Daviss measure.

They argued that similar bills have been introduced across the country to weaken wage workplace standards. The letter said the proposals in other states were backed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization that, according to its website, is dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism.

Davis said he thinks the bill is necessary but opted not to push it because the measure became so divisive.

My thing was there has to be a better way, not pitting one county against the next or a county operating in a vacuum, he said. But at this point I realized that it wasnt going to accomplish what I wanted. It was time to move on.

On Friday, the Maryland Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill that would require certain restaurants to have an automatic external defibrillator in their facility, as well as a person on staff who is trained to run the device.

The bill would affect restaurants that have seating for more than 50 people and gross more than $400,000 a year.

Sen. Katherine A. Klausmeir (D-Baltimore County) said the measure was a response to the death of a former staffers husband. He suffered a heart attack at a restaurant that did not have a defibrillator.

A similar measure passed the Senate last year but stalled in the House.

Del. Erek Barron (D-Prince Georges) said he is fighting to move the measure forward.

Sen. Michael J. Hough (R-Frederick) raised concern about the financial burden that the requirement would place on business owners. The devices cost up to $2,000, according to state legislative analysts.

Senate Minority Leader J.B. Jennings (R-Baltimore County), a former emergency medical technician, said he supports the measure because, based on his experience, restaurants have a high-risk probability of cardiac trauma.
Kim Jong-nam 'killed by VX nerve agent found on his face'

Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader, was killed by a highly toxic nerve agent, says Malaysia.
THE DISTRICT

Park by White House

set to reopen in March

The sidewalk and park in front of the White House, which is typically open to the public, has been closed and fenced off since before the inauguration in January. The National Park Service said that workers are still dismantling structures from the inaugural parade and that the spaces should reopen by March 1.

The long closure came amid heightened anti-Trump protests and has left some Twitter users wondering whether the areas have been closed to prevent protesters from getting too near the presidents residence. Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the National Park Service, said that the extended closure is standard practice after an inauguration.

 Perry Stein

Repeat robber gets

22-year sentence

A D.C. man who pleaded guilty to committing more than 10 armed robberies in three weeks was sentenced to 22 years in prison Thursday, prosecutors said.

[D.C. man pleads guilty to string of armed robberies in 2014]

In September, Curtis Fogg, 29, pleaded guilty to holding up cellphone stores, fast-food restaurants and hair salons in the District and Prince Georges County in a three-week period in 2014, during which he stole more than $3,000, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said in a statement.

Two of the robberies occurred in the same hour, and he robbed the same Papa Johns Pizza restaurant in the 900 block of 11th Street SE twice in two weeks, according to a list of crimes released by prosecutors.

Prosecutors also said Fogg faces D.C. Superior Court charges related to the alleged stabbing of an inmate and throwing feces at a prison official.

 Justin Wm. Moyer

Park Police officer

fires shots at vehicle

A U.S. Park Police officer fired shots at a vehicle after a suspect rammed his cruiser early Thursday in Southeast Washington, officials said.

The incident happened about 4 a.m. as the officer conducted a traffic stop at Talbert Street and Talbert Terrace SE. It was not known why the officer had stopped the vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle, an older-model black Dodge Charger, then rammed the police cruiser, causing an injury to the officers leg, said Sgt. Anna Rose, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Park Police. The officer fired shots at the vehicle as the driver sped from the scene.

The officer was taken to a hospital and was treated for injuries that are not life-threatening. The driver of the Dodge Charger was not believed to have been injured.
The average Prince William homeowners local tax bill would increase by $105 in the next fiscal year under a budget proposal County Executive Christopher E. Martino unveiled last week.

Martino presented his $3.1 billion spending plan to the Board of County Supervisors on Tuesday. It calls for the real estate tax rate to rise from $1.122 per $100 of assessed value to $1.125, which would increase the average tax bill by $71. Prince Williams fire levy also would go up, from $0.0705 per $100 of assessed value to $0.0792, which equates to $34 more for the average property owner.

Those increases, as well as hikes in land-development fees, would help fund a budget that calls for $21.9 million more in local school spending, as well as additional money for public safety and services for the homeless.

The supervisors are slated to approve a budget April 18.

The county executives public safety ideas include spending $6.5 million to hire 59 fire and rescue personnel at facilities in Gainesville and near Lake Jackson, as well as the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Departments Station 14.

Martinos budget also would hire 28 full-time workers at the Prince William-Manassas Adult Detention Center, 13 police officers, three civilian police employees and two county sheriffs deputies assigned to perform evictions. It would implement the polices body camera program at a cost of $1.3 million, as well.

The spending plan would devote $400,000 to improving services for county residents who are homeless, and to preventing others from losing homes. Under a revamped program, Martino said, four full-time and two part-time employees would need to be hired, but 177 more people could be helped.

The county executive urged the supervisors to spend $3.3 million on a 1 percent pay raise for Prince William government employees and another $4.1 million on a program for additional 2 percent merit pay raises.

Martinos plan includes more than enough money to fund the $1.14 billion county schools budget Schools Superintendent Steven L. Walts proposed this month.

[Pr. William schools superintendent proposes $1.14 billion budget]

But county supervisors got into a heated discussion Tuesday about whether to continue an arrangement that calls for allotting 57.23 percent of general revenue each year for school spending. The deal calls for the supervisors to provide the lump-sum funding to the Prince William School Board, which then decides how to allocate it.

Supervisors and school board members, however, havent necessarily agreed in the past couple of years about education spending priorities. Supervisors Pete K. Candland (R-Gainesville) and Ruth M. Anderson (R-Occoquan) expressed frustration Tuesday with the revenue-sharing agreement.

Candland said the funding formula may have bridged a fiscal divide between the elected school board and Board of County Supervisors in the past, but that it is now outdated and hasnt helped to lessen classroom crowding or improve standardized test scores.

The revenue-sharing agreement has failed the people of Prince William County, he said.

Supervisor Maureen S. Caddigan (R-Potomac) said, however, that knowing in advance a set amount of funding will go to education annually means, for example, that teachers dont have to beg the supervisors to spend money on their salaries. And it helps to prevent supervisors and school board members from ending up at loggerheads over money, she said.

Caddigan also chided Candland for disagreements he has had with school board Chairman Ryan Sawyers (At Large).

We dont have a good relationship with the school division, yes, and youre part of that problem, Caddigan said to Candland.

Reached Thursday, Sawyers said that, with a growing student population, Prince Williams school system needs consistent funding.

It should always be the base level that were going to get, Sawyers said, rather than the ceiling.

The supervisors will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget and tax rate April 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the board chambers at the McCoart Administration Building, 1 County Complex Ct., Woodbridge. For information, go topwcgov.org/budget.


Preston L. Williams Jr., a lieutenant with the D.C. fire department who advocated for extended cancer coverage, personalized his helmet to include the symbol to promote prostate cancer awareness. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

Sitting before the D.C. Council in a crisp blue dress shirt, Lt. Preston L. Williams Jr. recounted the day he was first diagnosed with the cancer that was slowly killing him.

It seemed to be the longest day of my life, when time stood still, the firefighter said in advocating for new health and retirement benefits he wouldnt live to see.

Over a five-year period, Williams was diagnosed three times with prostate cancer. He said he believed he was sickened by the fumes and chemicals that leached into his skin and seeped into his lungs during his more than 20 years battling fires.

He testified in 2012. He died in February 2016, only months before the nations capital joined a growing number of jurisdictions stating that because certain cancers in firefighters occur at such high rates, they should be presumed to come from on-the-job exposure.

Laws in nearly 40 states, including Maryland and Virginia, have expanded medical, workers compensation and disability coverage for such cancer cases, and departments across the country are revamping training and how they handle gear to try to reduce risks.

This is the hidden hazard and the silent killer in the fire service, said Matthew Miller, a Prince Georges County firefighter and cancer survivor who is developing cancer-prevention and safety reforms at his department. Were seeing just how bad the problem is.

The memorial booklet for Preston L. Williams Jr. shows him in his dress uniform and the firehouse where he worked draped in black. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

This month, a bill to create a national registry of firefighters diagnosed with cancer was introduced with bipartisan support to help track and research the issue, and in January, Ohios governor signed into law a measure extending firefighters coverage for workplace cancers.

In October, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation added names of firefighters who died of cancer to its memorial honoring line-of-duty deaths for the first time since the foundations creation in 1992, with 24 cancer deaths among the 112 deaths in 2015.

Yet with awareness comes anxiety from municipal governments, which are concerned about setting a precedent for other public employees and triggering spiraling costs.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance, which tracks workers comp proposals and legislation nationally, counted almost 90 first-responder cancer presumption bills in 2016. That number is already at 70 in the first six weeks of 2017.

Protracted legal battles have been fought to establish the workplace links to a cancer or expand the cancers covered as occupational hazards. This month, the Washington state Supreme Court sided with two firefighters whose insurance claims about melanoma had been denied as not tied to their jobs.

Cancer studies in emergency responders began in earnest after the Ground Zero cleanup after the 9/11 attacks in New York.

In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the final results of what is currently the largest study of cancer risk among career firefighters ever conducted in the United States. The study of about 30,000 firefighters over a 60-year span showed that compared with the general population, firefighters on average are at higher risk for certain kinds of cancer  mainly oral, digestive, respiratory, genital and urinary cancers.

The CDC also found that firefighters who were exposed to more fires than their peers experienced more instances of lung cancer and leukemia, said Robert Daniels, the principal investigator of the project and a research epidemiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The risks come on many fronts, research has indicated.

Fires carry soot and smoke from high-toxin synthetic material and electronics. Exhaust fumes from diesel fire engines present a hazard. The protective gear that insulates firefighters from heat and flames also raises body temperatures, opening pores to absorb chemicals.

Concerned with the results of the CDC study  and similar research coming out of Norway and Australia  fire departments and firefighters unions nationwide revamped safety policies.

Smoke on your gear and smoke on your helmet used to be a sign that youre an experienced firefighter, said Lt. Sarah Marchegiani of the Arlington County Fire Department. But now people just recognize its a hazard and not worth it.

Tubes are hooked to fire engine exhaust pipes in District stations to vent fumes outside, said Kenneth Crosswhite, a deputy fire chief. Heavy protective jackets, helmets and pants are washed after every call, he said, and the city is looking to contract for professional decontamination services.

Within the next few months, Prince Georges County plans to equip firefighters with a second set of personal protective equipment so fresh gear will always be on hand.



Amy Dant, a firefighter in Montgomery County, carries her gear to a locker in Rockville. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

Last year, Montgomery County issued an order that firefighters keep wearing protective breathing gear even after flames are out as they open walls and ceilings and search for leftover hot spots. The order cited the growing scientific information linking cancer to firefighting.

The county also has low-tech strategies, said Jill Captain, a physician for Montgomerys Fire and Rescue Occupational Medical Services. Among those, firetrucks carry plenty of baby wipes for firefighters to use to clean their skin after a fire is out but while they are still at a scene.

Political fights over cost

At the same 2012 hearing where Williams asked that benefits be expanded, a city official warned about costs and untangling whether lifestyle or family history might have determined a firefighters path to cancer. It was the kind of standoff repeated across the country since.

Paul Quander, then the deputy mayor for public safety, also testified that many firefighters have second jobs, some at rural fire departments that might not practice the same standards for decontamination.

Were going to be responsible for future health-care costs that might not be due to working for the District of Columbia, Quander said.

Local governments often are vocal opponents because it is a cost issue and they have to be financially solvent, said Peter Burton of the National Council on Compensation Insurance, who added that the cancer presumption laws are among the top issues his organization has been monitoring since 2016.

A single leukemia claim could cost $3 million over an individuals lifetime, said Alexandria Deputy Fire Chief Jeffrey Merryman, who runs health, safety and risk management for his fire department. One firefighter there has received benefits under the states presumptive cancer law, and two others have the disease.

In Prince Georges County, 29 retired and sworn firefighters have filed occupational cancer claims since 2012, including Lt. Chris Hill, who died last year of brain cancer.

It was really scary, said his wife, Jennifer Hill. Not only was he fighting this battle hes never going to win . . . but he was unsure about his retirement and whether his family would have enough to survive after he died.

Municipalities fear funding individuals who may have developed cancer regardless of whether they were firefighters, according to a report produced for the National League of Cities in 2009.

Across the country, firefighters suffering from cancer and their families have engaged in contentious legal fights with local governments questioning who should be on the hook financially. In Philadelphia, a three-judge panel in October determined a retired firefighter could not claim workers comp benefits for his prostate cancer because he could not prove that he got sick from exposure on the job.

Amy Dant, a master firefighter for Montgomery County, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2012. There is a keen awareness of the cancer risks posed by the job, she said. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post)

Amy Dant became a volunteer firefighter in Montgomery in 1995, when she was 19, and a paid firefighter in 2002. A routine checkup at the countys medical services unit detected a problem with her thyroid that was diagnosed in 2012 as cancer.

Her type of cancer was not one that the states workers compensation program would presumptively say was a result of her job, Dant said, leaving her and her union to battle for benefits she ultimately received.

Around fire stations, there is keen awareness of cancer risks on the job, she said.

Todays attitude is totally different, Dant said.

The nonprofit Firefighter Cancer Support Network said it has provided assistance and one-on-one mentoring to thousands of firefighters and their families since the organization was started in 2005. But because awareness is fairly new, it is difficult to determine exactly how many have died or been diagnosed with work-related cancer, said Bryan Frieders, president of the network and a deputy chief with the fire department in Pasadena, Calif.

In the District, Williams, who grew up in Northeast Washington, became a voice for firefighters with cancer.

Williams helped in New York after the 2001 terrorist attacks. A restaurant owner whose basement he cleaned gave him a bottle of wine, but Williams couldnt wash off the soot when he took it home, recalled his widow, Katrina Williams.

He then realized the hazards of his job, and it prompted a family rule that is still enforced: no shoes in the house.

Less than 16 years into the only job he ever cared about, Williams, then 40, discovered he had cancer. It went into remission, then returned, then went into remission again only to return once more.

Legislation granting D.C. firefighters full early retirement and coverage for eight types of cancer  leukemia, breast, throat, prostate, ovarian, testicular, pancreatic and rectal  passed the council in 2012, but it took until 2016 to get it funded, with up to $7 million a year authorized. Williams died before the money for the bill came through.



Katrina Williams pauses as she talks about her late husband, Preston L. Williams Jr., who died just over a year ago. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

Katrina Williams said her husband was heartened when the cancer bill passed but frustrated by the lengthy refusal to fund it, leaving him and others without benefits he had championed.

She still has the dingy white helmet her husband wore, adorned with two small blue ribbons for prostate cancer awareness and covered with soot from his final fire.

We have to pay a debt, Katrina Williams said, to the people who save our lives.

Dan Morse and Mandy McLaren contributed to this report.
For years on social media and in online conversations, Mahmoud Elhassan touted himself as a lone wolf, a sleeper cell for the Islamic State in the United States.

On Friday, the 26-year-old Virginia man apologized to his family, to all Muslims and to American society as he was sentenced in federal court in Alexandria to 11 years in prison on terrorism-related charges. He pleaded guilty to helping a friend attempt to join the Islamic State in Syria and then lying to the FBI.

I used to look down on myself, I used to feel that I was worthless. . . . I was isolated, I barely had friends, he said. I thought that this was some kind of fulfillment to the part I was missing. Everything I was saying was me seeking to be a full man, all because I had this problem I was afraid to confront.

[Sudanese immigrant wanted to start a sleeper cell for Islamic State]

That problem, defense attorney Thomas Durkin said, was untreated depression and post-traumatic stress.

Hes had a horrible, horrible life, Durkin said.

Elhassan, originally from Sudan, had an abusive father, according to court papers, and his mother fled with the family to Egypt when Elhassan was 9. When he was 18, she came to the United States for medical treatment, leaving him alone in charge of two younger siblings. They were reunited in the United States in 2012, but she died two years later. One sister tried to commit suicide; another was hospitalized for kidney failure. Elhassan himself was hospitalized with similar issues. His girlfriends father rejected his marriage proposal.

I wish I could have sought some kind of help, Elhassan said, but added that he was raised in an environment skeptical of mental-health treatment.

Since going to jail, he said, he has sat down with myself and begun to confront his mental issues. I wish I could turn back time, he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Fitzpatrick argued that the trauma, while real, could not explain Elhassans eagerness to engage with a homicidal terrorist organization.

If we draw a causal connection between a bad childhood and acts of terror, that does a disservice to the tens of thousands of people who suffer abuse and work through it quietly and never commit a crime, let alone an act of terror, Fitzpatrick said.

He also rejected the idea that Elhassan was looking for religious fulfillment.

He sought [the Islamic State] because its a violent ideology, divorced from any religious hope or succor, Fitzpatrick said.

Elhassan was living in Woodbridge when he was arrested last year after helping another Virginia man, Joseph Farrokh, plot to join the Islamic State. Elhassan drove Farrokh to the Richmond airport, where he planned to begin his trip. Farrokh was arrested at the airport and ultimately sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison in the plot.

Judge Anthony J. Trenga said that while Elhassans experiences may have been searing and his posts online mostly youthful bravado, the man also had made clear his commitment to violent jihad for over two years.
An Alexandria man has been found guilty of using a firearm in a murder  but not guilty of the murder.

The unusual verdict came after a trial in which Brian Bolar argued that it was actually his uncle James Bolar who killed Leon Williams on Oct. 7, 2015. James Bolar, meanwhile, testified against his nephew, while admitting that he helped try to cover up the crime.

The killing occurred late in the evening on Belle Pre Way in the Old Town North neighborhood. A surveillance video from the Lost Dog Cafe, played at the trial, showed Williams running down the street just before he was shot several times in the back. The 37-year-old father of two died at a hospital.

Brian Bolar, 26, was not arrested until eight months later. His 33-year-old uncle was charged almost exactly a year after the killing.

According to court documents, both Bolars were unhappy with Williams, who was romantically involved with one of their female relatives. But defense attorney Robert Jenkins said it was James Bolar who had previously gotten into a violent altercation with one of Williamss friends.

Records showed that Brian Bolars cellphone was in the area, but Jenkins said the defendant had lent his uncle the phone. A witness identified Brian Bolar as the shooter; Jenkins said the witness was drunk at the time and unreliable. Another co-conspirator who claimed that Brian Bolar was the shooter Jenkins likewise labeled unreliable.

On the charge of first-degree murder, the jury was instructed to choose between two verdicts: guilty and not guilty. There were no instructions regarding second-degree murder or manslaughter. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty of first-degree murder but guilty on the charge of use of a firearm in a murder.

The statutory minimum punishment for use of a firearm in a murder is three years. But Brian Bolar also faces two charges of possessing a handgun as a convicted felon, and he is on probation from a previous conviction. All those issues will be dealt with at his sentencing March 2.
Angelique Chase is charged with fatally shooting her 17-year-old son. (Courtesy of Prince George's County Police Department)

A 48-year-old Prince Georges County woman was charged with first-degree murder Friday after shooting her 17-year-old son inside their home, police officials said.

Angelique Chase of Clinton was being held without bond. Her son, Christopher Perry, had been shot once.

Police said an argument between the two led to a physical struggle, before they were separated by a third family member who was in the house at the time. Chase ordered the family member to the basement shortly before the shooting, court documents show. Few further details were released.

Danzel Harris, 24, a next-door neighbor who had known Chase and Perry for about 10 years, described Perry as a pleasant young man.

He was a good kid, very respectful, Harris said. He was the nicest kid, been like that since he was little.

The teenager was a senior at Grace Brethren Christian School, less than two blocks from the red brick home where he lived along Buckler Road. A nice kid, and he was loved, said George Hornickel, director of the school.

Just before 9 p.m. Thursday, the Prince Georges 911 center received a call from Chase, saying her son had just been shot, according to police arrest records. Arriving officers found her son on the living room floor. He was taken by medevac to a hospital and pronounced dead at 11:01 p.m.

Detectives said they spoke with the relative who had been in the home, whom they did not name, and to Chase.

The relative said he had separated Chase and her son on the first floor, at which point she told the relative to go to the basement.

While in the basement, the family member stated that the defendant [Chase] went downstairs to the basement into a room and went back upstairs, detectives wrote in court papers. Moments later, he heard what he described as a loud bang. 

Detectives said they also spoke with Chase, and she admitted to shooting her son, detectives wrote.

On Friday, family members and others repeatedly used good kid to describe Perry.

Young people carrying flowers Friday enter the Clinton where Angelique Chase lived with her son Christopher Perry, 17. (Dan Morse/The Washington Post)

Christopher Perry Jr., the victims father, said his son grew up in Prince Georges County. He was about to graduate in May with plans to go to college and was a video game guy, the elder Perry said.

He was a good kid, the father said. He went to a good private school and everything. He was well-mannered and polite.

The elder Perry said he did not know what could have led to the dispute.

A letter sent home to parents of students at Grace Brethren said Perrys death was the result of a domestic dispute, and said counselors would be available to meet with students.

Lajuan Chase, Angelique Chases sister, said Perry was a good kid. He lived with his mother, she said, and didnt give her any trouble.

Nobody in the family understands or knows what went wrong, she said. Were trying to understand that ourselves. . . . Im just at a loss for words.

Harris, the neighbor, said it was his impression that Angelique Chase kept a very close watch over her son, including driving him the two blocks to his school, which can be seen from their homes front yard.

Hornickel, the school director, said that Christopher Perry had been at the school since middle school. Hornickel said that he was a quiet student who helped serve lunches to middle school students, and that he was active in senior class activities.

Dana Hedgpeth and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.
A Howard County police officer shot a Prince Georges County man who nearly struck the officer with a vehicle early Friday in an upscale Clarksville neighborhood, the department said.

The man, who has been identified by police as a 38-year-old from Prince Georges County, is in critical condition at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The officer was not injured.

Police said the officer was called around 3:15 a.m. to a home in the 7200 block of Fawn Crossing Drive, where an unknown suspicious vehicle was parked in a driveway.

When the officer arrived, police said, the car was unoccupied and the officer called for a tow truck to remove it. About 4:30 a.m., the officer saw a man walking along the street toward the vehicle, and the man told the officer he was the driver. The officer then determined that the man had an open arrest warrant in an auto-theft case.

At that point, the man jumped into the vehicle and drove directly at the officer, who fired one shot, striking the suspect, the department said in a statement.

The department has not yet released the officers name but said she is a 10-year veteran of the force.

Letizia Schindler, who lives on Fawn Crossing Drive, said she was asleep when the shooting occurred but awoke to police sirens.

Its kind of out of the way, she said of the secluded suburban street, which has only eight houses.

Im very surprised that someone came all the way here to do whatever. He traveled into the development for something. Its not like its a main road, Schindler said. Her husband had trouble getting out of the neighborhood to leave for work at 6:30 a.m. because of the scene, she said.

Its alarming. Why was he here and why was he parked in someones driveway? she said. Theres a lot of questions and no answers.

Police said they were continuing to investigate the reason the man was in the neighborhood.
Metros financial problems are so severe that the agency needs to obtain $800 million in loans and a long-delayed federal grant by September to avoid running out of money, District officials said this week.

Describing Metros cash-flow condition as very serious, an official in the District said that without the infusion of cash, theyre insolvent.

Metro said it is confident it can get the money, but the situation highlights the agencys fragile financial status as General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld has begun warning that significant new funding is necessary to keep the system running beyond summer 2018.

The agencys unrestricted cash, a key measure of available funds, is expected to drop to $15.8 million in March. Thats a small reserve in a $3 billion budget, but it would go even lower if the loans and grant arent obtained, according to Metro financial forecasts.

[Ridership losses, exacerbated by SafeTrack, push Metro to financial tipping point]

The Metro board will have to approve fare increases and service cuts in the coming year to help deal with the budget pressures, according to Chairman Jack Evans and other board members. Thats necessary even though Metro has taken aggressive cost-cutting measures and plans more.

The agency also needs significant additional revenue to make up for steep ridership losses and higher-than-expected costs for repairs and maintenance.

A Metro board discussion of the budget Thursday led to tense exchanges, including the suggestion by board member Tom Bulger that the agency consider selling the naming rights to stations  similar to action undertaken by the Los Angeles County Metro system late last year.

Weve started seeing . . . the scraping of the bottom of the barrel, Bulger said. Im worried.

[Metro General Manager Wiedefelds budget raises fares, reduces service, cuts 1,000 jobs ]

The latest signs of Metros dire finances raise pressure on the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia to approve a regionwide sales tax or other dedicated funding source. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has already pledged to support such a measure, which supporters would like to see approved in the Virginia and Maryland legislatures in early 2018.

But political obstacles to a new tax are formidable. In addition, Evans warned that current plans would not yield a tax or other dedicated funding by the time Wiedefeld says hell need the extra money starting in July 2018.

In many ways, its too late, Evans said. In the time frame that Metro needs funding, it had to have been approved in the current [legislative] sessions.

Metros immediate cash-flow challenge was initially described by officials in the District, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential financial projections. Evans confirmed the account.

[Financially troubled Metro seeks to borrow $220 million to cover loan]

Metro budget director Thomas Webster confirmed that the agency needs the extra borrowing and the federal grant but said he did not expect to have trouble obtaining them.

We certainly need to have the borrowing to continue, Webster said. Its a function of increased investment in the capital program.

According to the District officials, Metro needs three significant infusions of cash by September to stay afloat.

First, it needs to raise its short-term borrowing from banks by $100 million in April. The board will be asked on March 23 to approve increasing Metros line of credit from $250 million to $350 million.

That raises some concerns because Metro has struggled in the past when it relied too much on short-term borrowing.

Second, Metro needs to obtain a grant of at least $130.9 million in June from the Federal Transit Administration that has been delayed for years. The FTA has held up the money because it said Metro lacked the proper paperwork.

Evans said Metro assured him that the money was very likely to arrive in June, but he warned that might not happen.

[Report questions Metros handing of billions in federal grant money]

We were supposed to have it in February, March, April, Evans said. June may come and go and we dont get it.

An FTA spokeswoman said Thursday that the agency was working with Metro to address the problem but warned, to date, [Metro] has been unable to provide adequate support documentation to justify the grants.

Third, Metro needs to increase long-term borrowing by $575.2 million by September. The board has not yet approved floating those bonds.

They need all three. If they dont get them, theyre insolvent, the official in the District said.

Asked about the officials comment, Evans said he agreed.

He said he had been told all three sources of money were likely to come through, but he added: If any of them dont, it will pose a real problem for Metro.

Evans said that if cash on hand dries up entirely, Metro could continue to cover its payroll and other urgent bills by borrowing from funds committed to capital spending. For instance, it could delay payments for rail cars or other equipment purchases.

But that could involve breaking contracts, and in any case, its undesirable to pay day-to-day costs with funds allocated for long-term purposes.

Metro has increased its capital spending this year, especially for new rail cars, track repairs and buses. Thats a positive step, because the system has suffered from underinvestment for decades, but it has contributed to the budget problems.

[Metro sank into crisis despite decades of warnings]

Webster also said Metro expected available cash would be low in March, as the agency awaits its quarterly subsidies from the District, Maryland and Virginia at the start of the next quarter in April.

In addition to a $290 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year that begins July 1, Metro faces a $125 million revenue gap for the current fiscal year, partly driven by ridership losses due to the year-long SafeTrack program.

At Thursdays board meeting, member Michael Goldman said the agency had no way of predicting the extent of the shortfall, because the budget was approved before SafeTrack was conceived. Metro says it has lost $50 million in revenue due to the program, $10 million more than anticipated.

That drew a strong response from Evans.

We cannot continue to put out excuses that make no sense, Evans said. This system is not failing because we are losing riders. This system is failing because from the beginning it never had enough money to be run properly.

Ridership is down about 100,000 daily trips from 2009 peaks, driven by the systems chronic reliability problems and other factors, such as increased competition and lower fuel prices driving more people back to their cars.

Evans said he has been warning of Metros long-term financial distress for the entirety of his tenure, to the point that regional leaders stopped believing him. But he noted that Wiedefelds views have more influence, and the general manager has recently started referring to the need for a regional solution to the agencys problems.

This structural financial issue is getting to a point where we just cant get much further with internal cost-cutting, Wiedefeld told the board Thursday. [We] just do not have many more things I can turn to.

Although Wiedefeld has stopped short of explicitly calling for a new tax or dedicated funding, Evans says the general managers new tone is significant.

Turning to Wiedefeld, Evans said, When you say we are in trouble, people listen.

Later, Evans said in an interview: When we enter fiscal 2019, the general manager is saying that we are at the cliff and he has used all the tools in his box. Without substantial additional money from the jurisdictions, Metro will not be able to operate.

Through the first half of the current fiscal year, Metro has saved $59 million through aggressive cost-cutting measures that Wiedefeld said are not sustainable over the long term. The agency eliminated 500 positions and plans to freeze hiring and spending in non-safety-critical areas, in addition to tapping $17 million in operating surpluses from prior years.

The agency says it plans to make up $29 million of the budget gap by selling off real estate assets and to save $15 million to $20 million by freezing hiring and spending in non-safety-critical areas.

Lori Aratani contributed to this report
Adam Purinton, 51, of Olathe, Kansas, U.S. is pictured in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters. (Handout/Reuters)

KANSAS

Bar killing may be racially motivated

Authorities in Kansas filed first-degree murder charges against a man accused of opening fire in a bar, killing an Indian man and injuring two people.

According to witness accounts, the gunman reportedly told two of the people who were shot  both Indian men who work for Garmin, the technology firm  to get out of my country before opening fire. He also used racial slurs during the Wednesday evening shooting inside Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, about 20 miles southwest of Kansas City, witnesses said.

Authorities said they have not yet identified a motive for the attack, but relatives of the Indian men said they feared the shooting was connected to a climate of fear and xenophobia in America.

Police identified the suspected attacker as Adam W. Purinton, 51.

One of the Indian men shot, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, later died at a hospital, police said. Alok Madasani, 32, of Overland Park, Kan., was wounded but was released from the hospital Thursday. Ian Grillot, 24, who apparently tried to intervene, also was shot.

(Youtube/KUHospital)

Purinton was taken into custody late Thursday in Clinton, Mo., about 80 miles from Olathe, and by Friday afternoon he had been returned to Johnson County, where he was being held in a detention center.

Johnson County District Attorney Stephen M. Howe said Purinton was charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Purintons bond was set at $2 million, according to court documents. Purinton is scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon for his arraignment.

Witnesses told the Kansas City Star and The Washington Post that the gunman was thought to have been kicked out of the bar Wednesday night before the shooting. He reportedly came back and hurled racial slurs at the two Indian men, including comments that suggested he thought they were of Middle Eastern descent. After he started firing, Grillot, a regular at the bar, moved to get involved.

 Mark Berman and Samantha Schmidt

MICHIGAN

Ex-FBI agent who shot at officer may avoid jail

A former FBI agent who was arrested in western Michigan for shooting at a police officer outside a fitness club could avoid jail under a plea agreement.

Ruben Hernandez, 35, pleaded no contest Friday to felonious assault. A no-contest plea isnt an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing. Under the plea deal, prosecutors will recommend at his April 13 sentencing that Hernandez avoid jail.

No one was injured in the December shooting outside a Planet Fitness in Grand Rapids, and Hernandez was quickly arrested. Police fired no shots. Authorities say the Las Vegas-based agent was in Michigan for an investigation.

A small memorial for Srinivas Kuchibhotla is displayed outside Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kan., Friday. (Orlin Wagner/AP)

Defense attorney Larry Willey said that Hernandez doesnt remember what happened and that alcohol may have been a factor. Willey said Hernandez was fired by the FBI in January.

 Associated Press

Fire damages mosque in Florida: An intentionally set fire damaged a prayer hall at a Tampa-area mosque early Friday, investigators said. The arson occurred at the Islamic Society of New Tampa, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said. Fire investigators responded at around 2 a.m. No one was at the mosque when the fire started.

Four injured in Oklahoma gas well explosion: Four people were injured when a private natural gas well exploded in eastern Oklahoma on Thursday night, authorities said. Wagoner County Emergency Manager Heath Underwood said the explosion happened as contract workers were repairing a gas line near Wagoner, about 125 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

 From news services
Mahashivaratri being observed today (with photo & video)

Hindu devotees all over the country are celebrating the great festival of Mahashivaratri by worshipping Lord Shiva at various rivers, ponds and temples on Friday.
Congressional Republicans have been struggling for months to resolve one of the most vexing problems in their tortuous effort to replace the Affordable Care Act: What to do about the generous federal funding for states that broadened their Medicaid programs under the law, while not shortchanging the 19 states that balked at expansion?

Now, as the House begins to hone details of its legislative proposal, a possible compromise has emerged. It would temporarily keep federal dollars flowing to cover almost the entire cost of the roughly 11 million Americans who have gained Medicaid coverage but would block that enhanced funding for any new participants.

At the same time, the GOP approach would open a fresh spigot of aid for the states  all but one of which has a Republican governor  that eschewed the additional Medicaid money because of their elected officials antipathy to the law. This extra aid would probably go to hospitals with a large share of poor and uninsured patients.

The Solomon-like strategy is an attempt to calm fears of Republican governors in expansion states that abolishing the 2010 law would cost them hugely, while also satisfying new demands for equity from other GOP governors who opposed the expansion. Details of how the plans dual elements would be implemented, including their specific time frames and funding totals, are still coming together in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Within the context of the GOPs broader repeal effort  and this weeks tumultuous town hall meetings around the country, at which lawmakers have been confronted by constituents scared of losing their health coverage  Republicans ideas for Medicaids future have drawn less public attention. Yet their proposals would significantly remake one of the nations largest entitlement programs, which serves more than 74 million lower-income Americans and accounts for half the additions to the insurance rolls that the ACA has brought about.

Amy Kuiken holds a sign during a health-care town hall meeting in Scranton, Pa., on Tuesday. Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) was invited to speak but did not attend. (Butch Comegys/AP)

A similar approach is under consideration in the Senate. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who is working toward a compromise to protect the roughly 700,000 Ohioans with Medicaid coverage under the ACA, said he is open to either a temporary extension or another way to subsidize their health insurance. Its necessary to figure out how to provide coverage, and thats going to cost money, he said Thursday.

The House committee also is moving forward with a plan to convert the rest of Medicaid to a system in which states would get a fixed sum of federal money for every resident who is enrolled. Such per capita funding, outlined by the chambers Republican leaders earlier this month, would be more restrictive than the way Medicaid has functioned since its birth as part of the Great Society legislation of the 1960s.

However, the allotments would be less rigid than block grants, which have been advocated for years by many conservatives and decried by liberals for their potential to reduce spending over time, prompting states to cut benefits or eligibility, or both. (Block grants might still emerge from Congress as an alternative that states could choose.)

This picture of the Houses behind-the-scenes work is based on interviews with several people familiar with the thinking of the Republican leadership. All spoke on the condition of anonymity since no plans have been announced.

[Medicaid exposes rifts within the GOP when it comes to replacing the ACA]

The deliberations on Medicaid expansion are further along than other components of the lawmakers thinking about how to shift government health policies in a more conservative direction, according to these individuals. The basic outline emerging from the Energy and Commerce Committee would grandfather in the adults currently on Medicaid- expansion rolls in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Still to be decided is whether the extra dollars for their coverage would last a specific length of time or continue as long as a beneficiary remained eligible.

As for non-expansion states, the extra money they would receive might come through an increase in disproportionate share payments the federal government has long given hospitals that treat a lot of poor patients. Or the government could increase its payments for Medicaids very poorest patients  a boost to Republican-led states across the South with large low-income populations.

The only Democratic-led state that has not expanded its Medicaid program is Virginia, where Gov. Terry McAuliffe has been unable to overcome the resistance of the GOP-controlled legislature.

Its unclear whether the plan would accomplish its goal of satisfying a range of the 35 GOP governors now in office, no matter the stance each has taken on expansion.

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who chairs the Republican Governors Association, said at an event at The Washington Post on Friday that GOP governors are working closely with both lawmakers and the administration to determine how to transition those living above the poverty line off the expanded Medicaid rolls.

Maybe Im foolish, but I thought Medicaid is for people living in poverty, Walker said.

But Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio), who discussed health-care reform Friday with President Trump in the Oval Office, said in an interview that he considered the current compromise inadequate.

I dont think that paying hospitals for uncompensated care results with a healthier population, he said, adding that expansion has provided resources for those struggling with addiction and mental illness. Where are they supposed to go?

The House Ways and Means Committee is doing parallel work on overall ACA replacement. But according to the several people familiar with the House leaderships approach, a central idea under consideration there  new health-care tax credits  hit a snag this week when congressional budget analysts reported privately to the committee that the credits would cost the government a lot of money and would enable relatively few additional Americans to get insurance.

Those tax credits would replace subsidies the ACA provides people with incomes of up to 400 percent of the poverty level to help them afford health plans through marketplaces created under the law. The credits would be available to everyone who buys coverage on their own, wealthy or poor. But the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that the credits, as conceived at the moment, would be too small to help low-income people afford health plans. They also wouldnt make much difference to affluent people, according to the CBO, since most of them already are insured.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), an influential member of the Budget and Appropriations committees, said that while CBO models are not precise indicators of a bills actual fiscal impact, the new estimate should remind Republicans that they should err on the side of being cautious, rather than make grandiose claims.

Democrats fell into that trap when passing the ACA, he said. We should not be overselling.

[Pence: Americas Obamacare nightmare is about to end]

When the ACA passed a polarized Congress in 2010, the idea was that about half the Americans who would gain health coverage would do so through the laws insurance marketplaces. The other half would come through Medicaid, which was to grow nationwide to include adults earning up to 138 percent of the poverty level. The federal government would pay the full cost of expanded coverage for the first three years, then a decreasing amount before settling at 90 percent by 2020.

In 2012, though, in a case brought by ACA critics who unsuccessfully challenged the laws constitutionality, the Supreme Court ruled that each state had the latitude to choose whether to expand Medicaid. Nearly all Democratic-led states said yes; most with Republican governors opted out.

The latest polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation, released Friday morning, shows that Medicaid expansion enjoys strong public support. Nationally, 84 percent of respondents  and 87 percent in the 16 expansion states with GOP governors  said it is important to preserve the greater federal funding provided by the ACA.

amy.goldstein@washpost.com

juliet.eilperin@washpost.com
A shrill voice from the overhead speaker pierced through the hospital.

Code Blue. Code Team activated.

As dozens of pagers rang simultaneously, I knew what that announcement meant. Someone had lost their pulse or had a fatal heart rhythm. Without cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient would die. And as the leader of the team that responds to any Code Blue, I was going to make sure that didnt happen.

When I arrived at the patients room, a doctor had already started delivering chest compressions to make sure that vital organs such as the brain were still receiving blood. A nurse prepared to deliver an electric shock that might jolt the patients heart back to a normal rhythm. A third person was drawing up a medicine that would increase the patients blood pressure.

After making sure that the necessary steps were in place, I finally looked at the patient, a thin, older man, lying unconscious in his bed. I later learned that he was a grandfather, a father and a husband. In that moment, however, I focused only on how to bring this man back from deaths doorstep.

But 40 minutes, one shock and countless medicines later, he still did not have a pulse. Several of his ribs had cracked during chest compressions. An ooze of blood trickled out of his mouth  an ominous foreboding that his ability to form blood clots was shutting down.

I asked the team whether anything else could be done to save this man. An empty silence filled the room.

Nobody suggested, though, that it was time to stop CPR. I had to make that decision myself: Everybody, lets end this code. Time of death: 2 a.m.

While doctors hate to think about it, hundreds of thousands of cardiac arrests end the same way. According to the American Heart Association, more than 550,000 people go into cardiac arrest each year, and fewer than 20 percent survive.

The likelihood of surviving is nearly twice as high among people who code in the hospital, probably because most of them receive CPR. However, a 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that only 22 percent of people suffering a cardiac arrest live long enough to be discharged from the hospital, and nearly 30 percent of those survivors have serious neurological disabilities, probably because of a lack of oxygen during the arrest.

In other words, most people who have a cardiac arrest dont make it, even with CPR. As a resident physician who has spent most of the past three years in the hospital and led or assisted in many CPR efforts, this sobering fact is not lost upon me.

The process of CPR is almost as disheartening as its bleak outcomes. Code Blues are inevitably gruesome. Youre supposed to push hard and fast during chest compressions. According to the American Heart Association, broken ribs are to be expected. Bleeding is also common, and breathing tubes are often forced into the patients airway. Because of this trauma, we dont routinely allow families to watch CPR attempts of their loved ones. I realize that broken ribs and blood are worth it if they save someones life. But that does not diminish the fact that a code leader must ignore some harrowing images to focus on bringing someone back from death.

This lack of emotional investment might explain why, despite knowing that most people dont survive CPR, doctors are biased toward keeping CPR going. We routinely run long codes, in part because we think that we can bring patients back. And sometimes we do bring patients back: A 2012 study published in the Lancet showed that 15 percent of patients who survived cardiac arrest had at least 30 minutes of CPR.

But an equally important reason that we run codes longer than we should is fear  fear that stopping CPR could rob that patient of a chance at life and rob his family of more time with a loved one. Thats probably why other people in the room dont usually suggest that we stop CPR, even when everyone knows it is futile.

Medical authorities have chosen not to wade into the ethically murky waters of stopping CPR. Although organizations such as the American Heart Association publish and disseminate guidelines on how to perform CPR, there are few recommendations on when to stop it. Asystole  the lack of a heart rhythm  for 20 minutes is considered lethal. But there is little data on outcomes for other situations. Ive seen CPR run for hours; perhaps the patient regains a pulse temporarily, only to lose it again and restart the clock of CPR.

In 2006, Canadian researchers, in an effort to develop a rule for when emergency medical technicians should stop CPR, studied records from more than 1,200 patients who had suffered out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. The rule, based on factors such as whether the arrest had been witnessed by somebody and whether a shock was given, accurately predicted when CPR would be futile in 99.5 percent of cases. The authors suggested that implementing the rule would reduce transport of such patients to hospitals by more than 62 percent, saving health-care costs and eliminating hours of futile resuscitation efforts. That rule hasnt made its way into formal guidelines, as it probably should. But to suggest that a predetermined rule should control whether CPR should be stopped would create controversy  and even anger  among doctors and patients. And thats why it hasnt been done yet.

But even if there were guidelines, they probably wouldnt be running through my head when I am leading CPR. As the code leader, you always think about more things to do. I can always give more epinephrine, try a clot-busting drug or deliver another shock. Doctors are systematically biased against stopping CPR  even if we want to stop  because we cant be criticized for keeping going.

None of this is to say that we should be performing less or more CPR. There are many patients who will survive cardiac arrest with CPR and have a meaningful recovery. And unless a patient tells me they wouldnt want CPR, I will do it, if needed, without question.

But patients and families should understand the mechanics of CPR  how we perform it, what it looks like and, perhaps most important, the difficulty for the medical team of stopping it  before deciding to undergo it. If they had this understanding, more people might not want CPR in the first place: Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital asked cancer patients to watch an unbiased video that described CPR and included a simulated patient receiving chest compressions and being put on a ventilator. Compared with those who didnt watch the video, those who did were more likely to not want CPR in case of cardiac arrest and said they felt better informed.

After the long and unfortunate CPR effort performed on that thin older man, I walked into the room where his family was waiting. His daughter and granddaughter were distraught, crying in a corner. His wife stared in shock across the room. I tried to console them, reassuring them that we did everything we could.

But that is never really true with CPR: You can always keep going. And thats probably why, after a patient dies despite CPR, the doctor and the family both feel a sense of regret.

health-science@washpost.com

Parikh is a resident in internal medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital and a clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Follow him on Twitter @ravi_b_parikh.
When Tavinder Singh took the MCAT, the California native dreamed of going to medical school. And then his scores came back  too low for him to get in anywhere in the United States. So he packed his bags for the island of Dominica and enrolled at the Ross University School of Medicine.

Ross is one of the dozens of for-profit medical schools scattered throughout the Caribbean that market themselves mostly to folks in Singhs position. These schools have often come in for criticism, what with their hefty price tags, large class sizes and high dropout rates, writes Stat Newss Usha Lee McFarling. Even their mere location can be a negative for students. Theyve heard all the jokes about studying anatomy on the beach with Mai Tais in hand, McFarling notes.

But a massive physician shortage is transforming those views, McFarling writes in a recent article that tackles Why the United States is no longer turning up its nose at Caribbean medical schools. Their graduates typically have a tough time landing a residency, a credential thats required to practice medicine in the United States. So theyre eager to take positions anywhere, including in poor, rural, and underserved communities, McFarling says.

Once someone is wearing that white coat, school names dont come up much. Patients tend to be more interested in how theyre being treated, says McFarling, who highlights the example of Moazzum Bajwa, a Ross graduate and a second-year resident at the Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley, Calif.

Over the course of an hour-long appointment, retired carpenter Jose Luis Garcia, 69, doesnt just get the exam he was expecting. Bajwa also draws him a detailed diagram to explain how blood sugar levels work. They discuss  thanks to Bajwas fluent Spanish  whats causing stress in Garcias life, including his wifes recent brain surgery. At the end, Bajwa offers a hug.

This is a very great doctor, Garcia tells McFarling. Normally, I dont feel important.
IRAQ

Government troops enter Mosul airport

Closely supported by the U.S.-led coalition, Iraqi forces secured a series of cautious advances Thursday, pushing into a sprawling military base outside Mosul and onto the grounds of the citys airport, where they took control of the runway.

The three-pronged attack began just after sunrise, with three convoys of Iraqi forces snaking across Nineveh provinces hilly desert on the southern approach to Mosul. Iraqs special forces joined federal police and rapid-response units in the push  part of a major assault begun this week to drive the Islamic State from the western half of Iraqs second-largest city.

By afternoon, they had entered the Ghazlani military base, as well as Mosuls airport.

Clashes at the airport continued for hours. By early afternoon, Maj. Gen. Raid Shakir Jawdat of the federal police told Iraqi state TV that his troops had control of more than half of the complex. He also said about 200 families had been evacuated to government-controlled areas.

 Associated Press

BOSNIA

U.N. court is asked to revisit Serbia ruling

Bosnia has asked the United Nations top court to reconsider its 2007 ruling that cleared Serbia of genocide during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.

Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim Bosniak member of Bosnias tripartite presidency, said the request was filed Thursday to the International Court of Justice.

The submission came despite opposition by Bosnian Serb presidency member Mladen Ivanic, who argued that the request should be dismissed because he did not consent to it.

Bosnia initially sued Serbia before the court in 1993 over its backing for the 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 that Serbia was not responsible.

 Associated Press

UGANDA

Rebels detained after fleeing Congo clashes

Uganda is holding dozens of fighters from the M23 rebel group who fled Congo after clashing with troops there this week, the Ugandan military said Thursday.

Richard Karemire, Ugandas military spokesman, said 44 M23 fighters were being held at a camp in the southwestern town of Kisoro.

He rejected accusations by Congo that Uganda was enabling the fighters to revive their insurgency. They fled and they are at a camp . . . pending determination of their next destination, he said.

M23, the largest of a number of rebel movements that have sown chaos and bloodshed in mineral-rich eastern Congo for years, once controlled swathes of territory there. Hundreds of the groups fighters, however, fled to Uganda in 2013 after a combined United Nations and Congolese force routed their rebellion.

Since November, authorities in Congo have said Uganda was allowing M23 rebels to slip back into eastern Congo to relaunch their rebellion.

 Reuters

Guatemala says no to abortions aboard nonprofits ship: Guatemalas military said it will not allow a Dutch nonprofit organization that performs free abortions aboard a ship in international waters to pick up women in port for the procedure. The army said that it was under instructions from President Jimmy Morales not to allow the activity; abortion is illegal in Guatemala. The nonprofit, Women on Waves, travels the globe offering abortion services to women in countries where the procedure is illegal. Guatemala was the first country the group chose to visit in Latin America.

15 soldiers killed in attack in Niger: A spokesman for Nigers military said at least 15 soldiers have been killed in an attack by Islamist extremists on a patrol near the countrys border with Mali. Col. Abdoul Aziz Toure said the attack near the village of Interzawane in the Tillaberi region on Wednesday also wounded 19 soldiers.

Winds pummel parts of Europe: Powerful winds battered sections of northern Europe, disrupting transport and killing an English woman who was hit by flying debris. In the Netherlands, the landing gear on a small passenger plane collapsed as it landed in heavy winds at Amsterdams Schiphol Airport. Rain, snow and winds of more than 90 mph from a weather system dubbed Storm Doris closed British roads, canceled flights and for a time halted train travel to and from Londons Euston Station.

Somali prime minister named: Somalias new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, appointed a political newcomer as prime minister: Somali-born Norwegian national Hassan Ali Khaire, a former executive of British energy explorer Soma Oil & Gas. His selection is a nod to balancing clan interests in the Horn of Africa nation. Khaire is a member of the Hawiye clan, as is former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was defeated in the election this month. The new president is from the Darod clan.

 From news services
EGYPT

Christians flee Sinai in fear of Islamic State

Hundreds of Christians are fleeing Egypts restive Sinai Peninsula as the Islamic State affiliate there has increasingly targeted the community in recent weeks, according to witnesses, clergy and human rights activists.

In the past month, suspected Islamic State militants have killed seven Christians in Arish, the capital of Egypts North Sinai province, which borders the Gaza Strip and Israel. Although no group has asserted responsibility, the Islamic State affiliate based in Sinai warned in a video that it would escalate attacks against the besieged minority.

Christians are being shot in their homes, in their places of work, in the streets, even in the markets, said Mina Thabet, a program director for minorities and vulnerable groups at the nonprofit Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms. Theres a lot of fear in the community.

 Sudarsan Raghavan

FRANCE

Magistrate appointed to lead Fillon probe

French presidential candidate Francois Fillon will face a full judicial inquiry into allegations he paid family members for fake parliamentary jobs after the nations financial prosecutor said Friday that he was assigning a magistrate to lead the probe.

The escalation is another blow to the conservative candidate whose status as favorite to win the presidency has faded since the Penelopegate affair  named after Fillons wife  first surfaced a month ago. But it may not stop him from standing in a two-round April-May vote.

By involving a magistrate in what had been a preliminary probe led by police, the prosecutor is putting more resources into the investigation.

The judge can decide to drop the case, place the former prime minister under formal probe or send the case to trial.

 Reuters

NIGERIA

$200,000 demanded for release of scientists

Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of about $200,000 for a German archaeologist and his associate abducted this week from a northern Nigerian village, a worker at the excavation site said. Two villagers were fatally shot in the kidnapping, police confirmed Friday.

The worker said he heard a man make the demand in a phone call Thursday to the sites supervisor. The caller warned him not to involve the police, said the worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Police special forces and a special investigative team have been searching around the village of Jenjela in Kaduna state, where gunmen abducted Professor Peter Breunig and his associate, Johannes Behringer, on Wednesday and walked with them into the bush.

Breunig, 65, and Behringer, who is in his 20s, are part of a team from Frankfurts Goethe University collaborating with Nigeria to recover relics of the Nok culture.

 Associated Press

Former Guatemalan officials face U.S. drug charges: The United States will seek the extradition of former Guatemalan vice president Roxana Baldetti and ex-interior minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla on drug trafficking charges, the U.S. embassy said. Baldetti and Lopez were indicted in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Each faces a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and knowing that it would be imported to the United States. The two served in the 2012-2015 presidential administration of Otto Perez Molina.

13 killed in Argentina bus collision: At least 13 people died and more than a dozen were injured when two buses collided in Argentinas Santa Fe province, state news agency Telam said. The buses, from the same company, Monticas, collided near the central port city of Rosario, Telam said.

Mexican towns residents kill 3 men accused of car theft: Prosecutors in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas say residents of a town have killed three men who allegedly tried to steal a car. The Chiapas state attorneys office said the men were caught in the act by the cars owner and taken to the central plaza of the San Lucas community in Chiapilla township, where they were beaten to death. Prosecutor Enrique Mendez Rojas said authorities are working to identify those responsible. Such acts of vigilantism occur regularly in remoter regions of Mexico where residents have little faith in the authorities.

 From news services
Correction: An earlier version of this letter included an incorrect name for the Washington City Council. This version has been updated.

Regarding the Feb. 20 Metro article Point man in the Hands Off DC fight:

D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) is to be complimented for leading the Hands Off DC fight. I hope he will explore another dimension.

From 1948 until his defeat in 1972, the District was, in essence, ruled by Rep. John L. McMillan (D-S.C.), the head of the House District Committee. Then-Del. Walter Fauntroy, who had been a member of the Washington City Council, which the Home Rule Act changed to the D.C. Council, led efforts in South Carolina to register thousands of black people, who then voted McMillan out of office.

Today, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has become the new McMillan with his proposal to overrule the views of D.C. residents and the legislative initiatives of the D.C. Council. The Post reported that thousands of Utahns met him in Utah to protest his views on the environment, his acquiescence to President Trumps policies and his lack of concern for his own constituents interests [Chaffetz unfazed by detractors in Utah and the District, front page, Feb. 13]. Maybe it is time for D.C. residents to revise Mr. Fauntroys methods and join Utah voters to send Mr. Chaffetz back to Utah, full time, and let D.C. residents and the D.C. Council decide the citys fate.

I think we might find allies in Utah. Maybe the Utah voters would support D.C. efforts for full congressional representation and even statehood.

Maurice Jackson, Washington
Michael A. Fletcher, a former Washington Post reporter, is a senior writer with ESPNs The Undefeated.

Anyone interested in learning more about the incalculable damage done to African Americans and, really, all of America in the decades following Reconstruction ought to read historian Elizabeth Dowling Taylors absorbing new book, The Original Black Elite.

The book peels back the life of Daniel Murray, a mainstay of the nations tiny black upper class in the late 19th century. His story illuminates an often-overlooked corner of history that resonates even today, in the era of Black Lives Matter and a new president who never seems to consider the continuing impact of the nations tortured racial history.

Murray was an assistant librarian at the Library of Congress, one of the very best jobs available to a black man in post-slavery America. He was also an entrepreneur, community leader, self-taught historian, bon vivant and socialite. Murrays life offers a window into a little-known stratum of African Americans who parlayed the opportunities opened during Reconstruction into a comfortable lifestyle, social standing and, in more than a few cases, real prosperity.

[Review: Climbing Jacobs Ladder: The Enduring Legacy of African-American Families, by Andrew Billingsley]

"The Original Black Elite: Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era," by Elizabeth Dowling Taylor (Amistad)

Murray was born in Baltimore in 1851. Maryland was a slave state, but Baltimore was also home to the largest population of free blacks in the country. They typically were freed or escaped slaves, or mixed-race children of indentured servants. Ninety percent of black Baltimoreans were free. And Murrays family was among them.

His world was one where the family pastor went on to be the founding president of Wilberforce University, the nations first black-owned and -operated college. He had private tutors with impeccable credentials and high-minded parents who not only expected him to rise in the world but also had the family connections to make that happen.

When Murray left home, it was not for some rooming house and dead-end job. Instead, he caught a train to Washington, where he moved in with his older half-sister, who owned a home within walking distance of the White House. A half-brother, Samuel Proctor, lived down the street and ran a well-established catering business whose client list once included President Abraham Lincoln.

By 1869, Murray was a waiter in a restaurant run by Proctor on the ground floor of the Capitol. It was called the Senate Saloon, and there Murray was able to make connections that led to better jobs and other opportunities.

It is astonishing to think that as Murray made his way in the world, the country was just out of slavery and beginning its brief experiment with Reconstruction. While most black people were dirt poor, neither Murrays family nor his social circle was struggling; indeed, they enjoyed many of the perks of high society.

It was not unusual for their parties, weddings and church dedications to be covered admiringly in the white press. Occasionally, the events even included white guests. Murray joined integrated political clubs, and the segregated social clubs he frequented typically had black members who were similarly situated.

[Review: Way Up North in Dixie: A Black Familys Claim to the Confederate Anthem, by Howard L. Sacks and Judith Rose Sacks]

Theirs was an exclusive world inhabited mostly by blacks with light-toned skin. Nearly all the people in their social circle would pass a brown paper bag test  meaning their skin was no darker than a brown bag, once the standard for some exclusive black organizations. They would probably require the test, too. (Of course, there was the occasional dark-skinned interloper, such as the famed poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.) They rubbed shoulders with Reconstruction-era black politicians and their progeny, as well as leading African Americans of the day: Sen. Hiram Revels of Mississippi and Pinckney Pinchback, who served as governor of Louisiana. Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and W.E.B. Du Bois also were in the mix.

They were all cultured and well-read in a nation where federal officials estimate that 70 percent of blacks and 10 percent of whites were illiterate as late as 1880. Their children went to the best schools, colleges included. Together, they formed what Taylor calls the tiny tip of the black social pyramid.

Many of them got there the same way almost every aristocrat did: by accident of birth. Like Murray, many were never enslaved and were the small-business people, preachers and entrepreneurs who occupied the top rung of black society before emancipation. Later, they and their children were in position to take advantage of the civil rights priviliges and educational opportunties that flowed during Reconstruction.

Murray and his crew may have been social elites and elitists, but they were concerned about the African Americans who lived at the bottom of the pyramid. Murray considered himself to be a pioneering authority on black history, even if he proved an undertrained one. He and his wife were public advocates for racial equality and worked in the forerunner to the NAACP.

It was said of Murray that he enjoys the distinction of being one man of color on whom the color line is very seldom drawn, a feeling many members of the black elite shared in the hopeful days of Reconstruction.

Needless to say, that feeling did not last as Reconstruction was replaced by the creeping indignities and racial violence sparked by Jim Crow laws that followed. For much of black America, that era of racial retrenchment meant the slavery-like conditions of sharecropping, segregated living and mob violence at the hands of state-sanctioned racists. For Murray and his set, the impact was far more subtle but no less diabolical. He was demoted at his job at the Library of Congress and forced to endure salary cuts. The stated  not hidden  reason was that he was black. But Murray, like black America, persevered and fought back, until his death in 1925.

Jim Crow no doubt hindered the black elite, but it did not snuff them out. Even today, the remnants of that old guard can be found in their longtime hangouts, such as Oak Bluffs on Marthas Vineyard, and at their social clubs like Jack and Jill and the Boule. Still, the racial rollback came at a steep cost to their ideals, their sense of dignity and their belief in America.

It is a tale that Taylor, author of the acclaimed A Slave in the White House, tells in impressive detail. Her research adds flesh and blood to a chapter of history most often told in broad strokes or just plain glossed over. The many facts Taylor marshals in her compelling book are at times hard to keep straight, as she ducks down side streets from the main artery of the chronology of Murrays life. But the book is well worth the effort it takes to keep up.

Murray often spoke of the virus of race madness, and Taylors work drives home in a personal way just how virulent it was, even to those best equipped to overcome it.
Gordon Bowker is the author of "George Orwell," a biography of the writer, and has written articles for the the Daily Beast, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.

With alternative facts airing on the evening news and ominous warnings of American carnage issuing from the White House, its no surprise that the author George Orwell has been the subject of recent essays across American publishing, from the Huffington Post to the New York Times. Orwells classic novel on totalitarianism and surveillance, 1984, has again become a bestseller thanks to the strange affairs afoot in Washington, with its publisher rushing to print fresh copies to meet demand. As we reconsider Orwells work, however, its worth reevaluating what we know about the man himself, around whom many misconceptions and legends have grown up over the years.

Myth No. 1

Orwellian refers to ascendant government control.

In a 2013 essay for the conservative Catholic publication Crisis Magazine, Sean Fitzpatrick wrote that the most frightening thing about Orwells 1984 is how many aspects of our democratic nation resemble his dystopian nightmare. Fitzpatrick described many features of contemporary politics (such as the Affordable Care Act and the war on terror) as signals of the advancement of the ideologies of big government. Other writers often equate Orwells dystopias with government overreach: Maybe, liberals today will rediscover their roots and reignite a deep suspicion of a large, all-powerful government, Charles Hurt wrote in an Orwell-centric Washington Times column this month.

Yet Orwellianism isnt just about big government; its about authoritarianism coupled with lies. Newspeak, as Orwell described it in 1984, is language that means the exact opposite of what it says. Contemporary examples include the labeling of news organizations as fake news and falsehoods as alternative facts. The whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought. In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it, one of Orwells characters says.

Moreover, Orwell did not see oppression issuing strictly from governments. In Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Gordon Comstocks landlady spies on him, making him feel a loss of privacy and liberty. In the autobiographical essay Such, Such Were the Joys,  Orwell writes that in boarding school, he suspected that a spy had been set on him by his headmaster and depicted the environment as institutionally oppressive. An equivalent today might be mass surveillance via social media: Facebook logging your purchases, Skype eavesdropping on your calls and the ubiquitous mobile phone cameras all-seeing eye. A surveillance society can have many Big Brothers and Sisters watching us, rather than just a single all-powerful one.

Myth No. 2

Orwell was hostile to religion.

Orwells work contained strong skepticism of religion. In A Clergymans Daughter, he has a Satanic priest reciting the Lords Prayer backward . In Animal Farm, faith is represented cynically as lies put about by Moses, the tame Raven, about a supposed animal paradise. Even in Animal Farm, John Rossi and John Rodden wrote in a 2016 Commonweal Magazine retrospective on its author, Orwell found time to express his hostility to religion. A 2011 article by Robert Gray in the Spectator titled Orwell vs God noted that though he might acknowledge the necessity of religion in theory, Orwells general attitude toward faith was one of unblinking hostility. He once said that he did not subscribe to doctrines which no one seriously believes in, such as the immortality of the soul.

Yet Orwell retained a lasting affection for the Anglican Church, choosing to be married and buried, per instructions in his will, according to the rites of the Church of England. And he maintained a religious imagination, especially during his final days. In a last letter from his hospital bed, Orwell asked a friend whether an advertisement hed found in a newspaper might be blasphemous. Another friend, who visited him just before he died, found him reading the first volume of Dantes Divine Comedy, raising the possibility that he was preparing himself for some kind of afterlife.

Myth No. 3

Orwell insisted on simple, straightforward prose.

In his essay Why I Write, Orwell recommended keeping prose simple, positing that good prose is like a window pane in its clarity. Indeed, Orwell has been noted for this quality in his writing. In a 2006 NPR article, for instance, author Lawrence Wright claimed that Orwell wasnt interested in decorative writing, but his straightforward, declarative style has a snap in it that few other writers have ever approached.

It was not always so. In his early novel Burmese Days, for example, we find the following: In the borders beside the path swaths of English flowers  phlox and larkspur, hollyhock and petunia  not yet slain by the sun, rioted in vast size and richness. The petunias were huge, like trees almost. There was no lawn, but instead a shrubbery of native trees and bushes  gold mohur trees like vast umbrellas of blood-red bloom, frangipanis with creamy, stalkless flowers, purple bougainvillea, scarlet hibiscus and the pink Chinese rose, bilious-green crotons, feathery fronds of tamarind. The clash of colours hurt ones eyes in the glare. A nearly naked mali, watering-can in hand, was moving in the jungle of flowers like some large nectar-sucking bird. And he raved to his girlfriend Brenda Salkeld in 1933 about my dear Ulysses, my greatest discovery since I discovered Villon, referring to James Joyces labyrinthine novel.

It was only when he turned to political writing in 1936, after living with unemployed miners in Wigan, in northern England, and fighting in Spain, that he decided that, for honestys sake, he must write prose that was transparent  devoid of jargon, misleading metaphors, foreign words and phrases, and cliches.

Myth No. 4

Orwell was politically and socially progressive.

One 2014 biography of Orwell declared him a social realist and secular saint; a Guardian article by John Carey insisted that Orwell was a truth-teller whose courage and sense of social justice made him a secular saint; and Geoffrey Wheatcroft once wrote in the Independent that the secular saint of our time par excellence was George Orwell. As a progressive in politics, he wanted the kind of egalitarian society hed glimpsed in Barcelona in 1936, where, he wrote in his book Homage to Catalonia, human beings were trying to behave as human beings and not as cogs in the capitalist machine.

Orwell was a socialist, but he was also a realist. He thought that in 1940, after the British defeat at Dunkirk, Britain was on the brink of revolution. Instead, the moment passed, and at the end of the war he threw his support behind the Labour Party, whose policy was one of sober gradualism rather than violent revolution.

In other ways, he was an outright traditionalist: His attitude toward women and gay people was boorish and retrograde. Orwells friend and contemporary Stephen Spender noted that Orwell was very misogynist . . . a strange sort of eccentric man full of strange ideas and strange prejudices. One was that he thought that women were extremely inferior and stupid. . . . He really rather despised women. Orwell also opposed modern urban sprawl and machine technology. And most of his fiction, as well as his nonfiction, reveals a yen for Edwardian England, though stripped of some of its cruelties and inequalities.

Myth No. 5

Orwell was sadistic.

Orwells roommate Rayner Heppenstall once described the author as having moods of sadistic exaltation, during which he would become violent in arguments. Others have located sadism in Orwells books, especially 1984, which includes a torture scene. Given Orwells remarks on his own history (for example, he once described in an article how, as a boy, he cut a wasp in half out of curiosity; and in the essay Shooting an Elephant wrote that as a police officer in Burma he took great pleasure in imagining sticking a bayonet into the guts of a Buddhist priest), one might reasonably suspect he had a violent streak.

Yet Orwell belonged for a time to the pacifistic Independent Labour Party, deplored the sadism of communists in Spain and felt uneasy with gratuitous violence in media. He disparaged what he called the Yank Mags  (There is the frankest appeal to sadism, he wrote of these magazines in his essay Boys Weeklies,  scenes in which the Nazis tie bombs to womens backs and fling them off heights to watch them blown to pieces in mid-air, others in which they tie naked girls together by their hair and prod them with knives to make them dance, etc.) and American films like High Sierra, which he felt encouraged and glorified cruelty and violence, as did novels such as James Hadley Chases No Orchids for Miss Blandish. Reviewing High Sierra in the literary magazine Time and Tide, Orwell dismissively wrote, For anyone who wants the ne plus ultra of sadism, bully worship, gun play, socks on the jaw and gangster atmosphere generally, this film is the goods.

Orwell might have had a temper and some morbid curiosities, but he certainly did not approve of inflicting suffering on others without reason.

outlook@washpost.com

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.
One of the most startling allegations in a January report by U.S. intelligence agencies about Russian hacking was this sentence: Russia has sought to influence elections across Europe. This warning of a campaign far broader than the United States got little attention in America.

We may be missing the forest for the trees in the Russia story: The Kremlins attempt to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election is part of a much bigger tale of Russian covert action  in which Donald Trumps campaign was perhaps a tool, witting or unwitting. This secret manipulation, if unchecked, could pose an existential threat to Western democracy, argues Gerard Araud, Frances ambassador to Washington.

The investigations begun by the FBI and Congress hopefully will reveal or debunk any connections between the Trump team and Russias hidden manipulators. A larger benefit is that these inquiries will bolster transatlantic efforts to reclaim the political space the Kremlin is trying to infiltrate. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last weekend in Munich that the world is entering the post-West era. Unless the United States stands solidly with its allies, Lavrovs claim may prove accurate.

The Russians are masters of what they call active measures in the information space. Their intelligence services have been using fake news and stolen information for more than a century to try to manipulate Europe and the United States. Whats different now is that the power of digital technology allows intelligence agencies to alter the very landscape of fact.

The assault on the United States elections signaled a new normal in Russian influence operations, warned the U.S. intelligence community on Jan. 6. We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned from its campaign aimed at the U.S. presidential election to future influence efforts in the United States and worldwide, including against U.S. allies and their election processes.

Lets look at Germany, which faces parliamentary elections in September. The German government told the Bundestag in a Dec. 22 report that German computer networks were hit once a week last year by foreign intelligence services.

The German government warned there might be a Russian cyberattack on the federal election in Germany this fall, based on the U.S. 2016 campaign, and cautioned that the Bundestag itself was the focus of Russian intelligence interest. The report found a direct Russian role in attacks last May and August on the Bundestag and German political parties, which it attributed to malware known as APT 28, identified by the FBI as a Russian hacking tool.

Bruno Kahl, the head of Germanys intelligence service, was blunt about the foreign hackers aim. The perpetrators have an interest in delegitimizing the democratic process, he told the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung in late November. Hans-Georg Maassen, head of Germanys FBI equivalent, told journalists: Recently, we see the willingness of Russian intelligence to carry out sabotage. And beyond these cyberattacks, Russia has a vast array of business supporters and fixers in Germany who regularly press Moscows case, according to a November report by the Atlantic Council.

France offers a similar opportunity for Russian political manipulation in its presidential election this spring. A Moscow-based bank loaned money to the party of right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen in 2014, according to the Atlantic Council. Le Pen is openly pro-Russia in her policies.

Russia was apparently behind a devastating April 2015 hack against cable news channel TV5 Monde that was linked to the APT 28 software. And last October, the French intelligence service briefed political parties about hacking threats, according to Le Monde.

French journalists suspect a Kremlin hand in recent rumor-mongering about Emmanuel Macron, the leading anti-Russian candidate in the presidential election. Macrons top aide claims attacks on the campaigns website are coming from the Russian border, but he didnt offer direct evidence. Russian propaganda outlets have published stories suggesting that Macron is gay.

The transatlantic alliance has survived nearly 70 years of Russian manipulation, but its fragile these days. Thats why Americans should care if a shady Ukrainian parliamentarian tried to use Trump business associates to deliver a pro-Russian peace plan to the White House last month, or if Trump boasted in 2013 about meeting almost all of the oligarchs at a dinner in Moscow that year, or about news reports alleging Russian contacts last year with Trumps campaign.

So pay attention: The hacking issue isnt a ruse, as Trump claimed last week. This is how the Russians try to subvert politics  boldly, secretly and often corruptly. Theyre good at it. If the United States and its allies dont resist, a post-West era may indeed be next.

Read more from David Ignatiuss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
A crowd watches thousands of books, considered to be un-German, burn in Opera Square in Berlin in 1933. The Nazis destroyed tens of millions of books, especially ones on Judaism, Freemasonry and Marxism. (Associated Press)

Michael S. Roth is president of Wesleyan University. His most recent books are Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters and Memory, Trauma and History: Essays on Living With the Past.

I opened The Book Thieves with a fair amount of skepticism. There are by now many thousands of studies of how the Nazi regime developed its merciless machine of human destruction. We know about Nazi scientists and artists, about censorship and misinformation, about the looting of museums and private collections, and about the many ways the totalitarian German state attempted to remake the cultural landscape of Europe. As I began reading Anders Rydells account of the Nazis concerted effort to destroy book collections on Judaism, Freemasonry and Marxism, my skepticism only deepened. Of course the Nazis attacked these elements of European culture and politics. When organized murderers destroy a groups places of worship or assembly, when they kill in horrific ways, there is nothing surprising about their also destroying property, including books.

[Review: The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945, by Saul Friedlander]

But Rydell makes the important point that books are not just property, they are keepers of memories. He sees them as messengers from an all-but-vanished past that can be reunited in the present with the descendants of those persecuted by the Third Reich and its allies. Compared to the valuable paintings stolen by Nazis from their Jewish owners, which after the war became famous cases of restitution, books are much quieter messengers. They are often not worth much to anyone except the family members of those who were killed. But books persist as traces of the lives of those who once pored over their pages, and they recall communities of readers who are no more.

However familiar, the sheer scale of the Nazi effort to destroy the literature of their enemies is staggering. Tens of millions of books were incinerated, buried or simply left to rot in the basements of official buildings. From Amsterdam to Rome, from Warsaw to Paris, soldiers of the Reich hunted down public repositories and private collections. The intensity of destruction was greatest in Poland, where there was a concerted effort to exterminate the entire countrys literary heritage. According to Adolf Hitlers doctrine, Poles were subhuman. When Polish Jews could be targeted, Nazi officials were particularly motivated. For us it was a matter of special pride to destroy the Talmudic Academy, a Nazi soldier noted, which has been known as the greatest in Poland.

In uneasy coexistence with the campaign to destroy the books of the Jews was the push to study their secrets and those of other enemies of the Reich. Alfred Rosenberg, one of Hitlers chief ideologists, led a team of researchers bent on rewriting the history of the Jews from the National Socialist perspective. Jewish Studies without Jews was the goal. Rosenberg had competition from Heinrich Himmler, whose SS had special squads to tease out hidden messages from myths and occult texts that might be useful for the creation of the new Aryan science. Jewish scholars were recruited by the SS as a Talmudkommando group  they were to spell out Jewish esoteric wisdom before they themselves would be murdered. The scholars worked as slowly as possible.

[Review: The Third Reich in Power, by Richard J. Evans]

The Nazis were bent on creating new knowledge and not just on destroying their enemies. This was not an issue of mere facts. To paraphrase a current American commentator on demagoguery, Nazi ideologists didnt want to be taken literally; they wanted to be taken seriously in their quest for profound truths. What is more frightening, Rydell asks, a totalitarian regimes destruction of knowledge, or its hankering for it?

Actually, the Nazi hankering for knowledge was far less frightening than its capacity for destruction. Rydell notes that the Third Reich did pseudo-research on witchcraft and witch-burning for its propaganda value in justifying attacks on the Catholic Church. While the research was ridiculous, the grimly efficient engine of annihilation wrecked havoc across the world. That havoc has been described and analyzed by numerous historians before, and Rydell adds little to their contributions. The effort to save books, particularly Jewish books, has also been told before  Aaron Lanskys powerful Outwitting History (unmentioned by Rydell) is a stirring account of a young American going to extraordinary lengths to save Yiddish books. The Book Thieves does have its own story to tell, but it would have been more effectively told, say, in a long magazine article than in a book -length project.

Still, there are moving moments in The Book Thieves, as the people of the Book are hunted down along with their venerated objects of study. The detention and murder of academics, teachers, writers, journalists, and priests, Rydell underscores, went hand-in-hand with the plunder of libraries, universities, churches and private collections. Despite it all, Jews continued their devotion to texts even as the stranglehold on their communities tightened. In the awful Vilnius ghetto, for example, a teenage boy wrote: Books give one a feeling of freedom; books connect us to the world. Thats the chief reason, after all, that authoritarian regimes and demagogues attack books and reading.

Rydell says more than once that the Nazis were engaged in a battle for memory as well as for physical domination. The Book Thieves is an effort to ensure that historic connections to communities of study and learning are preserved. He quotes the famous line of the 19th-century poet Heinrich Heine: Where books are burned, in the end people will be burned, too. No longer a new insight, but still something very much worth remembering.
Daniel P. Kelley is principal of Smithfield High School in Smithfield, R.I., and president-elect of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

When a student at the school where I serve as principal  Smithfield High School in Rhode Island  declared her transgender identification, we responded the only way we knew how. We recognized the childs unique needs and accommodated her to the best of our ability. We designated restrooms and locker-room areas where any student could go if they wanted private facilities  not a particularly heavy lift even in my well-worn 50-year-old school. A few years ago, working in collaboration with an LGBT student, we organized a professional development event for our staff so they could hear first hand about the challenges that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students encounter every day. This turned out to be both enlightening professional development and an empowering experience in amplifying the students voice.

I would like to say we are extraordinary  and in many ways we are. But in this regard, we are like thousands of schools across the country that respond compassionately and supportively to the needs of transgender students, and did so even before the Obama administration issued its transgender rights guidance last May. While the guidance validated our efforts, it wasnt what made us do the right thing. By extension, rescinding the guidance isnt going to make us stop.

But then, Im fortunate to be in a state that believes that transgender students merit specific protections, stemming from their unique needs and the reality that they are victimized and at risk of suicide at higher rates than any other school population. That same belief prompted my professional organization, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, to call on the Obama administration last year to codify the rights of transgender students to simply use the bathroom in peace.

The Obama-era guidance sent the right message. But now that transgender protectionsare for states to defineinstead of a civil right, I fear for the transgender students in states that do not follow that consensus. More immediately, I fear the new, intentionally watered-down guidance issued this week by the Trump administration sends a message that diminishes the value of transgender students in my own school and district  students who are already marginalized by a culture that resists making a place for them. I fear the new guidance will undermine our schools efforts to create that place for them. I fear that the new guidance will embolden their would-be harassers both in school and in the surrounding community.

I will gladly triple my efforts to ensure we have a safe and supportive school environment where each student can learn at the highest levels and fulfill his or her potential. However, it is hard not to resent a federal government that does not share that commitment  that actively seeks, in fact, to make those efforts harder rather than easier.

Discussions about the transgender guidance rely on policies, labels and abstractions that make it easy to maintain an impersonal distance. But this is personal for me. I look into the face of a transgender student, and I see the aspirations and dreams of a child bursting with potential. I also see pain and fear. I see the perplexed shame and horror of one falsely considered a sexual predator for simply using facilities aligned with their gender identity. I see an awareness that they are targeted for humiliation for being who they are. They are my kids. And as our nation shares a common destiny, they are your kids as well.
Maybe America has had enough of freedom. By which I actually mean freedom.

After all, freedom has become an ill-fitting fig leaf for every conceivable Republican policy, even those that are quite transparently freedom-limiting.

Just ask House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), for whom freedom is now chiefly about repealing Obamacare.

Freedom is the ability to buy what you want to fit what you need, he tweeted this week. Obamacare is Washington telling you what to buy regardless of your needs.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference, Vice President Pence echoed this language, promising that the Affordable Care Act would be replaced with something that is instead built on freedom and individual responsibility.

(The Washington Post)

Lets examine such statements for a moment. What would repealing Obamacare mean in practice?

It would mean allowing insurers to deny coverage for preexisting conditions; taking away the tax credits and Medicaid expansions that enabled more than 20 million Americans to newly obtain insurance over the past six years; and, thanks to the elimination of the individual mandate, ultimately causing the exchanges to death-spiral and collapse.

So, in championing the freedom that would be unleashed by an Obamacare repeal, Ryan and Pence are really championing the freedom for Americans to lose access to any health-care plan.

You know what they say: Freedoms just another word for nothing left to choose.

At least one politician has explicitly rooted for a decline in the insured rate  because, duh, freedom.

If the numbers drop, I would say thats a good thing, because weve restored personal liberty in this country, and Im always for that, Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-Tex.) said at CPAC.

Enshrining discrimination against gay and transgender people has likewise been sold as a way of promoting religious freedom, at least for anyone who believes Jesus would be unhappy about compliance with public accommodation laws or, say, the Constitution.

Sometimes the freedoms nominally being safeguarded are not individual ones but those of the states. Or so White House press secretary Sean Spicer claimed when explaining why the Trump administration was rescinding Obama-era guidance for schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choosing.

Financial deregulation and the repeal of consumer protections have also been puzzlingly marketed as pro-freedom.

Just like Obamacare, Dodd-Frank has left us with fewer choices, higher costs and less freedom, quoth Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Its evident that Dodd-Frank has made us less prosperous and less free.

Franklin Roosevelt once declared that the four essential human freedoms were freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. The freedom to get scammed by debt collectors must have slipped his mind.

Given the quantity of American heartstrings pulled by the words free and freedom, declaring ones commitment to free markets has also provided cover for all sorts of non-free-market nonsense. A sitting president ordering private companies where to locate, for instance.

Im a big free-trader, President Trump has declared, while promoting all manner of protectionist measures. I love the First Amendment; nobody loves it better than me, he said at CPAC, minutes after again calling the media the enemy of the people.

It is as if Americans are so easily dazzled by invocations of the f-word that merely dropping an f-bomb is supposed to shield any big-government action from criticism.

Republican state legislators have figured this out, too.

In 2011, Florida passed a law muzzling doctors. Physicians could lose their medical licenses for routinely asking their patients about gun ownership, or counseling them on common-sense firearm storage measures, on the dubious grounds that such conversations somehow limited patients Second Amendment freedoms.

After years of expensive litigation, last week a court struck down the so-called Docs vs. Glocks law for violating doctors rights to free speech.

Meanwhile, across the country, other state legislators have proposed laws that criminalize peaceful protest, a freedom guaranteed by the Constitution, allegedly to protect the rights and freedoms of bystanders.

Most recently, Republican senators in Arizona voted to allow police to criminally charge and seize the assets of anyone who organizes or peacefully participates in a protest where others could engage in violence. Even if no violence ever materializes.

I have been heartsick with what's been going on in our country, what young people are being encouraged to do,said state Sen. Sylvia Allen, a Republican who incidentally represents a town called Snowflake, when asked about the legislation.

If any of these policy actions seem like perversions of Republicans avowed commitment to personal liberty, well, dear voters: For now, youre still free to let them know.
The Feb. 19 Business article Meet Mr. Death by China, Trumps man on trade, a profile of White House National Trade Council Director Peter K. Navarro, rightly noted Mr. Navarros significant contribution to our understanding of the downsides of the U.S.-China economic relationship. But while it took pains to record the concerns of those skeptical of this worldview, it neglected to capture the belief of many economists and policymakers who think that responsibly rebalancing our trade relationship with China would benefit American workers.

Insisting that China honor its commitments to the World Trade Organization and reduce its industrial overcapacity enabled by state-led capitalism not only would remove serious obstacles to global economic stability but also could boost prospects for factory workers in the Americas, Europe and elsewhere who are affected by Beijings policies. Mr. Navarro understands that the United States enjoys significant economic leverage that it does not deploy. We need his expertise at this critical moment.

Scott Paul, Washington

The writer is president of the Alliance

for American Manufacturing.
Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, talks about the pricing on the iPhone 7 during an event in San Francisco to announce new products. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press)

The first thing you need to know about the latest controversy involving President Trumps alleged attempt to manipulate economic data for political purposes is that Bernie Sanders probably would have done the same thing, and quite possibly Hillary Clinton, too.

Mainstream economists recoiled at a Wall Street Journal report Tuesday that said Trump appointees at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative want official trade balances between the United States and various countries rejiggered to make bilateral trade deficits seem larger  and, by implication, Trumps protectionist policies more necessary.

On his blog, Harvard Universitys Greg Mankiw, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and author of a leading economics textbook, responded simply: Youve got to be kidding me.

Per long-standing international economic practice, the headline figure for the balance of trade between the United States and any other nation has been expressed as the difference between two numbers: the value of U.S. imports from that trading partner and the value of U.S. exports to it.

For years, however, left-wing critics of NAFTA and other trade agreements have said that this data point distorts the deals actual impact. In 2014, 14 Democratic members of the House  including current party-chair candidate and 2016 Sanders supporter Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.)  wrote to President Barack Obamas trade representative demanding that he adopt the same math that Trump is reportedly contemplating. One of the first to defend Trump this week was Lori Wallach, a left-wing anti-NAFTA activist at Public Citizen.

Do they have a point? Well, kinda sorta. The headline numbers lump together made-in-the-USA exports with goods produced in third countries that enter the United States on their way elsewhere. Example: Samsung TVs from South Korea land at Long Beach, Calif., and get trucked to Tijuana, perhaps after a little repackaging.

Since these re-exports by definition arent made by American workers, critics argue that its more accurate, in terms of trades impact on U.S. jobs, to focus on the difference between purely made-in-the-USA exports and imports that remain in the United States.

This would dramatically alter reported trade balances with Mexico and Canada, to which nearly half of all U.S. re-exports go  since those nations border us and dont have tariffs, thanks to NAFTA. The 2016 U.S. trade deficit with Mexico would have been not $63.1 billion but $115.4 billion, the Journal noted.

The problem is that, no matter how you count it, a bilateral trade deficit (or surplus) per se is neither good nor bad  unfashionable though it may be to restate that basic tenet of economic theory amid the current left-right protectionist convergence.

NAFTA undoubtedly displaced American workers in certain sectors, just as it also created new job opportunities elsewhere  including in the vast logistical chain through which re-exports flow. And it enabled U.S. consumers to access various desirable goods at lower prices than they could have otherwise.

The benefits are diffuse and the job losses concentrated and acutely felt, of course  a fact of politics, not economics, that Trumps data massage seems designed to exploit. (No final decision has been made, the administration told the Journal.)

Theres no legitimate full-disclosure issue here, since the data Trump and his progressive bedfellows prefer is already available from the U.S. International Trade Commission. What they want is the trade representatives imprimatur on their ideology.

Meanwhile, the rigid distinction between U.S.-made goods  which create jobs  and all others is breaking down due to global supply chains. Economist Lee Ohanian of UCLA has reported that the production process for certain goods takes them back and forth over the U.S.-Mexico border 14 times before theyre ready for market.

Many imports from China are assembled from inputs made in other countries. Example: the iPhone, whose components come from Japan, Korea, Germany and, indeed, the United States.

Ideally, trade figures would take the iPhone apart, so to speak, awarding each country in the chain credit for the value its workers added. Analysts at the World Trade Organization and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are working on just such a trade-in-value-added concept.

Their results are tentative, and not fully up to date, but still suggestive: The United States value-added trade deficit with Japan in recent years was larger than the conventionally measured one; by contrast, U.S. deficits with China, Mexico and Canada are actually smaller in value-added terms.

Economist Yingying Xu of the Arlington-based Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation calculates that the United States actually ran 2009 surpluses in manufactured goods trade with Canada and Mexico, in value-added terms.

If free-trade critics inside and outside the Trump administration want information-rich, consistent measures of 21st-century trade flows, they should support innovations such as trade-in-value-added  instead of perpetuating the same old political numbers games. Obviously, thats a big if.

Read more from Charles Lanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
At the White House on Feb. 3, President Trump holds up an executive order rolling back regulations from the 2010 Dodd-Frank law on Wall Street reform. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Former Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs administrator Howard Shelanski omitted some important facts in his Feb. 17 Washington Forum essay, The rules about making new rules.

Any criticism of a regulatory budget must address Britains and Canadas successes in addressing regulatory accumulation without jeopardizing health and safety. Whats preventing the United States?

Mr. Shelanski knows all too well that presidents can cut regulatory costs. He oversaw dozens of rules that reduced billions of dollars in costs and millions of paperwork hours. The Trump administrator cant replicate and build on that success?

Critics of one-in, two-out seem to forget that the phrase unless prohibited by law litters the executive order on regulatory reform. The Environmental Protection Agency will not rescind the standard for carbon monoxide to implement new standards for particulate matter. It can amend rules to reduce costs and still ensure they fulfill their statutory purpose. The Obama administration did this. The Trump administration can follow.

Sam Batkins, Washington

The writer is director of regulatory policy at the American Action Forum.
Regarding Jackson Diehls Feb. 20 op-ed, Trumps new idea for Mideast peace isnt new at all:

The only thing that will get Israel to the table is the money. As long as the United States continues its annual payment, Israelis know they need do nothing even in the face of growing international condemnation, including from many American Jews. Despite several billion dollars a year of U.S. taxpayers money, Israeli leaders have the gall to complain that the United States is biased against them. The peace process has done nothing but provide lucrative employment for a decades-long procession of politicians and pundits on both sides.

Mr. Diehls point about the messianic delusions of every new American administration was a good one, but the delusion lies in the persistent refusal to use the one real lever we have: the money.

Martha Baine, Waterford
Man found dead at waiting lounge

An unidentified person was found death at Bhanu Chowk of Ratnanagar Municipality  8, Chitwan on Thursday.
Actor/interpreters Miguel Girona of Newport News, Va., left, and J.E. Knowlton of Williamsburg, Va., before a performance commemorating the 400th anniversary of the wedding between John Rolfe and Pocahontas on April 5, 2014, in Jamestown, Va. (Jay Westcott/For The Washington Post)

Regarding Brooke Newmans Feb. 12 Local Opinions essay, Virginias legislature rewrites the commonwealths history:

Britain did not recognize a separation of church and state; therefore planting English civilization in the New World was in fact spreading the Gospel message, as asserted by the Virginia General Assembly.

Also, the author failed to mention the cannibalism to which the Jamestown settlers resorted, which hardly fits into planting English civilization.

Steve Livengood, Washington
Marianne Szegedy-Maszak is a senior editor in the Washington bureau of Mother Jones, and the author of I Kiss Your Hands Many Times: Hearts, Souls, and Wars in Hungary.

A psychologist friend once described a series of questions one of her professors had posed to her abnormal-psychology class. A woman has one cat, she began. Is that unusual? Of course not, was the overwhelming consensus. Okay, what about two cats? she continued. Would that raise flags about her mental state? Again the consensus was no. Three cats? she asked. A few students expressed a little discomfort with the three-cat threshold. How about four? Or six? Or 10? she continued, with each additional feline adding a new layer of psychopathology. For some, three cats suggested that the woman might have attachment issues. Could the 10-cat owner be a hoarder? (One can only imagine how the house must look and smell.) The cat escalation concluded with this query: How many cats indicate crazy?

Just what kind of crazy 10 cats illustrate might be answered in Sharon Begleys compelling new book, Cant. Just. Stop.: An Investigation of Compulsions. This investigation by the STAT writer and former science columnist for Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal explores the meaning and the neuroscience of some of the hardy perennials of compulsion  obsessive-compulsive disorder, for instance, and hoarding  but also those that might be less debilitating. Why would the selfless act of donating a kidney be considered a compulsion to do good? It would when the donor feels irresistibly, often inexplicably driven to engage in this level of selflessness, especially given that this act is, perforce, only possible once. Is labeling so much of what we do as compulsions just another way to pathologize the full spectrum of human behavior?

[Review: Kay Redfield Jamison puts Robert Lowell on the couch in an exhilarating biography of the mind of an artist]

The answer is clearly no. But one of the strengths of this book is Begleys rigorous clarity about her subject matter. She admits that she does not want to seem like the hammer-wielder to whom everything looks like a nail, but the breadth of her knowledge and journalistic rigor prevents such excess. She draws a bright line between our collective and nearly universal smartphone-scanning, computer-dependent actions and those that are evidence of a deeper dysfunction. We describe as compulsive someone who reads, tweets, steals, cleans, watches birds, lies, blogs, shops, checks Facebook, posts to Instagram, eats, or Snapchats not only frequently but with the urgency of someone not fully in control of his behavior. . . . Our compulsions arise from a mortal ache that we will go to what seem the craziest extremes to soothe. Donating a kidney is an extraordinarily selfless gesture, and yet, Begley notes, for some the propulsion to do this is not simple generosity but the need to make bearable a nearly unbearable mortal ache that is created by anxiety  the unifying emotion shared by all compulsions and one that seems to define the 21st century.

"Can't Just Stop: An Investigation of Compulsions," by Sharon Begley (Simon & Schuster)

It is hardly surprising that during a time when anxiety is far more common than depression  the National Institute of Mental Health has determined that in any twelve-month period 18.1 percent of U.S. adults suffer from anxiety intense enough to be considered a disorder  wild and varied compulsions should define and upend so many lives. In her vast reporting, Begley introduces us to a compulsive shopper, Sophie, whose attempt to purge the mountains of stuff in her house was cut short by a call from her abusive father  after which she bought eight vacuum cleaners. We meet a compulsive gamer, Ryan Van Cleave, who changed his name to that of a character in World of Warcraft, a video game he played up to 80 hours a week, more than 12 hours a day, at the obvious expense of his family and professional life. Only a failed suicide attempt loosened the grip of his gaming compulsion. And theres Tom Somyak, whose worry about his door being unlocked shaped his waking hours and was only a precursor to his fanatical fear of being unsafe after his son was born. Every germ became a potential fatality, and every mail delivery could contain a package of anthrax.

[Review: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, by Susannah Cahalan]

Somyak  like the hand-washers, the sidewalk-crack-avoiders, the number-obsessed  suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). I am sure no one who reads this book will ever again blithely refer to themselves as having a little OCD, so harrowing are Begleys descriptions of those who know their thoughts are mad, yet awareness of the madness brings no power over it. She deftly draws a distinction between OCD and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), whose numbers include the organizers, the meticulous performers, whose drive for competence has hypertrophied into perfectionism, eventually making them unbearable but utterly self-righteous colleagues, partners and friends. Interestingly, she explains that for those with OCD, some external force seems superimposed on them, forcing their compulsive actions, but those actions are at odds with their true identity. In contrast, the compulsions of those with OCPD are in weird harmony with their own temperament.

These may be the disorders of our anxious age, but we hardly created them. Begley takes us on a tour of compulsions through history and the fascinating transition as they moved from being seen as a religious phenomenon to being regarded as a medical illness. As a religious manifestation, compulsions spanned from scrupulosity  when prayer and adherence to what was perceived to be the will of God reached levels of madness  to cases of demonic possession, in which unclean thoughts relentlessly invaded otherwise God-fearing minds. In one swift chapter Begley takes us on a brief history of compulsions from the 6th century through the Renaissance, the Enlightenment  yes, of course, the inevitable Freud  to present times. The grand sweep illustrates the real takeaway from this fine work: While some of us may have 10 cats, in the end, there is no bright line between mental illness and mental normality.
Regarding the Feb. 19 Outlook essay  Pre-K can provide a boost, but the gains can fade fast :

The analysis by Drew Bailey, Greg Duncan and Candice Odgers struggled to thoroughly frame the issue. The writers noted that basic math and reading skills, while easy to test, are not the only measures of current knowledge or future success. Accordingly, we maintain that the long-term effects mentioned in the article, high school graduation, higher earnings, fewer arrests and healthier lifestyles, are related to one skill: executive function.

Executive function helps children persevere through adversity, turn basic skills into advanced comprehension and develop into self-regulating, successful citizens. These skills, which children learn in high-quality preschools, have a significant positive effect on life outcomes.

Further, not all gains fade. The Head Start Impact Study found effects did not fade among groups of children most at risk. In a 2010 research paper, Rucker C. Johnson found that fadeout happens when children move into low-performing K-12 schools, but not when they proceed to high-performing schools. Head Start also focuses on children and their families, addressing those persistent environmental factors often found in the home.

Fadeout is a myth based on a narrow methodology and scope. The effects of high-quality early learning, especially those with comprehensive, two-generation supports, last a lifetime.

Yasmina Vinci, Alexandria

The writer is executive director of the

National Head Start Association.

In an otherwise thoughtful essay, Drew Bailey, Greg Duncan and Candice Odgers implied that the progress of disadvantaged children is impeded by hard-to-change characteristics such as intelligence and conscientiousness, as well as persistent environmental factors that are difficult to change with a one-time educational intervention. One would hope that, among other things, researchers in 2017 would have learned from Nobel laureate in physics William Shockleys frightening misadventure with group IQ tests and would exercise well-founded caution in ascribing a shortfall in conscientiousness or grit to disadvantaged children or their parents (or any groups).

The gains from pre-kindergarten intervention may fade, but the harms from stereotyping do not.

Patrick Driessen, Columbia

A new study claims that the cognitive gains of early-childhood education programs fade over time. It ignores an overwhelming body of recent evidence documenting that so-called fadeout doesnt exist.

We studied the effectiveness of a wide range of early-childhood programs, including Head Start. All provide lasting effects to children who would have experienced lower-quality child care or not received quality early-childhood education.

Socio-emotional skills, which do not fade out, have greater effects on life outcomes than cognitive skills alone. For example, a study of the Perry Preschool Program, which has a documented lifetime return of 7 to 10 percent, found it increased academic motivation, achievement and employment. Researchers also found decreases in lifetime violent crime by 65 percent, lifetime arrests by 40 percent and unemployment by 20 percent.

Our recent analysis of the short- and long-term effects of a North Carolina program shows lasting boosts in IQ and socio-emotional skills resulting in greater educational achievement, higher adult wages and significantly better health outcomes.

High-quality programs enable upward mobility through the effective building of early skills. Much more can be done to understand how these programs work and how to make them work better, but the evidence overwhelmingly points to the value of investing in quality early-childhood development from birth to age 5.

James J. Heckman, Chicago

The writer is a Nobel laureate in economics.
The Interior Department informed coal, oil and gas companies this week they do not need to comply with a new federal accounting system that would have compelled them to pay millions of dollars in additional royalties.

The Office of Natural Resources Revenues new method of calculating royalties for minerals extracted on federal land  which was finalized last July and took effect Jan. 1  was aimed at preventing firms from underpaying what they owe by selling coal to subsidiaries at an artificially low price. But energy firms, some of whom challenged the new rule in court, called the requirements confusing, complicated and onerous and pressed for a delay.

This rule would have had immediate detrimental effects to American energy producers and the hard-working Montanans and workers across the country they support, said Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who asked the administration last month to stay the rule.

Colin Marshal, president and chief executive of Cloud Peak Energy, called the change in accounting rules among the most egregious of the punitive regulations on coal the Obama administration had adopted, and welcomed its suspension.

Companies were set to file their first reports under the new rule Tuesday.

Lawmakers in both parties have questioned whether the current method of royalty collection for coal mined in the Powder River Basin, which encompasses parts of Wyoming and Montana, accurately compensates taxpayers. Firms are required to pay a royalty of 12.5 percent on the minerals they extract from federal land when they are first sold, but many coal companies initially sell to affiliates at the same price per ton that they pay the federal government for extracting it.

By doing that, they avoid paying royalties on the higher price the affiliated companies receive on the open market. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, 42 percent of coal transactions in Wyoming took place between affiliated companies.

Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift said in an email that her department delayed the rules effective date to allow the administration time to conduct a detailed review of the rule and the compliance burden it puts on job creators. The Department will make a definitive decision in the future.

[Trumps push to cut regulations is even bolder than you think]

Environmentalists and some watchdog groups blasted the move, which first came in the form of a letter sent Wednesday to mining, oil and gas firms. Theo Spencer, a senior policy advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said agencies are legally obligated to provide notice and take public comments before staying a rule, and that they cannot unilaterally delay a rule that is in effect.

Its just a ham-fisted effort to try to cheat taxpayers, he said. We and others are exploring potential litigation as we feel strongly that this was a miscarriage of justice, and an example of the administration picking which laws it wants to follow.

President Trump, who signed an executive order Friday that establishes task forces in every agency to identify regulations that can be eliminated or simplified, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of undoing Obama-era rules that constrain coal extraction.

Were working very hard to roll back the regulatory burden so that coal miners, factory workers, small-business owners and so many others can grow their businesses and thrive, he told reporters in the Oval Office Friday.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) answers questions during an event with constituents in Milton, Fla., on Thursday. (Gregg Pachkowski/AP)

A conservative congressman from northern Florida called on President Trump to release his tax returns at a town hall meeting here Thursday, reflecting the growing pressure on Republican lawmakers this week to assuage angry constituents.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) faced at least 500 constituents in a crowded bowling alley for nearly two hours Thursday evening in this quiet suburb of Pensacola, where he was grilled about his relationship with Trump, his stance on repealing the Affordable Care Act and his proposal to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency.

Gaetz, winding up a 14-hour listening tour of his home district, also promised that Congress would not repeal the Affordable Care Act without protecting its provision requiring coverage for preexisting conditions.

No bill will be before the United States Congress that allows people to be discriminated against as a consequence of preexisting conditions, Gaetz said.

But, make no mistake, he added. Obamacare is a threat to our economy, a threat to our health care, and, as your congressman, I will work everyday to repeal it.

Rep. Matt Gaetz greets constituents on his way to an event in Milton, Fla., on Thursday. (Gregg Pachkowski/AP)

Gaetz is an unlikely congressman to push for Trump to release his tax returns; he also ended Thursdays town hall by shouting Make America Great Again over roaring opposition from the audience.

[Republican lawmaker who wont hold a town hall invokes Gabby Giffords shooting. She responds: Have some courage.]

The 34-year-old freshman and former state legislator announced his candidacy for Congress last March, when he promised that Trump would turn that town on its head and hit the restart button, according to WFSU. He was elected in his safely Republican district with 69 percent of the vote.

Gaetz, who arrived to the town hall 30 minutes late, took questions on a wide range of topics during an event that was often tense but peaceful, with crowds booing the congressman and waving signs.

The congressman had been prepared to be shouted down by a hostile crowd; according to CNN, his staff had created several placards that could be hoisted in the event that the audience became too loud for him to be heard. The posters contained such messages as professional liberal protesters.

Donna Waters, a Pensacola attorney and registered Republican, was one of several to press Gaetz about his relationship with Trump.

There are allegations that a hostile foreign country is committing acts of undeclared war by infiltrating the highest levels of our government, Waters said. That offends me. I dont know if it offends my party, but it offends me. You are on the Judiciary Committee. You have said that they are going to investigate the Russian allegations. . . . Will you call for the release of President Trumps income tax records?

Rep. Matt Gaetz is escorted by Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office deputies as he walks to his car following a meeting with constituents in Milton, Fla., on Thursday. (Gregg Pachkowski/AP)

Gaetz responded by saying he absolutely believed Trump should release his returns. Answering a separate question, he stopped short of calling for a special committee or independent commission to investigate allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. election, as another audience member suggested.

[Republicans distance themselves from Trump at rowdy town halls]

Gaetz also fielded numerous questions about the Affordable Care Act.

Jennifer Zimmerman, a local pediatrician, urged the congressman to leave the legislation intact. Zimmerman said that almost 90 percent of her patients qualify for Medicaid, and she noted that her husband and daughter had both suffered preexisting conditions that had limited their access to health coverage before the laws passage.

If not for the policies of the ACA, I dont think any of my family members would be here, Waters told Gaetz. In response, the congressman told her that he would work to ensure those with preexisting conditions were protected.

Thursday nights town hall was the final event in Gaetzs all-day tour of Santa Rosa County that also included visits to business groups, a nursing home and a local middle school, where Gaetz delivered a civics lesson to a group of seventh graders.

The congressman emphasized the importance of free speech, political protest and a vigorous and oppositional press to a functioning democracy. In discussing the Bill of Rights, he lingered on the 10th Amendment.

The magic of American government is that we are suspicious of power, Gaetz told the students. We want it for the people, not just the folks who are elected.

He returned to this point again when a student asked what would become of the EPAs roughly 15,000 employees should the agency be abolished, as Gaetz has proposed.

There are a lot of people who work at the EPA now who would not have their jobs, Gaetz said, though he added that he expected some of those employees to be hired by state and local agencies.

We believe in a clean environment, Gaetz said. The question is, under the 10th Amendment principles I believe in, who is best positioned to do that?

At midday Thursday, Gaetz also hosted a town hall at a nearby barbecue joint, where he was greeted by a crowd of several hundred, many of whom hoisted signs in opposition to the EPA proposal.

The local Democratic Womens Club had earlier announced plans to protest at the event, prompting a response from Gaetzs supporters and the local chapter of Bikers for Trump. I need all patriots in attendance to protect Congressman Gaetz from any potential disruption of his speech, supporter Geoff Ross wrote on Facebook prior to the event. Concealed carry permit holders most welcome  dont forget your ammo.

Rosss comments quickly prompted calls for Gaetz to distance himself from the group. He did the opposite, calling the bikers friends on social media and welcoming them to the event.

We understand not everyone agrees on every political issue, thus dissent, discord and protests are expected, Gaetzs office said in a news release Wednesday. We believe dissent and protests are signs of a healthy democracy, but most of all we ask everyone attending to behave in a non-violent and non-disruptive manner.

Gaetzs office had declared that attendees would need to present identification to attend the event, citing concerns about crowd size. The room where the event was held, at Grover Ts BBQ, could accommodate only 80 of the several hundred people who showed up. Those remaining, mostly protesters, crowded outside while Gaetz fielded questions.

Carri Brown, who lives in nearby Pensacola, did not arrive early enough to make it inside. A retired public utility employee, she came to the event hoping to urge Gaetz to reconsider his bid to do away with the EPA.

Brown lives in Wedgewood, a low-income, historically black neighborhood where residents have waged a decades-long battle against the encroachment of landfills and borrow pits. Residents have complained to local and state officials for years that the pits jeopardized their safety, health and quality of life, to no avail.

We are surrounded by pits, Brown said Thursday. Its almost like we are in a bowl.

Brown took a dim view of Gaetzs assertion that state and local governments are best positioned to protect the environment.

Its a farce, she said.

Read more at PowerPost
President Barack Obama shook hands with lawmakers as he strode down the middle aisle of the House of Representatives before his final State of the Union, breaking into a wide smile when he saw a very familiar face.

Eliot, youre here, Obama said.

Would I be anyplace else? Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) replied.

For nearly three decades, Engel has been on the aisle for every presidential address to Congress. For a fleeting moment, its just him and the president  two Republicans and two Democrats since he began the tradition in 1989  shaking hands in a show of support for the leader of the free world.

Engel could be someplace else Tuesday night, when President Trump strides down the Houses center aisle to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress. Its not technically called a State of the Union this early in a presidential term, but Trumps speech will have the same bells and whistles.

President Barack Obama greets lawmakers gathered for his State of the Union address in 2016. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Engel has not decided yet what to do; he did not decide to attend Trumps inauguration until the day before. Other Democrats who have previously angled for prime seats have decided to distance themselves from Trump, whose first month in office has prompted outrage from most congressional Democrats.

I have no desire to sit on the aisle and shake the presidents hand, said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.), who has traditionally positioned himself just off the aisle and leaned over his colleagues to get a moment with the president.

Not this time. Hell be in the chamber, but far away from the aisle.

[A majority of Americans are embarrassed by President Trump]

This is just the latest example of how Trump has scrambled the most basic of traditions in Washington. On Jan. 20, for Trumps inauguration, a third of House Democrats publicly declared they were boycotting the swearing-in ceremony, led by civil rights icon John Lewis (D-Ga.), who declared Trump an illegitimate president because of alleged Russian meddling with the 2016 election contest.

In the Senate, Democrats have turned the normally brisk pace of confirming a new presidents Cabinet into an unprecedented slog  even for less controversial nominees. And this week, thousands of liberal anti-Trump activists have descended on town hall meetings with lawmakers to protest the new president.

Now, even Tuesdays introduction of the president to a joint session of Congress will be watched for political statements aimed at Trump.

Lawmakers and senior Democratic aides said that they do not expect a boycott of the speech, nothing like the more than 60 who refused to attend the inauguration.

Because every lawmaker gets to invite one guest to sit in the gallery above, many Democrats are planning to use that ticket as a form of protest. Pascrell is bringing George K. Yin, a University of Virginia law professor who has argued that Congress has the power to compel Trump to release his tax returns.

Other Democrats will bring children of undocumented immigrants who could be deported if Trump reverses one of Obamas executive orders, while some plan to bring Muslim religious leaders from their districts in protest of Trumps travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority nations, Democratic aides said.

The aisle hogs, as they are affectionately known, are one of the great bipartisan traditions of these presidential speeches. It remains to be seen whether Democrats will back away from that tradition.

[Orioles executive wouldnt want a Trump first pitch  without an apology]

Aides to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), who like Engel traditionally grabs an aisle seat, did not respond to a request for comment about her plans. She boycotted the inauguration, so if she does take an aisle seat, it could make for a potentially awkward moment.

Those prime seats are not reserved, so a lawmaker has to arrive early to claim a spot  sometimes a few hours early. Tradition dictates that Republicans sit on the side to the presidents right as he enters and Democrats to the left.

But theres no rule to it, and one Democratic aide suggested that if the partys aisle hogs give up those seats, Republicans will gladly grab them to be seen back home by conservative voters shaking Trumps hand.

If thats the case  if only Republicans greet the president  Washington will look even more polarized on Americans television screens Tuesday night than it already has.

In 2008, for former president George W. Bushs final State of the Union address, the first group of people to greet the outgoing Republican president as he entered the House chamber included Reps. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), Al Green (D-Tex.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), along with Engel, Jackson Lee and now-retired Democrats Steve Israel (N.Y.) and Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (Ill.).

But Trump is different, and no one is sure how to respond to him.

Pascrell all but guaranteed that his side of the aisle will not produce a You lie! moment like the one during Obamas September 2009 joint address on health care, when Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted the accusation during the presidents speech. Hes the president, duly elected, Pascrell said of Trump. He deserves our respect.

But dont expect Democrats to just sit idly if Trump turns his fire on them as he does in his rallies and on social media.

If he gets too out of order, Ill walk the hell out, Pascrell said.

When he entered the chamber last year, Obama looked happy to be greeted by a bipartisan collection of well-wishing lawmakers. With a live mic near him, he made clear that there were some faces that a president should expect to see when they walk down that aisle.

Im going to miss you, man, Obama told Engel.

Turns out, Trump also might miss Engel  and a few other regular faces  on Tuesday night.

Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
D.C. cant match Chicago building for building, but it can do more to encourage interest in its brick-and-mortar heritage. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Washington has some interesting architecture  monuments and museums, governmental and private office buildings, embassies, and historic and contemporary homes.

Still, it hardly has the design cachet of Chicago, with its soaring skyscrapers, upscale shops along the Magnificent Mile, and parks and recreational destinations along the scenic lakefront. Chicago has an extraordinary building heritage created by world-renowned master architects.

Architecturally, what can Washington learn from a city like Chicago?

I pondered that question at a recent seminar sponsored by NAIOP Northern Virginia, a chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association. The conference examined design and culture, broadly defined, and how they determine a citys character.

A key takeaway was that its not necessarily the height or style of the buildings that sets a city or region apart. What most matters is how a city puts together, manages and presents  to its inhabitants and the world  its many natural and man-made attributes.

[More Lewis: Ghost Ship warehouse fire is tragic reminder of building codes importance]

Geography, topography and climate are consequential natural attributes. Less natural are demography, economic conditions and technology. Then come popular beliefs, perceptions and traditions that strongly influence politics, policies, laws and regulations governing not only the physical form of a citys growth  its land-use patterns and transportation systems  but also its art and architecture.

Clearly these attributes vary significantly from city to city, making every metropolitan region unique.

Representing Chicago at the NAIOP event was Jen Masengarb, director of interpretation and research at the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF). She approached the seminar question  how culture impacts design  by inverting it.

In Chicago, she said, it is design and architecture that impact culture.

For her and the CAF, the legacy of historically significant architects and architecture is one of the most tangible and meaningful attributes defining the character and culture of Chicago.

She reminded the audience that Chicago is the birthplace of the modern skyscraper and the city where Daniel Burnham, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe left their mark. She also mentioned contemporary practitioners  Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Jeanne Gang  who continue reinforcing the legacy.

[More Lewis: Not in your back yard? Think twice before you demonize all change.]

The CAF plays a major role in ensuring that Chicagoans and tourists see, understand and appreciate the citys architectural heritage. Among the citys largest cultural organization, the CAF has a $20 million annual budget enabling it to educate people who become knowledgeable and caring about architecture and who will have high design expectations.

The CAF proactively showcases, every day of the year, historic and contemporary architecture across the city, including its neighborhoods. Public lectures, workshops and events teach tourists and residents about design, design thinking, state-of-the-art building technology and the web of forces shaping the built environment.

As Masengarb spoke, differences  natural, economic, political and cultural  that separate the cultures of Chicago and Washington came to mind. The architectural disparity was foremost.

Washingtons architectural monuments and monumental edifices are well known and distinctive. Nevertheless, few tourists come here primarily to take architectural tours comparable to Chicagos river cruises and neighborhood walking tours.

People come here because it is the nations capital. They visit the zoo and the museums on the Mall. But few of them will go to our National Building Museum, which accomplishes, with fewer resources, some of what CAF does.

Residents and institutions of the Washington region tend to be aesthetically conservative and stylistically traditional. Never at the cutting edge of design experimentation and innovation, metropolitan Washington doesnt seem destined to be an architectural incubator or mecca like Chicago.

The regions jurisdictional Balkanization doesnt help. The Washington area is split between two states encompassing various counties, cities and towns, with a federal district controlled by Congress at the center. Even Washington-area architects are split up, divided among three chapters of the American Institute of Architects based in the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Todays Washington could use a metropolitan-scale mechanism, like Chicagos, to identify, celebrate and perpetuate its architectural heritage. Maybe its time to create a Greater Washington Architecture Foundation to explore, teach about and promote architecture regionally.

Roger K. Lewis is a practicing architect, a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland and a regular guest commentator on The Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU (88.5 FM).
Naya Shakti, SSFN join forces against scheduled local polls

The Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal and the Naya Shakti Nepal (NSN) on Thursday asked the government to roll back its decision to hold the scheduled local level elections but said they were ready to take part in provincial and federal polls if their concerns over constitution amendment were addressed.
Kim Jong Nam, the son of North Koreas former leader Kim Jong Il, had an isolated life in exile before he was assassinated on Feb. 13 in a Malaysian airport. He is pictured in 2010 in Macau after an interview with South Korean media. (Shin In-Seop/AP)

Kim Jong Nam led a life of loneliness and fear and seclusion, rejected by his father, orphaned by his mother, stuck in a shadowy exile where he constantly had to worry about spies and secret agents and reporters.

And it all came to a pitiful end, with Kim slumped in a chair in a Malaysian airport clinic, his belly protruding from his navy-blue polo shirt, then dying in an ambulance en route to the hospital. He had been smeared with VX, a lethal nerve agent that is used as a chemical weapon.

Hes like a country-and-western song  its sad, sad stuff, said Michael Madden, editor of the North Korea Leadership Watch website.

Kims painful demise is a blow for the United States and South Korea, which have lost a potential source of intelligence on the worlds most secretive regime. They also have lost a potential replacement for his half brother Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader who again has thrown down the gauntlet to the outside world.

Kim Jong Un is testing nukes and missiles like crazy, said Alexandre Mansourov, a North Korea leadership expert who once studied at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang. Now he feels confident enough to send his goons around the world to assassinate people he doesnt like.

Kim Jong Un feels this emboldened because he keeps challenging the outside world, especially the United States, and it does nothing to stop him, Mansourov said. Its a sign of supreme confidence that he can get away with anything, that he can literally get away with murder.

The blame for the well-planned attack on Kim Jong Nam in a Kuala Lumpur airport terminal on Feb. 13 is, however, being directed squarely at the leader of North Korea.

[North Korean diplomat wanted in killing of Kim Jong Uns half brother]

Malaysia says that Kim died because of exposure to VX, and it has implicated eight North Koreans in the attack, including a diplomat and a scientist.

South Korean intelligence officials have said that Kim Jong Un put out a standing order for his older half brothers assassination years ago, but even so, analysts agree that he would have had to give the green light for this attack.

The fact that so many North Korean agents were involved shows that the operation was planned well in advance and was done with Kim Jong Uns blessing, said Sue Mi Terry, a former North Korea analyst at the CIA.

It would not be the first time Kim Jong Un has acted in such a ruthless way. The 33-year-old has ordered the purge or execution of several hundred officials during his five years at the helm. These included his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who had been a mentor to Kim Jong Nam and was accused of amassing too much power.

This fits into the larger narrative of what Kim Jong Un wants to do, said Ken Gause, a North Korea leadership expert at CNA, a Virginia-based consulting firm. Hes getting rid of potential contenders to the throne.

Without even one friend

Kim Jong Nam was the result of a secret relationship between North Koreas second-generation leader, Kim Jong Il, and his consort, an actress named Sung Hye Rim.

He led a lonely childhood in Pyongyang, without even one friend, Sungs sister wrote in her memoir.

When he was 8, Kim moved to Moscow with his aunt and grandmother, but he hated it. He then moved on to Geneva. There he seemed to fit in better, although he still lived in a cloud of half-truths.

He introduced himself as the son of the North Korean ambassador, said Anthony Sahakian, a Swiss businessman who went to school with Kim, whom he knew as Lee.

North Korea, South Korea  we were 13 years old. We didnt know the difference, Sahakian said.

But some things did make Kim different  for instance, he had a drivers license that said he was older than he was.

That was strange because he showed up in a Mercedes 600, driving it himself, Sahakian said, referring to the huge sedan that was a favorite among dictators. At the time, all we wanted to do was drive, so we were very jealous. Wed skip class and go somewhere else during the day to drink coffee.

Kim was multilingual as a result of his international childhood. He spoke fluent English and French, and Sahakian said they conversed in Russian.

In 1988, when he was almost 18, Kim went back to Pyongyang and to a life of cloistered misery, the polar opposite from his freewheeling youth in Europe. To boot, he found that the affection his father once had showered upon him now was directed at a new family, which included a young boy called Jong Un.

Kim Jong Nam had talked about life in the palace being oppressive. He had everything he could possibly desire, but he was in a black depression there, said a school friend who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

[Kim Jong Un is a top suspect in half brothers death. But questions abound.]

So Kim Jong Il struck a deal with his son: If he got married and had a child, he could leave, the friend said.

Kim Jong Nam married and had a son in 1995, although it is not known exactly when he left North Korea.

Certainly a turning point came in 2001, when the family was caught entering Japan on false Dominican Republic passports. Kim, whose passport name was Chinese for Fat Bear, told the authorities that they had wanted to go to Tokyo Disneyland.

After that, the family moved to Macau, where they were under Chinese protection and could live relatively freely, with Kim indulging his passion for gambling. He traveled to Beijing, where he was thought to have another family, and around Southeast Asia, popping up in Indonesia and Singapore.

He also traveled regularly to Europe  sometimes to see his oldest son, who had been studying in France, and sometimes on business, apparently buying wine or property for wealthy Asian clients.

He always kept his wits about him, said Sahakian, who had seen his old friend several times in Geneva in recent years. He wasnt paranoid, but he was worried, he said. When he was out he was careful, and he avoided talking to Asians because he was worried they were spies. He was on his guard, but it wouldnt stop him.

Dynastic competition

Although he had been mentioned as a potential leader in dynastic North Korea, friends say he did not have any interest in the prospect.

But he appears to have antagonized his younger brother just enough. In 2010, the day before Kim Jong Un was to make his first appearance as heir apparent in North Korea, Kim Jong Nam gave an interview to Japans TV Asahi in which he said that the choice was his fathers and that there appeared to be internal reasons for hurrying the process along.

Personally speaking, I am opposed to the third-generation succession, he said, a statement that might be considered anodyne elsewhere but was tantamount to treason in North Korea.

[Malaysian assassination focuses new attention on North Korean leader]

Madden, of North Korea Leadership Watch, said that there was always a chance of Kim Jong Nams being thrust into leadership. Jong Nam still had a power base, and there was always a remote possibility that he would take power, he said.

Terry, the former CIA analyst, agreed. However improbable, there are always rumors that Kim Jong Nam could replace Kim Jong Un as the head of the regime at the behest of China or the U.S. she said.

There have been reports in South Korea that Kim Jong Nam had acted as a middleman between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and officials in North Korea. Just a few days before his death, a South Korean newspaper reported that Kim Jong Nam had tried to defect to South Korea several years ago.

This would have given the regime ample reason to get rid of him, said Cheong Seong-chang, senior fellow at the Sejong Institute, a South Korean think tank.

Indeed, Kims defection would have been much more catastrophic for the regime than that of Thae Yong-ho, the deputy North Korean ambassador in London who fled to South Korea last year, said one former official in the regime.

Imagine how detrimental the impact would have been if Kim Jong Uns half brother were to speak out against Kim Jong Un, said the former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for his safety. It would have a much bigger impact than Thae Yong-ho is having now in South Korea.

Thae has become an outspoken critic of the regime, calling for a flood of information into North Korea to encourage people there to flee or rise up.

The downside for the United States and South Korea is that they have lost the opportunity to recruit someone in the family to provide information. They also have lost someone who could be installed as a slightly friendlier leader in North Korea while still maintaining the Kim family bloodline  an important factor in Korean culture.

They wanted him alive, not dead, said Mansourov. The only party interested in his premature departure was Pyongyang.

Read more:

North Korean officials are preparing to come to U.S. for talks with former officials

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
Egyptian Coptic Christians unload their belongings from a truck as they arrive to take refuge at the Evangelical Church in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia on Feb. 24. Hundreds of Coptic Christians have left Egypt's Sinai Peninsula after a string of jihadist attacks killed seven Christians in the restive province, church officials said. (AFP/Getty Images)

Hundreds of Christians are fleeing Egypts restive Sinai Peninsula as the Islamic State affiliate there has increasingly targeted the community in recent weeks, according to witnesses, clergy and human rights activists.

In the past month alone, suspected Islamic State militants have killed seven Christians in the town of Arish, the capital of Egypts North Sinai province which borders the Gaza Strip and Israel. While no militant group has claimed responsibility for the assaults, the Islamic State affiliate, based in Sinai, warned in a video that it would escalate attacks against the besieged minority.

The victims include an elderly man who was shot in the head, and his son, who was burned alive Wednesday. Their bodies were dumped behind a school. On Thursday, suspected militants fatally shot a Christian man in his home, then stabbed his daughter to death, according to local authorities. Others Christians, including a teacher and veterinarian, were killed in drive-by shootings.

Christians are being shot in their homes, in their places of work, in the streets, even in the markets, said Mina Thabet, a program director for minorities and vulnerable groups at the nonprofit Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms. Theres a lot fear in the community.

The attacks threaten to further alienate Egypts Orthodox Coptic Christian community, which comprises 10 percent of the population. For years, they have felt discriminated against by the countrys Muslims, and assaults against them have intensified since the 2011 revolution, part of the Arab Spring uprisings, that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.

One reason is that Christians supported the rise of President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who came to power following the ouster of elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. The community has since supported Sissis crackdown on Islamists. But anger within the community is growing. After each attack, the government promised to safeguard Christians with better security measures, only to see another assault on the community.

In December, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombing of Cairos Coptic Cathedral complex, which killed more than two dozen worshipers and wounded scores more. It was the deadliest attack on the community in recent years, and appeared to mark a shift in the Islamic States strategy, to make Christians a primary target.

In other parts of the northern Sinai, a battleground between the government and Islamic militants since 2011, Christians have been forced to flee towns and village due to militant attacks and threats in recent years.

By Friday, at least 60 Christian families had fled Arish and were seeking shelter at a church in the city of Ismailia in northeastern Egypt, said Thabet, adding that the numbers are expected to rise in the coming days. Other local media reports suggested that as many as 1,000 Christians had fled Arish.

On Friday, the Coptic church leadership in Cairo denounced the attacks in Sinai and said it was following up on the plight of Christians there.

These events aim to harm our national unity and tear down our unified front to fight against terrorism that is being imported to us in Egypt from abroad, the church said in a brief statement. It added that the attacks were an effort to take advantage of our current state of instability and continuous strife in the region.

Heba Mahfouz in Cairo contributed to this report.

Read more

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Former senator Max Baucus spent almost three years as the U.S. ambassador to China. (Mary F. Calvert/Reuters)

The United States needs to stop getting pushed around by China and work out a long-term strategy to deal with the countrys rise, former U.S. ambassador Max Baucus said last week.

In an interview more than five weeks after leaving Beijing, Baucus expressed frustration with the Obama administrations lack of strategic vision and its weakness when it came to China. But he also accused President Trump of blundering around without even a basic understanding of the country.

China, Baucus said, has a long-term strategic vision to build up its economic might and global influence. The United States, by contrast, often appears distracted by problems in the Middle East.

The Washington foreign-policy establishment tends to put China on another shelf, to deal with it later, he said. Were much too ad hoc. We dont seem to have a long-term strategy, and thats very much to our disadvantage.

Baucus spoke by Skype from his home in Montana on Thursday, looking out over a beautiful valley framed by snowy mountains, where he sits and watches the storms roll in.

Being ambassador to China, he said, was the best job I ever had, even if his tenure there was abruptly ended by Trumps election victory.

Baucus, who also spent more than three decades as a Senate Democrat, is proud to have visited all of Chinas mainland provinces during his time there. He said he worked hard to prevent the two nations from falling into what has been called the Thucydides trap, a theory that an established power feels threatened by a rising power, leading to a rivalry that often descends into war.

But making the relationship work takes serious thought in Washington, he said, something that Baucus said did not always happen during his time in the job.

It was very frustrating, he said. The White House would make a decision, and wed roll our eyeballs, and say: This isnt going to work, partly because were backing off, were being weak. Whats the strategy going forward? 

Among his complaints: that the Obama administration had not done enough to get the Trans-Pacific Partnership ratified by Congress, despite the hard work that U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman put into the 12-nation Asia-Pacific trade pact.

The administration didnt have the same zeal, the single-minded, mongoose-tenacity to get the thing passed that Mike Froman and several others in the bus had, he said. The president didnt get involved nearly as much as I thought he could and should.

The United States, Baucus said, did stand up to China over accusations that state-sponsored cyberspies were stealing U.S. trade secrets, but was not firm enough when combating Chinese protectionism  the lack of access to its markets and the growing problems faced by American companies there.

China has a long-term strategy to build up its own champion industries, for its own benefit and to the detriment of other countries, he said. The United States should stand up a lot more with respect to Chinas economic wall, let alone the Internet wall.

Baucus said he saw signs that the new administration was backing away from some of its more controversial threats  such as declaring China a currency manipulator  in favor of more-targeted measures against dumping by state-subsidized companies. I hope thats where they go, and I tend to think thats the direction, he said.

Even before leaving Beijing, though, he was shocked to see Trump speak by telephone with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and publicly question U.S. adherence to the one-China policy.

That, he said, had been a major blunder, a huge mistake, by Trump, who was eventually forced to back down in a subsequent phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Its typical Trump, The Art of the Deal, hit your opponent first to get them off balance. But he has forgotten diplomacy is a lot more complicated than that. Hes forgotten Taiwan and one-China is nonnegotiable, he said. You dont understand China, you dont understand Taiwan, youve not even graduated from high school yet.

Baucus also warned of the dangers of the United States becoming a protectionist island under Trump, both economically and in terms of immigration, a direction that would only cede global space and influence to China.

He was not entirely negative about the new administration: Baucus expressed concern about a Washington Post report that the State Department was being sidelined. But he also praised Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

When you sit down and talk to him, youll listen, you dont blow him off, he said. He knows what hes talking about, he projects confidence and substance, if not gravitas.

Baucuss basic advice for the new administration: Start by formulating a thoughtful, considered strategy toward China that includes both engagement and a determination not to be pushed around.

One-China is not negotiable to China, Tibet is not negotiable to China. But we have to ask ourselves: What are our bottom lines?  Baucus said. Where can we be pushed no further?

Whether it is in economics, the South China Sea or cybersecurity, Baucus said, the United States has to decide where the red lines lie and be prepared to take firm action if those lines are crossed  action that should be measured in deeds more than words.

Theres no question theyre going to test us, he said. Its an authoritarian government, and theyre going to keep pushing.

Read more:

Trump White House isnt shy about picking a fight. But not over the one-China policy.

No longer welcome? American companies fear Chinas turning its back on them.

U.S., China vow not to engage in economic cyberespionage

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Soldiers stand guard in the Chatelet disctrict in Paris on Feb. 16 as part of the security mission Operation Sentinelle. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)

A bipartisan report in the French Senate minced no words in describing this countrys efforts to deradicalize former and future terrorists.

The French governments attempt  including the controversial opening of a deradicalization center in the middle of the countryside  was a total fiasco, in the words of Philippe Bas, a senator from the center-right Republicans party.

Among the most damning elements in the report was a firm condemnation of the planned network of 12 deradicalization centers, perhaps the most widely publicized  and criticized  element of the governments push to combat homegrown extremism.

A wave of terrorist violence  perpetrated mostly by French or European Union passport holders  has claimed the lives of 230 people in France since January 2015, and the Socialist administration of Francois Hollande has struggled to improvise a solution to the problem.

[After Louvre attack, France foils another terrorist plot]

The deradicalization centers  officially called Centers for Prevention, Integration and Citizenship  were meant to impose rigorous routines on those they housed, as well as to subject them to intense courses in French history and philosophy. As Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said while serving as interior minister last fall at the opening of the first center: We can only fight against terrorism by respecting the principles of the Republic.

But five months later, only one of 12 planned centers has opened, and that one  in an 18th-century chateau deep in the scenic Loire Valley  is empty.

This failure fully illustrates the lack of evaluation of the mechanisms set up by the state in the area of taking responsibility for radicalization and the lack of a comprehensive prevention strategy, Catherine Troendle, a senator from the Republicans who signed the report, said in a statement.

The report concluded that the programs had been designed hastily without proper due diligence.

Despite their goodwill, several associations, seeking public funding in times of fiscal shortage, turned to the deradicalization sector without any real experience, said Esther Benbassa, a senator from the left-wing Europe Ecology party, another of the reports authors. This, she added, created an unfortunate business of deradicalization.

The French security establishment had long criticized the governments deradicalization effort as too little too late, a knee-jerk reaction designed to put an increasingly anxious electorate at ease.

[Man attacks French soldier with knife near the Louvre; prime minister calls it terrorist in nature]

Its impossible to deradicalize individuals, Jean-Charles Brisard, a French intelligence expert and director of the Paris-based Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, said in an interview.

We all believe that the best thing to do is to act instead with preventive measures, rather than trying to change the minds of people after the fact, he said, citing as a potential model the example of Britain, which practices a more holistic technique at the local level.

You need the involvement of every single actor at the local level  schools, religious leaders, social services, police, municipalities, Brisard said. Weve taken some of these initiatives but in general what we have is still insufficient and, indeed, weak.

Hollande suffered a historic decline in popularity  due, in part, to the terrorist attacks that have occurred during his tenure. He announced in December that he will not seek reelection in the forthcoming presidential elections in April and May.

In the final months before the vote, national security issues  as well as the increasingly Islamophobic rhetoric of Frances far-right  remain at the center of political debate.

Read more

The dapper Frenchman running for president as the best bet against the far right

Justice must pass: French president makes rare appearance in Paris suburbs to address riots

Britain to end its program for lone child refugees

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
A man reacts to tear gas fired by police to disperse protesters in Pretoria on Feb. 24. Mobs have looted stores believed to belong to immigrants. (James Oatway/Reuters)

Ask Mario Khumalo to explain South Africas crime rate or its economic troubles, and he has an answer that sounds like a Donald Trump talking point: There are too many foreigners.

We have allowed in criminals and former child soldiers. The government has failed to protect its own people, the 37-year-old said in a phone interview. Khumalo has launched a new political party called South Africa First, promising mass deportations of immigrants and strict vetting.

In recent days, with a rise in xenophobic violence and demonstrations, it appears his platform has found broader appeal.

About 2.2 million immigrants live in South Africa, according to the last census, the majority from other African countries such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Nigeria and Somalia. Many migrants lack official documentation and are working in the country illegally. Since Nelson Mandelas election in 1994, the country has been seen as a beacon for migrants fleeing war and poverty in other parts of the continent.

But as South Africa has struggled with poverty and crime, migrants have increasingly found themselves in the crosshairs, blamed for stealing jobs and committing crimes. The unemployment rate in the country is more than 30 percent.

[South Africas role as a refugee haven may be coming to an end]

On Friday, protesters marched through the administrative capital, Pretoria, calling on the South African government to take a stronger stance against illegal immigration. In one part of the city, protesters appeared to lunge at a group of immigrants, with police officers firing rubber bullets to separate the two groups.

The mayor of nearby Johannesburg, South Africas largest city, spoke out against the incident.

I would like to again reiterate my deep concern for the flare-up of xenophobic violence in parts of Gauteng, Mayor Herman Mashaba said, referring to the province that contains the two cities.

In the days before the protest, residents distributed fliers around parts of Pretoria.

Nigerians, Pakistanis, Zimbabweans etc bring nothing but destruction; hijack our buildings, sell drugs; inject young South African ladies with drugs and sell them as prostitutes, the fliers said, according to the Daily Maverick newspaper.

Fridays demonstration came days after more than 30 foreign-owned shops across Pretoria were looted. Since the beginning of the year, at least 14 Somalis have been killed in South Africa, according to the Somali Community Board of South Africa.

Khumalo, a former account manager at an electronics company, says many South Africans are getting tired of the way the country serves as a magnet for the downtrodden, even as South African citizens are struggling to get by. He is still deciding what positions his party will pursue in future elections.

People come here because they think South Africa is the land of milk and honey, but its still a country where people are living without flushing toilets, he said.

Khumalo, who lived in the United States for 11 years, says his focus on protecting South Africas borders wasnt inspired by Trump, even if their campaigns show similarities.

Weve been struggling with immigration since long before anyone here ever heard of Donald Trump, he said.

South African economists have said that foreign workers have a small impact on employment in the country, making up about 4 percent of the workforce. But for years, aspiring politicians and government officials have directed their anger at immigrants.

On Thursday, protesters in Nigerias capital city, Abuja, responding to the string of xenophobic incidents in South Africa, attempted to storm the office of South African mobile phone company MTN. On Friday, the office remained closed and surrounded by police, according to reports.

South African leaders, meanwhile, tried to distance themselves from the demonstrations in Pretoria.

Violence has no place in our country, where we strive to promote peaceful coexistence between all those who reside within our borders, Zizi Kodwa, a spokesman for South Africas ruling African National Congress party, said in a statement.

South Africas bouts of xenophobia fly in the face of competing efforts to increase unity across the continent. The African Union last year proposed an African passport that would allow visa-free access across its 54 member states. But disputes between African nations and an anti-immigrant sentiment in places such as South Africa and Kenya make its implementation unlikely.

Read more

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Iraqi forces on the move during a battle with Islamic State's militants outside Mosul on Feb. 24, 2017. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

Iraqi jets struck Islamic State targets inside neighboring Syria for the first time Friday, Iraqs prime minister said while vowing to chase down militants everywhere as Iraqi troops opened new fronts in their battle for the city of Mosul.

The airstrikes in Bukamal, in Syria, were coordinated with Damascus and carried out through a joint intelligence-sharing and command center in Baghdad involving Syria, Iran, Iraq and Russia, according to Brig. Gen. Tahseen Ibrahim, a spokesman for Iraqs Defense Ministry. He said he had no information on whether the strikes also were coordinated with the U.S.-led coalition, which is conducting airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq and providing close air support to Iraqi forces fighting the group.

The strikes came as Iraqi forces are reaching the final stages of their operation to oust the group from the northern city of Mosul, its largest remaining stronghold in Iraq.

Backed by U.S.-led coalition jets, Iraqi ground forces made their first incursion into western Mosul on Friday after securing the airport on the citys southwestern edge. Commanders said progress had been quicker than expected.

The eastern side of Mosul was recaptured earlier in the grueling offensive, which was launched in October.

But even as it loses ground, the Islamic State has continued to bomb civilian targets elsewhere in Iraq and Syria, where blasts near the northern town of al-Bab killed at least 50 people Friday.

[Use of weaponized drones by ISIS spurs terrorism fears]

We are determined to follow the terrorism that is trying to kill our sons and our citizens everywhere, said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Iraqi officials said they had information that recent attacks in Baghdad had been organized from inside Syria.

The cars used in those blasts, including one that targeted a market in Baghdads southwestern Bayaa neighborhood this month that killed at least 45 people, had been rigged with explosives in Bukamal and in Husaybah, on the Iraqi side of the border, Iraqi officials said. Husaybah was also the target of airstrikes Friday.

Iraq decided to carry out the strikes rather than rely on the U.S.-led coalition because it was acting on the basis of Iraqi intelligence and its up to us to take revenge, said Lt. Gen. Anwar Hana, commander of Iraqs air force. The strikes were successful, he said.

Iraqs Joint Operations Command released video of the missiles hitting buildings.

The Islamic State has lost more than half of the territory it once controlled in Iraq, but headway against the group has been slower in Syria.

[Al-Qaeda is eating us: Syrian rebels are losing out to extremists]

However, Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army rebels recaptured al-Bab on Thursday, pushing the Islamic State from its final foothold along Syrias northern border with Turkey.

That offensive, which began in early December, has reduced much of al-Bab to a ghost town, its prewar population of about 100,000 having dwindled to the low thousands.

Suspected Islamic State car bombs killed at least 50 people in the village of Sousyan, about six miles northwest of al-Bab, on Friday, witnesses and the opposition-activist-run Aleppo Media Center said.

The attacks hinted at the scope of the challenges facing the Turkey-backed forces as they seek to restore security to areas they have been retaken from the Islamic State.

In Iraq, commanders said that they were making rapid progress against the militants in western Mosul, after an offensive for the second half of the city was launched a week ago.

Before the offensive began, military officials said they were unsure what levels of fighters and resources the militants had kept in reserve to defend the western side of the city, which is more densely populated than the eastern side.

We are advancing faster than expected, said Lt. Gen. Sami al-Aradhi, from Iraqs counterterrorism forces. He said that tens of Islamic State militants surrendered Friday and that Iraqi forces have retaken the Ghizlani military camp on the citys outskirts and stormed the Mamon neighborhood.

The Islamic State used car bombs, snipers and weaponized drones to slow the advance.

Morris and Loveluck reported from Beirut. Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul, Suzan Haidamous in Beirut and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more:

Away from Iraqs front lines, the Islamic State is creeping back in

U.S. troops in Iraq move closer to the front lines in fight for Mosul

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
NRA dials dev partners for more technical support

National Reconstruction Authority chief Govind Raj Pokharel has urged development partners to increase their technical efforts and expedite reconstruction works in rural areas of the quake-affected districts.
Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of the former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and the half brother of Kim Jong Un. (Shizuo Kambayashi/Associated Press)

The North Korean leaders half brother was killed by a nerve agent that can cause death within minutes if absorbed through the skin, Malaysian police said Friday.

The finding will add to the increasing evidence suggesting that Kim Jong Uns regime in North Korea was behindlast weeks brazen and public attack on Kim Jong Nam, which South Korean officials have described as an apparent move by the young North Korean leader to get rid of a potential rival.

The incident, which took place at a busy airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, could also prove to be the final straw in a diplomatic vow between previously friendly Malaysia and North Korea, given that the regime in Pyongyang is now accused of using a certified chemical weapon on Malaysian territory.

This chemical weapon is banned, Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysias inspector general of police, said Friday. The Center for Chemical Weapons Analysis examined swabs from the mans face and eyes and found the nerve agent VX, he said.

We will investigate how the chemical substance was brought into Malaysia, Khalid told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, noting that VX was listed as a chemical weapon under the international Chemical Weapons Convention and Malaysias own laws.

(The Washington Post)

Police are also asking the governments atomic energy agency to decontaminate the busy airport terminal 11 days after the attack. VX can remain on material, equipment and terrain for long periods, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says.

[Kim Jong Nam showed no sign of puncture wounds, heart attack]

VX, one of the fastest-acting chemical warfare agents, is much more toxic than sarin, especially when it enters through the skin, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms will appear within a few seconds after exposure to the vapor form of VX, and within a few minutes to up to 18 hours after exposure to the liquid form, the CDC says on its website. It is possible that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, would be lethal.

Exposure to a large dose of VX can cause convulsions, a loss of consciousness and respiratory failure possibly leading to death, the center says.

VX is not difficult to produce, said Matthew Meselson, a professor of biochemistry at Harvard University and a board member of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. A good organic chemist could synthesize VX relatively easily, he said. You could get the ingredients and make it in a couple of days, and if you make it pure, its quite stable.

Britain developed VX in the early 1950s. The United States started producing it in 1958, and the Soviet Union also developed its own version.

The only previously confirmed death caused by VX was in a case in 1994, when a member of the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo used the nerve agent against a former colleague, although it is also believed to have been used by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Kurds during the final days of the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.

According to reports, VX was among the chemical weapons stockpiled by Bashar al-Assads regime in Syria until it agreed to get rid of that arsenal in 2014. Syria and North Korea have had friendly relations that continue to this day.

North Korea claims that it does not possess chemical weapons, but South Korea's Defense Ministry estimates that the Pyongyang regime has between 2,500 and 5,000 metric tons of chemical weapons, which would be the third-largest stockpile after those of the United States and Russia.

The South Korean government has assessed that North Korea can produce most types of chemical weapons indigenously, according to a summary of the country's capabilities on the Nuclear Threat Initiative website. Nerve agents such as Sarin and VX are thought to be the focus of North Korean production, it said.

[North Korean diplomat wanted in connection with killing of Kim Jong Uns half brother]

Malaysian officials have said two women, one Indonesian and one Vietnamese, attacked Kim Jong Nam at the airport, smearing some kind of cream on his face. He immediately sought help and was taken to the airport medical clinic, where leaked photos show him slumped in a chair with his eyes closed just minutes later. He reportedly suffered seizures, then died in an ambulance on his way to a hospital.

It is not clear how the women who carried out the attack survived, although they reportedly told police that they felt nauseous afterward, with one of them vomiting.

Security camera footage showed them rushing to the bathroom immediately after the attack, presumably to wash their hands, Malaysian authorities said. VX, though fast acting, is soluble in cold water. Malaysian police have not reported finding any gloves at the scene.

South Korean authorities have accused Kim Jong Un, who came to power in North Korea in 2011, of putting out a standing order to assassinate his older half brother, who was 45.

Kim Jong Un has a track record of getting rid of potential contenders for the leadership of North Korea. He had his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, executed at the end of 2013 for apparently amassing his own power base. Jang was a mentor to Kim Jong Nam, who had previously been considered a possible leader in the three-generation communist dynasty.

North Korea had strongly objected to Malaysia conducting an autopsy on the mans body, saying that he carried a diplomatic passport and therefore was not subject to local laws.

[Malaysia arrests North Korean man in connection with death of Kim Jong Nam]

The North Korean ambassador in Kuala Lumpur has read out several angry statements, accusing Malaysia of trying to besmirch Pyongyangs reputation at the behest of the South Korean government. This was reiterated in a virulent 763-word statement published by the Norths state news agency.

There were also reports of an attempted break-in at the hospital morgue where Kim Jong Nams body is being held.

But the Kuala Lumpur government, one of the few in the world that had friendly relations with Pyongyang, has remained adamant that it will follow all procedures required when a suspicious death occurs on its soil.

It has named eight North Koreans, including one diplomat, whom it considers suspects in the attack. One, a scientist who had been living in Kuala Lumpur for a year, is in custody, but three others, including the diplomat, are believed to be at large in Malaysia. The other four left Malaysia on the day of the attack, taking a circuitous route via Dubai and Vladivostok, Russia, to get back to Pyongyang without going through China.

The North Korean under arrest in Malaysia, Ri Jong Chol, 47, is reported to have a background in chemistry and to have studied in India.

The Chinese government had been protecting Kim Jong Nam and was widely thought to consider him a potential replacement for Kim Jong Un if the North Korean leader became intolerably hostile to Beijing.

No family members have come to claim Kim Jong Nam's body, which Malaysian authorities have said they cannot release without DNA identification.

There is no arrangement yet for the next-of-kin to come to Malaysia. We have requested the North Korean Embassy to inform the next of kin and are still waiting for the embassy and officials to respond, Khalid, the police chief, told Malaysias Bernama news agency.

Read more

North Korea says Malaysia cant be trusted to investigate killing

Kim Jong Un is a top suspect in his half brothers death. But questions abound.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
An image from the Thiqa News Agency shows damaged cars after a suicide attacker detonated his small pickup truck outside a security office in Sousyan village in Syria on Friday. (Uncredited/AP)

Suspected Islamic State car bombs killed at least 50 people outside the northern Syrian town of al-Bab on Friday, a day after Turkey-backed rebels pushed the militants from their onetime stronghold.

Witnesses and a war monitor said the first blast killed 42 people in the nearby village of Sousyan, ripping through a crowd of displaced residents as they waited to receive permits for their return to al-Bab.

Hours later, local activists reported a second attack that killed eight more people.

The attacks hinted at the scope of the challenges facing the Turkey-backed rebel forces as they seek to restore security to areas they have retaken from the Islamic State.

It drove right into the heart of the crowd, said Khalil Abdulrahman, a Syrian journalist from al-Bab, describing the first attack. There were bodies everywhere. Some of them were on fire. When I got closer to them, I realized I knew their faces. They were trying to go home.

Images from the area showed blood and body parts on the ground.

The attacks came a day after Free Syrian Army rebels recaptured the town, pushing the Islamic State from its final foothold along Syrias northern border with Turkey.

The offensive, which began in early December, was often grindingly slow despite the backing of Turkish warplanes, tanks and special forces.

[Pentagon wants talks with Russia over Syria, Iraq air attacks]

Turkey's military said Friday that the rebels had taken control of all of al-Bab and that work to clear mines and unexploded ordnance was under way.

The fighting has reduced much of al-Bab to a ghost town, its prewar population of about 100,000 having dwindled to the low thousands. Meaningful security is some way off for those who remained. Islamic State militants routinely mine the areas they abandon.

Fridays attacks were a reminder that the group also remains capable of wildcat strikes against areas in which it has been defeated. Only last month, an Islamic State militant killed 48 people with a blast in a busy marketplace in the northern town of Azaz, three years after rebel forces recaptured the area.

The situation in al-Bab is not stable, Issa Khider, a local activist, said Friday. ISIS dug trenches and tunnels all around this town, so everything on top of them is very weak. There are mines here that explode if you accidentally touch the hidden wire, he said.

Arrested at an Islamic State checkpoint in 2014, Khider had faced the prospect of a brutal execution under the Islamic State, after one of its judges condemned him to death on charges of apostasy. On a video posted online Friday, the activist walked through the rubble of his now-deserted former prison, holding up the groups torture implements and explaining how it had used them.

I never expected to come to a place like this. I was blindfolded and humiliated, he said.

Questions linger about where the Turkey-backed rebel force will head next.

Ankaras military intervention last August complicated its relationship with the United States, which has supported a Kurdish-led force as its main spear against the Islamic State in Syria.

Turkey views Syrias Kurdish fighters as terrorists and is now pushing to send its own forces to Syria to recapture the Islamic States de facto capital, Raqqa.

A memorandum signed late last month by President Trump ordered the Pentagon and other national security agencies to draft a new proposal by late February for how to defeat the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Turkey has proposed several different versions of a plan to takeRaqqa, all of which involve Turkish troops, more U.S. personnel and Syrian Arab fighters. U.S. officials have long argued that a successful assault will be difficult without the Kurdish militia that currently leads the ground fight against the Islamic State in Syria.

Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul, Suzan Haidamous in Beirut and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.



Read more:

New anti-Islamic State plan could change U.S. strategy in Syria

Turkey-backed rebels seize Islamic States al-Bab stronghold in Syria

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
A car drives along a road near the Israeli barrier in the Palestinian town of Abu Dis in the West Bank, as Jerusalem is seen in the background February 15, 2017. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)

The Israeli government is refusing to allow an American investigator from Human Rights Watch into the country, saying Thursday that the group is systematically anti-Israel and works as a tool for pro-Palestinian propaganda.

Officials at Human Rights Watch  one of the most prominent rights monitors in the world  denounced the decision to deny entry to Omar Shakir, its recently named Israel and Palestine country director. Shakir is a U.S. citizen. His parents were from Iraq.

The New York-based group shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 as a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines. One of the top backers of Human Rights Watch is financier and philanthropist George Soros.

Our staff cant work in Cuba, Egypt, North Korea, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. This is not a club that Israel wants to join, said Sari Bashi, Israel and Palestine advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. Bashi, an Israeli, is based in South Africa.

Authorities in Egypt in 2014 barred two senior executives of Human Rights Watch from entering the country as the pair were about to release a year-long investigation of mass killings of anti-government demonstrators at the hands of security forces.

In a letter dated Monday, Israels immigration service, which approves visas for foreign workers, said it based its rejection on an advisory from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which noted that for some time now, this organizations public activities and reports have engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of human rights.  It did not cite specifics in the letter.

Emmanuel Nahshon, a top spokesman for Israels Foreign Ministry, confirmed that Israel rejected the visa request for Shakir, basing its decision not on the individual but on its low opinion of Human Rights Watch.

We said no. Its very simple. We consider the group to be biased, systemically hostile toward Israel. In a way, we consider them absolutely hopeless, Nahshon said.

He said the refusal to allow the Human Rights Watch investigator into the country does not signal a new get-tough policy against nongovernmental organizations, as its critics charge.

This doesnt mean that Israel will not allow human rights organizations to work in Israel. On the contrary, were keen to work with them, Nahshon said. He added that decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

This decision and the spurious rationale should worry anyone concerned about Israels commitment to basic democratic values, Iain Levine, program director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Bashi said that in the past year, Human Rights Watch has not only reported on alleged violations by the Israeli government but also investigated and condemned the arbitrary detention of journalists and activists by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and executions by Hamas authorities in Gaza. It also probed and denounced a Jerusalem bus bombing claimed by a suspected affiliate of Hamas, the Islamist militant organization that runs the Gaza Strip and has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and Israel.

Homegrown rights groups here, such as BTselem and Peace Now, and global organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have long been accused by Israelis of unfair treatment. The Israel-based group NGO Monitor, which provides information to the Israeli government on Palestinian incitement, charges that Human Rights Watch disproportionately focuses on condemnations of Israel and promotes an agenda based solely on the Palestinian narrative of victimization and Israeli aggression.

On its website, NGO Monitor features a short video clip of Shakir speaking at the University of California at Irvine in 2010 in favor of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, which supporters say is designed to force Israel to end its almost 50-year military occupation and practices it compares to apartheid against Palestinians. Shakir was not working for Human Rights Watch then.

Israelis say the BDS movement seeks to delegitimize Israel. A number of U.S. governors and state houses have come out with executive orders and bills against the boycotts.

Israels right-wing government has recently targeted Israeli human rights groups for extra scrutiny and warned European governments to stop funding them. Members of anti-occupation groups, such as Breaking the Silence, which is composed of Israeli army veterans, have been called traitors.

The Israeli parliament in July passed a bill to increase transparency for Israeli NGOs that get most of their funding from abroad. Leaders of the nongovernmental organizations, who make up the core of Israels peace camp and are stalwarts of the dwindling left wing in Israel, said the law was written by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government to muzzle opposition to the military occupation of the West Bank.

Read more:

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
This June 15, 2010, photo shows the Idaho Correctional Center, operated by Corrections Corporation of America (now CoreCivic). Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled his support for the federal government's use of private prisons, rescinding a memo meant to phase out their use. (Charlie Litchfield/AP)

The Justice Department will once again use private prisons to house federal inmates, reversing an Obama-era directive to stop using the facilities, which officials had then deemed less safe and less effective than those run by the government.

In a one-paragraph memo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the previous directive to the Bureau of Prisons to either reduce or decline to renew private-prison contracts as they came due.

The memorandum changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureaus ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system, Sessions wrote. Therefore, I direct the Bureau to return to its previous approach.

The directive marks a significant policy shift from the previous administration, although the practical impact might be somewhat muted.

Most inmates are housed in state prisons, rather than federal ones. Even when the Justice Department announced it would no longer use private facilities, the action only affected 13 prisons, housing a little more than 22,000 inmates. The original directive also did not apply to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Marshals Service detainees, who are technically in the federal system but not under the purview of the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Private-prison operators already stood to benefit substantially from President Trumps aggressive measures to detain and deport illegal immigrants.

[The Justice Department closed this troubled private prison. Immigration authorities are reopening it.]

As of Thursday afternoon, the Bureau of Prisons had 12 privately run facilities, holding 21,366 inmates. They are run by three private-prison operators: Management and Training Corporation, the GEO Group and CoreCivic, which used to be known as Corrections Corporation of America.

Private prisons have faced significant criticism in recent years from civil liberties advocates and others. Sally Yates, who served as deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, did not mince words in August when she ordered the Department of Justice  of which the Bureau of Prisons is a part  to end the use of private prisons entirely by phasing them out over time.

They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Departments Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security, Yates wrote.

The inspector generals report concluded, among other things, that privately operated facilities incurred more safety and security incidents than those run by the federal Bureau of Prisons. The private facilities, for example, had higher rates of assaults  both by inmates on other inmates and by inmates on staff  and had eight times as many contraband cellphones confiscated each year on average, according to the report.

Private-prison operators vigorously disputed that reports conclusions, and they hailed Thursdays memo from Sessions as vindication.

[Private-prison industry fights Justice Department directive to end the use of contract facilities]

Jonathan Burns, a CoreCivic spokesman, said the announcement validates our position that the departments previous direction was not reflective of the high quality services we have provided to the federal government for decades. Pablo Paez, a spokesman for the GEO Group, said the company believed the Justice Departments earlier decision was based on a misrepresentation, and it welcomed the reinstatement of long-standing practice and policy at the Federal level.

Issa Arnita, a spokesman for Management and Training Corp., said the new directive empowers the Bureau of Prisons to manage its facilities in a way that provides the greatest value to taxpayers and the inmates in their care.

The private-prison industry is a formidable one, generating billions of dollars of revenue each year and giving significant amounts to politicians. The GEO Group and CoreCivic, for example, donated $250,000 to support Trumps inaugural festivities, spokesmen for the companies said. Management and Training Corp. did not, a spokesman said. Separately, the GEO Group, gave $275,00 to the pro-Trump super PAC Rebuilding America Now, according to FEC filings. One $100,000 donation came a day after the Justice Department announced it would no longer use the facilities.

The Justice Department had believed dwindling prison populations would make it possible for the Bureau of Prisons to end its use of contract facilities, and a Justice Department spokesman said in October that still appeared to be the case. Other agencies, though, did not see it that way, even during the Obama administration.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for example, inked a contract in October to use a New Mexico facility that the Justice Department had moved Bureau of Prisons inmates out of. The facility has a history of questionable deaths and substandard medical care.

A government panel recommended in December that the Department of Homeland Security continue with its use of private immigrant-detention facilities  saying they were the only realistic way to handle the volatile flows at the border. But the panels report was the subject of a contentious debate, and more than two-thirds of a broader government group objected to its conclusion.

David C. Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions National Prison Project, said that putting people into for-profit prisons was a recipe for abuse and neglect, and the new Justice Department directive seemed to foreshadow the worrisome possibility that the United States may be headed for a new federal prison boom. If Sessions believes the Bureau of Prisons could not meet its needs without using for-profit facilities, he said, youve got to wonder what theyve got up their sleeve.

Matea Gold contributed to this report.
The 447 members of the Democratic National Committee are gathering this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia to pick the next leader of the Democratic Partys official governing body.

Following Hillary Clintons loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election the Democrats have been debating how best to appeal to those who voted for Trump in the next round of elections as they choose a new DNC leader. The discussion has been almost entirely technical and mechanical, paying more attention to rural areas or Appalachia or the Midwest.

The candidates all act as though the mass alienation from the Democratic Party among working people had nothing to do with its embrace of right-wing anti-working class policies: attacks on public education, savage budget cuts at the local, state and federal level, cover-up for police violence, promotion of militarism and war. They have nothing to say about the fact that Obamas was the first US administration to be at war every day for eight years.

What mainly concerns the Democrats, as loyal political servants of big business, is how to head off and derail the social opposition which has erupted in nearly daily protests against the Trump Administrations reactionary policies and at raucous congressional town hall meetings across the country. For that reason, all the candidates have postured as left opponents of the Trump administration, claiming to advocate intransigent resistance even while the Democrats in Congress prepare to collaborate with the new administration.

All of the candidates embrace the anti-Russian campaign being waged by sections of the military-intelligence apparatus, with the backing of congressional Democrats, some congressional Republicans, and the bulk of the corporate media, portraying Trump as the puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The political purpose of this campaign is to hijack the popular opposition to Trump and turn it in a reactionary, pro-war direction.

The next chairperson of the DNC will be responsible for raising money for Democratic election campaigns as well as overseeing the partys presidential primary process. The previous chairperson, Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigned after emails showed that the DNC had intervened in the 2016 primaries to assist Clinton against her challenger Senator Bernie Sanders.

The race to succeed Donna Brazile, who replaced Schultz on an interim basis last July, initially attracted nearly a dozen candidates, seemingly one for every subgroup which the Democratic Party addresses through the medium of identity politics: a gay man, a black woman, a black Muslim man, a white woman from a red state, a Hispanic immigrant, etc. But the race has narrowed considerably.

Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison and Tom Perez, the secretary of labor in the Obama administration, lead a field of four candidates who qualified for the final vote by winning the support of at least 20 members of the DNC. Both claim the upper hand going into the weekend and both have received endorsements from leading Democratic Party leaders as well as the trade unions.

A survey of DNC members by The Hill published on Wednesday found that Ellison had the advantage with 105 committed supporters to Perezs 57. Another survey found Perez with a slight lead. Perez received a late boost when the likely third-place candidate, Jaime Harrison, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, with the claimed support of 27 members of the DNC, dropped out and endorsed the former labor secretary.

Harrisons withdrawal means that only two other candidates will appear on the ballot besides Ellison and Perez.

Pete Buttigieg, the 35-year-old mayor South Bend, Indiana, received the endorsement of former DNC chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday. In the candidates debates and forums Buttigieg boasted of his service in the Navy, having served a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2014, as well as the fact that he is the first openly gay executive in a Midwestern state dominated by the Republican Party. Also running is Sally Boynton Brown, chair of the Idaho Democratic Party, and the only woman to qualify for the ballot.

If, as expected, no candidate receives the necessary 224 votes to win on a first ballot, balloting will continue until one candidate achieves a simple majority, with the lowest-placed candidate being eliminated in each round of balloting after the second.

Ellison has been endorsed by Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren. The Minnesota Representative has also been backed in his bid to lead the DNC by the AFL-CIO, UAW, UNITE HERE, United Steelworkers, and Locals 1199 and 32BJ of the SEIU. He has also been endorsed by a number of left organizations in the orbit of the Democratic Party including the Democratic Socialists of America, the Progressive Democrats of America and the Working Families Party.

Perez on the other hand has received the backing of the bulk of his former colleagues in the Obama administration, having been all but endorsed by former President Barack Obama in January. He has been endorsed by former Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder and the former presidents senior advisor Valerie Jarrett.

As Obamas Labor Secretary Perez worked with the unions to smother social opposition. For these services he has received the endorsement of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the United Farm Workers and the United Food and Commercial Workers.

While media reports generally describe Ellison as the progressive candidate and Perez as the establishment candidate, there is almost no difference between them on policy. Nor does their contest reproduce exactly the lines of the Sanders-Clinton contest for the presidential nomination last year.

Ellison, as a sitting member of the House of Representatives, has more support among congressional Democrats, including Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer and former Senate Minority leader Harry Reid, both of whom backed Clinton. Perez has the support of nearly all the Democrats who served with him in the Obama administration.

The campaign itself has drawn little popular interest or even notice outside of the core of Democratic Party functionaries and operatives. At a friendly debate style event Wednesday night hosted by CNN and at regional forums over the last several weeks the Democrats have displayed their demoralization in the wake of Trumps victory and amazement over the wave of protests.
Newly elected president of Gambia, Adama Barrow, was inaugurated last month after a contentious election held in the small Western African nation. Gambia comprises a sliver of land following the Gambia River, and is bounded by Senegal.

The outgoing president Yayha Jammeh at first conceded defeat to Barrow, and agreed to cede power, but backtracked days later, declaring last December's poll fraudulent and cited unsubstantiated abnormal irregularities in the vote count. The Obama administration and governments throughout Europe sharply condemned Jammeh's refusal to concede to Barrow.

Barrow was sworn into office last month in neighboring Senegal under fears of a violent crackdown by the Jammeh government. Jammeh had declared a state of emergency, and the Gambian armed forces occupied the streets in the capital city Banjul.

With the approval of the United Nations Security Council, a military force led by the Senegalese military was organized comprising of forces from the West African nations of Nigeria, Mali and Ghana, and invaded the Gambia with the explicit mission of forcing Jammeh out of the country. Without a shot fired, Jammeh voluntarily boarded a plane in Banjul and left the country.

The universal condemnation of Jammeh heard in the capitals of Western Europe and Washington is a clear indication that Jammeh had fallen out of favor with international finance capital.

The autocrat's 22-year rule was beset by a souring of relations between his government and the imperialist powers; in 2013 Jammeh had withdrawn the Gambia from the British Commonwealth, the organization comprised of 52 former British colonial African nations. Last year Jammeh rescinded the Gambia from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

In 2014, in response to the sharp international displeasure with Jammeh, the European Union withdrew its economic aid to the nation.

Jammeh had conducted a campaign of expropriating industry during his rule and operating it for the benefit of himself and his clique which raised the ire of international capitalist interests. Jammeh's confiscated enterprises consisted of sectors throughout the Gambian economy, including agriculture, telecommunications, and the service and tourism sector.

The repressive regime was also viewed unfavorably by Western governments not on the basis of democratic rights, but that such brutality is considered bad for business in exploiting the Gambian economic resources.

Also viewed intolerably were Jammeh's imposition of overvalued exchange rates for the Gambian dalasi, seeking to prop up the Gambian currency at the expense of the world currency exchange market. These moves provoked a 33 percent drop of international investment in the Gambia in 2014.

With the end of Jammeh's rule, the Gambian economy has been bankrupted, collapsing under years of corruption, cronyism, mismanagement, and ostracism from international markets. It has been reported that Jammeh looted the state coffers of as much as $11 million before his departure from the country.

Barrow, in contrast, is welcomed favorably by Washington and its partners in Europe. Since his inauguration, Barrow has declared that the Gambia is open for business, and the new government has agreed to cooperate with the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for economic reform in the country. Interpreted bluntly, this reform is nothing short of the complete opening up of the Gambian economy to plunder.

Washington and Europe, in the face of the global crisis of capitalism, are salivating at the massive profits to be made out of exploiting the African continents resources and labor in a new scramble for Africa.

For its part, Washington sees Africa as a geo-political prize to be lodged securely under its control. For several years, China has increased its economic investment in Africa, and Washington is threatened by Beijing's vast economic influence on the continent.

Barrow has been busy in the first days of his administration lining up investors seeking to carve up the Gambias economy. According to African Business magazine, Barrow has pledged to work with investors to create a climate in the country that is consistent with business and market expectations.

The main sectors of the Gambia's economy are agriculture, tourism, and remittances from the Gambian diaspora throughout Europe. Barrow has vowed to expand the Gambian economy further for exploitation.

The oil industry is keen to exploit the Gambia for what it calls significant reserves discovered offshore of the tiny nation. CAMAC energy, a conglomerate of oil producing corporations headquartered in Houston, Texas, obtained an exclusive contract last year for the development of oil extraction in the country.

Barrow has promised that the Gambia will return to its membership in the British Commonwealth, the organization set up to continue the capitalist exploitation of the former colonies of Africa after the nations won official independence from British colonialism.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson paid a visit to the Gambia on February 14 to meet with the new president. In an statement to the media, Johnson said, President Barrow is determined to take Gambia back to the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth is ready to welcome Gambia back, Johnson vowed to do whatever possible to speed up the process.

Barrow has also guaranteed that the Gambia will return its cooperation in the International Criminal Court.

With the Barrow in place the European Union has committed 225 million in new funding to Gambia. In African Business magazine Neven Mimica, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, praised the Barrow government, stating that he wishes to work with the Barrow government in promoting inclusive entrepreneurship schemes along various value chains with [] potential for exports.

The Economic Organization of Western African States (ECOWAS), the economic trade bloc comprising the region of Western Africa, has hailed Barrow's election as a promising sign of new investment opportunities in The Gambia.

ECOWAS was set up in 1975 as a regional trade bloc to oversee and facilitate the ease of exploitation and trade of Western Africa's economic resources. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, ECOWAS works in tandem with the United Nations and the African Union.

Underlining this foul climate of capitalist exploitation are the Gambian masses, who, according to the UN, are among the poorest populations in the world. Some 60% live in at or below the poverty line, and earn little more than a dollar a day.

The Barrow administrations proclamation of new era for Gambian democracy and its promises of improvement in living standards is a lie, intensified capitalist exploitation will only deepen the immiseration of the Gambian masses.
In a comment in the Suddeutsche Zeitung one week ago the German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) announced a massive increase in the countrys military budget and new international operations to be carried out by the Bundeswehr (German Army). She subsequently announced that the size of the Bundeswehr will increase to almost 200,000 soldiers in the next few years. At present, the total number of active soldiers is around 178,000.

An official press release from the Ministry of Defense stated Tuesday that a demand has been established for a further 5,000 military posts, 1,000 civilian posts and 500 additional reservists over the next seven years. The target for the Bundeswehr up to 2024 would be increased to a total of 198,000 soldiers with about 61,400 posts for civilian employees.

In May last year Von de Leyen announced a so-called Trend Change of Personnel involving a gradual increase in staffing. At the beginning of December this was followed by the new Personnel Strategy of the Bundeswehr. Following the election of US President Donald Trump, the German governments demands for rearmament and war have become increasingly aggressive.

The latest press release states: The Bundeswehr must be able to respond appropriately to foreign and security policy influences at all times. The aim of the Trend Change of Personnel is to increase the capacity of the Bundeswehr, strengthen its robustness and build up important future capabilities.

Overall 99 individual measures are planned to increase the efficiency of the Bundeswehr. These included, among others, specialists in the new organizational area, cyber and information space, crews for the Korvetten K 130, strengthening the support forces of armed force bases (logistics/ABC defense) and setting up a 6th tank battalion.

There is no doubt that the Bundeswehr is preparing for war. Why else the massive investment in personnel and equipment? The Bundeswehr is required like never before, Ursula von der Leyen stated in a press release. The fight against IS terrorism, the stabilization of Mali, continued support for Afghanistan, human smuggling in the Mediterranean and the Aegean, or our considerable presence for NATO in the Baltic States.

Significantly, on the same day, the Defense Ministry announced the transfer of heavy equipment and other combat groups to the Russian border. 20 Martens and six Leopard battle tanks as well as three mountain tanks are on the way to Lithuania, according to a report on the official web site of the Bundeswehr. In all, approximately 120 containers and 200 vehicles have been loaded since mid-January and transported to Lithuania by a total of nine trains. By the end of the week the rest of the 450 soldiers are due to leave on their way to lead a NATO battlegroup of a total of 1,000 men.

The transfer of NATO troops to Eastern Europefurther battle groups are being set up in Estonia (under the leadership of Great Britain), Latvia (Canada) and Poland (US)is part of the campaign to escalate NATOs conflict with Russia, decided in July 2016 at the NATO summit in Warsaw. This includes the establishment of a NATO missile defense system in Romania and Poland, the creation of a 5,000-strong Rapid Reaction Force and an increase in the NATO Response Force from 13,000 to at least 40,000 soldiers.

Media outlets such as German weekly Der Spiegel justify the largest deployment of troops to the east since the end of the Cold War and the posting of the first German battalion to Eastern Europe since the destruction wrought by the Wehrmacht (the German army under Nazism) in the Soviet Union in the Second World War as a reaction to the take over of Ukrainian Crimea by Russia.

This turns the facts upside down. The real aggressor is NATO, not Moscow. Prior to the integration of Crimea into Russia in March 2014, Washington and Berlin had organized a putsch against the pro-Russian Yanukovich government in close collaboration with extreme right-wing forces. Since then, NATO has been exacerbating the situation and using the predominantly defensive response of Moscow as a pretense to systematically upgrade its forces and step up military pressure against Russia.

A recent comment in the Tagesspiegel titled Nuclear weapons against Russia: Germany needs nuclear weapons made clear how far sections of the German elites are prepared to go. Maximilian Terhalle, a political scientist at the University of Hagen and former security policy advisor in the Defence Ministry, said: A Germany that wants to limit the power of Putins Russia in order to maintain an independent Europe, which maintains our domestic and foreign-policy room for action, must do so militarily and therefore also with nuclear weapons.

Terhalle justifies his nuclear great power fantasies by pointing to Trumps pro-Russian course and what he said were the defective arsenals of the two security council members France and Great Britain. These were too small, too tactile, and partly obsolete and could not provide a comprehensive deterrent. Moreover, in the event of an emergency, one can not simply rely on the fact that the stronger partner (for example the UK) guarantees nuclear (protection) for [Germany] and nuclear offence against Russia. In a worst-case scenario, Germany must be able to stand up for itself. This is what it owes to its people.

One wonders about the sanity of people like Terhalle. As an alleged security adviser, he should be well aware that a worst-case scenariothat is, a nuclear war with Russiahas the potential not only to wipe out the German population, but eradicate the entire human race. Workers and youth must take such comments seriously. Seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War, the German ruling class is again preparing to commit terrible crimes in order to impose its geostrategic and economic interests throughout the world.
Opponent of Duterte's drugs war arrested in Philippines on drug charges

A Philippine senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs was in police custody on Friday following her high-profile arrest for drugs offences that she described as a vendetta that would fail to silence her.
A report on global inequality, published last month by Oxfam, highlighted that not only is the difference in wealth between people in different countries extreme, the growing gap between the rich and the poor within the same countries is also alarming.

Oxfam reported that eight billionaires, six of them from the US, own as much combined wealth as the bottom half of the worlds population, some 3.6 billion people.

In New Zealand, the report found that the two richest individuals have more wealth combined than the poorest 30 percent of the adult population. Graeme Hart and Richard Chandler have an estimated $US6.4 billion and $2.7 billion respectively. Hart owns a swathe of global packaging and consumer goods firms, while the Singapore-based Chandler runs a personal investment fund. The gap is wider than in Australia, where two individuals own more than the bottom 20 percent.

Oxfams figures belie the current media spin about an economic recovery. A New Zealand Herald editorial on February 6 celebrated the national holiday by proclaiming the country was thriving and brushing aside any despondency caused by the US Trumps administrations looming protectionist measures.

The richest 1 percent of New Zealanders own 20 percent of the wealth, while 90 percent of the population have less than half. The number of individuals with more than $NZ50 million surged from 212 in October 2015 to 252 in June 2016an increase of almost 20 percent. Figures from Inland Revenue (IRD) show more than a third of this group declared income of less than $70,000 in 2015. The 252 individuals were linked to 7,500 financial and business entities, some in dispute with IRD over nearly $111 million in tax.

Fairfax Media reported on January 17 that the top 20 percent of households hold 70 percent of the wealth. The top 10 percent of households have 53 percent of total wealth, a higher concentration than the average in the 35 industrialised countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). There are just 140,000 households in this bracket, each with more than $1.5 million. The bottom 40 percent account for just 3 percent of total wealth. More than 86,000 households have negative worth, nearly 10,000 with debts over $100,000.

These figures do not account for housing costs. In Auckland, the largest city, the average house price is over $1 million and over half of all adults are renting. According to a new Salvation Army report, average rents in the city jumped from $392 to $490 a week in the five years to December. An average Auckland wage-earner works 16 hours just to pay rent, compared with 14.2 hours a week five years ago.

The Salvation Army points to homelessness unseen in more than a generation, persistent child poverty and a record imprisonment rate. Radio Newstalk ZB earlier this month found a dozen sites around Auckland where villages of people are regularly living in cars, tents, trees and huts. At most sites, in the citys working class western suburbs, half the inhabitants are young people. Meanwhile the latest National Business Review Rich List showed the fortunes of the wealthy elite are increasingly derived from property speculation.

The National Party government last year dismissed as sensationalist rubbish reports that almost one third of children, more than 300,000, are living in poverty. However, the numbers living below the poverty line increased by 45,000 in a year and are now double the number in 1984. A Unicef spokesman told the Guardian child poverty was becoming normalised in the country of 4.5 million people.

A major factor in growing child poverty is the governments deepening attack on welfare entitlements. Draconian work requirements have cut the numbers on sole-parent benefits from 3.1 percent of the working age group in 2008 to 2.3 percent last Decemberthe lowest since 1983. An estimated 50,000 children have been adversely affected. Welfare numbers have dropped faster than official unemployment, indicating that many of those pushed off benefits have not found jobs.

Inequality widened markedly in the late 1980s and 1990s under both Labour and National Party governments. The Gini co-efficient, one measure of household income inequality, has risen from 0.27 in the mid-1980s to 0.35 today.

The increase is the result of two interconnected factors: the boom in financial parasitism and the relentless assault on the living standards of the working class.

Over the past 30 years the economy has gone from being one of the most tightly regulated in the OECD to one of the least regulated. There are no exchange controls or restrictions on bringing in or repatriating funds. In 2015, the World Bank ranked New Zealand as the second easiest country in which to do business and the easiest place to start a business.

The beneficiaries have been a social layer many of whom enriched themselves through the privatisation of public assets begun by the Lange Labour government of 198489. Between 1982 and 2011, gross domestic product grew by 35 percent. Almost half of that increase went to the tiny richest group.

Among them were Maori tribal-based businesses, now worth around $42 billion. These were created through multi-million dollar Treaty of Waitangi settlements with successive governments, purportedly in recompense for the crimes of British colonialism. While a small elite has been enriched, the vast majority of Maori remain among the most impoverished layers of the working class.

The wider economy is dominated by parasitic activities related to finance, banking and currency trading, which are equivalent in importance for the capitalist class to dairying, the countrys major export industry. The New Zealand dollar is listed among the worlds 10 most traded currencies. The stock market soared 121 percent from April 2009 to June 2015.

The working class, meanwhile, has suffered an historic social reversal, imposed by successive governments with the close collaboration of the trade unions. Income levels, which used to exceed those of many Western European countries before the 1970s, have dropped in relative terms and never recovered.

The official unemployment rate rose to 5.2 percent at the end of 2016. The unreported figures, including people who want to work or are seeking more work, are far higher. According to economist Rob Stock in the Sunday Star Times, the underutilisation rate has been stubbornly high, remaining at 13 percent since the 2008 financial crisis. Compared to the 132,000 jobless, there were 342,000 workers classed as underutilised.

Stock noted that for people in this situation the labour market could feel more like a Portugal or a Greece. Some 12 percent of youth aged 1524 are not in employment, education or training, down from a recession peak of 14.1 percent in 2009 but still above the 2007 rate of 10.9 percent.

The author also recommends:

Holiday season highlights social desperation in New Zealand

[3 January 2017]

Panama Papers reveal New Zealand is a tax haven for worlds elite

[15 April 2016]

Wealth distribution in the United States and the politics of the pseudo-left

[18 January 2017]
Two days after rolling out a draconian immigration policy that threatens the deportation of millions of undocumented workers and their families, President Donald Trump described the unfolding crackdown as a military operation.

Speaking to a White House gathering Thursday of top corporate bosses, including the CEOs of Dow Chemical, General Electric, Lockheed Martin and Caterpillar Inc., Trump hailed the escalation of repression on the US-Mexican border along with the recent series of Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) raids that resulted in the roundup of several hundred immigrants from coast to coast.

Were getting really bad dudes out of this country and at a rate that nobody has ever seen before, said Trump, adding, And its a military operation because what has been allowed to come into our countrywhen you see gang violence that youve read about like never before and all of the thingsmuch of that is people that are here illegally. And theyre rough and theyre tough, but theyre not tough like our people. So were getting them out.

Asked to clarify Trumps remark, White House spokesman Sean Spicer argued that the president was using the word military as an adjective, meant to convey that the ICE raids were happening with precision.

Trumps bullying and bellicose remarks coincided with a public appearance by his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary Gen. John Kelly in Mexico City alongside their Mexican counterparts in what was billed as an attempt to strengthen relations between the two countries following a series of blatant provocations over Trumps proposed border wall, attacks on immigrants, threats to impose tariffs and suggestion that US troops could be sent into Mexico to wage the so-called drug war.

Mexicos President Enrique Pena Nieto was forced to call off a scheduled state visit to Washington last month over Trumps crude insistence that Mexico pay for his proposed wall.

Speaking before the Mexican media, Gen. Kelly, the former commander of US Southern Command, which oversees all US military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, pledged, There will be no use of military forces in immigration, Kelly said. There will be norepeat, nomass deportations.

This assurance follows the leaking last week of a Department of Homeland Security memo calling for the mobilization of 100,000 National Guard troops to hunt down and detain immigrant workers. While disavowed by the White House, it is clear that a martial law crackdown was under discussion within the US administration.

Kellys statement on Thursday, which appeared to be directly contradicted by Trumps boasting about the immigration crackdown to the US corporation heads, followed his attempt to walk back part of the language contained in two Department of Homeland Security memorandums laying out the Trump administrations reactionary and repressive immigration enforcement policy.

A provision that touched off heated protests from Mexican officials calls for Border Patrol and ICE agents, to deal with detained immigrants who are not deemed a threat of subsequent illegal entry by returning them to the foreign contiguous territory from which they arrived, to await the decision of immigration courts on their removal proceedings. The provision calls for these immigrants to appear before the court via video teleconference.

The memo argued that this procedure would save US detention facilities for other undocumented workers caught in the planned immigration dragnet.

As most of the immigrants detained at the border are not Mexicans220,000 out of 400,000 in the fiscal year that ended on September 30with the largest number consisting of refugees fleeing violence and oppression in Central America, the provision essentially calls for dumping citizens of third countries into Mexico to solve an alleged problem in the US.

Mexicos Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray rejected the new US policy. The government and the people of Mexico will not accept the new immigration policies of the United States, he said, vowing that Mexico would go to the United Nations to charge Washington with human rights violations against immigrants.

Videgaray is among the more right-wing figures in the Pena Nieto government, a former investment banker with ties to Trump advisors. He was forced to resign from an earlier post because of public outrage over his arranging a visit to Mexico by then-presidential candidate Trump that had all the trappings of a state visit. Now, however, he has been compelled to denounce the Trump administration for attempting to impose a unilateral policy on Mexico.

He threatened that if the US went ahead with trying to send non-Mexican immigrants back across the Mexican border, Mexico would not accept them and would demand that Washington provide proof of Mexican citizenship for anyone it seeks to deport to the country. Such a policy could lead to a roadblock in front of mass deportations and force the US government to indefinitely detain huge numbers of arrested immigrants.

Others have suggested that Mexico could retaliate against Washingtons aggressive policies by halting its own repressive crackdown on Central American immigrants trying to cross Mexicos southern border en route to the US. Last year, Mexico sent nearly twice as many Central American migrants back to their countries as the US did, doing Washingtons dirty work.

Tensions over the new immigration policy were such that Mexican government officials warned that a planned meeting between the two US secretaries and President Pena Nieto would not take place unless significant agreements were reached beforehand.

In the end, however, Tillerson and Kelly met for an hour with Pena Nieto at the Los Pinos presidential palace in Mexico City, arriving and leaving in a heavily-guarded armored convoy.

Mexicos official news agency Notimex reported that the Mexican president told the US officials that Mexico will always negotiate in a comprehensive manner with a firm position and in favor of the countrys interests. He also reportedly stated that protecting the interests of Mexicans residing in the US was a priority for his government.

At the same time, he called for the strengthening of dialogue and said the presence of the two US cabinet members was an indication of the Trump administrations interest in building a positive relation that results in better conditions of security, development and prosperity for both countries.

Neither side gave any indication that agreements had been reached on any of the issues that have brought US-Mexican relations to one of their lowest points since the Mexican-American war 170 years ago.

Pena Nieto finds himself caught between the overwhelming popular hostility toward both Trump and his own government (his approval ratings have dipped below 12 percent), and the desire of the Mexican capitalist ruling elite that he represents to continue to secure its profit interests as a junior partner of US imperialism.

At the same time, the ruling PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) faces the prospect of defeat in the 2018 elections at the hands of the Morena (Movement for National Regeneration) of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a veteran bourgeois politician who is leading the polls on the basis of a vaguely left nationalist appeal, accusing Pena Nieto of corruption and failing to stand up to Trump.

Pena Nieto and the Mexican bourgeoisie as a whole are no more concerned about Mexican immigrant workers facing a reign of fear and terror in the US than they are about the plight of masses of impoverished workers in Mexico itself. Their main aim is to prevent the return of millions of jobless deportees, along with the cutting off of remittances and a sharp escalation of already-explosive social upheavals in Mexico itself.

Disquiet within American ruling circles over Trumps new policies found expression Thursday in an editorial published in the Wall Street Journal, which warned that the new immigration crackdown is so sweeping that it could capture law-abiding immigrants whose only crime is using false documents to work. This policy may respond to the politics of the moment, but chasing down maids and meatpackers will not go down as Americas finest hour.

The editorial went on to question the spending of tens of billions of dollars on Trumps proposed border wall, along with the hiring of 15,000 more ICE and Border Patrol agents, together with a massive expansion of detention facilities. At the same time, the Journal expressed fears that a labor shortage and the lack of any mechanism to import low-wage immigrants could adversely affect profit interests.

Trumps anti-immigrant demagogy and the savagely repressive policies he has introduced are aimed at scapegoating immigrants for the conditions created by capitalism in order to weaken and divide the working class. These attacks can be countered only on the basis of the fight to unify immigrant and US-born workers in a fight to block the deportations and to unite workers on both sides of the border in a common struggle against the capitalist system.
The detection of a nearby solar system of potentially Earth-like exoplanets orbiting the star Trappist-1 has evoked widespread public interest and enthusiasm. Millions of people have read reports, watched videos and posted on social media about the seven worlds that might have liquid water on their surfaces.

The Trappist-1 system is comprised of seven planets that orbit a nearby ultracool dwarf star (so-called for its comparatively low temperature). Six of the planets have been confirmed to have an Earth-like size, mass and density. None of them have any hydrogen in their atmospheres, further confirmation that these are all terrestrial, rocky worlds like Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Moreover, due to the gravitational interactions between all seven planets and Trappist-1 itself, every world in the system may have liquid water.

Of particular interest is the fact that the planets are very close. They are Earths next-door neighbors, relative to the vastness of the universe. Trappist-1 is only 39 light years awaythat is, it takes light, traveling at about 300,000 kilometers per second, 39 years to travel the distance. In comparison, the Milky Way galaxy of which our sun is a part has a diameter of 100,000 light years, and it is about 2.5 million light years to its larger companion, the Andromeda galaxy, one of trillions of galaxies in the Universe.

The planets are so close that, in the not-too-distant future, it should be possible to make far more detailed analyses and even direct observations of exoplanets.

The discovery of these worlds is the most remarkable of a wave of new scientific findings since the first exoplaneta planet outside of our solar systemwas discovered around a Sun-like star in the mid-1990s. At the time, while exoplanets had been predicted for nearly four centuries, none had been conclusively detected, let alone directly observed.

Advances in measuring techniques and the use of instruments placed in the orbit around Earth, free of the distortions of the atmosphere, made it possible to detect very slight dips in the brightness of stars. When those dips were observed with regularity, they could be attributed to the motion of planets across the line of sight between the star and the observers.

When the first detection occurred, it opened a whole new realm of astronomy. The gravitational effects of these unseen planets could also be studied, providing evidence of their mass, density and other physical characteristics. Today, not only have scientists detected more than 3,400 exoplanets, the knowledge built up over the past 20 years makes it possible to visualize what these worlds might look like, either from space or from the surface. And with the launching of the James Webb Space Telescope next year, it should be possible to make far more detailed analysis and even direct observation of exoplanets.

Like most significant astronomical advances, the planets discovery was an international endeavor. The detection of exoplanets around Trappist-1 began in May 2016, when a team of astronomers used the Chile-based Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST), remotely operated from Belgium and Switzerland, to first observe the star. They discovered three Earth-sized planets orbiting it, with the outermost one likely within the stars habitable zone.

This encouraged further observations, which were conducted by a series of ground-based telescopes located in Chile, Hawaii, Morocco, Spain and South Africa. The Spitzer Space Telescope was also commissioned to use its higher precision and greater ability to see in the infrared to study the system. When it was discovered that the system had not three, but seven planets, the Hubble Space Telescope was employed to do an initial survey of the planetary atmospheres for hydrogen. Astronomers across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America, South America and Southeast Asia coordinated their efforts to make sense of the data.

The discovery of a planetary system around Trappist-1 is not merely a piece of luck. It is the confirmation of a scientific hypothesis, first advanced in 1997, that, due to the physics of stellar formation, stars with about a tenth of the mass of the Sun are more likely to have terrestrial-sized planets. Trappist-1 is one of many candidates to be studied using this hypothesis, and the first for which the idea has been borne out.

This scientific breakthrough is the culmination of several centuries of advances in astronomy and physics: the understanding of how solar systems are formed; the analysis of visible light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation; and mathematical methods of analysis used to discover the subtle signals in the data from stellar observations.

Trappist-1 is a demonstration of the power of human cognition, science and reason. It is a powerful rebuke to the incessant contemporary glorification of irrationalism, whether through the cultivation of backwardness and religious prejudice or the promotion of postmodernism and its rejection of objective truth, and a mighty vindication of the materialist understanding of the world, that there are objective laws of nature and that humans can comprehend them.

Among millions of people inspired by such discoveries, there is an instinctive understanding that the methods employed to find the Trappist-1 planets and make other scientific and technical advances should be used to solve social and economic problems, to provide sufficient health care, education, shelter and food for all humanity. How can our society discover seven potentially Earth-like worlds more than 350 trillion kilometers away, yet proceed, through environmental recklessness and nuclear-armed militarism, to destroy the planet on which we live?

The exoplanet discovery was based on collaboration towards a common goal whose driving force was the pursuit of knowledge, not the amassing of insane amounts of personal wealth. This sort of thinking is totally alien to the worlds ruling elite, which flaunts its backwardness, vulgarity, ignorance and parasitism, personified in the figure of Donald Trump.

This discovery highlights another contradiction of modern society. The organization and planning required to produce these results is a testament to humanitys ability to rationally and scientifically coordinate resources on an international scale. The scientists on the project also had to reject the constant mantra of national chauvinism, espoused by the ruling elites throughout the world. While science probes the seemingly infinite distances of galactic space, humanity remains trapped at home within the prison house of the nation-state system, with barbed-wire fences, wars, invasions, bombings and mass flights of refugees.

The squandering of trillions of dollars, yuan, yen, roubles and euros to enrich a parasitic capitalist elite and to wage war around the globe is one reason why scientific announcements of this order are so rare. Immense resources, material and human, are wasted, which should be devoted to the improvement of the human condition and the conquest of knowledge of the material world.

The creation of a society in which the development of knowledge can be freed from the constraints of capitalism requires the application of science and reason to the evolution of society and to politics. In opposition to postmodernism and its many variants, which insist that there is no objective truth, Marxism is rooted in an analysis of the laws of socioeconomic development.

Driven inexorably by its internal contradictions, capitalism is leading mankind toward the abyss of world war and dictatorship. These same contradictions, however, also produce the basis for the overthrow of capitalism: the international working class. The objective process must be made conscious, and the growing opposition of millions of workers and youth around the world must be transformed into a political movement that has as its aim the establishment of an internationally coordinated, rationally directed system of economic planning based on equality and the satisfaction of human need: socialism.
Two videos shot from different angles depict a still-unidentified, off-duty Los Angeles police officer drawing a pistol and firing a round during what started as a trivial confrontation with about a dozen-and-a-half teenagers who were walking home from school Tuesday afternoon in a residential neighborhood in Anaheim, California. (The videos of the assault can be viewed here and here.)

Anaheim police responded to the shooting by arresting two of the youths, while protecting the shooter who, were he not a police officer, would likely have been charged with attempted murder, as fortunately the bullet did not hit anyone.

Tuesdays events recall an incident almost exactly one year ago, when Anaheim police officers sided with Ku Klux Klan demonstrators who stabbed counter-demonstrators, letting the KKK members go free while arresting their victims.

Release of the videos on the YouTube Wednesday triggered a spontaneous demonstration, including some acts of vandalism, by over 300 protesters in front of the officers house.

About 100 heavily armed officers and deputies from various agencies responded in what could appropriately be characterized as a massive law enforcement counter-demonstration. Pictures posted on social media show officers in tactical gear and armed with shotguns forming a protective line in front of the house.

By midnight Tuesday, 23 people, including six juveniles, were under arrest, mostly for failing to obey an unlawful dispersal order.

The response recalls protests that broke out in the largely working-class community of 330,000 during the summer of 2012, after six deadly police shootings within seven months. Using scattered acts of vandalism during those protests as a pretext, Anaheim police attacked demonstrators with billy clubs, tear gas and rubber bullets, and made dozens of arrests.

Both videos show a large, muscular man with a shaved head and dark glasses holding 13-year-old Christian Dorscht, who appears less than half the mans size, by the shirt collar. For over two minutes the man never identified himself as a police officer, nor explained why he would not let the boy go.

Angry words were exchanged. The man accused the boy of threatening to shoot him. Even were such words said, and they are not on either video, no one could take such a statement seriously under the circumstances. The boy can be heard denying the threat, and telling the officer that he was only standing up for a young girl whom the officer had called a highly vulgar name.

While the two argued back and forth, exchanging insults and profanities, other youth stood nearby watching the officers puerile behavior incredulously. A voice can be heard saying the obvious, Hey, bro, chill, hes a kid. Eventually a larger boystill much smaller than the officermoved in and tried to free Dorscht by pushing the officer, who held onto the boy as both fell over a small hedge.

The officer popped to his feet. After another young man stepped in and took a swing, the officer pulled out his pistol and fired, causing youth to scatter in fear.

Anaheim police officers arrived and took all the remaining children into custody. They booked Dorscht at Orange County Juvenile Hall for making criminal threats, and arrested the 15-year-old who tried to free him from the clutches of the officer for assault and battery. They took 17 other youths to the police station for questioning. Many parents complained about being treated rudely when they came to pick up their children.

One of the young witnesses, Gregory Perez, 16, explained to local media, The little kid said, Im going to sue you, and then the guy thought he said, Im going to shoot you. Thats when he started grabbing the little kid.

According to Anaheim Police Department spokesperson Daron Wyatt, the off-duty officer asked them to stay off the property, but on Tuesday, it happened again, and it led to a verbal confrontation between the off-duty officer and a group of individuals.

My understanding from the statements was that the round was not fired at anyone, was not even fired in the direction of the individuals involved, but may have been more towards the ground, Wyatt said in defense of the off-duty officer. Using novel reasoning for not arresting someone who commits a crime of violence, Wyatt said to the media, We know how to find him, where to find him.

Wyatt has his own history of violence. During a 2009 narcotics investigation he hopped into a van and shot the driver, Adolph Gonzalez, in the head as the van rolled slowly forward, claiming that he needed to do so to prevent himself from being kidnapped.

An opinion by an eleven-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit called Wyatts description of the shooting physically impossible and ordered him to stand trial for excessive force. The case remains pending in Los Angeles federal court.

Jennifer Rojas of the ACLU of Southern California said her organization was deeply disturbed by the videos and police reaction and demanded a full explanation of why, in an altercation between the police officer and youths, the youths were arrested but not the officer who fired his gun.
Since Donald Trumps election as US president last November and particularly since the beginning of the year, increasing numbers of refugees are fleeing the US for Canada. To do so, many are making perilous journeys through snow-laden fields, in frigid temperatures.

The Trump administration and its anti-immigrant witch-hunt are responsible for the refugees plight. So too is Justin Trudeaus Liberal government. If refugee claimants are being forced to cross into Canada using fields and seldom-traveled back roads, it is because the Trudeau government has instructed the Canada Border Services Agency to continue to enforce the reactionary Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement and deny them entry if they try to enter Canada at a border crossing.

The number of asylum seekers crossing from the US states of New York, Vermont and Maine into Quebec in January was up more than ten-fold from two years ago. While only 42 made the crossing in January 2015, last month the figure was 452.

A network of smugglers has sprung up, charging up to $1,000 per head to take families from New York and other cities to the Canadian border.

Since January, hundreds, often in groups of a dozen or more, have trekked along frozen rivers and fields to reach Manitoba from Minnesota and North Dakota. Many have made the trip without winter clothing and in temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit). Some have lost fingers due to frostbite.

Most of the refugees entering Canada from the US fled war, poverty and persecution in their native Africa. But the asylum seekers also include people from Latin America and other impoverished parts of the world.

The Trump administration launched a brutal witch-hunt against refugees and immigrants, with Muslims a special target, almost from the day it took office. The President has vowed to deport up to 3 million immigrants and already authorized mass deportation raids and vastly expanded the grounds on which people can be deported. He is also preparing a new executive order to re-impose the ban on refugees, immigrants and visitors traveling to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Yesterday, in a further indication of the draconian character of the assault his administration is mounting on undocumented immigrants, Trump referred to it as a military operation.

The Canadian governments response to the spike in asylum seekers has been a combination of callous indifference and outright hostility. New arrivals are being forced to rely on private charity to obtain the basic necessities of life, with many organizations reporting that they are already running short of supplies.

Under conditions where the US is openly violating its obligations to refugees and refugee-claimants under international law and asylum seekers are putting their lives at risk to reach Canada, the Liberal government has said it will not raise Canadas pitifully low refugee quota for 2017.

More significant still is the Liberals staunch defence of the 2002 Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. Under this agreement, any asylum seeker who enters Canada from the US at a border checkpoint is denied entry and the right to make a claim for refugee status in Canada and immediately returned to the US.

It is this that is causing people fleeing the US for Canada to choose high-risk routes to enter the country. Those who cross the border at an unauthorized point and subsequently file asylum claims are not automatically returned to the US. Canadian authorities can, however, later argue against granting them asylum on the grounds that they should have applied for refugee status in the US.

More than 200 legal scholars and refugee advocacy groups have called on the government to scrap, or at the very least suspend, the Safe Third Country Agreement, citing Trumps anti-immigrant measures. But the government, with Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, who came to Canada as a 16-year-old Somali refugee serving as its frontman, has callously refused to do so.

When asked in parliament earlier this month about his governments response to the spike in asylum seekers, Trudeau made clear that the plight of the refugees is the last of his concerns.

We need, declared Trudeau, to make sure that we are protecting the integrity of the Canadian border, the strength of our immigration and refugee system, and demonstrating that we are there for the security of communities and individuals.

The Trudeau governments refusal to assist those desperately seeking to escape Trumps deportation dragnet underscores the hypocritical and fraudulent character of the Liberals posturing as refugee-friendly. In the 2015 election, Trudeau sought to appeal to popular anger against the Harper Conservative government by making calibrated attacks on its whipping up of Islamophobia and its depiction of Syrian refugees as a grave threat to Canadian security.

Trudeau has since been promoted by the likes of the New York Times and the British Guardian as something of a poster boy for international liberalism because his government accepted 25,000 Syrian refugees into Canada in its first months in office. Not only is this a drop in the bucket given the millions displaced by the war in Syria, but Ottawa refused to accept any single men and worked with the US Department of Homeland Security to screen those it did allow in. Moreover, the majority were privately sponsored by churches and other charities, meaning that the government provided no support for them.

Last but not least, the Liberals used their pro-refugee stance as political cover for increasing Canadas role in the US-led Mideast War. Yet it is the wars Washington has mounted over the past quarter-century, with Canadian imperialisms support and participation, in the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Balkans, that have laid waste to entire societies, producing the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

There are two reasons the Liberals are so adamant about upholding the Safe Third Country Agreement. First, Trudeaus cynical tweets about Canada being open notwithstanding, they do not want to encourage asylum seekers to seek refuge in Canada. All the more so under conditions where Trumps brutal measures could cause many to look to Canada for refuge.

Second and even more importantly, Trudeau and his government are determined to forge a close working relationship with the Trump administration and, therefore, dont want to cause it any embarrassment or be seen to criticize it.

Earlier this month, Trudeau visited Trump at the White House and reaffirmed the longstanding Canada-US military-strategic partnership. Their joint statement pledged Canada to collaborate even more closely in US-led imperialist interventions around the globe and to forge a protectionist trade bloc under Washingtons leadership aimed at offloading the capitalist crisis onto Washington and Ottawas economic and geopolitical rivals.

During his Washington trip, Trudeau studiously avoided making any direct comment about Trumps ruthless crackdown on immigrants. When, at their joint press conference, the US president launched into a full-throated defence of his 120-day suspension of all refugee claims and his discriminatory ban on persons from seven Muslim countries entering the US, Trudeau remained silent.

Canadas Conservatives and other right-wing forces are seeking to exploit the refugee issue to foment reaction. Predictably, the Conservatives have launched a xenophobic campaign, denouncing asylum seekers for entering Canada illegally and demanding that the government do more to defend Canadas borders.

Such claims deliberately seek to scapegoat refugees for problems that have been created by Canadas brutal refugee policies. If asylum seekers are being forced to enter the country illegally, it is precisely because of the draconian anti-immigrant measures imposed by the former Conservative government and upheld by the Liberals, including the Trudeau governments refusal to cancel the Safe Third Country Agreement.
Last year, New Zealand brewer DB Breweries and agency Colenso BBDO launched a campaign called  Brewtroleum , which transformed leftover brewers yeast into biofuel. This year, the partnership is back again with an environmental initiative that allows consumers to drink beer to help save the...

Last year, New Zealand brewer DB Breweries and agency Colenso BBDO launched a campaign called Brewtroleum, which transformed leftover brewers yeast into biofuel. This year, the partnership is back again with an environmental initiative that allows consumers to drink beer to help save the beaches in New Zealand.

According to the brewery, Adweek reported, two-thirds of the beaches in the world are retreating because their sand is being harvested for use in industries ranging from construction to pharmaceuticals.

This campaign is pushing back against the high demand for New Zealand sand by featuring machines that crush empty glass bottles of DB Export into a sand substitute. The brewer will supply the DB Export Beer Bottle Sand to construction and commercial partners to help keep New Zealand beaches intact.

Were thrilled to partner with the countrys biggest construction companies to make DB Export Beer Bottle Sand a viable alternative to beach sand, Nick Worthington, creative chairman at Colenso BBDO, told Adweek. And were excited to work with DB Export drinkers to ensure a reliable supply of empty bottles,

The sand will also be supplied to national roading projects and commercial and residential construction. In addition, the brewer is in the process of finalizing a two-year deal to supply its substitute sand to Drymix, the biggest producer of bagged concrete in New Zealand.
(Photo: Getty Images)

Jet-setting doesnt stop for Amal Clooney in pregnancy!

The international human-rights attorney, 39, was on hand Friday in Paris to support her husband George Clooney at the 42nd Cesar Awards, where the actor was presented with a career award as the most charismatic actor of his generation. The annual ceremony is held to honor top achievements in Frances film industry, comparable to the Oscars in the United States.

Amals growing baby bump was visible under a white strapless fitted sheath dress featuring a flirty, ombre feathered bottom. She accessorized with a white shrug, a matching clutch, dangling earrings and a bold red lip, letting her hair fall in soft curls down her back. The man of the hour, 55, looked dashing in a traditional black tux.

The worldly spouses (Amal speaks fluent French) are gearing up to be first-time parents to twins later this year.

Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter.

This is the second time the mama-to-be has been spotted out and about since her pregnancy news went public.

On Tuesday, Amal was seen in London, wearing an ankle-length red overcoat, minidress, black tights and motorcycle boots, the winter-friendly ensemble hiding any hint of a baby belly.

And while the couple is down for quick jaunts to close-by places like Paris, they wont be visiting any dangerous countries anytime soon.

We decided to be much more responsible, to avoid the danger, George told French outlet Paris Match recently. I wont go to South Sudan any more or the Congo, Amal will no longer go to Iraq and shell avoid places where she knows she isnt welcome.

RELATED VIDEO: See Amal Clooneys Growing Baby Bump Around the World  and Her Incredible Maternity Style

But that doesnt mean Amal wont have a chance to show off her flawless maternity looks elsewhere.

We have the chance to live between three countries: Italy, America and England, added the actor, who owns homes in all three places and recently had his mansion in the English countryside renovated to make way for his twins.

But as soon as the children go to school, itll be necessary to choose where to settle. In the meantime, we will continue to move according to our respective schedules.
(Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

By Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter

Bets are good that the Obama family will be watching the Oscar telecast on Feb. 26 considering what avid movie fans they are.

Now that hes gone from office, Hollywood insiders reveal the Obama White House constantly asked for access to new releases. Hollywood has a long tradition of providing films to the White House, where theres a posh screening room.

There was never a film they didnt request to watch, says an executive at one studio. President Obamas office also routinely requested awards screeners (including La La Land and other current Oscar contenders).

Another source says an ask even came in to watch Monster Trucks several days before Barack and Michelle Obama and their daughters, Malia  currently interning at Harvey Weinsteins film company  and Sasha, left the White House for good on Jan. 20.

Sources say one or more members of the Obama family watched movies in the screening room, in the private residence and even on Air Force One. And when vacationing in Kailua, Hawaii, the Obama family often went to a nearby Regal theater.

Bill Clinton was famously interested as well in movies, but that was in the DVD era, so more often than not, he would ask for DVDs, says an executive. George W. not so much.

So far, the Trump White House has been relatively quiet, although the new president hosted a screening for Finding Dory (on DVD) and asked for access to James Franco-Bryan Cranston comedy Why Him?.

Watch trailers, movies and more on Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

A version of this story first appeared in the Feb. 24 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

Read More: Trump Hosts First Official Movie Screening in White House Theater Amid Protests
Hollywood's most famous actresses will be primped and primed to perfection when they tread the red carpet on Sunday night for the 89th Academy Awards. We take the opportunity to look back on some of the most stunning Oscar beauty looks in recent history.

Lupita Nyong'o 2014

Lupita Nyong'o's 2014 Oscars look is nothing short of iconic. The Best Supporting Actress winner teamed her edgy crew cut with a bejeweled headband, a soft indigo eyeshadow and a hot pink lip.

Michelle Williams 2012

Michelle Williams's breathtaking 2012 look hinged on simplicity; the actress sported a gamine blonde pixie crop, dewy skin and a magenta lip that clashed beautifully with her scarlet dress.

Angelia Jolie 2004

2004 was the year that Angelina Jolie nailed her quintessential beauty look and the actress has remained faithful to it ever since. Here she is seen sporting a flawless complexion, a shimmery nude lip and a precise hint of a feline flick.

Halle Berry 2011

Halle Berry dazzled on the Oscars red carpet in 2011, adding a punkish edge to her otherwise smoky, neutral beauty look by adding a few spikes to her pixie crop.

Nicole Kidman 2007

We love Nicole Kidman's natural curls, but there's no denying that her ultra-sleek, ultra-blonde 2007 approach was an eye-opener. Barely-there eye makeup and a flash of crimson lipstick was all it took to seal her femme fatale status.

Scarlett Johansson 2015

Scarlett Johansson shook off her traditional pin-up image in 2015 when she showed the world how to rock a ball gown and a buzz cut on the red carpet. A taupe eye and a mid-pink lip kept things edgy but beautifully polished.



Alicia Vikander 2016

2016 was a great year for Alicia Vikander, but the Best Supporting Actress winner kept her cool at the Oscars with a funky half-up-half-down topknot and neutral makeup.

Gwyneth Paltrow 2015

Gwyneth Paltrow usually plays it safe when it comes to red carpet beauty, but the star added a contemporary twist to her 2015 look with this sleek underpinned hairstyle.

Kate Winslet 2009

Kate Winslet's 2009 wavy chignon brought to mind the fingerwave hairstyles of the 1920s, as well as showing off her one-shouldered gown to perfection.

Cate Blanchett 2014

Cate Blanchett let her hair down in 2014, and a signature style was born: the Best Actress winner's sleek shoulder-length waves were a throwback to the golden age of Hollywood glamour.
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:

1. HOMELAND SECURITY CHIEF SAYS MILITARY WON'T BE USED FOR DEPORTATIONS

Only hours John Kelly spoke in Mexico City, President Donald Trump suggested the opposite, telling CEOs at the White House the deportation push was a "military operation."

2. MALAYSIA SAYS NERVE AGENT USED IN KILLING OF NORTH KOREAN

Police said the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was detected on the face of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader.

3. PROTESTERS CLEARED FROM DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE CAMP

Officers and National Guardsmen searched tents and arrested dozens of holdouts who had defied a government order to leave.

4. WHY IRAQI FORCES ADVANCED CAUTIOUSLY TO RETAKE MOSUL AIRPORT

The approach stood in sharp contrast to the first days of Iraqi forces' swift push into Mosul from the east, where they were hit with heavy IS counterattacks.

5. HOW DEMOCRATS HOPE TO HARNESS ANTI-TRUMP MOVEMENTS

At their annual meeting, leaders are talking about how to maximize the anti-Trump surge that began with demonstrations last month and has continued at town halls across the country.

6. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SAYS IT WILL CRACKDOWN ON RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

The White House says the Justice Department will step up enforcement of federal law against recreational marijuana, offering the strongest indication to date of a looming crackdown on the drug.

7. SYRIA'S WARRING SIDES MEET FACE-TO-FACE IN UN TALKS

The U.N. envoy said the first such encounter in three years was a historic chance to end a conflict that has left hundreds of thousands dead.

8. WHERE PROTESTS AROSE AFTER OFF-DUTY OFFICER FIRES GUN IN SCUFFLE WITH BOY

Police in Anaheim defended their decision to arrest two teens, but not the officer, who detained the 13-year-old boy after believing the boy threatened him.

9. WHY CAR SHOPPING IS ABOUT MORE THAN KICKING THE TIRES

The rapidly evolving in-car infotainment and navigation systems can be bewildering for all but the most tech-savvy car buyers.

10. #OSCARSSOWHITE NOT IN THE PAST DESPITE DIVERSE 2017 NOMINEES

While it was a banner year for black nominees, other nonwhite groups and women were largely left out of the running.
Pakistani provides scholarship to 200 Nepali students

The Government of Pakistan has provided scholarship to 200 students. The students getting scholarship are from nursery to grade 12.
For some, saying goodbye is easier said than done. Just ask Jeep. Despite the arrival of this all-new, second-generation 2017 Jeep Compass crossover SUV, the brand will keep selling the first-generation Compass also as a 2017 model before sending that decade-old ute to the great scrap heap in the sky. Consumers may be confused. We, however, are happy to bid adieu to the lackluster first-generation Compass, as well as its boxier twin, the Jeep Patriot.

Like its predecessor and short-term stablemate, the new Compass fits into the 15.4-inch overall-length gap between Jeeps wee Renegade and its midrange Cherokee crossovers. (If this hair-splitting strategy seems a bit odd, know that the Compass also is intended to serve as a volume seller in many global markets for which the Cherokee is simply too large.) Unlike the sad-sack first-generation Compass, though, the redesigned crossover looks and feels like it belongs on the same showroom floor with those rigs. Built on the small-wide 4x4 architecture that underpins the bug-eyed Renegade, the new Compass doubles down on the miniGrand Cherokee looks that the original Compass tried to adopt in its 2011-model-year refresh. The new one is more handsome and better proportioned, with its slab sides complemented by an attractive shoulder-line kick and a pseudo floating roof. The latter is painted a contrasting black on the $29,690 Trailhawk; the black-roof treatment also is available on the $25,390 Latitude and $30,090 Limited trim levels but not on the base $22,090 Compass Sport. As with most modern Jeeps, the Compass is liberally endowed with Easter eggs, including a molded-plastic gecko at the base of the windshield and an imprint of the Loch Ness Monster at the bottom of the rear window.

Inside, the new Compass supplants the old ones low-rent interior with modern wares that recall the interiors of the costlier Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee in both design and material quality. Brittle-feeling control stalks and door-panel switchgear, though, are shared with the cheaper Renegade. Replacing the old Compasss dated multimedia systems are a trio of Uconnect touchscreen units that measure 5.0, 7.0, and 8.5 inches, the largest also available with navigation. As with the Uconnect systems found in other Fiat Chrysler products, the 8.5-inch unit we played with was quick to respond to touch inputs and easy to use. A handful of hard buttons located near the HVAC controls ensures that even the least tech-savvy operators can complete basic multimedia commands.

Big Foot(print)

At 173.0 inches long, the new 2017 Compass overshadows the Renegade by 6.4 inches. An additional 2.6 inches between the Compasss axles imbues the crossover with 3.2 inches more rear legroom than its smaller sibling. More impressive is the 27 cubic feet of cargo volume behind the 60/40 split-folding rear bench seat, which bests the larger Cherokee by two cubes.

The enlarged footprint also bestows the crossover with a more refined ride quality that doesnt embarrass the little Jeep dynamically when you give it the whip. Over pockmarked and twisting back roads near Hollister, California, the Compass felt secure and composed thanks to its relatively limited body roll and appropriately weighted, if aloof, steering. Brake dive was minimal, although the brake pedal proved touchy.

All Compasses use FCAs 2.4-liter inline-four producing 180 horsepower and 175 lb-ft of torque, an engine thats also available in the Renegade. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard on the Sport and the all-wheel-drive Latitude. Two automatic transmissions are offered: a six-speed for front-wheel-drive models and a nine-speed with all-wheel drive. Both the off-road-ready Trailhawk and top-of-the-line Limited trim levels have the all-wheel-drive/nine-speed-automatic drivetrain as standard, and thats the combination we sampled. Although the engines weak top end and the transmissions hesitancy to downshift meant the Compass labored to pass traffic at highway speeds, the powertrain was a fine companion at slower paces. Relatively short lower gears in the nine-speed help the Compass feel eager off the line. Still, dont bank on it being particularly speedy; consider that the quickest Jeep Renegade weve tested with this engine yielded a zero-to-60-mph time of 8.8 seconds while a heavier, off-road-oriented Renegade Trailhawk needed 9.2.

Rock with Me

With 8.5 inches of ground clearance (0.3 inch more than other all-wheel-drive Compass models), the Trailhawk has an impressive 30.3-degree approach angle, 24.4-degree breakover angle, and a 33.6-degree departure angle, improvements over the standard configuration by 13.5, 1.5, and 1.9 degrees. Further distinguishing the Trailhawk from other Compass variants are its knobby Falken WildPeak H/T tires, underbody skid plates, and Jeeps Active Drive Low all-wheel-drive system with a 4.33:1 final-drive ratio that features an overalland low-range-likefirst-gear ratio of 20.4:1.

While other all-wheel-drive Compass models provide standard Auto, Snow, Sand, and Mud driving modes, the Trailhawk adds a Rock mode. Among other things, Rock mode increases the sensitivity of the all-wheel-drive systems brake-based torque vectoring. At Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area, the Trailhawk proved its mettle clambering over jagged rocks and slogging through muddy pits with relative ease. Although Rock mode never felt necessary for the obstacles we encountered, engaging it did noticeably reduce wheelslip.

If the Jeep Renegade is just a hair too small and the Cherokee a smidge too big, then the new Compass is sized just right. No longer a penalty box, the second-generation Compass combines mature looks, nimble handling, and comfortable accommodations, making it a worthy addition to Jeeps small-crossover litter.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front- or all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback



BASE PRICES: Sport, $22,090;

Sport 4x4, $23,590;

Latitude, $25,390;

Latitude 4x4, $25,390;

Trailhawk 4x4, $29,690;

Limited 4x4, $30,090



ENGINE TYPE: SOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection



Displacement: 144 cu in, 2360 cc

Power: 180 hp @ 6400 rpm

Torque: 175 lb-ft @ 3900 rpm



TRANSMISSIONS: 6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode, 9-speed automatic with manual shifting mode



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 103.8 in

Length: 173.0 in

Width: 73.8 in Height: 64.6 in

Passenger volume: 101-102 cu ft

Cargo volume: 27 cu ft

Curb weight (C/D est): 3200-3650 lb



PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):

Zero to 60 mph: 9.3-9.6 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 30.4-32.5 sec

Standing -mile: 17.2-17.4 sec

Top speed: 115 mph



FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA combined/city/highway: 2325/2022/2630 mpg (C/D est)




The Daily Beast

GettyIt only took a few hours after Russias Vladimir Putin hailed his mobilization as a sparkling success Friday for a torrent of humiliating reports to emerge that suggest the war effort has been more successful in turning the country against him than defeating mythical Nazis in Ukraine.The most staggering contradiction to the Russian presidents boastful claims came perhaps in Kazan, where dozens of drafted troops were captured on video late Friday berating military leadership outside a colle
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Republican at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, known for his critical views on corporate penalties, expressed some support on Friday for imposing them in cases in which companies violate foreign bribery laws. "I am generally comfortable with assessing civil monetary penalties in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases," Acting SEC Chairman Michael Piwowar said in remarks at the Practising Law Institute's "SEC Speaks" conference. "According to academic literature, there is evidence that when such violations are revealed to the market, the stock price does not always fall, and may even increase," he added. Piwowar's comments come at a time when many on Wall Street have been questioning whether the Justice Department and the SEC will ease enforcement of the FCPA. Prior to being elected, President Donald Trump expressed concern about the FCPA, calling it a "horrible law" that should be changed. In addition, Trump's pick to lead the SEC, attorney Jay Clayton, previously chaired a committee at the New York City Bar Association which drafted a paper that was somewhat critical of how the law was being enforced. Clayton is still awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation. Piwowar's comments suggest there is likely to be some support among SEC commissioners to continue pursuing foreign bribery cases, given the impact FCPA disclosures have on share prices. Piwowar is well known for being critical about how the SEC decides when to assess corporate penalties generally, amid concerns that sizeable fines against public companies may in some cases unduly punish ordinary shareholders who are already victims of the alleged wrongdoing. He previously voted against imposing penalties against JPMorgan Chase & Co over its "London Whale" trades. The SEC did not win authority from Congress to seek penalties until 1990, and even then, the agency was slow to embrace the practice until after the major accounting scandals at companies like Enron and Worldcom. But in 2006, then-SEC Chair Chris Cox shifted gears amid concerns from some SEC officials about corporate penalties and issued guidance that spells out factors the commission should consider when determining whether to levy them. Piwowar said on Friday he closely follows those guidelines. "It is entirely appropriate to discipline and punish corporate malefactors who violate our laws," he said. But the SEC must "remember the innocent investors" who are also victims, he added. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Pretoria (AFP) - South African police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to break up clashes between local protesters and migrants in Pretoria on Friday at a march against immigration, an AFP journalist said.

Shops and homes owned by foreigners have been looted and torched in recent weeks, with some locals alleging that the properties were brothels and drug dens.
Photo credit: Darrin Klimek / Getty

From Popular Mechanics

They say that everything is legal in New Jersey, but that's not quite true. If you do happen to be arrested in the state, an algorithm will help determine whether you can post bail.

In the past, New Jersey's bail system was a bit of a mess. Like many bail systems across the country, New Jersey's system was often criticized by criminal justice and civil rights activists for discriminating against people who are low-income or minorities. Because human judges set bail amounts, human biases often influenced those amounts.

To fix this, New Jersey implemented a new system on January 1 that supplemented those human judges with an algorithm to more fairly set bail amounts. The algorithm, called the Public Safety Assessment, mathematically determines the likelihood that a defendant will skip their trial or commit another crime. The new system takes much of the bias out of the system, ensuring that more people get a fair bail amount.

Using algorithms to calculate bail amounts isn't new, but implementations in many other states tended to simply reinforce the biases they were trying to eliminate. Many other algorithms use predictive markers like zip codes or level of education can often end up just predicting wealth or race.

New Jersey's algorithm instead relies on a dataset of more than 1.5 million cases, and looks at what factors are best able to predict the likelihood of someone skipping their court date or committing another crime. The developers found that race and income are very poor predictors, and that the most common thread is the number of previous convictions. If a person has many prior convictions they are more likely to receive a higher bail amount.

The system isn't perfect, and focusing on prior convictions may still unfairly penalize certain overpoliced demographics, but it is an improvement over the previous system. This system is already being used in many places besides New Jersey, and hopefully it will expand to the entire country soon.

Story continues

Source: Motherboard

You Might Also Like
San Francisco (AFP) - The race to develop self-driving vehicles took a new turn on Thursday when Google's parent company Alphabet filed a lawsuit against Uber, accusing it of stealing technology.

Alphabet contends that a manager at its autonomous car subsidiary Waymo took technical data with him when he left to launch a competing venture that went on to become Otto, Uber's self-driving vehicle unit, in a reported $680 million deal.

"Otto and Uber have taken Waymo's intellectual property so that they could avoid incurring the risk, time and expense of independently developing their own technology," Waymo said in a San Francisco federal court filing.

Waymo is calling for a trial to stop Otto and Uber from using what it says is patented technology.

Waymo also wants unspecified damages in what it described in court documents as "an action for trade secret misappropriation, patent infringement, and unfair competition."

The company argued that a "calculated theft" of its technology "reportedly netted Otto employees over half a billion dollars and allowed Uber to revive a stalled program, all at Waymo's expense."

Responding to an AFP request for comment, an Uber spokeswoman said in an email that "we take the allegations made against Otto and Uber employees seriously and we will review this matter carefully."

The California-based ride-sharing service acquired the commercial transport-focused tech startup Otto last year as it pressed ahead with its pursuit of self-driving technology.

Anthony Levandowski, a co-founder of Otto, a 90-person startup, was put in charge of Uber's efforts to develop self-driving technology for personal driving, delivery and trucking.

- Cars that 'see' -

Waymo's lawsuit contends that Levandowski downloaded more than 14,000 proprietary files from a highly confidential design server to a laptop in December 2015.

A week later, after removing a data storage card, Levandowski reformatted the company laptop in what the suit maintains was an attempt to erase any trace of what happened to the downloaded data.

Story continues

The suit is focused on proprietary information about LiDAR sensors, which use lasers to scan and essentially enable vehicles to "see" what is around them, according to the lawsuit. The information stored on the Waymo server wound up at Otto, it says.

Waymo says it has invested tens of millions of dollars in the technology.

"Thanks in part to this highly advanced LiDAR technology, Waymo became the first company to complete a fully self-driving trip on public roads in a vehicle without a steering wheel," the suit says.

After downloading confidential information regarding Waymo's LiDAR systems and other technology while working at Waymo, Levandowski attended meetings with high-level executives at Uber's headquarters in San Francisco in January 2016, the lawsuit contends.

By the end of that month, Levandowski officially formed a venture that would become Otto and resigned from Waymo, according to the court filing.

A self-driving truck built by Otto made a pioneering delivery of beer in Colorado in November.

An 18-wheel semi made the 120-mile (190-kilometer) trip from Fort Collins through the center of crowded Denver to Colorado Springs using only its panoply of cameras, radar and sensors to read the road.

Uber is also trying out a self-driving car service in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The major US car manufacturers all have driverless car development programs, as does the tech giant Apple.

Many automakers already have cars on the road with advanced driver-assist technology, most notably electric car producer Tesla.

- Rough road -

The Waymo lawsuit comes as Uber's image is suffering from a series of blows.

Chief executive Travis Kalanick quit US President Donald Trump's business advisory group earlier this month under pressure from a growing movement to boycott the ride-sharing service because of his connection to the new administration.

A #DeleteUber campaign picked up speed on social media, urging people to drop the service and switch to rival Lyft -- which saw its popularity soar after it promised to donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union, which has filed lawsuits against Trump's measures.

This week, Kalanick announced an "urgent investigation" at the company after a former employee wrote a blog post alleging pervasive sexual harassment and sexism at the firm.
Luanda (AFP) - Angola's parliament has approved changes to a colonial-era law and decriminalised abortion in some cases, including for victims of rape.

Under the changes, abortions may be carried out before the sixth month of pregnancy in cases where the mother's life is in danger or if the pregnancy is a result of rape.

But abortion per se remains illegal and can fetch up to three years in jail for the woman and four years for the practitioner.

"Abortion is forbidden, it is a crime in Angola," Justice Minister Rui Mangueira told reporters on Thursday.

But in cases where "the ban has been lifted ... in cases where the life of the mother is in danger."

Angola, a former Portuguese country, is predominantly Christian.
Police arrest six for robbing businessmen

Police on Thursday arrested six men for robbing two businessmen by impersonating as security personnel working for the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority.
LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola said on Friday that Portugal's decision to charge its Vice President Manuel Vicente with corruption and money laundering was a "serious attack" that threatened relations between the two states. A foreign affairs ministry statement said Angola "considers unfriendly and nonsensical the way the Portuguese authorities conveyed this news which constitutes a serious attack on the Republic of Angola and is likely to disrupt the good relations existing between the two states." The prosecutor general's office in Lisbon last week said it was charging Vicente, who is accused of bribing a magistrate when he was chief executive of state oil company Sonangol. Vicente is a powerful figure in Angola, Africa's second-biggest crude producer, but he is no longer seen as a successor to President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who said earlier this month he would not run in this year's presidential election, calling an end to 38 years as head of state. The ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) approved Defense Minister Joao Lourenco, 62, as its presidential candidate instead of Vicente, at one time seen as the next in line. Angola is a former Portuguese colony and has branded previous attempts by Portugal to investigate Vicente as "revenge by the former colonial master" and "neo-colonialism". Rights groups and financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund have frequently raised concerns about graft and the squandering of oil revenues in Angola, where most of the population lives in abject poverty. (Reporting by Herculano Coroado; Writing by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Ankara (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Syrians have returned home from Turkey since the start of Ankara's military operation inside the country, Turkey's foreign minister said Friday.

"Nearly 50,000 Syrians have returned to this area from Turkey since the Euphrates Shield operation started," Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

He was referring to Ankara's ambitious military operation launched last August in northern Syria to help Syrian rebels oust jihadists.

They have recaptured several towns from the Islamic State group (IS), including Jarabulus and Al-Rai near the border after a lightning advance.

Earlier, the Turkish armed forces said the Turkey-backed fighters had "control of all neighbourhoods in Al-Bab", IS's last stronghold in the northern province of Aleppo.

The military said work to clear the areas of obstacles, mines and explosives continued in the town, which was taken by them after a more than two-month campaign.

"I believe after Daesh is cleared from Al-Bab, many people will go back," Cavusoglu told reporters in the southern Turkish city of Antalya, using the Arabic name for IS.

Turkey has repeatedly called for a safe zone inside Syria as well as a "no-fly" zone, where refugees could live safely in the country.

"When there is a safe zone free of terrorism, Syrians have the chance to return to a normal life," Cavusoglu added.

Turkish chief of staff General Hulusi Akar was quoted by local media giving reassurances of Turkish support for people in Al-Bab to ensure they can return to their homes safely after the bloody fight.

Since Turkey launched the operation, 71 Turkish military personnel have been killed, most of whom during the battle for Al-Bab including two soldiers Friday.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  A federal appeals court has refused to rehear the case of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship in the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed down the order Friday.

In January, a three-judge panel of the court found no error in trial rulings.

Those judges rejected his argument that jury instructions made it too easy to conclude that he willfully violated safety rules at West Virginia's Upper Big Branch mine before the 2010 explosion that killed 29 men.

He was convicted in 2015 of a misdemeanor charge of conspiring to willfully violate safety standards.

The 66-year-old Blankenship is scheduled for release May 10 from a California federal prison where he's serving a one-year sentence.

___

Information from: The Charleston Gazette-Mail, http://wvgazettemail.com.
The Arizona Senate approved a bill Wednesday that expands police power to arrest anyone involved in a protest that is likely to turn bad. Supporters of the bill said it would deter violent riots and punish anyone who pays people to join protests.

All 17 Senate Republicans voted in favor of the bill while all 13 Democrats opposed the measure. The bill will now go to the House.

Under Senate Bill 1142, participating in or helping to organize a demonstration that turns into a riot will be seen as an offense. This is likely to lead to criminal racketeering charges. The bill also adds rioting to the organized crime statutes and allows authorities to charge anyone who was not involved in the actual riot. Furthermore, the measure would allow prosecutors to seize a person's assets and impose additional criminal charges on them.

Opponents of the bill said it would curb free speech rights and lead to the persecution of innocent people.

When people want to express themselves as a group during a time of turmoil, during a time of controversy, during a time of high emotions, thats exactly when people gather as a community, Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix, said. Sometimes they yell, sometimes they scream, sometimes they do go too far.

"This is a total perversion of the RICO process, the racketeering process, and I see major Constitutional issues down the line," Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, said. "I don't think this is going to do anything but get us into more lawsuits."

However, Republicans cited recent protests against President Donald Trump and alt-right journalist Milo Yiannopoulos that turned violent.

"I have been heartsick at what is going on in our country, what young people are being encouraged to do," Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake reportedly said. "And there's a difference between a protest and a riot. And what we have been watching is riots."

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, also defended the bill, saying that it would only target specific group of protesters.

Story continues

You now have a situation where you have full-time, almost professional agent-provocateurs that attempt to create public disorder, Kavanagh said. A lot of them are ideologues, some of them are anarchists. But this stuff is all planned.

Related Articles
By Steve Barnes

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - The largest and busiest airport in Arkansas would no longer be named after the only president and first lady from the state if a bill introduced in the legislature on Thursday succeeds.

The legislation would prohibit public buildings or civil works from being named for anyone living or who served in public office in the 10 years prior to the structures completion.

The bill makes no mention of former President Bill Clinton or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for whom the Little Rock airport was re-named four years ago - as Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field - but its author does not hesitate to identify its target.

You have a president who was impeached for having an affair with an intern in the Oval Office and then disbarred, said state Sen. Jason Rapert, the bills author and one of the Arkansas legislatures most outspoken conservatives.

President Clinton was impeached in 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives, which accused him of obstructing justice by lying under oath about a sexual relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Clinton was acquitted in a Senate trial the following year.

Hillary Clinton served as attorney to the citys airport commission during her husbands tenure as governor of Arkansas. At the conclusion of her husbands presidency she won a Senate seat in New York.

She was appointed secretary of state by President Barack Obama, who defeated her for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton won the nomination last year but was defeated by President Donald Trump.

Rapert, whose Senate district does not include Little Rock, said he introduced the legislation after several Arkansans across the state had expressed to him their discomfort with naming its largest airport after the controversial Clintons.

He conceded his legislation might not win approval.

"But we can prevent this sort of thing in the future," he said.

Story continues

City officials have defended re-naming the airport, although sometimes tersely.

"I think the name of the airport is appropriate and I support retaining it," said Meredith Catlett, a member of the terminals governing commission.

(Reporting by Steve Barnes in Little Rock; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Anousheh Ansari, the first female space tourist, and Firouz Naderi, a former director of Solar Systems Exploration at NASA, will be representing Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi at the Oscars on Sunday.

Although Farhadis The Salesman is a nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, Farhadi previously stated that he will not be present at the ceremony in reaction to President Donald Trumps immigration ban. Iran is one of the seven majority-Muslim countries that Trump barred from traveling to the United States.

In a statement released last month, Farhadi wrote: The possibility of [my] presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip.

Now, Variety announced that the two prominent Iranian Americans will be attending the awards on Farhadis behalf, as confirmed to the site by his publicist.

The Salesman follows the story of a couple whose relationship is tested as they prepare for a performance of Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman. In 2012, Farhadi won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for the movie A Separation and was named one of TIMEs 100 Most Influential People.
Scientists are criticizing the Australian government for its $11 million plan to unleash herpes on its carp population.

The plan could lead to catastrophic ecosystem crashes and constitutes a serious risk to global food security, researchers Jackie Lighten and Cock van Oosterhout warned in a new letter published in the Nature Ecology and Evolution Journal.

For those who werent closely following the issue of Australian carp herpes before this, heres an overview of whats going on:

Australia has a serious carp problem. The country imported European carps for fish farming in the 1850s, but some were accidentally released into the wild in the 1960s. Since then, their population has exploded and now millions are clogging up key river arteries. The fish now constitute over 90 percent of the aquatic biomass in Australias largest river system. Theyre destroying the ecosystem and starving out native wildlife in the process, costing the country an estimated $500 million a year in economic impact.

So last year, the government came up with an idea to eliminate the fishy pest with some good old fashioned biowarfare: releasing a strain of carp herpes into the wild to let the virus thin out the population.

In a 2016 Carp Press Conference, Australian lawmakers said releasing a strain of carp herpes that leaves other native wildlife unharmed will wipe out 95 percent of the European carp population over the next 30 years to confront what they call the Carpageddon.

Its one of those bold plans the Aussies thought might just be crazy enough to work. After all, using viruses to wipe out invasive species worked on those throngs of feral cats on South Africas Marion Island. And Australias hordes of invasive bunnies.

But Lighten and van Oosterhout warn theres a high risk of the herpes strain spreading from Australia into the worlds oceans and harming other species in the long term. And in the short term, if the virus does its job, Australia will have to deal with millions of tons of dead carps decomposing its waterways, crashing the already fragile ecosystem in addition to probably making half of Australia smell really awful for a long time. And it may not even work, they warn, because of how fertile carp are; a single female carp can lay 10 million eggs a year  way more than the rabbits or cats theyve fought with viruses before.

Australia doesnt plan on releasing the carp herpes virus until 2018, so scientists still have a year to sound the alarm bells on this plan. In the meantime, Carpageddon continues unabated.

Photo credit: BERND WUSTNECK/AFP/Getty Images
Power output falls 60pc as river flows shrink

Hydropower generation in the country has plunged by almost 60 percent as the water level in most river basins has fallen due to the dry season. As a majority of the hydroelectric stations are of the run-of-the-river type, output drops sharply during the dry season when the water flow in the rivers goes down.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Some Australians foresee trouble in their country's traditionally strong alliance with the United States because of what they see as "unpresidential" behavior from President Donald Trump, while others think outspoken businessman-turned-Australian-leader Malcolm Turnbull is a good match for him.

Australians have long had an affinity with the United States and absorb American popular culture like blotting paper. The U.S. is popularly seen as rescuing Australia from Japanese invasion during World War II, after old ally Britain abandoned its Southeast Asian stronghold of Singapore. Ever since, the United States has found a staunch ally in Australia in every major conflict, including an unpopular war in Vietnam and the politically divisive invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Australia increasingly mattered to Washington under President Barack Obama's tenure, seen in an increased presence of U.S. military troops and Marines on Australian soil as part of a U.S. policy pivot to Asia.

Some Australians doubt the U.S. bedrock of regional security remains as solid under Trump, who questions global alliances. A terse conversation between President Trump and Prime Minister Turnbull suggested the relationship had changed; the American berated a deal his predecessor had made to resettle mainly Muslim refugees who had been rejected by Australia.

The voices of some students, businesspeople and the retired in Australia epitomize the uncertainty among U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region of what comes next:

___

PETE RYAN, 70, is a terminally ill Vietnam War veteran who lives in the Australian capital, Canberra. His son-in-law volunteered to work on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and brought him back a red Trump cap, although as a veterans' advocate Ryan has long kept his political views to himself.

Ryan has always had faith in the Australia-U.S. defense treaty that has formed the backbone of Australian security policy since it was signed in 1951. But Ryan now questions the U.S. commitment to that alliance and the Asia-Pacific region threatened by the territorial claims of China.

Story continues

"The current era is changed altogether with the election of President Trump and in the future under President Trump, we don't know  nobody knows  it's a completely new ball game and we're now in a position from Australia's point of view of: wait and see," Ryan said.

___

BRONWYN HALBISCH, 71, has been a member of the Australian American Association for more than 25 years. She came to love Americans after forming a relationship with a New Yorker while she was living in Sydney.

Now a resident of Canberra, Halbisch says ties between the countries were too strong to be derailed by individual personalities such as Trump's. The 75th anniversary in May of the Battle of the Coral Sea  a World War II battle between the Japanese navy on one side and naval and air forces from Australia and the U.S.  was a reminder of that, she said.

When Trump and Turnbull had a heated telephone discussion over refugees in their first conversation as national leaders, Halbisch saw it as the start of a good relationship.

"In relation to the recent telephone conversation between Turnbull and Trump, Trump is known for his volatility and so it really wasn't surprising that perhaps that's the way the conversation went. But Turnbull, I'm really impressed with how he handled it, because he has a bit of history of volatility as well. But the difference between the two is Turnbull is eloquent, and let me tell you, if Trump had been on the end of a Turnbull spray he would have known about it and been probably shocked. And so I feel that Turnbull stood up to him and will stand his ground, and so I look forward to the two of them both being high-powered businessmen before they came into politics  I think it will be a good relationship," Halbisch said.

___

DOMINIC NELSON is a 25-year-old Australian National University science student who thinks Trump's behavior toward Turnbull during their phone conversation was unpresidential. Nelson expects the bilateral relationship will go downhill during Trump's presidency.

"I think the alliance was pretty strong under Obama. There were tensions between President Trump and Prime Minister Turnbull, so I think it is going to weaken a little in the coming years. From what I have heard and read about, it does seem like it wasn't  it seemed unpresidential in a way, so it was very aggressive, even toward close allies like Australia and U.S. have been over the past 70 years, even more. It didn't seem like a good start," Nelson said.

___

MARKO TUCOVIC is a 23-year-old Australian National University sociology student and member of the university's socialist club. He was not a fan of the United States under the Obama administration and doesn't see much difference under Trump. At the core of Trump's disagreement with Turnbull is both leaders' polarizing positions on refugees.

"To be honest, Trump represents a new step in American policy but it's only a more kind of uncovered step as to what it was before. Like the way he talks about torture. Well, under Obama it was enhanced interrogation techniques. Trump says: 'No, we torture. That's fine, and we want to do more torture,'" Tucovic said.

"It think it's great that Turnbull got embarrassed by his phone call with Trump, because Turnbull's basically a racist just like Trump. The way that Australia (treats) refugees is cruel and unkind and unfair," he added.

_____

LACHIE McOMISH owns the Wig and Pen microbrewery in Canberra and has a daughter living in New York. The 65-year-old is frustrated that media reaction to Trump's election is unnecessarily frightening consumers and harming economic conditions even in Australia.

"The question which has been puzzling many of us is, will the election of the Trump government in the United States of America make any significant difference to Australian-American relations and indeed to economic conditions here in Australia? Does America need Donald Trump to make it great again? Well, I think Donald Trump is not needed to make America great again. America is great and will remain great as long as it remains true to its founding principles: the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness," McOmish said.
By Cate Cadell BEIJING (Reuters) - Baidu Inc's revenue fell for a second straight quarter, hurt by a government crackdown on healthcare advertising, but the internet search giant expects a rebound this year as it retools to find growth outside its core ad business. The company has stumbled over the past few years - firstly from a cash-burning subsidy war with rivals such as Alibaba in businesses like food delivery, movie tickets and taxi hailing, and more recently from a regulatory backlash following the death of a student who underwent an experimental cancer treatment that he found using Baidu's search engine. Baidu has been forced to slash healthcare ads under a new government compliance code. Analysts estimate healthcare accounts for about 20-30 percent of the company's search revenue, which represents more than 80 percent of its total sales. Baidu is now retreating from loss-making ventures outside of search and shifting resources into artificial intelligence (AI). It hired Qi Lu, a top Microsoft executive, last quarter to oversee the shift to AI in a shake up it hopes will steer revenue growth back into positive territory. "We believe that the impact of these initiatives (slashing healthcare ads) is mostly behind us and we look forward to 2017 as a time of recovery and growth," Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Li said in a statement on Friday. The firm expects its revenue to rise by about 4.2-7.6 percent over the three months to March 2017, the first such increase in three quarters. Analysts on an average expect a 7.6 percent rise, according to Thomson Reuters data. In the quarter ended December 2016, Baidu's revenue fell 2.6 percent to 18.21 billion yuan ($2.65 billion), from 18.70 billion yuan a year earlier, coming in at the higher end of a range forecast by the company.. Net income slumped over 80 percent to 4.13 billion yuan, partly due to the closure of a deal in the same period a year earlier when Baidu received a 25 percent stake in Chinese travel company Ctrip.com International Ltd in return for a 45 percent stake of Baidu's travel affiliate Qunar Cayman Islands Ltd. Baidu's U.S.-listed shares rose more than 1 percent after the bell on Thursday as net income outstripped analysts' estimates of about 2.3 billion yuan. The internet search giant did not make any further comments on media reports from earlier this week that said its CEO, Robin Li, had been issued a travel ban by authorities. On Wednesday, Baidu denied the news. A crackdown on corruption in China, spearheaded by President Xi Jinping, has ensnared a number of high profile executives and sparked media speculation about others. ($1 = 6.8622 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Addtional reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Belgrade (AFP) - Jailed for committing atrocities in the conflict-riven 1990s, Balkan war criminals are being welcomed back to the limelight, resuming political posts, advising top officials and preaching in church.

Two decades after the bloodshed that tore apart communist Yugoslavia, the men convicted for their destructive roles are increasingly present in public life, especially in Serbia, where many of them remain popular.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in January received Momcilo Krajisnik, a wartime Bosnian Serb leader who was released after serving two thirds of a 20-year jail sentence handed down by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague.

Krajisnik, convicted of crimes against humanity including the deportation and persecution of non-Serbs, discussed with the president "the protection of Serb people's rights in the region," according to a statement from Nikolic's office.

The meeting came nearly four years after several thousand well-wishers lined the streets of Krajisnik's Bosnian hometown Pale to welcome him back from prison.

Like other regional war criminals upon release, he was flown by government helicopter.

- 'A message of impunity' -

Last month, Serbia's ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) invited former Yugoslav army officer Veselin Sljivancanin to speak at an event. He earlier spent more than six years in jail over the 1991 massacre of some 260 people in the Croatian town of Vukovar.

Asked if his participation in last month's event was suitable, Vladimir Gak, a senior SNS official and mayor of the northern town of Indjija, repeatedly replied that Sljivancanin "is a free citizen of Serbia".

Protesters from the non-governmental Youth Initiative for Human Rights interrupted the event with a banner that read: "War criminals must shut up so we can talk about victims".

The activists said they were beaten over the protest, while top SNS officials called them "fascists" and "hooligans" and demanded that they be punished by the authorities.

Story continues

For Izabela Kisic, executive director of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, the ruling party "sends a message of impunity and ignores the families of victims" by bringing convicted war criminals back to public life.

The 1990s conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo claimed more than 130,000 lives, while more than 10,000 have never been accounted for. Millions lost their homes.

Kisic believes Serbia has never gone through "a process of Denazification like Germany had" after World War II.

"Such participation of war criminals in public life in Germany would have been unimaginable," she said.

- Courting voters -

In another example, former deputy premier Nikola Sainovic was appointed to a top body of Serbia's Socialist Party, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, after serving two thirds of an 18-year sentence for crimes against ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo war.

"His supporters in eastern Serbia do not see him as a war criminal, they like him a lot," a top party official told AFP, adding that Sainovic "is experienced and very useful to the party".

Both President Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who together formed the populist SNS party, have ultranationalist pasts and were ministers under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Both men were also once close allies of far-right Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj, who was tried for war crimes by the ICTY but eventually acquitted.

After returning to Serbia in late 2015 after 12 years in detention, Seselj led his party back into parliament last year as the strongest opposition force, and he now hopes for success in a presidential election due in April.

Political analyst Boban Stojanovic believes the publicity given to convicted war criminals is a ploy by the ruling party to "gain some political points" ahead of the vote.

"The SNS has won over a huge number of Seselj's Radical Party voters. Among them there are certainly people who still consider war criminals as heroes," Stojanovic said.

On the streets of the capital Belgrade, T-shirts for sale bear the face of Ratko Mladic, the notorious Bosnian Serb military chief during the war.

Mladic awaits his verdict from the UN court over his role in Bosnia's war, notably the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 of 8,000 Muslim men and boys, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

- From prison to mayor -

The rehabilitation of war criminals after their release is not limited to Serbia.

Fikret Abdic was recently elected mayor of the western Bosnian town of Velika Kladusa, having served time for setting up prison camps during the war that housed 5,000 prisoners, more than 300 of whom were killed.

In Croatia, local media have reported that Dario Kordic, a Bosnian Croat who served more than 16 years in prison for his role in a 1993 massacre of 116 civilians, now often preaches in Catholic churches.
By Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh has announced plans to raise natural gas prices for the second time in under two years, meeting with immediate protests from political parties and industry groups, including the $28 billion garments industry, the country's economic mainstay. Gas prices will rise by an average 22.7 percent in two phases starting next month, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) announced late on Thursday. Five political parties including the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) called for a half-day general strike in Dhaka on Tuesday to protest against the increases, following demonstrations and protest rallies on Friday. We will continue our protest until the government changes its decision," said Mujahidul Islam Selim, president of the CPB. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the largest opposition party also demanded the decision be revoked, with BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed threatening to call for mass protests across the country if the government went ahead with the price increases. Rahman Murshed, a senior official with the BERC told Reuters on Friday that the increase was necessary to reduce subsidies on gas prices. Gas is currently sold on at nearly half the purchased price. Murshed said the "rationalised prices" will be effective in two phases in March and June. Mohammad Siddiqur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the price hike was a blow to the industry as higher gas prices will raise the cost of electricity at a time when it is struggling to compete. "The price of readymade garments is decreasing by the day," Rahman said. "Now our cost of production will increase, lowering our competitiveness further." Power plants consume 40 percent of all the gas bought by Bangladesh and the price for the power generators is set to rise by 34 percent, Murshed said. Households use 13 percent of the gas consumed, the transport sector about 6 percent, fertilisers 6.5 percent and the industrial sector about 17 percent, he added. (Editing by Greg Mahlich)
Brussels (AFP) - Belgium's government approved special help for terror victims Friday, as the country prepares to mark the first anniversary of deadly Islamic State-claimed attacks in Brussels which killed 32 people.

Under the proposed "national solidarity" law, victims will get financial and medical aid linked to the seriousness of their injuries, a statement said.

Belgians and residents classified as "having suffered injury, physical or mental, as a result of a terrorist act" will benefit, it said.

The attacks on the Brussels metro and its busy airport on March 22 last year by home-grown jihadists left hundreds of people injured, many of them seriously and who now require long term health care and rehabilitation.

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the government provided emergency financial assistance for the victims.

The new law, expected to be approved by parliament in coming months, will also apply to Belgian citizens hurt in attacks overseas, the statement said.
Ben Hardy - Bikers You Should Know

If you're not familiar with the movie Easy Rider, then please go watch it before reading any further because in this episode of Bikers You SHould Know, we are going to look at one of the original legendary custom bike builders, Ben Hardy. Mr. Hardy is the man who built the choppers for Easy Rider. Since this is probably the most famous motorcycles ever made it might come as a surprise that he hasn't received more recognition for his role. Perhaps because both Hardy and Cliff Vaughs (Vaughs designed the bikes while Hardy built them) were black they were a bit short changed a bit in the history books. But we believe it's time to spread the word on their behalf. Hardy in particular, never managed to really profit from the fame that movie should have brought him, or Vaughs for that matter. Easy Rider made roughly $60 million over the years and the Captain America bike recently sold for $1.3-million a few years ago. Yet some men are content to just play a part in history and that appears to be the path Hardy was content with.

It is very frustrating trying to write about individuals like this man and not being able to find facts, and fewer pictures. Even on the web there are very few details, yet alone images, to help build the story Hardy deserves. But we will do our best.Almost everything online about Ben Hardy seems to come from an old issue of Ed Roth's Choppers magazine (like the lead picture at top), the Jesse James TV documentary "The History of Choppers", or from pictures on the wall of Sugarbear's shop. Paul D'Orleans over at the Vintagent seems to have stitched it together more completely than anyone, and eventually wrote a book about it. After reading through all of the info I could scrounge up, what it boils down to though is this: Just like rock and roll, and much of American popular culture, that classic chopper style was stolen from African Americans and whitewashed (pun intended - Ed.)

Story continues

Even though Benjamin Hardy died in 1994, there does not seem to be an obituary for him online anywhere. Nearest I can figure he was born around 1910 or so, and opened his Hardy's Motorcycle Service shop in South Central L.A. just after WWII. In Jesse James' Chopper documentary, Cliff Vaughs mentions him being a mentor and old timer already in the 1960s. Ben had an encyclopedic knowledge of motorcycles and was always willing to share with anyone who needed it. The building he worked out of is still there at 1168 E. Florence, and you can see it on Google Street View.

As far as the Easy Rider bikes go, the credit they received was far from flattering. Back in 2007 (a year after the History of the Chopper) actor Peter Fonda explained to NPR's Fresh Air, that "I built the motorcycles that I rode and Dennis rode. I bought four of them from Los Angeles Police Department. I love the political incorrectness of that ... And five black guys from Watts helped me build these." It would be interesting to dig into this aspect of the story a little further but as you can imagine, it's not an easy task.

Dennis Hopper acknowledged Ben Hardy and Cliff Vaughs on the director commentary of the Easy Rider DVD in 2009, but it wasn't until 2014 when Fonda finally made things right with a written letter to Vaughs, saying "...I gave Cliff a sketch that I had drawn in Toronto Canada on September 27th 1967. It was a rough sketch of the teardrop gas tank... It is not too late to give you and Ben Hardy the praise you deserve in designing the iconic bikes in Easy Rider..."

Odds are, there's some long term memory loss that may be clouding Fonda's memory in particular. According to my reserach, Cliff actually bought the former police bikes and Ben Hardy rebuilt the engines, plus he performed the practical engineering and fabrication at his shop. Larry Marcus (one of the five guys Fonda mentioned) was Vaughs' roomate at the time, did a lot of the actual wrenching as well. For all of their work, according to Fonda's letter, they got paid $1250 per bike, and had to split it with the shop doing the chrome plating, the frame shop and painter, Dean Lanza. I'd say that the Easy Rider crew got a pretty good deal for the machines that would go on to represent the icons of the chopper lifestyle nearly fifthy years later. But you have to give props to Hardy, Vaughns and their team for building these masterpieces.

Ben Hardy lived his life and ran his shop, and never had the opportunity to enjoy the fame and fortune society has bestowed on many lesser motorcycle builders. To hear Sugar Bear, and Cliff Vaughs talk about him, he did experience a degree of fame within the black biker community, and people would come from all over L.A. to have him work on their bikes. As with most humble men, he didn't let it get to him. In the brief video interview from the chopper documentary, Ben doesn't seem particularly bitter about Easy Rider, but I sure wish I could find the rest of that interview. Ben's Wikipedia page is very short and lacking information, so if anyone who reads this has more resources, please let us know.

I'm always looking for new movies, books and other motorcycle history and pop culture to consume, so drop us a line if you have a suggestion.

Learn more about Bryan and the rest of RideApart's excellent staff here: The RideApart Team

Follow RideApart on Facebook and Twitter, along with@RideApart on Instagram.
Best-selling novel "Behind Closed Doors" is to be adapted for the big screen reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Written by B.A. Paris, the thriller is to be adapted into a film with a script by Melissa London Hilfers, who describes the book as a "gripping, modern Hitchcockian thriller exploring what truth lies beneath the veneer we all project."

The novel tells the story of a perfect marriage gone wrong, following a woman whose dream husband suddenly becomes her worst nightmare immediately following their wedding day.

Published by St. Martins in the U.S. and Mira Publishing House in the UK, the book sold more than 100,000 copies in its first week of publishing in Britain before going on to be published in over 35 countries and spend several weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.

Currently more than 500,000 copies have sold in the U.S. and over 800,000 have sold in the UK before its paperback release.
Thousands of women took to the streets of Manchester, UK, on Thursday evening to protest sexual violence, street harassment and victim blaming.

The first "Reclaim the Night" march took place in 1977 after police implemented a curfew while the "Yorkshire Ripper"  an English serial killer who murdered 13 women between 1975 and 1980  was active in the north of England.

Women across the country were angered when Yorkshire police told local women not to go out at night, effectively putting them under curfew. On Nov. 12, 1966, women marched in cities across the UK to fight for a woman's right to walk without fear at night.

SEE ALSO: The most hilariously British signs from London's Women's March

Forty years on from that historic night, women in Manchester brandished homemade signs and banners as they marched for a cause that's just as relevant now as it was four decades ago.



Of course, it wouldn't be a protest without a sign about Beyonce.

beyonce wouldn't stand for this shit & neither should u #reclaimthenight #reclaimthenightmcr oh and ps fuck trump A post shared by Amy P Miller (@amymillerr) on Feb 23, 2017 at 2:47pm PST

Many signs focused on victim blaming in relation to women's clothing.

Thanks for making me a fighter  #reclaimthenightmcr A post shared by fern cooke (@ferncooke) on Feb 23, 2017 at 3:09pm PST

"Rape predates the mini skirt."

Keep your filthy paws off of my silky draws #reclaimthenightmcr #march #liliforgottheV #endsexualviolence A post shared by Gab (@gaby_hartfield) on Feb 23, 2017 at 1:37pm PST

#HurricaneDoris had better cut us some slack, because I'm not marching in the wind and rain #ReclaimTheNight pic.twitter.com/gYK1Cqs6rs  Ella Otomewo (@black_poetess) February 23, 2017

"Bye, don't touch me."

Story continues

The Force was strong with protesters at the march.

reclaim the night 2017: marching against street harrassment and sexual violence #feminism #reclaimthenight A post shared by who? (@yna.francesca) on Feb 23, 2017 at 2:09pm PST

Some were fighting for the right to party without fear of being raped.

We want safe streets, end sexual violence #reclaimthenightmcr A post shared by Jade (@jade_lav) on Feb 23, 2017 at 1:28pm PST

"Sick of being scared to walk home alone."

#ReclaimtheNightMCR last night A post shared by Sian  (@sianhamer) on Feb 23, 2017 at 10:51pm PST

"Vulvas against violence."

So proud to have been part of #reclaimthenightmcr last night  A post shared by Free to Be OK with Me (@freetobeokwithme) on Feb 24, 2017 at 12:55am PST

"No means no."
Prez Bhandari attends Nepal Army Day function (with photos)

President Bidya Devi Bhandari attended a special programme organised by the Nepal Army at the Army Pavilion in Tundikhel on the occasion of Mahashivarari festival on Friday.
Beyonce shared a message of support for trans students on Thursday, a day after President Donald Trump rescinded rules that allowed trans students to use school bathrooms that align with their gender identities.

"#LGBTQ students need to know we support them," a post from her Facebook page reads, before sharing a link to GLSEN.org, an organization that advocates for LBGTQ students.

As the New York Times reports, acting against the wishes of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Attorney General Jeff Sessions pushed for Trump to rescind the bathroom rules put in place during the Obama administration.

SEE ALSO: Trans activists on why Trumps bathroom decision could hurt so many kids

The president sided with Sessions and overruled DeVos, who chose to give in on the issue rather than risk her job. A joint letter from the Justice Department and the Education Department argued that the issue is one for states and local governments to settle on their own.

Beyonce is one of many celebrities who've made public displays of support for trans youths following Wednesday's decision.

To young trans folk: Remember this is your school too. You deserve equal access, affirmation & education. You belong. Nothing is wrong w you  Janet Mock (@janetmock) February 23, 2017

Yr president bragged about sexual assault & now is in the White House & yet u r scared about trans girls who just want 2 go 2 the bathroom?  Rowan Blanchard (@RowanBlanchard) February 24, 2017

Trans youth - I love you. I support you. You matter. I will always fight to protect you. #ProtectTransKids @HRC  Jesse Tyler Ferguson (@jessetyler) February 23, 2017

How insecure do you have to be to somehow feel threatened by trans people? How heartless do you have to be to take away their rights?  Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) February 23, 2017

cis followers: if you believe trans folks deserve to walk and live among you: help us. we need more than words. learn more @transequality  hari nef (@harinef) February 23, 2017

Dear Trans People, there are so many of us who will fight for you. So many. I love you and I see you and I'm thankful for you in my world   jenny slate (@jennyslate) February 23, 2017

Trans friend, if you are struggling tonight, please reach out to @TrevorProject and @Translifeline. Equality for all! #ISTANDWITHGAVIN pic.twitter.com/bgipj0rmqg  KATY PERRY (@katyperry) February 23, 2017

And while retweeting a celebrity is cool and all, for those who want to take action to protect the rights of transgender youth, we've written a guide for that.
At least 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million made homeless in northeast Nigeria since the start of Boko Haram's Islamist insurgency in 2009 (AFP Photo/)

Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - At least seven soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack on military positions in northeast Nigeria, a civilian vigilante and a security source said on Friday.

The attack happened in the town of Gajiram, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) by road north of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, on Wednesday afternoon.

A military source in Maiduguri and a civilian vigilante, Babakura Kolo, both told AFP on Thursday that the fighting lasted for about two hours and that three soldiers were killed.

But Kolo said on Friday that the toll was had risen and that it was "now seven, including one lieutenant, and six rank and file.

"Yesterday, three bodies of soldiers were found but four more bodies were found during a search."

The security source said three militants were also killed and troops were combing the area to find other rebel fighters.

AFP contacted the military for comment but there was no immediate response.

Fighters loyal to Abu Musab Al-Barnawi were suspected of carrying out the attack, said Kolo.

The Islamic State group, to which Boko Haram is affiliated, announced that Barnawi was leader last year.

He split from the faction following long-time Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in opposition at his indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

Barnawi has instead vowed to hit only "hard" targets such as the military and police. His group is believed to operate in northern Borno state, towards Lake Chad and the border with Niger.

According to the security source, the insurgents went door to door collecting recently distributed food aid for residents.

Kolo said vigilantes had been told by arrested Boko Haram suspects that they sourced most of their food from Gajiram and Monguno, a garrison town 60 kilometres away.

Nigeria's government wants the hundreds of thousands of displaced people staying in camps and host communities to return to their homes as soon as the military makes areas safe again.

Story continues

But another attack on Wednesday near Gajiganna, some 50 kilometres from Maiduguri on the way to Gajiram, highlighted the risks they run.

"Some displaced people were returning to their villages in the area to harvest their abandoned cornfields when they were intercepted by Boko Haram," said Kolo.

"They killed some and took away others," he said, without specifying a death toll.
This is an excerpt from my book, The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today. The appointment of Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as national security advisor gives it new interest:

One day in late 2006, Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, deputy commander of H. R. McMasters 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, attended a ceremony awarding the Purple Heart to soldiers in his unit who had been wounded in Iraq. It had been his second tour of duty there. Yingling, a 2002 graduate of the School of Advanced Military Studies who had earned another masters degree  in political science, at the University of Chicago  went home filled with emotion and began to write. From his computer emerged a blast at Army leadership that would be published in the spring of 2007.

Americas generals have failed to prepare our armed forces for war and advise civilian authorities on the application of force to achieve the aims of policy, Yingling charged. It was the responsibility of a nations generals to calculate and explain how force would be used: If the policymaker desires ends for which the means he provides are insufficient, the general is responsible for advising the statesman of this incongruence.

This, of course, was exactly what the generals had not done with the Bush administration in considering Iraq. Nor, Yingling continued, had the generals understood the war they were fighting or been candid about it with the American people. After going into Iraq with too few troops and no coherent plan for postwar stabilization, Americas general officer corps did not accurately portray the intensity of the insurgency to the American public. For more than three years, they had told the American public that they were making progress when they were not.

But it was too much to expect the generals to suddenly wake up and start thinking differently, he added, because they were products of a system. That system, he said, does little to reward creativity and moral courage. Given that, he wrote, it is unreasonable to expect that an officer who spends 25 years conforming to institutional expectations will emerge as an innovator in his late forties.

Story continues

To change the nature of American generals, Yingling called on the Army to use 360-degree reviews of officers and on the Congress to hold commanders accountable for failure:

A general who presides over a massive human rights scandal or a substantial deterioration in security ought to be retired at a lower rank than one who serves with distinction. A general who fails to provide Congress with an accurate and candid assessment of strategic probabilities ought to suffer the same penalty. As matters stand now, a private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war. (Toms italics)

Perhaps most provocative  and most painful of all for the post-Vietnam generation of generalswas Yinglings charge that the generals of 2006 were repeating the mistakes of Vietnam, having failed to prepare their forces for the war they fought or to provide Congress and the American people with an accurate assessment of the Iraq war.

One of Yinglings closest friends, another Army lieutenant colonel, John Nagl, who had combat experience and a Ph.D. from Oxford, advised him to publish the essay anonymously. The two occupied adjacent offices when both were teaching at West Point in the late 1990s and then had been classmates at the Command and General Staff College together. Yingling declined to follow his friends advice  which, Nagl recalled, I thought was a measure of poor judgment and strong character.

Unsurprisingly, Army generals spoke out against the article. At Fort Hood, Texas, where Yingling was stationed, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, assembled about two hundred captains in the base chapel to hear his response to Yinglings charges. I believe in our generals. They are dedicated, selfless servants, Hammond said. At any rate, he added, Yingling has never worn the shoes of a general. In other words, only other generals were qualified to judge the performance of Army generals. To emphasize the point, he gave Yingling a mediocre performance evaluation.

Later that summer, a higher-ranking general, Richard Cody, the vice chief of staff of the Army, was speaking to a group of captains at Fort Knox, Kentucky, when one inquired about the Yingling article. Gen. Cody responded by asking the assembled captains for their opinion of the Armys generals. He got an earful, including a follow-up question from Capt. Justin Rosenbaum, who had read H. R. McMasters Dereliction of Duty, about whether any Army generals should be held accountable for the mess in Iraq.

That was enough for Cody. I think weve got great general officers that are meeting tough demands, he said. As for Rosenbaums query, he said that the people to blame were the politicians who had trimmed the size of the military during the post-cold-war reductions of the 1990s. Those are the people who ought to be held accountable.

Despite being rejected publicly by Army leaders such as Hammond and Cody, Yinglings article went on to be cited in speeches by Defense Secretary Gates and other senior officials. It also appeared in the curricula of some of the military war colleges. Yingling stuck to his guns and elaborated on his indictment. Early in 2011, he delivered a lecture at a Department of Defense school that found todays generals guilty of three important failures: to prepare their troops for irregular warfare, to develop war plans that achieved the aims of policy, and to provide candid advice to civilian leaders. Later that year, he commented that officers have ceased to police our own ranks, especially at the field grade and flag levels. Asked whether contemporary U.S. Army leaders reminded him of World War Is British army supposedly being lions led by donkeys, he responded, Theres a good case to be made that we are less adaptive than the generals of World War I.

Yet the Army would have its revenge. Yingling was promoted to colonel, supposedly by the skin of his teeth and only after the direct intervention of the vice chief of staff of the Army, Peter Chiarelli. He wound up teaching at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, a joint effort of the American and German governments. It was not a bad place to land.

But in the summer of 2011, Yingling was informed that he had not been selected to be a student at the Army War College, even though his own writings were being studied there. He decided to retire and move to Colorado to teach high school social science.

Excerpted from The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today, by permission of me.

Image credit: Amazon.com
Sara Beltran-Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant suffering from a potentially deadly brain tumor, remained in an immigrant detention center Thursday after being "forcibly removed" from a Texas hospital, her law offices told International Business Times.

Beltran-Hernandez, a 26-year-old who reportedly fled to the U.S. from domestic violence and other life-threatening issues in El Salvador, was detained in 2015 and has remained in custody at a Texas immigrant detention center ever since. Her family members were fighting for her release for over 13 months before she began experiencing symptoms in February associated with brain tumors, including memory loss and painful headaches.

Doctors working at the Texas Prairieland Detention Center diagnosed Beltran-Hernandez with a brain tumor requiring immediate surgery after she suffered a collapse and was rushed to a nearby hospital last week. The undocumented immigrant was put on a waitlist to receive surgery  but was pulled from the hospital and sent back to detainment without any resolution.

"They had her tied up from hands and ankles, she was brought in a wheelchair and is not being given treatment even though her nose continues to bleed and she has told them her head is exploding," Melissa Zuniga, a paralegal representing Beltran-Hernandez, told NY Daily News Thursday.

RTSZBH2

Photo: Reuters

Beltran-Hernandez's sudden removal from the Texas hospital came a day after John Kelly, President Donald Trumps pick for secretary of Department of Homeland Security, released new implementation orders for the presidents expansive immigration reforms. Those include increasing detention rates nationwide and deporting any and all undocumented immigrants to Mexico following their deportation cases regardless of nationality.

Meanwhile, Beltran-Hernandez's fate remained in a state of limbo Thursday as family and lawyers worked day and night for any information on her whereabouts and condition.

Story continues

"Weve tried calling everyone," Zuniga said. "Weve called the White House, we tried calling Mayor de Blasio, we tried calling Obama, weve tried calling senators I fear we may be too late."

As of Thursday at 11:30 a.m. EST, Beltran-Hernandez's law offices and family members said they had not received any updates from the Texas Prairieland Detention Center. The detention center declined to comment, citing security concerns.

Related

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Related Articles
We're taught to keep our promises, but sometimes staying true to our word can be financially devastating. Clearly, you should never flake out on a promise to take grandma out to dinner. But if you've signed a lengthy financial contract with a gym, a cellphone company, a bank or a landlord, continuing to pay for a service or a product may no longer be feasible. For instance, perhaps you've just lost your job.

It's times like those when everyone finds themselves asking that age-old question: Can I break my contract?

Maybe, maybe not. But if you think you're going to have to try and extract yourself from a contract, remember the following:

[See: 11 Expenses Destroying Your Budget.]

Honesty is the best policy. If you simply want to stop paying for a service or product, that sort of frank answer might not get you far. But if there's a reason you can't pay -- you're no longer employed or perhaps your time is being consumed by taking care of an ill parent or child -- share that information. You may find that you'll get a break, says Marc Fitapelli, an attorney at the law firm Fitapelli Kurta, based out of New York City.

Fitapelli says he once represented a client who signed a contract to purchase some property and put down a large deposit.

"After the contract was signed, he started experiencing serious financial problems related to a bitter divorce," Fitapelli says.

His client realized he couldn't close on the property and found himself wishing he had that deposit back. Fitapelli's client explained his situation to the seller, who turned out to be sympathetic. Fitapelli says his client didn't get all of the money back and wasn't entitled to, but he did have much of it returned.

[See: 11 Ways to Save Time and Money.]

Don't be a jerk. That's always good advice, but in this case, along with explaining to the other party why you're asking to break a contract, be pleasant. You may be planning to break your contract regardless, but don't say that. Ask if you can break the contract; don't announce that you will. Give the individual or company a chance to be magnanimous. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Story continues

"Empathy goes a long way in contract disputes. Someone is less likely to hold you to the terms you're bound to if they aren't angry at you," says J.R. Skrabanek, an Austin, Texas-based attorney who specializes in civil litigation.

Try to negotiate. Maybe there's a compromise both parties can agree to. For instance, many people, when they're struggling to pay off a house or car, will refinance the terms of the loan, so that the payments are smaller. They'll generally pay more in the long run in interest, of course.

Perhaps you can negotiate your way out of a contract, so that you're paying something but not everything.

If you go the negotiation route and get a satisfactory result, "ask for something in writing if you can, or save any subsequent invoice that shows a zero balance owed," says Shaolaine Loving, an attorney in Las Vegas who specializes in family law and estate planning. In other words, you don't want the same party to come back later and claim you still owe money.

Prove the other party broke the contract. This could be a sleazy move on your part if the other party has been perfectly reasonable, and you're just looking for an out. But if this is an individual or company that's been difficult to work with, and particularly if the other party's behavior is part of the reason you want to back out, then start scrutinizing the language in your contract.

"Obviously, the most arguable way to avoid penalties would be to find a way to say the other party breached the contract," Loving says. "For instance, if the home seller wouldn't allow showings or didn't correct any identified problems in time."

[See: 10 Things Teens Should Know About Money.]

Minimize the damage. You've explained to the other party that you're going to have to break your contract. You've been nice. You've tried to negotiate a way out. And you've been told that it doesn't matter -- you still have to honor the contract.

If you're going to go ahead and break it anyway, minimizing the damages you'll cause the other party may mean you're liable for less money if you go to court, says Tom Simeone, a trial attorney at Simeone & Miller, LLP, in the District of Columbia.

"For example, if you are going to breach a lease, if you give notice ahead of time and leave the premises clean and ready to rent, then a court will find that a landlord can and should relet it out within a few months and not award damages for additional months, even if your lease is for several more months," Simeone says.

That isn't just optimistic thinking, according to Simeone.

"Courts routinely require plaintiffs to mitigate their damages, so anything you can do to minimize the other party's damages will reduce your potential liability," he says.

Skrabanek seconds that. "If you break your lease, the apartment complex needs to show it's making a diligent effort to find replacement tenants. They can't just let your apartment sit vacant for months on end with no effort and claim you owe them for the money," he says.

And there's always the chance you can break the contract without negative repercussions. That's a gamble, but possibly one worth taking if the money left to pay isn't all that much.

"If you breach it by failing to pay or otherwise perform, the other side simply may not pursue a claim against you because the cost of doing so -- in terms of legal fees and other expenses -- may not make it worth their while," Simeone says. "Few people file suit to collect a hundred dollars."
Calling 2016 the year of a global political revolution, British politician Nigel Farage called on French, German, Dutch voters to follow suit in upcoming elections.

Speaking to an annual conference of U.S. grassroots conservatives outside Washington, D.C., on Friday the former U.K. Independence Party leader linked President Trumps win and the successful Brexit campaign for Great Britain to leave the European Union as part of a fight against supra-national global government.

Then he told the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference that it would be just the start, calling on other European countries to also vote on nationalist lines.

What happened in 2016 is not the end of this great global revolution, what happened in 2016 is the beginning of a great global revolution, he said, predicting that the nationalistic impulse would roll out across the rest of the West.

He then referenced an upcoming election in France, where nationalist leader Marine Le Pen has recently surged in the polls; in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a tough re-election fight; in the Netherlands, where populist Geert Wilders, who has promised to close all Dutch mosques, is leading in the polls; and in Italy, where elections may be held as early as this year.

Weve got some very exciting elections coming up in the Netherlands, in France, in Germany, possibly even in Italy, he said. Theyre rejecting the idea of being governed by a bunch of unelected old men in Brussels.

Farage also criticized Merkel, who welcome refugees to Germany in 2015, arguing it was unpopular with voters.

Theyre rejecting the absolute madness and idiocy of what Angela Merkel did 18 months ago when she opened up her doors, he said.

He also attempted to address criticism that nationalist movements are fueled by racism or xenophobia.

Were not against anybody based on religion and ethnicity, he said. But were for ourselves, were for our country, were for our safety.

Were for our people, he says, and we are winning.
By Venus Wu and Greg Torode HONG KONG (Reuters) - Developments in Hong Kong have affected confidence in a system of government intended to ensure the Chinese-ruled city's autonomy, though its rule of law remained robust "despite challenges", former colonial power Britain said on Friday. Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 with guarantees it would retain extensive autonomy, an independent legal system and broad personal and commercial freedoms under a deal known as "one country, two systems". The international financial hub has seen tumultuous times over the past couple of years, with pro-democracy protests quelled in what many residents see as creeping interference by Beijing and the rise of a small but vocal movement pushing for independence. Britain monitors developments in Hong Kong, as the agreement it struck with China for the territory's return stipulated the continuation of its capitalist way of life for 50 years. In its latest report to its parliament, covering the six months to the end of last year, the British government said the formula setting out how the city is ruled "continued to function well in the vast majority of areas". "Nevertheless, during the reporting period a number of developments caused concern in Hong Kong and internationally, affecting confidence in 'one country, two systems,'" it said. "We believe that, despite challenges, Hong Kong's rule of law remains robust overall, thanks in large part to a world-class, independent judiciary," it added. Late last year thousands of lawyers marched through the heart of Hong Kong to condemn legal intervention by Beijing that effectively barred two elected pro-independence lawmakers from taking their seats in the city's legislature. The intervention fueled concern about the independence of the city's judiciary. China rejects outright any talk of independence and Britain reaffirmed in its report that it did not see independence as an option for the city. Britain urged both the Chinese and Hong Kong governments, as well as elected Hong Kong politicians, to take steps to maintain confidence in "one country, two systems", which Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called "the best system for Hong Kong's long-term future". While the city's capitalist ways are guaranteed for 50 years, no specific time frame has been agreed for the "one country, two systems" formula. But Johnson said he was "encouraged" by indications from Hong Kong authorities that the arrangement would not cease in 2047. Hong Kong's government, which is close to Beijing, said the formula was implemented fully and successfully, and outsiders should stay out of Hong Kong's affairs. "Foreign governments should not interfere in any form," it said. Beijing has yet to comment on the report, but Chinese officials dismissed the previous one, saying they "resolutely opposed" it and Hong Kong was a "domestic affair" and foreign countries had no right to interfere. Britain also reiterated concern over the case of five Hong Kong booksellers who published material critical of Beijing and disappeared in late 2015 to re-emerge in Chinese custody months later. Four have been released but one remains in detention. (Reporting by Venus Wu and Greg Torode; Editing by Robert Birsel)
British politician Nigel Farage likened President Trumps win to the successful Brexit campaign which led to Great Britain planning to leave the European Union.

In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, D.C., on Friday, the former U.K. Independence Party leader argued that the two campaigns would be remembered by generations in years to come.

Two-thousand-sixteen was the year that the nation-state democracy made a comeback against the globalists and those who would wish to destroy everything that we have every been, he said.

Farage, who enjoys such a close relationship with Trump that the President broke with protocol to suggest he should be the ambassador to the U.S., described coming to the U.S. shortly after the Brexit vote and witnessing similar feelings at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

I realized that amongst the Republican activists and a large chunk of the American people, there was something approaching Brexitmania, he said.

Farage said he told many Republicans that weekend that they could replicate the success of Brexit in their presidential campaign.

I told that audience, dont listen to the pollsters, dont listen to the media, dont listen to the commentators, theyre trying to break your will, theyre trying to make you stay at home, he said.

Trump has repeatedly praised Brexit in numerous interviews and public appearances. In a January press conference with British Prime Minister Teresa May, Trump said he predicted the decision to leave the E.U. and was attacked for his prediction.

I think Brexit is going to be a wonderful thing for your country, he said. I think when it irons out, youre going to have your own identity, and you are going to have the people that you want in your country and be able to make free trade deals without having somebody watching you and what you are doing.

Story continues

During the presidential campaign he periodically linked his own insurgent rise to the surprise Brexit vote, even tweeting They will soon be calling me Mr. BREXIT!

Brexit was in many ways consistent with Trumps America First vision, which he outlined in his own speech to CPAC earlier Friday morning.

The core conviction of our movement is that we are a nation that put and will put its own citizens first, he said. For too long, weve traded away our jobs to other countries. So terrible. Weve defended other nations borders while leaving ours wide open, anybody can come in.
By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett, widely considered one of the world's best investors, is likely to tout the merits of passive investing this weekend to readers of his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway Inc shareholders. The letter, slated for release around 8 a.m. EST on Saturday, will probably focus on familiar themes for the 86-year-old Buffett, with many single-spaced pages reviewing Berkshire's businesses and managers, Wall Street, the economy and perhaps even politics. "The letters are written as much for sophisticated financial people as for people in high school," said Andy Kilpatrick, author of "Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett." "It's a fun read, and when you get through it, you think, 'Wow, I could be doing better with my life and my investing.'" Buffett believes most stock investors are better off with low-cost index funds than paying higher fees to managers who often underperform. He told Fortune magazine he expects to write "a lot" about passive investing. (http://fortune.com/2016/12/05/warren-buffett-donald-trump-election/) Berkshire itself might seem anomalous, with shares of the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate having generated a roughly 2 million percent gain in Buffett's nearly 52 years at the helm. In 2016, Berkshire's stock price rose about 23.4 percent, easily outpacing the market, though most investors who bought its stock in recent years have achieved closer to market-average returns. Kilpatrick expects Buffett to discuss Precision Castparts, an aircraft parts maker that Berkshire bought last January for $32.1 billion, its biggest acquisition. Buffett is likely to discuss other Berkshire businesses, such as insurance and the BNSF railroad, and shower praise on Berkshire managers, perhaps including investing deputies Todd Combs and Ted Weschler. Combs alerted Buffett to Precision Castparts, and Buffett may discuss what drove Berkshire's unexpected, multi-billion-dollar investments in Apple Inc and the four biggest U.S. airlines. Buffett may also focus on his desire to spend Berkshire's huge cash pile after Kraft Heinz Co , which Berkshire partly owns, on Sunday scrapped a bid to buy food rival Unilever Plc that Berkshire might have helped finance. U.S. President Donald Trump may also be a focus for Buffett, who was a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton. Buffett alluded elliptically to Trump in last year's letter, bemoaning the "negative drumbeat" from presidential candidates talking down U.S. economic prospects. Berkshire is also expected to report fourth-quarter results. Analysts expect operating profit of around $4.5 billion, or $2,717 per Class A share, down from $4.67 billion last year, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S said. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Dan Grebler)
Sadhus celebrate Mahashivaratri [photo feature]

Mahashivaratri, a popular Hindu festival dedicated to Lord Shiva, was observed across the nation with zest and zeal on Friday by devotees thronging to various holy sites.
Buenos Aires (AFP) - Thirteen people were killed and 34 injured when two buses collided head-on in eastern Argentina on Friday, the emergency services said.

The buses were full of passengers when they collided and crashed into a ditch near the city of Rosario, civil defense official Marcos Escajadillo told television channel C5N.

He said investigators had yet to establish the cause of the crash, which occurred on a level road and under good weather conditions.

Two young women were hospitalized in critical condition, a hospital director said.

The bus company Monticas said in a statement that both drivers were killed in the accident and that the two buses, model year 2012, were routinely inspected, had daily maintenance and were in excellent condition.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Caitlyn Jenner is taking President Donald Trump to task for his administration's reversal of a directive on transgender access to public school bathrooms.

Jenner addresses Trump in a video posted Thursday night on Twitter. She says, "From one Republican to another, this is a disaster."

The Trump White House has ended a directive issued during Barack Obama's presidency that told public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms of their chosen gender.

Jenner is particularly critical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying, "Apparently even becoming attorney general isn't enough to cure some people of their insecurities."

Addressing Trump, the former Olympic champion says: "You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."

Jenner came out as a transgender woman in 2015.
Caitlyn Jenner has been a problematic, Donald Trump-loving spokeswoman for the transgender community. But that didn't stop her from coming out hard against the president Thursday night.

The transgender former-Olympian turned reality star isn't happy with Trump's reversal this week of an Obama-era action that allowed transgender kids to use the bathrooms of their choice in schools. In fact, she wants him to call her, stat.

Jenner has been swatting away critiques since she stumped for Republican candidates during the grueling 2016 election cycle. She said she wanted to be the trans ambassador for Ted Cruz and insisted that Trump would be a good candidate for women.

Well, she seems to have lost much of her goodwill towards the commander-in-chief when she recorded a candid message to Trump, speaking "from one Republican to another."

SEE ALSO: Tech companies blast Trump for transgender rights reversal

"This is a disaster, and you can still fix it," Jenner said. "You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."

Well @realDonaldTrump, from one Republican to another, this is a disaster. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me. pic.twitter.com/XwYe0LNUOq  Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) February 24, 2017

In her Twitter message, which was a real departure from her previous endorsement of the GOP, Jenner condemned those who have lashed out against transgender people.

"I have a message for the trans kids of America  you're winning," Jenner said in her video. "I know it doesn't feel like it today or everyday, but, you're winning."

And she offered a not-so-subtle dig at Trump's new attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

Story continues

"Now I have a message for the bullies," Jenner said. "You're sick. And because you're weak, you pick on kids, you pick on women, or anyone else you think is vulnerable. Apparently even becoming the Attorney General."

She pledged that these issues will be settled by the Supreme Court in the case of Gavin Grimm, who is fighting his Virginia school district over his bathroom rights. She also pointed to the National Center for Transgender Equality as a resource for those being discriminated based on their gender identity.

No word on whether Trump has taken up Jenner's offer yet, but her support stands out, nonetheless.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday proposed spending $437 million for flood control and emergency response and preparedness, days after damage at the country's tallest dam, located northeast of the state capital, led to the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream. Damage to both the regular spillway and its emergency counterpart at the Oroville Dam earlier this month brought issues with aging infrastructure into sharp relief in a state that relies on a complex system of dams and reservoirs to irrigate farms and provide drinking water for nearly 40 million people. Brown, a Democrat, told reporters at a news conference that he would ask the state legislature to approve spending $387 million from a $7.5 billion water bond passed by voters in 2014. Another $50 million would come from the state's general fund budget, he said. Brown also said he requesting financial and regulatory assistance from the federal government in a letter that he said would be sent to President Donald Trump on Friday. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Leslie Adler)
From Road & Track

There's one road trip everyone should take in their lifetime: A drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles along Highway 1. One of the prettiest parts of the journey starts in Carmel in the north and ends in Cambria in the south. You pass through Big Sur and go along mile after mile of gorgeous coastline for hours. It's truly wonderful.

But the recent rains in California have ruined any chance of completing that trip for the foreseeable future.

Here are a few pics of the damage to the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge in Big Sur. Damage due to slumping hill side from excessive rain. #castorm pic.twitter.com/oge0IzrZOM - NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) February 22, 2017

The coast road is now closed between Palo Colorado in Monterey County and Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County. This is, arguably, the best stretch of road on the entire trip. The reason is that the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (above) is cracked and no longer safe. It needs to be totally replaced and will take at least six months to fix. Also, a lot of the area right after that bridge is where hotels and restaurants are for Big Sur, which means they will surely take a substantial economic hit now that travelers can't get to them as easily.

Photo credit: Screenshot via Google Maps

While you can still drive on Route 1 north and south of the closure, you won't be making a full road trip out of it. The closures are not placed near another road that will allow you to go east towards the 101. You'd literally have to get to the closure, turn around, and drive back the way you came. And it also appears, from the screenshot of the stretch that's closed above, that you might not be able to get to the famous Bixby Bridge. If you have a lot of time, that's fine. But if you want to just drive and enjoy the surroundings, you're SOL.

Damn.

You Might Also Like
By Andrea Hopkins and David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under increasing pressure on Thursday to deal with asylum seekers illegally crossing into Canada from the United States to avoid a crackdown by the administration of President Donald Trump. Trudeau, who stresses that Canada welcomes refugees, has so far avoided political fallout with Trump. The two talked on the phone about the border and other issues on Thursday but neither government gave many details of the conversation. Allies and opponents alike say they want a strategy to cope with the dozens of people - mainly from Burundi, Eritrea, Syria, Ghana and Sudan - walking across the border every day. The number of asylum seekers crossing into Canada at isolated and unguarded border crossings has increased in recent weeks amid fears that Trump will start expelling illegal immigrants, and photos of smiling Canadian police greeting the migrants have gone viral. The premier of the western province of Manitoba, where many of the refugees end up, on Thursday asked Ottawa for more resources to deal with the new arrivals, some of whom have lost fingers to frostbite in the dangerous crossing. While Brian Pallister said his province will welcome those in need with "open arms and open hearts," his call for a national strategy to deal with the arrivals adds to opposition criticism that Trudeau has put national security at risk by embracing asylum seekers. As of Feb. 13, some 3,800 people had made an asylum claim in 2017, up from the same period last year and on track to approach the 2008 peak of 36,867, said Scott Bardsley, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. Bardsley said comparable data for the Jan. 1 to Feb. 13 period in 2016 was not available. The asylum seekers are breaking the law because Canada's policy under a Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement is to turn back refugees if they make claims at border crossings. Trudeau and Trump discussed border cooperation in their phone call on Thursday. The White House said Trump emphasized the importance of working closely with Canada on cross-border issues, "including implementation of his administration's actions to protect America from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals and others." Officials say Trump will soon issue a new executive order to replace the administration's directive suspending travel to the United States by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries. Warmer weather could spur more arrivals of asylum-seekers in Canada. "They know they are in a pickle. If people are coming over in February, what's it going to be like in June and July?" said University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman. Polls show Canadians are split over whether Canada should be accepting more or fewer refugees. But even Liberal legislators are starting to hear from constituents concerned about the arrivals. "One or two people have raised the issue with me ... and I expect I'll have a few more" conversations with constituents about the arrivals, said Kevin Lamoureux, member of parliament for Winnipeg North, where many asylum seekers settle awaiting their refugee hearing. (Reporting by Andrea Hopkins and David Ljunggren; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Leslie Adler)
Sarb Majumdar, of Singapore, is a fourth-year management engineering student at the University of Waterloo in Canada. But if you go to Waterloo and search for him right now, you won't find him.

He's in Toronto this term, working full time as a software developer.

Majumdar is one of the many co-op students in Canada. In fall 2016, 20,792 of the University of Waterloo's 30,997 full-time undergraduate students were enrolled in a co-op program, according to the university.

In Canada, co-op students alternate between study terms and full-time work terms. Each generally lasts four months, but work terms of eight months or longer are also an option in some programs.

[Discover three facts about earning a bachelor's degree in Canada.]

Co-op students have multiple work terms over the course of their studies -- Majumdar is on his fifth -- often during different times of the year and with various employers. By graduation, co-op students have amassed a fair amount of work experience.

The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education, a nonprofit that accredits co-op programs, estimates that in 2015-2016, co-op students throughout Canada completed approximately 80,000 work terms.

While undergrads in co-op programs take longer to graduate, since work terms can add a year or more to a degree program, students are almost always paid for their work . This can help them graduate with less debt.

Students in co-op programs at several universities say their work terms have helped them figure out what field they're passionate about and provided valuable industry connections.

[Consider how earning a bachelor's degree overseas may affect U.S. job prospects.]

Co-op is "really considered to be the most formal, the most rigorous experiential education-type program in a postsecondary institution," says Harvey Weingarten, president and CEO of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, a government agency that researches and makes policy recommendations regarding Ontario's colleges and universities. "Co-op is king," he added.

Story continues

For prospective international students interested in Canada's co-op offerings, here are three factors to consider when researching different programs.

-- Accreditation: The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education provides a detailed definition of a quality co-op program.

Anne-Marie Fannon, president of CAFCE, says key components of accredited co-op programs include work positions that are paid -- with few exceptions -- and that the school approves; employers who supervise and evaluate student performance; and a system where schools monitor students during work terms.

The association has more than 80 member institutions, 36 of which are accredited, says Fannon. And most nonaccredited member schools adhere to as much of the definition as they can, she says.

Prospective students can use CAFCE's co-op program directory to search for programs at the organization's member institutions in their desired province.

If students learn that a program they're interested in is not accredited, Fannon says they should ask the school whether it still meets most of the association's co-op program definition.

-- Job search expectations: In addition to accreditation, the nature of a program's job search process is another aspect for prospective international students to explore.

The process to land a co-op position is often competitive, just like a real-world job search. Students look for positions -- sometimes in a university database -- as well as refine and submit resumes and conduct interviews with prospective employers, all while juggling a regular academic course load.

[Learn five to-dos for students who want to earn an undergraduate degree overseas.]

Students can inquire about support available for job-seeking co-op students and whether any additional services are available for international students .

Fannon says such services exist at some schools. They could include a class that helps nonnative English speakers prepare for an interview or staff who offer guidance about the process to obtain a work permit, which international students will need for full-time, off-campus positions.

Majumdar says when he arrived on campus he had little to no job experience and didn't know what a resume looked like. He says sitting down with an adviser at Waterloo to discuss resume writing "was a really helpful first step for me in my first year."

Peggy Jarvie, associate provost, cooperative and experiential education at the University of Waterloo, says it sometimes takes international students a little longer than others to land their first co-op job. "But the employment rate, at the end of the day, is about the same as for domestic students," she says.

-- Job types and locations: Weingarten says students should also ask about which organizations previous co-op students worked for as well as the nature of the work they did.

Prospective international students may also want to explore whether they can apply for co-op jobs outside Canada -- perhaps even in their home country. Jarvie says international students at Waterloo sometimes return to their home countries for their first work term, often because they want to spend time with family.

Majumdar has held jobs in Waterloo and Toronto, and he's taken work trips to places such as New York City.

"I get to experience different companies, different cultures," he says, "and I get an overall sense of professional development beyond the confines of the classroom through co-op."

See the complete rankings of the Best Global Universities.

Kelly Mae Ross is an education staff writer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at kross@usnews.com.


BEIRUT (AP) Syrian opposition activists say a second car bomb has exploded in a town just captured from Islamic State group militants by Turkish troops and Syrian fighters, leaving at least eight people dead.

The Aleppo Media Center and Thiqa News agency, media platforms operated by activists, reported the second explosion Friday in Sousian village, about eight kilometers (five miles) north of al-Bab.

An earlier explosion in the same village killed at least 60, most of them civilians lining up to return to the town after IS retreated.

Al-Bab was captured by the Turkish troops and Syrian fighters backed by Ankara on Thursday, after more than two months of intense fighting.

A Turkish military statement Friday says the Turkish troops and Syrian forces it backs are now in control of all neighborhoods of al-Bab but that efforts to clear it of mines and explosives are continuing. Earlier on Friday, two Turkish soldiers were killed in an explosion near the IS-held town of Tadif, south of al-Bab.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) said on Friday it will return $18 million in funding cuts to certain schools in a move that will increase the cash-strapped district's lingering budget deficit to $129 million.

High-poverty schools will receive $15 million of the previously cut money and $3 million will be returned to charter schools, according to the district.

"CPS has not identified a funding stream to pay for these changes," the district said in a statement. "This increases the districts remaining budget deficit from $111 million to $129 million."

The nation's third-largest public school system earlier this month froze $46 million in discretionary funds schools generally use to pay for textbooks, technology and field trips to help offset a loss of $215 million in state money.

The district acknowledged the reductions were not evenly distributed. Local media had reported that schools with predominantly Hispanic or poor students were allocated bigger cuts than schools with white majorities.

After the freeze was announced, we heard strong concerns from members of both the African American and Hispanic communities," CPS officials said in a Friday letter to school principals. "While we cannot make this freeze equal in all schools, we want to be responsive to those concerns and mitigate the most disproportionate impacts.

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner's veto in December of $215 million in one-time funding for teacher pensions blew a hole in the district's fiscal 2017 budget. On Wednesday, the Chicago Board of Education amended the budget to incorporate $104 million in spending cuts and unpaid furlough days, leaving a $111 million gap in the $5.41 billion spending plan.

CPS is struggling with pension payments that will jump to $733 million this fiscal year from $676 million in fiscal 2016, as well as drained reserves and debt dependency.

(Reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Chris Reese)
By Hallie Gu and Josephine Mason BEIJING (Reuters) - With many poultry markets closed in the wake of China's worst-ever bird flu outbreak, local egg producers are being forced to shell out to feed and water chickens long after they would normally have been killed and sold for meat. That is piling pressure on producers already grappling with tanking demand from a public spooked by fears over bird flu, deepening what some farmers say is one of the biggest crises to ever hit the egg industry in China, the world's top supplier. "You want to sell your chickens, but you can't. You have no choice but to keep raising them and watch losses accumulate every day," said Zhang Dong, who has 10,000 laying hens in the central province of Hubei. Chinese companies that churn out eggs for commercial sale typically sell hens at live poultry markets after 400 to 500 days of laying, when they begin to produce less regularly. But regional authorities have shut poultry markets and restricted the transportation of birds as they fight the spread of the H7N9 virus that has killed around 100 people since October. That is nearly three times more deaths than the last major bird flu outbreak in the country in 2013, worrying the public even though nearly all fatalities have been among people that have had direct contact with chickens. There is no evidence the virus can be caught from eating uncooked meat and eggs, or spread easily between humans. Unlike many other strains of the virus, hens with H7N9 are difficult to identify as they show little or no signs of symptoms, meaning that mass cullings seen during recent bird flu outbreaks in places such as South Korea and Japan have not so far been repeated in China. The added time that producers must spend looking after birds beyond their prime will also drag further on prices for eggs in the world's top supplier after they hit seven-year lows this week below 4 yuan ($0.58) per kilogram, with chickens that have dodged slaughter stoking a supply glut as they keep on laying. "The industry's at a crossroads," said Feng Cheng, a 31-year-old farmer in the southern province of Anhui, who has a flock of 200,000 hens. He is paying to feed 30,000 chickens that are past their prime and losing value, while sinking egg prices have halved his income since Lunar New Year at the end of January. China's egg industry is dominated by small family-run businesses, with little leeway for enduring hard times. In an assessment of current market conditions based on an egg price of 4.4 yuan per kg and feed costs of 2.3 yuan per kg, a farmer would lose 32.5 yuan over the lifetime of every hen in his or her flock, the government said this week. "Eggs prices are falling sharply. Prices of feed materials like soymeal and corn are still rising. Life is so tough," Feng said by phone from his farm. CHICKEN AND EGG Four years ago, the nation's egg-laying flock shrank by 10 percent as farmers reduced their flocks after an outbreak of H7N9 flu slashed prices of eggs and chicken meat. The virus did $6.5 billion in damage to the whole agricultural sector. It is not clear how many hens from the nation's current flock of over 1 billion have been affected by the recent spate of market closures. Shi Qing, an egg wholesaler in Hubei, said sales had been hit hard by the oversupply and concerns about catching bird flu. In the month after 2016's Lunar New Year, he sold 80,000 boxes of eggs, around 28.8 million eggs, but this year he has sold about half that. And there are strong fears it will take some time for the industry to recover. "Usually, farmers will reduce stocks, which would help support prices," said Jim Huang, chief executive of China-America Commodities Data Analytics Inc. "But ... with (this virus), farmers are being forced to keep the spent hens, as live poultry markets are closed and people are scared of eating chicken, which further increases supplies." For a graphic on bird flu in China, click http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/CHINA-BIRDFLU/0100320K4LD/index.html For a graphic on bird flu strains, click http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/HEALTH-BIRDFLU-SOUTHKOREA/0100311X2BC/BIRDFLU-SOUTHKOREA.jpg For a graphic on China egg prices, click http://pdf.reuters.com/pdfnews/pdfnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=2017-02-24T083022Z_GFXED2O0NMMP3_1_RTRGFXG_BASEIMAGE.png (Reporting by Hallie Gu and Josephine Mason; Editing by Joseph Radford)
Sri Lanka 'hunting' refugees who sheltered Snowden in Hong Kong

Sri Lankan asylum seekers living in Hong Kong fear they are being illegally pursued by police after sheltering the US whistleblower Edward Snowden in the city.
By Rene Wagner and Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) - China for the first time became Germany's most important trading partner in 2016, overtaking the United States, which fell back to third place behind France, data showed on Friday. German imports from and exports to China rose to 170 billion euros ($180 billion) last year, Federal Statistics Office figures reviewed by Reuters showed. The development is good news for the German government, which has made it a goal to safeguard global free trade after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on imports and his top adviser on trade accused Germany of exploiting a weak euro to boost exports. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has suggested that the European Union should refocus its economic policy toward Asia, should the Trump administration pursue protectionism. "Given the protectionist plans of the new U.S. president one would expect that the trade ties between Germany and China will be further strengthened," said Anton Boerner, head of the BGA trade association. The main reason for the reduced trade volume with the U.S. was a drop in American exports to Germany, Boerner added. Neighboring France remained the second-most important business partner with a combined trade volume of 167 billion euros. The United States came in third with 165 billion euros. In 2015, the United States had climbed to the top of the list of Germany's most important trading partners, overtaking France for the first time since 1961. Separately, Germany's Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations said on Friday it expected exports to Russia will probably rise at least 5 percent this year, their first increase in years given Western sanctions. "Optimism among German exporters is rising further," said Clemens Fuest, head of the Ifo economic institute. He said export expectations increased in February, pointing to overall strong trade figures in the first quarter of 2017. "MADE IN GERMANY" Looking at exports alone, the United States remained the biggest client for products "Made in Germany" in 2016, importing goods from Europe's biggest economy worth some 107 billion euros. France remained the second-most important single export destination for German goods with a sum of 101 billion euros, the data showed. Britain came in third, importing German goods worth 86 billion euros. Britain accounted also for the biggest bi-lateral trade surplus: Exports surpassed imports from Britain by more than 50 billion euros, the figures showed. The United States came in second with a bi-lateral trade deficit: German exports to the U.S. surpassed imports from there by 49 billion euros. This means that Britain and the U.S. together accounted for roughly 40 percent of Germany's record trade surplus of 252.9 billion euros in 2016. The figures are likely to fuel the debate about Germany's export performance, its trade surplus and global economic imbalances ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Baden-Baden mid-March. ($1 = 0.9483 euros) (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Friday it had no intention of using currency devaluation to its advantage in trade, responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's description of the Asian giant as the "grand champions" of currency manipulation. Trump said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday he had not "held back" in his assessment that China manipulates its yuan currency, just hours after his new treasury secretary pledged a more methodical approach to analyzing Beijing's foreign exchange practices. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he hoped the United States could "fully and correctly" view the exchange rate issue. "China has no intention of seeking foreign trade advantages via an intentional devaluation of the renminbi. There is no basis for the continued devaluation of the renminbi," he told a daily media briefing in Beijing. "If you must attach the label 'grand champion' to China, then I think China is a grand champion. But we are the grand champions of economic development," Geng added. The Foreign Ministry has no say in currency policy, but it is the only Chinese government department that holds a daily briefing that foreign reporters attend. The central People's Bank of China did not respond to a request for comment. In a commentary, the official Xinhua news agency said criticizing China for manipulating its currency to prop up trade was a "major myth that has been circulating in Washington for quite a long time". "Since July 2005, China has decided to unpeg the yuan against the U.S. dollar, and allow it to fluctuate against a basket of currencies so as to better reflect the market changes. Over the years, the renminbi has appreciated substantially against the dollar," it said. Trump has frequently accused China of keeping its currency artificially low against the dollar to make Chinese exports cheaper, "stealing" American manufacturing jobs. But he did not act on a campaign promise to declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in office. The yuan fell 6.6 percent against the dollar in 2016, its biggest annual drop since 1994, as it was pressured by worries about slowing Chinese growth and more recently by a resurgent dollar, which has spurred capital outflows from many emerging markets. Chinese authorities have taken numerous steps in recent months to curb capital flight to support the weakening yuan currency, while trying to bring in more foreign investment. Geng said there was no basis for the continued devaluation of the Chinese currency and he hoped "the relevant side can fully and correctly view the renminbi exchange rate issue". But China's foreign exchange regulator said this month the economy still faced weak global demand and financial market volatility caused by expectations of further interest rate rises by the U.S. Federal Reserve. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Writing by Philip Wen; Editing by Robert Birsel)
China has replaced its commerce minister and the head of its top economic planning body, state media said Friday, as the country grapples with mounting financial pressures.

Huge debt, plunging outbound investment and capital flight are troubling the world's second largest economy.

China is also having to contend with hawkish rhetoric of US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly accused it of currency manipulation and stealing American jobs.

Zhong Shan will become minister of commerce and He Lifeng takes the reins at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the official Xinhua news agency said, without giving further details.

Zhong was deputy governor of Zhejiang when he grew close to Xi, who was the province's Communist Party chief between 2002 and 2007.

Five years later Zhong went to Beijing to be vice commerce minister.

Hes ties to Xi go back decades, to the 1980s, when the now head of state was deputy mayor of Xiamen.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's coal imports from North Korea eased last month after new U.N. Security Council sanctions curbing the isolated country's sales abroad came into effect, while Russia, Mongolia, Australia and Indonesia raised shipments, data showed on Friday. January imports from North Korea eased 13 percent from a year earlier to 1.45 million tonnes, the data showed. They were down 28 percent from December. January's volume accounted for almost 20 percent of the latest U.N. annual sales quota of 7.5 million tonnes or $400.9 million, whichever is smaller, on North Korea's biggest export. The imports last month came before Beijing's decision last Saturday to ban coal shipments entirely after Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile in its first direct challenge to the international community since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he had not seen the latest figures, but that the latest U.N. resolution was clear about limiting North Korea's coal exports and China would fully enforce Security Council resolutions. "According to our statistics, China has already approached the upper limits of coal imports from North Korea," Geng told a daily news briefing. "So because of this, we have stopped imports of coal from North Korea with a responsible attitude." Sources said the few traders that have been left handling North Korean coal had been scooping up the fuel in recent weeks amid earlier speculation Beijing would slap a ban on imports after Pyongyang's recent ballistic missile test. North Korea was China's biggest supplier last year of high-grade anthracite coal, used mainly by the country's steel mills, with imports reaching 22.4 million tonnes, up 14.5 percent compared with 2015. Analysts have said steel mills will likely be forced to buy more expensive domestic anthracite or seek alternatives further afield from Russia or Australia, driving up costs. Coal shipments from Mongolia rose 154 percent to 3.12 million tonnes, the fourth highest on record, as traders took advantage of its significant price advantage over Australian coal. Australian imports were up 70.8 percent from a year earlier at 7.27 million tonnes. Australian Newcastle spot prices fell sharply from about $93 per tonne at the end of December to about $83 by the end of January. (Reporting by Josephine Mason and Meng Meng; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Richard Pullin and Tom Hogue)
NEW YORK (AP)  Government and civil liberties lawyers are sparring over a list of people detained or processed under President Donald Trump's travel ban.

Attorneys with American Civil Liberties Union and other groups told a judge in New York City on Friday that the government's list of 746 travelers who were processed before the ban was halted is incomplete.

Justice Department lawyers say the "vast majority" of people on the list were ultimately let into the country. They agreed to narrow it down to those who were turned away in an effort to locate them and allow them to return.

U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon had ordered the government to produce the list in one of the legal battles over Trump's ban of refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump promised a massive military buildup and put a staunchly nationalistic stamp on Republican politics in a fiery address to supporters Friday.

"The era of empty talk is over. It's over. Now is the time for action," Trump told battalions of conservatives gathered for an annual meeting just outside the US capital.

In wide ranging remarks Trump painted immigrants as criminals, attacked the media as the "enemy of the people" and promised one of the "greatest military buildups in American history."

"Nobody's going to mess with us, folks. Nobody." the president said.

"Offensive. Defensive. Everything. Bigger and better and stronger than ever before. And hopefully we'll never have to use it," he added.

The hawkish message was met with euphoric chants of "USA, USA" by conservatives packed into the Oxon Hill venue.

Twenty-one-year-old Austin Wellman hailed Trump's drive to "bring back" patriotic fervor following his election victory last November over Hillary Clinton.

It "makes us feel like we don't have to hide the pride that comes with being an American," Wellman said.

Trump's month-long tenure in the White House has been marked by a political tug-of-war between Republican orthodoxy and those advocating a more radical upheaval of American politics and the global order.

In his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump pulled the rope decisively to the nationalistic far-right.

"There is no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency, or a global flag," he said, echoing his promise to put "America First."

"This is the United States of America that I'm representing."

Americans bleed the "same red blood of great, great patriots," he added.

This was also a victory lap of sorts. Just a year ago Trump dropped out of the same conference amid controversy over his appearance.

Story continues

- 'Border security' -

With his administration now mired in multiple missteps and strong disapproval ratings, Trump went on the offensive.

He painted Sweden, Germany and France as blighted by jihadist violence, as he sought to defend his own controversial crackdown on immigrants.

"We fully understand that national security begins with border security," he said.

"Let me state this as clearly as I can: We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country," he said, promising to revisit a failed attempt to bar entry to people from seven Muslim-majority countries.

"We will not be deterred from this course, and in a matter of days, we will be taking brand new action to protect our people and keep America safe."

Trump also defended orders issued by his administration for a sweeping crackdown on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already living in the country.

Though it targets as a priority people convicted or accused of crimes, the move sent shivers through US immigrant communities, most of them from Mexico and Central America, who are seriously threatened with deportation for the first time in decades.

Several cases of immigration enforcement have drawn national attention since Trump took office, including that of an undocumented woman with a brain tumor who was reportedly dragged out of a Texas hospital to a detention center.

Trump asked supporters to remember the rationale behind his orders.

"These are bad dudes. We're getting the bad ones out, OK?"

"If you watch these people, it's like gee, that's so sad. We're getting bad people out of this country, people that shouldn't be, whether it's drugs or murder or other things."

"Basically all I've done is keep my promise."
Chinese photographer and poet, Ren Hang, has died at the age of 29. His searing images, a carnival of milky limbs and botanical beauty, were celebrated and censored in equal measure.

Hang was arrested several times for his explicit photographs and experienced censorship throughout his career in his home country of China. His pictures were a celebration of brazen exposure told through a language of graphic lines and block coloring. His subjects, always nude, were friends and more recently fans. A self-taught photographer, Hang once said he shoots with no plans.

Alexander Oberg, of Galleri Tryffelgrisen, a longtime collaborator of Hang, told TIME: We are shocked and incredibly sad about Rens death. He was such a lovely person. We still cannot believe it is true. We can only speculate about what led him to end his life at the young age of 29. Oberg added that Hang was a lovely person and an incredibly creative artist who had so much more to share with the world. Tryffelgrisen had collaborated with Hang for several years and exhibited him before he became widely known. Oberg added that he always knew Hang as a kind, humble and somewhat shy person.

Hang was born in Jilin, China, in 1987 and began taking pictures in 2008. He was drawn to photography while studying marketing; his college work didnt interest him but he realized taking pictures did. Hang once said he simply shot what he saw, which began with his roommates naked body. Nudity continued to be a source of inspiration for Hang, whose visionary, artfully-constructed scenes bled the surreal with the provocative.

His work, though celebrated across the world, was a subject of controversy in his homeland. Outdoor nudity and pornographic images have been banned in the Peoples Republic of China since 1949 and Hang was arrested several times, though he was unsure what the legal reason was. Despite this, Hang has always maintained that his work was not taboo or seeking to push boundaries, adding: I just do what I do. Hang was championed by Ai Weiwei, who he also collaborated with, and was held up as a leading light of Chinese contemporary photography.

Story continues

Hang suffered from cyclical depression, something he documented through his poetry, under the title My Depression. He published seven photo books included Ren Hang, Nude, Republic and Son And Bitch before Taschens recent retrospective, edited by Dian Hanson. Hang has been exhibited around the world and received the Outset/ Unseen Exhibition Fund in 2016. Hang was living in Beijing at the time of his death.

Ren Hangs work can be viewed here.

Kim Bubello, who edited this photo essay, is a freelance photo editor at TIME.

Alexandra Genova is a writer and contributor for TIME LightBox. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram

Follow TIME LightBox on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Remarks from a Trump spokesman that the new administration might want legal recreational marijuana sales to end in several states could start a new controversy over the boundaries of federal power.

When you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming around so many states  the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people, Sean Spicer told the media on Thursday. There is still a federal law we need to abide by in terms of when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature.

The legal sale of recreational marijuana is something the Department of Justice, I think, will be further looking into, Spicer said, adding that the Trump administration had no interest in enforcing federal laws against medical marijuana.

Currently, eight states have approved the controlled legalized sales of marijuana after state voters directly approved the measures. The District of Columbia also legalized the recreational use of marijuana, but not sales. In addition, 28 states and the federal district have legalized medical marijuana.

Recreational and medical marijuana use is still illegal nationally under the Controlled Substances Act and it is listed under the Schedule 1 list of drugs, along with heroin and LSD. In the end, Congress has the power to change that classification, but it hasnt acted to do so.

There was an immediate reaction from legal marijuana states after Spicers comments. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who is already in court fighting the Trump administrations immigration ban executive order, told the Seattle Times that, I will resist any efforts by the Trump administration to undermine the will of the voters in Washington state.

Ferguson and Washington Governor Jay Inslee formally notified the Justice Department on February 15 that they wanted to meet with federal officials before any changes were made to directives from the Obama administration, which made federal prosecution of marijuana use within states a low priority.

Story continues

Given the limited resources available for marijuana law enforcement, a return to full prohibition is highly unlikely to end the illicit production, trafficking and consumption of marijuana, they said. Inslee and Ferguson also quoted Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, saying that the eight states are serving as laboratories of democracy. And they reminded the department that Washingtons law was adopted by [an] initiative of the people.

The conflict between state laws that allow limited marijuana use and the federal law that bars it, in theory, falls somewhere in the domain of the Constitutions Supremacy Clause, which reads in part that This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; , shall be the supreme Law of the Land. Some states-rights supporters argue that the 10th Amendment, which grants rights to the states and the people not reserved to the federal government, allows for states to choose their own marijuana laws and how the laws are enforced by state and local law enforcement officers.

To be sure, any widespread federal effort to enforce legal recreational marijuana laws, through the prosecution of growers, shippers and retailers allowed to handle marijuana under state laws, would face considerable financial and logistical hurdles. These federal efforts also could likely require local law enforcement to take part.

And those factors also would likely cause the courts to get involved in trying to clarify the conflict between federal and state laws about marijuana.

Last March, a similar case came to the Supreme Court for consideration. In an original jurisdiction lawsuit, Nebraska and Oklahoma v. Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma asked the Court to rule on the legality of parts of Colorados legalized marijuana law.

The two states contended the Supreme Court was the only venue where they could seek relief under the Constitutions Supremacy Clause. Nebraska and Oklahoma didnt ask that Colorados now-legal personal marijuana use stop or Colorado go back to its previous laws that prosecuted marijuana use as a crime in the state. Instead, the two states wanted Colorados plan disallowed for commercial growing and distribution of marijuana with the state.

Then-Solicitor General Donald Verrilli filed the Justice Departments legal opinion, and it supported Colorado in the court briefs. Verrilli said allowing the lawsuit to proceed would allow states to force other states to conform to federal laws as they interpret them. Such a broad invitation to invoke this Courts original jurisdiction to resolve myriad preemption questions would not comport with the Courts traditional insistence that original jurisdiction be exercised only sparingly, Verrilli said.

Without comment, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Justice Clarence Thomas offered a dissent, arguing that the case was a good one for the Court to consider as a way of understanding its role in settling disputes between states.

I would not dispose of the complaint so hastily. Because our discretionary approach to exercising our original jurisdiction is questionable, and because the plaintiff States have made a reasonable case that this dispute falls within our original and exclusive jurisdiction, I would grant the plaintiff States leave to file their complaint, Thomas said.

Thomas didnt offer an opinion on the legal fight about marijuana but he wanted to hear more. Whatever the merit of the plaintiff States claims, we should let this complaint proceed further rather than denying leave without so much as a word of explanation, he concluded.

Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center.

Recent Stories on Constitution Daily

Podcast: Jeffrey Rosen answers your constitutional questions

Obamas transgender policy formally abandoned

Supreme Court rules for disabled child and her dog in lawsuit case
To confront secessionist moves: CoAS

Chief of Army Staff Gen Rajendra Chhetri has said Nepal Army was committed to defending national sovereignty and confronting the challenges posed by extremist and secessionist forces.
The U.S. government sent nearly $10 billion worth of military vehicles and weapons systems to foreign governments last year. The United States is easily the largest exporter of arms in the world, surpassing other producers such as Russia and China by billions of dollars each year.

In the past five years, more than 100 nations have directly purchased aircraft, ships, armored vehicles, and missiles from the U.S. government. When excluding those nations that are not under international embargo, relatively few countries are left out of American arms deals. A few others, however, receive a disproportionately large share of American weapons. Thirteen countries accounted for almost 70% of U.S. 2016 arms exports. Saudi Arabia, a major U.S. partner in the Middle East, received almost 20% of total U.S. weapons exports.

ALSO READ: 15 Companies Making the Most From the Government

24/7 Wall St. reviewed recently-released figures on state to state arms transfers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institutes Arms Transfers Database. These are the 13 Countries buying the most weapons from the U.S. government.

Speaking to 24/7 Wall St., Aude Fleurant, director of SIPRIs Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, explained the attitude the U.S. government has in regards to its arms exports. The U.S. considers arms trade as a political strategic relationship. It is more willingly going to transfer weapons to countries in NATO, for instance, than it would to some other regions. The United States deems a number of countries on this list, including the United Kingdom, Japan, Israel, and Australia, to be more trustworthy partners, and as such they are more likely to receive weapons.

As the world's largest exporter, the United States also has the largest global weapons manufacturing industry. Of the five companies with the highest weapons and defense revenue, four are U.S.-based. When the U.S. government exports weapons to other countries, one of the many U.S. arms manufacturers -- including such giants as Lockheed, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Boeing -- sells weapons to a program managed by the Department of Defense. Those weapons are then sold directly to other countries. Many of these arms sales are based on long-term partnerships and agreements, while other transfers are one-off orders.

Story continues

The United States is one of the only countries in the world with a military large enough to support a private weapons industry on its own. Because starting up production for a major weapons system can be extremely expensive, nations that seek to maintain a domestic weapons manufacturing industry often rely on foreign trade partners. Rather than supporting local companies by selling their arms, Fleurant explained, many countries opt instead to rely almost entirely on imports.

Many of the nations that account for a high share of U.S. arms exports have demand for armaments, but have insufficient domestic arms production capabilities. These are countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, which have high military expenditure as a percent of GDP but few national arms manufacturers. Countries that have national production capacity source weapons from domestic companies. That's what the U.S. did during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq," Fleurant said. "But if you're a country like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or the United Arab Emirates, you don't have national production capacity, or very little, so you're going to turn to suppliers like the U.S.

Most of the countries on this list import a large volume of weapons in general because they are either actively involved in military conflict or are in an unstable region where a strong military is regarded as a must. A large number of nations that import hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons from the U.S. can be found in the Middle East or in Northern Africa. In the Middle East there's a lot of conflict and tensions. You have the Yemen wars, the Syria war, you have domestic violence in Iraq and Afghanistan. In North Africa, almost all of these countries are dealing with insurgent groups, and there are fears of domestic unrest. All of these create conditions for the Middle East as an increasingly large recipient of weapons," Fleurant said.

Several other major global arms importers are based in East Asia, where Chinas growing and increasingly sophisticated military and its expansion into the South China Sea have put its neighbors on edge. As a result many of Chinas neighbors have increased arms imports. South Korea, another major recipient of U.S. weapons, is on high military alert due to its relationship and proximity to its unpredictable neighbor, North Korea.

ALSO READ: Cities Where You Don't Want to Get Sick

Mexicos arms imports from the United States have more than tripled over the past decade as the government there continues to combat violent drug cartels.

To determine the countries buying the most weapons from the United States, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed annual arms transfer data from SIPRI for 2016. These 13 countries had the largest total arms imports for 2016. Additional data from SIPRI included total arms imports by nation as well as imports by specific type of armament. These data only include vehicles, missiles, and other major weapons systems, and exclude firearms. Additional data include military expenditure as a percent of GDP, from the International Monetary fund, as well as GDP (PPP) from the World Bank.

These are the countries buying the most weapons from the U.S. government.

13. United Kingdom

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $217 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $260 million

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 83.5%

> 2015 GDP: $2.7 trillion

About 84% of the U.K.s total arms imports come from the United States. The remainder comes either from Israel or Germany. Over 75% of the countrys total arms imports between 2015 and 2016 were military aircraft. While it is not on par with the United States, Great Britain is one of the biggest arms dealers in the world in its own right, sending nearly $1.4 billion in weapons to other countries in 2016. One of the United States closest military partners, the U.K. was a key participant in the U.S. war in Iraq, committing about 46,000 troops at the height of the conflict. The U.K. also committed thousands of troops to the U.S. offensive in Afghanistan.

12. Egypt

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $238 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $1.5 billion

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 16.0%

> 2015 GDP: $1.1 trillion

Egypt has one of the largest armies in the world, with just under 500,000 active troops and several hundred thousand additional troops in reserve. The country went through major political upheaval in 2011, after long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak stepped down following a popular uprising. Perhaps because of the increased political tension, Egypts total arms imports over the five years through 2016 increased by about 70% from the previous five-year period, and imports from the United States increased by 46%. Over the last decade, the nations largest category of weapons imports were military aircraft. Egypts military arsenal also includes over 1,000 M1A1 Abrams tanks, a U.S. military staple manufactured by Virginia-based General Dynamics.

11. Morocco

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $244 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $254 million

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 96.1%

> 2015 GDP: $274 billion

More than 40 nations have larger economies than Morocco, but only 10 import more weapons from the United States. This is likely in part due to the fact that the North African nation spends over 3% of its GDP on its military, one of the higher shares in the world. The nation has a military of over 200,000 soldiers, a greater standing force than much larger nations such as Germany and the United Kingdom. Last year, Morocco imported roughly a quarter of a billion dollars worth of armaments, and the U.S. accounted for 96.1% of those weapons. The previous year, the United States was the sole supplier of weapons Morocco imported.

ALSO READ: States With the Highest (and Lowest) Gas Taxes

10. Mexico

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $280 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $388 million

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 72.2%

> 2015 GDP: $2.2 trillion

Mexico is one of the U.S.'s largest trade partners, and this includes substantial armament shipments. On the whole, the demand for weapons tends to be higher in parts of the world with more geopolitical uncertainty and armed conflict. Over the past decade, the Mexican government has been embroiled in a violent and widespread conflict with drug cartels. Mexicos total arms imports increased by 184% over the decade, and the countrys imports from the United States increased by over 300%. As Trump promised to reevaluate trade agreements, the status of the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship is less certain than it has been since NAFTA went into effect in 1994.

9. Japan

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $307 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $330 million

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 93.0%

> 2015 GDP: $4.8 trillion

A number of Southeast Asian nations have recently ramped up military expenditure and arms imports due to growing concern about Chinas military development in the South China Sea. China has constructed a number of artificial islands, and is building on them what appear to be military bases with possible long-range surface-to-air missile capabilities. Another dispute between Japan and China over a group of islands in the East China Sea is causing additional tension. Despite the increased tension, Japan's arms imports last year of $330 million were down from the previous year.

Over the last 10 years, Japan has imported over $4 billion in arms, 93% of which came from the United States. More than half the nations total weapons systems imports are in the form of military aircraft. Until 2015, the United States banned Japan from exporting weapons systems, a remnant of post-World War II policy. The long absence of a private arms industry in the country partially explains Japans current level of U.S. arms imports.

8. South Korea

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $501 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $1.3 billion

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 37.6%

> 2015 GDP: $1.9 trillion

South Korea is situated in an especially volatile and potentially dangerous part of the world. The country is separated from North Korea, its nuclear-armed, antagonistic neighbor to the north, by a demilitarized zone. South Korea has a policy of mandatory military service and has spent more on weapons systems in the past decade than all but a handful of other countries. Since 2007, South Korea has bought an estimated $10.7 billion in weapons from a range of countries, including France, Germany, Israel, and the United States.

ALSO READ: The Net Worth of American Presidents: Washington to Trump

Historically, the East Asian nation has imported most of its weapons from the United States. However, last year marked a departure from the trend. Only 37.6% of South Koreas total arms imports came from the United States, nearly the smallest share in the last 10 years and well below the decade-high share of 95.2% in 2010. The majority of South Koreas weapon imports last year came from Germany.

7. Italy

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $511 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $868 million

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 58.9%

> 2015 GDP: $2.2 trillion

Unlike many countries on this list, Italy has significant domestic weapons manufacturing capabilities. Leonardo, a Rome-based company formerly known as Finmeccanica, develops helicopters, fighter jets, and defense systems. The company sold $9.3 billion worth of arms in 2015 alone. Still, Italy imported hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military aircraft and sea vessels in 2016, in addition to about $23 million worth of missiles.

Italys weapons imports hit record highs in 2016. All told, the Mediterranean country bought $868 million in weapons from foreign governments in 2016, versus the next highest annual expenditure of $525 billion in 2007. The majority of weapons systems the country imported last year came from the United States.

6. Israel

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $526 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $607 million

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 86.7%

> 2015 GDP: $285 billion

A Middle Eastern country under near constant threat of terrorist attacks and armed conflict, Israel is one of only a few states with compulsory military service. In addition, the country spends about 5.4% of its GDP on defense, a larger share than all but a handful of other countries. American arms manufacturers are some of the biggest beneficiaries of Israeli defense spending. Israel bought some $526 million worth of arms and weapons systems from the U.S. in 2016 alone.

Israel is one of only a few countries on this list to have a significant domestic defense and weapons industry. The country is home to defense electronics company Elbit Systems, which reported $2.95 billion in arms sales in 2015, and to Israel Aerospace Industries, which reported $2.78 billion in 2015 arms sales. Each company ranks among the 35 largest companies in the world by arms revenue.

5. Qatar

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $595 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $901 million

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 66.0%

> 2015 GDP: $329.7 billion

The Middle East is one of the most dangerous and unstable regions in the world today. As a result, many MIddle Eastern countries without much of a defense industry of their own purchase weapons and defense systems from foreign countries. Qatar is one such country. The nation spent $901 million on weapons in 2016, the majority of which it bought from the U.S.

ALSO READ: States Getting the Least Sleep

Qatar is an important strategic U.S. ally in the region. The Al Udeid Air Base, located just outside of the capital city of Doha, currently hosts some 10,000 U.S. troops, effectively making it the largest U.S. base in the Middle East.

4. UAE

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $773 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $1.3 billion

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 60.5%

> 2015 GDP: $644 billion

The United Arab Emirates is one of several Middle Eastern nations to rank among the U.S. governments biggest weapons customers. The country bought some $773 million worth of weapons from the United States in 2016, more than from any other country. The UAEs next largest weapons dealer was France, which sold the country some $336 million in weapons in 2016.

Missiles and air defense systems comprised the largest defense purchases the UAE made from foreign governments last year, at $554 million and $250 million respectively. Naval vessels were the countrys third largest arms import cost at $209 billion. The country has a substantial coastline along the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

3. Australia

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $869 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $1.1 billion

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 82.0%

> 2015 GDP: $1.1 trillion

Australia bought more weapons from the United States last year than any other country outside of the Middle East. The vast majority of Australias 2016 arms imports were aircraft and missiles. The United States supplied over 80% of these weapons systems, accounting for $869 million of the countrys total weapons imports. Meanwhile, Italy and France each sold Australia $80 million worth of weapons, and Germany accounted for an additional $32 million of the countrys military spending.

Australia is home to one of the worlds 100 largest defense contractors by revenue. Austel, a shipbuilding company, reported $980 million in arms revenue alone in 2015.

2. Iraq

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $893 million

> 2016 total arms imports: $1.7 billion

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 51.5%

> 2015 GDP: $534 billion

The militaries of few countries are as dependent on the U.S. government as Iraqs. Since U.S. troops toppled the Iraqi government in 2003, the country has been in a near-perpetual state of disorder. Currently, the Iraqi military, under the guidance of U.S. advisors, is fighting to free parts of northern Iraq from Islamic State control. A major battle is currently underway for the city of Mosul.

Iraq is a major buyer of American weapons. The country imported $893 million worth of U.S. weapons and defense systems in 2016, the second highest sum of any country in the world. Iraqi weapon imports do not come close to the total amount spent by the U.S. in Iraq in recent years. Some estimates put total DoD and State Department spending in Iraq since 2001 at over $800 billion.

ALSO READ: Cities With the Highest (and Lowest) Unemployment Rates

1. Saudi Arabia

> 2016 arms imports from U.S.: $1.9 billion

> 2016 total arms imports: $3.0 billion

> U.S. as % total arms imports: 64.0%

> 2015 GDP: $1.7 trillion

Saudi Arabia's spending on American arms and weapons systems has increased dramatically in recent years. The oil-rich Middle Eastern country never spent more than $607 million on arms from the United States between 2006 and 2013. Since then, however, spending shot up to well over $1 billion in 2014 and reached $1.9 billion in 2016, the largest amount yet.

In the final weeks of his administration, former President Barack Obama blocked the sale of 16,000 guided munitions kits, used to upgrade missile accuracy, to Saudi Arabia. The move came amidst growing concern among U.S. officials over civilian casualties in Yemen. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition to influence the ongoing civil war in neighboring Yemen. Earlier this month, the Trump administration declared its intentions to move forward with the arms sale.

Related Articles
A man and a woman each serving time for killing their first spouses have married in a prison in western Nepal -- but won't be able to consummate the marriage until the groom is released in 14 years.

The couple are both in Kalikot District Jail where Dilli Koirala, 33, is serving a 20-year sentence for murdering his wife, while Mimkosha Bista has another four years to serve for killing her husband.

The match between the convicted murderers, who had never met prior to the marriage ceremony, was set up by Koirala's mother -- also in prison for helping her son kill his first wife.

"He murdered his wife and I did in my husband. His mother likes me and that is one of the reasons I drew close to him," Bista, 30, said after the wedding ceremony, according to Republica newspaper.

A Hindu ceremony was performed by a local priest on Thursday morning, witnessed by jail staff and fellow inmates, prison official Sanjay Mahato told AFP.

"They are not allowed to stay together in the jail as we have separate sections for male and female prisoners. But we have decided to allow them to have a face to face chat twice a month," he added.

Lawyer Danam Raj Bam, who attended the unusual marriage, told AFP that the couple had decided to get hitched because they thought they would be unlikely to find anyone else willing to marry them.

"Since we both happen to have committed the same kind of crime, we won't be in any position to look down upon one another," the groom Koirala said, according to local media.

Kalikot District Jail is a small prison in rural western Nepal with just 53 prisoners -- 50 men and three women.
AMARILLO, Texas (AP)  Crews are working to contain a wildfire that's burning in a rural area of the Texas Panhandle while firefighters in Oklahoma fought back several blazes that popped up on an unseasonably warm and windy day.

Forecasters had warned that the weather Thursday was ripe for "extremely critical" wildfire activity in parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Multiple fires broke out but there are no reports of substantial damage or injuries.

In Texas, crews attacked a fire that had burned nearly 11 square miles in Oldham County in the Panhandle. Texas A&M Forest Service said early Friday that the blaze was 50 percent contained and that the fire's behavior "has moderated."

In Oklahoma, multiple fires broke out, and Oklahoma Army National Guard helicopters were dispatched to help battle the blazes.
Pretoria (AFP) - South African police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up clashes between local protesters and immigrants in Pretoria on Friday at a march against foreigners.

Shops and homes owned by migrants have been looted and torched over the last two weeks, with some South Africans alleging that the properties were brothels and drug dens.

Attacks against foreigners in the country have erupted regularly in recent years, fuelled by high unemployment and dire poverty.

Riot police in Pretoria formed lines to keep apart about 1,000 protesters.

Tensions have been rising over migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere.

"We support the police," South African marcher Aysha Ali, 25, told AFP.

"Nigerians are very bad, they are bringing drugs into our community. I support the protest."

As police struggled to impose control, Mohammed Abdi, 31, from Somalia, told AFP: "We are looking for peace. People say we foreigners are here to sell drugs? They can search our shops."

Some officers shot rubber rounds at close range at protesters lying on the ground, and police used water cannon against demonstrators who wielded rocks and machetes.

- 'We are not xenophobic' -

President Jacob Zuma condemned the latest wave of xenophobic unrest and called for calm and restraint saying that there had been "destruction of property directed at non-nationals."

"Residents in some communities blame non-nationals for the escalating crimes especially drug trafficking," the presidency said in a statement.

Zuma called for South Africans not to use migrants as a scapegoat for the country's widespread crime, but said the government would crack down on drug-dealing and illegal immigrants.

But he said the fight against crime should not be labelled xenophobic.

"We are not a xenophobic country and we would not have such a number of immigrants within our country and at our borders, many of whom have genuine reasons of fleeing their countries including economic and education opportunities, if we were a xenophobic country," he said in a separate statement.

Story continues

- 'We are scared' -

In the last week, more than 20 shops have been targeted in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, while residents in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, attacked at least 12 houses.

"We have decided to not leave the house (during the march)," Alain Bome, a 47-year-old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who has been in South Africa for 14 years, told AFP.

"We know very well there have been attacks. We are scared."

Police said at least 136 people had been arrested over the last 24 hours in relation to the march.

The Nigerian government this week called for the African Union to step in to stop "xenophobic attacks" on its citizens in South Africa, claiming 20 Nigerians were killed last year.

South African authorities dismiss such numbers, saying many violent deaths in the country are due to criminal activity rather than anti-immigrant sentiment.

In 2008, South Africa experienced its worst bout of xenophobic violence, which left 62 people dead.

In 2015, at least seven people died in similar unrest in Johannesburg and the Indian Ocean city of Durban as African immigrants were hunted down and attacked by gangs.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said this week that 35 percent of the labour force was unemployed or has given up looking for work.
Prague (AFP) - Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek will travel to Sudan on Sunday to try to free a Czech Christian aid worker sentenced to 24 years in prison on charges including spying and inciting hatred.

"Petr Jasek's release is a priority for Minister Zaoralek," the ministry said in a statement Friday.

The 53-year-old missionary, a member of a small Protestant Czech church called Cirkev Bratrska, had gone to Sudan to help local Christians, according to Czech media reports.

Sudanese authorities arrested him in December 2015, saying he entered the country "illegally" from neighbouring South Sudan and went to the state of South Kordofan.

In January, a Sudanese court found him guilty of entering the country without a visa, spying, taking pictures of military installations and inciting hatred, according to his lawyer.

The Czech foreign ministry said at the time it was convinced that the verdict was not backed by facts.

Zaoralek will meet with his Sudanese counterpart Ibrahim Ghandour and parliament speaker Ibrahim Ahmed Omer while in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

Release International, an organisation helping persecuted Christians worldwide, said last month that Jasek was detained along with three Sudanese men after helping to finance the medical treatment of a student from Darfur who was burned during a rally.

"Sudanese officials accuse Petr Jasek and three Sudanese men of funding rebel movements in areas such as South Kordofan and Darfur," it said.
A gunman opened fire in a busy Kansas bar on Wednesday, killing one Indian man and injuring two others in what witnesses say may have been a racially motivated attack.

The Kansas Star reports that the suspect, identified by police as Adam Purinton, has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder after being apprehended Thursday morning in Missouri.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died in hospital following the shooting in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe. Alok Madasani, 32, and Ian Grillot, 24, were both injured but are reportedly in a stable condition.

Kuchibhotla and Madasani were both engineers who worked at the nearby GPS-maker Garmin and had studied in India, the Associated Press reports. In an interview with the Star, Grillot described how he jumped up to pursue the shooter after he thought the gunman was out of bullets.

I wasnt really thinking when I did that, Grillot said. It was just, it wasnt right, and I didnt want the gentleman to potentially go after somebody else.

According to the Star, at least one witness recalled hearing the shooter yell, Get out of my country! before opening fire.

The Star reports that the suspect allegedly told a bartender in Missouri that he needed a place to hide because he had shot two Middle Eastern men. The suspect reportedly said he believed that he had killed them both. Kuchibhotla and Madasani are reportedly not from the Middle East.

Police said it was too early to determine whether the shooting was a hate crime, but said local authorities were investigating the incident with the FBI, AP reports.

[Kansas Star]
In the months and weeks leading up to the summer 2013 coup detat in Egypt that brought Mohamed Morsis presidency to an end, Egyptians encountered one economic challenge after another. Blackouts had become commonplace, the tourism industry was dead, foreign investment was nonexistent, and the government was flirting with a solvency crisis. All of this meant severe hardship for the millions of Egyptians who had hoped that the end of former President Hosni Mubaraks regime would bring them the bread, freedom, and social justice so many had demanded in Tahrir Square a few years earlier.

Among the most painful economic problems at the time was the shortage of fuel. In car-heavy Egypt, the inability to move  in addition to the usual, frustrating snarl of traffic  added insult to injury.

And then it was over. An economic crisis that had seemingly been months in the making disappeared almost overnight. A week after the coup, Ben Hubbard and David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times reported that gasoline was, suddenly, readily available. Was this just a coincidence  or was this the work of a secret cabal of military officers, intelligence operatives, and senior bureaucrats known as the deep state?

The idea of a deep state is hardly unique to Egypt. It is actually more commonly associated with Turkey and has recently turned up in the United States. For Turks, the rumors of their own long-standing secret cabal were confirmed when a Mercedes-Benz struck a truck in the small town of Susurluk, 150 miles southwest of Istanbul, on Nov. 3, 1996. The passengers in the Mercedes were an odd group that included Istanbuls deputy chief of police, a member of parliament, a known hit man, and the hit mans girlfriend. Only Sedat Bucak, the right-wing parliamentarian, survived.

To many in Turkey, what became known as the Susurluk scandal provided a peek into the Turkish deep state. There was the obvious question about how it came to be that one of Turkeys legislators and a senior police officer shared a ride with a known murderer and drug trafficker named Abdullah Catli. Then there were sensational allegations that the brakes of the car, which hit the truck at a high speed, had been remotely disabled. On top of these questions and accusations were claims that Catli, his girlfriend, and the police official, Huseyin Kocadag, had actually survived the collision but were killed by a team of assassins who arrived on the scene before local police and ambulance crews.

Story continues

Until that moment, there had been little tangible evidence of the existence of Turkeys deep state  even as it was nevertheless accepted as a fact of Turkish political life. It was the unseen conspiracy that well-meaning Turks always counseled inquisitive foreigners to look out for among military, police, and intelligence officers  the usual suspects  as well as in the most unexpected places, like the media, academia, and business community. No one knew how it all worked, but taken together these groups are believed to use the power of the Turkish state to advance their interests at the expense of society.

The conspiracy-minded idea that things are not always what they seem to be has proved attractive to Egyptians and Turks alike. Although the prevalence of the term and the imagined composition of the cabal differ, the belief in both Egypt and Turkey that powerful and unaccountable forces have a unique influence on the trajectory of events stems from similar conditions  an inability of citizens themselves to have a say in politics, economics, and social matters. Instead, Egyptians and Turks live in a political system where capriciousness, brutality, and corruption have become norms. It is no wonder that people have come to believe in the existence of a deep state.

That is Egypt and Turkey, though, countries where journalists are routinely jailed, opponents of the government are imprisoned, security forces politicized, parliaments are pliant, and the news is another name for an elaborate information campaign waged under the auspices of presidential palaces. How did the deep state enter political discourse in the United States?

In recent weeks, news outlets as varied as Breitbart, Infowars, the Intercept, and AlterNet have run stories about an American deep state. The term probably arrived on U.S. shores the same way it got to Egypt, by people straining to make sense of events in countries with such disparate histories, cultures, and political systems as Turkey, Egypt, and the United States. For supporters of President Donald Trump, the deep state is a convenient scapegoat as the new administration takes a beating in the press, protests throughout the country deepen polarization, and leaks pour out of the White House. Then there is what seems to be an undeclared war between Trump and the intelligence community, which has brought into public debate the prospect that senior officials have engaged in illegal and perhaps even treasonous activities. From a certain perspective, forces within the bureaucracy seem to be colluding with the media and Democrats to lay siege to Trumps young administration.

It is quite the opposite for Trumps opponents. They regard Trumps attacks on the press, his effort to delegitimize the judiciary, the unexplained links between the White House and the Russian government, and the seemingly purposeful effort to sow instability in the country as different dimensions of a plan to fundamentally alter the character of the American political system. The very fact that some senior advisors to the president, such as White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, have spoken openly about tearing down the system has only intensified fears of a plot by the most powerful to undermine American democracy.

In other words, many among Trumps detractors argue that the American deep state is engaged in a slow-motion coup. Among the 40 percent or so of Americans who believe that the president is doing a good job, the contentiousness of his first month in office is a result of a concerted, organized effort by the bureaucracy to undermine the Trump administration. Trump himself has hinted as much in his attacks on the intelligence community and judiciary.

There is reason to be concerned about the integrity of American political and legal institutions as the president and his advisors have thrown them open to question and manipulation. The president seems not to have thought through how these tactics will affect the future political trajectory of the country  a fact that contains stark similarities to the way the leaderships of Egypt and Turkey have leveraged institutions to meet immediate political challenges and, in the process, consolidated the authoritarian nature of their respective political systems.

Within this apparent similarity are the stark differences between the Egyptian and Turkish deep states and their alleged American counterpart. In Turkey, the deep state  if it exists  is believed to maintain a single, prime directive: ensure the republican system that modern Turkeys founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and his associates established in 1923. Toward that end, the deep state has sought to repress expressions of Kurdish nationalism, thwart Islamist ambitions, deny the history of Armenians in Anatolia, and, in a previous era, suppress communism. This has produced periodic assassinations, contributed to a three-decade war with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and four coups since 1960.

In Egypt, the deep states goal has been to ensure what can only be described as the natural order of politics, meaning the perpetuation of the military-dominated political system that former President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Free Officers founded in the 1950s. The Egyptians have been more successful in that than the Turks, who have had to resort more often to military interventions and violence to preserve the secular republican state.

In the United States, the likelihood that a deep state exists seems far-fetched. Lost in this moments political polarization is the fact that the response from intelligence professionals, judges, and government administrators is directly related to the new administrations disregard for democratic norms. Rather than trying to reshape the American republic, these forces have moved to ensure that hostile foreign powers cannot compromise senior American officials and that the national security advisor should not blatantly mislead the vice president.

At a level of abstraction, American bureaucrats are doing something similar to what the Egyptian and Turkish deep states have done  protect a system. That is as far as it goes, however. In the American case, the bureaucrats themselves dont control, or want to control, the system they are trying to protect. People in the White House, the Pentagon, the State and Justice departments, Congress, and the intelligence community are leaking to the press because they have no choice in an administration where officials have unexplained links with Russia, an array of conflicts of interest, and have promoted soft forms of white nationalism and fascism that threaten basic ideals of American democracy. On top of all of this, those same officials have openly expressed disdain for the professional bureaucracy. This is more than the mundane leaking of everyday Washington but only because the stakes are so high.

Nothing in any of what has transpired in the United States since Trumps inauguration indicates the existence of an American deep state. The idea has emerged because, like Egyptians and Turks who live in societies where government is opaque, Americans, who are bereft of good explanations for the often bewildering turn of events in a highly polarized and charged political environment, have sought an easy interpretation: conspiracy.

NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Top Duterte critic arrested on drug charge

A leading critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Leila de Lima, has been arrested on drug trafficking charges.
A first job is a rite of passage. "Whenever I hear a client say they have a child with income, my first thought is 'congratulations,'" says Jo Anna M. Fellon, principal at accounting firm Friedman LLP in East Hanover, New Jersey. After that, it's time to provide some guidance on how to spend that money and talk about taxes.

The letter of the law. The law is clear on what money is taxable and when a teen should start filing. Any teen who earned at least $6,300 in 2016 needs to file a tax return this spring. The only exception is for those who are blind, and they must file if their earned income exceeded $7,850. A tax return is also required in cases when a teen has unearned income, such as interest or dividends, greater than $1,050.

[Read: 8 Financial Gift Ideas for Children.]

Teens who are in business for themselves, be it mowing lawns or babysitting, should be paying a self-employment tax once they exceed $400 in income. However, teens who do these types of jobs are often paid in cash. "Most people don't report cash earnings," says Richard Rampell, principal in charge of the Palm Beach, Florida, office of accounting firm MBAF. However, that doesn't make it right. "The law says you must."

What people actually do. While the law is clear, not all families are aware of the income threshold for taxation or track their cash payments. Plus, clearing even $400 can be a major feat for some teens, particularly young ones. "Normally, babysitting money will not qualify," says Valrie Chambers, associate professor of accounting at Stetson University. "Occasional money earned outside the home is probably not subject to tax." However, when a teen goes from watching the neighbor's kids once every other month to providing daily after-school care, that's another story. At that point, a teen likely should be paying taxes on that income.

[Read: How to Qualify for Retirement Savings Tax Breaks.]

Claiming a teen's income on your return. Parents can file a teen's unearned income on their own return or use a separate form. The main benefit to attaching the income to a parent's return is convenience. But take a careful look at how adding a child's income to your return changes the tax rate on that income. "An item of caution for parents is that adding the unearned income could push them into a higher tax bracket," Fellon says. "These are the moments we say to consult with your tax advisor."

Story continues

However, in some instances, a family may have no choice but to put the child's income on the parent's return. The so-called kiddie tax was instituted to prevent people from shifting investments to children as a way to ensure unearned income is taxed at a lower rate. For 2016, teens earning more than $2,100 in interest and dividends will see at least part of that money taxed at their parent's tax rate instead of their own.

[Read: 5 Money Lessons Teens Should Learn Before They Go to College.]

Free help for teen filers. Parents may be tempted to quickly complete tax forms on behalf of their teens, but experts urge adults not to deprive children of this learning experience. Fellon suggests letting the family tax preparer, if available, meet with a teen. That's not because a teen's tax return is complex, but rather because it creates an opportunity for an advisor to provide practical advice. Those words of wisdom may be better received from a professional than from a parent.

For families who do not have an existing relationship with a tax advisor, help for teens may be available through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, known as VITA. Available to any household earning $54,000 or less, VITA provides free tax preparation through a network of nonprofits that have partnered with the IRS.

Tax preparation is a process in which teens should be actively involved. "This is not something a teen needs to figure out on their own," Chambers says. By understanding their tax obligations and the ins and outs of deductions and credits, they will be better prepared to make smart money moves as adults.
President Donald Trump wants the U.S. nuclear arsenal to stand at the top of the pack, and called an arms limitation pact with Russia a one-sided deal.

He made the comments in an interview with Reuters, during which he also talked about defense of U.S. allies in Northeast Asia and called the European Union wonderful.

It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack, he told Reuters.

Expressing concern that the U.S. fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity, Trump said that the U.S. nuclear armory would not lag any others, even if its a friendly country.

Trumps latest comments echo tweets he sent last December when President-elect, which in turn echoed sentiments by Vladimir Putin about the Russian nuclear stockpile.

Read More: Mikhail Gorbachev: It All Looks as if the World Is Preparing for War

Trump meanwhile criticized a U.S.-Russia agreement on nuclear armaments, the new START treaty, which would see both sides limit their strategic nuclear arms to an equal level for 10 years, according to Reuters.

Without specifying any specific course of action, he called it a one-sided deal, telling Reuters that its just another bad deal that the country made.

Russia currently has around 7,300 nuclear weapons, while the U.S. stockpile stands at 6,970, according to the Ploughshares Fund, an antinuclear group.

Trump also spoke about concerns he had with North Koreas recent missile tests, one of which took place during his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Read More: Coal, Nukes, and a Mortuary Break-In: The Real-World Intrigue Surrounding the Killing of Kim Jong Nam

When asked about plans by South Korea and Japan, both U.S. allies, to deploy the U.S.s THAAD missile defense system, he said that theres talk of a lot more than that. He didnt rule out a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

His positive comments about the E.U. come despite previous rhetoric on the matter and the encouragement his election has given to right-wing populists, who are opponents of the bloc. Trump told Reuters that he was now totally in favor of the union.
President Donald Trump began his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday with a lengthy rant railing against what he dubbed the fake news. After weeks of bad headlines, Trump suggested the dishonest media falsified stories about issues in his administration by using made-up sources.

But hours earlier, Trump had denounced leakers of classified information, implying that the sources were, in fact, real.

And I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. Its fake! Phony! Fake! Trump said. A few days ago, I called the fake news the enemy of the people and they are. They are the enemy of the people because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none.

Trump often used the media as a foil during his presidential campaign last year. His attacks have intensified this month as his administration has faced a raft of reports on internal turmoil and alleged improprieties. Most recently, on Feb. 14, the New York Times published an article that claimed some of Trumps associates and members of his campaign team had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year leading up to the 2016 presidential election. CNN followed that up with a report released in the wee hours of Friday morning that said White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked the FBI to refute the Times story and the agencys deputy director refuted his request. If Priebus actually made such a request it would appear to violate restrictions on the White House communicating with the FBI about ongoing investigations.

While Trumps CPAC speech accused the media of having phony sources, just a few hours before his speech, in a pair of tweets he suggested the CNN story came from leakers within the FBI and included classified information.

The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time. They cant even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW, Trump wrote.

Story continues

Trump began his assault on the media while boasting about the standing ovation he received as he walked on stage.

You know, the dishonest media, theyll say, He didnt get a standing ovation! Trump said, adding, They will say he never got a standing ovation. They are the worst!

Trump did indeed receive a standing ovation at the gathering of conservative political activists.

The president went on to note that the media didnt think he would win last years presidential race. He then referenced a Washington Post story published on Feb. 9 that claimed Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, privately discussed sanctions against Russia with that countrys ambassador to the United States late last year during the presidential transition. While Flynn initially denied discussing sanctions with Moscow, the Posts story cited nine current and former officials, who were in senior positions at multiple agencies at the time of the calls. Flynns conversations could have been a violation of laws against private citizens communicating with foreign governments that are in conflict with the United States. In his speech, Trump suggested the papers sources on the Flynn story did not exist.

I saw one story recently where they said, nine people have confirmed. There are no nine people, said Trump. I dont believe there was one or two people.

Oddly, immediately after claiming the nine sources did not exist, Trump then claimed to know the people who had spoken to the Post.

I know the people. I know who they talked to, he said.

Though Trump claimed the Post story was false, the president fired Flynn four days after the story was published. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Flynn was dismissed because of concerns he had misled the vice president and others when he initially denied discussing the sanctions with the Russian ambassador. As Trump finished his speech, Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron released a statement arguing Flynns firing confirmed the papers story.

Everything we published regarding Gen. Flynn was true, as confirmed by subsequent events and on the record statements from administration officials themselves. The story led directly to the generals dismissal as national security adviser. Calling press reports fake doesnt make them so, Baron said.

After his shot at the Post, Trump continued by railing against the backlash against a tweet he sent on Feb. 17 where he blasted the FAKE NEWS media.

In his speech, Trump argued those who criticized his comments as an attack on the press missed the nuance in the message.

The dishonest media did not explain that I called the fake news the enemy of the people. The fake news, they dropped off the word fake, Trump said. All of a sudden, the story became the media is the enemy. They take the word fake out.

The tweet specifically mentioned the New York Times, ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN.

Trump insisted hes not against the media.

Im not against the press. I dont mind bad stories if I deserve them. And I tell you, I love good stories, Trump said, adding, I dont get too many of them.

Trump declared the media should not be allowed to use anonymous sources.

They shouldnt be allowed to use sources unless they use somebodys name, Trump said. Let their name be put out there. Let their name be put out.

Typically, the press uses anonymous sources in reporting information from people whose jobs could be in danger if they were identified. Often, granting anonymity is the only way to get people inside government to share information that their superiors do not want publicized. Anonymous sources have exposed a raft of information about Trumps first few weeks in office including Flynns contacts with Russia, the allegations other members of his campaign were also in touch with Moscow last year, the story about Priebus communication with the FBI, and details of extensive infighting among White House staff.

Let them say it to my face! Trump declared. Let there be no more sources.

But both the president and his staff have at various times asked for anonymity in interactions with the media. Just about an hour before Trump took the stage at CPAC, White House staff held a background briefing to push back on the story about Priebus conversation with the FBI. The ground rules called for identifying the sources as anonymous senior administration officials. Reporters who covered Trump during his career as a real estate developer say he obscured his identity in conversations with them by pretending to be his own publicist. Those reports were confirmed by a recording obtained by the Washington Post last year where Trump falsely described himself as a publicist named John Miller. And in late 2012 when he was still promoting so-called birther conspiracy theories that President Barack Obama was born outside the country, Trump infamously tweeted that he received information from an anonymous extremely credible source.

An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2012

As Trump continued at CPAC, he acknowledged there are some great reporters around.

But there are some terrible, dishonest people and they do a tremendous disservice to our country and to our people, Trump said.

To prove his point, Trump cited the medias reporting on polls that failed to predict his victory in the very close presidential race last year. While he initially said he would not even mention names, after the crowd roared, Trump revealed the media outlets he was referring to: CNN, CBS, ABC, and NBC.

We have to fight it. Theyre very smart, theyre very cunning, and theyre very dishonest, Trump said.

Trump noted many critics claim his shots at the press are an attack on the First Amendment.

They say that we cant criticize their dishonest coverage because of the First Amendment. You know, they always bring up the First Amendment, he said. And I love the first amendment. Nobody loves it better than me. Nobody!

The president praised the First Amendment for giving people the right to criticize fake news and criticize it strongly. He concluded his discussion of the media by suggesting the corporations that own many major media outlets have an unfair influence on coverage.

Many of these groups are part of the large media corporations that have their own agenda, Trump said. And its not your agenda and its not the countrys agenda. Its their own agenda.

Once he was finished with the press, Trump launched into what that was essentially the same stump speech he delivered throughout the presidential campaign and at his post-election rallies. Trump relived his victory in the Republican primary, attacked his former rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, and touted his plans to crack down on illegal immigration, among other things.

The support for me was a record, as you know, not only in terms of numbers of people, but percentages of those numbers that voted for Trump. So I want to thank you folks  amazing outpouring. And I will not disappoint you, Trump said.

Trump did not actually receive a record number or percentage of votes in last years election.
The Hague (AFP) - With anti-Islam Dutch MP Geert Wilders topping the polls ahead of next month's elections, one small group is hoping to buck the trend: the country's first party led by immigrants.

Denk, or "think" in Dutch, wants to fight what it calls "institutional racism" by setting up a national register of racist phrases and expressions; replacing the idea of "integration" with "acceptance" and calling for an official apology for the country's past links to the slave trade.

Launched in 2015 by two MPs who were thrown out of the Labour party amid a row over its immigration policies, it has positioned itself ahead of the March 15 vote as the only true response to the anti-immigration, anti-Islam stand of Wilders and his far-right Freedom Party (PVV).

"It is unique in The Netherlands to have a party led by Dutch people with foreign roots," said political expert Sjaak Koening, from Maastricht University.

Critics say it employs some of the same bulldozer tactics as Wilders, and accuse it of cosying up to Turkey and its controversial President Recep Tayipp Erdogan, and seeking to divide the country which has gained a reputation for tolerance.

But the accusations are dismissed by a leading party member Farid Azarkan, who insisted Denk wants to be "the party of all Dutch people".

"If Geert Wilders publishes a Photoshopped picture of a rival, is that not polarisation? If a Christian party says their God is better than ours, is that not polarisation? If young people are excluded from society because they are Muslims, is that not polarisation?" he asked.

"We want to write history, under the leadership of the children of immigrants," he told AFP. "We want to take our place in democracy, and that happens via parliament."

- 'Demonised?' -

There are 28 parties competing for the ballots of 12.9 million eligible voters in March -- a particularly fractured political landscape in a country already used to coalition governments.

Story continues

Denk is hoping to win the support of some of the two million Dutch people who have at least one parent born outside of The Netherlands and the EU. And opinion polls say it could emerge with one to two seats in the new 150-seat lower house of parliament.

Denk's "core argument is the idea that Muslims are demonised" after years of slogans and attacks by Wilders, said Geerten Waling, from Leiden University.

According to a poll by the EtnoBarometer institute some 40 percent of people of Turkish origin and about 34 percent of people with Moroccan roots will vote for Denk.

While Wilders's party "is the party of the angry white man, you could say that Denk is the party of the angry brown man," said political researcher Aziz el Kaddouri, quoted in Dutch media.

"They feel they have been abandoned, and say, 'we are doing our best, but it is always suggested that our integration has failed'."

- Shock tactics -

Azarkan rejects Kaddouri's label saying rather they are a party of "disappointed voters" fed up with traditional politics who finally "have the impression that there is a party which can make their voices heard."

Although Denk and PVV are ideologically poles apart, there are parallels. Both were founded by MPs who left traditional parties. Both are very active on social media with large followings. Denk also regularly attacks the media, like Wilders, and resorts to shock headline-grabbing phrases.

The party is also not afraid of confrontation to push its agenda -- its leader Tunahan Kuzu created headlines last year when he refused in the name of Palestinians to shake the hand of visiting Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

"They certainly have a populist approach, but I wouldn't say yet that they are a populist party. They would have to go much further for that," said Koening.

Waling believes Denk represents "quite a conservative Muslim group, mostly from Turkish conservatives in the Netherlands" who reject for example any moves to monitor Muslim organisations here, or to put forward motions referring to the "Armenian genocide".

"But at least they are bringing new themes to politics and that is always good for democracy," said Koening.
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday he was not sure why China's commerce minister had canceled a trip to his country, and that Beijing misunderstood his foreign minister's comments about its militarization in the South China Sea. Duterte said he wanted solid ties with China and there was no urgency in pressing it to abide by last year's arbitration ruling on the Philippines' maritime boundaries and sovereign rights, which went in favor of Manila and infuriated Beijing. On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, the chairman of a meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations, said the region had "grave concerns" about China putting weapons installations on its manmade islands in the Spratlys. "The problem is I think Secretary Yasay was misunderstood by the Chinese government," Duterte said in a speech. "I would like to assure China, and this is what I had committed to do when I was there, that we will talk as friends," he said, referring to a trip he made to China last year. China's Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng decided at the last minute to postpone an official trip on Thursday to the Philippines to sign about 40 joint projects worth billions of dollars. No reason was given by either side. However, on Friday, the Chinese government announced the appointment of a new trade minister to replace Gao, as part of a reshuffle ahead of a crucial Communist Party meeting later this year. Establishing better relations with China has been a key plank of Duterte's sometimes perplexing foreign policy, which has seen him lash out at major donors and investors such as the United States and European Union. He is keen to tap China for loans, tourists and infrastructure. On Friday Duterte said the Philippines' longstanding alliance with the United States did not make it "duty bound to follow" Washington's foreign policy, and conflict with Beijing was not an option. "We cannot go to war because we cannot afford it," he said. "And as much as possible, the bilateral relations between the two countries would be enhanced and improved and trade and commerce between the two countries greatly improved." But that could be affected by Yasay's comments that ASEAN members were "unanimous in their expression of concern" about "very unsettling" developments. He mentioned China by name, something the 10-nation grouping is often reluctant to do. China's foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, on Thursday told a regular briefing that Yasay's remarks were "baffling and regrettable", and he hoped Yasay would "speak and act cautiously". (Reporting by Martin Petty and Neil Jerome Morales; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Robert Birsel and Clarence Fernandez)
Ismailiya (Egypt) (AFP) - Dozens of Coptic Christians have left Egypt's Sinai Peninsula after a string of jihadist attacks killed three Christians in the restive province, church officials said.

On Thursday, suspected Islamic State jihadists killed a member of the minority in the North Sinai city of El-Arish and set his house on fire.

The Coptic Church condemned the "terrorist" attacks in a statement on Facebook, saying the assaults were aimed at "dividing and torpedoing" the Egyptian people.

About 250 Christians took refuge in the Evangelical Church in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya, said church deacon and administrator Nabil Shukrallah.

"They've come running with their children. It's a very difficult situation. We're expecting 50 or 60 more," he told AFP.

Other church officials said they have also received Copts fleeing the peninsula.

Families sat in the Evangelical Church's courtyard amid bags filled with their belongings and blankets, some of them still terrified of the danger they escaped.

"We've become scared of our shadows. We're scared someone would be walking behind us and shoot us. Christians are being targeted in an ugly way," said one middle aged man who refused to give his name.

"Some people are too scared to even open their doors to go out and buy food," he added.

Another Christian, who left Sinai with her five children, said the dangers there had put off her husband from work.

"My husband hasn't been able to earn a penny in three months," said Umm Mina.

"This is not right," she said, breaking into tears.

On Wednesday, police officials said two Coptic Christians, a father and son, were shot dead behind a school in El-Arish.

Christians have been attacked before in the Sinai, where the Islamic State's Egypt affiliate is waging an insurgency, but there has been an uptick since IS released a video on Sunday calling for violence against the minority.

Story continues

The video included an anti-Christian speech by a militant who later detonated an explosive vest in a Coptic church in Cairo on December 11, killing 29 people.

The bombing of the church within a compound that also holds the seat of the Coptic papacy was the deadliest attack against the minority in recent memory.

Copts, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 90 million population, say they are sidelined in both the education system and state institutions.

Jihadists and Islamists accuse them of supporting the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, which ushered in a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

Morsi's overthrow, which came after millions of protesters demanded his resignation, was also supported by Egypt's top Muslim institution, Al-Azhar.

Mobs attacked dozens of churches and Christian properties in August that year after police killed hundreds of Islamist demonstrators while dispersing a Cairo protest camp.
Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., left, and David Perdue, R-Ga., speak to the media during a news conference on Capitol Hill Feb. 7. Cotton and Perdue unveiled immigration legislation that they say is aimed at cutting by half the number of green cards issued annually by the U.S. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

While much of the media has been focused on the administrations campaign against illegal immigration, a rising star among Senate Republicans, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, has been pursuing a parallel agenda: a bill to cut legal immigration in half, an idea long considered toxic in Washington but whose time may be coming around.

Perhaps no one in Washington was happier to hear the news than Roy Beck, a cheerful 68-year-old former reporter who founded the anti-immigration group NumbersUSA, and has been waiting for a moment like this for 20 years. Curtailing legal immigration has long been an untouchable subject in politics  an idea pushed by a handful of groups like Becks but largely ignored on the Hill by members of both parties. Now the environment has drastically changed, with Cotton, who enjoys access to Donald Trumps White House, championing the cause, and a president who seems open to the idea.

In 1996, Beck was crushed when a Republican-controlled Congress pulled back from a bipartisan plan to enact sweeping restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration. He can still narrate the ins and outs of the congressional defeat in vivid detail. Beck, who voted for Barack Obama in 2008, says he came to his position not out of ethnic nativism but out of concern about the environmental and economic impacts of population growth, founded his organization the next year. But he realized it might take another decade for a risk-averse Congress to tackle such a hot-button issue again.

Unfortunately, it wasnt once a decade; it was once every two decades, Beck said last week in NumbersUSAs Arlington, Va., office. Beck put his dreams of restricting legal immigration on hold as he instead directed his energies toward stopping congressional efforts to offer a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants in 2006 and 2007, and again with the Gang of Eight talks in 2013. In 2007, Beck marshaled his grassroots supporters to flood senators offices with more than a million faxes, helping to kill the immigration bill.

Story continues

Then, suddenly, the winds of the immigration debate shifted. Republican candidates for the presidency  from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush  began to talk about the need to limit legal immigration. And Trumps candidacy, which often focused on the supposed dangers of immigrants from Mexico and Muslim-majority countries, began to take off. In a policy paper, Trump called for a total pause on employment-based visas  something virtually no member of Congress would have advocated before.

It was very heartening all of the last two years  as one candidate after another began to talk about how there needs to be some trimming [of legal immigration], Beck said. Trumps victory seemed to prove that many more Americans than D.C. politicians shared Becks concerns.

Beck saw his organizations Facebook membership grow from under 1.5 million at the end of 2015 to 6 million this year. When he first started NumbersUSA, Beck worked for nativist John Tanton, who warned of a Latin onslaught in immigration and compared immigrants to bacteria, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported. But Beck has disavowed Tantons views and says the country should not discriminate against immigrants based on their race or nationality. He proudly pointed at the 6 million number, printed out and pasted to the glass wall of his offices glass conference room, last week.

I guess immigration was in the news, he joked.

Cottons bill delivers on several of Becks longtime key policy wishes, such as eliminating the visa diversity lottery, which gives 50,000 green cards to people in nations without significant immigration levels to the U.S., and capping refugee levels at 50,000 per year. But the majority of the bills legal immigration reduction comes from revoking U.S. citizens right to sponsor their siblings, parents and adult children for a green card. (Some elderly parents will still be allowed in on temporary renewable visas if citizens need to care for them.)

The bill will cut legal immigration by more than 400,000 people in its first year, and by more than 500,000 people each year 10 years from now. It works so fast because the millions of family members who are currently waiting in line for a green card  some for more than a decade  will see their petitions disappear immediately. The plurality of those on the waitlist are from Mexico, according to a State Department analysis.

Candidates for U.S. citizenship take the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony for new citizens at City Hall in Jersey City, N.J., on Feb. 22. (Photo: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images)

Cotton says the bill will return legal immigration to historical levels  when immigrants made up a smaller share of the U.S. population than they do now. Net immigration right now equals about 0.3 percent of the U.S. population annually  lower than the 0.4 percent yearly average since 1790. But the foreign-born population overall is currently at 13 percent  higher than its been in recent decades and approaching Americas record high of 14.8 percent, set in 1890, according to the Pew Research Center.

Cotton and Beck believe reducing legal immigration will raise wages for less-educated people already in the country, and that the American economy would be better off if immigrants with certain skills came in rather than those who are just related to citizens. More labor choices for employers mean lower wages, they argue. One potential economic problem with decreasing legal immigration, however, is that the falling U.S. birthrate means that a half-million fewer immigrants per year would result in near zero population and workforce growth, and put the cost burden of the nations retirees on a smaller base of younger workers.

It remains to be seen whether Cottons bill, called the RAISE Act, an acronym for Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act, will become the vehicle for Beck and his ideological compatriots first major victory in Congress. So far, it only has one co-sponsor, Sen. David Perdue of Georgia. Several leading Republican senators, including Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, have spoken out against it.

But Cotton likely can count on the presidents support when the time comes. I wont go as far as to say the White House has endorsed the bill or adopted the bill as their own, but President Trump expressed very strongly to Sen. Cotton that he supports the principle of making our immigration system more of a merit-based system and less of one which relies on family sponsorship, Caroline Rabbitt, Cottons communication director, told Yahoo News.

The bill contains no hint of compromise for the other side  neither a modest increase in employment-based visas nor a small-scale legalization that could address Trumps dilemma about what to do with the hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants protected by his predecessor. Trump told ABC News last month that these young people shouldnt be worried they will be deported because he has a big heart  but its unclear if he plans to ask Congress to legalize the group. At least one deferred-action recipient was rounded up in the recent raids targeting undocumented immigrants. In the past, bills reducing certain kinds of legal immigration were paired with increases in other areas or potential solutions to the undocumented population.

I dont know how youd get support just to do one side of it in the Senate, Flake told Politico. I just dont.

Cotton and his office are only just now beginning to reach out to senators to court their support, and its always possible the senator will throw in a sweetener in exchange for support from senators wary of signing onto a bill that solely reduces legal immigration. The landscape could also change dramatically by the time the bill is seriously considered  after the GOP deals with its main legislative priorities, Obamacare repeal and tax reform.

Asked if his group would accept a compromise, such as a small-scale legalization of the young people protected by President Obamas deferred-action executive order or an increase in employment-based visas, Beck said hed prefer a clean bill but, Were certainly not an all-or-nothing kind of organization.

But Frank Sharry, the executive director of the pro-immigration advocacy organization Americas Voice, said the bill has a snowballs chance in hell, even if it included legalization for deferred-action youth. He said he believes the bill is simply Cottons way of positioning himself for a future presidential run.

I know theyre feeling good these days, but theyre really smoking something if they think this has legs, Sharry said of anti-immigration groups excited about the bill.

Sharry said those who oppose the bill will make the powerful case that its hurting U.S. citizens who want to bring in their families. But, said Beck, its not a humanitarian thing. I chose to move away from my family in the Ozarks and I see them once a year. The thing is, in todays world Im connected with them practically every day. You can be connected with anyone in the world now.

Either way, the effort is sure to continue to raise Cottons profile. The combat veteran and Harvard graduate reportedly suggested Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster for the national security adviser job to the White House. And advocates on both the left and the right of the immigration issue are calling Cotton the next Jeff Sessions, the former senator from Alabama who was a lonely voice calling for lowering legal immigration and is now attorney general. Sessions former top aide, Stephen Miller, is a key White House adviser whos also called for reducing the share of the foreign-born population in the country.

In a rowdy town hall Wednesday night in Arkansas, Cotton fielded several questions about his support for immigration restrictions, including from a 7-year-old boy named Toby who said he and his grandma liked Mexicans and didnt want to pay for a wall. Cotton replied to the child that the U.S. is a melting pot and we are all one people, but that Mexico had to deal with its own problems.

Beck, meanwhile, is all anticipation. Id like to see it brought by the fall, he said of the bill. Its a good year.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU environment ministers are bracing for a tough debate on Tuesday to find a compromise on reforms to the carbon market, EU sources said, with nations split over how to balance climate ambitions with protection for energy-intensive industry. The bloc's 28 nations are pushing for an accord after the European Parliament last week adopted a draft reform of the European Union's emissions trading system (ETS). The cap-and-trade permit system is the EU's flagship policy for meeting its climate goals by regulating emissions at 11,000 industrial and power installations. It has suffered from excess supply since the financial crisis, which depressed prices. But EU nations are divided over three major issues: the level of ambition in measures to strengthen prices; how much protection industry needs to remain competitive; and how best to manage funds to help laggards modernize their economies. "We are bracing for battle," one EU diplomat said. EU nations need a common position before beginning talks with parliament and the European Commission - the final leg of EU legislation on the reforms tabled by the EU's executive arm more than a year ago. The bloc is also keen for swift adoption of what will be its first big piece of climate legislation since it ratified the Paris accord on curbing global warming. The ETS is the EU's main tool to achieve its goal of a 43 percent cut in greenhouse gases from industries and power plants compared with 2005. "It'll be negotiations until the death," one EU diplomat quipped. Another said: "Most EU countries want a deal as soon as possible but positions are still far away from each other." If they fail to find common ground in talks on Tuesday, the issue will be bumped to the next Environment Council meeting in June, delaying reforms. Pushing for measures to shore up permit prices are some eight EU nations led by France, Sweden and Britain, EU sources said. They back the parliament's proposal to double the rate at which the scheme's Market Stability Reserve soaks up excess allowances. They are also mulling a plan to scrap permits above a set ceiling and an expiration date to cancel surplus permits after five years. For other member states such as Germany, Italy, Austria and Greece, priority is being given to measures for ensuring that the regulation does not spur big industry to relocate abroad. They want more permits to be freely doled out to industry rather than put for auction if a cap on overall allocations that slashes free allowances across the board, known as the cross-sectoral correction factor, is triggered. Poorer member states in Central and Eastern Europe, for which coal remains a large share of the energy mix, are keen to get the most generous provisions possible to help modernize their economies - prompting other nations to seek limits. Thomson Reuters carbon analyst Anders Nordeng said failure to reach a compromise on Tuesday would be bearish for markets as it would signal a tough stance by Poland and other countries that are keen to water down the reforms. (Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel, Tom Koerkemeier and Waverly Colville; Editing by Dale Hudson)
Two dead in separate accidents

Two people were killed in separate accidents in Janakpur and Bardiya.
European nations, including the UK, are making a grave accounting error that will result in the emissions of more planet-warming greenhouse gases, according to a new report from an independent London think tank.

By counting the burning of wood pellets from felled forests in the U.S., Canada and Russia as a "renewable" or "sustainable" form of energy, nations in the European Union are masking their full impact on the environment, the report warns.

The study, from Chatham House, comes as European officials debate policies that favor particular energy sources, including biomass energy such as wood pellets, as a way to cut planet-warming carbon dioxide.

SEE ALSO: Something is very, very wrong with the Arctic climate

The report warns that contrary to what many policy makers have been saying, bioenergy involves about as much carbon emissions as coal. In fact, if wood is burned to make steam for electricity, this practice may be 50 percent more carbon intensive than coal per unit of electricity produced.

Bioenergy policy may seem like an issue buried in the weeds (so to speak) of climate policy, but scientists say the future severity of global warming is at stake in determining the European Union's (EU) policies toward biomass burning.

If the wrong policies remain in place, the EU may inadvertently torpedo the globe's chances to live up to the commitments made under the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Paris temperature goal is in peril because of the way were dealing with bioenergy, William Moomaw, a professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, said in an interview.

The EU is the worlds biggest user of biomass for electricity generation, with its use growing quickly.

With the Trump administration wavering on its support for the climate pact, the policies adopted by other nations and groups of countries have taken on an increased importance.

Story continues

According to the report, emissions from the burning of wood pellets are never truly accounted for, either at the point of combustion or when trees are cut down to make the pellets.

To put that another way, European nations are currently allowed to burn wood pellets from trees that have been chopped down in the Southeast U.S., and no one  neither the U.S. nor the European countries  ever marks down the emissions on their carbon checking account.

The study found that despite being responsible for several million tons of carbon emissions in 2016, the UK did not log any emissions from burning wood pellets because of accounting loopholes.

The report recommends that emissions be tallied from the point when forests are cut all the way through combustion. This is critical, since trees are a huge absorber of atmospheric carbon, known to climate policy specialists and scientists as a carbon "sink."

Pile of wood debris from clear cut logging.

Image: Mint Images/REX/Shutterstock

European governments are working to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels, but they have been maintaining financial support for bioenergy, encouraging the clear cutting of swaths of forests in the southeastern U.S. to produce wood pellets that are shipped to power plants across the Atlantic Ocean.

In other words, loggers are chopping down huge swaths of forests in the Southeast to produce wood pellets that are shipped to Europe, where theyre burned in power plants.

The Chatham House report found that burning wood for energy is far less efficient compared to using solar panels to do the same thing.

"Burning wood converts solar energy into electricity with an efficiency of only one-quarter of one percent compared to 20 percent for solar panels that release no emissions during operations," Moomaw said.

The bioenergy issue is causing us to skirt along a knifes edge when it comes to our future, Moomaw said.

If we do it the other way and actually protect and restore degraded forests and other degraded terrestrial lands we actually can pull far more out of the atmosphere than people realize, he added, noting thats a system of negative emissions thats been working for 300 million years. We know it works.

Regarding the accounting rules that are incentivizing bioenergy without fully accounting for the carbon emissions, Moomaw said: Somebody has to stand up and tell the kids there is no Santa Claus.
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he likes the concept of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, expressing his preference on the issue for the first time since sparking international criticism for appearing to back away from the longstanding bedrock of Middle East policy. But in an interview with Reuters, Trump stopped short of reasserting a U.S. commitment to eventual Palestinian statehood and instead said again that he would be satisfied with whatever makes both parties happy. Trumps comments put a new twist on a statement he made at a Feb. 15 joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting that his administration would no longer insist on the creation of an independent Palestinian state as part of any future peace accord. It could also send a signal to both sides, as well as the international community, that the principle that has long underpinned U.S.-led peace diplomacy will not be discarded if the Trump administration moves forward, as he has promised, with an initiative to restart long-stalled peace efforts. No, I like the two-state solution, Trump said when asked whether he had backed away from the concept during his joint White House appearance with the right-wing Israeli leader. But I ultimately like what the both parties like. People have been talking about it for so many years now. It so far hasnt worked, he added. But he then repeated his revised position, saying: I like this two-state solution, but I am satisfied with whatever both parties agree with. Trump's comments provided nuance to his earlier comments. "I'm looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like," he said at last week's news conference. "I can live with either one." Those words were welcomed at the time by the Israeli right but denounced by Palestinians, who seek a state of their own. A one-state solution would be deeply problematic for both sides. One concept would be two systems for two peoples, which many Palestinians would see as apartheid and endless occupation. A second version would mean equal rights for all, including for Palestinians in an annexed West Bank, but that would compromise Israels Jewish character. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned against abandoning the idea of a two-state solution, saying there was "no alternative," and Egyptian and Jordanian leaders also renewed their commitment to that goal. Trumps revised language could soften such criticism, but still fails to meet demands that he explicitly re-commit to seeking a two-state solution. At the news conference, Trump pledged to work toward a peace deal but said it would require compromise on both sides. He also surprised Netanyahu by urging him to hold back on settlements for a little bit, a vague appeal to curb construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. But at the news conference he offered no new prescription for achieving an accord that has eluded so many of his predecessors, and Palestinian anger over his strongly pro-Israel stance could make it difficult to draw them back to the negotiating table. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Howard Goller)
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is at the "top of the pack," saying the United States has fallen behind in its weapons capacity. In a Reuters interview, Trump also said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea "very easily if they want to," ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to exert more influence to rein in Pyongyang's increasingly bellicose actions. Trump also expressed support for the European Union as a governing body, saying "I'm totally in favor of it," and for the first time as president expressed a preference for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but said he would be satisfied with whatever makes the two sides happy. Trump also predicted his efforts to pressure NATO allies to pay more for their own defense and ease the burden on the U.S. budget would reap dividends. "They owe a lot of money," he said. In his first comments about the U.S. nuclear arsenal since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump was asked about a December tweet in which he said the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capacity "until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes." Trump said in the interview he would like to see a world with no nuclear weapons but expressed concern that the United States has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity." I am the first one that would like to see ... nobody have nukes, but were never going to fall behind any country even if its a friendly country, were never going to fall behind on nuclear power. "It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack," Trump said. Russia has 7,000 warheads and the United States, 6,800, according to the Ploughshares Fund, an anti-nuclear group. "Russia and the United States have far more weapons than is necessary to deter nuclear attack by the other or by another nuclear-armed country," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the independent Arms Control Association non-profit group. The new strategic arms limitation treaty, known as New START, between the United States and Russia requires that by February 5, 2018, both countries must limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to equal levels for 10 years. The treaty permits both countries to have no more than 800 deployed and non-deployed land-based intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and heavy bombers equipped to carry nuclear weapons, and contains equal limits on other nuclear weapons. Analysts have questioned whether Trump wants to abrogate New START or would begin deploying other warheads. In the interview, Trump called New START "a one-sided deal." "Just another bad deal that the country made, whether it's START, whether it's the Iran deal ... We're going to start making good deals," he said. "WE'RE VERY ANGRY" The United States is in the midst of a $1 trillion, 30-year modernization of its aging ballistic missile submarines, bombers and land-based missiles. Trump also complained that the Russian deployment of a ground-based cruise missile is in violation of a 1987 treaty that bans land-based American and Russian intermediate-range missiles. "To me it's a big deal," said Trump, who has held out the possibility of warmer U.S. relations with Russia. Asked if he would raise the issue with Putin, Trump said he would do so "if and when we meet." He said he had no meetings scheduled as of yet with Putin. Speaking from behind his desk in the Oval Office, Trump expressed concern about North Korea's ballistic missile tests and said accelerating a missile defense system for U.S. allies Japan and South Korea was among many options available. "There's talks of a lot more than that," Trump said, when asked about the missile defense system. "We'll see what happens. But it's a very dangerous situation, and China can end it very quickly in my opinion." China has made clear that it opposes North Koreas nuclear and missile programs and has repeatedly called for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and a return to negotiations between Pyongyang and world powers. But efforts to change Pyongyang's behavior through sanctions have historically failed, largely because of China's fear that severe measures could trigger a collapse of the North Korean state and send refugees streaming across their border. Trump's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month in Florida was interrupted by a ballistic missile launch by North Korea. Trump did not completely rule out possibly meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at some point in the future under certain circumstances but suggested it might be too late. "It's very late. We're very angry at what he's done, and frankly this should have been taken care of during the Obama administration," he said. According to Japanese news reports, the Japanese government plans to start debate over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, and the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system to improve its capability to counter North Korean ballistic missiles. The strength of Trumps remarks in favor of the EU took some Brussels officials by surprise after his support for Britain's vote last summer to exit from the EU. "I'm totally in favor of it," Trump said of the EU. "I think it's wonderful. If they're happy, I'm in favor of it." Statements by him and others in his administration have suggested to Europeans that he sees little value in the Union as such, which Trump last month called a vehicle for Germany." (Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Roberta Rampton, Emily Stephenson, John Walcott, Matt Spetalnick, Arshad Mohammed and David Brunnstrom in Washington and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; editing by Ross Colvin)
You can explore the Amazon rainforest's spectacular beauty and biodiversity right from the comfort of your home, thanks to a new 360-degree virtual-reality film from Conservation International.

The film, called "Under the Canopy," brings viewers into the depths of the Amazon, with the region's diverse environment on full display. But beyond the picturesque views, the film also shares a message with viewers: This incredible landscape is threatened and needs to be protected. The annual forest loss due to deforestation in the Amazonia region is more than 1.5 times the size of Yellowstone National Park, according to Conservation International, the nonprofit environmental organization that developed the virtual-reality experience.

The film begins at the top of a 200-foot-tall (60 meters) Ceiba tree. After descending to the rainforest floor, viewers set out on a journey with an indigenous guide named Kamanja Panashekung. Panashekung's family has lived in the region for generations, and he shows viewers how the rainforest supplies everything his people need to survive, according to Conservation International. [Beyond Gaming: 10 Other Fascinating Uses for Virtual-Reality Tech]

"Kamanja's community is one of over 350 indigenous communities throughout Amazonia that depend on the rainforest, as we all do, for the air we breathe and the water we drink," M. Sanjayan, Conservation International's executive vice president and senior scientist, said in a statement. "'Under the Canopy' gives those who may never visit the Amazon rainforest an opportunity  understand what is at risk. Sustaining the Amazon is not an option; it is a necessity."

However, the impact of deforestation is not limited to the 30 million people who call the Amazon home. Trees in the Amazon act as a carbon sink  absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, which helps lower greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.

Story continues

The Amazon region also supports more flora and fauna species than any other environment, playing an important role in global biodiversity, scientists have said. Throughout the film, viewers will encounter tropical birds, butterflies, sloths and more.

Using either a virtual-reality headset for an immersive experience or watching the 360-degree video, viewers will see firsthand what the people, plants and animals of Amazonia experience. The film addresses how deforestation and climate change impact their ecosystem, said Chris Holtz, director of conservation and sustainable development at the MacArthur Foundation, which supported the production of the film.

"Intact forests play a unique role in mitigating climate change and regulating the functioning of the planet. Yet, many are at risk," Holtz said in the statement. "The virtual reality experience of 'Under the Canopy' allows anyone to immerse themselves in the rainforests of Amazonia and walk alongside members of an indigenous community in Suriname who conserve these forests as part of their traditional lands and, importantly, for the benefit of all humanity."

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations
Mounting evidence suggests that the trillions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that line our skin and digestive tractscalled the microbiomemay be key to a healthier immune system. In particular, being exposed to the right bacteria at an early age may reduce a child's asthma risk, says B. Brett Finlay Ph.D., a microbiologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Asthma is a very prevalent disease in our society now, which wasnt the case 50 years ago, Finlay says, who spoke on the topic at the recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). We now realize that the microbes [youre exposed to early in life] seem to set you upor notfor asthma.

Although research in this field is still preliminary, evidence so far suggests that asthma risk may be greater in children who were born by C-section, fed formula instead of breast milk, or treated with antibiotics at an early age, as well as those who live in urban, rather than rural, areas. All of these factors, Finlay says, may limit a childs exposure to healthy microbes.

A Bug a Day May Keep The Inhaler Away

In 2012, Finlay and his team found that if you wipe out a young mouses intestinal bacteria with antibiotics, it's much more likely to develop asthma.

To see how the relationship between bacteria and asthma might play out in people, Finlay and his team compared the fecal bacterial content of 319 children enrolled in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development Study, a long-term research project examining the development of 3,500 children born after 2010. The team found that the infants who harbored four types of bacteria in their guts at 3 months of age were less likely to develop asthma than those who did not.

If you had them [the bacteria], you were basically protected against asthma, says Finlay. If you didnt have them, you had a very high risk of asthma.

They published these results in the journal Science Translational Medicine in 2015.

Story continues

This and other studies, says Finlay, hint that there might be an important early window when an infant needs to get certain microbes in order to strengthen their immune system and tip the balance away from developing asthma. "These microbes are somehow influencing how that actually works," says Finlay.

Finlay believes that because were so focused on cleanliness, weve lost an essential part of our biologyhealthy microbes. We are suffering from a hygiene hangover, says Finlay. We are not getting the microbes that our grandparents got. And as a result, he says, were getting diseases our society wouldnt have seen 100 years ago.

5 Ways to Strengthen Your Child's Microbiome

Once a child develops asthma, there's not much you can do to reverse it. That's why, says Finlay, it may be important to put certain practices into play early on in a child's life.

In his book, Let Them Eat Dirt, (Algonquin Books, 2016) Finlay outlines tips for increasing a child's exposure to healthy bacteria. Ideally, he says such exposures are most important between birth and age 2. But all of the tips can be practiced throughout childhood, which may help mitigate the risk of not only asthma, but other diseases linked to an unhealthy microbiome, including allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, and obesity.

Its fascinating, and theres a lot more to learn, says Jay Portnoy, M.D., director of allergy, asthma, and immunology at Childrens Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

He cautions, however, that the link between asthma risk and the microbiome is still not fully understood. A diverse microbiome, he says, may only be a marker for living in a healthy environment. We dont know whether changing the microbiome makes any difference for asthma, Portnoy says.

And of course, asthma has many other triggers, including exposures to dust and pollen, and practicing these tips aren't a surefire way to spare your child.

Still, early research suggests they may help, and with basic precautions, all can be safely incorporated into a healthy lifestyle.

1. Let your child play in the dirt. Mud, plants, insects, and dirt are teeming with healthy microbes.

2. Get a dog. Assuming, of course, no one is allergic, studies show that people who live with a dog have a 20 percent decreased risk of developing asthma, says Finlay.

3. Chuck the antibacterial soap. Antimicrobial soaps and gels may seem like a smart idea, but theyll destroy the beneficial microbes your child has picked up. Washing with regular soap and water is enough; and the only time your kids hands need to be squeaky clean, says Finlay, is before a meal and after the bathroom.

4. Feed their microbes. Like humans, microbes need to eat to stay healthy. And they prefer high-fiber, healthy foods like nuts, legumes, and vegetables, as well as fermented foods, like yogurt and kefir.

5. Use antibiotics sparingly. These drugs can be a lifesaver for serious infections, but when theyre not necessaryfor colds or other viral infections, for exampleskip them. They carpet bomb both good and bad bacteria, as Finlay says, dramatically disrupting the composition of microbes in your body.





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.
PARIS (AP) -- No more Muslim women in the Metro wearing the latest in headscarf attire. No more young Jewish boys in kippas dashing into the bakery for the family's dinner baquette.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen's plan to ban religious symbols from French streets if elected president this spring would dramatically alter the country's urban landscape.

Le Pen gave a real-life demonstration of her far-reaching but little-noticed proposal during a trip this week to Lebanon, refusing to don a head covering for a visit with a Muslim religious leader. She lost out on the meeting but won new publicity just as she is topping polls.

The ban would stigmatize France's large Muslim population anew and force Europe's largest Jewish community to give up a cherished custom.

The far-right leader's bold plans to pull France out of the European Union and exit the euro currency have obscured some elements of the 144 "commitments" in her platform.

Tucked within the list is point 95. It calls for extending a 2004 law banning headscarves and other "ostentatious" religious symbols from the nation's classrooms to all public spaces, including the streets. Only religious workers such as nuns, imams and rabbis would enjoy exceptions.

Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigration National Front party, holds up this measure as her contribution to French secularism, the foundational value behind the 2004 law. A ban on face-covering veils in public followed in 2010.

In both instances, it was well-known that the government was also targeting Muslim fundamentalism, seen as a gateway to violent extremism  just as Le Pen appears to be doing.

Current polls suggest Le Pen could come out on top in the first-round election in April 23 but would lose in the May 7 runoff.

"I consider the headscarf a symbol of a woman's submission," Le Pen told reporters Tuesday at the end of her stay in Beirut, after refusing to cover her head to meet Lebanon's grand mufti, Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian. "I will not put on the veil."

Story continues

Enlarging the space where headscarves would be forbidden is an ongoing debate in France. But Le Pen's plan to ban from public spaces even widely worn Muslim headscarves  and kippas for Jews  may be a step too far.

"I know we are asking some of our fellow citizens (for) some sacrifices," said Jean Messiha, a top Le Pen adviser, referring to French Jews. "But I am sure everybody will understand the utility of this sacrifice ... to promote French unity and French peaceful relations in the public space."

Not so fast.

Le Pen has been courting Jews, trying to undo the pariah status her party gained under her father and party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has been repeatedly convicted of anti-Semitism and racism. Last month, Marine Le Pen even sent a top official on a private visit to Israel where he met discreetly with a government minister.

But for the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, or CRIF, Le Pen and her party remain taboo. She was the only leading presidential candidate not invited to CRIF's annual dinner Wednesday.

"They are the defenders of xenophobia, populism, racism and, of course, anti-Semitism in French society today," CRIF Vice-President Yonathan Arfi said.

Her proposal amounts to an attack on expressing individual identity, Arfi told The Associated Press. "It is to tell the French that with us, you will no longer see in the streets foreigners, all those you feel are disturbing your vision of French society."

French Muslims fear their estimated 5 million-strong population could face an escalation of Islamophobia even if many don't cover their heads.

The streets are "the most fundamental area of freedom," said Marwan Muhammad, head of the Collective against Islamophobia in France, which helped Muslim women mount successful legal battles last summer against bans on burkini swimsuits on numerous municipal beaches.

"Islamophobia doesn't only impact Muslims. It impacts society at large because it destroys something fundamental  liberty," he said.

Critics note there has been no mention of Christian signs in the ban proposal.

"Big crosses don't exist. Christian religions don't have ostentatious signs," Le Pen said on a recent television program. "In reality it is we who invented secularism."

France's principle of secularism was established in 1905 to bring peace between powerful Roman Catholic clerics and the state. It is now written into the constitution.

Richard Abitbol, head of the Confederation of Jews of France and Friends of Israel, says Le Pen's proposal is less dramatic than some think, in part because many Jews have already exchanged the kippa for a hat out of fear of becoming a target of anti-Semitic attacks. His group, unlike CRIF, has not put the National Front on a black list.

However, he added, "The day they forbid circumcision in France there will be no more Jews in France."

___

John Leicester in Paris contributed.
The FBI refused to publicly deny reports about communications between Donald Trumps associates and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign despite a White House request, CNN reported Thursday.

Quoting U.S. officials briefed on the matter, CNN reported the White House had asked for the denial of reports of the alleged contacts first published by the New York Times and CNN on Feb. 14 in violation of procedures regarding pending federal investigations.

The president repeatedly has denied he had anything to do with Russia, most recently at his news conference last Thursday after repeated prodding by reporters. But the New York Times noted Russian officials have acknowledged pre-election contacts at least twice.

U.S. intelligence officials have concluded Russia attempted to influence the U.S. presidential election by hacking the Democratic National Committees emails and turning them over to WikiLeaks for publication.

CNN said White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus talked to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe about the reports Feb. 15 during a meeting on another issue, but a White House official said it didnt happen that way, rather McCabe called Priebus to say the Times story had overstated what the FBI actually knew.

FBI Director James Comey refused a request that the FBI talk to reporters on background to defuse the story because of the ongoing investigation. The White House has called the story complete garbage.

CNN earlier reported the contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials were continuous, and members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees are investigating the issue despite the White House denials.

Following a Feb. 17 briefing with Comey, Sen. Angus King of Maine said he was surprised at the intensity of Priebus denials.

Trumps first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was forced to resign as a result of misrepresenting the contacts he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence. U.S. intelligence officials said Flynn talked to Kislyak about U.S. sanctions against Russia during the transition period.

Story continues

Trump has called the issue a fake news and denied any of his aides had contacts with the Russians. Trump has said the real issue is who leaked the information to the press, calling the media the enemy of the American people.



Related Articles
Two govt employees held while taking bribe

A team of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority has arrested three persons including two government employees in Bhaktapur on charge of taking bribe.
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked the FBI to publicly knock down media reports about alleged communications that took place between President Donald Trump's associates and Russians during the U.S. presidential election campaign, a White House official said Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

Multiple U.S. officials, who've been briefed on the issue, told CNN that several other White House officials had also been asking the FBI to say publicly that the previous media reports about the communications were wrong but the bureau refused to do so. Priebus' request came after the FBI indicated to the White House that it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was inaccurate, the AP reported.

The request from the White House could be considered a violation of procedures under decade-old restrictions on such direct communications with the FBI. Democrats criticized the request. "The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said.

Priebus' discussions with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe began after the New York Times published the story last month about Trump's campaign associates having repeated contacts with the Russian intelligence, a U.S. law enforcement official told CNN. Priebus also reached out to FBI Director James Comey requesting him to at least talk to reporters even if the FBI did not want to dispute them publicly. A White House official reportedly did not say what the FBI told Priebus exactly but said that McCabe didn't discuss aspects of the case and that Comey also rejected the request.

"We didn't try to knock the story down. We asked them to tell the truth," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said late Thursday night after CNN's reports on the White House's request to the FBI.

Story continues

Last weekend, Priebus called the Times story "complete garbage."

"The New York Times put out an article with no direct sources that said that the Trump campaign had constant contacts with Russian spies, basically, you know, some treasonous type of accusations. We have now all kinds of people looking into this. I can assure you and I have been approved to say this -- that the top levels of the intelligence community have assured me that that story is not only inaccurate, but it's grossly overstated and it was wrong. And there's nothing to it," Priebus told "Fox News Sunday."

Related Articles
By Jonathan Allen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio met with federal prosecutors on Friday as part of their lengthy investigation into whether people involved in fundraising for his election campaign broke corruption laws, according to news reports.

De Blasio, a Democrat who faces reelection in November, has repeatedly said he and his campaign staff have done nothing wrong and that he was cooperating with prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan in their yearlong criminal investigation.

"We did everything right," he said in a television interview last month. "My team did everything right."

Prosecutors and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation questioned him on multiple topics, according to the New York Times.

The meeting took place at his lawyers' office in Manhattan, and his black sport-utility vehicle was seen departing from the office garage about five hours after it arrived. News photographers briefly gave chase, but de Blasio did not emerge from the vehicle to speak with waiting reporters.

A spokesman for the mayor did not respond to questions on Friday.

Prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. attorney's public corruption unit are looking at whether people who helped raise money for de Blasio's 2013 election campaign and a non-profit organization that his advisers operated received favorable treatment from the mayor or his aides at City Hall, according to news reports.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, which typically does not discuss ongoing investigations, declined to comment.

After the meeting, the mayor, who had no public events planned for the day, headed to the airport to fly to Atlanta for a meeting of the Democratic National Committee, according to his published schedule.

Last month, de Blasio confirmed he was interviewed by state-level prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office in a separate investigation into his fundraising practices. He is no longer a target of that inquiry, although some of his aides may still be under scrutiny, according to the New York Times.

The private law firms defending the mayor and other officials are costing the city more than $11.6 million, the paper reported.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond and Brendan McDermid; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Bernadette Baum)
PRAGUE (AP)  A court in the Czech Republic has convicted a Czech man of an attempt to join the Islamic State militants in Syria and sentenced him to three years and three months in prison.

The regional court in the western city of Plzen issued the verdict on Friday and also ordered Jan Silovsky to undergo psychiatric treatment.

The 22-year-old Silovsky became the first Czech indicted for such a crime. He pleaded guilty and expressed regret.

Silovsky was arrested last year in Turkey at the Istanbul international airport and sent back to the Czech Republic by Turkish authorities.

He appealed the sentence.

During the trial, he said he converted to Islam about four years ago.
A Florida police officer who accidentally shot and killed a retired librarian during a citizens police academy demonstration has turned himself into authorities Wednesday after being charged with manslaughter, according to local reports. The chief of police of Punta Gorda, a small city located a few hours south of Tampa, was also charged with misdemeanor negligence.

The police officer, Lee Coel, 28, was charged with felony manslaughter for killing retired librarian Mary Knowlton, 73, last August. Knowlton was randomly selected to participate in a "shoot/don't shoot" role-playing scenario to teach residents how police decide to use deadly force.

But Coel's gun was loaded with ammunition. Knowlton was rushed to a local hospital, where she was declared dead.

The event, which was attended by 35 participants, was put on by the local Chamber of Commerce and the Punta Gorda police as part of a longer class designed to teach residents about the functions of local government. Gary Knowlton, Mary Knowlton's husband of 55 years, was present at the event.

"She volunteered to be the victim in this mock shooting. I was standing 10 feet away from her when the guy shot her," Gary Knowlton told CBS News last year. In November, the city of Punta Gorda and Knowlton's family reportedly reached a $2 million settlement.

Coel was released Wednesday after posting $5,000 bond. Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis was charged with misdemeanor negligence in connection with the shooting.

The shooting was not the first controversy that emerged from Coel's use of force. Last year, Richard Schumacher, 26, sued the police department and the city of Punta Gorda after Coel's police dog attacked him during a traffic stop on his bicycle. Schumacher, who was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident, lost muscle under his arm during the arrest from the dog's biting. In a dashboard video of the arrest, it doesn't appear that Schumacher is resisting arrest when Coel sets the dog on him.

Story continues

In 2013, Coel resigned from the Miramar Police Department due to allegations of excessive force, the Miami Herald reported immediately after Knowlton's death.

It is rare for officers to be charged in connection with the death of civilians. A 2015 Washington Post analysis found that between 2005 and 2014, just 54 officers were charged  an average of about five a year. But the number spiked since then. In 2015, the number of officers charged rose to 17.

It is also quite rare for a police officer to actually be convicted of manslaughter or murder. In 2014 and 2015, no officers were convicted of murder or manslaughter in connection with shooting a civilian. In 2015, Richard Slager, a police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, was caught on video fatally shooting Walter Scott, a 50-year-old black man, but avoided a murder conviction when one holdout juror forced the judge to declare a mistrial in December. Slager will stand trial on federal civil rights charges and could face a second murder trial.

Several other high-profile incidents have led to recent charges filed against officers with trials looming in the coming months.

Betty Shelby, a police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was charged in September with felony manslaughter after fatally shooting Terence Crutcher and will stand trial in May. Jeronimo Yanez, a police officer in Minnesota, was charged with manslaughter in November for fatally shooting Philando Castile and is scheduled to enter a plea at a Feb. 27 hearing.

Related Articles
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  A 24-year-old U.S. Navy sailor is accused of deserting her post after having a baby.

Ana Lucia Gnecco remains on a military hold in a Florida jail Friday after being arrested at her parents' home Wednesday. Gnecco's daughter was born in August.

Her father, Armando Rodriguez, tells the SunSentinel (http://bit.ly/2meM8FB ) the Navy is claiming "she basically went AWOL."

The newspaper reports Gnecco, a seaman quartermaster, was supposed to return to her base in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Jan. 14.

Navy public affairs officer Christina Johnson says the arrest was the last resort, adding "all efforts were made to get her back to work."

Rodriguez says he hopes she will be discharged. He says Gnecco's family  including sisters and her mother  have helped care for the baby.
A former top aide on energy issues for President Trumps transition speculated that the Administration will cut research funding for wind and solar power and redirect money to fossil fuels.

Energy lobbyist Mike McKenna, who headed Trumps Department of Energy transition team until late November, told the West Virginia Coal Association that current funding allocations favoring renewable energy would likely be changed.

The young people have a word for it, its not sustainable, he said, alluding to the agency that crafts the Presidents budget. If DOE doesnt take care of that on its own accord, the Office of Management and Budget almost certainly will.

The Department of Energy spends billions on research each year, the bulk of which goes to renewable energy projects. In the 2016 fiscal year, the agency spent more than $2 billion on energy efficiency and renewable energy, nearly $1 billion on nuclear energy and more than $600 million on fossil energy.

Supporters of renewable energy have speculated that the Trump Administration will cut research funding as he undoes Obama-era environmental regulations. Trump has long shown a personal disdain for wind energy in particular, expressing skepticism that it is cost effective and complaining that it kills birds.

Still, renewable energy remains popular among many Republicans and Trumps choice for Energy Secretary, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, saw the rapid deployment of wind and solar during his tenure as governor. Some renewable energy research programs, like ARPA-E created under President George W. Bush, generate substantial returns from the projects they fund.

McKennas wide-ranging remarks also included a comment on rising concerns among career staff at the Environmental Protection Agency over Scott Pruitt, the agencys new head, and his record suing the agency. McKenna is not concerned.

Were not about assuaging the concerns of the 14,000 employees of the EPA, he said. Were about assuaging the concerns of the 63 million people who voted for Donald Trump.

Story continues

McKenna, who left his role in the transition a few weeks after the election in response to a rule requiring transition officials to de-register as lobbyist, seemed to acknowledge that his remarks would draw controversy.

Thats why I came here to Charleston to say something that would get me in trouble right away with the new Administration, he joked. I was in trouble with the last one. Why shouldnt I be in trouble with this one?

The Trump White House did not respond to a request for comment.
"CNN's reporting was not fake news," Fox News host Shep Smith said on air on Friday.

In lieu of a daily press conference, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held a closed-door gaggle with reporters, hand-selecting which media organizations had the privilege of attending. CNN, the New York Times, BuzzFeed, the Los Angeles Times and Politico were denied access, prompting a flurry of confusion and outrage.

While reporters from the Associated Press and Time reportedly boycotted the meeting, the media outlets banned found an unexpected but increasingly vocal ally: Fox News' Shep Smith.

SEE ALSO: Trump White House blocks CNN, New York Times, BuzzFeed, Politico from press briefing

Smith defended the media organizations that the White House barred from the briefing on TV on Friday afternoon, and noted that President Donald J. Trump has referred to some the organizations as "fake news" in the past. When Smith noted that Spicer hand-picked the media allowed in the gaggle, Smith said, "that is highly unusual."

Later in the segment, Smith attempted to educate Trump and his audience on what "fake news" really actually is. Sorry, but it's not news that you don't like.

"For the record," Smith said in the broadcast, "fake news refers to stories that are created often by entities pretending to be news organizations solely to draw clicks and views and are based on nothing of substance. In short, fake news is made-up nonsense delivered for financial gain. CNN's reporting was not fake news."

This isn't the first time Smith has gone on air to defend CNN. He defended CNN reporter Jim Acosta after Trump called CNN fake news during a press conference and again when Trump insulted the media at another press conference when he ignored questions involving Russia.
PARIS (AP)  French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is refusing to submit to police questioning in a probe into her party's use of European Parliament aides.

Her lawyer said Friday that Le Pen would talk to police only after the April-May election.

Rodolphe Bossulet said on BFM television that Le Pen decided not to comply with a summons Wednesday, when two Le Pen aides were held for questioning. He called the refusal a protest against "artificially speeding up the questioning, just two months before the election."

Le Pen's chief of staff Catherine Griset, who also worked as a European Parliament assistant, was handed preliminary charges of breach of trust after Wednesday's questioning.

Investigators suspect that members of Le Pen's National Front used legislative aides for the party's political activity while they were on the European Parliament's payroll. The party denies wrongdoing.
Paris (AFP) - France's centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron gave the first clear outlines of his economic programme Friday, promising a mix of public spending cuts and fresh investment to stimulate sluggish growth.

The 39-year-old former economy minister has surged from outsider to a frontrunner ahead of elections in April and May but faces constant criticism from rivals that his policy platform is too vague.

Giving figures for the first time for his pro-business agenda, he promised to cut 60 billion euros ($63.5 billion) from state spending over five years and aims to reduce the public payroll by 125,000 people.

While proposing to extend France's unemployment benefits system to the self-employed, he also said he would withdraw payments for people who twice turned down jobs that they were qualified for.

"I want a system of rights and responsibilities," Macron told RMC radio.

The pledge to trim the size of the state was coupled with a promise of a new 50-billion-euro stimulus plan designed to boost the French economy, which grew by 1.1 percent last year.

Mathieu Plane, a senior economist at the independent French Economic Observatory at Sciences Po university in Paris, said the proposals positioned Macron between his rivals.

Leftist candidates Jean-Luc Melenchon and Benoit Hamon as well as far-right leader Marine Le Pen have pledged new public spending initiatives, while conservative rival Francois Fillon is promising a dose of austerity.

"Macron has positioned himself as a relatively moderate alternative," he told AFP.

Erik Nielsen, an analyst at banking group UniCredit, said he liked the measures, reflecting the financial markets' generally favourable opinions of the former investment banker.

"It's close to the Scandinavian model, which has worked very well," he told AFP.

- Leftist alliance -

The latest poll published late Thursday showed a gain for Macron, who sewed up a potentially vital alliance with fellow centrist Francois Bayrou on Wednesday.

Story continues

Other recent polls have shown Macron and Fillon neck-and-neck.

The poll by Ifop-Fiducial showed far-right leader Le Pen winning the first round with 26.5 percent and Macron coming second with 22.5 percent, ahead of conservative Francois Fillon on 20.5 percent.

Le Pen and Macron would then go head-to-head in a run-off on May 7 which Macron would win by 61 percent to 39 percent if it were held today, the poll forecast.

Le Pen refused on Friday to attend scheduled questioning by investigating magistrates about claims she broke the rules on the use of European Parliament funds by using the money to pay for staff in France.

She told AFP she would not speak to anti-corruption investigators during the campaign because she feared she would not get a fair hearing.

The election remains highly uncertain, with analysts cautioning against predictions after a series of surprises in France and abroad that have wrong-footed observers.

The unstable international background -- from Donald Trump and Brexit to the surge of rightwing nationalism -- is mirrored by an anti-establishment and angry mood in France.

France's leftist candidates, who between them have enough supporters to mount a serious challenge, are advancing towards a common front ahead of the first round on April 23.

On Thursday, environmentalist Yannick Jadot dropped out of the race and threw his support behind Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, while Communist-backed Melenchon said he was "open to discussion" on an alliance.

Hamon welcomed Melenchon's gesture while implying he was the only candidate that could unite the fractured left.

"I respect Jean-Luc Melenchon and his great intelligence, but my conviction is that in the work we have to do talking to all parts of the left, I have a central role that enables me to undertake this," Hamon told France 2 television.

Hamon's signature proposal is creating universal basic income -- a state welfare payment for all adults -- which he says would cost around 300 billion euros a year.

Melenchon has proposed an investment plan of 100 billion euros financed by government borrowing and a 90-percent income tax on top earners.

Macron will unveil his full programme on March 2.

As part of his economic plan, he pledged to reduce taxation on companies from 33.3 percent to the European average of 25 percent, while proposing the elimination of housing tax for the majority of French citizens.

He said he would not change the highly contentious retirement age, increased to 62 for most people in the private sector under former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Constitution amendment: UML allows House to deliberate over bill

Deliberations on the constitution amendment bill finally started on Thursday, almost three months after it was registered at the Parliament Secretariat and a month and a half after it was tabled in Parliament, following the main opposition CPN-UMLs decision to stay neutral.
Berlin (AFP) - Dozens of German lawmakers on Friday called on Turkey to release a journalist for the Die Welt newspaper who is being held on terrorism-related charges.

The German daily said its correspondent Deniz Yucel, 43, was detained on February 18 and his apartment searched in connection with news reports on an attack by hackers on the email account of Turkey's energy minister.

The minister, Berat Albayrak, is a son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The journalist "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 Albayrak, Die Welt said at the time.

"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," it added.

The paper says Yucel, who presented himself at the Istanbul police headquarters for questioning on February 14, is accused of "being a member of a terrorist organisation, misuse of data and terrorist propaganda".

"Intellectual debate is the best instrument against terrorism, which paradoxically is what he is being accused of," the group of 166 lawmakers in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, wrote in an open letter to Turkish Ambassador Ali Kemal Aydin.

A spokesman for the German foreign ministry said the government had "not the slightest information" suggesting that Yucel had violated his journalistic duties.

It is not the first time Yucel has run afoul of the Turkish authorities. In June 2015 he was detained with three other journalists covering the seizure of a Syrian border town by Kurdish forces.

Turkey has clamped down on the press in the wake of the failed coup attempt in July 2016, detaining or expelling foreign correspondents for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the French website Les Jours.
Berlin (AFP) - Germany's foreign intelligence service BND long spied on journalists of the BBC, The New York Times, Reuters and other media, news weekly Der Spiegel reported Friday.

Media rights group Reporters Without Borders labelled the alleged surveillance "a monstrous attack on press freedom", voiced fears the eavesdropping was continuing and said it was planning legal action, according to Der Spiegel.

The magazine, which has worked extensively with US fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and has reported on US and German espionage scandals, cited only documents it had seen.

It reported that the BND had listed at least 50 telephone and fax numbers and email addresses of journalists or newsrooms on its list of "selector" keywords for surveillance since 1999.

A Spiegel journalist told AFP that the list was thought to have covered only part of the BND's international media targets at the time, and that it was unknown whether surveillance had ceased or was ongoing.

On the list seen by Der Spiegel were several dozen numbers of the British Broadcasting Corporation at its London headquarters and in Afghanistan, as well as of the BBC World Service, it said.

A number used by The New York Times in Afghanistan was also on the list, as were mobile and satellite phone numbers of news agency Reuters in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

The BND declined to comment, Der Spiegel said in an excerpt of an article to be published in full in its weekly edition which hits news stands Saturday.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We are disappointed to hear these claims.

"The BBC's mission is to bring accurate news and information to people around the world and our journalists should be able to operate freely and safely, with full protection for their sources.

"We call upon all governments to respect the operation of a free press."

Reuters and The New York Times did not immediately reply to requests for comment from AFP.

Story continues

Germany had reacted with outrage when information leaked by former NSA contractor Snowden revealed in 2013 that US agents were carrying out widespread tapping worldwide, including of Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.

Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany where state spying on citizens was rampant, declared repeatedly that "spying among friends is not on" while acknowledging Germany's reliance on the US in security matters.

But to the great embarrassment of Germany, it later emerged that the BND helped the NSA spy on European targets.

Berlin last June approved new measures, including greater oversight, to rein in the BND following the scandal.
As the costs of going to college mount in the United States, a new reports shows that free higher education is a reality in another country. Germany is the only nation that provides college education without tuition fees.

Germany is the only country in which policy is still based on providing tuition-free education to nearly all students, a study carried out by nonprofit Korber Institute showed, according to German news site the Local. The other countries analyzed were France, United Kingdom, Russia, Egypt, Ghana, Australia, China, India, Japan, Brazil, Chile and the U.S.

While only a small number of institutions in Germany ask for tuition fees, the case is completely different in the other countries, which have seen a significant increase fees for higher education as they fail to cover the demands of education with state-run institutions. The report adds: Private providers fill the hole quickly, but they vary drastically in quality and usefulness.

Norway, Finland, Mexico and Brazil are other countries where people can attend public universities at a very low cost.

germany college

Photo: Getty Images

The situation in the U.S., however, is defying such a trend, with almost three-quarters of students graduating with a debt. The total student debt in the country reportedly reached about $1.2 trillion in 2014. Reducing student debt was one of the key points in the Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders campaign agenda during the run up to the 2016 election and it also received support from a number of states.

While Tennessee was the first state to provide free community college in 2014, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January announced a plan to make college free for people under the $125,000-a-year income bracket. Cuomo said at the time: A college education is not a luxury  it is an absolute necessity for any chance at economic mobility, and with these first-in-the-nation Excelsior Scholarships, were providing the opportunity for New Yorkers to succeed, no matter what zip code they come from and without the anchor of student debt weighing them down.

Story continues

In the same month, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo proposed a plan for two free years of study for the states residents at community colleges, the University of Rhode Island or Rhode Island College.

Some cities are also joining the cause of free college education, and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee recently announced that from next fall, education at the citys community college will be free for San Francisco residents.

Related Articles
BERLIN (AP)  German officials are criticizing plans by the Russian military to build a replica of Berlin's Parliament building as a target for Russian teenagers to attack at a patriotic theme park near Moscow.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday the replica would give members of the Young Army, a program to teach youths military skills and encourage patriotism, the opportunity "to storm a specific location, not something abstract."

German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said Friday the plan was "surprising and speaks for itself."

"We wouldn't build something like that for the education of German youth," added Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer.

The Reichstag Parliament building in Berlin was the scene of bitter fighting in 1945 between the Red Army and Nazi troops. The building, first opened in 1894, was refurbished after German reunification and in 1999 became the home of the German parliament.

Images of Soviet soldiers hoisting their flag over the building are iconic and are largely viewed in Russia as the symbol of the allied victory in the war.

In Moscow, Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov lashed out at the German officials for their reaction and vigorously defended the ministry's plan, saying the Reichstag replica "will contribute to the patriotic education of young citizens and foreign guests."

Konashenkov also referred to the 1933 Reichstag arson, which is seen as a pivotal moment in establishing Nazi Germany and hinted that the Germans who are worried about Russia wanting to build a replica building could be Nazi sympathizers.

"Verbal attacks by certain German politicians are not only dismaying but they also make one wonder about how these people really feel about the creators of the Third Reich," Konashenkov said Friday.

The Kremlin has turned to World War II to encourage patriotic feelings, as the country's massive wartime suffering and enormous losses during that time form a key element of Russia's national identity. Victory Day has remained Russia's most important secular holiday, a rallying point for a nation deeply divided over its Soviet-era history.
Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German chemicals giant BASF on Friday said it expected higher oil prices to push up earnings this year after a challenging 2016, when its main Ludwigshafen plant was hit by a deadly explosion.

"We are cautiously optimistic for 2017. We want to grow further, with all segments contributing to this growth," chief executive Kurt Bock said after a weak performance by its oil and gas unit weighed on the group.

The world's largest chemicals maker said it made a net profit of 4.06 billion euros ($4.3 billion) in 2016, up two percent on the year before.

Underlying or operating profit was flat at 6.3 billion euros, while group sales saw an 18-percent drop to 57.6 billion euros, slightly beating analyst forecasts.

As expected, revenues were badly hit by the firm's divestiture of its gas trading and storage business as part of an asset swap agreed with Russia's Gazprom in 2015.

"This business had contributed 10 billion euros to sales in 2015," BASF said, adding that strong sales in Asia, particularly in the chemicals division, offset some of those losses.

A long stretch of low oil and gas prices also dented the firm's earnings, although that looks set to change in 2017 with the group saying it expects Brent crude oil prices to climb from $44 to $55 per barrel on average.

The turnaround already appeared visible in the final quarter of 2016, when net profit more than doubled to 689 million euros even after the explosion at its Ludwigshafen headquarters led to a slowdown in production.

Four people were killed in the blast and subsequent fire on October 17, which happened during work on a raw materials pipeline.

Several production facilities had to be temporarily shut down after the accident, but BASF stressed at the time the setback would not impact its 2016 outlook.

- Merger frenzy -

For the second year in a row, the group said it planned to raise dividend payouts by 0.10 euros to three euros per share for 2016.

Story continues

Looking ahead, BASF said it expected "considerable sales growth" in 2017 and "slightly higher" underlying profits.

"We want to increase our earnings again, also in the oil and gas business," said Bock, but he warned of challenges ahead.

"The global economy will presumably grow about as fast as in 2016. In light of significant political uncertainty, volatility will remain high," he cautioned.

The group's cautious outlook comes as the fiercely competitive chemicals sector is bracing for huge changes, with a series of mega-mergers on the horizon.

BASF's homegrown rival Bayer is planning a takeover of US seedmaker Monsanto, while China's state-owned ChemChina is eyeing Switzerland's Syngenta and US giants Dow Chemical and DuPont have also proposed a tie-up.

BASF however has stayed above the merger fray, focussing instead on efficiency savings and consolidation in its existing business lines.

Shares in the group fell by more than three percent to 87.21 euros in early trading in Frankfurt, underperforming the DAX index of leading German shares which was down 0.27 percent.
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is ready to meet independent French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron before the French election and the two sides are discussing dates, a German government spokesman said on Friday. Macron, the election frontrunner, did not get an audience with Merkel when he visited Berlin last month, but was welcomed in London this week by Prime Minister Theresa May. The spokesman said there was no firm date yet but the expectation is that Merkel and Macron will meet in March. In the run-up to the last French election in 2012, Merkel, a conservative, refused to meet with Socialist Francois Hollande, the eventual winner, amid pressure from incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, also a conservative. That may have contributed to the rocky start in relations between Merkel and Hollande. Some Merkel aides later described the decision not to meet him as a mistake. Fillon visited Merkel in Berlin in late January, a day before French satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine published a story revealing that he had paid his wife hundreds of thousands of euros in taxpayer money over a number of years to be his parliamentary assistant, despite no evidence that she had actually worked. Fillon has said the work his wife Penelope did was genuine and denied doing anything illegal. But the scandal has dogged him ever since, and on Friday French prosecutors appointed a magistrate to investigate it, in a further blow to the candidate. Most polls now show Macron, who got a boost this week from the endorsement of centrist Francois Bayrou, is likely to beat Fillon in the first round of the election on April 23 and face off against National Front leader Marine Le Pen in the runoff between the top two candidates two weeks later. The polls show either Macron or Fillon would beat Le Pen in the second round, although their expected margin of victory has been shrinking. (Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Noah Barkin; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
The family of a Michigan girl with cerebral palsy who was barred from bringing her service dog to school is hailing a Supreme Court ruling in their favor as a victory for all children with disabilities.

Ehlena Fry, now 13, used to heavily rely on her Goldendoodle named Wonder to balance, open doors and turn off lights  some of the daily tasks she struggled with because she has a severe form of cerebral palsy which affects her legs, arms and body. But in 2009, when Ehlena was 5, the girls school district said her hypoallergenic and certified service dog was not allowed. While the school district slightly bowed to pressures from the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which advocated on her behalf, the civil rights group said Wonder was still prohibited from being by Ehlenas side for most of the day.

It was devastating as a parent to see a child go through that, Ehlenas mother Stacy Fry told TIME on Thursday. At school, where it was really most important for her to be accepted, which was key to her development, they essentially said no. Nobody deserves to be treated this way.

Ehlenas family made the decision to homeschool her, choosing not to separate her from Wonder, and then filed a federal complaint against the Napoleon School District and the Jackson County Intermediate School District. After several legal back and forths, the case landed before the Supreme Court. The nations highest court sided with Ehlena in a ruling on Wednesday that ultimately streamlines discrimination cases in federal court and allows the Fry family to sue for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Its our hope that this will set the precedent thats needed to tear down the barriers, Stacy Fry said. We feel that this really is a victory for our family and all the families with children of differing abilities. For us, it really means that we did the right thing. It was not in vain. We had a bigger purpose.

Story continues

Neither school district returned requests for comment. Stacy Fry said Ehlena no longer needs the help of Wonder, 9, who is retired from his service and spends his days as the girls companion. The girls mother credits Wonder with teaching her daughter everything she needs to complete tasks on her own.

Hes a companion. Hes her sidekick. Hes that constant reassurance, she said. Hes given her the confidence to navigate her environment more independently. Socially and emotionally, he has given her so much confidence to do the things that she wasnt previously able to do. He was that bridge.

He was a great teacher, she added.
Girl Guides and Girl Scouts all over the world are writing powerful letters to share their hopes, ambitions and fears for the future. The letters are part of a campaign by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts encouraging members to write about issues affecting them.

SEE ALSO: 7 strategies for raising confident girls in the Trump era

From Syria to the Philippines, young women around the world have put pen to paper sharing their experiences of growing up and the difficulties they face, and their hopes for change.

'People are the same, no matter how we look'

A 12-year-old unnamed Girl Guide from Greece shared her experience of carrying out aid work with refugees.

"In the last few months a large number of people have come to my country during their journey to a better place in order to build a new life away from the war," she wrote. "People are the same, no matter how we look or what language we speak."

'I am worried about my future'

"Being a girl who is growing up in Greece is quite pleasant but it's also difficult. First of all I am proud that my country has many scientists, but at this time in Greece, due to the economic crisis I am worried about my future," wrote Konstantina, 16.

Image: world association of girl guides and girl scouts

'Girls should feel what it's like to be strong'

22-year-old Zain from Syria shared her hope for other women to feel in charge of their lives.

"Girls all around the world should feel what it's like to be strong, to stand up for your rights and beliefs and to be in charge of their lives," she wrote. "Here in your country and all around the world, girls should have this power and take control for their destinies."

Image: WORLD ASSOCIATION OF GIRL GUIDES AND GIRL SCOUTS

'Breaking barriers with each step'

"Pakistani girls do not just reach for the stars, they determinedly work towards achieving their aims and breaking barriers with each step," wrote Laiba from Pakistan.

Story continues

Image: WORLD ASSOCIATION OF GIRL GUIDES AND GIRL SCOUTS

'Growing up in Liberia is so hard'

"Growing up in Liberia is so hard but with the help of guiding we learn to smile under all difficulties," wrote Chimweh from Liberia.

"With guiding you learn how to be a friend to all and respect every other culture. Many girls in my school and community have learned so much from guiding and scouting as well."

Image: WORLD ASSOCIATION OF GIRL GUIDES AND GIRL SCOUTS

'Girls grow up believing their opinions are not as important as boys''

"In regions, girls grow up believing their opinions are not as important as boys' and because of that they do not try to speak up. But this is changing continuously," wrote 14-year-old Tata in Georgia.

Image: WORLD ASSOCIATION OF GIRL GUIDES AND GIRL SCOUTS
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - General Motors has told PSA Group it would only sell licences for the manufacture of Opel cars to the French company if it agreed not to sell them in North America, Russia or China, German magazine Der Spiegel reported. Without saying where it got the information, the magazine said under such an agreement Opel would only be allowed to sell new models in those three markets following a possible tie-up with PSA, but not existing ones such as electric car Ampera-e. PSA declined to comment on the report. Opel was not immediately available for comment. PSA, the Paris-based maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, and Detroit-based GM confirmed on Feb. 14 they were in talks over a PSA-Opel tie-up to create Europe's second-largest carmaker by sales after Volkswagen. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; additional reporting by Laurence Frost and Ilona Wissenbach; editing by David Clarke)
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault and GoPro launched a fundraising program Tuesday, money from which will go toward ensuring the conservation of Earths crop diversity. The initiative was started under GoPros corporate social responsibility program, GoPro for a Cause.

Managed by the Crop Trust, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault  on the remote Norwegian Arctic island of Spitsbergen, between mainland Norway and the North Pole  is home to the largest collection of agricultural biodiversity, and will soon have 930,821 seed samples of various crops, such as barley, chickpea, lentil, potato, rice, sorghum and wheat.

However, the vault can store up to four and a half million samples of crops from all over the world. By preserving duplicate samples of seeds held in genebanks worldwide, the vault provides a fail safe insurance against loss of crop diversity caused by climate change, natural disaster or war, according to its website.

To support its cause, GoPro also created a 16-minute documentary on the seed bank and its work.

Erica Stanulis, director of global corporate social responsibility at GoPro, said in a statement: Were thrilled to support the Crop Trusts efforts at Svalbard Seed Vault with the launch of GoPros short documentary that offers a unique, first-person perspective on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and its mission. Our production team has spent more than a year filming, editing and interviewing the team.

In operation since January 2008 and funded by the Norwegian government for its construction, the vault received a large collection of seed deposits Tuesday. About 50,000 samples arrived at the facility from collections in Benin, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, India, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Also on Tuesday, a portion of seed samples from Syria which had been withdrawn from the vault in 2015 were returned to Svalbard. The International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas, previously located in Syria, had asked for the samples to be returned to it so it could continue its own seed breeding work after its facilities were affected due to the ongoing civil war in the Middle East country.

Story continues

Marie Haga, executive director of the Crop Trust, said in the statement: Todays seed deposit at Svalbard supported by the Crop Trust shows that despite political and economic differences in other arenas, collective efforts to conserve crop diversity and produce a global food supply for tomorrow continue to be strong.

If you would like to donate to the GoPro campaign for funding the seed vault, you can do so on this website.

Related Articles
In a letter to President Donald Trumps director of the National Economic Council, Gary Cohn, a trade group chaired by executives like JP Morgan Chase & Co. chief executive Jamie Dimon and Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson asked the administration to consider or reconsider 16 federal regulations, four of which concerned finance and corporate governance. According to at least one reporter following Trumps Thursday meeting with corporate executives, the president will likely be on board with such proposals.

The list, from Business Roundtable, a trade group of chief executives of major American firms pushing for public policy more hospitable to their companies interests, stemmed from an internal survey of members to identify recent regulations that are of most concern, the letter, signed by Eastman Chemical Company CEO Mark Costa, who chairs the groups committee on regulatory issues.

Read on for a list of the four financial rules Business Roundtable believes are in need of a makeover, and why the company leaders may want them altered or disposed of altogether.

Shareholder proposal process

First on the list is a suggested move not away from regulatory oversight, but toward it, as a means of tightening the leash on activist investors  shareholders who have increasingly striven to exert influence on the companies in which they hold stakes in recent years, often leading campaigns for the terminations of those companies CEOs.

In too many cases, activist investors with insignificant stakes in public companies make shareholder proposals that pursue social or political agendas unrelated to the interests of the shareholders as a whole, the letter stated, adding that Business Roundtable had previously encouraged the Securities and Exchange Commission to set more limits.

CEO Pay Ratio Disclosure Rule

In August 2015, the SEC approved by a narrow 3-2 vote a rule requiring publicly-traded companies to disclose the ratio between CEOs annual salaries and the median income of the rest of the companys employees.

Story continues

The SEC described the rule, which applied to companies fiscal years starting on or after Jan. 1, 2017, as a way to provide more information to shareholders that they can use to evaluate a CEOs compensation, while many argued its intent was purely to shame CEOs. In its letter to Cohn, Business Roundtable called the ratio arbitrary and often meaningless. Acting SEC Chairman Michael S. Piwowar has already made an effort to delay it by extending its comment period.

Conflict Minerals Disclosure Rule

The SEC regulation keeping publicly-traded corporations from purchasing minerals whose profits go toward human rights abuses and war crimes in the Congo  which, like the rule on CEO pay ratio, was a part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act  also made Business Roundtables list. And, also like the pay ratio rule, it has already been thwarted by Piwowar, who directed his staff on Jan. 31 to reconsider whether the 2014 guidance on conflict minerals rule is still appropriate.

Business Roundtable said the regulations impose extraordinary compliance costs while failing to demonstrate humanitarian benefits in Africa.

Margin Requirements for Un-cleared Swaps

The rule, also a component of Dodd-Frank, set requirements on the percentage of a security that can be used as collateral for a loan financing its purchase and sought to offset the financial markets systematic risks. In its letter, Business Roundtable said it didnt seek to kill the regulation, but requested a transitional period starting March 1, effectively delaying total compliance.

Related Articles
By Laura Zuckerman (Reuters) - U.S. fishing and conservation groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, seeking to protect wild salmon threatened by rising water temperatures attributed in part to climate change in two major rivers of the Pacific Northwest. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, is believed to be the first court case brought against the EPA under President Donald Trump's newly confirmed chief of the agency, Scott Pruitt. The groups' legal bid on behalf of salmon runs in the Columbia and Snake rivers hinges on the EPA's authority under the Clean Water Act to regulate excessive temperatures in those rivers as pollutants. The lawsuit seeks to compel the EPA to thus require dam operators in the Columbia and Snake watersheds of Washington state, Oregon and Idaho to control river flows in such a way as to keep water temperatures cool enough for the salmon to survive. The plaintiffs, including Idaho Rivers United and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, have argued those dams create stretches of artificially slow or shallow waters susceptible to increasingly warm weather, a regional consequence of climate change. The lawsuit cites the EPA's own recognition in 2015, amid a major salmon die-off in the Northwest that year, of the "critical" need to lower river temperatures in the face of human-caused global warming. It also noted that Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who sued the EPA more than a dozen times on behalf of his oil-producing state, is on the record as doubting the science of climate change. The EPA declined to comment on the suit. Excessively warm stream temperatures were to blame for the loss of an estimated 250,000 adult sockeye salmon in 2015 during the fishes' seasonal upstream migration from the Pacific to freshwater spawning grounds. Summer water temperatures in the rivers has for years exceeded limits allowed under state standards, a pattern that should have prompted the EPA to craft a plan setting temperature limits and steps to take should those levels be exceeded, according to the lawsuit. It said the EPA in 2000 began such a process tied to imperiled salmon and steelhead trout and issued a draft plan citing dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers as primary contributors to excessive water temperatures. The suit seeks a court finding that the EPA has violated the Clean Water Act by failing to set maximum temperature levels in the impaired streams and unlawfully delayed a regulatory remedy, resulting in "severe" consequences for endangered and threatened fish populations. (Reporting by Laura Zuckerman in Salmon, Idaho; Editing by Steve Gorman and Sandra Maler)
Puerto de San Jose (Guatemala) (AFP) - Guatemala's navy on Thursday dispatched a vessel to watch over a Dutch "abortion ship" carrying activists vowing to help women circumvent the country's longstanding prohibition on terminating pregnancies.

"The military will not permit this group to carry out its activities in the country," the military said in a formal complaint to the prosecutor's office issued on instructions from President Jimmy Morales.

The group, Women on Waves, said in a statement that their sailing ship was being "detained" illegally by the military, which it accused of "obstructing a lawful protest against the state's restrictions on the Guatemalan women's right to safe abortion."

The arrival of the Dutch-registered ship in the port of San Jose, south of the Guatemalan capital, prompted fierce protests by Christian groups.

They disrupted a news conference by the activists, who counted 10 people from Brazil, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Guatemala.

"They say they are fighting for life and human rights, but it looks like murder has become a human right," said a protesting seminary student from Cuba, Gil Hernandez.

- Not allowed ashore -

Port officials have ordered the activists to stay on board their ship, saying they had not declared the motive of their trip and therefore could not go ashore.

The group has pledged to offer abortions in international waters just off Guatemala's coast over the next five days.

Abortion is allowed in Guatemala only in cases where the mother's life is in danger.

According to Women on Waves, some 65,000 illegal and unsafe abortions take place in the Central American country every year.

Set up in 1999, Women on Waves has generated controversy with its abortion ships in the past.

Its founder Rebecca Gomberts confirmed to AFP that the Guatemala trip was the first since a 2012 campaign in Morocco, when the Moroccan navy blocked a harbor to prevent the group's ship from docking.

Story continues

For its mission to Central America, the organization said in a statement: "The ship can provide women with free legal medical abortions till 10 weeks of pregnancy after sailing to international waters, 12 miles outside Guatemala."

- Urges 'safe abortions' -

Gomberts said the plan was to pick up five women at a time by dinghy and take them to the ship waiting outside Guatemalan waters.

Abortions would be induced with two pills. Counseling, treatment and after-care would also be available for women seeking the group's services.

An Austrian doctor on board, Christian Fiala, said the abortion-by-pills was 99 percent safe and approved by the World Health Organization.

In past years, a Women on Waves ship has also visited Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Spain, prompting protests by pro-life groups in each country.

Women on Waves argued on Thursday that "especially at the dawn of the Zika crisis, access to safe abortion is fundamentally an issue of social justice."

The group urged the Guatemalan government to "remove abortion from the penal code," saying it is "a regular medical procedure and a human right" and calling for access to contraceptives and free, safe abortions.
Rafah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The new leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, made his first public appearance since his election for the inauguration of a mosque on Friday, winning praise from his predecessor.

His Islamist movement which has run the Gaza Strip for the past decade invited the media to attend the opening of the Gaza City mosque without announcing Sinwar's participation.

Sinwar himself made no statement at the event, but his predecessor Ismail Haniya paid tribute to the former prisoner who spent 25 years "in the jails of the (Israeli) occupation".

"This is a source of pride for Hamas and for its prisoners," Haniya told the crowd.

"The Zionist media are trying to... make a distinction between the military and political figures (in Hamas), but we tell them we are all fighters and that in the face of the occupation we are all military," the former premier said.

Haniya is considered a supporter of a relatively moderate element in Hamas, while Sinwar is a top commander in its armed wing and strong advocate of armed struggle against Israel.

The former premier is seen by many observers as the most likely successor to Hamas's overall leader Khaled Meshaal, who currently lives in exile.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The head of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) said on Friday relations with his boss, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, were strained and some of Gordhan's public comments had damaged the tax agency's credibility. The hostility between Gordhan and SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane comes as sluggish economic growth has hampered revenue collection and exacerbated political divisions within the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Moyane said in a statement it was "extremely regrettable" that Gordhan, in an interview this week with Business Day newspaper, had blamed a 30 billion rand ($2.3 billion) revenue shortfall in part on SARS' performance. "Such utterances by a person, as senior as the Minister of Finance, poses serious challenges to the overall credibility, and hence effectiveness of SARS as an institution," the statement said. South Africa will target high earners with a new personal income tax, Gordhan said on Wednesday in his budget speech, to boost revenues and trim the budget deficit amid disappointing growth and very high unemployment. Moyane said the issues between the Treasury and SARS stemmed from the antagonism between him and Gordhan. "I concede that the challenges between National Treasury and SARS are mainly characterised by the cult of personality between the Minister and the person of the Commissioner for SARS ... on a personal and professional level, my relationship with the Minister has not been cordial but rather strained," he said. He said he was willing to engage the minister "with or without the intervention of a third party" to resolve their differences. Gordhan said last year he was concerned about the leadership at the revenue service after it failed to suspend a senior official for suspicious cash transactions caught on camera by investigators. Treasury officials were not immediately reachable for comment. ($1 = 12.9466 rand) (Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
By Heather Hurlburt

Best Defense guest respondent

Our new National Security Adviser H.R. McMasters reading list is interesting, but it entirely lacks works by women, or non-Westerners, for that matter.

What might McMasterites miss out on? Lots. As it happens it is women who, in recent years, have given us some of the most insightful, and most unsparing, looks at the recent transformations, successes and failures of U.S. military strategy and political decisionmaking. Here is a sampling of what the general seems to have missed:

 If you want a comprehensive history of strategy, you would do well to start with Beatrice Heuser, who considers two thousand years of Western military thinking in her magisterial The Evolution of Strategy.

 Perhaps current events are making you want to dive into World War I, certainly one of the western strategists top three juicy targets? The study of its beginnings still regarded as among the best, and in print for 55 years, was written for laypeople by a laywoman, Barbara Tuchman  The Guns of August. Or you wonder what this network thing is all about, in which case you should check out Anne-Marie Slaughters forthcoming The Chessboard and the Web. (Shes my boss, btw, but Tom also kind of works for her.)

 Nadia Schadlow examines how we succeed or fail to turn military victory into political success in her brand-new War and the Art of Governance.

 Janine Davidsons Lifting the Fog of Peace: How Americans Learned to Fight Modern War puts the post-9/11 transformation of our armed forces into strategic and political context.

 Rosa Brooks How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything now seems to anticipate the moment in which we look to military leaders such as McMaster to rescue our civilian policymaking structures.

Speaking of civilian policymaking, Doris Kearns Godwins Team of Rivals is now such a cliche for presidents that it might be wise for military leaders to understand its portrait of wartime decision-making as well.

Story continues

Want to dig into the particular developments that are shifting the strategic calculus of the U.S. and its adversaries? There are women authors for that too:

 Antonia Chayes Borderless Wars looks at how war changes when fought against non-state entities  and how that changes us.

 On technology, Kim Zetter goes beyond the facts of the Stuxnet virus to consider the strategic choices behind its use, and the consequences for the future of cyber and conventional conflict, in Countdown to Zero Day. In The Future of Violence, Ben Wittes and Gabriella Blum suggest that core democratic values exist in hostile symbiosis.

 Now is an excellent moment to pick up Samantha Powers A Problem from Hell, or read it again  as a study of security decision-making in one Administration (Clinton), the source of reaction in a second (Bush 43), and the foundation of a worldview and its own equal and opposite reaction in a third (Obama).

 For more generalized theory about the domestic politics of using force, Elizabeth Saunders is your must-read  in books and regularly-updated writings.

 On the vexed question of civil-military relations, Warriors and Citizens, an edited volume published last year showcased a challenging range of perspectives from male and female authors and its two editors: Kori Schake and the then-retired General Jim Mattis. Rachel Maddows Drift is an excellently-constructed, under-appreciated exploration of related themes  with the added benefit of complexifying attitudes on how left and right are supposed to think about our military.

Bewildered? Overwhelmed by choice? Think you only want to read the classics? Fair enough. Keep making your choices based on review essays and recommendations, as Ive done here. Just make sure that the people making the recommendations have some diversity of life experience, outlook, source of expertise. The people fighting, declaring and paying for Americas wars do.

A final note: I havent even begun here to consider the question of non-white and non-Western authors. Start with Sun Tzu  heres a particularly painless version. Read some Asia hands distillation of Chinese strategic thinking. And ask your favorite publications to offer more review essays on how our global partners and adversaries are thinking about strategy.

Heather Hurlburt, a veteran of Congress, the State Department, and the White House, runs the New Models of Policy Change project at New America.

Photo credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
In a video released Friday, Hillary Clinton encouraged Democrats to move forward with courage, confidence and optimism as the party prepares to rebuild after losing the White House and failing to gain majorities in either house of Congress in the November elections.

The three-minute video was posted online shortly after it was greeted with applause at a Democratic National Committee meeting in Atlanta, Ga. The DNC will choose new party leaders, including a new chairperson, on Saturday.

Although Clinton has mostly stayed out of the spotlight since her stunning election loss to Donald Trump, lately she has started to speak out more pointedly via her Twitter account. She celebrated the fact that Trumps controversial travel ban was stymied in federal courts and admonished members of Congress for avoiding their constituents.

Acknowledging her loss, in the video Clinton thanked supporters of her candidacy, which she called the honor of a lifetime.

While we didnt get the outcome we worked so hard for, Ill always be proud of the campaign we ran, a campaign that was better and stronger thanks to each of you, she said.

Invoking two of the most popular current mantras of the anti-Trump left, Clinton called for resistance plus persistence in the fight against the White Houses agenda.

We as Democrats must move forward with courage, confidence, and optimism and stay focused on the elections we must win this year and next. Let resistance plus persistence equal progress for our party and our country, she said.

The video closed with Clinton urging party unity and promising her support for the progressive cause:

As long as we stand together and work together with respect for our differences, strength in our convictions and love for our country, our best days are still ahead. So keep fighting, and keep the faith. And Ill be with you every step of the way.

Read more from Yahoo News:
The Hungarian government wants to make doubly sure no unwanted persons enter its territory en route to Western Europe.

On Thursday, the government announced it would begin construction of a fence along the countrys border with Serbia  the same 109-mile border it has already fenced off. The government also said earlier this month it plans to build a 400-bed temporary housing facility for asylum-seekers out of shipping containers.

The measures are injecting even more tension into Hungarys already strained relationship with the European Union, which Prime Minister Viktor Orban believes is soft on immigration.

Janos Lazar, Orbans chief of staff, billed the new fence as a second line of defense against the inflow of migrants and refugees into Hungary. After the governments first fence was erected in the summer of 2015, immigration to and transit through Hungary slowed to a comparative trickle.

But that wasnt not good enough, apparently. Last month, Orbans chief security advisor cited 1,142 attempts to illegally enter the country along the Serbian border in 2017 alone. And Lazar predicted that, without a second border wall, a significant number of illegal immigrants may arrive this year. About 7,000 asylum-seekers are waiting in Serbia for permission to enter Hungary, according to the BBC. The government processes only 10 asylum applications each day.

To cover the costs of the new fence and the container-lot-cum-housing-facility, which government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs adamantly denies is a detention center, the interior ministry budget will be increased by $130.7 million. But raising that money in the debt markets could be a tall order. The countrys foreign and sovereign obligations have ballooned under Orban.

Hiring enough guards to man the second fence could also be a problem. The government is reportedly having trouble staffing an auxiliary border hunter force created in 2015 to relieve national police of the burden of patrolling the new fence, despite a flashy recruitment drive. Applicants are failing to meet quality standards en masse.

Story continues

This, however, is arguably not the worst news for asylum-seekers to come out of Hungary this month. On Feb. 7, the Hungarian government said such people would be held in camps along the southern border while their asylum applications are pending. Immigrants cannot move around the country freely, Lazar confirmed.

Taken together, these moves cement Hungarys status as a bete noir for EU officials in Brussels seeking to craft bloc-wide immigration policy. Amnesty International called the new restrictions a new low in Hungarys race to the bottom on asylum-seekers and refugees.

In his annual state of the nation speech on Feb. 10, Orban proclaimed, we were black sheep, but now we are a success story. The year ahead, he said, would be defined by a struggle against globalists.

And, evidently, against people seeking asylum in Hungary.

Photo credit: Arpad Kurucz/Getty Images
India's censor board has refused to certify a film it describes as "lady-oriented", sparking a furious response from the director, in the latest case to highlight fears over creative freedom in the country.

In a letter, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) told the makers of "Lipstick Under My Burkha" that it would not clear the Hindi film for general release.

"The story is lady oriented, their fantasy above (sic) life. There are contanious (sic) sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society, hence film refused under guidelines (sic)..." it read.

The letter was sent last month and came to light this week after Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar tweeted about it. A copy of the letter was seen by AFP on Friday.

"Lipstick Under My Burkha" is directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and tells the secret lives of four women -- including a college student who wears a burka, and a 55-year-old who rediscovers a sex life after the death of her husband.

It won an award at the Tokyo International Film Festival last year and also aired at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in October.

Shrivastava described the CBFC's ruling as an "assault on women's rights".

"For too long the popular narrative has perpetuated patriarchy by objectifying women or minimising their role in a narrative," she said in a statement carried by the Press Trust of India news agency on Thursday.

"So a film like 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' that challenges that dominant narrative is being attacked because it presents a female point of view. Do women not have the right of freedom of expression?," Shrivastava added.

The filmmakers can approach the CBFC's appeal panel and Shrivastava said she would fight the ruling.

Social media users took to Twitter to mock the film board's ruling.

One, Heena Khandelwal, told the CBFC to "grow up" while Neeraj Ghaywan, a film director, wrote: "Privileged men have an issue with sexually liberated women. 'Cannot be issued' is a ban. Let's call it that."

India's censors have a long history of barring movies and cutting scenes, including those deemed too racy or capable of causing religious offence, and filmmakers accuse them of intolerance.

In 2015 the CBFC blocked the release of a toned-down version of "Fifty Shades of Grey" and deemed two James Bond kissing scenes unsuitable for an Indian audience.
Chicago (AFP) - An Indian man was killed and another wounded in a shooting being investigated by US authorities in the midwestern state of Kansas as a possible hate crime.

The two men, one of whom reportedly had lived in the US for more than a decade, were shot at a bar outside Kansas City late Wednesday, according to The Kansas City Star newspaper.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani, 32, was wounded in the attack. Both men worked as aviation systems engineers for GPS manufacturer Garmin.

Authorities arrested 51-year-old Adam Purinton, who allegedly told the men "get out of my country" before opening fire, according to the daily.

Purinton was apprehended late Wednesday at a restaurant, after claiming he had killed two Middle Easterners, according to the Star.

Purinton has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder. He is being held on $2 million bond.

The FBI is trying to determine if the shooting was a hate crime, said Eric Johnson, Special Agent in Charge of the bureau's Kansas City field office.

"We're less than 24 hours into this investigation. I have FBI personnel working this investigation from every angle," he said.

The shooting garnered headlines in Indian media, amid concerns that the immigration policies of President Donald Trump laid the groundwork for such an attack.

The incident comes amid a tense atmosphere in the United States, as evidence grows of increased hate crimes since the contentious presidential campaign and the election of Donald Trump.

The number of hate groups rose for the second year in a row in 2016 and anti-Muslim groups nearly tripled, according to an annual census by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"The growth has been accompanied by a rash of crimes targeting Muslims," the organization said last week.

Anti-Semitic crimes have also increased.

The Jewish Community Center Association of North America has recorded 69 bomb threat incidents at dozens of centers in 27 US states and one Canadian province since the start of the year.

Story continues

The Hindu American Foundation condemned the shooting, demanding that it be investigated as a hate crime.

"Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and their families," the group said.

India's government also chimed in.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas," tweeted India's minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj.
Vienna (AFP) - Iran is complying with the landmark nuclear deal it sealed with major world powers in 2015, according to a report from the UN watchdog seen by AFP on Friday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency addressed key limits set under the agreement, which is under intense scrutiny after the election of US President Donald Trump.

The report said Iran is not pursuing construction of its existing heavy water research reactor and has not enriched uranium above an agreed 3.67 percent-limit.

And Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium -- which can be used for peaceful purposes, but when further processed for a nuclear weapon -- was 101.7 kilos (225 pounds), well below the agreed level of 300 kilos.

Senior diplomats said that Tehran recently came close to reaching the limit.

Another key condition concerns Iran's level of so-called heavy water, a modified form of water used in certain types of nuclear reactors.

The IAEA's latest report said Iran has not exceeded the permitted level of 130 tonnes, as it did briefly during previous periods.

Plutonium for use in nuclear weapons can be extracted from fuel rods used in heavy water reactors.

In November 2016, the atomic watchdog noted that Iran had crept above the 130-tonne limit.

- Sanctions under Trump -

Tehran shipped out the excess amount and its current stock was just above 124 tonnes, the latest report said.

"Iran has not conducted any uranium enrichment or related research and development activities" at its Fordo nuclear plant, the IAEA added.

Verification has continued as agreed, according to the UN watchdog's fifth quarterly assessment since the pact was struck.

Under the accord, Iran dramatically scaled back nuclear activities to put atomic weapons out of its reach -- an aim Tehran always denied having -- in exchange for the relief of crippling sanctions.

The agreement extends to at least a year the length of time Tehran would need to make one nuclear bomb's worth of fissile material -- up from a few months prior.

Story continues

Steps taken by Iran included slashing by two-thirds its uranium centrifuges, cutting its stockpile of uranium -- several tonnes before the deal, enough for several bombs -- and removing the core of the Arak reactor which could have given Iran weapons-grade plutonium.

But the pact, endorsed by the European Union, has been on shaky ground since the inauguration of Trump, who on the campaign trail last year called it the "worst deal ever negotiated".

Tensions between Iran and the United States have been backsliding for months but worsened after Tehran carried out a missile test on January 29, followed by army drills.

The White House responded by slapping fresh sanctions on Iran's weapons procurement network. Tehran insists that its military power is for "purely defensive" purposes.
Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi forces battled jihadists in west Mosul on Sunday, aiming to build a floating bridge across the Tigris to establish an important supply route linked to the recaptured east bank.

A week into a major push on the western side of the city, where an estimated 2,000 holdout jihadists and 750,000 civilians are trapped, government forces made steady progress.

But after relatively easy gains on the city's outskirts, they encountered increasingly stiff resistance from the Islamic State group (IS) defending its emblematic stronghold.

"We had an important operation this morning to move towards the bridge," Colonel Falah al-Wabdan of the interior ministry's Rapid Response units that have spearheaded the breach into west Mosul told AFP in the Jawsaq neighbourhood.

"We have moved past a large berm constructed by Daesh (IS) with tunnels underneath," he said, adding that the area was heavily mined and his forces had killed 44 jihadists on Sunday alone.

Wabdan was referring to what is known as "the fourth bridge", the southernmost of five bridges -- all of which are damaged and unusable -- across the Tigris River that divides the northern Iraqi city.

Government forces retook the east bank from IS a month ago, completing a key phase in an offensive on Mosul that began on October 17 and has involved tens of thousands of fighters.

Wabdan said that securing the bank area near the fourth bridge would allow engineering units to extend a ribbon bridge to the other side and further pile pressure on the jihadists.

- Key supply line -

"It is very important because if we take it, engineering units will be able to throw a bridge across from the left bank so we can move supplies and ammunition from the battle field," he said.

Bridging operations under fire are complex and perilous, but Iraqi forces have been trained by the US military and successfully used that strategy before in the fight against IS.

Story continues

A ribbon bridge assembled with US assistance over the Euphrates River was considered a turning point in the battle that eventually saw Iraqi forces retake the western stronghold of Ramadi from the jihadists a year ago.

Rapid Response was confident it could reach the bridge on Sunday but IS was fighting back with suicide car bombs, roadside bombs, snipers and weaponised drones.

The elite Counter-Terrorism Service that has done most of the fighting against IS in Mosul so far entered the western neighbourhood of Al-Maamun on Friday.

Troops from the US-led coalition assisting Iraq in its efforts to claw back the swathes of territory it lost to IS in 2014 have stepped up their involvement on the ground in recent weeks.

They are officially deployed in Iraq as trainers and advisers, but have increasingly been drawn into combat and been more visible than ever on the front lines since the push on west Mosul was launched on February 19.

- 'Eating bird feed' -

The western side of the city is a little smaller than the east but more densely populated and home to some areas considered traditional jihadist strongholds.

It includes the Old City, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance and proclaimed a "caliphate" in July 2014, and several of Mosul's key landmarks.

Around three quarters of a million people are virtually besieged there, in some cases used as human shields by the IS fighters preparing to defend their last major bastion in the country.

"With the battle to retake western Mosul now in its second week, we are extremely concerned about the 800,000 or so still trapped in some of the most dire conditions," Karl Schembri, spokesman for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told AFP.

Food supplies have dwindled as fast as costs have soared, leaving many on barely a meal a day.

"We're hearing reports of people eating bird feed inside western Mosul as they cannot afford the skyrocketing prices," Schembri said.

Residents and medical workers say that the combined effect of malnutrition and the shortage of drugs is starting to kill the weakest.

The United Nations has planned for an exodus of at least 250,000 people from west Mosul, but in the absence of humanitarian corridors only a few hundred have been able to flee so far.

Around 160,000 are currently displaced as a result of the first phase of the Mosul operation. Iraq has a population of more than three million people who have been displaced by the IS conflict.
Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi forces on Friday entered west Mosul neighbourhoods, a key stronghold in the shrinking "caliphate" of the Islamic State group, which replied with deadly suicide attacks in Iraq and Syria.

As the war on the world's most violent jihadist group escalated, Iraqi warplanes struck IS militants inside neighbouring Syria, a first that Damascus said was coordinated between the two governments.

In yet another key landmark in the bloody offensive to retake Mosul, the largest city ever held by the jihadists, elite Iraqi forces punched into districts of the west bank for the first time.

The interior ministry's elite Rapid Response force, which retook Mosul airport on Thursday, kept its momentum and broke into the adjacent Jawsaq neighbourhood.

They were met by mortar fire and snipers but also by ululating women celebrating the end of more than two and half years of tyrannic rule and by men begging for cigarettes.

"I don't have any left, I swear, I don't have any left," said one government fighter as his convoy advanced slowly down the street.

The elite Counter-Terrorism Service that did most of the fighting in the four-month-old Mosul offensive entered a neighbourhood further west along the city's southern limits.

"We entered the outer edge of Al-Maamun neighbourhood," said Staff Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, a top CTS commander.

- 'Moving fast so far' -

"IS is using vehicle bombs -- this morning three were destroyed. We have some injuries from the weaponised drones and mortars," he told AFP just south of Mosul.

It was not immediately clear whether Iraqi forces would keep venturing deeper into west Mosul or consolidate their positions on the edges ahead of dangerous operations towards the centre.

The fight "has moved very fast so far but we'll see what happens in the next stage. It might be more difficult," Saadi admitted.

The narrow streets of the Old City, home to the mosque where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance as IS leader and proclaimed the "caliphate" in July 2014, could become a death trap.

Story continues

They will be impassable for some military vehicles, forcing Iraqi forces to go on dismounted raids. IS has covered some streets with roofs to block aerial surveillance.

The loss of west Mosul would be a death blow to the jihadists' claim they are running a "state" and leave the city of Raqa in neighbouring Syria as the only major urban centre they still control.

IS still holds scattered pockets of territory across Iraq and Syria but has suffered a string of setbacks in the past year and over the past few hours also lost their last bastion in Syria's Aleppo province.

Turkey said Friday its troops and the Syrian rebels it backs had fully retaken the town of Al-Bab after weeks of fierce IS resistance, but the jihadists replied with a deadly suicide bombing there, killing 51 people.

IS claimed the attack outside Al-Bab, in Susian.

- Syria bombing -

"Al-Baghdadi's dogs could not bear their huge loss, and their suicide bombers have begun to take revenge," said field commander Abu Jaafar of the Mutasem Brigades.

After a lightning advance, the rebels became mired in a drawn-out conflict in Al-Bab which proved to be the bloodiest fight in Turkey's campaign, where Ankara suffered most of its 71 losses thus far.

An IS suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden vehicle and gunmen also attacked an Iraqi position near Jordan Friday, killing at least 15 border guards, officials said.

IS has lost most towns in its traditional western Iraqi bastion of Anbar province but still has desert hideouts from which it continues to harass the security forces.

Friday's raid was the deadliest to date against the border guard.

For three years jihadists have crossed the Iraq-Syria border unimpeded, but on Friday it was the Iraqi government that carried out its first cross-border air strike.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that the air force struck targets on the Syrian side of the border, in Albu Kamal and Husseibeh areas.

- Cross-border strike -

The target was IS militants the Joint Operations Command said were responsible for car bombings in Baghdad last week, including one that killed 52 people.

A source close to Syria's foreign ministry told the pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan that the strike was conducted "in full coordination" with Damascus.

"We are determined to track down terrorists trying to kill our sons and citizens wherever they are," said Abadi, who has met top US defence officials all week, including Pentagon chief Jim Mattis when he visited Baghdad.

A Pentagon spokesman said Friday the US had provided intelligence to help the Iraqis in the strike.

The 60-nation coalition dominated by the United States has carried out more than 10,000 strikes on IS targets since 2014, and recently stepped up its involvement to help Baghdad retake Mosul.

Forces on the ground officially in an advisory capacity have increasingly been involved in combat and have been more visible than ever on the front lines since the push on west Mosul began on February 19.

Abadi urged his forces to exercise the utmost caution when retaking west Mosul, where the United Nations believes around 750,000 civilians are trapped with dwindling food and medical supplies.
As U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces continue their efforts to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group, jihadists are using desperate and violent tactics to maintain their ground in the region. ISIS militants are using children and disabled people as bombs by forcing them into explosives-laden trucks, a general from the U.S.-led coalition told Agence France-Presse this week.

Officials believe ISIS' adoption of coercive new techniques, including increasingly desperate battlefield measures, is a sign the group is aware that defeat is inevitable. On Thursday, Iraqi forces took control of Mosul's airport and a nearby military base  captured by ISIS fighters when they overran Mosul in June 2014  in a bid to push out the militants of the city's western half.

U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Matt Isler told AFP that ISIS was using exploding trucks, known as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED), to target several areas in Iraq and also use them as part of the Mosul offensive. As the group was running out of jihadists willing to drive the explosives-laden trucks, they chose to force children and disabled people into it.

"We saw people being led to a VBIED, being put in (it) and being chained in the VBIED," he said. "We've seen children put in VBIEDs as drivers, people that aren't able to walk... I don't know if they signed up for this service."

When Iraqi security forces approached the Tigris river, they found drivers being chained into trucks by jihadists, Isler said.

The U.S.-led coalition operation to free Iraq's second largest city of ISIS control began in October with the use of troops backed by jets, helicopters and drones. President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to eliminate the group from the region.

Last week, reports surfaced that ISIS recruited Iraqi orphans into its child soldier division, where they were being educated in jihadist ideology and military techniques.

Related Articles
Islamic State group fighters are funding their jihad with taxpayer-funded welfare benefits from European Union governments. ISIS fighters are pocketing unemployment funds, disability pensions and housing allowances and using that money to fuel violence in Iraq and Syria, USA Today reported Thursday.

"It's the critical terror financing issue of the day," said Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London. "Security services are focusing on lone actors, small cells and inspired or directed individuals operating in European countries, and of course the issue of (Islamic State) returnees. But the eye-catching headline is that a key funder of terrorists attacks in Europe are European governments. In an increasing number of cases, people are taking money provided to them by their national governments and using it for other than what it's intended for."

It's unclear how many terrorists are taking advantage of the welfare system, but ISIS has long encouraged its European fighters to make the most of the E.U.'s social benefits. Radical Islamic cleric Anjem Choudary told followers in Septembers to sign up for a "jihadiseeker's allowance," a reference to ISIS' own instruction manual from 2015 called "How to Survive in the West: A Mujahid Guide" that urged its fighters "if you can claim extra benefits from a government, then do so."

And ISIS supporters are doing just that.

In Denmark, home to the world's most generous welfare programs, officials said this week at least 29 citizens considered too ill or disabled to work received a total of $100,000 in public pension benefits. They later joined ISIS in Syria.

"It is a huge scandal that we disburse money from the welfare fund in Denmark for people who go to Syria," said Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark's labor minister. "Staying in a war zone and directly or indirectly taking part in military operations is not something that is in any way compatible with receiving disability benefits."

Story continues

In Sweden, officials paid welfare benefits to a citizen who later moved to Raqqa, ISIS' stronghold in Syria. Michael Skramo changed his name to Abdul Samad al Swedi and was filmed in ISIS propaganda videos with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. But while he was railing against Western culture as an ISIS jihadist, he collected $5,000 over eight months from the Swedish government.

In Belgium, terrorists who killed 162 people in Paris and Brussels were being supported through the nation's generous social welfare system. Since then, Belgium has prohibited convicted terrorists from collecting welfare while serving prison time.

In France, officials said they will no longer give welfare to the hundreds of citizens who have joined ISIS in Syria. France has the largest number of Western fighters in Iraq and Syria, amounting to roughly 2,000 terrorists, according to the Counter Extremism Project, a think tank.

The U.K. has also a welfare problem. City officials in Birmingham made headlines in December for paying almost $7,000 in housing benefits to an Islamic State fighter. Anouar Haddouchi used the money to cover the costs of traveling to Syria. Roughly 850 Brits have joined ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

In the past, the U.K. blamed Sunni Arab states for secretly funding ISIS. A 2016 report from a British parliamentary committee warned royal families in some of the Gulf states could be bankrolling ISIS, which is also known as Daesh or ISIL. A Foreign Office senior civil servant, Dan Chugg, told the committee inquiry: It is difficult with some of these countries to know exactly what is government funding and what is not when you are dealing with royal families, wealthy princes and those kind of things. Our strategy was not to try to ascertain whose problem and whose fault it was, but to stop the funding going to Daesh."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has also sought to link Qatar and Saudi Arabia to ISIS. He said the government had funded Hillary Clintons charitable foundation and terrorist activities. In an email sent on Aug. 17 2014, Clinton directed an aide to put pressure on Qatar and Saudi Arabia to halt funding to ISIS.

Saudi Arabia passed a law in 2014 that made it unlawful to fund ISIS.

Related Articles
Jerusalem (AFP) - A report expected to criticise Israel's prime minister and the armed forces command over their conduct in the runup to the 2014 Gaza war is to be released next week, officials said Friday.

State comptroller Yossef Shapira's report, the result of a two-year inquiry, will be published on Tuesday, a spokesman for his office told AFP.

Shapira, who is in charge of assessing state policies and use of public funds, opened his investigation soon after the July-August 2014 conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group which controls the Gaza Strip.

A draft released to senior officials reportedly condemns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon for failing to prepare for the threat posed by Hamas tunnels from Gaza, despite alerts from the intelligence services.

Hamas and its allies used the tunnels to carry out cross-border attacks on Israeli territory.

The report also examines "the way in which decisions were made within the (security) cabinet before and at the start of Operation Protective Edge", Shapira's spokesman said, using Israel's codename for the assault.

The draft, released to ministers and military officials in November, says Netanyahu and Yaalon only partially informed the Jewish state's inner cabinet of the threat posed by the tunnels, according to leaks to local media.

A source close to Netanyahu has rejected the charge.

Destroying the tunnels and stopping Gaza-based Palestinian militants launching rockets into Israel were the key declared goals of Israel's third offensive in the coastal territory in six years.

The tunnels were among the Palestinians' most effective weapons during the 50-day conflict.

Israel's military found 32 tunnels, including 14 from the Gaza Strip into Israel, according to a UN inquiry on the conflict. Hamas says it has continued to dig new ones.

The war killed 2,251 Palestinians and left 100,000 homeless, according to the UN. On the Israeli side, 74 people were killed, all but six of them soldiers.
SYDNEY (AP)  Australia's opposition leader Bill Shorten says he raised his Labor Party's concerns about Israel's settlements in Palestinian territories during discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The pair talked for almost an hour in Sydney on Friday, the third day of the first Australian visit by a serving Israeli prime minister.

Shorten and three Labor colleagues reiterated the center-left party's support for a two-state solution to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.

Labor elders frustrated by the lack of progress in finding a two-party solution have called on the party to adopt a policy of recognizing the state of Palestine.

Former Labor prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Bob Hawke want Australia to join 137 countries in giving diplomatic recognition to an independent Palestine.
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's ruling Democratic Party (PD) will hold its leadership contest on April 30, the center-left group announced on Friday, a decision that effectively rules out any snap national election in June. Looking to re-establish his authority over the feuding PD, former prime minister Matteo Renzi resigned as party secretary general last Sunday to open the way for a re-election battle that he hopes will see grass-roots members rally to his cause. Renzi quit as premier in December after a crushing defeat in a referendum on his constitutional reform drive and handed over the reins of power to his political ally Paolo Gentiloni. He has called for national elections to be brought forward to June from the scheduled 2018, eager for a swift return to high office. With that in mind, he wanted to wrap up the PD leadership vote in early April to enable a snap ballot. However, his party rivals asked for more time to prepare for the contest and PD directors meeting on Friday agreed to hold the vote on April 30 - too late to then organize a parliamentary election before the summer, politicians said. "It seems that this shuts the door on the debate on holding an election in June," senior PD figure Piero Fassino said. Renzi has flown to the United States to visit tech companies and had no immediate comment. Two rivals have so far said they will challenge Renzi for the PD leadership - Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Michele Emiliano, the governor of the southern Puglia region. Other candidates have until March 6 to put their names forward. The party has been in turmoil since the referendum rout and a vocal minority of members have accused Renzi of arrogance, saying he has dragged the party too far to the right. A group of leftist PD dissidents announced this week that they were leaving to form a breakaway party, however the number of renegades appears to be smaller than originally thought, possibly limiting the impact on PD support at the ballot box. An opinion poll published by SWG on Friday said the new movement would win just 3.2 percent of the vote, leaving the PD on 28 percent - still the largest party in Italy. The anti-system 5-Star Movement was second-placed on 25.3 percent. If elections are not held in June, the next possible date would be late September. Failing that, the legislature would carry on until its natural end in early 2018. (Reporting by Massimiliano Di Giorgio Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Alison Williams)
Milan (AFP) - Milan prosecutors said Friday they are formally investigating Vivendi chairman Vincent Bollore after the French media group succeeded in amassing a 30-percent stake in Italian broadcaster Mediaset.

Bollore's name was officially on the list of those being investigated for alleged market manipulation, prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale told AFP.

Vivendi initially acquired a three-percent stake in Mediaset on December 12 and announced it aimed to increase it to around 20 percent, a move which Mediaset's owners, the family of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, rejected as "hostile".

The Berlusconi family, via its holding company Fininvest, asked justice officials to investigate possible market manipulation.

They accuse Vivendi of driving Mediaset's share price down by pulling out of a deal in July to buy the Italian broadcaster's pay-television unit Mediaset Premium.

Vivendi said it had second thoughts about the deal after Premium recorded losses in both the first and second quarters, offering instead to take a 20-percent stake in Premium and a 15-percent stake in Mediaset.

Vivendi has since built up a stake of nearly 30 percent in Mediaset with the aim of forcing the Berlusconi family into an alliance.

The French group is looking to strengthen its presence in southern Europe, and Spain and Italy in particular, via Mediaset and set up a platform for audiovisual content along the lines of Netflix.
Rare scandal was swirling around Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday as he was forced to deny involvement in a shady land deal by a religious school.

A growing controversy over the purchase of state land by a fierce nationalist at well below market rates intensified in parliament over the past week, with auditors pledging to look into the sale.

That led Abe on Friday to pledge he would resign if any wrongdoing was uncovered.

"I will take responsibility as a politician if my wife and I were involved," he said.

The issue centres on the purchase last year of a plot of land in Osaka by the right-wing operator of an ultra-conservative kindergarten.

Media say the school, Moritomo Gakuen, paid just 134 million yen ($1.2m) for the 9,000 square metre (97,000 square foot) plot -- around a tenth of the cost of a nearby plot of a comparable size.

Until recently, the kindergarten's website said Abe's wife, Akie, would become honorary principal at the new primary school it was building on the land.

The suggestion among his opponents was that the operator Yasunori Kagoike had only got such a good deal on the land because of his connections to the prime minister.

Abe, pressed in parliament on Friday, acknowledged that his wife Akie had once "reluctantly" accepted the post of honorary principal, but had since "resigned".

The prime minister also said that he complained to Kagoike, who had attempted to use his name to help raise money for the school, which is due to open in April.

Kagoike had collected donations by saying the new institution would be named the "Shinzo Abe Memorial Primary School," Abe said.

"It was before I became prime minister and I declined it at that time," he said.

The left-leaning Tokyo Shimbun on Friday said the issue was "grave".

"Parliament should throroughly investigate and clear up the suspicions," it said in an editorial.

Abe's more than four years in the job have been unblemished by the kind of grubby money scandals that regularly claim scalps in Japanese politics.

It is unclear how much impact the present controversy will have on a prime minister who still enjoys high approval ratings.

But the case has underscored the strong support Abe has among far right-leaning businessmen, politicians and media.
Japan's Prime Minister spent Friday afternoon meditating while staff at some of the country's biggest firms quit work early -- in time for a bit of shopping or maybe a boozy train ride.

Welcome to Premium Friday, Japan's latest bid to tackle two perennial problems -- sluggish consumer spending and notoriously long working hours blamed for a national health crisis known as karoshi, or death from overwork.

The new work-life balance scheme, which launched this week, calls on employers to let staff off around 3:00 pm on the last Friday of every month.

Major firms including automakers Nissan and Toyota, beverage giant Suntory and brokerage Nomura are taking part in the government-backed initiative.

But it's not mandatory and many companies have opted out, while some analysts question whether it will really boost spending or do much to change Japan's punishing work culture.

Still, the idea was a hit with Suntory employee Maki Suzuki, who said she often works late into the night or even into the early hours when things are busy at the office.

"This is a good opportunity to plan something that we don't usually do," said the 34-year-old, as she visited a Tokyo art museum with colleagues Friday afternoon.

"Taking a long holiday is too high a hurdle for many Japanese, but taking an afternoon off isn't."

Word has not reached out to some people, however.

"When I told my friends about Premium Friday, they were like, 'What are you talking about?'" said Nami Kawasaki, another Suntory employee.

Mobile carrier SoftBank is letting its staff leave early and, from April, will put an extra 10,000 yen ($90) in their pockets a month.

Other firms are jumping at the chance to sell things to workers with extra time on their hands.

One railway operator is offering a special train ride with beer and bento boxes, while early birds can get discounts on everything from matchmaking services to cancer checks.

Story continues

- 'Changing our lifestyle' -

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was taking it down a notch with plans to spend the afternoon at a Zen meditation temple, followed by a music concert.

Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga was also keen to call it a day.

"Unfortunately I have to hold this press conference," he told reporters at a regular briefing earlier Friday.

"But as soon as I'm finished here, I'm going to be doing something" for Premium Friday.

Every year, Japan's long working hours are blamed for hundreds of deaths due to strokes, heart attacks and suicides.

In December, the head of Japan's biggest advertising agency Dentsu resigned in response to the suicide of a young employee who regularly logged more than 100 hours of overtime a month.

More than one in five Japanese companies have employees who work such long hours they are at serious risk of dying, according to a government survey published in October.

This hard-driving office culture spawned the image of the weary salaryman who worked all day, drank with the boss all night, and was back at his desk early in the morning.

That has changed over the decades and Japan's once-booming economy has slowed.

But putting in long hours is still viewed as a sign of dedication at many firms, even if Japanese workers' productivity lags behind that of their US and European counterparts.

"We're hoping to boost spending by changing our lifestyle, the way we work and the way we think," Masanao Ueda, director of the industrial policy bureau at Keidanren -- Japan's biggest business lobby -- told AFP.

But it could be a hard sell.

Many Japanese employees don't take all their regular annual leave and firms are not increasing wages, meaning workers will not spend more money for Premium Friday.

"This campaign will not suddenly boost spending or stop long working hours," said Naoko Kuga, analyst at Tokyo's NLI Research Institute.

"It's not even mandatory for workers to leave early."
KELIBIA, Tunisia (AP)  Tunisia's unhappy distinction as one of the world's primary jihadi exporters is coming home to haunt the country, where young men trained by the Islamic State group have killed tourists, soldiers and even an unfortunate shepherd.

As the extremists suffer one battlefield defeat after another, Tunisia is being torn by a furious debate over what to do with returnees from among the 3,000 to 6,000 who left  and how to determine what threat they pose.

"These are people who were indoctrinated. These are people who left and who destroyed their Tunisian passports and who announced that they belonged to the nation of Daesh," or IS, protest movement leader Boutheina Chihi Ezzine said.

Tunisia prisons are full, its courts are backlogged with terrorism cases, and its desert borders are porous. It also was the only country to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring with a functioning democracy and is not on the Trump administration's banned travel list.

That democracy allowed Ezzine and others to start organizing when President Beji Caid Essebsi said the jails were too crowded to house every returning jihadi, and that most posed no danger.

The first protest, held after a Tunisian follower of Islamic State attacked the Berlin Christmas market, drew just a few hundred; the second a href='https://www.apnews.com/ca704e35ad1044e7a4dbbc9231e002c0/1,000-Tunisians-fearing-return-of-jihadis-march-to-say-'No"attracted upward of 1,000/a. Ezzine fears the government is too willing to downplay the danger in exchange for social peace.

"Frankly," she said, "we do not know how these people can come back and have the same values as we do, the sense of belonging to Tunisia, to the Tunisian nation."

By official count, around 3,000 Tunisians traveled to the war zone in Libya, Syria and Iraq  most of them to join Islamic State and other extremist groups. Many analysts believe the real number is at least double that . Another 1,250 young people were blocked from leaving, and it is believed that thousands of others are smoldering sympathizers.

Story continues

In 2015, a Tunisian trained in an Islamic State camp in Libya opened fire on a beach, picking off tourists as they sunbathed. Two others stormed the galleries of Tunis' Bardo Museum, a popular destination for foreign visitors. In March this year, Islamic State fighters attacked the border garrison of Ben Gardane, and 55 people died in the ensuing fight. A teenage shepherd who refused to hand his flock over to the jihadis was beheaded.

Ezzine is among many who believe the government can't handle the coming influx, and for her, the last straw was hearing the president downplay the threat in an early December interview. She tracked down Facebook groups of Tunisians with the same concerns and persuaded them to pull together into a collective.

"Even if we have begun to have some political stability, we remain a country that has lived through attacks, through political assassination," she said.

The group's slogan  "No to the return of terrorists"  touched a nerve. Her group is now meeting with political leaders, ministry by ministry, to press for a plan.

The government is careful to say that any Tunisian who wants to return can do so.

"We deal with this subject according to the constitution and to the laws," said Chafik Hajji, a Tunisian diplomat who handles the returning fighters. "Article 25 of the Constitution says that it is forbidden to deprive a Tunisian of his citizenship and to prevent him from returning home. We treat this subject, therefore, with all the seriousness and responsibility that it deserves."

Ezzine acknowledges that no Tunisian can be blocked from returning, but says the government has done little to prepare for them. Unlike Saudi Arabia, which has had similar issues with jihadis in the past, there is no formal deradicalization program, even if one could be shown to work.

The government says it jails the most dangerous and monitors the rest. Around 800 are already back, Hajji said. Many, additionally, are trapped in legal and diplomatic limbo abroad.

"We know that these people left in small groups of two or three people and they are returning the same way," said Ridha Raddaoui of the Tunisian Center of Research and Study of Terrorism.

Raddaoui and Ezzine say the government has no real way to evaluate those who return. They are questioned, and anyone who acknowledges having committed crimes in the war zone is jailed for trial. But the evidence needed for conviction, if it exists at all, is in Syria or Libya. And, Raddaoui said, most end up being freed after a brief stint behind bars.

For months, Raddaoui has been examining more than 500 legal cases involving Tunisians accused of terrorism. The result was an in-depth, statistical look at why the Arab Spring's only democracy is also a major exporter of armed extremists. A significant find, Raddaoui said, was a handwritten letter captured during a firefight with extremists near the Libyan border.

"In the text, these terrorists say 'We are the people who benefited most from the Tunisian revolution,'" he said. "Because first they were able to get out of prison, they were able to organize on a national level, with recruits and everything. They trained, they armed themselves, they created their own camps in the mountains of the northwest."

They found easy prey in the young people of Tunisia, who expected little from the pre-2011 authoritarian government but had high hopes after its fall. It turned out to be no easier to find good work under democracy than under an autocratic government. Things have only deteriorated further for the nation of 11 million. Tourism dried up, and the unemployment rate, officially around 15 percent, soared among the young, who began to leave for Europe  and for the war zones of Syria and Libya, which shares a 400-kilometer border with Tunisia.

The situation of the travelers can be murky. Mohammed Bel Hadj Amor crossed into Syria at age 19 in 2012, among the first of successive waves of young Tunisians headed for the war zone. Whatever his plans  he says he only wanted to help the Syrian people  he was thwarted almost immediately. He was intercepted first by Islamic State extremists, who killed four of his friends, and then detained by Syrian government forces.

His mother learned what had happened to him only 13 months later, when he appeared in a documentary from the prison where he was being held with 42 other Tunisians. Since then, she has visited him once and received countless calls and texts from behind bars.

But, the family said, Tunisia would not let the group come home. Hajji said the government has received no official request from Syria to take them back. But on Jan. 15, Amor called home to say they had been released and walking out of the prison in Damascus, destination unknown.

"We are leaving now. Pray for us! Don't worry. God bless you all," he said in a voice message that his sister, Leila, plays over and over in the family's home in coastal Tunisia.

That was the last word from the group.

The man who persuaded Mohammed to leave for Syria ultimately died there himself more recently, fighting for the Islamic State group. Another recruiter, who had targeted Leila's 12-year-old son, remained in town. Her son, she said, now harangues his mother to wear the veil and spends his free time at the mosque.

___

Bouazza ben Bouazza contributed from Tunis.
By Dave Kaup and Aditya Kalra KANSAS CITY/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A 51-year-old man has been charged with killing an engineer from India and wounding two other men when he opened fire in a Kansas bar in what federal authorities were investigating on Friday as a possible bias-motivated crime that shocked the victim's home country. The shooting on Wednesday night led news bulletins in India and triggered outrage on social media, where people voiced concern that U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" position on immigration and jobs has fueled a climate of intolerance. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Friday that any loss of life was tragic, but it would be absurd to link the killing to Trump's rhetoric. Pratik Mathur, spokesman for the Indian embassy in Washington, said India had expressed "our deep concern over the incident" to the U.S. government and requested a "thorough and speedy investigation." Navy veteran Adam Purinton, who is white, was charged on Thursday in Johnson County, Kansas, with one count of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder, District Attorney Stephen Howe told reporters. He declined to elaborate on the details of the incident or the gunman's motive. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking at whether it was a hate crime, the official term for crimes motivated by bias or prejudice. A FBI spokeswoman said agents and police canvassed the area on Thursday and the investigation continued on Friday. Hate crime charges would need to be brought in federal court because Kansas does not have a hate crime statue, the district attorney said in a post on Twitter. If convicted as charged, Howe said Purinton faces "Hard 50," which means a life sentence without eligibility for parole for 50 years. Purinton is accused of killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, also 32, in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday evening, police said. At least one bystander told the Kansas City Star the gunman shouted "get out of my country" before shooting the Indian victims. Purinton is also accused of wounding Ian Grillot, 24, who was shot as he tried to intervene. "People call me a hero," Grillot said in a video released by the hospital where he was undergoing treatment for gunshot wounds to the hand and chest. "I was just doing what anyone should have done for any other human being." Kuchibhotla was married but had no children. His wife, identified by media as Sunayana Dumala, told reporters on Friday that the gunman "has taken a life, a very lovable soul, from everyone." Kuchibhotla received a master's in electronics from the University of Texas in El Paso in 2007, according to LinkedIn. His Facebook page, where he called himself "Srinu," said that in 2014 he joined the Kansas office of Switzerland-based navigation device maker Garmin from Rockwell Collins Inc. Flags at Garmin's offices flew at half-staff on Friday. The company, which held a private service for employees, said it was "devastated by the senseless tragedy." A candle light vigil was planned for Friday evening at the First Baptist Church of Olathe, across the road from the bar. The suspect fled on foot and was arrested five hours after the shooting at an Applebee's restaurant in Clinton, Missouri. He reportedly told an employee there he needed a place to hide because he had killed two Middle Eastern men, the Star reported. Purinton, a former Federal Aviation Administration employee, was transferred back to Kansas on Friday and was being held with bond set at $2 million, according to jail records. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. It was not immediately known whether he had hired a lawyer. Police did not say whether Purinton has faced charges in the past. However, he was not generally known to police in Olathe, a city of 134,000 people about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Kansas City, Sergeant Logan Bonney said Friday. 'BE ANGRY!' At Kuchibhotla's family home near the Indian tech hub of Hyderabad, relatives backed government calls to ensure the safety of Indians living in the United States. "The government should voice out this strongly because our brothers, sisters and our relatives are there," the victim's brother, Venu Madhav, told Reuters Television. Through a window, relatives could be seen sitting quietly, one woman wiping away tears. Many Indians initially welcomed Trump's election, seeing his calls to restrict Muslim immigration as support for their Hindu-majority country. India has been at odds for decades with Pakistan, its mainly Muslim neighbor. But the Trump administration may also have skilled Indian workers like Kuchibhotla in mind as it considers curbing the H-1B visa program, worrying both India's $150 billion IT services industry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. "Don't be shocked! Be angry!" Siddharth, a well-known South Indian actor who uses one name, tweeted to his 2.6 million followers in remarks echoed across social media. "Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla." (Reporting by Dave Kaup in Kansas City and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Additional reporting by David Ingram in New York, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Ayesha Rascoe and David Brunnstrom in Washington, Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Grant McCool)
By Alex Dobuzinskis

(Reuters) - The shooting death of an Indian engineer and the wounding of another man in a possible hate crime at a Kansas bar has raised fears among members of the area's fast-growing Indian-American community.

The suspected gunman, U.S. Navy veteran Adam Purinton, 51, has been charged with the premeditated murder in Olathe, just outside Kansas City, of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and the attempted murder of Alok Madasani, also 32, as well as an American who tried to intervene.

Before opening fire, Purinton is accused of shouting "get out of my country," a bystander told the Kansas City Star.

Several members of the Kansas City area's Indian-American community said the attack had forced them to think about their safety.

"The main reaction is shock, because this is home," said Samarpita Bajpai, 45, who lives in suburban Overland Park and runs a non-profit Indian dance company.

Going forward, Bajpai said that for the first time in her nearly 20 years living in the Kansas City area she will try to refrain from being out late at night.

She said the local area had always been very welcoming. Through her Gurukul Dance Company, Bajpai tours U.S. cities with a troupe of 10 dancers, all of whom except her are white people with an affinity for Indian culture, she said.

The shooting comes as some members of U.S. minority groups have expressed unease with the political and social climate in the United States. The Southern Poverty Law Center said in a report this month hate groups proliferated in 2016 as Donald Trump's bid for the U.S. presidency energized the radical right.

A number of Jewish leaders called on Trump to speak out against anti-Semitism following a spate of bomb threats to Jewish community centers. Trump this week called the threats horrible and he has said he rejects violence and harassment.

The greater Kansas City area, which straddles the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas, is home to about 2 million people with an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Indian-Americans, although exact figures are not available, said Vijay Ainapurapu, 45, the former president of the India Association of Kansas City.

Story continues

Ainapurapu, who works in software at Sprint Corp, said by telephone that the local Indian-American community has grown about tenfold since he arrived in the Kansas City area in 2001.

Due to the shooting, he added, safety precautions are a major talking point for his group.

Ainapurapu, who came to the United States in 1998 and previously lived in Texas and California, said Kansas City had been "as welcoming as any other place in America."

Akshay Anand, 34, the owner of the Karats jewelry store in Overland Park who is involved with the India Association of Kansas City, said he will avoid areas where he might feel at risk, including what he called neighborhoods with low education levels.

"Everybody's going to be extremely cautious," said Anand, who lives a short drive from where the shooting occurred. "I think it's going to take time for this to settle in."

Kansas City resident Ajay Sood, 50, who teaches courses in Indian culture and ran as a write-in candidate for U.S. president last year, said he often finds native-born Americans are ignorant of his background.

Mistaking the ethnicity of Indian Americans was a hot topic after the Kansas City Star reported that the suspect said after fleeing that he had shot two Middle Eastern men.

"Most of the Americans who have never traveled outside the U.S., they cannot identify who's a Pakistani, who's an Indian, who's an Afghani and who's a Sikh," Sood said by phone.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Lisa Shumaker)
By Laila Kearney (Reuters) - A white U.S. Navy veteran accused of killing a man from India and wounding two other men when he opened fire at a Kansas bar, often complained about his ill health and was mourning his father's death, according to a neighbor and local media reports. Adam Purinton, 51, is charged with the premeditated murder of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, as well as the attempted murders of Kuchibhotla's friend, Alok Madasani, 32, and American Ian Grillot, 24, who tried to intervene at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, a suburb of Kansas City. Before opening fire, Purinton is accused of shouting "get out of my country," a bystander told the Kansas City Star. The attack, which is being investigated by federal agents as a possible hate crime, came as a surprise to residents living near Purinton's longtime home at the end of a quiet Olathe cul de sac, about a mile from the murder scene. "They're shocked," said Raymond Horspool, who lives a few houses away from Purinton, of his neighborhood's residents. Other neighbors told him the attack "seemed out of character." Purinton had lived in Olathe since 1998, records show. He was known by neighbors as a low-key fixture in the community, and as a regular of Austins who was generally friendly, said Horspool. "He seemed nice," another neighbor, Richard Morris, told Fox4KC. "It's shocking to hear about what he's accused of." Purinton once worked for the Federal Aviation Administration, said an agency spokesman, who declined to say how long Purinton was with the FAA or what position he held. Since leaving the FAA in 2000, Purinton held a number of jobs, including working at a local liquor store and at an information technology business, according to local media. Citing numerous interviews with neighbors past and present, the Kansas City Star reported that Purinton was often seen with a beer in his hand. Horspool said he had not seen Purinton drinking. Relatives of Purinton did not respond to requests for comments on Friday. Neighbors interviewed by the Star and other nearby residents listed in public records were not immediately reachable by phone. Police have declined to give any personal details about Purinton so far, citing the ongoing investigation. While Purinton usually kept to himself, neighbors said, when he did socialize he often talked with pride about his time in the Navy. He also exhibited an especially close relationship with his father. But over the past year, Purinton had increasingly complained about his health and frequently visited the VA for medical testing, the Star reported. "I just had a feeling he didn't understand what was happening to him," neighbor Carol Shimeall told the Star. "His words were, 'They just take my blood and they throw it away. I'm worthless.'" After his father died about a year ago, Purinton also talked frequently about how he was grieving for him, the Star said. But while he often appeared to be distressed, neighbor Michael Shimeall told the newspaper, he did not seem hostile. "I never saw his temper or anything like that," Shimeall said, adding that he was finding it hard to take in that Purinton was accused of murdering a man. "It's very sad ... what happens to some people and that he would go off that way." (Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Lisa Shumaker)
The father of one of the Indian men who were shot at a Kansas bar in what may have been a racially-motivated attack Wednesday night pleaded to parents in India to consider keeping their children from entering the U.S. amid an environment of fear and hysteria.

Jaganmohan Reddy, whose 32-year-old son Alok Madasani was wounded in the shooting, told the Hindustan Times that he was worried xenophobia in the U.S. was worsening under President Donald Trump. Reddy said he had asked his son to move back to India before a gunman opened fire, injuring Madasani and killing his sons friend, Srinivas Kuchibhotla.

The situation seems to be pretty bad after Trump took over as the U.S. president, Reddy said. I appeal to all the parents in India not to send their children to the United States in the present circumstances.

Authorities said 51-year-old Adam Purinton was charged with murder and attempted murder over the shooting. Witnesses said he yelled get out of my county at the men before firing multiple rounds at them, according to the Associated Press. Police say its too soon to rule the incident a hate crime.

The fatal shooting sent waves of sadness across India, where government officials condemned the senseless violence. Indias Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said in a tweet that she was saddened by the incident and said shed work to transport Kuchibhotlas body back to India.

I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi sent condolences to loved ones of the slain man, saying embassy officials share their grief. We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act, Charge dAffaires MaryKay Carlson said in a statement. The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study and live.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Seeking to tamp down growing unease in Latin America, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly pledged Thursday that the United States wont enlist its military to enforce immigration laws and that there will be no mass deportations.

Only hours earlier, President Donald Trump suggested the opposite. He told CEOs at the White House the deportation push was a military operation.

Kelly, speaking in Mexicos capital, said all deportations will comply with human rights requirements and the U.S. legal system, including its multiple appeals for those facing deportation. He said the U.S. approach will involve close coordination with Mexicos government.

There will be no use of military forces in immigration, Kelly said. There will be no  repeat, no  mass deportations.

Yet while Kelly and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tried to alleviate Mexicos concerns, Trump was fanning them further, with tough talk about getting really bad dudes out of this country at a rate nobody has ever seen before.

Its a military operation, Trump said Thursday while his envoys were in Mexico City. Because 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 who are here illegally.

It was an altogether different message from Kelly and Tillerson, who traveled here to meet with top Mexican officials at a time of intense turbulence for U.S.-Mexico relations. Indeed, Trump acknowledged he had sent his top diplomat south of the border on a tough trip.

In contrast to Trump, Tillerson and Kelly emphasized a U.S. commitment to work closely with Mexico on border security, illegal immigration and trafficking of drugs and weapons  issues Trump has made a central focus of his young presidency, much to Mexicos dismay. Both Tillerson and Kelly appeared to downplay any major rift between the U.S. and Mexico.

Story continues

In a relationship filled with vibrant colors, two strong sovereign countries from time to time will have differences, Tillerson said. We listened closely and carefully to each other as we respectfully and patiently raised our respective concerns.

For Mexico, that patience was running short.

Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray noted the public and notorious differences between the countries and said the Mexicans had raised the legal impossibility of a government making unilateral decisions affecting another country. Videgaray has previously raised the prospect Mexico could seek recourse at the United Nations or elsewhere for U.S. moves violating international law.

It is an evident fact that Mexicans feel concern and irritation over what are perceived as policies that may hurt Mexicans and the national interest of Mexicans here and abroad, Videgaray said.

The divergent tones from Trump and from his Cabinet officials left Mexico with an uncomfortable decision about whom to believe. Throughout Trumps first weeks, foreign leaders have grown increasingly skeptical as Trumps envoys deliver soothing messages that are then negated by the president.

Mexico has been incensed that the U.S. announced  without Mexicos sign-off  that people caught crossing the border illegally will be sent back to Mexico  even those from third countries who have no connection to Mexico. Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, Kellys Mexican counterpart, said that concern had come up Thursday, too.

Both countries said it was positive that the neighbors remained committed to working through the disputes diplomatically, though there were no indications they were any closer to a resolution. As the Americans wrapped up their Mexico visit, they remained at odds with their hosts over the deportations and over the massive border wall Trump has vowed to construct at Mexicos expense.

Trump spoke during the presidential campaign about using a deportation force. His Homeland Security Department at one point considered using the National Guard to help with deportations, although the White House has said that idea has been ruled out.

The Homeland Security Department didnt immediately respond to requests to clarify why Trumps remark about a military operation had conflicted with that of Kelly, who blamed the media for misreporting. At the White House, spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump hadnt been speaking literally. He said Trump used the military operation phrase as an adjective to describe the precision with which immigration enforcement was being carried out.

Tillerson and Kelly also met behind closed doors with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto before returning to Washington. Pena Nietos office said he told the visitors that Mexicos top priorities are the protection of Mexicans in the United States and respect for their rights. The U.S. declined to release any details about what was discussed in the meeting.

Pena Nieto recently canceled a trip to Washington over Trumps insistence that Mexico pay for the wall. It has not been rescheduled.

In addition to sending border-crossers from third countries into Mexico, new memos signed by Kelly this week call for prioritizing deportation for anyone charged or convicted of any crime, rather than just serious crimes. That potentially subjects millions in the U.S. illegally to deportation, many Mexicans included.

Those policies have stoked fears in Mexico about the possibility of deportee and refugee camps emerging along Mexicos northern border. Mexican officials were also apprehensive that a forthcoming report ordered by Trumps administration listing all current U.S. aid to Mexico is intended to threaten Mexico into compliance over immigration or the wall.

Mexico has also raised concerns about Trumps pledge to overhaul the trade relationship and possibly apply steep taxes to Mexican products, a move with profound impacts for Mexicos export-heavy economy. Tillerson said the leaders had agreed the trade relationship needed to be modernized and strengthened.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City and Jonathan Lemire in New York contributed to this report.
BEIRUT (AP)  The Latest on the developments in the Syrian conflict (all times local):

8:15 p.m.

Syrian State News Agency SANA is reporting that Islamic State militants in the country's central province of Homs have lobbed mortars at natural gas pipelines, putting some production lines out of service.

Syrian Minister of Electricity Mohammad Zuheir Kharboutli told State TV the attack on the southern factory will reduce its capacity to generate power by 65 percent. The Oil Minister Ali Ghanim said the factory feeds the national grid with 6.6 million cubic meters a day but he added maintenance was underway to restore full operations.

Islamic State militants have been battling government troops around the gas lines in Homs since December.

The attacks came hours after a separate attack in Homs city against security offices, which were claimed by al-Qaida-linked insurgents.

___

8 p.m.

A Syrian opposition official says rebel forces are leading the fight against terrorism in Syria as representatives of the warring parties meet in Geneva in a fresh quest for a political solution to the conflict.

Speaking to reporters in Switzerland Friday, Nassr al-Hariri dismissed the notion the international community saw the Syrian government and its forces as the most fit to counter terrorism.

"We are the ones who place the priority on countering terrorism in our agenda," he said, pointing to the victory against IS by Turkey-backed opposition forces.

He said that victory came as government forces dropped barrel bombs and internationally-banned weapons in Syria.

The Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad has long sought to present itself as a bulwark against Islamist extremism.

Hariri spoke after a meeting with U.N. Envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura, who is trying to negotiate a political transition in Syria.

"When the international envoy facilitates any political process, he shouldn't listen to this side or the other, he should implement the international resolutions," said Hariri, describing the meeting with the envoy as "positive."

Story continues

The two sides, who differ on how power should be distributed during a transition period and disagree on the fate of Assad, have yet to tackle substantive issues in Geneva.

___

6:45 p.m.

Turkey's chief of military staff says Turkey has "achieved the goals" it set for its military operation in northern Syria.

Gen. Hulusi Akar made the comment on Friday during a visit to the border with Syria, after Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition forces captured the town of al-Bab from Islamic State militants.

He did not say, however, if Turkey would end its operations in northern Syria or if it would move on to liberate other areas.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other government leaders have spoken of plans to move the Turkish forces toward the town of Manbij that is held by U.S.-backed forces that include Syrian Kurdish fighters in a bid to oust them from the area. Turkish leaders have also suggested that Turkish troops could take part in operations to liberate the Islamic State group's stronghold in Raqqa.

Akar said that Turkey would provide "every kind of support" to help life in al-Bab return to normal and for the local population to return to their homes.

__

3:05 p.m.

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations says his delegation is considering the details of an unspecified "paper" presented by the U.N. envoy for Syria, as peace talks resumed in Geneva aimed at ending the country's nearly six-year.

Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari emerged from a meeting with U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura saying that their discussion on Friday focused mainly on the format of future meetings. Ja'afari did not take questions from a throng of reporters as he left the U.N. compound in Geneva.

He said his delegation would study the document and would reply at the next meeting. He did not say when that next meeting would be.

In brief comments to reporters, de Mistura said the discussions had been "about the future of Syria, about peace."

___

3 p.m.

Syrian opposition activists say a second car bomb has exploded in a town just captured from Islamic State group militants by Turkish troops and Syrian fighters, leaving at least eight people dead.

The Aleppo Media Center and Thiqa News agency, media platforms operated by activists, reported the second explosion Friday in Sousian village, about eight kilometers (five miles) north of al-Bab.

An earlier explosion in the same village killed at least 60, most of them civilians lining up to return to the town after IS retreated.

Al-Bab was captured by the Turkish troops and Syrian fighters backed by Ankara on Thursday, after more than two months of intense fighting.

A Turkish military statement Friday says the Turkish troops and Syrian forces it backs are now in control of all neighborhoods of al-Bab but that efforts to clear it of mines and explosives are continuing. Earlier on Friday, two Turkish soldiers were killed in an explosion near the IS-held town of Tadif, south of al-Bab.

___

2:20 p.m.

The U.N. envoy for Syria has kicked off his second day of meetings in Geneva aimed at reaching a political solution to end the country's devastating civil war.

Staffan de Mistura on Friday hosted a delegation from the government of President Bashar Assad and is hammering out a procedure for the talks that could go on for days. De Mistura is meeting with the sides separately and is to hold talks with an opposition delegation on Friday afternoon.

U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci is cautioning that "this process is in its very early days" and not to expect fast results. She says de Mistura is "seeking to facilitate a process, and this requires some delicate handling."

On Thursday, the two sides met face-to-face for the first time in three years under U.N. mediation.

___

1:55 p.m.

Turkey's state news agency Andadolu says the death toll from a car bomb near the town of al-Bab, just captured from Islamic State militants in northern Syria, has risen to 60. Most of the victims were civilians.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, meanwhile, says a separate attack south al-Bab killed two Turkish soldiers.

Friday's attacks come a day after the town was taken by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from Islamic State militants. IS militants withdrew from the town, but they still control areas around it.

In the first attack, a suicide car bomb struck outside a security office in Sousian village, north of al-Bab, killing civilians lining up seeking permits to return home. Yildrim says at least six Turkey-backed fighters were killed in that bombing.

The second attack took place near Tadif, a town still controlled by IS south of al-Bab. The Turkish military said the soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive device went off but Yildrim called it a suicide attack that happened as the soldiers were on a road patrol. Three other Turkish soldiers were wounded.

The deaths raise the death toll of Turkish soldiers in northern Syria since August to 70.

___

10:50 a.m.

Turkey's news agency says a car bomb north of a town just captured by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from Islamic State militants has killed at least 35 people.

Anadolu news agency says the explosion on Friday killed civilians and Syrian opposition fighters in Sousian village, north of the town of al-Bab.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the bombing struck near a security post in the village. The Syrian opposition-run Qasioun news agency put the death toll at 45.

The report says the car bomb hit outside a security office where civilians had gathered seeking permission to return to al-Bab.

Al-Bab was captured on Thursday, after more than two months of fighting with IS militants who withdrew from the town but still control areas around it.
PARIS (Reuters) - The legal team for French presidential candidate Francois Fillon said on Friday it was confident that a probe into allegations that Fillon's wife was paid for work she may not have done would result in Fillon and his wife being found innocent. Fillon's legal team issued its statement in response to a decision on Friday by French prosecutors to appoint a magistrate to investigate those allegations. [nL8N1G95XE] Fillon's lawyers also reiterated their earlier criticism of the legal process, saying leaks to French media about details of the case were unacceptable. Right-wing candidate Fillon and his lawyers have blamed the French left-wing for being behind the allegations. Fillon has denied any wrongdoing. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Michel Rose)
A liberal group has aimed to start a new project to force an investigation into President Donald Trumps alleged seedy ties to Russia and President Vladimir Putin with the help of a former top State Department official, Politico reported Wednesday.

The Center for American Progress Action Fund, which also backs liberal news site Think Progress, has come up with the Moscow Project to be headed by ex-State policy planning staffer Max Bergmann with the intention of further vetting Trump and his campaigns supposed links to Russia.

The U.S. intelligence community has stated before and since Trumps Election Day victory that Russia intentionally influenced the American public by hacking the election in the billionaire Republicans favor. Those assertions took on more weight after Trumps now ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was asked to resign last week after he admitted to having improper conduct with a Russian ambassador.

Aptly named for Russias capital city, the new project first sent a six-page memo to Congress just after news outlets broke the story of Flynn. The projects memo was called RE: Investigations into Russian Interference, and specifically called for Attorney General, Trump appointee and now-former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to stand down from any possible investigation, similar in scope to the extensive 9/11 Commission.

Whether the groups action has influenced Congress and Republicans was not immediately made clear. However, the Senate Intelligence Committee Friday called for all records pertaining to the intelligence communitys information of the president's alleged ties to Russia be preserved after a two-hour long meeting with FBI Director James B. Comey, the Washington Post reported.

Related Articles
Madrid (AFP) - Spain has invited the head of Airbus to travel to Madrid next month to brief defence officials about its troubled A400M military transport plane, the defence ministry said Friday.

The A400M was commissioned jointly in 2003 by the governments of Germany, Belgium, France, Britain, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey, but since its delayed launch in 2013 it has run into difficulty, with delays in delivery of the plane.

A spokesman for the ministry told AFP Airbus CEO Tom Enders had asked to meet representatives from these countries, and Spain's junior defence minister Agustin Conde had responded by inviting him and defence officials from those nations to Madrid.

"He sent him a letter inviting him to attend a meeting with the programme's partner countries, on March 30 in Madrid," the spokesman said.

Airbus refused to comment when contacted by AFP.

It is unclear exactly why Enders has called the meeting, but on Wednesday he told reporters that the group would ask clients to refrain from imposing further penalties over delivery delays.

Originally planned for 2011, the plane's launch was delayed until 2013.

The A400M's delivery has also run into substantial delays due to a string of technical problems and different requests from the governments.

An A400M plane crashed during a test in May 2015 near Seville in Spain, killing four of the six people on board and seriously injuring the two others.

And new faults were discovered in the propellor engines last year.

On Wednesday, Airbus said its profits nosedived in 2016 due to charges related to problems with the plane.

Speaking to reporters when the group announced the results, Enders said that Airbus needed "the cooperation of clients... to push the programme forward and end the haemorrhaging."

The Spanish defence ministry spokesman said Enders had "surprised the seven partner countries with declarations to the media about difficulties encountered in the development of the programme".

Story continues

"So Mr. Conde invited Mr. Enders to tell the junior ministers (attending the March meeting) about the problems faced by the A400M programme".

The German government, the main customer for Airbus' military aircraft, this week urged the firm to live up to its contractual obligations and deliver the promised A400M jets.

Airbus delivered 17 A400M in 2016, compared with 11 in 2015 and has delivered two of the military transport planes so far this year.
By Rozanna Latiff and Emily Chow KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - VX nerve agent, a chemical the United Nations classifies as a weapon of mass destruction, was used to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a bizarre murder in Malaysia last week, police said on Friday. Kim Jong Nam was killed on Feb. 13, shortly after being assaulted at the airport in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, by two women who wiped the chemical on his face as he prepared to board a flight to the Chinese territory of Macau. South Korean and U.S. officials have said they believe North Korean agents assassinated Kim Jong Nam. He had been living with his family in Macau under Beijing's protection and had spoken out against the North Korean regime. Malaysian police were investigating whether the VX - which is believed to be the most toxic known nerve agent and is banned globally except for research - was brought into the country or made there. "If the amount of the chemical brought in was small, it would be difficult for us to detect," police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters. The two women suspects - one Vietnamese and the other Indonesian - are in police detention along with a North Korean man. Seven other North Koreans are wanted in connection with the case, including a diplomat at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia has repeatedly urged the victim's family to come forward to help with the inquiry, while North Korea has demanded the body be handed over to its embassy directly, sparking tension between the two usually friendly countries. Malaysia's chemical weapons analysis unit found traces of VX, or S-2 Diisopropylaminoethyl methylphosphonothioate, on swabs taken from the eye and face of the victim, according to police. "Other exhibits are under analysis," Khalid said in a statement, citing a preliminary report. Police have said the two women were paid to carry out the assault and had been told to wash their hands before fleeing from the airport. They had rehearsed the attack in shopping malls before carrying it out on Kim. One of the women had suffered from the effects of the chemical and had been vomiting, Khalid said. Airport camera footage released on Monday by Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV shows the moment they assaulted Kim Jong Nam. In later clips he is seen asking airport officials for medical help, and rubbing his eyes and stumbling as he entered an airport clinic. Authorities said he complained of dizziness and died on the way to hospital. Authorities raided an apartment in an upscale Kuala Lumpur suburb on Wednesday in connection with the killing, but no chemicals were found, said an official with direct knowledge of the matter. FATAL IN MINUTES VX is tasteless and odorless, and is outlawed under the Chemical Weapons Convention, except for "research, medical or pharmaceutical purposes". It can be manufactured as a liquid, cream or aerosol. Experts say it has no commercial uses. "This is not something you make in a kitchen lab. This is something that is made in a very sophisticated chemicals weapons lab," said Bruce Bennet, a senior defense researcher at the California-based RAND Corporation. North Korea is believed to have the world's third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative project, which analyses weapons of mass destruction. South Korean analysts have identified sarin and VX as the focus of the North Korean chemical weapons program. VX in liquid form can be absorbed into the body through skin or eye contact and does not evaporate easily. After giddiness and nausea, exposure to VX quickly progresses to convulsions and respiratory failure before death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It can be fatal after 15 minutes, according to the U.S. Army's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. Police chief Khalid said authorities intended to sweep Kuala Lumpur airport, and other locations the suspects had visited, for "radioactive" material. VX is not known to contain radioactive elements and Reuters calls to police for clarification went unanswered. Malaysian authorities on Thursday requested Interpol to put an alert out to apprehend four North Korean suspects who are believed to have fled from Malaysia on the day of the attack. They also want to question the second secretary at the North Korean embassy, though he has diplomatic immunity. The murder has strained relations between North Korea, which has been increasingly isolated in response to its nuclear and missile programs, and Malaysia. North Korea has said Malaysia should be held responsible for the killing of one of its citizens, though it has not acknowledged that the victim is the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Malaysia has recalled its ambassador from Pyongyang for consultations. (Additional reporting by Tom Allard, A. Ananthalakshmi, Liz Lee and Joseph Sipalan; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Praveen Menon; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP)  A man who disrupted an American Airlines flight from the Los Angeles area, forcing it to make an unscheduled landing in Lubbock, Texas, has pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew.

Jerry Ba Nguyen (win) could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. No sentencing date has been set for the 24-year-old Las Vegas man.

The incident happened aboard a Sept. 22 flight from Ontario, California, to Dallas-Fort Worth. The Boeing 737 was carrying 143 passengers and six crew members.

Nguyen had behaved erratically since the start of the flight, but his banging and kicking on the cockpit door and suicidal statements finally forced fellow passengers to subdue him until an emergency landing could be made.

Nguyen has remained in custody since his arrest.
Speaking on Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington, D.C., Donald Trumps adviser Steve Bannon praised the Presidents ability to stir audiences with his speeches, saying of Trump that the President is probably the great public speaker in those large arenas since William Jennings Bryan.

This is not the first time the President has been compared to Bryan, one of the most notable figures of American politics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Those comparisons, however, have run the gamut from extremely flattering to disparaging. That diversity of opinion is possible because Bryans career was acknowledged as strange even by his contemporaries.

Born in Illinois right after the end of the Civil War, Bryan became a lawyer in Nebraska before being elected to Congress twice, in 1890 and 1892, for two terms that comprised, as TIME noted when he died in 1925, the only four years during which he ever held elected office  despite the fact that those years came before the political career for which he was really known had even begun. His attempt to gain a Senate seat after his time in the House was dashed by the Republican state legislature of Nebraska (this was during the period before popular election of Senators), so he went into journalism instead.

Heres how the magazine described what happened next, in his obituary:

He became editor of The Omaha World-Herald (owned by Gilbert M. Hitchcock) and went from his editorial office as a delegate to the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1896  the beginning of his political ascendancy. He went to speak for the farmers of the West who believed their troubles were caused by a shortage of currency. He went to the Convention demanding the free and unlimited coinage of silver, crying: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall !not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.T hose echoing words won him the next day the Democratic nomination for President. He began his 18,000-mile speaking tour against McKinley and he lost the election. Then came the Spanish War, and he served as Colonel in the Nebraska infantry, although he saw no field service. When 1900 rolled around he was back in the Presidential arena crying no imperialism because of the annexation of Hawaii, Porto Rico and the Philippines. Again he was nominated, again defeated by McKinley. He started his weekly The Commoner and quickly made a success of it. He took to lecturing and writing. When 1904 came the Democrats decided to try another candidate. They chose Alton B. Parker, who repudiated free silver. Mr. Bryan grumbled but stood aside and saw Parker go down to a bitter defeat before Roosevelt. In the interval before the next election, Mr. Bryan traveled around the world on a sort of international stumping tour. When he came back he launched out with a speech demanding public ownership of the railroads. Again he was a candidate, again defeated, this time by Taft. But he continued on his career, lecturing for woman suffrage, for prohibition. In the election of 1912 he won his first victory at the polls  and then he was not a candidate. Bitter, bitter had been the Democratic Convention when Bryan, bit in teeth, prevented the nomination of Champ Clark, secured the nomination for Woodrow Wilson. For that he was made Secretary of State and served over two years, resigning because he did not approve the Presidents increasing sternness with Germany following the sinking of the Lusitania. From then on his political career dwindled, although he spoke for Wilson in 1916, and was still enough of a factor in 1924 to make it seem worth while to nominate his brother for Vice President. But again the name of Bryan lost.

Story continues

Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

His was a strange career: in politics a swift climax and a slow diminuendo; in religion a growing austerity; and a sudden termination, the magazine noted. His invalid wife sent his chauffeur to call him from his rest and found him resting forever, stricken in an afternoon nap by the bursting of a blood-vessel in his brain as he was preparing to launch on another crusade for Fundamentalism against Evolution, dead on the scene of his last combat, at Dayton, with his last great speech unmade.

That final speech had been originally intended to be delivered within the famous Scopes Monkey Trial, in which he argued as prosecutor that Tennessee teacher John Scopes had broken the law by telling his students about evolution. Though Scopes lost the case, it was Bryan whose fundamentalist views lost in the public eye  and whose personal reputation suffered, especially after one memorable episode in which Scopes attorney Clarence Darrow called the opposing counsel Mr. Bryan as a witness to prove that the Bible need not be taken literally, questioned him about Jonah and the whale, Joshua and the Sun, whence Mrs. Cain, the Deluge, the Tower of Babel, as TIME put it.

In the roughly a century that has passed since then, his legacy has remained complicated. Though his oratories have continued to be held up as paragons of the art, other aspects of his politics  not only his views on evolution but also some sinister aspects of the populist movement he represented, like conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism  have received greater scrutiny.

But that tension should perhaps be unsurprising, considering the wide range of opinions on Bryan that were held even during his own lifetime.

He may have been mistaken at times, as we all are, equivocated Charles Dawes, who was Vice President at the time of Bryans death, but he was trying always to do the right as he saw it.
In an elegant act of judicial jujitsu, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Marbury v. Madison on February 24, 1803, establishing the high courts power of judicial review.

Related Content: Jeffrey Rosen on Chief Justice Marshall

The dramatic tale begins with the presidential election of 1800, in which President John Adams, a Federalist, lost reelection to Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican. Congress also changed hands, with the Democratic-Republicans achieving majorities in both chambers.

Adams could see the writing on the wall: his party had been relegated to the judicial branch. In a bid to strengthen Federalist power, he appointed Secretary of State John Marshall to be Chief Justice of the United States. Adams also worked with the outgoing Congress to create a slew of new judicial offices, which he promptly filled with Federalist jurists.

On March 1, 1801, three days before Jeffersons inauguration, Adams stayed up late into the night signing commissions for the new judges. The midnight appointments, as they came to be known, were also notarized by Marshall, still performing his secretarial duties.

But the rush of the presidential transition led to the administrations failure to deliver several of those commissions, including that owed to William Marbury, who had been named a justice of the peace for the District of Columbia.

On March 4, having assumed the presidency, Jefferson ordered Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver the commissions. Outraged, Marbury sued, demanding that the Supreme Court force Madison to comply.

In Marbury v. Madison, the Court was asked to answer three questions. Did Marbury have a right to his commission? If he had such a right, and the right was violated, did the law provide a remedy? And if the law provided a remedy, was the proper remedy a direct order from the Supreme Court?

Writing for the Court, Marshall answered the first two questions resoundingly in the affirmative. Marburys commission had been signed by the President and sealed by the Secretary of State, he noted, establishing an appointment that could not be revoked by a new executive. Failure to deliver the commission thus violated Marburys legal right to the office.

Story continues

Marshall also ruled that Marbury was indeed entitled to a legal remedy for his injury. Citing the great William Blackstones Commentaries, the Chief Justice declared a general and indisputable rule that, where a legal right is established, a legal remedy exists for a violation of that right.

It was in the third part of the opinion that Marshall performed the judicial jujitsu observed by National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen in The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America.

On the one hand, Marshall was strongly disliked by Jefferson, Madison, and the newly empowered Democratic-Republican Party. If he ordered delivery of the commissions, he risked simply being ignored by his rivals, thereby weakening the young Court. But on the other hand, siding with Madison could be seen as caving to political pressurean equally damaging outcome.

The ultimate resolution was a deft balancing of these interests: Marshall ruled that the Supreme Court could not order delivery of the commissions because the law establishing such a power was unconstitutional.

That law, the Judiciary Act of 1789, said the Court had original jurisdiction in a case like Marburyin other words, Marbury was able to bring his lawsuit directly to the Supreme Court instead of first going through lower courts.

Citing Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution, Marshall pointed out that the Supreme Court was given original jurisdiction only in cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls or in cases in which a State shall be Party. Had the Founders intended to empower Congress to assign original jurisdiction, Marshall reasoned, they would not have enumerated those types of cases. Congress, then, was exerting power it did not have.

For his concluding masterstroke, Marshall turned to Article VI, noting that the Constitution is the supreme Law of the Land and that all judicial Officers of the United States are bound by it. Thus, a law found to be in disagreement with the Constitutionfor example, the Judiciary Actcannot stand.

To be sure, Marshall did not invent judicial reviewseveral state courts had already exercised judicial review, and delegates to the Constitutional Convention and ratifying debates spoke explicitly about such power being given to the federal courts.

Still, the legendary Chief Justice applied it firmly and artfully to the nations highest court. It is emphatically the duty of the Judicial Department, he wrote, to say what the law is.

In the short run, Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans got what they wanted: Marbury and the other midnight appointments were denied commissions.

But in the long run, Marshall got what he wanted: a Supreme Court with teeth.

Nicandro Iannacci is a web strategist at the National Constitution Center.

Recent Historical Stories on Constitution Daily

Tinker v. Des Moines: Protecting student free speech

Five unusual amendments that never made it into the Constitution

Podcast: Presidential succession and the 25th Amendment at 50
By Alex Bregman

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is pushing back against President Trumps decision to roll back guidance put in place by the Obama administration that said schools have to let students use the bathroom corresponding to their preferred gender identity. The directive, at the time, was in response to so-called bathroom bills passed by states and local school districts that had prevented transgender students from using the bathroom that corresponds to their sexual identity rather than their assigned sex at birth. White House press secretary Sean Spicer has said, The president has maintained for a long time that this is a states rights issue and not one for the federal government.

Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga spoke to Healey about her states reaction to the Trump administration on transgender protections. Healeys response to the states rights argument on transgender rights in schools: They can claim its not a federal law issue, but it is, and in fact, Title IX, which is a federal statute, we believe is correctly interpreted and was correctly interpreted by the Obama administration to include protection against discrimination based on gender identities.

She continued, Im glad that Im in a state where there are protections for transgender students in education, but my heart breaks, Bianna, for the many, many kids and families across this country who saw the first act of a United States attorney general to be a cruel one to actually take away rights and protections and to say to them, Youre not worthy of equal treatment. Youre not worthy of dignity and respect like all other students and young people out there. I think thats just wrong.

Healey also told Golodryga, I think that Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions ought to start picking on someone their own size and not like they did yesterday, which was to pick on and target already vulnerable children.

Healey was also among the state attorneys general that had sued the White House over the recent immigration travel ban that has been put on hold by a federal court. The administration has said it will be replacing it with a new order in the future. When Healey was asked whether she plans to challenge that pending order, she told Golodryga: We will have to wait and see what that executive order is, but the first one presented all sorts of not just unconstitutional concerns but also, think about the chaos that he created. As a member of law enforcement  who is in Boston, Mass., and very concerned about issues of security, I will tell you that what he did was counterproductive and harmful to security.

Story continues

Finally, when asked about President Trumps inner circle, Healey took particular aim at White House senior adviser Stephen Miller. She said, There are people there around him that have absolutely no business being anywhere near the Oval Office. Somebody like a Stephen Miller just has no business being in the White House, let alone offering advice to the president of the United States. He doesnt know what hes talking about. He doesnt know what hes doing.

As for President Trumps chief strategist, Steve Bannon, Healey said: I think that Steve Bannon  his record, his actions speak for themselves. I think it is deeply unfortunate that the president has not sought the advice and the counsel of a broader array of individuals with actual experience and knowledge and know-how. I think, frankly, thats why you see such a chaotic and dysfunctional administration.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Matthew Broderick has been confirmed for FX's "Katrina: American Crime Story" reports Variety.

The actor has joined Annette Bening for the second installment in the "American Crime Story" anthology series, with the pair the first cast members to be confirmed.

Broderick is set to play Michael Brown, the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who was roundly criticized for the agency's slow response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina after she hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005.

Brown resigned from FEMA less than two weeks after President Bush visited a Katrina disaster site and famously proclaimed, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," despite the storm's victims being housed for days without electricity and basic staples inside New Orleans' Superdome and other facilities.

Bening is set to play Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Bianco.

"People V. O.J. Simpson" was a huge success for FX, scoring record ratings and picking up nine Emmy awards.

Cast members from the first season, "People V. O.J. Simpson," are also expected to make an appearance in "Katrina" but none have formally been announced by FX.
NEW YORK (AP)  A member of a Mexico-based sex trafficking ring has been sentenced in New York to more than 15 years in federal prison.

Paulino Ramirez-Granados was sentenced Friday in federal court in Brooklyn. He had pleaded guilty to smuggling Mexican women into the United States and forcing them into prostitution.

Prosecutors say Ramirez-Granados was part of a family-based sex trafficking ring in Tenancingo, Mexico. They say he and other members of the Granados family used false promises of romance and marriage to lure women into relationships and persuade them to travel to the United States.

They say the women were forced into prostitution in New York.

Ramirez-Granados also was sentenced to five years of supervised release after his prison term and was ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution to a victim.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico does not need financial aid from the United States, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said on Friday, after President Donald Trump ordered a report on U.S. assistance to its southern neighbor over the last five years. Mexican officials gave a cool reception to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly during a visit on Thursday, and Osorio Chong's comments are another sign of growing self-assurance in Mexico's dealings with Trump. A large part of U.S. aid to Mexico comes through the Plan Merida program, under which the U.S. Congress allocated $2.6 billion to security assistance between 2008 and 2016. Of that, $1.6 billion had been disbursed by November 2016, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service. The review of financial assistance to Mexico was included in a Jan. 25 executive order on immigration security that mandated the construction of a border wall, leading to speculation that Trump wants to redirect the aid to pay for its construction. "When they realize what's left of Merida, they will understand that it's not even that significant," Osorio Chong told local radio. "We don't object to them moving these resources... Mexico now has its own capabilities," he said. Trump's insistence that Mexico will pay for a border wall led to the cancellation of a summit with President Enrique Pena Nieto, and the two sides have since agreed not to speak publicly about the issue to avoid further souring the relationship. Osorio Chong and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray were blunt about Mexico's anger over Trump's immigration and trade proposals in public statements during the visit by Tillerson and Kelly, who tried to calm tensions. An internal U.S. Department of Homeland Security report showed that Trump's wall could cost as much as $21.6 billion, Reuters reported earlier in February, with several U.S. lawmakers criticizing the plan. (Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel and Christine Murray; Editing by Dan Grebler)
CINCINNATI (AP)  An Ohio woman charged with stabbing and decapitating her 3-month-old daughter pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced Thursday to 15 years to life in prison.

Deasia Watkins, 22, pleaded guilty in the March 2015 death of Jayniah Watkins. She told a Hamilton County judge that she loved her daughter very much.

Watkins previously had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to an aggravated murder charge. She was ordered to have psychiatric treatment and later found competent to stand trial.

Court records say she had been diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, and her attorney, Norm Aubin, said Thursday evening that she is taking medication for the condition.

"Nobody is arguing that she was not mentally ill  everybody agrees she was," Aubin said. "It's just whether she knew at the time it was going on, that it was wrong. This case is tragic."

Aubin said Watkins is still mentally ill, but in remission.

Police responding to a 911 call on March 16, 2015, found the decapitated infant on the kitchen counter in the home of an aunt who was temporarily caring for the child. The baby had been stabbed several times with a large chef's knife, authorities said. She also had a fractured arm. Watkins had placed the knife in the infant's hand, police said.

"She later told police she did that so people would think the child did it  not her," Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor David Prem said in court, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

County prosecutor Joe Deters has said Watkins appeared to be suffering from "serious mental issues" when police found her at the aunt's home in a bed covered with blood.

Watkins was considered a threat to her child and had been "acting crazy" and talking about demons when a juvenile court judge placed the baby in the custody of Hamilton County Job and Family Services, according to court documents. Social workers later placed the baby in the temporary care of an aunt, who authorities say was warned to keep the mother away from the child unless social workers were present.

Court documents say doctors declared her unsafe around the child unless she took prescribed medication.

The prosecutor's office has said Job and Family Services followed court orders, finding a relative to care for the child and checking on her numerous times. But Deters said social workers didn't know the mother apparently moved into the aunt's home about a week before the slaying.
HELENA, Mont. (AP)  Montana lawmakers pushed forward with a measure Thursday that would effectively ban all abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy, regardless of the medical risks to a woman, by requiring doctors to deliver the fetus and try to save it.

Critics of the bill said it could be among the most extreme anti-abortion laws in the nation, even as other states consider their own proposals that would reduce the window for legal abortions.

Montana already outlaws late-term abortions, unless the life of the woman is at risk  but the proposal would further restrict abortion rights. It would require doctors to deliver a fetus at six months or later by inducing labor or performing a cesarean section.

Once the fetus is removed, doctors would be required to try to resuscitate the baby. Doctors who violate the law could be charged with a felony.

"They either have to be a miracle worker or a felon," said Sen. Diane Sands, a Democrat from Missoula who opposed the bill. She added, "It's by far the most extreme measure I've seen ever proposed in Montana."

The measure won preliminary passage in the state Senate by a 32-18 vote, mostly along party lines.

The early victory by supporters will likely be short-lived. Even if the bill gets final approval in the Senate and wins support from the House  both controlled by Republicans  it would almost certainly be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, who supports abortion rights.

The measure's main proponent, Republican Sen. Albert Olszewski, said scientific and technological advances have increased the viability of fetuses.

"This bill was inspired by a real situation, a situation where a late-term pregnancy put a woman in a life-threatening condition and had to deal with this horrible decision of being told she had to terminate this pregnancy," said Olszewski, who is also an orthopedic surgeon.

He said for instances in which the mother's life is at risk, that he's "proposing two methods of terminating a pregnancy  and both would produce a live birth and it's safe for the mother."

Story continues

Both sides said the proposal could be a first of its kind.

In recent months, anti-abortion forces in some states have sought to place further restrictions on the availability of the procedure, including reducing funding, limiting access to clinics and narrowing the time frame that an abortion could be sought.

Abortion remains a potent political issue and could be a central focus in the confirmation hearings of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Opponents of the Montana bill expressed concern that the law would take away medical decisions from a woman and her doctor.

Should it become law, abortion-rights groups would challenge it, said Martha Stahl, CEO of Planned Parenthood Montana.

"It is quite extreme, and we believe this bill is unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade," Stahl said, referring to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

She said the legislation "requires women to undergo invasive medical procedures that might not be the best medical options for a woman."
Seoul (AFP) - North Korea has up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons, South Korean experts said Friday, including the toxin used to assassinate its leader's half-brother.

Traces of VX -- a nerve agent listed as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations -- were detected on swabs from the face and eyes of Kim Jong-Nam, who was poisoned at Kuala Lumpur's international airport last week, Malaysian police said Friday.

Malaysian detectives are holding three people -- women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man -- but want to speak to seven others, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.

South Korea's defence ministry said in its 2014 Defence White Paper that the North began producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and estimated that it has about 2,500 to 5,000 tonnes in stock.

North Korea has chemical weapons production facilities in eight locations including the northeastern port of Chongjin and the northwestern city of Sinuiju, it said in the 2012 edition of the document.

"North Korea is believed to have a large stockpile of VX, which can easily be manufactured at low cost," defence analyst Lee Il-Woo at the private Korea Defence Network told AFP.

Developed some 100 years ago, VX can be produced at small laboratories or facilities producing pesticides, he said.

"Chemical and biological weapons can be delivered through various means such as artillery, missiles and planes", he added.

If absorbed through the skin, eyes or nose, just a tiny drop of the colourless, odourless nerve agent is enough to fatally damage a victim's central nervous system.

- Bubonic plague -

Military science professor Kim Jong-Ha at Hannam University said the North has 16 kinds of nerve agents including VX and sarin, used by a Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, in the 1995 attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people.

It also possesses other lethal chemicals, including suffocating, blistering and blood agents, Kim said, as well as 13 types of biological weapons such as anthrax and bubonic plague.

Story continues

Defence analyst Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. has said that North Korea "produces and possesses the capability to effectively employ throughout the Korean peninsula, significant quantities and varieties of chemical weapons", and could have as many as 150 chemical weapons warheads for ballistic missiles.

"It also has, to a lesser extent, the ability to employ these weapons worldwide using unconventional methods of delivery," he wrote on the closely-watched US-Korea Institute's website 38North in 2013.

There was a "growing body of evidence" that the North had an "ominous" history of proliferating chemical weapons capabilities to countries such as Syria and Iran, he added.

North Korea has not signed a global chemical weapons convention that prohibits the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.

More than 160 countries signed the treaty, that went into force in 1997.

In a 2015 assessment, the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative wrote: "North Korea claims that it does not possess chemical weapons.

"While assessing stockpiles and capabilities are difficult, the DPRK is thought to be among the world's largest possessors of chemical weapons, ranking third after the United States and Russia."
North Korea denounced its chief ally and diplomatic protector China for "dancing to the tune of the US" after it banned coal imports in apparent punishment for a missile launch.

Beijing and Pyongyang have a relationship forged in the blood of the Korean War, but ties have begun to fray in recent years, with China increasingly exasperated by its wayward neighbour's nuclear antics.

Last week it announced the suspension of all coal imports from the North -- a crucial foreign currency earner for Pyongyang -- for the rest of the year.

It came days after a missile launch personally overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un in what was perceived as Pyongyang's first show of force against new US President Donald Trump.

An essay bylined "Jong Phil" and carried by the North's official Korea Central News Agency slammed Beijing's move.

It did not identify China by name, referring instead to "a neighbouring country".

"This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the US," it said.

"It has unhesitatingly taken inhumane steps such as totally blocking foreign trade related to the improvement of people's living standard," it added.

"Righteous voices" had condemned the move, it said, while "the hostile forces are shouting 'bravo' over this".

The format was unusual for KCNA, which tends not to carry editorials or commentaries of its own, preferring to reproduce those of Rodong Sinmun, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party.

The tone was also more akin to Pyongyang's denunciations of the US.

It was "utterly childish" to think that the North would stop its nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile programmes if a few pennies of money were cut off, said the KCNA essay.

Its scientists and technicians were "working hard in do-or-die spirit", it added.

China said Friday that Beijing and Pyongyang were still "friendly neighbours" but reaffirmed its opposition to the North's nuclear ambitions.

Story continues

"China's position on the nuclear issue is unequivocal and consistent. The (North) is well aware of that," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

The latest launch -- the first since Trump took office -- showed some progress in Pyongyang's missile technology, Seoul's military said.

The North -- barred under UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology -- staged two atomic tests and many missile tests last year in a quest to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the US mainland.

Trump has described the North as a "big, big problem" and vowed to deal with the issue "very strongly".

The KCNA article came as the murder in Malaysia of Kim's half-brother Kim Jong-Nam, in what is suspected to be a Pyongyang plot, dominates world headlines.

Jong-Nam -- the eldest son of the late ruler Kim Jong-Il -- died on February 13 after being attacked by two women at a Kuala Lumpur airport, with Malaysian authorities blaming a lethal nerve agent.

The North angrily denied involvement on Thursday, blaming Malaysia for "immoral" handling of the case and for plotting with Seoul to frame Pyongyang.

It did not confirm the dead man's identity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump Wednesday for publicly condemning a recent spate of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S., including recent bomb threats to Jewish community centers and vandalism in a Jewish cemetery.

"It's very important that President Trump took a strong stand against anti-Semitism and its important that we all continue to do so in the years ahead," Netanyahu said at an event for the Jewish community in the Central Synagogue in Sydney, Australia.

He described anti-Semitism as a growing trend that needs to be acted upon.

"We have a battle against those who seek to demonize our people and against the resurgent anti-Semitism we see in many parts of the world," he said, adding that "it is something that we need to fight together."

After visiting the African-American museum in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Trump condemned the recent acts of vandalism against Jews. "Anti-Semitism is horrible and its going to stop," he said. "This tour was a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all of its very ugly forms. The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and are a painful and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil."

Trump's response followed the media's criticism against him for not condemning the vandalism forcefully enough. At two press conferences last week, reporters raised questions about the safety of Jews in America and the rise of anti-Semitism. However, Trump did not answer them directly at the time.

Over 11 Jewish community centers in the United States were evacuated Monday after receiving bomb threats. These recent threats followed the FBI's hate crime investigation last month after about 60 threats were received by JCCs.

Story continues

During the museum visit, Trump was also asked by reporters if he would visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., as well. He replied, "I will. I will be doing it soon. Very important. Very important for me."

Related Articles
Nothing Rep. Leonard Lance said was going over well. Constituents gathered at a town hall in Branchburg, NJ Feb. 22 werent buying the Republican Congressmans answers to questions about health care reform, or the environment, or financial regulation. Each time he acknowledged he was skeptical of President Trumps ties to Russia, the packed crowd roared back: What are you going to do about it?

Lance was elected in 2008, but Ed Marceski said the event was the first time he felt the need to confront his representative. Wearing a T-shirt with the word Resist, Marceski, who voted for Hillary Clinton, said Trumps election had energized him. Im 61 years old, and this is the first time weve done something like this, Marceski said. It wont be the last.

Lance is one of a wave of Republican senators and representatives who have been met by vocal crowds at events held in their district during this weeks congressional recess, a groundswell that has led some to see a left wing echo of the outrage that propelled the Tea Party. Mobilized by their concern over the GOPs promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as well as questions about Trumps immigration policies and his ties to Russia, protesters have confronted Rep. Jason Chaffetz in Utah, Rep. Mark Sanford in South Carolina, Rep. Scott Taylor in Virginia, Rep. Jim Jordan in Ohio, and Sen. Tom Cotton in Arkansas. Support for the ACA has grown since the threat of repeal, with 48% of Americans saying they favor the law compared to 42% who oppose it, according to a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll released Feb. 24. The approval level is the highest since Kaiser began the poll in 2010.

In Iowa, Anna Plank drove an hour and a half to confront Senator Joni Ernst. People were yelling in the hallway, people were chanting do your job,' Plank said after the veterans event in Maquoketa. We dont feel heard, we dont feel listened to, Plank said. It doesnt feel like this country this was meant to be.

Story continues

A spokesperson for Ernst says the senator believes its critical that she hears from folks across the state directly, and said that Ernst holds 99 county tours in her state every year, including three public events last month.

Plank is an organizer of Indivisible Iowa, one of hundreds of grassroots organizations that have sprung up around the country in opposition to Trumps policies and GOP policy planks like the repeal of the ACA. Indivisible started as an online how-to guide for citizens to effectively pressure their representatives, written by former congressional staffers who witnessed the rise of the Tea Party in 2009. In the months since the election, Indivisible has morphed into an organizing engine for the Trump opposition, pumping energy and information into local resistance efforts.

White House officials have described the anti-Trump protests as astro-turf, coordinated national efforts masquerading as grassroots pushback. Trump dismissed the boisterous town halls as so-called angry crowds and suggested on Twitter that they were planned by liberal activists. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer called the protesters a small, loud group of people on Wednesday, adding that just because theyre loud doesnt mean that there are many.

Its difficult to tell exactly how many people are involved with the protests, but they have been building momentum. Indivisible has more than 5,000 verified groups, and 678 registered events with more than 12,000 RSVPs. The website has been viewed more than 15.5 million times since the election, and the Indivisible Guide has been viewed 2 million times on the site, according to the groups organizers. All of the Indivisible organizers interviewed by TIME in four states say they are first-time organizers, new to political activism, and are not being paid.

I wish I was being paid, says Plank, an elementary school teacher currently raising her daughters full time, adding that she was so angry with Trump and Ernst that she didnt need a financial incentive. They could pay me to not show up.

In Tennessee, local constituents confronted Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn during a town hall meeting Tuesday, demanding answers about health care and Trumps ties to Russia. A lot of our questions were followed by Ill look into it,' says Michelle Bewley, 36, who helped organize the Indivisible group in Blackburns district, a stretch of Middle Tennessee that includes some of Nashvilles wealthiest suburbs. We didnt get a lot of clear answers on any of our questions.

Bewley is a parent, adjunct professor, volunteer and first-time political organizer. When her Indivisible group first started shortly after the election, they had a handful of members. Now, she says they have more than 400 people involved and organize multiple events a week.

As an individual, if Im just one person voicing my opinion, Im not going to get heard, she says. But if we have 100 people voicing the same concerns, its gonna be heard.

Its too early to know if this outrage will be sustained, let alone if it can change outcomes in Congress. But it is already forcing many Republicans to recalibrate their outreach efforts.

Of the 59 Republican members of Congress targeted as vulnerable by the DCCC in 2018 elections, only 19 held any sort of constituent event this week, according to a running tally compiled by the TownHallProject. Of those, 17 were empty chair town halls, tele-town halls (where constituents can call in their questions) or appearances by staff instead of the elected officials.

Some Republicans who did show up to meet their constituents said the confrontations turned into productive dialogue. In South Carolina, Sanford lingered to talk to constituents after a boisterous town hall meeting on Saturday. Nobody drives out of their way to go to a town hall just to score points, Sanford said. Lets get to the bottom of this.

Sanford and Senator Rand Paul are co-sponsoring a health care replacement bill that would allow insurers to sell a wider range of policies (including some with lower premiums but limited benefits), allow citizens to sock away more money in tax-free health-care savings accounts, and allow those with pre-existing conditions to keep their coverage as long as they had continuous coverage. The bill, which was endorsed by the House Freedom Caucus earlier this month, turns up the pressure on House Republicans to repeal the ACA. But Sanford said that speaking with some of the attendees caused him to look more deeply at the way the bill would treat pre-existing conditions.

Theres a degree of directness that I havent really seen before, he said. Ive seen pieces of it, but not with such energy.

For Republican members of Congress who rode the Tea Party wave to Washington, the local resistance movement created a sense of deja vubut only to a point. The energy looks familiar, says Rep. David Brat, who toppled then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the 2014 Virginia Republican primary. But there are differences. Over half the energy from the Tea Party was against our own party leadership, and thats not whats going on here, he said.

Anti-Trump protesters have also focused some attention on Democratic representatives, with hundreds gathering in front of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumers New York home to challenge him to stand up to Trump.

Come Feb. 27th, Congress will be back in session and its members shielded by the relative protection of its chambers. Those who rallied at town halls say theyll keep working, turning their attention to other forms of organizing. The New Jersey Indivisible group convenes postcard parties to write to local representatives and hosts information sessions on immigration and gerrymandering. The Arkansas Indivisible group makes daily calls to their representatives and organizes local volunteer efforts like a trail cleanup to show our neighbors that were not just those people they saw on TV, were actually helping our community, says Caitlynn Moses, another first-time organizer. In Iowa, Plank and her fellow Indivisible members have been throwing fake retirement parties for Ernst.

Were out here, Plank says. You may ignore us, but were not going away.
Nintendo has always been protective of its brands, and today they lobbed a blue shell at a fellow Japanese business trying to make a few yen.

The gaming giant filed a lawsuit Friday against go kart business MariCar (or Marika), which rents street-legal karts to customers for a tour of Tokyo.

SEE ALSO: John Cena is helping Nintendo advertise the Nintendo Switch

In a press release Nintendo claimed that the business blatantly simulated the popular racing games both in the name and in the costumes MariCar provides.

"We have declared the mark 'Marika,' which is an abbreviation of 'Mario Kart' widely known as the series of racing games that we manufacture and sell," the press release read. "In addition, when the defendant company rents public road carts to their customers, [they] lend a costume of prominent characters such as our 'Mario'..."

Hmmmmmmm.....

The suit alleges that MariCar has infringed upon Nintendo's copyright and violated Japan's Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

But it looks like they're having so much fun!

Nintendo has long been ferociously litigious, going after businesses and fans alike if their products or services seem to overlap with copyrights. Whether it's Let's Players capturing video of Nintendo games or fans lovingly crafting a remake to Metroid II: The Return of Samus, The big N will come for you.

Story continues

The sudden lawsuit could have resulted from MariCar being featured on NBC Sports Off the Grid last month.

Whether or not Nintendo should wield its legal hammer with as much zeal as it does, MariCar and its business is anything but subtle in what it's trying to deliver to customers.
By Ian Graham OMAGH, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Irish nationalists may force a prolonged collapse of Northern Ireland's devolved government and a return to direct rule from London if they cannot agree a new government with unionists, the leader of the British province said on Friday. First Minister Arlene Foster told Reuters such a scenario would be "very damaging" for a province recovering from three decades of sectarian violence and now facing the upheaval of Britain's exit from the European Union. The province's cross-community government - a forced coalition between Irish nationalists and Foster's pro-British Democratic Unionist Party - collapsed last month after Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister. Sinn Fein has detailed a number of red line issues it says must be met before it governs with the DUP again, including legislation to give equal status to the Irish language. Sinn Fein has, however, not called for direct rule. Neither side has made any indication of compromise and decision-making would automatically return to Westminster if the deadlock persists. "Sinn Fein seems to be saying if they dont get what they want then they are prepared to live with direct rule," Foster said in an interview. Northern Ireland's economy had prospered in the 10 years since devolved power was transferred to the Northern Ireland Assembly, she said. "We will lose that if we have direct rule and that is very dangerous," she said. The two parties supported opposite sides of a three decade conflict between Irish nationalists who wanted a united Ireland ruled from Dublin and pro-British unionists who wanted the province to remain British, which ended with a 1998 peace deal. Neither side is showing signs of blinking first ahead of next week's election, which was triggered by McGuinness' departure. Sinn Fein says he quit over the alleged abuse of a green-energy scheme, which could cost the Northern Ireland Executive nearly 500 million. But Foster said the breakdown was "caused by Sinn Fein wanting to push ahead on their own agenda." 'CRITICAL' ELECTION Some political commentators have suggested Sinn Fein wants a collapsed administration to minimize the influence of the DUP during Brexit negotiations, a charge Sinn Fein has denied. The province could be the region hardest hit by Brexit due to the loss of significant European Union funding and the risk of border controls that are fiercely opposed by Irish nationalists. "To deal with Brexit ... we need to have a voice at the table and at the moment we dont have an executive to have that voice," Foster said. Foster has rejected the proposed Irish language act, saying it would be too costly to operate and that the Irish language should not have equal status with English in the United Kingdom. Sinn Fein is also demanding an investigation into the green-energy heating scheme. While a public enquiry has been established to probe Foster's role, it has not started sittings and the first minister has refused to contemplate standing down. Most opinion polls indicate the DUP will remain the largest party, but that Sinn Fein may make gains. Foster described the March 2 vote as the province's most important in two decades due to the possibility that Sinn Fein could become the largest party and push for Irish reunification just as Britain is negotiating its exit from the European Union. Under the terms of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, Britain's Secretary of State to Northern Ireland is obliged to order a referendum if it appears likely that a majority would seek to form part of a united Ireland. Even if it was not successful, just holding a vote would be destabilizing to Northern Ireland, Foster said. "That would be disastrous for Northern Ireland in terms of the divisive nature of such a campaign and indeed the instability that would cause," she said. (Editing by Conor Humphries and Richard Lough)
ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis's drugs Tafinlar and Mekinist edged closer to approval in Europe to be used together against a type of lung cancer after a key committee on Friday published a recommendation to expand the combination's indications. The European Medicine Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist for adult patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a mutation. The EMA still must issue a final decision. Novartis, whose combination competes with Roche's Cotellic and Zelboraf, said in a statement that its drugs will be the first targeted therapy for BRAF V600-mutated NSCLC patients if the EMA follows the recommendation, as is likely. (Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields)
Washington (AFP) - The head of the Organization of American States renewed a call Friday for elections in Venezuela, saying it is the only way for the beleaguered South American country to emerge from years of "dictatorship."

"There should be a general election now," OAS head Luis Almagro said during a question and answer session at a Washington think tank.

"What you need now is to re-establish the rights of the people," he said.

"The only way to re-establish those rights is through an election, which was always the gate to exit from a dictatorship to a democratic system."

Venezuela has been rocked by protests as it struggles to emerge from economic crisis under President Nicolas Maduro, who came to power in 2013 and is not expected to face a re-election vote until December of next year at the earliest.

The country's economic plight is largely seen as a result of falling prices for Venezuelan oil exports, contributing to food shortages and deep economic disarray, and raising pressure to remove Maduro from power.

Maduro has systematically blocked efforts by opposition groups to hold a referendum on ousting him, and blames Venezuela's economic crisis on a capitalist conspiracy backed by the United States.
A 22-year-old Ohio woman was sentenced this week to 15 years to life in prison after admitting she decapitated her 3-month-old daughter, PEOPLE confirms.

Deasia Watkins appeared before a Hamilton County, Ohio, judge on Thursday and pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the 2015 death of her infant daughter, Jayniah.

Watkins fractured the girls arm before stabbing her repeatedly and severing her head from her body in March 2015, court records show. The child had reportedly been placed with Watkins aunt  and prosecutors said Watkins killed her in her aunts home, as her aunt slept, and then put the knife in Jayniahs hand.

She later told police she did that so people would think the child did it  not her, Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor David Prem said in court.

Watkins plea this week comes after she had rejected an earlier deal. For more than a year, she had been mounting an insanity defense: Court documents obtained by PEOPLE said Watkins had been diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, for which she is still receiving treatment.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Watkins addressed the court at her hearing Thursday, expressing remorse for her crime. I love my daughter very much, she said, according to a prosecution source.

I loved her, she said, regardless of what anybody says.

Authorities previously described Jayniahs death in stark terms. It was pretty horrific, the county coroner said in 2015. These are images that will be indelibly marked in my memory.

Court officials say Watkins could be released from custody when shes 35, given shes received credit for time already served.

PEOPLE was unable to reach Watkins attorney for comment. Attempts to reach her relatives on Friday were unsuccessful.




FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Opel's European works council said it had agreed to open a line of communication with its counterpart at PSA Group as the French carmaker holds talks over a tie-up with the company. PSA, the Paris-based maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, and General Motors confirmed on Feb. 14 they were in talks over a PSA-Opel tie-up to create Europe's second-largest carmaker by sales after Volkswagen. The news has sparked criticism in Germany and Britain amid fears of possible job losses. Opel's European works council in a joint statement with Opel on Friday called on GM to "fulfil all agreements and commitments necessary for the success of the sites and the future company". (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Arno Schuetze)
PARIS (AP)  Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, France's foreign minister and an American cinema luminary pushed back at U.S. President Donald Trump for insulting the City of Light on Friday in a speech.

Trump evoked his friend Jim, "a very, very substantial guy," in an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Jim used to be a regular visitor to Paris, Trump said, but hasn't made the trip in four or five years because "Paris is no longer Paris."

Hidalgo tweeted a photo of herself alongside Mickey Mouse and Minnie and said: "To @readDonaldTrump and his friend Jim, in @LaTour Effel we celebrate the dynamism and spirit of openness of Paris with Mickey and Minnie."

In another tweet, with the hashtag #Donald&Jim, Hidalgo said American tourist reservations are up 30 percent in 2017 so far compared to last year.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault offered his own proof that Americans like not just Paris but all of France: "3.5 million Americans visited France in 2016," he tweeted. "They will always be welcome."

George Clooney used the red carpet to speak up for Paris as he headed into the awards ceremony for this year's Cesar, the French version of the Oscar, where he received a "Cesar d'honneur" for his work.

"Yes, no one wants to go to Paris anymore because it's horrible here, apparently," he said as he entered the theater. "We have some things to work on in the United States," he said, without ever naming Trump. In a veiled illusion to France far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, Clooney added, "I think you guys have some of the same issues here so ... good luck."

Trump hammered France in his speech.

"Take a look at what's happened in France. Take a look at Nice and Paris," the president said in an apparent reference to last year's Bastille Day attack in Nice and the 2015 Paris attacks.

He said Jim used to visit Paris each summer. "It was automatic ... He wouldn't miss it for anything."

"Now he doesn't even think in terms of going there. Take a look at what's happening to our world folks and we have to be smart. We have to be smart. We can't let it happen to us," Trump said.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had an amusing response to how President Trump characterized the French capital during a Friday speech.

To @realDonaldTrump and his friend Jim, in @LaTourEiffel we celebrate the dynamism and the spirit of openness of #Paris with Mickey & Minnie, she wrote.

To @realDonaldTrump and his friend Jim, in @LaTourEiffel we celebrate the dynamism and the spirit of openness of #Paris with Mickey & Minnie pic.twitter.com/VdIq3uWkO3  Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) February 24, 2017

Shortly before Hidalgos tweet, Trump described various parts of Europe as troubled and unsafe in order to support his own hard-line immigration policies.

Take a look at whats happened in France, he told the Conservative Political Action Conference. Take a look at Nice and Paris.

I have a friend. Hes a very, very substantial guy. He loves the City of Lights. He loves Paris. For years, every year during the summer, he would go to Paris. It was automatic. With his wife and his family.

Trump continued: Hadnt seen him in a while. And I said, Jim, let me ask you a question, hows Paris doing? Paris? I dont go there anymore. Paris is no longer Paris. That was four years, four, five years, hasnt gone there. He wouldnt miss it for anything. Now he doesnt even think in terms of going there.

During the campaign, Trump frequently invoked European cities where terrorist attacks occurred as examples of why the United States should not admit Syrian refugees. The November 2015 attacks in Paris, which ISIS took responsibility for, left 130 people dead and hundreds more injured.

His proclivity for bashing Europes supposed crime crisis has also hit a hurdle or two. He incorrectly suggested that there was a terror attack in Sweden last Friday, puzzling the Nordic countrys leadership. It turned out that he had merely been watching a segment on the subject on Fox News that night.

But Trump nevertheless held his ground:
A Senator in the Philippines who has led the political fight against President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs was arrested on Friday morning on charges that she herself benefited from the drug trade while serving as the countrys Secretary of Justice.

The Senator, Leila de Lima, has fiercely denied the allegations since Duterte first levied them in August, describing them in a statement Friday as manufactured stories intended to make an example of her and to intimidate, silence, and destroy anyone who dares challenge Duterte.



My arrest is an appalling sign of the return of a power-hungry, morally bankrupt and abusive government, she said. The Filipino people know your style, Mr. President. To put the rule of law in your hands, silence your critics, and destroy those who will go against your caprices.

De Lima, 57, was elected to the countrys Senate last year, promising to continue the fight for human rights she commenced while leading the countrys Department of Justice from 2010 to 2015. Her election coincided with the election of President Rodrigo Duterte, the brutish longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, where he earned the sobriquet of the Punisher for his vigilante crusade against crime and drug use, often reliant on extrajudicial killings.

He said he would use the same tactic on a national level if elected to the Philippines highest office and is making good on his promise: Dutertes war on drugs has left more than 6,000 dead. De Lima was quick to speak out against it, introducing a Senate resolution to investigate the killings within two weeks of her taking office.

Duterte was quick to retaliate. In mid-August, he publicly declared that during her tenure as Secretary of Justice, de Lima had permitted the sale and use of drugs to flourish at New Bilibid Prison in metropolitan Manila in exchange for monetary kickbacks, which she used to fund her senatorial campaign. Her bagman in this scheme, Duterte said, was her longtime driver and bodyguard, Ronnie Dayan, with whom she had enjoyed a romantic relationship.

She was formally charged in October with drug trafficking, which could earn her up to two decades in prison. Plans to arrest her were announced last week; a local court issued a warrant for her arrest. She was finally arrested at the Senate on Friday.

I have long prepared myself to be a political prisoner of this regime, de Lima said in a statement issued after her arrest. Rest assured that I will answer all the accusations against me in the proper time and venue. To the best of my ability, I will fulfill my duties as Senator of the Republic. Even in prison, even as I continue to be persecuted by this government, for as long as I live, I will continue fighting the good fight up to my very last breath.
Miami (AFP) - A novel but controversial technique known as gene-editing has produced pigs that could be resilient to an often fatal virus that costs European farmers $1.6 billion per year, researchers said Thursday.

The process involves cutting out a small section of the pigs' DNA, using a method known as CRISPR/Cas 9, according to the report in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

Tests of the pigs' cells in lab dishes showed complete resistance to two major subtypes of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), a disease that can cause pneumonia in young pigs and fetal death in pregnant sows.

"Laboratory tests of cells from the pigs with the modified CD163 gene have confirmed that this change in the pig's DNA blocks the virus from being able to cause infection," said the report, led by the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute.

The next step is to expose these actual pigs whose genes have been edited to the virus, to see if it makes them sick.

"Genome-editing offers opportunities to boost food security by reducing waste and losses from infectious diseases, as well as improving animal welfare by reducing the burden of disease," said lead researcher professor Alan Archibald of The Roslin Institute.

"Our results take us closer to realizing these benefits and specifically address the most important infectious disease problem for the pig industry worldwide."

The latest study is different from prior research removing CD163  which also resulted in pigs not becoming ill -- because only a small section of CD163 that interacts with the PRRS virus is deleted from the genome.

According to Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, the approach is an "interesting" way to combat a virus for which there is no vaccine.

"The authors have removed part of the virus receptor, the cellular doorway the virus uses to initiate infection. If the virus can't get in then disease is prevented," said Jones, who was not involved in the study.

"The drawbacks of this approach are that all commercial stock would have to be bred to include this mutation, which takes time and public acceptance, and there is always the worry that the PRRSV virus would mutate to use a different receptor and so gain access by a 'backdoor.'"

Further studies should "help address whether this is likely or not," he added.
Australia's plan to rescue the beleaguered Great Barrier Reef has been set back at least two decades after the fragile ecosystem suffered its worst-ever bleaching last year, experts said Friday.

The vast coral reef -- which provides a tourism boon for Australia -- is under pressure from agricultural run-off, the crown-of-thorns starfish, development and climate change.

Last year swathes of coral succumbed to devastating bleaching, due to warming sea temperatures, and the reef's caretakers have warned it faces a fresh onslaught in the coming months.

Canberra updated the UN's World Heritage committee on its "Reef 2050" rescue plan in December, insisting the site was "not dying" and laying out a strategy for incremental improvements to the site.

But an independent report commissioned by the committee concluded that the government had little chance of meeting its own targets in the coming years, adding that the "unprecedented" bleaching and coral die-off in 2016 was "a game changer".

"Given the severity of the damage and the slow trajectory of recovery, the overarching vision of the 2050 Plan... is no longer attainable for at least the next two decades," the report said.

Last year's bleaching killed two-thirds of shallow-water corals in the north of the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) long reef, although central and southern areas escaped with less damage.

- 'Imminent risk' -

The government has pledged more than Aus$2.0 billion (US$1.5 billion) to protect the reef over the next decade, but researchers noted a lack of available funding, with many of the plan's actions under-resourced.

The latest assessment comes after the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority warned the Queensland State government of an "elevated and imminent risk" of mass-bleaching this year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

With heavy use of coal-fired power and a relatively small population of 24 million, Australia is considered one of the world's worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters.

Story continues

Researchers highlighted that the government's rescue plan does not do enough to address climate change, noting that "new coal mines pose a serious threat" to the reef's heritage area.

While the plan has a strong focus on improving water quality, environmental groups too have been critical of the government for inactivity on global warming.

"These independent experts have given UNESCO a far more accurate assessment of progress than the rose-coloured-glasses version released by the Australian and Queensland Governments late last year," said World Wildlife Fund Australia head of oceans Richard Leck.

But Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg told the ABC the government had been "very successful to date" in implementing the reef's 2050 plan.

"Climate change is the number one threat to the reef together with water quality issues," he said, citing the government's ratification of the Paris agreement, the world's first universal climate pact, as part of the "broader" efforts to reduce stress on the reef.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Shots were fired during a criminal investigation at an intersection in a Washington, D.C., neighborhood, leaving one man dead and two police officers wounded, authorities said.

Uniformed officers with a crime-suppression team were in the neighborhood Thursday night responding to shots that had been fired there earlier, acting Police Chief Peter Newsham said.

The officers tried to stop a man who ran from them, the chief said. A struggle ensued, shots were fired and the officers were struck in their lower bodies. One of the officers fired a weapon and the man was pronounced dead of gunshot wounds on the way to the hospital, Newsham said. At a Friday news conference, he identified the man as 47-year-old Timothy Williams, with no known address.

Newsham said the officers' injuries didn't appear to be life-threatening, and one officer had been released from the hospital. A weapon was recovered on the scene, he said.

Both officers were wearing and had activated body cameras, Newsham said. The footage must be reviewed by the U.S. Attorney's Office; ultimately Mayor Muriel Bowser will decide when the recordings can be released.

Fellow officers took the wounded officers to a hospital in their cruisers, something Newsham called "not the best practice." He said it would be reviewed but it was a "tough call."

"When one of your colleagues has been shot, they're facing a potentially life-threatening injury, your first instinct is really to try to get them help and that's what they did," Newsham said.
CLARKSVILLE, Md. (AP)  Police say an officer in Maryland shot and wounded a man driving a car at the officer.

Howard County police said in a statement Friday that an officer was called to a Clarksville home, where a resident reported an unknown car in his driveway. The officer called for a tow truck, but an hour later, police say 38-year-old Tremayne Dorsey of Temple Hills walked up and advised that he was the driver.

Police say after the officer learned that Dorsey was wanted in an auto theft case, the man drove at the officer, who fired, striking the man. Police say the man is in critical but stable condition, and the officer wasn't hurt.

Police didn't release the name of the officer, or races of the officer or Dorsey.
If youre a Catholic leading a hypocritical life you are less moral than someone who doesn't believe in God, Pope Francis suggested in a Thursday morning sermon.

"What is 'scandal?'" he asked during the homily according to a Vatican Radio Transcript. "Scandal is saying one thing and doing another; it is a double life."

Francis made the remarks during the improvised sermon at his residence the Casa Santa Marta, and denounced practicing Catholics that "exploited people or laundered money.

And so many Christians are like this, and these people scandalize others. How many times have we heard  all of us, around the neighborhood and elsewhere  but to be a Catholic like that, its better to be an atheist.

Nearly a couple months into his 2013 election, Francis had expressed that Christians should accept atheists so long as they did good.

His most recent remarks followed a mass in which the theme was bringing scandal and destruction by leading a double life. Francis read from the Gospel of Mark where Jesus speaks of wrongdoing. He later described a scenario of a failing company led by a selfish Catholic.

Francis has encouraged strong, moralistic leadership in the past and recently attributed a threat of peace to poor communication. Wars start inside our heart, when I am not able to open myself to other, to respect others, to dialogue with others, that is how war begins, he said during an improvised speech to students and faculty at a public university in Rome last Friday.

Related Articles
President Donald Trump is known for his Twitter fingers, but there is another public figure who has been using the same social media to put his two cents in on how the president was handling business. Following Trumps inauguration and tumultuous start of his term  signing a few executive orders banning immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries, for example  the pontiff has taken to Twitter to subtweet his thoughts.

A subtweet is defined by Urban Dictionary as talking about someone on Twitter without mentioning them in a tweet. It has typically attributed as a way of criticizing or insulting a person.

The pope has made mention on Twitter of how the Bible has asked people to welcome migrants and foreigners and that Jesus entrusted to Peter the keys to open the entrance to the kingdom of heaven, and not to close it," taking quiet digs at the U.S. president's actions in office.

It seems like Christians, a religious group that voted for Trump at a staggering 58 percent according to Pew Research exit polls, were not too happy on the social media platform with the pontiffs position on immigration. Gizmodo revealed Wednesday a handful of tweet replies Christians were sending out against the pope, criticizing his opinions:

Pope Francis has not shied away from citing his support for social justice activists. He wrote a letter that was read aloud at the opening of the US Regional World Meeting of Popular Movements in California this week to protestors against Trump, although not explicitly naming the president in his words:

The direction taken beyond this historic turning point  the ways in which this worsening crisis gets resolved  will depend on peoples involvement and participation and, largely, on yourselves, the popular movements, the letter wrote.

Story continues

He added: As Christians and all people of good will, it is for us to live and act at this moment. It is a grave responsibility, since certain present realities, unless effectively dealt with, are capable of setting off processes of dehumanization which would then be hard to reverse.

GettyImages-468005376

Photo: Getty Images

Related Articles
By Matthew Tostevin and Cod Satrusayang BANGKOK (Reuters) - A stand-off between security forces and monks at Thailand's biggest temple has exposed a struggle as much about power as religion in the predominantly Buddhist country, where the junta has shut down dissent since a 2014 coup. For the past week, some 4,000 police and soldiers have surrounded the Dhammakaya temple, which practices a form of Buddhism at odds with conservatives. It is widely seen as linked to the populist movement of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - which the temple firmly denies - and its size makes it increasingly influential. Dhammakaya has created the most visible challenge to the authorities since the coup by refusing for months to hand over its former abbot - wanted for money laundering - and by frustrating a police search. "It is trying to create unrest and subverting state power," said Paiboon Nititawan, a former senator appointed by the military to a council on solving Thailand's problems. Thai society traditionally has three pillars: nation, monarchy and religion. The establishment controls the first two through the junta and King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who appointed a conservative as Supreme Patriarch for Thailand's 300,000 monks days before the temple confrontation. Dhammakaya is of a different scale to over 40,000 other temples. Its headquarters outside Bangkok covers nearly 10 times the area of the Vatican and is completed by a UFO-shaped golden temple dome. Since 1970, it has established over 90 branches in 35 countries. The temple runs television stations, slick websites and active social media accounts. It holds choreographed ceremonies of tens of thousands of people. Yet Dhammakaya's millions of adherents are still a minority within Thailand's almost entirely Buddhist population. MEDITATION AND MONEY Its fundraising has made Dhammakaya much richer than other temples - and angered critics who say it has deserted Theravada Buddhist teachings to shun material possessions. Parallels are drawn to China's Falun Gong and Turkey's Gulenists. Both were fast growing religious groups using modern methods, which were suppressed when their influence grew too great. A spokesman for the Department of Special Investigation said the government's aim was only to bring in the temple's influential former abbot, Phra Dhammachayo, in a way that respects Buddhism. The temple says the 72-year-old monk is very ill and has not been seen for months. It questions charges against him, some of which relate to money allegedly embezzled from a credit union that lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Monks say they have cooperated fully with the search. "We have never been involved in any political affairs," said Phra Pasura Dantamano, a senior monk. "Every project we have conducted is transparent. If anyone fears a threat, its only those who obtained power improperly," he said. "All we do is teach monks, teach self discipline, meditation. Is that wrong?" The temple rejects any link to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra or his 'red-shirt' followers. Weng Tojirakarn, a red shirt leader, also told Reuters there was no link. Regardless, both groups represent newcomers whose power threatened - or could threaten - the establishment's hold. Dhammakaya is explicit that giving brings merit. When that "bears fruit", it brings more wealth, which means more donations - to support Buddhist activities. Such activities have expanded Dhammakaya's influence. By helping temples in hard times, it has brought dozens into its orbit. That in turn increased its support on the Sangha religious council, Buddhism's governing body. Critics say its influence grew too great. "Nirvana is for sale and the more you give, the better you become," said Mano Laohavanich a former Dhammakaya monk but now a strong critic. "Its like a parasite, which has taken control of Thai Buddhism." Three members of the Sangha council declined to comment on Dhammakaya. So did the government's National Office of Buddhism. SHOWDOWN The showdown for control began last year when the Sangha recommended a candidate for Supreme Patriarch with links to Dhammakaya and was under investigation over taxes on a vintage car. The junta rejected that candidate. Then, when the new king took the throne in December, the law was changed to let him choose a patriarch and ignore the Sangha's wishes. Four days after a new patriarch, chosen from Thai Buddhism's more austere fraternity, was installed the junta declared emergency powers over Dhammakaya. The problem for police is how to pass through chanting, saffron-robed monks when violence against them would be taboo. Police have raised the pressure with more forces, rolling out razor wire and threatening more temple leaders with arrest. The temple's adversaries believe charges of scandal and the scenes at the compound will at least discourage Thais from joining Dhammakaya. Longer term, other steps are being considered. "Assets owned by the Dhammakaya Foundation should be transferred to the temple and the leadership of the temple needs to change," said Paiboon, the former senator. "Someone outside the temple must be appointed to steer the temple back to the right path." (Additional reporting by Panarat Thempgumpanat; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
President Donald Trump boasted about doing well at a grassroots conservative conference in years past, but he actually lost a straw poll of attendees every single year.

Speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, D.C., on Friday, Trump noted that he had addressed the crowd in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015. (He notably skipped the 2016 event, held in the midst of the Republican primary.)

You know, my first major speech was at CPAC, Trump said Friday. I loved it. I loved the people. I loved the commotion. And then they did these polls where I went through the roof and I wasnt even running.

It wasnt clear exactly what polls Trump was referring to, but there is a good measure of how well someone did at CPAC: a straw poll of thousands of grassroots attendees held at the end of the event.

By that measure, Trump did not go through the roof. In fact, he did poorly in five out of the past six contests, and reached only third place last year with just 15% of the vote.

Heres a look at who won in the straw polls held since Trumps first appearance at CPAC.

2011: Then-Rep. Ron Paul won with 30%. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in second with 23%. New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tied for third place with 6%. Trump was not in the top 15.

2012: Romney won with 38%. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum came in second with 31%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was third with 15%.

2013: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul won with 25%. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in second with 23%. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum came in third with 8%.

2014: Rand Paul won with 31%. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz came in second with 11% and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson came in third place with 9%. Trump received just one percent in a seven-way tie for 14th place.

2015: Rand Paul won with 25.7%. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came in second with 21.4%, Cruz came in third place with 11.5%. Trump came in eighth place with just 3.5%.

2016: Cruz won with 40% of the vote. Rubio came in second with 30%. Trump came in third place with 15%
During a freewheeling recent press conference, President Trump declared that America was drug-infested country. Drugs, Trump said, are becoming cheaper than candy bars.

What the President failed to mention: the price of one lifesaving medicationnaloxoneis more expensive than caviar.

Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised to solve Americas opioid crisis, which claimed 33,000 lives in 2015the most deaths in a single year in U.S. history, according to recent federal statistics. Trumps plan to combat the epidemic included widespread access to naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. But as the need for the drug has grown, it has become increasingly expensive and hard to get for many addicts and the front line workers who try to help them.

All the politicians, Obama, Trump, everyone says, Were going to solve it, says Gordon Merry, director of West Virginias Cabell County EMS, which serves Huntington, a city that saw 26 opioid overdoses over four hours last August. I havent seen anything that has changed.

Meanwhile, the price of naloxone is soaring. Evzio, a form of naloxone manufactured by Kaleo thats administered through auto-injection, rose from $575 per package in 2014 to a whopping $4,100 in 2016. Another version of the drug, made by Hospira, has risen from from $9.20 for 10 vials in in 2005 to $158.30 in 2014, according to Truven Health Analytics. The price of the naloxone nasal spray Narcan has remained stablearound $125 for a two-packsince it was approved by the FDA in 2015.

The best word for whats happening now, says Paul Ginsburg, director of the Center for Health Policy at the Brookings Institution, is profiteering.

Naloxone price hikes parallel a spike in demand for the drug thats fueled by the opioid epidemic, stretching government budgetsthe drug is often administered by first responderswhile creating a robust market for the drug.

Story continues

In late November, Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore Citys Health Commissioner, and 10 other health officials wrote a letter to President Trump asking the new administration to prioritize public health, specifically solutions to the opioid epidemic. In the campaign, President Trump talked about the problems of drug addiction, says Wen. We hope that this will not just be rhetoric but resources will be devoted to this issue too. So far Wen and her colleagues havent received a response.

Experts attribute the rising naloxone prices to a combination of soaring need, drug-industry consolidation and an onerous FDA-approval process, which can stifle competition. Critics contend that price gouging may also be at play.

Kaleo CEO Spencer Williamson says Evzios list price of $4,100 is not a true net price to anyonedue to numerous discounts and rebates that are negotiated in the supply chain. Most patients with insurance pay nothing out of pocket, says Williamson, while uninsured patients with household incomes of less than $100,000 can also access Evzio free of charge.

Kaleo says it also offers product grants to some nonprofits and government agencies that demonstrate a need for the drug. For instance, Kaleo has granted 2,200 kits to the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, where the overdose death rate is nearly 10 times the national average. The more naloxone there is, the more lives will be saved, says Dr. Michael Kilkenny, physician director of the Cabell-Huntington Health Department. I have to admit, if we didnt get the grant, we wouldnt have the drug. We dont have the finances.

Yet even beneficiaries of naloxone grants acknowledge that demand outstrips affordable supply. In Palm Beach County, Fla., for instance, the Fire and Rescue department spent nearly $205,400 on naloxone in 2016, compared with $57,500 in 2015.

In Baltimore, first responders are facing similar constraints. We have to decide who is the most likely to die and make a guess on which patients we distribute naloxone to, says Wen, the health commissioner, adding that the price they pay for naloxone more than doubled over the course of just a few years. It doesnt make sense that at a time of great demand this medication is being priced out of our reach.

In Newtown, Ohio, police chief Tom Synan says the opioid epidemic in his community is worsening. The county averages up to 70 overdoses a week. Thats our new normal, he says. Synan, who serves on the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition steering committee, says his officers use the naloxone nasal spray Narcan, and the department has not been hit with major cost increases. But the overall trend is disconcerting. These are life and death situations, says Synan.

If his earlier promises hold true, Trump will eventually train his lens on drug companiesand drug prices. A White House spokesperson says the administration is extending grant programs to help get naloxone in the hands of first responders, has encouraged Medicaid programs to include naloxone access for low-income people, and has made sure Veterans Affairs programs offer naloxone for eligible veterans.

Still, some say more drastic action will be necessary. Ohio has already taken action: in November the state reached an agreement with Adapt Pharma, the manufacturer of Narcan, to freeze the price of the naloxone nasal spray for Ohio law enforcement, first responders, state and local government agencies, and community-based organizations for a year. These entities can buy 48 or more Narcan units for $75 each, a 40% discount from the $125 wholesale price.

Its hard to justify the price increases you see on purely economic grounds, says Darius Lakdawalla, an economist and professor of pharmaceutical development and regulatory innovation at the University of Southern California. The case is pretty strong for government interference.

Especially when lives are at stake. Laurie Fugitt, co-founder of Georgia Overdose Prevention, a volunteer group, hopscotches across the state teaching people how to administer naloxone to themselves or their loved ones. She equates naloxone to a fire extinguisher. You never want anyone to use it. But it should be there just in case.

A lot of people have no idea that theres even an antidote for an opioid overdose, says Fugitt. Back in the day, a vial of naloxone cost a couple of bucks. Now, everybody is trying to get their piece of the pie.

With reporting by Zeke J. Miller
(WASHINGTON)  White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Donald Trumps campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official said late Thursday.

The official said Priebus request came after the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was not accurate. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to.

The New York Times reported that U.S. agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trumps 2016 campaign team.

Priebus discussion with FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers, said Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations only when it is important for the performance of the presidents duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective. When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

Read More: As Moscow Advances, U.S. Allies Look Warily to Trump for Clarity

The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus communications with McCabe. The official was not authorized to disclose the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.

Story continues

The FBI would not say whether it had contacted the White House about the veracity of the Times report.

CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI to weigh in on the matter.

Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including about U.S. sanctions policy.

Still, Trump and his advisers have denied contacts with Russian officials during the election. Last week, Trump said nobody that I know of spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.

Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, telling Fox News that the top levels of the intelligence community have assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were not only grossly overstated, but also wrong.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Priebus comments opened the door for FBI Director James Comey to discuss the bureaus investigation publicly.

If the White House chief of staff can make public claims about the supposed conclusions of an FBI investigation, then Director Comey can come clean with the American people, Wyden said.

Read More: James Comey Cannot Be Trusted With a Trump-Russia Investigation

Justin Shur, a former Justice Department public corruption prosecutor, said it was imperative that Justice Department investigations not be swayed by political considerations.

As a general matter, investigations and prosecutions should be about gathering the facts and the evidence and applying the law, Shur said.

During the campaign, Trump and other Republicans vigorously criticized a meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, husband of Trumps general election opponent. The meeting came as the FBI  which is overseen by the Justice Department  was investigating Hillary Clintons use of a private email address and personal internet server.

_

Asoociated Press writers Eric Tucker and Eileen Sullivan contributed to this report.
In a WikiLeaks-style dump Thursday, Project Veritas released more than 100 hours of audio from inside CNNs Atlanta headquarters. In a blog post, Project Veritas, a nonprofit organization, said the clips showed misrepresentation of polling data and anti-Republican bias.

Founded by conservative activist James OKeefe, Project Veritas said its mission is to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud and other misconduct in both public and private institutions to achieve a more ethical and transparent society, its website says. It uses undercover journalists to expose alleged corruption.

Project Veritas does not advocate specific resolutions to the issues that are raised through its investigations, nor do we encourage others to do so, the website states. Our goal is to inform the public of wrongdoing and allow the public to make judgments on the issues.

The tapes released Thursday were recorded in 2009 by an anonymous source, Project Veritas said in a statement. CNN employees can be heard discussing which polls to run and denouncing Fox News. OKeefe told CNN in an interview Wednesday it has a very important role as the arbiter of news.

In response to Politico's request for a comment on the tapes, a CNN spokesperson said, "I don't think there's anything to comment on."

Project Veritas also offered a $10,000 award for any other content that exposes media malfeasance.

OKeefe and Project Veritas have conducted undercover investigations in the past. In 2009, OKeefe and a woman posed as a pimp and prostitute and went to the offices ACORN  the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN employees were shown speaking to O'Keefe about how to get away with criminal activities and the organization ultimately shut down after it lost federal funding and private donations.

Other videos in the Project Veritas archive are titled Chicago Democratic Election Judges Pretending To Be Republican Judges, and Veritas Voter Fraud Compilation  #VoterFraudIsReal, among many others.

Story continues

Project Veritas is determined to expose malfeasance, corruption and wrongdoing, OKeefe said in a statement. We want to become a destination where citizen journalists can come forward, work with us and make a real impact.

Related Articles
Rally for Refugees at Reagan National Airport (credit: Geoff Livingston)

Since the election of President Trump, protests have sprung up across the country, culminating in the last few weeks with the Womens March and the airport protests. By most accounts, the protests were lawful, winning praise and visits from elected leaders.

While many have viewed these protests as examples of democracy in action, not everyone agrees. Some have insinuated that many protesters have been paid to take action; others believe they have been disruptive and inconvenienced the everyday lives of innocent bystanders. This criticism was amplified by recent violence at the University of California in response to a visit from the Breitbart provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.

Now, the debate is heating up with the proposal of laws in several state legislatures that would establish new regulations for public protest. For example, in North Dakota, if a driver were to accidentally kill a protester who is blocking traffic, the driver would not be charged with homicide. In North Carolina, heckling a politician would result in a fine. And in Minnesota, protesters charged with obstruction of justice could face no less than a year of jail time. Are these laws, and others like them, constitutional?

The right to protest has always been protected by the First Amendment, which states that Congress shall make no law  abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A literal reading might lead one to conclude that people have the right to protest wherever and whenever they want. But the Supreme Court has given some discretion to the government, as they are allowed to make laws concerning the time, place and manner of a public protest.

This concept originated in the case of Grayned v. City of Rockford. Richard Grayned was arrested and charged with violations of anti-noise and anti-picketing ordinances in Rockford. Grayned and his fellow demonstrators in support of racial equality argued that they were an acceptable distance from a local school, and did not interrupt classes; the only folks making disruptive noise, they said, were the police. On the other hand, the police argued that hundreds of students watched the protest through windows, ending up late to class or skipping class entirely. This, they said, was sufficient reason to stop the protest.

Story continues

When the Supreme Court heard the case, all nine justices held unconstitutional the anti-picketing ordinance, which banned nearly all protestsaside from labor disputeswithin 150 feet of a school. The justices reasoned that the ordinance discriminates against non-labor peaceful demonstrations.

But Justice Thurgood Marshall went further in writing the majority opinion. He attempted to define what restrictions government can place on protest; indeed, he is the author of the time, place, manner formulation.

Justice Marshall used the example of two people who want to hold two parades at the same time, on the same street. Clearly, a city has the right to give a permit to only one group, in order to prevent the disruption and chaos of two parades. Likewise, if people wish to hold a parade on a busy street during rush hour, a city could forbid the parade on the grounds that it would cause too many traffic problems. Marshalls main assertion was that government has the right to enact reasonable restrictions on the administration of a protest. But such restrictions must apply equally to everyone.

This framework has been tested by several different cases since Grayned. For example, according to Cox v. Louisiana, a city may attempt to shield its judicial system from popular influence by restricting how close protesters can stand to a courthouse. Noise restrictions, too, are acceptable, according to Ward v. Rock Against Racism. Cities are also within their authority to require a permit; this enables officials to determine how many security staff will be needed, and to ensure that a rival group will not also be protesting in close quarters. While some believe that these restrictions are an unacceptable violation of the First Amendment, the Court has tried to strike a balance between free speech and public order.

The so-called airport protests of late last month, especially those in Denver, highlight the complexities of the issue.

Denver Police Commander Tony Lopez told protesters that they should put all the signs away that have anything to do with First Amendment expression, political message. He went on: Based on legal advice we are getting at this time, from the city attorney, whats being displayed, is a violation of airport rules and regulations. One protestor responded by asking whether he was allowed to hold up the Constitution. Lopez said that would qualify as a First Amendment sign and be considered illegal.

Airport rules also state that protesters are required to obtain a permit at least a week before a protest. Acting within hours of President Trumps executive order on refugees and foreign travel, they were not able to do so. Still, the airport is allowed to maintain reasonable regulations, as the Court previously ruled that airports are considered nonpublic forums (Airport Commissioners v. Jews for Jesus).

While many of the state bills may never become law, it is possible that one or more of these rules, or similar ones, will reach the Supreme Court.

Several groups have rushed to rebuke these laws. Chip Gibbons of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee said one such law in Minnesota is most likely unconstitutional, and if passed will have a chilling effect on speech as individuals will worry if they can be sued by the government for exercising their constitutional rights.

Speaking to the progressive blog ThinkProgress, Lee Rowland of the American Civil Liberties Union said:

This is a marked uptick in bills that would criminalize or penalize protected speech and protest, and every person should be alarmed at that trend.  We should also be alarmed by the attitude they betray, which is that when Americans get out into the streets and make their voices heardrecently, in record numberstheir elected representatives response is not to listen to those concerns but to attempt to silence and criminalize them.

Chris Calabrese is an intern at the National Constitution Center. He is also a recent graduate of St. Josephs University.

Recent Stories on Constitution Daily

Podcast: Jeffrey Rosen answers your constitutional questions

Obamas transgender policy formally abandoned

Supreme Court rules for disabled child and her dog in lawsuit case
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  A federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico's finances has hired an attorney who was once a partner at a law firm that the new governor got rid of when he took office.

The board named Jaime El Koury as its general counsel on Thursday. He is to oversee litigation and debt restructuring efforts, among other things.

El Koury is from Puerto Rico and was a partner at the New York-based law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton until he retired in 2014. The firm worked for Puerto Rico's previous governor, but was dismissed last month by Gov. Ricardo Rossello.

The board however said El Koury himself never provided legal counsel to the Puerto Rican government. It said he was on a team based in Argentina from 2011-2014.
A 10-year-old Australian boy has survived a bite from one of the world's deadliest spiders after taking a record 12 vials of anti-venom, local media reported.

Matthew Mitchell was helping his dad clear out the back shed at their home north of Sydney when he was bitten on the finger by a funnel-web spider, that had been lurking in his shoe.

It sort of clawed onto me and all the legs and everything crawled around my finger and I couldnt get it off, he told Friday's Daily Telegraph.

His family used his shirt as a compression bandage to try and slow the venom's spread and rushed him to hospital.

He experienced convulsions but survived after being given 12 vials of anti-venom, which local media said was an Australian record.

The funnel-web spider is among the world's deadliest spiders. Its venom attacks the nervous system causing foaming at the mouth, muscle spasms and potentially death.

The spider was caught and taken to the Australian Reptile Park where it will be milked as part of their program to develop anti-venom.

The 10-year-old was as lucky as they get, Australian Reptile Park general manager Tim Faulkner told The Telegraph.

Australia is home to a startling number of the world's deadliest creatures, including snakes, spiders, jellyfish and octopuses.

The funnel web is particularly feared but no deaths have been recorded since the anti-venom was developed in the 1980s.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - The decision by Rio de Janeiro's deeply religious new mayor to skip the traditional opening of the world's most famous carnival overshadowed the party on its opening night.

Carnival organizers resplendent in white samba dancing outfits, stilt walkers and the Rio municipal brass band stood waiting for two and a half hours in the Sambodromo stadium where the mayor was meant to give the carnival king, known as Rei Momo, the ceremonial key to the city.

Crivella -- a bishop in the evangelical Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, founded by his billionaire uncle -- never came.

Finally, the city culture secretary arrived to do the ceremony, officially starting Rio's biggest annual event, drawing one million tourists to wild dancing, drinking and a panoply of exotic, often barely there costumes.

There had been rumors for days that Crivella would stay away, but no explanation or even confirmation from officials.

Besieged by journalists asking about Crivella, the culture chief, Nilcemar Nogueira, now explained: "His wife is sick."

"She has a very bad flu," the city tourism boss, Marcelo Alves, added at Nogueira's side.

Rei Momo gave no reaction when asked how he felt about receiving the key from a lesser official, as security hustled him away.

- Bad mix? -

Crivella was elected in October on a conservative wave sweeping Brazil, where the long dominant Roman Catholic Church is rapidly giving up ground to well funded and politically active evangelical churches.

His standoffish attitude to Rio's pre-Lenten bash is in especially marked contrast to that of his predecessor Eduardo Paes, who frequently joined street parties and paid Rei Momo full respect.

The new mayor's absence -- widely thought to be due to the evangelical church's vision of carnival as a den of sin -- cast a chill.

"Where's Crivella?" several people shouted at the City Hall officials from the stands.

Story continues

"I think that because of the Universal Church he doesn't like carnival," said Sueli, 59, who was watching from the cheapest seats in the Sambodromo.

"He just doesn't like it, but he's mixing things. We're the people and he should share the joy of the people, he should be with us," said Sueli, who only gave her first name.

The family that guards the carnival key during the rest of the year tried to hide its disappointment during the long wait.

But frustration spilled over: "If he doesn't like carnivals, then all he has to do is come here, give the key to Rei Momo, and say 'right, from now on any problems are for him to solve,' and then he can leave!" family member Mauricio George de Jesus, 57, told AFP.

- Time to stop worrying -

The first samba parades were getting underway Friday at the Sambodromo and were to climax in the elite contests running through Sunday and Monday nights in front of 70,000 cheering and singing fans.

The chance to have fun can't come soon enough for Rio, which is reeling from a cocktail of crises that make the glory days of hosting South America's first Olympic Games six months ago feel light years away.

Crime is on the rise and 9,000 troops were deployed on the streets in the runup to the carnival after relatives of police officers angry at late payment of salaries tried to blockade police stations.

Add in Brazil's two-year recession, record unemployment and brutal battles between Rio riot police and anti-austerity protesters in the city center earlier this month, and Cariocas -- as city residents are called -- need a break.

"The carnival looks like a party and it is one, but it's much more than that," said writer Gregorio Duvivier, a prominent carnival participant.

"It often serves to help us put aside our problems for a few days."
KIEV and WASHINGTON  A lot of Ukrainian is being heard around Washington these days.

Since the U.S. election in November, Ukrainian officials have descended on the District, but the pace has picked up noticeably since Congress returned to session in January: One recent trip brought more than 70 Ukrainian politicians to Congress at once. And a congressional staffer who works on Ukraine and Russia policy told Foreign Policy that not a day goes by where he doesnt see Ukrainian lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

One reason for this sudden influx is the outsized role played by the United States in Ukrainian domestic politics: Recognition and support from influential Americans can make or break a politicians career. There is the perception of the U.S. as a kingmaker in Ukraine, said Vasyl Filipchuk, a former diplomat and the current chairman of the International Centre for Policy Studies in Kiev. So when [Donald] Trump was elected, all groups of influence  the elite  decided that they must establish or re-establish links with the new administration.

But another reason is the lack of clarity about the Trump administrations policy toward Ukraine and about who is responsible for communications between the two countries. And so, lawmakers from across Ukraine are flooding into Washington, in the hopes that they will be able to take advantage of this policy vacuum and make an impact  or at least get in on the action.

There has been so much uncertainty and anxiety in Kiev surrounding Trump and what he will change with Russia and Ukraine, said Balazs Jarabik, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This is creating an opportunity for other politicians to shop their own initiatives.

The transition from Barack Obamas White House to the Trump administration has been tumultuous for countries around the world, thanks to both mixed messages in public and White House staffing issues that have made it impossible to get clarification in private. But nowhere have the messages been more confusing than in Ukraine, where a more than two-year conflict that has killed nearly 10,000 people shows no signs of stopping. The outbreak of intense fighting in late January threatened to break the fragile Minsk II peace agreements, and recent Russian provocations, including recognition of passports from Ukraines breakaway regions, are deepening tensions.

Story continues

The Trump administrations contradictory statements on Russia have only increased anxiety in Kiev. Trump has said he wants to pursue more cooperation, particularly on Syria and counterterrorism  but his administration has also said new cooperation isnt currently possible, and key members of his team, including Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary James Mattis, have emphasized the threat posed by the Kremlin. In the absence of a clear line from the White House, Kiev has looked elsewhere to shore up support. Senate Republicans, under pressure from Russia hawks John McCain and Lindsey Graham, have sounded the alarm about the Kremlin in recent days and called for supporting Kiev. But the Ukrainian government is also scrambling to establish a reliable line of communication with the White House, both to ensure it can plead its case and to avoid being undermined by any one of the lawmakers currently looking to capitalize off the uncertainty.

We want to understand who is responsible for the foreign policy of the United States in the European region, Valeriy Chaly, Ukraines ambassador to Washington, told FP last week. Currently, it is not obvious who this person will be.

Meanwhile, the hollowing-out of the upper echelons of U.S. diplomatic institutions has opened the door to amateur  and, in some cases, rogue  diplomacy.

One example of such informal Ukrainian liaising was described last weekend by the New York Times. It reported that Andrey Artemenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker representing Oleh Lyashkos Radical Party, took relations with the Trump administration into his own hands, working with Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and a longtime Trump business associate, Felix Slater, to deliver a secret peace plan to former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Artemenko, a marginal but ambitious politician with an affinity for Trump who has ties to the far-right military-political group Right Sector, seems to have acted without authorization from the Ukrainian government. Ukrainian officials were livid with Artemenko, who has since been kicked out of his political faction in parliament and is being investigated for treason by Ukraines General Prosecutor. Since the revelation was first reported, Artemenko has denied passing a peace plan to Trump officials and has since threatened to sue the New York Times for libel.

In the days that followed, other proposed peace plans for eastern Ukraine have come out of the woodwork. Former President Viktor Yanukovych, who lives in exile in Russia after fleeing Ukraine following the Maidan protests in 2014, spoke with Western journalists on Tuesday and announced a nine-page proposal for ending the war. According to Der Spiegel and the Wall Street Journal, which interviewed Yanukovych, the former president had sent the plan to Trump and the leaders of Russia, Germany, France, and Poland. On Wednesday, Radio Free Europe reported that Konstantin Kilimnik, a former associate of Paul Manafort, Trumps erstwhile campaign chairman who worked for Yanukovych, has also drawn up a peace plan. Whats more, Kilimnik said he briefed Manafort on the plan during the 2016 U.S. election.

Other interventions have been motivated more by electoral considerations than anything: Ukraine has presidential elections slated for 2019, and jostling among top political players is well underway. On Feb. 2, Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and a vocal opponent of President Petro Poroshenko, met in Washington with both Vice President Pence and Trump, who reportedly assured her that his administration would not abandon Ukraine and that it would not lift sanctions on Russia until it withdraws its troops from the country. Politico reported that Poroshenkos team was apoplectic about the off-the-cuff meeting. Chaly, the Ukrainian ambassador, however, denied having a visceral reaction to the informal meeting and said Tymoshenko and Poroshenko were working toward the same goal together. They can compete for political influence and ratings in Kiev, but they do not compete when it comes to the defense and security of Ukraine, Chaly said.

But even as it disapproves of these unofficial exchanges, the Ukrainian government itself has also sought to create its own back channels to reach Trump. Kiev is making use of informal contacts, said Taras Berezovets, a political consultant and director of the Fund for National Strategies, a Ukrainian think tank.

One rumored interlocutor in this relationship is Oleksandra Nikolayenko, a Ukrainian model and former Miss Universe contestant who is married to Phil Ruffin, a close friend of the president. Trump was best man at Ruffins wedding to Nikolayenko in 2008, and Ruffin has been a faithful supporter of Trumps campaign from the beginning, donating $1 million to Trumps Make America Great Again PAC just two weeks after it was launched. According to one source close to the Ukrainian presidential administration, Nikolayenko told Chaly that she could put him in touch with anyone in the administration and that she had already started setting up meetings for him. Chaly told FP that he had met Nikolayenko at an informal event with the new American leadership and that she was later invited to the Ukrainian Embassy but denied that she had helped establish any new contacts.

Other unlikely conduits to Trump that have emerged in recent months include the billionaire businessman Victor Pinchuk, who published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in December calling on Ukraine to make painful compromises in order to resolve the conflict in the east. When it was published, the Poroshenko administration shot back, saying it wouldnt back down from Russian aggression. Less than a month later, however, despite intentionally ignoring an invitation to attend a breakfast hosted by Pinchuk at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Poroshenko took a meeting with former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that Pinchuk had personally organized  reportedly through his connections to officials in the Trump administration  in the hope that Gates, though not a part of the Trump White House, might be able to facilitate a relationship with the presidents entourage.

Whether through traditional channels of communication, informal ones, or a combination of both, Ukraine has had some successes reaching Trump and his inner circle. Chaly has played a central role in this effort, establishing contact with Trump staffers following his victory and meeting with Trump and other members of his team in person in the days leading up to the presidents inauguration. In early February, Poroshenko became one of the first foreign leaders to speak with Trump, shortly after an escalation of fighting along the front lines in Ukraines eastern regions, which marked an impressive achievement for Ukrainian diplomacy. Filipchuk, the former diplomat and think tank chairman, who has written in favor of making compromises to achieve peace that many in Ukraine have found provocative, said he was surprised and impressed by the extent to which Chaly has been able to establish relationships with the Trump administration.

After a confusing first few weeks, the Poroshenko administration seems to have fallen back on more formal methods of communication. The Ukrainians are in the process of trying to arrange a visit from a delegation led by Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin to rekindle working ties with the new administration. Poroshenko and Pence met at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 18, and the Ukrainians are hoping to arrange a visit to Washington for Poroshenko in March. But the Trump administrations disorganization has already taken a toll, by fueling domestic political rivalries that could threaten the countrys stability.

There is a gathering domestic political storm in Kiev, said Jarabik, the Carnegie political analyst. And soon it will hit.

FPs Dan De Luce contributed to this report.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Foreign Policy illustration
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  Romanian border police say they are questioning 28 Iraqi citizens they found in southwestern Romania in the vicinity of the border with Serbia.

A statement said Romanian police spotted the group during a sweep on Thursday afternoon to target illegal migrants.

Border police took the group that was just inside Romania, and consisted of 16 men, 7 women and five minors including a 1-year-old baby, to a police station in the town of Oravita.

The police statement Friday said the group was trying to reach Western Europe and was traveling without documents.

The wave of migration from the Middle East, Africa and Asia to Western Europe has largely bypassed Romania.
Despite possessing one of the worlds two largest nuclear weapons arsenals, Russias Defense Minister said his country has turned focus to more conventional weapons while also keeping the nuclear deterrent as a top priority, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

"The development of strategic nuclear forces will remain an unconditional priority," Sergei Shoigu said while speaking at a conference focus on security issues according to Russian news agencies. "Russian nuclear weapons ensure the guaranteed deterrence of aggression by any foreign power.

But Shoigu also added that "the role of nuclear weapons in deterring a potential aggressor will diminish, primarily thanks to the development of precision weapons."

Shoigu pointed to Russias Kalibr and long-range cruise missiles as well as the short-range Iskander missiles as key non-nuclear deterrents, according to the report. However, each can also carry a nuclear warhead.

The comments come several months after Russias nuclear arsenal, even over the United States, led the world in 2016. Russia had a total of 7,300 nuclear weapons compared to the U.S.s stockpile of 6,970, totals that pale in comparison to the height of the Cold War when the U.S. reached a peak of 31,255 nuclear warheads, according to USA Today. Frances 300, Chinas 260 and the United Kingdoms 215 weapons rounded out the top five.

Still, much of Russia and the U.S.s total weapons have been retired. Arms Control Associations data showed that 2,510 Russia warheads were retired, meaning they are awaiting dismantlement, while the U.S. had retired 2,800.

The dwindling numbers are credited to former President Barack Obamas treaty with Russia in 2010 called New Start, which called for each country heavily reduce their nuclear stockpiles over a seven-year period ending in 2018.

Shoigu, who has held his current top post since 2012, also alluded to a previously unknown deal between Moscow and China that would send anti-ship missiles to Beijing, and also mentioned other deals involving Su-35 fighters and S-400 air defense missiles. In November, the countries announced the first four fighter jets would be delivered at the end of 2016 as part of a $2 billion deal for 24 total jets over three years, Financial Times reported.

Related Articles
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Russia vowed Friday to use its veto to block a proposed UN resolution drafted by the United States, France and Britain that would impose sanctions on Syria for the use of chemical weapons.

The trio are pushing for a vote early next week on the measure that would slap sanctions on 11 Syrians and 10 entities linked to chemical attacks in the nearly six-year war.

"I just explained our position very clearly to our partners. If it is tabled, we will veto it," Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told reporters following a closed-door meeting of the Security Council.

Safronkov rejected the measure as "one-sided," saying it was based on "insufficient proof" and contradicted "the fundamental principle of presumption of innocence until the investigation is over."

Russia has used its veto six times to shield its Damascus ally from any punitive action by the Security Council.

The draft resolution follows a UN-led investigation which concluded in October that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chlorine attacks on opposition-held villages in 2014 and 2015.

The joint panel of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) also found that Islamic State jihadists had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said she was not swayed by the Russian arguments.

"How much longer is Russia going to continue to babysit and make excuses for the Syrian regime?" she said.

"People have died by being suffocated to death. That's barbaric."

"You are either for chemical weapons or you are against it," she added.

The fresh clash with Russia came as a new round of peace talks in Geneva struggled to get off the ground, with Syrian government and opposition delegations haggling over the format of meetings.

- US rejoins France, Britain -

The vote expected Monday or Tuesday would mark the first major council action by the new US administration of President Donald Trump, who took office on January 20 seeking warmer ties with Russia.

Story continues

Britain and France had circulated the draft text weeks ago, but held off on action to give the Trump administration time to study it.

The vote would see the Trump administration joining old allies France and Britain to confront Russia over its support for Syria.

"We now have clear evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria against civilian populations and converging indications that such weapons continue to be used in this country," said French Ambassador Francois Delattre.

"On the scale of threats to peace and security, we are at 10 here," he said.

British Deputy Ambassador Peter Wilson added: "We absolutely intend to move forward with this resolution in the coming days."

The draft text, seen by AFP, would impose a global travel ban and assets freeze on 11 Syrians, mostly military officials, and 10 entities linked to chemical weapons development.

It would also ban the sale, supply or transfer of helicopters and related materiel, including spare parts, to the Syrian armed forces or the government.

The UN-OPCW panel found that Syrian air force helicopters dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin in 2014 and 2015.

Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013 under pressure from Russia.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons in the war that has killed 310,000 people since March 2011.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  It took 16 firefighters to rescue a precariously perched pooch that had wandered off the side of a bluff at a popular San Francisco oceanside park.

San Francisco Fire Department spokesman Jonathan Baxter says the dog's companion called for help after the off-leash pup tumbled partway down the cliff.

The dog could have fallen another 60 feet.

Baxter says a firefighter was lowered down and used a special canine harness to secure the dog. Fellow firefighters then pulled up the firefighter and the dog.

The noontime Wednesday rescue at the city's windy Fort Funston was captured on video. Baxter said the dog remained friendly during the hour-long process.

Fort Funston is part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area and popular with hang gliders and horseback riders.
By Katie Paul RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Salman starts a month-long Asian tour on Sunday to build ties with the world's fastest growing importers of Saudi oil and promote investment opportunities, including the sale of a stake in its giant state firm Saudi Aramco. The octogenarian monarch, who has overseen the launch of an ambitious economic reform plan since his accession two years ago, is expected to visit Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and China. In a sign of the importance which the kingdom places on strengthening economic ties with Asia, Indonesian officials say Salman will be accompanied by a 1,500-strong entourage including 10 ministers. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih and Aramco executives will travel with him, sources told Reuters, on the king's first trip outside the Middle East and North Africa since he visited the United States in 2015. Saudi officials are keen to court Asian investors for the sale of a 5 percent stake in Aramco in 2018, which is expected to be the world's biggest IPO, and have solicited financial advice from banks with links to China. Asian banks and companies are also expected to play major roles in the kingdom's plans to develop non-oil industries and expand its international investments, all part of the crude exporting giant's attempts to reduce dependence on oil revenues. The kingdom in August signed 15 preliminary agreements with China - ranging from house-building in Saudi Arabia to water projects and oil storage - during a visit by the king's powerful son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is spearheading the economic reform plan. It has also agreed to invest up to $45 billion in a new technology fund with Japan's SoftBank Group. While it pushes ahead with its diversification efforts, Saudi Arabia is at the same time seeking to cement its position as the world's biggest oil exporter and establish itself as the dominant oil supplier to Asia's emerging markets. In China, which is challenging the United States as the world's biggest oil consumer, Saudi has just been pipped by Russia as the top supplier. MALAYSIAN DEAL Saudi Arabia has yet to announce Salman's trip, but officials in Malaysia say he will start his tour there on Sunday, accompanied by his son Prince Mohammed. Aramco is expected to sign an agreement during the visit to collaborate with Malaysia's state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) on its Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project. The king, who is thought to be 81, will travel to Jakarta and Bali in Indonesia from March 1-9, and Japan from March 12 to 14, officials in those countries told Reuters. Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the government hopes the visit will bring Saudi investments of up to $25 billion. Jakarta's state-owned energy company Pertamina and Aramco are working together to upgrade Indonesia's largest refinery complex and are looking at other opportunities. Indonesian television said the Saudi delegation will stay in seven 5-star hotels in the Bali resort area of Nusa Dua. Salman is also expected to go to China, although neither Saudi nor Chinese officials have confirmed the visit, before spending the last two weeks of March on holiday in the Maldives, according to a Maldives diplomat. Local newspaper Mihaaru reported that three resorts have been reserved for his stay. MILITARY TIES Asia also figures in the kingdom's plans for military cooperation, with Malaysia and Indonesia listed as members of a Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance formed just over a year ago. Riyadh's announcement of the counter-terrorism alliance in December 2015 took many people by surprise, including officials of some member countries, and it is not yet clear what role it will play. Washington remains Saudi Arabia's chief military partner, but Riyadh has adopted a more assertive policy in response to what it perceived as U.S. disengagement from the region under former President Barack Obama. China has traditionally played little role in Middle East conflicts or diplomacy, despite its reliance on the region for oil. But it has been trying to get more involved in efforts to end Syria's six-year-old civil war, where Riyadh supports rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad. Last year China also offered support for Yemens government, which is backed by a Saudi-led Gulf Arab coalition in a war against the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement that controls much of the country. China has had to tread a careful line, though, as it also has close relations with Iran. President Xi Jinping visited both Saudi Arabia and Iran Tehran in January last year. (This story has been refiled to correct date of U.S. visit in paragraph four.) (Additional reporting by Praveen Menon, Ben Blanchard, William Mallard, Rania El Gamal, Fergus Jensen; editing by Sami Aboudi and Dominic Evans)
By Wa Lone YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's police court has sentenced three senior officers to prison for negligence after Rohingya insurgents overran three border posts in October, killing nine policemen, a government official said on Friday. Several hundred Rohingya men, from a Muslim minority that many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar view as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh, attacked the border guard posts on Oct. 9. Most were armed only with sticks. The attacks set off a crackdown on the minority, prompting more than 70,000 people to flee across the border to Bangladesh. Information Ministry director Ye Naing told Reuters an official investigation probed how the poorly trained and barely armed insurgents could successfully stage the attacks. The government says the militants, who stole weapons and ammunition in the raids, have links to radical Islamists abroad. The court sentenced the three senior officers in the border town of Maungdaw to one to three years in prison, Ye Naing said. "They were jailed because they were guilty of negligence regarding security during the Oct. 9 attacks," he said. Ye Naing could not specify the date of the sentencing or details of the investigation. Several other high-ranking police officers were still under investigation by the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs, he added. About 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims live in apartheid-like conditions in northwestern Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship. The United Nations has documented mass killings and rapes committed during the crackdown by security forces that it says may amount to crimes against humanity. No senior police or army officers have been found accountable for these alleged crimes. The civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly denied almost all allegations against the country's still-powerful armed forces during what it has said was a lawful counterinsurgency campaign that began in October. (Writing by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Buenos Aires (AFP) - Shell has confirmed it will invest $300 million to develop a shale oil and gas reserve in southern Argentina, executives said Friday.

Argentina oil company YPF said in a statement it would partner with the Anglo-Dutch company Shell to exploit the huge Vaca Muerta reserve.

Exploration of the field has yielded "excellent results," it quoted Shell Argentina boss Teofilo Lacroze as saying.

US and French firms are among the other international companies working on exploiting the 30,000 square kilometer (12,000 square mile) reserve.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP)  Juan Martin del Potro never faced a break point and eliminated defending champion Sam Querrey 7-5, 7-5 on Friday night to reach the Delray Beach Open semifinals.

Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, overcame 16 aces by Querrey, who was seeded fourth.

On Saturday, del Potro will take on No. 1-seeded Milos Raonic for a berth in the final. Raonic edged Kyle Edmund 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Raonic and del Potro are two of the biggest hitters on tour and have split two past matches against each other  but they have not faced off since 2013.

On the other half of the draw, Jack Sock moved into the semifinals by beating Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6 (4) in an all-American matchup.

Sock will play yet another American next: Donald Young, who didn't even need to play a point to get to the semifinals. Young's quarterfinal opponent, Steve Darcis, withdrew from the tournament, citing personal reasons.

The third-seeded Sock is the only player remaining in the hard-court event who has not dropped a set as he seeks his second title of 2017, third of his career. Young has never won an ATP title. Sock is 2-0 against Young.
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP)  Police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannon Friday as the latest wave of anti-immigrant protests broke out in South Africa's capital, while President Jacob Zuma condemned the violence but said his country's migrant burden is bigger than Europe's.

A petition the protesters handed to the foreign ministry, seen by The Associated Press, suggested that the government teach foreigners to speak properly. "They are arrogant and they don't know how to talk to people especially Nigerians," it said.

Resentment against foreigners has sometimes turned deadly in South Africa amid accusations that they take jobs from locals in a country where unemployment is above 25 percent. Others are blamed for drug-dealing and other crimes. In 2015, anti-immigrant riots in and around the city of Durban killed at least six people. In 2008, similar violence killed about 60 people.

Police on Friday tried to keep protesters apart from foreigners who gathered to express alarm about recent attacks. Police Commissioner Khomotso Phalane said 136 people had been arrested in the past 24 hours.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation in a statement criticized authorities for "giving permission for a march of hatred."

The periodic backlash against foreigners has hurt the tolerant image South Africa has tried to present to the world after the long struggle to stop the harsh discrimination of white minority rule, which ended in 1994.

South Africans should not blame all crime on non-South Africans, the statement from Zuma's office said. It cited recent reports of violence in Pretoria and hate speech on social media.

"Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively," the president said. "It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers."

An Amnesty International statement blamed authorities' "failure to address toxic populist rhetoric that blames and scapegoats refugees and migrants."

Story continues

Zuma said South Africans are not xenophobic, and he called on everyone, citizens and non-citizens, to work together to combat the country's high crime rate.

Despite South Africa's high unemployment, the country is one of Africa's largest economies and remains a draw for people from far more impoverished nations across the continent. Businesses run by Somalis, Ethiopians and others are often targeted in anti-foreigner protests.

In video posted by broadcaster News 24, Zuma said that "the numbers of the foreigners in South Africa are far more than the numbers that Europe is fighting about." Europe, however, saw more than 360,000 people arrive by sea last year alone, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

South African government data show the number of foreign-born people in the country has declined. A report last year said the 1.6 million foreign born people was down from 2.2 million in 2011  in a country of more than 55 million people.

Zuma's statement acknowledged complaints about companies that hire illegal immigrants and said the foreign affairs office "will be cracking down on all employers who continue with this practice, which is dangerous as it pits locals against non-nationals."

___

Online: http://cs2016.statssa.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/NT-30-06-2016-RELEASE-for-CS-2016-_Statistical-releas_1-July-2016.pdf
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 86F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies early then increasing clouds with some scattered thunderstorms late. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
By TJ Strydom PRETORIA (Reuters) - South African police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse rival marches by hundreds of protesters in Pretoria on Friday, after mobs looted stores this week believed to belong to immigrants. Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa against a background of near-record unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs from citizens and involvement in crime. Armed police had formed a barrier between rival crowds of citizens and non-nationals marching in Pretoria, but both sides began shouting at one another and brandishing rocks and sticks, prompting police to disperse the angry mobs. Shops were shuttered in Marabastad, an area of western Pretoria where many foreign nationals have their stores, and roads were blocked as the marchers gathered. Some of the foreigners carried rocks and sticks, saying they were ready to protect their stores. One Somali shopowner, 37, said he feared for his life. "My shops get looted a few times a year," he said. The marches follow the looting this week of at least 20 small businesses believed to belong to Nigerian and Pakistani immigrants. Residents said they had attacked the shops because they were dens of prostitution and drug dealing. Some said they had lost jobs to the foreigners. A 34-year old South African, who declined to be named, said a Zimbabwean took his job at a manufacturing plant because he was willing to work for less. "The police must leave us alone so we can sort them out," he said, pointing at a group of foreign shop owners. Random acts of violence, looting and destruction of property had occurred, Acting National Police Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane said. "Over 24-hour period, 156 have been arrested," Phahlane told a news conference, and "those inciting violence will face prosecution." It was unclear how many of those in custody were South Africans and how many foreigners. President Jacob Zuma condemned acts of violence between citizens and non-nationals, his office said in a statement on Friday. Zuma appealed to citizens not to blame all crime on non-nationals. Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba on Thursday acknowledged violence had flared up against foreigners this year, adding that "unfortunately, xenophobic violence is not new in South Africa." In retaliation, Nigerian protesters vandalized the head office of South African mobile phone company MTN in Abuja on Thursday. Earlier this week, Nigeria's foreign ministry said it would summon South Africa's envoy to raise its concerns over "xenophobic attacks" on Nigerians, other Africans and Pakistanis. (Writing by James Macharia, editing by Larry King)
By TJ Strydom PRETORIA (Reuters) - South African police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse rival marches by hundreds of protesters in Pretoria on Friday, after mobs looted stores this week believed to belong to immigrants. Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa against a background of near-record unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs from citizens and involvement in crime. Armed police had formed a barrier between rival crowds of citizens and non-nationals marching in Pretoria, but both sides began shouting at one another and brandishing rocks and sticks, prompting police to disperse the angry mobs. Shops were shuttered in Marabastad, an area of western Pretoria where many foreign nationals have their stores, and roads were blocked as the marchers gathered. Some of the foreigners carried rocks and sticks, saying they were ready to protect their stores. One Somali shopowner, 37, said he feared for his life. "My shops get looted a few times a year," he said. The marches follow the looting this week of at least 20 small businesses believed to belong to Nigerian and Pakistani immigrants. Residents said they had attacked the shops because they were dens of prostitution and drug dealing. Some said they had lost jobs to the foreigners. A 34-year old South African, who declined to be named, said a Zimbabwean took his job at a manufacturing plant because he was willing to work for less. "The police must leave us alone so we can sort them out," he said, pointing at a group of foreign shop owners. Random acts of violence, looting and destruction of property had occurred, Acting National Police Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane said. "Over 24-hour period, 156 have been arrested," Phahlane told a news conference, and "those inciting violence will face prosecution." It was unclear how many of those in custody were South Africans and how many foreigners. President Jacob Zuma condemned acts of violence between citizens and non-nationals, his office said in a statement on Friday. Zuma appealed to citizens not to blame all crime on non-nationals. Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba on Thursday acknowledged violence had flared up against foreigners this year, adding that "unfortunately, xenophobic violence is not new in South Africa." In retaliation, Nigerian protesters vandalised the head office of South African mobile phone company MTN in Abuja on Thursday. Earlier this week, Nigeria's foreign ministry said it would summon South Africa's envoy to raise its concerns over "xenophobic attacks" on Nigerians, other Africans and Pakistanis. (Writing by James Macharia, editing by Larry King)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has condemned acts of violence between citizens and non-nationals, his office said on Friday. Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa against a background of near-record unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs from citizens and getting involved in crime. Citizens in Pretoria are set to march against foreigners on Friday and domestic media are reporting vandalism and acts of violence in the Atteridgeville area west of the capital. At least 20 stores in Pretoria owned by foreigners were looted on Tuesday, but police could not confirm that the attacks had deliberately targeted foreigners. "Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively. It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers," Zuma said in a statement. "The threats and counter-threats on social media must stop," he added. In Nigeria, protesters on Thursday demanded that South African citizens and businesses leave the country and vandalized the head office of mobile phone giant MTN in Abuja, in retaliation for anti-Nigerian violence in South Africa. (Reporting by TJ Strydom; Editing by Joseph Radford)
Hong Kong (AFP) - Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered on Friday announced it swung back to profitability, after it was able dampen the effect of bad loans.

Chief executive Bill Winters described the results as "good progress", but said the figures were still not up to scratch.

"Our financial returns are not yet where they need to be and do not reflect the Group's earnings potential.

"Having worked hard to secure our foundations we are now focused on realising that potential," said Winters, who has been in the job for a year-and-a-half.

He replaced former CEO Peter Sands after shareholder calls for a boardroom cull following profit warnings.

Pre-tax profits were back in the black at $409 million, compared to the previous year's loss of $1.52 billion, the London-based company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The bank's underlying loan impairment was brought down by 40 percent at $2.382 billion, compared to the year before.

But operating profit, which excludes one-time items, was at $1.09 billion, missing the average of 13 analysts' estimates polled by Bloomberg, who had predicted $1.42 billion.

The company also still saw a net loss of $247 million, an improvement from last year's net loss of $2.19 billion.

The bank's London shares fell 4.6 percent in Friday morning trade on the London Stock Exchange after the results were published.

Its 2015 results saw its first annual loss since 1989, after it battled global financial turmoil that sent stocks and commodities plunging.

Standard Chartered in late 2015 announced it was re-focusing on "affluent retail clients" rather than corporate and institutional banking businesses and would exit or restructure $100 billion of assets.

It also said in 2015 it would cut 15,000 jobs around the world.

Winters, in Friday's statement, also vowed to improve conduct at the bank, which has faced multiple investigations.

"We have sharpened our focus on all aspects of conduct, not simply on combating financial crime," Winters said.

Story continues

Hong Kong's stock market regulator filed a lawsuit against the bank over "market misconduct" for a 2009 initial public offering on the city's bourse in January.

In August 2014, the bank was hit by US regulators with a $300 million fine and restrictions on its dollar-clearing business for failing to detect possible money-laundering.

It paid $667 million in 2012 to settle charges it violated US sanctions by handling thousands of money transactions involving Iran, Myanmar, Libya and Sudan.
PARIS (AP)  In the absence of top scorers Alassane Plea and Mario Balotelli, title contender Nice found an unlikely savior as Mickael Le Bihan came off the bench to score twice in a comeback 2-1 win against Montpellier on Friday.

The win moved Nice into second place and level on points with leader Monaco ahead of this weekend's games.

With Plea injured and Balotelli suspended, Nice started with Greek striker Anastasios Donis, who is on loan from Juventus. But it was Le Bihan grabbing the headlines, 17 months after his last appearance in the top flight. He had not played in Ligue 1 since sustaining a leg fracture in September 2015 during a league game against Bordeaux.

With Nice trailing to a goal from striker Steve Mounie in the ninth minute, Le Bihan replaced Donis in the 59th minute and scored nine minutes later. He slotted home the winner with a composed finish four minutes from time, following a flowing move that started in Nice's penalty area.

Nice remains the only team still unbeaten at home along with defending champion Paris Saint-Germain.

Montpellier dominated the first half and Mounie scored his 11th goal this season from close range after Nice failed to clear a free kick from midfielder Ryad Boudebouz, who then hit the post with a curling shot in the last minute.

Monaco travels to Guingamp on Saturday and third-place PSG, which is three points behind, is at bitter rival Marseille on Sunday.

___

NANTES 3, DIJON 1

Substitute Felipe Pardo scored a fine goal as Nantes moved six points clear of the relegation zone.

Yacine Bammou opened the scoring for Nantes after three minutes with a low shot under keeper Baptiste Reynet, but the hosts could not hold their lead as defender Leo Dubois inadvertently flicked the ball into the back of his own net in the 37th.

Striker Emiliano Sala made it 2-1 from the spot near the hour mark and Pardo completed the win in style with 11 minutes left.

The former Olympiakos player got to the ball first on the edge of the area after Reynet raced from his goal, got past a defender with a fine dribble near to the corner flag and then arrowed the ball into the opposite corner.

Nantes is in 11th place and Montpellier is 12th.
Al-Bab (Syria) (AFP) - An Islamic State group suicide bomber killed 51 people outside Syria's Al-Bab on Friday, in a major blow just hours after rebels seized the town from the jihadists.

In a statement distributed online, the group said its suicide bomber "drove his car bomb into the middle of a gathering of Turkish soldiers and apostates working in Susian".

At least 51 people were killed in the blast, most of them civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The monitoring group said the car bomb had targeted twin command posts at a rebel base in Susian, about eight kilometres (five miles) from Al-Bab.

Rebel field commander Abu Jaafar told AFP that fighters, Turkish soldiers, and civilians had gathered at Susian for an overnight meeting "to organise a security apparatus and set a plan for rebuilding Al-Bab".

"This information reached the (IS) sleeper cells, which prepared a car bomb" that detonated at Susian at around 0800 am (0600 GMT), he told AFP.

Abu Jaafar, who was near Susian at the time of the attack, said hospitals in the area were full of wounded.

"(IS leader Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi's dogs could not bear their huge loss, and their suicide bombers have begun to take revenge," he said.

Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Al-Bab on Friday as they were carrying out road checks, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

- Stray cats, battered streets -

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

An AFP correspondent inside Al-Bab said stray cats were on the bombed-out streets Friday, sniffing at the bodies of alleged IS fighters.

Doors of shops in the town's main marketplace had been blown open by bomb blasts, and boxes of food and medicine were scattered on the ground.

A rebel scrawled the name of his battalion -- "Mutasem Brigades" -- on a wall.

Story continues

In the town's south, rescuers and bulldozers were pulling bodies from under the rubble, careful not to detonate any mines left behind by IS.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 71 Turkish losses so far.

On Friday the Turkish army said in a statement that "control of all neighbourhoods in Al-Bab have been secured" by opposition fighters supported by Ankara.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from its outskirts in recent weeks.

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in Aleppo province.

- Rebels, regime pound Aleppo -

West of the second city, where government forces took full control in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

Exchanges of rocket and artillery fire first broke out on Wednesday, centred on the rebel-held district of Rashideen, the Observatory said.

The government responded with intensive air strikes on Thursday that killed at least 32 rebels.

A fragile ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels has been in force since late December, brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

It has led to a sharp reduction in fighting in many areas.

But parts of the country which are held by IS or its jihadist rival, former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, are not covered by the truce.

The talks in Geneva between government and opposition representatives formally opened on Thursday.

They are the fourth round of UN-brokered negotiations, aimed at ending a conflict that has dragged on for nearly six years and claimed more than 310,000 lives.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said: "I'm not expecting miracles," but warned of dire consequences if the talks "fail again".
Al-Bab (Syria) (AFP) - A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab Friday, killing 51 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from the Islamic State group.

The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of Al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The blast devastated the twin command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

It said the majority of those killed were civilians.

There was no immediate claim for the attack, but rebels blamed it on IS, which had put up fierce resistance in Al-Bab for weeks.

"(Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi's dogs could not bear their huge loss, and their suicide bombers have begun to take revenge," said field commander Abu Jaafar of the Mutasem Brigades.

He said rebel fighters, Turkish soldiers, and civilians from Al-Bab had called a meeting in Susian "to organise a security apparatus and set a plan for rebuilding Al-Bab".

"This information reached the (IS) sleeper cells, which prepared a car bomb" that detonated at Susian around 0800 am (0600 GMT), he told AFP.

Abu Jaafar, who was near Susian at the time of the attack, said hospitals in the area were full of wounded.

Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Al-Bab on Friday as they were carrying out road checks, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

- Stray cats, battered streets -

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

An AFP correspondent inside Al-Bab said stray cats were out on the bombed-out streets Friday, sniffing at the bodies of alleged IS fighters.

Doors of shops in the town's main marketplace had been blown open by bomb blasts, and boxes of food and medicine were scattered on the ground.

Story continues

A rebel scrawled the name of his battalion -- "Mutasem Brigades" -- on a wall.

In the town's south, rescuers and bulldozers were pulling bodies from under the rubble, careful not to detonate any mines left behind by IS.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 71 Turkish losses so far.

On Friday the Turkish army said in a statement that "control of all neighbourhoods in Al-Bab have been secured" by opposition fighters supported by Ankara.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from its outskirts in recent weeks.

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in Aleppo province.

- Rebels, regime pound Aleppo -

West of the second city, which government forces took full control of in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

Exchanges of rocket and artillery fire first broke out on Wednesday, centred on the rebel-held district of Rashideen, the Observatory said.

The government responded with intensive air strikes on Thursday that killed at least 32 rebel fighters.

A fragile ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels has been in force since late December, brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

It has led to a sharp reduction in fighting in many areas.

But parts of the country which are held by IS or its jihadist rival, former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, are not covered by the truce.

The talks in Geneva between government and opposition representatives formally opened on Thursday.

They are the fourth round of UN-brokered negotiations, aimed at ending a conflict that has dragged on for nearly six years and claimed more than 310,000 lives.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said: "I'm not expecting miracles," but warned of dire consequences if the talks "fail again."
The Supreme Court wants both sides in the significant case on transgender students rights to submit their views on the possible impact of the switch in policy on those rights by the Trump Administration. The Courts Clerk on Thursday afternoon asked for responses by letter, due by 2 p.m. next Wednesday.

The Clerk, no doubt acting on the expressed interest of the Court, passed on the request to the attorneys involved. This was limited to the two parties  the Gloucester County School Board and the 17-year-old transgender boy, Gavin Grimm, now in his senior year at a high school in the Virginia community.

The Justice Department is not a party, but it conceivably has views on the potential impact of its new approach on the case, but may not have a way to pass that on to the Court without being invited to do so.

When the Trump Administration notified the Court on Wednesday that it would no longer insist on equal access to school bathrooms and locker rooms for transgender students based on their gender identities, it made no suggestion about what that might mean to the pending case.

There appear to be several options open to the Court in the wake of the new government policy view, but the lawyers involved may not suggest these or could offer others:

One: send the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, to take the governments new view into account. That appeals court, in ruling in favor of the transgender youth, had relied on the view of the Obama administration that discrimination against transgender students was a violation of federal civil rights law outlawing sex discrimination. A return of the case to that appeals court would mean that the case would not be decided now by the Supreme Court.

Two: go ahead with the scheduled hearing on the pending case, now set for March 28, and decide it on the basis of the Justices own interpretation of the meaning of the civil rights law at issue (Title IX, a 1972 federal law). This would be the most ambitious way to get an answer to the ultimate question that appears to lie at the heart of the controversy. The Justices may have some reluctance to take such a step, especially if they believe that the ultimate question is not now directly at stake because of the way the Fourth Circuit ruled.

Story continues

Three: go ahead with review of the case this term, but reschedule it for a new hearing to give the Justices more time to ponder the suggestions that lawyers make in their filings next week, and perhaps in the meantime ask the Justice Department to file its own view on the potential impact.

Four: draft new legal questions that the Court may see as arising from the policy switch, ask the parties as well as the Justice Department to file full-scale briefs on those points, and then reschedule the case for a new hearing  either in April, or in the next term, which opens in early October.

Five: do nothing this term on the Gloucester County case, and simply keep it on the docket without action to await a new case on the meaning of Title IX as it may apply to transgender students rights. A major test case on that issue is now pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and might be a good one for the Justices to review.

The uncertainty over whether the Gloucester County case actually puts before the Justices the ultimate question of what Title IX means as applied to transgender students is a result of the way that case reached the Justices, and how the Justices shaped their review of it.

The lawyers for the school board raised three questions in the appeal, and all three of them could be interpreted as seeking answers only on how persuasive the views of the Obama administration were on the meaning of the Title IX phrase that outlaws discrimination on the basis of sex.

The Court accepted for review only these two questions: Should deference [by the courts] extend to an unpublished agency letter that, among other things, does not carry the force of law and was adopted in the context of the very dispute in which deference is sought?, and with or without deference to the agency, should the [Education] Departments specific interpretation of Title IX and 34 C.F.R.  106.33 be given effect?

If the Justices viewed those questions in a narrow way, they might not feel obliged to reach their own view of what that phrase in Title IX means. However, the second of the two granted questions could be taken, in the alternative, as a request for the Justices to decide whether discrimination on the basis of gender identity is a form of sex discrimination.

Lawyers for the youth involved, and some of his supporters, do want that ultimate question settled now. The school board has also supported review based on what Title IX means, but also has suggested a narrower alternative: that is, a ruling that the Fourth Circuit Court was wrong in deferring to the Obama Administration view.

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, where this story first appeared.

Recent Constitution Daily Stories

New immigration ban order will still face legal challenges

Waiting for Gorsuch? Supreme Court finally schedules last major case

U.S.-Mexico border shooting case at Supreme Court today
Paris (AFP) - One of the greatest surfers of all time, Kelly Slater, has sparked controversy by calling for a shark cull around the Indian Ocean island of Reunion after a bodyboarder was killed there.

"Honestly, I won't be popular for saying this but there needs to be a serious cull on Reunion and it should happen every day," the 11-time American world champion said in a comment posted on the Instagram account of French surfer Jeremy Flores.

Slater said the latest death showed there was "a clear imbalance happening in the ocean there".

"The French govt needs to figure this out ASAP. 20 attacks since 2011!?," he added in the post on Wednesday.

Slater has been an outspoken defender of maritime life so his comment provoked strong reactions from some Instagram users, including Flores himself.

"The problem here is the bull sharks, they kill everything including a lot of species of protected sharks," Flores said, adding: "One person after another is dying and some people think that is normal, but it really isn't."

The 26-year-old man bodyboarding off Reunion was killed by a shark on Tuesday.

Eight of the 20 attacks since 2011 have been fatal, despite efforts by local authorities to install nets and warn locals and tourists about the dangers.

The man, a former shark spotter from the island once employed by the local surfing association, was pronounced dead after the shark bit through a major artery in his leg, off the eastern coast near Saint-Andre.

Surfing competitions returned to Reunion only in February 2016 after a five-year absence triggered by a shark attack on local surf champion Eric Dargent.
The Finns are pretty bemused by Americans preoccupation with whether to put iPads in every classroom. If a tablet would enhance learning, great. If it wouldnt, skip it. Move on. The whole thing is a little tilting-at-windmills, anyway.

That was the gist of the conversation one recent morning at the Finnish Embassy in Washington, D.C., where diplomats and experts gathered to celebrate the countrys education accomplishments as Finland turns 100. And Americans could stand to take notes. (Yes, from Finlandagain.)

Coding and programming are now part of the curriculum in the Scandinavian country, and theyre subjects kids tackle from a young age. But unlike in some parts of the United States where learning to code is an isolated skill, Finnish children are taught to think of coding and programming more as tools to be explored and utilized across multiple subjects.

That mindset aims to accomplish a couple of things: to make coding and programming accessible to kids with a variety of interests, and to show students why understanding how technology works is relevant to their lives by linking its use to a multitude of activities.

Linda Liukas is a Finnish programmer, author, and illustrator who has worked with teachers in Finland (and a few early adopters in the United States) to make technology less of a mystery to both instructors and students. Shes created a whimsical character named Ruby (and penned a series of Hello Ruby books) who can guide even very young children unwittingly through the basics of programming in a variety of school environments. If kids are in a physical-education class, students can act out the concept of a loop (essentially a sequence) by putting on a favorite tune and repeating a series of dance steps. Clap, clap, stomp, stomp, jump! The class can learn about different types of loops by adding other specificationssay, having students close their eyesto the sequence or modifying it.

Story continues

Recommended: I Was a Muslim in the Trump White Houseand I Lasted Eight Days

In art class, kids can learn about loops by knitting, which is, after all, a sequence of stitches that sometimes vary and sometimes stay the same. Kids who are enchanted by stories can be introduced through storytelling to the foundational idea that specific outcomes require particular instructions in a particular order. In one of the Ruby stories, Rubys dad tells the redheaded youngster to get dressed. So Ruby doesby putting her clothes on over her pajamas. Only when he specifies that she should take off her pajamas and put on fresh day clothes does Rubys father get the result he was looking for: a properly attired Ruby ready to face the day.

Liukas pushes back at the idea that children are already tech-savvy simply because they seem to be able to navigate an iPhone intuitively. Shes particularly fond of this quote from the American computing professor Mark Guzdial:

We want students to understand what a computer can do, what a human can do, and why thats different. To understand computing is to have a robust mental model of a notional machine.

In other words, knowing how to use something isnt the same as understanding how it works. And because programming can be taught in so many ways, Liukas said, it can be an opportunity for kids to learn lots of related skills, such as how to collaborate, how to tell a story, and how to think creatively.

This demands a lot from the teachers, obviously, Liukas said during a presentation at the embassy event. This is true in the sense that incorporating coding and programming lessons across disciplines requires all kinds of educators, from the science teacher to the art teacher, to understand the basics. But its also a manageable challenge in Finland because teachers there have more autonomy than American teachers when it comes to how and what they teach, and they arent constantly evaluated by how their students score on standardized tests.

Recommended: An Actual False-Flag Operation

This is where the argument that its supposedly not fair to compare Finland to the United States because the former is much smaller, more homogenous, and more egalitarian often comes in. But Samuel Abrams, a professor at Columbia University and the author of a book about the push to privatize education in the United States, challenges that narrative. Abrams, who outlined his research at the embassy, compared Finlands high marks on international education tests to those produced by other, similarly sized Nordic countries that are also relatively more homogenous and egalitarian than the United States. Those countriesSweden, Denmark, and Norwayscore lower than Finland and more in line with America.

Even the biggest problems in the world are just tiny problems stuck together.

Finland, Abrams argued, sees education as a mode of nation building and economic development because it has to. While Norway has oil and Sweden has minerals and Denmark has banking, Finland has the brains of its citizens. And while Finland is today considered a frontrunner on education, that wasnt always the case. The country was hit hard by World War II and focused in part on bolstering its education system to rebound, implementing a series of reforms in the 1970s. By 1979, teachers needed a masters degree. Today, class sizes are small, teachers are paid well compared to their college classmates who study other disciplines, and the country only opens as many teacher training spaces as it needs, meaning fewer than 10 percent of those who want to teach are accepted. Crucially, teachers are trained, Abrams said, to be a guide on the side as opposed to a sage on the stage.

Recommended: An Epidemic of Unnecessary Treatment

And while it is true that teachers in Finland typically arent grappling with issues like extreme poverty that American teachers face, and that teachers and the public-education system in Finland seem to, on the whole, command more respect from their communities, it is also true that the United States could take steps to improve its own education system and command that respect. Abrams would like to see an end to annual testing, and a move toward sampling when testing is necessary. Doctors dont remove every ounce of blood when they want to run tests on a patient, he pointed out dryly. He also thinks teachers should be paid more (which he argues would help with turnover and quality) and have more say over what they teach. The issue, of course, is political will. But he has little patience for the notion that the United States is somehow incapable of educating its students better.

When it comes to technology, its hard to evaluate just how well the Finnish approach is working. Computer science isnt covered on international tests, and its a relatively recent addition to the curriculum. But Liukas and others point to Finnish inventions like Linux and Nokia as evidence that the countrys education system sparks the innovation and entrepreneurship that will drive the tech-based economy of the future. And while the United States is obviously a different beast than Finland, with a host of challenges, as Liukas tells the children she meets, Even the biggest problems in the world are just tiny problems stuck together.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
This teens warning has people looking out for shirts wrapped around their windshield wipers

If you were getting into your car late at night and saw a shirt wrapped around your windshield wiper blade, what would you do? It happened to one Flint, Michigan teenager, who immediately drove away  but her warning to others about the incident has quickly gone viral.

Ashley Hardacre, 19, wrote on Facebook earlier this month that after leaving her mall job late one night and getting into her car, she noticed a flannel shirt on her windshield. She tried to get it off with her wipers, but it was wrapped tightly around one of the blades. Sensing something was wrong  and seeing two cars parked nearby, one that was running  she says she drove away with the shirt still attached to her car.

I had seen posts lately about people finding things under their windshield wipers in the Burton/Flint area as an attempt to get girls out of their cars and distracted, she wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post.

Luckily I knew better than to remove the shirt with cars around me, so I drove over to a place where I was safe and quickly rolled down my window and got the shirt off.

Local police told CBS News that they contacted Hardacre after seeing her post, but that they havent received any similar reports. Nothing like this has ever happened before, Flint Township Police Detective Sergeant Brad Wangler said. There have been no other incidences like this. Its kind of unknown as to what or why or who [did this].

Story continues

Young womans Facebook post about meaning of shirt left on windshield goes viral: https://t.co/hOMWkfxaxI pic.twitter.com/V0mjcq9rpq  Women in the World (@WomenintheWorld) February 23, 2017

Before deleting it, Hardacres Facebook post had more than 106,000 shares, 15,000 likes, and nearly 9,000 comments.

I posted about the incident to inform others that it can happen to anyone and that they shouldnt fall for it, Hardacre told CBS. A lot of people think it is fake or it wont happen to them. But you can never be too safe.

We might never know whether or not Hardacre was truly in danger, but one things for sure  a strangers shirt wrapped around your wiper blade is straight up creepy. So you might want to be like Ashley and drive away if something like this happens to you.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)  Texas Rangers international scout Jose Luis Felomina has died in his native Curacao.

The team said Thursday that Felomina died following a long illness. He was 50.

Felomina had worked as a Rangers scout in Curacao since 2008. Among the players he signed was Jurickson Profar, who last season started games at five different positions in the field for Texas.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels says the team is truly saddened by Felomina's passing. Daniels described him as a dedicated scout who was outstanding at his job and was a great asset to the organization.

Curacao is an island in the Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan coast.
BANGKOK (AP)  In a Feb. 24 story about a new zoo opening next to Thailand's Tiger Temple, The Associated Press incorrectly said the Buddhist temple was closed. The temple's tiger operation has been shut down but the temple itself remains open.

The AP also mischaracterized a quote by Steve Galster, founder of the anti-trafficking Freeland Foundation. When Galster said criminals would kill and dismember tigers before selling them, he was not referring to the Tiger Temple. He was referring to tiger farm operations in Laos, which he alleged bought tigers from the Tiger Temple.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Tiger zoo to open next to Thailand's raided Tiger Temple

A new zoo is planned in western Thailand right next to a Buddhist temple that once ran a lucrative tiger attraction while allegedly trafficking in the endangered beasts

By DAKE KANG and KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA

Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP)  A new zoo is planned in western Thailand right next to the Buddhist temple that once ran a lucrative tiger attraction while allegedly trafficking in the endangered beasts.

The new zoo should be completed in two to three months and has no affiliation with Tiger Temple, the temple's lawyer, Saiyood Pengboonchu, said Friday. A person answering a phone number listed for the new zoo's holding company denied any affiliation with the zoo and hung up.

The temple ran its tiger operation in Kanchanaburi province for more than a decade despite concerns about trafficking and possible mistreatment of its tigers. Its 137 tigers were seized and the operation was closed for good last year after police unearthed evidence of possible involvement in trafficking tigers and their parts.

Police are still investigating possible criminal charges against temple employees and monks.

Phra Wisutthi Sarathera, the temple's abbot, denied any wrongdoing and told reporters last October that he wanted to open a zoo with new tigers.

While Saiyood denied any links between the temple's zoo and the planned zoo, animal welfare groups still are concerned the new zoo will be run by the same people.

Story continues

"Given the appalling conditions at the former Tiger Temple, which ultimately led to its closure, we're urging the Thai government not to activate the full zoo license needed for another tiger entertainment venue to be opened," says World Animal Protection, a London-headquartered animal welfare agency.

A zoo license was issued in April 2016 to the then-vice president of the Tiger Temple, Supithpong Pakjarung, and the new zoo is now being built on 10 acres right next to the old temple.

Thailand has over 1,000 captive tigers, but less than 4,000 remain in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. In China, the elite eat ground tiger bones as medicine, and tiger penises as an aphrodisiac. Tiger hides can sell for tens of thousands of dollars in Beijing.

Thai police who raided the Tiger Temple found tiger skins and teeth and thousands of amulets made from tiger bone. They also found 60 cub carcasses stuffed in freezers and floating in formaldehyde in jars. Police also believe a slaughterhouse at a separate location was where live tigers were butchered to eventually export to China.

The owners of the new zoo still need to get licenses from Thailand's Department of National Parks to transport tigers from other zoos. Those licenses could be denied if the owners are under criminal investigation.

Meanwhile, a tour company is promoting visits to the new zoo for $50 and up, with additional fees for add-ons such as feeding tiger cubs or posing for photos with one resting on one's lap. Thailand Tours Center had previously arranged bus trips for foreign tourists to the Tiger Temple.
Mary Beth and John Tinker

* Editors Note: The Tinker case is featured in the National Constitution Centers 2017 Civic Calendar, which you can download here.

On February 24, 1969, the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that students at school retain their First Amendment right to free speech.

The story of this landmark case begins four years prior, during the early wave of protests against the Vietnam War. Public demonstrations and university teach-ins were growing in response to a rising death toll and increasing doubts about the motives and goals of the war.

Enter Mary Beth Tinker, a 13-year-old student at Warren Harding Junior High School in Des Moines, Iowa. Her story is recounted with care in Peter Irons The Courage of Their Convictions: Sixteen Americans Who Fought Their Way to the Supreme Court, the primary source for this discussion.

On December 16, 1965, Tinker wore a black armband to school to protest the war in Vietnam and to mourn the hundreds of soldiers killed in actiona number that would approach 60,000 by wars end, in addition to many tens of thousands more wounded or missing. After lunch, Tinker was called to the principals office, at which point she was suspended for violating a district ban on such armbands. By weeks end, four other students across the districther sister Hope and her brothers John and Paul, along with Christopher Eckhardtwere also suspended.

The controversy made the front page of The Des Moines Register. The school board president, Ora Niffenegger, defended the ban as a disciplinary measure against disturbing influence in school. Our countrys leaders have decided on a course of action, said Niffenegger, and we should support them.

The Iowa Civil Liberties Union saw things differently. At a school board meeting on December 21, attorney Craig Sawyer insisted that the students be reinstated and the armband rule be repealed. Other members of the community also spoke, representing views on both sides of the debate. Yet no resolution emerged. When a board member tried to end discussion, Sawyer cried out, I am demanding that you decide it. Take a stand! Thats what youre here for. Indeed, they did: The board voted 5-4 to maintain the ban. The dispute was headed to court.

Story continues

In the first round, the students lost. On September 1, 1966, Chief Judge Roy Stephenson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa upheld the prohibition against armbands. Despite acknowledging that wearing an armband is a symbolic act that falls under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, Judge Stephenson determined that the school districts concern for the disciplined atmosphere of the classroom outweighed speech concerns. Later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit was evenly divided. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Court heard arguments on November 12, 1968. Dan Johnston, arguing for the students, pointed out that the district had allowed other kinds of provocative political speech, including buttons reminiscent of the Nazi regime, and that no disruption of school activities had occurred. Allan Herrick, arguing for the district, insisted that the board be allowed to preempt the violence, disorder, and disruption that could break out in response to such provocations.

Here, at the highest level, the students won. Writing for a 7-2 majority, Justice Abe Fortas issued the now-famous declaration that students and teachers do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. Student speech cant be censored, he wrote, unless it materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others.

He went on:

Under our Constitution, free speech is not a right that is given only to be so circumscribed that it exists in principle, but not in fact. Freedom of expression would not truly exist if the right could be exercised only in an area that a benevolent government has provided as a safe haven for crackpots. The Constitution says that Congress (and the States) may not abridge the right to free speech. This provision means what it says. We properly read it to permit reasonable regulation of speech-connected activities in carefully restricted circumstances. But we do not confine the permissible exercise of First Amendment rights to a telephone booth or the four corners of a pamphlet, or to supervised and ordained discussion in a school classroom.

In a very brief concurrence, Justice Potter Stewart challenged the idea that children are entitled to the same degree of First Amendment protections. But the real heat came from Justice Hugo Black, whose blistering dissent insisted that the students armbands had, in fact, disrupted school activitiesdespite no clear evidence to that effectand decried the beginning of a new revolutionary era of permissiveness in this country fostered by the judiciary.

He explained:

Change has been said to be truly the law of life, but sometimes the old and the tried and true are worth holding. The schools of this Nation have undoubtedly contributed to giving us tranquility and to making us a more law-abiding people. Uncontrolled and uncontrollable liberty is an enemy to domestic peace.  One does not need to be a prophet or the son of a prophet to know that, after the Courts holding today, some students in Iowa schoolsand, indeed, in all schoolswill be ready, able, and willing to defy their teachers on practically all orders.

Mary Beth Tinker (right) at the National Constitution Center in 2013

Since Tinker, Justice Black has been vindicated, if only partially. In a series of important casesBethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986), Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988), and Morse v. Frederick (2007), the Supreme Court has chipped away at Tinkers commitment to a students First Amendment rights. Significant questions remain as to whether and to what degree a school can punish students for speech expressed off-campus or online.

Even so, Mary Beth Tinker is still fighting. At the National Constitution Center on Constitution Day 2013, she launched her Tinker Tour to promote youth voices, free speech and a free press. The tour continues.

Nicandro Iannacci is a web content strategist at the National Constitution Center.

Recent Historical Stories on Constitution Daily

Marbury v. Madison: The Supreme Court claims its power

Five unusual amendments that never made it into the Constitution

Podcast: Presidential succession and the 25th Amendment at 50
TOKYO (AP)  China's announcement it has suspended North Korean coal imports may have been its first test of whether the Trump administration is ready to do something about a major, and mutual, security problem: North Korea's nukes. While China is Pyongyang's biggest enabler, it is also the biggest outside agent of regime-challenging change  just not in the way Washington has wanted. Judging from Trump's limited comments so far, and the gaping chasm between Washington's long-held focus on sanctions and punishment and Beijing's equally deep commitment to diplomatic talks that don't require the North to first give up its arsenal, a deal between the two won't come easily.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Sometime in the hours after poisoning the half brother of North Korea's leader, one of his two attackers began to vomit, Malaysian police said Friday. It was apparently an early indication of the immensely powerful toxin that was used in the killing: the chemical warfare agent VX. The oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, experts say, and is banned under international treaties. North Korea, a prime suspect in the case, never signed that treaty, and has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons program that has long worried the international community.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korea may have found a new use for its large stockpile of chemical and biological weapons, which are meant to attack South Korean and U.S. troops in case of another war. Malaysian police said Friday that a chemical weapon  the toxic VX nerve agent  was used to kill the estranged half brother of Pyongyang's absolute leader at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13. If North Korea's involvement is confirmed, this would be an unusual and extremely high-profile use of its chemicals in an assassination. Much like its secretive nuclear program, outsiders struggle to nail down exact details about the North's chemical and biological weapons programs.

Story continues

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  A Philippine senator and leading critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly crackdown on illegal drugs said she won't be intimidated by a leader she called a "serial killer" after police arrested her on drug charges. Leila de Lima said the accusations against her were part of an attempt by Duterte to muzzle critics of the clampdown that has left more than 7,000 suspected dealers and small-time users dead. She questioned why the court suddenly issued the arrest order when it was scheduled Friday to hear her petition to throw out the charges of receiving bribes from detained drug lords.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's long-running acrimony with his leading critic, opposition Sen. Leila de Lima, has set off sharp verbal exchanges as they have argued over his anti-drug crackdown, which has led to more than 7,000 deaths since last June. De Lima called the president a "sociopathic serial killer" on Friday as she was arrested on drug charges. He has called her a sex-starved "immoral woman." Here are some examples of the verbal salvos launched by Duterte and de Lima: ___ "Liars! Hypocrites!"  De Lima on the credibility of government-backed witnesses whose statements helped put her in jail Friday. ___ "Here is an immoral woman ...

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Some Australians foresee trouble in their country's traditionally strong alliance with the United States because of what they see as "unpresidential" behavior from President Donald Trump, while others think outspoken businessman-turned-Australian-leader Malcolm Turnbull is a good match for him. Australians have long had an affinity with the United States and absorb American popular culture like blotting paper. The U.S. is popularly seen as rescuing Australia from Japanese invasion during World War II, after old ally Britain abandoned its Southeast Asian stronghold of Singapore. Ever since, the United States has found a staunch ally in Australia in every major conflict, including an unpopular war in Vietnam and the politically divisive invasion of Iraq in 2003.

TOKYO (AP)  A Japanese religious cult that carried out a deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways in 1995 also experimented with the VX nerve agent suspected in the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother in Malaysia. Months before killing about a dozen commuters and severely injuring dozens more in Tokyo with sarin, another kind of nerve gas, in March 1995, the Aum Shinrikyo cult tried VX on at least three victims, killing one whom cult members believed was a police informant. In their trial, cult members said they practiced using syringes to spray the deadly chemical on people's necks as they pretended to be out jogging.

The banned chemical weapon VX is considered by some experts to be the nastiest of the nasty nerve agents known to exist. With a consistency similar to motor oil, it lingers for long periods in the environment and even a tiny amount causes victims' bodies to flood with fluids, producing a feeling of drowning before death. So when Malaysian authorities announced Friday that VX was to blame for the Feb. 13 death of the North Korean leader's exiled half brother inside a busy Kuala Lumpur airport, it raised nearly as many questions as answers. First, with a substance so potent, how is it possible that the two women who allegedly attacked Kim Jong Nam with it could have survived?

SYDNEY (AP)  Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo arrived in Sydney on Saturday on his first visit to Australia as his nation's leader. Jokowi and first lady Iriana Widodo landed in rain and clutched umbrellas as they greeted Australian officials on the Sydney Airport tarmac. Improving trade and investment will be a key focus of Jokowi's two-day state visit with plans to finalize a free trade agreement this year. Jokowi will meet with business leaders Saturday afternoon before a private dinner at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's harbor-side mansion. "Our relationship with Indonesia is growing deeper by the day but it has not yet reached its full potential," Turnbull wrote in an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, adding that Australia trades more with Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand than with Indonesia.

SHANGHAI (AP)  Democratic senators are protesting the Trump Organization's acceptance of a valuable trademark from the Chinese government without asking Congress first if doing so is constitutional. A group of 13 senators warned President Donald Trump in a letter Thursday that they intend to hold him accountable to his oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. Additional Democrats signed a letter Friday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that complains about Trump getting special treatment from China. "A president must not have two masters," said Thursday's letter, led by Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal. "If you continue to refuse to request and receive congressional approval before accepting favors from foreign governments, we will be unable to serve our constitutional role.
The highest-profile critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal drug war was arrested Friday on charges she said were meant to silence her, but she vowed to keep fighting the "sociopathic serial killer".

Speaking to journalists minutes before armed police in flak jackets detained her, Senator Leila de Lima insisted she was innocent of the drug trafficking charges that could see her jailed for life.

"It is my honour to be imprisoned for the things I am fighting for. Please pray for me," De Lima, 57, said outside her Senate office where she had sought temporary refuge overnight after an arrest warrant was issued on Thursday.

"They will not be able to silence me and stop me from fighting for the truth and justice and against the daily killings and repression by the Duterte regime."

De Lima also recorded a polemical video just before her arrest in which she called for Filipinos to show courage and oppose Duterte's drug war, which has seen more than 6,500 people killed since he took office eight months ago.

"There is no doubt that our president is a murderer and a sociopathic serial killer," she said in the 10-minute video that was posted on her Facebook page.

De Lima, a former human rights commissioner, said her arrest was an act of revenge for her decade-long efforts to expose Duterte as the leader of death squads during his time as mayor of southern Davao city.

Duterte first raised allegations in August that De Lima had been running a drug trafficking ring with criminals inside the nation's biggest prison when she was the justice secretary in the previous government.

"I will have to destroy her in public," Duterte said then as he began a campaign to tarnish her reputation, including by making unsubstantiated allegations about her sex life.

- 'People are afraid' -

"De Lima is not only screwing her driver, she is also screwing the nation."

The senator was last week charged with three counts of drug trafficking, and the arrest warrant was issued on Thursday.

Story continues

De Lima was taken Friday to a special detention centre for high-profile prisoners at the national police headquarters. The detainees' rooms are spartan, but are comfortable compared with the nation's notoriously crowded jails.

De Lima and her supporters insisted that Duterte orchestrated the charges not just to crush her opposition, but also to intimidate anyone else who may want to speak out against the president or his drug war.

"People are afraid," Father Robert Reyes, an activist priest who spent the night at the Senate with De Lima and other supporters, told AFP after her arrest.

"If the government can arrest a powerful person like her, what chance does the little man have? That is the implied message of her arrest."

Vice President Leni Robredo, a member of De Lima's opposition Liberal Party and elected separately from Duterte, described the arrest as "political harassment".

Amnesty International said Thursday that it would regard De Lima as a prisoner of conscience.

"The arrest of De Lima is a blatant attempt by the Philippine government to silence criticism of President Duterte and divert attention away from serious human rights violations in the 'war on drugs'," it said.

United Nations human rights chiefs also expressed concern.

"We are following the situation very closely," said spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani.

Duterte's aides insisted they had a strong case against De Lima and said her arrest showed even the most powerful people would be brought to justice if they broke the law.

"The war on illegal drugs targets all who are involved and the arrest of an incumbent senator demonstrates the president's strong resolve to fight pushers, peddlers and their protectors," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

Duterte, 71, won the presidential election last year after promising during the campaign to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people.

He launched the crackdown immediately after taking office in June and police have reported killing 2,555 drug suspects since then, with about 4,000 other people murdered in unexplained circumstances.

Amnesty has warned that police actions in the drug war may amount to crimes against humanity.

Duterte has repeatedly urged police to kill drug addicts as well as traffickers. But his aides insist he has never broken any laws.
Qamishli (Syria) (AFP) - The top US military commander for the Middle East made a secret trip to northern Syria on Friday to meet a US-backed alliance fighting the Islamic State group, officials said.

General Joseph Votel, who heads US Central Command (Centcom), met with leaders from the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The trip, unannounced for security reasons, was first such visit under the new US administration, but the third in a series of meetings with the SDF.

SDF spokesman Talal Sello told AFP that Votel "discussed the increase of coordination and support (to the SDF) in the era of Donald Trump".

"There were promises of heavy weapons in future stages," Sello said.

However, Votel's spokesman Colonel John Thomas stressed that the general did not make any specific promises about any type of weaponry.

"During the conversation, General Votel understood their need for logistical support and resources that may be greater than what they have been provided up until now," Thomas said.

"While assuring them that this was a need he understands, he did not make specific promises."

In an online statement, Sello said Votel had met with several SDF commanders.

"The results were positive. We discussed the developments in the Euphrates Rage campaign and shared military matters," Sello said.

He described the meeting as "confirmation of US support for our forces".

An SDF source told AFP the visit lasted four hours.

According to a senior source in the SDF, "Votel confirmed the coalition's commitment to protecting Manbij from any attacks waged by Turkey or supported by it, as part of its previous commitment to protecting the area."

Manbij is a city in Aleppo province.

"We did not discuss opening corridors for Turkish-backed forces to enter areas under our control," the source said.

But Thomas said that, while Votel supports a peaceful transition of Manbij to a "thriving city", he did not say if the United States would stop any supposed Turkish move towards it.

Story continues

Votel "understands that open communication on all sides is the best way to prevent any unfortunate change in the progress that Manbij has made", Thomas said.

Founded in October 2015, the SDF is an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters that has seized swathes of territory from IS across northern Syria.

The United States has special operations forces advising the SDF on the ground in Syria, but no combat units.

On Wednesday, Votel told journalists travelling with him in the Middle East that more US troops might be needed in Syria, although he stressed local forces would be the primary force.

"I am very concerned about maintaining momentum," Votel said, in comments reported by the New York Times and other outlets.

"It could be that we take on a larger burden ourselves."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Wednesday a government bill that would increase the power of U.S. border agents to question and detain U.S.-bound travelers at Canadian airports and other crossings.

Trudeau also said Canada will still protect travelers in Canada even if they are detained for more questioning or a search by American authorities in a preclearance zone.

But critics such as Canada's New Democrats Party argued the bill doesn't take into account what it called "the climate of uncertainty at the border" since President Donald Trump took office in January and vowed to deport millions of immigrants. The White House's policies have seen more people cross the border to get into Canada in recent weeks and Trump has vowed to heavily probe travelers coming into the U.S. The fear is that Canadians traveling to the U.S. could soon face a harder process under Trump.

The bill will enact an agreement between the U.S. and Washington signed in 2015 to expand border clearance and speed the flow of people and goods across the border by setting up new U.S. customs facilities in Canadian airports. Under the policy, travelers don't have to pass through customs in the U.S., because they've already done so before departing Canada. The expanded policy will allow American customs agents to carry weapons within Canada, perform body searches and detain travelers.

"If we didn't have preclearance in Canada, people would be passing customs in the United States. And in the United States, American laws dominate and control the behavior of people in border crossings. When you're doing preclearance in Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canadian laws are in place, so there is extra protection," Trudeau said.

Canada has allowed U.S. customs officials on its soil for decades. Canada's Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said this week the new expanded program will further protect and serve Canadians.

Story continues

Getting all those customs and immigration processes out of the way before you board the plane or before you cross the border, doing it on Canadian soil under Canadian law under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms  thats a massive advantage for Canadians, he said.

Trudeau also said Tuesday Canada will continue to accept undocumented refugees crossing the border from the United States despite opposition from conservative lawmakers.

Related Articles
The Trump administration is headed toward a diplomatic confrontation with Moscow at the United Nations, as the United States, Britain, and France pressed for the passage of a resolution sanctioning Syrias use of chemical weapons in the face of a certain Russian veto.

U.S. and European diplomats in New York reached agreement Wednesday to press for the passage of a resolution, possibly as early as next week, that would impose an asset freeze and travel ban on 21 Syrian entities and military and intelligence chiefs linked to the governments use of chlorine and other deadlier chemical weapons. It would also sharply restrict Syrias import of military helicopters, which have been used to drop chlorine-filled barrel bombs on opposition-controlled Syrian towns.

It is absolutely vital that the Security Council take action, Peter Wilson, a senior British diplomat, told reporters Friday. We absolutely intend to move forward with this resolution in the coming days.

The move highlights the practical limits to U.S. cooperation with Russia under President Donald Trump, who campaigned on his ability to strike bargains with Russian President Vladimir Putin that would serve U.S. interests.

Speaking before a Security Council meeting on chemical weapons in Syria, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said she was hopeful the council could move forward with the resolution.

You are either for chemical weapons or youre against it, Haley said following a closed-door Security Council discussion on Syrias chemical weapons. How much longer is Russia going to continue to babysit and make excuses for the Syrian regime? People have died by being suffocated to death. Thats barbaric.

She didnt have to wait long. Asked whether Moscow would block the measure, Russias deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, bluntly told reporters Friday: Yes. If it is tabled, we will veto it.

The move comes as U.N.-brokered talks on Syrias political future are underway in Geneva. The U.N. chiefs Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is trying to nail down an agreement to end the countrys nearly six-year civil war, which has left hundreds of thousands of people dead and driven millions of Syrian refugees into neighboring countries and Europe.

Story continues

But getting the feuding factions to actually sit down and start hammering out a solution has proved elusive so far, prompting the U.N. chief to prod them into real negotiations.

After six years of bloodshed, the secretary-general urges the Syrians who have accepted the invitation to be in Geneva to engage in good faith as the special envoy seeks to facilitate the process, Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters Thursday. While acknowledging that progress will not be easy, the secretary-general believes strongly that only a political solution can bring peace to Syria and that all those Syrians who have committed themselves to this goal should redouble their efforts for peace.

Despite their private push for quick action, the United States, Britain, and France have not set a deadline for a vote on the chemical weapons resolution, raising questions about whether the latest diplomatic gambit is partly a bid to force Russia to pressure its Syrian proxy to accept a negotiated end to the civil war.

Frances U.N. ambassador, Francois Delattre, told reporters Friday that the sponsors of the resolution would monitor progress in the talks before calling for a vote. But he vowed that the resolutions chief sponsors would eventually call a vote on the text. It is not a question of if. The question is really when, he said.

The United States and its Western partners have been mulling the possibility of forcing a Security Council vote on a sanctions resolution since last August. Thats when a team of international chemical weapons inspectors concluded that the Syrian air force had dropped barrel bombs containing chlorine or some other chemical agent on two opposition-controlled towns, Talmenes and Sarmin, in April 2014 and March 2015, respectively.

The Joint Investigative Mechanism  comprising experts from the U.N and The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons  also concluded that the Islamic State fired rockets containing mustard gas at the opposition-held town of Marea in August 2015.

Even before President Trumps inauguration, the Obama administration had pushed for the passage of the same resolution under consideration today. But British and French allies delayed action, fearing it could upend Syria cease-fire talks and rankle an incoming administration that appeared intent on bolstering relations with Russia. This time around, the United States has agreed to take the lead in co-sponsoring the resolution with Britain and France.

The draft resolution, which is intended to deter future attacks, condemns both the Syrian government and the Islamic State and demands they cease their use of chemical weapons. It would impose an asset freeze and a travel ban on 11 top Syrian military and intelligence officials, including the commanders of Syrian helicopter fleets linked to chlorine attacks in three Syrian towns.

The resolution also targets 10 Syrian entities, including the Scientific Studies and Research Center, which the United States and international inspectors believe is linked to Syrias chemical weapons program. Syria has denied the institution is involved in the Syrian program. Further, it would restrict Syria from importing some commercial chemicals, including chlorine, that could be used as lethal  albeit still legal  chemical warfare agents.

Photo credit: JM LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the FBI on Friday for failing to stop leaks of national security information to the media and directed the agency to find those who pass on classified information. Trump's comments come amid media reports saying the FBI refused a White House request to knock down news stories saying members of Trump's team were in frequent contact with Russian intelligence agents during the presidential campaign. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the nation's top law enforcement agency, did not answer a request for comment on Trump's remarks on Twitter. "The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW," Trump wrote. News reports by CNN and The Associated Press said White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked Andrew McCabe, the FBI deputy director, to deny a Feb. 14 New York Times report that said Trump's presidential campaign advisers had been in frequent contact with Russian intelligence officers. The request came after McCabe told him privately the report was wrong. A senior administration official said on Friday that FBI Director James Comey also told Priebus later the story was not accurate. Priebus asked if the FBI could set the record straight, but Comey said the bureau could not comment. Priebus asked if he could say intelligence officials assured him the story was inaccurate, and Comey said he could, the official told reporters. The FBI is investigating Russian interference in the Nov. 8 U.S. election. FBI counterintelligence agents are also examining financial transactions by Russian individuals and companies who are believed to have links to Trump associates. "There are investigations that are going on and those investigations must find out exactly what Russia was doing in the United States," Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN on Friday. "We need a complete investigation and we certainly don't want the White House at all trying to influence that investigation." U.S. Representative John Conyers said any White House attempt to influence the FBI was "deeply troubling." "The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the President and his advisors," Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in late on Thursday. (Reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu and Emily Stephenson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum)
President Trump is interviewed by Reuters in the Oval Office Feb. 23. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

President Trump said the FBI is totally unable to crack down on U.S. government employees who plan to leak sensitive information to the media.

On social media Friday morning, the commander in chief said the bureau couldnt even halt leakers within its own organization. He described this supposed proliferation of leakers as a longtime problem that could have a devastating impact on the United States.

The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

The Twitter fuming followed CNN and AP reports that Trumps chief of staff, Reince Priebus, asked FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to publicly dispute a media report on the alleged regular conversations between Trumps campaign advisers and Russian intelligence. But the AP cited a White House official  not an FBI source.

The official reportedly said that the FBI had told Priebus that a New York Times report about intelligence agencies intercepting phone calls between Trumps team and Russia was inaccurate. The bureau has not officially commented on the matter.

Priebus request led to immediate backlash from Democrats who argued the administration has no place pressuring the FBI to make statements concerning a pending investigation of its own staff.

Late Thursday night, White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted that the administration didnt try to pressure the FBI into doing anything improper. We didnt try to knock the story down. We asked them to tell the truth, he said.

Story continues

Trump, who embraced WikiLeaks during the campaign, has repeatedly complained about leaks since winning the election.

On Feb. 13, Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned after reports surfaced that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about his phone conversations with Russias ambassador to the U.S. During a heated press conference Feb. 16, Trump lashed out at journalists, yet again, for the tone of their coverage. He somewhat confusingly confirmed reports about leaks as real but said the news they generated was still fake.

The leaks are absolutely real. Youre the one that wrote about them and reported them, Trump said. 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.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg became acting national security adviser until Trump revealed his choice for a full-time replacement: Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.

Trumps relationships with the press and the intelligence community have been strained at best and highly contentious at worst. He has called reporters among the worst people Ive ever met and downplayed the conclusion of intelligence officials that Russia had hacked into the U.S. presidential campaign.

Late last month, the celebrity businessman turned commander in chief visited CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., in an attempt to ameliorate tensions between his administration and the intelligence community after weeks of ridicule. In one tweet ahead of the CIA visit, Trump even compared U.S. intelligence leaks to Nazi Germany.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders alleged that President Donald Trump received hundreds of thousands of dollars for his presidential campaign from private prison companies and is now paying them back by opening the floodgates for them to make huge profits.

This is how our corrupt political and campaign finance system works, Sanders said in a press release Thursday.

Trumps Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday rolled back former President Barack Obamas administrative memorandum that called for the gradual phasing out of private prisons. The Department of Justice had announced in August last year that it will limit private prisons as they were less safe than government facilities.

Private prison companies invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Donald Trumps presidential campaign and today they got their reward: the Trump administration reversed the Obama administrations directive to reduce the Justice Departments use of private prisons, Sanders said, adding that Trump just opened the floodgates for private prisons to make huge profits by building more prisons and keeping even more Americans in jail.

GEO Group, one of the largest private prison companies, donated at least $100,000 to a Super PAC supporting Trump, and another $5,000 to a nonprofit handling Trumps transition. Along with another for-profit prison company, Corrections Corporation of America, GEO also gave over $1.6 million to the Republican Governors Association. This organization funded Vice President Mike Pences campaign for the post of the governor of Indiana.

Sanders has been a vocal critic of private prisons and in 2015, introduced a bill to ban such facilities.

We cannot fix our criminal justice system if corporations are allowed to profit from mass incarceration, he said at the time. Keeping human beings in jail for long periods of time must no longer be an acceptable business model in America.

Looking to end the private prison racket in the country, Sanders on Thursday reiterated: "Corporations should not be profiting by incarcerating our fellow Americans.

Related Articles
Many Russians believe that President Donald Trump is a puppet in Russian President Vladimir Putins hands and is being used to fulfill his agenda of discrediting democracies across the world, the editor-in-chief of the Moscow Times, a prominent Russian newspaper critical of Putins politics, said Wednesday.

Mikhail Fishman said popular opinion in Russia is that Trump is a stupid, unstrategic politician who can be manipulated for the Kremlins benefit. He also said Russia is looking to take advantage of the Trump administrations many slip-ups during its first month in office. They see the clumsiness, the inexperience. Naturally, they're working to exploit that, Fishman said.

While the world was unsure about a Trump presidency during the campaign stage, the Kremlin portrayed the Republican nominee in a positive light. Kremlins propaganda showcased Trump as an honest representative of the American people who was being mistreated by the establishment elites and other evil forces in Washington, Fishman told Vox.

Putin reportedly never expected Trump to emerge as the winner in the presidential election last year. Instead, his goal was to discredit his rival and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Clinton would have likely followed former President Barack Obamas global policy, and may have further isolated Moscow, especially after the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

putin trump

Photo: Getty Images/Sean Gallup

Fishman said Putins ultimate aim  stemming from his identity as an ex-Soviet intelligence officer  was to undermine the concept of democracy. The Moscow Times editor-in-chief explained: He wants to point to the chaos in these countries and say to his domestic audience, You see, democracy is a sham, and it doesnt work anywhere.

Story continues

That serves as a justification for his own anti-democratic policies, Fishman added. In the end, its about reinforcing his own power.

In the U.S., Trumps comments lauding Putin and calling for better relations with Russia while on the campaign trail have raised alarm over his alleged links to the Kremlin, and the influence the latter may have on the U.S. president.

Related Articles
Donald Trump says he has never smoked pot  and apparently hes not a fan of people who do.

Trumps press secretary, Sean Spicer, suggested on Thursday that the Trump administration could crack down on the 8 states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Spicer said the Justice Dept. would be further looking into the question of whether to enforce federal anti-marijuana laws more aggressively, and went on to say, I do believe that youll see greater enforcement of it.

That would be an abrupt change from the federal policies of the last several years, and a big setback for the burgeoning legal marijuana industry. Marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, which means federal law prohibits its use. But after Colorado and Washington declared recreational pot legal in 2012, President Obama famously said, weve got bigger fish to fry, indicating that his administration would look the other way instead of enforcing the federal law, which preempts state law.

A marijuana farm in Colorado. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

Weed enthusiasts hoped Trump would be just as chill. In 2015, Trump said the question of legalizing pot should be a state issue, state-by-state, which, essentially it has been. A January report from a publication called Marijuana Business Daily concluded that we will see a continuation of some form of the status quo.

But the Trump administration has now signaled for the first time that it may disrupt the status quo. And the chief disrupter may not be Trump himself, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is a longtime foe of legal marijuana. During his confirmation hearing in January, Sessions was noncommittal on the issue, leaving himself open to either continuing the Obama policy or getting tougher. I wont commit to never enforcing federal law, he said, somewhat elliptically.

White House Communications Director Sean Spicer holds the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Spicers reference to greater enforcement suggests the Trump administration is now forming a more coherent policy on the issue. Legalized pot has grown into a $5 billion business, with California, Nevada, Oregon, Alaska, Massachusetts, Maine and the District of Columbia also legalizing the drug for recreational use since 2012. Another 19 states allow marijuana use for medicinal purposes. Polls show 60% of Americans support the idea of legal marijuana, the highest level on record.

Story continues

Spicer did stipulate the importance of medical marijuana, suggesting Trump would continue to allow that. Still, Trump would be swimming against the tide if he cracked down on pot at all, and the federal government probably doesnt have the budget or personpower to police pot on a dealer-by-dealer basis. But Trump is shaping himself as a law-and-order president, and might figure its important to win points with anti-drug purists, even if theyre a minority.

If Trump were to crack down on legal pot, it would certainly discourage investment in an industry thats evolving from a patchwork of pop-up shops to a more regulated and professionalized sector with brands and standards. Trump cant close every pot boutique, but he can interfere with funding, limit growth and just be a buzzkill. Maybe pot CEOs should seek an invitation to the White House, to tell the president how they feel about Washington interference in their business.

Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman

More from Rick:
The South China Sea question is rolling toward the Trump White House like a long, low Pacific wave. Whenever it breaks, the presidents going to need a strategy he doesnt seem to have yet. The strategy is just a piece of what President Trump has to provide. Nearly as important is who in the administration takes the lead in shaping and executing US policy.

Trump could find a place in the White House attic for Barack Obamas over-reaching pivot to Asia in favor of a wiser policy that acknowledges Chinas emerging role in the region as inevitable. Defense Secretary Mattis could get the South China Sea file, and Secretary of State Tillerson, who has a thing or two to learn about power and diplomacy, does deputys duty.

Related: China Just Gave Trump a 999-Foot-Long Middle Finger

This looks possible at the moment. President Trump displays little interest in the strategic dimension of Asia policy, so hes certain to put one or another cabinet member in charge of transPacific security questions. Mattis is the performer thus far.

The South China Sea is a shallow but endlessly complicated body of water. Six nationsseven if you count Taiwannow compete for maritime jurisdiction based on conflicting claims to sovereignty over 51 of roughly 150 islands, atolls, and specks of rock just above the waves south and east of the mainlands coast.

The US, not to be missed, isnt party to any of these disputes. Washingtons gripe is that Chinas obvious rise as a regional power threatens American primacy in the western Pacific, which has gone unchallenged for 70odd years. Its early, but Trump and his people are so far leaving the policies they inherited in place. It amounts to flying on autopilot, and it wont do.

Last weekend the Pentagon sent the Carl Vinson carrier group into the South China Sea amid reports it would conduct another of the Navys freedom-of-navigation cruises  deployments intended to observe international law but breach Chinas maritime claims. Theres nothing new in this: Obama revived the moribund freedom-of-navigation tests in 2015. But it was pointlessly provocative then and even more so now. Nothing is accomplished and tensions worsen.

Story continues

Related: The US Navys $13 Billion Answer to China and Russia

China always respects the freedom of navigation and overflight that countries enjoy in the South China Sea under international law, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said Wednesday. But we oppose relevant countries threatening and undermining the sovereignty and security of coastal states under the pretext of such freedom.

Courteous, yes. But a warning, too. As elsewhere around the globe, this is testing time across the Pacific for the Trump administration. No one knows what it plans to do and everyones eager to find out.

A day before the Foreign Ministry statement on the Vinson, a Reuters exclusive quoted U.S. intelligence officials saying that China is completing nearly two dozen structures on disputed islands. Thirty-three feet high, twice as long, and with retractable roofs, these buildings are commonly used to house surface-to-air missiles.

Again, nothing new here. Its hardly plausible that the structures Chinas erecting on isolated atolls were begun since Trump took office. But if neither of these back-to-back developments is anything major, together they should be read as a harbinger. Some home truths about China and transPacific policy ought to be landing in the White House right about now.

Related: China Is Ready to Step into Americas Role as World Leader

One, if the Pentagon isnt going to react militarily to the new structures China is building to house SAMs, its unlikely to react to anything. Missions such as the Vinsons amount to useless bluff.

The same goes for Rex Tillersons belligerent comment, Were going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed, Tillerson asserted.

Step back for another look. The US is a million miles from going to war over these specks in the sea, which doesn't even straddle the shipping lanes Washington claims to be its main concern. Corollary point: Chinas right to police and defend waters off its coast is no more negotiable than Americas. Theres no give here to exploit.

Two, its time to stop pretending the rest of Asia appreciates Washingtons confrontational approach. The US has a lot of frontage on the Pacific lake, and this is fine -- even with the Chinese. Viewed from the Asian side of the ocean, however, Americans are up to only two things now: Making noise and making trouble.

Related: Trumps Vow to Abandon the TPP Hands China a Huge Victory

The Filipinos just cut a deal with Beijing to reach a compromise on disputed territories. So has Vietnam, and Malaysia is in negotiations with the same intent. Thailand has no quarrel with China, but Bangkok is replacing outdated US military gear with Chinese-made fighter jets and a new submarine; new railroad stock is coming from China and Japan.

In short, the region is daily coming to terms with an economy that will soon equal Americas in size and which is already at the center of regional trade, investment, infrastructure financing, and tourism. How, you have to ask, does an aircraft carrier wandering the South China Sea stack up against this?

Trump needs to pull a NixoninChina act. Mattis, with his soldierly credentials well-established, should star. He neednt step back from Obamas pivot so much as put it gently aside. Then he can begin the work of remaking the SinoAmerican relationship based on shared interests and a recognition of Chinas.

Fail to do this, and the Trump administration will paint itself further into the corner Obama was intently headed into. Thats not a good deal, Mr. President.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday reinstated the use of private prisons for federal inmates, saying commercial prison operators are needed for the correctional system's "future needs."

Trump's new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, officially rescinded the Barack Obama administration's move last August to phase out the management of prisons by private companies, which Obama's justice department had said proved to be inadequate, more dangerous and not cheaper than government-run prisons.

Sessions said in an order that the move last year had reversed a longstanding policy at the Federal Bureau of Prisons to have private companies involved, "and impaired the bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system."

The Obama move had only affected a small portion of the US prison system: 13 privately run prisons housing just over 22,000 people, or about 11 percent of the federal prison population. Most are foreign nationals, mainly Mexicans incarcerated for immigration violations.

The Trump government has promised a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration, suggesting the prisons bureau could require greater holding capacity in a short time.

The 13 prisons are run by three companies: CoreCivic (known until recently as Corrections Corporation of America), GEO Group and Management and Training Corporation.

The announcement gave a strong after-hours boost to the stock of the two listed firms. Core Civic jumped 3.2 percent, while GEO Group added 1.0 percent.

The move was expected and both companies' stocks had already risen sharply after Trump's election victory on November 8.
During the swearing-in of Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this month, President Donald Trump touched base on three executive orders that he said were designed to restore safety in America.

Under the Trump administration, the president promised law and order, which is strict enforcement of laws that is supposed to help society function in an orderly manner.

"Crime Reduction and Public Safety": Under this executive order, signed Feb. 9, Sessions will work to create a new task called Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Policy. He was tasked with coming up with different strategies to reduce crime, mainly illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime. Trump also expects an annual report. "Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement Officers": This executive order has tasked the Justice Department and attorney general with developing a strategy with local, state, and federal agencies to prosecute people who commit crimes against police. The attorney general will also report his findings and recommendations. Its a shame whats been happening to our great, truly great law enforcement officers, Trump said at the signing ceremony Feb. 9. Thats going to stop as of today. "Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking": This executive order brought the secretary of state, attorney general, secretary of homeland security, and director of national intelligence together to co-chair and direct the existing Interagency Threat Mitigation Working Group. They will all submit a report to Trump within four months, then annually, describing the international drug cartels along with any recommended actions for dismantling them.

Trump delivered a speech to the Major Cities Chiefs Police Association Feb. 8, during which he laid out his promises to and expectations for law enforcement under his presidency.

Trump said there would be zero tolerance for violence against law enforcement officers. He added that he would pass a law to punish those who attack police officers. The act would be considered a hate crime.

Law enforcement and the public should report people living in the U.S. illegally and involved in any criminal activity to the Department of Homeland Security, the president said. I want you to turn in the bad ones. Call Secretary Kelly's representatives and we'll get them out of our country and bring them back where they came from, and we'll do it fast, Trump said.

Decrease crimes in Chicago was a priority for the president. Weve allowed too many young lives to be claimed, he said.

Trump's administration planned to give law enforcement the resources to recruit and retain officers.

Trump promised to support law enforcement with federal grants as he takes away federal funding from sanctuary cities.

The president pledged to reinstate a federal program suspended by former President Barack Obama that allowed the transfer of surplus military equipment to police departments.

Related Articles
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.  Conservatism will be supplanted by Trumpism when the president speaks Friday at the annual gathering of right-wing activists known as CPAC  the Conservative Political Action Conference  Trumps adviser Kellyanne Conway predicted Thursday.

This will be TPAC when hes here, no doubt, Conway quipped.

It was a throwaway line, not a statement of deep philosophical intent. But it spoke volumes about the way the Republican Party has been altered by the rise of Trump, and it sparked alarm even among attendees at the conference.

I think thats dangerous, said Sarah Markley, a student at Grove City College near Pittsburgh. I think that we should first stick to our principles and look for somebody who embodies those.

Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin, strolling through a crowd of admirers asking him for photos, bristled when told of Conways remark.

Its Conservative Political Action Conference. Thats what it is. Itll be that 10 years from now, Levin said. When I worked for [President Ronald] Reagan, we didnt call it RPAC. So I would remind them about that.

Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart News writer who has been a vocal Trump critic, wrote that the Trump cult of personality is well underway.

Its not wrong for CPAC to celebrate Trump, Shapiro wrote. Hes a Republican president with a Republican Congress, and he will undoubtedly push some conservative policies and already has (which I have thoroughly celebrated). But to substitute Trump worship for adherence to conservatism is a recipe for disaster.

Conway was not the only high-ranking White House official to be a cheerleader for Trump at the conference. Trumps top adviser, Steve Bannon, appeared with White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, and the two spent their time on stage alternating between hyperbolic praise for Trump and complaining of how unfair press coverage has been.

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, right, hugs White House strategist Steve Bannon as they are introduced to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP)

Slideshow: Scenes from CPAC 2017 >>>

Priebus said Trump will be one of the greatest presidents that ever served this country and that he has already put in the best Cabinet in the history of Cabinets.

Story continues

Bannon, the former Breitbart News editor in chief who was considered so unpalatable to conservatives that he was not welcome at CPAC in previous years, said Trump is probably the greatest public speaker in those large arenas since William Jennings Bryan and that one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history was [Trumps] immediate withdrawal from [the Trans-Pacific Partnership].

Priebus even led the audience in chants of Trump, Trump, Trump.

Yet most CPAC attendees who spoke with Yahoo News did not believe Trump is a conservative. Hes more of a populist, said Kathleen Smero, a sales representative who had come down from Baltimore to attend the conference.

Trump campaigned during the election against trade deals and in favor of protectionist policies at odds with conservative belief in free markets, against reducing the national debt, against much in the way of restraints on the presidency, and in favor of big government. And in perhaps the biggest departure from conservatism, Trump supporters backed him because he represented radical change and disruption.

But since taking office, he has satisfied the right on several counts, most notably his nomination of a respected federal judge, Neil Gorsuch, to be considered for confirmation by the Senate to the Supreme Court.

I do admit that I had sort of a doomsday scenario when he was elected, but compared to my very low expectations he definitely has exceeded them. I do like some of the people in his Cabinet, said Jorge Villarreal, a community college student from Houston who voted for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson for president.

And Smero, who voted for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the presidential primary and for Trump in the general election last fall, said she was willing to give Trump a chance.

I dont necessarily think hes a conservative. But I think he has popular ideas that resonate with a lot of middle class Americans, she said. Theres a tremendous amount of hysteria right now. We need to just kick back, let him work a little bit. Lets see what happens.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP)

The rights identity crisis was evident in Conways comment and in a speech given soon after that by Dan Schneider, the executive director of the American Conservative Union, which organizes CPAC.

Schneider delivered a blistering rebuke to the movement known as the alt-right, which includes white supremacist and Nazi elements.

They hate the Constitution. They hate free markets. They hate pluralism. They hate everything and despise everything we believe in, Schneider said.

Schneider said that the alt-right is trying to worm its way into our ranks. We must not be duped. We must not be deceived.

Behind Schneider, the logos of CPAC sponsors were emblazoned on the stage. One of the logos was that of Breitbart, which has given alt-right views a platform. A year ago, Breitbart ran a piece describing alt-right thought in sympathetic terms.

They are mostly white, mostly male middle-American radicals, who are unapologetically embracing a new identity politics that prioritises the interests of their own demographic, wrote then-senior editor Milo Yiannopoulos and a co-author. The alt-rights intellectuals would also argue that culture is inseparable from race. The alt-right believe that some degree of separation between peoples is necessary for a culture to be preserved.

Alt-right thinkers truly believe that multiethnic democracies cannot succeed, Shapiro, a former Breitbart columnist, said last fall.

Schneiders comments were even more noteworthy considering that until two days earlier, Yiannopoulos  who has identified himself as part of the alt-right  had been on the schedule to speak at the conference. It was only after a video surfaced showing Yiannopoulos defending men having sex with underage boys that ACU chairman Matt Schlapp disinvited the provocateur.

As if all this were not surreal enough, after Schneider spoke, Richard Spencer, an alt-right leader who led followers in chants of Hail Trump and Nazi salutes after Trumps election last fall, appeared in the hall outside the CPAC meeting and was surrounded by a crowd of reporters. He explained that his views are about caring about your people.

My people are Europeans, he said.

Spencer declared that the alt-right was always about a right wing that was against the conservative movement and said that Trump has a connection with the alt-right.

Richard Spencer, an alt-right leader, speaks to reporters before he was thrown out of the CPAC meeting. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

He has a deeper connection with us than he does with conservatives, who believe in sovereign individuality and free market capitalism and so on. He has a deeper connection with us because we are about the nation too, Spencer said.

Spencer was thrown out by CPAC organizers after his comments to reporters, but some of his comments were echoed by Bannon from the stage a few hours later.

The center core of what we believe, that were a nation with an economy, not an economy just in some global marketplace with open borders, but we are a nation with a culture and a reason for being. I think thats what unites us, Bannon said.

Bannon has said in the past that he is worried about the future of the Judeo-Christian West. Thats not exactly the same thing as Spencers more explicit references to ethnic heritage. But it is similar in that Bannons focus is on preserving a certain culture rather than a set of ideals.

Thats what makes Bannon such a controversial figure, and why many traditional conservatives want to keep him at arms length. The question is, how much of this will shape how Trump governs and his relationship with whats left of the right?

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Turkish forces killed 56 Islamic State fighters Wednesday in Syria in the latest successful operation against the militant group. The airstrikes in al-Bab in northern Syria near the Turkish border destroyed dozens of ISIS-controlled buildings and vehicles, reported Hurriyet Daily News.

While 11 of the jihadists were killed in airstrikes by coalition forces, the rest were killed in artillery fire and clashes during the operations in al-Bab, said the Turkish army. Turkish officials said last week they had almost taken control of al-Bab, however, a war monitor said the jihadists still control 90 percent of the town. There are less than 100 ISIS militants hiding in al-Bab, according to The National.

United Nations officials have expressed concern for the 5,000 civilians trapped in and around al-Bab. Shelling and airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians in recent months, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, a Britain-based observatory accused Turkish forces of killing more than 124 civilians in two weeks of airstrikes and shelling.

We urgently call on all parties to the conflict to immediately ensure the unhindered movement and safe passage for people trying to reach safety. The UN and partners are ready to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to the civilians who are caught in the middle of this combat, said Ali Al-Zatari, the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria.

Turkey has sought for months to clear ISIS forces from near its border and al-Bab has remained a prime target for military operations. Last week, the Turkish military hit 18 Islamic State targets in al-Bab, Reuters reported.

Global leaders meet in Geneva Thurday to discuss a possible peace deal to halt the fighting in Syria's five-year-old civil war. Russia urged Syria this week to stop its bombings against rebel forces such as ISIS. However, hours after rival delegations arrived for the UN-brokered discussions, there seemed to be little progress from all involved sides.

Story continues

Related Articles
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's military confirmed on Friday that Syrian rebels had taken full control of all neighborhoods of Syria's al-Bab from Islamic State, marking a significant advance for Ankara's drive to oust the jihadists. Work to search and clear mines and unexploded ordnance was still underway, the army said in a statement. Turkey directly intervened in Syria in August in support of rebel factions under the FSA banner to drive Islamic State from its border. It also wants to stop Kurdish groups gaining control of the region. Turkey-backed rebels had besieged the town of al-Bab in early December. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by David Dolan)
SEOUL (Reuters) - Two senior Samsung Group executives have offered to resign to take responsibility for the conglomerate's involvement in the graft scandal involving South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Yonhap news agency said on Friday, without citing sources. The report said Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung and President Chang Choong-gi have offered to resign. Both executives were identified as suspects by the South Korean special prosecution in a graft probe that led to Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee's arrest last week. Yonhap did not say whether the executives have formally submitted their resignation or whether they will remain with the conglomerate in some other capacity. Samsung Group did not immediately comment on the report. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
By Rodrigo Campos UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council will likely vote on a resolution to blacklist 11 Syrian military commanders and officials over chemical weapons attacks as early as next week, diplomats said on Thursday. The draft resolution also seeks to ban the sale or supply of helicopters to the Syrian government and to blacklist 10 government and related entities involved in the development and production of chemical weapons and the missiles to deliver them. It calls for an asset freeze and travel ban for the individuals and entities across all U.N. member states. A joint inquiry by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used mustard gas, according to reports seen by Reuters in August and October. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government has denied its forces have used chemical weapons. Chlorine's use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013. If inhaled, chlorine gas turns into hydrochloric acid in the lungs and can kill by burning lungs and drowning victims in the resulting body fluids. The U.N. vote could coincide with talks between representatives of Assad's government and his opponents with U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura, which started on Thursday in Geneva. The Security Council diplomat said the draft resolution would be brought to a vote next week unless a "really compelling argument" against it emerged from the talks. A Western diplomat said the new U.S. administration was now co-sponsoring the resolution, and consultations on it could start on Friday at the Security Council. Former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration had handed over the drafting of the resolution to France and Britain as it had not wanted to complicate its talks with Russia over Syria. Both diplomats were speaking on condition of anonymity and said it would likely be vetoed by Russia, the main foreign backer of Assad's government. "With Geneva on at the same time, we think this resolution sends a strong message," one diplomat said. The U.S. and Russian delegations to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When a draft was discussed informally by the Security Council last December, Russia made clear it would not support the text. Following the U.N.-OPCW investigation, the United States in January blacklisted 18 senior Syrian officials it said were connected to the country's weapons of mass destruction program. At least nine of the 11 officials in the U.N. draft resolution were also blacklisted by the U.S. government. (Additional reporting by John Irish in Geneva; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda is holding dozens of fighters from the M23 rebel group who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo after clashing with troops there this week, the Ugandan military said on Thursday. Richard Karemire, Uganda's military spokesman, told Reuters that 44 M23 fighters were being held at a camp in the southwestern town of Kisoro. He rejected accusations made by DRC that Uganda was enabling the fighters to revive their insurgency. "They fled and they are at a camp... pending determination of their next destination," he said. M23, the largest of a number of rebel movements that have sown chaos and bloodshed in mineral-rich eastern Congo for years, once controlled swathes of territory there. Hundreds of the group's fighters, however, fled to Uganda in 2013 after a combined United Nations and Congolese force routed their rebellion. Since November, authorities in Kinshasa have said Uganda was allowing M23 rebels to slip back into eastern Congo to re-launch their rebellion. The latest fighting between the Congolese army, FARDC, and M23 rebels took place from Monday to Wednesday in Rutshuru territory in DRC's North Kivu province, close to Bunagana, a town on the border with Uganda. A DRC military official, Captain Guillaume Djike, told Reuters that Congo troops had killed 16 and captured five rebel fighters in the clashes. He said they "succeeded in thwarting" the attack by the rebels who "came from Uganda and they returned from where they came." Last month Uganda said it had intercepted dozens of rebel group members who were en route to Congo from a camp where they settled after their 2013 defeat. Officials vowed not to let the fighters launch incursions into Congo from Uganda. Karemire denied the rebels who staged this week's assault had come from Uganda: "There's no evidence those people came from Uganda... We don't export fighters to the DRC." A rebel resurgence in eastern DRC is seen as another destabilising development for Congo, which has already been rocked by incumbent President Joseph Kabila's refusal to leave office since his term expired in December. More instability could spark a wider conflict in a multiethnic region that has seen decades of war. Kabila's government has told the United Nations that a re-emergence of the M23 rebellion would endanger a deal with the opposition intended to lead to a presidential election this year. (Additional reporting by Aaron Ross in Kinshasa; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
London (AFP) - In a battle to save Britain's indigenous red squirrels, the government said Friday it was looking into a possible mass sterilisation programme for their disease-bearing grey squirrel rivals.

The agriculture ministry's Animal and Plant Health Agency told AFP in a statement it would "look at the feasibility of using oral contraceptives" and would initially work on developing a "suitable bait".

The Times newspaper reported that contraceptives could be concealed in chocolate spread and would reduce numbers by more than 90 percent from 3.5 million.

The decline of the red squirrel population, which is now largely confined to parts of northern England, Scotland and Ireland and numbers around 140,000, has been an issue in Britain for many years.

Grey squirrels, which are native to North America, were first introduced in Britain in the Victorian era but quickly gained the upper hand.

The particular danger of grey squirrels is that they spread the squirrelpox virus, which does not affect them but quickly kills off red squirrels.

Even heir to the throne Prince Charles, a well-known environmentalist, has taken up the cause with passion, heading up the Red Squirrel Survival Trust.

The prince hosted a reception at his Clarence House residence on Monday for the United Kingdom Squirrel Accord, a grouping of woodland, timber industry and conservation organisations set up in 2014.

"The Prince of Wales is committed to protecting the red squirrel across the UK and created the Squirrel Accord in order to address this issue," a spokeswoman for Clarence House said.

"However, the grey squirrel fertility control research and its funding is not something the Prince of Wales or his charities are directly involved in," she said.

The Times reported that Charles "favours the idea" of sterilisation as a humane alternative to culling.
MOSCOW (AP)  A Ukrainian lawmaker visited the rebel-held east on Friday to meet with Ukrainian prisoners there, a trip that irked many in Ukraine.

Nadiya Savchenko, a pilot who spent two years in a Russian prison before her release last year, visited a prison in the rebel-held city of Makiivka. Savchenko said on Facebook that her goal is to help free Ukrainian prisoners.

Following the visit, she told reporters that her goal is to arrange an "all for all" exchange of prisoners held by both sides.

Savchenko, who won a hero's status while in the Russian prison, has become a polarizing figure recently due to her criticism of the Ukrainian government and her calls for a dialogue with the Russia-backed rebels to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine. The violence has killed more than 9,800 people since April 2014.

Following her meeting in December with the rebel leaders in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, Savchenko's parliamentary faction dropped her from its ranks.

Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, said Friday it will look into Savchenko's trip. Agency spokesman Oleksandr Tkachuk says Savchenko's trip is causing "bewilderment," according to the Interfax news agency.

A 2015 peace deal signed in Minsk has helped reduce fighting in eastern Ukraine, but a political settlement has stalled and clashes have continued.

Ertugrul Apakan, the chief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's monitoring mission, criticized the rebels for seizing a drone Friday at gunpoint that monitors were attempting to launch in Yasynuvata, north of the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk. He said the rebels pointed their guns at the OSCE monitors, and one fired shots that landed near them

"Firing at unarmed civilian monitors is not only a direct threat to the lives of brave men and women doing their best to bring peace to Ukraine," Apakan said. "It is a direct challenge to the collective will of the 57 OSCE participating states, and to the Minsk agreements."
Geneva (AFP) - An 18-month prison sentence for an Israeli soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian assailant is an "unacceptable" punishment for "an apparent extra-judicial killing", the UN said Friday.

United Nations human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani further charged the Jewish state with having "a chronic culture of impunity" regarding cases involving Israeli troops and Palestinians.

In March 2016, Israeli Private Elor Azaria was caught on video shooting Palestinian Fattah al-Sharif in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

The video showed Sharif, 21, lying wounded on the ground, shot along with another Palestinian after stabbing and wounding a soldier, according to the army.

Azaria then shoots Sharif in the head without any apparent provocation.

After a months-long trial, Azaria was on Tuesday sentenced to 18 months in prison, with a further 18 months suspended.

"We are deeply disturbed at the lenient sentence," Shamdasani said.

"While the prosecution and conviction are very welcome steps towards accountability, the punishment... is difficult to reconcile with the intentional killing of an unarmed and prone individual," she added.

According to the rights office, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank since September 2015 and Azaria has been the only one to face trial.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday backed pardoning Azaria.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A UN fund set up for Haiti's cholera victims is failing to draw support, with only two percent of the needed $400 million raised so far, according to a letter by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Guterres asked member-states in the letter sent this week to notify the United Nations by March 6 whether they intend to pledge aid to Haiti, where more than 9,000 people died of cholera in a 2010 epidemic.

The United Nations is hoping to raise $400 million over two years to reduce the current cholera caseload of 30,000 to 10,000 by the end of 2018 and provide clean water and sanitation.

Only 25 percent of Haitians have access to toilets.

Cholera causes severe diarrhea and can be spread through contaminated food and water.

So far, South Korea, France, Liechtenstein, India and Chile have together contributed about $2 million to the UN fund, while Canada and Japan have separately granted about $7 million to help Haiti.

"The voluntary contributions that have been received are not yet sufficient to cover what is required," wrote Guterres in the letter, adding that the amount received so far was "approximately two percent" of the $400 million.

"Should resources not materialize, a multi-funded solution would have to be explored," Guterres said in the letter obtained by AFP on Friday, suggesting new sources of aid would have to be tapped.

Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon was forced to apologize to the Haitian people after tests showed that cholera was introduced by infected Nepalese UN peacekeepers sent to Haiti after a devastating 2010 earthquake.

Ban appointed British doctor David Nabarro to lead fund-raising efforts.

Nabarro told AFP in an interview last month that he had "never found it so hard to raise money for an issue."
Geneva (AFP) - The UN struggled on Friday to get a new round of Syrian peace talks off the ground, but with few signs of progress as dozens more civilian deaths underlined the scale of the challenge.

The UN's Syria envoy, who brought rival regime and opposition delegates symbolically together late Thursday, held separate meetings with them Friday to hammer out the talks' format.

But there appeared to be no discussion of substance, either with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and certainly not between the rival parties themselves.

"We discussed issues relating to the format of the talks exclusively," said Syrian regime delegation chief Bashar al-Jaafari after meeting de Mistura. The opposition said the same after its talks with the UN envoy later.

During three previous rounds of talks in Geneva last year, the rivals never sat down at the same table, instead leaving de Mistura to shuttle between them.

At the end of the day de Mistura's acting chief of staff Michael Contet signalled there was no immediate prospect of direct talks.

"Of course he wishes to be able to have all the invitees present in Geneva in the same place to exchange directly and have direct talks," he told reporters.

But "at present there are difficulties for some of them to engage in such a format... This is why the special envoy will be continuing his efforts so that things can evolve towards direct engagement," he added.

- Over 300,000 dead -

Even as the new UN talks began, the death toll in a suicide bombing near the Syrian town of Al-Bab rose to 51, the latest atrocity in a six-year war which has killed more than 310,000 people.

Most of the dead in the attack -- claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group -- were Turkish-backed rebels, who had only just taken the stronghold town from IS militants.

In addition two Turkish soldiers were killed, while separately officials in Baghdad said the Iraqi air force struck IS members in neighbouring Syria.

Story continues

The attack has no direct bearing on the UN talks, since the IS is not part of the latest ceasefire deal, but it illustrates the lack of any return to normality for war-ravaged Syria.

In Geneva, de Mistura -- hosting the first UN-sponsored talks since April -- acknowledged the frailty of the latest ceasefire, which was agreed in late December.

- 'Not expecting miracles' -

In his welcome address, the envoy played down hopes of a breakthrough.

"I'm not expecting miracles," he admitted while warning of dire consequences if the talks "fail again".

The talks between negotiators for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition have been clouded by persistent violence and deadlock over the country's political future.

The main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has said it wants to meet the government face-to-face.

But on the ground rebels are in a significantly weaker position since the last UN-sponsored round.

The army has recaptured the rebel bastion of eastern Aleppo and Washington, once staunchly opposed to Assad, has said it is reassessing every aspect of its Syria policy under President Donald Trump.

- Syrian 'transition' disputed -

The regime delegation chief said Friday that de Mistura had given them a "paper" -- which according to a source close to the talks covers three areas for discussion: transition in Syria, a constitution and elections.

Political "transition", part of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 which managed the Geneva talks, is at the heart of the debate.

But it has different meanings for Damascus and its Russian and Iranian allies on side, and the Syrian opposition on the other.

"As the Russians and the regime see it, a government of national unity is put in place, Bashar al-Assad remains president and they bring in opposition who will look after hunting and sports.

"For the opposition, it's clear that the Syrian president cannot remain in power," said a western diplomatic source.

In New York on Friday the UN Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss chemical weapons use in Syria, as the US, France and Britain pushed for sanctions on Damascus.

But afterwards Russia's deputy ambassador confirmed -- as expected -- that Moscow will use its veto to block a draft resolution imposing sanctions on the Assad regime.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza against seeking a fourth term, saying such a move risks deepening the crisis in the African country.

In a report obtained by AFP, the UN chief says he is "very concerned" by recent statements by Nkurunziza, in power since 2005, suggesting he could seek a fourth term in office, which would require changes to the constitution.

"An attempt by the president to seek a fourth term in office under the current circumstances would risk intensifying the crisis and undermining collective efforts to find a sustainable solution," wrote Guterres in the report sent to the Security Council on Thursday.

Hundreds have died in violence in Burundi triggered by the president's decision in April 2015 to stand in elections for a third term in office, which he went on to win.

Some 387,000 people have fled the country, and that figure is expected to surpass 500,000 in 2017, according to the UN refugee agency.

Guterres expressed concern over the growing role of the ruling party's youth militia, known as the Imbonerakure, and said more than 200 cases of enforced disappearances since October were "of particular concern."

The youth militia "is contributing to a sense of insecurity and a climate of fear" and is reportedly implicated in many cases of killings, arrests, disappearances, and some cases of sexual violence, he said.

The report was sent to council members following the adoption of a resolution in July authorizing the deployment of up to 228 UN police to monitor security and human rights in Burundi.

The government in Bujumbura has rejected the resolution and is still stonewalling the United Nations over the proposed police deployment, the report confirmed.

Burundi's Ambassador Albert Shingiro described the report as "biased" and driven by UN envoy Jamal Benomar, whom he accused of "seeking revenge" after his government asked that he be replaced.

Story continues

The ambassador told AFP that it was "very surprising" that Guterres raised concerns about term limits for Nkurunziza "when many presidents in Africa and elsewhere are serving their fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh term without any concern being raised."

Burundi this week again sent a letter to Guterres asking that a new envoy be named to replace Benomar.

The Security Council postponed a meeting on Burundi scheduled for this week, but it is expected to discuss the crisis in March.
By Alexandra Alper and Noe Torres MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico on Thursday expressed "worry and irritation" about U.S. policies to two of President Donald Trump's top envoys, giving a chilly reply to the new administration's hard line on immigration, trade and security. Comments by Trump about a "military operation" to deport criminals added to the tense atmosphere, and prompted a clarification from Homeland Security chief John Kelly, one of the U.S. officials visiting Mexico City. The U.S. government angered Mexico this week by saying it was seeking to deport many illegal immigrants to Mexico if they entered the United States from there, regardless of nationality. It is the latest point of friction between neighbors that have also been at odds over Trump's vow to build a wall on the border and his attempts to browbeat Mexico into giving concessions on trade. "There exists among Mexicans worry and irritation about what are perceived to be policies that could be harmful for the national interest and for Mexicans here and abroad," Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told a news conference. He was speaking after talks in the Mexican capital with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Kelly, who later met with President Enrique Pena Nieto. The Mexican leader scrapped a summit meeting with Trump in January as tensions rose. Tillerson and Kelly emphasized traditionally strong U.S.-Mexico ties and both sides pledged further dialogue on migration, trade and security issues. Pena Nieto said the talks were a sign of the will to build a constructive relationship. Two Mexican newspapers leaked comments from Videgaray, however, that bolstered the perception that Mexico is taking a more robust approach to its dealings with Trump, following jibes that Pena Nieto should stand up to his counterpart. If the United States taxes imports from Mexico, there will be a response that "hits them where it hurts," La Jornada and Reforma reported Videgaray as saying, based on recordings obtained of a closed-door session with lawmakers on Wednesday. Videgaray warned of counter-taxes and tariffs targeting U.S. congressional districts most reliant on exports to Mexico if Trump started limiting trade. Kelly and Tillerson were more measured in their words than either the Mexicans or Trump, who said on Thursday a military operation was being carried out to clear "bad dudes" such as gang members and drug lords from the United States. Kelly said there would be "no use of military force in immigration operations," and "no, repeat, no" mass deportations. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump's comment was meant to describe the "flawless" manner that U.S. immigration and border authorities worked. There were some signs of congeniality behind closed doors. Tillerson drank tequila with Mexican counterparts at dinner on Wednesday night, a person familiar with the event said. Pena Nieto's office described the U.S. officials as professional and constructive. 'A COMPLEX TIME' Looking stern as he stood beside the U.S. visitors, Videgaray said it was "a complex time" for U.S.-Mexican relations, which have gone downhill quickly since Trump's election last November. Videgaray and Pena Nieto have been criticized at home for being too willing to engage with the Republican president, who has repeatedly cranked up tension with the country ahead of key meetings. Opposition politicians and a handful of protesters demanded that Pena Nieto snub the visitors, and even Economy Minister Idelfonso Guajardo had said the meeting with the president on Thursday might not happen, depending on the tone of the talks in the morning. Mexico relies heavily on exports to its neighbor. But stakes are also high for the United States, not least because a breakdown in relations with Mexico could affect extensive cooperation on the fight against narcotics and stemming the flow of Central American illegal immigrants that reach the U.S. border. Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said the two countries needed to strengthen intelligence sharing, as well as take more action to stem the flow of weapons and drug money from the United States and to shut down criminal organizations, . "Mexico needs the United States, and the United States also needs Mexico. Our countries will always be neighbors so the best thing would be to have agreements that work for both equally," Osorio Chong said in comments at the Foreign Ministry. In a concession to Mexican concerns, both Kelly and Tillerson acknowledged the need to stop arms and drug proceeds moving south, and praised Mexico's extensive programs to turn back Central American immigrants traveling north. "There is no mistaking that the rule of law matters along both sides of our border," Tillerson said. None of the officials made direct references to the deportation of immigrants from third countries to Mexico, or to paying for the border wall planned by Trump, a red-flag issue for Mexico. (Additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Christine Murray, Adriana Barrera and David Alire Garcia in Mexico and Ginger Gibson and David Shephardson in Washington; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Vanderbilt University Medical Center officials say the hospital has had a security breach where two employees accessed medical records of more than 3,000 patients.

The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/2mu5pin ) reports the hospital has sent out letters to patients whose personal information was inappropriately viewed.

Two patient transporters accessed information that included names, birth dates and medical identification numbers. One employee had the ability to see Social Security numbers at times.

Hospital spokesman John Howser said in a statement that there was no indication that employees printed, forwarded or downloaded the information or that any patients have suffered financial harm. The hospital will pay for credit monitoring in cases where a Social Security number was accessed.

The spokesman said the two employees have been disciplined and patient transport staff no longer has access to electronic medical records.

___

Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.  Vice President Mike Pence dismissed concerns Thursday about the pace of Republican plans to repeal and replace the health care law passed by Democrats under President Barack Obama, promising an orderly transition to a new system.

Despite all the fear-mongering from the left, make no mistake about it. Well have an orderly transition to a better health care system, Pence said at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

It was the only comment by Pence in a 20-minute speech that went beyond boilerplate rhetoric and touched on challenges facing the new administration. Nonetheless, the crowd of conservative activists greeted him with warm applause.

Pences comments came on the same day that former House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, said Republicans would not repeal Obamacare.

All this happy talk that went on in November and December and January about repeal, repeal, repeal.  I started laughing because if you pass repeal without replace, first, anything that happens is your fault. You broke it, Boehner said in a speech to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society in Orlando, Fla.

And so far, there does not appear to be much consensus among Republicans on how to replace Obamacare. Trump himself has made wildly contradictory comments on when new legislation would be introduced, and on what it would look like.

Just a month ago Trump promised insurance for everybody, which is at odds with the plan congressional Republicans are working on.

Concerns over changes to the health care system have sparked raucous town hall meetings around the country with Republican members of Congress.

One of the biggest obstacles to repealing Obamacare is concern over what will happen to the millions of people who have been covered under an expansion of Medicaid included in the law. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., are in talks with governors to find a way to avoid losing coverage for those people. Trump will meet Friday at the White House to discuss the Medicaid issue with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican with whom he has clashed repeatedly.

Story continues

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP)

Slideshow: Scenes from CPAC 2017 >>>

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former Virginia taxi driver was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Friday for trying to help another man join the Islamic State militant group in Syria, the Justice Department said.

Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan, 26, of Woodbridge, had pleaded guilty in October to driving Joseph Hassan Farrokh to Richmond, Virginia, in January 2016.

Farrokh planned to fly from Richmond to the Middle East to fight for Islamic State, with Elhassan to follow him at a later date, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Farrokh, who had been given money by Elhassan, was arrested at the Richmond airport. Elhassan, a Sudanese immigrant, also pleaded guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The arrests were part of U.S. government efforts to block people from joining Islamic State, a jihadist group that holds large parts of northern and eastern Syria as well as much of the city of Mosul in Iraq.

Elhassan was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga in Alexandria, Virginia, the statement said. Besides the prison term, Trenga sentenced him to 10 years of supervised release.

Farrokh pleaded guilty to attempting to join Islamic State and was sentenced in July to 8-1/2 years in prison.

Elhassan had introduced Farrokh to someone he thought could help facilitate his travel. That person turned out to be an undercover informant working for the FBI.

Elhassan told FBI agents Farrokh had traveled to California and that neither he nor Farrokh supported Islamic State, according to court documents.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Nations urging the U.N. to ban helicopter sales to Syria and impose other sanctions over chemical weapons use are seeking a Security Council vote next week, saying the body needs to take action after attacks the U.S. envoy called "barbaric." But Russia is vowing a veto.

A Security Council diplomat said Friday night that the vote was requested for next week. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions about the request were private. Britain's deputy U.N. ambassador, Peter Wilson, had said earlier Friday that a vote would come "as soon as possible."

Britain, France and the United States have been seeking sanctions after an investigation by the United Nations and an international chemical weapons watchdog organization determined last year that the Syrian government was behind at least three attacks involving chlorine gas in the civil-war-ravaged country. The probe also found the Islamic State group was responsible for at least one involving mustard gas.

President Bashar Assad's regime denies using chemical weapons in the war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions since it began in March 2011. Russia, Syria's closest ally, has questioned the investigation's conclusions linking chemical weapons use to Syrian government, and Russian deputy ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said Friday that his nation would veto the sanctions measure if it came up for a vote.

"It's a provocation," he said outside after leaving a closed-door Security Council session about Syria.

In a sharp retort, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the measure "needs to happen."

"How much longer is Russia going to continue to babysit and make excuses for the Syrian regime?" she said. "People have died by being suffocated to death. That's barbaric."

The remarks were the latest signals that new President Donald Trump's administration aims to confront Russia on some issues, while also expressing interest in improving relations. Earlier this week, Haley reiterated that U.S. sanctions on Russia over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula will continue until the region is returned to Ukraine.

Story continues

Despite the promised Russian veto, backers of the proposed U.N. sanctions see them as a moral and institutional imperative. Previous council resolutions called for "measures," under a U.N. charter chapter that authorizes sanctions, if chemical weapons are used.

"On the scale of the threats to peace and security, we are at 10 here," French Ambassador Francois Delattre said before Friday's meeting.

"If the Security Council is not able to unite on such a literally vital question of proliferation and use of weapons of mass destruction against civilian populations, then what? So what is at stake here, frankly, is the credibility of the Security Council," he said.

The movement toward a vote is coming at a delicate time. Peace talks began Thursday in Geneva, with the U.N. envoy for Syria casting them as a historic chance to end the conflict.

Besides the prohibition on helicopter sales, a draft of the sanctions resolution seen by The Associated Press would impose an asset freeze and travel ban on 11 Syrian people.

They include current and former military officers, the managing director of a Ministry of Defense subsidiary and the director-general of Syria's Scientific Studies Research Center, according to the draft. It says the research center was responsible for the development and production of chemical weapons.

The asset freeze also would apply to the research center, to eight entities described as its front companies or proxies and to the Ministry of Defense subsidiary.

There was no immediate response to an inquiry Friday to the Syrian mission. Syria isn't a Security Council member.

The U.S. imposed its own sanctions in January on Syria's military and some officials.

A chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb killed hundreds of civilians on Aug. 21, 2013, leading to a U.S.-Russian agreement and a Security Council resolution the next month ordering the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons, precursors and the equipment to produce the deadly agents.

The Syrian government's support for the resolution and decision to join the chemical weapons watchdog, known as the OPCW, warded off possible U.S. military strikes in response to the attack, which the Syrian regime denied carrying out.

Syria's declared stockpile of 1,300 metric tons of chemicals has been destroyed, but the OPCW has continued to investigate outstanding questions about possible undeclared chemical weapons.
Democrats need to push back harder against President Donald Trump if they want to win over voters in the next elections. Roughly 72 percent of all Democrats don't think their leaders in Congress are doing enough to stop the president, according to a Pew Research Center survey published Wednesday.

The poll titled "In Trump Era, What Partisans Want From Their Congressional Leaders," found 77 percent of liberal Democrats and 68 percent of conservative and moderate Democrats are unhappy with Democratic leaders. The sample size of the report was 1,503 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S. states. They were asked questions through telephone interviews conducted Feb. 7-12.

Democrats concerned their party will not do enough to oppose Trump

Mass protests have so far defined the Trump era and the president has the lowest approval rating of any new president. Many voters have called for Trump's impeachment, and some Democrats have also expressed support for the idea. But leaders in Congress have failed to take signficiant action. Some fear that giving in to populist sentiments could backfire if they fail to establish a certitude of misconduct and wrongdoing in absence of concrete evidence.

"When and if he breaks the law, that is when something like that would come up. But that's not the subject of today," Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said earlier this month. Similarly, several Democrats such as California Rep. Eric Swalwell, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, have also urged Democrats to hold off on impeachment. Before you can use the I word, you really need to collect all the factsthe I word we should be focused on is 'investigations," he said.

Reports suggest that Republicans in both the GOP-led House and Senate have already responded to criticism against the Trump administration with fundraising pleas to defend the president.

No president has EVER endured the level of disrespect shown to President Trump. (Its sickening) Unprecedented obstruction from the left on his cabinet nominees. Mockery and scorn from the liberal media. And now the liberal elite are calling for his impeachment  IN HIS FIRST MONTH, read one National Republican Senatorial Committee email from last week, according to Politico.

Story continues

Meanwhile, Nate Silver, the editor-in-chief of ESPN's FiveThirtyEight site, said the best way to take down Trump may be to ignore him. "While he faces a lot of challenges  mostly of his own making  he sometimes benefits from news coverage that overextends itself and predicts his immediate demise only to have to pull back later, perhaps making him seem more formidable in the process . We learned that lesson the hard way in the primaries, and then we often watched the same feeding-frenzy mentality take hold in the general election," Silver wrote

Related Articles
BERLIN (AP)  Volkswagen bounced back into the black in 2016 after suffering a loss the previous year due to the diesel emissions scandal, according to figures released by the German automaker Friday.

The company reported a net profit attributable to Volkswagen AG shareholders of 5.1 billion euros ($5.4 billion) last year compared with a net loss of almost 1.6 billion euros in 2015.

Volkswagen acknowledged in September 2015 that it had been installing engine control software in diesel vehicles to detect when cars were being tested. The software turned the emission controls off during normal driving to improve performance, but also resulted in releasing emissions more than 40 times the U.S. limit for the pollutant nitrogen oxide.

The Wolfsburg-based company paid a heavy price for its deceit, agreeing to pay more than $16 billion in buybacks and compensations to owners of VW cars in the U.S. alone. Lawsuits and legal investigations in several other countries are also ongoing.

Chief executive Matthias Mueller suggested the company had turned a corner.

"While the past fiscal year posed major challenges for us, despite the crisis, the Group's operating business gave its best-ever performance," Mueller said. VW group sales rose 4 billion euros to 217.3 billion euros in 2016.

The company said it expects moderate growth in 2017 despite challenges from uncertain global economic conditions, intense competition, volatile currency rates and "the consequences of the diesel issue."

VW said its board would propose a dividend of 2 euros ($2.11) per ordinary share this year, up from 0.11 euros for the previous year.

Separately, Volkswagen announced a clampdown on executive bonuses, an issue that has aroused political passions in Germany during an election year. The company said annual pay for its CEO will in future be capped at 10 million euros ($10.6 million), while other executive board members will receive a maximum of 5.5 million euros ($5.8 million) in one year.

Former VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who stepped down in the wake of the diesel scandal, had earned 17.5 million euros in 2011, thanks to large bonus payments.

The new limits could reduce VW's maximum outlay on executive pay by up to 40 percent, the company said.
Wolfsburg (Germany) (AFP) - German car giant Volkswagen on Friday said it was capping its chief executive's pay package at 10 million euros as it moved to rein in top brass salaries in the wake of the "dieselgate" scandal that has cost the company billions.

Other members of the board will see their annual remuneration capped at 5.5 million euros.

"This reduces the maximum remuneration theoretically possible by up to 40 percent compared with the previous system," the group said in a statement after a meeting of the supervisory board at its Wolfsburg headquarters.

VW's generous pay and bonus system has come under increasing scrutiny since the group admitted in September 2015 to having installed software in 11 million diesel engines worldwide to cheat emissions tests.

The resulting fallout has already cost VW more than $22 billion (20 billion euros) in fines and compensation to drivers, dealers and authorities in the United States alone.

With the company still facing a string of legal claims around the world, experts say the final bill could be far higher.

VW's pay packages have also threatened to become a political hot potato as Germany heads for a tight general election in September.

The German state of Lower Saxony, where VW is based, is a major shareholder and holds two seats on the group's supervisory board.

The state is led by the centre-left Social Democrats, who have made clamping down on executive pay a key plank of their campaign.

VW has long vowed to come up with a new pay system but the issue was given fresh urgency last month when compliance chief Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt left the company with a 12- million-euro golden parachute after just a year in the job.

Before that, former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who quit over the dieselgate scandal and remains under investigation over his role, regularly came under fire for his high payouts.

He controversially pocketed 17 million euros in 2011, a record for a chief executive running a firm listed on the Dax index of leading German shares.

In its statement, VW said the new pay system included a higher fixed salary while the variable part would be more closely linked to the group's financial performance.

VW stressed that under the new rules, the maximum payouts "can only be achieved if the group performs exceptionally well".
As Malaysian toxicologists reveal that the banned nerve agent VX was used in the airport assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, here are some key questions and answers about the deadly weapon of mass destruction.

What is it?

Code-named by the US scientists who mass produced it, VX is an organophosphate compound and one of the deadliest chemical agents ever manufactured.

Stockpiled by the US in huge quantities during the Cold War, VX is perhaps 10 times as powerful as the Sarin toxin.

Odorless and clear when pure, it has the appearance of motor oil and is stable enough to be transported. It is also hard to detect, an advantage for a would-be assassin.

Downsides are that it lingers, potentially contaminating areas for long periods of time.

"It can kill an adult weighing 70 kilogrammes with just five milligrammes on the skin," said Yosuke Yamasato, former principal of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Chemical School.

"It's unbelievable that the executors of the crime used it with their bare hands -- they must have not known the material was VX."

What does it do?

It strikes the nervous system fast. A high dose can kill in minutes when inhaled, as the blood vessels in the lungs rapidly spread the compound into the bloodstream and vital organs.

Nerve agents over-stimulate glands and muscles, leading them to quickly fatigue and become unable to sustain breathing.

Symptoms depend on dosage and whether it is inhaled or introduced through the skin -- the slower form of poisoning.

Exposure to low doses is survivable.

But more serious contamination is fast-acting and often gruesome. People exposed to the toxin may become short of breath and nauseous in minutes, or at a higher dose experience seizures, heart failure and a total shut down of the respiratory system.

There are antidotes but treatment must be immediate. US soldiers carried kits to inject themselves with antidote during the first Iraq War.

Where does it come from?

The compound was first created in a British laboratory in the early 1950s. But American scientists honed its potency during the Cold War arms race with the Soviet Union.

Story continues

Tens of thousands of tonnes of VX were churned out at Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana -- a stockpile that was finally destroyed in the late 1980s as the Cold War ended.

Accidental leaks have been reported in the US and Japan. It has been deployed as a war weapon infrequently but with devastating effect.

Residues found on site suggest Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein may have used VX among a cocktail of chemical weapons he rained down on the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988 killing at least 5,000 people.

In 1994 VX was used by Japan's Aum cult to murder an office worker in Osaka, and in the attempted murder of two other people.

Legal status?

VX is listed a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.

Under the international Chemical Weapons Convention 1997, countries are allowed limited stockpiles for research purposes only but must declare them and are obliged to progressively destroy their supplies.

"North Korea is not a signatory to CWC, so it's no surprise if it possesses VX," Satoshi Numazawa, professor of toxicology at Showa University, told AFP.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half brother was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare and listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction, Malaysian police said Friday.

Releasing a preliminary toxicology report on Kim Jong-Nam's murder at Kuala Lumpur airport, police revealed the poison used by the assassins was the odourless, tasteless and highly toxic VX.

The news brought condemnation from South Korea, which slammed the use of the nerve agent as a "blatant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and other international norms".

Experts in the South said Friday that North Korea has up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons stockpiled, including a supply of VX.

Kim died on February 13 after being attacked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport by two women, who are seen on CCTV footage shoving something in his face.

He suffered a seizure and was dead before he reached hospital.

An autopsy revealed traces of VX -- a fast-acting toxin that sparks respiratory collapse and heart failure -- on the dead man's face and in his eyes.

Tiny amounts of the poison are enough to kill an adult, whether it is inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

"I am outraged that the criminals used such a dangerous chemical in a public area," said Malaysia's Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

It "could have caused mass injuries or even death to other people".

One of the two women arrested after the attack fell ill in custody, police said, adding she had been vomiting.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has previously said the woman who attacked Kim from behind clearly knew she was carrying out a poison attack, dismissing claims that she thought she was taking part in a TV prank.

"The lady was moving away with her hands towards the bathroom," Khalid said earlier this week.

"She was very aware that it was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands."

Story continues

- Diplomatic pouches -

The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), whose member states include Malaysia and South Korea, said Friday the suspected use of a nerve agent was "deeply disturbing".

"OPCW stands ready to provide its expertise and technical assistance," it added in a statement.

Khalid on Friday said experts would sweep the busy airport terminal where the attack took place for traces of the toxin as well as other locations the women had visited.

"We are investigating how (the VX) entered the country," he told reporters.

However he added that "if the amount of the chemical brought in was small, it would be difficult for us to detect".

A leading regional security expert told AFP it would not have been difficult to get VX into Malaysia in a diplomatic pouch, which would not be subject to regular customs checks.

North Korea has previously used the pouches "to smuggle items including contraband and items that would be subjected to scrutiny if regular travel channels were used", said Rohan Gunaratna, the head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.

Detectives are holding three people -- women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man -- but want to speak to seven others, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.

One man wanted for questioning, who is believed to be still in Malaysia, is senior North Korean embassy official Hyon Kwang Song.

Police have acknowledged that his diplomatic status prevents them from questioning him unless he surrenders himself.

- Chemical warfare -

North Korea, which has not acknowledged the dead man's identity, has vehemently protested at the investigation, saying Malaysia is in cahoots with its enemies.

Its ambassador Kang Chol has said Pyongyang "cannot trust" the Malaysian police to prosecute their probe fairly.

He was told Friday to shut up or face the prospect of being kicked out of the country.

"The ambassador has been informed of the process involved (in the police investigation) but he continues to be delusional and spew lies and accusations against the government of Malaysia," Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said.

A senior Malaysian government official said Kang had been shown a "yellow card", adding: "If he repeats the baseless allegations, he will be expelled."

The only known function of VX is as a chemical warfare agent and the US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as the "most potent" of all nerve agents.

VX was used by Japan's Aum cult in the 1994 murder of an office worker in Osaka, and in the attempted murder of two other people.
By A. Ananthalakshmi and Liz Lee KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - VX, the chemical used in the airport murder Kim Jong Nam, is one of the deadliest chemical weapons created by man. Just 10 milligrams of the nerve agent or a single drop enough to kill in minutes, experts say. With the texture and feel of engine oil, VX was first produced in the United Kingdom in the 1950s. It can cause convulsions, loss of consciousness, paralysis and respiratory failure in minutes. Its only known use is as a chemical warfare agent: VX is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations. "You can think of VX as being a pesticide on steroids, this is an extraordinarily toxic substance. Roughly 1/100th of a gram, a third of a drop, on someones skin, will kill them, said Bruce Bennet, defense researcher at California-based RAND Corporation. Malaysian police said on Friday that VX was found on the body of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong UN, and they are investigating how the chemical entered the country. VX and other nerve agents were believed to have been used in chemical warfare during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. In 2015, traces of VX and sarin - another nerve agent - were found at a military research site in Syria that had not been declared to the global chemical weapons watchdog. HARD TO PRODUCE Sarin gas was used in Syria, killing hundreds in deadly attacks in 2013, and by members of a Japanese doomsday cult in their deadly 1995 attack on a Tokyo subway. But VX is known to be much more potent than sarin and other nerve agents because of its persistency. Sarin evaporates from the skin surface but VX does not. The chemical is hard to produce but a few countries are known to make it and remain in possession of it. The United States and Russia still have some VX stockpile. South Korean analysts have identified sarin and VX as the focus of a North Korean chemical weapons program. Pyongyang has denied that. Symptoms after contact with VX in vapor form will appear within a few seconds, and within a few minutes to up to 18 hours after exposure to the liquid form, said John Allum of forensic science firm Hawkins. VX is considered to be much more toxic by entry through the skin and somewhat more toxic by inhalation. Any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, is believed to be lethal, according to the U.S. government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BARE HANDS People may not even know they have been exposed to VX as it is tasteless and odorless. In fact, it is unlikely to have been detected by airport security or sensors if it had been brought in small amounts. Kim Jong Nam was murdered at the main Kuala Lumpur airport last Monday while he was waiting in the departure hall to take a flight to Macau, where he was known to be living with his family for years under Chinese protection. He had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated, nuclear-armed state. South Korean and U.S. officials say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un likely ordered the assassination of his half brother. North Korea unsuccessfully tried to prevent an autopsy on the body, accusing Malaysia of working with South Korean and other "hostile forces." Pyongyang has said Malaysia should be held responsible for killing one of its citizens, though it has not acknowledged the victim is Kim Jong Un's half-brother. Malaysian police say two women are believed to have attacked Kim Jong Nam, using their bare hands to wipe his face with a liquid. The women were then instructed to wash their hands off afterwards. The two women and a North Korean have been detained in Kuala Lumpur. Police are searching for seven other North Koreans, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang. (This story has been refiled to add dropped first name and designation for Allum in 12th paragraph) (Additional reporting by Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Emily Chow in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Praveen Menon and Bill Tarrant)
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  Paul Waring led by one shot after 12 holes of his second round when play was suspended for bad light at the Joburg Open on Friday.

The Englishman made five birdies in those holes on the West Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington to move 12 under par, ahead of South Africans Darren Fichardt and Dean Burmester.

Fichardt was in the clubhouse with a second 66, thanks mainly to a sizzling opening nine on the East Course. Fichardt picked up six shots in those nine holes with four birdies and an eagle. Burmester was 11 under with three holes of his second round to complete.

Organizers have been playing catch-up since rain led to a waterlogged course on Thursday, forcing 98 players to finish their first rounds on Friday morning.

Fichardt was one of those, playing the last six holes of his opening round on the West Course before dashing across to the East Course to play his second round.

He was the clubhouse leader before Waring, who opened with a 65, made a run of three straight birdies to push ahead before the light faded.

Jacques Kruyswijk is fourth on 10 under and defending champion Haydn Porteous part of a five-way tie for fifth a shot further back.
The President of Costa Rica is pulling out the stops to get La La Land actor Emma Stone to vacation in his tropical homeland, extending a personal invitation to the actor and her team with a very thoughtful video.

Extolling the many natural virtues of his country, President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera mentioned that Stone had said she wants to go to Costa Rica last year during an interview with Vogue.

Here, you can learn by step by step how the delicious coffee you have probably had at filming locations is produced or simply delight in a magical night full of stars, he says. Come to Costa Rica, Emma. Perhaps, in a few weeks, it would be a good place to celebrate.

While the generous president may not have Ryan Goslings level of proficiency on a piano, he still did his best to roll out a red carpet by tapping out the notes from the haunting song from La La Land. We cant imagine it would take much persuading to get Stone to hop a post-Oscars flight down south, especially given this over-the-top expression of kindness. And as he notes, it seems like just the spot to kick back after a likely Academy Award win.

Watch and be jealous of the many perks of A-list life, above.
What do the mainstream media, liberal protesters, violent criminals, Mexican drug cartels and potential terrorists have in common? According to the National Rifle Associations Wayne LaPierre, Theyre angry, theyre militant, and theyre willing to engage in criminal violence to get what they want.

LaPierre painted a grim picture of the current political climate during the second day of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland on Friday.

For the first time, LaPierre warned the crowd at CPAC, we face an enemy utterly dedicated to destroy not only our country but also Western civilization.

The NRA chief described recent protests as angry riots carried out by soldiers of the violent left and declared that our country is under siege from a media carpet-bombing campaign, pointing to recent coverage of the Trump administrations ties to Russia as proof that the national media are purposely and maliciously aimed at destroying Trumps presidency.

A hundred years ago, if you eavesdropped and published the affairs of the head of state, you wouldve been tracked down and hanged for treason, he said, playing off the presidents expressed frustration over leaks from within the intelligence community.

Of course, LaPierre continued, With all the threats facing America today, your right to protect yourself and your family may be more relevant and more urgently needed than ever before.

Without explicitly encouraging the audience to arm themselves, LaPierre instead presented the NRA as the lawful, peaceful alternative to his list of threats to American values, promising to defend our freedom and secure our safety against any enemy and asking, Are you ready to take on the leftists and protect the foundation of American democracy?

Stand up! Speak up! Fight back! he urged the crowd, assuring them that we will win because we are the majority in this country.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Hours after President Trump told conservative activists Friday that he planned to do something about unfair press coverage, the White House broke with tradition by limiting access to the daily briefing by Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Reporters for CNN, Politico, the New York Times and other outlets were barred from entry to an off-camera but usually on-the-record briefing, called a gaggle, in Spicers office. The daily briefing is normally open to all credentialed reporters when the President is not traveling, whether the event happens on-camera in the White House Briefing Room or off-camera elsewhere.

The White House Correspondents Association, a group that represents credentialed reporters, promptly denounced the move. The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how todays gaggle is being handled by the White House, said board president Jeff Mason of Reuters. We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff.

Two other members of the board, TIME correspondent Zeke Miller and Julie Pace of the Associated Press, emailed these concerns to Spicer prior to the briefing. They both declined to attend Fridays briefing when the concerns of the board were not addressed.

Shortly after the briefing was concluded, reporters in attendance transcribed and circulated Spicers comments to the entire White House press corps.

In 2009, top Obama Administration officials declared that Fox News was not a news organization because of opinions often aired by the network that were sharply critical of Obamas policies. At one point that same year, the Treasury Department declined to invite Fox News, but not other networks, to a briefing, prompting complaints from other news organizations. The Obama White House later said the omission of Fox had been made for logistical reasons, and included a Fox reporter in a briefing with the same Treasury official. This White House has demonstrated our willingness to exclude Fox News from newsmaking interviews, but yesterday we did not, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest at the time. The Obama White House did not restrict news organization access to daily briefings by the Press Secretary.

Story continues

In recent weeks, Trump has made more pointed attacks on news organizations he says have been unfair to him. A few days ago I called the fake news the enemy of the people. And they are. They are the enemy of the people, he said Friday, in an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. Because they have no sources, they just make em up when there are none. I saw one story recently where they said, Nine people have confirmed.' Theyre no nine people.

The President did not identify the story he was describing. A Washington Post story, dated Feb. 9, reported that nine current and former officials had spoken to the newspaper for a report disclosing that then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had been misleading about the content of his conversations with Russian officials after the November election.

Days later, President Trump accepted Flynns resignation. Spicer said the resignation had resulted from an eroding level of trust between Flynn and Trump.
By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House excluded several major U.S. news organizations, including some it has openly criticized, from an off-camera briefing held by the White House press secretary on Friday, representatives of the organizations said. Reporters for CNN, The New York Times, Politico, The Los Angeles Times and BuzzFeed were not allowed into the session in the office of press secretary Sean Spicer. Spicer's off-camera briefing, or "gaggle," replaced the usual televised daily news briefing on Friday in the White House briefing room. He did not say why those particular news organizations were excluded, a decision which drew strong protests. Reuters was included in the session, along with about 10 other news organizations, including Bloomberg and CBS. Spicer said his team decided to have a gaggle in his office instead of a full briefing in the larger White House briefing room. "Our job is to make sure that we're responsive to folks in media. We want to make sure we answer your questions, but we don't need to do everything on camera every day, he said. Reporters at the Associated Press and Time magazine walked out of the briefing when hearing that others had been barred from the session. Off-camera gaggles are not unusual. The White House often invites handpicked outlets in for briefings, typically for specific topics. But briefings and gaggles in the White House are usually open to all outlets and they are free to ask anything. A pool reporter from Hearst Newspapers was included in the gaggle on Friday, White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said, and was preparing a pool report for distribution to the entire press corps. Media outlets allowed into the gaggle also shared their audio with others. President Donald Trump has regularly attacked the media. Earlier on Friday, at a gathering of conservative activists, he heaped criticism on news organizations that he said provide "fake news" and called them an "enemy" of the American people. PROTESTS Spicer's decision drew a sharp response from some of the media outlets that were excluded. "Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties," Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said in a statement. "We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest." The White House Correspondents Association, or WHCA, also protested. "The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House," said Jeff Mason, president of the association and a Reuters reporter. Trump says some news organizations lie and on Friday denounced their use of anonymous sources. Critics say Trump's attacks endanger press freedoms. During the election campaign last year, Trump's team banned a few news organizations, including The Washington Post and BuzzFeed, from covering his campaign rallies for a period of time to protest their coverage. CNN posted a Twitter message on Friday afternoon saying: "This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House. Apparently this is how they retaliate when you report facts they dont like. Well keep reporting regardless. Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, said in a statement: "While we strongly object to the White House's apparent attempt to punish news outlets whose coverage it does not like, we won't let these latest antics distract us from continuing to cover this administration fairly and aggressively." (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Kieran Murray and Jonathan Oatis)
When World War I broke out in France, in August 1914, getting a wounded soldier from the battlefield to a hospital required horse-drawn wagons or mules with baskets on either side. Incapacitated soldiers would be taken to a railway station, put in the straw of a cattle-car, and sent towards the nearest city with a hospital. No bandages, no food, no water. One of those trains had dumped about 500 badly wounded men and left them lying between the tracks in the rain, with no cover whatsoever, recounted Harvey Cushing, the head of the Harvard Unit of volunteer doctors at the American Ambulance Hospital of Paris.

Such pitiful conditions immediately beset the Battle of the Marne in early September, leaving a thousand wounded French soldiers lying in the straw in a village near Meaux. To rescue them, U.S. Ambassador Myron T. Herrick called all his friends with cars, particularly those on the board of the American Hospital, a small expatriate facility that had just refurbished a school building as a military hospital. This impromptu fleet brought back 34 wounded on the first run, and returned for more. It made the difference between life and death, amputation and healing, and it signaled the start of the motor-ambulance corps.

Recommended: An Epidemic of Unnecessary Treatment

Medicine, in World War I, made major advances in several directions. The war is better known as the first mass killing of the 20th centurywith an estimated 10 million military deaths alonebut for the injured, doctors learned enough to vastly improve a soldiers chances of survival. They went from amputation as the only solution, to being able to transport soldiers to hospital, to disinfect their wounds and to operate on them to repair the damage wrought by artillery. Ambulances, antiseptic, and anesthesia, three elements of medicine taken entirely for granted today, emerged from the depths of suffering in the First World War.

All penetrating wounds of the abdomen, he said, die of shock and infection.

In the early stages of the war, especially within six weeks, 300,000 French soldiers were woundedand as competent surgeons were not to be had for more than a minority, an appalling number of needless amputations were made. In strictest confidence, Tuffier told me with tears in his eyes that more than 20,000 amputations had been made, George Crile, a volunteer physician from Clevelands Lakeside Hospital, wrote in his diary in January 1915.

The key dilemma was that doctors had no effective antiseptic to kill the rampant bacteria, such as Clostridium perfringens, which causes the rapid necrosis known as gas gangrene. The soldiers lived in the filth of the trenches, and if they were wounded, their injuries were immediately corrupted with it. Theodore Tuffier, a leading French surgeon, testified in 1915 to the Academy of Medicine that 70 percent of amputations were due to infection, not to the initial injury.

Recommended: I Was a Muslim in the Trump White Houseand I Lasted Eight Days

Professor Tuffier stated that antiseptics had not proven satisfactory, that cases of gas gangrene were most difficult to handle, Crile wrote. All penetrating wounds of the abdomen, he said, die of shock and infection.  He himself tried in fifteen instances to perform immediate operations in cases of penetrating abdominal wounds, and he lost every case. In fact, they have abandoned any attempt to operate penetrating wounds of the abdomen. All wounds large and small are infected. The usual antiseptics, bichloride, carbolic, iodine, etc., fail.

Help was on the way from the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York. The French physician Alexis Carrel, who had been working at the Rockefeller Institute before the war, had signed up with the French army and was given an abandoned chateau in Compiegne, near the front, to renovate into a military hospital. He demanded an X-ray machine and laboratories for analysis. When the French Service Sanitaire declined to provide them, Carrel turned to the Rockefeller Institute. They sent equipment, and most important of all, they sent Henry Dakin, a British biochemist who had perfected a solution of sodium hypochlorite, which killed the dangerous bacteria without burning the flesh. Carrel took the new antiseptic and insisted on opening up wounds to thoroughly irrigate them. The technique, which became known as the Carrel-Dakin Method, was adopted by doctors across Europe during the war.

An American ambulance in the Verdun sector

(Pierre Machard/SPA/ECPAD)

Over at the American Ambulance Hospital, meanwhile, George Crile was introducing doctors to a method of anesthesia he and a nurse named Agatha Hodgins had developed in Cleveland. In January 1915, their Lakeside Unit had begun a series of three-month rotations in Neuilly. Crile had brought with him 18 large cylinders3,000 gallonsof nitrous oxide. He gave surgical demonstrations using a nitrous oxide-oxygen mixjust enough to put a patient to sleep, but not into a state of shockfor Carrel, Dakin, and other French surgeons.

Recommended: An Actual False-Flag Operation

As to nitrous oxid [sic] the progress of opinion among the doctors has been to first scorn, then wonder and admire. Miss Hodgins gave it by special request to one of Dr. Du Bouchets patients who underwent a prolonged nerve operation.  He was delighted at the result. Todaya final triumphshe was asked to give it for the French service, Amy Rowland, chief nurse of Lakeside Unit, wrote in a letter in January 1915.

Antiseptics and anesthesia saved lives once they arrived at the hospital, but without motor ambulances and hospital trains to get them there, wounded soldiers stood little chance. From the impromptu rescue of soldiers from Meaux in September 1914, the American Ambulance Field Service grew to number more than 100 ambulances by the end of the first year of the war. Philanthropists such as Anne Harriman Vanderbilt bought cars, as did civic groups from cities around the United States. The Ford Motor Company donated 10 Model-T chassis to be converted into ambulances.

Volunteer drivers arrived from 48 American universities, and the ranks of the ambulance service grew to some 2,500 by the end of the war. Harvard had 55 men in France in 1915, driving in the pitch night on gutted roads to pick up soldiers from field stations just behind the lines. While saving others, 21 of these Harvard men lost their own lives. Richard Hall was the first, struck by a mortar on Bitschwiller Road near Moosch on Christmas Eve, 1915. His fellow driver Tracy Putnam described having driven past the wreck earlier in the evening and not realizing it was Halls ambulance.

A war benefits medicine more than it benefits anybody else.

[The mortar] struck Dick Halls car just behind the front seat; it must have been quite a big one, for it blew the car completely off the road, bent in the frame, smashed to match-wood the light body, flattened out the tins of petrol. Dick was wounded in three places, the head, the side and the thigh, and killed at once. His body lay there, among the wreck of his car, all night. Our merry convoy passed without seeing it. I saw one of the gasoline cans by the side of the road, and stopped to pick it up, wondering who dropped it.

The service of the drivers, along with the doctors, nurses and social workers who brought the number of American volunteers to the thousands, did not go unnoticed by the French. One of the volunteers, a driver named Leslie Buswell, based at heavily bombarded Pont-a-Mousson in 1915, wrote in a letter home that the stoicism of the wounded French soldiers was remarkable. When they are unloaded it is a common thing to see a soldier, probably suffering the pain of the damned, make an effort to take the hand of the American helper. I tell you tears are pretty near sometimes.

Patients on the rooftop terrace of American Ambulance Hospital

(SPA / ECPAD)

What inspired these major advances in medicine? There was a deep need, and people stepped up to find solutions. The new technology of warheavy artillery, long-range cannons, barrage shelling, and machine gunsrained devastation at unprecedented levels. Medicine had to try to keep up. One good example of this evolution is in facial reconstruction surgery. Soldiers survived having jaws and noses shattered by artillery fragments, so surgeons at the American Hospital and Val-de-Grace Hospital pioneered maxillofacial techniques, and at the same time, brought dentistry into the medical sciences in France.

Just before he sailed back to the United States in March 1915, George Crile organized a day-long conference at the American Hospital for 100 physicians and diplomats to show them the new techniques and methods that had been developed. Alexis Carrel gave a talk entitled: Science has perfected the art of killing: Why not that of saving? That evening, at dinner at the Hotel Ritz, doctors gathered from France, Britain and the United States whose work was doing just that, from developing a vaccine for typhoid to figuring out how to defeat sepsis. The war had drawn a framework of urgency around such medical questions, and the doctors stepped up to answer them.

Mary Merritt Crawford, the only woman doctor at the American Hospital during the war, later noted that war brought death and destruction, yet also opened the path to progress: A war benefits medicine more than it benefits anybody else. Its terrible, of course, but it does.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Students applications for the California Dream Act, which allows undocumented students to receive state financial aid and pay in-state tuition, has gone down by more than 60 percent this year compared to last year amid growing concerns over federal immigration policy changes, state authorities said Wednesday.

Patti Colston, communications manager for the California Student Aid Commission, said only 17,819 applicants were received as of Friday, compared with 46,731 last year. With the numbers dropping, authorities blamed fear and confusion over President Donald Trump's controversial immigration policies. Colston said while a scientific survey was not conducted to determine the reason, undocumented students were afraid of sharing their personal information.

"The numbers are down so much that we believe there may be some confusion with the California Dream Act and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)," Colston said, referring to the program started under former President Barack Obama in 2012 that allows eligible undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to obtain work permits and postpone deportation for up to two years at a time.

She said California education officials will protect student information. "This is funded by state funds. All of the data is processed here, and we do not send any data to the federal government," Colston said.

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson urged students Tuesday to apply for the California Dream Act before the March 2 deadline. It would be a shame if fear or confusion keeps students from applying for financial aid that they have earned and they deserve, Torlakson said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Trump ordered his administration to enforce the nations immigration laws more aggressively and the Department of Homeland Security announced two policy memos Tuesday. As part of the new policies, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were ordered to identify and deport every undocumented immigrant they confront. The new policy memos will prioritize undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes, but will also focus on those arrested but not convicted of crimes, along with people considered to be a public safety threat.

Story continues

Read the fact sheet on immigration enforcement improvements by Department of Homeland Security here.

Trump has said he could deport up to 8 million immigrants during his first months in office.

Related Articles
Photo credit: Getty

From Town & Country

National security. The economy. Global warming. Health care. Education. Nuclear detente. The White House Easter Egg Roll. Not all of these issues will top the every voter's list of priorities. But wherever it ranks among public concerns, the 2017 Easter Egg Roll, a tradition since 1878, looms on April 17 as the first big test of the Trump White House's ability to hit the logistical ground running. Because the White House has responsibilities beyond its political agenda, and an administration's ability to staff up and execute are an important test of its functionality.

The egg roll may also reveal something of the sphinx-like First Lady Melania Trump's vision of her role.

The Easter Egg Roll is no picnic. Over the last 139 years, it has grown from an event with "a few local children rolling eggs on the White House lawn" to become the "largest event held at the White House," according to Recreation.gov, a federal government ticketing portal through which White House Egg Roll tickets were awarded last year.

If President Trump's history of crowd envy is any guide, he'll want to take note of the numbers that President Obama racked up: Last year's event involved some 37,000 guests; in Obama's first year, 2009, the White House hosted some 32,000 guests.

The presence of giant bunnies aside, planning for this behemoth is not to be taken lightly.

And the presence of giant bunnies aside, planning for this behemoth is not to be taken lightly. A former White House official described it like this: "You have 35,000 or more people coming in, so you're coordinating five different time slots, each of 7,000 to 8,000 people. Programming for each time slot, 7 or 8 stages, 5 consecutive two-hour events, activity zone, sports."

Photo credit: Getty

Over the years, the event has featured celebrities like J.K. Rowling reading to one group of kids (something tells us the Harry Potter author won't be there this year) and Shaq shooting hoops with another. Justin Bieber appeared, as did Power Rangers, Joe Jonas, and Troy Aikman. Coordinating all of this effort are 1,000 volunteers, all of whom have to be recruited and screened for security. Then there are also about 30 security checkpoints that have to be manned by Secret Service teams, which requires planning and staffing.

Story continues

As of this week, the first step in the process, the complex ticket lottery, has not yet happened. Though Easter was earlier last year, the ticket lottery had been completed by late February. Whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll states simply: "Thank you for your interest in this subject. STAY TUNED AS WE CONTINUE TO UPDATE WHITEHOUSE.GOV."

"I have no idea where they are, but to continue in the new model that was set in the last eight years, it is a massive amount of work," said Ebs Burnough, deputy social secretary in the Obama White House from 2009 to 2011. "The planning of that is a massive undertaking."

Experts say there is still time to pull it off. But the conspicuous lack of activity suggests that the Trump White House at this point is either well behind on its planning or secretly taking the event in a new direction.

It should come as no surprise that the uncertainty has inspired some clucking in Washington-and, of course, Tweeting-about the state of planning for the Trump White House Easter Egg Roll. For example, Wells Wood Turning, a Maine company that produced as many as 75,000 to 100,000 wooden eggs for most of the last 10 White House rolls, has tweeted at President and First Lady as well as Ivanka Trump, with a plaintive request for news. "FYI manufacturing deadlines for the Easter eggs are near. Please reach out!" read one on Feb. 20,

"It's a channel of communication, just a gentle nudge," said Simon Varney, one of Wells' new owners (the company changed hands late last year). "Ideally we would like to have heard by now. At the same time we understand there is a transition going on and so we are being patient and hopeful." Varney has been in contact with the Trump Administration "to some degree and we have spoken to some people a bit, but there seems to be folks just aren't quite sure yet on the specifics of the program."

Photo credit: Getty

To be sure, the Trump White House has already handled the inauguration, but it's worth noting that Congress handles much of that carefully choreographed peaceful transfer of power from an exiting President to the successor who vowed to overturn his proudest achievements. Followed by a lavish lunch with the President's frenemies in Congress. So the Inauguration tableau showed us relatively little about the Trump vision and execution of official public events beyond the campaign-like rallies for which he's famous-and for which the Secret Service can be relied upon to handle key details.

In the past, the Egg Roll has been officially run by the White House Visitors Office, which was part of the West Wing bureaucracy under President Obama, and not part of the First Lady's East Wing apparatus, as some have said. First Lady Michelle Obama did take an active role in the event, though, urging its expansion to accommodate families from all over the country instead of primarily from the Washington area.

Photo credit: Getty

Although Melania Trump's staffing and responsibilities have been sketched out for the public in only the most minimal way so far, the recent announcement that the Visitors Office will reopen March 7 was in her name. "I am excited to reopen the White House to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come each year. The White House is a remarkable and historic site and we are excited to share its beauty and history. I am committed to the restoration and preservation of our Nation's most recognizable landmark," she said.

While awaiting word from the White House, the public can rest assured that at least one senior Trump White House official has intimate experience with the White House Easter Egg Roll. Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who had no immediate comment for this story, including what follows, once personally donned the sweaty Easter Bunny costume for the event during the George W. Bush Administration. Thanks to the aforementioned unofficial @wheastereggroll Twitter account, there is a photo to prove it.

Are you seeing this Melissa McCarthy?

You Might Also Like
Nothing screams "Queen" like a towering tiara covered in diamonds. Queen Letizia of Spain wore this diamond-covered piece , called the Fleur de Lys Tiara, to a dinner with her husband, King Felipe, and the Argentinian president and first lady in Madrid in February 2017.

Sometimes, chic braids do the trick. Other times, only a towering tiara will suffice.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain are currently hosting the President and First Lady of Argentina, Mauricio Macri and Juliana Awada, in Madrid. After welcoming the couple on Wednesday morning, they held a gala dinner at the citys royal palace in honor of the Argentinian visit.

And for the evenings event, the always-chic Letizia, 44, broke out a tiara she has never worn before  one with a fair amount of historical significance. The piece is called the Fleur de Lys Tiara and is also known as La Buena. It was crafted in 1906 by still-existing jeweler Ansorena as a wedding gift from King Alfonso XIII to Queen Victoria Eugenia, who was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

The impressive diamond piece, which features a fleur-de-lis in the center, was last seen on the head of her mother in law, Queen Sofia, in 2014. It has passed from Spanish queen to Spanish queen through the generations, along with the diamond earrings and bracelets Letizia also wore last night.

With all that sparkle, she kept her clothes fairly simple in an elegant long-sleeved gown from Spanish designer Felipe Varela and a blue sash.

Not to be outdone by Letizias epic jewels, Awada wore an embellished pink gown. The two woman clearly get along well  they entered the dinner arm-in-arm, laughing.

Wearing any tiara at all was already a big move for the Spanish queen, as she hadnt worn a tiara in more than a year, but debuting this sparkler surely made up for the drought.




LuLaRoe, the ridiculously successful fashion company known for its bright and comfortable leggings and genius marketing plan, is in trouble.

The companys innovative direct sales model (which relies largely on Facebook and other Internet communities) has won many loyal female supporters. Its advantage is that it allows them the unique opportunity to build their own pop-up shops and make a commission as consultants, but the business model has also had its complications.

(Photo: LuLaRoe)

The company, whose headquarters is in California, was slammed with a lawsuit on Feb. 17 in U.S. District Court in Western Pennsylvania, alleging that it has been illegally collecting sales tax in states that dont have it.

Through the brands online point-of-sale payment platform, known as Audrey, customers are charged based on the sales tax imposed in the consultants location  not in their own, where the product is actually being delivered. Some customers in areas that do not levy the tax may have been overcharged by up to 10.25% when buying from consultants in areas that do impose sales tax, the lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiff  Rachael Webster of Allegheny County, Penn.  was overcharged $35.16 in sales tax for 12 purchases she made in 2016, since Pennsylvania does not charge sales tax on clothing. In the suit, LuLaRoes practices are described as unlawful, unjust, deceptive and fraudulent.

The suit also states that LuLaRoe is aware of these tax collection and assessment procedures and knows how to assess sales tax on its clothing sales. The company notified consultants that sales tax would be assessed against the ship-to address of customers in 2015.

The company chalked up the error to a technology system failure and released the following statement to Yahoo Style:

We are fully aware of this issue and have invested significant resources to address it. Our former payments vendor had a technology systems failure that misidentified the accurate location of certain customers. When affected customers have contacted us to identify their proper location, we have immediately issued them a refund for sales tax overcharges. In addition to contracting a new payments vendor, we are proactively working to ensure that all affected customers are refunded for sales tax overcharges. LuLaRoe is committed to our thousands of passionate Independent Retailers and consumers who love and support our quality brand.

Story continues

Meanwhile, a number of customers have been complaining about the poor quality of the companys leggings.

Many women found that holes were appearing in their leggings after they had worn them only once or twice. The issue was so widespread that a private Facebook group has been created, LuLaRoe Defective/Ripped/Torn Leggings And Clothes, which now has almost 4,000 members.

Read more:

Watch Out for Hilarious, Slightly Inappropriate LuLaRoe Legging Fails





Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.




Angelina Jolie has kept a low profile since filing for divorce from her husband Brad Pitt in September. But the actress and humanitarian made her first official appearance in Siem Reap Cambodia over the weekend at the premiere of her new film First They Killed My Father.

Jolie was accompanied by her six kids, Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 10, and 8-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.

While there, the family took a break from promoting the film and spent some time bonding over a rather unusual dinner  fried spiders and scorpions.

Click the video above to see more and let us know what you think by tweeting us @YahooStyleCA.
One of the more interesting new iPhone 8 features Apple will likely introduce this September is wireless charging. Though not a new technology by any means, many are curious as to how Apples implementation might work. After all, Apples bread and butter doesnt lie with inventing new technology, but rather with enhancing and improving upon existing technologies.

Don't Miss: The full Galaxy S8+ specs sheet just leaked

Over the past few months, weve seen a number of contradictory reports regarding Apples plans in the wireless charging space, altogether not surprising given that Apple may currently be testing any different number of implementations. Notably, Apple this month joined the Wireless Power Consortium, the organization behind the Qi wireless charging platform.

Most recently, reports surfaced indicating that Apple has been working with Broadcom on a wireless charging solution, a partnership that reportedly has been ongoing for nearly three years. Previous reports pointed to Apple adapting a solution from Energous, a wireless charging company whose technology was able to charge smartphones from a distance of up to 15 feet.

Underscoring Apples experimentation with different wireless charging solutions, Reuters, citing people familiar with Apples plans, reports that Apple currently has at least five different groups working on wireless charging technology.

While wireless charging in and of itself isnt likely to push iPhone sales higher, its not exactly as if the iPhone 8 will need any help in the sales department. Said to feature a radical new redesign that will feature an edge to edge display and a TouchBar-esque Function Area towards the bottom, the iPhone 8 will likely usher in the largest refresh cycle in iPhone history.

Whats more, Reuters relays an interesting data point from Cowen & Co analyst Timothy Arcuri who claims that the percentage of iPhone owners with devices more than two years old now stands at 40%, marking a new all-time record. In other words, the iPhone 8 wont only attract iPhone 7 users, it will be just the device needed to convince iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s owners to finally upgrade as well.

Story continues

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
By Eric Auchard and Sophie Sassard FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - Seeking to escape a cycle of falling prices and tight regulation, big telecom operators from Vimpelcom to Telefonica are set to reinvent themselves as internet players to escape the industry's straight-jacket of low growth. Next week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will feature phone companies in various stages of acceptance that the industry's predictable, decades-old business model based on selling data packages by the millions is running out of steam. Beneath the facade of shiny new phones and dusty debates over network technical implementations, Europe's largest annual technology fair will see top phone companies parading far-reaching business makeovers. Spain's Telefonica is set to introduce a broad plan it calls the "4th Platform" to help both consumer and business customers keep greater control over their data rather than giving it away to web giants Google, Facebook and Amazon. Russian and emerging markets operator Vimpelcom is tearing up many parts of the telecom rule book to remake itself as a tech player in the fast-growing world of messaging apps. U.S. telecom giant AT&T has inked a series of huge deals to diversify by acquiring Direct TV for $67 billion and is awaiting approval to buy Time Warner for another $110 billion. "Regulatory and pricing pressure on telecom operators forces them to look to adjacent areas for new sources of revenue and margins," said attorney Tom Levine, head of Allen & Overy's global telecoms practice. "There isn't a consensus on how to do this." It's also an open question whether the industry is structurally capable of big change. Telcos have dreamed for decades of breaking free of the shackles of consumer regulation and branching out into Internet services in their local markets, only to be consistently beaten by newer, global upstarts. RUSSIAN LABORATORY These dramatic changes come as telcos brace to offer new networks ready to handle not just spiralling data use on phones but in cars, in factories and offices and even crop fields. The new generation of 5G networks will provide them new business options but also spells mounting competition from computer, internet and industrial players with digital plans of their own. Russia has emerged as the world's most advanced laboratory for telecom companies seeking to reinvent themselves as Internet players, as classic telecom business pressures, Western economic sanctions and government rules that reduce Silicon Valley giants to small local players create space to combine forces. Vimpelcom, Russia's No.3 operator, has undertaken a top-to-bottom overhaul of its business while gearing up for deeper Internet partnerships with the likes of streaming music and online taxi services. The company also focuses on emerging markets from Bangladesh to Algeria and is the world's sixth largest operator in terms of number of mobile customers served. Megafon, the No.2 network provider, has acquired control of sister company Mail.ru, a major Russian Internet player - the Russian equivalent of Verizon buying Facebook - and plans to offer a new mobile version of social media site VKontakte. Top Russian telecoms player MTS is so far sitting on the sidelines, but its executives have signalled they too believe their long-run future lies in Internet services. Meanwhile, Telefonica sees its "4th Platform" strategy as a way to stoke faster growth and compete aggressively with globally dominant internet players while being a logical evolution of existing businesses, a senior company source said. The strategy builds on its long-standing investments in communications services, its broad geographic reach across Europe and Latin America and efforts to offer advanced money-making services on top of basic communication connections, but does not require making huge new investments, the source said. "Now is the turn of the fourth platform: the data. That is Telefonica's (new) equity story," the source said of its bid to boost margins by, for example, enabling customers to analyse mountains of data to make their own businesses run smarter. Other phone companies are taking more modest steps. Norway's Telenor, another emerging markets operator, has pushed into data analytics, while Vodafone is making inroads in new industrial internet and connected car applications, through its 2014 acquisition of Cobra Automotive. DO THEY HAVE THE DNA? Still, many telecom operators take a dim view of some of the aggressive moves being made by these peers, especially when it comes to business models based on commercialising customer data. Deutsche Telekom, Europe's largest telecom operator by revenue, sees this as no-go territory in privacy-conscious Germany. Instead, it is focused on making strides into new connected industrial arenas and cloud computing. Telekom's main growth story is likely to remain the United States where it revolutionized the mobile industry by offering unlimited data plans and international roaming packages. Using aggressive marketing, T-Mobile has gained at the expense of rivals, making it nearly as big Telekom's core German business. France's Vivendi, which embarked on a grand misadventure last decade to combine telecom and media assets, offers a cautionary tale for investors betting on these new reinvention stories. For telecom operators used to predictable cash flows and firm regulatory boundaries, the main issue may be cultural: Most just don't have the stomach for such drastic transformation. "Working out how to bring in that entrepreneurial DNA, without disappointing users' expectations of reliability, and recognising the financial expectations of institutional shareholders, is not easy," Levine said of healthy dividend payouts which remain the industry's main draw to investors. (Additional reporting by Andres Gonzalez in Madrid; Sinead Carew in New York and Harro ten Wolde and Peter Maushagen in Frankfurt; Editing by Keith Weir)
By Jeremy Wagstaff SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A bug in its software left hundreds of thousands of webpages hosted by Cloudflare Inc leaking encrypted personal data, but there was no sign yet the leak had been exploited by hackers, the Internet security firm said on Friday. Cloudflare hosts six million websites, spreading them across the Internet to put them closer to customers while at the same time reducing their exposure to the so-called Distributed Denial of Service attacks that might knock them offline. The data leak was attributable to a bug in the firm's software that had been sending chunks of unrelated data to users' browsers when they visited a webpage hosted by Cloudflare, according to Google researchers. Cloudflare Chief Technology Officer John Graham-Cumming said the problem had been fixed quickly and most of the exposed data removed from the caches of search engines like Alphabet's Google. "We've seen absolutely no evidence that this has been exploited," he told Reuters by phone. "It's very unlikely that someone has got this information." The leakage may have been active from Sept. 22, but the period most affected was from Feb. 13 until it was discovered on Feb. 18. At its height earlier this month, Graham-Cumming said, about 120,000 webpages were leaking information every day. Some of this data included "private messages from major dating sites, full messages from a well-known chat service, online password manager data, frames from adult video sites, hotel bookings" as well as cookies, passwords and software keys, Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy, who discovered the bug, wrote in a forum on Feb. 19. Ormandy also wrote on Twitter that data from ridesharing service Uber [UBER.UL] and cloud password company 1Password had been leaking. Uber declined to comment, while AgileBits, the maker of 1Password, denied in a blog post on Thursday that any personal data had been compromised. Graham-Cumming said it was difficult to say which of Cloudflare's six million websites had been affected. He said that Google and Cloudflare had been working together to remove any sensitive data from the store of webpages that search engines like Google collect when they index the web. He said that process was not yet complete, which is why some researchers were still finding data if they knew where to look. Some security researchers have said the problem is more serious than Cloudflare has described. Jonathan Sublett of internet security company Shield Maiden said in a blog post that anyone who accessed sites that used Cloudflare "should consider their data public and work towards securing their accounts". Graham-Cumming said it was difficult to say which of their customers were affected. "There will be a debate about how serious this is," he said. "We do not know of anybody who has had a security problem as a result of this." (Reporting By Jeremy Wagstaff; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Google has cracked the code for the the SHA-1 algorithm, which is a crucial aspect of the internet's security. This likely means SHA-1's encryption usefulness has come to an end.

On Thursday, Google made major cryptography news by announcing that it had discovered a technique for generating a collision in the SHA-1 algorithma fundamental part of internet security protocol. The announcement effectively marks the death of SHA-1.

What Is SHA-1?

SHA-1 is a hashing function used to encrypt information. It generates a random string of characters that act as a digital fingerprint for plaintext information while making sure no one except the intended recipient is able to access the information.

Hash systems are commonly used for login systems, which need to verify a password is correct without exposing the password. Because its very unlikely for hash values to ever be identical, its easy for a system to verify the a hash value.

What Did Google Do To Crack SHA-1?

Google was able to successfully execute a collision attack on SHA-1. The companys researchers were able to harness enough computing power to effectively crack the algorithm.

The attack took nine quintillion SHA-1 computations in total and required 6,500 years of CPU computation and 110 years of GPU computation to complete, according to Google. Thats not the kind of computing power that most people have access to, but Google isnt the only organization in the world that could theoretically create the collision.

What Is A Collision?

A collision happens when two different files produce the exact same hash value. When that happens, an attacker could distribute a malicious file that shares the same hash as a legitimate file. This opens up the possibility for a widespread attack.

A particularly devastating collision attack was launched in 2012 against the MD5 algorithm, in which a state-sponsored malware known as Flame was able to forge a Windows code-signing certificate and distribute itself through patches to millions of customers.

SHA-1 has now been proven vulnerable to a similar type of attack. While the collision that Google produced is less devastating than the one used by Flame, it is enough for cryptographers to deem the hash function unsafe.

Story continues

What Does This Mean?

While SHA-1 had not yet been cracked prior to Googles collision attack, experts have assumed for some time that such an attack may be possible. Because of the believed inevitability of a collision in SHA-1, some sites and services have already moved away from the algorithm.

However, the function is still widely used. Git, the most widely used system for software development among groups of people, uses SHA-1 for data integrity ; the GnuPG e-mail encryption program considers the hash function to be safe ; 2014 marked the first year of significant movement away from the protocol and at the time, more than 90 percent of web encryption was still using SHA-1.

How You Can Avoid Security Risks

The best thing you can do is simply pay attention to the warning signs your browser provides. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge browsers will all warn users if they are on a site that has its encryption signed by the SHA-1 algorithm. Those sites are considered not to be secure and may be compromised.

Related Articles
Its 2017, which means were long past the days when your phone should lock you in to one particular carrier. Unfortunately, Google doesnt seem to agree.

A new report from Cellular Insights takes a deep dive into how the Google Pixel XL performs on different networks. According to their testing, 3x Carrier Aggregation  a feature that combines different LTE bands for blazing-fast speeds  doesnt work on T-Mobile, but does on Verizon.

Don't Miss: The iPhone 8s secret weapon could be incredible battery life

The end result will be slower speeds for T-Mobile users compared to Verizon, even if the two networks are totally equal in one place. Its a handicap for T-Mobile, as most customers wont know that its the phone causing the slowdown.

The reason for the lack of 3xCA on T-Mobile appears to be software related. 3xCA works just fine on Verizon, and Google advertises 3xCA as a feature for the Pixel XL. Cellular Insights explains the problem:

Despite the device being fully unlocked and (at least initially) marketed in North America as Cat 9 capable, Google exercises the right to enable and disable not only LTE bands and CA combos on per operator basis, but capabilities and features as well, such as LTE Category and Higher Order Modulation. We simply can not rationalize the reason behind this decision, but it is hard to imagine that this was an accident, knowing that T-Mobile is one of the very first U.S. operators to rollout 3xCA, as well as one of the first operators globally to activate DL-256QAM, UL-64QAM, EVS, etc. We are hoping that one of the upcoming Google OTA updates will take care of T-Mobile specific carrier profile, allowing the Pixel XL to take the full advantage of the network.

With your tinfoil hat on, theres one obvious explanation for this behaviour: Verizon is the exclusive carrier retail partner for the Pixel and Pixel XL in the States. If you want a Pixel on T-Mobile, youll have to buy it outright unlocked from Google and get your own T-Mobile SIM. Hypothetically, there might be some agreement between Verizon and Google to only enable certain network features on Verizon, giving the network a sly upper hand.

Story continues

Google did not immediately return a request for comment.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
As the battle to bring self-driving car technology into the mainstream intensifies, its no surprise that were starting to see a discernible increase in the number of intra-industry lawsuits. Not too long after Tesla sued its former director of Autopilot software for stealing hundreds of gigabytes of proprietary information comes a similar lawsuit, this one involving Alphabets Waymo division, Uber and Otto.

Don't Miss: A drone flies into a tiger habitat, and youll absolutely believe what happens next

In a blog post published on Medium this afternoon, Alphabets Waymo team explains why theyre suing both Uber and Otto, the latter being a self-driving truck company started by ex-Googlers that Uber acquired last year.

The thrust of the suit is that Otto founder Anthony Levandowski, a former member of the Waymo team, downloaded huge volumes of proprietary technical data pertaining to Waymos self-driving technology.

Waymo became aware of the alleged theft after noticing via happenstance that Ubers LiDAR circuit board bore a striking resemblance to Waymos unique LiDAR design.

The post reads in part:

[Levandowski] downloaded over 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary design files for Waymos various hardware systems, including designs of Waymos LiDAR and circuit board. To gain access to Waymos design server, Mr. Levandowski searched for and installed specialized software onto his company-issued laptop. Once inside, he downloaded 9.7 GB of Waymos highly confidential files and trade secrets, including blueprints, design files and testing documentation. Then he connected an external drive to the laptop. Mr. Levandowski then wiped and reformatted the laptop in an attempt to erase forensic fingerprints.

Interestingly, this type of theft is exactly what Tesla accused its former Autopilot director of doing.

In any event, Waymo writes that a number of other former team members, who now currently work at Otto and Uber, engaged in similar behavior. Hardly isolated incidents, Waymo argues that it was all part of a well-coordinated plan to steal Waymos intellectual property for monetary gain.

Story continues

Our parent company Alphabet has long worked with Uber in many areas, and we didnt make this decision lightly, the post reads. However, given the overwhelming facts that our technology has been stolen, we have no choice but to defend our investment and development of this unique technology.

The full complaint can be read here.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8 are expected to be ultra-premium devices with features such a 10nm processors and edge-to-edge displays.

Samsung will introduce the Galaxy S8 on March 29 in New York and will start selling its highly-anticipated smartphone on April 21, according to South Koreas ETNews.

The company had previously decided to launch the smartphone on that date globally and a week earlier in South Korea. The plan was to have a presale on the week of April 6 and launch the S8 in South Korea on April 14.

However, the company changed its course and decided to release the Galaxy S8 worldwide and domestically on the same day. A high-ranking official Samsung official said the Galaxy S8 release date change was due to reasons such as size of supplies and others.

Samsung has not decided on a pre-sale schedule, but pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 could start on April 13, ETNews reported.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus Spec Rumors

This week alleged images of the Galaxy S8 were leaked on Twitter. The photos show no physical buttons on the bottom of the screen and has on-screen navigation keys instead.

Samsung is expected to reveal the Galaxy S8 and the S8 Plus next month. There might be a chance the S8 Plus could also start selling the same time the S8 launches.

Both phones are rumored to come with AI assistant Bixby, which will compete with Apples Siri. The Galaxy S8+ is rumored to feature a 6.2-inch dual-edge display and a 3,500mAh or a 3,750mAh battery.

The new phones follow the failed Galaxy Note 7, which was recalled globally after battery issues.

Related Articles
Samsung has no intention of unveiling its next-generation Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ flagship smartphones next week at the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain. Of course, you wouldnt know that from watching the chatter among Android fans ahead of the show. LG has a new flagship phone set to be unveiled, Nokia will debut three new models, Lenovo reportedly has a new Moto G phone set to be unwrapped, and Huaweis upcoming new flagship is rumored to be an absolute beast. And yet all anyone can seem to focus on is Samsung and its upcoming new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ handsets, which will be nowhere to be found next week at MWC 2017.

Were not terribly surprised, considering how fantastic Samsungs next-gen Galaxy S phones have sounded in leaks and rumors. We saw the full Galaxy S8+ specs sheet leak earlier this week, and the smaller S8 specs emerged soon after. Now, a new leaked photo may very well give the world its first look at Samsungs finalized Galaxy S8 hardware.

Don't Miss: Theres a phone with the same specs as the Galaxy S7 that costs less than $350 unlocked

If more than a dozen independent reports are to be believed, the upcoming new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be two of the most impressive smartphones the world has ever seen. Theyre said to feature a bold redesign that does away with the home button on the front of the phone and narrows all four bezels surrounding the curved Super AMOLED displays. The result will seemingly be a much more impressive screen-to-face ratio, and weve seen a few purported early units leak and match those reports.

With the Galaxy S8 and S8+ now just over a month away from being unveiled, its likely safe to say that hardware has been finalized. And now, a new leaked photo may very well show us that freshly finalized hardware.

8a1cbc1fgy1fcya

The image above was posted on a website called Slashleaks this week, and it comes from a user who is believed to have posted accurate leaks in the past. While the source of the image is unclear, the gray box seen covering part of the phones face could be covering a watermark from any one of a number of online Chinese forums, which have become increasingly popular sources of leaks in recent years.

Story continues

The phone above is pictured in a protective case, so much of the back of the device is obscured. We can see the rear camera, LED flash and sensor cluster, and the relocated fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone, however. We can also see the big, beautiful display that occupies almost the entire face of the phone.

Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ during a press conference in late March, and the phones are then expected to go on sale on April 21st.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
SEOUL (Reuters) - Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Friday it will not be able to nominate a new outside director for a vote in the annual shareholder meeting set for March 24 due to uncertainty generated by "current circumstances" in South Korea. Samsung had said in November it plans to nominate at least one new board member with "global C-Suite experience" for this year's shareholder meeting as part of its efforts to improve corporate governance. The company said on Friday its search for nominees are continuing. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
By Se Young Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - Tech giant Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> is tightening board oversight on donations while two senior Samsung Group [SAGR.UL] executives reportedly offered to resign, as the conglomerate struggles with the fallout from a graft scandal that led to its leader's arrest. Samsung Electronics said on Friday its board of directors will now vote on any financial support to third parties worth 1 billion won ($886,210.56) or more and disclose any such payments publicly. Previously, only payments of 680 billion won or more were subject to board approval. "This move improves transparency in financial aid and appropriation of social corporate social responsibility funds, and strengthens compliance management," the company said in a statement. The flagship of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group has been at the center of an influence-peddling scandal that led South Korea's parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye in December. Jay Y. Lee, leader of Samsung Group and Samsung Electronics' vice chairman, was arrested last week after being named a suspect by the South Korean special prosecutor's office. Lee is accused of pledging 43 billion won in bribes to a company and organizations backed by President Park Geun-hye's confidant, Choi Soon-sil, to curry favor. Though Samsung Group and Lee have denied paying bribes to Park or seeking improper favors, the conglomerate has pledged to take steps to improve transparency amid accusations and criticisms that Samsung used its financial might to game the system in its favor. Lee, who is arguing that he was coerced into making the payments, told lawmakers during a December hearing that Samsung Group would take measures to avoid making improper payments in the future. "It appears that the things that Vice Chairman Lee promised to do are being carried out now," said Park Ju-gun, head of corporate analysis firm CEO Score. Samsung also said on Friday it was unable to nominate a new outside director for vote at the March 24 annual shareholder meeting due to uncertain circumstances. The firm had in November promised to nominate at least one new board member with "global C-suite experience" as part of its efforts to improve corporate governance. MANAGEMENT UPHEAVAL? Separately, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported later on Friday that Samsung Group Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung and President Chang Choong-ki have offered to resign to take responsibility for the graft scandal. Choi and Chang are also suspects in the special prosecutor's investigation. Samsung Group had no immediate comment to offer on the report when contacted by Reuters. A potential exit by Choi adds to questions about how the smartphones-to-biopharmaceuticals giant will operate in Lee's absence. Samsung insiders and former executives believed that after Lee's arrest Choi, the No.2 at Samsung Group and mentor to the 48-year-old Lee, would likely manage group-level affairs while professional managers continue running the various affiliates. Choi's exit, if confirmed, would signal a change of guard and raise the possibility that heads of the various affiliates are given more autonomy to make business decisions, analysts said on Friday. "I suspect there will be major changes at the CEO level going forward," said Chung Sun-sup, head of corporate analysis firm Chaebul.com. Samsung shares ended down 2.5 percent on Friday, but are still up 6 percent so far this year. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; additional reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
The next chapter of Snapchats life will begin over the coming months, as parent company Snap, Inc. goes public with an initial offering that could value the firm at approximately $20 billion. Success is far from certain: The Venice Beach, Calif.-based Snap has warned in investor documents that it could lose users to competitors with greater resources and broader global recognition  shorthand for the Facebook-owned Instagram. Snapchats once-meteoric growth is showing signs of slowing, with only 8 million new users over the last six months.

But whether or not Snapchat survives in a competitive market in the coming years, its contributions  along with those of rivals like Instagram and Apple  to the medium of photography and visual communication are unprecedented. Snap put it this way in its IPO documents: In the way that the flashing cursor became the starting point for most products on desktop computers, we believe that the camera screen will be the starting point for most products on smartphones.

Its that approach that has changed the way we communicate with imagery. It started with phone manufacturers like Apple, which, in response to traditional camera makers, chose to buck the trend by drastically simplifying the photographic experience. We want to make it so its a single tap and you get the picture you want, even though, in the background, were doing literally one hundred billion operations to make that photo look as good as it possibly can look, says Greg Joswiak, Apples vice president of product marketing.

The simplicity of the iPhone camera app was a game changer at a time when being a serious photographer typically meant mastering wonky settings like ISO, aperture and shutter speed, not to mention the dozens of other features available on traditional cameras.

By simplifying the camera experience and embedding it in a device that we all carry with us, companies like Apple and Samsung have helped establish the image as a primary form of communication today. I grew up with technology, says Robby Stein, Instagrams product lead for its Snapchat-like Stories feature. The first thing that we had was the desktop computer and so we were on Instant Messenger, we were sending emails. The way you were communicating was very much based on a keyboard, based on text. But todays generation is growing up with a phone-sized computer in their pockets, he says. Their first device is a camera and they have it in their pocket all the time to capture and share their lives.

Story continues

As a result, that camera-first approach is changing the function of the photograph itself. Its not just the historical record of a past event, says Stein, but it can also be the starting point of communication. It might not just be the photo itself thats interesting, but its also the context around it, he tells TIME. Whom youre with. What the weather is. How youre feeling.

For Snapchat, the camera is the launch point for interactive experiences, as CEO Evan Spiegel explained in a video for prospective investors released ahead of its IPO. Providing that context is at the center of Snapchats experience. Snapchat was the first mainstream app to popularize this new format for the photograph. Users can add location tags, mood stickers and filters, as well as other contextualizing information like temperature, time and speed, to photographs and videos. Rival apps have since aped those features.

Most importantly, Snapchat says it removed the baggage from the act of photographing by making images ephemeral. Everyone thought of cameras as a way to save very important memories, says Spielgel in the investor video. So when we created Snapchat where everything is deleted by default . . . we had to explain that Snapchat is used for communicating, its used for talking. We find that conversation is more comfortable, more familiar and natural when it deletes by default. Self-expression isnt a contest. Its not about how well you can express yourself, its about being able to communicate how you feel and doing that in the moment.

Snapchat was so successful with this new approach to communication  growing to 150 million daily users in just five years  that Instagram copied it, launching a similar feature called Stories last November. Thats the biggest shift weve seen and were building products to enable that type of visual communication, says Instagrams Stein. But that doesnt mean that Instagram is erasing its past as a place for photographic memories. For us, theres a natural complement between sharing a lot of the highlights of your life and sharing much more of your life in the moment, as its happening, which is what Stories has provided, adds Stein.

What Snapchat and Instagram are getting right is that the best camera isnt the one you have with you, as the saying goes, but its the one that comes with your community of people. A lot of the time, you take a photo or a video with the explicit purpose of sharing it, says Stein. So, the best camera is one that is connected to your friends, allows you to create and express yourself and allows you to do that very easily and quickly. Thats why were seeing the importance of all of those structures coming together.

Theres no sign this connected camera trend will stop. As smartphones continue to improve beyond their own hardware limitations and through new software updates and APIs (We continue to look at not just the improvements that we make to our own camera and photo software, but making sure were providing powerful APIs for our third parties, says Apples Joswiak.), companies like Snapchat and Instagram will continue to rewrite the definition of photography.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent

Follow TIME LightBox on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Verizon has rolled out a thorough ad campaign to go with its new unlimited data plan. As is normal these days, the ads focus on the pricing per line when you have four lines, which works out to $45 per line, plus taxes and fees.

Unfortunately for sales reps working in Verzions stores, wannabe customers dont read the fine print.

Don't Miss: The iPhone 8s secret weapon could be incredible battery life

Several Verizon retail sources have told BGR that customers are coming in every hour asking for that $45 Unlimited plan, just to be told that actually, its $80 plus taxes for the plan if theres just one of you. Im sure Verizon is happy that customers are excited by the pricing of its unlimited plan, but people wanting one line for $45 per month seems to be causing serious problems for the retail outlets. One employee said that if I have to explain the bad math to one more customer, Im going to go [around the city] and write $80 on every Verizon ad I can find.

A poster on the Verizon subreddit echoed the comments:

I swear man, if another customer comes in and asks for our new $45 UDP, Im gonna rip the posters off the walls. Im not even cushioning my response to customers anymore. I just tell them its gimmicky marketing math meant to get them in store. Anyone else having a lot of push back from frustrated customers on this phrasing?

Verizon is definitely not the first wireless network to focus on the per-line unlimited cost, rather than being more upfront about the pricing. Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T have all used per-line pricing in the past, despite the fact that most people dont actually have four lines per account. Still, it seems like people have been waiting so long for a Verizon unlimited plan that this ad campaign has sparked more interest than usual.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
Were about to see a variety of Android device makers introduce their best new smartphones models at MWC 2017, but many of these devices will have a huge disadvantage when it comes to competing against the best of the best. According to current rumors, some of the top Android devices that are about to be unveiled will not be powered by flagship 2017 mobile processors.

The Galaxy S8 (April) and the iPhone 8 (September) will feature chips that arent just faster than their predecessors, but are also a lot more efficient. While Apple never announces its silicon innovations ahead of the products theyre supposed to power, Samsung does it with some regularity. Right on schedule, the company just unveiled the mobile chip thatll be found inside the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

Don't Miss: The iPhone 8s most important new feature was finally just confirmed

Just as expected, Samsung unveiled the Exynos 9 chips well ahead of the Galaxy S8s arrival. Specifically, were looking at the Exynos 9 Series 8895 processor.

The Exynos 8895 is Samsungs first chip built on 10-nanometer FinFET process technology. The 8895 is an octa-core chip featuring four Samsung second-gen custom cores meant to improve performance and power efficiency and four Corex-A53 cores. The new chip consumes 40% less power than 14nm equivalents, featuring up to 27% higher performance.

The Exynos 8895 is the first Samsung chip to embed a gigabit LTE modem that supports download speeds of up to 1Gbps (Cat 16.) with 5CA (carrier aggregation) and upload speeds of up to 150Mbps (Cat. 13), with 2CA.

The chip supports video recording and playback at a maximum resolution of 4K at 120fps, and is supposed to deliver video processing technology that enables a higher quality experience by enhancing the image quality. Samsung insists on the Exynos 8895s realistic and immersive VR video experience at 4K resolution, seemingly indicating what the Galaxy S8 might be good at.

The company notes that the chip will support multi-format codec and next-level 3D graphics performance thanks to the integration of the brand new Mali-G71 GPU.

Story continues

The chip has a separate CPU that handles security solutions for mobile payments that use iris or fingerprint authentication, and an embedded Vision Processing Unit (VPU) that can deliver improved video tracking, panoramic image processing, and machine vision technology.

The Exynos 8895 wont be the only chip powering the Galaxy S8. The Samsung-manufactured Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is also a 10nm chip capable of similar feats, a chip that should power various other Android smartphones later this year.

Even if Apple never announces its A-series chips ahead of new iPhone launches, its also likely that Apples upcoming A11 chip, which TSMC is building on the same 10nm process, will offer similar performance gains.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
By Moses Kyeyune

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament Ms.Winnie Kiiza has challenged government to ensure an enabling environment for medical workers to reduce preventable deaths.

Hon. Kiiza was speaking during a special sitting held on Friday afternoon to pay tribute to fallen Moroto Woman Member od Parliament Annie Logiel.

Logiel succumbed to a brain tumour at the age of 49 on February 14 in Denmark where she was undergoing treatment.

Being a wealth worker she was, Anne believed in quality health for all Ugandans. I would pray that as we pay tribute to Anne we reconsider our health systems. It is true we have so many health centers around but majority are ill equipped. Let this moment bring us to the reality that better health care is critical for a healthy nation, said Hon Kiiza.

Meanwhile, in a motion for the resolution of Parliament to pay tribute to Logiel the Prime Minister Dr.Ruhakana Rugunda has said that Uganda has lost a passionate and committed medical officer in Annie Logiel.

He says that her demise leaves a big gap in the health sector.

The late Logiel will be laid to rest on Sunday 26 February at her ancestral home in Moroto district.
By Samuel Ssebuliba

A new refugee settlement has been opened in Uganda as thousands of South Sudanese continue to flee every day.

The United Nations High Commission for refugees has opened a new settlement area in Arua district, which is to host new refugees arriving South Sudan.

The opening of Imvepi camp was decided after Palorinya settlement in Moyo district rapidly reached its 135,000 refugee-hosting capacity.

According to Mr. Charlie Yaxley the Spokesperson for UN Refugee Agency, this Imvepi settlement is expected to accommodate up to 110,000 new arrivals.

He adds that in the last two days alone, 2,000 South Sudanese refugees have been registered at the new camp.

On Thursday, the UN Refugee agency raised the red flag over the high rate of news arrivals of refugees in Uganda mainly due to hunger and the conflict in South Sudan.

Mr. Yarxley said in a statement issued to the media that over 9,500 South Sudanese refugees were received in Uganda between the 15th and 21st February, althouth this is a decrease from the over 13,000 new arrivals reported in the previous week.

This brings the total new arrivals in February alone to 56,087.The average daily rate of new arrivals this week was 1,367.

Mr. Yarxley added that refugees arriving in Uganda, the majority of whom are women and children, report general insecurity, limited access to food and basic services, violence, rape and abuse of women and girls, as reasons for fleeing their homes in South Sudan.

This comes as Ethiopia and South Sudan jointly appeal for urgent international assistance to help at least 15 million of people facing starvation in the two countries.

Famine has been declared in parts of South Sudan while Ethiopia is facing yet another drought that has hit several countries in the East and Horn of Africa.

Speaking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile-mariam Desa-legn said countries in the region had agreed to share meagre resources in averting what he said was looming famine.

For his part, South Sudans president said his government would allow safe passage for humanitarian assistance to reach millions that are facing starvation.

Earlier this week the UN warned that the world needs to act quickly to avert further disaster in the worlds youngest nation.

In Uganda, all is not well either. The long dry spell has left an estimated 1.6m people in dire need of food.

The government needs Shs.52bn to tackle the food crisis but so far, only Shs.25bn has been raised after cabinet approved ministry budget adjustments.
No

Yes, a light case

Yes, two or more light cases

One serious case

Two or more serious bouts

Vote

View Results
ANGOLA  Angola High School students got a chance to learn a little more about FFA this week.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, during resource period in the gym, FFA students hosted games everyone could participate in. The three-legged race on Tuesday and barrel racing with hobby horses on Thursday were fun ways to get students talking about agriculture-related topics, said FFA advisor Neasa Kalme.

Not everybodys going to be a barrel racer, but some of the FFA members have horses. Others have beehives or live on farms.

The Angola FFA has started a trail behind the high school for use by all students, and the outdoors adventure that FFA has to offer is open to all students, said Kalme.

During FFA Week, some members spent time at Tractor Supply Co. in Angola, which is selling FFA emblems for $1 apiece to help support the local organization. Kalme has applied for a grant from Tractor Supply that may allow benches to be built for the trail and water quality equipment to be purchased.

Tuesday morning, the students arrived early to serve a Staff Appreciation Breakfast in Kalmes classroom.

The members do various activities throughout the year, from the annual toy show in January to the Indiana State Fair in the summertime.

There are area competitions for FFA projects, and in June, students have an opportunity to advance to the State FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

Last year, two students, sophomores Hannah McCutcheon and Halai Faulkner, took first place in Foods in the Agriscience Fair at the state convention. Dana Crowl placed fourth in the state with her proficiency and Emily Barge placed third with her Beelicious honey in the Ag Sales and Entrepreneurship category.

FFA members can learn new skills or take a hobby to a higher level with supervised summer education programs, which provide summer school credits. FFA students must take one ag course a year, and Kalme said the summer project can cover that necessity. Some students do work, such as gardening, mechanics or beekeeping; others do research.

Weve got a lot of different leadership development activities they can do, said Kalme.

The projects follow the youths, Kalme noted, allowing them to expand on their interests.

Every year its different because of the kids I have in the program, she said.
Temperatures started off quite a bit milder this morning which kept fog from becoming as problematic for the morning commute, with clouds on the increase starting this morning.



A cold front will push in to Southwest Louisiana by late-afternoon but moisture profiles look to remain low enough to keep mentionable rain chances out of the forecast, although I won't rule out the chance of a quick sprinkle or two late this afternoon as the front arrives.



Temperatures will again be warm through the day, topping out in the upper 70s this afternoon as breezy onshore winds once again return for this Friday.



If you plan to head out to the parade tonight in Lake Charles, rain chances will only be around 10% early on with temperatures falling through the 60s during the parade, with the colder air holding off until after midnight.





By Saturday morning temperatures are expected to fall into the middle to upper 40s under mostly clear skies to start the day Saturday.



Saturday will bring an abundance of sunshine with temperatures only reaching the middle 60s during the afternoon as northerly winds knock back the humidity to near normal values for February.



Temperatures Saturday night will be the coldest of the next 7 days with lows in the upper 30s north to lower 40s along and south of the interstate.



Sunday continues to look dry with our next weather maker arriving Monday and bringing likely rain chances to the area by Monday morning with generally one quarter to one half inch of rain expected during the day.



Rain chances are increased to 60% for Monday as an upper level disturbance pushes across the state.



We look to get a break from the higher rain chances Tuesday, although a couple of showers will still in

the forecast combined with still a bit of uncertainty about the timing of another upper level disturbance.



The next higher rain chances come Wednesday with the arrival of a cold front and cooler temperatures for late next week.



Have a great Friday!



First Alert Meteorologist Ben Terry
As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I fear I must share some with you.

It turns out we cant trust unusually large rodents to give us an accurate weather forecast.

On Feb. 2, just a couple short weeks ago, Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous groundhog of Groundhogs Day (both the holiday and the movie), informed us that we would have six more weeks of winter in the U.S. by seeing his shadow as he popped out for his annual media appearance.

For those keeping track, that means that we should be shivering in our boots and mittens at least until March 16. And yet as I write this column Friday afternoon, its 55 degrees where I work in downtown La Crosse, and I just stepped outside without a jacket. That makes the temperature about 20 degrees above normal for February. (According to the National Weather Service, the normal high for this time of year is 31.4 degrees.)

The NWS is letting people know were reaching the point where we could set some daily or even monthly records, particularly when it comes to overnight lows. The record high for February in La Crosse is 65, set in 1882 and matched in 1921, according to NWS climate data; and the overnight low records hover around 40 degrees in La Crosse and Rochester.

Those of you who collude with Phil and his groundhog friends might argue that its a fluke. One warm day doesnt mean winter is gone for good. However, the weather forecast that calls for temperatures around 50 degrees for the foreseeable future implies the trend is a bit longer than what we can reasonably call a fluke. Im not saying we wont see any temps below freezing again until next fall, but we seem to have reached Midwest spring a month before Punxsutawney Phil said it would arrive. The Seer of Seers, as they call him in his hometown in Pennsylvania, is a bit off.

Now Im a friend of the furry woodland creatures, but Ive had it up to here with this groundhogs fake weather forecast. Why did we ever start asking a stupid rodent about the weather in the first place, and why has this blurred into a tradition suggesting it controls the weather?

According to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, we have the Germans to thank for this nonsense. Back when it started, it was simply a party to remind people Feb. 2 was still the heart of winter here in the northern U.S. and thered likely be six more weeks of winter, regardless of what Phil did.

They went to Gobblers Knob outside Punxsutawney, Pa., for the ceremony, brought out each years Phil and then ate him, because they werent about to let a nice fat animal go to waste back in the 1880s. It was a nice little party to break up a long winter, and I dont begrudge the originators the break in their cabin fever where they pretended it mattered whether it was sunny enough on that one day for the groundhog to see his shadow.

However, this has gotten ridiculous.

According to the groundhog club, Phil once threatened to impose an entire year and six weeks of winter if he couldnt get a drink back in the 1920s. Yes, you read that right, they gave a groundhog, which cant talk and therefore cant actually threaten anything or anyone, alcohol during Prohibition because he threatened to control the weather for a year.

Hes been on Oprah and took a trip to the White House, and they made a movie about him in which Bill Murray gives him the respect he deserves.

We stop eating him every year and give him all this attention and this is how he repays us? By completely phoning in his forecast and getting it completely wrong?

To be fair, maybe nobody told Phil about climate change. Or, being a rodent and therefore presumably pretty dumb, he just doesnt understand that our world is changing as gasses build up in our atmosphere and raise global temperature averages, and its no longer quite as safe to assume well have another six weeks of winter in the beginning of February.
The following editorial appeared in the Feb. 19 Wisconsin State Journal:

The Green Bay City Council recently discussed spending $80,000 to repair or replace a 9/11 monument thats in horrible condition.

The Holmen Village Board in La Crosse County approved $34,085 for two pickups, $4,500 for a digital camera, and $2,600 for a radar gun.

The Beaver Dam School Board committed $75,000 for Chromebooks for staff.

The DeForest Village Board approved an agreement with Dane County to reconstruct Highway CV.

All of that information  and so much more  appeared Thursday and Friday in meeting minutes published by local governments in local newspapers.

You might not care about some or any of those details if you dont live in those communities. But if you did, those decisions could significantly affect you and your family.

Thats why school districts, counties and municipalities are required by state law to publish  at a discount  the minutes of their meetings in their local newspapers. The Wisconsin Newspaper Association also publishes the notices and a slew of other community announcements on its searchable and free website: wisconsinpublicnotices.org.

The notices are a public service to the hundreds of thousands of citizens who read local newspapers in print and online across Wisconsin, as well as anyone who is curious and has access to the internet.

The result of wide dissemination of this public information  where it is easy to find  is a more involved and knowledgeable citizenry that knows whats going on with public money and policy.

Unfortunately, Gov. Scott Walker and some misguided state lawmakers want to hide much of this information where its hard for voters to find. They are pushing changes in the state budget and separate legislation that would bury meeting minutes and other public notices about local ordinances and budgets on obscure, often confusing and bureaucratic government websites.

Instead of just picking up your local newspaper and seeing all of the actions your local leaders are taking  including those that dont lead to news coverage and big headlines  citizens will have to search the internet hoping to find more detail about government budgets and decisions.

The politicians claim this will save a little money because local governments wont have to pay for as many notices in newspapers. What they dont say is public access to government will be diminished. And thats just what the politicians want, because fewer notices will mean less scrutiny and accountability for their actions. Over time, that will only lead to greater spending and waste, not less.

The full Legislature should reject Assembly Bill 70 and Senate Bill 42, which will reduce government transparency. Lawmakers also should strip from the governors budget any language limiting publication of government meetings and actions.
Holmen High School agri-science teacher and Wisconsin High School Teacher of the Year for 2016, Roger King, is encouraging his colleagues to educate their communities about the valuable contribution teachers provide.

Through these (school) doors pass all careers, and education leads to every profession, said King.

The national Teacher of the Year program identifies exceptional teachers throughout the country, recognizes their effective work in the classroom, engages them in a year of professional learning, amplifies their voices and empowers them to participate in policy discussions at the state and national levels.

King and other Teachers of the Year have been tapped by Northwest Evaluation Association, a non-profit educational organization, to create podcasts about the teaching profession. Kings recording is part of the podcast series called Leading from the Classroom recently released by NWEA. Each podcast segment features a different teacher speaking about his or her profession and advocating for students and schools.

I just think teachers have to be more of a voice for their profession, said King. I think the community should know what we do day to day. I dont think the public views teachers as professionals.

In his podcast, he urges educators to use their teacher voice to tell their communities that the teaching profession is more than classroom lectures.

Teaching is more than daily lessons taught to students, said King. We should add meaning to our lessons, to relate our lessons to something meaningful.

King stresses that students needs are different every day and meeting those needs can be a challenge. But the results can have wide-ranging outcomes.

We, as teachers, impact our worlds success through our teaching, said King. As we extend our voices, we need to go beyond our classrooms to tell our stories. We need to tell our stories of all the positive things we do in the classrooms and the challenges we have in the classroom. Way too many people are unfamiliar with the day-to-day work educators do.

He feels in the current social environment, the teaching profession has been taken for granted and that it is no longer viewed as a valued professional career path.

Teachers are leaving (the profession) because of lack of support, said King. We no longer have the value we used to have in the community. There are fewer going into the field.

With a substantial number of teachers leaving the profession and fewer college-aged students choosing to go into the field, the state is experiencing a teacher shortage. To address the shortage, the state has established an emergency permitting policy.

Under the policy, emergency teaching licenses may be issued to teachers who have valid Wisconsin teaching licenses who have been asked to teach outside of their subject and/or grade level of their license. An emergency permit may be issued to an applicant who holds a bachelors degree from an accredited college or university.

Under the permitting process, those teachers must work toward educating themselves in the subject they are teaching.

In his podcast, which can be found at https://www.nwea.org/blog/2017/podcast-roger-king-2016-wisconsin-teacher-year/, King urges colleagues to get our profession back and to add meaning to the teaching profession.

The podcast series is produced by NWEA in partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers. NWEA provides innovative assessment solutions for measuring student growth, research that supports assessment validity and data interpretation and professional development fostering educators ability to accelerate student learning.
Theres a running joke throughout Collide in which Ben Kingsleys character, a Turkish gangster named Guran, calls Nicholas Hoults character, an American getaway driver, Burt Reynolds.

Its both a silly gag (Hoult looks and acts nothing like Burt Reynolds) and a clue to the movies Collide is inspired by: breezy 1970s car chase films like Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run.

Collide has a few good car chases. But its a fairly empty and humorless exercise that falls apart whenever cars arent doing somersaults on the Autobahn, or Kingsley and Anthony Hopkins arent hamming it up shamelessly.

Hoult plays Casey, an American living in Germany who has fallen for fellow American Juliet (Felicity Jones). Both Hoult and Jones (Rogue One) are British, as is director and co-writer Eran Creevy, so its mystifying why theyre made to play Americans here, unless the producers felt that would play better with a global audience. Hopkins is allowed to keep his British accent but plays a German, a wealthy businessman named Hagen Kahl. Go figure.

Casey has been doing some low-level jobs for Guran, but decides to quit the criminal life. And then hes pulled back in for one last job, hijacking a truck full of cocaine owned by Hopkins Kahl, who is secretly Germanys top drug smuggler.

It turns out Guran works for Kahl, but has decided to double-cross him after being denied an equal partnership. We learn this through a dinner conversation scene between Kingsley and Hopkins that Id be happy to see run the entire length of the movie. Both actors are clearly too good for this material, and know it, but have a ball wallowing in it anyway.

Casey does this job because he learns that Juliet needs a new kidney but cant afford it. The biggest missed opportunity in Collide is that it has a gifted actress like Jones and reduces her character to a basic plot motivation, a love interest stuck on the sidelines.

The heist goes wrong, of course, and Casey finds himself on the run from Kahl and his men, including one henchman who has a magnificent hipster beard. Kahl turns out to be a villain given to long speeches where he quotes Shakespeare and screams out random words (If Im late, my daughters will CHASTISE ME!)

The chase scenes are fun and well-staged, especially that pedal-to-the-metal sequence on the Autobahn. Creevy made a stylish British crime thriller a couple of years ago called Welcome to the Punch, and he has an eye for this stuff, even if his screenplays are by-the-numbers. Hoult makes an appealing enough hero, looking appropriately freaked as bullets whiz past his ears and BMWs whiz past his car.

But Collide makes the fatal mistake of keeping Casey out of the drivers seat for the last half hour and limps through some unconvincing plot turns, its gas tank on E by the closing credits. Ol Burt wouldnt have done it this way.
A recent letter writer lamented being called a racist simply because he supported Donald Trump.

While it's true that the more than 900 organized hate groups in the United States supported Trump overwhelmingly, I don't think that the writer should have that as his main concern.

I believe President Trump has a broader agenda, cleverly pretending to be totally incompetent in the naming of his appointees and nominees and by lying about voter fraud and crowd size, claiming ignorance of issues, blaming the media and "leakers," and by discussing confidential matters in the presence of random diners.

The idea is to create chaos: Well done, Mr. President. But why? Obviously this is a smokescreen designed to cover up his need to whittle down our Constitution to a more manageable size -- maybe tweet size.

At the same time he is erasing those pesky rights and freedoms he feels are unnecessary: free press and speech, the rights to vote and assemble, etc. Gun owners like myself needn't worry for awhile but when he comes for the 2nd Amendment there'll be no one left to help us. So I wouldn't fret the "racist" label. When Donald turns the White House keys over to Putin and we're all forced to speak Russian, the proper moniker used will be "Komrade."

Charles Chihak

La Crescent
Some consumers dont know what to do with vegetables beyond the usual suspects  potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, corn, onions and maybe a beet or two.

But the MOSES Organic Farmers of the Year  the Bishop family of Atlanta, Ill.  solved that problem with Katie Bishops PrairiErth Farm Cookbook, which her husband, Hans, describes as a users manual for not only the basics but also the more exotic, such as kale, kohlrabi and others.

The Bishop family includes patriarch Dave, another son, Graham, and daughter Kristin, who has taken a different career path from farming  cultivating young minds as an elementary school teacher.

The PrairiErth Farm clan, honored during the kickoff of MOSES Organic Farming Conference Thursday night at the La Crosse Center, operates 300 acres of diversified crops and livestock.

Certified organic in 2004, the farm includes corn, soybeans, oats and wheat crops, as well as forages, vegetables and flowers, and livestock including cattle, pigs and chickens. It also has orchards with peaches, apples and pears. PrairiErth also sells eggs and honey.

They sell through farmers markets, a vegetable community supported agriculture system, direct-to-consumer meats and wholesale to restaurants and stores.

Spring Valley, Wis.-based Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service sponsors the annual conference, which continues today and Saturday and is expected to draw more than 3,000 farmers, advocates and vendors.

The Bishops vegetable production includes 200 varieties ranging from arugula to zucchini, Hans said.

Many members of the familys CSA say they can hear Katie reading the recipes and tips, Hans said during a phone interview before the Bishops came to La Crosse to receive the honor.

The cookbook includes not only recipes and preparation options but also storage tips, Hans said.

If people are not going to use them right away, she tells them natural ways to preserve them, he said.

That avoids the plight of customers who get their boxes of fresh-picked vegetables, just toss them into the refrigerator without separating the items into bags or otherwise preparing them to ensure a longer shelf life and maximum flavor, Hans said.

Dave, 66, bought the farm in 1981 and cultivates another property that has been in his family since 1868. He began moving the operations toward organic in the 1980s.

I was concerned about higher input costs, and I wasnt comfortable with the herbicides, Dave said.

Having grown up on a small, diversified dairy farm, he said he learned early on that diversification is a valuable form of self-insurance against one market or another encountering a bad spell.

Switching from traditional methods to organic is a slow process involving extensive soil preparation and patience to let the residue from herbicides and pesticides to dissipate, Dave said.

There never has been a better time to join the organic wave, Dave said. The interest is there. Having said that, it isnt a walk in the park. It isnt easy, but nobody said it would be easy.

PrairiErth Farms production is sustaining not only the two Bishop families but also five full-time workers and several part-timers, Hans said.

Weve been gradually hiring workers to help me in the vegetable operation, he said.

The farm has 15 acres dedicated to vegetables and preparing another 15 to be certified by 2019, Hans said.

They began selling vegetables at farmers markets before expanding into a CSA, he said.

The way my wife and I feel, its really our customers who are making the choice, Hans said. Its like a diamond in the rough  a vegetable in the middle of weeds is worth it. Theyre voting with their dollars.

The Bishops chuckled at the suggestion that running an organic farm is akin to earning a doctorate in a complicated field, with the learning curve escalating rather than settling.

In learning which animals and plants to balance and when, as well as rotating row crops and grazing, We made pretty much every mistake you could make, Dave said with a hearty laugh.

Asked whether the involvement of several families makes it easier to take a vacation, Dave said, Vacation time is always hard to come by. And they say if you really love what you do, it doesnt seem like work.

MOSES is our vacation, Dave concluded.

Hans echoed that assessment, saying, Its been the steroids in my spring training. It provides good vibes and a rejuvenation. The conference is the best way to learn.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Inside a nondescript, saffron-colored warehouse on the fringes of St. Anthony East, Paul Merry uses a lathe to meld two pieces of glass. A torch radiates heat.

Using a technique called lampworking, Merry uses various tools to form Borosilicate  more colloquially known as hard glass. After three-and-a-half years at Stone Arch Glass Studio, he melts and shapes the glass with ease.

I can create about 80 of these slides in a day, Merry said. I have a lot of freedom to be creative while still being able to support myself.

The studio  northwest of Hennepin Avenue and Interstate 35W  is a bustling center of glasswork, and many of the pieces created there turn into water pipes, hookahs, rigs and hand pipes, which are sold at headshops like The Hideaway in Dinkytown.

It can take eight hours to create and mold all the pieces required for a hookah. Artist Ty Leeman said he enjoys the process, despite its laborious nature.

I get to use my hands to create something, Leeman said. Its better than any other regular job.

Leeman answered a call for glass workers at Stone Arch after attending Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis. Because he didnt know how to work with glass, he became an apprentice to the other artists.

Youre never done learning, Leeman said. (With glass work) you can teach yourself a lot and get to express yourself.

Studio production manager Neal Thompson said he supports the community atmosphere as opposed to having the artists work solo.

The better they are, the better this studio is, Thompson said.

The art of glassblowing is something the studio believes anyone can learn, and they even offer classes to prove it.

From the basics of safety and technique to the creation of mushroom marbles and holiday ornaments, all skill levels are welcome. And its the resources that come from having a large studio that allow for individualistic creations to have a larger production reach.

Creating products for the company MN Legit, Thompson said the studios work is in 60 percent of Minnesota headshops. But he believes this work comes with its own host of misconceptions.

Unfortunately, many think this industry is taboo, Thompson said. The studio doesnt condone drug use, and any connection to drug paraphernalia is something both Thompson and Hideaway owner Wally Sakallah strongly reject.

At the end of the day its about the craft; the studio is open to simply create glass.

About 75 percent of our product is pipework, Thompson said. But if the market wanted glass slippers wed start making glass slippers.
As if on cue, riots broke out in a heavily immigrant suburb of Stockholm as soon as the media mocked President Donald Trump for a vague warning about immigration-related problems in Sweden.

At a campaign rally over the weekend, Trump issued forth with a mystifyingly ominous statement. You look, he declared, at whats happening last night in Sweden. What? Had the president invented a nonexistent terror attack? As it turned out, the reference was to a segment on Sweden he had watched on the Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight the previous night rather than to any specific event in the Nordic country.

The ensuing discussion quickly took on the character of much of the debate in the early Trump years  a blunderbuss president matched against a snotty and hyperventilating press, with a legitimate issue lurking underneath.

By welcoming a historic number of asylum-seekers proportionate to its population, Sweden has indeed embarked on a vast social experiment that wasnt well thought out and isnt going very well. The unrest in the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby after police made an arrest the other night underscored the problems inherent in Swedens immigration surge.

Swedens admirable humanitarianism is outstripping its capacity to absorb newcomers. Nothing if not an earnest and well-meaning society, Sweden has always accepted more than its share of refugees. Immigration was already at elevated levels before the latest influx into Europe from the Middle East, which prompted Sweden to try to see and raise the reckless open-borders policy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Sweden welcomed more than 160,000 asylum-seekers in 2015, and nearly 40,000 in October of that year alone. For a country of fewer than 10 million, this was almost equal to 2 percent of the population  in one year. The flow doubled the number of asylum-seekers at the height of the Balkans crisis in 1992.

The foreign-born proportion of the Swedish population was 18 percent in 2016, double that of 1990. As of 2015, the most common country of origin for the foreign born was Finland, which makes sense as it is a neighboring Scandinavian country. Next are Iraq and Syria.

Predictably, it isnt easy to integrate people who dont know the language, arent highly skilled and come from a foreign culture. Swedens economic polices dont help. As a report of the Migration Policy Institute put it politely, Sweden is an interesting case because the state is committed to fostering large-scale immigration despite huge integration challenges in the labor market.

There is a stark gap in the labor-force-participation rate between the native born (82 percent) and the foreign born, (57 percent). As the Migration Policy Institute points out, Sweden is an advanced economy with relatively few low-skills jobs to begin with. On top of this, high minimum wages and stringent labor protections make it harder for marginal workers to find employment, while social assistance discourages the unemployed from getting work.

None of this is a formula for assimilation or social tranquility. In a piece for The Spectator, Swedish journalist Tove Lifvendahl writes, A parallel society is emerging where the states monopoly on law and order is being challenged.

And the fiscal cost is high. According to Swedish economist Tino Sanandaji, the country spends 1.5 percent of its GDP on the asylum-seekers, more than on its defense budget. Sweden is spending twice of the entire budget of the United Nations High Commissioner responsible for refugees worldwide. Pressed for housing, Sweden has spent as much on sheltering 3,000 people in tents as it would cost to care for 100,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.

It is little wonder that Sweden, where so recently it was forbidden to question the openhanded orthodoxy on immigration, has now clamped down on its borders. Sweden is a unique case, but clearly one of the lessons of its recent experience is, Dont try this at home.
Parts of the recent travel and immigration ban include indefinite suspensions of immigration and refugee programs that could help thousands of innocent people.

Suspension of these programs accomplishes no security goals and fails to present a unified front against terrorism. The prospect of terror attacks like the tragedy in Paris happening in the United States is certainly a chilling one, but stopping refugee and immigration programs to keep terrorists out of the country is a mistake.

It is clear that there are some very bad people from the countries banned who seek to enter the United States, but they could not come to our country as refugees or immigrants. The process of gaining proper immigration or refugee status is a long and meticulous one that includes background checks and interviews to screen for individuals who pose a threat.

Since 9/11, no act of terror has been committed by a refugee or immigrant. The ban shifts the focus of the U.S.s anti-terror agenda away from terrorists and on to Muslims, which plays right into terrorist narratives that claim the west is at war with Islam. For instance, Iraq assists the U.S. to fight terrorism and has already taken the brunt of casualties and territory loss from ISIS. Including Iraq in the ban alienates an ally that cannot be easily replaced. The ban creates so many new divides. The further divided the west and east become, the more conflict there will be.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
Dear reader, we're asking for your help to keep local reporting available for all today during our fall fundraiser. Your financial support keeps stories like this one free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. Subscribe

In week five of Donald Trump's America, it's difficult to go a few hours without hearing the term "sanctuary city." Trump signed an executive order to block federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities five days after taking office, and discussion of sanctuary cities has only increased in the ensuing weeks with news of ICE raids, and increased immigration enforcement.

Here in Los Angelesa land often hailed as a "sanctuary city" in headlinesconfusion on the city's actual sanctuary status also reigns. Many Angelenos would be surprised to learn that Mayor Eric Garcetti has never actually declared Los Angeles a sanctuary city. Instead, the mayor has studiously avoided using the term and, as recently as January 27, told NPR that "we've never declared ourself a sanctuary city; I'm still not sure what one is."

Loosely defined, a sanctuary city is a municipality where local officials don't cooperate with federal immigration authorities. What cooperation actually means varies widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; despite its ubiquity, the term has no actual legal meaning. "Maybe it's defined in the bible, but other than that, it's not defined in law anywhere," Niels Frenzen, director of the USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic, told LAist. That said, the term has still become the lingua franca for describing a specific relationship (or lack thereof) between local and federal authorities, as well acting as a rallying cry for activists on both sides of battle lines across the country.

The closest thing Los Angeles has to any kind of legal sanctuary designation is Special Order 40, which is an LAPD mandate, not a city law. Special Order 40 dates back to 1979 and essentially prohibits LAPD officers from asking aboutor acting onan individual's immigration status. Both Garcetti and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck reaffirmed L.A.'s commitment to Special Order 40 in the days after the election.

Special Order 40 prevents LAPD officers from acting as immigration agents in everyday encounters, but it doesn't mean that the city has any sort of blanket prohibition on cooperating with immigration authorities. In fact, as Garcetti explained in a statement issued in January just after Trump's executive order on sanctuary cities, "The idea that we do not cooperate with the federal government is simply at odds with the facts. We regularly cooperate with immigration authorities  particularly in cases that involve serious crimes  and always comply with constitutional detainer requests."

Garcetti's hedging on the term stands in stark contrast to the words of other big city mayors, like Rahm Emanuel, who has repeatedly pledged that Chicago "will always be a sanctuary city."

"Obviously, people are drawing those comparisons: why is City A doing this, and Los Angeles not doing it? Especially when L.A. is really at the epicenter in terms of our immigrant population," Frenzen told LAist.

One could certainly see why the mayor might be fearful about potentially jeopardizing Los Angeles' federal funding (last year, the city received upwards of $500 million in federal funds to support a wide variety of programs), although many questions remain about how much Trump could actually restrict in said funding. "You can take away funding from a specific program if you don't adhere to the requirements of that program, but we don't have funding that is for the co-cooperation of our immigration federal officials and our local officials," as Garcetti told CNN in January.

Frenzen, who is a law professor, also posited that a mayor calling his town a sanctuary city wouldn't actually have any legal impact on the federal funding struggles. "I don't think that using the word sanctuary has any adverse legal implications on the city," Frenzen said. "Does it make it a political target because you're going to be more visible in terms of taking political positions against the Trump administration? That's a political issue, not a legal issue."

In early February, Garcetti took part in a press conference at Los Angeles International Airport to welcome back Ali Vayeghan, the first traveler to reenter the U.S. after being turned away under Trump's travel ban. During his statement, he referred to L.A. as "a city of sanctuary, a city of refuge, which is the closest he's ever come to calling Los Angeles a sanctuary city. The ACLU of Southern California quickly jumped on the comments, putting up a blog post celebrating that the mayor had "finally stood with the people of Los Angeles declaring that our city must be a sanctuary city."

That doesn't seem to have been exactly the case, though. We reached out to the mayor's office to clarify whether he considered his comments at LAX to be an official declaration of L.A. as a sanctuary city, and if not, if his office could clarify what his official position was. A spokesperson declined to directly answer those questions, but instead gave us a statement from the mayor that was very similar to what he said at the airport, minus the word "sanctuary." Here's the full statement from the mayor's office, which was issued on February 8:

The strength of our city's commitment to immigrants is measured by our actions, not labels. Since becoming Mayor, I've re-established the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs and put a concentrated focus on programs that help further integrate immigrants into the social, cultural, and economic fabric of our city. Los Angeles will continue to be a city of protection and refuge because I am committed to doing everything possible to make all Angelenos feel safe, secure and welcome in our community.

In the intervening weeks, pressure to officially declare Los Angeles a sanctuary city has intensified. On Saturday, several thousand Angelenos took part in an immigration march that included the declaration of L.A. as a sanctuary city (along with taking concrete steps to actually back up that declaration) as one of its express aims. In a statement issued the day before the march, organizers said they were "highly critical" of Garcetti's "weak and conflicting messages regarding Los Angeles being a sanctuary city."

"Garcetti is trying to walk a fine line between local constituents who want a hard line from the mayor and those who do fear the loss of federal funds to the city," Christian Grose, a political science professor at USC and director of the university's Political Science & International Relations Ph.D. program, told LAist.

Given that Los Angeles is one of the most vocally pro-immigrant and anti-Trump cities in the nation, Grose posited that Garcetti's reluctance to take a harder line "could cause some backlash amongst critics." The mayor is running for reelection on March 7 in a race where victory is all but guaranteed, so it likely won't hurt him there. "He may be thinking how the use of the term could affect him if he runs for higher office, assuming he is reelected as mayor," Grose said.
Dear reader, we're asking for your help to keep local reporting available for all today during our fall fundraiser. Your financial support keeps stories like this one free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. Subscribe



Print is far from dead and the L.A. Art Book Fair is living proof.Kicking off its fifth year as the West Coast counterpart of the original New York Art Book Fair, the event has grown significantly in size since it first arrived in 2013 at the Museum of Contemporary Arts Geffen Contemporary.

Both fairs are organized by the arts non-profit Printed Matter, but the L.A. Art Book Fair is rapidly shedding its reputation as the lesser-known of the two events, and the proof is in the numbers.

Back in 2013, curator Shannon Cane was told to expect approximately 5,000 people during the L.A. Art Book Fairs inaugural weekend. Well, we got 5,000 people on opening night, Cane said in an interview with the L.A. Times. It was a crazy thing we just didnt expect. This years turnout is expected to be its largest yet, with upwards of 35,000 people anticipated to descend upon Little Tokyo throughout the fairs three-day residency.

With 350 exhibitors from 30 countries, attendees can easily spend the full weekend pursuing the fairs extensive selection of art books, zines, periodicals, talks, performances, and more. While wandering aimlessly through the Geffen Contemporary has its own benefits, here are some highlights you wont want to miss.

Teen Angels

Think of the Teen Angels exhibit as a relic of pre-social media era communication. The eponymous zine, which was launched in 1981 by a writer and illustrator for Lowrider, was dedicated to exploring the evolving cholo culture. Only available for purchase in mom-and-pop supermarkets and liquor stores, the zine allowed Chicanos to stay connected with nearby communities through its documentation of politics, fashion, cars, and art. Teen Angels flourished in the 80s and through the 90s, halting in 2000 when the artist behind the project stopped producing issues (and effectively disappeared behind his long-held anonymity).

David De Baca, a curator of the exhibition and a long-time fan of the zine, eventually found the artista white, San Bernardino resident named David Holland, who died in 2015and now manages parts of Hollands archives with Bryan Ray Turcotte of the publishing company Kill Your Idols.

Baca and Turcotte are set to discuss Teen Angel's continued influence. Fans can pick up a limited edition book featuring cover art from the first 180 Teen Angels issues.

Friday, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Womens Center for Creative Work present Making Art During Fascism

The Womens Center for Creative Work is a non-profit organization and co-workspace that cultivates year-round programming for L.A.s feminist community. This weekend theyll be at the L.A. Art Book Fair to foster discussions on resisting and dismantling the growing presence of fascism through community building and connecting. At WCCWs booth, visitors will be able to purchase written guides that feature tips for artists making art, and committing to resistance during fascism. All proceeds will benefit the WCCW.

Saturday, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Nah Fair

The two-year-old Nah Fair is a stones throw away from the Geffen Contemporary and features a selection of small-press zines and projects from primarily POC artists who are critical and anti-authoritarian in nature. Nah has the support of local activist organizations like Union de Vecinos, Defend Boyle Heights, and LA Tenants Union and will host talks on ungovernable feminism, musical performances, and workshops on the increasingly important world of encrypted communication. Spread the word.

Nah Fair runs Friday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 1 p.n. to 9 p.m. at 374 E. 2nd St., in downtown Los Angeles. For more information, visit nah.world.



FLASH FLASH FLASH

Art-word powerhouse Gagosian Gallery will be teaming with the Hollywood tattoo staple Shamrock Social Club, turning its booth into a full-blown tattoo parlor. After the popularity of the exhibit at the N.Y. Art Book Fair, Gagosian commissioned Kenneth Anger, The Haas Brothers, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Analia Saban to create limited edition tattoos for those who wish to take their art worship to the next level. Each design will only be tattooed six times before being retired, and they'll set you back a cool $250. For those who want something a little less permanent, booklets containing all the artist tattoo designs will be on sale.

Check out the designs and book an appointment here. FLASH FLASH FLASH is located in Booth J.

Sex Magazine x Hard To Read

Asher Penn, founder and editor of New-York based online culture magazine Sex, will be in discussion with contributor Fiona Duncan, speaking on online publishing, interview styles, the evolution of DIY and more. Penns recently released anthology of the magazines first ten issues through Powerhouse Books will be available for purchase.

Sunday, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.



The L.A. Art Book Fair opens Friday at 1 p.m. and runs through Sunday at 6 p.m. at MOCAs Geffen Contemporary, located at 152 N. Central Ave. in downtown Los Angeles. Admission is free. For more information and programming, visit laartbookfair.net.
Blog Archive Nov 05 (3) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (4) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (3) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (4) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (2) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (3) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (1) May 26 (4) May 25 (2) May 24 (3) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (3) May 19 (5) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (3) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (4) May 08 (2) May 07 (3) May 06 (4) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (4) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (3) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (5) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (3) Mar 12 (3) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (5) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (5) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (5) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (3) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (3) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (2) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (3) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (5) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (4) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (4) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (2) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (2) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (4) May 28 (4) May 27 (3) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (6) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (5) May 11 (4) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (8) Mar 11 (6) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (5) Mar 03 (7) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (7) Feb 03 (9) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (6) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (7) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (8) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (6) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (6) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (8) Nov 09 (8) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (8) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (3) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (3) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (5) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (5) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (5) May 26 (7) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (3) May 19 (5) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (4) May 14 (4) May 13 (5) May 12 (4) May 11 (5) May 10 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (3) May 07 (6) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (6) May 03 (4) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (7) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (7) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (4) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (5) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (5) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (6) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (5) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (3) Feb 29 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (5) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (2) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (4) Feb 14 (4) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (5) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (2) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (1) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (5) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (1) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (4) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (4) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 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 13 (4) May 12 (5) May 11 (2) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (3) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (3) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (5) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (2) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (6) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (7) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (5) Feb 21 (5) Feb 20 (5) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (3) Feb 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 12 (7) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (6) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (5) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (4) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (6) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (7) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 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 14 (5) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (4) May 10 (5) May 09 (2) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (4) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (6) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (6) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (7) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (5) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (6) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (5) Feb 24 (8) Feb 23 (7) Feb 22 (8) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (6) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (5) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (7) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (6) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (5) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (7) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (6) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (7) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (7) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (7) Nov 10 (6) Nov 09 (7) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (7) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (7) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (6) Oct 23 (10) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (5) Oct 19 (5) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (6) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (6) Oct 09 (8) Oct 08 (6) Oct 07 (5) Oct 06 (4) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (6) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (6) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (6) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (7) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (6) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (6) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (5) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (5) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (7) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (4) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (5) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (6) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (3) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (5) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (8) May 26 (7) May 25 (7) May 24 (5) May 23 (2) May 22 (5) May 21 (4) May 20 (5) May 19 (5) May 18 (5) May 17 (5) May 16 (7) May 15 (7) May 14 (7) May 13 (5) May 12 (6) May 11 (8) May 10 (4) May 09 (6) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (5) May 05 (6) May 04 (7) May 03 (7) May 02 (8) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (9) Apr 27 (6) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (8) Apr 22 (6) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (7) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (8) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (9) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (8) Apr 11 (5) Apr 10 (10) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (7) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (6) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (7) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (7) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (9) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (10) Feb 02 (9) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (9) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (7) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (5) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (6) Dec 19 (10) Dec 18 (9) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (6) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (6) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (8) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (7) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (9) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (12) Nov 17 (8) Nov 16 (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) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (6) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (9) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (6) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (7) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (8) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (9) Jul 25 (9) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (9) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (7) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (7) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (7) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (7) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (6) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (7) Jun 12 (8) Jun 11 (5) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (7) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (4) May 29 (5) May 28 (1) May 27 (5) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (8) May 23 (8) May 22 (7) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (9) May 18 (5) May 17 (9) May 16 (7) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (13) May 11 (5) May 10 (7) May 09 (6) May 08 (8) May 07 (9) May 06 (6) May 05 (5) May 04 (2) May 03 (6) May 02 (7) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (6) Apr 26 (10) Apr 25 (7) Apr 24 (5) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (10) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (5) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (9) Mar 25 (11) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (6) Mar 22 (8) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (8) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (6) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (2) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (6) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (9) Feb 23 (12) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (9) Feb 16 (10) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (9) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (8) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (6) Jan 31 (10) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (8) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (10) Jan 19 (8) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (7) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (6) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (7) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (2) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (8) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (8) Dec 16 (7) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (7) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (6) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (7) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (8) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (6) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (6) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (5) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (7) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (5) Oct 19 (5) Oct 18 (6) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (6) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (6) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (6) Oct 06 (6) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (8) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (6) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (7) Sep 17 (6) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (8) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (8) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (6) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (5) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (7) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (5) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (7) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (8) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (2) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (8) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (2) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (2) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (5) May 27 (1) May 26 (1) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (1) May 22 (2) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (3) May 18 (2) May 17 (2) May 16 (2) May 15 (3) May 14 (2) May 13 (2) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (2) May 08 (3) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (2) May 04 (2) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (2) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (2) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (4) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (2) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (2) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (2) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (2) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (2) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (2) Mar 22 (1) Mar 21 (1) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (2) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (2) Mar 14 (2) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (2) Mar 07 (1) Mar 06 (2) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (2) Mar 01 (1) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (2) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (2) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (2) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (2) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 05 (5) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (3) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (1) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (6) Dec 14 (4) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (5) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (6) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (3) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (6) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (2) Aug 07 (2) Aug 06 (2) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (2) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (2) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (6) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (4) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (2) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (2) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (2) Jun 04 (2) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (2) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (4) May 13 (9) May 12 (4) May 11 (5) May 10 (5) May 09 (4) May 08 (3) May 07 (5) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (1) May 02 (5) May 01 (7) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (3) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (3) Apr 14 (4) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (4) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (6) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (4) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (5) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (2) Dec 29 (2) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (2) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (2) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (4) Nov 15 (6) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (2) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (2) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (2) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (2) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (7) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (2) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (5) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (2) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (6) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (8) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (2) May 29 (2) May 28 (2) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (2) May 18 (3) May 17 (3) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (5) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (3) May 10 (4) May 09 (4) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (2) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (2) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (7) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (6) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (5) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (3) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (2) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (2) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (2) Jan 04 (2) Jan 03 (2) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (2) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (2) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (2) Dec 21 (2) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (2) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (2) Dec 16 (2) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (2) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (2) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (2) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (2) Nov 21 (2) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (2) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (2) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (2) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (2) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (2) Aug 25 (2) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (2) Aug 12 (2) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (2) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (2) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (2) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (2) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (2) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (2) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (2) Jun 15 (2) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (2) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (7) May 16 (2) May 15 (2) May 14 (4) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (3) May 08 (2) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (1) May 04 (2) May 03 (4) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (2) Mar 02 (2) Feb 28 (1) Feb 24 (1) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (2) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (4) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (5) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (5) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (1) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (3) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (3) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (3) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (3) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (2) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (2) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (2) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (2) Sep 14 (2) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (2) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (2) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (6) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (6) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (4) May 29 (4) May 28 (5) May 27 (5) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (5) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (3) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (3) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (6) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (7) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (8) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (3) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (4) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (7) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (5) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (2) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (4) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (8) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (2) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (7) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (4) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (4) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (3) May 25 (4) May 24 (2) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (2) May 14 (6) May 13 (4) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (2) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (2) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (4) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (4) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (2) Jan 15 (2) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (2) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (2) Dec 29 (2) Dec 28 (2) Dec 27 (2) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (1) Dec 24 (2) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (2) Dec 20 (1) Dec 19 (2) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (2) Dec 16 (2) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (2) Dec 10 (2) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (2) Dec 06 (1) Dec 05 (2) Dec 04 (1) Dec 03 (2) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (2) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (2) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (1) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (1) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (2) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (1) Nov 16 (1) Nov 15 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (1) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (1) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (1) Nov 03 (1) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (2) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (2) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (2) Oct 25 (2) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (2) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (1) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (1) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (2) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (1) Oct 03 (2) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (1) Sep 27 (3) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (2) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (1) Sep 14 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (2) Sep 08 (2) Sep 07 (1) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (2) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (2) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 03 (2) Aug 01 (1) Jul 31 (2) Jul 30 (1) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (1) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (2) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (1) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (2) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (1) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (2) Jul 09 (5) Jul 08 (1) Jul 07 (1) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (1) Jul 03 (2) Jul 01 (1) Jun 30 (1) Jun 29 (2) Jun 28 (2) Jun 27 (2) Jun 25 (2) Jun 24 (1) Jun 23 (2) Jun 22 (2) Jun 20 (1) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (3) Jun 12 (1) Jun 11 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (1) Jun 03 (1) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (1) May 27 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (1) May 23 (2) May 22 (1) May 21 (1) May 20 (2) May 19 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (2) May 14 (1) May 13 (1) May 11 (2) May 10 (2) May 09 (1) May 07 (2) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 04 (1) May 03 (3) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (2) Apr 17 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 13 (1) Apr 10 (2) Apr 08 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 21 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (1) Mar 14 (2) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (2) Mar 02 (2) Mar 01 (2) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 23 (2) Feb 19 (2) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (1) Feb 02 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 22 (1) Jan 18 (1) Jan 16 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 01 (1) Dec 20 (2) Dec 15 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 11 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 27 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 10 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 24 (2) Sep 15 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 02 (2) Aug 31 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (2) Aug 24 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 18 (3) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 03 (1) Jul 27 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 13 (3) Jul 10 (1) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (1) Jul 06 (1) Jul 03 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (2) Jun 11 (1) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 04 (2) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (3) May 30 (1) May 29 (1) May 28 (2) May 26 (1) May 25 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (1) May 15 (1) May 09 (1) May 07 (2) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (2) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 18 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 09 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (2) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1)
Friday, February 24, 2017

The Utah Supreme Court has issued its second significant decision on the law of entrusted funds in the past few days.

We hold that, for a presumption of disbarment, the [Office of Professional Conduct] must prove knowledge at the time of the transfer or withdrawal in cases where an attorneys bank account dips below the amount that is supposed to be held for the attorneys clients. Accordingly, we hold that the OPC failed to meet its burden of proof regarding the operating and trust account shortfalls. We also hold, however, that Mr. Bates knowingly failed to safeguard client funds. Suspension is the presumptive sanction, and we affirm the district courts order for a five-month suspension in light of the mitigating factors.

The attorney had opened his own practice within six months of his admission.

The firm flourished and expanded for a few years but hit a bump

Just six months after beginning to practice law, Abraham Bates started his own law firm, Wasatch Advocates. Mr. Bates solely owned and operated Wasatch Advocates. Although the firm started with only six employees, its clientele rapidly expanded, and, within a single year, it employed thirty-seven people to meet the growing workload. In order to deal with the increasing expenses, Mr. Bates established lines of credit to maintain enough money in the firms operating account. He regularly made draws against these lines of credit.

Although he managed the operating and trust accounts on his own with the assistance of his receptionist in the beginning, the accounting became more complicated as the firms income and expenses quickly grew. Mr. Bates retained a certified public accountant to perform monthly reconciliations, auditing, and tax work. Later, as the practice expanded, Mr. Bates hired an accounting firm to do more frequent reconciliations and to train Mr. Bates and his staff in accounting procedures. Despite this, he noticed that there were still accounting issues, such as his receptionist mistakenly depositing client money into the operating account and earned fees into the trust account. At the accounting firms suggestion, a chief operating officer was also hired to help with the firms accounting practices. However, even after taking these corrective measures, the operation of the firms accounts remained chaotic.

In January 2012, Wasatch Advocates imploded due to changing economic circumstances and the abrupt departure of a significant proportion of Mr. Bates staff. Around the time of the firms dissolution, John Liti, a former client, filed a bar complaint against Wasatch Advocates resulting in an OPC investigation. During the investigation, the OPC focused heavily on Mr. Bates accounting practices and identified possible violations in other client matters. The only matter at issue on this appeal is the F.A. Apartments matter. The OPC alleges that Mr. Bates actions amount to intentional misappropriation of F.A. Apartments funds and merit disbarment in two different instances: his management of F.A. Apartments funds held in the trust account and his management of a retainer paid by F.A. Apartments that was held in the operating account.

The duty

Attorneys occupy a position of trust because their clients rely on their honesty, skill, and good judgment. When an attorney intentionally misappropriates a clients funds, it undermines the publics trust in the entire legal profession and discredits the legal system in general...

In order to protect the foundation[s] of . . . trust and honesty that are indispensable to the functioning of the attorney client relationship, disbarment is usually appropriate in cases of intentional misappropriation of client funds...

However, not all misappropriation cases are intentional. To receive a presumption of disbarment, an attorney must knowingly misappropriate a clients funds with the intent to benefit the lawyer or another or to deceive the court. UTAH SUP. CT. R. PROFL PRACTICE 14-605(a)(1). On the other hand, if an attorney negligently misappropriates a clients funds, the presumptive sanction is a public reprimand. Id. 14-605(c)...

For a presumption of disbarment, the OPC must establish that the attorney knowingly engaged in misconduct at the time the misconduct occurred.

Here, the evidence established knowing commingling but not intentional misappropriation

The evidence at trial demonstrated that, despite hiring qualified accountants and a chief operating officer to help him, Mr. Bates was grappling with significant organizational difficulties associated with a quickly growing business and his own lack of experience. In short, as the district court stated, Bates was in way over his head . . . on a scale which a more experienced lawyer would have avoided.

The evidence in this case corroborates Mr. Bates testimony at trial, supporting the inference that he unwittingly used his clients funds for the firms payroll. Because he was not aware he was using client funds when the transfer was made, his actions were not knowing. Rather, they were negligent, with a presumptive sanction of a public reprimand...

We hold that the OPC failed to meet its burden of proof that Mr. Bates knowingly misappropriated his clients funds. We do, however, hold that he knowingly commingled client funds and that he created the risk of injury to his client by later using F.A. Apartments money. Suspension is the presumptive sanction for Mr. Bates actions in commingling client funds without the intent to benefit himself or another.

Our post on the earlier decision is linked here. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/02/the-utah-supreme-court-has-issued-its-second-significant-decision-on-the-law-of-entrusted-funds-in-a-week-we-hold-that-fo.html
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."


Malaysian police say the nerve agent VX was used to kill the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Investigators found traces of the poison on Kim Jong Nams eyes and face, police announced Friday.

Kim was killed February 13 at the airport in Malaysias capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Two women suspects have been detained by Malaysian police in connection with the killing. One of the women was identified as Indonesian, the other had a Vietnamese passport.

The two women were seen in surveillance footage wiping the chemical on Kims face at the airport, Malaysian police said. Kim was preparing to board a flight from Kuala Lumpur to the Chinese territory of Macau, where he has been living.

A North Korean man has also been detained in Malaysia. Several other suspects are being sought, including an official who worked at North Koreas embassy.

South Korea has accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack. It says Kim Jong Nam has been under a North Korean assassination order for years. North Korea has denied involvement in the killing and said it does not trust Malaysian police to conduct a proper investigation.

Security cameras show the two women quickly walking away from Kim in opposite directions after putting the poison on his face. A Malaysian police official said the women were trained to go straight to washrooms to clean their hands. He said one of the women got sick and threw up after the attack.

Police said they believe the women were paid to carry out the attack and had practiced their methods in advance.

In the security video, Kim appears unharmed immediately after the attack. He is seen pointing to his face while speaking with airport officials and guards. Kim was later put in an ambulance to the hospital, but suffered seizures on the way and died.

What is VX nerve agent?

VX is a highly deadly nerve agent identified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations. It is banned worldwide except for official research purposes.

Experts describe it as a very toxic chemical that can kill even in very small amounts. VX has no taste or smell. It can be breathed in, swallowed or absorbed through the skin.

In anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours, it can cause a range of symptoms, from vision problems to headaches. It can also cause other serious conditions, and eventually death.

There is an antidote to VX that can be given by injection.

The chemical can take days or even weeks to completely disappear. This raised concerns that other people might have come into contact with VX at the airport. Malaysian police said steps were being taken to decontaminate the airport.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn adapted this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press and Reuters. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

assassination  n. to the killing of someone, usually for political reasons

ambulance  n. vehicle to transport sick people to the hospital

seizure  n. medical condition during which a person loses consciousness and the body moves uncontrollably

toxic  adj. containing poisonous substances

absorb  v. to take in something

antidote  n. substance that stops the harmful effects of poison

decontaminate  v. remove dangerous materials
A Ukrainian lawmaker said he discussed a pro-Russian peace deal with President Trump's personal lawyer, but the lawyer has denied the claim. C
The AroundTown section of the Clipper-Herald is to notify the public of upcoming events and to publicize pertinent information from individuals, groups or organizations that are not for profit.

PEOPLE

Dale Holbein is celebrating 50 years with the Lexington Volunteer Fire Department. The LVFD is hosing an open house Saturday, Feb. 25, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Macs Creek Winery to honor his years of service. Hors d oeuvres, cake and drinks will be served.

The family of Elaine Peck would like to suggest a card shower in honor of her 80th birthday on Feb. 28. Cards may be sent to Elaine Peck, 1510 Jackson St., Lexington, NE 68850.

The family of Ken VerMaas is suggesting a card shower to celebrate his 90th birthday on March 1. Cards may be sent to Ken VerMaas, 1702 N. Hoover, Lexington, NE 68850.

The children of Ken and Lola VerMaas are suggesting a card shower in honor of their parents' 65th wedding anniversary on March 12. Cards may be sent to Ken and Lola VerMaas, 1702 N. Hoover, Lexington, NE 68850.

HAPPENINGS

Miller Dances: All Dances start at 7 p.m. Bring finger food and snacks. Questions? Call 308-325-2909. Feb. 25, "Classic Country," Darold Ostendorf.

VITA Free Tax Preparation Services will not be offered this year at Lexington Public Library.

A Veterans Information Meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at Eustis American Legion Hall. Speakers at the event include Dick Pierce with Nebraska Veterans First and Steve Zerr, the Dawson/Frontier County Veterans Service Officer.

The Eddyville American Legion Auxiliary No. 225 will be having a covered dish supper and Free Bingo at the Eddyville Community Hall, Sunday, March 5 with supper at 630 p.m. They will be honoring all veterans, as March is Veterans birthday month. Everyone Welcome!

Lexington Blood Drive on Tuesday, March 7 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church. Please call Pat Jones at 308-325-4596 to make an appointment.

On Wednesday, March 1, the Dawson County Historical Musuem will host another "Coffee with Carol" from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. in honor of Nebraska Statehood Day. The event is free and open to the publc. The museum is located at 805 Taft Street in Lexington.

The Knights of Columbus will host its 21th Annual Fish Fry on Tuesday, March 17 at St. Anns Church Hall from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $8 for adult, $4 for children 6-12, children 5 and under free. Menu is Alaskan Pollack, potato wedges, coleslaw, roll and dessert.

The Lexington Lions Club Pancake Feed will be Saturday, March 18, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at the 4-H Building at the Dawson County Fairgrounds. Tickets, $2.00 children and $4.00 adults, are available from any Lion or at the door.

WIC Clinics for Dawson County for January, February and March are scheduled as follows:

In Lexington, 931 West 7th, Tuesday through Thursday the first four full weeks for each month. Call 308-324-6212 for an appointment.

In Cozad, 120 East 9th, Monday, March 13.

In Gothenburg, 1512 Ave. G, , Monday, March 6.

Events at the Lexington Grand Generation Center - Public Bingo on Mondays at 7 p.m. Must be 18 to play. For questions call 308-324-2498. Homemade Pretzel Baking on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m. Cost to purchase pretzels is .50/pretzel, $6.00/dozen. Purchase and/or come help roll!

Love in Action Outreach, 907 West 8th St., Lexington, is open Monday through Thursday, 12:30  4 p.m. For assistance go to 909 West 8th St. Donations of clothes, furniture and other items any time back of store or contact 308-651-0925 for further assistance. Monetary donations are accepted as well.

Are you a person with compassion and good listening skills? Parent-Child Center would like to give you the opportunity to put those feelings and abilities into practice. The Parent-Child Center needs volunteers to answer our lines after office hours. If you are interested please call for more information at 308-324-2336.

If you visit the grave of a veteran and the flag holder is missing or damaged, please notify the Dawson County Veteran Service Office by calling 308-324-3041.

Volunteers needed for Adult Education ESL and GED classes offered through Central Community College. To volunteer contact Marge Bader, volunteer coordinator at 308-785-2111 or 324-8483 or email mbader57@msn.com.

Lexington Area Parkinsons Disease Support Group Meetings are held the second Thursday each month at 2 p.m. in the education room at the Community Health & Fitness Center (1600 W. 13th, Lexington) For more information contact Dixie Menke at 308-325-5350 or 308-784-4022 or Brenda Bierman at 308-324-2523.

RYDE Transit - Public Transportation is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To schedule a ride in Dawson County or Lexington call 308-324-3670. Public Transportation is easy to ride and open to everyone.

MEETINGS

American Legion in Lexington meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at Heartland Musuem of Military Vehicles.

Bingo Night at Lexington Regional Health Center will be held Thursday evenings from 6 - 7:30 p.m. at The Corner Cafe (LRHC dining room). Come and enjoy FREE soup and an evening of BINGO.

Survivors of Suicide Suppport Group meets every second Monday of the month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 1616 W. 39th St., in Kearney. For more information contact Carol Rowedder at 308-237-2635.

LEXINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

Check out our new "Can't wait to read it" display in the new book section. The display shows book covers of books the library is waiting to receive. You can place a hold on these titles at the circulation desk.

The Lexington Public Library will be closed Sunday, September 4 and Monday, September 5 for the Labor Day holiday. We will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 3 and we will reopen at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 6. We hope you have a safe and fun weekend.

Novel Stitchers meets on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. If you enjoy stitching--knitting, crocheting, quilting, cross stitch, needlepoint, or have another portable stitching project--join us at the library for two hours of stitching and visiting. We will meet on Tuesdays, August 30 and September 6, 13, 20, and 27 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the Lexington Public Library Board Room. We would love to have you join us.

The Lexington Public Library has borrowed a die cutting machine from the Central Plains Library System for the month of August. This set includes more than 100 dies including upper and lower case alphabets, bookmarks and borders. For a complete list of dies go to http://libraries.ne.gov/cpls/ , choose Cutting Machines, and then Machine #2 Die List.

The Lexington Public Librarys Speakers and Stories series continues with Innovation in Education on Thursday, August 25 at 7 p.m. Join us as we take a look at what innovation looks like in education. Learn how educators are promoting new and creative ways to prepare our students for the 21st century. We look forward to seeing you at the library.

Teens and Adults, you still have time to complete your Summer Reading score cards. They need to be turned in before Tuesday, September 6.

Storytime at the Lexington Public Library is scheduled for Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. this fall. Beginning on Wednesday, September 7 at 10:30 a.m. pre-readers and their caregivers are invited to join us for stories, songs, and activities.

The Lexington Public Librarys Monday Afternoon Book Club will meet on Monday, September 12 at 3:00 p.m. This month we are discussing Its you by Jane Porter. Pick up a copy of the book a join us for a lively discussion.

LEXINGTON

GRAND GENERATION CENTER

Exercise room is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Every Sunday

Center available for rent

Monday

9 a.m. - Tai Chi

10 a.m. - FROG

12:45 p.m. - Ive Got It

3 p.m. - Strength Training

7 p.m. - Public Bingo

Tuesday

1 p.m. - Pretzels

1 p.m. - Foot Clinic

Wednesday

9:15 a.m. - Go4Life

9:30 a.m. - Coffee/Crafts

9:30 a.m. - Pool T. - Holdrege

12:45 p.m. - Cards

1:30 p.m. - FROG

2:30 - 3:30 p.m. - Hot Cookies

3 p.m. - Strength Training

LEXINGTON GRAND

GENERATION

CENTER MENU

Homemade bread everyday. Choice of skim, 2% or chocolate milk. No reservations needed except for large groups. Serving time: 11:30 a.m.

Monday

Mushroom steak, potato cakes, buttered cabbage, plums

Tuesday

Pork cutlets, buttered noodles, 3-bean casserole, roasted brussel sprouts, peaches/pineapple

Wednesday

Baked chicken, baby bakers, butter beans, orange slices, tapioca pudding

ORGANIZATIONS

AA/NA: open meeting Friday nights at 7 p.m. at Plum Creek Mall at Two Bridges Counseling, 513 N. Grant St., Suite 3a, Lexington.

Westside Group: AA/NA open meeting on Monday and Wednesday nights at separate locations at 8 p.m. Monday night meetings at First Christian Church, 1206 N. Erie St. in Lexington. Wednesday nights at Community Health Center (west of hospital) 1600 W. 13th St. in Lexington.

AA Elwood: at 8 p.m. on Sundays at United Methodist Church, 601 Rush in Elwood. Contact: 785-3567 (Tom).

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, non-smoking: at noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at St. Anns Catholic Church basement, 301 E. Sixth St. Contact: 320-2564, or 858-4821.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, non-smoking - Smithfield: At 8 p.m. on Thursdays at Hope Lutheran Church, 74098 Road 436 in Smithfield. Call 785-3567 or 472-3376.

Celebrate Recovery: a 12-step, anonymous program helping participants overcome any hurts, habits, addictions or hang-ups. Meets twice: 1) at 7 p.m. on Thursdays at Lexington Evangelical Free Church, 810 S. Washington Street. Contact: 308-324-3825 or 308-238-1298. 2) at 6:30 p.m. on Fridays at Parkview Baptist Churchs Y.A.C., 1105 Park St.. Contact: 308-324-4410.

Central Community College Adult Basic Education and English as Second Language in Lexington. Basic reading, writing, math and spelling. Citizenship classes, preparation for the high school equivalency (GED) exam. All classes open to individuals 16 years or older not enrolled in secondary school. Contact Marilynn Hersh at 324-8483 or 324-8480. An annual fee applies to all students.

Central Health Center at 1308 N. Adams: provides pap test, free HIV/AIDS counseling and testing, sexually transmitted infection screening, pregnancy testing, emergency contraception. Hours: Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays 1-7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Services available by appointment or walk-in. Sliding scale fees charged. Insurance accepted, donations welcome. Contact 324-6944 for information.

The Compassionate Friends, Lexington Area Chapter (a support group for parents who have lost a child), meets the third Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m., at the Great Western Drive-In bank meeting room, corner of 6th and Lincoln. For more information call 308-320-1483.

Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska Public Immunization Clinic, 1st & 3rd Mondays every month: Open 10 a.m.-noon and 2-4 p.m. by appointment at 931 West 7th St., Lexington. Clinics serve ages 2 months - 18 years. Children must be accompanied by an adult, previous vaccination records required. Contact 308-865-1352 ext. 143.

Dawson/Gosper County CASA: seeking Volunteers. CASA Volunteers are everyday people from all walks of life, who advocate through the court system in the interests of children. Contact 324-7364 for more information.

Double Trouble in Recovery: starts June 4 on Mondays from 12 to 1 p.m. at Heartland Counseling, 307 5th St., Lexington. For more information contact Heartland Counseling at 308-324-6754.

Gamblers Anonymous: at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays at Richard Young Hospital, 1755 Prairie View Place, Kearney.

Grupo Lexington AA (Spanish Speaking) open meeting Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 11 p.m., at 114 West 6th St. in Lexington.

Lexington Area Grief Support Group: meets at 4:30 p.m. on the first Mondays of each month at Fitness Center, 1600 W. 13th Street. Open to anyone experiencing the death of a loved one. Contact Lexington Regional Health Center Home Health office, 324-8300.

Lexington Genealogical Society: at 2 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month at Lexington Public Library. Visitors welcome.

Lexington Kiwanis: meets at noon every Wednesday at Grand Generation Center.

Lexington Lions Club: meets at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Monday of every month at Grand Generation Center. Contact any member or attend any meeting to join.

Lexington MS Group: meets at 7 p.m. on the first Monday of each month in the Community Education Room at the Lexington Regional Health Center Fitness Center.

Lexington Optimist Club: meets at noon on Thursdays at Kirks Restaurant.

Lexington Rotary Club: meets the first and third Wednesday of the month at Lexington Public Library from 12 to 1 p.m. For more information contact Kirsten Faessler at 308-324-8333.

Love In Action Outreach Ministry: Located at 907 W. 8th Street in Lexington, is in need of mens clothing, all sizes and styles; pots pans, serving dishes and utensils; bedding, crib sheets, twin size, reg. size, queen and king size, pillows, blankets, beds; winter coats and jackets. Bring to 907 W. 8th during our regular operating hours, Monday through Friday, 1 - 4 p.m. Monday to Friday we have bag sales, small bag $10.00 and large bag $15.00 dollars. Closed Saturdays, Sundays & all Federal Holidays.

Narcotics Anonymous: open meeting on Sundays at 12 p.m. at Two Bridges Counseling, 513 N. Grant St. Suite 3a in Lexington.

MOMS (Making Our Mothering Significant): resources and relationships to encourage for mothers of all ages. Meets from 8:45-11 a.m. every other Thursday at Parkview Baptist Church, 803 W. 18th, Lexington.

Overeaters Anonymous: meets at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Cozad Hospital meeting room and at 10 a.m. on Saturdays at the Fitness Centers conference room in Lexington. Contact 308-785-2064 or 308-537-3063.

Parkinsons Support Group: meets at 7 p.m. on the first Monday of the month at United Methodist Church, E and McDonald, North Platte. Contact 534-7404.

Phoenix Group for divorce recovery: meets at 7 p.m. on Mondays in the Friendship Room at First United Methodist Church Kearney, 46th Street and Linden Drive. Contact Julie, 234-9986.

Recovery Education for persons who have a family member or loved one dealing with abused substances. This free program is at 5 p.m. every Tuesday at Heartland Counseling, 307 East 5th St., Lexington. For questions, call Jennifer Sand at 324-6754.

The Riverdale Rounders Country and Bluegrass Jam Session: second Thursdays, Riverdale Community Center. Bring instrument or come and enjoy. Contact: John Shafer, 236-6559 after 5 p.m.

TOPS, Take Off Pounds Sensibly: nonprofit, non-commercial weight-loss support group, meets Wednesdays, 5 p.m., Lexington Regional Health Center Fitness Center Education room; Contact: Brenda, 324-2523. Fridays at 9 a.m. group meets at Plum Creek Care Center. Contact: Phyllis, 324-8443.
Vivian Joseph, 82 of Doniphan, formerly of Lexington, died Feb. 3, 2017 at CHI St. Francis Health in Grand Island.

Memorial Services will be 11:00 A.M. Saturday, March 4, 2017 at Apfel Funeral Home with Pastor Paul Canady officiating. A private burial of cremated remains will be held at a later date.

Vivian was born on Dec. 2, 1934 in Burton, the daughter of John T. and Avis (Heyden) Jamison. She grew up in Bassett and received her education at Rock County High School. She was a lifelong resident of Nebraska. She was a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother. In her younger years she loved to dance, play cards, bowl, make crafts and ceramics, tube down Pine Creek, water ski, and fish. She had a witty sense of humor and always had a funny story to tell.

Vivian worked in various banks in Nebraska, and later served as the Administrator of a Nursing Home in Trenton. She later owned Creative Fabrics, a store in Lexington.

Viv was a talented seamstress, quilter, and crafter taking great pride in everything she created. When she wasnt sewing she was on her computer playing poker, spider solitaire, or emailing friends and family. She also enjoyed joining her friends for lunch or dinner. She looked forward to her yearly trips to Las Vegas to visit her sons family as well as trying her luck at the casinos. A yearly trip to the casinos in Council Bluffs with her daughter and granddaughter was a special time that she looked forward to. As often as possible she would join her three sisters for a family get-together in her home town or meet her many relatives for family reunions.

Those left to cherish her memory include her son, Tom (Amy) Seadore; daughter, Kristi (Richard) Ryan; four grandchildren, Chad Wetzel, Jessica (Ryan) Becker, Austin Ryan, and Sarah Seadore; step-grandchildren, Eric, Jennifer, Christiane, Kelly, Aaron, and Kevin; great-grandchild, Landon Becker; several step-great-grandchildren; sisters, Kathy (Otto) Welfring, Donna (Gary) Curtis, and Sherry (Tom) Kahrhoff.

Vivian was preceded in death by her parents.

Memorials are suggested to the family to be designated at a later date. Apfel Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.apfelfuneralhome.com
Colm O'Cinneide (University College London - Faculty of Laws) has posted European Social Constitutionalism on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Within mainstream Anglo-American constitutionalist thought, social rights are generally assumed to fall outside of the appropriate scope of constitutional regulation: their content and status are viewed as matters best left to be determined by the free flow of political contestation, rather than being governed by the written provisions of the constitutional text and/or judicial interpretation of fundamental rights guarantees. The development of socioeconomic rights review in states such as South Africa, Colombia, India and Brazil has challenged this assumption. As a result, the apparent dichotomy between the old Anglo-American orthodoxy and the new social constitutionalism emerging in the Global South has come to dominate much of the comparative constitutional literature on social rights.



However, as Ran Hirschl has argued, comparative scholarship needs to be careful about restricting its focus to a few favoured national case studies. There exists an alternative strand of social constitutionalism in continental Europe, which is barely mentioned in much of the academic literature on this topic. This European strand of social constitutionalism differs in significant ways from the approaches to social rights protection being developed in the Global South. In some ways, it is weaker and more diffuse - at least when it comes to judicial enforcement of social rights. However, it has the potential to acquire greater legal substance. Furthermore, it possesses a latent political/symbolic dimension which still retains a degree of potency.



Part I of this paper outlines the development of social constitutionalism in Europe, at both the level of nation states and at the transnational level of the EU and the Council of Europe. Part II then explores how constitutional protection of social rights in Europe remains limited and uncertain in scope, despite the formal commitment of European states to the social state principle. Part III analyses how the post-2008 austerity crisis has sharply exposed the normative inchoateness of European social constitutionalism, notwithstanding the gradual expansion in certain jurisdictions of judicial protection of social rights. Part IV examines how this crisis also opens up opportunities for legal protection of social rights to acquire more bite, with the concept of the social minimum perhaps playing more of a role in this regard than in other legal systems. However, the argument is also made that the ultimate value of European social constitutionalism may be symbolic and political in nature, and lies in how it undercuts attempts to foreclose on the aspiration of creating a genuinely social Europe.

Highly recommended.
The doors at the Wal-Mart in Tangerine Plaza are closed now and everyone who live nearby have one pressing question -- whats next?

Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market left Tangerine Plaza in St. Pete

City leaders heard input from the community as to what they want to replace it

No timetable for when that replacement will open

Its a question Robin Cooper asked leaders at a community meeting Thursday night. I would like to see another grocery store that offers a lot of products including fresh produce and meat. Perhaps a discount store because we are in a low-income area, She said.

Its an area on 22nd Street South and 18th Avenue South thats seen its fair share of big box stores.

I was glad the Wal-Mart was here. I was glad the Sweetbay was here when I moved to this property. They closed and I was thrilled that Wal-Mart opened because if Im going to do any real super shopping, I have to take the bus and get my son to help me, Cooper said.

A few weeks ago Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market announced they were packing up and leaving Tangerine plaza abruptly. Residents said its a lot like Sweetbay did when they left. The move has people who live in this area asking leaders to find the right fit.

Mayor Rick Kriseman says he hears them loud and clear.

If Im a member of the community Im saying you, whether its the city or the business community, you keep making us promises and youre not really delivering. Youre giving us window dressing that looks good for a year or two and its gone and thats not what this community needs. They need thoughtful long-term solutions, Kriseman said.

Thats exactly what leaders and members of the community discussed at thie meeting. People who attended talked and learned about everything from market statistics, income and supply versus demand in this area.

Some residents offered reasons why businesses here have failed, while others offered solutions, both temporary and long-term.

If I had to suggest something, what I would say would be lets downsize it," said resident Kiiambu Mudada. "We dont need a major supermarket. But we do need a grocery store. And lets not get a big organization like Wal-Mart that can just leave at the drop of a dime and dont lose anything. We want someone thats going to be invested in the community.

One of the answers to the most asked question of the night is no. Theres no timetable of when a new store will open up shop in the plaza. The mayor said there want to hear from the community more and they dont plan to rush this process and get it wrong.

The mayor also said Wal-Mart still has the lease to the space. So before they make any major moves or decisions, they have to gain ownership of the lease. That's something theyre hoping to do in the next month. 
Not only can you see spring in bloom at Floridas Green Swamp, you can hear it. In the middle of Polk County, cows and pigs can be heard among the cypress trees.

"Come on, baby, said Emily Jaffee, guiding a baby horse from her barn to a green pasture.

Emilys morning routine at Safari Wilderness is busier in the spring.

"She knows the routine, that's for sure," Emily said while walking Lina, an Austrian Haflinger foal to a field.

The four-week-old is ready to eat.

"She is already slurping it down," Emily joked while holding an oversized bottle the shape of a carton of milk.

"Unfortunately, her mom had some post-pregnancy problems. So we had to pull Lina at four days old, to raise her on a bottle, Emily said.

THATS A WRAP: Its a safari to see Springs babies on #FloridaOnATankful! Join me Friday on @MyNews13 & @BN9. Preview of Momma & Baby: pic.twitter.com/4VVAwRCsL4  ScottFaisTV (@ScottFaisTV) February 23, 2017

Adding in the beginning, she spent nights camping at the ranch, so she could feed Lina every two hours.

Lina is not alone. The blonde baby, with a Mohawk for a mane, joins several babies at Safari Wilderness in Lakeland.

The best way to see Safari Wilderness collection of new babies is by truck. The former school bus bounces over the terrain of the Green Swamp, past Lemur Island, where friendly lemurs await breakfast.

From this vantage point, the animals on the horizon may convince you this isnt Florida, rather Africa.

"The ones all standing around the troughs are the waterbuck, and the one walking up are the Red Lechwe, Emily said.

"The moms will plop them down in the same patch of tall grass while they go out to graze."

A nearby baby Scimitar-horned Oryx is pretty lucky.

"We have more Scimitar-horned Oryx here in Polk County, than they do in the wilds of Africa, Emily said. The Oryx was over hunted in the 1980s..

"It was really exciting we had one born here, she said of the small Oryx able to run as fast as her parents.

Also in the distance are additional Austrian Haflinger horses, born just this week.

"One was born this Monday, one was born the following day on Tuesday, Emily said, as the baby stands and begins to nurse.

"They body block. So, they try and put mom between themselves and anything new or scary, Emily shared about the baby girl born 48 hours before our visit. "It's important the baby has a chance to latch on to mom."

After a quick hand-out to a llama, we're back at the ranch, where Lina's hungry again and feeding time begins all over again.

NOTE: While Safari Wilderness is open to the public, safaris rides, lemur feedings and kayak rides require an advanced reservation. Find out more with this link.

Tankful on Television:

Catch Florida travel stories like the one above on Television four days a week across Central Florida. The award-winning Florida on a Tankful with Scott Fais airs on News 13 Thursday-Sunday. See new segments in the Bay Area as well on Bay News 9. Stories air beginning at 6 a.m. on both channels as a Spectrum exclusive.
GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here.
A Philippine court issued an arrest warrant on drug charges for a senator and former top human rights official who is one of the most vocal critics of President Rodrigo Duterte and his deadly anti-drug crackdown.

The Regional Trial Court in Muntinlupa city in the Manila metropolis issued the warrant for the arrest of Sen. Leila de Lima and other officials who have been charged by Department of Justice prosecutors with receiving bribes from detained drug lords.

De Lima has vehemently denied the charges, which she said were part of an attempt by Duterte to muzzle critics of his crackdown, which has left more than 7,000 drug suspects dead. She questioned why the court suddenly issued the arrest order when it was scheduled today to hear her petition to void the three non-bailable charges.

It was not immediately clear when de Lima would be arrested or how her followers would react.
From Japanese culture and electronic music to architectural structure and the natural environment, ten graduates from the Diploma Programme for Fashion Design and Manufacturing 2015/2016 drew inspiration from diverse sources to produce trendy garments.

The students used various techniques such as indigo dyeing, digital fabric printing and 3D printing.

Winners of the diploma programme told the Times about the difficulties of starting a career in Macaus fashion industry due to a lack of resources.

The designers also expressed doubts over whether they would succeed in the industry, as most locals prefer purchasing clothing online and stores that sell Japanese or Korean-influenced styles.

Celestino Maria Cordova, the First Overall Winner, who also won the Academic Award, noted that shoppers tend to purchase items online out of convenience.

He also said Chinas online retailers sell clothing replicas and pieces at relatively lower prices, which he told the Times was dragging the whole industry down.

Consumers can buy clothes that are more fashionable and cheaper. [] They dont want to get to know what designers are offering them, Cordova lamented.

Cordova also suggested that designs are becoming indistinguishable because retailers only want styles that have been proven to be popular with the masses.

On the other hand, Cordova is looking to establish his own brand in the near future, which he hopes will give fashion enthusiasts in the region more options.

Meanwhile, Yuna Leong and Mickey Che  respectively the second and third Overall Winners, respectively  said it would take some time for them to settle in the fashion industry.

Leong, who also won Best Color Coordination, expressed her belief that Macaus fashion industry has been continually developing despite its small size.

She told the Times she has no plans to establish her own brand, but intends to stay in the fashion industry even though there are still many things to consider such as capital and rent.

Commenting on the regions fashion industry, Che, who also won the Grand Trendy Award, remarked, Its quite optimistic compared to the past because more people now have their own style.

Victoria Kuan, senior manager of the Creative Fashion and Image Department at Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Center (CPTTM), noted that the course offered a strong marketing and branding module.

Kuan believes that the government has significantly assisted aspiring fashion designers by launching projects and subsidies to help promote their works.

Thirteen pieces by the graduates will be displayed at the Macao Fashion Gallery until March 26. The exhibition is titled Transformation  Works Exhibition of Diploma Course in Fashion Design and Manufacturing.




From specialty shops in Rome to supermarkets around the world, lovers of Italian olive oil are in for some sticker shock this year, with prices due to jump by as much as 20 percent.

The combination of bad weather and pests hit the harvest in Southern Europe, most of all in Italy, where production is halved from last fall. Thats pushing up Italian wholesale prices by 64 percent as of mid-February compared with a year earlier, which translates to shelf price increases of 15 to 20 percent in Italy.

In other countries, the ultimate price increases will depend on several factors  such as how much retailers take on the costs themselves and the change in currency values. The U.S., for example, is likely to see a more modest rise in price as a stronger dollar keeps a lid on the cost of imports.

Italys harvest was especially hard hit by the combination of early rains that knocked buds off the trees and the threat of an olive fly that forced an early harvest, further cutting yields. Wholesale prices of olive oil from Spain, the worlds largest producers, are up a more modest 10 percent, with yields similar to last years.

Vincenzo Iacovissi, the owner of the Sapor dOlio olive oil shop in Rome, says sales have dropped, though hes tried to ease the shock for customers by explaining why prices have gone up.

When there are increases of 15 to 20 percent there is some impact on sales. However, explaining the reasons for this increase has in part helped to make up for this, Iacovissi said.

Italians collectively consume about 35 percent of the worlds olive oil, leading Spain at 30 percent, and that affinity makes them pretty resilient as consumers.

Flaminia Leoni, a 50-year-old mother of four, buys 80 to 100 liters of olive oil a year for her family and says that at most she will consider substituting lower quality olive oil for extra virgin for cooking  but not on the table, where olive oil is a staple giving accent to pasta, meats, salads and vegetables.

I buy it more or less always at the same price, in truth, maybe a euro more. But I havent found this enormous growth in price, she said.

Cedric Casanova, the owner of an Italian grocery in Paris, said he was hoping to get 30,000 liters of olive oil delivered, but received just 8,000 liters. He will have to rely on leftover stock from last year to help make up for the remaining difference  and absorb some of the price increase himself.

Im working with a standard price, by trying to assume the cost myself, he said.

With global stocks down just 14 percent, no one is predicting general olive oil shortages, even with a 75 percent increase in consumption of olive oil over the last 25 years as demand pushed into non-traditional markets. The market for olive oil in the period has grown by two-fold in the United States, seven-fold in Britain and 14 fold in Japan, according to Italys Coldiretti farm lobby, even if continental Europe remains by far the largest market.

Italian olive oil is more vulnerable than that of other major producers to climate shifts and pests due to its varied topography, from hills in the north to larger groves in the south. This also lends great variety to Italian olive oil, where unique flavors are derived from a combination of the terrain, topography and the more than 400 olive varieties, according to Nicola Di Noia, an olive oil expert for the Coldiretti farm lobby.

We have hundreds of different varieties of olives that are more difficult to defend compared with Spain or northern Africa, where there are big groves that are easier to manage, Di Noia said.

He said the challenge is educating consumers about why they pay for quality.

We need to learn to choose oils with awareness. Extra-virgin is the juice of a fruit. The primary material from which it derives is very important. Therefore, oil should be tasted and smelled, he said. Colleen Barry & Maria Grazia Murru, Rome

Cooking on deadline by Katie Workman

THYME AND YUKON GOLD POTATO GRATIN

I have a recipe for a potato gratin in my last cookbook, Dinner Solved!, that I firmly stand by. Here is another that I firmly stand by. And I plan to come up with more such recipes to firmly stand by because I am committed to reminding all of us why gratins are one of the best things that could ever happen to a potato, ever.

This is a rich gratin, made with all cream, no milk or even half and half. Im not apologizing, just explaining. In general, I like my indulgent dishes flat-out indulgent, and my healthier food in the form of broiled fish, or salads. And I dont have a problem with the two sharing a plate. This gratin, for instance, would be lovely next to a piece of roasted salmon with a peppery green salad alongside them.

If you have a mandolin and the inclination to use it, please do, and you will get lovely, paper-thin slices for a sultry and elegantly stratified gratin. If not, use the slicing blade in your food processor or a sharp knife; the slices will likely not be as thin, but thats A-OK.

THE RECIPE

Start to finish: 1 hour 30 minutes, serves 10 to 12

2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 pounds medium Yukon Gold potatoes

1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese

2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme

1 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

How to cook it:

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Combine the cream, butter and garlic in a medium saucepan and bring to barely a simmer over medium high heat. Remove from the heat.

While the mixture is heating, peel the potatoes and slice them very thinly.

Combine the cheese, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Spread out half of the potatoes in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the cheese mixture. Repeat with the remaining potatoes, and then the remaining cheese mixture. Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes, and press down on the potatoes to make sure they are mostly submerged in the liquid.

Bake on a lower rack in the oven for about 60 to 65 minutes, until the top is golden brown, and the potatoes have absorbed most of the cream and are very tender; a knife should slide in easily. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition information per serving:

486 calories; 349 calories from fat; 39 g fat (18 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 88 mg cholesterol; 932 mg sodium; 28 g carbohydrate; 6 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 7 g protein.

Katie Workman has written two cookbooks focused on easy, family-friendly cooking, Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook.
A report on inequality in Indonesia says its four richest men now have more wealth than 100 million of the countrys poorest people.

The report released yesterday by Oxfam said Indonesia, with a population of more than 250 million, has the sixth-worst inequality in the world. Within Asia, only Thailand is more unequal.

It blames market fundamentalism that has allowed the richest to capture most of the benefits of nearly two decades of strong economic growth, concentration of land ownership and pervasive gender inequality.

The investment returns on the wealth of just one of the four richest, which according to the Forbes rich list include cigarette tycoons Budi Hartono, Michael Hartono and Susilo Wonowidjojo, would eliminate extreme poverty in a year.

The report said extreme poverty of less than USD1.90 a day in income has declined sharply since 2000 but 93 million Indonesians still live on less than $3.10, which is defined by the World Bank as the moderate poverty line.

Oxfam said social instability could increase if the government doesnt tackle the gap between rich and poor.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has said that reducing inequality is a top priority for his government. A 2015 World Bank survey showed high levels of public concern about the wealth gap.

The report said Indonesias tax collection is the second-lowest in Southeast Asia and the tax system is failing to play its necessary role in redistributing wealth.

To increase the tax take, so low spending on public services such as education and health can be increased, Indonesia needs a higher tax rate on the top incomes, higher inheritance tax and a new wealth tax, it said.

Tackling tax evasion is also crucial, Oxfam said, citing International Monetary Fund data that shows $101 billion flowed from Indonesia into tax havens in 2015. AP
The government has abandoned an urban renovation plan for Lilau Square after the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) expressed concerns regarding the protection of cultural heritage in the area.

The plan, initially unveiled in December 2012, was intended to refresh the historic neighborhood and introduce a new dynamic to the area through a repurposing of its buildings, based on the successful transformations of historic neighborhoods in other territories.

A senior official from the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) said in 2014 that the buildings located near Lilau Square would likely have their original architecture and appearances maintained, but their purpose would now be geared toward housing the cultural industries.

However, according to information provided by the IC, the DSSOPT plan has been cancelled following concerns expressed by cultural authorities in the city.

At that time, an urban revitalization plan was put in motion for the area surrounding Lilau Square and the Mandarins House by the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau. The Cultural Affairs Bureau, one of the members of the [working] group, expressed its views about the protection of cultural heritage in what concerned the plan at the time, clarified an IC representative in the statement. There is no renovation plan for the area surrounding Lilau Square at present.

The DSSOPT did not reply to an enquiry by the Times by press time.

One of the most iconic buildings in the area is Lilau mansion, located on number 37-49, which will host a number of open-house events on Sunday to help with the sale of the heritage site. Bidding will start at HKD250 million which, according to event organizers iAOHiN Gallery, will make the mansion the most expensive townhouse ever sold in Macau.

The IC is rumored to be an interested buyer, partly due to the fact that the Bureau currently owns nearly all other historic buildings in that area. However, IC representatives denied having any knowledge of an intention to bid for the premises.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau [has] not received any information regarding the sale of No. 37 and 49 galleries located at Lilau Square [and] there is no acquisition plan yet, said a Bureau representative.

The owner of the building, local real estate developer Isabel Chiang, announced her plans to sell the two art galleries, 37 and 49, that together comprise the mansion, as they have become too expensive to maintain.

Chiang is known for her involvement in the acquisition of several buildings in Macaus historical areas. She has said that she wants to see the space used for cultural events and heritage seminars in the future.

As previously reported by the Times, the property had been mortgaged twice, once in 2014 and then again the next year for a combined total of HKD90 million.

Building to host series of activities

A series of cultural activities, celebrating Lilau Squares long heritage, will be held on Sunday, including special events, a live painting demonstration, concerts, sculpture and jewelry exhibitions and a tour of Lilau mansion. Organizers explained that the activities are being held with the additional purpose of attracting potential buyers. Among the participants in Sundays sequence of activities there will be the president of the Association for Macanese Education, Miguel Senna Fernandes, and the architect behind Lilau Mansions renovation project, Francisco Vizeu Pinheiro, who will both hold talks on Macaus cultural heritage.

A display of bronze sculptures by renowned French sculptor Jacques Le Nantec will also be exhibited at the mansion on Sunday. The sculptor has a studio in Rua de Lilau, close to the building. Moreover, a live painting demonstration by Tibetan artist Tashi Norbu has been organized for the day. The artist, who exhibited in Macau in April last year, will once again fly from the Netherlands, this time around to demonstrate live the painting of his work, Fire Rooster, on a large canvas.
North Koreas state-run news agency issued a tough critique of China yesterday, suggesting Beijings criticism of the Norths recent missile test and suspension of imports of North Korean coal are tantamount to the actions of an enemy state dancing to the tune of the U.S.

The article took a tone normally reserved for North Koreas overt enemies  Washington, Tokyo and Seoul.

Without directly using Chinas name, but referring to it as a neighboring country, which often claims itself to be a friendly neighbor, the Korean Central News Agency report accused Beijing of essentially abandoning North Korea in favor of the United States by cutting off imports of coal in compliance with United Nations sanctions.

This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the U.S. while defending its mean behavior with such excuses that it [the suspension of coal imports] was meant not to have a negative impact on the living of the people in the DPRK but to check its nuclear program, it said. DPRK is short for North Koreas official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

It added that China has unhesitatingly taken inhumane steps to comply with U.N. sanctions.

The article, uncharacteristically for the news agency, carried a byline, Jong Phil.

China on Sunday began a suspension of all coal imports from North Korea for the rest of the year as it increases pressure on it in line with U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed in November in response to the Norths fifth nuclear test two months earlier.

China had already banned coal imports from North Korea in April last year, but those restrictions allowed some imports for civilian use. China is North Koreas largest source of trade and aid and the suspension will deprive the North of an important source of foreign currency.

North Korean coal exports to China totaled USD1.2 billion last year, according to Chinese customs statistics. U.S. officials say that represents about one third of North Koreas total export income.

Beijing has come under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to lean harder on North Korea, but says its influence is limited.

It has, however, also grown increasingly frustrated with North Koreas defiance of U.N. demands it end missile tests and development of nuclear weapons. Eric Talmadge, Tokyo, AP
Pop Up Canada, a two-day promotional event organized by the Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macau, was held on Wednesday and yesterday in the territory for the second consecutive year this week. The event seeks to promote investment, visitation and education opportunities between Canada and Macau.

Macau is a promising market for Canadian products and services and cultural and academic exchanges, said Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan speaking at the event, according to a press release from the organizers. The rising imports from Canada to Macau reflect the existence of a bounty of business opportunities in this region.

This year, Canada will celebrate 150 years since the passage of the British North American Act, which established the country as a self-governing entity.

Chan also commended the Canadian people for their contributions to science, which include the discovery of insulin to treat diabetes in 1922, and the discovery of stem cells in 1963. She said Canada ranks among the highest in international measurements of government, including government transparency, civil liberties, economic freedom and quality of education.

The MSAR shares a history of educational exchange with Canada, and is home to a sizeable Canadian population. The International School of Macau employs several teachers from Canada, while the first chief executive of Macau, Edmund Ho, studied there.
Power consumption in Macau hit a new record high in 2016, increasing by 5.8 percent to 5,255 GWh. Bernie Leong, Chairman of Companhia de Electricidade de Macau (CEM) Executive Committee, attributed the increase to the opening of new integrated resorts in Macau, during the power companys media spring lunch yesterday at Wynn Palace.

According to data released by CEM, the cost of local power generation was lower than that of imported electricity from the mainland, leading to an increase in local power generation by 4.3 percent in 2016.

However, local power generation only accounts for 15 percent of total power consumption of Macau. Power imported from mainland China in 2016 increased by 6 percent, amounting to 82 percent of total power consumption.

Reviewing the utility company works during 2016, Leong said that in order to improve the power supply in old districts, six new transformer substations were built: three at Rua de Cinco de Outubro, one at Rua da Praia do Manduco, and two at Taipas Rua do Cunha. CEM set up more electric vehicle charging stations in 2016. According to the company, a total of 71 such stations are now available in 18 public car parks in Macau.

Assuming that more power is needed in Macau, Leong said that a third interconnection with China Southern Power Grid will be built, increasing total capacity by 33 percent. He also said that they expect to demolish the Macau power plant within 18 months.

CEM has been in talks with the MSAR government to build a new power plant in Coloane. PB
Chinas defense ministry said yesterday it expects economic growth and a strengthened social security system to solve problems faced by former soldiers, following reports of new street protests by disgruntled veterans who say theyve been denied their promised retirement benefits.

The remarks came after cellphone video circulated online showing a large group of veterans in military fatigues walking through central Beijing on Wednesday and gathering outside the offices of the ruling Communist Partys corruption watchdog body.

Ministry spokesman Col. Ren Guoqiang said the government and the party are concerned about veterans issues, but didnt say whether anyone had met with the protesters or whether any new policies were planned to assist them.

The difficulties that veterans currently encounter will be gradually overcome, Ren said at a monthly news briefing.

It wasnt clear what the veterans demands were, although many have long complained about pensions, access to health care and assistance in finding new jobs. Banners identified at least some in the group Wednesday as unemployed veterans from the eastern port city of Yancheng. Reports of additional protests in Beijing yesterday could not immediately be confirmed.

Such protests have broken out around the country for decades, amplifying concerns over labor unrest and threatening to undermine rank-and-file support for Communist Party leader Xi Jinpings campaign to modernize the military by attracting better qualified and more highly motivated soldiers.

The government censors information about the protests and veterans are highly reluctant to discuss their plight with foreign media for fear of being accused of disloyalty.

Despite operating the worlds largest standing army, with 2.3 million personnel, China doesnt have a central government body such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to handle welfare for former soldiers. Instead, cash-

strapped local government offices are responsible for their welfare, and the type of benefits offered vary widely across the country.

Ren said Xis plan to reduce the size of the armed forces by 300,000 by the end of the year was proceeding as planned. The downsizing is expected to shift the emphasis away from ground forces and toward the navy, air force and rocket force. Christopher Bodeen, Beijing, AP
The International School of Macao (TIS) recently inaugurated a new space dedicated to promoting students interactions with the community, as explained to the Times by Head of School Howard Stribbell.

The Black Box Theatre is a new addition we have to our North Wing and it really gives us an opportunity to showcase students talents and to engage in conversation, he said.

Students can put together a play or some musical presentation, but we also can bring in guest speakers and engage with the students back and forth [] we intend for it to be a unique space where ideas can be exchanged.

The head of the school said the theatre would be a very economical way of doing such things because its just four basic walls and some seating but you can transform it into whatever you need it to be. It gives you a lot of flexibility.
Addiction to heroin and prescription drugs is an epidemic spreading across our country. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death, taking one American life every 12 minutes.

We have strong reasons to believe that this epidemic is getting worse, not better.

This month, the US-China Commission issued a disturbing new report on the influx of Chinese fentanyl -- a synthetic form of heroin that can be up to 50 times more powerful than heroin and even 100 times more powerful than morphine.

China has recently banned the synthetic drug carfentanil, and we are encouraged by that. But we still have serious reasons for concern. The commission report says that "the majority of fentanyl products found in the United States originate in China. ...Chinese law enforcement officials have struggled to adequately regulate the thousands of chemical and pharmaceutical facilities operating legally and illegally in the country, leading to increased production and export of illicit chemicals and drugs. Chinese chemical exporters ...covertly ship drugs to the Western hemisphere."

As troubling as this report is, it's not surprising. It just confirms what we have seen in our communities in Minnesota and Ohio firsthand. Synthetic forms of heroin are tearing apart families, devastating communities and taking lives.

For example, just two days after the commission's report came out, police in Butler County, Ohio seized $180,000 in fentanyl-laced heroin after suspected fentanyl overdoses killed five Ohioans in just one 26-hour period.

Minnesotans -- including Prince, who died last year of a fentanyl overdose -- have been similarly affected. In Duluth, Minnesota, the owner of a head shop called The Last Place on Earth was selling synthetic drugs, causing an uptick in police calls, emergency room visits, and even deaths in the area. Luckily, law enforcement got him, and he was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison.

But other dealers are still out there. And because of fentanyl and other synthetic forms of heroin, the drugs on the streets are getting stronger, more addictive and more dangerous.

Heroin is already extremely addictive and cheap. But now it is increasingly laced with synthetic drugs like fentanyl, carfentanil, or U-47700 to make it even more potent. How powerful are these drugs? According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, it only takes about two milligrams of fentanyl -- about the same amount as a pinch of salt -- to kill you.

As the report states, a large majority of these synthetic drugs are made in labs in China and then shipped to traffickers in the Western Hemisphere. Typically, synthetic forms of heroin are shipped to traffickers in our country through the postal system.

Unlike UPS or FedEx, the US Postal Service does not require electronic customs data for packages entering the country. That makes it easier on the traffickers and harder for our law enforcement to scan these packages for drugs like fentanyl or other smuggled products. And that leaves us more vulnerable to these international drug traffickers.

In the United States Senate, we have made progress in the fight against the addiction epidemic. Last year, President Obama signed into law the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, with our strong support. It's the first comprehensive reform of federal addiction policy in two decades, and it will help bring down the demand for drugs in our communities, support treatment and long-term recovery for those struggling with addiction, and increase the availability of naloxone -- a life-saving overdose-reversal drug -- so that our first responders can save more lives.

But we've got to build on this progress by stopping these dangerous synthetic drugs from crossing our borders and poisoning our communities.

That's why we introduced new, bipartisan legislation -- the Synthetic Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act, or the STOP Act -- to simply close the loophole and require the postal service to obtain advance electronic data on packages before they cross our borders.

Based on expert testimony at hearings at the Senate Homeland Security Committee, this simple policy change would make it easier for our customs agents and the DEA to detect packages containing fentanyl or synthetic drugs to help keep this poison out of our country.

Our bill would take away a key tool of drug traffickers and restrict the supply of these drugs, raising their price and making them harder to get.

It's a simple, common sense next step we ought to take. And with the threat of synthetic heroin getting worse and worse, the urgency to act grows by the day.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
TWIN FALLS  The College of Southern Idaho will offer viewings of two nationwide broadcasts next month featuring news personalities, the college announced Wednesday.

Anderson Coopers broadcast will be shown at 5 p.m. March 12 in CSIs Taylor Building, room 277. Cooper is a journalist who anchors CNNs Anderson Cooper 360.

Hoda Kotb, co-host of NBCs Today Show, will broadcast a message at 5 p.m. March 14 in CSIs Fine Arts Auditorium.

Both speakers will accept questions in real time from across the country via Twitter and Facebook.

The events are free and open to the public. Theyre sponsored by CSIs chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success.

For more information, contact Samra Culum at 208-732-6223 or sculum@csi.edu.
9 p.m. UPDATE: The Buhl and Valley school districts have canceled school Friday because of the weather.

4:30 p.m. UPDATE: Jump Company has canceled Thursday's showing of Annie Jr. at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday's shows are still on.

1:00 p.m. UPDATE: CSI will close its Twin Falls, Burley, Gooding, and Hailey campuses at 1 p.m. today due to weather. Its Idaho Falls campus will close at 4 p.m.

10:30 a.m. UPDATE: Jerome School District campuses will close at 11:30 a.m. due to hazardous road conditions. School buses will be running at that time.

TWIN FALLS  Snow and windy conditions caused a handful of schools to close Thursday.

The following schools are closed:

Filer

Buhl

Castleford

Murtaugh

Wendell

Gooding

Valley (Hazelton) - due to a power outage

Xavier Charter School in Twin Falls

North Valley Academy in Gooding

Lighthouse Christian School in Twin Falls

Clover Christian School in Buhl

All College of Southern Idaho campuses are open.

On its website, the Twin Falls School District wrote its campus are open. But it asks parents to "be prepared for winter conditions."

"Bus routes will likely experience delays due to neighborhood road conditions," according to the post. If you dont feel that your student can get to school safely, keep him/her at home."

The district asked students to wear snow boots and water-resistant clothing, if possible, and to bring an extra pair of dry socks.
TWIN FALLS  A snow storm and hazardous road conditions are leading to another day of Magic Valley school closures.

The following schools are closed:

Twin Falls

Jerome

Filer

Clover Christian School in Buhl

Minidoka County

Cassia County

Kimberly

Twin Falls Christian Academy

North Valley Academy in Gooding

Buhl

Valley (Hazelton)

Dietrich

Lighthouse Christian School

Castleford

Murtaugh

Richfield

Xavier Charter School in Twin Falls

Buses won't run for the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind.

The College of Southern Idaho's Jerome and Gooding campuses are closed. All others are open.
Rhea K. Saxton Smith, 92, of Burley, died Wednesday, February 22, 2017, at Safe Haven Homes of Burley. The funeral is pending and will be announced by the Rasmussen Funeral Home of Burley.

Tracy Kay Crisp, 61, of Kimberly, Idaho passed away on Thursday, February 23, 2017 with loving family at her side. Arrangements are pending under the direction of Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home of Twin Falls, Idaho.

William Edgar Millican, 83, a resident of Gooding, passed away on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at the Twin Falls Care Center in Twin Falls. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced under the direction of Demaray Funeral ServiceGooding Chapel.

Shirley W. Messenger, 91, of Twin Falls passed away Wednesday evening, February 22, 2017 at St. Lukes Magic Valley Hospital in Twin Falls. Services are pending and will be announced by Reynolds Funeral Chapel, Twin Falls.

Margaret Frances Schmidt, 103, of Twin Falls, passed away Thursday, February 23, 2017 at St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of White Mortuary Chapel by the Park.

Grace I. Bend, age 90, of Glenns Ferry, passed away on Wednesday, February 22, 2017, at a family home in Baker City, Oregon. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, located at 500 No. 18th East, in Mountain Home.

Betty Adams, 71, of Declo passed away Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at Cassia Regional Medical Center. Arrangements are under the direction of Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary.
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.

Robert Bob Haslam

JEROME  Robert Bob Haslam of Jerome, funeral services at 2 p.m. Friday, February 24, 2017 at Farnsworth Mortuary. Visitation is from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, February 23, 2017 at Farnsworth Mortuary, 1343 S Lincoln Ave, Jerome.

Daniel Wartluft

JEROME  Daniel Wartluft of Jerome, memorial service at 4 p.m. Friday February 24, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 217 Tiger Drive, Jerome.

Hazel Elverta Plott

TWIN FALLS  Hazel Elverta Plott of Twin Falls, funeral at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 25 at the Twin Falls West Stake Center, 667 Harrison St. A viewing will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Friday, February 24 at the church and from 1 until 1:45 p.m. prior to the service.

Dora Crowser

WASHINGTON  Dora Crowser of Spokane Valley, Washington, funeral services at 1 p.m. Saturday, February 25, at Thornhill Valley Chapel, 1400 S Pines Rd., Spokane Valley, Washington. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. prior to the service. Interment will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 18 at Sunset Memorial Park, Twin Falls.

Karen Busch

OREGON  Karen Busch of Ontario, Oregon, memorial service at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 25 at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Ontario.

Joseph Lambert

BURLEY  Joseph Lambert of Burley, funeral at 1 p.m. Saturday, February 25, at the Burley LDS West Stake Center, 2420 Parke Ave., in Burley. Visitation is from 6-8 p.m. Friday, February 24, at the Rasmussen Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St., in Burley, and from 12 noon until 12:45 p.m. Saturday at the church.

Terry Moffett

BOISE  Terry Moffett of Boise, Celebration of Life at 2 pm, Saturday, February 25, at The Owyhee, 1109 W Main St, Boise, Idaho 83702.

Allen Eldredge

JEROME  Allen Eldredge of Jerome, services at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 25, at Rosenau Funeral Home. A viewing will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Friday, February 24 at the funeral home.

Betty Adams

DECLO  Betty Adams of Declo, viewing will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Sunday, February 26, at Hansen Mortuary. Arrangements are under the direction of Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary.

Margaret Schmidt

TWIN FALLS  Margaret Frances Schmidt of Twin Falls, funeral at 2 pm Tuesday, February 28, at First United Methodist Church 360 Shoshone St., Twin Falls; visitation from 6-8 pm Monday, February 27 at White Mortuary, Chapel by the Park, 136 4th Ave E., Twin Falls.
BOISE  Idaho State Police in 2013 recommended that House Speaker Scott Bedke seek a protection order against a woman investigated for stalking him after determining that her behavior was un-prosecutable for a charge of extortion.

Bedke and his lawyer, fearing an extensive media inquiry, declined to pursue such an order, according to a case-closing memo in the state police file, which was reviewed by the Statesman. The investigating officer advised that any further contact from the woman would give authorities a solid case of stalking against her.

The 2013 incident came to light last week when right-wing websites published stories about claims in an affidavit the woman provided in January recounting her version of certain events from the period.

That disclosure was the latest salvo in an attack on the speaker from supporters of a conservative North Idaho lawmaker who was reprimanded by Bedke last month, removed from her committee assignments for disparaging female colleagues.

The woman, Lissa Cochrane, a onetime House legislative secretary, prepared the affidavit after reading about Bedkes sanctions against Rep. Heather Scott and then contacting her, later sending the affidavit to one of the websites. The statements she attributed to Bedke in the affidavit regarding a 2012 House State Affairs committee hearing, have been refuted by witnesses, including reporters and lawmakers.

Now residing in her native Colorado, Cochrane worked as secretary to the committee in 2012. A year later, in March 2013, the state police file shows, she began sending Bedke personal text messages that he initially wrote off as a wrong number.

Bedke brought the matter to the Attorney Generals Office after the contacts continued, with Cochrane apparently inventing an affair with the speaker, mailing him a letter and small gifts. In May 2013, police investigated Cochrane for possible blackmail and extortion against the speaker, interviewing her twice.

In an Aug. 12, 2013, memo to a supervisor, the investigating detective noted that Cochrane had admitted to sending the text, a gift, and letter to Bedke but meant no threat and had no proof of any interaction with him. The detective had been advised by the Ada County Prosecutors Office that the elements for a charge of theft by extortion are not satisfied, rendering the case un-prosecutable.

Sen. Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, the Senate majority leader, was acting as Bedkes lawyer. Bedke and Davis, according to the memo, were content with no prosecution based on the determination of the prosecutors. Davis wrote Cochrane a cease-and-desist letter.

If Cochrane continues to attempt contact with Speaker Bedke after receipt of the letter, we have a solid case of Stalking in the 2nd degree, the detective wrote to conclude the memo. However, an arrest or prosecution of Cochrane may lead to the same result of a media inquiry of the case.
There are a lot of things you can say about the Trump administrations recently announced deportation plan. You can say it is cruel, a policy that could only come from a president who lacks a heart. You can say it has more to do with President Donald Trumps fevered imagination than the reality of the immigrant presence in the U.S. You can say that its counterproductive, likely to uproot the very people this country should embrace  people who have struggled to get to the U.S. with the goal of working hard and making a better life for themselves and their children.

But if Trump is able to get the money from Congress to hire the 10,000 additional immigration cops and 5,000 more border agents he wants, if he gets local sheriffs departments to help the federal government round up undocumented immigrants, and if he does indeed begin to deport hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, of them, then I think youll be able to say something else about his policy: It will be economic suicide.

In 2014, the latest year for which numbers are available, there were 11.1 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. Thats down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007.

The numbers have shrunk primarily because Mexicans are no longer coming over the border in the numbers that they used to; as of 2014, there were 5.8 million undocumented Mexicans in the U.S., compared to 6.9 million in 2007.

There are a lot of reasons for the decline, not least the upsurge of good jobs in Mexico that have resulted from the North American Free Trade Agreement. But that decline has had a pronounced effect on any number of U.S. industries that rely on manual labor: farms, building construction and factories among them.

Were really near full employment, and are likely facing a tight labor market for the next decade or so, said Donald Grimes, a senior research specialist at the University of Michigan. The only place firms are going to be able to find workers will be migrants.

Frank Gasperini, the president and chief executive of the National Council of Agricultural Employers, told me that of the 1.5 million seasonal agricultural workers, somewhere between 50 and 80 percent are immigrants, depending on whos counting. With the labor market so tight, he said, many farms are as much as 50 percent short of the workforce they need. Farmers have adapted by planting fewer acres with only the most high-margin crops, like grapes and almonds. Less profitable crops, like olives, have been pared back. (The California drought has also influenced these decisions.)

Gasperini insists that farmers dont purposely hire undocumented workers, but cmon. They certainly know that many of their workers are in the U.S. illegally  and that a wholesale effort by the government to round them up and send them back would be devastating. Native-born citizens, Gasperini said, simply dont want to pick crops, so farmers would have to either plant fewer acres or pay significantly higher wages to lure legal immigrants. The result would be two-fold: higher prices at the grocery store and an increase in imported fruits and vegetables. Oh, and what country would most likely be exporting those fruits and vegetables to the U.S.? Mexico. Somehow, I dont think thats the result Trump has in mind.

The building trades, which also rely on immigrants, have much the same problem: not enough workers for too much work. As David Brooks pointed out in the New York Times on Friday, the shortage of workers means that projects arent being started, which means less home-buying, less furniture buying, less economic activity.

And then there are American factories. Trump says he wants to bring back manufacturing, said Dov Charney, But you cant manufacture without immigrant labor. Charney, I realize, is something of a flawed spokesman; in 2014, he was forced out of American Apparel, the clothing company he founded more than two decades earlier, the result of sexual harassment charges and a string of unprofitable quarters. But Charney was one of the few clothing manufacturers to locate his factories in the U.S., which he insists can be done profitably.

You are not going to have a Made in America manufacturing resurgence with native Americans, he said. Again, it is not the kind of work most American-born citizens want to do  even though Charney offered decent wages and benefits. It is the motivated immigrant you need, he added. I employed thousands of immigrants. The secret of American Apparel was that very few of our workers were Americans.

For years, Charney hired undocumented workers  but, as Nicole Gelinas noted recently in the New York Post, a federal inspection in 2009 forced him to fire 1,500 workers, making it even more difficult for him to find employees. The country doesnt support manufacturing, Gelinas concluded. Charney would agree. If Trump really hopes to revive manufacturers, kicking out immigrants is just about the dumbest policy he could devise.

There are other issues, too. In many parts of the country, the population is stagnating  except among immigrants. According to Grimes, between 2006 and 2015, U.S.-born citizens in the prime working ages of 24 to 54 declined to 102.3 million from 104.5 million. During that same nine years, immigrants in the same age group  both legal and illegal  rose to 25.3 million from 22.6 million. The economy is going to need every one of those workers.

Finally, if America gets a reputation for being hostile to immigrants  or if the Trump administration pares back the various routes to legal immigration  it might well scare off the highly educated, highly skilled immigrants who have, for instance, helped make Silicon Valley such a font of innovation. No more Sergey Brins. No more Andy Groves. No more Elon Musks.

The point is: America doesnt need fewer undocumented immigrants. It needs more of them. The economy depends on it.
Opponents of President Donald Trumps travel ban have one big advantage  the Trump White House. If not for the confusion, lack of staffing (nary a deputy, let alone an undersecretary or assistant secretary, has been named in national security-related departments), organizational disarray, policy differences or all of the above, the administration might have put together on its first try a legally enforceable executive order. It might by now even have come up with a new executive order, thanks to a road map provided by the 9th Circuit. However, the rollout has been pushed back to next week. Understand that if this is such a matter of urgent concern, the president would have had his advisers working around the clock on this (not transgender bathroom assignments, plans to deport non-criminal illegal immigrants or haggling with Mexican officials over a wall that Trump insists they pay for). In fact, since the point of the ban is to initiate a review of our vetting procedures, youd think that the Homeland Security Department would already have come up with its proposed extreme vetting recommendations. Meanwhile, the president and his staff continue to provide legal ammunition to opponents of the ban. On Tuesday, senior adviser Stephen Miller in a Fox News interview boldly declared, Fundamentally, youre still going to have the same basic policy outcome for the country, but youre going to be responsive to a lot of very technical issues that were brought up by the court. Just to remind the courts of the administrations arrogance, Miller proclaimed that there was nothing wrong with the first order. By saying that the policy effects of the new travel ban will be essentially the same as those of the travel ban that so many federal judges found constitutionally suspect, Miller is effectively inviting federal courts to suspend the new one as well, given that the religiously discriminatory history of the ban cant be ignored, much less erased, simply by purporting to start over again, Supreme Court litigator and professor Larry Tribe tells me. If, as I am told, the new ban is a more artfully disguised version of [an] anti-Muslim measure, without explicit preferences for religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries (i.e., for Christians) written into the very text of the ban, then some judges might be less inclined to issue a temporary restraining order, but most federal judges would be savvy enough to recognize that they are being treated to a masquerade. Sean Spicer at his press briefing on Wednesday was drawn into a discussion of the ban. I think [Trump has] made it very clear . . . from the beginning that this was a country-focused issue, a safety-focused issue, and thats why he issued it. I dont see anything other than that with reference to that. Any sentient person paying the least bit of attention to the issue knows that Trump introduced and continued to tout his plan as a Muslim ban. His Dec. 7, 2015, plan labeled DONALD J. TRUMP STATEMENT ON PREVENTING MUSLIM IMMIGRATION began as follows: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what is going on. (Why hasnt he figured out what is going on by now?) Is the court going to buy a thinly disguised but equally invidious order? Supreme Court precedent makes clear that the history of religious motive lying behind a government action cannot be ignored in deciding whether that action violates the Religion Clauses, Tribe says. For this reason, the Trump Muslim ban comments remain a very big deal indeed, and White House aides and others could certainly be deposed on matters bearing on POTUSs motives, especially because executive privilege clearly does not attach to conversations prior to the presidents assumption of power. He underscores, Statements made during the campaign, for instance, would certainly be discoverable and admissible as non-privileged. Maybe the new ban with the same basic policy outcome will be released next week; perhaps there will be another delay. (This certainly undercuts the argument this is an urgent matter of life and death.) Maybe the new ban will eliminate green-card holders, who the courts emphatically said have due process rights. It could knock out the ludicrous freeze on refugees (who are already vetted over months and years, in some cases) or rescind the indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees. (That, of course, would suggest that all of Trumps rhetoric about refugees posing a terrorist threat was rubbish, but we should not look for consistency.) Trump might even let in Iraqi translators and others who assisted U.S. troops or drop the preference for Christians in majority-Muslim countries. Whatever variations Trump makes, the arbitrary ban on immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries that have not been the source of violent terrorist attacks in the United States will still raise the policy questions  incurring the wrath of our allies (especially Iraq), giving jihadists confirmation that we are at war with Islam and spending time and resources on the wrong thing (rather than, say, radicalization within the United States or U.S. citizens returning from overseas). Whether it will survive legal challenge depends on how obviously deceptive the administration may be. Perhaps in the future Miller should be kept under wraps.
Are you upset with how your district has handled all these snow days? Are you concerned about what your children are learning in school? How about how your district is spending money or raising taxes?

Guess what?

You can influence all these things and more, from how much teachers earn to when the school year starts. All you have to do is run for your local school board.

Districts are desperate for passionate people who care about public schools. Sadly, sometimes there arent even enough candidates to fill seats. In the last odd-year school board election cycle, most Magic Valley districts didnt even have enough candidates to fill out the boards.

Thats unheard of in other areas of the country or even the statewhere school board elections are sometimes as hotly contested as city council or state legislature positions. Here in the Magic Valley, board elections are a bit more benign, perhaps because there are so few of the kinds of scandals or major local policy disagreements that often spur political action. But that doesnt mean the job of running school districts is any less important here. Boards are in charge of massive budgets  in Twin Falls, its more than $57 million  and the educations of thousands of children.

Youd think more people would want to play a role in shaping the future of those young minds. But consider this: Boards have come under increasing pressure over the past decade in Idaho as the state has shirked its responsibility to adequately fund public schools, instead placing the burden on local districts to constantly turn to taxpayers for bond after bond. Its exhausting. School board seats dont come with a salary and require gobs of time and research. So maybe its not surprising districts are struggling to fill board seats.

When George Washington was struggling to keep a Continental Army together with enlistments about to run out and not enough soldiers volunteering to stave off the British, Thomas Paine famously wrote: These are the times that try mens souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Those stirring words sparked thousands of new enlistments, and the revolutionaries won the war. We need some patriots to step up. We cant promise the love and thanks of man and woman, but nearly everyone who serves on a board will tell you the experience was worth it.

Every district in the Magic Valley has at least two board seats up for election in May. Thats 47 seats. The deadline to file for candidacy is March 17.

Running is easy. Just contact your county clerk or school district office.
May 29, 1933  February 21, 2017

TWIN FALLS  Papa Allen Eldredge went to heaven on February 21, 2017 surrounded by his loving family. He was born to Forest and Vivian Eldredge on May 29, 1933 in Carey, Idaho. He served in the Army during the Korean War. He met his first wife Gisela Noscke while stationed in Berlin Germany. They married March 1, 1955, and upon his honorable discharge moved to the United States and set up a home in Gannett, Idaho. Later they moved to Twin Falls, where he worked as a mechanic and machinist for Greens and Blue Lakes Trout Farms, his career lasted for over 45 years. He was also a talented woodworker and remodeler, there was nothing that he couldnt fix or build. He married Angelica Taylor on March 9, 1984 after the death of his first wife Gisela.
The Department of Justice will lodge criminal cases against Senator Leila De Lima for her alleged role in the narcotics trade and related anomalies inside the national penitentiary when she was Justice secretary under ex-President Benigno Aquino III.

As Justice secretary, De Lima had full control and supervision over the national penitentiary. It was during her watch as DoJ chief when the news media exposed that certain favored drug lords detained in the national penitentiary were given extraordinarily special treatment: Consisting of air-conditioned quarters and special toilets, and unlimited access to catered food, liquor, gambling paraphernalia, television sets, mobile telephones, and computers. The drug lords also had with them high-powered firearms, dangerous drugs, and large sums of money.

From all indications, therefore, a lucrative drug trade was taking place inside the national penitentiary.

Under existing rules, prison cells must be subjected to regular inspections to prevent prisoners from keeping drugs, firearms, electronic equipment, and contraband. Obviously, those inspections either never took place, or were sham inspections.

Owing to their bulk and the noise they create when in use, prison officials are bound to notice the presence of air-conditioners anywhere inside the penitentiary. Obviously, prison officials knew of the air-conditioning units used by the drug lords.

ADVERTISEMENT

Since television sets also make a lot of noise, and considering that catered food is delivered by outsiders, it is impossible for prison officials not to know that the drug lords in their custody had access to television sets and restaurant food.

In sum, the drug trade inside the national penitentiary and the favored treatment afforded to the drug lords detained there could not have taken place without the knowledge and consent of prison officials. The fact that the drug trade existed and the special treatment actually took place are, by themselves, anomalies plain and simple, with prison officials involved in the racket.

As Justice secretary, De Lima was expected to make periodic, and even surprise inspections of the prisons. If De Lima did her job properly, the drug trade and the special treatment of the drug lords would not have escaped her notice. The fact that these anomalies took place is already a clear indication that De Lima neglected her responsibilities as the DoJ chief. Its either that, or De Lima was well aware of, and was involved in, this scandalous irregularity.

According to Vitaliano Aguirre II, the incumbent Justice secretary, the DoJ has evidence linking De Lima to the drug trade in the national penitentiary, and that De Lima received large sums of money from the detained drug lords for allowing the drug trade to operate there, and for the special treatment the drug lords were getting during their detention.

The DoJ also linked De Limas erstwhile driver to the racket, alleging that De Lima got her bribe money from the drug lords through her driver.

When the news media revealed that De Lima had romantic ties with her driver, De Lima was, at first, equivocal on the matter. Later on, De Lima admitted the existence of the affair, but added that the romance was no more. Since then, De Lima had been repeatedly on the defensive.

De Lima denies any involvement in the drug trade inside the national penitentiary, and insists that President Rodrigo Duterte wants to discredit her through the DoJ. She also repeatedly brands the President as a butcher on account of the numerous deaths so far registered in the presidents all-out campaign against illegal drugs.

Despite her protestations against President Duterte, however, De Lima has not given any satisfactory explanation as to how and why the drug trade in the national penitentiary took place under her watch as Justice secretary. If she is innocent as she professes to be, then De Lima must go beyond mere denials.

De Lima has been capitalizing on the hollow tirades hurled by the Liberal Party led by the purported Vice President of the Philippines, Leni Robredo, in an obvious attempt to divert public attention away from her.

A desperate De Lima has also enlisted the help of womens groups and church leaders who have no love lost for President Duterte. Just last week, De Lima joined a march sponsored by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, a group that is staunchly opposed to the President.

De Limas formula is obvious by styling herself as Dutertes enemy, she expects the Presidents critics to be her strategic allies.

The discredited politicians remaining in the LP have also taken De Limas side. That move is obviously politically motivated, and solely designed to protect one of their own. Besides, considering the corruption and incompetence associated with the LP during the administration of ex-President Aquino III, these LP politicians supporting De Lima are hardly paragons of virtue.

Since De Lima appears to be resigned to the prospect of detention, she has resorted to another tactic she has labeled herself the first political prisoner of the Duterte administration.

What hogwash! A political prisoner is a person detained, usually in a military stockade, by a regime, for certain political offenses under the penal laws, such as treason, rebellion, sedition, and coup attempts. On the other hand, one who is incarcerated for non-political crimes like involvement in the dangerous drugs trade is an ordinary detention prisoner.

Evidently, De Lima has resorted to cheap theatrics by styling herself as a 21st century version of ex-Senator Benigno Ninoy Aquino Jr., who was detained at Fort Bonifacio at the height of the authoritarian government under President Ferdinand Marcos.

De Lima ought to be told that she is not even a close approximation of Ninoy Aquino. Ninoy was incarcerated for his opposition to martial law. Unlike Ninoy, however, De Lima will be facing criminal raps for her alleged role in a lucrative drug trade which took place under her own nose.

Moreover, and unlike De Lima, Ninoy did not have any romantic affair with his driver.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose, 91 years old, has lived through 15 Philippines presidents, from Manuel Quezon to Rodrigo Duterte.





His novels, which have been translated into more than 20 languages, are about class struggles in the country.

Hes never met Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, but believes the former Davao mayor can do great things for the country.

We visited him recently at his bookshop, Solidaridad in Ermita, Manila, and asked him what he thinks about the current state of politics in his country.

What makes Rodrigo Duterte special?

If you study our politics very well and our history, all these years government has been manipulated by wealthy Filipinos, see. And remember this is the first politician that does not have the open support of the oligarchy. If you were present at that State of the Nation Address, remember he pointed to all those politicians, I owe nothing from you. So keep that in mind, this is the first non-oligarchic president.

Are these exciting times for the Philippines?

I believe this is the beginning of a Philippine revolution. Now, you go back into our history and much of our problems are due to the fact that we have been colonized. The colonization, first by the Spanish, and then the Americans, and then the Japanese. And now we are colonized by our own elite. All these auguries were already evident in 1896.

Is it right for Duterte to make his war against drugs a priority?

Its not so much prioritizing. It looks as if he has prioritized it but if you look carefully at what is happening. First, he wants to establish peace conditions. The Communist rebellion has become irrelevant. The problem in the South is more dangerous. So that is why immediately upon assuming power, he initiated peace negotiations with both groups. Because you cannot develop without peace in the country, and that peace has also been disturbed so much by criminality, and much of that induced by drugs.

When will this revolution be over?

This is not going to be done in two or three years. Just look back. The Vietnamese revolution took how many years? The Chinese revolution started in the 1920s, you see. The French revolution, maybe a shorter period. But almost all of them take years, maybe one generation.

So you think Duterte shouldnt stop his war against drugs?

He should not stop. What should be done is see to it that this so-called collateral damage is diminished. Yan ang malungkot eh, if something happens to him, he dies or assassinated, then you put the revolution on hold. At naumpisahan na, sayang, ituloy na yan.

Whats your advice to his non-supporters?
Egyptian authorities announced Thursday the murder of a Coptic Christian in his house, in North Sinai, putting the number of victims this week at 3, reports say.

The North Sinai is the fertile terrain of the Islamist State group (IS) in Egypt. The jihadists have been avenging the overthrow of Islamist elected President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by current President al-sisi.

The Thursday victim, a 40-year old man, was shot in the neck, in his house in the capital of the province, El-Arish, security officials and the medics said. The militants also torched the house, officials added.

Two other Coptic Christians, a father and son, were found dead on Wednesday behind a school in the provincial capital.

The Christian community, a minority religious group, has been a target for the terrorist group. The group reportedly said on Sunday it would increase attacks against the community.

In December, Egypt mourned the dead of 12 Coptic Christians in Cairo after an IS subside bomber blew himself in a church.
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.
King Mohammed VI arrived Thursday in Conakry, fourth leg of a new African tour started early February, immediately after Moroccos triumphant return to the African Union.

The royal visit to Guinea, after those to South Sudan, Ghana and Zambia, stands as a reunion between two Heads of State, who share love for Africa and hope to see their continent unleash all its potential to ensure development and wellbeing to African citizens.

The in-depth talks between King Mohammed VI and President Alpha Conde would surely touch on the development of Africa and on the challenges facing up the continent at the political, economic, social, and security levels, especially that the Guinean President is since January the new chairperson of the African Union. In this capacity, he represents Africa and defends its interests in various international forums such as Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) The Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation (FOCAC), as well as at the G8 and G20 summits.

Therefore exchanges between the Moroccan and Guinean leaders would mostly focus on African issues.

At the bilateral scale, besides reviewing the centuries-old cultural and spiritual ties binding the two countries, the royal visit to Conakry will be an opportunity to assess the stages covered by economic cooperation since the Kings last visit to Guinea in March 2014.

During this visit, a package of agreements were signed and a number of projects were launched, such as the industrial complex Les Moulins dAfrique.
Police in Senegal has arrested two suspected foreign jihadists in the capital city Dakar, including one who had been in contact with the mastermind of an attack on an Ivory Coast hotel a year ago.

Police spokesman Henry Cisse was quoted by Reuters saying an operation in Dakar on Thursday had led to the arrest of Ould Sidy Mohamed Dina, a Malian, as he was trying to leave his home. He had been in Senegal for a month, he said.

Another suspected jihadist, whom he did not name, from Mauritania, had been arrested trying to board a bus to Gambia.

Following attacks on foreigners in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali last year, Security analysts say Senegalese capital Dakar is an obvious next hit because of its popularity with expats.

Senegal is a beacon of peace and stability in West Africa and a strong economy in the region but it also shares a border with Mali, where AQIM is principally based in the Sahara Desert.

Experts worry that despite international assistance, particularly from France and the United States, regional cooperation and intelligence gathering are too weak to catch the spread of militancy or halt attack plans.

President Macky Sall has warned that extremism has no place in his nation, where Muslims and Christians coexist peacefully.
Jihadists have ambushed a Nigers army patrol on Thursday, killing 15 soldiers and wounding 19, the West African nations Defense Ministry said.

The attack occurred in North of Tilwa, an area near the border with Mali where violent Islamists have been seeking to expand their reach.

A search operation is underway to neutralize the terrorists, the ministry statement said.

Clean-up operations have been launched in the sector to neutralize the fleeing terrorists, said Colonel Toure Seydou Abdoula Aziz, the army spokesperson, without divulging the number of attackers or their affiliation.

Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou extended his sincere condolences to the families of victims in a tweet.

Nigeria based Boko Haram had launched an offensive against Nigerien military positions last year, killing dozens Nigerien soldiers and several civilians.

Militants and allied criminal gangs have long exploited the northern region desert border between Mali and Niger to launch attacks, even after a French-led military intervention pushed insurgent groups back from northern Mali in 2013.
South Africas President Jacob Zuma has condemned acts of violence between south-Africans and non-nationals, his office said on Friday.

At least 20 stores in Pretoria owned by foreigners were looted this week in the Rainbow nation.

Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively. It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers. The threats and counter-threats on social media must stop, Zuma said in a statement.

South African police on Friday morning fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of anti-immigrant protesters in the countrys administrative capital of Pretoria.

According to AFP, riot police, deployed en masse near the ministry, were forced to disperse the crowd that approached them with large reinforcements of rubber bullets.

The violence has sparked a diplomatic crisis with Nigeria, whose nationals are the main target of attacks

Abuja on Thursday summoned the South African ambassador to express deep concern and demand measures to protect the lives and property of aliens.

In Nigeria, protesters on Thursday demanded that South African citizens and businesses leave the country, pulling down a giant billboard of South African telecommunications company MTN.
Error 404 Not Found

You may have mis-typed the URL. Or the page has been removed. Actually, there is nothing to see here...

Click on the links below to do something, Thanks!

Take Me our of here
EBRD talks on financing TAP still ongoing

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.The TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union.The TAP project envisages the transportation of gas from Stage 2 of the 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.The TAP shareholders are BP (20 percent), the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).The 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.
Rustavi 2 suspended broadcasting before rally

By Messenger Staff

Before a planned rally on Sunday, Georgias TV channel Rustavi 2 went black in protest prior to the Supreme Courts final verdict on the company's ownership issue.The channel management and journalists stressed that the existence of Rustavi 2 as of the importance for Georgia's democracy.They claimed the closure of the channel was in the governments interests which was irritated by the channels critical attitude and broadcasting the topics the authorities disliked.The channel announced the temporary closure in protest on February 17, and renewed broadcasting on Sunday afternoon.Kibar Khalvashi, who was a co-owner of Rustavi 2 from 2004 to 2006, filed a lawsuit in August 2015 to reclaim his shares in Rustavi 2, saying he was illegally deprived of his company shares under the previous United National Movement (UNM) government, which ruled in Georgia between 2003-2012.Tbilisi City Court ruled against Rustavi 2's current owners in 2016, and the decision was upheld by the Appeals Court.If the Supreme Court delivers the same verdict, Khalvashi will take over the channel.Rustavi 2 and its supporters claim Khalvashi is backed by the government, which wants to silence the critical television channel.Rustavi 2, the critical channel in Georgia, played an important role during the Rose Revolution in 2003, which ended Eduard Shevardnadzes leadership.Between 2004 and 2012, the ownership of Rustavi 2 changed approximately 20 times, often in controversial deals that had a political flavour, involving people with close links to [then] President Mikheil Saakashvili and to officials of the UNM-led government, earlier research of Transparency International Georgia said.Khalvashi himself was affiliated with ex-UNM key figure Irakli Okruashvili, who later went into opposition, a move which caused a backlash from the UNM authorities.It is also interesting how Khalvashi managed to pay millions for the channel.Of course it is up to the court to make a final decision. However, now that the Georgian Dream party has an absolute majority in Parliament and Georgia has no strong opposition parties, the existence of a critical media is important.Many may like or dislike the channel, but it is one of the leading media outlets in Georgia, and it is important that the broadcaster retain the same editorial policy it has now.The rally announced by Rustavi 2 gathered about several thousand crowd in front of the Parliament building in Tbilisi. The supporters of Rustavi 2 aired criticism towards Georgia's ruling force and tried to blackmail the Government threatening by increase the protest charge in case if the Court decides to transfer the TV channel to its real owner Kibar khalvashi.
The News in Brief

Wizz Air launches low-cost flights between London and Kutaisi



Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air is launching cheap flights between London Luton and Kutaisi, a city in the western Imereti region of Georgia.



United Airports Georgia announced the direct flights Kutaisi-London-Kutaisi two times per week, on Thursdays and Sundays, starting from June 18.



The cost of a one-way ticket will start from 34.99 (105.99 GEL).



 We take into the account our interest in the region and we will offer Georgian customers more interesting and affordable opportunities, Sorina Ratz, Communications Manager in Wizz Air said.



Wizz Air opened its first base in the Caucasus at Kutaisi International Airport in September 2016.



On Thursday, Wizz Air announced that it is opening its first UK base at Luton airport, from where it served five million passengers last year.

(DF watch)







Man to Serve Conditional Sentence Over Alleged Links to MP Car Blast



Tbilisi City Court found a man guilty over alleged links to the car explosion on October 4 targeting MP Givi Targamadze, one of the leaders of the United National Movement (UNM), just days before Georgias parliamentary elections.



On February 9, the Prosecutors Office of Georgia released a statement saying that Boris Chagunava, who was arrested soon after the accident, has been found guilty on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.



According to the Prosecutors Office, Boris Chagunava pleaded guilty and admitted that Darcho Khechuashvili, Chagunavas brother-in-law - who was charged in absentia for attempted murder - stored firearms, ammunition, explosive substances and equipment in his apartment.



Tbilisi City Court sentenced Chagunava to four years in prison, but changed it to six years conditional sentence.



The Prosecutors Office said that it does not agree with a non-custodial punishment and will challenge the ruling in the Court of Appeals.



MP Giorgi Kandelaki of the Movement for Liberty  European Georgia - the party Targamadze now belongs to - said at a special press briefing on February 14 that the release of Boris Chagunava is shocking, and that it raises questions about the motives of the Prosecutors Office and the Government in general.



The Prosecutors Office finalized the case hastily; Chagunava was given a conditional sentence and released from jail, [despite the fact that] he kept a great amount of explosives in his garage, including trinitrotoluene and hexogen, the particles of which were found in Targamadzes car, Kandelaki stated.



Giorgi Kandelaki added that even though Targamadze expressed doubts concerning the involvement of some senior officials in the State Security Service, these persons have not been interrogated, which, in the words of Kandelaki adds to the doubts.



He also added that the case had not been transferred to court, despite the pledges of the Prosecutors Office that the court proceedings on Darcho Khechuashvili would begin in the first half of January.

(civil.ge)







OSCE Permanent Council rules referendum in breakaway Tskhinvali illegal



The OSCE Permanent Council disapproves of the decision of de facto Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) authorities to hold a referendum in Georgias breakaway region.



Yesterday, the Georgian delegation to the OSCE headed by Ambassador Konstantine Zaldastanishvili initiated a discussion over the issue with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) permanent council.



The delegation believes conducting a referendum on the Russian-occupied territories is "yet another act of aggression from Russia against Georgias peaceful policy that relies on the restoration of trust between the people split by the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL).



The delegation further urged the Russian Federation to refrain from provocative actions, to follow the August 12, 2008 Ceasefire Agreement and withdraw its troops from Georgian territory.



Since the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008, the Geneva International Discussions have been the only format of dialogue between Georgia and Russia.



The delegation also called upon the international community to take relevant measures against Russias "illegal steps and avoid escalation of situation in the Tskhinvali region, which if not properly monitored may become "yet another precedent of annexation in Europe.



Back in 2015, the de facto leader of Georgias breakaway region Leonid Tibilov proposed to rename the historic Georgian province after a similarly-named province in the Russian Federation.



Tibilov said South Ossetia should be called South Ossetia-Alania, in the style of North Ossetia-Alania, a part of the Russian Federation.



Earlier this February, he once again voiced his proposal saying the breakaway region will hold a plebiscite on this matter on the same day that it will hold its unrecognized presidential elections on April 9.



Composed of delegates of the participating States, "the Permanent Council is the principal decision-making body for regular political consultations and for governing the day-to-day operational work of the OSCE between the meetings of the Ministerial Council.

(Agenda.ge)




THE TRUE COST OF ALL THAT 'CHEAP' LAOR THAT DESTROYED AMERICA THE BIG SECRET DEMOCRATS DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW: Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute has testified before a Congressional committee that in 2004, 95% of all outstanding warrants for murder in Los Angeles were for illegal aliens; in 2000, 23% of all Los Angeles County jail inmates were illegal aliens and that in 1995, 60% of Los Angeless largest street gang, the 18th Street gang, were illegal aliens.
@ByKristenMClark

Its been no big secret that Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum has had his eye on the Florida governors mansion, but now the Democrat is acknowledging it out loud.

Speaking Friday at the Central Florida Urban Leagues Cornerstone Awards in Orlando, Gillum announced officially that he is seriously considering running for governor.

The announcement is not unlike recent ones by those of fellow Democrats, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and former Tallahassee Congresswoman Gwen Graham  who also have all-but-announced formal campaigns for 2018.

I feel strongly that the direction our state government has gone these last 20 years is out of step with the majority of Floridians, from the environment to wages, to education and job creation, Gillum said, according to prepared remarks. I believe this is a moment that requires not just people who quietly agree on these issues, but people who are going to be champions, who will get out and lead on them.

The 37-year-old Gillum is viewed as a rising star in the Democratic Party. The affable African American politician was among the featured speakers at last summers Democratic National Convention and he has been a standout in Tallahassee city politics for 14 years.

However, Gillum faces some big obstacles if he does embark on a statewide campaign.

Full story here.

Photo credit: CateComm
@amysherman1

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz vowed to fight back against President Donald Trumps immigration orders and criticized Miami-Dade county commissioners for caving to Trump on sanctuary cities.

Wasserman Schultz, a Weston Democrat, met with city and county officials in Broward on Thursday morning after she held a closed-door briefing with federal immigration officials from multiple agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Wasserman Schultz sought the ICE briefing to gain more clarity about the administrations immigration plans, but said she walked away with scant information.

In my 24 years in office I have rarely had a more evasive briefing than the one I just had, she told local government officials who met with her at a city of Sunrise government building.

Keep reading here.

Photo by the Sun Sentinel. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, left, discusses President Donald Trump's new immigraiton policy with Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis, Sunrise Commissioner Joey Scuotto and Broward County Commissioner Nan Rich. Anthony Man Sun Sentinel


via @harrisalexc

The mayor of South Miami and the former mayor of Pinecrest hoisted a dark suit on a hanger into the air between them, and the crowd of nearly 300 people jeered and laughed.

Someone threw a wad of cash on the table, nearly hitting the paper name tag identifying the invisible man as Senator Marco Rubio. Philip Stoddard, of South Miami, stuffed the bills in a suit pocket and held a water bottle near the lapels.

A man from the overflow crowd outside shouted from the open doors: Its an empty chair. We deserve better than an empty chair.

He, and hundreds of other activists, gathered in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami in Glenvar Heights Thursday night for a town hall meeting without their elected official.

Congress is in recess this week, so some representatives  including Florida Reps. Gus Bilirakis and Dennis Ross  use the break to hold town hall meetings. Rubios office said he was in Europe on senate business this week and wouldnt be attending any, but activists found the senator twice on Thursday and posted videos of the confrontation online.

More here.
For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts Page
HELENA  A bill that would have ended the use of solitary confinement for those with mental illness in the state prison died in a legislative committee Thursday morning after emotional testimony from family members of those who were confined.

Senate Bill 257 was carried by Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings. It would have phased out the use of solitary confinement for the mentally ill by next year. It would also allow for the use of solitary confinement under emergency circumstances with a 10-day cap.

In addition, it would require the Department of Corrections to report on the use of solitary confinement with juveniles and develop recommendations to eliminate the use of confinement with those under 18. The bill died on a 5-6 vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

John Nolte told the committee his stepson has been held in isolation at the state prison in Deer Lodge and it has caused his mental condition to decline and his stepson became delusional.

Hes the perfect example of the damage and harm caused by solitary, Nolte said. Beth Brenneman , who is an attorney for Disability Rights Montana, told the committee Nolte's stepson had ripped his wrists open with his teeth while in isolation.

Dale Brandemihl, whose son died when he was held in solitary confinement at the state prison in 2014, also gave emotional testimony, telling the committee his son's mental health declined severely.

The only opposition to the bill came from the Department of Corrections, which told the committee that while would like to reduce its use of isolation cells, it does not have the resources.

The department understands and appreciates the concerns expressed, but this bill is not the solution, Adrianne Slaughter, government relations director with the department, said.

Slaughter said the bill would prohibit the ability of the prison to put people into solitary confinement when its for their own protection or they require close observation.

She said staff works to house prisoners in the least restrictive manner and that prisoners earn their way into locked housing through behavior and can earn their way out.

The Department of Corrections is empowered by the Legislature to protect the citizens of Montana, Slaughter said. You ask us to isolate individuals from their communities and there are times when that segregation must proceed behind bars to protect a secondary community.

The department would have had to add staff at the state prison in Deer Lodge, the womens prison in Billings and two youth facilities, as well as make structural changes to some facilities, Slaughter said, if the bill had passed. It came to the committee without a fiscal note.

More than 400 of the jails 1,468 residents are on medication for mental health conditions, Slaughter said. Most are housed in the general population.

Sen. Margie MacDonald, D-Billings, who voted against the bill, said she supported the concept but couldnt move it forward without money behind the proposal.

She called solitary confinement a terrible injustice but said it wasn't fair to ask the department to change its approach without giving it money to do so.

We should be prepared to bring forward additional funds to do what we all know is right in the light of human rights and our humanity, MacDonald said. How can we ask the department to step up to the plate when we dont step up to the plate with a checkbook?
A 23-year-old man who attacked and strangled his pregnant wife in a Missoula hotel room in August 2015 was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in the Montana State Prison, with half of that time suspended.

Missoula County District Court Judge John Larson handed down the judgment on Casey Alan Hansen, who pleaded no contest to nine charges in October, including felonies for aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

This is an extremely serious offense, strangulation, the judge said.

A court affidavit said in August 2015, Hansen went to the Americas Best Value Inn where he and his wife were staying and the couple began to argue. Hansen came up behind her, grabbed her around the neck and began to strangle her.

When his wife attempted to take her 2-year-old son and leave, Hansen locked the door and pulled out a knife. After he was arrested and served with a no-contact order, he called his wife five times from jail.

In court Thursday, senior deputy county attorney Jordan Kilby requested the prison sentence.

Its important for the court to impose a sentence that addresses the seriousness of strangulation, she said.

Hansens attorney Minot Maser asked Larson to impose a deferred or fully suspended sentence instead, saying his client has no prior felony convictions.

Going to (prison) is an extreme recommendation, he said.

***

On Thursday, Larson also sentenced Curtis Alexander Foster, 38, to prison for a May 2015 assault in which he broke his girlfriends jaw.

Foster was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and wont be eligible for parole for 10 years. Larson said the sentence was the only option thats feasible.

In May 2015, police were called to an oral surgery office in Missoula after a woman, whose jaw had to be wired shut, told the doctor she sustained the injury when Foster attacked her.

The woman told police the incident happened three days earlier when Foster became angry, knocked her phone out of her hand, and punched her repeatedly in the face, breaking her jaw before threatening her with a knife.

In January, Foster pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault. While there was no plea agreement in the case, prosecutors dismissed a second felony charge for assault with a weapon.

In court on Thursday, senior deputy county attorney Brian Lowney requested the sentence, saying Foster has been in and out of prison since the late 1990s and has six prior felony convictions.

He has shown a continued disrespect, a continued unwillingness, to engage positively with the criminal justice system, Lowney said.

In his own statement to the court, Foster apologized to the woman for the attack, adding there was No one left to blame but me.

Maser, who was representing Foster, asked for a lighter prison sentence of 10 years with five suspended. Foster told Larson he has been sent to prison four other times and it hasnt helped him.

Did it fix me? Am I rehabilitated? No, he said.

Larson ordered that Foster must also pay $25,000 in restitution in the case.
The Montana Green Party will hold a statewide conference in the University of Montana's Payne Family Native American Center on Saturday, March 4.

The conference will begin at 9 a.m. with informative workshops, in which representatives from local organizations will discuss coalitions to create change in Montana communities.

After a provided lunch, party speakers will discuss their visions for the future of the Montana Green Party, with a special live video address and Q-and-A session with the 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. Committee appointments, a platform discussion and candidate endorsements will round out the afternoon.

Volunteers are requested for ride-sharing, and live-stream participation is being organized for individuals from rural locations who cannot attend in person. For more information, to RSVP and to view the event itinerary, visit mtgreenparty.org.
Recently I heard several politicians (OK, they were all Republican) discussing the "death panels" in the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or commonly called Obamacare).

Since I am not too many years away from the 74 years of age they mentioned as the limit for medical care without appearing before the panel, I have a few questions:

How often does the panel meet? Do I need an appointment? If so, how far in advance must I schedule? Sometimes it is hard to know when youll need care (those pesky medical emergencies!).

Since Missoula is a good-sized town, I presume we have our own panel. Where does it meet? It must be very secretive, since I have never heard of a meeting.

Who is on this panel? Any real doctors, or just Washington bureaucrats? If I am denied care, should I have my last will ready to go? Do I get an opportunity for a last pint of Cold Smoke? These things are important to know!

And since only Republicans seem to know about the panel, can I bribe them with a donation to the party headquarters to ensure the panel will look favorably on my case? With all the discussions about health care, I felt it was time to get some factual information to guide my medical care.

Roger Holtom,

Missoula
During the 1950s, I grew up in a small town that was the location of The Home for the Mentally Retarded. Parents who had mentally and sometimes physically handicapped children were encouraged to place these children in institutions. There was considerable shame in having a mentally handicapped child then and little was available for them in the public schools, so many parents did do this.

Thankfully, things have changed. My second child is mentally handicapped and Im so grateful that shes received a good education, acceptance in the community and various opportunities that those children of the past were denied. Shes an adult now and goes to work every day at Opportunity Resources. Shes valued and happy there.

Its irresponsible and probably illegal that a Department of Education website explaining the rights of students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has vanished. Vanished? How does that happen? It was removed and this is a tragedy. Could it be the first step towards repealing it?

The Declaration of Independence states all men are created equal and lists life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as unalienable rights. Unalienable. Nowhere does the IQ of an individual enter into this. Keeping a handicapped child at home with their family, providing suitable education and ensuring that appropriate help is available is at the core of this act.

If the current administration thinks that by removing this website, people will forget about the issue, they are sadly mistaken. Never underestimate how ferocious we parents can be when it comes to protecting our children.

Jimmy Carter said, The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens. America should be the leader in this area. I am worried that we are falling far, far behind.

Karen Somerset,

Missoula
HELENA  Montana lawmakers reopened debate last week on whether doctors should face homicide charges for helping terminally ill patients die.

While a 2009 state Supreme Court decision protects doctors from prosecution, opponents of physician-assisted suicide again sought help from the Legislature to ban the practice.

"By definition, homicide is the act of one person being an accessory to or the direct cause of the death of another person. Therefore, helping another person commit suicide is by definition homicide," said Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Missoula.

Tschida told the House Judiciary Committee that allowing doctors help people die sends a mixed signal in a state with one of the nation's highest suicide rates.

Opponents said making the bill law would prolong the pain of terminally ill people who want to end their lives.

Roberta King told lawmakers about her terminally ill father, Robert Baxter, who died from cancer in 2008, a year before Montana's highest court issued its ruling. "His pain and suffering, and his wasting away, were unbearable to him," she said.

The summer before he died, Baxter considered using a gun to kill himself, she said.

"If you pass this bill, that's the kind of choice you are leaving people to make," King said.

David King, a Belgrade physician, said making the bill state law would put physicians "at risk of the death penalty for aiding someone in the most private experience that we can knowingly go through."

Supporters said doctors must preserve life and that their role is not to help people die.

"If assisted suicide is legal, some people's lives will be ended without their consent, through mistakes and abuse," said Bradley Williams, who formed Montanans Against Assisted Suicide. "No safeguards have ever been enacted or even proposed that can prevent this outcome, which can never be undone."
HELENA  The Republican-led Montana Senate endorsed a bill Friday to allow counties to conduct this year's expected election for U.S. House by mail, despite objections by the state GOP chairman that it would give the Democratic candidate the advantage.

The Senate voted 35-15 for the measure, which must pass a final vote before it is sent to the state House for consideration by its members.

The election will be held to choose a replacement for U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, tapped as secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior by President Donald Trump. Zinke must be confirmed before Gov. Steve Bullock can call for a special election, which will then be held within 100 days.

The mail-in ballot bill's sponsor, Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, said county clerks from across the state have requested the option of holding a mail-only election. He estimates it would save the counties a combined $500,000 or more to conduct the election without opening polling places.

"This bill is the fiscally responsible thing to do at this time, it's the fiscally conservative thing to do," Fitzpatrick said.

Earlier this week, state Rep. Jeff Essmann, who is the Montana state Republican Chairman, sent out an "emergency report" detailing his opposition.

"All mail ballots give the Democrats an inherent advantage in close elections due to their ability to organize large numbers of unpaid college students and members of public employee unions to gather ballots by going door to door," Essmann wrote.

Opponents of the measure in the Senate did not directly address Essmann's argument during the debate. Instead, they cited the potential for voter fraud and the need to accommodate people who want to vote at a polling place.

"This is a very big concern with simply rushing into a mail ballot, in my opinion," said Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville.

Fitzpatrick dismissed the concerns about voter fraud and also Essmann's concerns about Democrats having an advantage in a mail-only election, saying that a majority of voters already mail in absentee ballots during elections.

"Close to 65 percent of people in the last election voted by mail, and Republicans never did better," he said.

A failed amendment would have added language to the bill ensuring that satellite election offices on Native American reservations will be open for the special election.

Satellite offices on three reservations were ordered as part of a settlement of a federal lawsuit alleging Native American voters were being suppressed by having to drive long distances to election offices, and satellite offices have opened on other reservations since then.

Fitzpatrick voted for the amendment, but he said counties involved in the legal settlement will have to open the satellite offices for the special election, regardless of whether those counties decide to hold mail-only elections.

Thomas opposed the addition, saying, "I don't think we need to coddle anybody in Montana."

Democratic lawmakers said the amendment would allow more Native Americans to vote in the upcoming election, and that they hope it will be added when the bill is in the House.
HELENA  Montana lawmakers reopened debate Friday on whether doctors should face homicide charges for helping terminally ill patients die.

While a 2009 state Supreme Court decision protects doctors from prosecution, opponents of physician-assisted suicide again sought help from the Legislature to ban the practice.

"By definition, homicide is the act of one person being an accessory to or the direct cause of the death of another person. Therefore, helping another person commit suicide is by definition homicide," said Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Missoula.

Tschida told the House Judiciary Committee that allowing doctors help people die sends a mixed signal in a state with one of the nation's highest suicide rates.

Opponents said making the bill law would prolong the pain of terminally ill people who want to end their lives.

Roberta King told lawmakers about her terminally ill father, Robert Baxter, who died from cancer in 2008, a year before Montana's highest court issued its ruling. "His pain and suffering, and his wasting away, were unbearable to him," she said.

The summer before he died, Baxter considered using a gun to kill himself, she said.

"If you pass this bill, that's the kind of choice you are leaving people to make," King said.

David King, a Belgrade physician, said making the bill state law would put physicians "at risk of the death penalty for aiding someone in the most private experience that we can knowingly go through."

Supporters said doctors must preserve life and that their role is not to help people die.

"If assisted suicide is legal, some people's lives will be ended without their consent, through mistakes and abuse," said Bradley Williams, who formed Montanans Against Assisted Suicide. "No safeguards have ever been enacted or even proposed that can prevent this outcome, which can never be undone."
HELENA  The Republican-led Montana Senate passed a bill Friday to allow counties to conduct this year's expected election for U.S. House by mail, despite objections by the state GOP chairman that it would give the Democratic candidate the advantage.

The Senate voted 37-13 for the measure, which now goes to the state House for consideration by its members.

The election will be held to choose a replacement for U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, tapped as secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior by President Donald Trump. Zinke must be confirmed before Gov. Steve Bullock can call for a special election, which will then be held within 100 days.

The mail-in ballot bill's sponsor, Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, said county clerks from across the state have requested the option of holding a mail-only election. He estimates it would save the counties a combined $500,000 or more to conduct the election without opening polling places.

"This bill is the fiscally responsible thing to do at this time, it's the fiscally conservative thing to do," Fitzpatrick said.

Earlier this week, state Rep. Jeff Essmann, who is the Montana state Republican Chairman, sent out an "emergency report" detailing his opposition.

"All mail ballots give the Democrats an inherent advantage in close elections due to their ability to organize large numbers of unpaid college students and members of public employee unions to gather ballots by going door to door," Essmann wrote.

Opponents of the measure in the Senate did not directly address Essmann's argument during the debate. Instead, they cited the potential for voter fraud and the need to accommodate people who want to vote at a polling place.

"This is a very big concern with simply rushing into a mail ballot, in my opinion," said Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville.

Fitzpatrick dismissed the concerns about voter fraud and also Essmann's concerns about Democrats having an advantage in a mail-only election, saying that a majority of voters already mail in absentee ballots during elections.

"Close to 65 percent of people in the last election voted by mail, and Republicans never did better," he said.

A failed amendment would have added language to the bill ensuring that satellite election offices on Native American reservations will be open for the special election.

Satellite offices on three reservations were ordered as part of a settlement of a federal lawsuit alleging Native American voters were being suppressed by having to drive long distances to election offices, and satellite offices have opened on other reservations since then.

Fitzpatrick voted for the amendment, but he said counties involved in the legal settlement will have to open the satellite offices for the special election, regardless of whether those counties decide to hold mail-only elections.

Thomas opposed the addition, saying, "I don't think we need to coddle anybody in Montana."

Democratic lawmakers said the amendment would allow more Native Americans to vote in the upcoming election, and that they hope it will be added when the bill is in the House.
BILLINGS  When the Trump administration on Wednesday flushed Obama-era education guidance that said schools should let transgender students use the bathroom of their choice, it didn't really change much in Montana.

The initial guidance, which is not legally binding, was quickly challenged in court by states including Montana, where the suit pitted Attorney General Tim Fox against then Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau. The guidance was put on hold by a federal judge in August, and the Trump retraction renders the suit moot.

That leaves individual Montana school districts in charge of setting their own policies  which new Superintendent Elsie Arntzen doesn't plan to tinker with.

"The superintendent supports local control and allowing Montana school districts to decide what policies work best for their communities and students," said Office of Public Instruction spokesman Dylan Klapmeier in an emailed statement.

Even with the guidance in place, it was ultimately up to school districts to formulate their own Title IX policies, a previous OPI spokeswoman said.

A Trump spokesman said the issue should be decided at the state level, and newly appointed Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos echoed the sentiment.

"This is an issue best solved at the state and local level," she said in a statement released Wednesday. "Schools, communities, and families can find  and in many cases have found  solutions that protect all students."

At the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, she called the Obama guidance a "one-size-fits-all, top-down approach."

While the Obama announcement sparked national criticism from conservative groups, there was little public outcry in Montana. Neither School District 2 nor Montana State University Billings said they heard concerns from parents.

There's no district-by-district accounting of Montana policies on gender and bathroom use, but officials in Billings, the state's largest district, said the issue is handled on a case-by-case basis, according to Superintendent Terry Bouck.
WASHINGTON  Thomas Gibbons-Neff, a fourth-generation military man, deployed twice to Afghanistan. The second time, as a 22-year-old Marine corporal in 2010, he led an eight-man infantry team into combat. Two of his men were wounded by enemy sniper fire, and one of his best buddies later died in combat.

Now President Trump says Thomas is an enemy of the American people.

Thomas, a Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Post, was so labeled, along with everybody else in the media, by the commander in chief on Friday. "The FAKE NEWS media," Trump tweeted, "is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!"

I asked my colleague, who went to Georgetown University on the G.I. Bill before joining The Post two years ago, how it felt to be called an enemy of the country he volunteered to serve in combat.

"It's alarming, like a bunch of other things these days," Thomas said. "It also feels like bait."

And Thomas isn't taking the bait. Like the rest of us, he's keeping his head down and doing his job.

Trump's Stalinist labeling of the media is his latest attempt to delegitimize the structures of civil society, following similar attacks on the courts and the intelligence community. We in the press are an easy mark because we're already held in low esteem. In this case, the charge, using the universal language of autocrats, probably shouldn't be dignified with a refutation: To be forced to make the case that a free press isn't the enemy of a free people is to fight on Trump's terms.

Instead, allow me to introduce you to the backgrounds of some of my colleagues who Trump would have you believe are enemies of the American people. I would argue that they are the American people. Yes, they went to college, they live in the Washington area, and they earn good wages; that earns them the "elite" epithet. But they hail from all corners of this country, from farms and small towns, the children of immigrants and factory workers, preachers and teachers.

Lori Montgomery, The Post's deputy national editor, grew up on her family's dairy farm in western Pennsylvania. Lori, who spent part of her youth stacking hay and shooting a .22, went to Northwestern to study journalism; her brother still runs the farm.

Jose DelReal, one of The Post's political reporters, was born in Merced, California, to immigrants from Mexico who were both farmhands. The family moved to Anchorage, where Jose's mother worked as a maid and his father as a cook and dishwasher. Jobs and scholarships got Jose through Harvard University.

Dan Balz, The Post's chief correspondent, comes from Freeport, Illinois, one of the cities of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. His father sold batteries. Dan went to the University of Illinois and served for three years in the military.

Political reporter Jenna Johnson grew up in Nebraska, where she attended the University of Nebraska; she got an internship with The Post and has never left. Her parents run the weekly newspaper in the small town in eastern Iowa where they now live. Steven Ginsberg, The Post's political editor, grew up in Onancock, a town of 1,200 on the rural Eastern Shore of Virginia. For the first four years of his life there, the family home had no heat.

The mother of Supreme Court reporter Bob Barnes died when he was 10, and his dad, a World War II vet who didn't finish high school, worked as a telephone lineman, climbing poles and installing phones. Bob went from Pensacola, Florida, public schools to the University of Florida -- where another future Post editor and writer, David Finkel, got through school working at Pizza Hut and Amoco.

National correspondent Mary Jordan grew up on Cleveland's West Side, her dad a pipe fitter and her mother a maid, both Irish immigrants. Another national reporter, Stephanie McCrummen, whose grandfather was a Southern Baptist preacher, was reared by a mother who worked for Bell South in Birmingham, Alabama. And Dan Eggen, a political editor, is the son of a Lutheran minister from small-town Minnesota.

If space allowed, I could go on. My colleagues don't volunteer these stories ordinarily, for the same reason I don't drone on about my Civil War ancestry, or about how I was reared by a single mother, a schoolteacher, and worked my way through college. Everybody in the newsroom -- everybody in America -- has an American story.

Such stories are so commonplace as to be unremarkable -- or at least they seemed unremarkable until Trump declared some of us enemies of the American people. So let's pause to remember: We are all the American people. And we all love our country.
The passing this week of Karla Gray, the first female chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court, reminds us of what women have achieved in Montanas judiciary.

Gray was only the second woman to serve on the Montana Supreme Court. Gov. Stan Stephens appointed her in early 1991 to replace Diane Barz of Billings, who resigned. Gray went on to become the first woman elected to the Montana Supreme Court and then, in her third Supreme Court race, became the first female chief of the states only appellate court.

Today the Supreme Court has two female justices, Beth Baker and Laurie McKinnon. Susan Watters serves as Montanas first female U.S. District Judge. Among the six judges in Yellowstone County District Court, two are women, Mary Jane Knisely and Ingrid Gustafson. Judge Sheila Kolar presides in Billings Municipal Court.

Gray followed an unusual path to Montanas high court. Born and raised on Michigans Upper Peninsula, she earned bachelors and masters degrees in African history in her home state before getting her law degree in California. She passed the bar in California and Montana and moved to Butte to clerk for a U.S. District judge. Her career in Butte included private practice and working as a corporate attorney for Atlantic Richfield and Montana Power Co. She lobbied the Montana Legislature for MPC and for the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, so she already knew all the Senate Judiciary Committee members before she appeared for her confirmation hearing.

Several months after her appointment, Gray described her judicial philosophy to a Gazette reporter this way: Its important for the court not to intrude more than it has to in the legislative arena of making the law. You have to rely on the competence of the lawyers on both sides who are bringing the cases. I think if a lawyer in a particular case has the law on his or her side, that they will prevail.

Grays eight-year tenure as chief justice began in January 2001, and she soon presided over the reorganization of the state judiciary. District Courts became state courts to improve efficiency. There were bumps and struggles along the way with that massive change, including challenges in funding and managing the courts workload expeditiously.

For average Montanans, perhaps the most important changes on Grays watch were the creation of the Self Help Law program and the hiring of a statewide pro bono coordinator.

In a Gazette guest column in November 2008, two months before she retired, Gray wrote about the need to improve access to justice for all Montanans.

Sadly, many Montanans have, as a practical matter, little or no hope of obtaining equal justice, Gray said. I speak of our friends and neighbors who are on the edge financially and simply cannot afford to hire an attorney. I think most often of the mother or father trying to manage a divorce or a parenting issue with no knowledge of the law or court proceeding. I think of the single parent threatened with eviction who has no idea what her or his rights are, or where to turn next.

After her retirement in 2008, Gray joined retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor in promoting public judicial selection systems based on merit, not popular votes.

I think just being out there in a contested setting encourages people to think that justice or people running to become a justice are politicians instead of judges and judicial candidates, Gray said in 2010. Its so critical that the Supreme Court remains fair and impartial and not subject to political influences, including money.

Those wise words still resonate today.

Our condolences go out to Karla Grays husband, Myron Currie of Great Falls, their family and friends.

 The Billings Gazette
Dont spend my tax dollars on abortion. Having read Marian Jensens column in the Standard (Feb. 19) on the necessity for Planned Parenthood and for someone to kill unwanted children, I want to reply. As a woman with the heart of a mother, I fully understand how difficult an unintended pregnancy can be. Jensen takes us on a mournful journey into a past where another mouth to feed became an overwhelming burden that led to an abortion. No one is judging these women for killing their defenseless children.

But that was then and this is now. Three-dimensional sonogram technology and medical advances of in utero surgery have demonstrated that the mothers womb holds a baby, a human being. Expectant parents send sonogram pictures of the developing baby to grandparents, who attach them to the refrigerator door. The thought of attacking a baby in the womb with whirling blades and a vacuum to suck up the parts or an extraction process to kill the child but save the organs for sale is abhorrent to more and more Americans.

This is especially true when there are so many resources to help women keep a child in difficult circumstances or to allow for adoption with a plethora of new options, such as visitation rights.

Bottom line: I do not want my tax dollars supporting abortion. We know it is happening now because federal funds are fungible, using taxpayer dollars elsewhere in PP to free up PP funds for abortion services. According to PP Montana, abortions will continue even if federal funding is abolished.

But the $500 million PP now gets from the government can be given to other care centers that dont perform abortions to improve their services to both women and men. There are five PP centers in Montana and 130 other non-aborting health clinics. Take the federal money now doled out to PP Montana and improve funding for the other clinics. Jensen can still donate to PP.

 Marjory McCaffery, Butte
HELENA  More than 150 renewable energy supporters rallied at the state Capitol Thursday, voicing support for legislation expanding opportunities for new solar projects they say will bring more jobs and keep Montana from falling behind in a burgeoning industry.

House Bill 504 sponsor Rep. Bryce Bennett, D-Missoula, coined the bill the Solar Jobs and Energy Freedom Act, but it is officially titled the Neighborhood Net Metering Act. The House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee heard testimony on the bill on Wednesday, and is expected to take action on it Friday.

On Thursday Bennett was joined by some of the bills cosponsors and renewable energy advocates to generate their own energy behind the legislation.

What this bill is about, as Im sure all of you know, is changing the status quo, he said. Because right now weve heard from government and the utility company that everything just has to stay the way it is.

The bill makes four primary changes to energy law around net metering, or when solar or other renewable energy generators are connected to the power grid with excess power credited to offset energy costs. In Montana, NorthWestern Energy is typically required to buy the net metered power as a credit on that generators bill.

First, HB504 increases the net metering cap a generator can be credited for from 50 kilowatts to one megawatt.

Second, generators can use aggregate net metering, meaning multiple renewable energy sources can go to one meter rather than separate credits.

Third, neighborhood net metering would be allowed, letting groups come in on a community project with the goal of lowering multiple energy bills.

Fourth, the bill requires utilities to share leftover energy credits with nonprofits aimed at low income energy customers.

At Wednesdays hearing, supporters of HB504 said current laws hamper the solar industry.

What we have in Montana is a badly out-of-date policy, said Andrew Valainis, executive director of the Montana Renewable Energy Association. We dont have the political climate to invest in a larger workforce.

Utilities and organized labor came out against the bill, saying the move is premature at best and in need of more scrutiny.

John Alke, testifying for NorthWestern, said that solar generation does not match with Montanas peak power usage. In the winter and after dark is when usage is at its highest and solar output is at its lowest. The utility must provide an equal match of conventionally generated power to meet customer needs, he said.

Alke continued with some harsh criticism of the bill, saying it creates a new classification of an unregulated solar project and that the law is unfair to NorthWestern and its customers. The utility must buy net metered power at a retail rate while it could purchase power on the open market for less than a third. NorthWestern pays for transmission and maintenance while net metering enjoys those benefits but absorbs none of those costs, he said.

The solar industry is shameless in the demands it makes for subsidies and this is a shameless bill, Alke told the committee.

Labor groups objected to overall regulation of the industry and compliance with licensing and safety standards.

At Thursdays rally Brad Van Wert, perhaps better known as Solar Guy for his animated renewable energy advocacy, fired up the crowd saying that the solar industry is not going to wait for Montana to make a decision.

People right now are incredibly excited about solar. The industry is growing and we want to make sure Montana is a part of that, he said to cheers.

Rep. Denise Hayman, D-Bozeman, took her turn before the crowd and offered her personal story of investing in solar. HB504 would allow others to participate in net metering in the way it works best for them, she said.

Rep. Mike Hopkins of Missoula was the lone Republican legislator to speak, although others were mentioned as supporters.

Principles matter and rights matter and property rights matter, he told the crowd. Whether its an individual looking to put a solar panel on top of their house or a group of individuals looking to do the same, the government has no compelling interest in prohibiting that.

Jerad McDermott, owner of L.P. Anderson tire store in Billings, said a lot of legislators have a misconception around solar believing that it is driven by environmentalists. He installed a solar system at the shop and has been able to reinvest the saving into the business, buying new equipment and upping wages.

Dave Tyler owns Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Company near Bozeman. His wool mill is powered almost entirely by solar, and using renewable energy has become a powerful marketing tool to customers, he said.

Young Eva Lighthiser stepped to the podium and introduced herself with confidence. The sun never runs out, she said, adding she hopes one day Montanas power comes entirely from renewable sources.

Van Wert closed the rally urging attendees to voice their support for HB504 to legislators ahead of Fridays vote. The rally was the culmination of a series of events throughout the state to generate interest and support in solar power and other renewables, such as wind.

This is democracy in action right here, he said.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Build your health & fitness knowledge Sign up here to get the latest health & fitness updates in your inbox every week! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Last week, Muscatine City Attorney Matthew Brick filed charges for removal against Mayor Diana Broderson that could lead to her ouster.

Among the charges, Broderson is accused of "making baseless complaints that cost the city as much as $100,000 in legal fees and staff time to investigate, 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.

She has not yet been served formally. If the Muscatine City Council votes to hold a hearing, the council members will hear the accusations and Broderson's defense and ultimately decide if they will remove her from office.

Here's a look at the people involved:

Mayor Diana Broderson

Term expires: Dec. 31, 2017, began serving Jan. 4, 2016

Education:

Master of arts in philosophy, incomplete, from the University of Iowa

Bachelor of arts in philosophy from the University of Iowa, 1989

Certificates in human resources and non-profit management

Employment:

Director of Family Programs at the Muscatine Community Y

Community Service:

Member, First Baptist Church

Board member, Rotary Club of Muscatine

Jubilee Community Center

Secretary of Members, Community Credit Union

Muscatine Community Health Association

Imagination Library

Council member, Muscatine County CARES

Family Effectiveness Coalition

Muscatine Employer's Council

Councilman Bob Bynum  Fourth Ward

Term Expires: Dec. 31, 2017, began serving Jan. 1, 2006

Education:

Leadership Muscatine, 2005

Masters of business administration, St. Ambrose University, 2002

Bachelor of arts, St. Ambrose University, 1975, major in physical education and minor in math

Muscatine High School, 1971

Employment:

SSAB, formerly Ipsco Steel, 16 years in customer service and sales

Community Service and Organizations:

Hillcrest Baptist Church

Safe Streets

Keep Muscatine Beautiful

SSAB representative, Muscatine Junior Achievement Board of Directors

Councilman Philip Fitzgerald  First Ward

Term Expires: Dec. 31, 2019, began serving Jan. 1, 1992

Education:

Bachelor of science, Iowa State University, 1975, industrial education

Associate of arts, Ellsworth Community College, Iowa Falls, Iowa

Graduated from Nevada Community School District, Nevada, Iowa, 1970

Employment:

Self-employed, Fitzgerald Construction

Community Service and Organizations:

Audit Committee

Board of Health, Plumbers Board of Examiners

Muscatine Area Geographic Information Consortium

Muscatine Joint Communication Commission

Muscatine Island Flood Control Commission

Muscatine City Compensation Review Committee

National Education Association

Iowa State Education Association

Muscatine Education Association

Crossroads Board of Directors

Crossroads Foundation Board of Directors

Allen Harvey  First Ward

Term Expires: Dec. 31, 2019, began serving Jan. 4, 2016

Education:

Bachelor of science in chemical engineering from Iowa State University

Masters in business administration from St. Ambrose University

Employment:

Retired

Community Service and Organizations:

Muscatine Planning and Zoning Commission

Muscatine Zoning Board of Adjustment

Scott Natvig  At Large

Term Expires: Dec. 31, 2017, began serving Jan. 7, 2010

Education:

Bachelor of science in engineering from Iowa State University

Masters in business administration from the University of Iowa

Employment:

Retired from Grain Processing Corporation

Community Service and Organizations:

Board member, Leadership Muscatine

Board member, MGH

Elder, Our Savior Lutheran Church

Rotary Club of Muscatine

Michael Rehwaldt  Second Ward

Term Expires: Dec. 31, 2017, began serving Jan. 2, 2014

Education:

University of Iowa

Employment:

Executive recruiter, self-employed

Community Service and Organizations

Corporate boards

Board member, Crossroads

Board member, Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Board member, United Way of Muscatine

Santos Saucedo  At Large

Term Expires: Dec. 31, 2019, began serving Jan. 4, 2016

Education:

Bachelor's degree in project management from Ashford University

Associates of arts in manufacturing technology from Muscatine Community College

Associates of arts in manufacturing maintenance from Muscatine Community College

Employment:

Project manager, Project Engineering Department at Monsanto

Community Service and Organizations:

Director of operations and head coach, Muscatine County Boxing Club

Adjunct welding instructor, Muscatine Community College

Tom Spread  Third Ward

Term Expires: Dec. 31, 2019, began serving Jan. 2, 2012

Education:

Bachelor of arts from MacMurrary College of Jacksonville, Illinois, 1976

Master's degree from Sangamon State University, University of Illinois Springfield Campus, 1978

Employment:

Community Bank and Trust Co.

Community Service and Organizations:

Past Executive Committee/treasurer, Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Past Board of Trustees, Muscatine Art Center

Muscatine County Compensation Committee

Past member, Rotary Club of Muscatine

Mercer-Muscatine Revolving Loan Fund Administration Board

Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine
The Trump administration revealed for the first time on Thursday that 746 individuals nationwide were held during the first weekend of President Donald Trump's travel ban, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Justice Department wrote in a cover letter transmitting the list of names to counsel that it includes anyone who was "encountered or undergoing processing" by US Customs and Border Patrol and "this list includes legal permanent residents."

The list stems from a court order in Darweesh v. Trump, the first federal case to challenge the travel ban. US District Court Judge Donnelly in the Eastern District of New York originally issued a nationwide temporary restraining order on January 28, preventing the removal of those who were legally authorized to enter the US. Donnelly also ordered the government to provide a list of individuals who were detained pursuant to the executive order but did not specify what time period should be covered.

On Tuesday, at the ACLU's request, US District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon ordered the Trump administration to produce the names by 5 p.m. on Thursday. Amon's order includes anyone who, at any time during the period from 9:37 p.m. ET on January 28 until 11:59 p.m. ET on January 29, was being "held, including being processed," by US Customs and Border Protection pursuant to the executive order.

Several days after the travel ban went into effect -- and began to face lawsuits in federal court -- the White House counsel's office clarified that legal permanent residents were not covered by the executive order.

"We are pleased to finally get the names, though it took more than three weeks from (Judge Donnelly's) court order," said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt in a statement to CNN. "But we remain concerned that the list is incomplete and that it needs to be supplemented so we have information to find the affected individuals."

The Justice Department declined to comment on the case. The Trump administration has not revealed how many people nationwide were deported after the ban went into effect.

Amon will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. ET on Friday to consider whether the government should be ordered to bring the individuals who were previously deported pursuant to the executive order back to the US.

CNN's Ariane de Vogue contributed to this report.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
On Tuesday, we broke news that Fox had used CCTV footage of 2013s Westgate Mall attack, on its latest episode of 24: Legacy.

Read: Westgate Attack Featured on 24: Legacy But Theres One Problem

In the video, actress Rebecca Ingram (Miranda Otto) is seen explaining to the director of National Intelligence that the clip shows a terrorist attack at a market in Alexandria, Egypt.

Following our story, Kenyans on Twitter started the hashtag #SomeoneTellFox, expressing their disappointment and demanding an apology from the giant American broadcaster.

According to QZ.com, a spokesman for Fox Studios has confirmed that the footage is indeed the Westgate attack, and said the producers very much regret using it to depict a fictional act of terror on the show.

The footage will also be removed from all future broadcasts.

Executive producers Evan Katz and Manny Coto said in a statement, In episode 4 of 24: Legacy we regretfully included news footage of an attack in Nairobi. It will be removed from all future broadcasts and versions of the show. We apologize for any pain caused to the victims and their families and are deeply sorry.

In case you missed the footage, here it is.
Its official, Jeff Koinange Live(JKL) will be making its highly anticipated comeback on Citizen TV.

The renowned journalist confirmed the move himself yesterday. The show will premiere on Wednesday, March 1, from 9 pm.

The news of Jeffs return has been received with much excitement and the usual banter on social media. One lady, in particular, has predicted where Jeff will be headed to next should he exit Citizen.
ATHENS, Ga.  The Celtic cross tattoo on Shannon Martinezs leg gives away her past.

A victim of sexual assault at age 14 and never quite able to meet her parents expectations, Martinez sought out other angry teens. By 16, she was a skinhead spouting white supremacist rhetoric, giving stiff-armed Nazi salutes and tagging public property with swastikas. She favored racist fashion statements  like the symbol on her right calf.

Fortified by the love of an adopted family, Martinez left the skinheads behind. Today shes helping others do the same as part of an emerging U.S. movement that helps people quit hate organizations.

Modeled loosely upon organizations that formed in Europe years ago to combat extremism, groups and individuals are offering counseling, education and understanding to extremists seeking a way out.

Now a 42-year-old mom who homeschools her kids at their house in Georgia, Martinez volunteers with Life After Hate, a leading organization dedicated to helping people leave white supremacy. On Facebook, she shares her story with others whove left or are looking to leave extremism.

We act as a group of people who understand each other, said former skinhead Christian Picciolini, an old friend of Martinez who founded the Chicago-based Life After Hate. We understand the motivations of where we came from and why we joined. We understand what keeps people in. And we help each other detach and disengage from that ideology and provide a support system for them as they go through that transformation.

Founded in 2009, Life After Hate was awarded a $400,000 Justice Department grant in the closing days of the Obama administration  funding that could be endangered if the Trump administration decides to refocus a federal program combatting violent extremism solely on Islamic radicals, as is being considered.

While several other grant recipients are dedicated to countering radical Muslim ideology, Life After Hate concentrates specifically on showing white extremists theres another way.

The group operates a website where people who want to explore leaving white extremism can submit contact information. It also conducts educational and counseling programs including the Facebook group where members sometimes chat with extremists trying to change their lives, Picciolini said.

I started the organization ... because it was so difficult to leave that movement, he said. Even though Id abandoned the ideology, I wasnt ready to give up my community and my power and my identity, and I knew how hard it would be for other people to leave this type of ideology or this type of movement.

Another group, One Peoples Project, was started by Daryle Lamont Jenkins of Philadelphia. Aside from monitoring racist groups, Jenkins  who is black  confronts white nationalists at public gatherings and talks one-on-one with willing white supremacists as he can, trying to show them theres a way other than hate. Some have never met a black person, he said.

Jenkins work is similar to that of Daryl Davis, a black musician from Maryland who has gained notice for trying to talk people out of the Ku Klux Klan.

Mark Potok, a senior fellow with the liberal Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, said its hard to determine exact numbers, but around 100,000 people might be members in hate groups and several hundred thousand could be linked informally.

Potok said exit organizations began in Europe in the 1980s to counter the rise right-wing militants there.

I do think that this is a particularly important moment for this kind of exit work to be happening because we have seen in the last year, year and a half, a real legitimization of these views, he said.

President Donald Trumps election with the support of neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan has lent a new sense of urgency to opponents of white supremacy.

The Trump election has absolutely lit a fire under the butts of the white nationalists, Martinez said. It is like, Our time is coming.

Martinez said she grew up in metro Atlanta in a relatively normal family but rebelled after being sexually assaulted at a party. She got involved in the punk scene, which led to the skinhead movement.

Martinez said she was on a path to prison or an early death when she moved in with the family of her skinhead boyfriend, who was away for Army training. His mother showed unconditional love that pulled her out of the abyss, Martinez said.

Today, she looks at photos of herself from her skinhead days and fights back tears.

I was filled with rage and anger and the skinheads were the angriest people that I knew and I was kind of like, Those are my people. And the ideology was a means of taking something that was ethereal, something that was unnamable, an anger and a rage that I felt, and giving it a focal point, she said.

Shane Johnson was born into extremism. His father and many of his fathers relatives were part of the Klan, he said, so there was only one real way for him to go as a youth in northern Indiana.

We were known as the Klan family, he said. I got my first Klan robe when I was 14.

Johnson eventually joined a skinhead group in addition to the KKK but finally decided to quit after getting arrested, stopping drinking and meeting the woman who is now his wife. Leaving was a real fight, though, as even relatives jumped him at a gas station one night after learning he wanted to quit.

When I dropped out they beat the holy hell out of me, he said.

Since then, Johnson has tried to cover some of his racist tattoos with new ones and wears long sleeves to hide remnants of the past he regrets. Life After Hate is helping him numerous ways, Johnson said, including showing him how to read the Bible without seeing it as a treatise on racial separation, as he had been taught.

Johnson, now 25 and living in rural Indiana, isnt ready to begin counseling others about leaving extremism; he still sometimes longs for his racist buddies and their ways. But he said his own story is proof that hate doesnt have to be permanent.

You can get out, he said.
COVINGTON, Ky.  Two demonstrators interrupted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's speech before a suit-and-tie crowd Thursday, underscoring protesters' frustrations after three days of limited public appearances that required a ticket to attend.

"We are protesting the fact that to get in front of you we have to pay dollars," said one unidentified woman before being escorted from the local chamber of commerce luncheon. "Why don't you have town halls to hear from your constituents? We want to talk to you."

A few people in the audience shouted "get out," but McConnell waited silently for authorities to lead both protesters off, with one protester saying "I paid to be here" before he was removed. McConnell quipped, "I see we're having multiple speakers today," before continuing his speech.

As the Senate's top Republican, McConnell has been a favorite target for protesters during President Donald Trump's first month in office.

Protesters have often gathered outside his Louisville home and even waited for him at the airport during his return flights from Washington. The protests intensified this week, with Congress recessing for Presidents' Day and McConnell making his first public appearances in Kentucky since Trump took office.

More than 1,000 people protested his first event Tuesday in Lawrenceburg, and hundreds more gathered outside the Hotel Covington on Thursday.

McConnell, who was greeted warmly by the rest of the audience inside the hotel, told reporters he is listening to the protesters, but noted the "we just had an election in November and the American people decided not to take their advice." He dismissed the protests as organized by Democrats, seeming to agree with Trump's comments on Twitter that these protests were "planned by liberal activists."

"You all are surely not falling for the notion these are unbiased citizens," McConnell said. "The Kentucky Democratic Party, what's left of it, is actively promoting this. That doesn't mean it is not legitimate."

Susan Bridges, 61, from Wilder, Kentucky, stood outside the hotel with a sign that read "unpaid protester, full time Kentucky resident." She said she was not invited by anyone in the Democratic party, but "went totally on my own." She said she was upset about Republicans' goal of repealing and replacing the federal Affordable Care Act

"I went to protest because I'm upset by what's happening in the country," she said. "I live in Kentucky full time; Mitch McConnell does not. I don't feel like he really represents the Kentucky people."

Several protesters held signs urging Congress to keep the health care law.

McConnell used his speech to reiterate Republican plans to repeal and replace the law, saying it would happen "this year." He said details of the Republican plan would be available in the spring.
Michael Honig recently discussed his goals as chairman of the Napa Valley Vintners board of directors for 2017: to raise vintners positive profiles in the community and to grow the reputation of Napa Valley wines overseas.

Honig, president of Honig Vineyard & Winery in Rutherford, took over this month from Emma Swain, CEO of St. Supery Estate Vineyards & Winery as volunteer head of the 525-member trade organization founded in 1944.

While praising the Vintners staff and his predecessor, Honig admitted to one frustration: Id like to see our neighbors better understand the organizations and the vintners contributions. The amount Vintners have contributed has not resonated with people. We add a lot of value to the community and were good stewards of the land, but people havent connected the dots.

He continued, What is Napa Green to the community? We need to explain it better.

He made that remark in light of increasing opposition to winery and vineyard projects and activities. Were really involved in the community, but we have to do a better job of telling people in American Canyon and elsewhere what were doing.

In her outgoing remarks as chairwoman, Emma Swain noted that the Vintners have achieved 40 percent of its goal that all eligible members will be in the Napa Green Certified Land or Winery programs by 2020.

But the industry also needs to show that it needs responsible growth to remain viable, said Honig. That will be especially important when its time for renewal of the agricultural preserve, he noted.

The wine community needs to continue being a good neighbor by taking care of the Napa Valley that we all treasure, said Honig. Ive lived here all my life and Im raising my family here, so this is personally important to me.

He, his wife Stephanie and their four young children all live on the winerys 70-acre property in Rutherford.

One example of progress he cited was that in the past, vineyard waste was burned, polluting the air. Now Honig and others bring in equipment to chip the wood and separate the metal to turn the wood waste into landscaping or compost.

He noted that his familys winery has adopted Redwood Middle School and makes many contributions there, for example.

On the other hand, Honig admits that vintners and growers need to get into compliance with their permits. Were applying pressure to comply and update their permits. Fortunately, the county is receptive and wants to work with the wineries, not just cite and fine them.

Another of Honigs personal goals is to continue to build the Napa Valley brand internationally. We must maintain Napa Valleys position as a leading wine region, he said.

Our reputation for producing some of the worlds finest wines is the reason why Napa Valley remains dedicated to agriculture and not over-developed, like other Bay Area counties.

The roots of a family winery

Michael Honigs grandfather, Louis Honig, bought a 68-acre ranch in Rutherford in 1964. He planted it with sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon grapes and sold them to local wineries.

Although initially no one lived on the ranch, he wanted to create a family gathering place until he could retire from his San Francisco advertising agency and make wine from his vineyard. His agency worked with California wine producers like Petri and United Vintners, an early introduction to the wine world for Michael Honig.

Unfortunately, Louis died before he could realize his dream, leaving the estate to his family. Michaels father, Bill Honig, was involved in politics and served as Californias superintendent of schools from 1983 until 1993; he didnt really have enough time to devote to the vineyard.

In 1980, as a tribute to his legacy, the family produced a few hundred cases of Louis Honig Sauvignon Blanc in the vineyards old tractor barn. After the wine won a gold medal at the Orange County Fair, they decided to increase production, and Honig Vineyard & Winery was born.

In 1984, at 22, Michael Honig dropped out of college and took over management of the vineyard and winery. He began canvassing the streets of San Francisco, selling wine and delivering it himself.

In 1989, the family began producing small amounts of cabernet sauvignon. No one lived on the property until the late 80s, when Michael moved there.

As the business grew, family members Regina Weinstein, Steven Honig and later, Stephanie Honig, joined Michael in the winery. Regina Weinsteins son Raphael Cruz runs the wine club.

The winery produces only sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon, including estate and single vineyard cabernet sauvignon, late harvest sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon rose.

We focus on what we do well. Our goal is to make better and better cabernet and sauvignon blanc, Honig said, adding, When you see Honig chardonnay, youll know Im dead!

The wines cost $18 for sauvignon blanc to $100, and it and the $50 cabernet are excellent values for Napa Valley. As the family name means honey in German, a bee is in its logo.

A leader in sustainable farming, Michael Honig chaired the first California initiative to develop a Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices, a voluntary program establishing statewide guidelines for sustainable farming and winemaking, and in 2005, took part in an innovative pilot program to help train yellow lab puppies to detect vine mealy bugs in the vineyard, thus, lowering the need for pesticides.

He also sits on the boards of several other organizations including the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, California Farm Service Agency State Committee, Napa Crimestoppers and Tower Road Wine Storage.

His wife, Stephanie Honig, was born in Pennsylvania but moved with her family to Buenos Aires, Argentina when she was 6. She attended Florida International University, graduating in 1997 with a bachelors degree in hotel and restaurant management. While attending FIU she also spent time in Europe, studying at the Oxford Brookes University in England. She then moved to Philadelphia and worked as a sales manager for Marriott Corporation.

In 2000, she moved to New York to pursue a career in wine, working as a sales manager for Clicquot, Inc., and for Rudd Winery as the eastern regional sales manager.

In 2005, she earned the WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Higher Certificate and the WSET Diploma. She left Rudd in 2006 to import her own wine brand from Argentina. She also taught wine classes at the French Culinary Institute in New York and Florida International University.

In 2006, she moved to the Napa Valley and married Michael Honig. Stephanie travels the globe developing Honigs international and national presence and handles the public relations for the family business.

Michaels brother Steven Honig was raised in San Francisco and enjoyed weekends with his brothers and family in Napa Valley riding mini bikes and tractors at the vineyard. In 1986, he graduated from the University of Colorado and went to work for the winery as a sales representative in Los Angeles. After a year, he moved to Sweden and ran a bike messenger company, imported mountain bikes and parts and raced mountain bikes on an international level.

In 1994, he returned to San Francisco, remaining in the mountain biking industry. Returning to the family winery in 2000, he has turned his skills towards sales and business development.

Cousin Regina Weinstein came to work for the family business in 1997 following a 15-year stint as a product marketing manager in the high-tech world. As director of marketing, she handles all aspects of marketing for the winery, including creating the marketing materials (including the Honig postcards), designing packaging, the Honig website and sales materials, as well as e-marketing and sales. She lives in St. Helena, with younger sons Ethan and Aidan. Her older son, Raphael, runs the Honig wine club, and daughter Devin is a freelance photographer who does all of the photography for the winery.

Regina was recently president of the Rutherford Dust Society, founded the Rutherford Appellation Wineries and is on the marketing and communications committee for the Napa Valley Vintners.

With so many family members involved in the business  and plenty of younger ones in the queue  Michael Honig looks for the winery to remain in the family for a long time. We want it to be here in 100 years, he vows.
NIAMEY, Niger

Extremists attack Niger military patrol, kill 15 soldiers

A spokesman for Nigers military says at least 15 soldiers have been killed in an attack by Islamic extremists on a patrol near the countrys border with Mali.

Colonel Abdoul Aziz Toure said Thursday that the attack near the village of Interzawane in the Tillaberi region on Wednesday also wounded 19 other soldiers. He says the military is pursuing the attackers.

The attack follows an agreement earlier this month among the presidents of five countries in Africas vast Sahel region, including Niger, to set up a joint counterterrorism force.

The countries in the regional G5 group  Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Chad  have been targeted in many high-profile attacks by numerous extremist groups, including Boko Haram and others that have been linked to al-Qaida.

ROME

2 ex-Vatican bank execs convicted of minor offenses

A Rome court has convicted two former top managers of the Vaticans scandal-marred bank for minor violations of anti-money laundering norms.

According to the ANSA news agency, the two were absolved of a more serious charge but were convicted Thursday of omissions in communications involving three small transfers and were sentenced to four months, 10 days each. Their lawyers plan to appeal.

Paolo Cipriani and Massimo Tulli resigned under pressure in 2013 from the Vatican bank  called Institute for Religious Works, or IOR. The banks leadership had been under investigation since 2010 for allegedly violating Italys anti-money laundering laws involving routine bank transactions.

The ruling comes a day after two other ex-Vatican officials who worked in the Vaticans patrimony office were put under investigation in a separate market-rigging probe.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bosnia appeals UN ruling that cleared Serbia of genocide

Bosnia has asked the United Nations top court to reconsider its 2007 ruling that cleared Serbia of genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim Bosniak member of Bosnias tripartite presidency, said a request to appeal the ruling was filed Thursday to the International Court of Justice.

The submission came despite opposition by Bosnian Serb presidency member Mladen Ivanic, who argued that it should be dismissed as illegitimate because he did not consent to it.

Bosnia initially sued neighboring Serbia before the international court in 1993 over its backing for the Bosnian Serbs war effort. The UN court ruled in 2007 that a 1995 massacre in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica of 8,000 Muslims by Bosnian Serbs was genocide, but that Serbia was not responsible for the killings.

PARIS

Iraq hopes to reclaim heritage lost to Islamic State group

Iraqi officials are calling for international help to reclaim archaeological sites and other heritage destroyed by Islamic State extremists.

A two-day gathering at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization headquarters in Paris beginning Thursday brought experts in archaeology, scholars and diplomats together with officials from Iraq.

The meetings goal is a plan to preserve and rebuild the cultural heritage damaged and destroyed by the Islamic State group.

Iraqi Vice Minister of Culture Qais Hussein Rasheed says he hopes the liberation of Mosuls airport will soon reveal what has become of the vast areas across the river that IS has held for over two years.
Just because nature allows a delay of many years while officials dither over a catastrophe in the making, doesnt make that disaster any easier to handle when it finally strikes.

This is one major lesson of the Oroville Dam spillway crisis that saw the sudden evacuation of almost 200,000 persons from their homes when the dams emergency spillway crumbled under the force of millions of gallons of fast-moving water.

Warnings of precisely this sort of crisis at Lake Oroville were submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during a 2005 relicensing process, almost 12 years before those predictions came true.

A loss of crest control (which has now occurred) could not only cause additional damage tolands and facilities, but also cause damages and threaten livesdownstream, environmental groups (Friends of the River, the South Yuba River Citizens League and the Sierra Club) cautioned, recommending relicensing of the dam only if repairs were made.

Their claim drew scorn from officials of the state Water Project, which runs the vintage-1968 Oroville Dam. Our facilities, including the spillway, are safe during any conceivable flood event, said Raphael Torres, then acting deputy director of the Water Project. Plus, some of Californias most powerful water districts, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, didnt want to fund a fix. Theyll have to pay now, as much as $600 million, by some estimates.

FERC, loaded with power industry advocates by then-President George W. Bush, disdained the environmental groups, as it usually does.

So the background of todays crisis bears warnings, both about preparation for likely future natural disasters and about what can happen when industry advocates control powerful federal agencies, now the case for several Cabinet-level departments in the Trump administration.

For California, alarm should be strongest about earthquakes, and the related issue of levees in the Delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. After the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake hit on a previously unknown fault and destroyed a veterans hospital, among other buildings, mapping of earthquake faults became a high state priority.

Over the next 20 years, 534 maps of faults and their possible damage were published. But in the following 20 years, no new maps appeared because of budget cuts, leaving the project about 300 maps shy of where it needs to be for all residents of known potential damage areas to be properly warned.

Some areas have used the maps drawn between 1971 and 1991 to pinpoint buildings that need retrofitting, with many projects completed.

But most of the other 300-odd known faults have yet to be mapped.

At the same time, California still lacks a significant quake warning system, and probably cant complete one without the remaining maps even if it suddenly became a priority. Its tough to warn people at risk in a major quake if you dont know what buildings theyre in.

This issue was no priority at all for Gov. Jerry Brown through most of his current go-round in office. Yes, Brown long supported an early warning system that might give a minutes notice before shaking from a Big One hits urban areas. But through most of his current tenure, he proposed no state funding for this, saying the money should come from private or federal sources. It did not.

Brown shifted in last years state budget, providing $10 million to create such a system, now in the works from the U.S. Geological Survey and academic researchers, who hope to begin putting their system to limited use next year.

The dithering put California behind other quake-prone places like Japan and Taiwan.

Why is this important? The original legislative sponsor of the warning system, Democrat Alex Padilla, now California secretary of state, said in 2013 people need a system giving them critical seconds to take cover, assist loved ones or pull safely to the side of the road.

Even when that system comes online, much more mapping will be needed, for the biggest quakes of the last 40 years came in unexpected places.

The upshot: Californias water system is not the only area needing better preparation for coming disasters. The problem, though, is the same as it was at Oroville before this years massive storms created a crisis: Until an urgent problem occurs, few believe it ever will. Once it happens, it may be too late to act.

Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column.
It took only 12 days in office for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to put Iran "on notice" that the era of compromise had been replaced by an era of confrontation.

In a stern message on Feb. 1, then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn accused Iran of a "provocative ballistic missile launch and an attack against a Saudi naval vessel conducted by Iran-supported Houthi militants." Two days later, Washington slapped sanctions on 25 individuals and entities involved with Iran's ballistic missile tests, even though U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 had only called on, not enjoined, Iran to refrain from such tests.

In response, Iran threatened its own sanctions and held a military drill, including rocket launches. Gen. Amir Ali Hazjizadeh, an Iranian air force commander with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), threatened: "Should the enemy make a mistake, our roaring missiles will rain down on them."

Despite the bombast, both sides have so far been careful not to escalate too far, too fast. The sanctions designations were carefully selected so as not to violate the terms of the nuclear deal. Likewise, the missiles tested during Iran's military drill were not ballistic, and these launches therefore did not contravene the U.N. Security Council resolution.

But such tit-for-tat measures, if they continue, could easily spiral out of control and provoke a military confrontation. This is especially true since the bilateral communication channels born of the nuclear talks, which helped to contain tense episodes under the Barack Obama administration, are no more. Unlike the previous administration, Trump's National Security Council and State Department appear uninterested in engaging their Iranian counterparts.

If Washington hopes to develop an effective strategy for dealing with Tehran, it must first understand the sources of Iranian conduct in the region. It is not helpful to exaggerate Iran's sway and power: While Tehran has more influence in Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, and Sanaa than it used to, its role in all four is more bitterly contested by state and nonstate actors than in the past.

As a Persian nation among Arabs and Turks, a Shiite state among Sunnis, there are natural barriers to Iran's reach - hence its failure to export its nearly four-decade-old revolution to any neighboring country. In the words of former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, "Iranian influence is self-limiting. The harder they push, the more resistance they get."

The policies of all contemporary Iranian leaders, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum, have been shaped by two impulses: regime preservation and restoration - critics would say expansion - of Iran's role as a regional leader.

The pursuit of self-preservation, the principal objective of any political system, borders on paranoia in an Iranian political culture steeped in a deep sense of insecurity and solitude.

Consider the words of this aggrieved Iranian leader: "Why is it normal for France and Britain to even have nuclear and hydrogen weapons, but for Iran, which is not a member of NATO and its security is not guaranteed by any country in the world, the simple principle of self-defense becomes so problematic?" This complaint was not lodged by a turbaned anti-American official in the Islamic Republic but by the Shah of Iran, the steadfast American ally and a prime recipient of U.S. weaponry who launched the country's nuclear program.

The security perspective of Iran's current leaders is shaped by the traumatic 1980-1988 conflict with Iraq, in which almost the entire region and the West supported Saddam Hussein's war effort. Subsequently, they witnessed the United States invade Afghanistan and Iraq, their neighbors to the east and the west.

To compensate for its sense of encirclement by U.S. forces and pro-U.S. states, and its inferior conventional military capacity compared with that of its neighbors, Iran developed a network of partners and proxies to push threats away from its borders. Tehran dubs this its "forward-defense policy," a euphemism for many in the region for Iran's exploitation of other states as buffers at the expense of their sovereignty.

The Lebanese Hezbollah is the cornerstone of Iran's forward-leaning strategy. As a senior Israeli official once put it: "For us, Iran is a 1,000 kilometers away, whereas for Iran, Israel is 10 meters away from across the Lebanese border." Many in Tehran are convinced the primary reason Israel did not strike Iran's uranium enrichment facilities and heavy-water reactor during the nuclear crisis was its fear of hundreds of Hezbollah's Iran-supplied missiles pointing at Israeli cities.

What Iran calls the "axis of resistance" to Israel and the United States - known to Iran's Sunni neighbors as the "Shiite crescent" - is a more aggressive extension of its forward-defense policy. It not only gives Iran strategic depth but allows it to project power in the Levant. Iran long rejected the notion that sectarianism lay at the root of its alliances, but as Syria's zero-sum proxy war deepened, it has shed even the pretense of staying above the sectarian fray. Tehran now mobilizes Shiite militias from across the region to fight in Iraq and Syria while it fails to condemn - and even facilitates - the atrocities they commit in these countries' Sunni heartlands, stoking resentment and providing Sunni extremists a potent recruitment tool.

Tehran's conventional deterrence appears no less threatening to the region. Its centerpiece is a ballistic missile program - a legacy of having been a victim of these during the Iran-Iraq War. As the only Iranian weapon that could reach its adversaries on their soil, the missiles are deemed an existential asset by Tehran, which will pursue their development regardless of whatever sanctions are imposed. The Iranians refused to put their missiles on the bargaining table during the nuclear negotiations and are unlikely to compromise on them, absent fundamental changes to the region's security structure of which Iran would be an integral part.

It's hardly surprising that what looks defensive from Tehran would be perceived elsewhere as aggressive. But what makes Iran's regional policy seem especially menacing is the second impetus behind it - its desire for regional power status, which to neighboring capitals looks like a bid for hegemony. To them, that scenario is as unbearable as Iran's isolation from the region is unacceptable to Tehran.

Any U.S. policy toward Iran's regional ambitions must take these dynamics into account. This will allow Washington to develop a realistic assessment of Tehran's likely reactions, of which the following are the most obvious:

First, the United States could continue its decades-old pursuit of containing Iran. This entails sanctioning Tehran and ensuring that it is unable to modernize or significantly expand its military capabilities and reach while supplying its regional rivals with the latest cutting-edge weaponry. The problem with this policy is that it has plainly failed, as new wars and instability have opened opportunities for Iran to increase its influence in the region. It is also clear that the more Washington sides with and arms Iran's Sunni neighbors, the more it pushes Tehran to double down on means of asymmetric deterrence and forward defense.

The idea of designating the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization is one initiative sure to backfire. Ironically, the IRGC is likely to welcome this step. Given its extensive role in Iran's opaque economy, the designation will further chill foreign investment in Iran, thereby helping it preserve its vested economic interests and boosting its domestic standing as a champion of resistance to the United States.

But the most damaging impact, as some in the U.S. military and security establishment have warned, would be on U.S. troops who operate in proximity to Iranian advisors and Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq. Defeating the Islamic State and stabilizing Iraq will become much more difficult if these militias turn their guns on U.S. military advisors - as they did when the United States still had 130,000 troops in Iraq - instead of their shared foe. For now, the help of these militias may prove indispensable in liberating Mosul.

Second, Washington could up the ante and resort to military confrontation. During the campaign, President Trump vowed to put that option on the table - promising to shoot Iranian boats that harass U.S. Navy ships "out of the water." But direct military confrontation in the Persian Gulf could have perilous consequences, pushing the Iranians toward familiar asymmetric responses: to either use their speed boats, mini-submarines, or mines to directly target U.S. ships or employ partners (like the Houthis in Yemen) to fire missiles at U.S. Navy vessels or those of its allies in the Red Sea.

Those risks could make an indirect and limited conflict more attractive. The Trump administration could consider targeting the Houthis, which it sees as an Iranian proxy, in order to send a strong signal to its Gulf allies and Tehran alike. So long as the conflict is containable, going after Iranian and Houthi equities in Yemen might seem less risky than in Iraq and Syria, where Iran could retaliate directly against U.S. forces.

But even limited use of military force could have disastrous ramifications. So far, Iran has provided just enough assistance to the Houthis to provoke Saudi Arabia into launching a military campaign that has cost it billions of dollars, with no end in sight. But a U.S.-led escalation of the conflict could further radicalize the Houthis, who have a history of ignoring Tehran's advice, and push them to invade Saudi Arabia's southern provinces if negotiations fail to yield a settlement. This would further intensify a ruinous war, weakening Yemen internally, to Iran's advantage, and pushing the Houthis further into Tehran's arms.

Finally, the best option - albeit one that currently appears inconceivable given the Trump administration's marrow-deep suspicion of and belligerence toward Iran - would be for the United States to take into account Tehran's legitimate security concerns and explore whether cooperation on areas of common interest is possible. At the same time, it could clearly communicate red lines that could trigger a strong response, such as reprisals against Mosul's population by Iran-backed militias, or attacks by Hezbollah against Israel from the Golan Heights, or shipments of sophisticated weapons to the Houthis in Yemen.

Washington does not need to bring its guard down, throw long-standing allies under the bus, or turn a blind eye to Iran's behavior in the region. But in the same way that the Trump administration is prepared to have a dialogue with Moscow - whose actions in the region are also not aligned with Washington's - to understand its hopes and fears, cooperate with it when possible, and contain it when necessary, it must engage Tehran.

Washington may eventually be able to help create the conditions or even lead in building a sustainable order that guarantees peace and prosperity for both large and small nations in the region. In the meantime, however, it should operate by the dictum: First, do no harm. That means it should avoid deepening the chaos by picking a heedless fight with one of the region's few stable countries.

Ali Vaez is the International Crisis Group's senior Iran analyst. He wrote this for Foreign Policy magazine.
VACAVILLE -- Vacaville police Thursday arrested a man whose erratic behavior included jumping on a car and threatening to kill a baby he said he was carrying in a blanket.

Police received phone calls around 1:30 p.m. about the man at the intersection of Peabody Road and Alamo Drive. Callers said the man jumped up and down on car and asked the driver to run him over. When confronted, the man threatened to kill a citizen, police said.

The man then went into a residence and came out holding a bundle wrapped in blankets. He said he had a baby in his arms, squeezed it tightly and said he was going to kill it, according to police.

The man did not cooperate with the commands of responding police officers who tried to negotiate with him, and he continued threatening to kill the baby, police said.

The man ran onto Peabody Road toward Alamo Drive with officers in pursuit, and officers were able to take him into custody and place him in a restraint because of his combative behavior, police said.

Police determined there wasn't a baby in the blanket. The man, identified as Frank Pena Jr., 21, was taken to a hospital to be medically cleared before being booked in the Solano County Jail for felony burglary and misdemeanor charges of possession of stolen property and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in Solano County Superior Court Monday afternoon.

The incident, which caused a traffic backup in the area, illustrates the split second decisions officers sometimes have to make, police said.
Six years ago, father and son, Jurg and Christian Oggenfuss and Catherine Bugue founded the Napa Valley Wine Academy. On Jan. 23, Christian and Bugue were in Londons Guild Hall accepting the WSETs Global Educator of the Year 2016 award for the academy.

On accepting the Wine & Spirits Education Trust award, Bugue said wine luminaries, including Jancis Robinson, Hugh Johnson and Steve Spurrier, were seated in the front row of the hall.

To have these luminaries watch us accept the award was pretty powerful, very special, Bugue said. It is very competitive, there are so many great schools out there.

Eight WSET Approved Programme Providers from throughout the world were nominated for the prestigious award, including Spurriers famous Paris school, three from the United Kingdom and one from China. The Napa Valley Wine Academy was the sole nominee from the United States.

In a news release announcing the nominees, Ian Harris, CEO of WSET, said, WSET is experiencing phenomenal growth and it is our Approved Programme Providers and dedicated educators across the world that allow us to meet the demand for wine and spirits qualifications. While we highly appreciate the work of all our educators, the selected nominees have truly gone above and beyond and we look forward to celebrating the winner in January.

During an interview at the school last week, Bugue said the competition is very competitive, there are so many great schools out there. They (the judges) really appreciated that we are so energetic, so vibrant, the marketing that Christian does, the social media and the outreach.

Additionally, she added the school joins with the Napa Valley wine industry in providing the education. Well have a class and well use our community, like Cathy Corison, who will have us come to the winery and shell even have students shovel out a tank if its harvest time, Bugue said.

She called the hands-on education very powerful and added, Our last class we took to Cathy Corison, there was somebody from Brazil, from Hungary, from China. They come from all over the world for brand Napa Valley and our school. Thats incredible.

In six years, the partners have created an education system offering classes in Napa, Santa Barbara, Denver, Cleveland, Nashville, Tampa, Orlando and Las Vegas as well as online classes.

In 2016, some 700-plus students took classes in Napa, whether the class was an introductory two-hour class to certification classes that last a week. Throughout all of their campuses and online classes, they educated some 1,800 people. The staff includes 30 full and part-time people, both administration and instructors.

Five Masters of Wine currently instruct and host webinars for the NVWA: Peter Marks, Christy Canterbury, Mary Margaret McCamic, Matt Deller and Tim Hanni. Additionally, Master Sommelier Tim Gaiser conducts SommDay Workshops at the academy.

Christian Oggenfuss said, It is a great honor to be nominated for Global Educator of the Year across all the markets that WSET serves around the world. He estimated there are 650-plus WSET Approved Programme Providers that offer the WSET curriculum.

Each year the award goes to the school that has excelled and outperformed any other of their schools, which is a combination of number of students enrolled, the performance of those students and the examinations, he said. Additionally, the school is judged on its innovations and how it is contributing to the quality of education for WSET.

Beyond educating individuals, the Napa Valley Wine Academy works with companies and corporations, including Southern Wine & Spirits and wineries such as Darioush, Duckhorn and PlumpJack to train their employees.

Oggenfuss said, A lot of the corporate groups that we work with see education not only as a way to have a more informed sales staff but also as a way to have those employees want to stay with that organization. Often when you ask employees why they left, its usually not because of the money, its because they dont see they have any opportunity for growth. And education is part of the growth.

Investing in your employees is the right thing to do, not only to improve your bottom line but it also improves employee morale. We feel very lucky to be a part of that, he added.

As to future plans, Oggenfuss said the company will continue to build its online offering of courses and will seek to grow across the United States.

It has always been our mission to open up wine education to someone no matter what their location, Oggenfuss said. As I always say, were based in the Napa Valley but we have a global vision and a global approach to wine education.

He added, This award has fueled us with more energy and more passion for what we do, its a great validation.

Bugue has been in the wine business full-time since 2002 and before that, she said she would go to wine tasting classes and seminars and make wine presentations for her friends, just because I loved it. Prior to joining the Napa Valley Wine Academy, Bugue was an account executive at Balzac Communications and Marketing, based in Napa. Additionally, for the past nine years, she has served as the writer for the St. Helena Star/Napa Valley Vintners tasting panel.

Oggenfuss has been in the wine industry for the past 20 years, doing everything from retail to distribution, to being a general manager and marketing director for different wineries. In his career, he has worked for Treasury Wine Estates, PlumpJack, Benzinger Family Winery and V. Sattui.
After complaints from area homeowners about nighttime traffic and noise around the tasting room and art gallery, representatives for Restoration Hardware, the luxury home-furnishing firm that runs the Ma(i)sonry wine collective in a historic 1904 stone structure at 6711 Washington St., pulled back the companys proposal to add food service to its tasting room in the resort community.

The plan was pulled shortly before a scheduled Town Council review earlier this month. Yountville leaders then voted to postpone the towns review.

In addition to remaking the five-year-old Ma(i)sonry, the company also is developing RH Gallery, a glass-roofed restaurant, next door on a vacant site that hosted a steakhouse and an Italian restaurant in the past. Yountville approved that development in June 2015. That plan also originally proposed an expansion of its neighboring future eatery RH Gallery.
British journalist Jancis Robinson was at UC Davis on Feb. 16 for an event celebrating the gift of her papers to its wine writer collection.

I feel extremely honored that all my papers, notebooks, tasting notes and professional photographs have found a home in a part of the world that has been so important to me and my lifes work in wine, Robinson said. Her papers are currently being cataloged by the library and will become available for public use by April 2017.

Napa Valley vintner Warren Winiarski has established a fund to preserve, curate and provide access to Robinsons papers on wine writing and criticism from her four decades as a wine journalist.

Winiarskis gift is part of a broader vision that he shares with the UC Davis library to build the most comprehensive collection of wine writers papers in the world. In all, he has donated $135,000 to the UC Davis Library to build its collection on California wine history as documented by wine writers in America and abroad.

In addition to the Robinson collection, he has supported the creation of the Hugh Johnson Archives to preserver, curate and provide access to Johnsons archive of nearly 60 years of wine-book writing, manuscripts and research papers.

UC Davis was my first choice of a permanent home for my work, said Johnson, who described it as the greatest wine library in the world...I would like students (and anyone else) to be able to see what I have experienced and recorded in the fastest-moving half-century in wines long history.

Winiarskis gifts have also supported the Robert G. Mondavi Papers, and the Maynard A. Amerine Wine Book Endowment, a fund used to purchase rare and unusual items for the librarys viticulture and enology collections. Amerine, for whom the fund is named, was a former professor of viticulture and enology at UC Davis who played a significant role in rebuilding the post-Prohibition wine industry in California.

The legacy of California winemaking and its global ascent in the 20th century must be both cared for and made accessible to future students and scholars of enology and the wine industry, said Winiarski, who, as founder of Stags Leap Wine Cellars, whose 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon won the Judgment of Paris in 1976, is the subject of some of the wine writers works. Winiarski was a lecturer in liberal arts at the University of Chicago while completing his masters degree and working toward a doctorate, before coming to the Napa Valley in 1964, and he continues to teach in the Summer Classics Program at his alma mater, St. Johns College in Maryland, known for its curriculum on the great books of Western civilization.

I think its very important that a California institution house these significant papers that document our wine history. Im proud to help ensure works by the prominent wine writers of our time are documented and cataloged and these individuals are recognized for their contributions to the California wine industry.
(Natural News) Linus Pauling Ph.D. (1901  1994) was a scientists scientist during a period of history when the primary role of the discipline was a diligent search for truth, not corporate sponsorship. Paulings youthful genius and inquisitiveness to discover just how and why atoms form bonds with molecules and create structures guided his entire life. He is considered as the founding father of modern biochemistry, a forerunner of todays investigations in molecular biology. An outspoken scientist and social activist, Pauling is the only man in history to have received two Nobel Prizes -for Chemistry (1954) and for Peace (1962).

Pauling authored over 1000 scientific influential papers along with a diverse line up of books. General Chemistry is an internationally used college textbook. The Nature of the Chemical Bond, written in 1931, is still revered as one of the most profound scientific book[s] in the 20th century. Pauling was also a dedicated humanitarian and an outspoken activist against nuclear testing, citing the damaging health effects of radioactive fallout on generations to come. He coined the phrase molecular disease, and for many years studied human physiology and the biochemistry of nutrition. It was Pauling who championed the efficacy of vitamin C as a vital element to treat the common cold, heart disease, and cancer. The burgeoning pharmaceutical, vaccine, and cancer industries did not approve of Paulings scientific prowess. But they were wrong. Pauling was right.

Life Extension sites epidemiological studies from 1992 that show individuals who take higher levels of vitamin C live longer and have fewer heart attacks as [compared to] those with fewer levels. Thedailysheeple.com reports that Iowa researchers have discovered that high levels ascorbic acid (vitamin C) delivered intravenously increases hydrogen peroxide levels in cancer cells. This action killed cancer cells in lab rats, but did not harm any other cells. The research mentions that ascorbic acid seemed to work best with pancreatic cancer cells, and the ability for ascorbic acid to be effective in other types of cancer cells, such as breast, brain, liver, lung, and skin, depend on the measurement of catalyse activity in tumors. Catalyse is an enzyme that plays a significant role in breaking up the bonds of hydrogen peroxide.

Linus Pauling and his team administered mega doses of vitamin C intravenously to 1000 cancer patients, reports Thetruthaboutcancer.com, and, although they were ridiculed, they discovered that patients receiving their vitamin C protocol lived four times longer than cancer patients who were not given vitamin C.

Dr. Ronald Hoffman is the director of the Hoffman Center in New York City. He concludes that oral vitamin C will help your bodys immune system and repair mechanism, but the ability for it to be absorbed by the blood maxes out at 500 milligrams. For cancer treatment, Hoffman believes vitamin C must be given intravenously to spur the production of hydrogen peroxide in areas of the body where cancer may be lurking. He states: IV vitamin C, when administered by a trained, experienced physician, is safe and well-tolerated, even at doses as high as 100,000 mg (100 grams) per day.

The force of the pharmaceutical and cancer industries to keep you away from nutritional therapies has not abated. There are still internet references to the brilliant Dr. Linus A. Pauling as a quack. But Pauling, unlike todays corporately controlled scientists, searched for the truth. He found it. And now, finally, mainstream scientists are merely catching up to his tremendous insights and discoveries.

Sources:

LpiOregonState.edu

Scarc.Library.OregonState.edu

PaulingTherapy.com

LifeExtension.com

ScienceDirect.com

Science.NaturalNews.com

TheDailySheeple.com

TheTruthAboutCancer.com
(Natural News) In yet another blow to the Washington establishment medias withering credibility, a new poll has found that Americans trust President Donald Trump a lot more than the journalists who are attacking him ceaselessly with fake news stories.

As reported by Lifezette, the recent Fox News poll found that 45 percent of Americans trust Trump to tell the public the truth compared to about 42 percent who, unbelievably, still trust the mainstream media, despite weeks and weeks of phony reporting, fake stories and passing off baseless allegations as factual news.

Lifezette reported:

Roughly 45 percent of the polls 1,013 registered voters surveyed between Feb. 11 to Feb. 13 said they trust Trumps administration more than reporters covering the presidents administration to tell the public the truth. Approximately 42 percent of voters sided with the reporters over the president, while 10 percent chose neither, two percent chose both, and one percent said they dont know.

That said, a majority of respondents  55 percent  said they still wanted the news media to cover the White House aggressively instead of giving Trump the benefit of the doubt. (RELATED: Trump Is RIGHT When It Comes To The Law Regarding His Travel Ban Executive Order, And The WaPo Is WRONG)

But thats been the medias job all along  cover both parties aggressively and without preference to either Democrats or Republicans. Yet, as weve seen in the short time since the Nov. 8 elections, Trump has been the recipient of far more fake news than his predecessor, former President Obama, ever was. And frankly, thats bizarre, given that Obama prosecuted more journalists under the 1917 Espionage Act than any president before him.

And yet, even with that kind of prosecutorial record against the Fourth Estate, Washington establishment reporters never went at Obama like that  or Trumps Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, despite the fact that she was demonstrably corrupt six different ways from Sunday.

The press ongoing feud with Trump isnt helping the medias reputation much, either, especially among Trumps core supporters, who are with him no matter what the lamestream press does to try to destroy him. Thats one thing they dont understand; only Trump can destroy his supporters trust in him, not anything the Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, or any of the other establishment outlets would report.

This poll result makes sense also when you compare it to another surprising reality: That Trumps popularity really isnt in the toilet like the mainstream medias surveys are claiming. Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll has Trump with a 55 percent approval rating  far above the 40-45 percent ratings were seeing reported by news media that oversample Democrats to get their results.

This never did make any sense. The mainstream media was reporting Trumps sagging approval ratings almost immediately after he took office, suggesting that millions who voted for Trump were having feelings of regret and remorse. It was nothing by a PSYOP by the media, much in the way they attempted to portray the Brexit vote as an aberrancy, a mistake by British citizens: It isnt true and never was. (RELATED: Fake News CNN Insinuates Trump Is Mentally Unstable Will They Ever Stop Lying?)

How could millions of Trump supporters abandon him so suddenly after refusing to leave him during the months of the campaign, when he was mocked, smeared, slandered, lied about and attacked relentlessly?

The latest story by the media is that Trumps administration is a mess and in chaos, but thats a lie as well. The president himself has refuted it, and again the evidence isnt there to support it, the various and sundry leaks coming from various #NeverTrump factions in the U.S. government notwithstanding. But, obviously, that hasnt stopped the usual suspects in the media from trying to convince you otherwise.

The lesson here is simply this: Trump is gaining and retaining credibility while the same media that has tried to destroy and delegitimize him from the outset is continuing to lose trust and credibility. Expect those trends to continue.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

Lifezette.com

Telegraph.co.uk

Disinfo.news

TheNationalSentinel.com
(Natural News) If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor. If you like your plan then youll be able to keep your plan. Average premiums will go down by $2,500. These were just some of the lies that Barack Obama and the democrats used to introduce the Affordable Care Act to the American people and then ram it down their throats. Everyone knows that the federal government cant run healthcare, and yet the democrats pushed it through anyway without a single republican vote. Since its inception in 2010, Obamacare has had devastating effects on not only the lives of the people but also on our economy, with many speculating that the worst is still to come.

Now, Aetna Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Bertolini is criticizing the Affordable Care Act once again, this time warning that the healthcare law is teetering on the brink of collapse. It is in a death spiral, Bertolini said in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. My anticipation is that by 2018 well see a lot of markets without any coverage at all. The Aetna CEO explained that, there isnt enough money in the ACA as its structured, even with its fees and taxes, to support the population that needs to be served.

This certainly isnt the first time that Bertolini has been an outspoken critic of Obamacare. In October of last year, Bertolini predicted that rising premiums would deter healthy people from Obamacare, thus leaving insurers with even sicker customers and forcing premiums to rise even higher.

The economic burden of Obamacare is no secret. According to a CBO report from January of 2016, Americas national debt will reach $30 trillion within the next decade, due largely to the Affordable Care Act. It goes without saying that $30 trillion of debt is not only astronomical but also unsustainable. Someday, one generation of Americans is going to be forced to deal with the economic consequences. Furthermore, experts predicted that Obamas signature health care law would drive workers out of the labor force, thus adding more strain to an economy thats already been struggling. (RELATED: Is the economic strife generated from the ACA all part of the plan?)

The Internet is replete with horror stories of individuals and families who have seen their lives turn upside down as a result of the ACA. Some may remember the name Jessica Sanford, whose fan letter was mentioned by Barack Obama in 2013. In the letter, she raved about Obamacare and how inexpensive it was it was only a matter of time. Just one month later, Sanford, a business owner in Washington State, completely reversed course, telling the Washington State Wire that she was really terribly embarrassed.

Initially, the Washington State exchange website, Washington Healthplanfinder, told Jessica that she would receive coverage for her and her son for just $169 per month. In the end, that turned out to not be true. Jessicas son was placed on the states Medicaid plan and Jessica herself was forced to pay the individual mandate penalty instead of purchasing health insurance for herself. (RELATED: Read about Obamacare fraud  where exactly is the money going?)

More recently, in a CNN debate night special on Obamacare between Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, a woman stood up and described an unfortunate situation that the Affordable Care Act had put her in. She explained that she owns several hair salons with nearly 50 employees in total and that she wouldnt be able to afford to pay for each of them to have health insurance as required by the ACA. Sanders responded by essentially telling her to suck it up and get over it. If you have more than 50 people, you know what, Im afraid to tell you, I think you will have to provide health insurance, said the Vermont senator.

And therein lies the ugly truth  the Affordable Care Act is actually not affordable, and it is being promoted by people, like Bernie Sanders, who simply do not care.

Sources:

Bloomberg.com

WSJ.com

WashingtonTimes.com

ConservativePost.com

DailyCaller.com
(Natural News) The Walmart Foundation has issued a $300,000 grant to the American Cancer Society (ACS) that is specifically to be used in pushing more mammogram screenings on low-income, African-American women living in three American cities. Poorer, black women in Jackson, Mississippi; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Portsmouth, Virginia will be told that in order to avoid developing breast cancer, they will need to undergo a routine screening procedure that science has repeatedly shown actually causes breast cancer, all in the name of prevention, of course.

According to the ACS press release, this Walmart money will increase womens access to mammograms, supposedly in order to prevent more than half of cancer deaths. Besides mammograms, the women in the three cities will also be instructed on ways to change their lifestyle habits to help them avoid developing breast cancer in the first place, which include eating better (what this entails in the view of ACS is unclear), avoiding cigarettes, and avoiding being overweight.

The latest ACS figures suggest that cancer rates are disproportionately higher in low-income, disadvantaged communities, which the group claims is a direct result, in large part, of poorer women not having access to machines that press their breasts between two plates to look for tumors. By getting more women into this grotesque screening routine, the stated plan is to detect more cancers earlier in order to sign these same women up for chemotherapy and radiation treatments as quickly as possible.

We are grateful to the Walmart Foundation for its collaboration with the Society, and for this commitment of additional resources to help us deliver on our lifesaving mission within these communities, announced Terry Music, chief mission delivery officer at ACS. The Walmart Foundations community-based investment will help the Society make a positive impact in these communities by providing resources and information to help people stay well.

Is Walmart conspiring to boost cancer industry revenues with phony screening scam?

It all sounds so nice and benevolent if you know nothing about the dangers of mammograms. Because really, what kind of monster wouldnt want to shower the disadvantaged with greater access to lifesaving medical procedures like mammograms, right? But when you dig a little deeper into what mammograms actually entail and how they put women at risk, it becomes clear that there is another agenda afoot than simply helping the poor.

As you may recall, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) issued a statement of its own back in 2009 explaining that mammograms significantly increase womens risk of developing breast cancer. The screening procedure is also notorious for producing false positives, which lead to unnecessary biopsies and other treatments that further put women at risk of complications. All around, mammograms are a high-risk procedure that really have no place in modern medicine, especially when safer and more effective alternatives like thermography are readily available.

This is really just Walmarts way of following in the footsteps of criminal Farid Fata, a former medical doctor who lost his medical license in 2015 for conspiring to falsely screen patients for cancer, and then treat them for cancers they didnt even have. On top of this, Fata was convicted of defrauding both Medicare and insurance companies of more than $30,000,000.

Being that its a large, multi-national corporation simply donating money  at least on the surface  Walmarts grant to the ACS didnt receive the attention that Fatas case did. But the repercussions of it, if the public is ever even made privy to them, will likely be the same: more women receiving false cancer diagnoses resulting in unneeded treatment, and more women developing cancer because of the screening itself. Follow more news about cancer screening scams at CancerScams.com.

Sources:

Cancer.org

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Emory College of Arts and Sciences has launched a $1.2 million effort that positions it to be a national leader in the future of scholarly publishing. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is funding the multiyear initiative to support long-form, open-access publications in the humanities in partnership with university presses.

The idea to explore new models for humanities publishing was born out of a working group of faculty and administrators headed by Michael A. Elliott, interim Emory College dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of English.

Emory is a good place for this because we have faculty that are adventurous in their disciplinary interests and already thinking of addressing multiple audiences, Elliott says. It will be rigorous scholarship, available to everyone.

Led by the Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, the endeavor will bring together efforts in Emory College, Emory Libraries, the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence and the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship.

At the helm is Sarah McKee, most recently managing editor of the New Georgia Encyclopedia. She arrived this month as the Fox Center's senior associate director of publishing, tasked with rolling out ventures that publish humanities monographs as digital publications.

The project will run through 2020 and calls for Emory to share the cost and benefit of publishing new long-form works.

Its experimental, and thats what is so interesting to me, McKee says. No one knows the right model, so we get to be on the cutting edge of the options.

Changing roles for university presses

The push to support humanities publishing comes at a time of rapid change in the landscape of monograph publishing.

As library budgets shrink, university presses are publishing fewer works. That in turn makes the books that are published more expensive, further limiting the audience.

At the same time, digital options have exploded in journalism, music and other media. Academic publishers were trying to catch up with what was happening when the Mellon Foundation invited proposals to explore what model would work best for long-form scholarship in disciplines as wide-ranging as literature, history and geography.

In 2014, Emory received a $56,500 Mellon grant that facilitated research, visits from press editors, and conversations about what sort of collaboration and cross-disciplinary efforts would support Emory faculty creating digital monographs in the humanities.

The working group grew out of those discussions. The latest grant is the second phase of work, exploring the possibilities of publishing monographs online  complete with the multimedia features such as videos and interactive maps.

McKee will work with Allison Adams, associate director for research and scholarship in the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, to help faculty navigate the ideas and process for writing a book. Both also are able to connect with publishers, especially those primed for digital options.

Once a university press has accepted a manuscript, Emory will give funds to the press to help support free digital distribution.

The end result could essentially be traditional monographs with websites that supplement the book. Or, it could be an online monograph with digital enhancements, such as sound files. Or, it could be a standalone digital work, one that could never be done in print alone.

At every step, the Emory model calls for faculty members to be more involved in the publication and also opens up works to broad new audiences, beyond academia.

The air is just electric with all of these pieces that are in orbit out there to make this work, Adams says. Digital scholarship strongly overlaps with public scholarship. We could see tremendous engagement by lay consumers.

Reaching new audiences

One of the most cited examples of digital publishing success is last years pilot project from Stanford University Press's Interactive Scholarly Works digital initiative, Enchanting the Desert.

The digital-born project by University of Oklahoma geographer Nicholas Bauch is an interactive examination of the Grand Canyon that combines Bauchs written research, photos and spatial mapping. There is also a special note for enthusiasts, such as the commercial photographer whose slideshow is the basis for the project.

The prospect of Emory faculty producing scholarship that is freely available to anyone with an Internet connection has appeal in several different ways, says Lisa Macklin, the director of scholarly communications for Emory Libraries.

Macklin, an attorney and librarian, is developing a model publishing contract for these types of digital publications with the support of another grant from Mellon. She says most academics write to be read. Reaching beyond the usual academic audiences who buy university press books is just one potential benefit.

For some faculty, it is a chance to include multimedia features that simply cant be included in print. Still others, especially those studying topics in other parts of the world, see it as a way to provide access in developing countries.

Its a way to give back and reach new audiences, Macklin says. New knowledge has greater power the more its shared.

In her first weeks at Emory, McKee already has begun to lay the groundwork for faculty outreach and started research on archival options for digital publications, work the Libraries also will support.

Ahead, she will connect with publishers to see what projects they want, and work to match them with Emory College professors. As with traditional publishing, it could be some time before works  which will still be peer-reviewed  are out.

We are positioning Emory in the universe of digital publishing to tackle this one question, how to best publish long-form humanities scholarship, McKee says. We hope, in the process, to find a model that will work beyond Emory.
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.



Weve 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 studys lead author, Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, a disease ecologist in Emorys Department of Environmental Sciences. Weve 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 Foundations 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.

View Full Story in eScienceCommons 
08:26

Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi today described the shooting at a Kansas pub in which an Indian was killed as an attack on United States' fundamental values and an assault on the sense of security of all persons of colour in the country.





"This was an attack not only on the victims, but on the sense of security of Indians, Indian-Americans, and millions of other people of colour across the nation," Krishnamoorthi said in a statement in response to reports that the shooting in Olathe, Kansas, was specifically motivated by the race of two of the victims.





"Along with so many throughout the world, I have always believed in the American Dream of our country as a place where regardless of where you come from, the colour of your skin, or how you pray, you can build a better life. This shooting was a brutal, racial attack on two men, and on the fundamental values of our nation. It follows a spate of hate-motivated attacks on others in this country," Krishnamoorthi said.





The first-time Democratic lawmaker from Illinois said the details of this attack have not yet been confirmed by police, but by all accounts, this appears to be an act of hatred.





"Yesterday, a man opened fire in a crowded bar, shouting racial slurs and yelling for the two Indian victims to 'get out of my country'. Today, because of one man's hate, another man lies dead and two others gravely wounded," he said.





The two Indian victims came to the United States to pursue their educations, to live, and to work, Krishnamoorthi said.





"The same reports that have identified this shooting as an act of hate have also stated that the third victim, Ian Grillot, was wounded when he saw what was happening and heroically sought to intervene," Krishnamoorthi said.





He urged his colleagues in the Congress, those in the executive branch, and all Americans, to actively work together not only to prevent future attacks, but to directly address the underlying culture and climate which have led to them.





Eminent Indian-American from the Republican party in Virginia Puneet Ahluwalia said it was a tragic, upsetting and unacceptable incident.





"This kind of demented rage and their perpetrators have to be stopped and prosecuted," he said.





"This is a threat to the greatness and hope which America is to so many. Importantly, not on our watch, we are a party of big tent and strong believer in our constitution," Ahluwalia said in a statement. -- PTI
The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]
Security Dawgs advance to wildcard competition

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondales Security Dawgs will advance to a wildcard competition after finishing second in the Illinois Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition on Feb. 18.

DePaul University won the overall eight-team event. SIU finished second for the third year in a row, but a new format this year allows second-place qualifiers in each of the nine states that comprise the Midwest region to compete March 4 at remote locations. The top two teams will join the respective state champions, March 17-18, at Moraine Valley Community College in the Midwest regional competition. Other states in the Midwest region are Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Our SIU Security Dawgs have once again demonstrated they can handle the pressure of having professional hackers attempt to break into their computer systems while making sure the systems can be accessed as intended, Tom Imboden, associate professor, Information Systems and Applied Technologies and faculty adviser, said. Second place in as competitive a state as we are in is a testament to these students' skills, knowledge, and effort. We look forward to competing in the upcoming wildcard competition in March in hopes of once again advancing to the regional competition. As an instructor and as their team adviser it is fun watching them learn and compete throughout the year but the best part of my participation with the group is knowing that their time as a Security Dawg will directly influence the success they will achieve in their future careers in IT." 

The Midwest regional winner advances to the 10th annual National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition April 13-15 in San Antonio, Texas.

In the competition, teams work to keep their site secure from hackers and unwanted cyberattacks, 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.

I am very proud of our team, Jonathon Farmer, the organizations vice president, said. This competition is very stressful and our team did an excellent job of staying focused throughout the event.

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
Salukis SPEAK kicks off spring discussion series

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondale will kick off its spring semester 2017 Salukis SPEAK public discussion series with International Student Awareness at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the Student Services Building, Room 150.

The evening will explore the myths and fears associated with studying abroad. It will also include conversations with student volunteers who will discuss their journeys and experiences as international students. They will answer questions from the audience as well.

Salukis SPEAK (Solutions for Peace and Equality through Advocacy and Knowledge) is a series of focused discussions established to encourage learning, engagement and interaction outside of the classroom walls. Students, faculty, staff and community members are welcome to attend the forums, which are organized by the Dean of Students unit in the Division of Student Affairs. The goal is to enhance respect and a culture of inclusivity and diversity while fostering personal growth.

The schedule for future Salukis SPEAK presentations, with all taking place at 5:30 p.m. in Room 150 of the Student Services building, includes:

March 28 -- Intersectionality

April 19 -- Political Insanity

May 2 -- Culture of Change

To learn more about Salukis SPEAK or the upcoming sessions, visit http://dos.siu.edu/saluki-speak.php.
The People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.8655 per dollar prior to market open, firmer than theprevious fix of 6.8695.

The spot market opened at 6.8718 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.8705 at midday, 30 pips stronger than the previous late session close and 0.07 percent weaker than the midpoint.

There was no impact on the spot level from U.S. President Donald Trump's comment to Reuters on Thursday that China is the "grand champion" of currency manipulation.

The yuan's spot rate is currently allowed to trade with a range 2 percent above or below the official fixing on any given day.

"The U.S. dollar has not moved much this week and that's also why the spot yuan market is quiet as there's no clear direction," said Zhou Hao, senior economist at Commerzbank AG in Singapore.

Zhou expected the yuan to remain between 6.8-6.9 per dollar in the near term.

The Thomson Reuters/HKEX Global CNH index, which tracks the offshore yuan against a basket of currencies on a daily basis, stood at 95.13, weaker than the previous day's 95.2.

The global dollar index fell to 101.02 from the previous close of 101.05.

The offshore yuan was trading 0.25 percent stronger than the onshore spot at 6.8535 per dollar.

Offshore one-year non-deliverable forwards contracts (NDFs), considered the best available proxy forforward-looking market expectations of the yuan's value, traded at 7.086, or 3.11 percent weaker than the midpoint. REUTERS SV PM0923

-- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-1163368.Xml
Enforcement Directorate on Friday issued show cause notice dated February 16, 2017 to CC Thampi and his three companies including Holiday City Centre, Holiday Properties, and Holiday Bekal Resorts Pvt. Ltd respectively for contravention of provisions of section 6 (3) (b), 6(3)(e), 6(3)(f), 6(3)(i) read with Section 47(3) and Section 6(6) of Foreign Exchange Management Act,1999 for the aggregate amount of Rs. 288 crore. CC Thampi, an NRI had acquired agricultural land in name of his company Holiday City Centre by circumventing the prescribed law of land and in contravention of extant provision of Foreign Exchange Management Act,1999. In pursuant to complaint, investigation was initiated, which revealed that Thampi was a person resident outside India and he had advanced unsecured loans to his three companies Holiday City Centre, Holiday Properties and Holiday Bekal Resorts, which was later on converted into equity in his name and in the name of his family members in these companies. By using the said funds he had acquired huge agricultural land mass in Palwal, NCR and Gautam Buddha Nagar, UP through the above mentioned companies, which he otherwise would not have been able to purchase, being a person resident outside India. The agricultural land purchased by C.C. Thampi through the above mentioned companies in contravention of the relevant provisions of FEMA,1999 has also been proposed therein for confiscation to the Central Govt. Account. (ANI)
Condemning the decision of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for refusing to certify his upcoming Bollywood flick 'Lipstick Under My Burkha', producer Prakash Jha said, "This problem will end only when we will focus on certification rather than censoring the movie." Talking exclusively to ANI, Jha said, "Central Board of Film Certification have certain people, who have their own thought process and they interpret the guidelines differently." "I believe my film is a beautiful story about section of women, who feel these things but never say something like this. The movie, 'Lipstick Under My Burkha', states how suffocated their lives are and how suffocated their dreams become. It is not about Burkha, but it's a story about Ratna Pathak, who is a Hindu and Ahana, who is also a Hindu," the ace director said. Stating that many issues were raised before the release of 'Rajneeti' and 'Aarakshan', 'Jai Gangaajal', the 64-year-old said, "This time also we will go to tribunal." (ANI)
Maha Shivaratri which means the ''Great Night of Shiva'' is being celebrated today as it is a festival celebrated annually in honour of lord Shiva. There is a Shivaratri in every luni-solar month of the Hindu calendar, on the month''s 13th night and 14th day, but once a year in late winter February or March, or Phalguna and before the arrival of spring marks Maha Shivaratri. It marks a remembrance of overcoming darkness and ignorance in life and the world. It is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, doing Yoga and meditating on ethics and virtues such as self-restraint, honesty, noninjury to others, forgiveness and the discovery of Shiva.(ANI)
Taking a swipe at 'Kasab' comment made by Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) supremo Mayawati, the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) on Friday said that former has lost her mental stability. "Mayawati is not mentally stable. She can see defeat in front of her and that is why she is talking like that. Now a big portion of the dalit vote will come under the BJP," BJP leader Rahul Sinha told ANI. Sinha added that Mayawati should go through the political history of BJP national president Amit Shah before making any comment. "He is very grounded leader and comes from a humble background and Mayawati has not struggled that much," he added. Earlier, launching a scathing attack at Amit Shah over his 'Kasab' remark, Mayawati said, "there is no bigger 'Kasab' (terrorist) than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president." The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh further said Amit Shah's Kasab statement shows the cheapness of the saffron party. The BJP president drew flak from the opposition for devising 'KASAB' as an acronym for describing Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). "In the last fifteen years, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) governments have ruined Uttar Pradesh. The two were enough for destruction, however, a third one has also arrived. The population of UP must get rid of this KASAB, and by this I mean - 'Ka' for Congress, 'S' for SP and 'B' for...," Shah said while addressing a rally in Chauri Chaura. While he didn't clearly mention the BSP, there was no denial from his side when the audience shouted 'BSP'.(ANI)
Stalin will meet the Congress top brass around 9:45 am at 10 Janpath. He has also sought time to meet with Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury.

This comes after Stalin met the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan to seek a fresh trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly under a secret ballot voting procedure.

"The present dispensation is not even able to undertake local body elections in the state. No administration work has taken place for nearly 9 months; there's a standstill in the state. DMK has raised the issue and now the Governor must take action," Stalin said.

Stalin said he had met the Governor and submitted a memorandum seeking establishment of a government in the state.

The DMK leader said that the President had assured him that he would look into the matter and take appropriate steps.

The Congress had earlier come down heavily on the Tamil Nadu Governor of deliberately delaying the government formation in Tamil Nadu, while accusing the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for the political chaos and allegeding that the latter is trying to utilise the situation to stamp the presence of the saffron party in the state. (ANI)
On observing the suspicious movement close to BSF sentry post ahead of fence, the alert BSF sentry challenged the intruder.

The apprehended person has been identified as Azhar, 30 year-old, who seems to be mentally unsound.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)
Despite the current political turbulence in the state, there is no let-up in zeal and extravagance when it comes to celebrating the birthday of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa. Jayalalithaa's 69th birthday will be celebrated today by paying rich tributes by organising feasts and distributing welfare aid to the poor, besides keeping her portraits decked with flowers for the public to pay homage. A statement released by AIADMK said party presidium chairman K A Sengottaiyan will lead the birth anniversary celebration of Jayalalithaa. "He would also release a souvenir on the occasion, the statement said.The party asked cadres to pay rich tributes to Jayalalithaa by organising feasts and distributing welfare aid to the poor, besides keeping her portraits decked with flowers for the public to pay homage. "Huge posters, life-size cutouts, new welfare projects, elaborate functions and display of loyalty by the cadres of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have always marked 24 February, the birthday of the late Tamil Nadu chief minister," it added. Recalling her efforts in uniting the party following the death of its founder MG Ramachandran, the AIADMK said, "Amma, who was instrumental for such growth of the party, is not among us today, but her guidance will be steering us." The party will also organise a series of public meetings from February 24 to 28 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa. AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran, Palaniswami and Lok Sabha deputy speaker M Thambidurai will be among those addressing the meetings to be held across the state. Also, the faction led by Panneerselvam issued a statement saying the party flag would be hoisted across the state and free food would be provided to the poor. After more than a week in jail, VK Sasikala said she was missing Jayalalithaa on her birth anniversary. The AIADMK chief, who is in jail on an disproportionate assets case, had been a longtime live-in aide of the former Chief Minister. The two had even been in the same jail for a few weeks in the same case in 2014. Recalling the "love, compassion and hard work" of Ms Jayalalithaa, who died in December after an illness, Ms Sasikala said, "That Amma is not with us makes me more sad". "After having celebrated her birthday with her for the past 33 years, I feel lonely this year in her memories. My thoughts revolve around her." (ANI)
Following the deadly shooting in Kansas in which an Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was killed by a gunman in an alleged racial attack, the Indian Consulate in Houston has stepped in to ensure the victims' mortal remains are brought back and adequate facilities are provided to another Indian, Alok Madasani, who was injured. "Consul Mr. R. D Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. Vice Consul, Mr. Harpal Singh is also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas. They will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup. He further informed that they will be in touch with the local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action. "The deceased and the injured persons are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe (Kansas)," Swarup said. According to local U.S. media, the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran, was arrested after he allegedly blasted off several rounds of fire on Thursday. The Police say Purinton shot and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani. "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," said a statement released by Garmin International. At least one witness has claimed that Purtinton yelled 'get out of my country' and also heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire. According to reports, Kuchibhotla died at a local hospital and Madasani and another injured man were hospitalized. Local U.S. media reports said that Purinton came back after he was asked to leave the bar for shouting racial slurs and opened fire on the people. He was reportedly taken into custody by the police at Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles southeast of Olathe. Purinton was working as desktop support specialist for an information technology company in the Kansas City area. He was described by the witnesses at the bar as a "disgruntled customer". Olathe Police said the FBI will investigate if it's proven that the shooting was a result of a hate crime. (ANI)
Following the deadly shooting in Kansas in which an Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was killed by a gunman in an alleged racial attack, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has assured that India would undertake all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of the former to Hyderabad. "We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderbad, she said in a tweet. Swaraj spoke to the father and brother of Kuchibhotla and conveyed her condolences to the bereaved family. "I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family. We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family." Sushma tweeted. Meanwhile, the Indian Consulate in Houston has stepped in to ensure the victims' mortal remains are brought back and adequate facilities are provided to another Indian, Alok Madasani, who was injured. "Consul Mr. R. D Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. Vice Consul, Mr. Harpal Singh is also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas. They will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup. He further informed that they will be in touch with the local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action. "The deceased and the injured persons are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe (Kansas)," Swarup said. According to local U.S. media, the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran, was arrested after he allegedly blasted off several rounds of fire on Thursday. The Police say Purinton shot and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani. "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," said a statement released by Garmin International. At least one witness has claimed that Purtinton yelled 'get out of my country' and also heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire. According to reports, Kuchibhotla died at a local hospital and Madasani and another injured man were hospitalized. Local U.S. media reports said that Purinton came back after he was asked to leave the bar for shouting racial slurs and opened fire on the people. He was reportedly taken into custody by the police at Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles southeast of Olathe. Purinton was working as desktop support specialist for an information technology company in the Kansas City area. He was described by the witnesses at the bar as a "disgruntled customer". Olathe Police said the FBI will investigate if it's proven that the shooting was a result of a hate crime. (ANI)
Indonesian conglomerate PT Astra International Tbk will not sell its stake in lender PT Bank Permata Tbk, the company's top executive said on Friday.Astra and Standard Chartered PLC each owned 44.8 percent of Permata as of Dec. 31, according to Thomson Reuters data.Last month, Indonesian tycoon Tahir told Reuters he was interested in buying all of Permata and merging it with PT Bank Mayapada Internasional Tbk, starting with the stake held by Asia-focused Standard Chartered."We will not get out of Permata. As a shareholder, we have mid-term and long-term plans," Astra President Director Prijono Sugiarto told reporters. REUTERS SV PM128 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-1163456.Xml
In the absence of Leader of Opposition in the Tripura Assembly, the Speaker constituted a committee headed by senior most minister Aghore Debbarma as advised by the Chief Minister Manik Sarkar to propose necessary amendment in the Act for appointment of Lokayukta. The state government could not able to appoint Lokayukta for past two months after incumbent Lokayukta former Judge of Gujarat High Court Justice P K Sarkar's tenure was over in December last year due to non-availability of the quorum to recommend Lokayukta. To overcome the fiasco, the chief minister moves an amendment bill of the existing act in the assembly. The assembly constituted a committee comprising three senior ministers holding portfolio of law Tapan Chakraborty, revenue Badal Choudhury and Panchayat Manik Dey besides, tribal welfare minister Aghore Debbarma as head of the team. Apart from that three opposition MLAs - Sudip Roy Barman of Trinamool and Ratan Lal Nath and Gopal Roy of Congress and Government Chief Wipe Basudeb Majumdar were included in the committee to propose the amendment in the act to appoint Lokayukta. According to the Tripura Lokayukta Act, 2008, the Chief Minister, in consultation with the Assembly Speaker and the Leader of Opposition, would advise the Governor to appoint the Lokayukta to deal with complaints of corruption. In the absence of a recognised opposition leader in the state assembly, the post has been lying vacant. He said, "To overcome the situation, a bill was passed on Wednesday in the state assembly, amending the existing act to make provision that leader of the single-largest opposition party in the absence of the designated opposition leader would be the member of the three-member Lokayukta Selection Committee." In the 60-member Tripura Assembly, Left Front has 51 members, while Trinamool Congress has six members and three in CongressUNI BB BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1163559.Xml
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar asserted the assembly that the government has been considering written test for filling up the post of Group C and D categories as advised by the central government. He stated that the state government did not take any decision on introducing written test for the posts of Group-C and Group-D. The job seekers in these posts have to appear for walk-in-interview in respective departments. Mr Sarkar pointed out that state had formulated a recruiting policy taking abstracts from various judgments of the Supreme Court and High Court of Tripura for Group C and Group D employees. The evaluation test of the applying candidates to be carried out on the basis of the knowledge and aptitude, intelligence and need of job in the family considering the income level. Trinamool Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman opposed the component in the walk-in-interview "need of job" and said every eligible candidate have need of governmentjob. Assessing need on the basis of family income nothing but an attempt of curtailing the right of a job seeker, this is illegal. "Even if my family has five persons in government job and my family income is more than a crore, the state cannot prevent my entry into job if I am employable to the post and I probe my competency in the post offered," Mr Roy Barman attributed. He pointed out that the state government adopted an illegal frame work in the form of swearing affidavit of declaration that the particular job seeker's family doesn't have government job and annual income of his family is not more than Rs 1.5 lakh. He asked to withdraw the clause immediately showing respect to the constitution. The state government did not take any decision regarding written test for filling up the posts of Group C & D. Some of the states in India might have introduced, but we are still on discussion stage.UNI BB BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1163567.Xml
The sapling was planted at the Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital.

According to an official statement, the state has initiated a programme of planting 69 lakh saplings across Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs 65.85 crore.

This has been done to increase the green cover within and outside government premises, the statement added.

At the headquarters of the ruling AIADMK, party leaders paid floral tributes to Jayalalithaa's picture.

Jayalalithaa died on December 5.

--IANS vj/sm/mr

( 109 Words)

2017-02-24-13:45:57 (IANS)
A day after protests rocked Kashmir University (KU) against the disappearance of a Law student, Jammu and Kashmir Police today traced him in Srinagar.Official sources here today said a third year LLB student, Aqib Mushtaq Malik, went missing since February 21. After attending his class, Malik left for his home but never reached there.They said after following various leads and using technology, police was able to trace him to Habak area in Srinagar this morning. However, it was not immediately clear where the student was during the last three days.Meanwhile, the University of Kashmir appreciated the efforts of J&K Police in tracing the student. After completion of formalities at Nigeen Police Station, Malik has been handed over to University of Kashmir.They said the University authorities had formally taken up the issue with J&K's Director General of Police, Dr SP Vaid, yesterday, and requested him to have the matter inquired into on priority.Scores of students yesterday boycotted their classes and took out at protest rally in the university campus against the disappearance of Malik.UNI ABS JW SNU 1412 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1163644.Xml
Former Indian envoy to the United States Naresh Chandra on Friday described the murder of Indian origin engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas as a hate crime. "This is definitely a hate crime, something that has happened before. This shows the dangerous trends that exist amongst disgruntled people," Chandra told ANI in an interview. He also said racial discrimination is prevalent in the United States. "In the run-up to the elections, passions had been whipped up against immigrants and foreigners. Now, it has become white versus non-white," he said. Expressing faith in the Trump Administration with regard to steps being taken to get to the bottom of the causes behind the shooting, Chandra, however, was critical of the various appointments made by the former recently. "I am sure the Trump administration must be watching it carefully and the FBI and the local police must have taken prompt action," he said. "The unfortunate part is that some appointments made by the Trump Administration have produced role models of a very different kind. They are not liberal and have been making bad speeches, which in a way has enhanced the feeling of victimhood," he suggested. The gunman who shot Kuchibhotla has been identified as Adam Purinton, a Navy veteran by the local police. He had allegedly shot Srinivas and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani while screaming racial slurs at them such as 'get out of my country'. (ANI)
Vice President Hamid Ansari today returned after a five-day visit to Rwanda and Uganda during which he inked several Memorandum of Understanding with the host country. The Vice-President was accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla among others. In the second leg of his visit in Uganda, where he arrived on February 21, the two sides expressed readiness to boost bilateral ties by extending cooperation in different fields, including space, atomic energy and vocational training. In Entebbe, Dr Ansari said there were a number of sectors, where both the countries can co-operate with each other for mutual benefit. India is also willing to co-operate with Uganda in the field of vocational training for skill development, so that Ugandan people could get employments. Mr Ansari said Uganda's expanding economy offered opportunities in a variety of sectors. Indian educational institutions provide opportunities for quality education at a fraction of the cost of western institutions to an ever increasing number of students from Africa, including from Uganda. India has been a source of affordable pharmaceuticals and specialised healthcare for the people of Africa, he added. The Vice President noted that the Indian community in Uganda holds an important position in the Ugandan economy in manufacturing, trade and service sectors. Indian businesses employed thousands of Ugandans and were among the largest contributors to tax revenue in Uganda. India, he said, had emerged as one of the largest investors and trading partners of Uganda. In Kigali, India and Rwanda inked three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), including a Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) which also included the establishment of an Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) and an agreement for exemption of Visa requirements for diplomatic and service passport holders. A flight connecting Mumbai and Kigali will start from April this year fulfilling as a long-pending demand from the Indian business community and Rwandan citizens. The India-Rwanda Innovation Growth Programme is being launched to expand ties in Science, Technology and Innovation, and the programme aims at creating an ecosystem wherein Indian innovations and technology enterprises will thrive and encourage business ventures from both sides. Rwandan President Paul Kagame evinced interest in setting up of either assembling unit or manufacturing plants by inviting foreign investors to set up an assembling or manufacturing plant in the country to drive industrialisation and generate employment for Rwandan people. ''We will give first priority to Indian industrialists,'' he assured the visiting delegation.UNI SD SHK 1640 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-1163899.Xml
Asserting that theirs was the 'real' AIADMK, the factionled by rebel leader O Panneerselvam, today said a judicial probe by a sittingSupreme Court judge and monitored by the Central government alone would bring the truth over the mystery behind the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Talking to reporters after distributing various welfare measures to mark the69th birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa, Mr Panneerselvam, who had announcedthat a judicial probe would be ordered into her death, reiterated his demand in front of a large contingent of media and a large number of his supporters. ''I took some concrete steps in this regard. But it did not fell through'', he said,apparently referring to the change of guard in the State. He said all steps should be taken to order a judicial probe into her death. ''Only a central government monitored judicial probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge will bring the truth to light'', he added. ''If one has respect for 'Amma'' (as Jaya is called), then the judicial probeshould be ordered into her death'', Mr Panneerselvam asserted. Claiming that the camp led by him was the 'real' AIADMK, he said all the 1.5 crore party cadres were with them. ''Except the 121 MLAs, all the 1.5 crore party cadres and the people of Tamil Nadu are with us. Ours is the real AIADMK'', he said. Terming the appointment of V K Sasikala as the 'interim' General Secretary (GS) of AIADMK as illegal, Mr Panneerselvam said ''till a new GS was elected by the party cadres, Amma continues to be the GS and we are the real officebearers''. ''No one has the right to occupy the seat held by our Amma'', he added. Exuding confidence of getting a favourable verdict from the Election Commission of India before whom the OPS camp has challenged the interim election of Sasikala (since jailed due to her conviction in the DA case) as illegal, he said ''Sasikala's order expelling us from the primary membership of the party is also not valid''. He said the AIADMK headquarters would automatically come to them. Stating that the AIADMK was now being controlled by a particular family, OPS mocked at Party Deputy General Secretary T T V Dinakaran extending an olive branch appealing to all those who had left the party to return back. ''It's strange that a person, who is not at all a primary member of the party is extending such an invitation'', he added.UNI GV CS 1529 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1163781.Xml
The 69th birth anniversary of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was celebrated by the AIADMK (Sasikala) group at the party headquarters here today. AIADMK legislature party leader A Anbazhagan and other legislators participated in the function in which sweets and welfare measures were distributed. Party flag was hoisted and floral tributes was paid to a decorated portrait of the late leader. Meanwhile, the birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa was celebrated by the O Panneerselvam faction at Lenin street here in a fitting manner. Former legislator Om Sakthi Sekhar led the celebrations. Party State secretary P Purushothaman did not participate in any of the celebrations.When newspersons contacted, he said that he could not participate as he was indisposed.UNI PAB CS 1605 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1163838.Xml
Supreme Court Judges N V Ramana, Madan B Lokur and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrabu Naidu underlined the need of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) in the globalization scenario and highlighted the IPR is emerging on global stage. Addressing a workshop on "Intellectual Property, Commercial and Energy laws" Justice Ramana said that it is imperative to maintain sound legal frame work to uphold commercial interests of individual and such a frame work is essential. He said that Intellectual properties are divided into seven categories, including copy right, trade mark, geographical indication, patient and layout of designs. "Any model system of legal rights could be incomplete without intellectual property rights", the Apex court judge said. He opined that Arbitration system is not attractive and lucrative option for resolving of disputes in the country. Justice Ramana also said that Andhra Pradesh is trying to tap the new Information and Technology market and intensified its efforts to attract investments in IT sector. On the other side, he said, cyber crime is on the raise. In 2013, 149 cyber crimes were registered, 195 in 2014 and 400 cyber crimes had been registered during the year 2016. He regretted that Visakhapatnam ranked number two in the country, after Bangalore, in cyber crimes. In the light this development, the Supreme Court Judge asked the lawyers to update their knowledge on the cyber crimes cases. Justice Lokur underlined the need of commercial courts. He said that there should be exclusive commercial courts in the country and suggested the Andhra Pradesh government that commercial courts be established in Andhra Pradesh in Visakhapatnam and in Amaravathi. "Delhi developed to a considerable extent in IPR protection. The IPR is emerging on global stage. All should be conscious about IPR" he said. Assuring to take steps to protect IPR, Mr Naidu said that his government is concentrating on sea port based economy development. He said that the state had introduced innovation, incubation and start up programmes. Judges Ramesh Rangarajan, Rohini, Rama Subrmanyam, Muralidhar and Ravindran were also present.UNI DP CS 1613 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1163846.Xml
Speaker Kadaga requested for India's assistance for training of Ugandan diplomats. Vice President Ansari expressed India's readiness to support Uganda in this regard.

The vice president pointed out that India and Uganda have similar demographic profiles and disease burden and face similar changes related to health and well-being of our populations.

At the end of his visit, Vice President Ansari thanked Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for the warm hospitality extended to him and his delegation during their stay in Uganda. (ANI)
Realtives of murdered Indian-origin engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla on Friday blamed President Donald Trump for the hate crime in Kansas. "This certainly shows that Trump is surely the primary reason as of now. Most of my relatives are in the U.S. from the past 20 years and they have never encountered this thing. This is first such incident in our family," said Shastri, Srinivas's brother. Shastri further said that the only thing they want from the government is to handover Srinivas's body at the earliest. "Sushma Swaraj called me in the morning and the local BJP team has been in touch with me. They have said they would be supporting us along with the Telangana Government," he said. According to local U.S. media, gunman Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran, was arrested after he allegedly fired several rounds and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani. "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," said a statement released by Garmin International. At least one witness has claimed that Purtinton yelled 'get out of my country' and also heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire. According to reports, Kuchibhotla died at a local hospital and Madasani and another injured man were hospitalized. Local U.S. media reports said that Purinton came back after he was asked to leave the bar for shouting racial slurs and opened fire on the people. He was reportedly taken into custody by the police at Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles southeast of Olathe. (ANI)
"Stalin gave a memorandam about the incident that took place in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly to the President. He also brought attention to the fact that police officers were brought into the assembly and how we were thrown out," DMK Member of Parliament Tiruchi Siva told ANI.

Siva highlighted on the speaker's illegal actions and the coax that occurred there.

"After carefully listening to him (Stalin), the President has assured him that he would look into the matter and take appropriate steps accordingly," added Siva.

Stalin staged a hunger strike with his party workers against Chief Minister Edapaddi K. Palanisamy and the controversial trust vote in the state assembly that allowed him to occupy the office.

Stalin had also announced that the DMK would go on strike soon.

The DMK has moved a no-confidence motion against Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal, with Stalin accusing him of deliberately being partisan in his approach. (ANI)
A day after Khalsa College "postponed" its street play event, allegedly under "pressure" from the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU), the union on Friday denied it gave any threats to the college, and said it did not have any issue with the event. "I have not given any threats to anyone. It was the principal of the college who had first called me and sought my views on the prevailing situaton. I told them it was their call. I do not have any issues with the plays," DUSU President Amit Tanwar told IANS. He said that most plays which were scheduled at the college event had even been performed at the 'Madari' festival organised by the union last month, and the rumours that the DUSU forced the cancellation of the event was an attempt to malign the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), to which Tanwar belongs. In the wake of violence at the Ramjas College here, the Khalsa College decided to postpone its street play festival allegedly for fears of possible attempts at disruption. During the three-day annual festival of Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, which ends on Saturday, a street play event was planned but was "postponesd till further notice" after allegedly receiving a veiled message from the students union that the college will be responsible if any "objectionable" content was found in plays performed. "Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Amit Tanwar called up the college Principal and told him if anything objectionable was found in the street plays, the college will be responsible for the situation that follows," Shaikat Ghosh, Assistant Professor and convener of the college's Theatre Society, told IANS. The college Principal in turn called up the organisers who thought it better to postpone the event, he added. "We even told the police about the 'message' the DUSU (dominated by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad, the students wing of the RSS) sent us. They advised us to take a call on the matter. We decided to cancel the event since police cannot be trusted after their behaviour on February 21 at the Ramjas College... In effect, the event stands cancelled since there's only a day left," Ghosh said. Jaswinder Singh, Principal of Khalsa College, could not be reached for the comment as his phone was switched off. The Theatre Society also refused to comment on the issue. Nine teams were to compete in the annual competition. "It is very unfortunate since students must have practised for months to prepare for these plays. It is more striking also because the very form of street play is geared to criticise the authorities. How can you expect them to keep it (content of plays) docile?" All India Students Association member Naveen told IANS. --IANS vn/tsb/vt ( 470 Words) 2017-02-24-18:29:57 (IANS)
Governor of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh P B Acharya extends his greetings to all on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri. In a greeting message, Mr Acharya said it is a major festival in Hinduism, but one that is solemn and marks a remembrance of "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in life and the world. It is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, doing Yoga and meditating on ethics and virtues such as self-restraint, honesty, no injury to others, forgiveness and the discovery of Shiva. The ardent devotees of Lord Shiva keep awake all night. Hundreds of lakhs of Hindus visit Lord Shiva temples or go on pilgrimage to Jyotirlingams. Unlike most Hindu festivals which are celebrated during the day, the Maha Shivaratri is celebrated at night. Furthermore, unlike other festivals which include expression of cultural revelry, the Maha Shivaratri is a solemn event notable for its introspective focus, fasting, participation and meditation on Lord Shiva, self study, social harmony. "Om Namah Shivaya," the sacred mantra of Lord Shiva, is chanted through the day. The Governor also extends his greetings to the Angami Naga Community on the occasion of the Sekrenyi, the festival of purification which normally falls on the 25th day of the Angami month of "Kezei." The ten-day festival is also called Phousanyi by the Angamis. During this festival of feasting and song, all the field work ceases. He further mentioned that the festival is an occasion to showcase our culture and traditions that has been preserved from time immemorial. The occasion reminds us afresh the customary practices of our forefathers towards purification of oneself. He hopes that this festival will strengthen the bond of love and unity among the Angami Community in particular and Nagas in general. On the occasion of both Maha Shivaratri and Sekrenyi festival, Governor conveys his best wishes and hope that the Almighty God will continue to bestow abundant blessings upon the people of the State and country as well, the message said. UNI AS AKM 1757 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-1164066.Xml
Thousands of devotees of Lord Shiva were seen lined up at different temples in Uttar Pradesh today. Mahashivaratri is an auspicious and important festival of Hindus, especially for the devotees of Lord Shiva who celebrate the religious festival with great enthusiasm.In Varanasi district, long queues were seen in front of Baba Vishwanath temple near Dashashwamedh Ghat. According to Hindu mythology, Mahashivaratri is Lord Shiva's favourite day. Devotees visit temples to offer water, milk and bael leaves on Lingum. In Gorakhpur district, devotees thronged at Baba Gorakhnath temple to offer their prayers. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also offered prayers here.In Lucknow district Mankameshwar temple and other Shiv temples were crowded with devotees. Many of them keep fast and offer prayers to both Lord Shiva and Parvati to shower their grace with peaceful and blessed married life.UNI JDM MB JW SNU 1854 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1164200.Xml
Sleuths of Excise department today seized 51 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from Kolkata-Jainagar- Gangasagar Express at Laheriasarai station in the district. Excise superintendent Dinbandhu said here that acting on a tip off, raid was conducted by a joint team of local police and excise sleuths in a boggy of Kolkata-Jainagar-Gangasagar Express, leading to seizure of 51 bottles of IMFL. Two smugglers managed to escape during the raid. In another operation, eight kg of silver was recovered from a person travelling in Howrah-Darbhanga-Mithilanchal Express, he said, adding that the person had been detained for interrogation in thisconnection.UNI XC KKS RN 2048 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0311-1164412.Xml
"This is the first list of 109 candidates for civic polls. The selection process of the names the candidates for the remaining wards is going on. Another list will be announced soon," said Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Delhi Convener, Dilip Pandey.

The selection procedure for the 109 candidates continued nearly for a month. Out of 109 announced candidates, 64 are youth and 49 are women.

The names were finalised in a meeting of the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on Thursday.

The AAP earlier this month had formed a 10-member screening committee to pick nominees for the 272 municipal wards in the national capital.

The screening committee includes Pandey, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Water Minister Kapil Mishra and all seven Vice Presidents of the Delhi unit.

The screening committee had shortlisted the names of two-three candidates from each ward out of which PAC finalised 109 candidates.

Pandey said that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corrupted all the three civic bodies in the national capital.

"I hope Delhi people will this time vote for AAP and free Delhi from corruption," he added.

--IANS am/vd

( 229 Words)

2017-02-24-21:07:54 (IANS)
The National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Friday urged President Pranab Mukherjee to intervene on the issue of the JNU Vice-Chancellor's "arbitrary" move to slash admission seats. "The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Vice Chancellor (VC) is shockingly announcing arbitrary decisions and fundamental changes in JNU's admission policy and research programmes through press conferences refusing either to discuss these in JNU's decision-making bodies like Academic Council and Executive Council, or meet students' and teachers' representatives," NSUI, the students wing of Congress party, said in a statement. The complaint was against the adoption of a UGC notification by the university which imposed a cap on the intake of candidates in M.Phil. and Ph.D. The university has justified the move saying they have to abide by the funding agency, that is UGC, and that the given student-teacher ratio is a universal norm for universities. However, the delegation led by senior Congress leaders, reasoned with Mukherjee that the move of capping the intake of students was against the egalitarian history of the JNU and the JNU Act which provisioned a fixed 54 per cent intake for OBC students in these course. "The present number of seats in JNU has been fixed as part of the implementation of OBC reservation and the concomitant expansion of seats, infrastructure and faculty (during 2008-10), mandated by the 93rd amendment of the Constitution," the student body said. It also alleged that the VC "bulldozed" the notification in the Academic Council without any discussion and demanded the the 142nd meet where it was passed be declared "annulled" and reconvened again. The JNU Students Union has been protesting against the notification ever since it was passed on December 26 last year. It has also rendered the administrative block of the varsity under a forced lock-down demanding its revocation. --IANS vn/rn ( 312 Words) 2017-02-24-21:27:54 (IANS)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today paid sincere tribute to J Jayalalithaa on her birth anniversary "Sincere tribute to J Jayalalithaa on her birth anniversary," Ms Banerjee tweeted. Born on February 24,1948. Jayalalithaa was an actor turned politician who served five terms as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, for over fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. From 1989 she was the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party whose supporter revered her as their Amma (mother). Jayalalithaa first came into prominence as a leading film in the mid-1960s. Though she had entered the profession reluctantly, upon the urging of her mother to support the family, Jayalalithaa worked prolifically. She appeared in 140 films between 1961 and 1980, primarily in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. Jayalalithaa received praise for her versatility as an actor and for her dancing skills, earning the sobriquet "queen of Tamil cinema". Among her frequent co-stars was M G Ramachandran, or MGR, a Tamil cultural icon who leveraged his immense popularity with the masses into a successful political career. In 1982, when MGR was chief minister, Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK, the party he founded. Her political rise was rapid; within a few years she became AIADMK propaganda secretary and was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's Parliament. After MGR's death in 1987, Jayalalithaa proclaimed herself his political heir and, having fought off the faction headed by Janaki Ramachandran, MGR's widow, emerged as the sole leader of the AIADMK. Following the 1989 election, she became Leader of the Opposition to the DMK-led government headed by Karunanidhi, Jayalalithaa passed away on December 5, 2016, sending shock waves across the five south states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi. Although the leader's death was expected, as she had been ailing for a few months and was on ventilator support at the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, her death still changed a lot of things in Tamil Nadu politics.UNI BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1164498.Xml
The Aam Aadmi Party today announced the first list of 109 seats for the upcoming MCD polls, slated to be held in April.Out of the 109 candidates, 49 were women. Though, 46 seats were reserved for the fairer sex, but the party decided to give additional three unreserved seats to them for three Municipal councils (north, south and east). The names were finalised after being vetted by Political Affairs Committee of the party, a statement posted on AAP's official website said.Delhi youth wing president of AAP Ankush Narang is among the prominent ones in the list of candidates, who will contest from West Patel Nagar.Work for selecting candidates for the remaining seats is on, it added.Earlier, the newly-formed political outfit Swaraj India, led by Yogendra Yadav, released the first list of 25 candidates. The party's first list of 25 candidates include 11 women and five SC candidates as well. It has declared candidates for 10 out of 104 seats in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. From the 104 seats of South Delhi Corporation, 12 names have been declared. And from the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, of the 64 seats available, names of candidates for three seats have been declared. UNI DS RJ 2258 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1164497.Xml
In yet another major setback to the Maoists in Vizag and Andhra Odisha Border (AOB), the elite anti-naxal force (Greyhound cops) of Andhra Pradesh gunned down two Maoists, including Gemmeli Narayan Rao alias Jambri in an exchange of fire (EOF) between the Maoists and Greyhounds near Annavaram area under Mampa Police Station limits of Koyyuru mandal in Vizag Agency today.On October 24, 2016, 30 Maoists, including top leaders of the Maoist party, were gunned down in Ramguda encounter under Malkangiri district of Odisha. The Friday's exchange of fire took place at around 0830 hrs and lasted for about 20 minutes on a hillock, about one km from Annavaram. Slain Maoist Jambri was the Divisional Committee Member (DCM) of Galikonda area committee of CPI (Maoist) and was one among the top tribal leaders in Vizag Agency. The other deceased Maoist has been identified as Chittibabu of Veeravaram village in GK Veedhi mandal. The police party also recovered two weapons, including one Thompson sub-machine gun, one shotgun, three detonators, two kit bags and Maoist literature from the encounter site.Addressing the media here today, Superintendent of Police (Visakha Rural) Rahul Dev Sharma said the combing police party has reached the spot on specific intelligence inputs and upon reaching the hillock, they came under heavy fire from the red-rebels. The Greyhounds, accompanied by local police, retaliated and both the Maoists were killed in the EOF. The Vizag Rural police chief said there were about 12-15 Maoists at the time of the EOF and other have managed to escape under the cover of fire and there were no casualty or injuries on the police side, he added. Jambri, native of Mettiguda under GK Veedhi Mandal in Vizag Agency, carried a reward of Rs four lakh on his head. He joined the outfit two decades ago and rose from militia member to DCM cadre. Jambri had about 65 cases pending against him, including 15 murders, eight EOF, as many landmine blasts and three Famine raids. Jambri also played one of the key roles in killing 37 Greyhounds at Balimela of AOB region in 2008 and also instrumental in the killing of M Madhav Rao, an employee of APFDC and killing of three tribals at Sagulu in January 2014, he said.UNI BSR RJ 2120 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1164476.Xml
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said Yoga is not only a physical exercise, but it purifies mind and body, besides intellectuality in the family. Unveiling the 112 feet Adiyogi statue at Isha Yoga centre about 35 km from here, the Prime Minister said if one starts learning yoga, the person's lifestyle changes completely and they can help others. The PM said if there is no development for women in the country, there is no development in the humanity and women were always blessed by the God, but men were blessed, only if he did good things. Earlier, Isha Yoga Centre founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev said 112 feet face of 'Adiyogi'- the source of yoga, designed in two years, was prepared within eight months. This statue is an acknowledgement of the first yogi's unparalleled contribution to humanity and this is created as the largest face on the planet. This iconic face symbolises liberation, representing the 112 ways, in which every human can attain one's ultimate potential through the science of yoga. The consecrated ''Yogeshwara lingam'' has been installed in front of the Adiyogi.UNI KS SHS RJ 2336 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1164524.Xml
"Today's arrival of the Progress 66 cargo craft, just 24 hours after the capture of the Space X Dragon, makes four spaceships at the International Space Station," the US space agency said.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft docked to the space station on Thursday. SpaceX Dragon cargo craft earlier aborted its first docking attempt with the space station on Wednesday as it received an incorrect navigational update.

The Russian Progress 66, carrying almost three tonnes of food, fuel and supplies to the Expedition 50 crew, was launched on Wednesday from Kazakhstan.

This was the first launch of a Progress cargo ship from Baikonur launch station in Kazakhstan since the Progress 65 supply craft was lost on December 1, 2016.

Progress 66 will remain docked at the station for almost four months before departing in June for its de-orbit into the Earth's atmosphere.

--IANS gb/dg

( 177 Words)

2017-02-24-16:47:59 (IANS)
"A MD 530 helicopter, which was en route for a combat task to northern Takhar province, made emergency landing in Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province. All crew members were rescued safely by another helicopter," Gen. Dawlat Waziri said in a statement on Thursday.

The official added that as the crashed helicopter was not in a state to be repaired, the wreckage was destroyed by army personnel at the site, Xinhua news agency reported .

Waziri ruled out the involvement of militants in the incident saying the crash was caused by a technical failure in the aircraft.

However, Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, has claimed responsibility for the crash in the restive province.

Mujahid told local media that the helicopter was shot down by Taliban and all the people aboard died following the crash.

The Kunduz province, together with neighboring Baghlan and Takhar provinces, has been the scene of heavy clashes over the past months as Taliban has been trying to challenge the security forces in the once relatively peaceful region.

On November 30, an Afghan army general and an Afghan air force pilot were killed and 10 others injured after a helicopter crashed in western Badghis province.

--IANS vgu/

( 235 Words)

2017-02-24-05:50:01 (IANS)
According to CNN, the 42 year-old man burned the Muslim holy book in his backyard in December 2015 and then posted a video of it to a Facebook group.

This is the fourth time that anyone has been charged with religious blasphemy in Danish history since the law was implemented.

Prosecutors say burning holy books like the Quran and the Bible is a violation of a penal code that deals with religious scorn and public mockery.

There have only been two convictions using this law - in 1938 and 1946. Another charge was brought to court in 1971, but the defendant was never convicted.

The maximum prison sentence for blasphemy in Denmark is four months, but Reckendorff says that if the man is convicted, he will only be fined.(ANI)
US President Donald Trump described his administration's moves to deport illegal immigrants as a military operation. Trump has used a series of executive orders to chip away at the barriers to deportations and hire new law enforcement officials to spearhead the effort, using the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) to live up to the President's tough talk on undocumented immigration during the 2016 campaign. "We're getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before and they're the bad ones. And it's a military operation." CNN quoted Trump as saying. Under the administration's guidelines, any immigrant who is convicted, charged or suspected of a crime is considered a priority for removal. That is a break from Obama administration policy, which focused on serious criminals, recent border crossers and suspected terrorist Earlier, following through on Trump's promise of tightening the borders and putting a stop to illegal immigration, the United States administration announced new directives under which undocumented migrants will be an enforcement priority, however, insisting the measures are not intended to produce "mass deportations." The Department of Homeland Security has released memos regarding the implementation of two of the President's executive orders that are designed to protect the homeland. These two memos provide explicit guidance to DHS staff on how to carry out two executive orders signed by the President on January 25th- one dealing with interior enforcement and one with border security. Trump had taken a hard line against illegal immigration during his campaign, at times suggesting he would seek to create a nationwide "deportation force" to expel as many of the nation's millions of unauthorized immigrants as possible.(ANI)
"The trip would be difficult because we have to be treated fairly by Mexico," CNN quoted Trump, while speaking to manufacturers at the White House.

The comments came as Tillerson and Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly are in Mexico to sort out differences between the two countries.

Their visit to Mexico City also comes months after the immigration measures undertaken under the Trump administration that had dramatic implications for the country.

Kelly and Tillerson are meeting with President Enrique Pea Nieto, Mexican Cabinet ministers and military officials.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, reportedly, said that he wanted to "make it clear, in the most emphatic way, that the Mexican government and the people of Mexico do not have to accept measures unilaterally imposed on a government by another government."

Relations between the U.S. and Mexico soured after Trump signed two executive orders for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, which he insisted Mexico would pay for. (ANI)
US President Donald Trump met two dozen manufacturing CEOs and expressed that he's determined to bring back thousands more "real jobs" to the U.S. and to cut trade deficits with countries such as Mexico and China. "Everything's going to be based on bringing our jobs back, the good jobs, the real jobs. I'm delivering on everything that we've said," Fox News quoted Trump as saying. The president also spoke favorably about an export-boosting border adjustment tax proposed by Republicans in Congress, but he did not specifically endorse it. He called the proposal at the heart of a Republican tax overhaul plan "too complicated" while also saying it was "on the table."(ANI)
Activists held a protest outside a local slaughterhouse against the killing of a bull that escaped and became an instant TV celebrity as it was pursued by police in a scene like jallikattu. Police hit the bull with tranquilizer darts which killed it. Several dozen people -- virtually all of them non-Hindus -- held a candlelight vigil on Wednesday night to mourn the bull, which they named Courage. "No one deserves cruelty, abuse, torture or murder," a protester said in a WABC TV report. Another said: "We're here fighting for our brother." "Today (Wednesday) we're paying respects to a life lost, a beautiful life." The bull escaped from Aziz Slaughterhouse in a neighbourhood with a lot of immigrants on Tuesday and ran for its life through a residential area. TV reports showed the bull being chased by police like it was jallikattu, except that some were in vehicles and they fired tranquilizer darts at Courage. The scene captured the hearts of steely New Yorkers making Courage an instant celebrity. "They saw him running for life like you would or I would if we were faced with pain or fear or imminent death," WPIX TV quoted Jill Carnegie, the head of 'Vegans of New York', which organised the candlelight vigil, as saying. Courage kept running with several darts stuck to its body before it collapsed. The bull was taken in a police van to an animal care facility in Brooklyn where it died. According to authorities, the bull would be saved from the butcher's knife and given freedom at an animal sanctuary. Last year, a bull named Freddie escaped from another slaughterhouse in the city. But it was safely captured and adopted by comedian Jon Stewart and his wife and taken to their farm. --IANS al/py/ ( 304 Words) 2017-02-24-08:55:59 (IANS)
A court on Thursday ordered Senator Leila De Lima, 57, to be arrested on drug related charges filed by the Department of Justice, Xinhua news agency reported.

She had been abetting illegal drug trade when she was Justice Secretary from 2010 to 2015.

De Lima, who spent the night at her office at the Philippine Senate, did not resist arrest.

Her lawyers were questioning the arrest order, saying it was highly irregular.

"I am innocent," she told the media while being accosted out of the Senate premises.

De Lima said she was arrested on trumped-up charges.

--IANS py/

( 125 Words)

2017-02-24-09:45:59 (IANS)
The bodies of 27 migrants have been recovered in Western Libya, 13 of whom died of suffocation in a shipping container, the Red Crescent said.The migrants found in the container appear to have been locked inside it for several days as it was transported to the coast at Khoms, where they were to attempt to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe, the Red Crescent said in a statement yesterday.Fifty-six migrants were rescued from the container, some suffering from serious injuries and fractures, the statement said.Another 14 migrant bodies were recovered from the sea near the coastal town of Zuwara, west of Tripoli, yesterday, while some 124 migrants were rescued in the area, a local Red Crescent spokesman said.Libya has become the main gateway for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. A record 181,000 migrants reached Italy along the route last year.Within Libya, migrant smugglers operate with impunity, and migrants are subjected to a wide range of abuses, including rape, torture and forced labour.Earlier this week the bodies of 74 migrants were found on the shore near Zawiya, another town west of Tripoli. The local coast guard said smugglers had stolen the engine from their boat. REUTERS SDR 0440 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1163299.Xml
A Pentagon-led plan to defeat Islamic State, due in draft form by Monday, will look beyond Iraq and Syria to include the threat from jihadists around the world fueling the conflict, America's top general said.The remarks by Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggest the preliminary plan will be far broader in scope than initially thought and might initially omit more tactical details, like specific troop requests."This is not about Syria and Iraq. It's about trans-regional threat," Dunford told a think-tank event in Washington, citing other jihadist groups like al Qaeda."So, when we go to the president with options, it will be in the context of the trans-regional threat."Dunford noted US military estimates that Islamic State had drawn 45,000 foreign fighters from more than 100 nations around the world."Our plan, to be successful, needs to, number one, cut the connective tissue between regional groups that now form a trans-regional threat," he said.The US military-led review includes input from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, as well as from the Treasury Department and the US intelligence community. Dunford said it would also address Islamic State's resources and a narrative that allowed it to declare a self-styled caliphate.The review of US strategy comes at a decisive moment in the US-led coalition effort against Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, and could lead to relaxing some of the former Obama administration's policy restrictions, like limits on troop numbers.The Baghdad-based US commander on the ground, Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, has said he believes US-backed forces will recapture both of Islamic State's major strongholds - the cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria - within the next six months.Iraqi forces expect a fierce battle against Islamic State to retake Mosul.In Syria, the United States must soon decide whether to arm Syrian YPG fighters, despite objections from NATO ally Turkey, which brands them terrorists.US General Joseph Votel, head of the US military's Central Command, which oversees US forces in the Middle East, told reporters traveling with him in the region that the United States could ultimately need more US forces in Syria to accelerate the campaign. REUTERS SDR 0652 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1163308.Xml
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday lambasted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for being unable to stop the leaks to the media and directed them to find the leakers right away. In a series of tweets on Friday, the President said, " The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even......" "find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW". Trump has several times lambasted the damaging leaks that have beleaguered his administration especially the ones including reports of former national security advisor Michael Flynn's contact with a Russian ambassador that led to the his resignation. Earlier, Trump had expressed concern over the leaks saying the classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy which he described as "Very un-American". His latest lash back comes amid reports that The FBI rejected a White House request to knock down media reports about communications between President Donald Trump's associates and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign. White House officials had sought the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts, the officials said (ANI)
According to Xinhua, the representations were made to Myanmar's Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Yangon regional government on Thursday night, demanding a prompt and effective action to punish the perpetrators, and ensure the safety of Chinese nationals and the properties of the Chinese enterprise.

On their part, Myanmar authorities said they will protect the safety and interests of Chinese entrepreneurs in accordance with law, promising to settle related issues as soon as possible.

Hundreds of striking workers and non-factory personnel attacked the Chinese-invested factory Thursday morning, destroying properties of the plant, taking away Chinese staff' belongings and restricting their personal freedom.

All Chinese staff were allowed to leave the factory after negotiations, but the compound is still being occupied by the striking workers. (ANI)
According to Fox News, Trump made the remarks while addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.

Trump on putting America first said that there is no such thing as a 'global flag.'

"I'm not representing the globe. I'm representing your country," he said.

Earlier in the week, Following through on Trump's promise of tightening the borders and putting a stop to illegal immigration, the United States administration announced new directives under which undocumented migrants will be an enforcement priority, however, insisting the measures are not intended to produce "mass deportations."

Under the new directives, ehe Secretary of Homeland Security is to hire an additional 5,000 border agents and to empower state and local law enforcement to support federal enforcement of immigration law.

At the platform Trump also vowed to 'protect the Second Amendment' which reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

He added, "We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country." (ANI)
Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), presides over a meeting of the chairman and vice chairpersons of the CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee on Thursday held a meeting of its chairman and vice chairpersons.



Attendees heard a report on preparations for the Fifth Session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee, an annual session scheduled for early March.

Presiding over the meeting, Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, urged political advisors to think and act in line with the requirements of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.

Yu also stressed the importance of implementing the CPC's anti-extravagance rules at the upcoming session.

The CPPCC is a mechanism of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC.

It consists of figures from Chinese society who are willing to serve in the think tank for the government, legislative and judicial organs.
OSLO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor said Thursday that Indian leading wireless operator Bharti Airtel will take over its businesses and 44 million customers in India, public broadcaster NRK reported.

"Airtel takes over our business. We do not earn anything from it. But they also then took over our obligations," Telenor's CEO Sigve Brekke said.

Since April last year, Telenor has tried to solve many problems in the Indian market and on Thursday it was confirmed that the Norwegian telecom giant entered the agreement with Airtel.

Brekke said that he was pleased with the agreement and believed it was in the best interests of Telenor's customers and employees in India.

"Considering what we invested in equipment plus the investments we have made in our operation, the loss is between 24 and 25 billion Norwegian kroner (between 2.88 and 3 billion U.S. dollars). And there are financial expenses on top of that," Brekke said.

Breke added that the decision to exit the Indian market had not been easy.

"The competition has become tougher and payment for licenses has been increased a lot. And especially now when data usage has taken off among customers, we do not have a position that creates profitability," he said.

Telenor India shall for the time being continue to operate as usual, but Airtel and Telenor India will merge during this year when Airtel will take over once all the necessary approvals are received.

Airtel will take over future operational contracts, including contracts for tower lease.

As India's largest mobile operator, Airtel has over 269 million subscribers and a market share of over 33 percent measured in revenues.

"Telenor's customers will be enjoy the benefits of India's largest and fastest mobile network and a number of Airtel's leading products and services," said Gopal Vittal, Bharti Airtel's managing director and CEO for India and South Asia. (1 U.S. dollars=8.32 Norwegian kroner)
MINSK, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The engine of a MiG-29 aircraft caught fire during routine flights at the Bobruisky airfield in Belarus on Thursday, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said.

Local media said the pilot was forced to eject. No one was hurt. The plane has not left the grounds of the aerodrome.

As a result of the competent actions of the pilot and the head of flight negative consequences were averted, the ministry said.
BERLIN, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- German police announced on Thursday that they have foiled an terror attack in Lower Saxony.

The police directorate in Goettingen said a man, aged 26, was arrested in the town of Northeim and some improvised explosive devices were found in his apartment.

The suspect admitted he plotted to booby-trap policemen or soldiers.

Prosecutors said the man was a radical Islamist, or Salafist, and a German citizen with no background of migration.

German police have been tightening up security after the Dec. 19 terror attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, which killed 12 people and wounded some 50.

Earlier this month, the police also carried out a series of raids in Goettingen and arrested two men suspected of planning terror attack.

The Duetsch Presse Agenture reported the two suspects might have links with the extremist group Islamic State.
Pigeons fly in front of the Tian'anmen Rostrum after the Chinese national flag-raising ceremony in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2016. Over 100,000 people from across the country gathered at the Tian'anmen Square to watch the national flag-raising ceremony on the morning of Oct. 1, marking the 67th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Half of Americans now view China favorably, the highest rating since 1989, found a Gallup released Thursday.

This is up from 44 percent in 2016 and 41 percent in 2012, found the Feb. 1-5 Gallup poll.

China's favorable rating by Americans was only 38 in 1985 but registered 72 percent in Gallup's poll in February 1989, taken days after former U.S. President George H. W. Bush returned from a diplomatic visit to China. It had remained at the low 40s for most of the time since 1989, according to Gallup.

The six-percentage-point rise in China's overall favorability from last year is explained by increases among both Democrats and Republicans, Gallup said.

The poll found that 58 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of independents view China favorably. Though only 38 percent of Republicans view China favorably, it is still up by 10 percentage points from 2016.

The U.S.-China relations have never been entirely smooth in the past decades due to tensions over Taiwan, nuclear arms, human rights and other incidents, and the election of Republican candidate Donald Trump as president adds more complexity to the relations, Gallup noted.

Though the future of U.S.-China relations is unclear, "it may be helpful for the new administration to know that Americans are feeling relatively positively toward China right now, and thus may be less receptive to a hard-nosed approach to U.S.-China relations," Gallup said.
VIENNA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Austrian government's criminal complaint against Airbus over the purchase of its Eurofighter jets received a boost on Thursday, with the public prosecutor's office in Vienna announcing it would initiate an investigation on the grounds of suspicion of fraud.

The Krone newspaper quoted Minister of Defence Hans Peter Doskozil as saying the prosecutor's office is now on the trail of the same suspicions his ministry had first put forward, and that it is a validation of the ministry's approach.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern has also called for a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the matter, indicating an advancement of Austrian efforts to recoup damages incurred totalling 1.1 billion euros (1.16 billion U.S. dollars).

Documented allegations and evidence against Airbus have not been officially revealed yet, though the complaint centres around claims of willful deception, including in the final cost of the aircraft.
LONDON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Work started Thursday on a new 615 million U.S.dollar-innovative power supply network linking Britain and France.

In what is the first project of its kind the foundation stone for the project, capable of powering up to 2 million homes, was laid by Britain's Energy Minister Jesse Norman.

The new ElecLink electricity connection between Britain and France will provide greater access to the continental electricity market.

According to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the new link will help to reduce consumer bills as electricity can be flexibly imported and exported to take advantage of cheaper prices.

The project will run through the Channel Tunnel between Sellindge in Britain and Les Mandarins in France. It will have the capacity to power up to 2 million homes and provide further resilience for Britain's electricity supply.

British energy officials say a combination of domestic electricity generation including new nuclear power, gas and renewables, as well as increased access for importing and exporting electricity supplies from Europe, means British homes and businesses will have reliable power at the lowest possible price all year round.

The major new piece of infrastructure will be financed on a purely commercial basis, with no risk to British tax and bill payers.

Energy Minister Norman said: "We are strongly supportive of greater electricity trading with our European partners in order to lower household bills and deliver energy security as part of our modern industrial strategy."

"The ElecLink interconnector is one of the most advanced new interconnection projects across Europe and the first of its kind between Britain and France since 1986, when the existing IFA (Interconnexion France-Angleterre) interconnector was commissioned."

Chairman and CEO of Groupe Eurotunnel Jacques Gounon said: "ElecLink further underlines how important the Channel Tunnel is to Britain and France. Not only is it a vital transport link, it is set to play an instrumental part in the supply of electricity to the UK, France and continental Europe."
LISBON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of people protested outside the Portuguese parliament on Thursday over plans for oil and gas prospecting in Aljezur, around 250 km south of the capital Lisbon.

The protest was organised by Algarve Surf and Marine Activities (ASMAA), which has presented legal action against GALP/ENI and is concerned with the environmental impact of the drilling as well as effects on tourism in the region.

Protesters held banners reading "Portugal against petrol prospection" and "No more fracking" and shouted "Yes to the future, no to the hole."

"This is absurd for the 21st century. They are investing in things that will damage the environment and ruin marine fauna," one of the protestors told Xinhua.

The consortium Galp/ENI announced its intention to drill in the Aljezur offshore in March 2016, and was planning to drill the hole last year but ended up postponing the drilling date until 2017.

The protest took place on the same day a petition on the issue, signed by around 42,000 people, was being debated in the parliament.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for Ambassador to China, said on Thursday that he would work to ensure the continued growth of U.S. agricultural exports to China when he begins his new job, particularly reopening the Chinese market for American beef.

"The U.S.-China relationship offers many opportunities to continue to grow agricultural exports" to China, Branstad said at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual Agricultural Outlook Forum. "I look forward to being an advocate for all agricultural exports in this new role."

U.S. agricultural exports to China have grown more than 200 percent over the past decade and China was the United States' second-largest international market in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

China has already imported more U.S. soybeans than all the rest of the world combined, and the world's second-largest economy has become a major importer of American pork as well, the governor said, noting that "multi-billion dollar soybean contracts between the United States and China have become a commonplace" .

In terms of his priorities as U.S. Ambassador to China, Branstad said he hoped China to reopen the market for American beef "soon". China halted beef imports from the United States in 2003 to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.

"Mad cow disease is long since gone in this country, and there is no reason why the Chinese should continue to restrict American beef," he said. "I want to serve it in the embassy, and I certainly want to do what I can to try to convince the Chinese leadership to do that sooner rather than later."

Branstad also said he would leverage his "longstanding relationship" with Chinese officials to gain Beijing's quicker approval of genetically modified U.S. corn traits, believing that the "friendship and trust" could help bring down some of the barriers to increase bilateral agricultural trade.

Asked about Trump's "American Frist" trade policy, Branstad downplayed the potential trade disputes between the U.S. and other countries, emphasizing that Trump was a deal-maker and businessman.

"Long time ago, he wrote a book called the Art of the Deal. He is a businessmen, and the best deal is a win-win situation," the governor said, referring to Trump's bestselling book first published in 1987.

"I'm hopeful at the end of the day that the president and his administration will work to improve bilateral agreements and in fact enhance our ability to export," he said. "So it's a matter of trying to negotiate the best deals for America, but in a way that's going to be a win-win for trading partners as well."

Branstad, 70, is the longest-serving governor in the U.S., who also has long nurtured a close relationship with China and has visited China multiple times. He served as the governor of Iowa in 1983-1999, and again since 2011. He was nominated by Trump to be the next U.S. Ambassador to China in December 2016.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Authors of a new study warned Thursday that the deep ocean floor, as the world's largest habitat, may face starvation and sweeping ecological change by the year 2100 due to warming ocean temperatures, increased acidification and the spread of low-oxygen zones.

The authors, from 20 of the world's leading oceanographic research centers, used the projections from 31 earth system models developed for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to predict how the temperature, amount of oxygen, acidity (pH) and food supply to the deep-sea floor from 200 to 6,000 meters below the surface will change.

"Biodiversity in many of these areas is defined by the meager amount of food reaching the seafloor and over the next 80-plus years - in certain parts of the world - that amount of food will be cut in half," said Andrew Thurber, an Oregon State University (OSU) marine ecologist and co-author on the study published in the journal Elementa.

"We likely will see a shift in dominance to smaller organisms. Some species will thrive, some will migrate to other areas, and many will die."

"Parts of the world will likely have more jellyfish and squid, for example, and fewer fish and cold water corals," Thurber noted.

The earth system models used in the study predict that deep ocean temperatures in the "abyssal" seafloor, 3,000 to 6,000 meters deep, will increase as much as 0.5 to 1.0 degrees Celsius in the North Atlantic, Southern and Arctic oceans by 2100 compared to what they are now.

Meanwhile, temperatures in the "bathyal" depths, 200 to 3,000 meters deep, will increase even more: parts of this deep-sea floor are predicted to see an increase of nearly 4 degrees in the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

"While four degrees doesn't seem like much on land, that is a massive temperature change in these environments," Thurber said. "It is the equivalent of having summer for the first time in thousands to millions of years." As result, the over-arching lack of food will be exacerbated.

"The increase in temperature will increase the metabolism of organisms that live at the ocean floor, meaning they will require more food at a time when less is available," he noted.

Most of the deep sea already experiences a severe lack of food, but it is about to become a famine, according to Andrew Sweetman, a researcher at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and lead author on the study. "Abyssal ocean environments, which are over 3,000 meters deep, are some of the most food-deprived regions on the planet," Sweetman said.

"These habitats currently rely on less carbon per meter-squared each year than is present in a single sugar cube. Large areas of the abyss will have this tiny amount of food halved and for a habitat that covers half the Earth, the impacts of this will be enormous."

The researchers believe the impacts on the deep ocean are unlikely to remain there. Warming ocean temperatures are expected to increase stratification in some areas yet increase upwelling in others. This can change the amount of nutrients and oxygen in the water that is brought back to the surface from the deep sea. This low-oxygen water can affect coastal communities, including commercial fishing industries, which harvest groundfish from the deep sea globally and especially in areas like the Pacific Coast of North America.

"A decade ago, we even saw low-oxygen water come shallow enough to kill vast numbers of Dungeness crabs," Thurber said. "The die-off was massive."

Areas most likely to be affected by the decline in food are the North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic, and North and South Indian oceans. "The North Atlantic in particular will be affected by warmer temperatures, acidification, a lack of food and lower oxygen," Thurber was quoted as saying in a news release from OSU.

"Water in the region is soaking up the carbon from the atmosphere and then sending it on its path around the globe, so it likely will be the first to feel the brunt of the changes."
SYDNEY, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Australian dollars once again broke through the 77:00 U.S. cent mark on Friday to reach a four month high.

At the Asian market open 07:00 (AEDT), the local currency was trading at 77:15 U.S. cents, up from 76.97 U.S. cents on Thursday.

With many in the United States hoping for immediate tax reform, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a television interview that the government would "commit" to tax reform by August, which appears to be not soon enough for some.

Considering Thursday's underwhelming economic data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics which showed business investment had declined over the past three months, the boost in the local unit took many by surprise.

At 09:10 (AEDT), the Australian dollar was buying 77.14 U.S. cents.
Philippine Senator Leila De Lima (C) is surrounded by policemen and senate security as she is arrested at the Philippine Senate Building in Pasay City, the Philippines, Feb. 24, 2017. Philippine police on Friday arrested Senator Leila De Lima who was allegedly involved in illegal drug trading.(Xinhua/STRINGER)

MANILA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Philippine police on Friday arrested a female senator who was allegedly involved in illegal drug trading.

A lower court judge ordered on Thursday Senator Leila De Lima, 57, to be arrested on drug-related charges filed against her by the Department of Justice.

She had been allegedly abetting illegal drug trade when she was justice secretary from 2010 to 2015.

De Lima, who spent the night at her office at the Philippine Senate, did not resist arrest. Her lawyers are questioning the arrest order, saying it is highly irregular.

"I am innocent," she told reporters while being accosted out of the Senate premises, adding that she was arrested on trumped-up charges.

Police brought De Lima to Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police where De Lima is expected to be detained.

The judge has issued arrest warrants for De Lima, her previous driver and another man based on the testimonies of detained convicted drug lords.
U.S. Ambassador to China nominee Terry Branstad speaks during a news conference held after "Happy Chinese New Year Concert In Muscatine", in Muscatine, Iowa, the United States, Feb. 1, 2017. Terry Branstad said Wednesday that he would play a constructive role in enhancing China-U.S. relationship during a news conference held in Muscatine, Iowa. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for Ambassador to China, said on Thursday that he would work to ensure the continued growth of U.S. agricultural exports to China when he begins his new job, particularly reopening the Chinese market for American beef.

"The U.S.-China relationship offers many opportunities to continue to grow agricultural exports" to China, Branstad said at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual Agricultural Outlook Forum. "I look forward to being an advocate for all agricultural exports in this new role."

U.S. agricultural exports to China have grown more than 200 percent over the past decade and China was the United States' second-largest international market in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

China has already imported more U.S. soybeans than all the rest of the world combined, and the world's second-largest economy has become a major importer of American pork as well, the governor said, noting that "multi-billion dollar soybean contracts between the United States and China have become a commonplace" .

In terms of his priorities as U.S. Ambassador to China, Branstad said he hoped China to reopen the market for American beef "soon". China halted beef imports from the United States in 2003 to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.

"Mad cow disease is long since gone in this country, and there is no reason why the Chinese should continue to restrict American beef," he said. "I want to serve it in the embassy, and I certainly want to do what I can to try to convince the Chinese leadership to do that sooner rather than later."

Branstad also said he would leverage his "longstanding relationship" with Chinese officials to gain Beijing's quicker approval of genetically modified U.S. corn traits, believing that the "friendship and trust" could help bring down some of the barriers to increase bilateral agricultural trade.

Asked about Trump's "American Frist" trade policy, Branstad downplayed the potential trade disputes between the U.S. and other countries, emphasizing that Trump was a deal-maker and businessman.

"Long time ago, he wrote a book called the Art of the Deal. He is a businessmen, and the best deal is a win-win situation," the governor said, referring to Trump's bestselling book first published in 1987.

"I'm hopeful at the end of the day that the president and his administration will work to improve bilateral agreements and in fact enhance our ability to export," he said. "So it's a matter of trying to negotiate the best deals for America, but in a way that's going to be a win-win for trading partners as well."

Branstad, 70, is the longest-serving governor in the U.S., who also has long nurtured a close relationship with China and has visited China multiple times. He served as the governor of Iowa in 1983-1999, and again since 2011. He was nominated by Trump to be the next U.S. Ambassador to China in December 2016.
CANBERRA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists on Friday hit back at claims that a controversial plan to eradicate the invasive common carp from local waterways will be an ecological disaster.

Researchers in the United Kingdom (UK) this week expressed concerns that introducing a herpes virus into the Murray-Darling river system would have "serious ecological, environmental, and economic ramifications," but Australian experts said there is no cause for concern.

Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) undertook seven years' studies and found introducing a specific strain of the herpes virus would kill the invasive carp while ensuring native fish, birds and other aquatic species would not be harmed.

On Friday, Matt Barwick, coordinator of the National Carp Control Plan, told Guardian Australia the virus had been successfully used in many other countries and had not affected the local species.

"This virus is now found in almost every river and lake system in Japan, and in another 32 countries," Barwick said.

"The only species that this virus has been detected to cause disease in is the common carp. In these countries they are sharing a waterway with other species of koi, very closely related to the common carp, and those other species haven't contracted the virus."

Meanwhile La Trobe University senior ecology lecturer Dr. Susan Lawler said the UK-based researchers "don't understand the Australian perspective."

"The reason they are terrified of it going wrong is because they don't understand how terrified we are that all the native fish in Australia are going to die off because of carp. There's an ecological disaster going on right now," she said.

The European - or common - carp was introduced into Australia by settlers in the 1800s and now makes up around 90 percent of all fish in local river systems. They have been known to kill native fish, disrupt the local ecosystem and breed uncontrollably.
TOKYO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Japan said it will continue to take strong measures to protect the legitimate rights of Chinese nationals working in Japan under the Japanese government-sponsored Technical Intern Training Program for foreigners.

"The Chinese diplomatic and consular missions in Japan attach great importance to protecting Chinese technical trainees in Japan, and have carried out consular protection and assistance work through various channels and means," the embassy told Xinhua in a recent interview.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Justice, there were about 85,000 Chinese trainees in Japan last year under the program.

Tokyo introduced the intern program in 1993. It claims the program is designed to bring in interns from developing countries and help them acquire technical skills they can bring back to their homelands to contribute to local economic development.

Yet the system has been widely criticized as a platform to attract cheap labor from overseas to compensate for Japan's manpower shortage without due measures to protect the rights of foreign workers.

The Chinese embassy said it will increase contacts with related Japanese ministries to urge the Japanese side to take concrete measures to protect the legal rights of Chinese interns.

The embassy said it has also visited on a regular basis the factories and workshops that hire Chinese trainees so as to learn firsthand about their difficulties and problems.

Last year, the embassy also provided consular protection and assistance for Chinese trainees involved in some 100 cases in the island nation, helping them negotiate better deals in labor disputes and offering legal assistance to the Chinese, among others.
By Matt Walsh

CANBERRA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has revealed he has not ruled out a return to leadership, after he used a book launch to lay out a five-point plan for winning the next federal election.

Divisions within the coalition government are more apparent than at any time since sitting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ousted Abbott in September 2015, after Abbott inflamed tensions by saying the government was "drifting to defeat" under its current policy model.

Speaking at a book launch overnight, the backbencher laid out his own plans for the government to win the next election, while he reportedly told government defector Cory Bernardi that he had not given up hope of returning to the top job if the opportunity arises.

"We'll cut the (renewable energy target) to help with your power bills; we'll cut immigration to make housing more affordable; we'll scrap the Human Rights Commission to stop official bullying; we'll stop all new spending to end ripping off our grandkids; and we'll reform the Senate to have government, not gridlock," Abbott said at the book launch.

Later he told Sky News that rising discontent with the major parties in Australian politics needed to force change, pointing to the rise of the One Nation party and Bernardi's breakaway Australian Conservatives party as reasons to be concerned.

"Plainly we are facing many challenges, the Cory Bernardi breakaway a couple of weeks back, and One Nation support is surging," Abbott said.

"If you want a good government you really have no option but to back the coalition, but plainly there are lots of people concerned about our direction. Plainly the risk is we will drift to defeat if we don't lift our game."

But Turnbull has hit back at Abbott on Friday, claiming for the former prime minister was deliberately trying to destabilize his government.

"Tony Abbott is a very experienced politician. He knows exactly what he's doing. I'm not going to go into what private conversations I have with him," Turnbull told Macquarie radio.

"(But) every member of the government has got to ask the question, are they contributing to the success of the government?"

Turnbull said, under his direction, the government had followed through on its promises it took to the 2016 federal election.

"I have not talked about abolishing the life gold pass... I have abolished it. I haven't talked about restoring the rule of law to the building sector, I've done it," he said.

Other government ministers weighed into the debate on Friday. Defense Industry Minister Christopher Pyne described Abbott's plan as one which can be "catastrophic."

"We won't be slashing spending (and) we won't be going down the track of putting a freeze of immigration, for example, which Tony Abbott wants to do, because it would be catastrophic," Pyne told the Nine Network.

"The last time Tony Abbott was leader, one of the last polls had him at 30 percent to (Opposition Leader) Bill Shorten's 48 percent as preferred prime minister. So we are on the right track with Malcolm Turnbull and with the government's policies."

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann agreed, telling Sky News that Abbott's "destructive commentary" was not helping.

"He's not helping our cause, he's not helping our country and he's not helping himself. Much of what he says is either wrong or inconsistent with what he did when he was Prime Minister," Cormann said on Friday.

Meanwhile opposition spokesperson Anthony Albanese said the government was in "shambles."

"The government doesn't have an agenda, doesn't have a sense of purpose, and Tony Abbott's solution is to say 'take what I did in the 2014 budget and go more extreme, go harder'. He just hasn't got the message at all," Albanese told the Nine Network.

"Tony Abbott is delusional and the government is dysfunctional."
NEW YORK, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Columbia University study released on Wednesday said women who had infections early in pregnancy may be twice likely to have a child with autism.

"We believe the mother's immune response to HSV-2 (herpes simplex type 2) could be disrupting fetal central nervous system development, raising risk for autism," said the research team leader Milada Mahic to NBC News.

For instance, the Zika virus can infect a developing baby's brain and some viruses may cause severe birth defects, including brain damage, according to the research.

The research was published in the journal mSphere, a U.S. journal that makes fundamental contributions to microbial sciences.

However, some experts drew a different conclusion. Ian Lipkin, an infectious disease expert at Columbia University oversaw the research and believes that it's actually the mother's immune response that causes the damage.

The chemicals made by inflammation cross the placenta and directly affect the developing brain of the fetus, Lipkin said.

Autism refers to a broad range of symptoms, including relatively mild social awkwardness of Asperger's syndrome, profound mental retardation which debilitates repetitive behaviors and an inability to communicate.
Members of a media tour group look at the Unit 1 reactor building at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, Japan, February 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Hua Yi)

TOKYO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- When Hua Yi, a journalist from Xinhua, on Thursday reached an area about five kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a radiation detector he brought with him would not stop vibrating and sounding alarms.

The machine showed the radiation level there was between 5 and 10 microsieverts per hour, which is more than 100 times that of Tokyo.

Invited by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO), Hua, along with some other foreign journalists, paid a visit to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

As the car he took approached the power plant, the radiation level rose quickly. Being 24 km away from the nuclear plant, the reading was about 0.114 microsieverts per hour, twice the amount of Tokyo, whereas being 15 km from the plant, the reading was 20 times higher.

Inside the power plant and close to one of the crippled reactors, the machine showed that the radiation level there was as high as 150 microsieverts per hour.

Dozens of workers wearing protection suits were spotted working by the No. 2 reactor, and according to a guide from TEPCO, the radiation level there was as high as 1,000 microsieverts per hour. Currently, some 6,000 staff are working in the Daiichi nuclear power plant.

A magnitude-9.0 earthquake in 2011 triggered a massive tsunami which destroyed the emergency power and then the cooling system of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and caused a serious nuclear disaster, forcing some 300,000 people to evacuate.

Almost six years later, the nuclear nightmare still continues in that part of Japan.

Inside the power plant, only the No. 2 reactor looked almost intact, while other reactors which suffered from hydrogen explosions were unrecognizable.

The operator of the crippled power plant said earlier this month that levels of radiation as high as 650 sieverts per hour were detected inside the No. 2 reactor, much to the consternation of Japan's nuclear watchdog and the local and international public.

The level was much higher than an earlier reading of 73 sieverts per hour in 2012, with the amount of radiation enough to kill a person, even after being exposed for just a brief period of time.

Even robots sent to gather information from the damaged reactor suffered malfunctions and failures, possibly due to extremely high levels of radiation.

For a long time, a number of TEPCO's gaffes and communication blunders regarding the nuclear disaster have attracted massive criticism from the public.

This photo shows black bags of contaminated earth piling up at a collection site at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, Japan, February 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Hua Yi)

A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency shows that the potential damage of the Fukushima nuclear disaster to the health of the people and the environment in the area was hard to estimate due to a lack of information.

Meanwhile, messages from the Japanese government have always been "positive," stating that the nuclear disaster caused limited damage and the aftermath is being dealt with, despite some data made public by different bodies of the government being contradictory to each other.

The area around the crippled nuclear plant is like a ghost city with abandoned houses, bags of contaminated soil piled up along a railway and in the fields, weeds growing wildly and madly.

After the nuclear disaster, the government designated an area 20 km around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as a restricted area.

At a place called Narahamachi, the restriction has been lifted, and residents are allowed to go back home since Sept. 2015. However, according to Yuuichi Okamura, a manager from TEPCO, by now only 10 percent of the residents have come back home.

After the accident happened, TEPCO claimed that the reactor's core was damaged, but did not admit that the core had melted until two months later, though according to TEPCO's own standards, when 5 percent of a core is damaged, it means the core has melted.

A report from a third-party investigation committee showed that TEPCO's then-President Masataka Shimizu instructed officials not to use the specific description under alleged pressure from the Prime Minister's Office, though then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan and then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano both strongly denied it.

TEPCO's President Naomi Hirose apologized for keeping the fact from the public in June, 2016. "I would say it was a cover-up," he told a news conference. "It's extremely regrettable."

According to Yuuichi Okamura, the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors all had melted cores, and TEPCO still has no way to take out the melted nuclear fuel rods from the reactors. The over 1,500 nuclear fuel rods in No. 4 reactor have been successfully taken out and transferred to a safe place.

The Fukushima nuclear disaster ranked seven, the highest level on the international nuclear events scale, and was the most serious disaster since the former Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

Six years on, the crisis has yet to be fully brought under control, with no precise timeline for the full decommissioning of the plant, or a precise blueprint for the technological processes necessary for it to take place.

For TEPCO, the difficult tasks of dealing with the unprecedented problems such as processing contaminated water, cooling the reactors, and removing nuclear fuels, all continue to pose serious challenges.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian police said Friday that a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man died in the country was killed by chemical weapon substance found on his body.

The man was killed by VX nerve agent, a lethal chemical weapon which was prohibited in Malaysia, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters at the airport.

He said the police were investigating how the chemicals were smuggled into Malaysia.

In a statement released earlier in the day, Khalid said a preliminary analysis by the country's Chemistry Department had identified VX nerve agent on the samples of eye mucosa and face of the man.

He said that VX is listed as a chemical weapon under Schedule 1 of Malaysia's Chemical Weapons Convention Act 2008 as well as Chemical Weapons Convention, an international arms control treaty which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their precursors.

The DPRK man died on the way from a Malaysian airport to hospital on Feb. 13.

Malaysian police identified him as Kim Chol from the DPRK.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said embassy documents showed the man was Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of the DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un, but the DPRK ambassador in Malaysia denied the dead man's identity.

Malaysian police have arrested two women who allegedly put liquid on the face of the DPRK man before he died.
WELLINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand researchers said Friday they had made a breakthrough in potential treatments for the debilitating Parkinson's disease by identifying how it spreads in the brain.

The University of Auckland scientists said they had the first strong evidence that the progressive neurodegenerative condition spread through pathological proteins, known as Lewy bodies, moving from cell to cell.

"Here we have the first proof in cell culture of the mechanism controlling the spread," research leader Associate Professor Maurice Curtis said in a statement.

"The implication is that if there is a spread of the Lewy bodies in the brain then the spread could be stopped early on," said Curtis.

"This new mechanism of pathology spread provides us with new targets to go after for development of Parkinson's disease treatments," he said.

"The traditional way of thinking about Parkinson's was that there was a susceptible area in the brain and if you could fix that area then the next most susceptible area would soon be affected. But if the Parkinson's disease pathology spreads then it may be possible to stop it in its tracks."

The mechanism that cells used to spread the Lewy bodies was via structures called tunneling nanotubes that acted like conduits between two cells through which large proteins could pass.

"Our work also demonstrated that non-neuronal cells, in this case cells in the blood vessels called pericytes, appear to harbor and spread the Lewy bodies rather than just the neurons," said Curtis.

"Most literature suggests that Lewy bodies cause the most problems in neurons but this paper proposes blood vessel pericytes to be significant."

Parkinson's disease is relatively common, according to the Parkinsonism Society of New Zealand.

About one in 500 people have the condition, and it becomes more common with older age groups, with an estimated 1 percent of people above the age of 60 having the condition.
SYDNEY, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Pro-Palestine protesters marched in Sydney on Thursday evening to demonstrate against the historic four-day visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Today's rally is to show that people in Australia vehemently disagree with our government for inviting this war criminal into country, and we stand with the victims of Netanyahu, the Palestinians who have been under occupation for the last 60 years," One of the rally's organizers, Damian Ridgwell told Xinhua.

The heavy police presence of 80 officers kept the situation firmly under control with mounted horses, riot response teams and a surveillance helicopter. They described the demonstration as "peaceful."

Despite the aggressive chanting, the atmosphere was fairly cohesive with a number of families and children in attendance, and participation from the group Jews for Palestine.

Speakers at the rally focused their message on Netanyahu, but also took aim at Australia's leaders.

"The Australian government has a pretty appalling track record, every time the Israeli government carries out an atrocity against the Palestinian citizens, the Australian government is one of the most vocal in defense of Israel," Ridgwell said.
PHNOM PENH, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's three convicted opposition politicians have resigned from their parties, just days after the parliament amended a law to ban convicts from leading a political party, their lawyer said Friday.

The convicted politicians are ex-lawmaker Um Sam An, a member of the board of directors of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Meach Sovannara, a member of CNRP's board of directors, and ex-Senator Hong Sok Hour, a member of the board of directors of the legacy Sam Rainsy Party.

The Sam Rainsy Party was merged into the CNRP in 2012 but still exists for legal reasons.

"They thumbprinted their resignation letters in front of me and through me, submitted them to their parties on Thursday," said Som Sokong, a defense lawyer for the trio.

According to the resignation letters released to the media late Thursday, the convicted trio wrote that their resignation was due to "personal reasons."

CNRP lawmaker Eng Chhay Eang confirmed Friday that the party had already received their resignation letters.

Their resignation came just five days after the National Assembly, controlled by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen's ruling party, amended the Law on political parties to bar convicted politicians from leading a political party and to empower the Supreme Court to dissolve any political party over the conviction of a top party official.

In 2016, Um Sam An got two and a half years in jail for accusing the Cambodian government of using fake border map with Vietnam.

Hong Sok Hour received a seven-year imprisonment for forgery and incitement, while Meach Sovannara were sentenced in 2015 to 20 years in prison for leading an insurrection.

Earlier this month, CNRP's president Sam Rainsy, who has lived in self exile in France since November 2015 to avoid a seven-year imprisonment for defamation and incitement cases, also resigned from the party's presidency in hopes of saving the CNRP from dissolution.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A third of the 654,372 prison inmates in Brazil have yet to undergo trial, local news portal G1 reported on Thursday quoting a study by the National Justice Council.

Those inmates are under temporary prison terms until trial or under preventive prison to prevent them from coercing witnesses and destroying evidence.

However, as the Brazilian legal system is notoriously slow, those people can be jailed without trial for years.

According to the study, the time of incarceration without trial varied from 172 to 974 days; the share of inmates under temporary prison terms goes from 15 to 82 percent depending on the state.

Also in the study, 29 percent of the prison inmates were jailed for drug trafficking, ranking first. The second is theft (26 percent), followed by murder (13 percent) and illegal possession of a gun (8 percent).

The study was commissioned to the National Justice Council by Judge Carmen Lucia Rocha, head of Brazil's Supreme Court, after the prison crisis began in January.

There were a number of prison riots in several Brazilian states, which resulted in the death of over 100 inmates. The judge has also asked the courts to take steps to speed up trials.
Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations and head of the government delegation Bashar al-Jaafari (2nd L) attends a meeting of Intra-Syria peace talks with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 24, 2017. The latest round of peace talks of Syria kicked off on Thursday in Geneva, seeking to broker a political end to the long time conflict in the war-torn country. (Xinhua/POOL/Xu Jinquan)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said here Thursday that he was encouraged by the fact that the Syrians came to Geneva and sat together in the same room earlier in the day to continue their peace talks.

"After six years of bloodshed, the secretary-general urges the Syrians who have accepted the invitation to be in Geneva to engage in good faith as the special envoy seeks to facilitate the process," said a statement issued here by Guterres' spokesman.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura formally kicked off a fourth round of Syria talks in Geneva on Thursday in an opening session that brought the opposition and government delegations face-to-face at UN headquarters in Geneva.

The secretary-general commended the work of his special envoy.

"He appreciates the presence of the members of the Security Council and the International Syria Support Group at today's welcoming, and underlines the importance of international unity behind the UN-led political process in the weeks and months ahead," said the statement.

"While acknowledging that progress will not be easy, the secretary-general believes strongly that only a political solution can bring peace to Syria and that all those Syrians who have committed themselves to this goal should redouble their efforts for peace," the statement added.

The last time the warring parties were convened in Geneva was in April last year. The talks were put on hold amid a humanitarian meltdown and systemic violence in the Middle East country.

Two rounds of talks also took place between the Syrian government and rebels in Kazakhstan's capital Astana last month and this month.

The Syrian conflict, which began in March 2011, have left an estimated 400,000 people dead and millions displaced.


PHNOM PENH, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court on Friday sentenced a man to two years in prison for posting messages on his Facebook page threatening the life of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, according a verdict.

"The court decided to sentence Sam Pheap, 27, to two years in prison and fine him 2 million riel (500 U.S. dollars)," said the verdict read by Phnom Penh Municipal Court's Presiding Judge Ly Sokleng.

According to the verdict, the man was charged with "death threat" against the prime minister and "provocation to commit discrimination" under the kingdom's Criminal Code.

The man posted to his Facebook page messages insulting and threatening to kill the prime minister while he worked as a laborer in Thailand, and he was arrested by police on Oct. 27, 2016 at his house in southeast Cambodia's Prey Veng province, two days after he returned from Thailand.

The man confessed to his crime during a trial session on Feb. 13.

In March 2016, a university student who called for a "color revolution" in a Facebook post was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
WELLINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy is the latest in a train of senior New Zealand ministers heading to the Arabian Gulf as his government tries to kickstart a stalled trade agreement.

Guy said Friday he would head to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after visiting Iran for bilateral meetings with members of the UAE government in Dubai.

Guy said in a statement he would also attend Gulfood, the world's largest food tradeshow being held in Dubai.

He would be accompanied by representatives from New Zealand's dairy, meat and kiwifruit industries.

Last month Trade Minister Todd McClay visited Kuwait and the UAE in a bid to finalize a free trade agreement (FTA) with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which has been under negotiation since 2009.

The GCC comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman is New Zealand's eighth largest trading partner, with annual two-way trade exceeding 3.5 billion NZ dollars (2.53 billion U.S. dollars).

In September last year, New Zealand and Saudi Arabian leaders appeared to have overcome stumbling blocks towards a long-anticipated FTA, after McClay held talks with Saudi Minister of Commerce and Investment Dr Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi and they agreed to work towards its early completion.

In 2015, then New Zealand Prime Minister John Key visited the GCC states, and said Saudi Arabia was going to be the stumbling block to the deal.

It was believed that Saudi government took umbrage over New Zealand's ban on exports of live sheep a trade in which Saudi businesses had invested heavily.

However, a controversial New Zealand government-funded agri-hub, including live New Zealand sheep, established in Saudi Arabia in 2013 had helped clear the way for a free trade deal, Key said.

Guy will also visit Iran in a bid to expand trade and agriculture relations.

"Iran has been an important trading partner for New Zealand in the past and there is great opportunity to increase our two-way trade. This is an exciting step for New Zealand companies who are working with importers in Iran," said Guy.

"This will be the third ministerial visit to Iran in 12 months and reflects the growing importance of this relationship. This is an opportunity to strengthen our agricultural relationship, following the signing of an Agricultural Cooperation Arrangement in 2016."
MEXICO CITY, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Mexico-U.S. ties are going through a difficult period, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Thursday, adding both sides are willing to jointly work to narrow gaps.

Coming to an agreement over current divisive issues, such as deportations of undocumented immigrants, a border wall, and a possible tax on Mexican imports, "is a lengthy process, it is not simple," Videgeray said at a joint press conference with visiting U.S. officials.

Both countries are willing to work to resolve their differences through dialogue, Videgaray said. "Even though we have differences, we also need to continue to work together."

Videgaray was accompanied by Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, following their working meeting at the headquarters of the Mexican Foreign Ministry.

Unilateral decisions by Washington regarding the border between the two countries as well as bilateral trade have irked Mexican officials since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.

While Videgaray was visiting Washington heading a Mexican delegation, Trump signed an executive order on the immediate construction of a wall on the southern border. Trump's remarks that asked Mexico to pay for the wall led to the cancellation of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's visit to the United States.

"We spoke of the legal impossibility of a government making decisions that affect another, and that is a basic principle," stressed Videgaray.

In a few months, the two countries are set to renegotiate the two-decade North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump has labeled the worst deal in U.S. history and says unfairly benefits Mexico. The U.S. leader said NAFTA puts U.S. workers at a disadvantage and has threatened to tax imports from Mexico.

He said Thursday he was determined to reduce the U.S. trade deficit of 70 billion U.S. dollars with Mexico even at the risk of harming ties.

"We'are going to have a good relationship with Mexico, I hope," Trump said. "And if we don't, we don't."

In terms of immigration, Videgaray vowed not to let the United States impose reforms "unilaterally."

Trump outraged the southern U.S. neighbor by building a wall along the border to keep out immigrants, and branding those from Mexico as rapists and criminals during his presidential campaign.

Tensions have risen since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday issued new orders to step up the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants, many of them Mexicans.

Mexico has indicated it will not accept the Trump administration's new immigration proposals, saying it will go to the United Nations to defend its rights.

"We are not going to accept it because we don't have to," said Videgaray.

Earlier at the White House, Trump described the stepped-up deportation drive as "a military operation."

Addressing immigration concerns, Osorio called on the United States to respect the rights of Mexican migrants residing there, and said deportees should be repatriated in an orderly manner.

Osorio also told reporters that during their working meeting, Mexico said "it disagreed with U.S. immigration measures to send undocumented migrants who are not Mexican" to Mexico.

While Kelly did not address that particular point, he did say the United States is not planning to massively deport migrants without papers to calm Mexican concerns.

"Let me be very very clear, there will be no, repeat no mass deportations," he said.

"The focus of deportations will be on the criminal element that has made it into the United States. All of this will be done in close coordination with the government of Mexico," he added.

Tillerson underscored the existing ties of cooperation over diverse matters, from immigration to trade.

He admitted the bilateral relationship offered both challenges and opportunities, but his first encounter with Mexican officials was "very successful."
SYDNEY, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu have lost their right to vote in the United Nation's General Assembly for failing to make compulsory payments to the organization, it has been revealed on Friday.

Papua New Guinea owes the United Nations 139,000 U.S. dollars, while Vanuatu's bill stands at 19,000 U.S. dollars.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill told local media the money was in a trust account and "someone in the Department of Foreign Affairs needs to explain why they did not pay."

It is still possible however, for the South Pacific countries to buy back their vote if the funds are paid in the immediate future.

Other nations who have also lost their vote for failing to meet these requirements Friday include Venezuela, Libya, Sudan and Cape Verde.
Malaysian national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar (L) answers questions during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Feb. 22, 2017. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung)

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian police said Friday that a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man died in the country was killed by chemical weapon substance found on his body.

The man was killed by VX nerve agent, a lethal chemical weapon which was prohibited in Malaysia, national policechief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters at the airport.

He said the police were investigating how the chemicals were smuggled into Malaysia.

In a statement released earlier in the day, Khalid said a preliminary analysis by the country's Chemistry Department had identified VX nerve agent on the samples of eye mucosa and face of the man.

He said that VX is listed as a chemical weapon under Schedule 1 of Malaysia's Chemical Weapons Convention Act 2008 as well as Chemical Weapons Convention, an international arms control treaty which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their precursors.

The DPRK man died on the way from a Malaysian airport to hospital on Feb. 13.

Malaysian police identified him as Kim Chol from the DPRK.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said embassy documents showed the man was Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of the DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un, but the DPRK ambassador in Malaysia denied the dead man's identity.

Malaysian police have arrested two women who allegedly put liquid on the face of the DPRK man before he died.
VIENTIANE, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is paying a visit to Laos from Tuesday to Friday to promote exchanges on governance experience with the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP).

During the visit, the delegation, led by Li Zhiyong, executive deputy secretary of the CPC's Work Committee of the Central Government Departments, was received by LPRP political bureau member and Chairman of the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) Central Committee Saysomphone Phomvihane, Secreatariat of the LPRP Central Committee and head of LPRP Commission for Propaganda and Training Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, as well as President of the Lao Academy of Social Sciences Soukkongseng Saingaleuth.

The Lao side positively evaluated the results of the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and highly praised the CPC's efforts to govern the party strictly.

At the meetings, the Lao side expressed their willing to further strengthen exchanges of experience in state and party governance and to consolidate and promote the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Laos and China continuously.
SYDNEY, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A 10-year-old Australian boy have survived this week after bitten by the world's dealest spider, local media said.

Australia's funnel web spider has the most deadly venom in the world and is able to kill in just 15 minutes. The fierce creature is known to hide in the shoes of Aussies, and this is what happened to New South Wales boy Matthew Mitchell, suffering a bite on the finger as he was putting on his sneakers.

After being rushed to hospital, medical staff administered the boy with 12 vials of antivenom, an all time Australian record.

"I've never heard of it, it's incredible! To walk out of hospital a day later with no effects is a testament to the antivenom," Australian Reptile Park general manager, Tim Faulkner told Australian media.

Incredibly, Australia was suffering a shortage of anti-venom just a few months ago and a campaign by the Australian Reptile Park helped bring levels to a more stable threshold.

The park's rangers urged citizens to catch funnel webs in tutorial videos posted online and hand them into facilities where their anti-venom could be used to save the lives of people like Matthew.

The very spider responsible for the bite is now with the reptile park and is participating in its anti-venom milking program.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Justice Department showed support for the continued use of private prisons to house federal inmates, as signaled by a memo signed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday.

The memo issued by Sessions replaced one issued last August by former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

"The memorandum changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system, therefore, I direct the Bureau to return to its previous approach," Sessions said in the memo for the Bureau of Prisons.

The directive ran counter with a former Obama administration policy that required the Justice Department to ditch private prisons to house its inmates.

The Bureau of Prisons currently has nearly 22,000 inmates locked up in 12 private run facilities.

Modern day private prison business took form in the 1980s as the number of convicts were staggering. The U.S. government first commissioned a private facility to handle the complete operation of a jail in 1984.

Over the years, the private prison industry has boomed and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Trump campaign, according to media reports.

Despite its fast growth, the business has been subject to fierce criticism. Yates has argued that private prisons do not offer the same level of correction services as federal prisons and do not show considerable savings on running costs.
JAKARTA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's second largest bank, China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) officially launched its Indonesia local brand CCB Indonesia on Friday, CCB Indonesia said in a statement.

The listed CCB Indonesia, which CCB holds 60 percent of the stakes, was the result of a merger between Indonesia's PT Bank Windu Kentjana International Tbk and PT Bank Antardaerah in November last year, the statement said.

Besides small and medium enterprises it previously focused on, the company will also develop corporate banking business with large local Indonesia and Chinese enterprises and financial institutions.

The bank is also targeted to become the market maker of renminbi (RMB) business in Indonesia and penetrate the country's housing finance market.

"CCB Indonesia is committed to support the Indonesian economy, particularly in infrastructure financing." The statement said.

CCB Indonesia currently has a banking network consisting of 112 offices in the country's main cities.
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Air China will launch more international routes this year, linking China with Europe and North America to meet rising demand for outbound tourism.

From May this year, the airline will launch five new international routes including flights between Beijing and Zurich, Shanghai and Barcelona, and Shenzhen and Los Angeles, according to Air China.

Thanks to relaxed visa policies and rising disposable income, the number of China's outbound tourists has continued to grow over the past decade.

During this year's Spring Festival peak travel period, people in China made 6.15 million overseas trips, up 7 percent from last year.

China had the world's largest number of outbound tourists in 2015. About 120 million Chinese traveled overseas in 2015, up from 109 million the previous year, according to data from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

It was an increase of 19.5 percent year on year and nearly 13 times the level in 1998, said the CNTA.

The CNTA predicted that over 600 million Chinese tourists will travel abroad in the next five years.
by Victoria Arguello

CARACAS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Already robust, development cooperation between China and Venezuela got an additional boost with the recent signing of 22 new agreements to strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership.

The South American economy, which is heavily dependent on oil exports, and was devastated by falling crude prices, is getting a helping hand from China to diversify its production base.

One initiative Beijing has pledged to invest in is a government-backed program to strengthen community supply and distribution networks through Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP) and a Great Sovereign Supply Mission (GMAS).

Both strategies emerged from a need to provide average Venezuelans with basic goods that became scarce to find amid a protracted "economic war" between politically conservative business sectors and the socialist government.

But the greater objective is to help Venezuela consolidate its productive sector and exports -- by increasing energy and technological innovation, among other things -- in a way that also benefits people in China.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Venezuelan Planning Minister Ricardo Menendez described the bilateral relationship as an "authentic process of integration" to build a better future for both countries.

"Everything is part of a strategic framework between our countries and is related to the 2025 Venezuela-China Plan. We are talking about linking China's Five Year Plan with the (Venezuelan) National Plan ...it is a relationship of profound breadth," said Menendez.

Six of the 22 accords are related with boosting energy output, including an agreement to build a refinery in southeast China's Guangdong Province, called Nanhai, that will specialize in processing some 400,000 barrels of extra-heavy crude extracted from Venezuela by joint venture firms between Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

Another project aims to boost output at joint Sino-Venezuelan firm Sinovensa, located in Venezuela's oil-rich Orinoco Belt, by 165,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 230,000 bpd.

The Orinoco region joint ventures Petrozumano and Petrourica also plan to raise output.

The results of these agreements are expected to be felt in the first quarter of 2017, though other plans are more medium- to long-term.

Though not part of the recently signed agreements, there is also a project underway to build a deep-sea port in Araya Peninsula, in the eastern Sucre state, along with a network of oil and gas pipelines from the oil belt, to facilitate export.

"We are breaking with this concept, this idea of Venezuela as a country that lacks investment. That (the port) plus the oil investments speak of the confidence that prevails in our countries, and of how we are going to approach all of the difficulties that may arise, and how we are going to embark on a path towards the future," said the official.

In the agricultural sector, China and Venezuela plan to build Latin America's largest industrial park in Anaco, a town in the eastern state of Anzoategui.

The ambitious project aims to produce traditionally imported inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers and other agrochemicals, but with "an environmental perspective," said Menendez.

Several China-Venezuela joint ventures are already at a stage where they can expand their production lines and seek out new export markets.

The joint venture between Venezolana de Industrias Tecnologicas (VIT) and China's multinational IT company the Inspur Group is one of them, as it looks to increase its computer assembly operation for export.

Mobile phone makers Venezolana de Telecomunicaciones (VTELCA) and China's ZTE Corporation "are expanding with another five production lines," said Menendez.

In the automotive sector, Venezuela's Chery-brand carmaker is also poised to roll out more vehicles, not just for a government-backed plan to modernize the country's fleet of taxis, but also for foreign markets.

Finally, as part of a push to diversify its economy, Venezuela has launched Arco Minero del Orinoco, a large-scale mining project in which Chinese companies will be taking part.

Arco Minero is designed to position the country as a key supplier of gold, diamonds, bauxite, copper and coltan.
KABUL, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 46 militants were killed amid operations launched by Afghan security forces since early Thursday, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"Afghan army, police and intelligence agency personnel carried out several military and cleanup operations over the past 24 hours, killing 46 terrorists and wounding 15 others," the ministry said in a statement.

The raids were conducted in Nangarhar, Kunduz, Kapisa, Khost, Paktia, Takhar and Helmand provinces and the joint forces also found and seized weapons, said the statement that provides daily operational updates.

Among the killed militants were 17 members of Islamic State (IS) group, including a senior commander of IS named Mawlawi Nahim, the statement added.

In addition, 12 fighters of Taliban militant group were captured by Afghan Special Operation Forces in Khost city, capital of eastern Khost province on late Thursday, a provincial source told Xinhua earlier on the day.

The Afghan security forces had beefed up security operations across the country recently.

The Taliban and IS militants, who have been on rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed the full responsibilities of security from the U.S. and NATO forces, have yet to make comments.
ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- About 10 pro-government soldiers were killed and nearly 20 others injured when suspected al-Qaida suicide bombing targeted a police center in Yemen's southern province of Abyan on Friday, a security official told Xinhua.

The security source based in Abyan said on condition of anonymity that suspected al-Qaida gunmen launched an armed attack on the main gate of the police center in Zinjibar city, Abyan's provincial capital, sparking a short clash in the area.

A few minutes later, a suspected al-Qaida suicide bomber slammed his explosives-laden car into the guards stationed around the police center, killing about 10 soldiers and injuring 20 others, the source said.

Residents told Xinhua that the explosion was very huge and some nearby residential buildings were partially damaged.

Ambulances rushed to the scene to rescue the injured soldiers to get treatment at public hospitals in the neighboring southern province of Aden.

Earlier this month, the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch deployed scores of its well-armed fighters across three southern towns in the country's troubled war-torn province of Abyan.

The UAE-backed Yemeni security forces withdrew from Abyan's towns after receiving several ambushes and repeated armed attacks by al-Qaida gunmen and failed to secure the province.

Yemen's internationally recognized government that has based itself in the port city of Aden, 45 km away from Abyan, gave orders to some military units to kick al-Qaida militants out of the southern regions urgently.

The province of Abyan is strategically important due to its proximity to the port city of Aden, which houses ministers of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government after the capital Sanaa was militarily occupied by the Shiite Houthi group in September 2014.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional Al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

The Yemen-based Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also known locally as "Ansar al-Sharia," emerged in January 2009, claiming responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks against Yemen's army and governmental institutions.

The AQAP and the IS-linked terrorists took advantage of the security vacuum and ongoing civil war to expand their influence and seize more territories in southern Yemen.

Security in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Over 10,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, many of them civilians.
DAMASCUS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 people were killed on Friday when a car bomb was detonated near Syria's northern city of al-Bab, a monitor group reported.
DAMASCUS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 people were killed on Friday when a suicide bombing believed to be carried out by an Islamic State (IS) fighter targeted rebel position near Syria's northern city of al-Bab, a monitor group reported.

The blast rocked the town of Susian west of al-Bab, in what was said to be a suicide bombing targeting Turkey-backed rebels, who, along with Turkish forces, captured al-Bab a day earlier after dislodging the Islamic State (IS) out of that key area near the Turkish borders.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the causalities were rebels. Other activists placed the death toll at 50.

A day earlier, the IS group announced its withdrawal from al-Bab, which has been taken by the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels on Thursday, according to pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV.

The withdrawal of the IS from al-Bab, its largest stronghold in northern Syria near the Turkish borders, came after 100 days of battles against the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels fighting in an operation called the Euphrates Shield.

The IS claimed it had killed 400 Turkish soldiers and rebel fighters.

For the Turks, capturing the northern part of the city cut the way in the face of the growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria, a red line drawn by Turkey.

The Syrian army succeeded recently to besiege al-Bab from its southern edge, a move to prevent IS fighters to withdraw toward other stronghold in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, or the northern city of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror-designated group.

Observers said the attacks on al-Bab were coordinated between the Russians and the Turks.
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Having visited both Beijing and central China's Wuhan City and signed agreements on nuclear energy and science, French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve concluded his three-day official visit to China on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Italian President Sergio Mattarella is half way through his state visit to China, which started on Tuesday. Both are making their first trip to China since taking office.

China is not only welcoming important visitors, but embracing cooperation with Europe.

FREQUENT HIGH-LEVEL EXCHANGES

"As relations between China and Europe become more important and influential, we see more high-level exchanges," said Huang Ping, director of the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

President Xi Jinping visited Switzerland in January, the first state visit to the European country by Chinese President in the 21st century. Then-Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann paid a state visit to China in April 2016, a year which saw meetings between leaders of China and European countries, including Belgium, Germany and Poland. The meetings raised the level of relations, including an innovative strategic partnership with Switzerland and comprehensive strategic partnerships with both Poland and Serbia.

Such frequent exchanges represent more consensus, according to Cui Hongjian, director of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

"With leaders designing cooperation from a high level, these exchanges propel relations," Cui said.

FIRM COOPERATION

An active and fruitful cooperation has been built up between China and Europe.

On Nov. 5, 2016, a train entered Riga Central Station in Latvia, after traveling over 10,000 kilometers from east China's Yiwu, the sixth freight train route from the city to Europe.

Under the umbrella of the Belt and Road Initiative, these freight trains to Europe made about 1,700 journeys in 2016, double the amount in 2015.

By freeing cooperation from geographical restrictions, both sides' demands are better satisfied through the Belt and Road Initiative, Cui said.

Besides rail, China is linking to Europe in other ways, including a "16+1" summit between China and 16 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.

The summit has come up with new guidelines for cooperation each year since 2013. Last November in Riga, it concluded with a 28-item to-do list on cultural, health and local cooperation.

"The docking of various strategies are effective in exploring the large space for cooperation between China and Europe," Huang said.

With cooperation boosted by these methods, trade value between China and EU grew by 3 percent from 2015 to over 3.6 trillion yuan (525 billion U.S. dollars) last year, a rather satisfying performance.

When talking with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Tuesday, Cazeneuve said France is ready to work with China to oppose protectionism. Mattarella supported an open multilateral trading system during his talks with President Xi on Wednesday.

Noting that Europe is vital to China's opening-up policy, Cui said deepening cooperation is necessary. "European people need to see more tangible outcomes of cooperation to reduce trade protectionism in European countries."
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese procuratorial organs received 2,899 criminal appeal cases and registered 1,984 of them during the January-November period in 2016, up 20 percent year on year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Friday.

Of the cases, 1,438 have been reviewed, with 1,308 rulings upheld and the other 130 overruled.

The case review commission of the SPP said they have overseen the review of these cases and rectified several unjust rulings with significant social impact.
KUNMING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The former Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Kunming has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for accepting and offering bribes, a court in southwest China's Yunnan Province announced Friday.

Gao Jinsong was found guilty of accepting 11.9 million yuan (1.7 million U.S. dollars) in bribes between 2000 and 2015 in return for loans, contracts and promotions for others, according to the verdict issued Thursday by municipal intermediate people's court in Lincang.

The bribes were paid in Chinese yuan, other foreign currencies, gold and jade.

Over the period, Gao held several posts, including executive vice mayor of the provincial capital Kunming, secretary of the Qujing and Kunming CPC municipal committees, it said.

During the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday in 2010 and 2011, Gao paid former Party chief of Yunnan Bai Enpei a total of 2 million Hong Kong dollars for the latter to help him secure a promotion, the court found.

Gao was fined 1.3 million yuan, and all his illegal earnings will be confiscated and retrieved.

The sentence was not too harsh, as Gao confessed to more crimes than prosecutors knew about, the court said.
Sorry, this news has been deleted.
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Two Afghan army soldiers were killed in a suicide car bomb blast in restive southern Helmand province on Friday, an army source in the province said.

"The explosion took place after a man detonated a car bomb near an army checkpost in Greshk district at around midday," Major Khairullah Khan told Xinhua.

One soldier was injured and the security checkpoint, locating along Kandahar-Herat highway, was also damaged in the blast, the source added.

Security forces have cordoned off the area for precautionary measures.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban militant group has launched similar attacks in the past.

Helmand, notorious for poppy growing, is also a known Taliban stronghold.
PHNOM PENH, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The fifth China Round Table conference will be held in northwest Cambodia's Siem Reap city from March 20 to 23, said a Cambodian Commerce Ministry press release on Friday.

The conference is initiated by the Chinese government in consultation with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat and the Cambodian government, the chair of the coordinating group of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the WTO.

"It is aimed at sharing best practices for the LDCs in preparing and accelerating the WTO accessions," the press release said. "Moreover, the conference is to provide post-accession support to LDC members."

The China Round Table is an annual conference which has been held following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Chinese government and the WTO in July 2011, according to the WTO website.

Under the MoU, China sponsors the conference which is designed to build capacity and technical skills in trade policy, including on accession negotiations, for least-developed and developing countries.
by Xinhua Writer Wang Jiangang

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A high-ranking UN official Thursday spoke highly of the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative, hailing it as an "enabler and catalyst" for achieving sustainable development goals.

Lenni Montiel, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, told Xinhua in an interview that the Initiative, launched by China in 2013, was in accordance with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the most ambitious and transformative one by far.

The B&R Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road project, which aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

The Initiative, which covers about 60 percent of the world's population and connects countries representing 30 percent of global GDP, will strongly "complement various sustainable development efforts at national and regional levels in Asia, Africa and Europe," Montiel said.

"The expected boost in investment and growth will contribute to creating millions of decent jobs and lifting many more millions out of poverty," he added.

Montiel, who once served as a senior UN official in Vietnam and Ukraine, spoke highly of the timing that the Initiative was proposed, when the world economy was still reeling from a big recession and investment, particularly those in developing countries, remained pitifully inadequate.

"The Initiative is likely to mitigate persistent savings-investment gaps in many of these countries and enable them to restart their growth engines," he said.

Montiel also pointed out that the Initiative holds "significant promises for reviving global growth," which still remains anaemic almost a decade after the recession.

Applauding the Initiative as China's commitment to global sustainable development, Montiel said it "is a developing country's initiative for developing countries."

It will help strengthen South-South Cooperation, an imperative for realizing the 2030 Agenda, Montiel said.

To date, more than 100 countries and international organizations have joined the B&R Initiative.

Noting that the success of the B&R Initiative will depend on the commitment from the participating countries, Montiel said that the Initiative should not be seen as China shouldering all the responsibility of financing. "It is rather an Initiative where all countries participate on the basis of mutual respect and shared responsibility," he said.

"As such, the B&R Initiative should foster investment, trade or people-to-people flows not just between China and a participating country but also between and among various participating countries," he added.

Further dialogue among participating countries is needed to fully understand the opportunities and the spillover effects of the Initiative, the assistant Secretary-General noted.

"This will be important for a smooth implementation of the B&R Initiative," he said.

Montiel also mentioned that the UN can act as a bridge between the B&R and other sustainable development efforts to maximize synergies and reduce any misuse of financial resources.

"China may proactively engage with the UN development system entities to also facilitate dialogues between and among the B&R countries," he said, adding that there is a need for periodically assessing and evaluating both the potential and progress of the Initiative.

Montiel disclosed that the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs has already undertaken a study to identify the potential macroeconomic impact of the B&R initiative in six countries in Central Asia.

"I am sure other UN entities will also come forward and extend similar technical assistance and analytical support to realize the ambitions of the B&R Initiative and foster sustainable development for nearly two-thirds of the humanity," Montiel said.
JAKARTA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas firm, PT Pertamina plans to ship aviation fuel to the Philippines, a top official of the company disclosed Friday.

The exportation could commence after 2023 when the oil refinery in Bontang of East Kalimantan is expected to kick off production of the fuel for aircraft, said Rachmad Hardadi, director at the company.

The director cited that the refinery is currently under construction and expected to be completed in the next six years.

"A total of 35 percent of aviation fuel production will be shipped overseas,...the Philippines will be a potential market," he said.

The Indonesian government attempts to boost the country's export to help spur economic growth.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming visit by Saudi Arabia's king Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Malaysia would increase trade and people to people ties between the two countries, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Friday.

King Salman will arrive in Malaysia for a state visit starting Sunday.

During the visit, the two countries will sign a number of new agreements and memorandums of understanding, including one involve two national oil giants, Saudi Aramco and Petronas, said Najib.

"These agreements will benefit our countries and our peoples, " he said.

Saudi Arabia is Malaysia's second largest trading partner in the Middle East. Trade between the two countries saw an increase of 19.8 percent in 2016 year-on-year to 13.12 billion ringgit (2.95 billion U.S. dollar), according to the figures provided by Malaysian government.
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Xu Xianming was appointed deputy procurator general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Friday, according to a decision by the top legislature.

Xu's request to resign as a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) was also approved at the closing meeting of a bimonthly session of the NPC Standing Committee, which opened Wednesday.

Chinese law bans members of the standing committees of people's congresses from working concurrently for the government, people's courts and people's procuratorates.
JAKARTA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Supply of copper at global market may increase as an Indonesian company will immediately resume shipment of copper overseas after it obtains permit for the exportation.

Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara (AMNT), a unit of Medco Energy International has got export permit from Indonesian trade ministry to export 675,000 tonnes of copper concentrate, the firm said in a statement on Friday.

The company also obtained a recommendation from the energy and mineral resource ministry on February 17 to export the concentrates.

"We will immediately resume export activities and continue operation at Batu Hijau as normal," President Director of AMNT Rachmat Makkasau said in the statement, referring to East Nusa Tenggara province of central Indonesia.

The global copper supply has been halted partly from Chile and Indonesia due to strike and disputes between the government and miner.

The strike in Chile has paralyzed the world's biggest copper mine since February 10, leading the price of copper rising to a 20-month high on February 13.

PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of U.S. based Freeport McMoran, has suspended production since February 10.
NANNING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Former vice governor of Guangdong Province Liu Zhigeng stood trial Friday, on charges of corruption, in the city of Nanning, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Prosecutors alleged that from 1993 to 2012, Liu took advantage of various official positions to help companies and individuals acquire shares and loans, among other offences.

Liu was said to have accepted bribes worth more than 98 million yuan (14.3 million U.S. dollars) either personally or through his family.

Liu made a final statement, in which he pled guilty and expressed remorse.

More than 60 people, including relatives of the accused, representatives of legislators and political advisors, journalists and members of the public, were present at the open trial.

The verdict will be announced at a later date.
NEW DELHI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Indian authorities Friday said it will bring back the body of its national killed in a hate crime related shooting incident inside a bar at Olathe, Kansas in United States.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer from southern Indian city of Hyderabad was killed and his friend Alok Madasani, another Indian, was wounded Wednesday night inside a bar in Kansas when a man reportedly yelled "get out of my country" before shooting at them. A U.S. national who tried to intervene was also wounded.

The 51-year-old shooter Olathe man, Adam W Purinton, a navy veteran, was arrested and charged with murder. Reports said FBI was investigating whether the shooting was racially motivated.

"We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderbad," Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said. "We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family."

The condition of the wounded Indian was said to be stable and according to officials has been discharged from hospital.

Swaraj has expressed shock over the fatal shooting. The minister in a series of tweets stated that Indian embassy officials in the United States have rushed to Kansas to assist victims.

Thousands of Indian tech workers are in the United States under the H1-B program, which grants skilled foreign workers temporary visas in the country.

With President Donald Trump ordering restrictions on immigration and a speeding-up deportation process for undocumented immigrants many immigrants in the country have been expressing concerns.
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The top insurance regulator on Friday barred Yao Zhenhua, chairman of Foresea Life Insurance, from the insurance industry for 10 years for irregular market operations.

China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said in a statement that Foresea Life violated insurance regulations and provided false information during its capital increase.

Foresea Life, a subsidiary of financial conglomerate Baoneng, was suspended from selling its questionable high-return insurance service in December, after speculative stake buyouts in listed companies by heavyweight insurers caused concern.

To contain possible financial risks, the CIRC sent investigation teams to insurance companies, including Foresea Life, to review their management, financial sheets, insurance product services and capital use.

CIRC chairman Xiang Junbo warned earlier this week that using insurance funds for short-term speculation and hostile takeovers in listed firms would be addressed without mercy.

The CIRC said it will help the insurer improve the way it is run.
BANGKOK, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Thai army units will wait with patience while laying siege around the perimeters of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, a buddhist temple, until its former abbot charged with money laundering is located and brought to justice, army chief Gen. Chalermchai Sittisart on Friday.

The army units, who engaged on Thursday in a stand-off with monks outside the temple in Pathum Thani province, about 25 km north of Bangkok, will continue to apply patience, the army chief said.

He said the army will not use force while contributing to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI)'s sustained mission to bring the temple's former abbot Phra Dhammajayo to justice.

The monk was charged of money laundering involving an estimated 34 million U.S. dollars, according to the army chief.

The authorities, including police, army units and the DSI, have spent over a week in desperate bid to search the temple for Phra Dhammajayo.

Thousands of Dhammajayo's followers and monks have been standing in the way of the missions for which search warrants have been issued by court.

"We've opted to waste time and we will not engage in belligerent confrontations or clashes with those inside the temple," said Gen. Chalermchai.

"Why have they been standing in the way of the legal search? Is there something they are hiding inside the temple from the authorities?" he added.

The army chief raised concerns over possibilities that a "third party" might trigger violence only to worsen the tense atmosphere in and around the temple. "We have been very concerned over a third party but we will not let untoward incidents occur," the army chief said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan earlier said that the authorities would try to get inside the temple and locate Dhammajayo though their missions might possibly take a one-year time.

Deputy DSI secretary general Suriya Singhakamon is currently in charge of the DSI missions with police backup units while deputy First Army Region commander Thammanoon Vithi is in charge of the army's supporting missions.

The DSI-led police units had recently searched part of the 800-acre compound of the temple but could not find Phra Dhammajayo. However, the search missions for him have not been called off as yet.

Suriya earlier said there has been no time frame for the missions as long as the fugitive monk remains at large.
MOGADISHU, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A drought resistant variant of sweet potatoes which will help mitigate the impact of drought in Somalia is being introduced by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in partnership with Rural Education and Agriculture Development Organization (READO), a local NGO.

The sweet potato variant, commonly referred to as the orange flesh sweet potato (OFSP), is suitable for growth in regions with minimal rainfall.

READO Executive Director, Abdullahi Abdirahman Ali said the introduction of OFSP in Baidoa will be of great value to the community as it will help to improve the livelihood of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

"We urge other international organizations and local partners to support the initiative, as this will help in mitigating drought issues in Somalia," Ali said in a statement issued in Mogadishu on Friday.

The project mainly targets IDPs and the host community in Baidoa, who will be trained on how to grow the potatoes, before being issued with a set of vines that they can use on their own farms.

The OFSP is nutrient rich in Vitamin A and will help boost nutrition among malnourished children and within IDP households.

OFSP's other benefits include increasing milk production among breast feeding mothers, OFSP flour to make baked products, and the plant's edible leaves that can be consumed as vegetables and serve as fodder for livestock.

The IOM Somalia has been working with different stakeholders in Somalia to address food security and durable solutions since 2011.

Some notable projects to this end include agricultural farm inputs distributions, training on best agricultural farm practices, and provision of conditional and unconditional cash for work.
ISTANBUL, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A group of Turkish scientists on Friday left for Antarctica to set up the country's first scientific research base there, local media reported.

"We are on our way to Antarctica as a team of nine researches to conduct feasibility studies of the base," Burcu Ozsoy, director of the Istanbul Technical University Polar Research Center, was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet daily in Istanbul prior to the team's departure.

"Our target is to set up a research base to open our studies to Turkish scientists," she said.

During their 30 days of expedition, the Turkish scientists will also focus on researches on climate change and sea creatures, the daily said.

In Ozsoy's view, all the countries in the world will one day head to Antarctica for salvation from the worst-case drought scenario, as the continent holds 70 percent of the world's fresh water reserve.

Antarctica, governed by Antarctic Treaty which came into force in 1961 with 53 participant countries, is allowed to be used for scientific research purposes only.

Turkey is holding an observer status under the treaty like 24 others and has no right to vote.
BERLIN, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- More than 130 Turks with diplomatic passports have sought asylum in Germany after a failed coup last summer in attempt to overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday.

The local daily reported that during August 2016 to this January, a total of 136 Turks, who were diplomats, soldiers as well as their family members, had applied for refuge.

They were believed to be supporters or sympathizers of the Gulen Movement, now branded as a terror group by Ankara for its exiled leader Fethullah Gulen's alleged role in directing the coup attempt in July 2016.

Turkey have been pressuring Germany, where around 1.6 million Turks resided, to extradite the dissidents, especially the military officers.

However, Berlin questioned the hunt-down by Ankara and saw it as a purge overseas, which strained the ties between the two countries.

Germany's local media lately also accused Turkish diplomatic agencies of encouraging Turks to spy on their fellows and denounce the critics of Erdogan.

On Friday, Turkish consulates in the German state of North Rhine Westphalia dismissed the allegations as "incorrect" and "unacceptable."
PHNOM PENH, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) will hold a congress on March 2 to choose its new president after the self-exiled incumbent, Sam Rainsy resigned two weeks ago, said the party's statement on Friday.

The congress will "select the party's president and vice president(s)," said the statement, which was released after the party's permanent committee meeting.

It added that the congress will be held at the party's headquarters on the southern outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Currently, CNRP's vice president Kem Sokha is holding the position of the party's acting president after Sam Rainsy resigned on Feb. 11.

Rainsy, 68, who has lived in self-exile in France since November 2015 to avoid a seven-year imprisonment for defamation and incitement cases, step down as the party's president after Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen proposed the National Assembly to amend the Law on Political Parties to ban convicts from serving as president of a party.

Earlier this week, the prime minister's ruling party-controlled National Assembly amended the legislation which bars convicted politicians from leading a political party and empowers the Supreme Court to dissolve any political party over the conviction of a party top official.

Cambodia is gearing up for the commune election in June 2017 and the national election in July 2018. The opposition CNRP has been seen as a main rival for the prime minister's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP).
This file photo taken on November 9, 2007 shows a glacier in Antarctica.(AFP Photo)

ISTANBUL, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A group of Turkish scientists on Friday left for Antarctica to set up the country's first scientific research base there, local media reported.

"We are on our way to Antarctica as a team of nine researches to conduct feasibility studies of the base," Burcu Ozsoy, director of the Istanbul Technical University Polar Research Center, was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet daily in Istanbul prior to the team's departure.

"Our target is to set up a research base to open our studies to Turkish scientists," she said.

During their 30 days of expedition, the Turkish scientists will also focus on researches on climate change and sea creatures, the daily said.

In Ozsoy's view, all the countries in the world will one day head to Antarctica for salvation from the worst-case drought scenario, as the continent holds 70 percent of the world's fresh water reserve.

Antarctica, governed by Antarctic Treaty which came into force in 1961 with 53 participant countries, is allowed to be used for scientific research purposes only.

Turkey is holding an observer status under the treaty like 24 others and has no right to vote.
RIYADH, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Jordanian pilot escaped unhurt on Friday when his F16 warplane crashed in Saudi border city Najran because of a technical fault, local media reported.

The airplane belongs to the Jordanian Air forces that have joined the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

No official confirmation by the command of the coalition was immediately available.

Airstrikes have been the most common way to fight the Houthis in Yemen since the war broke out in March 2015.
LONDON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Theresa May's ruling Conservative Party won a stunning by-election victory Friday, taking a House of Commons seat held by the main opposition Labour Party since 1935.

But there was some comfort for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after his party held on to a parliamentary seat in the English city of Stoke. His candidate had faced a fierce battle with UKIP, the party that campaigned for Britain to leave Europe.

UKIP chairman Paul Nuttall saw Stoke as providing his party with the best chance of doubling the single seat currently held by the party in the House of Commons.

Holding on to Stoke was some consolation for Corbyn, with political commentators predicting Labour would lose both of the seats it was contesting in Thursday's two by-elections, which would have threatened Corbyn's leadership of Labour where he remains estranged from many of his own members of parliament (MPs).

As the two results were announced in the early hours of Friday, it proved to be a night of mixed fortunes in the political arena.

In the first result to be announced in Stoke, famed across the world for its iconic pottery industry, Labour's Gareth Snell won with a comfortable majority of 2,630. UKIP's Nuttall came second, but just 79 votes more than the third placed Conservative.

The scenic Lake District saw the second battle with Labour battling to save its seat in the Copeland constituency held by the party for more than 80 years.

The area is dominated by its nuclear energy installations, the town's biggest employer, with many people believing Corbyn's stance of nuclear weapons a factor in his party's defeat.

The Conservative Trudy Harrison beat her main challenger Labour's Gillian Troughton with a majority of 2,147.

The dust has yet to settle on the results with opposing politicians engaged in a furious war of words over the results.

Former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne commented on social media "How much longer is the Labour movement going to put up with its utterly useless, shambolic and frankly embarrassing leadership?"

Labour supporting Daily Mirror newspaper was also scathing towards the result in Copeland. Political commentator Kevin Maguire said two words sum up Labour's humiliation "Jeremy" and "Corbyn."

Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell expressed disappointment at the result in Copeland, but insisted it was not a judgment on Corbyn's leadership.

"We are in a difficult period over these last 20 months because of these leadership challenges and the divisions that have been sown within our party," said McDonnell.

UKIP chairman Paul Oakden said the party's failure to win a seat in Thursday's by-elections was disappointing but not desperate for the party. He insisted UKIP was "absolutely behind" Paul Nuttall who recently succeeded Nigel Farage as leader.

Election expert Prof. John Curtice from Scotland's Strathclyde University said the result for the Conservatives in Copeland was the best by-election performance by a governing party since 1966. The result, said one commentator, strengthened British Prime Minister Theresa May's grip on power.
ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia and South Sudan on Friday signed eight agreements aimed at further strengthening bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries.

The agreements are part of South Sudan president Salva Kiir's official visit to Ethiopia from February 23 to 25.

The agreements include Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on the construction of roads, cooperation of health, energy and diesel offtake agreement. Border trade protocol and preferential trade agreement are also included in the agreements.

Construction of two road projects, which will be funded by the Ethiopian government, will be commenced so as to connect the two countries as part of the agreements made between the two leaders.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said on the occasion that "the agreement on energy and electricity is to connect South Sudan with Ethiopia. This can boost our interdependence and, therefore, lasting peace and coexistence together for the two countries."

According to the joint communique, the two leaders also agreed to form a Joint Border Administrator Committee (JBAC), at the earliest possible time, to further enable them to strengthen cooperation on issues of security, trade development and infrastructure along their common border.

The agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan was also one major discussion point between leaders of the two east African countries.

"Emphasizing the necessity of the National Dialogue as a vital tool to unite the people of South Sudan and restore lasting peace and stability in the country, the two leaders agreed to work together for the inclusive process of the National Dialogue," according to the communique.

Ethiopia, through the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), has hosted a number of peace talks between the South Sudanese government and the opposition rebels. The country is also major destination for South Sudanese refugees.
BAGHDAD, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Friday that he had ordered airstrikes against positions of the Islamic State (IS) militants in retaliation for recent deadly bomb attacks in Baghdad.

"We are determined to chase terrorism that tries to kill our sons and citizens wherever it is located. We gave orders to the air force command to conduct airstrikes against the terrorist Daesh (IS group) in Husaybah and Albu Kamal inside Syrian territories, as they were responsible for recent terrorist bombings in Baghdad," Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, said in a statement issued by his office.

"The heroes of the air forces have executed the operation of retaliation against the terrorists with great success," he said.

In a separate statement, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said F-16 jet fighters attacked IS positions near the Iraqi border towns of Husaybah and Albu Kamal inside Syria on Friday morning.

The jet fighters conducted the airstrikes after "the intelligence service tracked the perpetrators who planned and carried out the terrorist bomb attacks in Habibiyah and Baiyaa neighborhoods," the JOC statement said.

IS militants carried out massive bomb attacks in crowded commercial areas for selling cars in Habibiyah and Baiyaa on Feb. 15 and 16, leaving more than 54 civilians killed and some 100 others wounded.

The airstrikes came as the Iraqi security forces, backed by anti-IS international coalition, are continuing a major offensive to drive out IS militants from their last major stronghold in and around Mosul.
NAIROBI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Friday that his government will present its budget proposals earlier than usual as the country prepares for the general elections in August.

Kenyatta said his government would officially notify the East Africa Community (EAC) member states on the change of date for the presentation of the budget proposals.

He added that the government is taking these measures to ensure the country's operations are not hampered when Kenyans go for elections.

EAC member countries have had a tradition of presenting their budgets simultaneously in June and President Kenyatta said Kenya fully supports reforms being undertaken at the EAC secretariat to cut down costs.

"Count on us, we are committed to EAC integration and we want you to succeed," the president said when he held talks in Nairobi with Liberat Mfumukeko, EAC Secretary General.

Speaking during the talks, Mfumukeko said the EAC would send an observer mission to Kenya during the elections, saying Kenya's democracy is a role model to other EAC member states.

The EAC secretary, who was appointed in March 2016, briefed the president on the reforms the secretariat is undertaking which are aimed at cutting costs and improving the ease of doing business in this region.

He said the reforms instituted last year in the organs and institutions of EAC, have so far brought some positive developments in the management of resources at the secretariat.

He said as a show of confidence, key development partners renewed their confidence in EAC and are once again ready and willing to continue supporting the EAC.
NAIROBI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Airways said on Friday that it has started commercial evaluation plans with relevant authorities for the launch of long-awaited direct flights to the United States.

The move follows the decision by America's Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) to clear Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to operate direct flights to and from the United States.

Inspectors from America's FAA gave JKIA a clean bill of health after an audit leading to the award of the long-awaited Category One status.

The move sets the stage for signing of flight agreements between Washington and Nairobi as well as airlines seeking direct flights between the United States and Kenya before commercial operations can start.

"Our first priority now is to pursue codeshare arrangements with our partners in the SkyTeam Alliance. This will enable us to sell tickets to and from any U.S. state and drive revenues directly to us," said Kenya Airways CEO Mbuvi Ngunze.

"This process will take time but we will start immediately," Ngunze added in a statement issued in Nairobi.

Kenya Airways and Delta Airlines are in the same SkyTeam alliance that could see the two airlines enter into a code share agreement allowing the two airlines to sell direct tickets on each other's planes.

"In parallel, Kenya Airways plans to undertake a commercial evaluation and discussions with the relevant authorities to determine the viability and timing of operations. We will update on this as and when we are ready," he added.

Ngunze applauded the efforts by the regulator, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority for its intense drive to bring Category One clearance to fruition.

The Ministry of Transport on Thursday said Kenya wants to boost exports to Washington and increase visits by American tourists.

"The granting of this status means that airline operators, both in Kenya and the United States, which have long desired to operate directly will now be allowed to carry on their operations after certain processes including technical compliance and commercial arrangements are met," the ministry said in a statement.

The East African nation has been implementing a raft of recommendations by the U.S. government to enhance security, among them separation of passenger arrival and departure terminals, clearing the flight path and fencing off the airport.
PARIS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen would respond to police questions on alleged misuse of European Union funds after this year's presidential election, Le Pen's defense lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut said on Friday.

"(Le Pen) will comply with any summons after elections. It's not an obstruction of justice but an obstruction to a form of injustice which targeted her at full presidential campaign," Bosselut told BFMTV news channel.

The anti-Europe and migration presidential contender on Wednesday refused to attend police summon over fake job claims.

On Wednesday, Catherine Griset, Le Pen chief of staff was put under formal investigation as part of a probe into the alleged misuse of EU funds.

She was placed into custody along with Le Pen's bodyguard Thierry Legier, who was later released.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) accused Le Pen of using European Parliament funds to pay her France-based assistant a total of 298,500 euros (316,290 U.S. dollars) between December 2010 and February 2016.

According to European rules, the EU parliamentary aide should work in one of the parliament's three offices in Brussels, Strasbourg or Luxembourg.

The far-right leader and European lawmaker, is also accused of paying her bodyguard of 41,554 euros for the October-December 2011 period, according to local reports.

Le Pen, who enjoyed immunity, rejected any wrongdoing and called the affair "a political plot" to take the wind out her sails as she is gaining public support and challenge the country's traditional right and left parties.

An Opinionway survey released on Thursday showed the far-right contender could be at the top of first round election in April with 26 percent against the independent centrist Emmanuel Macron's 23 percent and the conservative Francois Fillon's 21 percent.

However, she would lose to whoever should be her rival in the second decisive round. (1 euro =1.059 U.S. dollar)
NEW DELHI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Indian police arrested Mohit Goel, the founder of a firm which claimed to sell the world's cheapest smartphone, on charges of fraud, officials said Friday.

The owner of Noida based company - Ringing Bells in outskirts of New Delhi was detained on Thursday.

"Mohit Goel, the Director of Ringing Bells company which had announced Freedom251 smartphones at an extremely low price was arrested on allegations of fraud," a police official in Uttar Pradesh said.

The Freedom251 phone, touted as the world's cheapest, priced at 3.7 U.S. dollars (INR 251) went on pre-sale in February last year on its website. While many customers got their phones, Ringing Bells is accused of not fulfilling all of its orders.

Goel's arrest comes in the complaint filed by the owner of Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises alleging that Ringing Bells "defrauded" it of 24,022 U.S. dollars by not providing phones.

Ayam Enterprises owners in their complaint to police alleged Goel had threatened them with life if they asked for repayment of the money.

Police officials said they would investigate similar complaints which have been filed against the company in Uttar Pradesh.

Ahead of its sale many people raised queries around the firm's business model questioning how it could offer smartphones on such cheap rates.

A leader from ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) Kirit Somaiya registered a case of cheating against the owners alleging the company was running a ponzi scheme to offer smartphones at prices that are below their cost of production.

The BJP leader had also approached telecom ministry and Indian telecom regulator - Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on the issue.
ATHENS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Greek police announced on Friday that they have busted a major trafficking ring smuggling migrants from Turkey to Greece, and are conducting a further investigation to trace more suspects.

During an operation in northern Greece and Athens, nine smugglers, five Greeks and four Pakistanis, were arrested, while another Greek national and a Bulgarian, who are now in jail, were identified as leading members of the gang.

Authorities were searching for at least 11 more individuals who are believed to be linked with the case.

According to the police investigation, since last October the gang had smuggled at least 200 migrants and refugees via the Evros river on the Greek-Turkish northern land borderline.

On average the tariff was set at about 3,500-5,000 euros (3,700-5,300 U.S. dollars) per person for the crossing of the river and their accommodation in hideouts.

A parallel investigation was underway to trace the suspect who deceived 10 refugees and left them locked up inside a van at Patras port on Tuesday, it was announced.

Police was alerted by a passerby about people trapped in a vehicle on Wednesday.

The men, most Afghans, said that a man had pledged to transfer them to Italy and then Germany, hid them in the van after charging them 200 euros each.

After the launch of the EU-Turkey deal last March to stem migrant influx via the Aegean Sea, smugglers have turned to Evros region and targeted people stranded in Greece for months.

Nearly 63,000 refugees and migrants are currently in Greece, according to the latest official data released by the Greek Migration Policy ministry on Friday. (1 euro=1.05 U.S. dollars)
DUBAI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The General Command of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces in Abu Dhabi said on Friday the serviceman Khalid Ali Gharib Al-Beloushi was killed while on duty with the Saudi-led Arab Coalition's operation "Restoring Hope" in Yemen, Emirati state news agency WAM reported.

The report did not classify the circumstances which led to the death of the military personnel.

The General Command of the UAE Armed Forces said it offered its condolences to the family of the soldier, "praying to Almighty Allah to rest his soul in eternal peace, and bestow solace on his family."

The UAE General Command reported the death of several of its servicemen this year.

The UAE is part of a Saudi-led coalition of nine Arab states to support Yemen's internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the fight against the Shiite Houthi group.
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China has lodged representations to the Japanese side and urged Japan to be cautious in its words and deeds regarding Taiwan-related issues, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Friday in Beijing.

Spokesperson Geng Shuang's remarks came after a Japanese Defense Ministry think tank released a report on China's security, in which Taiwan was put in parallel with the Chinese mainland as a political entity.

"We have lodged solemn representations to the Japanese side," Geng said, stressing that the Taiwan-related issue, part of the country's domestic affairs, concerned China's core interests.

He urged the Japanese side to abide by the principles set in the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, stick to the one-China principle and handle Taiwan-related issues prudently.

According to the joint statement, the Japanese government fully understands and respects the Chinese government's position on Taiwan as an inalienable part of China's territory.

"Japan should refrain from sending the wrong messages to 'Taiwan independence' secessionist forces, undermining regional peace and stability, or causing new disturbances to China-Japan relations," Geng said.
NINGBO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's People's Liberation Army Navy on Friday sent frigates to search for the crew of a wrecked fishing boat in the East China Sea, according to navy sources.

The wrecked Chinese fishing boat had about 20 crew members on board. One of them has been rescued by fishing boats nearby.

The Donghai Fleet received requests for assistance from the maritime rescue center in Zhejiang Province Friday morning.

Frigate Jiaxing, which was carrying out a mission in the East China Sea, and frigates Ningde and Ezhou, both conducting training in the area, were sent to the area to start the search.

Another naval vessel carrying a rescue helicopter was also en route to the site.
CAPE TOWN, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- South African President Jacob Zuma on Friday appealed to the country's citizens not to blame all criminal activities on non-nationals.

"Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively," Zuma said amid a new wave of xenophobic violence that is gripping some townships.

It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers, Zuma noted.

"Let us isolate those who commit such crimes and work with government to have them arrested, without stereotyping and causing harm to innocent people," he added.

However, Zuma said there are real concerns by South Africans in many areas about serious crimes that are destabilizing communities.

Also on Friday, a march took place in Pretoria West against illegal immigrants following violence in the area, where some people were reported to be stopping vehicles from leaving the township.

In other areas, ambulances are prevented from fetching sick people to take them to hospital and delivery vans have to be escorted by police when entering the townships.

"Our people cannot continue to live in fear like this," said Zuma.

The latest developments have prompted Zuma to champion the fight against crime in order to promote safer and more stable communities, in light of several complaints from communities about drug trafficking and abuse and other serious crimes which cause fear among many residents in the country, his office said.

The situation has become more serious in light of current threats of violence and acts of intimidation and destruction of property directed at non-nationals living in South Africa, Zuma said.

Residents in some communities blame non-nationals for the escalating crimes especially drug trafficking and rising unemployment.

Violence against foreigners erupted in Pretoria West and nearby Rosettenville earlier this month.

There is also simmering tension that has been reported in other areas including the dissemination of hate speech and threatening messages via social media.

Zuma strongly condemned the acts of violence and called upon citizens and non-nationals to exercise restraint, unite against crime and work with the authorities to bring perpetrators of crime to book.

He said the government has also noted the complaints of South Africans about companies that employ illegal immigrants.

Zuma reiterated that the Department of Home Affairs will be cracking down on all employers who continue with this practice, which is dangerous as it pits locals against non-nationals.

The president reaffirmed his assertion that South Africans are not xenophobic and that the problems they are raising with respect to crime will be attended to.

He called from unity among citizens and non-nationals to fight crime.

"The threats and counter-threats on social media must stop. All must exercise restraint, respect the laws of the land and work together to fight crime and build safer communities," the president said.
Yu Zhengsheng (2nd R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, attends a meeting on uniting people of new social classes in Beijing, capital of China. The meeting was held in Beijing on Thursday and Friday. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng on Friday urged united front departments to better encourage people of new social classes to support socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Yu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks Friday at a meeting on uniting people of new social classes.

"Since China's reform and opening up, a number of new social classes have emerged in the country along with changes taking place in Chinese society and economy," Yu said, adding that they had been a major force in China's development.

Yu stressed that it was a key task for the CPC to guide people of new social classes to increase their acceptance of and confidence in socialism with Chinese characteristics.

"The CPC united front departments should take advantage of the Internet to better connect with new social strata members through exchanges and discussions," Yu said.

At the meeting, Sun Chunlan, chief of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, urged the united front authorities to improve their work and make progress to prepare for the 19th CPC National Congress.
MOSCOW, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Russian supply spaceship successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, Russia's Mission Control Center said.

The Progress MS-05 space freighter has been mechanically captured by the ISS at 0830 GMT Friday, a commentator at the center was quoted by RIA Novosti new agency as saying.

The ship will deliver about 2.5 tons of scientific equipment, fuel, food, water, medicine, a spacesuit and other supplies to astronauts at the space station.

The freighter, carried by a Soyuz-U rocket, was launched on Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Wednesday's launch followed a faulty one on Dec. 1, 2016, in which the Progress ship burned up shortly after lift-off.
SARAJEVO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) remains committed to its European and NATO path, BiH Chairman of Council of Ministers Denis Zvizdic said Friday during a meeting with visiting Maltese Foreign Minister George W. Vella.

Zvizdic said that Vella's visit was extremely important for BiH because it is happening at a time when Malta is presiding over the Council of the EU, adding that last year was successful for BiH's process of European integration.

Vella said that the EU's door was open to BiH and Malta would support BiH's progress in the process of European integration, especially in the period of their presidency.

They agreed that the two countries should strengthen their economic relations and discussed how to promote Maltese investments in BiH.
TIRANA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Albania's opposition leader Lulzim Basha Friday warned of civil unrest if "we get no concrete answer to our demands."

"What we have started is not a party demonstration, but rather a people's movement without turning back," he said.

On the seventh day of the anti-government protest staged by the opposition Democratic Party, and supported by other opposition parties and citizens, Basha toughened his tone to mobilize people across the country.

The opposition here is asking the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama and creating a caretaker government before the June 18 general elections. According to the opposition, this would be the only way to prevent the purchase of votes and mandates by the current government.

The democrats have also requested the revision of the vetting package of the justice reform.

Speaking during a daily meeting with opposition party supporters, Basha warned the protest would escalate into a violent one. According to him, Albanian people have lost patience.

"Those who play games with the people should do their math well because the popular wave will wipe them out of their offices," he said.

European Union officials have condemned the boycott of parliament, calling on the opposition to return to where it should be, "the Parliament."

But despite such calls from Brussels, Basha has made clear his stance saying that the Albanian opposition would continue protests and their parliamentary boycott.
PARIS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- French presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron unveiled his economic roadmap on Friday based on spending, tax cuts, and boosting investment to kickstart the major economic power in Europe over the next five years.

Promoting a "new model of growth," the ex-investment banker pledged "..not to take any additional measures in the summer."

"I want to make our public spending more efficient while funding the change of our growth model," Macron told the business daily Les Echos.

With this aim, he pledged to cut public expenditure by 60 billion euros (63.57 billion U.S. dollars) in order to stick to France's commitments to bring down budget deficit to the eurozone threshold of 3.0 percent.

He said he would also reduce corporate tax to 25 percent from the current 33.3 percent and to slash jobs in the public sector by 120,000 over the next term.

In addition, he proposed a public investment scheme worth 50 billion euros aimed to improve training, financing energy transition and modernizing the country's administrative services.

As for the unemployment issue, the 39-year-old centrist candidate said he wanted to lower the joblessness rate to 7.0 percent by 2022 from its current 9.7 percent.

An Opininway poll released on Friday showed Macron's score had improved by one percentage point to 23 percent of voting intentions. He was followed by Francois Fillon, while far-right candidate Marine Le Pen maintained the lead in the first round with 26 percent.

Macron has never held an elected post. He disclosed his political ambition after creating his own political movement "En Marche" (On the Move) in April last year.

He joined the Socialist government in August 2014 to replace ousted economy minister Arnaud Montebourg. Two years after, he quit his post to focus on his political career.

His election bid has taken a new turn after veteran centrist Francois Bayrou on Wednesday offered to form an alliance with Macron's party to prevent Le Pen from taking power. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollars)
VIENTIANE, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to boost pragmatic cooperation with Laos in various fields, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said here on Friday.

Liu made the remarks during his meeting with Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somdy Douangdy.

China and Laos are good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners, said Liu, adding that China attaches great importance to the bilateral ties with Laos.

He said China is ready to work closely with Laos to implement the important consensus reached between leaders of both countries and parties, deepen the China-Laos ties, push forward pragmatic cooperation in various fields, and make contribution to peace and development of the region.

Somdy Douangdy, for his part, said the Laos-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership is enjoying rapid development with frequent high level exchanges between both sides.

Meanwhile, cooperation in various fields are underway, bringing tangible benefits to peoples of both countries, he said.

Laos is willing to join hands with China to push the China-Laos ties to a new level, he said.

During his stay in Laos, Liu also held diplomatic consultation with Lao Deputy Foreign Minister Khamphao Ernthavanh, and Lao Deputy Foreign Minister and senior official responsible for ASEAN affairs Thongphane Savanphet, respectively.

Both sides agreed that the China-Laos ties have made new and important development since last year.

The two sides also spoke highly of the development of China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) ties since last year. China attaches great importance to the relations with ASEAN, firmly support the development of ASEAN community and the bloc's central position in regional cooperation.

As this year marks the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, the China-ASEAN cooperation should be pushed to a new level. China and ASEAN should also boost pragmatic cooperation, maintain regional stability, and promote common development, they noted.

The two sides also agreed to continue promoting pragmatic cooperation under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Framework.

Meanwhile, China and Laos agreed to work closely to manage the development of key cooperative projects, especially the China-Laos railway project, and enrich the contents of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

Both sides will work with other ASEAN countries to push for the development of China-ASEAN strategic partnership, and make active contribution to peace, stability, development and prosperity of the region.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City expects to carry out more cooperation and receive more support from Britain in building a smart city and managing public-private partnership (PPP), a municipal official said Friday.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong made the remarks when meeting with visiting British Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Phong said Ho Chi Minh City is willing to create the most optimal conditions for British firms to invest in the city, particularly in the fields of transport infrastructure, health care, education and e-government development.

For his part, Fox said Britain is willing to cooperate and assist the city in developing an e-government and a smart city.

Britain now ranks 12th among 86 countries and territories investing in the city. The country is also a big trade partner of the city, with two-way trade value reaching 826 million U.S. dollars in 2016. Enditem
LISBON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Portugal could exit its excessive deficit procedure in spring, the European Commission Vice-President for Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis said here on Friday.

Dombrovskis said during his two-day visit at the Portuguese parliament that the country could exit its excessive deficit if the European Commission confirms the positive statistics in an assessment in spring.

"Portugal outperformed the targets define last year," Dombrovskis said, while pointing out that the country's deficit and public debt must continue to fall.

Dombrovskis' official visit to Portugal comes after the European Commission on Wednesday released Portugal's country report, in which it warned that the country was still vulnerable to shocks despite the economy having improved in the past four years.

The Portuguese authorities say the country has managed to bring down its budget deficit to 2.1 percent of GDP, lower than Brussels' 2.5 percent target.

Portugal signed a 78 billion euros (82 billion U.S. dollars) bailout program with international lenders in 2011 when the county was on the verge of bankruptcy, which led to harsh austerity including tax hikes and spending cuts.

Dombrovskis stressed on Friday the need for Portugal to comply with the ambitious measures in its national reform program.

Portuguese Socialist MP Eurico Brilhante Dias pointed out that the country exiting the excessive deficit procedure was Portugal's objective and that it hoped to receive "good news from Brussels in the near future."

Isabel Pires from the left bloc said the favorable economic figures were due to a rupture of policies of the previous administration and defended the need for debt restructuring.
BRUSSELS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- NATO has developed a multinational telemedicine system to provide medical services in emergencies, the security organization said Friday.

A high-level conference held at NATO headquarters here on Friday marked the completion of this project, supported by the NATO science for peace and security program, according to NATO's press release.

The telemedicine system can be used for both military and civilian operations, which enables medical specialists to provide recommendations in real time at emergency scenes or in combat zones.

Portable medical kits allow first responders at the scene to connect to the system, receiving expert advice from medical specialists.

"In the event of a disaster, telemedicine helps eliminate distance barriers and improves access to medical services that would often not be available on the ground, even in remote areas," said Sorin Ducaru, NATO Assistant Secretary General for emerging security challenges.

Launched in 2013, the project was led by scientists and experts from Romania, the United States and NATO partner countries Finland, Moldova, and Ukraine.
In this image provided by NASA, the International Space Station is shown with the backdrop of Earth. (AP/NASA)

MOSCOW, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Russian supply spaceship successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, Russia's Mission Control Center said.

The Progress MS-05 space freighter has been mechanically captured by the ISS at 0830 GMT Friday, a commentator at the center was quoted by RIA Novosti new agency as saying.

The ship will deliver about 2.5 tons of scientific equipment, fuel, food, water, medicine, a spacesuit and other supplies to astronauts at the space station.

The freighter, carried by a Soyuz-U rocket, was launched on Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Wednesday's launch followed a faulty one on Dec. 1, 2016, in which the Progress ship burned up shortly after lift-off.
by Robert Manyara

MACHAKOS, Kenya, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were slashed to death while 20 others were injured on Friday in clashes between two groups over a piece of land in Athi River, about 20 km east of Nairobi.

Machakos Police Commander Samuel Mukinda said the injured sustained serious wounds in the clashes that lasted the better part of Friday pitting local youths and a group of about 200 who had been brought there to occupy the land.

Mukinda said police moved in and arrested 100 youths involved in the fighting as part of efforts to contain the situation. At least 40 houses were demolished by unknown assailants in a dawn raid at the disputed piece of land.

"We have arrested about 100 youths over these skirmishes and we are hunting for more," said Mukinda. Witnesses said that over 200 youths were ferried from Nairobi in buses early Friday before they demolished houses and setting others on fire.

The land is vast and is claimed by many groups but authorities said it belongs to East Africa Portlands Cement. The groups were armed with machetes, bows and arrows as they confronted each other for hours.

Land issues are emotive in the East African nation and the violence coming ahead of the August elections threatens peace at large.

More police officers were mobilized to the scene as the violence escalated affecting traffic flow on the main Nairobi-Mombasa Highway.

The fighting comes after the country's third largest cement maker by market share announced in November last year plans to sell part of its 13,000 acres to help it return to profitability.

However, residents in some of the areas where the company proposed to dispose of parcels of land it owns want to be given first priority in the planned sale.

The company plans to raise about 80 million U.S. dollars from the proposed transaction. Enditem
by Ndumiso Mlilo

PRETORIA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The South African Police Service (SAPS) said Friday they have arrested 156 people since last night following the resurgence of anti-foreigner sentiments.

While addressing the media in Pretoria, Acting Police National Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane said, South Africans started burning tyres around 5:00 a.m. on Friday in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria calling for the foreigners to leave the country.

This was followed by the march by a group calling itself "Mamelodi Concerned Residents". They said the foreigners are responsible for criminal activities in the country.

Lieutenant General Phahlane said the march had been approved and they were monitoring it. He said the situation is calm and the police are in control.

He said, "This march follows periodic violence and looting over the past week. The law enforcement acted speedily in arresting 156 people since last night. SAPS have exercised maximum restraint and they have also contained violence. We caution those engaging in violence that law enforcement will not hesitate to act."

He said the police exercised maximum restraint during the march with some marchers from Atteridgeville throwing stones. Phahlane said they had to use proportional force to diffuse the situation. He warned that those committing crime will be arrested.

He encouraged people not to spread fake news. Some have been spreading news on social media about impending attacks on foreigners. Phahlane said they will beef up their operations and maintain visibility in the advent of xenophobia.

The Portfolio Committee on Police called on South Africans on Friday not to take law into their own hands but to follow the law. The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Francois Beukman said while people have a right to raise their concerns, they must act within the confines of the law.

He said, "It is the Constitutional duty of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to protect and secure the inhabitants of South Africa and their property. As such, the Committee will support the necessary steps the SAPS will undertake to maintain law and order."

Beukman said some occurrences in Pretoria show that the law was being broken and called on the police to arrest those found on the wrong side of the law.

He said, "The Constitution places an obligation on all South Africans to respect and live in harmony with all communities, whether they are foreign or local."

Mamelodi Concerned Residents marched Friday through the streets of Pretoria attacking foreigners telling them to return to their countries accusing them of dealing in drugs and stealing jobs.

Some foreigners also grouped and vowed to defend themselves in the Pretoria City Centre. Police had to fire rubber bullets to disperse the two groups. Journalists were also injured by the rubber bullets when the police fired.

The march was criticized by many in the country. The Nelson Mandela Foundation said the government, civil society and all stake holders should tackle xenophobia, and Pretoria should not have permitted the anti-foreigners march.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO Sello Hatanga said, "The measures of who belongs and who doesn't that we see being thrown around so recklessly are deeply problematic. I am beginning to feel 'othered', as my father's family has its roots in Lesotho and my mother's in Botswana."

The Congress of South Africans Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Gauteng also criticized the anti-foreigner sentiments. Cosatu said the march against foreigners have a regime change agenda, and xenophobia is as a result of socio-economic challenges like unemployment facing the country.

Amos Monyela, Cosatu provincial chairperson said, "We call all the Gauteng citizens to desist from these heinous actions against our African brothers and sisters. We want to remind all citizens that during the liberation struggle our forebears found protection outside South Africa until political freedom was attained."

Cosatu called on the police to take act fast and arrest those attacking foreigners. Cosatu also encouraged government to have "sober immigration policy" and address the unemployment in the country.
MOGADISHU, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen have abducted two aid workers and a driver in south central Somalia, an international charity confirmed on Friday.

Save the Children said the two staff and a driver were kidnapped by unknown gunmen on Thursday whilst working at an outpatient therapeutic centre in the Hiran region.

"Save the Children is aware of an incident that resulted in two staff and a driver being taken by an unknown armed group on Feb 23. The two staff were taken whilst working at an outpatient therapeutic centre in the Hiran region of South Central Somalia," it said in a statement.

The charity has not established the motive behind the abduction of its staff but local sources have blamed the insurgents who had earlier banned aid agencies from operating in their strongholds.

Save the Children expressed concern about the wellbeing of the two workers and appealed for their immediate return, saying they are very committed humanitarian workers who provide lifesaving help for children suffering from malnutrition.

"Our priority is ensuring the safe return of these two staff to their families and we do not have any further information at this time," it said.

"Save the Children remains committed to supporting the population of Somalia on both its emergency response activities and the long-term development work."

The Islamist militant group, Al-Shabaab which is fighting to topple the Western-backed government has been targeting humanitarian workers for political gain, sometimes demanding ransom in order to free the hostages.

The humanitarian community says the volatile security situation continues to impact on civilian lives and create a challenging environment for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Enditem
ANKARA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces have gained full control over northern Syria's al-Bab from Islamic State (IS), Turkish military announced on Friday.

The clean-up work was ongoing clear obstacles, mines and explosives, the Turkish Chief of General Staff said in a statement.

The Turkey-backed operation took control over a total of 230 residential areas and a region of 1,925 square km, it added.

FSA forces have launched operations in cooperation with the Turkish military in al-Bab since Dec. 8 in 2016, surrounding the IS-held city from the northeast and the west.

The forces made advances into the town earlier this month.

Turkey and FSA rebels have been trying to capture al-Bab from IS as part of its ongoing Euphrates Shield operation, which was launched on Aug. 24, 2016, aiming at clearing the border with Syria of terrorist organizations.

Al-Bab is one of IS' last remaining strongholds near the Turkish border.

Capturing the city is of strategic importance to Turkey in order to prevent the Syrian Kurds from taking it and unifying their own territories.
Zhang Dejiang (C, back), chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), presides over a bimonthly session of the 12th NPC Standing Committee in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 24, 2017. The session concluded in Beijing on Friday. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) closed its bi-monthly session Friday, preparing for the upcoming annual parliamentary session, adopting two laws and announcing appointments and dismissals.

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the closing meeting of the three-day session, which opened Wednesday.

PREPARING FOR ANNUAL SESSION

At the closing meeting, lawmakers passed a report on the work of the NPC Standing Committee. It will be submitted to the annual session after mild amendment based on the opinions of lawmakers.

Most lawmakers approved of the Standing Committee's work in the past year, Zhang said at the closing meeting.

Lawmakers also approved the draft agenda of the annual session, a draft list of candidates for the session's presidium and secretary-general, as well as the list of observers at the session.

Zhang called on legislators to think and act in line with the requirements of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China, and get prepared for the Fifth Session of the 12th NPC scheduled for early March.

"Lawmakers should propose valuable advice, respond to public concern and ensure a clean environment during the upcoming session," Zhang said.

ADOPTING LAWS

The revised Law on the Red Cross Society, which was adopted after a third reading at the bimonthly session, aimed to further boost transparency and credibility of the country's Red Cross societies.

Red Cross societies in China are now required to give feedback to donors on the use of their donations, and staff who fail to do so could face civil and criminal charges.

"The revision primarily focuses on strengthening supervision on Red Cross societies and standardizing their activities," Guo Linmao, an official with the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, told a press conference Friday afternoon.

A previous clause giving Red Cross societies power to "rectify" illegal activities by their subordinate societies and staff was deleted from the new draft.

After several scandals, China's Red Cross has grappled with trust issues in recent years.

Revision work for the law began in 2016.

The first reading of the draft suggested that independent third-party agencies should audit donations and that an information disclosure system should be put into place.

The societies should also establish a system for financial management, internal control, public auditing as well as supervision of funds and assets.

The second draft expanded Red Cross societies' duties in stem cell and organ donation.

The Red Cross Society of China established an organ donation administration center in 2012, becoming involved in organ donations at every stage from donor registration to organ distribution.

The third reading specified that Red Cross societies could participate in and promote blood, body and organ donations, and could carry out work related to stem cell donations.

It stated that leading supervisors at all Red Cross societies must be chosen through a democratic process.

The revision will safeguard and regulate Red Cross societies in performing their duties and boost its credibility, according to Zhang Mingqi, a vice chairman of the Law Committee of the NPC.

The law will come into force May 8, 2017.

In addition, the top legislature also adopted a revised law on corporate income tax, which is expected to address the common complaint that businesses making large donations do not get enough tax concessions.

The government has waived corporate income tax on donations made by companies from their profits, but this only applies to companies that donate 12 percent of their profits or less.

The new law stipulates that if a company's donation exceeds 12 percent in one year, the balance can be deducted from the taxable income over the following three years.

REVIEWING UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW

At the session, lawmakers reviewed a draft amendment to the Unfair Competition Law, as the country strives to build a socialist market economy.

The draft revision, the first since the law came into force in 1993, was given a first reading at the bimonthly session.

The draft under consideration expands the scope of unfair competition to cover commercial bribery, false commercial propaganda, tie-in sales without buyer consent, and deceitful prize allocation, according to the draft.

The draft in particular stipulates that malicious activity on the Internet used to coerce buyers or disturb other businesses is banned.

The banned activity includes misleading, cheating or forcing users to "modify, close or unload" products or services, the draft said.

APPOINTMENTS AND DISMISSALS

He Lifeng was appointed director of the National Development and Reform Commission, replacing Xu Shaoshi.

Zhang Jun was named Minister of Justice to replace Wu Aiying.

Zhong Shan was appointed Commerce Minister to replace Gao Hucheng.

Xu Xianming was appointed deputy procurator general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Xu's request to resign as a member of the NPC Standing Committee was also approved at the closing meeting.

Huang Qifan, Zhu Xiaodan, Yang Xiong and Liu Kun were named vice chairmen of the NPC's Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, and Du Deyin was appointed vice chairman of the NPC's Ethnic Affairs Committee.

Huang Longyun was appointed vice chairman of the NPC's Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee.

Wang Xibin, former president of the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, has resigned from his post at the 12th NPC, for suspected duty-related crime.

Yu Haiyan, former vice governor of northwest China's Gansu Province, was disqualified for suspected serious disciplinary violation, and Du Chuanzhi, former Party chief of Rizhao State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission in eastern China's Shandong Province, has resigned from his post at the top legislature, for suspected disciplinary violation.

Zhao Lianguan, former vice mayor of Zaozhuang city in Shandong, also resigned from his post, for serious disciplinary violation.

The 12th NPC currently has 2,924 deputies.
A visitor studies the brochure of China at the 39th International Tourism Fair in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 23, 2017. The fair took place with the slogan "Enjoy in time" from Feb. 23 to 26, with 1,100 exhibitors from 56 countries. (Xinhua/Nemanja Cabric)

BELGRADE, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- For the first time, China took part in the International Tourism Fair in Belgrade which opened here on Thursday.

Serbian officials and tour operators saw this as another signal, along with visa liberalization and possible direct flights, that the number of Chinese tourists to Serbia could soon increase notably.

Tourism fair takes place for the 39th time at the Belgrade fair under the slogan "Enjoy in time" with 1.100 exhibitors, local, regional and international tour operators, tourist associations and organizations, hotels, tourist centers and airliners from 56 countries from February 23 to 26.

It was officially opened by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Rasim Ljajic, minister of trade, tourism and telecommunications.

Speaking at the opening of the fair Vucic said that last year Serbia profited more than 1 billion euros (1.06 billion U.S. dollars) from tourism because it managed to realize that it had underestimated its potentials in the past and decided to change this.

One of the strategies, according to him, is to attract more visitors from China.

Liu Cheng (C), Director of the Budapest branch of the China National Tourism Administration(CNTA)stands at the presentation room at the 39th International Tourism Fair in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Nemanja Cabric)

CHINESE TOURISTS

"In 2016 the number of Chinese tourists increased by 29 percent. We expect more of them because I expect that one Chinese airliner will soon establish a direct flight from Belgrade to Beijing.

"This will mean, along with the visa-free regime, a huge number of tourists," Vucic said.

Vucic said Serbia plans to make arrangements with neighboring countries such as Montenegro and Hungary to present a joint tourist offer to Chinese tour operators.

Ljajic noted that the Belgrade International Tourism Fair has grown into the biggest tourism fair in the region and stressed the importance of having China and Russia for the first time as participants.

"For the first time at this fair, we have China and Russia presenting their tourist offers which will significantly contribute to better cooperation and attracting tourists from these great markets to Serbia," Ljajic said.

In an interview for Xinhua, Liu Cheng, director of the Budapest branch of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), said that the branch was founded in March last year in Budapest to promote China as a tourist destination among central and eastern European countries, and to establish tourist connections between China and CEE countries, including Serbia.

"These years we have seen a rapid growth of Chinese outbound tourists to CEE countries, with an annual number of 800,000 tourists," Liu said.

"Among these countries, Czech Republic is the most popular one. Well, we don't see many Chinese tourists in Serbia, However, it grows by 20 percent to 30 percent every year," Liu said, reminding that Serbia and China implemented visa liberalization in January, which is really good news.

"A problem remains that Chinese people don't know much about Serbia. They may know Belgrade or former Yugoslavia, but they don't know what to see, what to do or what to buy here.

"I think it's important that Serbia promote itself in China so that Chinese people will get to know more about this country and, gradually Serbia will become a popular tourist destination," he concluded.

Visitors look at the stand of the China National Tourism Administration at the 39th International Tourism Fair in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Nemanja Cabric)

PREPARING FOR MORE TOURISTS

BIljana Radulovic, director of "Top Tours" tour operator, says that her company made the first attempt to cooperate with Chinese tour operators on bringing tourists to Serbia, by printing a brochure which was presented for the first time at the international tourism fair in Shanghai last November.

"In the brochure made for our potential business partners, we presented Serbia and its capital Belgrade, but also regional countries and established two guaranteed routes (that will operate even if a single passenger is present) -- 'Memory of the Balkans' and 'Balkans without Borders'. We proposed our Chinese partners to visit all of our neighboring countries," she said.

Radulovic explained that the company analyzed the market to study preferences of Chinese tourists before it decided to present its offer to Chinese tour operators, and that the key motivation for that was the liberalization of visa regime between two countries.

"We made the first attempt to attract Chinese tourists five years ago, but at that point procedures for Chinese tourists to get visas were too demanding so we put the project on hold until recently when visa liberalization between China and Serbia gave us a new motivation," she recalled.

"We expect results. Serbia is a new destination, and we have the support of the business environment as well as the ministry in charge of tourism," Radulovic said, adding that she expects to establish cooperation with partners from China. Rasim Ljajic, minister of trade, tourism and telecommunications, visits the stand of Air China at the International Tourism Fair on Feb. 23, 2017.

(Xinhua/Nemanja Cabric)

MEETING CHINESE REQUIREMENTS

Milica Cubrilo, secretary for tourism in the Serbia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that Serbia has to offer a lot to tourists.

These include capital Belgrade with its surroundings, mountain resorts, spas, numerous festivals and a tradition worth getting to know.

Cubrilo said that hotels, restaurants and tour guides as well as others engaged in tourism have gradually started to adapt to the requirements of Chinese tourists.

"Having in mind that China is very far away from here, we made joint programs with our neighbors that have a complementary offer with Serbia, which is Montenegro, as the beginning.

"Our tour operators made a brochure with seven joint programs focusing on active vacation in nature together with Montenegrin tour operators and these will be offered to Chinese tour operators so they could include them in their offer at the upcoming tourism fair in Shanghai," she told Xinhua.

In 2016, some 43,000 Chinese tourists came to Serbia which is not a big number having in mind the size of China, but for Serbia this is encouraging because in 2011 only 12,000 tourists from China visited Serbia, she said.

"We hope that the visa free regime, possible establishment of a direct flight, joint presentation with our neighbors as well as strengthening of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe will have an influence on Chinese tourists to perceive this region as more attractive than in the past," Cubrilo said.

Miodrag Popovic, Director of the Tourist Organization of the City of Belgrade, told Xinhua that Chinese tourists are just as any other international visitors when it comes to the presentation of tourist destination, but in order for them to be satisfied, some special attention is still required.

There are differences when it comes to Chinese tourists only when it comes to some cultural aspects, he said.

"A research has provided us with information about what interests Chinese guests most, how they need to be treated -- from the most banal such as to avoid everything connected to the number four, to more serious issues, such as that one needs to have Chinese food for guests who stay longer, together with domestic specialties that they may wish to taste.

"Chinese guests also like to take photos and we need to provide them with enough places to capture their memories on photos," he said.

"Preparations are ongoing in Belgrade hotels, restaurant and all those related to the sector of services and other sectors related to the tourist offer -- for the arrival of Chinese guests," Popovic said.
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday urged the United Kingdom to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs after the UK government released the latest Six-Monthly Report to Parliament on Hong Kong.

"Over the past 20 years since the return of Hong Kong, the Chinese central government has been comprehensively implementing the principles of 'one country, two systems,' 'Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong,' and its high degree of autonomy, strictly following the Constitution as well as the Basic Law, and fully supporting the Chief Executive and the Special Administrative Region (SAR) government in administering law-based governance," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Friday night.

He said Hong Kong continues enjoying prosperity and stability, and that Hong Kong residents enjoy every right and freedom they are entitled to in accordance with the law.

Geng said Hong Kong is China's Special Administrative Region and that Hong Kong affairs are China's domestic affairs in which no foreign country has the right to interfere.

"The British government has been releasing the so-called Six-Monthly Report to Parliament on Hong Kong on a regular basis since the return of Hong Kong, which we consistently and firmly oppose," he said.

"We ask the British side not to release the relevant report and not to interfere in Hong Kong affairs," said the spokesperson.
WINDHOEK, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's human wildlife conflict is on the increase with a total of seven lives lost this year since January, according to the environment ministry.

In a statement on Friday the ministry said the latest incident was that of a man, Lourens Hindjou, who was killed on Tuesday at Omungambu village near Omatjete in Daures Constituency, Erongo region.

"Sadly, the incidents of human wildlife conflict are on the increase in areas where elephants are prevalent especially in Erongo region where desert adapted elephants leave their habitats mainly in the Ugab area in search of food and water," the statement read.

According to the ministry, from time to time, elephants wander into villages and the conflicts tend to occur.

The ministry said it will continue to ensure that conflicts between humans and wildlife is reduced.

The ministry cautioned the public, especially those that reside in conservancy areas and communities where there are elephants or any dangerous predators, to always be vigilant and avoid walking at night in the bush.

Furthermore, the ministry appealed to tourists to refrain from using drones and taking pictures at very close range to the elephants.

Since the unfortunate incident was reported, the ministry said the elephant was tracked and put down on Thursday as it was declared a problem animal. Enditem
By Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. media has been raging on since he took office last month, which could hurt his presidency, experts said.

The billionaire-turned president has received more media coverage, much of it being negative, than any other president in recent memory. Since its inauguration last month, the new administration has been under intense scrutiny by U.S. media, with many news outlets disapproving of Trump's actions in his first weeks in office.

Trump has over the months attacked U.S. media for putting out "fake news," citing that his administration is unfairly treated by the media.

The tsunami of negative coverage could hurt Trump as he pushes his policies, experts said.

The media pressure could hurt Trump, especially if he doesn't deliver on his promises to spark a major economic boost, they said.

"It is unparalleled in history the amount of coverage that has been given to President Trump and his administration both positive and negative," Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua.

The negative coverage has made it difficult for Trump to move in some areas where there was consensus for his policies -- tax reform, infrastructure -- though the slow movement on those policies also reflects the pace of Washington, Mahaffee said.

However, the negative coverage has also shored up support among Trump's base, as well as consolidating support among some conservatives, who see the negative coverage and begin to sympathize with some of the statements from the administration complaining about the media as the "opposition," Mahaffee said.

If Trump is able to accomplish outcomes that are widely beneficial, there may be more nuanced coverage from mass media. But in today's polarized political and media environment, the partisan coverage from these smaller, left-leaning and right-leaning outlets is likely to remain either negative or positive, Mahaffee said.

Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies of the Brookings Institution, said that Trump has been experiencing a large amount of negative coverage because he ran a divisive campaign and did little to reach out to opponents.

When people are upset and protesting administrative policies, that leads to critical news coverage, which has hurt Trump by raising doubts about his administration and overall vision, West said.

Trump's election was very much a result of poor economic conditions in many forgotten parts of the country.

That means the success of Trump's presidency depends a great deal on his ability to boost the economy and bring back robust growth, which has been missing since the 2007-2008 economic nose dive.

While most prior recessions have seen the economy come roaring back, many have pointed to an avalanche of government regulations and taxes that have kept large and small businesses from hiring. Trump has been trying to cut the regulations and reduce taxes to create more jobs.

"If (Trump) raises the economy's growth above three percent, the way he promised, his poor start won't matter. People will cheer the economic success," West said, adding that otherwise it would undermine his claim of special expertise on economic issues.

Some experts said the negative media coverage has already hurt the new president, even a month into his presidency.

Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, told Xinhua that the negative media coverage, fueled by both leaks and protests and an absence of both trust in administration spokespersons and support from Republicans in Congress, "is keeping people talking about disorganization in the White House, court rivalries within the administration, and the like, rather than on Trump's own initiatives."

"He has said, generally, that he'd like to do tax reform, repeal Obamacare, and pass a major infrastructure bill. But without anything solid to talk about on those fronts, he's got very little to say to counter the terrible press he's been getting," Galdieri said.
VIENNA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- OPEC and non-OPEC producers achieved their oil production cut goal in a conformity level of 86 percent, a cartel said in a press release on Friday.

The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee said that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Non-OPEC oil producer are on the "right track towards full conformity" with the crude production cut goal.

The report said the in January, the producers achieved a conformity level of 86 percent over the output cut agreement, in order to rebalance the global oil market.

OPEC members and non-OPEC producers such as Russia agreed to jointly cut the oil production since January 1, therefore, the sides are closely monitor the reduction process.

OPEC will discuss if the cartel should continue implementing the output cut strategy in March. The press release said that there is still room for improvement to reach 100 percent conformity in production cut.
CAIRO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erikat said Friday that the Palestinian leadership is in direct and close contact with China about the recent developments in the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

"China has an official Middle East peace envoy and we are always in contact...China is a country with remarkable political weight that has always supported the Palestinian legal rights," Erikat said during an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

The Palestinian official pointed out that China was one of the first countries to support a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"China has always supported our stances in the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council as well as other international organizations," Erikat added.

Right now, he said, China provides Palestinian National Authority (PNA) with great financial and technical support in addition to professional training to Palestinian government employees in several fields.

"We highly appreciate the Chinese political, technical and financial support to the Palestinian people," he said.

Officially, China has always supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights.

In 2012, China voted in favor of a Palestinian UN bid to become a non-member observer state of the UN.

In December 2012, China voted for a bid condemning the Israeli settlement that was overwhelmingly adopted by the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, Erikat, who was in a short visit to Egypt where he met with the Egyptian foreign minister and Arab league officials, said that the upcoming Arab Summit meeting that will be held in March in Amman must come out with a unified stance towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"The summit should confirm that the Arab Peace initiative cannot be changed...Arab leaders should affirm that there must be a Palestinian state on the 1967 border and all settlement activities must stop," he said.

Palestinian leadership is skeptical after U.S. president Donald Trump backed off U.S. commitment to support the two-state solution and said that it was not the only way to achieve Mideast peace.

Trump's remarks failed the Arab world and prompted the Arab League respond with a statement reiterating the necessity of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

"There is a notable change in the U.S. policy under Trump. His attitude is totally different from his predecessors," he explained.

However, the veteran Palestinian politician said it is too early to judge Trump as he has only been in office for some 34 days.

"We are now studying all our options, but we need an Arab support to boost out future decisions and measures," Erikat said.

About Trump's statements that he will move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Erikat revealed that the opposing Palestinian stance was conveyed to Trump by King Abdullah II of Jordan when they met in Washington and when Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi and King Suleiman of Saudi Arabia talked to him in phone calls.

He said if the U.S. embassy is relocated to Jerusalem, the Palestinian leadership will take a bunch of punitive measures, among them is withdrawing the PNA's recognition of Israel.

Erikat also appreciated the Egyptian president and Jordanian king reiteration during their meeting earlier this week that the two-state solution is a fixed national principle to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The two leaders expressed keenness on preserving the rights of the Palestinian people, stressing the necessity of ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to restore stability to the Middle East region.

Israel has always been blamed by the international community for the deadlock of the Middle East peace process due to its settlement expansion policy that is rejected even by its strongest ally, the United States.

Still, confident in Trump's support, the Israeli government recently announced plans to build about 6,000 Jewish settlement housing units in the West Bank.

The announcement was preceded by an Israeli parliamentary approval of the so-called "Regulation Bill" that retroactively legalizes about 3,850 housing units in dozens of outposts built illegally on privately owned Palestinian lands.

The peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since April 2014. The U.S.-sponsored talks that lasted for nine months achieved no tangible results.
LONDON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- More than 2.1 billion U.S.dollars is to be invested in upgrading Scottish military bases, British Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon announced Friday in Edinburgh.

Fallon outlined how Scotland will be home to several additional key defense capabilities by 2020 as he recognized the region's unique contribution to Britain's national security.

He said: "Scotland is on the frontline of defending the United Kingdom from growing threats at sea, in the air, and on land. Our commitment to the future of defense in Scotland is underlined by increasing investment in better infrastructure for the Armed Forces helping to keep us safe."

The Ministry of Defense in London said Scotland's 14,000 military regular and reserve personnel and 3,930 MOD civilians are set to benefit from the investment. It will include an investment of more than 1.6 billion U.S.dollars upgrading the military's naval base on the Clyde waterfront.

There will also be a 502 million U.S.dollars investment at Lossiemouth in Scotland, one of the Royal Air Force's three fast jet bases.

The work will involve upgrading its runways, taxiways and accommodation for the nine new Poseidon P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft and an additional squadron of Typhoon warplanes.

The versatile Army Adaptive Force Brigade, which specialises in operations, working alongside partners abroad, and providing resilience support to Scottish civil authorities and communities will also see investment work.

The military Leuchars Station in Fife will be expanded to become the main "hub|" for army activity in Scotland.

An MOD spokesman said: "The defense equipment program supports 11,000 Scottish industry jobs and accounts for over 10 percent of Scotland's industrial base."
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) meeting in Tanzania on Friday agreed to support the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) in preparations for the 2018 general elections.

Augustine Mahiga, the east African nation's Minister for Foreign Affairs, said SADC will give full support to the vast central African country as it prepared to conduct general elections next year,

Briefing journalists at the end of a one-day meeting of SADC Inter-State Politics and Diplomacy Committee in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Mahiga said the southern African regional body also appealed to the international community to support DR Congo towards preparations of the polls.

"SADC has pleaded to heads of state and government as well as international bodies to assist DR Congo financially because the country is currently facing political instability," said Mahiga.

He said DR Congo which was currently under an interim government under President Joseph Kabila faced a number of challenges including lack of finance ahead of its elections.

Mahiga said the meeting agreed to send the message to international bodies to help the country in its pre-elections preparations, including registration and updating the voter's registration book.

He said DR Congo Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Raymond Tshibanda, presented a report to the meeting on the political situation in the country.

The Congolese minister briefed the meeting on political challenges following the death of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, said Mahiga.

Mahiga said the meeting also discussed political instability in the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Mahiga said the meeting reviewed and agreed to give membership to the Comoros that became the 16th member of the SADC while giving recommendations to Burundi after it failed to reach some qualifications to be granted membership. Enditem
KIGALI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Eastern Africa Police Chief Cooperation Organization signed a memorandum of understanding with the Italian Police Force (Carabinieri) to enhance cooperation in various fields of policing.

The deal was signed by the chairman of the 13-member regional police bloc known by its acronym as EAPCCO, Inspector General of Rwanda National Police Emmanuel K. Gasana and Italian police Commander General, Lt. Gen. Tullio Del Sette.

The parties committed to sharing of best practices and upgrading the capacity of police officers in varied policing fields.

The understanding was inked on the last day of a week-long meeting of security experts from Eastern Africa in Kigali.

The meeting discussed ways of maintaining stronger cooperation in combating transnational organized crimes.

Lt. Gen. Tullio said the MoU was demonstration of the seriousness, effectiveness, and determination in strengthening cooperation for a safer world.

Rwanda's Minister of Justice, Johnston Busingye, said the formalized commitment between EAPCCO and Carabinieri would be valuable if the individual governments of the regional police bloc commit themselves to the implementation.

He is also the chairperson of EAPCCO Council of Ministers.

EAPCCO brings together Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Comoros, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania.

It was formed in 1998 in Kampala, Uganda to among other things promote, strengthen and foster cooperation in fight against of cross-border and related crimes, and to formulate systematic regional training policies, according to officials. Enditem
BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people died and another 30 were injured on Friday due to an accident involving two buses in Argentina's northern province of Santa Fe, according to local authorities.

The accident happened along route 33, in the town of Perez, 15 km west of the city of Rosario.

Sebastian Carranza, spokesperson for the prosecutor-general of Rosario, which is investigating the crash, informed the press of the death count after two buses collided along the route between Rosario and Zavalla.

The investigation is under way to determine whether the accident happened when a bus had a tyre blowout or whether it was the result of a failed overtaking attempt.
TALLINN, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- After two years of decline, construction in Estonia picked up again in 2016 as Estonian builders at both home and abroad increased their output by 3.0 percent year-on-year to 2.1 billion euros (2.2 billion U.S. dollars), according to the latest data released by Statistics Estonia.

Construction of buildings by Estonian firms increased by 9.0 percent to 1.4 billion last year from 2015, and the value of engineering structures built by Estonians in 2016 was 656 million euros, up 10 percent from the previous year.

While Estonia's domestic construction sector was affected by a slowdown in civil engineering and renovation and reconstruction of buildings, construction of new buildings, which has been showing growth since 2013, continued to quicken also in 2016, the statistics office said.

Estonian builders' operations in foreign countries, which made up 11 percent of the sector's total output in 2016, rose by 3.0 percent last year.

With demand for good quality apartments and homes remaining strong in Estonia, the number of construction permits for such projects rose by 8.0 percent year-on-year to 6,021.

The number of new dwellings completed during the year increased by 763 against 2015 to 4,732 in 2016, most of them situated in Tallinn and Tartu. Enditem
DAMASCUS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Syrians have experienced six years of war and have suffered lots of woes and calamities and they pin high hopes on the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva and eager to see tangible results.

As a fourth round of Geneva intra-Syrian talks is taking place, Syrians in the capital Damascus were all but optimistic. They strongly urged the Syrian delegations of the government and opposition to put the interests of Syrians before any political calculations or affiliations.

They said it's enough of war, enough of the killing, and enough of the torn apart social fabric and falling economy.

"It has been six years, I reached to the point that I can't watch the delegations staying in the best cities of the world, sitting on a fantasy tables, and discussing our miserable fate and that of this country," Samer Ahmad, an accountant, told Xinhua.

Samer reflected the opinion of the vast majorities in the Syrian streets, who have become fed up with the lack of progress in each round of talks in Geneva.

Muhammad Mukhtar, a university student, urged the government and the opposition in Geneva to try to reach to a common ground to figure out a solution to the long-standing conflict, which left hundreds of people killed, half of the country's population displaced, and last but not least the huge destruction that has befallen Syria.

"I have spent much of my youth in this crisis, knowing nothing but to go to the university and return home. There are no activities, no trips, only school and home and all of this is depressing when you realize that once graduated, you will find no jobs," he said.

In Geneva, the opposition and government delegations sat face to face for the first time in three years, during the welcoming session headed by UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura on Thursday.

This round of talk will focus on UN Security Council resolution 2254 which calls for a new constitution, UN-supervised elections and transparent and accountable governance.

"I ask you to work together. I know it's not going to be easy to end this horrible conflict and lay the foundation for a country at peace with itself, sovereign and unified," Mistura told the delegates.

De Mistura told the government and opposition representatives that they had a joint responsibility to end a conflict.

"The Syrian people desperately all want an end to this conflict and you all know it," he said.

People in Damascus are following the news in Geneva, trying to get a sense of what this round would produce.

Ammar Kheir, a political science student, told Xinhua that the first day of the talks in Geneva seemed "cold."

"I haven't sensed any enthusiasm in the faces of the delegations," Kheir said.

He cited the remarks of Mistura when he said he didn't expect the new round of talks to make a breakthrough.

Meanwhile, a Syrian journalist covering the Geneva talks told Xinhua that ambiguity overshadows the first two days of the talks, in terms of the lack of information emerging about the possible path of the negotiations.

He said the media teams in Geneva are also sharing little to no optimism about this round of talks.

"We are pretty sure that no breakthrough will be made during this meeting, but still, we would like see at lease a prelude to the hoped for breakthrough," the journalist said, asked not to be named.

He said that Mistura handed a paper to the Syrian delegation on Friday, which includes three items, the shape of the future rule in Syria, the constitution and elections.

The head of the Syrian government delegation, Bashar al-Jafaari, said his delegation will study the paper and will respond to it in the next session.
BEIRUT, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon remains a beacon for the defense of the Palestinian cause, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday during his official visit to Lebanon.

The sacrifices made by Lebanon and its people would never be forgotten by the Palestinians, Abbas said on a joint press conference with the Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri following talks he held at the parliament, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Abbas pointed out that the talks focused on exchanging views about "many international issues," including the new U.S. administration, various elections in Europe, the Arab summit and many parliamentary meetings, as well as the issue of Palestinian unity, on which Lebanon recently hosted a meeting.

Berri hopes that the meeting held in Beirut last month on the Palestinian unity would be addressed thoroughly so it would result in a unity that is a great encouragement for the Arab and Muslim unity.

Abbas later met with Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri and discussed with him the situation in Lebanon and the region, the developments in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Lebanese-Palestinian relations.

Abbas held talks with President Michel Aoun on Thursday at the beginning of his three-day visit to Lebanon.
U.S. President Donald Trump (C) gestures to media before boarding Marine One departing for Andrews Air Force Base en route to West Palm Beach, Florida, at White House in Washington D.C.,the United States, Feb. 3, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, Feb.24 (Xinhua) -- A host of major U.S. news outlets were barred from participating in a White House press gaggle Friday, underscoring the escalating tension between U.S. President Donald Trump and the media.

Cable News Network, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Politico were excluded from a off-camera press gaggle, an informal press briefing, given by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Other press that were blocked included British Broadcasting Company, Buzzfeed, the Hill, the Huffington Post, Daily Mail, New York Daily News and most of the foreign press, according to a report from Axios.

The White House press office said in an email that "the pool was there, so various media mediums were represented."

The White House Correspondent's Associated lashed at the decision, saying in a statement that it is "protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House."

The Associated Press and Time magazine boycotted the gaggle in response to the incident.

The move was considered very rare and many senior White House correspondents don't recall something similar has had happened before.

Earlier in the day, Trump chastised U.S. mainstream media for inaccurately reporting on his administration, saying during a speech at the Conservative Policial Action Convention.

"Many of these groups are part the large media corporations that have their own agenda and it's not your agenda and it's not the country's agenda, it's their own agenda...as you saw throughout the entire campaign, and even now, the fake news doesn't tell the truth," he said.

Trump has previously named five U.S. media outlets, including CNN and New York Times, as "enemy of the American people."

The bumpy relationship between Trump and the media sank to a new low this week after several news media reported that the White House had asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to knock down reports about communications between the Trump campaign and Russia during the election.

Spicer told members of the press in a early morning briefing Friday that the reports were "indefensible and inaccurate."

Related:

Analysis: Trump's on-going war with media could hurt presidency: experts

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. media has been raging on since he took office last month, which could hurt his presidency, experts said.

The billionaire-turned president has received more media coverage, much of it being negative, than any other president in recent memory. Since its inauguration last month, the new administration has been under intense scrutiny by U.S. media, with many news outlets disapproving of Trump's actions in his first weeks in office. Full story

Trump on Twitter calls five U.S. major media organizations "enemy of American people"

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday slammed the country's five mainstream media organizations as "the enemy of the American people".
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the escalation of the conflict in Yemen's western coast has resulted in significant civilian casualties and large scale displacement, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Friday.

"There are scores of dead bodies in the street risking the spread of disease in Mukha town," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing.

Some 44,000 people have been recorded fleeing the conflict throughout Taizz governorate, he said.

"Humanitarians have scaled up the response in Taizz, Al Hudaydah, Lahj and Aden governorates to provide assistance to the displaced, including shelter, food and other items. Mobile health teams have been deployed to supply medicines and treat trauma cases," the spokesman said.

"We are gravely concerned about the protection concerns that persist due to the military offensive by both land and air," he said. "We call on all parties to provide unhindered humanitarian access in the conflict areas to be able to respond to civilians fleeing the fighting."

Warplanes of the Arab coalition played an important role in the all-out military campaign to recapture and secure Yemen's western coast and the strategic Bab Al Mandab strait.

Yemen has been suffering from a civil war for about two years. The civil war began after the Houthi militants with support from forces loyal to the former president ousted by the UN-backed transitional government.

The legitimate government now controls the south and some eastern parts, while the Houthi-Saleh alliance controls the other parts, including the capital Sanaa.

The UN has brokered rounds of peace talks between the warring factions, but failed to reach any tangible results.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Stephen O'Brien, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, will travel from Oslo to Yemen, Somalia and Kenya between Feb. 26 and March 5 to meet people most affected by humanitarian crises, a UN spokesman said here Friday.

"In all three countries, Mr. O'Brien will meet people most affected by humanitarian crises, which are caused chiefly by conflict and drought," Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

"Millions of people in Yemen and Somalia face the very real risk of famine over the coming six months if aid efforts are not rapidly scaled up," the spokesman said.

In Yemen, more than 7 million people are severely food insecure and 460,000 children are suffering severe acute malnutrition, while in Somalia nearly 3 million people urgently need food assistance, he said.

Kenya declared a drought emergency on Feb. 10, with at least 23 counties affected, he said, adding that the number of food insecure people in Kenya has more than doubled to 2.7 million in the past six months.

O'Brien will meet with stakeholders on the humanitarian crises in all three countries, he added.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- More Iraqi people flee their homes amid military operations in western Mosul, a city in north Iraq, after the Iraqi government liberated the eastern part of the city in late January, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Friday.

"In Iraq, with military operations to retake western Mosul progressing, displacement has increased from front-line areas," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

On Thursday, some 350 people arrived at a screening site in Hammam al Alil, some 30 km southeast of Mosul, having left their homes in Abu Saif village and surrounding areas near Mosul city airport.

"Displacement has also continued from eastern parts of the city, alongside return movements back into some east Mosul neighborhoods, and to surrounding areas," he said.

Almost 162,000 people are currently internally displaced as a result of fighting in Mosul, he said, adding that cumulatively, since Mosul operations began on Oct. 17, more than 218,000 people have been displaced.

The troops' advance toward Mosul came after the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Feb. 19 the start of an offensive to drive the extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of Tigris River which bisects the city.

Late in January, Abadi declared the liberation of the eastern side of Mosul, or the left bank of Tigris, after more than 100 days of fighting against the Islamic State (IS) militants.

However, the western side of Mosul, with its narrow streets and a heavy population of between 750,000 and 800,000, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces, according to the United Nations estimates.

Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish voters will go to polls on April 16 for a constitutional referendum on the powers of the president, a move that would turn the country from parliamentary to presidential system.

The government and president Erdogan argue that the reform would make decision taking easier especially against terrorism and extremism that have killed more than 500 people since 2015. Fragile parliamentary coalition can thus be avoided, says Erdogan.

"In its actual form the parliament has become a burden for the safety of the country. This system has become obsolete and has to change," said Erdogan in a televised speech in capital Ankara on Wednesday.

The proposed changes are also backed by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Its veteran leader Devlet Bahceli was once one of the fiercest opponents of president Erdogan, who argues that the changes would bring Turkey in line with political systems such as France or the United States.

The 18 changes foreseen in the reform scrapes the role of prime minister and the president would become the head of the executive and also retain ties to a political party.

In this case president Erdogan will return at the helm of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) that he founded in 2002 and lead until he was elected as head of state in 2014 after three terms of prime minister.

The president alone would also be able to announce a state of emergency, appoint ministers and senior judges. It can also permit Erdogan to stay in power until 2029.

The main opposition centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) decry Erdogan's slide to authoritarianism and argue that an all-powerful head of state will harm democracy.

For CHP this controversial reform will even bring "dictatorship" in Turkey.

"These changes would downgrade Turkey from the first division of civilised states to the third one just like in the line of rogue states" said Yildrim Kaya, an influential CHP official.

He added "the amendments if adopted will abolish 140 years of parliamentary regime in Turkey."

Ilter Turan, professor of political science at Istanbul Bilgi University, told Xinhua that its difficult to make predictions of the outcome of the vote but fears that it would shatter what is left of checks and balances in the country.

"Checks and balances would weaken even more ... this kind of system doesn't exist in European countries," he said, as Turkey is still trying to join the European Union, a multi decade's long and arduous ambition.

The referendum campaign has evolved into a fiercely fought battle pitting secularist against the government and its supporters.

Turan regrets that the campaign has divided Turkey even more and urged both camps to reflect on ways unifying the country.

"Supporters of changes treat the 'No camp' of being traitors, this is politically unhealthy," Turan said.

Advocates of the reform say that the current system is holding back Turkey's progress in a very difficult geostrategical sphere when the war is raging on in neighbouring Syria and iraq and in the aftermath of the failed coup last year after which more than 100,000 people have been arrested, dismissed or suspended.

Turkey is also threatened by attacks stemming from the Islamic State and Kurdish rebels.

Mehmet Akif Okur, professor of political studies at Gazi University told Xinhua that the current political system is untenable because both the president and the prime minister are elected by popular vote.

"The actual system is double-headed and in terms of governing the country is a terrible mess being really neither a viable parliamentary nor a presidential regime. The proposed reform aims to correct it in order to make governing more effective," he said.

Experts also said that the amendments, despite the ideological rifts in the country, would also strengthen Turkey's investment atmosphere in order to consolidate its important position in his region.

Okur said the fact that Turkish parliament is politically and ideologically very fragmented makes decision taking difficult in a country of 80 millions.

"The ideological rivalry raging on in politics reflects deeply in Turkish society. If we were to hold a referendum on which colour the public buses should be, the polarisation a cross the country will be as bad as it is with this constitutional reform," he said.

Erdogan is adored by his many supporters who cherish a leader perceived to represent the lower-class and religiously conservative sections of society, but he is disliked by his numerous critics making him the main focus of this popular vote.

For Okur demonizing the proposed changes because of Erdogan himself and his political belief are irrelevant and uncalled for while he is convinced that in the future it would also benefit the opposition in a better functioning governance.

"They can also see one of them at the top post," he said.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has rescued a number of displaced people in Bentiu,a town in the northern part of South Sudan after uniformed soldiers attempted to abduct them, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said here Friday.

"Soldiers were seen beating and harassing 11 internally displaced people at a nearby farm," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. "UN peacekeepers intervened and rescued seven women and four men."

UNMISS reported that uniformed soldiers attempted to abduct a number of internally displaced people nearby the UN Protection of Civilians site in Bentiu on Thursday evening, Dujarric said.

"In other related incidents the same evening, peacekeepers also prevented the harassment of other people who were returning to the site," he said.

The head of the UN mission, David Shearer, praised the "robust" response of members of the Mongolian Battalion who rescued these people, he said.

Bentiu is the UN's largest Protection of Civilians site in South Sudan with 120,000 residents.
A man holds a flag showing Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that read's "Learning from Erdogan means learning how to win" during the speech of Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Oberhausen, Germany, February 18, 2017, to promote Turkey's constitution referendum on April 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

ANKARA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish voters will go to polls on April 16 for a constitutional referendum on the powers of the president, a move that would turn the country from parliamentary to presidential system.

The government and president Erdogan argue that the reform would make decision taking easier especially against terrorism and extremism that have killed more than 500 people since 2015. Fragile parliamentary coalition can thus be avoided, says Erdogan.

"In its actual form the parliament has become a burden for the safety of the country. This system has become obsolete and has to change," said Erdogan in a televised speech in capital Ankara on Wednesday.

The proposed changes are also backed by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Its veteran leader Devlet Bahceli was once one of the fiercest opponents of president Erdogan, who argues that the changes would bring Turkey in line with political systems such as France or the United States.

The 18 changes foreseen in the reform scrapes the role of prime minister and the president would become the head of the executive and also retain ties to a political party.

In this case president Erdogan will return at the helm of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) that he founded in 2002 and lead until he was elected as head of state in 2014 after three terms of prime minister.

The president alone would also be able to announce a state of emergency, appoint ministers and senior judges. It can also permit Erdogan to stay in power until 2029.

The main opposition centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) decry Erdogan's slide to authoritarianism and argue that an all-powerful head of state will harm democracy.

For CHP this controversial reform will even bring "dictatorship" in Turkey.

"These changes would downgrade Turkey from the first division of civilised states to the third one just like in the line of rogue states" said Yildrim Kaya, an influential CHP official.

He added "the amendments if adopted will abolish 140 years of parliamentary regime in Turkey."

Ilter Turan, professor of political science at Istanbul Bilgi University, told Xinhua that its difficult to make predictions of the outcome of the vote but fears that it would shatter what is left of checks and balances in the country.

"Checks and balances would weaken even more ... this kind of system doesn't exist in European countries," he said, as Turkey is still trying to join the European Union, a multi decade's long and arduous ambition.

The referendum campaign has evolved into a fiercely fought battle pitting secularist against the government and its supporters.

Turan regrets that the campaign has divided Turkey even more and urged both camps to reflect on ways unifying the country.

"Supporters of changes treat the 'No camp' of being traitors, this is politically unhealthy," Turan said.

Advocates of the reform say that the current system is holding back Turkey's progress in a very difficult geostrategical sphere when the war is raging on in neighbouring Syria and iraq and in the aftermath of the failed coup last year after which more than 100,000 people have been arrested, dismissed or suspended.

Turkey is also threatened by attacks stemming from the Islamic State and Kurdish rebels.

Mehmet Akif Okur, professor of political studies at Gazi University told Xinhua that the current political system is untenable because both the president and the prime minister are elected by popular vote.

"The actual system is double-headed and in terms of governing the country is a terrible mess being really neither a viable parliamentary nor a presidential regime. The proposed reform aims to correct it in order to make governing more effective," he said.

Experts also said that the amendments, despite the ideological rifts in the country, would also strengthen Turkey's investment atmosphere in order to consolidate its important position in his region.

Okur said the fact that Turkish parliament is politically and ideologically very fragmented makes decision taking difficult in a country of 80 millions.

"The ideological rivalry raging on in politics reflects deeply in Turkish society. If we were to hold a referendum on which colour the public buses should be, the polarisation a cross the country will be as bad as it is with this constitutional reform," he said.

Erdogan is adored by his many supporters who cherish a leader perceived to represent the lower-class and religiously conservative sections of society, but he is disliked by his numerous critics making him the main focus of this popular vote.

For Okur demonizing the proposed changes because of Erdogan himself and his political belief are irrelevant and uncalled for while he is convinced that in the future it would also benefit the opposition in a better functioning governance.

"They can also see one of them at the top post," he said.
RABAT, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Morocco has formerly informed the chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, of its will to join the regional bloc as a fully-fledged member.

This request is in conformity with the provisions of ECOWAS founding treaty and meets fully its adherence criteria, Morocco's foreign ministry said in a statement Friday.

Morocco has had the status of observer at ECOWAS for several years ago and has taken part in many meetings and activities of the organisation.

According to the statement, the request mirrors Morocco's commitment to address, jointly with ECOWAS member states and in solidarity with them, the challenges facing the region.

Morocco's ECOWAS adherence request underlines, tangibly, the Kingdom's recognition for the importance of this regional grouping, whose integration process is one of the most advanced and most ambitious in the African continent, the statement added.

Morocco enjoys strong relations with west African countries. The north African kingdom is already the top investor in west Africa and the second largest African investor in the continent.

Over the past years the Moroccan king has toured many times the region and signed hundreds of agreements which gave strong impetus to bilateral cooperation with 15 member states of the organization.

The north African kingdom has also participated in peacekeeping operations in the region, and in arbitration efforts to solve conflicts in the region. Enditem
DAMASCUS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian forces have become 10 kilometers away from the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria, as part of an operation to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group, a monitor group reported Friday.

Intense battles are raging between the Syrian army and IS militants in the western countryside of Palmyra in the eastern countryside of the central province of Homs, and the Syrian army and allied fighters are fighting to make more progress toward the city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based monitor group said the Syrian army's battles to recapture that historic city have been raging for 42 days.

It added that the military forces are 10 kilometers from the al-Maqasem areas west of Palmyra in tandem with an attack the military forces unleashed in the surrounding mountains.

Hundreds of airstrikes and hundreds of artillery shelling targeted the IS positions, said the Observatory, adding that the IS terrorists also carried out several bombings against the Syrian forces.

Tens of causalities were reported on both sides. The IS recaptured Palmyra last December after bringing in reinforcements. It also retook the gas and oil fields around.

The Syrian forces have so far succeeded in capturing the key Hayan gas field, the largest gas production facility in Syria. They are advancing toward the Jazel oil field, reaching the outskirts of it.

In its second attempt to invade the city, the IS blew up the facade of the historical amphitheater as well as other relics and monuments in Palmyra, in addition to other key temples destroyed in their first invasion.

Syrian Culture Minister Muhammad Ahmad recently said the bombing of the historical heritage in the ancient oasis city of Palmyra by the IS group is a "war crime."

"These monuments are not only the property of Syria, but the whole world," Ahmad said, urging the international community to shoulder its responsibility in protecting Syria's world heritages.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura (2nd L) attends a meeting of Intra-Syria peace talks with Syria's opposition delegation at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 24, 2017. The latest round of peace talks of Syria kicked off on Thursday in Geneva. (Xinhua/POOL/Xu Jinquan)

GENEVA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, had "very constructive meetings" with delegations in the intra-Syrian negotiations, an official with the Envoy's office said Friday.

"This morning and this afternoon respectively Special Envoy de Mistura had very constructive meetings with Ambassador Jaafari and delegations as well as with Mr. Alhariri and delegation," said Michael Contet, with the Office of the UN envoy.

The latest round of intra-Syrian peace talks entered the second day on Friday, during which de Mistura and his team held separate bilateral meetings with representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups.

"In these meetings the Special Envoy exchanged views and assessments with his interlocutors on yesterday's opening ceremony," Contet added.

Further meetings will be held over the weekend to discuss procedural aspects, and how all participants can contribute to the ongoing talks, according to him.

Contet highlighted the negotiations will be a long and difficult process and an early public breakthrough should not be expected.

He added that the UN Envoy is so far satisfied with the fact that in a short period of time the parties have shown their readiness to sit in one room and he has had the opportunity for some in-depth exchanges.
PARIS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- French magistrates are to take over the probe into allegations that presidential candidate Francois Fillon had given his family fake jobs, prosecutors said Friday.

It was a fresh blow for the conservative who is already struggling to overturn a drop in his public support.

The financial prosecutor in charge of a preliminary inquiry into the claims decided to take the next step in proceedings by appointing three judges to the case.

The magistrates, which have more power to investigate, will examine a possible misuse of public funds, lack of full and proper disclosure, and misappropriation of assets.

The judges have the choice to drop the case, put the Fillon couple under formal investigation, or send them to trial.

Under French law, the investigation would be suspended for the five-year term if Fillon were to become France's next head of state.

On Jan. 25, the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine broke "Penelopegate" -- named after Penelope Fillon -- after revealing that she had been paid 900,000 euros (953,640 U.S. dollars) for her jobs as her husband's parliamentary assistant and at a culture magazine. However, there was no evidence she had really worked, the report added.

The allegations sent the conservative politician, who projected himself as a honest and morally irreproachable contender, backpedaling.

Recent polls showed the former prime minister losing his top spot after trailing in the election's first round behind Marine Le Pen, head of National Front party, and centrist independent challenger Emmanuel Macron.

Fillon had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying his wife's job as his parliamentary assistant "perfectly justified".

Under French law, it's legal for lawmakers to hire family members as their assistants, but it's illegal to pay them for a fictitious job.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's most famous celebration, Carnival of Brazil, begins on Friday and last until March 1, bringing an economic windfall calculated at 5.8 billion reais (1.86 billion U.S. dollars).

According to estimates from the National Confederation of Commerce (CNC) this week, while Carnival is celebrated across the country, its most famous highlights are in Rio de Janeiro and the northeastern city of Salvador. Both cities compete to get more tourists and be named the biggest party in the world.

According to the CNC, over 85 percent of the economy that drives the carnival is related to the sectors of food, transport and lodging industries. The bar and restaurant sector alone could see an income of 3.8 billion reais (around 1.2 billion U.S. dollars) while accommodation could reap 652.5 million reais (about 210 million U.S. dollars).

The states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, both in Brazil's southeast, are predicted to be the biggest winners, claiming 68.2 percent of the economic boom.

Rio de Janeiro is expected to see 1.1 million tourists arriving for the Carnival, 10 percent more than last year, according to its state tourism company, Riotur.

However, Brazil's economic crisis and deep recession have not spared the carnival. Subsidies from governments to samba schools and street parties have been slashed, with a number of schools saying they do not have the funds necessary to put on their full shows.

Rio de Janeiro's famous Saara market, where many Carnival costumes and accessories are sold, has also seen trade down by around 30 percent this year.
BRUSSELS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) regulators gave the green light to the acquisition of Harman International Industries of the United States, by Samsung of South Korea, it was announced on Friday.

The proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns because of the relatively low market shares and the existence of many strong competitors in the product markets concerned, said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm which oversees competition policy.

The activities of the parties overlapped in several product areas, such as, headphones, audio home systems, speakers and DVD recorders. Some of Samsung's memory integrated circuits were also destined for the automotive industry and used in Harman's automotive products, the Commission said.

Harman designs and engineers software products and solutions for automakers, consumers and enterprises worldwide, while Samsung is a global electronics company active in consumer electronics, information technology and mobile communications and device solutions.
By Evan Duggan

VANCOUVER, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The leader of a Canadian national think tank says the same socioeconomic troubles that led to the Donald Trump presidency in the United States also exist in Canada, and could lead to a similar populist uprising north of the border.

Problems linked to unemployment, immigration and urban elitism are emerging in Canada, said Brian Lee Crowley, the managing director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a right-wing think-tank named after two early Canadian Prime Ministers.

"You cannot help but feel that anyone drawing hard and fast distinctions between Canada and the U.S. is missing something vitally important," said Crowley in an presentation this week at a downtown Vancouver hotel for the Commercial Real Estate Development Association - an organization of developers, investors and brokers.

Crowley said that outside of Canada's big metropolitan centres like Vancouver and Toronto, smaller, working-class cities are losing their industries such as auto plants, factories and mills. He said of particular concern is the Alberta oil industry, which has shed tens of thousands of jobs in recent years.

He said one of the biggest issues that threaten the fabric of Canadian society is urban development, which has been hindered by strict zoning rules by cities that are preventing higher-density housing. Vancouver and Toronto are among the most expensive cities in the world for housing.

"Zoning and other laws other land use restrictions are drying up the supply of housing and reducing the growth rate of the city, reducing the opportunities for commercial development, and that has very significant economic and political effects," he said.

Like in the U.S., a rural-urban divide is emerging with blue collar workers unable to access housing and opportunities in big cities, he said.

"There's a self-selection going on where only wealthy people can go there, and only people with high skills - and those people only see people like themselves, only talk to people like themselves, only hear from people who have the same preoccupations like themselves," he said. "That's why I think they became so blindsided by what Trump represented."

Canada, portrayed as having an open immigration system, actually has a very controlled immigrant program, Crowley said, noting that the U.S. faces large numbers of illegal immigrants not experienced yet in Canada.

"I can say with some confidence that if we had anything like a comparable level of illegal immigration in Canada, let's say 1.5 million - using the usual ratio of 10-1 when comparing the U.S. and Canada - it would be a national scandal that could easily cause the fall of governments."

It's becoming clearer that the conditions for a Trump-style populist revolt is brewing, but so far, "no (Canadian) political leader has emerged who can turn this latent discontent into political action" , he said.
Italian actress Monica Belucci arrives at the opening of the International Film Festival FEST 2017 in Belgrade, Serbia, on Feb. 24, 2017. International film festival FEST 2017 opened on Friday in Belgrade's "Sava Centre" by famous Italian actress Monica Belucci, star of the latest movie by Serbian director Emir Kusturica "On the Milky Road". (Xinhua/Nemanja Cabric)

BELGRADE, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- International film festival FEST 2017 opened on Friday in Belgrade's "Sava Centre" by famous Italian actress Monica Belucci, star of the latest movie by Serbian director Emir Kusturica "On the Milky Road".

Serbia's biggest film festival gathered numerous local and regional movie stars such as Vojin Cetkovic and Sloboda Micalovic and filmmakers such as Spanish veteran Carlos Saura.

One of the most awaited persons by some several hundred people in front of the Sava Center in Belgrade was Belucci.

In her brief speech to several thousand people in the audience, Belucci said that she spent wonderful time in Serbia while shooting the movie and appreciated its natural beauties.

"I spent long time here because we worked on this movie for three years and I met great people. It is also a great honor because our film opens such an important festival such as Fest," Belucci said at the opening.

The official opening ceremony was followed by the screening of movie starring Kusturica and Belucci who participated at Venice International Film Festival and the BFI in London last year.

In the movie, Kusturica, besides being the director, plays the main character, a lucky milkman who spends war days with a woman he loves, played by Belucci, that later becomes a monk looking back at his and his country's past.

The fest will close on March 5 with the screening of "Silence" the 2016 movie by Martin Scorsese about a young Portuguese Jesuit missionary who travels to seventeenth century Japan which banned almost all foreign contact and persecuted Japanese Christians.

The main competition program includes 15 movies -- "The Dark Wind" by Hussein Hassan from Iraq, "Eva" by Haim Tabakman from Israel, "Heartstone" by Gudmundur Arnar Gudmunsson from Island, and "Inversion" by Benham Behzadi and "Malaria" by Parviz Shabazi from Iran.

"The international competition program this year presents movies of different topics -- from those that deal with the current evil of terrorism to the nostalgic comedy that brings us to the times of the blue school uniforms from the times of socialism," art director of Fest, Pantelic said in his opening statement.

The main program of the 45th Fest includes 16 movies from Mexico, Britain, the U.S., Germany, and Canada among which are "American Pastoral" by Ewan McGregor, "Rules Do Not Apply" by Warren Beatty, "It's Only the End of the World" by Warner Herzog and others.
DUBLIN, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ireland's flag carrier airline Aer Lingus earned operating profits of 233 million euros last year, up 87.9 percent year on year from a year ago, according to the airline's annual results on Friday.

The results, published by the airline's parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), showed that the airline's capacity was increased 9.6 percent with the introduction of two additional Airbus A330s to support Aer Lingus' longhaul expansion, including new destinations such as Los Angeles and Newark.

But the airline's passenger yields were down, due to significant industry pressure, it said.

The airline said the increase in operating profit reflects the benefit of a lower fuel price environment and cost savings, partially offset by the revenue weakness.

IAG's chief executive Willie Walsh said Aer Lingus looks forward to competing on transatlantic routes with low-cost airline Norwegian.

He said Aer Lingus will compete on price and service and offers a very different product to what Norwegian is offering.

On Thursday, Norwegian announced a series of groundbreaking new transatlantic flights from three Irish cities, offering passengers low-cost travel to the United States from just 69 euros.

Starting from July 1, Norwegian will operate the first ever transatlantic flights from Cork with a service to Providence Airport, Rhode Island, together with new U.S. routes from Shannon and Dublin to New York's Stewart International Airport and Providence.
DAMASCUS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Ministry source said that the Iraqi airstrikes on Islamic State (IS) positions in Syria on Friday were coordinated with the Syrian government.

The pro-government al-Watan online news website said the strikes happened in full coordination between the Iraqi and Syrian government.

Meanwhile, analysts said the Iraqi strikes mark the first actual cooperation with Syria in the war on IS, particularly that the group is losing ground in Iraq.

The Iraqi government of Haidar al-Abadi admitted to targeting the IS targets in Syria on Friday for the first time.

"We have decided to follow terrorists anywhere who are trying to kill our people," al-Abadi said in a statement.

The Iraqi F16 struck IS positions in the Syrian town of Boukamal and Husseibah, as retaliation to two deadly IS attacks that killed dozens in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, on Feb.15 and 16.
People make "Kasai", a traditional Tibetan food, to greet the upcoming Tibetan New Year, or Losar, in Qonggyai County of Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Feb. 3, 2017. (Xinhua/Liu Dongjun)
ABC/Lorenzo BevilaquaThe Lumineers will be donating the profits from their upcoming show in Dallas on February 28 to Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.

"When we take the stage next week in Dallas, while efforts to 'defund' Planned Parenthood in Texas are underway, we have decided to donate all profits from the show to Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas," the band says in a statement.

"When my wife was a teen and young adult, Planned Parenthood provided her not only with free [and] affordable cancer screenings, contraceptives and annual checkups, but also with the education and tools to help make smart decisions regarding her health," adds lead vocalist Wesley Schultz.

"The reality for her was that Planned Parenthood was her only real way to get legitimate and affordable healthcare," he continues. "To read news stories about attempts to defund this same healthcare in Texas for so many women (and men) is disturbing and has moved us to act."

This week, a federal judge blocked Texas from attempting to cut Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program.

The Dallas show is a part of The Lumineers' North American tour in support of their sophomore album, Cleopatra.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
You are your own mentor

Not sati sfi ed with that, Ramroop, who sti ll maintains ti es to his homeland and even has a house in his old neighbourhood, Maingot Road in Tunapuna, where he stays when he visits Trinidad, wants to promote this country as a centre of excellence in the fi eld of fashion.

Ramroop said that last July he sent a prett y comprehensive proposal to FashionTT through the Ministry of Trade and Industry to develop the fashion industry in Trinidad and Tobago. Although, he said, he has not yet received a response to his proposal, he is pursuing his dream on his own and designers from throughout the Caribbean will be showing their designs in Tobago in November.

He said the press from all over the world has been invited to come and see what the Caribbean has to off er. If government wouldnt support it, I will do it with my own money, he said. He in Trinidad and Tobago but said people need guidance. One of the points I made when I went to the London College of Fashion, (is that) an important component of the course that I did was Business Studies. So, you can learn a skill but you have got to be able to market that skill and develop that skill and by understanding basic principles of business that is going to help you to benefi t. He conti nued, dont wait for a mentor, that mentor is you. That mentor is between your ears, it is what do we want for ourselves and how do we want to develop ourselves. Youve got to ask yourself the right questi ons: who am I? What am I here for? What do I intend to do with my life? Looking back over his own life, Ramroop said even someone who failed the Common Entrance Examinati on, as he did, and did not go to secondary school or to university, sti ll has opti ons. We are all responsible for everything we do, whether we want to stay in educati on, whether we want to go on to colleges and universiti es responsible. But you see, the nonacademic area that I came from is what I am very, very interested in because I believe we all have a part to play in our society. He was making those points to hundreds of students at Scoti aInsights, a moti vati onal programme of Scoti abank, last Monday at The Teaching and Learning Complex at the University of the West Indies, St Augusti ne.

And its so important that we appreciate everyone in whatever fi eld they are in. If they are not educated, it doesnt mean to say that they are foolish. Theyve got intelligence, they have just got ability. So, if they can look at someone elses work, they can develop and learn that way, it doesnt have to be a writt en exam. A lot of us are very practi cal people and being practi cal persons maybe we can develop ourselves that way. He said local entrepreneurs should not be discouraged because the country might be in recession, as this does not mean that their businesses are in recession. Indeed, Ramroop said that the current economic conditi ons might present a huge opportunity for expansion if business owners look for markets abroad. Using his own company, Maurice Sedwell, on Londons famous Savile Row as an example, he said he bought the company in 1988 but in the early 1990s the United Kingdom went into a deep recession, almost a depression, and that is when he expanded his business by looking for customers and markets abroad. He said at that ti me the company was only exporti ng one or two percent but now it exports 70% of the suits it makes to personal customers in 60 countries.

He made the point that his suits are luxury items, high quality bespoke suits costi ng ?6,000 each (about TT$60,000). He said, They are expensive but they are aff ordable for people who can aff ord it. Ramroop migrated to the United Kingdom at the age of 17 to pursue his dream of becoming a master tailor. At the Scoti abank Insights event, he detailed the many problems he encountered getti ng started in the trade both as a young man in Trinidad and Tobago and as a black person in London, telling the students, some from Servols Beetham Life Centre, that they should never give up their dreams despite whatever problems they might encounter. He told his youthful audience that if they have the confi dence, the passion and the will to succeed they should think of themselves as a business.

He said all the people who had turned him down before were preparing him for his future.

Anyone who says no to you is driving you on, he said.

discussed the idea during a conversati on with the Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley and intended to raise it when he met later in the week with President Anthony Carmona.

Ramroop is convinced that the spirit of entrepreneurship exists we are responsible for that. No one can make us responsible, we are responsible. We need guidance and support, we need encouragement but we are
Judgement in Partaps breathalyser appeal reserved

Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon and Mark Mohammed yesterday reserved their ruling to a date to be fixed following submissions by the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions and Partaps lawyer.

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.

Partaps attorneys are contending that there was no statutory authority for field sobriety testing and refusal to take the test could not be illegal.

He eventually took the test at the Belmont Police Station after acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams directed the police to charge him.

Partaps lawyer Ravi Rajcoomar argued that the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act specifically stated police officers 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.
Late start does not dampen Festival of Bacchanal

However, despite the delay and some logistical issues, Garcias fans were treated to some scintillating performances including a performance of Its Carnival with soca king, Machel Montano.

The festival was originally scheduled to begin at 9 pm but gates did not open until about 10 pm. Patrons danced to the DJs music until David Rudder came on stage at approximately 12.30 am.

For some of the general patrons, the line-up to purchase chits was a bit much with many having to wait to purchase chits and then having a long wait at the bar to get their drinks.

The warmed up crowd danced and chanted as Rudder sang High Mas. He then began to sing Bacchanal Woman at which point, he was joined on stage by Garcia.

The crowd was not that of a Machel Monday or a Kes Tuesday on the Rocks but it was a crowd truly engaged in Garcia and her friends. General patrons had a limited view of the stage as there were no extra screens and many fought to catch a glimpse of Garcia from on top at O2 Park, Chaguaramas.

Although some attendees expressed some dissatisfaction at the fact, it did not stop then from making a bacchanal as Garcia performed. Many were seen dancing and prancing-as the local saying goes, to Garcias music.

Garcia and Rudder sang Laventille, singing and asking where had the love in Laventille gone? She then began singing Call my Name which also put the small but intimate crowd into a dancing frenzy.

Garcia ran through the vast compendium of her songs, giving the audience her beloved hits such as I dare you, Whey yuh Want, Ooh La La Lay, Lucy, Destra vs Lucy and Waistline Killer among others.

At one point, Garcia even expressed shock as the audience sang along with her to Destra Vs Lucy.

She said to the audience, A A allyuh singing it with meh. Garcias star-studded cast of friends also gave riveting performances.

Ravi Bs Budget had memebers of the audience loudly singing, No, No, no. The event saw Shal Marshall, GBM Nutron, M1 delivering their hits. Devon Matthews also gave a strong performance of D Journey.

Orlando Octave while singing Single, told men in TT to protect the countrys women  a message he has been spreading at his performances.

There were also performances by Rupee, Alison Hinds, Denise Belfon, Kerry John, Swappi, Third Bass, Jamel, Makamillion among others. MX Prime also had the crowd rocking with Full extreme.

Although the show was scheduled to end at 3am, it went beyond its scheduled end time and as a result some patrons left.

The show ended at approximately 3.40 am with Destra Garcia and Machel Montano.
Carnival service at Archbishops House

The event, first held last year, was attended by children from the Lady Hochoy Home and Marion House for Boys, among others. Seated on white chairs in the driveway as cars drove past around the Queens Park Savannah, the children enjoyed a performance by the cast of the play, Carnival Medea  a Bacchanal, a calypso from Lord Superior, a pan performance by Johann Chuckaree, and readings from the Bible about moments of celebration and joy.

Chief Celebrant at the Carnival Service, Father Robert Christo, told Newsday that a reading from John 2: 1-12, was chosen because it talks about Jesus celebrating the wedding feast, celebrating joy. Celebrations have always been a part of Christian tradition, this is why we must celebrate and encourage the clean, wholesome, fun parts of Carnival (while) condemning the behaviour, the lewdness, the excessive drinking. Christo explained that through this and similar services, the Catholic Church is providing an alternate way of celebrating the festival. We must recognise that if we dont control Carnival, Carnival will control us. This is about interjecting something very positive, uplifting, in the midst of the more lewd aspects of Carnival. Newsday also spoke with Rhoma Spencer, co-playwright of Carnival Medea. She said Christo saw the play at the Little Carib Theatre.
Schools to showcase old time mas today

Port-of-Spain Mayor Joel Martinez said the three schools will come through the city from different points and culminate at Woodford Square.

Officials said the parade routes remain the same as last year except that instead of going all the way up Frederick Street into the Savannah, the Kiddies Carnival parade tomorrow will turn right onto Oxford Street and into Charlotte Street and enter the Savannah.

The first judging point for the Downtown Kiddies Carnival will be at the South Quay venue.

On Sunday the childrens parade will be judged downtown and then go to Tamarind Square where they will also be judged. Martinez, at a news conference at City Hall, Portof- Spain yesterday, said he will read the proclamation to launch Downtown JOuvert at 4am on Monday and set off the rocket to launch Carnival 2017.

He said patronage of the Downtown Carnival has been growing in recent years and he is hoping that this year the Downtown Carnival authorities could send some patrons uptown to the Queens Park Savan- nah where there might be some space. Officials said the Downtown venue is the safest place to play and view mas.

And the Port-of-Spain City Police will not be doing any wrecking for Carnival although the TT Police Service will be wrecking illegally and improperly parked vehicles, said Superintendent Dexter Charles of the Municipal Police.

He said, however, that the police will use their discretion in doing so.

The wreckers, according to Charles, will concentrate on cases where people are parked in gateways and the homeowners need to get out but other than that they will allow some leeway within the capital city.

In response to a question about cases where there are fetes and vehicles are not causing any obstruction, Charles said he had discussed such matters with the Senior Superintendent for the Port-of- Spain Division and had been assured that such concerns would be addressed.
PSA cannot represent Civil Aviation workers

Justice Frank Seepersad yesterday quashed the August 12, 2016 decision of the Registration Recognition and Certification Board (RRCB) to approve the PSA as the recognised majority union for monthly paid workers of the CAA.

The CAA had been given leave to have the court review the decision by the RRCB to grant certification to the PSA.

The authority alleged that the Board acted outside of its jurisdiction by considering the PSAs application for certification.

The CAA also complained that the RRCB breached the rules of natural justice by failing to inform the CAA of the information and submissions made by the PSA as well as its (RRBCs) examination of the unions records and failing to allow it (the CAA) to respond to same. The judge was also asked to review the CAAs complaint that the decision of the RRCB was contrary to the policy of the Industrial Relations Act, Chapter 88.01.

In granting the CAA leave, the judge also stayed the RRCBs decision to certify the PSA as the recognised majority union for monthly rated workers.

In his ruling, Seepersad held that the CAA successfully established that the RRCB did not have the requisite jurisdiction to confer the requested certification to the PSA.

He said the RRCB acted improperly and erroneously and violated the principles of natural justice.
20 years of prayer at Piparo mud volcano

On February 22, 1997, Piparo which was previously known as the home of reputed drug lord Dole Chadee, gained further national prominence when villagers were awakened to tremors and a deep rumbling sound which unleashed the most powerful mud volcano eruption in local history. Villagers, many still in their sleeping clothes, scampered out of their homes in an attempt to save life and limb as within the first few minutes, the mud volcano spewed black mud and gases some 50 feet into the air.

According to an eyewitness, six minutes into the eruption, an even more powerful eruption occurred as mud spewed about 120 feet into the morning sky.

Cars and homes were buried under a square mile of mud that quickly hardened into a concrete- like mixture. Half of the village cemetery remains buried under the (now solidified) mud lake, which has two small oozing mounds at its centre that occasionally spatter out small eruptions of mud-like clay. Though no one was killed, 31 families were permanently displaced from their homes.

According to villager Sachin Ramsubag, 20 years later many persons, both foreign and local, still visit the site to observe the black sulphur-rich mud and the still bubbling mud mounds. Another resident, Ben Lal Ragbir, whose family of four had been resettled at Buen Intento Village, Princes Town, and who was instrumental in organising the prayer sessions, said this was the villagers way of giving thanks for their lives being spared on that fateful morning.

Anyone who lived through that day would understand why we do these prayers year after year, he said, adding, We are just thankful for our lives although we lost almost everything to the volcano.
PoS Mayor to tackle street vending after Carnival

He said the Corporation will clean up the Central Market and once this is done and customers start to patronise the market, then the vendors on Charlotte Street might move to the Central Market.

You have to offer them the opportunity and you have to encourage them to do it and you have to incentivise it. That, to me, is the approach that I would like to take, he said I dont want to force anybody to do anything. He said the situation on Charlotte Street now was chaotic and the people who use the street complain about it although the vendors themselves might not agree.

But if you have a city and its not clean or there is no regulation taking place and something is in chaos, then the leaders of the city must deal with it. He said they will consult with the stakeholders in an orderly, humane and professional manner.

The Mayor said some Charlotte Street vendors are conducting their sales in an orderly manner but there were others who are causing chaos. He said when the programme was established several years ago there were not many complaints but the problems developed after the authorities stopped regulating it. He said that meant that it was a management problem or it may also be that the original vendors are no longer there and the current ones are not sticking to the rules.

He said the City Corporation will first try to bring Charlotte Street back to what it was, enforcing the hours during which vending was originally allowed, insisting on registration of the vendors and that they maintain the stands at the agreed sizes and locations.

He said he wanted to see if better management was viable but if it was not or if people did not want to stick to the rules and regulations, then we will have to make some alternative decisions on it. He said the Central Market had been in existence for a number of years and there are vendors selling there who pay their dues and people visit the market.

If the market wasnt viable, they wouldnt be there, he said, adding that it was not reasonable for the vendors currently selling on Charlotte Street to say that they will lose business by going into the Central Market.

If the market is a place where vegetables are at a reasonable price and they are nice and fresh, I would end up in the market. He acknowledged that there were problems at the Central Market, admitting that because of its location over the years people do not feel safe about going there and there was the additional concern about increased crime.

However, he said he had not heard of any crime taking place in the market for months so it could not be said that the market was dangerous.

He said the complaints at the Central Market were about the conditions.

When I look I see garbage strewn all over the market which means that its not properly cleaned - you dont have enough garbage bins. The toilets need to be repaired and there are people vending outside the market who need to go inside the market.

You cant put fruit and vegetables for people to eat on the floor - we have to stop that. We have to regulate it. Now once we start regulating things and people start to attend the market, the vending on Charlotte Street will maybe move to the market.
Californias infrastructure is crumbling just like its culture, freedoms and economic future

Radical Left-wing Marxists who run the state of California have been belly-aching about secession since Donald J. Trump rode a populist, anti-establishment wave of sentiment nationwide into the White House. But those who are stumping the loudest for a new Republic of California should step back, breathe deeply for a few moments, and take an honest, solemn look at their state before making such a rash move.

If they do that, many of them wont like what they see.

Dominated by the far-Left Democratic Party since the end of the Reagan revolution, California is a mess  culturally, socially, legally and financially. Its residents are selective about which laws they want to be enforced and which they want to be ignored. The state has a debt problem, and while its being temporarily controlled by sky-high taxes, soon lawmakers will have to confront a public pension crisis that threatens to consume the budget. The California culture is dramatically different from most of the country. And then theres that crumbling infrastructure. (RELATED: Mysterious Sinkholes Are Plaguing Vietnam)

As James Poulos, writing for Foreign Policy, puts it in reference to the growing #Calexit movement:

Critics warn that the states progressive management has grown paradoxically sclerotic, overseeing a slow-motion public pensions crisis, neglecting infrastructure, and building a budgetary house of cards hostage to fluctuating income tax levels from the resident superrich.

The infrastructure problem is potentially the biggest  and most expensive. Sinkholes instantly appear on roadways, swallowing cars whole. Dams like the one in Oroville are close to failing, which could potentially kill tens of thousands of people because there is no way to escape the rushing onslaught of water. The power grid is old. And no one seems to have an answer  or even seems at all motivated to fix the problems.

As Newstarget reported, more than a dozen years ago officials were warned that the Oroville Dams earthen emergency spillway was at risk of failing, putting some 185,000 people in danger should it give way. A few days ago, it nearly did, and still the politicians dither.

Im not surprised by any of this that is happening right now because we have been delaying maintenance everywhere, Hasan Ikhrata, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Southern California Association of Governments, told the Daily Breeze.

I guess thats testimony of the amount of maintenance needed in California, added former San Bernardino Mayor Patrick Morris, referencing sinkholes that appear suddenly below roadways and streets.

In recent years, major arteries into and out of California have also been disabled, usually from weather-related incidents. For instance, in July 2015 tropical storms knocked out an Interstate 10 bridge between Southern California and Phoenix, Arizona, causing a several hours-long detour as repairs were made over the months.

But such incidents dont just create major inconveniences for residents; they are also massive hits to the states economy because they delay or deter commerce. If products cant get in or out, then thats a huge financial hit, Ikhrata said. (RELATED: America following in footsteps of Venezuela with polluted water, infrastructure failures and economic collapse)

Some have blamed Californias infrastructure neglect on human nature  that is, politicians tend to react to problems rather than plan for them. We need a little more forethought in our state, former Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Glendale, told the Daily Breeze.

Try a lot more.

Natural News founder/editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, was a lot more blunt  and honest  in his assessment of the Oroville Dam problems and why nothing has been done for more than a decade to fix the discrepancy of the earthen spillway.

Californias Department of Water Resources, however, concluded that there was no problem. Bureaucrats, you see, dont live beneath the dam, and thus its not really their problem. History has repeatedly shown that bureaucrats are particularly bad stewards of things that dont impact them personally, he wrote.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

NewsTarget.com

DailyBreeze.com

ForeignPolicy.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

Submit a correction >>
Refugees have been flooding in from terror-linked nations after activist judges halted border protection order from Trump

The debate over admitting thousands of refugees into our country from areas of the world known for exporting terrorism is really a no brainer. Considering the fact that the United States has yet to set up an efficient vetting system, and also considering how ISIS has admitted to using the refugee programs to invade and attack, you would think no one in their right mind would still want to bring refugees in by the thousands. It comes down to a simple analogy that I say all the time on my radio program  if you had one hundred gumballs and you knew that five of them were poisonous, would you eat one? (RELATED: White House encouraging further terrorist invasion of America with emotionally charged hashtag push: #RefugeesWelcome.)

Shockingly, earlier this month, U.S. District Judge James Robart put a freeze on Trumps executive order. The executive order adversely affects the states residents in areas of employment, education, business, family relations and freedom to travel, Robart wrote in his ruling, adding that the executive order also caused significant harm to the states public universities and tax base.

With his decision, Robart demonstrated to the entire country that not only is he a left wing ideologue, but it also served as a reminder to the American people that the courts have become nothing more than partisan institutions to advance particular political agendas. A simple look at federal immigration law  which Robart didnt even cite in his formal opinion  shows that this executive order was well within President Trumps authority.

Section 1182(f) of federal immigration law states: Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.

Yet sadly, based on Judge Robarts ruling, it appears that section 1182(f) was all but ignored. Even though it was the primary basis for President Trumps executive order, the law wasnt mentioned once in the ruling.

Since the decision on February 3rd, 60% of the refugees admitted into the United States have been from 5 of the 7 countries that were on Trumps list. Of the 2,576 refugees that have come into our country over the past few weeks, 532 were from Syria, 472 were from Iraq, 363 were from Somalia, 117 were from Iran, and 65 were from Sudan. This is a total of 1,549 refugees or 60.1%. There were no refugees from the other two countries on President Trumps list, Yemen and Libya. (RELATED: UN forcing sovereign nations to accept waves of refugees peppered with ISIS terrorists.)

According to data from the State Department Refugee Processing Center, of the 2,576 refugees that have come into our country since the courts ruling, 1,424, or 55.3%, are Muslims. 817 were Sunnis, 132 were Shiites, and 475 simply self-identified as Muslims.

It is also worth noting that with the exception of Iran, the refugees that came from these countries on President Trumps list were overwhelmingly Muslim. 99.6% of the refugees from Syria were Muslim, 73.5% of refugees from Iraq were Muslim, 99.7% from Somalia, and 93.8% from Sudan. Of the Iranian refugees admitted, however, only 9.4% were Muslim and nearly 60% were Christians.

The liberals would look at these figures and tell you that what Trump wanted to do was enact a Muslim ban. The reality, though, is that only 13% of the worlds Muslims would be affected by the temporary travel ban  if it were really a Muslim ban, then that number would be 100%.

Furthermore, at the end of the day, this entire executive order is all about national security. Its an absolute shame that liberal activists and judges are putting partisan politics before our safety.

Sources:

CNSnews.com

SeattleTimes.com



NationalReview.com

Submit a correction >>
Share



It's been a topic that's come up in my mind more than once for a few years now; with femtocell and small cell technology able to offer up more and faster broadband access to users, why in the world aren't these things on every street corner? The answers to that question varied, but a new move from Nokia (News - Alert) suggests this next generation communications technology may be closer to ubiquity than even I'd hoped for.





In a move that brought together Nokia and Qualcomm, the pair announced the release of the Nokia Femtocell (News - Alert) Multi-band SOHO, a piece of next generation communications technology geared toward the small office / home office (SOHO) user. It's built around the same technology that brought out the Femtocell Multi-band Residential (9961 Multi-Standard Home Cell V1) platform, a platform that's already been demonstrated to do quite well in field operations.

As for the Femtocell Multi-band SOHO, it boasts the Qualcomm (News - Alert) FMS 99xx chipset, which helps keep data moving swiftly through the system while requiring lower amounts of power consumption than some might expect. Since it's also supportive of the Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) concept, that also helps keep consumption low.

With the Multi-band SOHO in place, it allows Ethernet-driven femtocells to support as many as 64 LTE (News - Alert) device users at once, which makes it easier to move from 3G to 4Gthere are still a lot of places where 3G is the primary wireless connectivityor even support two LTE bands at once for better data throughput. It even boasts a set of built-in solutions for the latest in connectivity features like voice over LTE (VoLTE) and self-optimization.

Nokia's head of Femto product management Jyoti Boppana noted, In the evolution towards ultra-dense networks, indoor deployments will ramp up and we see Femtocell Multi-band SOHO as a key tool to cost-effectively help operators in enterprise customer buildings and small public indoor locations.

There have been a lot of methods like these discussed, particularly as Google (News - Alert) Fiber got largely shut down with the discovery that it costs a lot to run fiber to individual houses. While we certainly need more bandwidth throughout the United States, it's not always easy or cost-effective to get that bandwidth where it needs to go. Next generation communications technology has proven to be a potentially big help here, especially as 5G technology emerges to clear up many of the bandwidth issues connected to such systems.

With femtocells adding coverage and bandwidth, that should only help to clear up the problem as we know it today. Getting more bandwidth to the end user represents a significant leap forward in customer experience, which only improves things all along the spectrum.

Edited by Alicia Young
Tension has flared up between the Tunisian Presidency and Machrou Tounes party after a delegation of the party led by leader Mohsen Marzouk met with Libyas military veteran Khalifa Haftar in what turned out to be parallel diplomacy according to the presidency.

Marzouk, a former strong ally of the Tunisian President, met Wednesday with the Libyan Field Marshall Haftar in Benghazi to discuss regional issues and the fight against terrorism.

The Tunisian Presidency, according to the party, was informed of the meeting.

The partys claim was debunked by the Presidential office, which indicated in a statement that it was not informed of the meeting, insisting that only the foreign ministry was allowed to chart out the countrys diplomatic policy.

The meeting between Marzouk and Haftar took place at the time Tunis is trying to bring Libyan warring factions to an agreement. Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui hosted Algerian minister in charge of Maghreb affairs and Egyptian foreign minister to discuss a way forward in the Libyan political crisis.

Marzouks party vehemently lambasted the presidencys statement. For the partys spokesperson, Hssouna Nasfi, the statement is ridiculous. Nasfi maintained that President Caid Essebsi was informed on telephone of the meeting with Haftar.

Some representatives of the party on many occasions travelled to some foreign countries, their trips never pose any problems, Nasfi said.

The common point between Machrou Tounes movement and Marshall Khalifa Haftar is the war against terrorism, he added.

Libyan rival factions have been heading to Tunis. Haftar is also expected to join.

The meeting between the movement and the Libyan military warlord took place weeks after a meeting between Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Tunisian Islamist party Ennahdha, over the Libyan crisis.

Ghannounchi has been attempting to mediate between warring Libyans (Gaddafi loyalists and Islamists).
Zambias President Edgar Chagwa Lungu welcomed the return of Morocco to the African Union describing the event as beneficial for the development and stability of the continent.

His Excellency President Lungu welcomed Moroccos return to its institutional family and commended His Majesty the Kings address to the Summit as a historical moment paving the way for a promising contribution from Morocco to the development and stability of Africa, said a joint statement issued following a visit by King Mohammed VI to Lusaka.

During the visit the two leaders held talks and a tribute was paid to Moroccos strategic engagement in Africa as a result of the vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, said the statement.

The Royal visit, part of a new African tour, reflected the commitment of the two countries to foster relations ties as evidenced by the signing of 19 accords that lay the basis for stronger economic ties.

In this regard, the two Heads of State expressed satisfaction at the successful outcome of the Business Forum held between the Zambian and Moroccan business community, said the statement.

Concerning peace and security issues, Morocco voiced support to Zambias tenure at the African Union Peace and Security Council. Both countries voiced willingness to work together to promote peace, security and stability on the continent as well as to find lasting solutions to ongoing conflicts in Africa in order to attain a conducive environment that would advance the economic agenda of the continent, added the statement.

In keeping with a south-south cooperation policy in Africa underpinned by co-development and solidarity, Morocco endeavors to strengthen ties with all African countries, including those that formerly espoused the Polisario separatists thesis, including Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Nigeria.

And the Kings visit to Zambia is part of this momentum to extend Moroccos cooperation model to English-speaking African countries.
Morocco and Guinea added yet another milestone to their longstanding cooperation ties with the signing of eight cooperation agreements covering notably urban planning and agriculture.

These agreements were signed Thursday at a ceremony in Conakry chaired by Guinean President Alpha Conde and King Mohammed VI who is in Guinea as part of a new African tour that previously led him to south Sudan, Ghana and Zambia.

Prior to the signing ceremony, King Mohammed VI held talks with President Alpha Conde whose chairmanship of the African Union played an instrumental role in blocking attempts to thwart Moroccos legitimate right to regain its legitimate place within its African institutional family.

Following Moroccos return to the pan-African organization with an outspoken majority support from Member states, President Conde welcomed the comeback of Morocco to its African institutional family and lauded the Moroccan Kings speech saying: the Organization of African Unity found itself again.

The capacities and excellence of Morocco are assets for the African Union, President Conde had told the 28th AU summit in Addis Ababa that enacted Moroccos return to the African fold.

And during the eight agreements signing ceremony Thursday, President Alpha Conde voiced satisfaction at the strong cooperation ties binding the two countries and said the Kings two visits to Guinea, namely in March 2014 and this current February, benefit his country.

The two visits by H.M. the King to Guinea benefit the country, as evidenced by the several agreements signed between Rabat and Conakry, he pointed out, lauding Moroccos willingness to provide all material and technical assistance to upgrade the city of Conakry and improve its road network and liquid sanitation.

The Guinean President also expressed heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the King, and commended Moroccos aid to Guinea in the sector of agriculture.

Actually, among the accords signed Thursday, a memorandum of understanding provides for supplying the West African country with 100,000 tons of fertilizers, out of which 20,000 will be donated by Morocco.

CEO of OCP Group, Mustapha Terrab, said at the signing ceremony that the 100,000 tons of fertilizer would cover the needs of the current agricultural season in this country.

Out of the volume, 20,000 tons will be donated and the remaining 80,000 tons will be supplied at prices that will reduce,if not eliminate, government subsidies for fertilizers in Guinea, Terrab said.

Guinea will be the first African country to meet the objectives of the 2006 Abuja Declaration, which aims to provide African farmers with sufficient quantities of fertilizer for their crops, he went on to say.

Other agriculture-related agreements deal with the implementation of projects for the aggregation of maize production in Guinea, and with carrying out a hydro- project to cover a farming area extending between 200 and 300 ha.

Besides the public and private investments Morocco leads in Guinea, the West African country is part of the Africa Atlantic Pipeline project, which will catalyze regional integration and boost energy security by channeling Nigerian gas through the Atlantic coast up to Morocco and maybe to Europe.

On Friday, after the two Heads of State performed the Midday prayers, they visited the two Temenitaye and Bonfi fishing projects that required a $1.28 Million investment each. The financing of the two projects was provided by the Mohammed VI Foundation for Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Banque Populaire Group. The two projects to become operational in March will improve working and living conditions for thousands of fishermen, upgrade the economic performance of traditional fishing, ensure the transparency of commercial transactions and increase the income of beneficiaries.

King Mohammed VI who arrived on Thursday in Conakry for a working and friendship visit to Guinea, is expected this Friday in Cote dIvoire.
Gabby Giffords at a rally for gun-law reform in New York on October 17, 2016. Photo: Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Many Republican lawmakers are avoiding holding public events during this weeks recess because they dont want to be yelled at by a room of angry constituents, and they really dont want video of an encounter with one of their angry constituents to go viral.

GOP lawmakers have dismissed the surge in activism on the left, falsely claiming that the protesters are paid by George Soros or taking issue with the fact that people are organizing for political change. Many members of Congress argue theres no point in engaging with a rowdy crowd, but a handful have offered a far more extreme excuse, claiming that town hall meetings are too dangerous.

This week, Texas Representative Louie Gohmert cited the 2011 shooting of former representative Gabby Giffords in a letter to constituents explaining why he refuses to hold an in-person town hall.

Unfortunately, at this time there are groups from the more violent strains of the leftist ideology, some even being paid, who are preying on public town halls to wreak havoc and threaten public safety. Threats are nothing new to me and I have gotten my share as a felony judge, Gohmert said.

However, the House Sergeant at Arms advised us after former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot at a public appearance, that civilian attendees at congressional public events stand the most chance of being harmed or killed  just as happened there, he added.

Giffords responded on Thursday, saying her shooting by Jared Lee Loughner, who was mentally ill, is no reason to avoid the raucous but nonviolent town halls happening across the country. To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage, Giffords said in a statement. Face your constituents. Hold town halls.



Giffords said she viewed meeting constituents as the most basic and core tenant of the job when she was in Congress, and her successor, Ron Barber, who was shot several times in the same shooting, held town halls as well. She noted that as a gun-control activist shes held more than 50 public events in the past year.

Many of the members of Congress who are refusing to hold town halls and listen to their constituents concerns are the very same politicians that have opposed common-sense gun violence prevention policies and have allowed the Washington gun lobby to threaten the safety of law enforcement and everyday citizens in our schools, businesses, places of worship, airports, and movie theaters, she said.

Giffords did not mention Gohmert by name, but she may be referring to his unsuccessful effort to allow members of Congress to carry guns on the floor of the House of Representatives in the wake of her shooting.

Gohmert has yet to respond to Giffords. His letter said hell hold a public forum when the threat of violence at town hall meetings recedes. That threat is essentially made-up, so its unclear when that will be.
Kim Jong-nam in 2010. Photo: JOONGANG SUNDAY/AFP/Getty Images

The poison that killed Kim Jong-nam, the older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, last week was VX nerve agent, according to Malaysian authorities. The substance is banned under the U.N.s Chemical Weapons Convention, and its considered a weapon of mass destruction.

North Korea never signed the agreement and according to The Wall Street Journal its believed to possess several thousand metric tons of chemical weapons.

Exposure to even 10 milligrams of the nerve agent can be deadly, and its unclear how Kims attackers administered the poison without seriously harming anyone else. Malaysian investigators said two female suspects coated their hand with the liquid and rubbed it on Kims face at the Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13. The New York Times notes that its possible to prepare the poison as two separate compounds and mix them together at the last minute.

Initial reports suggested the two women wiped a cloth across Kims face, but this week Malaysias police chief said they used their bare hands. A senior police official told the Journal that at least one of the women was actually wearing gloves. One of the women vomited after the attack, but no one else was sickened.

Its a very toxic nerve agent. Very, very toxic, Dr. Bruce Goldberger, a toxicologist at the University of Florida, told the AP. Im intrigued that these two alleged assassins suffered no ill effect from exposure to VX. It is possible that both of these women were given the antidote.

Kim sought medical attention at the airport, but he fell into convulsions and died at the hospital within two hours.

In addition to the two women, police arrested a North Korean man believed to be an IT worker at a Malaysian herbal supplements company. Malaysian police are looking for seven more North Korean suspects.

The North Korean government claims the Malaysian investigation is full of holes and contradictions, buy obviously theyre believed to be behind the attack. Kim Jong-nam had publicly criticized his younger brother, and he was seen as a threat to Kim Jong-uns rule. Hes not the first of the dictators relatives to wind up dead.
Photo: BBC

Sebastian Gorka, the deputy assistant to Donald Trump who portrays himself as a counterterrorism expert, despite the fact that most of the counterterrorism Establishment disagrees with this self-assessment, is having an extremely rough week.

On a Wednesday morning Fox & Friends appearance, he presented false statistics about the recidivism rates of Guantanamo Bay prisoners released by the Obama administration  numbers that ran contrary to the governments own figures. That earned him a lengthy rebuke from factcheck.org and criticism from outlets like this one, as well as yet more opprobrium from a national security Establishment increasingly furious by his policy-making influence.

It was downhill from there. Just hours after offering the bogus stat, Gorka used his personal cell phone to call Michael S. Smith II, a Republican counterterrorism expert who currently resides in South Carolina and who has been extremely critical of Gorka on Twitter. That was, in fact, the subject of the call: The deputy assistant to the president was calling to complain that a private American citizen was being mean on Twitter.

Not only did Gorka express his personal displeasure , Smith heard a threat in the call. Gorka asserted my tweets about him merited examination by the White House legal counsel, Smith told Newsweek. In effect, he was threatening to entangle me in a legal battle for voicing my concerns on Twitter that he does not possess expertise sufficient to assist the president of the United States with formulating and guiding national security policies. Shortly after Gorka made that alleged threat, Smith began recording the call, and the audio clip, published by Newsweek yesterday, is frankly mind-blowing.

Most of the call consists of Gorka and Smith arguing and Gorka insisting they set up a meeting at the White House (presumably so Gorka can convince Smith hes a credible expert). Over and over, Gorka yells at Smith about how out of line his tweets are  if you didnt know the context, you would think the debate was over some absolutely vital life-and-death policy matter rather than, well, tweets.

A few highlights, among many:

Gorka: Why is there such vitriol popping out of you constantly, every day now, its so strange. I look at your Twitter feed once or twice a day, and again, its half a dozen tweets about me, and Ive never met you.

Smith: Wow, are you defeating Jihad by monitoring or trolling my Twitter feed? I mean, honestly, to begin  [arguing breaks out]

Gorka, whose job is to keep Americans safe from a dizzying, ever-shifting galaxy of security threats and to guide the presidents counterterrorism policy, seems to be acknowledging that he spends a chunk of his workday monitoring the feeds of his Twitter critics. This is  unusual.

Also:

Smith: I would submit to you that a majority of terrorism experts who have experience working with policy makers  which you do not, until now  would agree that you are not an expert of a level sufficient to be working in the White House with the presidents inner circle.

Gorka: But thats one mans opinion  a man who has a two-year-old TV clip in his Twitter feed, and having to point out that he has an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal as your [Twitter] header. I mean, thats your qualifications? You dont have a TV hit from more [sic] than two years ago? I mean, isnt that peculiar that youre questioning my credentials and your last TV hit was two years ago?

This nicely captures the expert-nonexpert divide going on here. Gorka seems to be saying that Smith shouldnt be trusted as a counterterrorism expert since he hasnt been on TV lately, which isnt usually how a given academic community determines who has the most serious and worthwhile views. (That said, plenty of academics are media conscious  rather than ignore the jab, Smith responds that hes totally been on TV lately.)

Finally:

Smith: You have approached this conversation is a most childish and obnoxious manner.

Gorka: Read your Twitter feeds. Read your Twitter feeds. Obnoxious? [super angry] Read. Your. Twitter feeds, okay? And dont lecture me about obnoxious.

Smith: I stand by everything on my Twitter feeds and theres no way for you to change my opinion about that. To be completely frank about this, I find it most curious that a person of your manner, your demeanor, what you are exuding on this phone call, is deemed stable enough to hold a [security] clearance and work in the White House.

Again, its simply striking how upset Gorka is over tweets. This isnt normal behavior for a top-level wonk.

And the week wasnt even over yet. Perhaps the biggest blow to Gorka comes today in the form of a lengthy, well-reported article in The Forward by Lili Bayer. The article is headlined, Senior Trump Aide Forged Key Ties to Anti-Semitic Groups in Hungary, and Bayer goes on to lay out those ties in careful detail: Gorkas involvement with the far right includes co-founding a political party with former prominent members of Jobbik, a political party with a well-known history of anti-Semitism; repeatedly publishing articles in a newspaper known for its anti-Semitic and racist content; and attending events with some of Hungarys most notorious extreme-right figures.

This didnt just happen once or twice; its a disturbing pattern. For example: In 2006, Gorka defended the use of the Arpad flag, which Hungarys murderous Arrow Cross Party used as their symbol, writes Bayer. The Hungarian Arrow Cross Party killed thousands of Jews during World War II, shooting many of them alongside the Danube River and throwing them into the water. Gorka told the news agency JTA at the time that if you say eight centuries of history can be eradicated by 18 months of fascist distortion of symbols, youre losing historic perspective.

Under normal circumstances, either the recorded call or the Forward story would be enough to jeopardize the position of a top-tier White House adviser. Then again, under normal circumstances someone like Gorka would only have access to the White House if he signed up for a tour.
Iraqi forces at Mosul International Airport. Photo: Martyn Aim/Getty Images

ISIS suffered dual blows on Thursday, losing strategic ground in both Iraq and Syria. Iraqi forces reclaimed almost all of Mosuls airport from the control of the terror group, a key victory in the governments months-long offensive to retake Iraqs second-largest city. And over in Syria, Turkish-backed rebels seized control of the city of al-Bab, expelling ISIS from one of its last big strongholds there after a bloody, protracted battle that began just before fall.

The gains in Mosul come after Iraqi troops began a renewed push into the western part of the city, which remains under ISIS control. (Iraqi troops liberated eastern Mosul in January.) A week ahead of the operation, the United States led air strikes against 33 targets, including some believed to be ISIS command centers, reports the New York Times. Iraqi police forces led the assault Thursday; ISIS fought back with IEDs, car bombs, and mines buried underground, eventually losing ground as Iraqi forces pushed onto the runway. The Joint Operations Command said many ISIS fighters had been killed.

ISIS obliterated much of airports infrastructure, rendering the airport and its runways mostly useless. But bringing the area back under Iraqi control enhances the militarys strategic position for the more critical  and brutal  offensive into western Mosul. Parts of this city are older, more compact, densely populated, and residential; about 750,000 people live there.

Mosul, which ISIS took control of in 2014, is the groups last remaining major stronghold in Iraq. Across the border in Syria, al-Bab  the site of Thursdays other major defeat  was one of ISISs significant westernmost outposts, close to the Turkish border. According to the Guardian, al-Bab also housed the ISIS operators in charge of planning for foreign terror plots.

Members of Free Syrian Army (FSA) celebrate their victory in the Syrian town of al-Bab. Photo: Huseyin Nasir/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Syrian rebels, heavily supported by Turkey, said they had reached the citys center and wrested control from the terrorists, though the area is reportedly still littered with mines. We will be able to say that al-Bab is fully cleared of Daesh once the sweeping activity is concluded, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik told the Turkish state-run media.
President Trump addressing CPAC. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

One of the pleasures of watching a Donald Trump campaign speech is the glaringly obvious contrast between his written remarks and his frequent, rambling riffs. Trump reading from the text is stilted and halting, often mispronouncing unfamiliar words (seq-wes-chure? he sputtered, trying to pronounce sequester), while the free-form Trump is the familiar authentic narcissist.

What made his speech to CPAC especially entertaining was the fact that the tonal contrast between his written and extemporaneous remarks mirrored a substantive contrast. The formal text was designed to position the president as an outsider-populist. But Trump kept interrupting his own speech with anecdotes that destroyed his own premise. The GOP will be, from now on, the party also of the American worker, he vowed, articulating one of the speechs primary intended themes. We will not answer to donors or lobbyists or special interests.

Trump interspersed this bold promise with stories about him answering to donors, lobbyists, and special interests.

Here is Trump in this same speech boasting about his meeting with a bunch of large companies:

In fact, I think I did more than any other pre-president, they say president-elect. President-elect is meeting with Ford, Chrysler, with General Motors, I just wanted to save a little time. Because Ford and Fiat, Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Intel, and so many little others

Here is Trump, again in the same speech, boasting about meeting with an even larger group of executives, where they came to a lot of very good conclusions:

Yesterday I had 29 of the biggest business leaders in the world in my office, Caterpillar, Campbells soup, we had everybody. We had everybody. I like Campbells Soup. We had everybody. And we came to a lot of very good conclusions and a lot of folks in the room will be building big, big, massive new plants and lots of jobs and building them in this country, not in some other country.

And here is Trump recounting his meeting with a corporate executive who hired lobbyists to win pipeline approval. The point of Trumps story is that Trump gave the executive the exact policy outcome he had hired lobbyists to engineer:

Can you imagine, I told this story the other day. Can you imagine the gentleman never met him, dont know the name of his company, I sort of know it, I want to get it exactly correct. Big, big powerful company. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the pipeline, same with Dakota, difference place, got approval and everything in the case of Dakota and they couldnt connect it because they had people protesting that never showed up before. With the Keystone, they spent hundreds of millions of dollars with block sucker consultants sucking the blood out of the company. Dont worry, I used them all my life, dont worry, we will get it approved, Im connected, Im a lobbyist, dont worry. Bottom line, Obama didnt sign it. Could be 42,000 jobs somewhere around there, a lot of jobs. Didnt sign it. Can you imagine, he gave up. It was dead. Now hes doing nothing, calling his wife, hello, darling, Im bored, that pipeline, that has killed us, killed our company. Knock, knock, mr. So-and-so, the Keystone pipeline, sir, out of nowhere has just been approved. Now can you imagine the expression and you know the sad part, the same blood-sucking consultants that hit him for all the money that failed will go back to him and say, didnt we do a great job, we want more money. Right? That is the way the system works, a little bit off, but that is the way the system works.

That is the way the system works. That sentence perfectly captures the authentic Trump view of the world  the view of the man who has donated to politicians of both parties, treated all policy as transactional, and disregarded any moral currency other than power or wealth. Trump can read populist denunciations of the system, but he doesnt actually believe them. Not only does he see nothing wrong with a system in which wealthy, powerful people meet with him and he delivers them policy favors, his central role in the process strikes him as evidence of his own power and success. He is boasting about it because he cannot imagine it would reflect anything other than his own greatness. Trump is not a sophisticated enough thinker to grasp the contradiction between the character he is supposed to be performing in public and the actual role he keeps confessing.
Mexicos president Enrique Pena Nieto has struggled in Donald Trumps shadow. But he can turn that to his benefit. Photo: Hector Vivas/STR/LatinContent/Getty Images

The election of Donald Trump has caused all sorts of grief and anxiety for the government of Mexico, which has to cope with the fallout from the new regimes policies on immigration, refugees, and border control; its demands for a more U.S.-favorable renegotiation of NAFTA; and its manifold insults to Mexican pride.

But as Pedro Gerson of the Ibero-American University and the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology argues today in the Washington Post, one prominent member of the Mexican government could ultimately find in Trump an indispensable if inadvertent ally: President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Pena Nieto, you see, is unpopular in a way that makes Trumps bad approval ratings look like a public-opinion paradise. His approval rating, at 12 percent, is the worst in Mexican history. And his situation seems to get worse with every page of the calendar:

Since 2013 the administration has committed one blunder after another. Most notably, the president has borne the brunt of a major corruption scandal involving his wife and a lavish home, managed to mishandle the largest human rights tragedy in recent Mexican history and, perhaps most unbelievably, legitimized candidate Trump by inviting him to Mexico on what looked like a state visit. Pena Nietos responses to all of these cases and crises has seemed at best incompetent, in some cases downright negligent.

But, suggests Gerson, if Pena Nieto can just focus on exploiting the vast and fearful publicity Trump is securing in Mexico, and treat him as an all-purpose boogeyman, it could do wonders for his political standing going into next years presidential campaign. He is constitutionally barred from standing for reelection, but his party need not go down to what now looks like certain defeat.

Mexicans all along the political spectrum are offering the president suggestions on how to do this. A leftist collective called on the government to start accepting refugees in defiance of Trumps Muslim ban. Jorge Castaneda, a former minister of foreign affairs, has said that Pena Nieto should accept deported migrants from the United States only if they can prove that they are Mexican citizens. Given that many immigrants lack any identification, this measure would severely hamper deportation efforts. Others have recommended that Pena Nieto should collaborate with officials in the United States who are openly pro-immigration, appearing in public with figures such as California Gov. Jerry Brown. Finally, some have even argued that Pena Nieto should refuse discussions on NAFTA in order to avoid a potentially devastating period of economic uncertainty during the renegotiation. If this were to happen, Trump would have to answer for NAFTAs demise to the largely Republican constituency that benefits from it.

The bottom line is that by becoming the anti-Trump, Pena Nieto could make himself a national rallying point against the bully to the north. In particular, he could steal some thunder from his leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, at present the odds-on favorite to replace the incumbent next year. He might even, says Gerson, get his corruption-ridden, status-quo-oriented PRI party back in touch with its revolutionary roots as a populist and anti-gringo party.

If Pena Nieto takes this advice and revives his and his partys prospects, then Americans might learn something from that development, too: Trump indeed does have coattails. But they are as likely to be negative as positive.

(Note: this article originally referred to the Mexican presidents reelection. The Mexican constitution limits presidents to a single term. We regret the error.)
The 45th president spent a lot of time offering the CPAC audience the political victories and specific policies they crave  but conservative principles were not much in evidence. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

It has been observed often that this years CPAC conference reflects the accommodation of the conservative movement to a new Republican president who has been less than orthodox in his views. But the precise terms of that accommodation were not clear until Trump himself addressed the conference today: Conservatives must give up their philosophical principles in exchange for policies they favor and the popular support they crave.

Amazingly, Trump spoke for an extended period to an exclusively conservative audience and never used the terms liberty or limited government or free enterprise. He used the word freedom exactly twice. Once was in a reference to the TPP agreement being a threat to our economic freedom, a characterization that  until recently  few mainstream conservatives would support. The other was in boasting about his election win:

The victory and the win were something that really was dedicated to a country and people that believe in freedom, security and the rule of law. Our victory

(APPLAUSE)

 was a victory and the win for conservative values.

That was also the speechs only clear reference, explicitly or implicitly, to the brand of conservative values that have dominated the discourse at CPAC for decades.

Trump did offer a lot of crowd-pleasing lines, roughly divided equally between attacks on common enemies like the non-conservative elements of the news media, and promises to pursue specific policies most conservatives like, from defense spending increases to tax cuts to deregulation to aggressive exploitation of fossil fuels.

But invariably Trump framed his policies not with the traditional memes of movement conservatism, but as expressions of his one clear guiding principle: nationalism. Or, as he put it: The core conviction of our movement is that we are a nation that will put its own citizens first.

While patriotism, of course, is a common touchstone for American conservatives (and for liberals, though conservatives often have trouble acknowledging it), nationalism disassociated from the idea that America distinctively stands for universal values  e.g., freedom or liberty or limited government  is not a value Republicans have traditionally embraced. Presumably many of the same people who cheered Trump at CPAC also cheered George W. Bush when he used to talk about freedom and democracy being Americas gift to the world, a gift worth fighting to defend and extend  rhetoric Ronald Reagan also used throughout his career (otherwise his favorite rhetorical reference to America as a shining city on a hill is nonsensical).

The idea that Trump isnt asking conservatives to change that much simply is not true. Hes asking them to acknowledge that discarding their most cherished positions in order to vanquish their foes and achieve their immediate goals is absolutely necessary, with his electoral victory after the defeat of more conventional leaders like McCain and Romney being the proof. And thus he represents the eternal temptation of right-bent political thinkers and actors everywhere and at every time to overcome their scruples and embrace populist demagogues.

As Trump ended his speech and the room was filled with his odd campaign anthem, the Rolling Stones You Cant Always Get What You Want, for the first time I saw the song as entirely appropriate. Conservatives cannot elect a president who talks only or mostly of freedom and capitalism or of those Western values that transcend the nation-state. But they can win with Trump, so theyll get what they need, at the mere expense of their principles, if not their souls.
A man who loves free speech more than you do. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

On Friday, president Trump said that the media shouldnt be allowed to cite anonymous sources  because Americas most respected newspapers routinely make up such sources, and publish stories of their own invention. He reiterated his contention that fake news outlets like the New York Times, NBC News, ABC News, CBS, and CNN are the enemy of the people, and suggested that Americans should not protest their government in between elections.

The president also said, I love the First Amendment  nobody loves it more than me.

Trump and his administration have been waging a war on objective reality  and those tasked with describing it  from the moment he was sworn in. In his first appearance as White House press secretary, Sean Spicer demanded that reporters believe the presidents estimate of the size of his inaugural crowd over their own lying eyes. As Trumps tumultuous (and not terribly productive) first month in office progressed, he grew ever more preoccupied with discrediting the Fourth Estate.

On Thursday, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Steve Bannon and Reince Preibus instructed the audience not to believe any negative news they read about the administration, over and over again. By the end of their conversation, the word media had been spoken 19 times, and the phrase opposition party, Bannons favorite synonym for the mainstream press, six times.

It wasnt terribly surprising, then, that the president opened his remarks to CPAC with a long diatribe against the media. But Trumps speech did represent a significant escalation in his crusade against independent journalism.

Previously, the president had criticized the press for printing illegal leaks from anonymous government officials and suggested that those officials have often shared false information. But hed never before claimed that major newspapers were fabricating sources out of whole cloth and presenting works of fictions as reportage.

The leaks are real. Youre the one that wrote about them and reported them, I mean, the leaks are real, Trump told reporters at a press conference last Thursday. You know what they said, you saw it and the leaks are absolutely real.

As of Friday morning, the president still maintained that the anonymous officials quoted in the media were genuine members of the government.

The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even......  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

But hours later Trump suggested that reporters cant find actual government officials to leak to them, and thus are forced to invent them.

A few days ago I called the fake news the enemy of the people. And they are. They are the enemy of the people, Trump said. Because they have no sources, they just make em up when there are none  Im against the people that make up stories and make up sources.

The people that make up stories ostensibly includes all of the major outlets listed in this recent tweet.

Late Thursday night, the Trump administration admitted that it had encouraged the FBI to anonymously leak exculpating information about the presidents relationship with Russia. On Friday morning, Trump declared, They shouldnt be allowed to use sources unless they use somebodys name  They should put the name of the person. You will see stories dry up like youve never seen before.

Then, after briefly praising the First Amendment, the president said that media doesnt represent the people, and were going to do something about it.

Trumps only substantive argument for why his audience shouldnt trust the media was that most of these outlets pre-election polling suggested that he would not win. He then credited the Los Angeles Times poll for its singular accuracy. That poll predicted that Trump would win the popular vote, making it one of the least accurate national polls of the 2016 cycle.

Note: Final LA Times poll had Trump winning nationally by 3%. He lost to Clinton by 2.1%. https://t.co/v7nN1Fw5aP  Aron Goldman (@ArgoJournal) February 24, 2017

But in the presidents telling, fake news outlets and skewed pollsters arent the only ones who have been abusing their First Amendment rights  the other enemies of the American people are  the American people who didnt vote for Donald Trump.

Referring to the town hall protests in support of Obamacare, Trump said, The people that youre watching, theyre not you. Theyre largely  many of them are the side that lost, you know they lost the election. Its like, how many elections do we have to have?

The election is over. The worlds biggest fan of the First Amendment won. So, if you voted against him, its time to shut up.
The best nukes! Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

President Donald Trump recognizes the value of a world without nuclear weapons, he told Reuters in an interview published Thursday, but he also knows that we do not live in such a world. And since nations have nukes, hed very much prefer that the U.S. have the most.

It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack, Trump told Reuters. He added that, when it comes to nukes, were never going to fall behind any country even if its a friendly country, were never going to fall behind on nuclear power.

The U.S. currently has 6,800 nukes, according to the Ploughshares Fund, a group fighting the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Thats second only to Russias 7,000 nukes. Both countries have significantly fewer nuclear weapons deployed, but Russia still comes out ahead with 1,796 deployed nukes compared to the 1,367 in the U.S.

This isnt the first time Trump has appeared to call for more nuclear weapons. In December, he tweeted a vague call to expand the U.S. nuclear capabilities. Aides said he meant exactly the opposite, claiming Trump was referring to the need to prevent nuclear proliferation.

The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016

The top of the pack quote in the Reuters interview sure sounds like a call to pursue more nukes though, especially since Trump makes it clear that U.S. has fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity. But Trump translator and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made it sound Thursday as if the U.S. is already top of the pack.

What he was very clear on is that the United States will not yield its supremacy in this area to anybody. Thats what he made very clear in there, and that if other countries have nuclear capabilities, itll always be the United States that have the supreme  supremacy and commitment to this, Spicer said.

So once again, the question now is who to believe: Spicer, who claims Trump was saying the U.S. will not yield its supremacy on nukes, or Trump, who says the U.S. has fallen behind but should be top of the pack?
Reince Priebus. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Last week, with the fallout over National Security Adviser Michael Flynns resignation drawing new attention to the Trump administrations contact with Russia, the New York Times and CNN reported that Trump aides communicated with Russian intelligence officials throughout the campaign, according to U.S. officials.

Now CNN reports that the White House asked the FBI to say that the stories were untrue, and there had been no contact  a request that violates longstanding procedure memos that limit communications between the White House and the Justice Department about ongoing investigations. The FBI refused to publicly refute the reports because the investigation into communications between Trump associates and the Russians is ongoing.

Late on Thursday night, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer disputed CNNs characterization of the request, though he confirmed that the White House discussed the reports with FBI officials on February 15. We didnt try to knock the story down. We asked them to tell the truth, Spicer said.

A U.S. law enforcement official said White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus first raised the issue with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe during an unrelated meeting at the White House a day after the stories were published.

An unnamed White House official told CNN that Priebus then reached out to McCabe and FBI Director James Comey. If they wouldnt publicly refute the story, he wanted them to dismiss it in talks with reporters on background.

Its unclear what McCabe told Preibus, but a law enforcement source said he did not discuss the case with the chief of staff. Comey refused to push back against the story as well, citing the ongoing investigation.

The White House claims that McCabe initiated the conversation with Priebus to express that they reports were overblown. To be clear, it was the FBI that contacted the White House to rebut the New York Times story, Spicer told Politico. We merely asked them to inform journalists of the same point that they were making to us.

Priebus refuted the story himself on the Sunday shows, calling it complete garbage on Face the Nation, and declaring, I think that the media should stop with this unnamed source stuff. On Fox News Sunday, he claimed that top levels of the intelligence community assured him that the reports were wrong:

The New York Times put out an article with no direct sources that said that the Trump campaign had constant contacts with Russian spies, basically, you know, some treasonous type of accusations. We have now all kinds of people looking into this. I can assure you and I have been approved to say this  that the top levels of the intelligence community have assured me that that story is not only inaccurate, but its grossly overstated and it was wrong. And theres nothing to it.

When Chris Wallace pressed Priebus on who told him that, he refused to identify his source. Wallace pointed out that Priebus had just complained about the use of anonymous sources. Well, because I didnt ask for approval to use their name, Priebus said. But let me tell you when I say top-level people, I mean top-level people.

Days earlier Preibus had also urged the FBI to anonymously leak to reporters, according to CNN, but the important revelation here isnt that Preibus said something hypocritical on TV  its the claim that the Trump White House tried to persuade the FBI to refute a story for political purposes.

Justice Department procedure memos issued in 2007 and 2009 say that the FBI should only discuss pending investigations with the White House when its vital to the presidents duties. The 2009 memo says:

Initial communications between the [Justice] Department and the White House concerning pending or contemplated criminal investigations or cases will involve only the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General, from the side of the Department, and the Counsel to the President, the Principal Deputy Counsel to the President, the President, or the Vice President from the side of the White House.

For an explanation of why the White House shouldnt communicate with the Justice Department about a pending investigations, just look at the reaction Trump and other Republicans had to Bill Clinton chatting with thenattorney general Loretta Lynch on a tarmac last summer as the FBI probed Hillary Clintons emails.

Trump suggested, with no proof, that Bill Clinton told Lynch that Hillary would keep her on as attorney general if she covered up the email investigation.

Republican Senator John Cornyn said of Clintons conversation with Lynch: This incident does nothing to instill confidence in the American people that her department can fully and fairly conduct this investigation, and thats why a special counsel is needed now more than ever.

In recent days Cornyn has said Flynns resignation should be investigated by the House and Senate intelligence committees. Thats further than many of his Republican colleagues were willing to go, but far short of joining calls to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump teams connection to Russia.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is resisting Democratic calls to recuse himself from such investigations. In response to CNNs report on Priebuss FBI request, a Department of Justice spokesman said Sessions is reviewing the procedural memos and the Department is following the guidelines in its communications with the White House.

On Thursday night, Representative John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, renewed his call for Sessions to recuse himself. The need for an independent, bipartisan investigation into these matters has never been more clear, he said. The Trump team has clear ties to the Russian government  and we ignore those ties at our own peril.
Photo: Bin Cai/Getty Images

Adults have a tendency to see kids less as people and more as ticking time bombs that constantly need defusing, potential catastrophes on legs stumbling from one danger to the next. In part, its for good reason  compared to grown-ups, theyre less concerned about risk, they dont know enough to know when something might be a bad idea, and their brains havent yet learned to focus in on things in their surroundings that might harm them.

Even so, theres a case to be made that sometimes we can be too cautious, and that the best way to teach a kid how to do something safely isnt through repeated warnings and cautionary tales, but by, well, just teaching them to do it safely. As Sara Zaske recently reported in the New York Times, thats the idea behind a workshop in Germany that encourages kids to play with fire:

[Workshop leader Kain] Karawahn teaches children how to burn things properly  how to hold a match, use a lighter, light candles and build small bonfires. He lets them play with fire openly, under adult supervision, so they can indulge their curiosity and learn about fire without feeling the need to do so in secret.



Mr. Karawahn has trained nearly 2,000 educators in Germany in his method and earned the support of fire officials, insurance companies and safety organizations in that country. His approach stands in stark contrast to the Learn Not to Burn message promoted by the National Fire Protection Association in the United States, which urges children never to touch matches or lighters, let alone explore their use.

As the paper noted, theres no real research out there examining which of the two vastly different approaches might be a more effective one, and experts seem to be divided: One the one hand, mental health counselor Paul Schwatzman told Zaske that the kids Karawahn teaches, some of them not yet in kindergarten, dont have the intellectual ability to understand whats going to happen or how quickly it can get out of control.

But on the other hand, as Frieder Kircher, a deputy assistant chief with the Berlin Fire Department, put it to the Times: All the things you prohibit are interesting for young children, and the more you prohibit them, the more interesting they are. In a way, its similar to the arguments people make about lowering the drinking age or teaching comprehensive sex ed: If teens are going to be teens no matter what, we might as well teach them how to be teens in the safest way possible. The same thing goes for the younguns and their more wholesome pastimes. Its never to early to inject some lessons about responsibility into the things they find cool.
Photo: Maxiphoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Yesterday, web-infrastructure provider Cloudflare disclosed the discovery and subsequent mitigation of a bug  now known as Cloudbleed  in its system. This was a big-deal bug, and its been patched (though, in some cases, the more paranoid might want to change their passwords), and youre welcome to take my word for it and stop reading now. But if youd like to know what happened, why, and what you should do, read on.

Before understanding the bug, its important to understand what Cloudflare is. Cloudflare provides a number of services to millions of websites, mostly focused on maintaining those sites stability and security. Theyll mirror sites and set up redundancies if the site suddenly becomes swarmed with traffic, or handle a sites implementation of SSL, the system that provides secure web traffic. Theyre used by many large tech companies  some of which you almost certainly use yourself  but generally speaking, Cloudflare works unseen in the background; and if youre just a casual web browser, theres no reason you should have heard of it.

Still, its an extremely important company for the infrastructure of the internet. Long story short, a portion of the traffic between you and the websites you use flows through Cloudflare. And, in fact, many different websites use the same Cloudflare hardware at the same time.

So: Cloudbleed. The big problem with the bug was that Cloudflare would return sensitive data stored on uninitialized memory when an HTTP request was made under very specific circumstances and technological configurations. The Google team that found the bug was finding private messages from major dating sites, full messages from a well-known chat service, online password-manager data, frames from adult-video sites, [and] hotel bookings.

According to Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, who walked me through the whole saga over the phone this morning, the bug actually stems from a piece of code that was written about five years ago, but it was unleashed when Cloudflare made a change to its system last September. If its HTML parser was fed a bad piece of code written by a website that uses Cloudflare, the bug could happen under an extremely rare set of circumstances that had to happen in a particular order.

At that point last fall, these memory leaks started happening, according to Prince, at a very low frequency  ten or so times a day is how it was characterized. That all changed on February 13, when another system change increased the circumstances under which Cloudbleed could be executed. Still, a site would have to have a piece of poorly written HTML and a specific combination of Cloudflare features enabled in order to trigger the bug. According to Prince, the vast majority of these bug instances came from search engines, which automatically request web pages in order to index them. Thats how Google got involved.

On the 17th, Tavis Ormandy, who works on Googles Project Zero, a team devoted to finding security vulnerabilities and patching them, was working on a corpus distillation project, when I encountered some data that didnt match what I had been expecting. Figuring out how to reproduce the issue, the team observed encryption keys, cookies, passwords, chunks of POST data and even HTTPS requests for other major cloudflare-hosted sites from other users. Thats otherwise known as data from one of Cloudflares six million clients that had previously flowed through the servers network. These are not things that should be publicly accessible, even through complicated technical maneuvering. Like the Heartbleed glitch a few years ago, it involves extracting what is essentially leftover data from computer memory not in use.

Among what Google observed was what Prince referred to as Cloudflares NSA key. When the companys servers communicate with each other, that data is encrypted using said key. We always internally called it the NSA key because if the NSA was sitting on a piece of fiber connecting two of our data centers, Prince said, this was the key that kept that data from being listened in on.

Ormandy quickly contacted Cloudflare, and according to the companys timeline, it mitigated most of the problem in a matter of hours. Within 44 minutes, 99 percent of the problem was patched across our network, and the final one percent came about seven hours later. (It also didnt publicly disclose the bug until yesterday, which clearly frustrated the Project Zero team.)

But there was another issue: Search engines had already scraped and retained portions of the memory leaks, so Cloudflare then had to contact search engines like Google and Bing and get all of the leaks taken down.

There were about 150 Cloudflare customers where we were able to identify that some chunk of users data flowed through the system and had ended up in a [search engine], Prince recalled. Cloudflare notified those customers, who, if theyre competent, notified their users and mandated a password reset or similar security maneuver.

The Cloudbleed glitch is not the same as the attacks that leaked millions of LinkedIn and Yahoo login credentials, and it appears to have been fixed before it could be widely exploited. Still, Prince readily admitted that it could have been extremely bad. I think that we largely dodged a bullet. Its generally a good practice to update passwords on a regular basis, but the catastrophic implications of Cloudbleed appear, as of now, hypothetical. The bug was uncovered by a large tech organization that pokes at web infrastructure in ways that most hackers cant, and the likelihood that it was exploited before it was fixed is very low.

Another part of understanding Cloudbleed is that precisely whose information could be exposed is dependent on what proportion of Cloudflare traffic its customers use. As Prince put it, on a highway, youre far more likely to see a Toyota instead of a Maserati. Similarly, large tech companies that constantly pass through Cloudflare at a higher rate, and thus are more likely to be exposed, have their own security protocols.

Cloudflare is now going through the process of reviewing the rest of its systems, and Prince said that they were inserting data into their code that, if it appeared publicly accessible online, would act as a canary for leak issues.

Do you have to, as Gizmodo put it, Change Your Passwords. Now? Not necessarily. Much of that hand-wringing comes from an enormous list of sites that use Cloudflare, whose author admits, just because a domain is on the list does not mean the site is compromised, and sites may be compromised that do not appear on this list. Kinda broad, no? That said, if resetting all of your passwords gives you peace of mind, it would be foolish for me to stop you.
Decrease Font Size Font Size Increase Font Size

Article body

The State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame inducted five individuals, including three Auburn University alumni, and honored a corporation during a recent ceremony at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa in Montgomery.

The following five individuals join the 173 members inducted into the Hall of Fame over the past 29 years: Auburn graduates Paula Martese Marino of Birmingham, Todd May of Huntsville and the late Bill L. Harbert, formerly of Birmingham; University of Alabama graduate Brian D. Barr of Birmingham; and Georgia Institute of Technology graduate H. Stuart Starrett of Birmingham.

Also, Krebs Engineering, with headquarters in Birmingham, was honored in the corporations category, joining 31 other corporations inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame since 1987.

Founded by proclamation of the governor, the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame honors, preserves and perpetuates the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of individuals, projects and corporations/institutions that brought and continue to bring significant recognition to the state.

The Hall of Fame is overseen by engineering colleges and schools at Auburn University, Alabama A&M University, the University of Alabama, Tuskegee University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Alabama in Huntsville and the University of South Alabama.

To read more, go to http://eng.auburn.edu/news/2017/02/2017-state-of-alabama-engineering-hall-of-fame.html.
how much will tickets be and is anyone a member of the public theater that will get me tickets...

Reply

Thread

Link

Seconded.



(I'll be visiting NYC from Australia in July and seeing this would be amazing)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I may or may not have just bought a membership omg. That only allows me to book ONE ticket though :((((



Now to try and schedule my annual Toronto trip in the right kind of timeframe to then also swing down to New York. fml why has this madness taken me!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i was SERIOUSLY considering getting a membership until i realized it was just one ticket

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

TAKE ME WITH YOU

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

let me guess

they won't release a dvd of this

Reply

Thread

Link

this should be great!



favourite Hamlet? probably david tennant.

Reply

Thread

Link

Oscar AND Keegan-Michael Key in NY doing theater?



My vag is wet.

Reply

Thread

Link

I remember hearing Kate Winslett saying she'd rather play Hamlet. I would be interested in seeing a version like that. If they can make a version with lions, then they should be able to do it with an actress in the roll.

Reply

Thread

Link





They did film it for National Theatre Live release, and you can buy the DVD at the Royal Exchange bookstore which I did, but it's not available widely, which it should be.



The entire cast and staging were the best for a Hamlet production i've seen, and i've seen way too many, but Maxine Peake is now my definitive Hamlet. Undisputed Queen of Manchester and the North of England Maxine Peake played Hamlet here in 2015 and was INCREDIBLE. Beyond incredible.They did film it for National Theatre Live release, and you can buy the DVD at the Royal Exchange bookstore which I did, but it's not available widely, which it should be.The entire cast and staging were the best for a Hamlet production i've seen, and i've seen way too many, but Maxine Peake is now my definitive Hamlet. A trailer posted below!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Undisputed Queen of Manchester and the North of England Maxine Peake



omg WHERE IS THE LIE?? She is so fucking good! (Absolutely criminal she missed out on a BAFTA for The Village, ugh. )

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I want to see Keegan-Michael Key in more dramatic roles since his basic training was in theatre acting. ugh. I wanna see this.



I really like Sam Gold's work despite the fact that he's... very demanding...



The Public Theatre these past few seasons have really picked some interesting choices.

Reply

Thread

Link





I don't really enjoy Hamlet, i'll admit, it's THAT Shakespeare that all male actors of an age tend to do, but i'd see it for Oscar.



Favourite/best Hamlet i've seen? MAXINE PEAKE 



I went to Stratford to see David Tennant live with the RSC (with the ever amazing Sir Patrick as Claudius), and really didn't rate him. It was like he was playing the Doctor who was playing Hamlet.



Maxine Peake at the Royal Exchange though was everything and more.







I feel like I won't be able to get tickets even though I am coming over to the East Coast this summer for a few weeks. Ugghhhhh.I don't really enjoy Hamlet, i'll admit, it's THAT Shakespeare that all male actors of an age tend to do, but i'd see it for Oscar.Favourite/best Hamlet i've seen? MAXINE PEAKE I went to Stratford to see David Tennant live with the RSC (with the ever amazing Sir Patrick as Claudius), and really didn't rate him. It was like he was playing the Doctor who was playing Hamlet.Maxine Peake at the Royal Exchange though was everything and more.

Reply

Thread

Link

i see your point david/doctor but honestly i felt like his fast switches of mood and personality were amazing. it completely portrayed my idea of hamlet (or at least this is what it came to my mind when i was studying it)



i didn't know this ^, gonna check it out asap!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Weirdly enough I went to see David as Hamlet as a fan, and i've really really loved him in most other things he's ever done, but his Hamlet turned me right off him as an actor for a long time :(



I want to marry Maxine Peake though lmao OMG SHE IS MAGNETIC AF.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Oscar Isaac or Dev Patel?

Reply

Thread

Link

Why Oscar vs Dev?



I mean Oscar every time, but why those two particularly?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Um, I guess just bc I like dark-haired scruffy boys so they are both my type lol



I'm more in the Dev camp tho bc Oscar is too old for me

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

idg the comparison but Oscar's my irl ~type tbh :x (Dev is cute tho)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

ideal eiffel tower situation

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Both :|

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Oscar Isaac.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I haven't found a Hamlet that I loved yet but I kind of dislike the character so... I did like Richard Burton in the role though.

Reply

Thread

Link

ngl I'm tempted to fly to NYC for the weekend if I can get tickets (and get a job first lol)

Reply

Thread

Link

I will forever regret not being able to see ben whishaw when he did hamlet.

Reply

Thread

Link

me too and you know it was amazing :(

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

YAS OMG STAYFUCKINGCALM.GIF



I've gotta see this. Not sure how I'll afford it, but I'll find a way.

Reply

Thread

Link

I'm happy he's getting high profile work, but I just wish it'd be more common to cast Hamlet as a man barely into his early 20's because IT EXPLAINS LITERALLY EVERYTHING ABOUT HIS CHOICES

Reply

Thread

Link

MTE, they're always too old

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Another reason why Ben Whishaw was an ideal Hamlet at 24.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link
iStock/Thinkstock(OLATHE, Kan.)  Authorities are investigating whether a triple shooting at a Kansas bar, which resulted in one death, was a hate crime.



On Wednesday evening, police responded to a 911 call of shots fired at Austin's Bar and Grill in Olathe, located about 20 miles southwest of Kansas City, said Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke.



The suspect, Adam W. Purinton, was arrested in the early morning hours on Thursday in Clinton, Missouri and is being held on $2 million bond, said Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe. Purinton had fled the scene of the shooting, according to Menke.



Authorities said the perpetrator of the attack shot Alok Madasani and Srinivas Kuchibhotla, both 32, and 24-year-old Ian Grillot.



All three victims were taken to a local hospital, where Kuchibhotla died, Menke said, adding that authorities have been in contact with all of the victim's families. The other two victims are in stable condition, Menke said.



Kuchibhotla worked as an engineer at Garmin.



"I am very disturbed by last night's shooting in Olathe," read a statement from Kansas Senator Jerry Moran. "I strongly condemn violence of any kind, especially if it is motivated by prejudice and xenophobia."



Grillot said in an interview from his hospital bed that after the shooting started, he took cover until he thought the shooter's magazine was empty.



"I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him," Grillot said in a video posted online by the University of Kansas Health System. "I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me."



Grillot said he was hit in the hand and the chest, and that a bullet narrowly missed a major artery.



"I was told I was incredibly lucky for what happened to me," Grillot said. "I could have never walked again or seen my family again."



Purington has been charged with one count of premeditated murder and two counts of premeditated attempted murder, Howe said. It will be up to Clinton County to decide whether to waive extradition, he added.



Howe would not disclose the type of weapon used in the attack, which he described as a "pretty traumatic event in a very open, public situation."



It is unclear if Purington has retained a lawyer.



The FBI is investigating whether the shooting was a bias crime, said Kansas City FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Jackson. Local police will also aid in the investigation into whether the shooting was racially motivated.



Jackson FBI personnel are working the investigation into the shooting "from every angle to determine that the true facts are."



Authorities were unable to provide further details in the case, which is still under investigation.



"We've got a lot of work to do," Howe said.



Howe said the community around Olathe bonded together after a similar incident three years ago.



"In these tragic instances, often the community bonds together," Howe said. "I think we'll see this again. I'm very proud of this community."



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
I have a message for the trans kids of America. You are winning. I know it doesnt feel that way today or every day, but you _ are _ winning. You are going to keep on winning so much youre going to get sick of winning. Very soon, we'll win full freedom nationwide, and its going to happen with bipartisan support. For all our friends out there, If you want to be part of this winning side, you can help by checking out the National Center for Trans Equality and letting Washington hear how you feel loud and clear. (Link in bio!) NowI also have a message for the bullies. You suck. Youre losers and youre going to keep on losing. Because youre weak, you pick on kids or you pick on women or anyone you think is vulnerable. Apparently even becoming the Attorney General isnt enough to cure some of you of your insecurity. As proof that you cant stop our progress, the Supreme Court will soon hear an important Title Nine case thanks to the courage of a brave young man named Gavin Grimm. See you in court!
I regret reading the spoilers because it feels like I'm just waiting for the good stuff to happen

Reply

Thread

Link

Where's a stream.



Thanks for getting me obsessed with this shit ONTD. I was gonna watch it anyways but you guys really pushed this show hard.

Reply

Thread

Link

off to make popcorns, if any good souls could post a link that'd be very much appreciated!

Reply

Thread

Link

I'm going to eat cheeto puffs watching tonight's episode.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lol same

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

yummy choice! :) idk im conflicted htgawm is on as well... aaa #choices

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

You beat me to the viewing post this week OP. Still can't figure out who would have a motive to kill Jason? Hopefully we get more Joaquin and Kevin tonight.

Reply

Thread

Link

he's sf pretty <3

Reply

Thread

Link

I'm going to have to miss the first half of htgawm because I'll be watching riverdale. Who do you think killed Wes onto? I think it was Michaela or Maggie.

Reply

Thread

Link

This show is quite awful, but I've noticed that a LOT of white male television critics are going nuts over it.



I am.......confused.

Reply

Thread

Link

I can't believe that I've become so invested in the Archie characters ever since All New Archie came around. Between that, the Josie comic and this show... it still surprises me.

Reply

Thread

Link

That's a fire hazard

Reply

Thread

Link

The blossoms have their own cemetery in their back yard? Wtf

Reply

Thread

Link

Crazy asses

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmaoooo wtf is this real?

Reply

Thread

Link

lmao thank god. i wouldn't put it past cheryl to go walking around dressed like melisandre

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Was there incest or no

Reply

Thread

Link

ahah i literally just said the same thing out loud

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

According to the actress that plays Cheryl there is no incest. She did a interview with tv line a few weeks back clearing that up.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I love these posts.

Reply

Thread

Link

I ship Veronica and Jughead but this dumb show is going in the Betty/Jughead direction it seems. May be just as well since I'm only half sold on Cole as Jughead. Here for his Dad though.

Reply

Thread

Link
1. Diane Guerrero

2. Karlie Kloss

3. Constance Wu

4. Lady Gaga

5. Sarah Jessica Parker

6. Sofia Vergara

7. Kate Hudson

8. Ice Cube

9. Olivia Wilde

10. Mindy Kaling

11. Sarah Michelle Gellar

12. Uzo Aduba

13. Kate Bosworth

14. Emmy Rossum

15. Gillian Jacobs

16. Brie Larson

17. Mariah Carey

18. Kat Dennings

19. Usher

20. Katie Holmes

The March task for the ONTD Reading Challenge is to read a book that was recommended by a celebrity, so to help you out in case you still haven't picked a book,andbring you a selection of book recs from celebrities on Instagram!Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.Diane von Furstenberg reflects on her extraordinary life from childhood in Brussels to her days as a young, jet-set princess, to creating the dress that came to symbolize independence and power for an entire generation of women. With remarkable honesty and wisdom, von Furstenberg mines the rich territory of what it means to be a woman. She opens up about her family and career, overcoming cancer, building a global brand, and devoting herself to empowering other women, writing, "I want every woman to know that she can be the woman she wants to be."Evie Tanaka is the put-upon personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend and San Francisco's most beloved superheroine. She's great at her jobblending into the background, handling her boss's epic diva tantrums, and getting demon blood out of leather pants. Unfortunately, she's not nearly as together when it comes to running her own life, standing up for herself, or raising her tempestuous teenage sister, Bea. But everything changes when Evie's forced to pose as her glamorous boss for one night, and her darkest comes out: she has powers, too. Now it's up to her to contend with murderous cupcakes, nosy gossip bloggers, and supernatural karaoke battlesall while juggling unexpected romance and Aveda's increasingly outrageous demands. And when a larger threat emerges, Evie must finally take charge and become a superheroine in her own right... or see her city fall to a full-on demonic invasion.The personal memoir of a manic depressive and an authority on the subject describes the onset of the illness during her teenage years and her determined journey through the realm of available treatments.Samuel Andresen-Andersoncollege professor, stalled writer hasnt seen his mother in decades, not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now shes re-appeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news, beguiles the internet, and inflames a politically divided country. The media paint Faye as a radical hippie with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother was an ordinary girl who married her high-school sweetheart. Which version of his mother is true? Two facts are certain: shes facing some serious charges, and she needs Samuels help.Juan Guillermo is a teenager who in a matter of a few months looses his brother Carlos, his grandmother, and his parents. The culprits are a group of fundamentalist Catholics that are convinced that is their purpose in life, to rid the world of society's scum. They are conspiring with Captain Zurita who was upset with Carlos for not giving him a share of the earnings from his illegal businesses. So, they drowned him, and once his parents returned all they found was a casket. But Juan Guillermo decides to take vengeance...All About Love offers radical new ways to think about love by showing its interconnectedness in our private and public lives. Hooks explains how our everyday notions of what it means to give and receive love often fail us, and how these ideals are established in early childhood. She offers a rethinking of self-love (without narcissism) that will bring peace and compassion to our personal and professional lives, and asserts the place of love to end struggles between individuals, in communities, and among societies. Moving from the cultural to the intimate, hooks notes the ties between love and loss and challenges the prevailing notion that romantic love is the most important love of all.As the country grapples with racist division at a level not seen since the 1960s, one man's voice soars above the rest with conviction and compassion. In his 2016 New York Times op-ed piece "Death in Black and White," Michael Eric Dyson moved a nation. Now he continues to speak out in Tears We Cannot Stopa provocative and deeply personal call for change. Dyson argues that if we are to make real racial progress we must face difficult truths, including being honest about how black grievance has been ignored, dismissed, or discounted.A deeply moving testimony and celebration of how to embrace life. In January 2015, Oliver Sacks was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer, and he shared this news in a New York Times essay that inspired readers all over the world: "I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude.... Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure." Gratitude consists of four essays that originally appeared in The New York Times, accompanied by a foreword that describes the occasion of each chapter. The foreword is written by Billy Hayes, Oliver Sacks's partner, and Kate Edgar, his long time collaborator.Two brothers bound by tragedy; a fiercely brilliant woman haunted by her past; a country torn by revolution. A powerful new novel--set in both India and America--that explores the price of idealism and a love that can last long past death.A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dreamthe unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy.: A book of humorous essays that dissects our cultural obsessions and calls out bad behavior in our increasingly digital, connected livesfrom the cultural importance of the newest Shonda Rhimes television drama to serious discussions of race and media representation to what to do about your fool cousin sharing casket pictures from Grandma's wake on Facebook.When Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconerHelen had been captivated by hawks since childhoodshe'd never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk. But in her grief, she saw that the goshawk's fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King author T.H. White's chronicle The Goshawk to begin her challenging endeavor. Projecting herself "in the hawk's wild mind to tame her" tested the limits of Macdonald's humanity and changed her life.A fascinating, provocative, and meticulously researched biography that challenges long-held assumptions about the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth.: The author wickedly remembers and delectably recounts the scandals, gossip and glorious intimacies of the golden age of Hollywood.Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyers coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.Admired and beloved by movie audiences for over sixty years, four-time Academy Award-winner Katharine Hepburn is an American classic. Now Miss Hepburn breaks her long-kept silence about her private life in this absorbing and provocative memoir.Seneca's letters to his friend Lucilius are powerful moral essays that also yield illuminating insight into Seneca's personal life and the truly turbulent times in which he lived.In a series of essays, written as a letter to his son, Coates confronts the notion of race in America and how it has shaped American history, many times at the cost of black bodies and lives. Thoughtfully exploring personal and historical events, from his time at Howard University to the Civil War, the author poignantly asks and attempts to answer difficult questions that plague modern society.Set in Romania at the height of Ceausescu's reign of terror, this novel tells the story of a group of young students, each of whom has left the impoverished provinces in search of better prospects in the city.
45 out here directly banning news outlets, as predicted.

Reply

Thread

Link

Smh. Looks like CNN, NYT, LA Times, Politico, Buzzfeed. Even the Daily Mail.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

BBC too.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

SMH. I hope that like even Fox News drags Trump for this. This is just wrong, no matter what side of the aisle you're on.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

The fuck

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Well, they've got to make room for InfoWars.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I think they didn't allow outlets in so that the media would cover itself as a story instead of covering something else that might be happening. The media loves talking about itself a little too much during this presidency.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

this truly makes me sick, washington times, breitbart, and one america news network or whatever the fuck should NEVER have press credentials

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

NBC, Fox, CBS, and ABC should have boycotted.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

On one hand, IA. But on the other, lol I want like at least some news outlets who aren't conservative mouthpieces in there to let us know what's really going on. I don't want the narrative completely dictated by Breitbart.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

this

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

at the same time I'm glad someone is inside who can actually tell us for real what it was about

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Especially FOX. When the Obama Administration blocked FOX from interviewing some dude I forgot who, everyone boycotted.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

shit

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

when the Moonies are the most reputable in your group...

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Conservative Washington Times.....?





OH wait, I'm thinking of the Post.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

why tf was the hill banned from the gaggle? they're about as center as you can get

Reply

Thread

Link

Basically anyone who isn't Brietbart or Fox News.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

ABC, NBC, and CBS were allowed

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I have a feeling that Trump doesn't like that they use unflattering pictures of him...or something asinine like that.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

tbh I think CNN and AP were targeted because of the FBI and Priebus story that CNN broke this morning and that the AP picked up.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

They've posted Trump Critical things before though. So yeah... I think the "the White House is in chaos" stories have been from them.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

wait the Hill was banned? Lol I've been commenting on their article re: this for the last hour and I can't anymore. The trolls are too exhausting with the "fake news" chorus

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Goddamnit, how the fuck did the tags get messed up on my post? Did I add too many?

Reply

Thread

Link

nazinnon is repulsive.

Reply

Thread

Link

funny how his name is actually two words that mean "no" put together, right? BAN & NON-- like his own name was trying to tell us to double nope outta that shit.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I'm hoping he's on air today! Sometimes he's off on Fridays :(.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

We need another Woodward & Bernstein ASAP because this shit cannot go on much longer.

Reply

Thread

Link

We already do. They are at WaPo.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Fahrenthold is cooking something up I guarantee it

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Ashley Parker at WaPo is doing great work.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

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



Reply

Thread

Link

I'm so confused by this. Is it a joke? Is it nevertrumpers? Is it legit? soooo confused, these people are like an alien race to me.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I think it was (genuinely, this time) liberal activists lol

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I'm pretty sure somebody was pranking them. The people they gave the flags to didn't know what the Russian flag looks like.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Others are claiming that this was being done intentionally by right-wingers to 'trigger' liberals.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

nnnnnnn

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmao this is amazing!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I really hope Fox will step up and say something. ABC, CNN and others stood with them when the Obama administration called them "not a news organization" and tried to exclude them in 2009



Edited at 2017-02-24 08:29 pm (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

Breit Baier did on Twitter but I haven't seen Fox cover any of this yet on-air (tbf, MSNBC hasn't either).

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

It's all out war now against the press. Let's fucking go! BLESS US THIS WEEKEND OF THE OSCARS WITH LEAKS!

Reply

Thread

Link

Hopefully this works, audio of Spicer gaggle this AM https://t.co/n67mvnPtVN  Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 24, 2017

EDIT: J/K THE LINK IS BROKEN. But I bet they will fix it and re-release shortly...



Edited at 2017-02-24 08:29 pm (UTC) NYT just released the audio from the gaggle:EDIT: J/K THE LINK IS BROKEN. But I bet they will fix it and re-release shortly...

Reply

Thread

Link

New York Times the gift that gives on giving.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmao nyt can't be tamed

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Holy shit C-SPAN wasn't at today's daily briefing. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!

Reply

Thread

Link

who the fuck bans c-span?!!? this is awful.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

the same POS that wants to defund PBS

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

what are the implications of this? they're the only network whatever that I'm not familiar with.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

That's like banning a literal tape recorder lol

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Most of this top secret Spicer audio is him giving journalism ethics lessons to reporters.  Adrian Carrasquillo (@Carrasquillo) February 24, 2017



Reply

Thread

Link

perf gif usage

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

kinda like the 41 year old miller calling lawyers telling them how to do their job regarding the muslim ban.



this administration is a fucking joke.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

the fuck

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

you really can't make this shit up

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Orange Hitler all but confirming that he tried to strongarm the fbi to lie about his connections to russia is something else. I mean I'm as shocked as he is that crooked Comey didnt bow to his master.

Reply

Thread

Link

Every day since January 20 (Really, since November 9), I've been debating whether to stop paying attention to the news completely for anxiety/mental health reasons, or to pay attention to everything going on in the administration to keep up with the fight. It's exhausting.



ONTD helps, the election has made Facebook worse.



Edited at 2017-02-24 08:33 pm (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

its exhausting, but keep paying attention. they would love nothing more than for people to stop caring so much.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yeah plus congressional Republicans are doing all kinds of shit in the background while we're distracted by 45.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I don't even use Facebook.



I know it's exhausting but you have to keep paying attention. Otherwise, you just fall behind and it becomes a downhill spiral trying to catch up to it all. Beyond all of what 45 is doing, gotta keep eyes at the Senate.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

It's fucking exhausting. I can't handle 4-8 years of this.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I don't know if this would work for you, but I like sites that recap everything that went on throughout the day so that I can scan it all at once and get just the basic facts, rather than wading through a million posts on social media or hours of TV coverage and all of the bullshit that goes with it. It's also convenient when I'm not in the mood to deal with politics, because I can easily go back and read the recap later when I'm ready. I'm a fan of What the Fuck Just Happened Today? myself.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link
There are more detailed answers at the SOURCE that are worth reading.

Marie Claire breaks down the following arguments people use to justify giving Casey Affleck a (white) pass and explains why it's not ok."It started with my spontaneous Instagram of Casey Affleck. He was on a magazine cover heralded for giving one of "the year's best performances," so I posted it with the hurried caption "with all due respectbarf." Before long, people were debating Affleck's credibility in the comments, and a friend of mine (note: he's a white, liberal male) chimed in to inform mansplain to me that Affleck's recent headlines, while creepy, described mere "harassment"not "assault."Let's back up for a moment: Casey Affleck was hit with twin lawsuits in 2010both from women who worked on his mockumentary I'm Still Here. They alleged that Affleck discussed his sexual exploits during filming, forced a crew member to flash his genitals to them, attempted to persuade one of them to stay in his hotel room using physical force and intimidation, and crawled into bed with one of them while she was sleeping. She says she awoke to find him in his underwear, his arms around her and his hands touching her body. (Court documents are available both here and here. Affleck vehemently denied the accusations and threatened to countersue; both cases were settled out of court.)"This doesn't sound like simple "harassment," right?"But why would a woman risk her career over "nothing," only to be known as a famous actor's victim?""This reasoningaside from being wildly unfaircompletely ignores the power dynamics of Hollywood, not to mention society in general."To critique the timing of any woman speaking out against an abuser is to assume we know what it feels like to be ready to speak out. The most sinister thing about sexual violence is that it's so ingrained that many victims don't realize it's happening.We hear this refrain a lot: "It could have been worse!" This is the Hollywood equivalent of: "It's just locker room talk."Violence isn't just physical. It can be the intimation of something physical. Even if force isn't inflicted, it is violence to make a professional feel sexually coerced in her place of work."It is sadly par for the course for people to have blind spots about sexual violence, but to ignore it especially while applauding the alleged perpetrator's professional achievements, as is the case with Affleckis unacceptable. If we're ever going to move past this problem, we need to demand accountability. We need to ditch our blind spots and stop giving free passes to powerful (and often white) men."
Has no-one really done a 'getting riggy with it' pun yet? Ok then, here it goes. We've made it to Friday, which means we get a couple of data points to hold our attention at the tail-end of the trading week. First we get the Baker Hughes report, which will once again likely be getting riggy with it (Ta-dah!), as prices in fifty-dollardom continue to incentivize drilling activity. After that we get CFTC data, which will likely show an ongoing overcrowded tilt towards the bulls. But for now, hark, here are five things to consider in oil markets today:

1) The more we look at OPEC loadings, the more that Jack Nicholson movies come to mind. After we mused that last month's loadings were 'As Good As It Gets', our focus this month has switched to 'Something's Gotta Give', given the current status of net long financial positioning (at a record), U.S. oil inventories (at a record) and Singapore's floating storage in recent weeks (at a record).

As for OPEC loadings, it invokes 'The Departed', as that best describes both vessels and OPEC's discipline. As our ClipperData illustrates below, total OPEC export loadings so far this month are now higher than October's reference level, after being 1 million barrels per day below it last month.

Granted, some of this rebound can be attributed to rising exports from exempted cartel members (think: Libya, Nigeria), but this doesn't fully explain the rebound. Venezuelan and Qatari loadings this month are well above both October and December's levels, while Angolan loadings have rebounded also. Related: Combined Compliance For OPEC, Non-OPEC Hits 86%

As we have said from the onset of this production cut deal, Saudi, Kuwait and UAE should lead by example - and they appear to be doing so, although full compliance isn't reflected in lower Saudi loadings. On the aggregate, this leaves us a little higher in terms of OPEC loadings than where we were in October. Hum dee dum. (At least we can count on non-OPEC producers to do their part. Ahem).

(Click to enlarge)

2) Oh wait, my bad. Hark, a WSJ headline reads this week: 'Non-OPEC members falling short of promised production cuts'. We can see in our ClipperData that although Russian export loadings have dropped materially, this is seasonal in nature (think: harsh winters).

Kazakh crude loadings this month are rebounding, well above 1mn bpd - which shouldn't come as a surprise given that the Kashagan field has ramped up to 160,000 bpd. Loadings of Azeri grades are also strong, at an 11-month high so far this month.

3) Mexican export loadings are dropping, down by about half of their production cut commitment of 100,000 bpd. Meanwhile, Omani loadings are reflecting waaaay more than full compliance with their commitment to cut 45,000 bpd. On the aggregate, waterborne loadings from NOPEC are down by 200,000 bpd from October's levels.

(Click to enlarge)

4) Argentina's state-run oil company, YPF, has confirmed it has reached a deal with Shell to develop oil and gas assets in its Vaca Muerta (translation: dead cow) shale field. There is an awful lot of hype about Vaca Muerta, with YPF looking to invest $2.3 billion into the field on its own this year.

The field is roughly the size of Belgium at 30,000 square kilometers, and is considered to hold some of the largest shale reserves in the world. Shell has agreed to invest $300 million. Related: U.S. Oil Rig Count Rises  Up 125 Since OPEC Deal

5) Finally, now for something completely different. As the chart below illustrates, offshore wind is getting cheaper, and especially versus onshore costs. While the current administration appear to have a negative view of wind power, turbines added on the Atlantic coast would not only create jobs, but also help in the effort of getting the U.S. to the goal of being energy independent.

The Obama administration outlined a plan last year to add 86,000 megawatts of wind power by 2050 - the equivalent of 86 nuclear reactors. With Rick Perry as Energy Secretary, wind power may find an ally; as Texas Governor, the state saw record expansion of wind power. Texas continues to lead the nation in its number one producer.

By Matt Smith

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
As the no-holds-barred race to advance fracking technology intensifies, Norways Statoil finds itself on the front line as it sues its former researcher for allegedly stealing trade secrets in the U.S.

Statoil  which is developing its own hydraulic fracturing technologies in the U.S.  is suing a former chief technology officer of one of its units for allegedly absconding with trade secrets and then trying to patent proprietary Statoil technology.

Statoil claims the inventor breached confidentiality agreements, stole intellectual property, and set up a competing business trying to poach the state-run companys clients.

The Norwegian oil and gas major was one of the early foreign buyers into U.S. shale plays, striking a strategic partnership with Chesapeake back in 2008. Since then, the Norwegian oil and gas major has been working on developing its hydraulic fracturing technologies in the U.S.

Last year, Statoils U.S. unit Statoil Gulf Services LLC set up a subsidiary, Reveal Energy Services Inc, to sell hydraulic fracturing technologies invented by its scientists and engineers.

Statoil had appointed Matthew Dawson, a researcher who had developed many of the inventions, as chief technology officer at the new unit, but now Statoils U.S. units are suing Dawson  who had resigned in January  and his wife, Jin Dawson, for allegedly trying to patent proprietary Statoil technology, breaching confidentiality agreements and trade secrets, and setting up a competing business. Related: EIA Reports Minor Build In Crude Inventories, Draw In Gasoline Stocks

Reveal Energy Services Inc and Statoil Gulf Services LLC filed a lawsuit with the Texas Southern District Court on February 13 against Matthew Dawson, Jin Dawson and Axiom Genesis Inc, the company Matthew Dawson had founded.

During his time working for Statoil, Dawson invented or co-invented fracking methods patented by Statoil, including the Image Frac technology at issue in the suit, according to Law360, which quotes the complaint. The Image Frac trademark is owned by Statoil Gulf Services LLC.

According to Statoils claim, while at the U.S. units of the company, Dawson also developed a technology of proppant mapping, which uses surface pressure gauges to decide where to inject particulates into the rock for raising production efficiency. Statoil also claims that Dawson had fed the technology to his wife, who has filed for a patent in her name. Statoils lawsuit also claims that Dawson tried to use the pending patent application as leverage to get a stake in Statoils Reveal Energy Services, and promised to assign the patent application to Statoil if the company agreed to give him an interest in Reveal. But Statoil refused, and Dawson allegedly copied trade secrets to an external hard drive, thus breaching intellectual property agreements, the company says in its lawsuit.



According to Law360, Statoil said in the claim:

Dawson is using the stolen confidential information and trade secrets to fuel his ongoing efforts to compete directly against Statoil/Reveal based on their own technology... Moreover, Dawson is actively meeting with Statoil/Reveals current and potential customers for the purpose of poaching their business and undermining Statoil/Reveals strong position in the marketplace for Dawsons own personal financial gain. Related: This Is Where Oil Majors Expects The Next Big Efficiency Jump

Statoil chief litigation counsel Thomas Gottsegen told Law360: As a general rule, Statoil does not comment on pending litigation. Statoils complaint speaks for itself.

According to intellectual property specialists, technology and inventions developed under company payroll would clearly be company property, but the trade secret case is complicated by the fact that Matthew Dawsons wife Jin Dawson holds a doctorate in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Houston Chronicle reports.

So Statoil has to submit evidence in court that Mrs. Dawson could not have invented and did not invent the technology she is seeking a patent for.

That seems like a difficult thing to prove. It would be different if she were, say, a plumber, Joe Ahmad, a Houston trial lawyer who handles trade secret cases, told the Houston Chronicle.

The lawsuit is only in its initial stage and it will be months, or probably years, before courts rule on the case, or the parties manage to reach an out-of-court settlement.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
As oil prices continue their slow uphill climb and the global energy community reenters exploration mode, the Russian economy has much to gain from new American leadership that seems lenient on oil sector sanctions.

On Tuesday, Representative Charlie Dent from Pennsylvania became the fourth Republican lawmaker to back a bill limiting newly inaugurated President Donald Trumps ability to pull back sanctions against Russia.

The legislation would require Trump to seek congressional approval before reducing or removing the punitive measures that are currently in place to punish Moscow for its support of Syrian President Bashar Al Assads murderous regime, the forced annexation of Crimea and now also for organized cyberattacks against American institutions in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential elections.

In order to modify these imposed sanctions, the President would need to certify to Congress that the government of Russia has stopped the activities that warranted the sanctions in the first place, a press release from the Trump critic states. Even with support from House Democrats, the bill seems unlikely to pass.

In the time since European and American sanctions against Russia began, the target countrys economy has struggled. One month before President Barack Obamas 2014 sanctions against key Russian politicians and companies became active, the ruble held a value of 2.8 cents. Currently, its worth a mere 1.7 cents  a 39 percent drop. Related: Why A Weaker Dollar Wont Boost Oil Prices

These are all choices that the Russian government has made, Obama said in March 2014 on the White House Lawn as he announced the targeted sanctions as punishment for Moscows takeover of Ukrainian Crimea. Because of these choices, the United States is today moving, as we said we would, to impose additional costs on Russia.

But the correlation between the timing of the sanctions and the decline of the Russian economy does not prove causation. The disastrous consequences of the oil price drop, which occurred just a few months after Obamas sanctions kicked in, had a greater effect on the massive petrostate that any other single geopolitical event.

Moscows long-term national budgets projected oil revenues based off of a $100+ Brent barrel, but, at some points in 2016, prices hovered around just $30. Russias biggest oil and gas companies  Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosneft  have been hemorrhaging cash and liquidating billions in assets.

Since November, an international agreement to cut oil production has caused barrel prices to inch upwards. If compliance to the plan negotiated by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) remains high, 2017 may be a year of Russian recovery.

As President Vladimir Putins interest in Libya peaks, Secretary of State Rex Tillersons coy attitude towards trade restrictions forbidding American oil companies from engaging their Russian counterparts has become increasingly relevant.

Trump tapped Tillerson while he served as CEO of ExxonMobil  a company that lost approximately $1 billion when the 2014 sanctions took hold. The American oil major had to pull out of a project in the Arctic Kara Sea it planned to carry out in partnership with its Russian counterpart, Rosneft.

During his Senate confirmation hearings, Tillerson complained that actions against Russia disregarded American interests and insisted that the U.S. maintain open and frank dialogue with Moscow to establish a strong deterrent to future geopolitical shenanigans Putin may currently be considering. Related: Non-OPEC Compliance Rate Rises To 60%

"We always encourage the people who are making those decisions to consider the very broad collateral damage of who are they really harming with sanctions and what are their objectives and whether sanctions are really effective or not," he added, suggesting the current bans would be better lifted.

Exxons Arctic Kara Sea ventures and those similar to it are more important now than they have been over the past three years. The narrow profit margins these projects carry made them commercially unviable during the last 2.5 years of historically low oil prices.

The market recovery does not only mark the return of the Russian economy, but also of Putin and his cronies exploration motivations.

On the sidelines of this months National Prayer Breakfast, Trump told Western-allied former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko that he would not lift sanctions until Russia pulled out of Crimea.

But the recent resignation of national security advisor Michael Flynn  who had been hand delivered a sealed proposal to abandon Russian sanctions  and Tillersons ambivalence on the punitive measures, shows that Trump is surrounded by policy makers that could steer him towards reversing Obamas economic retaliation.

The new presidents recent disavowal of the United States longstanding position in support of the two-state plan regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict shows that, indeed, anything is possible in this new phase of American foreign policy, edited in favor of business interests.

As the leader of the free world, the president and the policies he pushes act as guides to foreign businesses and governments who seek to engage the U.S. in related or unrelated matters. For example, even after Western nations lifted sanctions against the Iranian oil sector in January 2016, then-Secretary of State John Kerry had to issue several statements and meet with foreign leaders personally to assure them that their corporations would not face backlash from the U.S. if they resumed business with Iranian companies.

Though Trumps international unpopularity  especially with Europeans - may stymie the salience of his foreign policy arguments, the American economy is still the largest in the world and, as always, money talks.

The soft power of the United States along with its promise of military protection  which has also become uncertain as Trump pedals doubts regarding the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations financial viability - keeps its allies from getting too close to Russia and most former Soviet republics. Dismantling the status quo would pave the way for a world order tilted to favor Moscow in new oil ventures and spheres of political influence.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, celebrated the lasting reign of Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad, during a speech to parliament on Wednesday, according to INTERFAX.

The collapse of the Syrian state has been prevented, the civil war virtually has been stopped, as well as the attempts to change the legal government [in Syria], directed from abroad, Shoigu said in the statement. [The Russian military] solved the geopolitical tasks, caused substantial damage to the international terrorist organizations in Syria, disrupted their financial support and the system of their recourses supply.

The minister emphasized the role Turkey has played in identifying and fighting against the rebels. Through the fight between government and opposition forces in Aleppo, 40,000 residents of the city were evacuated with the help of Turkish troops, according to the minister.

At the end of January  right around the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump - the Free Syrian Army, one of the main anti-Assad militant groups, took part in peace talks in the Kazakh capital under the oversight of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Just this week, the FSA hoped that the CIAs freeze in financial and arms assistance was only temporary and not a sign that the new administration in Washington D.C. is abandoning its moderate rebel allies on the ground in Syria.



Related: Is The Trump Administration About To Rescue The Russian Economy?

Trump has proposed the creation of safe zones in Syria for refugees fleeing the violence of the six year civil war. Shoigu acknowledged the proposal but said he awaited further clarification.

In principal, we proceed from the fact that such initiatives should take into account the actual situation on the ground in Syria, where many players operate [both] with their own ground forces as well as in the airspace, the minister said. Designating our understanding of what can be discussed, we expect clarification from Washington.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
Saudi Arabia is not ceding ground in its important markets in Asia amid the OPEC cuts, and has regained its position as top oil supplier to China in January, overtaking Russia which was last years biggest supplier to China after having pushed the Saudis from the top spot.

In January, Russia was overtaken not only by Saudi Arabia, but also by Angola, Chinas second biggest oil supplier, according to data by the Chinese General Administration of Customs reported by Reuters on Friday.

Saudi Arabias exports to China jumped by 18.9 percent from a year ago in January to 1.18 million bpd. Angolas exports to China soared 63.5 percent to 1.17 million bpd, winning it second place, whereas the winner of the 2016 exports raceRussiacame in third place, shipping 1.08 million bpd to China in January, up 36.5 percent on the year.

Last year, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as Chinas biggest supplier of crude oil thanks in large part to increased demand from independent refineries, popularly called teapots. The average Russian exports to China in 2016 stood at 1.05 million bpd, up by 25 percent from 2015. Saudi Arabias shipments last year inched up 0.9 percent to 1.02 million bpd.



Related: 4.7 Billion Barrels Just Evaporated In This World Class Oil Play

Now the OPEC cuts have made the Middle Eastern crude grades more expensive and the Brent/Dubai and WTI/Dubai spreads narrower, which is making traders ship more crude oil from West Africa to Asia, and the Russian grade Urals to China, which would not have been a profitable shipment if it were not for the arbitrage window.

Although it is overcomplying with the OPEC deal and has cut exports to some clients -- mostly to regions other than Asia -- Saudi Arabia has been keeping full supplies to Japan and South Korea, and slightly cutting to Southeast Asia. However, for March, Saudi Aramcos major buyers in both Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia are set to receive full-term allocations for Saudi crude oil, S&P Global Platts reported last week, citing traders it had contacted.

By Tsvetana Paraskova Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Keith Ellison and I were then both 31 years old. He was on record as defending Farrakhans anti-Semitism since at least 1989, under the alias of Keith Hakim ... he continued to identify with Farrakhan and work actively for the Nation of Islam for years after [Khalid Abdul] Muhammads [anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic] speech.



In 1995, Ellison himself organized a rally featuring Muhammadstill an outspoken racist and anti-Semiteat the University of Minnesota. Muhammad apparently brought his A-game to the rally, promising that if words were swords, the chests of Jews, gays and whites would be pierced.



In 1997, Ellison defended a member of the Minneapolis Initiative Against Racism who said that Jews are the most racist white people. In his remarks, Ellison also defended Americas most notorious anti-Semite. She is correct about Minister Farrakhan, Ellison insisted. He is not a racist. He is also not an anti-Semite. Minister Farrakhan is a tireless public servant of Black people



In fact, Ellison continued to publicly defend Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam through at least the year 2000 ... But in 2006, while running for Congress, Ellison evidently had second thoughts about the usefulness of the main public affiliation he had maintained from his early 20s into at least his late 30s, when, responding to concerns voiced by the Jewish Community Relations Council, he claimed that his only involvement with NOI was during an 18-month period supporting Farrakhans October 1995 Million Man March; that he was unaware of NOIs anti-Semitism; and that he himself never held nor espoused anti-Semitic views. Most of that is demonstrably false, the remainder begs skepticism.



Today, Ellison still traffics in libels and lies, but about the Jewish Statea form of anti-Semitic propaganda that, unlike calling Jews bloodsuckers or blaming them for the Holocaust, is now socially and politically acceptable on the left. There are rules to this game, of course. Thus, on a trip to Israel in June 2016, Ellison tweeted a photo of a sign, hung on a residential window in Hebron, that labeled Israel being guilty of apartheid. Ellisons comment reinforced the libel.

In 2009, Ellison was one of only two dozen Congressmen to vote present rather than vote for a non-binding resolution recognizing Israels right to defend itself against attacks from, reaffirming the United States strong support for Israel, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. And in 2010, Ellison co-authored a letter to President Obama, calling on him to pressure Israel into opening the border with Gaza. The letter describes the blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip as de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents.

This weekend, the Democrats will elect someone to head the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The DNC chair is the national voice of the Democrats, setting the agenda and otherwise becoming the face of the opposition party. The two front runners are Tom Perez, a former labor secretary and the establishment candidate, and someone named "Keith Ellison." By championing Ellison, the Dems have achieved a long sought-after trifectaa true leftist, who is also and person a color, and a Muslim. Impressive.Wait!That couldn't be the Keith Ellison who was a follower of noted anti-Semite and black Supremacist, Louis Farrakan. Nah, 'cause if it wasEllison, his association with Farrakan, just like Steve Bannon's role as editor of a web site that published a few neo-Nazis, would make Keith Ellison an anti-Semite ... and by association, the entire Democratic party would become ... wait for it ... anti-Semites! After all, that's loosely analogous to the Dem's claims about Bannon, except Bannon's associations are much, much less pronounced.Besides,Ellison was a local leader of a Nation of Islam (NOI) chapter. He himself wrote, "In the NOI, if you're not angry in opposition to some group of people (whites, Jews, so-called 'sellout' blacks), you don't have religion." He defended the NOI against accusations that it was anti-Semitic for years.In a thoroughly researched and detailed article entitled, "Keith Ellison Supported the BDS Movement and Admired Louis Farrakhan. So Why Are Jewish Democrats Supporting Him for Chairman of the DNC?," Jeff Ballabon writes:It just can't be the Keith Ellison Ballabon described, could it? After all,Keith Ellison is a dishonest opportunist who tells us that his direct and irrefutable associations with rabid anti-Semites were all a misunderstanding (on his part) and that he was "unaware" that his associates said bad things. That's a flat-out lie.Keith Ellison,the new left-wing darlingis a bad guy. Democrat Alan Dershowitz writes:Surely Jewish Democrats would protest if it wasKeith Ellison, wouldn't they?Nah, the Dems must have elevated a different Keith Ellison as a serious contender for DNC Chair. Even the most extreme, left-wing Democrats would never allow anyone who had such a close association with an anti-Semitic group and its virulently anti-American, anti-Semitic leaders. Would they?Even if Ellison does not win the election, the harsh reality that he is a front runner tells us plenty about the current state of the Democratic Party. We'll see how the vote goes.
10 ppl killed in a blast in Lahore DHA

LAHORE: At least 10 people were killed and 28 injured in a blast in Defence Housing Authority on Thursday.The blast, which occurred at around 11:18am, destroyed cars and sent panic rippling through the city.



"My God, my God, I saw so many bodies," said Imtiaz Ali, a barber in a Toni&Guy hair salon opposite the blast site in the posh Defence Housing Authority suburb of the city, replete with upscale boutiques and cafes.



The building where the bomb went off was under construction in a market crowded with people, including children, the 34-year-old said.



"When I came out I first just saw smoke and dust... Bikes upturned. Cars destroyed. My own colleague's car windows blown out. My clients' cars blown out. I was close to fainting."



Police and administration officials confirmed it was a bomb attack, as the provincial health minister Khawaja Salman Rafique and rescuers reported the casualty toll.



"Four people died on the spot while another four died of their wounds in the hospital," Rafique said. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.



Just over an hour later, rumours of a second blast in Gulberg, another affluent and popular area, sent ambulances racing to the scene, though authorities later said the reports were false.



Panic also spread on social media as citizens exchanged messages purporting to be warnings from intelligence agencies, including one that falsely stated a general curfew had been ordered in Lahore with shoot-on-sight orders.



The rumours underscored the growing nervousness across the country as a series of assaults shook Pakistanis emboldened by what had been a prolonged lull in violence.



Some of the deceased were identified as CEO Airlink Communications Moazzam Paracha, Javed, Imran, Shabbir, Aslam, Richard Naseer, Habibullah, and Asif. The injured were identified as Afzal, Nasir, Waqar Quershi, Muhammad Mansha, Hafeez, Jamil, Zeeshan, Zia, Asad Sultan, Uma Lala.



Counter Terrorism Department SSP Iqbal said that information would be shared with the media after a comprehensive forensic report and further investigation. Later, the officials of CTD told reporters that the explosion was the result of a gas leak.



However, law enforcement agencies and authorities have not yet confirmed the nature of the explosion. Bomb Disposal Squad officials said it seemed that dynamite might have be used. However, the actual cause of this mysterious blast could only be ascertained after forensic laboratory tests.



People rushed to the scene while searching for their relatives who worked in the affected area but law enforcers barred them. Police and city government officials initially failed to provide information about the death toll and injuries.



However, SP Investigation Cantt Nadeem said that seven people lost their lives in the incident. Emergency has been declared in hospitals and the Lahore General Hospital MS also told the media that five bodies have been received while several people are in a critical condition.



Earlier, Bomb Disposal Squad officials stated that a time bomb was planted inside the building. Around 17 to 22kg of explosives were used. Meanwhile, two suspicious people have been arrested from the scene.



People said usually army and other law enforcers patrol the area in rush hours.



Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the explosion and expressed his grief and sorrow over the loss of lives. He directed health authorities to provide the best medical treatment to the injured and also sought a report from the inspector general and directed him to arrest those involved in the incident. The Chief Minister said, "The heartless beasts who have killed the innocent people will never be able to escape punishment and those who have targeted innocent people deserve no leniency and they will get exemplary punishment."



He said, "All sympathies of the Punjab government are with the bereaved families and we all equally share their grief and shock. The whole nation is united against terrorism and terrorists cannot shatter the determination of the nation through such cowardly acts."
It is not possible to give a short order in such a case: SC 24 February, 2017



Related News Imran Khan distributed loan cheques under Kamyab Jawan Programme PTI govt to face all challenges coming its way: Imran khan More on this View All Tips for Taking Incredible iPhone Travel Photos

Top 2021 Accessories We Know You Will Love

Types of Casino Payment Methods

Best Poker Hands ever played on a Casino

Are Slot Developers Important for players?

Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry

Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: After a prolonged hearing of the Panama Papers leaks case, the Supreme Court finally closed proceedings on Thursday and reserved its ruling, saying it is not possible to give a short order in such a case.



We will take some time to deliberate and ponder over every possible aspect, observed Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who headed the five-judge Supreme Court bench that held 25 near-consecutive hearings over the past month.



However, the judge was quick to add that the courts decision would be such that it would remain relevant and could be cited at least two decades down the road.



We will decide the case strictly in accordance with the law and the Constitution, unfazed by any outside clamouring and unmindful of whether it pleases or displeases someone, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed observed.



On Thursday, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaafs counsel Naeem Bokhari wrapped up his case by concluding that the prime minister had not been truthful and honest when he addressed the nation and parliament and said that the proceeds from the sale of the Jeddah mills contributed towards the purchase of the four London flats.



He maintained that the prime minister had failed to explain why his daughter Maryam Nawaz had been named as the beneficial owner of the four properties by Mossack Fonseca, and that the prime minister never issued any legal notice to the law firm for claiming this.



Besides, he said, the prime minister had also failed to disclose his relationship with the Qatari royal family, even though LNG gas contracts were awarded to them.



But the high note of Thursdays proceedings was the right of audience provided by the bench to Imran Khan and Sirajul Haq, albeit with a warning not to make political speeches.



In his short address, Imran Khan said he had not come to the court because of an animosity towards Nawaz Sharif, but to re-emphasise the concept that the countrys leaders should always be above board, honest, truthful and sagacious.



Even I should be disqualified from holding any public office in the future if I am found guilty in cases pending before the court or the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Mr Khan said.



Sirajul Haq said the court proceedings were a beacon of hope that one day the menace of corruption would be completely weeded out, adding that they had knocked at the apex courts door after all other institutions slammed their doors on them.



Earlier, Justice Khosa told Naeem Bokhari that if the court treated the documents furnished by the petitioner as valid, it would have to afford the same treatment to the defences submissions.



The judge also observed that the court was not going to accept all the documents on face value, adding that 99pc of the 25,000-odd pages submitted to the court deserved to be thrown out.



The difficulty was, Justice Khosa observed, that the meaning of justice had unfortunately changed; it was only justice for a party if the verdict was in their favour. Otherwise, litigants always claimed that the judges were incompetent or had failed to understand the matter or were sold out.



Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan made it clear that the court would analyse the speeches of the prime minister for its judgement, and that the rest of the material before it might not be worth considering.



The judge also questioned the authenticity of the documents furnished before the court, adding that the bench could not dispense with the normal laws of the country because this was not a trial or accountability court.



When asked what judgement one could expect, PMs counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan said that Justice Khosas words should be taken as a guide. The decision of the court should be respected, irrespective of what the outcome, he said.



It is first the duty of every party to obey and abide by the judgement and only thereafter do they have the right to criticise it, the counsel said, adding that any criticism should be polite.



Mr Bokhari was of the view that the Panamagate case was most probably the most important and biggest case in the countrys history  after the 2000 Zafar Ali Shah case which validated the Oct 12, 1999 military takeover.



It was a great learning opportunity to all of us, the counsel said, suggesting all the junior lawyers who had just started their careers should get copies of all the cases cited in the matter and start reading them.



He was also appreciative of the manner the judges showed their patience, adding that the contours of Article 184(3) of the Constitution were flexible and not like the Great Wall of China.



But State Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rehman maintained that the prime minister and his entire family had surrendered before the court and did not hide behind any legal technicalities. Whatever the decision might be, she said, it would be respected.



Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf said the manner in which proceedings were conducted in a cordial atmosphere was unprecedented and the judges demonstrated the utmost patience by providing the fullest opportunity to all parties.



After the hearing, PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry was hopeful that even if the PM was not disqualified, the court might accept certain other demands of his party.



We have raised three main points in the case  the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his son-in-law retired Capt Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar; the reopening of Hudaibiya Paper Mills case; the filing of references in the Panamagate case under the NAB ordinance and the removal of the NAB and FBR chiefs.



The hearings conclusion immediately sparked all kind of rumours and speculation among those present inside the packed-to-capacity, but relatively smaller Courtroom No. 2.



But everybody, even the bench, agreed that the manner in which proceedings were conducted and the way both sides behaved was unprecedented.



All during the hearings, PTI chief Imran Khan and his Secretary General Jahangir Tareen were regular features, as were other leaders such as Ishaq Khakwani or Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq.



The government side was also represented, without fail, by ministers and advisers such as Marriyum Aurengzeb, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, Daniyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry and several others.
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...
A still image from Richard Mosses project Incoming.  Richard Mosse/Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery and Carlier | Gerbauer

In our February Exposures story about Richard Mosses new film and book, Incoming, Mosse spoke about why he decided to use a thermal imaging camera in order to create a body of work about the refugee crisis. During the same interview, Mosse discussed the logistical challenges of using a tool meant for military surveillance to create art.

Mosse calls the camera, which can detect people from nearly 20 miles away, a deeply sinister technology. Its designed for weapons targeting, its designed for extreme border surveillance, for basically keeping people out, and controlling people, and revealing people who shouldnt be there. The way the camera does that is through thermal technology, which can see by night and by day, married to an extremely long lens. Because thermal light doesnt diffuse like visible light, you can see a lot further than the human eye.

Related: RICHARD MOSSE USES MILITARY CAMERA TECH FOR REFUGEE CRISIS FILM AND BOOK

The camera looks like a dustbin and weighs more than 50 pounds. Its a bloody big lump of a thing, he laughs. Its equipped with a Cadmium telluride sensor and a lens made from Germanium. The sensor is kept at minus 50 Kelvin, so it has a little freezer unit in the camera, Mosse explains. When the camera is on it does sound like a freezer.

The manufacturer works with the buyer to create a custom user interface that depends on the users needs, but the basic, out-of-the-box operation happens via a simple interface on a laptop. For two filmmakersMosse and cinematographer Trevor Tweetenworking in the field, that wasnt going to cut it. So Mosse and Tweeten begged the guys who make it in the white suits at the weapons companyto reprogram the interface so it works with an Xbox controller, which they very graciously did for us. (Mosse declined to name the manufacturer, but said they are a company that makes cruise missiles and drones and all kind of very powerful tools of death.)

They used an old-school Steadicam designed for heavy 35mm [cinema] cameras that nobody wants to buy anymore, and connected a media recorder to capture Apple ProRes imagery. It took us about a year to evolve the workflow.

Mosse first learned about the camera in 2014 from wildlife cinematographer Sophie Darlington, who had recently used it on a shoot, and she made introductions to the manufacturer.

Traveling with the camera is no picnic. It is subject to international arms regulations, which means that transporting the camera involved embassies and lawyers. Say I was taking it to Mali, Mosse explains. He would have to check with the Malian embassy and assure them youre not going there and selling it, youre going to take it there for three weeks and come back. Getting clearance would take a little while usually, and I would have to work with a team of export lawyers, Mosse says. The whole process is really convoluted and annoying and expensive.

The camera also, predictably, draws a bit of attention. Mosse recalls one instance when he and Tweeten were filming in southern Turkey near the town of Tilis. They were capturing a battle inside Syria from across the border, which Mosse says involved ISIS, the Syrian Arab Army and American A-10 aircraft. We were amazed that we could see all of this detail, Mosse recalls. Thats really what the camera is designed for is to reveal the battlefield in a very articulate way. We could actually pick out ISIS positions in the village and we could see where certain mortar fire was being fired off from and where they were targeting.

Though they captured pretty unique footage, they also had to pack up pretty quick because they drew the attention of Free Syrian Army soldiers. They cross that border very easily so all of a sudden we were being askedwhether they could buy the camera, does it work at night? So we packed up and got the hell out.

For more about Mosses project, see our article here. His three-channel film installation, with a score by composer Ben Frost, is currently showing at Londons Barbican Centre Curve Gallery through April 23. A corresponding book is now available from MACK.
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.
The regions economic development strategy for the past two decades has focused on taking advantage of increased transcontinental trade as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Economic development officials promoted communities along the Northway and the Canadian Pacific rail line as ideal locations for manufacturing and warehouse operations along a north-south shipping route.

President Donald Trumps intention to renegotiate NAFTA, the trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico that went into effect in 1994, has brought uncertainty in that strategy.

Certainly over the last several months, those of us who understand the crucial importance of the U.S.-Canadian economic partnership have had very good reason to be concerned on a bipartisan basis about this notion of tearing up NAFTA, said Garry Douglas, president and chief executive officer of the Plattsburgh/North Country Chamber of Commerce and a leader of a regional coalition of leaders from Plattsburgh to Albany that focuses on trade and transportation issues.

Douglas said regional business leaders found reason for relief when Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met in Washington earlier this month and pledged to continue the gold standard of cordial trade relations between the two nations.

Trump and Trudeau, in a joint statement, said they would continue work on initiatives regional business leaders have advocated for, such as customs pre-clearance for Amtrak passengers entering the United States from Canada, sharing of border crossing documentation and continuing adoption of the Beyond the Border agreement to streamline cross-border tourism and trade.

If renegotiation of NAFTA, in fact, is focused primarily on Mexico, it would have little impact locally, Douglas said.

Its not our issue. It never has been, Douglas said, referring to trade with Mexico. Our only issue in that regard is to make clear the differences between the two and to remind folks that the U.S.-Canadian discussion needs to be a bilateral one and not a trilateral one.

Flomatic Corp. in Glens Falls, a global exporter of valves, does virtually no exporting to Mexico, said Bo Andersson, the companys president.

Our export to Mexico is very small. However, Canada we do quite a bit, he said.

Lumber and wood product exports from New York are primarily to Asia, western Europe and Canada, said John Bartow, executive director of Empire State Forest Products Association.

Its (Mexico) just not that big of a market. Im not going to say there isnt any market there, because Im sure there is, he said.
WHITEHALL  The father of a woman who is serving a prison term for a fatal drunken driving crash was found not guilty Thursday of two charges that accused him of illegally allowing her to use the vehicle she drove.

Melvin Loomis, 65, of Granville, was acquitted of a misdemeanor and non-criminal violation after a one-day trial in Whitehall Village Court. The charges accused him of allowing Kristina S. Loomis to drive without a license and drive a Cadillac sedan he owned without an ignition interlock device when she slammed into another vehicle on Route 22 in Granville on May 26, 2015.

The collision killed 47-year-old Granville resident Elizabeth Gibson. Kristina Loomis pleaded guilty to first-degree vehicular manslaughter and is serving a 4- to 12-year prison sentence.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office concluded that Melvin Loomis had allowed his daughter to drive the Cadillac sedan, knowing she did not have a license and was required to use an ignition interlock device because of prior driving while intoxicated convictions.

But at trial, his defense lawyer, John Winn, said the jury seated before Justice Julie Eagan deliberated about a half-hour before finding that Mr. Loomis was not guilty.

Among the witnesses called by the Washington County District Attorneys Office was Kristina Loomis, who told the jury her father did not let her drive the car.

She testified her father was asleep and she searched around for the keys and left and later had the accident, Winn said.

The car was not required to have an ignition interlock device because Kristina Loomis was not allowed to drive it, and Mr. Loomis bought it before his daughters license was suspended, Winn said.

Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said a pre-trial ruling by Eagan that barred testimony from a police officer who had ticketed Loomis for driving the Cadillac without a license five months earlier because it was too prejudicial really limited what the jury heard.

He said his office believed the case was worth pursuing, even with the acquittal.

People need to realize that allowing some to drive when you know they do not have a license is a crime, Jordan said.

Lawyers tried to hold a trial in the case twice last year, but were unable to seat a jury because of issues related to how many people showed up after being summoned and how many in the Whitehall area had connections to law enforcement or local correctional facility staff.

So on Thursday, a six-person jury was seated in Whitehall consisting of people from the town of Kingsbury to hear charges of facilitating aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and circumventing an ignition interlock device.

Gibson, the mother of three daughters, was on her way home from work when she was killed.

Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Washington County on Jan. 30, seeking unspecified damages and naming both Loomises as defendants.
CHESTER  A New Jersey man was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs after he hit a tow truck on Route 9 and drove off, police said.

No injuries were reported in the 7:27 p.m. collision on Route 9.

Police said Roger Peet of Pottersville was driving south when a small car crossed into his lane and hit the rear of the 2015 Dodge tow truck he was operating.

The car fled the scene, and Warren County sheriff's officers located a damaged vehicle that matched its description a short time later in a parking lot at Word of Life Bible Institute, police said.

The driver was found to have been Joseph A. Masi, 23, of Hazlet, New Jersey, who police determined was impaired and illegally possessed three unidentified "controlled substances," according to the Sheriff's Office.

He was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, all misdemeanors, and was sent to Warren County Jail pending arraignment.

Sheriff's patrol officers Jeremy Coon and Michael Lavaille handled the case.
Political analysts watched closely this past week when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump met in Washington to discuss key issues like the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement, security along the border, terrorism, and the travel band imposed on refugees from seven mostly-Muslim countries.

Many observers including Trumps senior officials were anxious over how the president would welcome Canadas young leader. After all, during tumultuous campaign for the presidency in 2016, Trump had lashed out at NAFTA, calling it a one-sided deal that resulted in massive job losses for the U.S. in addition to numerous plant closings.

NAFTA, a pact signed by the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 1994, eliminated many tariffs between those countries, presumably a move that would bolster trading among those same partners. On the negative side, Trump emphasized the effect it had on many industries in this country.

In Trumps eyes, Mexico poses the biggest problem as it continues to grow its market share in the automotive sector. By 2020, nearly 25 percent of all North American vehicle production will be in Mexico, compared with only 10 percent in Canada and 65 percent in the U.S. In 2015, Mexico was exporting 1.9 million vehicles to the U.S., surpassing Canada as the largest exporter to the U.S.

Since he assumed duties as the prime minister, Trudeau has contended that he is not worried by the little spikes of protectionism during elections. I think we have to understand that trade is ultimately good, not just for our countries, but for our businesses and our workers. Im not worried that were going to suddenly reopen NAFTA or other trade deals. The challenge is that once you re-open it a little bit, they all tend to unravel, and its too important for both of our economies to have a strong relationship.

Perhaps because he didnt want to offend the prime minister during their joint news conference in the White House, Trump stressed that as far as changes in the pact that he would seek, he merely expects to tweak certain sections that could impact U.S.-Canada relations. The president didnt provide specifics, leaving a number of reporters unsure what he meant by tweaking. One Washington-based reporter quipped, The trouble is a little tweak in America can be a powerful thump in Canada.

For some in the press corps, that revived words of Prime Minister Pierre Eliott Trudeau (Justins father) to the Washington Press Club in 1969. On the subject of U.S.-Canada relations, he said: Living next to (them) is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even tempered is the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.

Incidentally, several leading journalists in Canada noted that the U.S. media appeared distracted the day that Trudeau spoke at the White House. It was obvious the reporters were more interested in covering Michael T. Flynn, Trumps embattled national security adviser, who resigned hours later over for failing to fully disclose his recent conversations with Russian officials.

Still, Trudeau left an impression that he was sincere about establishing strong ties with the U.S. And thats encouraging.




















When might North Korea develop missiles capable of striking the United States? Today .









Four years ago in December 2012, when North Korea orbited its KMS-3 satellite over the U.S., I warned they could conduct an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack by satellite.









An EMP that blacks out the national electric grid would be a far greater catastrophe than blasting a city. A North Korean 10-kiloton warhead blasting a city might cause about 200,000 casualties.









However, the same warhead making a high-altitude EMP attack  though there would be no blast, thermal or fallout effects on the ground  could knock out the electric grid and other life-sustaining critical infrastructures for more than a year, killing 90 percent of the population through starvation .





Why blast a city when EMP attack can destroy the whole nation? North Korea wants to be able to do both. They can launch an EMP attack already.





Another advantage of EMP attack by satellite is anonymity, to escape retaliation, whereas an intercontinental ballistic missile destroying a city would have North Koreas fingerprints all over it.





North Koreas KMS-3 satellite is in low-Earth orbit, along with hundreds of other satellites. KMS-3s south polar trajectory approaches the United States from the south, where there are no ballistic missile early warning radars or national missile defenses. The U.S. is blind and defenseless from that direction.





An EMP attack would damage radars, satellites, ground stations and other national technical means necessary to ascertain who attacked. A super-EMP weapon could paralyze even hardened command, control, communications and intelligence assets and strategic forces, rendering them unable to retaliate, even if the aggressor could be identified.





In 2004, Moscows top EMP experts warned the Congressional EMP Commission that the design for their super-EMP warhead accidentally leaked to North Korea ; that Russian, Chinese and Pakistani scientists had been recruited by Pyongyang and were helping its nuclear and missile programs; and that North Korea could develop a super-EMP warhead in a few years.









In 2006, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test. It was dismissed by the press as failed because of the very low-yield  only one to three kilotons. But it looked to the EMP Commission like a super-EMP weapon because such a weapon would have very low yield, being designed to produce gamma rays (which create the EMP shock wave), not a big explosion. Most of North Koreas nuclear tests have been low-yield devices.









One simple design for a super-EMP warhead would resemble an Enhanced Radiation Weapon (ERW), or neutron weapon, which produces a lot of gamma rays in addition to neutrons , like the ERW artillery shell for the 155 mm howitzer, designed during the 1950s and deployed by the U.S. during the 1980s. Such a weapon would have very low-yield, one to five kilotons, and weigh less than 100 pounds  small enough to fit on North Koreas KMS-3 satellite.





North Korea launched another suspicious satellite, the KMS-4, on the same south polar trajectory as the KMS-3, on Feb. 7, 2016. So now there are two North Korean satellites orbiting over the United States on trajectories consistent with a surprise EMP attack  perhaps another idea borrowed from the Russians. Moscow during the Cold War had a secret weapon, the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System, to deliver a surprise EMP attack by satellite.









Senior national security experts from the Reagan and Clinton administrations have warned about the potential EMP threat from North Koreas satellites  including a former director of central intelligence, chairman of the National Intelligence Council, White House science adviser and director of the Strategic Defense Initiative. South Korean military intelligence reportedly warned that Russians are in North Korea helping develop super-EMP weapons. In 2013 a military commentator for the Peoples Republic of China stated North Korea has super-EMP warheads.





EMP threats from satellites are ignored by the liberal media, which prefer to insist North Korea cannot yet blast a U.S. city with an ICBM.





ames Oberg, a distinguished rocket scientist who visited North Koreas satellite launch facility , warns in this recent Space Review article :







the regime . The most frightening aspect, Ive come to realize, is that exactly such a scale of insanity is now evident in the rest of their space program. That doomsday scenario, it now seems, has become plausible enough to compel the United States to take active measures to insure that no North Korean satellite, unless thoroughly inspected before launch, be allowed to reach orbit and ever overfly the United States. There have been fears expressed that North Korea might use a satellite to carry a small nuclear warhead into orbit and then detonate it over the United States for an EMP strike. These concerns seem extreme and require an astronomical scale of irrationality on the part of. The most frightening aspect, Ive come to realize, is that exactly such a scale of insanity is now evident in the rest of their space program. That doomsday scenario, it now seems, has become plausible enough to compel the United States to take active measures to insure that no North Korean satellite, unless thoroughly inspected before launch, be allowed to reach orbit and ever overfly the United States.





































US officials are reporting that China has almost completed constructing two dozen buildings on its artificial islands in the South China Sea. The structures, according to reports, are intended to contain long-range surface-to-air missiles. Washington has vocally denounced Chinas island building, calling it illegal, and in January Rex Tillerson, then-nominee for Secretary of State, described the US position on Beijing by saying, "Were going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed."

China lays claim to almost all of the South China Seas islands and maritime; although Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, and Taiwan have claims as well. Beijing balked at a landmark July 2016 decision by an international tribunal in The Hague declaring that China had no historic right to the islands and had caused irreparable harm to the marine environment.





The concrete structures feature retractable roofs, and are found in the Spratly Island chain on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief reefs. American officials believe that the military-length airstrips already present on the islands signal a military escalation.





One unnamed official said, "It is not like the Chinese to build anything in the South China Sea just to build it, and these structures resemble others that house SAM [surface-to-air missile] batteries, so the logical conclusion is thats what they are for."

































On Thursday, Chinese defense officials announced that they are well aware of the recent deployment of the US Navys nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson, to patrol the South China Sea in routine operations, a move one Beijing official said that China opposes.

The deployment of the USS Carl Vinson spurred Chinese officials to denounce the relevant countries involved in the carriers activities. Geng Shuang said Tuesday, we oppose relevant countries threatening and undermining the sovereignty and security of coastal states under the pretext of such freedom.









In an appearance before the US Senate, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson took a hawkish stance on the Spratly islands, arguing that China had behaved illegally in the region. Tillerson also threatened to prevent Chinese ships from accessing the disputed South, comments that spurred backlash from Beijing officials. A Global Times op-ed called the Secretary of States comments unprofessional, explicating that US attempts to blockade Chinese access through the South China Sea would lead to a  military clash .





Meanwhile, Chinese lawmakers have announced revisions to a 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law that would give Chinese officials the authority to ban ships from entering what China considers to be its territorial waters. Under the proposed draft, non-Chinese military ships would be required to apply for pilotage if they desired to transit the South China Sea and ships that tried to avoid applying for a pilots license would be slapped with a fine between 300-500 yuan ($43,706-72,844). The draft is slated to become law in 2020, but will likely be met with resistance by the US, Sputnik reported





































It seems like yesterday that ISIS appeared to be an unstoppable juggernaut. Just a few years ago, the terror organization swept through city after city in Syria and Iraq, taking slaves and scattering armies along the way. Now it appears that ISIS dream of an Islamic caliphate is finally being brushed into the ash heap of history where it belongs. According to a recent study by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization, ISIS profits have plummeted by 55% since the peak of their power in 2014. Their profits, which mainly include oil revenues, taxes, and fines (but also include revenue from looting, selling antiquities, kidnapping, slavery, and donations) has fallen from $1.9 billion per year to $870 million. That is because ISIS has lost 62% of its territory in Iraq, and 30% of its territory in Syria since 2014. According to the study, they havent been able to secure any new streams of income. Furthermore, There are good reasons to believe that Islamic State revenues will further decline. In particular, capturing Mosul, the Caliphates commercial capital, will have a significant detrimental effect on Islamic State finances.








































































































Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:

Home Regional News East
ABC News(NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.)  In his primetime speech to conservatives at the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday night, Vice President Mike Pence spoke out against the backlash Republicans are seeing in districts across the country, dismissing the "best efforts of liberal activists," while promising an orderly transition from Obamacare to a GOP replacement.



"Despite the best efforts of liberal activists around the country, the American people know better," Pence told CPAC attendees at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland.



Pledging an "orderly transition," he added, "America's Obamacare nightmare is about to end."



The vice president, appearing after President Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon torched the media in a rare public appearance, also criticized the media and "elites" for missing Trump's victory.



"They're still trying to dismiss him," he said.



Pence also praised Trump's first month in office, calling his cabinet secretaries the "A-team" and praising Trump's nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.



"You have elected a man for president who never quits, and never backs down. He is a fighter, he is a winner," he said.



Pence thanked the crowd for their support and urged them to remain active.

"Our fight didn't end on November the 8th ... the fight goes on," Pence said. "This, my friends, is our time."

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Thanks for signing up for our daily insight on the African economy. We bring you daily editor picks from the best Business Insider news content so you can stay updated on the latest topics and conversations on the African market, leaders, careers and lifestyle. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
The White House Correspondents' Association protested the decision.

"The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House," the association said in a statement.

"We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff."

The Associated Press and Time magazine boycotted Friday's briefing because the other outlets were not let in.

Both The New York Times and CNN had reported this week that the Trump administration had tried to seek help from the FBI in discrediting media reports about Trump aides' ties to Russia.

The Times' Washington bureau chief told Erik Wemple of The Washington Post that The Times' "most experienced" White House reporters had "never seen anything like this."

Spicer later told reporters who were allowed to attend the briefing that he thought the administration had "shown an abundance of accessibility." He also said that there was nothing out of the ordinary about the no-camera briefing, according to a White House pool report.

Also blocked were the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, and most foreign press, according to the news outlet Axios.
"What you guys have done is indefensible and inaccurate," the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, told reporters Friday, according to a pool report.

CNN on Thursday evening reported that the White House had reached out to the FBI, which has been investigating the Trump team's Russia connections, to ask for help in discrediting reports in The New York Times and CNN from earlier this month.

CNN, which said the FBI turned down the request, reported that such communications could violate rules about contacts between the White House and the FBI regarding ongoing investigations.

In a background briefing with reporters Friday, senior White House officials offered pushback to the latest CNN story, according to a pool report detailing the briefing. The officials did not dispute that a conversation between the White House and the FBI had taken place but offered their own characterization of how it proceeded and suggested it did not violate such rules.

The day after The New York Times first reported that Trump's inner circle was in contact with Russian officials before the election, the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, spoke with an FBI assistant director, Andrew McCabe, about the story after a White House meeting, the officials said.

McCabe told Priebus he wanted him to know the Times story was "bulls---," according to the officials. Priebus said he was getting "crushed" on the story and asked what they could do about it. McCabe said he'd get back to him, according to the officials.

Spicer argued to reporters that asking what could be done when the FBI says a story is incorrect was a natural reaction, according to the pool report. If Priebus had just walked away, "How insane would that be?" Spicer said, according to the pool report.

Later, the officials said, McCabe called Priebus and said the FBI would "love to help" but couldn't say anything publicly. McCabe said they couldn't make statements on every story, White House officials said Friday. Priebus asked whether he could cite "senior intelligence officials" as saying there was "nothing to" the Times story and McCabe gave his permission, the administration officials said.

FBI Director James Comey called Priebus and reiterated McCabe's sentiments, the officials said.

Priebus had told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the "top levels of the intelligence community" assured him the Times story was "not only inaccurate" but"grossly overstated" and "wrong."

For his part, Trump on Friday railed against what he called the FBI's inability to stop "leakers."

"The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time," Trump tweeted. "They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself."
The Public Relations Manager of the Department Twum Ampofo in an interview with Accra-based Starr FM said it is time for the government to think of affordable stores in the markets since it has been discussing affordable housing.

We talk of putting up properties; for instance as they are talking about putting up affordable houses they can also put up stores. So that if anything at all, the pressure of paying rent advance can be regularised. So we have to think of affordable stores being built by the State.

Ampofo however, argued that the rent has become expensive because many shop owners are increasing their rents due to the influx of foreigners in the retail business.

There is no legislation on shop renting in Ghana. This means shop owners can take advantage of the situation to oppress their tenants.
In an interview with Accra-based Joy FM, Ofori-Atta said the promises made by President Nana Akufo-Addo during his State of the Nation Address will be implemented.

He said that the 2017 budget will also improve the business environment for more investors.

"We would create something that would create relief and ensure that our education and nurses are taken care of," he said.

Many have argued that the NPP government may struggle to implement its manifesto promises because of the rising public debt of GHC122 billion and a double-digit budget deficit the new administration inherited.

But Ofori-Atta said that Ghanaians would be "impressed with the kind of solutions" that "government may have found within the short time."

"At least there would be a commitment to continue, transparency, and hard work" to make sure the nation grows to be better.

President Akufo-Addo says the government would fund the cost of public senior high schools (SHS) for all those who qualify for entry from the 2017/2018 academic year onwards.

He explained that by free SHS there will be no admission fees, no library fees, no science centre fees, no computer lab fees, no examination fees and no utility fees.
Chief executive Bill Winters described the results as "good progress", but said the figures were still not up to scratch.

"Our financial returns are not yet where they need to be and do not reflect the Group's earnings potential.

"Having worked hard to secure our foundations we are now focused on realising that potential," said Winters, who has been in the job for a year-and-a-half.

He replaced former CEO Peter Sands after shareholder calls for a boardroom cull following profit warnings.

Pre-tax profits were back in the black at $409 million, compared to the previous year's loss of $1.52 billion, the London-based company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The bank's underlying loan impairment was brought down by 40 percent at $2.382 billion, compared to the year before.

But operating profit, which excludes one-time items, was at $1.09 billion, missing the average of 13 analysts' estimates polled by Bloomberg, who had predicted $1.42 billion.

The company also still saw a net loss of $247 million, an improvement from last year's net loss of $2.19 billion.

The bank's London shares fell 4.6 percent in Friday morning trade on the London Stock Exchange after the results were published.

Its 2015 results saw its first annual loss since 1989, after it battled global financial turmoil that sent stocks and commodities plunging.

Standard Chartered in late 2015 announced it was re-focusing on "affluent retail clients" rather than corporate and institutional banking businesses and would exit or restructure $100 billion of assets.

It also said in 2015 it would cut 15,000 jobs around the world.

Winters, in Friday's statement, also vowed to improve conduct at the bank, which has faced multiple investigations.

"We have sharpened our focus on all aspects of conduct, not simply on combating financial crime," Winters said.

Hong Kong's stock market regulator filed a lawsuit against the bank over "market misconduct" for a 2009 initial public offering on the city's bourse in January.

In August 2014, the bank was hit by US regulators with a $300 million fine and restrictions on its dollar-clearing business for failing to detect possible money-laundering.
Bollore's name was officially on the list of those being investigated for alleged market manipulation, prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale told AFP.

Vivendi initially acquired a three-percent stake in Mediaset on December 12 and announced it aimed to increase it to around 20 percent, a move which Mediaset's owners, the family of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, rejected as "hostile".

The Berlusconi family, via its holding company Fininvest, asked justice officials to investigate possible market manipulation.

They accuse Vivendi of driving Mediaset's share price down by pulling out of a deal in July to buy the Italian broadcaster's pay-television unit Mediaset Premium.

Vivendi said it had second thoughts about the deal after Premium recorded losses in both the first and second quarters, offering instead to take a 20-percent stake in Premium and a 15-percent stake in Mediaset.

Vivendi has since built up a stake of nearly 30 percent in Mediaset with the aim of forcing the Berlusconi family into an alliance.
The youngsters, who are part of a five-man gang are now facing a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, stealing and murder, the Daily Post reports.

Chinalu Nwadione, the police prosecutor on the case disclosed that the accused committed the offence on Sunday, December 18, 2016.

The group, Tosin Olabisi, 19; Jimoh Obrahim, 19; Rasheed Odumade, 19; Sheriff Agbomeji, 20; and Rasaki Ayinde, 40, reportedly dispossessed the victim of the sum of his phone valued at N37, 250 before shooting him in the forehead.

These offences contravened Sections 222, 233 and 297 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Her comments come on the back of claims by some persons within the traditional and religious circles that they have found a cure for the disease.

READ ALSO: Ghanaian doctor says he can use 5 days to cure deadly disease

But Dr El-Adas said claims by such health professionals could not be substantiated in the research institutions in the country, adding, We are yet to find any cure for the disease.

Dr. El-Adas made this known while responding to a question during the interactive session of the Western Regional Dissemination of the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan 2016-2020 in Takoradi.

She explained that scientists are currently finding it difficult to produce a vaccine or a complete cure for the disease because the HIV and AIDS virus was a retrovirus, which changed form at any given time.

Over the years, several people, including some health professionals have claimed to have found a cure for HIV/AIDS, a disease which can be passed on to another person through several means such as sexual intercourse and blood transfusion.

However, many of the treatments have subsequently turned out to be untrue and misleading.

Dr. Roland Sowah, Western Regional HIV /AIDS Coordinator, mentioned that numerous attempts to follow up on such herbalists who claimed to have a cure for the epidemic at Noguchi, Mampong and other research facilities had not been successful.
From Lil Wins favourite I dont think far phrase to Bismark the Jokes hysterical comic scenes, the local movie industry has given Ghanaians a great laughter.

We normally enjoy local movies during the weekend due to heavy weekly schedules. On this note, we bring you top 10 Ghanaian movies to enjoy this weekend.

PS: LIST IS IN NO ORDER.

1. Cheaters

In Cheaters Richie (Omar Sharif Captan) was a bachelor, cheats on his girlfriends. Raj (Adjetey Annan) suspecting his wife Jami (Jackie Appiah) sets her up. Roger (Henry Adofo Aseidu), career focused, with his secretary cheats on his wife. Clad (Elikem Kumodzi) and Clare (Okawa Shazway) were victims of cheaters so they went out of their way to become proud cheaters.

Then we have the big fool Allotey (Bismark Nii Odoi) who cheats on no one, just admiring women and talking trash with humour. Deducing from the movie you will find cheaters in these categories, Godly cheaters, smart cheaters, set-up cheaters, victim cheaters and confident cheaters.

2. John 3:16

In the heat of a political year (an election year, to be precise), a greedy influential political figure who wants power by hook or crook decides to sacrifice his brothers daughter for power, fame and money.

But before the operation could be successful, he first needs to obliterate a snag  which is his brother. The operation didnt go through as expected but he has another way.

The Isaiah K. Appiah-directed film features Akrobeto, Bishop Bernard Nyarko, Apostle John Prah, Christiana Awuni, Akyere Bruwaa, and many other Kumawood stars.

3. Potomanto

An angry ex-police officer's mission to catch cheating women turns fatal when he stumbles into a diabolical plot of 'illegal organ harvesting' and the young hustlers who are lured into making deadly sacrifices for a chance abroad.

The drama film directed Shirley Frimpong-Manso and Dickson Dzakpasu stars Elorm Adablah, Edem Agbenyame, Frank Aidam, and among other top stars.

READ MORE:

4. Ghana Must Go

The film tells a story of two lovers of different countries on origin, and the challenges they faced especially from parents after disclosing their intention of getting married.

Ghana Must Go stars Yvonne Okoro, Ik Ogbonna, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Helen Paul, Ada Ameh and Nkem Owoh.

5. After All Night

Tracy (Jackie Appiah)was raped on that faithful night while her mum was shot dead by arm robbers she has been going through emotional trauma since after the incident not only that when she noticed she was pregnant for the guy that raped her the whole world seems to have crumbled around on her.

The movie stars Omar Sherif Captain, Kofi Ajorlolo, Jackie Appiah, among others.

6. Last Night

"Last Night", is an emotional psychological thriller about a radio presenter called Bright Mensah. Hes a dodgy guy who also deals in drugs but uses his radio programme show Truth And Consequence as a front. Hes not who he really claims to be. After his normal radio session, he was on his way home when one of his numerous girlfriends called him to pass over for a quickie.

His pregnant wife got kidnapped, the same time his girlfriend knocks someone. With the girl in police custody, the mum gets a heart seizure same time.

After all these frustrations and not knowing what to do, he was involved in an accident the next thing hes buried alive in a casket.

"Last Night" is a one-cast starring Prince David Osei.

7. Single and Married

The film "centres on the drama, the intrigue and the dirty little secrets of three male friends, their sex lives, being single or married, and all the in-betweens".

It stars Yvonne Nelson, Chris Attoh, Nadia Buari, Tana Adelana, Kofi Adjorlolo, Eddie Watson and Jane 'Efya' Awindor.

8. House of Gold

The film narrates the story of a business mogul and a socialite, Dan Ansah Williams who is dying of cancer and has been told that he has six weeks left to live. He makes a decision with the help of his attorney to call all his children back home, most of whom were born out of wedlock and various illicit affairs. The re-union spins a lot of surprises as each child returns with an agenda, which gives hilarious results.

It stars Majid Michel, Yvonne Nelson, Omawumi Megbele, Ice Prince Zamani, Eddie Watson and Francis Odega.

9. Somewhere In Africa

In a town where bloodthirsty militant subject making life simply unbearable, it is difficult to know when you will wake up to a brilliant morning sunshine which promises a day of solemnity.

In the wake of the seeming normalcy of a capricious life, a new regime is established in Kimbala town: a superlative regime of Yusuf Mombasa.

Thirstier and fiercer than his predecessors, the people of Kimbala are dumb by his ruthlessness.

The strongest of men are hit down to nothing more than a murmur. The influential are coiled in their shells in total stillness and the civilians hide behind hypocritical facet of patriotism. Who will dare stop Mombasa?

The movie stars Majid Michel, Martha Ankomah, Eddie Nartey, Roselyn Ngissah , Kofi Adjorlolo and the veteran Actor David Dontoh.

10. The Cursed Ones

The film tells the story of a disillusioned reporter and an idealistic young pastor, who fight to free a girl accused of witchcraft from the clutches of a system of corruption and superstition in the heart of West Africa.

It stars Oris Erhuero, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Ama K. Abebrese, Joseph Otsiman, Ophelia Dzidzornu, Fred Amugi, David Dontoh and Rama Brew.
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!
Cecilia Anim after receiving the award told Accra-based Citi FM she was highly honoured to receive the award.

I feel greatly honoured and humbled, and I feel that this honour that I received was for all nurses everywhere giving care to patients and making a difference in peoples lives.

It is an honour for everybody because I couldnt have gotten there on my own. I had the support of my family, especially my husband, my children, my friends, my colleagues at work, who in their own ways contributed. Above all to God be the glory.

Cecilia Anim who was recognised as one of the prominent minority names said professionalism in nursing was key in caregiving. She urged nurses worldwide to make sure the patient is safe in the care you are delivering and also respected.

The 2017 honours were touted as most diverse ever in the almost 100-year history of the Order of the British Empire.

The New Year Honours were awarded as part of UKs New Year celebrations at the start of January 2017.

Cecilia Anim is the first black president of the Royal College of Nurses. She has been occupying the position since 2014. Prior to that, she was elected as deputy president of the same college in 2010. She is currently based in Marylebone.

She began her education at the St Anns Girls School before heading for Midwifery training at the Komfo Anokye Hospital, Kumasi, where she worked before moving to the UK and qualified as a nurse in 1977.

Cecilia Anim works as a clinical nurse specialist in sexual and reproductive health at the Margaret Pyke Centre in London and specialises in family planning and other aspects of womens health.
According to him, Asiedu Nketia is on borrowed time and should be ready to be jailed in the coming months.

His comment comes at the back of Asiedu Nketia who threatened the MP that the NDC arrest and prosecute the former deputy Energy Minister for his role in the sale of Ghanas drill ship.

According to him, K.T Hammond is hiding behind his parliamentary immunity and so his defeat will pave way for the NDC government to arrest and prosecute him.

A government white paper on a report presented by the judgment debt commission directed the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to get Mr. Hammond to account for the difference of $900,000 which went untraced following the sale of the drill ship for $24 million to defray a $19.5 million debt owed Societe General bank.

The latter has since sued government to prevent EOCOs investigations.

But speaking to Accra-based Starr FM, K.T Hammond said the General Secretary of the NDC is on borrowed time and will have his time in court soon.
He said the Ford Expedition was part of the state vehicles which was left for the government to be used for official duties.

READ MORE: Full CHRAJ report on bribery allegation against Mahama

In an interview on South Africa-based Power FM on Thursday, February 23, 2017, Mahama said "It went to the Commission of Human Rights and Administration Justice (CHRAJ) and a determination was given. That vehicle is still in the pool of government and even as I handed over to my predecessor [Nana Akufo-Addo], that vehicle is in the service of the Government of Ghana.

"I was never under any illusion that the vehicle was given to me as a gift personally, and so I never ever considered it as a personal gift. The vehicle continued to serve the government under my administration and has been left to the new government," he said.

Background

Some sections of Ghanaians expressed anger over reports that President Mahama was given a brand new Ford Expedition in 2012 by a Burkinabe contractor, Djibril Kanazoe who won the bid to construct the $650,000 Ghana Embassy Wall in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou.

Former President John Mahama subsequently rubbished corruption allegations against him, saying such claims are baseless.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Henry Agbeve, the Kumasi Central Divisional Crime Officer told the Ghana News Agency that the suspects who were arrested have undergone thorough screening.

READ ALSO: 20 suspects rounded up

He said 22 were, however, found not to have any hand in the crime.

The other two persons are still being held while the investigation continues, DSP Agbeve added.

However, one man whose face showed vividly in the video likely to be of some assistance in the investigative process is at large.

But the police is still scrutinizing the video footage, to get all the perpetrators of the dastardly act, DSP Agbeve said.

Background

On February 14, 2017, a group of agitated young men was seen harassing and molesting a woman alleged to have stolen GHC 1100 at a shop in the busy hub of the Kumasi Kejetia Station.

The men mercilessly stripped the suspect naked, forced her legs open and abused her while parading her in shame on the streets as onlookers huddle around to hurl insults at her and even film the act.

Despite her pleas for mercy, her accusers continued to unleash instant justice on her.
He said placards would not be entertained in the chamber during the budget presentation on Thursday.

This is not the first time members of parliament have been cautioned against the use of placards in the House.

The immediate past Speaker, Doe Adjaho, in November 2013, said that it is un-parliamentary for members to display placards in the House.
Mr George Aggrey, the Board Chair of the Human Rights Group believes that it will be wrong for Ghana to amend its laws to completely ban homosexuality and make it illegal.

Everyone has their freedom and rights and must not be shattered by any law. Our position is that it is a right for every individual to practice what they want. If the person thinks homosexuality is good, allow the person to practice it. That is their right, he said.

If our culture is against gayism, then we must educate our children when they are young to abstain. If the person is above 18, then you cant force the person to stop that in any way. Theres no law in Ghana that is against homosexuality, there is no law, he noted.

But law lecturer and ace broadcaster, Mr Foh-Amoaning who holds a different view on the matter subsequently launched some personal attacks on Mr Aggrey, describing him as a homosexual.

You are a grown up person, were you taught by your parents to have sex through your anus? Are you gay? Do you have sex through your anus? Why are you lying to Ghanaians that homosexuality is good? Moses Foh-Amoaning asked.

There are laws in Ghana and homosexuality is not accepted in our culture. Inasmuch as we have our rights, we dont have the right to do everything. Can I have sex with my mother because I have my right? Mr Aggrey, you are a disgrace to your own family.

Mr. Aggrey is a homosexual and lying to Ghanaians. I am putting it to you [Aggrey] that you are practising gayism. You are a disgrace to your family. How can you admit anal sex is a right, he said on Accra-based Neat FM.

The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye on Monday, February 20, 2017, called for the amendment of the countrys laws to completely ban homosexuality and make it illegal.

He said: It is unfortunate that people have become so liberal that they will want to liberalise Christianityeven priests are approving of homosexuality and allowing a man and a man [to] marry, a woman and a woman [to] marry and these are manifest abominations.
Adwoa Agyarkwa Anyimadu- Antwi is the first daughter of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim central constituency of the Ashanti region, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi.

According to some of her colleagues, she hanged herself to death in her hostel room.

READ ALSO: Ghanaian awarded CBE by the Queen of England

It is unclear what might have triggered the suicide but some students close to her say that she failed one of her courses and was scolded by her parents.

She left a note behind which read am sorry to disappoint you mummy and daddy for not being the girl you want me to be.

Her family has been informed about the incident.
According to her, Ghanas mission in South Africa had urged Ghanaians in Mamelodi, also in South Africa, to remain indoors due to a planned demonstration against foreigners.

READ MORE: South African High Commission in Ghana under attack

Speaking on the floor of parliament on Friday 24 February, she said, "Mr Speaker, our checks indicate that no Ghanaian national or their businesses have been affected in the recent attacks."

"In Mamelodi, a suburb of Pretoria, there is a general fear and apprehension within the various foreign communities including that of Ghana, following a decision by a local to organise an anti-foreigner march today to protest at what he referred to as South African nationals being tired of enslavement and being deprived of job opportunities in their own country," she added.

Scores of Ghanaians living in South Africa have expressed strong desire to return home following brutal xenophobic attacks on some African Nationals in that country.

A Ghanaian in South Africa, Donald told Accra-based Starr FM that they are living in fear and that their movements had been limited.

"We are indoors more because of the xenophobic attacks."

He said all attempts to reach the Ghanaian High Commission for assistance had been unsuccessful.

Reports of xenophobic attacks in South Africa have heightened over the last few days. Nigerians and other African nationals have complained of rising violence against them.

The main group behind the protests, Mamelodi Concerned Residents, has blamed foreign nationals for taking jobs and accused them of being involved in prostitution rings and drug cartels, accusations denied by immigrant communities.

READ MORE: Boko Haram gives South Africa 24 hours to end xenophobic attacks or face bombing

South Africa experienced its worst outbreak of violence against foreigners in 2008, when more than 60 people died.
According to him, Africa must unite and must not allow Satan to destroy us.

Pastor TB Joshua in a Facebook post said "The wound of one should be the wound of all. Whatever happens in any African country, we should come together  what can we do? What happens in Nigeria  every African should be concerned. Every African should be concerned with whatever happens in South Africa. We should see it as if it happens in our own country."

Below is his Facebook post:

SAY NO TO XENOPHOBIA!!! - Prophet TB Joshua "The wound of one should be the wound of all. Whatever happens in any African country, we should come together  what can we do? What happens in Nigeria  every African should be concerned. Every African should be concerned with whatever happens in South Africa. We should see it as if it happens in our own country.

"The wound of one should be the wound of all. Every continent is like a human being. South Africa is a hand; Ghana is another hand. Nigeria may be a leg; Congo could be an eye. In the body, if anything happens to a part of it, the whole body will feel it.

The recent spate of xenophobic violence has spread to different South African cities, with thousands of foreign-owned shops forcibly closed and their owners seeking refuge in makeshift camps.

Reports of xenophobic attacks in South Africa have heightened over the last few days. Nigerians and other African nationals have complained of rising violence against them.

South Africa experienced its worst outbreak of violence against foreigners in 2008, when more than 60 people died.
According to him, his alleged involvement in a bribery scandal that has hit the Appointment Committee of Parliament has brought huge shame to the party and the high office that he occupies.

But in a statement signed by the Ashanti Regional Chairman, Yaw Owusu Bimpeh said calls for the resignation over a bribery allegation levelled by colleague MP Mahama Ayariga against the leadership of the Appointments Committee of parliament and Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko are premature.

Below is the full statement:

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (NDC), ASHANTI REGIONAL CHAPTER

CALLS FOR MUNTAKAS RESIGNATION INAPPROPRIATE AND REGRETTABLE

The Ashanti Regional Chapter of the National Democratic Congress expresses its displeasure at calls by some leading members of the NDC for the Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mubarak Mohammed Muntakas resignation in respect of his position on the alleged Agyarko bribery scandal.

The Regional Chapter of the NDC finds these calls premature particularly when the alleged scandal is under investigation by the special ad hoc committee of parliament for which the Hon. Minority Chief Whip avails himself without hesitation.

In our urgent pursuit of party cohesion and reorganisation, we urge members to be circumspect in their public pronouncements on this sensitive subject matter. Also, we humbly encourage members to temporarily shelf or defer their public opinions until the committees findings are made public. This is to avoid possible irreparable damage that our less informed positions might cause one of our own.

We urge the committee to expeditiously and comprehensively weather the storm to end the continuing public anxiety that has characterised the alleged scandal.

Finally, we urge patience with leadership in spite of our individual disappointments. Lets not allow temporary challenges to rock our reorganisation boat.

May God bless our hard work with smooth and speedy reorganisation.
According to him, leaders are not supposed to outlive their countries and must, therefore, always act in the interest of their countries.

Using his case as an example, he said, "Africa today reflects a significant shift in democratic culture, than decades ago. More elections and policy continuity but we must get to the realisation that our countries will continue long after we have gone."

Speaking at the African Leadership Magazine (ALM) Person of the Year 2016 Awards Programme in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, February 23, 2017, Mahama said "unfortunately, the rest of the world holds a very strict view of Africa: we are either fading or we are succeeding."

READ ALSO: Mahama named 2016 best African Political leader

"We are either rising to great heights or we are falling. In such times, we must diagnose the reasons for these setbacks; in such cases we must diagnose the reasons for these reversals and institute the structural reforms necessary to put the nation back on the path of growth," Mahama said.

According to him, Africa will become the next "emerging continent of the world," adding that "Opportunities abound and African entrepreneurs must take advantage of these."
He said because Woyome was a onetime financier of the NDC, the party protected him while they were in power.

As someone who followed this very closely, the NDC did everything that was possible to let Mr Woyome off the hook. They protected him in every way possible.

Speaking on Accra-based Citi FM, Bentil expressed disappointment in the erstwhile NDC government for allowing Woyome determine his own payment plan..

He urged the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to be more serious in retrieving the money.

I expect the current government to be more serious in trying to retrieve the money from Mr Woyome. I expect the current government not to allow Mr Woyome walk around as free as he is. Im not saying anyone should assault him, but he should be put under considerable pressure so that he finds it necessary to pay our money than to keep telling us when he will pay and how much he will pay and keep running around as if he has an option not to pay us.

READ ALSO: Martin Amidu withdraws suit against Woyome

He has a certain attitude and I think that comes from his assurance that the previous government was going to support him. I think the attitude of this government should be such that Mr Woyome feels that he owes something to Ghanaians and he is prepared to pay otherwise he can expect that he will not have a comfortable stay in this country.

He was quick to add that he expects the current government to use every legal means available in retrieving the money.

This matter of retrieving the judgement debt came up again after former President John Mahama urged his successor to do all within his means to retrieve the money.

He said the NDC government did its best to retrieve the said money.
Mexicans' ire with US President Donald Trump has been inflamed by his hardline stance on issues like immigration and border control, as well as by his administration's inconsistencies on some of those policies.

Kelly and Tillerson's meetings with Mexican officials come as the Trump White House seems ever more committed to imposing measures detrimental to Mexico's interest.

But the Mexican government looks to be assessing steps to raise the stakes for Trump and gain leverage in any future negotiations  whether over restructuring the NAFTA trade deal or the construction of a border wall.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said during a press conference with his US counterpart that US-Mexico ties were at a "complex moment in the relationship."

In private, he was more assertive.

"Time has been wearing down on President Donald Trump himself," Videgaray told members of the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, according to audio and transcripts obtained by the Mexican newspaper La Jornada.

"He has had some important stumbles that have placed him in a reality of a system of weights," Videgaray said  stumbles that have shown him "the non-omnipotence of a president of the United States, that he is a fenced-in president."

Videgaray said that the Trump administration's aggressive posture would give the Mexican government a "very important argument of legitimacy" when addressing potential allies in the American academic and businesses communities, as well as in the US Congress.

He also said the Pena Nieto administration was considering a more assertive response to one of Trump's more controversial proposals.

"If they place on us a tax on Mexican exports," Videgaray said, "we are going to put one on them, but better, because we are going to choose [those exports] which hurt them."

Videgaray's remark mirrors a call made by Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo in January, when he said Mexico should be ready to "take a fiscal action that clearly neutralizes" a potential border tax.

Products like corn from the US Farm Belt, where people voted heavily for Trump, may be the prime targets.

And while corn producers say they doubt Mexico would go through the pain and expense of shopping elsewhere, many are reluctant to test that theory. Already, investors have appeared to hedge against a possible trade war.

Mexico has other potential avenues through which to gain leverage with Washington.

"For instance, just after Trump was elected, one of the senior figures in Chinese diplomacy traveled to Mexico and was received by Pena Nieto. There are talks about trade negotiations with China," Roberto Simon, the lead political analyst for Latin America at FTI Consulting, told Business Insider. "There are now also talks about increasing or enlarging the deal Mexico has with the EU, and Mexico is also negotiating with Mercosur, the South America trade bloc.

"We're clearly seeing that the Mexicans are saying, 'OK, even if the United States is out of the TPP, this is something that we want to move forward. ... We think that Asia will be one of the epicenters of growth in the next decades, over the next decades. So we'll maintain this very pro-trade approach regardless of what the United States decides,'" Simon said.

Others have suggested that, rather than taking active measures to counter Trump's policies, Mexico could strike back in a more passive way.

"Mexico could take an alternative path that would provide far more effective retaliation against President Trump, while leading to fewer barriers and more growth," Dean Baker, the codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank, wrote at the end of January. "Mexico could announce that it would no longer enforce US patents and copyrights on its soil. This would be a yuuge deal, as Trump would say."

Baker said that dropping patent enforcement would erode incentives for technological innovation and creative work. But in the near term, he wrote, consumers and medical patients in Mexico (and others who visited) would benefit at the expense of corporations from the US and elsewhere.

Mexico, of course, cannot wage a prolonged war of words or policy with the US.

"The time, from the point of view of the negotiation, clearly runs in our favor," Videgaray said in his remarks to federal deputies on Wednesday. But, he added, "not indefinitely."

Many investors and others were waiting to see how things would play out, he said, noting the importance of Mexico's manufacturing sector, which has felt the strain of tensions between the US and Mexico.

Like US farmers, Simon was doubtful about how far Mexico would break from US products  80% of Mexico's exports, he said, go to the US.

It would take a lot to offset even a small change to US-Mexico trade flows, he told Business Insider.

"Even though the Mexicans want to diversify," Simon said, "it would take a long time to do so."

Videgaray told lawmakers on Wednesday: "I don't want to claim here that I am saying we are going to smack the table and we are going to succeed and we are going to achieve what we want. You know as well as I, that we are not going to change Donald Trump's form of thinking, we are not going to convince him, and he is going to continue being president of a long time.
And he said Republicans were beginning to take the accusations much more seriously.

Whitehouse, who is the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, spoke with Business Insider this week while promoting his newly released book, "Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy."

The Rhode Island Democrat said the investigation from the Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, would first explore the "toolbox that Russia uses in our elections and in other elections to try to engage in election manipulation."

The subcommittee will then evaluate the legality of what took place during the election. Several US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia meddled in the election process to assist Trump and harm the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

Whitehouse said the subcommittee investigation would consist of "three big buckets."

"Russia's importance to Trump's business enterprises and what influence that may have over his conduct, traditional old-fashioned kompromat, and then engagement between his campaign and the Russians around the torquing of the election away from Hillary," he said. "It's one thing if they torqued the election away from Hillary and gave it to him  it's another if they were conspiring with each other or planning with each other. The first is bad, the second is ... worse."

Recent reports have indicated that several Trump associates were in constant communication with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. Trump has denied any knowledge of such contact. Additionally, Michael Flynn resigned as national security adviser last week after multiple outlets reported he discussed sanctions with a Russian ambassador before Trump took office and then was not forthright about the content of his communications with Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump has attempted to downplay the stories related to Russia, saying during a press conference last week that "Russia is fake news."

Many of these reports, Whitehouse said, have led his Republican colleagues to become increasingly concerned about Trump's alleged ties to Russia.

"The private conversation around the Senate is that, very much, this is serious," he said. "The experienced Washington reporters that you talk to are all digging. And many of them are very optimistic about being able to find significant things. Somebody in politics can tell when the dogs are hunting, and when they're just running around. And these dogs are hunting. They're making game. They're on their business."

He added that intelligence officials and law enforcement had made it clear "this is a long way from over."

"So I think that helps," he said. "And then I think they wouldn't put it past Trump to do any of this stuff for a second."

"I think it's all converging to a point where people are collectively holding their breath and we will see what is the next shoe to drop," he continued. "My personal observation is that there is very little good will for this man with Republicans in the Senate."

But senators do not want to cross Trump's loyal voters, Whitehouse said, adding that the appearance of going after him too soon would be politically costly for his GOP colleagues.
That experience could be heading for a massive makeover, complete with an iPhone-powered device that's a fraction of the size.

The technology, from the New York-based Smart Vision Labs, is designed to complete an eye exam in just a few minutes and doesn't require the in-person assistance of an eye doctor.

Smart Vision officially launched for use in stores in July 2016, and it has made its way into 50 stores. The company raised $6.1 million in 2015 in a round led by TechStars Ventures.

Business Insider has also learned that Warby Parker has recently started piloting the device at a few of its New York City locations, including Grand Central Station.

Heres how it works:

The results are pretty straightforward. I took the test as a demo, comparing the result to my eyeglasses prescription. The test reached the same conclusion my optometrist had a few weeks ago when I went in for a checkup.

The device is based on a combination of old and new technology that Smart Vision has developed, CEO Yaopeng Zhou told Business Insider. For example, the pupillary distance test, which measures the distance between your eyes' pupils, has traditionally been done with a binocular-like device. The visual acuity isn't any different (just smaller) from your traditional letter chart.

The refraction error test  which measures the shape of your eyes to determine what kind of prescription you might need to correct your vision  is the one Smart Vision spent the most time turning into a cheaper, portable technology. It uses technology adapted from what doctors use in Lasik surgery, which is used to correct a person's eyesight.

Smart Vision's technology has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, and the site links to two published papers validating the technology, both funded by the company. As far as accuracy goes, Zhou said it had a 1% remake rate  much lower than the 10% average for traditional optometry practices.

It's important to note, however, that you won't be getting a full workup, like getting your eyes dilated (which can detect eye problems). If a test picks up on anything, Zhou said, the company will let you know to consult a doctor.

This kind of approach worries some eye doctors, who are concerned telemedicine approaches like Smart Vision, in which there a doctor isn't necessarily in the room, could be bad for patients.

"Telemedicine as a tool to help a doctor better care for a patient is absolutely acceptable to most doctors including myself," April Jasper, a practicing optometrist who is the president of the Florida Optometric Association, told Business Insider in an email. "When telemedicine is advertised and promoted as a substitute for a comprehensive eye health examination, most doctors are going to have a serious concern for our patients safety."

Essentially, there's a time and a place for which it could be helpful, but there may not be a future in which we can just get our eyes tested through a series of remote tests without any direct doctor supervision.

"There is no telemedicine technology at this time that is a substitute for a comprehensive eye health evaluation and many of the companies out there are misleading patients into thinking their technology performs as a replacement," she said. "And a disclaimer in small print does not justify placing a patients vision or even life is at risk."

Finding a market in glasses stores, pharmacies, and on the go

Beyond its use in the pilot program at Warby Parker, Smart Vision hopes to place the device in other nontraditional spots that don't necessarily have an optometrist.

Zhou said his goal was to have the device in retail stores and pharmacies and in use in developing countries, since it's portable.

Smart Vision provides the hardware free, instead charging a fee for each assessment the location performs.

Zhou says the stories using their technology have seen a "big jump in revenue."
Microsoft is betting that as drones proliferate, demand for mapping services and platforms will grow; this was recently demonstrated by the tech giant's investment in the real-time drone-mapping startup AirMap, according to The Verge.

The larger $26 million Series B funding round was completed earlier this month and included Qualcomm and Airbus.

AirMap provides software that offers drones information about other aircraft in their immediate airspace, as well as notify individual drones where other members of their fleet are in real time. Notably, AirMap also incorporates FAA No-Fly Zone updates  any company using its services can steer its drone fleets away from prohibited airspace.

Microsoft is likely assuming that its large enterprise clients will soon integrate drones into their operations and therefore need mapping services. Microsofts primary revenue stream comes from software contracts with large enterprises in sectors ranging from energy to healthcare and agriculture. If these clients soon integrate drones into their operations, demand for drone-mapping services for their drone fleets will likely grow. For example, if a manufacturing client of Microsofts Azure cloud services integrates drones into its operations for inspection purposes, it would also benefit from a solution like the one offered by AirMap.

The investment shows that large tech firms are recognizing that the drone-mapping market, which was once populated primarily by startups, will grow in the coming years. While Microsoft may not believe that AirMap's solution is revolutionary, its investment in the company signals that the tech giant hopes to gain an early-mover advantage in the drone-mapping space. Below are several startups with offerings that compete directly with AirMap and Microsoft, if it moves substantially into the space:

PrecisionHawk is a Pennsylvania-based company that offers DataMapper, drone-mapping software that also provides 3D modeling and vegetation analysis.

Ersi is a California-based firm that specializes in data analytics for drone fleets and provides mapping software similar to AirMap's.

Skyward is an Oregon-based firm that was recently bought by Verizon. It primarily offers broad software management for drone fleets, which includes mapping software that's somewhat similar to AirMap's.

Drones turned the corner in 2015 to become a popular consumer device, while a framework for regulation that legitimizes drones in the US began to take shape. Technological and regulatory barriers still exist to further drone adoption.

Drone manufacturers and software providers are quickly developing technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance that will make flying drones safer. The accelerating pace of drone adoption is also pushing governments to create new regulations that balance safety and innovation.

Safer technology and better regulation will open up new applications for drones in the commercial sector, including drone delivery programs like Amazons Prime Air and Googles Project Wing initiatives.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed drones report that forecasts sales revenues for consumer, enterprise, and military drones. It also projects the growth of drone shipments for consumers and enterprises.

The report details several of worlds major drone suppliers and examines trends in drone adoption among several leading industries. Finally, it examines the regulatory landscape in several markets and explains how technologies like obstacle avoidance and drone-to-drone communications will impact drone adoption.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

We project revenues from drones sales to top $12 billion in 2021, up from just over $8 billion last year.

Shipments of consumer drones will more than quadruple over the next five years, fueled by increasing price competition and new technologies that make flying drones easier for beginners.

Growth in the enterprise sector will outpace the consumer sector in both shipments and revenues as regulations open up new use cases in the US and EU, the two biggest potential markets for enterprise drones.

Technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance will make flying drones safer and make regulators feel more comfortable with larger numbers of drones taking to the skies.

Right now FAA regulations have limited commercial drones to a select few industries and applications like aerial surveying in the agriculture, mining, and oil and gas sectors.

The military sector will continue to lead all other sectors in drone spending during our forecast period thanks to the high cost of military drones and the growing number of countries seeking to acquire them.

In full, the report:

Compares drone adoption across the consumer, enterprise, and government sectors.

Breaks down drone regulations across several key markets and explains how theyve impacted adoption.

Discusses popular use cases for drones in the enterprise sector, as well as nascent use case that are on the rise.

Analyzes how different drone manufacturers are trying to differentiate their offerings with better hardware and software components.

Explains how drone manufacturers are quickly enabling autonomous flight in their products that will be a major boon for drone adoption.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:
As part of our work on the Ease of Doing Business, on making the environment friendly, not just for local businesses but also for those who want to come and do business in Nigeria, the airport obviously is one of the major places where we need to ensure that facilities are working and that things are being run properly, Osinbajo was quoted as saying in a statement released by his spokesman, Laolu Akande.
At a resumed sitting by the Senate after their now recurrent recess on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, the four bills which included the Dangerous Drug Amendment Bill, 2016; National Lottery Bill, 2016; Currency Conversion Freezing Order Amendment Bill, 2016, and Agricultural Credit Scheme Bill, 2016, were forwarded for immediate assent.

But Osinbajo declined, citing the existence of pending legal issue and concerns regarding words and phrases, and the spirit behind the amendment, for his refusal to assent to the bills.

This action did not go down well with some of the Senators, especially Senator Dino Melaye representing Kogi West at the Upper Chamber who is the sponsor of the National Lottery Bill, insisted that the executive has no right to refuse to assent to any bill forwarded to it by the Senate and must respect the principle of separation of powers.

It is the responsibility of the executive to assent to bills made by the legislature or go to court to challenge them, he had said.

But a Professor of Law and a very sound legal mind himself, Osinbajo took the time to lecture the Senator on the reasons for his refusal and at the end, the matter was referred to the legal department of the National Assembly for advice and interpretation.

In the same week in review, the acting President pulled another pleasant stunt when he paid a surprise visit to Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos State where he was shocked at the lackadaisical attitude of staff and the dilapidated state of the structures.

According to his spokesman, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo was disappointed at some of the findings at the airport especially the decrepit toilet facilities.

The visit, according to Akande, came after approving a 60-day reform plan to ease business in the country.

Ag President Osinbajo at Lagos Int'l airport checking out toilets, carousels, immigration, toilets in the airport - to see things for himself, Akande twitted.

Osinbajos Lagos visit comes just one day after he withdrew assent to four bills passed by the National Assembly.
I met Lara three years ago during a seminar we had both gone to represent our companies. We both work in the finance sector as she represented her bank while I represented insurance company I worked for.

On the first day of the seminar, Lara was very active, asking brilliant questions and making very intelligent contributions. Coupled with her brain was that she was very beautiful and carried herself very well.

She was also very respectful and helpful and I felt drawn to her immediately. Another thing that helped was that we stayed in the same hotel and we used to have lunch together and got acquainted.

When we got back to Lagos, we kept in contact and it took me close to eight months before she would agree to go out with me.

One thing I noticed with Lara was that she had many female friends and when I asked hr why it was so, she told me that she feels more comfortable with women than with men. I guess that answer was lost on me but I was secretly happy that there were no men to share my attention.

One particular lady who was very close to her was and they were so close that they even wore each other's clothes.

One thing I found disturbing was that whenever we had sex, Lara was kind of detached and would not participate in it as much as I would have wanted.

When I proposed to Lara, I noticed that Mina was not very happy but Lara told me she was just sad that he best friend would soon leave her and become a married woman and that I should not worry about that.

Mina was to be her bride's maid and we had put things in motion to make the day a grand one when the scales fell from my eyes.

I had gone to Lara's house at the close of work to give her some invitation cards to give her friends but she was not at home. I called her number but the line was switched off, so I thought I should go to Mina's place and drop off the cards.

As I drove into Mina's compound, I saw Lara's car and I thought it was even convenient that she was there. I was about knocking the door to the one bedroom apartment Mina stayed but I heard some moaning sounds and I was taken aback.

I thought Mina's boyfriend was around and they were having sex but what was Lara doing there? Or was she the one being made love to? Out of curiosity, I went to the window to peep and lo and behold, my own fiancee and her best friend were naked on the bed having lesbian sex.

I did not know when I let out a scream and shouted her name. They immediately sprang apart and tried to cover their nakedness but I had seen enough.

I stormed out of the compound and the only thing on my mind was to call off the wedding.

Lara, Mina, and their friends have been begging me to give her another chance but all their pleadings have fallen on deaf ears.

My family and Lara's relatives were also shocked when I told them that the wedding is off without giving them a reason but everyone is now blaming me without knowing what Lara did.

At least, I have protected her and have not told anyone what she did but I would be damn if I will go ahead with the wedding after what I saw.

Paul."
Daniel, 23, is standing trial on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Adeleye Oluwafemi, told the court that the accused and others at large committed the offences between Feb. 7 and 14, at 11:00a.m., at No. 240D, Kofo Abayomi St., Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said that the accused stole 40 packets of Rose flower valued at N1.1 million and one packet of hamper valued at N35, 000 belonging to the complainant, Mrs Jamima Sawari.

Oluwafemi, said that the offences contravened Sections 285 (7) and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The accused denied the charges and the Magistrate, Mrs J. O. Adepoju, admitted him to N100, 000 bail with two sureties in like sum.

She said that the sureties must be gainfully employed and their addresses should be verified.
In the renewed attacks, properties including homes, cars, shops and churches belonging to Nigerians were burnt down.

This much was made known by the President of Nigerian Union in that country, Ikechukwu Anyene, who reported the incident on his Facebook page, telling how some youths descended on Nigerian residents in some parts of the country, looting shops, beating and destroying their property.

The ugly incident happened on Saturday, February 18, 2017, just as a church owned by a Nigerian pastor identified as Pastor Samson in Pretoria West, was burnt down with the man of God beaten and injured.

This is not the first time Nigerians and their businesses have suffered at the hands of South Africans who see their guests as criminals, drug barons, kidnappers and armed robbers, often painting Nigerians as the worst set of individuals who are out to destroy their country.

Last year alone, 20 Nigerians were reportedly killed by the South Africans, mostly in unprovoked attacks and some coming from the hands of the police who murder Nigerians extra-judicially.

To accentuate their hatred on Nigerians, some racist South Africans even went as far as creating a Facebook page called 'Get Nigerian Drug Dealers out of SA', where they have been posting hate messages directed at the Nigerians all in a bid to provoke them.
This counsel was given by the Senior Special Adviser to the Abia State government on Public Communication, Mr. Sam Hart and the Managing Director of SLOT, Nnamdi Ezegbo, at the launch of the MTN Foundation Scholars Alumni and Conference held in Owerri, Imo state.

Hart, who is also the promoter of the 'Made in Aba' initiative, said the youths, should not think outside the box but they should think like there is no box. Nigerian youths have been charged to be pragmatic in their approach toward addressing issues they might be dealing with in their quest to create and sustain a winning idea for empowerment and development.

The Managing Director of SLOT, Nnamdi Ezegbo shared how he started SLOT technologies, he advised the participants to always be prepared for challenges because the road to success will never be smooth. Only determination will make them succeed.

Ezegbo went philosophical when he said, my strategy for operating SLOT is to create solutions. The environment will never be perfect. There is no perfect time for you to strike at success. Every time is the best but you need to understand the times."

Speaking at the conference, Director, MTN Foundation, Mr. Dennis Okoro, said they should see the scholarship as a rare opportunity that must be well utilized. For the alumni Okoro said, now that you have all gained and have been empowered, it is essential that you show yourselves as worthy ambassadors of the programme. Feel free to exhibit your creativity positively and contribute your quota to the development of the country."
The unscheduled visit to the airport is part of the country's number two man to make business easier for both local and international and entrepreneurs.

"As part of our work on the Ease of Doing Business, on making the environment friendly, not just for local businesses but also for those who want to come and do business in Nigeria, the airport obviously is one of the major places where we need to ensure that facilities are working and that things are being run properly" said Osinbajo in his press statement.

Continuing he said "so we have looked around, we've seen some of the equipment. There are many many things that need to be done, many things that need to be corrected, and we have to work on them as quickly as possible."

Everyone (and everything) knows how hellish it is to do business in this dear country of ours. Bottlenecks, multiple taxation and kickbacks are some of the obstacles facing an entrepreneur. Add the poor state of the power supply and the price of petrol and diesel, and business in Nigeria is more than hellish.

A simple thing just as registering your business in Nigeria isn't as straightforward as it should be. Thankfully, with the Acting President's 'Ease of Doing Business' reforms, it seems the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission will soon be able to receive business documents.

This is going to be an overdue development. When you wanted to do anything with the CAC you had to go to their office. In 2017, this embarrassing.

The Murtala Mohammed International Airport has the role of creating the first impression of our country. Unfortunately, it has not lived up to that over the years.

Nigerians who work at the airport have turned to beggars as they hound visitors for money. The airport is overcrowded and it has a bad cooling system. Corruption is the order of the day at the airport.
The man whose name has been protected, according to the Chronicle, reported at the Lupane Police State that he was abducted by the women suspected to be 'Sperm Harvesters', on Friday, February 17, 2017, took him to a bush where they took turns raping him till daybreak.

The victim who reported that he woke up naked in the bush, feeling extremely weak on Saturday morning, said he was sexually abused for hours by a group of four light skinned women who gave him a lift on Friday night.

A police source said the man said he was given a lift in a Toyota Quantum with five people on board, four women and a man who was driving the vehicle.

"The teacher was intending to travel to Bulawayo on Friday night. He was given a lift by the group of women who were traveling in a Quantum with South African number plates.

The man said the women were speaking IsiNdebele and another language that he could not understand.

After some time, the driver diverted the route and one of the women told him that they wanted to pick up someone.

After the driver stopped the car, one of the women quickly covered his eyes while others held his feet and hands together.

The man said they forced him to drink a substance from a bottle and he passed out. He suspects that they sexually assault him and took away his semen as he woke up at 5 am naked with a weak body and bruised private part.

After wearing his clothes which were left on the scene, he walked to the main road where he boarded a lift to Lupane police station and filed a report," the police source said.
Chuku told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Friday that the committee was made up of medical personnel with interest in kidney transplantation.

He said that committee had covered enough ground for the commencement of kidney transplant in the hospital before the end of the first quarter of the year.

The medical director said that negotiations for the university to help midwife kidney transplant in the hospital began in 2015 during his induction into the Universitys Medical Mission Hall of Fame.

He said that the university agreed to train eight medical personnel for the hospital on kidney transplant.

He said that the number would include three doctors and two nurses in the first phase, while three others would be trained later.

Chuku said that the hospital was still grappling with the shortage of nurses, adding that the situation was hampering efficient service delivery.

According to him, the hospital requires 236 additional nurses to cope with the increasing number of patients from within and outside Abia.

He expressed the hope that the hospital would get Federal Governments approval to recruit more nurses.

Chuku said that on its own, the hospital had entered into a partnership with the National Association of Nigerian Nurses in North America for the training of nurses for the hospital.

Many nurses have retired and more are still retiring from the system. So, we have urgent need to fill the vacuum created by their exit."
Itodo died on Monday, February 20, at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH).

The disclosure was made by the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Thomas Agan on Thursday, February 23.

The woman was married to a soldier, who was in Calabar but later posted to Maiduguri. But she came back to Calabar, Agan said.

When the illness started, she was taken to Eburutu Barracks Clinic, where she was later transferred to Navy Clinic, before she was brought here when her organs were failing.

I got an SMS from one of my deputies, Sunday night, that there was a case which lasted for about 12 hours before the patient gave up. The case was not a primary case of UCTH; we only tried to manage the kidney failure, which had occurred after she was brought from Navy Hospital and when all her system collapsed she gave up.

The Federal Ministry of Health has been informed the Cross River State Government and Centre for Disease Control. Also, the specimen that was sent out came back to prove that it was Lassa Fever and this is the first case ever to be recorded in the state, he added.

The Cross River government had, in January 2016, warned residents of the state to temporarily stop drinking Garri in order not to catch the disease.

Commissioner for Health, Dr Inyang Asibong, said that Lassa fever was a hemorrhagic fever transmitted from rats to humans, said the warning became imperative as the causative agents, rats, may have urinated or defecated on it.
Dangana made the called in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday.

He advised people to engage in self-help projects to complement governments efforts in the fight against malaria and other related diseases.

According to him, people should keep their environment clean because dirty environment with stagnant water attract mosquitoes.

The kind of environment you live in can determine your likelihood of getting infected with malaria and increase the frequency with which you are infected with diseases, Dagana said.
Mr Wale Olatunde, the associations President of federal health institutions chapter, made the appeal on Thursday in Abuja during a peaceful protest by members demanding for improved condition of service in the Federal Ministry of Health.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of association were drawn from 66 federal health institutions with 66 hospitals.

The institutions comprised all federal teaching hospitals, federal medical centres and federal specialist hospitals.

Olatunde listed his members grievances to include inadequate manpower, non-payment of promotion arrears, uniform allowance for upward of seven years and dearth of highly skilled nurse specialists.

He said discriminatory and selective implementation of government policies by the ministry on career progression for nurses and midwives, among others, was also a grievance.

All these complaints amount to my members being denied their rights. We, as an association have explored all legal means of addressing the situation.

In fact, judgment was passed in our favour, however, the authorities in the sector refused to obey the court judgment.

This is tantamount to putting the nations health system in jeopardy, the NANNM president said.

He decried the deteriorating state of infrastructure, functional equipment and non-availability of adequate medical consumables, among others, in the sector.

According to him, these problems are as a result of corrupt practices by some top officials in the sector.

Olatunde stressed that the forensic review should focus on how the budgetary allocations and internally generated revenue of the ministry and its agencies were expended.

Year in, year out the parastatal agencies as well as the ministry keep demanding for review of allocation. A large chunk of the allocation is used for selfish gains by some few individual against its intent, he alleged.

Olatunde regretted that some foreign donor agencies had withdrawn from the country due to corrupt practices.

He alleged further that the countrys health sector could not account for donor agencies investment in the sector.

A ministry that can harbor a fake doctor for over eight years and who incidentally was a leading figure in the fight against Ebola and other haemorrhagic fevers calls for a forensic review of its activities.

This country has the potentialities to be a centre of medical tourism, if its human and financial resources are judiciously managed.

The basic things that we need like nurses and other healthcare professionals are not available, yet they keep on demanding for money all the time.

The countrys consistent unenviable position in all health indices is as a result of the activities of these individuals or cabals.

The most recent evaluation is the country ranking of 187 out of 191 countries in health indices in spite of the huge financial resources available for healthcare delivery, he said.

NAN also reports that similar peaceful protests were recorded across the country within the week by members of the association.
An NPC Federal Commissioner, Usman Yau, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna that Ikara Local Government Area was selected for the exercise.

The exercise is aimed at dividing the enumeration areas into smaller units for effective census coverage."

An enumeration area is the geographic area covered by one census representative and is composed of one or more adjacent blocks."

A population census is getting a record of all persons resident in a country or well defined geographic units at a particular time, Yau explained.

He said that 50 persons were recruited to be the demarcation team in the state.

According to him, the enumerators will move round communities in the area to number and divide houses into enumeration areas, using satellite maps.

It is in this regard that the commission is deploying sophisticated technology in carrying out the EAD."

The methodology for the census is designed to achieve full compliance."

High resolution satellite imagery will be used to ensure that no area is left out or duplicated, he said.

He said that it had become imperative to divide Nigerias land mass into small units that could be easily covered by enumerators within a reasonable period.

At the end of the third phase of the EAD, the commission would have demarcated two LGAs in the state."

The remaining LGAs will be covered in the subsequent phases of the EAD, Yau said.

He said that the exercise, scheduled to end on March 10, was necessary to deliver accurate, reliable and acceptable census.

The commissioner appealed to communities in the area to cooperate with the enumerators for a successful exercise.

NAN reports that the commission had previously demarcated 37 local government areas in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory in the previous phases of the EAD.
A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna on Friday, February 24, gave an interim order of forfeiture of the 'stolen' vehicles.

Justice S.M Shuaibu gave the order in favour of an exparte application deposed to by an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Adamu Waziri.

The application, which was filed on the 23rd of February, 2017, asked for an interim forfeiture of the 17 vehicles, which are in the EFCC custody, to the Federal Government.

Justice Shuaibu in his ruling held that "the seventeen (17) vehicles which are now in the custody of the applicant, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and as properly described and listed in the schedule marked exhibit EFCC 2 attached to the affidavit in support of the application are hereby forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria in the interim pending conclusion of the investigation."

ALSO READ: Ex- Customs Dikko boss refunds N1b to FG
Sheriff, who arrived the party secretariat as about 6 p.m, informed newsmen that he was at the premises to inspect the level of repairs to be done at the secretariat.

We are here at the National Secretariat this evening to access the place so that we can resume either Monday or Tuesday. We will go round to access the kind of repairs to be done.

We will get our painters and cleaners over the weekend to work on it, and while they are doing so, we will continue with our consultations just like we have been doing since the judgement was delivered, he said.

Sheriff, who was on Feb. 17 confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt as the authentic PDP Chairman, had promised to re-open the secretariat latest by Friday.

Those who accompanied Sheriff to the secretariat include the Acting Deputy National Chairman, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, National Auditor, Alhaji Adeyanju, Sen. Buruji Kashamu, and Alhaji Ahmed Gulak among others.

Meanwhile, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the Publicity Secretary, PDP National Caretaker Committee has described Sheriffs action as illegal.

As far as we are concerned, the forceful entry of Ali Modu-Sheriff and his team into the party secretariat is illegal and most unwelcomed.

We say this because the keys to the secretariat are with the Board of Trustees and weve checked with them, and can confirm that the keys have not been handed over to Sheriff or any of his followers.

The implication of this is that he broke into the secretariat which is a criminal offence.

We also expected that Sheriff should have waited for the conclusion of the Appeal we filed at the Supreme Court before he forced himself in just like we held on when we got court judgement favouring us last year," he added.

According to him, we are condemning his action in totality and we view it as an affront on the rule of law.

Adeyeye added that Sheriff should be held responsible for any loss of documents or damage to the property within the party secretariat.

ALSO READ: PDP lawmakers say Sheriff should pack up and go

He said The administrative members of staff as accounting officers were not around to see the event happen, and as the custodians of the partys property, they refused to participate in the illegal entry made by Ali-Modu Sheriff.

We also call on authority of the Nigerian Police to prevent chaos by flushing Sheriff and his team out of the PDP secretariat.

Let all parties wait for the judgment of the Supreme Court which is the highest court in the land.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen OBrien , who disclosed this, regretted that millions in the Lake Chad basin were suffering at no fault of their own and, therefore, need worlds support at the summit at the Norwegian capital.

OBriens remarks came ahead of the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region, which will be held on Friday to be hosted by Norway, together with Nigeria, Germany and the UN.

Aiming to draw attention to the crisis, which has been largely overlooked, the event seeks to mobilize greater international involvement and increased funding for humanitarian efforts to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), nearly 11 million people in the region, comprising Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, need humanitarian assistance.

The appeal, amounting 1.5 billion dollars will fund relief operations in the region, including, inter alia, providing life-saving food and nutrition support to 1.6 million people, livelihood support to 1.4 million and primary health care for 4.4 million.

It will also provide measles vaccinations for over one million children, education support for almost 300,000 girls and boys and safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene for 2.3 million displaced families and their host communities.

Of the total population in need (10.7 million), about 8.5 million are in north-eastern Nigeria which has seen years of violence as a result of Boko Haram militancy, OBrien said.

The UN relief chief highlighted that investing in support for the region would in turn help to strengthen broader security around the world for all to benefit.

The opportunity we have at this gathering in Oslo is for a partnership between those who have been calling for enormous amounts of support in the region and to make sure that we can meet the needs of people as they go through terrible suffering, through no fault of their own, he said.

Noting the challenges in northeastern Nigeria particularly, OBrien hailed the work of the humanitarian actors on the ground.

They are staying, they are delivering, there have been some terrible and tragic losses of very brave and brilliant aid workers, and they continue working in some of the most atrocious and difficult conditions, OBrien said.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the Head of OCHA, pointed out that the 2016 appeal was only about 50 per cent funded.

He underlined that it meant that we can only do about half of what we know needs to be done.

OBrien said that the support would help ensure that the people in need can get water and food; we can avert the terrible severe acute malnutrition, we can seek to avert famine, which is exacerbated by some of the climatic events, and indeed, climate change.
The attack happened in the town of Gajiram, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) by road north of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, on Wednesday afternoon.

A military source in Maiduguri and a civilian vigilante, Babakura Kolo, both told AFP on Thursday that the fighting lasted for about two hours and that three soldiers were killed.

But Kolo said on Friday that the toll was had risen and that it was "now seven, including one lieutenant, and six rank and file.

"Yesterday, three bodies of soldiers were found but four more bodies were found during a search."

The security source said three militants were also killed and troops were combing the area to find other rebel fighters.

AFP contacted the military for comment but there was no immediate response.

Fighters loyal to Abu Musab Al-Barnawi were suspected of carrying out the attack, said Kolo.

The Islamic State group, to which Boko Haram is affiliated, announced that Barnawi was leader last year.

He split from the faction following long-time Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in opposition at his indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

Barnawi has instead vowed to hit only "hard" targets such as the military and police. His group is believed to operate in northern Borno state, towards Lake Chad and the border with Niger.

According to the security source, the insurgents went door to door collecting recently distributed food aid for residents.

Kolo said vigilantes had been told by arrested Boko Haram suspects that they sourced most of their food from Gajiram and Monguno, a garrison town 60 kilometres away.

Nigeria's government wants the hundreds of thousands of displaced people staying in camps and host communities to return to their homes as soon as the military makes areas safe again.

But another attack on Wednesday near Gajiganna, some 50 kilometres from Maiduguri on the way to Gajiram, highlighted the risks they run.

"Some displaced people were returning to their villages in the area to harvest their abandoned cornfields when they were intercepted by Boko Haram," said Kolo.
A source told that President Buhari attended prayers at a mosque in London last Friday.

The man is alive, but not okay. He is very ill. He is probably not going home soon," the source said.

He went for prayers on Friday. I saw about four cars leaving Abuja House. Maybe that was him.

"For Buhari to have attended the mosque indicates that he is not dead and that though he may be sick, he is getting well," the source added.

Another source noted that: he (President Buhari) comes out in the evenings, but is very ill.

Asked if by outside he meant the front of the house, the source shook his head to the contrary, to indicate the back of the house.

One of the presidents men came towards the gate around 5:07 p.m, beckoning to the reporter to come.

He then asked: Are you interested in your president dying?

When the reporter said; no and that is why we are hereto seek the truth," the president's aide then said: "If you want your president dead, you will be disappointed. The president is hale and hearty. He will be returning soon.

The aide was said to have rained abuse on the reporter before walking back inside.

Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged Christians to continue praying for President Muhammadu Buhari until he returns to the country hale and hearty.
This is contained in a statement signed by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant Media and made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, on Tuesday in Abuja said the results of Presidents medical tests suggested further rest.

The CAN President, Rev Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, urged Nigerians especially Christians not to cease praying for the President, the acting President and the country until he returns in good health and sound mind.

Ayokunle, reminded Christians that it is their responsibility to pray for the country and her leaders in season and out of season. I call on all well meaning Nigerians, especially Christians not to cease praying for President Muhammadu Buhari as he takes further rest as advised by his doctors.

It is needless reminding you that as Christians, our responsibilities include but not limited to making supplications, prayers, and intercessions, for all that are in the position of authority. `That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour (1 Timothy 2:1-2)"

He also allayed fears being expressed in some quarters that the prolonged absence of Buhari has created a vacuum in the Presidency cited the transfer of power to the Vice President.

He said We dont see the need for any hue and cry being made by some people that his unprecedented absence could create a vacuum in the Presidency.

President Buhari has done what is needful by transferring power to the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo who is up to the task.

The Church should also continue praying for him for divine wisdom, knowledge and understanding as he discharges his constitutional responsibilities.

We call on the security agencies in the country to stop the killings in Kafanchan despite the presence of policemen and soldiers in the area.

We heard of recent attacks in Atakar and Kaninkon villages of Kaura and Jemaa Local Government Areas in the state.

All hands should be on deck to flush out those criminals from their hideouts in order to restore a permanent peace to the Southern Kaduna communities once and for all, Ayokunle said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Ebonyi chapter are currently in a face-off over the deductions which were effected in the workers February salaries.

Umahi gave the warning on Thursday in Abakaliki during a meeting with the leadership of the NLC, its affiliate unions, Local Government Area (LGA) caretaker chairmen and other stakeholders.

According to Umahi, government will resist the protest which is being planned by the State NLC Chairman, Mr Ikechukwu Nwafor.

We hear that Nwafor is planning to organize a one million march against the government over the pension deductions but I know that not up to that number voted during the last elections.

We will however, organize a three-million march if he goes on with his plan and those who want to protest are advised to do so in their houses.

Any body who marches on the streets should brace for governments action as we would not fold our hands and allow anybody or group destroy the government, he said.

The governor directed all public office holders to monitor Nwafors activities and battle him to a standstill, in order to ensure he does not destabilise the government.

He said Nwafor should join a political party if he wishes and let us know, as I have tolerated him and his activities enough and would no longer do so.

I dont want to talk about our private relationship because I am not unpatriotic but if I expose you further, workers and your fellow labour leaders will stone you."

He directed that the buses donated by the government to the NLC to convey workers to their duty-posts be withdrawn and given to the states branch of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Junior Workers Association should also be given the buses as they should be non-profit oriented with a token paid for fuelling.

The states Fiscal Responsibility Commission should investigate if the Nwafor-led NLC commercialized the buses and immediately prosecute him if found guilty.

I will no longer recognize the NLC leadership in the state as workers should look beyond the labour leadership because it is no longer fashionable, he said.

Nwafor in his reaction, said that labour faulted section 12 of the state pension scheme law which stipulates that the employer would make a contribution of five per cent while the employee makes eight per cent.

ALSO READ: Governor Umahi bans sale of foreign rice in Ebonyi markets

This is however not in line with the circular issued by the state head of service which stipulates that the state government would make contribution of ten per cent.

We immediately wrote and informed him that procedures in the national pension scheme law were not followed especially in the model for states to key-into the contributory pension scheme, he said.
Mr Duda Ismahil, the Vice-Chairman, Kuje Area Council, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the incident was a disaster and economic loss to the traders.

He said that the incident was worrisome and happened when the country was facing economic hardship.

It is sad news, because goods worth millions of naira were lost to the fire and I appeal to the affected traders to remain calm, as proper investigation would be carried out."

It is very unfortunate that we are witnessing this fire incident at hard times, and we thank God that no life was lost in the inferno."

The fire incident came as a surprise to everybody; and the Area Council sympathises with the affected traders, the council official said.

Ismahil said, however, that plans were underway to complete the Kuje modern Market project.

He said the council would meet with the market authorities and the security agencies, to set up a committee to prevent a recurrence of such incident.

The Chairman, Kuje Traders Association, Alhaji Musa Umar, sympathised with the affected traders, adding that adequate measures would be taken to prevent such incident in future.

Musa said that the cause of the fire was yet to be known, noting that investigations were underway to ascertain the cause of the inferno.

I sympathise with the affected traders because it is not easy to lose goods worth millions of naira at a time of economic hardship in the country."

We were, however, able to put out the fire with the help of the and other security personnel, he said.

Mr Emeka Eze, a shop owner, whose goods were lost in the fire, described the situation as worrisome and a setback to his business.

Eze said there were speculations that the fire was caused by a faulty generator left behind in one of the shops last night.

The new sewing and designing machines I bought recently with a loan from the cooperative society have been destroyed by the fire."
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), in-charge of Ogidi Police Division, Mr Hassan Musa, who confirmed the incident, advised the two communities against any form of criminality.

I understand the Supreme Court and the National Boundary Commission have given their verdict on the boundary between the two communities.

It is criminal for anybody to jump over the boundary demarcation to cause a breach of peace or to sell or claim land that does not fall into his area, he said.

Although, Musa said no arrest had been made, he warned that anyone found causing mayhem would be arrested and prosecuted.

An eyewitness said sporadic gunshots were heard at the boundary of the disputed land which made the residents to take to their heels.

Chief Humphrey Aghuna, the chairman, Dynamic Landlord Association, Umusiome, Nkpor, said police and the army from 302 Artillery Regiment Onitsha later arrived to the area.

As I am talking to you now we are living in fear.

Our houses have been destroyed, vehicles damaged and people wounded; government should come to our rescue and build a police post here.

We are just people who bought land here in Umusiome, we paid money in the past to the parties claiming they were youths that must be settled and yet, they cannot allow us to live here in peace,  he said.

The President-General of Ogidi Town Union, Chief Chuka Onubuogu, attributed the crisis to the activities of alleged land grabbers and gangsters from both communities.

ALSO READ:

Some residents, who were seen packing their belongings from the area, expressed fear for their lives.

The place is becoming too hot for us to continue to stay, our life is no more guaranteed here.
A spokesman for the abductors is said to have made the demand and warned against the involvement of security agents, according to Punch.

Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood earlier revealed that the professor didnt go along with his security detail to the site where he was kidnapped.

Though the German archaeologists have police officers attached to them for their protection at the NOK Archaeology Research Project Centre, they did not go with the policemen to the excavation site where they were kidnapped, he said.

The Nigeria Police Force, while assuring all Nigerians and foreign nationals in the country of their safety, wishes to implore them to always request and obtain police escort to protect them any time they are embarking on research, mining and related endeavours outside the towns and cities across the country, he added.

ALSO READ:1 killed as gunmen kidnap German professor in Kaduna
The accused  Afeez Olaiya and Rasheed Adetola, both aged 23, who entered a not-guilty plea, are residents of Ajegunle area of Apapa, Lagos and are facing a two- count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

According to the prosecutor, Sgt. Olusegun Kokoye, the accused committed the offences on Jan. 19 at City of Hope Car Wash situated at No.72, Bale Aiyetoro St., Ajegunle, Apapa.

The prosecutor told the court that the duo stole a wristwatch valued at N80, 000 from Makindes car, while they were washing it.

The complainant alleged that he took his car to the car wash and left it with them for about 30 minutes.

Makinde said that by the time he got back to the car wash, the accused persons had finished washing his car, so he decided to inspect the car to see if they washed it well."

The complainant said that when he checked inside the car, he noticed that his wristwatch was no longer there."

Makinde alleged that when he confronted the car wash attendants about the missing wristwatch, they denied taking it."

The complainant reported the case to the police and the duo were arrested for further questioning,  Kokoye stated.

The prosecutor noted that the offences contravened Section 285 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 285 prescribes a three-year jail term for stealing, while Section 409 stipulates two years imprisonment for conspiracy, if found guilty.

The Magistrate, Mr M.A. Etti, admitted the accused persons to bail in the sum of N50, 000 each, with one surety each in like sum.

Etti said that the sureties must be gainfully employed and also show evidence of three years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
A cross section of the dwellers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lagos said that they were better poised to survive the high cost of food items being experienced in cities.

Mr Daniel Anthony, a towing vehicle operator who resides at Muti, Lagos said he had converted his undeveloped plots of land to cassava farms, rather than allowing them to be overrun by wild animals.

According to him, his subsistent cassava farm has been producing enough food for his family in the last three years.

I can count the number of times I bought Garri from the market since 2014 and I take Garri and eat Eba regularly."

I harvest my own cassava which my wife makes into Garri and other edibles we can get from this crop, he said.

A trader who resides at Ereko, Ogun, Mrs Ramat Momoh, said she bought Ewedu and other vegetables from neighbours around her house.

Those who sell home-grown vegetables make quite a lot of money doing so."

At least, these families can make what they can use to get by and buy other necessary things to survive the times, she said.Momoh, the Treasurer, Ereko Community Development Association, said there was the need to go into subsistence farming as a way of safeguarding against food insecurity.

We the common men have to do with the little we can to survive and not wait on government all the time, she said.According to Mr Femi Oredemu, a resident of Igboolomu, Lagos, mothers in his locality are forming cooperatives to support their husbands and families.

He further said housewives in his area earned income from small farming and also by belonging to farm cooperatives to increase their dividends from land utilisation.

It is as if the situation of the country has told our wives to return to agriculture which used to be the mainstay of the economy of the country."

Nigerians need to take a look backward to find out how our forebears coped with hard times by extracting valuables that our vast land resources can give, he said.

Mr Ayo Atomise, a commercial bus driver residing at Elepe, Ogun, told NAN that most families around him supplement their meat intake by feeding on their free-range chickens.

He said families that reared goats and sheep in his locality had upgraded the security of their homes against would-be poachers of their domestic animals.

It is funny we dont hear of car hacking or house burglary again but stolen goats and sheep, Atomise said.

Artisans, especially in my area, combine farming with their main means of livelihood now.

An account officer with a micro-finance outfit, Mr John Iyadi, urged Community Development Associations (CDAs), in areas with many undeveloped plots should encourage their members to convert the open spaces into farms.

This hard time call for ingenuity, innovation and sacrifice on the part of us and at the lower strata of society too,Iyadi, who stays at Agbede area, Ogun , said.

Iyadi said countries that had experienced recession had turned to subsistence farming and traditional practices that modernisation had eroded.

A government worker, who did not want to be mentioned, said he had converted his other plots of land into farms to grow corn, yam and coco yam.

The officer, who stays behind the Odogunyan Barracks at Ikorodu, told NAN that his subsistence farming supplemented his salary he said was not enough to fund all his family obligations.

I have been eating fresh corn from my lands in the last two years."

I have equally stacked yams in my make shift barn that I also use as gift to other family members staying in urban areas, he said.
The money was allegedly stolen through undeclared crude oil and liquefied natural gas export.

The committee threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on the governor if he failed to appear within the period.

The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas said the international oil companies allegedly involved in the deal had provided the committee documents required to commence the investigation.

Namdas expressed concern that full investigation could not begin because of the failure of CBN to give the required details.

He alleged that CBN provided conflicting responses to its inquiry on the matter and as such the governor must appear in person to clarify issues and provide necessary details needed to facilitate the probe.

We have sent two different letters to the CBN and the bank has provided two conflicting responses to our inquiry.

In response to the first letter, the apex bank pleaded for time due to the volume of documents required but in response to the second letter, CBN indicated that it has no record of undeclared crude, Namdas said.

He expressed disappointment over Emefieles absence without representation at the investigative hearing.

The chairman warned that the committee would invoke the law against any individual or government agency delaying the investigation.

We expected him to be here and he is not, we are disappointed.

We will not allow any agency of government to delay the committees work.

If in the next one week, the CBN Governor did not appear before this committee, we will not hesitate to exercise our powers in line with section 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution," he added.

According to Namdas, the required details from the CBN are vital as the investigation cannot commence without them.

Most of the international oil companies have furnished us with the information needed but CBN is very vital and key to this investigation and we cannot jump the gun, he said.
Melaye, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, made this known to newsmen on Thursday, February 23, 2017.

He said We are also very uncomfortable with the number of hoodlums on our streets in Abuja. We have beggars, the destitute and commercial sex workers spread across every nook and cranny of the city. We have issued an order to the Commissioner of Police and the Commandment of the NSCDC, and we have also instructed the FCT to provide logistics for the immediate evacuation of all beggars, including those little boys, who claimed they are helping you to clean your cars windshield. By so doing, they are adding additional dents to your car.

Melaye also revealed that the Senate reached a deal with banks operating in Abuja to beautify roads in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

According to Punch, he said Last week, the Committee on FCT summoned the managing directors of all the banks operating in the federal capital city and 15 banks attended. The essence of that meeting was to correct the problems associated with environmental sanitation of the federal capital city.

ALSO READ: Prostitutes now offer sex at N500 per round as promo

Melaye said the deal with the commercial banks will save the Federal Government a lot of money.

We are also going to save a lot for government, which can now be used for other developmental purposes, he said.
The group made the call at the end of its general meeting in Awka on Thursday.

The communique of the meeting was signed by 20 of 28 political parties in the state and read by the groups Publicity Secretary, Mr Peter Okala.

It threatened to mobilise member of all registered political parties in the state to occupy the assembly premises on Monday if the legislators did not commence investigations into the allegations.

According to IPAC, some of the alleged breaches included non- conduct of local government elections and plan by the governor to appoint caretaker committee chairmen and liaison officers for the councils.

It said that the plans by Obiano led Anambra government to illegally and I constitutionally appoint Caretaker/Transition and/or liaison officers in whatsoever name called to manage affairs, including finances of the 21 Councils in the state, is totally unacceptable to all registered political parties . .

Any attempt by the Obiano-led administration to continue the unlawful diversion and misappropriation of monies accruing to the 21 local councils from the Federation Account and unconstitutional appointment of caretaker/transition shall be met with strongest resistance.

That the ANSHoA is hereby given five-day notice with effect from today within which to direct or cause to be directed an inquiry or investigate into the unlawful activities and allegation of offences of breaches and grave violation of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

That in the unlikely event that the ANSHoA fails or neglects within five days to direct or cause to be directed an inquiry or investigate into the unlawful activities of Obiano, we the members of all the registered political parties in Anambra shall occupy the ANSHoA until justice is done.

It called on the police and other security agencies to prevent the governor from continued breach and violation of the constitution to avoid crisis, bloodshed and breach of the peace in the state.

In his reaction, Mr Oliver Okpala, the Senior Special Assistant on Media Strategic Communication and Legislative Matters to the Governor, said the threat was expected in an election year.

Okpala said IPAC was not a political party and should be non-partisan.
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: 1:25pm

Daily: 12:30 PM, 5:00 PM

Daily: 7:40PM

Daily: 12:50PM, 3:05PM, 5:10PM, 7:20PM, 9:20PM

Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae

Synopsis: Based on a true story. A team of African-American women provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions.

Friday - Thursday: 3:30pm, 6:05pm, 8:30pm

Fri: 2:00 PM, 4:30 PM, 7:10 PM, 9:00 PM, 9:50 PM

Sat - Tue:2:00 PM, 4:30 PM, 7:10 PM, 8:00 PM, 9:50 PM

Wed & Thu: 2:00 PM, 4:30 PM

Daily: 3:20PM, 4:15PM, 7:45PM

Daily: 11:30AM, 2:00PM, 4:30PM, 7:05PM, 9:30PM

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: 2:40PM, 7:00PM, 9:10PM

Friday - Thursday: 11:10PM

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.

Fri - Tue: 2:50 PM, 7:20 PM, 9:30 PM

Wed & Thu: 2:50 PM, 7:20 PM

Sunday -Thursday: 12:40PM, 4:40PM

Daily: 4:40 PM, 8:00 PM, 10:10 PM

Daily: 11:00am

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: 12:30PM, 4:50PM

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:1:50 PM, 4:00 PM, 6:10 PM

Friday -Thursday: 4:45pm

Friday -Thursday: 12:55PM, 9:15PM

Friday - Thursday:12:10PM, 2:10PM, 4:10PM, 6:10PM, 8:10PM

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen

Synopsis: In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.

Showing:

1st - 2nd March (Wed & Thu): 7:10 PM, 8:15 PM,9:10 PM, 9:50 PM

Wednesday -Thursday: 3:25pm, 6:00pm, 7:20pm, 8:35pm

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:

Friday -Thursday: 10:30am, 12:30pm

Friday -Thursday: 2:20PM, 4:00PM, 7:10PM, 9:05PM

Friday - Thursday:12:20PM, 2:00PM, 3:40PM, 5:20PM, 7:10PM 8:50PM

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: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:

Fri - Tue: 12:30 PM, 2:40 PM, 4:50 PM, 7:00 PM, 8:20 PM, 9:10 PM

Wed & Thu: 12:30 PM, 2:40 PM, 4:50 PM, 7:00 PM, 8:20 PM, 9:30 PM

Friday -Thursday: 3:20pm, 5:15pm, 7:05pm, 9:00pm

Friday -Thursday: 2:15PM, 5:20PM, 7:05PM

Friday - Thursday:1:00PM, 3:00PM, 5:00PM, 7:00PM, 9:00PM

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 - 6:00PM

Saturday - Thursday: 6:00PM, 8:00PM

Starring: AY Makun, Nadia Buari, Emma Nyra, Evan King, Anita Chris

Synopsis: An exuberant, adventurous young, white American man in search of a job lands himself a drivers job of transporting African films stars coming to America for an award show in this extremely funny comedy.

Showing:

Fri : 4:50 pm, 6:50 pm, 7:00 pm, 8:50 pm

Sat - Thu: 4:50 pm, 6:50 pm, 8:50 pm

Friday - Thursday: 12:55PM, 5:45PM, 9:00PM

Daily: 1:20pm, 3:05pm, 4:55pm, 6:40pm, 8:25pm

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: 1:00pm

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, 2:40 PM

Friday -Thursday: 12:20PM, 3:15PM

Friday - Thursday: 12:00PM, 2:00PM, 4:00PM

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:

Friday -Thursday: 1:15PM, 5:00PM, 20:50PM

Friday - Thursday: 2:40PM, 6:40PM, 8:40PM

Daily: 2:30pm, 6:45pm, 9:00pm

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:

Friday -Thursday: 7:00PM
The event which held at Genesis Cinemas, Maryland, was attended by Okey Uzoeshi, Beverly Naya, Isioma Osaje, Tope Tedela among others.

Directed by Yemi Morafa, the psycho drama was released on February 17, 2017.

The film features Gabriel Afolayan, Iretiola Doyle, Ivie Okujaye-Egboh, Adesua Etomi, Beverly Naya and Okey Uzoeshi.Bisola Aiyeola, Omowunmi Dada, Timini Egbuson, Keira Hewatch, and Emem Ufot.

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.

Nolly Thursdays which has been described as the movie industry's Industry Night" for the Nigerian film industry, is geared towards promoting and celebrating Nollywood movies (old and new) in the cinema.

Nolly Thursdays airs on TrybeTv(GoTVngCh.97) by 5:30pm and ONTV(UHF Ch.41, GoTV Ch.96) by 7:30pm.

For information on how to get a free Genesis Cinemas movie ticket for any film, follow @PulseMovies247on twitter.
Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu, the national president made the observation in a press statement issued on Thursday, February 23, 2017.

The statement reads:

"An in-depth look at the prevailing circumstances, we deem it necessary to affirm that all is not well with the country and most especially the north as the region that holds the political reign of the country.

"President Muhammadu Buhari like any human being can be sick and looking at his age and the demand of superintending over a country like Nigeria, it is not surprising that his doctors have recommended further rest for the President to enable him to recuperate towards facing the task of taking the country to the next level.

"However what is worrisome is the attitude of the politicians especially those of northern extraction towards the health of the President.

"Information available to us shows that instead of praying for the quick recovery of Mr President and working to put the country in a better stead ahead of his return to the country, many of them including some northern governors are working to position themselves for personal political gains to the detriment of the ideology of Mr President and the reason for which he was overwhelmingly elected by majority of Nigerians."

President Buhari on February 5, wrote a letter to the Senate to extend his medical vacation indefinitely.
According to Vanguard, the Governor said Here in Ekiti, we are waiting for them. If INEC and its ally, APC like, they can print as many Form EC8A as it can, they will fail.

He also alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police force aligned with the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the Edo governorship election.

Fayose said that recent revelations in the INEC Rivers rerun report shows that the police were partisan.

The Governor also alleged that INEC and the police no longer hide the fact that they are in support of the APC.

He said While we continue to watch with keen interest, revelations coming from the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal, the open display of partisanship in the Rivers State rerun elections has made it so obvious that INEC and police have become so shameless in their open display of support for the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Fayose also called on the police to tell Nigerians what happened to the suspect, Christian Chukwuemeka Ejikeme who reportedly confessed to killing DSP Mohammed Alkali during the Rivers rerun election.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Lere Olayinka, the Governor said We have seen the police and INEC going back and forth on Rivers State rerun elections and I wish to ask the police; what happened to that suspect, Christian Chukwuemeka Ejikeme, who reportedly confessed to the complicity of some APC top-shots in the murder of DSP Mohammed Alkali?

ALSO READ:Governor Wike wants police to punish those indicted in INEC report
The National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Solomon Soyebi said this while briefing newsmen on Thursday, February 23, 2017.

The police report had indicted 25 INEC officials, alleging that the sum of N111.3m was collected from them.

Soyebi also promised to co-operate with the police, adding that 28 officials were indicted in the recently released INEC report on the Rivers rerun election.

According to Punch, he said The commission received the report of the Joint Police/DSS Special Investigation Panel on the Rivers State rerun elections of December 10, 2016. From the report, we gathered that the police have concluded their investigations and the 25 INEC (members of ) staff who were indicted will be prosecuted.

The commission has resolved to fully cooperate with the police in this process. In addition and without prejudice to their prosecution, the indicted INEC (members of) staff will also face the commissions internal disciplinary process. The commission wishes to reiterate very clearly that it will not shield any of its (member of) staff that engages in any conduct that will undermine the integrity of the electoral process.

The commission also considered the Report of its Administrative Inquiry into the December 10, 2016, Rivers State rerun elections and accepted its recommendations that all the 28 indicted (members of) staff should face internal disciplinary action for gross misconduct, dereliction of duty and negligence.

ALSO READ: Police disagree with INEC over report on December 10 election

Soyebi also said the two corps members, Aguna Isaac and Ademola Oluwatoba, who served as the Presiding Officers during the December 10, 2016 polls will be offered automatic employment.
Yankuba Badjie and the Director of Operations, Sheikh Jeng, along with eight other officers were charged.

Barrow had released dozens of opposition activists from prison since he took office on Jan. 19, replacing Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the Islamic republic for the last 22 years with an iron fist.

Jammeh caused weeks of political impasse by refusing to accept the result of the December presidential election before going into exile in Equatorial Guinea.

Badjie took over at the intelligence agency in 2013, with Jeng as his deputy.
According to Channels TV, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has expressed worry over the situation.

About 313 of the deportees are said to be displaced people who fled from their lives in the wake of the Boko Haram attacks in North-Eastern Nigeria.

The UNHCR has also called on the government of Cameron to consider the refugees based on laid down international laws of asylum.

The UNHCR in Cameroon, in a tweet posted in French, and translated to English, said The UNHCR is very concerned about these repatriations and continues to advocate for access to asylum and the principle of non refoulement.

The Boko Haram sect unleashed terror in North-East Nigeria, causing many to seek refuge in nearby countries.
President Donald Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer, reportedly told security aides to allow only reporters from a carefully selected news organizations into the briefing.

Some of the news media allowed in include Breitbart News, the One America News Network and The Washington Times, all with conservative leanings.

Journalists from ABC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Fox News also attended.

But reporters from Time magazine and The Associated Press, who were going to be allowed to attend the briefing, refused to be part of it in protest of the White House's action.

Condemning the action in a statement, the executive editor of The Times said it is the first time something like that would happen at the White House.

He said: "Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties.

"We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."

The White House Correspondents' Association (W.H.C.A) also condemned the action.

"The W.H.C.A. board is protesting strongly against how todays gaggle is being handled by the White House," the association president, Jeff Mason, said in a statement.

"We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff."
"A Niger army patrol was attacked by terrorist elements at 1500 GMT north of Tilwa (on Wednesday). We have 15 dead and 19 wounded in our ranks," said Colonel Toure Seydou Albdoula Aziz, the army spokesman.

"Clean-up operations have been launched in the sector to neutralise the fleeing terrorists," he said, without divulging the number of attackers or their affiliation.

Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou extended his sincere condolences to the families of victims in a tweet.

The Nigeria-based Boko Haram Islamist group has waged a seven-year uprising that has claimed more than 20,000 lives, with the insurgency spilling over the West African nation's borders into neighbouring states, including Niger.

The violence has left around 2.6 million people homeless, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations warning the affected region faces the "largest crisis in Africa".
Shops and homes owned by foreigners have been looted and torched in recent weeks, with some South Africans alleging that the properties were brothels and drug dens.

Attacks against foreigners have erupted regularly in recent years, fuelled by South Africa's high unemployment and poverty levels.

Police in Pretoria formed lines to keep apart 500 protesters as tensions rise between some South Africans and migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere.

"We are fed up with people bringing drugs to the youth and the crimes that go with it," said a South African marcher who declined to be named.

As the stand-off continued, Clement Melfort, 26, a migrant from Zimbabwe who had come to see the march told AFP: "We are not afraid of fighting."

President Jacob Zuma condemned the latest wave of xenophobic unrest, saying that there had been "threats of violence and acts of intimidation and destruction of property directed at non-nationals."

"Residents in some communities blame non-nationals for the escalating crimes especially drug trafficking," the presidency said in a statement on Friday.

Zuma called for South Africans not to blame migrants for the country's widespread crime problems, but said the government would crack down on drug-dealing and illegal immigrants.

'We are scared'

In the last week, more than 20 shops have been targeted in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, while residents in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, attacked at least 12 houses.

"We have decided to not to leave the house (during the march)," Alain Bome, a 47-year-old from Democratic Republic of the Congo who has been in South Africa for 14 years, told AFP.

"We know very well there have been attacks. We are scared."

In 2008, South Africa experienced its worst bout of xenophobic violence, which left 62 people dead.

The Nigerian government this week called for the African Union to step in to stop "xenophobic attacks" on its citizens in South Africa, claiming 20 Nigerians were killed last year.

South African authorities dismiss such numbers, saying many violent deaths in the country are due to criminal activity rather than anti-immigrant sentiment.

In 2008, South Africa experienced its worst bout of xenophobic violence, which left 62 people dead.
Many officials in Bosnia had argued against the move, saying it could spark a new political crisis in the ethnically divided Balkan country.

Some Bosnian Serbs have said they will consider a boycott of central institutions over the move.

Mladen Ivanic, the Serb member of the presidency, said the request should have been decided by the tripartite presidency as a whole.

"I am afraid that we have entered a really serious crisis," Ivanic said at a separate press conference.

But Izetbegovic argued there was no need for the presidency to decide, saying it had been requested by a lawyer the presidency appointed in 2002.

In the original case launched by the Muslim-dominated government of Bosnia in 1993, Sarajevo accused Belgrade of masterminding a genocide through widespread "ethnic cleansing" during the war, which claimed more than 100,000 lives.

On February 26, 2007, the ICJ found only one act of genocide -- the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica -- and said there was not enough evidence to suggest that Belgrade was directly responsible.

Serb forces captured the eastern town of Srebrenica in July 1995, in the final months of the war, then summarily killed its males in Europe's worst single atrocity since World War II.

The ICJ did find, however, that Serbia, which gave political and military backing to Bosnian Serbs, had breached international law by failing to prevent the slaughter.

But Izetbegovic has said Bosnia has "new arguments," notably those presented during the trial of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime army chief who is awaiting judgement at a UN tribunal.
Speaking to AFP and other reporters in Baghdad this week, US Air Force Brigadier General Matt Isler said the IS group had adopted coercive new techniques in its use of suicide car bombs because the jihadists appear to be running out of willing drivers.

"We saw people being led to a VBIED, being put in (it) and being chained in the VBIED," he said.

"We've seen children put in VBIEDs as drivers, people that aren't able to walk... I don't know if they signed up for this service."

The coalition has often seen VBIEDs depart on missions, only for their drivers to veer off course and attempt to hide behind structures.

"We see a VBIED going to its attack, going off and hiding," Isler said.

"We see a party going to find the AWOL VBIED driver, we see (IS) command and control trying to figure out where their VBIED driver's gone, we've seen multiple VBIED drivers going AWOL."

The coalition first saw drivers being chained into trucks when Iraqi security forces approached the Tigris river as they cleared eastern Mosul, Isler said.

IS drones

The operation to free Iraq's second city of IS control began in October. After clearing the east side, Iraqi forces on Sunday launched an operation aimed at flushing the jihadists from Mosul's west bank.

On Thursday, they thrust into Mosul airport on the southern edge of the IS stronghold for the first time since the jihadists overran the region in 2014.

Iraqi troops backed by jets, helicopter gunships and drones blitzed their way across open areas south of Mosul before entering the airport compound. Although they apparently met limited resistance, they strafed the area for suspected snipers.

As its fighters are killed off and it loses ground, the IS group has developed new ways to counter-strike, including by steering hobby drones fitted with grenades and bombs at troops and civilians.

The buzz of the small, pilotless aircraft now puts soldiers on guard, but their impact has been limited.

"It has a harassing effect, but it's not a game changer," New Zealand Brigadier Hugh McAslan said.

The coalition officers said the most the IS group can hope to do now is fight "delaying actions" ahead of losing Mosul.
Welcome to Premium Friday, Japan's latest bid to tackle two perennial problems -- sluggish consumer spending and notoriously long working hours blamed for a national health crisis known as karoshi, or death from overwork.

The work-life balance campaign, which launches this week, calls on employers to let staff off around 3:00 pm on the last Friday of every month.

Major firms such as automakers Nissan and Toyota, beverage giant Suntory and brokerage Nomura are taking part in the government-backed scheme.

Thousands of other firms are offering promotions to workers who will have a bit of extra time on Fridays.

Mobile carrier SoftBank is letting staff quit early and, later this year, will be putting an extra 10,000 yen ($90) in their pockets.

One railway operator is offering a special train ride with beer and bento boxes, while off-early workers can also get discounts on everything from matchmaking services to cancer checks.

Prime minister Shinzo Abe will be taking it down a notch by spending the afternoon at a Zen meditation temple, followed by a music concert.

So says top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga who is also kicking off early -- as soon Friday's press briefing was done.

"Unfortunately I have to hold this press conference at your request," he told reporters in Tokyo.

"But as soon as I'm done with this, I'm going to doing something" for Premium Friday.

'Changing our lifestyle'

Every year, Japan's notoriously long working hours are blamed for hundreds of deaths due to strokes, heart attacks and suicides, along with a host of serious health problems.

The issue was highlighted again in late December when the head of Japan's biggest advertising agency Dentsu resigned in response to the suicide of a young employee who regularly logged more than 100 hours of overtime a month.

More than one in five Japanese companies have employees who work such long hours they're at serious risk of death, according to a government survey released in October.

Japan's long working hours spawned the image of the weary salaryman who worked all day, drank with the boss all night, and was back at his desk early in the morning.

That punishing work culture has softened over the decades, but putting in long hours is still seen as a sign of dedication at many Japanese firms.

"We're hoping to boost spending by changing our lifestyle, the way we work and the way we think," Masanao Ueda, director of major business lobby Keidanren's Industrial Policy Bureau, told AFP.

"It's hard for Japanese workers to take a day off so we need to create conditions in which everyone can take a holiday."

But it could be hard sell.

Many Japanese employees don't even take all of their regular annual leave and firms are not helping with the needed wage hikes.

And only a small fraction of Japan's firms are taking part in the non-mandatory scheme.

"This campaign will not suddenly boost spending or stop long working hours," said Naoko Kuga, analyst at Tokyo's NLI Research Institute.
Britain, France and the United States are pushing for a ban on the sale of helicopters to Syria and sanctions on 11 Syrians and 10 entities linked to chemical attacks in the nearly six-year war.

A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has concluded that the Syrian military carried out chemical attacks against three villages in 2014 and 2015.

"This is the significant response that the Security Council committed to do in the event of proven use of CW in Syria," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The US, UK and France are very clear that this is an issue of principle," he said, adding that Russia's ambassador said at a meeting last week that Moscow would block the measure.

Russia has used its veto six times to shield its Damascus ally from any punitive action.

China, another veto-wielding Security Council member, is expected to abstain in the vote.

France and Britain presented drafts on imposing sanctions on Syria in December, but held off on action to give the new US administration time to study it.

The latest draft, seen by AFP, would impose a global travel ban and assets freeze on 11 Syrians, mostly military officials including the head of Syrian air force intelligence and the commander of air operations in areas where attacks occurred.

These commanders are said to have been involved in attacks by helicopters that dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin.

Syria has denied using chemical weapons while Russia has dismissed the panel's findings as "inconclusive."
RAW CONTINUES IN GERMANY, SMACKDOWN HITS THE MIDWEST, NXT STAYS IN FL

The Raw brand continues its tour of Germany tonight with a show in Hanover. On Saturday they finish up with an event in Regensburg. They then fly back across the Atlantic for Raw on Monday in Green Bay, WI.

Smackdown's tour starts tomorrow with a show in Moline, IL. On Sunday they are in Cedar Rapids, IA and Monday they are in Dubuque, IA. Tuesdays Smackdown Live emanates from St. Paul, MN.

NXT has events as well with a show this evening in Coral Gables, FL and tomorrow in Fort Piece, FL.

If you are going to any of the shows and can send a report, please drop me a line.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Power-generation and utilities holding company Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) is no stranger to income investors. The stock pays out an above-average dividend yielding over 3.6%, which is supported by a strong and predictable operating cash flow year-in and year-out. And thanks to the nature of its business -- regulated utilities and an expansive portfolio of competitive power-generation -- the dividend is relatively safe. In fact, shareholders have received a payout each quarter for several decades.

But the dividend is not the company's chief concern. Despite a 27% gain in 2016 -- 32% with dividends included -- Exelon Corporation stock has struggled to return value to shareholders outside of its quarterly payout. The stock has lost 43% in the last decade, which improves to a loss of just 14% when dividends are included -- far below the returns of the S&P 500 in that period.

That means investors not persuaded by the dividend may not bother to consider buying Exelon Corporation. However, while a recent history of lackluster performance is indisputable, a closer look at management's long-term strategy and diversification initiatives provides a strong case for all investors to consider buying the stock.

Reversing an ugly trend

One of the chief reasons for the stock's ho-hum performance in the last 10 years is simple: Growing revenue is not resulting in gains in net income. In 2006, each dollar of revenue resulted in $0.25 of net income, but that slipped to just $0.036 in 2016. The trend has resulted in the largest gap between revenue growth and net income growth in the company's history.

Regulations and competition have been significant factors in this trend, but investors have worried that the company wasn't doing enough to combat industry headwinds. That forced management to act, and full-year 2016 financial results and future guidance demonstrate important signs of progress against long-term goals. Two factors are expected to lead to improving operations.

First, Exelon Corporation will spend substantially less on utilities operations and generate significantly more revenue in the next four years. After a large push to improve reliability in recent years (which lowers long-term costs), total capital expenditures for utilities are expected to fall 8.6% from 2017 to 2020. Meanwhile, rate base growth is expected to result in a 29% increase in revenue during the period.

Management expects full-year 2017 EPS from utilities in the range of $1.40 to $1.70, which is easily above the $1.12 achieved last year. Current expectations call for GAAP EPS from utilities to steadily increase to $1.70 in 2018, $1.80 in 2019, and $1.90 in 2020 (using the midpoint for each yearly range). The exact numbers are almost guaranteed to change, but nonetheless demonstrate confidence that the business will change for the better.

Second, the generation business is expected to perform substantially better than previously thought. That's almost entirely due to the quickly changing fortunes of the company's nuclear fleet. Exelon Corporation tried in vain to convince the state of Illinois to include carbon-free nuclear operations in its Clean Energy Standard, which would have provided a small subsidy for atomic energy. After the company held firm on its plan to close two power plants in the state in 2017 and 2018, the Illinois State Legislature agreed to provide a Zero Emission Credit (ZEC) of $0.01 per kWh from nuclear generation.

There are strings attached to the ZEC, but when combined with a similar incentive in the state of New York, it provides quite a bit more breathing room. Exelon Corporation updated its guidance through 2019 to include an additional $2.8 billion in gross profit compared to earlier scenarios that factored in the closing of the two nuclear power plants.

It's important to note that even with the ZEC in Illinois and New York, the generation business will see its gross profit decline from 2017 to 2019 -- it will simply decline less than previously expected. That said, an earnings benefit will be derived from a planned decrease in capital expenditures. Management expects to spend $2.85 billion on generation this year, but just $1.85 billion in 2020.

A combination of decreasing capital expenditures, increasing reliability, and improved gross margin will lead to an expected $6.8 billion in free cash flow generation between this year and 2020.

Roughly half will be dedicated to debt reduction for generation and holding companies, which shouldn't be overlooked. Exelon Corporation spent $1.5 billion on interest expenses alone in 2016 -- a more than $500 million increase from the prior year. The other half of the $6.8 billion in free cash flow will be invested in growth opportunities and the continued improvement of utilities.

What does it mean for investors?

Successful execution of management's plan for healthier, more robust operations outlined above should provide plenty of reasons for Exelon Corporation stock to rise in the next several years. That certainly would be welcomed by shareholders that have struggled with dismal stock performance over the last decade. It also builds a strong case for any investor with a long-term mindset to consider buying shares.

10 stocks we like better than Exelon

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 Exelon 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

Maxx Chatsko 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.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  A statement issued by the city of Muscatine Friday, written by City Attorney Matthew Brick, acknowledges that some questions have arisen since charges for removal of Muscatine Mayor Diana Broderson were filed a week ago. The statement was issued to answer some of those questions.

Mayor Diana Broderson's lawyer, William J. Sueppel of Meardon, Sueppel & Downer, P.L.C., received a copy of the accusations filed against her on the morning of Feb. 17, according to the public statement.

Broderson told the Muscatine Journal on Thursday she and her lawyer had not been served with the charges, and she maintains she has not been served. She referred further questions on Friday to her attorney. Sueppel did not return calls for comment.

The statement from the city says Sueppel received a "courtesy copy of the written charges" the same day they were filed with the city clerk on Feb. 17.

Muscatine City Code Title 1, 1-7-6, says charges must be prepared and filed by the city attorney, but it does not explicitly state if, how or when the mayor must receive the charges, only that if the council decides to proceed with a hearing, notice must be given by personal service on the mayor at least 10 days before the hearing.

State code allows municipalities to decide the manner of preferring and hearing the charges.

The city's statement also says that retired judge John A. Nahra has been retained to serve as special counsel to the city and will be prosecutor if the council moves forward with the process of removing the mayor from office, while the city attorney will advise the council and serve as attorney.

Broderson and the statement both say a date has not been set for a hearing.
A leak from a diesel tank was discovered Thursday after the fuel had reached Mud Creek about 10 miles northwest of Walcott, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said in a news release.

Authorities said that a sheen on the creek caught a neighbors eye and the neighbor traced the fuel back through an unnamed tributary of Mud Creek to an underground tile line in a farmyard. The source of the leak was a pipe from an above-ground diesel fuel tank.

Maysville firefighters placed absorbent booms in the unnamed tributary to prevent the fuel from traveling farther downstream.

Mud Creek flows northeast about 10 miles to the Wapsipinicon River.

The farmer was not sure when the leak occurred, making it difficult to determine how much of the fuel spilled, DNR officials said. It is possible that 500 gallons spilled with maybe half of that reaching Mud Creek before the booms were in place.

Water samples have been taken by DNR staff. They also checked for any effects downstream. Officials saw live fish but no dead fish.

The situation is continuing to be monitored by the DNR.

 Thomas Geyer
Former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold will be a guest speaker at the Scott County Democrats' annual Red, White and Blue fundraising dinner next month, a local party official said.

Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, was in the Senate from 1993 until 2011. He ran unsuccessfully to get back to the Senate last year, losing to Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.

Scott County Democratic Chairman Thom Hart said Friday that Feingold will be a speaker at the March 25 dinner. He said the party is seeking other speakers for the event, although he would not reveal who invitations went out to.

Feingold had been considered a potential presidential candidate before the 2008 election cycle, and he made a handful of trips to the state to help the party and some of its candidates during the 2006 election cycle. That included a 2006 visit to Davenport. But in November of that year, he said he would not seek the nomination.

This year's Red, White and Blue dinner will be held at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. Last year, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley were the top speakers at the event, which was held a week before the Iowa caucuses.

This year's dinner also is expected to be a draw for those who are running or considering a bid for the Democrats' 2018 gubernatorial nomination. Former Iowa Department of Natural Resources director Rich Leopold, who already has announced his candidacy, is planning to attend, Hart said. So is state Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, who is considering a run.

Other state and local officials are expected to attend, including Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, and state Senate Democratic Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids. Iowa Democratic Party chairman Derek Eadon also is scheduled to attend.
DES MOINES  A House panel on Thursday endorsed banning the use of handheld electronic devices while driving but agreed motorists who violate the new law, if passed, would only get a warning for the first year before officers would begin issuing $30 tickets for the offense.

Rep. Gary Worthan, Storm Lake, chairman of a House Transportation subcommittee, said the phased-in enforcement is needed to garner support among majority Republicans in the House of Representatives. House Study Bill 139 now moves to full committee for action expected next week.

We want law enforcement to vigorously enforce these warnings, said Worthan.

The proposed legislation, which won 3-0 subcommittee support with Worthans amendment, would ban the use of handheld electronic devices while driving. Representatives of auto manufacturers also asked that the bill be modified to allow for future advancements like voice-activated texting or built-in navigation that would not require setting by hand while driving.

I am all in favor of this, said Rep. Robert Bacon, R-Slater. If it can protect life, save life, its common sense.

The House bill expands Iowas current anti-texting law by barring use of an electronic communication device while driving, but providing an exception for using a device in a handsfree mode. Iowa would become the 16th state to make some changes, backers said.

Supporters, including representatives of law enforcement, safety agencies, automakers, insurance carriers and communication providers, said the handheld prohibition is a preferred approach to merely making texting a primary offense rather than a secondary offense as some have proposed.

Its just not enforceable unless its handsfree, said Susan Cameron, a lobbyist for the Iowa Sheriffs & Deputies Association, who noted that 68 percent of all traffic deaths in last five years in Iowa involved lane departures, which is a sign of distracted driving and I think thats a real wake up.

We believe that its time to put your hands back on the wheel and put your phones down while youre driving, Cameron told the subcommittee. Its time for us to put public safety ahead of convenience on this.

Opposition to the bill comes from civil libertarians and NAACP representatives who want protections added to prevent law enforcement officers from using the new provisions to make stops based on racial profiling.

The measure must pass the full committee next week to adhere to a funnel requirement for non-money bills to clear at least one standing committee to remain eligible for consideration this session.

Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he is willing to consider the one-year grace period for tickets if thats what it takes to secure House passage.

If thats what it takes to move the needle, I think we need to continue to look at this, he said.
A day after the University of Iowa began notifying 2,440 students they wont get scholarship money they expected this fall because of state budget cuts, Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer slammed the move Thursday as politics at its worst.

She suggested the university tap into the $2 billion its foundation collected in a fundraising campaign, instead.

Its very disappointing that the University of Iowa is choosing to play politics with scholarships and the lives of parents and students, Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, university President Bruce Harreld told lawmakers his institution is cutting several non-merit and non-need-based scholarship programs in response to an $8 million takeback in state appropriations in the current budget year.

That means student recipients of the eliminated programs  such as the Iowa Heritage Award that gives aid to students with a parent or guardian who is an alumnus  wont get money they expected next school year.

Dropping the scholarships, which could affect the recipients beyond next year, is expected to save the university $4.3 million.

But Upmeyer questioned the need to yank the aid, referring to an earlier comment from Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter that state universities would be able to make reductions, based on the governors budget recommendation, with minimal impact on students.

That comment came after Gov. Terry Branstad proposed taking back $25.5 million from the regent universities. But lawmakers softened those reductions further, Upmeyer said.

In December, the Legislature agreed to cut $18 million from the base of state funds allocated to universities  $8 million each from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University and $2 million from the University of Northern Iowa.

Those cuts, which are part of a larger statewide de-appropriation because of a budget shortfall, are expected to persist past this budget year because they pull from the base of annual allocations.

But Upmeyer seemed to believe otherwise, saying: These cuts to financial aid scholarships are for next school year, and the Legislature hasnt even appropriated money to the regents yet.

Lawmakers still are considering the regents request for a 2 percent increase in state support for the next budget year.

Even if approved, that wouldnt make up for the $18 million hit.

Now, Rastetter said he would like to know if the Legislature intends to restore this years cuts.

Unless Im misinterpreting Speaker Upmeyer, to add back in that $8 million that just got cut, we have to assume thats a permanent cut, Rastetter said. Well try and clarify that with her, and hopefully, that means that they dont plan on it being a permanent cut.

Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said Democrats were ready, willing and able to vote on increased funding to help the University of Iowa. But he also called on the university to reconsider.

This is really bad. I have already communicated with the University of Iowa that if theres any way they can avoid doing this, they should do that, Hogg said. But Im imploring this body and this Legislature to act.

Upmeyer indicated a place to look for the money is the universitys recent historic fundraising campaign, which took in nearly $2 billion.

Surely some of that money could have been used to make up the difference, she said.

Harreld has said that even though the university brings in major donations through its foundation, that money is restricted by donor intent on how it can be used.

(Rod Boshart contributed to this story.)
DES MOINES  Speakers at a hearing on Iowa water quality legislation were generally supportive of its provisions to establish long-term funding and foster collaborative approaches to reducing pollution and flood threats.

However, a part of House Study Bill 135 that would allow nutrient exchanges came under fire from opponents of corporate agriculture.

This bill does nothing to stop pollution, Jessica Mazour of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement told a House Agriculture subcommittee Thursday. It further passes the cost of cleaning up Iowas water on to the public. We shouldnt have to subsidize cleaning up the water from the pollution they created.

Pollution trading, as Mazour called the nutrient exchanges, does nothing but transfer pollution across the state. If one polluter pollutes less, someone else can pollute more.

However, Tim Whipple of the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, said the plan would allow interested parties to be able to share and work outside the boundaries of a city.

It can be less expensive to invest in upstream improvements that could improve both water quality and flood control than building water and wastewater treatment facilities, he said.

He disagreed with the claim that it shifts pollution and noted the bill requires measurable and quantifiable reduction in pollution.

Current monitoring is inadequate to provide those measurements, Mazour said.

The bill is very similar to the legislation approved by the House last year.

This years bill calls for a $232 million appropriation over 13 years from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund to be administered by the Soil Conservation and Water Quality Division of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

The appropriations will grow from $5 million the first year to $22 million a year after 2020.

It also includes a 6 percent excise tax on water sales by water services in the state. Those revenues will go into a water quality fund administered by the Iowa Finance Authority to help pay for water quality and wastewater treatment programs for cities and other eligible entities. It will be capped at $500,000 per recipient.

The idea, Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone, said is that by creating the revolving fund the state can foster collaboration between communities and landowners in a watershed to address both water quality and quantity.

We want to be flexible and allow everyone to participate to solve water quality problems, he said.

One of the most attractive aspects of the plan, according to Tim Whipple of the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, is that it would create a permanent source of funding. By utilizing the Finance Authoritys bonding capacity, cities would be able borrow money at a lower cost.

Theyll make substantial progress sooner, he said.

John Stineman of the Iowa Chamber Alliance said a number of business and industry groups endorsed the plan for a similar reason  access to low-cost, plentiful water is a key to economic development.

However, Chad Kleppe said Master Builders of Iowa opposed the bill because it would divert infrastructure funds that are used to address a variety of needs, including the $300 million a year in deferred maintenance at state facilities.

Roger Wolf of the Iowa Soybean Association said the legislation recognizes these are shared problems, and there are shared solutions. By encouraging watershed-wide collaboration, the bill gives us a road map to improve water quality ... and provide the context for how we can grow a finance solution.

A Senate subcommittee later took up Senate Study Bill 1034, Gov. Terry Branstads water quality bill.
1. Get out the coats, snow to return to Q-C

A good Friday to all. After beginning the week with record-setting warmth, the week with come to a crashing close with frosty temperatures, blustery winds and a little snow.

Yes, snow.

Here are the weather details from the National Weather Service.

Today there's a 50 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Skies will be cloudy with a temperature rising to near 44 degrees by 9 a.m., then falling to around 37 degrees during the remainder of the day. Northeast winds around 15 mph will become northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.

Tonight we'll see rain turning to snow. It will be cloudy and blustery with northwest winds gusting as high as 30 mph. New snow accumulation of around an inch will be possible.

Saturday will bring a 20 percent chance of snow before noon. Skies will be cloudy through mid-morning, then gradual clearing with a high near 30 degrees. Wind gusts will be as high as 30 mph.

Saturday night will be mostly cloudy with a low around 23 degrees.

Sunday brings a 30 percent chance of rain after noon. Skies will be partly sunny with a high near 44 degrees and a low around 27 degrees.

On the bright side, there's a blizzard warnings out for the western and northern parts of Iowa (NOT here), with up to a foot of snow forecasted.

River flooding will be possible over the next several days based upon forecasted rainfall. Minor flooding is possible on portions of the Iowa and Cedar Rivers.

2. Ickes: Election, lawsuit, vacancies plague Moline

The empty upstairs offices at Moline City Hall gave the impression it was a holiday, and somebody forgot to lock up.

At 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, the offices of the city administrator, city clerk and mayor were vacant. The lights were on, but nobody was home.

The silence at City Hall screams out Moline's mess. Read more.

3. Davenport is the team to beat in culinary competition

Four Davenport students calmly chopped fruit with a butcher's knife, rolled out pastry dough and fried plantains, all to prepare a three-course meal for an Iowa state competition in which they have done very well, thank you.

The Davenport ProStart team will take its culinary skills to the state level in Des Moines next week, practicing those skills in the culinary arts kitchen at Central High School. Read more.

4. Man in Home Depot shooting pleads not guilty

A Bettendorf man shot by a police officer during a standoff at Home Depot in Bettendorf in December has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in connection with the case.

Joshua G. Price, 19, faces charges of third-degree kidnapping, second-degree burglary, assault while participating in a felony, and assault on persons engaged in other occupations, a serious misdemeanor. Read more.

5. Diesel leak discovered in Mud Creek in Scott County

A leak from a diesel tank was discovered Thursday after the fuel had reached Mud Creek about 10 miles northwest of Walcott.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials said a sheen on the creek caught a neighbors eye and the neighbor traced the fuel back through an unnamed tributary of Mud Creek to an underground tile line in a farmyard. The source of the leak was a pipe from an above-ground diesel fuel tank.

Maysville firefighters placed absorbent booms in the unnamed tributary to prevent the fuel from traveling farther downstream. Mud Creek flows northeast about 10 miles to the Wapsipinicon River.

The farmer was not sure when the leak occurred, making it difficult to determine how much of the fuel spilled, DNR officials said. It is possible that 500 gallons spilled with maybe half of that reaching Mud Creek before the booms were in place.

Water samples have been taken by DNR staff. The situation is continuing to be monitored by the DNR.

6. Sneak peak: Sunday's Big Story  Big education budget cuts

Fingers are firmly crossed that action in Des Moines will spare educators in Davenport. A painful process has been under way to cut $18 million from the Davenport Community School District's budget over the next three years.

In our Big Story in Sunday's print editions of the Quad-City Times and online at qctimes.com, education reporter Deirdre Baker examines the proposed budget-item changes and their potential effects on students, staff, parents and programs.

Meanwhile, the wait is on to see whether Iowa lawmakers will up the ante in school financing by raising the current allowable growth of 1.11 percent.
PARKERSBURG, Iowa  Waterloos Miriam Tyson admitted her bias up front. Shes an active Democrat.

But Tyson, a former longtime Waterloo labor leader and one-time congressional primary candidate, also offered strong praise for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassleys service in Iowa over the years during a town hall with him Friday at Parkersburg Civic Center.

You really do your job, Tyson said, to a scattering of applause and one vocal supporter who cheered Amen, Grassley. Yes, Grassley.

But Tyson wasnt finished.

Tyson said she marked the turning point in her support for Grassley, R-Iowa, back to when he held up former President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nominee for a year ahead of the election. But she still wants to see a return of the Grassley she had grown accustomed to.

Im asking you to be that role model that we look to, to our legislator, that we have respected for years. I want you to push back on Republican President Donald Trump, Tyson concluded to a more rousing round of applause from the more than 250 people in the crowd.

Ms. Tyson, thank you for your thoughtful comments, Grassley said to her and then ended his meeting on time, after a raucous hour of taking questions and comments and occasionally trying to quiet the crowd so he could hear or talk without a microphone.

The comments Tyson offered were on par with several questions throughout the town hall, on topics ranging from government oversight to immigration.

Waterloo immigration attorney Miryam Antunez de Mayolo said Grassley had personally helped many of her clients over the years regardless of their status. Then, Antunez de Mayolo asked what had changed.

Grassley said he hadnt read the most recent executive order on stepping up deportation efforts of people in the U.S. illegally. Antunez de Mayolo started to explain the orders and then moved on to immigration more generally to ask Grassley why he didnt support a comprehensive reform effort.

I think you should do the most 'Iowa' thing, which is to do what is right, Antunez de Mayolo said.

John Mullen of La Porte City tried a similar tack as Tyson, telling Grassley he thought he was someone with high moral and ethical standards. He wanted Grassley to speak up on Trump's more questionable comments, such as insulting a physically handicapped person, a prisoner of war and a Gold Star family and admitting to groping women without their permission. Mullen's brother, Michael Mullen, was killed by friendly fire in Vietnam in 1970, and his story was made into a book and television movie.

Grassley moved on from that particular question without answering.

While Grassley answered many questions, he also took some as rhetorical and didnt address them.

He asked at the outset the topics people wanted to address and took questions on a good number of them. Grassley also asked for people who just wanted to comment, without getting a response, to speak up for the first few minutes. Although some asked questions, Grassley didnt answer them either.

Grassley pushed back on the idea that he had changed in an interview with the media after the town hall.

I presume most of this audience come from the 36 percent of people that voted for my opponent. And so you might expect that from them, Grassley said, adding he doesnt like to hear he has changed from fellow Republicans. The bottom line of it is Chuck Grassley hasnt changed.

Although the crowd did not often self-identify their party as Tyson did, they did mostly have concerns about impending Republican actions. Several made a point of saying they were not paid protesters, particularly after the Butler County Sheriff Jason Johnson had opened with the house rules, saying whether paid to be here or not and the crowd booed and jeered.

Grassley compared the town halls he has had this week to ones in 2009 when active conservative tea party groups had similarly flooded public meetings to raise concerns about the health care reform debate at the time. He said that at those, he was more likely to get praise from Democrats and concerns from Republicans.

He said this week's meetings have been less raucous than those in 2009 and less so than meetings he held immediately after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in 2015 when Republicans said they would not hold a hearing on Obamas nominee.

These are relatively quiet town meetings, Grassley said after Friday's town hall.
iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON)  The Pentagon is expected to deliver a review of its ISIS strategy to the White House early next week that will include new recommendations for how to defeat the group.



On Jan. 28, President Trump issued an executive order that gave Defense Secretary James Mattis 30 days to develop the review.



Were on track to deliver it on time, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Tuesday, adding that any public rollout would only occur after the report was reviewed privately by the president.



The new recommendations from the Pentagon were done in consultation with other departments, the intelligence community, and military commanders on the ground and at the Pentagon, according to Davis.



This is going to be a comprehensive whole of government plan thats going to address not only the core ISIS in Iraq and Syria issue, but its going to address the other areas where ISIS has sprung up, Davis said. And it will include all manner of things, diplomacy, and information, intelligence.



The tough fight ahead to retake Western Mosul



The current U.S. strategy is to put pressure on ISIS from multiple fronts  assisting Iraqi forces in the retaking of Mosul while also preparing for an offensive in Raqqa, ISIS de facto capital in Syria. The U.S. has also taken military action against ISIS in Libya and Afghanistan.



Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Command, told reporters Wednesday on a trip to the region that simultaneous pressure on the Islamic State and continuing to present them with lots of dilemmas has been successful.



But having a new administration in the White House provides an opportunity to assess what could be done differently. Its a moment former Vice Adm. Robert Harward, who served as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command from 2011 to 2013, called a reflection point.



Harward, who last week turned down an offer from President Trump to serve as his national security adviser, said the new administration can take a fresh look at the problem.



We may have a wider range of options that the U.S. is willing to support or initiate, he told ABC News Thursday. Harward is an ABC News contributor.



In addition to reviewing specific military options to change conditions on the ground, a broader issue will be building a coalition of willing support, Harward said.



If you have a broader coalition, stronger, more nations involved willing to commit, it puts a lot of pressure on those nations who are not cooperating or staying outside the fold, he said, adding, Its as much political as anything else.



Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized the political aspect of the plan as well.



This plan is a political-military plan, it is not a military plan, he said during a rare public appearance at the Brookings Institution Thursday. Anything we do on the ground has to be in the context of political objectives or its not going to be successful.



According to Dunford, the plan will be framed beyond just dealing with ISIS in Syria and Iraq, addressing a trans-regional threat that includes al-Qaeda and other groups.



Im in the business of providing the President with options and were prepared to do that. Weve been given a task to go to the President to accelerate, accelerate the defeat of ISIS specifically, but obviously other violent extremist groups as well, Dunford said. So well go with him a full of range of options from which he can choose.



The president has been very direct. He wants to be as aggressive as possible, and I applaud that, Harward said of the ISIS strategy review. I think that, in and of itself, will strengthen the coalition and bring more assets to bear throughout the region and other ways as necessary.



ABC News looks at some of the specific options the Pentagon could present to the president on how to accelerate the fight against ISIS, according to experts and US officials.



More Americans troops inside Syria



The U.S. has 500 special operations troops operating inside Syria, but one option the Pentagon could present is upping that number to assist Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish forces. The SDF includes multiple ethnic forces including Kurds and Arabs.



These American troops would not be placed in direct combat, but serve as enablers who could facilitate operations between the SDF and Turkish forces preparing for the offensive to retake Raqqa, US officials said.



While Turkey has not yet agreed to work with the SDF in that fight, the US is discussing what role they could play. American troops could provide a stabilizing security presence for the rival sides. (Talking to reporters last week in Baghdad, Mattis said of having a strong Turkish element in the Raqqa fighting force, Were still sorting it out.)



I am very concerned about maintaining momentum, Votel said. It could be that we take on a larger burden ourselves. Thats an option, he added.



A proposal for additional American troops, which could number as many as a few thousand according to US officials, would not necessarily be for special operations forces. A conventional brigade could bring its own infantry troops, artillery equipment, and intelligence units.



We want to bring the right capabilities forward, Votel said. Not all of those are necessarily resident in the Special Operations community. If we need additional artillery or things like that, I want to be able to bring those forward to augment our operations.



While Harward would not comment on the specific troop numbers, he did caution that in certain instances, having U.S. troops on the ground can be counterproductive because of major cultural and language challenges as opposed to their Arab and Turkish counterparts.



Additional support to Syrian Democratic Forces



Another option could be sending additional support to the SDF, such as sending in Apache attack helicopters when needed, U.S. officials said.



While the Obama administration decided to leave the decision of arming the Kurds to the Trump administration, President Obama did approve the use of three Apaches to support Turkish forces fighting for the city of al-Bab, northwest of Aleppo. While approved, the Apaches have not yet been deployed to Syria.



According to U.S. officials, support could also come in the form of regular artillery or HIMARS, a long range artillery rocket system. HIMARS have already been used to good effect against ISIS in Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq, so this system could be beneficial in Syria.



Changing the rules of engagement



Currently airstrikes go through a rigorous vetting process to ensure there are no civilian casualties from a strike.



While maintaining that standard remains a priority, US officials say an additional way to accelerate the fight against ISIS is changing those rules of engagements  the directives governing how force is applied  so that local commanders can approve lower level strikes, giving them more flexibility and the ability to act more quickly.



Those rules of engagement can be limiting, Harward said, adding that any changes would be reviewed in line with a change in strategy.



For instance, if additional US troops are in Syria, it becomes appropriate to lower airstrike approval thresholds there because of the trusted intelligence on the ground, he said.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
This week on the podcast, reporters discuss a variety of town hall meetings that legislators held around Iowa, as well as a potential expansion to medical marijuana in Iowa.

On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast that re-creates the conversations that happen when Iowa's political reporters get together after the day's deadlines have been met. This week's show features James Q. Lynch, Christinia Crippes, Ed Tibbetts, Erin Murphy and Todd Dorman.

The show was produced by Max Freund, and the music is courtesy of Revive the Fallen. Find us at qctimes.com, chat with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @OnIowaPolitics and subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Know an Iowa musician who should be on our show? Send their band sound files to oniowapolitics@gmail.com.
When temperatures plunged below zero in January, many people have cranked up the heat in their homes to stay warm.

But if youre a homeowner, its also important to remember to protect your pipes from those frigid temperatures, which could lead to broken water lines.

According to the American Red Cross, water pipes are susceptible to freezing in low temperatures because water expands as it freezes. When the water expands, it creates pressure, which can cause pipes to break.

Rapid City experts David Stertz, owner of Rapid Rooter, and Dennis Walz, owner of Dedes Faucet Repair, say safeguarding your home inside and out is the best way to help prevent unpleasant water leaks, messy sewer backups and costly repairs that could result from damaged pipes.

Prevention is key. Check your pipes ahead of time, Stertz said. By checking everything out before the cold season hits, Old Man Winter will be a lot nicer to you, Stertz said.

Keeping heat in the home

Keep warm air circulating throughout your home. This is especially important if your sinks are on an outside wall. If you have an older home and its not as insulated or as not as good of insulation that theyre putting in todays new homes, you may want you want to make sure you leave the kitchen cabinets a little open to keep some heat going to them," Walz said.

However, if you plan to leave town, the Red Cross recommends keeping your thermostat set to at least 55 degrees.

Dont forget to disconnect your water hose from the outside faucet. Otherwise, the faucet could freeze and burst, Walz said.

If you live in a residential home, you can leave your water running to keep pipes from freezing during sub-zero weather.

However, with mobile homes the sewer line is exposed under the trailer, Walz said. "So if you leave water running or have a toilet running or anything in a mobile home running during the winter weather, then you freeze up your sewer pipe."

"You dont want to just trickle it," Stertz said. "You want to turn it on to a steady stream. If you trickle it, you have a good chance of freezing up your sewer line.

Protecting pipes

Protect exposed water pipes with heat tape. The Red Cross recommends installing specific products made to insulate water pipes, which include pipe sleeves or an approved heat tape. It recommends UL-listed heat tape, heat cable, or similar materials.

Walz recommends heat taping "lines that are close to the wall or in a mobile home where your water comes out of the ground."

In addition, Stertz said to check whether your heat tape is in proper working order by making sure the test light is on when the heat tape is plugged, which will indicate that it's working.

And dont forget about your sewer lines.Your sewer line in most residential houses is buried deep enough but if you have an outside cleanout, you want to make sure that cap is on, Stertz said.

Replace any broken caps; otherwise air will circulate through the pipe and cause it to freeze. In mobile homes, make sure the sewer line is elevated. A lot of times they have them on blocks underneath the trailers so the elevation needs to be correct so it flows downhill, Stertz said. If it flows uphill then it holds water in that spot then its going to freeze."

Experts agree that whether using heat tape, insulation or hiking up your thermostat, the most dependable way to protect your pipes from freezing is to check them before extreme cold weather strikes and keep them warm. "Bump the heat a little bit in the house to make sure its good," Walz said.
PIERRE | The state Senate shot down an attempt to add 3,000 three-day waterfowl licenses for nonresident hunters Thursday.

Sen. Al Novstrup, R-Aberdeen, wanted the additional licenses for 19 counties in South Dakotas northeast quarter stretching from the Missouri River to Minnesota.

The problem we're addressing today is the headline, 'More ducks, fewer hunters,'" he said.

Novstrup said hunting could be preserved for South Dakotans while helping economies of small towns in waterfowl areas.

But the Senate voted 19-16 against Senate Bill 139.

Sen. Brock Greenfield, R-Clark, said South Dakota had capped waterfowl licenses forever for nonresident hunters.

Greenfield said nonresident pheasant hunters who visit South Dakota see the abundance of waterfowl but dont understand why they can't get waterfowl licenses over the counter at a gas station.

"Those people drop a lot of dollars on Main Street in South Dakota. I would like to show them we are welcoming," Greenfield said.

Northern State building

The Senate voted 35-0 to give final legislative approval for Northern State Universitys new sciences building. House Bill 1010 now goes to Gov. Dennis Daugaard to be signed into law.

Sen. Jeff Partridge, R-Rapid City, said the regional center  which cost $25 million, which the school has already raised  would put the university in a fast forward position on science education. He said the Legislatures budget committee conducted a detailed analysis of Northern States business plan.

Tech school board

Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed into law a measure setting up the South Dakota Board of Technical Education, which will oversee the state's four technical institutes, including Western Dakota Technical Institute in Rapid City.

Daugaard said the institutes play an "invaluable role" in workforce development. He said the measure establishes a system that benefits industry and the tech schools.

The nine-member board is appointed by the governor.

Driving records

South Dakota motorists could obtain their own full driving records rather than just the three most recent years under a change that the full House will vote on today.

The House Transportation Committee gave its unanimous endorsement Thursday to the change. The Senate passed Senate Bill 42 35-0 on Jan. 23.

State law has long limited the look-back period to three years. That restriction would remain in place on requests for other peoples records. The fee is $5.

Industrial hemp

The House endorsed allowing the cultivation of industrial hemp by a 51-16 vote and sent the measure to the Senate. Supporter Rep. Elizabeth May, a Republican, said lawmakers need to give South Dakota's agricultural community the opportunity to grow industrial hemp.

The bill would allow people to apply to the state Department of Agriculture for a license to grow industrial hemp if they pass background checks. The 2014 Farm Bill allowed states to develop hemp pilot projects.

Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard opposes it. A similar proposal failed last legislative session after it passed through the House.
PIERRE | It took two rounds Thursday for the state House of Representatives to agree to let Gov. Dennis Daugaard sell the STAR Academy juvenile corrections campus south of Custer.

The legislation, House Bill 1209, moves to the Senate for consideration.

The House failed to pass it the first time Thursday with 31 ayes and 36 nays. Several hours later, the House agreed to reconsider it and voted 46-21 to approve it.

Rep. David Anderson, R-Hudson, said the campus has been vacant for almost a year and costs more than $500,000 annually to continue to maintain.

The academy closed in April because the number of juveniles sent there by the courts had dropped. The state has been looking for a new tenant and a new purpose for the facility, which covers more than 180 acres.

Rep. Tim Goodwin, R-Rapid City, said the STAR Academy "was a great facility" and Daugaard "just choked it down, so nobody went there anymore."

Rep. Susan Wismer, D-Britton, said the academy could have continued to serve western South Dakota, but the staff is gone.

Rep. Drew Dennert, R-Aberdeen, amended the STAR Academy legislation so it cannot be sold without first offering the Custer facility for public sale.

Rumors and emails flew for hours between the two rounds of debate. Rep. Julie Frye-Mueller, R-Rapid City, said during the early debate that this may not be the right time to vote on STAR Academy's fate.

"I don't think we should be voting on it until we know what's going on, she said. Something smells bad on this."

In December, the state sent out a release to let the public know of the redevelopment opportunity at the facility.

At the time, Hunter Roberts, policy adviser for Daugaard, said the property had already garnered interest from two resort companies with "South Dakota roots" and one treatment facility.

If the bill passes the Senate and Daugaard signs it, it opens the door for the former academy to have a new tenant and a new purpose.
PIERRE | Amid allegations of martial law and government overreach, Gov. Dennis Daugaard won approval from state senators Thursday for sweeping additional powers in case the building of an oil pipeline through South Dakota faces public protests.

The concern is that TransCanada will face protests like those in North Dakota when it builds the Keystone XL pipeline through the states western half.

Senate Bill 176, passed by a vote of 21-14, was sent to the House of Representatives. Even if it becomes law, it would automatically expire June 30, 2020.

Sen. Brock Greenfield, R-Clark, said South Dakotans have seen North Dakota go through desperate times over the Dakota Access oil pipelines planned crossing beneath the Missouri River.

He said the state government has spent $33 million in responding to the protesters, and using the National Guard cost $8 million.

The bill would allow the governor to declare public safety zones, where entry and exit would be controlled. Trespassers would face one year in jail for the first offense and two years in prison for the second and subsequent offenses.

The proposal also would make standing outside a stopped vehicle on a highway a criminal act if it happened in an off-limits area.

Greenfield said he didnt understand the magnitude of the North Dakota situation until he saw television coverage of the fires set by protesters as they left their camp Wednesday.

Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures," Greenfield said. "I think this is necessary."

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe led the protest in North Dakota and received support from other tribes and pipeline opponents from across the nation and the world.

However, Sen. Troy Heinert, D-Mission, said Daugaard didnt contact any tribal officials regarding his proposal. He added that tribal governments dont want disruption from dangerous people, either.

He said the governor could designate an entire county as a public safety zone and refuse entry to people from outside.

"You're from Pine Ridge? You go home. Those are very serious consequences," Heinert said.

We can fix this, but not with this bill," Heinert said. "They didn't reach out to tribes .... Let us work together and police ourselves."

Sen. Lance Russell, R-Hot Springs, said the legislation would give martial law authority to the governor and allow carte blanche drawing of lines for the public safety zones, where the additional restrictions and penalties would apply.

This looks bad. We know who it's aimed at," he said. "We may not say who it's aimed at, but we know exactly what's going on.

"I don't think we even comprehend how offensive this bill is to a segment of our population.

Sen. Bob Ewing, R-Spearfish, said the legislation is proactive in trying to address what might develop. "This bill doesn't target any specific group or anything," he said. "Hopefully we'll never have to use it."

However, even if the House of Representatives does approve it next, the legislation might be in limbo until November 2018 if opponents refer it to a statewide vote. In that case, Daugaard would not be the one to implement it. By law, he is in his last term.

Thats because the Senate couldnt muster the two-thirds majority (24 votes) needed to pass it with an emergency clause, which would have allowed the bill to take effect immediately upon the governors signature.

The vote was 21-14 then also, with six Democrats and eight of the 29 Republicans voting no. After the emergency clause was removed, the bill needed only a simple majority, or 18 ayes.
A Hill City man was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for assaulting his girlfriend, who later died from a head injury.

Courtney Millhouse, 42, was originally charged in 7th Circuit Court with manslaughter in the death of Stacy Childers, 42, in September. He had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault but admitted no responsibility for the crime under a plea deal.

When Judge Craig Pfeifle pronounced Millhouses 10-year sentence  the maximum he could get under the deal  some of Childers family members and friends in the gallery sobbed with relief.

Childers stepfather, Steve Hagen, 55, told the court before sentencing he wished Millhouse could be given life in prison without parole.

There is no rehab for this man, Hagen had said from the witness stand. When he gets out, this will happen again. I just hope this doesnt lead to another murder.

Exactly how Childers died is in contention, said defense lawyer Eric Whitcher, a fact that led the Pennington County States Attorneys Office to a plea negotiation.

Whitcher said Childers died with a head injury that she believed resulted from a 2015 vehicular accident. Millhouse admitted the accident was his fault since he had been driving drunk, Whitcher said, but whether Childers died from that injury would have been a great dispute at trial.

Deputy states attorney Wayne Venhuizen asserted that Childers head injury developed after Millhouse had pushed her against the front passenger window of a vehicle during an argument between Aug. 7 and 9.

Millhouse never confirmed the incident, though a friend of his testified under oath that Millhouse had admitted doing so, Venhuizen said. Childers, who had four adult children and a grandchild, was then living with Millhouse in a Hill City camp.

While Childers was sick in their tent, Millhouse went out partying and sent some women sexually explicit messages online, the prosecutor said.

When given a chance to speak, Millhouse talked about loving and missing Childers.

Stacy was my life, he said. I always did the best I could for her.

Hagen, his eyes rimmed with tears, told the Journal that his family agreed to the plea deal because they did not want to risk Millhouse's being acquitted at trial.

We didnt want him to walk away with nothing, he said. Childers mother, Hagen said, has Alzheimers disease and would now and then still look for her deceased daughter.

Whitcher had asked the judge for a probationary sentence, but Pfeifle denied the request, saying there was a risk Millhouse would commit another crime.

Millhouse, Pfeifle noted, has at least two assaults on his criminal record, including attacking a former girlfriend in Pennsylvania.

I dont believe your protestations of remorse are credible, the judge said.
White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, in a rare public appearance, outlined President Donald Trump's agenda Thursday before an enthusiastic crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

"I think one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history was his immediate withdrawal from TPP. It got us out of a trade deal and let our sovereignty come back to ourselves," he said, referring to the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

That decision, which he called just a first step in re-imagining US trade policies, was just one of three Bannon pointed to as the most important steps Trump has taken since becoming president just over a month ago.

On the national security front, Bannon highlighted Trump's executive orders on building a border wall and beefed up immigration enforcement policies. And thirdly, he stressed the importance of Trump's moves to begin a "deconstruction of the administrative state" by appointing individuals from the private sector to key economic Cabinet positions who will help strip down federal regulations.

Bannon joined White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus onstage at CPAC, which Bannon credited with helping launch Trump's political career. The two men discussed Trump's electoral victory, the administration's agenda and railed against the media together as they worked to dispel notions that they are rivals competing for power and influence within the West Wing.

"Well, in regard to us two, I think the biggest misconception is everything that you're reading," Priebus said.

"If you look at the opposition party," Bannon said, referring to mainstream media outlets, "and how they portrayed the campaign, how they portrayed the transition and now how they're portraying the administration -- it's always wrong."

The two sang each other's praises as they insisted their working relationship could not be closer. ("We share an office suite together. We're basically together from 6:30 in the morning until about 11 o'clock at night," Priebus said.)

While Priebus called Bannon "incredibly loyal" and "extremely consistent," Bannon said he admired Priebus' "determination" and noted that he is "always kind of steady."

The forum also provided a rare public view of Bannon's thinking, one filled with dark portrayals of the news media, visions of a "new political order" and grand plans to reimagine the US's posture abroad.

"That is why I am proudest of Donald Trump. All the opportunities he had to waver off this, all the people who have come to him and said, 'Oh you've got to moderate.' Every day in the Oval Office, he tells Reince and I: 'I committed to this with the American people, I promised this when I ran and I am going to deliver on this,' " Bannon recounted.

And while Priebus and Bannon worked to show a united front on Thursday, Bannon acknowledged that they don't always agree, which he called a main reason they are "good partners."

The joint appearance was the latest attempt by the two men to shoot down reports of division, instead claiming in a series of recent interviews that they enjoy a chummy, symbiotic relationship.

Bannon told The Hill newspaper last week that Priebus "is doing an amazing job."

"We are executing on President Trump's agenda in record time. That's because Reince is getting the job done," Bannon said.

"We are a completely united team dedicated to enacting his bold agenda to bring back jobs and keep this country safe," Priebus echoed in the interview.

And in an interview with New York magazine, the two men joked about giving each other back rubs and said they speak all day long "until somebody falls asleep."

White House sources have also backed up their account in recent weeks, but a source who spoke separately with both men last week told CNN that while Bannon had nothing negative to say about Priebus, the White House chief of staff badmouthed Bannon over the phone.

The two men's professional backgrounds could not be more different. While Priebus has long been a creature of establishment Republican politics -- rising to Republican National Committee chairman before becoming chief of staff -- Bannon spent most of his professional career amassing wealth in the private sector before taking on a role as the head of the bomb-throwing, establishment-bashing Breitbart News site.

After Trump was elected, their new positions atop the West Wing roster were jointly announced atop.

The two men would work together as "equal partners," Trump said in the release.
HELENA  Lake County is out nearly $2 million a year to cover the cost of prosecuting felonies committed on the portion of the Flathead Indian Reservation that lies within its borders and wants the state to pick up the tab.

That's what House Bill 450, carried by Rep. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, would accomplish.

Lake County and the reservation, which is home to members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, operate under the federal Public Law 280, which says the county has jurisdiction over felonies on the reservation within county borders. Earlier this year the Lake County commissioners passed unanimously a resolution of intent to withdraw from the law.

Lake County taxpayers can no longer pay this increased burden, Hertz said.

The law doesnt specifically say that Lake County must pay the costs it incurs under Public Law 280, but has done so for years. Hertz said when the Kerr Dam, now called Selis Ksanka Qlispe, was bought by the tribes in 2015 the county lost $1.9 million in property taxes annually.

We were more than happy to bear the responsibility but its just getting to be too much for the Lake County taxpayers to bear on their own, he said. I dont think anybody in Lake County wants to go this way, but we just cant afford this anymore.

If the state does not start to pay the bill, the county may decline to enforce its criminal jurisdiction on the reservation, he said.

William Barron, a Lake County commissioner, said that for 53 years the agreement has worked well but the loss of property taxes makes it impossible to continue. He added tribal members are the majority  70 percent  of the county attorneys caseload and if the county pulled out of the agreement it only would need a 125-bed new jail, not a 225-one they are discussing now. Tribal members make up a quarter to a third of the county, he added.

Steve Eschenbacher, the Lake County attorney, said in 2016 his county had 487 new felony filings, more than Lewis and Clark County. Lake County has 29,000 people; Lewis and Clark has 65,000.

No one spoke in opposition to the bill. The bill did not have a fiscal note, but Eschenbacher said he estimates the costs the county wants the state to pick up are about $1.85 million a year.

Barron said the county has tried to work with the tribe but has not been able to come up with an agreement for them to cover some of the costs.

The House Judiciary Committee took no action Tuesday. However, if the Legislature and governor pass and sign the bill respectively, it would require the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, which is likely to be Montana's at-large Congressman Ryan Zinke, who is awaiting confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Another bill, Senate Bill 310 carried by Sen. Lea Whitford, D-Browning, would let the tribe withdraw from the law. That bill is up for a hearing Wednesday.
HELENA  Doctors traveled from across the state to ask the education appropriations subcommittee for funds to expand Montanas Graduate Medical Education program, a measure they say would address a statewide physician shortage preventing patients from receiving adequate care.

But after executive action, the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education didnt approve the extra $400,000 requested. The Legislature funds a fraction of what it costs to operate Montanas three residency programs, but those initial state dollars keep the program eligible for large federal grants, mostly funded by Medicare. The money would expand training in rural areas and establish a psychiatry residency to combat a statewide suicide epidemic.

The budget proposal now moves on to House Appropriations and eventually to Senate Finance and Claims where it could see additions or reductions. Sen. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, and vice chair of the committee, said tough decisions were made to ensure the already functioning programs were protected before adding something new, like additional residency positions.

However, he recognized the residency program was important in addressing the state's doctor shortage, and said there's a good chance the program could be funded later in the session with a special revenue account. But in executive action he said the committee struggled to do the least harm with limited resources.

"There's a short-term hole that's enormous," Jones said. "None of the subcommittees are having a better time."

Research shows Montana will require an additional 197 primary care physicians by 2030. There are 686 practicing primary care doctors in Montana, but the shortage is already evident. Of Montanas 56 counties, 17 have zero primary care physicians, six counties have one physician and eight counties have two physicians.

Dr. Ned Vasquez, program director for the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana, said residents are likely to stay in the community they complete their residency in.

"One of the most important mechanisms to ensure you have more doctors in your state is to train them in your state," he said.

When doctors surpass the number of patients a practice can sustain, residents have to travel or go without health care. Vasquez said most full-time physicians will care for 1,800 to 2,500 patients. In Jefferson County, there are two primary care doctors and 11,500 residents.

Youre less likely to go have a mammogram or a colonoscopy if you have to drive three hours to have that service, he said. Theres an increased risk of health being compromised because you cant access care.

Vasquez said the shortage of doctors can be attributed to a rapidly aging population, doctors who are preparing to retire, an increase in the state population and people accessing care with the expansion of Medicaid.

While Vasquez said there arent enough residencies in Montana to fulfill the demand, state dollars would primarily expand training in rural communities. The majority of the graduate medical education program is funded by Medicare, which doesnt permit training in rural locations. Without federal assistance, getting doctors to rural communities for even a few months stresses the programs resources.

The Graduate Medical Education program receives $519,336 in state funds each year, which is allocated to Montanas three residency programs: Montana Family Residency, Western Montana Family Medicine Residency and Billings Clinic Internal Medicine Residency. In total, there are 78 residents in the program, with each doctor costing $250,000 to $300,000 a year to teach. The actual cost of the program is $20.8 million per year with $10.3 million paid in multiple matching federal grants from Medicare. The states teaching hospitals foot the rest of the bill. If the state chipped in another $400,000, the program would leverage $5.83 million in Medicaid funding eligible to be used in rural hospitals.

Vasquez said residents struggle to adequately prepare to practice in rural areas, which can be detrimental to patients.

If youre taking care of a patient who comes in with a heart attack at St. Pats, you call up the cardiologist and they come and take care of the patient, he said. If youre in Plains, theres not a cardiologist. You might talk to one in Missoula, but you have to do the initial care of that person there.

Right now the program requires residents to spend two months in rural communities. Vasquez said he would like to see resources for residents to spend four to six months in rural communities.

Theres pretty good evidence if you spend more time there youre more likely to go and practice there.

Dr. Eric Arzubi, a psychiatrist at the Billings Clinic, told the committee some of the funds would go toward establishing a psychiatry residency in the state. While mental health treatment is lacking overall, Arzubi said Montana needs psychiatrists to reduce suicides. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Montana had the highest rate of suicide in the country in 2016 with 23.8 deaths per 100,000 people.

Montana, Alaska and Wyoming are the three states with the highest rates of suicide in the country. They also happen to be the only three states without psychiatry residency programs.

Arzubi said hes supportive of multiple suicide prevention measures going through the Legislature this session, but he worries the shortage of psychiatrists could hamper implementation of those programs.

You can roll out the best programs in the world but if we dont have a workforce, were going to have a big problem, he said. Were going to need some well-trained clinicians to roll out these programs. When there are suicide attempts we need well-trained psychiatrists.

The Montana Healthcare Foundation surveyed 35 hospitals, treatment centers and tribal health facilities to find out if a shortage of psychiatrists was inhibiting patient care. Approximately 70 percent of respondents said it was nearly impossible to hire a psychiatrist. Instead, treatment centers have to spend money out of state to hire psychiatrists to serve patients in Montana. They found organizations spent $2 million a year on temporary psychiatrists, $400,000 in telepsychiatry and $400,000 trying to recruit psychiatrists.

Arzubi said psychologists cant substitute the work a psychiatrist does. A clinical psychologist is not able to prescribe medicine or perform medical tests while a psychiatrist goes to medical school for four years and completes a residency program, working in a hospital and doing outpatient work. If a person came in with new psychotic symptoms, a psychiatrist would be able to perform the necessary medical tests to assess a patients overall well-being, Arzubi said.

A lack of rural training isnt just a challenge for primary care providers. Hospitals and clinics have struggled to recruit physicians from out of state, who often dont have training relative to Montana.

When somebody gets trained in an urban setting, theyre not right out of the gate going to practice effectively in Montana, he said. Its a different animal.

Establishing a psychiatry residency program, which would be either two or four years based on available funding, would provide necessary rural training and bring good doctors to the state.

Arzubi said a resident who learns in Montana is more likely to establish a practice in the state, and existing psychiatrists who are interested in teaching would be willing to come to Montana and train residents while also practicing.

I can say come to Montana and help us launch this training program and a lot of people will find that attractive, he said.
HELENA  House Republicans on Tuesday touted plans they say will help clean up misspending in the states health department and free up millions that could go to offset losses in the budget to care for elderly and disabled.

House Majority Leader Rep. Ron Ehli, R-Hamilton, introduced what hes calling Robin Hood legislation. House Bill 439 would eliminate additional supervisor pay for those who oversee up to five employees. Ehli said theres up to 1,000 supervisors around the state who oversee, in some cases, only a single employee.

Were helping Montanans at the levels they need it most, he said at a news conference surrounded by more than 20 Republican members of the House. Were trying to fill in the voids for those most in need.

Rep. Jon Knokey, R-Bozeman, also discussed his House Bill 334, which passed out of the House last week. He said it will stop money from being robbed from Medicaid. The legislation would allow money appropriated for Medicaid services only be spent on providing or administering Medicaid services.

But Democratic Gov. Steve Bullocks budget director, Dan Villa, questioned Republicans' pitches, saying the states pay system doesnt award people more money for being supervisors and that moving money appropriated for Medicaid around the health department is allowed by law.

Ehli said his bill would trim $65 million from the states payroll that could be directed to the Department of Public Health and Human Services for services like senior and long-term care, which saw its funding slashed last week both by Bullocks budget as well as by the joint appropriations committee that sets the departments budget.

A spokeswoman for House Republicans said that number of employees and savings came from the Legislative Fiscal Division, though it was unclear how it was calculated.

Ehli said Tuesday he hopes the bill will start a conversation between the Legislature and the governors office over how to fund programs that serve Montanas neediest populations.

Villa said state employees are not paid more for being supervisors, but receive new job titles when overseeing employees is added to their duties. He also said some employees may appear on an organizational chart to supervise only a few people but are being paid their rate because they are department or division directors and responsible for many more employees than who they directly supervise.

Youre paid for the responsibilities you have, Villa said. Total compensation for state employees is about $990 million.

At the news conference, Knokey told those gathered that Montanans deserve to know why state money is being spent in ways not intended by this branch and its the elderly and disabled being short-changed. He added that money appropriated for Medicaid has been spent to pay for lawsuits and a building remodel.

Earlier this session Bullock used a $10 million Medicaid reimbursement from the federal government to help offset project delays the Department of Transportation had projected because of a lack of money in the state fund to pay for the work.

The state appropriates Medicaid money based on projections that take into account caseload, utilization of services and the number of people who will enroll.

Villa said last session all the money spent for senior and long-term care wasnt spent down, so it was transferred to the Child and Family Services Division of the health department, which had spent more than it was appropriated. Under Knokeys bill, Villa said, the money not spent in Medicaid could revert to the general fund, and Child and Family Services would have come to the 2017 Legislature with a request for more money to finish out the fiscal year.

Money appropriated to Medicaid goes unspent when there are not enough services for people who need them, Villa said. Republicans have often cited wait lists for people hoping to receive services as part of the reason reform is needed.

Villa used the example of a person in a small town who is eligible to move into an assisted living facility but one isnt available in the town. Knokey said if the state spent the money to increase rates to Medicaid providers, there would be more of them, but Villa questioned that line of thinking, saying the frontierness of Montana limits where some services are available regardless of compensation.

Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, who is on the subcommittee, said that while some divisions of the department were cut steeply, overall the health department is ending up with 2.4 percent more than it was appropriated last year, or about $4.36 billion. As the budget stands now, the Legislature is only off $36 million from the budget Bullock proposed, according to numbers from the Legislative Fiscal Division.

Bullock's spokeswoman released a statement Tuesday saying paying for care for the most needy in the state is important.

Were pleased to see the Legislature agrees critical community services are necessary for seniors, children and Montanas most vulnerable and we ask them to work on a realistic solution  its too important for politics to get in the way," the statement said.
HELENA  A Billings Democrat tried and failed Tuesday to revive his bill to add protections for LGBT people to the Montana Human Rights Act, which would have barred discrimination in housing, employment and services.

The House Judiciary had voted along party lines to kill and table House Bill 417 on Monday, a few days after dozens testified at a public hearing in Helena, mostly in support of the measure. Sponsor Rep. Kelly McCarthy made a "blast" motion on Tuesday to bring the bill out of the committee and directly to the full House for consideration.

It is of such gravity I think it is worthy (to) bring out here on the House floor and have a larger conversation about it, he said. If you havent gotten feedback on this, you should check with (the Legislative Services Division), because I think they have incorrect contact information.

He again shared the story of his niece, who had testified last week about her experiences with housing and job discrimination when she moved to Billings after completing military service.

Rep. Kim Abbott, D-Helena, likewise urged her colleagues to revive the bill.

This is a personal issue to me, she said, noting she is lesbian and lives with her partner a few blocks from the State Capitol. I got here the same way you all got here. I represent the same number of people. I have the same rights and privileges in this building. I am certain if someone tried to treat me differently because of my sexual orientation, the chairs, the leaders here, would prevent that from happening. Its different for me outside this building. And its different for me outside this community.

She noted that Helena is one of five Montana cities with local-level non-discrimination ordinances.

On a road trip, Im thinking about things that seem minor. Should we both walk in when we check in to a hotel? Is it going to cause an issue? Will we have to lie? Will we have to be humiliated? Sometimes the adjustment, the lie, is minor, but it takes a cumulative toll on our spirit, she said. Ive got good news. We can take care of it.

Rep. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, was the only person to speak in opposition to the bill. Each side is limited to two speakers on blast motions.

I dont think any of us in Montana want to discriminate against anyone. If we pass this bill, were basically going to send a mandate down across the State of Montana. Several cities have discussed it. Some have passed non-discrimination ordinances and some have not, he said, arguing the discussion, for now at least, needs to stay at the local level. If we send this down, what will that do across the state? Its going to divide us. Were going to continue to talk about this issue for a very long time as we have many other issues. ... Maybe in the next session or the next session well get up here and be able to come up with a great resolution as to how to solve this discrimination issue.

The blast motion failed on a 43-55 vote. It needed 60 votes.

Rep. Jon Knokey, R-Bozeman, joined Democrats in supporting the motion; Rep. Adam Hertz, R-Missoula, left the room and did not cast a vote; and Rep. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka was absent for the full meeting.
HELENA  The chief architect of the state budget in the Senate has proposed two bills to help schools pay for major maintenance projects, which will likely compete with three other measures previously introduced.

There is not free ride, at least in any of the bills Im involved in, Sen. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, said Tuesday, noting his proposals would require districts to have committed some local funding to unlock state dollars.

Senate Bill 307 would change the rules about how districts can use their existing building reserve accounts. It also creates a new kind of limited, permissive levy that schools can use to fill that fund with money for maintenance projects in addition to new state aid payments scaled to the level of local investment. Jones expected the Education and Cultural Resources Committee to move the bill to the full Senate soon.

Senate Bill 260 would divert some coal severance tax revenues not needed for bond payments into a new subtrust of the Coal Severance Tax Trust Fund that would flow into a new Schools Facilities Special Revenue Account, providing the Legislature with money it can then spend on projects. A similar technique was used to build up the subtrusts that now fund the Treasure State Endowment Program that pays for some types of local infrastructure projects. Jones noted the bill would need to be tweaked by the Finance and Claims Committee, which he leads, to not interfere with a proposal to spend some of the same coal trust monies to keep two public pensions afloat.

Its time to get a little coal dust on schools across the state, Jones said, borrowing a line from a Colstrip senator noting that money from the coal trust has been used for decades to fund a variety of state infrastructure projects but never education.

Asked by Sen. Ryan Osmundson, R-Buffalo, Jones conceded that the ability to build the new subtrust would hinge on the state continuing to collect coal severance taxes, something many Montanans fear will decline as pressure mounts to switch forms of energy production.

Legislative leaders from both parties had promised to help districts by creating a permanent funding source for school facility projects. Two previous programs became defunct when riverbed rent collections disappeared after a lawsuit and as timber sale revenues declined. Two district court rulings have dinged the Legislature for failing to fulfill components of its requirements in the Montana Constitution to provide a public education, specifically noting the state should help districts maintain buildings.

The average age of a school in the state is 55 years old and more than two-thirds of them are more than 45 years old. Many of the proposals considered by the Legislature this session came out of the School Funding Interim Commission, which heard education advocates testify that there simply is not enough tax base in local communities, particularly rural ones, to increase levies or request voter approval for debt to finance major repairs such as replacing roofs, windows and boilers or to do the kind of major rehabilitation typically suggested every 30 to 50 years.

Three other proposals to help fund school facilities have not yet advanced out of committee.

Earlier this month, Rep. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, introduced HB 134, which would create a grant program from which schools could request assistance if they provided a matching amount of local funds.

It became apparent weve got a cultural problem in the state, Essmann said at the hearing. We can raise the money to build it but it doesnt seem like we have a culture where we can raise the money to take care of it.

Education advocates supported the measure as helpful, but said they have concerns about grants as the funding mechanism. Under the previous Quality Schools Grant Program, only a handful of the states more than 400 districts received funding each year. Advocates argued schools that could afford grant writers had an unfair advantage applying.

The measure faced opposition because of a piece of the patchwork funding sources: lottery funds, workers compensation dividends refunded to state agencies, money designated for STEM scholarships, and local taxes collected by some urban renewal areas or economic development districts. Cities, counties and economic development groups argued the bill would gut their efforts.

Essmann said he received drafts of bill amendments on Tuesday so he hopes to move the measure out of committee soon.

Sen. Tom Facey, D-Missoula, admits that it is unlikely Republicans will advance two proposals from his party given that Jones bills address the same problem and employ similar strategies.

Butte Rep. Amanda Curtis is carrying HB 66, authored by Facey, which would use a portion of trust land timber revenues to deposit a small amount each year in, essentially, savings accounts for each school to use toward facilities projects with a sliding scale match of state funding. Sen. Jon Sesso of Butte introduced SB 98 to create a new subtrust, similar to the one proposed by Jones, but allow a wider variety of infrastructure projects to be funded.

Facey said he supported of Jones bills, noting they included some of the same concepts as Democratic proposals, including funding for every district rather than a grant.

Thats why they wanted, Facey, a former teacher, said. Something predictable.
Blog Archive November 2022 (11) October 2022 (61) September 2022 (60) August 2022 (63) July 2022 (65) June 2022 (68) May 2022 (67) April 2022 (62) March 2022 (68) February 2022 (54) January 2022 (61) December 2021 (70) November 2021 (72) October 2021 (67) September 2021 (59) August 2021 (56) July 2021 (57) June 2021 (66) May 2021 (63) April 2021 (75) March 2021 (73) February 2021 (61) January 2021 (69) December 2020 (62) November 2020 (62) October 2020 (70) September 2020 (51) August 2020 (52) July 2020 (60) June 2020 (57) May 2020 (79) April 2020 (56) March 2020 (52) February 2020 (50) January 2020 (69) December 2019 (58) November 2019 (64) October 2019 (44) September 2019 (49) August 2019 (71) July 2019 (71) June 2019 (71) May 2019 (67) April 2019 (74) March 2019 (85) February 2019 (64) January 2019 (73) December 2018 (66) November 2018 (81) October 2018 (87) September 2018 (66) August 2018 (76) July 2018 (84) June 2018 (86) May 2018 (64) April 2018 (83) March 2018 (78) February 2018 (69) January 2018 (69) December 2017 (82) November 2017 (87) October 2017 (89) September 2017 (77) August 2017 (75) July 2017 (76) June 2017 (90) May 2017 (86) April 2017 (59) March 2017 (61) February 2017 (82) January 2017 (91) December 2016 (90) November 2016 (80) October 2016 (75) September 2016 (95) August 2016 (104) July 2016 (93) June 2016 (96) May 2016 (98) April 2016 (99) March 2016 (113) February 2016 (82) January 2016 (98) December 2015 (113) November 2015 (94) October 2015 (93) September 2015 (98) August 2015 (97) July 2015 (105) June 2015 (103) May 2015 (95) April 2015 (100) March 2015 (102) February 2015 (93) January 2015 (114) December 2014 (110) November 2014 (103) October 2014 (105) September 2014 (96) August 2014 (96) July 2014 (112) June 2014 (119) May 2014 (109) April 2014 (116) March 2014 (117) February 2014 (109) January 2014 (116) December 2013 (117) November 2013 (121) October 2013 (125) September 2013 (93) August 2013 (115) July 2013 (110) June 2013 (102) May 2013 (115) April 2013 (113) March 2013 (119) February 2013 (108) January 2013 (119) December 2012 (132) November 2012 (115) October 2012 (121) September 2012 (115) August 2012 (124) July 2012 (102) June 2012 (121) May 2012 (121) April 2012 (127) March 2012 (130) February 2012 (112) January 2012 (131) December 2011 (129) November 2011 (118) October 2011 (118) September 2011 (110) August 2011 (138) July 2011 (146) June 2011 (139) May 2011 (144) April 2011 (127) March 2011 (140) February 2011 (116) January 2011 (134) December 2010 (133) November 2010 (136) October 2010 (148) September 2010 (128) August 2010 (155) July 2010 (129) June 2010 (138) May 2010 (152) April 2010 (161) March 2010 (119) February 2010 (149) January 2010 (155) December 2009 (177) November 2009 (171) October 2009 (176) September 2009 (159) August 2009 (156) July 2009 (170) June 2009 (157) May 2009 (185) April 2009 (179) March 2009 (183) February 2009 (170) January 2009 (181) December 2008 (189) November 2008 (183) October 2008 (164) September 2008 (164) August 2008 (177) July 2008 (179) June 2008 (170) May 2008 (191) April 2008 (175) March 2008 (195) February 2008 (162) January 2008 (188) December 2007 (187) November 2007 (189) October 2007 (194) September 2007 (156) August 2007 (194) July 2007 (163) June 2007 (176) May 2007 (190) April 2007 (177) March 2007 (192) February 2007 (165) January 2007 (170) December 2006 (182) November 2006 (177) October 2006 (185) September 2006 (180) August 2006 (156) July 2006 (160) June 2006 (177) May 2006 (173) April 2006 (157) March 2006 (158) February 2006 (146) January 2006 (144) December 2005 (135) November 2005 (138) October 2005 (128) September 2005 (141) August 2005 (136) July 2005 (133) June 2005 (119) May 2005 (143) April 2005 (52)
One man's odyssey through the world of books
Guwahati, February 24 : The apex body of six insurgent group in Manipur, the Coordination Committee (CorCom) has imposed a curfew on February 25 ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the poll bound north eastern Indian state.

The coordination committee of the insurgent groups said that, the curfew will remain effective till PM Modi leaves Imphal after his election campaign rally.

CorCom imposed the curfew staring from 6 AM on February 25.

Following the insurgent groups activities, security measures have been beefed up in Imphal and other parts of the state to tackle any untoward situation and to ensure maintaining law and order situation.

PM Modi will visit Manipur on February 25 and to address an election campaign rally in Imphal.

Manipur is going to hold the assembly polls on March 4 and 8 in two phases.

Meanwhile, the Centre had sent more security personnel to the poll bound state to maintain the law and order situation.

A top official of Union Home Ministry said that, Centre had sent 30 additional companies to Manipur as 250 companies already engaged to maintain the law and order situation in the state.

On the other hand, the Union government had also airlifted more petroleum products in Manipur, while the state facing several problems including scarcity of essential commodities, petroleum products, drugs following the ongoing economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC) since

November 1.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati, February 24 : Security forces had unearthed the plan of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for Assam and other parts of north east India after arresting a suspected ISIS operative from Assam's Barak Valley on Thursday.

Karimganj police on Thursday had arrested a suspected ISIS operative from Badarpur Mission road area.

The suspected jehadi was identified as Alomgir Hussain.

Alomgir, son of late Asab uddin of Mission Road Badarpur went to Bangladesh without Passport few years ago and also went to Singapore and few Islamic countries.

A top Assam police official said that, he went to Singapore with Bangladesh Passport and finally came back to India in 2013 through secret route.

"After arrival he puchased crores of landed property and big RCC house. He also motivated few youths in Barak Valley and to establish ISIS module in Assam," the top police official said.

"He is also a fund collector of the jehidi organization," the top cops said.

Meanwhile, Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay said that, the Assam police has taken the matter seriously and started investigation from all round of corners.

"We have not sure that, the man working for ISIS in Assam. Some youths of the state are in touch with ISIS," Sahay said.

On the other hand, a top source of Investigation Bureau (IB) said that, ISIS has planned to establish its module in every state across the country and some overground organizations still working for the terrorist group.

The IB source further said that, over 150 youths of Assam are in touch with ISIS.

Recently, National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested dozen of ISIS operatives from different parts of the country.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Though there are no English subtitles on the first trailer for Gilles Coulier's Belgian crime drama Cargo there really aren't any required to capture the attention and demonstrate that there just may be something special going on here. Veteran Belgian character actor Sam Louwyck - you know his face if you've been paying any attention to recent Belgian cinema at all - plays a key part, which is always a sign of quality, and the visuals really speak for themselves.

In the cold waters of the North Sea, Leon Broucke jumps overboard from his fishing boat in front of his eldest son, Jean. The old man slips into a deep coma, leaving his son with a huge debt and responsibility for the family business. The absence of his father sets off an aftershock of conflicts between him and his two brothers: Francis is torn between his family and leaving with his secret lover, while William returns home to escape his life of crime and redeem himself. Desperate to build a future for his eight-year-old son, Jean turns to his brother's criminal past.

Coulier is a bright talent who already has an impressive resume in shorts and TV work and this looks as though it should bring him to a much larger audience and continue the current wave of edgy Belgian writer-directors, placing him in a line with Mikael Roskam and Robin Pront. Take a look at the trailer below.
Uber schadenfreude continues in what's already been a hellish week for a company embroiled in scandal since Sunday after former engineer Susan Fowler went public with an account alleging sexual harassment and discrimination were systemic and pervasive in her year at the tech firm. Today, self-driving car company Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet and spun off of Google itself last year, claims that a former Waymo employee now employed by Uber engaged in a "concerted plan to steal Waymos trade secrets and intellectual property."

That's ex-Google engineer Anthony Levandowski, a founder of self-driving truck company Otto, which was acquired by Uber last August in its play for autonomous vehicles. The explosive allegations are all in a Medium post written by the team at Waymo. What's particularly shocking is that Google has funded Uber in the past through its VC fund Google ventures. "Our parent company Alphabet has long worked with Uber in many areas," the Waymo team writes, "and we didnt make this decision lightly."

We found that six weeks before his resignation this former employee, Anthony Levandowski, downloaded over 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary design files for Waymos various hardware systems, including designs of Waymos LiDAR and circuit board. To gain access to Waymos design server, Mr. Levandowski searched for and installed specialized software onto his company-issued laptop. Once inside, he downloaded 9.7 GB of Waymos highly confidential files and trade secrets, including blueprints, design files and testing documentation. Then he connected an external drive to the laptop. Mr. Levandowski then wiped and reformatted the laptop in an attempt to erase forensic fingerprints. Beyond Mr. Levandowkis actions, we discovered that other former Waymo employees, now at Otto and Uber, downloaded additional highly confidential information pertaining to our custom-built LiDAR including supplier lists, manufacturing details and statements of work with highly technical information.

The juiciest part of this all might be that a mistaken CC may have blown the case open. "Waymo was recently  and apparently inadvertently  copied on an email from one of its LiDAR component vendors," they write. "The email attached machine drawings of what purports to be an Uber LiDAR circuit board, the complaint reads. As this email shows, Otto and Uber are currently building and deploying (or intending to deploy) LiDAR systems (or system components) using Waymos trade secret designs. This email also shows that Otto and Ubers LiDAR systems infringe multiple LiDAR technology patents awarded to Waymo."

Waymo is now asking a US District Court to block Uber, and Otto, from using the self-driving technology and return the stolen materials. According to a statement to the Washington Post, Uber says it takes the allegations "seriously and we will review this matter carefully."

Talk about timing. Just yesterday, a New York Times report revealed more instances of harassment like those described by Fowler, painting a portrait of a "Hobbesian" nightmare workplace. And, earlier today, two angel investors with an early stake in Uber, Mitch and Freada Kapor, published an open letter taking the company to task.

"We are speaking up now because we are disappointed and frustrated; we feel we have hit a dead end in trying to influence the company quietly from the inside," they wrote. As for an investigation into the harassment allegations, the two "are disappointed to see that Uber has selected a team of insiders to investigate its destructive culture and make recommendations for change. To us, this decision is yet another example of Ubers continued unwillingness to be open, transparent, and direct."

Previously: Uber Did A Bad And Is Very Sorry, Okay?
One of San Francisco's most infamous convicted criminals will be back on the streets in a few weeks, after his latest conviction in yet another bizarre entry in his ever-growing rap sheet.

You likely know the tale of David Munoz Diaz, the man who in 2011 was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, arson, mutilating human remains, and destroying evidence after fatally choking a man during a sexual encounter at Buena Vista Park, then burning his body in an area recycling bin. (You can read all about the case here.)

Diaz was sentenced to four years and eight months in state prison, but as he'd remained in San Francisco County Jail since his arrest in 2011 and had demonstrated good behavior, he was released from custody in September, 2014. But four months later, he was back in the news again, after police say that he was recognized from video evidence in an arson fire near his home on 18th Street near Noe Street, at the site of the Up Hair salon, which is located directly above The Mix, a Castro bar owned by Diaz's "longtime partner" Larry Metzger. (For coverage of that case, go here.)

Diaz, who had once again remained in SF County Jail since his arrest, was initially charged with felony counts of arson of an inhabited structure, arson of property, and possession of an incendiary device. He took a plea deal on September 26, 2016, and was released on a year of mandatory supervision and was required to register as an arsonist for life, wear an ankle monitor for at least the first six months of his supervision, and receive counseling.

But two months later, he was arrested yet again  this time on suspicion of assault with force likely to commit great bodily injury, unlawful use of a badge, false imprisonment, mayhem, and battery with serious bodily injury.

According to the Bay Area Reporter, Diaz allegedly handcuffed a man, then "bit a chunk out of" his victim's scalp "while impersonating a police officer." But Thursday, he was the recipient of yet another plea deal, as he pled guilty to a single count of felony false imprisonment, the BAR reports.

Speaking to the BAR outside the courtroom, "Deputy Public Defender Rebecca Young said that Diazs alleged victim had actually been the first to strike during the incident, and Diaz had a 'very, very strong self-defense' case."

At the time of his most recent arrest, Diaz was in San Francisco General Hospital for treatment from injuries sustained during the altercation. At the time, Metzger said Diaz had been hit with a pipe." He looked pretty bad" and "had stitches on his forehead, Metzger said at the time, saying that police had ushered him out of Diaz's hospital room before he could get more information on the altercation.

Again a guest of SF County Jail since his arrest in the November incident, Diaz is scheduled to be freed as of March 16, where he is expected to be sentenced with "up to five years of probation," conditions of which, the BAR reports, "include a midnight curfew and up to a year of wearing an ankle monitor."

Previously: After Two Months On SF Streets, Convicted Castro Corpse Mutilator/Arsonist Returns To Jail


Two separate double shootings left four people injured Friday morning, following incidents in San Francsico's Potrero Hill and Bayview District.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, the first shooting occurred on the 700 block of Missouri Street, which is near the Potrero Hill Recreation Center. Police say that a 22-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man were seated in the woman's car, talking, at 12:30 a.m. Friday, when a vehicle pulled up alongside the couple.

Police say that an unknown suspect inside the second vehicle fired shots at the both with a handgun, then "fled southbound on Missouri."

The man and the woman were transported to San Francisco General Hospital for treatment of their injuries, which police say are not life threatening.

Then, at 6:16 a.m., SFPD spokesperson Officer Giselle Talkoff says that "a call came in regarding a shooting on the 1500 block of Bancroft Ave," which is about a block from Third Street in the Bayview.

Talkoff says that "SFPD officers responded to the scene and located two adult male victims," both of whom were "transported to the hospital with non life threatening injuries."

Talkoff declined to provide further information on the second shooting, but KRON 4 had this arial footage of the scene:

As of publication time, police had not announced any suspect information, possible motives, or arrests in either case.

Related: Sunday Shooting In SF's Sixth Homicide For 2017
In the tech mecca of the Bay Area, Hack Temple seeks to be among its highest, holiest altars. The new would-be place of worship is located in the historic Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, built in 1906 on Broadway in Russian Hill and rebuilt in 1912, then closed in 1991 as its congregation dwindled. The space was converted to a school, St. Mary's, and was finally sold for $2.3 million to a real estate firm and vacated in 2013. Dormant since then, the former house of God found its guardian angel  or, rather, angel investor in Pavil Cherkashin. A Russian former Adobe and Microsoft exec, Cherkashin is a managing partner at early stage Venture Capital Firm GVA Capital, which bought the church for $7 million last year to convert it to the gospel of innovation.

It's a fitting mission for a techie who penned, last month, a hacking-as-religion "manifesto" in App Developer Magazine. "Its time to build new religions around what we really believe in... technology," Cherkashin writes, proposing a church of "Hacktivism" in an attempted tongue-in-cheek essay. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to laugh or cringe," one commenter responded, "but I did a little of both."





Enter Hack Temple, opened for select events in December on the corner of Mason and Broadway. "For a whole century [Our Lady of Guadalupe] served as a place for people to come with their dreams and challenges, help and support each other and connect," Cherkashin, who moved from Moscow to the US just three years ago, told SFGate after purchasing the space. "We needed a place for an open public forum to inspire free flow of thoughts and ideas on innovation."



via Noe Hill

Hack Temple spokesperson Clayton Wood tells SFist that portions of the facility are still under renovation after falling into relative disrepair. "When Hack Temple came in, their vision was to breathe life back into the building," Wood says, citing renovations to the historic organ, which is now playable. The goal is to "use its beautiful, unique architecture and design to do some really cool projects." This Sunday, for instance, Hack Temple will turn over its pulpit to an event with TEDx, the popular presentation format that's not unlike a modern day sermon series. After the networking event, participants will take off for a sunset yacht cruise, Wood says.



Hack Temple via Facebook



Hack Temple via Facebook

In particular, Hack Temple will be a place to connect startup founders to larger corporations. "We feel like the current circle of innovation has a lot of work to do, and founders and corporations should be a lot more connected," Wood says. As to Cherkashin's Russian connections, the team hopes that their congregant community will be strongly international, the space an embassy, or asylum, for foreign technologists in the promised land of innovation.



Hack Temple via Facebook

If you're seeking a spiritual experience at Hack Temple, look out for educational events open to the public down the road, especially in the virtual reality and augmented reality space. Next Thursday, the morning dance party series Daybreaker  particularly popular with local millennials in tech  will occupy the space for their latest event, "Twerk Du Soleil." That, in a shocking twist on their early a.m. events, will be held at night  think of it as a rare evening service on a high holiday. (So much for sticking to the Daybreaker brand?)

And a church formal, in case you were concerned, "Twerk Du Soleil" is decidedly not. "Practice your juggling act, throw on that colorful leotard (you know it's been waiting to come out!) and douse yourself in body paint," Daybreaker writes on an event page. Oh my god.

Related: Sunday's Finest: A Non-Religious 'Church Service' With Tartine Bread And Fernet For Communion
is a historical drama with good intentions, but terrible execution. Set in 1930's Ukraine, it tells the story of the relatively unknown holocaust known as the Holodomor, which was, essentially, the state sponsored starvation of millions of Ukrainians, as led by Joseph Stalin.

The story is told through the eyes of Yuri (Max Irons), an aspiring artist in small Ukrainian village. After the state takes over the village's land, via murder and intimidation, Yuri decides to leave his love Natalka (Samantha Barks) and his domineering grandfather (Terence Stamp) and get some state-sponsored art education in Kiev. Once he learns that the art is not only sponsored by the state, but also dictated by it, he decides to go back home to his increasingly desperate family.

Director George Mendeluk begins the film with some lovely imagery, presenting early 20th century Ukraine as a colorful land straight out of a fairytale. But once the drama gets heavy, the film's use of English-speaking actors, digital cinematography, and simple sets gives it all a cheap, made-for-cable movie feel. And not an American made-for-cable movie. More like something you might stumble on while in a hotel somewhere in Europe, as you flip through the 10 available channels.

The script and hammy acting certainly don't help. Gary Oliver plays Stalin like a cartoon villain who, if his mustache were just a little longer, would certainly be twirling it before screaming lines like "DAMN THOSE UKRAINIANS!" Equally silly is Tamer Hassan as a Commissar whose main job seems to be kicking villagers. He also decides to turn Yuri's wife into a sex slave, and all of his behavior may or may not stem from him having a bad mother, (it's a little confusing).

It's too bad Bitter Harvest is a failure, as it's a pretty good time to be telling a story about Russia, and Ukraine, and state-sponsored atrocities, especially an atrocity that many in power continue to deny even happened.

If it's well-timed social commentary you're looking for, I can't recommend the horror movie

Get Out enough. Written and directed by Jordan Peele, who is best known for his work as one half of the comedy team Key & Peele, it will probably end up being the best horror movie of the year, and easily one of the best of the past five years.

Starring Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams as Chris and Rose, the story follows the couple as they visit Rose's family for the first time. Meeting the parents is always tense, but Chris has the added anxiety of being a black man meeting his white girlfriend's family, who don't know beforehand that he's black.

Despite assurances that her family is the furthest thing from racist, ("My father would have voted for Obama a third time if he could have, and he'll let you know it," Rose tells Chris), Chris still can't help but feel a little put off by the family's intense openness. In addition, the live-in house and groundskeepers, who are also black, seem a little off. And when the weekend also turns out to be the same weekend as an annual family party, things get really weird.

This is Jordan Peele's directorial debut, which is pretty astounding; he's got a natural gift for horror. He's admitted it's his favorite movie genre, and nods to classics like Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives are peppered throughout. But Peele's greatest contribution to the film is humor. He recognizes that humor is one of the most important aspects of a horror movie. Horror without humor is just torture.

There are some plot holes towards the end, but really, most horror movies suffer from those if given any real scrutiny. I'll forgive Get Out those if only for its opening scene, which is both a classic horror movie opening, and a perfect commentary on the current state of male blackness in America.

You can read DCist's full review of Get Out here.
A man who intervened in a dispute between two family members is behind bars this morning, after he allegedly attacked one of the arguers with a hammer.

Police say that the incident occurred at 12:40 a.m. Friday, near the intersection of Division and Brannan Streets. According to the San Francisco Police Department, a 55-year-old man "and his family member got into altercation," and the suspect, a 49-year-old man "interfered to stop it."

This interference, police say, angered the older man, who then confronted the suspect. During that confrontation, according to the SFPD, the suspect picked up a hammer and hit the older man, then fled the scene.

The victim was transported to San Francisco General Hospital for treatment of his injuries, which police say are life-threatening. According to the SFPD, they were able to identify and track down the suspect, arresting him and booking him into San Francisco County Jail by early Friday morning.

Related: Hammer-Wielding Woman Steals Bike On Fillmore Street
Homeland Security (& other agencies) launch wave of pre-dawn raids across Santa Cruz, said to be targeting gang-affiliated homicide suspects pic.twitter.com/EDbfKHhDjj  Wilson Walker (@Wilson_Walker) February 13, 2017

An episode in Santa Cruz that might serve to illustrate the mounting tensions between federal and local law enforcement agencies has that city's police department, and even its mayor, expressing outrage at the Department of Homeland Security, publicly apologizing for its involvement, as a sanctuary city, in a series of detentions and arrests based seemingly on immigration status alone.

"In this operation, Homeland Security Investigation has violated and betrayed our community's trust," the department writes in a press release, and in a press conference, Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel tore into the Department of Homeland Security.

That's a sharp turn from the Police Department's stance on the day of the law enforcement raid in question. "Were trying to get people who have preyed on our community, Deputy Chief Dan Flippo told the Chronicle on February 13. Were going after some very violent people," Flippo claimed. However, responding to community concerns voiced on social media about the presence of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Santa Cruz given the Trump Administration's recent and repeated threats against immigrants, "The timing is unfortunate, Flippo added.

But Vogel, Flippo, and the department quickly changed their tune after learning more from community members. Homeland Security officials were not forthcoming with information about those individuals they detained based solely upon their immigration status, said Vogel. The detentions of those suspected solely of being undocumented immigrants by Homeland Security occurred after my staff had left the scene of the locations where they were detained, which begs the question as to why these detentions did not occur while my staff was present and why Homeland Security officials have not been completely forthcoming to us with information about this. To me, this indicates that these detentions were made solely for immigration violations, which were not supposed to occur.

The story starts in October 2011, according to Santa Cruz Police Officers. That's when they received a phone call from an El Salvadoran member of the Santa Cruz community regarding members of the MS-13 gang who had moved into Santa Cruz and its environs and were allegedly selling drugs and making threats. In spring 2012, department detectives had begun to work on the case, developing leads regarding extorted businesses on Ocean Street. The department says it was able to identify gang members in possession of firearms, and Homeland Security Investigations then became the lead investigating agency due to "international ties of the gang and the large scope of the investigation."

Fast forward to the first week of this month, when case investigators gained "credible information" that a homicide was being planned, at the gang's direction. At least one murder was due to occur within the next two weeks in Santa Cruz, according to the intel. The Assistant US Attorney petitioned for a Federal Grand Jury, and in the end, 10 Federal Detainers for 10 individuals were issued, all of them for gang members associated with Santa Cruz MS-13.

Local law enforcement was "repeatedly advised" that Homeland Security investigations was the lead agency in the matter," and Enforcement and Removal Operations were not to be involved, the Santa Cruz Police Department says. During the operation on February 13, 12 people were arrested, 9 for Federal Indictment, 1 for a warrant, 2 on probably cause. That's when Deputy Chief Flippo was touting the operation as a success.

But by then next day, February 14th, members of the public commented on the Homeland Security Investigators activities, claiming that children were left unattended and immigration detentions had occurred. According to a follow up by the Santa Cruz Police Department, 20 people were arrested or detained based on their immigration status, six of them taken to a federal facility and five released with GPS monitoring. One was released with a summons.

Advocates tell the Chronicle that the incident marks a sharp shift since the Obama administration, in which such "collateral arrests" were rare.

"Im outraged, KRON4 quotes Santa Cruz Mayor Cynthia Chase said about the immigration enforcement. Theres no question that this action has torn families apart.

James Schwab, a spokesperson for SU Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency of Homeland Security, claims that The chief acknowledged this possibility and it was agreed that no foreign nationals would enter the Santa Cruz Police Departments facility or their police vehicles.

Per the Chronicle, Schwab says ICE agents "encountered 11 illegal aliens at the operational locations who were detained initially on administrative immigration violations due to their association with suspected members of a transnational street gang. Ultimately, 10 of those individuals were released."

Ryan Spradlin, the ICE's special agent-in-charge for the Bay Area, denounced Santa Cruz officials, telling the Chronicle that When politics undermine law and order, the only winners are the criminals.... I told the deputy chief that rather than disparaging this operation, the community of Santa Cruz should understand that they are safer because of it.

The Santa Cruz Police department sees it differently, observing the potential damage to its relationship with the community it serves. Department leadership is "reaching out to immigrant neighbors and associate groups to reassure the community that the police department will not intentionally participate in these types of raids," authorities say. Meanwhile, Deputy Police Chief Dan Flippo says that Senator Kamala Harris and Representative Jimmy Panetta are "looking into the incident," according to KRON4.

Related: Border Patrol Agents Stop And Check IDs Of Domestic SFO-JFK Passengers Before Letting Them Off Plane
Jordan Dechambre cares about how Milwaukee looks, so she did something about it. Dechambre is utility player, writing a fashion blog, consulting retail stores and setting trends. Fashion is an art so volatile it changes every six months and you can count on Dechambre to capture it.

Make Milwaukee Rad is a conversation with Milwaukee's culture makers, influencers and all-around do-gooders. This space is a platform for Milwaukeeans to express our stories, voice our opinions and share our experiences. In Milwaukee there's a saying "All 414 all."

Make Milwaukee Rad is sponsored by Project Pitch It which is presented by Cardinal Stritch University.
Is the third time the charm?

Sunday night, former Sioux Cityan Ron Clements will know if he has won an Oscar for his work in feature animation.

Nominated for Moana, he and his fellow director John Musker were previously in the hunt for Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog. Although they also directed such classics as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Hercules, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didnt have a separate category when they were released.

Now, the two could collect the trophy that has eluded them.

When the nominations were announced last month, Clements said he was thrilled to get the nod, particularly since its a highly competitive year. Also nominated: Kubo and the Two Strings, Zootopia, The Red Turtle and My Life as a Zucchini. Zootopia won the Golden Globe in the category; Kubo took the British Academy Award last week.

Moana has a second bid in the Best Song category. Lin-Manuel Mirandas How Far Ill Go is competing against two songs from La La Land, one from Trolls and one from Jim: The James Foley Story.

When Moana was in production, Miranda often skyped with Clements and Musker before going on stage in Hamilton. Sometimes, Clements said, he brought in cast mates from the Tony-winning musical, to sing the films songs. Theres a whole additional album of songs that werent used in the movie.

Between the films release in November and the Oscars Sunday, Clements and Musker have been crisscrossing the world doing interviews. They attended the Oscar nominees luncheon earlier in the month (Clements is standing next to actor Jeff Bridges in the class picture) and, Feb. 12, were in London for the British Academy Awards.

Now, its Oscars turn.

Its a real honor to be included, the Bishop Heelan High School grad said.
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.
SIOUX CITY | A Paullina, Iowa, man has been charged with felony sexual abuse.

Richard Eugene Buckley, 34, of Paullina, was arrested by the Paullina Police Department. Buckley was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of lascivious acts with a child.

An O'Brien County Jail official said Buckley posted $50,000 bond and was released Thursday.

Buckley was arrested after an ongoing investigation between the police department and the Iowa Department of Human Services. He will make a court appearance on March 7.
SIOUX CITY | A day after Uber announced its launch date, its ride-hailing competitor, Lyft, revealed that the company launched in Sioux City Thursday.

A Lyft spokesperson said the company submitted the necessary paperwork to the Iowa Department of Transportation Thursday.

"(We) look forward to bringing Lyft's affordable, reliable rides to people in Sioux City," Mary Caroline Pruitt said.

Like Uber, the ride-sharing platform allows users to requests rides from a mobile app, and pay for the trip from a smartphone.

On Monday, Uber announced to the Journal it will be launching in Sioux City on March 31.

The two companies are allowed to expand so quickly in Iowa after a state law was put into effect that now regulates ride-hailing companies through the Department of Transportation rather than at a local level.

Each driver-- for a taxi company or Uber and Lyft -- must undergo background checks and carry $1 million in liability insurance. Companies will also have a $5,000 fee that will go toward Iowas Road Use Tax Fund.

Lyft launched in 54 cities across the country, including Sioux City.
SIOUX CITY | As Morningside College President John Reynders sought to give some publicity Thursday to agriculture programs at the Sioux City school, he hoped things went better than decades ago.

A self-described city kid, Reynders said the last time he drove something along the lines of a farm tractor was when working as high schooler at the zoo in Erie, Pennsylvania. One day he piloted a small tractor with a loader, trying to take some bales of hay to horses.

Reynders struck a door with the loader/bucket, sending splinters flying, and he never had that duty again. Nonetheless, there Reynders was Thursday, gamely climbing into a giant John Deere tractor, then inching north for 200 yards across the Morningside campus. Morningside student Devin Soll sat by him in the cab.

The college's Ag Club members took videos on phones and wore bemused looks, with one yelling out, "Honk the horn!"

Reynders exited, then exhaled, "I'm glad it is over."

The president accepted the students' challenge to get behind the wheel to call attention to National FFA Week, Feb. 18-25.

"The original plan was to have a tractor on display," Ag Club President-elect Rachael Arnts, of Alta said. "Then we thought to make it interactive."

ICON Ag & Turf, a John Deere dealership in Lawton, Iowa, delivered a tractor to campus for the challenge.

After three years of existence, 2017 marks the first time the Morningside Ag Club became an official FFA national affiliate.

The Regina Roth Applied Agricultural and Food Studies program is in its third year at Morningside, following a donation by Roth, a community philanthroper and co-founder and executive at Dakota Dunes-based Beef Products Inc. The college wanted to create the program because Sioux City is in the heart of one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world.

"Regina Roth made this happen. It was her gift that got this program off the ground," Reynders said.

The program has three professors, Tom Paulsen, Chris Benson and Rich Crow, 50 students pursuing ag majors and another 25 with minors.

Keaten Miller, a sophomore from Charter Oak, Iowa, majors in agribusiness. Miller looked at Morningside in high school, and said he liked how Morningside students can have a lot of tours of agriculture businesses and get extended internships, also called externships.

"The ag program sold me," Miller said.

Arnts has a major in mass communication and a general agriculture minor. Being one year older and closer to graduation, Arnts said she likes how the Morningside professors are great at pointing out career paths.

"The job outlook is very promising for the ag industry," Arnts said.

Miller noted the publicity event came off pretty well, with Reynders performing up to snuff.

"He did great. He made it all the way there without running into anything or anybody," Miller said.

Arnts hopes Morningside students give the program or Ag Club some consideration.

"If they were involved in FFA in high school and they see the activities we are doing, hopefully that will encourage them to pursue it in college," Arnts said.
SOUTH SIOUX CITY | South Sioux City Fire Chief Clint Merithew called a chain of grass fires Saturday "suspicious" and could have been done on purpose.

A Thursday press release said the department-- with Dakota City and Homer crews-- responded to three separate vegetation fires Saturday at the Kingsbury Interchange, Highway 20 and U.S. 77 bypass.

The fires were extinguished and the investigation of the cause determined them to be "suspicious in nature with probable cause of incendiary," the release said.

Smoke from grass fires near roadways can reduce visibility for drivers and can be dangerous, the release said.

Anyone with information on the fires should contact the department at (402) 494-7508, the release said.
BELGRADE - For the first time, China took part in the International Tourism Fair in Belgrade which opened here on Thursday.

Serbian officials and tour operators saw this as another signal, along with visa liberalization and possible direct flights, that the number of Chinese tourists to Serbia could soon increase notably.

Tourism fair takes place for the 39th time at the Belgrade fair under the slogan "Enjoy in time" with 1.100 exhibitors, local, regional and international tour operators, tourist associations and organizations, hotels, tourist centers and airliners from 56 countries from February 23 to 26.

It was officially opened by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Rasim Ljajic, minister of trade, tourism and telecommunications.

Speaking at the opening of the fair Vucic said that last year Serbia profited more than 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) from tourism because it managed to realize that it had underestimated its potentials in the past and decided to change this.

One of the strategies, according to him, is to attract more visitors from China.

Chinese tourists

"In 2016 the number of Chinese tourists increased by 29 percent. We expect more of them because I expect that one Chinese airliner will soon establish a direct flight from Belgrade to Beijing.

"This will mean, along with the visa-free regime, a huge number of tourists," Vucic said.

Vucic said Serbia plans to make arrangements with neighboring countries such as Montenegro and Hungary to present a joint tourist offer to Chinese tour operators.

Ljajic noted that the Belgrade International Tourism Fair has grown into the biggest tourism fair in the region and stressed the importance of having China and Russia for the first time as participants.

"For the first time at this fair, we have China and Russia presenting their tourist offers which will significantly contribute to better cooperation and attracting tourists from these great markets to Serbia," Ljajic said.

In an interview for Xinhua, Liu Cheng, director of the Budapest branch of the China National Tourism Administration, said that the branch was founded in March last year in Budapest to promote China as a tourist destination among central and eastern European countries, and to establish tourist connections between China and CEE countries, including Serbia.

"These years we have seen a rapid growth of Chinese outbound tourists to CEE countries, with an annual number of 800,000 tourists," Liu said.

"Among these countries, Czech Republic is the most popular one. Well, we don't see many Chinese tourists in Serbia, However, it grows by 20 percent to 30 percent every year," Liu said, reminding that Serbia and China implemented visa liberalization in January, which is really good news.

"A problem remains that Chinese people don't know much about Serbia. They may know Belgrade or former Yugoslavia, but they don't know what to see, what to do or what to buy here.

"I think it's important that Serbia promote itself in China so that Chinese people will get to know more about this country and, gradually Serbia will become a popular tourist destination," he concluded.

Preparing for more tourists

BIljana Radulovic, director of "Top Tours" tour operator, says that her company made the first attempt to cooperate with Chinese tour operators on bringing tourists to Serbia, by printing a brochure which was presented for the first time at the international tourism fair in Shanghai last November.

"In the brochure made for our potential business partners, we presented Serbia and its capital Belgrade, but also regional countries and established two guaranteed routes (that will operate even if a single passenger is present) - 'Memory of the Balkans' and 'Balkans without Borders'. We proposed our Chinese partners to visit all of our neighboring countries," she said.

Radulovic explained that the company analyzed the market to study preferences of Chinese tourists before it decided to present its offer to Chinese tour operators, and that the key motivation for that was the liberalization of visa regime between two countries.

"We made the first attempt to attract Chinese tourists five years ago, but at that point procedures for Chinese tourists to get visas were too demanding so we put the project on hold until recently when visa liberalization between China and Serbia gave us a new motivation," she recalled.

"We expect results. Serbia is a new destination, and we have the support of the business environment as well as the ministry in charge of tourism," Radulovic said, adding that she expects to establish cooperation with partners from China.

Meeting Chinese requirements

Milica Cubrilo, secretary for tourism in the Serbia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that Serbia has to offer a lot to tourists.

These include capital Belgrade with its surroundings, mountain resorts, spas, numerous festivals and a tradition worth getting to know.

Cubrilo said that hotels, restaurants and tour guides as well as others engaged in tourism have gradually started to adapt to the requirements of Chinese tourists.

"Having in mind that China is very far away from here, we made joint programs with our neighbors that have a complementary offer with Serbia, which is Montenegro, as the beginning.

"Our tour operators made a brochure with seven joint programs focusing on active vacation in nature together with Montenegrin tour operators and these will be offered to Chinese tour operators so they could include them in their offer at the upcoming tourism fair in Shanghai," she told Xinhua.

In 2016, some 43,000 Chinese tourists came to Serbia which is not a big number having in mind the size of China, but for Serbia this is encouraging because in 2011 only 12,000 tourists from China visited Serbia, she said.

"We hope that the visa free regime, possible establishment of a direct flight, joint presentation with our neighbors as well as strengthening of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe will have an influence on Chinese tourists to perceive this region as more attractive than in the past," Cubrilo said.

Miodrag Popovic, director of the Tourist Organization of the City of Belgrade, told Xinhua that Chinese tourists are just as any other international visitors when it comes to the presentation of tourist destination, but in order for them to be satisfied, some special attention is still required.

There are differences when it comes to Chinese tourists only when it comes to some cultural aspects, he said.

"A research has provided us with information about what interests Chinese guests most, how they need to be treated - from the most banal such as to avoid everything connected to the number four, to more serious issues, such as that one needs to have Chinese food for guests who stay longer, together with domestic specialties that they may wish to taste.

"Chinese guests also like to take photos and we need to provide them with enough places to capture their memories on photos," he said.

"Preparations are ongoing in Belgrade hotels, restaurant and all those related to the sector of services and other sectors related to the tourist offer - for the arrival of Chinese guests," Popovic said.
DES MOINES  Rep. Matt Windschitl wants to protect Iowans at all costs by enacting sweeping changes to the states gun laws.

But the majority of speakers at a hearing Thursday said it likely would endanger Iowans, especially those of color.

Windschitl chaired a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on House Study Bill 133, which includes stand-your-ground provisions, removes the renewal requirement for permits to carry firearms and allow minors of any age to handle a handgun in the presence of a parent or guardian.

Laural Clinton of Des Moines was one of several African Americans to speak against the bill out of fear theyll become target practice if the stand-your-ground provisions become law.

As the mother of three sons  one she described as that black kid in a hoodie that everybody fears  Clinton, who has a permit to carry, said the bill scares her.

Renaldo Johnson of Clive, another gun owner, found aspects of the law concerning to me as a black person. His concern is in allowing the use of deadly force if a person perceives his or her life is threatened.

Describing himself as a large, black male, Johnson said hes afraid that if someone feels threatened by him, Im on the ground with a bullet in my chest.

Several speakers pointed out that in states with stand-your-ground laws the number of people killed has increased.

I have no problem with the Second Amendment, Johnson said, adding that if the bill is approved black people should be highly educated in regard to this and armed.

Lawmakers heard from supporters of the proposed legislation, too.

Barry Snell of the Iowa Firearms Coalition called it a dramatic and historical step forward toward abolishing the Second Amendment as a second-class right in the state of Iowa.

Sport shooters Natalie and Meredith Gibson encouraged adoption of the provision that allows children younger than 14 to handle handguns under supervision.

Were not trying to form a toddler militia, Meredith said in reference to the name opponents have used to describe that section.

The subcommittee also heard from representatives of colleges, hospitals and cities that oppose the proposed pre-emption of their local rules against weapons in their facilities. Robert Palmer of the League of Cities said many acts have no-weapons clauses in their contracts.

Law enforcement and prosecutors raised concerns, but kept coming back to the stand-your-ground language.

David Walker, a retired Drake University Law School dean, said Iowas castle doctrine already allows Iowans to use deadly force if they reasonably believe their life is endangered in their home or car.

Adopting the bill would not enhance Iowa law or public safety, he said. It would, however, add a psychological element. It will be seen as an encouragement ... and make people more trigger-happy.

Subcommittee member Rep. Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton, a criminal defense lawyer, said Iowas castle doctrine is for all intents and purposes a stand-your-ground law that does not require Iowans to retreat unless they can without endangering themselves or others.

Regardless of what current law does or doesnt allow, Mark Maxwell of A Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education of Iowa  or ABATE  said his group welcomes passage of the bill because we dont fear good people with guns.
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
ANNAPOLIS (Feb. 24, 2017)Lawmakers this week began hearing testimony and debating several key pieces of Gov. Larry Hogan's legislative agenda, including his proposed repeal of the Maryland Open Transportation Investment Decision Act of 2016. The act, which Hogan calls "the Road Kill Bill," has become a point of bitter partisan contention between the Republican governor and the Democrat-controlled legislature.



Legislative committees heard testimony for and against six of Hogan's bills, Wednesday. His repeal of the Open Transportation Investment Decision Act is by far the governors most contentious.



Conflict surrounding that law has mutated beyond its policy impact and become something of a proxy war in the greater political struggle between the Republican governor and the Democrat-controlled legislature ahead of the 2018 elections.



Hogan has furiously fought the Open Transportation Investment Decision Act, a Democrat-led law that would assign a score to all transportation projects and requires the governor to provide a written explanation if he decides to fund a project with a lower score over a higher one. He vetoed the bill last year and has continued to heap criticism on the law and its supporters since the legislature overrode his veto at the end of the 2016 session.



A few weeks ago, during his 2017 State of the State Speech, Hogan called the law "poorly drafted" and "misguided." His call for its immediate repeal was met with raucous, standing applause from his cabinet and Republicans while most Democrats, who make up about two-thirds of the legislature, sat in stony silence.



Supporters and detractors of the law often appear to base their arguments on fundamentally different understandings of what the transportation law does, on a practical level.



Montgomery County submitted testimony opposing repeal on the grounds that Hogan's assertion that the law forces the cancellation of 66 transportation projects is essentially incorrect because it is based on "uncodified language." In contrast, Howard County submitted testimony supporting repeal because "66 out of 73 transportation projects are cancelled, including five critical transportation projects in Howard County."



Associated Builders and Contractors, a national trade association for construction companies, favors repeal on the grounds that the state's process for selecting transportation projects was already transparent and that the law does not improve things; the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, a transportation advocacy group, opposes repeal because the law "improves transparency and accountability."



The divide was on full display Wednesday as a panel consisting of Secretary of Transportation Pete Rahn, Chief Legislative Officer Christopher Shank, and Deputy Legislative Officer Christopher Carroll, who supported repeal on behalf of the governor's office, testified and fielded questions from the mostly Democrat budget and taxation committee.



Rahn called the law "potentially well intended" but argued that it is "broken."



The committee briefly interrupted the panel's testimony to allow Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, Charles and Prince Georges, to speak. Standing over the seated panel Wednesday, Miller repudiated the administrations testimony by insisting that the transportation law "is advisory only" and arguing that it "was unfaithfully implemented" by the executive branch. He flatly rejected the possibility of repealing the bill, saying that it is "out of the question."



Miller said the law is needed to reassure the public that transportation money, especially from contentious sources such as the gas tax, is being spent in the best way possible.



Miller announced an amendment to the repeal bill that would effectively require the governor to score projects but not act on those scores for two years.



At present, the governor must allocate funding based on scores, but he can technically fund any project so long as he offers a justification. His office argues that funding a lower-scored project could open the state up to lawsuits from those who would benefit from displaced projects with higher scores.



The amendment would also create a bipartisan work group that would evaluate the scoring system to be used for transportation projects.



Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, D-Baltimore, brought up the cancellation of the Red Line light rail project in Baltimore and cast the law as a consequence of Democrats feeling as though the governor's office was not funding transportation projects fairly.



Sen. Guy Guzzone, D-Howard, suggested that the department of transportation had control over designing the regulations that determine how projects would be scored, and could have designed the system to reflect the governors priorities.



Sen. George Edwards, R-Allegany, Garrett and Washington, said there is "no question" that the current scoring system disadvantages rural areas because of its emphasis on population as a deciding factor. However, he said it seemed unlikely that a repeal effort would succeed and that negotiation may be the only way forward.



Repealing "the Road Kill Bill" was not Hogan's only piece of legislation to come before a committee Wednesday.



The Public Integrity Act of 2017 is a major part of Hogan's push against corruption and abuse of power in the State House. Democrats in the legislature have been shaken this session by an ongoing FBI investigation into liquor licenses in Prince George's County; a former Democrat delegate has already pleaded guilty to bribery charges as a result of the investigation.



Hogan's proposal would prevent legislators from supporting legislation that would benefit a company they own or work for. The bill also requires legislators who are married to a lobbyist to disclose their spouses clients, prohibits legislative and executive staff from engaging in lobbying for at least one year after they leave public service, and prevents registered lobbyists and employees of lobbying firms from being appointed to state boards or commissions.



In addition, the bill removes the authority to enforce conflict of interest and financial disclosure rules from the Joint Commission of Legislative Ethics, which is made up of lawmakers, and gives those powers to the State Ethics Commission, which consists of private citizens.



Hogan proposed three bills that would affect individual taxes. One would do away with state taxes on military retirement income. That bill is supported by a range of veterans groups and no opposition testimony was presented at the bill's hearing in the Senate Budget and Taxation committee on Wednesday.



The second bill would allow Marylanders to deduct the interest they pay on student loans from their state income tax, so long as they earn less that $200,000 per year. The original bill only applies to baccalaureate and graduate degrees, but a friendly amendment proposed by the Maryland Association of Community Colleges would add associate degrees to the bill.



Lastly, a third bill would increase the amount of retirement income for law enforcement, fire, rescue, and emergency services personnel that is exempt from state taxes. The bill is supported by a number of associations representing the positions that would be affected. The Maryland Chiefs of Police Association and the Maryland Sheriffs' Association offered their support but requested that the exemption in the bill be extended to correctional officers.



The Maryland Association of Counties opposes the deductions for student loan interest and emergency services retirement income on the grounds that they will hurt local revenue.



The More Jobs for Marylanders Act aims to incentivise job creation in "qualified distressed counties," jurisdictions with higher-than-average unemployment and low per capita income, by offering tax benefits to companies that open manufacturing operations in those areas, such as Allegany, Dorchester, Somerset, Worchester, and Baltimore City.



A representative of Tradepoint Atlanticowner of Sparrows Point, a former industrial site in Baltimore County, which is not a qualified as distressedsaid the company supports the legislation but requested the bills geographic boundaries be altered so it and other businesses could benefit.



Several manufacturing companies from areas that would be eligible for the tax benefits have come out in support of the bill.
Next week, on Feb. 28, the Health, Education and Environmental Affairs Committee in the Maryland Senate will take up legislation dealing with shale-gas drilling (fracking). For public safety, economic, and environmental reasons, we believe the technology should not be allowed in Maryland.



Nearly three out of four senators have indicated a willingness to extend the current fracking moratorium, set to expire in October. This suggests they recognize that gas-drilling will not be the economic bonanza that supporters have claimed since 2011, when the mountains above Marcellus Shale deposits in Western Maryland were first targeted.



Two bills are pending. one bans fracking altogether, while the other extends the moratorium for two yearsthough it departs from the current moratorium by permitting fracking in counties that approve it by referendum. On the ban bill, 23 of the Senate's 33 Democrats are co-sponsors; the moratorium bill has 24 co-sponsors, including several Republicans.



In the House of Delegates, leadership declared long ago that a frack-free Maryland was its preference. A ban bill is advancing, and there is no moratorium bill. After committee hearings, legislation may go to the floor of each chamber for further debate. If the House and Senate don't pass the same bill, some sort of compromise is required before any legislation can be approved and sent to the governor for his consideration.



About three-fourths of Marylanders already live in a place where local elected officials have created anti-fracking laws or resolutions. But fracking is regulated by the state. So, for those who've worked for six legislative sessions on the issue, the "heavy lift" is in the Maryland Senate.



Unlike neighboring Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Maryland did not rush into fracking. Successive administrations studied the technology, then overhauled outdated regulations. Meanwhile, energy prices continued to fall. The industry allowed nearly all of its original sub-surface mineral leases purchased last decade to lapse.



Furthermore, Maryland lacks large-scale deposits, the pipeline and processing infrastructure, or interest from industry (in the form of leased mineral rights) to make large-scale fracking financially feasible today. Yet we can't rule out a change of circumstances that drives up fossil fuel pricessetting set off a new round of leasing that leads to fracking in years ahead.



Meanwhile, mounting problems elsewhere show the technology cannot be effectively regulated. In Pennsylvania recently, investigators from Public Herald, an investigative journalism nonprofit, dug up previously undisclosed citizen complaints about water contamination from fracking. Their work took years. Far from regulators' 280-odd citations against industry, Public Herald found some 4,100 complaint filingsall told, one official complaint for nearly every well drilled. There's more. It appears that the vast majority were never investigated. Then unresolved original complaints were shredded. Hundreds of state law violations were documented, and Flint, Mich.-style government criminality is a possibility.



In recent weeks in Western Maryland, many residents were infuriated by the Senate president's public remarks that "there are no jobs whatsoever" in that part of the state. In fact, the unemployment rate in Western Maryland in 2016 was almost identical to the state average, and lower than some counties. Long gone are the days that Mountain Maryland depended overly on extractive energy and assembly line work.



Tourism and vacation real estate provide about half of all jobs and two-thirds of Garrett County's tax base. Some of the highest-value rural real estate in the eastern United States lines the shores of Deep Creek Lakesecond only to Ocean City as a vacation destination for Marylanders. Generations have visited and created the magical memories that many families cherish forever.



To state the obvious, nowhere in the world do fracking and world-class tourism mix. That's why in Florida right now, with Republicans in charge, the legislature is considering a fracking ban. Florida's economy is Deep Creek's, writ large.



Additionally, fracking is "anti-business": While a few short-term jobs may be created, most Western Marylanderslike others in a state where the solar industry grew 40 percent in 2015prefer small-business ownership, with sustainable economic investments in tourism, agriculture, and green energy.



Mountainside solar installations are burgeoning. Indeed, Western Marylanders want the same future as the rest of the state. Most polls show that a strong majority of Garrett and Allegany county residents want the fracking ban that Marylanders as a whole support.



Is this another "jobs versus environment" debate? Not at all. Nationally, less than 10 percent of jobs on a well-pad are unionized. Along with embalmers and theater projectionists, zero petroleum engineers belong to unions.



The Laborers International Union recently came out in support of fracking and staged a rally in Annapolis. In a union with a proud tradition of training workers in emerging industries, wouldn't organizing solar-industry installers sustain and grow its membership?



Finally, there's the matter of fracking's effect on global climate change. Farmers statewide are already feeling the effects of erratic precipitation, unpredictable freezes and bigger storms. This year, the annual "Winterfest" festival in Oakland, Md. (the state's "snowiest" town) was postponed due to spring-like weather.



Scientists agree that fossil fuel combustion is driving planetary warming. And new scientific analysis confirms that fracked gas is nearly as bad as coal for the atmosphere. That's because, before it is burned at distant power plants or on your stovetop, natural gas (mostly methane) is constantly leaking from wellheads, pipelines and compressor stations. Estimates of leakage vary from about 2 percent of production to more than 10 percent. Overall, carbon dioxide is a more potent greenhouse gas, but in the short-termmeasured in 20-year periodsmethane is orders of magnitude more detrimental. So the life-cycle warming impact of gas rivals coal. To save our climate, we have to steadily move off of gas, not increase its use through reckless fracking.



For Maryland's economy, health and environment, we need to ban fracking once and for all. This drilling method will never be safe. We have all of the data we need on that. Now we just need the political will of our leaders in Annapolis to finally do the right thing.



Paul Roberts served as a state commissioner on a special fracking study panel under former Gov. O'Malley, and is the board president of Citizen Shale in Western Maryland. Mike Tidwell is director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
We have truly become a global village. As recently as 50 years ago, Italian and Chinese food were considered exotic in many parts of this country. In fact, you would have been hard-pressed to find any kind of ethnic restaurant outside of a big city. Now, thanks to the popularity of televised cooking programs, the Internet and the influx of immigrants who have added so much to our culture and communities (take that, Donald!) in the past decades, you can find almost any cuisine from any part of the world.

Of course, immigrants often had to adapt their familys recipes to accommodate the availability of products in their area. As they opened restaurants, they sometimes had to alter their classic dishes to make them more palatable to local tastes. A perfect example of this is the Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich. The traditional version is made with head cheese, liver pate and Vietnamese sausage on a baguette, thats a little too outre for American palates, so now you can find versions made with Chinese BBQ pork, avocado or even BBQ brisket!

Vietnamese cuisine itself is a perfect example of fusion cuisine. After years of the French occupation of what was then known as Indo-China, the techniques of French cooking and French ingredients became a part of the traditional Asian recipes. The food of modern Indonesia is a blend of the local cultures original dishes and those of the Dutch colonialists. The popularity of Indian and Pakistani food in England is another example of early colonizers bringing home foreign dishes and cooking techniques. Even something as ubiquitous as Tex-Mex fare, finds its roots in the fusion of cultures of the two neighboring territories. Say what you want about the evils of early colonialism, theres no debating that we got some great dishes out of the practice.

Although the term fusion cuisine was coined by chef Richard Wing, who in the 1960s combined French and Chinese cooking techniques and recipes at his Imperial Dynasty restaurant in Hanford, California, it was Wolfgang Puck who spurred the popularity with his trendy Santa Monica restaurant Chinois on Main in the 1980s.

The trend has now expanded with chefs deliberately creating recipes which fuse together a variety of cuisines. Among the most popular of these are those that pair up dishes of Southeast Asia (India, Pakistan and Thailand) with Latin cuisines. At first you might think this an odd pairing, but keep in mind that many dishes in those countries feature extensive use of chiles and peppers. There are Asian immigrants in much of South America, for example, Peru has a large Japanese population, so Latin and Japanese fusion cuisine is to be expected. In the end, does it really matter how fusion cuisine came about, when the results are so delicious?

Viva Tokyo Mexican and Japanese

1538 E Commercial Blvd., Oakland Park

754-216-1663

VivaTokyoRestaurant.com

A prime example of how beautifully the flavors of two cultures can blend can be found at Viva Tokyo in Oakland Park. When Cristina Ardon and Rudi Lopez opened their new restaurant about a year ago, they were no strangers to fusion cuisine; theyd already had great success with El Guanaco, which features a menu that blends together their Mexican and Salvadorian cultures. Okay, so the cuisines of those two countries are not that disparate, but they were still very successful in blending the ingredients into tasty comestibles. After seven years, they were ready to expand their focus and the results are fantastic. A recent revamp of their menu is an indicator of how comfortable they are with their new focus. Theres no confusion in this fusion.

Entering what used to house a fast food chain (theres still evidence of a drive up window on one side of the building) youd have no idea of the pleasant surprises that await you inside, from the cheery decor and service to the fabulous fare that is as attractive as it is delicious. The spicy tuna burrito features sushi-grade tuna, field greens, cilantro, cucumber, carrots avocado and spicy mayo rolled in a 10" flour tortilla. They even toss in a little Korean kimchee to amplify the spice and fusion levels. Shrimp tempura tacos feature perfectly cooked, crispy, fried shrimp topped with red cabbage. Wasabi-infused guacamole and spicy mayo add a little heat to the three corn tortilla confections. The dishes are $12 alone, add a couple of bucks and youll get a side of rice and beans.

Viva Tokyo's hibachi specials are served with miso soup or house salad, grilled vegetables and a choice of steamed rice or fried rice brown rice. You may also choose steak or shrimp as your protein or go vegan with grilled veggies. Teriyaki dishes are also available with a number of protein options and are accompanied by a choice of miso soup or house salad, rice and steamed veggies. Most entrees are priced between $12 and $16 and offer large portions.

If you prefer sushi, there are rolls aplenty to pique your interest, all beautifully prepared and presented with artistic flair. The spider roll features soft shell crab, Masago, avocado, asparagus and a light touch of Japanese mayo. The triangular roll is twice the size youll see at most places, and although priced at $12 is more than enough for a light meal. If you cant decide what to order, there are plenty of combo options, all served with a choice of miso or salad. For a nice sampler, check out the bento box; smaller portions (four pieces each) of the JB and California roll, three slices of sushi, two planks of tempura chicken, two tempura shrimp, assorted tempura vegetables and chicken teriyaki for $13. Viva Tokyo is proof that quantity and quality can coexist on the same plate.







If youre looking for some other examples of fusion cuisine in the area, check out these places.



SuViche

401 E. Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale

954-656- 3663

suviche.com

Peruvian-Japanese fare for those times when you can't decide between sushi or ceviche, with additional locations in Miami and Miami Beach.

Nisi

3330 E. Oakland Park, Fort Lauderdale

754-202-0006

HotAndSoul.com

Seafood dishes that blend the flavors of Asia and the Mediterranean, specifically Greece.

Hot & Soul

3045 N. Federal, Fort Lauderdale

754-206-2155

HotAndSoul.comHotAndSoul.com

Filipino meets Cajun/Creole in this unassuming strip mall storefront with major flavors and fabulous service.
Miami-Dade is home to one of the nations most diverse, thriving, and successful LGBT communities. Throughout the years South Florida has been home to LGBT pioneers and heroes that have brought equality and rights to the forefront of the conversation, placing Miami-Dade consistently ahead of the curve. Now, the city is doing something to honor both those difference makers and those who lost their lives all too soon.

On Saturday, March 4th, Miami-Dade is set to unveil the countys first ever LGBTQ sculpture, a beautiful five-foot-tall 18-piece multi-colored vertical piece of metal art located in North Miami's Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park, 1725 NE 135 Street. The park was chosen by city officials because of its peacefulness, which they hope encourages visitors to reflect on historic LGBT triumphs, while at the same time drawing inspiration from the strength of its natural surroundings.

After a search for the right installation, a winning selection from a Miami-native artist Alan Gutierrez was chosen as the symbol meant to celebrate the county's rich legacy of LGBT accomplishments. The sculptures 18 colors represent the industry standard makeup colors used for special effects on stage and in film.

In addition to Alan Gutierrezs art, the city plans to erect a plaque dedicated to remembering and honoring local LGBT accomplishments through the years. North Miami City Councilman Scott Galvin told SFGN hes been contemplating how to honor the LGBT community for some time, but current events sprung the project to the forefront of his mind last year.

I'd had a general idea of doing something to recognize the gay community for more than a year, Galvin said. Most people don't realize how often Dade's gay rights struggle intersected with North Miami over the years. We had several residents who were integral in the struggle. As a city, we had domestic partner benefits and multiple openly gay elected officials long before other cities had. To me, it made sense.

Gavin added the Pulse massacre spurred him into action.

After last year's PULSE tragedy in Orlando, it was time to move the concept forward, he said. Rather than be a somber memorial to those victims, North Miamis sculpture will be a celebration of LGBTQ lives and an acknowledgment of LGBTQ contributions in Miami-Dade County.

Galvin told SFGN the LGBT sculpture project was one-hundred percent funded through his City Council District 1 budget using the Art in Public Places program as the process to vet all of the artwork proposals. According to documents published late last year when the project was announced, the city had then budgeted at least $30,000 for the statue and surrounding materials.

According to Galvin, the city is planning more than just the unveiling of the statue at North Miami Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park LGBT next month. The city plans to honor quite a few legendary members of the LGBT community.

We're having the public unveiling on Saturday, March 4 at 11 a.m. Galvin said. At that time, we'll also be recognizing the contributions of several of Dade's gay pioneers, including Ruth Shack, Victoria Sigler, Kevin Burns, David Richardson, Martin Gill, and others. They'll all be in attendance!
The LGBT community's most eagerly awaited television event comes to small screens with the Feb. 27 premiere of "When We Rise," an epic, all-star docudrama about the early days of San Francisco's equality movement.

The eight-hour miniseries will air over the course of four nights on ABC. Based in part on longtime activist Cleve Jones' same-named memoir and in part on a screenplay by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black ("Milk"), "When We Rise" will recall the birth of the Bay Area community's first gay activist organizations. The story will span decades of LGBT history and will include the assassinations of openly gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone in 1978, the AIDS epidemic of the following decade, and beyond.

Cleve Jones was a personal friend of Harvey Milk. He was involved in the AIDS activist organization ACT UP and co-founded "The Names Project," the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Australian actor Guy Pearce, stars as the older Cleve Jones, with Austin P. Mackenzie appearing as the younger Cleve. Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg plays Pat Norman, an African-American lesbian who ran for San Francisco Board of Supervisors during the 1980s, while Rosie O'Donnell will appear as Del Martin, who co-founded Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization in U.S. history. "Glee's" Kevin McHale will be seen as Bobbi Campbell, an AIDS activist who appeared on the cover of Newsweek in 1983, the year before he died. Michael K. Williams will play Ken Jones, an organizer for the African-American gay community, while Carrie Preston will essay the role of lesbian activist Sally Gearhart, a close ally of Harvey Milk.

"It's very important to remind ourselves how hard-won equality is, and how easily dismantled it can be" co-star Rachel Griffiths told SFGN, speaking from her home in Australia. The actress portrays Diane Jones, a nurse at SF General Hospital who treated early AIDS patients.

"She was one of the first nurses at the AIDS ward," Griffiths said of her character, a person who is not well known to the public. "Her courage was going to work. Not everyone changes the world via megaphone: some change the world quietly."

At a time when most people were afraid to touch someone with AIDS, Jones embraced them. "This was a time when hospital orderlies wouldn't take food into the patients' rooms," Griffiths said. "It was hysteria."

Griffiths felt that with the unexpected election of Donald Trump to the presidency, the presentation of "When We Rise" takes on a greater significance.

"We've been coasting," she said of the past few years. "We are now waking up to the ramifications of being politically complacent. Hopefully, this production will inspire people to stand up."

"It's important to tell LGBT stories," writer Dustin Lance Black, who also directed one episode, told SFGN. "This is a story where we don't die at the end--we're now at the stage where we can be presented as whole human beings and survive. It's a message we can send to our kids."

Like Griffiths, Black feels that the stories in "When We Rise" take on an even greater meaning in the current political climate. "I would give anything in this world for this to be less necessary," he said. "The words of division coming from our federal government are taking its toll on our youth. Those stoking fear have blood on their hands."

Black hopes that "When We Rise" will open the hearts and minds in conservative parts of the country. "I didn't write this for one America," he said. "I wrote it for all our country and all its peoples. I'm very proud of the work we've done in the writer's room. We speak a language that both Americas will understand. I hope the series will be inspiring for viewers."

Milk director Gus Van Sant directed the first episode of "When We Rise." "It's sort of avant-garde to say that this will play on ABC," he said. "It will be seen across America, not just on HBO or Netflix. On a more mainstream channel, it will go to places it couldn't otherwise go."

Van Sant feels that the series, which spans four decades, will be thrilling for viewers. "Watching the characters evolve over the years is one of the series' strengths," he said. "People in San Francisco will recognize their stories and issues. People in small towns may react in a smaller way."

He added that historical incidents from New York City will be mentioned, such as the Stonewall Riots, but that the series will remain primarily in San Francisco. "Cleve goes to an ACT UP meeting in New York," he said. "We'll also see some of the characters' hometown pasts."

Black hopes that seeing "When We Rise" will bring people from different communities together. "Communities of diversity must come together," he said. "Not just LGBTs, all communities. If we are divided, if we are only interested in our own issues we could lose our rights. Together we are unstoppable."



"When We Rise" airdates:

MONDAY, FEB. 27:

9-11 p.m. "WHEN WE RISE" Premiere

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1:

9-11 p.m. "WHEN WE RISE" Parts II and III

THURSDAY, MARCH 2:

9-11 p.m. "WHEN WE RISE" Parts IV and V

FRIDAY, MARCH 3:

9-11 p.m. "WHEN WE RISE" Parts VI and VII
ABC TV's "When We Rise" covers a lot of ground. The eight-hour presentation, which premieres on ABC TV on Feb. 27, begins in 1972 and ends in 2015, when the United States Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide. The series, which will air over four nights, tells the deeply personal backstories of a diverse group of LGBT people who came to San Francisco looking for a safe haven from a homophobic world. They not only find home, they help launch a worldwide movement.

The lead characters are real people, all of whom are still living. They shared their stories with writer/executive producer Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Milk" (2008). There's Cleve Jones, a white gay man who leaves home after his father offers to "cure" his homosexuality  a lobotomy as a possible treatment is discussed.

We also meet Roma Guy, a lesbian who grows weary of the homophobic sentiments she encounters at the Boston chapter of NOW  The National Organization for Women. Ken Jones is a navy veteran, an African American gay man who falls in love with a sailor while on combat duty. The two have a brief, passionate, albeit secret affair until Michael, his "lover" (the vernacular of the period) dies in combat. Jones is forced to hide his grief or face a dishonorable discharge.

Diane Jones is a nurse at San Francisco General Hospital: she's one of the first nurses to treat AIDS patients without fear  she enters into a long-term relationship with Roma Guy. And then there's Cecelia Chung, who has to remind people that she's not a gay man.

"I was always your daughter," Chung tells her mom.

San Francisco undergoes enormous and very rapid changes as the lives of this diverse group of people converge. At first they fight for the simple right to sit in a gay bar without getting arrested. Gay bashings are a constant threat. "When We Rise" recreates these early battles as many historic figures from the city's Queer past are weaved in and out of the mosaic. Whoopi Goldberg is seen in a few scenes as Pat Norman, an African American lesbian who worked for the Department of Health. Rosie O'Donnell plays Del Martin, who co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization in the United States. Michael DeLorenzo, who danced with Michael Jackson in the "Beat It" video more than thirty years ago, gives a heartfelt performance as Jose Sarria, San Francisco's first drag icon--Sarria mentored many of the city's gay youth of the period.

With an epic sweep not unlike "Gone With the Wind," "When We Rise" follows the characters over the years. We see the San Francisco community's first victories, the election of openly gay Harvey Milk to the City's Board of Supervisors  Milk is assassinated less than a year later. Violent riots break out when Milk's killer gets a slap on the wrist.

The community barely has time to mourn the loss of Milk when AIDS strikes--death is everywhere. Glee's Kevin McHale appears at this point as Bobbi Campbell, a gay man with AIDS who appeared on the cover of Newsweek in 1983. As Cleve Jones loses all his friends to the disease, he creates the Names Project, the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

The story continues through the 1990s and into the millennium for the ultimate battle: the right for same-sex couples to marry, which goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Through it all, Cleve Jones, Roma Guy, Ken Jones, Diane Jones and Cecelia Chung struggle to live normal everyday lives as they lead the charge to change the world around them. There are many intimate moments which lets viewers know who these people are behind closed doors. Roma Guy and Diane Jones become lesbian moms via an anonymous gay male sperm donor--years later their daughter wants to know who her dad is.

Cleve Jones, his body ravaged by HIV, struggles to stay alive. After he regains a semblance of good health he attempts to become a foster dad--the state takes the baby from him when his HIV status is discovered. Ken Jones gets an early lesson in why marriage equality is needed: after his second lover dies of AIDS, he's thrown out of their home. A judge tells Jones that he has no legal recourse. And Cecilia Chung must repeatedly explain that she's a woman to people who just don't get it. Newcomer Ivory Aquino shines in this role.

Guy Pearce gives a powerful performance as the older Cleve Jones who keeps his eye on the prize and never backs down, but it's Austin P. McKenzie as the younger Cleve who enacts the character's most powerful scene: the realization that his own Dad (David Hyde Pierce) thinks that he's mentally ill.

Mary Louise Parker and Rachel Griffiths shine as Roma Guy and Diane Jones, a couple deeply in love. They manage to find the perfect balance between their lives as activists and the quiet family life they obviously yearn for. But it's Jonathan Majors, as the young Ken Jones, and Michael Kenneth Williams as the older Ken who gets the post powerful story line: losing two loves and realizing in the aftermath of both losses that he has no rights. Jones descends into a downward spiral of addiction until spirituality saves him.

"When We Rise" is grand storytelling, made all the more intense because the stories are true. How these characters lived and what they fought for stands as a stark reminder of all we have to lose should we become complacent. "When We Rise" is therefore essential viewing for all LGBT-identified people.

For non-LGBT viewers, perhaps "When We Rise" will serve as a reminder that underneath we're all the same.
Satellite mapping technology is being used to identify illicit fishing practices and help enforce tighter regulations to protect global fish stocks. Global Fishing Watch is a free online platform which allows people to track the movements of fishing vessels and detect any suspicious activity.

Vital new technologies and initiatives to help identify illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices are being supported by international organisations and policymakers to facilitate the application of tighter regulations against corruption within the industry. The launch of Global Fishing Watch, the first free online platform for tracking the activity of over 35,000 fishing vessels, in September 2016, signalled a significant step towards tighter control and increased transparency of fishing practices.

IUU fishing activities amount to annual costs of 9-22 billion worldwide; 1.2 billion is lost from West Africas shores alone. Not only do these figures represent substantial financial losses, but they also indicate an unsustainable depletion in global fish stocks and a threat to the livelihoods of over 500 million people who work in the fishing industry.

Global Fishing Watch, founded by SkyTruth, Oceana and Google, allows anyone with internet access to monitor commercial fishing activities and identify suspicious behaviour. The site uses data collected by the Automatic Identification System (AIS). Originally designed for navigational purposes, AIS transmits information from vessel transponders to satellite and terrestrial receivers. The data provides a global feed of vessel locations, which Global Fishing Watch uses to classify fishing activity and update its map tracking vessel movement.

David Kroodsma, research program manager at Global Fishing Watch, stated that the technology "is dramatically increasing transparency in the world's fishing industry. What was once far over the horizon and out of sight can now be tracked." The platform enables citizens to hold seafood suppliers, as well as authorities, to account for any failure to uphold sustainable fishing regulations. The simple tool helps law enforcement agencies to aggregate evidence needed to prosecute IUU fishing practices. For example, the Kiribati government used images produced by Global Fishing Watch to track a Marshall Islands fishing vessels movements inside Kiribatis Phoenix Islands Protected Area, forcing the Central Pacific Fishing Company to pay 1.8 million in compensation.

Since Africa Progress Panels 2014 Grain, Fish, Money report highlighted the rapid depletion of ocean fish stocks caused by IUU fishing, tighter regulation and increased transparency has become top of the policy agenda. In February 2017, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of new regulations to combat IUU fishing outside the EU. The new legislation should deter illegal commercial fishing in African waters, such as off the coast of Somalia where, without EU assistance, the government lacks the resources to effectively police the high-powered industrial trawlers fishing in protected areas.

To ensure effective enforcement of international fishing regulations, the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), a global multi-stakeholder initiative, will launch its framework for transparent governance of the fishing sector on 27 April 2017. Established in 2015 with support from the governments of Guinea, Indonesia, Mauritania, Senegal and the Seychelles, FiTI intends to promote sustainable fishing practices which protect ocean ecosystems and food security.
As LAs coffee scene continues to grow and impress, theres one particular new project coming down the line we just had to learn more about. That would be Cuties, a queer-centered coffee bar and community space opening soon in East Hollywood. The space is currently raising funds on Indiegogo in a campaign that ends on March 4th.

For countless queer Americans and their allies, community spaces of this kind provide an important venue for everything from activism and engagement to just having a chill, non-judgy place to relax and meet people.

Its hard to put into words how vitally important spaces like this are for the communities they serve. Teens, adults, people in need of an escape from crueltyto offer acceptance, love, and mentoring in a community environment is one of the most important things a cafe can do. Sadly were in a wider moment here in the United States where civil rights and respect for queer Americans are threatened, especially for transgender Americans targeted by cruel and bigoted bathroom laws (a shameful and unconstitutional overreach of government fueled by prejudice, but we digress). In this milieu, spaces like Cuties have never been more important.

To learn more we spoke with Cuties founders Virginia Bauman and Iris Bainum-Houle. Sprudge co-founders Jordan Michelman & Zachary Carlsen interviewed them from Portland, Oregon.

First off, we love the name! Can you tell us its origin story?

Absolutely. Iris and I always liked the name Cuties because its a gender-neutral term of endearment. Everyone is a cutie.

Who is behind the Cuties?

Virginia Bauman (me!) and Iris Bainum-Houle.

First, Ill tell you about my partner Iris Bainum-Houle. They are an artist and have a background in costume design. This is Iris first coffee business! Theyve been building the community aspect of Cuties for a year now. They are an incredible event producer and writer. They are genderfluid and are the driving force behind our Queers Coffee and Donuts events, and our weekly newsletter among many other projects.

I started Tonx Coffee with Tony Konecny in 2011. We somehow got to play around on the internet selling coffee for 3 years with an amazing team that I still miss. I was a director of digital product for one year at Blue Bottle after they bought us. When I left in 2015 a lot of things were up in the air for me. I was transitioning. I felt my career didnt connect me to things that mattered. Iris helped me identify what was important to me and what could be next. A business centering queers and queer community was crucial. Coffee ended up being the way we decided to interface with that community day by day.

Please talk to us more about the space youre moving into, and tell us about the neighborhood youll be a part of in Los Angeles.

The space has been a coffee shop in many past lives. It was a Cafecito Organico several years ago and most recently it was Helio Cafe. It has a mezzanine that spans 1/3rd the footprint of the main floor. People who want to hang for a bit can go up and chill. It needs a lot of polish, but the building itself is wonderful.

The location is near Los Angeles City College, a stones throw away from Sqirl to the east, and Go Get Em Tiger to the north. We are right between two Red Line Metro stops and right off of The 101. Theres also plenty of bike racks out front. Other things around us that we love: Against the Stream Meditation Center that offers free hour-long meditation sessions everyday; the Ukranian Culture Center; the Braille Institute (yes we will have braille menus) and Faultline Bar (although I hear they stopped playing porn on the walls recently). Its not Silverlake, its next to it. Its not Los Feliz, its next to it. There are a lot of queer and trans folks in East Hollywood if you know where to look.

Your Indiegogo mentions this space as being perfect for a community oriented coffee barwhat do you mean by this? Were curious to know how you approach spatial needs for a shop like yours, one that has a community mission as part of its founding intention.

We dont have a huge space, but it is bifurcated and the main floor allows people to be serviced efficiently while the upper floor is more flexible. That flexibility is key to us using the space for other groups in the community after peak business hours. We already have several groups that want to use the upper space in the evenings for classes, screenings, etc. Space is what our community needs more of so its important that our shop let the community use our space when possible.

We think this statement from your Indiegogo is really refreshing: Cuties Coffee Bar is happening, even if we dont reach our IndieGoGo goal. We are prepared to fill any fundraising gaps with a small business loan and continue with our work as planned. Talk to us about the choice you made by including this in your Indiegogo statement.

We realize that money is tight around our community. LGBTQIA+ folks still face workplace discrimination and other challenges. That said, this past year producing community events has taught us that people want to help. This Indiegogo is a mechanism for the community to invest in the business were building and a way for allies to show their support. But ultimately, we have already derisked this business enough that a bank will be happy to give us the funds needed to operate. We added that language because we wanted to take a firm stance on our commitment to our community, regardless of the results of the Indiegogo.

Talk to us more about the Pronoun Pins youre offering as a fundraising reward.

The idea of Pronoun Pins is not new. They are utilized in queer and trans communities as a way of alerting folks at a glance how an individual would like to be addressed. Pronoun Pins take the guesswork away and also make things a little easier if youre not used to asking folks What are your pronouns? Cool enamel pins designed by Eric Mortensen (he also worked on our logo with Dana Steffe) seemed like a natural addition to our Indiegogo rewards.

The mugs from ceramicist Becki Chernoff are so cool! How did that collaboration come about? What kind of materials does the ceramicist use?

Becki was introduced to us by my former Tonx team member Danielle Harris. Becki lives right near our shop. We absolutely LOVE her ceramics. We didnt really think twice about it after sitting down and drinking some coffee with her. For the Indiegogo reward mugs shell be using soldate clay (which is a stoneware) along with a matte white glaze. Becki will also be using abstracted elements from our logo and a tape resist method to create each mugs unique design.

Were coffee geeks and so we gotta ask: what roaster (s) do you plan on serving? What gear will be in use at the shop? Does stuff like this even matter anymore in 2017? Lol.

Hah. We are certainly not a gear-focused shop. While ModBars are gorgeous, our shop is going to be using basic bitch gear that we can afford and that will do the job well. Well be a single roaster Counter Culture shop serving espresso from a good ol Linea. Our frills are likelier to be in our outfits rather than our coffee equipment.

Can we volunteer a guest shift next time were down in LA?

Absolutely. Get your queer and ally butts down here and pull some shots!

Cant. Wait.

Support the Cuties Coffee Indiegogo campaign here.
Back in 2011 I called Everyman Espressos landmark East 13th Street cafe in Manhattan my favorite cafe in New York, and six years on, not much has changed six. Or at least not for me; Ive gone as far as to book lodging in New York based solely on proximity to the East Village, so that I may pretend, however briefly, to be one of this cafes grand and exotic flock of regulars. But plentys changed for Everyman, as the Manhattan-based brand grew to include a SoHo location in 2012, and now in 2017 has introduced a new member to the family: Everyman Espresso Park Slope, the brands first foray into Brooklyn.

The new Everyman occupies 400 square feet at 5th Avenue and Degraw, in the heart of Park Slope. Everyman CEO Sam Penix, who searched for the new location across four of the five boroughsI missed Staten Island this timehas taken over the space formerly occupied by Venticinque, a neighborhood coffee bar with a small footprint. It was this cluttered, kind of dirty coffee shop that wasnt doing well, Penix says, but that clutter has been transformed into a bright, airy space, designed in collaboration Everyman CFO and co-owner Sam Lewontin and longtime Everyman architect Jane Kim. Penix describes Kim as great at interpreting my aesthetic, and Sam Lewontins vision for bar flow and efficiency, describing their ongoing collaboration with Kim and contractor Sen Wang (of Senrong Development Consulting) as a dream team.

The space is stocked with gear by Nuova Simonelli (Climapro grinders), La Marzocco (a Strada EE 2 group espresso machine), Mahlkonig (an MK-710 grinder) and a Curtis Gold Cup brewer. Everyman is a longtime exclusive partner of Counter Culture Coffee, and that wont change in Brooklyn, but theres some shakeup happening behind the scenes. Penix and Lewontin are switching all three of their locations away from Counter Cultures seasonal blends, and towards a program focused on the Durham, NC based roasters expansive list of single origin offerings, with menus chosen at the discretion of each store manager, according to Penix.

The focus at Everyman Park Slope is on efficiency and quality, as per Penix, who expands: Quality doesnt come from theatrics. Quality is about brewing a well-extracted cup of coffee that is super delicious; its about finding a way to meet peoples needs with quickness, while also being able to provide experiences and coffees that are impeccably brewed. I feel like weve matured and come into our own and we arent afraid of the tools we use to bring us to that goal of quality.

Perhaps the most striking design element in the store is its tile backsplash, a branding hook that is in place at all three Everyman locations. Its a way we brand our spaces without being overtly commercial, says Penix, who describes this new shops tile color palettepink, black, and brassy yellowas being inspired by working girls from the 1970stheyre always on my mind. Think Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, and Lily Tomlin.

Other notable details include the use of Coriana compacted stone dustthroughout the coffee bar, from the baseboard of the coffee bar to the back bar work counters, as well as slip-resistant floor tiles with a wood grain pattern.

The new shop is a close to Lewontins home in Brooklyn, and for Penix provides a much different customer environment than hes encountered back on Manhattan. This has been a huge departure from opening in Soho, he tells Sprudge, which was great, but it was a hard neighborhood to crack. The attitude there was more like Who the -f- do you think you are? Here in Park Slope the vibe is different, or at least for the most parttheres always going to be Yelp hot takes. My favorite thing about the new shop is really the people who are coming in, Penix says, because theyre coming in as groups and families, with happy faces, and saying things like Thank you for being here. It really is changing my life and restoring my soul.

It doesnt get much better than that.

Photos for Sprudge by Lanny Huang.
New York (U.S.A) February 23, 2017 (SPS) - The Security Council, which gathered Wednesday, expressed its concern about the deadlock in Western Sahara peace process and the security risk in El Guergarat buffer zone.

Several members of the Security Council, including permanent members, expressed their preoccupation concerning the lack of negotiations between the two parties to the conflict, the Polisario Front representative to the United Nations (UN) Ahmed Boukahri told APS at the need of this meeting held in camera.

The Council, also concerned by the non-return of the Minurso to full functionality, broached the resumption of activities of this mission, which was the subject of restorations imposed by Morocco in 2016.

Uruguay insisted, specifically, on the reasons that prevent this UN mission in charge of organizing a self-determination referendum of the Sahrawi people, to reach its full functionality.

Boukhari said that the POLISARIO is grateful to the role played by Uruguay. This country has always alerted the Security Council on the risk and the gravity that result from the prolongation of the political impasse.

The Sahrawi issue is raised permanently at the level of the Security Council thanks to the initiative of countries friends of justice such as Uruguay, Angola, Venezuela, and New Zealand, he said.

The Frente POLISARIO representative said that after this information meeting, the Council should engage effectively to preserve the credibility of the United Nations and avoid dangerous developments with the persistence of the Moroccan deadlock. SPS

125/090/700
The Western Fair District will be celebrating and honouring our military at its newly launched 'Veterans Classic' event.

The first annual event at The Raceway will take place later this year on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 alongside the Friday night harness racing card.

To kick off the celebration, the 1st Hussars Cavalry Troop will perform. The Veterans Classic will also showcase military vehicles throughout the West Annex, Grandstand and The Raceway lobby for guests to see as well as veteran tributes between each race of the night.

This new event at The Raceway at Western Fair District is one our Veterans and the public will not want to miss a great opportunity to mingle with our Veterans both young and old, honour their past heroics and celebrate our future," said Ross Seip, Royal Canadian Legion A6 Zone Commander and event Chair.

The event will support the Poppy Fund, Parkwood Veterans and the Military Family Resource Centre through fundraising efforts.

Doors will open at 5 p.m., with opening ceremonies set for 6 p.m. and live racing commencing at 7:05 p.m.
It has been reported that David Farquharson, the chairman of stewards for Queensland Harness Racing that had been suspended for the past two months, has been fired.

News of the move has come via an article by ESPN which states that Farquharson was terminated on Friday, February 24. The initial suspension had come after a racing participant had reported a matter to the Down Under commission. Queensland Racing Integrity Commissioner Ross Barnett has said that it is not QRIC policy to publicly discuss the matter in depth.

"Our decision was made after a thorough and fully independent external investigation was completed," Barnett was quoted as saying.

"I want to ensure the community that the QRIC is committed to upholding the integrity of the racing industry and all complaints are taken seriously and fully investigated."

(With files from ESPN)
Well known and popular groom Paul 'Pauly' Suksiri passed away recently after a courageous battle with cancer.

A celebration of his life will take place on Wednesday, March 1 at 2 p.m. at the Tomiko Training Centre.

Suksiri was well liked by everyone who met him  always happy and smiling with never a bad word about anyone.

He will be sadly missed by his many friends.

Everyone is welcome to come and share in the celebration of his life.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences the family and friends of Pauly Suksiri.
Friday, February 24, 2017

Brian Leiter (Chicago) has blogged the rape allegations against Minnesota law professor Francesco Parisi, whose lawyer calls the charges "frivolous":

Minneapolis Star Tribune, U Law School Prof Charged With Sex Assault, Stalking; Lawyer Said the 55-Year-Old Woman Has "Zero Evidence" of Her Accusations:

A University of Minnesota law professor engaged in years of protracted legal battles over real estate with the woman he is charged with sexually assaulting and stalking, according to court documents.

Francesco Parisi, 54, of Minneapolis, made his first appearance in Hennepin County District Court Wednesday on charges of first degree criminal sexual conduct and stalking. His bail was set at $350,000.

According to the criminal charges and police records, a 55-year-old woman said she had known Parisi since 2014, when the two had a relationship that lasted several months.

After their split, the victim alleges that Parisi got crazier and crazier. She accused Parisi of raping her in January 2015 as she was coming out of a stress-induced seizure. The woman told police that she had three broken teeth and needed to have colon surgery to repair the injuries from the rape.

Parisis attorney, Barry Edwards, calls the charges frivolous, and in court Wednesday said the false allegations stem from a pending trial over a property dispute between Parisi and the alleged victim.

Minneapolis Star Tribune, U Law Professor, Alleged Rape Victim Have Extensive Legal History; His Lawyer Contends Rape Charges Linked to Pending Case Over Condo Deal:

A University of Minnesota law professor engaged in years of protracted legal battles over real estate with the woman he is charged with sexually assaulting and stalking, according to court documents.

Francesco Parisi, 54, of Minneapolis, made his first appearance in Hennepin County District Court Wednesday on charges of first degree criminal sexual conduct and stalking. His bail was set at $350,000.

According to the criminal charges and police records, a 55-year-old woman said she had known Parisi since 2014, when the two had a relationship that lasted several months.

After their split, the victim alleges that Parisi got crazier and crazier. She accused Parisi of raping her in January 2015 as she was coming out of a stress-induced seizure. The woman told police that she had three broken teeth and needed to have colon surgery to repair the injuries from the rape.

Parisis attorney, Barry Edwards, calls the charges frivolous, and in court Wednesday said the false allegations stem from a pending trial over a property dispute between Parisi and the alleged victim. ...

Parisi has taught law at the U and economics at the University of Bologna in Italy since 2006, according to the resume posted on the law schools website. He has three law degrees and two economics degrees, it says. His U biography says he has written 10 books and roughly 200 papers in law and economics, and is editor-in-chief of the Review of Law and Economics.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2017/02/minnesota-law-prof-francesco-parisi-accused-of-rape-his-lawyer-denies-the-charges.html
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Father Donald Calloway {listen to the our Champions of the Rosary interview} on the history of the Rosary and he taught me something that I did not know:

The 5 Luminous Mysteries do not find their origin with Saint John Paul II in 2002 with is Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, but rather with Saint George Preca in the 1950s.

In 1950s, Saint George Preca prayerfully discerned that the Church needed to focus on the public and sacramental ministry of Christ within the context of the Holy Rosary. He began praying a set of 5 new mysteries in the context of the Rosary, which he called Mysteries of Light. These were published by him in a leaflet in 1973.

Saint George Preca was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on June 3, 2007.

Theres a historical twist to this story. Saint George Preca was a priest of the island of Malta!

You may have heard that the two bishops of the island of Malta have ruled that the divorced and remarried that have not received annulments and continue to live in a sexual relationship can receive the Holy Eucharist after a period of discernment and following their conscience in the pursuit of peace. The debate centers of baptism, matrimony, the teaching of Christ, and the Eucharist (4 of the 5 Luminous Mysteries). There has also been some confusion about the Knights of Malta with regard to the distribution of contraceptive devices. Why Malta?

Could it be that Jesus and Marys Luminous Mysteries AND the presence at the Wedding at Cana was especially planted on the island of Malta by Christ through his sainted priest George Preca?

All the Luminous Mysteries speak to our time and our personal difficulties:

Jesus Baptism in the River Jordan His manifestation at the wedding at Cana His proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion His transfiguration before the Apostles on Mount Tabor His institution of the Eucharist

These are profound meditations for our current vocation within the Catholic Church to become saints:

Baptism: Our baptismal dignity and call to be holy as He is holy. Matrimony: Our call to transform water into wine: to transform the natural creation ordinance of matrimony into a supernatural grace-filled union of sanctity. And to sanctify family life in the context of matrimony. The perfect teaching of Christ: Evangelizing our hearts and inviting others by turning the Truth of Christ as preserved by His Catholic Church. Transfiguration: Stress on the Divinity of Christ and His power in our lives to transform us. Eucharist: The sacrosanct nature of the Eucharist, because the Eucharist is Christ Himself.

I have no doubt that Our Lady desires for us to come to Jesus Christ by meditating on these Mysteries of Light. As Father Calloway says, new battles require us to renew our weapons. The Rosary has been modified over time (listen to the interview to learn more) and it seems that two saints for our time: Pope Saint John Paul II and the Maltese Saint George Preca may have been guided by Heaven to guide our prayers during this time of Darkness with Mysteries of Light.

Post tenebras lux,

Taylor Marshall, PhD

PS: On the island of Malta, a viper bit Saint Paul. But he remained uninjured as by a miracle. The fangs of the serpent did the Apostle no harm:

After we had escaped, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 And the natives showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, when a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live. 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They waited, expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead; but when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. (Acts 28)

Share this post on Facebook by clicking here.
...the view from the sidewalks of Minneapolis and Saint Paul...
Officers with the Longview Police Departments Street Crimes Unit on Wednesday arrested three people in connection with a January shooting in the 1000 block of Seventh Avenue.

Police officers Wednesday arrested Jacob Dominick Nello, 35, of Kelso on suspicion of first-degree assault, criminal conspiracy, residential burglary, first-degree robbery, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and felony drug possession.

Two other individuals, both transients, were already in custody at the Cowlitz County jail for other charges. The prosecuting attorneys office has requested charges of criminal conspiracy and first-degree robbery for 35-year-old Megan Rose Vivian and first-degree robbery, residential burglary, attempted first-degree assault, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and criminal conspiracy for 33-year-old Brandon Burris Decker.

Just past noon on Jan. 11, officers responded to reports of gunshots in an apartment building on Seventh Avenue. No one was injured, and officers found no one inside the apartment in question. They did find what appeared to be a bullet hole in the outside door.

According to a press release, patrol officers, street crimes unit members and criminal investigators searched the area for suspects but did not locate them at the time.

Detectives then executed a search warrant for the residence. No guns were recovered from the residence, but other charges may be pending.
tech2 News Staff

Google's self-driving car division, which is now called Waymo, is suing Uber and its self-driving trucking company Otto, for allegedly stealing self-driving system designs.

Anthony Levandowski, a former employee of Waymo, went on to found the self-driving truck company called Otto. This was quickly acquired by Uber Inc. According to Alphabet, Levandowski has allegedly downloaded 14,000 'highly confidential' files to an external hard drive which also includes the design of Waymo's laser-based object detection and ranging (lidar) circuit board.

Lidar stands for Light Detection and Ranging. It works on the same principles as a radar, but it uses laser light which is shot at surrounding objects to detect them. This works in tandem with the on board cameras of a self-driven car as well as normal radars so that there is a thorough imaging of the surroundings when a car is being autonomously driven.

Alphabet decided to sue Otto and Uber after it stumbled upon mails from a lidar supplier which were copied to a Waymo employee under the subject line 'Otto Files', after carrying out a forensic investigation of Levandowski's company computer. According to Waymo, this email was being sent to Uber employees. Also attached in the mail were drawings of Otto's lidar circuit board which Waymo alleged looks exactly likes its own.

According to Waymo, Levandowski had downloaded the designs before his resignation. While Waymo said in its complaint that the Replicated Board design reflects Waymo's proprietary Lidar technology, "The Replicated Board is specifically designed to be used in conjunction with many other Waymo trade secrets and in the context of overall LiDAR systems covered by Waymo patents," said the complaint.

Apart from Levandowski, according to Waymo's complaint, other employees who joined Levandowski later, also allegedly downloaded trade secrets such as "supplier lists, manufacturing details and statements of work with highly technical information".

Waymo requested for public records from the Nevada Governor's office of Economic Development and Department of Motor Vehicles, pertaining to Otto's communication. In its response Otto said that the company was using a custom lidar technology that was built in-house. Waymo cited this as evidence saying that the circuit board design was quite similar to its own designs.

Waymo has sued and is seeking damages from Uber as well as Otto for allegedly stealing trade secrets.

In this highly competitive space of self-driven vehicles, Waymo has seen a lot of departures from its teams. A report in Bloomberg gave a very unconventional reason for the departure of some employees  they were reportedly paid a lot of money. And that is being debated as one of the reasons as to why they left.

Some of the popular departures from Googles car project include Chris Urmson who led the project. Urmson has quit to found his own startup. Some former employees created Otto, the self driving truck which was acquired by Uber Inc.

Bryan Salesky, a former Google car executive founded Argo AI, which recently saw a $1bn investment from Ford Motors.

Along with talent departure, Google has also had run-ins with Uber, as it is pursuing its own autonomous car project. And it is also reported that Uber is working to develop its own maps.
hidden

Mohit Goel, the Director of Noida- based company Ringing Bells which had announced Freedom251 smartphones at an astonishingly low price of Rs 251 a piece, was detained today on allegations of fraud, police said. Goel has been detained after owner of Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises filed an FIR yesterday alleging that Ringing Bells "defrauded" it of Rs 16 lakh.

Ghaziabad Deputy SP Manish Mishra said Goel has been detained for interrogation in the matter. In the FIR, Ayam Enterprises has claimed it was persuaded by Goel and others from Ringing Bells to take up the distributorship of the Freedom251 phones in November 2015. "We paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. But it delivered us product worth Rs 13 lakh only. Upon follow-up, we could get products plus money totaling Rs 14 lakh," it claimed in the FIR.

The owners of Ayam Enterprises claim that they were threatened with life if they asked for the rest Rs 16 lakh "again and again". Ringing Bells had begun the sale of Freedom 251 handsets, touted as the world's cheapest, via its website in February last year. It landed in a controversy, however, with some alleging it was like ponzi scheme. The firm had claimed that around 30,000 customers had booked the phone despite some glitch and seven crore people registered for it.

PTI
tech2 News Staff

Google announced the launch of an upgrade of Gboard for iOS users after making is available for everyone in July last year. Initially, Gboard launched with the ability to search information, GIFs, emoji, images and other things, right from the keyboard. Now the company has announced that it is adding support to 15 additional languages along with the ability to check and get more information about Google Doodles.

The new languages include Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Catalan, Hungarian, Malay, Russian, Latin American Spanish and Turkish. To switch language from the default to any of these languages you need to open the Gboard app and to the 'Languages' menu and tap on'Add Language' to switch to the particular language. The company detailed in the blog post that it has increased the support for emoji's and now you can search the latest emoji's from iOS 10.

The 'G' button on the keyboard animates on the days when Google has added Doodle on their home page. You can tap on the button to open the Doodle of the day and search more information about the occasion or the reason of the Doodle.

Last but not the least, Google has added the support for 'voice typing' with Gboard. To start typing with your voice, you need to long press on the mic button on the space bar on the Gboard. You can visit Apple App Store to check any updates for the Gboard as the update will roll out gradually to all Gboard users.
Rehan Hooda

HP India announced the launch of HP OMEN gaming laptops and a desktop yesterday at a launch event in New Delhi. The company launched the OMEN 17 laptop and OMEN 15 notebook geared towards gamers in addition to the OMEN desktop who want more power and are not looking at portability. Ketan Patel, Senior Director for Personal Systems hosted the event and interacted with us after the keynote presentation.

The most affordable device in this range is the Omen 15 notebook featuring a 15.6-inch full HD display, Intel Core i5-7300HQ (2.5GHz, turbo boost up to 3.5GHz) processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM. It comes with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics and a 1TB HDD with a price tag of Rs 79,990.

The HP Omen 17 laptop is the companys first VR ready gaming notebook featuring a 17.3-inch full HD display, Intel Core i7-7700HQ (2.8GHz, turbo up to 3.8GHz) processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics (6GB GDDR5), 16GB of DDR4 RAM, 1TB 7200RPM HDD, 128GB SSD storage, and Bang & Olufsen audio. Prices start at Rs 1,39,990.

HP Omen 870 desktop can be configured with an Intel Core i7-7700K (4.2GHz, 8MB cache) processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 128GB SSD, and a 2TB 7200RPM HDD. It comes with a three-year manufacturing warranty with prices starting at Rs 1,39,990.

HP also announced Omen accessories including a keyboard, headset, mouse and mousepad developed in partnership with SteelSeries. The Omen Headset comes with retractable mic and a 3.5mm mobile adapter priced at Rs 7,499. The Omen keyboard is priced at Rs 9,999. The Omen mouse comes with intelligent RGB illumination and is priced at Rs 5,499. The Omen Mousepad featuring a non-slip rubber base is priced at Rs 2,199.

We spent some time gaming through Call of Duty, NFS Most Wanted and Counter Strike across different systems. Even though these games will not help us gauge the raw performance of the systems, they do give us an idea about the overall quality of peripherals and how capable the entire package is. It would be unfair to be decisive about the performance and how these systems fare without a proper review but the overall the build quality of all three systems available during the event for testing was top notch.

Ketan Gupta pointed out that the company is focusing on providing gaming laptops to a wide range of people, starting from amateur gamers to the ones who take gaming seriously and need quality machines. He went into detail pointing out that the gaming industry is massive in India and growing 13 percent annually in a lucrative market. HP will compete with competition in performance and design along with a strategy to help build the gaming community. The company will leverage the OMEN brand to help nurture the community by means of sponsorship and events.

One key factor that the company highlighted is the ability for gamers to tinker with the hardware being offered in terms of adding additional RAM or overclocking the OMEN 870 desktop. HP has added the liquid cooling in the desktop to enable hobbyists and serious gamers to bump up the performance of their systems without any performance deterioration.

HP also pointed out that they have a good relationship with AMD and will work on bring the recently announced AMD Ryzen to India as soon as it is possible.

They did not have any official timeline as Ryzen was just announced yesterday.
hidden

Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed a robotic arm that can drastically cut down the cost of performing complex, minimally invasive procedures, also known as laparoscopic surgery. Minimally invasive procedures could lead to less trauma for patients and shorter recovery times after surgery. The hand-held instrument developed at the University of Michigan in the US provides the same sorts of benefits as robot-assisted surgery, such as greater precision and functionality, but at a lower cost compared to existing robotic surgical systems, the creators said.

The new $500 surgical instrument could take the place of a $2 million robot for certain minimally invasive procedures, according to a university statement on Tuesday. The lower cost could result in new capabilities for rural hospitals and other medical centres that cannot afford more expensive systems. The technology gives surgeons a higher degree of dexterity and intuitive control than traditional laparoscopic instruments, said Shorya Awtar, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Michigan in the US.

The technology is based on US National Science Foundation-funded engineering research and is being commercialised by FlexDex Surgical. Awtar, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology - Kanpur, co-founded FlexDex with his University of Michigan colleague and surgery professor, James Geiger, and entrepreneur Greg Bowles. Surgeons in Michigan began using the new instrument in January, according to the team.

"This is the culmination of 10 years of effort and to know that the device is performing exactly as we expected it would, impacting patients' lives in a positive way -- it is an amazing feeling," Geiger said. FlexDex is an all-mechanical platform that mounts to the surgeon's arm. It uses a unique engineering approach to enable the tip of the instrument to mimic the direction of movement of the surgeon's hand. "Wherever I move my hand, the tip of this instrument follows," Geiger said. No other instrument currently on the market operates like this, according to the team.

IANS
Sheldon Pinto

After plenty of speculations on whether the Freedom 251 smartphone was for real or some ongoing fraud, it all came crashing down yesterday for Ringing Bells Director Mohit Goel who promised India a smartphone at Rs 251. As per a PTI report, Mohit Goel was detained by the Ghaziabad police on allegations of fraud.

In what appears to be a story forgotten by customers solely because of its low price, its the biggies like those involved in manufacturing or sales and distribution that are now getting back. Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises was the company that filed an FIR that lead to Goel getting detained for questioning.

The details of the FIR state that Ayam Enterprises was persuaded by Goel and others from Ringing Bells to take up distributorship of the Freedom 251 smartphone back in November 2015. The distributor claims that it paid Ringing Bells Rs 30 lakhs through RTGS on multiple occasions but was only delivered products worth Rs 13 lakhs. The maximum that Ayam could obtain from Ringing Bells despite follow-ups (including some money) totalled Rs 14 lakhs, which is still less than half of what was promised to the distributor.

To make matters worse, the owners of Ayam Enterprises claim that they were threatened with life if they asked for the rest Rs 16 lakhs, not once but on multiple occasions.

Indeed this appears to be the first time, after a number of allegations that someone managed to prove that Ringing Bells was not good for business.

The smartphone was an instant hit and rose to popularity in a matter of hours after it was announced. It was the impossible, a smartphone running Googles Android OS priced at just Rs 251. And the price tag that sounded too good to be true was the center of discussions. The launch too was grand and was done with plenty of political presence with the theme of national pride.

The phone will be popularly priced at under Rs 500 this event and launch stands as a true testimony of success of the latest initiatives taken by the Government of India, read the invite.

The specifications of the smartphone did not impress the tech audience, but that did not deter fans from pre-ordering a smartphone that cost just Rs 251 per piece.

And there were plenty of problems at launch itself. For starters, the smartphone shown off at the event (despite being a dummy) looked a lot different (read cheaper) than the model shown for advertising and promotional material.

Ringing Bells had received 30,000 orders on the first day. The rest of the customers for the first 25 lakh handsets were to be selected on first-come-first-served basis as the company received about seven crore registrations before the payment gateway crashed.

It was clear soon after the launch that Ringing Bells had no idea as to what its final product (which it was pitching to millions in India) even looked like. Reports of the first hands-on starting pouring in and despite the different design, it was reported that smartphone given for demoes came from another company called Adcom. The units for demo were reportedly prototypes of the final units but oddly had the Adcom name covered using a white marker.

PayUBiz

Then came the bigger problems. PayUBiz, the company handling the payments refused to let go of the Rs 1.75 crore amassed from the lakhs of buyers who had placed their orders for the Freedom 251 smartphone. Its sole reason for the same was to protect the buyers money in case the merchant could not fulfil the huge demand.

The money was eventually refunded and Ringing Bells sort to an alternative option, hard cash. It announced that it will simply allow for COD for its first 25 lakh customers. Later it would be the Enforcement Directorate that would direct the payment gateway to not Ringing Bells the payment money.

Cyfuture

Next up in line, was a customer service provider called Cyfuture that accused Ringing Bells of fraud and non-payment of dues, a charge that was refuted by the smartphone maker.

Ringing Bell on the other hand accused the BPO company, Cyfuture, of having failed in handling the huge traffic of customer calls. Cyfuture Founder and CEO Anuj Bairathi said, We were always sceptical of Ringing Bells and their business model.

Oddly the reasons Cyfuture cited were similar to the ones customers may have had for purchasing the smartphone. After several rounds of discussions with their management team and when they showed us names of senior politicians visiting their launch event, we decided to take up their project, said its founder.

Adcom

Next it was Adcom who came into the picture. ADCOMs (Advantage Computer) founder and MD Sanjeev Bhatia finally decided to speak out and revealed that the controversial company did purchase handsets at Rs 3600. He also made it clear that Adcom was not related to Ringing Bells in any way but was a customer like the many others. The problem here was that Adcom did not know Goels plans to resell the smartphone at a much lower price.

Soon enough it was clear that Ringing Bells did not expect such a response and that it clearly could not deliver to 7 crore registrations that it received in just two days.

Politicans hit back

Soon enough, a case was filed under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code on a complaint filed by Kirit Somaiya, BJP MP from Mumbai North-East. The complaint mentioned that Ringing Bells raised funds by issuing misleading ads and used social media to misguide the public. The MP accused the company of abusing the Tricolour too in the advertisements to misguide the buyers.

What handsets?

Time passed by and Ringing Bells kept shifting its delivery dates. A good 5 months after launch, in July the smartphone maker announced that it has postponed its shipping date from May to June. A few days later, Ringing Bells threw a surprise. Apart from announcing that it would now build affordable Freedom TV sets, Goel told IANS that, We are ready with nearly two lakh Freedom 251 handsets. We will start delivery from June 30, and he would also open registrations for those who wished to buy the handset once again.

As expected, more excuses came along. CEO Mohit Goel told Tech2 that the Rs 251 smartphone will be ready to ship from 30 June, and the 2 lakh units will be shipped by 4-5 July. He said that the delay was due to the battery, and its Made in India smartphone was finally ready.

Seeking Government help

Goel told Tech2 that his company had been looking for a land for the factory and plants. The next phase will start if we see some positive signs and support from the government, He also suggested a subsidy or some form of support could help them achieve the 60 crore units figure that we plan for the nation.

So did they arrive?

After the launch of the Freedom TV, we did get our hands on the final product. It had misleading specifications on the box, but we concluded that at Rs 251, it was hard to find a better offering given the price tag.

So did the handsets reach their customers? We conducted a poll in August 2016 and majority of our users (61 percent) had the same question in mind, Wheres my phone? with the rest claiming that it was just a bad dream.

Hello MDM

Ringing Bells MD Mohit Goel in December 2016 put out a statement claiming that the company had actually delivered 70,000 units of its Freedom 251 smartphone. As of now nobody can tell how many units Ringing Bells actually shipped. But the Economic Times soon reported that the same company, with the same executives on top, now opened up a business with an objective to manufacture and sell the same products.

Dharna Goel CEO of Ringing Bells according to a statement had resigned. Mohit Goel, the managing director of Ringing Bells, the company that offered to sell a smartphone in India for just Rs 251 has quit the company. Offices of Ringing Bells had reportedly been shut since mid-December reported the Times of India. The same went in for the smartphone dealers who took orders for Goels ponzy scheme.

Indeed it remains to be seen if the government even decides to look into the matter for now. Consumers may have been refunded their money, but its the distributors and dealers that will soon come knocking at Goels door and from the looks of it, Ayam Enterprises is just the first one.
hidden

By Asheeta Regidi

The Supreme Court of India has questioned Google on whether something can be done to deal with the uploading of obscene content, such as videos with sexual violence, on YouTube. As Google argues, there is no legal obligation on it to discover and monitor such illegal content. At the same time, progress in technology and cutting-edge artificial intelligence have created a possibility of doing just this, and prevent the very upload of such content.

In fact, YouTubes very own Content ID system is evidence of this. While a legal obligation at this stage imposes too much of a burden on the intermediaries, there is huge potential in the use of artificial intelligence to resolve this problem.

No legal obligation to monitor content

The present issue arose in a case before the Supreme Court dealing with the increasing menace of rape videos on the internet in India. Legally, Google and YouTube, as intermediaries, have absolutely no obligation to ensure the legality of the content uploaded on their websites (Section 79, Information Technology Act, 2000). The obligations imposed are restricted to timely removal on being informed of illegal content, and the non-involvement of the intermediary in the upload of the content.

YouTubes Content ID monitors copyright infringement



YouTubes primary objection is the impossibility of monitoring the millions of videos that are uploaded every day, and the impediment to free speech if it self-polices its content. YouTube, however, is already doing both these things with respect to copyright violations. Copyright infringement suits, such as Viacoms 2007 suit demanding $ 1 billion in damages, have been filed against YouTube, on the grounds that it is profiting from illegal content on its site (ad revenues). Though YouTube won the suit, it found the need to protect itself from such suits in future. To this end, YouTube developed an innovative, technological solution to the problem - Content ID.

Content ID uses a technique called digital fingerprinting. Every video, and also every image, generate a unique digital hash, similar to fingerprints for a human being. Content ID keeps a library of copyrighted works, provided to it by the owners. From this, it creates a catalogue of the unique hashes of these videos. Every new video that is uploaded is run against this catalogue. If the hashes match, the new video contains copyrighted content, and is not uploaded. Technology has progressed so far that even edited or modified videos can be detected.

Digital fingerprinting software to prevent illegal uploads

This method shows promise in detecting illegal uploads of a similar nature, including rape videos. In fact, YouTube and Facebook are already using these techniques to curb the spread of child pornography and terrorist propaganda. Software systems similar to the Content ID system have been developed to deal with these issues, like Project Arachnid in Winnipeg, Canada, which has created a similar software for child pornographic videos and images, and made it available to law enforcement agencies and NGOs.

The effectiveness of this system is so far restricted to removing reuploads of videos already known to be illegal. However, technology has progressed so far that recently, researchers at the University of Manitoba, Canada, have developed a new artificial intelligence software, Project Cease, which can detect even new content containing child pornography, and prevent its upload.

Replication of content on the internet

The problem of distribution, sharing and reuploads of illegal content is as big as the upload of original content. Nowadays, any content that is put up is instantly replicated across several websites. Even if the videos are taken from YouTube, YouTube is not legally liable for the spread, even if it failed to remove it on time. This is where software systems like the Content ID system is effective. Once the video is discovered, using such software, further spread of the content can be prevented.

Legally, some changes are needed to deal with the issue of replication. As per current law, intermediaries are obligated to remove illegal content within 36 hours, but only when the request is accompanied with a court order or official government request. Precious time can be lost in acquiring these official orders. This need for an official order should be removed for a limited list of aggravated offences, such as rape videos and child pornography. This can expedite the removal of such videos, and prevent the viewing, sharing and redistribution on account of the time lapse.

Implementation easier for host websites than ISPs

From an enforcement perspective, ideally such software should be implemented by the internet service providers, so all such content is covered. Practically speaking, however, this is very difficult. The sheer volume of data that passes through the ISPs, coupled with the fact that most of it is encrypted, and thus inaccessible, are just some of the problems with implementing this.

At this stage, all websites which host the data, and thus have access to it (like YouTube), are in a better position to monitor it. Research needs to be directed towards developing technology that is advanced enough for dealing with this without overburdening the websites. The Content ID system itself was not without hitches, and took over 10 years to fine tune and reach its present stage of considerable accuracy.

Make rape videos an offence on par with child porn

Legally, some immediate steps can be taken towards resolving the issue of rape videos. One issue is that rape videos are governed under obscenity laws (Section 67A, IT Act). This punishes only the publication and sharing of such content, but not browsing, viewing, downloading, etc.. The issue of rape videos needs to be brought on par with child pornography, which have more stringent laws in place (Section 67B, IT Act).

For example, anyone, including service providers, are obligated to report a discovery of child pornography (Section 21, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012). These laws, both in India and internationally, are driving the researchers and websites to find a technological solution for such uploads. Similar pressure needs to put for rape videos.

Use technology to solve the problem

It must be noted again that legally, there is no such obligation on the websites to do this. Imposing such an obligation at this stage will be highly detrimental to the free use of the internet. At the same time, the problem of rape videos, child pornography and the like on the internet is too huge to be ignored.

Artificial intelligence shows promise in solving this problem, and a combined, concentrated effort from companies like YouTube, the governments and research organisations needs to be directed towards this. The problem of use and distribution of such content on the dark web and through e-mails, still needs to be tackled, but a start can be made in public modes like YouTube and similar websites.

The author is a lawyer with a specialisation in cyber laws and has co-authored books on the subject.
PTI

In a step to maintain secrecy of one's mobile phone number getting exposed to retailers for possible misuse, Vodafone today introduced its Private Recharge Mode for its subscribers in West Bengal.

Vodafone Private Recharge Mode (PRM)  a free of cost service for West Bengal subscribers, enables users to recharge their mobile phones, without sharing their mobile numbers with retailers.

To avail the Vodafone PRM option, a customer needs to send a toll free SMS  'Private'  to 12604 and would be provided with an OTP, which can be used for subsequent recharges till midnight of the same day at any multi-brand outlets.

The customer simply needs to share the OTP, instead of the mobile number with the retailer.

"With smart phones becoming the single most important storehouse for information, ensuring the privacy of subscribers by keeping their phone numbers private and protected has gained paramount importance.

"Vodafone is happy to bring one more path-breaking service that will make our customers feel more secure and empowered," Vodafone business head, Kolkata and West Bengal Circle, Arvinder Singh Sachdev, said.
An influential French blogger has come in for heavy criticism after thousands of antisemitic, threatening and homophobic tweets he published under a pseudonym resurfaced over the weekend, sparking fierce debate.



The tweets included threats against Front National leader Marine Le Pen, who he threatened to kill, but their author Medhi Meklat, 24, and his supporters have shrugged them off as a joke.



I am going to slit your throat Muslim style read the tweet threatening Le Pen. Another called for Hitler to kill all the Jews, while a third said he wanted to rape former Charlie Hebdo editor-in-chief Charb, one of the victims of the January 2015 terror attacks, with a Laguiole knife.



The tweets were published under the pseudonym Marcelin Deschamps, described by Meklat as a shameful, fictional character whose thoughts were quite the opposite of his own.

A Muslim blogger in France has come under fire after it was discovered he wrote tweets under a pseudonym condoning anti-semitism, rape and murder Not everyone's convinced he was merely joking, nor should they be. If anything, he's committed a most abominable crime by making threats against people over their politics, and their race. No sane person should have anything to do with him, and he should be prosecuted for inciting violence. As the article notes, the site he's working for is funded by George Soros, proving he has no morale.

Labels: anti-semitism, France, islam, jihad, misogyny, racism, terrorism, war on terror
About me I'm Avi Green

From Jerusalem, Israel

I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best. My profile

Archives - Archives - July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022
Legal representative shall be liable to pay taxes etc

Appellate Division

(Civil)

Surendra Kumar Sinha CJ

Syed Mahmud Hossain J

Hasan Foez Siddique J

Mirza Hussain Haider J

Judgment

March 29th, 2016

Assistant Commissioner of Taxes, Salaries and

anothers Appellant

vs

BM Baker Hossain and others. Respondents

Income Tax Ordinance (XXXVI of 1984) Section 92

Legal representatives shall be liable to pay tax or other sum payable under Ordinance but the liabilities of the legal representatives under this Ordinance shall be limited to the extent to which the estate of the deceased is capable of meeting the liability. . ..... (17)

Income Tax Ordinance (XXXVI of 1984)

Sections 169 and 17(1)(2)

Sanction and corum-non-judice-The process of sanction is all administrative act and is not subject to any judicial scrutiny. Since the Chairman of NBR is an inseparable and essential constituent part for the Board to function, the sanction given by it cannot be taken to be in any way tainted for his presence on the Board. The principle of coum-non-judice has no manner of application in the case. ... ... (12)

Income Tax Ordinance (XXXVI of 1984)

Section 92

Tax is recoverable from the heirs of deceased as per provision of Section 92 of the Ordinance. . ..... (16)

Sections 165 and 166

Launching of criminal case against any person under Sections 165 and 166 of the Ordinance is a separate and independent proceeding of the ones provided for assessment and realization of penalty. . ..... (13)

Iqbal Hasan Mahmood vs Government of Bangladesh, 60 DLR 88 and Government of Bangladesh vs Iqbal Hasan Mahmood, 60 DLR (AD) 147 ref.

Mahbubey Alam. Attorney-General (with Mahfuza Begum, Assistant Attorney-General), instructed by Md Zahirul Islam, Advocate-on Record-For the Appellant (In both the appeals).

None appeared-For the Respondents (In CP No. 95 of 2009).

AJ Mohammad AU, Senior Advocate, instructed by Zainul Abedin, Advocate-on-Record-For the Respondents (In CP No 96 of 2009).

Judgment

Syed Mahmud Hossain J : These appeals, by leave, are directed against the judgment and order dated 12-3-2008 passed by the High Court Division in Writ Petition Nos. 8339 and 8140 of 2007 making the Rules absolute.

2. Both the appeals involving similar questions of laws and facts having been heard together are now disposed of by this single judgment.

3. The facts, leading to the filing of these two appeals, in a nutshell, are:

BM Baker Hossain, respondent No. 1 of Civil Appeal No. 95 of 2009, filed Writ Petition No. 8339 of 2007 challenging the legality of the initiation and continuation of the proceeding of Special Case No. 13 of 2007 pending in the Fourth Court of Special Judge, Dhaka, on the averments that on 29-9-1976, he joined Sonali Bank as Junior Clerk and was then promoted to the post of Sub-Accountant. While serving in that capacity, he was arrested by the law enforcing agency in connection with Motijheel PS General Diary No.1895 dated 27-2-2007 under Rule 16(2) of the Emergency Power Rules, 2007 and subsequently, he was sent to custody in Dhaka Central Jail with an order of preventive detention under the Special Powers Act, 1974. Being asked by notice under Section 26(1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, on 22-2-2007, he furnished his statement of wealth and liability. While he was in custody, an Assistant Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission lodged Motijheel PS Case No. 113 dated 22-2-2007 against him and his wife Nazma Hossain under Sections 26(2) and 27(1) of the Act, 2004 read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1974 and Rule 15(gha)(5) of the above Rules, 2007, alleging, that he in his statement dated 22-2-2007, furnished untrue statements and he and his wife acquired properties worth about Taka 1,25,27,015 which were disproportionate to their known source of income and the said case is still under investigation and he has been shown arrested in the said case. He did not submit any return under Section 76 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 as his salary income did not exceed the limit of chargeable tax but his wife, Nazma Hossain, being owner of properties and having taxable income, used to file income tax returns. While the above Motijhel PS Case No. 113 dated 22-2-2007 for evading tax was pending, an Assistant Commissioner of Taxes on 30-7-2007 filed a petition of complaint before the Metropolitan Sessions Judge-Cum-Senior Special Judge, Dhaka, against him under Sections 164(c) and 166 of Ordinance, 1984 read with Rule 15 of the said Rules, 2007. In the petition of complaint, it is alleged that in terms of the requisition made under Section 113(f) of Ordinance, 1984, respondent No.1 furnished statements and the contents of same regarding his Staff Saving Account maintained in the Local Office of Sonali Bank, Dhaka and MSSA Account maintained in Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, show that he had taxable income from salary and other sources between assessment years 2000-2001 and 2006-2007 and on 1-6-2007, TIN No. 179-109-5353/Salaries-12 was issued in his name but he stated that he had no TIN and did not file return in any view of the matter before filing the petition of compliant against him. No notice under Section 77 of the Ordinance,

1984 was issued asking him, to file return or to explain his position and/or no proceeding under Sections 93 or 124 or 128 of the Ordinance, 1984 was initiated against him. On receipt of the above- petition of complaint, the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge-Cum- Senior Special Judge, Dhaka, by order dated 30-7-2007, took cognizance of the offence against him under sections 164( c) and 166 of Ordinance, 1984 and registered the same as Metropolitan Special Case No.53 of 2007 and issued warrant of arrest against him. The learned Special Judge sent the case records to the Special Judge, Court No.4, Dhaka for speedy disposal. On receipt of the case records, the learned Special Judge by order dated 6-8-2007 registered the case as Special Case No.13 of 2007 and fixed the next date on 12-8-2007 for framing charge and then by order dated 14-8-2007 charges were framed against respondent No.1 under Sections 164 (c) and 166 of the Ordinance, 1984. The High Court Division then by order dated 10-3-2008 issued Rule and stayed all further proceedings of the above Special Case No. 13 of 2007.

4. Md Chowdhury Alam, respondent No.1 in Civil Appeal No. 96 of 2009, filed Writ Petition No.8140 of 2007 challenging the legality of the initiation and continuation of the proceedings of Special Case No. 19 of 2007 pending in the Court of learned Special Judge, Fourth Court, Special Judge, Dhaka. His case, in short, is that he was a genuine businessman and started paying income tax by opening TIN and he paid tax from the assessment years 1991-1992 up to 2006-2007 and before submission of his last income tax return for the current assessment year, that is, 2007-2008 he had to surrender before the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, Dhaka on 22-2-2007 in Ramna PS Case No. 53(12) 2006 and then he was sent to custody by the Court. While he was in custody, a Deputy Commissioner of Taxes filed a petition of complaint against him in the Court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge-Cum-Senior Special Judge, Dhaka. It is alleged that he concealed the value of his assets and his total income amounting to Taka 1,17,59,795 with intention to avoid the payment of taxes and thus he committed offences under Sections 164(c) and 166 of the Ordinance, 1984. On receipt of the above petition of complaint, the learned Senior Special Judge, Dhaka, by his order dated 27-8-2007, took cognizance of the offence against him under Section 165 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 and registered the same as Special Case No.19 of 2007 and then by order dated 2-9-2007, transferred the case records to the Special Judge, Court No.4, Dhaka for trial. After that, the learned Special Judge, Court No.4, Dhaka, on receipt of the case records, by order dated 2-9-2007 registered the case as Special Case No.19 of 2007.

At this stage, respondent No. 1 filed an application under Section 265C of the Code of Criminal Procedure for his discharge on the grounds that without any prior notice under Ordinance, 1984, the above proceedings have been initiated against him and the proceeding is also barred by law. But the learned Special Judge by an order dated 14-8-2007, framed charge against respondent No. 1 under Sections 164(c) and 166 of the Ordinance, 1984. While issuing Rule, the High Court Division stayed further proceedings/trial of the above Special Case No. 19 of 2007.

5. The High Court Division made both the Rules absolute by the impugned judgment and quashed the proceedings of both the Special Case.

6. Feeling aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the judgment and order passed by the High Court Division, the writ-respondents filed Civil Petitions for Leave to Appeal Nos. 1770 & 1815 of 2008 before this Division, in which, leave was granted on 23-11-2008, resulting in Civil Appeal Nos. 95 & 96 of 2009.

7. Mr Mahbubey Alam, learned Attorney-General, appearing on behalf of the appellants of both the appeals, submits that the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes may initiated criminal proceeding under Sections 165 and 166 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 even without reopening any closed assessment of any assessment year in an appropriate case and that the High Court Division without considering this aspect made the Rules absolute. He further submits that the process of sanction is an administrative act and is not subject to any judicial scrutiny and that since the Chairman of NBR is an inseparable and essential constituent part of the Board to function, the sanction given by it cannot be taken to be anyway tainted for his presence on the Board and, as such, the principle of corum-nan-judice has no manner of application in the present case and, as such, the impugned judgment should be set aside. He also submits that respondent No. 1 of Civil Appeal No. 95 of 2009 is dead and respondent No.1 of Civil Appeal No. 96 of 2009 has not been traceable for a long period of time and the criminal proceedings initiated against them abated even then tax is recoverable from the legal representatives of the deceased respondents as per Section 92 of the Ordinance.

8. Mr AJ Mohammad Ali, learned Senior Advocate, appearing on behalf of the respondents of Civil Appeal No. 96 of 2009, on the other hand, submits that the criminal proceeding initiated against respondent No.1 abated as he is not traceable for a long time and that the income tax department is not legally permitted to realize taxes from the heirs of respondent No.1.

9. We have considered the submissions of the learned Attorney-General for the appellant of both the appeals and Mr AJ Mohammad Ali for the respondent No. 1 of Civil Appeal No. 96 of 2009, perused the impugned judgment and the materials on record.

10. Before entering into the merit of both the appeals, it would be necessary to go through the grounds, for which, leave was granted. The grounds are quoted below:

"The High Court Division has failed to consider that in the complaint petition, which was registered as Metro Special Case No.99 of 2007, prima facie case under Sections 165 and 166 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 was made out for concealment of income investment and assets repeatedly from the assessment year 1991-1992 to 2005-2006 on making false statement in verified to the return repeatedly for the assessment years from 1991-1992 to 2005-2006 and the case was apparently based on documentary evidence on record; further the High Court Division in passing the impugned judgment and order relied on the ratio decidendi laid down in the case of Iqbal Hasan Mahmood vs Government of Bangladesh reported in 60 DLR 88 but the said decision has been reversed by the Appellate Division in the case of Government of Bangladesh vs Iqbal Hasan Mahmood reported in 60 DLR (AD) 147."

11. Relying upon the case of Iqbal Hasan Mahmood alias Iqbal Hasan Mahmood Tuku vs Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, (2008) 60 DLR 88, the High Court Division found that the instant cases were initiated without lawful authority and the sanction accorded in the instant cases suffered from corumnon-judice. Therefore, the High Court Division made the Rules absolute and the special cases pending before the Special Judge, Court No.4, Dhaka, commenced and continued without lawful authority and to be of no legal effect.

12. What is important to mention here is that the principles expounded in the case of Iqbal Hasan Mahmood alias Iqbal Hasan Mahmood Tuku vs Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, 60 DLR 88 had been overruled by this Division in the case of Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh vs Iqbal Hasan Mahmood alias Iqbal Hasan Mahmood Tuku 60 DLR (AD) 147. In that case, this Division held that the process of sanction is an administrative act and is not subject to any judicial scrutiny. Further, since the Chairman of NBR is an inseparable and essential constituent part for the Board to function, the sanction given by it cannot be taken to be in any way tainted for his presence on the Board. The principle of corum-non-judice has no manner of application in the present case.

13. This Division in the above case further held launching of criminal case against any person under Sections 165 and 166 of the Income Tax Ordinance is a separate and independent proceeding of the ones provided for assessment and realization of penalty.

14. In view of the principle expounded by this Division in the above case, we are of the view that the High Court Division was not justified in quashing both the special cases pending before the Special Judge, Court No.4, Dhaka.

15. Admittedly, respondent No. 1 of Civil Appeal No. 95 of 2009 is dead and respondent No.1 of Civil Appeal No. 95 0f 2009 has not been traced out for a long time. Therefore, both the appeals abated.

16. Notwithstanding the abatement of both the Special Cases, tax is recoverable from the heirs of deceased respondent No.1, BM Baker Hossain of Civil Appeal No.95 of 2009 and respondent No.1, Md Chowdhury Alam of Civil Appeal No. 96 of 2009 as per provision of Section 92 of the Income Tax Ordinancc, which runs as under:

92. Assessment in case of income of a deceased person. -

(1) Where a person dies, his legal representative shall be liable to pay any tax or other sum payable under this Ordinance which the deceased would have been liable to pay if he had not died, in the like manner and to the same extent as the deceased.; and the legal representative of the deceased shall, for the purpose of this Ordinance, be deemed to be an assessee :

Provided that before deeming the legal representative of the deceased to be an assessee, a notice to that effect shall be issued to him by the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes.

17. In view of Section 92, we are of the view that the legal representatives of respondent No. 1 of both the appeals shall be liable to pay tax or other sum payable under this Ordinance but the liabilities of the legal representatives under this Ordinance shall be limited to the extent to which the estate of the deceased is capable of meeting the liability.

18. Accordingly, both the appeals are disposed of and the impugned judgment delivered by the High Court Division is set aside and the proceedings of the Special Cases pending before the Special Judge, Dhaka abated and the appellant is at liberty to recover taxes from the heirs of respondent No. 1 of both the appeals as per Section 92 of the ordinance.


Putin wants to stabilise Syria's 'legitimate' power

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Northern Fleet officers who took part in the combat activities in the Mediterranean off the coast of Syria at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday.

AFP, Moscow :

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow's goal in Syria was to "stabilise the legitimate authority" and strike a "decisive blow" against terrorism.

"We have no plans to interfere in Syria's internal affairs," he told a group of naval officers returning from Syria, where six years of war have killed more than 310,000 people.

"Our task is to stabilise the legitimate authority in the country and strike a decisive blow against international terrorism," said Putin, whose administration is a key ally of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Putin's comments, broadcast on Russian television, came as UN-backed peace talks were opening in Geneva between opposition and government delegations.

"The sooner the country reaches a political settlement, the better the chances for the international community to put an end to the terrorist plague on Syrian territory," he said.

Russia began its military intervention to bolster Assad's forces in September 2015, turning the tables on the battlefield just as militant forces were strengthening their hold on key areas. Russian intervention also helped the Syrian government retake militant areas in the east of the northern city of Aleppo after four years of fighting.

In January, Moscow withdrew its naval force from Syrian waters, including its only aircraft carrier in service, the Admiral Kuznetsov, as part of an announced reduction of its military role.

Putin said the naval force had fulfilled its objective of helping to "create the conditions for pursuing peace talks between the Syrian government and the armed opposition." He also said that Russia's Syria intervention had "contributed directly to Russia's security".

According to Russian intelligence services, about 4,000 Russian citizens and 5,000 citizens from the former Soviet Union are fighting alongside the militant Islamic State group in Syria, Putin said, posing an "enormous risk" for Russia.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is likely to vote next week on a draft resolution that would slap sanctions on Syria over the use of chemical weapons, but Russia is almost certain to veto the measure, diplomats said Thursday.

Britain, France and the United States are pushing for a ban on the sale of helicopters to Syria and sanctions on 11 Syrians and 10 entities linked to chemical attacks in the nearly six-year war.

The measure follows a joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which concluded in October that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chemical attacks in 2014 and 2015.

"This is the significant response that the Security Council committed to do in the event of proven use of CW in Syria," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The US, UK and France are very clear that this is an issue of principle," he said. Russia's ambassador said at a meeting last week that Moscow would block the measure, said the diplomat.

Russia has used its veto six times to shield its Damascus ally from any punitive action.

China, another veto-wielding Security Council member, is expected to abstain in the vote. France and Britain presented a first draft on imposing sanctions on Syria in December, but held off on action to give the new US administration time to study it.

Another Security Council diplomat said the trio was moving ahead now that US President Donald Trump's administration was fully onboard with the push for sanctions against Syria.

The vote could take place as early as Monday or Tuesday.




China finds India talks of positive significance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the BRICS Summit, in Goa.

Dawn.com, New Delhi :

China said on Thursday that the strategic dialogue with India was of positive significance to ties and that extensive agreements were reached. It however, skirted any reference to the persisting differences over issues like India's Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) bid and efforts to get Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN.

"The dialogue has reached the goal as expected and is of positive significance to the bilateral relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing in Beijing, according to reports in New Delhi.

The reports centred on China's assessment of Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's talks with Chinese officials, which included the first round of the upgraded strategic dialogue on Wednesday.

"Our overall impression is that this strategic dialogue was held in a friendly atmosphere. The two sides held [an] in-depth and comprehensive exchange of views and reached extensive agreements," he said, without elaborating.

The two sides had an in-depth and comprehensive exchange of views on international situation, domestic and foreign policies, bilateral relations and other regional and international issues of mutual interest and reached extensive consensus, Geng said.

He, however, made no reference to the persisting differences over China blocking India's admission into the NSG and efforts to get JeM chief Azhar banned by the UN, India's Business Standard newspaper said.

In his briefing to the media after the dialogue on Wednesday, Jaishankar had said both the issues figured in the talks.

On the Chinese Foreign Ministry calling for "solid evidence" to get Azhar banned, Jaishankar had said: "In the case of Azhar, Jaish itself is proscribed under 1267. So the proof is in [the] 1267 Committee action. In this case what he has done, extent of his actions are well-documented."

He had also said the "burden of proof" was not on India.

"On the NSG issue, the Chinese side underlined that they are open to India's application for membership. They have their view of procedures and processes. These were different from where we are at the moment and most of the group is at the moment," Jaishankar had said.

Without going into those issues, Geng said the two sides shared the view that with similar national conditions and the stage of objective development, China and India have extensive converging interests and huge potential for cooperation.

"Sound and steady development of China-India relations is in the fundamental interest of the two countries and the peoples. The two sides agreed to maintain the momentum of the bilateral relations in the spirit of the agreements of the two leaders, work out a good programme for 2017 bilateral exchanges at various levels, advance practical cooperation, strengthen cooperation and coordination on international issues," Geng said.

Meanwhile, Beijing's and New Delhi's disputes on terror from Pakistan and India getting NSG membership "will persist" said China's Global Times - which gets its cue from the Communist Party of China.

China says those two issues are the reason frictions between China and India "are not bilateral but multilateral".




BD set to host 136th IPU assembly in April

BSS, Dhaka :

Bangladesh is set to roll out the red carpet as parliamentarians from across the globe join the 136 assembly of International Parliamentary Union (IPU), the century-old organisation of world's legislators, in April this year.

Officials familiar with the process said IPU chose Bangladesh to be the host of its most crucial event for the first time, three years after it elected for the Bangladeshi lawmaker Saber Chowdhury as the president of the global parliamentarians' forum.

The IPU Assembly, which was earlier called Inter-Parliamentary Conference, is the principal statutory body that expresses the views of the global forum on political issues bringing together parliamentarians to study international problems and make recommendations for action.

"We are expecting over 1,300 representatives including parliament speakers, deputy speakers and parliament members of 171 countries to attend the assembly," said additional secretary of Bangladesh's Parliament Secretariat Golam Mostafa said.

He said preparedness was afoot to hold the five-day IPU assembly from April 1 in Bangladesh capital amid foolproof security arrangements for "one of the biggest international events Bangladesh hosted so far".

According to Mostafa apart from IPU countries, representatives from United Nations, IPU associated bodies and different international agencies will join the assembly as delegates' registration is underway in full-swing.

Apart from delegates, he said, as many as 300 journalists from home and abroad are expected to cover the programme to be opened by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad.

Other programmes of the assembly will be held in five venues of Bangabanadhu International Conference Centre (BICC) while the delegates would be housed in 15 hotels in the city.

Officials said a modern makeshift media centre equipped with computers, laptops, high-speed internet bandwidth and adequate manpower would be set up at BICC for the local and foreign newsmen so they could smoothly send their news feed.

"An IPU spokesperson will brief media at the end of the day's programme at the media centre," an official related to the arrangement said.

The officials said IPU President Saber Hossain Chowdhury was expected to hold a press conference on March 5 on the overall preparations for the global event, which will be wrapped up with the Dhaka declaration on April 5.

According to draft programme, the delegates and IPU executive committee members will start arriving on March 23 and the meeting of the sub-committee of finance will be held on March 29 at BICC.

General debates would follow every session on particular issues like international cooperation on SDGs, international peace and security, women empowerment, redressing inequalities, human rights and parliaments' role in preventing outside interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.

The IPU, established in 1889 with its headquarters in Switzerland, is the focal point for global parliamentary dialogues for peace, development, and cooperation among peoples, and for the safeguard of representative democracy.
11 DU students get CERAGEM Merit Scholarship Award

DU Correspondent :

Eleven meritorious students of the Department of Public Administration of Dhaka University (DU) have been awarded "CERAGEM Merit Scholarship Award" for their outstanding academic performances at the VC's lounge of the university.

Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique was present at the function as the chief guest, while

Managing Director of CERAGEM Bangladesh Limited Kwon Kyo Soon, Marketing Director of the same company Ji Young Kwon, Chairman of the Department of Public Administration of DU Professor Akhter Hussain, Professor Mobasser Monem, Professor Ferdous Arfina Osman, Professor Syeda Lasna Kabir, Associate Professor Sadik Hasan and Lecturer Arifur Rahman Bhuiyan were present, among others, on this occasion.

Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique congratulated the meritorious students for their achievement and thanked the organisers.

It may be mentioned that CERAGEM is a leading medical device company in South Korea.
1st batch of BD workers to leave for KL Mar 10

Staff Reporter :

The flight of the first batch of 200 Bangladeshi workers will leaves for Kuala Lumpur on March 10.

"Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam is expected to inaugurate the much-awaited flight to KL on March 10," Jabed Ahmed, the Additional Secretary (Admin) of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment said.

Sources said, the workers will be employed in construction, plantation, manufacturing and service sectors. They are going to Malaysia under the government-to-government (G2G) Plus scheme, after about eight years of restriction on Bangladeshi workers by the Malaysian government.

The Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) President Benjir Ahmed said, about 500 workers will leave Dhaka for KL in three batches from March 10 to 15.

Two hundred workers will fly by a Malaysian Airlines on March 10, 2nd batch of 100 workers and the third batch of 200 workers will leave by Biman Bangladesh Airlines on March 12 and 15, respectively, he added.

The BAIRA chief said, 10 authorised recruiting agencies are sending workers to Malaysia, though more than 270 agencies are associated with the process.

Replying to a question, Benjir Ahmed said, most of the workers who got recruiting authority have completed their bio-medial tests. The bio-medical test of the others are on.

Additional Secretary Jabed Ahmed said that they have so far received about 9,000 demand letters from Malaysian employers. The Ministry has given recruiting approval to 5,700.

In the mid-January, Malaysian employers started sending demand letters to the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur to hire Bangladeshi workers under the G2G Plus agreement. The Malaysian government stopped hiring Bangladeshi workers in 2009 after experiencing the entry of a large number of illegal workers between 2007 and 2008.

After a long time, the two countries signed the G2G Plus deal in February last year.
Antibiotic resistance needs global response

Lars Adaktusson and Magnus Oscarsson. :

Moreover, the most advanced surgeries will be made impossible due to the increased risk of infection. The resistant bacteria are rapidly closing in on the drug developers. At present, resistant bacteria kill at least 700,000 people each year.

The reason for the increase in antibiotic resistance among bacteria is the large amount of antibiotics treatment of humans and animals in the modern world.

Two thirds of all antibiotic drugs used today are given to animals. Therefore, it is primarily in the livestock industry that we can find the potential for reducing the use of antibiotics.

In Sweden, livestock farmers use considerably less antibiotics than in other countries; the EU average for antibiotics per live animal is roughly 14 times higher. This is achieved due to the high Swedish standards in animal protection that result in better animal health and thus in lower rates of sickness amongst the livestock. We are grateful for the Swedish farmers' commitment to creating good conditions for their animals.

The example by the Swedish livestock farmers shows that the European farmers could do much more to reduce the use of antibiotics. The EU has acted on the matter, but it's not enough and it's taking too long. Since 2006, European Union law prohibits the use of antibiotics for the purpose of increased growth of animals; a rule not always adhered to.

During 2016, the European Parliament processed proposals from the Commission on regulations for medicated feed and veterinary medicinal products. One critical issue is the preventive group treatment of livestock by antimicrobial agents.

Even after the amendments from the Parliament, it will still be possible to administer the medicines to a whole stock of non-sick animals for preventive purpose, as long as it is not done routinely. It will also still be possible to provide bad and unhealthy living conditions for the animals, resulting in repeated outbreaks of diseases in the stock which will require group treatment with antibiotics.

In effect, this might be equivalent to routine group treatment. We would therefore like to call on the Council to make a clear statement that preventive group treatment should be forbidden, and we hope that this policy will prevail in the trilogue. It is also insufficient that the proposal does not address the fact that veterinarians in many member states can benefit financially by prescribing antibiotic medicines.

On a global level, the situation is even worse. Between 2010 and 2030, the use of antibiotics in livestock farming is expected to increase by 67%. China is expected to generate the largest increase. Other countries with large projected increases are the Unites States, Brazil, India and Mexico.

In September 2016, a high-level summit was held at the United Nations in New York. The leaders agreed to a declaration on antimicrobial resistance, which, among other things, calls for national action plans and regional initiatives.

Leaders at the UN meeting called on WHO, FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), in collaboration with development banks such as the World Bank and other relevant stakeholders, to coordinate their planning and actions and to brief the UN General Assembly in September 2018.

The WHO also adopted a global action plan on antimicrobial resistance in May 2015.

This is obviously important, but in our opinion, the international community should do much more and more rapidly. We would like substantial quantitative commitments and a more radical challenge to the livestock sector.

The threat is severe. Swedish farmers have shown that there are solutions. European and international politicians must now act responsibly.

We propose that negotiations are held immediately at the highest level in order to craft a global agreement about quantitative national reductions in antimicrobial use in meat production. These quotas should decrease year by year, in contrast to the otherwise expected increase in antimicrobial use.

We also propose an international scientific body, similar to the UN climate panel (IPCC), to be created with the task of presenting the most reliable foundation for deciding what levels of antimicrobial use can be considered in keeping the amount of resistant bacteria at an acceptable level.

There needs to be a functional system for monitoring and for statistical samplings of the total use of antimicrobial drugs.

Europe should - as in numerous other concerns of common interest to humanity - take the initiative. This, of course, requires that we do our homework. Therefore, we need a distinct EU regulation for reduced antimicrobial use in farming and for strengthened animal welfare.



(Lars Adaktusson MEP (EPP) and Magnus Oscarsson are Swedish MPs who represent the Christian Democrats at national level).
`Power to get pricier after gas price hike`

Staff Reporter :

The government has plans to raise power price, Nasrul Hamid Bipu has said while defending the move to increase gas prices up to 50 percent.

"The gas price for power sector has increased. So we want to adjust the price of electricity," said the state minister for power, energy and mineral resources at a programme in Dhaka on Friday, a day after the announcement of gas price hike.

The ministry has already sent its proposal on raising power prices, he said.

"We must work to provide uninterrupted electricity to every home in Bangladesh. So we must be ready to invest in infrastructure," the state minister said.

According to the new gas prices, the household consumers will have to shell out 50 percent more for stoves than they pay now while those using meters will have an additional 60 percent added to their bills.

For power generation, the price of gas is rising by 12 to 15 percent.

The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has termed the gas price hike decision 'irrational' and said it was considering to move the High Court.

Top trade body FBCCI says it will put the exports in a new challenge while garment entrepreneurs' BGMEA is worried about meeting the export target.

Arguing in favour of the decision, State Minister Bipu said, "In Bangladesh, 3 to 3.5 million users get gas through pipeline. But we will have to think about the tens of millions of others."

He said the government's job is to supply uninterrupted fuel to households throughout the country. "And we are doing just that," he added.

Bipu also said the government is planning to scrap pipeline gas connections gradually and expand the use of liquefied petroleum gas at a reasonable price.

When the prices of gas were raised for the last time in September, 2015, by an average of 26.29 percent, power prices were also hiked by 2.93 percent.
Free labour leaders, restore workers` rights

Eleven members of the US House of Representatives, led by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, have sent a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urging immediate release of RMG labour leaders from jail and restore workers' rights in Bangladesh.



Expressing deep concerns about the criminalization of legal labour activity in Bangladesh, the Congressmen, at the same time, also asked the PM to ensure answerability about the labour leaders and review the allegations brought against them.



The letter was signed on February 23 by eleven members of Congress -- Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Sander Levin, Bill Pascrell, Bobby Scott, James P. McGovern, Mark Pocan, William Keating, Jackie Speier, Joseph Crowley, Steve Cohen and Barbara Lee.



The letter of Congressmen came just two days before the Dhaka Apparel Summit 2017, which is going to begin today [Saturday]. There is widespread speculation that, the Congressmen have tried to focus on labour rights at this time when at least 1,600 garment industry workers were suspended or fired for their participation in protests over the 32-cent-per-hour minimum wage.



Besides, dozens of labour rights leaders have allegedly been jailed recently.



The letter stated: "We regret the backsliding of progress and deplore the criminalization of activities protected under Bangladesh and international law. We call on you to provide an immediate accounting of all individuals who have been detained, a review of the many charges which have been made, and urge your intervention to assure that the responsible government entities drop all meritless and unsubstantiated charges, immediately releasing those wrongly detained."



The letter highlighted the significant reversals in labor rights that have occurred in the four years since one of the world's worst industrial disasters occurred at the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh, which collapsed killing some 1,100 workers.



It stated: "We are extremely concerned that the respect for labor rights in Bangladesh is moving in the wrong direction, and called upon you to personally intervene, and to clarify the government's policies and practices in the face of the deterioration in labor rights."



It is to be noted that, Bangladesh is a top supplier for global brands such as Wal-Mart, VF Corporation, Target, Berkshire Hathaway, Carters, Sears Holding Corporation, PVH, Gap, Inc., JC Penney Company and Kohl's.



The letter said: "Since mid-December, Congressional offices have received briefings on an orchestrated pattern of arrests, surveillance and harassment of garment worker union members and leaders, as well as the forced closure of union offices and community education centers."



Elaborating deteriorating labour rights condition in Bangladesh, it said: "Many of those labor activists who were arrested in Dhaka, Chittagong and even some in Ashulia had no involvement whatsoever in the Ashulia protests. It appears that these leaders have been targeted because they are involved in lawful labor rights education or union organizing."



The letter further said that dozens of USAID-funded training and education activities to promote the rule of law, industrial relations and constructive conflict resolution have already been curtailed by these recent police actions, affecting over 500 Bangladeshi participants.



"We are concerned that we are witnessing a reversal of efforts to turn the corner on the country's history of suppressing workers' rights. The situation in Bangladesh received international attention in 2013 when the Rana Plaza factory collapsed on thousands of workers inside. The death toll reached more than 1,100 Bangladeshis. Many of the workers who entered Rana Plaza on the day of the tragedy were reluctant to do so because of concerns for their safety, but were threatened with losing their jobs," said the Congressmen.



Later in 2013, in response to Rana Plaza and to persistent violations of the right to organize, the U.S. government revoked trade preferences under the Generalized System of Preferences [GSP] for certain Bangladeshi goods. In the immediate aftermath of the revocation, it seemed that the Government of Bangladesh was committed to improving its respect for workers' rights by allowing unions to register and reforming aspects of the national labor and factory safety laws.



In the past couple of years, progress on implementation of the GSP Action Plan appears to have regressed with regards to labor rights. For example, union registration approval rates have dropped from 65 per cent to 29 per cent between 2013 and 2015, and certain unions have been advised that their registration applications will not, as a matter of practice, receive favorable consideration, according to information received by Congress.



"We regret the backsliding of progress and deplore the criminalization of activities protected under Bangladesh and international law. We call on you to provide an immediate accounting of all individuals who have been detained, a review of the many charges which have been made, and urge your intervention to assure that the responsible government entities drop all meritless and unsubstantiated charges, immediately releasing those wrongly detained.



We are extremely concerned that the respect for labor rights in Bangladesh is moving in the wrong direction, and call upon you to personally intervene, and to clarify the government's policies and practices in the face of the deterioration in labor rights. We respectfully ask that you give full and fair consideration to our concerns and our request."



"Dear Prime Minister Hasina, as friends of Bangladesh and advocates of a strong U.S.-Bangladesh relationship, we write to express our serious concern regarding the arrest and detention of workers' rights leaders in the garment industry who have been engaged in peaceful activity in many areas of Bangladesh."



"We take note that the Dhaka Apparel Summit 2017 will convene February 25, which will announce the garment industry's "massive transformation" "to ensure workplace safety" and the "well-being of workers". However, worrisome developments over the past several months are at odds with this pronouncement by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Export Association," said the Congresspersons in the letter.
VIPs should concern with public safety, not their own special safety

IN a bid to boost the existing security facilities to our VIPs - Ministers, Members of Parliament, state Ministers, Deputy ministers and judges for that matter - the government is about to form a special police unit. The police headquarters have submitted a proposal to the Home Ministry in this regard. The Ministry is reportedly working on it. The special unit has been reported to be named as "Guard and Protection Police". Moreover, it will have an administrative and operations wing and three battalions -- Protection Battalion, Guard Protection Battalion and KPI (Key Point Installation) Battalion.



Four Superintendents of Police (SPs) will lead the operations wing and the three battalions. A Deputy Inspector General (DIG) will be the chief of the total unit. To sum up , it will have 3,188 members, said the proposal.



Meant for the politically privileged, the special unit is being formed at a time when lives of the general public have become increasingly uncertain. Be it a journalist, student, teacher or even a regular commuter in our roads - all are passing times amid extreme insecurity. Many wonder is it right now when suddenly the collective value of a few politicians' lives of the ruling party have become so unimaginably precious. They also question who will provide security to the millions in the streets and in their homes many with threats to their life from goons.



Besides a huge demand of 260 vehicles, some Tk 160 crore will be required annually for maintaining the new battalions. And the plan essentially mooted for safeguarding less than a thousand VIPs.



The point we are trying to make is that, since the cost for forming the special unit will go from tax payers money we must say the prime objective of such "special unit" should not be to exclusively protect the regime's politicians and VIPs of sorts only.



For VIPs to be particularly anxious for their personal protection by special units, the VIPs are only admitting their failure to make public life safe.



Very few politicians in the last 40 years have been killed or murdered in Bangladesh compared to thousands of innocent citizens killed, raped or mugged indiscriminately in the hands of criminals. Little has been done to build extra capacities for our traffic police for systematically managing our roads.



Both the capability and performance of our Highway police is not at all visible. So the rationale to create an extra police force for safeguarding the ruling party's politicians is a marked symbol of our leadership's becoming detached from the general people.



We would suggest that the government should try to be the people's government. They will not need special units of police for their protection then.






February 21, 2017

A new and powerful figure has joined the list of candidates among Iranian conservatives for the May presidential election: Ebrahim Raisi, a senior cleric who has gradually risen through the ranks to assume powerful positions. Born in the holy city of Mashhad in northeast Iran  home to the shrine of the eighth Shiite imam  Raisi started his career as the prosecutor general of Karaj  a city just west of the capital city, Tehran  two years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In 2004, Raisi was appointed as the first deputy of judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi. When incumbent Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani took over the judiciary in 2009, Raisi remained as the first deputy.

In 2016, following the death of Ayatollah Abbas Vaez Tabasi, Raisi was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as custodian of the shrine of the eighth Shiite imam. The manager of the shrine in Mashhad is one of the most powerful people in Iran, as he oversees the holiest site in Iran  which also engages in major economic activities. Following the naming of Raisi as custodian of the shrine, Western media speculated that Raisi is likely to become the next supreme leader of Iran. One op-ed in The Washington Post on Sept. 26, 2016, stated, This appointment not only enhances Raisis national profile but also puts at his disposal enormous funds that he can use to nurture his own network of supporters and constituents. In this vein, Ayatollah Khamenei notably served as president from 1981 to 1989, when he became supreme leader.

While there has been speculation in Western media regarding Raisi as the next supreme leader, only now is Raisi being raised in Iranian media as the likely candidate of the conservative camp in the upcoming presidential election.

The conservatives are at present making great efforts to agree on a single candidate as they assume that the nomination of more than one conservative candidate will repeat the same scenario of the 2013 presidential election, when moderate Hassan Rouhani defeated his three conservative rivals.

On Feb. 18, Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh, a member of the hard-line Endurance Front, criticized the conservatives plan, saying, [Achieving] unity is not an issue  unity doesnt come to exist by force. The figures who work in favor of [a single conservative] candidate [by force]  at most they will vote for him, but they wont sacrifice themselves for him.

On Feb. 21, Ghazizadeh clarified the Endurance Fronts position on the presidential election and the issue of conservative unity: In my opinion, the most fit [person] at the current juncture is Mr. Raisi. I dont know a second person.  Every one of our friends across the country, when they come to Raisis name, they say Yes, this is right.'

Moreover, it seems that Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, the spiritual head of the Endurance Front who wields enormous influence among the conservatives and hard-liners, backs Raisi. Of note, Mesbah Yazdi left Tehran for Mashhad on Jan. 7 and paid a visit to Raisi. At the time, the details of the meeting were not published.

It is noteworthy that in the 2013 presidential election, Mesbah Yazdi didnt come to agreement with other conservatives and decided to support former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili as the fittest candidate who is loyal to the values of the Islamic Revolution.

However, according to Entekhab news site, Raisi, who has a softer tone and approach than the hard-liners, will only agree to come forth as a candidate if the whole conservative camp  and not just the Endurance Front  reach a consensus on him.
A 49-year-old Youngsville man will spend more than 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to distribution and possession of child pornography. Thomas Hanes was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell following a guilty plea in federal court in Lafayette.

According to U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley, Hanes was identified through an investigation as distributing thousands of files of child pornography using an online peer-to-peer network. Law enforcement agents searched his home in Youngsville on February 26, 2016 and found sexually explicit images of children as young as two and three years of age on electronic media.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security, Louisiana State Police and the Youngsville PD.
Wikimedia

Less than 24 hours after the Legislature adjourned its special session last week lawmakers serving on the budget committee gathered again at the Capitol to hear Gov. John Bel Edwards spending proposal for the next fiscal year.

There will be no rest for the politically weary, with just 40 days separating the close of the special session and the opening of the regular session on April 10.

Once again a budget deficit, this time in the $400 million range, will take center stage in the coming session for the fiscal year that begins July 1. During the special session that concluded last week, lawmakers had to close a $304 million gap for the current fiscal year.

The governors proposal for the next budget cuts short funding for the TOPS scholarship program and reduces money for health care services for the poor. Lawmakers, however, will have opportunities to increase revenue for the 2017-2018 budget, chiefly through tax changes.

This is not the budget proposal I want to present and should serve as a starting point for the Legislature, Edwards said last week, adding, My goal is to fully fund critical priorities of our state, most notably the TOPS program and transportation, but we cannot do that without making reforms and without additional revenue.

What those reforms might be is unknown, but the administration intends to rely upon recommendations drafted by a budget and tax task force that met throughout last year.

During an interview on The LaPolitics Report podcast, Revenue Secretary Kim Robinson said the governors fleshed-out plan, to be delivered at a later date, will carry with it very specific directions.

Wikimedia

The governor looked at a menu of options last year because we knew that raising revenue was not going to be popular, Robinson said. We wanted to give the Legislature options to fill what was needed in terms of the budget deficit.

She added, This year we are going in with a different perspective  I think youll see us come forward with a proposal that says these are these things we think we should do. But were always open to suggestions from lawmakers.

Jan Moller, the director of the left-leaning Louisiana Budget Project, found aspects to cheer and criticize in the governors 2017-18 budget proposal.

He said it cuts money for public colleges and universities, reduces funding for safety net hospitals and fails to keep up with the rising cost of K-12 education.

Nor does it address the long backlog of needs that have gone neglected in recent years: Need-based college aid, early childhood education for children from birth to 3, home- and community-based services for people with disabilities and basic upkeep of roads, bridges and college campuses, Moller added.

Yet he also offered this take: Compared to what weve seen in recent years, this is a solid and responsible budget plan that tries to limit the pain of cuts to state services given the current revenue picture. But it doesnt come close to taking Louisiana where it needs to go and leaves too many of our people behind.

Casting a long shadow over the approaching regular session is $1.2 billion in temporary taxes that come off of the books in 2018.

The governor has said he hopes lawmakers will address that financial challenge fully during the regular session, even as conservatives in the Republican-controlled Legislature have already voiced concerns about increasing taxes.
After three years away from the legal profession, Vanessa Waguespack Anseman got her law license reinstated on Jan. 13, the same day she qualified for a seat on the Third Circuit Court of Appeal.

Photos by Robin May

[Editors Note: This is the second installment in a three-part series on the Third Circuit Court of Appeal race. Next week The Independent will report on the third candidate in the race, Susan Theall. Read the first installment on the controversial candidacy of Candyce Perret here.]

Vanessa Waguespack Anseman was the last of three candidates to qualify for the Third Circuit Court of Appeal seat that Justice Jimmy Genovese gave up when he was elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court last November.

Anseman filed to run for the seat late in the day on Friday, Jan. 13, the final day of qualifying for the March 25 election to serve out the remaining eight years on Genoveses 10-year term. In a Feb. 15 interview with The Independent, Anseman explains that she waited to confirm that no sitting judge qualified for the race before making the trek to Baton Rouge that day to file her candidate papers with the secretary of state.

But it wasnt just caution  and it wasnt just strategy. The fact is that Anseman could not qualify before that day because she was not eligible to practice law or run for the seat until the Louisiana State Bar Association had reinstated her license to practice.

Anseman walked away from the practice of law in the fall of 2012 in large part to care for her ailing father, Stanislaus J. Waguespack III, who suffered from dementia. He died a year later.

At that point, I was a month away from making partner at Liskow & Lewis, Anseman says. But I met with the partners at the firm and told them that I would have to step down in order to meet the needs of my family.

Anseman and her husband, Norman Skeet Anseman Jr., a partner in the Jones Walker law firms River Ranch office, are parents of three children.

The candidate acknowledges that she did not file the requisite paperwork with the Louisiana State Bar Association allowing her to formally step away from the profession. Instead, she simply stopped paying her fees.

As a result of that failure to pay her fees and file forms, she was certified ineligible to practice, Loretta Larsen, executive director of the LSBA, tells The Independent. If she was not eligible to practice, she would not have been eligible to run for the seat.

Because of the timing of the certifications of ineligibility and the election, Anseman might not be eligible for a seat on the Third Circuit. At issue is Article 5 Section 24 of the Louisiana Constitution which sets the terms of eligibility for candidates for the state supreme court and appellate courts. It reads:

Article 5 Section 24 of the Louisiana Constitution. Article 5, Section 24, part 1 states:

24. Judges; Qualifications

Section 24.(A) A judge of the supreme court, a court of appeal, district court, family court, parish court, or court having solely juvenile jurisdiction shall have been domiciled in the respective district, circuit, or parish for one year preceding election and shall have been admitted to the practice of law in the state for at least the number of years specified as follows:

(1) For the supreme court or a court of appeals - ten years.

But, because the LSBA certified Anseman ineligible to practice law before she had been active for 10 years, her eligibility as a candidate is not clear. Ansemans nine years of practice (three years at Jones Walker and six at Liskow & Lewis) dont meet the states minimum requirement to qualify to serve on an appellate court, if Loyola law professor and legal ethics expert Dane Ciolinos interpretation of the law proves accurate.

Anseman was admitted to the bar on October 10, 2003. She was first certified ineligible to practice law by the LSBA on May 31, 2013  nine years and 233 days after she was admitted to practice law. According to the LSBA, Anseman was not fully reinstated to practice law until Jan. 13 of this year.

Ciolino tells The Independent periods of ineligibility do not count toward time in practice. If Ciolino is correct, Anseman will not reach 10 years in the actual practice of law until May 26 of this year, nearly a month after the runoff election in the race (if one is needed). Read more on his position here.

Anseman and her husband maintain that the law means that any attorney can run for an appellate court judgeship at any point after the 10th anniversary of their admission to the bar.

Anseman was born in Baton Rouge and graduated from LSU with a political science degree in 2000. She enrolled in LSUs Paul M. Hebert Law Center and worked at the Law Review, graduating in 2003 in the top 10 percent of her class.

From law school, Anseman went to work at Jones Walkers New Orleans office, specializing in oil and gas, insurance defense and maritime work. She and her first husband were living in New Orleans when the levees failed following Hurricane Katrina. Our house, literally, was right on the 17th Street Canal, Anseman says. It was eight weeks before we could get to our house.

The trauma of the flooding and dislocation led Anseman to leave New Orleans. Lafayette was her mothers hometown, and she landed a position at Liskow & Lewiss office here in 2006. She worked there for six years until stepping away from the law.

During her time away from the practice of law, Anseman taught yoga part-time at City Club at River Ranch, something she had begun doing in 2012, and doing volunteer work with the Junior League and the March of Dimes.

Anseman says her time away from the legal practice provided her with a perspective on the law and the courts that has emerged as a central theme in her campaign  protecting the integrity of the courts.

What I learned when I was away from the practice is that our courts are not held in high regard, Anseman says. There is this belief that our courts are political and decisions are made for political reasons.

Anseman says she became a candidate to change that. Thats why I want to run. Im tired of it. Its offensive to me that people believe that our courts and our system is so political, that it has nothing to do with fairness and nothing to do with what is written in our law.

I am not tied to any firm, Anseman continues. I am tied to no politician. I think that we need someone on the court who will at least say that they want no part of that, that they want to serve and actually apply the law as written.

She believes the variety of cases she handled at Jones Walker and Liskow & Lewis and the complexity of them  it was mainly the maritime work that drew her to Lafayette  along with her passion for research make her a good fit for the judgeship.

Anseman says shell bring her conservative values and a strict constructionist approach to the bench and will not legislate from the bench.

The candidate has strenuously sought to avoid any discussion of the legal cloud hanging over Candyce Perrets campaign resulting from the ongoing federal investigation into the billing practices of her husband Hunter Perrets Louisiana Specialty Institute (since that story was published the paper has confirmed with one attorney that investigators are also looking into the business practices of some of Hunter Perrets other companies). Candyce Perret served as legal counsel and custodian of medical records for LSI in 2013 and 2014 and is now general counsel for The Perret Group, a limited liability company that serves as an umbrella entity for various companies owned by Candyce and Hunter Perret. The couples legal problems were first brought to public attention by former 15th Judicial District Court Judge Susan Theall, the third Republican woman seeking the appeals court seat.

I cannot and will not go there, Anseman declares. I do not want to talk about the Perrets legal problems. That is something they are going to have to deal with.

In response to a question about the wisdom of Perrets candidacy in light of the investigation, Anseman says only that it would certainly give most people pause.

Anseman claims that her refusal to seek to use the Perrets legal issues to her political advantage extends to conversations with her campaign advisers.

Political consultant Joe Castille outside of the Lafayette Parish Courthouse in May Photo by Robin May

Lafayette political consultant Joe Castille met with the Ansemans at their River Ranch home for six hours on Jan. 8, the Sunday before qualifying (a fact Castille, a crafty political operative, unwittingly confirmed to this reporter). In response to repeated questions from The Independent on the matter, Anseman insists that she and Castille never discussed the Perrets or LSI during the two weeks or so that Castille worked for her campaign. We had no talk about LSI, Anseman says. No. No. No.

As reported here earlier, Castille had talked at length to at least one other potential candidate in the Third District race about LSI and the Perrets. Other sources say they believed Castille was looking for a candidate who would be willing to use his information about the legal issues swirling around Candyce Perrets candidacy.

I cant speak to what Joe knew or did not know, Anseman insists. But I made it pretty clear from the get-go that I am not a politician, I have no agenda, and I dont want any part of this political circus that may or may not emerge.

Roy Fletcher of Baton Rouge, the veteran media consultant now working with Anseman, says his candidate has expressed no interest in making an issue of the Perrets problems. Anseman tells The Independent she reached out to Fletcher after speaking with her brother, former four-term Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack. Waguespack has first-hand knowledge of Fletchers ability. My brother told me [Fletcher] helped elect him and, 16 years later, helped defeat him, Anseman says.

Political consultant Roy Fletcher Photo by Robin May

Fletcher, who has extensive experience with independent political action committees in judicial races, says he is not aware of any third-party PAC activity in connection with this race, for which he expects very low voter turnout, as it is an off-year election that shares the ballot with a special legislative election to fill the unexpired term of former Rep. Jack Montoucet of Crowley. Montoucet vacated the seat to serve as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Fletcher says Ansemans campaign messaging will begin in March after Mardi Gras has died down.

It really doesnt float her boat, Fletcher tells the paper about Ansemans take on the Perrets legal woes. Shes focused on the idea of restoring confidence in the courts. And thats a theme that were going to work.

_

Contact Mike Stagg at [email protected]_
The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option.
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.
This story has been updated with a statement from Lyft and with clarifications about city and state regulations for apps like Lyft.

CARBONDALE  Would-be drivers and riders who are anxious to take advantage of rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft in Southern Illinois got some exciting news Thursday: Lyft has come to town. The app is functioning here and there were a few active drivers visible through the app Thursday afternoon.

But it wasn't clear whether the app is legal in city limits just yet.

Amy Fox, public relations officer for the city of Carbondale, reminded would-be Lyft users that while it is available in the city now, the city ordinance that regulates the app  and others like it  does not go into effect until April 1.

Fox said Carbondale's city attorney reached out to Lyft Thursday and asked the company to communicate with its drivers who may be signing up in the city to hold off for now.

Scott Coriell, communications manager for Lyft, said in an emailed statement that the company is operating in Carbondale under statewide regulations that govern transportation network companies like Lyft in locations where no specific city regulations are in effect.

"Lyft will operate under those statewide regulations until any city-specific regulations go into effect in Carbondale," Coriell said.

After April 1, people who wish to sign up as drivers with apps such as Uber and Lyft will be required to fill out a form with the Carbondale city clerk's office that is similar to the form that must be completed by taxi drivers. Fox said the city clerk is still in the process of completing these forms, and they should be available for download on the city's website in a couple of weeks.

Fox said Uber and Lyft drivers in Carbondale must complete an application with the city clerk's office, provide a valid driver's license and proof of insurance, and complete a criminal background check. Vehicles that will be used for the services will be required to pass a safety inspection, as well.

Coriell said Lyft is currently operating in Carbondale under state requirements for driver background checks and insurance.
MURPHYSBORO  A juvenile who had eluded police for two days is back in police custody, the Murphysboro police chief said Friday.

The apprehension came around 2:10 p.m. Friday, when Murphysboro police officers located the juvenile on Illinois 13 near Watson Road in Murphysboro, according to a news release from Police Chief Chad Roberts. The 17-year-old had not been considered dangerous.

The juvenile had escaped the custody of an officer with the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center after a court appearance at the Jackson County courthouse on Wednesday afternoon.

Roberts said the 17-year-old was walking along the road, in regular street clothes, when he was spotted. He said the youth's clothes were different from the ones he'd been wearing two days ago.

"He was very compliant," and was arrested without incident, Roberts said.

He said officers were still trying to ascertain where the 17-year-old had been for the past two days.

The teen will be returned to the custody of staff at the Franklin County Detention Center, Roberts said.
CARBONDALE  A group of local activists gathered at the Carbondale office of U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, on Thursday to demand an in-person town hall meeting, claiming the congressman has been inaccessible to his constituents during his time home from Washington.

In districts all over the country this week, congressional Republicans have faced a groundswell of opposition from left-leaning constituents at raucous town hall events, largely over the proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act, along with other policies set forth by the Trump administration.

According to nationwide reports, some Republican senators and representatives have avoided town halls altogether during this weeks short congressional recess, opting instead to host virtual tele-town halls where questions can be more easily vetted.

About 40 constituents belonging to the Indivisible I-57 group flooded into Bosts district office in the Hunter Building at 300 E. Main St. Thursday morning. A staffer told the group that Bost was not in the office and directed them to a sign-up sheet.

We need a town hall, people shouted.

Members of the group said Bost has not held an in-person town hall meeting since Aug. 2, 2016. They sharply criticized the tele-town hall he held on Feb. 13, claiming constituents were not given sufficient notice of the event and that the questions were pre-selected. (A Bost spokesman declined to comment on how questions are chosen for virtual town halls.)

He refuses to meet with his constituents. I think that should really sink in with everyone here  who does he represent? Does he represent his party, or does he represent all of us? said organizer David Trotter.

Building manager Dick Hunter called the Carbondale Police Department, saying the office was private property. Police ushered the group out to the sidewalk, where people finished adding their names to the sign-up sheet. Later, the group relocated to the Town Square East plaza for a demonstration.

Bost first assumed office as a U.S. Congressman in 2015, and beat out Democratic challenger C.J. Baricevic and Green Party opponent Paula Bradshaw this past November.

During this weeks congressional recess, Bost did not release a public schedule. Riffing on his perceived elusiveness, constituents created a Facebook community called Where Is Mike Bost?

"Have you seen Mike? We are his constituents and we haven't," the description of that Facebook page reads.

At Thursdays event, attendees hoisted missing signs featuring the congressmans image.

In an emailed statement, a spokesman for Bost said Thursday that traditional town halls have been derailed across the country in an effort to disrupt the honest conversation that representatives need to have with their constituents.

Rep. Bost wants to ensure that conversation continues unimpeded and is open to receiving feedback  both positive and negative  from the constituents he represents, the statement continues. That is why this week he met with health care professionals at two Southern Illinois hospitals in three locations, hosted an Agricultural Advisory Board meeting with local farmers, spoke with students at Murphysboro High School, and had 12 individual constituent meetings. Among the constituents he met with were protesters who demonstrated outside of his Belleville office. Additionally, Rep. Bost recently hosted a telephone town hall meeting, which reached over 85,000 Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in Southern Illinois. Constituents who would like to participate in the next telephone town hall are welcome to sign up at bost.house.gov.

Felicia Kruse Alexander, a member of the Indivisible I-57 group, said she wanted a face-to-face dialogue with Bost to avoid receiving canned answers.

He needs to understand that as our elected representative, he is a public servant, and he needs to be responsible and responsive to his constituents who pay his salary and pay for his office space, and who look to him to represent our needs, concerns and interests in what is, at least for the time being, still a democratic nation, Alexander said.

I dont want a shouting match, but we deserve to be heard. We are his constituents just like everyone else. And I dont want some blanket answer, said Connie Pavlovitch, whose chief concerns include the possible repeal of the ACA and President Donald Trumps animosity toward the press.

Indivisible I-57 member Bill White said he hopes to get the chance to attend a town hall because he is concerned about his wife, who relies on the ACA for coverage.

Shes been through her third bout of cancer, and there may be another one coming now. Its not just her, (keeping the ACA is) just the right thing to do, White said.

Paulette Curkin said she was concerned about the repeal of the ACA, the repeal of transgender protections and Trumps policies on immigration. She said an in-person town hall might get boisterous, but that it would remain peaceful like the Womens March on Washington, D.C., which she attended last month.

Yes, we had strong opinions and strong feelings about things, but it was perfectly peaceful, and I think that certainly this group of constituents feels passionately, but we dont feel moved to violence, Curkin said.
CARBONDALE  The Marion Veterans Affairs Medical Center is permitted to actively recruit workers for medical personnel positions despite President Donald Trumps 90-day federal hiring freeze, the office has confirmed.

In one of his first acts as president, Trump on Jan. 22 signed an executive order freezing hiring for all new and existing federal jobs, except those in public safety, national security and the military.

The White House initially said the VA was included in the freeze, prompting a public outcry. Then-Acting VA Secretary Robert Snyder later determined that there would be exemptions for positions falling under the public health classification. The agency, which has suffered chronic physician shortages in recent years, would be free to hire doctors, nurses and other medical personnel.

Marion VA Medical Center Public Affairs Officer Todd Wright said David Shulkins appointment to the position of VA secretary, approved by the Senate on Feb. 15 in a 100-0 vote, was considered a win for the Veterans Health Administration branch of the VA. (The two other branches of the agency include the Veterans Benefits Administration and the National Cemetery Administration.)

Shulkin, a doctor, is the first VA secretary who has not served in the military. He was nominated to his previous position of undersecretary for health for the Department of Veterans Affairs by President Barack Obama in 2015.

We are happy to have Dr. Shulkin as our secretary of the VA. During his previous 18-month tenure as the undersecretary of health, he has made great strides in improving our access for the veterans we serve. We have every confidence that he will continue to lead us in this successful journey, Wright said in an emailed statement.

Wright said he was unsure as to whether any other positions at the facility are currently on hold.

Several health care-related positions at the Marion VA are currently listed on the official federal website usajobs.gov.
To the Editor:

In his budget address, Gov. Bruce Rauner said Illinois should emulate Massachusetts workers compensation system. However, following its lead would come at a great cost to our states taxpayers. Massachusetts doctors who care for those injured on the job are the lowest paid in the nation, which raises concerns about access to quality care.

If Illinois cuts the rate doctors are compensated to treat injured workers to match Massachusetts levels, a patients choice of physicians will be seriously limited and wait times for treatment are sure to rise significantly.

The governor missed a chance to condemn the real problem with workers compensation in Illinois: insurance company profiteering. The insurance companies have exploited insufficient oversight and, since a 2011 rewrite of state law, have taken most of the savings for themselves as profits, rather than passing along their reduced cost of doing business to employers.

According to a report last year from the Illinois Department of Insurance, workers comp insurers saw profits jump nearly 22 points between 2010 and 2014, from negative 11 percent to positive 11 percent, while between 2011 and 2015 they reduced their financial payouts on claims to below the national average.

There are 332 insurance companies writing workers compensation insurance in Illinois, more than any other state. Our state is an attractive place for them to do business precisely because of insufficient oversight and laws that put their interests ahead of Illinois workers and employers.

Cutting benefits, lowering medical reimbursements and denying more claims only further bolsters the insurance industrys profits. These types of cuts would shift to taxpayers, through Medicaid and other publicly funded programs, the responsibility for the resulting medical bills and income support payments.

Legislative efforts concerning workers comp should focus not on further eroding the rights of the injured, but on improving workplace safety and oversight of workers comp insurers.

Christopher T. Hurley

President, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
As victims, survivors and family members of the Emanuel 9 massacre gathered for the emotionally grueling trial in Charleston recently, a three-pronged team of chaplains, mental health counselors and victim advocates were there every step of the way, letting them know they were loved and they were most certainly not alone.

Bishop Jonathan Holston, South Carolina resident bishop for The United Methodist Church, authorized a $30,000 grant to help fund a spiritual support team that ministered to the survivors attending the trial. The 15-person chaplaincy team  a project of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Assistance Program  spent the entire day each day of the trial helping to pray and otherwise come alongside them. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the Office of Victims of Crime in Washington also helped with funding.

I think we all were just so shocked and saddened by the tragedy and everyone wanted to do something, Columbia District Superintendent Cathy Jamieson said. Even though we couldnt all be there (at the trial), we were there by supporting this team and knowing they were providing prayers, hospitality, pastoral care and nurture as an extension of our ministry.

On June 17, 2015, nine members of Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, were murdered by a self-proclaimed white supremacist. The shooter, Dylann Roof, was convicted in December on 33 federal charges, including hate crimes, and sentenced on Jan. 10 to the death penalty. Among those killed were the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, church pastor and state senator. The murders gripped the nation. Former President Barack Obama, as well as Holston and other United Methodist clergy, attended the funeral.

As the tragedy unfolded, Jamieson said, Money came into the South Carolina Annual Conference, and at the time we didnt necessarily have a purpose or direction for the money.

But she said God provided a purpose when she was contacted by longtime friend Dr. J. Eric Skidmore, state police chaplain and program manager for SCLEAP. Skidmore asked whether the UMC would consider helping to fund a spiritual support team for the roughly 95 victims, survivors and family members of the Emanuel 9 who would be attending the trial and would surely need counseling, prayer and other support. Holston authorized the grant.

SCLEAP came alongside other caregivers in what Skidmore called a three-legged stool organized by the woman he calls his hero, victims advocate Clarissa Whaley of the United States Attorneys Office. Whaleys effort, which Skidmore said had the blessing of acting United States Attorney Beth Drake, encompassed spiritual support, as well as mental health counseling and other victim advocacy.

Skidmore and Dr. Steve Shugart, clinical chaplain with SCLEAP, headed up the spiritual support team component that included a rotating pool of 13 other clergy members of a variety of denominations.

The federal folks provided a large space they called the family room on the third floor of the courthouse, and it became our home in the midst of this tragedy, Shugart said.

The family room was a place for the 95 survivors to come during the trial for prayer, counseling and other support. They could also view the trial from the room rather than having to be there in person, which was often quite traumatizing, Shugart said. The team would offer prayer, Scripture readings and group and individual spiritual counseling, as well as other care.

One of our roles was to escort people in and out of the courtroom, to places to eat or respite places for care, and it seems small, but like all aspects of this ministry, we were tethered to them, working with them, being with them as they ate and prayed, Shugart said. We mostly listen to folks and be present so they can give voice to some of their groanings, as Scripture would say.

We went through a lot of the tough questions, like how do these terrible things happen in light of our belief in a loving God, whats next for my life, how will God use me, even what to say to Dylann Roof at the end.

They also had the opportunity to minister to the federal team, attorneys, police officers and others connected to the trial.

They said the funds donated by the UMC and others helped them provide a place of comfort that reflected true kindness and care.

It was more than a trial, Shugart said. It was a chance to see God and Gods goodness and hope and pray for a part of His place, His Kingdom.

Skidmore said the experience not only offered assistance to the survivors but also a testament to the Christian hospitality of Charleston, which he called a true ecumenical effort.

Every one of the boxed lunches they received each day had prayer cards written by Charleston clergy members, Skidmore said. It was an AME tragedy in an AME church, but there were so many others helping: United Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran.

Skidmore said their work did not end with the sentencing. Other elements to the case still remain, and a second community worship service is being planned for Charleston soon. The first worship service, held at the Anglican church St. Michaels one block from the courthouse, was one of the most moving parts of the spiritual support offered, Skidmore said.

The team plans to continue to offer care for the 95, plus the support team themselves.
Claflin University will host the Vice Presidents Forum on Inclusive Excellence on Monday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Arthur Rose Museum.

City of Columbia Mayor Stephen Benjamin will be the guest speaker. Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler will also participate in the program.

The Vice Presidents Forum on Inclusive Excellence is presented by the Division of Student Development and Services at Claflin. The purpose of the event is to highlight Claflins ability to incorporate the diverse backgrounds, traditions and experiences of faculty, staff, and students in realizing the goal of an inclusive community that values excellence in scholarship, teaching and learning, and student development.

The forum will focus on student intellectual and social development, encouraging a welcoming community that engages diversity in student and organizational learning, said Dr. Leroy Durant, vice president for student development and services at Claflin. We also want to acknowledge our acceptance of the cultural differences all students and faculty bring to the educational experience.

Since being elected mayor in a record turnout election in April 2010, Benjamin has made it his mission to create in Columbia the most talented, educated and entrepreneurial city in the Southeast. Re-elected by a 30 percent margin in November 2013, Benjamin and his administration have been characterized by a firm belief in Columbia's potential and intense focus on job creation.

In his first term alone, Benjamin's leadership helped cut unemployment in the metro by roughly half and secured billions of dollars in new regional capital investment in the midst of a national recession.

Benjamin was 29 years old in 1999 when he was appointed to Gov. Jim Hodges' cabinet as director of the state's second largest law enforcement agency, the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

A decade later in 2009, Benjamin drew national attention by representing prominent radio host Tom Joyner and securing a pardon for Joyner's great uncles wrongfully convicted in the death of a 73-year-old Confederate veteran and executed in 1913. In a landmark decision, the South Carolina Board of Paroles and Pardons voted unanimously to grant the posthumous pardon, the first for South Carolina in a capital case.

Benjamin was asked to speak at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, where he talked about the importance of instilling in his daughters that they can do anything they set their minds to, even becoming President of the United States.

In addition to serving as mayor of Columbia, Benjamin also serves as second vice president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and as chairman for Municipal Bonds for America. He teaches a class at the University of South Carolina Honors College titled Columbia, South Carolina: Building a Great City and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities.

Benjamin is married to The Honorable DeAndrea Gist Benjamin, chief administrative judge (Common Pleas) for South Carolina's 5th Judicial Circuit. The two are the proud parents of daughters Bethany (11) and Jordan Grace (9).
DENMARK -- African-American students will break down more barriers, but it will take quality education to ensure success, Voorhees students were told Feb. 16 during a Black History Month special event.

Dr. Gwendolyn Boyd, former president of Alabama State University and former national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., delivered a message centered on the theme, The Crisis in Black Education.

She said the purpose of the program was to celebrate and honor African-Americans who made notable achievements in society from the past and present. She told the students that in this generation, they will break barriers that will allow African-Americans to prosper and improve the situations of equity and equality.

Boyd said African-Americans have not reached their goals yet and still have ways to go, but they must work together.

We find ourselves as African-Americans in this country, still achieving a death beyond, still rejecting mediocre, still breaking new ground and still turning new territories. We also continue to try and abolish old myths and stereotypes about black people, Boyd said.

She discussed her childhood struggles with having to live in the projects and the stereotypes that were associated with it. Boyd also said how disgusted she is with some peoples mindsets of underprivileged kids who grew up and still grow up in the same circumstance as she did.

Educating a child should not be thought of as a waste of time because every child has a chance to become something in the end, Boyd said.

Boyd also said that it is going to take everyone to work together to make sure no child is left behind and that every child has a quality education. She said Voorhees provides them the opportunity to receive a quality education and move on to become a leader.

You are here at Voorhees College to ensure you are ready to meet the challenges of such a global society. The challenges will be overwhelming, but lean on the resources the institution has provided you with and remember the spirits of our ancestors who got us here today, Boyd said.

Boyd said that no matter how hard people work to put the black community down, they will never succeed.

The number of opportunities we were denied are way too many, but we remember that we are strong, brave, courageous and faithful people. When the black community is pressed down, they will always rise.
Orangeburg native Jaime Harrison has dropped out of the race to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

On Thursday, Harrison announced his withdrawal from the race and placed his support behind front-runner Tom Perez, a former labor secretary.

Just in the last few days, the race started to shape where it was falling into a two-person race, Harrison said.

I saw that the window for me was quickly closing and it just made sense, he said.

Harrison is chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party. A former director of floor operations and counsel for Congressman James Clyburn, Harrison was responsible for the successful navigation and passage of key legislation when Clyburn served as House majority whip.

In a former job, I whipped votes for House Democrats. I know what a path to victory looks like, Harrison said in an email to DNC members. Despite strong performances at the debate and DNC regional forums, the votes are simply not there for me to secure victory on Saturday.

The next DNC chair will have to capture a majority of votes from the 447 members of the DNC.

Harrison said, I am confident because we have a candidate for DNC chair who can unite the Democratic Party behind the goal of enacting progressive change, a candidate who can take the fight to Donald Trump and rebuild our party infrastructure and a candidate whom I, as a voting member of the DNC, am proud to support: Tom Perez.

Harrison said this election is about unifying and rebuilding the Democratic Party in every community in America.

In his candidacy, Harrison pushed for rebuilding state parties, revitalizing the South and building a bench of young people in the party. He said Perez would be the best person to continue to push the things that I prioritized.

We need to transform our party from just being a political organization looking for votes every two or four years and become a community organization working in our neighborhoods addressing day-to-day issues faced by middle- and working-class voters, he said. We have to rebuild every state party so that we can compete in every state and territory. We have to stop ignoring and start investing in building a long-term strategy to win in red states like my beloved South Carolina.

The Associated Press reported Harrison had the third-largest number of votes out of eight candidates for DNC chair.

Harrison had the backing of 27 DNC members, according to independent Democratic strategists tracking the race. It is unclear how many of those votes will now go to Perez, who already had the support of 205 DNC members, according to the strategists who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss vote tallies.

Party leaders will vote on the final day of a three-day meeting that began Thursday in Atlanta. Voting beings Saturday at 10 a.m.

Harrison believes there will be a few rounds of voting but a decision should be made around noon.
These days of alternative facts, phantom terrorist attacks and fake news are changing the way news organizations do their jobs.

Media outlets are more aggressively fact-checking political statements  a function often pushed into the background when campaigns end  finding new formats and seeing keen interest among consumers. An administration that views the press as the opposition is reinvigorating it.

Someday, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway's invocation of "alternative facts" on NBC's "Meet the Press" may be cited as a galvanizing moment for journalism.

"We're writing about a president who makes quite a number of misstatements," said Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post reporter whose regular fact checks award "Pinocchios" based on the magnitude and brazenness of false claims. "This has increased our workload and increased the level of interest in fact-checking."

The number of unique visitors to Kessler's web page in January was 50 percent higher than in October, its previous busiest month, and 15 times greater than in January 2013, he said.

The Associated Press routinely publishes AP Fact Checks on political discourse. Last week, AP premiered an aggregation of disputed political statements under the headline, "A week's supply of baloney." A separate fact check on Conway's false claim of a Bowling Green "massacre" on was the most-read story on the APNews.com website Friday. Similarly, on Monday, readers spent more time with a story examining President Donald Trump's claim about the media underplaying incidents of terrorism than they did with any other news item that day.

"People are really paying close attention to the news and they want a tough-minded journalist to ... give them an impartial report about whether a story is true, false or somewhere in between," said John Daniszewski, the AP's vice president for standards.

The New York Times also does regular fact-checking: It took a microscope Tuesday to Trump's claims about his immigration order and titled an earlier story: "White House pushes 'alternative facts.' Here are the real ones." An NPR team annotates claims made during speeches or debates. CNN succinctly corrects political misstatements through onscreen graphics.

After reporting Trump's claim about underreported terror attacks, anchor Scott Pelley said on the "CBS Evening News" on Monday that "it has been a busy day for presidential statements divorced from reality."

It remains to be seen how much impact these efforts have on public opinion. If you don't believe stories in mainstream media anyway, are fact checks believable?

Duke University professor Bill Adair, who helped start the PolitiFact.com website, noted the growth of fact-checking during the fall campaign and, in a column printed on Election Day, challenged journalists to keep it up. Since then, "we've seen tremendous fact-checking by national news organizations in a period when they would not typically do it," he said.

This was always a key part of our job, but it's more central now," said Michael Oreskes, NPR's senior vice president for news and editorial director. "In the old days, we'd write a story and somewhere in the story we might say, 'Oh, by the way, he said this but it isn't true.' Now ... it is in a sense the story itself."

The AP is involved in another aspect of fact-checking, working with Facebook to flag dubious stories shared on the popular social media platform.

Fact-checking isn't immune to persistent political efforts to undermine the authority of mainstream journalists, however. Knocking down Trump administration claims may even make his supporters more determined.

"What we think is debunking Donald Trump turns out to be supporting Donald Trump," media critic Michael Wolff said on CNN.

Don't forget: The presidential candidate judged to have the biggest problem with the truth won.

This editorial is an abridged version of reporting by David Bauder, television writer for The Associated Press.
With all the winds swirling around President Donald Trump and his policies, his priority on business regulation reform must not get lost.

Roughly half of all small business owners say regulations are a very serious or somewhat serious problem, according to new research by the National Federation of Independent Business.

Small business owners are drowning in regulations imposed by every level of government, NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan said. Its a major problem affecting millions of businesses, and the federal government is the biggest contributor.

NFIB South Carolina Director Ben Homeyer said the national trends echo what's happening here. Our members say regulations can be costly and confusing, and that makes it harder for them to run their businesses."

According to the survey, 25 percent of small employers say regulations are a very serious problem. Another 23 percent say regulations are a somewhat serious problem.

While regulations affect small businesses of every size, firms with 20 to 249 employees seem to be struggling the most. Among that cohort, 38 percent described regulations as a very serious problem. Another 26 percent said regulations are a somewhat serious problem.

Some regulations exempt firms with fewer employees, NFIB Research Director Holly Wade said. Regulations are a problem for employers in every size cohort, but the pain gets more intense with more employees. This creates a clear disincentive to add jobs, and overregulation should be the first consideration for policymakers.

Twenty-eight percent of small employers cited cost as their biggest regulatory problem. Other problems cited were: understanding how to comply (18 percent); extra paperwork (17 percent); and time delays caused by regulations (10 percent).

Slightly more than half of small firms said the number of regulations with which they must comply has increased in the last three years. Within that figure, 65 percent of firms with 20 to 249 employees said their regulatory burdens have increased in the last three years.

Other key findings include:

The volume of regulations is the largest problem for 55 percent of small employers compared to 37 percent who are most troubled by a few specific regulations coming from one or two sources.

A third of small employers have had a government official enter their place of business to inspect or examine their records and/or licenses or otherwise check on their compliance with some government requirement in the last 12 months. For larger small businesses, 57 percent were visited in the last 12 months compared to 28 percent for the smallest ones.

Over the last three years, 41 percent of small employers have contacted a government agency for help complying with a regulation. About 19 percent of those were very satisfied with their experience.

Almost one in 10 small employers have been fined, sued or penalized for a regulatory violation in the last three years. Larger businesses are twice as likely to have this occur compared to smaller ones.

Twenty percent find that regulations affecting their business have no relevance to safety or consumer protection. Thirty-one percent find them of little or no value for customers or consumers and not worth the cost of compliance.

In simple terms, regulatory compliance uses valuable human and financial capital, which is in short supply for small employers, Wade said. Regulations drain trillions of dollars from the economy and the value of many is questionable. Employers and the public are not getting their moneys worth.

Beyond regulatory reform, Trump and Congress can make changes that will help small business. The agenda of Rob Wilson, employment trends expert and president of Employco USA, represents a solid place to start:

Replace or change Obamacare: Wilson says, Small business owners need Trump to remove the mandate on individuals and employers, as well as reduce the amount of governmental oversight including the elimination of Forms 1094 and 1095. He should also allow employers to change employee eligibility back to 40 hours per week. And this is crucial: He needs to open up interstate insurance sales, as well as cancel the Cadillac tax.

Establish six weeks of paid family leave benefit (maternity and paternity). Wilson says, The new leave could require the same eligibility as FMLA (i.e., employee must work at least one year with 1,250 hours worked at worksite with at least 50 employees within 75 miles).

Stagger the federal minimum wage increase. The minimum wage needs to be staggered as such: $8 an hour effective January 2019, $9 an hour effective January 2020 and $10 an hour effective January 2021. This will narrow the gap between cities/counties bordering with municipalities with higher minimum wage, which helps prevent company moves and gives consumers more money to spend.

Permanently cancel the 2016 Obama administration overtime rule. This rule puts a huge financial burden on many small businesses.

Lower the business income tax (15 percent) as well as make it easier for small business to win government contracts. A huge step in the right direction, which already has bi-partisan support.
President Donald Trump has selected the best possible person to serve as his national security adviser. Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster epitomizes the warrior-scholar in the tradition of Carl von Clausewitz.

The U.S. Army was out of Vietnam for 11 years when, in 1984, McMaster took his oath as a second lieutenant at West Point. He was a cadet when Army Colonel Harry G. Summers Jr., a Korean War and two-tour Vietnam War combat veteran, published On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War.

His controversial thesis was that the Army wasted time focusing on counter-insurgency  something he dubbed lunging at the toreadors cape in a guerrilla war. This weakened the Army and strained American will so much that by the early 1970s, when the conventionally arrayed Peoples Army of Vietnam assumed the major role in the war, broken American forces had mostly withdrawn. By 1974, a decade before McMaster, the Army entered recovery mode. Summers book legitimized criticism among military professionals of the Vietnam-era Army.

On the night and morning of Feb. 27-28, 1991, then-Capt. McMaster led Eagle Troop in the Battle of 73/74 Easting. His tank company -- consisting of 120 troops manning nine M-1A1 Abrams tanks and a dozen M3 Bradley fighting vehicles  engaged and destroyed 28 Iraqi tanks, 16 armored personnel carriers and 30 trucks in a half-hour. Shortly thereafter, his company encountered and destroyed another 20 Iraqi T-72 tanks.

Five years later, McMaster was completing his doctorate in history at the University of North Carolina under professor Richard H. Kohn. During the early 1980s, Dr. Kohn had been the civilian chief of the Office of Air Force History, where U.S. Air Force historians wrote a 14-volume official history of that services role in the Vietnam War. Kohn understood the services reluctance to critically examine a war that many of its top generals claimed to have won during the 11-day pounding of North Vietnam conducted largely by B-52s in December 1972. The Air Force had a much more difficult time accepting the Vietnam War as something other than an unbroken string of unmitigated air-power victories.

During the post-Cold War 1990s, the Army, having reorganized into the all-volunteer force and derived some honest lessons from Vietnam, looked to a future digitized battlefield where it would find, fix and annihilate enemy forces. At Fort Irwin, California, then-Major McMaster served as operations officer for the armored Opposition Force, a tank brigade structured and largely accoutered like foreign (primarily Russian) brigades, employing their tactics. McMaster, already a credentialed historian with his dissertation, Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam, published by Harper-Crown, was learning to think like the enemy.

In the 1990s, the Army War College and Army Training and Doctrine Command devised the Army After Next program to look 25 years into the future. Army Major General Robert Scales, Jr., a Duke University, Ph.D., controlled the project. Unfortunately, three events derailed the AAN:

The institutional U.S. Army missed the Soviet Army grounded in its blitzkrieg doctrine, rich with tanks, artillery and air-mobile divisions. The U.S. Armys Crusader mobile gun system, upgraded M1A2 Abrams tanks, and a proposed stealth Comanche helicopter, were projected for the Army to serve on the digitized battlefields when the Russian Bear revived by the 2015-20 timeframe. Russia revived but the U.S. Army got sidetracked.

Part of the sidetracking was opposition from the Armys Old Guard to which General Scales belonged. Their tunnel vision focused on traditional army missions and branches of armor, infantry, artillery, aviation, engineers, etc. When futurists at the Armys Strategic Studies Institute predicted a likely paradigm comprised of Islamic terrorists groups possibly armed with weapons of mass destruction, the traditionalists envisioned a rerun of counter-insurgency; special operations focused forces prompting neo-Vietnam nightmares.

Sept. 11, 2001 ended the AAN. The all-volunteer Army, restructured to fight one war intensively for a short time  while revamped Reserve and National Guard components mobilized to finish off the enemy  found itself involved in Afghanistan and then in Iraq and mired in unconventional warfare. The Army, as McMaster testified, suffered. Another Vietnam-like quagmire seemed possible. He also headed the Armys next futures program.

The man and history converged. Knowing that history not only determines the eternal now but also provides the only substantial guide to the future, General McMaster has  and will continue  to embrace the strategic challenges facing the Army. As the presidents top adviser, McMasters challenges now operate on a global scale. He has the combat bona fides, the strategic intellectual acumen and that essential attribute for leadership  personal integrity  to serve well the president and the nation. Gods speed, H.R.
President Donald Trumps plan to build a wall the length of the U.S. border with Mexico will cost an estimated $15 billion to $25 billion, but that price tag will be a fraction of the final total cost of this monumental mistake.

While the wall resonated as a campaign pledge, it will do nothing to fix illegal immigration while causing widespread damage to Americas broader economic and foreign policy interests  damage that is already mounting.

As a means for stopping illegal entry to the United States, a big wall is superfluous. Over the last 25 years, the United States has dramatically increased the number of Border Patrol agents at the border. Secure fencing already blocks 650 miles of the most traversed sections of the border, mostly through the desert southwest.

Sneaking across the border is more expensive and difficult than ever.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, falling birthrates and an improving economy have reduced the northward flow of workers to such a degree that net migration has turned negative: More Mexicans are leaving the United States each year than are arriving. The fastest growing source of illegal immigration is now from Asia, and most of those immigrants arrive legally but simply overstay their visas. No wall  no matter how high  will keep them out.

If built, a 1,900-mile wall along the Mexican border would trample the private property rights of American citizens who live along the border and would scar sensitive national parkland. About half the wall would need to follow the Rio Grande, posing an expensive engineering challenge and effectively cutting off American access to the river, turning U.S. territory into a virtual no-mans land.

Trumps rash insistence that Mexico pay for the wall is poisoning our relations with our southern neighbor. It has led to the cancelation of a visit to Washington by Mexicos President Enrique Pena Nieto. Its fueling anti-American feelings among Mexicos 128 million citizens and across its political spectrum.

In the 1980s, Mexico turned away from its failed policy of import substitution to embrace the North American model of deregulation, open markets and economic integration. The result has been mutual economic benefits for both our countries, a rising Mexican middle class, opportunities for its young workers, a stable economy after decades of boom and bust, and a clean, competitive multiparty democracy.

The North American Free Trade Agreement has been at the center of the transformation. Mexico is the second-largest market in the world for U.S. exports. The imports we buy from Mexico on average contain American parts that make up 40 percent of their value. The U.S. automobile sector is thriving in large part because of integration of production with Mexico and Canada, leading to record output and exports. A border wall and a threatened 20 percent tariff on Mexican imports to pay for it would put those economic gains in jeopardy.

Thirty years of progress in bringing our two nations closer together are now being squandered. If the border wall is actually built, its main accomplishment will be to stand as an ugly and fitting monument to a fit of xenophobic folly.
DENMARK -- More than 20 citizens appeared at a public hearing Tuesday prior to Denmark City Council's regular meeting to ask why city officials plan to build a new city hall instead of remodel the existing city hall as well as the Brooker Center, where the police department is located and where council holds its meetings.

City officials first announced plans for a new city hall in August 2016, and a groundbreaking ceremony for it was held earlier this month at the corner of Beech and City Hall streets.

The new facility will replace the 105-year-old building that currently houses city hall on U.S. 321 in the heart of downtown Denmark.

The new city hall will be built directly across from the Brooker Center, which is owned by the city, and will create a little (municipal government) complex of sorts, Mayor Gerald Wright has said.

During Tuesday's public hearing, one resident said the city should keep the police department offices in the Brooker Center.

Councilwoman Hope Weldon, however, said there's mold in the Brooker Center.

Another citizen voiced concern about the current city hall being abandoned once the new one opens.

Wright said the present city hall is owned by the city and will continue to be used for municipal purposes.

If the old building is not completely deteriorated, its repairable, another resident noted. The mayor reiterated the city would continue to utilize the existing city hall after the new one is operational.

Concerns about not having room for adequate parking at the new location were also raised by a resident during the hearing. Wright said those concerns would be addressed.

City officials visited other town halls around the region to get ideas about features to include in the new Denmark City Hall. Building a new, more attractive facility will be more cost effective, he said.

Wright has previously said the new city hall will cost $600,000. In a telephone interview the day after the public hearing, he said the city will have the funds to build the facility in its fiscal year 2017-18 budget.

The mayor said he didn't anticipate having to hold a referendum on the new city hall.

Any funds that we borrow in excess of a certain amount, we have to have a referendum for. We should have adequate funds from normal sources of income, Wright said. "We are going to rely on our regular funding sources to cover the new planned facility. We have ... essentially, two separate budgets -- one for general operations and one for water and sewer. Both of those generate funds separately.

He added, The cost of the new facility will be shared between those two (budgets). We will not have any special funding and we will not have a loan. We will have a grant for some of the costs. In fact, we currently have a grant for some of the furnishings and equipment. That will take care of a significant portion of it."

The city has not yet advertised for bids from contractors. Wright said construction will not start until sometime after June of this year.

Those who expressed those thoughts last night (at the Feb. 21 public hearing) were not representative of the majority," Wright said. "I dont want to enter into a project of this magnitude without the support of ... the majority of the citizens.

The public will be able to have additional input on the new city hall, he said.

We are going to have some opportunity for the citizens to give further comments. I do not know at present whether it will be another public hearing," Wright said. "It may be a work session prior to the next council meeting."
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government have given themselves until March 31, 2017, to submit comments on the review of the various regimes of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) .





This was the decision reached at the 28th Inter-sessional meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government, which convened in Georgetown, Guyana, last week Thursday.





The review shows the status of implementation, for each country, of the measures intended to bring the CSME into effect and, according to Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, lead head for the CSME, the "comprehensive review had been carried out by the CARICOM Secretariat under his oversight, as directed by the conference of heads of government last July.





PM Stuart also said, at the end of the Inter-sessional meeting, "What the review has done is to highlight all those things that we have achieved, which are many, as well as those things that we have not achieved but can be done, once member states implement the necessary legislation, or put other mechanisms in place to make the operation of the CSME more effective in the respective areas.





The prime minister observed that, despite various challenges, there was still a "high level of enthusiasm for the regional integration movement, and "a high level of interest in the goal of a CSME, and emphasised, "What we want to ensure is that we have a regional integration movement that is alive, and that were responding appropriately to the multiple challenges that arise from time to time, he emphasised.





The heads of government will consider again the progress of the CSME at their next regular meeting, which will be held from, July 4 to 6, in St Georges, Grenada. That meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell.

While it might not be the only contributing factor responsible for the CARICOM heads setting themselves a deadline to submit comments on the CSME review, it is instructive to note that president of Guyana, David Granger, called upon its colleagues, during his address at the opening of the twenty-eighth intersessional meeting, to expedite the full implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Telecommunications Company Digicel is continuing to revolutionize its operations here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





Effective Monday, February 13th, a total of ten (10) top-up kiosks became operational across St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





Digicels Distribution Manager- Gershom Dick said the installation of these kiosks signals the next step in the evolution of the recharge space.





Dick said, "First, there were scratch cards, then came Electronic top up via the phone and web, Top Up via the My Digicel App, and now Digicel customers are given total control over their transactions and top up experience, with the introduction of the Kiosks.





Dick further explained that the units were introduced to complement Digicels existing reseller footprint, specifically in communities with limited access to top up.





Among the businesses and communities that were chosen for the new kiosks, are Barrys Shop in Point, Mamma Dawn Shop in Orange Hill, Rubis Service Station, Black Point, Big Lions Shop- Colonaire, Salian Billingys Shop-Chester Cottage, Options Supermarket in Arnos Vale, Kellys Mini Mart- Clare Valley, Keegan Beachside-Bequia, Blue Lagoon Mini Mart, and Choppins Mini Mart.





In explaining some of the key features of the modernized top up machines, Dick said the kiosks are fully touch screen, with a number verification process that will help to ensure that the correct number is topped up at all times. Customers can also top up friends and family in 13 different Caribbean islands, including Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.





The introduction of the kiosks is not meant to replace the existing reseller base, the distribution manager assured, but he did proffer that industry trends have necessitated that alternate options be explored to ensure that Digicel customers can have quick access to Top Up whenever and wherever.





Dick said plans are currently being finalized to allow Digicel customers the ability to Top Up via banks ATMs and Web services in the not too distant future.
Agricultural produce from St. Vincent and the Grenadines end up for sale in markets across Trinidad and Tobago.

It is not certain how soon local traders (traffickers) will have the situation that affects them sorted out, but the issue has been raised at the CARICOM level, with the hope that relief will soon come.





Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, speaking on his return from last weeks 28th Intercessional CARICOM meeting held in Guyana, said that he raised the issue in the presence of the other Heads of Governments.

He explained that the situation as it exists now was in which local traders either credit or purchase agricultural produce from local farmers, take them to Trinidad and Barbados, but encounter great difficulty in obtaining foreign exchange in those countries, so that they could settle with the local farmers.





This in turn has an adverse impact on the system because, according to Gonsalves, if the traders cannot get that foreign exchange when they sell produce in other territories, then the farmers payments are delayed, since the traders are then forced to purchase items to re-import into St Vincent for re-sale, before they are in a position to pay the farmers.





" There is a time lag in bringing back the goods and getting them sold, Gonsalves explained.

The Farmer Support Company (FSC), a unit within the Ministry of Agriculture, had assumed the responsibility of paying farmers from whom traders had purchased produce. But, according to the prime minister, this was not what the unit was set up to do.





He had, the prime minister assured, raised the concern with the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, but that route proved futile.





So, he took the issue to the CARICOM Heads where he contended that merchants in countries like Trinidad did not have any difficulty regarding payment for goods purchased. "They get paid in either EC or US dollars, he said.

"We cant have the integration movement unequally yoked, Gonsalves said.

There ought to be equality in order for it to survive, he added. (DD)
Shoebox Audiometer is portable and therefore ideal for use in remote areas.

Persons involved in the delivery of education to students with learning disabilities, and other stakeholders in the health profession, were this week involved in a workshop where they learned to administer hearing screenings.





According to United Kingdom based Speech Language Pathologist Janine Jesberg, she has collaborated with Naseem Smith, Principal of the School with Children with Special Needs, Kingstown, to offer the service and to train local personnel on the proper use of the relevant technology.





The technology of concern is known as the Shoebox Audiometer, and it is especially suitable for administering hearing screenings in remote areas - not necessarily in an enclosed, sound- proof booth  to test someones hearing across all frequencies for speech and sound production.





The device works for people from the age of 4 to adulthood, and works by providing automated screenings to determine if people are hearing at the adequate levels.





St Vincent and the Grenadines is the first in the region to have access to this piece of technology, which was manufactured by a Canadian company, Clearwater Clinical.





The items, which usually cost in the range of US$4,000, were purchased at half price, that is due to the companys involvement in Jesbergs project  referred to as the SHED (Speech, Hearing Early Detection) project.

"And Clearwater Clinical deemed this project as one of their humanitarian outreach programmes. They have provided a 50 percent discount on the product, so that was able to bring two that will be left on the island, Jesberg explained.





The plan is to make the device, one each, available to students on the mainland and on Bequia, and it is anticipated that access will be granted to other students requiring a hearing screening.





Jesberg explained that this phase of the SHED project was funded through the Cabot Trust, but the next phase will entail securing other sources of funding to allow for follow up visits and care.





"The hope is to come back annually to provide continued training. The next step is to get funding to continue the project. Thats me being able to come down and meet folks and help to facilitate future funding, she said. (DD)
There was an air of optimism at the NDPs Convention about the partys chances of victory in the election petitions appeal.

This countrys electoral process will face yet another test when the New Democratic Party (NDP) election petitions challenging the 2015 general elections results in two constituencies, are heard by the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal in St. Lucia, on March 7 .





The opposition NDP filed an appeal to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal against the June 2016 decision of the High Court, to dismiss its election petition as improperly filed.





The NDP is challenging the election results in the Central Leeward and North Windward constituencies.

On Sunday 12th February, Political Leader of the NDP and Leader of the Opposition NDP Dr. Godwin Friday, while speaking at his partys 39th Convention held in Layou in the Central Leeward constituency, told supporters, "The appeal will be heard, and our lawyers will be there presenting our position fiercely, and we hope and pray to God, that justice will be done, and the people of SVG will soon have a chance at liberation once again.

Benjamin Exeter, the NDP candidate for Central Leeward in the 2015 general elections, assured the party faithful that, "We are not out, we are not dead, the hope is still alive.





The Unity Labour Party was returned to government at the 2015 polls. Its one-seat majority means that, should the decision of the Appeal Court come down on the side of the NDP, there could well be fresh elections.

And with this in mind, Dr. Friday urged the delegates, members and supporters at the Convention to, "recommit yourself to your tasks and to say to yourselves and to the rest of us, that you will redouble your efforts to advance the work of the party in your different areas of the country.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
By Azernews





By Laman Ismayilova

A documentary "Endless Corridor" has been screened at the University of Siena, Italy on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Khojaly genocide.

The screening was co-organized by the Azerbaijani Embassy in Italy, the European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS) and Italy-Azerbaijan Youth Association as part of Justice for Khojaly campaign initiated by Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva, Azertac reported.

The officials of Siena Mayor`s Office, researchers, public figures and students attended the event.

First Secretary of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Italy Erkin Heydarli, addressing the event, highlighted the Khojaly Massacre, the worst war crime in the Nagorno-Karabakh war.

Azerbaijani people have endured ethnic cleansing and genocide by Armenian nationalists. This bloody tragedy perpetrated in the town of Khojaly on February 25-26,1992. More precisely, 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.

Other speakers at the event included teacher of the Sapienza University of Rome Daniel Pommier and professor of the University of Siena Alessandro Donato.

Endless Corridor" pictures two journalists, Richard Lapaitis from Lithuania and Victoria Ivleva from Russia -- the true witnesses of the tragedy, who returned to Azerbaijan 20 years after the horrific Khojaly Massacre. They journey to find the survivors they had first met in the aftermath of the Armenian attack. The film includes interviews with the survivors and spine chilling admissions from the perpetrators.

The documentary was produced by Aleksandras Brokas (Lithuania) and the Grammy Award winner Gerald Rafshoon (US).

British BAFTA award winning actor Jeremy Irons narrated the film.








By Laman Ismayilova

Lithuania has confirmed that it does not recognize constitutional and legal framework of the so-called "referendum" held in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia.

Lithuania considers that the results of the "referendum" do not affect the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh and in no way prejudge the final status or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations on peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azertac quoted Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevi?ius as saying .

The so-called constitutional referendum was held on February 20 in Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is now ruled by a puppet regime controlled by Armenia.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, as well as the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states, namely Russia, the U.S. and France, and a number of other countries, confirmed that they do not recognize the referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Linkevi?ius underlined that Lithuania supports peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations on the basis of the fundamental principles of non-use of force, territorial integrity and self-determination of peoples enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

Lithuania supports the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on the peaceful settlement of the conflict, he stressed.

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.

Speaking about the bilateral relations between Lithuania and Azerbaijan, Linkevi?ius said the ties have increasingly strengthened through close political dialogue, friendly contacts between peoples and cooperation on a wide range of issues of mutual interest.

As part of the agreement between the Governments of Lithuania and Azerbaijan on cooperation in the field of economy, industry and energy, our countries organize regular meetings of the intergovernmental commission on bilateral cooperation. This year Lithuania is planning to hold the 5th session of the intergovernmental commission, Linkevi?ius said, adding that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay an official visit to Vilnius this year.

During the official visit, we will discuss the issues of further strengthening of bilateral relations in various spheres of cooperation, he said.

Lithuania recognized Azerbaijan's independence on December 21, 1991. Diplomatic relations between two countries were established in November, 1992. The Lithuanian embassy was opened in Azerbaijan on April 3, 2007. The Azerbaijani embassy was opened in Lithuania in September 2007.

Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
By Rashid Shirinov

Blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Azerbaijan, has no complaints on his health state and conditions of detention, the bloggers new lawyer told Trend.

The lawyer was hired by the bloggers family. The lawyer confirmed that he has signed a contract with the mother of Alexander Lapshin.

His mother arrived in Baku and signed a contract with me. I currently protect the rights of Alexander Lapshin, the lawyer said on February 23.

Safar Huseynov is a lawyer appointed by the Azerbaijani state, and I have been appointed by his family. There is no information yet if Lapshin refused Huseynovs services.

Blogger Lapshin will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Lapshin, who owns citizenships of several countries, 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. The blogger was arrested in Belarus and later was extradited from Minsk to Baku.

The lawyer added that he has already submitted his warrant to the investigation, met with Lapshin and inquired about the conditions of his detention and his health. He has no complaints, the lawyer said.

He added that the case is being followed by the Russian and Belarusian embassies in Baku. The lawyer said that the investigation is still ongoing and can be completed in the near future.

Earlier, representatives of the Russian and Israeli embassies in Azerbaijan met with Lapshin. After the meeting, the embassies confirmed that Lapshin has no complaints about conditions of detention. Representatives of the ICRC and Azerbaijan Ombudsman Office also met the blogger.

Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of unauthorized visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law.

Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions.
By Azernews





By Kamila Aliyeva

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 9-10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

I confirm. Negotiations [between Putin and Erdogan] have been planned, Peskov told journalists on February 24, RIA Novosti reported.

The Turkish leader will take part in the Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council.

The leaders are expected to discuss the situation in Syria, as well as boosting up the bilateral relations and trade, especially in the fields of energy. The approval of a visa exemption for Turkish businessmen and politicians is also among the planned topics for the discussions.

Both leaders met earlier in October 2016 in Istanbul, where they discussed restoring trade, the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, and cooperation in Syria.

The Ankara-Moscow relations appear to be on the mend these days, after a drastic worsening in November 2015, when a Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down by the Turkish Air Force. Russia imposed a wave of economic sanctions against Turkey in response to the incident, with the two countries requiring over a year to mend relations.

Erdogan visited Russia in August 2016  his first meeting with Putin since the downing of the Russian jet. Both sides agreed to restore and develop relations.

In December, Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov was shot and killed during a speech at an exhibition in Ankara by Mevlut Mert Altintas, a Turkish police officer. Erdogan condemned the attack and called for an investigation.

In February 2017, Russian airstrikes accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers and injured 11 others in northern Syria. Putin immediately apologized for the incident. Ankara said it was satisfied with the Kremlin's actions and statements.








Azerbaijan will once again raise in UNESCO the issue of violation of international law by foreign nationals engaged in illegal archaeological activity in Azerbaijans territories occupied by Armenia, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend.

He said Yolanda Fernandez Jalvo, a researcher at the Spanish National Museum of Natural Sciences, Tania King, director of Azokh Project of the Blandford Town Museum, UK, and Peter Andrews, a researcher at Londons Natural History Museum, have carried out excavations since 2002 in the Azykh cave located in Azerbaijans occupied territories.

These persons by illegally crossing Azerbaijans state border are engaged in archaeological activity in the countrys territory, transport archaeological artifacts found in this area without declaring them at customs, Hajiyev noted.

The illegal actions of these persons are the violation of the territorial integrity and laws of Azerbaijan.

By their illegal activities, they also violated international law, international humanitarian law, including the UNESCO Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, Hajiyev added.

He also noted with regret that Spains National Museum of Natural Sciences and Ministry of Science and Technology, the UKs NUI Galway University, and London Branch of Armenian General Benevolent Union didnt take the necessary measures to prevent the illegal activity of their staff in Azerbaijans territory.

He added that Armenia impedes UNESCO from holding monitoring of Azerbaijans cultural and historical monuments in the occupied territories.

Levon Yepiskoposyan, a research fellow at the Institute of Molecular Biology of Armenias National Academy of Sciences, is one of the leaders of the illegal research in the Azykh cave, Hajiyev said.

Azerbaijani Prosecutor Generals Office has initiated a criminal case against these persons, investigation is underway, he noted.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
By Kamila Aliyeva

Meeting with Russian army's General Staff Valery Gerasimov in Azerbaijan does not mean the change in U.S. policy towards Russia, the U.S. Marine Corps General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford stated, RIA Novosti reported.

"There is a law [in the U.S.] which prevents our cooperation in the military sphere," said Dunford at the Brookings Institution in Washington, referring to the decision of the previous administration of Barack Obama to reduce such contacts.

"The meeting with my Russian counterpart last week took place not in the context of any changes in policy and had no relation to the U.S. administration," he added.

Last week Russian and American top military officers have made an attempt to reopen a military dialogue between the countries. Dunford had a meeting with Gerasimov last week in Azerbaijans capital, Baku.

It marked the first time when the face-to-face meeting between military chiefs from Washington and Moscow has been held since 2014.

The two sides exchanged their views on the state of U.S.-Russian military relations and of the international security situation in Europe, the Middle East, and other key regions, the Defense Department said in a statement after the meeting.

Defense officials said that American and Russian officials would continue to try to deconflict their efforts in Syria and that the two generals had agreed to enhance communications on such efforts.

A Pentagon said ahead of the meeting that discussions would focus 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.

As the Russian Defense Ministry stated earlier, the parties have identified the vector work to improve the safety of military operations of the Russian Federation and the United States, to reduce tensions and risks of incidents.

The meeting took many months and great efforts to arrange and its importance is a matter of debates for military experts.

Some experts see strengthening the communication between the American and Russian militaries as a very important step, given the proximity with which they operate in Syria, the Black Sea and the Baltic region, among other potential flash points.

In any case, this meeting may become a useful step in reducing the risks of confrontation and perhaps in laying the groundwork to eventually overcome some policy differences.

Meanwhile, U.S. president seems to be satisfied with the outcomes of first contacts between Russian and American sides.

Trump is pleased with the results of first talks between officials of the new administration in Washington and Russia, White House Spokesperson Sean Spicer said at a press briefing on Thursday.

The spokesperson was referring to the meeting of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Germany as well as to the meeting of Dunford and his Russian counterpart Gerasimov in Azerbaijan.

Spicer added that the discussions that took place recently were productive. He also touched upon the potential meeting of the two presidents, however there are no updates on it.

U.S.-Russian ties plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War in recent years amid opposition over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. However, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken of his desire to restore the ties which have been strained recently.
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has reported a net profit of Dh4.050 billion ($1.1 billion) for 2016, an increase of 6 per cent compared to Dh3.839 billion in 2015.



At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held yesterday (February 23) in Dubai, UAE DIB announced that the assembly has approved the distribution of 45 fils per share as cash dividend for 2016.



Other agenda items were also concluded at the AGM including the election of the members of Board of Directors for the period 2017-2019, the review of the Fatwa and Sharia Supervisory Board Report and the reappointed of the banks external auditors.



Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, director-general The Rulers Court of Dubai and chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank, said: In line with the UAE and Dubais growth, I am proud to say that DIBs 2016 fiscal performance also exceeded expectations. DIB consistently outperformed the banking sector, registering record profits whilst simultaneously delivering significant value to all of its stakeholders.



The profit for the year reached over Dh4 billion, up by 6 per cent compared to Dh3.8 billion in 2015, and allowed us to maintain our unique position in the Billion Dollar profit club in the United Arab Emirates, he added.



As an indication of the robust financial position and strong risk management practices, Moodys recently upgraded the outlook of the Bank from Stable to Positive, a key achievement given the challenging global economic environment.



DIB has been amongst the top performers in the market over the recent past, said Dr Adnan Chilwan, Group CEO, DIB.



Clearly, the growth strategy outlined three years ago has been followed up with exemplary execution, not only in terms of the financial performance yielded over the defined period but also because it has led to the re-creation of the platform that allowed us to spring-board from in 2014. We remain committed to continue our leading performance in the coming years and ensure strong and robust returns for all stakeholders, he added.



The bank has received numerous local and international accolades last year, ranging from Best Islamic Bank to Best Islamic Retail Bank, and Best Islamic Corporate Bank, along with a number of deal of the year awards.  TradeArabia News Service
Abu Dhabi-based Al Heya Special Glass Factory launched its first 'Made in UAE' blast and bullet resistance glass at Idex this week, hoping to catch the GCC and Mena region markets through its maiden appearance, a report said.



The company briefed visitors to its stand on tests carried out last month to check the endurance of the glass, describing how it sustained the impact from a 40 calibre round fired from a range of 10 metres, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency.



Abdullah Al Mansoori, owner of the company, said that Al Heya is the first factory manufacturing bullet proof glass in Abu Dhabi, and it was established with an aim to bring specialised glass manufacturing to the Middle East. The company has the capacity to engineer its products to suit specific applications or requirements.



"The glass is also explosion resistant, and our production capacity will be around 240,000 sq m per year in flat and curved glass, and we are also working to cover all requirements for armoured vehicles," Al Mansoori explained.



"We are transferring the technology from South Africa to make glass here in the UAE," he said, adding that the raw material is imported from Europe and from Emirates Glass, a Dubai-based company.



When asked about the response he received about the product, he said that many UAE government representatives and strategic clients had visited the stand, and showed their interest in collaborating with the company. He said that they were looking at the supply chain for companies like Tawazun Holding, who have their own armoured vehicles. "So we are looking into the supply chain for them to make sure that this glass is produced locally," he said.



Talking about his debut experience at Idex, he said, "We are both fascinated and impressed by the overwhelming response from potential buyers, and as a result, we have already booked a stand for the next edition of the Idex in 2019."



Al Mansoori said that in the near future the company will be launching new products.
Iran has confirmed plans to purchase 12 Superjet-100 Russian aircraft in the near future, a senior Russian government official said.



"It was confirmed that Iran is interested to buy 12 Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft in the near future," Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak was quoted in a Tass report, which cited Rossiya 24 TV channel.



The Minister also noted that Russia is interested in establishing production of components for Russian aircraft in Iran, and, in case of the corresponding proposal is ready to consider such possibility.



In addition, according to him, Russia has offered Iranian partners to establish joint production of turboprop upgraded Ilyushin Il-114 aircraft.



"Our companies are currently working with Iranian partners to come up with specific solutions and proposals," Novak said.
Meet award-winning artisans and buy their products at Kerala Arts and Crafts Village
Wyomings newest coal company in the Powder River Basin plans to mine coal not for electricity, but as a product to be used in cars and airplanes.

Partnering with research facilities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Western Research Center, Ramaco Carbon offers a different future for the Wyoming coal industry in its proposed facilities in Sheridan County, the company announced Tuesday in its first public statement outlining new plans for the mine.

Wyoming coal is too valuable to burn, said CEO Randall Atkins.

When we originally started and submitted our permit, we were intending to do a typical coal to utility, he said. As we have gone through the process, we have evolved to a better model.

Ramacos previously unknown plans for the future of the mine had led to some confusion locally about the feasibility of mining coal in the current thermal market. Last year, three of the largest coal mines that operate in the state went bankrupt due to debt burden and national overstock of coal.

But if successful in its bid to dig coal, the Brook Mine 8 miles northwest of Sheridan would divert coal from the thermal market for mine-to-mouth manufacturing and use in products like carbon fiber for the automotive industry.

The mine site, a crooked polygon of land north of Interstate 90 as it passes north of Sheridan to the Montana border, would hold the newest coal mine in decades for Wyoming and a research park that Atkins said could bring up to 3,000 jobs to the region in the next five years, including researchers and scientists as well as coal, plant and construction workers.

However, the companys permit to mine coal in Wyoming has faced a lengthy fight over mine boundaries and right of ways with a local coal company. Ramaco has also been questioned by local landowners, who say the mine plan as submitted to state regulators would cause damage to nearby structures and likely impact local waterways.

Ramaco has won the cautious optimism of local political leaders who see the boon of new jobs and revenue.

But the controversy has not yet ended. A state council that hears contested environmental cases dismissed a request by locals for an informal conference with state regulators Wednesday where they intended to request stronger environmental assurances and further impact study from Ramaco and state regulators. Led by the landowners group, Powder River Basin Resource Council, more than a dozen residents of the small town of Ranchester who have property near the mine, or use the area for recreation, wrote to the DEQ with a list of concerns about safety.

Big Horn Coal, which produced thermal coal in the Sheridan area for decades before ending the last coal operations in the county in the mid-1980s, has fought Ramaco over permit boundaries and mineral rights. The company filed an official protest to Ramacos mine plan after the dismissed hearing Tuesday. The Resource Council added its objection Friday. The matter of the plan will go back before the Environmental Quality Council as a contested case.

Ramacos CEO said the process to perfect the mine plan is ongoing and that misgivings over sinkholes, water quality and public input have been addressed.

I have quizzed our permit engineers as well as our lawyers and been completely assured that every comment they made has been either remediated or mitigated, Atkins said. So I think a lot of comments have been exhaustively dealt with.

Ramaco first bought mineral rights in Sheridan County in 2011. At the time, the companys long-term intention was to open a thermal coal mine that would, like other Powder River Basin mines, feed power plants that burn coal for electricity.

But over the years, that outlook has changed.

This is not a process that has just quickly come upon us, Atkins said. We have been dealing with the [Department of Environmental Quality] and shaping this permit, modifying and changing it for several years now.

In the process of trying to become a publicly traded company, the company had to be scrupulous about announcing its plans publicly, Atkins said.

Additionally, Atkins said he wanted to deal with the mining permit before proposing facilities which would include other permits.

Atkins said the local confusion is understandable given the changes the company has gone through, but that Ramaco is just getting started in Wyoming.

I think this is going to be really neat for Sheridan County, and for Wyoming, he said. This state  may find an entirely different market for its coal.
Casper, Wyoming

August 31, 1916  February 19, 2017

John Schiller Wold, a remarkable man and citizen of Casper, Wyoming for 68 years, has died at the age of 100. Mr. Wold had tremendous influence in the life of the state of Wyoming and its people in profound ways. During his life he achieved international recognition for his work in the mineral industry.

John was born in East Orange, New Jersey, on August 31, 1916, the son of Mary Helff Wold and Dr. Peter Irving Wold. Mr. Wold was raised on the campus of Union College in Schenectady, New York, where his father chaired the Physics Department. John earned a B.A. degree in geology from Union College in Schenectady, New York and St. Andrews University in Scotland, an M.S. in geology from Cornell University, an honorary LLD from the University of Wyoming, and a subsequent Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Union College.

Johns working career began in 1939 when he accepted a geologist position in Oklahoma and Texas. In 1941 he joined the Navy as a consulting physicist. During the war he was a gunnery and later the executive office of a destroyer escort in the Atlantic and Pacific. Following his W.W. II service, John returned to the oilfield as a geologist with Barnsdall Oil Companys gulf coast operations. In 1949 he was transferred to Casper, Wyoming and in 1950, he initiated his own company, Wold Oil Properties. In 1995, the company was acquired by his sons Peter and Jack.

In the 1960s Wold branched out beyond oil and gas into the development of other natural resources. During his career he founded or directed a variety of mineral business ventures. He was involved in coal exploration and assembled more coal properties than any other entity in the country. He founded Wold Nuclear Co. where he played a principal role in the development of the Highland Uranium Mine, the worlds largest. He went on to form Wold Trona and Wold Talc companies.

In addition to his business pursuits, John dedicated himself to politics and later in his life to philanthropy. He was the first professional geologist ever to serve in the U.S. Congress. As the Member from Wyoming, Congressman Wold served on the House Interior Committee and was the author and sponsor of the National Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970. John had previously served in the Wyoming State Legislature, was chairman of the House Labor Committee, and was a two-term Wyoming Republican State Chairman. He was a Republican Candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1964 and 1970.

In 1968, Mr. Wold was chosen by the Associated Press and United Press as Wyoming Man of the Year and in 1978 was selected as Wyoming Mineral Man of the Year. The American Heritage Foundation of the University of Wyoming in 1999 elected John as Wyomings Oil//Gas and Mineral Man of the 20th Century, a singular honor for which the candidates comprised all mineral personnel at every industry level.

He is a past director of First Interstate Bank; K-N Energy; Empire State Oil Company; Midland Energy Company; National Association of Manufacturers; past chairman and CEO of Nuclear Exploration & Development Company; and director of Sierra Madre Foundation for Geological Research sponsored by the Geology Departments of Cornell, Harvard and Yale. He was a director of the Plains Petroleum Company and Coca Mines, Inc., and was the founding Chairman of the Wyoming Natural Gas Pipeline Authority.

As an Eagle Scout, John received the distinguished Eagle Scout Award, the National Eagle Scout Associations highest award. He created a scholarship program at Casper College for Wyoming Eagle Scouts. He also played an important role in the development of Caspers Hogadon Basin Ski area as its founding president. He served as a Sunday School teacher, vestryman and warden at St. Marks Episcopal Church in Casper.

As a trustee of Union College and former President of Casper College Board of Trustees, he and his wife, Jane, endowed a Geology Chair and two Chairs of Religion at Union College, as well as the first fully endowed Centennial Chair of Energy at the University of Wyoming and the Chair of Environmental Balance and Sustainability in World Mineral Development at Cornell University. His concern for science in college academics made possible the Peter I. Wold Science Center at Union College and the Wold Science Hall at Casper College.

John and Jane Wold established a Macular Degeneration Laboratory at Oregon Health and Sciences Universitys Casey Eye Institute in Portland, Oregon. This gift was made to help fund research that will facilitate finding a cure for macular degeneration, a vision robbing disease from which Mr. Wold was a long time sufferer.

John Wold was a man of the highest character, a citizen of the first rank, a person possessed of uncommon depth, strength and love for his fellow man. He will be deeply missed by so many, but by none more than his large and expanding family. He was predeceased by his wife, Jane Pearson Wold, November 18, 2015, and is survived by his three children, Peter I. Wold and wife Marla of Casper, Priscilla W. Longfield of Portland, Oregon, Jack P. Wold and wife Hildy of Denver; eight grandchildren: Court Wold and his wife Cullen of Denver, Holly Anderson and her husband Erik of Denver, Allison Wold of New York City, Abbie Long and her husband Steve of Seattle, Washington, Matthew Wold and his wife Katie of Denver, Joe Wold and his wife Chelsey of Boston, Massachusetts, Cecily Read and her husband George of Houston, Texas, Claire Longfield of Brooklyn, New York, and eight great-grandchildren.

The family expresses appreciation to the truly wonderful caregivers who helped Mr. Wold in his final years and to whom he was devoted.

A memorial service will be held at St. Marks Episcopal Church on Monday, March 13, 2017 at 3:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be sent to the Casper YMCA at 1611 Casper Mountain Road, Casper, WY 82601.
Shaolin Warriors is not just a cartoon about monks, martial arts and magic, folks. I was surprised and delighted to find out that this ancient practice of Zen Buddhist monks doing kung fu is real and showcased worldwide. Monks travel to the Shaolin temple in China to learn martial arts: The training focuses on movement of the body, using the beliefs in Buddhism of strength and wisdom. If you are curious as to what an ass-kicking monk looks like, get tickets to Popejoy on Friday, Feb. 24, at 8pm to watch this beautifully choreographed show. Tickets are $20-$56. Popejoy Hall, UNM Center for the Arts  Fri Feb 24  8pm  $20-$56  ALL-AGES!  View on Alibi calendar
A Bar Nunn man faces five felonies based on allegations he repeatedly raped a teenage girl whom he knew.

Prosecutors charged Joseph Crandall with five counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor on Thursday after an investigation turned up evidence he raped a teenage girl multiple times over the past eight months.

On Feb. 16, the girl told her therapist that Crandall, 35, had sexually assaulted her at his home, according to court documents. The counselor then told the Wyoming Department of Family Services, which contacted the Natrona County Sheriffs Office.

A few days later, the girl told investigators that Crandall did a horrible thing and that he had raped her and forced her to give him oral sex on multiple occasions, the documents state.

The girl, who was born in 2001, said the first assault happened in June when Crandall showed her pornographic videos.

Crandall then told her to go upstairs and take her clothes off. He then raped her, despite the girl telling him no, the documents state.

The teen said that Crandall raped her on two other occasions as well, according to the documents. She said that on one occasion, the act made her feel like she would pass out or throw up.

The girl said all of the alleged incidents happened while her mother was out of town. The mother later told investigators that the girl had stayed with Crandall sometimes while she was out of town.

On Feb. 22, deputies with the Natrona County Sheriffs office searched the teens room and found semen, which they sent to the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory for further testing.

Later that day, an investigator with the sheriffs office contacted Crandall, who drove to the sheriffs office for an interview.

Crandall denied having sex with the girl and said she was lying, according to court documents. He said he once showed the teen what a condom was and taught her it was a way to not get pregnant.

When the investigator asked about the semen found in the teens bedroom, Crandall said it was there because he often masturbated in the room.

Crandall was then arrested and taken to the Natrona County Detention Center. He appeared Thursday in Natrona County Circuit Court for his initial appearance, where a judge set his bond at $100,000. During the hearing, Crandall said he worked for Pioneer Energy Services.

If convicted, Crandall could face up to 50 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each of the five charges against him.
A resolution being considered by the University of Wyomings student government to fly a gay pride flag on campus is on hold  for now.

The Associated Students of the University of Wyoming, or ASUW, was scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution that would allow flying an LGBT flag on campus. Titled ASUW Support for LGBTQIAA+ Pride Flag Flown in Prexys Pasture for the Month of June, the resolution was introduced for a first reading during ASUWs past Tuesday meeting where it was steered to committee. The committee voted to table the resolution during its Wednesday meeting, said Chris Ryan, ASUW director of governmental affairs.

Tyler Wolfgang, ASUW vice president and the resolutions author, said during a Monday interview the matter is not associated with an incident that occurred Jan. 23 where an unknown person or persons tied down the American flag flying over Prexys Pasture and flew a pride flag in its place.

One UW student, Isacc Roque, spoke out against the resolution during Tuesdays meeting. Roque said he didnt buy statements that there was no connection to the Jan. 23 incident.

If youre a member of the LGBT community, there are other ways to get your voice heard, he said. Shame on you if you do not speak out against this incident.

Ryan said the decision to table the resolution was not because of concerns with its intent, but regarding problematic wording.

They have concerns about ambiguity in the language, he said. The committee understands the intentthey couldnt make the necessary amendments.

Wolfgang recommended amendments to the resolution that made it clear the pride flag would be flown underneath the American, Wyoming and UW flags already in place on Prexys Pasture. Additionally, he recommended language be added that allowed for consideration of other locations on campus. But because the title included Prexys Pasture in the title, Ryan said the committee preferred the entire resolution be re-written.

The Student Outreach and Policy Committee is working with Vice President Wolfgang to submit new legislation that addresses the language concerns, but shares the same intent of support, he said. They are planning to introduce one as soon as its available.

ASUW President Michael Rotellini put out a statement Wednesday saying he understood there were concerns among some students on campus. As one of the resolutions sponsors, he affirmed that any notion it was connected to the Jan. 23 incident was incorrect.

This resolution was prepared before the semester began, and following the vandalism of the flag, it was withheld from submission until recently in order to avoid this connection, Rotellini writes.

As part of memorial activities to recognize the June 12 Orlando nightclub shooting, Wolfgang said he wanted to fly on pride flag on Prexys Pasture, though the request was denied. He said he decided afterward to draft legislation for the spring semester, but delayed submission because of the Jan. 23 incident. June is also LGBT Pride Month, according to the Library of Congress.

We thought it would be a great way to show solidarity, a representation of hope and inclusivity, Wolfgang said Monday. What happened on the first day of school was not what we wanted.

Ryan said Thursday flying the flag the during June was not only significant because of LGBTQ Pride Month, but because it marked the anniversary of the Orlando shooting. Introducing the bill in February was important to make sure it made its way through ASUWs channels before the spring semester ends, he said. But Roque said he still isnt convinced.

The timing on this is really poor in my opinion, Roque said. Its an entire month. So if they wanted to use it for the Orlando shooting, why not propose it just for the day?

Even if a new resolution is introduced that calls for an alternative location for flying the pride flag, Roque said hed continue to oppose it.

They still want to wave the flag and say, Were being oppressed and we still want to take down the American flag, going back to that (Jan. 23) incident, he said. In my opinion, (the American flag) covers every single one of us.

Rotellinis statement affirmed ASUW supporters position that the resolution, has never, is not, and will never be intended to cause disrespect to the American flag.

I as the ASUW President, and Vice President Wolfgang as the author of the legislation, do not support the vandalism that took place (Jan. 23), he writes.

To gauge students positions on the matter, ASUW created a survey on the Wyo-Guide mobile app. Ryan said he did not know what day the survey would close, but that no debate at ASUW would go forward until it was complete.
CHEYENNE  The Wyoming Senate preliminarily approved a bill Thursday afternoon that would require doctors to offer women who seek abortions an ultrasound or the chance to hear the fetus heartbeat.

But senators stripped a requirement in House Bill 182 for the physician to obtain from the patient a signed statement acknowledging she was provided the opportunity to receive the ultrasound image and auscultation of fetal heart tone.

Democratic Sen. Liisa Anselmi-Dalton of Rock Springs successfully argued that the signed statement was just adding to a physicians workload. Since the statement was to be confidential, it would not usually leave the doctors office or be seen by anyone else.

Republican Sen. Anthony Bouchard of Cheyenne disagreed.

I think its a great thing that doctors actually get the paperwork, he said. I dont see any problem with what is there in the bill.

But Anselmi-Daltons amendment passed, 16 to 14.

Sen. Larry Hicks, a Republican from Baggs, argued in favor of the bill, evoking God and saying that life is the first and foremost inalienable right.

In at least two places (in the Declaration of Independence) it talks about God, natures God, he said. We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.

But Sen. Bruce Burns, a Republican from Sheridan, didnt see the point of the legislation.

I dont see that this bill resolves anything, other than the government to start interfering in the doctor-patient relationship, he said. Were suddenly telling a doctor what to say to the patient. To me and my little small government thinking, this is a horrifying turn of events on things.

Lawmakers passed the measure, 19 to 10.

Senators advanced another abortion bill, HB116, with little debate, Thursday afternoon. Under the measure, anyone who sells, transfers or gives cells or tissue of an aborted fetus would face felony criminal charges.

Both abortion bills will need to clear two more rounds of voting in the Senate before they head to the governors desk for signature.
CHEYENNE  The Wyoming House of Representatives will likely vote for the third time Friday on a bill that would increase the number of bar and grill liquor licenses available to cities and towns.

The House passed Senate File 155 on second reading Thursday.

State law ties the number of bar and grill liquor licenses available in a municipality to its population. That has created a situation where some municipalities have run out of available bar and grill licenses, thereby limiting the number of businesses that can operate using that type of license.

More licenses equals economic development, said Rep. Marti Halverson, R-Etna.

Overall, the bill as currently amended would increase the grand total of bar and grill licenses statewide from 237 to 277, said Rep. Mike Madden, R-Buffalo. The original Senate version would have increased the number to 302.

Bar and grill licenses are different from the coveted retail liquor licenses, which also are limited by population.

Businesses that use bar and grill licenses must meet similar restrictions as restaurant licenses, and they cant be sold or transferred.

Currently, cities between 7,502 and 15,000 people get three licenses, cities between 15,001 and 27,500 people get four licenses, and cities larger than 27,500 get an additional license for each additional 7,500 residents.

Under Senate File 155, as currently amended, cities with between 7,501 and 20,000 people would get six licenses, cities between 20,001 and 30,000 would get 10 licenses, and cities with more than 30,000 people would get an additional license for each 7,500 residents.

Towns smaller than 7,500 are unaffected by the bill.

Originally, the Senate version of the bill would have allowed even more licenses, but the House amended the bill to allow for a smaller increase.

The bill, as currently amended, is a compromise between the Senate version and lawmakers who only wanted to see a small increase or no increase.

Opponents were concerned about the effect on existing businesses.

The pie in all of our communities is only so big  dumping this many more licenses into the communities I just dont think is a good idea, said Rep. Pat Sweeney, R-Casper.

Sweeny previously owned the Wonder Bar, Parkway Plaza and Poor Boys Steakhouse.

An amendment sponsored by Sweeney and Rep. Tyler Lindholm, R-Sundance, to further reduce the increase failed.
CHEYENNE  A group of lawmakers who were negotiating the states supplemental budget bill arrived at an agreement Friday morning that could cut $45 million from public education in the next two years.

The full Wyoming House and Senate will consider a deal on Monday that would slash $25 million from public schools beginning July 1. Another $20 million would be reduced on July 1, 2018.

However, the education cuts in the budget accord are dependent on the defeat of other legislation that slashes education more severely.

And its unclear whether those school bills will fail.

The budget agreement concludes hours of back-and-forth negotiation between the House and Senate that began last week. Disagreement around the budget largely centered on education funding.

The account that pays for school operations, currently apportioning about $1.5 billion yearly across the state, is projected to have a 25 percent shortfall in coming years.

The Senate has pushed for more cuts. At one point, senators inserted into the budget bill a $91 million reduction to K-12 schools beginning July 1. School boards across the state balked, with one saying it would result in a bloodbath of cuts.

The House wanted lower cuts and a half percent sales tax increase, contingent on the $1.6 billion rainy day fund being drained below $500 million. The tax would be repealed after other financial conditions improve in Wyoming.

Early Friday morning, before lawmakers reached the deal, Senate President Eli Bebout said he wished there were more cuts in education. He believes the state faces a structural problem with education funding because of the way minerals revenues fill the account.

But he said he was hopeful the full Senate would approve the deal.

Well see what the final product is, but I think the Senate understands a compromise, he said. They understand what were trying to accomplish.

House Speaker Steve Harshman, also in an interview before the deal was finalized, said he opposed the Senates adopted proposal for $91 million in cuts. But most other disagreements in the budget could be easily resolved, he said.

Well have to see what the compromises are, he said. But were really not that far apart on most other ideas, theyre pretty small items. Its the two things put in the last minute in the Senate that the (Joint Appropriations Committee, which crafted the bill) never even talked about.

State employee cuts

In addition to the $91 million in education cuts inserted by the Senate, the Wyoming Legislatures upper chamber wanted to cut 4 percent from state employee salaries and benefits, a cut that the Wyoming Public Employees Association said could be achieved through not filling positions when people quit or retire.

Harshman said pay and benefit cuts were not necessary.

We have a 15 percent turnover in state jobs every year, he said. We can do this the right way. When jobs come open we can eliminate the jobs. And you might be sitting next to a person whos federally funded.

But the conference committee, the group of five representatives and senators who negotiated the deal, instead decided that Gov. Matt Mead needs to identify 90 positions to cut from state government over the next 16 months. In the original budget bill, Mead had to identify 75 positions. Thus, the conference committee added 15 to that target.

Ed bill posturing

The House and Senate continue to bicker over education reform.

House Bill 236, an education omnibus measure, passed the lower chamber and was heavily amended Tuesday in the Senate Education Committee.

The committee removed the half percent sales tax increase and increased cuts that were adopted by the House. Committee Chairman Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, estimated Friday that the bill, as it now stands, has between $60 million and $70 million in cuts, although the final amount hasnt been estimated.

On Friday, it was the House Education Committees turn to amend a Senate education measure, Senate File 165.

It was amended to such an extent that chairman Rep. David Northrup, R-Powell, presented lawmakers a substitute bill, which passed 7 to 2. The bill lowered cuts that were adopted in the Senate to $32 million beginning July 1 and $50 million beginning July 1, 2018.

Most notably, the bill reintroduces the sales tax on groceries, which Northrup said will provide education at least $60 million a year. It also eliminates many other sales tax exemptions.

Its unclear whether lawmakers will actually adopt the grocery provision, given the expected unpopularity of raising food costs during a down economy.

Bill Schilling, president of the Wyoming Business Alliance, said his group wants to pair taxes with cuts to solve the looming education funding dilemma. And the grocery tax would diversify the revenue base. Currently, the minerals industry pays most of the states taxes.

Its worth the discussion, he said.

Next steps

Don Richards, a fiscal expert with the nonpartisan Legislative Service Office, said the budget could be adopted next week if the full House and Senate clear it Monday. Then Gov. Matt Mead will review it, and can exercise line-item vetoes.

Well ask the governors office to stay around on Monday afternoon to receive the bill, he said. If its received Monday afternoon, it will be back (as late as) Thursday.

On Friday, the Legislature could vote to override those vetoes, Richards said.

The Wyoming Legislature is scheduled to adjourn March 3.
CHEYENNE  The Wyoming Senate killed a bill Thursday afternoon that would have allowed people to carry firearms on college campuses, then advanced two other gun bills.

After defeating House Bill 136, senators passed for the first of three votes a bill that would allow weapons at government meetings and another that would allow them in schools.

All three gun bills had previously passed the House.

There was no debate on HB136 on the Senate floor before lawmakers voted to defeat it, 13 to 17.

College administrators had widely condemned the measure over the past weeks. They applauded its defeat.

University of Wyoming spokesman Chad Baldwin said in an email that leaders of Wyomings only public university appreciated senators position and we do believe that our efforts to maintain a safe campus are strengthened by this vote.

We appreciate the robust discussions and support the decision to not move forward, said Casper College President Darren Divine in a statement sent by his spokesman.

Discussion was more robust on HB137, which would allow people to carry guns at the Wyoming Legislature and local government meetings, and HB194, which allows school districts to decide whether to authorize people to carry guns.

Each bill must past two more votes before heading to the governors desk for signature.

In arguing for guns in government meetings, Lander Republican Sen. Cale Case said people who want to do harm dont respect the law. They will enter government meetings with no regard to the current prohibition on firearms. The public will be safer if law-abiding citizens could pack guns, he said.

With the exception of courtrooms, anyone can enter a government meeting, he said.

Look in the gallery right now, did these people go through a metal detector? Case asked.

Sheridan Sen. Bruce Burns, a Republican, said there are 10 places designated in current law where guns are prohibited.

If this is the Repeal Gun-Free Zones Act, how come all those arent in this bill? Burns asked. For instance, courtrooms.

In courtrooms, guns arent allowed because people get emotional, just as they get impassioned in government meetings, Burns said.

However, Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, said the bill just affirms the Cowboy States culture.

This is Wyoming: Everybodys got guns, he said. This just basically says, Were going to be Wyoming. You can carry a gun if youre a licensed concealed carrier. Nothings going to change in this state if we pass this legislation.

Senators who support the bill authorizing school districts to decide whether to allow guns said it was tailored for rural schools that may be a long way from police. If an active shooter entered the building, students would be vulnerable as cops race to the scene.

The question is, whos there to defend the students in the first five or eight minutes? The answer is the teachers and the staff, said Sen. Paul Barnard, R-Evanston.

Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, opposed the bill because he said it didnt properly uphold Second Amendment rights. School board members shouldnt be the gatekeepers of gun privileges, said Bouchard, who used to run the ultraconservative group, Wyoming Gun Owners.

Those school boards dont take an oath to uphold the Constitution, he said.

Like hell we dont, said a woman in the gallery who sits on a local school board in western Wyoming.

She then opened her phone and showed the oath that trustees take in her district.

Casper Star-Tribune reporter Seth Klamann contributed to this report.
Many highways and portions of Interstate 80 were closed in central and southeastern Wyoming on Friday morning due to a February storm that brought blizzard-like conditions.

Sections of I-80 had been closed since Thursday morning. Other closed highways include U.S. 30 around Rawlins and Medicine Bow, U.S. 287 between Rock River and Lander, and Highway 220 between Muddy Gap and Casper.

Natrona County schools, which dismissed early Thursday, were open Friday.

Most of central and southeastern Wyoming remained under a winter storm warning until midday Friday. Wind chill values in the Casper area reached as low as zero.
The Tucson Festival of Books is like a patchwork quilt: separate, distinct pieces of varying designs and textures are stitched together to create a sweeping, singular composition.

The festivals literary-focused pieces  authors, activities, entertainers, presentation venues and vendors  come together 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 11-12 and blanket the University of Arizona Mall.

Some of the pieces  like columnist Maureen Dowd, novelist T.C. Boyle, U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera and other best-selling, noted authors headed to the third-largest book festival in the nation  come to the forefront.

However, it takes many authors from across the genre spectrum to complete the festival quilt. Heres a look at some of the pieces.

Plenty of mystery

The mystery genre will give the festival-goer the chance to see familiar faces and get to know new authors, says Chris Burke, who heads the festivals mystery committee. To me this is what TFOB does best.

The first-time authors coming include Mette Harrison , whose popular young adult books include The Princess and the Hound and Mira, Mirror. For Time and All Eternities is her newest adult mystery and is part of the Linda Wallheim series.

, whose popular young adult books include The Princess and the Hound and Mira, Mirror. For Time and All Eternities is her newest adult mystery and is part of the Linda Wallheim series. Hester Young s debut mystery, The Gates of Evangeline, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2015. The sequel, The Shimmering Road, is set in Tucson.

s debut mystery, The Gates of Evangeline, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2015. The sequel, The Shimmering Road, is set in Tucson. Ausma Zehanat Khan, who has a doctorate in international human rights law, was editor-in-chief of Muslim Girl magazine. Her first novel, The Unquiet Dead won crime fictions 2016 Barry Award for Best First Novel.

Some of the familiar faces in the mystery genre include Michael McGarrity, John Sandford and Craig Johnson, Burke says.

Poetry

While having the U.S. Poet Laureate and first Chicano laureate of the nation stands out, Tyler Meier, who heads the UA Poetry Center, says Arizonas inaugural Poet Laureate Alberto Rios will be reading from his new book A Small Story About the Sky.

Rios and Herrera will be on the panel, Because We Come from Everything: Poetry and Migration, which explore the relationship between the imagination and language.

Other poets include Monica Youn, whose Blackacre was on the long list for the 2016 National Book Award and Dana Levin, whose Banana Palace is a humor-laced look at a dystopian future, says Meier.

College lineup

The UA College of Social and Behavioral Science is among the groups sponsoring its own stage.

We are extremely excited about our diverse and engaging lineup of authors and panels this year says Danielle Bishop, the colleges outreach coordinator. Among the speakers and presentation on the colleges stage:

Ander Monson edited a new collection of essays, How We Speak to One Another and will offer a session featuring the authors reading from their essays and discussing their shared themes, says Bishop.

edited a new collection of essays, How We Speak to One Another and will offer a session featuring the authors reading from their essays and discussing their shared themes, says Bishop. Jeff Chang , executive director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University will be interviewed by Maribel Alvarez , director of the Southwest Folklife Alliance  think Tucson Meet Yourself, and discuss his latest book, We Gon Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation.

, executive director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University will be interviewed by , director of the Southwest Folklife Alliance  think Tucson Meet Yourself, and discuss his latest book, We Gon Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation. Johanna Skibsrud and Alison Deming will read from their collections of poetry out this year.

and will read from their collections of poetry out this year. Raquel Rubio Goldsmith and Celestino Fernandez , two of the editors of the recent UA Press book Migrant Deaths in the Arizona Desert, will present their work with authors Anna Ochoa OLeary and

and , two of the editors of the recent UA Press book Migrant Deaths in the Arizona Desert, will present their work with authors and Robin Reineke

, in a session moderated by Alvarez.

The National Institute for Civil Discourse will sponsor the appearance of Arsalan Iftikhar, a popular global media commentator who will discuss his latest book, Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies and Threatens Our Freedoms in an interview with Carolyn Lukensmeyer, the executive director of the institute.

Currents

In addition to Dowd, current-issues authors include Sam Polk, who wrote the memoir, For The Love of Money, after he realized hed lost himself in an obsessive pursuit of money, getting angry with a Wall Street bonus of $3.75 million  because it wasnt enough, says Ginia Desmond, who heads the current issues, politics and social science committee.

Desmond, a writer and producer, will join Michael Tolkin for a session on screenwriting panel. Tolkins first screenplay to be produced was the 1992 satire The Player with Tim Robbins, for which he won the Writers Guild Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. He is a consulting producer and writer for the Showtime series Ray Donovan and his new novel is NK3.

Also on the panel, is local neurosurgeon Allan Hamilton, who has been the medical consultant for 150 episodes of Grays Anatomy and all of Private Practice. A horse trainer, Hamilton is the author of Lead with Your Heart: Lessons From a Life with Horses and Zen Mind, Zen Horse.

Love is in the air

Looking for a little romance? Its at the book festival.

Darynda Jones , who blends romance and suspense as well as sci-fi, has two series, The Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Her newest is Eleventh Grave in Moonlight in the Charley Davidson Series.

, who blends romance and suspense as well as sci-fi, has two series, The Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Her newest is Eleventh Grave in Moonlight in the Charley Davidson Series. RaeAnne Thayne , a former journalist and editor, has written 49 books that have been translated into 18 languages and sold in over 50 countries. Snowfall on Haven Point is a recent title.

, a former journalist and editor, has written 49 books that have been translated into 18 languages and sold in over 50 countries. Snowfall on Haven Point is a recent title. Jennifer Ashley, who has traveled the world and now lives in Phoenix. Ashley uses the pseudonyms Ashley Gardner and Allyson James. Her books include Pride Mates, Lady Isabellas Scandalous Marriage and Stormwalker.

Entertainment

Music, dance and frivolity will complement the authors, panels and presentations.

There will dancing from around the world. Folklorico; belly dance; Irish dance; folk dancing from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Greenland, Iceland and Finland; Chinese folk dance and lion dance are among the international hoofers on the agenda.

And martial arts, percussion, song and dance fuse within the Afro-Brazilian arts of Capoeira and Samba de Roda at the festival.

As for music, a trombone ensemble, an accordion duet, an Old West style musical revue with can-can dancers as well as country-Western, jazz swing and bebop, and that old time rock n roll will take the stage.

The 30-40 faculty, staff and graduate students from the UA sing a variety of music styles including Broadway, classical, jazz, contemporary and more.

You can also tune in to the Stars David Fitzsimmons presentation of The Arroyo Cafe Old Pueblo Radio Hour which celebrates the Tucson Festival of Books special guests, mystery writer J. A. Jance, and award-winning author Luis Alberto Urrea. The delightful old-time variety show will be taped for broadcast on Arizona NPR 89.1, in front of a live audience.

Its rumored Ms. Jance will be asked to sing for her supper at the Arroyo Cafe and Luis will tell a magical tall tale or two, says Fitzsimmons.

The show stars Mindy Ronstadt and the One Bill Band, Lindsey McHugh, Marty Bishop, all the Arroyo Cafe players and host, Fitzsimmons.
Joe Coughlin is a front-row kind of guy.

In fact, thats one of his big rules when it comes to school.

Studies show theres a one-letter grade difference between the front and back, he says. In front, there are no distractions. Youre right in front of the teacher.

Hes also always the first to queue up for POL 150C2: What is Politics? (Yes, theres a line to get into class.) This is even more impressive when you know about Coughlins complicated commute to take the University of Arizonas general education course: He hops a bus and then rides a train from  Bakersfield, California.

Thats 2 hours on the bus, 9 hours on Amtraks Sunset Limited. Total travel time: 12 hours.

Twice a week.

Its kind of an adventure to me, says Coughlin, 63, the married father of three who owns Coconut Joes, a beach-themed restaurant thats been a Bakersfield landmark for nearly 30 years. Its the kind of place where servers have the regulars orders into the kitchen as soon as they walk in the door.

Coughlin knew he had to take the course after his son  a recent UA Eller College of Management grad  told him renowned linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky was teaching a seven-week politics course that started Jan. 12. The Tuesday/Thursday lecture class, co-taught with Professor Emeritus Marv Waterstone, explores climate change, nuclear weapons, militarism, globalization and capitalisms impact on social inequality.

I immediately got on the phone, says Coughlin, whos read many of Chomskys books and considers the man his hero. I didnt know if outsiders could get into the class. I was going to talk my way in.

Turns out, community members  even if theyre from a community 598.4 miles away  are more than welcome and account for 278 of those enrolled in the class, according to the UA. Another 232 are matriculated students. People start lining up at 4 p.m. for the 5 p.m. lecture. No one waltzes in late.

Its an honor to be in the class, says Coughlin, who has two daughters in college. We treat it as such.

Coughlin, who has always preferred road and rails to planes, has pretty much the same weekly travel itinerary. He leaves Sunday night to drive from his home on a bamboo-studded acre in Bakersfield for Los Angeles Union Station. He folds his 6-foot-1 frame into a sleeping car  which costs more, $200-ish versus $47 to spend the night upright in a seat  and snoozes his way across state lines.

Then, he hightails it over to Prince of Tucson RV Park. Yeah, one day he skipped the bus and train and drove his RV over after finding out the hard way that February is high season here.

The gem show ate up every hotel room in town, Coughlin says, forcing him to once take refuge all the way in Casa Grande and another time at a motel so skeevy that check-in and check-out happened pretty much simultaneously.

Ive had umpty-umpteen problems, but its been fun, he insists. This experience has taught me to not have to be in control of everything. I tend to plan things out. Ive become more easygoing.

Like, not flinching when his RV engine blew up on Grant Road. Or, the time he trekked all the way to Bakersfield, only to turn around and then drive 10 hours round trip to San Francisco. As part of his treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia, he must head up there to get his blood drawn once a month. Now that, he says, was a commute.

Coughlin, who regularly speaks at schools and in seminars about life lessons through what he calls Coconut College, figures the $225 course is probably costing him around $4,000. He hasnt yet tired of the grind because he gets so much out of the class. Its just eye-opening, he says. Its so mentally stimulating.

This is a dude who really values education.

Not that youd guess from his high school transcripts. A solid C-minus student, college wasnt in the cards. His parents didnt encourage their three kids to go. The youngest, Coughlin says he crashed and burned as a young adult. He was stocking green-bean cans in a grocery store in Virginia without much of a future when he joined the Navy Reserve at 24.

Two years later, armed with a top-recruit award, Coughlin talked his way into a meeting with the dean of Virginia Commonwealth University, promising if he didnt earn straight As, the dean could kick him out. Coughlin had a 3.9 GPA when he transferred to Arizona State University the following year. Dont hold his Sun Devilness against him, though. Coughlin  who met his wife, Leah, there  says he often thought about transferring to the University of Arizona. He much prefers the campus and vibe in Tucson.

Between lectures, Coughlin bides his time doing homework, shopping Urban Outfitters book section and dining at La Cocina or Frog & Firkin. Youll spot him on campus toting a black backpack and Takamine guitar, which he taught himself to play by watching YouTube videos.

Because of Coughlins always-hunker-down-in-the-front-row rule, hes actually sat next to Chomsky, who joins the students in the audience for Waterstones Tuesday lectures.

I dont know of anybody I more respect, Coughlin says. He has no agenda, no ideology hes pushing. Hes coming from the perspective of making the world a better place.

While hes talked to Waterstone, Coughlin has yet to chat up Chomsky.

What Id really like, Coughlin grins sheepishly, is to get a picture with him.

Spoken like someone whos a card-carrying member of the Noam Chomsky Fan Club, which, he is. In a way. Coughlin has a blue plastic card with his name printed on it in white letters that must be scanned to prevent crashers from sneaking into the popular class.

Coughlin smiles. It would be easier to get into Fort Knox.
The Awam Tibetan Buddhist Institute, 3400 E. Speedway, will host Jigme Lodro Rinpoche to continue his teachings from Dzogchen texts Wednesday, March 1 through Sunday, March 5.

The weekday classes are only in the evenings with weekend classes taking up more of the day. All days are available for $120 or at daily rates ranging between $20 and $40.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 939 W. Chapala Drive will host an "Interfaith Celebration of Unity and Prayer" 7 p.m. Friday, March 3.

Congregations involved include St. Odilia Catholic Community; the Third Church of Christ, Scientist; the Tucson North Stake of the LDS Church; the Casas Adobes Congregational Church and the Muslim Community Center of Tucson, according to press materials.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Feb. 24 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.
A segment of society is eagerly embracing the conspiracy theory that protests against President Trump are paid for by George Soros or left-wing groups.

Its easy to understand why some Trump supporters would believe stories like that. If they dont, theyll have to accept that there is massive, nationwide opposition to the president and his policies. Thats a hard truth to face.

It was in that spirit of denial that the majority Republicans in the state Senate passed the absurdly unconstitutional and partisan SB 1142 Wednesday. It tries to turn organizing protests into the crime of racketeering  if someone at the protest damages property or gets violent. In essence, its a ham-handed, obvious effort to squelch protests by people on the left.

If it becomes law  and you should call your state representatives to be sure it doesnt get that far  it will also become a tremendous waste of money. A federal court would inevitably find the law unconstitutional because it so clearly violates the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

But still this episode holds some lessons for Trump opponents, especially those on the hard edge of the left, if theyre willing to learn.

The main lesson is: Supporters of Trump want to use your protests to bolster him. To the extent you fight police, cause damage or even cause traffic jams, youre helping Trump, not hurting him. In other words, youre aiding mass-deportation efforts, among other policies.

This came to mind after the Feb. 16 protest downtown, one of several that have occurred lately but the only one that turned hostile. When the crowd broke away from the usual protesting grounds at the federal building and began walking eastbound up the traffic lanes on West Congress, a short, sharp melee with Tucson police ensued.

Shorthanded police parked an SUV in the path of the protesters, pointing and shouting that they needed to move to the sidewalk. Some protesters refused and kept going as they did a call-and-response chant: Whose streets? Our streets!

It got messy when police arrested one man, David Leon, and the crowd pressed in. As a couple more arrests ensued, police used pepper spray on members of the crowd who circled them. At least one person was taken to the ground.

I can imagine the feeling of righteous outrage that these mostly young protesters felt. Ive been there and have known the taste of tear gas in places as far south as Ecuador. For some of us, that sort of conflict can be a gas, so to speak.

But it doesnt help in the fight against Trumps policies. Consider that in the latest poll, a McClatchy-Marist product that came out Thursday, 49 percent of Americans surveyed said they disapproved of the job hes doing, while 41 percent said they approved. This is one of the better outcomes for Trump in recent polls. Amazingly, 58 percent of those surveyed said they are embarrassed by Trumps conduct, versus 33 percent who said his actions make them feel proud.

In other words, a large swath of the public is on the protesters side. That was evident from the more than 1 million people who turned out nationwide, 15,000 of them in Tucson, for protests the day after inauguration.

Even the Tucson police could be viewed as potential allies when it comes to resisting some of Trumps immigration enforcement efforts. Chief Chris Magnus has made clear he is not interested in having his officers join federal deportation raids. The rank and file are people and could be drawn to your effort or pushed away.

When theres conflict with police, though, that helps the forces who would deny the legitimacy of the opposition to Trump. It gives ammunition to legislators who, even though they proclaim themselves constitutionalists, would restrict the rights of freedom of speech and assembly. If the point is to win, the focus has to be on the bigger prize.

Bauserman back

Christine Bauserman has worked in local GOP politics for many years, running campaigns for some winners, some losers. She never took a better gamble then when she went to work for Trumps campaign in Arizona last year.

The reward? Now Bauserman, who was in town last weekend, is working in Washington, D.C. Her job: special assistant to the secretary of the Interior Department.

The only problem? There is no interior secretary to assist yet. Trump has nominated U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana as his secretary, but the Senate is not going to take up the nomination until March. In the meantime, Bauserman told me, she has been learning the ropes, going to meetings and debriefings, and reporting to the chief of staff, who is acting secretary until Zinke is confirmed.

Ptak leaves McSally

The loyal spokesman to U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, Patrick Ptak, is leaving her office and the many controversies over town halls behind.

Hes joining Gov. Doug Duceys office as a spokesman. Tucsonan Daniel Scarpinato, widely known as the governors spokesman, will remain in the governors office as deputy chief of staff for strategic planning and communications.

Ptak has worked both on McSallys campaign and in her congressional office at different times.
The Trinity Presbyterian Church near the University of Arizona is a step closer to demolishing several of its buildings to make way for two new multi-story buildings.

The Tucson City Council voted late Wednesday to give the green light to the proposed project, which sits on a three-acre site on 400 E. University Blvd. at North Fourth Avenue.

Randi Dorman with R+R Develop, which partnered with the church on the project, said they chose to build smaller buildings as a concession to the neighbors in exchange for a height variance.

The historical height limit in the neighborhood is 36 feet, which is tied to the Historic Property Zone designation. But the developers argue that in order for the project to be viable, one of the buildings had to be about 50 feet tall.

In all, the church and R+R Develop have publicly stated they want to build three- and four-story buildings with ground-floor retail in both structures. The revised plan has decreased the number of planned apartments from 72 to 55.

Chris Gans, the president of the West University Neighborhood Association, told the council that the association is not opposed to the site redevelopment, but it was concerned about removing the property from the Historic Property Zone designation.

Withdrawing from the historic designation would set a dangerous precedent, he said, noting other properties have been successfully redeveloped while still abiding by the historic zone restrictions.

But many residents who spoke in support of the proposal acknowledged it was preferable to a larger development the church could build that would cater to students.

The council signed off on the zoning change Wednesday, but only after several last-minute requirements were added by Councilman Steve Kozachik.

They include:

No parking structures

Capping the portion of the building adjacent to Time Market, 444 E. University Blvd., to 30 feet in height

Limiting the overall footprint of the project
At a sometimes rowdy town hall meeting Thursday in Sahuarita, Republican U.S. Rep. Martha McSally faced more than 200 people who sought answers from the congresswoman on a series of divisive issues  at times imploring her to just respond yes or no.

McSally, who recently committed to holding this live town hall after saying such gatherings were settings for political ambush, often gave long answers that seemed to anger the crowd and sidestep the questions posed by the audience or by the moderator, Editor Dan Shearer of the Green Valley News, which sponsored the event.

Audience members inside Good Shepherd United Church of Christ at times shouted at McSally, demanding she answer their questions with a simple yes or no. McSally resisted, saying the questions were often complicated and required lengthy responses.

The capacity crowd was joined by about 200 people outside the church, who stood near the various entrances in an attempt to hear McSally speak. They sometimes broke out in chants, saying, Do your job, and Let me in.

Even more lined up along a nearby street, holding protest signs.

The two-term congresswoman told reporters the town hall was a bit rowdy at times and noted that some of the activists who had organized a competing town hall in Tucson showed up at the Sahuarita event.

Shortly after the Sahuarita town hall concluded, McSally tweeted a thank you to all those who attended.

During the 90-minute forum, McSally said she was against mass immigration deportations, believes climate change is real and vowed to protect Social Security and Medicare. Her statement opposing mass deportations brought a welcome response from the audience.

But as she elaborated her stance to some other issues, audience members repeatedly interrupted her to voice their displeasure with her answers.

In other issues, McSally attempted to explain her positions directly to the individual asking the questions.

McSally told a teenager wearing a pink Planned Parenthood shirt that she was committed to making sure that community health centers would offer her reproductive care.

There are two Planned Parenthoods in Tucson, there are 28 community health centers in my district, McSally said. This is about the outcome, not the operation.

Booed again when she called Obamacare a disaster, McSally attempted to explain how she wanted to replace it over time, but her lengthy three-step answer seemed to anger many in the audience.

When 9-year-old Mitchel Collins, who goes to school in Sahuarita, asked at the end of the town hall why she thought Betsy DeVos was qualified to be the nations education secretary, McSally asked why he thought she was unqualified.

Collins immediately answered, saying DeVos said she wanted guns in schools to protect against grizzly bears.

It would take a few moments for McSally to respond, noting the Senate confirmed DeVos and the committees she sits on in the House are not education-related.

Other answers simply were not well-received.

When a mother asked McSally about the rollback of bathroom rights and how it would affect her transgender son, the congresswomans answer was quickly drowned out by loud jeering and booing.

It needs to be balanced to protect children like yours, but also other children, McSally said.

Giffords urges

more town halls

Earlier in the day, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in Tucson, urged members of Congress to have some courage and face their constituents.

Her comments were in response to Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, who this week invoked the 2011 shooting of Giffords in explaining why hes currently holding only telephone town halls.

But Giffords said town halls were a hallmark of her tenure in Congress. She noted that her successor in office and her former aide, Ron Barber, also was shot multiple times that day and continued to take part in town halls.

To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage. Face your constituents. Hold town halls, Giffords said in a statement released by Americans for Responsible Solutions, an organization that seeks stricter gun laws.

McSally briefly touched on gun control issues, touting her attempts to push forward sensible solutions but conceded there was more work to do.

At the end of the town hall, Shearer asked McSally to commit to another town hall soon.

Of course, I am doing one tomorrow, McSally said. Later, a McSally staffer noted the meeting she mentioned is closed to the public.

Town hall without McSally

Another town hall Thursday was held without McSally in attendance. That gathering, at St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church, attracted about 400 constituents, including members of the Pantsuit Nation Tucson Chapter, Stronger Together Cochise County and Nasty Women and Bad Hombres of Tucson.

Marion Chubon of McSally Take a Stand spoke first, expressing her disappointment with McSallys decision to not attend the groups event.

McSally informed the group that she was not able to commit to attending, Chubon said. One day later, McSally announced she would attend the town hall in Sahuarita.

Gun violence victims, scientists, a transgender woman, a mother insured under the Affordable Care Act, a cancer survivor, a DACA recipient, a Muslim woman, a Jewish woman and public-school teachers were among the 15 scheduled speakers.

Following one or two speeches on each issue, a member of McSally Take a Stand came to the podium and described McSallys views on that particular issue and how she has previously voted.

After the scheduled speakers, audience members were invited to speak, concluding their speeches with a question for the congresswoman. These speakers addressed an empty podium.
Mustafa Kareem, Hiba Alsamawi and their young daughter, Lana Najah, were living in Mosul, Iraq in 2014 when ISIS attacked and took over the city and surrounding area.

The upheaval sent Hiba and Mustafa on the run with their child to find safety.

They were forced to go to Baghdad, but couldnt find any work, although Mustafa is an engineer who worked at a paint factory in Mosul.

From there they fled to Kirkuk, then back to Baghdad, and then to Sulaymaniyah, in eastern Iraq near the Iranian border.

The problem was that ISIS took over checkpoint after checkpoint, Mustafa said.

We try to get back to Mosul because owner of factory said he would try to smuggle us illegally into Kurdistan, but we couldnt get back and stayed night in Kirkuk, he explained in halting English. We were ready to go to Kurdistan, and we were at bus station in Kirkuk when ISIS attacked the bus station.

It was a close call.

They fled to a few more cities before they finally spent $1,000 to fly to Bagdhad.

It was very expensive to fly back to Bagdhad. I could not find any job. And then we had our baby, Mustafa said. I was afraid and had no job.

We worked with agency and in 2015 we received an email approving us to leave; we just had to wait for our time.

On Aug. 8, 2016, Mustafa and his family were told they could leave.

Today, Mustafa, Hiba and their daughter live in midtown Tucson. The couple works at a Target distribution center here.

After President Trumps January executive order temporarily barring travel to the U.S. by citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iraq, We were very afraid, Mustafa said.

But people here in Tucson have been very nice and we face no harassment.
The children of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos will have good seats when President Donald Trump addresses Congress next week.

Reps. Raul Grijalva and Ruben Gallego have invited them as official guests, just two weeks after their mother was deported, the first carried out by the Trump administration.

She had been in the United States for over twenty years, and was detained after voluntarily checking in with local ICE officers  an appointment she has kept annually for years without incident.

I am pleased to welcome Jaqueline Garcia de Rayos as my guest for the presidents joint session address next week, Grijalva said. Two weeks ago, our nation was appalled to see the Trump administration target Jaquelines mom, Guadalupe  a wife, breadwinner, mother of two and long-time member of the Phoenix community  with deportation while she met voluntarily with ICE officials."

"Jaqueline and her brother have shown tremendous courage in speaking out against Trumps abhorrent immigration policies, which recent DHS memos have made clear are nothing short of mass deportation. Their example is a bright light of hope for immigrant communities across this country who are fearful that Trump will come for them next. Their fight is all of our fight, and I am proud to stand side-by-side with them in opposition to these atrocious policies," he said.
White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, in a rare public appearance, outlined President Donald Trump's agenda Thursday before an enthusiastic crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

"I think one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history was his immediate withdrawal from TPP. It got us out of a trade deal and let our sovereignty come back to ourselves," he said, referring to the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

That decision, which he called just a first step in re-imagining US trade policies, was just one of three Bannon pointed to as the most important steps Trump has taken since becoming president just over a month ago.

On the national security front, Bannon highlighted Trump's executive orders on building a border wall and beefed up immigration enforcement policies. And thirdly, he stressed the importance of Trump's moves to begin a "deconstruction of the administrative state" by appointing individuals from the private sector to key economic Cabinet positions who will help strip down federal regulations.

Bannon joined White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus onstage at CPAC, which Bannon credited with helping launch Trump's political career. The two men discussed Trump's electoral victory, the administration's agenda and railed against the media together as they worked to dispel notions that they are rivals competing for power and influence within the West Wing.

"Well, in regard to us two, I think the biggest misconception is everything that you're reading," Priebus said.

"If you look at the opposition party," Bannon said, referring to mainstream media outlets, "and how they portrayed the campaign, how they portrayed the transition and now how they're portraying the administration -- it's always wrong."

The two sang each other's praises as they insisted their working relationship could not be closer. ("We share an office suite together. We're basically together from 6:30 in the morning until about 11 o'clock at night," Priebus said.)

While Priebus called Bannon "incredibly loyal" and "extremely consistent," Bannon said he admired Priebus' "determination" and noted that he is "always kind of steady."

The forum also provided a rare public view of Bannon's thinking, one filled with dark portrayals of the news media, visions of a "new political order" and grand plans to reimagine the US's posture abroad.

"That is why I am proudest of Donald Trump. All the opportunities he had to waver off this, all the people who have come to him and said, 'Oh you've got to moderate.' Every day in the Oval Office, he tells Reince and I: 'I committed to this with the American people, I promised this when I ran and I am going to deliver on this,' " Bannon recounted.

And while Priebus and Bannon worked to show a united front on Thursday, Bannon acknowledged that they don't always agree, which he called a main reason they are "good partners."

The joint appearance was the latest attempt by the two men to shoot down reports of division, instead claiming in a series of recent interviews that they enjoy a chummy, symbiotic relationship.

Bannon told The Hill newspaper last week that Priebus "is doing an amazing job."

"We are executing on President Trump's agenda in record time. That's because Reince is getting the job done," Bannon said.

"We are a completely united team dedicated to enacting his bold agenda to bring back jobs and keep this country safe," Priebus echoed in the interview.

And in an interview with New York magazine, the two men joked about giving each other back rubs and said they speak all day long "until somebody falls asleep."

White House sources have also backed up their account in recent weeks, but a source who spoke separately with both men last week told CNN that while Bannon had nothing negative to say about Priebus, the White House chief of staff badmouthed Bannon over the phone.

The two men's professional backgrounds could not be more different. While Priebus has long been a creature of establishment Republican politics -- rising to Republican National Committee chairman before becoming chief of staff -- Bannon spent most of his professional career amassing wealth in the private sector before taking on a role as the head of the bomb-throwing, establishment-bashing Breitbart News site.

After Trump was elected, their new positions atop the West Wing roster were jointly announced atop.
The name of Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto, is a step closer to being formally affixed to the planets most recognizable feature, a heart-shaped region that was informally called Tombaugh regio when the New Horizons spacecraft sent back the first pictures of the planet in July 2015.

The International Astronomical Union has approved the naming strategy devised by the NASA space missions operators, clearing the way for Tombaugh, Percival Lowell, the UAs Michael Drake and a host of science-fiction creators and characters to be honored with their names on features of Pluto or its moon Charon  including characters from Star Wars, Star Trek and Sigourney Weavers Ripley character from the Alien movies.

The union, the same body that stripped Pluto of its planetary status in 2006, announced in a news release Thursday that it had approved the naming themes for Pluto and Charon.

In addition to names associated with mythology (Pluto is the Roman god of the underworld), the union said it would consider the names of scientists and engineers associated with Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, pioneering space missions and spacecraft, and historic pioneers who crossed new horizons in the exploration of the Earth, sea and sky.

That clears the way for Tombaugh to be honored with a regio or region of Pluto, along with Percival Lowell, who established the Flagstaff observatory from which Tombaugh found the planet in 1930.

The late Michael Drake, former head of the University of Arizonas Lunar and Planetary Lab, who chaired the committee that approved the New Horizons mission, has a crater tentatively named for him.

The IAU approved honoring authors, artists and fictional space explorers on Charon. Craters, chasms, regions and mountains on Charon had been informally named for characters in science fiction books and movies.

Star Wars names include Leia, Skywalker and Vader, while Star Trek is represented by Spock, Kirk, Sulu and Uhura  all located in Vulcan Planum.

Film director Stanley Kubrick and novelist Arthur C. Clarke, both of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame, are also named.

Back on Pluto, there is a crater named for Venetia Burney, who suggested the name for the planet shortly after it was discovered. She was 11 at the time.

Honored space missions include the Columbia and Challenger shuttles, Pioneer, Voyager and the Soviet Sputnik satellite.

Terrestrial explorers include Leif Erikson and Sir Edmund Hillary.

Maps of the features and their names are posted on the New Horizons Our Pluto page at ourpluto.org

The names are not yet official. After the mission formally submits them, they need approval from the IAUs Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature.

Alan Stern, who led the New Horizons mission and who waged a very public spat with the IAU over its demotion of Pluto, praised the action.
WASHINGTON _ Arizona officials Thursday welcomed the federal government's reversal of an Obama administration rule that required equal access to school facilities for transgender students, arguing that communities are better able to handle the issue locally.

State advocates for transgender individuals were not immediately available for comment Thursday, but national groups worried that the Trump administration decision could have ''horrible repercussions'' on transgender students.

But educators in Arizona said they do not see a threat on the horizon.

''Our students have been very tolerant of their fellow students and we had worked with parents and had dealt with that issue,'' said Mark Joraanstad, the executive director for Arizona School Administrators. ''And students have worked it out in a variety of different ways depending on the preferences of various students.''

The controversy is over the ruling last May by departments of Justice and Education that Title IX, which bars federal funding to schools that discriminate based on gender, also covered transgender students - those who identify as a gender different than the one on their birth certificate.

In order to provide a ''safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students,'' schools had to accommodate transgender students in a variety of areas, including whether they were referred to as ''he'' or ''she,'' but also in their access to locker rooms, bathrooms and most other sex-segregated environment. Schools that did not could lose federal funding, the departments said.

The rule sparked several legal challenges by school districts - including one that is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court next month - who argued that the policy put non-transgender students at risk and infringed on their privacy. Arizona joined a lawsuit with 10 other states filed in federal court in Texas.

But the federal government reversed the policy Wednesday, saying in letters from Justice and Education that the original policy did not undergo the formal review and public comment required for such a ''substantive'' shift in policy.

The policy was withdrawn so the departments could ''more completely consider'' the issues involved, said the letters, which were quick to add that the move ''does not leave students without protections from discrimination, bullying or harassment. All schools must ensure that all students, including LGBT students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment.''

That was little comfort for David Fishback of PFLAG, an adocacy group made up of family members lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. He said the rules had worked to bar discrimination against transgender students.

''For the federal government to recognize this and encourage people to act humanely toward each other is a wonderful thing and it has really helped transgender students and their families,'' Fishback said.

Arizona officials said they will work to protect all students, transgender and non, but insisted that those decision should be local and not an ''inflexible,'' one-size-fits-all federal mandate.

''Talking to superintendents and principals in our local public schools seems like something that they're able to handle at the local level and we're going to be able to continue to do that now,'' said Gov. Doug Ducey, in Washington for a conference.

The Arizona Department of Education, which joined the Texas lawsuit against the Obama rules, welcomed their reversal.

''Our top priority at the Arizona Department of Education is to ensure all students can attend school in a safe environment that is free from bullying and discrimination,'' according to a statement released by the department Thursday. ''Our districts and schools already have policies in place to ensure that. Those policies should be developed at the local level with input from each community.''

Educators in the state acknowledged that the Obama rules sparked a discussion that led to development of model language from the Arizona School Boards Association for member school districts to consider. Heidi Vega, a spokeswoman for the school boards association, said that any actions that arise as a result now would be more ''embracing at the district level.''

''If anything, what some of the school districts wanted to do was be more descriptive in their policies and include gender identity,'' Vega said.

The University of Arizona made its decision, announcing Thursday that it will continue to abide by the suggested guidance issued by the Obama administration and its own policy that allows individuals to use restrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

''We strive to ensure that everyone who comes to our campus feels safe, respected, and supported,'' said a statement from the university's Office of Institutional Equity.

Joraanstad said school districts had been dealing the issue of transgender students long before the Obama administration got involved, but that its issuance of guidance pushed the issue into a larger arena, including parents.

''They were instantly very upset with situations that they've never concerned themselves with before,'' Joraanstad said. ''Situations which had been ongoing and that had been handled but they never really had an awareness of it.''

But Fishback says the reversal is more than just parental concerns. He called it a ''signal'' that the Trump administration does not value transgender students or their struggles.

''Transgender children are all of our children,'' Fishback said. ''Our straight children are all of our children, our gay children are all our children, we are an American community.''
The state House late Thursday approved a measure designed to make it more difficult to get initiatives on the ballot by limiting the use of paid circulators.

The preliminary vote on HB 2404 came after Rep. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, agreed to drop his demand that groups which want to circulate initiative petitions buy a $50,000 bond. That came after Rep. Ken Clark, D-Phoenix, said bonding companies may not write such policies, effectively outlawing petitions.

Also gone from HB 2404 are new registration requirements for petition circulators.

But that leaves what Leach said is his main goal: Outlaw the ability of groups that want to put measures on the ballot to pay circulators based on the number of signatures they get. He contends that will help eliminate the financial incentive for fraud.

Separately, a proposal to increase the burden on getting the signatures  whether with paid-per-signature circulators or volunteers  was pulled from the Thursday debate agenda after House staff attorney Tim Fleming said it may not be constitutional.

Current law requires those who want to write their own statutes to submit petitions with the names of at least 10 percent of those who voted in the last gubernatorial election. The current burden is 150,642.

The proposal by Rep. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, would apply that test to each of the states 30 legislative districts. So if 50,000 people voted for governor in 2014 in the district he represents, at least 5,000 of the signatures needed to put a measure on the ballot would have to come from his district.

And the same rule would apply 29 more times statewide.

Fleming told members of the House Rules Committee that such a district-by-district requirement may not be constitutional.

He noted Arizona used to have a requirement for candidates for statewide office to get signatures on their nominating petitions from at least three counties. The state stopped enforcing that law when election officials conceded it was illegal.

Based on that, the Rules Committee refused to clear HCR 2029 for floor debate.

But House Speaker J.D. Mesnard said that does not necessarily kill the proposal. He said the staff attorneys just wanted more time to study the issue.

The two measures are part of a package of five bills that opponents contend are a major assault on the right of Arizonans to create their own laws and keep them free from legislative tinkering.

Aside from the two proposals dealing with signature gathering, the House late Thursday approved two measures designed to undermine the Voter Protection Act.

That constitutional provision says that once something gains voter approval, it can be amended only with a three-fourths vote of both the House and Senate. And the only changes allowed are those that further the purpose of the original initiative, with outright repeal forbidden.

It was enacted by voters in 1998 after state lawmakers repealed the states first voter-approved medical marijuana law in 1996.

One version, HCR 2002, asks voters to kill the Voter Protection Act outright, freeing lawmakers to alter not just future ballot measures, but those already approved. That includes the newly approved Proposition 206, which increased the states minimum wage.

Rep. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, said her constituents see this attempt as an attack on the will of the voters.

She may be right, Mesnard responded. But he pointed out that, as a constitutional change, HCR 2002 would require voter approval in November.

The House also approved a scaled-back version of the same measure. HCR 2007, if approved by voters, would limit the power of lawmakers to repeal voter-approved measures to only those proposals they sent to the ballot themselves.

That would keep legal protections in place for initiatives like the minimum wage.
PHOENIX  The state House voted late Thursday to forbid jail officials from releasing someone who immigration authorities want them to hold.

HB 2121 would make it illegal for any public official to refuse to comply with an immigration detainer. That is a formal request by the Department of Homeland Security that a state or local agency keep for up to 48 hours someone not in this country legally, giving time for federal agents to pick them up.

But the measure by Rep. Bob Thorpe, R-Flagstaff, goes even further  creating daily fines if an agency or representative for that agency is found by a judge to have violated the immigration detainer request and released someone from custody.

HB 2121 also spells out that any person who is injured by someone who is released when there is a detainer request can sue the individual, agency or official responsible for the release.

The move comes on the heels of the decision by Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone that his jails will hold people no longer than necessary to process them for the state charges they are facing if a judge has ordered them released.

It does not stop notification of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the county has someone the feds may want. But it spells out that if federal agents want someone they have to arrive before release processing is done.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said thats whats required by federal law.

The Fourth Amendment does not allow a local law enforcement official to detain someone longer than necessary to process a state court-ordered release, he said.

Mark Napier, newly sworn in as Pima County sheriff, said he is keeping a policy of predecessor Chris Nanos about handling ICE detainers.

He said if federal agents tell them they want an inmate, his agency will inform them of when the release process starts. That generally provides them about 90 minutes.
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net, Staff Reporter

New Delhi: Taking note of a crackdown on protesters in Kashmir during the 2016 unrest, global human rights watchdogAmnesty International-came down heavily on the Indian government for unleashing unnecessary and excessive force against demonstrators.

Support TwoCircles



The government imposed a curfew across the Kashmir Valley for more than two months and suspended private communications during a period that saw over 100 deaths and more than 1,000 injured at the hands of security forces.

The annual report of Amnesty International alleged forces of besieging people, leaving them without access to urgent medical assistance.

Human rights defenders and organizations continued to face harassment and intimidation, and vigilante cow protection groups carried out several attacks. Thousands protested against discrimination and violence faced by Dalit communities. Millions of people opposed changes to labour laws, the report reads.

The report also alleged government of frequently ignoring marginalised communities in its push for faster economic growth.

The report claimed Dalits and Adivasis continuously facing widespread abuses. Quoting official statistics released in August, AI said, more than 45,000 crimes against members of Scheduled Castes and almost 11,000 crimes against Scheduled Tribes were reported in 2015.

Dalits in several states were denied entry into public and social spaces, and faced discrimination in accessing public services. In January, the suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula led to nationwide protests, AI reported.

The report also quoted 2016 event which had led to widespread protests in Una, Gujarat following the public flogging of four Dalit men by a vigilante cow protection group for skinning a dead cow  a traditional occupation for certain Dalits.

Vigilante cow protection groups harassed and attacked people in states including Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka in the name of upholding laws prohibiting the killing of cows, the report adds.
Help India!

By Afroz Alam Sahil, Twocircles.net

Auntgarhi Saura/Malihabad: The BJP, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have repeatedly said in their election campaigns that if BJP is voted to power in UP, the state will see development and Acche Din like never before. However, these promises seem hollow to residents of village Auntgarhi Saura in Malihabad tehsil, nearly 42 kilometres from state capital Lucknow. This village was adopted by BJPs Lok Sabha MP Kaushal Kishore from Mohanlalganj constituency.

Support TwoCircles



Earlier, Kishore was an MLA and even a minister during the Mulayam regime. He formed his own outfit-Rashtravadi Communist Party- and in 2014 joined BJP and became an MP.

Although Kishore has often portrayed an image of raising peoples issues, it is clear that this village is no testimony to his achievement. When we arrived in the village, we saw a few women heading for the field with a lota in their hand, suggesting that open defecation still prevails in the area despite the much-hyped Swach Bharat Abhiyan.

Although there is a toilet in the village, people claim that few strongmen from Thakur community have taken over the same and anyone else using it is thrashed. As a result, the toilet remains unused.

The Panchayat Bhawan also has a similar story. The building is in a dilapidated and remains locked most of the time. As of now, it remains a storehouse for keeping junk.

While talking about the nearby primary health sub centre, villages claim that hardly any doctor visits the place and people are dependent on a health centre located nearly 7 kilometres away. The people are especially disappointed at Kishore because he had got maximum votes from this village and hence, the people thought that they would no longer have such issues.

Education also remains an ignored issue in this village with a population of nearly 5.500. It has only three schools upto Class VIII. After that, children have to travel nearly 7 kilometres for studies and after Class XII, they have to head towards Lucknow. Locals claimed that even teachers in these schools are not so qualified.

The roads in the village are virtually nonexistent and even the condition of the few roads is deplorable. Ganga Ram Sahu, 72, claimed that village faces water problem and an overhead tank was to be constructed from MPLAD funds, but it never happened even though a few pipes were laid out. Arvind Singh, another villager claims that nearly 70 percent of the houses do not have toilets. The only positive in the village was the presence of electricity due to the MPs intervention, poles were erected and wires were laid.

Three kilometres from Auntgarhi is the hamlet of Jalauli with 100 houses and a population of 800, which includes about 60% Dalits and 40% upper castes.

Changa, 60, has a problem in walking but there are no doctors in the village. This hamlet has no schools and as a result has an adverse affect on girls education. Durgesh Singh, another villager claimed that people face lots of problems in marriages as there is no community center.

Most of the villagers rued that politicians even do not visit the village for votes during elections. Instead, some people come and tell them where they have to vote.

Retired teacher Uday Pratap Singh, 73 claimed that the village is 300 years old and many people became teachers but there is no school in the hamlet. He claims that despite their efforts there was no response from the government.

Village Development Officer Sunil Kumar informed that the village did not receive any additional funds despite being a model village, so no work could be done. It remains to be seen what the MP has to say about the village, but if the residents are to be believed, it has clearly not been promising.

https://youtu.be/Ts0J_GjZMoY
Help India!

New Delhi, (IANS): The National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Friday urged President Pranab Mukherjee to intervene on the issue of the JNU Vice-Chancellors arbitrary move to slash admission seats.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Vice Chancellor (VC) is shockingly announcing arbitrary decisions and fundamental changes in JNUs admission policy and research programmes through press conferences refusing either to discuss these in JNUs decision-making bodies like Academic Council and Executive Council, or meet students and teachers representatives, NSUI, the students wing of Congress party, said in a statement.

Support TwoCircles



The complaint was against the adoption of a UGC notification by the university which imposed a cap on the intake of candidates in M.Phil. and Ph.D. The university has justified the move saying they have to abide by the funding agency, that is UGC, and that the given student-teacher ratio is a universal norm for universities.

However, the delegation led by senior Congress leaders, reasoned with Mukherjee that the move of capping the intake of students was against the egalitarian history of the JNU and the JNU Act which provisioned a fixed 54 per cent intake for OBC students in these course.

The present number of seats in JNU has been fixed as part of the implementation of OBC reservation and the concomitant expansion of seats, infrastructure and faculty (during 2008-10), mandated by the 93rd amendment of the Constitution, the student body said.

It also alleged that the VC bulldozed the notification in the Academic Council without any discussion and demanded the the 142nd meet where it was passed be declared annulled and reconvened again.

The JNU Students Union has been protesting against the notification ever since it was passed on December 26 last year. It has also rendered the administrative block of the varsity under a forced lock-down demanding its revocation.
Andreas Dombret, a member of the German Central Bank Board said that the banks headquartered in the UK could lose access to the EU market after the Brexit's completion, so they will probably have to relocate some operations on the continent.

Currently, banks headquartered in the UK can provide free services in the EU through a system of "passport", considered to be the most important feature of the single European market for the companies in the financial sector. But this was questioned after British citizens voted in favor of leaving the EU.

Almost 5,500 companies registered in the UK use the passport rights

Passport rights are an important factor underlying the London`s global financial center position. The loss of these rights would be a blow to the financial services industry, responsible for 12% of the GDP of Great Britain. Almost 5,500 companies registered in the UK use the passport rights to operate in other states.

Banks will probably lose passport rights and any arrangements that seek to create a substitute will likely be hazardous and the access to European markets will be highly uncertain, said Dombret.

Gloomy prospects

"So it seems that the access to the Eu Market by the UK seems rather obscure. I expect that London will remain a leading global financial center.

However, I expect that the financial firms based in the UK will move at least some operations to ensure against the risks caused by the results of the negotiations" the German official said.

Instead, the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said this month that London offers financial services that benefit the whole Europe and the European Union should recognize that in a reasonable Brexit agreement with Britain.

"We don`t want to punish the British for their decisions. We want to keep the UK close to us", the German official said in an interview for Tagesspiegel.

"City of London is a financial center that serves the entire European economy. London provides a quality of financial services that isn`t found on the mainland. That will change soon after separation, but we must find a reasonable settlement with the UK", Wolfgang Schaeuble explained.
Carrying the merely absurd to incredible levels of irony, President trump has called for an investigation into voter fraud, specifically naming deceased people still registered to vote and people who are registered to vote in two states.

At 7:10 a.m. January 25, Donald Trump tweeted: "I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Although there is zero evidence that anyone who is dead has actually shown up to vote in decades or that anyone who is registered in two states ever voted in both, President Trump continues to claim that millions of illegal votes cost him the popular vote.

The deceased probably can't be charged with voter fraud in any case.

Not only is there no evidence of more than a tiny fraction of one percent of voter fraud, numbers in the tens, not millions, but if there was fraud there is no reason to believe they voted for Secretary Clinton. They could just as easily have voted for President Trump and put him over the top in key states.

No one is claiming that, but it is an obvious corollary to the Presidents claim of massive voter fraud.

Tiffany Trump

It turns out that some people close to the Trump administration are registered to vote in two states, among them 23-year-old Tiffany Trump, daughter of Donald J. Trump (POTUS) and Marla Maples.

After his repeated claims that he had seen evidence or at least reports of massive voter fraud news agencies of course began checking into the allegations.

One of the first people they found was Tiffany Trump who registered to vote in both Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City. Records show she only voted in New York. The reason is simple, she attended the same school as her father, The University of Pennsylvania and registered there, then registered again when she moved back to New York City.

In fact, wealthy people (like the Trumps) who own two or more houses or even snowbirds (older people who live in the north summers and go south in cold weather) often register in two states and vote where they happen to be on election day. That is completely legal unless they vote twice.

Fraud or just silly?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being registered to vote in two states, in fact, when someone registers it is the responsibility of the registrar of voters to notify the registrar where they had previously been registered of the change.

It isnt the voters responsibility and, unless they actually vote in both places in the same election, there is nothing illegal about it.

No one would be investigating the president's daughter's voting record or reporting on this if President Trump werent continuing to claim that this specific act is a form of voter fraud.

Steve Bannon, Sr White House advisor

Not only is the Presidents daughter registered to vote in two states, Stephen Kevin "Steve" Bannon, the Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to President Donald Trump as well as former Trump presidential campaign manager, was (until yesterday) registered to vote in both Florida and New York, as reported by Sarasota, FL, Herald-Tribune.

Mr Bannon also did absolutely nothing wrong when he cast an absentee ballot in New York; in fact the only person who has suggested that, by being registered in two places, he violated any election laws is his boss, President Trump.

Secretary of Treasury nominee

Another person already known to be registered to vote in two places is President Trumps nominee to head the Treasury Department Steven Mnuchin. Mnuchin is registered to vote in both California and New York. Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that and I've seen zero reports that he ever voted in two locations during the same election.

According to his Google profile page the 54-year-old Yale grad's "favorite movie: Rules Don't Apply."
Throughout the EU referendum there were many polls that had remain ahead, with many expecting remain to win. But leave won the vote. With the Brexit Bill passing through parliament without any amendments and the expectation that it will pass through the Lords with little opposition, there is a lot to learn from the vote about the state of UK politics and how pollsters measure their results.

Like the general election, where YouGov and many other pollsters predicting that there would be no clear winner. However, the Conservatives managed to win enough seats.

The Bayesian Theorem

There is however, one graphic that shows the correct outcome of the referendum. The graph in question shows the trend of voting intentions, with leave being ahead the entire time. The leave percentage even peaked at 57% but dramatically dropped after the murder of MP Jo Cox. The trends were estimated using Bayesian probabilities.

Bayesian probabilities is an interpretation of the concept of probability, named after Thomas Bayes, who was an English statistician, philosopher and Presbyterian minister. Instead of using frequency or propensity of some phenomenon, probability is interpreted as reasonable expectation representing a state of knowledge or as quantification of a personal belief.

Political trends

This highlights that pollsters need to find and use new methods to measure political trends, because they are becoming less reliable. With public trust in polls getting worse and the rise of fake news and misinformation. It is vital that the correct information is measured properly and published in the public eye.

The leave vote was a symptom of the current state of british politics with very little focus on local communities and with the by-election in Stoke-on-Trent Central, who voted in favour of Brexit, its a chance for them to protest over a feeling of being left behind by central government. No matter the result or what the polls say, the political state of British politics is a complete omnishambles.
In the wake of Donald Trump's ban on refugees from 6 majority Muslim countries, Canada is bracing for an unprecedented surge of Asylum Seekers escaping the possibility of deportation. Some small Canadian border towns have seen a large increase in refugees making the dangerous trek in freezing temperatures across the US border. According to NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan, an immigration crisis has been created as a result of President Trump's executive orders. The executive order in question prohibits citizens of seven majority Muslim countries from entering the U.S

The Executive Orders begin

The tiny border town of Emerson Manitoba with a population of about 700, lies north of the Minnesota and North Dakota state line has been bombarded with the arrival of refugees from the US.

The unprecedented influx has overwhelmed the local residents who are often awakening in the wee hours of the morning by asylum seekers. Local services like emergency, RCMP and Border services, which are already limited in these areas, are feeling the strain brought on by the flow of refugees.

The province of Quebec has seen a huge increase in asylum seekers from New York, Vermont, Main and Hampshire with claims for asylum rising sharply from 42 in January of 2015, to over 400 in the past month as reported by The Globe and Mail News. This event has led the city of Montreal to unanimously pass a motion declaring it a sanctuary city. This move allows asylum seekers to gain access to city programs, services and housing without fear of being deported.

Canada: A new hope?

Some Federal Members of Parliament are pressuring the Canadian Government to take action to halt the illegal immigration. Escaping Trump's wrath is still an illegal act since it contravenes the Safe Third Country Agreement of 2002 between the United States and Canada. The agreement states that migrants must seek refugee status in the first country entered which means that the migrants coming to Canada are doing so illegally and should wait for their claim to be processed in the United States first.

However, in light of Donald Trump's immigration ban, migrants are reportedly driven by fear of deportation. Other Federal Members of Parliament are pressuring the Government to immediately suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement

Some, but not all of the Asylum seekers fleeing Trump's wrath are from the seven targeted countries in Trump's executive order, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Those fleeing the United States are taking extraordinary risks in hopes of finding freedom in Canada. To reach Canadian soil, men, women, children and even babies are making the trek on foot for the most part, across a deserted snow covered farmer's fields, forests and wide open prairies in freezing temperatures.

What next for the Asylum seekers?

Canadians are for the most part welcoming to the asylum seekers making the long trek to freedom from Trump's wrath. However, there are those who would be in favour of a Trump style immigration ban and feel that Canada's refugee target for 2017 (40,000) is too high. An Angus Reid poll recently found that 25% of Canadians would like Canada to adopt Trump's executive order banning Syrian refugees.

#trump #executiveorder #canadianborder #migrants #asylumseekers
Good and bad news for Labour in the 2 contested by-elections

This morning Labour supporters awoke to the news that Labour had held Stoke in the by-election, a safe Labour seat, despite the worry that due to the continued media onslaught against Jeremy Corbyn, including direct attacks by the former leader Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson, that Labour may have been in danger of losing the seat to UKIP's leader, Paul Nuttall.

Labour supporters also awoke to the news that after 80 years of being a Labour seat, Copeland had been lost to the Conservative Party.

Much had been made of how Copeland was a marginal seat, in other words, that despite Labour holding the seat for 80 years, it had always been held on a knife edge in terms of the vote. Today the Guardian and other news sources, after calling Copeland a marginal seat, are now saying that it is a safe seat, which of course has never been the truth.

Continued Media Bias against Jeremy Corbyn

The London School of Economics (the LSE) issued a report in the Summer of 2016, outlining the consistent media bias against Jeremy Corbyn by the mainstream media. They found that 75% of press coverage in the UK misrepresents Jeremy Corbyn, an unprecedented smear campaign against a political figure in the United Kingdom.

This unfair representation in the media undoubtedly damages Corbyn and as a result the Labour Party as a whole.

Why such unprecedented attacks by the mainstream media? Could it be that the media barons, such as Murdoch, Rothermere and the Barclay brothers are all non-domicile using offshore tax havens? The very tax havens that Corbyn aims to finish, ushering in an era of fair taxation and lowering the huge gap in wealth equality.

Let us not forget that currently, just 8 individuals own more than half of the world's populations wealth. Shocking isn't it?

The Labour Party is a Party of Democratic Socialism

The Labour Party is a Party of Democratic Socialism, it says so plainly on the reverse of our membership cards. The Labour Party with Democratic Socialism as its ideology ushered in a post-war era of social justice.

The NHS, Social Security, Social Care, Social Housing, National Parks and Designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, footpaths and bridleways and the right to roam, bike or ride a horse in these spaces. At a time when the country was economically on its knees, Clement Attlee's Democratic Socialist Labour Party bought a 10% rise in living standards, each consecutive year that they governed the country.

Tony Blair's neo-liberal policies damaged the Labour Party to the extent where he wiped out Labour's constant and overwhelming support in Scotland, losing us essential seats in Parliament that we may never get back. There is a huge grassroots movement behind Corbyn. He has trebled the membership in the space of a year, making us the largest political party in Western Europe, and with a membership that dwarfs the membership at the time of Blair's landslide victory in 1997. We will persevere, and we will return Labour to its Democratic Socialist roots.
Sweden is just the latest victim of president Trumps free wheeling relationship with the truth. Hes already insulted most of our allies and frightened the rest but what happens when a crisis hits? People in Sweden are calling him a Swedish meatball, and comparing him to the Muppets mock-Swedish chef.

What will happen when President Trump calls on Sweden to supply peacekeeping troops the next time there is a crisis? It began in 1949 and by the 1960s Swedish peacekeepers accounted for 10% of the total number of UN peacekeepers.

President Trump wants rule from fear.

Will anyone in power believe him?

Apparently Mr. Trump missed number 210 of Aesops Fables about the boy who cried wolf. Once you get a reputation for playing fast and loose with the truth it becomes almost impossible to get serious people to believe you.

Obamas Director of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance says the Trump White House will fail in any real crisis because he is undermining every crisis mgmt [ management] tool USG [US Government] has in its arsenal.

Every President in recent decades has faced an international medical crisis of some sort from AIDS to Ebola but no one will believe President Trump when he tries to get control of the next national or international disaster.

Core supporters

President Trump's core supporters, non-college educated white men and women living in rural America, are supporting him powerfully as are most non-office holder Republicans, but those make up only about 35% of the U.S. He is losing support among college-educated whites and independents which is why his approval ratings hover around 40%.

President Trump is at war with his own intelligence community and has said of the press, it is the enemy of the American People! But is it a good thing when the President gets his news from features on Fox News instead of from the CIA and ends up insulting Sweden? What if Fox misses a sneak attack while Trump is having dinner?

War hero Senator John McCain has said of Trump's attack on the free press this is how dictators get started.

Fox turns on Trump

With President Trump attacking the press every single day, this is becoming so dangerous that even Fox News is now criticizing President Trump.

When his long-time conservative support media base begins to question his veracity and challenges him then even President Trump may begin to realize he cant govern the worlds most powerful country with repeated lies and attacks on the press (no0t to mention a budding war with the Swedes) only meant to deflect from his connection with Russia (part of the Fox comments.) After all, Rupert Murdoch still owns a gigantic world-wide media empire and having the press attacked daily can't be good for business.

On today of all days (President's Day in the US) it is instructive to look to the founders of our American Republic such as that left-wing radical, Thomas Jefferson, 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.

Of course Brits may have a slightly different view of the founding fathers in the US, after that little fracas in 1776 and the crisis again in 1812, but we forgave you for burning down The White House and it's hard to argue with Thomas Jefferson.
Orator, statesman, historian, and so famous for his smoking habit that a style of cigar is named after him, Winston Churchill began a serious lay-study of science in 1896 while stationed in India when he read Darwin's "Origin of Species," and physics books.

WWII

During World War II it is well known that GB relied heavily on scientific breakthroughs such as radar and radical new decryption methods at (Bletchley Park) and Barnes Walliss inventions, but it is not as obvious just how scientific the Prime Ministers outlook was. Reportedly when he favored the statistical analysis of U-boat activities as a method of finding and destroying them, he was once asked by Bomber Harris, Are we fighting this war with weapons or slide rules? Churchill replied, Let's try the slide rule.

But even if you knew about that obscure episode in history, did you realize Churchill wrote about hydrogen fusion in the 20s?

He was also the first PM to have a science advisor. (An episode of Dr Who, "Victory Of The Daleks" alluded to this close tie between the wartime PM and science.)

Alien life

The newly discovered document was reported by the Director of the US National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri.Timothy Riley can on an 11-page typewritten essay by Churchill titled, 'Are We Alone in Space?'

In the article, which may have been the draft of a piece he was going to submit to News of the World, the London Sunday newspaper, Mr Churchill wrote about the scientific possibility of finding extraterrestrial life.

He went back to it about the time the Soviets were launching Sputnik when he changed the title to 'Are We Alone in the Universe?' and updated it to include recent discoveries.

Although this article contributes nothing other than historical interest today, at the time Winston Churchill actually wrote about the possibility of alien life in a way that few of todays astrobiologists would find any fault with. Among other things he pointed out that water was critical to all known life and probably any other life above the quasi-life of a virus, but even so, he didnt rule out the possibility of some other liquid.

Churchill apparently didnt consider the possibility that minerals could exhibit intelligence but those were the days before even transistors, let along todays putative silicon life form, computers. He even recognised why water is so critical - it is the liquid which can dissolve almost every other substance at least in minute amounts.

Other planets

He also explored the need for planets to be in the right temperature zone (distance from the sun) and reasoned that there must be millions of other planets. But he didn't come to that as a guess, he actually subscribed to the then common belief of James Jeans (1917) that gas which forms planets is pulled from the close passage of a second star.

We know today that isn't true, but it was a common theory when Winston wrote and he wrote as a scientist because he pointed out this was only speculation, writing, I am not sufficiently conceited to think that my sun is the only one with a family of planets.

The future and former PM (he wrote this before and after WWII) also wrote about travel to the moon and Mars.

Winston voiced two conclusions in his essay. First that there was almost certainly intelligent life somewhere in some galaxy. But his second conclusion was, I, for one, am not so immensely impressed by the success we are making of our civilization.

The conclusion for all of us is that there is always more to learn about history and emphasizes the need to continue digging through the libraries and collections dedicated to the political and scientific leaders.
Caitlyn Jenner, an icon for transgender people with ideologies of tolerance and inclusivity, has lashed out at President Donald Trump for removing trans youths right to use whichever bathroom they identity with in federal government-owned public schools. But surprisingly, her opinion of Trump hasnt always been this sour.

What she said back then

Back when Trump was on the campaign trail, he manipulated the LGBTQ community to vote for him by speaking out against a North Carolina bill banning the restroom rights of trans people in the state. Back then, Jenner said that Trump seems very much behind the LGBT community because of what happened in North Carolina with the bathroom issue. She said that he backed the LGBT community, and thats a community in which Jenners opinion carries a lot of weight.

Trump seems to be very much for women, she said. Hillary Clinton seemed very much for women as well, you know, since she is one.

What shes saying now

Now, Jenner has changed her mind about Trump. She took to Instagram to slam Trumps administration, particularly bigoted Attorney General Jeff Sessions (although she didnt mention him by name to avoid a suit). She called the administration bullies and said that they suck and that they are losers who are going to keep losing. She called them weak, saying that they pick on kids or...women or anyone (they) think is vulnerable. She branded Sessions as insecure, and concluded, See you in court! as a brave young man named Gavin Grimm is taking them to the Supreme Court, which all sounds deliciously Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
Nadiya, a British Bengali, Muslim woman has been given her very own food show to be featured on British Television.

Nadiya's Revolution

Nadiya first rose to fame when she won the British Bake off since then Nadiya has become an accomplished author, columnist and a TV presenter. Nadiya's initial win on the Bake Off was revolutionary, a Bangladeshi Muslim woman to win a British show was groundbreaking.

It was the complete opposite of what people were seeing and hearing from the media and the news, that Muslims can be normal and enjoy baking and be British.

Since Bake Off Nadiya has featured in another programme, where she visited her home country of Bangladesh. The BBC aired the two-part programme called 'The Nadiya Chronicles', this show featured her journey across Bangladesh, which had a travelogue feel to it.

On the tour of Britain

The news spread that Nadiya will grace the public with her presence on British Television. The new show will be an eight-part series that will follow her journey across Britain.

She will travel up North to the Scottish Highlands to southern parts of Britain such as Devon and Dorset. The show titled 'Nadiya's British Food Adventure' will show her visiting different regions of Britain, and each region will be dedicated to an episode.

Nadiya told the BBC that she is very excited to hit the road and get inspired by new people and new recipes. "I can't wait to meet these local food heroes, to find inspiration in the most unusual food stories and unlikely ingredients and then come up with some brand new recipes in the kitchen, adding my own special twist."

Nadiya highlighted that there is plenty of new inspiration out there and that is what she is after.

"Our country's regional cuisine is much more than tried and tested traditional dishes - there are quirky and clever food producers out there who are reinventing British food in unique and exciting ways."

The traditional British dishes are always being made personal, with food producers adding their own touches and that is exactly what the show will feature.

It seems that the much-loved Bake Off sweetheart is eager to carry on baking, travelling, being on our TV screens and still being British.

Other articles that you can check out are here and here.
Answers Africa is one of a kind platform created for Africans both locally and in the diaspora and those seeking for more in-depth information about Africa. We have always focused on creating the highest quality informational contents right from the beginning. We share the most relevant information on the latest and trending news, events, people, and places in Africa.

We produce contents across various categories including Politics, People, Love and Romance, Nature, Entertainment, Technology and pretty much everything else that Africans may find relevant.

We aim to answer the most relevant questions about Africa in areas of entertainment, famous people, emerging technologies while we also engage with various distribution capabilities to connect with Africans in need of information who rely on our website to keep in touch with the world that is changing so fast.

These are some of the articles you may be interested in reading:

10 Famous TV Personalities Born In Ethiopia Ethiopia is a country best known for its fast athletes like Dibaba and Bekele, breathtaking models like Liya Kebede and of course Haile Selassie but there are also famous TV personalities who are doing a great job in entertainment and pushing the country to civilization. The following is a list of ten most famous TV ...

Top 10 African Authors of All Time The pace of present African literature is moving at a high-speed; more defiant in both style and tone than those of the great independence writers generation. Here, the subjects of taboo are widely explored. The emerging African authors of this generation are not afraid to go further afield for the literary fodder. Meanwhile, since the birth ...

Maina Kageni Biography  Daughter, Salary and Gay Rumors Maina Kageni is one of those Kenyans who has remained as interesting as ever in the eyes of the public. A strong Red devil fan and lover of football, the man is currently a Breakfast Show presenter with Mwalimu Kingangi on Nairobis Classic 105 Radio Station. Many questions have always emerged on the man in serious ...

Kalekye Mumo  Biography, Boyfriend and Salary Kalekye Mumo has been described as someone who is as vibrant as she is beautiful, a Kenyan radio queen, TV host and media personality, movie actress, Musician, businesswoman, and fashionista but what else is there to know about this Kenyan icon, Kalekye Mumo and her co-host Shaffie Weru have been among the most listened to radio presenters ...

Julie Gichuru Bio  Age, Husband & Children In Africa, women have a long history of bringing under control obstacles to keep their heads above the water. So, it comes as no surprise whenever African women are recognized and decorated across the continent and globe for performing brilliantly well in their various fields of endeavor. In Kenya for instance, a list of national ...

Jeff Koinange Biography  All About His Age, Wife  Shaila Koinange & Family Jeff Koinange is a well-known Kenyan journalist. He currently hosts Jeff Koinange Live on KTN. Koinange has served as a journalist in the United States and has also worked for a few U.S. broadcasters. He was born in Kenya but attended college in the United States, which may explain his accent. There are several interesting ...

Caroline Mutoko Biography  Age, Daughter & House Caroline Mutoko is a Kenyan radio presenter, famously known for hosting a morning breakfast show on Kiss 100 FM. The station is based in Nairobi and ranks among the highly-rated radio stations in Kenya with online streaming services as well. Learn more about the Kenyan-born journalist. Caroline Mutokos Age and Bio Born on January 4, 1973, Caroline is ...

The Most Stunning News Presenter In Kenya Discloses Her Real Age  You Would Not Believe It In modern African societies, it is often regarded as impolite or outright lack of disrespect to ask a woman of her age. We also have seen celebrities lie about how old they are when asked their age. People, mostly women have refused to let people know their real age, despite being public figures. The few ...

Demystifying Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Biography, Husband & Education Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian novelist, non-fiction writer, short story writer and actress. As a seasoned Nigerian writer, she has been called the most prominent of a procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors that is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature. She has been making Nigeria proud in the global scene ...

Wole Soyinka  Biography, Wife, Children, Family, Quick Facts Professor Wole Soyinka, a great and brilliant Nigerian writer and political activist, who was the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. The name, Wole Soyinka, is a household name both in Africa and beyond especially in the field of literature. With over 50 pieces of work, his writing includes poems, novels, memoirs ...

5 Most Vulgar Kenyan Radio Presenters It appears being vulgar is the real deal nowadays especially for the fact that the world is becoming more exposed and civilized. Sadly, but true, young people are constantly being exposed to images, discussions, and content that most people would deem detrimental to the African culture and moral statutes. This is because most of us ...

6 Sexiest News Anchors In Kenya Some news anchors have been stealing eyes every time they appear on-screen. Most of us hardly concentrate on the programme they present as our entire focus is usually on their striking physique and beautiful faces. It is common knowledge that Kenyan women are amazingly beautiful. From the celebrities to the everyday woman, they are all in ...

Interesting Oprah Winfrey Quotes To Keep You Motivated Oprah Winfrey is one of the worlds most powerful women in the media and business sectors. Her life is the typical success story that motivates and lifts ones morale. One amazing thing about this media mogul is her sincerity about past hurts, mistakes, healing, and success. The renowned talk show host and media personality is the first ...

Chinua Albert Achebe Biography- Family, Net Worth & Death Chinua Albert Achebe, of blessed memory, was a Nigerian prolific author best known for his inventive style of writing and simplicity of expressions. Famed as one of the finest writers Nigeria has ever produced, Achebe lived and died an international hero and a literary giant, who left behind unforgettable legacies and footprints in the sands of ...

Steve Harvey  His Wife, Kids & Height Steve Harvey is an American comedian, actor, radio and TV show host, producer and an author of different relationship advice books. Steve Harveys Early Life Born in Welch, West Virginia, on January 17, 1957, as Broderick Stephen Harvey, Steve was the last of five children. His family relocated to Cleveland when he was young and there, he attended Glenville High School from ...

Intriguing Things You Should Know About Danny Kokers Rise to Fame and Who His Wife Is Danny Koker is popular as the star of the History Channel reality TV series, Counting Cars. Prior to him appearing on the show, the TV personality was a musician who had embarked on a number of national tours with his rock group, Counts 77. He and his group have released quite a number of songs ...

Fun Facts You Didnt Know About Andy Cohens Rise to Prominence and His Partner Andy Cohen is one of Americas top media personalities who gained prominence after helping to bring the Bravo network back to life. He also hosted a couple of shows on the network, including the popular nightly series Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. After rising to the position of head of production and development at ...

Tracing Isha Sesays Career Until CNN, Her Worth And Why She Divorce Her Husband As far as journalists of African origin go, Isha Sesay is one of the most famous on the continent  and by extension, the world. The Sierra Leonean and British journalist has had a successful career since she joined the industry in 1998. In that time, she has worked for a host of major media ...

Open Secrets of How Joanna Gaines Balances Her Career With Being a Wife and Mother Joanna Gaines is the co-founder of Magnolia Homes, a business she runs with one goal: converting houses to homes. She doubles as the lead designer of the company which she co-owns with her husband, Chip Gaines. Lady Gaines gained massive popularity when she became a co-star with her husband on the HGTVs show, Fixer Upper. ...

Juicy Details of Ayesha Currys Love Story With Stephen, Her Family Members and Recent Pursuits When your husband is one of the greatest basketballers that the NBA has ever seen, then it bestows on you the status of a celebrity wife  and may not even demand that you do anything extra to maintain that status. However, Ayesha Curry, the wife of multiple NBA champion, Steph Curry, is not one ...

What Is Tarek el Moussas Ethnicity, Why Did He Divorce His Wife and Who Is He Dating? Tarek El Moussa has made himself one of the most recognizable men on reality television, especially to fans of HGTV. Thanks to his expertise in the world of real estate, Tarek has become a national star. But even to his hardcore followers, there are questions about Tarek El Moussa that remain unanswered, such as his ...

Fun Facts About Natalie Beckers Lonely Childhood and Eventual Career Success Natalie Becker is an actress of South African descent who became famous for her appearance in films like The World Unseen and The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. A multitalented individual, Natalie is also a television/radio presenter. She is also a co-founder of the Thought Leader Global Media which she runs together with ...

Top 3 Female CNN News Anchors You Didnt Know Were Africans CNN is one of the leading news agencies in the world. The satellite and cable news network was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner and has been one of the best sources of news for a number of years. It also boasts of the best journalists and presenters all around in media broadcasting. The company is a ...

Channels That Aided Katie Pavlichs Growth as a Journalist and All About Her Marriage To Friedson If you have ever come across any Fast and Furious featuring Barack Obama, it is the handiwork of Katie Pavlich. The book which claims to have exposed Obamas bloodiest scandal and the shameless cover-up thereof, has been earning Pavlich much praise and fame ever since it was published in 2012. Nonetheless, Pavlich is more famed ...

Is Oprah Winfrey Married? Husband, Children, Biography, House, Facts Oprah Winfrey is a billionaire philanthropist, talk show icon, producer, actress, and writer. The media icon famously dubbed The Queen Of All Media owns and hosts the highest-rated television program in the media circle. Read more about the powerful television star below. Oprah Winfrey Biography Oprah was born as Orpah Gail Winfrey on January 29, 1954, to a ...

Who Is Arsenio Hall, What Happened To His Talk Show and Why Do Fans Think He Is Gay? He is one of the funniest beings to have graced the comedy constituent of the American entertainment industry. Arsenio Hall has a reputation for the rib-cracking disposition always portrayed in his comedy roles. He is not just a comedian; he is also an actor and a former talk show host for his popular show, The ...

What Is Woah Vicky Famous For and Who Are Her Family Members? Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Woah Vicky is one of those stars that have utilized the internet as a powerful tool to propel themselves to instant fame. The social media space, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc., offers lots of people the right opportunities and potentials to become superstars overnight. Not everyone achieves ...

Where Is Michael Strahan Since His Retirement From The NFL and Who Is His Partner? Michael Strahan is a retired American football player turned media personality. He played the defensive lineman position and holds the record for most sacks in a single NFL season. He also only played for the New York Giants throughout the entire 15-year professional career that saw him win a Super Bowl ring. In February 2014, ...

How Wendy Williams Went From Being a College DJ to Having Her Own Talk Show and More About Her Divorce Wendy Williams is a former radio personality, now talk show host, who is known for her outspokenness and brash no-nonsense attitude. She gained fame and notoriety for her on-air clashes with celebrities before moving on to host her own talk show. Since 2008, Williams has hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show, The Wendy Williams Show. ...

Who is Sunny Hostin? Her Husband, Family & Net Worth Sunny Hostin is no ordinary Latina  American lawyer but also a successful columnist, multi-platform journalist, and social commentator. A happily married woman and mother of two, Hostin is the Senior Legal Correspondent and Analyst for ABC News and co-host of ABCs popular morning talk show, The View. She is a legal expert popularly known as a former ...

Who Is Robert Costa and Is He Married, Who Is His Wife? Robert Costa is a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC who is regarded as being part of Americas next generation of journalists. The University of Notre Dame graduate, who is of Italian/Portuguese descent, has been lauded for his fresh political perspectives in an industry full of old heads. In addition to his work listed above, Costa ...

Team Valor Pokemon Go  7 Key Facts You Need To Know Team Valor Pokemon Go  The craze of the new game Pokemon Go is one that took the gaming world by storm sending teenagers and adults alike into a frenzy and one of its teams Team Valor, has proven to be instrumental in making it so. Before the game was created, Pokemon was a cartoon ...

Sheryl Underwood  Husband, Family & Net Worth She is known for her trademark smile which can be described as the brightest and broadest smile ever seen on planet earth. She is none other than Sheryl Underwood the comedian, actress, and TV host whose funny wits has left America in great awe. Although Sheryl has risen to become an important personality in the industry, ...

Team Mystic Pokemon Go: 7 Facts You Need To Know And Signs You Are One Team Mystic of the break out game Pokemon Go is a team that is full of sass and chivalry. With an enchanting monicker, Team Mystic stands out from the rest of its counterparts and deserves to take the crown as champion in the Pokemon gaming-verse. To be a member of this exceptional team of Pokemon battle ...

Exploring Guy Beahms Dr Disrespect Persona, Wife and Why He was Banned Permanently From Twitch Guy Beahm who is popularly known by his online alias  Dr DisRespect, is an award-winning Twitch.tv streamer. He has leveraged on the Twitch platform to become an internet personality that is quite widely known. His online success is just more proof that anyone who is good at what they do can attain celebrity status ...

Critical Facts About Lee Ann McAdoo  The Infowars Anchor Lee Ann Mcadoo is a conservative journalist and television host whose interests in conspiracies and astrology has established her as a famous American reporter. Often referred to as Wonder Woman, McAdoo is a reporter who works for InfoWars.com, a controversial right-wing website run by radio show host, Alex Jones. Who Is Lee Ann McAdoo? Lee Ann McAdoo was born on 7 ...

Millie Weaver  Age, Husband & Infowars Career Millie Weaver is an American model, journalist, political activist, and social commentator. The young and beautiful journalist rose to fame working as a reporter for a controversial right-wing website InfoWars.com. Also known as Millennial Millie, Weaver is a social media influencer with over 100,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel and over 35,000 followers on Twitter. Who Is Millie Weaver and What Is ...

Is Jessica Tarlov Married? What Are Her Height & Weight? Jessica Tarlov is an American political consultant, strategist, and analyst whose influential and regular TV presence has made a popular figure. A good example of beauty with brains, Tarlov has appeared on various TV networks, mostly the FOX News Network where she is known for her liberal views on political analysis and insights. She is also the senior director ...

Who Is Kelly Rebecca Nichols  Alex Jones Ex-Wife? Kelly Rebecca Nichols is the ex-wife of controversial American radio show host, Alex Jones. She got nationwide attention following her divorce and subsequent custody battle with her estranged husband. Nichols, who worked with PETAs public relations department, was herself no stranger to controversies as she was involved in several publicity stunts of the non-profit animal rights ...

Who Is Bree Morgan  Cole Sprouse Ex-Girlfriend And What Is She Up To Now? Although Bree Morgan became famous through the Instagram, she also sapped some dose of popularity from Disneys sweetheart, Cole Sprouse of the Sprouse brothers. She is not only an Instagram star but also a YouTube vlogger whose popularity has long exceeded the ordinary level. Bree is conspicuously prominent on the internet and has her digital savviness ...

Does Vanna White Have Husband or Children, What Is Her Net Worth / Salary? For over three decades, Vanna White has been a household name, famous as the co-host and letter turner of the iconic NBC game show Wheel of Fortune. The talented and beautiful television personality is also an actress with several TV series and films to her credit. Since making her Wheel of Fortune debut in 1982, she has become one ...

Liz Wheeler  Biography, Husband & Net Worth Liz Wheeler is the kind of girl who sets the room on fire whenever she comes around. In this situation, however, she sets our screens on fire each time she appears as the host of One America News Tipping Point. She is, therefore, a presenter, publisher, consultant and a member of the Board of Zoning ...

Betty White  Net Worth, Children & Husband The entertainment industry will remain indebted to personalities like Betty White who brought something extra to the table and kept the world entertained for donkey years. The comedienne, actress, and writer graced the big screens in the early 50s as a show host and has been a delight since then. She is the queen of ...

Is Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Dead or Alive, What Are His Net Worth & Education? Everyone will always remember Bill Nye as the Science Guy. Besides his TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, he is well-known for his Netflix show Bill Nye Saves the World which started airing in 2017 as well as his appearances in many famous media projects as a science educator. The star studied mechanical engineering ...

Is Cesar Millan Dead, Who Is The Wife & What Is His Net Worth? Cesar Millan is the famous dog whisperer who often stirs up mixed emotions. The Mexican-American is precisely speaking, a dog behaviorist; he has been in the game for over 25 years. His Emmy-nominated television series, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan further pushed his method and tactics into the limelight. The series was produced from 2004 ...

Is Thomas Sanders Gay and Does He Have A Boyfriend? By the time Vine was shut down in January 2017, Thomas Sanders was already popular within and beyond the internet community for his heavy involvements on the online video hosting platform. After the tragic shutdown of Vine impacted on the growing career of the multi-talented personality, he immediately switched over to YouTube where he continued to upload ...

Is Shepard Smith Gay, Who Is The Boyfriend & What Is His Net Worth? There are only a few media personalities who are as bold and confident as Shepard Smith. Apart from his impressive stint at Fox News Channel which includes but not limited to his classic news delivery, upfront stance on virtually every issue and much more; he loves his job as much as he loves his personality. Smith ...

Is Milo Yiannopoulos Gay? His Husband and Net Worth Milo Yiannopoulos is a popular writer, journalist, polemicist, public speaker, and political commentator who is also known as the founder of The Kernel, an online blog. He has been said to be among the list of 100 weird and influential people in the United Kingdom. He appeared on this list as a result of personal beliefs and ...

Does Ryan Seacrest Have A Wife Or Girlfriend, What Is His Net Worth? From radio to television, Ryan Seacrest is a household name and a force to be reckoned with in showbiz. The radio personality, television host, and producer is best recognized as the host of the popular TV talent search contest American Idol. Heres how the media personality who always knew what his lifes ambition was and diligently pursued ...

Is Anderson Cooper Gay, Who is The Boyfriend or Husband? For many, the thought of becoming a millionaire by writing and talking about other people appears unachievable but this is the reality of the prominent American journalist Anderson Cooper who gathered millions of dollars for conducting accurate political analysis and other vital reports on TV. He is the main anchor of the CNN news show Anderson ...

Is David Muir Gay or Does He Have A Wife, What Is His Salary? David Muir is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works for the ABC broadcast-television network and anchors the ABC World News Tonight with David Muir program while also co-anchoring the magazine program 20/20. The Ithaca College graduate, whose show has become the most-watched newscast in America, has covered stories from all across America and the world; reporting ...

Joel Osteen  Divorce Rumors, Net Worth & Family Members Joel Osteen is an American Televangelist, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church based in Houston, Texas, a husband and a father of two. He is an author of many books, seven of which are New York Times Best Sellers and his televised sermons capture more than 7 million viewers per week and 20 million every month ...

Who Is Todd Chrisley? What To Know About His Children, Gay Rumors & Net Worth Premiered on the USA network in 2014, Chrisley Knows Best is one of the most watched family reality TV shows in the U.S. The series which is currently in its sixth season is centered around U.S real estate mogul Todd Chrisley and his family. The show reveals Todd the patriarch of the Chrisley family as a strict dad who rules ...

Who Is Shannon Bream Of Fox News? Her Husband, Children & Net Worth Shannon Bream who hosts the iconic primetime program started her journalism career in the late 1990s debuting as the evening and late-night news reporter for the CBS affiliate, WBTV. The beauty from America currently works for the Fox News Channel and she is best known for anchoring the primetime program. She also hosts Americas News ...

Is Troye Sivan Gay, Who Is His Boyfriend and What Is His Net Worth? Troye Sivan is an Australian singer and songwriter best known for songs like Happy Little Pill, Youth, Heaven (with Betty Who) and The Boyfriend Tag (with Tyler Oakley) which have all garnered him different awards and ranked on the Billboard Charts. Sivan, who was born in South Africa but now resides in the United States, is ...

Did iDubbbz Have Cancer, Is He Gay and Who Is His Girlfriend Now? iDubbbz is one YouTuber who has made a career out of courting controversy. Renowned for his absurdist channels and comedy video series, the Los Angeles based personality is the owner of two channels, iDubbzTV, and iDubbzTV2, as well as the brains behind comedy video series such as Content Cop, Kickstarter Crap, Gaming News Crap, and ...

Inside Greg Gutfelds Love Story With Wife Elena Moussa and Why Fans Thought He Was Gay Greg Gutfeld is a seasoned American television producer whose career in the media industry has spanned over a decade. He is a man of many talents who makes extra income through comedy, journalism, and editorial works. Gutfeld regularly appears on Fox News Channel as a panellist and co-host of the political talk show The Five ...

Works That Made Bo Burnham A Household Name and How Much He Is Worth Now One of YouTubes first viral stars and the worlds most exciting young comedian, Bo Burnham, has always amazed critics and comedy aficionados alike. Often regarded as the Justin Bieber of comedy, thanks to his fresh looks, floppy blond hair and hoodies, he has a multi-faceted career bigger than many comedians twice his age. It wouldnt ...

Is Louie Anderson Gay And What Is His Net Worth? Louie Anderson has one of the most abstract faces in the industry and equally knows how to use it to his advantage. He is not only a stand-up comedian but also an actor and television host who is known for his distinctive comic wits. Some of his notable projects include Family Feud, where he was ...

Is Don Lemon of CNN Gay, Who is His Partner and What Is His Salary? Don Lemon has risen to become one of the most recognizable faces on CNN over the past few years. The fiery journalist, who anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, is liked and somewhat disliked for his strong and candid opinions on a variety of matters that do not just include politics but also race, significantly, matters that ...

Is Rachel Maddow Gay, Who is the Wife and How Much Does She Earn in Salary? Rachel Maddow is an award-winning American journalist, political commentator, and television news anchor. She is best known for hosting the popular nightly TV show The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Prior to this, she hosted a talk radio program on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010. As of now, the TV sensation co-anchors MSNBCs ...

Demystifying Pokimane  Her Real Name, Ethnicity & Boyfriend Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Pokimane Thicc is one of those stars who took advantage of the internet to make a name for herself. Given the unlimited potentials which the social media space offers, many people have been instantly propelled to fame just by posting creative online contents. Not only has ...

A Breakdown of Kris Jenners Net Worth, Sources Of Income and Relationships Over The Years Standing outside and looking in, Kris Jenner looks like the oil that greases the wheels of the entire Kardashian/Jenner machine. She has been dubbed a momager and rightfully so because she seems to have had a part to play in the trajectory of each and every one of her daughters individually and the Kardashian brand ...

Pursuits That Brought Liza Koshys Fame To its Zenith and Her Love Life Since David Dobrik Liza Koshy is an American actress who has leveraged YouTube as a platform to promote her comedy while also serving as a television host on occasions. She is talented and funny and has gathered a lot of fans from around the world. Koshy started on Vine in high school and was able to get millions of ...

Alex Aiono Biography  Inside The Life Of The American Singer Not everyone who started from the streets has attained the heights where Alex Aiono is currently. His story could be referred to as the perfect definition of rising from Grass to Grace. He came into the limelight after he started out as a YouTuber, singer, and producer. One fascinating thing about the young YouTuber is ...

Virginia Vallejo Biography And Her Love Story With Pablo Escobar Virginia Vallejo can be referred to as one of the oldest whistleblowers in history after her involvement with Pablo Escobar which made her famous. Over the years, many questions have been raised about her relationship with the drug lord and why she endangered her life to be with him despite his notorious acts. The death ...

Princess Love Bio  Ethnicity, Real Name & Parents For many people, Princess Love is simply Ray Js wife but there is so much more to this feisty lady than meets the eye. She is a star in her own right and has many feathers on her cap. Princess Love is a reality TV star, a model, video vixen, and fashion designer. She and her ...

Who is Papa Franku Also Known As Filthy Frank or Joji, Where is He Now? The social media as we all know today has given people the opportunity to be creative and innovative and at the same time, make something of themselves. YouTube is one of the known social platforms we have today that makes it possible for people to express their God-given talents and post videos they created to ...

Who Is Molly Qerim, How Did She Become a Famous Sports Anchor and Who Is Her Husband? Molly Qerim is an American sports anchor popularly known for moderating First Take, a highly rated sports talk show, on ESPN. Prior to joining ESPN, Qerim hosted Fantasy Live and NFL AM on NFL Network. It is quite obvious that the widely acclaimed television personality is in a class of her own when it comes ...

Safiya Nygaard  Height, Parents & Net Worth Safiya Nygaard is an American YouTuber, writer, content producer, and director who is popular for posting makeup, beauty and fashion videos on YouTube. Her videos regularly top at least one million views, thanks to her lively character as well as her willingness to experiment with outrageous outfits and different beauty products. Here are the things to ...

The Rigors of Sunlen Serfatys Career Journey Until CNN and Fun Facts About Her Personal Life CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty is an Emmy Award-winning journalist known for covering a broad range of breaking news stories, national news, and Washington politics. She has been able to garner widespread recognition for herself which even goes beyond the sphere of her work. Her profile also increased with the extensive work she did in covering ...

Demystifying Jazz Jennings Real Name, Boyfriend & Family Of One The Youngest Transgenders Jazz Jennings is an unusual personality who became famous as a transgender activist and was recorded as the youngest documented public figure to be seen as transgender. She is also a YouTube personality and spokesmodel for brands, her fans, and other transgenders. She fought for acceptance in her high school with her super supportive family for over ...

Inside Fred Armisens Life  Ethnicity, Romantic Relationships and Gay Rumors Fred Armisen is an award-winning American comedian, he is also a writer, an actor as well as a musician. He was a cast member of the legendary comedy show, Saturday Night Live for 13 years and also one of the brains behind the successful satirical show Portlandia. Find out more about this incredibly talented guy ...

Ed and Lorraine Warren Biography: Cases, Kids, and Family Life Have you ever woken up with fear you could not explain, or felt a strange presence that made the hair at your nape rise or even experienced strange occurrences around you? Well, these were some of the promptings that made the well-known paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren delve into trying to explain the ideas ...

Truth About Tony Romos Wife, Kids and Life Since His NFL Retirement Tony Romo grew from the field as a quarterback to the screens as an American Football Analyst. He was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the richest football league in the world (NFL) before retiring. As a junior, he was honored as an All-Ohio Conference Member, an Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and ...

Who is Brittany Venti, The Controversial Game Streamer and YouTuber? In recent times, many people live stream themselves playing video games. This has become a popular pastime on the internet and many highly skilled gamers have become internet celebrities through this means. However, some of them rather than becoming renowned for their gaming skills and great commentary, have become controversial and infamous. A good example ...

Rob Dyrdeks Family: His Kids And Relationship With Wife Bryiana Noelle Flores A multi-talented star and an elite pro skateboarder, Rob Dyrdeks success story began at a remarkably young age. Yet another proof that schooling doesnt always correlate with success, Rob has established himself not just as a phenomenal sportsman but also as a successful entrepreneur. Besides perfecting his skill as a natural talent on the board, ...

xChocobars  Biography and Everything You Should Know About Her Having distinguished herself and recorded massive successes in an industry notably dominated by men, it is very safe to say that Xchocobars deserves all the attention and cash she makes from her career. A household name on Twitch (a smart live streaming video platform), the online-gamer is popularly known for streaming classic games such as Stardew ...

Everything To Know About Mary Padian, Her Boyfriend and Net Worth Mary Padian is a famous American television reality personality best known for her involvements on the Reality show Storage Wars. She also has her own shop called Mary finds where she displays her antique collections. Since her childhood, Padian has been a creative learner. At the time, she used to create new items out of reusable ones and ...

Betsy Woodruffs Family Life: Is She Married or Related To Bob Woodruff? An old name in the world of journalism, Betsy Woodruff has warmed her way into the hearts of many with her impressive talents. Through hard work, Woodruff has carved a niche for herself in a very competitive field. Betsy has strong family and work values and is also an advocate for equal opportunities for everyone ...

Matpat (Matthew Patrick)  Wife, Height & Net Worth As far as internet business is concerned, Matpat remains one of the most dynamic and seasoned figures. He boasts a wealth of experience that has helped him in growing his business from one level of greatness to another. Like most successful people, MatPat started out small but today, he makes millions of dollars from his ...

Facts About Ricegum  His Girlfriend, Real Name & Net Worth Ricegum is an online gamer and YouTube sensation who ditched college; took advantage of the digital era, and made a name for himself on the internet. Though he began as a gaming YouTuber, Ricegum soon gained recognition as a controversial internet star following his many diss tracks. Here is everything you need to know about the youngster ...

Joy Taylor Once Married MLBs Richard Giannotti  Inside Look At Her Love Life and Family The erosion of the sexist idea that women have no business in sports broadcasting created a host of women celebrities who attained fame outside of modeling and acting. One of them, Joy Taylor, a radio personality and TV host for Fox Sports 1, has been in the industry since 2009, becoming one of the most ...

What To Know About Conan OBriens Wife, Kids & Family Today The name Conan OBrien is one that jumps right at you almost immediately you start talking about the most popular television hosts in the USA and this is no surprise because the man behind that name has risen to become one of the most admired men in the business. Known for hosting the late-night talk ...

David Letterman  Net Worth, Wife & Son In all of American, one man whose face has been seen frequently by late night TV talk show lovers is none but David Letterman. The comedian and TV show veteran has been hosting late night talk shows for more than three decades. His Late Night with David Letterman show began on February 1st, 1982 aired ...

Demystifying Sssniperwolfs Family Background And The Boyfriends Shes Had Since she launched her eponymously named channel in 2013, Sssniperwolf has been on the rise when it comes to video game influencers. She is one of the biggest names in the online gaming subgenre of YouTube videos. Real name Lia Shelesh, she started with Call of Duty: Black Ops II but has diversified with other ...

Lester Holt  Wife, Family & Net Worth Lester Holt is a multiple award-winning journalist, newscaster, reporter, and actor who has worked for notable media houses like WCBS TV, CBS, MSNBC and among others. His remarkable feat in journalism has endeared him to the hearts of many and earned him some awards and recognitions. Read on to get acquainted with his biography, ethnicity, ...

What Is Louis C.K. Doing Now, Where Are His Family And How Much Is His Net Worth? It is not easy to make it in comedy. It takes more than a funny bone and the ability to elicit a few giggles from a listening audience. For all the complexities that go into making a successful career in comedy, Louis C.K, the Washington D.C-born comedian, did it. For years, he was at the ...

The Progression of Hoda Kotbs Career, Her Ancestry and Family Life Hoda Kotb gained fame as a television host and news anchor for NBC. She anchors the shows signature show Today, and it has been an excellent vehicle for her skills in front of a camera. Kotb has won several awards, including Daytime Emmys and Peabody Awards. Simply put, she is one of the most successful ...

Jerry Seinfelds Family: All About The Amazing Comedians Wife and Kids Apparently one of the highly important entertainers in America, Jerry Seinfeld is a man of many talents. A very funny man, he is considered to be one of the most successful comedians in the USA who has been in the business as a professional rib-cracker for more than 40 years. As an actor, he has ...

The Rigors Of Sarah Silvermans Rise To Prominence And Rundown Of The Men She Has Dated A comedian, writer, and actress, Sarah Silvermans art and craft is as unique as you would ever find. Her poignant use of comedy to discuss social issues such as race, sexism, politics, and religion has gained her an impressive following. As unorthodox as her style is, so is her life experiences. She previously suffered from epiglottitis ...

Who Is Hannibal Buress, Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend & Why Was He Arrested? Making people laugh when they are tense or not in the mood is a tough order and to ply the trade, it must indeed take some guts and expertise, this is what the humor maker, Hannibal Buress has been able to achieve and sustain after his inital teething process. The African-American is a screen writer, stand-up ...

The Success of John Mulaneys Career Efforts Since His Work On Saturday Night Live and Facts About His Wife John Mulaney had been working as a professional comedian for years before Saturday Night Live changed his status for life and like many who are now his fans, you probably did not know of him then. However, that changed when he joined the sketch comedy show in 2008. Since then, he has been one of ...

Jeff Dunham  Wife, Children and Net Worth Ventriloquism is a very subtle method of making an inanimate object (like a puppet, doll or dummy) appear to be saying words which are actually coming from the person (holding the inanimate object). In effect, the individual throws his/her voice to the puppet and can even appear to be having a conversation with it. Not ...

Ellen DeGeneres  Net Worth, Wife  Portia de Rossi & Parents Ellen DeGeneres is an American female standup comedian who has proven that whatever a man can do, a woman can also do. Since her journey as a standup comedian started in 1981, she has held swirl as one of the finest comedians America and the world at large has seen. She is often referred to ...

Revisiting Joan Rivers Death  The Daughter, Husband & Net Worth She Left Behind Joan Rivers was a renowned American comedian, TV host, writer, and actress. Her brand of comedy consisted of scathing one-liners and no individual or topic is spared. She hosted her own talk shows in the 80s and 90s and was a pioneer for women in stand up comedy. She was the first woman to host a late night ...

The Struggles of Margaret Chos Childhood, How It Influenced Her Career Growth and Love Life Margaret Cho is best described as a comic star who knows how to maneuver everything related to life into a rib-cracking joke. She is also known to criticize every social and political problem, especially those involving race and sexuality. Apart from her talents as a comic actress, she does amazingly well as a singer and ...

Where Is Eric Bolling Today? Who Is His Son & What Is His Net Worth? Eric Bolling who was once a notable figure on Fox News, is an American TV personality, an author, and versatile Journalist. As a political and financial analyst/commentator, he anchored discussions bothering on finance for Fox Business Channel. Here is everything there is to know about his career, family, and allegations that led to his exit ...

Who Is Chelsea Handler and Does She Have A Husband or Boyfriend? Chelsea Handler is one of Americas top female comedians. She is also an actress, writer, television host, producer, and activist. She is known to be very outspoken even with things that are very personal. In separate interviews with The New York Times, Handler revealed that she had an abortion twice when she was 16. She has authored five books ...

How Did Laura Lee Achieve Fame, How Much is She Worth and Who is Her Husband? Laura Lee is a popular American YouTuber, make-up artist and beauty blogger. From posting videos of her makeup routines on Instagram, Lee has transformed into a beauty influencer and a YouTube sensation. Today, her YouTube Channel has over 630 million views and 4.5 million subscribers. Asides having millions of followers across all social media platforms, ...

Madison Gesiotto Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Measurements Madison Gesiotto is no ordinary woman; although she excelled in quite a number of pageants and competitions while she was in school, it is her views on politics and issues in America that has made her name known to most people. She possesses beauty and intelligence in a seemingly equal measure and has been able ...

Who Is Lil Tay? Parents, Brother, Sister, Age, Net Worth, Ethnicity Child stardom is nothing new in the entertainment world. With the advent of social media, we have seen more stars made from the internet than ever before, and Lil Tay is one of them. Her uploaded rap videos trademark is cursing, swearing, cash-throwing, and use of obscene languages. Her fame went wild after she dropped ...

What To Know About Tig Notaros Wife, Kids and Family Today Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comic star, writer, actress, and radio analyst. Since she started her career in 2001, she has become one of Americas best comedians, particularly when it comes to observational comedy. One prominent aspect of her routine involves her family, which includes a wife and two children. Interestingly, Tig Notaro is part ...

Who Is Chantel Jeffries? What To Know About Her Age, Ethnicity & Net Worth Chantel Jeffries is a lady of many talents. Beyond being celebrated as a DJ, she has fared well as a model, an actress, musician, and as an artist. She first rose to fame on Instagram where she has a large following. However, in recent times, she has hit the spotlight for her rumored relationships with some ...

Is Ellen DeGeneres Married, Who Is The Brother  Vance DeGeneres and Family Members? Ellen DeGeneres is one of a kind celebrity in todays world as she has used her wealth for the greater good for many people. She has served a host of famous awards shows like the Grammy, Primetime Emmy and Academy Awards. Moreso, she is probably one of the most decorated entertainment personalities around the world and ...

Carli Bybel Bio  Height, Boyfriend & Net Worth Video blogging is now on the rise and YouTube is the place where most of it happens. If you are a lady who cares about her looks or a guy who likes to help his woman out with her looks, then one person whose name rings a bell when it comes to giving beauty tips ...

Who Is Lexy Panterra? What To Know About Her Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth Lexy Panterra is one of the YouTube personalities whose breakout came through the Twerk dance videos she posted on her social media handles and YouTube which has so far generated over 13 million views for her. From there on, she created her LexTwerkOut workout program in 2014. She is sure very talented as she as moved ...

Who Is AnneMunition? What Is Her Ethnicity & Does She Have A Girlfriend or Boyfriend? AnneMunition is a professional gamer and content creator of American origin. She is one of the most sought-after streamers on Twitch  a popular online platform for watching and streaming videos, especially video games. AnneMunition has almost half a million followers on Twitch and her channel has accumulated at least 13 million views. Her favorite games ...

Norm MacDonald  Former Wife, Son & Net Worth Recently, 59-year-old former Saturday Night Live stand-up comic Norm MacDonald caused a not-so-funny stir when he expressed his personal opinion about the #MeToo movement speaking in defense of Louis CK and Roseanne Barr. Following the backlash of his actions, he is diligently doing damage control for his questionable opinion by posting a public apology on ...

Inside Iliza Shlesingers Life With Husband and How Much She is Worth Now Witty, spontaneous, and truly humorous, Iliza Shlesinger is an American comedian who is clearly proving that the stereotypical claim that women are not really funny is not only incredibly wrong but completely outrageous. Having been in the game for more than 10 years, Shlesinger has grown bigger with each step, stunning fans with her incredible ...

Who Is Nessa Diab? Details of her Parents, Ethnicity & Relationship With Colin Kaepernick Nessa Diab has gained more fame as the girlfriend of different footballers than in her career. She is currently with the popular National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, and has stood by his side during his most trying times. Also known for her mononym, Nessa, she recently engaged in a tweet battle with the ...

Samantha Bee  Inside the Life of Full Frontal Comedian and Presenter We have over the decades seen various brands of humor and personalities who have walked the ropes. One of the formidable forces in the world of comedy is no other than the iconic Samantha Bee of the Daily Show who now runs her own television show on TBS channel. She is a Canadian-American political commentator, ...

What Happened To Jessica Williamss Boyfriend And Which Are Her Best Works? Jessica Williams is a woman who has a lot of feathers in her cap  and keeps acquiring more. The former senior political correspondent of the comic Daily Show, who is also a comedian and actress whose recent movie appearance include starring as a playwright just recovering from a recent split with her boyfriend, Damon, and ...

Who is Nicole Byer? Here are 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Comedian Nicole Byer, an American comedian, actress, and writer, made a name for herself after she played supporting roles on MTVs prank show Ladylike and the reality show Girl Code. The latter was a series that featured comedians who analyzed in minute details, all the issues that young women deal with daily, from period to dating, to weird friendship dynamics and questions about sex. Currently, ...

A Closer Look At Bart Kwans Ethnicity, Height & Personal Life Bart Kwan is one of few Asians who is known for being successful in the comic industry at an international level. His fame broke out after the YouTube channel which he created with his close pal Joe Jo garnered up massive followings. The talented duo has been running the channel since 2007 and their success ...

Heres How VanossGaming Achieved Fame Online, His Worth and Other Facts About The Gamer For many years, the decision to drop out of college to pursue an online career was considered to be foolish and self-destructive by conventional wisdom. It was no different when Evan Fong, popularly known as VanossGaming, dropped out of college to pursue a YouTube career. However, that radical move paid off, and he stands shoulder to ...

Desi Perkins  Ethnicity, Net Worth & Husband YouTube is littered with videos of makeup tutorials by different people but if you are interested in learning how to do your makeup like a pro, there is just one person on that platform who you must follow. She is none other than Desi Perkins! She is a popular make-up artist, Instagram star, and vlogger. Desi, ...

The Phases of Casey Neistats Pursuits and His Love Story With Candice Pool YouTuber, vlogger, filmmaker, and creator extraordinaire; these are just a few hats that Casey Neistat wears and the story of how he got here is incredible. A native of Connecticut, Neistat started out by making refreshingly-authentic short films and videos that featured content that was based on everyday life and called attention to serious issues. He ...

Connor Franta  Inside The Life of American YouTuber YouTube has produced a lot of young celebrities in modern times and Connor Franta happens to be one of them. Apart from being a YouTuber, the young American is also an entrepreneur, entertainer, and writer. His journey to fame began almost a decade ago when he started a self-named YouTube channel where he uploads content ranging ...

Rhett and Link  Bio, Who are Their Wives, Net Worth and Family Facts Rhett and Link refer to an American comedy duo who are very popular on YouTube. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. Good Mythical Morning is the most watched daily show online, averaging 100 million views in a month. The show has featured guests such ...

A Walk Through The Maze of Ryan Higas Career Pursuits And Relationship With Arden Cho Ryan Higa is not only celebrated as a YouTube star, but he is also famed for appearing on television screens as an actor and comedian. Nigahiga, his Youtube channel, has gathered over 20 million subscribers and billions of views with his different comic acts, short films, and music videos uploads. With the rise in his career, ...

What to Know About The Shows That Made Craig Ferguson a Star and His Family Ties Rising to the top of your profession can sometimes be a hard and difficult process. It requires days and nights of working consistently hard to be better than what you were yesterday. It requires not giving up when all of your experiences seem to be pushing you to quit. It is because of these challenges ...

David Dobrik Married Liza Koshy for One Month  Inside His Family and Relationships David Dobrik is a YouTube sensation who has garnered fame not just for his vlogs but his love life too. Given his career as a YouTuber, his channel is one place where he shares his romantic escapades. With a cute boyish look like his, this Slovakian young man is definitely a good catch, and not ...

Merrell Twins Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Boyfriend One of the beautiful things about modern life is social media. As rudimentary as it might seem, it could turn out to be the greatest thing that would be invented in the next 50 years because of its impact on human life. Very few tools have revolutionized human behavior and culture as much as social ...

Who Is Bunny Meyer, Is She Married & What Is Her Net Worth? Bunny Meyer is a YouTube celebrity who has amassed over 8.8 million subscribers with 1.5 million viewers on her channel. She is popularly known as Grav3yardgirl and is one of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world. She initially started out as a fashion designer and later chose the path of a YouTuber. Grav3yardgirl has used her knowledge on fashion, makeup, ...

Ninja  Inside The Life of The American YouTuber and Internet Personality Ninja is a talented video game player known for his mastery of Fortnite and other seemingly difficult games he plays with ease. The video gamer made a career out of what is ordinarily the hobby of many people and has since then amassed a huge online following. Find out about him here, including the controversies that ...

What Is Eva Gutowskis True Sexuality and How Did She Rise So Fast As an Influencer? Ever since Eva Gutowski joined YouTube in 2011, it has been an interesting journey for her, moving from one milestone to the other. Backed by an army of young women and teenage girl fans known as Evanators, she has risen to become one of the most-talked-about personalities in the digital stratosphere. She has also leveraged ...

Emma Chamberlain Biography  Age, Height & Net Worth Before now, people in the entertainment industry could only achieve popularity after many years of dedication and hard work but since social media came into the scene, massive success and overnight popularity became possible. That is the story of Emma Chamberlain who encountered fame as a fifteen-year-old. Emma is one of the many young people who became ...

Anna Akana  Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth There is a new crop of YouTubers known by their different contents with a very strong uniqueness that stands every one of them out, some upload video games, some fashion while some others have comedy video contents to showcase on their channels. Anna Akana has used her platform to showcase her comedy contents to the ...

Revealing Truths About Lilly Singhs Ethnic Background, Family and Her Relationship With Yousef Erakat Lilly Singh is an Indian-Canadian YouTube personality, actress, and comedian also known as Superwoman. She kicked off her YouTube career in 2010 with the launch of her channel IISuperwomanII and followed it up with a vlog channel in 2011. This paved the way for her fame and success which led to a world tour. The ...

Who Is Andrea Constand, Is She Married and What Is Her Connection With Bill Cosby? Many people got sexually molested but could not voice out due to the stigma victims suffer and what will become of them thereafter. Very few of the victims danm every consequence to seek justice and bring the perpetrator to the book, like Andrea Constand. She never got any media buzz, not until her friend cum molester; ...

Who Is Lazarbeam (Lannan Eacott)? Here Are Facts You Need To Know Lannan Eacott became a person of interest after his YouTube channel, LazarBeam pulled him to the limelight. Initially, he started with uploads of Madden Challenge videos before deciding to build his own channel in January 2015. Within the space of three years, his YouTube channel had gathered over 7 million loyal subscribers. Today, he has not ...

Puzzling Facts About Wengies YouTube Success and More About Her Fiance Among the many YouTubers who have succeeded in winning the hearts of millions of people is Wengie. She is a Chinese-Australian YouTube personality, vlogger, singer, and voice actress. Wengie is famous for a lot of things, from her simple life hacks, DIYs, craft ideas to fun experiments, tricks and pranks. Her content portfolio also includes hair tutorials, diet & fitness tips, lookbooks, ...

Is Jeffree Star A Billionaire and How Much Does He Make On YouTube? If looks can be deceptive then theres no other person who proves this maxim better than Jeffree Star. A quick look at Stars pictures would likely leave you wondering whether or not to tag him a male or female. But who says being controversial has to be a curse? For Star, his looks have caught ...

The Place of Rosanna Pansinos Career Hats In Her Rise To Fame and Facts About Her Personal Life There are a few phrases that could summarize Rosanna Pansinos rise to fame. None of them can do it better than the famous axiom, no knowledge is lost. Her popularity YouTube comes out of her foray into other professions, specifically acting. Although acting now occupies one of the major professional hats in Rosannas resume, it was ...

Muselk (Elliott Watkins) Biography  Age, Girlfriend and Net Worth The new and best in-thing in terms of career is video gaming and we have over time seen young men and women make massive income from an activity that was purportedly designed to serve as a hobby or a relaxation activity. One of such individuals is the Australian-born YouTube Celebrity and Twitch streamer, Muselk, whose ...

PopularMMOs Biography: 5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know We have over the years seen social media millionaires, especially on the YouTube social platform. These celebrities cum millionaires have made names for themselves after carving out niches on the internet, and a typical example of one of such exciting media personality on the YouTube is American Minecraft gamer and YouTube star, PopularMMOs whose channel ...

Jason Nash Once Married Marney Hochman  What To Know About His Ex-Wife and Kids The now-defunct video-sharing app Vine was the path that led Jason Nash to fame. With it, he built an audience of over two million followers, which he parlayed into a significant YouTube career. That move has seen him become one of the most popular personalities on the internet, with the cash income to go with ...

Where Does Dantdm Live? What Do We Know About His Net Worth, Wife and Brother? Most parents buy video games for their kids to occupy their time leisure, while other parents frown at their kids when they play video games. Despite the disparity, every parent would be proud of their child if he/she eventually turns a celebrity or millionaire through playing video games like Dantdm. Biography of Dantdm Dantdm was born Daniel ...

LaurDIY  Biography: 5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTuber LaurDIY is the YouTube channel of Lauren Riihimaki which she created on December 1, 2011, when she was still a college undergrad with the sole aim of giving Do It Yourself (DIY) as well as practical fashion and beauty tips to her followers. She has used the channel to establish herself as a YouTube personality ...

Lachlan Ross Power  Bio And Family Life Of Australian The YouTube Star It is amazing the varied sources of income that the internet has made possible in this day and age. Internet fame can get its holder a whole lot of monetary and social benefits, but it must be noted that it does not come easy or cheap. For those who desire fame, content is the sacrifice ...

Alfie Deyes  Bio and Net Worth: Everything You Need To Know Alfie Deyes is one internet personality you definitely would like to know about. He boasts of over 10 million subscribers on three of his YouTube channels and has three bestseller books to his name. He is probably the most renowned young personality on YouTube today and his vlogging empire continues to grow by the day. ...

Colleen Ballingers Love Story With Husband Erik Stocklin and How Much She Is Worth Now Colleen Ballinger is an American comedian and YouTuber who is a very funny, adventurous, and highly talented woman. She is also an actress, singer, and writer. Collen is widely known for her work on YouTube where she posts content on her channel, Miranda Sings. The comedian has gained many subscribers over the years and has ...

Who Are The Dude Perfect Members and How Much Are They Worth? Entertainment in the 21st century can be digested in many forms and with platforms like YouTube, the creators and purveyors of entertainment have been democratized. Today, one of the most popular platforms to exhibit ones creative talents is YouTube, even though there are other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, who suffer in comparison to YouTube because ...

Who Is Rudy Mancuso, What Is His Earning Power and What Do We Know About His Girlfriend? Rudy Mancuso started his internet journey on Vine. He would later transition to YouTube where he solidified his place among the internets most beloved comedic creators. He is now regarded as one of the renowned internet personalities in the world, with a presence in mainstream TV and film projects like Comedy Centrals Drunk History and ...

Vsauce (Michael Stevens) Biography and Net Worth: All You Need To Know The advent of YouTube and the internet as a whole revolutionized how human beings consume information. With each passing year, the percentage of learning that is done in a traditional classroom decrease as a seismic shift to internet-based learning happens in our education industry. From open courses online to YouTube classes and videos, there are ...

How did Jake Paul Make His YouTube Big Break and Who is His Wife? One of the most interesting Social Media personalities of the 21st century is the young and popular Jake Paul whose elder brother is the famed Vine star, Logan Paul. Jake has utilized the power of the internet to bring himself to the limelight with a channel named JakePaulProductions that has amassed up to six billion ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About Reaction Time (Tal Fishman)  The American YouTuber Before 2015, the leading meaning of reaction time was the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, until Tal Fishman started his channel, Reaction Time on YouTube and the dominant meaning changed. Today, a google search of Reaction Time would deliver Tal Fishmans videos and YouTube channel link with a few physics ...

Grace Helbig  Net Worth, Boyfriend and Family Life of The YouTuber Grace Helbig is an American internet personality, comedian, actress, and writer. She became popular due to her daily vlog series, DailyGrace, which ran on My Damn Channel from 2008 to 2013. Helbig is also popular for her own indie series on YouTube, ItsGrace, which she launched in 2014. Her vlogs which feature random stuff such as ...

Mark Wiens Bio  Ethnicity, Wife and Parents Food is a great way to connect with people. We all love to eat, if not for the pleasure of food, the satisfaction of quenching hunger, and the very process of providing and sharing that food is part of the strongest bonds that bind humanity together. Maybe it is our historical connection to food, where ...

Is Filthy Frank Dead, What Happened To Him and How Much Is He Worth? As George Kusunoki Miller, he was a nobody. However, as Filthy Frank, George was one of the most famous internet personalities on the planet. The Filthy Frank Show, a sketch series on his YouTube channel, TVFilthyFrank, was one of the platforms most influential creations. He is the reason a crazy dance song, Harlem Shake, made it ...

CaptainSparklez Bio  Net Worth, House and Cars of The Famous YouTuber Sometimes, what society wants from its citizens is quite different from what the citizens want for themselves. This is evident in the life and career of video blogger and American YouTube personality, Jordan Maron famous for his YouTube channel CaptainSparklez. He dropped out of school after discovering his talent in playing an online game called Minecraft. ...

Who is Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg)? Here are Facts You Must Know Canadian Youtube personality, Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg) originally started out polishing and designing nails even before it became a trendy culture in the social media. Simply Nailogica started out her showbiz career in her early days as a child actress, acting in commercials for game and toy companies. Aside from acting, she is blogger, vlogger, specializing ...

5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know About Huda Beauty In the world of entrepreneurship, it is interesting when an individual has a mentor who he/she looks up to, this yield more productivity on the part of the individual. The iconic and rich American beautician and makeup artist Huda Kattan nicknamed Heida is the founder of the Huda Beauty blog which is number one Instagram beauty blog ...

Is Dino MasterChef Gay? Details About His Ethnicity, Girlfriend, Where He Is Now Food, for the better part of the early years of human life, was nothing more than what we needed for survival. There was no artistry or curation to the method of cooking. The scarcity of food left no room for artistic expression until we figured out agriculture and we could make as much as we ...

Who Is Gabbie Hanna And How Did She Become Famous? As the world shifts to digital media and depends more and more on streaming services for its news and entertainment content, YouTubers have become one of the leading creators in the new media world. Their understanding of the online audience: how to create, maintain, and increase followers, are all handy skills that have primed them ...

Jacksepticeye  Height, Girlfriend & Net Worth Jacksepticeye is a YouTuber and actor who gained popularity with a series of gaming videos he uploads on his channel to the delight of millions of his subscribers. He is Known primarily for his comic video game series titled Lets Play and his vlogs. His channel was formerly ranked 46th in the list of most subscribed ...

Chris Heria Personal Details: About His Wife, Height & Ethnicity Background In this generation, keeping fit has become one of the major criteria for being hale and hearty. In fact, most occupations these days are majorly concerned with ones body mass, weight and looks. Unlike the past where most people have to register in a gym to keep fit, social media has made it quite easy ...

Everything You Need To Know About Game Grumps Gaming is becoming incredibly popular on YouTube these days with game vloggers make millions of dollars out of them yearly. One of the most popular up-coming gaming YouTube channels is Game Grumps. The Lets Play series was created in 2012 and celebrated its fifth anniversary on July 18th, 2017. In six years of its existence, the ...

Daithi De Nogla Biography, Girlfriend and Net Worth YouTube has created an avenue for many to make wealth and become famous from the comfort of their homes while having fun. Many have built a career out of the platform, uploading numerous videos that have earned them the admiration of viewers across the globe. For Daithi De Nogla, he is loved for his humorous commentary on ...

Does Phoebe Robinson Have A Boyfriend or Husband and What Do We Know About Her Family? Phoebe Robinson is a New York-based comedian, writer, and actress. She is best known as the co-creator and co-host of the WNYC Studios podcast 2 Dope Queens. Just like some other female comedians, she never had any original plans of becoming a stand-up comedian even though, according to her, she took a class on a whim at Carolines on Broadway. After ...

Who Are Lex and Alana from Listed Sisters? What Is Their Ethnicity & Is the Show Cancelled? America is a country built on diversity. Everywhere you look all over the country, a countless number of immigrants or children of immigrants have become an integral part of the fabric of the country. From entertainment to business, immigrants are creating a niche for themselves and climbing to the summit of their respective professions. One ...

Riveting Facts About Danielle Lombard And What She Is Best Known For The American entertainment industry is one that provides many avenues for aspiring hopefuls to express their talents and become famous. From films to television shows and game shows, there is no shortage of ways for men and women who desire fame to pursue and earn it in the United States of America. Another tested medium ...

Unearthing New Details About The YouTube Success And Personal Life of Alex Burriss of Wassabi Productions Wildly hilarious and truly audacious, Alex Wassabi is an American YouTuber who has become a very popular face on the video-sharing platform after having garnered millions of subscribers over the years by keeping people glued to his channel with his witty parody video releases. If you have always loved parody videos, there is every chance ...

Everything You Need To Know About H2O Delirious H2O Delirious whose full birth name is reported to be Jonathan Gormon Dennis has successfully kept himself mystified by hiding his face behind the masks leaving his loyal fans speculating who he really is for many years. The American YouTube star is easily identified by the Jason Mask Style with make-up which he wears on his ...

Who Is HolaSoyGerman and What Happened To Him? German Garmendia has certainly seen it all when it comes to internet success. His channels, HolaSoyGerman and JuegaGerman are in the top twenty most subscribed channel on YouTube. The Chilean YouTuber found a way to tap into one of the worlds greatest inventions and make a living from it. He has been able to build ...

Who Are Glenn Becks Family, What Is His Net Worth And What Happened To Him? The American political commentary space is filled with different personalities. A few of them, through their rhetoric, charisma, and resources have been able to build a large following of men and women who listen to them for insight and direction for various political and social issues in the United States. For Conservatives, the story is ...

Following Charissa Thompsons Rise Through The Ranks Of Sports Casting and All About Her Boyfriend Superstar TV host and sportscaster, Charissa Thompson, has been hailed as one of the highest-profile women journalists in America, and the reason is there for all to see. She has worked for popular establishments such as Versus, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, GSN, and Big Ten Network. She currently hosts the popular pre-game show, Fox NFL Kickoff, ...

Is Chris Kattan Gay or Does He Have A Wife? What Is His Net Worth? Chris Kattan is a popular American comedian and actor. He has appeared in several comic movies and TV series such as The Middle, A Night at the Roxbury and Bunnicula. Kattan is, however, most popular for his six-year stint as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. During his time on the legendary show, he ...

Everything You Should Know About the Rise of Insta Star Claire Abbott and Why She Gave It All Up A lot of young Americans have shot into the limelight for uploading different kinds of videos on YouTube. Some of these young stars include Connor Franta, Desi Perkins, Emma Chamberlain, the Dolan Twins (Ethan and Grayson), and Claire Abbott. The latter became a social media celebrity for uploading sexy bikini pictures of herself on social media. Apart from ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTube Channel  h3h3Productions H3h3Productions is a YouTube channel that specializes on Comic responses or reactions of other contents or trendy stories. The celebrity couple that created the channel has over time racked up sizable views for their commentaries and contents. Even though they had their own fair share of copyright cases, thankfully they scored an unprecedented victory in all ...

Lilypichu Bio  Height, Brother and Love Story With Albert SleightlyMusical Chang Like most popular internet celebrities, Lilypichu is one of those Twitch streamers who spend their lives on camera. From daydreaming about the possibility of becoming a full-time professional streamer, she grew to live out her dreams on the popular live streaming platform where people play games, make crafts, and showcase their day-to-day activities. Given the rise of ...

KSI  What To Know About His Girlfriend, Brother  Deji Olatunji & Net Worth Assuredly, when Internet inventors Vint Cerf and Bob Khan created the technological masterpiece, they probably did not know how massive the creation will be harnessed by many for different purposes including as a platform for earning money through content creation. One of such person who smiles to the bank regularly today for spending time creating ...

The Interesting Progression and Highlights of Carrie Keagans Career as a Host and Actress Carrie Keagan has garnered huge fame through her various stints on television. She is not just your regular TV host but one with a difference. Keagan has hosted several high profile events and TV shows, including VH1s Big Morning Buzz Live and Fox News Channels Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. However, not many know she ...

The Gist On Elise Jordans Marriages And Her Rise To Prominence Political commentaries tend to be boring when it is handled by someone who does not have a knack for it. However, when you see the likes of Elise Jordan run the same commentary, you will have a lot of reasons to look forward to watching her again as the journalist is well-versed in the field ...

What Is Timmy Thick Best Known For and How Successful Is The Star? Thanks to the internet, many people whose talents would have ordinarily gone unnoticed have become famous. A very good example of this modern-day internet celebrity is Timmy Thick, an American social media star. He became popular on Instagram due to his penchant for posting raunchy pictures of himself. He also often posted videos of himself ...

What Does Heather Storm Do For a Living and Who Is She Dating? Reality Television is a great way to make a name for oneself as well as amass a fortune. Heather Storm can attest to this as she is one of those who have made a name and earned a lot from reality TV. She made her name appearing on shows like Car Fanatics, Awesome Autos, and, ...

Matt Carriker Biography  Net Worth, Wife & Height Unlike your regular veterinary doctor next door, Matt Carriker chose to spice up his noble profession with the unusual. Though he is known to many as a medical practitioner, Carriker is better renowned as a YouTube star and an animal lover. Having recorded huge successes on his various YouTube channels, the vet doctors name and ...

Jillian Mele of Fox News Career Achievements, Husband & Measurements There are quite a good number of presenters on radio and television who listeners and viewers may never wish to miss any of their shows because of their sensational golden voice, beauty or the special way or artistry they anchor their shows. Jillian Mele is one of such. She has been at the top of ...

Who is Gillian Turner of Fox News? Her Fiance or Husband and Net Worth Gillian Turner is well-known as a news correspondent for Fox News Channel but before she became a TV personality, she built an intimidating resume working for different institutions, including the American government. She served in different capacities at the White House National Security Council during the administration of former US Presidents  George W. Bush and Barack Obama. ...

Gloria Govan Bio  Age, Ethnicity & Height Even as Gloria Govan is famous as an American actress, author, a TV host, and reality television star, shes more popular as the wife of the former NBA player, Matt Barnes. She became known after appearing on the Florida version of the reality television series, Basketball Wives and later, Basketball Wives: LA  after Matt was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly, ...

Michael Fishmans Interesting Start as an Actor and Why He Divorced His Wife of Many Years When one door closes, another one opens. As silly as that axiom may seem, it is the story of the resurgence of Michael Fishman, who plays D.J Conner on the popular show, Roseanne. Having played the character for several years as a child actor into his teenage years; when the show originally ended, Michael did ...

Who Is October Gonzalez  Tony Gonzalezs Wife? All You Need To Know October Gonzalez is a popular American TV host and media personality. Additionally, she is also a model. Gonzalez has hosted several TV shows such as Beat Shazam, Entertainment Tonight, and Rachel Ray. She has also featured in several reality TV shows. Gonzalezs fame is not just due to her profession but also because of her ...

Who Is Tony Berlin  Harris Faulkners Husband: His Children and Family Facts Tony Berlin is a popular American media guru. He has variously worked as a reporter, anchor, and producer for some of the biggest TV networks in America. They include CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC (where he hosted the popular Good Morning America). Berlin has now diversified into public relations and owns his own PR firm. ...

The Progression of Gianna Tobonis Journalism Career and Details About Her Marriage to Kyle Buckley Gianna Toboni may not be your ideal newscaster but her unusual reporting is what made her a household name. The American journalist is renowned for her hard-hitting and authentic reportage. A motivator and activist for total press freedom, Gianna loves to explore pervasive cultural issues. Not only does this unique and ambitious journalist call for all ...

Dog The Bounty Hunters Family Including Details of His Late Wife and Kids Popularly known as Dog, a name which he got from the television series, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, an American bounty hunter, and one-time bail bondsman, went from being convicted for a felony to being a reality TV star. He was brought to the limelight following the capture of the convicted criminal, Andrew Luster in 2003 and this eventually made ...

Vicky Karayiannis, Chris Cornells Wifes Bio, Children and Family The world of showbiz is made up of different people who serve different roles, and function in a variety of capacities, and one of the most important people are those in the background. Publicists are undoubtedly one of these background people yet they are vital to the life and fame of most of our favorite ...

Joe Rogan Has A Step-Daughter and 2 Other Kids With Wife Jessica Ditzel  Meet His Family Joe Rogan is a popular American stand-up comedian and TV host. His journey to stardom began in the late 80s and has seen him host several shows, the most popular is the game show titled Fear Factor. The exciting show dares contestants to face some of their greatest fears and embark on challenging stunts. The ...

Josh Gates and Wife Hallie Gnatovich Have 2 Kids But Who Has the Higher Net Worth? Best known for his explorations and adventures, Josh Gates, is a television presenter with a voracious appetite for seeing the world and the beauties in it. Some of that beauty, however, is in his home, in the form of two children he shares with his wife, Hallie Gnatovich. Not excluded is their marriage which has lasted ...

Holly Sonders Wiki, Plastic Surgery & Why She Divorced Her Husband  Erik Kuselias After trying everything within her capacity to have a low key wedding, Holly Sonders was drawn to the public because of her husbands controversy at his workplace. Well, the two are rumored to be divorced but the article below will give more light on how true these rumors are. Meanwhile, Holly Sonders is yet to ...

Nadeska Alexis Bio  Age, Boyfriend & Net Worth Journalism is one diverse profession that allows the practitioners to choose their area of specialty, build a career on it by reporting the truth and facts which in the long run will distinguish them as deserving commendation and recognition among their peers. Some choose to specialize in political journalism, while to others it is sports ...

Media Platforms Charlamagne Tha God Has Explored and All The Controversies He Has Courted Charlamagne Tha God is an American on-air personality, radio presenter, and more recently, author. He is popularly known as a co-host on New York radios nationally syndicated show, The Breakfast Club, a program he has been hosting alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee since 2010. However, his early years had no connection to his current career ...

A Look At Jimmy Fallons Net Worth and Family Including His Wife & Kids Sometimes, a childs passion for something is a pointer to what he/she would become in the future. As a child, Jimmy Fallon was literally obsessed with watching the late-night comedy program, Saturday Night Live (SNL). Then, his parents would tape the clean parts for him to watch and later, he and his sister would re-enact sketches from the ...

Kay Adams Biography  Does The Sportscaster Have A Husband or Boyfriend? When you hear the phrase sports enthusiast, women are hardly the first group that comes to mind. Well, thats changing pretty fast. Especially with the rise of female sports analysts and broadcasters like Kay Adams who is famed for knowing more about sports than most men do. And why not, shes paid handsomely for it ...

Ben Shapiros Family  Meet His Wife, Kids and Sister Who is Popular for the Wrong Reasons A multi-talented man, Ben Shapiro is a man of controversial nature, an attribute that has made him an unusual public figure. An intellectual whose career path was clearly defined even before he became a man, the Jewish conservative commentator has always had his way with words. He became popular by sharing his critical and often ...

QVC Shawn Killinger Bio  Husband, Net Worth & Facts To Know Shawn Killinger is a prominent TV personality who has worked her way to the top. Though not initially a journalist by training, she defied the odds and today has established herself as a household name, as well as, worked alongside some industry legends. More than just being a reporter, newscaster, and anchor, heres all you ...

Liv Lo  Dissecting the Ethnicity, Parents and Personal Life of Henry Goldings Wife While many are aware that Liv Lo is the better half to Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, only a few understand why his beautiful wife appears increasingly endearing to fans. A former model turned TV personality, and fitness star, Liv has an impressive resume which when combined with that of her statuesque spouse is considered a perfect ...

Stpeach Age, Husband and Other Facts About The Twitch Streamer Lisa Vannatta, famously known by her online alias, STPeach is a Canadian video game streamer cum vlogger who has garnered fame through her appearances on different video-sharing/social networking platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, Twitch, Reddit, and Twitter. The beautiful lady got her career to a start in August 2015 when she joined the live streaming video platform, Twitch. She rose to ...

Insights into Seth Meyers Wife, Family and What His Net Worth Is Celebrities are mostly remembered and known for the work they do. For Seth Meyers, his career as a comedian, writer, actor, TV host, and producer is his biggest identifier. He was on Saturday Night Live SNL show as a head writer and cast member for more than ten years during which he built a reputation ...

Who Is Jessica Gadsden  Age, Net Worth & All About Charlamagne tha Gods Wife Jessica Gadsden is an American fitness coach as well as a personal trainer. She is better known as the spouse of popular American media personality, Charlamagne Tha God. Charlamange Tha God is a well-known TV and radio personality in the U.S. He has featured in several shows (both on the radio and TV) and is ...

Who Is Collins Tuohy  Michael Ohers sister ? Her Wedding, Husband & Net Worth Collins Tuohy is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, blogger, and social media personality. She is also better known as the adoptive sister of NFL player, Michael Oher, whose life story inspired the Hollywood blockbuster The Blind Side. The Blind Side tells the true life story of Oher who grew up in an impoverished background consisting of a ...

Eye-Popping Facts About The Personal Life And Career Success Of Sportscaster Heidi Watney Heidi Watney is a media personality who has created a niche for herself as a sportscaster. Starting out as a radio presenter, the brilliant young lady has gone on to work for several prominent sports networks, and currently, she is with the MLB. The sportscaster is also known to have been an avid sports lady right ...

Marty Lagina Bio  Siblings (Martina and Rick Lagina), Net Worth and Wife Marty Lagina is an American engineer and businessman who has risen to fame as a reality TV star. This is thanks to his involvement in the adventure TV series, The Curse of Oak Island. The Curse of Oak Island is a long-running TV series which airs on the history channel. The show aims to solve ...

Is Jordan Schlansky Just A Character or a Real Life Person and What Does He Do? The world of late-night television is an interesting one. Shows during that time are geared towards giving viewers comedic relief from a long day at work through interviews and comedy sketches. The often charismatic host of this show requires the balancing talent of a producer whose primary job is to deliver great episodes. It is ...

Heres How Wealthy Jimmy Kimmel Is From All The Phases of His Career, Marriages and Sons Health Jimmy Kimmel is a renowned late-night talk show host known for his charm, wit, and the A-list guests he features on his show. As the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! On ABC, Jimmy has been serving comedy to television viewers for years which played a pivotal role in launching him into mainstream fame and enabled ...

Natasha Bertrand Biography  Is She Married? Who Is the Husband & What Is Her Age? Natasha Bertrand is not just a young prominent journalist but a first-rate investigative reporter. With her natural beauty and smile, Natashas sharp, insightful political commentary also makes her a thorough reporter. Her sound political perspective and coverage in the country have made her a force to be reckoned with in the profession. Renowned for her ...

What Happened to Shane Kilcher? His Injury Update, Net Worth and More Shane Kilcher is well-known thanks to the Discovery Channel series Alaska: The Last Frontier. It is a show that documents the daily lives of the extended Kilcher family, people who live without plumbing or modern heating. The episodes follow their routines as they rely on hunting and farming for their nutritional needs as well as ...

Is Stephanie Gosk Gay or Lesbian, Who is the Wife or Partner  Jenna Wolfe? In August 2013, NBCs Today viewers were greeted with two shocking news. Today weekend anchor, Jenna Wolfe, announced that she was as a lesbian, introducing her partner as NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk, and said the two are expecting their first child. A long time has passed since then and certainly, a lot of things ...

Nikki Mudarris  Bio and Net Worth: 5 Interesting Facts You Need to Know Nikki Mudarris, also known as Miss Nikki Baby, is a reality television star, model and fashionista. Shes best known for VH1s reality TV series Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood. Her entrepreneurial skills enable her to create and run a successful lingerie line Nude by Nikki. Not only that, but Nikki has also successfully run the Las ...

5 Interesting Things You Need To Know About Kelly Nash Ever heard of the lady who gained national prominence for taking a selfie with a dangerous ball just a few inches away from hitting her? Its no other person than Kelly Nash, an American sports broadcaster currently working as host of The Rundown show which airs on MLB Network every weekday at 2 pm ET. ...

Understanding The Height of Fame John Oliver Achieved With The Daily Show and How He Met His Wife Without knowledge of who he is and his exemplary career, John Oliver cuts an unassuming figure of a regular man but he is one of the most influential personalities in America, especially on television. Since he began his career in 1998, he has been a loud and unapologetic agent of change, using his wit and ...

Why Did Big Chief Leave Street Outlaws, Where Is He Now And Why Did He Divorce His Wife? Justin Shearer, otherwise known by his professional name Big Chief is a famous street racer and television personality. He is famously known for being one of the main characters on the racing reality television series, Street Outlaws. Justin, who had been a significant part of the show since its premiere in 2013, appeared in a ...

Who is Josina Anderson of ESPN? Her Husband and Family Facts There has been a gradual paradigm shift in the world of sports which has today produced the likes of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and other female athletes that are pulling great feats in different sporting fields. Their achievements have also been followed by the emergence of female sports journalists such as Jillian Mele, Eboni Williams, ...

Is Brittany Wagner Married, Who Is The Husband, How Old Is She? Brittany Wagner has been an inspiration to a lot of sports youngster. She has won the hearts of many athletic students with her role as a life coach and an academic counselor. She is well groomed in her career and has worked over a decade for The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and The National ...

Tati Westbrook Bio  Age, Husband & Net Worth With five videos dished out every week, alongside running her own brand, beauty guru, and YouTube superstar Tati Westbrook has proved to the world that theres utterly no impossibility or limit to whatever one is passionate about. Tati is best known for being the owner and manager of the worlds most-viewed beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel, ...

Cathy Areus Long Road to Becoming a Freelance Journalist and What to Know About Her Kids An American freelance journalist, news analyst, and author, Cathy Areu has built a lasting reputation for herself on cable television. Popular for her skillful and sassy presentation of professional views on varying topics including cultural and feminist issues, Cathy is an inspiration to many women across the globe. In addition to being a journalist, she ...

Tucker Carlsons Love Story With Wife Susan Andrews, their Children and Net Worth Today On the TV screens, Tucker Carlson is that fiery fellow who passionately dishes out his conservative and often controversial views on issues of national importance. Such brazenness has fetched him many enemies, especially on the left-wing, but it has also helped him cement a reputation as one of the foremost broadcast journalists in America. His ...

Paige Wyatts Net Worth, Boyfriend and Where She Is Now Paige Wyatt became popular after the Wyatt family began running the reality television show, American Guns. The Wyatt family comprises Rich Wyatt (father), Renee Wyatt (mother), Paige and Kurt Wyatt (children). Rich Wyatt originally ran a gun shop, the Gunsmoke Guns in Wheat Ridge, Colorado which is outside of Denver. The business which he ran together ...

The Progression of Howard Sterns Career As A Media Personality And Why He Divorced His First Wife Howard Stern is a legendary American radio host, who has also done some notable work as an actor, producer, author, as well as photographer. The radio personality achieved worldwide fame as a result of his self-titled radio program, The Howard Stern Show. As a professional radio personality, he has worked in different radio stations. Since 2006, ...

Lisa Joyners Biography  Ethnicity, Net Worth and Other Key Facts Lisa Joyner is an American Journalist, TV talk show host, and actress. Some of her well-known works are her correspondences for the Los Angeles based TV KCBS, inFANity show, Find My Family Show including her film and television appearances in Brimstone, American Sweetheart, The Bold and The Beautiful among others. Lisas passion for reconnecting people with their biological families ...

Amanda Balionis Rise Through the Ranks of Sportscasting and the Identity of Her Boyfriend Amanda Balionis is an American sportscaster currently working as a golf broadcaster for CBS Sports. Among so many of her works in the field of sports reporting, Amandas PGA Tour coverage seems to be the most popular so far. She covered the Super Bowl working with CBS Sports social media team in Atlanta, where she ...

Dissecting Charles Paynes Sexual Allegations, Its After Effects and More About His Wife Charles Payne had a respectable career as an analyst on Wall Street before he made the transition to television and became a contributor and later a host on Fox. In that time, his expertise has come under scrutiny, and he has been at the center of at least one major controversy. The major controversy in question ...

Erik Asla And Tryra Banks Split: Everything You Need To Know Tyra Banks and Erik Asla have called it quits! The couple, who began dating in 2013 and have a son named York Banks Asla, has decided to end what everybody taught was the perfect relationship. Neither person has come out to give a reason for the breakup, but what is obvious right now is that ...

What to Note About Dr Terry Dubrows Qualifications, TV Works and Marriage to Heather Kent In the realm of people that we expect to see regularly on our screens, medical doctors are closer to the bottom of the list. Aside from the fact that their work has little correlation with TV, they are presumably too busy to pursue life as TV personalities. Yet, a few of them have usurped this ...

Jessica Goch  Bio: 5 Things You Didnt Know About Ninjas Wife Jessica Goch is the Schofield-born American Social Media Influencer who has worked as a model but is now better known as a host and interviewer of prominent Electronic sports celebrities at popular gaming events/tournaments. The screen queen also serves as the manager of her famous husband Ninja aka Tyler Blevins whose exploits on Twitch and Fortnite has ...

CNNs Chris Cuomo Biography  Wife, Family & Net worth Chris Cuomo needs no elaborate introduction as he has starred graced many prominent Television cable networks and his voice has been heard through acknowledged radio shows. He is a television journalist and Lawyer who has previously worked for ABC News as Chief law and justice correspondent as well as a co-anchor on 20/20. If you still ...

Neil deGrasse Tyson  Family, Religion & Net Worth Neil deGrasse Tyson is a distinguished American astrophysicist and author who has been able to achieve so much after falling in love with astronomy at the age of 9. He has since attended and become an alumnus of prestigious universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, and also recorded numerous achievements in his field of ...

Is Simon Cowell Gay? Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend and Why is He Famous? Simon Cowell is a well-known talent show judge, TV producer, entrepreneur and one of the most popular TV personalities that Britain has ever produced. In conjunction with his company, Syco, Cowell is the brain behind hugely successful talent hunt shows such as The X-Factor UK, The X-Factor US, Britains Got Talent, Americas Got Talent and ...

Everything To Know About Joanna Gaines Life With Chip Gaines, Their Business Pursuits and Kids Joanna Gaines and her husband Chip Gaines became celebrities after their television show Fixer Upper began airing back in 2013. The show which was about home renovation and decoration ran for about 6 seasons with a total of 79 episodes before the couple bade farewell to it in April 2018. Apart from their appearances on ...

Who Is Larry The Cable Guy? What To Know About His Wife And Net Worth Larry the Cable Guy is a self-professed country kid renowned for his trademark Southern accent and sensational catchphrase Git-R-Done! The famous comedian who talks about anything under the sun has gone on to become one of the most memorable characters in comedy history. Join us in unearthing lesser-known facts about the former on-air-personality, standup comedy superstar, movie ...

Who Is Patrick Starr, What Is His Net Worth and Gender? The make-up industry over the years has grown to become a billion dollar industry not just because there are probably more women wearing make-up but because a whole lot of men, especially the young ones, have become bold enough to wear it unlike before. A few of these men, like Patrick Starr, have even gone ...

How Did Chris Jansing Become a Senior Correspondent at MSNBC and Who Is Her Husband? An award-winning American television news reporter and journalist, Chris Jansing has succeeded in carving a spectacular niche for herself in the field of TV journalism. Outstanding for not just her excellence in journalism, Chris is also cherished for her incredibly gorgeous looks post 60! For close to four decades, Jansing has continued to soar in her ...

Jaclyn Glenn Biography  Age, Height & Ex-Boyfriend American Youtuber, Jaclyn Glenn, rose to prominence through her self-titled YouTube channel Jaclyn Glenn. She has remained an acclaimed atheist and continues to air her views on hot issues from politics, religion, animal rights, to atheism. During the heated 2016 US Presidential elections, Glenn featured in Hump Trump: Official Donald Trump Song. Her parallel acting career ...

Is Pat Sajak Married to a Wife or is He Gay With a Partner? Pat Sajak is one of the most popular TV game show hosts in America. He commenced his career as a radio disk jockey as well as a TV weatherman before being tapped to host Wheel of Fortune, the longest-running syndicated game show in the United States. Sajak has hosted the popular game show from 1983 ...

Nayyera Haqs Bio  What To Know About Her Husband, Parents And Family Nayyera Haq can take anyone on political debates as well as discussions on social issues affecting many. Her ability to masterfully deliver her stance on every issue or political debate has made her a regular face in morning and evening news media platforms. This is not a common feat especially for someone from her kind ...

Inside Guy Fieris Family With Wife, Kids and Sister Who Died of Cancer Over the years we have seen men dominate the kitchen and churn out amazing delicacies from it. Some do it way better than their female counterparts and one of such men is Guy Ramsay Fieri  an American TV host, celebrity chef, restaurant owner, bestselling author of four culinary books, and game show host. His ...

Meet Phil Mudd of CNN  The Former CIA and FBI Exec, Is He Married, Who Is The Wife? When it comes to discussing issues surrounding terrorism, American Counterterrorism and National Security Expert, Phil Mudd, occupies a globally significant position. He has voiced his interest in the fight against terrorism and insecurity on many popular media platforms, both print and broadcast, such as CNN, BBC, CBS, MSNBC, al-Jazeera, ABC, NBC, Fox, The New York Times, ...

Jim Hoffer: Biography, Wife  Mika Brzezinski, Children and Net Worth Jim Hoffer is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works as an investigative reporter for Eyewitness News, New York City. In his over two decades of investigative journalism, Hoffer has been at the front lines of several crucial stories from the 9/11 attack to the crash of American Flight 587 to the 2003 Blackout. On top of ...

The Ups and Downs of Erin Mcpikes Journalism Career and Other Facts About Her Personal Life Erin McPike is a journalist working for the Independent Journal Review (IJR) as a White House Correspondent but she gained widespread recognition for her coverage of general news. Whether its breaking news or some mainstream story, McPike has a reputation of baring the facts. As a journalist, her work as a White House Correspondent for Independent ...

Bert Kreischer Is Married To LeeAnn Kreischer With 2 Kids  Meet His Family Those familiar with Bert Kreischer mainly have the image of a large-bellied party man whose college life inspired the National Lampoon film, Van Wilder. It is an image that one would not naturally associate with a wholesome family. The standup comedian still maintains his wild party animal image on stage. But, back at home, he is ...

How Brendan Greene Became a Game Designer to Look Out For and Facts About His Failed Marriage The name Brendan Greene may not easily ring a bell in the larger society but for gaming enthusiasts, he is considered a god and this is because of his invention of the video game, Player Unknowns Battlegrounds, also called PUBG. Based on the popular last-man-standing/battle royale concept, Greenes creation has taken the gaming world by ...

WFAAs Sonia Azad Bio  Does The Reporter Have A Husband Or Boyfriend? Emmy Award-winning journalist and Health & Wellness reporter Sonia Azad is on the news segment News 8 Daybreak for the television station WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, a channel which she joined in October of 2015. Besides her time on the news, Azad is also a marathon runner and a certified yoga instructor. She has covered major news ...

This Is Everything You Should Know About Caroline Heldman, Her Career Portfolio and Other Facts Love it or hate it, there is no escaping the fact that feminism has come to stay in our world. The movement has continued to garner momentum over the years and this is due to the sustained push by several women, and even men, including the likes of Caroline Heldman. A Professor of Politics at ...

Understanding The Enigma That Is Gavin McInnes, The Controversies He Has Stirred and All About His Wife Gavin McInnes is a polemical English-born writer and TV personality, who is best known for his racist and fascist ideologies, as well as his co-ownership of Vice Media and Vice Magazine. He is also an actor a
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
The Sculptors Guild is an artistic non-profit organization that aims to promote the work of sculptors by displaying their art to the public via a variety of venues. Since 1935, the Sculptors Guild has served artists including David Smith, Louise Nevelson, Louise Bourgeois, and Chaim Gross. The Sculptors Guild is located in New York City and they are presently hosting their Currently 80 exhibit at Westbeth Gallery which opened on February 5 and runs until February 24. The exhibition includes works by living Sculptors Guild members as well as drawings by Louise Nevelson.

The large exhibition celebrates eighty years of the Sculptors Guilds existence, said Michael Wolfe, the vice president in charge of publicity. Its our first showcase at Westbeth and there are so many good pieces that its hard to pick a favorite. However, I am partial to Small Cities IX which is a small piece by Louise Nevelson. It is made out of what appears to be an old tool box and is situated next to a Chaim Gross Sculpture which is beautifully carved ebony wood. Yet all the art is very interesting and quite diverse.

Organization

An artist-run organization, many Sculptors Guild members take on roles to help find venues to display their work. Every year in the spring and fall, the organization issues an open call to artists who are interested in joining the group to submit photos of their work for review.

The jury is highly selective and looks closely at the quality of the art as well as the artists record of exhibiting sculpture. Once accepted, association with the organization leads to many opportunities for artists to showcase their art on a rolling basis at an array of locations. The Sculptors Guild has an exhibitions coordinator named Thea Lanzisero who consistently seeks exhibition opportunities for members artwork.

Often times, the Sculptors Guild is invited to exhibit in a space. In fact, they have been displaying artwork on New Yorks famed Governors Island for ten years and their 2016 exhibittitled American Twistis now traveling to New Orleans, Louisiana where it will be unveiled in March of 2017.

Exhibitions

American Twist is a group exhibition of Sculptors Guild members work that includes small works, large works, installations, and even outdoor sculptures.

Moreover, for the first time ever the Sculptors Guild hosted the work of guest artists from the Antenna Gallery in New Orleans. This partnership marked the beginning of the groups plans to share work between New Orleans and New York City. The theme of American Twist involves thirty-seven artists reflecting their ideals about what America represents to them. The subsequent sculptures were made with a variety of materials and techniques. The American Twist New Orleans show was scheduled as a result of conversations between exhibitions coordinator Thea Lanzisero and members of the Antenna Gallery. Thea invited them to participate with the Sculptors Guild on Governors Island last summer, Michael Wolf explained.

In return, The Antenna Gallery invited the Sculptors Guild to bring the exhibition American Twist to New Orleans. Among the works on display are pieces by Michael Wolf such as Amerika which features a flag made of lead. Amerika is about the poisonous political environment America finds itself in currently, Michael declared. The American flag on the sculpture is made of lead which gives the whole piece a heavysomberfeeling. My other piece, Sanctum, is from my series of sculptures based on architectural structures. The void is a representation of the embodiment of the sacred. In these sculptures, I have explored archetypal forms of shelter and how these forms allude to personal and social themes that have occupied my thoughts and the collective unconscious.
One of the big talking points used by Donald Trump since being sworn into office has been his promotion of the voter fraud conspiracy theory. Despite no evidence being presented to back up his claims, Trump is sticking by his word, which was on display during an interview on ABC.

Trump on voter fraud

On Election Day, all signs pointed to Hillary Clinton becoming the first female President of the United States. By the end of the night, Donald Trump shattered the dreams of Democrats and became the new commander in chief. Despite winning the election, Trump lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes, and hasn't been able to get over the defeat.

The former host of "The Apprentice" met with several congressional leaders over the weekend and continued to push the theory that up at five million illegal immigrants voted against him. During an interview on the January 25 edition of ABC's "World News," the issue was a hot topic.

Joining ABC host David Muir was President Donald Trump on Wednesday, and the issue of voter fraud was quickly brought up. Muir pressed Trump on his plan to open an investigation, which the new president replied was already underway, "Sure. Done." he said. "What you have presented so far has been debunked. It's been called false," Muir said, who was then cut off by the billionaire real estate mogul.

"No it hasn't," Trump fired back, stating, "Take a look at the Pew report." "I called the author of the Pew report last night," Muir informed Trump, before explaining, "He told me they found no evidence of voter fraud." "Really?" Trump replied, before asking, "Why did he write the report?" After Muir told Trump that the author of the report confirmed that no evidence of voter fraud was found, the new president was still not convinced.

President Trump to launch investigation into alleged voter fraud: I want the voting process to be legitimate." https://t.co/zjjJ6vMqXU pic.twitter.com/Spb3a9ScQf  ABC News (@ABC) January 25, 2017

"Excuse me," Donald Trump said, asking again, "why did he write the report?" "He's groveling again," the president said of the author.

"I always talk about the reporters that grovel when they wanna write something you wanna hear," Trump also added.

Moving forward

In the last few days, some Republicans have pushed back at Donald Trump over his insistence of voter fraud. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. Lindsey Graham have gone public with their opposition, but it appears that the administration is ignoring their words. While Trump has only been in the White House for less than a week, he is already making an impact, though it hasn't gone over with many in the country.
Hot on the heels of Cpac uninviting alt-right darling Milo Yiannopoulos as a speaker at the convention after videos surfaced where the controversial writer and editor advocated sexual relations between adult men and 13-year-old boys, now it seems conservatives are cleaning house and cutting all ties to the alt-right and anyone associated with the White Nationalist movement, as well. While being interviewed at #CPAC, security approached alt-right leader Richard Spencer and revoked his credential for the event in the presence of supporters and journalists, according to AOL News.

Richard Spencer's controversial alt-right associations

Spencer has long been an alt-right icon advocating a pro-white, White Nationalist agenda, and became infamous for such controversial quotes as saying this country "belongs to white men." He also gained some notoriety recently when he was giving a public interview and video captured a bystander punching him in the face. Then Spencer was punched again on another interview by yet another bystander.

CPAC kicks out Spencer a few hours into event

Spencer's ejection from CPAC came less than three hours into the event, and CPAC's communications director, Ian Walters told AOL News "he is not welcome" to attend the convention. Not only is #RichardSpencer considered the leader of the alt-right movement, which encompasses neo-Nazi and white supremacy groups among others, but he's credited with coining the phrase "alt-right." Walters made his opinion of Spencer even clearer for NPR, calling his views "vile," "venomous," and "repulsive."

"His views are repugnant and have absolutely nothing to do with conservatism or what we do here.

He's anti-free markets, anti-Constitution, anti-pluralism. This was one bad egg who bought a ticket."

Spencer has ties within the White House

While Spencer may have been kicked out of an event featuring President Trump as a speaker, he has ties with in Trump's administration. Trump's chief policy advisor, Stephen Miller, was classmates with Richard Spencer while they were at Duke University.

They were both members of the Duke Conservative Union, according to Inquisitr, and collaborated on an immigration policy debate. Miller denies any influence or connection today, but Spencer seems to think he influenced the young college student now occupying one of the top political posts in the White House.

I spent a lot of time with him at Duke," says Spencer. "I hope I expanded his thinking but I think he probably would be where he is today without me as well.
Animal cruelty is an ongoing issue worldwide, and unless it is taken more seriously by strict enforcement of the law, the problem will never stop. People have to be a voice for animals who cannot defend themselves. Such is the case in England And Wales of the UK. Current punishment for animal cruelty is a six-month prison sentence, but activists are rallying for much stricter accountability.

The goal of campaigners in Welsh countries of the UK

Campaigners and animal activists throughout England and Wales are appalled by the current prison sentence for what is considered the worst cases of animal cruelty.

They state that six months is laughable and shocking. They want to see these sentences increased tenfold to at least five years for such crimes against animals. When the Animal Welfare Act was implemented in 2006, it was thought to be a powerful tool in protecting animals, but the provisions of the Act seemed to be overtaken by progressive legislation in the USA and Europe.

Efforts of the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (BDCH)

The BDCH is an organization that is adamant about more severe punishments for abusers of animals. The CEO of the group, Ms. Claire Horton states to reporters that "It isn't acceptable that our courts are unable to hand out tougher sentences in such extreme animal cruelty cases, yet the likes of fly-tipping can result in prison sentences of up to five years.

So let's get this into proportion and let the punishment for abusing animals indeed fit the crime." Although this is a worldwide issue, it appears that England and Wales lag far behind other western nations in disciplining animal abusers. The current punishment is comparable to Belgium, Macedonia and the USA states of Mississippi and Idaho.

The Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs shows statistics for those sentenced for animal cruelty in recent years and of those offenses, a minute number of those abusers received a mere 3.3. Months of prison time. Others received community service. The RSPCA took a poll that demonstrated full support from the public for stronger sentences for animal abusers.

The belief by all campaigners and the BDCH is that the new guidelines for stricter sentencing is a step in the right direction, yet there is hope in reviewing the sentencing under the AWA to ensure stronger sentences for abusers of the worst animal offenses.
Gwen and Stephen Huneck are passionate about mans best friend and look for ways to honor them. Mr. Huneck is a very talented artist, spreading his adoration for the canine through his woodcarvings and paintings. His work highlights a colorful, playful and witty observation of dogs. In addition to art, he and his wife dreamed of a project they devoted their lives to that involves a place called Dog Mountain.

The start of Dog Mountain and its features

The Hunecks purchased a farm in Vermont that features 150 acres of off-leash trails, ponds stocked with trout and a very special, unique chapel.

The acquired the farm property back in 1995 and converted the barn into Stephens art studio. Their dream for this area was a place for dogs to enjoy the New England countryside, running freely in a safe environment meant specifically for the animals. Thus, their dream led to the birth of Dog Mountain. The Hunecks vision has become a reality where dogs can be dogs in a safe environment while the humans who love them can appreciate them and reflect on what they mean to them. Each season at Dog Mountain features special activities from fishing in the spring and fall to snowshoe in the winter, all while the canines bask in freedom and socialize. Special events and parties are also held several times throughout the year for the pooches and their humans, including bonfires and barbecues.

The Dog Chapel meant for humans who lost their pets

As part of Dog Mountain, an 1800s type of church was erected with hand-carved pews and stained-glass windows, later known as the Dog Chapel. The Hunecks felt this to be a place of solace for visitors to reflect on the dogs they have loved and lost. They described it as a place made special for the human-animal bond.

Additionally, a Remembrance Wall is available to post special thoughts and photos of guests dogs. Huneck wrote a book in 2010 where he stated that the Dog Chapel is not only a place for grieving a lost dog but also to celebrate the joy of living and bonding with a special dog and their owners. Although the Hunecks have passed on since realizing this beautiful dream, their legacy of joy, whimsy, and love still exists through their great creation on Dog Mountain.
Donald Trump has many admirers in Europe where the far right has had an infusion of blood with his victory. A corroborative factor is the influx of refugees, mainly from the war-torn lands of the Middle East and the resultant increase in crime. One of the political leaders who is likely to win the election is Geert Wilders. He leads the Freedom party. He is a far-right politician who has hailed the victory of Donald Trump as a "patriotic spring." He is against the influx of Muslims into the country and is advocating that all mosques in the country be shut down.

He wants to go eveb further than Donald, suggesring that the Koran be banned and the borders closed to immigrants. He has compared the Koran to Hitler's book "Mein Kampf."

Geert Wilder

As things stand, Geert Wilder may come first in the election, but in a system of proportional representation in Parliament, he will have to form a colaition. His partners are unlikely to echo the extreme views of Geert. He could thus end up doing practically nothing much and all his present talk could be just rhetoric.

Geert also is against the EU and has stated that he would like to take the Netherlands out of the union. This again would be music to Donald who had supported the exit of the UK from the EU all along.

The German vice chancellor and economy minister Sigmar Gabriel has issued a warning that the EU could fall apart in case people like Geert come to power. The situation in Germany is also changing.The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AFD) is also gaining ground.

Extreme views

Geert Wilder remains unfazed and is firm in his views that the Netherlands is a country based on Christian principles.

He has further stated that " Islam and freedom are not compatible". He is particularly against the Morrocons who were the first to come to Netherlands. His extremist views find an echo in France as well where the far-right Leader Marine Pen has similar views.

Future

The elections in France and the Netherlands will be watched keenly and Donald Trump will be happy that he has support in Europe.
Just hours after bashing the news media during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Donald Trump banned several news organization from attending the latest White House Press Briefing on Friday. In response, several media outlets have decided to boycott the administration.

Trump's media ban

Ever since his inauguration just over a month ago, Donald Trump has escalated his war of words with the mainstream media. Referring to the press as "terrible" and "dishonest," the commander in chief has engaged in a heated feud with journalists that has only increased by the day.

As news continues to trickle out about Trump's ties to Russia and their possible involvement in American politics, the former host of "The Apprentice" decided to take drastic measures. As reported by The New York Times on February 24, some of the most well-respected news organizations in the country and around the world have been banned from covering the most recent daily briefing.

Journalists from The New York Times, CNN and Politico were barred from attending a White House briefing https://t.co/XBVmXIIxUG pic.twitter.com/STFHTJwvPX  The New York Times (@nytimes) February 24, 2017

Instead of the typical interaction with reporters at the press briefing room, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer took part in a so-called "off camera gaggle" with select members of media.

Of those who were blocked out and ban include The New York Times, Politico, The Hill, The Daily Mail, Buzzfeed, the New York Daily News, the LA Times, and even the BBC.

AP, Time Magazine boycott WH briefing after other news outlets excluded https://t.co/xX32wsG3yR pic.twitter.com/rEYehJc3Jd  The Hill (@thehill) February 24, 2017

Those who were allowed to take part in the "gaggle" briefing included right-wing news outlets Breitbart News and One American News Network, in addition to more mainstream media like CBS, Fox News, and ABC.

Also invited to attend the "gaggle" were TIME magazine and the Associated Press, who decided to take part in a boycott and refused to appear. Vanity Fair has also spoken out and included themselves in the boycott.

Moving forward

While Donald Trump has only been in office for a month, his relationship with the press doesn't appear to be stable enough to work together in the future.

During his aforementioned speech at CPAC, Trump spent nearly a half hour blasting the media, accusing them of pushing false polls and information to damage his credibility as president. As of press time, the administration is not looking to accept any news stories that they believe conflict with their agenda, which they simply label as "fake news" in the process.
Indians in the US and in India were shocked by the events at a Kansas City bar on Wednesday night, where local citizen Adam Purinton shot dead one individual and injured two others. Purinton had been overheard shouting racial slurs for much of the evening and was later described as yelling 'get out of my country' after supposedly mistaking the individuals as Middle Eastern.

Aviation Engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an employee at the technology company Garmin, sadly died at the scene and fellow countryman Alok Madasani was wounded. A third victim, 24-year old Ian Grillot, was also shot and wounded in the incident, as he attempted to defend the Indians being mistreated.

Thoughts in India

Purinton was swiftly apprehended and charged with murder alongside two counts of attempted murder. However, the incident has also caused significant reputational damage between India and the US, two closely allied nations. The father of the wounded Indian, Jaganmohan Madasani, announced that the US was no longer a safe place following the election of Donald Trump and described how he had encouraged his son to leave his job and return home. Furthermore, he appealed to other Indian parents considering sending their children to the US to reconsider such decisions, given the current situation in the country.

Worrying trend

Whilst it is difficult to link the killing directly to President Trump and his administration's policies since taking control of the White House in January, there has been a worrying trend in the number of hate crimes reported since the election.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre, a leading hate crime monitor in the US, reported an upsurge of hate crime incidents in the first 10 days of the Trump presidency. Hate crime figures, usually in the single digits range in terms of daily reporting, surged to over 200 on the day after the election, followed by over 850 incidents reported in Trump's first nine days in power.

The majority of attackers in these incidents were also described as having cited President Trump's name when carrying out their atrocities.

In New York itself, the police department reported that hate crimes were up 115% since Trump was elected. This is a worrying trend for a nation filled with tensions, both racial and political.

With the US so divided, losing the support of once friendly nations would be damaging to the perception of the US as a nation open to all.

As we have seen since President Trump's election, public opinion of America has significantly weakened in the UK and Europe, alongside other long-time friendly nations such as Canada and Australia. This is in part due to President Trump's 'diplomacy' but has also been fuelled by the anti-immigrant policies introduced by the White House in the first month of the presidency. It remains to be seen whether future decisions will improve the standing of the US in the eyes of the world.
White House Counselor #Kelly Anne Conway, apparently banished and demoted by Trump following questionable appearances in the media a week ago, popped up at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday. This, along with her chumps Steve Bannon and Price Reibus.

Branding herself a #conservative feminist, she talked about, amongst other things, feminism, women's rights and working for a president during a stressful election.

Sitting down with the commentator #Mercedes Schlapp, Conway claimed that she isn't a feminist in the strictly classic sense.

Its difficult for me to call myself a feminist in the classic sense because it seems to be very anti-male and it certainly seems to be very pro-abortion. Im neither anti-male or pro-abortion, she was at pains to describe.

Individual feminism is

She spoke at length of an individual feminism where a woman makes her own choices, and not as a victim of circumstance. And to high-hitting Whet House Counselor Conway, thats what her brand of conservative feminism is really all about.

She also praised Trump as a champion of women  in particular women who work and aim high. She added that people didn't fully comprehend what a great boss President Trump is for women, since he has been enjoying promoting and #elevating women in his company and also in the White House too.

Conway also added that #Hillary Clinton should be congratulated for running for president and for her wonderful willingness to serve in a public capacity.
Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway returned to an on-camera role for the Donald Trump administration this week after being pulled off TV interviews by the White House. Over the last month, Conway has been caught pushing several falsehoods, would could land her in legal trouble.

Conway trouble

Last summer, Kellyanne Conway was brought on board to replace Paul Manafort as campaign manager for Donald Trump. In the months that followed, Conway would become a mainstay on cable news and Sunday talk shows, routinely getting into heated exchanges with hosts and guests, while defending Trump at all costs.

Since the election, Conway has transitioned into the role of presidential counsel, while also becoming one of the leading voices of the administration. In recent weeks, however, Conway has come under fire, most notably when she coined the phrase "alternative facts" and her promotion of the nonexistent "bowling green massacre" to justify the controversial "Muslim ban" executive order. As reported by LawNewz on February 23, Conway is facing legal issues.

Bar Complaint Filed Against Kellyanne Conway for False Statements to Media https://t.co/rNKURFPLax pic.twitter.com/IgaETRi0P1  LawNewz (@law_newz) February 23, 2017

According to the report in LawNewz, 15 different ethics professors came together to file a legal complaint against Kellyanne Conway due to her repeated falsehoods, including the misinformation regarding the aforementioned "Bowling Green Massacre." Due to Conway being an attorney herself, the complaint argues that she has "violated the Rules of Professional Conduct."

Law professors file misconduct complaint against Kellyanne Conway https://t.co/ceoA6xJeHF  Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 23, 2017

Breaking down the complaint in question, LawNewz states that an attorney who holds a public position has "a higher obligation to avoid conduct involving dishonest, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation than other lawyers." Not stopping there, the complaint cites the "Bowling Green Massacre," and other alleged falsehoods pushed by Kellyanne Conway while discussing the issues on various cable news outlets.

In addition, the legal complaint accused Conway of possible "dishonesty, fraud, and deceit" as well as "misrepresentation."

Backlash continues

With Kellyanne Conway facing a legal challenge, it's one in a long list that have been filed against the Trump team over the last year. During the campaign, Donald Trump was hit with several lawsuits, most of which were settled or dropped, including the Trump University fraud cause. As of press time, neither Conway nor the White House has issued a statement on the potential lawsuit, and it's unknown if they will address the issue at some point in the future.
At around the same time that Stephen Bannon and Prince Reibus were having a love-in at the #Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, Fascist alt-right leader Richard Spencer was kicked out of by organizers.

"His views are #repugnant and have absolutely nothing to do with conservatism or what we do here," the CPAC spokesman Ian Walters told the press.

Walters added that spencer is "anti-free markets, #anti-Constitution, anti-pluralism," describing him as one bad egg who bought a ticket. He also used the words vile, venomous, horrible and repulsive to paint a more emphatic picture of Spencer's fascist views.

Distancing from the alt-right

CPAC is attempting to paint the picture that it wants nothing to do with the fascist-style alt-right, a white nationalist movement that is glorying in Donald Trump's recent victory. The president's chief strategist, #Steve Bannon, used to run the alt-white Breitbart magazine. So although CPAC made a big statement by refusing entry to Spencer, they did invite Bannon up onstage where he shared his unflattering and questionable views on the media.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer struggled to explain Trump's comments about a non-existent "military operation" in the effort to deport "unauthorized immigrants" from the United States. President Donald Trump, who has been ordered by a federal court to disclose the names of all immigrants who were banned from entering the country by his immigration ban, had stated earlier on Thursday that the deportation process was "a military operation." Trump provided few details about the operation, which only added to the speculation about what he meant.

Spicer's 'adjective' explanation

At a press conference on Thursday, Spicer was hounded with questions about the President's "military operation" and the rationale for using the military to remove immigrants from the country. Unfortunately for Spicer, his explanation created more questions than it answered.

Essentially, Spicer's labored explanation for Trump's comments was that Trump did not mean that an actual "military operation" was taking place, but that the President was using the word "military" as an adjective. Spicer further explained that Trump meant that the operation was "happening with precision," rather than that it was an actual "military operation." Spicer made every effort to convince reporters that Trump meant to say that the operation was a "military-style" event rather than an actual "military operation." Spicer made it clear that the military was not being used to deport immigrants.

However, his explanation for Trump's usage of the term "military operation" did not resonate with reporters and appeared awkward to many observers.

Dictionary definition of 'military'

According to the "New Oxford American Dictionary," the definition of the word "military" is as follows: "of, relating to, or characteristic of soldiers or armed forces." In the dictionary definition of the word "military," there is no reference to the word "military" as an adjective, nor is there an example of the usage of the word in adjective form.

When using the word "military" to refer to his deportation efforts, Trump did not specify that he was single-handedly changing the rules of grammar as noted in the dictionary. Whether or not there are upcoming executive orders pertaining to rules of syntax in the dictionary remains to be seen.

Trump fires top aide

Meanwhile, Trump fired a top aide for criticizing his policies on Latin America.

The aide, Craig Deare, was Trump's National Security Council Advsior for the Western Hemisphere. Trump fired Deare and then had him "escorted" out of the White House. It was not specified if the escort was a "military operation." Perhaps it is time to consult the dictionary again.
Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan went their separate ways several months ago, but still, a new co-host for "Live! with Kelly" has yet to be named. While the talk show host has been joined by numerous celebrities and a teacher from Philadelphia since Strahan's sudden exit, the hunt for the perfect partner has been ongoing, and on Monday night, following his latest co-hosting appearance on "Live! with Kelly," Jerry O'Connell addressed the issue.

During an appearance on Andy Cohen's late night talk show, "Watch What Happens Live," O'Connell admitted that he is often asked about the possibility of joining the show full-time.

As he revealed, he's asked about the topic in cabs, on red carpets, and everywhere in between. However, according to him, he feels that Cohen is better suited for the role. Meanwhile, Cohen, who has been a close friend of Ripa's for years, claims "Jerry O'Connell's the guy."

Who else is in the running to join Kelly Ripa on 'Live'?

In addition to O'Connell and Cohen's frequent appearances on the morning talk show, Ripa has been joined by longtime friend Anderson Cooper and her husband, Mark Consuelos, quite a few times. Ripa has also been seen alongside Richard Curtis, who won a contest which landed him a guest starring role on the show.

Richard Curtis was only supposed to star on the show during one episode

After winning the contest, Curtis appeared alongside Kelly Ripa on "Live! with Kelly" and quickly won over her many viewers. In fact, Curtis did so well that he has continued to make appearances on the show in the months since. He even starred in a three-episode run last month.

When Curtis first nabbed his guest starring role, he chatted with Philly's Daily News about his thoughts on the show, which his wife Lindsay encouraged him to apply for. "When you're at school every day, you don't get to watch as much Kelly Ripa as you'd like. That's why you get married," he explained. "[Lindsay] was the one who made me do it."

To see more of "Live! with Kelly," check your local listings.
Following the election of President Donald Trump, millions of Americans have since taken to the streets to protest the new commander in chief. On President's Day, the demonstrations against Trump continued, much to the chagrin of Tomi Lahren.

Tomi gets triggered

The 2016 presidential election will go down as the most controversial in recent history, which only further widened the divide between the American people. While the candidacy of Donald Trump was first viewed as nothing more than a sideshow act and joke, it quickly became serious as the former host of "The Apprentice" became the Republican nominee and later the president after his upset win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Since Inauguration Day, the opposition to Trump has only increased, which was evident on President's Day when protesters organized a nationwide event against the commander in chief. In response, conservative firebrand Tomi Lahren decided to speak-out during her February 20 edition of "Final Thoughts."

Opening up her "Final Thoughts" segment on the Blaze TV, right-wing social media star Tomi Lahren took aim at the aforementioned "Not My President's Day" protests. "It's President's Day and the snowflakes are ticked off again," Lahren said, before rhetorically asking and answering, "Why? It's President's Day and of course 'Not their President' is in office." "So what do they do? Take to the streets of course," Lahren noted, before showing various clips from the protests.

PHOTOS: Thousands of demonstrators gather for "Not My President" protests across the country on President's Day https://t.co/6lUNagA52e pic.twitter.com/40lUMkzADv  CBS News (@CBSNews) February 20, 2017

After mocking the protesters for possibly not having a job, Tomi Lahren continued her jab at the anti-Trump event. "If these folks spent half, or even a quarter of as much time doing something productive, they might not be complaining about income inequality, student loans, or how unfair life is," she went on to say.

Actually..it is YOUR President's Day. My final thoughts: https://t.co/8sBmvBTjiG  Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) February 21, 2017

Tomi closes

At this point, Tomi Lahren singled out one protester who brought a sign to the event, which listed her political grievances against Donald Trump and his administration. Included on the sign was her opposition to drug testing food stamp recipients, and the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

In conclusion, Tomi Lahren closed with a strong message for liberals and those who oppose Donald Trump. "The silent majority elected President Trump and we happen to like secure borders, energy independence, American infrastructure, and response-a-damn-bility" she said, before adding, "Get used to it."
Few company leaders ever experienced a rocket ride to success as fast as Sean Rad, co-founder of the mobile dating app Tinder. From virtually the first day of launch, the app became a viral sensation, growing from a few slightly amused millennials to over 50 million users today. Yet, Tinders rapid growth remains a cautionary tale for anyone starting a tech company and Rad, along with a number of high profile tech executives, took time this week to offer words of advice at Startup Grind, a two-day event held in Redwood City, California.

During his appearance on the Startup Grind stage, Rad called Tinder a very healthy company and spoke about the need to adapt the matchmaking approach to reflect societal norms in non-U.S locations.

He cited India as an example, where formal family introductions are more the tradition, than swiping through pictures of attractive (or not) men and women in a nearby bar.

New technology will just find someone for you

However, Tinder is also looking to the future for their platform and a new world where personal assistants, such as voice-activated Siri, will learn the users likes and habits to better spot a potential partner. Rad said that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will give his app the capability to recommend the perfect person through a simple voice query without searching, scrolling or swiping.

He cited an example where an AI-based platform tells him that theres a women just down the street who shares many of the same hobbies and likes.

Its a little scary to think that would happen, Rad admitted.

Rads journey from startup founder to established industry leader has not been exactly smooth. He was pushed out as CEO in 2014 only to return again a year later. Asked about how he dealt with Tinders rapid growth, Rad said, The faster you grow, the harder it gets.

If you dont love it you wont survive.

Google Cloud hires AI expert

Artificial intelligence was also in the spotlight during the conference when one of the worlds foremost experts on machine learning made a brief appearance. Dr. Fei-Fei Li, who recently joined Google, told the audience that she left her previous job as the head of Stanford Universitys Artificial Intelligence Lab to democratize AI.

I have no doubt that AI will be driving the fourth industrial revolution, said Li, and I do not want it in the hands of only a privileged few or elite.

It is widely believed that Lis hire by Google was driven by the companys belief that the ultimate success of their cloud computing business will depend on mass adoption of artificial intelligence technology. Li appeared to validate that thinking when she told the gathering that the marriage between AI and the cloud was the perfect way to democratize AI.

The Startup Grind conference was structured to also give budding entrepreneurs helpful advice on how to grow their business, featuring various sessions during the week with catchy titles such as No Investor, No Problem and If Youre Going to Fail, Fail Smart. One of the most popular offerings was led by online entrepreneur Vincent Dignan, the founder of Magnific, an online marketing company.

Titled How to Make $100,000 From a Facebook Group With No Budget, Dignan described the techniques he used in the field known today as Growth Hacking. His approach involves taking maximum advantage of the distribution tools offered through social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, combined with posts on various high traffic pages, and using all of it to attract an enormous following to your website.

As many in the tech industry will tell you, failure is virtually inevitable for most of the tech startups struggling to survive today. But the common Silicon Valley mantra has been to embrace it. As legendary venture capitalist Vinod Khosla told attendees, Failure doesnt matter if it doesnt kill you.
As reported by Malay Mail Online,Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, Inspector-General of Police in Malaysia, has identified the cause of Kim Jong-nams death at Kuala Lumpur Airport. Investigators established that the cause of death was a powerful neuro-toxin, VX, listed as a weapon of mass destruction by the UN. Reportedly this is only the second time a chemical weapon has been used worldwide in an assassination. In fact, that report says that the last time anyone has heard anything about VX was in the 1996 film The Rock, starring Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery.

Investigators found traces of the nerve agent in swabs taken from the face and eyes of former heir to North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-il. The preliminary toxicology report showed the poison used by Kim Jong-nams killers was VX, a tasteless, odorless and highly toxic nerve agent. Reportedly just a tiny drop of the nerve agent is enough to damage a victims central nerve system, killing them within minutes.

According to South Korean experts, North Korea has a vast chemical weapons stockpile of around 5,000 tonnes, including the Vx Nerve Agent. Leaked CCTV footage from the airport shows two women approaching Kim and appearing to push something into his face. Reportedly one of the two women suspects, currently in custody, has fallen ill and police said on Friday she has been vomiting.

While the woman involved in the assassination had previously said they thought they were taking part in a TV prank, one of the women was seen heading towards the bathroom immediately after the attack. It was clear she knew the agent was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands.

Kim Jong-nam killed by chemical agent https://t.co/jNOi2R7jJM pic.twitter.com/4RVhO6hkvw  The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 24, 2017

As reported by Yahoo!

News, Khalid Abu Bakar added that atomic energy experts will be sweeping the busy terminal at Kuala Lumpur airport to seek traces of the toxin, as well as other areas the two women had passed through. They will also be looking for the source of the deadly VX nerve agent, saying they are trying to investigate how it entered Malaysia.

However, he added that if the amount of the chemical was small, it might be difficult for them to detect.

According to a leading security expert, it would have been relatively easy to smuggle VX into the country in a diplomatic pouch, which by their nature are not subject to regular customs checks. Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, said that North Korea had previously used diplomatic pouches to smuggle contraband into the country.

Three suspects in custody for the assassination of Kim Jong-nam

Three suspects are currently being held by Malaysian police, including the two women from Vietnam and Indonesia and a man from North Korea, but they are wishing to speak to seven other people, of which four are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.

Reportedly one of the people wanted for questioning is Hyon Kwang Song, a senior North Korean embassy official, who is believed is still currently in Malaysia. However police did acknowledge that his diplomatic status makes it impossible for them to question him, unless he voluntarily hands himself in.

VX is the most potent of nerve agents, according to the CDC

According to the U.S. governments Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is only one possible use for VX, and that is as a chemical warfare agent. The CDC describes VX as being the most potent of all such nerve agents. They state on their website that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin would be lethal, unless immediately washed off.

North Korea calls Malaysias handling of the case immoral

Meanwhile, state media in North Korea has launched an attack on Malaysia, saying they are playing politics with Kims corpse and that their handling of the case is immoral. Reportedly Pyongyang has not acknowledge that the victim of the assassination is the half-brother of their leader, Kim Jong-un, and only refer to him as a citizen of North Korea who just happens to have a diplomatic passport.
BEIJING - French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve eyed more investment between China and France during his visit to Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, from Wednesday to Thursday.

Cazeneuve paid an official visit to China from Feb 21 to 23. Wuhan was his second stop after Beijing.

Jiang Chaoliang, Party chief of the province, welcomed Cazeneuve and his delegation.

Jiang said Hubei and France had established close collaboration in various sectors including environmental protection, finance, technology and motor. He hoped to promote regular, long-term bilateral exchanges and further deepen economic and trade cooperation between Hubei and France to achieve mutual benefits and development.

In Wuhan, Cazeneuve visited the Sino-French eco-city, initiated in Paris during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to France in 2014.

He said the eco-city project was a good example of bilateral cooperation in sustainable development and would play a significant role in promoting the Sino-France comprehensive strategic partnership.

Cazeneuve also invited more enterprises in Hubei and other parts of China to invest in France.

Hubei is France's top investment destination in China. At the end of 2016, there were 157 French-invested companies in Hubei, with a contractual value of $1.1 billion.

During his visit, Cazeneuve also attended the opening ceremony of the Wuhan P4 lab, China's first high level biosafety laboratory to study class four pathogens (P4), and planted a tree representing Sino-France friendship.
US President Donald Trump administration has again shown inconsistency in policy when Trump declared China "grand champions" of currency manipulation on Thursday, hours after his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin played down the issue.

It happens at a time when many US economists have dismissed Trump's accusation as "factually incorrect" and "ineffectual".

Trump told Reuters on Thursday that he has not "held back" in his assessment that China manipulates its yuan currency, despite not acting on a campaign promise to declare it a currency manipulator on his first day in office.

"Well they, I think they're grand champions at manipulation of currency. So I haven't held back," Trump said. "We'll see what happens," Reuters quoted Trump as saying.

Early in the day, Secretary Mnuchin expressed no urgency to designate China a currency manipulator. No announcement on currency manipulation will come before the Treasury's April report, Mnuchin told Bloomberg News on Thursday.

"The Trump administration seems to be signaling a slightly less confrontational approach to China on trade and currency issues," said Eswar Prasad, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former IMF China Division chief.

He said, however, there is still the potential for rising economic tensions with China, especially if the US bilateral trade deficit with China continues to grow.

Prasad told China Daily on Thursday that the US Treasury seems to be backing off from any immediate moves to accuse any of its major trading partners of currency manipulation.

"But this could just be a temporary respite as Treasury works on devising criteria for currency manipulation that catch only the right fish but also do not catch too many fish in the net," said Prasad, author of the book Gaining Currency: The Rise of the Renminbi.

Besides China, Japan and some other nations have also been accused by Trump for currency manipulation.

US economists have expressed strong disagreement with Trump's accusation on China. Fred Bergsten, a senior fellow and founding director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, has repeatedly said that China has not been manipulating its currency since 2014, arguing that China's recent actions to prop up the yuan has made the US economy more competitive, not less competitive.

He called it both "factually incorrect" and "ineffectual" to label China a currency manipulator.

It is widely believed that if the Chinese government does not take some measures soon, the yuan will devalue further against the US dollar, thereby hurting the US economy.

"It's ironic that US officials continue to call China a currency manipulator when it has been intervening to keep the value of its currency high, not low," David Dollar, a senior fellow at Brookings and a former US Treasury emissary in Beijing, wrote on the Brookings website on Jan 26.

In the last US Treasury report issued in October, the Obama administration said China only met the first of the three criteria to be labeled a currency manipulator  a significant bilateral trade surplus with the US, a material current account surplus (more than 3 percent of GDP) and persistent one-sided intervention in its currency market.

If the US names China a currency manipulator, it would require China and the US to start negotiations on the issue. The US might ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide expert assessment. IMF's last report on the Chinese economy said the value of Chinese currency "remains broadly in line with fundamentals".

Mnuchin told IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in a phone call this week that he wants the fund to "provide frank and candid analysis of the exchange rate policies" of member countries. But he also assured Lagarde that the US wants to ensure financial stability, according to US news media.

Mnuchin's words on Thursday came less than a week after his separate phone calls with Vice-Premier Wang Yang, Minister of the Office of Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs Liu He, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan and Minister of Finance Xiao Jie.

The readout from the Treasury spokesman said: "The secretary emphasized the importance of achieving a more balanced bilateral economic relationship going forward. He conveyed his commitment to working with the Chinese leadership on a comprehensive set of economic, financial, trade and investment, and illicit finance issues, in both bilateral and multilateral forums."
The unveiling ceremony of the Horinger New District is held in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Feb 24, 2017. [Photo/Provided to China Daily]

The unveiling ceremony of the Horinger New District was held in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Feb 24.

Li Jiheng, Party secretary of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, urged the implementation of new measures to promote the new area's development at the ceremony.

"We have to fully recognize the importance of the Horinger New District, and build the area into a beautiful place in Northern China," Li said.

The new district is aimed to be an important cluster for developing industrial integration, and a prosperous ecological zone for the development of low-carbon energy, and will include six banners, counties and districts within its 496 square kilometer area.

Key industrial development areas will be located in the Horinger Economic Development Zone, Sha'erqin Industrial Park and the New Airport Economic Zone, according to a plan released at the unveiling ceremony. According to the overall construction plan for the new district, development endeavors shall be compiled and submitted to the State Council for approval within a year.

In the northern region of the Horinger New District, there will be a new urban area composed of the Jinqiao Development Area and the Baita Area. In the district's south, there will be an industrial cluster comprised of the Togtoh and Qingshuihe industrial parks.

Over the next three years, the overall economic strength of the district should remarkably improve with the active progress made through the construction of the industrial parks, with the total industrial output estimated to reach 160 billion yuan ($23.3 billion) and the number of the permanent residents reaching 700,000.

The released plan also set development goals for the next five and ten years. The total industrial output should increase to 210 billion and 490 billion yuan in the next five and ten years, respectively.

"Horinger will utilize the opportunity of building the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor to enhance regional cooperation and undertake more industrial businesses," said Luo Qing, director of the management committee of the Horinger New District.

"The new district will open more to the outside world and build many economic platforms, such as a permanent site for the China-Mongolia Expo, a pilot free trade zone and a comprehensive bonded zone," Luo said.
Through improvements in nutrition, a tenfold reduction in infant mortality, a 97 percent cut in the incidence of communicable diseases and fast increases in public health spending to improve sanitation, water quality and access to care, China has made rapid progress in improving the life expectancy and health of the population.

Realizing that progress from now on will be based on improved medical care rather than on public health measures, and thus more difficult to achieve, China has embarked on a multi decade program of structural reform of the medical care system.

The central government is pushing provinces, cities and counties to experiment to find out what works  and what does not  before going national with successful reforms.

The 13th Five-Year Plan, (2016-20), calls for increased private and foreign involvement in healthcare. Many companies  domestic and foreign, state-owned and private  see tantalizing opportunities, but are struggling to find viable business models. Constraints on commercial firms are being loosened, but significant obstacles remain.

Chinas healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP grew from about 2 percent in 2005 to 3.5 percent in 2009 when the reform started, to about 6 percent today. In a time of rapid GDP growth, this was almost a tripling of real healthcare spending. Total expenditures are now about 4 trillion yuan ($435 billion) and research by Deloitte Analysis predicts it will top 8 trillion yuan by 2020. By 2030, total Chinese spending on healthcare will reach 16 trillion yuan, 10 percent of that years expected GDP.

Private equity and venture capital funds, insurance companies, and foreign pharmaceutical, hospital and tech companies are flowing into the market. China healthcare mergers and acquisitions surged from $18.8 billion in 2014 to $54 billion in 2015. But companies in all healthcare sectors are finding that succeeding in Chinas healthcare market requires patient, long-term, large investments and the willingness to adapt to changes in the system.

Gu Xuefei, deputy dean of the China National Health Development Research Center of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, says: The most important achievement is, in a relatively short period of time, building a universal network of basic healthcare, covering 98 percent of the population, both urban and rural. With expanded social insurance, people now dare to see a doctor, so minor illnesses dont turn into serious ones.

According to NHFPC data, the percentage of patients who were not hospitalized but should have been fell from 29.8 percent in 2003 to 17.1 percent in 2013 and is continuing to fall. In 2016, the government paid 420 yuan toward basic medical insurance for the more than 40 percent of the population still living in rural areas, with the individual paying only 120 yuan. Urban dwellers pay slightly more but receive a more complete level of coverage, so almost everyone can afford basic medical insurance.

Gu stresses the importance of the private sector: China will optimize the environment for private capital to run hospitals and clinics. It will give non public and public providers equivalent rights to get approval to launch to the market and will give patients the right to use social insurance in private hospitals and clinics.

Furthermore, he says: Insurance companies are being encouraged to develop new products that cover critical illnesses, especially cancer. They are also strongly encouraged to develop systems that provide managed care, integrating lifestyle changes and preventive medicine, for the four big chronic diseases  diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and strokes.

The government is eager to contract with private sector companies or non profit organizations to provide these services. Local and provincial governments are being instructed to leave enough space for private capital in their healthcare planning and to treat private and public providers equally.

At the same time, the country is planning to broaden and deepen healthcare coverage, it is also dealing with rising costs due to an aging population and a slowing economy.

Recent academic research shows that about half of Chinas locally managed social health insurance funds are not covering their costs.

In a May, 2015 statement, the State Council, Chinas cabinet, announced the objective of eliminating the dependence of hospitals on income from the sale of pharmaceuticals, thus making medical services more affordable and removing incentives for doctors to prescribe excessive drugs. A survey of Beijing hospitals showed that in 2014 they received 50-80 percent of their revenue from drug sales. Gu reports that this fraction has now fallen to 30-40 percent for many hospitals. Yet other funding sources, from the government, patients or insurers, must be found.

Clinics and family doctors

The Chinese medical system has traditionally centered on large urban hospitals. Even though they are crowded and lots of waiting is required, many patients prefer them because they doubt the quality of clinics, family doctors and lower-tier hospitals. But Healthy China 2030, a planning blueprint issued by the State Council and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sees changing to a family doctor system as key to the 13th Five-Year plan (2016-20).

Also, a 2016 report from Chinas Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the NHFPC, the World Bank and the World Health Organization, stated that shifting from hospitals to family doctors and smaller clinics is the basis for providing better patient-centered service at affordable costs.

Roberta Lipson, a US citizen who has lived in China since 1979 and is chair and founder of United Family Hospitals, which has hospitals and clinics in Chinas major cities, emphasizes that the hospital has been pushing the family doctor model since its founding in 1996.

Integrated systems like this can make healthcare both more convenient and  by managing long-term care and moving simpler care to clinics  more cost-effective, Lipson says. Linking family doctors and hospitals can also overcome the fear, prevalent in China, that small clinics have lower quality doctors and equipment.

UFH is now owned by private equity investors, primarily US-based TPG and Chinas Fosun Group.

Lipson says that several problems limit the ability of foreign companies to invest more. Patients at UFH, 70 percent of whom are Chinese, cannot use social insurance to pay, even though Beijing social insurance would cover 60-70 percent of the costs for many treatments. Furthermore, foreign-owned hospitals are not able to open branches. So, for tax purposes, the losses from a newly opened clinic cannot counter profits from long-established sites. In building-out its 10 clinics in Beijing, some years UFH paid taxes of more than 100 percent of its total profits.

Dong Yuxing, deputy general manager for healthcare management at PICC Health, which is a subsidiary of one of Chinas largest insurers, Peoples Insurance Company (Group) of China, says the company is experimenting with business models ranging from assisting local governments with healthcare administration, to managed care packages, to various insurance products.

The healthy China concept will focus on disease prevention, not just treatment, Dong says.

For example, PICC Health in January 2016 signed a contract worth about 20 million yuan with the city of Baoji, in northwestern Chinas Shaanxi province, which has been designated as a medical reform test city. The first step will be digitizing and applying big data analysis to the citys healthcare records, which are now just on paper.

The planned second step is to experiment with a managed care program in which the insurance company receives a fixed fee, shared by the government and patient, to provide all healthcare services during the year.

Such managed care could reduce total costs by providing early intervention, encouraging lifestyle changes and simplifying paperwork. If this works, it could reduce the costs of Chinas growing chronic disease problem, Dong says.

Similarly, PICC Health is managing the critical medical fund in the city of Wuhu, in eastern Chinas Anhui province, where medical reforms were first experimentally implemented in 2009. These kinds of test cases are seen as ways for the government and the commercial sector to find workable models.

United Family Hospitals also has been experimenting with managed care in conjunction with Yong An Insurance Company through its Hemu insurance model. United Family is proactively paid for preventive services, and the hospital, insurance company and patient all benefit when the patient is kept healthy.

Dong emphasizes that commercial insurers need to work out what incentives could lead them to take the risk from the government. Unless they learn how to manage risks, they will have to foot the bill for medical care for the Chinese people, which is supposed to be the job of the government.

Pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceutical sales in China are already the second-largest in the world  more than $115 billion, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. Analysis by Global Data, predicts that sales will rise to $315 billion by 2020. So no big pharma company can afford to ignore the market.

Prices of some major drugs are expected to be cut in half as provincial governments bargain hard, according to a Caixin report. But, in spite of the price pressure, due to consumer demand and the availability of skilled research scientists, global pharmaceutical companies plan to invest more than $2.1 billion in China by 2019.

Foreign drug companies are adapting their strategies to the healthcare reform goal of promoting family doctors and clinics. For example, Paris-based Sanofi sees broadening its geographic coverage to lower-tier cities as a high strategic priority. So, it established a business unit to market its products, especially its treatments for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, to community clinics and to county hospitals in remote areas, according to a marketing director at the companys office in Shanghai who asked not to be named. Sanofis chronic disease treatment sales are growing more than 15 percent per year.
Chun Qing Li, founder of China Britain International Design Week. [China Daily]

Architect Chun Qing Li says it's time people start taking Chinese design seriously.

"We have a reputation for being copycats, but this is mainly because of what the media chooses to focus on," Li says at a restaurant in London's Chinatown.

"Ten years ago, I set myself a targetI wanted to be a good designer representing China and to change the way that Western people see us."

In that decade, Li has gone some way to changing perceptions. Three years ago, the Shenyang native won a Structural Awardstructural engineering's highest prizefor his design of a London pavilion that judges described as "seminal".

He walked away with one of 2016's Chinese Business Leaders Awards in the Rising Star category last year, for his work and contribution as founder of China Britain International Design Week.

"I dreamt of creating a platform where all the best Chinese designers could come and be represented abroad, to raise awareness about who we are and what we do," Li said with a smile.

Two of Li's most obvious attributesa diligent work ethic and a refusal to take no for an answerare likely to be as infuriating as they are inspiring to those around him.

While raising funds to get his pavilion built in time for the 2012 Olympics, his wife would often find him at work on his computer at 6:30 amjust in time for him to shower and leave for a day's work without sleep.

Li says he lost seven kilos in the lead up to China Britain International Design Week's inaugural event in 2014 during President Xi Jinping's visit to the UK.

"From an employer's point of view, education is one thing, but they want to see how hungry you are," Li says. "I work bloody long hours and I have a burning desire to do something different."

Before attending university in Liverpool and working for a number of leading firms in the northern city and the capital, Li arrived in Britain from China as a teenager with limited English.

His parents were supportive, he says, though he felt pressure to make right on the money they were investing in his education abroad. Li attributes his motivation to both his mother, who worked her way up from factory floor to chief executive, and the training he underwent to swim competitively for Liaoning province while at secondary school.

"I used to swim 25,000 meters every day, you need incredible discipline for that," he says.

His affinity for design was evident at a young age, when he would accompany his father, a surveyor, to building sites in the summer holidays. "My grandmother was sick, so my parents used to take me to work," he recalls. "I used to draw all the buildings on scraps of paper. That was my early inspiration."

Li now works for himself at his own firm, KREOD, and plans to bring the same robotic design tools and digital fabrication that he used to create the London pavilion to large scale projects in the UK.

"We have a responsibility as architectswe shape the built environment, and the environment changes people, it affects mood and wellbeing," he says.

"I want to bring high-quality buildings that are affordable to people, built with tools of the future, not in the old, traditional way."
Planes and helicopters are typically regarded as big boys' toys. So it might come as a surprise that, in Hong Kong, one woman is at the helm of several companies operating in this field.

Diana Chou has been active in the industry since around 1999. That was when she started Sino Private Aviation (HK) Limited to sell personal jets to the Asian market, as the official representative in China for Canadian aerospace giant Bombardier.

To date, she has sold more than 60 private jets and more than 110 helicopters to tycoons, government bodies and corporations in the region.

To put these numbers in perspective: At the start of 2016, only 132 private jets were registered in Hong Kong and 764 helicopters in the Chinese mainland.

What makes Chou's journey particularly remarkable is that prior to entering the industry, she was involved in completely unrelated fields, including cosmetics, lingerie, hospitality and banking.

Of course, some will speculate that being the daughter of Chao Kuangpiu, founder of Cathay Dragon, the airline previously known as Dragonair, might have influenced her career change.

The 59-year-old said she has never actually been involved in her father's business, but she does not deny that being connected to that network has helped her target ultra-high-networth individuals.

"I'm a born salesperson," she said, when asked how the change in her career came about.

"The technique of selling  whether it is a lipstick or a private jet  is exactly the same. It is about the emotion attached to the product. The need is what is different.

"My job is to awaken that desire to purchase the item. It is about catching the impulse of the customer to buy, and getting them to swipe their credit card."

However, there is a glaring difference in price points, and Chou has to work a lot harder when it comes to closing a deal on a jet or helicopter.

"I help them reach the affirmation that they need to buy the aircraft," she said. "It helps if they have the desire and experience beforehand. We also have to match a lot of elements such as the brand, interiors and cost to operate. Once these are satisfied, and the customer has the means to purchase it, then the deal can pretty much be closed."

From selling private jets, Chou decided to branch out into helicopters. She pioneered such sales in China through her company Aerochine Aviation, representing the United States-based Bell Helicopter.

Since then, the entrepreneur has moved up the value chain, spotting opportunities along the way.

In 2013, Chou launched the private jet charter consultancy L'Voyage.

"The response has been very good," Chou said. "We are positioning it both as a business tool and a lifestyle experience. We hope to create new demand, in that after trying the jets our customers will end up buying one later."

Chou is also steering L'Voyage to "target new markets", such as wellness and medical tourism. Working with travel agents, the intention is to package these experiences with the convenience that private jets have to offer.

On the helicopter front, Chou has not been dormant either. Since clinching the deal to represent Bell, she has, through Aerochine Aviation, established an aviation service center in Ningbo, in East China's Zhejiang province. She also has a rotary wing maintenance, repair and operations facility in the eastern Jiangsu province.

This has allowed the company's scope to expand from sales to maintenance.

Last year she partnered with two Singaporeans to launch Aero Infinity, a leasing company. It intends to purchase a fleet of single-engine helicopters and lease them to operators in industries including power grid, transport and emergency services.

Chou spotted the niche by noticing the interest and investment support that US leasing companies were receiving from fund managers.

"The advantage is having a steady income flow. We are fund-raising at the moment," she revealed.

It is clear she is an individual who "cannot keep still"  something she readily admits. And this perhaps is what drives her to keep her eyes peeled for the next opportunity.

"You need to be ahead of the change in your industry or business or it will be taken over by new entrants. So how do you create new novelty? You innovate.

"Be alert and ready," she said. "Drive and passion is important. If you look hard enough, the opportunity will appear."

Chou is a big advocate of the Sigmoid Curve, a mathematical function using an S-shaped curve. This is something she learned about while doing her MBA and she readily applies it to her career.

"It basically says that everything goes through peaks and troughs. You need to be innovative to remain at the peak. At the same time, it is important to start the second curve before the first one declines."

Outside of her businesses, Chou has also been active in the regulation side of the industry.

As a founding member of the Asian Business Aviation Association, she has campaigned for governments to open the skies to private jets. For instance, she pushed for a special channel for customs and immigration clearance in airports for private jet owners.

She is also constantly advocating better aviation standards and the development of talent in both the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

To this end, Aerochine Aviation has created a scholarship program for pilots and an internship program with the Vocational Training Council in Hong Kong for mechanics.

"We have a tremendous shortage of talent in the industry. Aviation takes a lot of effort, so education is very important," she said.

In fact, Chou acknowledged that she has played a big role in piloting the private jet industry to where it is today. "If I had not persevered, we would have taken longer to arrive at where we are now."

And rather than perceiving her gender as a handicap in the industry, she has played it to her advantage.

"It's been easier to open doors and people are more forgiving when I make a mistake. The downside is, in a male-dominated environment, they don't pay attention to you and it can be frustrating," she said with a laugh.

"Also, it can be intimidating when you are the only woman in a meeting room full of men. Then they start their male jokes. Fortunately, I'm old enough to be bold, so I will make a funny remark too so they will not ignore me."

Looking ahead, and in light of the uncertain economic climate, Chou advises clients to be cautious about purchasing jets at this point in time.

"Buy only if you have the need for it. I sell to customers who think they will need the jet for at least 300 hours a year. Otherwise, the charter service is a good alternative."

She believes change is on the horizon for the aviation industry. This will mean more efficient engines, supersonic jets and the increased use of composite materials to construct planes to reduce the carbon footprint.

Chou also has a hunch that the sharing economy will make its presence felt. Already in North America, jet pooling, similar to car pooling, has become common. However, she is unsure if it will take off in China.

"The people in North America are more pragmatic and don't mind sharing the space. But in China, the mindset tends toward traveling with people they know. Only time will tell if this will work here."
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to build up the US nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the "top of the pack," saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity.

In his first comments about the US nuclear arsenal since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump said the United States has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity."

"I am the first one that would like to see everybody - nobody have nukes, but we're never going to fall behind any country even if it's a friendly country, we're never going to fall behind on nuclear power."

"It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack," Trump said.

The new strategic arms limitation treaty, known as New START, between the US and Russia requires that by February 5, 2018, both countries must limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to equal levels for 10 years.

The treaty permits both countries to have no more than 800 deployed and non-deployed land-based intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and heavy bombers equipped to carry nuclear weapons, and contains equal limits on other nuclear weapons. Analysts have questioned whether Trump wants to abrogate New START or would begin deploying other warheads.

In the interview, Trump called New START "a one-sided deal.

"Just another bad deal that the country made, whether it's START, whether it's the Iran deal ... We're going to start making good deals," he said.

The United States is in the midst of a $1 trillion, 30-year modernization of its aging ballistic missile submarines, bombers and land-based missiles, a price tag that most experts say the country cannot afford.

Trump also complained that the Russian deployment of a ground-based cruise missile is in violation of a 1987 treaty that bans land-based American and Russian intermediate-range missiles.

"To me it's a big deal," Trump said.

Asked if he would raise the issue with Putin, Trump said he would do so "if and when we meet." He said he had no meetings scheduled as of yet with Putin.

Speaking from behind his desk in the Oval Office, Trump declared that "we're very angry" at North Korea's ballistic missile tests and said accelerating a missile defense system for US allies Japan and South Korea was among many options available.
Mexico on Thursday expressed "worry and irritation" about US policies to two of President Donald Trump's top envoys, giving a chilly reply to the new administration's hard line on immigration, trade and security.

The US government this week angered Mexico by saying it was seeking to deport many illegal immigrants to Mexico if they entered the United States from there, regardless of their nationality.

It is the latest point of friction between neighbors that have also been at odds over Trump's vow to build a wall on the border and his attempts to browbeat Mexico into giving concessions on trade.

"There exists among Mexicans worry and irritation about what are perceived to be policies that could be harmful for the national interest and for Mexicans here and abroad," Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told a news conference.

He was speaking after talks in the Mexican capital with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security chief John Kelly, who later met with President Enrique Pena Nieto. The Mexican leader scrapped a summit meeting with Trump in January as tensions rose.

Both sides on Thursday pledged further dialogue on migration, trade and security issues.

Kelly and Tillerson were more measured in their words than either the Mexicans or Trump, who on Thursday said a military operation was being carried out to clear "bad dudes" such as gang members and drug lords from the United States.
French politician Yannick Jadot, green party EELV (Europe-Ecologie-les-Verts) candidate for the 2017 presidential election, attends a meeting focused on healthcare and health insurance in Paris, France, February 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - Yannick Jadot, the Green party candidate for the French presidential election, on Thursday announced he was leaving the presidential race to endorse the Socialist Benoit Hamon's bid.

"I am withdrawing as a candidate in the presidential election," Jadot said, hailing "a great agreement," he had reached with the Socialists earlier in the day.

"My objective is that next president would be an ecologist. Benoit Hamon's victory in the left primary has changed the political landscape and gave everyone a responsibility," he told state-run France 2 television.

Hamon, already struggling to build momentum, said the election deal with the Greens was "the fruit of a common vision of a desirable future, based on a common understanding of ... citizens' concern: ecological transition, work, wages, universal income..."

Pollsters have predicted Jadot to collect between 1 and 2 percent of vote while the ex-education minister is trialling in the fourth place in the first round in April.
WASHINGTON - The United States on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on two leadership officials of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Syria.

According to a statement by the US Treasury Department, Iyad Nazmi Salih Khalil and Bassam Ahmad al-Hasri were responsible for providing key support to Nusra Front by overseeing militant operations and developing the militant group's strategy.

Designating Khalil as Nusra Front's third highest-ranking official as of early 2016, the statement said Khalil took part in discussions among the group's senior leadership regarding the group's overall strategy and the feasibility of establishing an emirate in Idlib, Syria.

Al-Hasri was designated for acting for or on behalf of Nusra Front and oversaw the group's military operations in southern Syria, the statement added.

As part of the US sanctions, all property of the two men subject to US jurisdiction are blocked and US persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
Chinese embassy to Myanmar lodged solemn representations to local authorities on Thursday after a Chinese factory was raided by striking workers, The Paper reported.

A Chinese-invested garment factory in an industrial zone in Hlaingtharyar, a new satellite town in the north of Myanmar's Yangon, was raided by employees Thursday.

Chinese embassy officials immediately contacted the foreign, interior ministries of Myanmar, and Yangon provincial authorities, urging them to take actions, ensure the safety of Chinese nationals and protect the property interests of Chinese firms. The officials also requested Myanmar authorities to deal with illegal striking workers.

Myanmar has promised to safeguard the interests of Chinese workers and companies, and said it will handle related problems.

Chinese embassy staff have paid visits to Chinese workers, and urged Myanmar departments to resume the work at the factory as soon as possible.
SYDNEY - Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu have lost their right to vote in the United Nation's General Assembly for failing to make compulsory payments to the organization, it has been revealed on Friday.

Papua New Guinea owes the United Nations 139,000 US dollars, while Vanuatu's bill stands at 19,000 US dollars.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill told local media the money was in a trust account and "someone in the Department of Foreign Affairs needs to explain why they did not pay."

It is still possible however, for the South Pacific countries to buy back their vote if the funds are paid in the immediate future.

Other nations who have also lost their vote for failing to meet these requirements Friday include Venezuela, Libya, Sudan and Cape Verde.
Italy firmly supports Chinas Belt and Road Initiative and will become a close partner of Beijing on global governance, visiting Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in Shanghai on Friday.

In a speech at Fudan University, Mattarella said the initiative presents a huge opportunity that many countries will benefit from.

Italy will actively respond to Chinas initiative and be part of this plan. The two countries can join hands to write a new chapter in history," he said.

Mattarella endorsed President Xi Jinpings remarks on the importance of globalization during the Davos Forum in January, stressing that a globalized, integrated and open market is fundamental to economic recovery and more balanced growth across nations.

He also harshly criticized trade wars, saying they are not a problem-solver but could only result in more people suffering. Likewise, nations need concerted efforts to tackle global issues from immigration to climate change.

"We need a multilateral world. China and the European Union should further enhance mutual understanding through economic, cultural and people-to-people exchanges," he said.

Sergio Mattarella is currently on a six-day visit to China that began from Tuesday.
WASHINGTON  Cordial ties are "going to be an important thing" between the US and China, said Terry Branstad, the governor of Iowa and US President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to China.

"If you think of the history there have been a lot of rocky times. It gets worse, and then it gets better. But I hope I can play a constructive role in helping to improve the relations," Branstad said Thursday in an interview after speaking at a US Department of Agriculture conference in Arlington, Virginia.

Branstad, who has known Chinese President Xi Jinping for three decades, said that his personal relationship with Chinese officials will help convince them to break down barriers.

He said that one goal is to re-open Chinese purchases of US beef, shuttered since the first US outbreak of mad-cow disease in 2003.

"I want to serve it at the embassy to Chinese leadership soon," Branstad said.

He was nominated by Trump in December, but his confirmation as ambassador has yet to go before the US Senate.

BLOOMBERG
Heartfelt condolences - New York A memorial to Russia's recently deceased ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, is seen at the Russian mission to the UN in New York City on Tuesday. Chinese Ambassador to the UN Liu Jieyi said China was "deeply saddened" by the passing of Churkin and expressed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and the government of Russia, as well as the Russian mission to the UN. Reuters
VIP sendoff - Washington From left: Zhu Hong, minister at the economic and commercial section of the Chinese embassy in washington; Dave Bronczek, president and COO of FedEx Corp; and Dennis Kelly, director of the Smithsonian's National Zoo, chat on Tuesday afternoon at Dulles International Airport during a farewell ceremony for panda cub Bao Bao's departure for China. Chen Weihua / China Daily
President Donald Trump's campaign promise for a $1 trillion infrastructure program will be in focus when US governors gather on Friday in Washington, DC, with some states making wish lists of projects ranging from a bullet train to statewide broadband internet service.

The winter meeting of the National Governors Association running through Monday is expected to showcase rare bipartisan agreement on the need for more federal help in upgrading roads, bridges and airports, said Scott Pattison, the group's executive director.

"There's just this pent-up demand to deal with, whether it's a crack in a dam, a bridge, whatever it is," Pattison said in a telephone interview.

Although there is little movement on Capitol Hill to make Trump's infrastructure vow a reality, governors have sent the White House a list of 428 projects they say are ready to go with some extra federal spending.

The National Governors Association has not released the list but checks with some states hinted at the projects.

Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown has asked for $120 billion, saying that since the state made up 12 percent of the US economy it deserves 12 percent of Trump's $1 trillion package.

"We're not talking about a few million, we're talking about tens of billions," Brown said of the infrastructure proposal this month as he sought federal aid to deal with a leaking dam and flooding.

Among California's big-ticket items is construction of a high-speed rail system linking San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Colorado and Minnesota want help building statewide broadband systems, with Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat, saying his state needs $150 million for its broadband grid.

Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback's top priority is $122 million for interstate highway repairs. South Carolina and Virginia want federal aid to deepen ports, among other projects.

In a letter to Trump, Republican Governor Henry McMaster said South Carolina also needed help replacing roads and bridges. "An appropriation of $5 billion from your infrastructure plan will help us bridge this economic gap," he wrote.

Pattison said governors wanted a "toolbox" of financing options, including municipal bonds, cash, public-private partnerships and federal matching funds.

The governors are scheduled to meet with Trump on Sunday evening and again on Monday morning.

One of the speakers at the governors' conference, Leo Hindery, a managing partner at New York's InterMedia Partners, will tell state executives that creating a federal infrastructure bank is the only way to fund the hundreds of billions of dollars needed for public works.

The United States has long been criticized for its lagging public works spending. The American Society of Civil Engineers has graded US infrastructure at D+ and estimated the country needs to invest $3.6 trillion by 2020.

During his campaign, Trump said he wanted action on infrastructure in his first 100 days as president. That now seems unlikely. He also talked about creating a tax credit to encourage private sector investment.

Trump's plans to create an infrastructure council have yet to get started. Republican lawmakers have said they expect to get White House infrastructure proposals but have given no details or timing.

REUTERS
His friends jokingly call him Terminator or Bugsy. Its a nickname that exterminator Eric Homan good-naturedly accepts. As an expert with Waltham Pest Control, Homan is part of a team of state-certified technicians who are a nuisance critters worst enemy. Homan, 27, who specializes in larger animals like bats, squirrels, raccoons and rodents, also is frequently assigned to eradicate insects: ants, wasps, roaches and bed bugs. A lot of homeowners mistakenly think Im a killer of some sort and want to go and just eliminate everything. But Im a real nature lover to begin with, which is why I find this industry really fascinating. I have a healthy respect for how resourceful pests can be, said Homan. He spoke with Globe correspondent Cindy Atoji Keene about successfully fighting the battle against vermin.

Pests dont care whether you have $2 in your bank account or $15 million. I do a large percentage of my work in Wellesley, Sudbury and Newton and have some very high profile customers, including a $7 million dollar house where the clients are only there twice a year. The mice pick up on this absence  thats a lot of square footage where they can freely roam  and they move right in. This time of year is definitely Rodent Central no matter where you live. A lot of animals are looking to hunker down for the winter months and will try to get into houses anyway they can. Squirrels will chew holes; raccoons rip soffits right off the house. This is a highly regulated trade; Massachusetts is probably one of the more difficult states to get a pesticide license. I have an applicators license and Problem Animal Control (PAC) certification that allows me to trap large animals and euthanize if necessary. I kind of fell into this career; I was aimlessly taking courses for a liberal arts degree and working in a dead-end retail job. Then I saw an ad for pest control, and since I grew up on a pond, fishing and playing in the woods, I thought it sounded right up my alley. That was seven years ago, and Ive seen all sorts of bug and varmint scenarios. I have my share of pest horror stories, including a sweet lady in Tewksbury who had bats in her attic. I didnt even make it up the stairs when I could hear their trademark clicking sound. The bat guano was at least five inches thick and there were bat bugs - kind of like bed bugs, but they breed on bat stool  crawling through the vents. Bats are federally protected species so you cant trap or kill them; I had to pinpoint their entry points and install a one-way door so they could exit but not re-enter. I sprayed down the area with bleach and cleaned up all the droppings. Of course, most jobs are much more routine and not so intense. People are usually pretty grateful when you can help them get rid of the unwanted visitors from the outside.


Here's something you don't see every day: college students making or eating stuffed tomatoes; or a chef making stuffed tomatoes on the top of a ship. I had the pleasure of seeing the later at the Spirit of Boston, docked in Boston's Seaport neighborhood.

Executive Chef Mike Almond prepared tomatoes stuffed with couscous on a recent summer day. Here's his recipe:

Stuffed Tomato

Ingredients:

- 4 each 5x6 tomatoes w/ tops cut off and seeds scooped out

- 2 cups couscous Israeli

- 2  cups vegetable broth

-  cup diced white onions

-  cup diced carrots

-  cup diced red peppers

- 1 TBL curly parsley chopped

- 2 TBL feta cheese

- 2 TBL olive oil

- To taste: salt and pepper

Procedure:

1.) Heat oil in sauce pan over medium high heat

2.) Add couscous, carrots, onions, peppers stirring until onion translucent and couscous is a light golden brown. 5-7 minutes

3.) Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil

4.) Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until all cubes absorbed

5.) Pour in feta and curly parsley

6.) Season with salt and pepper

7.) Place  cup couscous in tomato

8.) Place in oven at 375 degrees. 8-12 minutes
Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page.

Loading...

Checking your browser before accessing the website.

This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly.

Please wait a few seconds.
ONG NAI  The southeastern province of ong Nai expects to grow an additional 500ha of cocoa by 2018, bringing the total area of cocoa in the province to 1,000ha.

The provinces Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said it was implementing six large-scale cocoa fields.

Nguyen Huu inh, the head of the provinces Rural Development Sub-department, said besides implementing large-scale cocoa fields, the province has also provided farming techniques, loans and fertiliser to farmers.

The provinces cocoa productivity has increased to 10 tonnes per ha.

Trong uc Cocoa Co, which takes part in a large-scale field project, has signed purchase of long-term contracts with farmers to guarantee cocoa outlets.

The company buys cocoa at a price of more than VN6,000 per kg (US$0.28), higher than the market price. Purchase price may change based on the market price.

Cocoa trees are easy to grow, have less disease and can be harvested in more than 10 years, according to cocoa farmers in ong Nai Provinces inh Quan District.

The total investment for one ha of cocoa is about VN20 million ($900) and the profit will be VN50 million ($2,240) a year, they said.

This year, ong Nai farmers will grow 200,000 cocoa trees on 250ha, according to ang Tuong Khanh, the director of Trong uc Cocoa Co.

The companys products from cocoa, which include chocolate and wine, are exported to South Korea and Japan.  VNS
HCM CITY  The Australian Consulate General in HCM City on Wednesday awarded Direct Aid Programme (DAP) grants worth more than VN3.3 billion (around US$144,500) to 11 projects for the 2016-17 period.

The projects, based in the central and southern regions, span a range of sectors from community healthcare to small-scale infrastructure projects and water and sanitation.

The projects are based in HCM City, a Nang and the provinces of An Giang, Vinh Long, ong Thap, Hau Giang, Quang Nam, Ca Mau and Khanh Hoa.

A small aid programme funded by the Australian government, DAP aims to address humanitarian hardship through funding small-scale development projects.

The Australian Consulate General in HCM City administers DAP in provinces from a Nang southward, while the Australian Embassy in Ha Noi administers DAP from Thua Thien-Hue Province northward.

Karen Lanyon, Australian Consul General, said Im so glad to see that our small-scale DAP grants are making such a difference in local communities throughout Viet Nam. This is what makes the Australian Governments DAP programme so unique: its accessibility to local communities in need of a small amount of funding to make a big difference.  VNS
HA NOI  Vietnamese youth believe there are certain technologies that will have a significant impact on their lives, according to survey findings released on Wednesday by Microsoft.

These exciting technologies are Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual/mixed/augmented reality (VR/MR/AR).

Over 1,400 youths were polled across the Asia Pacific region, including 100 from Viet Nam. Other markets involved in the survey were Australia, China, Hong Kong and India, as well as Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, along with New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.

IoT ranked as the top technology that Vietnamese youth expect will have the most impact on their lives. In recent years, the confluence of power devices, cloud and data has enabled bold visions on how IoT can be an integrated part of the digital future.

IoT refers to the ever-growing network of physical objects connected to the internet and the communication that occurs between these objects and other devices and systems. This includes everything from street sensors, home appliances, wearables and vehicles.

According to the survey, these are the three scenarios that youth anticipate will bring the biggest improvement to their lives from IoT -- smart homes, smart buildings and traffic systems.

The survey found that youth are looking forward to IoT and other technologies to help them increase productivity, improve physical and mental health and making them more employable.

Vu Minh Tri, Microsoft Viet Nam CEO, said, With more than 60 per cent of the worlds youth found in Asia Pacific, this region will be a hotbed for the worlds digital revolution. It is exciting to see how Vietnamese youth are looking forward most to the benefits that future innovations can bring. IoT AI, and VR/MR/AR provide incredible digital transformation opportunities for nations and organisations to carve an exciting new future for all of us.  VNS
HCM CITY  Mekong Beauty Show, the only business-to-business beauty exhibition in Viet Nam, will be held in HCM City from June 15 to 17.

More than 200 exhibitors from Viet Nam, Europe, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, and India will take part.

It would be the regions leading trade platform for beauty professionals seeking to capitalise on the fast-growing market in the four Mekong countries of Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, Nguyen Van Minh, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Essential Oils, Aromatherapy and Cosmetics Association, said.

Claudia Bonfiglioli, international director of Informa Beauty, the shows organiser, told a press conference in HCM City on Thursday, The Vietnamese market remains one of great potential for cosmetics and beauty salon products.

Viet Nam will become very soon a premium country for cosmetics.

The annual turnover of the Vietnamese cosmetics market is around VN15 trillion (US$704.2 million), according to figures from Nielsen, the market research giant.

But the average spending by those who buy cosmetics is only US$4 per person per year compared with $20 in Thailand, it said.

According to a report from the HCM City Society of Cosmetics, the country has more than 400 cosmetics businesses, with 90 per cent of the market share cornered by foreign brands.

Most popular domestic brands such as Saigon Cosmetic, Thorakao and Lan Hao are confined to the low-value segment and mainly export to neighbouring Asian markets, the report said.

Ly Nguyen Lan Phuong, general manager of the Saigon Cosmetic Company, said more than 40 per cent of the companys revenues comes from exports to Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.

Dominic OH, director of South Korean company Kintex, said: Based on the rapid economic growth, with GDP increase of 6 per cent per year, and young people who are familiar with improving their appearance, the Vietnamese beauty market will be constantly growing.

The Vietnamese market is ranked number 1 by K-beauty companies.

The event, organised by Informa in co-ordination with Kintex at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in District 7, is expected to attract more than 10,000 business visitors.  VNS
HCM CITY  Delegates attending a seminar in HCM City on Wednesday urged the Government to amend or revoke a decree on rice exports which they said impedes exports of the grain.

After the 2008/9 food crisis, Decree 109 was adopted requiring rice exporters to have at least one warehouse with a capacity to store 5,000 tonnes of paddy and a mill with a minimum capacity of 10 tonnes of paddy per hour.

The must also have a steady supply area and register for export with the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA) within three days after signing an export contract.

But the decree has shortcomings and does not suit the current business situation, and so needs to be amended, delegates said.

Ngo Van Nam, general director of ADC Co Ltd, said his company has tied up with 6,000 farmers who own 35,000ha and also has warehouse space for 30,000 tonnes of paddy and milling facilities.

Yet it is not allowed to directly export and does it through other companies because it takes a lot of time and expenditure to apply for a licence, and after every consignment has to report to authorised agencies the export volume, inventory and other figures, he said.

Businesses have to recruit staff just for making reports, he said.

He said the Government should scrap the warehouse stipulations to reduce unnecessary costs for businesses.

Delegates said the process of selecting companies for government-to-government export contracts should be made more transparent.

The floor price of rice is another problem, they said. While the export rate is not allowed to be lower than the floor price, the market price keeps fluctuating while the floor price virtually remains unchanged.

Many suggested scrapping the licences.

Vo Hung Dung, director of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industrys branch in Can Tho City, said "The rice sector needs to learn from tra fish exports, where exporters do not need to apply for export licences or seek the associations permission to sign export contracts. It developed sanctions to deal with those violating quality and competition norms."

Dr Nguyen uc Thanh, director of the Viet Nam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR), said the decree should be amended to enable businesses to export easily and reflect the diversity of the market.

Some enterprises are in niche segments, exporting high-quality and value products, but fail to satisfy the decrees conditions.

If the Government does not ease the stringent regulations, they would lose their export opportunities, he said.

VEPR suggested scrapping several provisions in Decree 109.

"We want to emphasise that there is no need to make these conditions legal requirements. In fact, to meet the requirements of markets, businesses themselves must ensure a certain number of conditions.

But ang Thi Lien, general director of Long An Food and Foodstuff Company, said the requirement related to having steady supply areas should not be abolished because this enables traceability of their products.

According to experts, the decree should be amended to focus more on quality to improve the value of Vietnamese rice.

With Viet Nams rice exports facing difficulties in recent times, scrapping requirements that pose more hurdles to exporters is vital, they said.  VNS
Binh inh to host international conference on environmental management

BINH INH  Hundreds of notable scientists from around the world will gather in Binh inh for a conference next month to discuss environmental pollution recovery and management.

The gathering was announced at a Wednesday working session in Ha Noi between leaders of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Binh inhs Peoples Committee and Professor Tran Thanh Van - Founder of Rencontres du Vietnam (Meeting Viet Nam).

The third international conference, scheduled to take place on March 8-10 in the provinces Quy Nhon City, will serve as a venue for domestic and international scientists to discuss and share experiences with environmental pollution assessment and its impact on peoples health and environment management.

They will also seek measures to increase co-operation in research, education and training.

ak Nong spends over VN200 billion upgrading water system

AK NONG  The Central Highlands province of ak Nong will allocate more than VN200 billion (US$8.7 million) to expand clean water systems and sanitation projects in rural areas from 2016-2021.

Of the sum, VN184 billion ($8.06 million) comes from World Bank loans, with the remainder coming from the provinces capital.

Up to 33 clean water works will be upgraded or built to serve about 45,000 residents in rural and remote areas. Clean water systems and sanitation projects in 46 schools and 2,200 toilets for rural households will also be built.

After the projects, the province hopes that 90 per cent of rural residents will have access to clean water, while all schools and medical stations will have water works and toilets.

Local officials and people will also be given training courses in sanitation and water preservation.

About 83 per cent of the provinces population had access to clean water in 2016. However, the rate is low in rural and remote areas, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Fires threaten Tay Ninh forests

TAY NINH  More than 50,000ha of protective and special-use forests in the south-eastern province of Tay Ninh face the risk of fire due to the prolonged hot, dry weather.

To prevent forest fires, the local Forest Plan and Development Steering Committee is closely monitoring large tracts in high-risk areas.

The high-risk areas include Chang Riec special-use forest, Dau Tieng protective forest, Lo Go-Xa Mat National Park and Nui Ba historical forest.

The steering committee has called on district authorities to strengthen their capacity to promptly tackle unexpected blazes.

According to forest managers, firefighting forces are well prepared with tractors, hoses and other devices and have built reservoirs and firebreaks to combat fires.

The Dau Tieng protective forest management has asked for funds to build two more observation towers at important areas with a complex terrain and farmlands.

Last year there were 20 fires which damaged more than 60ha of natural and man-made forests, mainly in Dau Tieng, according to the local sub-department of forest protection.

Forty six other fires also destroyed 140ha of reforested areas.  VNS
The APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (FCBDM) finished the first working day in Nha Trang City, in the central province of Khanh Hoa on Thursday.  VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Khang

KHANH HOA  The APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (FCBDM) finished the first working day in Nha Trang City, in the central province of Khanh Hoa on Thursday.

Opening the APEC Finance Ministers Process (FMP) this year, the two-day event is co-chaired by Viet Nams Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha and Deputy Governor of the State Bank Nguyen Thi Hong.

The agenda on the first working day consisted of global and regional economic-financial outlook; the implementation of the Cebu Action Plan; long-term infrastructure investment; base erosion and profit shifting; and disaster-risk financing and insurance.

Concerning the economic-financial outlook, participants agreed that the global and regional economic growth is positive but still faced with difficulties and challenges, such as sluggish external demand, environmental issues, and inequality.

They took note of diverse policy responses by member economies, saying there was high demand for cooperation and coordination on macro-policy responses in the region to promote growth and macro-economic rebalancing in member economies, in a bid to boost trade, regional connectivity, and the participation in global value chain.

Discussing the Cebu Action Plan (CAP) and proposed reform plan for the APEC FMP, the deputies heard a report on the CAP implementation and endorsed a list of initiatives/deliverables implemented by member economies and technical support from international organisations.

The meeting encouraged APEC members to continue registering their initiatives/deliverables with the APEC Secretariat for further implementation and requested international organisation to reserve additional resources for technical assistance to support APEC member economies in their activities for the successful realisation of the CAP.

On the subject of long-term infrastructure investment, participating delegates shared their respective experiences on challenges to public-private-partnership (PPP) projects.

They focused on risk allocation issues between State and private investors, tools to mitigate and share risks, as well as the role of private investors in PPP projects.

The deputies also discussed ways to promote cooperation on the issue among APEC members and to implement related activities in 2017.

Regarding base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), participants discussed and shared experience on implementing BEPS packages, including BEPS minimum standards.

Member economies including Australia, Japan and Indonesia presented their respective cases on implementing BEPS packages and projects.

The meeting ended its first day with a session on disaster risk financing and insurance, where participants discussed national strategies on the matter as well as methodologies on building disaster risk databases.

Member economies such as Japan, Australia shared experiences on the formulation of their respective national strategies on the subject as well as the management of public assets against the consequences of natural calamities.

The second working day will focus on financial inclusion and other business issues.

Global value chains

Amidst current globalisation trend and regional economic connectivity, each APEC member should be aware of the significance of becoming part of the global supply, production and value chains, said a Vietnamese Ministry of Industry of Trade official.

The statement was made by Luong Hoang Thai, head of the ministrys Multilateral Trade Policy Department at a conference on APEC policies on the support industry in Nha Trang City on Thursday.

With different economic growth levels and scales, they should define their own support industry to suit their specific development situation, he said, stressing that the support industrys sustainable growth creates jobs, strengthens technology transfer and reinforces internal strength of each economy, especially developing ones with increased demand for production, he held.

APEC has succeeded in forming a channel for member economies to join hands in improving their capacity and making full use of opportunities and benefit of the globalisation to serve the growth of each member and the stability and prosperity of the region, said Thai.

Thai noted that over the past years, APEC has focused on boosting extensive regional economic connectivity and integration, thus motivating member economies to join deeply in the global chains of production, supply and value.

This has also helped strengthen the connection among regional economic institutions as well as the growth of industries and services supporting economic development of each member

He noted that APEC has set up a reliable supply chain and improved the effectiveness of the chain by 10 per cent in 2015, while backing businesses, including micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), to actively participate in the chain, and enhancing the competitiveness of member economies.

Participants at the event sought ways to enhance capacity of each APEC member in boosting the support industry, thus creating favourable conditions for regional trade and investment as well as the engagement of MSMEs in the global value chains.

They also discussed a wide range of issues related to the linking of policymakers and management officials in building a competitive and modern support industry, the building of policy guidelines and good practices in the field.

Last year, APEC approved an initiative to develop APEC support industry co-chaired by Viet Nam and Japan, during which, a model research was launched in Australia, Mexico and Viet Nam and policy guidance and good regulatory practice in support industries will be built for submission to the AMM 29 in a Nang City in November.

Public-private dialogue on services

Also on Thursday, the APEC Public-Private Dialogue on Services took place in Nha Trang City . Policymakers and business representatives discussed ways to intensify APEC co-operation in major services such as distribution, transport and logistics.

Opening the event, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trades Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Pham Quynh Mai, said trade and services play an increasingly important role in global trade and economic growth.

Commodity trade and manufacturing increasingly rely on services, such as distribution, telecommunication and finance, among others, she said, adding that economies with a high rate of trade and services in their gross domestic product (GDP) perform better than those strong in agriculture and manufacturing.

Member economies have targeted 6.8 per cent service growth.

The dialogue, part of the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM-1) underway in Nha Trang, is expected to provide a platform for the APEC Group on Services and for other forums to continue building capacity and support programmes for its members.  VNS
HA NOI  Several officers found visiting pagodas during work hours were imposed with various levels of penalties on Thursday by the disciplinary council under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), showing a more hard-line stance on ensuring right conducts of State employees.

Specifically, Bui Quang Hung, Director of the Export Supporting Centre (under the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency), will have his salary scale and coefficient cut back a notch. Seven other officials of the centre will receive disciplinary warnings, while two other employees will receive official reprimands.

The five-member councils decision came after a meeting held three days ago, chaired by MoITs Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Khanh, in which, in-the-wrong civil servants and officials had a chance to report in detail their misconducts and express regret.

The council, established earlier this month, is unanimous in its condemnation of the head of the centre for serious violation of labour discipline, law on cadres and civil servants, and other related directives and regulations.

However, the council also recognised the sincerity and repentance of Hung, who had not made excuses for his wrongdoings and had been willing to accept more stringent disciplinary actions than recommended.

The incident was reported by the local media on February 7  five days after Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays ended and people started getting to work. The temple confirmed that a group of officials from the Export Supporting Centre had visited the place of worship. At the same time, about 10am, phone calls made to departments in the centre went unanswered.

The MoIT ordered agencies involved to verify the report, and the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency then confirmed its veracity.

Earlier, on February 2, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a document requesting ministries and localities to work hard and avoid post-Tet indulgences and slacking off following the holiday, which has been a long-standing malaise affecting State agencies, drawing the ire of the public.

As per the PMs instruction, public servants are not allowed to attend festivals or visit pagodas during working hours or use public cars for such activity, except when performing legitimate duties. They are also banned from holding parties during work hours.  VNS
HA NOI  It turns out that the Government Inspectorate (GI), a ministry-level body charged with tackling corruption in State administration, is not immune from wrongdoing.

Six posts within the GI were found to have been appointed in contravention of regulations, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Thursday.

The findings were the result of an inspection conducted by the ministry on the appointment of officials and managers in the GI from the beginning of 2015 to the middle of June last year.

According to the report, over 18 months, head of the GI  then Huynh Phong Tranh (2011  2016) signed appointment decisions for a total of 48 posts. Of which, 15 posts were department-level and 33 posts division-level.

Tranh extended working terms for four officials despite the fact that they reached retirement age as per the labour code, however, the reports said these cases all followed legal documents.

The six wrongful appointments included one case with the term of employment not clearly defined, three cases of delayed issuance of re-appointment, and two cases of appointing more deputy posts than the legally allowed number for a ministry-level agency.

The home affairs ministry asked the former GI head to review his decisions regarding the appointment of posts, and the GI to carry out re-appointment of wrongfully appointed posts.

At the end of last year, during National Assembly meetings, deputies grilled the minister of home affairs over the mass appointment of officials, oftentimes under-qualified ones, when a leader of a State agency is nearing the end of his term in office.  VNS
HCM CITY  Deputy Prime Minister Trinh inh Dung has urged the ministries of Transport and Defence to finalise a plan to expand Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City and report to the Government next week.

The Airport Design and Construction Consultancy One Member Ltd Company (ADCC) has been chosen to oversee the plan to expand and upgrade the airport.

Speaking at a working session on Wednesday, Dung urged ministries and agencies to conduct research and submit a detailed and adjusted plan to the Government for final approval.

The Government has chosen one of the three plans that were submitted by ADCC.

Dung said it was essential to tackle bottlenecks and overloading at the airport, mobilise capital for the project, and improve investment efficiency, in addition to ensuring construction safety and quality, as well as aviation security.

Tan Son Nhat airport, with a designed capacity of 25 million passengers, handled 32.5 million passengers in 2016. The expansion plan is expected to enable the airport to serve 40-45 million passengers per year.

The Government considered ADCCs three major plans and chose the third proposal, which would use existing military land with investment of only VN19.35 trillion (US$847.53 million) and would take no longer than three years to build, while still ensuring the required capacity of 43-45 million passengers per year by 2018.

Under the first proposal that was considered, a new system of runways, taxiways, aprons, terminals and auxiliary works would have been built on the golf course area in the northern part of the airport.

An increase of capacity to about 60 million passengers a year would have required about 15 years of construction with an expected cost of about VN201.35 trillion ($8.82 billion).

Under that plan, about 626 ha of land would have been needed to be cleared, including a military area, golf course and 322 ha of residential land with around 140,000 households.

Under another proposal, which was rejected, a third runway would have been built. A passenger terminal T4 was also proposed for the northern area of the airport and a passenger terminal T3 in the southern area.

The plan would have required a total investment of VN100.96 trillion ($4.42 billion) - 187.26 trillion ($8.2 billion). Construction would have taken 10 to 15 years to be completed.

Deputy PM Trinh inh Dung praised ADCCs efforts and asked them to adjust and refine the chosen plan, which would cost less than the two other plans and has a shorter completion date, while still increasing the airports capacity.

Tan Son Nhat airport now serves 28 million passengers per year even though its capacity was planned to be only 25 million per year until 2020.

The chosen plan includes the construction of parallel taxiways and connecting taxiways between the current runways and aircraft parking areas; rapid-exit taxiways and parallel taxiways between two runways; and renovation of the current north runway.

A dual-use terminal (T3) with capacity of 10 million passengers per year, and a passenger terminal (T4) with an annual capacity of 10 million passengers will also be built.

Deputy PM Dung said the transport ministry should identify the projects and sources of capital for the chosen plan.

State-owned enterprises will be responsible for contributing investment capital to the works that uses State budget funds, such as taxiways and aircraft parking areas, while the passenger terminal and service areas should mobilise private capital, he said.

Traffic routes connected with the airport should be built with funds from HCM Citys Peoples Committee, he added.

The transport ministry will work with the Department of Defence to identify the military land to be used and determine a land-transfer plan. It will also consult the municipal Peoples Committee to ensure that the projects are effectively implemented.

Dung asked the Peoples Committee to develop a new plan to improve the urban landscape around the airport area and make adjustments to ensure smooth traffic near the airport.

The Ministry of Transport needs to work closely with the ministries of Defence and Construction, the Peoples Committee, and other agencies to seek measures to speed up the project to expand and upgrade the airport, Dung said.

Land for airport expansion

The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday handed over 21 hectares of land to the Ministry of Transport to expand Tan Son Nhat airport.

The land was once used for military airplane parking for the Military Aviation Brigade 918 and Military Aviation Regiment 917. The two units will be relocated to Bien Hoa City in the southern province of ong Nai.

Last year, 32 million passengers passed through the airport.

Officials continue to work on a way to alleviate the load until the expected completion of Long Thanh International Airport in nearby ong Nai Province in 2025.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) receives UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox in Ha Noi yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on Thursday he hoped that Viet Nams trade, investment and defence-security co-operation with the UK will grow following the visit by Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox.

Meeting the UK official in Ha Noi, the PM pledged that Viet Nam will create optimal conditions for UK businesses and investors in Viet Nam, proposing the two countries beef up their co-operation to double the current two-way trade of over US$5.6 billion by 2020.

He urged the UK to help speed up the official enactment of the EU-Viet Nam free trade agreement, suggesting that both sides study a new trade pact suitable to the post-Brexit era.

He said Vietnamese enterprises want to strengthen partnerships with UK firms, which have strong capacity, experience and technologies.

The PM expressed his hope that the UK will continue supporting Viet Nam in training high-quality human resources and teaching English, and facilitate Vietnamese students study there.

He said he expects the UK government to ease conditions for more than 70,000 Vietnamese living and studying in the country.

He also expressed pleasure at the increasing number of British tourists to Viet Nam.

For his part, Fox highlighted the co-operation between Viet Nam and the UK in multiple fields, including corruption prevention and administrative reform.

He reiterated that the UK, after Brexit, still looks to strengthen economic co-operation with other nations by enhancing its investment overseas and ensuring free trade.

He underlined the c-ooperation potential for the two nations, particularly in commercial airplane purchases, education and training, and national defence and security.

The two nations should foster their strategic partnership in other fields, he added.

The UK pledged to support Viet Nams socio-economic development, he said, adding that this also contributes to the UKs prosperity.  VNS
OSLO  UN aid agencies and donor countries gathered in Oslo Thursday for a two-day meeting to raise emergency aid for millions of people threatened by famine in northeastern Nigeria, a Boko Haram stronghold.

The UN aims to raise up to 1.4 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) in commitments throughout 2017 for the Lake Chad region, which comprises northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroon, western Chad and southeast Niger.

One of the poorest regions in the world, it has been ravaged by eight years of violence. Schools, dispensaries and agriculture are in ruins, and people have been forced to flee jihadists on foot without any resources.

Across northeast Nigeria, some 5.1 million people face severe food shortages and nearly 500,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, even as the military makes gains against the group.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, meeting with non-governmental organisations on Thursday, called it "one of the more forgotten conflicts" on the planet.

"The displacement crisis in northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad region has really become unfortunately a very serious food and nutrition emergency," Brende said.

"More than 10 million people are in need of assistance... Some parts of northeastern Nigeria may unfortunately already experience famine," he added.

Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno State in Nigeria, said Boko Haram had inflicted $9 billion worth of destruction since it began its insurgency in 2009.

Dry lake

The medical situation has been described by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) as "the worst in the world".

Humanitarian organisations can access populations at risk only as the army progresses.

Many roads are passable only under the escort of Nigerian soldiers, and ambushes are a constant threat. Other places are accessible only by helicopter, where "horrible rates of malnutrition" are observed among children.

"In the whole of the Lake Chad region weve seen the fight against Boko Haram take priority above all else, with military and political objectives directed towards this," said Natalie Roberts, head of emergencies for MSF in Borno State.

"We now find ourselves in the midst of a huge humanitarian crisis," she added.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, echoed the assessment, saying: "It is a crisis that has long been seen outside the region as being essentially a security crisis."

The UN humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel region, Toby Lanzer, called for a response to "one of the most deadly extremist groups," referring to Boko Haram.

The inhabitants "are surviving with barely one meal a day," he warned.

"And we know that with the impending rainy season, disease will increase, malaria will become more prevalent, and shelter will be more needed," Lanzer said.

Ahmed Shehu, a civil society representative in northeastern Nigeria, spoke about the need for long-term development.

"I say (to) donors here, if we want to tackle the Boko Haram issue, lets also reflect on the underlying issue: poverty," he said.

"The second issue we fail to link with Boko Haram is climate change," he said, noting that 90 percent of Lake Chad has dried up in a few decades.

"What is the issue now? A majority (farmers and fishermen) have lost their livelihoods," he said.

Among those attending the Oslo conference are government ministers from Germany, Norway, Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, as well as the head of the World Food Programme, Ertharin Cousin.

Today, delegations are expected to detail their respective commitments in three-minute speeches.  AFP
If you plan to help your children with the cost of attending college, its best to start saving when they are young. Here are some strategies to help tackle this important financial goal.

Fund a 529 plan

529 plans, named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, are one of the most popular investment vehicles American families use to save for college. They are specifically designed to help people save for higher education expenses, and the funds can be applied to most accredited colleges, graduate programs, professional and trade schools. For federal income tax purposes, your contributions to a 529 plan are not tax deductible; however your earnings are permitted to grow tax-free (note, state benefits may be available). Additionally, you will not be taxed at the federal level (and in most cases, at the state level) if the money is eventually withdrawn and applied to eligible higher education expenses.

Consider the following for funding one of these savings accounts:

1. Calculate the amount of education expenses needed. Savings put aside in a 529 plan can be for tuition, school fees, room and board, internet access, required technology (i.e. a laptop or printer) and textbooks. Be sure to include the cost of these items in your calculations.

It is possible to overfund a 529 plan. If you save more money in the plan than what you use for your childs education, you will be taxed on the earnings and penalized for spending the money on non-educational expenses.

2. Save automatically and increase the amount over time. Most 529 plans make it easy to consistently save by allowing you to make automated contributions. As your financial priorities change, such as when youre no longer paying for daycare or your spouse goes back to work, consider boosting your monthly savings. Dont neglect your own financial future, however. Contributions to your own retirement plan should take priority over saving for a childs college tuition.

3. Increase savings with gifts from friends or family. When your child is young, apply monetary holiday or birthday gifts from friends and family to your college savings fund. A small gift today will be given the chance to grow, and could make a big difference in the total you have available when your child is ready for college. A grandparent also may establish a 529 plan with the grandchild as the beneficiary. The only drawback is when these assets are withdrawn, they may be considered reportable income to the grandchild in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid calculation, potentially reducing the childs eligibility for need-based financial aid.

4. Select the appropriate investment option. There are a variety of investment options available, as many states and educational institutions offer 529 plans. While you may choose a plan in another state, check to see if your state offers any tax deductions, credits or benefits for residents before doing so. Ultimately, be sure to choose a plan that offers the right mix of investments for your time frame and risk tolerance.

5. Because each 529 plan can only have one beneficiary, be thoughtful about how you use this type of plan for each childs college savings. If you will have multiple children in college at the same time, it may make sense to establish a separate account for each child. If theres excess money after your eldest child finishes college, you may transfer the balance from his or her 529 plan into one or more other plans penalty-free. However, if there is an age gap between your children, you can reassign the beneficiary of the account to your second child after the original beneficiary no longer needs tuition assistance. (Gift tax consequences may apply, so review your strategy with your tax adviser.)

Additional options

Other tax-advantaged savings options parents use include Coverdell education savings accounts, Uniform Transfers to Minors Act accounts, Uniforms Gifts to Minors Act accounts or tax-exempt savings bonds. Families also have the option to save using a taxable account.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each college savings option, and each option may impact your current financial situation and your childs eligibility for financial aid differently. If you want a second opinion on which option is best for your family, consult with a financial adviser, who will look at your unique set of circumstances and help create a financial plan that includes saving for future college expenses.
There is an enduring quality to the works of Dr. Seuss.

On March 2, fans of the beloved author will celebrate the anniversary of his birth. Kids of all ages clamor for Cat in the Hat parties and public readings of his works.

Seuss was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in 1904 in Springfield, Mass. He published his first book, And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street, in 1937.

Today, his books are still published in dozens of languages. Some charts rank his Green Eggs and Ham as third on the list of the best-selling English language books of all time, second to Websters dictionary and King James Version of the Bible. There was even a Latin edition of Green Eggs and Ham published in 2004, which sold more than 600,000 copies.

While considered a childrens author, many of Seuss works carried underlying adult themes. According to biographers Judith and Neil Morgan, Seuss purposely infused books like The Lorax, Horton Hears a Who and The Sneetches with his political beliefs on environmentalism, isolationism and racial intolerance.

Some of us take Seuss content and view it through our own lens, too, adding even more meaning to the beloved stories.

Consider Oh the Places Youll Go. Its written in a way that makes it easy to apply to a host of milestones. As a result, its often given as a gift for births, baptisms, marriage and more.

One blogger received a special copy of the book for her high school graduation many years ago. Hers contained handwritten Bible verses that corresponded to the story.

For example, there is a page with a confusing series of paths, accompanied by the words, Youre on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy wholl decide where you go.

Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path is written on one of the pages paths.

It may then be natural to infer religious and moral themes from Seuss works.

You could read The Lorax  Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. Its not  and expound on its moral imperative. Or take Kid, youll move mountains from Oh, the Places Youll Go from a spiritual perspective.

The Rev. Robert L. Short wrote The Parables of Dr. Seuss, in which he mines the subtle messages of Christian doctrine contained in stories like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Green Eggs and Ham.

Shorts book frames Seuss as a first-class Christian-thinker. For example, Short likens Horton from Horton Hears a Who as a savior figure.

I was amazed at what I found when I started looking at it  all this Christian imagery was very carefully factored into his stories, Short told the Associated Press after the books publication.

The retired Presbyterian minister also wrote similar books based on Charles Schultzs Peanuts Gang and did presentations on Calvin and Hobbes and the last episode of Cheers.

Some pair Shorts Seuss book with The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss by the Rev. James W. Kemp, a retired United Methodist pastor. This book contains Bible studies, and a reader guide is available.

Email me or follow me at Twitter.com/karrisgolden for links to Seuss-themed games, printables, event information and the Bible-verse Oh, the Places Youll Go.
WATERLOO  The Antioch Baptist Church Wade in the Water program will start at 6 p.m. Sunday.

There will be a special guest, soprano Melanie Campbell performing with local artists and musicians.

Campbell was born in Waterloo and is the daughter of Mel and Regina Cook Campbell. She attended George Mason University in Virginia, the New England Conservatory School of Music in Boston and Franz Liszt School of Music in Germany. She has performed many operatic roles all over Europe and currently resides in Berlin.

WATERLOO  Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, 432 Newell St., will celebrate the Usher Annual Day at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Shilliam COGIC will be the guest, and Elder Marshall Stevenson will speak. The theme is Ushers Pressing Toward the Goal.

WATERLOO  The Rev. David M. Menet is the new pastor at Faith Lutheran Church at 1555 West Ridgeway Ave.

Menet will be installed at 4 p.m. Sunday at Faith by the Rev. Dr. Brian Saunders, president of the Iowa District East of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Menet will be the third pastor to serve Faith, which was founded in 1979.

Also taking part in the service will be the Rev. John Wegener, the circuit visitor, who has been serving as the vacancy pastor.

WATERLOO  Hammond Avenue Brethren Church at 1604 Hammond Ave. will have healing services every Sunday in March, starting at 10:30 a.m.

Anyone who needs healing for health, addictions, marital problems or spiritual troubles is urged to come.

WATERLOO  St. Mark Baptist Church, 2024 Clearview St., will have its 24th annual Black History program at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Speaker will be Ursula Holmes of Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church; Holmes is a veteran.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

WATERLOO  The Kimball Avenue United Methodist Church will host a Fat Tuesday celebration from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at 1207 Kimball Avenue.

There will be a pancake supper, including sausage and eggs. Cost is $6 for adults and $3 for kids 10 and younger.

The tradition of pancake suppers began when people gave up eating fat, sugar and eggs for Lent. The goal was to use up those ingredients before Ash Wednesday.

Call 232-4103 for more information.

CEDAR FALLS - Orchard Hill Church, 3900 Orchard Hill Drive, will present the Lenten Lunch Hour series in the Commons, beginning Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

The theme is A Lenten Journey Through the Eyes of Mark, and there will be a meal of two soups, fresh bread and dessert, followed by a message. A $4 meal donation is suggested.

The schedule includes:

Wednesday: Len Brokenshire, Ascension Lutheran (chicken noodle and tomato cheese and pie)

March 8: Ed Baker, Orchard Hill (vegetable beef and bacon corn chowder)

March 15: John Fuller, Prairie Lakes (broccoli cheese and chili)

March 22: Amy Wiles, First Presbyterian (Wisconsin cheese and colony club bean)

March 29: Laura Hoy, Link, CCD (chicken noodle and tomato cheese)

April 5: Jesse Hinkle (vegetable beef and creamy potato and pie)

CEDAR FALLS  Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 904 Bluff St., will host the annual Shrove Tuesday pancake day Tuesday.

Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and dinner will be served from 5 to 7 p.m., with all the pancakes you can eat plus sausage and applesauce.

Tickets are $5 for 10 years through adults and free for ages 9 and younger, available at the door.

NEW HARTFORD  Randy and Camie Aalderks, along with their daughter, Mindy, will perform at the New Hartford Community Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Joining their grandparents will be Mindys children, Kamdon, Kolbon, Kalob and Mylie. The family has been singing together for more than 30 years.

The concert is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served afterwards.

CEDAR FALLS  The Immanuel Lutheran Dorcas Society will host the LWML prayer service of the Waterloo zone of the Iowa East District LWML.

The 9 a.m.service is set for March 4 at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 4820 Oster Parkway. Theme is Celebrating 75 Years of Commending Christ From One Generation to Another. The service is open to the public.

2017 marks the 75th Anniversary of the Lutheran Womens Missionary League.
WATERLOO  The former assistant manager of a fast-food restaurant recounted how he was beaten during a 2014 holdup as trial began for one of the accused robbers.

Jessie Lee Mathews, 22, of Waterloo, is charged with first-degree robbery in the April 23, 2014, closing-time heist at Burger King on Jefferson Street.

Assistant County Attorney Brad Walz said an accomplice, Charles C.J. Jenkins had propped an emergency exit open after ordering a hamburger, and Mathews and two others entered armed with handguns after Jenkins left.

Patrick Radke, 28, who was the stores assistant manager, said the robbers forced him and another worker to the floor and demanded money. Even though Radke did as he was told and the safe was open because he was preparing the deposit, the assailants beat him with a revolver and kicked him in the back of the head.

It just hurt, said Radke, who told jurors he was worried he would be shot.

After the robbery, investigators found a hamburger wrapper lodged in the emergency exit.

The bag would have kept it from closing and locking all the way, Radke said.

The wrapper included part of the burger, and a DNA test on the saliva led officers to Jenkins, and further investigation led to Mathews and the other suspects, Walz said. He said the other suspects were from Gary, Ind., and had come to Waterloo to live with Mathews and look for work. When the jobs didnt materialize, money became short, and they planned the robbery, Walz said.

After the crime, they returned to Indiana, and Mathews traveled with them, Walz said.

Defense attorney James Moriarty said there is no DNA or other evidence linking Mathews to the crime, and he said the states witnesses who named Mathews have other reasons for testifying.

When they got you by  its a body part  the hearts and minds will follow, Moriarty said.

Trial is scheduled to continue today in Black Hawk County District Court.
CEDAR FALLS  University of Northern Iowa President Mark Nook got a warm reception at his first Iowa Board of Regents meeting held Thursday at Iowa State University.

ISU President Steven Leath welcomed Nook back to one of his alma maters and congratulated him. And Iowa Regents Board President Bruce Rastetter welcomed Nook and said he looked forward to seeing the things you accomplish as youre president.

The kind of reception has been par for the course since Nook took the helm as president of UNI, he told the board.

It seems that everybody is doing everything they can to get the new president and his wifes feet firmly on the ground, Nook said. We couldnt appreciate it more.

But Nook quickly got down to business and whats been going on since he arrived on campus officially Feb. 1:

His arrival coincided with the day Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed a deappropriations bill that included a $2 million cut to UNI in this fiscal year. Nook told the board Thursday the university is managing it by holding select positions open temporarily, reducing travel and professional development, delaying deferred maintenance and delaying strategic initiatives.

Nook said the university had hired a new director for UNIs Center for Multicultural Education and finished renovations on the center. Jamie Butler Chidozie is the new CME director, and she most recently worked at Elon University.

Nook said he hoped to name a vice president for student affairs within a week.

He also praised some of the work and awards that had gone to UNI faculty and students recently and highlighted the way the university has been committed to recognizing Black History Month on campus.

Separately, the board also discussed the proposed rates for UNIs residence halls in academic year 2017 to 2018. UNI proposed a 1.8 percent increase for its most popular option for room and meal plan, which amounts to an increase from $8,629 to $8,781.

UNI Director of Residence Glenn Gray said the increase was the lowest rate increase in more than 10 years, and the universitys housing and dining rates are the second lowest among UNIs 10 peer institutions. The Regents will vote on the proposed rate increases for each of the universities at its April meeting.

The residence hall directors for each of the public universities said many of their rate increases were able to be smaller this year because of an efficiency initiative conducted by the regents, dubbed TIER, that helped them combine food vendor contracts that lowered the costs for food at each university.

Gray said about 4,300 of the universitys 11,905 students chose to live on campus, which is up slightly from last year. About 85 percent of all freshmen live in campus housing.

The amount of housing available on campus is set to increase when a renovated Lawther Hall reopens in fall of 2017. But Gray said the number may be likely to decrease again as the university considers possibly razing Hillside Court Apartments and the demolition and replacement of Campbell Hall.
DES MOINES  Roughly one in five Iowans does not have access to the broadband internet speed recommended by the federal government, and those who are underserved mostly live in rural areas.

In addition to the luxuries afforded by broadband internet  streaming movies and music and online video games  access to broadband also can be important for education and health care, industry experts say.

Because private internet providers must weigh the profitability of introducing broadband internet to any area, some state and federal lawmakers have in recent years worked on programs, such as tax incentives, to encourage broadband expansion.

Home broadband use in Iowa rose 10 percent from 2010 to 2013, according to Connect Iowa, a state program designed to foster broadband expansion.

Despite that progress, 22 percent of Iowa residents in 2015 did not have access to broadband internet at 25 megabytes per second  the speed recommended by the Federal Communications Commission, according to Connect Iowa.

All the progress weve made the past few years, we want to keep that moving, said David Daack, community technology adviser for Connect Iowa.

A dozen Iowa counties had less than 40 percent of residents with access to 25 mbps broadband internet in 2015, the most recent data available to Connect Iowa. Of those 12 counties, 10 are among the bottom half in terms of population.

Most schools have broadband speeds they need to properly educate students with internet-based technology. But if a town does not have sufficient broadband speeds, students may have difficulty using internet-based learning at home.

You run into a disparity where the educational community could have solid broadband at their school, to where theyre running virtual (education programs) at their school, but when (students) are going home, they dont have enough bandwidth to continue their work, said Ric Lumbard, executive director of the Iowa Communications Network, the states broadband carrier network.

A critical challenge to expanding broadband internet to rural areas is private telecommunications companies find it is not profitable.

Access to high-speed broadband can be crucial for small businesses. The Iowa Association of Business and Industry, which advocates on behalf of businesses, supports access to broadband and programs that promote expansion.

It is critical to economic growth that all areas of the state have access to broadband, the organization states.

Installing broadband infrastructure is expensive, Lumbard said.

Its not true that if you build it, they will come, Lumbard said, referring to the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams. To the private telecom providers, that requires them to put high-dollar investments in areas that theres not high human density. ...

At the end of the day, its basic math.

Lumbard said methods to foster expansion include partnerships between government and private industry and tax relief programs.

Iowa has a program that exempts telecommunications companies from paying property taxes for 10 years on broadband infrastructure built in underserved areas. The program reduced Iowas taxable value of telecommunications property by $260 million, $515 million and $479 million in the past three fiscal years, according to an analysis by the states nonpartisan fiscal estimating agency.

Two federal programs direct money to broadband expansion projects, according to a December congressional report.

U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, signed a letter with dozens of other congressional members asking President Donald Trump to include broadband expansion in his national infrastructure plan.

Loebsack serves on the U.S. Houses Energy and Commerce Committee, including a subcommittee that has oversight of broadband issues. He also serves as co-chair of the House Rural Broadband Caucus, which works to improve broadband access in rural areas.

I have hosted roundtables in all 24 counties of my district to discuss expanding broadband access, especially in rural areas, Loebsack said in an emailed statement. And without fail, at every stop I heard from Iowans about how important broadband access is, but also how difficult it can be to get.
PARKERSBURG  Waterloos Miriam Tyson admitted her bias. Shes an active Democrat.

But Tyson, a longtime Waterloo labor leader and one-time congressional primary candidate, also offered strong praise for U.S. Sen. Charles Grassleys years of service to Iowa during a town hall Friday morning at Parkersburg Civic Center.

You really do your job, Tyson said, to a scattering of applause and one vocal supporter who cheered Amen Grassley. Yes Grassley.

But Tyson wasnt finished.

She said Grassley marked a turning point when he held up former President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nominee for a year ahead of the 2016 election. She wants a return of the Grassley she was accustomed to.

Im asking you to be that role model that we look to, ... that we have respected for years. I want you to push back on Republican President Donald Trump, Tyson concluded to rousing applause from the more than 250 people in the crowd.

Ms. Tyson, thank you for your thoughtful comments, Grassley said. He then ended the meeting on time after a raucous hour of questions and comments. He occasionally had to quiet the crowd so he could hear or talk.

Waterloo immigration attorney Miryam Antunez de Mayolo said Grassley had helped many of her clients over the years. She asked, what had changed?

Grassley said he hasnt read Trumps recent executive orders stepping up deportations of people here illegally. Antunez de Mayolo asked why Grassley doesnt support comprehensive reform.

I think you should do the most Iowa thing, which is to do what is right, she said.

John Mullen of La Porte City said he thought Grassley was someone with high moral and ethical standards. He wants Grassley to speak out on Trumps more objectionable comments  like insulting a physically handicapped person, a prisoner of war and a Gold Star family and admitting to groping women without their permission. Mullens brother, Michael Mullen, was killed by friendly fire in Vietnam in 1970, and his story was made into a book and television movie.

Grassley moved on without answering. While he answered many questions, he took some as rhetorical and didnt address them.

Grassley disputed he has changed.

I presume most of this audiences come from the 36 percent of people that voted for my opponent, and so you might expect that from them, he told the media after the event. The bottom line of it is Chuck Grassley hasnt changed.

The crowd mostly voiced concerns about pending Republican actions. Several made a point of saying they were not paid protesters, particularly after Butler County Sheriff Jason Johnson opened by asking attendees to be civil whether paid to be here or not. The crowd responded with boos and jeers.

Grassley compared the town halls of the past week to meetings in 2009 when conservative tea party groups flooded public meetings to raise concerns about the health care reform debate. He said then he was more likely to get praise from Democrats and concerns from Republicans.

He said last weeks meetings were less raucous than 2009 or 2015, after Republicans refused to hold a hearing on Obamas nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

These are relatively quiet town meetings, Grassley said Friday.
Over the past several years, area residents who have visited large cities across the nation have returned to the Cedar Valley with tales of the convenience and affordability of this thing called Uber.

As the ride-sharing service has moved into major cities in Iowa, weve become more familiar with it, and Wednesdays announcement the service was coming to the Cedar Valley has prompted a lot of discussion  overwhelmingly positive, from what weve heard.

Uber uses smartphone applications to connect people seeking rides with drivers. Local residents using their personal vehicles serve as drivers.

Officials from the San Francisco-based service said it plans to start operating in the Cedar Valley  along with Dubuque and Sioux City  on March 31.

This will bring safe, affordable and reliable transportation to thousands of  residents while at the same time creating flexible earning opportunities for hundreds of additional Iowans in the region over the next year, Carla Jacobs, spokeswoman for Uber Iowa, said in a news release.

Uber Iowa currently has operations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Des Moines, Ames and the Quad Cities.

Having Uber enter the Cedar Valley is a win on several fronts.

As you can see from the above Iowa list, the communities containing two of the three regent universities are listed, and its a good sign to be adding the Cedar Valley  and its community member, the University of Northern Iowa, to that list.

The business has a great impact on university cities, giving students greater access to the community and providing a safer way for them to sample area businesses.

Its a great convenience for those visiting Waterloo and Cedar Falls for a few days or even just staying the night, as they can sample restaurants and enjoy a cocktail or two without worry.

Its another win for area tourism, which the Cedar Valley has been working hard to improve for many years.

Area cab services have often been overwhelmed, making several trips back and forth from downtown areas, leaving patrons to loiter for long periods of time after businesses have shut down for the night.

And, particularly for Cedar Falls residents who want to visit their downtown area, but dont want to hassle with the narrow parking options the city has yet to address in that flourishing area of town  it could be a refreshing convenience.

Dubuque was another great choice, a Mississippi River town that has seen a great deal of riverfront improvements over the years and is attracting tourism as never before.

Its a job-creator, allowing students to have a flexible part-time job, or any resident who wants to add income to the family or household.

Over a year ago, the firm contacted Waterloo and Cedar Falls city officials inquiring about regulations. Since then, the Legislature and Gov. Terry Branstad approved statewide regulations for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. Those regulations supersede city requirements.

Waterloo City Clerk Kelley Felchle said she did not believe the company needed any city approvals.

State law requires Uber to get annual permits from the Iowa Department of Transportation, carry liability insurance for vehicles and conduct background checks on drivers  all wise moves by our state leaders.

This convenient service has been ultra-successful across the country. Naturally, its expanded into Iowas larger cities first, and the combined metro area of Waterloo and Cedar Falls certainly qualifies under that criteria.

Welcome Uber. Weve been waiting.
SingleSpeed Brewing Co. in Cedar Falls is the first craft brewery in the state to be certified by the Iowa Waste Reduction Centers Iowa Green Brewery Certification. The IWRC, located at the University of Northern Iowa, launched the Iowa Green Brewery Certification as a way to provide direct assistance to a rapidly growing business sector.

The goal of our organization is to provide as direct and comprehensive environmental assistance to small businesses as possible. We saw how many breweries were popping up around the state and already had an understanding of the environmental impact they have, so it just seemed like a natural fit for us to develop this program," said Joe Bolick, project manager for the certification. And when you have a place like SingleSpeed willing to open its doors and help us right in your backyard, it makes the program much stronger.

With help from the staff at SingleSpeed, the Iowa Brewers Guild and several other Iowa craft breweries, the IWRC developed a hands-on certification process that begins with an on-site sustainability and environmental audit. Breweries are then evaluated on their energy efficiency, water conservation, waste generation/diversion and overall environmental management and then are awarded a certification level of bronze, silver or gold.

SingleSpeed Brewings Cedar Falls location earned a silver level of certification for its implemented sustainability practices.

The opportunity to work with an organization so close to home who shares similar principles to ours was one we simply couldn't pass up; we enjoy being able to collaborate with local groups who aim to keep our community moving forward, and the Iowa Waste Reduction Center and its Iowa Green Brewery Certification is a great example of this, said Austin Myers, SingleSpeed's head brewer.
Q. Are Buck Owns, Roy Clark and Junior Samples of "Hee Haw" still alive?

A. Junior Samples died in 1983, and Buck Owens died in 2006. Roy Clark is still alive and is now 83.

Q. Do Holly Hudson and her brother still work at The Courier? I havent seen their names on anything for quite some time.

A. Holly still works here; her brother, Terry, now works at Amperage Marketing in Cedar Falls.

Q. Why doesn't "America's Got Talent" air right now?

A. According to NBC, auditions for the next season are taking place this month.

Q. What did Andy Griffith do when he wasn't on the Mayberry show?

A. Before "The Andy Griffith Show," he studied music, recorded comedy records, was on TV with Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen and had roles on Broadway and movies. After the show ended, he ran his own production company, later returned to TV to star in "Matlock" and recorded several albums. He died in 2012.

Q. Can you re-run the number for the do not call list?

A: Call (888) 382-1222.

Q. Is Bristol Palin going to get married soon?

A. She got married last June.

Q. What years did the NBC comedy Wings show air? Are the main actors still alive?

A. It was on from 1990-97. As far as we can tell, all the main actors are still alive.

Q. Can you print a short history of all the King Kong movies ever made and the years they were produced?

A. The major movies we found were 1933's "King Kong" with Fay Wray; the 1976 version with Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin and Jessica Lange (advertised as "The most exciting original motion picture event of all time!"); and Peter Jackson's 2005 version. Other movies with the character have included "Son of Kong," "King Kong vs. Godzilla," "King Kong Escapes" and "King Kong Lives." "Kong: Skull Island" is due out shortly. This doesn't include versions made in other languages.

Q. What is cheaper to operate -- a gas stove or an electric one?

A. Most home sites say gas stoves are cheaper to operate.

Q. In the Feb. 2 paper an article ran on "County may outsource county services." The Black Hawk County Health Department wants to free up money to be accredited. Can you explain what the county is trying to be accredited for and why do they need to be accredited?

A. Health Department officials told the Board of Supervisors during a work session the process of becoming accredited puts in place the ability and capacity to focus more on its core purpose to protect public health. More information about accreditation and its benefits can be found on the Public Health Accreditation Board website at phaboard.org.

Q. I heard the city of Waterloo is responsible for interest charges on Sunnyside South until it is settled. Is this true? How much will it be?

A. No. City Attorney Dave Zellhoefer said there are no interest payments due to anyone at this time. The city is paying for legal counsel for the ongoing lawsuit over the property.

Questions are taken on a special Courier phone line at 234-3566. Questions are answered by Courier staff and staff at the Waterloo Public Library.
WATERLOO  Two Chicago men have been arrested following a Wednesday morning chase in a stolen car.

A Waterloo patrol officer noticed a 2016 Nissan Altima driving without headlights in the area of Logan Avenue and Donald Street about 3:10 a.m. Wednesday. The Altima refused to pull over, and the pursuit entered a residential area where the fleeing driver drove across lawns before coming to a stop.

The vehicles occupants then fled on foot and were detained a short distance away.

Derrith Keith Moore, 19, and Lamont Reynolds, 18, both of Chicago, were arrested for first-degree theft and interference. Moore also was arrested for eluding.

They were taken to the Black Hawk County Jail, and bond was set at $5,000 apiece.

Police determined the Altima had been reported stolen in the Chicago area two days prior to the chase.

Investigation of burglary ongoing

WATERLOO  Waterloo police are investigating a burglary to a Waterloo convenience store.

According to police, a masked man had entered the Caseys General Store, 2424 Ranchero Road, early Monday morning while the store was closed for business.

An employee who was working in the kitchen noticed the intruder behind the counter, and the suspect ran off, according to police.

Investigators determined the burglar was removing money from the stores safe before he was scared off.

No arrests have been made in the case.

New details in Sumner shooting

SUMNER  Some new details are being released regarding a mans death in Fayette County on Wednesday morning.

The deceased has been identified as Josh Brayton, 29, owner of the home where he was found unresponsive shortly before 8 a.m.

The Fayette County Sheriffs Office responded to a 911 call to 17486 T Ave. in Sumner on a report of an unresponsive male lying at the end of the driveway of the residence. Officials on Wednesday were listing the address as rural Hawkeye, but have changed it to Sumner.

Brayton was dead at the scene, officials said. The Iowa Department of Public Safetys Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was requested to assist with the investigation.

An autopy was conducted Thursday by the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny, which determined Brayton died of a gunshot wound.

No other information was being released.

The investigation into Bratons death is ongoing. The Fayette County Sheriffs Office is asking for anyone with information regarding this incident or who may have passed the area of 17486 T Avenue on the early morning hours of February 22nd, 2017 to contact the Fayette County Sheriffs Office at (563) 422-6067.
Advertisement

By Richard Nelson, Commonwealth Policy Center

Feb. 22, 2017 | CADIZ, KY

By Richard Nelson, Commonwealth Policy Center Feb. 22, 2017 | 01:01 PM | CADIZ, KY

News Media Continues to Lose Credibility - By Richard Nelson



Kentuckians' trust in institutional media may be at an all-time low. According to Secretary of State Alison Grime's Kentucky Civic Health Index released in January, less than half of Kentuckians trust the media. Even more surprising is an Emerson College Poll that found more Americans believe the Trump administration is more trustworthy than the news media by 49-39 percent. So why the mistrust?



I had the chance to explore this last week when I participated in a panel discussion on The Cure for Fake News Disease: Truth and Fairness (and balance?). Joe Gerth of the Louisville Courier-Journal, John Stamper of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Katherine Urch of UK's School of Journalism and yours truly were panelists at the forum hosted by Al Cross on the UK campus. The event was, shall I say, interesting.



The event kicked off by reviewing Gov. Bevin's Facebook Live presentation where he charged Attorney General Andy Beshear with not defending the newly enacted Ultrasound Bill. As much as Joe Gerth disagreed with Gov. Bevin's assertion, it became clear to me that the definition of "defending" was as precarious as former President Bill Clinton's definition of the word "is." Is there a real defense taking place when other indicators reveal that a true defense isn't happening? In either case, one might have disagreed with Gov. Bevin, but his Facebook Live presentation was not fake news.



For too long, the established news media have disregarded and/or misrepresented stories important to conservatives. Consider last year's headline in the New York Times: Hundreds Brave Snow at March for Life in Washington. The actual estimate was more than 40,000 marchers. Established news media have caricatured entire conservative communities by interviewing outliers as authoritative spokespeople. (See stories regarding Westboro Baptist protesters). And they've missed important stories like the recent ceremonial pro-life bill signing in the Capitol.



Media elite, disconnected from average Americans in so many ways, not only miss stories but are unaware of their own inconsistencies. A strong politically left bias is revealed when reporters use leading adjectives like "conservative" before a particular group but fail to use the adjective "liberal" for groups on the left. The same bias is evident when reporters say anti-abortion rather than pro-life. These may seem to be minor subtleties, but enough subtleties peppered throughout a story can move a news piece over the line of reporting and squarely into the camp of advocacy journalism.



When journalism becomes advocacy, it is vulnerable to becoming a tool of a partisan agenda. Political agendas and partisan worldviews shouldn't drive issue-related story lines. Nor should news media neglect stories simply because they don't fit into their particular political narrative. It's clear that when a reporter questions and attacks politicians for their ideas and policy proposalsin the news sectionthen the news media becomes unfair and unreliable.



Chip Hutcheson, Publisher of the Princeton Times-Leader and former President of the National Newspaper Association said in a recent interview with my organization that national media elites are "disconnected" from people and have no "accountability" to the general public. "The liberal agenda always has it's say, I don't think the conservative agenda does," Hutcheson said. He also shared that the faith community's viewpoint is often hidden and when it makes the news, it's often in an "unflattering light."



Perhaps such marginalization helped birth Fox News 21 years ago. Fox News was the most watched cable channel in 2016. And in 2015, they were considered the most trusted national news channel in America. According to a 2015 Quinnipiac Poll, 29 percent of Americans trusted reporting by Fox News. Only seven percent trusted news reports by MSNBC, eight percent trusted ABC and 10 percent each trusted CBS and NBC. A total of 22 percent trusted CNN.



One of the most interesting things in the panel discussion was that the news media professionals didn't seem to take a whole lot of responsibility for the demise of credibility in their field. It would have been good to hear a journalist on the political left (and they were all seated to the left of me) say that partisan tones from the political left finding their way into news stories eventually lead to a credibility deficit. Owning up to this reality and separating opinion from news reports is the first step for news media to reconcile with average citizens, that is, if they're serious about regaining trust.



Richard Nelson is the executive director of the Commonwealth Policy Center, a nonprofit Kentucky organization. He resides in Cadiz with his wife and children.
past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (7) May 19 (9) May 18 (4) May 17 (6) May 16 (5) May 15 (7) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (9) May 10 (3) May 09 (7) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (5) May 05 (8) May 03 (9) May 02 (1) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (8) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (10) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (7) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (8) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (12) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (8) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (2) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (2) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (2) Jan 20 (2) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (2) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (2) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (5) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (10) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (2) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (5) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (9) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (6) Oct 22 (4) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (10) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (6) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (8) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (5) Aug 31 (8) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (8) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (8) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (8) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (10) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (10) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (7) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (8) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (10) Jun 05 (14) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (6) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (2) May 29 (7) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (4) May 25 (5) May 24 (4) May 23 (5) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (3) May 19 (10) May 18 (6) May 17 (3) May 16 (6) May 15 (2) May 14 (3) May 13 (5) May 11 (1) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (2) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (5) May 03 (5) May 02 (1) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (8) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (14) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (9) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (9) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (13) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (6) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (9) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (9) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (2) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (5) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (12) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (7) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (10) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (12) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (6) Dec 08 (7) Dec 07 (12) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (13) Dec 04 (6) Dec 02 (8) Dec 01 (8) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (8) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (11) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (14) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (11) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (10) Nov 01 (8) Oct 31 (12) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (13) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (8) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (11) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (10) Oct 12 (11) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (10) Oct 09 (7) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (14) Oct 04 (9) Oct 03 (12) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (9) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (10) Sep 21 (12) Sep 20 (12) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (11) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (8) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (10) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (9) Sep 07 (8) Sep 06 (11) Sep 05 (2) Sep 04 (8) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (9) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (2) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (6) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (7) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (11) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (9) Jul 31 (11) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (11) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (7) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (5) Jul 06 (6) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (3) Jun 30 (8) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (7) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (7) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (9) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (8) May 30 (7) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (3) May 23 (5) May 22 (2) May 21 (3) May 20 (7) May 19 (11) May 18 (1) May 17 (7) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (4) May 11 (11) May 10 (2) May 09 (6) May 08 (6) May 07 (2) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (8) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (13) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (9) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (2) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (9) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (6) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (9) Feb 24 (11) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (6) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (2) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (10) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (2) Feb 05 (9) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (7) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (14) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (10) Jan 18 (11) Jan 17 (9) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (10) Jan 06 (8) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (5) Jan 01 (14) Dec 30 (13) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (5) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (7) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (9) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (17) Dec 09 (8) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (10) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (9) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (15) Nov 24 (7) Nov 23 (15) Nov 22 (9) Nov 21 (6) Nov 20 (11) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (13) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (7) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (13) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (8) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (8) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (15) Oct 26 (10) Oct 25 (10) Oct 24 (13) Oct 23 (9) Oct 21 (8) Oct 20 (13) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (8) Oct 16 (14) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (13) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (15) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (11) Oct 05 (18) Oct 04 (14) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (10) Sep 30 (11) Sep 29 (11) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (15) Sep 26 (7) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (17) Sep 20 (20) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (11) Sep 16 (10) Sep 15 (12) Sep 14 (9) Sep 13 (12) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (8) Sep 09 (9) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (13) Sep 06 (15) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (10) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (12) Aug 31 (14) Aug 30 (14) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (8) Aug 27 (9) Aug 26 (12) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (11) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (9) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (8) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (6) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (6) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (15) Jul 15 (14) Jul 14 (5) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (12) Jul 11 (8) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (10) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (10) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (7) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (11) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (14) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (8) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (11) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (16) Jun 03 (8) Jun 02 (12) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (7) May 30 (15) May 28 (7) May 27 (5) May 26 (21) May 25 (14) May 24 (10) May 23 (7) May 22 (8) May 21 (11) May 20 (5) May 19 (4) May 18 (10) May 17 (11) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (7) May 13 (12) May 12 (10) May 11 (7) May 10 (13) May 09 (4) May 08 (7) May 07 (3) May 06 (6) May 05 (9) May 04 (14) May 03 (7) May 02 (10) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (14) Apr 22 (16) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (16) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (8) Apr 10 (12) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (13) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (15) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (15) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (11) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (10) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (12) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (8) Mar 24 (7) Mar 23 (15) Mar 22 (17) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (8) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (19) Mar 15 (13) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (20) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (13) Mar 08 (13) Mar 07 (7) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (16) Mar 02 (16) Mar 01 (13) Feb 29 (8) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (16) Feb 26 (10) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (12) Feb 23 (14) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (12) Feb 18 (12) Feb 17 (11) Feb 16 (8) Feb 15 (9) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (10) Feb 12 (11) Feb 11 (13) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (13) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (19) Jan 31 (21) Jan 29 (11) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (13) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (2) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (13) Jan 21 (11) Jan 20 (9) Jan 19 (13) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (11) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (13) Jan 13 (9) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (5) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (1) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (13) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (11) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (9) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (10) Dec 08 (13) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (8) Dec 04 (11) Dec 03 (12) Dec 02 (16) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (11) Nov 28 (15) Nov 27 (16) Nov 26 (11) Nov 25 (9) Nov 24 (13) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (10) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (10) Nov 13 (14) Nov 12 (8) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (12) Nov 05 (17) Nov 04 (12) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (12) Oct 31 (11) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (10) Oct 28 (18) Oct 27 (16) Oct 26 (11) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (12) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (12) Oct 20 (17) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (15) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (10) Oct 14 (16) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (12) Oct 09 (21) Oct 08 (22) Oct 07 (19) Oct 06 (18) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (17) Oct 03 (13) Oct 02 (14) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (14) Sep 29 (15) Sep 28 (12) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (15) Sep 25 (13) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (10) Sep 22 (12) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (12) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (16) Sep 16 (21) Sep 15 (14) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (10) Sep 11 (16) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (8) Sep 08 (10) Sep 07 (7) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (9) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (10) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (14) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (13) Aug 20 (9) Aug 19 (13) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (12) Aug 11 (9) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (14) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (2) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (6) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (6) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (9) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (13) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (7) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (9) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (7) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (11) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (8) Jun 03 (9) Jun 02 (6) Jun 01 (4) May 30 (7) May 29 (9) May 28 (13) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (2) May 23 (8) May 22 (9) May 21 (7) May 20 (4) May 19 (6) May 18 (7) May 17 (8) May 15 (9) May 14 (5) May 13 (8) May 12 (6) May 11 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (6) May 07 (11) May 06 (7) May 05 (4) May 04 (11) May 03 (5) May 02 (4) May 01 (9) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (9) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (10) Apr 22 (8) Apr 21 (9) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (6) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (2) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (7) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (9) Mar 19 (9) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (9) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (11) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (12) Mar 11 (9) Mar 10 (12) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (11) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (8) Feb 27 (9) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (10) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (7) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (2) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (12) Feb 12 (8) Feb 11 (10) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (12) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (8) Jan 26 (13) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (12) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (10) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (11) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (8) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (9) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (10) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (10) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (9) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (10) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (9) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (12) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (6) Nov 18 (10) Nov 17 (12) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (12) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (7) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (9) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (14) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (9) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (8) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (11) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (7) Oct 15 (7) Oct 14 (8) Oct 13 (5) Oct 12 (8) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (11) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (8) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (10) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (7) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (8) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (11) Sep 24 (15) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (10) Sep 17 (10) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (7) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (9) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (12) Aug 19 (8) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (8) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (12) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (12) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (8) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (8) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (8) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (9) Jul 13 (10) Jul 11 (9) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (7) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (7) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (15) Jun 26 (10) Jun 25 (9) Jun 24 (16) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (12) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (13) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (14) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (16) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (18) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (8) May 31 (3) May 30 (6) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (8) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (2) May 18 (9) May 17 (1) May 16 (5) May 15 (5) May 14 (7) May 13 (7) May 12 (7) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (5) May 08 (10) May 07 (4) May 06 (13) May 05 (4) May 04 (10) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (9) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (9) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (7) Apr 14 (11) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (9) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (10) Apr 03 (9) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (8) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (7) Mar 21 (14) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (11) Mar 17 (12) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (8) Mar 14 (13) Mar 13 (8) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (8) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (15) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (12) Mar 02 (20) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (11) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (14) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (8) Feb 16 (11) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (2) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (2) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (7) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 27 (1) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (8) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (1) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (9) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (8) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (12) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (12) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (9) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (11) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (7) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (2) Oct 21 (7) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (7) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (20) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (21) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (34) Oct 04 (24) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (7) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (6) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (2) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (9) Sep 19 (11) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (6) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (11) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (10) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (8) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (7) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (7) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (10) Jul 22 (8) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (7) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (10) Jul 16 (11) Jul 15 (5) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (12) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (12) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (23) Jun 27 (18) Jun 26 (12) Jun 25 (14) Jun 24 (15) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (15) Jun 20 (9) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (11) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (6) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (9) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (8) May 24 (7) May 23 (6) May 22 (9) May 21 (6) May 20 (5) May 19 (6) May 18 (9) May 17 (10) May 16 (11) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (7) May 11 (7) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (11) May 05 (5) May 04 (9) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (8) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (10) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (8) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (11) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (9) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (10) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (2) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (2) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (5) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (9) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (10) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (8) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (8) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (8) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (7) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (16) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (5) Nov 25 (2) Nov 24 (6) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (15) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (5) Nov 08 (8) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (9) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (8) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (10) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (15) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (8) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (8) Sep 24 (8) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (9) Sep 20 (7) Sep 19 (8) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (9) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (10) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (15) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (7) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (11) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (15) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (7) Aug 19 (2) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (9) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (7) Aug 07 (9) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (11) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (6) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (8) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (14) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (8) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (14) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (12) Jun 15 (12) Jun 14 (10) Jun 13 (10) Jun 12 (9) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (12) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (12) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (3) May 25 (5) May 24 (9) May 23 (16) May 22 (12) May 21 (11) May 20 (7) May 19 (10) May 18 (8) May 17 (8) May 16 (10) May 15 (8) May 14 (5) May 13 (1) May 12 (6) May 11 (9) May 10 (9) May 09 (10) May 08 (9) May 07 (6) May 06 (5) May 05 (7) May 04 (10) May 03 (7) May 02 (9) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (12) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (9) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (10) Apr 14 (7) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (8) Apr 05 (8) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (11) Mar 30 (12) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (9) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (12) Mar 20 (14) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (12) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (8) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (13) Feb 25 (10) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (10) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (18) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (5) Feb 16 (9) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (8) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (10) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (12) Jan 30 (7) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (7) Jan 27 (12) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (11) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (12) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (11) Jan 16 (9) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (9) Jan 10 (10) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (10) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (10) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (9) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (8) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (6) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (13) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (7) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (7) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (9) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (7) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (8) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (10) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (10) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (8) Nov 17 (9) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (12) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (8) Nov 06 (10) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (11) Nov 01 (10) Oct 31 (5) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (8) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (11) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (7) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (9) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (9) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (12) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (13) Oct 04 (11) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (14) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (12) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (10) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (8) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (7) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (14) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (11) Sep 14 (13) Sep 13 (11) Sep 12 (9) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (13) Sep 08 (11) Sep 07 (11) Sep 06 (16) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (8) Sep 01 (7) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (12) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (13) Jul 28 (10) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (12) Jul 22 (14) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (12) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (8) Jul 14 (15) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (6) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (9) Jul 06 (15) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (10) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (11) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (11) Jun 24 (9) Jun 23 (10) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (8) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (15) Jun 17 (8) Jun 16 (13) Jun 15 (15) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (6) Jun 12 (15) Jun 11 (7) Jun 10 (7) Jun 09 (18) Jun 08 (20) Jun 07 (17) Jun 06 (9) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (12) Jun 03 (13) Jun 02 (14) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (13) May 30 (8) May 29 (6) May 28 (8) May 27 (17) May 26 (8) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (9) May 22 (4) May 21 (4) May 20 (11) May 19 (14) May 18 (6) May 17 (10) May 16 (4) May 15 (5) May 14 (28) May 12 (9) May 11 (17) May 10 (15) May 09 (12) May 08 (5) May 07 (4) May 06 (10) May 05 (8) May 04 (10) May 03 (5) May 02 (6) May 01 (8) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (12) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (10) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (13) Apr 19 (11) Apr 18 (11) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (11) Apr 14 (17) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (16) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (18) Apr 08 (14) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (21) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (13) Apr 01 (8) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (11) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (12) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (8) Mar 20 (4) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (9) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (14) Mar 11 (13) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (17) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (13) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (14) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (18) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (2) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (13) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (13) Feb 22 (12) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (16) Feb 18 (17) Feb 17 (15) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (15) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (15) Feb 10 (11) Feb 09 (13) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (15) Feb 04 (15) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (14) Feb 01 (15) Jan 31 (11) Jan 30 (9) Jan 29 (19) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (9) Jan 26 (16) Jan 25 (19) Jan 24 (17) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (15) Jan 21 (9) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (12) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (14) Jan 12 (11) Jan 11 (13) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (20) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (14) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (14) Dec 30 (15) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (10) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (11) Dec 24 (9) Dec 23 (9) Dec 22 (15) Dec 21 (12) Dec 20 (11) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (12) Dec 15 (14) Dec 14 (11) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (17) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (12) Dec 07 (16) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (12) Dec 03 (15) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (12) Nov 30 (16) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (13) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (15) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (8) Nov 19 (9) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (9) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (10) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (14) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (13) Nov 01 (9) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (18) Oct 28 (13) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (12) Oct 25 (14) Oct 24 (20) Oct 22 (18) Oct 21 (18) Oct 20 (19) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (18) Oct 15 (8) Oct 14 (11) Oct 13 (9) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (27) Oct 08 (14) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (10) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (9) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (13) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (14) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (14) Sep 22 (20) Sep 21 (11) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (14) Sep 17 (8) Sep 16 (17) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (11) Sep 13 (9) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (14) Sep 09 (12) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (9) Sep 04 (20) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (16) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (13) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (11) Aug 25 (10) Aug 24 (14) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (13) Aug 21 (10) Aug 20 (13) Aug 19 (15) Aug 18 (8) Aug 17 (10) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (11) Aug 13 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (10) Aug 10 (17) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (13) Aug 07 (11) Aug 06 (13) Aug 05 (11) Aug 04 (11) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (10) Jul 30 (21) Jul 29 (14) Jul 28 (13) Jul 27 (16) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (15) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (15) Jul 21 (19) Jul 20 (17) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (26) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (20) Jul 14 (16) Jul 13 (19) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (13) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (16) Jul 05 (9) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (15) Jul 02 (11) Jul 01 (14) Jun 30 (13) Jun 29 (19) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (9) Jun 26 (16) Jun 25 (22) Jun 24 (17) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (15) Jun 21 (14) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (17) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (10) Jun 16 (17) Jun 15 (13) Jun 14 (14) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (13) Jun 11 (15) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (10) Jun 08 (23) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (20) Jun 05 (10) Jun 04 (11) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (21) Jun 01 (14) May 31 (10) May 30 (14) May 29 (8) May 28 (23) May 27 (20) May 26 (16) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (10) May 22 (18) May 21 (14) May 20 (12) May 19 (18) May 18 (14) May 17 (13) May 16 (4) May 15 (7) May 14 (16) May 13 (13) May 12 (8) May 11 (18) May 10 (8) May 09 (7) May 08 (13) May 07 (11) May 06 (15) May 05 (18) May 04 (17) May 03 (7) May 02 (5) May 01 (11) Apr 30 (19) Apr 29 (21) Apr 28 (18) Apr 27 (16) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (20) Apr 22 (23) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (16) Apr 19 (13) Apr 18 (6) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (16) Apr 15 (18) Apr 14 (13) Apr 13 (14) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (14) Apr 08 (12) Apr 07 (18) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (11) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (16) Mar 31 (16) Mar 30 (22) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (19) Mar 26 (31) Mar 25 (25) Mar 24 (26) Mar 23 (27) Mar 22 (22) Mar 21 (22) Mar 20 (13) Mar 19 (21) Mar 18 (20) Mar 17 (24) Mar 16 (18) Mar 15 (9) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (29) Mar 12 (15) Mar 11 (11) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (20) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (21) Mar 05 (22) Mar 04 (19) Mar 03 (9) Mar 02 (20) Mar 01 (11) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (27) Feb 26 (15) Feb 25 (18) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (19) Feb 22 (24) Feb 21 (10) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (25) Feb 18 (16) Feb 17 (19) Feb 16 (23) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (16) Feb 11 (12) Feb 10 (18) Feb 09 (12) Feb 08 (14) Feb 07 (8) Feb 06 (27) Feb 05 (28) Feb 04 (24) Feb 03 (17) Feb 02 (20) Feb 01 (23) Jan 31 (16) Jan 30 (20) Jan 29 (26) Jan 28 (17) Jan 27 (21) Jan 26 (24) Jan 25 (16) Jan 24 (14) Jan 23 (16) Jan 22 (17) Jan 21 (19) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (17) Jan 18 (13) Jan 17 (14) Jan 16 (10) Jan 15 (21) Jan 14 (16) Jan 13 (19) Jan 12 (30) Jan 11 (14) Jan 10 (11) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (23) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (21) Jan 05 (15) Jan 04 (18) Jan 03 (9) Jan 02 (12) Jan 01 (15) Dec 31 (18) Dec 30 (7) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (6) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (28) Dec 23 (12) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (17) Dec 20 (19) Dec 19 (19) Dec 18 (22) Dec 17 (24) Dec 16 (17) Dec 15 (29) Dec 14 (22) Dec 13 (12) Dec 12 (22) Dec 11 (24) Dec 10 (25) Dec 09 (18) Dec 08 (15) Dec 07 (21) Dec 06 (24) Dec 05 (30) Dec 04 (28) Dec 03 (26) Dec 02 (22) Dec 01 (33) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (18) Nov 27 (25) Nov 26 (17) Nov 25 (23) Nov 24 (27) Nov 23 (12) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (15) Nov 20 (23) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (24) Nov 17 (21) Nov 16 (20) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (15) Nov 13 (27) Nov 12 (23) Nov 11 (19) Nov 10 (21) Nov 09 (13) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (16) Nov 06 (32) Nov 05 (24) Nov 04 (20) Nov 03 (29) Nov 02 (12) Nov 01 (15) Oct 31 (20) Oct 30 (22) Oct 29 (27) Oct 28 (20) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (21) Oct 25 (15) Oct 24 (23) Oct 23 (26) Oct 22 (27) Oct 21 (28) Oct 20 (24) Oct 19 (13) Oct 18 (9) Oct 17 (30) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (20) Oct 14 (14) Oct 13 (17) Oct 12 (16) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (19) Oct 09 (22) Oct 08 (16) Oct 07 (18) Oct 06 (23) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (15) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (22) Sep 30 (25) Sep 29 (20) Sep 28 (17) Sep 27 (13) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (15) Sep 24 (24) Sep 23 (23) Sep 22 (18) Sep 21 (20) Sep 20 (11) Sep 19 (24) Sep 18 (25) Sep 17 (25) Sep 16 (19) Sep 15 (21) Sep 14 (15) Sep 13 (10) Sep 12 (23) Sep 11 (23) Sep 10 (25) Sep 09 (25) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (17) Sep 05 (14) Sep 04 (24) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (19) Aug 31 (20) Aug 30 (11) Aug 29 (24) Aug 28 (24) Aug 27 (16) Aug 26 (26) Aug 25 (21) Aug 24 (15) Aug 23 (19) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (25) Aug 20 (27) Aug 19 (19) Aug 18 (24) Aug 17 (14) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (15) Aug 14 (16) Aug 13 (21) Aug 12 (30) Aug 11 (19) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (12) Aug 08 (17) Aug 07 (21) Aug 06 (26) Aug 05 (23) Aug 04 (21) Aug 03 (12) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (19) Jul 31 (21) Jul 30 (25) Jul 29 (29) Jul 28 (23) Jul 27 (17) Jul 26 (11) Jul 25 (21) Jul 24 (14) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (19) Jul 21 (15) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (10) Jul 18 (15) Jul 17 (22) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (21) Jul 14 (20) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (29) Jul 10 (19) Jul 09 (17) Jul 08 (26) Jul 07 (21) Jul 06 (18) Jul 05 (14) Jul 04 (20) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (24) Jul 01 (23) Jun 30 (23) Jun 29 (18) Jun 28 (16) Jun 27 (16) Jun 26 (17) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (32) Jun 23 (29) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (17) Jun 20 (25) Jun 19 (28) Jun 18 (19) Jun 17 (25) Jun 16 (23) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (14) Jun 12 (22) Jun 11 (19) Jun 10 (17) Jun 09 (15) Jun 08 (16) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (29) Jun 05 (27) Jun 04 (24) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (22) Jun 01 (13) May 31 (9) May 30 (26) May 29 (19) May 28 (15) May 27 (15) May 26 (23) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (24) May 22 (13) May 21 (21) May 20 (18) May 19 (16) May 18 (7) May 17 (12) May 16 (25) May 15 (24) May 14 (23) May 13 (19) May 12 (17) May 11 (8) May 10 (6) May 09 (14) May 08 (21) May 07 (26) May 06 (14) May 05 (14) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (24) May 01 (13) Apr 30 (15) Apr 29 (24) Apr 28 (24) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (13) Apr 24 (27) Apr 23 (15) Apr 22 (21) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (17) Apr 19 (8) Apr 18 (20) Apr 17 (27) Apr 16 (27) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (8) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (22) Apr 09 (15) Apr 08 (15) Apr 07 (17) Apr 06 (14) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (19) Mar 31 (25) Mar 30 (13) Mar 29 (9) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (23) Mar 26 (22) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (25) Mar 23 (16) Mar 22 (13) Mar 21 (24) Mar 20 (27) Mar 19 (20) Mar 18 (24) Mar 17 (17) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (20) Mar 13 (28) Mar 12 (30) Mar 11 (20) Mar 10 (21) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (8) Mar 07 (17) Mar 06 (20) Mar 05 (19) Mar 04 (15) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (12) Feb 28 (16) Feb 27 (17) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (23) Feb 24 (15) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (24) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (24) Feb 18 (19) Feb 17 (27) Feb 16 (13) Feb 15 (11) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (13) Feb 12 (13) Feb 11 (21) Feb 10 (16) Feb 09 (15) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (17) Feb 06 (21) Feb 05 (17) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (23) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (8) Jan 31 (17) Jan 30 (22) Jan 29 (23) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (24) Jan 26 (12) Jan 25 (9) Jan 24 (12) Jan 23 (19) Jan 22 (19) Jan 21 (14) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (12) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (20) Jan 16 (14) Jan 15 (23) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (20) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (18) Jan 09 (11) Jan 08 (18) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (12) Jan 05 (12) Jan 04 (11) Jan 03 (10) Jan 02 (9) Jan 01 (9) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (13) Dec 26 (15) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (8) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (14) Dec 19 (17) Dec 18 (14) Dec 17 (14) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (9) Dec 13 (11) Dec 12 (16) Dec 11 (18) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (24) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (19) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (26) Dec 04 (15) Dec 03 (20) Dec 02 (17) Dec 01 (11) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (18) Nov 28 (21) Nov 27 (10) Nov 26 (22) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (18) Nov 21 (9) Nov 20 (17) Nov 19 (16) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (21) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (20) Nov 12 (16) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (15) Nov 06 (18) Nov 05 (19) Nov 04 (16) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (17) Oct 31 (17) Oct 30 (21) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (16) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (16) Oct 24 (18) Oct 23 (14) Oct 22 (17) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (8) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (12) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (19) Oct 14 (15) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (10) Oct 10 (23) Oct 09 (13) Oct 08 (15) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (13) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (16) Oct 03 (17) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (20) Sep 30 (17) Sep 29 (9) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (14) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (19) Sep 24 (13) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (21) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (20) Sep 16 (16) Sep 15 (10) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (18) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (24) Sep 10 (17) Sep 09 (16) Sep 08 (16) Sep 07 (10) Sep 06 (20) Sep 05 (13) Sep 04 (23) Sep 03 (14) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (11) Aug 31 (11) Aug 30 (13) Aug 29 (18) Aug 28 (14) Aug 27 (21) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (10) Aug 23 (17) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (14) Aug 20 (20) Aug 19 (20) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (9) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (12) Aug 14 (14) Aug 13 (19) Aug 12 (14) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (12) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (18) Aug 07 (16) Aug 06 (16) Aug 05 (20) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (12) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (16) Jul 30 (16) Jul 29 (11) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (9) Jul 26 (17) Jul 25 (20) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (11) Jul 22 (18) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (14) Jul 18 (11) Jul 17 (15) Jul 16 (12) Jul 15 (10) Jul 14 (8) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (17) Jul 11 (18) Jul 10 (16) Jul 09 (13) Jul 08 (10) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (8) Jul 05 (16) Jul 04 (14) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (13) Jul 01 (16) Jun 30 (19) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (19) Jun 27 (21) Jun 26 (27) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (23) Jun 23 (12) Jun 22 (9) Jun 21 (18) Jun 20 (15) Jun 19 (24) Jun 18 (21) Jun 17 (13) Jun 16 (9) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (18) Jun 13 (24) Jun 12 (18) Jun 11 (23) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (24) Jun 08 (27) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (25) Jun 05 (30) Jun 04 (23) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (16) Jun 01 (17) May 31 (18) May 30 (19) May 29 (17) May 28 (23) May 27 (15) May 26 (10) May 25 (19) May 24 (16) May 23 (16) May 22 (27) May 21 (20) May 20 (26) May 19 (6) May 18 (8) May 17 (20) May 16 (8) May 15 (18) May 14 (5) May 13 (21) May 12 (9) May 11 (8) May 10 (12) May 09 (18) May 08 (11) May 07 (27) May 06 (12) May 05 (16) May 04 (19) May 03 (14) May 02 (18) May 01 (18) Apr 30 (25) Apr 29 (27) Apr 28 (11) Apr 27 (10) Apr 26 (18) Apr 25 (10) Apr 24 (29) Apr 23 (29) Apr 22 (14) Apr 21 (15) Apr 20 (20) Apr 19 (22) Apr 18 (16) Apr 17 (32) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (21) Apr 13 (15) Apr 12 (13) Apr 11 (14) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (20) Apr 08 (36) Apr 07 (22) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (28) Apr 04 (20) Apr 03 (29) Apr 02 (32) Apr 01 (18) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (15) Mar 28 (22) Mar 27 (24) Mar 26 (17) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (13) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (15) Mar 20 (18) Mar 19 (19) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (10) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (18) Mar 14 (24) Mar 13 (18) Mar 12 (18) Mar 11 (17) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (18) Mar 07 (25) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (16) Mar 04 (22) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (23) Feb 29 (19) Feb 28 (25) Feb 27 (26) Feb 26 (23) Feb 25 (12) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (15) Feb 22 (26) Feb 21 (31) Feb 20 (12) Feb 19 (21) Feb 18 (15) Feb 17 (10) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (19) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (20) Feb 11 (9) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (28) Feb 08 (20) Feb 07 (22) Feb 06 (20) Feb 05 (19) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (16) Feb 02 (28) Feb 01 (37) Jan 31 (27) Jan 30 (31) Jan 29 (18) Jan 28 (14) Jan 27 (10) Jan 26 (18) Jan 25 (26) Jan 24 (34) Jan 23 (21) Jan 22 (21) Jan 21 (18) Jan 20 (18) Jan 19 (18) Jan 18 (26) Jan 17 (24) Jan 16 (23) Jan 15 (30) Jan 14 (20) Jan 13 (18) Jan 12 (24) Jan 11 (11) Jan 10 (23) Jan 09 (22) Jan 08 (17) Jan 07 (17) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (18) Jan 04 (15) Jan 03 (19) Jan 02 (14) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (15) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (7) Dec 26 (10) Dec 25 (16) Dec 24 (13) Dec 23 (16) Dec 22 (11) Dec 21 (26) Dec 20 (28) Dec 19 (14) Dec 18 (25) Dec 17 (23) Dec 16 (19) Dec 15 (22) Dec 14 (38) Dec 13 (26) Dec 12 (25) Dec 11 (27) Dec 10 (31) Dec 09 (15) Dec 08 (30) Dec 07 (31) Dec 06 (27) Dec 05 (38) Dec 04 (25) Dec 03 (27) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1)
I have said before on this blog about reading books. I have said to read and read and read. Several years ago I discovered reading again and have found it the most perfect way to see the world through many eyes. I have also discovered as to how much long term propaganda has been around. It is amazing and for someone like me who is able to see the trees for the forest, I can enjoy all media and not allow myself to fall into the reality or lack of reality trap

Gutenberg books is a place that allows for free to download old out of copyright books. Many of these are classics and many are written late 1800s to the early 1900s

http://www.gutenberg.org/

This site is truly a godsend for seeing the way the eyes, mind and souls looked at the future. I am a science fiction fan and have literally been amazed at how much truth and how much they did not and or could not fathom, in changes our world would see. It really is fantastic and the ideas presented in these books about our future are for the most part, lacking, technology advances, accurate in all aspects

But an area that has not changed and looks like it will not change, is the villain and from whence he came

99% of the time that villains Slavic (chiefly Russians, Ukrainians, and Belorussians) and they are the most evil, dastardly and well funded demons the earth can imagine, Especially within that time frame.. And even within our modern time frame, these Slavs are beyond imagination and abilities. But then as now, Americans, with an occasional friendly help from Great Britain overcome any and all obstacles. Be it a magnetic ray that sends the earth plummeting into the sun and or a spaceship so advanced that we have nothing like it. But! We soon have, because we are America. And because we are Gods chosen people, we overcome the evil that lurks within all hearts of every Slav alive

One area of great concern was the Bolshevik era in Russia. This was an exceedingly predominant area of concern for writers. The poor Slavs under the thumb of the most sickening and evil Bolsheviks, was a serious concern and America has to save these peasants from certain death and degradation

Occasionally a German popped up and he was as nasty as they come, but almost always even the German was funded by a Russian. Damn them Russians. An important thing that came across was that the evil Russian, was never killed. It was believed he was dead, but he always came back in the next book. This evil Russian driven by his hate for democracy, capitalism and just everything in general about the perfect country called America. Was never satisfied to kill millions and millions of people in America, he wanted to genocide Americans and rule the world. The only thing that stood in his way, was America and once America was gone, he could rule the world with ease

The really interesting thing about the books; The plot was about a country called Russia and we Americans were the moral side of the world. The story writers would be aghast at what has happened to the world. These people wrote about a country that always stood for good and helped all who needed it, even when the others could not agree to help to even save the world. America would time and time save the world, even when the world was at odds with each other

During that hundred years since these books were written, things have reversed and now America has become the exact thing that we wrote so vehemently about. Russia

Thousands and thousands and thousands of books with this theme as an underline to its plot

This extended heavily with in such famous publications as Astounding Science Fiction books to a typical full length novel and at that time just 10 to 20 cents bought tons of reading for the pleasure of being propagandized constantly. This is even prevalent with in the teenage series of books such as Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, from the start of the 1930s

Every book literally sends a message. The evil was Russia and the American people stood together and shook their fists at the evil, even when millions were dying and I just read one book; An America child raised his fist in his last death gasp, he looked at the deadly Russian flying machine and defiantly shook his fist at the machine. Then in the ways of evil Russians and only by God does an evil Russian know why! The Russian pilot staffed the young American child defying him to his last breath, with rounds of some wicked weapon of destruction. The child would be shredded and still have his fist raised in defiance

Tough kid

This is a common theme amongst the books. as people stood their ground and died with dignity

Hard to imagine the America now being that defiant against anything but having their iPhone taken away

The message I am telling is this

We have been invaded by our own selves for the life of our young country. I can read for myself the propaganda in all its glory from the yesterdays of our writers. These men and woman wrote what was expected and asked of them. Most of these works are series of books, all cheap and all propaganda. Even some of these writings have carried on into the modern times, such as Hardy Boys, for example Nothing has changed, except

We have moved basically from a media that you have to have abilities to read, to a media that allows eye candy to infiltrate the soul. A media that takes no imagination and no abilities needed to watch and enjoy and indoctrinate. God Bless Hollywood 

In over a hundred years of media

It is all at your fingertips. Media in book, magazine and now movie form and there for you to read, absorb and watch. One hundred years plus of constant, Russia did it!

Does that sound familiar? We live a life of nothing but, Russia Did It! and sometimes North Korea, China, Germany and of course we had a few years of Middle east demons wanting to take our country away

Being on the outside

I am glad I am on the outside of America. Looking in at America is scary and sad at the same time. But I am glad that I escaped from such a mess. Yesterday was Defenders of the Fathers Day. It was a holiday for military guys. Since I am military, I was invited to Vovas and he had a party going. It is a big holiday in Russia and they are all off today also

I had an interesting question asked of me

Why do Americans hate Russians so much?

This morning I realized why we hate Russians!

Our (Western) media is awash with a constant stream of, Hate Russia, Hate Russia!

Sorry, you have been mislead about Russia And yes propaganda is just not an American issue. But America is #1 in propaganda

WtR
ALLISON PARK, PA, February 24, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Eleanor B. Howe has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.



Ms. Howe always knew that she wanted to be a teacher; she viewed education as a core value. For more than two decades, she excelled as a librarian and educator whose students always came first. To improve reading skills at the elementary school level she promoted leisure reading in all grades and created story hours that students enjoyed while she developed their listening comprehension skills. As a high school librarian she continued to promote leisure reading while developing a course in research and online search skills and supporting research projects by providing students with tools, skills, resources, and guidance so that they did not feel alone or lost in their studies. She strongly believes in always doing your best and enabling others to do their best and succeed.



Now retired, she concluded her career as the librarian for Pine Richland High School in Gibsonia, PA after previously coming to prominence as a librarian for Washington Park School in Washington, PA and Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh, PA; in each school she actively contributed to student learning. Other noteworthy roles held in Ms. Howe's career include library intern for Franklin & Marshall College, substitute teacher for public schools in Lancaster County, and secretary for Gardner Investments. She was deeply gratified to receive a letter from the assistant superintendent saying that her library department K-12 curriculum Directional Report of 2004 was the best Directional Report ever submitted. In recognition of her professional excellence she was invited to join Beta Phi Mu International Library Science Honor Society in 1993, and in 1998 she was nominated and accepted as a participant in the Library Leadership Institute at Snowbird. In addition, she was selected for inclusion into Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who of America, and Who's Who in the World.



Before establishing herself professionally, Ms. Howe graduated college as a scholarship student and then focused on her family, placing a high priority on nurturing her two children both before and after becoming a single parent in 1982. She later prepared for her career by investing in her education. Building on her Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College in 1963, she earned a Master of Science in Library Science from Clarion University in 1993 and a Master of Education from Millersville University in 1994. In addition, she became a certified social studies teacher, a certified school librarian, and a certified elementary education teacher. To stay at the top of her field, Ms. Howe became a member of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association, the American Library Association, and the International Association of School Librarianship. In addition, she has taken on career opportunities outside of her profession to increase her contributions to her field. She has served as an adjunct instructor for the department of library science at Clarion University, an editor for the annual proceedings of the International Association of School Librarianship, a staff member for the Learning and Media journal of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association, and chair of the research special interest group for the International Association of School Librarianship. She has both published works and presented sessions on the local, state, national, and international levels.



# # #
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, February 24, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Meals on Wheels South Florida announced today that it will be participating in the 15th annual March for Meals - a month-long, nationwide celebration of Meal on Wheels and the homebound and vulnerable seniors who rely on its vital safety net. Meals on Wheels South Florida's March for Meals celebration will include volunteering by elected officials, a kickoff event at YOLO Restaurant on March 2 at 5:00 p.m. and advocacy efforts.



"The services that we provide the seniors of South Florida are critical and the need is rapidly increasing," said Mark Adler, Executive Director of Meals on Wheels South Florida. "Together, we can keep seniors living independently, healthier at home and feeling more connected to their community as they age."



Since 2002, Meals on Wheels America has led the annual awareness campaign in an effort to fill the gap between the seniors served and those in need that is widening due to increased demand with a rapidly aging population combined with declining public and private resources, and rising food, transportation and operational costs. This March, hundreds of local Meals on Wheels programs, like South Florida, will reach out to their communities to build the support that will enable them to deliver nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks to America's seniors all year love.



"March is a time for us all to rally around Meals on Wheels," said Ellie Hollander, President and CEO of Meals on Wheels America. "Our ability to meet the needs of vulnerable seniors lies in the willingness and generosity of businesses, government and concerned individuals of all ages to contribute in their own way. It not only makes economic sense to enable seniors to stay healthy and safe at home, but it improves the health and vibrancy of our communities and our nation at large."



For more information on how you can volunteer, contribute or speak out for the seniors in South Florida and across the country, visit http://www.marchformeals.com.



About Meals on Wheels South Florida



Meals on Wheels South Florida is a private nonprofit organization providing hunger-relief services since 1985. With the dedication of nearly 600 volunteers, Meals on Wheels South Florida delivers nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks that enable South Florida seniors to live nourished lives with independence and dignity. Meals on Wheels South Florida serves more than 10,000 seniors and 5,000 children an estimated 1.5 million meals each year. Included in their comprehensive list of programs and services are home meal delivery, community-based dining, meals for companion pets, grocery shopping assistance, nutrition education and emergency meals. For more information, please call 954.731.8770 or visit mealsonwheelssouthflorida.org.



# # #
Feb 24, 2017 | By Benedict

Researchers from Kyoto University in Japan have used 3D bioprinting to create tubular conduits that can regenerate damaged nerve cells. The group used a Regenova 3D bioprinter from Cyfuse Biomedical.

Cyfuse Biomedical's Regenova 3D bioprinter

The Regenova 3D bioprinter from Cyfuse Biomedical might be too expensive for your average research lab, but it seems that anyone given a chance to work with the Kenzan Method 3D bioprinter eventually will eventually make some important scientific discovery with the technology. The latest research project to make use of Cyfuse Biomedical equipment (and, for that matter, expertiseCyfuse cofounder Koichi Nakayama and other Cyfuse employees contributed to the project) involved the creation of a scaffold-free Bio 3D conduit developed from human fibroblasts. The tiny tubular structures were used to promote nerve regeneration in rats, and could eventually be used for similar purposes on humans.

In a research paper that was published in PLOS ONE on February 13, the Kyoto University researchers explain how they were able to develop six scaffold-free conduits from human dermal fibroblasts using the Cyfuse Biomedical Regenova 3D bioprinter. The same researchers then took 12 adult male rats with immune deficiency, cutting out small sections of the right sciatic nerve of each rat at the mid-thigh area. For six of these rats, the 5 mm gap in the nerve was later bridged using the 8 mm 3D printed conduits; for the other six, a silicone tubethe current standard in such operationswas used.

Fig. A shows the more effective 3D bioprinted conduit, Fig. B shows the less effective silicone tube

Excitingly, the Kyoto University researchers found that the 3D bioprinted conduits helped to promote nerve regeneration in the rats at a faster rate than the silicone tubes, providing evidence that 3D bioprinting could someday be used to help patients recovering from nerve injuries. The researchers measured the metatarsal swing, muscle action potential, and neural cell expression in the rats, finding that the 3D bioprinted conduits were better for improving recovery on all counts. The wet muscle weight of the tibialis anterior muscle was also found to be higher in the 3D bioprinted group than the silicone group.

In light of their discoveries, the Japanese researchers determined that 3D bioprinted conduits can be used to effectively promote nerve regeneration. We confirmed that scaffold-free Bio 3D conduits composed entirely of fibroblast cells promote nerve regeneration in a rat sciatic nerve model, they wrote.

If the success of the project could be duplicated on human subjects, the 3D bioprinting research carried out by Kyoto University and Cyfuse Biomedical could have a significant impact upon the medical world. In Japan alone, 5,000 to 10,000 people suffer nerve-related injuries annually because of work-related accidents and other reasons. A clinical trial is expected to take place in 2019.

The 3D bioprinted conduit, designed digitally (Fig. A) and then printed (Fig. B)

The researchers involved in the study were Hirofumi Yurie, Ryosuke Ikeguchi, Tomoki Aoyama, Yukitoshi Kaizawa, Junichi Tajino, Akira Ito, Souichi Ohta, Hiroki Oda, Hisataka Takeuchi, Shizuka Akieda, Manami Tsuji, Koichi Nakayama, and Shuichi Matsuda.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

Maybe you also like:












Feb 24, 2017 | By Benedict

Tiko 3D, the company behind the Tiko Unibody 3D Printer, has wound down operations, despite raising almost $3 million from its debut Kickstarter campaign. Backers yet to receive a Tiko 3D printer, which users have described as faulty and inaccurate, will not receive a refund.

2016 may have been a remarkably terrible year, but 2017 hasnt started too well eitherin the world of crowdfunded 3D printers, at least. Hot on the heels of the controversial and eventually abandoned NexD1 3D printer campaign, another promising crowdfunding project has crashed and burned, despite raising millions of dollars from enthusiastic Kickstarter backers.

The latest project to nosedive spectacularly is that of the $179 Tiko delta 3D printer, a unibody 3D printer thatretrospectivelyalways seemed too good to be true. 16,538 backers pledged $2,950,874 to fund the 3D printer, but Toronto-based startup Tiko 3D announced on Wednesday that operations have ceased, citing hardware and software setbacks, manufacturing challenges, repeated delays, regulatory hurdles, unending certification requirements, unplanned operating expenses, logistical nightmares, sleepless nights, strained relationships, frustrated suppliers, a disgruntled community, new competitors, and a jaded industry.

The Tiko 3D printer was supposed to be a simple, affordable, delta-style 3D printer with a 50-micron resolution and 2.27-liter print volume. What it ended up being, according to the lucky 4,100 backers who actually received their 3D printer, was a hugely unreliable machine packed with cheap components that simply didnt work. Financial troubles have now caused Tiko 3D to put the project into hibernation, cancelling all preorders while attempting to fulfill as many existing orders as it can. As it stands, things dont look promising, and backers wont be getting refunds.

In a lengthy post on the Tiko 3D printer Kickstarter page, Tiko 3D admitted that it had failed, but offered hope that an investor might eventually pick up the company and allow it to resume operations: Starting a company is a fight against the odds, and a journey into the unknown. Just when you think you have it all figured out, reality comes in and hits you in the gut. We climbed to the top, then fell off and hit every branch on the way down. Were sorry we disappointed you. You believed in us, and we let you down. It hurts like hell... but this isnt over yet.

Many backers and observers appear to have little sympathy with Tiko 3D and its plight, and many have suggested that the startup willfully ignored the warnings and advice of industry professionals, instead squandering its money on bulk orders of components before knowing fully whether its design would be workable. In fact, it appears the only sympathy for Tiko 3D is coming from M3D, a fellow crowdfunding-friendly 3D printing companyalbeit a much, much more successful onethat currently holds the record for the most successful 3D printer crowdfunding campaign ever.

Michael Armani, the CEO and cofounder of M3D, believes that there are fundamental problems with the crowdfunding modelthis despite his company raising almost $4 million over multiple successful campaignsand has refused to blame Tiko 3D for seemingly orchestrating its own demise. M3D is even offering Tiko backers an M3D 3D printer for $199. If people with no experience backed the Tiko out of a curiosity to create, we dont want to see that curiosity go to waste, said Tim Williams, M3Ds senior campaign executive.

At the end of the day, the failure of Tiko 3D cannot be compared to something like the Peachy Printer debacle. Who knows, a refined Tiko 3D printer may even see the light of day at some point. Nonetheless, another messy 3D printer crowdfunding campaign wont reflect well on 3D printing startups or the crowdfunding model going into the future. Heres hoping for better luck throughout the rest of 2017.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

Maybe you also like:









Andy H wrote at 2/28/2017 10:22:39 AM:You've always got to regard crowdfunding as a "bet" or "punt". But I don't think you can write off all kick-starters. Look at the form 1, cel Robox or Zortrax M200. Both successful kickstarters that have lead to one or more successful printers. [Yep, the form 1 had problems improved in successive revisions, yep the Zortrax promised WiFi that hasn't materialised, but neither were a failure by any stretch, but all 3 are now strong evolving companies] The real issue seems to be the "race to the bottom" for cheap printers IMHO. I burnt myself twice chasing that fallacy - with the Cobblebot and the Solidoodle Press. But I went into both of them knowing I could get nothing back, and I can't say I feel too troubled by either, even though I wouldn't be able to afford to do so again any time soon.Mark Haase wrote at 2/25/2017 12:39:54 AM:Hi Benedict, Can you please also mention in your article that Tiko made each backer pay $55 in shipping and handling over a year ago, and then didn't ship anything to 12,000 of those people? They have not responded to requests to refund the shipping money. Although Kickstarter projects sometimes fail, taking $55 from 12,000 backers and putting in their own pocket is unacceptable. This aspect needs to be highlighted: this wasn't simply 3 kids in over their heads, it's 3 kids who spent $600,000 in S&H fees that wasn't theirs. Thanks, MarkBob the printer wrote at 2/24/2017 8:44:42 PM:Yet another example of why investing in all those 3D printer kickstarters is a bad idea. How can you believe someone with little experience in real manufacturing is able to produce a printer offering the same quality and functionalities as existing printers, yet cost 1/3 of the price? The cost of 3D printers out there is mostly driven by the motors, transmission parts and motor drivers (electronics). To reduce the costs, you must sacrifice the quality of these parts. In all cases, you will hurt your reliability.Pseudonym wrote at 2/24/2017 5:41:07 PM:By business partner and I saw this printer at the OCE Discovery Conference a couple years back when they first launched their campaign...we both called their demise. Too bad we were right. Looks like their wax wings (PLA?) melted too close to the sun...lolFeign wrote at 2/24/2017 3:26:26 PM:Every time I look at my MOD-t printing I feel like I'm looking at Vegas winnings. Technically, the core ideas of the Tiko are great, but great ideas cannot float a poorly run company and hardware without software is a doorstop. ALWAYS, look at the company behind the product first. Look at the company before you even play the pitch video. If it's "a trio of starry-eyed first-time entrepreneurs." then don't gamble more than you care about losing on it.Montage Flange wrote at 2/24/2017 2:57:01 PM:You pay your money you take your chances. That's the rules of the game with crowd funding.




Feb 23, 2017 | By Julia

3D printing filament company ColorFabb has just moved into a new state-of-the-art facility in Belfeld, The Netherlands. The move is a vast departure from ColorFabbs previous headquarters: initially based in a garage, the Dutch company later moved to a larger building that served as head office for three years.

Now, the fast-growing filament producer has relocated to an expansive new base with an impressive infrastructure and increased square footage.

While theres certainly a lot more space and shine to the new facility, ColorFabb representatives also say the relocation will help establish a true innovation centre for 3D printing, with new and better opportunities for producing high quality filament, improved material development, and more possibilities for co-developing applications and products with partners and clients.

In an official press release, the Dutch company shows off the impressive focal points of its new headquarters, located in close proximity to both the German and Belgian borders. Lets walk you through some of those highlights now.

Already, the striking outer face of the facility suggests a hive of buzzing activity within. The exterior of the building is sleek and modern, showcasing a large new ColorFabb logo just above the main entrance.

Immediately upon entering, two of ColorFabbs most prized achievements greet you. First off, the XT-CF20 3D printed concept bike, printed mid-2015 to showcase the capabilities of desktop printers.

Just down the hall from the bike is ColorFabbs impressive Saturn V Rocket, manufactured in collaboration with regular client Korneel Bullens using ColorFabbs nGen filament, as seen at last years AM Show Europe in Amsterdam.

Next up are the central offices, which are located next to ColorFabbs new print labs. A huge upgrade from the previous iteration, the two labs hum with over 30 3D printers that are continuously printing and prototyping. There, ColorFabb employees execute all tests for new materials, as well as material characterizations, prints for the blog, support, and so on.

After the print labs, visitors make their way to the production site, and the heart of the company. The production floor is where ColorFabbs filaments are manufactured, extruded, and spun.

Finally, we reach the logistics centre, where the ColorFabb team ships out to over 70 countries from its massive warehouse. All activity with webshops, resellers, and distributors takes place here.

All in all, it looks like the newly expanded ColorFabb facility is gearing up for an exciting 2017. What all the Dutch filament producer has planned for the coming months has yet to be detailed, but were certain to see some exciting new directions from the ambitiously growing company.

For now, you can find ColorFabb representatives at the RapidPro Trade Fair and Conference this March 7th, 8th, and 9th in Veldhoven, The Netherlands.

Photos: ColorFabb

Posted in 3D Printer Company

Maybe you also like:












Feb 24, 2017 | By Tess

Singapore-based 3D printer company Structo has launched what it is hailing as the worlds fastest dental mold 3D printer. Dubbed the DentaForm, the new 3D printer was unveiled today at the Association of Orthodontists Singapore (AOSC) 2017 show at Marina Bay Sands.

Almost exactly a year ago, Structo came onto the dental 3D printing market with its first two products, the OrthoForm and the high-speed OmniForm 3D printers. Structos 3D printing products, which are based on the companys proprietary Mask Stereolithography (MSLA) technology, are specifically designed and built for applications within the dental industry, such as making molds in a quick and efficient manner.

The companys latest product, the DentaForm, continues Structos foray into dental 3D printing technologies as it is ideal for certain dental applications, specifically printing accurate, highly precise models for fitting crowns and bridges in the field of restorative dentistry. The new 3D printer boasts a build platform for 200 x 150 mm and a printing accuracy of 50 micrometers along the x/y axes.

Structo co-founder Huub van Esbroeck said of the new 3D printer: We are revolutionizing digital dentistry by breaking through the speed limits of 3D printers today. The Structo DentaFrom will open up a whole new range of dental applications that can now work with our lightning-fast Mask Stereolithography (MSLA) technology.

Structos innovative MSLA technology offers much faster speeds than standard SLA 3D printers, the company says. This is due to a unique additive manufacturing system that draws from mask lithography, a process commonly used in Integrated Circuit (IC) manufacturing. That is, MSLA integrates a panel light source array and a liquid crystal film mask that works to control which parts of the printing plane are exposed to the light source.

This, in turn, allows for all features of an entire single layer to be cured at once, opening up the possibility for multiple prints in a single go. As the company points out, its MSLA process allows for scaling up to industrial dimensions without sacrificing print speeds.

Like the OrthoForm, the new DentaForm 3D printer utilizes Structos MSLA process, only with an upgraded resolution capacity. That is, while the OrthoForm offers a resolution of 96 m x 96 m (x/y), the DentaForm offers a higher resolution of 50 m.

Customers who have experienced the speed of MSLA through the OrthoForm have been asking for a higher resolution solution for the printing of precisions models. Today we are excited and proud to bring that solution to market with the DentaForm, commented Dhruv Sahgal, Structos Head of Business Development and Sales.

Structo is showcasing its new DentaForm 3D printer at the Association of Orthodontists Singapore (AOSC) 2017 from February 24 to 26. The company will also be present at the International Dental Show (IDS) 2017 in Cologne, Germany from March 21 to 25.

Posted in 3D Printer

Maybe you also like:












Heather Jones in the Irish Times:

Ive found another one! My mother is delighted, full of excitement, cup of tea in hand at our small kitchen table in Dublin, overloaded with notes and books. She has long had a passionate interest in Irish history but this is her biggest project yet  an investigation into Irish Protestant nationalists who contributed to the Easter Rising.

She has a hunch that there were more of them than anyone has realised. I know she is writing a book for the centenary. It has become all-consuming: for several years she has scoured archives, libraries, interviewed descendants of Protestant rebels, including Garret FitzGerald, whose rebel mother was Presbyterian. Each document seam uncovers a new lead, a fresh name. She feels a need to reinsert these lives that she believes have been overlooked into the history of the Rising, especially the working-class Protestants of Dublin, long neglected.

I dont dare ask her to what extent it is a search for self. From a practising Church of Ireland family, of very humble Dublin and Wicklow origins, my mother was a scholarship girl, educated through Irish in Colaiste Moibhi, the training college established by the State to produce Gaelic-speaking, nationalist teachers for Protestant primary schools. Devout and liberal, patriotic and pacifist, she defies easy stereotypes, just like the lives she is researching.

Five months later she is dying.

More here. [Thanks to Kris Kotarski.]
Betsy Schlabach in AAIHS:

In 1986, African American poet Gwendolyn Brooks wrote of her life-long friend Langston Hughes: WHAT was Langston Hughes? An overwhelmer. Long ago I felt it was proper to say he had a long reach / strong speech / remedial fears / muscular tears. I gave him titles: Helmsman, hatchet, headlight. And I suggested: See / one restless in the exotic time! and ever, / till the air is cured of its fever.' Hughes and Brooks were both in Chicagos south side neighborhood, Bronzeville, at mid-twentieth century. Their friendship and poetry showcased a critical love of the black experience. Brooks described Hughes mission:

He judged himself the adequate appreciator of his own people, and he judged blacks the most wonderful people in the world. He wanted to celebrate them in his poetry, fiction, essays and plays. He wanted to record their strengths, their resiliency, courage, humor.

Hughes first visited Chicago in 1918 as a sophomore in high school. His mother worked as a maid for a milliner in the Loop. Hughes took a job delivering hats, which exposed him to many different neighborhoods near downtown Chicago. On Sundays, he would stroll along the south side, which he said was more exciting than anything he had ever seen before. Midnight was like day, he exclaimed as he explored its crowded theaters and cabarets. It was vibrant, yes, but it was violent as well. He would experience racial violence first hand one day after he had wandered into a Polish neighborhood and was assaulted physically and verbally by a gang of white boys. He found Chicago vast, ugly, brutal, and monotonous. Brooks met Hughes when she was very young and grew to know him well enough to observe that when subjected to offense and icy treatment because of his race, he was capable of jagged anger  and vengeance, instant or retroactive. And I have letters from him that reveal he could respond with real rage when he felt he was treated cruelly by other people. Brooks confirmed that Bronzeville offered a young poet like herself plenty of material. She wrote: If you wanted a poem you only had to look out a window. There was material always walking, running, screaming, or signing. Born in Topeka Kansas, but raised in Bronzeville, Brooks published A Street in Bronzeville in 1945. Her work bravely confronted segregation, abortion, poverty, lynching, class, restrictive gender roles, and childhood dreams. Hers was a very honest portrait of Chicago

More here. (Note: At least one post throughout February will be in honor of Black History Month)
What I learned circling the globe with my new husband.

I met my husband in New Zealand in 2005. He's from Melbourne, I'm from New York. Four years later we were married, and promptly took off to follow the sun on a 10-month round-the-world honeymoon. We started with three months of consecutive travel through Europe and Africa, stopped for a bit in Australia, then headed to Asia before returning to the United States via French Polynesia. We met new friends, visited world-renowned sites, saw beautiful animals, took thousands of photographs and created a lifetime of memories. There had been other travel experiences prior to that and have been others since, but this one helped shape a new me and started my marriage off on a defining note of adventure. Here's what I learned:





1. Flexibility Trumps Preparation

For three weeks before we headed out on our journey, I had no idea how to pack for that long. It was impossible to imagine every possible scenario. I found out that I didn't need to prepare for every possibility, I just needed to stay flexible. That meant learning to do more with less. It meant finding a doctor when I was sick in London and taking care of my husband when he came down with something in Egypt. It meant finding an apartment in Melbourne, making new friends, working on balance, and learning to challenge fear. Five years later, change meant throwing belongings in storage, packing the car with four plastic boxes, and driving across the country to find new adventure in southern California. The girl who used to "hate" change has now grown to embrace it.





2. Beginnings Start At All Ages

Prior to this voyage, my face time with my then-boyfriend/now-husband had been limited to one-week holidays. Turns out we did just fine being together 24/7. I had never camped out before. Turns out sleeping outside under the stars fully agrees with me. I'd never taken anti-malarials before and have since taken them many times in order to experience the incredible sights of Africa and Southeast Asia. I used to plan my trips based on how relaxing the beach would be. Today, we put adventure and cultural learning at the top of our "reasons to go" list. As long as you're willing to put in the effort and take the leap, beginnings can start at all ages and stages of life.





3. Patience Pays Off

I think I was born without the patience gene. I was the kid in class who couldn't wait to be called on, the fast-talking teacher who barely breathed between words, the New Yorker who didn't want to wait for the "Walk" light before crossing the street, the traveler flabbergasted at the (often) bureaucratic wait involved in getting a visa. But this trip finally taught me the benefits of patience. We often arrived early at airports and train stations to be sure we got our paperwork and luggage in on time. There were sites that required early arrivals and long lines to enter. Mother Nature has a mind of her own and technology sometimes doesn't work. On a recent trip to the Australian Outback, the Aboriginal community of Uluru taught us that patience is the main educational goal for its youthonce patience is learned, everything else is possible. Now living on the West Coast, I continue to try to embrace patience, stay that extra minute and take that extra breath.





4. Travel Remakes You

The rewards reaped from travel are far greater than the expense of the tickets. Our journey created new friendships, new hobbies, new memories, and new opportunities. We made our first "together friends" and have since traveled with and visited many of them all over the world. The trip inspired me to start a blog and a new venture into writing. It convinced me to look for a new way to make a difference in the world.





5. Euphoria Comes From Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone

This journey made me realize how small my comfort zone had always been. During it, I ditched a profession I had been in for over a decade, jumped off a cliff above Victoria Falls, walked with lions, got licked by a cheetah, got stuck in a standoff with zebras, was chased by a hippo, used my travel insurance, got sick in Vietnam, and had to find a new dentist in Australia. Each of these experiences was scary, and each time I conquered it, I felt spectacular. Each step broadened my comfort zone. Now, I can't imagine going back to what once was..





6.The World Is a Full of Good People

I grew up in New York and went to college in Massachusetts. This trip opened my eyes to a far greater world perspective and a global lifestyle. I found communities and people across the globe all looking for the same things for themselves and their families. Most were genuine and kind. More than most were looking for work, compassion, education, good healthcare, happiness and their own place in the world. They were interested in making a difference in their families' lives and in their communities. Travel lets you meet the actual person underneath the nationality, ethnicity or religion. It forces you to rely on the kindness of strangers. The world we see portrayed in the media is often slanted and focused on the negative. I'm so grateful I had the first-hand experience of learning how similar people are around the world.





7.There's More to Life Than Work

Before we left, we had very traditional views about work. I was a high school teacher and extracurricular club advisor to four large-scale clubs; my husband was (and still is) an accountant. We often worked a more than 40 hours a week. I spent each summer as an aquatics director at a day camp as well as teaching private swimming lessons after hours. We were lucky to go on holidays over many school breaks, but timing was limited and the cost exuberant. Since the honeymoon, though, we've ditched the traditional, incorporated travel into our way of life, and welcomed the idea of working to live instead of living to work. Sure, there's change involvedfinancial, geographic, and emotionalbut we decided to prioritize our quality of life as opposed to waiting for weekends and constantly yearning for much-needed holiday breaks. We've crafted an outdoor lifestyle 365 days a year that allows us to look forward to coming home as much as we do to heading out. Stacey Ebert





This article was originally published in Together, a magazine and podcast about relationships. To listen to their podcast, visit www.together.guide.




Let's catch up.

California Drought Virtually Over After Five Years, SFist

Though a few parts of Southern California remain in a state of "moderate" or "severe" drought, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday that the vast majority of the state has now emerged from what had been "extreme" and "exceptional" drought conditions just a few months ago. As the Sacramento Bee reports, Northern California is officially drought-free, but the drought is not officially officially done until Governor Jerry Brown rescinds his drought emergency declaration from 2014. Also, the State Water Resources Control Board just voted two weeks ago to extend the statewide emergency water controls for another nine months, despite the epic rains and floods of the past two months. Read more.





Snap's Video-Recording Spectacles Now Available Online, Ozy

Seeing is believing  and potentially very invasive. Social media behemoth Snapchat has begun selling their wearable tech  colorful circular-video-recording Spectacles  for $130 online, in a bid to show their worth in the open marketplace to future IPO investors. The glasses were previously only available at surprise pop-up Snapbot vending machines in the U.S. While Snap defends the slow rollout, it likely wasn't a sustainable long-term strategy  especially as the camera sunglasses, like the rest of Snapchat, aren't yet very profitable. Read more.





JAY Z Considering Launching His Own Seed-Stage Investment Firm, BisNow



Rapper and businessman Jay Z and his company, Roc Nation, may form a seed-stage investment firm with San Francisco-based Sherpa Capital. Jay Z, best known as pop star Beyonce's husband, previously participated in Uber's Series C financing in 2013, reports the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Although Jay Z, Roc Nation president Jay Brown and Sherpa Capital are exploring the idea, this would likely not be a Sherpa-branded endeavor. Jay Z has previously invested in JetSmarter, Away and Julep and owns a stake in music-streaming service Tidal. He is estimated to be worth $610M. Read more.











California Pay Gap for Women Grows to Widest in More than a Decade, San Francisco Business Times

Women in California are falling behind in pay equality, despite the uptick in conversation about the issue on both a state and national level.

New numbers out from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that women's weekly earnings in the Golden State in 2015 averaged 15 percent below their male counterparts. California women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $775, compared to the $914 median usual weekly earnings for men. Women made up 42.3 percent of the 12.6 million employed in California in 2015.Read more.





Big Newspapers Are Booming: 'Washington Post' To Add 60 Newsroom Jobs, NPR

The Washington Post expects to hire more than 60 journalists in the coming months  a sign of remarkable growth for a newspaper in the digital age.

After a year of record traffic and digital advertising revenue, the Post newsroom will grow by more than 8 percent, to more than 750 people. The extent of the newsroom expansion was first reported by Politico. The Post will add a "rapid-response" investigative team, expand its video journalism and breaking news staff, and make additional investments in podcasts and photography. Read more.





San Leandro Declares Itself a Sanctuary City, ABC 7

In San Leandro, the City Council listened to more than 50 public comments Tuesday night from citizens asking them to declare it a sanctuary city. The council unanimously voted to make their city a sanctuary. Read more.


2. Know the don'ts

When you first sign up, most dating services will go through the basics of scam avoidance: Don't share personal information such as your address or date of birth, be vigilant about users who ask you to leave the site and use personal email addresses, and never send money  especially overseas. University of Leicester psychologist Monica Whitty emphasizes a more fundamental rule: "If they're not prepared to meet in person within one month, walk away."

3. Be your own detective

While FTC fraud expert Steven Baker acknowledges the dating industry's fraud control efforts, "we'd like them to do more," he says. He wants the services to be more proactive about contacting likely victims: After a user has been flagged as a potential scammer, the site could reach out to any members that user had contacted, disrupting the con at its infancy. Industry critics cite other methods to weed out fraudsters, such as screening for images or text repeated in multiple profiles or blocking accounts from IP addresses that don't match the profile's listed location. Since the dating service might not be doing that for you, do it yourself: Run image searches of profile photos at images.google.com or TinEye.com, and paste suspicious text into search engines to see if it's been used elsewhere.

4. Protect your face

The other victims of romance scams: men and women whose images have been stolen to create fake profiles. "Anyone who has images posted anywhere on the Internet can be a photo victim," says Barbara Sluppick of Romancescams.org. Some oft-used images might be linked to hundreds of scam attempts. To entice women, scammers often use photos of men in the military, while attractive young women, particularly models and adult-film personalities, are used to attract men. Model Yuliana Avalos and actress Melissa Harrington were associated with a $1.5 billion lawsuit against Match.com over the thousands of fake profiles with their photos that appear on the site; the suit was dismissed in 2014.

5. Report it

If you encounter a scammer, immediately report the user to both the dating service and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Doug Shadel is a former fraud investigator and the head of AARP's Fraud Watch Network. David Dudley is a features editor at AARP The Magazine.

This article originally appeared in the June/July 2015 issue of AARP The Magazine.
Our website uses cookies which are necessary for running the website and for providing the services you request. We would also like to set the following optional cookies on your device. You can change these settings any time later by clicking "Change cookie settings" at the bottom of any page. For more information, please read our Cookie Information.

Please select the optional cookies we can set on your device:
Appy is here to disrupt the business software industry, giving lifetime access to a complete business software suite. The software is focused in startups and small businesses. Industry experts are saying that, Appy is the next SAP for every micro and small business of the world.

NEW YORK  February 24, 2017  Today Appy launched a crowdfunding campaign to disrupt the business software industry, giving lifetime access to a complete business software suite. The software is focused in startups and small businesses.

According to the Appy team, The Impact of the Appy start-up software will truly help save new businesses thousands of dollars. Entrepreneurs will no longer need to buy random, overlapping software from scratch to efficiently evolve their start-ups. Instead Appy provides one ready-made software system especially developed for new and small businesses. Appy is the sort of software package that comes along only once in a decade. What we want to do is cut software out of the equation when start-up companies are figuring out their budgets, giving the most innovative companies more leeway as they plan for their first year of business and beyond. If we do this right, millions of lives around the world could be improved as a result of the entrepreneurship we foster. Crowd funding will accelerate Appys availability to all.

Industry experts are saying that, Appy is the next SAP for every micro and small business of the world. The application tracks all business activity, including inventory, sales orders, CRM, eCommerce, payments, quotes, overhead and much more. Appy software is easy to uIse, multi-language and multiplatform-friendly.

The Appy Crowdfunding campaign will help entrepreneurs face a unique set of challenges. The Appy CEO, Esteban Chaves knows that, Locking in enough operating capital is critical. Businesses need funds to ramp up, and keep the doors open. The vast majority of start-ups never make it past their first year of business, which is bad news for everyone, from the investors to the customers who could have benefitted from whatever product the start-up was offering. Today businesses are global and Appy knows it. According to Esteban, Appy is the result of the joint work of professionals from different parts of the world. We have worked with people from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Australia, France, South Africa, Nigeria, India, Bangladesh and more. This campaign will fund the final development stages of its cost-effective, integrated organizational software for start-ups. Appy is reaching out to investors who believe in and support the initiative and spirit of businesses that want to bring products to market without the burden of having to buy expensive software. For more information, visit APPY and our campaign Video. Download APPY PRESSKIT

Media Contact

Company Name: Appy LLC

Contact Person: Esteban Chaves

Email: esteban@appy.la

Phone: +13056004849

City: Wilmington

State: Delaware

Country: United States

Website: appy.la
Ticket Down is a reputable source of Korn tickets for their 2017 tour  add promo code KORN2017

Ticket Down has cheap Korn lawn seats, pit seats, GA and more at: Xfinity Center, DTE Energy Music Theatre, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Riverbend Music Center, PNC Bank Arts Center, Budweiser Stage and BB&T Pavilion. Add promo code KORN2017 for added savings.

Ticket Down is a reputable source of authentic Korn tickets for their newly announced 2017 tour. This tour is in support of their most recent album, The Serenity of Suffering. Stone Sour will be their supporting band and their frontman, Corey Taylor, collaborated with the band on A Different World from The Serenity of Suffering. Corey Taylor is also the frontman from Slipknot which Korn has toured with previously.

Korn will also be headlining in Chicago, Illinois at the Chicago Open Air Festival which occurs between July 15th  July 17th. This festival also features Ozzy Osbourne and KISS.

Korns 2017 concert tour kicks off June 22nd at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA and currently will culminate at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati on August 1st.

Korn & Stone Sour 2017 tour dates:

6/22  Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre

7/20  Boston, MA @ Xfinity Center

7/25  Toronto, ONT, Canada @ Budweiser Stage

7/26  Philadelphia, PA @ BB&T Pavilion & Festival Pier

7/27  Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Pavilion

7/30  Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre

8/01  Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center

About TicketDown.com:

Ticket Down delivers tickets to sold out concerts and events worldwide when no one else can, and they do so at discounted prices. This popular ticket exchange also has Korn tickets for all budgets and seating preferences. Find Korn lawn seats, pit seats, front row seats, general admission (GA), parking passes and more. Add promo/coupon code KORN2017 for added savings on any ticket order.

Note: Ticket Down is not associated with any of the artists or venues mentioned in this release. The names that are used in this release are purely for descriptive purposes. We are not affiliated with or do we endorse any artists or venues in this release. Ticket Down and JP Media, LLC are not responsible for any errors or omissions in this release.

Media Contact

Company Name: JP Media

Contact Person: Ticket Down

Email: contact@ticketdown.com

Phone: 1-877-870-3653

Country: United States

Website: www.ticketdown.com
Perth and Toronto-based Lepidico (ASX:LPD) is a lithium development company which owns and operates the Karibib Lithium Project (KLP) in Namibia. Lepidico Ltd is focussed on exploration, development and production of lithium chemicals, principally lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide as well as saleable by-products. Lepidico owns the L-Max(R) Process technology which is a metallurgical solution for lithium carbonate production from mica ores. More recently Lepidico has added LOH-Max(TM) to its technology base, which produces lithium hydroxide and importantly without without by-product sodium sulphate. The Company is currently conducting a Feasibility Study for a 5,000 tonne per annum (LCE) capacity Phase 1 lithium chemical plant, targeting commercial production for 2021. Feed to the Phase 1 Plant is planned to be sourced from the Karibib Lithium Project in Namibia, 80% owned by Lepidico and/or the Alvarroes Lepidolite Mine in Portugal under an ore access agreement with owner- operator Grupo Mota.

Phase 2 L-Max(R) Plant Scoping Study

Further desktop work is planned to be undertaken in the second half of 2019 with the objective of developing scoping study level capital and operating cost figures for a hybrid LOH-MaxTM-L-Max(R) plant, with configurations ranging from 10,000tpa to 20,000tpa lithium hydroxide.

The Company's shares are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and also in Germany on the Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Xetra and Tradegate stock exchanges.


Announces Group Oil & Gas Reserves as of 1 Jan 2017

Sydney, Feb 24, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Petsec Energy ( ASX:PSA ) ( PSJEY:OTCMKTS ) (the "Company") is pleased to release its independently assessed reserve estimates at the 1 January 2017.



The remaining net proved and probable (2P) reserves held by the Company in the USA were estimated by reserve auditors Cawley, Gillespie & Associates, to be approximately 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent at the 1st of January 2017 with a net present value of US$25 million at an annual discount rate of 10% (NPV10). The NPV10 was calculated using the forward swap prices that were in effect on 31 December 2016.



The estimated 2P reserves held by the Company in the An Nagyah Oilfield in Yemen, the only developed field out of the six oil and gas fields held in Yemen, were estimated by reserve auditors DeGolyer McNaughton, at 1 January 2016 to be 5.6 MMbbl of oil with an approximate NPV10 of US$155 million as reported to the ASX on 15 March 2016.



On a combined basis, the Company's independently estimated proved (1P) oil and gas reserves net to its economic interest as of 1 January 2017 were 12.7 Bcf of gas and 5,185.8 Mbbl of oil/condensate (equivalent to 7,294.1 Mboe). The estimated 2P reserves net to the Company's economic interest were 18.6 Bcf of gas and 6,414.4 Mbbl of oil/condensate (equivalent to 9,519.8 Mboe).



The table (see the link below) is a summary of the independently assessed reserve estimates and movements.



Key Changes in USA Oil and Gas Reserves



The key change in the USA oil and gas proven reserves estimates as of 1 January 2017 was a 710 Mboe or 34% increase. After production for the year of approximately 52 Mboe (equivalent to 313 MMcfe) remaining proven reserves are 2,754 Mboe.



The estimated remaining proven and probable reserves are 3,872 Mboe after the production of 52 Mboe and a net reserve addition of 250 Mboe. The net reserve increase reflects the addition of reserves in the Main Pass 270 No. 3, Hummer discovery well offset by the downward revision of reserves in the Mystic Bayou Field based on well performance.



USA Reserves: Estimated "Recoverable Amount"



The estimated "Recoverable Amount" of the remaining USA 1P and 2P reserves (i.e. net present value at an annual discount rate of 10%) were independently assessed to be US$21.9 million and US$25 million, respectively, using the forward swap prices that were in effect on 31 December 2016 as shown below:



Henry Hub Gas WTI Oil (US$/MMBtu) (US$/bbl) 2017 $3.63 $55.86 2018 $3.14 $56.59 2019 $2.87 $56.10 2020 $2.88 $56.05 2021 and thereafter $2.90 $56.21

USA Reserves: Qualified Petroleum Reserves and Resources Evaluator



In accordance with ASX Listing Rule 5.42, the USA reserve estimates in this report are based on, and fairly represent, information and supporting documentation prepared by, or under the supervision of, qualified petroleum reserves and resources evaluator Ms. Kellie Jordan, an employee of Cawley, Gillespie & Associates and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. The President of Cawley, Gillespie & Associates, Mr W. Todd Brooker, has consented in writing to the form and context in which the reserve estimates are presented in this report.



The net reserves have been estimated using a deterministic method. Liquid hydrocarbons are expressed in standard 42 gallon barrels. All gas volumes are reported on an "as sold" basis expressed in millions of cubic feet (MMCF) at the official temperature and pressure bases of the areas in which the gas reserves are located. The net proved and probable (2P) reserves are the summation of the net proved (1P) reserves and net probable reserves.



The methodology for the determination of "Recoverable Amount" for the estimated reserves is consistent with that disclosed in the section on "Recoverable Amount" in the Company's 2015 Annual Report released to the market on 18th April 2016. This section covers reserves estimates, material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the "Recoverable Amount" of the 2015 Annual Report, and that all the material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates therein continue to apply and have not materially changed.



To ensure accuracy and compliance of reserves estimations, the Company has put in place a robust process which incorporates the following governance arrangements and internal controls:



- At least once a year, as part of the year-end reporting procedures, the Company's oil and gas reserves are to be reviewed by an external, independent expert. The externally verified reserves are to be used as the basis for depreciation, depletion and amortisation calculations.



- All releases or reports containing statements of reserves are to be in accordance with ASX listing rules, requiring sign-off for content and context by an appropriately qualified person and in accordance with the Company's Reserves Policy.



To view tables and figures, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/R803ZZ34





About Petsec Energy Ltd





Petsec Energy Ltd (ASX:PSA) (OTCMKTS:PSJEY) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. It has operations in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and state waters of the Louisiana Gulf Coast region of the USA, and exploration activities in the Gulf Coast onshore and bay areas of Texas and Louisiana, USA and Yemen.
Cope North 17

Aircraft from the United States, Japanese and Australian air forces fly in formation during exercise Cope North 2017 off the coast of Guam, Feb. 21, 2017. The exercise includes 22 total flying units and more than 2,700 personnel from three countries and continues the growth of strong, interoperable relationships within the Indo-Asia Pacific Region through integration of airborne and land-based command and control assets. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Aaron Richardson)
AF to retire MQ-1, transition to MQ-9

For the past 21 years, the Air Force has flown the MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft in combat, and for the last 10, the MQ-9 Reaper. Combined with a skilled aircrew, these aircraft provide consistent support in daily engagements making an impact downrange.



While the MQ-1 has provided many years of service, the time has come for the Air Force to fly the more capable MQ-9 exclusively, and retire the MQ-1 in early 2018 to keep up with the continuously evolving battlespace environment.



The MQ-9 is better equipped than the MQ-1 due to its increased speed, high-definition sensors and the ability to carry more munitions. These combat attributes allow the MQ-9 to complete a wider array of mission sets, which can help the Air Force stay prepared in the fight.



"When you ask about readiness, you have to ask ready for what?" said Col. Joseph, 432nd Operations Group commander. "If we talk about the things we could be ready for and what we should be asking our attack squadrons to do, then transitioning to an all MQ-9 force is imperative for readiness."



Current areas of responsibility call upon combat RPAs for more precise close air support engagements from the attack squadrons, a considerable change from the days when RPAs were used solely for intelligence gathering and real-time reconnaissance.



"The reason that the MQ-9 has turned into a CAS platform, and this is the key point, is the fusion of two things," he said. "The first thing is the technology. We took an airplane and outfitted it with more raw power and capability, but then we did the other half and matted that technology with a professional aircrew."



Joseph also explained a third item, which is the trust developed with combatant commanders and troops on the ground. This confidence, combined with an ever-changing battlefield, spawned increased demand and desire for more combat RPA support.



While the MQ-1 and the crews who flew them proved their weapons proficiency, it was never originally designed to carry weapons, resulting in a limited 200-pound payload. The demand for more attack capabilities exceeded the MQ-1s design.



"In the case of the MQ-1, I think we wanted more out of it, but we were at a physical stop on the airplane and needed a new one," Joseph said.



The fresh MQ-9 design picked up where the MQ-1 left off, boasting a nearly 4,000-pound payload and the ability to carry missiles and bombs.



These upgraded capabilities directly impact combat readiness and transitioning to just the MQ-9 will also help the aircrews stay primed and ready to go.



"Having a single aircraft buys more flexibility, simplifies training and logistics and gives our people more [career progression] opportunities," Joseph said. "I can't move my people in between squadrons without paying the penalty of having to train them on another aircraft



The Air Force will no longer have to maintain a training pipeline or equipment on two separate aircraft, which also eliminates the cost of operating two different airframes. Instead, everything will be specific to the MQ-9.

Currently, the 20th Attack Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, is making the conversion from MQ-1 to MQ-9.

"Right now the plan is to stop flying the MQ-1 in 2018, and that means we need to get transitioned this year," said Lt. Col. James, 20th Attack Squadron commander. "As part of that we are going to stop flying the MQ-1 completely by July 1, 2017. We will gradually stand up our number of combat lines on the MQ-9, so by the end of the year we are only an MQ-9 squadron."

What is unique for James' squadron is some 20th ATKS aircrews are training on the MQ-9 for two to three months, while home station crews are still flying the MQ-1 in daily combat missions overseas.

"For the better part of the last few months I've had upwards of 30 percent of my squadron gone at any time," James said. "It's been quite a challenge, but the motivation is very high to transition to this more capable airframe, and my squadron is excited to take it to combat."

"We're converting an MQ-1 squadron in combat 24/7/365 to an MQ-9 squadron in combat operations without taking a single day out of combat," Joseph said. "The herculean efforts done by the 20th ATKS is nothing short of remarkable."

The 20th ATKS and every unit which flew the MQ-1 achieved significant combat zone effects daily while laying the foundation for future combat RPAs.



"I think when we look at the legacy of the MQ-1 we're going to be scratching our heads wondering how we did so much with so little," Joseph said. "The men and women flying them starting with two squadrons took a science project and throughout many evolutionary changes made it what it is today."



The MQ-1 began as the RQ-1 Predator, an unarmed RPA flown by line-of-sight. Some changes include the adding of the Multi-Spectral Targeting system, the addition of weapons and remote-split operations capability.



"The MQ-1 is a great example where the Air Force took a technology demonstrator and turned it into a major weapons system having daily effects on the battlefield," James said. "We have found how to fly an imperfect weapons system very well, and I think we have maximized the effectiveness that we can get out of the MQ-1. I have no doubt that we will continue to find ways to be more effective in combat with the MQ-9."



James also said the desire for the real-time reconnaissance and persistent strike capabilities that combat RPA aircrew provide to the combatant commanders would never stop.



"We're hitting a home run by going to the MQ-9," James said. "We have made a difference."



(Editors note: The last names of certain individuals in this story have been removed for security reasons.)


AFIMSC civilian honored for heroism

Theres no way anyone could have survived, Greg Gangnuss thought as he pushed through a whirlwind of dust, smoke and debris toward the hazy silhouette of a mangled helicopter.



A hand reached out from a small window under the helicopters rotor shaft  the first sign of life. Gangnuss climbed atop the downed Royal Air Force Puma MK2, removed the door and began clearing a path into the collapsed passenger compartment. He spent nearly the next two hours on his stomach, working in thick smoke, dust and leaking fuel, carefully extracting survivors and the deceased from the wreckage.



Gangnuss, a civilian member of the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, was on a voluntary deployment to Afghanistan as a senior environmental advisor for the Ministry of Defense Advisor Program when a helicopter carrying nine coalition members crashed after striking a cable while landing at the NATO Resolute Support Mission headquarters in Kabul Oct. 11, 2015, killing five people on board.



Gangnuss and Army Maj. Reuben Trant were two buildings away when they heard the crash. Trant grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed outside.



You couldnt see the helicopter through all the smoke and dust, Trant said.



As the dust cleared, he saw the helicopter lying on its right side in a pool of fuel and Gangnuss was already inside.



Greg ran in there before he could fully see what he was running into, Trant said. There wasnt time for shock or an emotional response. We knew the helicopter was carrying coalition forces and they needed our help.



Gangnuss vividly recalls the second person he helped free from the wreckage, Air Force Col. Laurel Burkel.



When we first opened the door, all we could see were boots sticking out, Gangnuss said. The medic was taking toe pulses as we worked to free them. When we pulled her out, I saw she was an American colonel and I thought, This is one of ours.



Rescue efforts continued as darkness fell. Trant held a portable light so Gangnuss and others could see within the cabin.



Ninety-eight minutes after impact, Gangnuss emerged from the wreckage with the final casualty. Soaked in fuel, sweat and blood, Trant and Gangnuss walked back to their building where they cleaned up. They didnt find out how many people had lived or died until several days later.



Burkel, one of four survivors, has no memory of the crash.



My last real memory is a sensation of the helicopter tumbling forward, and then a general dream-like feeling of chaos, confusion and yelling before I came to in a (hospital) bed, Burkel said.



She suffered a broken axis, her second cervical neck vertebra, an often deadly injury referred to as a hangmans fracture. In Burkels case her injuries nearly caused an internal decapitation.



By all accounts, I should not be alive today, Burkel said. It was remarkable anyone survived the crash. The fact that four of us survived is in no small part thanks to Greg and all the other first responders who put their lives on the line.



One day after the crash, Burkel walked without assistance to the aircraft that flew her from Bagram Airfield to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany where she underwent surgery to install a spine-stabilizing halo, remove a damaged disc and install a synthetic bone plug. She spent the next few months of her recovery in Germany and wore the halo for three months followed by a soft collar. She was in her flight suit and back at work by mid-February, 2016.



My approach to recovery and moving on was to honor, celebrate and respect the efforts of Greg and everyone else, as well (as) to honor and celebrate my two folks and the others who were lost, she said.



Now Burkel is the Air Mobility Command fuel efficiency division chief, and has met a handful of the people who pulled her to safety and tended to her that day. She hopes to one day meet Gangnuss, too.



There was a good three to four inches of jet fuel. The whole thing could have blown up, Burkel said. How powerful is (it) to meet the people who saved your life? How powerful is it for them to meet you?



Gangnuss returned to his Air Force Civil Engineer Center Base Realignment and Closure program management work at Joint Base San Antonio in May, 2016. AFCEC is a unit that falls under AFIMSC.



On Feb. 22, the Air Force recognized his heroism when Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, the commander of Air Force Materiel Command, AFIMSCs parent command, presented him with the Air Force Civilian Award for Valor. The award is reserved for heroism and courage exhibited by individuals who voluntarily risk personal safety beyond the call of duty.



This is an amazing story about one of our Airmen, Pawlikowski said to the audience during a Joint Base San Antonio commanders call attended by about 500 AFMC members assigned here.



We deploy civilian Airmen and all civilian Airmen who deploy do it voluntarily. But we don't ask you to go into (crashed) helicopters and pull people out while you're there, but you do it anyway, dont you? Because we're all Airmen, the general said to Gangnuss before the medal-pinning ceremony at the end of the call.



Those who served alongside Gangnuss in Afghanistan are pleased to see him recognized for his bravery.



Greg is one of those American heroes I always wanted by my side when we performed our mission, said Army Col. Thomas Tickner, the former director of Combined Security Transition CommandAfghanistan Combined Joint Engineering. Its no surprise Greg was one of the first responders to the crash and stayed throughout the rescue effort even though he was at risk himself.



I am extremely proud to have served with Greg, said Col. Adrian Crowley, the Ministry of Defense branch chief at CSTC-A. It wasn't until after I knew him a month that I heard rumors about his heroics. Greg was very passionate about his job and helping his fellow coalition team members.



Gangnuss attributes his actions that day to compassion.



I didnt know if anyone could be saved, but I knew fellow human beings were in need of assistance and comfort, he said.
Analyst turned Chaplain committed to providing spiritual resiliency

When the search for a new chaplain began at the 363rd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing, who could have imagined an ISR analyst would be selected to fill those empty shoes?



Chaplain (Maj.) W. James Jim Bridgham said he can see that his ISR career prepared him for this assignment.



I understand the stress of shift work and the challenge of warfighting during the day and then going home to family, he said.



It can be difficult to compartmentalize that stress. It is not the same as downrange, where we have opportunities to process challenges after a shift with colleagues, he said. We try to live in our minds and compartmentalize our life. Work life stays at work and home life (stays) at home. That can be hard.



Sometimes ISR Airmen deal with issues in their mind, Bridgham said. They might ask themselves, Did I make the right decision?



Bridgham finds that if he can connect with people on their level, then he can help them sort through their problems better, building better resiliency.



Resiliency is the ability to recover readily from stress, illness, depression, adversity or the like.



"I genuinely care for the people I interact with. What I do is who I am," Bridgham said. "I love hearing Airmens stories and helping them connect the pieces so they can see when they've had a rough patch, and that its just part of a great story they're writing.



To help the ISR Airmen Bridgham now supports, he started implementing spiritual meditation and religious programs to help increase performance in every area of an Airmans life.



Every Tuesday, we have a brown bag lunch workshop where Airmen can learn specific tools benchmarked in industry, Bridgham said. They can start processing the challenges they are going through immediately.



I spend a lot of time talking to folks using the tactics and techniques of the top performers, to help them increase their performance in every part of their life, he said.



Bridgham also believes connected people are more resilient than isolated people.



Airmen should strive to become a part of a community, Bridgham said. This can be the ISR community, a spiritual community or any other group of people who support each other.



Bridgham reminds Airmen that chaplains are available for anyone who needs to talk. He encourages Airmen to contact an Air Force chaplain in their time of need, but also to build resiliency for the future.



From the start of my Air Force career, I felt called to be a chaplain, Bridgham said. That has always been my ultimate goal.



Throughout college, Bridgham led Bible studies and worked at a church. He attended the University of Tampa on a Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship, and after graduation he was commissioned as an active-duty Air Force intelligence officer.



In 2006, after three years in ISR, Bridgham decided to attend seminary and became a chaplain candidate. Once he completed seminary, Bridgham led Airmen spiritually at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado, while also continuing his ISR career at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in Virginia.



I was an NGA civilian and went on three deployments in my seven years with the agency, Bridgham said. Then, the Air Force called asking me to come to active duty as a chaplain. Orders were issued, and I was to report in two weeks to the 363rd ISR Wing.



Bridgham said the position at the 363rd ISR Wing was the opportunity he had been waiting for; a chance to be a wingman full time.



The wingman idea is central to Air Force culture, Bridgham said. Wingmen take care of wingmen, and spirituality can be a part of that. I think spirituality can bring value professionally and otherwise. It can make a difference.
U.S, Japan, Australia airmen improve aeromedical evacuation integration

Airmen from the 18th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron conducted trilateral training with members of the Royal Australian Air Force and Japan Air Self-Defense Force Feb. 21, 2017, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, during annual exercise Cope North.



The training was held to elevate the aeromedical evacuation mission through combining each nations equipment, personnel and aircraft. Each day entailed a different medical scenario requiring the transportation of simulated patients to higher medical care through fixed-wing movement.



Capt. Warren Carter, 18th AES flight evaluator from Kadena Air Base, Japan, said this years iteration of Cope North resulted in significant improvements toward understanding how each air force operates and how their training has taken trilateral integration to a new level within the aeromedical evacuation community.



Populations throughout the Indo-Asia Pacific are susceptible to a number of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons, which can affect the masses with very little warning. With a heightened level of risk throughout the region, it is critically important for militaries to have the means to provide aeromedical evacuation capabilities for those in need, to include neighboring countries.



While each participating air force is solely capable of providing humanitarian assistance with their own resources, AE units can help more people when they are working together. With this in mind, the training pushed airmen to adapt and become more flexible while working with their counterparts and their foreign platforms.



As a means for the airmen to observe and familiarize themselves with each others equipment and procedures, the airmen practiced their life-saving skills aboard a separate C-130 aircraft each day  one belonging to each nation.



Working side-by-side on each others aircraft demonstrated the AE airmens potential to serve together in the event of a real-world crisis.

The partnered airmen also practiced transporting patients on a U.S. Air Force C-12 Huron, a smaller airframe with a more versatile set of AE capabilities, said Staff Sgt. Robert Grimes, 18th AES mission clinical coordinator and AE technician.



Whereas the larger fuselage of a C-130 has more space for teams to separately load specific medical systems, many medical capabilities came pre-built into the Huron, enabling teams to reduce prep time and quickly load patients.



"We're showing everyone our aircraft so they can see how we operate inside it and give them an idea if they would like to use that type of aircraft in the future, Grimes said. They were very open to learning about it and were asking a lot of questions.



Exercise Cope North is a long-standing exercise designed to enhance multilateral air operations between the partnered militaries, bringing together more than 2,700 U.S. Airmen, Sailors and Marines who are training alongside approximately 600 combined JASDF and RAAF participants.



The 18th AES maintains a forward presence and supports the largest area of operation of medical contingencies in the Pacific, reaching from the Horn of Africa to Alaska. Through multinational exercises such as Cope North, allied units are able to learn from each other, share assets and potentially save more lives.



It was a great exercise, Carter said. Not only did we have the capability to do our interoperability training, but we also built some good friendships and partnerships. This is just the start of greater things to happen; not only in the exercise but actually in real-world missions in the very near future.


Chavan has imposed a condition that Congress will extend support to Sena if the latter sever ties with BJP in the state.

Even though Shiv Sena and BJP have come up with a better performance in the recently concluded BMC polls none of the party has mandate to run the civic body. Right now various permutations and combinations are being worked out by both Sena and BJP to arrive at the magic figure of 114 required for ruling BMC. On the other hand, MPCC president Ashok Chavan and Congress legislator Abdul Sattar has hinted about offering support to Sena. Congress is closely watching the developments in the aftermath of BMC polls and might offer an olive branch to Sena to keep BJP out of power. The party which has hit an all-time low after losing assembly is trying to revive itself by aligning with Sena. Since BJP is strengthening its foothold in the state Congress might offer support to Sena to keep a check on the saffron partys growth.

If Sena aligns with BJP then it may try to call the shots in BMC which is not acceptable to the former. Therefore, Uddhav Thackeray led party might go for a tie up with Congress, NCP or other smaller parties.

Ashok Chavan said, Even though, we have ideological differences with Shiv Sena but we may extend support to them. We are keenly watching the political situation right now. We are exploring all possibilities at this moment. We will discuss this matter and take a decision in the interest of the party. Before offering supporting Sena we would like to know whether they will sever ties with BJP in the state.

Congress legislator Abdul Sattar said, The party will take a call on extending support after it receives a formal offer from Shiv Sena. Our main rival is BJP and therefore the Congress partys state unit will submit a formal proposal to the high command on supporting Shiv Sena not only in BMC, but in other civic and local bodies across Maharashtra as well.

Senior Congress leader Narayan Rane said, The Congress high command will take a decision pertaining to offering support to Sena. I am unaware about what message senior leaderships have sent across Ashok Chavan. Sena is not our enemy and we have to keep all options open.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray refused to comment about the strategy to be adopted by his party to retain power in BMC. We are celebrating and have not taken any decision about having alliance with any party. Right now discussions are being held and final decision will be taken later.

On the other hand, political analysts say there are slim chances of Congress supporting Sena. If the party extends support to Sena then it will have an adverse impact on the partys electoral prospects in Uttar Pradesh where it has a tie up Samajwadi Party. Also if Sena and Congress come together it will send a wrong message to voters, said a political analyst on the condition of anonymity.

The BMC has a total budget 37,000 crore, of which 22,000 are spend on administrative expenses and salaries of 1.25 lakh employees. The remaining 15,000 crore is yearly spent on roads, sewage, hospital and other civic amenities.
A senior IAS officer and Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) chairman Sudhir Kumar was on Friday arrested along with his brother and two more relatives in connection with the BSSC examination question paper leak case. The Bihar branch of the IAS Officers Association has expressed anger and anguish over the development.

The IAS association met the Chief Secretary, sought the release of arrested chairman and also demanded a CBI enquiry.

Kumar, who is a 1987 batch IAS officer was apprehended from Hazaribagh along with four other family members. After the question paper of the exams being conducted by BSSC for post of clerks in Bihar government were leaked earlier this month and was available on social media even before the exam began, the multi-crore job scam was unearthed following which several arrests have taken place in this case including the secretary of BSSC, Parmeshwar Ram.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police was interrogating Kumar and he would be brought to the Bihar capital later on Friday, an official at the state police headquarters said.

Kumar was absconding since February 10, after the leak surfaced. Following this, the exam which was conducted in two parts on February 5 and 8 was cancelled.

The examination is conducted for appointment of clerks in the state government.

The examination is conducted for appointment of assistants in the state governments secretariat. The first phase of examination was held on January 29 this year, while the examination in the second phase was conducted on February 5. Though question papers were leaked on January 29 also, the leak became widespread on February 5 after question papers along with answers became viral on WhatsApp, as soon as the examination began at 11 am on February 5.

According to police officials associated with the SIT, Kumars role in the leak was under probe and he was arrested following concrete evidence of his involvement.

Following the arrest, an emergency meeting of Bihar IAS officials was held here, which was attended by dozens of bureaucrats.

The SIT has also arrested the owner of a printing press in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, where the BSSC question papers were printed.

During the interrogation of the owner, it was established that the papers were leaked from there ahead of the examinations, another police official said.
A Philippine senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs was in police custody on Friday following her high-profile arrest for drugs offences that she described as a vendetta that would fail to silence her.

Leila de Lima, who last year led a Senate probe into alleged extrajudicial killings during Dutertes anti-drugs campaign, said the arrest was payback for taking on a president who had acted like a dictator. On Tuesday she called Duterte a sociopathic serial killer who had a criminal mind.

The truth will come out at the right time, de Lima told reporters outside the Senate office where she spent the night, moments before law enforcers marshalled her into a waiting van. De Lima, her former driver and bodyguard and a former prison official were ordered arrested after a judge found merit in criminal charges filed by the justice ministry last week.

She faces two more drug-related charges in the same court and described the cases as all lies. Bail is not permitted under the charges and if found guilty, de Lima faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a close ally of Duterte, described her arrest as a victory of the war against drugs, adding no one is above the law, not even a senator. But de Limas supporters quickly came to her defence, with Vice President Leni Robredo describing the arrest as political harassment.

Senator Paulo Benigno Aquino, a cousin of former president Benigno Aquino, called it a concern for anyone who will dissent on any of the policies of this administration. The criminal complaint alleged de Lima received 5 million pesos ($99,850) from a former prison official when she was justice minister between 2010 and 2016.

The allegations she was in cahoots with drugs gangs surfaced when she led a Senate investigation, which probed alleged summary executions during Dutertes bloody drugs war and a pattern of similar killings over the 22 years in which he was mayor of Davao City.

That investigation found no proof of wrongdoing by Duterte, who disparaged de Lima almost daily in televised speeches in which he made lurid allegations about her private life and even suggested she hang herself. She filed a complaint with Supreme Court to try to muzzle the president.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. High 78F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.
It is very troubling that Azerbaijani authorities have initiated criminal proceedings against MEPs who were in Nagorno Karabakh as referendum observers, MEP Soraya Post said in an interview with Armenpress.

February 24, 2017, 09:33 This is not how mature countries conduct their business  MEP Soraya Post concerned over Azerbaijans behavior towards her colleagues
February 22, 2017

CAIRO  Despite the strain in Egyptian-Saudi ties since last October, on Jan. 26, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi approved King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud 's $1.5 billion development plan for the Sinai Peninsula. On Jan. 21, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed quoted an Egyptian diplomatic source as saying that Egypt asked Saudi diplomats to mediate to end Sudanese demands for direct talks on the annexation of the disputed Halayeb and Shalateen areas.

The Egyptian-Saudi tension ramped up Oct. 9 after Egypt voted at the UN Security Council in favor of a Russian draft resolution to end the war in Syria, and Saudi Arabia's permanent representative to the UN Abdullah al-Mouallimi expressed resentment. Matters escalated Oct. 10 as Saudi Aramco informed the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation that oil shipments to Egypt were suspended. Aramco told Egypt Nov. 8 that the halt was indefinite, which observers perceived as a Saudi sanction on Egypt for its vote.

On Jan. 16, the Supreme Administrative Court invalidated the maritime border demarcation agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, denying Saudi Arabia sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the Red Sea.

Signs of a breakthrough appeared in January, with Sisi signing an agreement for a $1.5 billion loan from Saudi Arabia to fund development projects in Sinai. The agreement is known as Salman's development plan for Sinai, the most prominent of which is the establishment of King Salman University.

The memorandum of understanding concerning the Sinai development, among others such as the maritime border demarcation agreement and the Aramco oil products supply deal, had been signed on April 9, 2016, during the Saudi monarchs visit to Egypt.

Mohammed Saeed Idris, the head of the Arab and regional studies unit at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor, Egyptian-Saudi relations are not limited to just political tension regarding the situation in Syria, such as when Egypt voted in favor of the Russian draft resolution, or regarding the border demarcation agreement or the oil import and export agreement. The two countries have many issues and goals in common.

He added, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are the two largest and most key actors for Middle East stability. The past few years have probably revealed how dangerous the situation in Sinai is and how important development projects are in countering terrorism in the arid area. Despite their differences on the Syrian and border demarcation issues, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are well-aware of how dangerous terrorism is. I believe that the development project is a part of these countries efforts to combat terrorism in all areas, most notably in Sinai, because of the danger of terrorism to the entire Arab region.

But what about the Halayeb and Shalateen areas? On Jan. 17, the Sudan News Agency quoted a Sudanese diplomatic source that it did not name as saying that his government had renewed demands to restore the Halayeb and Shalateen triangle at the UN Security Council. The statement came the day after the maritime border demarcation agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia was invalidated.

The Egyptian Foreign Affairs Ministry responded in an official statement Jan. 18 to the Sudanese news agency, saying that the Halayeb and Shalateen areas belong to Egypt and are under Egyptian sovereignty. It added that in April 2016, Egypt denied the request that Sudan has been repeating for decades.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported Jan. 21 that Egyptian officials asked their Saudi counterparts to mediate to halt Sudanese demands that Halayeb and Shalateen be annexed to Sudan, and that during undeclared deliberations the Egyptian and Saudi sides paved the way for the resurrection of the maritime border demarcation agreement.

The report went on that Egyptian officials confirmed that it would be difficult to take any concrete steps in the maritime border demarcation dossier while the Sudanese demands continued, as doing so would further anger the Egyptian street and forces opposing the agreement.

Ahmed Abdel Halim, the former head of Egyptian Geological Survey, told Al-Monitor that the goal behind the maritime border demarcation agreement is to enable oil and gas exploration activities in the Red Sea waters, which are rich in oil and gas resources.

He dismissed the possibility that Egypt sought Saudi mediation to put an end to the Sudanese demands, saying, The passing of the maritime border agreement is in favor of Saudi Arabia, as it facilitates the oil and gas drilling activities. The Sudanese demands regarding Halayeb and Shalateen  contradict the agreement.

He explained, The agreement is an implicit Saudi recognition of the Egyptian ownership of Halayeb and Shalateen. Under the agreement, the maritime border between Egypt and Saudi Arabia along the Egyptian coast on the Red Sea are determined. This area also includes the Halayeb and Shalateen coasts along the Red Sea. Thus, the Sudanese claim regarding its ownership of that territory is a challenge to the agreement.

The Egyptian-Saudi interests are deep and complex, and their ongoing tension will not be a reason for a complete rupture between two countries that have many interests in common.
February 23, 2017

Senate Republicans are deeply divided over how  or whether  to address alleged war crimes by Syrias Bashar al-Assad and his allies, complicating any congressional action on the issue.

Seven of the 11 Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee declined to sign on to a bipartisan letter on the issue spearheaded by Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and ranking member Ben Cardin, D-Md., to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson dated Feb. 22. All 10 Democrats on the panel signed the letter, which urges Tillerson to ensure Assad, Russia and Iran are made to answer for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria.

Citing a recent Amnesty International report about mass hangings at a Syrian prison and the release three years ago of thousands of photos of alleged executions, the letter asserts that sufficient documentation exists to charge Bashar al-Assad with war crimes and crimes against humanity. He has lost legitimacy as Syrias leader.

The letter goes on to accuse Russia and Iran of being complicit in war crimes.

As you review US policy toward Russia and participate in the administrations planning to defeat [the Islamic State], Russias role in the tragic deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians must be considered, Corker and Cardin wrote. We also ask that you provide an update on the steps the [Donald Trump] administration is taking to document war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria, and planned US support to the accountability process that must be part of a political agreement to end the war.

The dearth of Republican participation in the letter underscores the deep divisions inside the party between a more interventionist, human rights-focused wing and members who agree with Trump that keeping Assad in place and working with Russia to combat terrorism makes more sense. Joining Corker on the letter are Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; and Cory Gardner, R-Colo.

A committee aide told Al-Monitor that the letter has been circulating for weeks, leaving little doubt that the seven senators who declined to sign had plenty of time to do so. They include Middle East panel Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho; and Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; John Barrasso, R-Wyo.; Rob Portman, R-Ohio; and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

Congress is in recess this week, and none of the seven senators offices responded to a request for comment by deadline. Two of the senators, Paul and Flake, have a more libertarian outlook than many of their colleagues and are wary of US interventionism in the Middle East; others, including Risch and Johnson, are hawkish on Iran but have recently tempered their appetite for going after Russia.

Its also not clear how hard Corker, who will need the support of Trump voters if he follows through with a potential run for governor in 2018, pressed his colleagues to sign on. While Cardin was the first to urge action after the release of the Amnesty International report and has authored or cosponsored two bipartisan sanctions bills on Russia, Corker hasnt signed on to either one and hasnt scheduled any markups in the committee.

The House, meanwhile, has so far been more united on the issue.

The lower chamber overwhelmingly passed a resolution last March calling on the Barack Obama administration to press for the creation of a war crimes tribunal at the United Nations to judge the war crimes of the government of Syria, its allies and other parties to the conflict in Syria. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., and ranking member Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., are expected to shortly reintroduce their Syria sanctions legislation that easily passed the House in November.
In an interview with Aktualne news agency of the Czech Republic, European Parliament member (MEP) Jaromir Stetina (Czech Republic) commented on his recent visit to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh) along with two fellow MEPs, and for which Azerbaijan declared an international search for them, NEWS.am reports.

February 24, 2017, 12:10 Czech MEP: I visited Karabakh in 1990s as journalist, this timeas politician

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 24, ARTSAKHPRESS: We present below the abridged version of this interview.

I and my two colleagues from the European Parliament had visited Nagorno-Karabakh at the invitation of the NKR parliament.

We were in a team of [international] observers [i.e. observing Mondays constitutional referendum] comprising 100 people.

The fact is that Azerbaijani laws do not function in this territory, for already 25 years.

As a journalist, I visited Karabakh in the [19]90s; during the years of that terrible war. The position of Azerbaijan, which considers Karabakh to be its own, is based on the policy of Stalin, who had annexed this Armenian territory to Azerbaijan, with the rule of divide and rule.

Did you get anything for the trip?

() I never get anything for my work, either as a journalist or as a politician. I only obey my conscience, in both the first and the second role.

Was your trip [to Nagorno-Karabakh] organized under any sponsorship by the EU?

() I am a member of the European Parliaments Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence. The essence of my work is to visit regions of conflicts, to form my own sense about them.

Were you expecting that Azerbaijan would give an order for your arrest?

Yes, I knew that such a thing is possible. This is a part of Bakus [respective] campaign, which began about a month ago, when Russian [Israeli] blogger [Alexander] Lapshin was arrested in [the Belarusian capital city of] Minsk; this is a part of the intimidation policy of Azerbaijan.

Are you not fearful that they can extradite you, too, to Azerbaijan [just like Lapshin]?

I will not go to Minsk.
February 23, 2017

CAIRO  Egyptian authorities say they recently closed a Cairo nongovernmental organization because it violated the law, but leaders of Al-Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture beg to differ.

Egyptian security forces shut down the center Feb. 9 based on a Ministry of Health and Population order that said the center violated licensing conditions. The dispute seems to involve the center's mission. The government said the center is supposed to focus on medical treatments but has branched out into monitoring human rights abuses.

Al-Nadeem Center officials say it was founded in 1993 to document human rights abuses, rehabilitate torture victims, provide psychological counseling to victims of violence and look into torture complaints. They say the closing is political and an attempt to silence reports of abuses. The day Al-Nadeem Center closed, it issued a report indicating it had monitored 535 individual torture cases, 307 collective torture or maltreatment cases, 472 cases of medical neglect in detention centers and 123 deaths in detention centers" in 2016.

This is not the first time the government has obstructed the center's work. A year ago, security forces shut down the centers clinic also for allegedly violating licensing conditions.

That attempt to close the center [also] was not linked to technical or legal reasons; rather, the decision was political," center worker Susan Fayyad said. "This is because Al-Nadeem Center often reports on violations carried out by the Interior Ministry against prisoners and detainees, which may draw harsh criticism against the security apparatus. The center's further investigation into the matter backs up that statement, according to center director Magda Adly.

Adly told Al-Monitor that following last year's attempted closure, center representatives visited the Ministry of Health and Population to inquire about the reason. "We learned that the decision was issued at the government's request after the center issued reports condemning Interior Ministry violations, she said.

However, Khalid Mujahid, Ministry of Health and Population spokesman, said in a statement on Feb. 24, 2016, that the clinic committed two violations, the first being changing its name from clinic to center, although a different license is required for each, and the second, changing its activities from medical practice to human rights advocacy."

Mujahid added that the centers clinic received a warning and a deadline to adjust its status, but the deadline expired without any rectification. If the center desires to register itself as a human rights organization, it should go through the legal proceedings designated for such organizations without circumventing the law, as was the case.

The Ministry of Social Solidarity licenses NGOs, but Al-Nadeems clinic  as opposed to the center itself  said last year that it was registered through the Ministry of Health and Population and does not need to register as an NGO. Al-Nadeem Center issued a statement saying the clinic is responsible for the medical rehabilitation of the victims of violence and torture, while the center is responsible for the issuance of statements and reports that are related to human rights  and the clinic has nothing to do with those responsibilities.

The center continued its battle throughout February 2016. It sent a letter to the Ministry of Health and Population and asked it to withdraw the decision to close the clinic  to no avail. It filed a lawsuit with the State Council to appeal the decision, and the case was referred to the State Commissioners Authority to issue a report in this regard. The report has yet to be issued. On Feb. 25, 2016, Al-Nadeem Center said in a statement that it was established as an NGO, that it was documented and that it is not subject to regulation by the Ministry of Health and Population. However, the center did open the clinic under the name Treatment and Psychological Rehabilitation Program, and the clinic is subject to the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Population. Al-Nadeem pointed out that the clinic had obtained a license from the Medical Association and a license to run as a medical facility from the Ministry of Health and Population. Despite the government's persistent efforts, the clinic was able to reopen because, center worker Susan Fayyad told Al-Monitor recently, media coverage drew unwanted attention to the closing.

In April, the government was back. An official from the Health Ministry's licensing administration visited the center along with three security officials. According to Adly, they reported no violations, which she said proves this month's closing is political and has nothing to do with the Health Ministry's statements about the center's change in activities, which she called "funny allegations."

But the government pursued further measures in November.

On Nov. 10, Egyptian authorities ordered Credit Agricole Bank to freeze the center's account until its legal status complied with the country's NGO law. On Nov. 16, the freeze was lifted after, the center said, it proved it was not subject to that NGO law.

On Nov. 29, parliament passed a new law regulating NGOs. The law prohibits local and foreign groups from engaging in political activities or any activity deemed detrimental to the public order, morality or health, or national security. Human Rights Watch said the law would effectively ban what remained of the countrys independent civil society groups.

It remains to be seen how the new law will affect the center's efforts to reopen this time.

Adly said the government's 2016 closure effort applied to the clinic only. This time, however, all operations were closed "in clear violation of the law, so we filed a complaint in this regard with the public prosecutor."

In the meantime, the centers doctors have agreed to continue providing psychological counseling by phone to torture victims. On the future of the center, Adly said, We will continue to follow up on complaints of torture, and monitor and document what is published until the nation is cleansed from all forms of violence and discrimination."
February 24, 2017

Egypt's Ministry of Religious Endowments recently announced the appointment of 144 female preachers who will take up their positions in the female-only sections of several prominent mosques starting in March. According to the ministry, this is the first step in activating female participation in preaching work, and more female preachers will be added in the future.

Egyptian mosques are segregated by gender, with separate areas allocated for women. The new female preachers will lecture exclusively to women on a wide range of topics twice a week. The aim of these sessions is to clear up misconceptions related to Islamic jurisprudence and to spread moderate thinking.

In January 2015, the Ministry of Religious Endowments, which regulates mosques and religious endowments, announced the addition of volunteer positions for female preachers in mosques. The 144 newly appointed female preachers are the first of their kind to ever be appointed by the ministry.

The female preachers will be graduates of the prestigious Al-Azhar University, with degrees in preaching or Islamic studies to ensure they abide by Al-Azhar's methodology. Egypt also has nine Islamic centers that are affiliated with the Ministry of Religious Endowments to help prepare the female preachers.

Abdel Nasser Balih, a senior official at the ministry, told Al-Monitor, "We already have female preachers who have been voluntarily working under the ministry's supervision for more than 10 years, but this is the first time to officially appoint them. It is a bold and wise decision."

Balih said women may be too shy to ask male preachers about female-specific edicts. As a result, women may turn to unreliable or extremist female preachers for advice. The presence of knowledgeable female preachers in mosques will eliminate such threats and will help women better understand their religion, he said.

The step to hire female preachers is part of the ministry's broader strategy to further tighten its control over Egyptian mosques. This comes in light of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's constant calls to regulate and renew religious discourse to combat terrorism. To bolster government oversight of mosques, the ministry previously announced that all imams should be graduates of Al-Azhar. The ministry also issued a controversial decision to unify Friday sermons nationwide in an attempt to uproot extremism.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been accused of exploiting women for political purposes and using them to publicize their views and gain more supporters. Despite these concerns, the work of female preachers in such mosques has always been off the radar. The unprecedented appointment of female preachers by the ministry, however, reflects the government's willingness to involve women in its anti-terrorism efforts.

"Right notions will be more accessible to women through female preachers," Balih said, adding that, on a professional level, there is no difference between male and female preachers.

Amr Hamroosh, a member of the parliamentary Committee of Religion, said the female preachers will help prevent Egyptian women from falling prey to fanatics who exploit ignorance and spoil minds with poisonous thoughts.

"All in all, it is too early to assess the entire experience," Hamroosh told Al-Monitor. "We have to wait. If this experience turns positive, it will be applied in all mosques, not only the premium ones."

Amna Nosseir, a member of parliament and a professor at Al-Azhar University, lauded the decision, emphasizing the necessity of periodically training and assessing the performance of female preachers to ensure the success of the whole experience. "Before getting involved in preaching work, the would-be female preachers should at least get a two-week training course on how to smartly and clearly answer peoples' questions and how to deal with critical issues," said Nosseir. "In this way, this experience will be highly fruitful."

Balih said preachers of both genders will receive regular training courses to improve their skills and refresh their minds. "Male and female preachers are equally in need of courses," he said.

Feminist and pro-women groups have expressed admiration for the decision to open the doors for female preachers. They considered the decision to be a practical application of Sisi's declaration that 2017 is the "year of women," especially since the decision came shortly before the appointment of Egypt's first female governor, Nadia Abdu.

Dina Hussein, a member of Egypt's National Council for Women, a state-run entity that defends women's rights, told Al-Monitor, "This reflects the political leadership's intention to pay special attention to women's rights. It is a good indicator that we are on track. It is the result of the yearslong efforts to enhance women's participation in society."

Hussein added that reviewing the thoughts of female preachers to avoid adverse consequences is also important. "The National Council for Women gives this issue a top priority," she said. "We have already held several meetings with officials at Al-Azhar and the Endowments Ministry to voice our concerns. They have agreed with us and pledged to thoroughly assess and monitor the preachers' performances within the framework of the government's plan to reform religious speech."

Hussein said that this year will witness more progress in the promotion of women's rights, since the National Council for Women has a comprehensive strategy to enable women to reach decision-making positions in Egypt. "Women should strongly make their way into all careers such as preaching, which is traditionally considered male-dominated," she said. "We will never lose hope."
February 23, 2017

Iran may see its first female presidential candidate in the May 19 elections. After a period of silence, Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the Islamic Republics first and only female minister, has in recent days and weeks made headlines once again. Dastjerdi headed the Ministry of Health and Medical Education between 2009 and 2012 after being one of three women proposed as ministers by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his second term (2009-13). The other two nominees were Susan Keshavarz for the post of education minister and Fatemeh Ajorlu for welfare and social security minister. Of the three, only Dastjerdi succeeded in securing a vote of confidence from Irans parliament and was confirmed on Sept. 3, 2009.

Although Dastjerdi is the Islamic Republics first female minister, she is not the first Iranian woman to hold such office. Farrokhroo Parsa and Mahnaz Afkhami served as education minister and minister of women's affairs, respectively, under former ruler Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1941-1979).

Just as with many others who worked with Ahmadinejad, Dastjerdi did not last until the end of his presidency. On Sept. 27, 2012  following differences between the two  he dismissed Dastjerdi. It is believed that her dismissal was due to her insistence on keeping Bagher Larijani, her deputy at the Ministry of Health, in his post. Bagher Larijani is one of the powerful Larijani brothers, including Ali and Sadegh, the respective chiefs of the legislative and judiciary branches of the government. In this vein, factional conflicts between the Larijanis, who were opponents of Ahmadinejad, notably intensified in the days leading to Dastjerdis dismissal. Following her removal, Dastjerdi returned to the medical profession. In April 2015, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed her as a member of the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundations board of trustees.

More recently, Dastjerdi ran in the February 2016 parliamentary elections as a member of the Grand Principlist Alliance or Principlist List. When the election results were announced, she found herself among the 29 other Principlist candidates who ran in Tehran and did not stand much of a chance against the rival Reformist-moderate List of Hope. Securing 860,000 votes, Dastjerdi came in 35th. By comparison, the 30th and final parliament member elected from Tehran got over 1.7 million votes.

Yet in recent days and weeks there has been ever-increasing speculation about her potential candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections  a race for which she first needs to pass through the Guardian Councils filter. The council, which is in charge of vetting candidates, has so far refused to approve female candidates.

Article 115 of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Constitution states the conditions for presidential candidates to include coming from among the religious and political rijal [statesmen] and [being] Iranian, a manager and a thinker. The key point of debate is how to interpret the term "rijal," an Arabic word that can mean both "men" and "personalities." While some have preferred to use the literal and Arabic translation of the term to mean "men," many legal experts and even members of the Guardian Council itself have rejected this interpretation and see no problem with the candidacy of female nominees. Indeed, on Dec. 31, Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei told reporters, There are no obstacles for women to register as presidential candidates. As such, Iranian law does not ban women from running for the presidency. The question is thus whether Dastjerdi will be able to set a precedent.

In a press conference in early January, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a theoretician of the Principlist movement, said that the Guardian Councils norm to date has been to not include women among "rijal" and that he doubted any changes will be made in this regard.

A week earlier, on Dec. 25, Dastjerdi, along with 10 figures from the Principlist movement, established the Popular Front of the Forces of the Islamic Revolution in an effort to unite conservatives and get them to agree on a single candidate to challenge incumbent President Hassan Rouhani.

However, speculation about Dastjerdis potential candidacy in Iran have become ever more serious. In an interview with KhabarOnline on Jan. 15, Ajorlu  a conservative who serves in parliament  said, With the green light of the Guardian Council, the presence of a female candidate and Mrs. Dastjerdi in the next [presidential] elections can become a reality.

Notably, the Reformists seem to have embraced Dastjerdis potential candidacy even more than her own Principlist camp. Parvaneh Salahshoori, a Reformist parliament member from Tehran and head of the womens faction in parliament, welcomed the potential candidacy of Dastjerdi on Jan. 16, saying, Her presence [in the election race] is a good idea to split Rouhanis vote. However, she does not have the necessary charisma and cannot defeat Rouhani. In this vein, media outlets close to the Rouhani administration have written about the reasons behind Dastjerdis potential candidacy and the benefits it would have. Indeed, it cannot be denied that the Reformists are interested in having Dastjerdi as Rouhanis main rival because it's taboo-breaking, but also to improve Irans international image and also because she will not be a dangerous challenger.

Meanwhile, reactions among Principlists have been mixed, with some media outlets not being welcoming of Dastjerdis potential candidacy. The conservative Tabnak, close to Mohsen Rezaei, on Jan. 19 ran a commentary saying, "Which aims are behind the spread of rumors of Dastjerdis candidacy? Although there is no doubt of Dastjerdis suitability, it seems as if this is a pre-planned scenario being spread by the Reformists to confuse the Principlist camp.

In a Jan. 19 press conference, Dastjerdi herself was quoted as saying that she has no plans to run in the May 19 election. However, anyone familiar with Iranian politics knows that it is common for politicians to withhold announcements of their candidacies until the final hours and days before the registration deadline. As such, only time will tell whether Iran will see its first female presidential candidate come May.
February 24, 2017

Fatima Navab Safavi is the daughter of Mojtaba Navab Safavi (1924-1955), an Iranian cleric and one of the first to mobilize Iranian masses against Israel back in the early 1950s. Donning the traditional black chador, Safavi told Al-Monitor in an interview, "Years before the [1979] Islamic Revolution, my father was able to get thousands of young men ready at that time to go and fight to liberate Palestine.  Iran's relation to the Palestinian tragedy goes back to that time. My father was one of the first to make people in Iran aware about Palestine." She was among hundreds of Iranian, Arab and other international participants taking part in a conference held in Tehran on Feb. 21-22 in support of the Palestinian intifada and the city of Jerusalem.

With regional wars intensifying from Yemen to Syria, and with US President Donald Trump having officially put Iran "on notice," the Islamic Republic has chosen to respond in a different manner. Iran has highlighted its decision a year ago to boost its support for Palestinian factions fighting Israel and to say openly that it is putting this issue at the top of its agenda. Tehran's approach indicates how things in the region are changing following the election of Trump and amid reports of a possible Saudi-Israeli alliance backed by the United States aimed at preventing Iran from expanding its regional influence.

But it's worth mentioning that if it wasn't for the yearlong renewed dialogue between the Palestinian faction Hamas and Tehran, alongside other mainstream Palestinian groups, little could have happened. Indeed, Palestinian groups complain they are left without any Arab or Islamic support to confront Israel, and that their cause is day by day becoming more forgotten and ignored.

"The relation with Tehran started going in the right track," Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official visiting Tehran, told Al-Monitor. He explained that his movement is keen to have good relations with all parties in the Arab world even though the official Arab stance toward the Palestinian cause is rather weak. He added, "It's in our interest to keep knocking on doors and putting Arab and Muslim leaders before their religious and historical responsibilities toward Palestine."

Abu Zuhri was among several Hamas officials in Tehran for the conference. The delegation also included political bureau members Mohammad Nasr, Osama Hamdan and Ali Baraka. Besides Hamas, representatives of the Islamic Jihad, Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were present at the conference. Lebanon's Hezbollah movement also attended the event.

Al-Monitor has learned that these delegations met with Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' external operations wing, the Quds Force, just a few hours after attending Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's speech at the conference's opening ceremony on Feb. 21. "One of the achievements of this valuable conference is the announcement of the first priority of the world of Islam and freedom fighters all over the world, which is the issue of Palestine," said Khamenei, who hinted that his country's support to the Palestinian factions will follow one criteria. "We are with every group that is steadfast on this path, and every group that abandons this path has drifted away from us."

An Iranian official who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity revealed that efforts to support the Palestinian factions have doubled in recent months. "Unfortunately, to many Muslims, Palestine became a marginal issue. People are busy with their local problems, media are shifting their attention from the main cause." The official added, "It's not a secret that Iran is supporting the resistance in Palestine. We never stopped, but once again, as Israel and America are both working hard to suppress the Palestinians, we are going to do our best to keep this fight alive."

Regarding the Iranian response to what is perceived as a Saudi-Israeli rapprochement, a Gulf Arab diplomatic source told Al-Monitor, "Iran is exploiting the Palestinians and using them to implement its sectarian agenda in the Middle East." He added, "The Palestinians here are just a Trojan horse for the Iranians to cover up the acts of terrorism they are committing in several Arab countries. They only care to reach the Mediterranean and empower their proxies."

Saudi Arabia, Iran's main rival in the region, has stepped up its criticism in recent months, accusing Tehran of being the "single main sponsor of terrorism in the world." For years, Iranian-Saudi tensions have overshadowed the region, and attempts to diffuse it  including the most recent attempt at mediation involving Kuwait  have not appeared to achieve any positive outcome.

Tehran University professor Mohammad Marandi told Al-Monitor, "Iran's support of the Palestinian cause started decades before the [1979 Islamic] Revolution. Iran over the past four decades always paid for its support for Palestine. It has never benefited from it, it has always paid a heavy price. Many sanctions wouldn't have been there if it weren't for Iran's support for the Palestinian issue and Iran's opposition to the notion of Israel's legitimacy."

Iran was keen to have all its high-profile officials at the conference. President Hassan Rouhani delivered the concluding speech in the presence of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani chaired the conference, while Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri and Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammad Ali Jafari were both in attendance. The apparent aim of this show of unity? To send a clear message not only to Washington and Tel Aviv, but also to regional capitals, that Iran is ready for any confrontation.
February 23, 2017

There is little doubt that now, with a hard-line US president in the White House, Irans main rivals for influence in the Middle East, namely Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey, are feeling emboldened by the possibility of an America willing to confront Iran. The three countries have recently made harsh public statements against Iran, signaling that there could be a coordinated axis to push back against Irans positions in the Middle East.

After a number of comments by Turkish officials blaming Iran for spreading sectarianism in the region, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif answered back Feb. 22. In an interview with the Iran newspaper, Zarif said some regional countries have placed their hopes in Trump because their policies in the region have not been successful. When asked to clarify what countries he was speaking about, Zarif replied, Those who support [the Islamic State] and [al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat] al-Nusra." Zarif dismissed the controversy at the security conference in Munich, Germany, saying that the anti-Iranian comments came from only three countries.

When pressed about significant Saudi and Turkish influence in region, Zarif said that while the two countries may have certain successes, their policies have failed. He noted that had their policies been successful, they would not be busy trying to sabotage Irans influence in the region, adding, Sabotage is not normally the behavior of the strong.

Zarif said that in the era of Trump, some countries are trying to present themselves as not being the problem while pointing the finger at other countries. He said that while issues with Israel are not new, We did not expect behavior such as this from our neighbors. Specifically in regard to Turkey, Zarif said, We are sympathetic to the Turkish government [but] it seems our friends have short memories. They accuse Iran of sectarianism but they do not remember that for their government  which is not Shiite  we did not sleep during the night of the coup. Iran and Turkey were reportedly in constant contact the night of the July 2016 coup attempt and Iran expressed strong support for the Turkish government.

With respect to Saudi Arabia, Zarif said it is trying to blame Iran for Saudi shortcomings in its US-backed war on Yemen. Zarif said Iran had conveyed a message to Saudi Arabia to settle differences in Yemen differently but that the message was ignored. Zarif added that Iran also wants stability in the region and that it does not intend to bring up the past, such as Saudi support for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War.

Some former officials were somewhat disturbed about the new coalition forming against Iran and wondered whether Iran had lost an opportunity it might have had when Barack Obama was president. It would not be fair to say that the policies of Mr. Obama were similar to the policies of George Bush and Donald Trump with respect to Iran, wrote Ali Khoram, former Iranian ambassador to China and Libya, in the Shargh daily. Khoram noted that Obama could have pushed for many hostile policies against Iran, from not pushing for a nuclear deal to increasing sanctions after the deal and putting ground troops into Syria. Maybe Iran was not aware that there were opportunities in the Obama era where it could have solidified its connections so that under the Trump era it was not so vulnerable, and not be the center of political attacks in the region, Khoram wrote.
February 24, 2017

Ibtisam al-Hilali, a member of parliament for the Karbala governorate and member of the State of Law Coalition, led by Nouri al-Maliki, stated Feb. 12 that the governorates provincial council intends to pass a bill banning unveiled women from entering the holy city of Karbala.

While banners on the streets of Iraq's religious cities such as Karbala, Najaf and Khadimiya calling on women to wear the headscarf are a normal sight, this is the first time official figures and parliamentarians try to introduce a bill in this regard.

Karbala is home to the shrines of the third Shiite Imam Hussein bin Ali and his half brother Abbas. The citizens of Karbala are mostly Shiites, and each year the city hosts millions of pilgrims who visit the shrines of the two imams.

A parliamentary source who spoke on condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor, Many blocs affiliated with Islamic parties are now trying to collect signatures to pass a bill that would ban unveiled women from religious areas. However, this was immediately rejected by parliamentarians, but the blocs are still trying to pursue their efforts to this effect.

These endeavors might not be welcomed by the Iraqi community, which is governed according to the Iraqi Constitution instead of Sharia. Yet, it appears that some Islamic groups and parties are trying to impose Sharia on the different aspects of civil life. This might suggest the possibility of an imminent conflict between Islamic extremists and civilians seeking to live in a nonreligious state.

Sarwa Abdel Wahed, a parliamentarian for the Movement for Change, told Alqurtas News that some parties are seeking to impose political agendas and settle scores by trying to pass a law banning unveiled women from entering religious cities.

Calls to pass such a bill came one day after the statement of Nassif al-Khutabi, the head of the local government in Karbala governorate, pledging to take severe measurements to impose a law on the hijab in Karbala.

The recent uproar is a reaction to the visit of Maysoun al-Damlouji, a parliamentarian for the National Coalition, to Karbala on Feb. 5 without wearing the veil.

Damlouji responded to Khutabis statement, saying, The provincial council of Karbala should have paid more attention to the cleanliness in the streets of the city instead of starting talks about the veil or the etiquette of my visit to Karbala.

Currently, no rule in Karbala obliges women to wear the hijab once they enter the city. This is why some believe the local government is trying to restrict freedoms in the community for electoral purposes.

There are also fears that Iraq will be turned into a hard-line religious state. These concerns are based on a series of attempts to do just that, such as the law banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol passed by the parliament last October. Others also believe that post-Islamic State Iraq will be a country controlled by extremist Shiite parties.

The news about Karbalas provincial council to pass a law on imposing the veil caused a split among the community inside the governorate. While politicians and members of the local government supported such a law, activists condemned it. Some of them appeared on TV to voice their opinion, considering such a law to be the extension of extremist ideologies in Karbala.

In this context, Samira al-Mousawi, a member of parliament for the State of Law Coalition, told Al-Monitor, The issue of unveiled women in religious cities is brought up from time to time in the governorate. It is a controversial issue in terms of different opinions. I believe there should be a law banning unveiled women or imposing the veil before entering the city.

The National Coalition, on the other hand, defended Damlouji, whose visit raised much controversy, and described the position of the head of Karbalas local government to be politically bankrupt, seeking to make political gains away from professional ethics, according to Khadhim al-Shammari, the head of the coalition.

During her visit to Karbala, Damlouji did not visit the religious shrines. However, the position of the local government appears to be premeditated, in light of talks about setting forth other legislation, namely announcing the World Day of Chastity to promote the Islamic veil. Many parties are pushing in this direction.

In addition, Shiite clerics in Najaf have been campaigning to spread awareness about the need to wear the veil according to Sharia teachings. As part of the campaigns, veiling guidelines were distributed among girls in intermediate and secondary schools. A contest on the subject was organized with many prizes up for grabs, including a trip to the city of Qom in Iran.

Should the call to prevent unveiled women from entering the city of Karbala turn into an applicable law, members of parliament will have the right to interrogate the head of the provincial council and the governor of Karbala to identify the reasons behind this law, which could lead to its abolition, on the ground that not all Islamic teaching ought to be imposed on all community components.

In a country with multiple religions, sects and ethnicities, no specific religious doctrine or practice should be imposed across the social fabric, even if this was limited to certain areas only.

Editor's note: This article has been updated since its initial publication.
February 24, 2017

The Jan. 18 deaths of two men during home demolitions in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran continue to send shock waves through Israeli society. During a police operation to evacuate and demolish homes built illegally, Yakub Abu al-Kiyan ran over Erez Levi, a police officer, with his car. Levi died from his injuries and Abu al-Kiyan from being shot by police.

After initial allegations that Abu al-Kiyan had deliberately struck Levi, the conclusion taking shape in the Department of Internal Affairs of the Israel Police is now that the incident was not a terrorist hit-and-run. In addition, Abu al-Kiyan was not a despicable terrorist, as Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich described him, or Islamic State (IS) member, as Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan alleged at the time. Erdan has not apologized, but has changed his tune somewhat, now saying that if an ongoing investigation concludes that there was no attack, it will be necessary to apologize to the family.

In a Facebook post, Erdan placed the onus of responsibility for Abu al-Kiyan's labeling on the Israel Police, writing that he trusted their original statements characterizing him as a terrorist. That's the way it works and that's the way it should work in every organized framework and between all government organizations and the minister responsible for them, Erdan wrote to justify himself. He also singled out the Knesset's Arab members, who accused the police from the beginning for the tragic turn of events, saying, It's too bad that their campaign of hatred and incitement [against the police] has been succeeding so far.

Erdan omits that immediately after the incident he insisted that Abu al-Kiyan was an IS member based on copies of an old edition of Israel Today found in his home covering a terror attack. His allegation was why Abu al-Kiyan's body was not released for burial until the Supreme Court intervened. By insisting that Abu al-Kiyan was a terrorist, Erdan fed the public a false narrative that IS' ideology had infiltrated the Bedouin, who were now raising homegrown terrorists to confront Israeli law enforcement agents and the general population.

Erdan has no plans to resign. The same goes for Alsheich, although he was quick to decide that Abu al-Kiyan had committed an attack. Only now is he saying that he is waiting for the investigation to release its findings. Neither man has said a word about the damage caused to the Abu al-Kiyan family, which has been forced to deal not only with its grief, but also with the stigma of being the kin of a despicable terrorist.

Will the commissioner consider resigning if it is proved that the police deceived the minister and the Israeli public? Will Erdan take his own actions into account? After all, following the rash of forest fires in November, he had been quick to determine that the fires had been deliberate acts of terrorism, but it was later proved that only a small number of the hundreds of fires were arson related.

The Israeli media should also examine its actions. Most news outlets were quick to release a photo of Abu al-Kiyan and brand him The Hit-and-Run Terrorist. There was apparently no need for a comprehensive investigation to determine that Abu al-Kiyan did not fit the profile of a terrorist or wait for investigators to clarify the sequence of events leading to his being shot and Levi being struck.

Talal el-Krenawi, mayor of Rahat, another Bedouin town, told Al-Monitor that a new narrative has taken root among Israelis, painting the Bedouin population as violent, as lawbreakers and as influenced by IS. This has terrifying implications, Krenawi said. "The Bedouin population has become an instant suspect. What happened in Umm al-Hiran is a good illustration of the negative image with which an entire sector of the population is stigmatized, as if every Bedouin is a potential terrorist.

Krenawi said that the Bedouin are loyal to the State of Israel and that it is important for them to continue living in peaceful coexistence. Nevertheless, even the Israeli media has distanced itself from the Bedouin population, he said. In many cases, it is aligning itself more and more with the establishment, which regards the Bedouin as a problematic sector of the population.

Krenawi further remarked that leading local authorities in the south had been invited to police headquarters to see the weapons confiscated in a campaign to rein in crime in the Jewish and Bedouin sectors. Suddenly, without advance warning, Minister Erdan showed up, he said. "All the heads of the Bedouin localities decided to walk out immediately, in protest. After all, from his perspective, we could all be considered terrorists or supporters of terrorism.

Sami Amraneh, a social activist who lives in the Bedouin village of Segev Shalom, told Al-Monitor that the damage caused to the Bedouin population by the irresponsible remarks of ministers, Knesset members and senior police officers is enormous. The mood among the people I work with has become very tense. Everyone has been influenced negatively by the reports [about the Bedouin]. People everywhere just stare at us.

Amraneh's father spent 25 years in the Israel Defense Forces as a tracker. Amraneh said that he grew up in a home that took great care to instill a sense of loyalty to and love for the State of Israel, before adding, But the mood has changed. We feel like an alien body in its midst. I have been feeling more and more like I am part of an oppressed minority that does not receive the rights to which it is entitled. Even when I apply for a job, I always find myself at the bottom of the list, despite my qualifications.

Amraneh said that all of this is negligible compared to the feeling he has that the Jewish population views the Bedouin as terrorists. As an example, Amraneh noted the way the state treated the residents of the Jewish West Bank settlement of Amona. They were removed from their homes with considerable empathy and sensitivity, a sharp contrast, he pointed out, to the almost military manner in which the Bedouin were evicted.

We have children, old people and people with special needs whose homes were demolished, Amraneh said. No one brought them a psychologist, nor did anyone make sure that they had a roof over their heads to replace their homes after they were torn down. They were thrown into the street like dogs.

Abu al-Kiyan's widow, Amal Abu Saad, told Al-Monitor that she now feels a certain sense of relief with her husband's reputation being cleared. She lamented, however, We are still without a roof over our heads. The children have no father. They have been doled out between a sister, a grandmother and neighbors. The older ones are sleeping in the village mosque.

As for Erdan and Alsheich, she said, If they had the slightest sense of responsibility, they would think about their mistake, consider its consequences and then decide for themselves that they should resign, without me telling them to do so. They should say, We made a terrible mistake, and hand their posts over to more responsible people.
February 24, 2017

CAIRO  The Democratic Reformist Current, a Fatah current formed in opposition to President Mahmoud Abbas policies, held a youth conference in Cairo on Feb. 15-16 under the title Palestinian youth drawing future map."

Around 500 young Palestinians and leaders from the current came from Egypt, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Europe to discuss the issues facing the Palestinian youth in general and address the youth's political and social participation.

Ibrahim Arafat, a member of the conferences preparatory committee who came from Gaza, told Al-Monitor that the conference aimed to convey several messages, notably highlighting the role of Palestinian youth in society as well as the role of the reformist current within Fatah.

He said, First of all, the youth are the backbone of our society and they are strongly making their way in. Second, we will disregard all those who leave us and welcome all those who approach us. [Dismissed Fatah leader] Mohammed Dahlan is the one who sought us and supported us. We believe this conference to be a fundamental step in attracting all segments within Fatah, by organizing future conferences for women and workers. We are currently working on prioritizing our objectives, strategies and visions for these conferences.

Arafat believes that such conferences are not meant to separate the current from the movement, but they only aim at reforming the situation within Fatah.

He added that these conferences are in no way parallel to Fatahs Seventh General Congress held in November 2016, noting, We operate from deep within the movement. We seek reform and awakening. No one opposes oneself. We are members of Fatah; we would never oppose ourselves, but we want reform.

Dahlan, and several other Fatah leaders, founded the Democratic Reformist Current in 2011 after Fatahs Central Committee dismissed Dahlan from the movement on June 12, 2011, due to the disputes between him and Abbas since 2010.

By carefully choosing the areas from which participants came, the conferences organizers wanted to send several messages. Twenty-four leaders and young people from Fatah came from the West Bank, which seems to be a clear sign that the reformist current has a foothold there.

Al-Monitor met with a young man who traveled from the West Bank city of Hebron to participate in the conference. He refused to reveal his identity for fear of being harassed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) once he returns to the West Bank, since the conference is organized by Dahlan, Abbas archenemy.

The source noted that he attended the conference despite the possibility of the PA and Fatah in the West Bank finding out, saying, All I want to say is that we support the idea of reform within the movement and we seek to develop the youth participation in politics. It is one of the reasons we came here, especially since the conference aims to show that the youth can be co-partners in every single thing. If the foundation is sound, everything else will fall into place. The youth are not adequately represented within Fatah, but they should be because they are part of the evolution that should come about.

Many Fatah leaders who oppose Abbas attended the conference, most importantly, Dahlan, Samir al-Mashharawi, Rashid Abu Shabak, Naima al-Sheikh Ali and Majed Abu Shammala.

Also attending the conference was Brig. Mahmoud Lino Issa, who headed Fatahs al-Kifah al-Musallah (Armed Struggle) faction in Lebanon in 2009-2013, when Fatahs Central Committee dismissed him and stripped him from his title on charges of having close ties with Dahlan.

Issa seemed quite confident of the reformist currents strength within Fatah as he told Al-Monitor that the conference represents a breakthrough for Palestinian youth with regard to taking part in the political decision-making process in the future.

He said, The previous generation of politicians has excluded the youth in terms of engaging in ideas and decisions. But this is the beginning of a breakthrough in the right direction for young people to join the decision-making process.

Issa explained that this was the first of many conferences working toward forming youth councils and shifting the attention toward other groups of people that have been marginalized for years. He stressed that the era of Abbas as president is almost a thing of the past now. President Abbas did not offer a single thing to the Palestinian cause. He marginalized all experts and leaders and this is why all Palestinians have turned their backs on him.

Hussam al-Dajani, an independent political analyst from the Gaza Strip, told Al-Monitor that Dahlan wanted, through the conference, to send out several messages. According to him, Dahlan wanted to come off as a strong and exceptional statesman in the eyes of public opinion at the Palestinian, Arab and international levels.

The second message was directed at the Palestinian youth in whom he showed interest after being neglected throughout the division by both Fatah and Hamas. As for the third message, it was aimed at his opponents in Fatah, in particular President Abbas, to show them that he is indeed capable of imposing his influence and that failing to notice him was impossible. And finally, he wanted to show Hamas that he is able to gather the youth and solve their life problems, he said.

Dajani believes that one of the conferences main goals was to manage the reformist currents organizational structure within Fatah and to coordinate the steps and positions required to leave an impact on the ground.

He added that arranging the currents structure and setting specific goals, visions and programs to highlight the aspects in which Dahlan is better than Abbas would contribute to attracting more categories, so long as future conferences are held in Gaza and the West Bank, to be in direct contact with the largest possible segment of the Palestinian society.

It seems the polarization battle between Dahlan and Abbas within Fatah has surfaced, during which both leaders will rely on expanding their support base in the movement in order to snatch the legitimacy title.
February 23, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Hamas has set three prerequisites for its participation in the Palestinian local elections, scheduled to take place on May 13, after rejecting the call of the Palestinian government Jan. 31 to hold the elections across the Palestinian territories. Hamas considered this invitation as a response to the failed electoral process that was scheduled to take place in October 2016.

Hamas submitted its conditions to the Central Election Commission during a bilateral meeting between the two sides in Gaza City on Feb. 15. Hamas demanded that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas release the security grip on the movement in the West Bank and create a sound environment that would ensure integrity, transparency and respect for the freedom of elections, cancel all the decisions and decrees he issued in relation to the local elections, and finally resort to the Palestinian Local Elections law of 2005.

The presidential decree issued Jan. 10 provided for the formation of a local elections court, after amending the Local Elections law of 2005, authorizing the court to look into electoral appeals instead of the courts of first instance in the governorates, as stated in Article 1 of the law. This decree was rejected by Palestinian factions at the time.

The amendment comes in response to the dispute between Hamas and Fatah when the courts of first instance in the governorates of the Gaza Strip canceled several electoral lists for Fatah on Sept. 8, 2016, as various candidates were accused of some legal offenses. Fatah considered this decision to be an attempt to politicize the judiciary and refused to recognize these courts.

Hisham Kahil, the executive director of the Palestinian Central Election Commission, told Al-Monitor that Hamas squarely rejected the invitation to hold local elections without prior agreement with it. Kahil said that the movement was not satisfied with the suspension of the previous electoral process, not to mention that it rejects any legal amendments to the local elections law without prior consultation with it.

Kahil noted that Hamas expressed its position during the commissions meeting with the movements leaders on Feb. 15. He considered the meeting to be part of the commissions role to contact all the electoral process participants so as to ensure the elections will be held as called for in all governorates, according to the law. He said that the commission will also meet with other factions in the West Bank this week and that it has relayed Hamas position to the Palestinian government, waiting for the latters response as to whether or not to hold elections in the West Bank alone or halt them altogether, given Hamas rejection.

According to Articles 4 and 5 of the 2005 Local Elections law, the local council elections are to be held in one day. Should this not be possible, the government has the right to hold them at different times or in different locations, which is currently the case of the upcoming elections in May, scheduled to be held in the West Bank and not in Gaza because of the Palestinian division.

For his part, Dhul Fiqar Suergo, a member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said it is unlikely for the PFLP to take part in the elections, should they be limited only to a part of the Palestinian territories. He stressed that the PFLP refuses to take part in any electoral process that would promote the Palestinian division and undermine the Palestinian political system.

Hamas has the right not to take part in the local elections, but has no right to prevent their occurrence in Gaza because it is not the legal authority there  the Palestinian government is. The latter was the product of the decision of all Palestinian factions in June 2014 [to form a unity government], Suergo told Al-Monitor.

Suergo called upon the factions to move forward with the elections as holding them is a Palestinian right, noting that he does not mind security services overseeing the electoral process in the Gaza Strip.

Akram Atallah, a political analyst and writer for Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, told Al-Monitor that Hamas is right to demand that the security services in the West Bank not meddle in the upcoming local elections. He said that Hamas, however, should also urge security forces in Gaza to do the same.

He noted that Abbas is unlikely to respond to Hamas conditions, expecting the elections to take place in the West Bank alone, in light of Hamas objection to them in Gaza. This scenario is akin to that of 2012, when the elections were held only in the West Bank because of Hamas boycott.

Atallah believes that the best solution under this prevailing mistrust between Fatah and Hamas is for both parties to admit their failure to build a consensual political system and to let the Palestinians decide their own fate and build a political system they deem appropriate.

In the same context, Hussam al-Dajani, a diplomat in the Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Gaza and a political analyst, told Al-Monitor that he agrees with Atallah about the 2012 scenario playing out again, in light of Hamas rejection to hold elections in the Gaza Strip. He expects that the elections will be limited to the West Bank, with a large segment of Palestinians boycotting them.

Dajani noted that holding elections before ending the division is far-fetched. He said that Hamas had agreed to the elections that were suspended in 2016 because there was a consensual decision to hold them, which could have been an opportunity for Abbas to recognize Hamas institutions in Gaza. He added that Abbas and the Palestinian government, however, paid attention to this point and made sure to suspend them, making amendments to the Local Elections law of 2015.

It appears that the internal Palestinian division will continue to deprive the Palestinians of their right to hold unified elections in the Palestinian territories for the 12th year in a row. In 2005, elections were held across Palestine and Hamas won a majority of 34 local councils out of 68 in the West Bank, and four out of seven in the Gaza Strip.
February 24, 2017

Under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), budget allotment for the Religious Affairs Department (Diyanet)  Turkey's official religious body  has increased every year. In 2017, the Diyanet had more money than 11 ministries.

According to Diyanet statistics, today there are 86,760 mosques in Turkey, all under its jurisdiction. With the number of its personnel reaching 117,000, the Diyanet, which is endowed with ample financial resources and has educational and publishing bodies, is like a state within a state.

During the coup attempt of July 15, 2016, on instructions from the Diyanet, state-employed imams (prayer leaders) called upon the people to come out to the streets and resist the coup plotters. Now, the Diyanet is on the agenda with something completely different: spying imams.

The issue of spying imams led to diplomatic tensions first between Turkey and the Netherlands, and then with Germany and Austria. The crisis escalated when the German police searched the residences of four Turkish imams on Feb. 15.

In a report submitted to the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission investigating the coup attempt, there were references to intelligence information provided by imams posted abroad. Diyanet-appointed imams collected intelligence from 38 countries, primarily about the Gulen movement.

Reports submitted by the spying imams covered all Gulenist activities, the names of their adherents and their photos in European, Central Asian and African countries. After the Diyanet reports to the parliamentary inquiry were leaked to the media in December 2016, the first reaction came from the Netherlands. Diyanet reports revealed that official Turkish religious personnel were collecting intelligence about Turkish expatriates praying in 145 mosques in that country. Yusuf Acar, the religious affairs attache of the Turkish Embassy in The Hague, was accused of guiding local imams. The Turkish government was asked to recall Acar, and it did.

But then the crisis extended into Germany, which has the largest Turkish community in Europe. The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), a nongovernmental organization set up in 1984, became the focal point of espionage allegations. Allegations emerged in the German media and parliament that imams assigned to more than 900 mosques were sending intelligence reports to Ankara.

Volker Beck, a deputy for Germany's Green Party, filed a complaint with the federal prosecutor that DITIB imams were engaged in espionage. An investigation was launched on Jan. 18 under the provisions of Article 99 of the German penal code that covers "spying for a foreign country." DITIB and more than 900 imams linked to it were investigated. Some German states suspended their cooperation with DITIB on religious education in schools. German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said if it is verified that DITIB, which is subject to German legislation on civil society, was engaged in intelligence activity, then it would be established that this organization was actually an extension of the Turkish state.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said they will not tolerate the spillover into Germany of the domestic strife between the Turkish government and the Gulen movement. According to German laws, as a civil society organization, the DITIB must remain independent, though the Diyanet is allowed to assign its imams to DITIB-associated mosques as part of its assistance program to meet the religious needs of the Turkish expatriates.

On Dec. 19, DITIB Secretary-General Bekir Alboga acknowledged that "some imams had exceeded their authority and were engaged in collecting information." He apologized, saying his organization was against such practices.

With the expansion of the investigations by German security services and prosecutors following the raids on residences, the arrest and deportation of Diyanet imams became likely. German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked for these imams to be recalled during her visit to Ankara Feb. 2. Immediately after her visit, six imams were recalled to Turkey.

Diyanet Director Mehmet Gormez said some imams may have exceeded their duties but he would not accept that they were involved in espionage. Gormez said they had recalled the six imams not to damage the 40-year friendship between Germany and Turkey. He said the Diyanet and the DITIB were above politics and the state never interfered in the operations of the DITIB.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag argued that the search of the imams' residences violated German law and could not be reconciled with human rights and freedom of faith.

It appears that Diyanet imams gave the most fervent support to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call on Turkish ambassadors to struggle against the Gulen movement in the countries they work.

Media organs close to the government said the spying imam crisis was a ploy of Western countries to support and protect the Gulen movement.

Never mind that the Diyanet director said that they don't mix religion with politics. It seems the Diyanet and its imams are already lined up behind Erdogan and the AKP.
The Azerbaijani ambassador to Bulgaria, Nargis Gurbanova, has attempted to intimidate the countrys residents.

February 24, 2017, 12:44 Azerbaijan ambassador attempts to intimidate Bulgarians, regarding Karabakh

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 24, ARTSAKHPRESS: She issued an open letter in connection with a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh by National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB) political party leader Valeri Simeonov and several other NFSB members, as well as regarding the subsequent Bulgarian media reports on this visit.

The 24 Hours periodical of Bulgaria published this letter, reported Haqqin.az news agency of Azerbaijan.

Accordingly, the Azerbaijani ambassador threatened Bulgarian residents with criminal prosecution.

Azerbaijan has the right to initiate legal action against any individual, or legal person, that carries out any activity against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, assured the Azerbaijani diplomat, NEWS.am reports.

After the arrest of Israeli Russian blogger Alexander Lapshin, who was extradited to Azerbaijan for visiting the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, an unprecedented number of international observers arrived in Artsakh to monitor its constitutional referendum on Monday.
February 23, 2017

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made two promises that were especially significant to his supporters: He would open the Hagia Sophia as a mosque and build a mosque in Taksim Square. Now he is delivering on one of them.

On Feb. 17 in Taksim Square, the heart of Istanbul, officials held a ceremony to celebrate the launch of the Taksim mosque construction project. The mosque is expected to open for service during Ramadan in 2018 (mid-May to mid-June). Conservative segments of society have sought the mosque since 1968, as Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas explained during the groundbreaking ceremony. Despite serious fears of protests, none materialized. In fact, there was only a small crowd cheering for the project thats the crown jewel of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). It was indeed a low-key event, with more police and workers present than spectators.

Al-Monitor asked art historian Murat Ozer about the significance of the mosque. Ozer, who is chairman of the nongovernmental organization Imkander, was candid. Since the conquest of Istanbul [in 1453], mosques have been erected all around the city, particularly around the palace and in the districts frequented by Muslims," he said. Though the area where Taksim Square now stands was historically considered a non-Muslim area, "By the 17th and 18th centuries, the population changed and Muslims in the area needed a mosque. Hence a mosque and barracks were built at the location where today the new mosque is being built. After the establishment of the Republic, the barracks and the mosque were demolished to make room for a big public square like in all major European cities.

Ozers analysis, as well as Al-Monitors previous reporting, shows that the Taksim district has always been a contested area among people of different political views. The many battles for Istanbuls soul have always left their distinctive marks on the district. Although there are about a hundred mosques in the Beyoglu district, there are only three around Taksim Square. Ozer, along with observant Muslims, argues that three mosques cannot serve the densely populated streets there.

Erdogan has voiced this concern many times while explaining that his vision for Taksim will include a mosque next to the existing Hagia Triada (Holy Trinity) church, reflecting Turkey's cultural heritage. Ozer told Al-Monitor, It is crucial that historic sites are being taken into consideration in the design of the mosque. For example, it is designed to be not taller than the churches in the neighborhood.

On Feb. 10, Mevlut Tezel, a columnist for pro-AKP daily Sabah, published a piece echoing Erdogans words from 2013, asking for stores that block the view of the church to be demolished.

The Hagia Triada, which dates back to the late 19th century, is the largest church for the dwindling Greek Orthodox community in Turkey. The stores in question are the property of Balikli Greek Hospital, which is a foundation of the Greek community. The rent from these stores is the hospitals main income. Demolishing these buildings, even with compensation for their real estate value, would be a significant blow to the hospital. Plus, intriguingly, removing the stores isn't necessary to open up the view of the church, as the churchs entrance faces the opposite street. Hence, to demand the removal of these buildings to make the church visible doesn't make sense to anyone who knows the area.

There are other peculiar facts surrounding the hasty construction project. For example, the Cultural Monuments Preservation Board just approved the construction plans Jan. 19. The project did not go through an open bidding process. Rather, it was handed to the Sur Construction Co., which promised to do it for free, to be in good graces of God. When asked why the project was not available for public bidding, Adnan Ertem, director of the General Directorate for Foundations, said, The owner of Sur Construction is a resident of the district and was born and raised here. He had been dreaming of this mosque all his life, so he appeared as a candidate to take the project and we signed the protocol.

The mosque's architect is Sefik Birkiye, who designed Erdogans glorious palace in Ankara.

In 2013, during the Gezi protests, Erdogan angered secular Turks with his repeated promise of a Taksim mosque and reconstruction of the barracks. It was particularly peculiar that he reminded the public, just a few days after the July coup attempt last year, Whether they want it or not, we will build the mosque in Taksim."

Yet not all influential pious Muslims are convinced that the Taksim mosque is important. For example, Ismet Ozel, a prominent Muslim poet and scholar, said in a 2012 interview that he views these grand mosque projects, including the one proposed for Taksim, as showy government self-promotion. Even at that time he had warned that the government should urgently focus its efforts on sustainable projects that will benefit the public.

The lack of supporters or even protesters at the groundbreaking indicates a lack of public interest in the matter. So why was there such urgency to start the Taksim mosque project during such a difficult time in Turkey?

Several Twitter users suggested it just might have something to do with the April 16 referendum on constitutional amendments that would broaden Erdogan's powers immensely. Perhaps Erdogan could also complete the Hagia Sophia mosque project before then, they joked.

It was mostly pro-AKP and Islamist networks that announced the construction plans for the Taksim mosque. Some of them used passionate language, such as, Istanbul will now be saved from the shame" of having no mosque in the square. The few remaining opposition dailies questioned why the project was rushed and why there was no open public bidding for the construction  yet they didn't carry the issue front and center. So why didn't the seculars react?

First, the opposition has learned significant lessons. They refrain from engaging in any sort of sharp, reactionary moves that involve Islamic symbols. No one wants to be labeled anti-Muslim, or seem opposed to a place of worship. So even those who agree Turkey needs more hospitals and schools  not mosques  prefer to remain quiet.

A college student and left-wing activist from Ankara told Al-Monitor: There have been so many attempts to provoke us and pious Muslim groups prior to the referendum. [The government] sacked hundreds of academics. The activist also cited the media's unusual coverage of an incident on a bus in which a woman yanked off a girl's headscarf and accused her of being a terrorist. "In a country where every day a woman becomes a victim of murder or rape, this attack became the main highlight. But [still] people did not take to streets.

It is counterintuitive that a government would want people clashing on the streets, as anti-government protests are usually a means of holding leaders accountable. However, the AKP has skillfully used moments of chaos to unite people behind the issue of national security. Several opposition politicians, such as Umit Ozdag, former deputy leader of the Nationalist Action Party, fear the AKP is trying to generate "controlled chaos" prior to the April referendum. Hence, the opposition groups are so far staying quiet in the face of all provocations.

So the Taksim mosque project  dreamed of for decades and rushed into in the past couple of months  is just seen as another attempt to create an environment where Erdogans base would feel the urge to rally around the flag for the referendum. So far, it hasn't worked.
A new grocery-anchored development will begin rising soon at the northwest corner of Zierdt and Martin roads in Huntsville.

The Shoppes at Redstone Square. (Courtesy)

The Huntsville City Council approved a development agreement with Fuquay Commons and Huntsville SJ on Thursday for the Shoppes at Redstone Square, a multi-phase project with at least 59,000 square feet of retail space and several outparcels. Construction will begin no later than Aug. 1, 2017.

Huntsville Director of Urban Development Shane Davis told AL.com the city will spend $400,000 on sewer service and an access drive off Zierdt Road. In turn, Davis said the developer will dedicate the right-of-way needed for the Zierdt Road and Martin Road widening projects.

"The majority of the costs will be for the sewer service," he said. "The developer is not ready to announce any tenants at this time."

The developer must reimburse the city if the project is not complete and open for business by Dec. 15, 2018 or if permitted construction of at least 59,000 square feet does not begin within three years of the effective date.

Jim Gendreau of Huntsville SJ and Tailwinds Development in Florida said they are recruiting national sit-down restaurants and chains to the site, which he expects will be operational by fall 2018.

"I think within another 30 days we'll be able to release (tenant) names," he said.

The Shoppes at Redstone Square will operate in an under-served residential area with more than 55,000 daytime employees within a five-mile radius. The daily traffic count along Martin and Zierdt roads spans more than 27,500.

Colliers International is serving as the broker for the project. Click here to learn more about the Shoppes at Redstone Square.
The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama has voted to "offer hospitality for refugees, migrants and immigrants in the state of Alabama and offer resources as needed."

The diocese, which includes 30,000 members at 90 parishes in north and central Alabama, passed the resolution supporting refugees and immigrants in its most recent annual convention on Feb. 18 in Birmingham.

"We want to make sure we extend hospitality to every stranger," said lay delegate Janet Pandzik, a member of the vestry at Trinity Episcopal Church in Clanton, which introduced the resolution.

"It's just kind of a reminder for all of us to look out for everyone," Pandzik said. "We have a number of migrant workers and immigrants and refugees. We have people who need to know we believe in Jesus Christ and no one is a stranger in the eyes of God. We all thought it was a good reminder to take care of the people who were not born in this country."

Pandzik said the statement was not a direct response to the seven-nation travel ban issued by President Donald Trump in an executive order that has now been delayed by court challenges.

"We must welcome the stranger," said the Rev. Bill King, an Episcopal priest recently retired from Trinity Episcopal who spoke in favor of the resolution at the convention. "Jesus said it. It is not political. It is spiritual."
The interfaith coalition Faith in Action Alabama held a prayer rally at Levite Jewish Community Center today to show support for Jews and Muslims in the wake of threats against Jewish and Muslim facilities in Birmingham.

"We share a commitment to creating a city and a world in which each of us can practice our faith in peace, and where we are strengthened by our diversity," said the Rev. Dave Barnhart, pastor of St. Junia United Methodist Church in Birmingham. "We have each other's backs."

Sameh Asal, imam of Birmingham Islamic Society, offered his support for the Jewish community after called-in bomb threats at the Levite Jewish Community Center.

"I'm here to show the support of the Muslim community to our brothers and sisters in the Jewish faith," Asal said.

"In the Muslim community, we are really disturbed and concerned about hearing that there was a threat against our brothers and sisters in the Jewish community," Asal said. "We feel like if it is bad for the Jews, it is also bad for Muslims, it's bad for black people, it is bad for everyone. So we're here to show support and to stand in solidarity against any action or any saying of hate and to show support to the Jewish community."

Last weekend, the Birmingham Islamic Society received a threat by email.

"If we do not stand by each other, we should not be expecting anyone else to stand by us," Asal said.
Join us for another stop on our journey through Whitman, Alabama. The goal of the documentary series? Bridge the gap between people. Filmmaker Jennifer Crandall traveled hundreds of miles to capture the essence of America as people across Alabama bring "Song of Myself" by poet Walt Whitman to life. Crandall below tells us more about Beth Spivey, of Tyler, Ala.

Whitman, Alabama site | On Facebook

I met Beth at the museum where she works, then followed her home in my car. When we pulled up she immediately took a shotgun out of her trunk and leaned it on her front porch.

I think she was testing my boundaries a little, seeing what she could provoke in me. I think there's a dance or play that can go on between people. Was I just an outsider who's going to look at her like, "Oooh, look at these southerners!"

Now Beth agrees; she was poking at me.

"That's how I am," Beth says. "And a lot of people can't handle me. But I tested you and you came to my party and spent the night here. You didn't know if I was a killer!"

Beth Spivey (left), one of the readers for the "Whitman, Alabama" documentary, with Jennifer Crandall, Pierre Kattar and Bob Miller, members of the documentary team, in Tyler, Ala.

Beth had invited me to a party at her house. She has a hunting camp in her backyard and a group of Cajun's from Louisiana was there hunting deer. That night the Cajuns cooked up a huge low country boil and then picked up their instruments and played Zydeco music in the barn. There was dancing and drinking late into the night.

As for poetry, Beth has always had an appreciation. It should have been obvious but I didn't know that when we filmed.

"I love the art of wording things," she says. "I love smart-ass people."

But she had some reservations about reading -- for two reasons. She was hoping her dad would do the reading. And I suspect she didn't totally trust the project's intentions. But she ended up stepping up to plate anyway.

"Cuz my Daddy died and you didn't have anyone else!" she says. "And sometimes you feel like somebody from out of state is going to make a fool out of you, and I just wanted to say, 'I can read this and freak you out.' All we ever hear is how stupid we are, and not politically correct. I wanted to represent the state to let you know that there are people that can transform into what you want them to be in order to do a good job. I ain't ever done anything like that before but I wanted to do a good job."

So Beth practiced her verse before the shoot. Again and again and again.

"I didn't want to look like an idiot!" she explains. "Even though I couldn't say capitulate for nothing."

She also wasn't a big fan of the verse I had chosen.

"I am about fun!" she explains. "This verse is NOT about fun. Killed! Stabbed! Bloody! Dead! Nobody alive! I can find humor in everything -- except for that damn verse."

After the fact I explained that I thought contrasts are cool. Her ridiculously fun personality with this particularly dark passage.

"Truly deep, Jennifer. Truly deep!" she says, not quite buying it. "I don't see the woman in a Sno-Cone booth or little kids dancing under a bridge reading that." [See verse 43]

I remind her that she did it though. She said yes. She got through it.

"I did it," she concedes. "But it's just like being married to a piece of shit -- not gonna do that again."

One bit of serendipity. You can't see it in Beth's verse, but the house just behind where we filmed was owned by Beth's paternal grandma -- Elizabeth Whitman. It's been known forever as "the Whitman House.

It's a point of pride for Beth. She's proud of the house. She's proud of where she comes from, and her community.

"We don't try to impress anybody. We enjoy the little things. And we're content. And people hate that," she says. "It's a simple, slow life. Our ambulances don't even speed. If you're gonna die, you're gonna die."

When asked what she thinks the biggest misconception of the south is she says it's the idea that everybody's racist, that there's a Klan around every corner.

Sometimes she gets those kinds of questions at work at Old Depot Museum in Selma. "Is the Klan here?"

"Well if they are, they suck!" she tells them. "You an Alabama fan or Auburn? That's what we care about here."

Beth doesn't understand that kind of thinking. She has more friends than she can count.

"You can't have enough friends in life--it's not possible," she says. "And how could you hate someone for who they worship, or the color of the skin, or who they love? It's exhausting. You have to be miserable."

"And here's the thing about a small town," she adds. "If you're a piece of crap, word gets out really quick."

For Beth, it's about community. Being genuine. Talking. Telling stories. Asking questions. More talking.

She gave an example: She had been in New York City and bought a charcoal drawing in Central Park. She carried it all throughout the city, and nobody said a word. Then she carried it through the airport, on her way back home to Alabama.

"Guy walks right up to me and asks, 'What you got in that tube?'"

"Dear God, you're from Alabama!" she said.

--

By filmmaker Jennifer Crandall, as told to writer Elizabeth Hildreth
Alabama Attorney General Steven Marshall today announced three former employees of a Cherokee County nursing home have been indicted for the neglect of an 84-year-old resident of the facility.

Marshall said Michele Curry, 42, of Centre, was arrested this morning and has been released on $30,000 bond. Kacey Allen, 28, also of Centre, and Shawna Rogers, 26, of Rome, Ga., were arrested this afternoon.

The Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit presented evidence to a Cherokee County grand jury on Feb. 15 charging each woman with one count of elder abuse/neglect in the second degree.

The three are former employees of Cherokee Health and Rehab nursing home in Centre.

Investigators say Curry, a licensed practical nurse, and Rogers and Allen, certified nursing assistants, were responsible for the care of a nursing home resident confined to a bed throughout the night of Sept. 3, 2016 and into the following morning.

Authorities say the three charted that they had entered the room numerous times throughout the night to check on the resident. However, a review of the surveillance video showed none of the three entered the room for approximately 11 hours.

When the resident was finally checked on, she was found to be suffering from approximately one hundred ant bites.

"It is alleged this intentional neglect directly contributed to the injuries to the resident," the news release states.

If convicted, the women could face two to 20 years in jail.

Marshall commended the staff and administration of Cherokee Health and Rehab for their quick reporting of the incident and his office's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for the investigation which led to the indictments.
Cascades Sonoco announced a $16 million expansion of its Birmingham facility today, which is expected to create 20 jobs.

The expansion of the Cleage Drive property will begin soon, with a startup expected in the second quarter of next year, the company said. Once at full capacity, the new coating line will be able to produce up to 50,000 tons of sustainable coated materials each year.

Rodger Fuller, senior vice president of Sonoco's Paper and Engineered Carriers, said in a statement that the expansion shows "Cascades Sonoco remains dedicated to maintain its market leadership position in protective roll packaging for the paper industry."

Canada-based Cascades Sonoco worked closely on the project with the Alabama Department of Commerce, the Jefferson County Commission, Alabama Power and the Birmingham Business Alliance. AIDT will provide recruitment and training services.

The expansion will involve technology to provide coated paper and paperboard materials using the company's coating technology. Cascades Sonoco

recently introduced new coatings to the folding carton and corrugated industries.

They are water-based functional and barrier coatings designed to replace the standard coating used in take-out container folding carton applications, as well as wax replacement technology for the corrugated industry, according to the release. The company says these are recyclable, repulpable and compostable.

Jeff Traywick, senior project manager for the Birmingham Business Alliance, said the project was identified through the BBA's Business Retention and Expansion program.

"Foreign-based companies like Cascades Sonoco recognize the stability of the Birmingham market and find our community a great place to put down roots," he said.
The two Birmingham civil rights attorneys who were detained in Blount County on Thursday morning said they were arrested for protecting themselves from an "unlawful" search.

Victor Revill and Megan Garcia

Victor Revill, owner of Revill Law Firm, and Megan Garcia, an associate, were arrested outside the Blount County courthouse and charged with obstructing a governmental operation and refusal to permit inspection of property subject to a search warrant. Both charges are misdemeanor.

Revill said they were at the courthouse to represent a client, Lloyd Edwards, during a protection from abuse hearing. Edwards is accused of child sex abuse of an 11-year-old victim and child porn, according to court documents.

After the hearing, they spoke to their client inside the courthouse for 15 to 20 minutes. During that conversation, they asked their client for his cellphone so they can gather more information for his case.

Revill said that on their way out the courthouse, the client was stopped by a police officer and an investigator. The officer told the client they had a warrant to search both him and his vehicle. After looking at the search warrant himself, Revill told the client that the authorities had a right to search him.

"No one knew any one had a search warrant or anything," Revill said. "So when we walked out the courthouse, we were blindsided."

Pamela Casey, Blount County district attorney, said the warrant was lawful.

"The officers were seeking evidence pursuant to a lawful search warrant," Casey said. "This case involves a child sex abuse case and pornography. We will have no further comment at this time. It is an ongoing investigation."

That's when the investigator asked to see Garcia's satchel because they saw the client give Garcia his cellphone. Revill said they didn't consent to the search and they were detained.

"I told them, 'Your search warrant authorized you to search the person, our client, and his vehicle. It does not authorize you to search his attorneys. So, we are not going to agree with you searching us,'" Revill said.

During the four-minute conversation with authorities, Revill said the investigator made a phone call.

"Two or three minutes later, (the investigator) told the officer, 'Arrest them for obstruction of government operations. So we put our hands up and we were arrested," Revill said. "Basically, we were arrested for refusing consent, which is our constitutional right, first of all. There was no search warrant to search us. There wasn't a lawful reason to detain us. They did not have the right to charge us with a crime."

Garcia said she was in shock during her arrest.

"When they said we were under arrest and we put our hands up, I was like, 'Is this real life?' It's so obvious that something was wrong," Garcia said.

Revill said both he and Garcia have obtained attorneys to represent them. He said they are practicing what they preach as civil rights attorneys.

"It's a sad day for Alabama because you have, once again, an example of a zealous investigator that heard something they didn't like and said, 'I'm going to find a way to arrest them. I'm going to find a way to do what I want to do. I'm going to search her and I'm going to find a way to do it," Revill said. "There are so many good law enforcement officers in this state, in this city, and all across America and it's just sad when you have some who want to bend, or in this case break, the rules."
he President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, on Friday signed a decree.

February 24, 2017, 15:16 Armenia President bestows posthumous award upon military officer

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 24, ARTSAKHPRESS: Accordingly, military officer, Captain Gor Khudinyan, has been posthumously awarded the Medal for Military Service, and in recognition of his bravery and selflessness shown while defending the borders of the homeland.

Khudinyan (born in 1991) fell Thursday, at the protection area of a Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Defense Army unit which is located in the northern direction.
BY KEITH JACKSON

AT A CEREMONY at Anganai village near Kieta on Friday, Bougainville president James Tanis said there was no doubt the Autonomous Province will become an independent nation.

Mr Tanis expressed confidence that the people of Bougainville will vote yes to independence whenever a referendum is held. Not before 2015 is the agreed timeframe.

The reconciliation ceremony was one of many being held throughout the island right now to expunge the enmities resulting from a civil war in which 20,000 Bougainvilleans died.

Bougainville faces an election for a new parliament and president in March, and Mr Tanis knows what many of his people want to hear - a call for autonomy.

And, conscious that he became president by default  his predecessor Joseph Kabui died in office in June 2008, Mr Tanis emphasised the importance of continuity in government and said his leadership should be judged by how much he has accomplished in a short time.

A week ago, an opposition party, the New Bougainville Party, was reconstituted in Buka. It will be led by PNGs ambassador to China , John Momis.

Ambassador Momis will definitely contest the presidency, with the party contesting all seats in Bougainville , NBP official Linus Sahoto said.

The Party, under the leadership of John Momis, if elected to power will pursue the development of Bougainville bringing about changes to the current stagnation, he said.

 Bougainville must move forward and be counted amongst the developed regions of the Pacific.

We have no reason to remain divided and underdeveloped, for we have the capacity and resources to develop Bougainville the way we want at our own pace, he said.

Meanwhile, a prominent Bougainvillean, Patrick Heromate, has said Bougainville s journey towards autonomy is unclear and that there are big questions for people and government to answer.

Mr Heromate says funds worth millions of kina pumped into Bougainville s economy have disappeared, leaving many development projects incomplete.

Millions have been lost and Bougainville must change its dealings with the spending of funds, he said.

We have just turned the page into another new year and if our leaders continue to spend money and resources like this, the people will suffer.

Mr Eromate said public order issues were on the rise and that law enforcement officers needed to step up their efforts in fighting crime.

He also called on leaders to address weapons disposal, saying guns are still being used in some parts of Bougainville .
All thats changed. Now expats can live a life transiting between secure apartment compound, secure office block and secure yacht club all in a secure alarm-buttoned, back-to-base connected SUV.

It was a transit stop between somewhere else and adventure. More Cairns than Kandep. And many of us colonials had little taste for it. We preferred the outstations and the bush.

The town, as it was then, was utilitarian, confronting, pragmatic and, culturally, barely part of Papua New Guinea at all.

BACK in the 1960s  I know Im showing my age  you could not live in Port Moresby and live your life in a bubble.

Rarely out of the aircon and exposed to the outside world mainly in shopping centres where the aromas and people of Mosbi are allowed through the gates, these temporary residents can operate in personal disconnect with PNGs realities.

Even the wonderfully seedy, disorganised and welcome-to-your-new-life-mug Jackson's airport has given way to air-bridges, air-conditioning and brisk efficiency, although the domestic terminal remains a relic.

But, if you live in that Mosbi bubble, Papua New Guinea can seem so far away.

The challenge of expat life in the PNG capital is to get out of the bubble and begin to understand the country and its people. And to do that you still need a taste for adventure.

Ingrid and I had flown from Brisbane on a sparsely occupied morning jet. An upgrade to business class courtesy of Qantas points made the trip a therapy.

The recently reintroduced free visa on arrival for short-term visitors was honoured and well-organised and the family was there to greet and orientate us into the initial Port Moresby leg of a two-week re-engagement with a country I had known so well and loved so much as a young man.

Demanding comfort these days, Id booked us into the new, grand, gated Stanley hotel where Ben and Becky have an apartment and where the book launch of My Walk to Equality is to be held in two weeks.

This is courtesy of Gummi Fridriksson and the Paga Hill Development Company, which sounds like a sixties mellow rock band but is a local mega-construction outfit that, in recent years, has provided vital sponsorship to help sustain PNGs present day literary resurgence.

Some people dont like the relationship and from time to time tell me so but, at my advancing age, I and my arthritis are impervious to spurious angst.

We spent an afternoon exploring the immediate Waigani environs of The Stanley, strolling through Vision City shopping complex where I tracked down a copy of the Post-Courier containing an agreeable full-page feature on My Walk to Equality by reporter Leiao Gerega, whose work is represented in the collection by the poems Quietly Like a Mouse and One Day the Men all Bargained for a Price.

On my journey, I was waylaid by writer, linguist and PNG Attitude reader Samantha Kusari who recognised me by my face, frizz and girth and who, in the course of pleasant conversation, I invited to the book launch,

Later, in a nearby bar, I cut the rust off my Tok Pisin with Arthur from Oro (thanks Arthur, well do it again) and had a drink and a snack with some media mates at the yacht club where we watched the sun set over Fairfax Harbour and I was reminded of those evanescent and dusty dusks of 50 years ago and remembered there are beautiful things that never change. Some moments when, intentionally or not, you manage to escape the bubble.
Jake Turx drew the presidents anger after he tried to ask a question about anti-Semitic attacks in the US.

Before President Donald Trumps infamous 76-minute press conference on February 16, Jake Turx was a relatively unknown Washington reporter for Ami magazine.

But that changed dramatically when Turx, who is visibly Jewish but describes himself as a post-labellist millennial, stood up after Trump pointed to him, seeking a friendly reporter.

Turx, who covered both the Trump campaign and that of his opponent Hillary Clinton, was well known to the president.

Ive always felt that we had this mutual understanding, Turx, 30, told Al Jazeera. That he trusted me.

That included post-debate interviews in the so-called spin room where candidates talk to reporters. Trump, Turx points out, was always very generous with his time for the young reporter.

So when the president  who had already faced a barrage of questions about his ties to Russia, the resignation of his national security adviser and his self-perceived mistreatment by the media  scanned the room full of reporters, he spotted Turx, whose Twitter handle @JakeTurx was on his kippah.

Watch how friendly he is, Trump told everyone, hoping to get a softball question. And, he did.

Anti-Semitic attacks

Turx says he prefers not to ask questions about anti-Semitism, because its simply too obvious, but the story of threats against Jewish Community Centres (JCC) in the US wasnt getting the coverage he had hoped.

People werent talking about it and Id gotten a lot of requests and private messages from teachers and faculty members at various JCCs around the country begging me to bring up the issue, Turx says.

There were reports of 48 threats against Jewish community centres across the country in January alone. The New York City Police Department reported a doubling in the same month of hate crimes against Jewish citizens.

So Turx identified himself, then started with a statement:

Despite what some of my colleagues have been reporting, I havent seen anybody in my community accuse either yourself or anyone else, anyone on your staff of being anti-Semitic, he said politely.

And then, the statement that changed everything:

However, what we are concerned about and what we havent really heard being addressed is an uptick in anti-Semitism and how the government is planning to take care of it.

After mentioning reports of bomb threats, Trump had heard enough.

WATCH: Americas media under Trump  An ominous start

You see, he said he was going to ask a simple easy question. And its not, the president huffed.

Turx was baffled. I was trying to figure out, What did I do wrong?' he explains now. Did I say the wrong word?

Apparently, he did. Trump told him to sit down.

I am the least anti-Semitic person that youve ever seen in your entire life, he said.

Turx tried to interject in an attempt to clarify that had not meant to accuse the president of anti-Semitism.

Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Trump told him. See? He lied about. He was going to get up and ask a straight, simple question.

Turx sat down, puzzled by the exchange. But his place in history was now firmly cemented.

The messages of support and hatred poured in. His Twitter feed lit up, earning 10,000 more followers.

The back-and-forth played across the world on social media and fed into a perception that, rightly or wrongly, already existed: Trump wasnt taking the threats seriously.

In January, the White House faced condemnation for failing to mention, in a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the six million Jews who died.

Five days after his moment with Turx, Trump finally addressed the issue during a visit to the National Museum of African-American History in Washington, DC.

The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centres are horrible and are painful, and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil, he said.

The next day, Vice-President Mike Pence visited a Jewish cemetery in St Louis that had been vandalised and helped clean it up.

There is no place in America for hatred, prejudice, or acts of violence, or anti-Semitism, he said.

Turx shrugs off the role he played in sparking all of this. The father of three who grew up in both Los Angeles and New York would rather be talking about the budget or school vouchers, but hes fully aware that sometimes you just have to go there.

If youre a dentist and you have to pull out the tooth of a child, you just pull out that tooth, he says of his memorable moment with the commander-in-chief. You do your job and stay honest to the people you are out there working on behalf of.
UNEP and Indonesia launch campaign to solve global issue of massive amounts of plastic ending up in oceans.

Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia  The sun is peeking from over the horizon, greeting early morning beach-dwellers to the sounds of crashing waves, the feel of tropical humidity and the sight of an entire beach covered in trash.

While seemingly idyllic, the coastline of Kuta is in reality cluttered with plastic bottles, packaging, straws, cans, old shoes and plastic bags.

Tourists who fly in from across the globe to visit the tourist paradise, walk or jog through the harmful waste as it washes in with the waves from the ocean.

On the same island, on Friday, scientists, CEOs, entrepreneurs and leaders from public and private sectors began gathering for a conference on the ocean.





One of the discussions they are having is how people, countries and companies can solve the global issue of massive amounts of plastic waste ending up in oceans.

Every year eight million tonnes of plastic goes into the ocean, the equivalent to five grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world.

About 90 percent of coral reefs will disappear by 2050, the same year scientists have estimated there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

We take $2.5 trillion out of the oceans through fishing and aquaculture, shipping and tourism annually.

Against this backdrop, the UN has decided to launch a global campaign declaring war on ocean plastic. It is urging governments to pass plastic-reduction policy with a view to ending marine litter.

The Blue Economy, or money generated from oceans and coastlines, is not the only thing that will be catastrophically affected if we continue to allow plastic to enter the ocean the way we are now, something that everyone is equally responsible for, according to Peter Thomson, the president of the UN General Assembly.

READ MORE  Oceans to have more plastic than fish by 2050: Report

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg says that it is not about losing just one species but an ecosystem of up to one million species.

The catastrophic loss of biodiversity will drain the regions food security and livelihood, he warns.

This is an ecological crisis  and it is threatening not only marine life, but also our health.

The plastics that end up in the ocean are consumed by fish that in turn end up on our plate and in our bodies.

On a beach in Bali on Thursday morning, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), together with the Indonesian government, announced a pledge to reduce plastic waste in Indonesia by 70 percent by the end of 2025.

The reality is that every day nearly 10 million plastic bags are handed out in Indonesia for free.

A trial tax on plastic bags resulted in a 50 percent reduction in plastic waste last year.

However, Siti Nurbaya, Indonesian environment minister, said that businesses and traders were complaining about the tax.

Reporters Notebook: In Bali, ILO debates decent work for all

How then is it possible to implement the change?

The solution is seemingly easy  to stop using plastic altogether. The reality is different.

In Indonesia, there is a lack of awareness when it comes to trash, which is why a national education programme is being introduced into the curriculum as one way to tackle waste.

But the problem goes far beyond education and starts at a much higher level in business and politics.

The World Ocean Conference has brought several international bodies together. The goals are in place but the discussion is far from over.
With the February 13 killing of Kim Jong-nam, here is an overview of the Kim genealogy and its most important members.

Officially, in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, or DPRK, there are four important members of the Kim family: North Korean founding father and president Kim Il-sung, his first wife Kim Jong-suk, who died in 1949, their son and late leader Kim Jong-il, and his son and current leader Kim Jong-un.

The February 13 killing of Kim Jong-nam highlights a series of complicated family connections, common-law wives, in-laws, extended family members and personal and political rivalries.

The well-appointed and opulent houses in North Koreas elite residential subdivisions can be loud and crowded places, inhabited by squabbling family members competing for attention, money, power and prestige. A purged and executed uncle and the murder of a rebellious half-brother are just a very jagged tip of an immense iceberg.

The favoured bloodline of the revolutionary family

The supreme leader

Kim Jong-un, 33. The current supreme leaders uncanny likeness to his grandfather dazzled the North Korean old guard elites. It is not, as some have alleged, the result of plastic surgery.

Having some of his fathers personality traits, particularly a hair-trigger temper and Manichean worldview, Jong-un established himself early as a darling heart boy of North Koreas senior general who supervised his education and grooming.

Unlike his brooding more introverted father, Jong-un also inherited some of his mothers more extroverted and gregarious traits. Whereas his father kept many of his public interactions formal and stiff, Jong-un is more than happy to glad-hand and hug the North Korean citizens he meets.

Jong-uns personality seems at times to be a toxic mix. It is very useful to keep your underlings guessing when running the countrys internal affairs, but when those personality treats leak outside in the form of the very public purging and execution of an uncle, or the alleged murder of a half-brother, observers in the international community can be forgiven for feeling uneasy.

READ MORE: Nerve agent used to kill Kim Jong-nam: police

Kim Jong-uns siblings:

The favourite daughters

Kim Sul-song, 42. Of Jong-ils five common-law wives, only one was recognised as legitimate by his father.

Kim Yong-suk was considered the official wife, and was the result of matchmaking by Il-sung.

The couple had two daughters, one of whom was Kim Sul-song  the favourite and most favoured of the late leaders seven children.

A polyglot and intellectual, Sul-song worked closely with her father and grandfather. For a number of years, she managed Jong-ils public schedule, travel itineraries and security arrangements. The late leader once proudly boasted of his daughters political skills to a foreign ambassador

Since the late 2000s she has become a hidden, but significant power player in palace politics and owns several large trading corporations. The nature of the relationship between Sul-song and Jong-un is not fully known, but she is a critical player in the regime.

If something should happen to Jong-un, she is a likely candidate to succeed him.

Kim Yo-jong, 29. Jong-ils youngest child is one of Jong-uns closest aides. Like her older half-sister, Sul-song, Yo-jong was a favourite child and expressed an early interest in North Korean politics.

Yo-jongs official position is as a deputy director in the regimes state media and cultural affairs, but she is also responsible for managing her brothers schedule, meetings and bodyguards. Yo-jong will be a power player in the DPRK for a long time to come as her career is just getting started.

READ MORE: Malaysia seeks Interpol alert over Kim airport murder

The semi-secret brother

Kim Jong-nam, 45; deceased. Jong-nam was Jong-ils eldest son, the result of his relationship with the South Korean-born actress Song Hye-rim.

Jong-nam grew up mainly with his mothers intellectual family in secret, while his father consolidated his power base.

He lived outside North Korea, on and off for 10 years, going to school in Switzerland and Russia. When Jong-nam returned to the DPRK, he was listless, and despised being kept behind the palace walls. He also started expressing his qualms about North Koreas political system to his father. He would eventually start working in the regime  holding positions in the national police and helping to set up the countrys IT.

There have always been mixed signals as to whether Jong-nam would actually be his fathers successor.

In any event, Jong-il deemed him more useful to his interests if he operated outside the DPRK as an expatriate. Jong-nam managed some of the Kim familys accounts and performed a number of sensitive tasks as one of his fathers personal emissaries. Jong-nam was fairly outspoken in his opposition to a third generation hereditary succession.

In his will, Jong-il instructed that Jong-nam not be targeted for assassination by his half-brothers supporters.

Another half-brother

Kim Jong-chol, 35. The eldest son of Jong-ils marriage to his beloved fourth wife Ko Yong-hui has very little interest in family or regime politics.

Jong-chol has always had the same interests as his father, specifically music, films  he mostly likes anime  and writing.

He holds a nominal position as a contributing writer to the regimes official publications. But Jong-chols passion and interest is electric guitars and American blues and rock music with a particular and well-documented affection for Eric Clapton.

Jong-chol, like other members of the family, has been the subject of misleading information. It is not that his father explicitly said that Jong-chol was girlish, but that he did not have the personality suited for North Korean politics.

WATCH: Reality Check  What do we know about North Korea?

A once powerful lady

Kim Kyong-hui, 70. The daughter of Il-sungs first marriage, Madame Kim was Jong-ils youngest sister and his closest and most trusted relative, confidante and aide.

She was married to Jang Song-thaek, the uncle notoriously executed in 2013, but had been estranged from him since the 1980s. She also had close ties to the murdered Jong-nam.

Separated from her husband, Madame Kim was a powerful force in DPRK politics, entrusted with sensitive regime business and the only person with direct personal access to her brother. She was present when Jong-il passed away in 2011 and was the executor of his will.

She helped shepherd and support her nephew as he settled into the supreme leaders role, even if she had personal misgivings about his preparedness to assume that position. A combination of health setbacks and disillusionment has rendered her politically inactive. She hasnt been seen in public since 2013.





The other Kims

Kim Yong-ju, 95. He is the youngest brother of Il-sung.

For many years during the 1960s and 1970s he led the powerful Organisation Guidance Department where he supervised the work of his nephew, Jong-il.

Some thought, with little evidence, that Yong-ju would succeed his older brother on an interim basis.

Chronic stress-related health problems and outmanoeuvring by Jong Il sidelined Yong-ju who would disappear from public view until the early 1990s. He is one of North Koreas honorary vice presidents, retains a small patronage network and appears occasionally in the countrys state media.

Kim Pyong-il, 62. During the 1970s, Jong-il was involved in a legitimate power struggle to become his fathers hereditary successor. His father had a second wife with three children of her own.

The eldest son, Pyong-il, studied at a military academy, had more personal popularity than his older half brother and worked as one of his fathers bodyguards. What is more, his mother, Kim Sung-ae, was the countrys first lady and installed her own family members into the power structure to provide the support and push the succession claim for her son. It didnt work.

Jong-il and his supporters ensured his dominance of the DPRK political culture. Pyong-il would be effectively exiled from the country to a series of diplomatic posts starting in the 1980s. He is currently the North Korean ambassador in the Czech Republic.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
For years, Israel has increasingly taken control of Palestinian lands in Area C to build out its industrial zones.

Salfit, occupied West Bank  Standing by the side of a highway near the main gates to Ariel West, an Israeli industrial zone in the heart of the West Bank district of Salfit, Jamal Omar Fazaa makes a sweeping gesture with his hand.

This is my familys land, exactly 186 dunums [18 hectares], he tells Al Jazeera.

An old olive tree stands just a few metres from the Israeli bulldozers levelling the ground here. The crooked necks of yellow cranes dot the landscape along this stretch of Highway 5, an Israeli road that cuts through two adjacent industrial zones: Barkan, which houses more than 130 factories and companies, and the smaller Ariel West, which houses about 26.

Israeli media outlets recently reported that 60 new companies have registered to relocate to the area, despite the threat of retaliation from the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

Dunum by dunum, Fazaas land has been stolen since the 1980s. The 53-year-old teacher initially fought back, but today, he no longer thinks it is worth it. One of his sons works in a factory in the area and will have to renew his work permit, a system Palestinians say is used to suppress any resistance activity, such as claiming the right to ones land. About half of the towns youth work in the industrial areas, where factories are mostly Israeli-owned.

There are four Israeli industrial zones and a quarry in the Salfit governorate. Together with the 24 settlements and outposts that dot its hilltops, they form a belt that locals call the finger for the way it protrudes from the Green Line into the occupied West Bank, cutting a prospective Palestinian state in two. An estimated 72,000 Palestinians live in the districts 18 towns and villages.

When they started building this road in 2000, we came to protest, Fazaa says, pointing at the main road into the Ariel West industrial zone. The protest cost him and some members of his family a few nights in jail and a 9,000-shekel ($2,400) fine, paid by the Palestinian Authority on their behalf. The family was never notified of the land confiscation, he says: They usually bring the bulldozers, and if the owner comes, theyll tell him about it.

READ MORE: Israeli settlement law violates rights and dignity

Barkan and Ariel West are built on land confiscated from the nearby villages of Haris, Sarta and Bruqin. Fazaa has documents issued by Jordan before 1967, along with faded maps and papers that appear to list at least some of his property. None has been enough to claim his right to the land in question, which would have required hiring costly engineers to survey the land and then fighting for it in court.

The Israeli government has used various means to take control of West Bank lands over the years, including declaring military firing zones or designating areas as natural parks. It has also declared certain areas as state land through an interpretation of an 1858 Ottoman land law stipulating that a piece of land not cultivated for several years passes into the hands of the sultan.

Declaring state land is only possible in cases where the land is not officially registered as private property, but land registration in the occupied West Bank has been historically low, and the burden of proving ownership falls on the landowner. The Israeli government has allocated less than 10 percent of declared state lands for Palestinian use, while prohibiting Palestinian construction and development in about 40 percent of the occupied West Bank.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Knesset recently passed a law allowing the state to retroactively legalise settlement outposts built on private Palestinian land. While international law considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal, unauthorised outposts are illegal under Israeli law as well.

In late 2016, the Israeli government deposited new master plans for the development of both the Barkan and Ariel West industrial areas. According to the Palestinian Land Research Centre, these master plans include 138 dunums confiscated from the Palestinian village of Haris and an additional 18 from Bruqin.

INTERACTIVE: Building the occupation

At least 30 Palestinian structures in Area C, where the industrial areas are built and which is under full Israeli control, have received stop-work orders this year for lacking building permits  a sharp rise from last years total of 50. This rise is consistent with the sharp increase in demolitions elsewhere in the West Bank.

On its website, Ariel West lures businesses with the highest level of government benefits in the form of industrial grants and tax incentives, owing to its location in National Priority Development Area A. Much of what is produced here is destined for export. The Barkan industrial park exports up to 80 percent of its products, according to its website.

Al Jazeera approached the Shomron regional council, which administers this area of the West Bank, for further information about the ongoing expansion and the companies slated to relocate to the area, but did not receive a response.

Israeli leaders have often defended settlement businesses on the basis that they provide work to Palestinians. But while wages in Israeli industrial areas may be higher than in Palestinian areas, workers are exposed to exploitative conditions and a lack of oversight on labour and environmental regulations, according to a report published last year by Human Rights Watch.

At least two Israeli and international companies moved their operations out of the Barkan industrial area in recent years amid pressure from the BDS movement, but the cheaper rent and labour costs continue to make the West Bank an attractive locale for business owners  and an uncomfortable option for some Palestinian workers.

What choice do I have? said Said, a former worker in a door factory in Bruqin, who spoke to Al Jazeera under a pseudonym. If I dont work, someone else will.
In the absence of centres for Aids patients, Pastor Reji Thomas opened his home to orphaned boys infected with HIV.

Navi Mumbai, India  Reji Thomas has adopted 19 HIV-positive boys.

His home echoes with the laughter of these children. His wife, Minnie, and two biological children, Justin, 19, and Jenny, 17, are part of this large family where love knows no bounds and life is simple: every day is cherished and thanked for.

Thomas recounted the day in 2008 when his life changed after meeting a 12-year-old orphan at the DY Patil Hospital.

She was a little Nepali girl. She was a bag of bones and there was no flesh in her emaciated body. She had Aids and was dying, Thomas told Al Jazeera.

The girl looked him in the eyes and begged for a bowl of noodles. Thomas promised to bring it for her. The next day he returned with food  only to learn she died during the night. The incident touched him deeply and helped him find his lifes mission: to help HIV-positive children in India.

Thomas journey started in 1989, when he arrived in Mumbai from Kerala. He worked at various odd jobs for a few years before quitting to take up theological studies. He became a pastor and got involved in social service. He helped street children and took sick people living on the streets to hospital. Thomas ensured they were treated with dignity and received proper care.

In 2009, he received a desperate call from an Aids centre for women requesting him to find homes for four HIV-positive children, as it lacked sufficient space and resources.

Since there was no childrens home willing to take them in, Thomas planned to start a centre with a caretaker in charge. But after learning of the childrens disease, no one came forward to help run it. It was then he decided to bring the children  three boys and a girl  into his home. That day, his family as he knew it changed forever.

READ MORE: Saving Indias mothers through mobile phones

Abandoning HIV children





According to the National Aids Control Organisations India HIV Estimations 2015 Technical Report, 138,456 children under 15 live with HIV.

Thomas said HIV-positive children are one of the most vulnerable groups of abandoned kids. Many are orphans who have been thrown out of their homes by family members who fear infection and social stigma.

On the streets, they are exploited and abused, have no access to healthcare, and are discriminated against and stigmatised.

As his family started growing with more children coming home, Thomas took a tough decision to only care for boys between the ages of 5-16 years.

His wife, Minnie, is a pillar of strength and constant support. A nurse, she monitors the health of the children and ensures their antiretroviral therapy drugs are administered regularly. She also cooks their meals and is their emotional crutch. The children call her mummy.

One of the older children is Suraj, 16. Papa Reji is our papa. He cares for us and we love him. He never pushes us away.

Thomas rented house is modest and neat. Foam mattresses for sleeping double as seating arrangements during the day. When Thomas took the first group of children, he had no money and furniture. The family was sleeping on mats on the floor. One of the children, who had tuberculosis, required a low bed.

Friends and visitors began making contributions with mattresses, cots, chairs, and food.

While Thomas manages the home through these contributions and donations, he wants to move to a bigger dwelling to give the children more space.

Joy, 5, came into their lives when he was 18-months old. His mother, a sex worker, had abandoned him on the street. He was underweight, listless, and withdrawn. No one knew his name. Thomas brought him home and named him Joy. He was nurtured back to health and has blossomed in the loving environment.

Ask the active boy his name and with a big smile he replies, Joy Reji Thomas! He gets anxious, however, if someone playfully suggests there is no food in the house. Having lived on the streets, with only hunger to remember it by, he has to be reassured he will always get a meal.

READ MORE: Vidhya Das  Fighting for poor women in India

Calm and committed

Dr Divvya Mithale, an HIV specialist, has known Thomas from the time he brought the first children home. She checks on their development every month, monitors their treatment and nutritional intake, and prescribes supplements and vitamins if required.





Pastor Reji is such a compassionate man. He is always calm and so committed to the children. He and his wife ensure the children get the right treatment, Mithale told Al Jazeera.

It is a humungous task looking after these children. Other than the health issues, some have emotional and behavioural issues. If a child must consult a psychiatrist, Pastor makes sure that the child is taken to the right doctor. He never, never gives up on them.

Other than the monthly check-up, the children are tested every three months. X-rays, the childs viral load, CD4 count tests, and other blood tests are done routinely. Every child has an individualised therapy. ART drugs are provided free of cost by the government of India at specialised centres.

Trophies are proudly displayed in their home that the children have won in different competitions, such as karate and art.

All the children have been made aware of their HIV-positive status and taught to take precautions. As the antiretroviral drugs are strong, some children suffer side-effects, which include delayed physical and mental development, loss of hearing and vision, and blackened teeth.

This is their home, said Thomas. There are no rules, like in a hostel or a care home. When I go out, I take one or two of them with me as it is difficult to take all of them. On the way, they would want to eat vada pav [a popular vegetarian dish]. I buy it for them. They are happy and it makes me happy, too. When I go to Kerala, I take some of them along. They argue on whose turn it is to go next.

READ MORE: Cradles in Rajasthan for Indias unwanted babies

Changing attitudes

He also takes the children for birthday parties and social visits in the community. Before, there was fear and social rejection. Now, there is greater acceptance of the children. This unconventional family is changing perceptions and attitudes towards HIV-positive children in the larger community.

Asked about the work he does Thomas replied, I am just an ordinary father taking care of his children. I want whats best for them.

He said his strength comes from his deep and unshaken faith in God. For me, it is a blessing to do this work. I want to help more and more children.

He said he prays that no child should die in his home. Unfortunately, however, he lost one last year to drug-resistant tuberculosis. Thomas finds it difficult to talk about and takes the conversation forward, focussing on the positives.

In India, an estimated 74,220 children require antiretroviral drugs. Though there has been a decline in the Aids epidemic in recent years, Thomas realises there is a huge need to help affected children get the right treatment. He has established the BLESS Foundation to reach HIV-affected children and give them a home.

My papa treats all of us the same way, said his daughter Jenny. Ask him and he says he has 21 children. I have so many younger brothers. I dont think I can do the work papa is doing. He is very special.
Mosul, Iraq  The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS) has been cleared from eastern Mosul for more than a month, but its fighters maintain a significant and sometimes deadly presence in the city.

Some ISIL fighters have shaved their beards, returned to their families and attempted to remain in Mosul unnoticed. Others have formed sleeper cells given the task of launching attacks on Iraqi forces and civilian targets  a return to the bloody tactics long employed by the groups predecessors in Iraq.

Iraqs National Security Service has been working to track down the remaining fighters, launching targeted raids into the city from their base on Mosuls eastern outskirts. The intelligence operatives gather information from a network of local sources, then attempt to apprehend suspected ISIL members.

It is often a race against time. Since Iraqi troops retook eastern Mosul, which is separated from the ISIL-held west by the River Tigris, ISIL fighters have launched a series of attacks on civilian and military targets. In one, a suicide bomber blew himself up among the lunchtime patrons of one of the citys best known popular restaurants, My Fair Lady, which reopened soon after Iraqi forces took the east.

Other blasts have targeted markets and checkpoints. ISIL fighters have also launched a series of attacks with weaponized drones, which have killed and maimed civilians and security officers.

Iraqi security forces are now launching several raids a week into the city and have arrested hundreds of suspects  but there remains much to be done, a task that will get even harder once the west of the city, now the subject of a renewed offensive by government forces, is retaken.
The demise of the two-state has been evident for some time.

At his meeting with the US President Donald Trump at the White House on February 15, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scored what in his eyes must be a spectacular diplomatic success: he got the new president to reverse the US long-standing support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to give him a free hand to do more or less whatever he likes with the West Bank.

The major stumbling block to a two-state solution is the illegal Zionist colonial project on the West Bank. The Obama administration repeatedly tried and failed to secure an Israeli settlement freeze.

By abstaining in the United Nations Security Council vote on December 23 last year, it made possible the passage of a landmark resolution. UNSC Resolution 2334 condemned the settlements as a flagrant violation of international law and a major impediment to the achievement of a two-state solution. For the first time since 1967, Israel came under concerted international pressure, which included the US, to curb settlement expansion.

US no longer as part of the solution

The election of Donald Trump let Israel off the hook. He was pro-Israel and pro-settlements and he campaigned on a promise to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

President-elect Trump tweeted his opposition to the Security Council resolution and promised that things will change after January 20. Netanyahu conveyed to the president-elect and his team his opposition to a Palestinian state well in advance of inauguration.

He also assured his hawkish ministers at home that he would make it clear to Trump that all he is willing to concede to the Palestinians is a state minus, suggesting a level of autonomy well short of statehood.

At the press conference with Netanyahu, Trump denounced what he regarded as unfair and one-sided action against Israel at the UN and indicated that he would not hesitate to use the veto to protect the US junior ally.

His other comments were practically identical to the Israeli governments talking points: Trump criticised the Palestinians for their alleged incitement of their children to hate Israelis, he urged the Palestinians to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, and he stressed that it is the parties themselves who must work out the peace deal.

This ignored the staggering asymmetry of power between the parties which precludes a voluntary agreement: Israel is too strong and the Palestinians are too weak. Hence the need for a third party to redress the balance.

The question today is no longer one state or two states but the protection of basic Palestinian rights, both individual human rights and the collective right to national self-determination. by

When pressed by a journalist on the subject of the two-state solution, Trump said: Im looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like. Im very happy with the one that both parties like.

Referring to the Israeli prime minister by his nickname, he added: I can live with either one. I thought for a while it looked like the two-state, looked like it may be the easier of the two, but honestly if Bibi and the Palestinians, if Israel and the Palestinians are happy, Im happy with the one they like the best.

Trump might as well have said to the man standing alongside him: Yes Sir, no Sir, three bags full Sir. His body language reinforced the impression of not just deference but subservience and obsequiousness towards his guest.

Nonetheless, the presidents poor English and his confused and contradictory message must not conceal the bombshell he dropped: the US would no longer insist on a Palestinian state as part of the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Defiant Netanyahu

The same question about the two-state solution was addressed to the prime minister. Netanyahu has a long history of duplicity on the subject: when it suits him he pays lip service to the idea of a Palestinian state while working assiduously to make it impossible.

Just before the 2015 elections he finally removed all ambiguity by stating that there will be no Palestinian state on his watch. His answer to the question at the press conference was vintage Netanyahu: Rather than deal with labels, I want to deal with substance, he said evasively.

He then went on to stipulate his two prerequisites for a peace settlement: the Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state, and Israel must retain overriding security control over the entire area west of the Jordan River.

Presumably, this is what Netanyahu meant by a state minus. What this amounts to is a collection of enclaves with no territorial contiguity, no sovereignty, no capital city in Jerusalem, and no armed forces, in short, Bantustans.

INTERACTIVE: Will the American embassy move to Jerusalem?

Not even the most moderate of Palestinian politicians would accept a peace deal on such humiliating terms and Netanyahu knows it. Trump who accused the UN of one-sidedness could not have been more one-sided himself.

In this respect the strange double act of the prime minister and his poodle may be said to have marked the official burial of the two-state solution.

OPINION: US and Israel join forces to bury Palestinian statehood

In truth, the demise of the two-state has been evident for some time. Netanyahus far-right coalition government is packed with expansionists and outright annexationists who recognise only Jewish rights in what they call Judea and Samaria or the Land of Israel.

American presidents in the past three decades have talked a great deal about the two-state solution but have done virtually nothing to implement it. As the American expression goes, they have talked the talk but not walked the walk.

Back to basics

The question today is no longer one state or two states but the protection of basic Palestinian rights, both individual human rights and the collective right to national self-determination.

Sadly, the Palestinians are handicapped by weak leadership and by the internal rivalry between Fatah and Hamas. Israels occupation of the Palestinian lands is now its 50th year and the pressure on Netanyahu from his right-wing coalition partners to annex the main settlement blocs is growing all the time.

American leverage to halt this creeping annexation of the West Bank has virtually vanished under the new administration. The Security Council made a valiant effort to curb Israels settler-colonialism but this effort is now imperilled by the American veto on the Security Council.

Western governments as a whole have been either unable or unwilling to hold Israel to account for its persistent violations of international law or for its systematic abuse of Palestinian human rights.

OPINION: Dont blame Trump for tiring of the two-state solution

The abuse takes countless forms: a discriminatory legal system, settlers-only roads, home demolitions, arbitrary arrests, torture, the mistreatment of children for stone-throwing, the blockade over the Gaza Strip and daily humiliation of the non-Jewish inhabitants of the West Bank at over 500 checkpoints.

Justice for the Palestinians can therefore only come from the efforts of civil society. Here the signs for a change are quite encouraging. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS), the global grassroots movement in support of Palestinian rights is steadily growing in both size and impact. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.

In a world that is moving away from nation-states and national borders to universal rights, the message of BDS is ever more relevant. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, it is fighting to end Israeli apartheid. And it represents the best hope the Palestinians have for a better future.

Avi Shlaim is an emeritus professor of international relations at Oxford University and the author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Trump is treating the US as a business venture and replacing the art of diplomacy with the art of the deal.

Most world leaders are having a hard time adapting to Donald Trumps foreign policy style. None of his seemingly capricious decisions fit within the staid models of diplomatic consistency or the genteel practice of back-channel advance signalling to key partners that change may be coming.

The news is brutal, direct, and straight from the presidents mouth. This, of course, is hardly surprising given that the traditional foreign policy bureaucracy has been almost completely shut out of an emerging system that focuses on the construction of a strong leaders mastery of the art of the deal, rather than the elitist art of diplomacy.

Understanding the confusion begins with a look at the people who make foreign policy go. Of the dozens of political appointments a president makes to his foreign policy team, only a handful of cabinet secretaries have been confirmed.

The big three  Rex Tillerson (State), James Mattis (Defence), and John Kelly (Department of Homeland Security)  seem to be facing challenges getting meaningful advice to the president.

Exacerbating matters are the problems each is having in getting their preferred deputies through Trumps personal loyalty vetting machine.

The optimist might point to the thousands of career diplomats at the Department of State, some of whom are now temporarily sitting in the most senior policy chairs, sage advice ready to hand.

Yet, there is little sign these professionals are being heeded, and we can probably assume that as a group they are persona non grata in the White House after more than 900 of their number signed a dissent memo criticising Trumps earliest foreign policy decision on the travel ban directed against Muslims from seven countries.

Normally this state of affairs would be of great concern to the president and his closest political advisers, but this may not be the case with a transaction-minded, deal-making Oval Office.

In fact, clearing out the gaggle of irritating questioning voices of foreign policy professionals may be something of a relief for the president.

Strength and highly visible assertion of greatness seems key  not patiently navigating the pitfalls and opportunities of the diplomatic process for the sort of deeper but more amorphous long-term gain that comes with quietly coordinating the rules of the international system.

Hyper-transactionalised diplomacy

The foreign policy style emerging from Trumps Washington thus appears to be a hyper-transactionalised form of presidential diplomacy driven by a winner-takes-all understanding of foreign affairs and diplomacy.

Traditionally, presidential diplomacy sees a president shunt aside his foreign minister and diplomatic apparatus to take a direct, personal, active, and sustained engagement in the conceptualisation and execution of foreign policy.

It differs from the standard presidential role in foreign policy in which diplomacy is left to the professionals and the leaders engagement largely limited to the constitutional minimum.

In other words, presidential diplomacy sees the president personally drive the policy-making process, give clear direction to executing agencies, and actively partake in the implementation through repeated deployment of the gravitas of his office.

What Trump has yet to discover is that cutting a real estate deal is decidedly simple when compared to the complexity of using foreign policy to kick-start something as amorphous as a national economy. by

A central assumption with presidential diplomacy is that the president has a clear vision of how foreign policy can be used to advance his primary policy agenda.

Two different illustrations can be found in the United States neighbourhood. Under the Brazilian presidencies of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002) and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) presidential diplomacy was effectively deployed for the clear policy goal of national development by establishing Brazil first as a credible country and then as a dynamic economy at the centre of the surge in South-South relations.

An alternative usage comes from Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez adopted an antagonistic attitude towards the US to help prop up his regime.

OPINION: For Europe, questions remain as to US foreign policy

Indeed, Chavez most likely learned this skill from the Castro brothers, who never failed to pick a fight with the US when they needed to divert attention away from domestic economic and political challenges.

The point in each of these radically different examples is that the president had a clear and concrete policy goal in mind and successfully took personal control of foreign policy with an explicit plan to advance these priorities.

With Trump there is some certainty about his stated goal  Make America Great Again  but little clarity about how he plans to go about practical policy terms, a problem that is particularly acute in the realm of foreign policy.

Businessmans intuition

Trumps turn to presidential diplomacy appears to be a leap of businessmans intuition. His clear belief is that new deals are needed to make America great again, and he, as the consummate deal-maker-in-chief, is obviously the man to get them done.

Logic tells him that the people with whom the deals need to be made are his counterparts in other countries. In best property development fashion, it is the boss of the company that meets with the head of the other company to get things done.

Once the handshake is taken the minions are called in to iron out the details, which are, of course, subject to renegotiation should Trump change his mind.

What Trump has yet to discover is that cutting a real estate deal is decidedly simple when compared with the complexity of using foreign policy to kick-start something as amorphous as a national economy.

While photo ops and high-minded discussions with other world leaders might assuage Trumps ego, being the toughest negotiator in town is going to mean little if there is no underlying policy coherence, which means he needs to appoint and listen to highly qualified people. This includes those who may not fit neatly into his idealised blueprint of unquestioning personal loyalty.

OPINION: US and Israel join forces to bury Palestinian statehood

Given the size of Trumps ego and his need to continuously be in the centre of an adoring spotlight, it is highly unlikely that he will back away from his self-conceived role as toughest negotiator on the global stage.

The very real risk is that he will continue confusing the art of the deal with the art of diplomacy.

As both George W Bush and Barack Obama learned the hard way, remedying unintended foreign policy missteps is far more complicated and expensive than refinancing a hotel redevelopment.

Until Trump figures this out, presidential diplomacy risks being like one of his failed business ventures  lots of expensive show with little underlying substance that leaves a trail of broken businesses and suppliers in its wake.

The added danger now is that stakes have risen exponentially, meaning that his failures could very well lay waste to whole countries, including possibly his own.

Sean W Burges is a senior lecturer in International Relations at the Australian National University and visiting scholar at Carleton University. He is the author of Brazil in the World: The International Relations of a South American Giant, Brazilian Foreign Policy After the Cold War, and more than 30 scholarly articles and book chapters on inter-American affairs and South-South relations.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
This realisation was brought home recently by Rashmii Amoah Bells editing of the anthology of Papua New Guinean women writers, My Walk to Equality.

It took us a while to realise that what we had done was provide women in Papua New Guinea with a means of self-expression, something hard to achieve in a male-dominated society.

Our initial assumptions that female writers would need a helping hand, special treatment, had been thoroughly unproven.

BY 2015 we were getting used to Papua New Guinean women dominating the Crocodile Prize awards but were still puzzled why this should be so.

What, to my mind, was significant about this collection was the lack of rancour towards men and the willingness to work with men to bring about changes in terms of achieving equality.

In this sense Hazels Kutkues short story award of 2015 struck a perfect chord. In her words, It is a fair enough world.

Her sharp, bright and funny dialogue beautifully portrayed what is a serious reality - the too common plight of single women with recalcitrant husbands trying to bring up children on their own in modern Papua New Guinea.

In this story, When life gets tough in January, Hazel looks at the way you mauswara people so they pay your childrens school fees.

We get a lot of short stories, poems and essays about the realities of life in modern Papua New Guinea, many depressingly bathed in pathos and misery.

It is a superior writer who can avoid that trap and bring these issues to our attention in a forceful and readable way.

Hazel succeeded admirably.

_________

When life gets tough in January

HAZEL KUTKUE

SOME people have it all; the parents with money, the car and many other things. For people like me, you live a pretty good life, but with not so much money.

Your mother is a working class lady and earns K1000 a fortnight. But there is no leftover money because she has seven children.

Thats not a bad thing, its just a little unfortunate when you have to go to university and you also have six younger siblings who go to school.

I am pretty fortunate because of genetics. Lets leave it at that. I was able to grab a place in university. I was offered a scholarship for academic excellence and it all pretty much fell into place.

My mother, a single mum, married four times, received a small loan to pay for my fees and the six younger siblings. My mother is from West Sepik Province. My father from Madang Province.

I have a younger sister Adele who is 17 and a 14 year old brother Dennis whose father was from Central Province. Eric my other 13 year old brother had a father from Manus. Dawn, 9, Kristy, 6, and Howard, 3, had a father from Popondetta. We are a diverse bunch, but love each other very much.

I studied science at the University of Papua New Guinea for one year. I was hoping to get into the medical school. Well, I was not hoping, I knew I was getting into medical school. I had dreamt of the day that I would be a doctor since I was 7 years old.

It was my grandmother, maternal of course, who put it into my head to be one. Well she is long dead now but for her sake I had shouted into our toilet bowl that I was going to the medical school when I got the news because her ashes from the cremation were mistakenly sent down the toilet by my uncle.

I hope she heard me. Otherwise, Ill have to scream every day until she hears and croaks back from her watery grave.

I got news from my friend Evangeline that we were going into the MB BS program. It was great news, but I was not surprised. I think my grandmother toyed around with my brain a bit when she died.

Well, I was happy. I screamed a bit. But my mother said I scream a lot, which I do not think is true.

I danced a bit, quietly, but as always my mother said the house had new cracks in the floor from the dancing. I think my mother exaggerates a lot. But my younger sister Adele said the same thing. My brother Dennis grunted in agreement.

The night I got the news, I sat on my bed and started texting my friends going with me into the program. I also texted a boy who had had a crush on me since high school. His name was Geoff. Geoff told me we had to pay a fee of K6984 to be a boarding student at Taurama Medical School.

When I slowly walked out to the lounge room to inform my mother, she was busy screaming into the phone at another dad or step-dad, whichever it was at the moment.

Oii, I said the school starts really soon! Mum screamed, referring to my 17 year old sister Why cant you send me a lousy K650 for Adeles school fees.

I rolled my eyes. Every January, every year, I swear for miles around you could hear Mum screaming down the phone at the four dads.

A minute later, she was talking again.

Denn needs school clothes man. Blari you ba lapun na kus-pundaun na kam lo haus blo em behain em ba hard. Send money and you will benefit. This time she was really mad.

She screamed for a good 10 minutes. Then she lifted the phone and flung it against the wall. Typical Mum. Then she turned to me.

Whats going on, pal? she asked smiling. It is hard to imagine she had been screaming moments ago.

I put on my sweetest smile. I knew she could explode when I told her about my tuition fees and board and lodging fees for medical school. But I was determined she would not explode tonight.

Mum, I kind of need to tell you something, I started.

She cut me short.

Are you pregnant because you know very well that when you are pregnant you will move into the broom cupboard in the corridor, she said matter-of-factly.

I rolled my eyes.

I know, mom, you told me this morning and all the mornings of my life I remember.

If I was pregnant, Id have moved already so I wouldnt have to tell you. You will know by what you see.

But this is really important. The fees for my education are K6984.

I said the last part of my speech as slowly as possible for Mum to hear clearly. She burst out laughing.

Oh Collin, giaman blo you winim size blo you. Please, stop this gibberish and tell me the news. I need news, baby, she said not believing me and already I could see she was not paying attention to me.

She was eyeing the dish of fried kaukau on the kitchen table and rubbing her floppy stomach poking through a black top. I could hear her stomach rumbling. It was a horrible sound. I knew strange sounds never came from my stomach, they just came out another place.

So I walked right up in front of her, so she was staring at my stomach. I stuck the phone with the text message blipping on the screen right under her left eye.

Do you believe me now, Mum? I said smiling my sweetest smile again.

It was then she exploded. And she kept exploding for another three hours until she choked on a piece of kaukau and went to bed.

We followed suit, but only after Adele, Dennis and I put on a show imitating Mum when she exploded. Our younger siblings Eric, Dawn, Kristy and Howard collapsed in fits of laughter, only to be reprimanded by a hoarse voice coming from my Mums bedroom, which did not sound like my mom at all. The piece of kaukau had done a lot of damage.

The next day, my mother got ready for work. She was her old self. She whistled and she screamed at us to get the chores done. We all grumbled and clucked around like chickens.

Eric was planted in front of the TV watching the movies on EMTV. Adele was yanking him by the hair to get up so she could sweep the floor. Howard was hanging on Mums right leg as she walked around dragging him on the floor. Dawn and Kristy were fighting and Dennis was trying to stop them.

Mum was mumbling under her breath about a miracle happening and one of the dads deciding to cough up some funds. I knew that would be impossible. Our dads were the ducky types. They ducked and hid whenever we needed them. Full of the usual, empty promises.

I never really cared about their existence. Mum called them big time losers. She warned us not to do the same. But we did anyway and called them losers when she was away at work. When a slip of tongue occurred and she was around, shed widen her eyes in warning. Then shed chuckle and say, Good work guys.

I knew my mum had a way of making things work out right. I knew shed get my school fees paid somehow. But I was not entirely sure. I was hoping my rich uncle, the one who had dumped my grandmothers ashes in the sewer, might slide some cash to Mum.

That was what wantoks do in Papua New Guinea. I was also counting on my CEO uncle, a third cousin of Mums. A bit of a distant relative but still a wantok. I planned to spend the entire night praying for my school fees. I announced it to Adele.

Adele, Im going to be praying for my school fees the whole night so you and Kristy and Dawn have to sleep on the couches in the lounge, I told her.

God never listens to people who go around calling their dads losers, Adele smirked.

Well then, to make up for that I think I am going to pray for two nights so you have to sleep in the lounge for two nights, I said matter-of-factly.

Whatever, Adele said lazily, and pushed me off the double bed we shared.

Hey! I protested from the floor.

I guess she had a point, but I thought I could make up for that by praying for two years.

That afternoon Mum came home smiling.

Wad up Mum? Dennis shouted from the veranda as she walked towards us.

I got good news, duck, Mum said.

You dont call me duck, remember? Seriously Mum, do I look like a duck?

Dennis quacked from the veranda in his squeaky 14 year old voice.

You sound like one Dawn said.

Dennis scrunched his face and got ready to shout. We all blocked our ears.

I do not sound like a duck! Dennis shouted. And in a few years when you have hips like Mums and grow breasts, youll look like a duck.

Mum lifted a warning finger at Dennis and climbed the stairs. Dawn shrugged and kept tying her underpants to the veranda rail.

I watched Mum. She was happy. I knew she had good news. Mum waltzed with an imaginary man on the veranda. Then she pointed to me.

You have your full fees paid by Uncle CEO, she beamed.

What? Thats what I was planning to pray for! I screeched.

I didnt know you prayed, Mum eyed me.

Hey, I needed the fees Mum, how could I not pray if that was the last thing I could do.

Did she not know that I always pray when I need something badly? That was selfish but what else can you do? I think everyone does that, well at least people I know. So that means a lot of Papua New Guineans do that.

I looked at Mum sideways; I knew there was always a deal when it was uncle CEO who paid.

OK, dont look at me that way. The deal is Dennis and Adele and Eric have to clean the CEOs bathroom and toilet every day after school for 10 minutes each, Mum said.

Mum! Dennis, Adele and Eric chorused. He has dysentery every day!

I flashed my most evil grin at them and rose to hug Mum. They all laughed. I rolled my eyes. They didnt think it was evil at all. It was like looking at a cross-eyed clown.

I was happy. I ran into the bathroom and shouted down the toilet bowl.

I knew tomorrow would take care of itself. After all, I was in Papua New Guinea. Its the land of wantoks. It is where you pool money to pay for bride price. It is where you pool money to compensate people. It is where you mauswara people so they pay your childrens school fees.

It is where you get into deals that cause your 17 year old daughter and your 14 and 13 year old sons to clean your third cousins toilet for 10 minutes every day for a whole year. It is a fair enough world.
Government troops advance on Mamun neighbourhood, a day after deadly ISIL rocket strikes on soldiers near airport.

Iraqi forces have entered a neighbourhood in the western part of Mosul for the first time since the launch of an offensive to retake the city from ISIL last year.

Sami al-Aridhi, a lieutenant-general in Iraqs Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), said on Friday that the army was fighting for Mamun, a small neighbourhood on the southwestern edge of Mosul.

He told AFP news agency that the troops earlier attacked and fully control Ghazlani military base and Tal al-Rayyan village outside Mosul.

READ MORE: Hunting down ISIL sleeper cells in Mosul

The fighters belonging to ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, attacked government forces with a suicide car bombing in Tal al-Rayyan and that three other car bombs were found there, according to Aridhi.

The CTS, the most-seasoned force in Iraq, has suffered no losses since the renewed push on west Mosul was launched on Sunday, according to Aridhi.

He said some fighters had been wounded, however, some of them by the weaponised drones that ISIL  also known as ISIS  has increasingly resorted to in recent weeks.

Earlier casualties

Late on Thursday, ISIL rocket attacks killed at least dozens of Iraqi soldiers, a day after the army secured Mosul airport.

Al Jazeeras Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Erbil, said that ISIL targeted the troops from multiple fronts, including soldiers who were stationed at Mosul airport, one of the Iraqi armys most significant achievements in its first phase of the offensive.





It is one of the largest death tolls youve seen in the last six days of this push towards western Mosul, he said.

He said that while ISIL had claimed that it had killed almost 40 Iraqi soldiers, Iraqi government officially does not accept or deny any of these casualty figures [although] military sources have been telling us that dozens of soldiers have died in these ISIL attacks.

The attacks came after Iraqi forces stormed the citys airport and a nearby military base early on Thursday, which had been captured by ISIL fighters when they overran Mosul in June 2014.

ISILs strategy reportedly includes waiting for darkness to fall before hidden fighters launch a series of attacks on surrounding soldiers.

Iraqi forces aim to secure the airport and the camps surrounding areas, in order to easily bring in reinforcements, Al Jazeeras Bin Javaid said, adding that Iraqi forces realise that taking Mosul is weeks, if not months away.

A federal police officer and an official overseeing operations said on Friday that soldiers secured key infrastructures since the operation to force ISIL out of western Mosul was officially launched on Sunday.

READ MORE: Iraqi forces take control of Mosul Airport

The operation to retake Iraqs second-largest city was officially launched in October last year, and in January its eastern half was declared fully liberated.

Mosul is ISILs last major urban stronghold in Iraq, but the battle to retake its western half is expected to be the most challenging yet, since the streets are older, narrower and is densely populated with an estimated 750,000 civilians trapped in the area.

In a separate incident, two suicide car bombers struck army and paramilitary forces west of Mosul on Monday, killing and wounding a number of troops, two army officers said, with ISIL claiming responsibility for the attacks.
New report says children held alongside parents in immigration detention are at risk of serious human rights abuses.

Hundreds of children are being held each year in immigration detention facilities, an experience that can lead to psychological harm and puts them at risk of serious human rights violations, a new report says.

An average of 48 Canadian children have been held annually as guests alongside their parents at the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre alone between 2011 and 2015, according to the report released on Thursday by the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto.

WATCH: Canadas dark secret

Hundreds of non-Canadian children are also held annually in immigration detention facilities across Canada.

Violating the human rights of some of the most vulnerable members of our society is a blemish on Canadas reputation as a human rights defender, the report said.

Such practices are especially out of step with Canadas renewed efforts to become a global leader as a multicultural safe haven for refugees and migrants.

The report included testimonies from nine women from the Middle East, West Africa and Central America.

Canadian children are especially at risk, because while they cannot be legally subjected to detention under the countrys immigration system, they are allowed to stay with detained parents if it is determined to be in their best interests.

Mothers detained with their children, or forced to be separated from them, expressed deep anguish about the detrimental consequences of the experience on their childrens health, the report stated.

Their children had difficulty sleeping, lost their appetite for food and interest in play, and developed symptoms of depression and separation anxiety, as well as a variety of physical symptoms.

One woman, Naimah, was arrested in February 2015 and detained with her eight-year-old daughter, Aaliya, for more than a year.

The girl was crying every day [saying] Mommy, I want to go to school, because she loved to go to school, Naimah said in the report.

I cant give my baby to anyone

Another mother, Mariame, described being arrested and detained with her five-month-old son, Oscar.

My son was crying because they were searching me, and  he was hungry, Mariame said. I couldnt attend to him, I couldnt breastfeed him.

When she told officials that detaining her was not in the best interests of her young child, she said she was told she could give him to someone to take care of while she was detained.

But I cant give my baby to anyone, she said.

Foreign nationals and permanent residents in Canada can be held in immigration detention under Canadas immigration laws, and the Canada Border Services Agency is responsible for detaining anyone under this system.





Border officials can hold anyone who they deem poses a risk to public safety, cannot prove their identity, or arrives in Canada without a visa.

Immigration officials say they detain children only as a last resort.

A child is allowed to stay with a parent in detention if it is determined to be in the childs best interests.

Invisible

While an average of 242 mainly non-Canadian children were held in this system each year between 2010 and 2014, children with Canadian citizenship are especially at risk because they fall outside the legal framework.

Canadian children are invisible in Canadas immigration detention system, said Samer Muscati, director of the International Human Rights Program, in a statement.

While all detention of children is horrible, these children are particularly vulnerable because they lack important legal safeguards, including their own detention review hearings, Muscati said.

Last year, Canada earmarked $138m to transform the immigration detention system, including finding better alternatives to incarceration and investing in infrastructure.

The government of Canada is committed to exercising its responsibility for detentions to the highest possible standards, with physical and mental health and wellbeing of detainees, as well as the safety and security of Canadians as the primary considerations, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said at the time.

According to the report, alternatives to detention should be explored and implemented.

These could include community-based, non-custodial programmes that would allow families to stay together in a healthier environment, while also ensuring that individuals meet their obligations to attend immigration proceedings.
Attacks leave more than 60 people dead, day after ISILs retreat from northern town.

Two suicide car bombs have gone off near Al Bab, killing scores of people, just a day after ISIL fighters were pushed out of the northern Syrian town.

Fridays first bombing killed 53 people in the village of Susiyan, 10km northwest of Al Bab, and struck Syrian rebels battling ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, local sources said.

The second explosion took place a few hours later and left eight dead, according to the Aleppo Media Center and Thiqa News agency, media platforms operated by opposition activists.

The first suicide bomber targeted a checkpoint manned by Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters that was crowded with civilians early on Friday.

The Turkish-backed rebels on Thursday drove ISIL from Al Bab, the groups last significant stronghold in northwest Syria, along with two smaller neighbouring towns, Qabasin and al-Bezah, after weeks of street fighting.

READ MORE: Syria talks hit early snag in Geneva

Al Jazeeras Ahmad Assaf, reporting from the scene of the bombing in Susiyan, said the attacker blew himself up in a large gathering of displaced people.

Dozens of civilians have been killed and injured, many of them trying to return back to their homes in Al Bab, he said.





He added that several cars and motorbikes were destroyed in the powerful blast.

Turkeys Anadolu news agency said at least 41 wounded were taken for treatment to the Turkish border town of Kilis.

On Thursday, several Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were killed by a mine in Al Bab while clearing the town of unexploded ordnance after ISIL retreated, according to reports.

Syrias main conflict pits President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shia militias, against rebels that include groups supported by Turkey, the US and Arab Gulf countries.

READ MORE: Al Bab: When the tide is turning, ISIL go apocalyptic

However, both those sides, as well as a group of militias led by Kurdish forces and supported by the US, are also fighting ISIL, which holds large expaneses of northern and eastern Syria.

Turkey directly intervened in Syria in August in support of a group of rebel factions fighting under the FSA banner to drive ISIL from its border.

It also wants to stop Kurdish groups from gaining control of most of the frontier.

In Geneva on Friday, the UNs Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, held his second day of meetings with government and opposition delegations in a bid to move closer to a political solution to end the war.

For the Syrian opposition, a political transition that ensures the removal of President Bashar al-Assad remains the only option for peace  an issue that his Damascus-based government has consistently refused to consider.
Group calls on government to reveal whereabouts of kidnapped men whose opposition-activist fathers were executed.

Dhaka, Bangladesh  A UN group has called on the Bangladesh government to immediately reveal the whereabouts of three sons of opposition leaders it says were kidnapped six months ago, while sounding a warning on rising enforced disappearances.

In separate incidents, Hummam Quader Chowdhury, Mir Ahmed bin Quasem and Brigadier-General Abdullahil Amaan al-Azmi went missing in the capital, Dhaka, in August 2016, allegedly abducted by Bangladesh security forces.

In each case, there were multiple witnesses. But in all three events, police deny any involvement.

The United Nations Working Group on Involuntary and Enforced Disappearances said on Friday that in total now, more than 40 people have been disappeared.

In a statement, the expert UN panel said the government should halt an increasing number of enforced disappearances.

Enforced disappearance is a heinous crime and an offence to human dignity and no circumstances whatsoever may be invoked to justify it, the statement said, appealing to Sheikh Hasinas government to take action now.

Chowdhury, Quasem and Azmil are linked to either the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party or Jamaat-e-Islami, and each of their fathers has been convicted and executed by the Bangladeshs International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

The ICT was set up in 2010 to investigate and prosecute those accused of crimes during the countrys war of independence in 1971.

Bangladesh authorities have repeatedly denied any involvement or knowledge of their whereabouts.

READ MORE: Concern over missing sons of Bangladeshi politicians

Toby Cadman, a UK lawyer acting for the families of the three men, told Al Jazeera that he understands the men are currently held by the military intelligence agency, the Directorate General Forces Intelligence (DGFI), in Dhaka.

The reality is that all three individuals have been unlawfully abducted in strikingly similar circumstances and, to date, the government has denied all knowledge of their whereabouts and refused to comment. They should be immediately released, Cadman said.

Attempts by Al Jazeera to contact the DGFI to respond to Cadmans claim were not successful.

Rule of law broken

In its recently released annual report, Amnesty International, the rights group, said: Enforced disappearances continued at an alarming rate, often of supporters of opposition parties Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami.

The UN groups appeal was endorsed by four separate UN special rapporteurs.

Lord Carlisle, a member of the British House of Lords, has also issued a statement criticising the alleged detention of the three men.

These individuals have now been missing for some six months without access to their families, without access to a lawyer, and without having had their detention authorised or supervised by the courts, he said.

The rule of law has effectively broken down in Bangladesh. Security forces are acting with impunity, and the executive [branch] is failing to fulfil one of its central obligations as a government, in that it is failing, or refusing, to protect its own citizens, regardless of political affiliation.
For the US presidents first Congress address, rivals have invited people they say could be harmed by his policies

Democrats have invited immigrants and foreigners to attend President Donald Trumps first address to the US Congress, in an effort to put a face on those they say could be hurt by the Republicans policies.

To send a message to Trump, lawmakers are inviting people like an Iraqi-born doctor who discovered elevated levels of lead in the blood of many children living in Flint, Michigan.

They also invited a Pakistani-born doctor who delivers critical care to patients in Rhode Island and an American-born daughter of Palestinian refugees who helps people like her family resettle in the US.

I want Trump to see the face of a woman, the face of a Muslim, and the face of someone whose family has enriched and contributed to this country despite starting out as refugees, said Luis V Gutierrez, whose guest on Tuesday will be Fidaa Rashid, a Chicago immigration lawyer.

Lawmakers typically get one guest ticket apiece for presidential addresses, as they will for Tuesdays prime-time speech.

READ MORE: US cities to hold Day Without Immigrants protests

A group of Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to colleagues earlier this month urging them to invite guests who have, despite discrimination, made positive impacts on their communities.

The focus on welcoming immigrants will also extend to the response that Democratic leaders plan for Trumps speech. Astrid Silva, who was brought into the US as a young child, will provide the rebuttal in Spanish, the AP news agency reported.

Soon after taking office, Trump issued an executive order temporarily banning all entry to the US from seven Muslim-majority nations and pausing the entire US refugee programme.

As a result, thousands protested what was referred to as the Muslim Ban and confusion reigned at US airports. An appeals court blocked the order.

Under the Trump administration, there has also been an increase in deportations of undocumented immigrants living in the country. The president has argued that these steps are necessary to protect the nation.
Opposition official praises Staffan de Misturas positive ideas at first meeting of new round of Geneva talks.

Geneva, Switzerland  The Syrian opposition has described its first meeting here with the UN envoy in the latest round of peace talks as generally positive, praising him for being more engaged in discussing a political transition.

The comments came a day after Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, formally launched the fourth round of negotiations at the UN offices amid low expectations.

The talks are part of the latest political initiative to bring an end to a six-year war that has killed nearly 500,000 people, wounded more than a million, and displaced nearly half the population.

READ MORE: Syrias Geneva talks  Expectations very low

We heard positive ideas and suggestions from Mr de Mistura, Nasser al-Hariri, the lead opposition negotiator, said at a news conference on Friday.

I believe he was more enthusiastic than before in discussing a political transition in Syria. So far there are no specific measures.

Hariri said the opposition presented its understanding of points in UN Security Council Resolution 2254 that discuss political transition in Syria, including governance, the formation of a new constitution and new UN-supervised elections.

Just political solution

The oppositions goal was to forge a just political solution that ensures for the Syrian people its aspirations and dreams, for which it has paid a very high price, he said.

Fridays discussions with de Mistura only covered procedural aspects of the ongoing talks, Hariri said, adding that specific points about the shape and scope of any transition would be clarified in the coming days.

Opposition officials told Al Jazeera that their delegation would respond on Monday to the framework for political transition submitted by de Mistura.

What will be discussed in the following days is the make-up of a transitional governing body  as in, who the members of this body would be, Mohammad Sabra, the chief negotiator for the opposition delegation, told Al Jazeera.

READ MORE: Syria talks hit snag before opening ceremony in Geneva

He said the oppositions participation in the latest round of Geneva talks was aimed at finding ways to implement mechanisms to force the Syrian government to comply with UN Security Council resolutions surrounding Syria, if it refuses to do so.

The regime always claims that it is looking for a political solution, Sabra said.

So far, it has not said that it refuses to implement the resolutions. Resolution 2118 stipulates that in the case of refusal, the Security Council can take measures based on Chapter VII of the UN Charter [] to force the regime to comply with international law, so that we can achieve political transition.

Shortly after Fridays news conference, the opposition delegation returned to its hotel and held a closed-door meeting with Michael Ratney, the US special envoy for Syria, and several European diplomats.

Governments account

For his part, de Mistura met the representatives of the Syrian government earlier in the day.

In a brief press conference after that meeting, Bashar al-Jaafari, the lead Syrian government negotiator, said de Mistura had presented his delegation with a document whose contents would be discussed at their next meeting.

Though the Geneva talks are seen as the most serious effort in months to put an end to the Syrian war, the starkly different political objectives of the rival sides remain unchanged from previous rounds of negotiations, casting doubt on the possibility of achieving progress.

READ MORE: Suicide bombers kill scores in Syrias Al Bab

For the Syrian opposition, a political transition that ensures the removal of President Bashar al-Assad remains the only option for peace  an issue that his Damascus-based government has consistently refused to consider.

The only solution that we will accept is to establish a transitional governing body, which Bashar al-Assad will have no role in, not in this transitional period, and not in the future of Syria, Salem al-Muslet, spokesperson for the opposition delegation, told Al Jazeera.

The latest talks almost fell apart before they began on Thursday, after the opposition threatened to skip the opening ceremony over disagreements on the format of the session.
Israeli has refused to issue a visa for a senior Human Rights Watch staff member, accusing the US-based rights group of pro-Palestinian bias and saying it will no longer grant visas to its staff.

HRW said on Friday that its Israel and Palestine Director Omar Shakir, a US citizen, had received a rejection letter on February 20, months after an application for the permit was submitted by the group on his behalf.

The Israeli foreign ministry said that the organisation was not a real human rights group, with a foreign ministry spokesman calling it fundamentally biased with a hostile agenda.

New York-based HRW, which operates in 90 countries, said it has documented violations considered illegal under international humanitarian law by all sides in the conflict, including the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli interior ministry cited a recommendation received by the foreign ministry, which said that HRWs public activities and reports have engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of human rights'.

READ MORE: UN decries Israels West Bank demolition order

In a statement, HRW said the decision came as authorities sought to limit the space for local and international human rights groups to operate in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Emmanuel Nahshon, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, told the AFP news agency that the group was not banned, and any Israeli and Palestinian employees would still be allowed to operate in Israel, but said: Why should we give working visas to people whose only purpose is to besmirch us and to attack us?





Speaking to local media, Nahshon said Israel was fed up with them [HRW] coming here every time and taking advantage of their stay here. They dont do anything but look for an anti-Israel agenda.

Iain Levine, HRWs deputy executive director of programme, said: This decision and the spurious rationale should worry anyone concerned about Israels commitment to basic democratic values.

It is disappointing that the Israeli government seems unable or unwilling to distinguish between justified criticisms of its actions and hostile political propaganda.

In response to the decision to refuse his visa, Shakir said: We are genuinely shocked. We work in over 90 countries across the world. Many governments dont like our well-researched findings but their response is not to stifle the messenger.

READ MORE: Trump stand on settlement encourages Israels land grab

According to Shakir, Israeli authorities said they would also refuse visas to other non-Israeli or Palestininan HRW staff.

Last year, HRW issued a report, Occupation Inc., in which it accused foreign and Israeli firms operating in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank of contributing to human rights abuses.

In July 2016, Israels parliament, the Knesset, passed a law targeting human rights groups and NGOs that receive foreign funding. The law, applicable to about 25 organisations, compels them to declare funds in official reports, and according to HRW, imposes onerous reporting requirements that burden their advocacy.

It is not the first time the organisation has faced criticism and resistance from governments.

We have little relations with governments in North Korea, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Cuba and Venezuela where there is zero appetite for human rights engagement, Shakir said. With this decision, Israel is joining the list.
Rights office says 18 months for killing wounded Palestinian man after knife attack reinforces culture of impunity.

The UN human rights office has said that an 18-month jail sentence handed down to an Israeli soldier for killing a wounded Palestinian man was excessively lenient and unacceptable.

Elor Azaria, the soldier who shot Abdel Fattah al-Sharif Elor in the head after he was incapacitated following a knife attack in March 2016, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on Tuesday.

We are deeply disturbed at the lenient sentence given by the Tel Aviv Military Court earlier this week to an Israeli soldier convicted of unlawfully killing a wounded Palestinian in an apparent extrajudicial execution of an unarmed man who clearly posed no imminent threat, Ravina Shamdasani, UN human rights spokesperson, said in Geneva on Friday.

READ MORE: Elor Azaria verdict  No justice for Palestinians

Manslaughter carries a maximum punishment of 20 years under Israeli law, she said.

This case risks undermining confidence in the justice system and reinforcing the culture of impunity, she said.

This is a chronic culture of impunity we are talking about.





More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces since the most recent surge in violence began in the West Bank in September 2015, she said.

Azaria is the only member of the Israeli security forces to have been brought to trial for such a killing, Shamdasani said.

READ MORE: Israel says no more visas for biased HRW staff

The 18-month jail sentence has also prompted Palestinian criticism.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday at the start of its main annual session that lasts until March 24.

Israel, backed by the US, says that the 47-strong forum is biased against it due to its frequent resolutions condemning illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and practices in the Gaza Strip.
Demonstrations across country oppose new taxes on goods and services and call on cabinet to resign amid economic crises.

Hundreds of Jordanians have protested across the country, including in the capital Amman, against the governments decision to impose new taxes on a number of goods and services, calling on the cabinet to resign.

The government earlier this month imposed new sales taxes on internet and mobile use, bread, domestic fuel and petrol, and cigarettes, among other products, as a part of austerity measures that aim to curb its large budget deficit and huge public debt.

About 1,500 Jordanians took to the streets of Ammans business district after weekly Muslim prayers at the Husseini Mosque to protest.

The demonstrators marched from the mosque to the seat of the nearby municipality chanting slogans demanding the ouster of the government and venting anger at the price rises.

READ MORE: Jordanians at breaking point over austerity measures

The people of Jordan are on fire, all because of the rise in prices, some chanted, the AFP news agency reported.

The government that raises prices must fall, the government that impoverishes people must go, was another rallying cry, as demonstrators held up signs that read: Raising prices is playing with fire.

Similar protests were also staged in the northwestern city of Salt, as well as in the regions of Karak and Madaba, south of the capital.

The price rises come as Jordan faces a public debt of about $35bn and after Jordan struck a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure a $723m three-year credit line.

Government of taxes

Demonstrations over price increases erupted in recent days.

On Saturday, protests that broke out in the southern city of Karak provoked similar demonstrations in the southern city of Tafilah, Salt and Madaba.

Several hundred people gathered in Karak, 90km south of Amman, calling for the resignation of the prime minister, Hani Mulki, and an end to what they called a government of taxes.

We are suffocated by the governments continuous approach to solving [dire] economic conditions by turning to peoples pockets, Muath Batoush, a protester from Karak, told Al Jazeera, referring to increasing prices and taxes.

Protesters chanted slogans such as Leave Mulki, Shame on you, you have sold the country for a dollar, and We cannot pay the bills for the corrupt.

On January 23, the Jordanian parliament approved the 2017 budget, which seeks to raise $643m in additional taxes and tariffs.

Earlier this month, the government decided to raise fuel prices and sales tax on several commodities and telecom services ranging from eight to 16 percent.

The governments move comes as Jordan tries to reduce its budget deficit of $1.2bn as part of its economic reform agreement with the IMF.

In July 2016, Jordan signed a 36-month IMF programme providing it with access to $700m in loans.

The countrys economic growth has fallen and unemployment jumped to 14 percent of a population of 9.5 million, with the youth hit worst, according to government figures, while unofficial estimates put it as high as 30 percent.
Witnesses say attacker who opened fire on three men in a packed Kansas bar yelled get out of my country.

A US man has been charged with murder after opening fire in a crowded bar in Kansas, killing an Indian man and wounding two other men in an attack some witnesses said was racially motivated.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died at a hospital while Alok Madasani, 32, and Ian Grillot, 24, were in a stable condition after the attack on Wednesday night in Olathe, Kansas.

Witnesses said the gunman shouted get out of my country before he opened fire.

Barman Garret Bohnen told the Kansas City Star newspaper that Kuchibhotla and Madasani stopped at the bar for a drink once or twice a week.

From what I understand when he [the gunman] was throwing racial slurs at the two gentlemen, Ian stood up for them, Bohnen said.

READ MORE: Mapping hate  The rise of hate groups in the US

Suspect Adam Purinton was taken into custody on Thursday and later charged, authorities said.

Asked if the shooting could be a hate crime, FBI special agent Eric Jackson told a news conference it was too early to determine.

Kuchibhotla was a software engineer at Rockwell Collins, an avionics and information technology company, Rod Larson, his line manager, told the newspaper.

He was very sharp, a top-of-his-class kind of guy, Larson said.

His personality was exceptional. He was the kind of employee every manager would want. I couldnt say anything slightly bad about Srinivas.

I am shocked

Sushma Swaraj, Indias foreign minister, said on Twitter I am shocked, adding that she would help the family to bring Kuchibhotlas body back to Hyderabad.

Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for Indias foreign ministry, said Kuchibhotla was from Telangana state.

Grillot said in an interview from his hospital bed that when the shooting broke out, he hid until nine shots had been fired and he thought the suspects gun magazine was empty.

I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him, Grillot said in a video posted on the Kansas City Stars website. I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me.

.@USAndIndia strongly condemns the tragic shooting of two Indians and one American in Kansas.Our deepest sympathies. https://t.co/wGjUv35iIJ  Ken Juster (@USAmbIndia) February 24, 2017

Grillot said the bullet went through his hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery.

Its not about where he [the victim] was from or his ethnicity, Grillot said. Were all humans, so I just did what was right to do.

US Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas posted a statement on Facebook about the shooting, expressing concern for the safety of other immigrants.

I strongly condemn violence of any kind, especially if it is motivated by prejudice and xenophobia, Moran said.

Fund-raising drive

A GoFundMe page has been set up to collect money to fly Kuchibhotlas body to India.

The page has crossed its original $150,000 goal, raising nearly $200,000 in eight hours.

The US embassy in New Delhi condemned the shooting.

The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live, MaryKay Carlson, US charge daffaires, said in a statement.

READ MORE: US anti-fascists  We can make racists afraid again

US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief.

Hate crimes against Muslims in the US shot up 67 percent in 2015 to their highest levels since the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to FBI statistics released in 2016.

Overall, 57 percent of the 5,850 reported incidents were motivated by race or ethnicity, while 20 percent were related to religion.
Building off his work as chairman of a task force that examined ways to prevent the flow of foreign fighters, U.S. Rep. John Katko will advise a new panel tasked with developing recommendations for blocking terrorists from entering the United States.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul announced the launch of the Task Force on Denying Terrorists Entry into the United States, which will be led by U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin.

Four other Republicans  U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Thomas Garrett Jr., Clay Higgins and John Rutherford  will serve on the task force. The panel's three Democratic members haven't been announced.

Katko, R-Camillus, will be an ex officio adviser to the task force. A spokesperson for the congressman said he'll use his prior experience to help guide the new investigation.

The Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel formed in early 2015, shortly after Katko was sworn in for his first term in Congress. He was named the Republican lead of the panel, which met for several months and traveled overseas to Europe, Iraq and Israel.

Katko unveiled the task force's final report in September 2015. The 60-page report included several key findings and recommendations  many of which inspired legislation approved by the House of Representatives.

"These threats remain as complex and dangerous as ever, and I am pleased that Chairman McCaul has announced the formation of the Task Force on Denying Terrorists Entry into the United States," Katko said in a statement. "This task force will delve into potential security gaps that allow terrorists to enter the United States. I am honored to be named as part of this task force and look forward to continuing our work to keep this country safe."

McCaul, a Texas Republican, said the Task Force on Denying Terrorists Entry into the United States will begin meeting in March. Over the next several months, the eight-member committee will "examine all pathways by which extremists might infiltrate the homeland and will seek to identify gaps in U.S. government information sharing and vetting procedures," according to a news release.

"In the current threat environment, stopping terrorists will continue to be a top committee priority," McCaul said in a statement. "Closing gaps in our counterterrorism screening and vetting procedures is especially important in the face of continuing global instability and the desire of ISIS and other terrorist groups to strike the West.

"The task force members have a difficult mission ahead of them, but the threat is real and we must act in close coordination with the administration to best protect Americans from those who wish us harm."

The task force will issue its final report later this year.
Senator and vocal critic of President Duterte faces drug-trafficking charges related to her term as a justice secretary.

A Philippines senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte s war on drugs has been arrested by law enforcement agents after charges were filed in court alleging that she received money from drug dealers inside the countrys prisons.

Senator Leila de Lima is accused of orchestrating a drug-trafficking ring when she was justice secretary during the 2010-2015 administration of Benigno Aquino.

The truth will come out and I will achieve justice. I am innocent, she told reporters shortly before law enforcers escorted her away from her office on Friday.

De Lima, her former driver and bodyguard, and a former national prison official were ordered to be arrested by a local court on Thursday after a judge found merit in criminal charges filed by the Department of Justice last week.

De Lima has denied the charges, calling herself a victim of political persecution and saying that she has long prepared herself to be the first political prisoner under the Duterte administration.

While the issuance of the warrant of arrest is questionable, I do not have any plans to evade it, she said, calling the order premature as the court has yet to hear the response from her lawyers.

READ MORE: Duterte accused of paying police to kill

She slept in her Senate office overnight and then gave herself up to armed officers in flak jackets, who put her in a van and drove into morning rush-hour traffic apparently towards police headquarters.

Duterte, 71, won a presidential election last year after promising during the campaign to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people .

Since his inauguration on June 30, an anti-drug drive has seen more than 7,000 people killed over suspected drug links  with about 60 percent of the deaths carried out by unknown assassins.

De Lima has previously called for foreign intervention to put an end to the state-inspired extrajudicial murders, which she said have been instigated by Duterte since his election to power.

De Lima also led a series of Senate investigations over allegations that police officers were involved in the killings, and that hired killers were operating under orders from police.

Aries Arugay, associate professor of political science at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, told Al Jazeera that the senator will use her detention to highlight the presidents controversial policies.

Senator de Lima has been taunting the Duterte administration to arrest her for months. She boldly says she is its fiercest critic  What is happening right now is she is really using this as her platform for her own politics , Aurgay said.

Trumped up charges

De Limas supporters insist that she is innocent and that the charges are trumped up to silence one of Dutertes most prominent critics.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Senator Paolo Aquino condemned the political persecution of his fellow opposition Senate member.

This arrest is purely political vendetta and has no place in a justice system that upholds the rule of law. This is condemnable.





We reiterate that an arrest based on trumped-up charges is illegal, he said citing the haste in de Limas arrest.

De Lima previously claimed that she was targeted because of her criticism of Dutertes drug war policy.

During her time as head of the countrys human rights body, de Lima led the investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings of an estimated 1,000 drug suspects in Davao, while Duterte was mayor of the city.

When Duterte won as president in 2016, his feud with de Lima continued.

At one point he called on her to hang herself, after he ordered prosecutors to investigate the senators alleged links to the drug syndicate.

This week, de Lima branded the president a sociopathic serial killer after new allegations surfaced accusing Duterte of ordering drug killings in Davao.
Demonstrators in Hebron condemn US presidents pro-Israel stance and demand reopening of street near settler enclave.

Dozens of Palestinians have staged a protest in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron against US President Donald Trump who has voiced strong support for Israel, pelting a huge portrait of the US leader with shoes.

Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist, said on Friday at the protest that the demonstrators wanted to send the message to the Trump administration that we exist, we deserve full rights as everybody in the world.

We disrespect this president who does not see us as equal human beings with everyone, he said.

The demonstrators also called for the Israeli army to reopen a street near the Jewish settler enclave in the heart of Hebron.

READ MORE: Remembering the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre

The street has been largely closed off to Palestinians for the past 23 years since the massacre carried out by a far-right Jewish settler on February 25, 1994.

Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish settler, shot 29 Palestinians inside Hebrons Ibrahimi Mosque on February 25, 1994.

Fridays protest, on the eve of the anniversary of the massacre, ended with a clash with Israeli soldiers on Friday.

Soldiers fired tear gas and sound grenades to disperse the crowd as cannons doused them with stinking water, according to AFP news agency. There was no report of injuries.

Jewish settlers, of whom 500 are entrenched in the centre of the city of about 200,000 Palestinians, hurled stones at the protesters, who also pelted soldiers with stones.
Stefan Lofven says unemployed at home, including refugees, should fill jobs such as dishwashers and waiters.

Swedens prime minister said he wants to curb the intake of foreign workers to provide more jobs for the unemployed at home, including refugees who have fled to the country in recent years.

In 2016, Sweden granted work permits to more than 12,000 people from countries outside the EU.

This figure includes around 4,000 labour workers such as cleaners, chefs, waiters and waitresses and mechanics, according to the Swedish migration board.

Jobs that require little or no education will first be filled by the unemployed who are already in our country, Lofven said in Stockholm on Friday.

Its unreasonable for us to have a labour migration that consists of dishwashers [and] restaurant employees when we have capable people who have arrived here as refugees.

The first thing we will do is to emphasise that everyone who can work will work.

His comments came as he presented the Social Democrats programme for a party congress in April, when it will lay the foundations for its 2018 election campaign.

Lofven said there were 100,000 jobs available and 300,000 people unemployed in Sweden.

READ MORE: Q&A  Racism is on the rise in Sweden and it is scary

Labour migration should therefore be limited to professions that required more skill, he said.

Around four percent of people in Sweden aged between 15 and 29 years old were either unemployed or not attending school in 2016, according to Statistics Sweden.

The Social Democrats run a minority government with the Green Party, which opposes the plan, making it unlikely for Sweden to restrict labour migration before the general election.

If the Greens choose to dig their heels in and fight, then therell be a government crisis, Jonas Hinnfors, a political science professor at the University of Gothenburg, told AFP news agency.

READ MORE: Do Swedens refugee policies work?

Its more likely that this will be a [Social Democratic] election promise instead of forcing the Greens to agree, he said.

The Social Democrats have traditionally had a large working class voter base, and Lofvens comments were seen as an attempt to win over voters fleeing to the anti-immigration far-right Sweden Democrats.

According to a poll conducted between January 23 and February 19 by public broadcaster SVT, Sweden Democrats was the third-largest party behind the Social Democrats and the opposition conservative Moderates.

A country of almost 10 million people, Sweden took in 244,000 asylum seekers in 2014 and 2015, the highest number per capita in Europe.
Police fire tear gas and rubber bullets to break up local protesters who blame foreigners for unemployment and crime.

South African police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up clashes between local protesters and immigrants at a rally in Pretoria against foreigners.

Hundreds marched towards the foreign ministry on Friday, calling for the deportation of foreigners who they claim have taken their jobs.

Police tried to keep protesters, some of them armed with sticks and pipes, apart from foreigners who were gathered to express alarm about recent attacks.

There was a standoff between 100 protesters and 100 or so mostly Somali nationals who had come out onto the streets  saying they would defend themselves, their families homes and businesses, said Al Jazeeras Tania Page, reporting from Johannesburg.

We dont have hate! We dont have hate! one foreign man was heard shouting in a video posted by eNCA, a local broadcaster.

READ MORE: Calls for calm ahead of anti-migrant Pretoria rally

South Africas unemployment rate is above 25 percent.

While some foreigners are blamed for stealing jobs, others are accused of crimes such as drug-dealing.

Resentment against foreigners has sometimes turned deadly.

In 2015, anti-immigrant riots in and around the city of Durban killed at least six people. In 2008, similar violence killed at least 62 people.

The main group behind Fridays protests, Mamelodi Concerned Residents, remained peaceful.

But Pretorias police said in a statement that another group of people from Atteridgeville, which is west of Pretoria, blocked roads, burnt tyres and threw stones.

Zuma appeals for calm

Police Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane said officers arrested 136 people over the past 24 hours.

Protesters handed the ministry a petition that calls on the government to teach foreigners how to speak properly, according to the Associated Press news agency.

They are arrogant and they dont know how to talk to people, the petition said, singling out Nigerians.

South African President Jacob Zuma condemned anti-foreigner violence and appealed for calm.

Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively, Zuma said.

It is wrong to [brand] all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers.

Zuma acknowledged complaints about companies that hire illegal immigrants and said the foreign affairs office will be cracking down on all employers who continue with this practice, which is dangerous as it pits locals against non-nationals.

Earlier this week, Nigerian homes and businesses in Pretoria were attacked in several late-night incidents, according to the Nigerian Union South Africa (NUSA).

Despite high unemployment, the country is one of Africas largest economies and remains a draw for people from impoverished nations.

Businesses run by Somalis, Ethiopians and others are often targeted in anti-foreigner protests.

INTERACTIVE: No place like home, Xenophobia in South Africa

The periodic backlash has hurt the image of tolerance South Africa has tried to present to the world after apartheid.

Amnesty International blamed authorities failure to address toxic populist rhetoric that blames and scapegoats refugees and migrants.

Amid the anti-immigrant sentiment, government statistics show a drop in the number of foreign-born people.

A report last year said the 1.6 million foreign-born people was down from 2.2 million in 2011, in a country of more than 55 million people.
Negotiations off to rocky start after opposition threatens to skip opening ceremony over disagreements.

Geneva, Switzerland  UN-led negotiations on the war in Syria got off to a delayed start following disputes over the participation of the Syrian opposition delegation.

Opposition representatives nearly missed the opening ceremony of the talks on Thursday after threatening not to attend over disagreements on the make up and format of the session. But in a last-minute turnaround, they arrived late and as one large delegation.





UN envoy Staffan de Mistura formally began the fourth round of talks in Geneva in an opening session that brought the opposition and government delegations face-to-face at UN headquarters with expectations of a breakthrough low.

I ask you to work together. I know its not going to be easy to end this horrible conflict and lay the foundation for a country at peace with itself, sovereign and unified, de Mistura told the two delegations, who sat on opposite sides of the stage.

It is your opportunity and solemn responsibility  not to condemn future generations of Syrian children to long years of bitter and bloody conflict.

The talks are part of the latest political initiative to bring an end to a six-year war that has killed nearly half a million people, wounded more than a million, and forced more than 12 million  half of the countrys prewar population  from their homes.

Hopes for a work plan

In a news conference shortly after his opening speech, de Mistura said he would meet each side on Friday in the hope of setting a work plan for the remainder of the negotiations.

At the last Syria talks in Geneva 10 months ago, de Mistura had to shuttle between the government and opposition delegations in different rooms.

The opening ceremony on Thursday was delayed by several hours after disputes between the main opposition bloc  the High Negotiations Committee (HNC)  and de Mistura over the structure of the opposition delegation.

The bloated size of the delegation was due partly to de Misturas inclusion of two other groups  the Moscow and the Cairo platforms  in the talks. The envoy invited the two pro-Russia, government-tolerated opposition groups to sit separately from the HNC, an umbrella group of armed and political factions.

You must have seen that there was, in particular, a very heavy [presence] on the side of the opposition in the room  they were including also the armed groups  because, as you know, peace is made between those who fight each other, said de Mistura.





The idea of the opposition sitting at different tables riled the Saudi Arabia-based HNC, leading to hours of last-minute diplomacy before the opening ceremony as diplomats scrambled to find a solution.

Today, the real opposition that represents the Syrian people is the HNC. This delegation and the HNC, extends its hand to any national partner that adopts the will of the Syrian people, Naser al-Hariri, head of the HNC delegation, told reporters before the opening session.

READ MORE: Syrias Geneva talks  Expectations pretty low

We hope that the Moscow and Cairo platforms will prioritise national interest and the interests of the Syrian people, Hariri said.

The HNC was in contact with the Cairo and Moscow platforms in previous meetings. There are ongoing efforts to join these platforms within the opposition delegation so that we are represented as one delegation.

De Mistura said there had been serious progress made in the hours leading up to the opening ceremony in forming a united political opposition, but that there was still much work to be done.

Truce violations

The talks in Geneva came about after Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, a backer of the Syrian opposition, managed to forge a fragile nationwide ceasefire in place since December 30.

The Syrian government and the opposition agreed to participate in negotiations despite daily violations of the truce.

Much has changed on the ground in Syria since de Mistura suspended the last round of talks in Geneva last April after a previous ceasefire collapsed and heavy fighting resumed.





Russias September 2015 military intervention drastically changed the balance of power, propping up Assads embattled forces and helping them to retake key parts of the country.

With the help of Russian jets and Iranian-backed fighters, Syrian government forces dealt the rebels their biggest defeat in the conflict in December by retaking Aleppo, Syrias commercial capital before the war and a rebel stronghold since 2012.

The Russian-backed push on the battlefield has been coupled with a similar takeover by Moscow in the diplomatic arena  a move helped by confusion surrounding US President Donald Trumps Syria policy.

While the Geneva talks are seen as the most serious diplomatic effort in months, disputes over the agenda and long-standing disagreements between the opposition and the government on the future of the country have cast doubts on whether any progress will be achieved.

A day before the talks began, de Mistura said he was not expecting any major breakthroughs, but added he was determined to maintain proactive momentum on UN Security Council Resolution 2254, a document that provides the backbone of the talks.

2254 lays out a clear agenda, including specific language on governance, constitutions, elections, and even for the way negotiations should be timed, said de Mistura. That is what must now be discussed.

Though matters on the ground have shifted, the starkly different political objectives of the warring sides remain unchanged from previous rounds of negotiations.

For the Syrian opposition, a political transition that ensures the removal of Assad remains the only option for peace  an issue that the government in Damascus has consistently refused to consider.

De Mistura said the biggest challenge before the delegates was a lack of trust as he appealed to the two sides to use the talks as an opportunity for peace.

We do know what will happen if we fail once again  more deaths, more suffering, more terrorism, more refugees, he said.
Spokesperson plays down concern shooting of Indian engineer was inspired by President Trumps stance on immigrants.

The White House has sought to dispel concerns that the fatal shooting of an Indian engineer and the wounding of two other men was inspired by President Donald Trumps rhetoric.

Addressing the killing that occurred in the US state of Kansas this week, Sean Spicer, the White House spokesperson, said on Friday any loss of life is tragic but it would be absurd to link the action to Trumps stance on immigrants.

Spicer said it was too early to guess the motive for the incident, in which a man opened fire in a crowded bar in an apparently racially motivated attack.

The assailant, who witnesses said had shouted: Get out of my country before he opened fire, has been charged with murder.

READ MORE: Mapping hate  The rise of hate groups in the US

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died at a hospital while Alok Madasani, 32, and Ian Grillot, 24, were in a stable condition after the attack on Wednesday night in Olathe, Kansas.

Barman Garret Bohnen told the Kansas City Star newspaper that Kuchibhotla and Madasani stopped at the bar for a drink once or twice a week.

From what I understand, when he [the gunman] was throwing racial slurs at the two gentlemen, Ian stood up for them, Bohnen said.

Adam Purinton, the suspect, was taken into custody on Thursday and later charged, authorities said.

Asked if the shooting could be a hate crime, Eric Jackson, FBI special agent, said it was too early to determine.

Top-of-his-class guy

Kuchibhotla was a software engineer at Rockwell Collins, an avionics and information technology company, Rod Larson, his line manager, told the newspaper.

He was very sharp, a top-of-his-class kind of guy, Larson said.

His personality was exceptional. He was the kind of employee every manager would want. I couldnt say anything slightly bad about Srinivas.

Sushma Swaraj, Indias foreign minister, said on Twitter I am shocked, adding that she would help the family to bring Kuchibhotlas body back to Hyderabad.

Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for Indias foreign ministry, said Kuchibhotla was from Telangana state.

.@USAndIndia strongly condemns the tragic shooting of two Indians and one American in Kansas.Our deepest sympathies. https://t.co/wGjUv35iIJ  MaryKay Loss Carlson (@USAmbIndia) February 24, 2017

Grillot said in an interview from his hospital bed that when the shooting broke out, he hid until nine shots had been fired and he thought the suspects gun magazine was empty.

I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him, Grillot said in a video posted on the Kansas City Stars website. I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me.

Grillot said the bullet went through his hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery.

Its not about where he [the victim] was from or his ethnicity, Grillot said. Were all humans, so I just did what was right to do.

US Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas posted a statement on Facebook about the shooting, expressing concern for the safety of other immigrants.

I strongly condemn violence of any kind, especially if it is motivated by prejudice and xenophobia, Moran said.

Fund-raising drive

A GoFundMe page has been set up to collect money to fly Kuchibhotlas body to India.

The page has crossed its original $150,000 goal, raising nearly $200,000 in eight hours.

The US embassy in New Delhi condemned the shooting.

The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live, MaryKay Carlson, US charge daffaires, said in a statement.

READ MORE: US anti-fascists  We can make racists afraid again

US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief.

Hate crimes against Muslims in the US shot up 67 percent in 2015 to their highest levels since the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to FBI statistics released in 2016.

Overall, 57 percent of the 5,850 reported incidents were motivated by race or ethnicity, while 20 percent were related to religion.
Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett defends the end of the two-state solution in the era of Trump.

In this weeks UpFront, we speak to Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who cites the Bible as proof of Israels claim over the occupied West Bank.

And in a special interview, we speak to the mother of South Sudan and former adviser to President Salva Kiir, Rebecca Garang.

Headliner  Israeli minister: The Bible says West Bank is ours

Last week, in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump surprised the world by appearing to dismiss a long-standing US commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Prominent hard-right Israeli Education Minister, Naftali Bennett, welcomed the statement saying: The era of a Palestinian state is over.

There already exists two states for the Palestinians: one in Gaza, a full blown state run by Hamas, and the other is Jordan, where 70 percent of the citizens are, indeed, Palestinians, Bennett told UpFront. So the discussion is whether we need a third Palestinian state smack in the heart of Israel, and the answer is no.

When asked about the Israeli Supreme Courts 2005 ruling describing the West Bank as under belligerent occupation, Bennett called it a political decision and cited the Bible as proof of Israels right to the West Bank.

If you want to say that our land does not belong to us, I suggest you go change the Bible first, says Bennett.

In this weeks Headliner, we challenge the Israeli education minister and prominent right-wing leader Naftali Bennett.

Whos to blame for South Sudans civil war?

Civil war, famine, and warnings of genocide; whats gone wrong in the worlds youngest country?

Two years after South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, a civil war erupted that has left the country devastated, with recent reports emerging of a man-made famine.

For Mama Rebecca Garang, widow of the countrys founder, its poor leadership is to blame, specifically President Salva Kiir.

Anything being done good in the country, or bad, is always going to the president, so everything, I think, is with our president, says Garang, who was a former adviser to President Kiir and has called for him to step down. All of us, as the leaders of South Sudan, we did not lead our people properly.

Asked why she did not speak out against human rights abuses while she was an adviser, Garang claims she made repeated attempts to address the issue with President Kiir.

Im supposed to talk on the ears of the president for what I have seen, and I did my role, says Garang, adding the caveat that it was difficult to even get hold of President Kiir. Its very difficult to get appointment to our president  it can go even sometime to six months.

In this special interview, the mother of South Sudan, Rebecca Garang, tells UpFront of her thoughts on President Kiir, human rights abuses and alleged child-soldier recruitment.

Follow UpFront on Twitter @AJUpFront and Facebook.
Dr Marc Lamont Hill is an award-winning journalist and author and is the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University. Hill is known for his work addressing the intersections of race, justice, politics and culture. His latest best-selling book is We Still Here: Pandemics, Policing, Protest and Possibility which follows on the success of Nobody: Casualties of Americas War on the Vulnerable from Flint to Ferguson. Hill has received numerous prestigious awards from the US National Association of Black Journalists, GLAAD, and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
Despite what some wish to think, it is possible to believe in both science and religion.

A chemistry professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said so on Thursday.

Following an introduction from UF Kent Fuchs, a man who has specialized in both theology and engineering, MIT professor Troy Van Voorhis addressed a crowd of about 900 inside UFs University Auditorium. He discussed how science and faith were not mutually exclusive as a part of an event called Is Science Enough?

During the third annual speaker series, Fuchs said in a video before the speech that students had a rare opportunity to discuss issues that were being talked about nationally today.

This forum could not be more timely, Fuchs said.

Voorhis said although he studies science for a living, it may not answer all questions.

We are left with a feeling that there must be something more, he said.

Christianity doesnt limit whether a person can believe in controversial topics like abortion or gay rights, he added.

There is a myth that believing Christianity means you cant believe in fill-in-the-blank with whatever controversial topic, he said.

After his 40-minute talk, Van Voorhis took questions that students texted in.

Franklyn Francois, who helped organize the event, said it allowed for a discussion that doesnt occur often on college campuses.

We want to give academia and faith a space to discuss heavier topics, he said. We want to bring the two worlds together and show they are not mutually exclusive.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now

UF accounting sophomore Alex Melton said he was excited to hear Van Voorhis after his friend at MIT told him about the professor.

I found him really entertaining and engaging, the 20-year-old said.

Holli Capps, a UF environmental science sophomore, said she chose her major because God put her there.

That field needs more of a Christian voice, the 20-year-old said.

She said she heard about the event from a flier her academic adviser emailed out.

I dont understand why science and faith have to be separate, she said.

Contact Meryl Kornfield at mkornfield@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @MerylKornfield
Last week, Austin Ward had five exams over an eight-day stretch.

The UF civil engineering sophomore is taking six classes this semester, and hes overwhelmed.

In the thick of his midterms, he tried to book an appointment with the UF Counseling and Wellness Center  but they told him he couldnt be treated until next semester, as the centers waiting list was filled with the names of 77 others seeking treatment.

I essentially wasted my time, the 19-year-old said.

To keep up with a growing demand, the center is currently seeking funding from the Florida Legislature to increase the number of clinicians.

Ernesto Escoto, the director of the center, said this problem is not exclusive to UF; its happening across the state.

In Fall of 2016, all 13 Florida public universities submitted a $14 million legislative budget request to the Florida Board of Governors to increase funding for the universities counseling centers, Escoto said.

If approved, UF would get $2.2 million to hire 21 clinicians.

The International Association of Counseling Services, which accredits the UF center, recommends one clinician for every 1,000 to 1,500 students at the university.

With 33 full-time clinicians, one for every 1,546 students, UF fails to meet the quota, Escoto said.

The CWC over the last few years has typically established a waitlist for individual counseling appointments after the first three- to-four weeks of each Fall and Spring semesters, wrote Sara Tanner, Director of Marketing and Communications Student Affairs, in an email. The average time a student spends on the waitlist is 15 or 16 days.

All students are first evaluated before being placed on the waitlist, she said.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now

"Being placed on a waitlist only occurs when at the triage appointment it is determined that individual counseling/treatment at CWC is the best or only option for the student," she said.

If the Board of Governors approves the funding, Gov. Rick Scott will have to sign off on it.

If so, the universities will get the money June 1, he said.

But it would take much longer to fix the problem, he said.

The state universities need to hire 133 clinicians in total, he said.

The entire state will be looking for psychologists, so I dont expect that well fill all positions on the first search, Escoto said.

He said the center should be able to hire all clinicians by Spring 2018 or Fall 2019 if it gets funding for their salaries.

Meanwhile, demand continue to increase.

In 2016, 4,700 students visited the UF center, amounting to almost 31,000 appointments and consultations, he said. But as the stigma surrounding mental health decreases, Escoto expects a 3- to 5-percent increase this year.

About 25 percent of students at UF have been treated with medication for mental-health issues at some point in their life, he said.

But for students like Ward, new clinicians wont be here fast enough for them to talk to a counselor when they need it.

They advertise that whole U Matter, We Care, and they say thats a resource we have, but we dont, Ward said.

Contact Jimena Tavel at jtavel@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @taveljimena

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that 4,700, not 47,000, students sought services from CWC in 2016. This article has also been updated to reflect that Austin Ward had five exams over eight days instead of eight exams over five days.
TYRE  Shortly after cutting a ribbon to celebrate the opening of his latest restaurant, Fabio Viviani was back in the kitchen preparing for the first dinner guests.

Portico by Fabio Viviani, located inside del Lago Resort & Casino in Seneca County, opened Thursday. The 210-seat restaurant features a complete menu of pasta, prime cuts of meat and various other entrees.

Viviani, who rose to prominence on the reality television show "Top Chef," said developing the menu was a process that began with 300 dishes "that sounded really good." From there, family, friends and others scored the top 150 dishes based solely on what sounded delicious.

His team prepared the final 150 dishes. The best made the cut.

"What's really good and sounds good goes on our menu," he said in an interview Thursday.

A vast majority of the menu  80 percent, Viviani estimated  is sourced within 100 miles of the restaurant. The few products he gets from outside of the area are Italian pastas, sauces and tomatoes.

For appetizers, patrons can choose from an array of options, including a Coccoli Platter, which is described as "Beignet-style bread balls, prosciutto di Parma, Stracchino cheese, truffle honey and herb oil," and a poached pear salad.

The pasta offerings include gnocchi and classic bolognese. The prime cuts are highlighted by a 21-day in-house dry aged New York strip steak.

Eight other entrees are on the menu, including a whole roasted boneless chicken, which is served with roasted yams, bacon, house-made focaccia stuffing, burnt lemon and rosemary sauce.

"It's to die for," Viviani said. "It's one of the top five dishes I've ever had in my life."

The partnership between del Lago and Viviani formed years earlier when the chef worked with the casino's brass on other events.

When del Lago officials wanted an upscale restaurant inside the $440 million casino, they turned to Viviani, an established restaurateur.

"We're so happy you're here with us today," said M. Brent Stevens, co-chair of del Lago, at Thursday's opening ceremony.

Viviani said there are benefits and challenges that come with opening a restaurant inside a casino. For example, he said if he has to purchase a glass, it has to go through purchasing and it might take longer to arrive.

One of the benefits: "There's a great budget," he said.

Viviani said Portico is one of the best experiences he's had opening a new restaurant. He praised the staff, which he said has been "on point" in the days and weeks leading up to opening night.

"We're not easy on them, honestly," Viviani said. "This place will make a lot of money for them and we ask a lot. They have to be knowledgeable. They have to be on point. They gotta be happy and they gotta be pleasing to be around. They gotta look good. They gotta smell good. They gotta act happy."

With several restaurants and other business interests, Viviani won't be at Portico every day, or maybe even every week. But he will have a regular presence at the restaurant that bears his name.

That presence will depend on the restaurant's needs, he said. He's already spent a month and a half in the Finger Lakes region preparing for the opening of Portico. He will be here for a few more weeks as the restaurant begins its regular operating schedule.

"This is not just a name on the door. This is a partnership for us," Viviani said. "So we have to make sure that this restaurant is successful because it's going to be here for a long time."

Portico will have a limited dining schedule until it adds brunch and lunch service. For now, the restaurant will be open from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Andrea Berteit felt more comfortable growing up in East Berlin in the 80s than she does living under President Donald Trumps administration.

Thats why she protests at Florida Rep. Ted Yohos office every Tuesday alongside hundreds of other activists.

The 52-year-old German green card holder moved to Gainesville six years ago when her husband was hired at UF. Berteit and her family will apply for citizenship in April, but none of them like the idea of becoming citizens of a country that doesnt value immigrants and wont implement a universal health-care system.

One afternoon every week, Berteit rallies protesters at Yohos Gainesville office to show her children that the U.S., their new home, has the potential to be great  it just isnt right now.

Yoho, a Republican serving North Central Floridas 3rd Congressional District, was elected in 2012 and is currently serving his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the most recent election cycle, he ran on a platform that supports the removal of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, said Brian Kaveney, a spokesman for Yoho. An ardent supporter of Trump, Yoho also spoke at the then-candidates campaign rally in Ocala.

Following Trumps inauguration, local activist groups have consistently visited the congressmans office to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with his continuous support of Trumps policies, including the temporary immigration ban and the proposed repeal and replacement of Obamacare, Berteit said.

She said her 16-year-old son, a sophomore at Eastside High School, feels that Americas democracy is slowly coming apart at the hands of selfish and unqualified leaders.

I want to show him that this country has such great potential, such a great foundation, Berteit said.

Although she hasnt been able to participate in a U.S. election, she believes applying constant pressure through calling, visiting and writing to local politicians is the only way to create change in Washington, D.C.

Its (Yohos) responsibility to at least demonstrate that he converses with all of us, that he takes the diligence to reflect on everyones point of view and that he then goes and represents that at congress, she said.

Yoho agreed to hold a town hall meeting with the community. It will take place March 4 at Countryside Baptist Church, located at 10926 NW 39th Ave., at 10 a.m.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now

I hear what they are saying and that everyone has the right to petition their representative for a redress of grievances, Yoho wrote in an email. I do feel that it is realistic for individuals, who dont share the same political philosophy as me, to exercise their First Amendment rights and I support that.

The meeting will allow community members to ask Yoho specific questions about the policies he supports, Kaveney said.

Just like at any town hall, you hope it doesnt get out of hand, Kaveney said. If people just show up and yell at him, and shout him down like you see on the news, thats not helping anybody.

Republican politicians are feeling the wrath of liberal constituents at frequent and confrontational town hall meetings across the country, according to The Washington Post.

Many protesters believe Yoho is complacent in supporting Trump and sticks strictly to his Republican party lines.

Yoho said he has stood against his own party leadership in the past.

I will stand against anyone who doesnt defend our Constitution, regardless of their party affiliation, he said.

However, that response isnt enough to placate Joy Pitts.

Pitts, 34, began the Gainesville chapter of Indivisible, a national movement that encourages Americans to resist policies that Trumps administration puts forth. Within a week, the chapter had 1,000 members.

We need to be engaged, we need to hold people accountable, we need to make change from the bottom up, she said.

At the town hall meeting next week, Pitts will ask Yoho what it will take for him to stand up to the president. Although she doesnt know how many seats the venue has, she expects hundreds of people to show up.

I dont think well change his policy. Im realistic, Pitts said. But its definitely getting under his skin.

Pitts said most members of Gainesvilles Indivisible are spending between 40 and 50 hours a week to make sure people like Yoho dont get reelected.

But, not everyone in Gainesville disapproves of the congressmans political stance.

Jack Gregory, 20, said he supports Trump and the removal of Obamacare, but believes if some of Yohos constituents are discouraged, they should make it known.

I absolutely believe in the right to peacefully protest. I think its very important for them to have the ability to voice their opinion, the UF mechanical engineering junior said. However, I think there are much better uses of their time.

Gregory believes the 50 hours Pitts dedicates to organizing protests each week could be used to raise money for other political or environmental organizations.

Theres plenty of places you can volunteer and fundraise for, where youll actually make a difference with those goals, he said. But I absolutely believe they should keep fighting for what they believe in.

Contact Molly Vossler at mvossler@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @molly_vossler

Protesters gathered outside U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho's Gainesville office to demand a town hall meeting when he recesses.

Protesters gather outside U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho's Gainesville office to demand a town hall meeting for Feb. 14.
Despite the revocation of a memorandum allowing transgender students in public schools to use the bathroom of their choice, Gainesville remains a sanctuary, Mayor Lauren Poe said Thursday.

Poe took to Facebook to rebuke the decision on Wednesday after President Donald Trump moved to immediately roll back guidance made by former President Barack Obama that urged public schools to accommodate their students or risk funding slashes.

If you are trans and feeling under threat, come to Gainesville. We respect you, love you and if need-be, we will protect you, Poe wrote on his Facebook page.

Transgender students at public schools in Gainesville will always be allowed to use whichever bathroom they identify with, Poe said.

He said he wants to remind everyone in Gainesville that the city includes transgender people in its civil rights ordinance, and it is illegal to discriminate against any person.

You cannot tell people they can or cannot use the restroom of their identity, Poe said.

Nate Quinn, a transgender student at UF, said although he expected Trump to revoke the decision, he wasnt expecting it to happen so quickly.

It makes me worried, it makes me scared, the 18-year-old UF psychology freshman said. Obama being supportive of trans students was a good step in the right direction, and was a good start for equality in public schools. For Trump to get rid of that so easily, its very hard.

Quinn, who has been working to promote equal rights for transgender students in public schools, said Trumps latest move has completely reversed any progress hes made as an activist.

We were moving forward, he said. Now, were at a standstill.

UF law student Benny Menaged said although hes discouraged by Trumps latest actions, hes hoping the courts will give transgender Americans the protection he said they deserve.

Menaged, the former president of the LGBTQ+ legal organization OUTLaw, also accused Trump of making empty campaign promises to protect transgendered citizens.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now

During Trumps campaign, he made statements saying he would assure the rights of the LGBTQ community, Menaged said. Doing this is one of the worse things you could do to transgender children in our country, so thats disappointing.

Contact Molly Vossler at mvossler@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @molly_vossler

In this May 17, 2016 file photo, a new sticker is placed on the door at the ceremonial opening of a gender neutral bathroom at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle. A government official says the Trump administration will revoke guidelines that say transgender students should be allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their chosen gender identity.
A significant part of every Americans upbringing is the instillation of American values and norms. Ambition, self-efficacy, confidence, individualism and a work-horse attitude are all traits taught in classrooms. We are a culture centered about the individual, each one of us acting as the captain for our own life, told since kindergarten that we could do whatever we set our minds to. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. Hidden underneath all of our lessons was a separate curriculum set by culture and society, a curriculum with no assignments or progress reports, but instead a prep course for the long and daunting stretch ahead.

Of all the national attitudes and prevailing perspectives out there, the American dream has to be one of the most attractive and best-sounding. Hearing stories of American icons like Henry Ford and Abraham Lincoln starting from scraps and working their way to the top energizes the masses and provides them with the confidence needed to enter the rat race. At the core of the dream are ideals of freedom and prosperity, timeless appeals that everyone can cling to. But is the American dream still alive? Is the U.S. still the leading land of opportunity in the free world?

If recent studies are to be believed, the answer is no. The American dream appears to have turned back east, across the Atlantic, and nestled itself gently in the heaven-on-earth that is Scandinavia.

Alan Krueger, the chairman of Obamas Council of Economic Advisers, released what he calls the Great Gatsby curve. On the x-axis lies the Gini index (a measurement of nationwide income distribution), and on the y-axis lies something called intergenerational immobility (how difficult it is for you to make more money than your parents).

What the Great Gatsby curve shows us is that the more economically unequal the country becomes, the more difficult it is to climb the socio-economic ladder. In other words, we wont be better off until we are all better off.

The most shocking feature of the curve is the U.S. position toward the top-right end of the curve, the most unequal and economically immobile portion of the graph. At the other end of the curve we find Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Each of these countries also feature a higher median income than the U.S.

In his book The Almost Nearly Perfect People, Michael Booth looks into the myth of the Scandinavian Utopia and shows that its not just glaciers and good times up there.

The Scandinavians high levels of equality and mobility do not come without a cost, as it is no coincidence that these are also the most highly taxed countries in the world. The government plays the role of banker in this game of Monopoly," making sure everyone gets their fair share and nobody gets too far ahead or behind anyone on the economic ladder. Thats the catch: Your social mobility is certainly higher in Denmark, but youre going to have to also pay for your neighbors, plus, your ceiling could be lower because of it. Its a game of give and take. Its safer in Denmark: Nobody loses too badly, but nobody wins that greatly either.

It all boils down to a game of odds. Your chance of rising through the classes is higher in Denmark, but your ladder is not as tall, as you are not risking as much with the government providing a safety net below you. For some, this is the way that it should be. For others, the bigger chunk of cheese waiting at the top of Americas ladder is enough to keep them stateside and in pursuit of a grander prize.

Andrew Hall is a UF management junior. His column appears on Fridays.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now










English News Baidus deep learning lab to boost Chinas artificial intelligence progress

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 24 Fevrier 2017



Baidu is not only one of China's top three Internet companies, but also a notable one in the world. Its CEO Robin Li, at the annual sessions of National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 2015, called for the development of artificial intelligence by introducing a plan called China Brain.

By Hu Zexi from Peoples Daily Search engine giant Baidu announced recently that it has been authorized to establish Chinas first national engineering lab on deep learning. The new move will boost the countrys artificial intelligence (A.I.) progress.



The lab, approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, is dedicated to research and application of deep learning. The laboratory will focus on visual and sensory technologies, biometric identification, human-computer interaction, standardized services and deep learning intellectual property.



A national engineering lab in China, usually research and development entity established by enterprises, research institutions or universities, now represents an important part of the national scientific and technological innovation system. China had 167 national engineering laboratories as of last September.



China's progress in artificial intelligence research has attracted more limelight in recent years. In a report titled "Chinas Intelligent Weaponry Gets Smarter published in early February, the New York Times commented that as consumer electronics manufacturing has moved to Asia, both Chinese companies and the nations government laboratories are making major investments in artificial intelligence.



A White House report released last October said that Chinese scholars have published more research papers related to artificial intelligence than their American counterparts.



Baidu is not only one of China's top three Internet companies, but also a notable one in the world. Its CEO Robin Li, at the annual sessions of National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 2015, called for the development of artificial intelligence by introducing a plan called China Brain.



This engineering lab was launched less than two years after Lis proposal, said Lu Qi, Baidus president and chief operating officer, adding that it revealed Chinas leapfrog progress in artificial intelligence technology.



Lu, together with Wu Enda, chief scientist of Baidu, are heavyweights in artificial intelligence sector.



New York Times also linked Lu with the industry of the whole country, saying that the advance of the Chinese was underscored last month when Lu Qi, a veteran Microsoft artificial intelligence specialist, left the company to become chief operating officer at Baidu, where he will oversee the companys ambitious plan to become a global leader in A.I.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > Chongqing drives high-quality development with high-level opening up China will make more glorious achievements under leadership of CPC: Mongolian politician China enhances efforts to promote biodiversity conservation Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)










English News Biased to say foreign investment leaving China: minister

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 24 Fevrier 2017



China will roll out favorable policies to reduce access restrictions for foreign investment and encourage foreign investment into the country's central, western and northeastern regions.

By Qiang Wei from Peoples Daily Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng on Tuesday dismissed concerns that foreign investment is leaving China, saying claims to that effect are "biased."



He made the comment during a press conference held by the State Council Information Office when answering a question about concerns about "withdrawal of foreign investment" from China.



"In recent years some production has indeed moved offshore, but at the same time many advanced industries have moved to China," Gao told reporters, adding that this shift was decided by the market's decisive role in resource allocation.



He further explained that foreign investment in any country flows in and out in response to the development of the economy and changes in the industrial structure.



Gao also denied speculation about the foreign direct investment (FDI) drop last month, saying that Spring Festival contributed to the lower monthly figure. One month's figure can never be used to summarize a long-term trend, he stressed.



Although global FDI plummeted last year, China utilized some 813.2 billion yuan ($126 billion) of FDI, a year-on-year increase of 4.1 percent, he said.



FDI into sectors including pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical equipment and high-tech services registered increases of 55.8 percent, 95 percent and 86.1 percent respectively, Gao said.



The minister added that attracting foreign investment is an important component of China's opening-up policy, and the country will increase its efforts in this regard in 2017.



According to him, China will roll out favorable policies to reduce access restrictions for foreign investment and encourage foreign investment into the country's central, western and northeastern regions.



China will facilitate the inflow of foreign investment by replicating the successes of pilot free trade zones in terms of license application, rulemaking and the introduction of specialized talent, Gao continued.

A fair, transparent and predictable business environment will be created so that foreign-funded enterprises will be assured a level playing field in their competition with local players, he added.



China will remain the most competitive and appealing destination for foreign investment as its growing economy is accompanied by an improved market economic system, he pledged.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > Chongqing drives high-quality development with high-level opening up China will make more glorious achievements under leadership of CPC: Mongolian politician China enhances efforts to promote biodiversity conservation Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)










English News CPEC opens door to foreign investment in Pakistan

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 24 Fevrier 2017



Data shows that, so far, Chinese enterprises have invested more than $50 billion in countries along the Belt and Road routes. In the first three quarters of 2016, China-Pakistan trade reached over $14 billion, and the value of newly signed engineering contracts by Chinese enterprises in Pakistan has surpassed $7.1 billion.

By Xu Wei, Meng Xianglin and Zhang Mengxu from People's Daily The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project under the "Belt and Road" initiative, is going full steam ahead. The corridor, opening a door to foreign investment in Pakistan, has brought Pakistan more development opportunities.



"In May this year, China will host in Beijing the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which aims to discuss ways to boost cooperation, build cooperation platforms and share cooperation outcomes, " Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017 in Davos, Switzerland.



Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.



Of the projects under the Belt and Road framework, the CPEC is regarded as a vanguard in China's cooperation with countries along the routes.



The Belt and Road initiative is a "game changer" for Pakistan, former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said.



Key energy projects and infrastructure construction along the CPEC will serve as an important engine to drive Pakistan's economic growth and bring more economic activities and opportunities to the country, he added.



Along the corridor, the Thakot-Havelian reconstruction project of the Karakoram Highway, the only overland channel connecting China and Pakistan, the construction of the Multan-Sukkur section of a motorway linking Peshawar and Karachi, as well as the Orange Line of the Lahore Metro, have already begun.



Meanwhile, 10 power plants with total installed capacity of 7,300 MW, including one in Sahiwal, have begun construction. Other projects include the Gwadar Port, as well as a 25-hectare free trade zone in adjacent areas of the port.



The CPEC has opened the doors to foreign investment in Pakistan, and its people will benefit from it, Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif said, recognizing the significant contributions the corridor will make to improve the local economy and improve peoples livelihood.



These infrastructure projects offer new opportunities for China's machinery industry as well. Zhao Wei, an employee at Chinese heavy machinery manufacturer Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group, told People's Daily that the company has sold nearly 400 devices in the country thanks to CPEC.



The companys regional sales have grown to more than $43 million, Zhao added. He is currently stationed in Pakistan.



The "Belt and Road" initiative is a Chinese program to achieve inter-connectivity and common development among the countries along its route. As a flagship project of the initiative, CPEC has brought together the hearts of both peoples, setting a benchmark for cooperation among en-route countries.



Data shows that, so far, Chinese enterprises have invested more than $50 billion in countries along the Belt and Road routes. In the first three quarters of 2016, China-Pakistan trade reached over $14 billion, and the value of newly signed engineering contracts by Chinese enterprises in Pakistan has surpassed $7.1 billion.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > Chongqing drives high-quality development with high-level opening up China will make more glorious achievements under leadership of CPC: Mongolian politician China enhances efforts to promote biodiversity conservation Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
The same day that DHS issued its new guidelines regarding Immigration law enforcement, Tom Dart, the Sheriff of Cook County, IL; home of the City of Chicago, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the nations first Mayoral Sanctuary Policy, stated he has no interest in joining federal immigration efforts. As if county sheriffs across the nation can pick and choose which federal laws they will, and will not, follow.

This is nothing new for Chicago, home of the first official mayor-issued sanctuary policy. Since 1985 Chicago has openly defied federal Immigration law; an interesting trend since no other area of federal law is defied as aggressively as immigration. Cara Smith, the policy chief for Sheriff Tom Dart, stated We have not been approached nor would we be interested in participating in this program. Then added, Our focus is and will remain on addressing violence in the city. Smiths statements were reported by the Chicago Tribune. This comment would be laughable if not for the fact that Chicagos children are murdered at a horrendous rate on a daily basis, a trend that skyrocketed under President Obamas reign in the White House.

The city of Chicago is entirely contained within Cook County. The county has authored some of the nations most outrageously illegal anti-immigration law policies. On September 30, 2003, the Cook County Commissions Committee on Finance, led by Chairman Bill Daley (a brother of Mayor Daley) pass an ordinance declaring the Mexican matricula consular card a valid form of ID in Cook County. Then on March 15, 2006, Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado introduced a resolution, which passed, resolving to fight HR 4437, a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate declaring illegal immigration a felony. Then on Sept. 7, 2006 Maldonado sponsored another resolution declaring Cook County a sanctuary county for immigrants. Conveniently leaving out the word illegal. before immigrants. Then on April 30, 2007 Maldonado sponsored a resolution to declare Cook County a Fair and Equal County for Immigrants.

Bill Daley was Chairman of the Cook County Financial committee when they announced in 2004 that they would defy Federal law.

President Obama joined the rebellion against federal law when he sued Arizona over its state law, SB 1070, in 2012. The Chicago Public School system has also joined the movement to flout federal law: it issued memos to school principals not to allow immigration officials in schools without a warrant. Its not surprising that given this defiance by its law enforcement and public school system, Hispanics in the city feel that they are above the law. Clearly, the battle lines have been drawn, and Chicago is the first big city to flout president Trumps new effort to enforce existing immigration law, just as its mayor was the first to declare Chicago a sanctuary city.

The Democrat Party of the U.S. has a long history of manipulating persons of color going back two hundred years to the days of John Calhoun. In the 1820s, southern white slave owners began to rebel against the movement to abolish slavery, and warned that they would not respect the laws of new states which declared that slaves who traveled there would be free. This hostility toward the human rights of African Americans ultimately led to the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, but defiant Democrats refused to acknowledge equality for persons of color and fought their right to vote.

The newest group of persons of color is the Hispanic group. Before 1970 Hispanic numbers in the U.S. were so low that the 1970 Census did not even list Hispanic as an ethnic category. In 1979 Los Angeles began the movement to encourage the settlement of illegal immigrants to the city, and in 1985 Chicago became the first big city to openly proclaim, through Executive Order 85-1 issued by its Mayor Harold Washington, that residents of the city would be given city services and employment opportunities regardless of citizenship status. Of course, the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization is given by the Constitution only to Congress, not to Chicago or Cook County. But in the tradition of the manipulation of minorities Chicago and other big cities started up what I have called Racism Version 2.0 by establishing themselves as sanctuary cities for Hispanic residents.

Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and other cities have absolutely no legal authority with regard to immigration law, yet they have all flouted Federal law and sought to carve out illegal immigrants as a group over which they have absolute control. And they have placed them in highly segregated neighborhoods, just as they have herded blacks into highly segregated areas, and with the promises of benefits to single mothers, low income housing, and food stamps, confining them to lives of poverty and desperation ever since the early 1930s.

This defiance was to be expected. Chicago has spawned defiance of federal immigration law for forty years. It will be interesting to see how President Trump reacts to this. Cook Countys Sheriff Dart has definitely drawn a line in the sand, and dared Trump to do anything about it. Should Trump refuse to act and allow Chicago to defy the rule of Federal law, then other sanctuary cities will follow.

Why Chicago promotes illegal immigration and shields immigrants from federal law enforcement is not difficult to understand. Its all about political power and money. In the 1982 gubernatorial election an FBI investigation found that over 80,000 illegal aliens illegally voted. And today each person in the state of Illinois brings in $4,000 worth of Federal block grant money. This, in addition to the DACA money, public housing, WIC food stamp program, school lunch, ESL (English as a second language) and dozens of other programs. Illinois, Cook County and the city of Chicago are now all heavily dependent on the Hispanic illegal immigrant population as a source of local, state and federal benefit dollars. Its not just Hispanics who are illegal but other nationalities as well: Chicago has a large recently arrived Polish immigrant population as well as those from southeastern Europe who came as refugees after the Bosnian war.

The CPS system is heavily dependent upon federal dollars for its operating expenses. Nevertheless, the CPS memo to principals clearly stated its position: To be very clear, CPS does not provide assistance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law.

The Chicago Public School system has no legal authority to enforce, or deny enforcement, of Federal immigration law. Not since the Little Rock, Arkansas school system defied segregation orders in the 1950s have public schools open defied federal government law enforcement directives.

If Cook County Sheriff Dart can refuse to cooperate with federal law, why doesnt he refuse to evict people from their homes, after their home is sold for nonpayment of property taxes? Wouldnt that help those in need?

Among other issues, this proves that government, not big business, is behind the illegal immigration movement. Government, not big business, is openly defying Federal law enforcement DHS policy in Cook County, Illinois.
Irrespective of any policy controversies in his nascent administration, one thing is clear: President Trumps fearless, effective handling of the liberal media redounds to his benefit in a manner never seen before in Republican politics.

Hes the first Republican president who responds immediately to biased reporting and doesnt let a single charge go by unrefuted. He is totally unafraid of being combative and confrontational. He has empowered and emboldened his advisors and spokespeople, like Sean Spicer, Kellyanne Conway and Reince Priebus -- to act likewise, with effective results. For the first time, conservatives are not shouting at the TV out of frustration, You should have said.... Now, the Trump administration says it.

President Trump makes liberal reporters with their all-too-obvious gotcha agendas look ridiculous. He shines the light of illegitimacy and bias on them for the entire world to see. Fake News is now part of the national lexicon. The more the liberal MSM try to deny it, the more they implicate themselves. As he calls out Jake Tapper or Jim Acosta or any other reporter or network by name, he usually starts with a joke -- You know, there are a lot of reporters here with higher-rated shows than yours. I shouldnt even be calling on you.

Everyone laughs. The audience gets it, completely.

Even casually attentive voters have become aware of liberal media bias. In only a few short months, Trump has exposed the MSM as Democratic shills. Failing New York Times, The dishonest media, and everything else he says rings true with Conservatives and casual attentives of any affiliation -- because they can see its true.

Look at all the people here tonight at this rally. Unbelievable. There are 15, 20, 25 thousand of you. This place is filled. Will the dishonest media swing their cameras around and show the crowd? I bet they wont! And of course, they dont.

Never before has a Republican candidate or president countered and neutered the liberal media so effectively.

Certainly not George W. Bush, who let them hammer him into a dismal 28% approval rating over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the weapons of mass destruction, Abu Ghraib, the banking crisis, etc.

Certainly not John McCain, who let the liberal media cast him as an old, out-of-touch, nervous candidate with a nutcase for his VP running mate.

And certainly not Mitt Romney, who let Candy Crowley and Obama roll him like a street drunk over Benghazi and the terrorism word in their second Presidential debate, on foreign policy.

Media losers, all of them. As Trump would say, Big league.

But Trump is a media winner. Big Time. He speaks directly to the people. His tweets get completely around the liberal MSM filter and the MSM hates it. His rallies speak directly to his supporters and his statements on policy are clear and unarguable: Were going to round up violent convicted illegal immigrant felons and kick them out of the country. Who would disagree with that? The liberal MSM is furious about not being able to twist it into Were going to kick immigrants out of the country. They would accidentally leave out the convicted illegal felons part. Now, they cant.

The liberal press is actually becoming somewhat gun-shy with him now, prefacing questions and remarks by saying, We dont hate you, and This is a fair question, really, not a gotcha question. May I ask it?

The viewership/listenership waits to see how President Trump will respond. If Trump shows any displeasure or irritation, the audience dismisses the questioner and his/her organization as another one of those.

Rasmussen had him at 52% approval last week, a very good mark for any president, and one thats particularly astonishing in light of the unprecedented, unrelenting liberal attacks on him. Hes doing more, sooner, than any president in recent memory. He speaks directly to the issues that matter to the people and he says what hell do without equivocation, doubletalk or dancing. His cabinet picks are not political payback or gifts for past support; instead, theyre unfailingly who he thinks will do the best job.

All of which drives the liberal media nuts, because hes not smooth-talking and vague like Obama and hes not given to praying at the altar of political correctness. Instead, his policies are based on what he feels will be the best for the country, regardless of how it does or doesnt affect the special interest group du jour. Another plus: he doesnt have any patience for the usual talk about it for eight months/convene a Govt-funded study/put it off until after the next elections timeframe.

Trumps efforts against liberal media bias can be likened to a U.S. naval bombardment against Japanese shore fortifications on a Pacific island in WWII before the Marines went ashore, or our Air Forces nonstop bombing of Saddam Husseins Republican Guard positions in 1991 before we initiated our ground assault. We softened them up before we attacked directly. Trump has softened them up.

Nothing will ever be the same from this point on. Trump has shown everyone how to do it, and any good future Republican candidate has the blueprint of how to build that house. The liberal media can dig their heels in all they want and continue to attack, but voters now know and see the truth. Trump has lessened the liberal MSMs impact to the point where its no longer the critical, defining element it once was.
Michael Flynn was fired from the Trump administration following vague, somewhat concerning, leaks about a phone conversation he had with the Russian ambassador. The intelligence community (IC) leaked this conversation to damage President Trump, who had previously 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?

These are glimpses into the soft civil war taking place between the IC and the democratically elected president.

This fight should be completely unsurprising. Kenneth Timmerman, in 2007, wrote a fabulous book called Shadow Warriors, which documented bureaucrats in the State Department and CIA, i.e. shadow warriors, nakedly harming President Bush. What Timmerman had the foresight to catalog years ago now serves as an explanatory backdrop to what is happening between Trump and the IC.

When IC people attack Flynn, it is not safe to take them at their word. They could be working for political reasons -- or simply personal ambition. Timmerman provides many recent historical examples which show them doing exactly this. The IC has damaged their own credibility.

One example is the 2005 confirmation hearings for John Bolton as ambassador to the UN. The Democrats blocked Boltons nomination due to a confrontation he had with a State Department analyst, Christian Westermann. Democrats claimed Boltons actions had grave and far-reaching implications for American credibility.

What was Boltons horrible deed? He had written a speech, Beyond the Axis of Evil, to communicate the threats Americans faced from biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, from actors beyond North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. Bolton stated that Cuba had a biological weapons program and shared data with other states.

Westermann, based on the intelligence work of Ana Montes, went behind Boltons back to stop him. The problem is that Ana Montes was convicted in 2002 of espionage for Cuba. She avoided a death penalty by plea bargaining down to twenty-five years in jail.

Prior to conviction, Ana had been the top analyst on Cuba for the entire American IC. After her conviction, her disinformation remained in the system. Westermann was relying on the work of a Cuban spy to subvert Bolton. In response, Bolton had a frank conversation with Westermann.

In the confirmation hearings, Democrats and Westermann had turned the whole issue around on Bolton. Bolton was punished for speaking the truth about Cuba, and punished for confronting a bureaucrat in the IC about carrying water for a Cuban spy.

Like Bolton, Flynn has a reputation for calling stupid people out on stupid behavior. Maybe the IC took out Flynn because they are true patriots who think he posed a risk to America. Or maybe its because they didnt like his political orientation and policy goals. Maybe its simply because he was going to tell the truth and make them look bad. One thing is certain, ascribing nefarious motivations to their actions is not a conspiracy theory, as Timmerman has documented this type of behavior.

The IC uses various disinformation methods to achieve their nefarious goals. One example Timmerman gives covers how CIA man Stephen Kappes hid important intelligence from the American people.

Kappes was in the CIA for over two decades so this is exactly the sort of career IC man one would expect to be nonpolitical. As deputy director, he was the second most powerful man in the CIA, so one would hope he would put patriotic love for America first.

The Bush administration had obtained media from an Arab television station which showed how the war had been effective at stopping terrorists. Bush wanted to share the video with the American people.

Timmerman writes what Kappes response was, Youve got to tell them they cant use that tape unless they want to answer to me for getting one of my guys killed. This would have been a laudable reason for Kappes to stop the information from coming out. The only problem was that Kappes was lying.

The CIA director and Bush appointee Porter Goss first told Bush not to publish the tape, to protect Kappess source. Then when Goss learned Kappes had lied, he went back to Bush to explain what had happened and clear release of the tape.

Bush lost trust in Goss. Only a couple of years later, in 2006, Goss was forced out of the CIA. Meanwhile, Kappes served as number two at the CIA into 2010. One lie from Kappes had served to hurt Republicans, prevent the truth from getting out to the public, hurt Goss, destabilized the administration, and furthered his own career. What a success! for a shadow warrior.

Kappes deception figures as a relatively simple one in Timmermans book, in this instance anyway, as Kappes pops up fighting the shadow war numerous times.

Timmerman also recounts the Valerie Plame affair, which shows how the CIA carries out sophisticated psychological operations against America.

As readers will recall, CIA agent Valerie Plame arranged for her husband, Joe Wilson, to go to Niger to investigate whether Iraq was trying to buy uranium. Remarkably, Wilson was not bound to a confidentiality agreement. After the Iraq War started, Wilson went public bashing Bush. When Republicans defended themselves, Valerie Plames name came out, and Republicans got scorched again for leaking the name of a CIA agent

As then-senator Zell Miller wrote, The rules on agents are clear. They can't purposely distort gathered intelligence, go public with secret information or use their position or information to manipulate domestic elections or matters without risking their job or jail. But their spouse can!

Wilsons public attack on Bush wasnt even truthful. Wilson focused on one piece of evidence, some forged documents, to discredit the idea that Iraq was trying to buy uranium. He completely bypassed the fact that an Iraqi delegation had gone to Niger in 1999 headed by Iraqi nuclear expert Wissam al-Zahawie. Wilson used a half-truth to deceive.

This CIA operation has permanently changed America. Many Americans now know that Bush lied. The Republican brand was damaged forever. And efforts to employ violence in self-defense against dictators working to procure uranium have been undercut.

What Trump is facing from the IC is nothing new. It is simply Shadow Warriors Part Two. As Timmerman has documented, a significant number of people in the IC, the shadow warriors, have a history of subverting America and democratically elected presidents, for political reasons. Anyone who says this is impossible is lying or ignorant of history.

Given the ICs rabid lying attacks on Bush, there is no particular reason to believe them now. The attacks on Trump must especially be taken with skepticism as they come from anonymous sources, are vague, and merely hint at wrongdoing. Until the IC gives hard evidence that Flynn or Trump are Russian agents, these attacks say more about the IC than Trump. It suggests that certain shadow warriors perceive Trump as a threat to their well-being, and that they dont like Trumps policy stances. Never mind that he won the election in a free country.

One recurring theme in Shadow Warriors is that under the Bush administration, the shadow warriors didnt face consequences. Westermann was not fired for spreading Cuban disinformation, nor for his political attempts to harm Bolton. Kappes was not fired for lying to Goss. And Plame actually got rich and famous.

Trump has approached these situations entirely differently from Bush. He has called out the IC for illegal subversive behavior in a direct and public manner.

There is a wonderful thread on Reddit in the Donald Trump forum (because the generic politics section of Reddit has banished Trump supporters), where users hypothesize that Flynn and Trump lured the IC into leaking Flynns private conversation on purpose, In a single day, the deep state went from tinfoil hat conspiracy to common public knowledge. Amazing.

It is impossible to know what Trump and Flynns intentions were, but these ideas are not so far-fetched. Shadow warriors exist. And by baiting them into leaks which self-expose, Trump would merely be using the same play that Plame and Wilson used when they baited Republicans into outing her, only this time the shadow warriors were the victim. Either way, Trumps response to the IC has been strong.

As Zell Miller realized over a decade ago, Something has to be done. We can't let the CIA become the domestic dirty tricks shop, with Republican and Democratic agents each trying to pull down their opposing presidents. Kenneth Timmerman has gone to great lengths to document these past abuses, which explain the current situation, and predict the future. A man ignorant of shadow warriors is but a wounded lion, staggering as the IC hyenas stalk from the shadows.
U.S. Rep. John Katko is speaking out against a rash of bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers across the United States, including a center in the Syracuse area.

Katko, R-Camillus, and more than 150 members of Congress have signed a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, FBI Director James Comey and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly urging federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and deter the threats against Jewish community centers.

Over the last month, there have been at least 70 bomb threats reported at Jewish community centers across the country. The Jewish Community Center in DeWitt received two bomb threats in January.

Katko, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the threats targeting the local Jewish Community Center in DeWitt are unacceptable.

"The recurring threats to the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse have threatened the safety and stability of our community," he said. "In central New York  and across the country  the JCC represents a space for families and community members to come together, regardless of faith."

Marci Erlebacher, executive director of the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse, lauded Katko and other members of Congress for urging President Donald Trump's administration to investigate the bomb threats.

"At a time when hate crimes are affecting the JCC here in Syracuse and across the country, this support is critical," Erlebacher said. "The Syracuse JCC has particularly felt the drastic impact of these crimes, with two bomb threats attacking our center. We appreciate the congressman's support  and his attention to both the economic and emotional impact of these crimes."

While congressional leaders urge federal law enforcement officials to address the threats, the crimes continue. A Jewish community center in New Orleans had to be evacuated Thursday due to a bomb threat.

The Anti-Defamation League, a group advocating against anti-Semitism, received a bomb threat this week. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the New York State Police to investigate the threat.

"We must have action from our nation's law enforcement agencies to investigate, prosecute and prevent these dangerous threats and acts of intimidation and to protect our communities," Katko said.
Let me be so indelicate as to suggest that the issue is common sense simple -- where you pee ought to be determined by what you pee with. Period. This nonsense about self-identifying as a woman so a man can use the same restroom as someone elses daughter is just that -- nonsense. Just as it is nonsense about the Almighty putting you in the wrong body. You might be confused, but God is not. Male and female He created them and Im quite sure He knew the difference.

So it was welcome news that President Trump has revoked the Obama administration's guidance to educational institutions that requiring bathroom use based on birth gender and genitalia constitutes sex discrimination:

The Trump administration revoked an Obama-era mandate compelling public schools nationwide to permit restroom and locker room access on the basis of gender identity -- a move that could have significant ramifications for a case before the Supreme Court concerning transgender rights. The Departments of Education and Justice issued a joint guidance Wednesday evening rolling back the order. The two-page Dear Colleague Letter said the Obama administration had failed to substantiate the claim that Title IXs prohibition on sex discrimination in education also applies to gender identity. In these circumstances, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice have decided to withdraw and rescind the above-referenced guidance documents in order to further and more completely consider the legal issues involved, the order reads. The Departments thus will not rely on the views expressed within them. The guidance also said the federal government must recognize the primary role of the States and local school districts in establishing education policy.

This nod to states' rights as well as common sense is hopefully a sign that the federal government under President Trump is ending t he abuse of federal power to social engineer society along progressive and liberal lines. It is good news and legal ammunition for states that have resisted this absurd form of political correctness, like North Carolina

North Carolina rightly resisted the politically correct federal bully challenging its commonsense law, HB 2, which says restrooms should be limited to people with the appropriate plumbing, and that cross dressers sharing the facilities with your daughter, wife, and daughter is not a good, or safe idea.

North Carolina filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Justices ultimatum demanding that the state cease and desist enforcement of that law. As NBC News reported:

It was the state's response to the US Justice Department, which last week gave Gov. Pat McCrory until the end of the day Monday to respond to a letter that said the law violates federal civil rights statutes. Monday's lawsuit called the Justice Department's legal position "a baseless and blatant overreach" and a radical reinterpretation of federal laws, especially the Civil Rights Act's ban on sex discrimination. "Transgender status is not a protected class," under the law, the suit said, and if the Justice Department believes it should be, it should ask Congress to change the law.

Of course, reinterpretation of the law and bypassing Congress was nothing new for the Obama administration, which seems to think that saying that only biological females may use the ladies room is equivalent to having whites only drinking fountains. This is. of course, nonsense. Rosa Parks made history by sitting in front of the bus. She did not try to use the mens room at the bus station.

Being black is something you cannot change. Discriminating on that basis is wrong and perniciously evil. But saying a mans civil rights are being violated because he self-identifies as a woman and needs to use the ladys facilities is nonsense based on politically-correct psychobabble. Sorry, dude, if you feel you are trapped in the wrong body, deal with it. But you already have a restroom designed just for you.

You are not being denied equal access to a public accommodation. Having the wrong body, if that is to be believed, does not entitle you to use the wrong restroom. It was never the intent of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to allow boys to use the little girls room. It is also dangerous, allowing any creep to put on make-up and a dress and follow your daughter, sister, or wife into the restroom.

This was the same sort of nonsense that led the Supreme Court to ignore both federalism and state laws to find that gay marriage was a civil right as much as interracial marriage was. But allowing blacks and whites to marry did not change the state, culturally, and historically sanctioned institution of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Transgender restrooms change everything. Amazingly, the right to privacy championed by liberals has been jettisoned by liberals who see nothing wrong or dangerous in the concept. Kimberly Ross, writing for RedState, notes the slippery slope this puts society on:

The attack on gender norms has increased exponentially over the past few years, and will continue as biologically-assigned gender becomes offensive. Even large, middle-class retailers like Target have gotten on board with the trend to erase the fine lines which define male and female. Last August, Target began to remove gender-based signs. Earlier this year, they introduced a gender neutral home goods line, so kids wont feel like theyre being pushed a specific direction. On the contrary, it is quite alright to encourage the traditional idea that boys should be boys and girls should be girls. In fact, we must The slippery slope to accepting everything begins by refusing to acknowledge that DNA is stubborn, and that who you were created to be is a not a mistake. If we never question transgenderism, though it battles against inherent norms, then well begin put a stamp of approval on everything. As recently reported by The Independent, a criminal psychologist announced online that pedophilia is a sexual orientation, like being gay or straight. While Im not asserting that trans individuals are in any way child molesters, I do believe that promoting a delusional view of gender, and making rationalizations along the way, has led us to this point to where we must accept and never question anything.

Over a million signatures were gathered on a petition opposing Targets gender neutral bathroom. These are not bigots but husbands worried about wives, parents worried about their children literally being exposed to something they should not be forced to deal with.

As Todd Starnes writes at Fox News Opinion:

The nations second-largest discount retailer announced on April 19 that they would welcome transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender. In response, more than 1.1 million customers joined a boycott sponsored by the American Family Association. Nearly everyone has a mother, wife, daughter or friend who is put in jeopardy by this policy, AFA President Tim Wildmon said. Predators and voyeurs would take advantage of the policy to prey on those who are vulnerable.

Breitbart.com compiled a short list from daily news accounts giving a preview of what will become the norm if PC restrooms are forced upon us. A few examples:

Palmdale man arrested for videotaping in womens bathroom PALMDALE  A 33-year-old Palmdale man who allegedly dressed as a woman while secretly videotaping females using a department store bathroom was charged with several misdemeanor counts Tuesday, authorities said. Jason Pomare was charged with six counts of unlawful use of a concealed camera for the purposes of sexual gratification, according to Sergeant Brian Hudson of the Los Angeles Sheriffs Departments Special Victims Bureau. Sexual predator jailed after claiming to be transgender to assault women in shelter A biological man claiming to be transgender so as to gain access to and prey on women at two Toronto shelters was jailed indefinitely last week after being declared by a judge a dangerous offender. Pro-family leaders are pointing out that this is exactly the type of incident they warned of as the Ontario government passed its gender identity bill, dubbed the bathroom bill, in 2012.

There will be sexual assaults among these incidents to be sure. No responsible parent lets their child use a public restroom without accompanying them. Free-for-all restrooms only make the vulnerable more so. Okay, not all transgendered people are predators. But when did surgically altering your body bestow upon anyone an alleged constitutional right to use another genders restroom?

The whole concept of someone being trapped in the wrong body is nonsense. Evangelical Christians and others believe the Almighty does not make such mistakes. If someone is confused about their sexual identity, they should just drop their drawers and take a wild guess. It is ironic that liberals who insisted we stay out of the bedrooms of homosexuals and lesbians now insist transgendered people should not stay out of the wrong bathroom.

We are all equal but we are also different. Deal with it, liberals.

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.
During the joint White House press conference on February 15 featuring President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, the latter said, The Chinese are called Chinese because they are from China. The Japanese are called Japanese. And the Jews are called Jews because they came from Judea.

Not surprisingly, a columnist in Israels hard-left newspaper Haaretz, Carolina Landsmann, sarcastically fired back in print, Maybe at the next press conference Netanyahu will be so kind as to explain why the Palestinians are called Palestinians.

Since that is not likely to happen, I will answer her for him. We call the Palestinians Palestinians because it is basic to this generations politically correct way, post-Holocaust, of hating Jews, and heres why:

In every generation, people hate Jews because they are believed to commit evil deeds, and their current crime is the theft of Palestine from the Palestinians. And never mind that these Palestinians were never mentioned in the documentation of the League of Nations (1920-1945) that in its 1922 Mandate for Palestine explicitly identified the country as the historic homeland of the Jewish people. In its three decades of existence, the League referred only to Jews and Arabs, never Palestinians.

Then, after WWII, when the League morphed into the United Nations Organization, for the UNs first quarter-century no document referenced any Palestinians either.

This should not surprise, because for a Biblical generation of forty years after the Mandate kicked in, the Arabs themselves said there was no such country as Palestine and no such people as Palestinians. Only the Zionist Jews in this period happily called themselves Palestinians. The Arabs leader. the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, said that what Jews and Christians called Palestine was for Muslims Bilad a-Sham, historic Syria and had always been that.

Indeed, when in early 1919 the post-WWI Paris Peace Conference created the League of Nations and incorporated the Balfour Declaration into its Mandate for Palestine, Haj Amin fought back by launching a newspaper in Jerusalem he called Al-Suria al-Janubia/Southern Syria, whose purpose was to oppose the creation of a jurisdiction called Palestine that had never existed in fourteen centuries of Islam.

Muslims never had an outline of such a country in their heads called Falastin -- as they call this land today. There never was a government of Palestine led by a king or sultan, pasha or president. No one ever called himself a Palestinian or was called that by others. There never was a Palestinian language. No Palestinians ever minted their own money. No army of Palestinians ever defended their country from enemy invaders.

And this denial of the existence of a country called Palestine was the official Arab position into the 1960s. Not until March 29, 1959, in a meeting of the Arab League of States, was the idea of a kiyan falastini/Palestinian entity raised by Arab League Chairman Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt when discussing the ten-year-old cease-fire with Israel. He proposed a new conceptual framework for, as they were called at that time the Arab refugees. His suggestion was to imitate what was going on in Algeria at the moment where the Muslims there were in their fifth year of a terror war to drive out the French colonial regime that had ruled since 1830. Nasser was an active supporter of Algerias Muslim rebels by hosting their leaders of the FLN (Front de Liberation National) in Cairo, providing them with radio facilities to broadcast instructions and coded messages into Algeria, allowing them to smuggle weapons and ammunition across to the Sahara to the terrorists.

Nasser also was aware of the FLNs success in winning political support in France among the intellectuals by couching their struggle in political terms as a war of national liberation, when among themselves they identified not as Algerians but Muslims. To this day, their official newspaper is El Moudjahid.

So Nasser proposed that henceforth the generic label the Arab refugees from Israel, which was accurate because most of them were not natives of Palestine but a mixed bag of migrant workers from all over the Middle East in the country a short time when they fled the fighting, be rebranded the Palestinian nation -- and never mind there was nothing Palestinian about most of them.

Coincidently that fall, in a similar and competing effort, eight of these Arab refugees, all raised in the Muslim Brotherhood, met in Kuwait to form their own imitation FLN to fight Israel. All had been born in Mandatory Palestine except for one. He was not a refugee but a native Egyptian named Rahman al-Qudwa, who would nonetheless emerge as their leader. Later, Rahman would be known to the world by his nom de guerre, Yasir Arafat.

After these eight Muslim Brothers in their thirties decided to create their own anti-Zionist terror cell, they searched for a name. Half wanted something like Algerias National Liberation Front; the others preferred something Islamic. Arafat led this faction and in the end a clever verbal compromise was reached. They chose Fatah, the name of the forty-eighth sura/chapter of the Korans 114. It means conquest but really in context conquest of the infidel, and in this case the Zionists who were in revolt against their age-old, oppressed status. The Koran dictates that Jews living in Dar al-Islam must be oppressed and humiliated, and so they were for most of Islams fourteen centuries. The very idea of a state of Jews living free of Islamic domination was blasphemous. The choice of Fatah thus had nothing to do with Palestinian nationalism and everything to do with religion.

And it was a clever choice because it satisfied the other half that preferred a non-religious, nationalist name. Reading the consonants of fatah backward, they could stand for Palestine Liberation Organization.

And the rest is history.

Todays Palestinian national identity was therefore not conceived until a decade after Israel came into being in imitation of Algerias FLN (that still rules that country) and other post-WWII, Third World wars of national liberation-- and never mind that its invention constituted a complete, 180-degree U-turn in Arab propaganda and public diplomacy. No self-respecting Arab 1920-1960 would have been caught dead calling himself a Palestinian. Only Zionist Jews did that. Today, though, the Arab-Muslims insist they are the ancient Palestinian people -- and never mind there was no mention of them in any UN document until the 1970s.

Ironically, the Palestinian identity was also coinvented by post-religious, dejudaized Israelis a.k.a. Leftists who refused to acknowledge the religious dimension of the Arab-Muslim war against them. Israels leftists had long preached that if the terror in Israel and threats from a nuclear Iran were perceived as religion-based, then there is no hope for peace. Therefore, they remain adamant on using nationalist terms so that the conflict can be seen as a struggle between two normal nations over some real estate that can be solved by compromise, goodwill and mutual respect. There are no greater Palestinian patriots than the Jewish Left who gave birth to the Rosemarys Baby of the delusional Oslo Peace Process that produced not peace but the bloodiest wave of terror in Israels history.

In sum, people call the Palestinians Palestinians as way of perpetuating the eternal hatred of Jews via this generations central anti-Semitic myth: that the Jews stole Palestine, the ancient homeland of the indigenous, putatively Paleolithic Palestinian people, and refuse to return even a small part of it so the Palestinians can have the state they have been dreaming about since the dawn of Man.

Palestinian Nationalism has replaced anti-Semitism as this generations kosher way of lying about and hating Jews enough to justify slaughtering them in terrorist atrocities.

Shai ben-Tekoas PHANTOM NATION: Inventing the Palestinians as the Obstacle to Peace is available at Amazon.com.
Who would have thought that just a month into the Trump presidency and the progressive left would be demanding our society ask itself what Jesus would do about foreign refugees? Apparently on some issues, that wall between church and state theyre always harping about is almost as porous as our southern border.

But before we get caught up in appropriating Jesus to our side of a political issue, I think it is important to be wary of those who prefer selective application of Biblical principle when it comes to the great moral issues of our day. If Gods word should inform our people how we should think and act relative to the plight of the immigrant or refugee (it should), it should also inform our people how we should think and act relative to race relations, abortion, pornography, and sexuality.

Those who demand Scriptural fidelity to one, but not another, are likely far more interested in twisting and manipulating the Bible to promote personal political agendas than they are understanding and properly applying Biblical values.

For instance, notice the glaring paradox that unfolds when progressive faith leaders on the left like Al Sharpton remind everyone that, Jesus was a refugee. Obviously, they are referencing the escape of Mary and Joseph to Egypt in the years shortly after the birth of Jesus. Making their case for an open-door refugee policy where the United States government places no restrictions on access to the country and its resources from those fleeing persecution in foreign lands, these progressives correctly note that Mary and Joseph sought refuge in a foreign country to escape the mass infanticide decree of King Herod.

What is peculiar about that is that the very same political movement citing this account of Scripture is the same one that has been adamantly demanding for a generation that the teachings of Jesus be stricken from the law so as to allow the continued legalization of mass infanticide.

That is not to say that all Biblical arguments relative to refugees are as flimsy. Progressive faith leaders often point to the admonition of Hebrews 13:2: Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Theres no question that we are given a direct and unequivocal personal command to be hospitable to those in need. Coupled with the directives Jesus gives us personally in Luke 14 and in the parable of the Good Samaritan, living an inhospitable life lacking in personal compassion is simply irreconcilable with godly, Christian conduct.

Its fair to assume that is why Christians, individually and collectively, remain the single greatest charitable giving force in the world by far. But when it comes to refugee policy we are contemplating more than just personal commands. We must endeavor to determine whether or not it is Biblically sound to apply such individual instructions to the work of civil government.

When famed evangelical Christian leader Franklin Graham articulated one perspective on this question saying, We have to realize that the presidents job is not the same as the job of the church, progressive Christian activist Shane Claiborne immediately criticized him. Claiborne tweeted in response: No. It is theological malpractice to say that the president is exempt from the Sermon on the Mount or not accountable to Christs commands.

But that isnt what Graham said. He accurately affirmed that while all Christians are held to the same standard of private, personal morality, the Biblical expectations for ministers are different than those for government leaders. Far from heretical, such an understanding is essential to any logical, consistent reading of Scripture. Imagine the turmoil that would ensue, for instance, if we pretended the command of Jesus not to judge another (Matthew 7:1) applied to American courtrooms. Or consider the calamity if we assumed our instruction to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) was to be the national security policy of our civil government.

Claibornes failure to grasp this fairly obvious reality was perplexing until just days later when he again lashed out at Graham on the issue, this time in a very personal way. After Graham had offered his opinion that we lock our doors at night, Not because you hate the people on the outside, but because you love the people on the inside, Claiborne compared him to the villains in Christs parable of the Good Samaritan. He chided, As the religious folks turned a blind eye, the Samaritan was more concerned about the man in the ditch than himself.

At this point I realized that Claiborne was far less concerned with understanding a Biblical approach to refugees than he was in grandstanding and attacking a fellow Christian publicly. After all, it takes an extraordinary amount of personal animus and tunnel vision to miss that Franklin Grahams ministry literally does the work of the Good Samaritan all over the world, regardless of creed, nationality, or ethnicity.

Minds dedicated to Scriptural fidelity will ignore unserious voices such as Claibornes and instead work to contextually understand and apply Gods truth. We will ask whether it is responsible to extrapolate the teaching of Hebrews outward into a command on civil government.

To say that Christians have a duty to care for widows, orphans, the impoverished, and the endangered is unquestioned (by anyone) Biblical truth. To say that such care can only be provided by enacting open-door refugee policies that may or may not compromise the security of citizens (including widows, orphans, and the impoverished here at home) is an entirely different proposition. Its a proposition that, to this point, does not appear to be supported by Scripture.

Peter Heck is a speaker, author and teacher. Follow him @peterheck, email peter@peterheck.com or visit www.peterheck.com.
It's not exactly William Buckley challenging conservatives to marginalize the John Birch Society in the 1960s, but the leadership of the American Conservative Union, sponsors of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), finally acted to clear the meeting of some of the more odious appendages of the so-called alt-right by kicking out one of its recognized leaders, Richard Spencer.

Spencer, a white nationalist and anti-Semite, was denounced from the main stage of CPAC by the executive director of the ACU, Dan Schneider. After being cornered by the press, where the alt-right bomb-thrower tossed a few grenades at conservatives, he was asked to leave the premises by conference staff.

Washington Post:

"People want to talk to me," Spencer told NBC News from outside the Gaylord National Harbor complex. "They don't want to talk to these boring conservatives. They want to learn about ideas whose time has come, not whose time has passed." Spencer, who has frequently attended CPAC without incident, became a minor media sensation during and after the 2016 election. One of the first speeches at this year's conference challenged the media to stop referring to the alt-right as conservative. "There is a sinister organization that is trying to worm its way into our ranks," said Dan Schneider, the executive director of the American Conservative Union, which runs CPAC. "We must not be deceived by [a] hateful, left-wing fascist group." There was an irony to Spencer's expulsion on the same day the conference featured White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon, the former CEO of Breitbart News, who once called the site "the platform for the alt-right." In 2013 and 2014, Breitbart News sponsored forums on the outskirts of CPAC called "The Uninvited," featuring guests who were not welcome on the main stage due to controversial views on Islam and immigration. "I didn't like 'the Uninvited,'" said the ACU's president, Matt Schlapp, introducing Bannon with White House Chief of Staff Reince Preibus. "Everybody's a part of our conservative family." But not Spencer, apparently. Over seven tense, perplexing minutes, Schneider argued that the alt-right was philosophically left-wing because it departed from a conservatism in which "the individual" was sovereign. "They hate the Constitution. They hate free markets. They hate pluralism," Schneider said. "Fascists tend to want big government control." The argument wasn't unique to Schneider. In 2009's "Liberal Fascism," the National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg drew a zigging line from the fascism of the 1930s to the welfare state liberalism of the Clinton/Obama era. But inside the main ballroom of CPAC, the argument didn't generate much applause. Some in the audience cheered the denunciation of "left-wing fascism," while a few listeners walked out.

Schneider took exactly the wrong approach to criticizing Spencer. Calling him a "left-wing fascist" plays right into his hands. At bottom, Spencer is a nihilist  someone who wants to watch the world burn. His outrageous statements on race and women are thrown out to see what fires he can light to excite his followers and disgust the rest of us.

The press is going to connect him to responsible conservatives anyway, but Schneider is making it easier by misidentifying Spencer's ideology. Spencer is not "liberal" in any way, shape, or form. He may be a "fascist" in some ways, but he is definitely not any kind of "conservative"  classical, modern, mainstream, Main Street, supply-side, hawk, isolationist, or any sort of "conservative" that falls under a large umbrella of beliefs and ideologies that organizations like the ACU recognize.

The press refuses to recognize the amorphous nature of the alt-right and names "leaders" and "organizations" as representing the worst of them when self-described members of the alt-right can't even decide what they stand for and what their beliefs are. In short, while Spencer seeks the legitimacy granted him by the media as a bona fide conservative, the press has created the alt-right monster to tar the legitimate right with the most odious of beliefs.

President Trump encouraged people like Spencer throughout the campaign by not denouncing him and his noxious ideas. Trump has no allegiance to conservatism and thus felt perfectly at ease using the racists and anti-Semites to advance the cause of victory. The ACU, once the guardian of "responsible conservatism," now has a major identification problem on its hands that it has yet to fully deal with.
Dems are forming a circular firing squad.

McClatchy:

Frustrated by the party's performance on Capitol Hill and emboldened by the mass protests against President Donald Trump, a coalition of progressive groups say they are open to supporting primary challengers next year against Democratic members of the House and Senate  even if many inside the party believe that intra-party races might ultimately only help the Republican Party gain more power. The organizations, many run by former members of Bernie Sanders' insurgent presidential campaign, say they haven't drafted a list of targets just yet. But they vow to recruit, fund and support intra-party challengers if Democratic lawmakers don't start doing more to oppose the new president and his congressional Republican allies.

But not to worry: the party can just abandon primaries wherever they matter.

The Observer:

South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison called for the Democratic Party to anoint incumbents in states that Trump won, thereby avoiding primaries under the false pretense of "purity tests." On top of being necessary to American democracy, primaries provide incumbents the opportunity to engage their base and bring new voters into the party. Under Harrison, South Carolina Democrats suffered their biggest losses in the State House since Reconstruction, and Democrats have failed to gain other elected offices across the state.

Harrison and other establishment Democrats calling for blind loyalty do so to exploit Trump and Republicans as political weaponry. The consensus among DNC chair candidates is that party unityi.e., progressives falling in lineis a more effective opposition than making reforms to facilitate unity

My take is that they are in a serious crisis. It looks as though the establishment wants to select Perez, and if he gets DNC chair, the Ellison faction may revolt.

Rick Moran adds:

Editor Lifson is correct  to a point. The Dems have to decide what form their total opposition to Trump will take. Choosing the radical-left Ellison would send a far more powerful anti-Trump message than selecting Perez, who is pretty much what passes for a mainstream Democrat these days even if he's Hispanic.

Since the DNC is largely made up of "mainstream" Hillary-supporting Democrats, I don't think the party is quite ready to commit suicide and choose Ellison. Whether they revolt, as Thomas suggests, depends on Ellison himself and how he would take his defeat.
A shocking report from the European Union shows that millions of euros in welfare payments made to Islamic State fighters are ending up in the coffers of ISIS so they can wage war in Iraq and Syria.

USA Today:

Governments across Europe have accidentally paid taxpayer-funded welfare benefits such as unemployment funds, disability pensions and housing allowances to Islamic State militants who have used the money to wage war in Iraq and Syria, authorities and terrorism experts say. Danish officials said this week that 29 citizens were given $100,000 in public pension benefits because they were considered too ill or disabled to work, and they then fled to Syria to fight for the radical group. Denmark has one of the world's most generous social-welfare systems, which provides eligible unemployed people up to $120 a day. In addition to trying to reclaim the benefits accidentally disbursed, the government is trying to tighten legislation for welfare claims made by suspected militants. "It is a huge scandal that we disburse money from the welfare fund in Denmark for people who go to Syria," said Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark's labor minister. "Staying in a war zone and directly or indirectly taking part in military operations is not something that is in any way compatible with receiving disability benefits."

Several other E.U. countries have also unknowingly contributed funds to the enemy.

Belgium reports that several of the plotters who took part in the Brussels terror attacks received hundreds of thousands of dollars in government benefits.

France has finally cut off benefits to several hundred jihadis who are no longer in the country. They had been receiving the benefits anyway.

Sweden and Great Britain say several hundred ISIS fighters took advantage of the generous welfare payments to collect benefits while fighting in Syria and Iraq.

No one knows how much the jihadis have received across the E.U., but it seems likely that the total is in the millions of euros. That certainly buys a lot of bombs and suicide bombers  enough to kill scores of innocents. And the problem isn't that the governments don't know who the jihadis are. They simply lacked the will to cut them off from taxpayer assistance.

Stalin famously said, "When we hang the capitalists, they will sell us the rope we use." No doubt ISIS is thinking that when they finally triumph, it will be because governments generously funded their own destruction.
Some of the strongest headlines I've ever seen on the situation in North Korea appeared in the Hong Kong press overnight. From the South China Morning Post:

Beijing vows to fully enforce UN sanctions against Pyongyang, despite being friendly neighbour

For the Chinese to suddenly talk publicly about the North Korea's imminent demise and the importance of enforcing UN sanctions against what had been a close ally until now suggests something fairly unfriendly going on.

It follows from several days of back and forth that could have been read more than one way, but taken together with these latest headlines, suggest an angry Beijing out to thrash its hideous little neighbor. The gloves are off.

Four days ago, China cut off North Korea's access to its markets to sell coal for the year, yanking about a billion dollars in an expected hard currency inflow to the Hermit state, according to this CNN chart. The move was in response to North Korea's Feb. 12 illegal launch of a medium-range ballistic missile.

North Korea for its part took to publicly ridiculing China, two days ago calling it a U.S. puppet, 'dancing to the U.S.' tune.'

The highest-ranking North Korean defector ever, featured on last Sunday's 60 Minutes, said the North remained as murderous and dangerous as ever, and could blow any time.

Last night, South Korea announced that North Korea had a 5,000-tonne (metric ton) stockpile of chemical weapons, following revelations that North Korea's broad-daylight assassination of one of Kim Jong-uns relatives in Malaysia was the work of North Korean agents using illegal VX nerve gas, an announcement sure to raise global opprobrium on the brutal communist hellhole.

It's escalating fast. The New York Times, quite possibly correctly, sees the hand of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in these events, persuading China to pressure North Korea over its increasingly aggressive and illegal nuclear program, in a policy the U.S. has been trying to enact for years. If so, it means a coordinated effort is going on with South Korea and China is finally taking U.S. concerns seriously, or more to the point, no longer wants to use North Korea to harass the U.S. and its north Asian allies in South Korea and Japan.

Why is China suddenly turning on its revolting little ally? It may be that China is feeling U.S. pressure in the South China Sea from the U.S. Navy and the promised military buildup, undercutting the Chinese effort to establish hegemony there, and they want the U.S. and its South China Sea allies off their backs. Already Indonesia and Australia are getting involved. There is also the U.S. threat of sanctions over trade issues, which could cut off China's access to cash.
The Democratic National Committee is meeting this week to choose a new leader, and the likely election of either of the two leading candidates, Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison and former Obama labor secretary Tom Perez, would confirm "another hard-left turn" for the party, as Investors Business Daily writes.

Both far-left lawyers who have little respect for the Constitution and have advocated a range of extreme-left views completely out of touch with the mainstream of American thinking. In short, great candidates to head today's leftward-surging Democratic Party. ... The battle for the DNC is emblematic of what's going on across the Democratic Party, both in Congress and in the states. Moderates are purged, conservative Democrats are nonexistent, and the party's leaders seem intent on turning it into a party of hard socialism as quickly as possible. ... Heck, even Bill Clinton, a moderate-progressive president who actually reached out to the opposing party to get things done, looks plainly uncomfortable among this generation of hyper-ideological party leaders.

Investors notes Obama's "legacy" of "political defeat," in Congress and the states, and notes that the Democrats "seem eager to move even further" in the direction of "Obama-style progressivism."

Contrasted with the Democrats' move to "double-down on Obama's policy mistakes," the Trump "economic agenda" is getting a "thumbs up" from business, investors, and consumers. Another recent Investors editorial observes that "[o]utside the beltway, it's morning in America again":

"Nearly double the share" of business executives are optimistic about the economy than "just one year ago. And it's the highest level since this survey began seven years ago."

Another survey found that "optimism among small businesses ... is the highest it's been in more than 12 years."

"The Dow immediately spiked after the November election and has climbed more than 13% since."

An index of individual optimism is "the highest it's been since October 2004."

As Investors writes, all that optimism is bound to provide "an immediate jolt" to investment, job creation, and consumer spending, adding that:

These results also highlight the glaring disconnect between elite opinion and the views of Main Street. While media pundits, fat-cat corporate CEOs and urban liberals are wailing and gnashing their teeth over Trump's election, the general public understands that his victory provides genuine hope that the economic malaise Obama inflicted on the country will soon be over. The Never-Trumpers can't bring themselves to admit any of this, for obvious reasons. But if there's bigger news since Trump's surprise November victory than the dramatic increase in hope across the land, we'd like to see it.

Continuing with commentary at Investors.com, Douglas MacKinnon adds another reason why Democrats are "petrified of Donald Trump":

Not because they buy into the hate-filled rhetoric of the far left, but rather because they realize he is baiting the Democratic Party and its allies into showing they are the party of intolerance and that his populist message is reaching a larger and larger audience. A message that will continue to peel away blue-collar Democrats and union voters to the point where the midterm election is going to be a nightmare for the Democrats.

While the liberal left has warned of primary threats to more moderate Democrats, its reliance on identity politics is failing:

Identity politics has become the coin of the realm within the Democratic base and particularly with the activists, and it is out of step with the mainstream of America, and that is why Donald Trump was able to blow a hole in it and reject that way of thinking.

The Washington Post, in a moment of self-reflection, writes that demographics and identity politics are not likely to succeed for the Democrats in the near future, either. The Post notes that reliance on targeted demographics and "unwavering ideologies" is not going to help Democrats "dig themselves out of a big hole."

In the face of failing post-Obama identity politics, the Democrats are going with hard-left national leadership to match the hard-left intolerance of their radical rank and file, even as everyday Americans see a chance to better their lives with the boom in Trump-era economic optimism.

If the Trump agenda can turn that economic optimism into economic growth, the Democrats could be lost in the hard-left wilderness, as Victor Davis Hanson, writing at National Review, observes:
In Bill Clinton's 1995 State of the Union address, he said all Americans were disturbed by the number of illegal immigrants in the country. He noted the burdens they put on the taxpayers before vowing to crack down aggressively. A partial quote is:

That's why our administration has moved to aggressively secure our borders more, by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as every before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens[.]

Clinton received a standing ovation for his remarks.

There were few protests, if any. The media, Hollywood, and Democrats were not outraged at Clinton. Meryl Streep did not say the brownshirts were coming. Madonna didn't threaten to burn the White House down. The Washington Post and other newspapers did not write articles every day calling Clinton a racist, a xenophobe, and a breaker of families.

Since then, there's a very different tone. California's speaker of the House recently said the following (this is a partial quote in context):

I can tell you half of my family would be eligible for deportation under executive order, because if they got a false Social Security card, if they got a false identification, if they got a false driver's license, if they got a false green card, and anyone who has family members who are undocumented knows that almost entirely everybody has secured some sort of false identification. That's what you need to survive, to work.

Forgery and identity theft are serious crimes, yet somehow not for illegal immigrants.

Does anyone believe that people who use false identification to stay and work in the U.S. won't vote illegally?

President Obama and the Democratic Party intentionally made the illegal immigration problem worse by refusing to enforce the laws. They knowingly refused to address immigration problems when they had complete control of Congress and the White House in 2009 and 2010. In doing that, they showed that they wanted to create a political issue rather than actually solve the problem. President Obama sued Arizona for seeking to enforce immigration law, saying it is a federal issue, and then did nothing about either that or sanctuary cities. After that, he and his Democratic Party blamed Republicans and conservatives as the flow of illegal immigration only got worse.

Obama, the media, Democrats, and Hollywood are disingenuous at best.

Democracy is in danger not because a president enforces immigration laws. Nor is it in danger because Congress passes bills that include building a wall, which, by the way, Obama, then-senator Hillary Clinton, and Vice President Joe Biden voted for. Yet somehow, democracy is in extreme danger when the blowback comes after politicians and the Department of Justice refuse to abide by their oaths to enforce immigration laws, and judges ignore congressional statutes when they write rulings?

Jack Hellner is a writer in Springfield, Illinois.
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." (Romans 13:1)

Apparently, that well known piece of advice from the Bible is falling on deaf ears in southern California.

A network of churches is organizing resistance to the new immigration enforcement policies of the federal government by developing a network of "safe houses" to shelter illegal alien families from deportation.

The Hill:

Religious leaders in Los Angeles are forming an underground network of homes as part of an effort to provide shelter for families facing deportation, CNN reported Thursday. According to CNN, the "Rapid Response Team" network could shelter hundreds and potentially thousands of illegal immigrants across Southern California. "That's what we need to do as a community to keep families together," said Pastor Ada Valiente, after showing CNN a house that is ready to host three families. Similar services for immigrant families are already being provided by numerous churches and religious buildings in the area. According to CNN, this Rapid Response Team seeks to go beyond the existing measures. Another participant who did not want to be identified told CNN he will do everything in his power to protect his guests if immigration authorities come knocking on his door. "I definitely won't let them in. That's our legal right," he said. "If they have a warrant, then they can come in. I can imagine that could be scary, but I feel the consequences of being passive in this moment is a little scary." Under President Obama, the authority of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials was limited at various religious locations. Members of the new underground network have voiced skepticism that the policy will last under President Trump.

The compassion showed by the churchmen is admirable. I just wish they had similar compassion for those suffering the consequences of untrammeled illegal immigration. To make believe we are not paying the price for millions of illegal aliens crossing our borders is ignorant. And that price is unnecessary when you consider that orderly, legal immigration would weed out most of the criminals and unemployable aliens making our streets less safe and putting an enormous and needless strain on the social service resources in our communities.

Creating illegal alien sanctuaries will not stop the deportations and is probably unnecessary anyway. Unless the government begins a mass round-up of illegals, law-abiding aliens who reside in the U.S. are probably safe from immediate deportation. Those illegals whose actions result in them coming in contact with the authorities because of criminal activity are most likely to be deported first. Are these good Christian churches going to harbor criminals to keep them from being deported?

That's what it will eventually come down to.
How can the Catholic Church in good conscience continue to appear to have more concern for refugees than for the protection of most innocent of human life? The Church's prelates, in writing and in speech, openly criticize President Trump's supposed "failures" regarding refugees. And yet, other than Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia, not one cardinal or bishop has come out in praise of President Trump's commitment and work to end government support of abortion.

Since Roe v. Wade, many Christians and Jews and members of other faiths have tried to awaken politicians at every level to the horror of snuffing out the life of a defenseless being, one possessed of a soul created and infused by the Creator. For many of us, it is incomprehensible that such an act could become so tolerated in our country that over fifty million of our offspring could have been wiped out since 1973, and all with the full support of all three branches of our federal government. Are we now supposed to be encouraged by reports that the number of abortions in recent years is down to just one million offspring killed per year? Really  only one million?

Yes, in Christian charity, we should have concern for foreign refugees, and we, as a people and country, should do what we can for them. But in the real world, and as a matter of conscience and social justice, we have an obligation to first offer available jobs to unemployed Americans, especially veterans, before refugees. And then absorb refugees as best as we can with available welfare resources.

But under no conceivable circumstances will our president or our government cause the death of anywhere close to one million refugees if our country does not make "refugees" a top priority. Any failure by our government in this regard will likely result in no refugee deaths.

However, it is a certainty that if President Trump does everything possible, as he has promised, to end government support of abortion, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved.

Many of us have been sending letters to Church leaders and presidents, to senators and congressmen, over the last four decades, asking that an end be put to our government's involvement with the enterprise of abortion  all to no avail, because next to no politicians have in forty years had the fortitude to take on this hateful industry and the related politics...until now.

And with this beneficial work now underway by the new administration, the Catholic Church is silent, speechless  unwilling to give credit and thanks where credit is due: to President Trump. The Church's silence in this matter is becoming more obvious and disturbing as each week goes by since the president took office.

The Catholic Church knows that there is no moral equivalency between protecting human life in the womb and assisting refugees. So let us all, especially the Church, give President Trump and his pro-life administration our prayers and full support as he does God's work. And may we thank God for His gift of Mr. Trump to the hundreds of thousands of defenseless unborn, many of whom will now have a chance for life.
AUBURN  A fiscal projection generated by Auburn officials estimates that the city is facing an approximately $637,000 budget deficit for the upcoming 2017-2018 fiscal year.

With rising expenses projected to outpace revenues over a five-year period, the model projects the city's annual budget gaps to escalate as high as roughly $2.3 million by 2022.

The five-year projection  designed to be "intentionally, unreasonably conservative"  relies on assumptions, such as annual increases of 1 to 3 percent in expenses and .5 to 1 percent for revenues, said city Comptroller Laura Wills.

Wills presented the outlook Thursday night to members of the Auburn City Council. When the city reviewed the model in 2014, the 2017-18 fiscal year deficit projected to be around $800,000.

"I don't want you to think that because we're projecting a gap in fiscal 2018 that we're not going to be able to bring you a balanced budget in a couple months," she told councilors Thursday. "This is based on current situations. We will make adjustments."

For expenses, the projection assumes 2-percent annual increases for contracted salaries and 6-percent hikes for health insurance costs. For revenues, the projection assumed an annual 1.5-percent increase in the property tax levy after 1.15 percent for the 2017-18 year, along with sale tax revenues increases at 1 percent per year.

The model did not account for certain projects that have not yet come into fruition. This includes the city's developing plans to relocate its public safety facilities to a renovated location.

Some options Wills presented to help address the city's budget deficit included closing the Casey Park ice rink, increasing the sales tax rate or citywide fees, and divesting city property, such as the Auburn Doubledays. None of those are recommended by the city at this time.

With so many unknowns, however, Councilor Dia Carabajal said she is not very concerned with the 2022 deficit projection  only insomuch that she would not like to make it worse.

Carabajal said the outlook could be impacted if state legislators follow through on the city council's requests for more state aid.

"Last year when I was a new councilor, it was kind of scary to look at those projections," she said. "But this year, I think I see it in a more real fashion and I see it as a tool for the actual budget."

The city's budget is due for adoption by July 1. A preliminary budget is scheduled to be presented to the council on April 6.

In other news

 After implementing a trash enforcement officer last January, the program has been a success, Mike Talbot, the city's Department of Public Works superintendent, said Thursday.

The refuse enforcement officer was created back in 2015 to have someone patrol city rights of way for and correct incidents involving improperly discarded garbage piles.

Talbot said the officer made 1,208 residential visits in 2016, though only attempted contact with 433 of those properties. The position, he said, is designed to be "more informational than enforcement" by reaching out to residents either by leaving information or speaking to them directly about the issue.

Not all violations are invoiced. Talbot said the program collected $11,962 through bills to 86 properties last year.

"We're not trying to get rich off of this," Talbot said. "We're just trying to have a nice looking city."
The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council will hold a series of economic funding workshops in the next couple of weeks, including a session in Auburn.

The Auburn workshop will be held from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28 at Cayuga Community College, 197 Franklin St. If you're interested in attending, you can sign up at regionalcouncils.ny.gov/content/central-ny/intent-propose-form-help-event.

The purpose of the "intent to propose" workshops is to allow potential applicants to learn more about the state's economic and community development funding opportunities, according to a news release.

Presenters at the workshop will provide details about whether projects proposed by potential applicants would be eligible to receive funding. Additional information about the application process will be available.

The regional council urges potential applicants to complete an intent to propose form at regionalcouncils.ny.gov/content/2017-cnyredc-intent-propose-form.

Three more workshops will be held in the region. Sessions are scheduled for March 1 in Cortland, March 3 in Oswego and March 6 in Syracuse.
AUBURN  A fire consumed the back portion of a former Auburn corner store Thursday morning, displacing the owner and a family in an adjacent home.

Called in around 1:09 a.m., the Auburn Fire Department responded to the old Capace grocery store on 191 State St., spending hours battling the blaze. Crews closed off State Street between Seymour Street and Cottage Street while they continued to work on the structure into the late morning hours. Pieces of debris flew off onto the street as firefighters blasted water across the walls and roof. The department said hot spots were out around 10:30 a.m.

Fire Chief Joe Morabito said one occupant was living in the back of the store. Neighbors said Joseph Capace, the grandson of the past store owners, was living in the back apartment and owned the entire building on the corner of State and Cottage Streets. Morabito said he made it out safely, and Red Cross was assisting him. It was unclear when the store had closed, but neighbor Jerry Jakaub said it had closed at least 20 or 30 years ago.

"The family has owned the building forever and a day," Morabito said. "There's still things in the building that were part of the grocery store."

The fire was particularly challenging because there was so many items to sift through in the back part of the house, Morabito said. At one point firefighters were crawling on the floor and thought a hole was burning in the floor that turned out to be a pile of stuff. The chimney on the south side of the building collapsed, and that's when Morabito said he pulled his firefighters out and went on the defensive. That meant, he said, putting as much water as possible on the building from the outside.

Jakaub, who owns one of the adjacent homes on Cottage Street, said the amount of smoke was tremendous. Morabito said a hydrant operator on the north side of the building wore an air pack even though he was working outside.

"The smoke was so thick you couldn't even see the fire truck there," Jakaub said, pointing to the sidewalk just feet away from the building.

Jakaub said at one point he didn't realize a fire truck ladder was flashing through the smoke. He thought the ladder's light was another fire that had sparked until wind cleared the air for a moment.

NYSEG cut power to the block on State Street between Perrine Street and Cottage Streets while crews sprayed water. Heavy power lines crossed directly over the old store, and Morabito said they needed them off to get the job done. Power was restored around 10 a.m.

Morabito said the structure was still in questionable condition so he could not get a fire investigator inside Thursday morning. By the evening, Assistant Chief Bruce Sherman said the fire was still under investigation. Jakaub, who called the fire department after Capace knocked on his door for help, said Capace told him he had been smoking a cigar and may have left it somewhere.

Before being told to evacuate his home, Jakaub stood on his roof, directing firefighters to where he could see flames poking through.

"I was so worried it was going to burn next to my car," he said. "I was up there, and I saw the flames coming out of the upstairs window, the attic window. I had my flashlight out and was shining it saying to them, 'Here! It's here!'"

Around 6 a.m. Jakaub said he was allowed to go back in his home. Morabito said they kept the neighboring home at 189 State St. evacuated, which had melted siding from the fire. The back apartment that Jakaub rents out, too, was still evacuated while firefighters checked the scene. It was not clear Thursday night if the family had been allowed to go back inside.
A Connecticut man who served more than 16 years in New York prisons for manslaughter and robbery was released Feb. 22, only to be picked up by state police on an old Connecticut warrant.

When Arturo Sealy was 17 and living in Hartford, Connecticut, he was convicted of first-degree robbery, court records show. One year later, Sealy was convicted of two class B felonies  first-degree manslaughter and first-degree robbery  in Kings County, New York.

Sealy was sent to Clinton Correctional Facility, but later transferred to Cayuga Correctional Facility after he was convicted of first-degree attempted promotion of prison contraband, a class E felony.

Unable to see his Connecticut probation officer because he was in prison, Connecticut issued a warrant for violation of probation. Police picked the now 34-year-old up on the fugitive from justice warrant on Feb. 22, shortly after he had been released.

"He thought he was going to be a free man, but Connecticut had other plans," said Trooper Joseph Elice with New York State Police, about the approximately 16-year-old warrant.

Sealy waived his right to an extradition hearing before Judge Thomas Leone in Cayuga County Court that same day and was remanded to the Cayuga County Jail. The court said the state of Connecticut has 30 days to pick Sealy up unless it applies for an extension. If the state does nothing in 30 days, Sealy will be released with post-release supervision until August 2019.
HIT: To an out-of-this-world learning experience in Moravia.

Middle school students have been engaged in a project this year that envisions what it would take to set up a colony on Mars. How would the government run? What would it take to construct buildings? How could food be grown?

Another aspect centered on exploration and travel, challenging students to build machines that could traverse the surface of the planet. Eighth-graders recently presented their work in robotics that revealed the planning, teamwork and problem-solving it took to create their machines.

MISS: Police say a man on the run from the law took one final jaunt before being taken onto custody.

Auburn man charged in domestic incident, arrested after police pursuit An Auburn man has been charged with several felonies after leading police on a short pursuit

The Auburn man had been wanted since 2016 for allegedly entering an ex-girlfriend's home without permission and grabbing her phone when she arrived to find him there.

Police said that they saw the man in a car Monday but that rather than go quietly, he got out of his car and ran. He made it less than a mile before being caught and charge with resisting arrests, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and the three felony charges he was already wanted for.

HIT: To searchers who failed to find what they were looking for.

Search at Cayuga County park finds no trace of invasive pest LEDYARD  About a dozen hikers didnt find what they were looking for Saturday morning, and 

Area students, residents and researchers recently took a hike in Long Point State Park in Ledyard looking for evidence of the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive bug from Asia that's been spotted in many New York counties. The bug is a killer of hemlock trees, and a loss of trees can have detrimental impacts to ecosystems.

The search last weekend found no trace of the woolly adelgid, and that's good news for that particular forest.
This blog is written solely by John Ray, who has a Ph.D. degree in psychology and 200+ papers published in the academic journals of the social sciences. It does occasionally comment on issues in psychology but is mainly aimed at giving a conservative psychologist's view on a broad range of topics. There are very few conservative psychologists.The blog originated in Australia and many (but not most) posts discuss Australian matters. Australians have an unusually good awareness of events outside their own country. Australian newspapers feature news from Britain and the USA not as an afterthought but as a major part of their coverage. So Australians do tend to have a truly Western heart, which is the reason behind the old name for this blog. So events in Australia, Britain and the USA all feature frequently here, plus occasional coverage of other places, particularly Israel.SCOTUS is the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the landThe "GOP" stands for "Grand Old Party" and refers to the Republican party. The GOP is at present center/Right, while the Democrats have been undergoing a steady drift Leftwards and now have policies similar to mainstream European Leftist parties.The ideological identity of both parties has however been very fluid -- almost reversing itself over time. In the mid 19th century, the GOP was the party of big government and concern for minorities while the Democrats advertised themselves as "The party of the white man" -- an orientation that lasted into the mid 20th century in the South. The Democrats are still obsessed with race but have now flipped into support for discrimination AGAINST whites.Was Pope Urban VIII the first Warmist? Below we see him refusing to look through Galileo's telescope. People tend to refuse to consider evidence if what they might discover contradicts what they believe.Climate scientist Lennart Bengtsson said. The warming we have had the last 100 years is so small that if we didnt have meteorologists and climatologists to measure it we wouldnt have noticed it at all.The term "Fascism" is mostly used by the Left as a brainless term of abuse. But when they do make a serious attempt to define it, they produce very complex and elaborate definitions -- e.g. here and here . In fact, Fascism is simply extreme socialism plus nationalism. But great gyrations are needed to avoid mentioning the first part of that recipe, of course.Beatrice Webb, a founder of the London School of Economics and the Fabian Society, and married to a Labour MP, mused in 1922 on whether when English children were "dying from lack of milk", one should extend "the charitable impulse" to Russian and Chinese children who, if saved this year, might anyway die next. Besides, she continued, there was "the larger question of whether those races are desirable inhabitants" and "obviously" one wouldn't "spend one's available income" on "a Central African negro".Hugh Dalton, offered the Colonial Office during Attlee's 1945-51 Labour government, turned it down because "I had a horrid vision of pullulating, poverty stricken, diseased nigger communities, for whom one can do nothing in the short run and who, the more one tries to help them, are querulous and ungrateful."The book,, authored by T.W. Adorno et al. in 1950, has been massively popular among psychologists. It claims that a set of ideas that were popular in the "Progressive"-dominated America of the prewar era were "authoritarian". Leftist regimes always are authoritarian so that claim was not a big problem. What was quite amazing however is that Adorno et al. identified such ideas as "conservative". They were in fact simply popular ideas of the day but ones that had been most heavily promoted by the Left right up until the then-recent WWII. See here for details of prewar "Progressive" thinking.R.I.P. Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet deposed a law-defying Marxist President at the express and desperate invitation of the Chilean parliament. He pioneered the free-market reforms which Reagan and Thatcher later unleashed to world-changing effect. That he used far-Leftist methods to suppress far-Leftist violence is reasonable if not ideal. The Leftist view that they should have a monopoly of violence and that others should follow the law is a total absurdity which shows only that their hate overcomes their reasonFranklin Delano Roosevelt was a war criminal. Both British and American codebreakers had cracked the Japanese naval code so FDR knew what was coming at Pearl Harbor. But for his own political reasons he warned no-one there. So responsibility for the civilian and military deaths at Pearl Harbor lies with FDR as well as with the Japanese. The huge firepower available at Pearl Harbor, both aboard ship and on land, could have largely neutered the attack. Can you imagine 8 battleships and various lesser craft firing all their AA batteries as the Japanese came in? The Japanese naval airforce would have been annihilated and the war would have been over before it began. FDR prolonged the Depression . He certainly didn't cure it. WWII did NOT end the Great Depression . It just concealed it. It in fact made living standards worse Joe McCarthy was eventually proved right after the fall of the Soviet Union. To accuse anyone of McCarthyism is to accuse them of accuracy! The KKK was intimately associated with the Democratic party . They ATTACKED Republicans!People who mention differences in black vs. white IQ are these days almost universally howled down and subjected to the most extreme abuse. I am a psychometrician, however, so I feel obliged to defend the scientific truth of the matter:The average African adult has about the same IQ as an average white 11-year-old and African Americans (who are partly white in ancestry) average out at a mental age of 14. The American Psychological Association is generally Left-leaning but it is the world's most prestigious body of academic psychologists. And even they have had to concede that sort of gap (one SD) in black vs. white average IQ. 11-year olds can do a lot of things but they also have their limits and there are times when such limits need to be allowed for. America's uncivil war was caused by trade protectionism . The slavery issue was just camouflage, as Abraham Lincoln himself admitted . See also here Leftist psychologists have an amusingly simplistic conception of military organizations and military men. They seem to base it on occasions they have seen troops marching together on parade rather than any real knowledge of military men and the military life. They think that military men are "rigid" -- automatons who are unable to adjust to new challenges or think for themselves. What is incomprehensible to them is that being(to use the extreme Prussian term for following orders) actually requires great flexibility -- enough flexibility to put your own ideas and wishes aside and do something very difficult. Ask any soldier if all commands are easy to obey.
Its a bountiful winter in the snowy Sierra Nevada, with the biggest snowpack in 22 years. Thats great news for skiers and snowboarders, but all that snow can transform in an instant from a beautiful blanket to a deadly shroud when an avalanche hits.

In December, doctor Tom Barker, 64, was swept more than 200 yards in an avalanche that left him buried under 9 feet of snow, after he and a friend skied into a closed area at the Mt. Rose ski resort near Lake Tahoe without their avalanche-safety gear. Barker did not survive.

Slides kill one or two winter-wilderness travelers every couple of years in the Sierras around Lake Tahoe. For every death, avalanche experts say, about 10 people are caught in a cascade of snow and ice and barely escape with their lives.

As the backcountry becomes an increasingly popular winter destination  activities outside the bounds of ski resorts rose 21 percent in the U.S. last winter, according to Snowsports Industries America  the likelihood of tragedy has grown.

That popularity, and the risk, are driving companies to develop new avalanche-safety products based on bleeding-edge technology better known in the fast-evolving realms of self-driving cars, the internet of things, and big-data computing. The technology holds promise for preventing fatalities, according to experts, but its in its infancy.

Everyone wants the avalanche goggles that you can just look everywhere and see whether its safe or not  I dont think were ever going to get there, said Jeffrey Deems, a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado. But we can start to create new observations that help us get a better view of how the snowpack varies across the terrain.

One method for making those observations uses Lidar, the laser-based system used by some self-driving cars to gauge distance. With this equipment, avalanche forecasters can measure the snow depth at a known avalanche starting point  one of the best but most dangerous spots for assessing slide risk  from more than 1,000 yards away, Deems said.

Without Lidar, judging the snowpack in an avalanche zone involves measuring it elsewhere and estimating depth at the starting point, he said.

Theres quite a lot of uncertainty associated with that, Deems said. This new technology allows us to really see the pattern of snow accumulation.

Another relatively new high-tech tool for predicting avalanches is a smart probe by Mountain Hub thats inserted into the snowpack and uses built-in pressure and depth sensors to identify problematic layers, such as ice from which the snow on top could slide, or large crystals that could crumble under pressure, leading to the same result.

Information on snow layers can be uploaded to a database to help avalanche forecasters track the presence of weak or slippery sheets buried across a landscape.

However, while new developments in avalanche-safety tech such as the smart probe and Lidar may pay off in saved lives in the future, theyre not all that useful yet, argued Brandon Schwartz, lead avalanche forecaster for the Sierra Avalanche Center, a nonprofit partner of the U.S. Forest Service, which puts out daily slide-hazard bulletins.

The Lidar system, at about $200,000, is prohibitively expensive for many forecasters whose agencies rely on government funding and donations as well as for many safety teams that use explosives to blast potential avalanche areas near highways, railroads and in ski resorts to create controlled slides, Schwartz said. And that system cant reveal the level of detail in the snowpacks layering that Schwartz and his colleagues need, he said.

Mountain Hubs probe, the $1,500 Avatech SP2, has accuracy issues and is not that great, unfortunately, Schwartz said. Its not really there yet as a tool that has enough worth to be in widespread use.

Both systems have potential to evolve and prove useful for analyzing the snowpack and producing large data sets that could add detail and scale to the forecasting process, Schwartz added.

Mountain Hub marketing director TJ Kolanko acknowledged the SP2s deficiencies, but said the company was working to improve its technology. This fall, it plans to launch the consumer-oriented Avatech Scope, a smart ski pole that has a pressure sensor in the tip and a depth sensor on the shaft. The gadget will cost $499 and will come with a second, standard ski pole.

As the Scope is pushed into the snow, the pressure sensor measures hardness and sends the data through an algorithm that translates it into types of snow layers, while the other sensor tracks the depth, to build a virtual picture of the snowpack.

This is where the big-data analysis beloved across todays business world comes in, along with the internet of things. Information collected by individual users, who can easily perform multiple assessments in a number of locations, will be uploaded to the Mountain Hub platform. There, it can be analyzed in conjunction with data about snowpack conditions, weather and avalanche activity to predict avalanche hazard through a crowd-sourced culture of contribution, Kolanko said.

Still, as promising as the new avalanche forecasting technologies may be, traditional tools, including beacons, probes and shovels, and training in skills such as snowpack testing and forecast analysis remain vital to help prevent tragedies, experts say.

In January, for example, an avalanche caught pro extreme skier JT Holmes in the Tahoe wilderness between the resorts of Squaw Valley and Sugar Bowl, carried him over a 30-foot cliff and buried him face down, 6 feet under. Four companions located him by the signal of his safety beacon and dug him out. He was back on his skis minutes later.

Avalanche-safety instructor John Littleton of Alpine Skills International in Truckee said more often than not when hes in the backcountry he encounters people without proper safety skills and gear.

The human element just assumes that, Were going to be safe, said Littleton. Get the education and get the equipment.
(ANSA) - Perugia, February 24 - Premier Paolo Gentiloni visits the Umbrian town of Norcia on Friday to mark the six-month anniversary of the start of an earthquake emergency that has brought death and destruction to central regions.

"Here there is the desire to get busy and start over, people are tenacious and hard working," Umbria Governor Catiuscia Marini wrote in a post to Facebook ahead of the premier's visit.

"Come on Valnerina, come on Umbria, we can do it!" she added.

The earthquake emergency begun on August 24 when a 6.0-magnitude tremor killed 299 people in the Lazio towns of Amatrice and Accumoli and the nearby Marche town of Arquata del Tronto.

There were more quakes in October, including, a 6.5-magnitude quake near Norcia, the biggest since 1980.

A fresh round of quakes on January 18 also triggered an avalanche that hit the Rigopiano Hotel in the Abruzzo mountains, claiming 29 lives.

On Friday Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi laid a wreath in memory of the townspeople who died on August 24, thanking "the world" for its support over the last six months.

"I hope this August 24 there will be a different Amatrice, with houses rather than rubble, and where hope returns," he said.

Meanwhile farmers' association Coldiretti said sales have dropped by 90% in the earthquake zones.

Also on Friday it emerged that Pope Francis has donated 15,000 euros through his almoner Monsignor Konrad Krajewski to an earthquake-struck farmer near Ascoli Piceno to enable him to buy new machinery.

The donation comes on top of the purchase by Monsignor Krajewski on February 21 of 11,000 euros worth of typical local products for distribution in Rome soup kitchens.


2300 smugglers nixed in Serbia since start of migrant crisis 'Belgrade committed to preventing negative impact on citizens'

(ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 27 - Some 2,300 human traffickers have been arrested in Serbia since the start of the migrant crisis nearly two years ago, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Friday. Stefanovic also reaffirmed the Serbian government's commitment to managing the ongoing daily emergency despite the formal closure of the so-called Balkan route. "It is a battle aimed at ensuring that citizens do not feel a negative impact for them," said Stefanovic. (ANSAmed).




366 migrants have died in the Med in 2017  IOM 300% up over the same period in 2016

(ANSAmed) - Geneva, February 24 - In total 13,924 migrants and refugees have reached Europe by boat since the start of the year and 366 people have died or went missing during the sea crossing, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. The majority of deaths - 326 to February 22 - and disappearances have been reported on the central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy. This is a 300% rise over the same period in 2016.



Of the 13,924 migrants and refugees arriving in Europe so far this year over 75% landed in Italy, IOM said. The remainder arrived in Greece or Spain. This compares to 105,427 arrivals in the same period in 2016, the vast majority in Greece. The number of people arriving in Europe through Greece has dropped sharply following the closure of the so-called Balkan route. Conversely, the number arriving in Italy is around 50% up on last year. (ANSAmed).




ANSAmed  Weekly diary from 27/2 to 5/3

(ANSAmed) - Rome, February 24 - These are the events of interest in the Euro-Mediterranean region from February 27 to March 5 2017.



Monday February 27 ISRAEL/WEST BANK - NATO, visit by the Science and Technology commission and the special Mediterranean and Middle East Group (until March 3) TUNIS - Summit of the foreign ministers of Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt to examine the results obtained and contacts established in Libya in view of a global political solution to the crisis AMMAN - First seminar in a training programme for broadcasters from the southern Mediterranean at the Jordan Media Institute as part of the project MedMedia (also February 28) Tuesday February 28 TUNIS - Kram exhibition centre, VIII edition of the Textile Machinery trade fair 'Siet 2017' (until March 3) Wednesday March 1 BALKANS - The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini begins her visit to Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia TEHRAN - Visit by a delegation from the Defence and Security Commission of the Council of the Russian Federation to discuss arms sales and the situation in Syria Thursday March 2 LJUBLJANA - Visit by the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and Commissioner Violeta Bulc (also March 3) VALLETTA - Informal meeting of EU trade ministers with Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom (also March 3) PARIS - The French judiciary is expected to rule on the extradition request presented by Serbia for Ramush Haradinaj, former Kosovo premier and ex commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA/UCK) for alleged war crimes Friday March 3 TUNIS - Official visit by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel Saturday March 4 Nothing to highlight Sunday March 5 Nothing to highlight
(ANSAmed) - AMMAN - Hundreds of protestors marched in Amman downtown on Friday to demand the government dismissal in protest against a recent decisions to impose taxes on several basic items.



Demonstrators accused authorities of undermining the wellbeing of citizens in order to meet fiscal obligations and fund what they described as corrupt officials from the government and elite groups.



"Down with the government of poverty," read one banner held by activists as they marched from king Hussein mosque in the town centre.



The peaceful demonstrations, organized by the Islamist and circular parties, are expected to spread across the country during the coming weeks as high prices take their toll on living standards.



Activists accuse the government and the palace of squandering hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain luxurious life, while poverty rate is on the rise. (ANSA)
Tobruk government against settlement of migrants Threat to national security, demographic structure - al-Thani

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, FEBRUARY 24 - The internationally unrecognized temporary government that controls eastern Libya categorically rejects the settlement of migrants and condemns all attempts to achieve it, Tobruk Premier Abdullah al-Thani has said. In a statement released to the press on Thursday al-Thani justified his position on grounds of national security and because migrants allegedly threaten the demographic structure of the country. (ANSAmed).




Dance in support of girls' education Sunday at the Dance Party for One and All: Chairs for Change fundraiser. The party will be from 2-6 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 N. Fort Valley Road. There will be performances by students from Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy, Ballet Folklorico de Colores, FALAs action band and Vusi Shibambo and Friends African Dunun Ensemble from Sedona.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn Bollywood dancing, sip punch, munch hors doeuvres and get their face painted. The cost is $5 and tickets can be purchased at FALA, 3401 N. Fort Valley Road, or at the door.

The event is a fundraiser for One New Education, a local nonprofit that provides scholarships to deserving girls in developing countries so that they can attend school and complete their high school education. In addition to dance and music events, the event will include an art auction for chairs and furniture that have been re-purposed into works of art by local artists and students.

Sheriff's Posse to host annual barbecue

To raise money for its community support activities, the Flagstaff Sheriff's Posse will host its 60th Helping Hand BBQ Sunday. The annual barbecue, set for 1-5 p.m. at the Elks Lodge (2101 N. San Francisco St.) is a major fundraiser for the venerable organization. Tickets are $8 at the door; free for children ages 8 and younger.

The Flagstaff Sheriff's Posse was the original search and rescue team, which was officially founded in 1967, but worked unofficially in the community for many previous years. The Posse keeps all of the money it earns within the Flagstaff community. It gives yearly scholarships and donations, exclusively to local students and organizations.
Chabahar Airlines adds maiden MD83

Iran's Chabahar Airlines has acquired a maiden MD-83, reports ch-aviation. EP-CBI was added to the carrier's books in late December but has yet to be deployed into service.
PHOENIX  Setting the stage for a lawsuit, the state House voted late Thursday to forbid jail officials from releasing someone who immigration authorities want them to hold.

HB 2121 would make it illegal for any public official to refuse to comply with an immigration detainer. That is a formal request by the Department of Homeland Security that a state or local agency keep for up to 48 hours someone not in this country legally, giving time for federal agents to pick them up.

But the measure by Rep. Bob Thorpe, R-Flagstaff, goes even further than the directive to hold immigrants.

It allows any Arizona legal resident to file suit. If a judge finds there is a violation he or she has to impose a penalty of at least $500 a day  and up to $5,000 a day  for each day the policy of refusing to hold undocumented people has been in force.

HB 2121 also spells out that any person who is injured by someone who is released when there is a detainer request can sue the individual, agency or official responsible for the release.

The move comes on the heels of the decision by Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone that his jails will no longer hold people any longer than necessary to process them for the state charges they are facing if a judge has ordered them released.

Penzones new policy does not stop notification of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the county has someone the feds may want. But it spells out that if federal agents want someone they have to arrive before release processing is done.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said that's what is required by federal law.

The Fourth Amendment does not allow a local law enforcement official to detain someone longer than necessary to process a state court-ordered release, he said.

Penzone is not alone in his view of what federal law requires.

In Coconino County, jail officials said they typically honor a request by ICE to hold an inmate, but no longer than 48 hours. Last year, 84 inmates out of approximately 12,000 bookings were identified as undocumented.

Mark Napier, newly sworn in as Pima County sheriff, said he is keeping a policy of predecessor Chris Nanos about handling ICE detainers.

He said if federal agents tell them they want an inmate, his agency will inform them of when the release process starts. That generally provides them about 90 minutes.

And if no one from ICE shows up in that time, the person is released if that's what a judge has ordered, just the same as anyone who is a legal resident.

Thorpe refused to answer questions from Capitol Media Services about whether his legislation not only runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment protections against illegal search and seizure but could put county deputies and jailers at risk of personal liability if they follow the federal dictate.

But this isn't the first time the question of the legality of the measure has been raised to Thorpe.

Last month Alex Vidal, lobbyist for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, warned during a committee hearing last month chaired by Thorpe that HB 2121 had problems, starting with the fact that a detainer is not a warrant but simply a request by ICE to hold someone.

Federal courts have ruled that holding someone on a detainer without a warrant or probable cause, it violates the Constitution, he told lawmakers.

You cannot hold somebody in jail unless you've charged them with a crime or there's a warrant for their arrest, Vidal said. What you're doing here is you're requiring local entities to violate the Constitution without due process of law.

And the legal question is not new.

Last year the state settled the last vestiges of a lawsuit filed against SB 1070, the 2010 legislation designed to give police more power to question and detain those who they believe are in this country illegally.

Opponents agreed to drop their challenge to a section of the law that requires police officers, when possible, to check the immigration status of people they have stopped for any other reason.

In exchange, Attorney General Mark Brnovich issued an informal legal opinion designed to spell out that officers cannot detain anyone for longer than necessary for the original reason they were stopped.

Specifically, the opinion says that means no delay while waiting for a radioed response from federal immigration agencies about whether the person is legally entitled to be in this country. It also says that even if the person is not here legally, police cannot keep them from leaving while awaiting an immigration officer to come and take custody unless that person actually has been placed under arrest for some state offense.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Levon Zurabyan, Member of Parliament of the ANC faction, explained why they failed to create a unified opposition bloc ahead of the parliamentary election, which could have been an alternative to the leadership.

Zurabyan told reporters on February 24 that first of all, for some reasons the center didnt exists over which the opposition field could have had united.

However in any case we responded positively to proposals of political forces on creating a united opposition bloc. We received proposals from the Heritage Party, other political forces, and despite the fact we had suspicion over this opportunity, we agreed to begin talks for forming a wide opposition alliance, Zurabyan said.

He added, after that separate negotiations in the opposition field began, as result of which several small alliances were formed. In this case, it was already clear for us that it is impossible to form a wide alliance, and we made a decision to run in the election with an alliance with the Democratic Party, he said, adding the small alliances cant bring to life their goals, which could have been done in case of a wide consolidation of the opposition field.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on February 24 sent a congratulatory letter to composer, pianist, Knight of the Order of Honor of the Republic of Armenia Michel Legrand on his 85th birthday, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress.

The President wished him health, longevity, many occasions for creative joy.

You are one of the legends of the world music, a great artist deserving pride and admiration. Your creativity opened new horizons in the expression forms of French and world music.

In works bearing the mark of the honesty and delicacy of an intellectual, you present the human feelings and emotions, the eternal mysteries of the nature and being in a new way.

Your art is greatly loved and waited in Armenia. The Armenian listener feels a mutual connection with your works, human character and common fate, the Presidents letter reads.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. For already two days the Armenian community of Turkey and national-religious circles are focused on the ongoing discussions in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiatsin, between Catholicos of All Armenians His Holiness Garegin II, Patriarchal Archbishop of the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, president of the Patriarchates religious assembly Bishop Sahak Mashalyan and Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Germany Archbishop Garegin Bekchyan.

Istanbuls Armenian Zhamanak newspaper reported new details on the ongoing discussions, although very few. On February 23, the Catholicos had a private meeting with Ateshyan. Earlier, the Catholicos had met with Mashalyan and Bekchyan too.

According to the newspaper, the initial meeting between the Catholicos and the other three clergymen lasted over 3 and half hours.

The discussions continued later on as well. The days hard work came to an end at almost midnight, the newspaper reported, adding the discussions continued in the morning of February 24.

According to the newspaper, an official statement is expected to be released on February 24.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Finance minister Vardan Aramyan gave an interview via a video call to Andrew Wrobel, editor-in-chief of Emerging Europe online publication.

The finance ministry told ARMENPRESS the interview covered Armenias economic growth, foreign and domestic factors contributing to it, as well actions for attracting investments.

Wrobel expressed desire to make an extensive report on Armenia next year  Outlook on Armenia 2018, which will be followed by Armenias participation in the joint conference with the EBRD in London. The minister expressed willingness to take part in this initiative, and an agreement for further cooperation was reached.
President Trump keeps reiterating his pledge to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico. He and his supporters have in mind a barrier that will keep Mexican immigrants out of the country. They should be thinking instead of a wall that will keep them in.

Since 2008, more Mexicans have left the U.S. than have come here  a net loss of 140,000 migrants, according to calculations by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center through 2014. Even without new immigration restrictions and border crackdowns, demographic and economic trends clearly show that America will continue to lose more Mexican immigrants than it gains. To deliver the economic growth Trump has promised, the U.S. will need producers and consumers, and there wont be enough of them without immigration.

People move among countries for all kinds of reasons. Large-scale, or macro, factors include where there is a strong economy and plentiful jobs or laws that prohibit or allow migrants. At the micro level, relocation is personal, for reasons such as family reunification. Changing forces at work on both of these levels help explain why more Mexicans are leaving the United States than coming, and why that pattern is likely to continue  with or without a border wall.

Economists theorize that migration is primarily a function of labor supply and demand. People move from low-wage to high-wage countries. And wages, too, are dependent on the supply and demand for workers.

During the past few decades, Mexicos labor supply has been large relative to the U.S., especially for jobs Americans didnt much want to do, such as agricultural field work and some kinds of construction. Labor has been cheaper in Mexico than here, so a border-crosser could earn more money for the same work in the U.S. than at home.

In the 1990s, its estimated that 3 million Mexicans migrated to the U.S., pushed and pulled mostly by these economic forces. But since the 2008 economic recession, neither the push nor the pull has been nearly as strong as it once was.

In 2007 and in 2015, the Pew Center asked Mexicans who returned home from the U.S. why they made the move. At the micro level, fewer reported having family or friends in the U.S. with whom they kept in regular contact. In the Pew survey, 61 percent said reuniting with family in Mexico was the primary reason for their return. As for the macro level, the survey found that one-third of the respondents believed that the standard of living was no different in Mexico than in the U.S. In 2015, that figure was up 10 percent compared with 2007.

Part of the reason for that perception is the fact that the supply of labor in Mexico is dwindling and wages are rising there. We can expect both trends to continue over the next few decades.

Mexican women now are barely having enough babies to replace their countrys population, and their fertility rates are declining. As Mexicos economy has developed, the number of babies born to each woman on average has been dropping rapidly, from 6.5 children per woman in 1975 to 2.2 by 2010  nearly on a par with the U.S.  according to data compiled by the United Nations. Now, labor shortages and, consequently, higher wages are on the horizon.

Heres another way to look at the data: Between 2000 and 2015, Mexico needed to create about 800,000 new jobs a year to employ young people who were part of large cohorts born when fertility was still high. But in 2015, fertility declines started to slow  the number of 15- to 19-year-olds peaked  meaning less need for new jobs and ultimately less reason for Mexicans to migrate for work.

Those trends arent good for the U.S. For decades here, the fertility rate hovered right around replacement level. Now, American mothers have on average fewer than two babies each. That results in an aging population and, without more immigrants, the economy wont have enough replacement producers and consumers. Forecasters calculate that everything from infrastructure to national defense can be strained by an aging population because spending on entitlements crowds out other budget items.

The United States has always attracted immigrants. Welcoming newcomers from around the world has been to our demographic, economic and social benefit. Building a wall on the border with Mexico will cost us dearly, in dollars spent and much more. If the wall succeeds in keeping migrants out, we wont have a labor force big enough and young enough to support our economy, let alone to make America great again.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The community leaders are very important link in the overall structure of the state, Davit Lokyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Development, said at a general meeting of the Communities Association of Armenia, expressing hope that the community leaders will maintain their importance in future as well, reports Armenpress.

The leaders of Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor will discuss with equal rights their rights and duties together with the leaders of the smallest communities of Armenia. You are equally taking part in one of the most important and democratic processes of the country, the establishment of local self-government bodies. We have significant achievements in the local self-governance, we have established communities where independence is quite huge. The Communities Association of Armenia, with its Council of 100 people has its great role in this. Every day it tries to protect each community, to make the relations with the state constructive and manageable for every community, the Minister said.

Davit Lokyan said communities are the major drivers for countrys development. If there are no good communities, there will not be a good local self-governance and best services for the people.

Today, the first official in our country who communicates with the citizen, is the community leader, and they bear the first wave of all issues. Your lack of opportunities and narrow boundaries dont allow to solve a number of issues faced by the communities, he said.

We face one important problem: we show very poor attitude towards ensuring our own incomes. Our communities have resources, and if a community leader wants, he can increase the entry of own incomes, the Minister said, adding that the Communities Association is the structure which will address these issues soon.

Lokyan recalled that according to the policy adopted by the Government, the community will be provided with state assistance based on what initiative it shows. He said if the community doesnt have a vision, doesnt want to provide service to the citizens, the state will not provide finance to it.






YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Italian senator Maria Rizzotti (member of friendship group with Azerbaijan) gave a speech on February 21 touching the Khojaly events and expressing entirely pro-Azerbaijani ideas urging to declare February 26 remembrance day of Khojaly genocide at the Senate.

Rizzottis speech receives no support from the Senate. The next day another Senator Aldo Di Biagio reacted to Rizzottis speech with criticism, assessing it as one-sided and based only on Azerbaijani disinformation.

The senator mentioned in his speech that speaking about the Khojaly events and assessing it as genocide means to accept the biased opinion that it properly coordinated by the Baku authorities but is denied by facts. There is no reference to the fact that the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh reaffirmed their right to self-determination through referendum, the Italian senator said. Aldo Di Biagio also noted that his colleague bypassed in her speech the provocations and Armenafobia of Baku authorities, which hamper the OSCE Minsk Group brokered peace process.

Ignoring all these means to ignore facts and spread partial information which is pregnant with the risk of being taken for the truth, since the issue has been raised in this reputable establishment of the Senate of the Republic, and this is a very serious country, Senator Aldo Di Biagio concluded.

Interestingly, on February 23 the final minutes of the Senates session did not contain the part of Maria Rizzottis speech proposing to declare February 26 as a remembrance day. The minutes of the speeches are prepared by the instructions of the respective senators.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Reps. Jim Townsend, R-Artesia, and Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell, joined Rep. Jane Powdrell-Culbert, R-Sandoval, Monday in recognizing the achievements of Artesia High School junior Alexandra Ali Mauritsen.

Mauritsen recently scored in the top 1 percent nationally of students taking the ACT college entrance exam with a perfect composite score of 36. In addition, Mauritsen scored 1570 out of a possible 1600 points on the SAT exam.

Im honored to sponsor this certificate honoring Alexandra on her terrific scholastic performance, said Townsend. Alexandras talents are many and impressive, and we are proud to share the successes of this remarkable Artesia Bulldog with our fellow lawmakers today.

The legislators sponsored a certificate noting Mauritsens academic accomplishments, and it was read on the floor of the House during Mondays morning session. Mauritsen attended the session with her family: father Alec, mother Clara, and brothers Hans and Bjorn. A member of the AHS choir, Mauritsen also opened the days proceedings by singing the national anthem.

The achievements of students like Alexandra ought to be recognized and celebrated as often as possible, said Ezzell. Alexandras academic accomplishments are extraordinary, and she gives me confidence that New Mexicos future is bright indeed.

Its fitting that we pause to commend Alexandra and her family on this wonderful achievement, said Powdrell-Culbert. These impressive scores are the result of years of hard work and dedication. Alexandra is an example to the rest of us that there is no limit to what you can achieve if you are committed to doing your best every day.

It has to be pretty great to be one of the smartest young individuals in the country.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

An Artesia man was arrested Thursday in connection with a shooting that took place in August.

Artesia Police Department officers were dispatched Aug. 17, 2016, to the north alleyway of 10th Street and Washington Avenue in reference to an individual who had been shot. The male victim was transported by EMS to the Public Safety Complex for airlifting to Lubbock, Texas, but was conscious and able to speak to officers.

The victim identified Jeffery Morgan, 22, of Artesia, as his assailant and stated he knew Morgan from time the two spent together in the Eddy County Detention Center.

Officers subsequently received information the suspect had been seen running from a white vehicle to his home in the 1200 block of West Missouri Ave. Following a brief standoff, Morgan exited the trailer home and was taken into custody.

According to the APD report, officers spoke with a female at the residence, who stated Morgan had come into the home with a 9mm weapon and stated he might have shot someone.

Upon processing the scene at 10th and Washington, officers located one spent 9mm cartridge and obtained a warrant to search Morgans residence for the firearm. They located the weapon under a bathroom sink and also recovered five rounds of 9mm ammunition from the bottom of a toilet bowl.

The APD made contact once more with the victim on Aug. 23 following his release from the hospital in order to verify the information hed given him prior to airlifting on the day of the crime.

The victim told officers Morgan had arrived outside his trailer window on the day of the incident inquiring as to the whereabouts of a neighbor. When the victims dog began barking, Morgan behaved as if he planned to shoot it, prompting the victim to exit the home and go outside to collect the animal.

Once outside, the victim said, Morgan pointed the gun once again at his dog and, when asked not to shoot the animal, pointed the gun instead at the victim, stated Why dont I just shoot you, and fired one round into the victims hand and thigh.

A warrant was subsequently issued for Morgans arrest on charges of two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, and tampering with evidence.

The charges were filed Feb. 9 in Artesia Magistrate Court, and Morgan was taken into custody just after 10 a.m. Thursday. He is scheduled to appear for preliminary examination at 10 a.m. March 8.
Teachers at Westminster High School in Carroll County, a rural area on the Pennsylvania border, put up the posters as a show of diversity  which is precisely their purpose. But after a staff member complained, administrators said that political material couldnt be displayed in classrooms without showing both sides. Westminster students have an alternative planned (and the school board is meeting with lawyers).
After the office of President Erdogan condemned the cartoon, the publisher of Grgr closed the magazine and threatened to file criminal complaints against staffers.
On February 20th, a fourth wave of bomb threats targeted Jewish Community Centers in several American cities: St. Paul, Minnesota; Buffalo and Amherst, New York; Birmingham, Alabama; Houston, Texas; Cleveland, Ohio; Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Tampa, Florida; and Chicago, Illinois. In addition, an historic Jewish cemetery St. Louis, established by Russian immigrants was violated. Over the past few months, crimes against American Jewry have grown in their frequency and boldness.

American Muslims, because of their appreciation for the Jewish communitys actions on their behalf, have offered a reward to locate the perpetrators of these crimes against Jews. The good news is that religious communities are having plenty of opportunity to demonstrate mutual care and respect in the face of ongoing hate crimes. The bad news, of course, is that these expressions of hatred have been unleashed with great force. In spite of reports that the FBI is actively pursuing the perpetrators, our community remains vulnerable and raw with hurt in the faceof these attacks. Harm is being done and it needs to stop. Dayenu - its enough...more than enough.
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.
An account of how Pakistan has doomed itself and how it will affect the world.

Author Tilak Devasher believes that the collapse or failure of the Pakistani state cannot be good news, both for the region and for the world.

Scholarly works can often obfuscate issues of real importance, whereas the unfettered vision of a person actually dealing with a subject can often prove illuminating. It is a matter of difference in attitude between a theorist and a practitioner, like that of an art critic and an artist. This book, in that sense, is a practitioners view of Pakistan, uncluttered by academic nuances and scholastic precedence. It is also devastatingly lucid.

Pakistan: Courting the Abyss by Tilak Devasher, a former officer in the Cabinet Secretariat, provides a clear, at times even blunt, appraisal of Pakistan, its past and present failings, and in doing so draws attention to the issues of significance. From its tortuous past to its economy, Islamisation and military imperatives, Pakistan is scrutinised painstakingly in an attempt to prise open the roots of its maladies.

The thrust of the authors argument is negative as can be gauged from the books title and is based on the premise that Pakistan is a failing state inexorably hurtling towards a precipice. The author cannot be faulted for being pessimistic given that many within Pakistan share a similar view.

Born at midnight as a sovereign, independent, democratic country, today it is neither sovereign, nor independent, nor even democraticToday Pakistan is dangerously at war with itself once again. The Federation is united only by a rope of sand, the author quotes a retired Pakistani bureaucrat writing in The Dawn newspaper.

The voices of despair from within Pakistan are haunting. We, the pigeons with eyes wide shut, are riding a vehicle that is heading towards the edge of a cliff. Rather than opening our eyes, seeing the obvious and asking the right questions, we are too fearful to even look at the monster we face, Ali Malik, Daily Times.

We have lost track of the original purpose of the creation of the country.

More Muslims live in fear in Pakistan than in India and thousands more Muslims have been killed in Pakistan on religious and sectarian grounds than in India since independence, Yaqoob Khan Bangash, Express Tribune. Yet, Courting the Abyss isnt a doomsday book either.

Pakistan: courting the abyss By Tilak Devasher HarperCollins India, pp. 472, Rs 470

While Pakistans present day trajectory is certain to end in catastrophe, the author believes that doom is not inevitable and the Pakistani leadership, if coerced by the international community, can pull itself out of the hole it has dug for itself.

In fact, the author seems to believe that the collapse or failure of the Pakistani state cannot be good news for the region and the world. His analysis focuses on what went wrong and mostly leaves the prescriptions for others, particularly the leaders of that country.

The authors arguments rest on the premise that Pakistans problems are fundamental and stem from the very foundations on which it was erected. The book begins with the Pakistan movement, which was sponsored by the British to counter the Congress politically but which ended up in the tragic partition of the Subcontinent and the beginning of the process of Islamisation of the newly created country.

What makes the book particularly compelling is the fact that its chapters, which include Islamisation, terrorism, civil-military relations, education, economy and so on, are not strung together by facts alone but have a strong argument running through each of them. At every instance, the author tries to make a point and mostly succeeds.

For instance, the chapter on Pakistans economy is not merely descriptive but suggests that there is a fundamental imbalance in its workings.

Pakistans economic growth since the 1950s has been marked by a persistence of periodic crises and bailouts, and by high volatility in growth rates due to a stop-go growth model. Not surprisingly, economic crises seem to have become a norm for Pakistan. Why this has happened is what the chapter is all about. If Pakistans economy has not collapsed, it is because of external assistance.

Pakistan has been avoiding an economic collapse narrowly not because of any structural changes or policy initiatives of its own but because the international situation has allowed it to monetise its geographical position, writes Devasher. Thrice in the last seventy years, Pakistan has been bailed out by the US just as it was going over the brink, all three times when the army was ruling. And all three times, rulers have not used the opportunity provided by foreign bailouts to make the necessary structural changes to put Pakistan on the path of sustainable growth.

Devashers research has uncovered many half-forgotten facts, buried over the decades, such as the misgivings Pakistans founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah expressed towards the end of his life. Jinnah, writes Devasher, died an exhausted man, unable to even get a functioning ambulance to take him from the airport in Karachi to his residence According to Sarila, if Col Elahi Basksh, the doctor who attended on Jinnah during the last phase of his illness in August-September 1948 at Ziarat near Quetta, is to be believed, he heard his patient say: I have made it [Pakistan] but I am convinced that I have committed the greatest blunder of my life.

Whether true or not, Devashers insights into Pakistan are provocative. Those in India who think they know a thing or two about Pakistan, will find much in the book that is both startling and thought provoking.

The writer is an independent commentator on political and security issues
Reliance Industries chairman says a good entrepreneur first finds a problem and then searches for its solution.

Mumbai: Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani who has disrupted Indian telecom market with launch of Reliance Jio was not very sure about what was in store for him at his father late Dhirubais business empire.

The young Ambani when returned to India as a Stanford University graduate had many questions in his mind, Ambani told a gathering last week at Nasscom Leadership Summit.

A curious Ambani then asked his father, What is going to be my job? What do I do? In response, the late Dhirubhai gave an interesting reply that was, If you are seeking a job, roles and responsibilities, then you can be a manager, The Economic Times quoted Mukesh Ambani as saying.

"And, if you are an entrepreneur, then you will figure out what you want to do," Dhirubhai said. Deriving an inference from his late father's pep talk, Amabni told the gathering that he was not going to tell them anything as they themselves have to "figure out what they want to do".

Ambani while exhorting the wannabe entrepreneurs said that failures should never bog them down however adverse circumstances confronted them. "Failures are normal. Even in my own case, I have failed several times before succeeding," ET quoted him as saying.

For Ambani, investors' money was much more precious than his own money in a venture and the A-team that leads from the front in a business set up was of utmost importance.

"You can't do anything without the right team. And it is very important to align the team passionately to your own passion," he told the paper. He went to tell the Nasscom gathering that an entrepreneur was the one who always remained optimist about his venture.

There were a lot of people who think negatively. For an entrepreneur, this should not be a practice, he added.
In the post, she termed shameful how people did not know the boundaries between being a human and an animal.

Disha was appreciated for her performance in her debut 'M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story.'

Mumbai: The Malayalam actress' courage in approaching the police and filing a complaint, after she was molested, was praised by the celebrities from the film industry.

And another actress, who was also subjected to sexual harassment, this time, through online abuse, has given it back to the trollers.

Disha Patani, who wore a revealing outfit at a recent film awards show, also posted those pictures on her Instagram account.

However, Disha received several unpleasant comments for her exposure and got a lot of advice regarding the expectations from an Indian girl.

Fed up with the comments on the pictures, Disha posted on Instagram a heartfelt message questioning the mindset of some of the users who posted those objectionable messages.

In the post, she termed shameful how people did not know the boundaries between being a human and an animal. The actress also says that it was easy to judge girls on the basis on how much they cover up their skin but questioned the cheap mentality in staring at those inappropriate places they were asking her to cover up.

She concludes by saying that she doesnt fit the definition of the Indian girl and asked them to stop the hypocrisy and open their minds.

Check the post here:

Disha is definitely not the one to hold back.
The former actress and filmmaker took to Twitter to share the details of the incident and reveal how horrified she was.

Pooja Bhatt is active on Twitter and thought it was the best platform to express her concern.

Mumbai: Actress-turned-director Pooja Bhatt has revealed that a man has been posing as her agent and taking funds from event companies on her behalf. The 44-year-old 'Jism' filmmaker says she is 'horrified' by this incident and plans to take police action against the man named Prashant Mlgewar from Solitude Lifestyle Inc.

"Horrified that a man called Prashant Malgewar-Solitude Lifestyle Inc is masquerading as my agent and taking funds from event co's on my behalf," Pooja tweeted.

"This is a very DANGEROUS trend. Strict action needs to be taken against Prashant Malgewar(Soulitude Lifestyle Inc) as this amounts to FRAUD. Prashant Malgewar is NOT my agent or representative. He is a fraudster who needs to be booked for claiming he does," she further wrote.

Pooja wondered how reputed companies could not call the man's bluff and gave him money without even asking for a signed invoice from her.

"A man walks into a reputed event co's office, claims money on my behalf & no-one there asks for authentication or a signed invoice from me? "Have to file a complaint against Prashant Malgewar (Soulitude Lifestyle Inc) New Delhi with both Mumbai Police and Delhi Police for fraud."
Rangoon is a love triangle framed in a rather serious chapter of history.

Rating:

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Richard McCabe, Alex Avery

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Having exorcised the great, dark tragedies, Vishal Bhardwaj seems to be in a jolly good mood. From his latest outing it looks like hes in a blissful state of postpartum contentedness, in the mood to frolic, have some fun, be silly and, well, a bit lame.

Rangoon is not quite as bad as Saat Khoon Maaf, nor is it as disjointed and yet delicious as Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. It has the ambition and delusion of being an epic, which it is not. It could have been, of course. But that required a sharper, more bustling screenplay.

Lucky for us, Vishal Bhardwaj has a thing for politics and humour, and extracts memorable performances here, not just from Kangana Ranaut, but Saif Ali Khan.

Rangoon is a love triangle framed in a rather serious chapter of history. Set in 1943, theres the World War II in which the British, along with their Indian Army, are fighting the Japanese at the India-Burma border.

Theres also Netajis Azad Hind Fauj which has declared war on the British and is being assisted by the Japanese. They have set up headquarters near the border, in Burma.

The way Bhardwaj and his two writers  Matthew Robbins and Sabrina Dhawan  have concocted it, the story involves treason/martyrdom, patriotic junoon and tragedy. And at the centre of it all they have placed the fearless and fabulous Nadia, recast with a jaunty eye and some mischief as Miss Julia (Kangana Ranaut).

Jemadar Nawaz Malik (Shahid Kapoor), a soldier with the Indian Army, gets captured by the Japanese but, as he tells Maj. Gen. Harding (Richard McCabe), escapes after killing some 27 Azad Hind Fauj soldiers.

Meanwhile in Bombay, a film is being shot, each scene overseen by its controlling producer Rusi Billimoria (Saif Ali Khan). Dapper and dashing in a white suit and matching co-respondent shoes, he commands the love and dutiful obedience of Julia, his muse who was once Jwala Devi, a bastard.

At the premier of their film Toofan ki Beti, where all the worthies  British officers, Indian royalty  are in attendance, Harding eyes the legendary sword of a maharaja, and asks Rusi to send Julia to the Indo-Burma border to entertain the troops, thus setting in motion two strands of the screenplay that will eventually collide somewhere near Rangoon. Just as a reluctant and pouting Julia is about to settle in the first class coupe with Zulfi, her make-up man and personal assistant, Rusi tells her that he cant accompany her.

As the train leaves the station, with Julia screaming under the watch of Jemadar Malik, is when the film really begins. Till this point Rangoon has been an explanatory tour  setting the scenes, introducing the characters and their raison detre one by one.

Till now the war has just been circling the characters, but now they are chugging into it so that the inevitable can happen. But for love to blossom, Malik and Julia have to be left alone for a bit. The Japanese oblige, with an air raid, separating the two from the rest, a desperate Zulfi floating away with the suitcase that holds Julias dresses and a secret. As Jemadar Malik, a captured Japanese soldier and the swashbuckling filmstar trek to get to India, the film picks up.

This bit, complete with their fights, romance, her talking to the Japanese soldier in Hindi and he narrating his lifes story to her in Hindi, is fun. And every once in a while the camera soars to the sky, to not just give us a stunning birds eye view of the scene, but also to tell us that we are watching an epic. We are not.

Eventually, when Julia and Malik finally reach the bridge where, on the Indian side Rusi is waiting for her, the rest of the story unveils amid entertaining shows for the faujis by the daring Julia. Its the story of a soldier in love but also on a mission, a jealous mentor and a star torn between her loyalty to her creator and her love.

The films climax, that requires Julia to play the toughest role of her life, is as corny and preposterous as the film endings were in the days when three annas got you a seat in the front row. But it ties up the strands and takes the character of Julia beyond the mere joy of nostalgia, making sense of why the film needed to summon Fearless Nadia.

Rangoon begins with a problem. It doesnt hit the ground running. The film doesnt open with a masters stroke, sequences that tell the story and introduce characters through dramatic action. Instead, it seats us, as if around an oval table in a conference room, dims the lights and wastes about half-an-hour conducting a long-winding, plodding explanation about where we are, who we ought to be concerned with, who is who, whats happening to them and around them.

Its like a trudging, dull Film Division film with a paternal voiceover. The films best parts are pivoted on sweet 1930s-1940s nostalgia about Nadia, the film industry and the goras then. Though Bhardwaj has kept the tone mock lite as far as possible  including patriotic fervour and contemporary gossip  the films most delicious bits will be lost on millennials. They can always Google it, but whats the joy in that. For those who get it, its cute, cute, cute. The other, underlaying bit that is almost always present in all of Vishal Bhardwajs films is his politics. And it seeps through here as well.

Theres commentary about Brits who are seemingly soaking in the Indian culture  learning both, Hindustani classical music and Urdu shayari  but remain ruthless officers of the Crown.

Theres also the war. And as its shown by Bhardwaj, it is not sexy, its not macho. Its a great human tragedy. He also cheekily brings out the naivety of the Azad Hind Fauj that was big on belief, faith and passion, but really low on reality.

Kangana Ranauts character, as we all know by now, is inspired by the life and times of Mary Ann Evans, better known as Fearless Nadia, and Saif Ali Khans by her director-producer Homi Wadi who immortalised her as Hunterwali. The film reimagines their collaboration and power equation a bit.

Saifs Rusi is in love, but he also treats her as his jaagir, calling her kiddo and patting his thigh with his one good hand, a gesture for her to come sit. Saif gives a taut performance and is fabulous as both, the sharp director-producer and the simmering, jealous lover.

Kangana does more than full justice to the spunky yet unwieldy Nadia, including the costumes and stunt scenes. She adds to Julia layers that are Kanganas own.

Kangana Ranaut is a fabulous actress who isnt always fabulous. But when she gets into a role, she doesnt just inhabit it  wearing it inside or outside, she gives it a piece of herself. She adds to the character something from her own inner world, making some scenes impossible to forget or copy. This sort of acting cant be taught. Its the brilliance of camera and the director that they see it, capture it and leaves it for us to experience.

Theres one such tiny moment in this film, a moment of such powerful, naked honesty, it tells not just the story of Julias state of mind, but another story  the story that Nadia and Kangana have made together. If you spot it, scream, Bloody Hell! I did.

Shahid Kapoor has been doing a lot of promos for film, and I now wonder why. Hes not really acting in Rangoon. Hes around only to give looks  at times stern, always stoic, sometimes misty. Whatever.
If his recent outings are considered, this love triangle set in 1942 is not even close to them.

Rating:

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan

When a film is directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, expectations are bound to happen. He is back on the silver screen with his much anticipated Rangoon which could tickle your patriotic bone up to some extent, but the film is an out and out romantic film set against backdrop of World War II.

Nawab Ali (Shahid Kapoor) serves British Army and accidentally meets superstar Julia (Kangana Ranaut) on his way to Burma. Rusi Billimoria (Saif Ali Khan), who is the biggest film producer of that time, is madly in love with Julia.

Julia and her assistants get trapped in the attack and Nawab rescues Julia. The two lose the way and reach an isolate village. The two gradually fall in love, but on the other hand, Roosi is in search of Julia. He seeks help from British Army and finds his love Julia back home but it is too late now. Julia gives away her heart to Nawab. Is there a happy ending for Nawab and Julia's brewing love story or Roosi will take revenge of his long lost love? This is what forms Vishal Bharadwaj's Rangoon.

Rangoon is perhaps one of the weakest films of Vishal (not to forget Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola). If his last outings are considered, Rangoon is not even close to them. It is clearly visible that Vishal just wanted to make a love triangle set in 1942. The trailer promised a masterpiece but the entire film will disappoint you. No doubt, Rangoon is one of those Vishal Bharadwaj lookalike films which is engaging and dark but the weak plot of the film is just not expected. We have seen several love stories set against the backdrop of war in the past, Roja, Bombay, 1942 A Love Story among some of the best examples.

Rangoon is acceptable in the contemporary day since Vishal is a master of his craft. From costumes to sets, he won't let you down. Rangoon will surely take you to that era of British rule but the point is that you will keep juggling with the thought that is it a war film or a love story. The awful part of the film is its climax, which is shot in the most melodramatic format as possible for a Bollywood film. Rangoon started off well and in fact, post intermission, there are several hook points to rely upon, but then as the film reaches its climax, it's not convincing enough. The scene where Julia rescues Nawab from the arrest of British Army is not believable. Also in the last scene, where Roosi changes his mind and helps Julia is laughable. VFX in these scenes are horrible.

Over to the actors now. Rangoon will surely be remembered for its performances. Shahid Kapoor is too good in his act of a soldier. Kangana suits the part in her bubbly role of a superstar of that era. Saif Ali Khan steals the show as an arrogant and dominant film producer. All other supporting actors did a fair job too.

Rangoon is definitely not avoidable but it is certainly not a Vishal Bhardwaj masterpiece. Watch the film for its performances and if you come to know whether it is a war film or a love story, then please post your comments in the section below.
We have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims, the US Embassy said in a statement.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was killed by a gunman in a Kansas bar.

New Delhi: The United States Embassy on Friday strongly condemned the shooting in Kansas resulting in the tragic death of an Indian engineer, and assured that justice will be delivered and the federal authorities are investigating the case.

"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured. We have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims," the Embassy said in a statement.

Read: 'Get out of my country!' Navy veteran shoots dead Indian immigrant in US bar

Expressing full faith in the US legal authorities for bringing the case to justice, the Embassy further informed that the shooter is expected to be prosecuted for the crime.

Charge d'Affaires MaryKay Carlson stated that the United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live.

"U.S. authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognize that justice is small consolation to families in grief," she added.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has assured that India would undertake all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of the former to Hyderabad.

"We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderabad, she said in a tweet.

Swaraj spoke to the father and brother of Kuchibhotla and conveyed her condolences to the bereaved family.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family. We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family." Sushma tweeted.

MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup further informed that they will be in touch with the local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow-up action.

"The deceased and the injured persons are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe (Kansas)," Swarup said.

According to local US media, the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran, was arrested after he allegedly blasted off several rounds of fire on Thursday.

The Police say Purinton shot and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani.
The mob, apparently comprising of persons from rival parties, allegedly attacked MNS activists present on the spot, a police official said.

MNS candidate Sanjay Turde was attacked by an armed mob in Kurla. (Photo: Facebook)

Mumbai: An MNS leader celebrating victory in the civic poll and eight other party workers were injured when they were allegedly attacked by a mob in suburban Kurla, police said on Friday.

MNS candidate Sanjay Turde was returning home after celebrating his victory in the recently held BMC polls when a mob of around 100 people armed with rods and sticks arrived at his office in Kurla at around 10.30 pm yesterday.

The mob, apparently comprising of persons from rival parties, allegedly attacked MNS activists present on the spot, a police official said.

Turde and eight other party workers were injured in the incident and were rushed to hospital, he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone V, Parmimder Singh Dahiya said the situation in the area is peaceful.

The victims are undergoing treatment in hospital and their injuries are not life-threatening, he said.

A case under IPC sections 141 (unlawful assembly) 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (hurt cause by dangerous weapon), 504 (breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and relevant sections of Arms Act has been registered against unknown persons at VB Nagar police station in Kurla, the DCP said.
Mukherjee says idea of Bharat flows from wisdom of our eternal traditions.

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday that tolerance for pluralism, compassion for all and love for the motherland are core civilisational values of India, where hundreds of languages and all major religions live under one system.

The idea of Bharat flows from the eternal wisdom of our rich traditions. Our core civilisational values, which are equally relevant today, speak of love for motherland, performance of duty, compassion for all, tolerance for pluralism, honesty in life, self restraint in conduct, responsibility in action and discipline, the President said at an event here organised by RSS affiliate Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal at IGNOU.

He added that India is a land of great tradition and discovery, which can rise above apparent contradictions and thrive on a composite culture. Sometimes I wonder about the huge diversity in which we live and we manage to thrive. 200 languages, 1,800 dialects, all seven major religions in the world, every ethnic group, yet we live under one system, one flag, one Constitution. This is to my mind the Bharatiya approach, he said.

Constant churning and refinement has been the secret of continuity of the Bharatiya thought through times of turbulence, he added. Despite the diversity in which we live, we enjoy and celebrate, we dont ignore individuality when we talk of the great confluence coming from different parts of the world in various streams, he said.

Speaking about the Indian education system, he said it was never allowed to be centralised, and that there has existed a guru shishya parampara (student-teacher tradition).

Mr Mukherjee said that in contrast to an eye-for-an-eye approach, Indian civilisation gave humanity the message of happiness for everyone. The President said India has made much economic progress since Independence. He hoped that the ideas generated at the three-day conference would be useful for the country.
In 2013, OFBs could meet the targets on only 39 per cent of the items required by the Armed Forces.

New Delhi: Used to a lenient and patronising attitude on their work achievements by the governments of the day, state-owned ordnance factories (OFs)  employing nearly a lakh workers in its 41 factories across the country  have been asked by none other than the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) to furnish a report on their achievement from 2013 onwards.

Confirming the development, a top source in the defence ministry told this newspaper: The PMO has written the letter to the secretary, defence production, who controls the OFs. The February 16 letter seeks of OFs to give a report on all the items and products they have produced in the last three financial years along with details of the costs involved, besides photographic evidence.

The source added that the reports have to be furnished by Tuesday (February 28) and the order includes not just the factories producing ammunition and weapons but also those producing and supplying clothing and other equipment to the troops.

Performance of OFBs has been anything but satisfactory. In 2013, OFBs could meet the targets on only 39 per cent of the items required by the Armed Forces. The PMOs order is significant in view of soldiers from the armed forces and paramilitary taking to social media in recent days to vent their angst on the quality and quantity of items they are being given by the OFs. Of late, defence minister Manohar Parrikar, too, has been critical of the work culture and target achievement of OFs.

Tracing its origin to British India in 1787, OFs are the oldest and largest organisation in Indias defence industry. The 41 factories are divided into five verticals  ammunition and explosives; weapons, vehicles and equipment; materials and components; armoured vehicles; and ordnance equipment. The 41 OFs are under the administrative control of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), which is under the MoDs department of defence production.

While the Army is the main client of OFs accounting for 80 per cent of the production, the Air Force and Navy together account for less than 4 per cent of the factory issues with paramilitary forces and the state police forces accounting largely for the rest.

The primary objectives of OFs are to supply quality arms, ammunition, tanks and equipment expeditiously to armed forces, to modernise production facilities and to achieve substantive selfreliance, to absorb latest technology and conduct in-house research and development besides enhancing the potential of small and medium enterprises in the countrys stated objective of indigenisation. There is a widespread belief that OFs have been falling far short of achieving their targets.
General Bipin Rawat holds talks with top Army commanders in Srinagar.

Srinagar: Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday called for coordinated efforts by security forces to deal with stone-pelting as he paid homage here to three jawans killed in a militant ambush in Jammu and Kashmirs Shopian district on Thursday.

The Army commanders in the state their seniors in Sena Bhavan in Delhi are keen on revisiting the strategy on counter-insurgency operations in view of the rise in fatalities among its men while fighting militants.

The Army Chief held talks with top Army commanders at the Srinagar headquarters of its 15 Corps and visited Victor and Kilo Force headquarters outside the city and was briefed about the prevailing situation and the recent operations conducted by the security forces in the Valley.

They made supreme sacrifice and the entire nation salutes them, Gen. Rawat said after laying wreaths on the remains of the slain jawans at a ceremony held at the Badami Bagh Cantonment here.

As the entire nation salutes the martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice in Thursdays terrorist attack, the Army gave a befitting farewell to its bravehearts in the solemn ceremony, the Army said in a statement.

Security experts and local analysts are of the view that the security forces should no more take militants active in the state as amateurish since they are now better trained and better equipped. Moreover, they are hardcore and extremely devoted to their cause compared to the preceding generation of militants.

Some Army officials are of the view that the standing instructions that maximum restraint should be exercised and other steps taken to avoid collateral damage during encounters are preventing the security forces from undertaking an all-out offensive against militants in populated areas.

As incidents of civilians relocating to encounter sites to help militants in escaping security dragnet during counter-insurgency operations have gone up recently, Gen. Rawat had earlier warned such people would be treated as anti-nationals and would face harsh action. However, some mainstream Opposition parties and separatists viewed this as an open threat to the people of J&K, although defence minister Manohar Parrikar defended the Army Chief, saying his statement was in national interest.

Defecnce spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that Gen. Rawat during his visit to the Valley reviewed the collaborative measures of security forces towards ensuring peace and calm in the region and interacted with local commanders and troops urging them to continue discharging their duty with utmost professionalism.

Lance Naik Ghulam Mohiuddin (a local Kashmiri), Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejith MJ were killed in Thursdays ambush. The Army Chief also condoled the death of an elederly woman, Taja Begum, who was hit by a stray bullet during the gunfight. Wreaths were also laid on behalf of chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and by senior ministers.
A stunned US embassy in New Delhi also strongly condemned the shooting.

Parents of engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla mourn his death in Hyderabad. Kuchibhotla was killed in a shooting at a bar in Kansas in the US. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi/Hyderabad: Shocked at the racially-motivated hate crime, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj assured all help and assistance to both families, saying that the Indian government would make all arrangements to bring the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderabad.

Two Indian embassy officials  consul R.D. Joshi and vice-consul H. Singh  rushed to Kansas, she said.

A stunned US embassy in New Delhi also strongly condemned the shooting, saying the American authorities will thoroughly investigate and bring the case to justice, and significantly, emphasised that the US is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live.

The shooting has added to the fear in the Asian community in the US amid increasing anti-immigrant rhetoric there from various quarters following the Trump Administration assuming office last month.

Ms. Swaraj tweeted, I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. I have spoken to the family in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, a pall of gloom descended on the residence of Kuchibhotla at Bachupally in Hyderabad when his parents and family learnt about his death.

Four years back he got married. He was highly appreciated by his managers at his workplace. We have been told the shooting is a hate crime. He was a very good person... We miss him, an inconsolable Krishnamohan (his cousin) said.

Mrs Swaraj said she spoke to Indian Ambassador in US Navtej Sarna. Alok Madasani who was injured in the incident has been discharged from the hospital. I have assured all help and assistance to the family, the minister said.

We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime. US Federal authorities are also investigating the case. We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice, she said.

The situation in the US appears pretty bad since Trump took over as President. I appeal to all parents in India not to send their children to the US in the present circumstances, said Madasani Jaganmohan Reddy, father of injured Indian.

In a statement, US Charge dAffaires MaryKay Carlson said, We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families. US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to sign the deal during his possible visit to Israel later this year.

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Security, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for joint development of a medium-range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) for the Indian Army by the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), reports said. The deal for 40 firing units and about 200 missiles is valued at around Rs 17,000 crores.

The delivery of the first system will begin within 72 months of signing the contract and will be deployed for operations by 2023. The MR-SAM is a land-based version of the long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) for the Navy and will have a strike range of up to 70 km.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to sign the deal during his possible visit to Israel later this year, that will also mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has claimed that India was the biggest buyer of weapons from 2012 to 2016, accounting for 13 per cent of global arms sales. India is also Israels largest buyer of military hardware, including various weapons systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles over the past few years, but these transactions have largely been secretive.

The joint development and the extensive cooperation between the industries in both countries is a testimonial to the strong partnership between the two nations. IAI is proud to lead this impressive cooperation and is highly obligated to its continuing success, Israel Aerospace Industries president and CEO Joseph Weiss was quoted in the Israeli media as having said.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin had visited India in November 2016, when both sides had decided to broadbase their already close defence partnership.
Earlier this week, Indias foreign secretary S. Jaishankar had participated in the strategic dialogue with his Chinese counterpart.

New Delhi: Talks are on between India and China over the proposed United Nations ban on Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui said on Friday, adding that such discussions take time. He, however, asserted that China was against terror outfits and any form of terrorism. This follows a deadlock on the matter in the recent strategic dialogue between the two sides in Beijing.

Earlier this week, Indias foreign secretary S. Jaishankar had participated in the strategic dialogue with his Chinese counterpart, during which issues ranging from Beijings opposition to the designation of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN and Indias bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) were discussed.

Discussions are going on. (Indias) foreign secretary was in Beijing two days ago. The discussions were very good and covered everything, Mr Luo was quoted by news agencies as saying. But, he declined to comment on what particular aspects of a ban on Azhar China was opposing.

Just wait (for the outcome of the discussions). Chinas support to India and every country on matters related to terrorism will always remain. Some discussions are going on. It takes time... China is against any form of terrorist activity and organisation. So, on this matter, China will always be in same line with the international community and take concrete measures, Mr Luo was quoted as saying after the inaugurating the Chinese visa application service centre in New Delhi.

Asked about Chinas reluctance to support Indias bid for entry into the NSG club, the envoy said, It is the same (discussions are on). After his talks, Mr Jaishankar, during his media interaction in Beijing, had hit out at China for demanding solid evidence for getting Azhar banned by the UN.

China had last year blocked Indias efforts to get Azhar declared as a global terrorist by the UN and also blocked an American move on the same issue just recently.
Modi said that todays changing lifestyle has brought its own set of challenges.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev during the unveiling function of 112-feet iconic statue of Adiyogi Lord Shiva at Isha Foundation in Coimbatore on the occasion of Maha Shivratri. (Photo: PTI)

Coimbatore: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Friday that the progress of humanity is incomplete without empowerment of women.

Speaking after unveiling the 112-foot face of Adiyogi  the Source of Yoga at Isha Yoga Centre on Mahasivarathiri, the Prime Minister said that humanity cannot progress without empowerment of women. The issue is no longer women development, but it is women-led development, he said. The Prime Minister said that yoga can give peace, which is longed by the world riddled with conflicts. Today, the world longs for peace, not only from wars and conflicts but also from stress and diseases. Only yoga can create a spirit of oneness. If the body is a temple of the mind, yoga creates a beautiful temple, he said.

Mr Modi said that todays changing lifestyle has brought its own set of challenges. Lifestyle related ailments and stress related diseases are becoming more and more common. Yoga is the passport of wellbeing as practicing yoga helps combat stress and chronic conditions, he said.

Pointing out that woman is a manifestation of the divine, the Prime Minister said, I am proud of the fact that the role of women is central in our culture. Our culture has so many goddesses who are worshipped. India is home to many women saints, who led the movement of social reforms. They shattered stereotypes to become trendsetters, he said.

Mr Modi said that India is a land of unparalleled diversity, which has proved to be the nations greatest strength. Diversity is not a cause of conflict. We should accept it and embrace it wholeheartedly. Infact, compassion, kindness, brotherhood and harmony are virtues that have kept the Indian civilisation alive for centuries, he said.

Stressing on the changing tenets of yoga, Mr Modi said, Yoga is the catalytic agent aspiring for transformation. By practicing yoga, a spirit of oneness is created.

Yoga is a beautiful journey from me to we, he said.

The Prime Minister said that Our mind should always be open to new thoughts and ideas from all side. Unfortunately there are a select few, who in order to hide their own ignorance, take a rigid view and destroy welcoming any new thoughts and experiences. In the same way, rejecting an idea just because it is ancient can be potentially harmful. It is essential to analyse it, understand and strive to take it to the new generation in a manner to make them understand it best, he said.

The Prime Minister also lighted the sacred fire to commence the Maha Yoga Yagna, wherein one million people will take an oath to teach a simple form of yoga to atleast 100 people each in the coming year and thereby reach 100 million people before next Mahashivaratri.

The iconic face designed and consecrated by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Founder - Isha Foundation, symbolises liberation, representing the 112 ways in which every human can attain ones ultimate potential through the science of yoga.

Lakhs of devotees including Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy, Governor Vidyasagar Rao and a bevy of BJP leaders participated in the event.
Trade body the Craft Bakers Association (CBA) has raised concerns about the impact of business rates hikes with Chancellor Philip Hammond.

The association has told British Baker it has made representation on behalf of its members ahead of the new rates coming into effect in April.

Two Magpies Bakery in Southwold hit the national press last week after advertising sausage rolls for 8.17  a 177% mark-up on the usual 2.95 price tag. Owner Rebecca Bishop said the increase was the same as the business rate hike her business is set to face.

In response to the story, bakers from around the UK got in touch to ask what action could be taken.

When contacted by British Baker, CBA chairman George Fuller said: As an association we are well aware of the impact of business rates on our members. We have made representation on behalf of our members to Philip Hammond MP, communities secretary Sajid Javid and the CBAs local MP Mark Prisk, outlining our concerns on an increase in business rates on bakery businesses on the high street.

The high street business is already under huge pressure from a reduction in footfall, the implementation of higher parking tariffs, introduction of the National Living Wage and auto-enrolment of pensions. To see an increase in some instances of 4,000.00 extra on business rates will see some high street bakers close their doors.

The CBA added that David Smart, former president of the association, and Christopher Freeman, current board director, had both been on national television to give their views on the impending change.

It said it has also employed an outside company to assist members with their business rates going forward.
The two accused came to the court all the way from Coimbatore, 190 km away, on a Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle.

Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the molestation case of a popular Malayalam actor, is taken away after he surrendered before the CJM court in Kochi. (Photo: PTI)

Kochi: Two men accused of abducting and raping an actress were arrested Thursday after they tried to hoodwink the police, dressed as lawyers.

Pulsar Suni and co-accused Vijeesh scaled the wall of a court complex here and sneaked into the additional chief judicial magistrates (ACJM) chamber.

However, both were whisked away by the police and interrogated. ADGP (south zone) B. Sandhaya led the questioning, especially about their motive for committing the crime. The police also sought to know whether they were hired by someone.

ACJM Siju Sheikh, who heard a petition filed by the accuseds counsel, directed the police to hand them over to the investigating officer and produce them in court within 24 hours after arrest.

Five others (already arrested) along with the duo have been charged for rape, abduction and wrongful confinement of the actress on February 17.

People familiar with the matter said that Suni told the police that he had plotted for nearly a month to trap the actress and blackmail her for extortion.,

However, this contradicts police reports that he was a hireling who committed the crime at the behest of someone nursing a grudge against the actress.

The two accused came to the court all the way from Coimbatore, 190 km away, on a Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle.

When they reached outside the court complex, they scaled the perimeter wall and went to court room. Some 12 advocates accompanied the culprits. Then the duo stood close to the witness box. But other lawyers there recognised them.

Soon, policemen in plainclothes also confirmed the identities of the accused and alerted their control room. As the police moved in, the duo resisted arrest, and Suni fell on the floor in the melee.

Shouts and counter-shouts were heard as the police had a tussle with the accuseds lawyers, who protested against the police for arresting the duo who had come to surrender in court.

Although the police took the duo into custody, it remained clueless as to how the two managed to reach the court premises despite surveillance.

Mr Sunils counsel later submitted a petition to the ACJM, alleging police highhandedness in taking his clients from the court premises.
The girl, who is under severe shock, narrated the matter to her teacher.

Amritsar: A minor girl has accused her father of raping her and a complaint was registered after she informed her teacher about the incident, police said on Friday.

The accused raped the girl, a Class VII student, twice when her foster mother had gone to Bihar, they said.

She is the child from the accused first marriage, police said, adding the girl's father has been booked for rape and is yet to be arrested.

The girl, who is under severe shock, narrated the matter to her teacher, who inturn reported it to the Child Care department and senior police officials, they said.

Following the teacher's intervention a case was lodged, police said.
UP has seen development in my regime and people want this to continue, Akhilesh Yadav.

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has been vigorously campaigning for the Samajwadi Party, addressing at least seven rallies a day. In the absence of other star campaigners in the party, barring wife Dimple, the onus of the campaign rests on his fragile shoulders. Alongside, he is managing his party affairs and running the government too.

Of the seven-phase election in UP, polling for three phases is left. Mr Akhilesh Yadav spoke with journalists between days of hectic campaigning. Excerpts from the conversation:

With over half of the election over, how do you see the position of the SP-Congress alliance?

I can say that in the phases where elections have been held, we have performed well. We are heading for a comfortable majority and the people are responding very well to the work done by my government. We have not only fulfilled the promises we made in the manifesto, but have even gone beyond it. The Lucknow-Agra Expressway was completed in record time; we gave laptops to students, Samajwadi pension to poor women and set up a helpline for women.

In case of a hung Assembly, what will be your options?

I do not see a hung Assembly. We are heading for a majority on our own and a SP-Congress government will be in place.

Which party is your main rival  Bharatiya Janata Party or Bahujan Samaj Party?

Both parties are far behind us. The response to our rallies is huge. UP has seen development in my regime and people want this to continue. The BJP believes in dividing people and BSP can shake hands with BJP for its own gain.

If you return to power, what will be your priority this time?

We will implement our manifesto and the joint manifesto of the alliance. We will start work on Purvanchal Expressway, distribute smartphones to the youth, cycles to schoolgirls, houses for the poor, and waive off farmer loan. We will make a time frame for all projects.

The BJPs response to your slogan Kaam Bolta Hai is that more than kaam, karnama speaks (misdeeds speak louder than your work). What do you have to say to this?

The BJP and its allies have 73 MPs (members of Parliament) from UP. What work have they done in the past two-and-a-half years? In Varanasi, there has been no work on cleanliness, no cleaning of the Ganga. We have been giving 24-hour power to the Prime Ministers constituency.

Has the strife in the party and family had an impact on the elections?

There is no use of this talk during elections. People have seen the government function, and will vote on our development model. Nothing else matters to them.

Is it true that had it not been for the family war, the alliance with the Congress may not have happened?

Yes, this is true. If there had been no fight in the family, the alliance would not have happened. Circumstances were such that I had to opt for an alliance. But I am happy that the alliance happened because the results are going to be good.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused you of discrimination on caste and religious lines, and also of minority appeasement.

All our schemes have been implemented without discrimination. Can anyone say that Muslims will not be using the Lucknow Agra Expressway or the Metro? You can see the list and you will find that Muslim women benefited from the Samajwadi pension, and Muslim girls got laptops. The BJP is getting desperate and making baseless allegations.

Is your father (Mulayam Singh Yadav) still upset with you? Will he campaign in the remaining phases?

There are no differences and he is not angry. The party belongs to Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and he will certainly campaign. His blessings are with us.

Other SP leaders are not taking active part in the campaign. Why?

Azam Khan will campaign now. He was busy at his own constituency earlier. Kironmoy Nanda will also join the campaign. Others are busy with booth management; this is the most important work in an election.

The BSP has been asking Muslims not to waste their vote on SP. Even clerics are supporting BSP. Will this hurt your party?

Muslims understand very well what is good or bad for them. They are not swayed by statements made by parties. They have seen the BSP alliance with the BJP in the past. They have seen the BSP leader campaigning for BJP in Gujarat. Who will believe that the BSP will not ally with BJP again?

The Opposition is targeting Gayatri Prajapati and Arun Verma, the two SP leaders charged with rape.

I have campaigned for Arun Verma and Gayatri Prajapati. I am sure you all remember the Badaun case (bodies of two sisters found hanging from a tree). The media said it was a case of rape and murder, and we gave the case to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation). It turned out to be a case of suicide. The cases against our leaders are a conspiracy to defame the party and the truth will be out soon.
Donkeys inspire me to work without taking a break and without discriminating, says Modi.

New Delhi/Lucknow: Midway through the battle for Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday engaged in a high-pitched war of words over donkeys and Kasab.

Responding to Akhilesh Yadavs donkey barb, the PM said he was amused that Mr Yadav was afraid of Gujarats donkeys.

The UP CM had on Monday asked filmstar Amitabh Bachchan to stop promoting Gujarats donkeys, in a reference to a tourism promotional advertisement featuring the actor, with several donkeys in the background.

Addressing a rally in Bahraich, Mr Modi said; Akhilesh Yadav should leave the attitude of hatred. It is fine if he attacks me but he did not even spare the donkeys. It seems he is afraid of even donkeys now. He should know that donkeys can be a source of inspiration. Donkeys inspire me to work without taking a break and without discriminating.

On Thursday, the UP CM also hit out at BJP chief Amit Shah over his Kasab remark. On Wednesday, Mr Shah likened the rival outfits to 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab.

By kasab I mean: Ka for Congress, Sa for Samajwadi Party and B for BSP, Mr Shah had said.

Akhilesh Yadav said at an election meeting in Tulsipur that Ka actually stands for kabutar and people will set the pigeons free in the polls.

Not to be left behind, BSP supremo Mayawati also attacked Mr Shah, describing the BJP chief as a terrorist and said there cannot be a bigger Kasab than him.

In his speech, the PM reminded the chief minister that it was the UPA government led by the Congress  the same Congress which was his ally now  that had issued a postal stamp on the donkeys of Gujarat.

The PM further stepped up his attacks on Samajwadi leaders when he said that every police station in Uttar Pradesh had become an office of the Samajwadi Party, and the law and order situation had worsened to an extent where women could not go out alone at night.

Those who are asking for votes for people like Gayatri Prajapati (an SP minister accused of rape) have no right to remain in power. Instead of sending these accused people to jail, SP leaders are asking for votes for them. If those in power are a part of the mafia, who will protect the common man? he said.

On his part, the UP CM said that Mr Modi despite holding such a high position was fighting with him. He also challenged the PM for a debate on the development of Uttar Pradesh. If the PM wants a debate, he should not talk about other issues...I say this openly that if he (PM) wants a debate with me on development issues I am ready for it...We ask what you have done for UP and we will also tell what all we have done, the Samajwadi Party leader said.
Prime Minister in the past addressed at least one rally in every phase of polling.

Lucknow: Rarely before has a Prime Minister campaigned so vigorously in an Assembly election as Narendra Modi has done in Uttar Pradesh.

The state election has turned into a Modi-versus-the-rest war. Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are now worried over the extreme Modi-fication of the polls.

The Prime Ministers prestige is now directly linked to the results, and if we fail to make it to the halfway mark, Modis image will take a beating, said a BJP leader who did not want to be named.

We should have avoided his over-involvement in the Assembly elections, but then it is the decision of the party leadership, the leader said Thursday, just before polling in the fourth phase began.

Party strategists, in the midst of the campaign, are realising their mistake.

The BJP has to sweep two-thirds majority to justify Modis frequent presence in the campaign. We should get results similar to the Lok Sabha elections, or else the outcome will be seen as a mark of Modis diminishing popularity, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary said in Lucknow.

The campaign in Uttar Pradesh has already moved away from anti-incumbency and failures of the Akhilesh (Yadav) government, which is a dangerous signal for us, the RSS member said.

Usually, a Prime Minister in the past addressed at least one rally in every phase of polling. But Mr Modi has been carpet-bombing the electoral map in UP.

In the past 19 days, he has addressed 14 rallies in Meerut, Aligarh, Ghazia-bad, Badaun, Lakhimpur, Kannauj, Hardoi, Bara-banki, Fatehpur, Kausham-bhi, Orai, Phulpur, Bahraich and Basti. He is likely to address six more rallies before elections end March 8.

Mr Modi had also addressed six rallies in UP during the parivartan yatras that began in October last year and ended in Lucknow on January 2.

A former state BJP president said the party has put the Prime Minister at par with state-level leaders.

Just look at the level of campaigning. This would not have happened if the Prime Minister had not campaigned so frequently, and allowed state-level (leaders) take over on a daily basis, he said.

Unlike other parties, there is no dearth of campaigners in BJP. We should have used them in UP.

Political observers say the intensive campaigning by Mr Modi has put him directly in the firing line of state leaders of rival parties.

Since Mr Modi is campaigning almost everyday, state-level leaders of rival parties are directing their barbs at him, a political analyst said.

This is an unpleasant development. The Prime Minister should be above this, the analyst said.
Woman had alleged she delivered twins but was handed over only one baby.

New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for Women on Thursday recommended lodging of an FIR against Safdarjung Hospital on complaint of a woman who had alleged she had delivered twin babies but was handed over only one. The commission said that the polices investigation was inconclusive and it has evidence to substantiate the allegations of the woman. The charge was denied by the hospital authorities.

The womens panel had received a complaint last month from the woman who alleged that she delivered twins but only one baby was handed over to her by the Safdarjung Hospital. The complainant had also alleged that her second baby was dumped in the garbage by the nurse.

As evidence, complainant submitted her ultrasound report conducted at a polyclinic centre. We had issued notices to Safdarjung Hospital, polyclinic and SHO PS Safdarjung Enclave. While hospital denied the allegations, the polyclinic confirmed to us as well as to police that as per ultrasound, the woman was carrying twins, a DCW official said.

Investigation by local police remains inconclusive. The commission has found prima facie evidence to substantiate the allegations and has ordered registration of FIR, he added.

DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal had written to special CP (crime) to register an FIR and get the matter investigated by the crime branch. The Safdarjung Hospital has stated that a departmental inquiry was conducted which concluded that the girl had delivered a single baby. This is a very serious matter which needs to be inquired into, the DCW chairperson said in the letter.

The commission is of the considered view that a detailed police investigation into the complaint is required as prima facie, cognisable offences under the IPC and other laws are clearly made out, she added.

Meanwhile, A.K. Rai, medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital, rubbished the allegations. The allegations are baseless and there is no substance to them. As per the head of the department, she only gave birth to one baby and the woman had accepted that she gave only one push.

She had come to the hospital on the 33rd day of her pregnancy with an ultrasound report. A probe was introduced, but two babies were not visible. We asked her to get a second ultrasound done but she didnt come after that. She only came when she was in labour, he said.
It also directed SIT to produce the copy of a trial court judgement by which Mr Kumar was acquitted of all charges.

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Thursday asked the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, to inform it about the timing of each FIR lodged against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for the alleged killings.

You (SIT) must have investigated the cases involving the respondent (Kumar) here. Therefore, you must be aware of the timings of FIR lodged in connection with the cases against him (Mr Kumar) and others, Justice S.P. Garg said.

The timings of each FIR were called for as Mr Kumar is an accused in several anti-Sikh riot cases and the court had expressed concern on how a person could be involved in each one of them.

It also directed SIT to produce the copy of a trial court judgement by which Mr Kumar was acquitted of all charges. The court further directed the investigating team to show the copy of charge sheet filed against Sajjan Kumar and others in connection with the killings on the people in 1984. It said the documents shall be produced on March 14, the next date of hearing.

The directions were issued to the agency after it failed to inform the court about the timing of the two FIRs out of 10, lodged against the Congress leader.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) Sanjay Jain, appearing for SIT, on Thursday informed the court that 10 FIRs were registered in Delhi against Mr Kumar after the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. He submitted before the court that the timing in each of the FIRs were different, which pointed towards the involvement of the Congress leader.

The ASG made the submission during hearing of its application seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted by the trial court on December 21 last year in a case of killing of three Sikhs.
A few policemen and journalists were also roughed up yesterday after students from DU colleges and JNU gathered outside Ramjas College.

A huge posse of police personnel was deployed on the north campus in the wake of the situation prevailing since yesterday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Tensions continued to simmer across Delhi University's North Campus with students' groups holding protests against police "high-handedness" during the violent clashes in Ramjas College even as three policemen were suspended for "unprofessional" conduct.

The case relating to yesterday's violence was handed over to the Crime Branch as criticism against Delhi Police grew louder for allegedly not containing the RSS-backed ABVP during the clash with supporters of Left-affiliated AISA yesterday which left many injured.

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government has sought a report from Delhi University on the violence. His ministerial colleague Kiren Rijiju said freedom of expression in the country doesn't give right to make college campuses hub of anti-national activities.

Delhi Police spokesperson and Special Commissioner (South West) said three policemen have been suspended for indulging in inappropriate and unprofessional conduct during the clashes at Ramjas yesterday. He said the Crime Branch will carry out a thorough investigation including complaints by rival student groups about the incident.

Ramjas College yesterday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP supporters. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on 'Culture of Protests' which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

Classes remained suspended at Ramjas even as the authorities claimed it was due to "administrative reasons" and not because of the tense situation.

Teachers at the SGTB Khalsa college claimed that a street play competition scheduled today had to be cancelled as "police had advised them against it in view of restoring normalcy and peace on campus".While students of JNU and DU who are members of All India Students Association (AISA) staged a protest at the Delhi Police Headquarters at ITO, the Congress' student wing National Students Union of India (NSUI) took out a peace march to Maurice Nagar police station, near the North Campus.

ABVP, on its part staged a protest reiterating that "they will not allow any repeat of JNU like events in Delhi University".

A huge posse of police personnel was deployed on the north campus in the wake of the situation prevailing since yesterday even as DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi urged the students not to resort to violence.

"People and students should not lose their cool and maintain peace on the campus. Violence of any kind should be avoided. It will neither offer any solution nor lead to anything positive. The proctor office will look into the matter," he said.

When contacted, Ramjas Principal Rajender Kumar said the college teachers are meeting on Saturday to discuss the issue. "We (Ramjas teachers) are meeting on Saturday to discuss and take a united stand on what has happened and what needs to be done," he said.

Umar Khalid, who gave a miss to protests yesterday and the day before, joined the protesters at ITO in raising slogans of "ABVP se azaadi" and demanding registration of an FIR against them.

"Only a few would have heard me if I had spoken at Ramjas. Now, the whole country is hearing me. The Delhi Police has not been able to file a charge sheet against me and they say I am an anti-national and I have links with terrorist groups," he told protesters.

Members of NSUI marched toward Maurice Nagar police station chanting "Raghupati Raghav Raj Ram" as they condemned violent action by the ABVP.

"We have not called for a protest. We believe in non- violence and stand for freedom of speech and expression. We request everyone not to politicise the matter," NSUI president Amrita Dhawan said.

Around 50 members of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad also gathered outside the Arts faculty at North Campus and reiterated they will not allow "any repeat of JNU like events" in the university. "They are anti-nationals. They disrespect the tricolor and Bharat Mata and engage in such kind of activities. We will not allow any repeat of JNU like events in Delhi university," President of Delhi University Students Union Amit Tanwar said.

A few policemen and journalists were also roughed up yesterday during the violence after students from DU colleges and JNU gathered outside Ramjas College to hold a protest march against ABVP's threat to call off the seminar. They were demanding action against the ABVP members, who had allegedly heckled and thrown stones at students gathered for a seminar at a conference hall where Umar Khalid was invited to speak.

Before the march could take off, ABVP members reached the spot and clashed with the demonstrators despite heavy police deployment.
The aviation ministry is keen to extend no-stamping to more airports soon.

New Delhi: The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on Thursday issued an order of doing away with stamping hand bag tags with immediate effect at seven major airports- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Cochin.

Issued with approval of BCAS chief Rajesh Kumar Chandra, the aviation security circular (4/2017) said, "The present system of stamping hand baggage tags at pre-embarkation security check points for seven airports... shall be dispensed with immediate effect."

The BCAS and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had carried out non-stamping at several airports for domestic flyers in 2016. That trial was successfully and a final decision was to be taken after Republic Day.

The aviation ministry is keen to extend no-stamping to more airports soon.
The AIMIM had fielded 59 candidates across Mumbai, of which about 11 were non-muslim candidates.

Mumbai: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has successfully pulled off its debut in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, after bagging three of the 227 seats in the civic body. Faring very well for a first timer in a city that is dominated by the likes of Shiv Sena and the BJP, the AIMIM has vowed to keep fighting to make it big in Maharashtra.

The party has already made inroads in Mumbai and other areas of the state. It also enjoys presence in Aurangabad, and Nanded districts. However, the party leadership believes that it could have done better than this, only if other parties in the city had not conspired against it.

AIMIM spokesperson and MLA in Maharashtra, Waris Pathan said, The Samajwadi Party, Congress and the NCP have conspired against AIMIM and stolen our voters. We did not win as many seats as anticipated, especially in areas of Byculla. I represent this area in the Vidhan Sabha.

The AIMIM had fielded 59 candidates across Mumbai, of which about 11 were non-muslim candidates. Most candidates were fielded in Muslim dominated areas of Bandra, Kurla, Chembur, Govandi, Dharavi, Sion, Dongri, Bhendi Bazaar, and Nagpada in Byculla. It has won three seats from Bandra east, and Govandi. However, the party has lost its most obvious seats, including those of Dongri, Bhendi Bazar, and Byculla.

Mr Pathan said, I am thankful to the people of Mumbai for voting for us, and trusting us. We will work very hard and come back with even more votes during the next elections. We wont let another party connive against us.

The party rigorously campaigned for over two months prior to the elections. Its president and member of parliament, Asaduddin Owaisi and vice-president Akbarrudin Owaisi held at least five public meetings personally, to woo the Muslim vote bank.
Birthday wishes

Call 281-422-8302 or email sunnews@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun.

Happy Birthday Wishes
Thackeray thanked all voters for making the party number one once again against all odds.

Mumbai: The Shiv Senas joy at the prospect of becoming the number one party in the countrys richest municipal corporation for the fifth time was short-lived on Thursday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gradually gained ground and came dangerously close to its former allys tally.

Ultimately, the BJP managed to bag 82 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)  a huge step up from its tally of 32 in the 2012 polls  while the Sena secured 84, 11 seats more than its 2012 figure.

Despite the tricky situation in which the Sena finds itself, party chief Uddhav Thackeray was confident that a Sainik would be appointed as mayor. Mr Thackeray thanked all voters for making the party number one once again against all odds. The people have shown faith in Shiv Sena for the fifth time. We will take this opportunity to deliver better, Mr Thackeray said after the results.

However, the Sena chief refused to answer any query regarding getting the reins of the BMC or joining hands with BJP again. Let me first enjoy the sweets. We were expecting more seats, but it didnt happen. Let them announce the mayors election and Sena will appoint its mayor, Mr Thackeray said.

Crediting his Shiv Sainiks for the partys success, Mr Thackeray said they had fought against all odds. This is our own success, he said.

The Sena had been ruling the BMC in the alliance with BJP for over 20 years. Thursdays results, however, have laid bare unprecedented support for the BJP from city voters. Sena sources have attributed it to its former allys money and muscle power at the Centre and in the state.

The Sena was expecting to cross 100 seats in the BMC and had warned the BJP that it would not join hands after the results. Mr Thackeray had even hinted he would withdraw from the state government. Furthermore, he had expressed a desire to form an alliance of regional parties to challenge the BJP at the national level. However, the political scenario has changed with the BMC results. Asked about his earlier statements on parting ways with the BJP completely, Mr Thackeray said that he had cleared his stand already.
PM Modi thanked the people of Maharashtra for their faith in the politics of development and good governance.

BJP leaders Ashish Shelar and Kirit Somaiya take part in celebrations with party workers outside BJP office in Dadar. (Photo: Asian Age)

Mumbai: The BJP made massive gains in Maharashtras municipal elections, allowing chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to assert his No. 1 position in the party across the state.

In Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the party was only two seats behind its ally-tuned-foe Shiv Sena, which managed to retain its hold on Thane.

But the BJP won eight other municipal corporations that went to the polls this week  Ulhasnagar, Nashik, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur.

The party also did well in zila parishads and panchayat samitis  a Congress-NCP stronghold  across Maharashtra. During these elections, billed as a mini-assembly poll, Mr Fadnavis himself decided the BJPs candidates, strategy and its campaign.

The BJP will celebrate its impressive show as vijay utsav (victory celebration) across the country on Saturday. In the 227-member BMC, the BJP took its tally to 82 from 31 in 2012. The Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party in the hung House with 84 seats, up from 75.

The Congress tally went down from 52 to 31. A party needs 114 seats to stake claim to the mayors post. There was no clarity till evening as to who would rule Indias richest municipal corporation.

We are number one in Mumbai Not in a hurry for any alliance, said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who also suspected foul play in missing voters names and demanded a probe.

He said he was confident that a Shiv Sainik would be appointed as the citys mayor. Ahead of the elections, the Shiv Sena had called off its two-decade-old alliance with the BJP. In the last 25 years, irrespective of who ruled the state, the citys mayor has always been a Shiv Sainik.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people of Maharashtra for their faith in the politics of development and good governance.

In a series of tweets, he praised BJP workers, particularly Maharashtra CM Fadnavis, for tirelessly working for the people.

It has been a great start to 2017! First the unprecedented support in Odisha & now the overwhelming blessings from people of Maharashtra, he tweeted. Mr Fadnavis credited the results to PM Narendra Modis guidance.

I thank the people of Maharashtra, its an unprecedented victory PM Modi has started the trend of transparency in India. This huge victory is on the agenda of transparency, he said.
Emergency evacuation was conducted for commuters stuck in metro.

Mumbai: Technical glitches related to the overhead wire (OHE) led to commuters travelling on Metro line 1 being stuck between Versova and Ghatkopar and also Azad Nagar and Andheri Metro stations, thus disrupting Metro services.

The services were disrupted for over two hours. As the services were unavailable, commuters chose to travel either in BEST buses and auto rickshaws, making the road below congested.

It took half an hour for Mumbai Metro One officials to inform Mumbaikars about disruption over a micro-blogging site. At around 1.20 pm on Thursday, a tweet on Mumbai Metros official account said, There has been a technical problem with OHE. Thus #MumbaiMetroOne services have been temporarily disrupted. Our engineers are working on it. This was followed by another tweet which said, Due to technical problem relating to OHE, services of Mumbai Metro One between Versova and Chakala/J.B. Nagar disrupted. The problem lasted for nearly three hours after which, at 4 pm, a third tweet on the account said, Mumbai Metro One services resumed, trains are now running on schedule.

Several commuters too took to twitter, slamming Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) for the disruption. A commuter tweeted, #Mumbaimetro not working. From D.N. Nagar station. Roads flooded with traffic at the same time frustrating! Commuters stuck inside the Metro were evacuated on an emergency basis. Karn B. Ashar, tweeted, Got stuck in #mumbaimetro emergency evacuation between Azad Nagar and Andheri Metro stations. Mr Ashar also tweeted a video of the emergency evacuation carried out.

Later in the evening, MMOPL issued a statement sans details about the emergency evacuation.
Police sub-inspector Ganesh Dalvi of Mumbai police on Thursday deposed as the first witness in Sheena Bora murder case.

Mumbai: The first day of trial in the sensational Sheena Bora murder cases ended up in adjournment without completion of the testimony of first witness, a police officer on whose complaint FIR was lodged in the Sheena Bora murder case. The defence lawyer raised objection on the the witness speaking about details given by accusedturnedapprover Shyamwar Rai to the Khar police. The defence argued that Rai has turned approver and now he is a witness and his statement given to police, as an accused is now inadmissible in the court.

Police sub-inspector Ganesh Dalvi of Mumbai police on Thursday deposed as the first witness in Sheena Bora murder case. While answering questions asked by CBI counsel Bharat Badami told the court that he had arrested Rai, former driver of prime accused Indrani Mukerjea, in an arms case after he saw Rai roaming in a suspicious manner. His search had resulted in recovery of an illegal 7.65 mm revolver and three live cartridges.

In his further statement when Dalvi said that during interrogation in arms case Rai had told the police that he wanted to say something to us and hence I brought two panch witnesses and in their presence Rai stated Dalvi could not complete his sentence because accused Peter Mukerjeas defence lawyer Shrikant Shivde raised objection saying Rai is not an accused (in Sheena Bora murder case because he has turned approver and now he is a witness). He argued that Rais statement before the police can never go on record.

Indrani Mukerjeas lawyer Sudeep Pasbola also agreed with Shivde and moved an application raising objection.
After the death of Sena supremo Bal Thackeray in 2012, Mr Thackeray gained complete control of the party.

Mumbai: Despite being number the one party in Mumbai, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackerays leadership has been challenged by the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) giant strides in the in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will have to pass another test  that of retaining the BMC, as the BJP is busy wooing independent candidates to prove its majority.

After the death of Sena supremo Bal Thackeray in 2012, Mr Thackeray gained complete control of the party. Questions were raised as to Mr Thackeray leadership, as he is softer than his father. However, Mr Thackeray managed to gain success in the Assembly polls with 63 MLAs, as BJP had snapped ties at the last minute. Despite the Modi wave, Mr Thackeray managed to get his MLAs elected, highlighting his leadership skills. The leader has recently expressed that he felt cheated and preferred going it alone for the BMC polls.

Uddhavji has managed the party very well after Balasahebs demise. He has definitely taken the party ahead at all levels. The BMC success matters a lot to us, as we have contested independently. In last polls, we got 73 seats in alliance with BJP. But now 84 seats in the BMC are all ours. Uddhavji has fought against the ruling party alone and pulled the party through. We cannot ignore that, Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab told The Asian Age. The Sena leader also pointed out that BJP is powerful, which helped it to shape its success.

The struggle for Sena to gain control of the BMC will further prove Mr Thackerays leadership. However, Mr Parab has refused to accept it as a challenge. We do not think that it is a challenge for Uddhavji to come to power in the BMC, he said.

But the question remains as to how Mr Thackeray will gain control of the BMC. One option for it is to join hands with the BJP. But so much mudslinging has been done between the two that both the partys workers do not want to work together. On the other hand, Sena may seek help from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which has seven corporators and a few independents. But there are chances that the independent corporators might go with the ruling party BJP where they would get more perks. Mr Thackeray had earlier refused to join hands with MNS, so its up to both cousins to iron out their differences.

Also, Mr Thackeray couldnt consolidate non-Marathi votes despite of changing the focus of the campaign from Marathi to Mumbaikars. Gujaratis and other north Indians prefer BJP to Shiv Sena but a few Muslim votes has helped it.
The letter doing the rounds on social media says that Sena is strong enough to tackle the BJP.

Mumbai: Uddhavji go with Congress, we wont mind it, but then if you go with BJP, then we will never accept, said a message allegedly circulated by Shiv Sainiks. The message is being reportedly circulated by Sena followers. Many in Shiv Sena fear that the party will once again join hands with BJP, like in Kalyan-Dombivali.

The letter released online and circulated on social media is in Marathi and signed by person named Balkadu. The letter reads: We have got 84 tigers elected in the BMC, and are strong enough to tackle the BJP. We might have fallen short in money power, but are strong enough to take on the BJP in every other sphere.

A message allegedly circulated by Shiv Sena workers on social media.

The Shiv Sena and BJP has fought a bitter battle in the BMC elections, after Uddhav Thackeray, decided to go solo and announced that there will be no alliance with the BJP in the future.

However, the results have brought BJP and Sena to a juncture where both the parties will need each other or support of Congress to win the mayoral contest.

The letter also says that the Shiv sainiks wont mind an alliance with Congress, but not with Kamalabai (BJP), this is a request.

The Shiv Sena and BJP in 2015 had fought a bitter battle in Kalyan-Dombivali municipal corporation. There were speculations of Uddhav Thackeray snapping alliance with the BJP at state level. But after the results were announced both the parties joined hands and even decided a policy under which parties shared power.

After the break up of alliance in January, Shiv Sena claimed that it has put the government on notice period. Manisha Kayande, Shiv Sena spokesperson said, There is no decision on alliance yet, Uddhavji hasnt decided anything about this. The letter that is being circulated on social media, its authenticity needs to be checked.
No action has been taken against the watchman as results of the medical tests on the monkey are awaited.

Mumbai: An adult female monkey has been rescued by the Forest Department in Vile Parle (east) after it was alleged sexually assaulted by a watchman, who had kept it tied for almost two years. The monkey was rescued after Sangeeta Ruia, an Animal Welfare Officer (AWO), contacted the departments 1926 call centre number on Thursday.

The department sent a team on the same evening to rescue the monkey. Locals said the monkey was kept tied to a tree. Forest department officials have taken the monkey into their custody. No action has been taken against the watchman as results of the medical tests on the monkey are awaited. Recalling the behaviour of the monkey, Ms Ruia alleged, I saw the monkey in a compromising position with the watchman.

When the team arrived, she made the officials understand the seriousness of the situation. Ms Ruia alleged that despite saying she wanted to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the watchman, the team of officials turned her down. The officials told me that they would take the monkey along with them and take necessary action according to their rules. I had asked them to update me as soon as medical tests on the monkey are done. However, Im yet to hear from them, alleged Ms Ruia.

Santosh Kank, range forest officer of Thane Forest Department, was not available for comment.

If proven, the watchman will be booked under sections 9 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972, section 11 of Prevention OF Cruelty to Animals (PFA) and section 377 of Indian Penal Code, which has either lifetime imprisonment or punishment that can extend to 10 years (Bestiality- sexual relations between a human being and a lower animal).

Mr Pawan Sharma, founder of Resqink Association of Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) who closely works with the department, said, Monkeys are the most exploited and ignored species when it comes to their management and welfare tasks. We are working on these issues with the forest department to ensure that they are immediately addressed. We are looking out for alternatives till an independent rescue facility of the forest department for the city is ready.

Shakuntala Mazumdar, president of Thane Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TSPCA), said, Such cases are rare to find in cities. I have seen such six cases till now however, none of them could be proved medically and hence couldnt be pursued further.
The accused informed police that they were only agents who had been hired to exchange the discontinued notes.

Mumbai: Worli police early Friday arrested four persons allegedly in possession of scrapped Rs 500 denomination notes amounting to Rs 1.04 crore, and is trying to ascertain origin of the notes. The accused were caught after the police received a tip-off that some men were visiting Gandhi Nagar area in Worli to exchange currency.

The arrested accused are suspected to be carriers and not owners of the scrapped currency and said that they were on their way to meet someone who had promised to exchange it for legal tender. During initial interrogation however, each of the four gave different names when asked about the person they were supposed to meet to get the scrapped notes exchanged.

An official from Worli said that the accused were found walking toward Dianik Shivner road leading to Gandhi Nagar at around 2 am on Thursday. "Our team had received a tip-off and was waiting at the spot and soon saw four men arrive carrying heavy bags. The bags and the mens behaviour seemed suspicious and we questioned them. After bringing them to the police station, we searched their bags and found them filled with bundles of old Rs 500 notes, said the official. He added that each person was carrying one bag each with notes in it.

The accused informed police that they were only agents who had been hired to exchange the discontinued notes. They told us that they had been approached and handed over the money and asked to meet someone in Worli who would collect the old notes and hand over new ones, said a police source. He added that the four men who hail from different parts of the city gave four different names as to the source of money.

Gajanan Desurkar, senior police inspector, Worli police station, said, "We are investigating the case and trying to trace both - the source of the money and also who it was going to be handed over to. We have informed the Income Tax department too about seizure," he said.
Three Independents back Sena as the saffron parties look at NCP, MNS for support.

Mumbai: With the elections over, the Shiv Sena and their friend-turned-foe, the Bharatiya Janata Party are now vying for the coveted mayors chair in the richest corporation of the country. To prove their majority and have their own mayor in the Brihanmumbai municipal corporation (BMC), both the saffron parties are doing some hectic lobbying to woo Independents and other political parties.

Currently, the Senas tally stands at 87 while the BJP is at 83. If the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party backs the BJP, then the partys tally will touch 92. This further reduces the difference between the BJP and Sena. If the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supports the Sena then it has an upper hand, but it has been observed that the ruling party in the state or Centre manages to attract corproators towards them. The MNS has seven corporators with it.

The Samajwadi Party and Congress have already announced that they will stay away. Although the MNSs stand is still unclear, things do look good for the BJP. Niranjan Shetty, spokesperson for BJP in Mumbai said, The CM is keen on having a mayor from BJP in the BMC. Even during the briefing to spokesperson, the CM personally spoke to us and told us that the mayor will sit in BMC and the issue is transparency.

Meanwhile, the Sena has managed to get the support of independents especially after three of them joined them on Friday taking their tally to 87, while BJP has alleged support of one independent. But with the Congress 31 staying out of the whole race and deciding to sit in the opposition, the number comes further down. We will not dilute our ideological stand. People defeated us and gave us a mandate to sit in the opposition. We respect that. But voters have not given the saffron parties, who fought a bitter battle, the keys to power. The Congress will not help these two parties, but would like to see their fight continue and differences aggravate, said Congress Mumbai president Sanjay Nirupam.

The SP too has decided to abstain from voting which means the numbers dwindles further. We wont be there in the fray anywhere, we are going to sit in the opposition and act for the benefit of the people. People shouldnt take us lightly, we have outsmarted everyone, even those who claimed that AIMIM will impact us are now quiet, said Rais Shaikh, an SP leader.

Some NCP leaders off the record claimed that they couldnt support any party, neither the BJP nor the Sena. We are meeting Sharad Pawar in March first week and we will be supporting the party with majority only based on issue, said Sachin Ahir, Mumbai NCP president.
Some 17,000 child soldiers have been recruited since 2013 in South Sudan and roughly 1,500 in Yemen since 2015.

In Nigeria and neighbouring states, the Boko Haram Islamist group recruited an estimated 2,000 child fighters last year alone. (Photo: Representational Image)

Paris: Haunted by indelibly painful memories, deprived of schooling and strangers to their own families for former child soldiers returning to normal life is often as tough as being in combat. They face daily battles that can last years as they piece their lives together.

"I had nightmares long after being freed. I had flashbacks of fighting in the bush," says Alhaji Sawaneh, a 30-year-old from Sierra Leone.

Forced to fight from the age of 10 with Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front, Sawaneh recounted his experiences to a Paris conference that focused on the estimated 246 million children living in conflict zones worldwide.

Some 17,000 child soldiers have been recruited since 2013 in South Sudan and roughly 1,500 in Yemen since 2015, according to data published this week by UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund.

In Nigeria and neighbouring states, the Boko Haram Islamist group recruited an estimated 2,000 child fighters last year alone. Sawaneh says he bore arms for two years before UN peacekeepers rescued him in 2000.

A child protection agency took him under its wing and has been trying to locate his family.

"That is our priority -- to reconnect a child with his family is the best means of reintegrating him into society," explains Crystal Stewart, child protection advisor with an NGO, the International Rescue Committee.

Yet that process can prove time-consuming.

"When they are kidnapped young they don't necessarily know where they are from or how old they are. That sometimes requires painstaking research," added Stewart.

In the meantime, former child fighters are fostered, but Sawaneh said his hopes of finding a loving environment were soon crushed.

"My foster family made me work at home. I was like a slave," he said.

"But I harboured a dream to continue with my studies."

Eventually, he managed to secure a grant to go back to school.

Stigmatised

Studying was likewise what kept Alberto Ortiz going. The young Colombian hailing from a poverty-stricken family decided at the age of 12 to join the FARC rebel movement in a bid to escape his miserable surroundings.

"I thought I was going to solve all my problems and help my family financially," said Ortiz, now aged 22, who was also at the Paris conference.

"They (the FARC) told me if I'd had enough then I could leave but I found I was caught in a trap."

After three years he managed to escape and is now being aided by a government programme.

But family links have been severed.

"My father and my mother died during my absence. The other members of my family no longer wanted to talk to me. They were afraid of me."

Ortiz, now studying finance at Santiago de Cali university, also finds society shuns him for his past.

"People such as me are stigmatised. I only told my story to one friend. Nobody else knows," he added.

Helping former child fighters to recover their confidence and reintegrate into their communities is a long, drawn-out process.

"Former child soldiers can be rejected or killed because they have committed violence," explains Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's emergency programmes director.

The organisation is trying to convince local religious leaders, who have some influence over their followers, to welcome former fighters back into society.

"But it takes time," Fontaine adds.

Following the conference in Paris, Tunisia, Kazakhstan and Myanmar joined 105 other countries who have already signed up to principles and guidelines drawn up in 2007 on child fighters and their social reintegration.

In the ensuing decade, more than 65,000 children have been rescued from armed forces and armed, according to UNICEF, even if thousands of boys and girls remain in their clutches.
Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh is confident his party will comfortably exceed the halfway mark on its own.

On March 11, when the counting of votes is done, it will be known for certain if the ruling Congress in Manipur is able to keep the BJP onslaught at bay and prepare to take over the reins of government for a record fourth term. Though both the Congress and the BJP claim they will have the numbers to form the next government, given the polarisation of the electorate in the state today, the possibility of a hung Assembly is not at all remote. Speculation is, therefore, already rife that the real game of thrones will be after the election and not before it.

The general consensus is that the Congress, though having to fight anti-incumbency sentiments, will have the edge. Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh is confident his party will comfortably exceed the halfway mark on its own. As a team leader this may be expected rhetoric, but a look at where his optimism lies may throw interesting light.

Of the Manipur Assemblys 60 seats, 40 are in the valley, 39 of which are general category, while one, Sekmai AC, is a reserved Scheduled Caste seat. The Congress calculation is that it will come very close to the majority mark in the valley itself. This optimism is fed by the polarisation due to the nearly four-month-old blockade by the United Naga Council, an organisation openly campaigning for the dismemberment of Manipur to facilitate the creation of a Greater Nagaland in line with the stated goal of the Naga militant group NSCN(I-M). This quite understandably is believed to have warmed up non-Naga voters, specially in the valley, towards the Congress.

The UNC blockade began on November 1, in anticipation that the Manipur government was about to concede the long-standing demand for an upgrade of the SADAR (Selected Area Development and Administrative Region), a subdivision under Senapati district, and Jiribam in the Assam border, a subdivision under Imphal East district, to full-fledged districts. More than a month after the blockade began, on December 9, the Manipur government decided to disregard the UNCs objections and created not two but seven districts by splitting seven existing districts. The UNC considers four of these districts to be part of the Naga homeland and stiffened its blockade stance. This is despite the fact that except for SADAR, which is a Kuki and Nepali-dominated area, the rest were not divided along demographic lines. The Assembly and parliamentary constituencies were also left untouched by the splits.

The remaining 20 seats are in the hills, 19 of which are reserved for Scheduled Tribes after Kangpokpi AC became dereserved to accommodate its sizeable Nepali population. Of these, 11 are generally considered Naga preserves. Despite having antagonised the UNC, the Congress still thinks it will win a fair share of the hill seats, including at least three from Naga strongholds. One, the Congress is quite deeply rooted in these constituencies, thanks to many towering veteran Naga and Kuki Congress leaders in the past. Two, the Congress may stand to benefit from the division of votes between its main rivals here, the BJP and the Naga Peoples Front, NPF. The latter is originally a Nagaland party, but is now spreading its wings to the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur.

The NPF, which shares the aspiration for a Greater Nagaland with the UNC and NSCN(I-M), is a partner of the BJP in Nagaland. In Manipur, however, the BJP has been cautious, as any overt alliance with the NPF can ruin its prospects in non-Naga constituencies and there have been no seat adjustments. Since both will be drawing from the anti-Congress segment in these constituencies, the Congress will stand to benefit. In the 2012 Assembly election, the NPF fielded 12 candidates and returned four. This time the party set up 15, including four in traditional Kuki constituencies, and is thus set to hurt the BJP even in the constituencies it is unlikely to win.

The NPF in Manipur has other worries too. The controversy over 33 per cent reservation for women in urban local bodies in Nagaland, and the way in which the NPF-led government in the state was shaken up, barely surviving after a desperate change of leadership, is bound to have an adverse effect on the morale of the party.

The BJPs prospects in the state is however far from finished. In the days remaining before the campaign ends, things can change dramatically, and high-profile campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be arriving in Imphal to try and win voters confidence, and also to make up for the partys poor image of being helplessly left with an acute shortfall of leaders. Most front-runners of the party in the fray are defectors from other parties, particularly the Congress, and the party even at this stage has not been able to come up with a chief ministerial candidate.

But small and dependent Northeast states generally tend to gravitate towards the party in power at the Centre, and this will be the BJPs trump card. This will be specially so if the electorates decision, as speculated, throws up a hung Assembly. In such an outcome, it is more than likely that the BJP will be in a commanding position even if it is not the single largest party. What then unfolds could be a repeat of what happened in Arunachal Pradesh.

Of the smaller players, Irom Sharmilas Peoples Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA), which managed to set up only five candidates, though unlikely to make a dent in the electoral arithmetic, is still creating ripples larger than its unpreparedness warrants. The defiant stand of the lady and her team is hailed among a significant section of the young as the herald of a new brand of refreshingly honest and courageous politics of the future.
Grillot said in the video that he wasnt really thinking when he tried to save the two Indians from the bullets.

Kansas: Lying in his hospital bed, 24-year-old Kansas youth Ian Grillot cannot understand what the fuss is all about.

I am not a hero. It was a natural thing, I only did what anybody else would have done, he says.

For Grillot, who was visiting his favourite local bar for a relaxed evening on Thursday, it was just another day. But things took a nasty turn as he was shot through his arm and chest, trying to apprehend a gunman who opened fire at two Indian engineers in an apparent racist attack.

He was wounded along with one of the other victims, and managed to save 32-year-old Alok Madasani, while the other man, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, succumbed to his injuries. Madasani has now been discharged, while Grillot continues to be under observation.

Speaking to Kansas City Star, Grillot said, I guess I miscounted. He had lunged at the gunman, thinking that the attacker had exhausted all his bullets.

US prosecutors have charged the 51-year-old attacker, Adam Purinton with murder for an attack which, according to witnesses, was racially motivated.

The newspaper talked to locals who said Grillot was known to defuse tense situations and it was natural for him to step up after Purinton allegedly confronted the two Indians and yelled at them, Get out of my country, before opening fire.

Grillot said in the video that he wasnt really thinking when he tried to save the two Indians from the bullets. It was just, it wasnt right, and I didnt want the gentleman to potentially go after somebody else, the Kansas City Star quoted him as saying.

But despite the harrowing circumstances, Grillot told the newspaper he was thrilled to see Madasani standing in his doorway at the hospital.

He said he considered the Indian his new best friend. A GoFundMe page created for him raised more than $87,000.
Earlier, reports said that 42 people, mainly rebels, had died, but later clarified to say the majority of those killed were civilians.

Beirut: A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab Friday, killing 51 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from the Islamic State group.

The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of Al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The blast devastated the twin command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

It had earlier said that 42 people, mainly rebels, had died, but later clarified to say the majority of those killed were civilians.

There was no immediate claim for the attack, but rebels blamed it on Islamic State (ISIS), which had put up fierce resistance in Al-Bab for weeks.

"(Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi's dogs could not bear their huge loss, and their suicide bombers have begun to take revenge," said field commander Abu Jaafar of the Mutasem Brigades.

He said rebel fighters, Turkish soldiers, and civilians from Al-Bab had called a meeting in Susian "to organise a security apparatus and set a plan for rebuilding al-Bab."

"This information reached the (ISIS) sleeper cells, which prepared a car bomb" that detonated at Susian around 0800 am (0600 GMT), he told AFP.

Abu Jaafar, who was near Susian at the time of the attack, said hospitals in the area were full of wounded.

Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Al-Bab on Friday as they were carrying out road checks, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

Intermittent fire:

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 71 Turkish losses so far.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday that its rebel allies now had "near complete control" of the town.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from its outskirts in recent weeks.

On Thursday afternoon, an AFP correspondent heard intermittent gunfire as rebel units continued to clear the heavily damaged town.

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in Aleppo province.

West of the second city, which government forces took full control of in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

Rebels, regime pound Aleppo:

Exchanges of rocket and artillery fire first broke out on Wednesday, centred on the rebel-held district of Rashideen, the Observatory said.

The government responded with intensive air strikes on Thursday that killed at least 32 rebel fighters.

A fragile ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels has been in force since late December, brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

It has led to a sharp reduction in fighting in many areas.

But parts of the country which are held by IS or its jihadist rival, former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, are not covered by the truce.

The talks in Geneva between government and opposition representatives formally opened on Thursday.

They are the fourth round of UN-brokered negotiations, aimed at ending a conflict that has dragged on for nearly six years and claimed more than 310,000 lives.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said: "I'm not expecting miracles," but warned of dire consequences if the talks "fail again."
The chemical weapon VX nerve agent was detected on Kim's eyes and face, Malaysia's inspector general of police said.

Kuala Lumpur: The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said on Friday.

The substance was detected on Kim's eyes and face, Malaysia's inspector general of police said in a written statement, citing a preliminary analysis from the country's Chemistry Department.

The death of Kim Jong Nam, whose daylight assassination in a crowded airport terminal seems straight out of a spy novel, has unleashed a diplomatic crisis that escalates by the day. With each new twist in the case, international speculation grows that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to Malaysia to kill the exiled older sibling of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea has denounced Malaysia's investigation as full of "holes and contradictions" and accused the authorities here of being in cahoots with Pyongyang's enemies.

According to Malaysian investigators, two women - one of them Indonesian, the other Vietnamese - coated their hands with chemicals and wiped them on Kim's face on Feb. 13 as he waited for a flight home to Macau, where he lived with his family.

He sought help from airport staff but he fell into convulsions and died on the way to the hospital within two hours of the attack, police said.

The case has perplexed toxicologists, who question how the two women could have walked away unscathed after handling a powerful poison, even if - as Malaysian police say - the women were instructed to wash their hands right after the attack.

Dr. Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said even a tiny amount of this nerve agent - equal to a few grains of salt - is capable of killing. It can be administered through the skin, and there is an antidote that can be administered by injection. U.S. medics and military personnel carried kits with them on the battlefield during the Iraq war in case they were exposed to the chemical weapon.

"It's a very toxic nerve agent. Very, very toxic," he said. "I'm intrigued that these two alleged assassins suffered no ill effect from exposure to VX. It is possible that both of these women were given the antidote."

He said symptoms from VX would generally occur within seconds or minutes and could last for hours starting with confusion, possible drowsiness, headache, nausea, vomiting, runny nose and watery eyes. Prior to death, there would likely be convulsions, seizures, loss of consciousness and paralysis.

The case has marked a serious turnaround in relations between Malaysia and North Korea. While Malaysia isn't one of Pyongyang's key diplomatic partners, it is one of the few places in the world where North Koreans can travel without a visa. As a result, for years, it's been a quiet destination for Northerners looking for jobs, schools and business deals.

Malaysia has three people in custody, including the two suspected attackers. Authorities are also seeking several other people, including the second secretary of North Korea's embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo.
The attack was carried out in Sousian, northwest of al-Bab and wounded many others.

Al Bab: An Islamic State car bomb on a security checkpoint controlled by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels in a village near Syria's al-Bab has killed 35 civilians and six rebels, sources in the region said on Friday.

The attack was carried out in Sousian, northwest of al-Bab and wounded many others, the sources said.

The Turkey-backed rebels on Thursday drove Islamic State from al-Bab, the jihadist group's last significant stronghold in northwest Syria, along with the two smaller neighbouring towns of Qabasin and al-Bezah, after weeks of street fighting.
Iraqi forces hope to repair the airport and use it as a base from which to drive the militants from Mosul's western districts.

South of Mosul: US-backed Iraqi security forces captured Mosul airport from ISIS on Thursday, advancing on multiple fronts towards the jihadists' last major stronghold in the western half of the city.

The troops have gained ground rapidly in outlying areas south of the city, Iraq's second largest, since launching a new phase of a four-month offensive to terminate ISIS's territorial holdings in the country.

Elite counter terrorism forces joined the battle on Thursday in the southwest, entering the Ghozlani army base and pushing towards the districts of Tal al-Rayyan and al-Mamoun.

Federal police and an elite interior ministry unit known as Rapid Response drove Humvees flying Iraqi flags into the perimeter of the airport, and state television later said they had taken full control of the heavily damaged facility.

Islamic State fought back with suicide car bombs, drones carrying grenades and mortars, Reuters correspondents in the area said. The burnt corpses of two militants and the motorcycle from which they had fired at Iraqi forces were lying under a tree, apparently hit by an air strike.

"Daesh (Islamic State) resistance is not inconsiderable but they are trying to save their strength for inside the city," First Lieutenant Ahmed al-Ghalabi of the Rapid Response force said outside the airport's main entrance.

Iraqi forces hope to repair the airport and use it as a base from which to drive the militants from Mosul's western districts where around 750,000 people are believed to be trapped.

The United Nations has warned up to 400,000 civilians could be displaced by the offensive and that residents are already suffering from food and fuel shortages.

A Reuters correspondent saw more than 100 civilians, mostly women and children, fleeing towards Iraqi security forces from the district of al-Mamoun.

Several were wounded and at least one, wrapped in a blanket and carried on the back of a donkey, appeared to be dead, casualties of Islamic State mortars and roadside bombs.

"Daesh fled when counter terrorism Humvees reached al-Mamoun. We were afraid and we decided to escape towards the Humvees," Ahmed Atiya, one of the escaped civilians, said. "We were afraid of the shelling."

Troops directed the civilians to safety and medical care as mortars landed nearby. One soldier offered an elderly shepherd two cigarettes, which are banned by Islamic State.

Narrow alleyways

Iraqi forces launched the new offensive on Sunday after they finished clearing militants from eastern Mosul in January and redeployed to the other side of the Tigris river that bisects the city.

On Thursday, counter-terrorism troops captured the Ghozlani base close to the Baghdad-Mosul highway, which includes barracks and training grounds, a CTS spokesman told Reuters.

The airport and the base, which Islamic State fighters seized when they overran Mosul in 2014, have been heavily damaged by air strikes intended to wear down the militants ahead of the offensive, a senior Iraqi official said.

The campaign involves a 100,000-strong force of Iraqi troops, Shi'ite militias and Sunni tribal fighters. It is backed by an international coalition that provides vital air support as well as on-the-ground guidance and training.

Western advisers were seen close to the clashes at the airport as well as some 2 km (1 mile) behind the frontline.

One Rapid Response officer asked them for advice about which route to take to the airport. Coalition troops fired intermittently at Islamic State targets from inside MRAPs (mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles).

The U.S. military commander in Iraq has said he believes U.S.-backed forces will retake both of Islamic State's urban bastions - the other is the Syrian city of Raqqa - within six months, which would end the jihadists' ambitions to rule and govern significant territory.

Losing Mosul could spell the end of the Iraqi side of militants' self-styled caliphate in those countries, which Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared from the city in 2014.

Iraqi commanders expect the battle in western Mosul to be more difficult than the east, however, in part because tanks and armoured vehicles cannot pass through narrow alleyways that crisscross the city's ancient western districts.

Militants have developed a network of passageways and tunnels to enable them to hide and fight among civilians, melt away after hit-and-run operations and track government troop movements, according to inhabitants.

But Iraqi forces are hoping that residents will help them in pushing out the militants, who subjected people under their rule to extreme violence and deprivation. A leaflet dropped by the Iraqi air force last week lay on a hillside near the airport on Thursday.

"Prepare to receive the sons of your armed forces and cooperate with them as your brothers on the east side did in order to reduce losses and make victory swift," it said.
A symposium sponsored by the Al Azhar Centre for Dialogue and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue ended yesterday in Cairo. Participants called for action against the root causes of extremism like "violence and poverty". Protecting young people, who are the most vulnerable to extremist ideologies, is a priority. Cutting funding and weapons to terrorist groups is another.

Cairo (AsiaNews)  The Joint Committee of the Al-Azhar Centre for Dialogue and the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue held a symposium at Al Azhar, Sunni Islams foremost centre, in Cairo on 22-23 February titled The role of Al Azhar Al Sharif and the Vatican in confronting the phenomena of fanaticism, extremism and violence.

The meetings goal was to fight the underlying causes "of extremism, violence, poverty, ignorance and the political use of religion, strengthen dialogue between major Christian and Sunni Muslim institutions, and note the importance of differences in worship, which must be respected and preserved.

The symposium was attended by, among others, Al Azhar Deputy Prof Abbas Shauman, Prof Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk, head of the university's Centre for Dialogue, and Card Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Speakers focused on three specific issues: fanaticism, extremism and violence. Each noted possible common paths to counter them as the bases of violence and oppression in different parts of the world.

In the final statement issued at the end of the meeting yesterday evening, participants cited the need to pay attention to the needs of young people, opening channels of dialogue with them, and explaining the correct concepts ordained by religions so that they can understand them.

This requires strengthening the education curriculum, sharing common human values, taking into consideration womens emancipation and the need to care for children.

"Mercy, love and respect" are the ways to counter violence and fanaticism. Greater cooperation between Al Azhar and the Vatican can promote coexistence and communication between the two.

The statement goes on to say that dialogue is the basis for the relations between peoples, individuals, civilisations and religions in order to establish peace, security and stability.

Participants stressed the importance of meetings between senior Vatican and Al Azhar officials to clear misconceptions and boost tolerance in order to fight against groups that threaten stability and coexistence.

They also insisted on the need to alleviate the suffering of those who, in many parts of the world, experience violence in the name of religion and to eliminate hatred and animosity towards religions and religious symbols.

The two sides must establish serious cooperation to counter, in a realistic and applicable way, terrorism and terrorist organisations. They must also work together to dry up their sources of livelihood, stopping the supply of money and weapons, closing the gates to social communications [. . .] in order to protect young people from their devastating ideologies."

For a long time, Al Azhar has been the subject of criticism, even from Muslims, for not unambiguously condemning violent Islamic fundamentalism and extremist school textbooks.
by Nirmala Carvalho

The goal is to solve the crisis of the family, and emphasise again the sanctity of the institution of marriage. The archdiocese will rely on the expertise of 20 Holy Cross priests. The disintegration of families is evident in the rise in marriage annulments.

Bangalore (AsiaNews)  Mgr Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bangalore (Karnataka), inaugurated the first Church-run family counselling service.

The initiative, he said, stems from "deep concern over the increasing number of Catholics who cohabit with little regard for the sanctity of the institution of marriage."

The service offered by the archdiocese will also help to rebuild family ties increasingly under threat in todays world.

Even after long years of training for the priesthood, priests still go through crisis and need the help of a spiritual director or counsellor. How much more do families need help when in crisis, the archbishop added.

The family counselling service was launched on 20 February. Locally, the city already offers a similar service, but "we felt the need for an official archdiocesan service for families, and we sought the help of the Holy Cross Congregation of priests."

Some 20 professionally trained counsellors met at the Paalanaa Bhavana, the archdiocesan pastoral centre. For six months, discussions were held on how to offer counselling to couples in crisis and help them reconcile.

According to Mgr Moras, the service is the concrete response to the recent Plenary Assembly of Catholic Bishops of India, which decided to focus on helping families solve their issues.

"At the Synod of Bishops on the family in 2015, Pope Francis stressed the need to protect families from disintegration and discord.

At the Archdiocese, we felt the need to protect the sacrament of marriage and the family itself in a society that continues to change and tends to damage the family."

The most obvious consequence of family breakdown is the rise in matrimonial annulments. This, according to the bishop, is also due to the shallowness of pre-marriage preparation.

"Sadly, even priests and nuns sometimes hesitate to give the proper Church teachings and guidelines on sexual life and life skills in marriage. The existing two-day course is not enough if we consider all the challenges and difficulties that couples face in marriage."
by Melani Manel Perera

Thousands took part in a rally organised by the People's Alliance for Right to Land and the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement. Seized during the civil war, properties are still held by the military or businesses operating them for tourism or agriculture.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  Thousands of displaced Tamils, who spent the past eight years in refugee camps in Jaffna (Sri Lanka), rallied on Wednesday to demand their land back.

Protesters shouted "We want our lands", "Stop forced evictions," and "Give us back the land occupied by the army at a protest organised by the People's Alliance for Right to Land (PARL) and the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO).

Most protesters are people displaced during Sri Lankas civil war living in 32 camps scattered around Jaffna district.

"It is unfair that these people are still forced to live as refugees eight years after the conflict, said rally organiser Inpam Muraly. There is no reason that justifies the continued occupation by the military. We deserve justice," he added.

We ask the government a simple deed: give back trust to war victims by relocating refugees, said NAFSO members Antony Anthony Jesudasan and Francis Raajan. "It should return the land and build adequate facilities to allow people to resettle."

During the 30-year civil war that pitted the army against Tamil Tiger rebels, a lot of land was seized for defensive purposes in the islands northern region.

Tamils have complained that their properties were later handed over to businesses that are now using them for tourism or farming.

This is the case of Sinharathnam Mahalingam, 68, whose land was requisitioned by the military. "Since 1996 I have lived with friends. The war has been over for eight years. We want at least that what is ours be returned," he said.

For K P Somalatha, coordinator of the UVA Wellassa (Monaragala) Women Organisation, "We are here to build solidarity between the north and south of the country. In the meantime, we struggle together for our land. We are all victims of expropriation. The struggle of the displaced is also our struggle."
by Santosh Digal

Chennai (AsiaNews)  We promote inter-religious dialogue in India because it is an experience of deliverance, says Sister Mary John Kattikatta, a member of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (Fmm), speaking to AsiaNews about her mission in India.

Along with a group of nuns since 1986 Sister Mary John is responsible for spreading dialogue and understanding between the various religious communities in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and other areas. The nun says that this effort "has helped us to ensure that the entire population of the country, regardless of the religion they profess, are children of the same God."



One of the activities used to encourage dialogue are the circles of faiths studio, where they gather from different communities. Once a week Hindus, Muslims and Christians pray, study and reflect together on the sacred books of their respective religions. Sister Mary John reports that "these studies have allowed us to expand our mental horizons and accept the good and the beautiful in the other confessions."



Over the years the sisters have created a network with similar groups that support interfaith dialogue and intercultural approach: they are the Aleyam, the Madras Association of Inter-Cultural Philosophy, the Gandhi Peace Foundation and Inter-faith movement for human solidarity. "Thanks to these activities with people of other faiths - it says - we built loving relationships. Dialogue on all aspects need to live harmoniously in any environment".



Among the components of their work, the sisters visit Hindu and Muslim families. It is "a rewarding experience, because at first people looked at us suspiciously so. When they are convinced that our visits were aimed on creating healthy relationships, their attitude of indifference and outrage changed. Now they are our friends and partners in the dialogues ".



One tangible result of the social work of the sisters is how it has managed to defuse serious friction between Christians and Muslims. Sister Mary John remembers one episode in particular: "A few years ago some Christian religious fanatics have distributed leaflets outside a mosque, while the Muslim faithful were leaving after prayers. Offended in their religious feelings and fearing it was an attempt to convert them to Christianity, Muslims reacted beating the pastor. But then their violence was quelled by the intervention of a Muslim well respected in the community, which is a member of our dialogue groups. The conflict was resolved because he was able to recognize and appreciate our efforts in building harmony in that area. "



"Our only aim - says Sister Mary - is to communicate the message of love of God. We are here to strengthen an inclusive attitude and to enter into communion with all, always maintaining our identity as Christians."
Many of us had never heard of Steve Bannon before the 2016 presidential election, and, at that, not until somewhere in the middle of that extraordinary battle. We were introduced to him as a former executive chairman of Breitbart News, a news and commentary website on the far right of the American political spectrum. Bannon seemed to have now-President Donald Trumps ear in shaping the candidates message, and since the election, his importance has become even clearer: Bannon was recently added to the Principals committee of the National Security Council (NSC). Its a surprise. He has little, if any, direct knowledge of national security, and he replaces two people who most certainly do, the chairman of he Joint Chief of Staff and the director of national intelligence.

In the chaos created by flurry of controversial presidential orders coming out of the White House in the first days of the Trump Administration, many see Bannons hand. If it all feels like the disorienting Act One of a summer Hollywood war blockbuster, it should: Bannons the director of such alt-right films as Battle for America, and confusing your opponent in war is a signature tactic from one of Bannons two favorite books, The Art of War, by ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu. The other is the Bhagavad Gita, which uses the battlefield as an allegory for life.

Trump and Bannon (MANDEL NGAN)

Bannon apparently sees much of life as a war. Whether thats military opponents or political adversaries, he has a long history of a fascination with it. Former close friend and Hollywood writing partner Julia Jones told the Daily Beast that Bannon used to use Sparta as his computer password, thanks to his fascination with the victors of the Peloponneisan War. Jones continued, Steve is a strong militarist, hes in love with war  its almost poetry to him. And Sun Tzu agrees. The very first precept in The Art of War is "The art of war is of vital importance to the state."

While its safe to assume that The Art of War isnt the only book on war strategy with which Bannon is familiar, its still interesting that its precepts seem to explain some of what weve seen so far from the Trump team. Here's some of Sun Tzu's guidance and how it fits into the Art of Trump.

"All warfare is based on deception."

Whether its imaginary voter fraud, taking undeserved credit for jobs already created, or the fictional Bowling Green Massacre, the Trump administration clearly believes in made-up truth, and views reporting as "fake news" if it questions the veracity of the administration's alternative facts.. The Trump team seems utterly unfazed when anyone calls their fictions lies becuase they believe in them as a tactic.

"Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant."

Sun Tzu is a big fan of faking out ones adversaries. In the transition period between the election and the inauguration, Trumps team seems like the Gang Who Couldnt Shoot Straight. Opponents took heart in the seeming disorganization, and made fun. But with the avalanche of action that occurred immediately after the inauguration, this may well have been a deliberate feint.

"The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers."

Is it any coincidence that the very first Democratic Party leadership emails released by Wikileaks were just the thing for exacerbating the rift between Clinton and Sanders supporters, a division that may have kept just enough of the latter away from the voting booth to hand Trump the win? (We may never know if it was Russia or Trumps own people behind Wikileaks.)

"These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand."

As a candidate, Trump on several occasions faulted U.S strategy against ISIS for openly announcing its intentions to meet them at a particular location. There can be little doubt that Trump's team believes in the sneak attack after the Yemen raid in mid-January.

"There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare."

That the Trump administration hit the ground running with its early presidential orders should be no surprise. Sun Tzu warns against wearing out an army, and thus advocates attacking and winning quickly.

"Now the general is the bulwark of the State; if the bulwark is complete at all points; the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State will be weak."

It may be that Bannon seems himself  and the president agrees  as Americas bulwark, the mighty heart of the government. A former Beitbart staffer told the Daily Beast, Steve has an obsession with testosterone.

Bannon deplanes (TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

There are some other ways in which the White House seems to be violating Sun Tzus advice:

"Hence it is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for purposes of spying and thereby they achieve great results."

This doesnt mean, Fire the expert military and intelligence offices and replace them with a political advisor.

Sun Tzu also has some some guidance that may already be proving amazingly effective as it's deployed against President Trump by his own opponents:

--
Police found traces of VX nerve agent on the victims face and in his eyes. VX is considered by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction. Just one drop absorbed through the skin leads to death within minutes. North Korea believed to have between 2500 and the 5 thousand tons of nerve gas.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) - Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was assassinated by a potent type VX nerve gas.



The Malaysian police said that traces of VX were found on the victims face and in his eyes. According to the reconstructions and the Kuala Lumpur airport cctv, Kim Jong-nam, who was traveling to Macau, was approached by two women who smeared something on his face.

The man immediately felt ill and called for help, but died while being transported to hospital. The two women, as confirmed by the police, quickly washed their hands so as not to be intoxicated by the poisonous agent.

VX is the most deadly nerve agent, classified as a "weapon of mass destruction" by the UN. It is an oily, odorless and tasteless liquid; even if absorbed in very small quantities through the skin, it causes death by blocking nerve impulses. Just one drop absorbed by the skin leads to death within minutes.

VX was discovered by the British at the beginning of the 1950s. They sold the formula to the US Army, who started its large-scale production in 1961.

It is thought that Saddam Hussein used this nerve gas in the attacks against the Kurds and in the Iran-Iraq war.

North Korea says that it has no chemical weapons program. But according to some NGOs, it has between 2,500 and 5 thousand tons of nerve gas (including VX).
The equestrian statue of the god warrior will measure 190 meters; its construction will cost almost 510 million euro. It is expected to be completed in 2021. It will attract 10 thousand visitors a day. The fishing community complains that the money could be spent on improving health, education and infrastructure. Activist: "The fascist forces use the god's statue as a symbol of Hindutva".

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Mumbai fishermen are up in arms against the construction of the memorial in celebration of a Hindu warrior god that could cost them the loss of jobs and livelihoods.

The local Hindu nationalist government has decided to build the world's tallest statue of Shivaji, the Indian maharaja who led his people in a victorious war against a Mughal emperor in 1664. The statue of the divinity will stand over the coast, 190 meters high, riding a horse and holding a sword.

Reacting to the plans with AsiaNews Lenin Raghuvanshi, director of the Peoples' Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, disputes the construction: "We need to promote the ideas and values of historical figures. Building big statues is just tokenism.



In recent weeks the city of Mumbai has been divided between those for and against: the first group argues that the statue could become one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world, as to exceed a height of 40 meters, the statue of the Buddha in Henan Zhongyuan China (so far the worlds tallest statue). The equestrian bronze tribute would be exactly twice the Statue of Liberty in New York.



The Koli, the fishing community living in Mumbai for hundreds of years, complain that the construction on the banks would destroy the marine ecosystem, a death sentence for their fishing activities. The particularly contest the huge expenditure of public money, 36 billion rupees (equivalent to almost 510 million euro), which might be better invested by strengthening health, education and infrastructure.



The fishermen, about 2 thousand people working on 350 boats and supplying a megalopolis of 20 million people, fear the negative consequences of the maritime traffic of tourists. The authorities have already announced that they estimate the arrival of 10 thousand visitors a day, when the project will be completed in 2021.

Critics complain that the statue only responds to hysteria of a politics that tries to excel at the state level by building memorials in honor of local historical figures. This is the case of Gujarat, where they are raising the statue of Vallabhbhai Patel, 182 meters high, dedicated to the famous statesman of the Congress Party for his efforts in the struggle for India's independence.



In addition, the city of Mumbai is already plastered with statues dedicated to the Hindu warrior prince, as well as a railway station and airport. According to the activist Raghuvanshi, "before starting any project, you need to obtain environmental impact assessments and about what concerns human rights and livelihoods."

He believes that the statue is only "the initiative of the fascist forces that do not promote the concept of Swaraj (self-rule and independence) of Shivaji, based on honor, hope, dignity and pluralism. They just want to paint it as a symbol of Hindutva. In contrast, the warrior god symbolizes inclusiveness, diversity of opinion and freedom.
Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - An Egyptian Coptic Christian was killed yesterday and his house was set on fire in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. A jihadist cell linked to the Islamic State (SI) claimed the murder the same cell implicated in past attacks against Christians. This is the third victim in two days for the local Coptic community.



On February 19, in a video posted on the Telegram messaging site, the Islamic State had promised to strike the Christian community. And the attacks have not been long in coming.



On February 22, the authorities found the bullet-riddled body of a Christian about 60; his son died with him also, burned alive by jihadists. The authorities h found the body of the young man at dawn, in the backyard of a school of Al-Arich.



Yesterday the third victim in just two days: a Christian of 40, was found lifeless, killed by a gunshot to the head, on the roof of his home. After killing him, the terrorists set fire his house on fire.



Yesterdays murder also happened in Al-Arich, the capital of North Sinai Governorate. Investigators have now focused their attention on the jihadist track, and it was later confirmed by Daesh militiamen [Arabic acronym for the Islamic state] in the region.



Earlier, on February 12 in Al-Arich, some masked men on a motorcycle gunned down a Christian veterinarian, while he was at the wheel of his own car. In late January, a Christian officer was killed by a group of armed men; the identity of the attackers is still unknown, in this case.



Since the military coup of 2013, which put an end to the presidency of Mohamed Morsi and overthrew the government of the Muslim Brotherhood, the northern Sinai has been the scene of bloody attacks perpetrated by militiamen jihadists. Most often the attacks are concentrated against army units, police, security officials. However, the attacks have not spared the Christian Coptic minority. Among these, the most serious was the suicide bombing on 11 December against a Coptic Orthodox church in Cairo, which caused 29 victims.



In the past, al Qaeda had set its sights on the Coptic Christians. In particular, in 2010 the local cell of the terror network led by Osama bin Laden had promised the "cleansing" of Christians from the Sinai region. Threats that came to fruition on the night of New Year's Day 2011, when a car bomb exploded in front of a Coptic church, killing 29 people.
On 10 February, Freeport-McMoRan discontinued its mining activities, leaving thousands of Indonesians out of work. The reason is a dispute over fees and contract to be renegotiated by the company and the authorities.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  On 10 February 10, Freeport McMoRan, the US-based copper and goal mining giant, temporarily halted its operations after the Indonesian government banned the company from exporting mineral concentrates.

Thousands of Freeport workers at the Grasberg mine near Timika, Papua province, were told to stay home until production resumes after a new deal with the government.

For the past few months, the mining company and the authorities have been in tug-of-war over fees for copper concentrate exports.

The government wants a fairer deal from Freeport. Recently, it asked the company to build a smelter in Indonesia to stop the export of raw materials.

The crucial point is that the government wants greater control over the mining giant. On 10 February, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources proposed a new final "framework" that would replace the current contract of work with a special mining permit to guarantee government rights over mineral resources whilst giving Freeport the right to operate the mine.

In case of refusal, the company would no longer be authorised to export copper concentrate and engage in any other business activity. Meanwhile, thousands of Freeports Indonesian employees remain out of work.

The US company has always refused to sign the dial, arguing that fees will not be fixed but be adjusted according to the prevailing taxation. Under the contract to work, fees are fixed for a certain period of time and agreed by both parties.

To reduce the gap between the two parties, the government has proposed three options. Freeport can accept a special mining permit to export copper concentrate whilst a long-term agreement is negotiated; it can renegotiate a deal under the Mineral and Coal Regulations (of 4 November 2009), or, failing either option, the case can be brought to the attention of the International Court of Arbitration.

Indonesias Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan, a Catholic, said that in the past few years, Freeport has failed to live up to its fiscal obligation to Indonesia. According to the minister, Freeport was slated to pay only US$ 450 million in taxes, much less than the US$ 15 billion the tobacco industry pays.

Freeport CEO Richard C. Adkerson said that Indonesia earned at least 60 per cent of its revenue from the project. What is more, we have paid more than 214 trillion rupiahs (US$ 16 billion) in taxes."

Still, as Minister Jonan noted, there are still six months to renegotiate the agreement.
Female Cosplayers Show Off Fairytale Wedding Photos

Trending News: Two Female Cosplayers Got Married, And The Pics Are Incredible

Quick Take

Typically, wedding photos range from the banal to the obnoxious. Oh look, there's the two of you standing under a tree! What, you got a pic of the two of you kissing as the sun sets in the background? How creative! And that's ok, because they're meant to be keepsakes, reminders of one of the happiest times in your life to be looked on from time to time.

But when Carina and Soerine (a couple from Denmark) got married, they wanted to do things... a little differently. They're both wearing dresses (I may have buried the lede about them both being attractive women), and the poses look familiar, but they took traditional wedding photography and cranked it up to 11:

If you're thinking "big deal, so they had a good photographer and every woman wants her wedding to look like a fairy tale," you're not wrong. But there's something else special about these two: they happen to be extremely kickass cosplayers.

rinaca-cosplay

rinaca-cosplay

su-rine

su-rine

And in case you were wondering, yes, they do often cosplay together, it seems:

rinaca-cosplay

rinaca-cosplay

rinaca-cosplay

I think it's probably safe to say that they had one hell of a wedding. They also went to Japan for their honeymoon (the cosplay capital of the world), because of course they did.

Cosplay may be considered a "nerdy" pursuit, but we call all agree the world is a better place for it.

Drop This Fact

Famous cosplayer Chloe Dykstra has serious nerd bonafides: her father is John Dykstra, who created (among other things) the lightsabers for Star Wars.
Free newsletter

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter service and well keep you up-to-date with the latest breaking news, cutting edge opinion, and expert analysis affecting both your business and the industry as whole.

Please enter your email address below and click on Sign Up for daily newsletters from Australasian Lawyer.
By Martin Boland, Senior Lecturer of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Charles Darwin University

Shutterstock/Bubbers BB

The substance that could be responsible for the death Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was the VX nerve agent, according to preliminary reports from Malaysian police.

Kim Jong-nam died on February 13 from a seizure on his way to hospital after complaining that a woman had sprayed chemicals on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport.

The Royal Malaysia Police said in a statement that the results of dry swab tests on the death of a North Korean national identified the chemical as Ethyl S-2-Diisopropylaminoethyl Methylphosphonothiolate, also known as VX nerve agent.

What is VX?

VX is a lethal chemical weapon in the V-series of nerve agents. Although commonly referred to as nerve gases, the chemicals are usually liquids at room temperature.

The V-series were first developed in the UK in the mid-1950s. Like all nerve agents, the V-series block the biological action of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE).

AChE is responsible for metabolising the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which in turn is responsible for the transmission of a nerve impulse across the gap (called a synapse) between two nerve cells.

By preventing AChE from metabolising acetylcholine, the nerve agent causes the synapse to become flooded with the neurotransmitter. This saturation leads to the nerve being constantly switched on. In the case of nerves that control muscles, this means that the muscle is constantly receiving a signal to contract.

Constant muscle contraction becomes a problem when the muscles in question are the ones that control the expansion of the rib cage, to fill the lungs with air. If these muscles are continuously trying to contract, the body is constantly trying to fill the lungs with air, and thus not allowing the body to expel air from the lungs.

The victim of such a nerve agent usually dies from asphyxiation due to not being able to breathe out.

Other symptoms

Although asphyxiation is usually the ultimate cause of death, exposure to AChE inhibitors has a wide range of symptoms, including runny nose, drooling and contraction of the pupils.

Unlike the nerve agent sarin, which was used to attack the Tokyo subway and Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus in Syria, the V-series are termed persistent agents.

In chemical weapons terms, persistent means that the agent has a low volatility. In turn, this means that it can be used in relatively confined spaces (such as an airport terminal) with less risk of obvious adverse effects on bystanders or the perpetrators.

But low doses of nerve agent have been linked with long-term effects in people who did not exhibit clinical symptoms at the time of exposure.

All nerve agents can affect the body either through inhalation or skin contact. The V-series are usually associated with entering the body through skin contact.

Another advantage of using VX for any would-be assassin, is that the amount of VX needed to kill is around 10mg (1/100th of a gram). That is around a tenth of the amount of sarin needed to cause death, and a droplet around the size of the nib of a ballpoint pen.

Who has VX?

VX has been used before as a mode of assassination. Members of Aum Shinrikyo used VX to kill a suspected traitor to the Japanese cult.

The cult also provided their members with the antidote to nerve agent poisoning during the attack on the Tokyo subway. This shows that it is possible for perpetrators to use a nerve agent as a weapon in close proximity, without needing to use bulky protective equipment, or risk lethal exposure themselves.

Since discovery, V-agents have been researched, produced and stockpiled by several countries. Most of those countries have now given up their offensive chemical weapons programs and are in the process of destroying their stockpiles and placing their means of production under international monitoring via the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

OPCW oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Under the CWC, VX and all nerve agents (and their precursors that have no other legitimate industrial use) are illegal to produce or procure.

North Korea is one of only four countries that have not signed or acceded to the CWC. The North Korean government is believed to have a stockpile of chemical weapons, including V-series agents and can manufacture them in industrial quantities.

Martin Boland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Originally published in The Conversation.
Destinationyou is the best tour guide blogging site from where you can find the travelling tips and read interesting Hong Kong travel experience blogs.
Sounds silly I know, but we rather unexpectedly got asked for medical and police checks with a mere 28 days to do them. Medical organised, but given she is onshore, I had to get her finger prints done here and have to mail them to USA, state ones to a friend to add a check payment (cards not acceptable) re-post, then results will not be posted overseas (to Australia) so have to be posted to a friend again, then posted back to us. I've asked them to scan and email as well, but I have next to no internet in this country region, so doing anything online is difficult.



I'm currently 200 metres up a hill on the laptop! This also does not always work. I see no case officer assigned yet, so how can I contact them and say it is near impossible to get it all done in 28 days? Thanks in advance.
Hi everyone,

I'm a newby and hope someone might be able to help. We have been in the queue for the parent visa 143 over 2 years. Until a couple of weeks ago I could get information of what date the immigration were up to in processing via an auto response email. This was great to help us judge timespan but the past two weeks there has been no response. It is crucial we try and get our timing right. Has anyone any idea why it has stopped or where the processing dates stand now. Two weeks ago it was 20 th August 2014.



Any information or advice how we can judge our likely position in the queue would be really helpful.

Thanks

Gafuk
The SUV is powered by 1.5-litre engine and is also available with a host of security features like ECS, dual front airbags, tyre pressure monitoring system, and more.

General Motors SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture recently launched the Baojun 510, a small SUV that will compete in one of Chinas fastest growing and most contested segments.

Baojun is one of Chinas fastest growing vehicle brands. In 2016, Baojun deliveries increased 48.5 percent to a record 6,88,390 units. Its portfolio ranges from small cars to multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) and SUVs and is targeted at value-conscious consumers across China.

Since its debut at Auto Guangzhou 2016 in November, the Baojun 510 has received attention for its dynamic, youthful and modern exterior. Its aggressive pricing of RMB 54,800 to RMB 69,800 (Rs 5,57,000 to Rs 7,10,000) is meant to appeal to young, first-time buyers.

Some of the Baojun 510s highlights include LED daytime running lights, optimised body proportions, black-and-bright-brown surfaces inside the cabin and quality materials. To ensure high quality of NVH levels, the carmaker says 28 improvements were made in the Baojun 510, with high-quality sound insulation adopted in 34 areas.

The Baojun 510 comes with a semi-open panoramic sunroof, air-conditioning with automatic constant temperature control, keyless entry, push-button start, cruise control, and heated and folding outside rear view mirrors that can be adjusted electronically. Its 8.0-inch LCD screen incorporates a reverse camera and can be connected to users smartphones.

All models are powered by a 1.5-litre engine and six-speed manual transmission. The Baojun 510 is also available with Electronic Stability Control (ESC), dual front airbags, side airbags and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

SAIC-GM-Wuling says its latest SUV went through more than 4,00,000km of testing in extreme conditions on and off the road  which was equivalent to 1,60,000km of daily use  while the engine was put through over 10,000 hours of simulated testing. The Baojun 510 also underwent extensive chassis tuning. Engineers optimised the body structure for added comfort and solid handling.

SAIC has been planning to enter India and has set its eyes on buying GMs Halol plant in Gujarat.
The Beatrice Public Schools Board of Education will consider a proposal to restructure the four elementary schools at its next meeting, though its unclear exactly what that proposal will be.

The board continued discussions on the future structure of its elementary system, including a controversial proposal that would convert Cedar Elementary in west Beatrice to a preschool-only facility, during its committee of the whole meeting Thursday.

At the end of that meeting, the board requested that BPS Superintendent Pat Narouth meet with the elementary principals to form a proposal that will be presented at the next meeting, March 13 at 7 p.m. in the Central Administration Building.

The board previously discussed converting Cedar Elementary School into a preschool-only building and spreading grades K-5 throughout the districts other three elementary buildings.

BPS superintendent Pat Narouth said a declining elementary enrollment has been one factor in the discussions.

Our class sizes at elementary are changing, he said. We are losing our fifth grade class, probably our last really big class, of about 154 students. Our next biggest class will be in fourth grade next year at about 145. When you look at that, those are our only two big classes. Everything other than that is going to be below 140. Thats a change from where we used to be.

Under one previously proposed plan, which the board decided to postpone action on at its February meeting, Paddock Lane, Lincoln and Stoddard schools would be near capacity of about 250-260 kids per building. Cedar would have roughly 200 preschool students, as it would have a program for both 3 and 4-year-olds.

Moving the Cedar students into the other sites would result in slightly larger class sizes.

Another factor thats been discussed is keeping students in the district, rather than parents opting them out to other schools where preschool programs are offered for 3-year-olds.

Board member Janet Byars expressed concern that if the program is successful, it could result in higher class sizes.

If we did add the 3-year-old preschool program with the intent of keeping the kids in our district, we have not seen any results of that, this is the first year weve had that and if what we think is going to happen, we should have 10-12 more kids staying in our district rather than opting out, she said. Then you would be looking at 140-145 kids. If we reduce that down to six sections then those classes are actually too big for kindergarten classes.

Based on six sections, the average class sizes for kindergarten would grow from the current average of 19 to 22. Projections for other class sizes were: First grade, from 19 to 22; Second grade would stay at 19; Third grade from 20 to 22; Fourth grade from 19 to 24 and Fifth grade would hold at 22.

Board member Doris Martin expressed frustration from a belief that the school isnt considering all of its options, and is instead focusing all of its attention on Cedar and the preschool program.

It sounds to me like we just have two choices, are we going to have this 3-year-old program or are we going to cut to six sections? she said. I dont know if were addressing all of the options that maybe are available. Were not making that clear here... Im really struggling that they never tell me the ideal class size for those children, they just say because of the number we have to have a bigger class size.

It has also been questioned if a preschool program for 3-year-olds is necessary, or if the program is being used as a daycare service.

Board member Jon Zimmerman defended the program, and said in the changing age of education kids are learning earlier than ever.

More than just keeping kids in our district, for me its always been more about the kids as far as theres a great need out there getting them started and figuring out what the children need, he said. It used to be when we went to school we didnt learn ABCs until kindergarten. Now if you dont go to kindergarten with that information youre behind already. Every year it gets more to where the children have to know all these things going in there.

By having dual sections, two groups of each grade level at the other schools, Narouth has stated it provides teachers with an opportunity to share ideas and also gives each school the ability to shift students who might not be compatible with each other to a different classroom.

Hes also stated that the board will eventually have to make changes somewhere, and Cedar is the likely location.

Should Cedar become a preschool, should we look at another facility for that, and how soon do you want to do it? he said. To me, this issue really boils down to time. Understand that as you wait that means were going to take money out of reserves.
Denver International Airport. Photo via Wikimedia

In a recent audit, Denver Auditor Timothy OBrien found that the Denver International Airport (DIA) lost nearly $1.5 million in rental car concessions between 2014 and 2016, according to a report from the Denver auditors office that tracked Avis Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car.

Avis didnt comply with its concession agreement in regards to its satellite offices. The concession agreement between the rental companies and DIA requires the rental companies to collect a concession fee and a customer facility charge (CFC) from all airport customers, according to a release by O'Brien.

If airport customers use a rental car companys satellite offices within a 20-mile radius of the airport and within 24 hours of their flight, they are required to pay the CFC.

The audit discovered that Avis owed the airport approximately $1.46 million in concession fees, CFC fees, and interest, according to the report. The audit found that the customer rental form for Avis didn't identify airport customers. This resulted in neither the CFC fee nor the concession fee being paid to the airport  although these fees and a definition of airport customer are identified in the concession agreement.

Ground and facility rental rates are established by DIA and then provided to the rental companies by DIAs property division. This division failed to provide these two rental companies with re-established rental rates until as late as April of the rental year. This resulted in almost $9,000 in underpaid facility and ground rent for the audited period, says the report.

DIA agreed to make sure that rental contracts for the satellite offices will be designed to capture whether the customer recently flew into the airport, said OBrien. If so, the daily fee along with the 10% rental fee will be transmitted to DIA. In addition, all 12 rental car companies will get timely notice of the correct concession rental rates, and DIA officials will follow up to confirm that the proper rent has been paid.

At the time of this audit, DIA itself was auditing several rental car companies. To avoid duplicating work, the auditors team selected two of the companies (Avis and Alamo) possessing the largest market share who were not being audited by DIA.

In 2015, 12% of DIAs operating revenue came from the rental car concessions, making the concessions the fourth largest revenue stream at the airport, according to report. Rental car activity grew by 19% in 2014 and an additional 9% in 2015, contributing $85 million to the airports total operating revenue that year.
Controversial budget carrier Norwegian Air will launch trans-Atlantic service with its new Boeing 737MAX aircraft this summer with one-way promotional fares as low as $65 from secondary airports in the U.S. Northeast to airports in Ireland and Scotland. Those who jumped on the offer will be able to fly round trip from the U.S. to Scotland for $145. The fares are a publicity grab, which Norwegian freely admits, and the extremely limited number of $65 tickets sold out quickly, but it also notes that regular one-way fares will start at $99. A quick check of flights in August showed the realistic cost of roundtrip flights to be in $700 range, still about $500 cheaper than comparable flights on U.S. carriers. U.S. airports include Providence, Stewart International (70 miles north of New York City) and Hartford. Destinations include Belfast, Edinburgh, Dublin, Shannon and Cork, all of which have easy access to other European destinations. The flight frequency ranges from two to four days a week.

The flights will be operated by Norwegian Air International, a subsidiary the carrier set up in Ireland for the budget service to the U.S. Despite howls of protest from U.S. carriers, the Department of Transportation approved the companys operating certificate late last year. Norwegian is the launch customer for the 737MAX, which is about 20 percent more fuel efficient than existing 737s, giving it the legs to make the crossing. It seats 189 passengers in the full economy configuration. As with all bare-bones budget carriers, Norwegian charges for just about everything other than the seat but it does allow free carry-on bags.
24 February 2017 14:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Arizona State House of Representatives passed a proclamation on February 23, 2017 recognizing and condemning the Khojaly Genocide, which was committed by Armenias army against Azerbaijani civilians in 1992.

Read by the House Appropriation Committee Chairman Rep. Don Shooter on the House Floor, the proclamation was presented to Azerbaijans Consul General in Los Angeles Nasimi Aghayev, Azertac reported.

As a sign of respect for the innocent victims of the Khojaly Genocide, all legislators listened to the proclamation standing.

The proclamation says that on February 25 and 26, 1992, Armenian armed forces occupied the town of Khojaly in Azerbaijan and killed more than 600 civilians, wounded more than 1,000 civilians; and captured more than 1,200 civilians.

Documenting this mass killing the Human Rights Watch called it the largest massacre in the conflict; major United States and international news organizations reported about the killings with horror; and numerous governments around the world as well as State Legislatures and Governors of 20 U.S. States passed resolutions/proclamations condemning the attack, the document reads.

The proclamation specifically mentions that the perpetrators of this genocide are still at large and have not been brought to justice yet.

Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan are still running high because Armenian army continues to occupy twenty percent of Azerbaijans internationally recognized territory, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the surrounding seven regions, the document continues. Resolutions condemning the occupation of Azerbaijans territory by Armenian forces have been passed by the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly.

The proclamation concludes by stating that the Arizona State House of Representatives honors the victims of the Khojaly tragedy, and recognizes February 26, 2017, as the 25th Anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy.

This is the second official document on Khojaly adopted by the Arizona State Legislature. The first document was passed by the upper chamber of the Legislature  the Arizona State Senate - on February 26, 2015.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 14:28 (UTC+04:00)

By Jorge Moreira da Silva

The Syrian refugee crisis has focused attention on the need to improve management of refugee flows during times of crisis. One issue is particularly worrying: poor countries may be paying a large indirect price for rich countries efforts.

Data show that a substantial portion of the costs associated with the influx of refugees and asylum-seekers in some European countries is being reported as official development assistance (ODA)  the measure the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) uses to track international aid spending. This leaves less ODA available to launch, sustain, or expand economic development projects in poor countries.

In 2015, the European Unions DAC member states spent $9.7 billion of their ODA budgets on approximately 1.2 million asylum-seekers in their own countries. By comparison, they spent $3.2 billion of ODA in Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan  the top five countries from which those asylum-seekers had fled.

The rule enabling donors to report so-called in-donor refugee costs as ODA was introduced in the OECD-DAC Statistical Reporting Directives back in 1988. At first, few DAC donors took advantage of it. From 2010 to 2015, however, the share of total ODA reported as in-donor spending more than tripled, from 2.7% to 9.1%.

The DAC is working to establish clearer rules for using ODA to cover in-donor refugee costs. It has established a Temporary Working Group on Refugees and Migration to help determine whether donors are targeting their assistance in the right way, in the right place, and at the right time. We expect to be able to communicate the results of this work around July.

The global attention that the Syrian crisis has focused on refugee flows and associated humanitarian needs is a positive development. Yet Syrians constitute only a small portion of the more than 21 million people worldwide listed as refugees by the United Nations Refugee Agency (the UNHCR categorizes more than 65 million people as forcibly displaced). And while the spotlight today is on asylum-seekers in Europe, most refugees  over 86%  remain in developing countries, close to the countries they have fled. Uganda, for example, took in more refugees from South Sudan in 2016 than the total number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Europe over the same period.

Every day, 40,000 people are forced to flee from conflict and persecution. Many more leave their homes in search of a safe and dignified future. An increasing number of these people are displaced for 20 years or more. And many are left behind, displaced within their own countries, living in extreme insecurity and poverty.

Standing by idly while others live in fear is not humane. Yet countries like Uganda, which for decades have generously hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees, increasingly see the principles of tolerance and protection they uphold undermined in the global north. Wealthy countries understandably seek to manage their own refugee populations and reassure their own citizens. Yet the right to asylum is universal and development cooperation must not, under any circumstances, be used for the purpose of containment.

Refugee situations are not new. Together, the top five countries of origin have generated approximately 10.2 million refugees over the past 25 years. The numbers are staggering, but the challenge they represent is by no means insurmountable. Development aid can help to address the longer-term, socioeconomic dimensions of displacement, lending support to ensure that refugees are included in national and local development plans. It can help address the root causes of forced displacement by focusing efforts on reducing poverty and inequality, strengthening peace building, and improving access to justice. The OECDs temporary working group will seek to identify and deliver better solutions for refugees.

The conditions facing forced migrants today stand in stark contrast to international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals, which strive to leave no one behind. Failure to address these issues also threatens the international solidarity that underpins the global development agenda.

Developed and developing countries need to work together. They must leave no ambiguity about the right to seek asylum and the responsibility to protect those who exercise it. We need to ensure that new funding means extra money, rather than the redirection of funds. And above all, programs for refugees  including responses within our own borders  must have human rights at their core.

Copyright: Project Syndicate: How Poor Countries Foot the Refugee Bill

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 11:15 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Irans major car-maker plans to open new plants in neighboring Azerbaijan.

The issue was on agenda of the Azerbaijan-Iran Business Forum in Urmia, where a delegation headed by Minister Shahin Mustafayev arrived in to discuss expansion of cooperation in various areas.

Mustafayev, addressing the event, said that Irans giant automaker Iran Khodro plans to open four new plants in Azerbaijan.

In 2016, Azerbaijans AzEuroCar LLC and Iran Khodro signed an agreement to create a joint car plant in the Neftchala Industrial Quarter. The plant with a capacity of about 10,000 cars per year will produce four Iranian car brands  Dena, Runna, Soren and Samand.

The cost of the project is estimated at $15 million. The plant is expected to produce its first cars in May 2017. Some 20 percent of the produced cars will be exported. The cars produced at the plant will meet Euro 5 standard.

Mustafayev went on to add that Azerbaijan and Iran intend to increase the bilateral trade to $500 million.

The trade turnover between the countries hit some $15.77 million in January 2017, while the index of last January stands at $9.56 million. In 2016, Azerbaijans trade turnover with Iran amounted to $210.76 million, which is 70 percent more than in 2015.

He noted that currently 538 companies with Iranian share operate in Azerbaijan, while these companies have invested about $150 million in the country.

The minister further said that the two countries also plan to increase the number of flights between Baku and the Iranian cities of Tehran, Tabriz and Mashhad.

Currently, the number of flights operated between the countries on a weekly basis is 14.

The tourist flow between the two countries intensified with the introduction of simplified visa regime, which has come into force starting from January 10, 2017. Iranian citizens became eligible to register visas for entry into Azerbaijan via the ASAN Viza system, as a result of which, they got a right to obtain visas within three days.

Since February 2010, Iran unilaterally abolished its visa regime for all citizens of Azerbaijan. The citizens of Azerbaijan can travel to Iran and stay in the country without visa from 15 to 90 days.

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.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 10:59 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Japan is keen to develop its cooperation with Azerbaijan in the oil and gas sphere.

Japan's State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoshifumi Matsumura voiced his countrys interest while addressing the 9th joint meeting of the State Commission on Economic Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Japan, and Japan-Azerbaijan Economic Committee in Baku.

The sides discussed the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Japan on various fronts, including non-oil sector, industry, agriculture, healthcare, human resources, delivery of technologies to the new industrial areas and investment making.

Azerbaijans Deputy Prime Minister, Co-Chair of the commission Abid Sharifov said Japan was one of the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan`s independence and establish relations with the country.

He emphasized that Japanese companies are closely involved in the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan, and expressed hope that this cooperation would expand.

Japan was one of the first countries to support Azerbaijan's forward-looking oil strategy. Today two major Japanese companies Itochu and Impex are involved in the Contract of the Century. Leaders of Japanese business, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Marubeni, and Sojits are involved in energy and infrastructure projects in the country.

Hailing the importance of discussing steps to increase trade between the two countries, Sharifov called on Japanese companies to cooperate with Azerbaijan in a number of areas, including the establishment of new industrial enterprises, ICT, space industry, water industry and irrigation, alternative and renewable energy sources.

Co-chair of the commission, Vice Chairman of Itochu Corporation Yoichi Kobayashi, in turn, hailed rapid development of relations between the two friendly countries, saying this can set an example to other countries.

Being one of the largest Japanese general trading companies, Itochu became one of the first international companies to be involved in regional oil and gas projects in Azerbaijan.

Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Japan were established in 1992. Relations between the two countries have continued to develop steadily.

A number of important projects are being implemented in Azerbaijan through the financial support of Japan, while very important infrastructure projects had already been commissioned in the country through Japanese government`s loans.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Japan amounted to $558.97 million in 2015, according to the Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 13:15 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and Baku International Sea Trade Port held the first meeting with potential investors interested in Baku Free Trade Zone (FTZ).

A source in the financial market told Trend that the meeting was held in Beijing in mid February. The meeting brought together representatives of Chinese banks, investment funds, as well as IT and trade companies.

The corporation started practical implementation of the MoU signed last year with the Port of Baku. The meeting is the first result of the joint work, he said.

The ICD and Port of Baku signed the document in December 2016 within the first International Investment Conference. The main objective of the MoU is to study a potential capacity of the port and FTZ, being created in Alat settlement, as well as opportunities to attract private sector to the process of creating the FTZ.

So far, we have held only one meeting, but the sides are interested in cooperation. In this regard talks on further cooperation may start in the short run, the source clarified.

The ICD became the second international organization, attracted to the Baku FTZ project for consultations. The Azerbaijani government and the group of companies DP World (Dubai Port World  one of the world's largest port operators) earlier signed an agreement to provide consulting services for the establishment of the FTZ.

The FTZ is expected to become operational in the first half of 2017. Applications from investors wishing to work in FTZ will be accepted starting from March 2017.

Measures on the creation of a free trade zone type special economic area covering the territory of the Baku International Sea Trade Port in the Alat township of Bakus Garadagh district was inked by a presidential decree on March 17, 2016.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
OMAHA  Local entrepreneurs have gathered to present ways to improve Omaha during a competition designed to be a "win-win" for those in the startup community and government or corporations.

The Metro Area Planning Agency, the Mayor's office and Metropolitan Community College created the JumpStart Challenge to invite entrepreneurs to come up with solutions to persistent problems, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

The agency asked the entrepreneurs to come up with a way to encourage residents to commute without using a car. The Metropolitan Community College asked for assistance in creating a community within the college that would help with retention. And the Mayor's office wanted assistance with engaging the community and promoting initiatives.

On Tuesday, the entrepreneurs presented their solutions to those issues, which included smartphone apps and websites.

Amanda Kohler's winning idea called Nudge gave the community college a way to reach their students by sending personalized text messages to its students. Kohler said students could schedule meetings with their advisers that could help them plan out their upcoming semester.

After testing her idea, Kohler said students were more likely to respond to texts rather than phone calls or emails.

The winning idea for the agency would partner with companies to offer incentives to ride the bus or adopt healthier choices through a 10-day challenge.

And after looking through the different departments on the city's website, Omaha-based entrepreneur Joey Fehrman decided customizing the website could help reach community.

"The real problem is how do you get someone who doesn't care about government to care about government?" Fehrman said.

Fehrman's idea would help people find government issues that are important to them by using an app similar to Tinder, a dating app that asks users to swipe right on the profiles of people they're interested in seeing and left on those they don't. While Fehrman's idea was a fan favorite, city officials decided to pass on the idea.

The winning entries received $2,500 and a membership to the Startup Collaboration to continue developing their ideas.
24 February 2017 13:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The World Bank (WB) and Azerbaijans Financial Market Supervisory Body (FMSB) will start realization of the second phase of the project on financial sector modernization.

FMSB Chairman Rufat Aslanli said that the project will cover three directions, in particular formation of effective regulative framework for financial sector, increasing sustainability of the banking sector and protection of consumer rights.

Aslanli made the remarks while addressing the event dedicated to launching of the second phases implementation on February 24. He noted that the second phase will also cover such issues as bad loans, rendering of help for troubled banks and others.

Azerbaijan is implementing broad reforms to transform its financial sector by improving its regulation and institutions. Continued cooperation with the World Bank and SECO will allow us to benefit from the best international practice and the expertise, Aslanli said.

The WB mission will stay in Baku until March1, and discuss a variety of issues covering the insurance market, strengthening of the financial market and problem of overdue loans. Besides, the mission will also discuss the issue of improving the deposit insurance system in Azerbaijan.

The first phase of the Financial Sector Development Program was completed in June 2016. The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) allocated a grant of $4 million for its implementation in 2012.

The SECO is also expected to allocate $3 million as part of technical assistance to the second project on modernization of financial sector in Azerbaijan. The agency, which is responsible for planning and implementation of economic and trade policy measures, is expected to initially allocate some $2.2 million. Further, SECO will allocate additional $400,000 by November 30, 2018, and the same sum by November 30, 2019. The three tranches are expected to be totally drawn by August 2021.

Parabank may turn into NBCO

Aslanli further touched upon the issue of transforming Parabank (which earlier lost its banking license) into non-banking credit organization.

He said that FMSB will consider the issue in the upcoming meeting of the Board of Directors. Should the authority take the decision , the country will see the first transformation of bank into NBCO, while uninsured depositors will be offered to put the financial means in bonds.

The license of Parabank was revoked due to the failure to comply with statutory minimum capital requirements of the regulator as well as to manage activities in a safe and prudent manner.

In late 2016, Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF) completed payment of compensations to insured depositors of Parabank.

The volume of paid compensations amounted to 42.9 million manats ($24.5 million). The volume of uninsured deposits in Parabank stands at 43 million manats ($ 24.64 million). Non-banking credit organizations in Azerbaijan do not have the right of raising deposits from the population.

Insurance market

Aslanli said that the FMSB will introduce certain changes to the insurance legislation of the country, noting that the main objective is to assist insurance companies in generation of long term charges. He recalled that last year was dedicated to rendering assistance to the banking sphere.

The current stability in the sector allows us to create a platform for profound reforms, he said.

Aslanli also said that Bashak Inam insurance company will leave the insurance market of the country, saying that FMSB took the decision after the company appealed to the authority with the request.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 17:07 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The export promotion portal of Azerbaijan - azexport.az has allowed to increase demand in Made in Azerbaijan products.

Vusal Gasimli, the director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications said that every week the portal receives orders worth $10 million, mentioning that the figures show high interest in Azerbaijani products.

Gasimli , addressing a press conference in Baku, February 24, said that Digital Trade Hub of Azerbaijan section will soon be available on the portal.

He noted that the work on the creation of the new section will be implemented in two directions.

The first direction envisages application of one window principle for getting all licenses necessary for export of Azerbaijani production in online regime.

This means that holders of e-contract on the export will be able to get all necessary documents by applying to the Digital Trade Hub. Users will be able to get veterinary, phytosanitary certificates as well as certificate of conformity in online regime, he said.

The second direction will cover identification of e signatures. A new service of identification will be developed by the Foreign Ministry, ASAN Service and other relevant structures.

"This will allow to expand flow of investments to the country, as foreign entrepreneurs will not have to arrive in Azerbaijan to make investments. They will be able to implement all necessary procedures by means of the hub," he said. Besides, by becoming the users of the hub, entrepreneurs will be exempt from filling customs declarations.

Integrating with the most popular electronic trading networks azexport.az, provides information about local Azerbaijani products, being a beneficial platform for sales in foreign and domestic markets. The representation of local production in international platforms, including Alibab.com, has increased almost 50 times after the launch of the portal.

Being available in the Azerbaijani, Russian and English languages, the portal acts as a single digital destination for trade, bringing together and connecting local entrepreneurs, international buyers and international investors. The portal offers fast and secure payment to VISA, Master Card and American Express cards owners.

The export promotion portal received export offers worth some $4.63 million in January 2017, while the bulk of the orders came from Russia, Turkey, Iraq, Bulgaria, Libya, Moldova and other countries.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 10:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Lithuania has confirmed that it does not recognize constitutional and legal framework of the so-called "referendum" held in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia.

Lithuania considers that the results of the "referendum" do not affect the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh and in no way prejudge the final status or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations on peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azertac quoted Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius as saying .

The so-called constitutional referendum was held on February 20 in Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is now ruled by a puppet regime controlled by Armenia.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, as well as the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states, namely Russia, the U.S. and France, and a number of other countries, confirmed that they do not recognize the referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Linkevicius underlined that Lithuania supports peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations on the basis of the fundamental principles of non-use of force, territorial integrity and self-determination of peoples enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

Lithuania supports the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on the peaceful settlement of the conflict, he stressed.

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.

Speaking about the bilateral relations between Lithuania and Azerbaijan, Linkevicius said the ties have increasingly strengthened through close political dialogue, friendly contacts between peoples and cooperation on a wide range of issues of mutual interest.

As part of the agreement between the Governments of Lithuania and Azerbaijan on cooperation in the field of economy, industry and energy, our countries organize regular meetings of the intergovernmental commission on bilateral cooperation. This year Lithuania is planning to hold the 5th session of the intergovernmental commission, Linkevicius said, adding that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay an official visit to Vilnius this year.

During the official visit, we will discuss the issues of further strengthening of bilateral relations in various spheres of cooperation, he said.

Lithuania recognized Azerbaijan's independence on December 21, 1991. Diplomatic relations between two countries were established in November, 1992. The Lithuanian embassy was opened in Azerbaijan on April 3, 2007. The Azerbaijani embassy was opened in Lithuania in September 2007.

Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 11:32 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA), which is a platform for cooperation, dialogue and search for compromise, is able to find a solution to many contemporary challenges.

OSCE PA President Christine Muttonen made the remark while addressing the winter session of the Assembly on February 23.

She noted there was an escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2016 on the contact line between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, where people are still dying. She also added that the aggressive rhetoric complicates the search for a peaceful settlement.

The OSCE PA can contribute to overcoming current challenges. We, the members of the Parliamentary Assembly cooperate and try to find common ground, despite existing conflicts, said Mottonen.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 12:12 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Membership in the European Parliament does not give anyone the right to violate laws of another country, rules and principles of international law, and does not give anyone immunity, said Hikmat Hajiyev, the spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Such persons, members of the European Parliament, as a citizen of Luxembourg Frank Engel, a citizen of the Republic of Cyprus Eleni Theocharous and a citizen of the Czech Republic Jaromir Stetina, call for violation of Azerbaijans internationally recognized integrity and are constantly working for these purposes, propagandizing the illegal regime created by Armenia as a result of aggression and occupation of Azerbaijans lands, he said.

Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan put three members of the European Parliament - Frank Engel, Eleni Theocharous and Jaromir Stetina - on the international wanted list. They are suspected in repeated crossing of the state border of Azerbaijan beyond checkpoints in order to promote the unrecognized regime called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" at the international level.

"Despite the fact that all the international community, including the EU, recognizes the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, these persons, supporting Armenia and the fictional regime, are trying to nullify the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the peaceful settlement of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict.

They are trying to deliberately aggravate the situation in the region and carry out lobbying activities in favor of Armenia. Abusing the membership in the European Parliament, they undertake these illegal actions which contradict the universal values that form the basis of the EU and the European Parliament," the statement said.

These persons attempts to hide behind "democracy" and membership in the European Parliament, made after a criminal case was initiated against them, do not correspond to any moral, ethical and legal norms, Hajiyev said.

Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions.

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.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 12:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Azerbaijan, has no complaints on his health state and conditions of detention, the bloggers new lawyer told Trend.

The lawyer was hired by the bloggers family. The lawyer confirmed that he has signed a contract with the mother of Alexander Lapshin.

His mother arrived in Baku and signed a contract with me. I currently protect the rights of Alexander Lapshin, the lawyer said on February 23.

Safar Huseynov is a lawyer appointed by the Azerbaijani state, and I have been appointed by his family. There is no information yet if Lapshin refused Huseynovs services.

Blogger Lapshin will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Lapshin, who owns citizenships of several countries, 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. The blogger was arrested in Belarus and later was extradited from Minsk to Baku.

The lawyer added that he has already submitted his warrant to the investigation, met with Lapshin and inquired about the conditions of his detention and his health. He has no complaints, the lawyer said.

He added that the case is being followed by the Russian and Belarusian embassies in Baku. The lawyer said that the investigation is still ongoing and can be completed in the near future.

Earlier, representatives of the Russian and Israeli embassies in Azerbaijan met with Lapshin. After the meeting, the embassies confirmed that Lapshin has no complaints about conditions of detention. Representatives of the ICRC and Azerbaijan Ombudsman Office also met the blogger.

Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of unauthorized visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law.

Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 16:04 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Despite a ceasefire reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan back in 1994 following the Karabakh War, Azerbaijani civilians, including children, still became the victims of Armenian aggression.

Since the fragile ceasefire, 32 children were the victims of Armenian terror - 13 of them were killed and 19 were wounded, said Hijran Huseynova, the Chairperson of Azerbaijan State Committee for Family, Women and Children`s Affairs.

She announced about this while addressing an event "Khojaly tragedy: unforgotten history and innocent children" devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Khojaly Genocide.

Huseynova stressed that the killings of Azerbaijani children by Armenians continue to this day. Armenia wants to annex Karabakh and is ready to commit any crime and atrocity for this, she said.

Residents of the frontline settlements are frequently wounded and killed in their homes or on their farms due to frequent ceasefire violations by the Armenian armed forces. The Armenian militaries even dont hesitate to kill the innocent children.

In March 2011, nine-year-old Fariz Badalov was shot in the head by an Armenian sniper while playing in the courtyard in Aghdam region. In July of the same year, 13-year-old Azerbaijani girl Aygun Shahmaliyeva fell victim to the Armenia`s inhumane and immoral policy in the Alibayli village. She tragically died as a result of the explosion of a toy with an explosive device, which the Armenian side deliberately dropped into the river flowing to the village.

Huseynova further stressed that everything possible should be made to bring perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide to justice.

Azerbaijans Human Rights Commissioner Elmira Suleymanova, in turn, said she does not believe that only 63 children and 106 women were killed by Armenians in Khojaly.

Losses were more. We must raise this issue once again, as then there were no such opportunities to register everything properly, she said at the event.

Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire by Armenia 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.

197 Khojaly residents are registered as missing, said Ismayil Akhundov, the head of the Working Group of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons.

He said that the testimonies show that 95 of these 197 residents of Khojaly, including 12 children, were captured by Armenian militaries.

Some 3,868 Azerbaijanis went missing during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 1,437 people were released from captivity and 210 of them were children, he 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.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 15:36 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The Armenian foreign minister hasnt left chances to positively assess the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made the remark in Baku on February 24, while commenting on the conflict settlement process and upcoming meetings to be held in this regard.

Mammadyarov noted that he is not optimistic about the negotiations on the conflict resolution.

Armenia continues to accuse Azerbaijan of unconstructive position, while the Armenian side tries in every possible way to interpret the principles of international law, Mammadyarov said.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly voiced its position on the peaceful settlement of the conflict, and it is clear who create obstacles to this.

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 minister further added that he intends to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement during an official visit to Moscow in March.

"During my visit to Moscow, we will discuss with the Russian side, which for many years is acting as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, further actions on the conflict settlement, he said.

Russia along with the U.S. and France is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 16:55 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Azerbaijani Parliament has held a plenary session devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Khojaly Genocide, which was committed by Armenias army against Azerbaijani civilians in 1992.

Armenian armed forces occupied the town of Khojaly in Azerbaijan on February 26 1992, and killed more than 600 civilians, wounded more than 1,000 civilians; and captured more than 1,200 civilians.

Parliamentary Speaker Ogtay Asadov, addressing the session, stated that the Khojaly Genocide is the most terrible event to which the Azerbaijani people were subjected in the 20th century.

The Khojaly genocide is the bloodiest page of the policy of ethnic cleansing, genocide and aggression carried out against Azerbaijani people, he said, noting that such a policy has been pursued for more than 200 years against Azerbaijan.

The organizers are some external forces wishing to realize their interests in the region, and the performers are the Armenian chauvinists, the speaker said.

Asadov regretted that up to a certain period, Armenian chauvinists, relying on their patrons, achieved their goals.

An Armenian state was established on the historical Azerbaijani territories, and Armenians were groundlessly provided with autonomy in Nagorno-Karabakh, he stressed.

The speaker also reminded that Azerbaijanis were expelled from both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

For over 25 years, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory is under occupation. During the land seizures, the Armenians committed brutal actions against the peaceful Azerbaijani population, Asadov said, reminding that over 80 civilians were killed in the Garadagli village.

Later, the Azerbaijani Parliament passed a bill on the Khojaly genocide.

The bill includes an appeal to the parliaments of foreign countries and international parliamentary organizations to assess the massacre of Azerbaijanis on February 25-26, 1992 in the Khojaly town of Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region as a genocide.

The document also recommends the relevant Azerbaijani governmental and non-governmental organizations to join efforts for spreading the information about the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the exposure of deceitful Armenian propaganda.

The bill urges the law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan to continue measures to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide.

The town of Khojaly was situated within the administrative borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Its population constituted over 7,000 people.

Late into the night of February 25, 1992, Khojaly came under intensive fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by Armenian armed forces. The Armenian forces, supported by the ex-Soviet 366th regiment, completed the surrounding of the town already isolated due to ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population of the neighboring regions. The joint forces occupied the town, which was ruined by heavy artillery shelling.

Thousands of fleeing civilians were ambushed by the Armenian forces. Punitive teams of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh defense army reached the unprotected civilians to slaughter them, mutilating and scalping some of the bodies. 613 people were killed, including 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, and 25 children lost both parents, while 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 17:08 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The West continues to ignore one of the awful crimes of the 20th century - the Khojaly genocide, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus wrote in his Twitter account on February 24.

He stated that the international community should no longer remain indifferent to the inhuman crimes committed on the night of February 26, 1992 in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly.

Kurtulmus stressed that Armenia must withdraw its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

"Turkey and Azerbaijan will always support each other, he added.

Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire by Armenia from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces in 1992.

As many as 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.

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.

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 10:08 (UTC+04:00)

A new print edition of the AZERNEWS online newspaper was released on February 24

The new edition includes articles about:

Global ranking lists Azerbaijan among safest countries in the world; Azerbaijani trade house registered in Belarus; BP presents 2016 year-end results; Khojaly Genocide honored in Ankara, etc.

AZERNEWS is an associate member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
24 February 2017 10:12 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has congratulated President of the Republic of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of Estonia  Independence Day, said President Aliyev in his congratulatory letter.

On this remarkable day, I wish you robust health, success in your activities and the friendly people of Estonia lasting peace and prosperity, added the president.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 10:45 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

A documentary "Endless Corridor" has been screened at the University of Siena, Italy on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Khojaly genocide.

The screening was co-organized by the Azerbaijani Embassy in Italy, the European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS) and Italy-Azerbaijan Youth Association as part of Justice for Khojaly campaign initiated by Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva, Azertac reported.

The officials of Siena Mayor`s Office, researchers, public figures and students attended the event.

First Secretary of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Italy Erkin Heydarli, addressing the event, highlighted the Khojaly Massacre, the worst war crime in the Nagorno-Karabakh war.

Azerbaijani people have endured ethnic cleansing and genocide by Armenian nationalists. This bloody tragedy perpetrated in the town of Khojaly on February 25-26,1992. More precisely, 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.

Other speakers at the event included teacher of the Sapienza University of Rome Daniel Pommier and professor of the University of Siena Alessandro Donato.

Endless Corridor" pictures two journalists, Richard Lapaitis from Lithuania and Victoria Ivleva from Russia -- the true witnesses of the tragedy, who returned to Azerbaijan 20 years after the horrific Khojaly Massacre. They journey to find the survivors they had first met in the aftermath of the Armenian attack. The film includes interviews with the survivors and spine chilling admissions from the perpetrators.

The documentary was produced by Aleksandras Brokas (Lithuania) and the Grammy Award winner Gerald Rafshoon (US).

British BAFTA award winning actor Jeremy Irons narrated the film.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 11:20 (UTC+04:00)

A video footage dedicated to the Khojaly Genocide will be shown on the flights of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) to honor the 25th anniversary of this bloody massacre.

The campaign will be implemented based on a joint project of AZAL and Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC).

The video footage will be shown in English language on all aircrafts of AZAL equipped with overhead monitors (located above the passenger seats) during the flights on February 26.

The aim of the campaign is to provide foreign citizens using AZAL aircrafts with information about the Khojaly Genocide.

The Armenian military forces committed genocide acts in Azerbaijan's Khojaly town with the population of 7,000 on February 26, 1992. 613 civilians were killed, 487 people became disabled and 1,275 people were taken hostage during the Khojaly genocide.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 16:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Camal

Azerbaijan and Djibouti have voiced commitment to further expand the existing cooperation and partnership, as the issues of mutual interest were mulled during Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssoufs visit to Baku.

Youssouf who met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on February 24, expressed his confidence that the visit will open up new opportunities between the two countries.

Mammadyarov, in turn, assessed the visit as an historic one, noting that it will open a new chapter in the bilateral relations.

The ministers discussed the current level of bilateral relations, issues on the agenda and prospects of the development of cooperation in various fields, noting the importance of expanding legal-treaty base, as well as enlarging the economic-trade relations between Azerbaijan and Djibouti.

They hailed the level of political relations, in particular fruitful cooperation within international organizations. The successful cooperation within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) between the two countries and joining of Djibouti to OIC Contact Group on Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan was also noted.

The Djibouti minister stated that his country always stands by brotherly and friendly Azerbaijani people.

The sides emphasized that the favorable geographical and strategic position of both countries could provide more opportunities to strengthen further cooperation in the fields of air and sea transport. Cooperation has already been launched between Baku International Sea Trade Port and Djibouti Port, as well as Azerbaijan Airlines and relevant authorities of Djibouti.

Mammadyarov and Ali Youssouf voiced belief that the recent intensification of contacts between the two countries will contribute to the bilateral cooperation.

Noting that the Azerbaijani president signed a decree on declaring the year of 2017 the Year of Islamic Solidarity in Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov stressed that this year Azerbaijan is going to host the Islamic Solidarity Games.

He expressed hopes for the active participation of Djibouti athletes in the Games scheduled for May 12-22.

The sides also discussed the cooperation in humanitarian area and issues for the development of parliamentary relations. Cooperation in the fields of medicine, exchange of students and training of professionals in certain areas were also among the discussed topics.

Following the meeting ministers signed the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral consultations between Foreign Ministries.

Azerbaijan is making a huge contribution to Islamic solidarity, and declaration of 2017 as the Year of Islamic Solidarity in Azerbaijan is a vivid proof of that, said Ali Youssouf while addressing a press-conference following the meeting.

The minister further said that his country is interested in developing comprehensive cooperation with Azerbaijan, and the great distance between the two countries shouldnt be a problem for this.

Cooperation in cargo transportation is being discussed currently, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said, noting that through cooperation with Djibouti, Azerbaijan can enter the African market.

Elmar Mammadyarov, in turn, said that relations between Azerbaijan and Djibouti have been in the process of development for many years.

Djibouti has always supported Azerbaijans position in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Mammadyarov, mentioning that the Djiboutian parliament adopted a declaration condemning the Khojaly genocide.

Mammadyarov further noted that the two countries need to raise the level of economic relations to the level of political relations.

Mammadyarov said Djibouti plans to sign an agreement on freight traffic with Azerbaijan. There are plans to cooperate within the free economic zone in Djibouti, he noted.

The two countries also intend to develop cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, particularly, the education of Djiboutian youth at Azerbaijani universities is being discussed, added Mammadyarov.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 12:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project will significantly strengthen ties between Azerbaijan and Europe, believes Valeh Alasgarov, Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament.

This project is very important for both Europe and Azerbaijan. This is a new source of gas for Europe and a new way both for Azerbaijani gas and gas of other Caspian countries, Alasgarov said while talking to Trend.

Naturally, this project will significantly strengthen both economic and political relations of Azerbaijan with European countries.

The Southern Gas Corridor envisages transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to Europe via Georgia and Turkey.

The gas will be exported through expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

Alasgarov added that the project will also boost Azerbaijans significance as a transit country.

This project will allow transporting to Europe not only Azerbaijani gas, he said, mentioning that the SGC will also allow Azerbaijan to become a transit country for transportation of Turkmen and Iranian gas.

This will additionally increase the economic and political weight of Azerbaijan in the world, added Alasgarov.

Currently, the implementation of one of the main segments of the Southern Gas Corridor  Trans-Anatolian Pipeline  is complete by roughly 65 percent. Another segment, which is called South-Caucasus pipeline is close to 80 percent. And implementation the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, which is called TAP, is around 34-35 percent. The development of the Shahdeniz Gas field, which is the biggest or one of the biggest fields in the world, is already 90 percent done. The goal is to deliver first new gas from Azerbaijan to the markets next year, and complete this project by 2020.

First gas deliveries to Europe planned in 2020. The cost of the work on all elements of the Southern Gas Corridor is estimated at almost $40 billion.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 18:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Reputed financial institutions of the world continue to demonstrate their interest in the Southern Gas Corridor, the mega project that will bring Caspian gas into the European Union by 2020.

The European Investment Bank may become the next organization to finance Trans Adriatic and Trans Anatolian natural gas pipelines. The issue was on agenda of the meeting dedicated to the financing of the SGC project.

The meeting gathered together Azerbaijans energy minister Natig Aliyev, head of department at EIB Flavia Palanza, chief executive director at the Southern Gas Corridor CJSC Afgan Isayev and others.

Aliyev appreciated the participation of international financial structures in the third ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council held in Baku on February 23.

2017 is the decisive date for the implementation of the SGC project. Timely realization of the project depends on financial support, he said.

Aliyev went on to add that regardless all economic difficulties in the world, the project have not faced any problems in financing.

He noted that within a year the project has managed to secure financing from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Palanza, in turn, said that to make a decision the bank should have a high level of awareness about the project.

She expressed her interest in such issues as gas reserves, export opportunities, domestic demand, mentioning that regular exchange of information is of upmost importance.

The Southern Gas Corridor envisages transportation of some 10 bcm of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to Europe via Georgia and Turkey. The gas will be exported through expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of TANAP and TAP pipelines. Total cost of the SGC project is not expected to exceed $40 billion.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 13:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Meeting with Russian army's General Staff Valery Gerasimov in Azerbaijan does not mean the change in U.S. policy towards Russia, the U.S. Marine Corps General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford stated, RIA Novosti reported.

"There is a law [in the U.S.] which prevents our cooperation in the military sphere," said Dunford at the Brookings Institution in Washington, referring to the decision of the previous administration of Barack Obama to reduce such contacts.

"The meeting with my Russian counterpart last week took place not in the context of any changes in policy and had no relation to the U.S. administration," he added.

Last week Russian and American top military officers have made an attempt to reopen a military dialogue between the countries. Dunford had a meeting with Gerasimov last week in Azerbaijans capital, Baku.

It marked the first time when the face-to-face meeting between military chiefs from Washington and Moscow has been held since 2014.

The two sides exchanged their views on the state of U.S.-Russian military relations and of the international security situation in Europe, the Middle East, and other key regions, the Defense Department said in a statement after the meeting.

Defense officials said that American and Russian officials would continue to try to deconflict their efforts in Syria and that the two generals had agreed to enhance communications on such efforts.

A Pentagon said ahead of the meeting that discussions would focus 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.

As the Russian Defense Ministry stated earlier, the parties have identified the vector work to improve the safety of military operations of the Russian Federation and the United States, to reduce tensions and risks of incidents.

The meeting took many months and great efforts to arrange and its importance is a matter of debates for military experts.

Some experts see strengthening the communication between the American and Russian militaries as a very important step, given the proximity with which they operate in Syria, the Black Sea and the Baltic region, among other potential flash points.

In any case, this meeting may become a useful step in reducing the risks of confrontation and perhaps in laying the groundwork to eventually overcome some policy differences.

Meanwhile, U.S. president seems to be satisfied with the outcomes of first contacts between Russian and American sides.

Trump is pleased with the results of first talks between officials of the new administration in Washington and Russia, White House Spokesperson Sean Spicer said at a press briefing on Thursday.

The spokesperson was referring to the meeting of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Germany as well as to the meeting of Dunford and his Russian counterpart Gerasimov in Azerbaijan.

Spicer added that the discussions that took place recently were productive. He also touched upon the potential meeting of the two presidents, however there are no updates on it.

U.S.-Russian ties plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War in recent years amid opposition over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. However, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken of his desire to restore the ties which have been strained recently.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 12:45 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Kazakhstan imported 31.1 tons of jewelries worth $31.1 million in 2016, Energyprom.kz monitoring agency reported.

The import volume decreased by 68.3 percent, import in monetary terms decreased by 29. 3 percent in the reporting period compared to 2015.

Silver jewelry on Kazakhstans retail market rose in price by 6 percent over the year and hit 1,302 tenge (312.6 tenge = $1) per gram in January 2017.

The most high prices for silver jewelry were in the cities of Atyrau (1,734 tenge per gram, 10.2 percent up year over year), Almaty (1,724 tenge per gram, 4.2 percent up) and Kyzylorda (1,608 tenge per gram, 1.9 percent up).

Gold jewelry increased in price by 12.1 percent in 2016 and hit 14,100 tenge per gram in Jan. 2017.

The most expensive gold jewelry are in the cities of Astana (20,900 tenge per gram, 54 percent increase year over year), Ust-Kamenogorsk (17,900 tenge per gram, 3.1 percent up) and Aktau (17,000 tenge per gram, 2 percent up).

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 15:42 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyayev hailed the positive dynamics in the development and strengthening of the Uzbek-Kazakh strategic partnership relations, including in trade and economic areas.

The Uzbek-Kazakh ties mulled in Tashkent on February 23 as President Mirziyoyev received the First Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Askar Mamin, who arrived in the country to participate in the meeting of Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission on bilateral cooperation.

The President emphasized the importance of further expanding of fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, particularly through promotion and support of specific projects in trade, technology, and transport-communication sectors.

The sides noted the need for the establishment and strengthening of close contacts between the provinces of the two countries, which will enhance trade and cultural exchange.

Mamin, in turn, confirmed the willingness of the Republic of Kazakhstan to expand full-scale cooperation with our country.

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Republic of Uzbekistan were established on November 23, 1992. The legal framework of bilateral cooperation includes more than 100 documents, covering almost all spheres of interstate relations.

The Joint Intergovernmental Commission on bilateral cooperation under the chairmanship of the First Deputies of the Heads of the Governments of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has been operating to expand Kazakh-Uzbek trade and economic relations.

The bilateral document called the Basic Directions of Trade and Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Uzbekistan was signed at the outcomes of the negotiations in September 2016, as part of which, the parties agreed on the necessity to sign the intergovernmental Strategy for Economic Cooperation for 2017-2018.

Particularly, the sides underlined the need to eliminate barriers, stimulate bilateral trade and made arrangements to organize a business forum in 2017 with the participation of Kazakh and Uzbek companies.

They also reached an agreement on informational cooperation of customs bodies of both countries.

Trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan amounted to more than $2 billion in 2016. More than 230 enterprises with the participation of Kazakh partners operate in Uzbekistan.

The major products of Kazakh export to Uzbekistan are oil and its processed products, products of flour and cereal industry, grain, ferrous and nonferrous metals, inorganic chemistry products, food products.

Energy resources (gas), cotton fiber, chemical products and plastics, fertilizers, fruits and vegetables, and other goods are imported to Kazakhstan from Uzbekistan.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 17:29 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Georgian citizens will be granted visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) member states from March 1, 2017.

The signing ceremony of the agreement on visa-free regime between Georgia and the European Union countries will be held in Brussels on March 1, 2017, Georgia Online reported with reference to Rado Liberty reporter Rikard Jozwiak.

"The ceremony of signing the agreement on a visa-free regime for Georgia and on the mechanism of temporary suspension of the visa-free entry will be held in Brussels on March 1, he wrote.

On March 9, 2016, the European Commission submitted to the European Parliament and the Council a legislative proposal on visa liberalization for Georgia. The same was done for Ukraine on April 20, as well as for Turkey and Kosovo on May 4.

At first, it was assumed that visa-free regime for Ukraine and Georgia will be discussed in the same package, but Members of European Parliament (MEPs) offered to divide the countries.

In late 2016, the EU approved the completion of the legislative process of providing the citizens of Ukraine and Georgia with the visa-free regime with the EU member states.

The prospect of easier travel to Europe has been used by the pro-Western governments in Kiev and Tbilisi to win popular backing for painful EU-sponsored reforms.

Negotiations on visa liberalization for Ukraine and Georgia began back in 2008 as part of the Eastern Partnership Program. Georgia entered the practical phase of those talks in 2012 as it prepared for associate EU membership. Ukraine reached that stage in 2014. Ukraine abolished visa requirements for EU citizens back in 2005, and Georgia followed this example in 2006.

According to the Eastern Partnership Visa Liberalization Index prepared by the Visa-free Europe Coalition and the Stefan Batory Foundation, Armenia, Belarus, and Azerbaijan are the countries which are next in line to gain ratification of visa-free regimes.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 16:35 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

New hydro power plant with a capacity of 24.9 MW will be built on Turgusun river in the East Kazakhstan region, the Kazakh Development Bank reported.

Turgusun HPP-1 will produce up to 79.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

The Turgusun hydro power plant in Zyryanovsk district of East Kazakhstan region will produce 23 percent of the electricity demanded by the district and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 680 tons per year.

The project will cost 11.6 billion tenge (312.6 tenges $1), 5 billion tenge of this sum will be provided by the Development Bank of Kazakhstan.

The project is financed within the State Program on industrial-innovative development in 2015-2019. The loan term is 12 years.

To date, all the infrastructure required for the hydro power plant has been built - roads, power lines, bridges. Construction of the hydro power plant will start in 2017 and expected to be completed by 2018.

China International Water and Electric Corporation is a general contractor of the project. It also supplies equipment for the plant.

The demand for electricity in East Kazakhstan region is increasing. In 2015 electricity shortage in the region hit 2.2 billion kilowatt hours. It was covered by supplies from other regions of Kazakhstan and import from Russia.

Development Bank of Kazakhstan is state owned bank which promotes sustainable development of Kazakhstans national economy through investments to non-energy sector of the country.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 17:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 9-10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

I confirm. Negotiations [between Putin and Erdogan] have been planned, Peskov told journalists on February 24, RIA Novosti reported.

The Turkish leader will take part in the Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council.

The leaders are expected to discuss the situation in Syria, as well as boosting up the bilateral relations and trade, especially in the fields of energy. The approval of a visa exemption for Turkish businessmen and politicians is also among the planned topics for the discussions.

Both leaders met earlier in October 2016 in Istanbul, where they discussed restoring trade, the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, and cooperation in Syria.

The Ankara-Moscow relations appear to be on the mend these days, after a drastic worsening in November 2015, when a Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down by the Turkish Air Force. Russia imposed a wave of economic sanctions against Turkey in response to the incident, with the two countries requiring over a year to mend relations.

Erdogan visited Russia in August 2016  his first meeting with Putin since the downing of the Russian jet. Both sides agreed to restore and develop relations.

In December, Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov was shot and killed during a speech at an exhibition in Ankara by Mevlut Mert Altintas, a Turkish police officer. Erdogan condemned the attack and called for an investigation.

In February 2017, Russian airstrikes accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers and injured 11 others in northern Syria. Putin immediately apologized for the incident. Ankara said it was satisfied with the Kremlin's actions and statements.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
24 February 2017 17:52 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura met rival negotiators for peace talks in Geneva on February 23, but even gathering them at the same negotiation table appeared uncertain as hopes remained low for a breakthrough in the Syrian crisis.

De Mistura held separate meetings with the regime and opposition delegates, notably to discuss the agenda and the format for negotiations. If talks proceed, they are expected to last several rounds, therefore the exact timeframe for completing the talks is yet unknown.

The head of the Syrian government delegation, Permanent Representative of Syrian Arab Republic to the UN Bashar Jaafari told reporters that he had discussed only the format of the upcoming meetings on Friday with the UN Secretary-General Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, TASS reported.

"Today I had a meeting with Secretary General of the UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura during which we discussed the format of the upcoming meetings, he said stressing that only the format of further negotiations was discussed.

After the meeting with de Mistura, Bashar Jaafari said that the UN Special Envoy presented the list of questions to Syrian delegation for the analysis at the next meeting, the time of which has not been yet determined.

UN Special Envoy handed us a document to study for the next meeting, he said.

Jaafari also said that the date of the new meeting with Staffan de Mistura will be agreed through diplomatic channels.

"Our new meeting and its format will be held in accordance with the document, further negotiations, and the date will be agreed through diplomatic channels, in collaboration with the office of Staffan de Mistura," Jaafari said.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Syrian Arab Republic Faisal Miqdad stated that Moscow does not intend in any way to interfere in the process of developing a new Syrian constitution, this task should be fulfilled by the Syrians themselves.

He stressed that "those who try to interfere in the internal affairs of Syria through military means encourage terrorism, murder and destruction" in an Arab country.

The diplomat also expressed the opinion that the events taking place in Syria include the interests of Israel, which seeks to get rid of the legitimate leadership of the SAR and thereby deprive Iran of an important ally in the Middle East.

"If not for this factor, then former U.S. administration would not support the mercenaries and terrorists, and Europe would not have invested in terrorism," the deputy Foreign Minister said.

In conclusion, he said that the so-called "Free Syrian Army", armed groups supported by Turkey which are involved in the operation against the ISIS militants in northern Syria, in fact, do not differ from the terrorists.

The talks in Geneva were expected to be focused on a new constitution, free and fair elections administered under the supervision of the United Nations, and transparent and accountable governance.

In January, during the first round of talks in Astana, Russian delegation presented the parties with a draft of the country's future constitution. According to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, thus Russia has opened the debate on the future content of the basic law.

Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed rebel groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since 30 September 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.

The UN has repeatedly tried and failed to end the Syrian conflict, which has killed 300,000 and displaced 11 million since it began five years ago.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
David A. Torres, a Bakersfield attorney, is a member of the Kern County Fair board. Another View is a response to a column, op-ed or editorial published in The Californian.
HAMILTON  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 noncommercial use on specific days.

There was consensus on the alternative, said Pat Saffel, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks regional fisheries manager. 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 noncommercial 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 anglers 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 the 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 Wildlife 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.
A Billings contractor and his company, CMG Construction Inc., have agreed to admit to federal crimes in a corruption probe involving the Chippewa Cree Tribe in northcentral Montana amid the pending sale of the company.

Kevin McGovern, president of CMG, is expected to plead guilty to wire fraud and to theft from an Indian tribal organization as part of a deal with prosecutors to settle three separate indictments.

In addition, CMG is to admit to a false claim charge in a case that accused it and McGovern of conspiring with others to defraud the Federal Emergency Management Agency of money it provided to the tribe to help with recovery from a 2010 flood that destroyed the tribes health clinic.

The indictments accused McGovern, CMG and another of McGovern's companies, MC Equipment Holdings LLC, of a series of crimes to defraud the federal government and the Chippewa Cree Tribe on the Rocky Boys Reservation.

Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a prison sentence for McGovern that will not exceed six years.

The agreements are outlined in documents unsealed this week by U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of Great Falls.

Morris set a plea change hearing in the cases for March 1.

The plea agreements are contingent on the judges approval at sentencing.

Unsealed

Morris, who had temporarily sealed the documents, ultimately rejected a defense effort to keep the records sealed. The judge said that sealing the documents would violate the publics and the press right to access records under the First Amendment and would violate a victims right to be included in court processes under the Crime Victim Rights Act.

In an order filed Wednesday, Morris said there was no compelling reason to seal the plea agreements because McGovern already had notified the prospective buyer of his company of his pending plea change.

McGovern, through his attorneys, had argued that while the buyer of CMG had been informed of the pending settlement, immediate publication of the plea agreements would have a negative consequence on the prospective sale.

The result, the defense said, would be the loss of jobs for 150 CMG employees and provide less money for McGovern and the government for fines and restitution. The buyers identity was not disclosed.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Weldon had objected to sealing the documents, citing the publics right to know and victims rights. Sealing the records also would only delay the inevitable, he said in court records.

McGovern and his attorneys, Mark Parker of Billings and Jeremy Yellin of Havre, could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

The cases

Based in Billings and in Liberty Hill, Texas, CMG is a privately owned company with McGovern as its president and sole principal, the companys website said.

CMG formed in 2004 and specializes in site preparation and construction and serves Montana, the western Dakotas and northern Wyoming. Locally, the company was a subcontractor on the new $80 million James F. Battin Federal Courthouse in Billings. And last year, Rocky Mountain College hired CMG as the general contractor for major construction projects underway at the college.

The pending settlement is the latest in a series of successful prosecutions by the Montana U.S. Attorneys Office and the Department of Interiors Office of the Inspector General into massive corruption involving tribal members and non-tribal members.

The investigations involved, among other things, contracts for work involving funding for the tribe from FEMA and from the Bureau of Reclamations water project to bring potable water to the Rocky Boys Reservation.

McGoverns settlement with prosecutors comes as he and CMG were to be sentenced on Feb. 16 after being convicted by a jury in November on conspiracy and bribery charges. Morris recently denied McGoverns request for a new trial.

The bribery case involved a contract kickback scheme in which prosecutors said McGovern and CMG conspired with former tribal official Tony Belcourt to get preferential treatment on FEMA contracts for projects related to the flooding and destruction of the tribes health clinic.

In 2011, Belcourt awarded McGovern and CMG a sole-source, noncompetitive and unadvertised contract for projects, prosecutors said. In return, McGovern and his company paid kickbacks to Belcourt and other tribal members.

Belcourt, who ran the tribes construction company and was a former state legislator, is serving a federal sentence for conviction on corruption charges. Belcourt testified for the government at McGoverns trial.

McGovern and MC Equipment Holdings were set for a jury trial on Feb. 13 on charges alleging they had conspired to sell the tribe an asphalt plant at a premium price with the promise that McGovern would pay Belcourt a finders fee.

McGovern and CMG also had denied charges in a third indictment accusing them of conspiring to file false claims with FEMA, which had given the tribe $11.6 million in flood-recovery funding.

Plea deal

Plea agreements in the asphalt plant case calls for McGovern and MC Equipment Holdings to plead guilty to wire fraud and to theft from a tribal organization. Three other counts are to be dismissed.

The deal says the prosecution will recommend the sentences in the asphalt plant case and bribery case run concurrently. The prosecution also agreed to recommend that a prison term not exceed six years.

In addition, MC Equipment Holdings is to authorize the release of financial documents to prosecutors to help determine the company's ability to satisfy any financial obligation the court may order.

The agreement did not specifically address fines or restitution.

In the FEMA false claims case, the plea agreement calls for a similar release of financial information by CMG to the prosecution.

In another related case that was part of the broader investigation, MT Waterworks LLC, a Billings water pipe supply company founded by Belcourt, McGovern and Kent Boos, the company president, paid a $350,000 fine in September for conviction in corruption investigation. Prosecutors said the company falsely claimed an Indian preference to get federal contracts from the Chippewa Cree Tribe on the Bureau of Reclamation water project.
Supervisory Board of City Service SE calls for extraordinary meeting of shareholders of the company, with agenda to approve expansion of Management Board from 1 member to 7.



Supervisory Board will propose appointment of Edvinas Paulauskas, Executive Manager of City Service SE, Vytautas Turonis, Executive Manager for Lithuania, and Tomas Kleiva, Financial Director, as a new Members of the Board.



T. Kleiva will act as Member of the Board instead of Jonas Janukenas until extraordinary meeting of shareholders of the company. J. Janukenas, who also acted as CEO of City Service SE, left the group of companies on February 23.



On February 23, subsidiary of City Service SE, active in Spain, Concentra Servicios y Mantenimiento S.A., enterprise code A-84659614, headquarters registered at Avenida Leganes 56, Alcorcon 28923, Madrid (further  Concentra), has submitted a petition for bankruptcy to official institutions in Spain, authorized to initiate the bankruptcy procedure. According to Spanish law, procedure of bankruptcy starts no longer than in 4 months after petition is received. City Service SE will issue a separate announcement after actual start of bankruptcy procedure of Concentra.



Concentra has been operating as part of City Service group since its acquisition on September 25, 2013.



The decision to ask for initiation of bankruptcy of Concentra has been made after evaluation of commercial property administration and cleaning sector prospects in Spain. Since 2015, market conditions in these sectors remain largely unfavorable, dominated by further market shrinking trends, inflexible employment regulations and delayed settlements from clients. Economy in Spain, though having shown signs of recovery in 2013, remains stagnated. Under these conditions, Concentra has been operating with increasing loss. Accordingly, City Service SE decided to withdraw from loss-generating activities by freezing all active operations of Concentra and thus minimizing all costs.



The revenue of Concentra in 2016 amounted to EUR 38.1 million. In 2016, Concentra operations constituted 22% of the Groups total revenue.



Direct effect of bankruptcy of Concentra on City Service SE stand-alone data will result in impairment of loans provided and investment in a subsidiary amounting to EUR 4.8 million. Furthermore, there is a potential risk that EUR 1.2 million of City Service SE guarantees provided to Concentra may be realized.



City Service SE will continue operations in Spain through Grupo Aresi de Inversiones (SPAIN) S.L., a subsidiary in residential facilities market. In 2016, City Service SE expanded area of managed residential facilities in Spain to 3.1 million sq. meters. Active expansion took place in regions of Alicante, Murcia and Madrid. For 2017, expansion of residential facility management activities to cities of Barcelona and Zaragoza is planned.





Vilius Mackonis,

Director of Marketing and Communication Department

+370 5 239 4900


A Wyoming man has agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder charges and other crimes in the July 2015 shooting of a Pryor couple who had stopped on a nearby road to help him.

A plea agreement filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Billings said Jesus Yeizon Deniz Mendoza, 19, of Worland, will plead guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, assault with intent to commit murder, three counts of using a firearm in a crime of violence and assault with a dangerous weapon.

The agreement calls for the prosecutor to seek consecutive life and maximum sentences.

Mendozas attorney, Assistant Federal Defender David Merchant, filed a motion Thursday for Mendoza to change his plea to guilty.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters set the plea change hearing for March 7.

The deal calls for the prosecution to recommend that the judge impose consecutive sentences of life on the murder and use of a firearm counts, 20 years on the assault count and 10 years on the assault with a dangerous weapon count.

The plea agreement also calls for the prosecution to dismiss an indictment that charges Mendoza with two counts of first degree murder and other crimes.

Mendoza was set for a March 27 jury trial in the shooting deaths of Jason and Tana Shane and the wounding of their daughter on July 29, 2015.

Mendozas attorney, Assistant Federal Defender David Merchant had said in court records that Mendoza would rely on an insanity defense at trial.

Mendoza, Merchant said, had ingested a considerable amount of a drug that can cause psychotic episodes before he was arrested. Mendoza also was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, depression and post-traumatic syndrome, he said.

Merchant had said evidence suggested that Mendoza had been using the drug spice, sometimes referred to as synthetic marijuana, before his arrest. He did not specify when Mendoza took the drug.

During a competency hearing for Mendoza in December, a federal Bureau of Prisons psychologist said she did not believe Mendozas use of spice had incapacitated him based on his behavior and answers when he was being interrogated by investigators, court records and new reports said.

The psychologist described Mendozas use of the drug as severe and that he also was addicted to methamphetamine.

The Shane family had been attempting to help Mendoza on Pryor Gap Road, on the Crow Reservation, when he shot them with a rifle, prosecutors said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Suek, who filed the plea deal, identified the firearm as a Marlin, Model 60, .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle.

Law enforcement officers arrested Mendoza about 2  hours later in Wyoming where he was spotted driving the Shanes car.
All across the country, Republican lawmakers are coming home to angry constituents demanding answers on the future of healthcare coverage. Among those lawmakers is Representative Gus Bilirakis, who has heard from hundreds of people asking him not to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare.

About 50 protesters at Bilirakis's office in Tarpon Springs today

Bilirakis: "Obamacare is broken. There is only one provider in Pasco County."

Trump administration dismisses protests as paid for by Democrats

Specifically, Bilirakis has held three town hall meetings in District 12 over the past few weeks. He's been there to listen to people's concerns, but those opinions have not affected his stance.



"It's democracy in action," said Rep. Bilirakis. "I have a duty to listen to my district, but I will tell you that Obamacare is broken. There is only one provider in Pasco County. That's not good. People need choices. Premiums are too high. Deductibles are too high"



Protesters were back at Bilirakis's office in Tarpon Springs on Thursday. About 50 people showed up to make clear to Bilirakis their opinions.



"You can't just take away health care from millions of people and leave them stranded," said Sarah Hurtado of New Port Richey. "It's a situation of life and death."



On the national level, the Trump administration has dismissed protests across the country as largely paid for by Democratic operatives.



Protesters outside of Representative Bilirakis's office on Thursday denied that assertion.



"No. Not at all," said resident George Pope. "I've just been inspired by the change in administration and what has been going on. I don't think even Trump supporters realized what they were gonna get."
HELENA  Despite questions of constitutionality, the Senate passed a bill on second reading on Thursday to effectively prohibit the abortion of a viable fetus in all cases.

Both sides of the aisle acknowledged the legislation was sensitive and a difficult topic to discuss, but approved it 32-18 along party lines.

Senate Bill 282, introduced by Albert Olszewski, R-Kalispell, would establish viability at 24 weeks and prohibit an abortion after that point, even if the pregnant womans life is at risk. In that case, the woman's doctor would have to induce labor or deliver the fetus by Caesarean section and do everything medically possible to support the fetus.

A violation of the law would be a felony. Olszewski introduced an amendment that would give doctors the option to use their best judgment on whether a fetus is viable at 24 weeks.

Democrats say the bill is blatantly unconstitutional and infringes on the right of a woman and her physician to make a private medical decision.

Sen. Dick Barrett, D-Missoula, asked the body to think about any life-threatening crisis and who they want making final decisions about their health care. He said people likely wanted to consider their own personal convictions, religious beliefs, and opinions of family members and their physician.

Think about all the people you want to have participate in that decision at that critical, difficult, painful decision, he said. Then ask yourself, 'Do you want the members of the Montana Senate?' I think the answer is no.

Sen. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, said the bill is unconstitutional, with multiple cases affirming Roe v. Wade.

Abortion must be available under the constitutional framework of Roe, she said.

Sands said the bill, unlike any other Montana law, would in some cases mandate a doctor deliver a baby via Caesarean section.

There is no other law that any of us could find in statute that mandates a specific medical procedure required of a physician and overriding a physicians best medical judgment, training and oath of office, Sands said.

Olszewski said the law does, citing Section 50 Title 18, which says a health office can quarantine a person who refuses examination or treatment of a sexually transmitted disease, and allows testing and treatment of people incarcerated.

All 32 Republicans voted for SB 282, saying physicians should do everything in their power to resuscitate a viable fetus when a mother wants an abortion.

Majority leader Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, said he understood some cases of abortion when performed early, referencing a couple he knew who terminated their pregnancy when they found out the fetus didnt have a brain.

I dont question their decision. I think it was right, Thomas said. They would vote for the bill if they had the ability to do so today.

Sen. Steve Hinebauch, R-Wibaux, said he was in support of the bill in committee and would support it on second reading as well.

I think we need to quit murdering babies, he said. But during the hearing, SK Rossi of ACLU Montana reminded legislators they are prohibited from passing laws to restrict abortion under the guise of protecting womens health.

Rossi also said some laws appear to protect the health of a woman, but are introduced without medical evidence and only serve to restrict abortion access. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court said states cannot use that argument to shut down abortion clinics without evidence.

I would propose to you that the womens health piece is not the actual intent of this bill, Rossi said. I think the intent of this bill is to restrict legal abortion access.

The bill is scheduled for third reading Friday.
The stand your ground hearing regarding a fatal Pasco County movie theater shooting moved out of the courtroom Friday morning.

DAY 5: Judge, attorneys visit Wesley Chapel movie theater where shooting happened

Curtis Reeves facing 2nd degree murder charges

Chad Oulson was shot and killed in theater in January 2014

Previous stories on this case

Meanwhile, back in the courtroom Friday afternoon, the wife of the man shot and killed cried when photos were shown of her husband's gunshot wound.

The judge and attorneys met at Cobb Theatre in Wesley Chapel where the shooting happened.

Curtis Reeves, 74, is facing second-degree murder charges in the Jan. 13, 2014, death of Chad Oulson. His attorneys are hoping to use a stand your ground defense, which is the purpose of the ongoing hearing.

Judge Susan Barthle actually sat in the same seat Reeves did and watched 17 minutes of the same previews from that day. She sat alone with the defense and prosecution sitting on opposite sides of the theatrer.

Judge Susan Barthle sits in the same seat #curtisreeves did at Cobb theatre the day of the shooting @BN9 pic.twitter.com/si0WxjVZUf  Leah Masuda BN9 (@LeahMasuda) February 24, 2017

When court resumed in the afternoon, a forensic pathologist was brought in. While on the stand, photos of the bullet wound to Chad Oulson's chest were shown in court. His wife, Nicole, couldn't fight back the tears.

The argument between Reeves and Oulson, 43, started over Oulson being on his phone during the previews of a movie. The light was apparently bothering Reeves eyes, according to officials. The argument escalated to Oulson throwing popcorn at Reeves and Reeves pulling out his pistol and shooting the younger man.

The defense continued trying to prove Reeves was hit in the face by something. When the defense asked if an iPhone could leave a mark, Dr. Vernon Adams responded, "It could make a small laceration, yes."

The prosecution crossed, still not buying Reeves was hit by anything. Adams was asked, "Is there any injury to his nose that would be consistent with being hit with a blunt object like an iPhone thrown from a distance of approximately 20-30 feet away?"

Adams said no. He gave the same answer when asked about injuries to the orbital sockets of Reeves eyes, his forehead, his cheeks and his chin.



But Dr. Adams said it all depended on how hard an object is thrown to make a mark or not and that he didn't have a professional opinion when it came to the redness of Reeves eyelid shortly after the shooting.



Friday was day five of the stand your ground hearing. If Reeves wins the hearing, he will be immune from prosecution.

Reeves is expected to take the stand next week.
Authorities are investigating a small fire that broke out early Friday outside a door at a New Tampa mosque.

Small fire at Islamic Society of New Tampa mosque

No injuries, minimal damage

Council on American Islamic Relations calls it a case of arson

Hillborough County Fire investigators have ruled the fire as arson.

Officials said there was a charred doorway but no injuries from the small fire outside the Islamic Society of New Tampa mosque at 15830 Morris Bridge Road in Thonotosassa.

The fire was reported just after 5 a.m. after an alarm went off at the building.

Investigators arent sure how the fire started in front of the new mosque, or who is behind it. But leaders here fear it's a hate crime.

"I may be the mayor, but there are tens of thousands of Tampanians who do not happen to be Muslim but today stand with the Muslim community and say, 'Not on my watch, not in my city, we do not tolerate this,'" said Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

Buckhorn compared the arson to the recent wave of anti-semetic attacks on Jewish community centers across the country. It's something Muslims here have been wary of.

In fact, they had already reinforced the glass on the mosque. That's probably a big reason why the glass didn't break, allowing the flames inside.

Even though it has rattled members, their spirits are high. They say it's because of the outpouring of support from Tampa Bay.

On Friday night leaders of different faiths spoke outside the mosque, including a Jewish Rabbi and a Christian minister. The Rabbi said setting fire to the mosque is like setting fire to all houses of worship.

"They burned every house of worship," he said. "My synagogue smells of gasoline and smoke tonight. Your church smells of gasoline and smoke. Every place that we gather has been damaged by this."

Imam Junaid Ahmed said the culprit wanted to instill fear, but instead there is unity.

"I am thanking God for giving us this beautiful community who have come to us," Ahmed said. "Who reached out to us in solidarity, in unity and showed the haters that this is the America we know."

There are security cameras around the building, but there was no word Friday on what that footage shows.

BREAKING: @CAIRFlorida offering $5,000 award 2 first person providing info leading 2 conviction of terrorist that firebombed NewTampa Mosque pic.twitter.com/I72u4KCrdg  Hassan Shibly (@HassanShibly) February 24, 2017

The Council on American Islamic Relations weighed in on the fire Friday morning on Twitter, offering a reward for information on the fire, which CAIR officials say was intentionally set.

"Cair Florida is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to conviction of terrorist that firebombed (a) New Tampa mosque."

Overnight, an emergency prayer service was called by mosque officials after the fire was reported. More than two dozen mosque members showed up for a 20-minute prayer service.



The Council on American Islamic Relations Florida released a statement: "We congratulate Hillsborough County first responders for their prompt response to this tragic situation. It is worrisome that our community has fallen victim of what appears to be another hate crime.

"This time, another Florida mosque has been targeted in a crime that could have easily taken the life of any worshipper. Our prayers are with the New Tampa Mosque community and we are grateful that nobody was physically hurt."
A man wanted for reportedly shooting and killing his uncle in Texas over a land dispute was apprehended Thursday after he came to Volusia County for the races, police said.

Texas man wanted for murder found in Daytona Beach Shores

Joe Earl Smith, 50, was in town for the races, police said

He was wanted on a murder charge out of Texas

Daytona Beach Shores Police located Joe Earl Smith, 50, who was a fugitive wanted for a murder that occurred in Texas.

Smith was found sleeping in a white 1993 Ford Explorer in the parking lot of the office building located at 2970 S. Atlantic Ave. Officers recognized the vehicle from a BOLO issued earlier in the day by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office's crime center.

Smith was taken into custody at the scene without incident, police said.

While waiting for confirmation on the Marion County, Texas, warrant, Smith told officers he shot his uncle over a land dispute in which his family had been evicted, according to a news release.

Smith then told police that he drove to the Volusia County area after the shooting to attend the races.

Smith was taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail. He's being held without bond.
Two years after a bill that would have created an exemption on Montana's ban on new high school districts divided state legislators, a new proposal is having the opposite effect.

The Montana Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 139, which would let K-8 school districts with enrollments of about 1,000 students expand to K-12 districts. It would open the door to a split between Lockwood and Billings Public Schools.

Lockwood, a K-8 district, sends its high school-age students to Billings high schools. Lockwood, along with East Helena and Missoula Hellgate, championed the 2015 bill, but controversial provisions  namely an asset split between districts  sank the proposal.

A series of meetings beginning in 2015 between Billings and Lockwood trustees were contentious early, inflamed by Billings' redistricting process that removed a high school choice provision that applied only to Lockwood students. Later meetings were more cordial, but reached little resolution between the districts.

Billings trustees are the last holdout among several education groups who opposed the 2015 bill. Helena interim Superintendent Jack Copps spoke in favor of the current bill, and it's supported by the state teacher's union.

If the Senate vote is any indication, the bill should waltz to Gov. Steve Bullock's desk. It was referred to the House Education Committee on Feb. 17.

Money

The law would give K-8 districts that are eligible to expand to K-12 a five-year window to make the move. Districts would have to vote to expand, then vote again within two years to pass a bond to build a high school. If either vote fails, districts have to wait for another five-year window.

School District 2 has argued that the uncertainly of whether or not it will enroll Lockwood students in the future complicates its planning, especially for advanced and elective classes and special programs.

"Repeated consideration of an expansion bill makes any long-range fiscal and educational planning for our school district business challenging, if not, impossible," wrote SD2 board chair Greta Besch Moen in a letter to legislators.

Based on changes in tax base and student enrollment, SD2 Chief Financial Officer Mike Arnold estimates that Billings would loose about $1.6 milion in budget authority in its current budget. His projections show a 2.65 mill increase in SD2's school year budget for Billings taxpayers. Previous Gazette projections and state projections also predicted a modest increase.

Billings trustees have aruged that Billings voters deserve to vote as well on a Lockwood split, given tax impacts. And SD2 has repeatedly questioned the willingness of Lockwood voters to pay for a high school.

Lockwood overwhelmingly passed a bond levy in 2006 to build a new middle school and update existing facilities. Since then, of eight levies put up for a vote, a building reserve levy in 2013 and a technology levy in 2012 passed. Bond levies for a sewer system failed four times before passing.

Gazette projections last spring estimated that taxes to build a new school could exceed $100 per year for 20 years on a $100,000 home. Accounting for changes in Lockwood's tax base, a $40 million school would cost about $55 per year for 20 years on a $100,000 home. That doesn't include interest on bonds.

Lockwood Superintendent Tobin Novasio said that he "absolutely" expects the bill to make it to Bullock's desk.

"There's no indication that he wouldn't sign it," Novasio said. "It's a bipartisan bill at this point. I can't imagine any reason why he wouldn't sign it."
When the Trump administration on Wednesday flushed Obama-era education guidance that said schools should let transgender students use the bathroom of their choice, it didn't really change much in Montana.

The initial guidance, which is not legally binding, was quickly challenged in court by states including Montana, where the suit pitted Attorney General Tim Fox against then Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau. The guidance was put on hold by a federal judge in August, and the Trump retraction renders the suit moot.

That leaves individual Montana school districts in charge of setting their own policies  which new Superintendent Elsie Arntzen doesn't plan to tinker with.

"The superintendent supports local control and allowing Montana school districts to decide what policies work best for their communities and students," said Office of Public Instruction spokesman Dylan Klapmeier in an emailed statement.

Even with the guidance in place, it was ultimately up to school districts to formulate their own Title IX policies, a previous OPI spokeswoman said.

A Trump spokesman said the issue should be decided at the state level, and newly appointed Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos echoed the sentiment.

"This is an issue best solved at the state and local level," she said in a statement released Wednesday. "Schools, communities, and families can find  and in many cases have found  solutions that protect all students."

At the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, she called the Obama guidance a "one-size-fits-all, top-down approach."

While the Obama announcement sparked national criticism from conservative groups, there was little public outcry in Montana. Neither School District 2 nor Montana State University Billings said they heard concerns from parents.

There's no district-by-district accounting of Montana policies on gender and bathroom use, but officials in Billings, the state's largest district, said the issue is handled on a case-by-case basis, according to Superintendent Terry Bouck.
The chairman of the Montana Republican Party has declared an emergency effort to stop a Republican-sponsored bill to allow counties to conduct the upcoming special U.S. House election by all-mail ballots.

In an email sent to party faithful and journalists, Rep. Jeff Essmann of Billings called for killing Senate Bill 305 because all mail ballots give Democrats an inherent advantage.

That argument is disingenuous. Most voters in Montanas populous counties already vote mail ballots, and most of our elected officials are Republicans. Nowhere is that fact more obvious than in deep-red Yellowstone County where 65,000 of the countys 83,000 active voters are on the mail ballot list.

Vote by mail is designed to increase participation rates of lower propensity voters, Essmann wrote. Democrats in Montana perform better than Republican candidates among lower propensity voters and Republican candidates do better among higher propensity voters.

In other words, all-mail ballots result in more people voting  people who are less likely to get to a traditional polling place on Election Day. The goal of election laws should be to make voting accessible to all eligible voters. Essmann is specifically asking for Republicans to oppose access for people he thinks will vote for Democrats.

Essmann then complained that by giving counties the choice of having all-mail ballots or regular federal polling places, SB305 advantages Democrats because voters on Indian reservations could still go to the polls. The email concludes by providing links for readers to tell their state lawmakers to vote against SB305 and to make contributions to the Montana GOP.

Essmann's blatant partisan attack is a stark contrast to the bipartisan agreement voiced at Mondays hearing on SB305. At least 23 people testified in favor of allowing counties to conduct all-mail ballots for the special election that will be held within 100 days of whenever Ryan Zinke is confirmed as secretary of Interior and resigns his U.S. House seat.

Because only one office will be on the ballot, readers might think this is a simple election. But Montana law requires every county to do virtually as much work for this special election as for the general presidential election held last November.

Under state law, elections for federal office must be conducted with polling places open on Election Day. This special election poses extra challenges: Election administrators cant start recruiting and training election judges for that 13-hour workday or arranging polling sites until they know the election date. Missoula County alone will need 800 judges. Many who typically serve as election judges are snow birds who arent even in the state now to be recruited.

Running the special election with polling places will cost Missoula County about $100,000 more than running an all-mail election, county officials told the Senate committee Monday. Gallatin County officials also estimated the polling place election would add $100,000 to county costs. In Yellowstone, where all city of Billings polling places already have been consolidated at MetraPark, Elections Administrator Bret Rutherford estimated that a polling place election would cost $40,000 to $50,000 more than the all-mail election.

Yellowstone County Commissioner John Ostlund spoke in support of SB305 as the most efficient way, as did Republican commissioners from other counties.

Its important that we have as much opportunity as we can for people to vote, said Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, the sponsor of SB305. I dont think theres any partisan advantage to mail ballots.

We stand 110 percent in favor of SB305, declared Pondera County Commissioner Janice Hoppes, a Republican. From Liberty, Richland and Lewis Clark counties, the message was the same: An all-mail ballot would save county taxpayers money while encouraging more Montanans to vote.

Rutherford told The Gazette that all-mail ballots probably dont make a big difference in turnout for presidential and general elections. But for a single-office, unscheduled election, Absolutely we would have a better turnout if a ballot is mailed to every voter.

Its a sad day for Montana when the leader of the state GOP calls the party faithful to help suppress voter turnout. The Gazette editorial board condemns this voter suppression attempt and strongly supports SB305. It would encourage greater voter participation in choosing Montanas lone U.S. House representative, and its the fiscally conservative option.
Austin-based cooler company Yeti is opening a flagship retail store Thursday in its hometown.

The 8,000-square-foot space at 220 South Congress Ave. will have a stage for live music, an indoor/outdoor bar, a product customization station and an array of Yeti's "historical" artifacts. It is the company's first stand-alone store.

MORE: Rivals Yeti, RTIC put cold legal situation behind them

"The Yeti Flagship store is a convergence of the lifestyle we stand for, the products we offer and the community we live in," Yeti CEO Matt Reintjes said in the news release. "It's a gathering spot for locals and out-of-towners to enjoy a cold beer, listen to music, watch a film or learn from a pro."

Yeti's 30-ounce tumbler costs $39.99 on its website. Its hard-side coolers range from $249.99 for its Roadie, which holds 14 cans, to $1,299.99 for its Tundra 350, which is its largest cooler with 19,000 cubic inches of capacity that can hold multiple elk or several offshore fish.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

More than two years after problems first surfaced and two months after the city expected to have a new water filtration system up and running, a Bridge City official said this week he is still waiting for final approval from the state to flip the switch on the $1.4 million system.

Bridge City purchased the system last year from California-based Filtronics Inc. to remove excess iron and manganese from the city's water. The extra chemicals make some residents' tap water appear brown and have a strong odor.

"We've been ready to go for a while," said City Manager Jerry Jones. "The filters are in place. The pumps are in place."

Bridge City residents posted photos of discolored water on social media as recently as last week.

Greg Bedsole shared photos of yellow-colored water in his crawfish pot with a Bridge City Facebook group on Feb. 13.

Bedsole, 36, said he has had problems with his water since moving to Bridge City from Groves more than a year ago.

His family drinks bottled water and will use it to cook with when the water is discolored, he said.

"If I would have known the water was as poor quality as it is, I wouldn't have moved here," he said.

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokesperson Brian McGovern said a letter the agency sent Jones on Nov. 21 approved the city's plan to test the filters at two well sites.

He said the letter stated a third well needed repairs before it could be approved for testing.

The letter said the city needed to submit an overall plan for how it would oversee the removal of the excess chemicals, McGovern said.

The city submitted that plan on Jan. 27, he said.

Upon review of the plan, McGovern said state officials found "several required items were not included." Those items were discussed with Bridge City officials on Feb. 9, according to McGovern.

Jones said the required adjustments to the plan have been submitted, and the well has been repaired. The city is waiting for TCEQ's response, he said.

Environmental investigator Bob Bowcock, who is working with city officials to address ongoing water issues, said the process is moving "ridiculously slow."

"It's mostly because the state realized they were sold a bill of goods," said Bowcock, who works for the California-based Integrated Resource Management Inc.

Bowcock said he doesn't believe the filtration system will help improve the city's water and could cause more damage.

Bowcock said he is concerned that the city's water contains bromides, a chemical compound that could create trihalomethanes when mixed with chlorine, the main chemical component in the filters.

Trihalomethanes can cause liver and kidney damage, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last July, city officials sent a letter to 3,400 of its water customers saying TCEQ found an elevated level of trihalomethanes in the city's water system. TCEQ has since cleared the city's water as safe to drink.

See a timeline of events related to discolored and contaminated water in Bridge City in the gallery above.

NKrebs@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/natalie_krebs
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A Hardin County grand jury has indicted the former treasurer of the Lumberton Mighty Raider Band Booster Club on a second-degree felony charge in the theft of more than $70,000.

Helen Cox, 46, was arrested in December after booster club board members discovered money missing from the club's account.

According to the indictment, Cox stole between $20,000 and $100,000 from May 25, 2016 to Oct. 18, 2016.

She was previously charged with misapplication of fiduciary property, a third-degree felony.

"Just looking at it legally, the best approach to prosecute was a theft charge," said Hardin County District Attorney David Sheffield. Because the theft was from a non-profit organization, it was elevated to a second-degree felony, he said.

At a December news conference on Cox's arrest, Lumberton Police Chief Danny Sullins said more than $70,800 was taken from the club's accounts, most of which was spent at four casinos in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

According to a probable cause affidavit provided by Lumberton Police Lt. Joseph Breaux Jr., Cox confessed in October "that she began gambling in June of 2016 to relieve stress from work and divorce, and used incredibly poor judgment when her losses were greater than her personal finances could support."

Since the theft, the club has held fundraisers to recover the lost money and added financial security measures.

LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/LizTeitz
Brentwood, Tenn.-based Quorum Health Corp.'s board is probing whether the company gave adequate disclosures to its investors prior to its separation from Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems last year, according to Reuters.

According to a letter seen by Reuters and a person familiar with the matter, Quorum's board has hired outside counsel to assist in the investigation into the investor disclosures.

The probe comes after Q Investments LP, a Fort Worth, Texas-based hedge fund, sent a letter to Quorum's board last October, asking the board to conduct an independent investigation into potentially unlawful financial projections related to Quorum's spin-off from CHS. Q Investments claims CHS knew the initial guidance used to market Quorum to investors was wrong. According to the October letter, CHS provided inflated EBITDA guidance to potential Quorum investors in late March 2016 and used the guidance to attract equity investors and market Quorum's more than $1.2 billion of primary debt financings.

"We believe Community Health was desperate to raise cash, and they saw an easy path to do so by stuffing new investors in Quorum with inflated guidance and concealing costs within what they knew was a disintegrating business," the October letter states.

Q Investments was one of Quorum's top-10 investors with 1.3 million shares at the time of the spin-off, but the hedge fund has since reduced its stake in the company, according to Reuters.

In a statement to the Wall Street Journal last October, CHS said it rejects Q Investments' allegations that it committed any wrongdoing in connection with the Quorum spin-off.

More articles on healthcare finance:



65 financial benchmarks for hospital executives

Despite revenue jump, LifePoint's net income falls 31% in 2016

Bankrupt California hospital closes
The following data breaches and security incidents were reported within the past eight weeks on Becker's Hospital Review. They are listed here in reverse chronological order from when they were reported.

1. A breach of a reinsurance broker contracted by the Louisiana Health Cooperative, a health insurance company, may have affected up to 8,000 former policyholders. Read more

2. Indianapolis-based American Senior Communities has fallen victim to a W-2 email scam impacting all of its more than 17,000 employees. Read more

3. W-2 phishing schemes are growing in popularity. The scam type has struck another victim: Bolivar, Mo.-based Citizens Memorial Hospital. Read more

4. Redwood City, Calif.-based Verity Health System is sending letters to more than 9,000 patients stating that their information may have been compromised. Read more

5. Beatrice August and her husband weren't expecting to find patients' medical billing records in a pile of garbage on their New Orleans property. But that's exactly what they discovered. Read more

6. A stolen computer may have comprised the data of approximately 6,800 patients, after a burglar broke into Wichita, Kan.-based Family Medicine East. Read more

7. An employee at Gillette, Wyo.-based Campbell County Health mistakenly sent the Social Security numbers and W-2 information of 1,457 employees to someone impersonating a hospital executive. Read more

8. Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System has notified approximately 1,200 current and former patients that their information may have been compromised in a recent privacy incident. Read more

9. Hyde Park, N.Y.-based CoPilot Provider Support Services, a healthcare administrative services and IT organization, reported data breach affecting 220,000 individuals. Read more

10. Muncie-based Cancer Services of East Central Indiana-Little Red Door was hacked by an "international cyberterrorism organization." Read more

11. A breach of a third party vendor for Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Healthcare impacted more than 5,000 Sentara patients. Read more

12. Children's Hospital Los Angeles notified 3,600 patients that their information may have been on a laptop that was stolen from a physician's car. Read more

13. A recent breach affected two subcontractors of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware. Read more

14. Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare allegedly fell victim to a ransomware attack. Read more

15. An alleged breach unveiled the sensitive information of healthcare employees working for the U.S. Special Operations Command. Read more
The headline on todays Gazette opinion is just one word different than an editorial printed on Dec. 9, 2015. Back then, Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, had told a national news network that he would keep all Muslims out of the United States.

At points of entry, Trump said, people would be asked Are you Muslim? Trump told other television networks that he would just be doing what President Franklin D. Roosevelt did in 1942 with the internment of 120,000 people, mostly U.S. citizens, of Japanese descent -- as if that outrageous order was a good idea then or now.

The Heart Mountain Center between Cody and Powell, Wyo., tells the true stories of the 14,000 men, women and children who were incarcerated there for years during World War II. The dry, treeless landscape around Heart Mountain was surely a shock to families forced from their homes in the lush, green valleys of California. Japanese immigrants and their children had to liquidate or abandon their businesses and houses. They were allowed just one suitcase for their possessions.

Now that Trump is president, it is imperative that he understand the consequences of Heart Mountain. As president, he has tremendous power to improve or ruin lives of millions with an executive order.

According to the Heart Mountain Center, most of the people interned at the Wyoming relocation camp first spent a few months at makeshift assembly centers at the Santa Anita Racetrack, the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds or the Livestock Exposition Pavilion in Portland, Ore. Imagine be forced out of your home and sent to live in a horse stall with your spouse and children, all the while guarded by U.S. soldiers.

The Japanese arrival at Heart Mountain was bleak indeed. The barracks lacked insulation against the Wyoming winter wind. There wasnt room for large families.

Even while their families were incarcerated, many Japanese-Americans served honorably in the U.S. armed forces. Other internees refused to be drafted while their families were interned, those men were prosecuted and sent to other prisons.

Trump should study the Civil Liberties Act signed into law in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan. It took a decade to get the legislation through Congress to apologize the Japanese internment camp survivors. The legislation also provided a modest $20,000 payment to each survivor. The most important point was that the U.S. government apologized for a terrible wrong committed against 120,000 people solely because they were Japanese.

One of Trumps first acts as president was to ban virtually all entry to the USA for people from several Muslim-majority countries. The disruption that ill-considered order wreaked for students, workers, families and tourists was immediate and frightening. Federal courts have delayed implementation, but the administration is said to be working on a revision.

Like FDR, Trump is targeting people because of their nationality. Worse, Trumps ban is aimed at keeping Muslims out of America. Our great country is home to many Muslims, they must feel safe and respected here.

Now is the time for Trump to correct early missteps and embrace the diversity and freedom that is the bedrock of Americas greatness.
A pediatrician at Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, walked 12 hours in a nurse's shoes as part of a fundraiser and team-building experience and gained some perspective on what nurses do day in and day out.

Staff in the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit donated $1 to vote on a physician who would spend the day as a nurse. Laurance Lequier, MD, a pediatric intensivist and medical director of the PICU, won, and spent a 12-hour shift shadowing Brittany Collins, RN, who has worked in the PICU for three and a half years.

Usually, Dr. Lequier spends roughly 20 minutes with 12 to 16 patients during a shift. With Ms. Collins, he spent the 12-hour shift with just one patient.

"I think it was quite the transition for him to go from writing orders at the bedside for many patients on the floor to doing the hands-on work with one patient for the whole shift," Ms. Collins said.

Dr. Lequier said it was an "educational and eye-opening experience."

The experience may even spark change at Stollery Children's, as Dr. Lequier said he will suggest all residents on the unit to work a shift shadowing a nurse.

"I think there is a huge opportunity to learn how each person on a unit contributes to the care of one person," he said. "RNs spend more time with patients than we as physicians do, having an understanding of how they care for a patient and experiencing a completely different view can only make us better physicians."
Five spine surgeons discuss opportunities for clinicians under President Trump.

Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses.

Next week's question: What are some disadvantages that spine surgeons may face under the new administration?





Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, March 1, at 5 p.m. CST.

Question: What are some of the biggest opportunities for spine surgeons under the new administration?

Ian A. Madom, MD. Spine Surgeon at Ortho Rhode Island (Providence): As with any new administration, there are opportunities to improve the health of Americans, and the health of our system that delivers care. Yet one month into the new administration, it seems that these opportunities will be rare given the highly partisan environment that only seems to be more divided by the day.

Removing the ACA without a fully-developed plan would be a mistake, and only create greater uncertainty for our patients and the market. The replacement for the ACA is beginning to emerge, and this is where we as spine surgeons can have the greatest impact. No program is ever a complete success or failure. The best approach is thoughtful, distinguishing between what is working and what is not. Our interests are best served by helping lawmakers understand these differences.

Kern Singh, MD. Co-Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (Chicago): I am hopeful that, by deregulating the health insurance marketplace, the new administration will transfer power from large administrative networks back to the physicians. In turn, I expect to see a reduction of the bureaucratic oversight that hinders the full scope of our practices. I think these changes will really give independent practices a better chance of survival and allow all spine surgeons to practice in a manner they see more fit.

Richard Kube, MD. Founder and CEO of Prairie Spine & Pain Institute (Peoria, Ill.): Certainly, there is a bit of uncertainty with any administrative change. However, if the administration pushes the health savings account agenda, I believe there will be opportunity for those independent groups able to provide bundled services. With increasing deductibles, policy changes like those above will create market forces within medicine that bear some similarities to the rest of the world. The consumers (patients) will have more direct interaction with payment for services, and that will motivate them to shop for value. Ambulatory surgical facilities are typically streamlined, which facilitates their ability to compete on value.

Understanding one's costs and having an ability to become efficient and create a package for patients reflecting those objectives will create a niche that will be increasingly desired by the general public, and the self-insured businesses who are seeing healthcare costs continue to rise. We have been working into that niche for the past couple of years and we are seeing an increased interest from a variety of parties entering that space.

Vladimir Sinkov, MD. Spine Surgeon at New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center (Nashua): While it is difficult to tell exactly what new policies will be enacted by the new administration, I am hopeful that they will stay true to their campaign promises of repealing and replacing Obamacare. I am hoping that the new administration will realize that it is difficult for physicians to provide the same level of excellent care to our patients while they lower the reimbursements for our services every year. Even though the sustainable growth rate was repealed, most CPT codes were devalued this year, at least in the fields of orthopedic and spine surgery.

I am hopeful that something will be done to address the medical liability situation, which currently does not protect our patients or providers. I am hopeful that the burden of new rules and regulations that turn the physicians into bureaucrats will be eased, such as EMR requirements, MACRA, etcetera. Such regulations have not been shown to improve care or reduce costs in the field of spine surgery.

In summary, I am hopeful that the new administration will simply figure out how to "get out of our way"  to quote John Galt  and let us practice medicine and help our patients live longer, happier, more productive lives to the best of our ability and knowledge. That is the biggest opportunity I can hope for as a spine surgeon.

Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Founder of the Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: I think there are two things that we can be sure of: change and uncertainty. With regards to what are opportunities for us  it is very early to call. My hope is that the new secretary of HHS, Dr. Price, will be a good listener and enact reforms that can help our patients and keep doctors practicing medicine. It seems that the overall temperature is that of repeal, and I think when the ACA is fully repealed, we will get a better idea of the ground rules. But what I think, what I hope, is that the insurance companies will be held more responsible for authorization and payment for services. I also see the Independent Payment Advisory Board becoming a fossil and being thrown out completely  finally.
To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below
Norwegian Air is Europes third largest low-cost airline and will fly from Belfast five days a week

Two new routes from Belfast International will allow holiday-makers to fly to the United States for as little as 69 - and airport chief executive Graham Keddie says he is hopeful discussions for a connection to a third US city will cross the line in the next few months.

Norwegian Air - Europe's third largest low-cost airline - came to the rescue of Northern Ireland's transatlantic connections just weeks after United Airlines scrapped its Belfast-Newark route. However, this time, US-bound travellers will have the choice of two American airports.

The routes will fly to TF Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, which is about 60 miles from Boston and Stewart International, which is in upstate New York and around 70 miles from Manhattan. They were supported by Tourism Ireland's marketing budget.

However, it's understood the amount involved in the deal is nowhere near the 9m paid to United to subsidise its Newark route and is thought to be a six-figure sum.

It comes the same day Norwegian also launched transatlantic flights from Dublin, Edinburgh and Shannon airports.

Norwegian will fly five days a week from Belfast.

However, it's expected the majority of passengers will be made up of Americans who are coming to visit Northern Ireland.

The flights are scheduled from July with capacity for almost 1,000 passengers a week.

Chief executive officer Bjorn Kjos stressed the importance for Northern Ireland to "build a brand" abroad and said that discussions with Tourism Ireland had been "very positive".

He added that the airline's low prices had been made possible by using the most fuel-efficient planes possible.

He said: "These flights will be very popular with Americans but they will fly from everywhere.

"The Americans in an area like Providence will go to places like Northern Ireland if they can get a low fare. It's very exciting to go to Northern Ireland but we offer single fares so they could fly to Belfast and get the train to Dublin or the ferry to Edinburgh and fly back from there."

Belfast International Airport chief executive Graham Keddie said he is still pushing for a deal with other airlines and is hopeful people in Belfast will be able to fly to a third US city within the next six months.

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton said he had worked closely with the airport and added that his department provided financial support for the deal.

He added that better connectivity with North America is "crucial" for inward investment, exports and tourism.

Martin Craigs, chairman of Aerospace Asia and Hillcrest Advisory, said Norwegian was a good fit for Northern Ireland.

"Around the globe direct accessible air services stimulate trade, tourism and perhaps most importantly empathy. Northern Ireland needs to get out more to tell its compelling story. More visitors returning home with tales of the region's native wit, wisdom and investment opportunity are a bonus," he said.

"Norwegian Air thinks creatively, they see preference for second city non-stop linkages at ultra-low fares with frills available at an add-on price - this is what millennial travellers want."
Uncertainty around what access Northern Ireland will have to EU markets and the prospect of a cut in subsidies remain the biggest issues facing agri-businesses here, it has been claimed

Uncertainty around what access Northern Ireland will have to EU markets and the prospect of a cut in subsidies remain the biggest issues facing agri-businesses here, it has been claimed.

And a boost in exports for farmers and food producers due to the cheap pound may be temporary, according to Danske Bank's head of agri-business Robert McCullough.

"We are operating in one of the most lucrative markets in the world and this presents us with huge opportunities," he said.

"The domestic UK market is only 76% self-sufficient and globally populations and incomes are rising, so we need to find ways to maximise how we sell into those markets.

"Northern Ireland producers meet high expectations for provenance, traceability and welfare, and with the ability to shape our own farming policies and a competitive advantage created by the weakness of sterling, there are opportunities for the sector to further increase the contribution it makes to the local economy.

"We know there are challenges, and not just from Brexit. The exchange rate benefits may be short-lived and there is a lack of clarity on political support for the agriculture sector, which has traditionally been weak at Westminster, so it is important we have a local minister in place sooner rather than later."

He added: "In terms of the financial support that will replace payments that many farms currently rely on from Europe, there is also a high chance they will be asked to do more with less."

Danske Bank economist Conor Lambe, who was speaking alongside Mr McCullough at a business event in Belfast, said in the long-term there was "considerable uncertainty on the horizon for local farmers".

"Questions remain around what access Northern Irish businesses will have to the EU market, including the Republic of Ireland, once the UK leaves the EU," he said.

"While funding to farmers has been guaranteed until 2020, it is not yet clear what will happen in the years to follow.

"The weaker sterling should provide a short-term boost to agri-food businesses that sell overseas.

"This is particularly pertinent for dairy firms within the food and drink processing sector, where exports make up around 45% of total sales."

Meanwhile, the Ulster Farmers' Union has welcomed a report commissioned by the National Farmers' Union that said the industry added a 486m boost to the Northern Ireland economy each year.
Department store John Lewis is shedding nearly 400 jobs across its restaurants and home fittings service as it grapples with the pressures facing the retail sector

Department store John Lewis is shedding nearly 400 jobs across its restaurants and home fittings service as it grapples with the pressures facing the retail sector.

The chain said 387 jobs would be lost as it shifts home fittings administration roles to a central hub in Manchester and outsources food preparation for its The Place To Eat restaurants.

Around 773 staff have now entered redundancy consultation and have been given the opportunity to apply for 386 new roles.

Earlier this month it emerged that the company's managing director Paula Nickolds could visit Northern Ireland.

The move is part of a new push to attract the UK retail giant to Sprucefield.

The job loss announcement comes after the high street bellwether said last month that it expects its renowned staff bonus to be "significantly lower'' than last year in the face of a challenging market outlook.

Dino Rocos, John Lewis operations director, said the move would adapt the business to the changing needs of customers amid "a backdrop of structural changes in the retail industry".

"Our partners are passionate about offering the very best customer service and these proposals will allow us to modernise our business as it adapts to the changing needs of our customers and the role that shops play in their lives," he said.

"We understand that for some this will mean a period of change, and we are working with affected partners over the consultation period to give opportunities for redeployment in new roles wherever possible."

John Lewis has said the changes would impact 32 of its 48 stores across the country, with the consultation on jobs expecting to last a period of a few months.
This just in: Scott Pruitt has committed to cleaning up the Berkeley Pit.

With one hand, while ending needless environmental regulation and red tape with the other. But don't worry, he's going to have time to go fly-fishing in Yellowstone Park with Steve Daines.

Daines addressed the Senate Feb. 17, shortly before the vote that put Pruitt at the helm of the agency his new boss, President Trump, has vowed to eliminate.

He waxed musical about the "balance" he believes Pruitt will bring to EPA.

"In Montana we are a unique blend of Merle Haggard and John Denver," Daines said. "And mastering that melody is always a challenge. But when you do, it results in a common-sense approach to environmental stewardship. And I can tell you, Scott Pruitt's just the guy to do it."

The junior senator from Montana was just getting warmed up.

Daines said he moseyed down to the Senate floor directly from a meeting with Pruitt himself. "You know what Scott and I talked about? We talked about fishing in Yellowstone Park. ... We talked about that a lot. We talked about elk hunting and deer hunting in Montana. Scott Pruitt understands the important role that the states can play. Especially in a state like Montana. I'm confident he's going to restore this balanced focus  this Merle Haggard and John Denver balance that Montanans are pleading for."

Daines saved the best for last. After blasting EPA's clean power plan and waters of the U.S. rule, Daines got around to Butte.

"Scott and I, as we concluded our meeting (always good to be an afterthought), talked about the Berkeley Pit in Butte. He has committed to getting that environmental disaster cleaned up. He assured me he will address this issue head on. It's the largest Superfund site in the United States right there in Butte, Montana.

"We had snow geese that came migrating across our state. And they landed in the toxic waters of the Berkeley Pit. And thousands of snow geese died just by landing in the water. Scott is committed to getting that fixed. It's been on the list for more than 20 years. It's time to fix it, and Scott has committed, saying let's get this done. That's why he's going to be a great administrator  to protect the environment in Montana."

That rather simplistic assessment of Butte's Superfund issues, paired with the easy bravado of a campaign promise, is astonishingly facile lip service, even by the standards of what Butte is used to getting from politicians.

To think that even as EPA is getting chainsawed into "tidbits," as Trump has Tweet-vowed, its administrator can wave a wand and fix the Berkeley Pit requires suspension of disbelief on a scale right up there with the opportunity to buy a large suspension bridge in New York state.

While it's good that Daines spoke to Pruitt about Butte, we wonder at the focus on the Pit, and the formidable obstacles to the commitment Pruitt apparently made.

Is he really going to force BP (an oil company) to reopen the mine-flooding site consent decree and agree to a much different and far more costly remedy than "treating in perpetuity"? Does he, or Daines, even know that's what would be required?

Just a few minutes later, Sen. Jon Tester addressed the Senate.

Tester didn't mention music, but he did get to fishing. That would be Montana's $6 billion outdoor economy. "Hunting, fishing, hiking and camping mean 64,000 jobs. More folks are visiting Glacier and Yellowstone Park every summer." And, he noted, the industry depends on clean water to survive.

So, he pointed out, does agriculture, "the backbone of Montana's economy."

Tester, who farms the land his grandparents homesteaded, pointed out that "It doesn't matter if you grow alfalfa or winter wheat or spring wheat or safflower or garbanzo beans. It doesn't matter whether you're raising cattle, sheep or hogs. You have to have access to clean water or you cannot succeed in agriculture.

"Montana's Constitution says we value clean air and water," Tester said. "We see what happens when it's put at risk."

He mentioned the Anaconda Company, W.R. Grace in Libby and Glencor in Columbia Falls, saying, "Companies that put our clean air and water at risk cannot be trusted, because they never stick around to clean up the mess."

"We've spent 16 years and more than $150 million to clean up just a small portion of what the Anaconda Company left behind after mining copper in Southwest Montana," he said.

"That's why we need an EPA administrator that's going to ... hold polluters accountable," he added. "Mr. Pruitt has endorsed policies that will put Montana jobs at risk and put our outdoor heritage on the ropes."

Tester said that in his own conversations with Pruitt, he received "no assurances that he will be the champion for Montana's family farmers and ranchers or those who love to hunt and fish and hike in Big Sky Country."

Clearly, the viewpoints of our two senators on the EPA's new boss could not be more different.

We'll see what happens. But if the Berkeley Pit is four years closer to critical level when Steve Daines runs for re-election, perhaps people will remember how he used it, complete with dead geese, as a stage prop to justify a party-line vote for a climate-change denier to head the EPA.
Electricity prices have soared because of constant intervention in the energy sector by successive governments, a Parliamentary report has found.

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee says customers are getting a bad deal from a supply system that is complicated and uncompetitive.

The result is that consumer prices have rocketed by 58% since 2003, and UK industry pays the biggest bills in Europe.

The study also raises concern about the spare capacity available and the deliverability of planned nuclear power.

Peers used the report to call for de-carbonisation to be managed at the lowest cost to consumers as such green policies accounted for 10% of domestic bills in 2013.

The report states that the required switch of emphasis may mean waiting for new technologies to be developed to reduce emissions and making targets more flexible.

But the study insists that both affordability and de-carbonisation must not be prioritised ahead of supply.

Government interventions in the market should be reduced by ensuring electricity generating capacity is secured through a single, technology-neutral, competitive auction for electricity supply in order to obtain the lowest costs for consumers.

Committee chairman Lord Hollick said: "Poorly designed government interventions, in pursuit of the de-carbonisation, have put unnecessary pressure on the electricity supply and left consumers and industry paying too high a price.

"Domestic electricity bills in Britain have gone from being second-cheapest in Europe in the mid-2000s to the seventh-cheapest today. Britain's high industrial electricity prices have led some energy-intensive industries to relocate abroad. Low-carbon policies are a factor in these high prices."

Lord Hollick expressed concern about investment in nuclear power and a rigid approach to de-carbonisation.

"Hinkley Point C is a good example of the way policy has become unbalanced and affordability neglected. It does not provide good value for money for consumers and there are substantial risks associated with the project.

"The Government must make sure that the security of the UK's energy supply is the priority of its energy policy. Affordability must not be neglected and de-carbonisation targets should be managed flexibly.

"We would like to see the Government step back from the market and allow all generating technologies to compete against each other. It should establish an Energy Commission to ensure competitive auctions have independent oversight and are scrutinised carefully.

"Renewables play, and will continue to play, a crucial part in energy policy. Costs have been reduced and efficiency has improved. New clean technologies must be supported to be commercially viable. A new National Energy Research Centre would also help the UK to catch other countries up in the race to find cost-effective solutions to the challenges the world faces on energy."

The Government should also set out its "Plan B" if the Hinkley Point C initiative is delayed or cannot produce the expected power, the study says.

A spokesman for EDF Energy, which is building Hinkley Point C, said it provided value for money and was competitive with other future energy choices.

"By providing reliable, low carbon electricity for 60 years, Hinkley Point C will play a vital role in helping the UK move away from fossil fuels," the spokesman said.

"It is already delivering significant benefits to the economy by creating jobs, boosting skills and strengthening the UK's industrial capacity."
First Trust revamped University Road branch in south Belfast, part of a 10m investment by the bank

Stormont should look to EU legislation to ensure "sufficient banking services" remain across Northern Ireland following this week's announcment that First Trust is shutting half its branch network here.

It's understood around 130 staff are facing voluntary redundancy after First Trust announced it was shutting 15 branches.

Andrew Webb of Webb Advisory said a mechanism does exist through EU legislation that "permits government support for 'services of general economic interest".

"Through this, the Post Office is supported by government to maintain a bigger branch network than it might otherwise justify on a purely commercial basis.

"One of the conditions that the Post Office signed up to is the provision of basic banking services.

"Any job loss announcement is a shame, but there is a sense of unfortunate inevitability about bank branch closures.

"We do face a conundrum with banking - we have very obviously shifted our banking habits away from using branches, but then rail against branch closure.

"Simply, if we don't use them, we will lose them. That said, I don't think it is inevitable that we move to a branchless society, but branches do need to find a way to be relevant."

And Wilfred Mitchell, FSB policy chair, said the closures, which will start at the beginning of July, will "reduce service and competition generally, but will be especially concerning where the closure is of the last branch of any bank in the area".

Owen Reidy, assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), said: "These closures affect more than the hundreds of workers facing redundancies. Branch closures drain commercial life from main streets and town squares.

"We are a society and not solely an economy, and we can't all migrate online or to out-of-town mega-franchises, and then bemoan the decline of public life and community structures."

Head of First Trust, Des Moore, said the bank has seen a 40% decline in branch usage in the last seven years, with mobile banking up 117% in the last two years.

The bank is investing 10m towards new business centres, including one at University Road in south Belfast.

It has also agreed a partnership with the Post Office, which will allow customers to bank in any of their offices.

John French, chief executive of the Consumer Council, said: "Since 2010, we have seen around 30% of bank branches close in Northern Ireland.

"Following the announcement, we would encourage affected consumers to speak directly with First Trust Bank to ensure the revised arrangements will continue to meet their needs.

"We always recommend that consumers pro-actively ensure that their bank account is right for them and provides the best overall deal and service."

Des Moore added: "We recognise that the pattern of how customers are managing their finances is rapidly evolving in Northern Ireland as it is across Europe. Customers are turning to online, telephone and mobile banking and it is essential that we respond.

"As a result, our transformation programme focuses on building a sustainable business model which allows us to support our customers and the wider Northern Ireland economy in the long term."
Nimco Ali, of Daughters of Eve, worked closely with Call The Midwife bosses on the BBC drama series

The anti -female genital mutilation campaigner who helped the creators of Call The Midwife on a storyline has said the episode mirrors her personal experience of FGM but is "beautiful and sensitively done".

Nimco Ali , the co-founder of non-profit organisation Daughters of Eve, was the victim of FGM as a child and worked closely with show bosses on the BBC drama series.

She said she hopes the story will have a "positive effect" in the fight against it.

An estimated 200 million girls around the world have been put through the procedure, which involves the partial or total removal of parts of the female genitals for non-medical reasons.

Sunday night's episode of Call The Midwife will highlight the plight of a pregnant Somali woman who is fighting for her life in the aftermath of an FGM procedure.

Ms Ali told the Press Association that viewers will relate to the character and her storyline, and praised the writers for their sensitivity around the topic.

She said: "I think viewers will see that this is a young woman just like many of them, who needs kindness and understanding.

"The fact that she is given both means so much. I think that's the most touching aspect of it.

"It mirrors my own personal life in many ways and brings to life what has happened to so many women while giving birth, after having undergone FGM."

Ms Ali said: "It is a beautiful episode and very sensitively done. It is hopefully going to have a very positive effect."

She said: "The writers really wanted to listen - they came to the first meeting passionate about the issue but really wanted to tell the story of a young north Somali woman as true as they could."

Writers also enlisted the help of campaigner Edna Adan, the former foreign minister of Somaliland and the founder of a maternity hospital in the country.

Ms Ali said: " (She) was a great help in giving, really, details information about what the midwife could expect having delivered many women with FGM herself.

"The story is told sensitively and there is no judgment, so for them it was about bringing it to life with these key details."

The episode of Call The Midwife is set against the terror of the Cuban Missile Crisis, as the sisters of Nonnatus House listen to US president John F Kennedy's ultimatum to Russian president Nikita Khrushchev.

Jessica Neuwirth, founder of international women's group Donor Direct Action, said it is "fantastic" that shows such as Call The Midwife and others, including Casualty and Law And Order, are bringing the issue into the mainstream.

She said: "Awareness of FGM has increased dramatically in recent years in the UK, but activists working on the front-lines to end it are still not able to access the funds they need to scale up their work in countries such as Somalia, where prevalence is 98%.

"We need to fund efforts locally to end FGM globally and the UK and other governments need to do more to make this happen."

Donor Direct Action runs an anti-FGM fund for frontline groups, which are ending the practice in Somalia and around the world.

The show's creator Heidi Thomas has previously said she wanted to write about FGM for a long time but had to wait until the timeline of the show reached the 1960s.
DUP leader Arlene Foster shares a joke with a guest at a tea dance in Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh, last night

A professor of Irish language has pledged his support for the DUP and criticised a proposal for an Irish Language Act in Northern Ireland.

Ciaran O Coigligh, an academic who has lectured in the Irish departments in Galway and Dublin Universities, said that the DUP had been "very generous" in supporting the language over recent years.

Mr O Coigligh (65), who has his own Irish language business and comes from a republican background, hit out at Sinn Fein for what he claimed were attempts to politicise the issue.

The Co Dublin man, who has supported the DUP's Jim Wells through his recent court battles, joined the South Down candidate while out canvassing last weekend.

Mr O Coigligh contacted the former Health Minister to offer his support after he was wrongly accused of making homophobic statements during a hustings event.

Mr O Coigligh, who describes himself as a devout Christian, said he had supported the DUP for many years because he shared its views on gay marriage and abortion.

He ruled out the introduction of the Irish Language Act in Northern Ireland, which he said would be a "waste of money".

"I can't understand why people are calling for a Language Act when they haven't in the first instance looked at the absolute waste of money and effort of the Official Languages Act which we have in the Republic of Ireland. It serves no purpose," said the professor.

"The only effect of introducing a Language Act in Northern Ireland is to further alienate loyalist and unionist people."

He claimed there were "huge amounts" of people from the nationalist community who had no ability or knowledge of the Irish language. "I think what the DUP are proposing is that the Irish language is the language of all the people and not to be used by one particular political party, and I agree with that," he added.

"It should be supported on an individual and communal basis."

He went on to say that the number of Irish speakers is "dying" in the Republic.

He said: "People who are of the loyalist or unionist background will not speak the language until they are comfortable or know that they are not in any way supporting a Sinn Fein agenda.

"Unionists won't be encouraged to speak the language through an Act, it will be through classes being offered in their area."

He said he was willing to go to Orange halls or unionist areas to give lectures on the history of the Bible in Irish.

Mr O Coigligh has written three novels, 12 collections of poetry, short stories and also dozens of academic books.

He added that the DUP "deserve to be commended" for what it had done for the Irish language and should be encouraged to do more.

In place of an Irish Language Act, he believes a policy that will be acceptable to Irish speakers and "won't threaten" people from a unionist or loyalist background should be formed.

"Arlene Foster made a very interesting admission recently that she had been to a Catholic school and she has never been exposed to Irish," he said.

"That's the reality for the majority of Catholic and nationalist communities."

The unlikely DUP supporter said that he shared many of Mr Wells' points of view on the "fundamental issues" of everyday political life.

"Nothing has enthused me more than the time I have spent canvassing with the DUP," he claimed.

And he added: "They are wonderful people, and very witty and lovable.

"For a good number of years I have felt the DUP is the only political party on the island of Ireland that reflects my general political attitude and my views on fundamental issues of life, family and marriage."
Victims' campaigner Raymond McCord plans to vote for the SDLP's Nichola Mallon in next week's election, he has revealed.

The north Belfast man, whose son Raymond jnr was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries 20 years ago, said he has made his decision because Mrs Mallon is simply "the best person for the job".

"Anyone who knows me, knows me as a proud unionist from a proud unionist family," he said.

"But I'm not afraid to say that, this time, I'm voting SDLP. In this country crossing the age-old 'green and orange' divide is still controversial. It's seen as something hardly anyone does, something that should be kept a secret.

"But I don't think it's that unusual - it's just people are afraid they'll get a massive backlash about being honest enough to say they simply want the best person possible to represent them."

Explaining his choice to vote for Ms Mallon, Mr McCord said: "She is the best person to represent me. I find her to be honest, hard working, non-sectarian - and she seems to really care about the community and victims. All of us, not just the people who happened to be born Catholic."

Mr McCord plans to give the Ulster Unionists his second preference. "I'll transfer to Robert Foster, who's a decent man too. But under no circumstances will the DUP get anything from me. Neither will Sinn Fein, because to me they're the same.

"They say they're polar opposites, but what they stand for - sectarianism, division and turning their backs on the victims of the past - are carbon copies. On one hand you have Arlene Foster and other members of the DUP being pictured with members of the UDA and pumping millions into organisations they're involved in.

"And on the other you've got Michelle O'Neill going to a memorial for IRA men, with not a thought for the families bereaved and traumatised by republican terrorists.

"They pick and choose the victims they care about, who should face justice, and ignore what doesn't suit their agenda. All victims are equal. All victims' families deserve justice."

Mr McCord insists he's not worried about speaking out about his choice.

"If anything, I'm worried more people aren't doing it," he said. "Sectarianism and tribal divides are what's holding this country back. I want the best people in Stormont doing their best for this country and the people in it.

"I don't care what religion they were born. I don't care if some day they might want a United Ireland because even if they do, unionists here need to stop being afraid of that constant threat by the DUP.

"It's scaremongering, it's not going to happen unless the people here vote for it. It's the same bogeyman being thrown at us again and again and it's an insult to our intelligence and to our confidence as a people who want to stay within Britain.

"And remember, there are people too in the so-called nationalist community who don't want to leave the UK either. It's not all black and white - or green and orange - as Arlene and Michelle want us to believe."

But, said Mr McCord, he hadn't suddenly become a staunch SDLP supporter.

"Next week I'm going to Derry, Londonderry, whatever you want to call it. I'll be knocking doors and canvassing for Eamonn McCann of People Before Profit. I'm not suddenly SDLP. I support Nichola Mallon in my constituency because she's the best person for the job," he explained.

"But I support Eamonn McCann, too, because he speaks up for the ordinary person in the street, and I'd prefer to have him up there on the Hill shouting for our rights than Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill trying to frighten all of us into sticking to the same old divisions that have destroyed Northern Ireland for far too long."
The egg-providing hens which have the run of the place

William Haire with Lucinda Pollin with one of the shops many customers

William Haire with Lucinda Pollin of Sinas store; the egg-providing hens which have the run of the place (top), and with one of the shops many customers

When William Haire opened a convenience store in a steel shipping container on a north Belfast interface, little did he think his battles would be over planning permission, health and safety... and hen poo. But now, nine years on, time may finally be running out for Sina's, the little shop on the corner. Fionola Meredith reports.

A shop in a shipping container on a former bonfire site in north Belfast - it doesn't sound very promising, does it? But if you thought that you'd be wrong, because Sina's cornershop and cafe is a bright outpost of hope and good cheer in a bleak part of the city.

Surrounded by waste land, walled-up windows and other grim signs of dereliction, Sina's sits jauntily on the corner in defiance of the rot.

Open from dawn until well into the evening, it's a friendly spot to stop for a coffee, cigarettes, a newspaper or any of the other random bits and pieces you suddenly find you need. There's even a posse of free range hens out the back, providing fresh eggs for customers.

Established in 2008, Sina's has had to face a long battle just to survive.

Bureaucrats seemed determined to shut the innovative enterprise down. But the brave little shop is still here, clinging on to life.

And its presence on the boundary between largely Protestant Skegoneill and mainly Catholic Glandore has had a transformative effect.

The area has seen its share of trouble and street disorder in the past: for instance, during the Drumcree stand-off several Catholic families living near the interface fled their homes.

But simply by being there, constantly and without fanfare, as a place for people of both communities to call in and pass the time of day, Sina's has made a big difference.

The junction is now no longer deemed an interface. According to the Belfast Interface Project, it is instead considered a "blighted space".

That might not sound like much of an improvement - and the immediate environs are indeed fairly blighted - but Sina's should be given credit for achieving something quietly remarkable. And it's all done for love, not money.

Not that any words of official praise or recognition are forthcoming. Since he opened the doors, original owner William Haire has encountered near-constant opposition from officialdom.

"We have never received a penny from anyone," he said.

"And yet all the authorities have fought with us - the planners, the courts, the council, health and safety - you name it."

Haire is a man who is refreshingly untroubled by rules and strictures. What he does have is imagination, vision and a humane, ironic and generous approach to life.

He bought the bonfire site at auction for 8,500 in 2006.

Later he was offered 300,000 by a property developer for the land, but he turned it down.

"I don't care about the money," he said.

At that point the site was still piled high with bonfire material and other junk - upended shopping trolleys, half a wardrobe, a double mattress.

A photograph from the time shows Haire sitting amid the chaos on a cushion-less sofa, wondering what he had taken on. He was prepared for hell, he said. Graffiti, hassle, all sorts of trouble.

But it never happened. People took the little shop to their hearts.

It was the authorities which seemed hell-bent on causing difficulties. The first foray came from the planners.

In 2010 Haire was given until Christmas to shut and dismantle Sina's on the grounds that the appearance of the shop was "inappropriate" to its location and because it had an "adverse impact on the character of the surrounding area".

Had the planners actually taken a look at the surrounding area - the roofless houses, the boarded-up windows, the general air of long-term neglect?

Belfast architect Mark Hackett, speaking at the time, was incredulous about the planners' damning verdict on the shop.

"No one intervened as a number of good, three-storey terraced houses in the area were vacated and knocked down," he said.

"Rather than Government agencies stepping in and taking action to protect the high-quality Victorian fabric, they let it disappear. So what's the point in talking about the context of the surrounding area now, when that context has already been knocked down?"

Haire also fell foul of health and safety officials at Belfast City Council, who were unhappy about him using a ladder to get access to his storage space - a second shipping container, which was originally placed on top of the one housing the shop.

"They gave me 24 hours to stop using the ladder and they gave me the whole 'you have the right to remain silent' stuff," recalled Haire. "One week before we went to court, I moved the container and put it at the side of the shop."

On another occasion questions were raised about the hens. "We had the food people out from the council, they said they'd got reports of a chicken in the shop," said Haire. "I asked them: 'What's the difference between having a dog in the shop, or a chicken in the shop? What about farm shops?'

"So, we had this whole discussion about the difference between dog poo and hen poo. It ended with them saying they would swab the floor of the shop for signs of chicken poo.

"Honestly, they must have thought they were working for CSI or something."

Haire wasn't fazed by any of this. "Ah, I love fighting with them," he laughed. "It's magnificent, and I never panic about anything."

One of the most striking things about Sina's - apart from the 20ftx8ft prefabricated steel shipping container housing - is the lovely mahogany-lined interior.

Everything in the shop has been carefully designed to fit perfectly within the tiny space and the entire front face of is glass, making the interior bright on even the dullest winter day. Outside, there are a few tables and chairs for sunny days and a colourful display of primulas planted beside the door. The urban chickens are truly free-range, regularly roaming up and down Skegoneill and Glandore Avenues.

Current owner Lucinda Pollin - the original 'Sina' of the shop's name - calls them home by whistling for them.

For a while there was even a rooster, but he had to go after waking all the neighbours up at five o'clock every morning with his exuberant cock-a-doodle-doo.

Sina keeps her camera handy and often takes a snap of her customers, displaying the photographs on a digital photo frame on the wall. It shows an ever-changing succession of smiling faces, from the youngest to the oldest residents, adding another layer of warmth to the already cosy shop.

Whether Sina's will be here next year depends - as ever - on the actions of the authorities. After a four-year-long battle with the planners, Haire was eventually given temporary leave to keep the shop on the site for five years.

But the deadline for its destruction expires this summer, so William, Sina and the hens are on borrowed time.

Will it be a triumph for bureaucracy, with a blighted area deprived of its one bright spot?

Or will it be a victory for hope, imagination and enterprise?

"At one point I was told I would have to pay 20,000 or 30,000 if I didn't take the shop off the site," says Haire.

"So I told them I'd build a bonfire around it and set fire to it."

He added: "Maybe that will still be how it ends."
PSNI and Army experts at the scene of the murder bid in Londonderry - February 2017

The Army bomb squad in Northern Ireland should be honoured with a medal, a Military Cross recipient has said in the wake of the latest attempt to kill a PSNI officer.

Ulster Unionist Assembly candidate Doug Beattie made the call after Ammunition Technical Officers (ATO) were tasked to deal with the deadly booby-trap bomb placed under the car of a policeman in Londonderry on Wednesday.

The bomb left at Ardanlee in the Culmore area exploded just as the bomb disposal team prepared to defuse it.

Mr Beattie praised the efforts of the team and called for the ATOs to be awarded the General Service Medal (GSM) for their heroic work. The Upper Bann candidate said the murder bid on the officer "was a vile and indiscriminate act by those with no regard for the community".

He added: "In targeting the police officer they also targeted men, women and children who could have been in the vicinity of the detonation and suffered serious injury.

"The fact they were not was pure luck and good fortune.

"Each incident they are called to attend potentially involves deadly devices that could kill or seriously maim.

"It is a high risk role and a specialised skill that helps keep the people of Northern Ireland safe from these dissident republican psychopaths.

"We owe these men and women a great debt of gratitude and personally I believe they should receive a GSM for their service in Northern Ireland. I have therefore asked my colleague Tom Elliott MP to lobby the Secretary of State for Defence Sir Michael Fallon MP to take the necessary steps to instigate such an award."

The police officer targeted is believed to be a Catholic and his family was yesterday receiving help from the PSNI to deal with the trauma they had suffered after discovering the device outside their home.

Chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, Mark Lindsay, said PSNI officers have to deal with unique pressures.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Lindsay explained: "Police officers are no different to anyone else in their community, they are ordinary people who happen to put on a uniform to do their job.

"What is different is that unlike anyone else in the community, their lives are under constant threat, as we saw with the despicable attack on the police officer this week.

"That threat doesn't go away if an officer takes off their uniform and only for the regular safety training provided and vigilance that has prevented a murder.

"That is something that is unique to officers in Northern Ireland and something that the politicians should be mindful of when considering budget cuts to the Chief Constable."
A woman suing over injuries to her neck and back after a rear-ending incident has denied entries on her Facebook page suggested that she had been working out at the gym after the incident occurred, a court has heard.

Lyndsey Gervin (33), a mother-of-two from Coalisland, Co Tyrone, is one of nine people who sued for soft tissue injuries arising out of the August 2008 incident. A car allegedly collided with the rear of the minibus the group were travelling in while on their way to a night out in Dundalk.

They claim the car left the scene immediately and no one got its registration. The nine people, including the driver, brought a claim against the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI), which compensates victims of uninsured drivers. The MIBI denies their claims.

After seven of them were awarded compensation of between 3,000 (2,529) and 8,500 (7,171) in the Circuit Court, the MIBI appealed to the High Court in Dublin. The two who were not successful cross-appealed. A 10th man in the bus did not put in a claim. On the first day of the appeal hearing, Gervin told her own counsel, Patrick McCann, she had to do away with going to the gym after the incident.

Jonathan Kilfeather SC, for the MIBI, asked that Ms Gervin be recalled as certain information about her had been learned overnight from her Facebook page.

Mr Kilfeather put it to her that an entry she made in January 2014 stating am actually too excited about going back to workout Defo Gona b good an stick at it this time... meant she had been at the gym since the accident. So did further entries referring to another night of pain lol.

Ms Gervin said it was part of her efforts to advertise her partners gym among her friends. She claimed those references were a joke among the Facebook friends, and it did not mean she had gone back to the gym, and she denies that she did.

That is girly stuff, it would not interest you, she told Mr Kilfeather.

Ms Gervin told her own counsel her Facebook page was supposed to be private. Mr Kilfeather said the material had been downloaded from a public page.

The driver, David Morgan (40), also from Coalisland, said he could not remember anything about the incident other than he checked his mirrors and saw no cars.

Mr Morgan and Ms Gervin were among the successful seven in the Circuit Court. The others were: Deirdre Campbell (40); Joanne McGirr (35); her sister Fiona McGirr (38); Lyndseys sister Amanda Gervin (44); all from Coalisland, and Bernadette McBride (58), mother of Ms Campbell, from Glasslough, Co Monaghan.

Paul Campbell (39), Deirdre Campbells husband, and Kevin Kernaghan (43), also from Coalisland, lost in the Circuit Court and cross-appealed to the High Court.

The case resumes next week before Ms Justice Marie Baker.
Delays to the long-running inquest for missing Northern Ireland schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson are worthwhile, a coroner's court has been told.

The case, which opened almost exactly a year ago, has been stalled for months as efforts are made to obtain information from authorities in the Republic of Ireland.

Although some material has now been handed over, Judge Brian Sherrard told a preliminary hearing at Belfast's Laganside Court he wanted to retain momentum.

The coroner said: "This is a worthwhile exercise. I t may ultimately come to a point when we are putting a line underneath all of this but we are not at that point yet. "

Arlene, 15, from Castlederg in Co Tyrone, vanished after a night out across the Irish border in Co Donegal in August 1994.

She was last seen being driven down a country road by convicted paedophile and child killer Robert Howard.

Despite extensive searches, including a fresh dig late last year, the teenager's remains have never been found.

Judge Sherrard is seeking more information on three key areas including the lines of inquiry pursued by An Garda Siochana; searches carried out south of the border; and a purported meeting between Garda officers and Howard's former girlfriend Patricia Quinn and her daughter Donna Quinn in Letterkenny.

He added: "We are still seeking this information. It is a task that has not been entirely straightforward to date."

The coroner has previously spoken about the level of red tape hampering cross border co-operation, but a legislative change by Irish justice minister Frances Fitzgerald has authorised the sharing of information.

The disclosed material is due to be disseminated among legal teams for the Arkinson family and PSNI within a fortnight, the court was told.

Judge Sherrard noted that the PSNI may want to make "applications" in relation to some of the material.

"There are matters that will undoubtedly be of interest to the PSNI," he said.

Meanwhile, the Arkinson family, who have closely followed court proceedings, were not present for the brief hearing.

Judge Sherrard added : "I want to reassure them I am mindful as to the timescales involved and I will remain mindful as to the timescales."

Robert Howard was acquitted of Arlene's murder in 2005 by a jury not told of his lengthy criminal past which included the murder of South London teenager Hannah Williams several years earlier.

However he remained the prime suspect in the Arkinson case until his death in prison in 2015. The inquest has been adjourned until March.
The DUP has launched an online pledge urging people to oppose a "witch hunt" of former security force members.

Party leader Arlene Foster announced the initiative after a DUP-tabled Westminster debate on the issue on Thursday.

Unionist politicians and a number of Conservative MPs have alleged that ex-police and military personnel are being unfairly treated when it comes to the reinvestigation of Troubles incidents.

Prosecutors and police in Northern Ireland reject the claims, insisting they do not stand up to factual scrutiny.

The DUP has accused Sinn Fein of driving an agenda that wants to put as many soldiers in the dock as possible.

Republicans deny the accusation and claim the DUP is using the issue to deflect from its handling of a botched renewable heat scandal at Stormont.

Mrs Foster said: "I am asking the people of Northern Ireland to sign the DUP pledge to defend those who defended us during the Troubles.

"The Iraqi Historical Abuse Tribunal (Ihat) was abused with a litany of false allegations against our servicemen and women. This led to them being hounded by those who mouthed human rights but were playing a different game.

"What they tried with Ihat they are trying to do the same in Northern Ireland and rewrite the past.

"The injustices of the Ihat took much time to expose. It was through a combination of political, media and public pressure that this was achieved. We must follow this example.

"Many of those who served in Northern Ireland with the armed forces, RUC GC (Royal Ulster Constabulary - George Cross) and other services are now elderly or retired, and it is not acceptable that they should have inflicted upon them a vindictive philosophy which seeks to whitewash its own crimes, whilst heaping suspicion and misinformation on others.

"So I ask you to take a few moments to sign the pledge for those who risked so much for us."
A recent YouGov poll found most who used GP services said there was a need for more GPs

Health care should be top priority for the next government in Northern Ireland, a poll for a doctors' group suggested.

Four-fifths of those surveyed said they were worried political instability will delay necessary improvements, the Royal College of General Practitioners in Northern Ireland (RCGPNI) said.

It called for 11% of the health budget to be devoted to general practice and the full implementation of recommendations to "stabilise" the service.

Chair of the college, Dr Grainne Doran, said: "Until we have a fully functioning government in place, health and social care reform will continue to be put on hold.

"In the meantime, general practice services continue to deteriorate and if urgent action is not taken, patient care will suffer."

According to a recent YouGov poll, most who used GP services said there was a need for more GPs.

Almost twice as many people prioritised health as the economy.

RCGPNI has been calling on the government to take immediate action to address the current crisis facing general practice. Stormont elections are due next week.

The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors, has said there are now fewer GPs in Northern Ireland than in the 1950s.

There are claims that droves of doctors could leave the NHS if an urgent rescue package is not rolled out.

Unions have started taking undated letters of resignation as the pressure intensifies.

Some surgeries have risked closure as overworked doctors resign.

Dr Doran added: "Health and social care, including investing in general practice, must be the top priority for political parties.

"We no longer have the luxury of time, we need to see urgent action to address primary care pressures, immediately following the election."
The man who attempted to expose the historical sex abuse at the notorious Kincora boys' home in Belfast has lambasted an inquiry in a scathing 14-page letter.

Former Army captain and intelligence officer Colin Wallace slammed the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry's report on the Kincora paedophile cover-up in the 1970s.

Mr Wallace, whose attempts to expose the abuse of young boys were overthrown by his superiors, has contacted the inquiry's solicitor, Patrick Butler, to raise concerns about what he claims are "factual inaccuracies and misleading information" in the report.

He disputes the information contained in the inquiry report about notorious child abuser and Kincora housemaster William McGrath and others in the child-abuse ring.

Mr Wallace refused to testify before the inquiry last year, saying that it did not have adequate powers to get answers.

Instead, he submitted a 45-page document about Kincora, which he claimed was partly redacted.

Mr Wallace has challenged the inquiry on how it dealt with the RUC, Ministry of Defence and intelligence services, who he maintains were using Kincora and McGrath for intelligence-gathering in the 1970s.

In the letter, Wallace put 11 questions to the HIA chairman Sir Anthony Hart concerning the way in which Government witnesses were dealt with.

Mr Wallace said: "I feel both angry and sorry that after 40 years of campaigning for a proper investigation of this matter, we are all further away from the truth than ever."

A spokeswoman for the HIA inquiry said that the inquiry devoted 119 pages to examining Mr Wallace's submission.

"Colin Wallace was offered the opportunity to assist on two occasions but chose not to do so," she said.

"He was also requested to provide a witness statement answering questions the inquiry considered relevant and to provide copies of certain documents but did not do so. The inquiry devoted 119 pages of its report to examining what Mr Wallace has said about Kincora. The inquiry does not intend to debate its findings with Mr Wallace."

The report posted on the HIA website criticises Mr Wallace's evidence about Kincora. It states: "Taking all matters into consideration we are satisfied that Mr Wallace cannot be regarded as truthful in his accounts of what he knew about sexual abuse in Kincora, or what he did with that knowledge, in 1972 to 1974."
A nine-year-old Ballymena boy with a love of fast cars has just returned from the trip of a lifetime that included a ride around the millionaires' playground of Monaco in a Ferrari.

Garron Donnelly was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in May 2013 after developing a painful lump in his neck.

He also suffered the devastating loss of his baby sister Peggy, who died in December during surgery to correct a congenital heart condition.

To provide Garron some respite, his parents were referred to Make-A-Wish UK, which offered him the chance to enjoy the ultimate getaway.

After seeing a Top Gear challenge set amid the luxury and excitement of Monaco, Garron had no doubt where he wanted to go.

With rides in a Ferarri, Rolls-Royce, a helicopter, and the chance to start up the engines of a super-yacht, his mum Ruth described the experience as second to none.

"Garron had to grow up too quickly because he became sick and had so much adult stuff to deal with," she said.

"Being sick like that is the loneliest thing because you're cut off from the real world and you have to hide in the house in case of infections, so to have something like Monaco to look forward to was such a positive."

She added that an unexpected highlight was being able to spend all day in the hotel pool, something he hadn't been able to do before because of the risk of catching a bug.

"But the best bit was when he got to go for a spin in a Ferrari. He got to go in the front seat and his face must have been hurting afterwards from smiling so much," explained Ruth.

She said the trip had meant all the more to the family after the difficulty of recent years.

"I can't even begin to explain how it feels to be told your child has cancer. Garron's diagnosis turned our lives upside down and our first thoughts were that we were going to lose him," said Ruth.

"When you go into a room and there are six people there waiting to speak to you, you just know it is bad news.

"The consultant said to pack a bag for a month, and within a matter of four hours our whole lives changed."

Speaking about the loss of her baby daughter, she added: "Peggy was born on December 9 and she went to London for open-heart surgery on December 21. She died on December 23, her daddy's (Colin) birthday.

"We were all devastated, and after everything Garron was going through, he'd lost his baby sister too.

"To have Garron's wish granted after all that was just amazing."

Georgina Menheneott from the Burgess yacht company said it was only too happy to be involved in Garron's wish, adding: "We were able to give Garron our best VIP welcome and as we whisked him out to the anchorage you could see how excited he was. He said he wanted to be a tender driver when he grew up, and just to see his face light up was really special."

Garron's mum said he now "totally sees himself living this kind of lifestyle and we say go ahead and think that, there's no harm in it".

"Memories aren't easily made. We'll never forget this. The work that was put into it was second-to-none and we appreciate it so much," she added.

Garron Donnelly with parents Ruth and Colin in Monaco; the nine-year-old takes to the air in a helicopter (centre), and (far left) starting up the engines aboard a super-yacht
Last Friday the Sacred Pipe Recourse Center held a cultural competency workshop at the CEDC conference room in Mandan. The two-hour meeting spearheaded by Cheryl Kary, the executive director of the resource center, focused on the reality on Native law now and in how its been interpreted in the past, current events and the school to prison pipeline among Native youth.

Kary said the goal of the competency workshops is to get people to look through a different lens that is used to approach conflict.

The Dakota Access Pipeline did come into play during the meeting. Kary pointed to the situation as an example of the lack of understanding between cultures and how to address those issues. Kary said the situation Escalated very quickly because of the misunderstanding of value systems and ways of communicating.

Kayla Schmidt, the program coordinator for the North Dakota Humanities Council, said her department brings programs to communities across North Dakota including civic, literature, poetry and ethics. Each year the council has a certain theme to focus on and this years theme is justice in particular, criminal justice.

Schmidt says the council has worked with Kary and Sacred Pipe in the past and wanted to get the perspective of those in the community more familiar with the subject of the differing values of Native law and non-Native law and why they clash.

It was really casual and thats exactly the kind of programs we like to put on too, where people can discuss and ask questions and feel open, said Schmidt.

The meeting was small, only five attendees. Kary and Schmidt hoped for more representation from the community including law enforcement.

Schmidt believes the meeting was a way to start to gain understanding of Native law, tribal law enforcement and recognizing the difference with the non- Native culture of individualism versus the Native culture of working together as a community which is still relative today. Its about bring the community together and building cultural awareness, said Schmidt.

Sacred Pipe will hold a cultural competency workshop each month throughout the year. To learn more about the Sacred Pipe Resource Center or its upcoming events, visit sacredpipe.net or call 701-663-3886.
A Northern Ireland judge has questioned the policies of US President Donald Trump and of Russian President Vladimir Putin towards the issue of domestic violence.

Derry judge Barney McElholm said he was aware that President Trump was about to remove legal aid from people who were domestic violence victims and who were seeking civil remedies.

The district judge said he also understood that President Putin had recently decriminalised domestic violence in Russia.

And in relation to domestic violence in Northern Ireland, the judge said if a government was ever restored, the legislators should review the fact that an act dating back to 1861 was being used in domestic violence prosecution here.

Mr McElholm made his comments during the case of Leon Browne, 24, from Hollymount Park in Derry. He admitted a charge of common assault on his partner during which he grabbed her by the throat causing bruising to her neck, wrist and shoulder.

During the incident which occurred on December 7 of last year, Browne also smashed his partner's flat screen television.

The court was told that the injured party had since withdrawn her statement of complaint against Browne who has paid for the damage he caused to the television.

Mr McElholm said in some states in America a person who grabbed another person by the throat and squeezed to the point of rendering the victim unconscious was charged with attempted murder. Here in Northern Ireland, he said, a 1861 Act was used.

Browne was given a five month jail sentence, suspended for three years, and put on probation for twelve months.

"The only reason you are not going to prison today is because I have read your partner's withdrawal statement and if it were not for her you would be going straight to jail today", the district judge told Browne.
Video has emerged of the moment gale force winds caused a lorry to flip over on the M1 motorway on the Boyne Bridge in the high winds of Storm Doris.

The incident happened on the northbound section of the road just after the Boyne Bride, Drogheda, Co Louth.

Despite the timestamp on the footage stating the year as 2000, it has been confirmed the dashcam footage is from Thursday.

Gardai confirmed emergency services attended the scene.

A spokesman said: "Gardai at Drogheda attended the scene of this incident when a truck coming across the Boyne Cable bridge, and the wind caught the trailer, flipping it onto its side.

"No other vehicles involved. Motorway closed for a number of hours in order to get the vehicle towed away. The driver suffered a minor injury. No serious injuries."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will vow to do everything possible to stand up for the rights of EU citizens living in Britain

EU migrants in the UK are being deliberately left 'dangling on a string' by Theresa May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has warned.

Mr Corbyn used a key-note Brexit address to insist the Prime Minister guarantees the status of the estimated three million EU nationals in Britain.

"They don't deserve to be dangled on the end of a string any longer. We demand immediate action on that to guarantee their rights of residence in Britain."

The attack came amid growing Labour confidence it can force the Government into a concession on the emotive issue as the Brexit Bill faces fresh challenges in the House of Lords next week.

Mr Corbyn said: "It is a scandal that our Government is trying to use citizens of the EU, who have made their homes in Britain, as a bargaining chip.

"I understand the fear in many communities since the Brexit vote.

"Many EU nationals feel isolated and believe they are no longer welcome in the country they have come to call home."

Tory peer Lord Bowness has now joined the Liberal Democrats in backing an amendment to the Brexit Bill calling for residence securities for EU nationals.

Labour's leader in the Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon, told The Guardian: "My sense is there's real momentum behind this one, and my sense talking to peers across the house and listening to the debate, is this is something that the House of Lords would support, cross-party."

Labour is also hopeful of forcing a further concession over their demands for the Government's promise of Parliament will have a chance to vote on any Brexit deal with the remaining 27 EU member states before it is finally agreed.

It follows a warning from the former Supreme Court judge Lord Hope of Craighead, that the legislation as is standing may not be sufficient to satisfy the court's ruling that Parliament was entitled to a say on Brexit.

Mr Corbyn also used his address to warn the Tories want an ideologically-driven right wing Brexit to push an agenda of deeper austerity, attacking workers' rights, and selling off parts of key public services like the NHS to American corporations in a trade deal with US President Donald Trump.

"The Tories are hurtling down the road to Brexit with a broken sat-nav system telling them to turn right, right, and then right again."
For those of you who were unable to watch President Donald Trumps 70-some-odd-minute press conference last week, I watched the whole thing, so if you have any questions feel free to call someone who understands what was said because heres what I took away.

Both my loyal readers know that Ive always been a political junkie and as such, part of my doing nothing all day involves listening to the news (yes, this occasionally includes Fox News but mostly PBS), reading online papers and just trying to be an informed citizen. Like too many citizens I have found myself knowing more about a given issue than I really wanted to know but as usual, I digress.

For the record this was the first time I have watched our new president since he was inaugurated and I was impressed with him. Not all of these impressions were good but I do have to say that it was a fascinating hour for me. The president started out with an impressive list of his accomplishments until he said the immigration ban rolled out really well. I flinched but then paid attention to his explanation. Someone on his staff convinced Trump to go forward immediately rather than wait 30 days or inform our gatekeepers because waiting would have let the bad guys in. No mention of an apology to the 100,000 travelers he stranded around the world.

His logic made sense to me but his desire to fulfill a campaign promise outweighed the facts and repercussions he should have known about and faced before he proceeded. When the topic came up about the Dreamers (Recall that Barack Obama issued an executive order to provide relief for families of illegals who have children born in the U.S. because Congress refused to act on any Obama proposals? Trump labeled these kids anchor babies.) Trump said, I love kids so were going to have heart when we deport these parents. Of course those of us who watched ICE round up these parents and wondered what kind of heart would rip into these families became rather flummoxed as the conference went on.

When asked about firing his NSA director he admitted that Michael Flynn had illegally met with the Russians and discussed lifting sanctions. The U.S. Constitution does not allow for two presidents at the same time. Flynn, who was somehow working for Trump prior to his inauguration as well as during his campaign, evidently had multiple meetings with Russian officials, including a dinner with Vladimir Putin during the campaign. Since Obama was still president and imposing sanctions on Russia many believe this to be an act of treason. Then to add to the confusion Trump said Flynn was just doing his job. I didnt know he had made these contacts but since it was part of his job I would have told him to do it myself, said Trump. As I thought about this I couldnt help but make the conspiratorial conclusion that Russias meddling in our election is more extensive than I had imagined.

So what was Flynns job at the time? I can only conclude that he was either on Trumps electoral payroll or some sort of independent contractor but whatever his job was he sure caused alarm in our security and intelligence system. The president told us that the leaks were real, thus affirming that whatever was leaked was the truth. But then he went off the rail by explaining why the leaks were the culprit because the leaks were criminal acts because they contained classified information but the news about them was fake.

Ah? Seems to me that the leaks went to the press because those in charge of our national security felt that you and I as citizens should know that Russia had invaded our electoral process, a very serious offense. Remember Wikileaks? It wasnt that these reports were false, rather they were leaked. All presidents have had to deal with leaks, its part of the transparency process that we the people rely on. However, most of our leaders are able to overcome the challenge by confronting or explaining their side of the issue. Trumps constant criticism of the media tells me that hes more concerned about the messenger than the message.

I guess if I were president Id be concerned about leaks but the president then went off about his conversations with world leaders, in particular Australia, where his disgust was videoed and his chats with other world leaders being broadcast. Well, Mr. President, it seems to me that if you dont want to be recorded it would be a good idea to send the media out of the room.

I have since rewatched snippets of this amazing press conference and had to come to the conclusion that our new president suffers from engaging his mouth before his mind. Ive been known to occasionally suffer from this disorder and found that whenever I speak in public its a good idea to use my notes rather than expressing whatever thoughts are streaming through my head.

So what are my conclusions about this experience? Well it seems to me that our new president is going to be difficult to follow because his mastery of our media has not only flummoxed them but me as well. So I guess all we the people can do is wait and see what he does while trying to interpret what he says. So thats all I have to say for now, heres to hoping that you pay attention to whats going on around you.
Employees in one region of Sweden could be paid for sex breaks

Swedish workers should be paid for one-hour sex breaks by their employers, a politician has suggested.

Per Erik Muskos, a member of the Swedish Social Democrat party, made the proposal during a council meeting in the northern city of Overtornea.

He believes midweek sex breaks will boost childbirth and improve health in the region.

He told Stockholm based newspaper Aftonbladet, that said sex breaks could "kill two birds with one stone."

"Childbirth should be encouraged. Sex is an excellent form of exercise with documented positive effects on well-being, the municipality should kill two birds with one stone and encourage employees to use their fitness hour to go home and have sex

"I believe that sex is a scarce commodity in many long relationships. Everyday life is stressful and the children are at home. This could be an opportunity to have their own time."

Mr Muskos admitted there is no way to check that the time will be used for lovemaking.

"You cannot guarantee that a worker does not go out for a walk instead."

Tomas Vedestig, 42, a left-leaning municipal councilman, said: "I dont think its the employers business to say, Go home for an hour and make babies'.

Others complained that one hour wasn't long enough. "I spoke to a couple of older gentlemen who said, 'One hour? That is not enough time.'"

Sweden has many work benefits including 480 days of paid parental leave and little overtime. Full-time employees in Sweden work the third-least amount in Europe, after Finland and France.
Theres no point moaning about Stormont if were not prepared to actually go and vote

Have you succumbed to pre-election fatigue yet? I know I have. The symptoms are unmistakeable.

Loud, uncontrollable groans that burst out of you, unbidden, when you hear yet another mediocre politician promising you miraculous, transformative change if only you'll cast your vote for them - however badly they've screwed up in the past.

The choking tedium that envelops you when a party political broadcast pops up on TV, a symptom that is only minimally relieved by marvelling at the terrible clunkiness of the product. I mean, did you see Jim Allister's special election crossword?

All those super-size mugshots of politicians beaming unnaturally from lampposts and street signs, following you with their eyes, can leave you teetering on the verge of paranoia. The shovelfuls of party literature delivered to our doors are just as bad. I've trained my dog to shred them the second they come through the letterbox.

As for the posse of interchangeable and largely self-appointed political experts, mostly men of a certain age, who treat every inconsequential move that our politicians make as a matter of Earth-shattering significance - well, they and their ponderous nerdathons simply put me to sleep. I suppose I should be grateful. Wake me up after March 2. Or don't bother, actually. The fun won't stop there.

The inertia I'm currently feeling helps me to understand why people don't vote. I get that apathy. Voter turnout has been in steady decline for years. It hit an impressive 70% in 1998, when we were feeling all exuberant and hopeful about the bright new future - we soon had that kicked out of us, didn't we? But since then it's been bumping slowly downhill. 63% in 2003, 62% in 2007. By the time we got to 2016 it was a paltry 54.9%. So almost half the population now choose not to exert their electoral rights.

Why? Well there's a powerful, almost fatalistic sense that change is impossible, and that the sectarian stranglehold that for so long has defined Northern Ireland politics is inevitable.

This is not an irrational point of view. The core tribal vote on both sides is incredibly strong. It is fuelled by fear, and it comes from the gut, not the brain, so it is not susceptible to logic or persuasion.

That's why it is largely unaffected by even the most egregious scandals. The loyalty of the hard-core vote remains steady, no matter what, because the fundamental instinct is that their tribe - however base or bloody - must win.

So you could be forgiven for thinking: why bother? To the sword with the lot of them.

I know many people who think just that. Especially this time around, after the Assembly collapsed in a welter of gross ineptitude, overweening arrogance and bitter recriminations. And that's before we've even begun to unpick the allegations of corruption over RHI. A LucidTalk poll published earlier this month found that the majority of people in Northern Ireland would prefer something - anything - other than the return of the Executive.

But even now, I'm going to make myself do it. On March 2 I will drag myself out of my torpor, traipse down to the polling station, and there I will cast my vote.

I won't be doing it with pleasure or pride, or even a great deal of conviction. For those of us unswayed by primitive identity politics or simple prejudice, there are few candidates who match up exactly with our individual views. The best you can hope for is the least worst option. Somebody who might be in with a chance of making things a little bit better, or at least not making them worse. It's as well to keep your expectations low. Experience should teach us that much.

This may not be a ringing endorsement of our hard-won democratic rights, but it's all we've got.

There's no point whinging about the terrible state of Stormont if you're not prepared to have the tiny say that the system allows us. Don't consider doing something daft like spoiling your vote as a protest. It's a futile, egotistical gesture that is worse than useless.

During this dull period of pre-election doldrums, for me there was one moment of optimism. My grown-up children will be away at university when the election is held. But on their most recent visit home they went to the Electoral Office and signed up so they could vote by proxy. They care about this crazy, contradictory place despite everything. And, like many of their generation, they want to change it for the better.

Maybe - just maybe - hope is possible after all.
Not many people would have the courage to open a shop right on an interface, one of the many which pockmark north Belfast. But William Haire identified a need and set about meeting it in his own unique style.

And eight years later that outlet, built out of two shipping containers and selling the usual fare of a corner shop, is a popular facility open from dawn till late. Given its location, Mr Haire might have expected to be caught in the crossfire between militant groups on either side of the divide, but instead the flak has all come from the bureaucrats who want to close him down.

He has had to contend with planning issues, health and safety regulations and court hearings, due to what some might call bending of the rules.

And now he faces possible closure this summer as time runs out on an order seeking the shop's destruction.

While it can be argued that rules are rules, there surely must be some imagination used when determining each case.

This is a facility used by both sides of the community.

While the area is no one's idea of Nirvana, the mere presence of the store has led to people who never previously had anything to do with each other now meeting while calling into the shop.

It was peace-building by accident, but real all the same.

Many people would say that Mr Haire should be praised for both his entrepreneurship as well as his work in improving community spirit in a deprived location.

Single-handedly he has had a greater impact in that area than the might of the Stormont Executive, yet it is officialdom that wants to put him out of business.

And no one could accuse Mr Haire of holding the bureaucrats to ransom for personal gain. For he could have made a small fortune by selling the shop site, which he bought for a mere 8,500.

He breathed life into an area that was decaying before his very eyes and must wonder, as do his customers, if shutting him down is any sort of reward for his work.

If ever there was a David and Goliath fight over property, this is it. Surely commonsense could prevail and a compromise worked out that would allow a well-used local facility to continue, even in amended form. What gain will be achieved by shutting this shop down? If, as he threatens, Mr Haire has to eventually burn the thing down, a fine social enterprise will go up in smoke.
It's been eight months and a day since we did it and I still can't stop smiling at the memory.

Brexit: be honest, no matter how much you hoped it would happen, how much did you really think it was going to? I've got to admit, no matter how long I campaigned for Brexit, there were more than a few moments last summer when even I thought we just won't do it.

Read More

The forces that ranged against us, from David Cameron and Barack Obama to the IMF and Eddie Izzard, were just too strong.

But the British people spoke, and Brexit won.

I served as the DUP's national campaign director during the referendum and I'd like to tell you how we did our bit to help restore the parliamentary sovereignty of this country and give to the British people the opportunity to once again govern our own affairs.

The first thing we did was register with the Electoral Commission as a participant.

This meant that we were, in theory, able to spend up to 700,000 in campaigning for Brexit.

I don't want to give away the ending, but as you may have gleaned during the last 40 years of consistent DUP opposition to EU membership, we were for Leave.

Pro-Remain parties in Northern Ireland, like Sinn Fein, Mike Nesbitt's UUP and the Alliance were free to register, fundraise, and campaign. None of these parties did so, and yet they now complain about the outcome.

Expand Close A DUP advertisement that appeared in The Metro / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A DUP advertisement that appeared in The Metro

We are not a wealthy party, and therefore to finance our national campaign the DUP raised funds.

This seems to have surprised some people. I'm not sure why when one considers the importance of the issues at stake in the referendum.

The Lib Dems were for Remain. They raised money to spend on their principled, decades-long position. They spent it.

The DUP was for Leave. We raised money; we spent it on our position, which we've held since the party was founded. Who donated to us?

Well, the sole reason why donors to political causes in Northern Ireland are not publicly identified is due to Sinn Fein's murderous legacy.

It's as simple as that. The dogs in the street know it. Even the BBC knows it.

Republican terrorists have previously targeted political donors.

But here's the thing, even though the law exists for good reason, we have secured the permission of our donors to name them.

They're the CRC - the Constitutional Research Council - a group which supports constitutional pro-Union causes. They believed, as did we, that Brexit would be good for the Union and bad for those who oppose it.

You only have to listen to the outraged squeals of nationalists both here and in Scotland to see just how right we were.

Nationalists are opposed to Brexit because they think it's bad for nationalism.

They see precisely the harm Brexit has done to their nationalist aspirations and will do to their future separatist ambitions.

I thank the CRC for choosing to donate to us, and, modesty to one side, I hope for our part we ran a campaign worthy of the cause.

Thanks to their generous donation, we spent 425,622 throughout the UK, including in Northern Ireland on a variety of pro-Leave advertising media.

From social media, to things as old-fashioned as posters and T-shirts, to, I think, most eye-catchingly of all, a wraparound advert in Metro, the freesheet newspaper. Personally I think this was a great success and the positive feedback that we received from across the UK reinforces our view that it was right for a Northern Ireland party to put its shoulder to the wheel of the national campaign.

We did not seek to hide in any way our participation or our enthusiasm for Brexit.

On every single piece of media we produced for our Leave campaign, my name was on them as national campaign director.

From the shirts to the posters to the ads, our party details were there for all to see. I am proud to have had the chance to secure a victory that I and my colleagues have sought since we entered politics.

In providing this level of transparency, I have some questions for the other Northern Ireland parties.

For the UUP, why didn't you believe this referendum was important enough to register for the national campaign? Does your unionism not extend to campaigning in other parts of the kingdom on a national issue of this significance?

For the SDLP, we look forward to your disclosure of the secret donations you have received using the loophole of bringing money in from the Irish Republic.

Who are these foreign donors and how much have they given you?

Then to Sinn Fein, you piously called for transparency about political donations.

You use the same loophole as the SDLP to sneak your money in through the back door of the Irish Republic.

The US-based Friends of Sinn Fein' has raised more than $12 million (9.56m). How have you spent that money?

The public has not a clue what Sinn Fein does with it.

We have today gone far further than any of the other main Northern Ireland political parties.

Will they now do the same? Will they now instruct the Electoral Commission to release all the names of their donors over 7,500?

If they won't, why not? What was all that talk about transparency then?

Throughout the country nationalism loathes their defeat in Brexit and is in no fit state to negotiate for the people

Having fought so hard to secure this victory, the DUP, not least at Westminster, is the party best-placed to secure Northern Ireland the best deal under Brexit.

We ask for your support to achieve this.
On what was truly a miserable day, the Oceti Sakowin protest camp crept into the history books. Despite fires set by protesters and a few minor acts of defiance, the final hours of the camp were relatively quiet. The handful of protesters left in the camp Wednesday night were moved out on Thursday.

This doesnt signal the end of the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, just a change in tactics. There are still some smaller camps on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation established by the Cheyenne Sioux. Pipeline opponents also vow to continue the fight in the courts and a national march is planned March 10 in Washington, D.C.

On a day when many feared law enforcement would sweep through the camp after the evacuation deadline passed something surprising happened. State officials and law enforcement took an approach that avoided confrontation and they didnt kick the protesters out of the state, they gave them a free ride home. For those who wanted it, they were offered personal kits, health assessments, a food voucher, a nights stay at a hotel, a taxi voucher to the bus terminal and free bus fare for a trip home, wherever that might be. The state also threw in some snacks and water.

Gov. Doug Burgum said the cost of the departure package is uncertain, partly because the number of takers was unknown Wednesday night, but it was a small price to pay to evacuate the camp. Some of the protesters had no means to get home and might have stayed in the state.

Wednesdays events were in striking contrast to Octobers action when law enforcement moved protesters from another camp. No major clashes occurred Wednesday, though 10 were arrested after going onto Highway 1806.

There were two injuries when a fire caused a propane explosion. That was before law enforcement entered the camp. During a press conference Wednesday night, Burgum was moved and expressed his sympathy for the 7-year-old and 17-year-old injured.

A lot of credit for Wednesdays successful action has to be given to Burgum, tribal officials and camp leaders for holding advance meetings to establish the ground rules for the evacuation. It also helped that those at the camp demonstrated the seriousness of the situation by beginning the cleanup.

State officials and law enforcement are to be commended for how they handled the evacuation. Well withhold any praise for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which also was involved in Wednesdays action. The corps allowed the protesters to violate the law and establish the camp. Had the corps evicted the first campers the potential environmental disaster created by the camp could have been avoided.

Now the corps has hired contractors for $800,000 to clean up the camp. The cost could rise to more than $1.1 million. If the area isnt cleaned up, spring flooding could send the remains of the camp into the Cannonball River. Add the price of the cleanup to the almost $33 million in costs for state and local law enforcement since August, and the protests have resulted in one big bill. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said Wednesday hell likely sue the federal government for the costs of the cleanup. He might include the costs of law enforcement in any lawsuit.

He warned that environment issues could linger for months after the cleanup is completed.

While the battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline hasnt ended, hopefully we are entering a period of less conflict. The merits of the pipeline can be argued without it remaining a divisive issue in North Dakota society.

How law enforcement handled the situation this week is a step in that direction. If we can get the Backwater Bridge reopened and normal travel resumes, that will be another big step for the state.
Law enforcement declared the main Dakota Access Pipeline resistance camp cleared as of 2:09 p.m.

Thirty-three people had been arrested by 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, after the law enforcement and North Dakota National Guard members entered the main camp about two hours earlier.

Officers dressed in riot gear began entering the main Dakota Access Pipeline resistance camp and appear to be checking on structures.

Authorities were using plastic handcuffs and placing those arrested into transport vans. Some of the protesters refused to walk, and had to be carried.

Lt. Tom Iverson of the North Dakota Highway Patrol said there had been no reports of injuries to protesters or officers, and there had been no known use of less-than-lethal munitions.

Law enforcement staged heavy equipment and Humvees on the hill above the camp, while officers dressed in the protective gear could be seen working in the area about 10:30 a.m. A helicopter and airplane also flew above the camp.

About 18 National Guard members, along with equipment, joined officers moving into the camp. Iverson said there were about 200 law enforcement officers total who entered the camp.

Law enforcement estimated 30 people remained in the evacuation area in the morning, but one observer put the number higher.

About a dozen people have crossed the frozen Cannonball River and re-entered the camp as of 9 a.m. Thursday. Cleanup was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

"We don't know exactly what's inside some of the remaining structures," Iverson said before officers moved into the camp. A total of 11 people were arrested Wednesday, according to a list of names provided by the Morton County Sheriff's Department.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers previously announced it would close the camp Wednesday, and Gov. Doug Burgum signed an evacuation order with a Wednesday deadline, emphasizing safety concerns and the need to clean up the camp ahead of spring flooding. Burgum said Wednesday evening that people could still leave voluntarily Thursday.

Those arrested Wednesday included one member of the media, Jack Smith IV of Mic, an online news outlet. Iverson said everyone was warned to leave Highway 1806 or face arrest.

One person arrested who reported a hip injury was "medically cleared" from the hospital and taken to jail, Iverson said. Most of those who were arrested were taken to the Lake Region Correctional Facility in Devils Lake. None of those who were arrested Wednesday were from North Dakota. Four are from California, while the others are from Canada, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

There was no new information Thursday morning about the 17-year-old girl who was "severely burned" Wednesday and airlifted to Minneapolis or the 7-year-old boy who also injured.

Jessica Holdman of the Bismarck Tribune contributed to this report.
Books, including some banned in Bangladesh, are on display at The Hague Freedom Book Fair 2017, Feb. 24, 2017.

Bangladeshi publisher Ahmedur Rashid Tutul took shelter in Norway after surviving a machete attack by Muslim extremists at his Dhaka publishing house in October 2015.

Every year he used to attend the Ekushey book festival in the Bangladeshi capital, but now hes a regular at The Hague Freedom Book Fair in the Netherlands, whose second edition opened Friday.

The four-day festival that runs through Monday features appearances by Tutul and other Bangladeshi writers, bloggers and publishers who have seen their works banned in their home country, as well as displays of their books. The fair also features publishers from Britain and the Netherlands along with a special exhibition of books banned in Turkey.

Mukto-Mona, a website for free thinkers in Bangladesh that was founded by secular blogger and writer Avijit Roy  who was murdered after leaving the Ekushey fair on Feb. 26, 2015  jointly organized the book fair in the Netherlands with the Hague Peace Projects as part of a peaceful fight for freedom speech.

It is a continuation of 2016s Bangladesh Alternative Book Fair held in memory of Roy and other Bangladeshi writers, publishers and freethinkers who were killed in 2015.

It is a one-of-a-kind protest against censorship. Freedom of speech and thought is the prime aim for this book fair, Mukto-Mona chief Rafida Bonya Ahmed told BenarNews.

Many important and truthful books have been forbidden in Bangladesh and other countries. These books should be available for readers for the sake of building a rational society, said Bonya, who was seriously injured in the machete attack that killed her husband Avijit Roy.

Roy was a Bangladeshi-born U.S. citizen and skeptic who penned controversial works in Bangladesh, including books that were unofficially banned. Some of these works by Roy, including his books The Philosophy of Disbelief and Homosexuality: A Scientific and Socio-Psychological Investigation, are on display at the fair in The Hague.

So are books by a Bangladeshi female writer, Taslima Nasreen, who fled her country after receiving death threats. Other books being showcased at the fair and that have been officially or unofficially banned in Bangladesh include The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, according to organizers.

Joining Tutuls Suddhashar publishing house at the fair are Bangladesh publishing houses Shrabon, Adarsha, Ongkur and University Press Limited. Some will be attending the fair while others will showcase their banned books.

Tutul stressed the symbolism of the fairs focus on banned books.

It aims to project internationally the restrictions, barriers and situations created either by Islamists, who are against free thinking and free expression, or by the Bangladesh government, he told BenarNews.

Dual attacks

Tutul, who published books written by Roy, and bloggers Ranadipam Basu and Tareq Rahim were seriously injured when assailants attacked them with machetes on Oct. 31, 2015. Faisal Arefin Dipan was killed in a similar attack at his Jagriti publishing house that same day.

Even as he has fond memories of the Ekushey fair, Tutul has grievances with its organizer.

It has become a habit for the Bangla Academy to impose restrictions on showcasing secular books at the book fair, he said. It would be helpful if the authorities had taken drastic measures against piracy.

Secular blogger Nastiker Dharmakatha, a key organizer of the Hague event, fled to the Netherlands in the wake of the killing spree of secular writers, publishers and others in Bangladesh.

This book fair is being branded as Freedom Book Fair with a slogan: In solidarity with those who are putting their lives on the line for freedom of expression. So all the books which have been forbidden in different countries are important to us, he said.

Last year the book fair was absolutely on Bangladesh. Other countries, where press freedom is hampered, have been added to it this year. People of Turkey and Somalia are working with us.

Along with displays of banned books, the fair features panel discussions on freedom of speech vs. hate speech in the Netherlands, freedom of expression in Turkey, LGBT-activism in religious societies, voices of dissent in Bangladesh and freedom of speech, dialogue and conflict resolution in Bangladesh.

Scheduled speakers include Bonya, Turkish lawmaker Huda Kaya, Dutch writer Paul Cliteur and Bangladeshi activist Sultana Kamal.
In an interview with BenarNews, the man recently appointed by Pope Francis as the first-ever Catholic cardinal in Muslim-majority Bangladesh spoke of the countrys tolerant traditions and the importance of keeping religion out of politics.

The pope elevated Patrick DRozario, 73, to the rank of cardinal  the second-highest position in the Catholic Church  during a ceremony at the Vatican in November.

During a wide-ranging interview at Arch Bishop House in Dhaka, DRozario spoke on the rise of religious extremism in Bangladesh and the world, and stressed the importance of the separation of church and state.

Problems surface whenever these two mix, he said. Let politics be in the place of politics, and religion be in the place of religion.

The cardinal also touched on the popes expected visit to Bangladesh later this year.

BenarNews interviewed DRozario in October, after the pope nominated him to become a cardinal. Here is his first interview with BenarNews as cardinal.

BenarNews: How do you feel about being the first Bengali cardinal?

DRozario: I am amazed. We are a small Christian society, with 355,000 Catholics. The total number of Christians is 600,000. Considering the number, this is a big achievement.

This [cardinalship] is the personal nomination of the Revered Pope. He desired his 120 conclaves to be universal, not limited to Europe.  Bangladesh is very vulnerable in terms of climate change. Possibly, the Revered Pope wanted to bring Bangladeshs experience [in this regard] to the church.

BN: Please tell us something about Christians in Bangladesh.

PD: Christians have some important roles, though they are small in number. We have been working in the fields of education and health ... 75 percent of people involved with [the Catholic charity] Caritas are from other religions; they are stakeholders of the same values.

Our schools have students from different communities; 84 percent of students at the Notre Dame College come from rural areas. They cannot afford studying at the good schools in cities. We are following the constitutional directives to serve the underprivileged groups. 

We are the ones who started inter-religious dialogue; now it takes place with state sponsorship. Our position is that churches, though small in number, have been contributing. 

BN: Would you mind talking about religious terrorism in Bangladesh?

PD: The current terrorism is not rooted in our culture. It is an imported concept. We arent required to sacrifice our own religions to live here, rather we are living here together with our various religious identity and beliefs. 

The Ramkrishna [Hindu] Mission arranges interfaith dialogues on Christmas Day; this doesnt happen in other countries. The president hosts receptions at Bangabhaban [Presidents House] for religious minorities on their festival days; this is unique.

BN: You have talked about religious tolerance in Bangladesh. But there have been incidents of religious strife and divisions. What would you say about this?

PD: Pakistan was created on the basis of religion. There were so many riots in the name of religion. This is a historical truth. Those riots were for political reasons. We are getting a lesson today.

Why did we seek independence even after the creation of Pakistan? Because the Pakistanis were not in line with our tradition and culture [even though they were Muslim]. This proves that religion alone cannot unite people.

The Wahhabis had influence when Pakistan was created. They demanded a model Islamic country; that didnt happen. It is not wise to inject religion into politics. This is the truth of history. 

Church and state are different; problems surface whenever these two mix. Let politics be in the place of politics, and religion be in the place of religion. 

BN: Now we are experiencing a global trend of religious extremism. Why?

PD: Secularism emerged as a counter-concept of religious belief. Its basic notion is logic. Logic says there is no God, so forget about it. They have ruled out religion. Now, logic without religion and religion without logic are in confrontation. 

Against this backdrop, [Prime Minister] Sheikh Hasina propagates the idea of religious pluralism. This is good. Religious ideas will in no way fade away; nobody has the right to obliterate religion.

BN: Pope Francis is supposed to come to Bangladesh. Do you have any updates?

PD: The Revered Pope himself expressed his desire to come. No official date is fixed yet. The formal proposal will come in March.

A team from Vatican will precede [the Pope]. The Honorable Prime Minister has invited [Pope Francis].

The program needs to be fixed in line with Indias. He will stay in Bangladesh for one day or 1 1/2 days. His itinerary includes meetings with the president and the prime minister.

[He] will go to National Mausoleum to show his respect. [We have] plans to organize a prayer for the Christians and an inter-faith conference  it depends upon how much time he can spare.
Jakarta said Thursday it was pressing Malaysian authorities to give consular access to an Indonesian woman suspected in the killing of the half-brother of North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un.

Siti Aisyah, 25, is one of two women in Malaysian custody and whom police suspect of having used their hands to smear a toxin on victim Kim Jong Nam at a Kuala Lumpur area airport on Feb. 13. He died later that day after complaining to airport medical staff that he felt ill after a woman had attacked him with a chemical.

We will continue to urge Malaysia to grant us consular access, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters in Jakarta.

After that  we will then be able to take steps to protect that Indonesian citizen, and decide what legal guidance to provide, he said.

Aisyah allegedly spread the substance on Kim Jong Nams face and the second woman, identified by Malaysian police as Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese, then swabbed his face with a cloth before both suspects walked away and washed their hands, according to Malaysian Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar.

But while international suspicion has fallen on government agents from Pyongyang as being behind Kim Jong Nams alleged assassination, Malaysian police have named eight North Koreans, including a second secretary at Pyongyangs embassy in Kuala Lumpur as suspects.

Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged Monday that Doan held a Vietnamese passport but it said consular staff in Malaysia were trying to contact her and verify her identification, according to state-run Viet Nam News.

Against police procedures: Ambassador

Police regulations in Malaysia do not allow a suspect to meet with anyone while an investigation is under way, Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Zahrain Muhamed Hashim told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday.

Its very important that the police investigation not be disturbed or interfered with by any party, and it usually takes a long time, he said.

He acknowledged that consular access must be given to foreign nationals caught up in legal cases, but said this would be provided after the police investigation is complete.

Remember, this case is still an investigation. When the investigation is finished, its up to Malaysian police whether to charge the suspect or release them due to lack of evidence, Zahrain said.

I believe Aisyahs safety and welfare will be protected in Malaysia, just as it would be in Indonesia, the ambassador said.

Apart from the two women in custody, Malaysian police are holding one of the eight North Koreans identified in connection with the case, and late Wednesday they released a Malaysian man who was said to be Aiysahs boyfriend.

You should cooperate

A diplomatic row over the police probe into Kim Jong Nams killing ensued between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang, after Malaysian officials refused to hand over his body to North Korean authorities without conducting a post-mortem.

Malaysia had also asked Kim Jong Nams next-of-kin to come forward and provide DNA samples for official confirmation. An autopsy was done on Feb. 16, but forensics officials have not yet released a full post-mortem report pinpointing the cause of his death.

On Thursday in Malaysia, Police Chief Khalid denied reports that investigators had traveled to Macau  where Kim Jong Nam lived and had a family  to collect DNA from his next-of-kin.

Not true. We have not sent any team to retrieve any DNA samples or received any sample from any country, Khalid told journalists in Kuala Lumpur.

A day earlier, the police chief told a news conference that his department had requested the North Korean embassy to hand over one of its diplomats stationed in Kuala Lumpur along with employee of North Korean state airline for questioning in the case.

Khalid suggested Thursday that Malaysian police would follow protocols and respect the diplomatic immunity of Second Secretary Hyon Kwang Song.

If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to be afraid of. You should cooperate, Khalid said.

Outside the North Korean embassy on Thursday, members of the youth wing of Malaysias main ruling party staged a protest against Pyongyang, which has had long-standing ties with their country.

We urge the government of Malaysia to reconsider our diplomatic ties with North Korea, Khairul Azwan, the vice chief of the youth wing of the United Malays National Organization said in a statement.

Meanwhile in North Korea, state-run news agency KCNA published a report Thursday citing a statement from the Norths Korean Jurists Committee that lambasted Kuala Lumpurs handling of the investigation.

Malaysia is obliged to hand his body to the DPRK side as it made an autopsy and forensic examination of it in an illegal and immoral manner, the KCNA report said.

The biggest responsibility for his death rests with the government of Malaysia as the citizen of the DPRK died in its land, the report said without naming the person who had died but identifying him as a citizen of the DPRK bearing a diplomatic passport.

UMNO Youth vice-chief Khairul Azwan reads a protest note outside the gate of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Feb. 23, 2017. [AnisNatasha/BenarNews]
Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar demonstrates how suspects rubbed a substance on the face of Kim Jong Nam, during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Feb. 22, 2017.

Updated at 1:13 p.m. ET on 2017-02-24

Kim Jong Nam had traces of a banned potent chemical weapon on his face and in his eyes when he died, Malaysian police said Friday, citing toxicology test results.

The results appeared to confirm widespread speculation that the estranged elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was poisoned by two women who accosted him at a Kuala Lumpur area airport on Feb. 13, smeared liquid on his face and walked away.

In a statement, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said results of preliminary tests at the Department of Chemistry Malaysia indicate with certainty that the substance involved was Ethyl S-2-diisopropylaminoethyl methyl phosphonothiolate or VX Nerve Agent.

The analysis was done on swabs of the victims eye mucus and face, Khalid said. Other exhibits are still being analyzed, he added.

The cause of death is that chemical, the police chief told reporters later on Friday as he prepared to travel to Saudi Arabia for the minor Umrah pilgrimage, adding that a team of experts would inspect the area inside Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, where Kim was fatally attacked, for more traces of the VX and sweep it clean.

Venomous Agent X

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the chemical is a man-made chemical warfare agent that is odorless and tasteless and was developed in the United Kingdom in early 1950s.

VX is the most potent of all nerve agents. Compared with the nerve agent Sarin (also known as GB), VX is considered to be much more toxic by entry through the skin and somewhat more toxic by inhalation, the CDC said on its website.

The United Nations classifies VX nerve agent as a chemical weapon of mass destruction and called for its elimination in the Chemical Weapons Convention, a multilateral arms control treaty that went into force 20 years ago.

It is not something you can get hold of easily. You will need licenses. Even if you are a specialist conducting research, there are strict procedures to follow to get the chemical, Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad, a former toxicologist at University Sains Malaysia, told BenarNews.

It is very toxic. Just 10 mg is enough to kill a person once the chemical touches the skin. So it must be handled with great care, he added.

Banned

Authorities will investigate how the banned substance was brought into Malaysia, Khalid told reporters separately.

This chemical weapon is banned. We will investigate how the chemical substance was brought into Malaysia. It will be difficult to detect if brought into the country in small quantities, the state-run Bernama news agency quoted him as saying.

The man whom Malaysian authorities have identified as Kim Jong Nam died while being rushed to hospital after complaining to medical personnel that he felt ill after a woman attacked him with a chemical at KLIA2.

South Korea has blamed North Korea for Kims death, citing a standing order from Kim Jong Un to kill his older sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after his half-brother criticized the regime.

CCTV footage aired by Fuji TV that went viral on the internet shows two women carrying out the attack. Malaysian authorities arrested two female suspects, whom they identified as an Indonesian and Vietnamese nationals, days later.

In previous statements, Khalid alleged the two women were trained to handle toxins and had practiced at two Kuala Lumpur area shopping malls before carrying out the attack.

One of the two female suspects suffered side-effects after touching the chemical with her hands and was vomiting afterward, the police chief said.

Trained chemist

Apart from the two women in custody, Malaysian police are holding a North Korean man, and have identified seven other North Korean suspects, four of whom already left Malaysia.

According to news reports, the North Korean in custody, Ri Jong Chol, holds a doctorate in chemistry. After the police announced that Jong Nam was attacked with VX, authorities raided a Kuala Lumpur in connection with the investigation but no chemicals were found, Reuters reported.

Among the seven North Koreans sought by police is the second secretary at Pyongyangs embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Earlier this week, Khalid told a news conference that his department had asked the embassy to hand over this man for questioning along with an employee of North Koreas state-run airline  both of whom were believed to be in Malaysia.

However, as of today, we have not received any relevant document from the police or the foreign ministry of Malaysia , Kim Yu Song, a consul at the embassy told reporters Friday.

The investigation into Jong Nams death has resulted in a diplomatic row between North Korea and Malaysia, because Malaysian officials have refused Pyongyangs request to hand over the body without a post-mortem, and has insisted that his next-of-kin come forward to claim the remains and give DNA samples.

Malaysia has recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang and the North Korean ambassador has twice publicly criticized Kuala Lumpur over its handling of the case.

We will wait for the next-of-kin to come, Khalid said Friday, denying reports that Malaysian police were going to Macau to collect DNA from Jong Nams son who lives there.

We need the next-of-kin to identify the body  and we would like to take the DNA samples from the next-of-kin.
BBC correspondent Jonathan Head speaks to attendees during an event at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok, March 11, 2016.

Updated at 1:35 a.m. ET on 2017-02-24

A Bangkok-based British correspondent for BBC News pleaded not guilty Thursday to criminal defamation stemming from his report about a man losing his property on Phuket island through alleged fraud.

Southeast Asia correspondent Jonathan Head faces a defamation charge brought against him by Thai lawyer Pratuan Thanarak, who appeared in a BBC TV segment narrated by Head that aired in September 2015, along with a charge under Thailands Computer Crimes Act.

If convicted of both charges, Head could face up to seven years in prison. Unlike most countries where defamation is a civil offense, people in Thailand can file criminal defamation charges.

Heads co-defendant, Briton Ian Rance, the former director of a property company for foreign retirees, was charged with criminal defamation and faces up to two years behind bars.

We have done nothing wrong and yet I am the one in court, prosecuted by a private individual, far away from where I now live for the sake of safety, in a court in a province where I do not feel safe, and on a criminal charge that has a prison term, Rance told BenarNews.

Head and Rance appeared in a Phuket court on Thursday.

We certainly pleaded not guilty, Rance said. It must be remembered that I came to Thailand with a substantial investment, a foreign investor in fact.

Head told BenarNews he could not comment on the case, but his news organization issued a statement in support of his report.

The BBC stands by its journalism and we will fight the allegations made against our correspondent by these proceedings. We have full faith in the Thai justice system, and we intend to clear the name of our correspondent. We will not be making any further statements at this time, said the statement made available to the media.

Co-defendants story

In 2001, Ian Rance married a Thai woman named Suda and they had three children, according to the BBC report, a 10-minute news segment that aired in September 2015. The report quoted Pratuan but did not identify the lawyer by name.

Then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had started a program called Thailand Elite, to attract wealthy foreigners to settle by allowing them to own small parcels. Because Thailand normally does not allow foreign expats to own land, many set up companies or marry local women.

Rance told BenarNews he owned two businesses, the family home and another house he planned to expand for his family. He said his then-wife forged a document that enabled her to remove him as company director and sell his properties.

The fraud against him involved several people, and the attorney Pratuan was not central to it, Rance said.

But rather through his profession as a lawyer, by verifying forged documents as true, [this] allowed the Business Registration Office in Phuket to remove me as director of the company and remove my ability to protect and recover the assets stolen from the company by the fraudster and laundered through the right of redemption, he said.

All those businesses were stolen through fraud and assets stripped to money lenders at fire sale prices, Rance added.

A bad idea

On Thursday, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the charges brought against the two Britons in Thailand.

This is the kind of case that shows exactly why having criminal defamation laws is such a bad idea. The threat to lock someone away for what they said, or in this case, reported in the media is far too easily abused by those with time and money to engage in game of legal blood sport by dragging people through the Thai court system, HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said in a statement.

Thailand should also move to immediately revise the Computer Crimes Act to bring it into compliance with the governments obligations to protect freedom of expression under the United Nations Convention on Civil and Political Rights that Thailand has ratified.

Also on Thursday, the Thai Supreme Court reduced the sentence of the editor of an anti-junta magazine, Voice of Thaksin for violating Lese-Majeste, Thailands notorious royal defamation law.

It imposes harsh penalties on people who are prosecuted and convicted for publishing or airing content perceived as critical of the monarchy, and arrests and prosecutions of such cases have proliferated under the junta, which seized power in May 2014.

Editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, who has been in prison for nearly six years for defaming the royals, saw his sentence reduced from 10 years to six because he had spent sufficient time locked up, according to his lawyer, Wasan Panich.

An earlier version of this report contained inaccuracies.
ein Google-Unternehmen

Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben

Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen

Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern.

neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern

Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen

personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen

personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen

Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke.

Nicht personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung werden u. a. von Inhalten, die Sie sich gerade ansehen, und Ihrem Standort beeinflusst (welche Werbung Sie sehen, basiert auf Ihrem ungefahren Standort). Personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung konnen auch Videoempfehlungen, eine individuelle YouTube-Startseite und individuelle Werbung enthalten, die auf fruheren Aktivitaten wie auf YouTube angesehenen Videos und Suchanfragen auf YouTube beruhen. Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten.

Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen.
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.
MORTON COUNTY  After weeks of hard work by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to clean up the Oceti Sakowin protest camp, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers moved into the evacuated camp Friday morning, planning to spend in excess of $1 million before all is said and done.

The corps waited until the anti-Dakota Access pipeline encampment near the Standing Rock was officially cleared of people  a declaration made mid-afternoon Thursday, about 24 hours after an evacuation deadline and 46 arrests.

The corps contract with a Florida-based company to provide trash removal and environmental cleanup includes the main Oceti Sakowin camp on the north side of the Cannonball River and the smaller Rosebud camp on the south side. Both are on corps-owned property.

Corps spokesman Ryan Hignight said the corps planned to work through the Oceti camp first, where even after three weeks of clean up by the tribe, a large amount of abandoned camp material, garbage, debris and stranded cars and motor homes had to be hauled out. The camp is in a floodplain and Hignight said the corps wants to be sure nothing contaminates nearby Lake Oahe, used for tribe drinking water and others downstream.

About 240 rollout dumpsters have been hauled out, each brimming with debris of old food stores, structures, tents, building materials and personal belongings, much of it buried under winter blizzards or simply left behind. Officials are estimating it will require another equal number of loads to get the job done.

Hignight said the corps and the tribe are doing a cultural survey to see if any special items, such as teepees, require separate handling and consultation. The contract also included a special environmental crew to deal with potential hazardous or toxic materials.

While the corps crews moved into the area  pleased with the hard overnight freeze that hardened the muddy grounds, one said  tribal contractors were also at work clearing the Rosebud side.

The mud is killing us, said Logan Thompson, owner of Prairie View equipment contractor, who brought skid steers, loaders and a crew of 10 to the job. Im hoping if it stays cold like this, by Monday we could be done.

He said his crew would get some instruction from health officials on how to handle the human waste and waste compost in the camp.

The corps plans separate contracts to restore and remediate the camp area, according to Hignight, indicating that it had been a pasture area leased for livestock grazing before the camp started in August.

Once occupied by thousands of people, the camp had dwindled to several hundred in the past few weeks and nearly all of those left voluntarily prior to the deadline. Many who left the main camp moved into other camps on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Tribal officials, along with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, are moving to clear those camps and may get some help from the state.

Gov. Doug Burgums spokesman Mike Nowatzki said the office supports Standing Rocks efforts, but there are no definite plans to deploy any state resources. He said the North Dakota Highway Patrol can assist on public roadways, while use of the National Guard requires an official request from either Sioux County or the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

There are no specific plans, but he stands ready to assist, if requested," Nowatzki said.

The concrete barricades that have been used to blockade and route traffic near the Oceti Sakowin camp were also being moved Friday, but Highway 1806 remains closed north and south of the camp.

Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson said reopening the highway to through traffic is a priority, but its not clear when that will happen.




BROOKES/FREMONT PRISON, MI The Whirlpool Corporation has committed genocide in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people, especially of a particular ethnic group.

Benton Harbor is over 90% Black and over 60% of the people live in poverty. Benton Harbor has rich lake Michigan beachfront property and parks. The Whirlpool Corporation, which rules the region, joined forces with the government to steal the towns property and to systematically eliminate the residents of Benton Harbor by any means necessary.

Whirlpool is known for its leading role in the gentrification of the city. Gentrification is a process of renewal and rebuilding with an accompanying influx of affluent people to a deteriorating area. Gentrification often displaces and destroys poor residents.

US Congressman Fred Upton, heir to the Whirlpool Corporations fortune, voted to give Whirlpool a welfare check of $500 million to save the corporation. This shows the merging of the corporations and government. We call it fascism. What do you call it?

Whirlpool is among the major corporations that control the state legislaturewhich passed Public Act 4. This act turned the Emergency Financial Manager into the Emergency Manager, giving corporations broader powers to overrule elected officials and take control of cities and school districts.

Benton Harbor was one of the first cities to have an Emergency Manager, thanks to the power of Whirlpool. Emergency Managers can replace local officials, sell public property and assets, privatize public services, dismantle collective bargaining agreements and more. They are dictators in the service of the corporations. The Whirlpool Corporation is a dictator in Benton Harbor.

The Benton Harbor Parks Conservancy Board works directly with Whirlpool against the people of Benton Harbor. The board is a potentially disastrous instrument used against the people of Benton Harbor. It is a non-profit organization created by Whirlpool to manage and dissolve 13 parks in the city.

Whirlpool controls all of Berrien County: the courthouses, Benton Harbor commissions, Benton Harbor city government, the Conservancy Board, even the fascist media, Herrald Paladium. Whirlpool is a poster child of the post industrial destruction of the manufacturing we once knew.

As the economic crisis continues to deepen and grip America, people in working class communities across the country, especially in former industrial towns like Benton Harbor, are beginning to stand up and demand that the government serve the peoples interests, not the corporations. As the people stand up, they come under fire from the corporate-government. This is especially true in Benton Harbor. The city of Benton Harbor and leaders of the people, such as myself, have felt the wrath of Whirlpool Corporation. We must confront the corporations.

We encourage reproduction of this article so long as you credit the source. Copyright  2017 Peoples Tribune. Visit us at http://peoplestribune.org
It can be tough to be a vegetarian. You have to work harder than everyone else to make sure youre getting all the nutrients your body needs. So, when its time to take a
Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) and global market leader Nestle are in a market struggle, since the formation of JDE in 2015. JDE holds the leading position in coffee in a band stretching from Belgium through Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, while Nestle has the edge in the western edge of Europe, Australasia and much of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Other major coffee companies may harbour ambitions of one day becoming truly global players, but right now, no one else is even close to matching their geographical reach.

Outside of North America, market leader in most countries is either Nestle or JDE

Growth in JDEs core Central and Eastern European markets, though, is going to become increasingly hard to come by. That means that if JDE is serious about gaining share on Nestle globally, it will have to shift a significant amount of its focus to the developing regions that are the drivers of global coffee growth.

To do this, JDE only has a few geographic options going forwards. One is Latin America, but outside of Brazil, the company has no meaningful presence and Nestle is firmly entrenched at the top of key markets like Mexico. Another is the Middle East and Africa, but JDE is actually losing share in the Middle East now, hardly an encouraging sign. That leaves Asia, more specifically, Southeast Asia. Rapidly expanding markets, a favourable competitive landscape and the recent purchase of Singapore-based Super Group all make this the key area where JDE needs to succeed if it is to make a challenge to Nestles global coffee leadership.

Source: Euromonitor International

Europe-driven strategy not an option

Western European coffee will grow by $1.7 billion during the forecast period and Eastern Europe will add another $398 million. However, JDE is unlikely to gain much globally on Nestle by relying on Europe. The recent forced sales of Carte Noire and Merrild for antitrust reasons have shrunk the companys European sales considerably and made it so that JDE will be forced to rely on organic growth in Europe for the near future.

While there is certainly organic growth to be had, it is nearly entirely restricted to fresh ground pods. JDE is well positioned to benefit from that, but it is also heavily exposed to the contracting instant and standard fresh ground categories, meaning that overall European growth will be weighed down heavily no matter how many more pods JDE is able to sell.

Nestle, more exposed to the declining instant category because of the omnipresence of Nescafe, will probably take a heavier hit in Europe, but Nespresso and Dolce Gusto should keep sales positive. This means that while JDE will probably outgrow Nestle in Europe in the near future, it is unlikely to be enough to make up significant ground globally.

Challenges of Latin America, Middle East

Of all the developing regions, JDE is by far the best established in Latin America, where it generated over $900 million in sales in 2016. Its geographical presence in coffee, however, is restricted to just Brazil. In the rest of the region, JDE is absent, while Nestle has an immensely strong position, with over half the market in important countries such as Mexico and Chile.

While in theory, JDE could try to muscle in, it would likely prove tough going. Nestle is holding or gaining share in all the key markets through more premium brands such as Nespresso and Tasters Choice. Acquisition of a local brand is always an option, but there are few brands successfully beating Nestle now. There is the option to try to generate more organic growth out of the large Brazilian market but Nespresso is surging here too and JDE is struggling to hold onto the share it has, let alone gain more.

The Middle East and Africa is also an area of major forecast growth, but one with its own set of challenges for JDE. It is moving in the wrong direction in the region and slipped to third place in 2016 behind Lavazza, with a growing Tchibo moving within striking distance. The issue here is the Middle East, where JDE share peaks at 6% of the Israeli market, falling to 1% in Saudi Arabia and none at all in Egypt or Iran.

Nestle is hardly untouchable in the area (Lavazza gained seven points of share in Iran during the review period), but JDE has proven unable to capitalise on that and has made no major moves in the area since being formed. The situation is better in Africa, where JDE is a significant player in Morocco and South Africa, but being largely shut out of the high-growth areas of the Middle East is a serious problem and one that will be difficult to reverse.

Source: Euromonitor International

Southeast Asia will prove decisive

On the face of it, Asia is JDEs weakest developing region, where it ranks ninth by share. However, in October 2016 JDE announced it was spending over US $1 billion to acquire Singapore-based Super Group, a move that instantly boosts JDEs Asian sales by 44%.

Significantly, Super Group gets its sales entirely from Southeast Asia, which is expected to see the most dramatic coffee growth of anywhere in the world. No less than four of the top 10 growth markets in coffee globally are located in Southeast Asia. Nestle is also much more vulnerable here than elsewhere and is struggling to fend off local companies like Kapal Api Group in Indonesia and JG Summit Holdings in the Philippines. This somewhat confused competitive landscape presents an opportunity for JDE.

There are many Super-like brands growing strongly that are not attached to a big international player, which may be open to purchase or partnership agreements. This could provide a way into the booming markets where JDE currently has no presence, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. JDEs absence from these countries is a serious weakness and one that it should be a major priority to rectify. Those three will combine for nearly US $2 billion in absolute growth during the forecast period, some four times more than the rest of Southeast Asia combined.

Many local companies play heavily on the fact that they are producing their coffee locally, especially in Indonesia, so if JDE does purchase one of these local companies it will have to take care to ensure that it still feels like a local brand. Also of note is that the driver of growth here will be instant coffee mixes, which is true nowhere else in the world, so new product development will have to prioritise creating mixes that appeal to local tastes rather than adapting products that have been successful in other regions.

Europe coffee market declining

In 2011, Europe (East and West combined) represented 42% of the global coffee market, but by 2021, it will be just 33%. With Europe decreasing in importance globally with each passing year, a Europe-first coffee strategy is not tenable if JDE hopes to compete with the globally diversified Nestle. Increasing its presence in the boom markets of Southeast Asia is not the only route through which this could happen, but it is the most promising one.

A JDE, with major share in Asia, would be a company that could put considerable distance between itself and its European-focused rivals such as Lavazza, Tchibo and Strauss. That would leave only Nestle as a major challenger and leave the two to battle it out on a global scale for the emerging coffee powerhouses of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Shares in plastics and packaging group Transpaco fell 3.33% in Wednesday trading on the back of the company's decline in half-year earnings.

Transpaco, which makes, recycles and distributes plastic and paper packaging, said its headline earnings per share for the six months to December fell 7% to 117.9c.

Turnover also declined to R903.6m from R912.5m.

Group margins remained under pressure from lower-than-expected sales volumes and macroeconomic factors, said CEO Phil Abelheim.

He said management "kept expenses well-contained and controlled working capital to ensure a continued strong balance sheet."

Abelheim said that despite falling volumes, all operations made a positive contribution to group operating profits, with some units outperforming the prior year.

The group declared an interim dividend of 48c, down from 52c the previous period.

Source: Business Day
A status report from the contested Dakota Access Pipeline says it has completed the pilot hole for its horizontal drill under the Missouri River and the pipeline will be ready to flow oil as early as March 6.

The company filed the information in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to comply with a federal court order for weekly updates on the pipelines status while litigation with the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes continues.

The first status report, filed Monday, says the pilot hole that stretches 7,500 feet from one side of the Missouri River/Lake Oahe just north of Standing Rock is being reamed to accept the 30-inch-diameter pipe.

Even as the $3.8 billion pipeline from North Dakotas Bakken oil fields to Illinois nears completion, the pipelines future is in question in federal court. The tribes attorney, Jan Hasselman, said he was surprised by the early oil-flow date, since the company told the court its best-case scenario was further out, into May.

Hasselman, on behalf of the tribes, wants Judge James E. Boasberg to issue a summary judgement in the case filed against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after it issued a general permit for the pipeline crossing in July.

We moved fast to get in front of operations. Whats disappointing is that this (flow date) is a couple of weeks earlier than it told the court was its best-case scenario, Hasselman said. Time is of the essence, but, as the judge said, the lawsuit doesnt become irrelevant if they turn on the tap, because he can always direct them to turn it off.

The case had been put on hold with the Obama administration s decision to withhold the corps river-crossing easement for the pipeline pending a full environmental impact statement, including whether tribal rights had been considered.

Then, the Trump administration reversed that decision and the Army issued an easement Feb. 7. That flip-flop put the case back on the front burner.

The tribes motion for a summary judgement asks the judge to look at whether the pipeline easement violates the corps duties under tribal law, the National Environmental Protection Act and the Clean Water Act.

In the past weeks, the Great Plains Tribal Chairmans Association, the Oglala Sioux, the Association of American Indian Affairs, the Pueblo of Pojoaque and the National Indian Womens Resource Center have joined the suit.

Hasselman said the case  with its emphasis on tribal treaty rights, specific to lands around the reservation and Lake Oahe  will cause the court to take up new questions and get to the very heart of the legality of the easement.

The corps has not yet filed a response to the motion for summary judgement.

On Tuesday, Boasberg will hear the Cheyenne Rivers request for a preliminary injunction against the pipeline on grounds that it interferes with the tribes right to practice its religious freedoms with pure water. He denied a temporary restraining order on those grounds two weeks ago.

The pipeline company says this belated claim is too late and that, as a private company, it has no legal duties under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Dakota Access is drilling the pipe about 100 feet below the river bed through intermittent clay, sand and silt, according to the construction map filed with the State Water Commission. The pipe is coated with 14 to 16 mils of epoxy and 40 mils of abrasion resistant overlay.
South Africa's Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan said very little about the energy sector in his recent budget speech . The word energy came up only once compared with 2016 , when it was used five times. Even more notable is that he didn't mention nuclear energy  a source of major contention  at all.

President Jacob Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. Gordhan is standing firm against any political pressure. Flickr/GovernmentZA

The explicit statements relating to energy were restricted to an increase in the fuel levy and affirmation that the independent power producer programme would continue with the development of further renewable and gas power generation.

This avoidance might at first glance seem odd given the heated controversies around power shortages as well as the governments plans to invest in unaffordable nuclear power plants.

But theres a great deal to take heart from. By downplaying the energy sector in his speech, the Minister effectively signalled that there is no need to react to exaggerated energy crisis talk coming from the pro-nuclear lobby. Instead, he is showing faith in the existing modest medium term energy budget, and an unwillingness to be diverted onto a reckless financial course.

The evolution of the budget speech

South Africas budget speech has evolved from an ordinary presentation to something much deeper. It can now be likened to a sermon in the battleground for the soul and purse strings of the nation that has come to characterise President Jacob Zumas tenure at the ANC.

As political analyst, Daniel Silke put it:

Gordhans budget will be a political statement.

To unravel the hidden messages in the statesmanlike rhetoric, it is first necessary to establish why heading the Treasury has become so awkward. To start, recall that late in 2015 Zuma dropped a bombshell by inexplicably dismissing the well-regarded incumbent finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and replaced him with the then unknown Des van Rooyen. The currency tumbled and society was jolted into protest action. Facing internal pressure from his own party, Zuma reversed the appointment and replaced him with the experienced Pravin Gordhan.

Since then, there have been regular attacks on the Minister by the state law enforcement agency The Hawks, groupings within the ruling party and the influential Gupta family.

In the last week, seemingly, another front opened up. Rumours surfaced with new ferocity that Zuma would remove Gordhan, or his deputy, and appoint former Eskom chief Brian Molefe in one of the two jobs. Molefe does possess some gravitas in matters finance, but is viewed a pliable front for the architects of state capture.

There is an argument that suggests that the attacks on Gordhan are due to his tight stewardship over the treasury purse strings. His ministrys fiscal prudence is viewed as the major obstacle for unlocking funds for reckless developments which would benefit politically connected individuals.

The most lucrative piece of state expenditure is the mooted deal to build a fleet of nuclear power stations. It comes at a total cost comparable to the total annual national expenditure of R 1.56 trillion for 2017/18.

The significance of the Ministers silence

Gordhans budget signalled that he is intent on standing firm against any political pressure by refusing to significantly deviate from the National Treasurys long term expenditure plan.

Contrary to what his detractors would have hoped for, he did not make appreciably higher allocations to the nuclear sector. Instead he:

Committed to the continuation of the independent power producer driven renewable energy programme. This has been opposed by the pro-nuclear Eskom;



Effectively endorsed the draft 2016 Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity by making reference to greater opportunities in electricity generation with gas. Updated every few years, the plan is an official projection of South Africas electricity requirements, and the power generation strategies it will need to meet them. In its latest publication it does not envisage the need for nuclear power until 2037;



Referred to the need to have the countrys national credit rating safeguarded. It has been argued that a commitment to the nuclear deal would entail an almost automatic downgrade by international rating agencies. The Ministers opponents have gone as far as to argue that Gordhan shouldnt hold up bold developments (like nuclear) because of the threat of a downgrade; and



Belaboured the point that economic transformation should not empower a new elite (beneficiaries of grand projects) but should rather serve the public good. He equated the concept of a better life for all with financial discipline, and argued that rash spending ultimately impoverishes society.

Gordhan went on to say:

By acting now to stabilise debt  future generations will not pay  20 or 30 years from now.

This affirms the frequently stated view that the decision to embark on a massive nuclear build could only be financed through astronomical loans that will severely burden the nation for decades.

Gordhan has stood firm. But one question remains: will his stand lead to his dismissal and replacement with a stooge leading inevitably to a crash of the countrys currency, open warfare inside the ruling party and public protest?


The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has allowed Eskom to raise tariffs by 2.2% in the 2017/18 financial year.

The allowed revenue of R205,214m for the 2017/18 financial year will now result in a percentage increase of 2.2%, Nersa chairperson Jacob Modise said on Thursday, 23 February.

Addressing the media in Pretoria, Modise said the allowed revenue is Eskoms full year revenue, as determined in the Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD3) decision.

In the MYPD3 decision, Nersa approved an 8% average increase per annum for a period of five years, starting from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2018.

Modise said the reason for the lower percentage increase is due to the base adjustments made in the preceding years as a result of the approved Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) balances for Eskom.

He emphasised that the decision on Eskoms allowable revenue was not new as it was made in February 2013 as part of the MYPD3 decision.

You will recall that as a result of the RCA reconciliation, the Energy Regulator approved 12.7% for 2015/16 and 9.4% for 2016/17 instead of the average increase of 8%. The 2.2% increase, taking into account the adjustments already given, maintains the approved allowable revenue for the last year of MYPD3, he said.

Modise said the only decision that needed to be considered by Nersa on Thursday was the retail tariffs structural adjustments that arise out of these revenues to enable Eskom to table in Parliament by 15 March 2017, as required by the law.

The only new matter that was considered by the Energy Regulator today was the potential financial harm that may be occasioned by Nersa not being able to process new RCA applications as a result of the interventions of the Gauteng High Court.

In this regard, Nersa has decided to allow Eskom to make a new application that will be considered in accordance with Section 4 of the Electricity Regulation Act, should they wish to, which application will be considered through a full public consultation process.

Modise said the approved revenues of R205,214m will be able to cover all of Eskoms allowed costs, plus a return to the value of R33,667m, as per the MYPD3 decision.

The decision by the Gauteng High Court has resulted in Nersa being unable to process RCA applications until its appeal has been heard and decided upon, Modise said.

Nersa is appealing the North Gauteng High Court judgment in which the court set aside the regulators decision to grant Eskom a tariff increase.

The decision under review concerns Nersas approval of the RCA application for the tariff year 2013/14, which culminated in a 9.4% increase in the average tariff for standard customers for the 2016/17 financial year.

Nothing prevents Eskom from making an application to Nersa for relief should it consider any possible cash flow risks and implications thereof on its financial sustainability.

The Energy Regulator would, upon receipt of such an application, embark on a public consultation process as required by the law before making its decision, Modise said.
This week, I attended an event at Groote Schuur Hospital to celebrate the fantastic patient management solution T-Systems, in partnership with the Wayde Dreamer Foundation, have designed and donated to the Newborns Groote Schuur Trust.

Dr. Patel, CEO of Groote Schuur Hospital, kicked off the mornings programme with a welcome and overview of the Newborns Groote Schuur Trust.

The trust, an independent non-governmental organisation (NGO), was founded in 2008 and raises funds to support the work of the neonatal unit at the Groote Schuur Hospital, primarily for the care and treatment of over 2,000 of the 40,000 babies born in Cape Towns southern peninsula region every year.

One of the highlights of the morning was hearing from 400m World record holder, Wayde van Niekerk, and his mother, Odesa Swarts. Swarts recounted how Van Niekerk was taken care of as a premature baby (born at 29 weeks) at Groote Schuur Hospital and how close the cause of premature babies lies to their hearts.

The problems

Dr. Joolay, neonatologist at Groote Schuur Hospital, explained some of the problems the hospital ran into once newborn babies were taken home, such as parents never bringing the babies back for crucial followups.

Says Mpumi Nhlapo, head of T-Systems South Africas IT portfolio and solution sales: Wayde first showed his dedication to this cause by making a generous personal donation of half a million rand to the Newborns Groote Schuur Trust. T-Systems was very interested in where we could leverage ICT to address some of the most critical points of the neonatal unit.

The neonatal unit has been using a manual system for management of communication. Particularly, the tracking of patients, updating contact details, and scheduling appointments were key concerns. Keeping track of appointments and ensuring parents were notified and reminded of times and cancellations proved to be difficult, often resulting in missed appointments.

While functional on a basic level, the system was allowing for inefficiencies and errors which, in an environment where the preservation of life and eyesight is key, needed to be addressed with critical urgency.

The solution

We have designed and implemented a patient management solution that is built on Microsofts Dynamics CRM Online system. This solution will assist in effectively managing contact information, patient bookings, appointments, confirmations as well as generate appointment reminders for *ROP visits and Neurodevelopmental Clinics.

Additionally, the system is capable of scheduling and managing staff standby rosters in line with set business rules, reducing the pressure on doctors and nurses and ensuring proper availability of both is catered for, says Nhlapo.

"In South Africa, for South Africa"

Through USSD technology, even parents in the most remote parts of the Western Cape can be reached and reminded of their appointments.

Speaking about this gesture, Gert Schoonbee, MD at T-Systems South Africa said, our involvement in this project is a natural fit, particularly when considering our motto of in South Africa, for South Africa. We are proud to be involved in this initiative and, together with Wayde, are committed to contributing positively towards reducing the high mortality rate caused by complications in premature babies. We are extremely proud of the role of our partner, Microsoft, who contributed by reducing licence fees for their platforms.

*ROP is a disease of the eye that occurs in premature babies. It causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina and the layer of the nerve tissue in the eye that enables us to see. The growth can cause the retina to detach from the back of the eye, leading to blindness.
If a business traveller extends their trip for pleasure and the leisure portion comprises more than half the time they are away, they should be aware that they need to purchase additional travel insurance cover. Corporate Traveller, the corporate travel division of Flight Centre Travel Group, has warned that companies and business travellers need to be cognisant of whether their travel insurance will cover all their activities while they are travelling.

Most travel insurance companies will cover leisure activities if they are incidental to the business trip. If, however, the leisure portion exceeds more than 50% of the trip, the traveller needs to purchase a leisure policy as well, says Michelle Jolley, marketing manager for Corporate Traveller.

She says while travellers do not require additional insurance nor do they need to declare their activities if they partake in some leisure activities, such as a bunjee jumping, while on a business trip, travellers should check with their insurers what hazardous or professional sport activities are covered.

Jolley also points out that companies should check whether their travel insurance policies cover engaging in manual labour. Half of South African travellers are travelling into Africa and engaging in manual labour. However, a regular travel insurance policy, including all complimentary credit card options, excludes cover for any manual labour-related injuries, she says.

War and terrorism

Travellers should also check whether their travel insurance policy provides cover for unexpected medical expenses relating to war and terrorism, says Jolley. If war and terrorism is covered by your travel insurance policy, ensure that you are fully aware of the medical limits relating to war and terrorism as these limits are far lower and may not cover the actual cost of the claim.

It is also important to establish if the policy makes provision for cancellation or curtailment as a result of a terror attack. A lot of policies stipulate that they will cover the cancellation costs as a result of terrorism provided that the incident occurred within 14 days of your scheduled departure, in a city on your prepaid itinerary, and if there was not another incident in the same city within the last 60 days, she advises.

Jolly also points out that wilful exposure to war and terrorism is usually not covered by insurance companies.

Know what business travellers are covered for

Jolley says companies and travellers need to ensure they are sufficiently covered when travelling for business. The free cover provided by credit card companies can be for as little as R150,000 medical insurance cover, which is not enough for most medical emergencies or illnesses that require hospitalisation abroad. They also do not cover pre-existing illnesses.

She points out that top-up cover may also be more expensive than a policy specifically for business travel and may not include other business-related benefits.

It is vital that companies and business travellers know exactly what travellers are covered for, understand all their options and are aware of any excesses they may be liable for if they need to claim, says Jolley.
An obscure climate phenomenon in the Indian Ocean is contributing to an East Africa drought that is threatening the lives of millions of people, as famine looms.

Oxfam East Africa via Wikimedia Commons

It wasn't until the 1990s that Japanese scientists discovered the Indian Ocean Dipole, a warm pool of water that migrates between western and eastern "poles" and affects atmospheric temperatures and rainfall. The phenomenon occurs in two-year cycles of positive (warmer) and negative (cooler) sea temperatures, but it has become more extreme in recent years due to climate change.

A negative Indian Ocean Dipole results in less rainfall over East Africa, and that's contributing to the current drought that aid agencies warn could trigger mass famine.

The UN's emergency aid coordination body, OCHA, says 12.8 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya are "severely food insecure and in need of humanitarian assistance". Save the Children warned yesterday that Somalia is "reaching a 'tipping point' that could be far worse than the 2011 famine, which claimed 260,000 lives."

The drought is the culmination of two years of below average rainfall combined with the "most extreme El Nino in 50 years", according to OCHA. El Nino is a cyclical phenomenon that affects weather patterns around the world. "But there is now another challenge: the negative Indian Ocean Dipole," said OCHA.

Climate change is making the Indian Ocean Dipole and other phenomena more "extreme", according to Robert Marchant, head of the Institute for Tropical Ecosystems at Britain's University of York. "The warming-cooling shifts will be more pronounced, which means more extreme conditions on land," he said in a phone interview. "Those quite severe droughts are becoming much more normal."

No easy answers for ways to mitigate the risks

There are no easy answers for governments searching for ways to mitigate the risks of more frequent and intense droughts, he said. But measures could include better pasture management for herders, and changing the kinds of crops farmers grow. Chief among those is maize, which came to Tanzania from Latin America in the 1600s, said Marchant. It has largely replaced traditional crops of sorghum, millet, and cassava, which are "much more resilient to climate volatility".

Governments can also make better use of climate models produced by scientists, he suggested. But he added that climate change is extremely complex, making it difficult to produce models that always correctly predict climate events.

In the more immediate term, governments and aid agencies are going to have to deal with the famine now bearing down on East Africa. "It's coming," said Marchant. "Hopefully, things are being put in place that will help."

More urgents warnings

Warnings from aid groups have been getting more and more urgent.

The UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, and the World Food Programme said on Monday that two million of those facing "critical shortages in food assistance" are refugees who are often forbidden from working to provide for their families. The agencies said the number of refugees in Africa has grown from 2.6 million in 2011 to almost five million last year, but donor funding has not risen accordingly and food assistance has been cut.

The UN is appealing for $825 million for Somalia alone to fund "life-saving assistance" until June.

"The drought situation is deteriorating rapidly," said Peter de Clercq, the humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, in a statement. "We are at a critical phase and we need to act fast and efficiently to avoid the worst."

Read the original article on IRIN.
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training has called for disciplinary measures against the officials responsible for delays in issuing certificates to students who have graduated from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.

Committee chairperson Connie September said the committee has noted the efforts of Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande in trying to resolve the matter. However, the delays were unacceptable.

The Department of Higher Education and Training, Umalusi and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) do not seem to have a sense of accountability on this matter and seem to blame each other.

The fact that students do not have certificates negates governments objectives to have skilled young graduates in order to alleviate the poverty challenge. The policy that certificates should be produced in three months [after graduating] is simply not being adhered to, September said.

The department, Umalusi and SITA were in Parliament on Wednesday to brief the committee on challenges in issuing certificates.

The members of the committee expressed frustration and dissatisfaction over the backlog in issuing certificates, which has not been cleared since 2007.

This is a travesty of justice. Action must be taken against lecturers who do not submit marks, resulting in students having to rewrite models. The committee will engage the Departments of Telecommunications and Basic Education on what steps can be taken to address the situation, September said.

She said the Department of Higher Education and Training, Umalusi, colleges and SITA will be called before the committee again to provide an update report on how they are adhering to policy.
Technology, digitisation and automation - travel agents have faced numerous disruptions over the past few years. Newspapers have even predicted the end of the travel agent altogether, saying the travel consultant will soon become extinct. However, instead of succumbing to outside pressures, the South African travel industry has become stronger, and ASATA travel agents have even given the internet a run for its money.

Wavebreak Media Ltd via 123RF

The internet can take orders but can it offer proactive consulting?

Sure Travel has focussed on proactive consulting and offering concierge-style services to its clients instead of limiting itself to order taking. Sure Travels Robyn Daneel Spicer explains that Sure Travel consultants are anticipating what the client wants in order to be able to offer their clients the best value-for-money offering.

Says Spicer: An online travel agency can quote you on flights to small towns in remote parts of the world even if these flights will take over 24hours of travel. A Sure travel agent will investigate cutting travel time and find the best routing in terms of airfares, trains, and transfers. The client thinks they know what they want, but it is up to us as advisors to guide them in the right direction.

The internet has created tech-savvy travellers, but also customer-centric agents

The ease of booking travel online hasnt only attracted tech-savvy travellers but also agents who are customer-centric, according to Club Travel.

Club Travels Luana Visagie explains many potential clients are confused by mixed reviews found online and are overwhelmed when it comes to penalties for changes and cancellations. This is where a clued-up consultant is able to put the client at ease by asking questions, profiling the client and limiting options to those which really appeal to the clients needs and budget, she says.

Visagie says the disruptions the industry has faced, have pushed travel consultants to remain on top of their game. The industry competition is tough and will only get tougher, so agents need to know how to wow their clients to the point that they are referring their friends and family to their agent.

The internet cant offer corporate travellers an end-to-end solution, but travel agents can

Marco Ciocchetti, CEO XL Travel, explains that the role of travel management companies or TMCs has become and will continue to evolve in finding end-to-end solutions for their clients from the booking process to the expense management of the company.

A corporate travel agent will offer clients a comprehensive optimisation of the companys travel spend, as well as data consolidation and reporting. The ASATA travel agent will ensure travellers toe the line and are compliant with the companys travel policy. They will also make sure the traveller is safe and put together a professional duty of care programme.

Cant beat the technology wave? Join it

Club Travels Visagie explains there is no doubt the increase and growth of online travel platforms like booking.com, Airbnb and others have resulted in many more DIY travellers and this has disrupted the industry. But, she says that instead of resisting this change, Club Travel offers clients the opportunity to make their bookings on any of Club Travels online booking platforms. The difference is that they have access to a support team if need be.
There's an excited buzz in the air as inboxes ping with confirmation tickets to next week's Design Indaba extravaganza. Here's what you can look forward to if your ticket grants you access to one of the simulcast sessions.

With speakers along the likes of rainbow-haired UK colour expert, Kate Moross; Luis von Ahn, the guy who co-invented CAPTCHAs; and Airbnbs co-founder and CPO (that's chief product officer), Joe Gebbia lined up for next weeks Design Indaba, theres little wonder why this three-day celebration of all things creative is a must-attend. But those who cant physically (or financially) be in the Artscapes main venue from 1 to 3 March 2017 need not miss out, as various simulcast options have you covered.

As this rather bold tweeter put it last year:

R7900 for a Design Indaba ticket = most junior designer's salary. R1400 for the simulcast = most junior designer's monthy weed money #cmon  fers* (@Fersyndicate) February 17, 2016

Even better news is that while Design Indaba announced no increase in ticket pricing for the second consecutive year, there is a discount if its a student simulcast ticket youre after (obviously youll need to produce proof that youre registered with a valid tertiary education institution to qualify), and Cape Town simulcast tickets for non-students are now open. So theres no need to be near Table Mountain to soak up the insights and be dazzled by the creativity on display.

The reason? Well, Design Indaba follows a philosophy of accessibility, as they strongly believe that the more people exposed to innovative, creative, out-of-the-box thinking, the more significant the impact of creativity and design to the economy.

A scene from the most recent Design Indaba simulcast.

This years simulcast venues include the Artscape and the Labia Theatre in Cape Town itself, as well as Fox Junction in Johannesburgs inner city, Athenaeum's Ford Little Theatre in Port Elizabeth, Durbans International Convention Centre, the Potchefstroom campus of NWU, and even further across the continent at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre in Windhoek. In addition, Design Indaba is hosting its first-ever European Simulcast at ECAL in Lausanne, Switzerland so youll truly be part of a global audience. They say to keep an eye out for global graduate Pauline Saglio, who will be presenting as an alumni of ECAL on the Conference stage.

Simulcast doesnt mean an inferior experience, either.

What to expect from the Design Indaba simulcast

Simply put, the Simulcast is a live screening of the main conference, intended to better distribute the knowledge shared at the main plenary conference, particularly with a younger audience (hello, students, emerging designers and young professionals!)

Last year, our editorial assistant Pasqua Heard was one of the masses who attended the Design Indaba simulcast sessions live at the Artscape. Of the experience, she says: Design Indaba Simulcast's intimate setting at the Artscape provided the feeling of being included in the festivities despite not being in the main theatre, because the screenings and sound quality were good and Simulcast attendees were addressed as if they were in the main crowd. You still walk away in awe, having learnt from inspiring speakers and witnessed cutting edge approaches to design.

Heres to being dazzled by Design Indaba, wherever you are! As official media partners to the Design Indaba Festival, well keep our Design Indaba special section updated throughout the week and beyond, and be sure to get your tickets  simulcast or otherwise  to experience it for yourself, from http://inda.ba/Fest2017!

*Note that Bizcommunity staff and management do not necessarily share the views of the embedded tweet*
Large On The Lawn, an outdoor event planned to take place at Golden Harvest Park on Sunday 26 February, has been postponed due to rains in Johannesburg. While the next Large On The Lawn event is scheduled for Sunday 26 March, Jack Parow and Francois van Coke's performance will now take place on Sunday 25 June.

Ticket buyers can use their 26 February tickets for the Jack Parow and Francois Van Coke Large On The Lawn concert on 25 June or use them for the next Large On The Lawn event for Sunday 26 March, which will host South African music icons Mango Groove and Indie favourites Al Bairre. Ticket transfers are limited to one event only.

More Large On The Lawn concerts are set to take place in April and May with The Parlotones and Goodluck confirmed for Sunday 30 April and the next set of artists will be announced soon for Sunday 28 May.

Ticket details

Tickets can be purchased here. Ticket prices (excluding ticketing service fee):

General admission: Adults - R150 (excl ticketing fees)

General admission: Teens 17-13 - R125 (excl ticketing fees)

General admission: Kids 12-3 - R85 (excl ticketing fees)

Children 3 and under enter for free.

Gates open 1pm and the show ends at 5pm.

Large On The Lawn is proudly supported by City Parks and The Sunday Times.

Large On The Lawn website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Guests at the Art Africa Fair's opening night on 24 February may expect to find Leopold7, a Belgian-born speciality craft beer, on sale.

Alexandre Tilmans (Belgium) and Marquis Brown (USA) were both looking for a new business adventure and a change of course from their careers in finance, management and entrepreneurship, respectively. Tilmans had been living in South Africa for seven years before returning to Belgium in 2013 to help establish the first Leopold7 brewery.

Upon returning to South Africa in 2014, he laid the initial foundation for the beer companys second home in Cape Town. Later in 2014, Brown left New York City for Cape Town to join Tilmans in building Leopold7 amidst the rapidly growing craft beer market.

Although Brown and Tilmans both have distinctively different personalities and professional backgrounds, both come from countries with deep beer cultures. The long history and respected craftsmanship of Belgian beer and brewing and the experimentation, creativity and popularity of American craft beer culture made for interesting informative threads as the duo began their South African beer journey.

How it's made

Made using respected Belgian brewing techniques, Leopold7 goes one step further by introducing high standards of environmental responsibility and sustainability to their production. This includes reducing waste water in the brewery, reusing yeast, and having bottle labels printed directly onto the bottle without using glues or inks that contain heavy metals. The beer itself is also produced using 95% organically farmed ingredients and is completely free of additives and chemicals. Once bottled, Leopold7 has a two year shelf-life.

The extended fermentation and maturation process of nearly three months results in a robust amber-coloured ale with citrusy, floral notes and excellent balance, giving easy drinkability with a notable malt and hop flavour profile.

Brown and Tilmans both share the vision of replicating sustainable breweries, and local production will be underway in the next several months with the brewery following shortly thereafter.

When asked why the brewery has not yet been opened, Tilmans responded by stating, Marquis and I both have backgrounds in entrepreneurship and business, and although we have found a location and begun preparations for our local brewhouse and tasting room, we both agree that running a brewhouse and tasting room without a certain level of efficiency is not a prudent step. When we first introduced the beer in South Africa nearly two years ago we knew wed both need to be patient. Having seen the positive response thus far we believe were now seeing all the right indications from consumers. Completing and opening the brewery will naturally follow very soon."

Partnering with the Art Africa Fair

Having launched to market in a flurry of activity, Brown and Tilmans invested all their energy in creating a footprint for the beer and didnt mark the arrival of the beer with a celebration.

From the beginning, our intention was to associate our beer with creativity and artistic expression  for us, although our forms and mediums are different from that of artists and designers, we share the same passion  its ultimately what led to the final recipe and end-product - Leopold7. We have been carving out a niche presence in the arts and design community, and we were proud to have been a partner and the only beer on offer at the Art Africa Fair - Cape Town.

Furthermore, we dont just want to hang onto the coattails of this community and instead want to really forge a mutually beneficial relationship. Over the last several months weve had some major successes  both independently and through collaborations.

Having never formally had a celebration, we felt that it was the perfect moment to formally express who we are and what we stand for  what better way to do it than by collaborating with the community of people whom weve already established such strong bonds with, says Brown.

The result was a brand expression unlike any other. Conceptualised and directed by Chantel Woodman, Leopold7 was a key partner of the first International Public Art Festival in Cape Town, featuring more than 40 artists painting murals in Salt River.

Collaborating with local designers and artists such as Laurie Wiid van Heerden, Paul Senyol, Andrzej Urbanski, Atang Tshikare, Ceramic Matters, Dark Horse, Chapel, the Leopold7 team brings guests to a memorable journey into the world of Leopold7.

For more info go to www.leopold7.com or www.artafricafair.com.
More than 200 African private equity deals were reported over the past year. Of these, based on transaction information disclosed, around half were transacted in Southern Africa, of which some 65% were in South Africa.

The private equity community therefore believes there is significant scope for private equity and venture capital managers to partner with businesses for growth, expansion and value creation in Southern Africa.

Erika van der Merwe

The two-day annual Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA) Private Equity in Southern Africa conference saw industry players discuss their views on major themes and industry trends over the past year, and expectations for the private equity industry and investing in Southern Africa in 2017.

Collaborations between private equity managers and institutional investors mobilise capital from international and local sources for productive deployment; the teamwork between private equity managers and investee companies builds better businesses, which in turn creates new employment opportunities and shapes healthier communities, says Erika van der Merwe, the outgoing CEO of SAVCA.

Transactional activity

Both acquisition and the realisations transactional activity was firm over the past year, across the deal-size spectrum and in a range of industry sectors. The SAVCA quarterly data tables, prepared in collaboration with Webber Wentzel, indicates that there were 203 reported acquisitions and 41 exits in Africa during 2016. There were 99 reported deals and 14 exits in Southern Africa over this period. Of the acquisitions, a third were in South Africa, with Nigeria, Kenya and Namibia also featuring prominently.

We have seen a fair amount of deal activity across the continent; many of the African deals we have seen have been of companies operating across multiple African jurisdictions, John Bellew, head of private equity at Bowmans, says.

Competition for quality assets

Careful deal selection and due diligence processes, together with mindful support for investee companies, are a clear focus for the industry, to ensure investor returns are maximised while operating in a setting of complexity and competition.

Clive Howell, head of private equity at Nedbank Corporate & Investment Bank, says that the inclination towards auction processes for transactions is evident even in the lower mid-cap space, owing to heightened competition and an increase in the number of private equity managers in the market.

Volatility and investor resilience

The volatility in both local and international market conditions creates significant challenges for deal-making, as well as uncertainty with increased competition for deal flow amongst private equity managers, other financial buyers and trade buyers.

Astute fund managers will think very carefully how they manage their portfolios in a low-growth environment. If one is disciplined and cautious, one will be able to do deals and extract value, says Andrew Dewar, managing director of Rockwood Private Equity.

Managing the exit in a world of complexity

There is notable exit activity in the industry, as fund managers realise portfolio investments using a range of mechanisms. Keith Woodhouse, partner at Hogan Lovells, has seen an increase in secondary buyouts as a way of exiting.

This demonstrates that the private equity market in Africa is maturing. It is also evidence of some private equity houses needing to achieve exits. This need to exit is typically the case where the funds are reaching the end of their life cycle or where there is a need to support future capital raises.

An evolving approach to funding private equity

According to the SAVCA 2016 Private Equity Industry Survey, the Southern African private equity industry raised some R29bn in 2015. While updated figures for 2016 are still being finalised, there are more than 15 fund managers in the process of targeting funds well in excess of the 2015 total.

There has been a move, notable in developed markets and now a reality in emerging-market regions such as Southern Africa, to list fund entities or vehicles that feed capital raised on public markets into a traditionally structured fund.

Private equity in 2017 and beyond

Van der Merwe concludes that all indications are that the positive transaction trend will continue into 2017, with a good pipeline of deals already spilling over into the first quarter of 2017. Although competition for institutional capital is intensifying, she similarly expects that the positive fund raising momentum will continue.

She adds that, similar to 2016, SAVCA will remain focused on engaging with local and regional institutional investors about the fruitful impact the asset class offers.

Contrasted with the global trend being reported, of investors now increasing their private equity allocation, local investors remain relatively underexposed to the asset class.

SAVCA continues to work towards a more balanced appreciation amongst Southern African investors for the role of the asset class in boosting returns, mitigating risk and in bringing about environmental, social and governance improvements in businesses.
Each month homeowners receive a bill for the rates and taxes applicable to their property, but what are these municipal rates used for and how is the amount worked out?

Municipal property rates are financial liabilities that owners of immovable property are required to pay monthly for basic services that their local municipality provide. Some of these services include maintenance of roads, street lighting, storm drainage, sidewalks, schools, fire fighting and so on. Utilities such as water and electricity do not fall under property rates and are charged separately. The revenue received from property rates is used to fund services that will better the lives of those living in that particular community.

Improve the local community

Since the introduction of the Municipal Property Rates Act on 1 July 2008, local municipalities are obliged to value and rate immovable properties within their area of jurisdiction. The objectives of the Act are to ensure that the local municipality has enough revenue to provide the public with the basic requirements to run the area, along with ensuring long-term sustainability, enhancing the developmental agenda of the municipality, and addressing some of the imbalances caused by past policy. Property rates provide the municipality with a reasonably reliable income that can be used to improve the local community and ensure it is well-maintained over the long term.

All property owners, regardless if they own a freehold property or sectional title unit  must pay rates.

Town-appointed property valuer

The property rates that the homeowner is charged is based on the market value of the property as determined by a town-appointed property valuer. Before the introduction of the Act, different methods were used to calculate rates in the different regions, with some areas not being charged at all. The Act brought about uniformity in how the rates were worked out by town councils. Legislation required municipalities to appoint an evaluator and compile a valuation roll with the services of professional property valuers. Data was collected around the country to determine market-related property values. Through research and market analysis, property valuers assessed and verified the value of each property based on what buyers were prepared to pay for the home. Property inspectors did not visit each home but looked at the average sales values in and around a particular area. Once the valuation roll was certified and handed to the city manager, it was publically advertised for a period so that the people were able to put in any objections they may have had regarding the valuations. After the prescribed period the valuation roll was finalised and the rates implemented.

For some, the introduction of the new rate structure meant an increase in their monthly payment, while for others it was a welcomed decrease. Whether the homeowners rates went up or down - depended on how their home was valued by the local municipal office. Areas that had experienced high levels of appreciation during the boom years would have seen their rates increase substantially, while other areas not as much. The Act does provide for the revaluation of property, which as a general rule of thumb should be completed every four years to ensure that the rates charged are an accurate reflection of the propertys current market value.
Regional power events in Africa, including EAPIC and WAPIC, have been renamed to Future Energy, in order to reflect the optimism and potential of the energy and power sectors on the continent.

Energy is fundamental to the economic development of every country, driven by population increase and industrialisation, with a landscape of depleting fossil fuels and climate change, says Claire OConnell, the event director of the Future Energy power portfolio at event organiser Spintelligent.

Exciting opportunities

She continues: The energy industry is changing and so is the role of the traditional utility. This shift is creating enormous and exciting opportunities: we are seeing more IPPs, more distributed generation, more micro grids and more off grid solutions and it is not just on a commercial scale, we are seeing these changes at community level too. As the technology behind renewable energy evolves, more and more consumers will cut their ties with incumbent utilities and become their own source of power.

She adds: In the next 10 years we can expect significant advances in generation technology and storage as well as better energy management and increased efficiencies. Most of the continent is experiencing these changes in some form and with abundant natural energy resources and a general drive towards building environmentally cleaner energy, is creating an increase in foreign direct investment into the region. With our Future Energy events we will continue to stimulate discussions and bring together the players and movers in the industry to shape and develop this continent.

New Future Energy events

Future Energy East Africa, formerly EAPIC, will take place in November in Nairobi this year. The 2017 venue will facilitate networking for some 400 regional conference delegates, and a full programme of events addressing the challenges and opportunities of the industry including country spotlights, industry awards, an East African Utility CEO Forum, and technical demonstrations and cases studies from more than 100 international suppliers.

Also taking place in November in Lagos, Future Energy Nigeria has evolved from the West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC). This energy conference and expo addresses the Nigerian power crisis through industry connectivity and creative solutions.

Future Energy Uganda is a two-day Ugandan project investment forum and exhibition taking place in Kampala from 13-14 September and will showcase projects that are in the pipeline. The forum discussions will include policies, tax and rebates, project briefings, ROIs and project implementation. The event will provide a platform for investors, government and the private sector to discuss and network in support of the Ugandan power expansion plans and 2030 vision.

Future Energy Central Africa (formerly iPAD Cameroon Energy Infrastructure Forum) is a regional strategic gathering from 2-3 October in Yaounde that will allow neighbouring Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe to share their expertise, project developments and plans in order to facilitate regional grid integration.
Despite government efforts to curb smoking, British American Tobacco (BAT) increased the number of cigarettes it sold in 2016 slightly to 665-billion.

sipa via Pixabay

Though only 0.2% more than in 2015, BAT said it achieved this while the overall cigarette market suffered a 3% decline in volumes.

BAT shareholders will receive a final dividend of 118.1p, taking the total for 2016 to 169.4p, a 10% increase from the previous year.

But shareholders appeared to disagree with chairperson Richard Burrows's comment that "the group delivered exceptional earnings, volume and market share growth", by sending its share price down 1.6% to R801, after the results were released on Thursday morning.

The group's overall revenue grew 12.6% to 14.75bn and operating profit 2.2% to 4.66bn.

In Australia - the country at the forefront of forcing cigarette companies to sell their products in plain packaging - BAT said its "market share returned to growth, driven by Rothmans".

Rothmans appears to be the group's best-performing brand, increasing volumes sold by 36.9% and market share 70 basis points. The result said this was driven by sales in Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Nigeria, Turkey and South Korea.

Dunhill's overall market share was flat. Volume fell 3.3%, driven mainly by industry declines in Malaysia and Brazil, more than offsetting growth in South Korea, Romania and the continued growth in Indonesia.

Kent volume increased 1%, with market share up 10 basis points, driven by Chile, Turkey and Japan.

Lucky Strike grew market share, higher by 10 basis points, and volume, up 13.5%, with growth in Indonesia, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany and Croatia, more than offsetting lower volume in Argentina and Russia.

Pall Mall market share grew 10 basis points, with volume marginally higher than in the prior year as growth in Venezuela, Poland, Mexico and Romania more than offset reductions in Pakistan and the migration to Rothmans in Italy.

Source: BDpro
Activity in African capital markets shows significant decline in 2016 amidst economic uncertainty and global political upheaval. On a sector basis, the financial services sector continued to dominate the African IPO market during 2016 with 45% of total value and 55% of total volume, followed by consumer goods and industrials with a total value of 31% and 13% respectively

Image by 123RF

2016 marked a challenging year for African equity markets in the wake of lower economic growth and political upheaval around the globe, largely as a result of the US elections cycle and the Brexit vote. African equity capital markets (ECM) broke a streak of three successive years of growth, recording a decline in overall ECM activity of 28% from 2015 in the number of transactions and 33% from 2015 in terms of capital raised.

PwC issued its 2016 Africa Capital Markets Watch publication, which analyses equity and debt capital markets transactions that took place between 2012 and 2016 on exchanges throughout Africa, as well as transactions by African companies on international exchanges. ECM transactions included in the analysis comprise capital raising activities, whether initial public offerings (IPOs) or further offers (FOs), by African companies on exchanges worldwide, as well as those made by non-African companies on African exchanges. Debt capital markets (DCM) transactions analysed include debt funding raised by African companies and public institutions.

Darrell McGraw, PwC capital markets partner based in Lagos, says: Many African economies, in particular those dependent on resources suffered in a low growth environment, significantly reducing ECM activity, and a continued lack of clarity around foreign exchange risk in Nigeria further discouraged foreign investment.

Although overall ECM activity decreased in 2016 in terms of both transaction volume and value as compared to 2015, there was a significant increase in ECM activity, particularly IPOs, in the second half of the year, indicating the cautious optimism of issuers and investors as the year progressed.

Since 2012, there have been 450 African ECM transactions raising a total of $44.9bn, up 8% in terms of capital raised over the previous five year period 2011-2015.

African IPO Market

Overall, $1.5bn was raised in IPO proceeds in 2016, and while 2016 saw a decrease from the prior year, there has been an overall upward trend in IPO activity over the five year period. Over the past five years there have been 110 IPOs raising $6.5 billion by African companies on exchanges worldwide and non-African companies on African exchanges.

In 2016, capital raised from IPOs by companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) increased by 25% in US dollar terms as compared to 2015, mainly driven by a comparatively stronger rand and three large listings by Dis-Chem, the Liberty Two Degrees real estate investment trust (REIT), and one of South Africas largest private equity firms, Ethos. It was also a record year for the JSEs AltX, which saw the secondary listing of the fledgling Mauritian private equity investor, Universal Partners, generate proceeds of more than five times greater than in 2015.

Capital raised from IPOs by companies on exchanges other than the JSE decreased by 22% as compared to 2015, largely driven by relatively smaller Egyptian IPOs in 2016. IPO activity on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) decreased significantly  by 72% in terms of value of IPO proceeds  as companies delayed listing plans in anticipation of an improved economic outlook following the August 2016 announcement of a potential stabilisation programme by the IMF and the free float of the Egyptian pound in November 2016.

Elsewhere on the continent, there were some significant increases in IPO capital raised on exchanges in Ghana, Morocco and Botswana compared to 2015, due to partial privatisations of state-owned entities.

Coenraad Richardson, PwC capital markets partner based in Johannesburg, adds: The JSE retains the leading position in the African capital markets, with capital raised from IPOs by companies on the JSE representing 42% of the total African IPO capital and 34% of the total number of transactions since 2012. In terms of value over the past five years, the next-largest value of IPO proceeds raised was on the EGX at $1.1 billion, followed by the Nigerian Stock Exchange at $751 million.

On a sector basis, the financial services sector continued to dominate the African IPO market during 2016 with 45% of total value and 55% of total volume, followed by consumer goods and industrials with a total value of 31% and 13% respectively.

African FO market

Over the past five years, there have been 340 FOs raising $38.4 billion on both African and international exchanges. As was the case with the IPO market, FO activity was hit by a significant decrease in terms of transaction volume and value, down 27% and 34% respectively. Andrew Del Boccio, PwC capital markets partner based in Johannesburg, notes: The decline in FO activity after a period of sustained growth reflects many of the challenges and uncertainties in Africa and around the globe.

In terms of geography, 85% of FO proceeds in 2016 were raised either by South African companies or by foreign companies listed on the JSE. However, the nature of these FOs shows a mixed landscapea significant portion of funds were raised for business restructuring or divesture by foreign investors looking to monetise or exit their African investments, or by South African companies seeking to diversify their portfolios via acquisition of assets outside of Africa.

Both during 2016 and over the five-year period, the vast majority of FO activity was from sub-Saharan countries representing 78% and 81% in total FOs volume, respectively, and 96% and 95%, respectively of total FO value.

Between 2012 and 2016, FO capital raised on the JSE represented 87% of total African FO capital raised and 71% of total transaction volume. In terms of movements from 2015, Nigerian FO activity dried up, with no further offers in 2016, mainly as a result of the ongoing recession and exchange rate environment. Tunisia also saw a significant decline in activity based on value of proceeds raised.

On a sector basis, the financial services sector contributed 47% of total FO value, followed by the healthcare sector at 12%.

During the five-year period from 2012, average FO capital raised per transaction of $113 million remained well above the average proceeds raised from IPOs of $59 million, as a number of large, seasoned issuers, such as Naspers, Aspen, Mediclinic and Steinhoff, among others, tapped markets 17 times for proceeds in excess of $500 million; only one IPO, that of Seplat in 2014 exceeded the $500 million threshold.

African debt markets

Debt capital market (DCM) activity, in particular Eurobond activity, represents only a portion of the total debt raised in Africa, with a large component of debt funding sourced from traditional bank finance, other lending arrangements with investors or debt raised in local currency on local exchanges.

Eurobond activity by African corporates continued to decline in 2016, with investment grade and high-yield proceeds from Eurobond issuances falling by 21% to $4.5 billion, and the number of issuances by 53% to just seven, including some large issuances by South African telecommunications provider, MTN, and Nigerian telecommunications infrastructure company, IHS, which raised $800 million in sub-Saharan Africas largest-ever high-yield bond. Proceeds from all seven of these 2016 issuances were raised in US dollars.

Domestic debt markets also played a more significant role in the overall DCM story in 2016 than in previous years, particularly in Nigeria, as companies and governments across the continent retreated from risks related to foreign currency funding in 2016 and as global appetite for African debt securities declined.

Del Boccio concludes: Despite challenging times, we expect to see improved conditions around capital markets activity in 2017, continuing the momentum built in the final two months of 2016, including an increase in ECM activity by companies on the JSE as well as by companies pursuing privatisation plans through the capital markets in Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and the BRVM region.
FARGO -- A town hall event hosted by Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., drew a raucous overflow crowd Thursday in south Fargo.

The gathering  called Coffee with Cramer Town Hall Event -- began about 1 p.m. at Beans Coffee Bar, 5675 26th Ave. S.

At least 150 people crowded into the coffee shop with perhaps another 50 lingering outside the door as the event started.

Many in the crowd made it clear they are unhappy with moves made to this point by the Trump administration and the Republican majority in Congress to rescind the Affordable Care Act  also known as Obamacare  often shouting their unhappiness over Cramers replies.

One woman said her daughter has an autoimmune disease and needs coverage the ACA offered. She asked if there is any replacement for the ACA ready for implementation.

The simple answer is yes, Cramer said.

And the second answer is, its not hard to do, he said.

Cramer said a third of the counties in the United States only have one insurer. Thats bad access, he said.

He said one alternative to the ACAs expansion of Medicaid coverage is to provide block grants to states or state innovation grants to allow each state to determine where insurance needs would be best met. He said tax credits for insurance buyers would also allow them to shop a wider marketplace for their coverage, lowering the cost. And he said limits on health savings accounts could be expanded.

Right now, we have a bunch of people with coverage, but without care, Cramer said.

But he was met throughout the presentation by shouts of Not true!, You cant make up the facts!, Why dont you give us your health care plan! and I dont want to pay for your Viagra!

Another woman said she has two children who require specialized care: one who was institutionalized, and another who she was able to care for at home with the help of respite care funded by Medicaid.

Are you in favor of Medicaid block grants that would force me to stay at home and care for my sons, she asked?

At that point, the yells and grumbles of protest had grown to the point that Cramer answered back.

Listen, people, you owe this woman more respect, Cramer said.

In a meeting later in the day with The Forums Editorial Board, Cramer said the costs of the ACA are not affordable and too high, and that a replacement for Obamacare will come soon.

Cramer said he expects President Trump will challenge Congress next week to get work done in two to three weeks on a plan to replace the ACA and have it completed in the next couple of months.

Back at the town hall, another woman told Cramer she didnt approve of his support for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, citing DeVos lack of experience in education as a teacher, administrator or superintendent, drawing a roar of support.

Cramer said DeVos had invested millions of dollars of her own money in trying to improve the American education system and that she believes in educational choice.

He said he learned from former North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer that you are the peoples representative, and that the most important person is the student.

Others yelled asking what will be done about investigating possible Russian interference in the U.S. election and possible ties to the Trump administration.

What about Russia comrade? one woman yelled.

Cramer said investigations are now being conducted by House and Senate committees on whether Russia interfered with or is continuing to influence Americas political system.

Many of the people waiting outside huddled together watching Facebook live-streams from those recording the event from inside.

Pam Matchie-Thiede, of Fargo, hung up signs on the windows outside so her voice could be heard, despite not being able to get inside. A couple of Matchie-Thiedes signs read: Save ACA! and Release Tax Returns.

As the town hall broke up, Dave and Leah Heide of Fargo said they were disappointed by the rowdiness.

I dont like the mob mentality. I wish there were a lot more specifics on the plans to replace the ACA, Dave Heide said. The devil is in the details. They havent come up with the details.

Leah Heide didnt like the snarkiness of comments from those near to her with a more conservative bent.

The whole idea of the common good is lost, she said. Thats short-term thinking in a long-term world.

The event is similar to town hall gatherings being held by members of Congress around the country during the first congressional recess since President Donald Trump took office.
North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp has vowed to hold public meetings to address House Republicans' plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, once a clear plan is in place.

Heitkamp's office released a statement today stating she will hold future public meetings on ACA repeal. Recently, House Republicans have come under fire  including Rep. Kevin Cramer  at town-hall events that have drawn angry protests from people concerned over losing their coverage under Obamacare.

"Once Republicans offer their health care plan  which we still have yet to see  Ill hold public meetings to fully assess the plan and discuss it with North Dakotans," she said in the statement. "Without knowing any specifics about what they intend to do with families health care and a cost associated with it, its comparing a basket of fruit to an empty basket."

In January, Heitkamp voted against repealing a bill that would allow Congress to repeal the health reform law without a replacement. A press release from her office in January cited data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which said 18,000 North Dakotans stand to lose coverage they've gained through Medicaid expansion.

Heitkamp's office said she has hosted three events over the past few days in Grand Forks and Drayton, including two events with Sen. John Hoeven. A spokeswoman with her office said Heitkamp discussed Obamacare repeal with her health care advisory board in January.

North Dakota's lone Congressman, Cramer, held a roundtable discussion in Bismarck on Wednedsay with health care professionals and insurance executives to discuss Obamacare repeal, along with Rep. Mike Burgess, R-Texas, a doctor, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.

Burgess said, in the next couple of weeks, his committee will work on a reconciliation bill that will start the process of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
U Tun Thar Sein, an Arakan National Party member representing Mrauk-U township, put forward the proposal on February 20 at the state parliaments fourth regular meeting.

Our ancient city, Mrauk-U, has a great deal of historical value as well as archaeological importance on the ground. We can take advantage of these assets. If the city had an airport, foreign tourists and wealthy domestic tourists would visit here in short order, he said. [This project] could help develop the countrys tourism industry, and the local people could enjoy the benefits of a service sector.

The Mrauk-U airport started construction on the eastern side of the city along the Sittwe-Yangon highway near Nankyar village in 2015. A local construction company, Su Htoo San Company, was tasked with carrying out the project. However, a discrepancy between the amount budgeted for the project, K2 billion in 2015 and another K2 billion in 2016, and the estimated cost of completing it resulted in the project being suspended and the government deciding to divert funds elsewhere. Earlier this month, the Rakhine State government expressed interest in having private investor sponsor the project.

If this airport project had been carried out, Rakhine State could have enjoyed a better financial flow via the development. The project was set to be implemented by the previous government. The current government has a responsibility to carry on with the airport construction in order to support the growth of Rakhine State, said U Hla Thein Aung, an MP representing Minbya township who seconded U Tun Thar Seins proposal.

Translated by Zin Linn

Edited by Laignee Barron
Both Myanmar and Thailand have cooperated on the documentation scheme, said U Aung Ko Thant, an officer at the Myanmar embassy in Thailand.

We have already announced the document planIf [the Myanmar workers] have the CI documents, they can travel across Thailand freely, he said.

Six CI service centers will open in five towns throughout the kingdom  two in Samut Sakhon (Mahachai) and one each in Samut Prakan, Mae Sai, Mae Sot and Ranong. The CI application can be found at the service centers or at 7-Eleven convenient stores in those towns starting on March 1.

According to an earlier statement from the Myanmar Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population, the cost for CI card is 300 baht. Meanwhile, workers who are pink card holders and who can produce both their national identity card and census document can apply for passports through the service centers at a cost of 1050 baht.

I have heard about this document program. But I do not know much about how it works yet. If it is true as they said that we can travel freely, it will be very convenient for us, said U Aye Maung, a Myanmar migrant worker in Mae Sot.

Although the Thai and Myanmar governments agreed to start the CI program in November 2016, it was mired in delays and disagreements over the implementation.

According to migrant rights groups, there are an estimated 4 million Myanmar people living and working in Thailand, with about 2 million holding pink cards and temporary passports.

Translated by Aong Jaeneh

Edited By Laignee Barron
He added that the reason behind the motion was settling the unemployment problem and landless farmers problem as these lands were seized and owned by non-nationals, businessmen and Tatmadaw (Defence Services) illegally.

The Myaybon constituency (2) legislator and leader of Land Scrutiny Committee in assembly said, The laws stipulate that land can be owned only by Myanmar nationals. Aliens cannot own land but many lands are in their hands. We dont know whether they are Myanmar nationals or not. So the State needs to retake these lands from their hands and redistribute them to landless farmers who are jobless now.

Moreover, the Tatmadaw has not yet surrendered lands they seized from farmers. There are over 2 million acres of registered lands in Rakhine State and Tatmadaw seized about 100,000 acres.Over 100,000 acres of land is owned by non-nationals.
The official statement released by the United Wa State Army/Party (UWSA/UWSP) says the plenary meeting organized and sponsored by them started on February 22 at their HQ at Panghsang.

Ten non-ceasefire armed ethnic groups were invited to the meeting and eight of them will attend.

Delegations attending include Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/KIA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Palaung State Liberation Front/ Tang National Liberation Army (PSLF/TNLA), Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), Eastern Shan State National Democratic Alliance Army (PSA/NDAA) and United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA).

The official statement further says that under the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and New Mon State Party (NMSP) cannot attend but will submit their position papers.

This 3-day meeting will end on 24 February.
The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels.



You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us!





WARNING:

Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised.





COMMENTS:

We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately.




GRAND FORKS  The State Board of Higher Education approved a policy change Thursday which would cut down the required timeline for dismissing tenured faculty in the North Dakota University System.

Discussion of the change during the boards monthly meeting hinged on themes of dire straits for state appropriations and rapid change in the context of an increasingly technology-driven economy. Opponents of the policy shift warn that reducing the timeline is perceived as a shot at tenure itself, an issue they say could hurt NDUS recruitment efforts and employee morale.

Board member Greg Stemen said use of the policy would be an absolute last resort for presidents of NDUS institutions.

It is a financial issue, said Stemen, who introduced recommendations from a board subcommittee devoted solely to the tenure policy. What we wanted to do was come up with things we thought were appropriate with our system and make efforts to understand, realize differences amongst the 11 (NDUS) institutions.

The NDUS tenure policy previously required the states higher education institutions to provide tenured faculty members with written notice of dismissal at least one year before termination.

With the newly approved changes, that timeline would be cut down to a minimum notice period of 90 days, provided that the board has declared financial exigency, which is defined broadly as insolvency. That required timeline is expanded to 180 days in the event of a financial situation that isnt as dire as exigency but still involves loss of legislative appropriation  much like the current budgetary scenario.

The original yearlong timeline is still maintained in the new proposal, but in a narrowed context. Institutions of higher education would be required to give the minimum 12 months of forward notice to faculty before termination caused by loss of institutional or program enrollment, consolidation of academic units or program areas, or elimination of courses.

Providing the states economy sees some improvement, at least part of the change could be a temporary measure. The policy was written with a sunset clause which would revert the 180-day timeline back to a year on or before June 30, 2019.

Maintaining academic integrity

Board member Don Morton said he believed most NDUS schools wouldnt have to cut their notice periods back to the new minimum level, though he added that some of the smaller schools that just dont have the great numbers, it might be a stretch for them.

He said it wasnt yet known which schools that might specifically include and said the policy was intended to provide flexibility for campus leadership.

Nick Hacker, a fellow board member, also emphasized the policy is elective and open for the colleges and universities to choose longer notification periods. He also said the shift was not an attack on tenure.

This board grants tenure  were on the same team, said Hacker. This is a discussion about financial stability and adapting to economic realities.

Outside readings of the change are less clear-cut. Board member Kari Reichert said the perception of the move follows a different story.

We can say over and over that this isnt an attack on tenure, but everyones interpreting it that way, said Reichert, who questioned the origins of the policy change and provided the sole vote against the approval of its second reading and passage.

Its concerning to me because what we hear from faculty and administrators is that We dont want this, she said. We hear it could jeopardize the ability to recruit, raise morale.  So what are we trying to accomplish?

During the first reading of the change during last months SBHE meeting, an open comment session drew opposition from faculty representatives at all 11 NDUS schools. On Wednesday, University of North Dakota Provost Tom DiLorenzo told attendees of an open forum on campus that he and UND President Mark Kennedy were opposed to the move.

Though public comment was less widespread at Thursdays meeting, faculty members from multiple NDUS institutions still opposed the change.

Ernst Pijning, a Minot State University professor who serves as the boards non-voting faculty representative, said changes to the tenure policy could cause irreparable damage to the university system.

Though Pijning acknowledged a scarcity of resources for higher education  a condition he described as a problematic result of decisions in the state Legislature  he said the tenure policy went beyond accommodating financial hardship and into the realm of going into what tenure is all about.

We want to preserve our institutions, but do it in the way that we can maintain our academic integrity, he said.

Pijning was joined in opposing the policy change by NDSU Provost Beth Ingram and UND professor Rebecca Weaver-Hightower, who spoke on behalf of the University Senate faculty. Ingram said the matter of perception would be carried beyond North Dakota, potentially harming the brand of the state system.

NDUS Chancellor Mark Hagerott spoke in favor of the revised policy before it went to vote, citing rapidly changing economic trends both in the nation and the state. For North Dakota specifically, Hagerott described the fiscal situation as potentially unprecedented in its severity. He argued national policies outlining best practices for tenure are written in line with last resort conditions.

The executives running these enterprises need to be one step ahead of the last resort, said Hagerott.

Med school renovation

The SBHE cleared the way Thursday for UND to use $3.3 million in existing funding to renovate the former home of the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Those renovations would update the space for use by the UND College of Arts and Sciences, which currently occupies more than 25 percent of the building and is in the process of moving its largest departments into the facility. The primary source of renovations would be an interior reconstruction to build out public clinics for psychology and counseling programs.
A bill to fill critical teacher vacancies in small school districts has passed the state Senate.

Senate Bill 2243 creates a student loan reimbursement program for two teachers to work in a North Dakota school district or nonpublic school with fewer than 1,000 students. The schools are identified by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction as having a critical vacancy in a grade level, one of 14 content shortage areas or geographical location.

This proposal is a significant incentive for a young or new teacher to assist them in paying for their school loans if they are willing to settle in an area of shortage and a subject area of shortage, said Sen. Terry Wanzek, R-Jamestown. And just maybe, they will settle in and continue after three years in their new community, which would be a big plus.

Sen. Donald Schaible, R-Mott, the bill sponsor, said if the House agrees with the Senate that this is a good incentive for teachers, then the appropriate funding will be discussed in a conference committee. He said the priority of finding teachers to fill critical areas should emerge as a worthy investment even in a time of shortfalls and revenue uncertainty.

Much work is left to be done and I hope that this bill can see its way to the end, Schaible said.

The Senate passed the bill after the reimbursement trust fund appropriation was lowered from $6 million to $2 million. The program will reimburse up to $4,500 per teacher in each of the first two years and up to $6,500 in the third year, with a maximum $25,000 when applying for additional positions.

Rep. Chet Pollert, R-Carrington, and Rep. Jim Grueneich, R-Jamestown, said they support the purpose of the bill but are also concerned for the stability of the funds.

The education of our states children will always be among my top priorities, Grueneich said. I will be in support of this bill if we can find the funding for it, but given our current budget constraints that may prove to be quite a challenge.

Sen. David Rust, R-Tioga, said $2 million is a good start. Once the initial program proves itself through 2019 then the Legislature could determine the amount needed, he said.

Without the amendments, I don't think the bill would have passed the Senate, Rust said. Now, it's on to the House.

Kensal Public School has 27 students in kindergarten to fifth grade for the current school year.

Teacher contracts usually come down to salary, and larger districts offer more money, said Tom Tracy, Kensal school superintendent. Student loan reimbursement is an important tool in that competition, he said.

Anytime you can provide an incentive for teachers to come to rural schools it is a plus and this bill would do that, Tracy said.

Sen Erin Oban, D-Bismarck, a co-sponsor of the bill, said student loan forgiveness exists for medical and other critical need occupations but so far the attempts to fill teacher shortages have been rule bending, recruiting retired teachers or using non-teachers with subject expertise.

That would not be acceptable with other professions, Oban said. Without great teachers the dominos start falling from there.

North Dakota schools are producing enough teachers to meet the states needs, she said. But without incentives graduates will continue to prefer teaching in larger school districts, she said.

Rep Mark S. Owens, R-Grand Forks, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the goal of the bill is to help keep teachers in the areas they are needed, which changes each year, while seeking other ways to retain quality teachers as well.

This bill is not designed to be the answer, but it is a step in the right direction, Owens said. It develops a program that is designed to enhance the quality and reduce the turnover of our teachers across the state.
The Ghazlani military camp on the outskirts of southwestern Mosul has been liberated from ISIS militants, an Iraqi military spokesman told CNN.

Iraqi flags are now flying atop the buildings of the strategic military base located near the city's airport, Colonel Mohamad Bayzani of the Joint Operations Command said, quoting a statement.

According to Bayzani, there were many ISIS casualties in the battle, and a lot of the militant group's weaponry was destroyed. The statement was issued on behalf of the Commander of Iraqi Forces in Ninevah, General Abdul Amir Rasheed Yarallah.

Iraqi forces are still working to fully secure all areas around the airport and the Ghazlani camp complexes.

Full control

Overnight Thursday Iraqi forces regained control of the airport in Mosul, a key early objective in the second phase of the months long operation to push ISIS militants from the key Iraqi city.

The airport -- largely destroyed by ISIS forces -- is now fully under Iraqi Federal Police control, said Col. Abdel Amir Mohamed, commander of the rapid response unit of the Federal Police.

Brett McGurk, the US envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition, congratulated Iraq for the victory.

"Congratulations to Iraqi forces for completing complex maneuver ops to secure #Mosul airport from #ISIS terrorists," he tweeted. "#ISIS is now trapped."

British Major Gen. Rupert Jones, deputy commander of Operation Inherent Resolve, offered a more muted assessment of the situation on the ground, telling CNN's Christiane Amanpour the airport was "reasonably well-secured."

"It's been a really good day," said Jones, speaking from Baghdad on Thursday. "The Iraqis are on the airfield. It looks reasonably well-secured."

"We should just be a little bit patient. It will really be for the Iraqis to say for certain once they're confident they're holding it," he added.

Iraqi forces launched a new bid to retake the western parts of the city on Sunday after declaring in late January that the east had been liberated.

Federal police and rapid response forces, backed by drones and heavy artillery, advanced from several positions to storm the airport, Lt. Gen. Raid Shakir Jaudat said in a statement. ISIS has held the airport since 2014 and has largely destroyed its infrastructure.

Sources have told CNN in recent months that ISIS has sabotaged the airstrip there to prevent its use.

Forces took the airport in a few hours and appear to be moving swiftly, taking back control of two villages -- Yarmouk and Tal al-Rayan -- near the airport and the al-Ghazlani camp.

They have also taken control of an ISIS weapons storage warehouse, former ISIS headquarters and the barracks at al-Ghazlani, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul, a spokesperson for the Iraqi operation, told CNN.

But the push to take western Mosul is expected to take some time -- the east of the city took more than three months to take from ISIS control.

A city split

The east and west is divided by the Tigris River, and US-led coalition airstrikes have damaged all five bridges connecting the two sides in an effort to contain the militants in the west.

Residents of eastern Mosul have written letters of solidarity that the Iraqi Air Force dropped over western neighborhoods on Wednesday.

CNN went aboard an Air Force plane and met two residents of the east who had written some of the letters. One, Ghassan Mohammed Saadoun, said that he had received similar reassuring letters from other Iraqis when the east was being liberated.

He said ISIS had tried to confiscate those letters.

"I have lived that experience and seen these letters and leaflets, but ISIS tried to prevent us from seeing them as much as they can. When that happened, the children of ISIS went out into the streets and collected these letters early in the morning hours so no one could read them," he said.

One of the letters read: "Do not be afraid of the security forces -- they are coming to protect and to liberate you from injustice. Collaborate with them and don't be afraid of them. They are your sons. We wish you safety and security."

The offensive to retake Mosul began in October in an extraordinary union of Iraqi troops and militia representing minority ethnic and religious groups that have often stood on opposing sides in Iraq's history.

CNN's Ingrid Formanek and Ben Wedeman reported from Irbil, Iraq. CNN's Merieme Arif, Ghazi Balkiz, Barbara Starr, Basma Atassi, Samantha Beech, Jennifer Deaton and Holly Yan contributed to this report.


An internet imagery.

NEW DELHI (PTI): A C-130J Super Hercules aircraft of the Indian Air Force suffered damage while taxiing at high altitude Thoise airfield in Ladakh and a Court of Inquiry (CoI) is currently underway.



One of the four engines of the aircraft was damaged in the "ground incident" on December 13 and it was brought back to Hindon airbase on the outskirts of Delhi two weeks after the incident, IAF sources said.



A high-level CoI is currently underway to investigate "every possible aspect" of the incident which came nearly three years after the crash of a C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft.



Sources, however, did not confirm reports that the commander of the aircraft has been relieved of duties. "Action will be taken based on the findings of the Court of Inquiry," they said.



"The aircraft flew back to home base Hindon from Thoise two weeks after the ground incident," the sources said.



The transport aircraft had taken off from Hindon and the ground incident took place while taxiing at Thoise, one of the highest airfields in the world.



The IAF had inducted six aircraft of that variety bought from the US at a cost of around Rs 6,000 crore (USD 1 billion) in 2010.



India has already ordered six additional aircraft.



In August last year, the Defence Ministry had approved buying one C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft to replace the one that had crashed in 2014 in which five crew members were killed.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More concerned about the safety of refugees than their own safety, a random polling of people in downtown Brandon showed support for increased refugee supports.

The support backs Premier Brian Pallisters funding announcement of the day, which will see the introduction of 14 emergency housing units for refugee claimants, the hiring of a refugee response co-ordinator and $110,000 in funding for Welcome Place to support services for refugee claimants.

This reaction comes after weeks of news reports about an influx of northbound asylum seekers crossing the Canada-United States border illegally at a handful of points, including at Emerson.

Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun Garry Nasby -- No. Its too much hassle going across the border already.

One of about a dozen people randomly polled in downtown Brandon on Thursday, Jing Wang said that its been heartening to see Canadas collective response to refugees.

Having immigrated to Canada from China about two-and-a-half years ago, she said that the recent image of RCMP members assisting a child crossing into Canada illegally from the United States made her proud to be here.

Respondent Jen Weedon said that her primary concern is for the security of immigrants and refugees, and an anonymous respondent said that he couldnt blame people for trying to get out of the United States given the current negative political climate around immigration south of us.

Donna Robleski shared a similar sentiment, saying that she just hopes refugees have places to go and the resources and the resources they need.

Others noted that border security is adequate and that they dont have any concerns, such as Jelle Geurts, who said that during a recent trip to the United States he faced more questioning coming back in to Canada, as a Canadian citizen, than he did when entering the United States.

Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun Melanie Noah -- Yes, I think they should. It seems like every day people are coming in.

Not everyone polled is in agreement about border security.

Norman Parker said that he supports the immigration policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, and Olga Cooke said that background checks need to be strengthened.

Still, the dominant sentiment of support for welcoming refugees did not surprise Brandon East Progressive Conservative MLA Len Isleifson, who said that Canada itself is built on immigration.

We have people, whether its legal or illegal, crossing our borders into Manitoba and we have to ensure their safety and the safety of people in the border areas, he said. We need to provide resources to the organizations that support these refugee claimants.

While he said that hed change his tune if something happened to the contrary, Isleifson said that there doesnt appear to have been any added threat as a result of the recent influx of illegal border crossings.

Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun Jing Wang -- No. I think Canadas nice.

Ive heard of families coming across with their children in the middle of the night and thats concerning given our weather, he said. These people are here and we need to ensure that the supports  are properly funded and looked after.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB

Should the Canadian government be doing more to enforce border security?

Garry Nasby  No. Its too much hassle going across the border already.

Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun Donna Robleski -- I think they just have to ensure they have places to go and work.

Melanie Noah  Yes, I think they should. It seems like every day people are coming in.

Jing Wang  No. I think Canadas nice.

Donna Robleski  I think they just have to ensure they have places to go and work.

Jen Weedon  Yes, I think more for the security of immigrants and refugees.

Norman Parker  Yes, because I think Justin Trudeau should follow Donald Trumps example (on immigration) rather than just make himself look good.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon City Council has appointed Rod Sage as acting city manager, effective Saturday.

Sage will be filling the position left vacant by Scott Hildebrand, who has resigned after six years on the job.

Sage has served as general manager of operations for the past nine years, and has experience in a number of other positions since he began working at the City of Brandon in 1987.

I think more than anything Im able to draw on 30 years of experience in local government, Sage said. It allows me to draw on some tools and skills that have been developed.

Sage will be splitting his time between the two positions until a permanent replacement is found.

While he admits hes a bit nervous about the new responsibility, he is looking forward to the challenge.

Theres no I in team, and I have a great team around me, he said. Im still going to be relying heavily on my colleagues, the other GMs, as well as the police chief and the fire chief and the other directors that reported directly to Scott.

Sage joked he has Hildebrands contact number and email address handy in case of emergency questions.

Coun. Barry Cullen (Victoria) served as acting deputy mayor this week at Hildebrands last council meeting.

Wed like to thank you very, very much Scott Hildebrand for your service to the city and the citizens of Brandon, Manitoba, Cullen said. On behalf of the mayor and myself and all the other councillors  thank you very much for your dedication to this job and we wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Hildebrand plans to pursue a career opportunity in the private sector in British Columbia.

City administration is currently working on a request for proposals for an executive search firm to assist in the recruitment of a new city manager.Once a firm is selected, the city will work with them on the skill set and attributes that the city is looking for in this position, according to city clerk Heather Ewasiuk.

The search firm will recommend three or four candidates to council, following preliminary background checks and skill inventories.

Council as a whole will then meet and interview the potential candidates prior to making a decision. The entire process is likely to take close to six months, although it would ideal to have someone in place by the fall, Ewasiuk said.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/02/2017 (2082 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its hoped that the return of a popular rooftop event will raise thousands of dollars for some important causes.

This year marks the return of the Brandon firefighters rooftop camp-out, and organizing firefighter Sheldon Reynolds says hes recruited four colleagues who have never taken part before.

Reynolds has participated in the event in past years, but not this time. In jest, he said he hopes the weather is chilly this year for the first-timers, like it was for the times he camped on the fire hall roof.

File Brandon firefighters will once again camp on the rooftop of the No. 2 Fire Station to raise money for the Westman chapters of Muscular Dystrophy Canada and the Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba. The three-night campout will begin on March 15 and the group hopes to raise $20,000.

I hope it gets colder, Reynolds joked. You get that suffer factor.

Matt Tannas, Kane Doran, Kory Kimpinski and Adam Desjardin will climb onto the roof of No. 2 Fire Station at 1301 13th St. on March 15 and will spend three nights there to try to raise at least $20,000.

Funds gathered from the event will go to the Westman chapters of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba and Muscular Dystrophy Canada. The money will be used for education, support services, equipment, to help local families with mobility, and for research.

The Cerebral Palsy Association is a new organization to receive support from the camp-out. Reynolds said he was inspired to include the association by his neighbours daughter who has the condition.

Some money will also go to the Brandon Firefighters Charity Fund, which also supports local causes.

This is the fifth edition of the popular event, but the first after it took a break for two years. Reynolds said work duties and personal commitments led to a shortage of firefighters to stage the event in the last couple of years.

With some new recruits on the fire department, it was time to try it again.

Reynolds estimated that, altogether, the rooftop camp-outs have raised about $90,000 so far. Theyre hoping to push past $100,000 this year.

Part of the money-raising effort comes from a boot drive, in which firefighters stand outside No. 2 Fire Station and other locations during the camp-out and collect donations in boots from passersby.

Reynolds has some advice for the newbies on how to bring in a crowd.

Youve got to draw attention to yourself up there, Reynolds said. Dont be afraid to be a bit of a fool  if youve got to dance, youve got to dance.

Donations to the cause can be made before and during the event at either of the citys two fire halls.

In addition, Heritage Co-op will host a Buck 4 Luck March 1 to 18, in which customers can buy a paper four-leaf clover for a dollar, write their name on it and have it posted in the store.

A Bud and spud event at The Great Western Roadhouse at Canad Inns will wrap up the activities on the evening of March 18. A raffle will offer the prize of a trip for two anywhere WestJet flies. Folks are asked to purchase tickets a couple of days ahead of time at No. 2 Fire Station if they can.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some of you may think that I am one of Manitobas (or Canadas) top beer critics. However, even I am not able to try every single beer thats available at various Liquor Marts and beer vendors. Quite often some of the beers wont even make their way to Brandon, or, in some cases, the beer turns out to be a limited release that is so popular that it sells out immediately. There are quite a few new beers now available that I think you should be checking out.

First off, the growler bar over at the 10th and Victoria Liquor Mart is now serving Fort Garry Bitter, a slightly stronger than average English-style Bitter; Torque Cowardly Lion Mild Ale, a four per cent copper-coloured ale with a slight roasty palate and a mild citrusy/bitter hop aroma flavour to it; and Beaus 80 Shilling Scottish-style ale with notes of caramel, earthy hops and a bit of breadiness. Beaus 80 Shilling is also available at the growler bar at the Keystone Motor Inn.

Unibroues Lune de Miel is now available at local Liquor Marts. Lune de Miel is an eight per cent Belgian Golden Ale with a hint of honey to give it a light white mead zest to it. For the hop heads in the crowd, you will be happy to know that my newest favourite IPA, Collective Arts Hemisphere IPA is now readily available at Liquor Marts in Brandon (South end, 10th and Victoria) and Dauphin. Collective Arts Hemisphere IPA is a tropical, fruity and mildly hopped beer that comes with interesting artwork on each can.

Submitted First Draught columnist Cody Lobreau says La Guillotine by Brasserie Familiale Huyghe is a Belgian ale with bite.

Theres also a bunch of new Belgian ales available at your local Liquor Marts. This week Im going to check out La Guillotine by the folks at Brasserie Familiale Huyghe. Brasserie Familiale Huyghe is also known for brewing Delirium Tremens. Wait  thats the very Belgian ale I mentioned in July that was going to get discontinued completely by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries. Well, Im angry as the very last of Delirium Tremens has finally sold out in Brandon a few weeks back and the beer is now officially delisted from the liquormarts.ca website.

Even if Delirium Tremens is no longer being carried by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, it is still one of the most popular beers from Belgium, but for now at least we have an equally politically incorrect beer by the name of La Guillotine. La Guillotine is described as a strong Belgian blonde ale released in 1989 in honour of the 200th anniversary of the guillotine. La Guillotine looks absolutely amazing with its head attached. Its a Belgian strong pale ale with a mild cloudy golden straw appearance, a light amount of carbonation to give it a hint of fizz and a very heavy amount of head topping the body of the beer.

The aroma to me is simply houblonne, meaning that its a well hopped Belgian golden ale. The aroma gives off a rich, piney aroma as soon as the beer is opened. The beer also has a great deal of lemongrass, a hint of pepper, a bit of bubble gum from the Belgian yeast and a wheatiness reminiscent of saltine crackers.

The beer tastes like your typical Belgian pale ale, it starts off with the flavours of crackers followed by a heavy citrus presence, in this case lemon and lime. Theres a moderate bitter hop presence that gives off a bitter pine flavour to it, considerably more bitter than most Belgian beers Ive had, and certainly not skunky like Stella.

Im very upset that Delirium Tremens is no longer listed on Liquor Marts website, Im sure that it will return to Manitoba at some point and Im lucky enough that I saved a few bottles from a Christmas taster pack two years ago so Ill have a few bottles aging. La Guillotine, in name, is certainly just as controversial as Delirium Tremens. Is La Guillotine worth replacing Delirium Tremens over? Non, pas de tout (No, not at all). Theyre completely different styles of Belgian ales. I do enjoy La Guillotine a lot, in fact  I was really happy to finally see a good Belgian beer with an actual bitter hop presence! If you like a Unibroue style blonde ale, you will really enjoy this. At 8.5 per cent ABV, if youre a Belgian beer connoisseur, it will likely anger you that Delirium Tremens is no longer in Manitoba like it did to me! And if not, why havent you had that beer before?

You can find Brasserie Familiale Huyghes La Guillotine only at the 10th and Victoria Liquor Mart in Brandon for $3.39 per 330 ml bottle, well worth the money for the Belgian ale connoisseurs out there.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ive said it before and Ill say it again  read those labels!

And you know who should be taking this advice?

Me.

Submitted Vine Lines columnist Diane Nelson encourages Westman residents to read the labels on wine bottles after she failed to pay attention when purchasing a bottle of the Alamos Malbec from Argentina at the downtown Liquor Mart. She discovered the bottle said Cabernet Sauvignon.

While I usually advocate the reading of labels to ensure a person is getting the proper vintage  there can be a lot of variation in the characteristics of a wine between one vintage and another  the situations Im about to relate had nothing whatsoever to do with the years in which the wines were made. But within the space of a few days, I managed to bungle the purchase and the gifting of two different wines. And both of those mistakes happened because I didnt read the labels thoroughly enough. Or really at all.

Heres my tale of woe. Well, both stories follow. And theyre equally humbling and embarrassing.

My husband and I had been invited to a house party following a wine-tasting event, and as is customary, we took a bottle of wine with us to contribute to the festivities. Our hostess is the furthest thing from a wine snob, but she has great taste and I wanted to take something she mightnt have tried before. Since she vastly prefers red wine to white, there was no question what the colour of our gift would be.

I selected the Brunel de la Gardine Cotes du Rhone from France, since I really like it a lot and was hopeful my friend would, too. When I picked up the bottle, I thought, Oh, theyve changed the packaging. The foil and the coat of arms on the front of the label, as well as the lettering, were green, as was the bottle, whereas before  and youll see why I used quotation marks around that word in just a moment  the foil and insignia had been burgundy, and the bottle brown.

We didnt open the Cotes du Rhone at the party that night, and I didnt think twice about it. I knew my friend would get to it whenever she felt it was appropriate.

So imagine my surprise when I opened a bottle of the newly packaged Brunel de la Gardine and discovered the wine was white!

I was shocked. I compared it to the red I had on hand, and sure enough, there was nothing on the front label of either to indicate one was Blanc or Rouge. But in microscopic print on the bottom right corner of the back label, below the alcohol content (14 per cent), there were the words Vin Rouge/Red Wine.

However, there was no such thing on the bottle of white. I suppose, even though the labels are almost totally in French, if Id read the grape varietals included, I would have figured out it was white. But I didnt.

I texted my friend to apologize for the error and said Id replace the Blanc with the intended Rouge. She laughed and said she hadnt noticed it was white either, she hadnt opened it and plans to keep it for me to enjoy on another visit. Sweet of her, but that wasnt the initial point of the gift.

Incidentally, the Brunel de la Gardine Rouge is a wonderfully pleasant wine. Its great on its own and also pairs nicely with steak and burgers as well as veggie dishes such as ratatouille and stuffed peppers. It sells for $15.72. The Blanc is a bit citrusy with a mineral finish  I like the mineral part the best, because it makes this a very enjoyable and refreshing sipper. The Blanc is five cents less than its red counterpart.

The other experience involved no one but me, and it was simply a matter, as indicated, of me not paying attention. Again.

I was at the downtown Liquor Mart and went to pick up a bottle of the Alamos Malbec from Argentina, which, for my money, is a steal of a deal for $14.99. Deep, dark and delicious with flavours of plum, black cherries and blackberries, its a terrific wine with a lot of backbone.

I stopped at the spot where I usually find it, and saw a sale sign indicating it was on sale for $13.49. Great, I thought. Ill get four bottles, then. So I put them in my cart and proceeded through the check-out.

A couple of nights later, I opened a bottle of the Alamos to accompany a barbecue-saucy dish we were having for supper. I sniffed it before I sipped, and thought, That doesnt smell as deep as I remember. I felt pretty much the same way once Id tasted it. It wasnt as rich and lush as Id thought in the past.

I was disappointed, but figured maybe Id had something that had put my taste buds off. However, when I opened another bottle a few days later, my impressions were the same. More herbaceous than I recalled, the Alamos Malbec just wasnt what it used to be.

At least thats what I thought. Until I finally noticed the label. It was identical to what Ive always purchased, except where it usually said Malbec under the Alamos banner, this bottle said Cabernet Sauvignon.

I was disgusted with myself. It had taken a bottle and a half before I even thought to look at the label. What an idiot I was. No wonder it didnt taste the same. There was nothing wrong with the Cabernet at all, except that it wasnt a Malbec.

In my defence, as stated, the labels are exactly the same, except for the grape varietal. But I should have been more observant. I know Alamos makes a Cabernet. But I was intent on Malbec, so I didnt even consider the bottles Id picked up could have been anything but.

Anyway, I vow to do better from this point forward. And I promise to take time, not to stop and smell the roses, but to read those labels!
Czech extremists have burned the Quran, in support of a Slovak woman who has been charged for the same act

23. 2. 2017

cas cteni < 1 minuta





A Slovak woman (24) has torn up, urinated upon, and set a copy of the Quran on fire and placed a recording of her actions on Facebook. As a result, she has been charged by the Slovak police with the criminal offences of manufacturing extremist materials, and of slandering a nation, a race and a religious belief.

In support of the woman, Czech islamophobes have also organised a burning of the Quran in the Prague park of Stromovka:

Burning books is not a criminal offence in the Czech Republic, so the perpetrators of the burning of the Quran in the Czech Republic will not be prosecuted. Source in Czech HERE

0
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  In 2004, when American journalist and historian Thomas Frank wrote Whats The Matter With Kansas?, he was asking an important question: why do so many Americans vote against their economic and social interests? The politics of spin has certainly played a significant role in this outcome. Herein lies the Republican machines biggest strength: namely, its ability to convince the electorate  including the working class  to vote against its best interests.

Donald Trump is the fourth Republican U.S. president since Ronald Reagans inauguration in 1981. During each of these presidencies, national debt and unemployment increased, while government regulation decreased. Reagan, who remains the figurehead of the Republican Party, championed trickle down economics as a solution to increase American growth.

This theory remains foundational to the GOPs economic plan and was adopted as part of Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. These policies of limited regulation, which favour a minority of the population, are ultimately what led to the 2008 financial crisis. The fallout did not affect the CEOs of Americas biggest banks; rather, it was a disaster for working-class Americans, many of whom voted for billionaire Donald Trump.

Trumps latest push, to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act  the key piece of regulation designed to prevent a new financial crisis  highlights how little Republican politicians care about the financial concerns of their core constituents. The repeal involves removal of specific sections of the law that require all retirement account advisers to work in the best interests of their clients. The removal of such regulatory burdens is not just unethical; it would, in fact, fail to hold accountable those who commit a breach of trust.

Furthermore, Trumps promise to repeal and replace Obamacare undermines the basic medical needs of his own voter base. A Kaiser Family Foundation study found that 43 per cent of Americans view Obamacare unfavourably versus 39 per cent who view it favourably, despite the fact that 57 per cent admitted they did not have enough information to know how a repeal of the law would affect them.

In addition, the overwhelming majority of Americans responded in favour of the individual components of the law, yet when those same components are labelled as Obamacare, citizens responded in disgust. Though the Affordable Care Act was not without complications, for millions of Americans, this was their first chance to experience health care. In some estimates, repeal would mean loss of coverage for as many as 24 million citizens. Despite this, voters turned to Trump to resolve their health-care woes.

Trump has also focused his policies and rhetoric on making the United States safe by bringing back an America first policy. Many of his executive orders have lacked research, planning or proper execution. His refugee ban, for example, is likely to do just the opposite of what he claims. The Washington Post reported that dehumanizing certain minority groups, especially Muslims, increases their chances of supporting violent forms of protest and makes them less likely to report suspicious activity in their neighbourhoods. This could be catastrophic to American national security, as research has shown that the best way to prevent terrorism is engaging and building trust with the community in question.

Targeting Muslims is also problematic because it shields a more important reality concerning terrorism in America. The New York Times recently reported that "the main terrorist threat in the United States is not from violent Muslim extremists, but from right-wing extremists." Moreover, there have been more than 215,000 murders in the United States since 9/11. For every person killed by Muslim extremists, 4,300 homicides have occurred from other threats. Yet the president remains largely silent on right-wing and other types of domestic terrorism.

Regardless of Donald Trumps campaign rhetoric, those wishing to make America great again will be waiting longer. In an era of post-truth sloganeering, Americans must sift through Trumps cliches to understand that gut feelings are no substitute for hard data. Without a rational basis for public policy, the electorate will continue to vote for leaders who have other interests in mind.

 Graham T. Gould Maule is a graduate student at the department of biochemistry, microbiology and immunology at the University of Ottawa. His column was also recently published by the Winnipeg Free Press.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/02/2017 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister attempted to offer up a moderate, humanitarian approach to the flood of refugee claimants coming across the Manitoba border yesterday.

On Thursday morning, Pallister announced that the provincial government would beef up resources to agencies that work with refugee claimants, and boost the number of emergency housing units for asylum seekers.

This included:

 $110,000 in funding for the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council to cover paralegal services and transportation costs from Emerson to Winnipeg;

 $70,000 in assistance to the Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations; and

 14 units of emergency housing provided by the province to respond to the growing need for temporary shelter for refugee claimants.

Local law enforcement and emergency workers along the U.S.-Canada border near Emerson have been under pressure to deal with the growing influx of people crossing the border as fears grow in the U.S. of President Trumps pending crackdown on illegal immigrants.

In response, the Pallister government has been in talks with the Paramedic Association of Manitoba to send primary care paramedics to Emerson on a temporary basis, to supplement the efforts of local first reponders.

Considering many of his federal Conservative brethren have been trying to blame the Liberal federal government for not enforcing Canadian laws while at the same time failing to offer any competent solutions, Pallisters directive here, by comparison, is a much more thoughtful one, all things considered.

Given the Progressive Conservative rural base, and growing concerns from residents along the U.S.-Canada border about the rising number of migrants crossing illegally  and the security risk that they pose  its also a little surprising. A great many federal and provincial conservatives seem more interested in finding ways to shut down the border and keep the migrants out of Canada.

While we believe his decision to offer financial aid to refugee groups and bring in housing is the right call, we should also add that for Pallister, showing some empathy plays well in Winnipeg, where he needs to keep his newfound vote base.

Nevertheless, critics of Pallisters decision came out in droves yesterday in the comment section of the Winnipeg Free Press, calling his efforts to deal with the situation through humanitarian means a big mistake, and that his $180,000 expenditure to help refugee claimants is a disappointment while his government continues to cut major capital projects for health care and senior care homes.

There has been plenty of consternation in Conservative quarters over the fact that our federal government seems more willing to help refugee-claimants once they reach Canada, than to stop them and turn them back into the U.S.

A recent poll from Angus Reid Institute suggests that a sizable minority feel the federal government is letting in too many refugee claimants. The poll released earlier this week shows 47 per cent of respondents feel Canada is taking in the right amount, but 41 per cent feel the number is already too high. Among Conservative voters that number jumps to 62 per cent who think Canadas doors are too open. As well, 25 per cent of those polled said Canada should have adopted a travel ban similar to the one temporarily imposed by Mr. Trump closing down the borders to immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Yet the fact that Pallister seems bent on working with the federal Trudeau government on what he called a national issue, shows a degree of responsibility that has been missing from his federal counterparts. As we said earlier this week, there are no easy answers to addressing the influx of migrants into Canada. Making overtures to President Trumps administration is not likely going to help the situation, not with his America First attitude.

These migrants are running scared. As a crackdown on illegal immigrants moves forward south of the border, and with warmer weather only weeks away, it stands to reason that the stream of people crossing illegally in Emerson will soon become a gusher.

Canada has a responsibility to help refugees, as outline in international law, and showing some compassion is  for now  the correct response. But our federal and provincial governments do need to further address the situation, in a united effort, before the situation becomes unmanageable.

 The Brandon Sun & Winnipeg Free Press
Bank of Ireland has set aside 25m to compensate 600 customers who were wrongly moved off their tracker mortgage.

Some 600 customers were moved to a less favourable rate by the Bank.
The late Cardinal Desmond Connell has been remembered as a man who made mistakes but as the one who finally began to realise the extent of clerical abuse in Ireland.

At his funeral at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said his predecessor had to drag information on paedophilia scandals from those who were reluctant to share.

Cardinal Connell died on Tuesday after an illness.

Although he said he was appalled at the scale of abuse when he took office, he appeared slow to address the issue, opting for secret internal church tribunals to defrock abusive priests rather than potentially explosive public prosecutions.

In his homily, Archbishop Martin acknowledged some failures but also paid tribute to the Cardinal, who he said led the church in Ireland at a difficult time.

"He made mistakes in his decisions and he struggled with the consequences," the senior cleric told mourners.

Archbishop Martin celebrated the Cardinal's funeral Mass with Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Eamon Martin and other members of the Irish Bishop's Conference, priests, clergy and lay people.

Cardinal Connell was born in Dublin in 1926.

He was appointed Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland in 1988, although he is widely regarded as not having sought high office.

Three years later, he was elevated again on being made the first Dublin-based Cardinal in 120 years by Pope John Paul II.

He remained Archbishop until 2004.

Considered a shy and academic man who found it difficult to live in a world of fast decisions, he caused outrage in 2008 and narrowly avoided a damaging public row with his successor when he mounted a High Court challenge to try to block a judge-led inquiry into clerical sex abuse having access to 5,500 files on priests and abuse allegations.

He claimed legal privilege and secured a temporary injunction before withdrawing the legal action two weeks later.

Archbishop Martin told mourners: "Many comments in these days noted that he was slow to recognise the extent of the problem of child sexual abuse by priests.

"It must be said that he found himself surrounded by a culture and at times by advisers who were slow and perhaps even unwilling to recognise both the extent of the problem and the enormous hurt that had been done to children, a hurt they still carry with them.

"That hurt has still to be fully recognised; that wound cannot be consigned to past history. For victims, it still remains."

Cardinal Connell was credited with handing over the names of 17 suspected abusers to gardai, although some of his actions in dealing with the abuse scandals were criticised by the state inquiry.

Archbishop Martin identified hundreds of complaints.

The Cardinal later asked for forgiveness from child sex abuse victims who suffered at the hands of paedophile priests under his control.

Archbishop Martin credited the late Cardinal with his attempts to deal with the issue of clerical abuse, including the establishment of child protection service in the Dublin archdiocese.

"It is also true that it was Cardinal Connell who was the one who finally began to realise the extent of the abuse and the extent of the damage done to children and with difficulty began to drag out information which some were still reluctant to share," he said.

Archbishop Martin also spoke about the Cardinal deep faith and actions on social justice.

"He did not just talk about justice: he felt the needs and responded to the needs of the poor, of travellers, of refugees, of the homeless and of victims of addiction and of HIV and Aids," he said.

"He felt those needs not just in an abstract way. He was not a politician or a vote-seeker. He may have been at times insensitive in things he said, but not out of malice. He was criticised for being at times less than diplomatic, just as I am criticised by being over-diplomatic."

Cardinal Connell was laid to rest in the Crypt of St Mary's Pro Cathedral.
Update - 4pm: The Department says it is keeping a close eye on the well-being of Mr Halawa.

His family in Dublin say he has been moved to a prison hospital amid reports his heart condition is getting worse.
The public Tribunal of Inquiry into allegations of a smear campaign against Sgt Maurice McCabe is to hold its first hearing on Monday, it has emerged.

The 'Disclosures' Tribunal is being headed by Judge Peter Charleton, who has wasted little time in establishing the public work of the inquiry, writes Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner.

Following reports in the Irish Examiner, the Government bowed to pressure to establish a Tribunal as opposed to a private Commission of Inquiry after Sgt McCabe said he could only have confidence in a public investigation.

The Irish Examiner understands that Judge Charleton will make an opening address at the commencement of the Tribunal, which will take place in Dublin Castle.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice has said proceedings will commence at 9.30am.

It is understood that once underway, the tribunal will spend up to three months in private preparing for full public hearings to commence.

Judge Charleton is expected to conclude the McCabe body of work between nine months and a year.

News of the first day's sitting comes as the head of the policing authority saying she has concerns about the ability of Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan in carrying out her role while the tribunal is underway.

Policing Authority Chairperson Josephine Feehily said she has confidence in Commissioner O'Sullivan's capacity with her senior team to run the organisation but it is the parallel running of her job and servicing the tribunal which raises a question.

Speaking on RTE's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Ms Feehily said the work of the Charleton Tribunal is hugely important but should move at a pace to bring a finality to a "saga" that is "potentially corrosive" to policing and to garda morale.

She said the issues before the Charleton Tribunal now need to be investigated as they have been damaging to public confidence in the gardai and the morale of members. It will give all parties a chance to say their piece, she said.

The concern about the culture of An Garda Siochana has been there for some time, she said, and the Policing Authority has pressed the organisation to do a culture audit, which is now out for tender.

The issue of "how to create an environment for speaking out" needs to be properly implemented, she said.

She added that the authority is concerned that the focus of senior garda management will be on the tribunal rather than on policing but said the commissioner is looking at how best to manage it.

Ms Feehily said she is also concerned the motivation, energy and morale of the gardai will be affected negatively by the tribunal.
The Minister for Defence has blamed the improving economy for retention problems within the forces.

It follows a report which shows serious moral issues amongst members.
A 18-year-old convicted rapist has been publicly vilified in a midlands town by local residents.

The young man, who was 16 at the time of the offence, raped a 13-year-old boy and sexually assaulted another.

During his trial the boy said the incidents which occurred in a midlands town were consensual and described them as an experiment gone wrong.

The Central Criminal Court heard one of the main problems for the accused was that he was about to turn 18 and would no longer have access to treatment and support form Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.

It is not clear what, if any disability and support services he will have access to as an adult. He was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age, defence counsel Conor Devally SC told the court, adding doctors later said he was also on the autism spectrum.

This week Mr Justice Paul Coffey imposed a three year sentence on the boy. However he deferred imposition of the sentence until January 2018 when he hopes a meaningful multi-agency care plan will be in place.

The judge noted a report stated the boy is at a moderate risk of re-offending if support services do not urgently intervene.

The boy will remain under supervision by the Probation Services in the meantime.

Locals chanted "rapist out - keep our children safe" outside the young man's home today and his identity was revealed on social media.

Local resident and campaign organiser, Caithlian Ni Ghiolla Rua, spoke on the Niall Boylan Show at Classic Hits 4FM after more than 50 residents had gathered outside the family home of the young man.

"We know this boy, we know what he's capable of," she said. "He's a predator, he's prowling around."

Another resident using the name Mary, said she feared for the safety of the convicted rapist and accused the residents of putting the mans life in danger.

Mary described as "outrageous" comments on social media which suggested killing the 18-year-old convicted rapist and felt the concerned residents were guilty of putting his life in danger. She went on to say that the boy had learning difficulties and did not realise that what he was doing was wrong when he sexually assaulted and raped the children.

The protesting residents claim Tusla and the state have failed the parents and the children by allowing the convicted rapist serve no time in jail as they had not set up a multi-agency plan to support and rehabilitate him. Residents said they felt they had no choice but to protest, as concerned parents.
A new month means a new batch of releases on Netflix and there is some great stuff coming.

Films:

With the Oscars coming there are two previously nominated films.

Captain Phillips, which starred Tom Hanks and was nominated for Best Picture, comes out on March 1. The survival thriller tells the story of a merchant mariner who's boat was taken hostage by pirates.

Also coming on the 22nd is Jack Nicholson's rom-com As Good As It Gets. Nicholson and co-star Helen Hunt both won Oscars for their performances.

Comedies Groundhog Day and The Nice Guys, action flick The Expendables 2 and the dystopian future film, The Divergent Series: Insurgent are all set to be released in March too.

Comedy super Amy Schumer brings her comedy special to the streaming service, with The Leather Special being released on the 7th.

For kids, last year's live-action remake of the Disney classic Cinderella is coming on the 3rd. Lily James starred in the title role, and the film was also Oscar-nominated.

For those who like the classics Steven Spielberg's Hook, the 1991 retelling of Peter Pan, is due on the 29th with Postman Pat: The Movie online on the 31st.

TV:

For comic book fans, Marvel's Iron Fist is coming on March 17. It is the fourth Marvel/Netflix collaboration and follows on from Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

All four are set to join forces in Marvel's The Defenders, coming out later this year.

The 24th will see the return of Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin for the third season of Grace and Frankie, the comedy-drama that ties two unlikely friends together.

Season two of the romantic comedy drama, Love, will premiere on the 10th while new weekly episodes of Once Upon A Time and Designated Survivor are due on the 8th and 10th respectively.

At the end of the month the highly anticipated drama, 13 Reasons Why, is set for release. Based on the book of the same name it tells the story of a student who leaves a tape explaining the 13 reasons why she committed suicide.
Five teenagers have been charged with terror offences in England.

Scotland Yard said the male youths, who are all from London and include a 15 year-old, will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

The 15-year -old, of Waltham Forest, is charged with collection of information and two counts of dissemination of terrorist publications.

A 16-year-old from Lambeth is charged with preparation of terrorist acts and a 17-year-old from Hounslow has been charged with preparation of terrorist acts and dissemination of terrorist publications.

Ahmedeltigani Alsyed, 19, of Hounslow, and a 17-year-old from Merton, are each charged with a count of preparation of terrorist acts and collection of information contrary to section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Four of the teenagers were arrested at addresses in south and west London on Tuesday while the 15-year-old boy was arrested on Monday evening in east London.
Three Alabama employers are among 148 semifinalists for the 2017 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.

They were selected from 3,064 nominations submitted by Guardsmen and Reservists.

The three employers are:

* Team TSI, Albertville (small business)

* Topre America Corp., Cullman (large business)

* Phenix City Board of Education (public sector)

"We are so proud of these employers and grateful for the support they provide to the men and women of the National Guard and Reserve," said Dr. William Kringel, chairman of the Alabama Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

The Freedom Award began in 1996 by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve to draw attention to support from the employer community. To date, only 235 employers have received the award. More than 17,000 nominations have been received since 2011.

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense agency, seeks to develop and promote a culture in which all American employers support and value the military service of their employees with ESGR as the principal advocate within DoD. ESGR does this by advocating relevant initiatives, recognizing outstanding support, increasing awareness of applicable laws and resolving conflict between employers and service members.

Paramount to ESGR's mission is encouraging employment of Guardsmen and Reservists who bring integrity, global perspective and proven leadership to the civilian work force.

Contact: Jim Billings, Public Affairs Director, (703) 973-1916
Update 12.28: At least 60 people have been killed in a car bomb attack north of a Syrian town just captured by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from Islamic State militants, Turkey's news agency said.

Earlier: At least 35 people have been killed in a car bomb attack north of a town just captured by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from Islamic State militants, Turkey's news agency said.
Iraq's air force has struck Islamic State targets inside Syria for the first time as Iraqi troops on the ground pushed into western Mosul.

Iraq's Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced the air strikes, saying the air force hit the towns of Boukamal and Husseibah across the border. He said they came in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by IS and linked to the militants' operations in Syria.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces pushed into the first neighbourhood of western Mosul and took full control of Mosul's international airport and a sprawling military base on the south-western edge of the city, according to Iraqi officials.

The city is the last major urban stronghold held by the Sunni militant group in Iraq.

The territorial gains mark the first key moves in the battle, now in its sixth day, to rout IS militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

The push into Mamun neighbourhood was followed by intense clashes with IS militants, according to an Iraqi special forces officer on the ground.

An Associated Press team near the front line saw at least four wounded special forces members and the bodies of three soldiers, suggesting more intense fighting than the previous day.

Earlier on Friday, the spokesman of the Joint Military Operation Command, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, said Iraqi forces had also retaken the military base adjacent to the airport.

An Iraqi air force commander said the air strikes against IS Syria were carried out with F-16 warplanes at dawn and "were successful".

The commander said they were conducted at the order of the prime minister.

The advances come a day after special forces joined the fight for western Mosul.

Both the Ghazlani military base and the airport will be key to the next steps in the daunting battle and will serve as a base of operations as Iraqi forces launch subsequent pushes into western Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River into two halves.

Iraqi authorities declared the city's eastern half "fully liberated" from the Sunni militants in January, three months after launching the operation to take back Mosul.

On Thursday, Iraqi special forces joined federal police and rapid response units in the push while the Popular Mobilisation Forces - an umbrella group of government-sanctioned Shiite militias - secured the main roads west of Mosul, largely cutting the city off from IS-held territory in Syria.

The United Nations has estimated that about 750,000 civilians are trapped in western Mosul. The initial numbers of displaced from western Mosul have been low, but Iraqi forces are yet to punch into the city's dense urban neighbourhoods.

The battle for western Mosul is expected to be the most trying yet. The western half of the city is denser with older neighbourhoods and narrower streets that will likely complicate the already difficult urban combat ahead.

AP
A judge will let only one other accuser testify at Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial to bolster charges that the actor drugged and molested a woman at his estate near Philadelphia.

The pivotal ruling by a Pennsylvania judge means prosecutors cannot call 12 other women to try to show that the 79-year-old comedian has a history of similar "bad acts".

Cosby is set to go on trial in June over the 2005 complaint by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, who is now a massage therapist in Toronto.

Prosecutors reopened the case in 2015 after newly released court documents showed Cosby admitting he gave drugs and alcohol to young women before sex over a 50-year period.

Prosecutors in suburban Philadelphia had asked the judge to let 13 other women testify, a list they developed after reviewing claims by nearly 50 of the accusers who have come forward in recent years.

The defence objected to their testimony, saying the string of old "casting couch" claims are not unique to Cosby and therefore not part of "signature" behaviour.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill said he carefully weighed the witnesses' value in providing relevant testimony versus the potential prejudice to Cosby.

The one witness who can testify alleges she was assaulted by Cosby in 1996 in Los Angeles.

The ruling is one of two key pre-trial issues in the case.

Judge O'Neill had earlier ruled that jurors could hear Cosby's damaging testimony from Ms Constand's 2005 sexual battery lawsuit.

The deposition runs to nearly 1,000 pages and covers a string of Cosby's extramarital affairs and liaisons dating back to the 1960s.

The revelations from the deposition led to scrutiny of the married father-of-five's treatment of women over the last six decades - from his time as a fledgling comedian to his top-rated turn as Dr Cliff Huxtable in The Cosby Show in the 1980s and beyond.

Cosby's criminal case involves a single encounter with Ms Constand, a former Temple University basketball team employee who has given the media permission to identify her publicly.

She told police he gave her three unmarked pills and then molested her as she drifted in and out of consciousness in early 2004.

In a taped conversation with Ms Constand's mother a year later, Cosby described the sex act as "digital penetration" but refused to say what pills he had given her daughter. In his deposition, he said he had feared sounding like "a dirty old man" on the call.

The additional accuser who can testify worked for one of Cosby's agents and had known the entertainer for six years when he invited her to lunch at his bungalow at the Bel Air Hotel to discuss her acting ambitions.

She alleged he was in a robe and slippers when she arrived and offered her wine and a pill that she consumed after he reassured her it was safe. She claimed she then recalls him sexually assaulting her on his bed.

The defence said she went to the bungalow despite saying she had once rebuffed Cosby's advances before and had no interest in acting.

Among the other accusers who will not be allowed to testify, one said she was an aspiring actress when Cosby allegedly assaulted her at a home near Reno, Nevada, in 1984. Another alleged Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in the late 1960s after befriending her and her nine-year-old son.

Cosby's lawyers had argued that he is a wealthy target for the many women he has met during his time in the limelight. His lawyers have said the accusers were being "paraded" before the media by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred before their accounts are even vetted by police.

"We have seen a barrage of new accusers claiming 'Me, too'," defence lawyer Angela Agrusa said last year, arguing against the "prior bad act" testimony.

Cosby has pleaded not guilty and remains free on bail.

He has attended about half a dozen court hearings since his arrest on December 30 2015 and is expected in court again on Monday to ask that jurors be selected from another county because of pre-trial publicity.

Judge O'Neill wants to start the trial by June 5.

AP
Nigerian kidnappers have demanded a ransom of 60 million naira (151,000) for a German archaeologist and his associate who were abducted this week from a remote northern village.

A worker at a Nigerian excavation site said he heard the demand in a telephone call to the site supervisor.
Australia's peak professional body for the painting industry has expressed serious concerns about tradespeople who have been issued qualifications to handle toxic materials without the requisite training.

The National Institute of Painting and Decorating (NIPD) raised questions about the validity of painting qualifications issued by Get Qualified Australia, a vocational education provider, which was recently stripped of registration for three of its training organisations.

The education consultancy assists job seekers in obtaining qualifications to recognise prior learning in a range of industries, linking them with its own training organisations and others.
Funds manager Charter Hall Group has posted a bumper 20 per cent increase in net profit to $173.3 million for the first half of the year on the back of increased valuations and management fees.

Managing director David Harrison revealed the result meant the group has also paid its first tax bill, $10.6 million in the six months to December 2016.

Charter Hall's largest industrial fund, the $2 billion Prime Industrial Fund (CPIF), has acquired a strategic 56,600sqm industrial parcel of land in Huntingwood for $29.715 million from Beirsdorf.

"We are paying a 30 per cent effective tax rate in our funds management business but it's applied to our taxable income. The majority of our income is not taxed at the source but in the hands of investors," Mr Harrison said.

The strong result included $34.8 million in performance and transaction fees which attracted a strong line of questioning from analysts in a briefing on the results.
It's the F-word you don't hear very often: famine.

International aid agencies use it very sparingly, even though it's bound to gain them attention. They know that overuse would diminish its power.

Famine can be declared only when three awful benchmarks are reached: one in five households in a region must face extreme food shortage; more than 30 per cent of the population must be acutely malnourished; and at least two people in every 10,000 die each day.

Sadly, the F-word made an unwelcome return last week when the United Nations declared famine in parts of South Sudan, one of the world's poorest nations. More than a quarter of a million children there are severely malnourished and at risk of dying.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he will not be distracted by Tony Abbott's "latest outburst" and most direct attack on the government to date, defending his record of achievement and portraying the backbencher as a hypocrite who was unable to govern effectively when he was leader.

Mr Turnbull has joined cabinet colleagues Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne in rounding on an emboldened Mr Abbott following his "deliberately destructive" speech and interview on Thursday calling for a shift to the right to avoid defeat at the next election.

Mr Turnbull said every Coalition MP should ask if they are contributing to the government's success and said Mr Abbott "knows exactly what he's doing and so do his colleagues".

"I'm not going to be provoked," Mr Turnbull told Melbourne radio station 3AW when asked if he would punish Mr Abbott.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo's ambitious program to develop "10 new Balis" across the archipelago will be among the issues discussed with Malcolm Turnbull this weekend as most Australian tourists continue to only visit the resort island when they visit the country.

Mining will also be on the agenda for talks with an Indonesian senior official pointing to the partnership between Newcrest and Indonesian mining company Aneka Tambang for copper and gold exploration in Indonesia as a "concrete example of economic cooperation".

The primary focus of the visit will be economic with Minister of Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung revealing talks will centre around tourism, mining, cyber-security, terrorism and the finalisation of the free trade deal.

Mr Turnbull has also signalled a strong economic focus to the visit, writing in Fairfax Media newspapers on Saturday that "Indonesia's potential represents a golden opportunity for Australia".
Philadelphia: A judge will let only one other accuser testify at Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial to support charges the comedian drugged and molested a woman at his estate near Philadelphia.

The judge's ruling on Friday means that prosecutors cannot call 12 other women as "prior bad act" witnesses.

Bill Cosby will stand trial over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman. Credit:AP

The 79-year-old comedian is set to go on trial in June over the 2005 complaint by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.

Prosecutors reopened the case in 2015 after newly released court documents showed Cosby admitting he gave drugs and alcohol to young women before sex over a 50-year period.
Introducing The Sale Whisperer, your guide to the best sales and fashion news happening in Sydney each week. For our first edition we're all about local brands: Camilla has us holding on to those last summer holiday vibes, while Sabatini is getting us ready for winter, because yes, it is definitely coming.

Sales Guide

Fashion label Camilla, which has built its international success on flamboyant silk kaftans, exuberants prints and colours, and crystal detailing is having its first Sydney warehouse sale in a few years.

Beyonce and Oprah are both major fans of Camilla who is holding a Sydney warehouse sale after a long hiatus. Credit:Camilla

So expect a little bit of chaos, queues and choose wisely as it is 20 items maximum per person at the Paddington sale. The sale includes samples, seconds and archive pieces.
The NSW Labor party has blocked controversial former MP Belinda Neal from seeking preselection on the Central Coast by endorsing two other women as candidates to run in state and federal seats.

Opposition leader Luke Foley announced on Friday that teacher and Paralympic gold medallist Liesl Tesch will be Labor's candidate in the forthcoming byelection in the state seat of Gosford, sparked by the retirement of Kathy Smith.

Belinda Neal has been blocked from running for Labor preselection in Central Coast seats. Credit:Nick Moir

He also said Anne Charlton will run in the seat of Robertson at the next federal election.

Both women have been referred to the ALP national executive for endorsement, bypassing rank and file preselections.
A popular RSL club in the Blue Mountains has been gutted by fire, with black smoke, flames and explosions coming from the building on Friday afternoon.

The fire began at Katoomba RSL just after 1.30pm, sending crews from the Blue Mountains and Sydney's west rushing to the scene.

It is thought the fire took hold in the roof, causing about 40 patrons and staff who were inside at the time to be evacuated without injury.

Hundreds packed the footpath to watch the firefighting effort as 50 firefighters from 10 surrounding stations - including some from Penrith, Huntingwood and St Marys - battled the blaze.
For four months, Samantha Giufre lay in a hospital bed, battling to come to terms with a traumatic brain injury.

She lost sight in one eye, suffered hearing loss and required the insertion of titanium plates to hold her jaw together.

On Friday in Campbelltown District Court, Ms Giufre stared down the man responsible for tipping her life upside down.

"You showed no remorse at trial," she told 20-year-old Bashar Hawchar.
A man has faced court charged with the murder of disability pensioner Robert Duffy at his home in far north Queensland.

Terrance Barallon, 44, appeared in Cairns Magistrates Court on Friday morning, one day after he was arrested by police.

Barallon, reportedly the carer of Mr Duffy, was remanded in custody before his next appearance on March 15.

Police launched an investigation after they found the 62-year-old's body in the bedroom of his Mooroobool home on Monday.

Barallon was allegedly found in one of Mr Duffy's two cars in Port Douglas, after images of the vehicles were released by police.
Labor and Liberal National heartlands have merged in one of the more intriguing electoral redistributions ahead of the next Queensland state election.

Parts of Labor-held Mount Coot-tha and LNP-held Indooroopilly will form the western Brisbane suburbs electorate of Maiwar, the Aboriginal name for the Brisbane River.

Environment Minister Steven Miles is yet to announce whether he will contest the new seat of Maiwar. Credit:Chris Hyde

Labor member for Mount Coot-tha Steven Miles' electorate will disappear under the Electoral Commission of Queensland's proposal, with LNP MP Scott Emerson's renamed electorate adding in the suburbs of Mount Coot-tha, Toowong, Bardon and Auchenflower.

The redefined electorate will lose Chelmer, Graceville, Sherwood, Tennyson and Corinda to the electorate of Miller (previously known as the electorate of Yeerongpilly, held by Labor's Mark Bailey).
Queensland is inching slowly closer to winning a $5 billion Australian Army contract to build up to 10,000 new-generation army vehicles.

It has been earmarked as one of two preferred sites for a military vehicle "centre of excellence" by a company with a major army contract that is now looking to win a second.

Rheinmettal's BOXER CRV, one of two designs from rival firms bidding for a $5 billion defence contract.

One of two companies bidding to build new army vehicles, Rheinmetall has shortlisted Queensland and Victoria as a potential centre for excellence to build new military vehicles.

Rheinmettal is the largest supplier of military vehicles to the Australian Defence Force and progressively building 2500 logistics trucks for the Australian Army as part of an existing contract.
Ms Leeds said you have to treat the clients and staff well to maintain a happy house. Credit:Lisa Maree Williams "These guys used to come into the brothels all the time because they are the people who don't commit to anybody," she said. "They are the sorts of people who will come into a brothel after they didn't pick up and it would be a notch on their belt, they would never see the same girl twice. Ms Leeds said her licensed brothel was a happy place where clients felt they could return. Credit:Lisa Maree Williams "They would be the bread and butter of your Friday and Saturday nights. Well, they don't come in anymore because they just jump on Tinder, it's free."

Ms Leeds, whose annual registration fee of $42,435 is coming up fast, said brothels had to evolve with the times and create a point of difference. Dating sites are taking away The Viper Room's "bread and butter" weekend business. Credit:Lisa Maree Williams "(I am offering) someone that is happy on the desk, that is happy to chat to them (the customer), I make them a coffee when they come in the door, I know a little bit about them, I recommend girls to them once I know them and I keep a happy house," she said. "If he (the client) thinks it is a happy place to come to where people care about him and he is not scared to walk through that door and be treated like dirt just because he is paying for sex, then you will have good regular clientele and that is what you have to rely on and that is all I have been relying on." Call for ban on mobile phones in sex ads

More than 27 brothel licensees and managers met in Brisbane on Sunday to discuss problems within the industry and how they could best protect themselves against illegal sex workers who were taking away a substantial amount of business, according to Cairns brothel owner Aart Brons. There are two legal forms of sex work in Queensland - sex work conducted in a licensed brothel, from which outcalls are prohibited, and sole operators who are sex workers that work privately from a premises. Escort agencies, unlicensed brothels, massage parlours, street workers and two or more sex workers operating from a single premises are considered illegal. According to Prostitution Licensing Authority in 2011, the illegal sector was "likely to be larger than the legal sector". There were 22 licensed brothels operating in Queensland at the end of the 2015-16 financial year, the lowest number of brothels since 2005-06, according to the PLA.

Mr Brons, who owns Northern Belle, told brothel owners on Sunday he believed the best way to stamp out illegal operators would be to make landlines compulsory on all sex ads to make advertisers more accessible to the PLA. Legislation states a person must not publish an advertisement for prostitution that describes the services offered, states directly or indirectly that the person's business provides or is connected with massage services or be worded in such a way as to induce a person to seek employment as a sex worker. "To distinguish between illegal sex operators masquerading as genuine, legal sole operators, that is where the problem lies," he said. "The landline would have such an effect that it would throw a wrecking ball through the illegal industry. "The PETF (Prostitution Enforcement Taskforce) would have a pivotal tool to see whether that ad is genuine to the person it belongs to.

"An escort agency that might have three or four on the books, if there was such a thing and there is, it would then stop them. "Advertising would stop and therefore girls from interstate and overseas would only be able to work in Queensland if they had a premises and a landline." Mr Brons has put forward a petition, with signatures from 21 brothel licensees and managers, calling for the Attorney-General to make landlines compulsory on sex ads in Queensland. In a statement released in 2011, the PLA indicated advertising restrictions would be "insufficient" in stopping illegal operators. "The PLA remains convinced a multi-pronged approach is required to tackle illegal operators  (and) should include the lifting of the prohibition on outcalls from licensed brothels and the legislation of escort agencies," the PLA statement read.

"Advertising restrictions and police enforcement action are insufficient to make any significant long-term impact. "The current regulatory regime is restrictive and provides insufficient incentive to draw illegal operators into the licensed sector." Mr Brons has also called for the state government to adopt an outstanding recommendation that was laid out in the Crime and Misconduct Commission's 2011 review into the Prostitution Act, established in 1999. The CMC, now referred to as the Crime and Corruption Commission, had recommended the establishment of a Ministerial Advisory Committee under the Act with a legislative obligation to report directly to the Minister. It was recommended the committee include a wide range of representation from sex workers, brothel owners, police, to the state health department and local councils.
They are the blue, yellow and rose-coloured glasses polarising the dyslexic community.

Many families and experts have dismissed them as "snake oil" while others swear by them.

Silas Dewney, 14, says his coloured glasses have helped with his dyslexia. Credit:Penny Stephens

Angela Dewney is in the latter group, and purchased two pairs of glasses with coloured lenses for her teenage boys.

Her oldest son Silas wears blue lenses, and her younger son Noah wears yellow lenses.
Terrifying images have emerged of a woman being abducted from a petrol station in west Melbourne.

A man can be seen grabbing the woman by the hair before dragging her along the ground and forcing her into a Holden.

A woman was dragged by the hair as she was abducted from a petrol station on Thursday night. Credit:Courtesy of Nine News

He then sped away from the Derrimut Coles Express about 11.30pm on Thursday.

Detectives later cordoned off the petrol station, on Fitzgerald Road, combing it for clues.
Ben Cousins will spend at least two weeks behind bars after a magistrate refused him bail in relation to a string of fresh charges against the fallen star.

The former West Coast Eagles captain, who appeared handcuffed in the dock at Armadale Magistrates Court on Friday, is accused of several breaches of a violence restraining order taken out against him by his former partner and the mother of his two young children, Maylea Tinecheff.

The 38-year-old has also been charged with possessing eight grams of methamphetamine, which Magistrate Nick Lemmon said, if proven, would indicate Cousins was a "very heavy user".

An aggravated stalking charge against the Brownlow medallist relates to "persistent" breaches of his violence restraining order which Cousins' lawyer said were due to his attempts to see his children, aged three and five.
A Perth man accused of acting suspiciously around children at fast food outlets has been charged with a string of child sex offences.

Niaz Ahmed Ali, 58, was arrested on February 8 after police released images of a man sitting inside numerous fast food restaurants in Perth's southern suburbs appearing to conceal a recording device.

Police released this image to the public as part of their investigation.

The public appeal and a mobile police facility set up at a Baldivis park on February 4 assisted police to identify the man.

"It will be alleged between 2014 and 2016 the man frequented various fast food outlets, park playground areas and shopping centres across suburbs in the South Metropolitan and South East Metropolitan policing district," a police spokeswoman said.
Miles Carden, aerohub enterprise zone manager, poses in from of aeronautical equipment at Cornwall Airport, Newquay. Credit:Nick Miller The UK government has declared the country back in the space race. It is 45 years since the British-designed and built Black Arrow took off from Woomera in South Australia, taking a Prospero satellite into orbit and making Britain only the sixth country in the world to successfully launch a space vehicle. A proposed space vehicle assembly facility in Cornwall. But at the time of launch the project had already been cancelled. Since then Britain has become a world leader in manufacturing satellites, all of which have flown to space on foreign technology, in a foreign country.

Last week the government published a draft bill setting out the rules and regulations for a new space launch industry. And it offered a 10 million ($16 million) carrot to the handful of sites around the country who believe they can transform into a spaceport. Miles Carden, of the Cornwall Airport Newquay, sees a brighter future for space. Credit:Nick Miller Jo Johnson, minister of state for science research, told the 'Launch UK' meeting at the Royal Aeronautical Society that the country was "at the dawn of a very exciting new era". He promised the first launches from British soil by 2020. The proposed spaceport in Cornwall.

Added aviation minister Lord Ahman: "we are boldly legislating where no British government has legislated before". Miles Carden, aerohub enterprise zone manager at Cornwall Airport Newquay, is confident they will be Britain's first spaceport. "If it's going to be anywhere by 2020 it's going to be Newquay," he says, boasting that their active commercial airport has space to spare, local planning exemptions and a long history of rocket tests and military use (it was a heavy bomber base in the Cold War). "All we need is to build a new hangar," he says. He was born the year man stepped onto the moon, and he's still excited by the idea of space travel.

"It is cool stuff," he says. "You sort of feel when you look back at history that we've lost that. The Shuttle no longer operates, Concord's gone. We want to get that back. We've plateaued for a bit. You feel you're on the cusp of it kicking off again and that's exciting." Though there are a handful of bidders for the cash, the frontrunners are Newquay and Glasgow Prestwick. The government doesn't want to pick a winner  so both could end up as active spaceports. A couple of years ago the talk was all about space tourism but "people have gone quieter on that" recently, Carden says. That's partly due to the 2014 Virgin Galactic explosion, but it's also because, as the dream moves closer to reality, the accountants have gotten involved. "It's not going to pay the bills," says Carden.

What will pay the bills is the huge, and exponentially growing industry of 'smallsats'. Over the past 5 years, 902 'smallsats' were launched. Before 2025 there will be another 3600. Big satellites generally need to be launched from fixed, vertical launch sites near the equator, but smaller ones can be launched from just about any country on earth  or from a plane over the ocean. Maxime Puteaux, a satellite expert from Euroconsult says the "old space world" of big, horrifically expensive satellite launches is gone, replaced by constellations of high-tech cubes. "Small space is taking over," he says. "We are definitely on the threshold of a new era." Satellite technology is plummeting in price. The biggest use is in 'Earth observation'  weather forecasting, environmental monitoring and map making. The other big economic driver is the next generation of communication networks.

But there's a bottleneck in the ability to send these satellites up fast enough  despite India's launch last week of 104 satellites on a single rocket. A whole new industry has emerged of "launch brokers", who scan the world for potential 'rideshare' opportunities and market them online in a kind of Space Uber. Puteaux says the big challenge for the UK is to develop an industry that can compete in price with providers in China and India. So will this all be a reality by 2020? Carden is sceptical. In the end it's a commercial, not a practical question, he says.
Washington: President Donald Trump lashed out once again at US intelligence agencies, targeting the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over leaks that have hobbled his administration.

Mr Trump's latest attack  via his preferred medium of Twitter  came amid reports the FBI had refused a White House request to deny the Trump team had pre-inauguration contact with Russian officials.

"The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time," Mr Trump tweeted on Friday morning.

"They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on US. FIND NOW."
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

Get the latest news from Bristol Courts straight to your inbox

Harry Studleys family said justice has been served after the man who shot their 18-month-old son in the head with an airgun was jailed this afternoon.

Jordan Walters, 25, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to two years in prison after shooting Harry on July 1, 2016.

The toddler was visiting Walters flat, in Hartcliffe, with his mum when Walters fired the gun in an attempt to stop Harry from crying.

Harry, who is now two years old, is left severely disabled and blind in one eye after the pellet became stuck in his brain, causing extreme damage.

Doctors were initially 100 per cent sure he would die after the incident, but his life was saved by quick-thinking paramedics from Great Western Air Ambulance who rushed to the scene.

(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Julian Lambert said: You bear a very heavy responsibility for a crime that left a little boy fighting for his life and which leaves him with serious, permanent disability.

Only the resolution of Harry in his fight for life and the brilliance of the surgical team saved him.

But for your grossly irresponsible behaviour Harry Studley would today be a bouncing little boy with unlimited expectations ahead of him in his life.

Harry was found by air ambulance medics in a critical condition, struggling to breathe, and emergency anaesthesia was carried out to stabilise the youngster.

He was then taken to Bristol Childrens Hospital, where he subsequently received months of treatment.

His recovery was described as a miracle, but he is now partially blind, his movement is limited and he suffers daily post-traumatic seizures.

Outside the court this afternoon, a statement from Harrys parents, read by a police family liaison officer, said: Justice has been seen to be done and Jordan Walters, who caused Harry harm and such serious injuries, has been dealt with by the court.

Harrys struggles continue and will do for the rest of his life and that cannot be changed. Fortunately we still have Harry in our lives  we are looking forwards now, not backwards.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now

Harrys parents also thanked staff at Bristol Childrens Hospital for saving their sons life against all the odds.

They added: As a family we would like to see changes made to the law so that people who possess high powered air rifles are made to be more responsible for their actions at home and elsewhere.

Detective Inspector Simon Brickwood, also speaking outside the court, added: Jordan Walters actions on that day were reckless in the extreme and he will have to find a way to live with what hes done for the rest of his life.

How anyone could point an air weapon at a child, whether it was loaded or not, beggars belief. The shooting had a profound effect on the local community and the city of Bristol as a whole.

It had been alleged Walters fiance, Emma Horseman, told him to shoot Harry to frighten him, to shut him up, because he was crying in the moments leading up to the incident.

A jury found mother-of-two Miss Horseman, 24, not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm after she denied she had told Walters to aim the gun at Harry.

Miss Horseman told Bristol Crown Court in January: I just looked down and looked up to see Harry bleeding. Jordan asked Amy what to do and then Amy said to Jordan 'ring an ambulance' and that's what he done.

A witness statement from Harrys mum, Amy Allen, read in court today, described the depression faced by her, his father Edward Studley and the rest of their family since the incident.

She said: I will always live with that day on July 1, 2016 in my mind. I will always regret taking Harry down to my friends flat.

I feel hatred towards the people that are involved in what happened and that such a reckless and unnecessary act could have resulted in such dire consequences.

(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)

Pushpanjali Gohil, representing Walters, said: "This was an accident, it was a wreckless act which has now caused Mr Walters to take criminal responsibility for his stupid and thoughtless act on that day."

She encouraged the judge to take into account Walters' guilty plea.

An NSPCC spokesman for South West England said: Walters extremely reckless and dangerous behaviour last July left 18-month-old Harry Studley fighting for his life.

The unimaginable suffering his thoughtless actions have caused to Harry and his family cannot be underestimated, and the long-term effect on this childs health remains unknown.

Every child deserves to be protected from harm, and their health and safety should never be compromised. It is right that Walters has been brought to justice for his shocking and life-changing carelessness.

Anyone with concerns for the welfare of a child should contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000.
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

Sign up to our daily newsletter for the latest local and breaking news in Bristol.

An anti-cuts protester is claiming that a council-employed security guard has viciously assaulted him.

Mike Luff alleges that a security guard bit his hand during a protest outside City Hall on Tuesday.

Campaigners from across the city gathered outside the Bristol City Council meeting to march against the implementation of a new budget which will see the authority impose 33million worth of cuts to services in the next year.

Despite a peaceful start, the protest turned violent when crowds broke through metal barriers and took their march outside the doors of City Hall.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now

Around half a dozen masked campaigners, who called themselves as a Bristol anarchist group, attempted to force their way passed in to the council building and at least one security guard was pulled to the floor.

It is unclear if the alleged attack on Mr Luff, a member of Bristol and District Anti Cuts Allegiance (BADACA) took place at this time.

A group spokesperson said: We saw disgraceful behaviour from Bristol City Council. This was not just a vicious assault on one individual, it was an attack on local democracy and on the right to protest.

Earlier in the day a small group of protesters were thrown out of the public gallery for disrupting the budget meeting.

The prompted Lord Mayor Jeff Lovell to ask all members of the public who wanted to watch the proceedings to go in to a nearby room where the meeting was live streamed.

BADACA as a group opposes the 104million worth of cuts which Bristol City Council has to make over the next five years.

The spokesman added: Disgusting as the biting incident was, the most violent act committed that night took place inside the council chamber itself.

The budget passed contains 33m cuts, as part of over 100m being cut in the next few years. Councillors have voted to devastate services that many Bristolians rely on.

Councillors and the mayor are supposed to represent the people of this city, it is our right to witness the discussions and decisions that they are making.

If Marvin Rees claims that he must make these cuts then he should be upfront and honest about the process, not hiding behind closed doors and hired thugs.

A Bristol City Council spokesman said: "Our security officers are accredited, accountable members of the Security Industry Authority and we always expect them to take a professional approach.

"We are aware that an allegation has been made that a protestor suffered injuries caused by a member of security. We are investigating this claim but have not found or been supplied with any evidence so far that corroborates it.

"Security professionals are employed to ensure the safety and security of members of the public, councillors and staff within City Hall.

"It was an appropriate decision to deny a large protest group access to the building due to concerns for the safety of those attending the meeting, particularly as several of the protestors were wearing masks and behaving aggressively.

"Their behaviour also upset peaceful protestors and were sorry that their access was also unavoidably affected.

"Were grateful to the vast majority of people behaved calmly and reasonably during difficult circumstances."

Avon and Somerset Police have not made any arrests or cautions after the incident.
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 Australian Investments & Securities Commission (ASIC) will release its long-awaited broker remuneration review in a couple of weeks.In a panel at the RFi Groups Australian Mortgage Innovation Summit 2017 in Sydney yesterday (23 February), Michael Saadat , senior executive leader of deposit takers, credit & insurers at ASIC, said that the regulator was currently busy finalising the review.Were hoping to have that done in the next couple of weeks, he said. The report will show what the consumer outcomes are in the broking channel versus the lender direct channel and will be of great interest to [the summit] audience and stakeholders more broadly.While he would not divulge too much information at this time, Saadat said that ASIC had collected a very significant amount of data meaning the review will be very well informed through the information collated.He also praised the finance industry in general, saying that ASIC had seen progress since it started its work with its interest only loan review in 2015.We put out a report in September 2015 which highlighted some concerns that we have in terms of the way the banks were conducting their serviceability assessments with regards to interest only loans. We made a series of recommendations and the industry agreed to adopt those recommendations.At the time, concerns were raised about borrowers being given interest only loans for extensive periods and serviceability that was not as conservative as it should have been.We put out a second report late last year which focused on the conduct of brokers in arranging interest-only loans. And the story was more positive than for the 12 months prior, Saadat said.However, ASIC still sees room for improvement and has since worked with both lenders and brokers to ensure that all recommendations made are eventually adopted.
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

In Tuesdays MPA Major Bank Roundtable, three of the big four banks sat down and talked about their views on implementing targets through the broker channel.Warren Shaw, head of broker distribution at Westpac , said remuneration outcomes around volume targets in the third party channel were not something that any of the major banks on the panel would advocate.Were all very much aligned in our views that we need to have complete transparency around what the rem model is. A broker shouldnt be put into a situation where they have to make a choice thats not in the customers best interests but it is in their best interest.However, he said a target-based approach to get third party practitioners to improve the quality of customer outcomes would be appropriate in certain circumstances.Steve Kane, general manager of broker distribution at National Australia Bank ( NAB ) said that setting targets in relation to receiving any form of bonus was non-transparent.NABs view is anything that is not transparent can give rise to perceptions that its not in the customers best interests so I wouldnt support that.As for targets around brokers who only wrote one or two transactions a year, there were issues around ensuring brokers knew how to adhere to the NCCP and responsible lending practices as well as understanding the policies, procedures and processes of the lender, Kane admitted.However while there was some validity around targets of this sort, he said that NAB would not support their implementation. Simone Tilley , general manager of retail broker distribution at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group ( ANZ ) also said she didnt agree with the minimum targets.Rather, she said that to achieve responsible lending targets, there needed to be a reasonable enquiry.The question we all need to be asking ourselves is whats right for the customers. If brokers are doing that well and theres an emphasis around that, thats a tick.
MOBILE, Alabama -- A man and woman from Mobile are in custody after police say they robbed a Vancleave man at gunpoint at a Biloxi casino earlier this month.

According to Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell, the victim, Brandon Wayne Scamman, told investigators he was gambling at the casino on Feb. 2 when he met the two suspects after a friend left Scamman alone at the casino.

The two suspects -- later identified as James Alexander Pryor, 44, and Jefadrian Nicole Hall, 29 -- agreed to give Scamman a ride to exit 57 on Interstate 10 on their way back to Mobile.

Somewhere between exits 50 and 57, Hall claimed to be sick and Pryor pulled the car over to the side of the roadway. Pryor exited the vehicle, quickly opened the back door and pointed a gun at Scamman.

A scuffle ensued and the gun went off, with a bullet apparently grazing Scamman's forehead, knocking him unconscious. When he awoke, he was on the side of the interstate bleeding heavily from a gash in his forehead. His boots, money, wallet and phone were gone.

Scamman managed to flag down a passing motorist who gave him a ride to an RV park on Highway 57.

A Jackson County judge issued a warrant for the couple's arrest. U.S. Marshals arrested Pryor and Hall Wednesday afternoon in Mobile. The two suspects are each charged with armed robbery and are in the Mobile County Jail awaiting extradition to Jackson County.

Ezell added there is an active warrant for Hall on unrelated charges in Escambia County, Fla.
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

Consumer and commercial data provider Veda is helping mortgage brokers, lenders and aggregators transition to a more standardised digital identity verification process through its ZipID service.As well as putting a secure, foolproof workflow into the hands of brokers, the service also simplifies face-to-face ID checks bringing consistency and convenience to all participants.The industry has shown great enthusiasm to solve this common problem by putting their support behind the service, said head of ZipID, Sean Simmons The current ID process when applying for a home loan is outdated, and needs to be fixed. It lacks consistency, is paper heavy and not broker-friendly. This causes brokers and customers unnecessary delays and frustration and adds manual processing cost to lenders.With more than 50% of all new residential home loans settled by brokers  according to statistics from the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia ( MFAA )  it was important to tackle the challenge of achieving ease-of-use through digital solutions while also preventing fraud and mistrust, Simmons said.Mark Hewitt, general manager of sales and operations at Australian Finance Group AFG ) said that the additional work caused by incomplete ID capture significantly impacted cost and time for brokers, lenders and customers.Were excited to see the industry getting behind a simple, effective solution to this problem, and hope to see the momentum continue so we end up with a more customer and broker friendly process.The ZipID mobile app gives brokers the ability to capture client ID information through a smartphone or tablet and compile everything together in a fully compliant PDF report.We know that the current range of ID policies across the mortgage lending industry means brokers are faced with a patchwork of rules and paper-heavy processes that often lead to rework and delays, Simmons said. Vedas ZipID app provides a practical solution to a longstanding pain point for brokers.
b00dd929-d249-4f91-80f9-d44dd554c27f.jpg

This entry, entitled "Friends With Aliens," earned Ocean Springs 4th grader Gwen Lyons top honors in Mississippi in the annual "Doodle 4 Google" contest.

(Google image)

OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Ocean Springs Upper Elementary student Gwen Lyons was announced Thursday as the state winner of the "Doodle 4 Google" contest, an annual event open to students in grades K-12 to redesign the Google logo.

In winning the award, Lyons became the second Ocean Springs student in four years to be selected the Mississippi winner. OSUE student Tanner Keith won the honor in 2014.

With the theme of this year's contest "What I see for the future...," Lyons' drawing depicted "Friends With Aliens."

"I see in the future people and aliens being friends," said Lyons, a fourth grader who was honored during an assembly at the school.

Launched in 2008, the Doodle 4 Google contest annual receives more than 100,000 entries from students across the U.S. Submissions are divided into five class groups, with state winners chosen for each group and an overall winner chosen from those group winners. Lyons was selected as the overall state winner.

Lyons now advances along with the other 50 state winners to the national competition, where the winner receives a $30,000 college scholarship and his/her school receives a $50,000 Google for Education grant towards the establishment and improvement of a computer lab or technology program.

Online voting began Thursday and will run through March 5. To view the state winners and to vote, visit http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html.

The public vote will determine five national finalists from whom the national winner will be chosen on March 31. The winner's doodle will go live on the Google home page that day.
Our work with law enforcement agencies across the country has allowed us to crack down on a wide array of animal cruelties -- like cockfighting. Photo by Meredith Lee/The HSUS

2.1K shares







I am used to the nattering and claptrap of people who try to justify or excuse their acts of animal cruelty. They may dress it up as some kind of tradition, a personal right or freedom, a sort of social norm, or even an economic necessity. In addition to offering up their particular set of excuses, these folks, almost to a one, inevitably deny that animals have feelings or suffer.

So much of that sociopathy and off-the-cuff legal theorizing was on display in a TV segment on cockfighting in America that I caught last night on HBO Real Sports. The piece focused principally on cockfighters and cockfighting in Oklahoma and in Puerto Rico. Cockfighting is illegal in both jurisdictions under federal law, and Oklahoma, like all other states, has its own anti-cockfighting statute. HBO gave viewers a window into cockfighting exhibitionists, who see no problem in putting their vice and blood-loving instincts on display for the world to see. Host Bryant Gumbel was as dumbfounded as any civilized viewer would be that these people were so brazen about violating the law, and he wondered aloud how this is occurring in our day.

While the Puerto Rican cockfighters may be unfamiliar with the federal law and believe what they do in their arenas is legally permissible, theres no such excuse for the Oklahoma cockfighters who appeared on the show. I know a good bit about one of the cockfighters featured, and he was an outspoken opponent of a ballot measure that voters in the state approved in 2002 to outlaw the practice in Oklahoma. Hes traveled the country lecturing to cockfighters and other animal users that they can disregard anti-cruelty laws and live by some sort of non-existent higher law of their own.

He and others made it pretty clear that they are unapologetic about continuing to fight birds and participating in derbies. HBO showed one of the men handling fighting birds on his property, while others bragged about the winnings theyve claimed at derbies where theyve done well. One cockfighter said he entered 10 birds in a derby and his birds won nine of their fights, resulting in winnings of $95,000 for him.

In the last 15 years, weve worked with allies in Congress to upgrade the federal law four times. Its now a felony to fight birds, to transport birds for fighting purposes, to possess birds for fighting, to sell cockfighting implements, and to bring a minor to a cockfight. Its a federal misdemeanor to be a spectator at an animal fight.

Last month, a Virginia man was sentenced to two years in prison for taking a minor to a cockfight in Kentucky. This is a direct result of the passage of the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, which was strongly backed by The HSUS and the Humane Society Legislative Fund, and included as a provision in the 2014 Farm Bill. Law enforcement officials have arrested dozens under the federal anti-animal fighting statutes.

Cockfighting is illegal in all 50 states and anyone who participates in this crime, or breeds birds for the purpose of fighting, should be charged and prosecuted, says John Thompson, deputy executive director of the National Sheriffs Association. The NSA recognizes the gravity of this crime because cockfighting is cruel and a criminal underground enterprise associated with illegal drug dealing and gambling. It not only endangers animals but our communities.

For all of the political divisions we have, the vast majority of Americans possess a common set of values that call on us to adhere to the rule of law. We have perhaps a million men and women who serve in law enforcement at different levels of government, we have tens of thousands of prosecutors who bring charges against people alleged to have violated the law, and we have thousands of judges who adjudicate legal proceedings and issue penalties to the violators. No person is above the law, including people who trot out garbage-can theories on why its their right to do as they please.

Weve never treated the law as an endpoint in our work. Once a law is on the books, it must be enforced, and thats where we rely on local, state, and federal law enforcement officials to act on anti-cruelty laws. Every year, we work to train thousands of dedicated people in law enforcement to investigate and prosecute crimes of animal cruelty. We help the USDA obtain necessary resources from Congress to oversee the federal animal fighting law. And we do our own investigations to bring information to light that law enforcement officials can act upon.

The brazen and brash preening of the cockfighters on the HBO show cannot be tolerated. By their own admission, they think they have special rights. In reality, they are criminals in the waiting. You can be sure that we wont rest until justice is done and states and other jurisdictions involved take action to stop these malicious acts of cruelty and disregard for the rule of law.








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...
Research News

Nuclear neurology could launch revolution in diagnosing, treating brain diseases

An image of glucose metabolism PET overlaid on CT in an Alzheimer's patient with mild dementia. The green arrow points to regional hypometabolism in the medial parietal lobe (which processes biographical information and memory), a proposed biomarker for Alzheimers. Image: UB Center for Positron Emission Tomography

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM

Neuromolecular imaging with these techniques, as well as magnetic resonance imaging, can have as profound an effect on the management of brain disorders as they did on cardiology.  Robert S. Miletich, interim chair and professor Department of Nuclear Medicine

When applied to the brain, nuclear medicine techniques reveal critical information about the progression of the most devastating diseases, from Alzheimers to traumatic brain injury. Just last week, Nature published research showing that brain imaging might be able to help diagnose autism in infants as young as 6 months old, an advance that would represent extraordinary progress in more effectively treating the disease. Such advances dont surprise Robert S. Miletich, interim chair and professor of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, who is studying brain scans obtained from 16,000 patients. He says the wealth of information nuclear imaging techniques provide could pave the way toward a dramatic improvement in the clinical detection and treatment of many brain disorders. I predict that nuclear neurology is going to become as important to neuroscience as nuclear cardiology has been to cardiology, Miletich says.

Unraveling complex disorders

The field of nuclear neurology, also called neuromolecular imaging, provides physiologic imaging of the brain and spinal cord, he explains. By doing measurements on physiologic processes in all parts of the brain, we increase our diagnostic accuracy of brain disorders. Understanding these processes can also help us unravel the mystery of complex disorders from autism to Alzheimers disease. Miletich, who is board-certified in nuclear medicine, uses these techniques to image disorders ranging from brain tumors, traumatic brain injury and epilepsy to transient ischemic attacks, various forms of dementia and movement disorders like Parkinsons, as well as mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia. He is teaching his students and medical residents at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to become familiar with these techniques to more accurately detect brain disorders. He compared potential advances in the study of brain diseases that could result from nuclear neurology to the advances of the 1980s and 1990s that dramatically affected cardiovascular diagnoses and treatment. The application of nuclear imaging to the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease led to a new standard of care for cardiology, said Miletich, noting that cardiologists now routinely use techniques like single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) for the early detection of structural and electrical defects in the heart. Neuromolecular imaging with these techniques, as well as magnetic resonance imaging, can have as profound an effect on the management of brain disorders as they did on cardiology, he says. In presentations at the Society for Neuroscience and in a review article published last fall in the American Academy of Neurology journal Continuum, he described his application of these techniques to specific brain disorders. Miletich says nuclear medicine techniques exist to reveal both general regional physiology, such as glucose metabolism or blood perfusion, and specific neurochemical physiology, such as the status of the brain dopamine system. Such information is useful in the care of patients with disorders ranging from strokes to dementia.

Like a stroke in slow motion
Every year on January first, the moment I wake up I head to the window to see what my first bird of the New Year will be. My hope is us...
Adrian Dobson, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) executive director for members, is the latest speaker confirmed for the BMF All-Industry Conference in Budapest in June.

RIBA members are at the start of the design process that eventually drives product sales through builders merchants. Yet this is the first time that a senior executive from the RIBA has presented at a BMF conference.

In addition to working to improve the design quality of public buildings, new homes and new communities, the RIBA provides the standards, training, support and recognition that puts its 40,000 members as the peak of their profession.

Mr Dobson, a chartered architect himself, leads all of the RIBAs member-facing work and is helping to shape an organisation attuned to the times as the profession faces new challenges in response to significant societal, economic and technological change. He is also the author of 21 Things You Wont Learn in Architecture School, a helpful and entertaining guide to the realities of working in architectural practice. He will be adopting a similar approach in his conference presentation, which will include a light-hearted look at the perception of architects through the eyes of merchants and vice versa.

John Newcomb, managing director of the BMF, said: It is an opportune moment for the BMF conference to hear from a RIBA spokesperson for the first time. Every element of the construction process  design, building and the supply of products  is facing up to change and the challenges and opportunities that brings. It is more important than ever for every member of the construction team to understand each others motivations in order to work together as a harmonious unit. I am delighted that Adrian will be joining us in Budapest.

The BMF All-Industry Conference takes place in Budapest from 15 to 18 June, 2017 at the five star Intercontinental Hotel. Broadcaster and TV personality, Gethin Jones, will host the event.

Further details are available on the conference website, www.bmfconference.co.uk.

Picture caption: Adrian Dobson, executive director for members at RIBA, will discuss the perception of architects through the eyes of merchants at this years BMFs All-Industry Conference.
Everything you need to know for MLS Cup 2022
Portland Mayor Lance Prator made a guest appearance at the Bangor GFWC Women's Club recently to discuss Portland's participation in the Scenic Wild Delaware River Project and the recreational benefits of GeoTourism.

Portland information is listed on the DelawareRiver.NatGeotourism.com website.

Lance Prator

The walking bridge between Columbia, N.J., and Portland, Pa., is part of the Liberty Water Gap Trail, which goes from Delaware Water Gap to Liberty Park N.Jn; the National 911 Trail from Schankesville, Pa. to New York City; and Bike Route V. Local historians participated in entering the information on the site.

The group was instrumental in erecting a public restroom near the walking bridge thus the designation "Portland is the place to go."

The club project this month was to fill purses with personal care items to be given to the Turning Point Shelter in Allentown. The club also collected cash donations for the Portland Upper Mt. Bethel Food Pantry. PUMP, as it is known, has a grant that will match all cash donations they receive. The craft group is starting a new project to sew bright colored cotton dresses for children in Haiti and knit woolen hats and scarves for Appalachia. The club also collects calendars and greeting card fronts to donate to Slate Belt Nursing Home to use in their Occupational Therapy program. This month 15 calendars and 1808 card fronts were collected.

The next meeting will be held at Prince of Peace Church, in Upper Mt. Bethel Township, at noon March 21. Call Ellen at 570-897-5787 for information.

Do you have community news to share? To see it posted here and possibly in The Express-Times, send me an email.
The controversy at West Virginias Ripley High started to snowball in mid-January, shortly after then-President-elect Donald Trump used a press conference to lambaste the cable-television outlet CNN as fake news.

The exchange went viral on social media. A small group of strongly pro-Trump students at Ripley took up the incoming presidents rallying cry. And in the weeks that followed, a broad swath of teachers and students in this small-town community of 3,200 near the Ohio line suddenly found themselves tiptoeing over uncertain ground.

Even CNN 10 , the cable channels classroom-friendly digital news program, whose host is known more for his silly puns than any political bias, became an occasional lightning rod. Some Ripley students suggested that the program should be replaced by Fox News.

I try to make sure my students see all sides on every issue, said civics teacher Jo Phillips, who grew up in Jackson County, which Trump won with 73 percent of the vote and whose county seat is Ripley.

But so much is happening so fast, Phillips said. Were on overload right now.

Fake news and schools

Schools everywhere are facing similar pressures. As the countrys partisan political divide has grown, Americans distrust of those on the other side has become more intense . And for years, researchers have warned about young peoples inability to gauge the reliability of online information . Those forces converged during the 2016 presidential campaign, when an explosion of blatantly false election-related stories hit the internet and social media.

Seemingly overnight, fake news became a phenomenon. Just as quickly, the phrase turned into a ubiquitous catch-all, used to discredit any reporting one might find disagreeable.

Its most prominent platform is President Trumps Twitter feed, where the president has repeatedly used the term to lash out at CNN and other news organizations.

.@CNN is in a total meltdown with their FAKE NEWS because their ratings are tanking since election and their credibility will soon be gone! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2017

Congratulations to @FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings. They were many times higher than FAKE NEWS @CNN - public is smart! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting. -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2017

With public confidence in the news media at a record low , many of the presidents supporters (and 25 million Twitter followers) have delighted in such tactics.

But even some conservative observers say the presidents attacks are corrosive, especially in schools.

Actual fake news is a real problem, but CNN doesnt qualify, said Don Irvine, the chairman of the nonprofit Accuracy in Media , a conservative-leaning media watchdog.

When President Trump tars the news channel, suggesting without evidence that everything it produces is false, students are taught a dangerous lesson, Irvine said.

If the administration wants to put out facts that show a specific story is wrong, fine, he said. But if theyre going around talking about fake news, and its not really true, how are students taught to discern what is real and what is fake?

Media literacy in the classroom

Thats where groups like Media Literacy Now , a Watertown, Mass.-based nonprofit, come in.

If more students are actually paying attention to the news and to government, thats something teachers can build on, said Erin McNeill, the groups president.

And if a student complains about a news outlet being biased, thats a teachable moment, McNeill said.

Its all about leveraging students interests to cultivate their critical-thinking skills.

I dont think its a teachers role to say, These are legitimate news sources, or This is fake news,  McNeill said. A better approach is to guide the students investigationhave kids compare how different outlets cover the same topic, help them look for the bias in every source, and teach them to apply the same critical-thinking questions to everyone.

That was the approach used by Kelley Adcock, a 9th grade remedial-English teacher at Ripley High, when students at the West Virginia school recently began discussing a post theyd seen on Facebook, about pop star Madonnas profane and inflammatory remarks at the Womens March in Washington the day after Trumps inauguration.

In my experience, these discussions usually start with something that touches a kid personally, Adcock said.

And when students feel disenfranchised, it can be particularly challenging to get them to move beyond their initial emotional reactions, she said.

The politicians hate us, the cops hate us, our teachers hate us, so why should we pay attention to anyone? Adcock said, describing the perspective of some of her students.

Some common prompts can help move the discussion forward.

Who published the story? Where did they get their information? What sources were cited? What perspectives were left out? How was this story covered elsewhere?

When Adcock avoids telling her students what to think, and instead focuses on tools and strategies for how to think, she starts to see movement. Students minds arent changed, Adcock said. But their language might soften, and they may become more willing to research other perspectives.

It takes time, though. And as the teachable moments at Ripley have piled up one on top of the other, time has been in short supply.

Students had questions about a dossier of salacious, unverified allegations about Mr. Trump, described in a CNN report and then published in full by Buzzfeed. Some students were upset at the prospect of watching the inauguration on the left-leaning cable-news channel MSNBC. Others disputed the reliability of Gallups presidential-approval ratings, saying they had seen more favorable numbers for the president on Fox News.

Ripley teachers responded with discussions about anonymously sourced reports, tips for identifying bias, and lessons on interpreting polling results.

Keeping up has been exhausting. But the stakes have never seemed higher.

If you show your class something about identifying biased media, and the kids take that home to a parent who thinks one of those news sources is the Bible, that parent is going to be in the school board office, screaming for your job, Adcock said.

The boy who cried wolf

Jane Elizabeth, the manager of the accountability-journalism program at the American Press Institute , said she feels for teachers dealing with such challenges.

Shes also grateful.

Teachers are so well equipped to handle these topics. They do it all the time, from climate change to sex education, she said.

Ripley seniors Olivia Ludtman and Jordan Whited agreed, for the most part.

Some of our teachers do a really good job trying to show all sides and helping us know what to look for, Ludtman said. But there are some who you know are for one side or another, and they want you to be on their side.

At home, both Ludtman and Whited said, their families stick mostly to Fox News, local TV stations, and the local newspaper.

Both students follow Trump on Twitter and spend lots of time on social media.

Unlike some of their classmates, they like CNN 10, bad puns and all.

The networks cable news programming is another story, however.

Take the inauguration. CNN showed more of the nonviolent protests instead of what was actually happening, Whited said, referring to episodes of vandalism and violence that received significant attention on conservative media .

Notably, however, neither student attributed the episode to CNN being fake news.

Theres going to be bias in any station you watch, Whited said. But if Trump is going to call CNN that, he should actually investigate what theyre saying, not try to embarrass them on national television.

As difficult as the past few months have been, Phillips takes some measure of satisfaction from such analysis.

And recently, Phillips said, shes noticed things getting a little easier. The more relentlessly President Trump attacks CNN and other news outlets, she said, the less seriously some of her students seem to take his claims.

Its like the story of the boy who cried wolf, Phillips said. After a while, you kind of start thinking, How could it possibly always be fake?

Photo: President Donald Trump calls on a reporter during a news conference, Feb. 16, in the East Room of the White House. Photo by Andrew Harnik/AP

See also:
Mohit Goel, the director of Noida- based company Ringing Bells which had announced smartphones at an astonishingly low price of Rs 251 apiece, has been detainedon allegations of fraud after the owner of Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises filed an FIR on Wednesday.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has said three hospitals have been identified for overcharging for stents that have recently been brought under price control.

The is investigating complaints it received on its helpline.

The drug price regulator last week capped prices of bare metal stents, which are used for treating narrow or weak arteries, at Rs 7,260 and drug-elutingng and biodegradable stents at Rs 29,600.

As the has no jurisdiction to curb the price of ancillary products, such as balloon-catheters and guide-wires, it is trying to ensure that manufacturers and hospitals do not create an artificial shortage. The also cannot control procedure costs at hospitals.

Hospitals must first raise a demand with a company before complaining of shortage, said Bhupendra Singh, chairman, NPPA, while advising patients to lodge complaints if hospitals refused to provide stents from available stocks.

The stent manufacturing industry has reacted adversely to the NPPA notification. The regulator stated none of the 52 brands of imported drug eluting stents, which release drugs to block cell proliferation, were superior to the rest. The NPPA said only five of the 52 brands of imported drug eluting stents had a landed price of over Rs 29,600.

The NPPA has said a few hospitals and doctors have complained about not supplying drug eluting stents. But, manufacturers have told the authority hospitals are not raising fresh demands.

The government has invoked Section 3(i) of the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013, according to which no manufacturer can withdraw a product. Also, the government has asked manufacturers to provide details of production and distribution of stents in the country for the next six months.

The NPPA clarified instead of re-labeling products, it would suffice for stent manufacturers to intimate hospitals and distributors.
Playing the white knight to hundreds of professionals, several e-commerce and software have come as a glimmer of hope in the ongoing lay-off season. Online such as Paytm and MobiKwik, as well as a host of information technology (IT) firms, are offering jobs to those sacked by e-commerce players such as Snapdeal, Stayzilla and Tolexo.
Chennai-based online homestay and alternative stay aggregator has announced that it has suspended operations at a time when competition in Indias online travel sector is heating up through consolidation.
Korean auto major is planning to launch eight new cars in the next four years to accelerate its growth. Of these, three will be in new segments and the other five cars will get a facelift.
The boardroom tussles at the Tata group and Infosys have raised a new fear in the minds of both executive and independent directors and key management professionals: What if they fall out of the boards favour, and if there are legal liabilities on them individually?
Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app.

Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006.

Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more.

Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them.

26 years of website archives.
In what will lead to yet another multinational exit in the telecom space, on Thursday announced the acquisition of Telenor India. Its a no-cash deal, which will see Norways telco packing up and leaving the country, as business had become unsustainable.
Some investments are sensible and work out. Some are terrible, and don't. Can we stop the silly debate on protecting bad investments, and move on?
Michigan officials are delaying a decision on the potential closure or restructuring of nearly 40 low-performing schools as the state takes more time to investigate the best way to proceed, the governors office said.

The schoolsthe majority of which are in Detroitface possible closure under a law that requires the state to annually identify schools ranked in the bottom 5 percent for the previous three years. Closure is one option for such schools, known as priority schools. The schools can also receive targeted interventions and support services and can shed their priority status if they meet targets in three specific areas after four years of putting a turnaround plan in place.

Of the 38 schools, 16 are in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, eight in the states Education Achievement Authority, and one is a charter school, according to the Detroit Free-Press.

Some Detroit teachers, parents, and students rallied earlier this month against the possible closures .

In a statement announcing the delay, Gov. Rick Snyder said that state needs more time to decide what will happen to those schools. Brian Whiston, who is Michigans schools chief, the staff at the states School Reform Office, which is housed in the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, and the Michigan education department will work with local superintendents and districts to devise options for the schools. A decision will be made by May, the Detroit Free-Press reported.

The entire team at the School Reform Office has worked diligently to analyze data, visit schools and review potential options, but we need to do more before any final decisions can be made, Snyder said. Any action we take will have long-lasting consequences and we need to take the time to get this right.

According to Snyders officer, closure might not be best for some schools and communities because of the hardship that might impose on students and families.

I understand the anxiety that parents have when there is a discussion about a school being closed and that everyone wants answers right away, the governor said. But if we are going to do this right, we are going to have to take the time to do the right thing. We have heard from communities and their elected officials about the desire to have more input into this process and we will consider feedback from local communities as we move forward. The focus in all of this needs to be on helping and teaching the kids involved, so even if a school is not closed, there will be some changes made.
Meril Life Sciences, a medical devices company based out of the nondescript town of Vapi, has emerged as a challenger to multinational giant Abbott in the category of bioresorbable cardiac scaffold (BVS), following the health ministrys recent approval of its product.
The commissioning of additional power units at its constituents -- Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL) in Punjab and Balco (Chhattisgarh) -- helped to post 16 per cent growth in its power sales in the December quarter.

In Q3, Vedanta sold 3,413 million units (MU) compared to 2,934 MU in the comparable period of last fiscal.
In the last six years, I have mentored many entrepreneurs, some of whom I have kept up with on a regular basis. But recently, more entrepreneurs have been asking me whether they should continue with their respective start-ups or not.
The Bihar Police on Friday arrested the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) Chairman from neighbouring Jharkhand in connection with a leakage of question papers, an official in Patna said.

Sudhir Kumar, a senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who heads the BSSC, was arrested along with four of his close relatives from Hazaribagh, the official added.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police was interrogating Kumar and he would be brought to the Bihar capital later on Friday, an official at the state police headquarters said.

Kumar was absconding since February 10, after the leak surfaced. Following this, the exam which was conducted in two parts on February 5 and 8 was cancelled.

The examination is conducted for appointment of clerks in the state government.

The questions were leaked on the social media sites WhatsApp and Facebook on both examinations dates and they went viral.

According to police officials associated with the SIT, Kumar's role in the leak was under probe and he was arrested following concrete evidence of his involvement.

Following the arrest, an emergency meeting of Bihar IAS officials was held here, which was attended by dozens of bureaucrats.

The SIT has also arrested the owner of a printing press in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, where the question papers were printed.

During the interrogation of the owner, it was established that the papers were leaked from there ahead of the examinations, another police official said.

The Bihar government had suspended Secretary Parmeshwar Ram, before he was also arrested earlier this week in connection with the case.

More than 20 persons have so far been arrested in the case.
The 13-day-long taxi strike in the capital, that had lost much of its steam, on Thursday ended following a meeting of Ola and Uber drivers with the Delhi government and company managements.

The Sarvodaya Drivers' Association of Delhi (SDAD) that was leading the strike claimed that Ola has agreed to its demands; however, the management of the company refused to comment on the assertion.

Thousands of drivers working with the two taxi aggregators had gone on an indefinite strike against "low" fares and "lacking" basic amenities their employers provide them.

SDAD, which claims to represent 1.5 lakh drivers in Delhi-NCR, said it has called off its strike till February 27 as the app-based cab aggregators have sought time to resolve their issues.

The development comes after the Delhi government on Thursday called a meeting with the striking drivers and representatives of Uber and Ola.

The meeting lasted for around four hours.

SDAD vice-president Ravi Rathore said, "In the meeting, an Ola representative assured us of doing away with the DDD rule under which a penalty of Rs 500 is imposed on a driver if he refuses to ferry passenger. Besides, the company has also agreed to increase fares from the existing Rs 6 per km."

When asked about the company's response on the union's claims, Ola refused to comment.

An Uber spokesperson said the company reiterated in the meeting that individual drivers could come to it at any time to raise concerns.

"We condemn the violent protests carried out by striking unions which not only harassed driver partners but also kept them away from earning an honest living," the spokesperson said.

Rathore said if the demands are not fulfilled by their employers by February 27, the drivers will go on strike again.

A senior government official said that both the app-based aggregators have also invited the drivers to their office to discuss and resolve the issues peacefully.

On its part, the Delhi government has assured the drivers of their welfare, particularly of those "harassed" without having been given an opportunity to be heard by the companies.

On the demand of removal of toll charges at borders, the government said that it would take "sympathetic" view on it. The government will raise the issue with the municipal corporation.

According to a senior government official, the companies assured the drivers' union to work on their demands shortly and will give their assurance to the High Court on February 28, when it will hear the drivers and the cab aggregators.

Commuters in Delhi-NCR had to face hardship in booking cabs as drivers of Ola and Uber had gone on an indefinite strike on February 10.

However, the strike seemed to be losing steam over the last three days as most of the striking union's members started plying their cabs.
Parleys are on between India and China over the issue of a ban on Pakistan-based JeM chief by the UN and such "discussions take time", Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui said on Friday.

He, however, asserted that China was against terror outfits and any form of terrorism.

Earlier this week, India's Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had held strategic dialogue with his Chinese counterpart during which issues ranging from Beijing's opposition to designation of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN and India's bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) were discussed.

"Discussions are going on. (India's) Foreign Secretary (Jaishankar) was in Beijing two days ago. The discussions were very good and covered everything," Luo said.

But he declined to comment on what were the aspects on which China was opposing a ban on Azhar.

"Just wait (for the outcome of the discussions). China's support to India and every country on matters related to terrorism will always be there. Some discussions are going on. It takes time.

"China is against any form of terrorist activity and organisation. So, on this matter, China will always be in same line with the international community and take concrete measures," Luo said after inaugurating Chinese visa application service centre here.

Asked about China's aversion to support India's bid for entry into the NSG club, the envoy said, "It is the same (discussions are on)."



After his talks, Jaishankar, during his media interaction in Beijing, had hit out at China for demanding "solid evidence" for getting Azhar banned by the UN, saying the extent of his actions were "well-documented" and the "burden of proof" was not on New Delhi.

China has blocked India's efforts to get Azhar declared as a global terrorist by the UN.

Commenting on the emergence of ISIS in the Af-Pak region and the six-party talks on Afghanistan held early this month in Russia, Luo said peace in the war-torn country is paramount for stability within that nation as well as in the region.

Asserting that Afghanistan was a neighbour of several central Asian countries, he said therefore, peace in Afghanistan is not only important for that country, but also for the region.

"So all countries concerned are making joint efforts to help Afghanistan and the region to maintain peace. That is good," he said.
An Indian engineer was killed and two others injured when an American man opened fire on them after allegedly yelling "get out of my country", with the local police calling it as a "possible hate crime".

Srinivas Kunchubhotla, 32, working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting on Wednesday night, while another Indian and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured and is battling for life at a local hospital.

One other identified as Ian Grillot was also injured in the shooting.

The accused, Adam Purinton, 51, was arrested on Thursday morning, five hours after the incident.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke told reporters.

According to local media reports, he yelled "get out of my country" at the Indians.

Purinton, a navy veteran, later reportedly told a bartender in Clinton, Missouri, where he was hiding that he killed two Middle Eastern persons, the Kansas City Star said.

The Indian Embassy has swung into action and two senior officials of the Indian Consulate in Houston have been sent to Kansas to assist the victims' families.

"Consul Ravindra Joshi and Vice Consul Harpal Singh rushed to Kansas to assist shooting victim. They are on their way and will reach by evening," the consulate said in a tweet.

The accused has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder and his bond has been set at $2 million.

According to Garmin, Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked in the company's aviation systems.

"We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's (Wednesday night) incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counsellors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," Garmin said in a statement.
The relatives of murdered Indian-origin engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla on Friday blamed President Donald Trump for the hate crime in Kansas.

"This certainly shows that Trump is surely the primary reason as of now. Most of my relatives are in the US from the past 20 years and they have never encountered this thing. This is first such incident in our family," said Shastri, Srinivas's brother.

Shastri further said the only thing they want from the government is to hand over Srinivas's body at the earliest.

"Sushma Swaraj called me in the morning and the local BJP team has been in touch with me. They have said they would be supporting us along with the Telangana Government," he said.

According to the local US media, gunman Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran, was arrested after he allegedly fired several rounds and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani.

"We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counsellors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," said a statement released by Garmin International.

At least one witness has claimed that Purtinton yelled 'get out of my country' and also heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire.

According to reports, Kuchibhotla died at a local hospital and Madasani and another injured man was hospitalised.

Local US media reports said that Purinton came back after he was asked to leave the bar for shouting racial slurs and opened fire on the people.

He was reportedly taken into custody by the police at Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles south-east of Olathe.
Former Jammu and chief minister Farooq Abdullah today kicked up a controversy by saying that the new generation of militants in were fighting for "freedom".

"These boys have left (for the path of militancy). Everyone loves life, nobody wants to die. They have made promise to God that you decide the matters of life and death but we will sacrifice our life for the freedom of this nation," Abdullah said at a function held at Conference (NC) headquarters here.

The NC chief said the new generation of Kashmiris was fearless and were "not scared of guns".

"A new generation has taken birth which does not fear guns. It is striving to achieve freedom for this nation," he said.

The former union minister said the boys "rendering sacrifices" were not aspiring to be MLAs, MPs or ministers.

"They are giving sacrifices to demand their right: (they say) this is our land and we are its rightful owners but they (India and Pakistan) do not understand this," he said, asking the party workers not to forget these sacrifices.

Lashing out at both India and Pakistan, Abdullah said the two countries "have not done justice" to Kashmiris.

"We are not anybody's enemy...This fight started in 1931. But we are asking both the countries to do justice to us. You even forgot promises you made in 1948," he said.
Californias Long Beach school district grabbed an opportunity offered by the Every Student Succeeds Act: It asked the state for permission to use the SAT college-entrance exam instead of the states required Smarter Balanced test in high school.

The state said no, becoming the first in the country to reject a new kind of testing flexibility offered under ESSA.

In a letter released this week, the state board rejected Long Beachs request and said it has to keep using the Smarter Balanced exam in grade 11, according to EdSource.

In turning down the request from its third-largest district, California will probably have a lot of company. As we reported last month, few states so far seem inclined to allow districts to take advantage of ESSAs invitation to substitute a nationally recognized high school test , such as the ACT or SAT, for a state-mandated assessment. (Theyre being pretty cautious about diving into the innovative assessment pilot , too.)

Nearly two dozen other districts in California give the SAT to all 11th graders in addition to Smarter Balanced, but Long Beach is the only one so far to ask to swap one for the other, EdSource said.

The College Board and ACT said they knew of no other instance yet in which a state has turned down a request by a district to use one of those exams in high school instead of a states own test.

States have long been free to use the SAT or ACT as their high school accountability tests, and a few have been doing so for a long time. The new twist under ESSA was the added flexibility at the district level: the chance to swap out the SAT or ACT for the states required assessment. ESSA also put a finer point on the state-level freedom: It invited states to use the college-entrance exam instead of their own tests.

In seeking permission to use only the SAT, Long Beach made an argument that a number of other states have echoed: Parents and students find that test of more value, since it can be used in college admissions. Taking both a state test and a college-entrance exam is unnecessary and duplicative, Long Beach argued. That dynamic is part of what has led a dozen states to substitute the SAT or ACT for other exams for federal accountability reporting.

But California officials said the SAT isnt sufficiently aligned to the states standards to be used to measure their mastery, according to EdSource. (Federal law requires states to measure students mastery of academic standards.) EdSource reports that the College Boards own alignment study showed the SATs alignment to California standards is strong to very strong.

All states must submit their assessments for federal peer-review, and that process requires states to produce independent alignment studies (studies created by a company other than the one that built the test). The most recent round of peer-review did not include the SAT, since it was redesigned recently. States using the SAT as part of their accountability systems will have to submit it for peer-review this year, when the alignment question will likely be a key one.

For more stories on using the SAT or ACT instead of state high school tests, see:
School buses will now have to be equipped with GPS, CCTV arrangements and speed governors as per the revised guidelines issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to ensure greater safety of children.

These guidelines have been issued on the directions of Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar after a recent school bus accident in Uttar Pradesh, official sources said.

"Windows of the bus should be fitted with horizontal grills with mesh wires. School buses should be fitted with speed governors with maximum speed limit of 40 kmph.

"GPS and CCTV arrangement should be made compulsorily in each vehicle and should be in working condition all the time," a circular said.

"The management and the head of the school will be held responsible for any lapse and it could lead to disaffiliation too. School buses will have to be fitted with alarm bells and sirens," it said.

"School authorities have also been directed to voluntarily evolve an arrangement, that in each school bus at least one parent should be present who can oversee the conduct of the driver and the other staff," the circular said.

For security of students a transport manager and a "well-trained" lady attendant will have to be designated. Schools will have to provide a mobile phone inside the bus to be used in emergency situation, it said.

Students will be asked to give their feedback on the transport facility, especially about the driver, the circular said.

In January, 12 minor school students and their bus driver were killed and 35 children injured when their vehicle collided with a lorry near Etah in Uttar Pradesh.
There have been many discoveries of potentially habitable planets orbiting stars other than our own over the last few years. Now things are getting even more exciting. Scientists have documented a star surrounded by no fewer than seven Earth-like planets  several or all of which could be at the right temperature for liquid water, and potentially life, to exist.

But is it possible to know anything about what these planets are like beyond simple measures such as temperature and mass? There are indeed several factors that can give us a clue. So lets take a look at what planetary processes we might expect to find there  and ultimately whether life could exist.
Are you wearing yourself thin from work? Are you pushing the limit, and feel the need to pause? Well, you're not alone. Spare time is a thing of the past for many in India.

India faces traditional problems like malnutrition, poor environmental sanitation, and inadequate medical care. However, other factors have contributed richly to India's woes - globalisation, industrial growth and fatigue. Women tend to be the soft target of this malicious malady as most working women in India also have to take care of their home. According to research conducted by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, fatigue is a common symptom among women in developing countries. In a survey in India, nearly a quarter of women complained of feeling weak or tired; more than half of them had had these problems for more than six months.

Often this occupational disease is shrugged off as 'side effect' of employment and therefore, it has been able to penetrate its root deep into the system like diabetes and chronic heart disease. A study conducted by global market intelligence agency Mintel finds that as many as 22% of adults in India say they are personally concerned about their fatigue levels, rising to one in four (25%) women, making this the leading concern in the country, followed by blood pressure (12%), diabetes (9%) and being overweight (8%).
The government has warned banks of "de-authorisation" of branches if they refuse to accept taxes under the amnesty scheme Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), which ends on March 31.

The Ministry of Finance, in a communication to heads of banks which are authorised to accept deposits under the PMGKY, asked them to issue directions to all branches for making necessary changes in their system/software to accept the tax.

"Non-compliance of this order may be viewed seriously and may lead to de-authorisation of that branch in case of refusal to accept taxes," the ministry said.

Post demonetisation, the government came out with under which people holding unaccounted cash can deposit them in bank accounts till March 31 by paying 50 per cent tax plus penalty. A quarter of the total sum will have to be parked in a non-interest bearing deposit for four years.

The scheme opened on December 1.

There have been complaints that many banks were not accepting payments of tax under due to lack of awareness of prescribed challan and certain technical reasons.

Accordingly, the matter was referred to Principal Chief Controller of Accounts, who issued an order directing banks to accept taxes under or face action.
The government will consider extending the exemption given to traders for fumigating imported from Canada at Indian ports instead of the country of origin.India has made it mandatory to fumigate imported crops with methyl bromide, a restricted use pesticide, in the country of origin.

However, the government has been giving exemption to traders importing from Canada  the world's largest exporter  which has banned the use of the fumigant on environmental grounds. The current exemption is valid till March 31, 2017.
India has stepped up its lobbying effort against moves in the US Congress to impose curbs on visas for skilled workers that threaten the South Asian nation's tech sector, which employs more than 3.5 million people.

Speaking to Reuters, Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said New Delhi had reached out to the administration of President Donald Trump to stress the importance of India's $150-billion information technology (IT) services industry to US citizens.

"India's investments in the United States have provided jobs to US citizens," she said in an interview. "That has to be brought to the notice of the US administration."

The comments come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Washington to keep an open mind on admitting skilled Indian workers.

Indian software companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro shot to prominence in the 1990s by helping Western firms stamp out the "Y2K" bug.

Trump's "America First" rhetoric on jobs, however, has put their biggest market under threat.

A bill was introduced in the US Congress last month to more than double the minimum salary of holders, which could significantly boost costs for IT companies, whose margins are already being squeezed.

New Delhi has backed a move by NASSCOM, India's high-tech industry association, to lobby US lawmakers and companies to urge the administration not to crack down on allowing its skilled workers into the United States.

The Nasscom delegation is now in the United States to make its case to officials on Capitol Hill and in the White House.

"We will have to engage with the new administration," Sitharaman said. "Our engagement at every level is intact and continuing."

The United States is India's biggest trading partner, but trade in goods between the two countries has been stagnant, at around $67 billion, for the last three years. Indian software exports to the US rose more than 10 per cent, to $37 billion, in the last fiscal year from a year earlier.

Indian nationals are by far the largest group of recipients of the 65,000 H1B visas issued annually to new applicants under a cap mandated by Congress. More than 60 per cent of the US employees of Infosys hold H-1B visas.

A global pact on services trade would go a long way towards settling disputes over professional visas, Sitharaman said.

"If only there is a framework...you will know how movement can happen and how certain restrictions can or cannot come," she said. "It's time for countries to sit together and look at it."
Avoiding any comments on the note ban process undertaken by the Centre, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian on Friday said that the focus should now be on arresting the flow of black money.
In his Budget speech, finance minister Arun Jaitley devoted an entire section to the ease of doing business in India and proposed a number of reforms that could improve Indias rankings in the World Banks annual Doing Business report.




My loving greetings to all .





It is my honour to be here, in this august gathering.





That too, on the auspicious occasion of Maha-Shivratri.





There are many festivals, but this one is pre-fixed with "Maha."





Indeed, there are many Devs, but only one Maha-Dev.





There are many Mantras, but the Mantra which is identified with Lord Shiva, is called Maha-Mrityunjayi Mantra.





Such is the glory of Lord Shiva.





Maha- Shivratri symbolizes a union of divinity with a purpose, of overcoming darkness and injustice.





It inspires us to be courageous and fight for good.





It marks the shift of seasons, from the cold to the lively spring and brightness.





Maha- Shivratri celebrations go on for the entire night. This symbolizes a spirit of vigilance- that we have to protect nature and mould our activities in sync with our ecological surroundings.





My home state, Gujarat is the land of Somnath. The call of the people and the longing for service took me to Kashi, the land of Vishwanath.





From Somnath to Vishwanath, from Kedarnath to Rameshwaram and from Kashi to Coimbatore where we have gathered, Lord Shiva is everywhere.





Like crores of Indians across the length and breadth of the nation, I too feel delighted to be a part of celebrations of Maha-Shivratri.





And we are merely drops in the ocean.





Through centuries, there have lived countless devotees, in every age and time.





They came from different places.





Their language may have been different but their longing for the divine is always the same.





This longing throbs in the core of every human heart. Their poetry, their music, their love has soaked the very earth.





Standing here before this 112-f ee t face of Adiyogi and the Yogeshwar Linga, we are experiencing a colossal presence enveloping everyone in this space.

In the times to come, the place where we have gathered is going to be a source of inspiration for all, a place to immerse ones self and discover truth.

?? ?????? ???? ????? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ???? ?????? It will remind us of the inclusive spirit of Lord Shiva.

Today, Yoga has come a long way.





There are various definitions, types, schools of Yoga and ways to practice Yoga that have emerged.





This is the beauty of Yoga- it is ancient, yet modern, it is constant, yet evolving.





The essence of Yoga has not changed.





And I say this because it is of utmost importance to preserve this essence.





Otherwise, we may just have to discover a new Yoga to re-discover the soul and essence of Yoga .





Yoga is the catalytic agent, ushering the transformation from Jiva to Shiva.





????? ???? ??? ??? ?? ???? ???: ???? ???:

??? ?? ??? ?? ??????, ??? ?? ??? ???





By practicing Yoga, a spirit of oneness is created oneness of the mind, body and the intellect.





Oneness with our families, with the society we live in, with fellow humans, with all the birds, animals and trees with whom we share our beautiful planetthis is Yoga.





Yoga is the journey from me to we.

???????? ?? ??????? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ???????, ??? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???-????????, ??? ?? ??? ???





India is a land of unparalleled diversity. Indias diversity can be seen, heard, felt, touched and tasted.





The diversity has been Indias greatest strength and has also brought India together.





Think of Lord Shiva and the picture that comes to mind is that of his majestic presence at Mount Kailash , in the mighty Himalayas . Think of Goddess Parvati and you remember the beautiful Kanyakumari , which is surrounded by the vast oceans . The union of Shiv a and Parvati is a union of the Himalayas with the oceans.





Shiv and Parvati this is by itself a message of oneness.





And look at how this message of oneness further manifests itself :





Around the neck of Lord Shiva, there is a snake. The Vahan of Lord Ganesh is the mouse. We are well aware of the frosty relations between a snake and a mouse. Yet, they live together.





Similarly, the Vahan of Kartikeya is the peacock. Peacocks and snakes are supposed to harbor great enmity. Even then, they live together.





The family of Lord Shiva is diverse yet the spirit of harmony and unity is vibrant.





Diversity is not a cause of conflict for us. We accept it and embrace it whole heartedly.





It is a speciality of our culture that wherever there is a God or Goddess, there is either an animal, a bird or a tree that is associated with him or her .





That animal, bird or tree is also worshipped with the same spirit as the God or Goddess. There cannot be a better means to inculcate a spirit of reverence for nature. Nature equals to God, this has been firmly established by our ancestors, showing their foresight.





Our scriptures say: ?????, ??????: ????? ??????





Truth is one, sages call it by different names.





We have been living these virtues since our childhood and that is why compassion, kindness, brotherhood and harmony are naturally a part of us.





These are values we have seen our ancestors live and die for .





T hese are virtues that have kept the Indian civilization alive for centuries.





Our mind should always be open to new thoughts and ideas from all sides. Unfortunately, there are a select few, who in order to hide their own ignorance, take a very rigid view and destroy any scope of welcoming new thoughts and experiences.





Rejecting an idea just because it is ancient can be potentially harmful. It is essential to analyse it, understand it and try to take it to the new generation in a manner in which they understand best.





The progress of humanity is incomplete without the empowerment of women. The issue is no longer women development but it is women-led development.





I am proud of the fact that in our culture the role of women is central.





Our culture has so many Goddesses who are worshipped.





India is home to many women saints, who led the movements for social reform be it in the north, south, east or west.





They shattered stereotypes, broke barriers and became trendsetters.





You would be interested to know, that in India we say ???? ?? ???????, ???? ?? ??????? - woman is a manifestation of the divine.





????? ????? ?? ??? ????? ???? ???, for man we say ?? ?? ???? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ??? - if a man does good deeds, he will attain divinity.





Do you see the difference- the divine status of the woman is unconditional Women unconditional ???? ?? ??????? whereas for men, it is conditional. He can earn it after good deeds.

That is also why perhaps Sadhguru insists that one takes the oath of being a mother to the world. A mother is someone who is unconditionally inclusive.

st century have brought their own set of challenges. The changing lifestyles of the 21century have brought their own set of challenges.





Lifestyle related ailments, stress related diseases are becoming more and more common. The communicable ailments can be controlled but what about the non-communicable ones?





It gives me immense sadness, one that I cannot describe in words, when I read about people taking to substance abuse and alcohol because they are not at peace with themselves.





Today, the whole world wants peace, not just peace from wars and conflict but peace of the mind.





The burden of stress takes a heavy toll and one of the sharpest weapons to overcome stress is Yoga.





There is ample evidence that practicing yoga helps combat stress and chronic conditions. If the body is a temple of the mind, yoga creates a beautiful temple.





That is why I call Yoga a passport to health assurance. More than being a cure to ailments, it is a means to wellness.





Yoga is about Rog Mukti (freedom from diseases) as well as Bhog Mukti (desisting from worldly greed).





Yoga makes the individual a better person in thought, action, knowledge and devotion.





It would be very unfair to see Yoga only as a set of exercises that keeps the body fit.





You may see people twist and turn their bodies in many sorts of fashion. But they are not all yogis.





Yoga is far beyond physical exercises





Through Yoga, we will create a new Yuga a Yuga of togetherness and harmony.





When India mooted the idea of the International Yoga Day at the United Nations, it was received with open arms.





The world celebrated both the Yoga Days, 21st June 2015 and 2016 with greatfervour





Be it Korea or Canada, Sweden or South Africa- in every part of the world the rays of the sun were welcomed by Yogis, engaged in the practice of Yoga.





The coming together of so many nations to mark the International Day of Yoga illustrates the real essence of Yoga- togetherness.





Yoga has the potential to herald in a new Yuga ( a new era)- a Yuga of peace, compassion, brotherhood and all-round progress of the human race.

One truly remarkable thing that Sadhguru has done is he has made yogis out of ordinary, common people. People who stay with their families and work in the world, but who are living at the peaks within themselves undergoing intense and wonderful experiences on a daily basis. Wherever one is, in whatever situation one is placed, one can be a yogi.





I see so many radiant and joyous faces here. I see people working with utmost love and care, paying attention to the smallest of details. I see people full of energy and enthusiasm to offer themselves to a greater cause.





Adiyogi will inspire many generations to take up yoga. My gratitude to Sadhguru for bringing this to us.





Thank you. Thank you very much. ??????, ?????
Were not even two months into 2017, and Im mentally exhausted already. I cant tell if its due to having a five-month old at my age or to the goings-on of Donald Trump, but I need a break. Fortunately, the imminent release of my new book, Letters to a Young Education Reformer , gives me just the excuse I need to take a blogging break. Letters wont be officially published until late April, but Im going to be off talking about it (hopefully at a venue or on a radio station near you). Meanwhile, I managed to convince a handful of colleagues who are vastly more knowledgeable and interesting than me to take the reins while Im away.

One of the things Ive asked our guests to do is share some lessons theyve learned over time and offer up some advice for young (and not-so-young) reformers. I think itll make for some interesting reading. Heres who we have on tap.

Well kick off with the dynamic Ed Jones. Ed leads Ohios Hackable High Schools initiative, a statewide experiment in student-driven learning that uses Ohios Credit Flex law to test new, open-sourced curricula in 830 high schools across the state. Ed has tackled massively complex software challenges, working along the way with the US. Army and a bunch of government agencies. Hes currently penning the book Hacking High School: Making School Work for All Teens. In his posts, Ed promises that hes going to cover why and how #coursechoice may help both teachers and teens as public schools move into the future.

Next up will be Lars Esdal. Lars is the executive director of Education Evolving , a small state policy shop in Minnesota that has played an outsized role when it comes to innovative thinking on new school models. Lars originally started working with EE fourteen years ago as its teenager-webmasteronly a few months after graduating high school. Lars and his colleagues tend to view the problems facing K-12 as problems of design, and see the answers as requiring efforts to empower teachers and open state policy to student-centered school designs. Hell be writing on teacher leadership and how state policy can encourage innovation.

Taking over the week of March 13 will be Irvin Scott, Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. A veteran educator, Irvin taught for 15 years as a high school English teacher and choir director before moving on to other roles, including as a high school principal and later Chief Academic Officer for Boston Public Schools. Before joining Harvard, Irvin was the Deputy Director of Education for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he headed up efforts to improve teacher evaluation and support systems, seeking to empower educators. Irvin will be writing on some key takeaways from his experiences and what makes him so hopeful about what lies ahead.

Week four will feature Jessica Sutter, President of EdPro Consulting and a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park. As a consultant, Jessicas work tends to focus on challenges in charter schooling. Her dissertation examines efforts to close and restart charter schools. She began her career as a middle school teacher, and went on to work for both the Office of the State Superintendent of Education and the Deputy Mayor for Education in Washington, DC. Jessicas posts will consider the increasing polarization in education reform and explore some opportunities to find common ground on issues of school choice.

Rounding things out will be the always-engaging Celine Coggins, CEO of Teach Plus and an Entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard University. Celine founded Teach Plus in 2007 to empower excellent, experienced teachers to take leadership over key issues that affect their students success. She came to that work after starting her career as a middle school teacher in Worcester, Massachusetts and later serving as a special assistant to the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education. Shell be writing on teacher leadership and voice and sharing concepts from her upcoming book, How to Be Heard: Ten Lessons Teachers Need to Advocate for Their Students and Profession.

Weve got all that and more coming up, so stay tuned. Ill think well all learn a few lessons and glean some useful advice. Enjoy, and Ill see you in April.
Walls have a strong political connotation in post-war Europe. The most tragically famous was the Berlin wall built in 1961 to prevent citizens of the DDR (otherwise known as East Germany) from seeking refuge in the West.
The White House on Thursday expressed "deep disappointment" over the conviction and sentencing of Indian-origin Sabrina de Sousa, a former CIA agent, by a court in Italy.

"We are deeply disappointed in de Sousa's conviction and sentence," a White House official told PTI amidst news reports that de Sousa, has been taken into custody in Portugal to be handed over to Italy in coming days to serve a four-year prison for her alleged role in the 2003 kidnapping of a radical Muslim cleric.

The previous Obama Administration had refused to provide her with any kind of help, much to the distress of many in the intelligence community.

In response to a question, the White House said it is following "her case closely, but beyond that we have no comment on the allegations" in this case.

The State Department has been following the proceedings closely and has been in touch with de Sousa, the official said.

"We appreciate the efforts of the Italian Government to challenge the prosecution before the Italian Constitutional Court. The US Government takes its obligation to assist US citizens overseas seriously," the White House official said, reflecting a change in US policy towards under the Trump Administration.

As a CIA agent stationed in Italy, De Sousa, 61, was involved in the alleged kidnapping of Egyptian-born-cleric Abu Omar outside a Mosque in Milan, Italy on February 17, 2003.

Omar, a radical Islamic cleric was imprisoned till 2007.

An Italian court convicted De Sousa in absentia along with 22 other Americans in 2009.

"De Sousa was just following orders and she has since publicly criticised renditions. She would be the first to see the inside of a jail for this and that would be so wrong - she is just a scapegoat," her lawyer, Dario Bolognesi, said.

De Sousa was arrested in Portugal in 2015 when she was visiting from the US to meet her ailing mother.

Thereafter, she appealed before the court, which was turned down early this week.

She was taken into custody for deportation to Italy.

"We are requesting that the four-year sentence be turned into a programme of restricted movement, outside jail, involving social services work," Bolognesi said.

The Acting State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the State Department has asked its European counterparts what their next steps may be.

"But we are not in a position to detail those discussions," he said.
The administration revealed for the first time that 746 individuals nationwide were held during the first weekend of the President's travel ban, a media report said.

The Justice Department on Thursday evening wrote a letter to court listing the names of those who were "encountered or undergoing processing" by US Customs and Border Patrol and "this list includes legal permanent residents" also, CNN reported.

On Tuesday, as requested by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), US District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon ordered the Trump administration to produce the names by Thursday.

Amon's order includes anyone who, at any time during the period from 9.37 pm on January 28 until 11.59 pm on January 29, was being "held, including being processed" by the US Customs and Border Protection pursuant to the executive order.

Several days after the travel ban went into effect -- and began to face lawsuits in federal court -- the White House counsel's office clarified that legal permanent residents were not covered by the executive order.

"We are pleased to finally get the names, though it took more than three weeks from (Judge Donnelly's) court order," said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt in a statement to CNN.

"But we remain concerned that the list is incomplete and that it needs to be supplemented so we have information to find the affected individuals."

However, the Trump administration has not revealed how many people nationwide were deported after the ban went into effect.

Amon will hold a hearing on Friday to consider whether the government should be ordered to bring back to the US the individuals who were previously deported pursuant to the executive order.
A Syrian man who was wounded at a blast in Al-Bab, a town in northern Syria

A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab on Friday, killing 60 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from the Islamic State group.

The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, eight kilometres northeast of Al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The blast devastated the twin command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

Most of the dead were fighters.

There was no immediate claim for the attack but it bore all the hallmarks of IS, which had put up fierce resistance in Al-Bab for weeks.

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 69 Turkish losses so far.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday that its rebel allies now had "near complete control" of the town.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres from its outskirts in recent weeks.

Thursday afternoon, an AFP correspondent heard intermittent gunfire as rebel units continued to clear the heavily damaged town.

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in the fighting in Aleppo province.

West of the second city, which government forces took full control of in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

Exchanges of rocket and artillery fire first broke out on Wednesday, centred on the rebel-held district of Rashideen, the Observatory said.

The government responded with intensive air strikes on Thursday that killed at least 32 rebel fighters.

"The regime wants to reinforce its positions around Aleppo and is using the rocket fire by the rebels as a pretext to bombard their positions and attempt to drive them out of the suburbs," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

A fragile ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels has been in force since late December, brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

It has led to a sharp reduction in fighting in many areas.

But parts of the country which are held by IS or its jihadist rival, former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, are not covered by the truce.
A lot of people tell me, really great people tell me, that its impossible  I have reason to believe I can do it. So boasted about nothing less than the resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict as he prepared to take office late last year.
has launched its first ballistic missile since the start of Donalds Trumps presidency, just as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the US to shore up support for the alliance between the two countries. The move led to a joint statement by the US and Japanese heads of state condemning the missile test.
The writer Anthony Burgess is most famous for his novel, A Clockwork Orange. This month marks the centenary of the writers birth and his dystopian vision still casts a long shadow over popular culture. But what is perhaps more intriguing is how the book was once drawn into a world of Russian espionage, fake news and paranoia.
VX nerve agent, a chemical the United Nations classifies as a weapon of mass destruction, was used to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a bizarre murder in Malaysia last week, police said on Friday.
The global toll of terrorism is rising at an alarming rate. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, terrorist incidents claimed 3,329 lives in 2000 but 32,685 in 2014, and the economic costs of terrorism skyrocketed at least tenfold during the same period. As a result, certain governments are proposing that the UN establish a new court with a specific remit to prosecute terrorist crimes.
One of the key voices demanding Balochistan's freedom has said that he would approach friends like India to seek help for their cause.

Amir Ahmed Suleman Daud, officially known as His Highness the Khan of Kalat, welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in favour of during his Independence Day address from the Red Fort last year.

"India is one of the powers of the region, the biggest democracy in the world. The Prime Minister's [Modi's] was the only voice we heard in a long time coming out of the neighbourhood and appreciated the intervention. We know we have got a friend," Daud told PTI at a media briefing in London on Thursday.

Pakistan had criticised Modi for mentioning the people of in his address, seen as indirect support to the freedom struggle.

"In the last few days, people of Balochistan, Gilgit, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have thanked me, have expressed gratitude, and expressed good wishes for me," Modi had said, in a significant policy shift on the region.

Daud, who has been living in exile in Wales in the UK for the last few years, indicated that he plans to approach India and other friendly countries like the US to seek help for the cause of Balochistan's independence.

"We are confident we will get help from a lot of friends, especially from the West and India. We are happy the Republicans are in power in the US; we have lots of friends in the US Congress. Maybe also China can become a friend. We would like to say to them that they are coming through the wrong actor in this game [Pakistan]," he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Daud addressed a seminar entitled 'Balochistan Re-visited' within the British Parliament complex, organised by the UK-based Democracy Forum, during which he accused Pakistan of "colonising" the sovereign state of Kalat.

"Until August 1947, all treaties state clearly Kalat Balochistan's position as independent and sovereign. Why we lost our independence was the result of a change in British policy and geopolitics," he claimed.

Daud claims that Kalat remained independent until March 28, 1948, when it merged under duress with Pakistan.

He now plans to lobby organisations, including the United Nations, to "pay the debt to his homeland".

"We will approach parliaments of the world and make our issues known. We are an occupied land; we did not accede," he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court late Thursday asked the parties in the transgender-rights case set for argument next month for their views on the Trump administrations decision to rescind Obama-era guidance calling for schools to permit transgender students to use restrooms of their gender identity.

The request came from the clerk of the Supreme Court, who asked the lawyers in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. (Case No. 16-273) to submit their views on how this case should proceed in light of the guidance document issued by the Department of Education and Department of Justice on February 22, 2017.

That document pulled back the Obama administrations interpretation of a federal regulation under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that sex-based discrimination covers gender identity. The Trump administration document said, among other things, that there must be due regard for the primary role of the states and local school districts in establishing educational policy.

The U.S. solicitor generals office informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday of the change in guidance. The case from Gloucester County, Va., which involves a transgender high school student named Gavin Grimm, is scheduled for oral arguments on March 28.

The Supreme Court clerk asks the parties to file letters outlining their views on the governments change by next Wednesday, March 1.

The parties are the school board and Grimm. There is no provision in the courts request for the Trump administration or any groups that have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the case to express their views on how the court should proceed.

Its practically inherent in the request that the high court is contemplating some course other than proceeding with the arguments as scheduled, such as returning the case to a federal appeals court for further consideration. But thus far, neither party made such a suggestion to the court.

The Gloucester County school board, whose policy prohibits Grimm from using the boys restroom, applauded the Trump administrations action Wednesday, but said in a written statement that we look forward to explaining to the Supreme Court why this development underscores that the boards commonsense restroom and locker room policy is legal under federal law.

Meanwhile, Joshua A. Block, an American Civl Liberties Union lawyer representing Grimm, told reporters in a teleconference earlier on Thursday (before the Supreme Court asked for the parties views) that he saw no reason the justices should not keep the case on the courts docket.

Even though the Trump administration has withdrawn the federal guidance that was critical in a ruling in Grimms favor last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Va., the justices could still decide the more fundamental issue of whether Title IXs prohibition on sex discrimination in education encompasses gender identity, Block said.

I think having some clarity from the Supreme Court on what the statute means is now more important than ever, he said.
The spate of consolidation in the sector could lead to job redundancies 10-15 per cent over the next two years, say analysts and HR experts. The three mergers in the works  RCom-Aircel, Vodafone-Idea and Airtel-Telenor  if they go through regulatory and operational hurdles, are likely to create capex synergies across networks, rationalise selling and marketing expenses of the players and reduce overall manpower costs for the industry.

One of seven jobs in the sector is under threat. Most impacted will be jobs connected with sales and distribution and those in the infrastructure services space, said the head of an executive search firm, who is advising one of the large players on the HR front.

According to Randstad India managing director and CEO Moorthy K Uppaluri, the Indian industry employs around two million people directly and indirectly. While the consolidation initiatives will spur growth in the industry in the long term, there will be optimisation across frontline sales and support functions such as finance, HR and other corporate roles. Overall, close to 20-40 per cent of support function roles are expected to be at risk as consolidation plays out, which is in the next 12-20 months, he said.

Tanu Sharma, associate director, India Ratings and Research, said hiring sentiment for the sector is likely to take a hit. However any cut in jobs is likely to play out only over the next two years. For most large players, employee salaries are anywhere from four-five per cent of their sales revenue. With consolidation, employee costs are expected to come down.

HR experts said consolidation among players will have a ripple effect on the entire sector and allied system. This is because the ratio of direct to indirect jobs in the telecom sector is estimated to be around 1:4. That is, every direct job leads to creation of four jobs in the indirect and tertiary sectors, says a management consultant from one of the Big Four advisory firms, which has several telecom clients.

K Sudarshan, managing partner, EMA Partners International, an executive search firm, said when a sector goes through consolidation generally it is those in middle management who face most of the squeeze. But telecom experts said the current round of consolidation will face several regulatory and operational challenges before going through. It may be early days yet before realising the full impact of these initiatives, said a management consultant.
Hitting back at Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati for referring Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah as a terrorist, the saffron party on Friday said that those who give tickets to gangster-turned politician like Mukhtar Ansari should not talk about terrorism.

"Who give ticket to people like Mukhtar Ansari, it would be better if they do not talk about terrorism," BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi told ANI.

She further said that Mayawati has been the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh before and people are aware of the administration condition of that time.

"Such reactions show their frustration as they are aware of the fact that they are going to lose the election," Lekhi said.

She, however, said that personal attacks are a part of politics, but should not take place as per the norms.

Earlier, launching a scathing attack at Amit Shah over his 'Kasab' remark, Mayawati said, "there is no bigger 'Kasab' (terrorist) than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president."

The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh further said Amit Shah's Kasab statement shows the cheapness of the saffron party.

The BJP president drew flak from the opposition for devising 'KASAB' as an acronym for describing Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

"In the last fifteen years, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) governments have ruined Uttar Pradesh. The two were enough for destruction, however, a third one has also arrived. The population of UP must get rid of this KASAB, and by this I mean - 'Ka' for Congress, 'S' for SP and 'B' for...," Shah said while addressing a rally in Chauri Chaura.

While he didn't clearly mention the BSP, there was no denial from his side when the audience shouted 'BSP'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bihar Staff Selection Commission chairman and senior IAS officer Sudhir Kumar was arrested today in connection with the BSSC exam paper leak matter.

As many as six people have been arrested so far in connection with the matter.

The paper was leaked on February 8, following which the exam was cancelled.

Secretary of Bihar Staff Selection Commission Parmeshwar Ram was detained by the Patna Police after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) found convincing evidence against him at his house.

The examination is conducted for appointment of clerks in the state government, the first phase of which was held last on February 5.

According to reports, the questions were leaked on WhatsApp, an online chatting platform, as soon as the exam began at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

As many as 27 people have previously been arrested by the police for allegedly possessing electronic devices meant for helping candidates in writing the paper for second phase of the examination.

Last year Bihar was caught up in a similar scam of the Bihar School Examination Board toppers following which Chairperson of BSEB Lalkeshwar Singh , Secretary and proprietor of an Intermediate college Bachha Rai was arrested.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Central Board of Film Certification's (CBFC) denial to certify the upcoming film, 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' has paved the way for widespread negativity among activists who are of the opinion CBFC needs to be educated immediately.

In the latest addition to the ongoing criticism of CBFC, social activist Abha Singh came out in support of Prakash Jha's latest project, emphasising on the fact that CBFC cannot hide behind such 'excuses'.

"The movie is about women who have been bound by certain norms. It is about women who want to achieve something in life. I don't see anything wrong with that. If the word 'Burkha' is creating a stir, the filmmaker can be told to change the name. Otherwise, the CBFC's denial is certainly debatable," Singh told ANI.

With regards to the CBFC's claim of the film allegedly depicting pornographic content and abusive language, Singh lashed out, questioning the organisation on how movies with abusive language and vulgarity are being certified with no objection.

"This movie represents women's sexual desires. What is wrong with a woman fantasising? Pornography is so easily available to even children these days. Such websites need to be blocked. A film is a work of fiction. There should be more such films made," added Singh.

Echoing similar sentiments, women activist Brinda Adige expressed her dissent on CBFC's decision, stating that this is an indication of a 'puritarian mind'.

"The patriarchy of both men and women in this position of power is symbolic of a Victorian era mind. They are nobody to tell us what we should and should not watch. This is also a kind of moral policing," argued Adige.

Furthermore, Adige stressed on the importance of a review with regards to the members who hold such responsible positions.

"When a film celebrates women's freedom or sexuality, it is being banned. However, pornographic content on the net is not monitored at all. It is very sad to see people with this mindset being given such powerful positions," added Adige.

The movie's trailer has been lauded by the film fraternity for depicting the secrets of small-town women.

The film won the Spirit of Asia Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality at the Mumbai Film Festival. It will be screened in Glasgow on Friday.

This is not the first time CBFC has refused to certify a film. Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer 'Haraamkhor' was refused a certificate for depicting an illicit relationship between a school teacher and his teenage student.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following the visit by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's to the country for the strategic dialogue, China hopes that it has achieved its expected goals and is of positive significance for promoting bilateral relations.

"To move forward China-India relations in a sound and steady way serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples. The two sides agreed to follow the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, maintain the momentum of bilateral relations, make proper arrangements for bilateral exchanges at all levels in 2017, promote practical cooperation in various fields, and enhance coordination and cooperation on international and regional issues. The Dialogue has achieved its expected goals and is of positive significance for promoting bilateral relations," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, told media here.

The two sides agreed that China and India, similar in their national conditions, development stages and goals, share an extensive array of converging interests and boast huge cooperation potential.

"Generally speaking, our impression is that the China-India Strategic Dialogue was conducted in a friendly atmosphere. The two sides had in-depth and thorough exchanges and reached broad consensus," Shuang added.

Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui and Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar held the China-India Strategic Dialogue in Beijing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi Police on Friday filed a chargesheet against the four men accused of gang raping a U.S. tourist at the Patiala House Court in Delhi.

The accused were arrested on December 26, 2016, after an American tourist filed a complaint against the tourist guide and four of his associates for raping her in a five-star hotel.

In her complaint, the lady had said that she had arrived in Delhi on a tourist visa in March 2016 and was staying at the hotel when the crime took place.

The woman, who went back to the U.S. traumatized by the incident, had gone into depression.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Indian envoy to the United States Naresh Chandra on Friday described the murder of Indian origin engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas as a hate crime.

"This is definitely a hate crime, something that has happened before. This shows the dangerous trends that exist amongst disgruntled people," Chandra told ANI in an interview.

He also said racial discrimination is prevalent in the United States.

"In the run-up to the elections, passions had been whipped up against immigrants and foreigners. Now, it has become white versus non-white," he said.

Expressing faith in the Trump Administration with regard to steps being taken to get to the bottom of the causes behind the shooting, Chandra, however, was critical of the various appointments made by the former recently.

"I am sure the Trump administration must be watching it carefully and the FBI and the local police must have taken prompt action," he said.

"The unfortunate part is that some appointments made by the Trump Administration have produced role models of a very different kind. They are not liberal and have been making bad speeches, which in a way has enhanced the feeling of victimhood," he suggested.

The gunman who shot Kuchibhotla has been identified as Adam Purinton, a Navy veteran by the local police.

He had allegedly shot Srinivas and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani while screaming racial slurs at them such as 'get out of my country'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
England swashbuckling opener Alex Hales, who has recovered from a hand fracture he sustained during the ODI series in India, could make a return to the side for the three-match series against West Indies beginning March 3 in Antigua.

The 28-year-old got his right hand injured while diving to attempt a catch off former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni during England's 15-run defeat against India in the second ODI of the three-match series , which the home side went on to clinch by 2-1.

Hales, who missed out on selection for the original squad, is now due to have a scan on the hand on February 27. And if everything goes well - as it is expected - he would head West Indies to join the squad next week.

Even if scans suggests that Hales is not fully ready at the moment to return to action, it is likely that the batsman will continue his rehabilitation with the squad in Antigua and Barbados.

The England's record-breaking opener has notched up three ODI centuries in 2016, including the country's highest individual score of 171 against Pakistan at his home ground of Trent Bridge, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Earlier, Hales was replaced by Sam Billings, who is also expected to open England's innings in the tour's two warm-up games in St Kitts.

Billings' availability could leave the team's selection committee with a tricky decision to be made over whether to recall Hales for the ODIs or give the former an opportunity to cement his place in the squad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China on Friday said that it supports India and other countries on the issue of terrorism but sees bilateral between the two nations more important.

"I'm happy to see the Indian Foreign Secretary in Beijing, discussions are still on. China supports India and others countries over terrorism. These issues are important, but bilateral cooperation are more important," Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui told ANI with regard to China's stand on Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar.

He said China is against any form of terror activities and stands with the international community in taking concrete counter-measures to neutralize the threat.

The Chinese envoy also requested the media to cover matters the two countries positively.

India on Wednesday told China that the onus of imposing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 Committee sanctions on Jaish-e-Mohammad leader and terrorist Masood Azhar is not only New Delhi's alone, but is supported by several countries around the .

Speaking to media after discussions with the Chinese leadership, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said, " On the issue of the 1267 Committee sanctions on Masood Azhar, we again explained to them the rationale for that application and pointed out today that this was really being pursued by other countries, not by India alone."

"The fact that other countries were pressing this application showed that there was broad international support for this and concerns about Masood Azhar's activities," he added.

Foreign Secretary Jaishankar said the Masood Azhar issue was raised during his restructured strategic dialogue with Executive Vice Minister in the Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhang Yesui as also with State Counsellor Yang Jiechi.

"Masood Azhar's actions are "well documented" and "burden of proof" is not on India," Jaishankar said with regard to the Chinese government's repeated demand for "solid evidence" to declare the latter a global terrorist.

In effect, India dismissed China's contention that it has not furnished enough evidence against Pakistan-based Azhar.

China's efforts to block moves to sanction Azhar at the UN, despite its "principled" stand on counter-terrorism, was a political decision, the Indian Foreign Secretary said.

Jaishankar made it clear to senior Chinese officials that the international community is convinced of Azhar's culpability and it was the United States, the United Kingdom and France which had moved the latest proposal at the UN?Security Council to get the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief proscribed.

"Correct. There isn't a consensus because China hasn't joined it," Jaishankar had said earlier at a briefing for Beijing-based Indian media when asked about the issue. India's understanding is that there is "overwhelming support" in the community for its position.

Jaishankar said China's principles on counter-terrorism, otherwise "unexceptionable", were weighed down by procedural requirements, the political context in which it has taken place and the surety of the matter in context of Azhar.

"We pointed out that this time around, it's not India but other countries (which mooted the proposal). So, there is a body of opinion out there (against Azhar)," Jaishankar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Unhappy with your states proposed accountability system under the Every Students Succeds Act?

Create your own.

Thats the strategy members of a Louisiana group of superintendents are considering taking after butting heads with their state leaders over the states letter-grade system for rating schools, which they say puts the current A-F accountability system on steroids. The superintendents fear the proposed system currently in draft form will increase teachers focus on state tests and oversimplify school performance.

Accountability systems, the most visible part of states ESSA accountability plans, increasingly are becoming the center of debate as the first deadline for turning in those plans arrives April 3.

West Feliciana Superintendent Hollis Milton, who is chairman of an influential group of state superintendents that advises the state board, told me a consultant hes worked with found a clause in ESSA that allows local districts to implement their own accountability system, though he didnt specify what part of the law he was referring to.

The language of ESSA says explicitly that states must create statewide accountabilty systems that apply to all of their districts. But the department in the past has given waivers to groups of districts to create their own accountability system and some states under No Child Left Behind have operated two congruent accountability systems (one state-approved and one federally-approved). Weve reached out to the Department of Education for guidance on this but they have not yet responded.

Milton said he has also found a legislator who will sponsor a bill to allow a local accountability system later this spring, and says he has talked to Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards about it, saying Edwards told him, it makes sense.

Milton also said several superintendents in the state back his idea.

Whats unclearand what Milton said he hasnt figured out yet is if the local accountability system would trump the states or if it would run congruent with the states accountability system.

I would like to work in partnership [with the states accountability system], but I sense that [a separate accountability system] would look like a threat to (Superintendent White), Milton said.

Milton said he wants to create an accountability plan thats based on a nationally normative test (such as NAEP, or the ACT or SAT) rather than the states standardized test and will allow districts to pick their own indicators to measure school quality. The state currently uses a test that blends questions from PARCC and its own Louisiana Educational Assessment Program. Its proposed accountability plan under ESSA is based mostly on student proficiency and growth scores from that test.

Proponents of A-F accountability systems say they force districts to focus more on achievement gaps between white students and black and Latino students and lead to rapid improvement.

Louisiana is one of a handful of states where local officials have sparred with state officials over accountability systems.

A panel tasked by the governor on Wednesday, Feb. 23, voted to delay until September turning in the states ESSA plan. Its not clear how that would impact the state board of educations ESSA timeline.

In California, the states CORE districts got a federal waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act to implement their own accountability system, which uses a different set of indicators than the states accountability plan.

A few months ago, the CORE districts asked the states board if it could get a waiver from its states accountabilty system and serve as a research pilot.

Milton said he wasnt aware of the CORE districts initiative but said hell look into it.

Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics.
New York [USA], Feb. 24 (ANI): As uncertainty looms regarding the latest developments on approval of the H-1B visa, Indian students in the United States have expressed their concern about non-approval of a work permit, stating that the lack of clarity is only increasing their anxiety.

Under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, there was a motion passed for more stringent laws to be implemented with regards to issuing H-1B visas to foreign nationals, which permit them to take up job in the States.

Earlier this year, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India's concerns about the US' H-1B visa policy under the new administration have been conveyed to the US.

Swarup's comments came in the wake of the legislation mandating that the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders be increased to $130,000 from $60,000, was introduced in the US House of Representatives by Congressman Zoe Lofgren.

According to an Indian student pursuing Masters at the New York University (NYU), one of the biggest concerns is the proposed hike in minimum salary required to apply for an H-1B visa.

"Rumours have surfaced of an increase in minimum salary to be around USD 1, 30, 000. Most companies do not offer such a huge amount when it's your first job, whichever industry it may be. Filing visa applications during this financial year does not seem possible at the minute. Students and tourists will have to think twice before coming here," the student told ANI here.

Echoing a similar opinion, another Indian student pursuing her Masters at Parsons School of Design claimed that with the current political situation, students are not likely to consider moving to the States to pursue their education or career.

"At this point in time, students are feeling more welcomed in countries like Japan, Australia and Canada. The stability being offered in these countries is being considered by students looking to study or work abroad," she stated.

Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security released memos regarding the implementation of two of the President's executive orders, designed to protect the homeland.

These two memos provide explicit guidance to DHS staff on how to carry out two executive orders signed by the President on January 25th -- one dealing with interior enforcement and one with border security.

Trump had taken a hard line against illegal immigration during his campaign, at times suggesting he would seek to create a nationwide 'deportation force' to expel as many of the nation's estimated 11 million unauthorised immigrants as possible.

The new guidelines, intended as a road map toward implementing a pair of executive actions Trump signed last month, call for the hiring of thousands of additional enforcement agents, expanding the pool of immigrants who are prioritised for removal, speeding up deportation hearings and enlisting local law enforcement to help make arrests.

Experts say that if passed, the new visa legislation will make it very difficult for American companies to use H-1B visas to hire foreign workers, including IT professionals from India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Emphasizing the bond between India and Uganda, Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari, on Wednesday, said that the bond between the two countries is beyond commercial as it has risen to relationship of heart and mind.

"This is a relationship which goes beyond the normal economic and commercial relationship and relations of convenience between two countries. This is a relationship of the heart and mind and it is a relationship which is committed to developing closer relations between our nations to mutual benefits not one sided benefit," said Vice President Ansari.

Vice President Ansari, while addressing the Indian community event, asserted that India extends full support to the government and the people of Uganda.

"It is the policy of the Government of India and Prime Minister Modi has consistently emphasized this, that India wants to build a new vibrant relationship with Uganda relevant to the 21stcentury in which our approach is not to prescribe but to cooperate," he added.

He further said that India made certain commitments way back after independence and have been consistent in pursuing them.

"We do not tell our African partners what they should do and what they should not because they know better than us what is their requirement. But if they have a requirement and they need a helping hand of India, we will always be there to assess them," Ansari said.

Talking on the matters related to economic cooperation, he said, "the Indian economic scene has changed, the Indian capacities have grown and today we are in a position to contribute more meaningfully to cooperative ventures with our friends abroad."

"We want to look at the relationship with our African friends not in terms of the equations of the 20th century but the new emerging requirements which underline the equation and which will promote the equation of the 21st century," he added.

He asserted that the secret of any society's development lies in the empowerment of its people, starting with the youth.

"The government of India has recently decided that over the next five years it would offer 50,000 scholarships in India to students of Africa," Vice President Ansari said.

Agreeing with the President of Uganda he said that both the countries should be looking at the Indian capacities to create here in Uganda.

"I am very confident that initiatives will be taken and such initiatives will receive full support from the government of India as it would receive the full support of government of Uganda," Ansari added.

This is India's first bilateral visit to Uganda, since 1997 and seeks to further engage India with Africa.

Vice President Ansari paid three-day official visit to Uganda, with a delegation comprising Minister of State, Vijay Sampla, four Members of Parliament, other Senior Government Officials and a business delegation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States Embassy today strongly condemned the shooting in Kansas resulting in the tragic death of an Indian engineer, and assured that justice will be delivered and the federal authorities are investigating the case.

"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured. We have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims," the Embassy said in a statement.

Expressing full faith in the U.S. legal authorities for bringing the case to justice, the Embassy further informed that the shooter is expected to be prosecuted for the crime.

Charge d'Affaires MaryKay Carlson stated that the United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the to visit, work, study, and live.

"U.S. authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognize that justice is small consolation to families in grief," she added.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has assured that India would undertake all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of the former to Hyderabad.

"We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderbad, she said in a tweet.

Swaraj spoke to the father and brother of Kuchibhotla and conveyed her condolences to the bereaved family.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family. We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family." Sushma tweeted.

MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup further informed that they will be in touch with the local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action.

"The deceased and the injured persons are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe (Kansas)," Swarup said.

According to local U.S. media, the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran, was arrested after he allegedly blasted off several rounds of fire on Thursday.

The Police say Purinton shot and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani.

"We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," said a statement released by Garmin International.

At least one witness has claimed that Purtinton yelled 'get out of my country' and also heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire.

According to reports, Kuchibhotla died at a local hospital and Madasani and another injured man were hospitalized.

Local U.S. media reports said that Purinton came back after he was asked to leave the bar for shouting racial slurs and opened fire on the people.

He was reportedly taken into custody by the police at Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles southeast of Olathe.

Purinton was working as desktop support specialist for an information technology company in the Kansas City area.

He was described by the witnesses at the bar as a "disgruntled customer".

Olathe Police said the FBI will investigate if it's proven that the shooting was a result of a hate crime.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iraqi security forces recaptured the Mosul airport from ISIS, a key part of the government's offensive to drive the Islamic State (IS) from the western half of the city.

The operation took four hours. IS continued to fire mortars at the airport from further inside the city after losing the ground to the army.

"The jihadists have also entered a nearby military base amid further clashes," the guardian quoted military spokesperson as saying.

Eastern Mosul was retaken last month

Backed by US jets and drones, national police forces were first into the Mosul airfield and had secured most of the runway by noon local time. Militants had laid mines throughout the disused complex and were clashing heavily with advancing forces, before capitulating late in the afternoon.

The seizure of the base will give the forces and their US backers control of two large airfields near Mosul, the other one being the Qayyarah military base, to the south of the city.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid scorching criticisms from the Opposition for spending, what many claim to be tax payers money, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao is all set to offer a gold moustache (bangaru meesalu) costing around Rs. 75,000 at Kuravi .

Earlier, KCR was seen donating gold, reportedly worth crores, at the Venkateswara Swamy Temple, also known as the Tirupati temple.

Post his flamboyant tribute at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateshwara near Tirumala, Congress leader Madhu Yashki Goud told ANI that it was gross misuse of public money and that the Opposition should file a complaint against the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister had pledged ornaments to various gods and goddesses in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh if his mission succeeded.

In an instalment of his thank-you journeys in October, KCR presented a nearly 12 kg gold crown worth Rs. 3.5 crore to the Goddess Bhadrakali at Warangal. The Telangana government commissioned a prominent Hyderabad jeweller to make the crown.

Earlier, a crown and necklace was presented to Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala and a nose stud to goddess Kanaka Durga in Vijayawada.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Friday that yesterday's blast in Lahore's DHA was not an act of terror but an "accident", as forensic samples collected from the site had shown that the blast was a cylinder explosion.

"Yesterday's explosion was an accident and not a terrorist or explosives blast," The Dawn quoted Sanaullah as saying.

Explaining the delay in determining the nature of the blast, he said due to the extensive damage caused by the blast, the forensics team could not collect samples from the site until the debris had been cleared, which took some time.

The minister regretted that some TV channels had given the DHA blast spin of a terrorism incident and later ran news of another blast that caused panic among the citizens.

Thursday's blast at an under-construction cafe in the Defence Housing Authority area's Z Block killed seven people and injured 35 others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Taking a swipe at 'Kasab' comment made by Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) supremo Mayawati, the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) on Friday said that former has lost her mental stability.

"Mayawati is not mentally stable. She can see defeat in front of her and that is why she is talking like that. Now a big portion of the dalit vote will come under the BJP," BJP leader Rahul Sinha told ANI.

Sinha added that Mayawati should go through the political history of BJP president Amit Shah before making any comment.

"He is very grounded leader and comes from a humble background and Mayawati has not struggled that much," he added.

Earlier, launching a scathing attack at Amit Shah over his 'Kasab' remark, Mayawati said, "there is no bigger 'Kasab' (terrorist) than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president."

The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh further said Amit Shah's Kasab statement shows the cheapness of the saffron party.

The BJP president drew flak from the opposition for devising 'KASAB' as an acronym for describing Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

"In the last fifteen years, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) governments have ruined Uttar Pradesh. The two were enough for destruction, however, a third one has also arrived. The population of UP must get rid of this KASAB, and by this I mean - 'Ka' for Congress, 'S' for SP and 'B' for...," Shah said while addressing a rally in Chauri Chaura.

While he didn't clearly mention the BSP, there was no denial from his side when the audience shouted 'BSP'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Namami Brahmaputra, a mega festival to begin soon on the the mighty river from Sadiya to Dhubri in 21 districts from March 31,which will promote economy, trade and commerce, culture, skill, industry and tourism, organizers said today.

"Brahmaputra is our culture, civilization, economy and lifeline. Namami Brahmaputra has been conceptualised to offer our collective gratitude to the mighty river which has given so much and which has potential to give much more for our development and prosperity," said ASTC MD Anand Prakash Tiwari,

"A number of states of the country have launched attractive and vibrant campaigns to create a positive perception and ecosystem for promotion of tourism and attracting investments. Through this festival, we are going to promote our state and our culture, custom, tradition, tourism, inland water potential, trade, investment option, commerce and industry etc," he said.

As part of the festival, team of government officials will visit all the state capitals and major cities. They will liaise with local tour operators, tourism departments of the respective states, industry bodies and will also organize road shows with students to generate awareness about Assam's culture and immense potential.

The officials will also hold media briefings at other state capitals, said Tiwari, who is visiting Lucknow for this purpose.

"The whole idea is to create a positive image of the state everywhere," he added.

The central function will be held at Guwahati while the opening ceremony will be on March 31 and the closing on April 4.

"We are doing the branding and promotion in all the major airports of country. We have given articles in flight magazines to promote our culture, potential and possibilities," he added.

The event will feature indigenous sports, cultural performances, business meets, seminars and symposiums, exhibitions, river ecosystem and interpretation zones, programmes related to history, tradition and legends etc.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maha Shivaratri which means the 'Great Night of Shiva' is being celebrated today as it is a festival celebrated annually in honour of lord Shiva.

There is a Shivaratri in every luni-solar month of the Hindu calendar, on the month's 13th night and 14th day, but once a year in late winter February or March, or Phalguna and before the arrival of spring marks Maha Shivaratri.

It marks a remembrance of overcoming darkness and ignorance in life and the world. It is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, doing Yoga and meditating on ethics and virtues such as self-restraint, honesty, noninjury to others, forgiveness and the discovery of Shiva.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deliberations on the Constitution Amendment Bill finally started on Thursday, almost three months after it was registered at the Parliament Secretariat and a month and a half after it was tabled in Parliament, following the main opposition CPN-UML's decision to stay neutral.

This comes as earlier during a meeting between Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Speaker Onasari Gharti and UML chairman KP Sharma Oli, it was decided that UML would let deliberations on the Constitution Amendment Bill move forward.

After the House sat on Thursday, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ajay Shankar Nayak tabled the Constitution of Nepal (Second Amendment) before House to consider for deliberations.

Of the nine parties in the UML-led opposition bloc, only Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party objected to the proposal and demanded that the constitution amendment bill be withdrawn.

The nine-party opposition bloc has been protesting against the amendment bill since it was first registered at the Parliament Secretariat on November 29. The government tabled the bill in Parliament on January 8 amid uproar from the opposition parties.

The opposition bloc since November-end had been obstructing House proceedings to block the bill.

Even though the UML allowed discussions on the constitution amendment bill on Thursday, its fate still continues to hang in the balance.

While speaking at Parliament after seeking special time, Subas Nembang, deputy leader of UML's Parliamentary Party, said that the opposition bloc was letting the House deliberate over the amendment bill "only for one day" and that it would not let the House endorse it. "The country should focus on local elections now," he said.

The government, which is under pressure from the Madhes-based parties to amend constitution, lacks the numbers to get the bill endorsed.

The Madhes-based parties had supported the Maoist-Congress alliance in forming the government after they were assured that their demand of constitution amendment will be addressed.

The next House meeting has been scheduled for March 2.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
'Anonymous' Messaging Apps Not Anonymous: Threats Will Get You Arrested

No, you cannot make threats online, and threats in games are not fine.

You can't threaten presidents on Twitter, and Snapchat threats aren't any fitter.

Your Facebook threats are not low-key, even if they're done with emojis.

Feds do not care if on "anonymous" apps you made it -- a threat to kill will get you raided.

Whisper Sweet Somethings

Garrett Grimsley may have thought his communications were private, having made them on a supposedly anonymous messaging app, Whisper. Grimsley, a resident of Cary, North Carolina, wrote to another user:

"Salam, some of you are alright ... don't go to Cary tomorrow ... For too long the kuffar have spit in our faces and trampled our rights ... This cannot continue. I cannot speak of anything. Say your dua, sleep, and watch the news tomorrow."

Then again, Grimsley might've known the messages weren't completely protected: stories of Whisper monitoring users have been around for years, and he later joked on Facebook that he expected to get "raided." And that's exactly what happened.

Hours after making the threats, FBI agents arrested Grimsley and seized his (only partially) encrypted computer along with an AK-47 and 340 rounds of ammunition. According to the criminal complaint against Grimsley (via Ars Technica):

The Facebook private messages between "Grimsley" and "Tim Tam" revealed a lengthy conversation indicating that they were both aware of the Whisper posts and that they were both expecting "Grimsley" to get "raided" by law enforcement. At one point, "Tim Tam" stated "we're going to be on CNN tomorrow god damnit" and later "I swear to god you're going to get a swat team". In an apparent reference to "Grimsley" spotting a law enforcement surveillance vehicle, "Grimsley" told "Tim Tam", "holy f**k I'm actually going to get raided."

Not So Anonymous

How did feds make it to Grimsley's doorstep so quickly? With the help of a cooperating witness (CW), most likely the other participant in Grimsley's Whisper chat. Ars Technica's Cyrus Farivar walks it through:

Presumably, the CW then informed federal and/or local police, who contacted Whisper. The company, as per its stated policy, says that it will comply with law enforcement requests for user data. That same policy says that the company does not retain any real name, address, or other kinds of personal information about its users but "may retain for a limited time certain IP addresses associated with a device that accessed Whisper." (The company did not respond to Ars' request for comment.) Whisper then handed over the IP logs to authorities, who then contacted the relevant providers including T-Mobile and Time Warner Cable. Those companies seemingly provided billing information for one Garrett Grimsley, including his home address.

So, to recap: threats to do harm are illegal, no matter where you make them; and you're never as anonymous on the internet as you think you are.

Related Resources:
North Korea denied responsibility for Kim Jong-nam's death and accussed the Malaysian authorities of fabricating evidence of Pyongyang's involvement under the influence of South Korea.

According to New York Times, North Korean Jurists Committee said that the greatest share of responsibility for the death "rests with the government of Malaysia" because he died there. And in what could be seen as a threat to Malaysia, the statement noted that North Korea is a "nuclear weapons state."

Earlier, Malaysia has asked Interpol to put out an alert for four missing North Korean suspects wanted in connection with the death of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters that the police had also formally requested an interview with the North Korean embassy's second secretary, who is wanted for questioning.

Kim Jong Nam died last Monday after a suspected poisoning while on his way to catch a flight to the Chinese territory of Macau from Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, ties between Malaysia and North Korea have deteriorated as the latter has furiously denied any involvement in Kim's death and blamed the Malaysian side for showing an unfriendly attitude in handling the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Asserting that Pakistan wants to have good ties with India, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said both sides should maintain good relations and avoid indulging in conspiracies against each other.

"We [Pakistan and India] should maintain good relations and avoid involving in conspiracies against each other," Sharif was quoted by Pakistan media, as saying.

Sharif told reporters that his party has ended the negative tradition in the country to adopt a policy of "India bashing" during the election campaign.

He said those who were upset with the progress of Pakistan were actually responsible for the recent terror attacks in the country.

Expressing confidence about eliminating terrorism at all costs, Sharif said, "With our firm resolve, we will defeat those who are not digesting Pakistan's success on different fronts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) refusing to certify Prakash Jha's upcoming film 'Lipstick Under My Burkha,' has started a string of angry responses from all around, with veteran director Shyam Benegal joining the angry chorus in slamming the development.

The 82 year-old-director told ANI, "I am totally against any kind of censorship of movies. Government has formed a committee under my leadership, we have submitted opposing censorship. To stop any film from releasing is not justifiable."

The statement comes after CBFC has refused to certify 'Lipstick Under My Burkha', for its reported sexual scenes, abusive words and audio pornography.

The movie's trailer had garnered praises from film fraternity for depicting the secrets of small-town women.

Bollywood celebrity, Farhan Akhtar also took to Twitter and expressed his disappointment over the decision.

The film won the Spirit of Asia Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality at the Mumbai Film Festival. It will be screened in Glasgow on Friday.

This is not the first time CBFC has refused to certify a film. Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer 'Haraamkhor' was refused certificate for depicting an illicit relationship between a school teacher and his teenage student.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

Prime Minister Modi earlier in the day unveiled a 112-foot tall bust of Adiyogi Shiva at the Isha Foundation at the foothills of Velliangiri mountains.

Palaniswami along with Governor Ch. Vidhyasagar Rao was also present to witness the unveiling ceremony of the Shiva statue.

This was the first time that Palaniswami met Modi after swearing-in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday lambasted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for being unable to stop the leaks to the media and directed them to find the leakers right away.

In a series of tweets on Friday, the President said, " The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even......"

"find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW".

Trump has several times lambasted the damaging leaks that have beleaguered his administration especially the ones including reports of former national security advisor Michael Flynn's contact with a Russian ambassador that led to the his resignation.

Earlier, Trump had expressed concern over the leaks saying the classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy which he described as "Very un-American".

His latest lash back comes amid reports that The FBI rejected a White House request to knock down media reports about communications between President Donald Trump's associates and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that his immigration policy is going to save 'countless American lives' as immigration officials are finding drug dealers and criminals and 'throwing them the hell out of' the country'.

According to Fox News, Trump made the remarks while addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.

Trump on putting America first said that there is no such thing as a 'global flag.'

"I'm not representing the globe. I'm representing your country," he said.

Earlier in the week, Following through on Trump's promise of tightening the borders and putting a stop to illegal immigration, the United States administration announced new directives under which undocumented migrants will be an enforcement priority, however, insisting the measures are not intended to produce "mass deportations."

Under the new directives, ehe Secretary of Homeland Security is to hire an additional 5,000 border agents and to empower state and local law enforcement to support federal enforcement of immigration law.

At the platform Trump also vowed to 'protect the Second Amendment' which reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

He added, "We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump described his administration's moves to deport illegal immigrants as a military operation.

Trump has used a series of executive orders to chip away at the barriers to deportations and hire new law enforcement officials to spearhead the effort, using the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) to live up to the President's tough talk on undocumented immigration during the 2016 campaign.

"We're getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before and they're the bad ones. And it's a military operation." CNN quoted Trump as saying.

Under the administration's guidelines, any immigrant who is convicted, charged or suspected of a crime is considered a priority for removal.

That is a break from Obama administration policy, which focused on serious criminals, recent border crossers and suspected terrorist

Earlier, following through on Trump's promise of tightening the borders and putting a stop to illegal immigration, the United States administration announced new directives under which undocumented migrants will be an enforcement priority, however, insisting the measures are not intended to produce "mass deportations."

The Department of Homeland Security has released memos regarding the implementation of two of the President's executive orders that are designed to protect the homeland.

These two memos provide explicit guidance to DHS staff on how to carry out two executive orders signed by the President on January 25th- one dealing with interior enforcement and one with border security.

Trump had taken a hard line against illegal immigration during his campaign, at times suggesting he would seek to create a nationwide "deportation force" to expel as many of the nation's millions of unauthorized immigrants as possible.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump expressed that he wants to expand America's nuclear arsenal adding that the country has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity.

According to the Independent, Trump said it would allow the US to stay at the "top of the pack" and expressed concern that America has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity".

He also hinted at a change of course from Washington on America's involvement in a new strategic arms limitation treaty.

Repeating a phrase often used by the President to criticise trade pacts, the former property tycoon said the latest non-proliferation arrangement was a "one-sided deal".

Under the New Start treaty US and Russia must limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to equal levels for 10 years by February 2018.

It also permits both countries to have no more than 800 deployed and non-deployed land-based intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and heavy bombers equipped to carry nuclear weapons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The White House on Friday blocked several news organisations from an off-camera press briefing, raising alarm among the First Amendment watchdogs.

CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and BuzzFeed were barred from attending the meeting, held by White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

The administration, however, defended its move, citing they had 'the pool there, so, everyone would be respresented and get an update'.

Both CNN and the Times protested the decision.

"This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House. Apparently, this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don't like. We'll keep reporting regardless," CNN said in a statement.

The White House Correspondents Association, the Associated Press and Time magazine have protested the move.

This development came hours after US President Trump mocked the news media at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He said that much of the press represents "the enemy of the people."

"They are the enemy of the people because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none," he said.
Two firefighters were killed and two others injured when a cooking gas cylinder exploded while they were extinguishing a blaze at a food and snacks shop here on Friday morning.

The incident took place around 5.35 a.m. at Lal Market in west Delhi's Vikaspuri.

"Five firetenders were rushed to Vikaspuri in response to an emergency call. There was a minor fire in a food and snacks shop. But an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder exploded when our men were busy dousing the flames," a Delhi Fire Service official told IANS.

Hari Singh Meena, 55, died on the spot while his colleague Hariom, 56, died hours later from his injuries at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital.

Firemen Naveen and Ravinder received minor injuries in the incident and they are being treated at B.L. Kapur Memorial Hospital.

--IANS

rak/ksk/vt

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Texas Teen Not Facing Charges for Shooting a Bald Eagle

The bald eagle is the national bird, and due to this status, as well as its general majesty, receives much deference from patriots, bird-lovers, and even the law. One Texas teen is learning about the later the hard way.

Seventeen-year-old Orlando Delgado was recently charged with a misdemeanor for hunting on property without the landowner's consent, despite having admitted to shooting the bald eagle, not once, but several times. Perhaps being so brave and honest when law enforcement arrived on the scene may have garnered the youngster some leniency. The young man should consider himself rather fortunate, as the penalty for killing a bald eagle is certainly more severe than merely hunting without a landowner's consent.

No Excuses for Shooting the National Bird

While prosecutions for killing bald eagles are relatively rare, judges are generally unforgiving, even when they believe the shooter was either drunk or just stupid, or both. As one defendant in Maine learned, mistaking a bald eagle for another type of bird is no excuse, especially if the other bird is also illegal to shoot.

Protections for Bald Eagles

Although bald eagles are no longer considered an endangered, or even a threatened, species, they have had legal protections for over 100 years now under US law.

The Lacey Act of 1900 was passed in order to make it a federal offense to kill, capture, buy or sell a bald eagle, eggs, or nest.

The Migratory Bird Act of 1918 prohibits the killing, taking, capturing, selling and buying of certain migratory birds, including eagles, their eggs and nests.

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 was passed in order to provide additional protections and even harsher penalties after the bald eagle was listed as an endangered species.

Currently, the biggest threat to bald eagles, apart from being shot, appears to be from wind farms. Apparently, the massive turbines kill thousands of birds every year, and not just eagles, due to the speeds at which the windmills' spin. However, the windfarm industry is able to purchase government permits that will allow their machines to kill eagles.

Related Resources:
At least 42 people were killed in a car bombing in a Syrian village on Friday, a British war monitor said on Friday.

Dozens were wounded in the bombing in Sousian, located north of the Syrian town of al-Bab. The blast hit a security checkpoint controlled by rebels fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner, Efe news reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) warned that the death toll could increase in the next few hours because of the number of people seriously wounded in the attack.

The war monitor also noted that among the dead are rebel fighters from Operation Euphrates Shield, who with the support of Turkish forces, took control on Thursday of al-Bab, a stronghold of the Islamic State (IS) terror group in Aleppo.

Over 100 people have been killed since the start of the operation, according to SOHR.

--IANS

soni/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 60 people were killed in a car bombing in a Syrian village on Friday, a British war monitor said on Friday.

The suicide bombing that rocked the town of Susian, in said to be targeting Turkey-backed rebels, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the causalities were rebels.

The IS group announced its withdrawal from al-Bab, came after 100 days of battles against the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels fighting in an operation called the Euphrates Shield.

The Syrian army succeeded recently to besiege al-Bab from its southern edge, a move to prevent IS fighters to withdraw toward other stronghold in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, the de facto capital of IS.

--IANS

vgu/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man, who was critically injured in a road accident in West Bengal, died on Thursday night due to "inadequate treatment" and "delayed release" by a private hospital, as it did not allow his shifting to a state-run hospital unless the family paid up the full amount, the kin alleged on Friday.

It came only a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday pulled up city-based private hospitals for "unethical money-making".

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Madan Mitra intervened to ensure a refund of the paid bill and warned the hospital in question -- Apollo Gleneagles.

Thirty-year-old Sanjoy Roy, a resident of Dankuni in Hooghly district, was critically injured in a road accident on February 16. He was admitted to the Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals here where he was put on ventilator on the pretext of a CT scan, Roy's kin alleged.

He was later shifted to the state-run SSKM Hospital, where he breathed his last. His family has alleged that Apollo delayed Roy's release demanding full payment of the bill.

In a showdown with the hospital management over phone, which was aired live on television, a former Bengal minister warned Rana Dasgupta, Chief Operating Officer of the hospital, to be ready to face "worse circumstances" given Banerjee's scanner on private healthcare establishments.

Incidentally, Banerjee had pointed out on Wednesday that maximum complaints regarding excess billing were against Apollo.

"Will you refund the entire money? Ok... but this does not excuse the 'paap' (sin). The ball has started rolling and I can't assure you that you will be excused. I am not a member of the Cabinet and the final decision rests with the CM. But I think you are going to face worse circumstances," Mitra told Dasgupta.

Mitra dubbed the hospital management as "arrogant".

"They are arrogant. They always threaten they will shut down and around 50,000 jobs will be lost. They are blood suckers. Have you seen 'Dracula'," he later told onlookers.

Dasgupta justified Roy being put on ventilator.

"He had to be put on ventilator, as his condition was very serious, else he wouldn't have survived even that long. Without CT scan, how we would know what is wrong? This is a clinical fact," he said.

Roy's wife questioned why her husband was never removed from the ventilator.

"He was a bit aggressive because of erratic sodium level due to liver injury. He was tied up. They made me sign a bond for the CT scan. We were then told that my husband was put on ventilator to stabilise the heart. But then he was never removed from ventilator," Roy's wife said.

Apollo Gleneagles said the billed amount was over Rs 7 lakh and Roy's family said they were able to pay around Rs 4.33 lakh initially.

Since the bill had gone up, the family decided to shift Roy to the state-run Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (S.S.K.M. Hospital) hospital. They approached Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee to expedite the process and were able to secure a bed.

However, the private hospital authorities refused to release the patient, as Roy's kin had failed to pay the total billed amount.

"We informed them about the shifting. We told them that, in the meantime, we are arranging the money. But they refused to let go of the patient, saying we had to pay the rest of the bill. They delayed release due to the money issue.

"We told them about the CM pulling up hospitals but they persisted with their demand. They clearly told us 'we receive four to five such cases daily and this is nothing to us'. We told the management also but they reiterated their demand for paying the total billed amount," a family member said.

It was only after depositing of cheque and fixed deposit certificate at the private hospital that they released Roy. He was moved to SSKM Hospital on Thursday evening where he subsequently succumbed.

Roy's childhood friend accused the hospital authorities of "inadequate treatment and providing insufficient information".

"They didn't inform us properly about what was wrong with him. They made his wife sign a bond to do a CT scan and left him for four hours. It was only when we pushed and questioned them as to why Ray's CT scan was still not carried out, they proceeded with it.

"They put him on ventilator, saying CT scan report is fine, it shows water in lungs. Every day we heard different things regarding his health condition. I lost my childhood friend due to inadequate treatment, medical negligence and absence of humanity," Roy's friend said.

Mitra, who reached SSKM Hospital on Friday noon, in a vitriolic attack over the phone against the Apollo Hospital management, likened it to a crematorium.

"It is better to shut down the hospital than developing it into a crematorium. Very unfortunate. Tell Rupali (Basu), the CEO of the hospital, we will be very happy to shut it down. Our Keoratala cremation ground is better than your hospital. Are you the rulers of Bengal," Mitra thundered.

--IANS

sgh/nir/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The state government will ensure that all protection is given to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan when he arrives in Mangaluru on Saturday to take part in a communal harmony rally of the CPI-M, a Karnataka Minister said.

Mangaluru lies close to the Kasaragod district in Kerala, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a fairly good support base. Hindu outfits and Sangh Parivar had announced that Vijayan will not be allowed to visit Mangaluru.

Those opposing the visit of the Kerala Chief Minister are agitated about the attacks on and killings of BJP/RSS activists in Kannur after Vijayan assumed office in May last year.

Speaking to media on Friday, Karnataka Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U.T. Khader said none can prevent the Kerala Chief Minister from visiting Mangaluru.

"We will ensure that the visit takes place and none is going to do anything to prevent him going ahead with it. All the security arrangements will be in place," Khader added.

Ever since Vijayan's visit to Mangaluru to take part in the communal harmony rally, organised by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), was announced, Hindu outfits and Sangh Parivar had warned that he will not be allowed to participate in the event.

The Mangaluru police have also geared up for the event and around 4,000 policemen have been drafted to ensure that there is no security problem.

Vijayan is not a stranger to Sangh Parivar's ire -- in December last year, while on a visit to Bhopal, he had to return from a meeting of Kerala-based organisations there after angry RSS and Bajrang Dal activists blockaded his path.

--IANS

sg/sm/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Perked by its success in the Maharashtra civic polls, the BJP has decided to use it for a "major political push" to further its prospects in the remaining three crucial rounds of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party strategists say the Maharashtra poll outcome is "certain to boost our prospects" in the Hindi heartland state.

The BJP on Thursday finished neck-and-neck with the Shiv Sena in the race for control of India's richest and biggest civic body, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, and also grabbed eight other civic corporations in Maharashtra.

BJP state unit General Secretary Vijay Pathak confirmed to IANS that the ongoing polls were "indeed set to get a big fillip" in favour of the party.

"In the first four rounds, we have done exceedingly well and now that the BJP has shown great results in Maharashtra, it is but natural that our mission of 300-plus seats will be boosted," he said.

Pathak also pointed out that Maharashtra has a sizable presence of people from Poorvanchal and it was only natural that "the winds of change will blow from Mumbai to Poorvanchal which is yet to go to polls".

Party insiders said that so far they were "edgy" about the impact of demonetisation on the Uttar Pradesh polls, but now the tide was changing in their favour.

It is learned that BJP chief Amit Shah has told the state unit to milk the victories of the party both in Odisha and Maharashtra civic polls as an example before the "UP electorate".

Shah said the party should highlight the "tight embrace of the BJP by people", especially after demonetisation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been referring to the poll results in Gujarat, Chandigarh, Faridabad and Odisha in his election rallies.

The big Maharashtra win will now find mention in his speeches as he pitches for a full majority in Uttar Pradesh, which in the 2014 general elections sent 71 BJP lawmakers to the Lok Sabha.

The BJP now wants the undecided voters or the fence-sitters to swing the saffron way.

"There are many seats where a small margin of one or two per cent can make or break the fate of our candidates. We now are working to ensure that it comes our way," says a senior BJP leader, working in Poorvanchal.

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)

--IANS

md/in/vt

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bitonto (Italy), Feb 24 (IANS/AKI) Police on Friday impounded pizzerias, restaurants and other property in Italy's southern Puglia region belonging to convicted mafia member Emanuele Sicolo.

Also seized from 46-year-old Sicolo were businesses in the service sector, apartments, cars and financial assets, police said.

The operation came after an investigation by tax police that uncovered glaring discrepancies between the low earnings declared by Sicolo and the investments he made over the past 10 years, investigators said.

Sicolo was arrested in 2016 during an operation that targeted a mafia extortion racket based in Puglia's regional capital, Bari, headed by longtime local crime boss Savinuccio Parisi.

The extortion racket targeted business in Bari and outlying areas.

Sicolo has been found guilty of a range of crimes including mafia association, murder, drugs trafficking, possessing illegal arms, theft and robbery.

--IANS/AKI

vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 15-member delegation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army visited the headquarters here of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army, an official said.

The visit is intended to enhance the bilateral defence cooperation mechanism between the Armed Forces of India and China, said an official statement.

The delegation, which arrived in New Delhi on February 21, held meetings with Army officials in the national capital. It also visited Agra before coming to the Indian Army's Eastern Command headquarters.

In Kolkata, the team interacted with Lieutenant General Dushyant Singh, Chief of Staff, at the Eastern Command Headquarters, followed by a meeting with the Eastern Command delegation.

The visit is in continuation of the enhanced engagements between the two Armies, which also saw Western Theatre Commander General Zhao Zongqi visiting India in December 2016.

The delegation from Western Theatre Command of People's Liberation Army is being led by Major General Zhao Jin Song, Vice Chief of Staff of Headquarter Western Theatre Command, Chengdu, China.

--IANS

ao/gsh/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An uncharacteristically flamboyant photograph of Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar baring his upper torso in a forest resort pool has gone viral on social media.

The image of Parsekar staring contemplatively into emptiness, from the infinity swimming pool was uploaded via the Chief Minister's official Facebook account late on Thursday night.

The normally conservatively attired leader had to endure a brief spell of trolling following the upload given the caption accompanying the photo, which was later edited.

The first caption, which accompanied Parsekar's now-viral photo, quizzed his followers playfully. "Relaxing after elections. Guess who? Guess where?"

However, this was enough for his critics to have a go at him.

"Soon ul rest forever," said Ankit Salgaonkar on his timeline. While others like Rahul Matias de Lemos suggested that the Chief Minister should "develop six pack abs".





Soon after the criticism, the photo caption was edited to read "Communing with nature. A refreshing experience".

Not all who commented were trolls though, with many well-wishers also stating that the brief holiday which Parsekar was currently enjoying along with his family was a deserving one, especially after a gruelling election campaign.

There were also others who wished him good luck in anticipation of a victory on March 11, when the votes polled for the state Assembly were scheduled to be counted.
Google's self-driving car company Waymo has filed a lawsuit against global ride-hailing app Uber for allegedly stealing trade secrets and technology from it.

The lawsuit, filed against Uber's self-driving vehicle unit Otto that it bought last year for $680 million, argued that former Waymo manager Anthony Levandowski took information when he left the company and later co-founded Otto in January 2016, Vox reported on Friday.

"Recently, we uncovered evidence that Otto and Uber have taken and are using key parts of Waymo's self-driving technology. Today, we're taking legal action against Otto and its parent company Uber for misappropriating Waymo trade secrets and infringing our patents," Waymo wrote in a blog post.

The company said that it found that six weeks before his resignation, Levandowski downloaded over 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary design files for Waymo's various hardware systems, including designs of Waymo's custom-built "Light Detection and Ranging" (LiDAR) and circuit board.

"To gain access to Waymo's design server, Levandowski searched for and installed specialised software onto his company-issued laptop. Once inside, he downloaded 9.7GB of Waymo's highly confidential files and trade secrets, including blueprints, design files and testing documentation," the company noted.

Levandowski copied the data to an external drive. He later wiped and reformatted the laptop in an attempt to erase forensic fingerprints.

"We discovered that other former Waymo employees, now at Otto and Uber, downloaded additional highly confidential information pertaining to our custom-built LiDAR, including supplier lists, manufacturing details and statements of work with highly technical information," the company said.

Waymo said that given the overwhelming facts that their technology was stolen, they had no choice but to defend their investment and development of this unique technology.

Meanwhile, Uber said it has taken the allegations seriously and would review the matter carefully.
Hospital Sued for Deaths Linked to Mold Outbreak

You'd like to think that a hospital would be one of the most clean, sterile environments around, considering it is where so many people go to get treatment for infections. And you'd also think that, of all the clean, sterile places within a hospital, its bedrooms, complete with clean sheets and linens, would be high on the list. But according to recent lawsuits, that wouldn't be the case, at least for a few Pittsburgh-area hospitals.

Two wrongful death lawsuits had already been filed against two University of Pittsburgh Medical Center hospitals, linking five deaths to heavy mold growth found in the hospitals' linens. And now a third lawsuit claims mold outbreak has taken another life.

Dirty Laundry

According to an internal report from the university hospital system, the five previous deaths were linked to a mold outbreak due to contaminated linens at two UPMC hospitals, Presbyterian and Montefiore. Although the investigation was conducted in May of last year, the report did not become public until last month when it was submitted by UPMC lawyers as the two previously filed wrongful death lawsuits.

The latest lawsuit alleges another patient, John Haines, contracted a fatal rhizopus-positive pneumonia infection within hours of being admitted at a third UPMC hospital to undergo chemotherapy treatments. Sadly, Shadyside Hospital sent Haines a letter on the morning he died, acknowledging that he had developed an infection and recommending Haines reach out to UPMC's Infection Prevention and Control Department.

The medical center and plaintiffs have also pointed the finger at the company contracted to provide the hospitals with their linens, Paris Healthcare Linen Service. Allegedly, investigators found the same deadly mold at Paris's laundry facility.

Infection Liability

Hospitals can be held liable for infectious outbreaks. Hospital staff is responsible for maintaining a sterile working environment, ensuring clean and sterile linens, and properly maintaining and cleaning diagnostic and surgical equipment. If they fail to do this and a patient contracts an infection, the patient may be able to sue the hospital.

Proving hospital liability in infection cases can be difficult, however, as tracking an infection and its cause is tricky. Leave that part to the experts -- if you've been injured while staying at a hospital, contact an experienced personal injury attorney.

Related Resources:
A highly-toxic agent was used in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the Malaysian police said on Friday.

Kim died last week after a suspected poisoning while on his way to catch a flight to Macau from the Kuala Lumpur Airport.

Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement that the chemical was identified as the VX nerve agent and was found on swabs taken from Kim's eyes and face, The Star newspaper reported.

The nerve agent used to kill Kim is considered an extremely toxic substance and is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the UN. Bakar said that one of the two women who staged the attack became unwell as a result of poisoning from the same chemical.

The authorities said they intend to decontaminate the Kuala Lumpur Airport and areas the suspects were known to have visited, according to the report.

Bakar said other exhibits were still under analysis and that the police were investigating how the banned substance might have entered Malaysia.

"If the amount of the chemical brought in was small, it would be difficult for us to detect," he said.

According to the police chief, a Vietnamese woman and an Indonesian woman wiped a liquid on Kim's face and later washed their hands and fled the scene.

His body remains in the hospital's mortuary, amid a diplomatic dispute over who should claim it.

Malaysia said it was clearly an attack by North Korean agents. Four people are in custody, including one North Korean and the two women Kim interacted with at the airport, according to reports.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that according to embassy documents the body was of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother, but North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia denied the dead man's identity.

Pyongyang said that Malaysia was responsible for the death of one of its citizens. It also accused Malaysia of trying to politicise the return of his body, saying its insistence on securing DNA samples from Kim's family before handing the body over was "absurd".
After Eman Ahmed Abdelaty, the Egyptian woman weighing 500 kg who is here for a weight reduction programme, expressed desire to dance with Hrithik Roshan once she can stand on her feet, the actor has said he'd love the experience.

As Hrithik learnt about her wish, he said in a statement: "I would love to dance with Eman. In fact, I am eager to meet her once I am back in India."

A team of doctors are working on Emam, who needs to undergo bariatric surgery. Hrithik's mother had recently donated Rs 10 lakh towards it, and his sister Sunaina had even paid a visit to the 36-year-old patient.

Emam's sister told Sunaina that the former hopes to dance with Hrithik once she is able to do so.

Hrithik, who keeps stressing on the importance of positive thinking, said: "Through her fight against life threatening obesity, she has an opportunity of inspiring millions of people.

"Once she is done with her treatment, I surely would accept this dance challenge and would love to lose to her. But before that happens, we all need to support her in every manner in this fight."

--IANS

rb/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ignoring Indian talent and attaching too much importance to the workforce from the US and Europe is China's mistake, a Chinese daily said on Friday.

However, the editorial in Global Times caustically said it was way cheaper to hire Indians as "the cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker".

The paper said wooing high-tech talent from India would help China in innovation.

"China has perhaps not been working hard enough to attract science and technology talent from India to work in the country," it said.

"Over the past few years, China witnessed an unprecedented boom in tech jobs as the country became an attractive destination for foreign research and development centres.

"China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe."

Citing some reports, the paper said: "The cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker, which means Indians could see their revenue more than double if they came to work in China.

"However, now some high-tech firms are turning their attention from China to India due to the latter's relatively low labour costs. Attracting high-tech talent from India could be one of China's options for maintaining its innovation ability."

It cited how an American software firm had shut its research and development team of 300 people unit and set up a unit in India with some 2,000 professionals.

"With a sufficient young talent pool, India is becoming increasingly attractive.

"China cannot afford to risk a decline in its attractiveness for high-tech investors. The nation is among the third echelon in cutting-edge technology fields and is working to catch up with the US and the result of its efforts will decide whether China will maintain its status as an emerging global economic power."

It said China's talent pool was not large and flexible enough to meet demand for the rapid expansion of innovation capability.

"Some enterprises in Guizhou province provide convenience for Indian talent in terms of housing, insurance and transportation who could enjoy a much better standard of living in (China) than in Bangalore."

--IANS

gsh/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said Islamabad and New Delhi should maintain friendly and good relations, media reported on Friday.

"We [Pakistan and India] should maintain good relations and avoid involving in conspiracies against each other," Dawn news quoted Sharif as saying.

Speaking to media during his Turkey visit, he said his party did not adopt a policy of "India bashing".

He also expressed gratitude to Turkey "for its support on the Kashmir issue and also for its stance on Pakistan's inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group", the report added.

On the recent incidents of terrorism in Pakistan, Sharif blamed "elements" upset with the "progress of Pakistan" and expressed his government's resolve to eliminate terrorism at all costs.

"With our firm resolve, we will defeat those who are not digesting Pakistan's success on different fronts," he was quoted as saying.

Sharif also said Afghanistan's soil was being used against Pakistan, adding that he was in favour of stability in that country as it also in Pakistan's own interest.

--IANS

ruwa/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Indian engineer was killed and another injured by an American who mistook them for "Middle Easterners" and yelled "Get out of my country" before shooting them at a bar.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on Wednesday night.

Ian Grillot, 24, an American who tried to save the Indians, was also shot at, media reports quoted police as saying. Grillot was recovering in a hospital while Madasani was discharged.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) called it a hate crime.

Police said Purinton, 51, fired multiple rounds and fled the bar. He was arrested on Thursday morning in Clinton city in neighbouring Missouri state when a bartender told police that he had bragged about killing "two Middle Eastern men", The Kansas City Star reported.

The killer has been charged with first-degree murder.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke said.

Kuchibhotla hailed from Hyderabad while Madasani is from Warangal town in Telangana. They were aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

Kuchibhotla is survived by his wife, Sunayana, in the US. She also works in Kansas. Madasani's wife is five months pregnant.

According to his profile on LinkedIn, Kuchibhotla graduated from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad in 2005. Madasani is a graduate of the Vasavi College of Engineering in Hyderabad.

Kuchibhotla's family in India was in shock and sought help from the state and central governments to bring home his body.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday expressed "heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family" and said she had spoken to the Indian ambassador, Navtej Sarna.

The Minister said Consul R.D. Joshi had rushed from Houston to Kansas and Vice Consul Harpal Singh was also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas.

They would meet the injured Madasani and help in flying back the mortal remains of Kuchibhotla.

According to The Star, federal officials were investigating if the attack was a hate crime.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) said the killing was "the first reported bias-motivated fatality in the US after the bitter Presidential election" that catapulted Donald Trump to office.

"We call upon the US Department of Justice and local law enforcement to investigate this murder as what it is, a hate crime," said Jay Kansara, the HAF Director of Government Relations.

The killing of the innocent engineer triggered dismay in India.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said he was saddened to learn about the attack.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page created to collect money to help Kuchibhotla's family crossed its $150,000 goal, raising nearly $250,000 in 11 hours.

More than 6,700 people, including Americans, donated $248,404 on the page created by Kuchibhotla's friend Kavipriya Muthuramalingam.

Kuchibhotla is the second youth from Telangana to be killed in the US in February.

Software engineer Vamshi Reddy Mamidala was shot dead by an alleged drug addict in Milpitas, California, on February 10, in the garage of his apartment building.

--IANS

al-ms-soni/mr/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday expressed shock over the shooting incident in the US in which an Indian-origin man was killed and another injured, and said that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to the state of Kansas where the incident took place.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani were shot at a bar in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night by a former Navy serviceman who mistook them for "Middle Easterners". Kuchibhotla died in the shooting.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family," Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

Swaraj said she had spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Navtej Sarna and that "two Indian embassy officials have rushed to Kansas".

According to her, "Alok Madasani, who was injured in the incident, has been discharged from the hospital".

During the incident an American, who tried to intervene, also received injuries, a External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

"The deceased and the injured person are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe," he said.

"Consul R.D. Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. Vice Consul Harpal Singh is also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas."

According to the spokesperson,the Indian officials will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased and be in touch with local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action.

"They will also meet the community members in Kansas," Swarup said.

The attacker, identified as Adam Purinton, mistook the Indians for "Middle Easterners" and reportedly yelled "get out of my country".

Ian Grillot, 24, was injured when he tried to intervene to save the Indians.

Kuchibhotla hailed from Hyderabad while Madasani hails from Warangal town in Telangana. They were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

--IANS

ab/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The apex body of six insurgent groups in Manipur, the Coordinating Committee (Corcom) has imposed a curfew from 6 a.m. on Saturday.

Corcom said that the curfew shall remain effective till Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves Imphal after his electioneering.

Police said that security measures have been beefed up to ensure that there is no law and order problem during the one hour visit of the Prime Minister.

The Corcom statement levels serious charges against the Indian government including driving a wedge between the communities who have been living in peace and harmony for generations.

Members of public are asked not to venture out during the curfew. However media and those in essential services will be exempt.

The established insurgent groups in Manipur have always boycotted visits of the central dignitaries. Police said, "During such curfews people usually stayed indoors and did not stick out their necks."

There was always a thin attendance in the public functions. There are also some stray violent incidents to drive the message home that the boycott call should not be taken lightly.

Ruling Congress has been saying in election meetings that during his visit Modi should spell out the details the framework agreement New Delhi had signed with the NSCN(IM). Students and women activists have been demanding the disclosure of the details of the agreement.

--IANS

il/vgu/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As many as 100 top rallyists from around the country will be vying for the top honours when the Biswa Bangla JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 5 gets underway here on Saturday.

Scheduled over five days and 1,250 km, the event will have its flag-off here on Saturday but the drive shall begin on Sunday. This is India's first tri-nation rally.

The rallyists will have to navigate through the mountains in Darjeeling hills and various picturesque routes in Bhutan and Nepal.

The format of the rally will be TSD (Time, Speed and Distance).

The JK HD-5 will cover a variety of terrain, ranging from tarmac, river beds, dirt tracks, forest paths and mountainous roads. It will skirt steep slopes which is set to challenge the skill of the participants and can be dangerous too.

Among others, national TSD champions Asgar Ali and Mohammed Mustafa, Nirav Mehta and Subir Roy and Saurav Chatterjee will be pitting themselves against the natural terrain as well as each other for glory.

On the first day, the rallyists will drive through North Bengal's forests before hitting the mountain road to Paro in Bhutan.

The going will get tougher on the second day when they will go to Dochula Pass, situated at an altitude of 3100 metres, going past Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. They will then return to the town of Paro.

The rallyists drive back from Paro through the Dooars on the third day, and climb up the hills to reach Darjeeling. The fourth leg of the rally, on March 1, will see them driving from Darjeeling to Hile in eastern Nepal.

The last leg will have them driving from Hile back to Siliguri, where the gala prize distribution ceremony will take place.

--IANS

dm/tri/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kashmiri youth picked up arms "for a cause" and they can not be intimidated with death threats, former Union Minister and state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said on Friday.

Addressing party workers at the Nawa-i-Subha headquarters of the National Conference, Abdullah said: "They are not afraid of death nor can they be intimidated with the threat because they have handed themselves over to Allah's will."

He said that they did not pick up guns to become MLAs, MPs or ministers, adding that "our generation was deceived, but the fight for our rights has been on since 1931".

The veteran politician blamed both India and Pakistan for not understanding the basic reality of the struggle people in Kashmir have been waging and the travails they have been suffering.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Abdullah said "his words should be for unity and not for division".

--IANS

sq/ahm/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man who was critically injured in a road accident in West Bengal died on Thursday night due to "inadequate treatment" by a private hospital, which had also refused to allow the kin to shift him to a state-run hospital unless they paid up the full amount, the family alleged on Friday.

The incident comes two days after state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pulled up city-based private hospitals for "unethical money making".

Trinamool Congress leader Madan Mitra ordered the hospital to "immediately" arrange a refund of the billed amount.

Sanjoy Roy, 30, resident of Dankuni, was critically injured in a road accident on February 16. He was admitted to the Apollo Gleneagles hospital here where he was put on ventilation on the "pretext" of a CT scan, his kin claimed.

"He was a bit aggressive because of erratic sodium level due to liver injury. He was tied up. They made me sign a bond for the CT scan. We were then told that my husband was put on ventilation to stabilise the heart. But then he was never removed from ventilation," Roy's wife said.

The family claimed that in six days of hospitalisation at Apollo Gleneagles, the patient was billed an amount of Rs 6,41,000. Roy's family said they were able to pay up around Rs 4.33 lakh initially.

Since the bill had gone up, the family decided to shift Roy to state-run Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (S.S.K.M. Hospital) hospital. They approached Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee to expedite the process and were able to secure a bed.

However, the private hospital authorities refused to release the patient, as Roy's kin had failed to pay the total billed amount.

"We informed them about the shift. We told them in the meantime we are arranging for the money. But they refused to let go of the patient saying we had to pay up the rest of the bill. They delayed release is due to the money issue.

"We told them about about Chief Minister pulling up hospitals but they persisted with their demand. They clearly told us 'We receive four to five such cases daily and this is nothing to us'. We told the management also but they reiterated their demand for paying up the total billed amount," a family member said.

It was only after the family deposited cheques and fixed deposit certificates did the hospital release Roy. He was moved to SSKM on Thursday evening where he subsequently died.

Roy's childhood friend accused the hospital authorities of "inadequate treatment and providing insufficient information".

"They didn't inform us properly about what was wrong with him. They made his wife sign a bond to do a CT scan and left him for four hours. It was only when we pushed and questioned them as to why Ray's CT scan was still not carried out, they proceeded with it. They put him on ventilation saying the CT scan report is fine, it shows water in the lungs. Every day we heard different things regarding his health condition. I lost my childhood friend due to inadequate treatment, medical negligence and absence of humanity," Roy's friend alleged.

Mitra who reached SSKM on Saturday noon spoke to the Apollo management over the phone from the spot.

"It is better to shut down the hospital rather than developing it into a crematorium. Very unfortunate. Tell Rupali (Basu), the CEO of the hospital. We will be very happy to shut it down. Our Keoratala cremation ground is better than your hospital. Are you the rulers of Bengal," Mitra thundered.

--IANS

sgh/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trump Administration Rescinds Guidance on Bathroom Use for Transgender Students

Last year, amid a flurry of legal action and confusion, educators, parents, and students around the country requested guidance from the Department of Education on bathroom policies for transgender students. The Obama administration issued that guidance in May, asserting that public schools receiving federal funds must treat students according to their gender identity (not necessarily their sex), and failure to do so would amount to sex discrimination in violation of Title IX. This means students must be given access to bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity.

The Trump Administration rescinded those guidelines this week, yet declined to issue any new directives. That means it will likely be up to the courts to decide the issue.

Colleagues

The two-page "Dear Colleague" letter from the Trump's Department of Education and Department of Justice overturns previous letters from the Obama Administration, claiming they failed to "contain extensive legal analysis or explain how the position is consistent with the express language of Title IX, nor did they undergo any formal public process."

While Title IX bans sex discrimination in education, whether those protections extend to a person's gender identity has been contested legally and politically. Obama-era instructions, from federal hiring of contractors to workplace bathroom access, consistently held that discrimination based on transgender status or gender identity amounted to sex discrimination under federal law.

But new Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that the Obama guidelines "did not contain sufficient legal analysis or explain how the interpretation was consistent with the language of Title IX." Therefore the Justice and Education departments "decided to withdraw and rescind the above-referenced guidance documents in order to further and more completely consider the legal issues involved."

Courts

Absent any new guidance from the Trump Administration, that consideration will likely happen in the courts. The Obama guidelines were put on hold after thirteen states led by Texas sued and a federal court in Texas issued a nationwide injunction blocked their full implementation. There is also a case pending in the Supreme Court regarding a transgender boy's access to male bathrooms in school. Oral arguments in that case are scheduled for March 28.

Related Resources:
French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has refused a police interview about her alleged misuse of EU funds.

The far-right leader denied wrongdoing and claimed that the allegations were a plot to derail her campaign, BBC reported on Friday.

On Wednesday, Le Pen's personal assistant Catherine Griset was placed under police investigation over allegations that her National Front (FN) party defrauded the European Parliament of more than 300,000 euros ($321,000).

"I will not respond [to the summons] during the election campaign," said Le Pen on Friday.

"During this period, there cannot be the neutrality or calm necessary for the justice system to function properly," she added.

According to the reports, Le Penn used the European Parliament funding to pay the salary of Griset as well as her bodyguard Thierry Legier for jobs in France rather than at the European Parliament.

Griset is also close friend of Le Pen as well as her cabinet director. Le Pen's bodyguard was also detained on Wednesday, but later released.

A deadline to repay the money elapsed at the end of January, BBC reported.

Le Pen said then that she had no intention of complying, and as a European member of parliament police cannot force her into questioning.

She has repeatedly claimed that she is a victim of a politically-motivated vendetta.

--IANS

soni/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An elderly man on Friday stabbed himself while Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was speaking at the opening of an exhibition, South Korean officials said.

The 79-year old man, identified only by his last name Lee, approached Mayor Park with a weapon and stabbed himself in the abdomen, after shouting "Can you say you are a mayor?" and "I need to die", according to the witnesses.

He was drunk when the incident took place, Yonhap News Agency reported.

According to the police, Lee reportedly had conflicts with a district office after the city government decided not to carry out a development project.

The amount of compensation suggested by the district office fell short of what was asked by a development committee headed by Lee.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital and is in stable condition, the police added.

--IANS

ksk/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has sealed 12 commercial properties in upscale areas of the city for not paying property tax, an official said on Friday.

The MCG sealed five commercial vends located on the Unitech Cyber Park Tower C in Sector 39 for not paying property tax.

The biggest defaulter in this tower was in arrears of nearly Rs 15 lakh. The other defaulters were having about Rs 10 lakh each outstanding against them.

Five commercial outlets were sealed in Raheja Mall here on Sohna Road.

Similarly, two business outlets in the Hong Kong Bazaar mall were also sealed for not paying over Rs 30 lakh dues each.

MCG last week issued notices to over 600 property tax defaulters and the sealed properties belong to some of the biggest defaulters.

"Owners of sealed properties have been given time to deposit their dues till February 28. After that MCG will start the procedure to attach properties of defaulters," MCG Public Relation Officer S.S. Rohilla told IANS.

--IANS

pradeep/sm/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Officials of the Indian Consulate General in Houston are in touch with the wife of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an Indian engineer who was killed in a shooting incident in US' Kansas state, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Friday.

"I have received a report from Mr.Anupam Ray CGI Houston," Sushma Swaraj tweeted late Friday evening.

"Our mission staff hv met with Sunayna Kuchibhotla. Indian Government is with her in this hour of grief. We assure her of all our support," she said.

The Minister also said that Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna was also in touch with her and was her keeping her updated.

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night.

Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country", "terrorist" before shooting them.

Purinton, according to reports, provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they are better than him.

To avoid unwanted scuffle, the bar management asked him to leave the place, only to find him back at the bar later with gun when he fired at the Indians.

Ian Grillot, 24, an American who tried to save the Indians, was also shot at, media reports quoted police as saying. Grillot was recovering in a hospital while Madasani was discharged.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) called it a hate crime.

Police said Purinton, 51, fired multiple rounds and fled the bar. He was arrested on Thursday morning in Clinton city in neighbouring Missouri state when a bartender told police that he had bragged about killing "two Middle Eastern men", The Kansas City Star reported.

The US "strongly" condemned the shooting and said it has reached out to Indian consular officials to offer support.

The US Embassy in New Delhi expressed full faith in the US authorities investigating the matter. "We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice," the statement said.

Purinton has been charged with first-degree murder.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke said.

Kuchibhotla hailed from Hyderabad while Madasani is from Warangal town in Telangana. They were aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

--IANS

ab/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Buddhist nationalist protestors in Yangon demonstrated on Friday to show solidarity with Thailand's Dhammakaya Temple, which has been the subject of a police crackdown over the past week.

Around 150 demonstrators, led by a group of some 30 monks, congregated in front of the Thai embassy, waving Myanmar's national flags and Buddhist flags.

Participants also held up banners calling on Thai authorities to end the crackdown on the temple, located on the outskirts of Bangkok, where clashes have broken out in recent days amid searches for its fugitive founder Phra Dhammachayo, 72, Efe news reported.

Dhammachayo is wanted by Thai police on charges of land encroachment, money laundering and embezzling funds received as donations from a financial cooperative.

The temple has denied the allegations against Dhammachayo, who has not been seen in public since he was charged in June 2016.

The temple monks claim the former abbot is too ill to respond to police summons, and deny knowledge of his whereabouts.

Protestors urged the Thai government to keep Dhammakaya "free from violence".

Meanwhile, Thai Buddhist monks continued to protest on Friday outside the temple, which remains sealed off by police.

Several were seen meditating behind protest banners, as they continued a hunger strike aimed at putting pressure on the government to lift the special powers allowing authorities to take control of the vast compound.

--IANS

ksk/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A youth died and his two friends were critically injured in a shootout among two groups near a wedding function site here, police said on Friday.

Police said the incident took place late on Thursday night when two groups indulged in a verbal duel that later turned into a clash between them. At one stage, one of them fired from a weapon at three others near the wedding venue in Dakshinpuri area of south Delhi.

"Police was informed by some local residents, who said three youths had sustained gun-shot injuries in a shootout between two groups," Deputy Commissioner of Police Romil Baaniya told IANS.

The youths, identified as Shekhar Yadav, Vikas Arya and Harneet Singh -- all 25-28 years of age -- received two to three bullet injuries and were taken to the nearby Batra Hospital, Baaniya said.

"Harneet Singh was later referred to Safdarjung Hospital, while Shekhar Yadav succumbed to his injuries in the hospital" he said.

Police have booked six persons in this case, out of which one has been apprehended from Sangam Vihar and a country-made pistol and a small quantity of drugs recovered from his rented accommodation in Khanpur area, according to the DCP.

Yadav and Singh were working in a private finance company at Nehru Place, while Arya is pursuing post-graduation through correspondence from a private university, the officer said.

"Police have identified the accused persons and raids are being conducted to trace and arrest them," the DCP added.

--IANS

sp/nir/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 3,300 live tortoises smuggled from Hong Kong were seized in China's Guangdong province, officials said.

The tortoises, weighing 86 kgs in total, were discovered by Huanggang Customs in Shenzhen at about 1 a.m. on Thursday in a truck, Wang Shaowen, an official with the customs office, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The truck had been declared "empty" but when it was inspected a hidden compartment was discovered, which was where the tortoises were concealed.

The truck driver said he was carrying the tortoises "for someone else", Wang said.

The tortoises are in quarantine while the investigation continues.

--IANS

gsh/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said the police won't go after "imaginary" accused persons in the kidnapping of the Malayalam actress.

"The police will not go after imaginary accused persons," Vijayan told a public meeting.

At the same time, he urged the Malayalam film industry to keep out the underworld from taking a grip on the industry.

Police on Thursday arrested the prime accused, Pulsar Sunil, and an accomplice, six days after the incident.

The actress was abducted on February 17 while travelling from Thrissur to Kochi by road in her car.

She was dumped near the house of director-turned-actor Lal, who upon hearing her harrowing experience, informed the police.

Since the incident, the online media has been flush with reports linking a leading star, a young director and sons of a ruling party politician with the crime.

--IANS

sg/ruwa/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pope Francis met the families of the nine Italians killed in last year's terrorist attack at a cafe in the Bangladesh capital, a media report said.

Pope Francis on Wednesday met 36 family members of the nine Italian victims of the attack. He embraced and comforted the families during the visit, Catholic News Agency reported.

On July 1, 2016, armed militants stormed the cafe in the diplomatic zone in Dhaka and killed nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, one Indian and one Bangladesh-born US citizen. Two police officers were also killed in the attack.

"It is easy to take the road from love that leads to hatred, while it is difficult to do the opposite: from bitterness and hatred to go towards love," the Pope said.

"You are left in anger, bitterness and desire for revenge, but you have embarked, with the pain inside, on the path of love to build and help the people of Bangladesh, especially young people so that they can study: this is to sow peace and I thank you, for me it is an example," he added.

The bishop of Alife-Caiazzo, Valentino Di Cerbo, was also present at the meeting and presented profiles on the lives of the nine Italian victims to the Pope. During the visit, Francis was also presented with nine olive tree seedlings with the names of the victims written on pictures of doves attached.

The families also shared special projects they undertook following the tragedy as a way to honour their loved ones killed in the attack.

On July 2, a day after the attack, the Pope sent a letter expressing his heartfelt condolence and condemning the "barbarous" act as an offence "against God and humanity".

--IANS

sm/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The State Bank of India should come with a voluntary retirement scheme after considering the overall staffing picture after merger of five associate banks instead of the five announcing such a scheme before the merger, said the leader of a major bank union.

"The five associate banks of State Bank of India (SBI) will soon come out with a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) as their boards have approved the a scheme. The scheme will be introduced and closed before April 1, 2017, the day on which the merger takes into effect," All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C.H.Venkatachalam told IANS here on Friday.

According to him, launching a VRS for the employees of the five associate banks alone is not fair as those who do not opt for retirement and land in the SBI may feel disadvantaged psychologically from day one of the merger.

Venkatachalam said branch and staff rationalisation could be look at by the SBI post merger after taking into account an overall view of the operations.

On Thursday, the SBI in a regulatory filing in BSE said: "We advise that the Government of India has issued the orders ...under subsection of Section 35 of the State Bank of India Act, 1955... In terms of the said orders, the entire undertaking of SBBJ (State Bank of Bikaner &Jaipur), SBM (State Bank of Mysore), SBT (State Bank of Travancore), SBP (State Bank of Patiala) and SBH (State Bank of Hyderabad) shall stand transferred to and vested in the State Bank of India from April 1, 2017."

The cabinet approved acquisition of associate banks by SBI on February 15.

According to Venkatachalam, those employees (clerks and officers) who have put in 20 years of service or have completed 55 years of age may be made eligible to opt for VRS.

He said the VRS will be open for 15 days from the date of announcement and employees have to exercise their option within that time limit.

The VRS quantum may be 50 per cent of the salary for the remaining period of service subject to a maximum of 30 months salary.

Venkatachalam said the bank may restrict the number of employees opting for VRS depending on the staffing needs.

--IANS

vj/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Along with Alan Zweibel and Adam Mansbach -- who are both actually Jewish -- I've co-written, just in time for Passover, a parody Haggadah called For This We Left Egypt? We'll be talking about it Thursday, March 9 at the New York Public Library; if you'd like to join us, you can register here.
A day after a hung house was thrown up in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation elections, the two biggest parties - Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party - struggled to cobble up sufficient numbers to grab the critical post of Mayor on Friday.

In a major boost to the Sena efforts, two rebels who contested as independents, walked back to the party fold, while an independent corporator extended support.

Party chief Uddhav Thackeray beamed approvingly as this took the Sena tally up from the 84 seats it won, to 87, making it the largest single entity so far in the country's biggest and richest civic body.

The BJP which came close by bagging 82 seats had claimed the support of four unknown independents and a purported tally of 86 to bid for the mayor's post.

However, according to the official figures released by the State Election Commission (SEC) late on Thursday, in the current 227-strong BMC house, only five independents were elected.

Three have already joined the Shiv Sena, leaving only two independents 'unattached' so far, raising a question mark over BJP Mumbai President Ashish Shelar's public claim.

The Sena leadership encountered pressures from cadres who expressed vehement opposition to allying with the BJP, as "it would spell the end of the Shiv Sena".

Prominent Sena activist Subhash Talekar urged Thackeray to solicit support from the Congress, NCP and MNS, but warned against joining hands with the BJP in the interest of the party's survival.

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale of Republican Party of India (A) urged both BJP and Sena to sit together and hammer out an amicable solution to the issue.

"Both parties have done exceedingly well, but neither have got the clear numbers. I suggest they should discuss and share the post of mayor for two-and-half years each in the interest of Mumbai," Athawale said in a statement.

He appealed to the Sena to "respect the mandate" of the people in favour of the two saffron parties and not seek support of Congress-NCP for controlling the BMC administration, which has a staggering Rs 37,000 crore budget.

The Congress may consider extending support, but it's uncomfortable since the Sena continues to be a ruling ally both in Maharashtra and the Centre.

Besides the Shiv Sena (84+3) and BJP (82), the Congress stood third (31), Nationalist Congress Party (nine), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (seven), Samajwadi Party (six), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (two), independents (five) and one from a local party were declared elected.

--IANS

qn/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The insurgent groups in Manipur have called for a shutdown in the state on Saturday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigns for the upcoming Assembly election, a statement said.

Late on Thursday night, the Coordinating Committee (Corcom) that constitutes of six insurgent groups, in a communique said that the blockade would start at 6 am on February 25 and would be in place till Modi leaves the state capital.

The police said that security measures were beefed up to ensure that there was no law and order problem during the one-hour visit of the Prime Minister.

The Corcom statement also levelled serious charges against the Centre, including driving a wedge between the communities who have lived in peace and harmony for generations.

Members of public were asked not to venture out during the "curfew". However media and those in essential services were exempted.

The established insurgent groups in Manipur have always boycotted visits of the central dignitaries, an official said.

Police said: "During such public curfew people usually stayed indoors and did not stick out their necks."

There was always a thin attendance in such public functions. There were also stray violent incidents to drive home the message that the "boycott call" should not be taken lightly, the official added.

The ruling Congress party has demanded that during his visit, Modi should spell out the details of the framework agreement that New Delhi had signed with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) in 2015.

Students and women activists also demanded the disclosure of details of the agreement.

Elections for the 60-seat Assembly in the state will be held in two phases on March 4 and 8.
While the fear of being stigmatised prevents many of us from making sensitive self-disclosures, one way people in pain are overcoming silence is by using the photo-sharing app Instagram, a study says.

Some Instagram users are using pictures to help explain the feelings and experiences that are often too painful or complicated to put into words, the researchers said.

"We wanted to see how people might behave differently on a more image-centric platform, rather than one that is driven solely by textual posts and comments," said one of the researchers Nazanin Andalibi from Drexel University in Philadelphia, US.

"Physical or mental health and body image concerns are stigmatised, rarely disclosed and frequently elicit negative responses when shared with others," the study authors said.

"We found that these disclosures, in addition to deep and detailed stories of one's difficult experiences, attract positive social support on Instagram," the study said.

The researchers examined the responses to a sample of 800 Instagram posts pulled from more than 95,000 photos tagged with "#depression" that were posted by 24,920 unique users over the course of a month.

The findings showed that not only are people using Instagram to make sensitive disclosures, but they are also getting mostly positive support from the people who respond to the posts, and little in the way of negative or aggressive comments.

Some users view Instagram as a safe medium for sharing sensitive information about themselves and reaching out for help, the study said.

The findings are scheduled to be presented at the Association for Computing Machinery's International Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing to be held from February 25 to March 1, in Portland, Oregon, US.

Perhaps in a nod of acknowledgement to the fact that this community exists on the site, Instagram recently rolled out a suicide prevention tool that allows users to alert operators when they think someone might be in serious trouble.

The operators are able to provide help or connect users with the information they need to find it.

While this is a step in the right direction, according to Andalibi, it is only the first of many that need to be taken to truly reach these communities of users.

"Social media platforms like Instagram, that people have adopted to connect with 'similar others' to share their difficult experiences, and seek and provide support, should explore ways to facilitate safe and supportive connections," Andalibi said.

--IANS

gb/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
June 19, 2019, Wednesday

All private universities in Uttar Pradesh will now have to give an undertaking to the government, saying that their campuses will ...
Neighbours, friends and family remembered Srinivas Kuchibhotla -- an Indian engineer who was killed in a bar shooting in the US earlier this week -- as a quiet and an outstanding human being.

Kuchibhotla was killed when former US Navy personnel Adam W. Purinton, a white, shot him and another Indian at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on Wednesday night.

His neighbours described him as "friendly". Kuchibhotla was married but had no children, KCTV5 News reported on Friday.

"I know they have lots of support from people they know and people they don't," Jennifer Snyder, the couple's neighbour, said.

"Anything we can do, we want to support. They're just the nicest couple you'd ever meet from what I've heard. It's not just your neighbour here, it's your family."

A GoFundMe page created to collect money to help Kuchibhotla's family crossed its $150,000 goal, raising nearly $250,000 in a few hours. More than 6,700 people, including Americans, donated $248,404 on the page created by Kuchibhotla's friend Kavipriya Muthuramalingam.

"Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone. He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being," the page said.

Meanhile, flowers lay outside Austin's Bar and Grill on Friday morning as the Olathe community continued to grieve the shooting incident.

--IANS

soni/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh of protecting and patronizing the "copying mafia" in the state which was harming the future of the youth.

Addressing a well-attended election rally here, the Prime Minister said the mafia was not only looting poor people but was also jeopardizing the future of the young generation.

Asking Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to answer his charges on why the future of youngsters was being shattered by the copying mafia where colleges and schools were contracted to them during examinations, Modi said such a situation has to end. "When I was thinking about speaking on the issue, I must honestly admit I was slightly scared as this topic heard on television by people in other parts of the country could give ideas to anti social elements to replicate the 'Sapa (Samajwadi Party) ka karobaar," he said as people applauded.

He also took on the Samajwadi Party (SP) on the poor law and order and said that police stations in the state had turned into offices of the ruling party. "No justice can be expected from these police stations as they are helpless as they await nod for action from SP bosses," he said.

Urging the people to uproot the corrupt government in Uttar Pradesh, Modi asked them to "end" the SP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the state.

Modi also claimed that the BJP had got huge support from the people in the first four phases of polling and that the writing on the wall was evident from the despondent face of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. "You have given a stable government at the Centre by providing huge support to the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, and now you have to strengthen our hands further by voting a majority BJP government in the state," he urged.

He also spoke of the Jan Dhan Yojna and the Rupay card which he said is empowering the poor by bringing them into the banking system. Speaking of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on gas connection, the Prime Minister said millions of women have been benefited under the central government scheme.

"Till now 1.75 crore people have been given free gas connection and they have been saved from the hazardous smoke that choked their lungs," he said amid cheers.

--IANS

md/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday expressed shock over the shooting incident in the US in which an Indian-origin man was killed and another injured.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani were shot at a bar in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night by a former Navy serviceman who mistook them for "Middle Easterners".

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family," the minister tweeted.

Swaraj said she had spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Navtej Sarna and that "two Indian embassy officials have rushed to Kansas".

According to her, "Alok Madasani, who was injured in the incident, has been discharged from the hospital".

During the incident an American, who tried to intervene, also received injuries, an External Affairs Ministry statement said.

"The deceased and the injured person are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe," the statement said.

"Consul R. D. Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. Vice Consul Harpal Singh is also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas.

They will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased and will be in touch with local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action," the minister said.

"They will also meet the community members in Kansas," the statement said.

--IANS

rak/py/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Outgoing Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae on Friday urged the Nepal government to take all the parties into confidence before going for polls.

At a farewell programme organised by the Reporters Club Nepal, Rae said: "India, as the largest democracy in the world, supports every move and effort made for strengthening democracy in Nepal. It has been our policy continuously over the period of time.

"And it is my request to the government of Nepal to take all the political parties into confidence before going for the (local) polls which is going to take place on May 14."

India has consistently advocated -- since the promulgation of Nepal's new Constitution -- that all sections and stakeholders in the Himalayan nation should be onboard in the constitution-making process and Rae's statement, which echoed the same, was also the first official Indian reaction on the announcement of the local polls.

After completing his three-and-half-year-long term in Nepal, Rae is retiring from the Indian Foreign Service after he leaves Kathmandu on March 1. India has not announced his successor yet.

"The diplomatic assignment in Kathmandu is a prize posting for any Indian diplomat whose job is challenging, complex and sometimes frustrating too," he said.

He said Nepal-India bilateral relations have always been positive, and both countries should seek to make them stronger in economic, social, cultural and other aspects.

He stressed on emphasising economic cooperation between the two neighbours to develop people-to-people connectivity.

Noting that a Rs 34 billion agreement has been reached for constructing the Mahakali bridge and 15 roads, he said that when the bridge is built, it will especially benefit people of Nepal's far western region and India's Uttarakhand state in various aspects.

"Next project is the ongoing Pancheshwor Hydropower project. It is our target is to approve Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project by June," he said.

Rae said that another issue is railway connectivity, adding that Indian Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had announced that he wanted to build Kolkata-to-Kathmandu and Delhi-to-Kathmandu rail links.

He said a smooth outline for executing Indian projects in Nepal has been made and some positive progress will be seen soon.

Rae added that they currently had five connectivity projects, of which two -- Jogbani to Biratnagar Railway and Janakpur-Jainagar-Bardibas Railway -- were in rapid construction process.

He added that the third project was the Integrated Check Post (ICP) built on 165 acres separately in Raxaul and Birgunj, while another ICP was under construction in Biratnagar, and two more would be built in the near future.

He further said that the Hulaki Rajmarg and other bus services would also be helpful in establishing people-to-people connectivity. "There are bus services from Kathmandu to Delhi, Kathmandu to Banaras, Pokhara to Delhi, Mahendranagar to Delhi, which have positively impacted the people and the relations between the two countries."

"Another initiative is that the Indian cabinet has already approved a budget of $1 billion for the Arun III Hydropower Project. This project will gain rapid implementation from ground level very soon," he said.

He said India has also been taking the initiative to start work on the Koshi High Dam Project, noting that this will help in irrigation and flood control in Bihar, and Nepal will have direct access to sea.

--IANS

giri/vd/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China supports India on combating terrorism and a discussion to declare Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar a "global terrorist" is in progress, Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said on Friday.

"The discussion is going on. I am so happy to see your Foreign Secretary in Beijing two days ago... discussing everything... so, just wait," Luo said while talking to media persons on the sidelines of a Chinese Visa Application Service Centre inauguration ceremony here.

"China supports India and other countries on terrorism... The discussions are going on. It takes time," Luo said.

India on Wednesday again asked China to declare Jaish-e-Mohammad chief and Pathankot attack mastermind Masood Azhar an international terrorist.

China blocked a proposal by the US to add Azhar to the list of such terrorists, in addition to the three previous rejections in 2016 to the Indian proposal.

India's Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar was in Beijing on Wednesday to co-chair the China-India strategic dialogue with the neighbouring country's Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui and he raised the issue of Masood Azhar during discussions.

Speaking further on bilateral issues, Luo said: "Don't focus only on this issue. This is important but more important is bilateral cooperation."

He advised the media to focus more on the positive cooperation between India and China.

On the other controversial issue about Chinese opposition to India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG), he said: "It is the same."

On the rise of ISIS in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the Ambassador said: "The Chinese position is quite clear. We are against any form of terrorist activities. On this matter, China will always speak in the same language in the international community to take concrete measures."

On the recently-concluded talks on Afghanistan in Russia, Luo said Afghanistan is China's neighbour and is crucial for peace and stability in Central Asia.

"The countries concerned about Afghanistan are making joint efforts to bring peace and stability back to that country and the region," he added.

Earlier, Ambassador Zhaohui inaugurated Chinese Visa Application Service Centre at the Shivaji Stadium Metro Station here.

"With the inauguration of the new office in the new year, I hope that the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre could further expand and enhance its services in order to promote people-to-people exchanges between China and India," said Li Bijian, Minister Counsellor, Chinese Embassy in India.

The centre will be operated by the VFS Global Group, a visa service management firm.

"We are also honoured that the very first 'China in Luxury' outlet in the world located in this centre, will go a long way in driving luxury tourism to China," said Zubin Karkaria, Chief Executive Officer, VFS Global Group.

The firm is associated with the Government of China since 2008 and currently manages visa services for the government in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and India.

--IANS

rs/lok/vm

(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.)
Australia's opposition leader Bill Shorten on Friday said he has held constructive talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about settlements in Palestinian territories.

Shorten, who heads Australia's Labour Party, said he held clear and unambiguous discussions on the delicate issue of West Bank settlements with Netanyahu, and reiterated his support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"We want to see Israel safe and secure of its borders; we support the rights of the Palestinians people to have their own state," the opposition leader said.

Shorten criticised Israel over its settlements, which he said were a "roadblock to peace", Efe news reported.

Netanyahu arrived in Australia on Wednesday for a four-day tour, which included a meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

As well as discussing political matters and closer bilateral trade, both leaders signed agreements on science and innovation.

Turnbull has shown his firm support of Netanyahu in the face of what he has termed "one-sided" resolutions by the UN against Israel for its settlement policy.

Netanyahu's visit comes after the Israeli parliament approved a law to legalise some 4,000 houses built on land privately owned by Palestinians in West Bank settlements.

It also comes after US President Donald Trump, following a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, said he was open to a "one-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Following these statements, the UN reiterated its support of the creation of two states, a position also supported by the Australian government.

Ahead of Netanyahu's visit, a group of 60 prominent Australians signed a statement, issued by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, denouncing Israel's failure to comply with UN demands to stop illegal settlements and abuses against Palestinians.

--IANS

ksk/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Tom Cruise is reportedly ready to reunite with daughter Suri after more than three years.

According to a source, Cruise "has some reprioritising in his life" after mourning the loss of his mother Mary Lee South, who died at age 80 earlier this month, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"Tom now wants to re-establish his relationship with his daughter and begin seeing her on a regular basis," the source told In Touch magazine. Cruise is "ready to ramp up his relationship with her in a big way".

The source said Cruise knew Suri will need some time to warm up to the situation.

"Tom knows she won't just go jumping back into his arms, and that he's going to have to take it slow and steady to show her he's back in her life for good," the source said.

Cruise is reportedly going to tell his former wife and actress Katie Holmes "through their handlers and attorneys that he wants to see Suri within the next few weeks".

Cruise married Holmes in 2006. The two parted ways in 2012.

--IANS

sas/sug/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mobile communication app Truecaller has become the only platform apart from Facebook and Google that delivers over 100 million impressions in a single day, a company statement said on Friday.

An impression is when an ad is fetched from its source, and is countable. Whether the ad is clicked or not is not taken into account. Each time an ad is fetched, it is counted as one impression.

The daily impression on Truecaller's ad platform has grown with over 200 per cent during the past six months, the company said.

"Our targeting capabilities backed by call intent based approach ensures brands witness desired visibility and engagement with Truecaller users," said Tejinder Gill, Head of India Operations, Truecaller, in a statement.

The mobile communication app delivered over 133 million impressions for e-commerce portal Jabong.

"Truecaller has been fantastic for us in terms of delivering high impact and reach amongst smartphone users," added Rahul Taneja, Chief Business Officer, Jabong.

--IANS

anuj/gb

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump blocked a number of news outlets from covering White House press secretary Sean Spicers question-and-answer session, reports said.

Spicer on Friday afternoon, decided to hold an off-camera "gaggle" with reporters inside his office instead of the traditional on-camera briefing in the Press Briefing Room, The Hill magazine reported.

Among the outlets not permitted to cover the gaggle were news organisations that Trump has singled out for criticism, including CNN, The New York Times, The Hill, Politico, BuzzFeed, the Daily Mail, BBC, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News, etc.

Several outlets which were allowed into Spicer's office, include Breitbart, the Washington Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Reuters and Bloomberg..

The White House Correspondents' Association, a non-profit organisation of journalists who cover the White House, sharply criticized the decision.

"The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House," the association's President Jeff Mason said in a statement.

"We encourage the organisations that were allowed in to share the material with others," he added. "The board will be discussing this further with White House staff."

A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

--IANS

vgu/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two Delhi firefighters dousing a small fire in a shop here were killed on Friday when a cooking gas cylinder inside the snack store exploded, catching dozens of firemen by surprise, officials said.

Two others were injured in the blaze in Vikaspuri, a congested west Delhi neighbourhood.

"There was a minor fire in the shop. But an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder exploded when our men were busy dousing the flames," a Delhi Fire Service official told IANS.

The official said that when the firemen pulled up the shutter of the shop there was a loud explosion accompanied by blazing flames leaping out of the store.

He said five fire tenders were rushed to the spot after the fire service got a call at 5.35 a.m.

The deceased were Hari Singh Meena, 55, who died on the spot, and Hari Om, 56, who succumbed to his injuries later in a hospital.

Firemen Naveen and Ravinder received minor injuries and were being treated at B.L. Kapur Memorial Hospital here.

The authorities have ordered a probe into the incident that raised questions how the Delhi Fire Service ensures safety of its own men.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said there were "no procedural lapses" in the Vikaspuri fire fighting operation.

"There was a blast just when the firemen lifted the shutter of the shop. No one could have known there were leaking cylinders inside," Jain said.

"At first glance, there doesn't seem to be any lapse related to following of protocol. However, the real reason would be known only after the inquiry."

But Delhi fire chief Atul Garg said that in most of the cases, firefighters have nobody to guide them about the site of the incident and this places their lives in more danger.

"In majority of cases when we respond to a fire call, there is nobody to guide us as to what is inside the building. This is the biggest problem the fire department faces," the Chief Fire Officer told IANS.

Garg said unless the firemen know what is inside the building on fire, they cannot ensure a fool-proof plan to douse the flames.

"I cannot wait for someone to come and tell me what is inside. If there is a fire, I have to go inside. That's what my men did. They risk their lives every time they step out to do their job," he said.

What adds to the problem is that small shops and establishments are not covered under fire safety laws, Garg added.

Jain urged Delhi residents to take fire safety measures seriously.

"There were four cylinders inside such a small shop. People in Delhi are not scared of fire hazards. There is a need to create awareness on fire safety measures," the minister said.

The last time such an incident happened was in September 2016 when two firefighters lost their lives after getting trapped under the debris of a gutted plastic factory in Narela.

As per Delhi government's policy, families of Delhi Fire Service personnel who lose their lives while on duty are provided Rs 1 crore compensation. The government had in September 2016 included firefighters under the policy that till then covered other uniformed services personnel only.

--IANS

vv/sar/gsh/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The police in Pakistan have killed two suspected Islamic State (IS) militants in a raid early on Friday here, media reported.

The suspects opened fire at the police personnel during the raid in Manghopir, leaving one policeman injured, Geo News quoted a senior police official as saying.

"In the retaliatory fire, both the suspects were killed while their accomplices managed to escape from the site," he said.

The militants, identified as Saifullah and Haneef, had laptops with them that indicated a hit list, including names of police officers and government officials, the report added.

--IANS

ruwa/vt

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US on Friday "strongly" condemned the shooting in which an Indian man was killed and another injured in Kansas and said it has reached out to Indian consular officials to offer support, a statement said.

"The US Embassy strongly condemns the tragic shooting in Olathe, Kansas, resulting in the death of an Indian citizen and injury to an Indian and an American," an embassy statement said.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani were shot at a bar in Olathe on Wednesday night by a former Navy serviceman allegedly mistaking them as "Middle Easterners".

"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured," the statement said.

It said the US embassy officials have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support.

The embassy also expressed its full faith in the US authorities investigating the matter.

"We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime. US Federal authorities are also investigating the case. We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice.

Charge d'Affaires MaryKay Carlson said she was "deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act...in a nation of immigrants"

The US, she said, "welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live".

--IANS

rak/sar/rn/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US Embassy here on Friday strongly condemned the killing of an Indian, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, and injuries to another Indian and an American during a shooting incident in the US state of Kansas.

"The US Embassy in New Delhi strongly condemns the tragic shooting in Olathe, Kansas, resulting in the death of an Indian citizen and injury to an Indian and an American," the embassy said in a statement.

"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured."

A 51-year-old US Navy veteran opened fire, killing Kuchibhotla, 32, and injuring Alok Madasani, also 32, and an American in a bar in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night.

The attacker identified as Adam Purinton mistook the Indians for "Middle Easterners" and reportedly yelled "get out of my country".

Ian Grillot, 24, was injured when he tried to intervene to save the Indians.

Kuchibhotla hailed from Hyderabad while Madasani hails from Warangal town in Telangana. They were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

The family of Kuchibhotla was shocked over the incident and has sought help from the state and central governments in bringing his body back home.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday expressed shock over the shooting incident.

Expressing her "heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family", the minister tweeted that she has spoken to Indian Ambassador in the US Navtej Sarna and that "two Indian embassy officials have rushed to Kansas".

"Consul R.D. Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. Vice Consul Harpal Singh is also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas," she said.

They would meet Madasani (who was discharghed from hospital) and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of Kuchibhotla, she said.

Joshi and Singh would be in touch with the local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor the follow-up action, the minister said.

In its statement, the US Embassy said, "We have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims".

"We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime. US federal authorities are also investigating the case. We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice."

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families," US Charge d'Affaires Mary Kay Carlson said in the statement.

"The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live. US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief," she added.

--IANS

ab/vt

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Top US envoys on a working visit to Mexico have tried to allay fears that Trump administration is preparing to massively deport undocumented migrants back across the border.

The reassurances came on Thursday night during a joint press conference by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, following their meeting with Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Luis Videgaray and Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong here.

"Let me be very very clear, there will be no, repeat no mass deportation. Everything at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be done legally and according to human rights system in the US," Xinhua news agency quoted Kelly as saying.

President Donald Trump's vow to crack down on undocumented migrants has struck fear into immigrants living in the US.

Mexican officials are concerned that massive deportation could lead to a humanitarian crisis along the border.

Kelly said: "The focus of deportation will be on the criminal element that has made it into the US. All of this will be done, as it always has been, in close coordination with Mexican government."

While there will be "no use of military force" in deportation proceedings, "we will approach this operation systematically, in a results-oriented way, in an operational way, and in a human dignity way", said the retired Marine Corps general.

Earlier, Trump had described the deportation campaign as "a military operation".

Tillerson said the two countries "reiterated our joint commitment to maintaining law and order along our shared border by stopping the potential terrorist and dismantling the transnational criminal networks moving drugs and people into the US".

The US Secretary of State said officials also discussed trade and energy ties, in addition to fighting cross-border crime, but gave no details.

"We agreed that our two countries should seize the opportunity to modernise and strengthen our trade and energy relationship," he said.

Tillerson noted crime went both ways across the border.

"Similarly we underscored the importance of stopping the illegal firearms and bulk cash that is originating in the US and flowing into Mexico. There's no mistaking that the rule of law matters on both sides of the border," he said.

Videgaray said: "There is concern and irritation among Mexicans about what are seen as policies that could be harmful for Mexico and abroad."

"Today (Thursday) we have taken a step in the right direction," the Mexican minister said, stressing the importance of cooperation.

Mexico and the US are already at odds over Trump's plan to build a wall along their border and his attempts to pressurise Mexico into giving concessions on trade.

The US President wanted to renegotiate a two-decade-old agreement signed by Mexico, the US and Canada, claiming it had unfairly benefited Mexico at the expense of US workers.

--IANS

py/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States imposed economic sanctions on two leadership officials of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Syria, media reports said.

According to a statement by the US Treasury Department on Thursday, Iyad Nazmi Salih Khalil and Bassam Ahmad al-Hasri were responsible for providing key support to Nusra Front by overseeing militant operations and developing the militant group's strategy, Xinhua news agency reported.

Designating Khalil as Nusra Front's third highest-ranking official as of early 2016, the statement said he took part in discussions among the group's senior leadership regarding the group's overall strategy and the feasibility of establishing an emirate in Idlib, Syria.

Al-Hasri was designated for acting for or on behalf of Nusra Front and oversaw the group's military operations in southern Syria, the statement added.

As part of the US sanctions, all property of the two men subject to US jurisdiction are blocked and US persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

--IANS

vgu/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's allegation that his government discriminated against a religion and favoured another.

Addressing an election rally here, in favour of close aide and Samajwadi Party (SP) legislator Pawan Pandey, the SP President said his government had ensured better and adequate power supply to all areas and regions, on Ramadan and Diwali alike.

"While we are talking of development, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders are engaged in graveyards and crematoriums," the 43-year-old Chief Minister taunted.

He dared Prime Minister Modi to swear by the Ganga and Saryu rivers that Varanasi was not getting 24x7 power supply, as Modi had alleged.

During a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur on Sunday, Modi accused the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) government of playing the of discrimination. "If a village receives funds for a graveyard, then it should also get for cremation grounds... If you provide uninterrupted power supply for Ramzan, then you should also do it for Diwali," Modi said.

Appealing for peoples support and vote for the party candidate, Akhilesh Yadav urged for a second term not only to take the work further but also to ensure peace and communal harmony in the state.

"We want that the SP government is repeated in the state so that the development work we initiated in the first tenure is taken forward," he said.

The SP President also warned the people to beware of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati as she had in the past entered thrice into an understanding with the BJP and formed a government.

He also accused the BSP of transferring its vote to the BJP and it was therefore that not a single candidate of her party made it through to the Lok Sabha.

"These days Bua ji is reading long speeches, just be careful" he said.

--IANS

md/sm/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sean Spicer: There's a difference between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana

https://t.co/0g8qHYfgsD  Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) February 23, 2017

Today in a press conference, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the Department of Justice will "take action" against states that have legalized recreational marijuana. Those states are Oregon, Washington, California, Alaska, Nevada, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C. That's 63 million Americans (one in five) who live states where adults can legally use marijuana for fun.

Meanwhile, a "Quinnipiac poll released earlier today found 71% of U.S. voters  including majorities of Republicans, Democrats, independents, and all age groups  are opposed to the government enforcing federal prohibition laws in states where marijuana is legal for medical or adult use," reports the Marijuana Policy Project.

When Trump was campaigning for president, he said he would not interfere with the way that states dealt with the legality of pot. But then he appointed marijuana foe Jeff Sessions as attorney general. (When Sessions was a U.S. Attorney in Alabama, he said he thought the Ku Klux Klan "were OK until I found out they smoked pot." Sessions also said last year that "good people don't smoke marijuana.") It looks likes Sessions is calling the shots now.

Ironically, in the same press conference, Spicer told reporters "We are a states' rights party." But he was talking about the trashing of federal guidance on transgender students' right to pee, not letting states decide what to do about pot prohibition.

From Time:

Spicer repeatedly linked the use of marijuana to the nationwide opioid abuse epidemic, suggesting without offering proof that marijuana is a gateway drug to more serious substances. Earlier in the briefing, Spicer touted the president and the GOP's commitment to deferring to the states over the federal government on controversial issues. "We are a states' rights party," he said while discussing a reversal of Obama-era guidance on transgender student bathroom use.

Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, issued the following statement after Spicer's press conference:
BSF personnel shot dead a woman who sneaked across the international border into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan, police said on Friday.

Border Security Force personnel shot dead the woman near Chak Phagwari post along the International Border in Akhnoor sector in Jammu region, a police officer said.

Deputy Inspector General of BSF Jammu Frontier Dharmender Pareek told IANS that the woman was identified by Pakistan Rangers as Rashida Begum, in her 40s.

"The intruder was repeatedly challenged but she ignored all warnings and crossed the border late on Thursday night. Troops then fired to foil the intrusion. Once we found her body in a search operation on Friday, it was photographed and the picture was shown to Pakistan Rangers for her identification.

"They confirmed that the woman belonged to one of the villages in their country and was missing since yesterday (Thursday). They also informed that she left her home after an issue in her family and crossed over the border by mistake," Pareek said.

The officer said the woman's body was handed over to Pakistan Rangers on the International Border on Friday evening.

Considering the intrusion attempt a serious incident, the officer said the woman might have been sent here by Pakistani intelligence agencies to check security arrangements.

--IANS

rak/lok/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Increasing cell phone penetration among Indias rural areas has been one of the three thrusts of Prime Minister Narendra Modis poverty alleviation effort. However, a recent migrant to Delhi, Sanju Devi, told me a story that made me realise that not everybody is that thrilled with the ubiquity of mobile devices. It began when she said she didnt possess a cell phone because her husband and most of her family didnt believe women should have them. They say that cell phones lead women to temptation, she said.
Though the word polarisation is mostly linked with the right-wing religion-centric politics, yesterday's results of elections to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation here showed polarisation along linguistic lines between the two right-wing parties, Shiv Sena and BJP, themselves.

Sena and BJP, the bickering alliance partners in Maharashtra who fought the civic elections separately, seemed to have divided the voters on regional or linguistic lines, going by the voting patterns, a BJP leader said.

Lower middle class and the working class among Marathi-speakers voted largely for Shiv Sena, while the upper middle class and areas with a large number of Gujarati-speakers and North Indians voted for BJP, the voting patterns show, said Soumen Mukherjee, co-convener of BJP's media cell.

Also, the 'old Mumbai' city seemed to have supported Shiv Sena, while BJP, which attained its highest-ever tally by winning 82 out of 227 seats, only two less than the Sena, gained more in suburbs, especially the western ones.

"The polarisation has taken place over the linguistic base. Non-Marathi speaking voters have largely voted for BJP. On the other hand, the old city areas have voted Shiv Sena because of its strong network of party workers developed over the last so many years," Mukharjee told PTI.

As per the data given by the State Election Commission, of the 114 seats in the western suburbs from Bandra to Dahisar, which have a sizable population of North Indians and Gujarati-speakers, BJP won 52 and Sena 38.

The exception to this pattern was Bandra East, where Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray lives. BJP did not win a single seat here, while the Sena won five and AIMIM won remaining one seat.

A Sena leader pointed out, speaking on the condition of anonymity, that though Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar represents the Bandra constituency in the state Assembly, in the BMC elections his party drew a blank in the area.

The eastern suburbs had a neck-to-neck contest between BJP and Sena. Of the 57 seats, Shiv Sena won 18 and BJP 17. Rest went to NCP, Congress and others.

However, the exception was the suburban Mulund area, a stronghold of BJP MP Kirit Somaiya who had targeted the Sena leadership aggressively during the campaign. In Mulund, which has a sizable Gujarati-speaking population, BJP won all the six seats.

In old Mumbai, which has slums, tenements (chawls) and old 'waadis' (old one-two storey settlements), Sena had an upper hand. Out of 56 seats, it won 28, while BJP won 13, Congress 11, MNS two, SP one and Akhil Bhartiya Sena one. This area comprises Sion-Koliwada, Wadala, Dharavi, Mahim, Worli, Shivdi, Byculla, Mumbadevi, Malbar Hill and Colaba.

BJP did not win a single seat in Dharavi, known as Asia's largest slum area, Worli and Shivdi.

"Sena's appeal to 'sons of soil' (native Maharashtrians) received a good response in the Mumbai city area. On the other hand, BJP's plank of development and transparency was appreciated by western and eastern suburbs," Mukharjee said.
Even though BJP and Shiv Sena are non committal about joining hands together in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Congress party internally has started deliberations weighing an option of extending support from outside to the Shiv Sena. The Congress party, which won 31 seats down from 52 in 2012 poll, hinted that the proposed arrangement may work on the one factor of opposition to the BJP.
On the 69th birthday of J Jayalalithaa, the late supremo of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the rival factions that emerged after her death have reiterated their stand against each other, even as they paid tributes to the departed leader. Deepa Jayakumar, niece of also launched a new party and announced plans to contest in the by polls and local government elections in the state.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, who has been elected by the V K Sasikala faction, spearheaded the planting of 690,000 tree sapplings in the state to commemorate the deceased leader's birthday. He said his government is pursuing the development projects started. Later, in Coimbatore, he announced plans to launch a monorail in accordance with her wish.



Meanwhile, O Panneerselvam, who took on the Sasikala faction after submitting his resignation as Chief Minister of the state earlier in February, claimed that AIADMK members are with him even though the MLAs are with the rival camp. After paying tribute to in RK Nagar, the constituency from which she won for the last time, he said he had taken the initiative to launch an investigation into the issues pertaining to Jayalalithaa's health problems. He claimed that the probe was abandoned by the new government.
More than 130 Turkish diplomats, soldiers and their family members have sought refuge in Germany since last July's failed coup, according to German government.

"The government is aware of 136 asylum applications filed by diplomatic passport holders from Turkey. They also include family members," said the interior ministry in a written reply to a query from a lawmaker.

The German government data in documents was seen by AFP today.

The ministry said however that it did not have data on how many among the applicants are diplomats and how many are soldiers stationed at NATO bases.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has accused US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen of having orchestrated the putsch, and launched a sweeping crackdown against his followers.

Some 43,000 people in Turkey have been arrested over their suspected links to Gulen's movement, and 100,000 fired or suspended. Many of them are teachers, police, magistrates and journalists.

The scale of the crackdown has raised international concern, with Germany among the most vocal in raising questions over the mass arrests.

That and a string of other spats have contributed to fraying ties between Ankara and Berlin.

Turkey has also been pushing for Berlin to extradite alleged supporters of Gulen and PKK militants.

In its written note, the interior ministry said it extradited 60 people back to Turkey in 2015 for various offences including terrorism and murder. Data for 2016 would only be available in 2018, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tension prevailed on the campus of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) here this evening after activists of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Students' Federation of India clashed.

"Both the groups came to the police station and registration of cross-complaints was underway," said a duty officer at Chatushringi police station.

Pradip Gavade, an ABVP activist, alleged that SFI members were putting up posters which said 'ABVP Murdabad' in the campus.

"When our members objected, they started intimidating us and attacked us," said Gavade, speaking to PTI.

"In the morning, ABVP had staged a protest on the campus to condemn the invitation to JNU student Umar Khalid at Ramjas College in Delhi. To counter that the activists from SFI were putting up posters," he added.

"We did not beat them, we were beaten up by SFI activists," he alleged.

However, SFI activist Mao Chavan, who was not a part of the melee, said that to protest against Solapur MLC Prashant Paricharak's insulting remarks about soldiers and the violence at Rajmas College in Delhi, SFI had organised a protest on the SPPU campus this evening.

"When the protest was going on, all of a sudden activists of ABVP arrived and attacked SFI activists," Chavan alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Six cartons of liquor were seized from near a boundary wall connecting a school and gurdwara in Vivek Vihar in Shahdara area here, police said today.

Police suspected that the liquor had been kept there to spoil the prospects of one of the candidates contesting in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee (DSGMC) polls on Sunday.

The area is a secluded one and police do not have much video evidence to nail the accused, a senior police officer said.

However, there is a bank situated nearby and police will scan the CCTV footage from that bank to gain any clues that might lead them to the accused, said the officer.

Police has stepped up security in the area to ensure peace.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Donor countries today pledged USD 672 million in emergency aid for people threatened by famine after eight years of Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad region, but the sum is just a fraction of what the UN says is needed.

Fourteen countries meeting in Oslo agreed -- with the US conspicuously absent -- to contribute the USD 672 million (634 million euros) over three years, including USD 457 million for 2017 alone.

But the United Nations has estimated the Lake Chad region, which includes Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, needs USD 1.5 billion this year.

UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien was nonetheless optimistic that the target would eventually be met.

"In one morning we have raised a third of that," he said.

Boko Haram took up arms in 2009 in pursuit of an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

Its insurgency has since spread to neighbouring states bordering Lake Chad, with frequent suicide bomb attacks.

Still, the hardest hit area has been northeast Nigeria, where at least seven soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack on military positions on Wednesday, according to a security source.

The conflict, which has left around 20,000 people dead and forced more than 2.6 million others to flee their homes, has aggravated an already difficult humanitarian situation in one of the poorest regions of the world.

People often have no access to schools, healthcare or agriculture, and it is difficult for humanitarian aid to get through.

"Nigeria and countries contiguous to the Lake Chad are experiencing one of the largest and gravest humanitarian crises in the world," Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said.

"They can't farm the land, markets have stopped working, and food prices have skyrocketed," French Development Aid Minister Jean-Marie Le Guen noted.

"Faced with these enormous needs the international response is still insufficient," he added.

The USD 672 million pledged over three years is aimed at helping 10.7 million people in need.

Abdou Dieng, regional head of the World Food Programme, described the challenge of getting aid to the "most vulnerable of the vulnerable".

"Faced with a famine we're ready to do anything, including airdropping food. But it's a zone where we have to be very careful...We don't want it to benefit the terrorists. This type of intervention is expensive," he said.

The 14 donor countries who made firm commitments today were almost exclusively western European nations, with the exception of Japan and South Korea. But the United States, whose new administration has said it intends to slash its development aid budget, was not among them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An album of Tamil songs will be launched next month, highlighting the vibrancy of the South Indian language which is one of the four official languages in Singapore.

Non-resident Indian musician Soundara Nayaki Vairavan has completed the six-song album, saying "Tamil is an ancient language with many literary values."



"It is amazing to know that so much effort has been taken to enrich and preserve its tradition and culture in Singapore," the 44-year old vocalist was quoted as saying by Friday weekly 'tabla!'.

The album is "to express its sophistication in the form of music and song and tell people how it is vibrant and living language in Singapore," she said.

The songs, sung by Vairavan, are tuned and set to suit all age groups from school-going children to senior citizens.

"Each song, with a different theme, puts across how Tamil is being enriched in Singapore so people can connect to its beauty and the real happenings.

For others, they will get to know about how Tamil is a living language in Singapore," said Vairavan on how the album will appeal to all.

Entitled "Tamil in Singapore", the album will be launched on March 5, 2017, in conjunction with the Tamil Language Month which is held annually.

The songs were recorded at a studio in Chennai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
During an "improvised sermon" in his residence during morning mass, Pope Francis excoriated Catholics who lead a "hypocritical double life," going to mass and joining religious organizations while living from the exploitation of others  the Pope said these people should say to themselves, "my life is not Christian, I don't pay my employees proper salaries, I exploit people, I do dirty business, I launder money, (I lead) a double life'."



The Pope went on to suggest that he would prefer that these people identify as atheists, rather than Catholics.

As an atheist who does none of these things, I'd not welcome their company.

"There are many Catholics who are like this and they cause scandal," he said. "How many times have we all heard people say 'if that person is a Catholic, it is better to be an atheist'."

Pope suggests 'better to be atheist than hypocritical Catholic'

[Philip Pullella/Reuters]
23-year-old MBA student, Harshad Karkar, who aspired to step into the corporate world, has become the youngest corporator in the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) this time, winning Dahisar east ward on Shiv Sena ticket.

Harshad's entry into the politics was sudden, as his father, Prakash Karkar, a Shiv Sena corporator in the Mumbai civic body for the last ten years, decided not contest the BMC polls this time due to his ill health. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party then decided to field Harshad instead.

Harshad secured 11,355 votes from ward no. 6, beating rival Neela Rathod from the BJP, with a margin of 1,708 votes.

"My father has been a Sena corporator for the last 10 years. Due to his health issues, he was not keen on contesting election this time. However, he has earned good name among local people and has established good rapport with them. When the party proposed my name for the polls, local party workers supported the move and that is how I became the candidate," Harshad told PTI.

"I never knew that I will be the youngest member in the BMC house. My target was to reach out to people and appeal to voters," he said.

According to Harshad, he was part of Shiv Sena's campaign team and used to go through voters' profile. "It was useful," he said.

Harshad, who is currently pursuing MBA from St Francis Institute of Management & Research in Borivli in marketing field, is planning to appear for its final exam next month.

"I am going to use my academic skills during my tenure in BMC as well," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Austrian court has ordered that Ukrainian oligarch Dymitro Firtash be released from custody pending decisions on separate US and Spanish extradition requests for him.

Firtash already posted 125 million euros (USD 132 million) bail and surrendered his passport three years ago when the US extradition request was first made.

The court today cited these measures in reaching its decision.

Firtash was indicted by a US grand jury in 2012 for allegedly paying off officials through US banks in a failed attempt to secure titanium mining rights in India worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

He was taken into custody on Tuesday shortly after another court approved the US request and legal authorities received a separate application from Spain.

The Austrian Justice Ministry will make the final ruling on the extradition requests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan today had a narrow escape today as his helicopter had to make an emergency landing in Karand village near Jahangirabad here due to some technical snag, police said.

The helicopter carrying Khan on his way to Lucknow from Bahraich had to make the emergency landing in a filed due to some technical problem, said Superintendent of Police Raja Babu.

Everyone in the chopper was safe, he said adding Khan was later sent to Lucknow by road.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Older people with back pain - the leading cause of global disability - have a 13 per cent higher chance of dying prematurely, a new study has warned.

The study by researchers at University of Sydney in Australia of 4,390 Danish twins aged more than 70 years investigated whether spinal pain increased the rate of all-cause and disease-specific cardiovascular mortality.

Low back pain is a major problem, ranked as the highest contributor to disability in the world, researchers said.

"Our study found that compared to those without spinal pain (back and neck), a person with spinal pain has a 13 per cent higher chance of dying every year. This is a significant finding as many people think that back pain is not life-threatening," said Associate Professor Paulo Ferreira, from the University's Faculty of Health Sciences.

"As this study was done in twins, the influence of shared genetic factors is unlikely because it was controlled for in our analysis," Ferreira said.

"With a rapidly growing ageing population, spinal health is critical in maintaining older age independence, highlighting the importance of spinal pain in primary health care as a presenting symptom," lead author Matthew Fernandez from the Faculty of Health Sciences, said.

Researchers said back pain should be recognised as an important co-morbidity that is likely to impact people's longevity and quality of life.

"Policy makers should be aware that back pain is a serious issue - it is an indicator of people's poor health and should be screened for, particularly in the elderly," said Ferreira.

Recent research has also found that commonly prescribed medications for back pain such as paracetamol and anti-inflammatory drugs are ineffective in treating pain and have side effects.

"Medications are mostly ineffective, surgery usually does not offer a good outcome - the best treatment for low back pain is a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity. People need to get moving," Ferreira said.

Few studies have examined the potential reduced life expectancy associated with spinal pain in an ageing population, particularly after controlling for familial factors, including genetics.

This study follows previous research which found that people with depression are 60 per cent more likely to develop low back pain in their lifetime.

The study was published in the European Journal of Pain.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The creation of a 'bad bank' will speed up resolution of stressed assets in the banking system, but it will also require significant capital infusion in the state-run banks to meet any shortfall, says a report.

The recent economic survey mentioned the formation of a that will purchase stressed assets and take them to resolution.

"The creation of a could accelerate the resolution of stressed assets in the country's banking sector, but it may face significant logistical difficulties and would simultaneously require a credible bank recapitalisation programme to address the capital shortfalls at state-owned banks," international agency Fitch Ratings said in a report here on Friday.

It said that the country's banks have significant asset quality problems that are putting pressure on profitability and capital, as well as constraining their ability to lend.

It expects the stressed-asset ratio to rise over the coming year, from 12.3 per cent as at end-September 2016, with the ratio significantly higher among state-owned banks.

The ratings agency said that the banking sector would require around $90 billion in new total capital by financial year 2018-19 to meet Basel III standard and ongoing business needs.

This estimate is unlikely to be significantly reduced by the adoption of a approach, and could even rise if banks are forced to crystallise more losses from stressed assets than currently expected, it said.

"We believe that the government will eventually be required to provide more than the $10.4 billion that it has earmarked for capital injections by the financial year 2018-19  be it directly to state-owned banks or indirectly through a bad bank," the ratings agency said.

It said that the bad bank's most likely form would be that of a centralised asset-restructuring company (ARC).

The bad bank's proponents believe that it could take charge of the largest, most complex cases, make politically tough decisions to reduce debt, and allow banks to refocus on their normal lending activities, it said.

Fitch said that similar mechanisms have previously been used to help clean up banking systems in the US, Sweden, and countries affected by the Asian financial crisis in the late 90s.

Senior European policymakers have recently discussed the prospect of a bad bank to deal with non-performing loans in the European Union, it said.

The agency believes that a bad bank might provide a way around some of the problems that have led the country's banks to favour refinancing over resolving stressed loans.

The report said that large corporates often have debt spread across a number of banks, making resolution difficult to coordinate and the process would be simplified if the debt of a single entity were transferred to one bad bank.

"This could be particularly important in the country's current situation, with just 50 corporates accounting for around 30 per cent of banks' stressed assets," it said.

Several small private ARCs already operate in the country but they have bought up only a very small proportion of bad loans in the last two years, as banks have been reluctant to offer haircuts on bad loans even where they are clearly worth much less than their book value, it said.

"This is, in part, because haircuts invite the attention of anti-corruption agencies, making bank officials reluctant to sign off on them," it further said.

According to the ratings agency, a larger-scale bad bank with government backing might have more success.

It is, however, unlikely to function effectively without a well-designed mechanism for pricing bad loans, particularly if the intention is for the bad bank to be run along commercial lines and involve private investors.

"Banks would need capital to cover haircuts taken during the sale of stressed assets, and the bad bank would most likely require capital to cover any losses incurred during the resolution process," the report added.
Setting up of a 'bad bank' can accelerate the resolution of stressed assets in the banking sector but that would also require a credible capital infusion plan by the government, Fitch Ratings said today.

The country's banks have significant asset-quality problems that are putting pressure on profitability and capital, as well as constraining their ability to lend, the ratings agency said.

The concept of a 'bad bank' that purchases stressed assets and takes them to resolution was floated in the latest Economic Survey.

"The creation of a 'bad bank' could accelerate the resolution of stressed assets in India's banking sector, but it may face significant logistical difficulties and would simultaneously require a credible bank recapitalisation programme to address the capital shortfalls at state-owned banks," Fitch Ratings said in a statement.

Fitch expects the stressed-asset ratio to rise over the coming year from the 12.3 per cent recorded at end-September 2016.

The ratio is significantly higher among state-owned banks.

"A larger-scale bad bank with government backing might have more success. However, it is unlikely to function effectively without a well-designed mechanism for pricing bad loans, particularly if the intention is for the bad bank to be run along commercial lines and involve private investors," it said.

Fitch estimates that the banking sector will require around USD 90 billion in new total capital by 2018-19 fiscal to meet Basel-III standards and ongoing business needs.

"This estimate is unlikely to be significantly reduced by the adoption of a bad-bank approach, and could even rise if banks are forced to crystallise more losses from stressed assets than we currently expect," it said.

The US-based agency expects that the government will eventually be required to provide more than the USD 10.4 billion that it has earmarked for capital injections by 2018-19, be it directly to state-owned banks or indirectly through a bad bank.

Asset-quality indicators may be close to their weakest levels, but the pace of recovery is likely to be held back by slow resolution of bad loans, it said.

Fitch said the most likely form of a bad bank would be that of a centralised asset-restructuring company (ARC) and as envisaged could take charge of the largest, most complex cases, make politically tough decisions to reduce debt, and allow banks to refocus on their normal lending activities.

Fitch said similar mechanisms have previously been used to help clean up banking systems in the US, Sweden, and countries affected by the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

Senior European policymakers have recently discussed the



prospect of a bad bank to deal with non-performing loans in the EU.

"A bad bank might provide a way around some of the problems that have led Indian banks to favour refinancing over resolving stressed loans," it said.

Large corporates often have debt spread across a number of banks, making resolution difficult to coordinate.

The process would be simplified if the debt of a single entity were transferred to one bad bank.

"This could be particularly important in India's current situation, with just 50 corporates accounting for around 30 per cent of banks' stressed assets," Fitch said.

It said several small private ARCs already operate in India but they have bought up only a very small proportion of bad loans in the last two years, as banks have been reluctant to offer haircuts on bad loans even where they are clearly worth much less than their book value.

"This is, in part, because haircuts invite the attention of anti-corruption agencies, making bank officials reluctant to sign off on them. Reduced valuations also increase pressure on capital," it said.
The Border Security Force (BSF) today said the Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) have agreed to 'simultaneous coordinated joint patrolling' to check trans-border crimes along the Indo-Bangla International border.

"We have identified as many as 68 patches in Meghalaya, which are vulnerable to various crimes, and a joint patrolling has been agreed by the BSF and BGB," BSF IG Meghalaya Frontier PK Dubey told reporters.

He said that joint patrolling which will be taken up both day and night will be reviewed after every six months as criminals keep on changing their modus operandi.

"We have also come up with a mechanism where our nodal officers from both sides will share whatever intelligent inputs we get about trans-border crimes and joint action will be taken by both the forces," he said.

The matter was signed in the form of a joint memorandum by the Director Generals of the two forces (BSF- BGB) during a recently concluded conference held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

On BGB request for joint investigation of crimes, he however, said this was turned down due to legal implication because this being a state subject and both border forces are not having any investigation powers because of the federal structure.

"We however said wherever heinous crimes are there we can jointly have spot verification to solve the crime but not investigation," he added.

On the menace of cattle smuggling to Bangladesh, the IG said that with reference to Meghalaya this is not a big issue because the number of cattle smuggled is very less as we have been able to check this to a great extent.

"However, we have sensitised the BGB to check and stop this menace," he said.

Issue of breaching of border fencing was also taken up during the meeting in view that criminals from both the countries managed to cut the fence and crossover from Bangladesh.

According to the BSF IG, there are limited cases of breaching of border fencing and after measures were taken this has stopped for last one month.

On the claims of BGB that there are weapon factories



across in India which are supplying to criminals, he said, "We denied this as this is wrong information with them and particularly in Meghalaya we assured there is none of them."



He said one concern from them was smuggling of phensedyl and other contraband items (narcotics) which we assured to check in times to come.

On illegal immigration and human trafficking, he said that this is also an issue in some pockets of the state and the same was taken up with the Bangladesh counterpart requesting them that they should check their population.

Another concern expressed by the BSF was the delay in verification of the nationality of Bangladeshi nationals apprehended on Indian Territory.

"There are delays by BGB in verifying the nationality and as a result of this they (apprehended Bangladeshis) keep on lingering in our jails or somewhere in the police stations or with BSF as we can't repatriate or push them back to Bangladesh," he said while informing that a request was made to BGB to reduce the time and verified them so that they can be sent back as early as possible.

Meanwhile, the issue pertaining to the recent obstruction by the BGB on the construction work of the Integrated Check Post at Dawki, West Jaintia Hills was also discussed during the conference.

"The reason was that the government has not exchanged the design of the ICP with Bangladesh government. So now these have been shared by BSF with BGB and perhaps now work will commence at the site after BGB gives permission," he said.

Stating a decision was also taken not to adopt non lethal strategy on the border, he said we have observed that we should not kill any innocent people on the border so that relationship between the two countries is not spoiled.

"Trade is going on now with Bangladesh in a big way and Meghalaya is going to benefit because lots of stone, coal goes from here and if trade is disturbed economy of Meghalaya will also be disturbed," he said.

According to him, the BGB was also urged not to allow criminals to cross the border at any cost so that firing may be avoided, which they have assured to do so.
At least seven soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack on military positions in northeast Nigeria, a civilian vigilante and a security source said on today.

The attack happened in the town of Gajiram, about 80 kilometres by road north of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, on Wednesday afternoon.

A military source in Maiduguri and a civilian vigilante, Babakura Kolo, both told AFP yesterday that the fighting lasted for about two hours and that three soldiers were killed.

But Kolo said today that the toll was had risen and that it was "now seven, including one lieutenant, and six rank and file.

"Yesterday, three bodies of soldiers were found but four more bodies were found during a search."



The security source said three militants were also killed and troops were combing the area to find other rebel fighters.

AFP contacted the military for comment but there was no immediate response.

Fighters loyal to Abu Musab Al-Barnawi were suspected of carrying out the attack, said Kolo.

The Islamic State group, to which Boko Haram is affiliated, announced that Barnawi was leader last year.

He split from the faction following long-time Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in opposition at his indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

Barnawi has instead vowed to hit only "hard" targets such as the military and police. His group is believed to operate in northern Borno state, towards Lake Chad and the border with Niger.

According to the security source, the insurgents went door to door collecting recently distributed food aid for residents.

Kolo said vigilantes had been told by arrested Boko Haram suspects that they sourced most of their food from Gajiram and Monguno, a garrison town 60 kilometres away.

Nigeria's government wants the hundreds of thousands of displaced people staying in camps and host communities to return to their homes as soon as the military makes areas safe again.

But another attack on Wednesday near Gajiganna, some 50 kilometres from Maiduguri on the way to Gajiram, highlighted the risks they run.

"Some displaced people were returning to their villages in the area to harvest their abandoned cornfields when they were intercepted by Boko Haram," said Kolo.

"They killed some and took away others," he said, without specifying a death toll.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bihar Staff Selection Commission chairman and senior IAS officer Sudhir Kumar was today arrested by a Special Investigation Team in connection with the paper leak scam in clerical-grade recruitment examination.

"SIT has arrested BSSC chairman Sudhir Kumar and four others, including his close kins, in connection with the paper leak matter," Patna Zonal Inspector General of Police (IGP) N H Khan told PTI.

"The SIT has arrested Kumar on the basis of concrete evidence of his role in the entire matter of paper leak," Khan added.

Kumar has been arrested from Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, a senior police source said, adding of the four others arrested along with Kumar, two are his nephews.

Meanwhile, the IAS association is holding a meeting here to protest against Kumar's arrest.

Notably, Bihar government had on February 8 last cancelled the BSSC examination held to fill up the posts of clerks in state government jobs in the wake of paper leak.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had announced the cancellation of BSSC examination on the basis of preliminary report of state police chief P K Thakur and recommendation of Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh.

The cancellation had come in the wake of reports of paper leak before the examination on February 5. Leaked paper of BSSC examination for clerk jobs became online before start of the examination on February 5.

Earlier, SIT headed by Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj had arrested Commission Secretary Parmeshwar Ram and one other staff of the Commission in the case.

Ram's arrest came after intensive questioning by the SIT after taking him into custody on February 8.

The latest examination irregularities in the BSSC follows the infamous toppers' scam in the state plus two exam in 2016.

Media reports suggested huge amounts ranging from Rs 2-5 lakh was collected from candidates for the BSSC exam for clerical grade job.

(REOPENS CAL8)



The IAS Officers' Association, which expressed deep anger and anguish over the arrest of Kumar, has demanded a CBI inquiry to ensure an independent and fair probe into the alleged scam and will take up the matter with chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The Association in a press release also held the arrest as completely unwarranted and demanded his immediate release, saying Kumar is an honest and sincere officer and was cooperating in the investigation.

"Sudhir Kumar has all along been cooperating with the investigation and, therefore, the arrest is absolutely unwarranted. The Association strongly demands that this matter be transferred to the CBI forthwith in the interest of justice, independence and fair play," the Association's Bihar Branch Secretary and IAS Officer Vivek Singh said.

The release said the Association has "decided to bear all legal and other expenses on his behalf".

The Association's treasurer and IAS officer Dipak Kumar Singh said the SIT had apprised the Association of the sequence of events leading to the late-night arrest of the officer.

The Association met and apprised the state Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh of its concerns besides seeking immediate release of the officer, Singh said.

He said the IAS Association would meet Chief Minister Kumar in the evening.
Malaysian authorities revealed that Kim Jong-nam, brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, was murdered with VX after being pounced on by assassins at Kuala Lumpur airport.

The finding will add to the increasing evidence suggesting that Kim Jong Un's regime in North Korea was behindlast week's brazen and public attack on Kim Jong Nam, which South Korean officials have described as an apparent move by the young North Korean leader to get rid of a potential rival. The incident, which took place at a busy airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, could also prove to be the final straw in a diplomatic vow between previously friendly Malaysia and North Korea, given that the regime in Pyongyang is now accused of using a certified chemical weapon on Malaysian territory.

As pointless as it may seem to point it out, this stuff is nasty.

VX, or O-ethyl S-(2-diisopropylaminoethyl) methylphosphonothiolate for short, is a colorless liquid nerve agent (not a gas) and a chemical weapon. Drops on the skin can wreak havoc on the nervous system and be enough to kill. VX can poison a person in food and water, or even sprayed as an aerosolKim Jong-nam's assassins wiped it on his face, according to CNN. The chemical was invented in 1952, by a pair of chemists who discovered it was really good at killing bugs. People soon realized VX would also be good at killing humans. Countries like Russia started synthesizing a slew of other chemically similar "V series" nerve agents, including VR, VE, and so forth. There was a Cold War to fight, after all!

Illo: Ben Mills
Concerned over a large number of adoption cases pending in courts across the country, the Centre has written to Chief Justice of India on the need to sensitise judges.

Maneka Gandhi-led Women and Child Development Ministry has also suggested a slew of measures in order to hasten the legal process.

"Courts are going beyond the scope of Juvenile Justice Act and have imposed several conditions which are not in the best interest of the children and adoptive parents," says the letter to CJI J S Khehar.

The letter was referring to several controversial orders in the recent past.

Earlier this month, a Madras High Court judge ordered adoptee parents to donate Rs one lakh to a local school.

A district court in Burdwan recently ordered parents to produce a child before it at regular intervals of 3-6 months till the child turned 18 while a family court in Guna asked adoptee parents to deposit a sum of Rs five lakh in the account of the child they were adopting.

Experts argue that requiring parents to give a financial undertaking or produce a child before a court at periodic intervals is unnecessary because Specialised Adoption Agencies are mandated to carry out a Home Study Report to determine emotional and financial eligibility of prospective parents.

"Imposing unreasonable pre-conditions along with delays by courts will discourage people from adopting a child through the legal method. Genuine parents will be forced to explore informal or illegal methods for bringing home a child," said CEO, Central Adoption Resource Authority, Deepak Kumar.

The letter also requests for a dedicated day for hearing of adoption cases across benches.

In large districts, where the district court may not be located close by, the ministry wants adjoining family courts to have concurrent powers in adoption matters.

In order to make the legal process easier for foreign nationals it has been suggested that the High Court of a particular state must dedicate a bench for inter-country adoption.

Nearly 800 adoption cases are pending in various courts across the country. Of these, approximately 150 cases have not been resolved for over a year.

As per JJ Act 2016, courts must dispose off a case within two months.

Ever since adoption was regulated and its rules revised in 2015, the central adoption body has registered a decline in annual adoption rate. The adoption numbers have dropped by 40 per cent in six years from 6,321 in 2010 to 3,677 in 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Centre will deploy an additional 30 companies of Central paramilitary forces in Manipur for smooth conduct of the state assembly election.

Manipur Chief Secretary O Nabakishore told reporters here that altogether 280 companies of Central paramilitary forces will be deployed for election duty in the state which is experiencing more than three-month long economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council along the highways of the landlocked state.

The Chief Secretary said the "state is ready for elections."



Manipur will witness the highest Central forces deployment for the upcoming two-phase elections.

The election for the 60-member assembly will be held on March 4 and 8.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Six people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a forest officer early this week here, police said today.

The accused identified as Saroj Kumar aka Bablu (32), Laxmi Prasad Sidar (32), Lalit Kumar Bhagat (40), Anuj Chaudhary (22), Dayaram (30) and Puse Ram (65) were arrested yesterday, a district police official said.

However, the main accused- Dil Kumar alias Dilo (35)- who is said to be involved in illegal mining activities in the region, was still at large, he added.

On February 20 night, Forest Ranger of Lailunga forest range in Raigarh Daulat Ram Lader was allegedly hacked to death by a group of assailants near his official residence in Forest Colony under Lailunga police station of the district.

As per preliminary investigation, the victim officer had a year ago seized an alleged illegal consignment of teak wood belonging to the main accused Dilo, a native of Lailunga area.

On January 3 this year, Dilo's tractor which was being used in transporting the illegally mined stone chips was also seized again by the same forest officer, he said.

On the evening of February 20, Dilo along with his associates reached the house of Lader in Forest Colony and accused him of deliberately taking action against his vehicle.

He also had a heated exchange of words with Lader and threatened him asking to release his tractor, the police official said.

However, Dilo was pacified by some other forest employees who were present there after which he left the spot.

Later in the night on same day, when the victim was taking a walk after dinner in his locality, Dilo and other accused, armed with an axe, stormed into his place and attacked him leaving the officer dead on the spot, he added.

Based on the evidence and inputs, it was revealed that seven people were involved in the crime following which six of them were arrested, he said.

Besides, the weapon used in the murder has also been seized, the official said adding that efforts are on to nab the prime accused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) resounding victory in the civic polls in Maharashtra has further strengthened Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who led his party's campaign from the front after deciding to go alone without tying up with the Shiv Sena, according to political observers.

The results, which saw the BJP making massive gains in city corporations and doubling its tally in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), also exposed the organisational failures of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which were routed even in their strongholds across the state.

Fadnavis, 46, who heads the first BJP-led government in the politically crucial state, single-handedly led the party's campaign crisscrossing the length and breadth of Maharashtra, aggressively projecting "transparency and development" as the central slogan.

Significantly, the BJP's urban sweep came close on the heels of its sterling performance in municipal council elections in November-January, rubbishing the predictions that the party would do badly in the backdrop of the note ban.

In contrast to the well-crafted BJP campaign, the Congress leaders largely confined themselves to their respective districts during the run-up, failing to put up a spirited fight by overcoming organisational weaknesses and internal bickering, poll-watchers said.

The immediate justification of the party for its poor performance, however, was lack of adequate funds.

But some Congress leaders admitted that the party failed to match the high-octane campaign mounted by the saffron parties by bringing to the fore the real civic issues.

"The Sena and BJP adopted the Kalyan-Dombivali municipal Corporation (KDMC) formula where the two parties fought a bitter campaign against each other despite being in power together in the state and eventually sealed a post-poll alliance," they said, requesting anonymity.

The BJP emerged as the largest party in eight of the 10 municipal corporations while finishing a close second to bellicose ally Shiv Sena in Mumbai.

Rattling the Sena citadel, the BJP won 82 seats in BMC, just two less than the estranged saffron ally, but both ended up well short of the magic figure of 114 needed to control the civic body.

Political observers said non-Maharashtrians, who formed the core base of the Congress in Mumbai for long, have switched sides to the BJP since 2014.

"Even Muslims preferred to vote for Shiv Sena instead of the Congress due to the factional feud and infighting. The Congress did not present a picture of a fighting unit," said an observer.
Congress, which faced its worst ever rout in Mumbai winning only 31 of the 227 seats in the civic body, today said it will not do anything that will benefit the Shiv Sena and BJP in their bid to gain control of the country's richest civic body.

"We will not dilute our ideological stand. People defeated us and gave us a mandate to sit in the opposition. We respect that. But voters have not given the saffron parties, who fought a bitter battle, the keys to power. Congress will not help these two parties, but would like to see their fight continue and differences aggravate," Congress city unit chief Sanjay Nirupam told PTI.

He said that people will get to see how the party, which sought votes in the name of transparency, indulges in horse-trading.

The BJP had made "transparency" its main plank for the BMC polls.

The hung verdict in Mumbai is expected to change the political calculations as Sena and BJP are not in the position to rule the country's richest civic body on its own.

However, it is not yet clear whether the saffron allies, which share power both in Maharashtra and at the Centre, will join hands to rule the BMC.

In the counting of votes held yesterday, the Congress was relegated to the third position with 31 seats. Shiv Sena topped the tally with 84 seats, followed by BJP which won 82 seats, just two less than the estranged saffron ally.

In the 2012 BMC polls, the Congress had won 52 seats and in 2007, it had emerged victorious on 75 seats in the Mumbai civic body.

Taking moral responsibility for Congress' poor performance in the BMC polls, Nirupam had offered to resign from his post yesterday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Madras High Court today directed actor Dhanush to appear before it on February 28 in connection with a case filed by a couple who claimed he was their son.

Justice G Chokkalingam of the bench here passed the directions on the counter filed by Kathiresan, who claims to be the actor's father.

When the matter came up for hearing today, the judge directed Dhanush to appear before it in person on February 28 to verify his personal identification (ID) marks.

In his counter, Kathiresan submitted that there was a possibility of disfiguring of the ID marks of the actor, and simply filing it through an affidavit will not prove the petitioner's case.

He also submitted that the birth certificate filed by the actor was not genuine, and his name and the registration number were not mentioned in it.

In the school transfer certificate, it was mentioned that Dhanush belonged to the Scheduled Caste.

However, film director Kasthuri Raja, who claims to be the actor's biological father, belonged to Naicker community (BC) from Theni district, Kathiresan claimed.

The family card filed to substantiate that Dhanush belonged to the family of Kasthuri Raja was also manipulated, he alleged.

The petition filed by Dhanush is false and the same could be proved only during the trial by the trial court, he said.

Dhanush, the son-in-law of 'Superstar' Rajinikanth, had in January last moved this court, seeking quashing of the trial case pending in a lower court in Melur near here, wherein the couple Kathiresan and Meenakshi had claimed to be his real parents and sought a monthly maintenance of Rs 65,000.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the elections to the BMC throwing up a fractured verdict, all eyes are on Shiv Sena and BJP, each of which notched up over 80 seats in the 227-member council, whose leaders are yet to spell out their next move.

The Sena today put up a brave front despite the results falling far short of its expectations, indicating that it will not agree to a post-poll pact giving up its claim for the coveted post of Mayor in the country's richest civic body.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Minister Nitin Gadkari, however, said the two parties have "no option" other than a coming together.

"The situation now is that both parties have no option but to come together again," Gadkari told a Marathi channel, adding "The final decision on this issue has to be taken by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray."



Fadnavis, the architect of the BJP's stunning performance in BMC and other city bodies across the state, had yesterday said his party's "core committee" comprising him and the state unit chief will take the next step.

Meanwhile, the Sena received a boost today with two Independent corporators joining the party, raising its total tally in the BMC to 86, still way below the half-way mark of 114.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, after admitting the corporators in the party, told reporters that he had not thought about an alliance with any party to wrest power in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) yet, but maintained that the coveted Mayor's post will be held by Sena only.

According to Sena sources, Thackeray will hold a meeting of senior leaders and newly-elected corporators tomorrow to decide future course of action.

Meanwhile, senior leaders from both parties claimed the support of the remaining three Independent corporators.

BJP's core committee meeting is expected to be held in two to three days, where the party's course will be charted out.

In the bitterly fought BMC elections, Shiv Sena won 84 seats, BJP secured 82, Congress was relegated to the third position with 31 seats, whereas the NCP and Raj Thackeray-led MNS finished with nine and seven seats respectively.

Unfazed by the giant stride made by the BJP, Sena kept up its attack on the estranged ally, with which it shares power in the state and central government.

An editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the party's fight with the BJP will continue, regardless of the consequences.

It also accused the BJP of having used the state machinery and all its might of central leadership to score an unprecedented result in the BMC polls and other local bodies.

"The Sena has been ruling the BMC from the last 25 years. They (the BJP) used deceitful means to destabilise our rule. This has never happened before when the Congress ruled the state," it charged.

"Our fight (with the BJP) will continue. The war that had started was not only for power but for 'dharma', ideals and the integrity of Maharashtra," the Sena said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar said his



party won't enter into any "secret alliance" with anyone.

"Whatever (alliance) will happen will be discussed in the core committee," Shelar said, ahead of the BJP core committee meeting here tonight.

"It is a matter of analysis as to how our party, which had 32 corporators in the outgoing BMC, rose to 82 in the latest election," he added.
Honda Cars has acquired 380 acres in Gujarat to set up a new assembly line, though its two existing plants are running at half the installed capacity of 2.40 lakh units as its sales fell over 25 per cent last year.

Honda has an assembly line each in Greater Noida near Delhi and Tapukura in Rajasthan with a combined capacity of 2.40 units. But in 2016, its sales plunged to 1,58,658, a steep 25.3 per cent decline from 2015 level when it had sold 2,12,372 units. Accordingly, its market share fell to seventh slot from fourth.

With this running rate, it is highly unlikely that Honda will be able it to meet its earlier target of selling 3,00,000 lakh cars in the country in 2017.

"We have just completed acquisition of around 400 acres, to be precise 380 acres, at Vithalapur in Gujarat, though we have no immediate plans to set up a plant there. We have bought the land so that as and when we finalise the third plant, we have the land ready," Honda Cars India chief executive Yoichiro Ueno said.

He said this is done as they are confident of the long-term potential of India and are committed to this market. With GDP clipping at 7 per cent, there isn't any reason to be otherwise, and they want to participate in this growth story.

Ueno, however, refused to offer the price they have paid for the land parcel. But the company sources said they have paid around Rs 1,000 crore for the land parcel.

Honda Cars India director and senior vice-president Raman Kumar Sharma told PTI that excluding this latest investment, the company has pumped Rs 8,000 crore into the country since its entry in the 1990s.

Sharma said they bought the land from individuals and completed transactions earlier this month only and bought the land considering the challenges of land acquisition in the country coupled with rising realty prices, it is way of derisking future volatilities.

Vithalapur is about 80 km northwest of Ahmedabad, where Honda's two-wheeler subsidiary Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India runs the world's largest scooters only plant with a 1.2 million annual capacity, opened last February.

Honda expanded capacity to more than 2,40,000 units from 60,000 in a short span. A large part of the additional capacity was in diesel during the peak of diesel demand a couple of years ago. But Ueno said they will go slow on diesel now as customer preference have already shifted back to petrol following narrowing of the fuel price differences.

Ueno attributed falling sales to the overstocking of



around 24,000 units at showrooms on average as the company was planning to discontinue the existing model of its warhorse city in the run-up to the new launch earlier this month.

Over the last weekend, the company said it had received as much as 5,500 bookings for its new City within 15 days of launch and is bullish on the prospects as it attempts to be a premium player here again, and this will also see the company relaunching the Accord and the Civic sedans shortly.

With the Maruti Ciaz picking up steam, the City was relegated to No 2 slot since the past few months. But Honda said this was primarily due to destocking it has been doing as it was preparing for the new version. While the City was averaging around 6,000 units till recently, the Ciaz for the first time overtook it by selling 5,360 units.

"We don't want to be known as a cheap or mass brand. We want our brand to be known as a premium car brand. Our focus will be the upper segment going forward. We've decided to maintain our traditional positioning, which is a bit more premium though not luxury. So, we'd like to target customers a bit different from others in terms of products, service, and customer experience," Ueno said.

Ueno said the City sales declined in the past few months, because the company was in a phase out stage as it was preparing the new fourth general version of the City.
Dev Patel will receive award for best supporting actor for his performance in the film "Lion" at L A Italia Festival.

The 26-year-old actor will be bestowed with the honour on the closing ceremony of the fest at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre with its own awards show before the Oscars, confirmed The Hollywood Reporter.

At the opening event of the awards, the Garth Davis-directed film bagged the honours for best film and best young actor for the eight-year-old, Sunny Pawar.

Patel and Pawar played the elder and younger version of Saroo Brierley, an Indian man who is separated from his family in childhood and grows up in an adopted family in Australia, finally traces his journey back to find his roots.

The British-Indian actor is also nominated for best actor in a supporting role category at the Oscars, scheduled on February 26.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi Police's Crime Branch has begun its probe into clashes between ABVP and AISA members in Delhi University's Ramjas College.

"Since it was Mahashivratri today, students were not present in the campus. Police will begin recording the statements of students tomorrow and will collect all the video evidences in the matter," said a senior police officer.

Officers analysed all the complaints received from both the parties, he said.

Meanwhile, there was police presence in the campus and adjoining areas today to ensure peace despite it being a holiday.

Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP supporters. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on 'Culture of Protests' which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

Tension continued to simmer across Delhi University's North Campus yesterday with students' groups holding protests against police "high-handedness" during the violent clashes even as three policemen were suspended for "unprofessional" conduct.

While students of JNU and DU who are members of All India Students Association (AISA) staged a protest at the Delhi Police Headquarters at ITO, the Congress' student wing National Students Union of India (NSUI) took out a peace march to Maurice Nagar police station, near the North Campus.

ABVP, on its part staged a protest reiterating that "they will not allow any repeat of JNU like events in Delhi University".

While the DU authorities maintained that the varsity proctor's office is looking into the issue, the HRD Ministry had yesterday sought a report from the university over the issue.

A case was registered in connection with the violence and yesterday it was transferred to Crime Branch.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russian emigre  and Putin opponent  Keith Gessen writes at length and very well about the different guises that Vladimir Putin takes on in the imaginations of western political writers: genius, nothing, secret stroke survivor, KGB agent, killer, kleptocrat, a man with the suspicious name of "Vladimir."

None of these are a thorough accounting for who Putin is; as a genius, he's certainly prone to some pretty dumb mistakes; as a nothing, he has done rather a lot; as a super-ninja KGB spook he's certainly no more Machiavellian than the average EU leader; as a killer, his body-count owes much to apparently rogue underlings; as a kleptocrat, he is certainly willing to risk his pals' billions. He is, however, named Vladimir.

After reading Gessen's piece, I think kleptocrat comes closest, with all the short-sightedness that implies. As Gessen writes, for a genius, Putin has certainly failed to secure his own peaceful succession: "it is hard to imagine an end to the Putin era that is not violent, and whose violence does not lead to more violence"  thus, "[Putin]'s palace is, in a way, the most hopeful thing that Putin is building  a promise of his eventual retirement, and under circumstances where he is not torn from limb to limb by a mob that has entered the Kremlin and overpowered his personal guards."



With Putin the killer, we reach something like Putinology's conceptual blind spot. What we seem to be dealing with, in Russia, is neither a failed state, where the government has no power, nor a totalitarian state, where it has all the power, but something in between. Putin does not order killings, and yet killings happen. Putin ordered the takeover of Crimea, but, as best as anyone can tell, he seems not to have ordered the invasion of eastern Ukraine. That invasion appears to have been undertaken as a freelance operation by a small group of mercenaries funded by a well-connected Russian businessman. Real Russian troops came later. But if Putin isn't in charge of everything  if there are powerful forces operating outside of Putin's say-so  what's the point of Putinology? On this point, Putinology is silent. The absolute worst crime of which Putin has been accused is the bombing of several apartment blocks in Moscow in 1999. In September of that year, with President Boris Yeltsin ill, presidential elections just around the corner, and a relatively unknown Putin recently moved from heading the FSB to running the government as Yeltsin's prime minister, two large apartment buildings blew up in Moscow, killing nearly 300 people. A few days later there was another building explosion, this time in the southern city of Volgodonsk. And a few days after that, in a bizarre incident, some men were caught by local police planting what appeared to be explosives in the basement of a building in Ryazan  the men turned out to be from the FSB. They quickly removed the apparent bomb and declared the whole thing a "training exercise" meant to test the vigilance of the populace and the police.

Killer, kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin

[Keith Gessen/The Guardian]





(via Naked Capitalism)





(Image: Pussy Riot  Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, painted portrait, thierry ehrmann, CC-BY)
The ED has issued a show cause notice to NRI businessman C C Thampi and his firms for alleged violation of forex laws amounting to over Rs 288 crore in acquiring vast tracts of land in Delhi and adjoining areas.

The Enforcement Directorate had registered a case under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) against Thampi last year.

The three firms that have been issued show cause notice, post-investigation, as part of the latest order, have been identified as Holiday City Centre Private Limited, Holiday Properties Private Limited and Holiday Bekal Resorts Private Limited.

"Thampi, an NRI, had acquired huge agricultural land mass in Palwal and Faridabad districts of Haryana in the name of his company Holiday City Centre Pvt Ltd by circumventing the prescribed law of land and in contravention of extant provision of FEMA," the ED said in a statement.

"In pursuant to a complaint, investigation was initiated, which revealed that Thampi was residing outside India and he had advanced unsecured loans to his three companies which was later converted into equity in his name and in the name of his family members in these companies," it said.

The ED statement said by using the "said funds he had acquired huge agricultural land mass in Palwal, National Capital Region (NCR) and Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh" through the above mentioned companies, which he otherwise would not have been able to purchase, being a person residing outside India.

"The agricultural land purchased by Thampi through the above mentioned companies in contravention of the relevant provisions of FEMA has also been proposed therein for confiscation to the Central government account," it said.

"The FEMA contravention identified in the show cause notice is over Rs 288 crore," it said, adding investigation is underway.

Agency sources said the businessman is also under the scanner for his reported dealings with some politicians and bureaucrats.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Emmanuel Macron has emerged as the undisputed king of the French centre ground, but shifting sentiment and alliances make predicting this year's presidential election as difficult as ever.

Macron, a 39-year-old former economy minister, was given little chance when he launched a new political movement "En Marche" (On the Move) last year ahead of a vote that was billed as a fight between conservatives and the far-right.

But the pro-European progressive is now a frontrunner to become France's next leader and will draw strength from an alliance with veteran centrist Francois Bayrou, who decided against mounting a rival presidential bid on Wednesday.

The two met yesterday, with Macron hoping the tie-up will boost his chances after a tricky 10 days that have seen him lose momentum just as far-right candidate Marine Le Pen picks up speed.

Explaining his decision to join forces with Macron, Bayrou yesterday said the two shared a rejection of the traditional French left-right political system.

"We just had the feeling that we could not go on as before," he said, adding that it was "no secret" that the two had had differences in the past but they had put them behind them.

The 65-year-old veteran who finished third in the 2007 presidential election said: "My role is very simple -- I am here to help."



However, Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon picked up key new backing Thursday in the rollercoaster race, as the nation's left aims to forge a united front with polls just months away.

Environmentalist Yannick Jadot dropped out and threw his support behind Hamon, while Communist-backed Jean-Luc Melenchon said he was "open to discussion."



Polls show the three have enough supporters to mount a serious challenge together, which means a potential tie-up between the splintered leftist candidates could produce another upset.

While commentators said Bayrou gave Macron's campaign more substance, a poll by Tilder and OpinionWay for LCI television showed that 72 percent of voters believe the tie-up "changes nothing".

Macron's unforeseen rise illustrates the difficulty in forecasting the two-stage election on April 23 and May 7 which is being widely watched by governments and investors around the world.

"It might be that we only see what's going to happen on the night of the election," veteran French political watcher Philippe Braud of Sciences Po university told AFP on Thursday.

Two new polls yesteday showed far-right leader Le Pen stretching her lead in the first round, where she would win 25-27.5 percent if it were held now.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
West Bengal government is hopeful that the gas pipeline network to households in the city would be ready in another three years' time.

"We are hopeful that the gasline network to supply natural gas to every household will be ready by another three years' time," state Environment Minister and city mayor Sovan Chatterjee said after a meeting with senior officials of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL).

State Finance Minister Amit Mitra was also present in the meeting along with Environment Principal Secretary Arnab Roy.

"In today's meeting we discussed about the operations, on the DPR and process of implementation of the project," Chatterjee said.

The minister said that as per the GAIL plan pipelines for the gas supply would likely be brought through Durgapur before reaching the city, the minister said.

The West Bengal government has decided to enter into a joint venture with the GAIL to supply natural gas to every household in greater Kolkata.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave her approval to the joint venture at a meeting of the Cabinet Standing Committee on Industry early this week.

The Greater Calcutta Greater Calcutta Gas Supply Corporation (CGSC), which is a 100 per cent state-owned company, will have an equity of 26 per cent while GAIL will hold the rest 74 per cent stake for the Rs 3,000 crore project.

GAIL would invest for the project while the state government would provide various assets like land and infrastructure support, officers said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seventeen years after first setting foot in Saudi Arabia, Dominic Steck shipped his two cats and returned to Germany with his wife and school-age children, who hardly know their homeland.

As Saudi Arabia steps up efforts to employ more of its own people, and with economic growth slowing, the ranks of well- paid white-collar expatriates like Steck are thinning.

For them, the good times are over.

Steck said that to reduce costs, his employers "sent the Westerners" away.

"I have to admit, they will save a lot," he told AFP with a chuckle.

Cost-cutting, financial problems and a drive to employ more Saudis have all led to a noticeable reduction in expatriate employment as the Arab world's largest economy adjusts to lower crude prices.

Saudi Arabia, which exports more oil than any other country, since last year has pursued its "Vision 2030" economic diversification effort to broaden its investment and business base, while placing more Saudis in the private sector.

The drop in global oil prices by about half since 2014 left the kingdom with a huge budget deficit and billions of dollars in debt to private firms, chiefly in the construction business.

Saudi Binladin Group alone laid off around 70,000 expats from poorer countries, but the impact of slower economic growth has gone further and left many Western expatriates also saying goodbye.

Latest official figures showed almost nine million foreigners employed in the kingdom but that was before the worst of the economic pain struck, sending home expats like Steck.

"People are leaving because there's not enough business for their contract to be renewed," said a foreign manager in the consumer electronics sector whose business is down 10 percent.

"Everybody's margins are seriously under pressure. There's not a business out there that's really doing well," he said, declining to be named.

More pain is expected come July when the government plans to impose a levy on foreign workers with dependents.

The fee will start at 100 riyals ($27) a month, rising to 400 riyals monthly by 2020, according to a government document seen by Bloomberg .

The electronics manager said his company will make its nearly 300 expatriates, largely Indians, Pakistanis and Filipinos, pay these charges themselves.

With most of them earning less than 10,000 riyals monthly, this will encourage them to either send their families home or quit - creating space for hiring Saudis, he said.

According to the document seen by Bloomberg News, the government will also raise monthly fees paid by employers who hire more foreign workers than Saudis as part of a programme to encourage local hiring.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government will consider extending the exemption given to traders for fumigating pulses imported from Canada at Indian ports instead of the country of origin.

India has made it mandatory to fumigate imported crops with methyl bromide, a restricted use pesticide, in the country of origin.

However, the government has been giving exemption to traders importing pulses from Canada -- the world's largest pulses exporter -- which has banned the use of the fumigant on environmental grounds. The current exemption is valid till March 31, 2017.

"The issue is under active consideration. We may consider continuing exemption (to Canada) after looking into our production and import data," a senior Agriculture Ministry official told PTI.

Trade bodies have made several representation on this issue. A meeting will be held next week to take a final call, the official added.

The official said that the exemption may be continued for only short period as the country is taking steps to protect environment.

India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) Pravin Dongre said, "We have made a representation to the Agriculture Ministry. We are hopeful that further exemption will given."



He said that the country needs to import peas and lentils from Canada even as the domestic output of other varieties of pulses is expected to be bumper.

With deadline of exemption nearing, Dongre said the traders have not contracted much quantities from Canada for delivery beyond March.

The country is all set to harvest a record 22.1 million tonnes of pulses in the 2016-17 crop year (July-June) from 16.4 MT last year.

India imported nearly 6 MT pulses last fiscal to meet the domestic demand, which is estimated at 23-24 MT annually.

The government imports about 1 million tonnes of pulses for buffer stock. Another 1 million tonnes for buffer stock is being procured from domestic markets.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The South American country of Guyana says it is investigating allegations that the Chinese embassy has been using its diplomatic status to bring in tax-free goods from China and distribute them to local merchants.

Guyana Revenue Commissioner Godfrey Statia told The Associated Press today that customs officers reported the embassy had been receiving unusually large shipments.

Shipments tied to a diplomatic mission are not fully searched.

Statia said there's a big difference in prices in items being sold by Chinese-owned stores compared with the Guyanese ones.

The Chinese embassy called the allegations baseless and said it reserves the right to take legal action.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Global premium ice-cream brand Haagen Dazs today said it was still struggling to find a vegetarian natural stabiliser as an alternative to egg-yolk which faces resistance from a section of consumers in India.

"India is the only unique country where the brand is facing some hurdles on the ground of not being a pure veg ice-cream," Haagen-Dazs chef Anthony David said today on the sidelines of opening of the 17th store of India in city.

The US brand, which claims all-natural ingredients without any artificial way of preservatives, today said it was still struggling in India for finding an alternative to the natural stabiliser.

"We are actively working on it, but still struggling to find a natural ingredient to egg-yolk as natural stabilser required to prepare ice-cream. As we use only natural products we are still using egg-yolk powder in all our ice-creams," David said.

He claimed that the remaining ice-cream brands which are making pure vegitarian ice-creams use some kind of artificial ingredients.

He said that all ice-creams were being imported from a single plant at Arras in France for all its 900 stores across 50 countries.

The Kolkata Haagen Dazs franchise director, Shagun Agarwal, said they remained bullish about the acceptance of the global brand in the metropolis. They also propose to open a few more store in the city.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vice President Hamid Ansari, whose tenure ends later this year, today said the journey has been "very productive" and he has fully enjoyed this phase of his career.

"Every day is a new day, you live with the kind of responsibilities and challenges of the day," he said.

He was responding to a question from the media aboard Air India One, en route to Delhi from Kampala, after winding up his five-day visit of Rwanda and Uganda.

"I have had a very productive nine-and-a-half years (of this tenure). It has been a learning experience and I have enjoyed it," he said.

79-year-old Ansari, who by virtue of his post is also the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, first assumed the office of the Vice President in 2007.

A former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, Ansari was also the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and Chairman of the National Minorities Commission.

He is the grand-nephew of former Congress President Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, a prominent leader of the freedom struggle.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Haryana government today said it will provide computer training to 840 girls in urban and semi-urban villages in the state.

Under the scheme, the Haryana Women Development Corporation (HWDC) along with the Technical Education Department would provide computer training for six months, an official spokesperson said here.

Computer training will be provided to ten plus two pass girls in urban, semi-urban and big villages. The girls will have to submit their application to the District Manager of HWDC and in every district, there will be 40 girls in each of the two batches.

Preference would be given to girls belonging below poverty line families, the spokesperson said.

The training would include basic knowledge of computers, MS Office, typing tutor, database management, internet, email and Tally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The New York Times reports that it and at least two other media outlets, CNN and Politico, were barred today from a White House press event. Also locked out were the LA Times and Buzzfeed, writes Politico's Dan Diamond.

Journalists from The New York Times and two other news organizations were prohibited from attending a briefing by President Trump's press secretary on Friday, a highly unusual breach of relations between the White House and its press corps. Reporters from The Times, CNN and Politico were not allowed to enter the West Wing office of the press secretary, Sean M. Spicer, for the scheduled briefing. Aides to Mr. Spicer allowed in reporters from only a handpicked group of news organizations that, the White House said, had been previously confirmed to attend.

It's OK, though: Breitbart got in!
Alleged drug lord Sharafat Sheikh's wife, who is in judicial custody since June 2006 on charges of being part of an organised crime syndicate, has been denied bail by the Delhi High Court.

Observing that Zohra Sheikh has been "roped in" on very serious charges including possessing unaccounted wealth on behalf of the crime syndicate, the high court said if let out on bail, "she may tamper with the witnesses and the evidence" considering the stakes for her and her husband.

Justice Vipin Sanghi said in such a case where the "nature and gravity of accusations" are so serious, grant of regular bail "may have an adverse impact not only in the progress of the case, but also on the trust that the society has reposed in the criminal justice system".

The court noted that the woman, Sharafat's second wife, had disclosed that she had married Sharafat knowing that he has been arrested for his involvement in several criminal cases ranging from possession of drugs and theft to kidnapping, criminal intimidation and under the Arms Act.

Besides, she wanted "to enjoy his wealth and live lavishly, knowing that the wealth owned by Sharafat was out of his illegal activities".

"She holds moveable and immoveable properties in her name, which she has failed to account for. She has, admittedly, commanded the gang when her husband went to jail. She and her family maintain a very lavish and fancy lifestyle," the court noted in its order while dismissing her bail application.

It also said the woman was facing charges of destruction of evidence, forging voter identity cards to meet her husband in jail and was also convicted in two criminal cases for kidnapping and causing hurt by dangerous weapon, an inference can be drawn that she could commit an offence while on bail.

"Prima facie, the acts of the applicant (Zohra) comes within the definition of 'abet' as defined in section 2(1)(a) of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and, prima facie, establishes her role as a conspirator in assisting and managing the crime syndicate.

"She appears to be in possession of movable and immovable properties derived and obtained from commission of an organized crime syndicate, which she has not satisfactorily accounted for," the court said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Gujarat High Court has dismissed as "politically motivated" a plea for a direction to the police to register an FIR against state minister Shankar Chaudhary for allegedly furnishing a fake MBA degree to election authorities ahead of the 2012 Assembly polls.

The petition, filed by social activist Farsu Goklani, was rejected on the ground of it being "politically motivated" by Justice J B Pardiwala yesterday.

"I have no doubt in my mind that this writ application is nothing but an outcome of the personal vendetta and actuated by political considerations," observed Pardiwala in his order.

"It is so obvious that the person against whom the allegations have been levelled being an arch political rival of the writ applicant, all attempts are sought to be made to malign him. In view of the above, this writ application fails and is hereby rejected," the judge observed.

As an alternative remedy, the high court suggested the petitioner to approach a magistrate's court.

"It shall be open for the writ applicant to avail of the legal remedy under section 200 of the CrPC. The magistrate concerned shall apply his own mind and look into the averments made in the complaint as well as the material on record and take an appropriate decision in that regard," it said.

Earlier, in March last year, a division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice A S Dave had disposed of a PIL on the same issue filed by Goklani.

Later in January this year, Goklani again approached the high court with a petition seeking a direction against the Minister of State for Health, Chaudhary, who is an MLA from Vav Assembly seat in Banaskantha district.

Goklani contended that Chaudhary passed his Higher Secondary Examination in 2011 and a year after, he got his MBA degree from a Vadodara-based National Institute of Management.

Goklani alleged that no institute can offer an MBA degree in just a year after class 12, and that Chaudhary be prosecuted for submitting false details regarding his degree in the poll affidavit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A history-sheeter was today dragged out of a police vehicle at a road junction and hacked to death by a 13-member gang when he was being taken to a court in Tuticorin.

A Sub Inspector of Armed Reserve Police and two constables were injured in the incident after the gang sprinkled water mixed with chilli powder on their eyes, police said.

The incident took place at the Tirunelveli-Tuticorin road junction near K T C Nagar in Palayamkottai town, they said.

Balasubramanian alias Singravelan, a history-sheeter, was being taken to a court in Tuticorin in connection with a recent bomb hurling incident at Morapanadu village when the gang waylaid the police vehicle, which slowed down at the junction.

They smashed the windscreen with sickles and clubs and splashed chilli water mixture on the police personnel.

As the policemen were rubbing their eyes due to the burning sensation, the gang pulled Singravelan out and hacked him.

They later escaped in a car and two bikes, police said, adding five special teams have been formed to nab them.

No sooner did the gang flee the spot that bystanders rush the criminal to a hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.

Police suspect rivalry to be the reason behind the attack.

Police said they are analysing CCTV footage at a hotel near the junction to get possible clues.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A top private hospital here today courted controversy for allegedly refusing to release a patient without settling of dues despite chief minister Mamata Banerjee's warning against such practice just two days back.

Family members of Sanjay Roy, who was admitted to the hospital on February 16 after a road accident, alleged that the hospital authorities refused to release him unless dues were settled and the delay to shift him caused his death.

"The bill for his treatment ran into nearly Rs eight lakh and we wanted to shift him to the state-run SSKM hospital as we managed to get a bed there. We pleaded with the (private) hospital authorities to release the patient but they have insisted on the payment first," a family member said.

Trinamool Congress leader and former minister Madan Mitra described the incident as "very unfortunate" and alleged that the patient was not released despite requests by his family members.

Mitra, who reached the SSKM hospital where the patient was taken last night, was seen on TV telling the hospital authority "You did not care to bother about what the chief minister has said. You have even taken their fixed deposit papers."



He also told the hospital authority to refund the entire money taken from the patient's family.

The hospital authority, however, denied the allegation and said the patient's relatives confirmed at 7 p.M that they have got a bed in the government hospital. "We had agreed (to release Roy). Subsequently, we had taken the patient in our ambulence with doctors and continued his treatment till he was put in that hospital bed".

The hospital authority also said it would return the money taken from the patient.

On the charge that the hospital has taken the fixed deposit papers from the patient's relatives, it said "The patient's relatives have given them to us. We never asked for them."



Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Wednesday at a meeting with representatives of different top private hospitals warned private hospitals against over-charging patients and negligence in treatment and announced setting up of a regulatory commission to monitor their functioning.

"Hospitals must serve with smile. Try to treat patients with love, calculate money later. Your primary responsibility will be to serve them. You must have help desks. There must be a grievance cell in every hospitals to talk to families who have lost their patients there," she had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
State-owned plans to sell stakes in four associates units, including Tourism Finance Corporation of India, as part of strategy to focus on its core business of term lending.

"We don't have problem with associates...We have submitted divestment plan to the government. Once we get approval, we will go ahead with the sale in a gradual manner," Deputy Managing Director Sanjeev Kaushik told PTI.

The Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) board has already approved divesting the entire 45.5 per cent stake in associate firm Hardicon as per its plan to exit from non-core business activities.

Other four associates of the country's oldest financial institution are Tourism Finance Corporation of India (TFCI), Himachal Consultancy Organisation (HIMCON), North India Technical Consultancy Organisation (NITCON) and KITCO (formerly Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation).

Hardicon is a non-listed associate company of the . It is owned by financial institutions like IFCI, SIDBI, SBI and several other public sector banks and state-level entities. The company was set up in 1985 to facilitate overall industrial development of the country by addressing technical consultancy needs of industry and corporates and promoting entrepreneurship.

Mounting bad loans pushed the IFCI into a Rs 45.17 crore loss for the third quarter ended December 2016 as against profit of Rs 154 crore in the same period a year ago.

Gross NPAs of the company increased more than three-fold to 25.8 per cent because of downgrading of certain standard accounts in current nine-month period and reduction in the loan portfolio due to prepayments and low credit offtake.

In absolute terms, there was addition Rs 2,970 crore to the gross NPA head during the quarter.
India's concerns over sovereignty relating to the $46-billion CPEC is "unwarranted", Chinese state media on Friday said, asking New Delhi to take an "objective and more pragmatic" view of China's ambitious .

The comments in an oped piece in Global Times comes after Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on February 22 co-chaired the upgraded India-China Strategic Dialogue in Beijing.

After the dialogue, Jaishankar told reporters that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which runs through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), violates India's sovereignty.

The CPEC is part of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative, the official name of the Silk Road initiative.

Reacting to Jaishankar's remarks, the article said India's concerns were "unwarranted". "China respects India's sovereignty concerns. Taking a strong stand on territorial issues is important, but it's hoped India could adopt an objective and more pragmatic attitude towards the One Belt, One Road proposal."



China's Foreign Ministry is yet to react to India's stand.

The article, however, asked India to take part in the Silk Road summit to be held in Beijing in May, stressing the "potential economic benefits" of CPEC and packaging it as a project promoting greater regional cooperation.

China's President Xi Jinping has convened the summit. Leaders of about 20 nations have confirmed participation, the Chinese foreign ministry has said without identifying them.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickramasinghe are expected to attend the event.

Calling on India to soften its stand, the article said, "New Delhi fears that the CPEC, passing through the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, would serve the purpose of granting legitimacy to Pakistan's control over the region, and by promoting the construction of the corridor, China intends to meddle in the Kashmir dispute. These concerns are unwarranted."



"China has no intention of interfering in the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. China has long believed that the two neighbours should solve their dispute through dialogue and consultations, and it has repeatedly emphasised that the construction of the CPEC would not affect its stance on the issue," it said.

China's OBOR initiative's stated aim is to link countries in Asia, Africa and Europe to promote "an open and inclusive global economy" by building regional trade networks and enhancing connectivity for future growth.

Also, the article said,"India should not view Pakistan's development as a threat. As long as India is willing to, China, Pakistan and India could cooperate to tap the vast economic potential in the disputed Kashmir region.
IndiaFirst Life Insurance is looking at achieving overall premium of Rs 2,000 crore by March-end from Rs 1,750 crore at present, a top company official said here.

The company, promoted by Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank and UK-based Legal & General, is targeting to cross the premium of Rs 350 crore in individual premium by the fiscal-end, from Rs 285 crore at present, the official added.

Moreover, the company is all set to sell its products online in the near future.

"We are looking at achieving overall premium of Rs 2,000 crore by March-end from Rs 1,750 crore at present," IndiaFirst Life Insurance managing director and chief executive R M Vishakha told PTI.

"In the individual premium segment, which has grown by 90 per cent on y-o-y basis to Rs 285 crore as of now, we are looking at crossing Rs 350 crore by the fiscal-end," she said, adding, "Out of our individual premium segment, we have got 40 per cent of policies falling under Ulip category."



The company, which has over 50 lakh of policies under its fold, has been registering profit for the third year in a row. The company is selling its products through 70 per cent of branches of Bank of Baroda and 90 per cent branches of Andhra Bank. Still, the company was having 29 branches of its own.

"We have got 29 branches of our own. The only thing is that these branches are meant for administrative use of the company," she said.

On the company's plan to sell its products online, Vishakha said it would take off shortly. However, she did not give any timeframe for it.

The company has kept its group business flat consciously after having invested in it for first five years.

"In group, we have deliberately kept the growth flat. As in the first five years, we invested heavily in the building of our group business. Then we decided to stabilise it and grow our retail and protection businesses," she said.

In group, there are two kinds of businesses, fund management which includes gratuity and superannuation, while the other is corporate fund which is a pure life insurance product.

"One of our protection businesses under group business segment is doing very well these days. We have done around Rs 120 crore under protection business alone. In addition, we have done around Rs 890 crore in corporate funds," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Iraqi air force struck members of the (IS) group inside neighbouring Syria on Friday, officials said, adding that the targeted militants were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad.

The strike was announced by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a statement and is believed to be the first of its kind by Iraqi jets on Syrian territory.

"We ordered the air force command to strike Daesh terrorist sites in Husseibeh and Albu Kamal, in Syrian territory," the premier said, using an Arabic acronym for the jihadist organisation.

"We are determined to track down terrorists trying to kill our sons and citizens wherever they are," he said.

Both locations cited by Abadi are very close to the border and lie in the Euphrates Valley, facing the remote western Iraqi town of Al-Qaim.

Husseibeh is a town in Iraq but an area that lies on the Syrian side of the border bares the same name.

Jihadists have lost most of their urban bastions in the vast western province of Anbar since Iraqi forces mounted a counter-offensive following the capture by IS of around a third of the country in 2014.

The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against IS in Iraq released its own statement stating that the strike took place on Friday and containing some video footage.

"Baghdad witnessed terrorist attacks using car bombs in Bayaa and Habibiyah," the statement said, referring to bombings that killed dozens last week in the Iraqi capital.

The February 16 car bomb blast in Bayaa killed at least 52 people and was the deadliest such attack in Baghdad since a suicide truck bomb explosion in the Karrada neighbourhood set teeming shopping arcades ablaze and killed more than 320.

"After a few days of investigation, (the security forces) reached them and found their location," the JOC said.

"This morning, the heroes of the air force attacked enemy targets with F-16s inside Syria, in the Husseibeh and Albu Kamal areas," it said. "Their hideouts were completely destroyed."



But they continue to move relatively easily in desert areas and have hideouts from which they harass the security forces.

A security official speaking on condition of anonymity said it was the first time Iraqi aircraft had hunted IS targets across the border in Syria.
An Iraqi air strike against the Islamic State group inside Syria today was coordinated with the Damascus government, a source close to the Syrian foreign ministry said.

The source told leading newspaper Al-Watan, close to the Syrian regime, that "Iraqi bombardment on terrorist targets inside Syrian territory took place in full coordination with the government of the Syrian Arab Republic".

The strike was announced earlier today by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a statement and is believed to be the first of its kind by Iraqi jets on Syrian territory.

"We ordered the air force command to strike Daesh terrorist sites in Husseibeh and Albu Kamal, in Syrian territory," the premier said, using an Arabic acronym for the jihadist organisation.

Both locations cited by Abadi are very close to the border and lie in the Euphrates Valley, facing the remote western Iraqi town of Al-Qaim.

Husseibeh is a town in Iraq but an area that lies on the Syrian side of the border bares the same name.

Jihadists have lost most of their urban bastions in the vast western province of Anbar since Iraqi forces mounted a counter-offensive following the capture by IS of around a third of the country in 2014.

The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against IS in Iraq said the raid targeted those responsible for a car bomb in Baghdad last week that killed at least 52 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Working in an Australian restaurant has some region-specific duties, like dragging giant goannas off the patio dining area. Samia Lila was up to the task, earning the name Goanna Girl thanks to the viral video.

Via Bega District News:

Her employer appears proud; the restaurant wrote on Facebook: "Unwelcome visitor in the restaurant today was no match for French waitress Samia ( Goanna Girl )!!" Ms Lila has been in Australia since November and it was only the second time she had seen a goanna.

True story: I swam from a boat to a secluded beach in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park last year, and one this size came out of the bush to see what was up. It walked over to me and stopped about two feet away. Then it stuck its tongue out and flicked my foot from where it stood. Its tongue was way longer than I expected. Apparently I didn't taste very good, because it just wandered back into the bush.

 French waitress drags goanna from Mimosa Winery's restaurant (Bega District News via The Telegraph)
The Islamic State group carried out an attack on an Iraqi border guard position near Jordan today, killing at least 15 guards, officials said.

"Daesh launched an attack with a suicide car bomb and gunmen on the 2nd border guard regiment near Trebil," an officer in the border guard told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

"The attack came from several directions and killed 15 border guards, including two officers," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Local officials confirmed the attack and death toll.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ISRO's record launch of 104 satellites including 90 that belonged to the US, a country which once denied visa to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is proof of India's development, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said today.

"Once America denied visa to Modi... But recently India launched 104 satellites, of which 90 belonged to the US. This is proof of Indian development," Vardhan said here as he stressed the country was now witnessing all-round development.

The Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences was in Madurai with his family members to offer prayer at the famous Meenakshi temple.

The minister declined to comment on the Hydro carbon exploration and extraction project at Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu, but said the Centre was implementing programmes for the development of a nation as a whole.

BJP national secretary H Raja had said yesterday that the Centre was ready to reconsider the proposal to set up the project if public felt that it was against the interests of farmers.

On BJP's resounding victory in Maharashtra civic polls, including Shiv Sena's citadel of Mumbai BMC, Vardhan said the verdict reflected people's support to the various policies, including demonetisation, of the Modi government.

"Our victory in Maharashtra civic polls shows that people like the BJP government and support its various policies like demonetisation.

"Throughout the country Modi is getting good support and we will get good support in Tamil Nadu and are confident of forming the government," he said.

The Union minister also said the BJP's prospects in Uttar Pradesh were bright and asked the opposition parties to give up criticising the Prime Minister in "intemperate" language.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Opposition JMM spokesman Kunal Sarangi today criticised the state government's recent order approving retail sale of liquor through Jharkhand Beverage Corporation Limited and called it "unfortunate".

The state government had recently passed an order approving the retail sale of liquor through the state-owned company to generate revenue.

Reacting sharply, Sarangi, who is also an MLA said the government's move as "unfortunate" and "against the interest of the people" particularly tribal community.

He alleged that the government was now trying to set up additional infrastructure and hire people on contract for the purpose.

"Around Rs 1200 crore of revenue is generated in the state per annum through sale of liquor. The Jharkhand government should start casinos if revenue generation is its sole motive."



Sarangi said it was not only the opposition parties but voices of dissent were also being heard from the ruling party as well as from members of the cabinet.

Advocating prohibition in Jharkhand, he wondered what was the compulsion for the government that was holding it from completely banning sale of liquor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself imposed ban on sale of liquor during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister.

Modi had also praised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the prohibition in Bihar, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Jordanian F-16 warplane crashed in Saudi Arabia today but its pilot survived, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting Shiite Huthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen said.

"Technical reasons" caused the crash of the US-built aircraft in the Najran district on the Saudi side of the border with Yemen, the coalition said.

It added that the pilot was in good condition.

The rebels' Al-Masirah television website claimed that the fighter-bomber had been shot down by "anti-aircraft defences".

Separately, the United Arab Emirates army command announced the death of one of its soldiers fighting in Yemen as part of the coalition.

He was the second Emirati soldier in a week to die in Yemen, raising to around 80 the number of troops from the UAE killed in coalition operations against the Huthis and their allies.

The coalition launched air strikes, training and other military assistance nearly two years ago to support Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The rebels are allied with former members of the security forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In March last year, two Emirati pilots were killed when their Mirage warplane crashed in Yemen because of what the coalition called a "technical fault".

Three months earlier, a Bahraini pilot survived when his F-16 crashed in Saudi Arabia, reportedly also for technical reasons.

A Moroccan air force pilot died in May 2015 when his F-16 went down in Yemen, with the coalition blaming human error or a technical fault.

Two Saudi F-15 pilots were rescued when they ejected from their jet off Yemen's coast shortly after coalition air strikes began.

Rights groups have repeatedly criticised the coalition bombing campaign over high civilian casualties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi today described the shooting at a Kansas pub in which an Indian was killed as an attack on US' fundamental values and an assault on the sense of security of all persons of colour in the country.

"This was an attack not only on the victims, but on the sense of security of Indians, Indian-Americans, and millions of other people of colour across the nation," Krishnamoorthi said in a statement in response to reports that the shooting in Olathe, Kansas, was specifically motivated by the race of two of the victims.

A 32-year-old Indian engineer was killed and another Indian man and an American were injured in the apparent racially motivated hate crime.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, died of bullet injuries in a hospital. His Indian colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured.

Witnesses of the shooting state that prior to opening fire, the attacker uttered racial slurs and yelled "get out of my country" at the two Indian victims.

"Along with so many throughout the world, I have always believed in the American Dream of our country as a place where regardless of where you come from, the colour of your skin, or how you pray, you can build a better life. This shooting was a brutal, racial attack on two men, and on the fundamental values of our nation. It follows a spate of hate-motivated attacks on others in this country," Krishnamoorthi said.

The first-time Democratic lawmaker from Illinois said the details of this attack have not yet been confirmed by police, but by all accounts, this appears to be an act of hatred.

"Yesterday, a man opened fire in a crowded bar, shouting racial slurs and yelling for the two Indian victims to 'get out of my country'. Today, because of one man's hate, another man lies dead and two others gravely wounded," he said.

The two Indian victims came to the United States to pursue their educations, to live, and to work, Krishnamoorthi said.

"The same reports that have identified this shooting as an act of hate have also stated that the third victim, Ian Grillot, was wounded when he saw what was happening and heroically sought to intervene," Krishnamoorthi said.

He urged his colleagues in the Congress, those in the executive branch, and all Americans, to actively work together not only to prevent future attacks, but to directly address the underlying culture and climate which have led to them.

Eminent Indian-American from the Republican party in Virginia Puneet Ahluwalia said it was a tragic, upsetting and unacceptable incident.

"This kind of demented rage and their perpetrators have to be stopped and prosecuted," he said.

"This is a threat to the greatness and hope which America is to so many. Importantly, not on our watch, we are a party of big tent and strong believer in our constitution," Ahluwalia said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 24-year-old American who is being hailed as a hero for trying to stop a shooter who killed an Indian in Kansas City, today said it was "actually the right thing to do".

Ian Grillot hid behind a table when the 51-year-old gunman, Adam Purinton, started shooting hurling racial slurs following an altercation at Austins Bar and Grill killing an Indian techie and critically injuring other.

He counted the gunshots and when he thought the shooter was out of bullets, he jumped up to stop him but Purinton still had one round left, which he used it to shoot him and the bullet went through Grillot hand and into his chest.

"I guess I miscounted," Grillot said in an interview from his hospital room, in a video released by the University of Kansas Health System.

"I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him...I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me," he said.

"I was doing what I should have done for another human being. It's not about where he (victim) was from or his ethnicity. We're all humans, so I just did what was right to do and I didn't want the gentleman to potentially go after somebody else," Grillot said.

Grillot said he learned Alok Madasani, another Indian's, wife is five months pregnant and that he considers the engineer his new best friend, the Kansas City Star report said.

"One of the gentleman that survived he came in here today and it was the greatest thing I can't even describe it coming to find his five months pregnant wife. Something was guiding me to do what I did, somebody was watching over me I'm just very grateful that one of the gentlemen is fine and alive. It's terrible what happened to his friend. But I think he was watching over us last night," Grillot said.

He said he hopes the two can spend some time together when they get out of the hospital. "I don't think it's going to be at the bar, though," he said.

"It just put the biggest smile on my face," Grillot said when he saw Madasani earlier in the day.

Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed while another Indian man and his colleague Madasani was critically injured after Purinton, a Navy veteran, started shooting hurling racial slurs following an altercation on Wednesday night atthe bar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Max Healthcare and Lilavati Hospital today denied overcharging patients for stents and insisted they were complying with NPPA guidelines on pricing of the medical device.

"We have not overcharged even a single patient for stent. We have complied fully and immediately with the NPPA order on stent pricing," a Max Healthcare official said in response to queries by PTI.

The company's healthcare facility at Saket in South Delhi is among the hospitals which have been issued show cause notices by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) after preliminary investigations over stents pricing.

"We are positive that we will be able to demonstrate our compliance to NPPA order on the ceiling price of coronary stent," the official added.

Similarly, Lilavati Hospital's Medical Superintendent Sitaram Gawde said: "We are not overcharging. We are following the government guidelines on pricing. We are yet to receive any communication from the NPPA."



The NPPA had earlier said it had issued show cause notices to some hospitals over pricing of stents.

"After preliminary investigations, show cause notices issued to Max, Saket, New Delhi and Nidaan Multispeciality Hospital, Sonepat, Haryana," NPPA had said in a tweet.

The regulator had also said it was investigating overpricing complaints against hospitals, including Lilavati Hospital (Mumbai), Max Saket (New Delhi), Metro Hospital (Faridabad), PGI Chandigarh, Ram Murti Hospital (Bareilly), and has alerted the concerned State Drug Controllers.

Comments from the other hospitals could not be immediately obtained.

NPPA had yesterday warned hospitals, stent manufacturers and importers of legal action in case they are found spreading "misinformation" about shortage of stents in the wake of price cap.

It had earlier said in a memorandum that as trade margin of 8 per cent is included in the ceiling price of stents, no additional charge except local sales taxes and VAT can be demanded from patients.

The 8 per cent margin also adequately covers hospital handling charges, if any, the regulator had said.

In a major relief to patients, the NPPA last week slashed prices of coronary stents by up to 85 per cent, capping them at Rs 7,260 for bare metal ones and Rs 29,600 for the drug eluting variety.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Stung by repeated barbs by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders at former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the voice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "feebler even than that of a mouse".

"The voice of PM, who has given the clarion call of Make in India, is not of a roaring lion, but even feebler than that of a mouse," Gandhi told an election meeting in Mahsi Assembly constituency that goes to polls on February 27.

His retort came hours after BJP President Amit Shah at a rally in Azamgarh, nearly 300 kms away, mocked Gandhi for "often asking" as to what the Modi government has done for the country.

"Rahul Baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a PM who speaks. You had given a PM who did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard by you and your mother (Congress president Sonia Gandhi)," Shah had said.

Peeved over the remark, Gandhi questioned, "What is the utility of these punchlines?"

Ridiculing Modi's 'Make in India' campaign, he said almost everywhere items 'Made in China' are readily available. "Even my phone is made in China," he said.

The Congress leader accused the PM of spitting communal venom and spreading hatred since the SP-Congress alliance was forged.

Gandhi said, "PM Modi has been benevolent towards the rich and has waived their loans, but not the loans of farmers."

In an apparent reference to the PM's "adopted son of UP" remark, Gandhi said Modi might claim relationships wherever he wants "but relationships should not be confined to lip service".

"PM Modi made a film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge (promising achchhe din), but it later became Sholay (of Gabbar Singh fear) when notes were banned," he said.

"Not a single person accused of keeping black money has been jailed and 94 per cent of black money is still stashed away in foreign countries," he added.
Extolling the ancient Indian discipline of Yoga, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for efforts to protect nature and mould human activities to bring them in sync with ecological surroundings.

He also termed unity in diversity as the speciality and strength of the Indian culture.

"This (Maha Shivaratri celebrations) symbolises a spirit of vigilance, that we have to protect nature and mould our activities in sync with our ecological surroundings," he said addressing a gathering after unveiling a mammoth 112 feet bust of 'Adiyogi" Lord Shiva at Isha Yoga Foundation here.

Underlining the need for peaceful coexistence, Modi said, "Lord Shiva is everywhere" and referred to the bull, peacock and mouse that were the vehicles of the Lord and his sons -- Ganapathy and Karthik. He also talked about the venomous snake Vasuki curled around Shiva's neck to emphasise the importance of peaceful coexistence.

He asked people to remain united, insisting unity in diversity was special to Indian culture.

Praising the ancient practice of Yoga, whose goal is to bring the practitioner's body, mind and spirit in tune with each other, Modi told the gathering that by "practising Yoga, a spirit of oneness is created. Oneness of mind, body and the intellect, oneness with our families and with the society we live in, with fellow humans and with birds, animals and trees."



"This is Yoga, Yoga is a journey from me to we," he said, emphasising India's biggest strength was its diversity.

Modi began his speech by greeting people in Tamil "Ungal Ellorukkum En Anbana Vanakkam," (My loving greetings to all).

Founder of Isha Foundation, Jaggi Vasudev, said the bust of 'Adiyogi' was built in eight months. He also lauded Modi for practising Yoga.

Before unveiling the giant 'Adiyogi' bust, Modi lighted the "Maha Yoga Yagna" and released the book 'Adiyoga: The source of Yoga', which deals with yogic sciences.

Modi was shown around various places in the Isha Yoga complex, including the Dhyana Linga, Surya Kund, Nandi statue and the inner and outer corridors (prakaras) by Sadhguru Vasudev.

The Prime Minister offered aarti and showered flower petals over the Dhyana Linga.

He later sat in the Dhyana Linga mandapam, where a yogic dance was performed by a group of youngsters to the accompaniment of traditional music and Sanskrit shlokas.

Modi briefly sat alongside Vasudev in a meditative posture.

The city and the venue of the event was placed under a multi-tier security cover by police and the Special Protection Group, which guards the Prime Minister.

Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami received Modi on his arrival here.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi also attended the event.

The statue and the foundation are located in the foothills of Velliangiri mountains in the Western Ghats.

The bust was unveiled to coincide with Maha Shivaratri celebrations.

(REOPENS MDS19)



Equating nature with God, Modi said, "This has been firmly established by our ancestors who showed their foresight."



The Prime Minister said though there were various schools of Yoga and ways of practising it, there was beauty in both the ancient and modern techniques.

"It is constant yet evolving, the essence of Yoga has not changed and it is of utmost mportance to preserve this essence, otherwise we may just have to discover a new Yoga to rediscover the soul and essence of Yoga."



Modi said no idea should be followed only because it was ancient as "it is essential to analyse it, understand it and try to take it to the new generation in a manner which they understand best".

Modi said lifestyle and stress related diseases were becoming more and more common. "Communicable ailments can be controlled. What about non-communicable ones?" he said, noting he was saddened by people taking to substance and alcohol abuse because they are not at peace with themselves.

"Today the whole world wants peace...Not only from war and conflict but peace of mind," he said, adding Yoga was the "sharpest weapon" to beat stress.

"There is ample evidence that practising Yoga helps combat stress and chronic conditions. If body is the temple of mind, Yoga creates a beautiful temple and that is why I call Yoga the passport to health assurance not insurance," he said.

He said Yoga was about "rog mukthi" (freedom from diseases) as well as "bhog mukthi" (freedom from worldly greed).

Yoga made an individual a better person "in thought, action, knowledge and devotion", he said.

Noting that Yoga was not only about a set of exercises which keeps the body fit, he said it went beyond physical exercises. "Through Yoga, we will create a new yug (era), a yug of togetherness and harmony."



He said when India mooted the idea of International Yoga Day at the United Nations, it was received with open arms and world celebrated it in 2015 and 2016 with great fervour.

"The coming together of so many nations to mark the Yoga Day shows the real essence of Yoga which is togetherness."



He said Yoga has the potential to hearld a "new era of peace, brotherhood and all-round progress of human race."



Lauding Isha Foundation founder Vasudev, he said the guru was making "Yogis out of ordinary people".
Union minister Harsh Vardhan today attacked the Delhi government over its mohalla clinic project, calling it a "scam" after the Vigilance Department sought details on complaints of alleged irregularities in it.

Citing media reports, Vardhan, himself a medico, said the initiative could have been one which Delhi could be proud of, but alleged that doctors in mohalla clinics made "false entries" of patients to ensure "good income".

Taking a jibe at the Kejriwal dispensation, Vardhan said treating two patients in a minute is "truly record breaking".

"Treating one patient in a minute is impressive, but to treat two is truly record breaking. Mohalla Clinics, a scam! Doctors in AAP govt run Mohalla Clinics make false entries of patients, giving them useless medication to ensure revisits, and their income.

"Mohalla Clinic was one initiative Delhi could've been proud of, but alas- these greedy frauds couldn't stay fair even in healthcare services (sic)," the Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences said in a series of tweets.

His comments assume significance as Vardhan, a senior Delhi BJP leader, prefers not to say much on the city politics after he became a minister in the Union cabinet.

Ahead of the MCD polls, the Minister also attended a meeting of senior state BJP leader early this week.

Vardhan was also the chief ministerial candidate of the BJP in 2013 Delhi Assembly polls but his party could not muster numbers to form the government. In 2014, he was elected to Lok Sabha from the Chandani Chowk constituency.

The Vigilance Department early this week sought details from the chief district medical officers on the functioning of mohalla clinics, following complaints on issues like amount of money being paid to the consultant doctors and rent for a few of the clinics.

The mohalla clinic project is aimed at providing free health-care facility to the city residents closer to their home.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
M. David Weisman, a magistrate judge in Illinois's Eastern Division, denied a federal warrant application that would have allowed law enforcement officers to force suspects to unlock their mobile devices with a fingerprint, ruling that the suspects' Fourth Amendment (undue search and seizure) and Fifth Amendment (self-incrimination) rights protected them from being forced to unlock their devices.

This is significant in part because of an emerging legal consensus that the Fifth Amendment  which protects US persons from being forced to testify against themselves  didn't extend to using a fingerprint to unlock their devices. The thumbnail sketch of this argument is "The Fifth protects you from being forced to disclose something you know, but not from being forced to surrender something you have. Your fingerprint is something you have. If we said that being forced to give up fingerprints violated the Fifth, we'd also have to include other forms of evidence gathered from your body, like breathalyzers."

Judge Weisman formerly served as a federal prosecutor and an FBI agent, and is thus presumably sympathetic to the needs of working law enforcement and prosecutorial personnel, but he nevertheless wrote that, "This Court agrees that the context in which fingerprints are taken, and not the fingerprints themselves, can raise concerns under the Fourth Amendment. In the instant case, the government is seeking the authority to seize any individual at the subject premises and force the application of their fingerprints as directed by government agents."





Weisman's ruling leaves the Fifth Amendments limitations  and thus breathalyzers  intact, but instead invokes the Fourth Amendment, which protects you against overbroad "search and seizure." The Fourth isn't implicated when your fingerprints are taken for the purpose of criminal identification, but when the same process is used to get access to enormous amounts of potentially irrelevant, personal, sensitive information about you and the people in your social network and email archives, the Fourth comes into play.

Magistrate judges  even federal ones  are pretty low on the judicial totem pole, and there are many higher courts that could reverse Weisman. Nevertheless, his gloss on this complicated issue is making a stir in privacy law circles, and suggests that the government's usual legal theory for compelling the unlocking of phones is alarming to the kinds of judges from whom they seek routine warrants.





Warrant applications like this one are often sealed and are issued without public scrutiny, so we don't really know how often these arguments are raised.





One important note: the Fifth almost certainly protects you from being forced to unlock your phone with a passcode  it's something you know, not something you have  so you can avoid the whole mess by switching to PINs instead of fingerprints, though this leaves you with the unhappy tradeoff between a long, strong passcode and the need to frequently unlock your devices.



"As I read the opinion, the government relies on old fingerprinting cases to argue that the Fourth and Fifth Amendments don't stand in the way of what they are seeking to do here," Abraham Rein, a Philadelphia-based tech lawyer, told Ars by e-mail. "But (as the court points out) there is a big difference between using a fingerprint to identify a person and using one to gain access to a potentially vast trove of data about them and possibly about innocent third parties, too. The old fingerprinting cases aren't really good analogs for this new situation. Same is true with old cases about using keys to unlock lockshere, we're not talking about a key but about part of a person's body." Orin Kerr, a well-known privacy and tech law expert and a professor at George Washington University, told Ars that the judge had largely reached the right result, but only on Fourth Amendment, and specifically not Fifth Amendment grounds. "I just think that it's really clear that [fingerprints are] not testimonialbecause you're not using your brain," he said. "It can't be testimonial if you can cut their finger off." Similarly, Paul Rosenzweig, an attorney and former Homeland Security official, argued that it's essentially impossible for a fingerprint, even a digital fingerprint, to have any Fifth Amendment implications. "We could have gone down the road of saying that providing physical evidence is testimony against yourself," he said. "But we long ago made the decision that the Fifth Amendment applied to testimony, and testimony meant only oral utterances or other things that conveyed a message. For this distinction lies at the core of Breathalyzer tests. If we roll that back, Breathalyzer tests go out the window. Blowing your air would be testifying against yourself."

NDIL Opinion Rejecting TouchID SW on 4A & 5A [Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division/Document Cloud]

Judge: No, feds can't nab all Apple devices and try everyone's fingerprints [Cyrus Farivar/Ars Technica]
The mortal remains of Army jawan Vikas Singh Gurjar, who was killed in a militant attack in Kashmir's Shopian area, were today consigned to flames in Karauli district.

The funeral took place in Andhayakhara village in Karauli with full military honour.

Public representatives, district administration and police officials as well as locals offered floral tribute to Gurgar.

Gurjar was born on July 1, 1991 and got recruited in Rajput Regiment of the Army at the age of 19 in June 2010.

He is survived by his wife Ramraji and parents.

Militants of pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen terror group ambushed an army convoy, killing three personnel and wounding five others, including two officers, in South Kashmirs Shopian district yesterday. A civilian caught in crossfire was also killed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
North Korea denounced its chief ally and diplomatic protector China for "dancing to the tune of the US" after it banned coal imports in apparent punishment for a missile launch.

Beijing and Pyongyang have a relationship forged in the blood of the Korean War, but ties have begun to fray in recent years, with China increasingly exasperated by its wayward neighbour's nuclear antics.

Last week it announced the suspension of all coal imports from the North -- a crucial foreign currency earner for Pyongyang -- for the rest of the year.

It came days after a missile launch personally overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un in what was seen as Pyongyang's first show of force against new US President Donald Trump.

A bylined essay carried by the North's official Korea Central Agency slammed Beijing's move.

It did not identify China by name, referring instead to "a neighbouring country".

"This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the US," it said.

"It has unhesitatingly taken inhumane steps such as totally blocking foreign trade related to the improvement of people's living standard," it added.

"Righteous voices" had condemned the move, it said, while "the hostile forces are shouting 'bravo' over this".

The format was unusual for KCNA, which tends not to carry editorials or commentaries of its own, preferring to reproduce those of Rodong Sinmun, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party.

The tone was also more akin to Pyongyang's denunciations of the US.

It was "utterly childish" to think that the North would stop its nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile programmes if a few pennies of money were cut off, said the KCNA essay.

Its scientists and technicians were "working hard in do-or-die spirit", it added.

The latest launch -- the first since Trump took office -- showed some progress in Pyongyang's missile technology, Seoul's military said.

The North -- barred under UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology -- staged two atomic tests and many missile tests last year in a quest to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the US mainland.

Trump has described the North as a "big, big problem" and vowed to deal with the issue "very strongly".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about USD 200,000) for a German archaeologist and his associate abducted this week from a northern Nigerian village, a worker at the excavation site said.

Two villagers were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police confirmed yesterday.

The worker said he heard a man make the demand in a telephone call on Thursday to the site's supervisor. The caller warned him not to involve police or security forces, said the worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Police special forces and a special investigative team for kidnappings have been searching around the village of Jenjela in the state of Kaduna, where gunmen on Wednesday abducted Professor Peter Breunig and his associate, Johannes Behringer, and walked with them into the bush.

Breunig, 65, and Behringer, who is in his 20s, are part of a four-person team from Frankfurt's Goethe University collaborating with the Nigeria's National Commission for Museum and Monuments to recover relics of the Nok culture.

The early Iron Age people are considered the earliest ancient civilization of the region that is now Nigeria, famous for their terracotta sculptures.

Two villagers accompanying the Germans were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police spokesman Aliyu Usman confirmed yesterday, adding that police were not aware of any ransom demand.

The kidnappers told police to keep away from them or "they will kill the German archaeologists," said Shehu Musa Tafa, chairman of the Kagarko local government area.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, but victims usually are freed unharmed after a ransom is paid.

Nigeria's acting President Yemi Osinbajo summoned the federal police chief for a briefing Thursday on efforts to find the kidnap victims, the Agency of Nigeria reported.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami today asserted that there was no mystery over the death of AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, as was being made out by some quarters.

"Nothing wrong has happened over her death....There is no problem as being made by some persons," he told reporters here to a question on demands for an enquiry into her death.

Jayalalithaa, who was hospitalised in Chennai for more than two months for various complications, passed away on December 5 last year, after a cardiac arrest.

To another question on opposition leader in the Assembly M K Stalin meeting the President and seeking a fresh trust vote, he said "you are all aware of what happened. Since the issue is in Court, it will not be appropriate to comment on it."



Palaniswami had won the February 18 trust vote 122-11 in the 234-member Assembly, aided by eviction of main opposition DMK and walkout by its allies, amid stormy scenes during which mikes were uprooted, chairs toppled and sheets of papers torn.

The division vote was taken up after two adjournments following tempestuous scenes during which the opposition MLAs insisted on a secret vote, which was rejected by the Speaker.

Asked about the hydro carbon exploration and extraction project at Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu, which is being opposed by environmentalists and public, Palaniswami said it was a central government project and that the state will take "appropriate measures" if it affects people and farmers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
North Korea is flouting tougher new UN sanctions with more ingenuous tactics, circumventing trade bans by relying on middlemen and front companies, notably in Malaysia and China, a report by UN sanctions experts says.

The 100-page report, obtained by AFP, confirmed that North Korea's two nuclear tests and 26 missile launches last year had allowed Pyongyang to reach "technological milestones in weapons of mass destruction capability and all indications are that this pace will continue."



The Security Council has adopted two resolutions imposing a raft of new sanctions on North Korea, banning minerals exports and restricting banking, but the panel said implementation by UN member-states "remains insufficient and highly inconsistent."



North Korea "is flouting sanctions through trade in prohibited goods, with evasion techniques that are increasing in scale, scope and sophistication," said the report sent to the Security Council last week.

The sweeping new sanctions were aimed at depriving Kim Jong-Un's regime of hard currency revenue needed to finance weapons programs, which the Security Council has said pose a threat to world security.

But the experts concluded that North Korea's "circumvention techniques and inadequate compliancy by member- states are combining to significantly negate the impact of the resolutions."



Only 76 out of 192 countries have reported to the United Nations on steps they are taking to uphold the sanctions, which are mandatory.

China, Pyongyang's main trading partner and ally, last week suspended all imports of coal from North Korea for the remainder of the year to shore up its compliance with the sanctions resolution.

In July last year, an air shipment of North Korean military communications materiel sent from China was intercepted in an unnamed country, en route to Eritrea, the report said.

The items were sold by Glocom, a Malaysia-based front company for North Korea's Pan Systems firm, which the panel said is operated by Pyongyang's intelligence agency.

The company has suppliers in China and an office in Singapore.

"This case demonstrates the increasingly sophisticated nature of evasion of sanctions by the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea and illustrates important and previously unknown trends," said the report.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To protect people from being victim of any real estate fraud, Odisha government has decided to set up a Real Estate Appellate Tribunal and a Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

Odisha's Housing and Urban Development Minister Pushpendra Singhdeo informed this to assembly yesterday. He said the State Cabinet has given its seal of approval to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, based on which such steps will be taken.

He said the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal will be headed by a retired Judge or sitting Judge of High Court. Two experts will assist the tribunal to adjudicate the disputes.

About formation of Real Estate Regulatory Authority, the Minister further informed that it will be headed by a senior administrative officer of the rank of Additional Secretary in Central Government.

The chief of the regulatory authority will be selected by a three-member panel comprising of Chief Secretary, Urban Development and Law Department Secretaries.

Singhdeo said steps are being taken to protect customers from being victim of any real estate fraud. As per the act, the registration for sale and purchase of properties is mandatory and violation will attract jail term and fine. The accused will have to pay fine amounting to 10 per cent of the total purchase price of the property and undergo three years jail term, the minister maintained.

This apart, five per cent fine will also be taken from the broker of the property deal along with a jail term.

He said the real estate developers cannot charge more than 10 per cent of the project cost from the customer before providing the sale agreement as per the new rules.

A separate bank account for each project will be opened in which 70 per cent of the total project cost will be deposited in it that could only be utilised for project cost.

Singhdeo also said that each company has to submit their five-year performance report religiously to the regulatory authority.

"These rules have been framed for bringing in transparency and efficiency. There were complaints of people falling prey to cheats and getting harassed. These rules have been framed to put an end to fraud," said Singhdeo.

However, Real Estate Developers Association (REDA) has expressed surprise and alleged that opinion of stakeholders associated with real estate business was not taken by the government before framing of the rules.

"It is surprise for us. They have framed the rules without intimating, without consulting or without taking the opinion of any of the stakeholders," said REDA president Kantilal Patel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport here tonight.

Palaniswami, accompanied by Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, called on Modi at the VIP Lounge in the airport, official sources said.

The meeting lasted about 20 minutes, they said without divulging any further detail.

Modi arrived at the airport from Isha Yoga Centre near here after inaugurating a 112-feet bust of 'Adiyogi' Lord Shiva, where Palaniswami was also present.

The Prime Minister later left for New Delhi, police said.

Earlier during the day at a press meet here, Palaniswami said he would meet Modi in New Delhi on February 27 and take up issues such as excluding Tamil Nadu from National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Palaniswami was sworn in Chief Minister on February 16.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Madras High Court bench here today dismissed a PIL questioning the central government's decision to use Devanagari numerals on the new Rs 2,000 notes.

Justices A Selvam and P Kalaiyarasan, while dismissing the petition filed by city resident K P T Ganesan, however, said he could file an appeal in the Supreme Court.

The judges rejected the plea after a central government pleader submitted that similar cases had been filed in the apex court and were pending there.

Ganesan submitted that the new notes should be declared invalid as the Constitution does not permit use of Devanagari numerals in the currency.

He said the notes "violated" the Constitution, which mandated that the form of numerals to be used for "official purposes of the Union should be in the international form of Indian numerals only".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police and officials of Society for Protection and Care Animal (SPCA) rescued 41 cows loaded in three trucks from Mugma about 41 km from here and detained 13 people.

Nirsa police station Officer in-charge, Rameswer Upadhyay said the Dhanbad, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manoj Ratan Chothe got a tiff off on last evening that three trucks loaded with cows were being sent to Bengal from Bihar through GT Road.

"On the directive of SSP a police team chased the trucks and caught them near Mugma on National Highway-2. The arrested persons claimed to be registered cattle traders and were taking it Bengal after purchasing in Bihar. Their cattle purchasing papers are being verified," said the police officer.

The police said 13 people including drivers and helpers have been taken in custody and their interrogation is on and their papers are being verified by concerned authorities of Bihar and Bengal.

Earlier on Wednesday, the police had seized a truck loaded with 18 cows going to Kolkata from Uttar Pradesh. In this connection the police arrested truck driver Asharaf Hussain and his helper Raju Alam.

The rescued cows were sent to Katras Goshala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rajasthan BJP chief Ashok Parnami reached Kota today to probe into the scuffle of party MLA Chandra Kanta Meghwal and her supporters with police early this week here.

Parnami reached Kota along with sate Agricultural Minister Prabhu Lal Saini, the minister-in-charge of the district's political affairs and met the party MLAs and workers in a bid to ascertain facts about the row that embarrassed government.

The two leaders reached Kota on instructions of Chief Minister Vasundhra Raj Scindia and is to apprise her of their findings after reaching Jaipur. The issue of brawal involving BJP MLA had also been raised in the state assembly early this week.

Terming the brawl between party MLA, workers and police personnel including the circle inspector and deputy superintendent of police of Kota's Mahaveernagar police station area as 'unfortunate,' Parnami assured the party workers of justice.

"We have been pained by the incident. Once the probe into the matter is over, stern action would be taken against whoever is found guilty," he said.

All the party MLAs from Kota district and district party president, besides the party workers involved in the incident at police station were present in the meeting.

Parnami and Saini later also met senior police officials of the district and sought feedback on the incident while trying to assessing factual situation to report to the CM.

Parnami also visited Kota medical college hospital and spoke to the party workers undergoing medical treatment for the injuries sustained in the brawl with police.

Meanwhile, amid the state's senior leaders' bid to find out the facts behind the incident, BJP's another MLA Bhawani Singh Rajawat courted controversy saying he would have "pulled off the hand and neck of the the police official" who attacked the party workers, had he been present.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Municipal employees would enjoy an hourlong paid shag break under proposals mooted by a local official. The latest wonder of Sweden's legendary social system seems contrived to mock puritanial Americans, but The New York Times reports that it's for real.

Noting that "sex is also a great form of exercise and has documented positive effects on well-being," Mr. Muskos suggested that local municipal employees could use an hour of the workweek already allotted for fitness activities to go home and have sex with their spouses or partners instead. The motion, which is expected to be voted on in the spring, needs a simple majority to be passed by the 31-member council. As of now, opinion on the council is divided.

"We should encourage procreation. I believe that sex is often in short supply. Everyday life is stressful and the children are at home," Mr. Muskos explained in his motion in Overtornea, a town of about 4,500 in the picturesque and remote Torne Valley. "This could be an opportunity for couples to have their own time, only for each other."
Vice President Hamid Ansari today said that India's ties with Africa has been reinforced with his productive visits to Uganda and Rwanda, amid New Delhi's renewed focus on the resource-rich continent.

"All in all, it was a good, productive visit and reinforced our long-standing ties with the African countries," Ansari told reporters on board his special aircraft during his return journey after his five-day visit to the two nations.

"Our focus on Africa is a critical part of the outlook towards the world," he said, adding that the two East African countries received India with "exceptional warmth".

In Uganda from February 21-23, Ansari held talks and reviewed the bilateral ties with President Yoweri Museveni.

"We remain committed to working together in trade, investment, development corporation, agriculture, IT defence cooperation domains. We also agreed to expand cooperation in the energy sector and training of personnel for space programme and peaceful use of atomic energy," Ansari said.

India and Uganda have made "tremendous strides" in the development of renewable energy capacity and therefore would be in a position to enhance mutual cooperation in the sector, according to a joint statement issued on February 22.

Ansari announced a "gift from India to Uganda" of medicines worth USD 2 million and medical equipment worth USD 1 million, the statement said. Museveni thanked Ansari for the "gift" that would help address health needs in his country.

Uganda also expressed desire to replicate India's schemes for digital inclusion and praised New Delhi for deputing an ICT expert in the Office of the Minister for Information and Communications Technology.

"As long-standing friends, we are there to give them (African nations) assistance in areas they need," Ansari said.

He said India will discuss the possibility of starting air services to Uganda, home to about 30,000 Indian-origin people.

"Air India has its own limitation and priorities. But, based on a large Indian community, it could make it possible for a public or private sector airline to fly to Entebbe Airport. So, let us go back and discuss it with the Ministry of Civil Aviation... But, presence of direct services will certainly be of great help," Ansari said.

India and Rwanda, however, have signed an agreement during this visit to start a direct flight between Kigali and Mumbai from April 3.

Ansari also stressed the importance of the East African Community but said the engagement with EAC members would "not be purely bilateral" as it may effect other countries in the regional inter-governmental grouping.

"EAC is taking shape as an economic community and to some extent as a political community and so many of our initiatives will not be purely bilateral as it will have effects on other members of the EAC," Ansari said.

The EAC consists of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. With a sizeable population, a land area of 1.85 million sq km, and a combined GDP of USD 41 billion, it bears a great strategic and geopolitical significance.

Acknowledging India's trade imbalance with Uganda, Ansari suggested ways to address it. "There are two ways for it. One is from the Ugandan side, and they can bridge the gap by broadening the trade basket for India as they export a lot of thing things to us but their trade basket is limited.

"Second is by Indian companies and local investors finishing goods in Uganda rather than sending the finished goods from India," he said.

Ansari said there are "enormous possibilities for development cooperation with Africa", consisting 54 countries and home to a population of one billion.

During Ansari's visit, Uganda pitched itself as a business destination for India. President Museveni called on the Indian automobile companies to manufacture locally.

"The President (Museveni) was particularly emphatic in pointing out that the Indian manufacturers in a wide range of areas can benefit very considerably, and what the Minister (of Trade and Industry, Uganda) said a few minutes back, my factoring in the thought that they are not looking at a modest market in Uganda only, but on a much wider market of the Eastern African Community and surrounding areas," Ansari said at the India-Ugnada Business Forum.

"So, you are looking at the market of not just 28 or 30 million people (Uganda) but 350 million people (East Africa)," he said.

Museveni has said the bilateral trade between India and Uganda stands at USD 1 billion and USD 57 million respectively, meaning a trade deficit of USD 43 million for Uganda.
A 24-year-old Indian-origin South African Muslim man has been reportedly killed in Syria where he had gone to join a militant group.

Sadiq Vawda, the son of renowned South African Indian advocate and Islamic scholar Mufti Emran Vawda, had left for Syria along with his brother in November 2015.

Intelligence sources confirmed that the men left to join Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda-aligned rebel group in Syria fighting against the Islamic State, Independent Online South Africa said.

Following the disclosure of his death, many on the social media shared a letter from Vawda in which he detailed the battles he was involved in as part of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, in the Syrian town of Aleppo.

"I am here in the blessed land of al Sham and I would like to pen down a few words for those back home in South Africa about the current situation we are witnessing here and my personal experiences in Syria and Aleppo city in particular.

"Many people are confused as to what is truthfully taking place here and in this short letter I would like to relate the truth so that you all understand the situation," Vawda wrote as he urged South African Muslims to join the battle.

Although the family declined to comment, a close family friend said the father was unaware of his sons' intentions to join the rebel group.

Ahmed Paruk of the Islamic Burial Council told The Post that the family was "traumatised".

"The information provided to them is very vague at this stage. They have been liaising with the relevant authorities and cannot seem to get the answers they're looking for. Syria is such a war-torn country so getting information from there is sometimes impossible.

"The boys left without telling their parents anything so nobody knows what their intentions were," Paruk said.

It was still unclear how the of Vawda's death was received by the family.

Nelson Kgwete, the spokesperson of the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, said he had not received any information.

South African intelligence sources told The Post that they were concerned that terrorist groups other than IS have been recruiting locals to travel to Syria, Turkey, Libya and Iraq to join their organisations.

State Security spokesman Brian Dube said there were ongoing investigations into people who suspiciously leave the country and travel to Syria.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Saudi minister held talks with an Iranian delegation about the possibility of Iranian pilgrims rejoining the annual hajj despite ruptured ties between the two countries, state media has reported.

Shiite-dominated Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia have had no diplomatic ties since early last year.

The kingdom's minister in charge of pilgrimages, Mohammed Bentin, discussed with the Iranians "arrangements concerning participation of the Iranian faithful in this year's hajj," the official Saudi Press Agency said.

It did not give more details but said the meeting took place yesterday in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

SPA said the talks occurred in the context of meetings organised by the pilgrimage ministry with various countries about accommodation and other logistics for the hajj, which will take place around early September.

For the first time in nearly three decades, Iran's 64,000 pilgrims did not attend last year's hajj after the regional rivals failed to agree on security and logistics.

Tensions remain as Saudi Arabia repeatedly accuses Iran of fuelling regional conflicts by supporting armed Shiite movements in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain.

Iran rejects the accusations and says Riyadh must stop its support for Sunni "terrorists" like the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda. But Saudi media reported in December that Bentin had invited Iran to discuss arrangements for this year's pilgrimage.

"Iran's policy is to send pilgrims to the hajj (this year), of course, if Saudi Arabia accepts our conditions," Iran's Culture Minister Reza Salehi Amiri told state television on Wednesday, when he confirmed Iran had sent a team to Saudi Arabia.

"In a letter I've written to the Saudi hajj minister I have specified our conditions," he said.

"If they accept our conditions, we will definitely send pilgrims (this) year, otherwise the responsibility" will be on Saudi Arabia.

More than 1.8 million faithful took part in last year's hajj. The pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims who can must perform it at least once in their lives.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor says he is enjoying his second innings in movies as he now gets a chance to actually act and win awards on merit.

Kapoor was speaking at the Vadodara Literature Festival, which is being held at Sevasi village on the city outskirts in collaboration with Navrachna University.

"For the first 25 years of my career, I did nothing but sing and dance. In my second innings, I have got the chance to act," he said.

Breaking from his boy next-door romantic image, Kapoor in his silver years has won acclaim for his mature and unusual performances in "Agneepath", "D-Day" and "Kapoor and Sons".

Speaking on his tweets, which have often landed him in trouble, the 64-year-old actor, said, "every one has right to express his views on any subject and I am a common man, a tax payer and part of the society...So I use to share my views on Twitter with people which may be liked or opposed , but it should be debated."



However, he refrained from commenting on the Twitter controversy around his outburst on naming the Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai after Rajiv Gandhi and only offered," I have no enmity with anyone."



On his tell-all book "Khullam Khulla" Kapoor said, "In the book, I write openly about how I survived in the industry through my hard work and the love of my fans despite being a romantic hero in an action-films era."



The initial golden run that started with "Mera Naam Joker" (1970) and then "Bobby" (1973) ended soon, he said.

"My head was in the clouds after 'Bobby,' but my struggle had only begun because at the age of 21, I had become a hero. But then I had realized that I have to keep my feet on ground. The first thing I did when I heard that I would be acting in my father's film was to go to my room and practise my autograph," he said.

Also, Rishi Kapoor's debut as a child artist in his father's film "Mera Naam Joker", got him a National Award.

Recalling an incident from those days, he said, "After receiving this National award, I went to meet my grand father Prithviraj Kapoor and sought his blessings. My grand father kissed me for winning the award and said 'Raj (Raj Kapoor) ne karja utar diya hai'. I did not realise then what he meant. Several years later, now I realize what my grand father had meant.

Kapoor also said that he owed his dance style to father Raj Kapoor.

"I owe it to my father who asked me to choreograph my own dance moves for creating a image of my own because dance masters would teach me to copy my uncle Shashi Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna etc."



Kapoor also said that now films are produced for multiplex cinema houses.

"New movies have a lot of action and technology playing an important role. The days of movies based on love stories are over. It will be difficult to produce a film like 'Amar Akbar Anthony' now.
Security was today stepped up at a Hindu temple here in view of the Maha Shivratri festival observed by the minority community in Pakistan.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Sajjad Khan paid a surprise visit to the temple in Jhanda Bazar to review the security arrangements for the festival.

The officer said that "providing protection to worship places of minorities is our prime responsibility".

A large number of policemen have been deployed in the premises to maintain law and order.

Performing the ritual on the midnight of Shivratri is considered auspicious by the devotees.

Cultural programmes would also be organised in many temples to mark the festival.

Several Hindu pilgrims from India visit Lahore every year to participate in the Maha Shivratri festivities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Six persons, including five girls, were arrested today for allegedly committing an online credit card fraud here, police said.

Amit Kumar, an owner of a call centre, was arrested along with Neha, Kamla, Mamta, Pooja and Poonam, all under-graduate students from Delhi, they said.

During interrogations Amit, a resident of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, said he had employed the girls to collect information by calling people, police said.

The arrests were made on a complaint by Pankaj Kumar, a resident of Chhachhrauli in Uttar Pardesh, at the Gurgaon Police Station, they said.

He in his complaint had mentioned that an unidentified person had fraudulently withdrawn Rs 45,000 from his bank account by using his credit card details, police said.

The complainant said he had received phone calls from different numbers and the callers had convinced him that as per RBI guidelines he needed to share his card details to update it, they said.

Pankaj came to know about the online fraud when he received the transaction message on his mobile phone, police said.

A case of cheating had earlier been registered against Amit Kumar in Pune, they added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) on Friday said it has received a demand notice from income tax authorities for a sum of Rs 32.87 crore.

The company is contesting the demand, which is for the assessment year 2013-14, said in a regulatory filing.

"The company is in receipt of a 'Demand Notice' under the Section 156 of the Income Tax (I-T), 1961, demanding the payment by the company of a sum of Rs 32.87 crore for the assessment year 2013-14," it said.

The company is contesting the demand and will file an appropriate appeal against this under the applicable provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, within the stipulated period, it added.

was demerged from Sun Pharma as a pharma research and drug discovery company in 2007.
Spiritual heads of various shrines and religious leaders from across the country would converge at the first 'peace conference' organised by Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty educational and charitable trust in Ajmer on March 5.

Aimed at promoting peace, nationalism and religious harmony, the conference would be attended by religious heads of all the major shrines of the country including from Dargah Nizamuddin Aulia, Delhi and Maner Shrif, Bihar among others.

Hindu religious leaders have also been invited for the conference which will have different sessions with the agenda to promote nationalism and religious harmony among youth by the spiritual leaders, organisers of the event said.

The speakers will discuss that what role can be played by the spiritual leaders to promote tolerance and spiritual insights aligned with the concept of nationalism, human rights and diversity.

"The role of the religious leaders in empowering society and women and promoting economic equality will also be taken up for the discussion in the conference," Naseruddin Chishty, secretary of the trust, told PTI today.

In the wake of the recent attack on a shrine in Pakistan which claimed more than 70 lives, the conference will also have deliberations against religious fanaticism.

"Sufi traditions and shrines have also been attacked in the recent years by Taliban and other extremist groups.

"How do we stand united in this struggle for universal humanity, protect the Sufi shrines and stop religious fanaticism will also be prominently discussed in the conference," he said.

He added that the spiritual leaders can inspirethe society to boycott anti-national elementsand related activities which has penetrated into the society.

(REOPENS NRG2)



Hindu religious leaders including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Morari Bapu, among others, have also been invited in the conference and their confirmation is awaited, Chisty said.
A suicide bomber killed 29 people today, most of them rebels near the Syrian town of Al-Bab, which they had taken from the Islamic State group just hours earlier, a monitor said.

The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives in Susian, eight kilometres northeast of the strategic town which the Turkish-backed rebels overran yesterday after weeks of fighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The blast devastated two adjacent rebel command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Observatory said.

Al-Bab, just 25 kilometres south of the Turkish border, was the last IS stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

Rebels launched an offensive to capture the town last year with the support of Turkish ground troops, artillery and air strikes.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

The battle for Al-Bab has been the bloodiest of the campaign with at least 69 Turkish soldiers killed there.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said yesterday that its rebel allies had "near complete control" of the town.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trump's travel restrictions are ruining the 2017 International Women's Flat Track Derby Association's season. Many players hold citizenship in one of the banned countries, and their teams simply won't play without them. Seems roller derby, if not the United States, is about inclusion.

Via Vice Sports:

It all couldn't come at a worse time for the young but fast-growing sport of women's roller derby. Since its revival in Austin, Texas, in the early 2000s, modern roller derby has been predominantly American, with most of the major tournaments and teams based in the U.S. The Women's Flat Track Derby Association, the sport's key governing body, accepted its first international member in 2009, and in recent years member leagues have joined the organization from Europe, Australia and New Zealand, South America, and Asia. There are a number of teams with skaters who are nationals of the seven targeted countries (Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Sudan) and for them this season presents an unprecedented challenge, with the prospect of both training and playing schedules being abruptly rearranged.

"As new info is popping up everyday, it is hard to know for sure what the situation will be like in a few months or even in a few weeks," Dorna Behdadi told VICE Sports. Behdadi is a charter member of the Gothenburg Roller Derby team in Sweden. They are also an Iranian national whose parents fled a country in upheaval (Sweden has historically received a large number of asylum seekers and refugees, something that the U.S. President has alluded to recently). Behdadi was not born in Iran and holds a Swedish passport, but Iran still considers them a citizen because of their parents. Travelers with dual citizenship from one of the seven countries were initially included in Trump's ban, although that guidance appeared to evolve in the days after the order's rollout. Overall, the situation is marked by confusion, even as the administration reportedly draws up a revised executive order.

Gothenburg Roller Derby had been planning to compete in a tournament called Coastal Chaos in Maine this June, but Trump's travel restrictions have made the team rethink those plans.

"If some of our players cannot participate because of racist regulations, the team will not partake in the event," Gothenburg Roller Derby posted to Facebook days after the travel ban was signed. "Sports should be for everyone to participate in, roller derby is an inclusive sport, and we will never accept discrimination on the basis of race, religion or citizenship."
A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab today, killing 51 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from the Islamic State group.

The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, eight kilometres northeast of Al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The blast devastated the twin command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

It had earlier said that 42 people, mainly rebels, had died, but later clarified to say the majority of those killed were civilians.

There was no immediate claim for the attack, but rebels blamed it on IS, which had put up fierce resistance in Al-Bab for weeks.

"(Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi's dogs could not bear their huge loss, and their suicide bombers have begun to take revenge," said field commander Abu Jaafar of the Mutasem Brigades.

He said rebel fighters, Turkish soldiers, and civilians from Al-Bab had called a meeting in Susian "to organise a security apparatus and set a plan for rebuilding al-Bab."



"This information reached the (IS) sleeper cells, which prepared a car bomb" that detonated at Susian around 0800 am (local time), he told AFP.

Abu Jaafar, who was near Susian at the time of the attack, said hospitals in the area were full of wounded.

Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Al-Bab today as they were carrying out road checks, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 71 Turkish losses so far.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said yesterday that its rebel allies now had "near complete control" of the town.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres from its outskirts in recent weeks.

Yesterday afternoon, an AFP correspondent heard intermittent gunfire as rebel units continued to clear the heavily damaged town.

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in Aleppo province.

West of the second city, which government forces took full control of in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UN sought painstakingly today to get a new round of Syrian peace talks off the ground, but there were few signs of progress as dozens more civilian deaths underlined the scale of the challenge.

The UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who brought rival regime and opposition delegates symbolically together late yesterday, held separate meetings with them today to hammer out the format for the meetings.

But there appeared to be no discussion of substance, either with the UN and certainly not between the rival parties themselves.

"We discussed issues relating to the format of the talks exclusively," said Syrian regime delegation chief Bashar al-Jaafari after meeting de Mistura.

"We are going to talk about procedure," a member of the opposition delegation, Assad Hana, told AFP before an afternoon meeting with the UN envoy.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was "encouraged that the Syrians...Sat together in the same room," even if it remains unclear whether the two sides will hold face-to-face negotiations.

During three previous rounds of talks in Geneva last year, the rivals never sat down at the same table, instead leaving de Mistura to shuttle between them.

Even as the new UN talks began, the death toll in a suicide bombing near the Syrian town of Al-Bab rose to 51, the latest atrocity in a six-year war which has killed more than 310,000 people.

In addition, two Turkish soldiers were killed, while separately officials in Baghdad said the Iraqi air force struck members of the Islamic State (IS) group in neighbouring Syria.

In Al-Bab, most of the dead were Turkish-backed rebels, who had only just taken the stronghold town from IS militants.

There was no immediate claim for the attack but it bore all the hallmarks of IS, which had put up fierce resistance in Al-Bab for weeks.

The attack has no direct bearing on the UN talks, since the IS is not part of the latest ceasefire deal, but it illustrates the lack of any return to normality for war-ravaged Syria.

In Geneva, de Mistura -- hosting the first UN-sponsored talks since April -- acknowledged the frailty of the latest ceasefire, which was agreed in late December.

The ceasefire "is fragile but it is there, and we didn't have one for many months," he said late yesterday.

In his welcoming address, the veteran diplomat called on the war-torn nation's rival sides to meet their historic responsibility.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a rare outpouring of grief for a fallen soldier in strife-torn Kashmir, thousands of civilians today bid a tearful adieu to Lance Naik Ghulam Mohiuddin Rather, who was killed in an ambush by militants yesterday.

Little did the people know what fate had in store for the valiant soldier when he left his home at Marhama Mohalla in Bijbehara of south Kashmir last month after celebrating the birthday of his son Aahil, who had turned one.

Today, when his body, draped in tricolour, was brought for the last rites, a pall of gloom descended on the locality.

34-year-old Rather, who was killed in an ambush by Hizbul Mujahideen militants in Shopian district yesterday, was part of the 4-Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and posted with 44 Rashtriya Rifles, a counter-insurgency force carved from various army units. Two other soldiers and a civilian woman were also killed in the encounter, which took place barely 25 kilometres from his home.

His wailing wife Shahzada Akhter and grieving relatives received the body.

The huge turnout of mourners surprised the army officers and jawans who accompanied Rather's mortal remains.

His relatives were seen wailing and recollecting the time spent with him.

"He was a highly motivated and courageous soldier as well as a gentleman who upheld the best traditions of the army," a senior officer said.

After the wreath laying ceremony at the Srinagar-based Corps Headquarter, which was attended by Army Chief Bipin Rawat, the mortals remains of Rather were taken to his house in a special vehicle.

His body was handed over to the family members for the rituals to be conducted at his house in the presence of a huge assembly of people.

The mortal remains were then brought to the graveyard at Asthanpura where special prayers were conducted by the Moulvi as per the religious customs.

"The bravery and selfless devotion of the martyr towards the nation was also highlighted by the Moulvi while addressing the villagers in the presence of the representatives of the civil administration and the army," the officer said.

After the gun salute, as his body was lowered into the grave, some sobbed uncontrollably and others stoically fought back tears, remembering the doughty son of Marhama.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three persons were arrested at the international airport near here today for allegedly smuggling gold pieces worth over Rs 41 lakh from Dubai.

Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officials seized 46 e-shaped gold cut pieces, totally weighing 1386.600 gms from a passenger from Malappuram.

The gold pieces coated withsilver colour were found concealed in the transformer of an amplifier brought by the passenger, who arrived by an private airlines early today, officials said.

The officials intercepted the passenger at the exit gate of the arrival hall after suspicion arose during baggage scanning,a customs release said here.

After a detailed examination of the baggage, the officers dismantled the amplifier, which resulted in the seizure of the smuggled items.

Two persons haling from Koduvally, who came to receive the gold were also apprehended.

The passenger and his accomplices were arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, the release added.

Further investigation of the case is in progress, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump's administration has reinstated the use of private prisons for federal inmates, saying commercial prison operators are needed for the correctional system's "future needs."



Trump's new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, officially rescinded the Barack Obama administration's move last August to phase out the management of prisons by private companies, which Obama's justice department had said proved to be inadequate, more dangerous and not cheaper than government-run prisons.

Sessions said in an order yesterday that the move last year had reversed a longstanding policy at the Federal Bureau of Prisons to have private companies involved, "and impaired the bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system."



The Obama move had only affected a small portion of the US prison system: 13 privately run prisons housing just over 22,000 people, or about 11 percent of the federal prison population. Most are foreign nationals, mainly Mexicans incarcerated for immigration violations.

The Trump government has promised a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration, suggesting the prisons bureau could require greater holding capacity in a short time.

The 13 prisons are run by three companies: CoreCivic (known until recently as Corrections Corporation of America), GEO Group and Management and Training Corporation.

The announcement gave a strong after-hours boost to the stock of the two listed firms. Core Civic jumped 3.2 percent, while GEO Group added 1.0 percent.

The move was expected and both companies' stocks had already risen sharply after Trump's election victory on November 8.
President Donald Trump today launched an unprecedented attack on the FBI for not being able to stop the leak of classified information and said it could have a "devastating effect" on the US.

"The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time," Trump tweeted.

"They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on US. FIND NOW," Trump said, urging the FBI to act.

Trump's public criticism of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the country's top intelligence and investigating agency, was a rare one that has not been seen in the past.

It came after CNN reported that the FBI rejected a recent request by the White House to dispute media reports that Trump campaign officials had regular contacts with Russian intelligence officials before the election.

A furious White House has described the report as inaccurate and false.

"What you guys have done is indefensible and inaccurate," a senior administration official told reporters.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official gave a time line of the White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, meeting with the FBI Assistant Director Andrew McCabe on February 15.

During a one-on-one meeting between the two, after the conclusion of their official discussions, McCabe reportedly said, "I want you to know (the) story" in The New York Times report about FBI investigating contacts between Trump campaign people and Russian intelligence "is BS".

According to the account of the senior administration official, Priebus asked "what can we do about this?"



McCabe demurred and said he will get back to Priebus.

Later on, McCabe called back and told Preibus that the FBI cannot say anything.

"We'd love to help but we can't get into the position of making statements on every story," he was quoted as saying.

Preibus asked if he could cite "senior intelligence officials" as saying there's nothing to the New York Times story. McCabe said yes.

Later on, FBI Director James Comey himself called Preibus and reiterated much the same thing that the "story is BS but can't put out statement".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime accused in the murder case of an Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) employee was arrested along with his associate today, police said.

Shubham Kushwaha (26), employee of the Indore civic body, was stabbed to death yesterday during a drive against stray cattle in Gauri Nagar area of the city.

"Bhaiyu Yadav, who is the prime accused in the case of IMC employee's murder, and his associate Ashish Tomar were arrested today from the neighbouring Khargone district," Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Harinarayanchari Mishra informed.

"Yadav, a cattle rearer, was angry with Kushwaha due to IMC's campaign against the stray cattle. They were locked in a dispute yesterday resulting in the incident," Mishra added.

Further probe into the case was on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two suspected Islamic State militants were today gunned down by Pakistani security forces in a raid in Manghopir area here.

During the raid, the militants opened fire at the security personnel, leaving one policeman injured, SSP West Nasir Aftab said.

In the retaliatory fire, both the suspects were killed while their accomplices managed to escape the site. Weapons and laptops were found from their possession, the GEO reported.

The SSP said a hit list was found on the laptop, that included names of police officers and other government officials.

The suspected militants have been identified as Saifullah and Haneef.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two devotees died and over a dozen were injured after the private bus in which they were returning after a 'darshan' of Lord Shiva at Gupteswar met an accident near Siribeda in Koraput district today, the police said.

While one of the deceased, identified as Uttam Jena, was a school teacher, the other was Madan Hantal, the police said.

After preliminary treatment, the injured were shifted to Jeypore and Koraput hospital as condition of five of them were serious.

The incident took place around 1 pm after one of the front tyres of the bus burst near Siribeda situated at a distance of about 60 km from here.

"There were around 40 devotees in the bus and all were residents of Poplur in Malkangiri district. By hiring a private bus they had reached Gupteswar on Thursday evening and after completing darshan they were returning to their village," the police said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik condoled the death and announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia each to the next of the kin of the deceased persons. Patnaik also announced free treatment for the injured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senegalese police have arrested two Malians suspected of involvement in a jihadist attack on an Ivory Coast beach resort last year that killed 19 people.

More than 10 suspects have already been detained in relation to the March 13 assault, when assailants armed with grenades and assault rifles stormed three hotels in Grand-Bassam, a beachside resort popular with foreigners 40 kilometres from Abidjan.

The attack, the first of its kind in the Ivory Coast, was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which has also carried out assaults on tourist hotspots in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Around 20 people were wounded in the incident.

The two Malians were arrested in Dakar, according to police spokesman Henry Boumy Ciss, who identified the men as Ould Sidy Mohamed Sina and Ould Am Sidalamine.

Ould Sidy Mohamed Sina "was the contact of the alleged planner" of the attack, Ciss added.

Despite the slew of arrests, the Malian man believed to be the main brains behind the attack, identified as Kounta Dallah, is still at large.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bihar government today ordered transfer of two senior IAS officers from Tourism department apparently a fallout of the tragic boat mishap in Patna last month in which 25 people had lost their lives.

A notification issued by General Administration department said 1992 batch IAS officer Harjot Kumar Bamhara has been transferred from Principal Secretary of Tourism department to the Mines and Mineral department.

Pankaj Kumar, who is Secretary in Food and Civil Supplies department, has been given additional charge of Tourism department as well Tourism Corporation, the notification said.

The government also transferred Uma Shankar Prasad the Managing Director of Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation.

Prasad, a 2006 batch IAS officer has been shifted to Animal Husbandry and Fishery department.

Transfer of the senior officials of Tourism department is an apparent fallout of the tragic boat mishap in Ganga on January 14 last on Makar Sankranti day.

A total of 25 persons, including women and children, had lost their lives after an overloaded unlicensed country boat capsized in the river.

Media reports had highlighted gross mismanagement in hosting kite festival on the occasion.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had ordered a probe into the tragedy by the Principal Secretary Disaster Management Department Pratyay Amrit and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Patna range Shalin.

The report was submitted to the government recently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UN Security Council met behind closed doors today to discuss chemical weapons use in Syria as the United States, France and Britain pushed for sanctions on those responsible for the attacks.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said she hoped a draft sanctions resolution which has been under discussion for months could be put to a vote in the Security Council.

Russia is expected to use its veto to block the measure if it comes up for a vote. That would be the seventh time that Moscow has resorted to its veto to shield its military ally, Syria.

"We have worked with the UK and France to make sure this resolution comes on board and then we will find out which countries have an excuse for chemical weapons and which ones are really going to say this is a problem," Haley told reporters on her way into the meeting.

British Deputy Ambassador Peter Wilson said the proposed text would be put to a vote "in the coming days".

The draft resolution follows a joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which concluded in October that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chemical attacks in 2014 and 2015.

The panel also found that Islamic State jihadists had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.

"We now have clear evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria against civilian populations and converging indications that such weapons continue to be used in this country," said French Ambassador Francois Delattre.

Delattre said the council must act quickly to punish those behind chemical attacks, adding: "On the scale of threats to peace and security, we are at 10 here."



The draft resolution, seen by AFP, would impose a global travel ban and assets freeze on 11 Syrians, mostly military officials including the head of Syrian air force intelligence and the commander of air operations in areas where attacks occurred.

These commanders are said to have been involved in an assault by helicopters that dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on three opposition-held villages - Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin.

Among the entities that would be blacklisted is the CERS research centre in Damascus, described as responsible for developing and producing chemical weapons, and five firms said to be front companies for CERS.

The draft resolution would also ban the sale, supply or transfer to the Syrian armed forces or to the government of helicopters or related materiel including spare parts.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons in the nearly six-year war. Russia has dismissed the investigative panel's findings as "inconclusive".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
America's military relationship with China will be consistent with its political ties with the country, the US' top military officer said today.

"Our military-to-military relationships are informed by our national objectives, and so the nature of our military-to- military relationship with China right now will be very consistent with our political relationship with China," Gen Joseph Dunford, Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Washington audience.

"But at a minimum, open lines of communication to mitigate the risk miscalculation and to address some of the incidents at sea and in the air that we've seen, much like we talked about Russia earlier. We've seen similar incidents with China," Dunford said in response to a question at the Brookings Institute, a top American think-tank.

"With regard to our military-to-military relationships with China, I think positive military-to-military relationships are important," he said.

Dunford said he has spoken to his Chinese counterpart and conducted a video teleconference. He said he expects a face-to-face meeting sometime in the near future.

Responding to a question on the South China Sea, Dunford said the US respects sovereignty in the region.

"We respect what we call access to the global commons, and that is, again, the airspace and sea that's accessible to all. And so the presence of that (US) aircraft carrier is designed to do what I spoke about earlier, which is (to) exercise our right to operate, to sail, to fly wherever international law allows," he said.

"That's what we're doing and we demonstrate that routinely to maintain the sanctity of that framework," he said.

Noting that there are a number of claimants to the territories in the South China Sea, Dunford said the right way to handle that was through the framework of international law.

"And that was via the Hague ruling last year that specifically related to this Scarborough Shoal, one of the contest territories in the South China Sea," he said.

Defence Secretary James Mattis said recently that these territories, which are contested, need to be addressed politically, through a legal framework consistent with international law, Dunford noted.

"And when Secretary (of State Rex) Tillerson said something needed to be done with it, I didn't immediately jump to a military solution," he told the audience in response to a question.

"Completely separate from the South China Sea we have to



talk broadly about the purpose of (the) US military posture in the Pacific and at the strategic level it's nothing more, nothing less than a posture sufficient to advance our interest in the region," Dunford said.

"One of our interests is meeting our alliance commitments in the region, deterring conflict in the region and setting the conditions for us to have, which is what we always talked about with the Pacific, that we're a Pacific Nation, that we have very strong economic interest in the region, very strong social and cultural interest in the region," he said.

"So the conditions that we set with our military posture are designed to advance those interests. It is not designed specifically for the South China Sea, our posture in the Pacific as a whole is designed for our broader interests. One of which is the peaceful resolution of territorial disputes," Dunford said.

He said the US exercises its right of navigation and the international community's right of navigation and its military posture is designed to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows to make it clear that that is the regime that America recognises in the Pacific.
The US should stop being manipulated by Pakistan and cease all military and financial aid to the country, a former top Pentagon official has said.

"As the first step, the Trump administration should suspend Pakistan's non-NATO ally status and cease military aid and assistance payments," Christopher D Kolenda, a Pentagon senior advisor from 2009-2014, said in an op-ed highlighting the Pakistan policy of duplicity in Afghanistan.

"Let's stop being manipulated by Pakistan. It's time for the United States to restore dignity in its relationship with Pakistan," he said in the opinion piece published in The Hill.

"The United States should be prepared to add more penalties if necessary," he said.

"These actions will not compel Pakistan to turn against the Afghan Taliban," he added.

Kolenda is currently an adjunct senior fellow at CNAS and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy.

Even under a robust US-led sanctions regime in the 1990s, Pakistan was supporting insurgencies in Kashmir and Afghanistan, while still pursuing their nuclear program, he noted.

"These actions will, however, stop the mad practice of subsidising Pakistan while it undermines the US interests," Kolenda asserted.

He said that the US should come to grips with the fact that it cannot accommodate the competing interests of India, Pakistan, Iran, and others in Afghanistan and instead, the US should back an Afghan declaration of regional neutrality in exchange for commitments of non-interference in the war-torn country.

"A regional forum, perhaps managed by the UN, will be needed to monitor and enforce these agreements. This way, no regional actor controls Afghanistan, and Afghan officials are less prone to play regional powers against the one another," he argued.

The former Pentagon official recommended that America should also consider a "peace dividend" for Pakistan once Afghanistan achieves sustainable peace.

"This could include resumption of aid and assistance and consideration for a civil-nuclear agreement," Kolenda said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fashion jewellery brand Voylla plans to increase its retail touch points to 400 by fiscal 2020 as it chases turnover target of up to Rs 300 crore.

"We are looking at increasing out retail touch points to 400 by financial year 2020. We are eyeing turnover of Rs 200-300 crore in 2-3 years time," Voylla Co-founder & CTO Jagrati Shringi told PTI.

The company, at present, has 123 retail touch points -- which include exclusive stores, shop in shops in large multi-brand outlets and kiosks -- in India.

By end of next financial year, we looking at doubling our retail touch points to 250, Shringi said.

The company recently opened its franchise store in Ludhiana, Punjab.

"By 2020, we are looking at a 50:50 mix of Voyalla-owned outlets and franchised outlets," she said.

Voylla, which had raised USD 15 million in funding from private equity firm, Peepul Capital last year, said it does not require fresh funding for the next one year.

Prior to that, the company had raised two rounds of funds in 2012 and 2013 from Snow Leopard Technology Ventures.

Voylla recently co-launched a new jewellery brand Navrang in partnership with Viacom18 Consumer Products, which will design and offer jewellery similar to those worn by on-screen characters from Colors.

Founded in 2011, Voylla manufactures and sells jewellery under the 'Voylla' brand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BEIJING (Reuters) - National Development and Reform Commission vice chairman He Lifeng has been named new chairman of the agency, state media Xinhua reported on Friday, citing a decision by the standing committee of the National People's Congress.

Xinhua also said vice commerce minister Zhong Shan has been named the new head of the Ministry of Commerce and Zhang Jun was appointed head of the Ministry of Justice.

(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mobile messaging service on Friday announced that it has 200 million monthly active users in India.

Brian Acton, the co-founder of WhatsApp, along with Neeraj Arora, Head of Business, WhatsApp, on Friday visited Indian Institute of in New Delhi to interact with the students.

The discussion focused on the ways can contribute to India as it is invested in building a service with high utility for millions of Indians, the company said in a statement.

has been rolling out updates and features to make the app more secure for its users.

The new "Status" feature lets users share photos, GIFs or videos overlaid with drawings, emojis and a caption that will be visible to selected friends for 24 hours, before disappearing.

Users can also see who has viewed their Status update by tapping the eye icon at the bottom of any Status update.

The new feature is now available to all users across the globe on iPhone, Android and Windows devices.
With planned layoffs of around 500 to 600 people over the next few days, clouds of uncertainty loom over the future of online marketplace Snapdeal, once India's start-up posterboy. In an official communication to its employees, the founders admitted to some serious flaws in their strategy.

Further, the founders of Snapdeal pledged to take a 100 per cent salary cut. As per the Registrar of Company records, the founders received a compensation of Rs 52.94 crore (as per form 16) each in 2014/15, significantly higher from Rs 1 crore each in the previous fiscal.

The ill health of the company can easily be diagnosed from its mounting losses which significantly jumped over 120 per cent in 2015/16 to Rs (-) 2,960 crore from Rs (-) 1,319 crore in 2014/15.

Its revenues, however, rose 55.3 per cent over the period. Its employees expenses, the next biggest expense head of the company after advertising expenses, shot up around 148 per cent to Rs 911 crore in 2015/16 from Rs 367.19 crore in the previous fiscal.

Clearly, mounting employee expenses, proved to be the Achilles heel for the company.

The company, founded in 2010, has seen 12 rounds of funding, raising a total equity funding of $ 1.7 billion, according to the data from Tracxn. It has been struggling to raise funds fresh funds recently, with $221 million raised in 2016 compared to $ 500 million raised in 2015.

Snapdeal has also suffered a devaluation-valuations went down to $ 4 billion currently from $ 6.5 billion in February 2016. The top-level exits continued at Snapdeal with Anand Chandrasekharan, Chief Product Officer; Tony Navin, Head of Partnerships and Strategic Investments; Abhishek Kumar, responsible for the acquisition of FreeCharge mobile wallet; and Sandeep Komaravelly, head of mobile customer-to-customer marketplace Shopo, leaving the company.

It plans to sell its digital wallet FreeCharge which it acquired in April 2015. Another acquisition which did not pay-off was Exclusively.in, a premium fashion platform which shut down within 18 months of acquiring it. Four years after buying it in 2013, Snapdeal shut down its C2C marketplace Shopo. Let see if these layoffs help Snapdeal tide over the tough times.
Infosys has sought shareholders' approval to change the company's Articles of Association, which includes a provision for buyback.

"Power to purchase its own equity shares or other securities by way of a buy-back arrangement has been included and provisions relating to nomination facility for shares by a shareholder have been inserted," the Infosys postal ballot notice, uploaded on the company's website, said.

The notice also stated that as per article 13, the power of the board to issue shares at a discount has been deleted in line with the Companies Act, 2013.

"The board has recommended the adoption of new Articles of Association of the company in conformity with the Companies Act, 2013 to the shareholders for approval," Infosys had said earlier in a BSE filing.

The notice also stated, "No director, key managerial personnel or their relatives are interested in or concerned with the resolution. The Board recommends the resolution set forth in item no. 3 (Share Capital Category) for approval of the members.

Earlier in the day, ETNow had reported that the widening differences between its promoters and board on a number of issues, had in all likelihood reached a truce on the crucial aspect of capital allocation.

Infosys, which had liquid assets, including cash and cash equivalents and investments worth Rs 35,697 crore (about USD 5.25 billion) on its books at the end of December 2016, has been under pressure from investors to utilise the amount either through share buyback or generous dividend.

There were reports that Infosys may consider a Rs 12,000 crore share buyback, but the company has maintained that it "periodically" reviews the capital allocation policy.

It had added that the management will take a decision on share buyback at an "appropriate time".

Two of Infosys former CFOs -- T V Mohandas Pai and V Balakrishnan -- recently exhorted institutional investors to raise questions about the huge cash pile on the company's books, saying investors have an obligation to protect their investment.

The pressure has grown further after Infosys industry peers Cognizant and Tata Consultancy Services announced their buyback offers worth USD 3.4 billion and Rs 16,000 crore, respectively.

Besides, the Infosys board today also approved the recommendations of the Nominations and Remuneration Committee for revising the remuneration to COO and Whole-time Director, U B Pravin Rao.

It also sought shareholders approval to appoint D N Prahlad as an Independent Director.
Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) said on Friday it has received a demand notice from income tax authorities for a sum of Rs 32.87 crore. The company is contesting the demand, which is for the assessment year 2013-14, SPARC said in a regulatory filing.

"The company is in receipt of a 'Demand Notice' under the Section 156 of the Income Tax, 1961, demanding the payment by the company of a sum of Rs 32.87 crore for the assessment year 2013-14," it said.

The company is contesting the demand and will file an appropriate appeal against this under the applicable provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, within the stipulated period, it added. SPARC was demerged from Sun Pharma as a pharma research and drug discovery company in 2007.


Four British MPs have asked the UK government to make strengthening trade ties with India a priority in the post-Brexit era.

During a debate on Commonwealth Trade in Westminster Hall of Parliament yesterday, Conservative party MP Jake Berry led calls for focus on India as Britain leaves the European Union (EU).

"We need to open trade deal talks with India. We will be helped significantly by the Indian diaspora of 1.4 million people, which creates strong cultural ties between our nations, and by the fact that India is currently the UK's largest export market in the Commonwealth. The Government must make it a priority next month," Berry said.

He quoted a recent Commonwealth study which estimated that a UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would increase two-way trade by 26 per cent and predicted that UK exports to India could increase by 50 per cent every year, something he described as a "huge prize" for Britain and for India.

Indian-origin MP Shailesh Vara, co-chair of the Conservative Friends of India, called on the post-Brexit engagement to cover smaller countries of the Commonwealth.

"In 2015, Australia, Canada, India, Singapore and South Africa accounted for 70 per cent of UK exports to Commonwealth countries and 65 per cent of UK imports from the Commonwealth countries. It is important that we do not just concentrate on the larger nations of the Commonwealth, big though they may be," he said.

Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for a heavily Indian-origin constituency of Brent North in London, described India as an "old friend" which should be nurtured.

"It would be foolish, however, to think that we in the UK may simply pick up where we left off before we joined the EU.

The world has changed, the power balance has changed and the nature of global trade has been transformed beyond recognition," he warned, quoting Indian high commissioner to the UK Y K Sinha's stress on mobility of professionals as key to any India-UK trade deal.

The government's response during the debate was provided by Minister for Trade and Investment Greg Hands, who described the Commonwealth as "more important than ever".

"It is an enormous market, but it is more than just a market. The Commonwealth charter has prosperity at its very centre. We have working groups on trade with Australia, New Zealand and India," Hands said.

"Notably, the Prime Minister [Theresa May] made her first bilateral trade mission to a Commonwealth country India," Hands said.
The Central government has decided to increase the gratuity payment limit from the existing Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. The goverment's decision is based on the recommendations made by the Seventh Pay Commission panel.



After this, the employees of organised sector can now be allowed to withdraw up to Rs 20 lakh from their gratuity fund. The decision was taken in a meeting between the labour ministry and representatives from central trade unions on February 23.

The central trade unions have also agreed on doubling gratuity amount ceiling as an interim measure in a tripartite meeting on the proposed amendment to Payment of Gratuity Act conducted today by the Labour Ministry.

The unions demanded the removal of conditions asking to have at least 10 employees in an establishment and minimum five years of service for payment of gratuity.

"While accepting the maximum payment limit of Rs 20 lakh as an interim measure, the unions demanded that the ceilings/ limit with respect to number of employees and years of service should be removed," the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) said in a statement.

It said, "The central trade unions have been urging the government that the ceiling in the amount of gratuity should be removed."

At present, as per the Payment of Gratuity Act, an employee is required to do minimum service of five years to become eligible for gratuity amount. Moreover, the Act applies to those establishments where the number of employees is not less than 10.

The statement said the application of amended provision regarding maximum amount should be made effective from January 1, 2016 as done in the case of central government employees.

Besides that rate of 15 days wages for each completed year of service be raised to 30 days wages, the unions had demanded.

The proposed amendment to the Payment of Gratuity Act as circulated by the government along with the letter dated February 15, 2017 only deals with enhancing the ceiling of maximum amount under Section 4(3) of the Act from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, the unions said.

They pointed out during the meeting that the proposed amendment is being brought to bring the maximum ceiling amount to Rs 20 lakh in line with recommendation of 7th Central Pay Commission as accepted by the government.

The relevant amendment for central government employees was notified on July 25, 2016 and the enhanced amount ceiling was made effective from January 1, 2016.

The unions are of the view that the delay of 8 months for employees covered under the Payment of Gratuity Act should not result in adversely affecting the interest of the concerned employees.

The employers as well as state representatives also agreed to the proposal of raising the amount of gratuity to Rs 20 lakh, it said.

The government has also decided to keep the Transport Allowance for central government employees same as the 6th Pay Commission recommendations including Dearness Allowance(DA).

Earlier on Tuesday, the Finance Ministry informed about the report of the 'Committee on Allowances'and said no hike in Transport Allowance (TPTA) for central government employees in its report.



(With inputs from PTI)




India has stepped up its lobbying effort against moves in the US Congress to impose curbs on visas for skilled workers that threaten the South Asian nation's tech sector, which employs more than 3.5 million people.

Speaking to Reuters, Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said New Delhi had reached out to the administration of President Donald Trump to stress the importance of India's $150-billion IT services industry to US citizens.

"India's investments in the United States have provided jobs to US citizens," she said in an interview. "That has to be brought to the notice of the U.S. administration."

The comments come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Washington to keep an open mind on admitting skilled Indian workers.

Indian software companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro shot to prominence in the 1990s by helping Western firms stamp out the "Y2K" bug.

Trump's "America First" rhetoric on jobs, however, has put their biggest market under threat.

A bill was introduced in the US Congress last month to more than double the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders, which could significantly boost costs for IT companies, whose margins are already being squeezed.

New Delhi has backed a move by NASSCOM, India's high-tech industry association, to lobby U.S. lawmakers and companies to urge the administration not to crack down on allowing its skilled workers into the United States.

A NASSCOM delegation is now in the United States to make its case to officials on Capitol Hill and in the White House.

"We will have to engage with the new administration," Sitharaman said. "Our engagement at every level is intact and continuing."

The United States is India's biggest trading partner, but trade in goods between the two countries has been stagnant, at around $67 billion, for the last three years. Indian software exports to the US rose more than 10 percent, to $37 billion, in the last fiscal year from a year earlier.



Indian nationals are by far the largest group of recipients of the 65,000 H-1B visas issued annually to new applicants under a cap mandated by Congress. More than 60 percent of the U.S. employees of Infosys hold H-1B visas.

A global pact on services trade would go a long way towards settling disputes over professional visas, Sitharaman said.

"If only there is a framework...you will know how movement can happen and how certain restrictions can or cannot come," she said. "It's time for countries to sit together and look at it."
Honda Cars has acquired 380 acres in Gujarat to set up a new assembly line, though its two existing plants are running at half the installed capacity of 2.40 lakh units as its sales fell over 25 per cent last year.

Honda has an assembly line each in Greater Noida near Delhi and Tapukura in Rajasthan with a combined capacity of 2.40 units. But in 2016, its sales plunged to 1,58,658, a steep 25.3 per cent decline from 2015 level when it had sold 2,12,372 units. Accordingly, its market share fell to seventh slot from fourth.

With this running rate, it is highly unlikely that Honda will be able it to meet its earlier target of selling 3,00,000 lakh cars in the country in 2017.

"We have just completed acquisition of around 400 acres, to be precise 380 acres, at Vithalapur in Gujarat, though we have no immediate plans to set up a plant there. We have bought the land so that as and when we finalise the third plant, we have the land ready," Honda Cars India chief executive Yoichiro Ueno said.

He said this is done as they are confident of the long-term potential of India and are committed to this market.

With GDP clipping at 7 per cent, there isn't any reason to be otherwise, and they want to participate in this growth story.

Ueno, however, refused to offer the price they have paid for the land parcel. But the company sources said they have paid around Rs 1,000 crore for the land parcel.

Honda Cars India director and senior vice-president Raman Kumar Sharma told PTI that excluding this latest investment, the company has pumped Rs 8,000 crore into the country since its entry in the 1990s.

Sharma said they bought the land from individuals and completed transactions earlier this month only and bought the land considering the challenges of land acquisition in the country coupled with rising realty prices, it is way of derisking future volatilities.

Vithalapur is about 80 km northwest of Ahmedabad, where Honda's two-wheeler subsidiary Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India runs the world's largest scooters only plant with a 1.2 million annual capacity, opened last February.

Honda expanded capacity to more than 2,40,000 units from 60,000 in a short span. A large part of the additional capacity was in diesel during the peak of diesel demand a couple of years ago. But Ueno said they will go slow on diesel now as customer preference have already shifted back to petrol following narrowing of the fuel price differences.

Ueno attributed falling sales to the overstocking of around 24,000 units at showrooms on average as the company was planning to discontinue the existing model of its warhorse city in the run-up to the new launch earlier this month.

Over the last weekend, the company said it had received as much as 5,500 bookings for its new City within 15 days of launch and is bullish on the prospects as it attempts to be a premium player here again, and this will also see the company relaunching the Accord and the Civic sedans shortly.

With the Maruti Ciaz picking up steam, the City was relegated to No 2 slot since the past few months. But Honda said this was primarily due to destocking it has been doing as it was preparing for the new version. While the City was averaging around 6,000 units till recently, the Ciaz for the first time overtook it by selling 5,360 units.

"We don't want to be known as a cheap or mass brand.

We want our brand to be known as a premium car brand. Our focus will be the upper segment going forward. We've decided to maintain our traditional positioning, which is a bit more premium though not luxury. So, we'd like to target customers a bit different from others in terms of products, service, and customer experience," Ueno said.

Ueno said the City sales declined in the past few months, because the company was in a phase out stage as it was preparing the new fourth general version of the City.
Delhi police have arrested a 27-year-old employee of a cash loading company over allegedly replacing real notes with fake notes in an ATM.

Earlier this week, reports said fake Rs 2000 notes, with 'Children's Bank of India' inscribed on them, were dispensed from an ATM on February 6 in Sangam Vihar area in New Delhi.

The accused was apparently on cash loading duty at the ATM on the day the fake notes were dispensed. The police have said nobody else had access to the notes on that day apart from the accused, Mohd Isha.

"No one else had access to the notes that day. He removed five genuine notes and replaced them with the bogus notes which are easily available in the market and are used by children for playing purposes," Romil Baaniya, DCP (South-East), said.

The fake pink colored notes, which was dispensed from the SBI ATM in Sangam Vihar, had 'Children Bank of India' written in place of Reserve Bank of India and the serial number was '000000'.

The fake notes had 'churan lable' in place of the latent image and a 'PK' logo at the lower half where bank's seal is seen in the original currency note. The note read: "I promise to pay the barer two thousand coupens (sic) instead of - I promise to pay the bearer the sum of two thousand rupees."

On February 6, a call centre employee had withdran Rs 8000 from the SBI ATM at Sangam Vihar. He later realised that all the four notes that the ATM dispensed were fake. He had immediately approached the police station nearby to report the matter.

A case of manufacturing documents resembling currency notes, using forged or counterfeit notes and of cheating was registered at Sangam Vihar police station under IPC sections 489-b, 489-e and 420.
Come April 1 and five associate banks of the State Bank of India will merge with it. It is the largest ever consolidation exercise in the Indian banking industry. Indeed, the SBI - associates merger would be a test case for a bigger consolidation to follow in the public sector bank space which the government is planning. It may not be all smooth sailing. There will be plenty of challenges for the merged entity and there is also a fear that management bandwidth would go on resolving these issues. Here are the key challenges.



ALSO READ: Five associate banks to merge with SBI from April 1



Branches overlap

SBI today runs the largest bank in the country in terms of assets as well as branch network. They have branches in every nook and corner of the country. The associate banks are regional with good branch network in the place they are headquartered. There is going to be a huge overlap of branches in the five states of Rajasthan, Bengaluru, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Kerala.

Too big to handle

The merger is the biggest in the Indian banking industry. We haven't seen a merger of this size. The bank is merging five associate banks with combined assets of over Rs 6 lakh crore , which is almost equal to the size of the two largest private banks HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank Ltd. The merged SBI entity would have 24,000 plus branches, 58,000 ATMs and 2.7 lakh employees. ICICI Bank has 4,450 branches, 14,295 and 97,132 employees. In a digital era, many banks are not even talking of setting up branches. The digital wallets, too, will make ATMs irrelevant in the future.

Associates are mirror image of parent

SBI associate banks are a mirror image of the parent. SBI chairman also sits on their board and MD and CEOs came from other associate banks. The product basket has many similarities with focus on infrastructure, agriculture, home and auto loans.

Too big to fail

In the post 2008 scenario, the world saw the government bailing out large banks from tax payers money. SBI though is identified by the RBI as a systemically important bank, requiring additional capital in its book for absorbing any future shock. But SBI's size is not comparable with other banks. SBI, with close to Rs 30 lakh crore assets, is way ahead of the two largest private banks - HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, which are in the region of Rs 7-8 lakh crore. Managing a bank of SBI's size will require more oversight by the regulator.

A bad bank within a bank

This huge portfolio of bad loan makes it a bad bank within a bank. The five associate banks for instance have stressed loans (gross NPAs and restructured loans) at a staggering Rs 35,396 crore level. This amount is almost half of SBI's Rs 66,117 crore stressed loans in 2015-16. It would be a huge task to resolve the bad loans given the challenging operating environment.


It is well known in the pharmaceutical industry globally that outside the US and Europe (and India, off course), the best markets for generics business are Brazil, China, Mexico, Turkey and Japan.

What should then be made of statements from Cipla about its foray in Brazil and China? Is it only following others into these markets? Not quite, explains a senior company official. "It is certainly not a me-too, even if the choice of geography seems so to some, because we have a ticket to win." That is its strengths in therapeutic segments like respiratory, HIV, oncology and cardiology.

Brazil and China, given that they are big generics markets, are being seen by the company as the logical extension of its emerging markets presence. In fact, what Business Today gathers is that the move is to be seen as a result of the company's sustained shift in strategy over the past decade-and-a-half. Over a decade ago, the company was seen largely as an India-domiciled company that sold in every geography in a B2B fashion with front-end partners in different countries. That changed about five years ago to a strategy where the focus was to have its own direct front-end presence in select geographies outside India. Now, it is taking this further with expanding footprint into some of the major geographies within the map of emerging markets . The key attraction being an opportunity to leverage its strengths in areas like respiratory, HIV and oncology. But then, it is not going to yield instant results. Analysts feel a process like this will mean efforts over a five-to-six year timeframe before substantial results start flowing in since the process involves first filing to be made for approval to launch products, followed by getting them approved and then getting the approval for pricing. It is perhaps the reason why the company may be wanting to get it all started.

In terms of revenue breakup for Cipla today, India contributes around 40 per cent, emerging markets is about 30 per cent (but mainly from South Africa and from the Global Fund business) , the US is around 18 per cent and the balance from Europe.
The Governor of the Central Bank, Philip Lane yesterday delivered a speech on consumer protection in an address at University College Cork.

Governor Lane outlined a vision for the financial services sector which involves consumers who are well informed, confident and empowered and sound well-regulated firms with strong consumer-focused culture.

Speaking at the Financial Services Innovation Centre, Lane outlined the institutional frameworks to protect consumers in their dealings with financial firms at domestic and international levels before explaining the Central Banks vision for how the organisation can contribute to consumer protection for customers of regulated firms.

He concluded by looking at the current priorities in the bank's consumer protection work.

In protecting consumers of financial services, Lane said he believes that more needs to be done to empower consumers in their dealings with financial services firms with improving financial literacy an integral part of the consumer protection agenda.

Speaking yesterday, Governor Lane said, "Our focus is on ensuring that the appropriate frameworks are in place so that firms must take the best interests of consumers into account in their design, operation and monitoring of online distribution and automated advice channels."

He added, "Furthermore, given the scope for online distribution channels to foster cross-border trade in financial services, it is essential that the legislative framework fosters internationalisation without compromising consumer protection."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

About us
The Central Bank have today issued a statistical information release publication on the financial conditions of credit unions.

The report covers a number of areas including return on assets, investments, loans, arrears and Capital.

It shows that sector assets have increased by 2bn over the period 2011  2016 from 14bn to 16bn. During this period 2011  2016, the average sector loan to asset ratio has decreased from 42% to 27% while the average sector investment to asset ratio has increased from 55% to 69%.

According to the report, average sector return on assets has fallen from 2.3% in 2012 to 1.2% in 2016.

Meanwhile, credit quality has improved with sector average arrears down from 18% of total loans in 2011 to 10% in 2016 - however there are considerable variations among credit unions and later stage arrears remain a concern.

Commenting on the report, CEO of the Credit Union Development Association (CUDA), Kevin Johnson said, "We welcome the report and the acknowledgment of the resilience of the credit union sector during the Countrys financial crisis. The sector is well capitalised and well positioned to develop broader range of products and services but there are impediments, primarily legislative and regulatory, that need to be worked through."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

About us
The introduction of an amendment to the Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2017 by Independent Senator Billy Lawless has been welcomed by the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) which represents Dublin publicans.

The amendment, co-sponsored by Senators Michael McDowell, Victor Boyhan and Gerard Craughwell, calls for the lifting of the current ban on all licensed premises to sell alcohol on Good Friday.

The LVA claim the lifting of the ban is long overdue as there was no case for the licensed trade to be treated differently to other retail businesses.

Speaking yesterday, CEO of the LVA, Donall OKeeffe said, "We commend the senators for introducing this amendment. This is a commonsense move which the LVA has been supporting for many years and more recently with its #AboutTime campaign. Were calling on the Government to facilitate the quick passage of this amendment so that on April 14 this year we can consign this archaic law to history, which is where it belongs."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

About us
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

Aggressive NYPD parking enforcement should relieve Bruckner Boulevard of illegally stored commercial vehicles.

A stretch of Bruckner Boulevard between Middletown Road and Wilkinson Avenue that runs parallel to Pelham Bay Park has become a virtual truck stop for 18-wheelers and other oversized vehicles recently, according sources.

The 45th Precinct has mounted an aggressive tow, boot and ticket operation for the illegally parked trucks to rectify the situation, said the precinct commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Danielle Raia.

Raia said that Councilman James Vacca told her he had received complaints, and that the precinct secured a heavy-duty tow truck for an operation on Saturday, February 11.

A second action was carried out on Sunday, February 19, and another is being planned, she said.

We are going to keep doing it until they get the message, said Raia, adding We are going to do it as many times as we have to.

A total of 14 summonses were issued to 12 different vehicles for Commercial Overnight Parking, with two tractor trailer trucks towed to a pound on February 11, according to information supplied by Vaccas office.

Additionally, a white pickup truck with Delaware plates and tractor-trailer with New York plates had boots applied that same day.

On February 19, according to Raia, six more summonses were issued, five more vehicles were booted and one bus was towed.

The councilman said that he has witnessed the illegal parking alongside Pelham Bay Park for some time, but said that the severity has increased and he recently counted nine trucks, including flat bed trucks with cars on them.

We are not a truck stop here, said Vacca, adding that he felt the towing is going to send a message because they are going to wake up in the morning and not find their vehicle.

The councilman said the Bruckner service road, along with part of Cross Bronx Expressway Service Road near St. Raymond Cemetery, have had this problem on and off for years.

Based on his experience, the councilman said that commercial vehicles are stored on local streets for a variety of reasons, including owners who dont want to pay to store their vehicles in manufacturing areas.

Local activist Victor DePierro said that he passes the service road almost daily when he takes his son to school in New Rochelle, and that the problem is growing.

He has seen up to ten trucks parked next to the park on Bruckner Boulevard at once, he said.

This is a residential community, said DePierro, who said he brought the matter to the councilmans attention.

It just gives you the perception that this is becoming a truck stop, said DePierro, who added that he has questions as to the cargo and the whereabouts of the drivers.
Several communities in Northern Utah and Southeast Idaho have been besieged by floodwaters that just wont subside. Thursday, Garland City Mayor Todd Miller declared a state of emergency after hundreds of homes in his community have been affected by over-saturated ground and rising ground water.

The mayor and Garland City Council activated the Emergency Operations Center Wednesday evening where a special meeting was held to gather information about problem areas throughout their city.

According to the mayors declaration, Public Works crews have been working around the clock to alleviate water damage in the city and upstream sites to minimize damage. Dumpsters are being placed throughout the community to allow citizens to dispose of debris.

The mayor also encourages members of his community who use septic tanks to minimize (their) water usage as the high ground water levels may be compromising drainage fields. He also reminds residents to pump ground water into storm drains or into fields and not into the city sewer system.

Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox toured the county by helicopter Wednesday, assessing the damage. He also participated in a press conference with other county and city officials.

The city recognizes the contributions of the countless volunteers who are working to help their neighbors, the mayors release states. According to Box Elder County Economic Development Director Mitch Zundel, the community has experienced an overwhelming response from volunteers.

Salt Lake County has sent 12 public works employees for two days to alleviate some of the demand on Box Elder County employees, the county has received 8,000 sand bags from Salt Lake City over the last few days. Additionally, another 10,000 sandbags were filled and distributed with the help of the Utah National Guard and other local volunteers.

Zundel says the Utah National Guard has been filling 500-600 sandbags an hour but are expected to conclude their service Thursday.

Zundel says more volunteers are not needed at this time. Currently, the county is running 13 pumps that are 6 or larger and 10 smaller pumps 24 hours a day, with six more pumps on the way to help move ground water out of the most affected areas.

The Red Cross is actively helping residents who have been displaced from their homes and to help provide emergency care. The Red Cross will also be organizing another Multi-Agency Resource Center on Saturday, February 25 from 4-7 p.m. in the gymnasium of the Garland City Offices (72 North Main, Garland). Not only will the Red Cross be participating, but also other non-profit and faith-based organizations whose purpose is to help people in the time of an emergency.

Zundel says trained caseworkers will be available to help affected homeowners create personal recovery plans, navigate paperwork and locate assistance for their specific disaster-caused needs.

There is some hope on the horizon as cooler temperatures are expected in the forecast over the next several days, which should slow the snow melt and onslaught of groundwater.
Last year, VITA volunteers prepared 1,435 tax returns in Cache, Box Elder and Rich counties. The program helped these taxpayers obtain $1,768,233 in total refunds.

Free onsite tax help is available locally for Cache Valley residents whose households made less than $54,000 last year. Coordinated by the <a href=http://caputah.org/>Community Action Partnership of Utah</a>, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program provides free tax return preparation assistance to people who may have difficulty accessing services for which theyd have to pay.

I think the most important thing about the program is that it gives people the opportunity to file who wouldnt otherwise benefit, said Lucas Martin, VITAs coordinator in the Bear River region.

Martin is specifically referring to taxpayers whose refunds might be less than the cost of professional tax preparation services. If VITA services werent available, Martin said, these individuals and families would actually lose money by filing. This includes the elderly, part-time workers, people with disabilities and wage earners who have lost their jobs.

We can help those people, and thats a good thing, he said.

VITA volunteers receive more than eight hours of formal training, and they are certified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). With more than 60 VITA sites statewide, tax preparers serve clients locally in four Logan locations the <a href=http://brag.utah.gov/>Bear River Association of Governments</a> (BRAG) office, the <a href=http://jobs.utah.gov/>Department of Workforce Services</a>, <a href=https://www.stevenshenager.edu/locations/logan>Stevens Henager College</a> and on the campus of Utah State University, in room B120 of the Business Building. Morning, evening and limited afternoon appointments are available, and tax preparation services are provided in Spanish at the BRAG office every Thursday night.

Scheduling information for the VITA program is available by calling 211. As Sandra Carpio, operations manager at <a href=http://211utah.org/>211 Utah</a>, guides potential VITA clients through the screening process, she also refers them to other community programs.

A lot of times, people who are calling in about the VITA program dont know about all of the other services available at 211. As were completing their screening to see if we can help them with their taxes, we also ask them about other resources they might need like food, housing and utilities so we can help them with that, too.

Rachel Gregson, who directs the VITA program on a state level, appreciates the coordination VITA facilitates between supporting agencies.

Its nice to go to a community service where the motivation and intent truly is about helping people and not about generating a profit, she said. I think that with something like taxes, that makes a big difference.

Gregson also notes how the VITA program receives special funding to taxpayers who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

VITA is run through community action agencies who are tasked with ending poverty, she said, and EITC has proven to be, so far, one of the most effective policy creations for actually lifting people out of poverty.

Martin, who is midway through his second tax season with VITA, has witnessed firsthand how the program benefits taxpayers in the Bear River region. Last year, 1,435 tax returns were prepared through VITA in Cache, Box Elder and Rich counties, resulting in $1,768,233 in total refunds. Seventy-four volunteers contributed 1,593 service hours.

I get to meet a lot of members of the community, he said. Its exciting to see people coming back to use the service again and bringing their family and friends with them. I also get to see the double benefit of the positive interaction I have with clients and the contribution of our volunteers. These volunteers are people from all walks of life who spend three to six hours each week preparing returns. Over the course of 10 weeks, thats a lot of time.

I think its of benefit to our volunteers as well, said Gregson, in that they do learn some good skills and tax law, and it just demystifies the whole tax process for a lot of people.

More information about the VITA program, including an online option for households whose income was less than $64,000 in 2016, is available at <a href=http://www.utahtaxhelp.org/>www.utahtaxhelp.org</a>.
A 24-hour online monitoring camera is stationed in an agriculture cooperative in Dexing, Jiangxi province, in September 2015. Chinese farmers are increasingly relying on big-data analytics instead of personal experience to manage their farms. Photo: IC

When Lin, an asparagus farmer in Guangdong province, wants to check on his crops, he pulls out his smartphone. An app called Nongyan (Mandarin for farming eye) sends him readings from sensors in his fields.

If he notices the soil temperature climbing higher than 28 degrees Celsius, Lin, a former engineer, responds by misting his plants to make sure their roots stay moist.

Asparagus is a thirsty crop, he explains.

Lin is one of many Chinese farmers who now depend on big-data analytics to manage their farms.

From selecting seed varieties, determining planting density, to pest and disease control, effective fertilizer use, harvesting, and storage, farmers make 40 to 50 major decisions each year, and these decisions all shape the farms eventual output, said Gao Yong, president of Monsanto China.

These decisions, thanks to a growing interest in big data, are increasingly being based on algorithms rather than human experience.

This change is driven by a combination of top-down reforms, increasingly well-educated young farmers, and agriculture companies sensing a gap in the market.

Pig Data

In Chinas massive pork industry, data-driven livestock management has been gaining popularity.

Beijing Nongxin Hulian Technology Co., Ltd., the tech subsidiary of agriculture giant Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group Co. Ltd., introduced the Zhulianwang (literally, Pig Network) platform in May 2015. The platform combines services like an online hog market, epidemic alerts and a mobile pig-rearing assistant app. Zhulianwangs network now covers about 12,000 farms across China, or a total of nearly 20 million pigs.

Zhulianwangs mobile app can give farmers real time updates on sows fertility status, predict when pigs will be fully grown and ready for slaughter, and tell when a litter is due to be delivered, or weaned. If pigs fall ill, farmers can send queries via Zhulianwang to online veterinarians.

Zhulianwang uses location data from individual queries to form a map of regional disease trends, and when the volume of queries from a particular location reaches a certain level, the platform issues epidemic warnings.

At the moment, about 60% of the data Zhulianwang collects comes from users manually submitting information. But data collection is becoming increasingly automated. For example, Nongxin Hulian recently introduced an ultrasound scanner that seamlessly collects data whenever farmers use it.

A major aim of Zhulianwang is to help farmers raise as many pigs as possible.

We found that pigs were being bred very inefficiently, and the fundamental reason was that farmers lacked information, Nongxin Hulian President Xue Suwen said.

Farmers traditionally decide when to wean and breed pigs based on their personal knowledge of pig physiology, but thats no match for the precise algorithms services like Zhulianwang uses. According to the company, farms using Zhulianwang produced two more growers (the industry term for weaned pigs) for every sow in 2016, compared to the previous year.

Its not just farm management practices that are being transformed. Zhulianwang also offers financial services to farms, traders, and slaughterhouses. Being able to access vast quantities of data on livestock means lenders can assign more accurate credit ratings to businesses in the pork industry, Xue said.

Increasingly well-educated young farmers and agribusiness owners are eagerly adopting high-tech services like Zhulianwang and Nongyan, which is owned by Guangzhou-based AirAG Technology Ltd.

An executive at agricultural data startup Hua Nong Tian Shi Technology Co. Ltd. told Caixin that many of the customers she encounters are second-generation farmers who have returned to their home provinces to work in agriculture after graduating from college, and who are willing to invest more in efficiency-raising technology.

Another factor is the increasing circulation of agricultural land in China. Farmland in China is owned by the state, and those who have the right to work the land cannot always transfer this right at will. But the central government has in recent years relaxed restrictions on rural families leasing out their land use rights, which means its now easier for large-scale farms to consolidate land and expand operations.

After the right to cultivate the land has changed hands, the new users of the land aim to maximize profit, and cut costs, so they need precision, said Yi Binghong, CEO of AirAG.

For companies providing big-data services, the motivation is often simply to grow their main businesses.

We sell pig feed, so if pig farmers breed their animals more efficiently and do well, well be able to sell more feed, Nongxin Hulians Xue said.

Wen Han Qiuzi quit a research position at a Canadian government agency in 2014 to found Hua Nong Tian Shi in Beijing. At the time, most of the provincial authorities and farmers she spoke to thought that big data was a nice idea, but an abstract one far removed from the reality of their own lives. But the central governments 13th Five-Year Plan, released in 2015, brought big data to the forefront as a real, practical way to reform the countrys agriculture sector, Wen said.

In late January, Chinas Ministry of Agriculture announced its intention in 2017 to encourage the integration of big data analytics into four main areas: planting, protected horticulture, livestock breeding, and agriculture.

Room for growth

Consumers are also a major reason for the move toward big data in agriculture. Chinese consumers today are increasingly concerned about nutrition and food safety, Yi said. Allowing consumers to access data collected about crops in the field can help them quickly judge the pros and cons of each product.

Zhu, another Guangdong farmer, has an orchard with over 1,000 pomelo trees. His main reason for using Nongyan is so that consumers can understand how exactly our pomelos are grown, and know that our fruits are safe to eat, said Zhu.

Growers using Nongyan can tag their produce with QR Codes, which consumers can then scan using smartphones to access information on where and how each item was grown.

The biggest headache for the agriculture sector today is information asymmetry, Wei Junzhong, designer of ZOME corn trading app, said. Apps harnessing big data could solve issues of transparency in the food supply chain, in a country where concerns about tainted produce still weigh heavily on consumers minds.

Expectations are high for how big-data analytics can change Chinas agriculture sector. But the technology, and the companies that offer it, are still in their infancy.

At least 70% of companies offering big data services in agriculture dont actually have enough data at the moment. Itll take them another two or three years to collect all the data they need, Xue said.

Additionally, big data service providers face an uphill task convincing more traditionally minded farmers to abandon their existing methods. It doesnt help that the quality of farm management apps available today is inconsistent. Farmers have complained that some apps are impractical to use, or dont help very much to raise farm productivity.

Asparagus farmer Lin looks forward to the day when agriculture apps can provide even more detailed, dynamic monitoring of crop conditions, including factors like soil pH and salinity.

The real key to improving crop quality is a deeper understanding of soil, Lin said.

Other industry insiders say Chinese companies need to provide one-stop comprehensive platforms in order to be of real use to farmers. The agricultural model of the future will integrate information on numerous factors as diverse as environmental conditions, warehousing and logistics, and provide links to third-party services like agricultural loans, insurance, and futures trading, former Monsanto China executive Liu Shi said.

U.S. companies like Monsanto and Cargill are already aware of this, and are racing to perfect this system, Liu said.
A few weeks ago I wrote Some Random Concerns and Observations .... One of my concerns was that stricter capital controls in China would negatively impact certain U.S. real estate markets. After that post, I spoke to an excellent source in San Marino (high end area of Los Angeles), and he told me that some Chinese owners were looking to sell (impacting prices).



Here is an article today from David Pierson at the LA Times: Mega-mansions in this L.A. suburb used to sell to Chinese buyers in days. Now they're sitting empty for months



The turnaround in activity, industry officials say, is directly linked to policies in China. ... To defend against capital flight, Chinese regulators allow citizens to take out only $50,000 a year. But thats been largely ignored and circumvented, often by asking dozens of friends and family to exercise their quota on someone elses behalf.



... on Dec. 31, Chinas State Administration of Foreign Exchange, which swaps Chinese yuan for dollars, issued some of its strictest guidelines yet. Customers now have to pledge not to invest in foreign property and provide a detailed account of how foreign funds will be used. They also prohibited customers from taking foreign currency out for someone else.



The rules could have broad implications around the world for any city exposed to Chinese real estate investment such as Vancouver, Sydney and more recently, Seattle.

If this continues, then this will impact certain areas - and have spillover effects to other areas.
Camp des Refugies de Minawao Archives

Contrary to widely circulated media reports, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Cameroon has said it was not involved in a recent repatriation of over 500 Nigerians who had fled into the country due to the Boko Haram insurgency.

Cameroonian authorities expelled 517 Nigerian refugees from the border towns of Kerawa and Kolofata between February 1015, 2017. Reports say 313 of those sent back were asylum seekers.

In a statement seen by Cameroons lone English language daily newspaper, The Guardian Post, on Friday, the UN agency says it wasnt involved in the expulsion. It said the body plans to sign a tripartite agreement with Cameroon and Nigeria on March 2, 2017 for the voluntary return of some 85,000 Nigerian refugees living in Cameroon.

The agreement will establish the modalities and procedures for the repatriation. 72 per cent of those to be repatriated live in the Minawao camp in the Far North region.

More than 61,000 refugees are currently living at the Minawao camp and a further 20,000 at the Logone and Chari camp in the same region.

Quoting the UNHCR statement, The Guardian Post reports further that the repatriation, will only take place on the basis of the freely will of the refugees and will ensure that the necessary conditions for security and dignity of their return to Nigeria are in place.

Refugees who will not voluntarily choose to return will not be forced to and their refugee status will be maintained and recognised by all three parties.

Boko Harams insurgency has displaced tens of thousands of Nigerians especially from the North Eastern part of the West African state.
Combat Ready Police Storm Mutengene Archives

The people of Quarter Two in Mutengene, Tiko sub division in the South West region are still demanding answers from the Police on the author of the death of Chrispo Akem Leku,a carpenter who was shot last Wednesday night February 22,2017.

It was a tense atmosphere Thursday in that locality of the sub division known for its hostile nature especially during situations like this, police surrounded the entire Quarter Two with guns as Tiko Divisional Officer Che Ngwashi and his associates made preliminary investigations. Access into Government Bilingual High School Mutengene was denied as Police also surrounded the building which was partially burnt by unidentified men.

Locals insist that Chrispo Akem was shot by a Police Officer and that the said Police should own up and present himself if not they, Police, will have no peace in the area. According to the Assistant Police Commissioner of Mutengene Police Station, Peter Nusta, there are several versions of who killed the carpenter that fateful night. While others say he was shot by Police on patrol, others say it was an element of ESIR, Mobile Intervention Unit of Police meanwhile some hold that a teacher shot him.

Though investigations have been opened, the people of Mutengene have promised sleepless nights to the police if the root of the matter is not brought to light.

Meantime the suspects who were in detention are still on the run after the cell was broken by angry youths, they also ransacked the office of the Commissioner as they deposited the corpse of Chrispo Akem Leku, 36, in the office.
| BY Ricki Green |

Digital measurement, a trustworthy digital value chain, building brands online and growing mobile value will be the key priorities for IAB Australia in 2017 according to its CEO Vijay Solanki.

Speaking today at a media briefing supported by the IAB chair, Nicole Sheffield, Solanki noted the watchwords for the year will be simplify and inspire, as the IAB works with marketers, publishers, agencies and adtech vendors, as well as driving positive collaborations with other industry bodies. Solanki also announced the launch of three new Councils and the appointment of a new regulatory affairs director, Kamani Krishnan.

With ten years experience in government relations, legal advice and policy expertise, Kamani will take the lead on policy and regulatory issues facing the digital advertising industry.

According to Nicole Sheffield, Chair of IAB Australia and managing director of News DNA, the new look IAB has an important role to play in the Australian market.

Says Sheffield: The IAB plays a critical role in ensuring the ongoing health of the digital advertising industry providing an independent voice across both measurement and technology. We have a legitimate and broad based measurement for digital in this country and while there is no denying that digital is rapidly evolving the media landscape, which can result in complexity, the IAB will continue to ensure that Australia leads the way with the transparency of digital currency.

Says Solanki: Collaboration is critical to the success of our industry and to our ability to support marketers work through the complexity of the digital ecosystem. Weve already shown whats possible, bringing together 19 organisations with competing commercial and technical interests to develop the recently released Viewability Whitepaper for the benefit of the entire industry. We are committed to ensuring future projects are just as successful and allow us to both simplify and inspire the market.

IABs research director Gai Le Roy will oversee a new look Executive Measurement Council with an expanded brief to cover all aspects of measurement from strategic planning through to effectiveness analysis. The Executive Measurement Council will oversee the work of the existing Audience Measurement Council, as well as a new Council. The Ad Effectiveness Council, which will be launched in March, will help industry identify and refine the best methods to assess the impact of advertising across different activities. This Council will also begin to explore how digital measurement data can be combined with other forms of media data to enhance cross media planning and buying.

Jonas Jaanimagi, IABs executive technology consultant will manage the new Executive Tech Council, which brings together the existing Video, Mobile, Audio and Standards and Guidelines Councils under one umbrella. The key areas of focus for this Council will be viewability, adblocking, ad fraud and programmatic, as well as special projects as required. The Executive Tech Council will also be expanded to ensure inclusion of representatives from the full digital ecosystem including advertisers, publishers, agencies and tech vendors.

One of the major pieces of work to come from the Executive Tech Council will be the Australian Ad Portfolio Guidelines, which will offer a more simple and effective approach to delivering digital advertising.

The IAB briefing comes six months after the appointment of Solanki as the new CEO of IAB and the recent appointment of Jonas Jaanimagi as Executive Technology Consultant.

Key Dates

 Q1

 Nielsen audit results

 Ad Fraud benchmarking data

 Ad Blocking Guidelines

 Q2

 DCR launch

 Ad Blocking Consumer Study (second tranche)

 Viewability benchmarking data (second tranche)

 Programmatic Playbook

 Data Hygiene Handbook

 Q3

 Ad Portfolio Guidelines update

 Cross media study
| BY Ricki Green |

NGIS Australia is Premier Cloud Partners for Google Maps API and is running breakfast events in Sydney and Melbourne on March 1 and 2 respectively to educate attendees on how location technology can heighten brand engagement.

The Sydney breakfast will be held at Google, Pyrmont, on March 1 at 8:30am  register here.

The Melbourne breakfast will be held at The Hub, Southern Cross, March 2 at 8:30am  register here.

It sounds like another rehash of the minority report, but geotriggered events linking a customers location to marketing activity are becoming more mainstream. Apps know where you are and can give you relevant information as you walk into a shop, airport or work site.

With geomarketing, engagement is no longer a whimpering tracked click on a website and download of a report  it is real world tracking with live interaction. As you walk into the international terminal your bank tells you to secure your credit cards for travel. As you walk into a competitors shoe shop, your membership app pings you a 10% voucher at their store to be used today. As your ageing grandmother leaves the safety of her home, family are alerted.

The technology behind this sort of just-in-time location based notification is geofencing and it is one of the things you can do with Google Maps API.

Google Maps is now over a decade old, but most creative, app and web agencies only know of it as the store locator to put at the bottom of a page.

The platform has evolved  and with the addition of things like multi-modal predictive travel time, geofencing, heat mapping, embedded business information and streetview  creatives can find new ways to deliver value to their clients.
Geneva, Switzerland  Ahead of Mobile World Congress 2017, Swiss wearable brand MyKronoz today announced ZeTime, the worlds first hybrid smartwatch combining mechanical hands over a full round color touchscreen. Using groundbreaking technology to enable a hole to be cut in the center of a round TFT color display allowing watch hands to pass through, ZeTime blends the classic design of a traditional timepiece with the most advanced features of a smartwatch.



Designed to be worn all day, every day, ZeTime allows users to see the time even when the smartwatch screen is powered off, thanks to Smart Movement technology that enables the mechanical hands to function for up to 30 days with a single charge.



When I started in early 2013, people thought that I was mad  why would I start a smartwatch company in Switzerland and enter such a challenging market? It turns out that my vision and passion have paid off as our company has sold nearly two million smartwatches since then, said Boris Brault, CEO and founder of MyKronoz. This disruptive mentality goes beyond the companys mission to provide smartwatches for everyone by striving to become an industry leader on price point, wide range, and fashionable design.



My inspiration has been to combine the best of our Swiss heritage in traditional watchmaking, with the key features of a smartwatch to persuade the majority of consumers to adopt our wearable technology. This has been accomplished with ZeTime, the perfect hybrid smartwatch. It combines the best of both worlds: watch hands of an elegant traditional timepiece with a full color touchscreen that instantly shows incoming calls, smartphone notifications, real-time fitness activity, upcoming calendar events, daily reminders and much more, right from your wrist.



A classic take on wearable technology, ZeTime has a sleek stainless steel watch case inspired by the finest Swiss design, along with a variety of interchangeable digital watch faces and straps created to fit every style. ZeTime is set for action with a 3-axis accelerometer and an optical heart-rate sensor to track activity and sleep. With water proof performance of ATM3 (up to 30 meters depth), ZeTime provides the quality and versatility expected from traditional high-end timepieces, at a much lower price. ZeTime will be available by early September 2017 from $199.90.
"Clive and I will have to try and re-establish ourselves in our careers. This will be hard as we have been away for six years."
Stefania scored her break-through modelling job in 2013 when British fashion consultant Gok Wan chose her for a Target campaign. That same year, Von Teese spotted her in a lineup of models and asked her to be the face of her lingerie line in Australia. It was a dream come true for Stefania, who's "obsessed with lingerie" and pushing boundaries.
"We are the only organisation right now doing case management, but we are only dealing with those that are reporting, there are a lot of women out in the community that remain in the dark," she said.
The couple knew he had been neglected but had never seen photos of how he looked before the rescue until reading The Canberra Times story. It made no difference except for the couple to love him even more.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
India's first Design centered University invites applications from the prospective candidates for admission to its Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech), Bachelor of Design (B.Des) and Master of Design (M.Des) programs that will be offered from August 2017 at Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh campus.

As Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), Pune campus at Ujjain, the Bachelor of Design is a four-year (8 semesters) full-time residential program with an integrated cross-disciplinary approach.

The program will offer specializations in System Design, Industrial Design and Communication Design.

The applicants will have to select their choice of specialization during application, while the foundation program remains the same for all disciplines.

While the Master of Design is two-year (4 semesters) fully-residential and full-time program having an integrated learning and cross-disciplinary approach like B.Des, M.Des will also offer specializations in System Design, Industrial Design and Communication Design.

The applicants have to select their choice of specialization during application while the foundation program remains the same for all disciplines.

Eligibility Criteria:

Candidates fulfilling the below-mentioned eligibility criteria should apply for admission in the Bachelor of Design (B.Des) program:

10+2 from any stream, (From any of the State Boards/AISSCE/ IB/ ISC)

Admission Test - Design Aptitude Test (DAT) score

Followed by studio test & personal interview



Candidates fulfilling the below-mentioned eligibility criteria should apply for admission to the Master of Design (M.Des) program:

Graduate or its equivalent (10+2+3 minimum).

Admission Test - Design Aptitude Test (DAT) score.

Followed by studio test & personal interview.

The University will also offer Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech), which will be a four-year, full-time residential program crafted with a design thinking approach that includes critical thinking, education and philosophy, mathematical world.

The program offers specializations in Mechanical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering and Civil Engineering.

The applicants will have to select their choice of specialization during application phase in the second year, while the foundation program remains the same for all disciplines.

Candidates fulfilling the below-mentioned eligibility criteria are eligible for admission to the Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) program:

10+2 (From any of the State Boards/ CBSE/ ICSE/ ISC/ IB/ NIOS or equivalent exam) with Physics, English, and Mathematics as compulsory subjects.

50% aggregate in all subjects.

50% aggregate in the subject group Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry / Vocational Subject.

Candidates appearing for the JEE (Main) conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education or Madhya Pradesh Common Entrance Exam (MPCEE) conducted in 2017.

The form is available on http://www.mitid-dat.edu.in/admission2017/register/index.php . All the interested candidates are required to pay Rs. 1000 as the application form fees, which is non-refundable.

Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech):

The application form for Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) is available on http://www.avantikauniversity.edu.in/admission-technology.php. All the interested candidates are required to pay Rs. 1000 as the application form fees, which is non-refundable.

Avantika University also provides full-time residential programs in:

Bachelors of Technology (B.Tech) with specializations in Mechanical, Electronics & Telecommunication, Computer Science, Civil.

Bachelor of Science (B. Sc) and Master of Science (M.Sc) with specializations in Economics, Finance, and Business.

About Avantika University:



Avantika is India's first Design centered university, driven by the spirit of Design Thinking that blends a unique academic model for Design, Technology, Architecture, Business and Economics disciplines. The university is poised to create a unique learning center that imparts transformative education to aspiring learners.

The value driven, project-based education framework is developed by a team of passionate Technology and engineering professionals and academicians.

Avantika is mentored by Dr. Sanjay Dhande, Former Director of IIT Kanpur, an eminent educationist, and a visionary institution builder.

Based in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, the objective is to nurture and cultivate young minds who will function as informed citizens.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has stipulated some important regulations for its affiliated schools including the Kendriya Vidyalayas. This in regard to the running of the school buses following some recent mishaps.

Why new guidelines for CBSE school buses?

According to CBSE officials, the circular has been issued after taking into account the order of the Supreme Court, Motor Vehicle Act, and directives of the state governments.

New rules for CBSE school buses

As per the circular issued to schools, each of the buses must have a lady attendant and if possible a parent to monitor the driver and staff in the bus. A Transport Manager will be held responsible for the safety of the bus.

The windows must be grilled along with wire mesh and the drivers must have only restricted communication with the students, the circular said. Also, school buses will have to be fitted with alarm bell and siren and the vehicles cannot have curtains or films on the windows.

"The school buses must be fitted with speed governors with maximum speed limit of 40 km/hr. Global Positioning System (GPS) and CCTV cameras must be installed compulsorily and also ensured that they are in working condition."

In order to aid students during an emergency, a mobile phone must also be available on the bus, the circular added. To keep in check about the functioning of these rules, a student feedback would be taken on the transport facility, especially about the driver and the conductor.

Over 18,000 CBSE-affiliated schools, including Kendriya Vidyalayas come under the purview of this rule that is mandated to safeguard the school children travelling.

Warning for CBSE school authorities

The management and the head of CBSE affiliated schools will be held responsible in case of any lapse in the laws and would be subject to appropriate action that also includes cancellation of the CBSE affiliation as per the provision, the circular warned.

CBSE Schools Work On to Go 100 Per Cent Digital in All School Payments
J. L. BELL is a Massachusetts writer who specializes in (among other things) the start of the American Revolution in and around Boston. He is particularly interested in the experiences of children in 1765-75. He has published scholarly papers and popular articles for both children and adults. He was consultant for an episode of History Detectives, and contributed to a display at Minute Man National Historic Park.
American International Group Inc.s headcount fell by 10,000 last year as Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock sold units and cut jobs.

The number of employees fell by 15 percent to 56,400 as of Dec. 31, New York-based AIG said Thursday in a regulatory filing. That compares with 116,000 at the end of 2008.

Hancock follows predecessors Robert Benmosche and Edward Liddy in shrinking the company that longtime CEO Maurice Hank Greenberg had built into the worlds largest insurer. The company sold some of its largest units from 2009 through 2012 to repay a U.S. bailout. While Hancock made some small acquisitions after becoming CEO in late 2014, activist investors led by Carl Icahn then pushed for more asset sales. Last year the CEO announced agreements to sell a mortgage guarantor, a broker-dealer network, a Lloyds of London insurer as well as assets in Chile, Japan and Argentina.

We expect to see the results from our improved underwriting platform, reduced expense base and the strong improvement in our business mix, Hancock said last week in a statement announcing a fourth-quarter loss of $3.04 billion that was driven by swelling claims costs.

AIG has also been moving jobs to lower-cost locations and cutting positions, including hundreds of posts in New York and the UK. He told staff in a town-hall meeting in late 2015 not to count on lifetime employment with the company, according to people familiar with his remarks.

The insurer said early last year that it would seek to cut $1.6 billion in costs by the end of 2017. Restructuring expenses, which include severance packages, were about $700 million last year, according to the filing.

Hancock also has been striking reinsurance deals to simplify the company. He announced an agreement in January to pay Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. about $10 billion to take on risks from policies that AIG initiated in prior years. The CEO reached a separate reinsurance contract with Swiss Re AG last year.

And on July 1, AIG entered a transaction with Hannover Re, according to the regulatory filing on Thursday. That deal freed up about $1 billion of capital, AIG said.

AIG shares have slipped about 2 percent this year, compared with the 5.6 percent climb in the S&P 500 Index.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Assignment of benefits (AOB) abuse has escalated over the last five years to the point where it is now a serious disruption to Floridas insurance market.

The abuse, which is especially rampant in southern Florida, stems from unscrupulous contractors and attorneys cashing in on homeowners dealing with a water loss, such as a burst pipe or roof leak. The bad actors, as they have been dubbed by the industry, use an AOB to acquire the homeowners insurance benefits, file inflated claims and then pursue lawsuits against insurers when those claims are disputed or denied.

Because of Floridas one-way attorney fee statute, insurers are left footing the bill for the inflated claim and the attorney fees.

We believe the [one-way attorney fee statute] provides an extraordinary incentive for people to get into a dispute with the insurance company and inflate the claim so the company has to pay attorney fees, said Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier at the Feb. 7 Florida Cabinet meeting.

The industry hopes this will be the year that the Florida Legislature addresses the problem.

AOB is such a hot topic in Florida right now that it dominated discussions on almost every panel and between attendees of the Florida Chamber of Commerces Florida Insurance Summit held Feb. 1-3 in Miami. A glance at the numbers from various Florida sources tells the story of why:

Frequency of water claims rose 46 percent, and severity increased 28 percent between 2010 and 2015 (OIR 2015 Data Call).

AOB property insurance claims totaled 28,000 in 2016, up from 843 in 2010 and 405 in 2006 (Florida CFO Jeff Atwater).

Floridas Citizens saw a 30 percent increase in new lawsuits filed against the insurer between January and November 2016 (Citizens).

50 percent of Citizens water-related claims resulted in litigation in 2016, up from 15 percent in 2011 (Citizens).

As of October 2016, Citizens had 9,306 litigated claims pending and continues to receive an average of approximately 850 new claims per month (average of approximately 980 per month from August to October).

In southern Florida, the average AOB claim costs more than $32,000, nearly triple the average of non-AOB claims (Florida Consumer Protection Coalition).

Non-cat water loss claims accompanied by an AOB are increasingly coming to insurance companies in the form of a lawsuit before the insurer has even seen the claim. Data from Citizens found that 76 percent of water loss claims in 2016 were submitted to the company in the form of a lawsuit, up from the 2.5 percent of litigated water claims in 2012.

Citizens CEO and Executive Director Barry Gilway said the average water damage claim is received by Citizens 50 days after the date of loss.

We are not getting these lawsuits from the insured, he said. In many of those cases we have never even seen the claim, weve never had an opportunity to adjust it or received a statement of lossIts just, Here is a lawsuit and a bill for $30,000.'

National homeowners carriers have also seen a significant rise in the abuse in Florida.

Assignment of benefits started out as a convenience for Florida residents, allowing them to sign over the benefits of their property insurance policy to a vendor to facilitate direct payment for repairs, said State Farm Florida Spokesperson Michal Brower. However, it has become a vehicle for fraud and claim build-up by some vendors escalating the scope and cost of remediation or repairs beyond actual damage to the home.

The effect that assignment of benefits abuse is having on the property/casualty insurance industry in Florida is extensive and if not addressed will ultimately be devastating to consumers. The abuse is not only fueling the need by insurers to seek rate increases to cover rising claims costs, its also likely to affect consumer choices in the future, as more insurers are forced to consider leaving the areas where the abuse is the heaviest, said Liz Reynolds, state affairs director, Southeast Region of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

Industry Response

As the situation continues to deteriorate, insurers say they can no longer afford to just watch the trend and are instead taking action to ensure that the increasing frequency and severity of claims wont deplete their surplus and ability to pay claims.

According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, nearly 73 percent of the rate filings received by insurance companies and approved by OIR were for a rate increase, largely because of AOB claims.

Insurers are also responding in ways other than raising rates, including pulling out of certain areas of the state, filing for policy wording changes and accepting fewer take-out offers from Citizens. The company has reached its lowest policyholder count in its history, but there are concerns those efforts will be reversed if the AOB problem continues.

Citizens Gilway has been one of the loudest voices in Florida on the AOB problem, first calling attention to the issue at Citizens OIR rate hearing in August 2015.

Gilway said as a nonprofit insurer, Citizens is in a unique position to bring attention to how the problem is really hurting the consumer and not just a way for insurance companies to raise rates so they can make more money.

I dont have any axe to grind here. My bottom line is I feel very, very sorry for the insureds. They are getting ripped off by signing one of these things. Most of the time when they sign them, they are under duress, Gilway said.

Florida insurance companies are just starting to quantify the AOB abuse and its impact on their bottom lines. The industry has seen increased water loss claims and litigation but hasnt necessarily been tracking the frequency of AOB with those claims. In OIRs 2015 Data Call, only four companies were able to provide consistent indicators of AOB for the analysis.

Because private companies have not put forth concrete data like Citizens has, some have questioned if the abuse is as great as the industry has claimed.

Belinda Miller, chief of staff for OIR, said regulators have closely examined if the problem is an abuse of the system or if insurance companies are somehow complicit in the increased litigation. To reach that determination, OIR evaluated consumer complaints over the last five years to see if they had increased at the same rate as lawsuits. Miller said that wasnt the case.

The argument that maybe its just the companies arent doing a very good job and arent paying when they should, we dont see any evidence of that, Miller said.

And as AOB costs insurers more money in claims, they can raise rates in response.

Insurance companies pass through these costs, said Miller. The insurance company can raise rates and keep paying. It doesnt necessarily mean they are going to make more money. They are going to pass these costs on to their policyholder.
Blog Archive November 2022 (14) October 2022 (65) September 2022 (62) August 2022 (64) July 2022 (66) June 2022 (61) May 2022 (64) April 2022 (63) March 2022 (62) February 2022 (56) January 2022 (62) December 2021 (65) November 2021 (60) October 2021 (64) September 2021 (62) August 2021 (62) July 2021 (66) June 2021 (62) May 2021 (64) April 2021 (61) March 2021 (64) February 2021 (57) January 2021 (62) December 2020 (62) November 2020 (62) October 2020 (65) September 2020 (60) August 2020 (62) July 2020 (65) June 2020 (61) May 2020 (62) April 2020 (61) March 2020 (63) February 2020 (59) January 2020 (67) December 2019 (65) November 2019 (61) October 2019 (65) September 2019 (66) August 2019 (67) July 2019 (65) June 2019 (65) May 2019 (64) April 2019 (62) March 2019 (63) February 2019 (60) January 2019 (64) December 2018 (64) November 2018 (61) October 2018 (75) September 2018 (68) August 2018 (63) July 2018 (70) June 2018 (63) May 2018 (67) April 2018 (68) March 2018 (66) February 2018 (57) January 2018 (63) December 2017 (64) November 2017 (61) October 2017 (67) September 2017 (64) August 2017 (64) July 2017 (64) June 2017 (66) May 2017 (64) April 2017 (73) March 2017 (65) February 2017 (58) January 2017 (63) December 2016 (66) November 2016 (69) October 2016 (79) September 2016 (67) August 2016 (65) July 2016 (71) June 2016 (64) May 2016 (65) April 2016 (80) March 2016 (69) February 2016 (61) January 2016 (63) December 2015 (64) November 2015 (64) October 2015 (65) September 2015 (64) August 2015 (62) July 2015 (64) June 2015 (63) May 2015 (63) April 2015 (61) March 2015 (64) February 2015 (56) January 2015 (62) December 2014 (63) November 2014 (60) October 2014 (65) September 2014 (61) August 2014 (64) July 2014 (63) June 2014 (62) May 2014 (64) April 2014 (61) March 2014 (63) February 2014 (59) January 2014 (64) December 2013 (66) November 2013 (60) October 2013 (63) September 2013 (63) August 2013 (63) July 2013 (65) June 2013 (62) May 2013 (64) April 2013 (61) March 2013 (63) February 2013 (57) January 2013 (63) December 2012 (64) November 2012 (60) October 2012 (62) September 2012 (62) August 2012 (68) July 2012 (63) June 2012 (62) May 2012 (63) April 2012 (61) March 2012 (63) February 2012 (60) January 2012 (63) December 2011 (67) November 2011 (63) October 2011 (67) September 2011 (75) August 2011 (65) July 2011 (66) June 2011 (62) May 2011 (63) April 2011 (65) March 2011 (94) February 2011 (66) January 2011 (66) December 2010 (64) November 2010 (70) October 2010 (69) September 2010 (65) August 2010 (67) July 2010 (68) June 2010 (63) May 2010 (64) April 2010 (68) March 2010 (66) February 2010 (60) January 2010 (63) December 2009 (70) November 2009 (66) October 2009 (66) September 2009 (68) August 2009 (70) July 2009 (66) June 2009 (74) May 2009 (68) April 2009 (70) March 2009 (74) February 2009 (70) January 2009 (79) December 2008 (74) November 2008 (66) October 2008 (72) September 2008 (67) August 2008 (66) July 2008 (75) June 2008 (69) May 2008 (85) April 2008 (83) March 2008 (80) February 2008 (66) January 2008 (76) December 2007 (71) November 2007 (75) October 2007 (69) September 2007 (74) August 2007 (70) July 2007 (79) June 2007 (73) May 2007 (90) April 2007 (87) March 2007 (99) February 2007 (81) January 2007 (104) December 2006 (74) November 2006 (81) October 2006 (103) September 2006 (105) August 2006 (70) July 2006 (80) June 2006 (88) May 2006 (122) April 2006 (91) March 2006 (107) February 2006 (91) January 2006 (91) December 2005 (54) November 2005 (65) October 2005 (58) September 2005 (29)
As we inch closer to the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, automakers are starting to amp our excitement with teaser images, the latest one coming from Volvo.



Its the new generation of the XC60 mid-size SUV that should arrive as a 2018MY in North America later this year.

From what we see in this picture, the XC60s face incorporates key elements of Volvos contemporary design language, as seen in the 90 series, with a small twist, as the so-called Thor Hammer headlamps extend to the enlarged rectangular grille  a bit like on the current BMW 3-Series range.

Volvo officials have previously revealed that the next XC60 will herald the next evolution of the firms interior design and will include a tweaked version of the Sensus Connected Touch infotainment system sourced from the 90 series.

Behind the fancier dressing, the new XC60 will be the fourth Volvo model to be spun from the brands Scalable Premium Architecture (SPA), following the XC90 crossover, S90 saloon and V90 wagon. Power will come from 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, with hybrid applications and possibly even a pure electric model to follow later on. Volvos upcoming three-cylinder units could make it in some markets down the road as well.

A tip of the hat to John!

Update: Volvo dropped a few more teasers on its Dutch website, while also confirming that it is indeed the new XC60

Photo Gallery
Toyota is teaming up with fuel giant Shell to build seven new hydrogen fueling stations on the streets of California.



The two companies will contribute $11.4 million on the project while the California Energy Commission may provide an additional $16.4 million in grants as part of a bid to have 100 retail stations in the state by 2024.

On the surface, it seems rather bizarre for a massive oil company like Shell to have any interest in alternatively-fueled vehicles. However, the company is aware that oil wont last forever and is looking towards a future where its reliance on this finite resource will have to be reduced. Rather than heading down the electric vehicle route, it is backing hydrogen and currently operates six hydrogen stations, four in Germany and two in LA.

Shell is also one of 13 companies to have formed a global hydrogen council last month where $10.7 billion will be invested into hydrogen products in the next five years.

According to Katsuhiko Hirose, a Toyota project general manager, Shells decision to back hydrogen is also a way for the company to fire back at Elon Musk, an outspoken critic of the oil industry.

Speaking to Automotive News, Hirose said The enemy of the enemy is a friend. [Musk] threatens the oil companies, and the oil companies respond the other way, supporting hydrogen.

PHOTO GALLERY
Despite being nothing more than a re-badged HSV, the Vauxhall Maloo LSA is the fastest pickup truck currently for sale in the UK and is capable of some rather insane things.



For starters, it is fitted with a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine delivering 528 hp and 494 lb-ft (671 Nm) of neck-snapping torque. Sure, thats more than you could ever need to haul around your tools with but it also allows the Maloo to be quite potent on a racetrack.

With this in mind, Evo Magazine recently had former Fifth Gear host Tiff Needell take a bright red Maloo to Silverstone to discover just what this Australian brute is capable of.

As you may expect for a car with so little weight over its rear tyres, it can be especially tail-happy meaning it isnt all that fast through the corners. The straight are where it really shines. In fact, the Vauxhall can teach a Radical race car a thing or two in a straight line.

VIDEO
The entire cast of characters in Zootopia is comprised of anthropomorphized animals, a device that generally works well in animated films, particularly for the Walt Disney Company. The challenge here, however, is that the creators of this movie want to instruct us about the perils of racism in contemporary society, so the animal characters are metaphoric in addition to being anthropomorphized  and these two devices make awkward bedmates. To work anthropomorphically, they must act like humans; to work metaphorically, the animals must be depicted as they really are in nature.

The Big Idea in the story is that predatory characters have been able to rise above their natural predatory behavior in order to live in peaceful harmony with their natural prey. Anthropomorphically, this works well; metaphorically, it is a heavy lift because humans have the will to adapt this way, but lower animal species do not. In order to fully appreciate what the creative team is attempting to do, the audience must perform aesthetic triple-axels when it comes to the willing suspension of disbelief. (I wrote on this topic six years ago here.)

For starters, lets look at the most popular sequence in Zootopia, the one mentioned most often by reviewers. The scene features sloth characters in the Department of Motor Vehicles, moving at 33 13 rpm in a 78 rpm world. It works like gangbusters because the metaphor holds up. Sloths are the worlds slowest moving animals and, as we all know too well, human DMV employees seem also to be the slowest moving animals on earth.

Acting-wise, Judy Hopps, the hero rabbit of the story, is trying to run a license plate number, and she is in a hurry. Her objective is to learn who owns the car, and her action is to ask the DMV clerk to check it for her. She has conflict with her situation because the clerk is a sloth.

As acting teacher Constantine Stanislavsky pointed out, every character has a rhythm, and Judys rhythm is quick because she is a rabbit. That works metaphorically. The sloths have the rhythm of a grandfather clock by contrast, which also works metaphorically.

The fox Nick Wilde has his own objective: to get Judy to give him the carrot-recorder tape recording of his admission of income tax evasion. To achieve his objective, he is purposely guiding Judy into frustrating and embarrassing situations, hoping she will give up her pursuit.

Nick has two kinds of conflict: (1) conflict with another character  Judy  and also (2) conflict with the situation because Judy is so resilient. This works well metaphorically because foxes are famously cunning animals. Unfortunately for Nick, however, no matter how hard he tries to frustrate and discourage her, Judy still prevails with her bunny rabbit optimism. The DMV clerk, meanwhile, does not have any conflict at all, except that the customers are always asking him to work faster. He is running the license plate at his natural sloth speed.

The sequence works so well because it reflects an episodic truth of our human daily life: If you must do business with the DMV, plan on taking a number and being there for a long time.

Now, lets look at a sequence that fails both metaphorically and in performance. As the film opens, Judystill a young bunnyis performing in a school play for an audience of adoring parents. We learn through her performance that she aspires to be a police officer when she grows up. So far, so good.

Her parents, Bonnie and Stu Hopps, want to discourage that aspiration because rabbits have never been police officers and because being a police officer is a potentially dangerous profession. And so, after the school play ends, Bonnie and Stu give parental advice to their daughter while the three of them stroll through the fairgrounds of the Carrot Days Festival.

The performance problem is that the dialogue does not fit the characters attitude. Here is a transcript of the dialogue. Read it over, and I will walk you through the acting challenge it presents.

STU: Judy, did you ever wonder how your mom and me got to be so darned happy? JUDY: Yep! STU: Well, we gave up on our dreams, and we settled. Right, Bonnie? BONNIE: Oh, yes. Stu. We settled  STU: Thats the beauty of complacency. If you dont try anything new, youll never fail. JUDY: I like trying, actually. BONNIE: What your father means, hon, is that it is going to be difficult  impossible, even  for you to become a police officer. STU: Right. Theres never been a bunny cop BONNIE: No STU: Bunnies dont do this BONNIE: Never STU: Never JUDY: Oh. Then I guess Ill have to be the first one! Because I am going to make the world a better place!

Acting is behaving believably in pretend circumstances, for a theatrical purpose. When Shakespeare, in Hamlet (act 3, scene 2) advised that the actor should hold the mirror up to nature, that is what he was talking about.

The audience members should recognize the behavior of the on-stage characters as credible. It doesnt have to be logical, but it should be credible in terms of the pretend circumstances of the play itself. At the most basic level, the actors job is to justify a characters actions and words, as presented in the script. The actor does not have the option of re-writing the script.

In Hollywoods animated feature films  and I presume this is the case with Zootopia  the animator must physically justify on screen a characters scripted actions and pre-recorded dialogue. The animator is locked into the interpretation of a sequence by whatever was produced during dialogue recording.

The challenge in this particular sequence is that Stus scripted lines are banal, and his delivery of them is not credible. He is explicitly advocating that his daughter give up her dreams and live a life of complacency. Does this strike you as responsible and intelligent parenting, even for an anthropomorphized rabbit?

If this was a live-action sequence, what do you think Robert Downey, Jr. would do with the dialogue? The intention of the lines is clear. Stu is counseling his daughter against aspiring to excitement and good deeds in life. Robert Downey  or any other actor worth his salt  would think that surely Stu cant mean that literally!

If Mr. Downey was delivering the lines, he would likely attempt a tongue-in-cheek interpretation, telegraphing to Judy and Bonnie that he is exaggerating a point humorously in order to illustrate a larger and more urgent life-lesson about being safe, happy and prosperous. But that is not the way the sequence was interpreted in the recording session for Zootopia.

In the final track, Stu sounds utterly sincere and humorless, adopting the kind of attitude he might choose if instructing Judy to be sure and stop for red lights or to brush her teeth before bed.

In other words, the directors opted for a bland, generic, upbeat line reading. Why? You will have to ask them, but I am guessing that bland, generic and upbeat is simply the default tone in a typical Disney movie featuring anthropomorphic animals.

It is a perplexing interpretation because, in all other respects, Stu seems to be an intelligent and normal man/rabbit. But the line reading is what it is. If the animator detected the falsity of the reading, she would be unable to do anything about it because she must animate what she is given. Simply put, the sequence utterly defies artistic excellence, and it is no fault of the animators. It makes one wonder where the story supervisor was during all of this. The scene could have been fixed at the writing stage; and if it managed to reach the recording studio, it really should have been fixed there. Acting-wise, the sequence needs more conflict-obstacle.

Lets fast-forward to the sequence in which Police Chief Bogo asks Judy to hand over her badge, to resign from the Zootopia Police Department. (56:21  57:39 on the DVD, if you want to look it up.) I like this sequence a lot because there is complex acting in it, extremely well done. Also, anthropomorphizing and metaphor are working in sync. The fox is sly; the rabbit is sensitive, and the water buffalo is dominant.

The sequence is rich with unspoken subtext and, after all, acting has very little to do with words. Bogos objective is to force Judy off the police force, and his action in pursuit of that objective is to ask her to hand over her badge. Until this moment, Judys primary objective has been to crack the missing-mammals case, but the rule of acting is that you pursue an objective until you either achieve it  or another objective takes its place.

When Bogo asks for her badge, Judys objective changes to keeping her job. This sequence is satisfying in another aspect because it is a negotiation. All theatrically valid scenes contain negotiations, but the stakes are not always as high as they are here. Literally, Judys career is on the negotiating table.

She is on the verge of admitting defeat when Nick is triggered into a transformational moment. Until now, his primary objective has been to un-tangle himself from Judy altogether, so he can return to his life of petty crime. However, during the time he has been with her while searching for Emmitt Otterton, Nicks values have evolved.

When he realizes that Judy is on the verge of resigning from the police force, Nicks objective abruptly changes: Save her job! He cleverly achieves that objective. He has conflict with the situation. Each of the three characters has a transition in this scene, and all of the changes are colored by status transactions. Bogo has high status because of his rank. But Nick boldly holds the stage equally with Bogo, just in time to save Judys job. This is an excellent scene, well written and powerfully performed. The metaphor holds.

As entertaining and satisfying as Zootopia may be on a scene-by-scene basis, the movie ultimately fails because it insists on having it both ways simultaneously  anthropomorphic and metaphoric.

In order to sell the message that humans can  and arguably should  choose peaceful cohabitation over animal savagery, the cast of anthropomorphized animals must necessarily abandon their animal nature, thereby destroying the metaphor. The best thing to be said about the movie is at least Disney tried to do something creatively relevant to the challenges we are facing in todays real world. And for that  I salute the flag.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

The Penticton RCMP arrested a man for drug possession, after officers responded to a sighting of a stolen vehicle on Jermyn Avenue last week.

According to Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth, officers found the occupied vehicle at the scene at about 6 p.m., Feb. 16, along with items including a large screen TV from an earlier break and enter.

A 36-year-old man was arrested was found in possession of what is suspected to be heroin. Two other women were in the vehicle but were released without charge.

He faces charges of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, possession of stolen property and possession of a prohibited weapon.
A Kelowna man and his German girlfriend have seen a dream vacation turn into a nightmare.

Alexander Martin and Jutta Oberbillig flew to Mexico a few weeks ago, but almost ended up on the streets of Cancun when Jutta was denied access home.

"On Sunday the 19th, me and my girlfriend  who is a permanent resident in Canada  went to leave (from) the airport at Cancun, but when we got to the WestJet counter, the employees informed us that Jutta could not leave the country due to not having a permanent resident card," Martin said Tuesday from Mexico.

Oberbillig did have her passport and a separate piece of ID, which allowed her to leave Canada and fly to Mexico, but without the permanent resident card, she was told she couldn't return.

"They stranded us here ... I wasn't going to leave her down here by herself. We decided to mail her PR card here, but that's been a nightmare in itself," said Martin.

The couple reached out to the Canadian and German consulates, which said they couldn't help them. The only way they would be able to go home is to get the card or go all the way to Mexico City, to the German consulate, and have a temporary card issued.

Martin said German consulate staff didn't understand why Jutta was not allowed to fly to Canada.

"We found out from the German consulate that Jutta should have been allowed into the country regardless of having the PR," he claimed.

Martin and Oberbillig took to social media to seek help because they were quickly running out of money trying to keep a place to sleep.

"We think we are running out of money, and we have no way of checking our bank accounts because both our phone plans are done and everyone speaks Spanish, so we have no way of accessing anything," said Martin.

The couple has had to reschedule their flights four times and have already lost several weeks of wages and thousands of dollars to make sure they don't end up stuck in the streets, waiting to fly home.

The card is expected to be delivered Friday, and then they will be able to fly home  if all goes as planned.
Photo: CTV

Patients and visitors to a new hospital in Campbell River may not have to pay for parking.

City council voted unanimously to create a new zoning amendment that would prohibit charging for parking at the hospital, scheduled to open later this year.

Whether youre in the hospital as a patient, or whether youre visiting or whether youre there for day treatments, the last thing you have on your mind is Have I paid my fee? Coun. Larry Samson said in an interview with CTV.

Island Health will operate the hospital, and it says pay parking was anticipated.

Island Health has always been clear that pay parking would be in place at the new Campbell River and Comox Valley hospitals when they open in late 2017, authorities told CTV.

In Kelowna, patients and visitors are required to pay $1.50 an hour or $6 a day to park at Kelowna General Hospital.
Business / Companies

by Techunzipped

Ecobank is challenging young African of entrepreneurs to find lasting solutions to Africa's banking problems. Fintech innovators across Africa have been asked to submit entries in one or more of key areas of interest for chance to win US$500,000 in the Ecobank Fintech Challenge, #sthash .46FprECZ.ZpXjX8ey.dpbs">Techunzipped reported.Ecobank tossed the Challenge with a view to partnering with young developers and innovators across Africa, to help transform finance on the continent through technology and innovation.The bank said the Challenge is designed "to inspire, support and partner African startups and developers with the aim to facilitate the development of innovative fintech and banking related solutions."The Ecobank Fintech Challenge focus on 10 key areas which are,1. predictive analysis using big data2. agency banking3. secured client authentication4. apps to work without internet connectivity5. KYC technology6. customer analytics7. credit scoring8. micro loan system9. user experience optimizing solutions using machine learning and AI10. blockchain technology or solutions within banking.Twenty finalists of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge will be invited to an award ceremony and an innovation fair at the global headquarters of Ecobank in Lome, Togo. The top three start- ups at the fair will win cash prizes worth US$10,000, US$7,000, and US$5,000 respectively.The Challenge is open to both teams and individuals. Teams can submit solutions for more than one challenge but are limited to only one entry per challenge. However, remember that Ecobank will only cover the travel and accommodation costs for up to two participants from each team if you are among the top 20 innovators.Winning solutions will be awarded US$500,000 in funding, as well as expert mentoring, and access to the Ecobank ecosystem.More information on the Ecobank Fintech competition, benefits and how to apply can be found on the competition's website here , until April 14.
I, as do so many others, do a lot of online shopping these days. I try and buy most things from within Canada, but from time to time it's unavoidable ordering something from the USA, Europe or China. When these packages arrive in Canada, we usually owe taxes and duties on them. Nine times out of ten the charges are waived but the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and your shopping arrives at your door promptly. This is if the seller ships your item(s) via a state postal service (USPS, Royal Mail, etc). However, when items are shipped via a private courier (UPS, FedEx, DHL), there are COD charges for taxes, and fees for the courier clearing the package through customs. The charges usually range from 25-65% of the total item value, which is absurd. I used to blindly pay these fees because I didn't know that I didn't have to. It wasn't until a friendly UPS driver told me (when I was stuck with a $97 brokerage fee for a $285 item) that we all have the right to self-clear customs.

There are a couple ways to do this, whether before or after the item has arrived. It's easiest to do it right after the package has shipped and you have gotten a tracking number.

- Print out your invoice/paypal receipt

- Call the courier (UPS, etc.), give them the tracking number, and tell them that you want to clear your items by yourself at your local CBSA office. They should then instruct you on what you need to do.

- Note, if the declared value is more than $1,600, then you can only self-clear at the port of entry to Canada. For anything less, however, the paperwork can be done at any CBSA office. The office here in Kelowna is at the Airport.

If the courier shows up at your door with a bill, you do not have to pay it.

- Simply refuse delivery, and inform the driver that you intend to self-clear customs directly with the CBSA.

- Take note of the unique shipment identifier number (tracking number) on the package, as the shipment will then be returned to the courier's local warehouse or depot.

- The courier must provide you with a commercial invoice, or an Import Duty and Tax Invoice.

- Take your invoice and the tracking number to the CBSA office and declare your goods, then take the official customs receipt to the courier's depot and collect your package.

I realize for small value shipments this may be too much hassle for some people. But the fact that big couriers are charging people for services that they did not consent to is illegal. Most people just roll over and take the charges, but for those that do a lot of international shopping, the brokerage fees can be a real drain on the wallet. Brokerage services by couriers should be a service that is opt-in, not opt-out.

Andrew Jorgensen
Photo: Contributed

A crash at K.L.O. Road and Benvoulin Road Thursday afternoon in Kelowna involved a pregnant woman.

It appeared a Honda Civic T-boned a Suzuki Aerio just before 3 p.m. in the intersection.

The pregnant woman was the sole occupant of her car, but it's unclear which vehicle she was in, or if she was injured.

The Kelowna Fire Department, RCMP and BC Ambulance paramedics attended the scene.
Photo: Contributed

Castanet readers appear to buck the national trend when it comes to attitudes about accepting refugees.

In a poll that garnered 11,490 votes, we asked our readers: Do you support a Donald Trump-style ban on Syrian refugees?

In the 24 hours the poll was live, 8,109 respondents voted Yes.

That more than doubles the 3,381 who voted no.

And it's in stark contrast to a national poll by Angus Reid that found just one in four Canadians would support a Trump-style ban on Syrian refugees coming to Canada.

"As the American travel ban on refugees, visitors and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries creates serious foreign policy differences between Canada and the U.S., border communities in Manitoba and Quebec are bearing witness to the fallout, watching asylum seekers trudging through the snow to cross the border," the pollster said.

"Against this backdrop, the latest survey from the Angus Reid Institute finds public opinion in this country is onside with its governments approach and response on domestic refugee policy, but is showing signs Ottawa may be testing the limits of how many migrants Canadians are willing to accept."

To take our latest poll, click here.
Photo: CTV

UPDATE: 4:20 p.m.

Police say they responded to the home on Burnaby's 18th Avenue after receiving a 911 call from a woman in need of medical attention. The 45-year-old woman was dead when they arrived.

A 47-year-old man was arrested at the scene a short time after police arrived.

Police have asked anyone with information on the death to call the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team at 1-877-551-4448.

- With files from CTV Vancouver

ORIGINAL: 3:30 p.m.

One man is in custody as Burnaby RCMP investigate a murder.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is at a home behind police tape on the 7900 block of 18th Avenue.

IHIT tweeted at 2:25 p.m. that the murder was not a random act.

RCMP have not said much about their investigation, but the home has been teeming with officers since about 2 p.m.

IHIT says more information on the investigation will be released Friday.
Photo: Stephanie Reesor

Former American President Bill Clinton showed up in Whistler this week.

The former politician  and almost-First Gentleman  was in town for a speaking event with self-help author Tony Robbins at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

CTV Vancouver reports there are several other high-profile speakers at the event as well.

Both Bill and Hillary Clinton have had dozens of speaking engagements in Canada since Bill left office in 2000.

The Globe and Mail reported Bill made $225,000 for speaking in Toronto in June 2014, and Hillary was paid $150,000 for speaking in Whistler in January 2015.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Contributed

The Opposition New Democrats say a shortage of courthouse sheriffs has resulted in two accused drug dealers being freed without facing justice.

NDP public safety critic Mike Farnworth says it is outrageous that two men accused of cocaine and heroin trafficking did not face trial because there weren't enough sheriffs available to protect and monitor the courtrooms.

Farnworth says the accused heroin dealer was smiling when the Victoria judge told him he was free to leave the court.

Attorney General Suzanne Anton says there has been a shortage of sheriffs at the Victoria courthouse due to sickness and staffing issues, but says the government has increased her budget by $2.6 million and 48 new sheriffs are in training classes.

Farnworth says the release of accused drug dealers is especially difficult to accept when British Columbia is wracked by an illicit drug overdose crisis that killed 922 people last year.

Court spokesman Bruce Cohen says the chief justice of the B.C. Supreme Court plans to look into the issue.
More snow to come Thompson-Okanagan - 7:36 am
Photo: File photo

Premier Christy Clark is in the Okanagan this week, speaking to the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce about the recently released budget Friday afternoon.

Clark is expected to highlight some of the aspects of the budget that will benefit the Okanagan.

Part of the budget includes $13.7 billion in infrastructure spending over the next three years. Of that funding, 32.8 per cent, or roughly $4.5 billion, will go towards transportation, part of which will fund improvements to Okanagan Highways.

Of that infrastructure spending, $2.7 billion will fund healthcare projects, including the final phases of Kelowna's Interior Heart and Surgical Centre.

Additionally, the new budget commits $6 million over the next three years to the province's buy local program, an initiative several Okanagan companies, including BC Tree Fruits Cider, benefit from.

Clark's presentation to the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce takes place at the Delta Grand Hotel at 12:30 p.m.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Prague's historic carousel that gave joy to generations for more than a century is set to return to its former glory.

Placed at the Letna Park in 1894, two years after it was built, it would be hard to find a local who had not sat in the saddle on one of its iconic model horses covered with real horse hides.

Originally the merry-go-round, housed within a purpose-built building, was rotated by manpower, with an electric engine replacing that in the 1930s.

The days of the neo-Renaissance structure considered the oldest functioning of its kind in Europe seemed to be numbered a decade ago due to its poor condition.

But the National Technical Museum that acquired it in 2004 from its private owners has finally secured enough money, partly thanks to public donations, to finance a major renovation project, which kicked off this week.

Museum director Karel Ksandr expects the carousel to return its former beauty and function next year. Ksandr said it will open only on weekends and holidays to ensure it will be fully functional for another century.
Photo: Getty Images

A politician in northern Sweden wants to list sex as an officially approved activity for civil servants during their daily paid lunchbreak.

Per-Erik Muskos of the city council of Overtornea on the Arctic Circle says he made "a serious and formal" proposal Monday to add sex to the list of acceptable activities, which also include going to the gym or getting a massage, as well as eating.

He said Friday that benefits could include improving employee morale and increasing the population of the town of about 4,500.

Muskos said the municipality's 550 employees are now assessing his proposal before it is discussed in the city council in a few months.

The 42-year-old lawmaker said negative reactions to his proposal came chiefly from "some elderly employees who find it embarrassing to talk about what happens in the bedroom."
The latest development comes against the background of current demonstrations against illegal foreigners who locals accuse of taking their jobs as well the wave of xenophobic violence which left a trail of destruction of property and loss of lives in 2015.

Documents seen this week by GMA suggest that starting Monday 27 February, children of illegal immigrants could well be taken into police custody as soon as they report for school after officials from the department visited some schools to issue instructions to school authorities.

One such visit was reported last week at Eastleigh Primary School in Edenvale in the commercial hub of Johannesburg where Home Affairs officials left instructions for the school authorities to begin an exercise to verify the documents of learners with foreign parentage.

Accordingly, the school principal referred to as Ms B.T Cooke-Tonnesen in a document seen by GMA, addressed a letter "To All Foreign Parents" informing them of the 17 February 2017 visit to the school by Home Affairs officials who left instructions requiring them to furnish the latest learner and parents documents to the school authorities.

"Every parent needs to bring in the originals to be verified as we have some fraudulent documents," reads part of the letter, adding, "Parents have until Friday 24th February to bring them in, if not your child/children will not be allowed on government school property as from Monday 27 February 2017".

"If any foreign child arrives here on Monday we will phone the police to come and collect your child and you can collect your child at the Police Station," the letter further states.

The letter was signed by Ms B.T Cooke-Tonnesen (Principal), M S Ford (Admissions) and S J White (Finance) states that "These are direct instructions from the Department of Home Affairs".

Efforts to obtain comment from the school or from the Department of Home Affairs had not yielded results at the time of writing.
Photo: The Canadian Press

There were promises of co-operation, of closer economic ties, and frequent odes to the enduring partnership between the U.S. and its southern neighbour. But there were no public mentions of that massive border wall or President Donald Trump's plan to deport non-Mexicans to Mexico as top U.S. officials visited the Mexican capital.

Instead, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson played it safe, acknowledging generally that the U.S. and Mexico are in a period of disagreement without putting any specific dispute under the microscope. It fell to their hosts, and especially Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray, to thrust those issues into the spotlight.

"It is an evident fact that Mexicans feel concern and irritation over what are perceived as policies that may hurt Mexicans and the national interest of Mexicans here and abroad," Videgaray said Thursday after meeting with Kelly and Tillerson.

The Americans focused instead on putting to rest some of the fears reverberating across Latin America  such as the notion that the U.S. military might be enlisted to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally en masse. Not so, said Kelly. He said there would be "no mass deportations" and no U.S. military role.

"In a relationship filled with vibrant colours, two strong sovereign countries from time to time will have differences," added Tillerson. "We listened closely and carefully to each other as we respectfully and patiently raised our respective concerns."

Yet those assurances rang hollow for many Mexicans, including those who said they are being deported for things like traffic tickets.

"They were waiting for me outside," said Lucio Cervantes Campos, who was detained in Portland, Oregon, as he came out of court after paying a ticket. Cervantes Campos was one of about five dozen deported Mexican migrants who arrived on a flight Thursday from the United States.

To be sure, millions of people were deported under President Barack Obama, under the same laws Trump now is relying on. But Trump's planned crackdown has created significant concerns for countries like Mexico that appeared no closer to being resolved as Tillerson and Kelly returned to Washington.

Only hours before Kelly vowed "no use of military forces," Trump suggested the opposite.

"It's a military operation," Trump said at the White House. He boasted that the U.S. was "getting really bad dudes out of this country at a rate nobody has ever seen before."
Photo: The Canadian Press

The poison used to kill the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader at a crowded air terminal in Malaysia last week was the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent, police said Friday.

The revelation that VX nerve agent, deadly even in minute amounts, was used in the Feb. 13 attack boosted speculation that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam, the outcast older sibling of North Korea's ruler.

The case also raised questions about public safety, although there was no sign that any bystanders had fallen ill. Police said one of the alleged attackers had been vomiting in the hours after the attack, but there were no reports that anyone else had been sickened.

Police had gone more than a week saying the airport was safe, even though it had not been decontaminated after a mysterious and deadly poisoning. After the announcement that VX was to blame, The Associated Press asked Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar in a text message whether decontamination would take place. He responded, "We are doing it now."

He later said police were arranging for the atomic energy agency to decontaminate the airport and "sweep all locations which we knew that the suspects went to."

Asked if people should avoid the airport because of fears of contamination, Khalid said, "No. No. No. But I don't know. I am not the expert."
Photo: The Canadian Press

President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of the news media Friday, taking direct aim this time at the use of anonymous sources. Reporters "shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name," he declared, just hours after members of his own staff held a press briefing and refused to allow their names to be used.

"A source says that Donald Trump is a horrible, horrible human being, let them say it to my face," Trump told a large crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "Let there be no more sources."

Members of Trump's White House team regularly demand anonymity when talking to reporters.

Trump said he wasn't against all media, just "the fake news media or press."

"I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources," he said. "They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name."

"The fake news doesn't tell the truth," Trump insisted. "It doesn't represent the people. It will never represent the people and we're going to do something about it."

It was a triumphal return to CPAC for Trump, who was warmly welcomed by a crowd that loves pushback against the mainstream media.

After his broadside on the press, Trump turned to a recitation of his agenda, promising bold action on health care, trade, energy policy and more.

"One by one, we're checking off the promises we made to the American people," he said, telling the group "I will not disappoint you."
If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,...
News / Africa

by Ray Mwareya and Tichaona Jongwe

He calls himself Sekuru Ziso - in Shona, "the grandfather who sees". He is 55, a fortune teller and a traditional doctor, GroundUP reported.He has come from Chipinge, a district in south-east Zimbabwe, known for its herbalists."I came to South Africa first in June 2016. I was told business is brisk among illegal' gold miners."He says he has already been deported once, after rival South African sangomas told police he was an undocumented immigrant.His customers are scores of young Zimbabwean men who risk life and limb in the disused gold mines on Gauteng's East Rand, in Barberton in Mpumalanga, and Welkom in the Free State. It is dangerous work. It is also governed by luck; the chance of finding gold.It is not surprising then that some turn to men such as Ziso. They believe he speaks to their ancestors to guarantee their safety. He burns incense, sprays "magic water", and shakes dried rabbit bones. These tools of his trade are called "hakata", meaning "drop message".Chosen by ancestorsZiso says he has been telling fortunes since he was 16."I didn't attend a sangoma school like you do here in South Africa. I'm chosen by ancestors. I can't read or write fancy words, but I can chat to your ancestors, and thus predict tomorrow."When GroundUp visits him, he is making a concoction for his clients who are planning to slip into a mine in Randfontein, on Gauteng's West Rand."This operation needs stronger, fresh incense to guard the boys' spirits, because I see in my dreams this mine is policed by uniformed men with black guns," says Ziso.He has different rates for various "levels" of protection. "Level one. I pray to protect young men from maphogo mine guards in less rich mines." (The maphogo are security guards on patrol in the gold mines on the East Rand.)This level costs R300."Level 2. I pray to prevent rock falls from hurting the boys' at rich mines like Welkom. This service, I charge R2 000."He tells the miners never to go into these mines without his prayer beads."I need to watch your ancestors while you are working underground.""Level 3 prayer is my highest. I work the spirits of high-value gold buyers and miners who try to enter rich legal mines like the ones in Carletonville."For this, he charges R5 000 once a year.Playing on fearsZiso concedes he plays on the fears that diggers have about entering old, crumbling mines and calms their nerves with prayers.A 25-year-old miner who operates in Barberton refuses to consult or pay for Ziso's services."I'm a Christian. His rituals are helpless gimmicks. He crooks people out of their money, I think. I don't need his salts under my feet."Ziso has a service for the gold buyers too he explains."I plant my dry chicken bones in their homes so that when they are smelting the gold ore, police or sophisticated robbers can never visit them."A gold buyer who operates illegally in Bekkersdal says: "Sekuru Ziso is my man. When you want a prayer to prevent mine police from fishing out my boys working underground."He helps Ziso's prayers come true by paying off corrupt mine supervisors. He claims the bribes cost up to R30 000 a year. They help him smuggle up to five diggers at a time into the tunnels of mines still in operation. The miners enter wearing helmets, overalls, and torches to look like employees.After working underground for up to three months, playing hide-and-seek with the mine guards, each of them repays the gold buyer the R30 000 bribe, plus a commission of about R15 000. It is lucrative. Continued arrests, rock falls, and deaths don't stop the trade."I bought Ziso a maize grinding-mill back home in Zimbabwe when his prayers helped my illegal miners win a court case and get released from jail," claims the gold buyer. He pays Ziso R5 000 to "clean his boys' spirits".'We believe him'Edgar, a 27-year-old immigrant from Zimbabwe, who successfully slipped into a mine in Carletonville and made enough money to buy a lorry, says Ziso's rituals work for him."Last time, we went down Carletonville mine, he bathed us in a bucket of paraffin, undressed for two hours. He said the paraffin's strong smell would wash away bad spirits and mine rock falls. We believe him. That is why we pay.""Whenever your relative or friend, an illegal miner is arrested  just bring to me a piece of his clothing and R1 800," Ziso says."I spray my incense water on his clothing and pray with the garment in the mountains for a day," he says, pointing to a low hill on the N3 to Durban, just outside Alberton, Gauteng.Ziso initially set up a herbal street stall at Duduza Mall in KwaThema, on the East Rand. He was unable to protect himself from arrest as an undocumented immigrant and was deported to Zimbabwe in January, after spending three weeks at Lindela Detention Centre in Krugersdorp."In the evening, I was back across the border, in South Africa."Two gold buyers in Springs paid R3 000 for a smuggler to ferry him back.Ziso says he makes a good profit and is saving money to buy cattle when he returns to Zimbabwe at the end of 2017.He came to South Africa because he struggled to compete with churches."Pentecostal churches, miracle churches," he sighs and shakes his head."They are drawing too many people to mega-money churches, virtually killing sangomas and herbalist businesses in Zimbabwe."
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

AN alleged sperm harvest exercise has seen a Murewa couple indulging in sex nearly ten times a day.The woman involved, Memory Tete, 40, of Masango village under chief Mangwende, was allegedly bedding five men including her 19-year-old lover Trymore Chibwe.Memory on Monday ended up in the hands of police amid revelations that she had induced abortion in the subsistence of her relationship with Trymore in 2015."It started well in my life as Memory took me to our home when I was in grade six. I was going to school at the same time herding cattle."We started indulging in sex in 2012 and would do 10 rounds per day."She would stock the sperms and then go to South Africa to sell them."All hell broke loose when my father caught us red handed in 2014 and he lodged a complaint with the police but they never took it serious because she is so influential in the society."My father was passing by and he heard the explicit sounds. He forced his way into the house and caught us pants down."After finishing grade seven she decided to pay me US$30 for the services which I was doing at her home."I went to my uncle's place to stay there and she followed me pleading with me to stay with her since I had witnessed her dumping a foetus at her homestead," he said.He added:"The problem started when Memory dated Gideon Mafana who threatened and chased me away."I kept on demanding my money but Gideon continued to threaten me and now I am failing to sexually satisfy my wife whom I married recently.Memory confirmed cheating with several men including Trymore saying she was sex starved that her husband Chamunorwa Hofisi, 36, forgave her since he is based in South Africa."My husband is struggling in South Africa selling brooms that the little he send here cannot sustain us."We have four children and the eldest son is also in South Africa."On allegations that I have been harvesting sperms, Trymore is only after finding ways to tarnish my image after he learnt that I was dating another man."Trymore is still pestering me for sex and I am denying him because he would visit me any time even during the day that he clashed with one of my lovers haaachadi kundisiya."I had protected sex with Trymore since 2014 not 2012 as what he wanted the village court to believe and at rare occasions we would engage in unprotected sex."My visit to South Africa was not to sell sperms as alleged by Trymore but I was visiting my husband."My husband learnt about my affair with Trymore from the villagers but he forgave me since he had taken time away and I was sex starved."After visiting South Africa, I would buy clothes for my children and Trymore as well since he was under my custody; we would sleep as husband and wife."He clashed with Gideon Mafana who is 29 years old but the truth is that Gideon is helping me herding cattle. Akagadzira danga remombe risina madhaka uye anondibatsira zvizhinji pamba saka achimufungira," she said.Memory also confirmed dumping a foetus secretly at her homestead in the presence of Trymore and one Madzimai Netsai."It is true that I have other lovers who include Clemence Chihota and Samson Ndlovu who are based in Harare."I had unprotected sex with the two in 2015 and I strongly suspect that one of them is responsible for the pregnancy."These boyfriends helped me financially and sexually not that I harvest sperms for sale as alleged and even my husband's brother who is a police officer, Trymore Hofisi, is aware that I dated several men."He is the one making efforts to make sure that I don't not test police holding cells over this abortion."Statements have been recorded after the village head asked one of the constables to take me to Murewa police station," said Memory showing her medical reports.Memory's illicit affair with Trymore was recently heard before village headman Caleb Masango who referred the case to police following revelations of abortion during the trial.
News / Local

by The Citizen Bulletin

THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has scoffed at a controversial report claiming that the local authority is the worst in Africa.The report alleged that Zimbabwe's second largest city is "the lowest city in Africa in terms of housing, governance, infrastructure and the environment".According to the BBC, the findings are contained in a survey report by a Swiss organisation Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. But BCC senior public relations officer Nesisa Mpofu punched holes at the contentious report.The report was also ridiculed and rejected by some sections of Zimbabweans on Twitter."Our understanding of the report is that Bulawayo was ranked 60th in Africa," Mpofu told The Citizen Bulletin Friday."Furthermore we are aware that there are more than 60 cities in Africa."Recently, a government official revealed that Bulawayo was the best run local authority in Zimbabwe. The city has also in the past been ranked as one of the cleanest cities in the continent.The Citizen Bulletin was not able to verify the authenticity of the report; neither did the publication get a copy of the study since it was not readily available online.BCC officials also said they had not gleaned the report."The City of Bulawayo has not been able to get a copy of the research as yet and as such cannot comment on the ranking without having read the full report."Furthermore, we do not know the methodology used in the study and therefore [we] have no comment," the local authority said in a statement emailed to The Citizen Bulletin. BBC Africa did not confirm where the publication got the disputable report.
(TNS)  KENNEBUNK, Maine  The RSU 21 Board of Directors learned last week that Gov. Paul LePage's plan to eliminate funding for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) Program could significantly increase the district's technology budget over the next two years, based on preliminary estimates by Technology Director Jamie Jansen.Within the current budget, the cost of laptops and supporting infrastructure came in at $444,660 for 2017. The estimated FY 18 budget laid out by Jansen is $586,209, after an expected single year grant from the state. Jansen said MLTI Director Mike Muir has all but guaranteed that the district will receive $102,000 in grant money which is the equivalent of the seventh and eighth grade laptops.The MLTI program started in 2002 under then Gov. Angus King, bringing 17,000 Apple laptops to students and teachers in all seventh and eighth grade classrooms in the state. In 2009 the state funded program expanded into Maine high schools.LePage's proposed 2018 budget does not include funding for the MLTI program, leaving school districts with the challenge of funding technology that both students and teachers have become dependent on at the local level."MLTI is gone in the governor's budget," Superintendent Katie Hawes told the board. "It came about it 2002 under Angus King, and has been an ongoing process since, and it's now gone."Hawes said the finance committee has been working with Jansen to come up with a technology plan for the district without state funding, but the bite to the budget is going to be big no matter what is decided.RSU 21 has been using Macbook Air and iPad mini devices under the MLTI program, but is looking at making the switch to Google Chromebooks to save a substantial amount of money, according to Hawes. Hawes said the Macbooks cost roughly $300,000 and the Chromebooks would be about one third of that. She said the plan is to sell the existing Apple Macbooks and use the proceeds to move the district to Chromebooks. Hawes said Jansen is mapping out a replacement plan for the devices, which typically have to be replaced every three to five years.Board members Lionel Menard and Jeff Cole expressed shock at the increase in the budget."This is a ton of money ... We should look at every option that's out there," Menard said. "Next year we are going to be stuck with the full bill."Hawes said the administrators, the finance committee and Jansen have been working on this for the past seven or eight months, since the state released budget details."We've turned over a lot of options. We've looked at a lot of different angles and looked all of the cost pieces. We've had several meetings with Mike Muir and others at the state. We did our due diligence over the last seven months," Hawes said."I'm very frustrated by this. I want to do my due diligence too. I want to see the data so I can tell that to the taxpayers, and I haven't seen that yet," Cole said.Finance Committee chair Matt Fadiman said the committee will bring the information to the next meeting of the full board with cost reduction options.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Former Finance minister and now leader of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), Tendai Biti, has warned that President Robert Mugabe's unwillingness to groom a successor, as well as Zanu-PF's escalating tribal, factional and successions wars, could plunge the country into civil war.This comes after Mugabe said pointedly last week that no one in his warring ruling party is worthy of succeeding him, while at the same time lavishing his influential wife Grace, with praise - including backing her to succeed and hold her own in the brawling former liberation movement.Since Mugabe made those controversial remarks in his annual birthday interview with ZBC (TV), Zanu-PF's ugly ructions have intensified - with a faction of young party Turks going by the moniker Generation 40 (G40) fighting hard to decimate Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's camp, known as Team Lacoste.Biti yesterday said Zimbabwe was hurtling towards chaos as Zanu-PF's factions bayed for each other's blood. He also described as reckless, Mugabe's statements that none of his minions was worthy of succeeding him."Mugabe's recent utterances in which he denigrated his deputies, defining them as unfit to hold office if he leaves is not only reckless but should not have been said at this volatile stage. If all this is not managed carefully, the country's delicate transition will result in chaos," he said."The current environment is volatile and contains many ingredients for a civil war. The toxic hate speech that is being exchanged every day across the Zanu-PF factions is at the same level with that witnessed before the genocide in Rwanda.""The fact that the Lacoste faction includes the military makes it dangerous for Mugabe to try and impose his wife in a process which must normally be determined by a democratic election. Mugabe has always deprived the people of Zimbabwe their right to freely choose," Biti added."The recent utterances by (former Zanu-PF youth leader for Mashonaland Central) Godfrey Tsenengamu are evidence that the succession wars in Zanu-PF are a danger to many Zimbabwean lives. His utterances must be taken seriously," he said.Speaking in his annual interview last week, ahead of his 93rd birthday, Mugabe did not mince his words saying he would soldier on in power - notwithstanding his advanced age and declining health - and would only step down if Zanu-PF asked him to do so."The call to step down must come from my party, my party at congress, my party at central committee . . . I will step down."But then what do you see? It's the opposite. They want me to stand for elections. They want me to stand for elections everywhere in the party."Of course, if I feel that I can't do it anymore, I will say so to my party so that they relieve me. But for now I think I can't say so . . . The majority of the people feel that there is no replacement, a successor who to them is acceptable, as acceptable as I am," Mugabe said.His statement was seen as slamming the door shut in the face of his longtime aide Mnangagwa, who until recently had been touted as a front-runner to succeed him.Stung by this damning statement, Mnangagwa's angry allies, including Tsenengamu, came out guns blazing, warning the increasingly frail nonagenarian that he faced a big fight if he continued to thwart the Midlands godfather's mooted presidential aspirations.Tsenengamu also said on Monday that they would now openly campaign for Mnangagwa as Mugabe's successor, raising the stakes high in the succession saga.He was subsequently nabbed by detectives, a day after he held his press conference in the capital where he let rip at Mugabe and Grace.Tsenengamu appeared at the Harare Magistrates' Courts yesterday facing three charges: violating provisions of the draconian Public Order and Security Act (Posa) for holding his press conference without clearance, undermining the authority of the president and subverting a constitutionally-elected government.Biti said the fact that Mugabe had criticised everyone while heaping praise on his wife showed that he had most likely already made up his mind about "imposing a dynastic arrangement on the citizens of Zimbabwe".He warned that if this was the case, Mugabe was taking a major gamble as Grace was allegedly "a hard sell to the impoverished and long-suffering populace"."Grace lacks the capacity to lead and has no defendable stature . . . Any reasonable individual will obviously oppose a move which is aimed at her taking over the reins, and sadly this includes the Lacoste faction," Biti said.In his birthday interview, Mugabe heaped praise on Grace - fuelling suspicion within Zanu-PF that he could be grooming her to take over from him."She is very acceptable, very much accepted by the people. I thought you saw her on television today (on Friday in Buhera North). It's fireworks, isn't it?"She is well-seasoned now. She is a very strong character. I saw something quite different in her. They (critics) thought she was an ambitious woman who would want to work herself into a position of power," Mugabe said with much pride.Biti also said the infighting in Zanu-PF was likely to result in the intervention of the military.Mugabe has previously expressed his disquiet at the military for allegedly meddling in the party's succession riddle, warning them to stay away from politics during Zanu-PF's conference in Victoria Falls in 2014."We have a firm policy that forbids such behaviour . . . we should stop it, yes. Tanga tasvika pekuti kwanga kwaanekupindirwa nevamwe zvekare vatisingadi kuona vachipindira munyaya idzi. (We have now come to an untenable situation where people who should ordinarily keep away from such issues are now also involved)."Some people come to me complaining asking whether it was proper for the army, the police and intelligence . . . all telling me so and so belongs to this and that faction. Let's stop that. We are ruining the party that way," he said then.Local think-tank Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI), in a 2015 report titled "Military factor in Zanu-PF succession politics", suggested that the military had veto power in deciding Mugabe's successor.
News / National

by Online

Bulawayo has been ranked the lowest city in Africa, in terms of housing governance, infrastructure, and the environment. These findings, which many Zimbabweans, may argue with are contained in a survey carried out by Swiss research institute, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.News24.com opened one of its report titled Mugabe to hold birthday party in 'worst city in Africa' (but is it really?) by saying, "Is President Robert Mugabe really about to hold his 93rd birthday party right next to the worst city in Africa?Zimbabweans have found another focus for their outrage: a suggestion that their "City of Kings" Bulawayo is actually the worst city in Africa in terms of housing, infrastructure, governance and the environment. The BBC reports that the finding is contained in a survey by Swiss researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.The official @CityofBulawayo account hasn't responded yet to the slight. But others have leapt to the city's defence."Byo is the best run and cleanest in the country," said @sitshaesihe.Former education minister @DavidColtart said: "This is pathetic - have these people ever even visited Bulawayo? I call Bulawayo the world's best kept secret!"Have you ever visited Bulawayo? What do you think of this survey?
Sign up for our newsletter
News / National

by Ndou Paul

Below is the full message:

I am very sorry to report that Zimbabwe's first Chief Judge, Justice John Fieldsend died last night at the age of 95 after a long and courageous fight against lung cancer. Justice Fieldsend was an extraordinarily fine Judge and was largely responsible for establishing Zimbabwe's judiciary as one the Commonwealth's finest institutions.



Chief Justice Fieldsend was appointed for a fixed term and assumed office on 1 July 1980. Born in England, Sir John (as he later became) was brought up in Southern Rhodesia. After graduating in law he practised as an advocate in Bulawayo. In 1962 he was appointed a judge of the High Court, but resigned in 1968 in protest against the decision of the Appellate Court to grant judicial recognition to the government of Ian Smith. He returned to Britain, where for the next twelve years he served in the office of the Lord Chancellor.



During the tenure of office of Chief Justice Fieldsend the main area of conflict between the judiciary and the executive involved cases of detention without trial; that is, a deprivation of liberty permitted, subject to certain conditions, under the law of Zimbabwe, during a declared period of public emergency. The state of emergency, which had been declared by the Smith government at its unilateral declaration of independence on 11 November 1965, and

extended repeatedly every six months, was kept in force by the new government for ten years.



Chief Justice Fieldsend was unwavering in standing up for human rights and respect for the rule of law and the Judiciary during his tenure provided a bulwark of stability in the country.



Judges of this calibre are rare, especially in Zimbabwe since the subversion of the judiciary by the ZANU PF regime since 2001. My hope is that lawyers will reflect on the exceptionally high standards set by Judge Fieldsend, both professionally and in his private life, and be inspired by them. Judge Fieldsend was a man of absolute integrity; a Judge who could be relied upon to act honourably at all times and to scrupulously ensure that justice was done at all times. He will be sorely missed. May his soul rest in peace.

Zimbabwe's first Chief Justice John Fieldsend has died at the age of 95.Justice Fieldsend died on Wednesday after a long and courageous fight against lung cancer.Chief Justice Fieldsend was appointed for a fixed term and assumed office on 1 July 1980. Born in England, Sir John (as he later became) was brought up in Southern Rhodesia. After graduating in law he practised as an advocate in Bulawayo. In 1962 he was appointed a judge of the High Court, but resigned in 1968 in protest against the decision of the Appellate Court to grant judicial recognition to the government of Ian Smith. He returned to Britain, where for the next twelve years he served in the office of the Lord Chancellor.During the tenure of office of Chief Justice Fieldsend the main area of conflict between the judiciary and the executive involved cases of detention without trial; that is, a deprivation of liberty permitted, subject to certain conditions, under the law of Zimbabwe, during a declared period of public emergency. The state of emergency, which had been declared by the Smith government at its unilateral declaration of independence on 11 November 1965, andextended repeatedly every six months, was kept in force by the new government for ten years.Chief Justice Fieldsend was unwavering in standing up for human rights and respect for the rule of law and the Judiciary during his tenure provided a bulwark of stability in the country.Former Education minister David Coltart wrote on his facebook wall.
Opinion / Columnist

Dear Mmusi,I hope this letter finds you well with a stable peace of mind so that you can be able to read and digest my concerns as a worried Zimbabwean citizen.I was turned off when I read from the media, an article where you said you and perhaps your allies wanted to illegally remove our Head of State, President Robert Mugabe from power. As a matter of fact, President Mugabe was constitutionally elected by the people of Zimbabwe. He was given the mandate to lead Zimbabwe through votes.Maimane, you shamelessly boasted that our dear President must be forced to step down in the manner that Gambia's former President Yahya Jammeh was removed. Mr Maimane, if you really want to be respected in your country and beyond, stay out of other country's politics.My concern is, why targeting Zimbabwe? I understand there are so many political issues that need to be resolved in South Africa. My question is, are you done with politics of your country? As a leader of an opposition party, I guess there is a lot that you and your counterparts should be much worried of rather than interfering in Zimbabwean politics. I guess you are not in opposition to oppose President Mugabe but to offer yourself as an alternative to the incumbent South African leader. What will it benefit you if President Mugabe is removed, by whatever means, from power?If you are trying to endear yourself to the Zimbabwean populace, you would do well if you denounce xenophobia which your kins are reportedly mulling over. Zimbabweans hate xenophobia and they love their President with a passion. Lately, we watched in horror how citizens in your country burned foreigners with tyres as if they are not human beings. Are you not troubled about how your fellow Africans are being butchered in your own country?Also, as an opposition leader, I guess your role is to suggest alternative policies that can make you saleable to the electorate. Zimbabwe politics will never make you win any election in South Africa. Forewarned is forearmed Mmusi, leave Zimbabwean politics to Zimbabwean politicians.Mr Maimane, let me state that my fellow Zimbabweans and I shall not by any means heed your calls for such nonsense. Is it not the Zimbabweans who voted for President Mugabe to lead us? I fail to understand where exactly you fit in, in Zimbabwean politics.Surely Mmusi, I for one was disgusted by your sentiments. The trust that I once had in South African politics is all eroded. You have set a bad record for yourself. I am quite convinced that even those who had chosen to support you have withdrawn it following your atrocious sentiments. The reason that will stop you from winning elections in your country is that you expend energy in other countries' political fields leaving politics of your country behind. In short, the best advice that I can give you is to mind your own business. Stay in your lane.Mmusi, if it is your wife who is ill informing you to attack our Head of State, please warn her that international politics is not bedroom politics, hence there must be sense in everything that you publicly utter.Is there any wrong that my President has done to you? I guess nothing. Why then did you directly attack him? To be very honest with you, only fools can bark at their neighbours.Yours faithfullyPeacemaker Zano
Opinion / Columnist

A few days ago, Mrs Joyce Mujuru surprised many totally by saying that her party, ZPF will contest the 2018 elections with or with no reforms. It was very disturbing when she revealed this in direct opposition to many other sentiments aired by other political parties opposing the continued misrule by a very corrupt Zanu pf government. Currently opposition parties and large part of the civil society are putting huge pressure on ZEC to level the heavily skewed electoral field, with various opposition parties boycotting parliamentary and will boycott the 2018 harmonized election. In previous elections Zanu pf has been dictating to ZEC with ZEC complying thereby compromising its integrity and impartiality. So many in opposition have do not see the logic of contesting in a predetermined elections whose only purpose would be to give legitimacy to the election and result which the process would otherwise lack if all opposition would boycott. There was outrage on social media and elsewhere for such irresponsible plan of action, tantamounting to treacherousness, for her party contesting in such a flawed election would give Zanu pf and RG Mugabe some little legitimacy.Drama would follow soon to her seemingly an attempt to betray the Zimbabwean struggle for freedom and the right to choose leadership, the roots of accountability which guarantees good governance:- for her party would crumble after she unilaterally dismissed all the pillars of her party, who in turn fired her soon after. Among those fired are Dydmus Mutasa, Rugare Gumbo, Margaret Dongo, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, Munacho Mutezo, Cladius Makova and Luckson Kandemiri. It is difficult for any political party to remain strong following enmass ejection of critical members. ZPF itself was formed by members expelled from Zanu pf having been sacked for pretty much the same reasons ZPF itself too is dismissing the these members, the deliberate avoidance of democratic processes. It is the same again in MDC T, Renewal party and MDC that leaders choose to circumvent the democratic process and prefers to impose leaders in party ranks, resulting in disgruntlements and eventual party splits. This leader impositions habit is characteristic to Zanu pf and it seems that opposition party leaders carried that trait with them when they left Zanu pf. They are still addicts to the same custom that made them desert Zanu pf in the first place. MDC split to MDC T, MDC with Biti forming a Renewal Party that soon disintergrated, and we wait again to see if there Zimbabwe People Second would come as RG Mugabe once chided. RG Mugabe really knows how power hungry Zimbabweans are, he knows how perfectly they mirror his appetite for dominance. If the opposition parties do not reform to follow normal, clear processes and procedures, they risk getting weaker and ultimately irrelevant. Its exceedingly difficult or even impossible for Zanu pf members to follows any democratic processes given how the members have hardened, over the years, through corruption and insensitivity towards the suffering masses. For example during the last year march to boost support and to intimidate RG Mugabe,s foes, Zanu pf youth leader Chipanga, said the party would like to see the nonagenarian rule till his death. Recently Chipanga said the party would rather nominate a family member with the same surname as Mugabe, as the name is popular and respected worldwide. Given that level of disregard of democratic processes, we don't see how Zanu pf can reform to follow right procedures and rule of law.Power to dominate has been the source of weakness for our opposition parties, they abhor fair play. They can only get strong if they strictly follow the democratic process of choosing leaders, making their strong their establishments. But it seems each leader struggles for his sole glory, power and influence, and in the process the ordinary people are forgotten. The struggle then is for individuals and not about nation building. Many argue that grand coalition project is a non-starter because each political party would want its leader at the helm. The next opposition political party that will prove strong is one that will allow the democratic process to be the governor. The party will rely on transparence rather than on individuals. Zanu pf is weak because it relies on RG Mugabe. The party failing to find a successor because it does not employ the correct processes to anoint leaders. Right now it's divided into two factions. One faction prefers Grace Mugabe to take over whilst the other prefers Munangagwa. It is my strong feeling that in Zanu pf there are far too many people who are better that both, but the bullying, prequalification, discrimination and intimidations in the system doesn't keeps them out of the limelight, or at most, makes them desert the party or shun politics altogether. Those who want Munangagwa think they will benefit individually under him, and those who support Grace know they will be rewarded under her. So those corrupt ones in Zanu pf initiate confusion and chaos in the processes so that when eventually the dust settles:- we will have a leader, but neither the desired nor the able one, but one who rewards the few who buoyed hi/her into power. Corruption will continue as a way of rewarding allies and Zimbabwe will continue to decline. It's sad Zanu pf has concentrated on infights rather than on fixing the economy that is in a dire state.So largely, the political landscape of Zimbabwe is dominated by a spirit of selfishness, nepotism and exclusiveness. Zimbabweans mostly avoid building strong establishments, they would rather rely on powerful individuals who may suddenly change attitudes and qualities midstream. We have heard statements like 'only Tsvangirai can unseat Mugabe'. In People first they think only Mujuru can lead their party. In Zanu pf they think only RG Mugabe can win the elections, or only Munangwgwa is the best candidate to succeed RG. Whilst any of these may be true, these postulations usually undermine the need for correct procedures and processes. Right procedures and processes in each political party will guarantee the best candidate, and a transparent and fair national election will afford us the finest pick of parliament and executive to represent us, and therefore the biggest opportunity for success for Zimbabwe. Leaders rightfully, freely and transparently chosen by the people will carry out the wishes of the people, and will be sensitive to the people's plight. Those imposed will perform to only please those who imposed them to the positions they hold.
Opinion / Columnist

There those, like MDC leaders, who have failed to understand that power means everything to Mugabe and his Zanu PF ruling elite. This nation has paid dearly for their folly.As we now know, Mugabe has never cared about making Zimbabwe a healthy and functional multi-party democracy. Ever since he got into power in 1980, he has systematically undermined the fledgling democracy bequeathed to the nation by the 1979 Lancaster House constitution. Like all tyrants, all Mugabe ever cared about then and to this day is securing absolute power at all cost; even at the cost of riding roughshod over the ordinary people's freedoms and basic human rights like a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life."We must all know that if you want to succeed in our country, you must be a member of the ruling party; the party that has a liberation struggle history; a party with leaders we can bank on because they sacrificed a lot for this country," said VP Mnangagwa, according to a New Zimbabwe report.VP Mnangagwa has the typical Zanu PF ruling elite mentality; it is all about seizing absolute power and retaining it at all cost, nothing else matter. He still talks of Zanu PF as the party that spearheaded the "liberation struggle" and yet fails to see the tragic human misery the party has brought upon the nation these last 37 years; contrary to the nation's liberation aspirations!The ordinary people have no more political freedoms and rights and they are considerable poorer under this Zanu PF government than they were under white colonial rule!When former VP Joice Mujuru had her snout in the feeding trough, she too had nothing but praise for Mugabe and the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime. It was only after she and number of her ZimPF friends were booted out of Zanu PF in 2014 that they suddenly noticed the harm and suffering the regime was causing. Mujuru said she did not criticized Mugabe until then because her "puppy eyes" had not opened; it took 34 years for her puppy eyes to open!No doubt the puppy eyes of VP Mnangagwa and all the others still in the Zanu PF ruling elite those still in the Zanu PF ruling elite are yet to open, if ever! Meanwhile there is nothing wrong with the way the nation is being governed and the status quo must be retained."Today we have President Mugabe as our leader. White people might fume and say all sorts of things, but President Mugabe will soldier on with his people. President Mugabe always tells them that he does what the people want, reminding them to mind their own business," said VP Mnangagwa.There is a complete disconnect here, how can President Mugabe be doing what the people of Zimbabwe want; surely the people do not want to be denied their freedoms and basic human rights and dignity! The tyrant rigs elections and then turns around and claims the elections were free, fair and credible and the result is a true reflection of the people's democratic will.Of course, the people, who are suffering at the coal face all the injustice and the economic hardship brought upon them by this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime, are furious that regime. By attributing all the criticism of the regime to whites, Zanu PF is only adding insult to injury by refusing to acknowledge the ordinary blacks are as human as the whites and thus capable of all the human emotions and of thinking for themselves!"Zanu PF will rule forever and those ruled will forever be ruled and I don't understand why you opt to move away from the rulers and stay with those being ruled. That's pure madness. Zanu PF is the party that brought independence under the leadership of President Mugabe," boasted Mnangagwa with the arrogance and certainty of one who KNOWS already that the 2018 election is in the bag!To be fair, Mnangagwa's confidence is not without some justification; Zimbabwe's elections are not democratic contestation but rather a meaningless ritual to rubber stamp a predetermined result  a landslide Zanu PF victory. After the rigged July 2013 opposition politicians finally came to their senses and vowed to stop contesting elections until reforms designed to stop the vote rigging are in place. Sadly, they have since changed their minds, they will contest the flawed elections. Given a licence to rig the vote, of course, Zanu PF will rig the vote!The real madness, the nation should be concerned about, is the opposition's folly of contesting flawed elections time and time again and expecting a different result other than a Zanu PF victory!By contesting the flawed elections, the opposition parties are giving the flawed process some measure of legitimacy, which is the one Zanu PF needs. In return, the regime is allowing the opposition to win a few seats in parliament and senate.Morgan Tsvangirai and Tendai Biti do not care about the restoration of the people's freedoms, right to free and fair elections, etc.; if they did then they would have implemented the democratic reforms during the GNU when they had the golden opportunity to do so. Like Mugabe, what they too care about is power; whilst they have deferred to Zanu PF's claim to rule they nonetheless believe they have the right to the scraps Zanu PF throws at the opposition.If the people of Zimbabwe are ever going to enjoy their freedom, human right, free and fair elections, etc. it is imperative that they realise that these sell-out opposition politicians who are contesting the flawed elections are not fighting in their corner.When Mugabe rigged the 2013 elections, he was cocksure he would go on to rig an economic recovery too with his $27 billion ZimAsset plan. He has since failed to get anyone, not even his "all-weather" Chinese friends, to bankroll the plan. Zimbabwe's economy is in a serious mess; unemployment has soared to 90%, basic services like health, education and the supply of clean water have all but collapsed; millions now live in abject poverty; etc. This is socially, politically and morally unsustainable.Like it or not, Zanu PF's ambition to rule forever will not happen because the root cause of the economic meltdown is the regime's decades of corrupt and tyrannical rule. Another rigged election will mean the economic meltdown will get even worse than it is at present, as stated above, this is not sustainable!Ian Smith's boasted that white rule of Rhodesia will last for 1000 years was as hollow as Mnangagwa boasting this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime ruling forever. Still, Ian Smith was smart enough to know to stop when he realised his regime was going nowhere. We are not so lucky with Robert Mugabe. There are "Dead end! Ahead!" warning signs and yet Mugabe continues to scream, "Full steam ahead!" We are heading for a catastrophic crash!
This Black Teenage Girl Is The Amazing Unsung Spy Hero Of The Civil War

Mary Bowser is the greatest Civil War spy you never heard of. And her story is finally being told in Enigma Alberti and Tony Cliffs new beginner's chapter book Spy on History: Mary Bowser and the Civil War Spy Ring.

Marys story is marked by her intelligence and alleged photographic memory. Bowser was a black woman and was just a teenager at the time she began work for the Union. According to Civil War record resources, Bowser was born Mary Jane and freed from slavery by Union spy Elizabeth Van Lew, whose mother had owned Bowsers family. Elizabeth Van Lew funded both Bowsers Philadelphia education and her 1855 journey to the new Republic of Liberia as a missionary. By 1860, Bowser returned to America, and married her husband Wilson Bowser in Richmond the day before Virginia seceded from the Union.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mary obtained a job as a servant in the Confederate White House. She kept her literacy a secret and gained access to confidential information intended for Confederate President Jefferson Davis. After the war, Mary Bowser worked as a teacher for freed slaves, and gave one known speech in the fall of 1865 under the name "Richmonia Richards" before successfully disappearing. Though records of her espionage were destroyed by the Union's War Department to ensure her safety should she be discovered, Mary Bowser is hailed as a Union hero. She was inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame in Fort Huachaca, Arizona in 1995.

Wikipedia Commons

But Bowser's story is still shrouded in mystery. And contrary to popular belief, there are no existing photos of her  though the above image has been circulated by Wikipedia, NPR, numerous libraries, and in Lois Leveen's novel The Secrets of Mary Bowser. According to an article by Leveen in The Atlantic, "the [alleged Bowser] photograph began circulating in 2002, when Morning Edition ran a story about Bowser, and NPR included the photograph on their website, with a caption crediting it to 'James A. Chambers, U.S. Army Deputy, Office of the Chief, Military Intelligence.'" Yet the archives at the Library of Virginia revealed that the image was taken in 1900, and depicted another Mary Bowser, as Bowser the Union spy would have been in her sixties at that time.

The digital era has only made it easier for the story of Bowser's espionage to be embellished and repeated without verifiable sources. The current political climate has also created a need for an image of Bowser, who in some ways has become shorthand for the historical invisibility of black excellence, especially the excellence of black women. Now perhaps Toni Cliff's illustrations in Spy on History can provide a truer picture of Bowser, a trailblazer for race and gender equality, for young readers.

Tony Cliff, illustrator Tony Cliff, illustrator

The story's graphics include a three-dimensional, interactive decoder: "This book is a mystery story. But there's also a mystery in the book itself. At the end of the story, you'll find a letter from Mary. Use the clues in this envelope to decode other clues and codes you'll find throughout the book... and discover Mary's last secret!" Alberti and Cliff's Spy on History is a structurally immersive, feminist-friendly, beginner's chapter book focused on equality, female empowerment, freedom, and overcoming odds.

ADVERTISEMENT

Top photo: Tony Cliff, illustrator

More from BUST



Tammy Pierce Is Unlovable: Bummer--A Comic

14 Books By Women To Make Your February A Little Brighter

'Difficult Women' By Roxanne Gay Should Be The First Book You Read In 2017

Olivia Loperfido is an English and psychology major at New York University's College of Arts and Sciences, and the junior editor of NYU's Mercer Street (2017-'18). She enjoys spending time with her dogs and tortoise, watching RuPaul's Drag Race, and contacting her state representatives. Follow her on Instagram here and contact her via email here.
'Obama 2017' Campaign Launches To Elect Barack Obama President Of France

Trending News: People Really Want Barack Obama To Be President (Of France)

Long Story Short

A tongue-in-cheek campaign website urging French citizens to sign a petition asking Barack Obama to run as President of France. The campaign is in response to France's own presidential election scandals and growing far-right movement.

Long Story

The U.S. tends to think of itself as the most important country in the world, mostly because we are. But in doing so, we kind of forget that other countries have politics and elections and all that stuff, too. And in many ways, what's happening in France closely mirrors what's going on here: an angry, populist far-right political movement is gaining steam, and their upcoming April presidential election has been a tale of scandal and the emergence of an unexpected frontrunner.

Some French citizens, perhaps not impressed with what's happening on our side of the pond, have what they feel is an airtight solution: President... Barack Obama?

Obama 17

Obama 17 is a "joke" campaign launched by four friends who decided, after having a drink or three, that they were dissatisfied with French politics.

"We were thinking about French politics and saying that we were fed up with the fact that we all the time had to vote against someone," one of the founders told NPR, "and how it would be cool to be able to vote for someone we admire. We came up with Obama."

Obama 17

Obama is neither a French citizen nor does he speak French, and it's unlikely that either of those things would change before April's elections. The campaign founders, however, maintain that it's more about starting a conversation and venting a little frustration.

"It's definitely a joke," a co-creator told NPR. "But it could make people think a little bit about what we could do differently in French politics. ... the idea was to make people wake up."

If twitter is to be believed, however, plenty of people are on board.

@BarackObama FRANCE NEEDS YOU #OBAMA2017  j'ai faim (@zaqqaria) February 24, 2017

Si ca marche on sera tous choque #obama2017 #ouionpeut pic.twitter.com/nKo2johVNo  Mohamed ? (@Mohamed_plein) February 24, 2017

So far, about 30,000 people have signed the petition, far short of their goal of 1 million signatures.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

What does it say about our 44th president if other countries want him as theirs?

Drop This Fact

The current French republic (the 5th) was established in the 1950s and strengthened the role of the president.
Tweet

Heres a letter to the Washington Post:

Charles Lane deserves applause. Not only does he expose the radical-left-wing origins of the Trump administrations proposal to change the way that goods transshipped through the U.S. are accounted for in trade statistics, Mr. Lane also reveals the utter meaninglessness of bilateral trade imbalances  such as Americas trade deficit with Mexico (Trumps attempt to massage economic data isnt new. But theres a better way. February 24th).

But I fear that a third valid point made by Mr. Lane will go unnoticed  namely, that the Trump administration is mistaken to insist that no value is added in the U.S. to goods transshipped through the U.S. to other countries. We can see the administrations error clearly if we ask Why do foreign producers first ship their goods to the U.S. rather than directly to these goods ultimate destinations? The answer must be that there is value to foreign producers in transshipping their goods through the U.S. Therefore, supplying transshipping services is a valuable American contribution to the global economy.

Such transshipments require the specialized services of American ports and warehouses  specialized services for which foreign merchants pay. To conclude that, because transshipment services dont alter the physical shape or contents of goods, these services arent a valuable economic contribution makes no more sense than to conclude that, because the services of truck drivers dont alter the physical shape or content of goods, the services of truck drivers arent a valuable economic contribution.

Just as farmers do not deliver their produce directly to the homes of final consumers but, instead, to warehouses and shippers who add value (and who profit) from supplying storage and shipping services, many foreign manufacturers do not deliver their products directly to the countries of final destination but, instead, to American warehouses and shippers who add value (and who profit) from supplying storage and shipping services. It would be deeply misleading for the trade accounts to fail to register the value of these services.

Sincerely,

Donald J. Boudreaux

Professor of Economics

and

Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA 22030
New destination: Indian students flock to Australia for higher studies

IANS , Melbourne | Published : 23rd February, 2017

The Australian government's campaign to lure Indian students for higher studies is bearing fruit as nearly 80,000 of them enrolled in various education and training courses in 2016. Overall, Australian universities and vocational training institutes have experienced another bumper year with more than half a million international students choosing to study Down Under.



The numbers are likely to increase exponentially in the coming months as, according to some media reports, international students are beginning to shun the US because of the anti-immigrant policies of President Donald Trump.

With the US and UK occupying the top two positions, Australia is ranked third as the favoured destination for international students.

"With record student numbers and record student satisfaction, 2016 was a 'gangbuster' year for international education in Australia and the vital role it plays in our national economic and social prosperity," Australia's Federal Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said in a media release Wednesday.

While the United States continues to be the number one choice for Indian students, Australia is clearly the second-most popular destination.

A record number of 78,424 students from India enrolled in Australia in 2016. This represents an increase of 8.9 per cent on 2015 and is second only to China. India's gigantic northern neighbour continues to occupy the numero uno position with 196,315 (an increase of 15.7 percent on the 2015 enrollment figures). The number of commencements has also been going northwards with every year.

The higher education sector has also maintained its top position with 43 per cent students opting for such courses in 2016. According to statistics provided by the Department of Education and Training, China and India accounted for 36.8 per cent and 14.6 per cent, respectively, of enrolments by students in higher education.

The fascination of Indian students for vocational training courses continued for another year as students from the country accounted for 14.7 per cent enrollments in the sector.

Melbourne has always attracted the bulk of Indian students and 2016 was no exception as 34,347 enrolled in various Victorian institutes. New South Wales (which has Sydney as its state capital) was number two on the list as 18,900 Indian students enrolled there in 2016. Some experts blame higher living expenses in Australia's largest city Sydney for this phenomenon.

Thanks to the "gangbuster" year, international education has once again regained its position as the third-largest export sector. International students generated more than A$21 billion (Rs 1 trillion) of economic activity in Australia.

If some media reports are to be believed, the revenue generated by international education may hit a new high in 2017 as, thanks to President Trump's contentious policies, more international students would pack their bags and move to Australia.

So, if the aftermath of 2001 caused international students to think twice about America, what will happen this time with Trump stirring up nativism and suspicion of foreigners with every tweet and aligning himself with white supremacists? An Australian Financial Review columnist posed this query recently.

One would have to wait for a while to answer this question.

(Paritosh Parasher is a senior journalist of Indian origin. He can be contacted at paritoshparasher@yahoo.com)

Find it Useful ? Help Others by Sharing Online

Comments and Discussions
Non-profit regional blood center Blood Assurance is calling on healthy community members to make a blood donation at a local donor center or bloodmobile as soon as possible to help replenish the blood supply needed by area hospitals. The local blood supply is critically low due to high hospital usage and widespread flu affecting donors across the region.

To have a four to five day supply of blood is ideal, said Christopher Swafford, Vice President of Operations at Blood Assurance. We currently have a one day supply and if crisis were to occur, we would not be prepared.

Presently, the organization only has a one day supply and is asking the community to take 30 minutes out of their day to help guarantee blood is readily available to hospital patients. Each donation of blood contains plasma, red blood cells and platelets that can be used to save lives of any age, including premature babies, oncology patients, trauma victims, surgery patients and many more. Patients undergoing surgery, receiving cancer treatment or organ transplants rely on donated blood, in addition to the unexpected traumas seen at hospitals on a daily basis. With a one day supply, those needs for blood cannot be met. Blood Assurance thanks all donors who choose to give to those in need.

We need healthy donors to come replenish the supply, said Jay Baumgardner, Executive Director of Marketing and Community Relations at Blood Assurance. If you are under the weather, please ask a friend to give on your behalf.

If you are healthy and have not donated recently or if you are a first time donor, you are encouraged to give today as all blood types are needed. To be eligible to donate blood, you must be at least 18 years old (17 and 16 years old with parental consent), weigh 110 pounds or more and be in good health. Donors are asked to drink plenty of fluids - avoiding caffeine - and eat a meal that is rich in protein prior to donating.
If the sexual harassment controversy at Uber tells a cautionary tale for startups, it's don't wait until you're in trouble to have clear employee policies and practices.

The blog post that software engineer Susan Fowler wrote about her experience at Uber got the attention of Jeff Judge, co-founder and CEO of business intelligence startup Bright Labs, based in Chicago.

Advertisement

"This is a good wake-up call definitely for startups," he said. He and his two co-founders started the company in 2015 and are launching the product now. They plan to hire four people in the next few months, and he wants to have those policies in place before then.

Indeed, for startups known for eschewing red tape and operating in a "fail fast" mode, employee benefits often focus more on having hip, creative environments and benefits like unlimited vacation, coffee bars and game rooms.

Advertisement

But when it comes to employee conduct, there's a major risk in not being more buttoned up, experts say.

"A lot of startups tend to be smaller companies, so the difficulty becomes educating them on why they need to have an employment manual, why they need to have sexual harassment and other anti-discrimination policies, and why they need to conduct training," said Keith Hunt, principal at labor and employment law firm Hunt & Associates PC, Chicago. "A lot of them don't get involved in them until it is too late, after they get sued."

Most of these issues fall under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits companies with 15 or more employees from discriminating against workers based on sex, race, color, national origin and religion. Many Chicago startup founders and advisers say it's best to set up human resource policies from the get-go.

"It's never too early," said HR consultant Carol Semrad of C. Semrad & Associates in Chicago, who also is treasurer and past president of the Chicago Society of Human Resource Management.

"A culture exists if there are two people in the organization, because they will establish what the norms are or how they interrelate," she said. "Harassment ends up existing because leaders allow it to happen in their culture."

Kristy Nittskoff, founder and CEO of Talent-Savvy LLC in Chicago, says she usually comes in at the growth stage for startups when there are 50 or more employees. She's helped set up HR and sexual harassment policies and has conducted training for many of them.

Among the basics protections she recommends companies should have: an employee handbook, language from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in recruiting materials, attorney-approved language for contracts and offer letters, and a consistent off-boarding procedure when employees separate from the company.

"If you don't provide managers the right framework when they are in a position of power, you can get into a lot of trouble," she said.

Advertisement

That's why Jellyvision Lab in Chicago has had a sexual harassment policy since very early on under founding CEO Harry Gottlieb, despite its largely policy-free culture, said Amanda Lannert, who has been the company's CEO since September 2011. The 16-year-old company is consistently ranked a top employer in Chicago.

"Founders have to put their best foot forward, because so much culture is shaped by the founders early on," she said.

She was quick to note that a policy is a small, first step.

"Policy is important to us so we can set the tone for new hires from Day One," she said. "Practice is what creates a healthy and safe organization. How do you navigate concerns? How do you have open discourse? How do you have hard conversations? Legalistic words are never enough."

To be sure, companies have to live up to the standards they set, especially as they add employees and managers.

"You don't have to be corporate to be proactive about taking steps to not allow that kind of treatment for women and other marginalized groups," said Neal Sales-Griffin, CEO of CodeNow.org and co-founder of the Starter League, which was acquired. "We were growing really fast (at the Starter League), and we were also a school, so we needed a policy in place regardless  so there is mitigation or elimination of discrimination."

Advertisement

Sales-Griffin credited Vincent Cabansag, who led operations at Starter League, for championing the cause in the company's first year. They hired an outside company to help formalize conveying and instituting its policy of how people should be treated in the workplace and for onboarding new team members and employees.

"Not only do our employees need to respect that, but our students also need that expectation" he said. "They should be able to have something in place so your employees can think and operate effectively."

Kate MacArthur is a freelance journalist.

Twitter @katemacarthur
Benjamin Thomas Wolf, seen Nov. 15, 2016, in his Bucktown neighborhood home, is president of Keep Chicago Livable and a plaintiff in the case against new city home-sharing restrictions. He told the Tribune in November that he quit renting out his condo because of the rules. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago is facing another delay in rolling out some of the more controversial aspects of its new regulations on Airbnb and other home-sharing platforms.

Aldermen approved a change to the rules Wednesday that altered the trajectory of two lawsuits challenging the home-sharing ordinance. Under the change, city inspectors would need a search warrant or subpoena to access the lists of guest information that hosts must keep.

Advertisement

After the City Council's tweaks, a judge in one of the suits extended a delay on implementing parts of the ordinance from Tuesday to Friday.

The extension gives Keep Chicago Livable, the lead plaintiff in the case in which the judge ruled Thursday, time to file an amended complaint, said Shorge Sato, an attorney for the nonprofit. The judge could extend the delay further if the city needs time to respond.

Advertisement

"The changes that (the city) made were an attempt to address some of the, I think, more flagrantly unconstitutional parts of the law, but they left a lot still out there," Sato said.

The judge's decision allots time to file a new motion seeking to temporarily block the ordinance, Sato said. If granted, that could postpone implementation until the court battle ends.

"The city objected to the extension in court," said Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for the city's Law Department. "However, we will abide by the court's decision to extend it a few days."

The ordinance, approved last summer, also calls for an extra tax on home-sharing hosts and a limit on the number of units in a building that can be rented out on home-sharing sites, among other regulations.

Keep Chicago Livable filed suit Nov. 4 in U.S. District Court, alleging that parts of Chicago's new law are unconstitutional.

The city agreed in December to hold off on implementing some of the rules, including the one pertaining to guest records. That regulation as originally proposed would have required hosts to keep registration records, including names, addresses and signatures of all guests, on file for three years and make them available for inspection upon request from the city.

The ordinance was set to go fully into effect in mid-December, but the order the city agreed to pushed that date back to Feb. 28. The city's proposal to change parts of the ordinance first emerged the day after that agreement was made.

Aldermen also agreed Wednesday to remove a requirement that a host sign an attestation that he or she understands the ordinance. Instead, they must review a summary of the ordinance and acknowledge that shared-housing units are subject to those requirements, McCaffrey said.

Advertisement

Changing bits and pieces of the ordinance as the lawsuit moves through court "is not appropriate," said Benjamin Thomas Wolf, president of Keep Chicago Livable and a plaintiff in the case.

"It's not the way the legal process is supposed to occur," he said.

The group's objective remains the same: to have the law removed, let the "sharing economy" govern itself and "let the people of Chicago use their homes as they see fit," Wolf said.

There are about 6,500 Airbnb hosts in Chicago, according to the San Francisco-based company. Airbnb is not involved in either suit. Spokesman Ben Breit said in an emailed statement that the company remains "as committed as ever to serving as a good partner to the city of Chicago, and we will be ready to move forward with our obligations under the ordinance once it goes fully into effect."

Keep Chicago Livable has until Monday to file an amended complaint. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday, according to court documents.

Another group of homeowners that sued the city in November in hopes of blocking the regulations also asked for a temporary reprieve.

Advertisement

That request, however, was directed at the provision requiring hosts to turn over guest records without a warrant and a provision that would allow the city to conduct inspections of hosts' homes.

The Council's tweak to the guest records rule, plus a promise from the city not to conduct inspections until it establishes guidelines, means that request is no longer necessary, said Jacob Huebert, senior attorney at Liberty Justice Center, the Chicago-based nonprofit litigation center representing the plaintiffs in this second case.

"With this change, we don't need a preliminary injunction anymore because the city fixed it," he said.

The city made its promise in a letter to the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based think tank that teamed up with Liberty Justice Center on the suit, stating that it would not conduct inspections until guidelines are in place.

But those changes are not enough for the plaintiffs, Huebert said. The next court hearing in that suit is scheduled for Monday.

"That's only one small part of our lawsuit," he said. "There's still a lot wrong with this ordinance that we're still challenging, and all of that is going forward."

Advertisement

amarotti@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @AllyMarotti
Chervon, the Chiese maker of Skil tools, will move its North American headquarters to Naperville from Grand Rapids, Mich. (Akron Beacon Journal)

The Chinese maker of Skil power tools will move its North American headquarters this spring from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Naperville, where it eventually expects to have about 200 workers, as part of its recently completed purchase of the Skil brands from Robert Bosch.

Chervon recently finalized its previously announced acquisition of Skil brands, which include power saws, from Germany's Robert Bosch Tool, whose North American headquarters are in Mount Prospect. The deal gives Chervon control over the Skil and Skilsaw businesses in North America. Terms weren't disclosed.

Advertisement

By May, Chervon will have more than 100 workers in Naperville, with nearly 40 moving from Bosch operations in Mount Prospect and others from Chervon in Grand Rapids as well as from small offices in Geneva and South Barrington.

Chervon eventually expects to have about 200 workers over the next few years in Naperville in a new 124,000-square-foot facility at 1203 E. Warrenville Road. The property had been built for a Swedish company that never moved into it. The employee counts also include new hires.

Advertisement

"With the acquisition of Skil, we felt it was wise to centralize functions, and after many years of consideration, Naperville and the Chicagoland area really moved to top of list for several reasons," including proximity to current Bosch and Chervon workers and access to an airport, universities and talent, Chervon Chief Marketing Officer Joe Turoff said. He said no tax breaks were requested or received.

Chervon will keep a design and customer service center in Grand Rapids, Turoff said.

A Bosch spokesman said the company still has about 600 employees in Mount Prospect.

byerak@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @beckyyerak
Michael Roper, left, owner of Hopleaf, bar and restaurant talks Feb. 16, 2017, with bartender James Park at the tavern in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. On Inauguration Day, Roper dubbed Hopleaf a No Trump Zone and donated the days sales to Planned Parenthood. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

More restaurants are serving meals with a side of politics.

In the month since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, local bars, restaurants and cafes have staged politically laced fundraisers and bake sales. Still others have designated their eateries "sanctuaries" that promise a safe and tolerant atmosphere for both employees and customers. Food business owners are, increasingly, wearing their politics on their sleeve. Many times, that comes with big risks.

Advertisement

Some restaurateurs say their efforts are an extension of their long-standing political views, while others say the decision to take action  whether it be closing to allow employees to participate in a political protest or sending food to support immigration lawyers working with those affected by the administration's travel ban  "is just the right thing to do." The restaurant industry, after all, is one of the largest employers of immigrants in the U.S.

Industry experts say it's best for restaurant owners to keep their political views to themselves, but acknowledge that's a difficult task in the current political environment, no matter which side of the aisle one falls on.

Advertisement

Hopleaf owner Michael Roper in the kitchen at his Andersonville neighborhood bar/restaurant on Thursday, February 16, 2017. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Of course, expressing liberal political views is not as big of a risk in a city that tends to lean heavily to the left. Cook County went decisively for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, and donations by local restaurateurs skewed strongly Democratic as well, based on a search of political donations on OpenSecrets.org.

But even in places like Chicago, experts say it's always better for business owners to stay mum.

"The safest bet is to stay away from politics," said Darren Tristano president of the food research firm Technomic. In the case of recent fundraisers, he added: "it's more likely that you'll end up turning more people off on the right than bringing in more of the left."

However, Tristano said that it's understandable for chefs and restaurateurs to be concerned about immigrant crackdowns that could have significant impacts on the industry.

About 1 in 4 employees in the restaurant industry are foreign-born, and the industry is also one of the largest employers of workers who are in the country illegally, according to government data.

"The restaurant industry has a lot to lose and quite frankly the American public does too," Tristano said.

"Restaurants want to become more politically involved, and that's reflective of the country as a whole," he added. "We're more divided, but we're more engaged too. Americans, especially the next generation, want a voice."

Restaurants are where our culture happens: breaking bread and sharing a meal. These things are all connected.  Saru Jayaraman, co-founder of ROC United

Michael Roper, owner of the Hopleaf bar and restaurant in Andersonville, said his moves since the election are part of a long-standing effort to raise money for causes he believes in.

Advertisement

"Our version of doing good has been good for business," Roper said. "There are always people who say they will not come to Hopleaf because of (our stances) or leave nasty reviews on Yelp. But I would say most of our customers are on board."

On Inauguration Day, Roper dubbed Hopleaf a "No Trump Zone" and donated a portion of Inauguration Day sales to Planned Parenthood because of concern about possible legislation that would limit access to abortion services. It was the busiest day in Hopleaf's 25-year history, Roper said.

Hopleaf has held a number of fundraisers for charities related to social justice, the environment and public education.

"We have certain causes that we are not ashamed to say we support," he said.

Roper said he didn't get any backlash from his efforts until Inauguration Day, when he got a long letter from a customer who said she voted for Trump and wouldn't be coming back.

"It's her right not to shop at a place that offends her politics," Roper said. "I'm all for somebody coming in (and sharing their views) too. We like to have civil debate over a pint of beer. That's tavern life.

Advertisement

"But you have to be willing to listen, and we on the left have to be equally tolerant. It's a weird time because there's not a lot of listening going on."

In the future, Roper said he will continue to raise money for causes he believes in, but he'll work to keep the focus positive.

That was a lesson learned most notably on Inauguration Day.

Roper acknowledges now that declaring Hopleaf a "No Trump Zone" "was a bit over the top."

"We've never had any negative (reactions) until Inauguration Day," he said.

"It's probably better in this climate to be positive," he added. "And using our business as a conduit for that is a good thing."

Advertisement

There are some causes that Roper is uneasy about participating in.

He says he's "on the fence" about whether to join the sanctuary restaurant movement, a joint effort by Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, an organization that advocates for higher food industry wages, and Presente.org, an advocacy group for Latin American immigrants.

The movement urges restaurants, bars and cafes to proclaim they are safe places to work and dine, regardless of a person's immigration status, race, religion or gender identity.

"By joining the movement, I worry I may be putting my immigrant workers at risk," said Roper, who fears making Hopleaf the target of raids by immigration officials. "They all have green cards, and Social Security numbers, but they're nervous for their cousins, brothers  or that their legitimate papers might be taken away from them. Other times I would say I'm not afraid, but in these times, you never know."

Hopleaf also didn't participate in the recent Day Without Immigrants protest, because Roper didn't want his staff to go without tips for the day.

"We had an employee deported once. He missed an immigration hearing and ran a stop sign. So I know there are millions of people who are on the edge of being kicked out and having their lives turned upside down," he said.

Advertisement

"For those of us who are lucky enough to have our immigrant past a generation or two behind us, we have to stand up."

The Day Without Immigrants took place across the U.S. on Feb. 16. Prominent Chicago restaurants including The Berghoff, four restaurants owned by chef Rick Bayless and fine dining spot Acadia closed, while several other restaurants and cafes offered employees the day off with pay.

Ryan McCaskey, Acadia's chef and owner, said he felt compelled to participate after he saw travelers stopped at airports following Trump's executive order barring entry to the U.S. for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries. Implementation of the order was later blocked by federal courts.

"The most powerful person in the world is generating all this fear. It's tough to be quiet about," he said.

McCaskey, an immigrant who was adopted as a toddler from Saigon by a Palatine couple near the end of the Vietnam War, first published his plan to close on Facebook.

The reaction was "98 percent positive, but there was 2 percent who were telling me to go back to Vietnam and things like that on social media," he said, adding that customers were "very understanding" when called to reschedule their reservations.

Advertisement

McCaskey employs three cooks who are in the U.S. on work visas, and he said Acadia usually brings in "a few visa interns, from China, India, Vietnam ... and none of them are illegal."

"I think right now it's very important that we as a country make our voices heard," he said. "When our civil rights are being encroached upon, it makes a difference to all of us."

McCaskey said he will continue to "closely monitor" political developments and protests and "when we can stand up, we will."

"Coming up in the restaurant industry, it was just a normal thing that there were illegal immigrants in the kitchen," he said. "At the end of the day, we just like people who work hard and do their jobs. That's how black and white it is. It makes sense our voice in the industry is strong and it is heard."

That was the impetus behind the sanctuary restaurant movement, which started in January, its creators say.

"Workers of color all feel vulnerable, and our industry is the largest employer of those vulnerable," said Saru Jayaraman, co-founder of ROC United. "We thought we could build a proactive agenda."

Advertisement

There are about a dozen sanctuary restaurants in the Chicago area, including Avondale's Honey Butter Fried Chicken, Bistro Champagne in Ravenswood and Brightwork Kitchen in the Loop. Participants outside the city include Sovereign in Plainfield, Dunning's Market in Homewood and Edzo's Burger Shop in Evanston.

More than 200 restaurants are participating nationwide, Jayaraman said.

"Our industry faces tremendous challenges: The worst labor shortage in history and very low wages," she said. "Now these (immigrant workers) are not only struggling just to survive but feeling this tremendous amount of fear. Deportation means being taken away from your family, being put in jail, in many cases their children are taken away and put in the American foster care system. It's way more than people realize."

Jayaraman said the focus for restaurateurs' political actions recently has been on immigration in large part because of the makeup of its workers, but also because of what restaurants mean as a whole in our society.

"Restaurants are where our culture happens: breaking bread and sharing a meal," she said. "These things are all connected."

sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com

Advertisement

Twitter @SamWillTravel
Film Major Paul Lurie uses his graduation cap to help his job search at the Wang Center during Emerson College's 124th commencement ceremony. It reads, "Will write for food." (Lane Turner / Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The college graduate underemployment epidemic is easing.

And the stereotypical image of young people stuck in parents' basements, working as baristas at Starbucks and wondering why they burdened themselves with $30,000 in student loan debt is becoming outdated.

Advertisement

There are still too many recent graduates in jobs that didn't require them to go to college, but the situation is improving. A highly cited report several years ago found 53.6 percent of recent college graduates were out of work or underemployed in 2011. But recently released data from a separate source shows that in 2014 only about 33 percent of people fresh out of college didn't have jobs that required college educations and after age 22 their career paths were much improved. The latest figures were released by Stephen Rose of the Urban Institute, who analyzed the American Consumer Survey of 2014.

That 33 percent number is clearly not reassuring for those who went to college and expected more, but the general trend into more opportunity for college graduates is encouraging. Generally, people straight out of college are most likely to have problems finding good jobs during a recession, but as they move through their 20s and 30s they get into jobs that are a better match for their educational background, Rose said.

Advertisement

By their prime earning years, between 35 and 55, they may not even recall that they struggled to get ahead when young, he said.

Rose analyzed data from 167 occupations, responsibilities within those occupations and earnings. He compared the experience of recent college graduates against recent grads of years past and found that people who entered jobs shortly after the 2008 recession did worse than previous generations, but not as badly as commonly thought.

According to the data, about 33 percent of recent college graduates in 2014 started their working years with jobs that didn't require their degrees. By comparison, in 1980, 29 percent of recent graduates settled for less than what their degrees called for. Although 1980 was followed by strong years of opportunity, the initial experience of college graduates wasn't easy. They were coming into a job market flooded with waves of new baby boomers with fresh bachelor's degrees.

In contrast, 2000 was among the best of times, until the economy went into a recession after the technology stock bubble burst. Amid that peak in employment, there was still a substantial group of young graduates who didn't find jobs that met their qualifications. About 24 percent of young graduates took jobs that didn't require their degrees.

Now there are signs that recent graduates are finding a more comfortable path than appeared likely right after the 2008 recession. A poll by the Pew Research Center in 2014 found significant optimism. About 86 percent of college grads between 25 and 32 said they were either in a "career job" or in "a stepping stone to a career job."

Rose's data provide encouragement for today's high school students considering college, or those in jobs who are thinking about going to college. In a nutshell, it shows that college typically is worth it. But it's not a guarantee. Coming out of college in tough economic times does not provide the initial opportunity people expected to have upon graduation. And certain fields, such as teaching, social work, art and writing, don't pay well despite being geared toward people with college degrees, Rose notes.

In addition, certain minority groups can't count on college to provide as much opportunity as students might imagine. After graduating from college, Hispanics and African-Americans were significantly more likely to end up overqualified for jobs in 2014 and 1980, said Rose.

"These findings underscore the importance of a strong macroeconomy for these underrepresented minorities," Rose said.

Advertisement

His findings also carry another warning: Although with time the outlook for college-level jobs has improved for the recession generation of college graduates, Rose found trouble for those who haven't been able to make it into jobs suited for their educations.

Pay is much higher for people who are in jobs geared toward people with college educations than those that don't require college. But people who finished college with degrees and then ended up settling into positions that weren't geared toward college educations paid a steep price.

In 2014, college graduates who did not find good-fitting occupations earned just half of what their peers did in jobs fit for college grads, noted Rose. And the price is much steeper now than for people a few decades ago. In 1980, if a person with a degree settled for a job that didn't require college, the individual sacrificed just a third of the pay he would have had in a job with higher qualifications.

gmarksjarvis@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @gailmarksjarvis
The Export-Import Bank of the United States is seen July 28, 2015, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP)

The Export-Import Bank of the United States, often derided in some circles as the "Bank of Boeing" and an epicenter of crony capitalism, is regaining favor with one of its harshest critics  President Donald Trump.

On the campaign trail, candidate Trump dissed the Ex-Im Bank as "unnecessary," which is actually one of the nicer things he had to say about the federal agency.

Advertisement

Now, however, Trump is signaling he's going to reverse course and liberate the Ex-Im Bank from a politically imposed exile that's severely limited lending and hamstringing its mission to help U.S. companies export more goods and services.

Let's hope Trump moves quickly in the right direction. An Ex-Im Bank comeback is not only good for giant employers, like Boeing, but also for small and midsize Chicago-area and Illinois manufacturers, which are essential to the health and wealth of our economy.

Advertisement

"It's not crony capitalism, it's capitalism that's going on," says Greg Baise, CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, who contends the Ex-Im Bank's expertise is crucial to his group's estimated 4,000 member companies.

Started in 1934 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Ex-Im Bank primarily backstops U.S. companies trying to compete overseas, often against government-subsidized competitors.

For large companies, the Ex-Im Bank mainly provides U.S.-backed guarantees on higher-risk loans that enable global customers to purchase big-ticket items such as Boeing's jets or Caterpillar's heavy equipment or bulldozers.

For midsized and small manufacturers, the Ex-Im Bank makes loans and handles insurance on contracts with overseas customers, ensuring that U.S. firms selling goods overseas are paid promptly and properly.

Like any good bank, it manages risk while making money.

The Ex-Im Bank's annual loan losses are historically well below 1 percent, less than your average commercial lender. By charging for fees and services, it regularly generates annual surplus revenue. Last year it gave back $284 million to the U.S. Treasury, according to Ex-Im Bank data.

Yet in recent years, the agency has come under severe attack from conservative advocates and Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. While running for office, Trump chimed in last August, telling the press: "It's sort of a featherbedding for politicians and others, and a few companies."

Critics claim the Ex-Im Bank is merely providing thinly veiled corporate handouts to wealthy, multinational companies. They are especially peeved at Boeing, which is among the bank's largest beneficiaries and has enjoyed its support in selling jets to India, Poland and other countries.

Advertisement

Thus, the branding: Bank of Boeing.

Chicago-based Boeing argues the Ex-Im Bank is helping to offset a significant price disadvantage the aerospace and defense giant often faces when competing for customers against state-backed manufacturers like Europe's Airbus.

I'd argue that Boeing makes an important point about leveling the global playing field. Moreover, when Boeing wins a contract, that work helps to support, and protect, thousands of U.S. factory jobs while maintaining a nationwide network of 6,000 parts and supply vendors.

As important, Illinois small and midsized manufacturers apply for Ex-Im Bank loans and those insurance policies needed to limit the downside of the exporting business.

Illinois is one of the country's top exporting states, sending an assortment of goods to Mexico, Canada, China, India, Europe and elsewhere.

For many years, the Ex-Im Bank has been active in Illinois.

Advertisement

It supported a total of $5.17 billion of exports from 322 Illinois-based businesses between 2009 and 2014  with nearly two-thirds of them small businesses  according to data from the agency.

Yet due to political wrangling and dysfunctionality that's not worth getting into here, the Ex-Im Bank has been operating at much reduced speed since 2014.

Currently, it has about $30 billion in deals waiting to be authorized by a board that's short-handed with only two acting members from a total of five. A quorum of three is needed to approve bigger deals.

Recently, President Trump told a Democratic senator to spread the word that he was backing the Ex-Im Bank and would soon be addressing those governance issues.

That's encouraging.

For Trump, the hard part is already over. After all, he's put aside his initial antipathy toward the Ex-Im Bank.

Advertisement

Now, his job is manufacturing its much-needed revival.

roreed@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @reedtribbiz
Hungary is known for its Tokaj aszu. Royal Tokaji Mad Cuvee, named after the town of Mad, is essentially a straightforward late-harvest wine made from the grape furmint. (E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune)

If one good thing came from the years of Communist control in Hungary, it was to hew Hungarian winemaking to its traditions.

For the most part, Hungary's wine is still made as it has long been made, by small vineyard owners and wineries and down-to-earth, everyday folk. Fertilizer use is infrequent; sustainable farming practices are common.

Advertisement

This somewhat bucolic image belies Hungary's past as a winemaking country. From the 17th to the early 20th century, Hungary had the third most sophisticated wine culture in Europe, after France and Germany. As early as the 1600s, Hungary developed the first system in Europe for classifying wine on the basis of quality (well ahead of Bordeaux or Burgundy).

Nonetheless, taken as a whole, Hungary's wines today have little of their former stature, save for one wine, the famed Tokaj aszu. But the potential for renewed greatness is there and, if Tokaj is a model, a foregone conclusion.

Advertisement

Hungary possesses all the elements required for fine winemaking: a mix of soils, pocketed throughout the country; favorable climates; a range of grape varieties, both indigenous and "international" such as sauvignon blanc; a long history of making both table wines and one of the world's most sought-after dessert wines; and, finally, the present period of peace and independence.

Hungarian wines can be difficult to understand, especially because of the tortuous Finno-Ugric language that the Magyars introduced to this part of the world. (The names of the white grapes "harslevelu" and "szurkebarat" do not come trippingly off the tongue.)

But one Hungarian grape variety is easy to pronounce, is the basis of Tokaj aszu and is also made into a crisp dry white wine that is gaining favor for its flexibility with food. That grape is the furmint.

Furmint is extraordinarily high in acidity (which nicely balances Tokaj's sweetness). Thus, it gives dry white wines made from it an exceptionally racy edge. It also can intrigue with its aromas, of green apple or pear, lime, nuts and, often and most interestingly, smoke.

But from furmint comes what Louis XIV called "vinum regnum, rex vinorum," the wine of kings and the king of wines, Tokaj aszu (toe-KAY or toe-KAI ah-SZOO).

During the years 1682-1725, a detachment of Russian soldiers stationed themselves in eastern Hungary, near the town of Tokaj. Their sole purpose was to return to Russia after each harvest with sufficient Tokaj aszu for their boss, Czar Peter the Great.

This wine, one of the great sweet wines of the world, is just now regaining that bygone renown, after warding off the relentless destruction visited upon it by  in succession  the plant louse phylloxera, two world wars and the nationalization of its wineries by the political successors of Peter the Great.

Since 1989 and the democratization of Hungary, much foreign investment has bolstered Hungarian winemaking, especially that of Tokaj aszu.

Advertisement

"Aszu" is the Hungarian name for the dry, rotting grapes affected at the end of harvest by the beneficent mold Botrytis cinerea, those grapes that are made into a luscious and unctuous wine in ascending degrees of sweetness. (The same thing occurs in France, in the sweet wines Sauternes and Barsac, and in the late-harvest rieslings of Germany.)

Botrytis is a "good" mold because, while it does rot grapes, it does so in a way that both does not spoil them and brings about a sought-after quality. As botrytis spores puncture the skins of the grapes, it draws out water to feed itself but does not allow a grape's great enemy, oxygen, to get inside the grapes.

And as it dehydrates the grapes, it progressively concentrates their sugars and acids. When these grapes are picked (often one by one) and made into wine, the result is nectar.

Tokaj aszu is constructed from four different grape varieties, the predominant one being furmint, though all four grapes share one aspect in common: high acidity. Such acidity is a nearly necessary foil to Tokaj aszu's sweetness and is, indeed, the one characteristic that distinguishes Tokaj aszu among its peers in the world's rare sweet wines.

Tokaj aszu is made by picking the infected grapes and crushing them into a paste. A substantial quantity of uninfected grapes (botrytis is not universal in a vineyard) are made into a base wine. The aszu paste is added back to the base wine in various proportions and then everything ferments into the finished sweet wine.

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

The paste that is added back to the base wine is measured in what are called puttonyos, about 50 pounds or a little over five gallons of aszu. The more puttonyos, the sweeter the Tokaj aszu.

Advertisement

Recommended:

2013 Royal Tokaji Dry Furmint "The Oddity," Tokaj, Hungary: Pear, green apple, minerals, energetic and extraordinary acidity. $17

2012 Royal Tokaji "Mad Cuvee," Tokaj, Hungary: Named after Tokaj's neighbor town, Mad, this is essentially a straightforward late-harvest furmint; apricots and orange marmalade; beautiful honeyed character. $21 (375 milliliters)

2008 Royal Tokaji Tokaj Aszu 5 Puttonyos, Tokaj, Hungary: Intense botrytis character of burnt honey, dried apricot and orange marmalade; campfire smoke marks the finish as does the telltale furmint acidity, as sharp as a whip's crack. $35-$55 (500 milliliters)

2007 Royal Tokaji Tokaj Aszu 6 Puttonyos, Mezes Maly Vineyard, Tokaj, Hungary: Liquid sultana raisins; oily in texture; a whopping, teeth-vibrating 221 grams/liter; residual sugar in the end balanced with drying acidity. $125 (500 milliliters)

St. John has been writing and teaching about wine for more than 40 years.
Avner Avraham gives a tour of Operation Finale: The Capture and Trial of Adolf Eichmann, an exhibit that recently opened at the Holocaust Museum in Skokie and was curated by Avraham, a former agent of Israels secret intelligence. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

It isn't every day that a museum exhibit plays out more like the plot of a spy novel -- and in addition has major historical significance.

But that's the considerable allure of "Operation Finale: The Capture and Trial of Adolf Eichmann," recently opened at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

Advertisement

It tells a story, beginning, middle and end, and it is a gripping one, punctuated by the actual false passports and surveillance photographs used to identify the notorious Nazi war criminal hiding in Argentina in 1960 and bring him back to Israel. It culminates in his trial and includes the famous bulletproof glass booth in which Eichmann sat, expressionless, as Holocaust survivors recounted the horrors for which he was responsible.

MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR

Advertisement

That trial marked a turning point for survivors, said Avner Avraham, exhibition curator and the former agent of Mossad, Israel's secret intelligence service, who first developed the exhibit. Before that public airing, Avraham said, "you have to remember that most Holocaust survivors felt ashamed."

Making its second U.S. stop, the temporary exhibit is co-produced by Mossad, and Avraham originally developed it as an in-house exhibit, drawing on the spy agency's rich trove of artifacts preserved from the Eichmann capture.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw it there, Avraham said, "and said, 'Why don't you bring it to the Knesset'  Israeli parliament  'and open it to the public?'"

There is more background material in the American version, he said, but the essence of it, rooted in artifacts from the capture mission and in the tale of the mission, is the same.

"In a world where people are so interested in James Bond and these kind of stories," said Arielle Weininger, curator for the Skokie museum, "this is the real deal."

Eichmann was a leading architect of Adolf Hitler's "Final Solution." The Nazi SS lieutenant colonel organized the logistics of moving Eastern Europe's Jews to ghettos and extermination camps.

As a prisoner of war after the war, Eichmann was thought to be the soldier "Otto Eckmann," the second of four names he would use. He escaped and worked in rural Germany, and then, with the help of an ex-Nazi network and Catholic convents and monasteries, made his way to Italy. As Ricardo Klement, he sailed for Argentina in 1950, where he would work for Mercedes-Benz.

Two years later, his wife and children would join him, and it was a son's teenage romance that would tip Israel to the true identity of this German expatriate car executive.

Advertisement

"It all starts with a love story," Avraham said. "It starts with a girl meets a boy, and the boy is Eichmann's son. He didn't know that her father is a half Jew, half Christian Holocaust survivor from Dachau."

The son apparently didn't do much to hide his identity. Although his father was still Klement, the son went by "Nick Eichmann," and the girl's father overheard enough to become "convinced that his daughter's friend was in fact Klaus Eichmann, the oldest son of the long-missing war criminal," the exhibit's text says.

The father wrote to an old acquaintance back in Germany, who then notified the young state of Israel, and the hunt was on.

To tell too much of how Eichmann was identified, captured and smuggled out of Argentina is to take away some of the power of this exhibition. Visitors will want to read the wall cards, even as they view the actual Leica camera, for instance, used to photograph the man and the passport fabricated for him to leave Argentina under the name Zeev Zichroni.

There are even the gloves one agent wore, because, Weininger said, "he specifically wore gloves because he did not want to touch Eichmann ... The objects are amazing."

When it comes to the trial room, an innovative triptych video presentation tells the story. With the glass booth at the center, three screens simultaneously show witness testimony, Eichmann and those who attended the trial.

Advertisement

"It's actually a new way to tell the story of the Holocaust," Avraham said of "Operation Finale." "People know all the pictures from Auschwitz and the people with the clothes like pajamas. We all know it. But when you have the first big spy operation for the Mossad with all the people and the details, 11 agents, the plane, the ship, Plan A and Plan B  the main glory is to bring a Nazi alive to trial in Israel."

sajohnson@chicagotribune.com

Twitter: @StevenKJohnson

When: Until June 18

Where: Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie

Tickets: Free with museum admission (adults, $12; students and seniors, $8, children 5-11, $6); www.ilholocaustmuseum.org

Advertisement

RELATED STORIES:

Holocaust Museum, new 3-D technology bring survivor stories to life

Holocaust film reveals the pain of bringing autobiography to screen

Firm that shaped national African-American museum hired for Obama museum







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)
NEW YORK  In Ang Lee's unforgettable movie "Brokeback Mountain," a young actor named Jake Gyllenhaal played a cowboy who falls in love with another cowboy not out of any desire the men could define, but because an unstoppable force has overwhelmed them.

A dozen years into a subsequently distinguished career, Gyllenhaal finds himself on Broadway playing the Georges in a revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's "Sunday in the Park With George," two men (one man, really) who cannot really love at all, since attending to the needs of a fellow, three-dimensional human would oblige them to look up from their canvas once in a while. They'd rather the outside world stayed perfectly still, offering itself up as a model, not something demanding commitment. If you've never loved, there is nothing to quit.

Advertisement

Except for your work, of course. And who would want to quit that, when you're on the cusp of leaving behind something great?

A close reading of Sondheim's underappreciated lyrics for "Bounce," the musical retitled "Road Show," suggest he later came to a very different place about the obligation of the artist to love (how else do you leave those listening children behind?). But "Sunday in the Park," which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1985 and explores the revolutionary French painter Georges Seurat and some possible avenues for his contemporary American descendants, remains an iconic and justly beloved musical, a strange work brimming with aphorisms and truths about the perils and practicalities of the creative life. As the debut show that is returning the historic Hudson Theatre on Thursday night's opening to its rightful place as a Broadway house, it's famous as the musical that brought to life a painting (Act 2 of this revival specifically is set at the Art Institute of Chicago where "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" famously hangs), but it's also a two-act advice manual on how to fight your need for external approval.

Advertisement

MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR

In some productions, the piece plays as an apologia for the difficult artist with the big personality  a lyrically biting detailing of why the artist must hate producers, financial backers, critics, hangers-on and potential lovers in order to finish that famous metaphorical hat. But Gyllenhaal's George does not come with the usual leave-me-alone attitude. He's far more of a cipher, a vessel for his art and, by extension, the show itself. Take that art away and you wouldn't find a guy that Annaleigh Ashford's Dot would actually want to love, not that she knows that. If George looked up in director Sarna Lapine's production, there would not be that much of him to see. Beyond the longing in Gyllenhaal's sad eyes. You'd never have said that about Mandy Patinkin's uncontainable performance in this same role.

Gyllenhaal is at once distinctive, self-effacing and the boldest choice made in this uneven if intriguing production, albeit by virtue of its relative neutrality (it's Gyllenhaal, so we're talking smoldering neutrality). The actor can certainly carry the musical demands of the show, but not with bravura flourish, for he does not have that kind of voice. Ashford's wholly empathetic Dot also is a more contained piece of work than most incarnations of George's tempting antithesis.

Whether Ashford is playing Dot, or the role of the elderly Marie in Act 2, you always feel that she does not want that much from George. Hers is a modest ask  connect for just a moment, you feel her saying as the lyrics to her numbers are cagily and tentatively delivered  but she still, of course, cannot be satisfied. Ashford imbues much of Gyllenhaal's sadness as Dot's flirtiness falls into acceptance, and those are her best moments. Her typically accomplished use of charm and comedy feels more of an escape in this show, insufficiently integrated by the director into the whole.

Lapine's overall approach  assuming that is what I am describing here  is a perfectly justifiable and resonant way into this show and, I'd wager, a closer match for where Lapine (her uncle) and Sondheim are now with regard to their midlife show. The downside, though, of the projection of art as personality-killing necessity is that you don't see a lot of possibility for life lived the other way  you know, the functional one with the love, art and kids  and the diminished potential of the road not traveled has the impact of cutting the tension in the piece and compromising one of its most perpetually engaging qualities.

That would be its articulation of the life force that propels us all. In other words, Lapine has figured out an emotional key for her production but not, to my mind, a sufficiently extensive or cohesive narrative sweep.

This "Sunday in the Park" is staged with an orchestra on stage behind a projectable canvas  a conceit that allows the music to flow through the paintings and even for you to catch the swing of the conductor's arm on occasion as the mostly adroit supporting players (the ensemble includes the likes of Robert Sean Leonard, who is especially good in Act 2, Brooks Ashmanskas, Penny Fuller, Jenni Barber and Phillip Boykin) sing a score that must remain a pleasure to perform, as it surely is to hear in any theater.

The Act 2 "Chromolume #7", though, is something else entirely  a full-on, high-tech, sound and light extravaganza. The designer Beowulf Boritt using a series of pulleys mounted in the ceiling. It's a bravura, Las Vegas-like effect (it looked a bit like a dry-land version of the computerized waters beloved by hotelier Steve Wynn) in a show that hitherto feels more like a concert-style work. I struggled at first to see how it was married to the whole, but I ended up deciding the quest was not fruitful. In this production, The Chromolume is a colorful moment of art that does not carry an obligation  and thus it is free to do what humans, riven by our need to both win the race and be loved along the way, can never do alone. Not a bad baptism for a new theater.

Advertisement

"Sunday in the Park With George" plays at the Hudson Theatre, 141 W. 44th St.; www.thehudsonbroadway.com

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ChrisJonesTrib

MORE FROM THE THEATER LOOP:

These two plays reach Chicagoans who don't go to the theater

Advertisement

Review: Glenn Close is scary good in 'Sunset Boulevard' on Broadway

A packed 'Hamilton' matinee  all Chicago Public School students and their teachers







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)
In 1957, a prominent syndicated political columnist named Joseph W. Alsop Jr.  a powerful journalist who spent his life hobnobbing with, and successfully influencing, the political elite  took off for Moscow to research a couple of columns. One afternoon, he found himself in bed with an attractive young Russian gentleman.

Alsop, a closeted gay man concealed by a formidable Washington facade, was just arrogant enough to believe that his partner was there out of raw desire. Thus are so many of the mighty felled.

Advertisement

Unsurprisingly, there were cameras.

That blackmail attempt  which is well documented in the historical record, mostly because the defiant Alsop refused to become a Soviet agent to protect his secret and instead headed straight to his contacts in U.S. intelligence  is the inciting incident in "The Columnist," the carefully constructed, old-school Broadway bio-play by David Auburn that is now enjoying a straightforward but classy Chicago premiere from American Blues Theater.

Advertisement

I first saw "The Columnist" on Broadway in 2012 (it starred John Lithgow, who was having a high old time). At that juncture, sexual antics in Moscow hotel rooms that could double secretly as KGB photo studios felt very retro, very Cold War. Indeed, the whole piece felt very much like political history  a trip back to an era when a president would pop by to get drunk at a writer's house, when columnists could put fear in presidential boots to the point where they'd almost be writing foreign policy, and when Washington was a small town and everybody kept everybody's secrets. Until they didn't.

But while the facts remain as murky as the conjecture in one of Alsop's old columns, the renewed (and confirmed) Russian interest in influencing prominent political players certainly pops into one's head at the top of the play now. "Pops" might be the wrong word  "crashes" is more accurate. And that has the effect of making Auburn's play  which I thought skilled but not fully satisfying on my first viewing  appear significantly more vital, present and telling. Plus ca change, you now think as you watch.

The American Blues production, which is deftly cast and ably directed by Keira Fromm, hews relatively closely to the original Broadway staging, albeit with greater intimacy and laudably more emphasis on the private costs paid not just by those who choose to live their lives in public, but by those who love them. Thus the best scenes are between Philip Earl Johnson, who plays the title role, and the columnist's wife, Susan Mary, with the actress Kymberly Mellen (where has she been?) unlocking all kinds of layers of complicated pain. Similarly fine is the work of Coburn Goss, who plays Joe's brother (and fellow journalist) Stewart Alsop, the Horatio of this story and a man who loves his brother even as he is appalled by the extent of his scheming ambition.

Auburn clearly wants Joe to be sympathetic (we see him love his adopted daughter Abigail, played by Tyler Meredith) and Johnson's emotional performance achieves that end. He's actually playing the end right from the beginning, an approach that adds to the tragic schadenfreude of watching the mean and mighty take a fall, and pick themselves up afterward.

What he misses, especially in the crucial last few minutes, is the dark side of the thrill of the chase, the raging life force that you find in most great columnists (and politicians). You know, the determination to chase greater and greater influence and thus fly closer and closer to the sun.

The Moscow sun in this case. Do we ever learn?

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Advertisement

Twitter@ChrisJonesTrib

REVIEW: "The Columnist" at American Blues Theater (3 stars)

When: Through April 1

Where: Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Tickets: $19-$49 at 773-327-5252 or www.americanbluestheater.com
For the third year in a row, Morning Pointe Senior Living received the Top Corporate Team award, raising more than $12,000 during the Southeast Tennessee Mid-South Chapter Alzheimers Association 2016 Walk to End Alzheimers.

Morning Pointes assisted living and memory care communities in Chattanooga, Ooltewah/Collegedale and Hixson each received a plaque to commemorate their contributions to Alzheimers disease awareness in the greater Chattanooga area.

Individual staff associates from Morning Pointe communities also went home with 2016 Grand Champion awards, each raising more than $1,000. Recognition was given to Morning Pointe of Hixson leadership members Teresa Bryant, executive director, Linda Noll, Lantern program director and Emma Myers, life enrichment director; and Morning Pointe of Chattanooga at Shallowford life enrichment director Holly Holcomb.

Ms. Myers was also awarded the No. 2 Top Individual Fundraiser during the event, and her fundraising efforts were acknowledged by State Rep. Kevin Brooks (R-Cleveland) during the state-wide Alzheimers Associations Alzheimers Advocacy Day on the Hill event in Nashville.

"I am so very proud of the combined efforts of our Morning Pointe communities  not only in funds raised, but in hours spent and lives touched in support of the Alzheimer's Association and this important cause," said Greg A. Vital, president and CEO Independent Healthcare Properties and Morning Pointe Senior Living.

Associates, residents and families rolled up their sleeves to raise money, washing cars, hosting yard sales and selling handmade items among other activities to benefit the cause  a condition with no known cure that affects more than five million Americans.

While funds raised by the Chattanooga-based healthcare services company surpassed the previous years goals, the Morning Pointe team is already eager to go above and beyond for the next Alzheimer's walk.

Our residents, associates and volunteers couldnt be more excited to participate, said Ms. Holcomb. To represent those living with Alzheimers and their caregivers and loved ones in the greater Chattanooga area is one of the highest honors we could ever receive.
People with diabetes have to think about their condition and make treatment decisions constantly  and all that extra work and worry can lead to psychological distress at times.

"Diabetes distress" isn't the same as depression, diabetes experts note. It's a condition unique to the 24/7 demands that come with diabetes, particularly for people dependent on insulin.

Advertisement

"The day you develop diabetes, it's like the universe just handed you a new full-time job that you have to do in addition to whatever else you're doing. It's a special job that has a big impact on the rest of your life. There's no pay and no vacation," said William Polonsky, president of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute in San Diego.

Alicia McAuliffe-Fogarty, vice president of lifestyle management at the American Diabetes Association, put it this way: "Diabetes distress is the extra burden that people with diabetes have to carry. They have to do everything that other people do  take care of work, family, finances  and in addition they have to make sure to check their blood sugar, remember to take their medicine and/or adjust their insulin doses, count carbohydrates when they eat.

Advertisement

"It's a day-to-day and minute-to-minute burden. It's doing everything 'right' and still seeing your blood sugar levels go up," she added.

Diabetes distress is a range of different emotional responses that come with dealing with the burdens of caring for diabetes, Polonsky explained.

"It's being fed up and overwhelmed with the demands and concerns of diabetes. It's feeling powerless in the face of diabetes. It's knowing that despite your best actions, sometimes those [insulin] numbers go up and down and it seems beyond your ability to influence. And it can negatively influence one's quality of life," he added.

The phenomenon hasn't been well-studied  Polonsky said he and his colleagues are in the middle of a study on diabetes distress that will hopefully answer some questions about the condition that affects an estimated 30 percent of people with diabetes at some point in their lives.

"It's not everybody, and it's not all the time, but it's pretty darn common, and a whole lot more common than depression" among those with diabetes, Polonsky added.

Diabetes distress and other psychological conditions are common enough that the American Diabetes Association added a section to its guidelines, published recently in the journal Diabetes Care, suggesting that providers screen all of their diabetes patients for these mental health concerns.

Juggling job with no breaks

There are two main types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2.

Advertisement

People with Type 1 diabetes don't make enough insulin, a hormone the body needs to use the carbohydrates in food for fuel. Because of this, people with Type 1 rely on insulin injections or insulin delivered through a tiny catheter inserted under the skin and then attached to an insulin pump worn outside the body. People with Type 1 diabetes using shots may need five or six insulin injections daily.

In people with Type 2 diabetes, the body is no longer able to use insulin properly. Most (95 percent) of diabetes cases involve the Type 2 form. Sometimes, people with Type 2 diabetes also need to use insulin injections.

Using insulin is a difficult balancing act  too much or too little can cause problems, even life-threatening ones. When blood sugar levels drop too low from too much insulin, people can become disoriented, and if levels drop even further, they may pass out. Blood sugar levels that are too high and left untreated over time can cause complications such as kidney troubles, eye problems and heart disease.

To keep track of blood sugar levels when using insulin, most people rely on glucose meters and a lancing device that pricks the finger to draw out a drop of blood. This may be done as few as 4 times a day, or as many as a dozen or more times daily, depending on how blood sugar levels are fluctuating.

Many factors besides insulin can influence blood sugar levels. Food, alcohol, physical activity, emotions such as stress, and illness all can cause unpredictable changes in blood sugar levels.

Strength in numbers

Advertisement

Both Polonsky and McAuliffe-Fogarty said it's important to recognize and treat diabetes distress because it can have a negative impact on blood sugar management.

"In some studies, diabetes distress can impact diabetes care more than depression," McAuliffe-Fogarty said.

Antidepressants aren't likely to help someone with diabetes distress, according to Polonsky.

McAuliffe-Fogarty suggests checking in with your health care provider so you can go over your current diabetes management regimen. It's possible that changes in your management might help, she said.

Or, it might help to have a visit with a diabetes educator to go over some of the basics again, she recommended. Many people with Type 1 diabetes are diagnosed as children, and as adults may not realize they're missing some of the basics of diabetes education.

"Maybe pick one or two things that would make the most impact on your management and focus on those one or two small things, and you'll likely achieve those goals. Then set one or two more goals and move along like that  not everything needs to happen at once," McAuliffe-Fogarty said.

Advertisement

Both experts agreed that support is an important component of treating diabetes distress. "You don't want to do diabetes alone. If you have someone who's rooting for you, that really helps," Polonsky said.

He said parents or spouses can give a person with diabetes a break by taking over the management of the disease for a little while. It gives them a "diabetes vacation."

For some, distress can get more serious. McAuliffe-Fogarty said about one in every four or five people with diabetes will experience depression at some point.

She said signs that suggest you need to speak with a mental health professional include: changes in appetite and sleep patterns, having no interest in activities you once enjoyed, social isolation, feeling persistently sad or hopeless, and having a down mood on more days than not.






I recently booked round-trip airline tickets on British Airways to fly from Albuquerque, N.M., to Inverness, Scotland, on British Airways. I made the reservation through Expedia, which included one night's lodging at the Culloden House Hotel. I also booked five nights at the Ullinish Country Lodge directly.

My flight from Albuquerque to Dallas was operated by American Airlines. I was scheduled to connect with another American Airlines flight to London, but my overseas flight was delayed because of a mechanical problem. That meant missing the only daily flight to Inverness.

Advertisement

An American Airlines representative made a tentative reservation for me to fly to Inverness on the next available flight. I asked if I could be rerouted through Dublin, but all flights were booked. It became clear to me that once my American Airlines flight arrived at the gate at London, American's responsibility to me would be finished. I would be stuck in London for the next 24 hours with no luggage.

My dream trip for my 67th birthday had come to an end.

Advertisement

An American Airlines representative at Dallas was able to book me on a flight home at 9:30 p.m. I arrived back in Santa Fe at 11 p.m. The representative also agreed to initiate a refund request for the unused portion of my ticket. She told me that I would receive a refund in six to 10 days.

When no refund appeared, I called American Airlines. Another agent made another request for a refund. It's been almost four months, and I'm still waiting. Can you help?

 Leslie Hammond, Santa Fe, N.M.

A: I'm sorry to hear about your 67th birthday trip. That's what folks in the travel industry call a "trip in vain." You flew to Dallas, only to have to return home right away.

I'm troubled by the perception that American Airlines didn't care about getting you to your final destination. American and British Airways are codeshare partners, which means they are taking responsibility for each other's flights. No one from American should have left you with the impression that the airline was "finished" with you when you arrived in London.

A call to your online travel agency, Expedia, or to British Airways might have yielded a different result. As your travel agent, Expedia should have figured out a way to fix your dream vacation  that's what good travel agents do.

"Trip in vain" policies vary from airline to airline, but generally, they should offer a refund of the unused portion of your ticket. The money would be sent to your travel agent, which then would return it to you.

I list the executive contacts for American Airlines (http://elliott.org/company-contacts/american), British Airways (http://elliott.org/company-contacts/british-airways/) and Expedia (http://elliott.org/company-contacts/expedia/) on my consumer-advocacy site. I think you could have successfully appealed this delayed refund to one of them.

Advertisement

As best I can tell, your refund followed a confusing path. If British Airways ticketed you, then it had your money. American would have had to ask British Airways for the refund, and then it would have been sent to Expedia. That may account for the delay, but it doesn't fully explain it.

At my suggestion, you reached out to one of Expedia's executives. Within a week, you had a full refund for your unused tickets.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and the author of "How to Be the World's Smartest Traveler." You can read more travel tips on his blog, www.elliott.org, or email him at chris@elliott.org.

RELATED STORIES:

Travel Trouble: WOW air, where's my $92 refund?

Chicago hotel offers $20.16 rate for Cubs home opener

Advertisement

Travel etiquette: Armrests, reclining seats, snoring and more
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, shown at a City Council meeting on Feb. 22, 2017, has had some odd initiatives, like the ones on Redflex and Uber. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Forget everything your parents told you about crime.

Crime does pay.

Advertisement

Especially in Chicago.

And there it was, in two excellent stories on the front page of my Chicago Tribune, Chicago politicians with supreme Democratic Party mojo, slapping hapless taxpayers in the face:

Advertisement

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Jesse Jackson Jr., mocking the taxpaying chumbolones, slapping them again and again because they can.

One story was about the former congressman and convicted federal criminal Jesse Jackson Jr., Democrat  he of the stuffed elk heads  pulling in a juicy $138,000 a year, most of it tax-free, in federal workers' compensation benefits claimed for bipolar issues and his anguish over a messy divorce. That story was written by Katherine Skiba in Washington.

Many Americans go through messy divorces. Some suffer bipolar disorder. But they don't loot their campaign funds and buy stupid elk heads and other junk with money that's not theirs and then sit back and draw $138K on the taxpayer's dime.

Nice one, Triple J. Who's your daddy?

The other slap involved Emanuel's decision to reinstate Redflex, the notorious red light camera company that made millions catching drivers going through red lights. The firm had bribed and schemed its way into City Hall. The CEO was convicted, along with two others, including former city official John Bills, political lickspittle of Illinois Democratic boss and House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.

Redflex settled, recently paid the city $20 million, and Emanuel's government reinstated the company, allowing it to bid on future city contracts. The Tribune's David Kidwell, who has done great investigative work on Redflex, wrote the story.

I called the mayor's office, convinced this was a mistake. Rahm was too smart to do something as idiotic as absolving a crooked company while trying to rebuild his battered image.

I was wrong.

Advertisement

The city's Law Department tells me that since "this misconduct was uncovered"  they forgot to mention Kidwell uncovered it  "the company has cooperated with all investigations" and has purged itself of executives who participated in the schemes.

Oh, happy days. But that's angels-on-the-heads-of-pins lawyerly gobbledygook.

Redflex was involved in corruption and bribery. Now the mayor lets it back in line? Who is Rahm, just another tiny, 9.5-fingered version of a Daley? He could have told the company to take a walk. But instead, he gave it a lawyer's version of a wet kiss.

A mayoral spokesman assured me that if Redflex ever did bid and "hypothetically win a city contract in the future," the company would undergo "great scrutiny."

I felt sorry for the spokesman. Rahm is the boss. So he should scrooten the next few paragraphs.

If there's one elected official who can put the mayor's Redflex reinstatement in proper context, it's Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, the liberal Democrat and honest reformer.

Advertisement

"Crime pays? I don't think you're too far off," Waguespack said. "It's tone-deaf. You look at this and think, 'What's in your core to think in any way that reinstating Redflex is a good idea?' He didn't have to let them back in, but he did.

"Why does he make this decision? I don't get it. He fired them (Redflex), he draws a red line, and then he brings them back in and tells them to get in line? It's not only bad policy, it looks bad to the people of the city."

Like other odd Rahmian initiatives, including steamrolling the City Council to support Uber  his brother Ari is reportedly a major investor  the mayor's Redflex absolution smells. And not like Grandma's lavender powder-room candles that she never lights.

"It's as if there's a wall with the people on one side, and Rahm and these companies on the other," Waguespack said. "It leads to an erosion of trust, not only in him, but in the institution of government.

"And it erodes confidence, and the people ask, 'Where are we going? What kind of city is this?'"

Where are we going? What kind of city is this?

Advertisement

The city is broke, the schools are in chaos, Emanuel's working his cops to the bone, he doesn't have a real plan to deal with the gang wars and summer's coming. I appreciate Rahm's wicked wit and drive, and I know he inherited a mess at City Hall. But after he reinstated Redflex, I wonder about the guy.

Is he running the city, or merely running for office? Or is somebody running him?

And Waguespack asks, "What kind of city is this?"

I'll tell you. It's the city that isn't smart enough to elect a man like Scott Waguespack to the fifth floor of City Hall. That's the kind of city this is.

It's the city where the mayor can send out his spinners to discuss how he's rehabilitating his image before the re-election campaign, defend Chicago as a "sanctuary city" to scoop up the Latino vote, and reinstate Redflex.

It's also the city where Jesse Jackson Jr.  a political princeling  can pull in all that cash and sit on his porch with a cigar, as Chumbolone Nation pays taxes and gets zip.

Advertisement

Chicago should hold a parade in their honor, Triple J on a float, pulled by a Lexus fitted with elk heads and horns, his daddy with a bullhorn shouting "I am somebody!" and "Keep hope alive!" and Rahm perched on a Redflex camera, throwing fake Redflex refund coupons to the crowds.

They wave and shout, "Your parents were wrong! Crime does pay!"

And chumbolones? You're paying.

Listen to "The Chicago Way"  radio free Chicago in podcast form  with John Kass and Jeff Carlin at http://wgnradio.com/category/wgn-plus/category/thechicagoway.

jskass@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @John_Kass
Tiara Richmond, 24, who was fatally shot Feb. 21, 2017, was the second transgender woman killed in Chicago in six months. (Family photo )

Chicago's LGBT community and its allies are mourning the loss of a recent homicide victim who they say identified as a transgender woman.

Known to friends and family as Tiara Richmond or Keke Collier, the 24-year-old was shot and killed Tuesday about 6:15 a.m. while sitting in a car with a man in Englewood. The gunman fled from the 7300 block of South May Street in a red vehicle, police said.

Advertisement

An autopsy determined Richmond, of the 6800 block of South Normal Boulevard in Englewood, died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

"She loved to dance all the time," said Retta Collins, 26, a good friend of Richmond who knew her for nearly a decade. "She was always the life of the party. Even when we got into fights, she didn't want to fight."

Advertisement

LaSaia Wade, a transgender rights activist, said she met with Richmond's family and attended a candlelight vigil with them Wednesday night in Englewood.

Richmond's family, which includes two sisters and a brother, accepted her for who she was, Wade said. Her family could not be reached Wednesday night.

"It was beautiful," Wade, 29, said of the vigil. "They partied, they laughed, they cried trying to remember and hold on to the memories of Keke and knowing that she was loved."

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

Richmond's slaying marks the second killing of a transgender woman in Chicago in six months.

On Sept. 11, T.T. Saffore, 28, was found with her throat slit lying near railroad tracks in the 4500 block of West Monroe Street in West Garfield Park.

Two rallies in the city are planned that will honor Richmond and respond to Trump's recent rollback of federal protections enacted by the Obama administration for transgender students using bathrooms in public schools.

"It's a political mess," said Wade, a black transgender woman who runs a nonprofit that helps other gender nonconforming people. "(Trump) pretty much said he is not protecting trans students anymore and also with these last two deaths of Keke and T.T., we need to reunite the transgender and gender nonconforming community now more than ever."

In an earlier Tribune story, police and the medical examiner's office identified Richmond with the first name Donnell.

Advertisement

echerney@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ElyssaCherney


Family members of shooting victims and residents of two neighborhoods in Chicago discuss the recent use of high-powered rifles by gangs in at least 33 shootings in recent months in Back of the Yards and Brighton Park. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune) (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

The first time 14-year-old Brisa Ramirez remembers hearing rifle fire was when a man was shot dead on a Sunday afternoon outside a Catholic church around the corner from her home in Back of the Yards.

She raises her voice to imitate the sharp, metallic bursts. Ta. Ta. Ta. Ta. Ta. It was a foreign sound even in this neighborhood accustomed to gunfire.

Advertisement

"It wasn't like a normal (shooting).  It was like something more terrible," Brisa says. "A noise that you can't really explain."

She and others in Davis Square Park took cover against concrete steps across the street from Seward Elementary School, where Brisa had just graduated from eighth grade.

Advertisement

The shooting was one of at least 33 in Back of the Yards and Brighton Park over the past nine months that police believe are tied to semi-automatic rifles as several gangs boost their firepower. At least 46 people have been shot in the attacks, 13 fatally.

Police say this is the only area of the city where rifles styled after AR-15s and AK-47s are regularly used, a menacing new development in the gang fights.

It's unclear how many of the high-powered rifles are on the street, but police suspect they are being passed around by members of four Hispanic gangs in the Deering police district, which covers parts of the South and Southwest sides.

Two of the gangs  La Raza near 47th and Loomis streets and the Almighty Saints near 45th and Wood streets  have been fighting for decades. But the conflict has expanded to the Satan Disciples and Gangster Two-Sixes in neighboring Brighton Park, where violence is less frequent.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 24 Margarita Vega, from left, son Edilberto Vega and daughter Dulce Vega discuss the shooting deaths of her two sons in a Back of the Yards rifle shooting Dec. 11, 2017. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Police have seized at least three rifles and have recovered rifle casings at dozens of crime scenes. There is also surveillance video showing rifles being used, according to investigators.

Police aren't sure why the gangs have suddenly added rifles to their arsenal, except for the obvious speculation that they are deadlier.

A bullet from a semi-automatic rifle can travel as fast as 3,200 feet per second, twice the speed from a handgun. That means wounds are more disabling, experts say.

Rifle bullets can tear through cars and other obstacles, including standard-issue bulletproof vests worn by Chicago police. Special "rifle plates" that can stop those rounds are issued to SWAT teams, and some officers on regular duty also buy them.

Advertisement

Gangs have fired rifles outside elementary schools and churches, a day care center, in alleys and on residential streets, mostly during the afternoon and evening hours when streets are often crowded.

The conflict has grown so intense that officers were called to Seward and Lara elementary schools in Saints territory in December after a Raza gang member threatened to shoot school-age kids with a rifle, according to police sources.

"I get worried," said Brisa's mother, Silvia Ramirez. Her family lives in "Halo City," Almighty Saints territory bounded by 43rd and 47th streets and Damen and Ashland avenues. "I've seen how all these young people are dying."

'What did I do wrong?'

Two white candles burn in the Gonzalez family's Brighton Park living room next to two photos in a red and green Virgin Mary shadowbox.

One burns for Daniel Torres, a 17-year-old shot to death with a rifle just before Christmas outside Shields Elementary School, at 43rd and Rockwell streets, as classes were letting out. Two others also were shot, one fatally.

Advertisement

The other candle commemorates the loss of Torres' close friend, 18-year-old David Gonzalez, who was fatally shot by rifle fire three weeks later and only about a block from where Torres was killed. Four other people were wounded in the shooting.

As young children, Torres and Gonzalez used to scream for each other from across Fairfield Avenue because their parents wouldn't let them cross the street.

They became inseparable as their families grew close by marriage. They lived together for years, and both joined the Satan Disciples.

Their parents think the two turned because they felt backed into a corner. Torres' mother, Marisa Dominguez, said her son and Gonzalez had been bullied by Satan Disciples at Kelly Park and by Two-Sixers in high school.

"I think about it every day. Every day I say to myself, what did I do wrong with my son? Was I a bad mom, was I a bad parent that I didn't do enough?" Dominguez said. "You think about it now, now that he's not here, now that I know I'm not going to see him again."

The Satan Disciples  with their turf between about Oakley and California avenues  and the Two-Sixers  west of there  are as much a part of Brighton Park as the brown bungalows and iron fences that line the one-way streets south of Pershing Road.

Advertisement

But residents say it's only in the last three or four years that they've seen such violence.

The Deering police district is one of four that experienced a lot of Chicago's violence in 2016, the deadliest year in the city in two decades. Deering finished the year with about 60 people killed, roughly double the previous year.

Police started noticing the rifles early last year, mostly in Back of the Yards, and their use has been increasing. October had three rifle shootings, November had six and December had nine, about the time the shootings started in Brighton Park, according to police.

Torres' death on Dec. 16 was only the third rifle shooting in that neighborhood since March, but there have been five since.

Dominguez was walking to pick up her younger kids from a charter school when she heard gunfire. Worried, she said she called her son, but he did not answer.

By the time she made it home, ambulances were lining up on 43rd Street. Torres' friends ran up and said her son had been shot. She waited at the scene after telling police her son's name. Officers told her he was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, but he died before she got there.

Advertisement

"I was so young when I had him, and God took him from me when he was young as well," Dominguez said. "I had a very good relationship with him. I did the best that I could for him."

By the end of December, gangs in the area were using rifles "almost exclusively," according to several veteran officers interviewed by the Tribune. The last day of 2016 saw two rifle shootings: one a block from Brisa Ramirez's home and the other a few blocks west.

The first rifle shooting of the new year was the one that killed Gonzalez on Jan. 11.

In the weeks before his own death, Gonzalez had been shaken by Torres' killing. He had built a small memorial in the family's back yard from cardboard and foil and sat out there, his family said. Others would join him and light candles.

"He was always back there. Every morning with his coffee, he was back there," Dominguez said. "He took it hard."

On the day he died, Gonzalez spent the morning at home. It was pouring rain. He left the house that afternoon after eating a warm meal prepared by his mother.

Advertisement

The family had scheduled a Mass for what would have been Torres' 18th birthday on Jan. 12, so Gonzalez texted his friends. He wanted everyone to show up.

"He couldn't have been outside for more than half an hour when it happened," said his mother, Juliana Gonzalez. "Because it's not like I can say he was out all night  it was the afternoon."

Gonzalez was in a car with four others on Talman Avenue, across from Shields Elementary, when someone stepped from a white van and started shooting. All five in the car were hit, Gonzalez the most seriously.

His family heard on social media that he had been shot. His mother drove from hospital to hospital, looking for him. She was desperate for information, learning little from rumors spreading on social media.

As it turned out, her son had been pronounced dead where the car finally stopped, about a mile from the shooting. He had been shot in the back of the head.

Four days later, two people were wounded in a rifle shooting that police believe was retaliation for Gonzalez's killing.

Advertisement

Chicago police recovered these two rifles after a chase in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Feb. 9, 2017. One is a Remington AR-15-style and the other is a Norinco AK-47-style made in China, according to law enforcement sources. (Chicago Police Department)

'The rifle comes out'

The weapon of choice for gangs had long been the revolver, the same kind of gun carried by police. That began to evolve in the 1980s and early 1990s with the appearance of the TEC-9 and MAC-10 pistols with high-capacity magazines. Then it was the semi-automatic handgun, the same weapon Chicago officers now use.

Rifles were briefly used about 10 years ago in a conflict between the New Breeds and the Traveling Vice Lords, two of the West Side's most violent street gangs. Former police Superintendent Jody Weis allowed patrol officers to carry semi-automatic rifles after two officers nearly got shot by a gunman armed with an AK-47 rifle.

Semi-automatic rifles can be bought by anyone licensed to buy a firearm. They fire a single round per trigger pull and the magazine can carry 30 rounds.

Police have several theories about how the Hispanic gangs are getting these rifles  they're buying them in Indiana, where gun laws are more lax, or they're buying or renting them from other gangs.

"Alliances, sort of," one veteran South Side officer said.

Advertisement

In many of the rifle shootings, gangs send out scout cars in search of rivals, according to the officer. "The other car comes up, and the rifle comes out," the officer said.

In Back of the Yards and Brighton Park, rifle fire has come from a black SUV, a silver Nissan Sentra with tinted windows, a brown minivan with sliding doors, and a red or maroon Jeep Cherokee, according to police.

Rifle seizures are still rare and didn't crack the list of the 20 most-seized types of guns in 2014, according to the latest breakdown from the Police Department.

Police and Cook County sheriff's officers have conducted searches across the neighborhood over the last few months. At least three rifles have been seized so far in the Deering District.

One of the rifles was recovered last Labor Day. Police were pursuing two suspected La Raza gang members after a fatal shooting in Almighty Saints territory. The two wrapped the rifle in a T-shirt and tried stashing it in a clothing donation bin, according to a security video from a gas station on Western Avenue. But it didn't fit, so they kept running and were arrested in an alley just off Western. The rifle was recovered in a backyard nearby.

In the most recent seizure, on Feb. 9, officers on patrol spotted gunfire from a car near 47th Street, not far from where a warrant had come up empty-handed in January.

Advertisement

As the officers gave chase, a dispatcher said neighbors were flooding 911 to report gunfire.

"Sounded like a machine gun," the dispatcher said. "Just be advised, we still have hot tickets coming in for shots fired, 47(th) and Loomis, 47(th) and Bishop."

The chase went as far south as Garfield Boulevard before heading back north toward Almighty Saints territory at 43rd Street and Ashland Avenue. Two teens deserted the car in an alley and took off on foot, but officers arrested one within seconds wearing a black face mask and black gloves.

While searching for the other teen, police started hearing gunfire near 45th and Wood, then near 48th and Paulina. One officer wondered if it was a diversion. "They're not above shooting to just get our attention," he radioed.

Police found two rifles inside the car  one a Remington, its serial number defaced, complicating efforts to figure out its origins, and the other a Norinco AK-47-style rifle made in China, according to law enforcement sources.

So far, police have linked one of them to a shooting Dec. 30 in the 4700 of South Throop Street that wounded one person.

Advertisement

As the conflict escalates, Marisa Dominguez worries gangs will try to recruit her 12-year-old son by enticing him to avenge his brother's death.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

"This is the time where they start trying to get more kids," she said. "I fear that they'll grab him ... and pull (him) in little by little. And that's the biggest fear now."

pnickeas@chicagotribune.com

jgorner@chicagotribune.com

nmoreno@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @PeterNickeas

Advertisement

Twitter @JeremyGorner

Twitter @nereidamorenos
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, left, hosts a roundtable discussion at the State of Illinois Building in Chicago on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. Representatives from local civil rights and human rights groups talked about the impact federal executive orders might have on their communities. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

At a summit of civil rights leaders Thursday called by the state's attorney general, local activists say they are seeing an increase of hate crime incidents in the Chicago area in the wake of President Donald Trump 's immigration enforcement policies.

Hate incidents targeted toward immigrant and religious minority groups in the months since Trump's election have sent a ripple of fear through those communities, whose members are uneasy about partaking in normal activities like attending synagogue or crossing the Canadian border. Activists report instances of Muslim women having their scarves pulled off and say graffiti with Trump's name paired with a swastika were found in a suburban library bathroom on five different occasions.

More than 1,000 reports of hate incidents in the United States were collected by the Southern Poverty Law Center in the month since Donald Trump's election, and data released in January by the FBI show there were 5,850 hate crime incidents nationally in 2015, up 6.8 percent from 5,479 in 2014.

Advertisement

In the Chicago area, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported 400 hate crimes in 2016, and has counted 175 incidents so far in 2017, just two months into the new year. The organization could not immediately provide a monthly comparison to 2016. But Maaria Mozaffar, a legal adviser with the organization, said members have noticed a spike in bullying and travel-related hate incidents this year.

Nareman Taha, right, of Arab American Family Services, listens to comments being made during a roundtable discussion at the State of Illinois Building in Chicago on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. Representatives from local civil rights and human rights groups talked about the impact federal executive orders might have on their communities. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

The uptick in reported hate crime cases spurred Attorney General Lisa Madigan to host the summit, where she condemned Trump's executive orders as unconstitutional. Nearly a dozen activists from local organizations representing immigrant and minority groups spoke of examples of hate crimes committed against themselves or someone they knew, and strategized with Madigan on how to curb violence inflicted on minorities.

"We know from our own experience that the strength of our country has always been the strength of its people  and all its people," Madigan said, addressing activists and reporters at the Thompson Center.

Advertisement

At least 10 Jewish Community Centers across the country, including one in Chicago, received bomb threats Monday. A threat to the Hyde Park JCC Monday brought police to the scene, but officers and staff found no evidence that the threat was bona fide, according to police, and no evacuation was necessary.

In all, 48 JCCs in 26 states and one Canadian province received nearly 60 bomb threats during January, according to an association of Jewish community centers across the nation. Those threats have continued into February.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

Earlier this month, the Chicago Loop Synagogue on South Clark Street, which has a congregation of about 800 people, was marked with swastikas and its front window was smashed.

"Our community is suffering, and it's not age specific," Mozaffur said. Children as young as kindergartners are questioning their identity, she said, and incidents of work discrimination against Muslim adults, which had increased after 9/11, have grown further in recent months.

At the summit, Jane Charney, director of domestic affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council, cited additional hate incidents against the Jewish community in recent months: The properties of Jewish college students across Illinois campuses have been vandalized; a swastika was carved into a bench at the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie; and the Northbrook Public Library has had at least five instances of anti-Semitic vandalism in its men's bathroom.

"Our community is on high alert, as you can imagine, based on these incidents," Charney said. "But it has also shown tremendous resilience," she said, describing the overwhelming support Chicago's Jewish community received following the vandalism of the Loop synagogue.

At the summit, Madigan highlighted new proposed legislation that would ensure that all victims of hate crimes are afforded the ability to file a civil cause of action in response to incidents including intimidation, stalking, cyberstalking and transmission of obscene messages. Democratic Rep. Litesa Wallace, of Rockford, on Feb. 10 introduced House Bill 3711, which would also impose civil penalties to deter those crimes.

meltagouri@chicagotribune.com

Advertisement

Twitter @marwaeltagouri
A St. Charles man tried to lure a teenager into a sexual relationship, authorities said, and was arrested after police took over the girl's social media account and continued to exchange messages with him.

Keith Aarseth, 60, was charged with indecent solicitation of a minor, unlawful grooming and traveling to meet a minor, officials said, and his bond was set Thursday at $125,000 in Cook County court.

Advertisement

Assistant State's Attorney Maureen McGee said Aarseth began communicating with a 16-year-old Mount Prospect girl through email and an internet site and app called Chatiw.com. Aarseth set up a meeting with the girl on Feb. 15 and told her in a message he would bring sex toys and an 18-year-old woman with him, McGee said. In another message, Aarseth told the girl she was all he wanted for his upcoming birthday, according to the prosecutor.

Before any meeting took place, authorities were alerted to the alleged communications, and a Mount Prospect officer, pretending to be the girl, continued to exchange messages and emails with Aarseth, officials said. He was arrested Tuesday.

Advertisement

Aarseth has worked as a substitute teacher for Elgin-based School District U-46 and Geneva Community Unit School District 304, though authorities said the criminal case against him does not involve any students from either district.

U46 spokeswoman Mary Fergus confirmed that Aarseth occasionally worked as a substitute in the district at the secondary level starting in November, after having undergone a thorough background check.

An alert sent to Geneva school district parents Friday said: "As with any new employee, Aarseth underwent a thorough background check before he began substitute teaching in the district. Please know that immediately upon learning about these allegations, we took quick action to remove Aarseth from our substitute pool."

Officials at his court hearing also said Aarseth has no criminal background.

Chatiw touts the ability to allow users to chat anonymously with strangers.

Aarseth said in court that he is a former Army captain living "paycheck to paycheck." Judge Joseph Cataldo told the defendant he could not contact the girl or use the internet if released on bond while he awaits trial.

George Houde is a freelance reporter.
4th Ward Ald. Sophia King has raised nearly three times as much as her opponents combined for the upcoming special election. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Planted in the front lawn of former President Barack Obama's Kenwood house are a pair of campaign signs for interim Ald. Sophia King, an illustration of the high-level backing she has going into Tuesday's 4th Ward special election.

King was endorsed by Obama. She was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who once held the South Side ward's seat on the City Council, has gone door to door to campaign with King.

Advertisement

In addition, the alderman has raised nearly $249,000 in campaign cash, nearly triple the combined amount of her four challengers.

All of that would seem to give King the edge as she tries to clear the 50 percent-plus-one threshold she needs to avoid an April 4 runoff between the top two vote-getters. Also running Tuesday are minister and activist Gregory Seal Livingston and attorneys Ebony Lucas, Marcellus Moore Jr. and Gerald Scott McCarthy.

Advertisement

But anything can happen in a low-profile, low-turnout special election, which was required after the ward's then-alderman, Will Burns, resigned to take a job with Airbnb. Indeed, as of Friday morning, 1,301 ballots had been cast  about 3.5 percent of the ward's 36,588 registered voters, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

The 4th Ward, which extends along a lengthy swath of the South Side lakefront, includes an economically diverse set of neighborhoods extending from the South Loop to the edge of Hyde Park  with North Kenwood, Kenwood, Oakland and portions of Bronzeville, Prairie Shores, The Gap, Grand Boulevard and Douglas in between. Parts of the ward are quite affluent, but the overall poverty rate was pegged at more than 30 percent when ward boundaries were redrawn earlier in the decade.

The candidates cite public safety  and a growing violent-crime problem that has even spread into Kenwood and the South Loop  as a top issue. The need to improve public school quality, economic development and communication with residents also are concerns cited by the candidates.

King's challengers have targeted her advantages and the powers that be who have her back to persuade voters the ward needs a change.

"People are tired of these meddlers," said McCarthy, referring to the established politicians endorsing King. "It's ridiculous. ... These things have been going on for 20 years, and nothing has changed."

Lucas questions whether King puts the interests of the ward above those of the mayor who put her in office last April.

"She isn't independent. She doesn't have an interest of the people in the 4th Ward first," Lucas said. "So for me, I put the interest of the people in the ward first. I'm an independent voice."

King points out that she's backed by Preckwinkle, who at times has been critical of Emanuel, and mentions the times she's voted against the mayor. On Wednesday, King voted against the mayor's plan for spending unclaimed property-tax rebate money, contending more of the money should have been directed at crime prevention efforts.

Advertisement

King, who lives in Kenwood, noted a history of community involvement and prior work as a Chicago Public Schools administrator and said she wished the race wasn't so focused on her allegiances.

"It's become a bigger part of the story than I'd like," she said, contending she earned the backing over time. "I really work hard in the community, and mostly under the radar, for 30 years. I met all these people while I was working in the community."

Among the challengers, Lucas, like King, was initially trained as an educator, but she later earned her law degree and now is a practicing real estate attorney who leads a local park advisory council and block club.

"I want to start the Chicago Public Schools and the community organizations to start bringing back some of the programs that have been taken out of the schools as a part of the budget cuts, like the arts and music programs and those programs that really supplemented children's education that I think is a key part of the education," she said.

Lucas, who lives in the Oakland neighborhood, also owns about three dozen condominiums in the city. In connection with her investments in one 4th Ward building, a state agency that oversees attorneys has accused her of "conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation," the Tribune reported Thursday. She flatly denies the allegations and says she'll be vindicated.

Moore, who lives in Bronzeville, is an attorney who started out his career doing real estate transactions. He now has a private practice, where he focused primarily on serving as a court-appointed attorney to represent the interests of children in divorce cases. He also serves on two local school councils.

Advertisement

"I think I have the appropriate balance of background, experience, credentials, interpersonal skills and civic commitment to the community that the ward needs in its representative," Moore said. "My difference and distinction with Ald. King is I'm not connected politically."

Public records show the Internal Revenue Service has placed liens of nearly $47,000 on Moore's home for unpaid taxes. He said he's paid down some of the debt and is working out a payment plan with the IRS for the rest.

Livingston, who lives in Bronzeville, is a Christian minister who once worked for the Operation Rainbow/PUSH Coalition led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Livingston now runs the Coalition for a New Chicago, a group that morphed out of the protests triggered by the late 2015 release of police dashcam video showing black teen Laquan McDonald being fatally shot by a white Chicago police officer.

Livingston, a spokesman for the unsuccessful 2015 mayoral candidacy of Willie Wilson, has gotten political contributions from donors aligned with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and aired a radio ad featuring former Democratic state Sen. Rickey "Hollywood" Hendon. Livingston is running as much against Emanuel as King. "Rahm Emanuel's name will not (be on the ballot) but I know that back behind the big curtain it will be him I'm running against," he declares on his website.

Last year, the state of Illinois placed a $6,386 lien on his home for unpaid taxes. Livingston said he's working on a payment plan and chalked up the debt to being "just a poor preacher."

McCarthy, who lives in Kenwood, is an attorney, accountant and former professor of business law and accounting. He also raises scholarship funds for African-American students at St. Ignatius College Prep, among other community activities. He cites former 46th Ward Ald. Helen Shiller, known for her advocacy on behalf of lower-income city residents, as a model.

Advertisement

"I have the diverse background to deal with any aspect of the 4th Ward," McCarthy said. "And the one thing I've discovered from talking to the residents of every neighborhood (is) they basically want the same thing. They want peace on their streets, quality public education and economic sustainability in their neighborhoods. And that's what unites us all."

hdardick@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ReporterHal
By Order of the Tennessee Supreme Court entered February 23, 2017, the law license of Hamilton County attorney Virgil Duane Parker was transferred to disability inactive status pursuant to Section 27.3 of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9.

Mr. Parker cannot practice law while on disability inactive status. He may return to the practice of law after reinstatement by the Tennessee Supreme Court upon showing of clear and convincing evidence that the disability has been removed and he is fit to resume the practice of law.
Gov. Bruce Rauner answers questions from the press at his office in the State Capitol in Springfield on Feb. 23, 2017. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Subscribe here.

Topspin

Gov. Bruce Rauner defended his suggestions on how Senate lawmakers can alter their budget proposal to win his support, saying his ideas are "reasonable."

Advertisement

The Republican governor offered up potential changes during his annual budget address last week, touting the evolving Senate proposal as a way to break the state's unprecedented budget impasse. But some Democratic lawmakers criticized the move, saying it could derail sensitive talks.

They also raised concerns about a campaign video posted after Rauner's speech touting "a grand bargain" to end the budget, accusing Rauner of trying to take credit for the work done by lawmakers.

Advertisement

On Thursday, Rauner took reporters' questions for the first time since his budget speech, saying that in his address he was simply responding to requests from lawmakers, including Senate President John Cullerton, to lay out where he stands on the Senate's efforts.

"President Cullerton in the media asked me to weigh in. Democrats and Republicans in private asked me to weigh in. That's what I did. I honored their request. And if you listen to what I said, everything that I laid out was very reasonable, very reasonable," Rauner said.

Rauner's parameters include a permanent property tax freeze in exchange for a permanent income tax hike. The Senate plan currently calls for a two-year property tax freeze. The governor also wants a limit on spending and further changes to the workers compensation law for employees hurt on the job, as business groups say the Senate's plan to curb workers' compensation costs doesn't go far enough.

"We should do these things, and they should in no way infringe on or hurt the ability to get a final deal," said Rauner, who noted the House approved a permanent property tax freeze earlier this year.

But that vote came during the lame-duck session when there was no possibility the bill would be taken up by the Senate, a move designed to provide political cover to Democrats. Local schools and towns oppose a property tax freeze, saying it would hurt their ability to tap into money for day-to-day operations.

The Senate returns to Springfield next week, with Democratic and Republican leadership again pushing for swift action on their budget plan. With negotiations continuing behind the scenes, changes are expected, though it's unclear how much influence Rauner will have on the bills lawmakers may be asked to vote on. (Monique Garcia)

What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel has no public events.

*Gov. Bruce Rauner will appear at a Black History Month event at the Thompson Center. Keynote speaker is U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.

Advertisement

*The Illinois House is in session.

From the notebook

Follow the money

*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.

Beyond Chicago

*Trump's Bannon: Administration is in unending battle for "deconstruction of the administrative state," WaPo reports.

*AG Sessions reverses Obama directive, says feds will continue to use private prisons.

Advertisement

*Bowing to base, Dems opt for all-out war with Trump, NYT reports.

*Ex-Speaker John Boehner: Republicans won't repeal and replace Obamacare.

*Sen. Ted Cruz predicts spot on Supreme Court will open up this summer, doesn't elaborate on his premonition.
NEW YORK  A critically ill woman from El Salvador who was awaiting emergency surgery for a brain tumor was forcibly moved from a Texas hospital to a detention center by federal agents, raising concerns about President Trump's directive to more aggressively pursue people living in the country illegally.

Sara Beltran-Hernandez, 26, a mother of two young children, was bound by her hands and feet and removed by wheelchair from Huguley Hospital in Fort Worth late Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who brought her to a detention facility in Alvarado, Texas.

Advertisement

"It is heartbreaking and inhumane,'' said Chris Hamilton, a Texas lawyer who tried to visit the woman Wednesday night at the detention center, where he was threatened with arrest for trespassing.

"This is unacceptable under our Constitution, and unacceptable from a standpoint of basic human rights," Hamilton said. "This woman is critically ill and in severe pain."

Advertisement

Lawyers who have been representing Beltran-Hernandez in an asylum petition said they plan to file an emergency appeal in Texas to get their client returned to the hospital.

"The medical team and legal team are focused on getting Sara the medical treatment she desperately needs," said Lorena Massoni, a paralegal working on Beltran-Hernandez's case.

Beltran-Hernandez was picked up by immigration agents in November 2015 while trying to get from El Salvador to New York to visit her mother and other relatives who live in Queens. She has been detained ever since at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, while her family petitioned for asylum, citing threats of violence against her, from a domestic partner, among others.

Beltran-Hernandez was transferred from the detention center to the hospital in Fort Worth this month after complaining of headaches, nosebleeds and memory loss. Doctors diagnosed a brain tumor and put her on a waiting list for emergency surgery, which was supposed to take place this weekend, according to her legal team. They were stunned when the agents removed her from the hospital Wednesday.

"They had tied up her hands and ankles," Melissa Zuniga, another paralegal on the case, said in a text message. "I don't understand why at all when she's extremely sick and being moved in a wheelchair."

Beltran-Hernandez's relatives have not been allowed to visit her, although they have spoken to her on the telephone.

Beltran-Hernandez is back at the Prairieland Detention Center, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The agency said in a statement Thursday, "During her stay at the hospital, ICE ensured that she was able to speak to her family and to her attorney by phone. Like all detainees in our care, Ms. Beltran will continue to have access to 24 hour emergency medical care and to any required specialized treatment at an outside facility.'' The statement also said that a doctor had determined she was stable enough to be discharged and that she will be seen again by a medical specialist next week.

Advertisement

The abrupt removal of the critically ill woman is a dramatic example of what many observers believe might become the new normal: immigration agents implementing the Trump administration's call to aggressively deport people in the country illegally regardless of whether they have committed serious crimes.

"The most pernicious thing is that immigration enforcement authorities are filtering through government at every level seeing who they can scoop up,'' said Rory Lancman, a councilman from Queens. Lancman is not involved with the Beltran-Hernandez case but is active on behalf of other immigrants in his district.

"If immigration agents are in our schools, our healthcare system, our courts, lives will be lost," he said.

barbara.demick@latimes.com

Twitter: @BarbaraDemick
A Senate Intelligence Committee investigation of Russia's effort to influence last year's U.S. election is shaping up as an unexpectedly bipartisan effort that could take months to complete as it explores the most significant controversy shadowing the new Trump administration.

The investigation, which will involve scouring highly classified material, is still in its early stages, but Republicans are so far joining Democrats on the panel in pledging to conduct it in a serious manner.

Advertisement

The committee will examine the extent of contacts that President Donald Trump's associates had with Russian officials before and after the Nov. 8 vote. In particular, it plans to look into conversations that Michael Flynn, who was ousted last week as Trump's national security adviser, had with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.

Negotiations are under way with spy agencies including the CIA over how much access committee aides will get to highly classified material, according to U.S. intelligence officials. It's not unusual for the agencies and committees to work out approval for aides to review material that's classified beyond their normal security clearance levels, as well as what material they can have access to.

Advertisement

Senate Republicans don't want to be seen engaging in a cover-up -- especially if leaks about additional contacts between Russians and people in Trump's orbit continue to trickle out. But they also don't want investigations to mushroom the way GOP efforts to probe the Benghazi attacks did during the Obama administration.

I'm just not convinced that Mitch McConnell is going to let the Intelligence Committee get to the real story.  Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut

Some Democrats have called for a select committee to be created to investigate the Russia allegations, while several other Senate panels, including Judiciary and Armed Services, have started to inquire about Russian interference as well.

Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of the Intelligence Committee and the Republican leadership, acknowledged the appetite of other committees to investigate "may depend on how thoroughly the intel committee is thought to have dealt with this."

He also told reporters last week, "If you do this in any other way and you started right now, any other committee or any other group would be where we are in maybe six months."

Armed Services Chairman John McCain, for example, has been strongly critical of Trump's talk about making deals with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has said he wants a thorough probe of Russia's conduct during the election. Several other senators on the Intelligence panel, including Marco Rubio of Florida and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, have been notably more hawkish on Russia than Trump.

Republicans' desire to contain the number of inquiries has created incentives for the party to work with Democrats on the Intelligence Committee, including hammering out a joint investigative plan that includes subpoena power to compel testimony from officials and associates of Trump's presidential campaign.

That comity could be tested, however, if the panel begins to close in on information that could truly damage the Trump administration. Republicans could face some tough decisions on how hard to press for additional information.

Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut told reporters last week that while his party is united in supporting a robust intelligence probe, he still wants an independent commission because he doesn't fully trust the Senate majority leader to let the current probe run its full course.

Advertisement

"I'm just not convinced that Mitch McConnell is going to let the Intelligence Committee get to the real story," he said.

There are already signs the investigation could be drawn out.

Senators have said investigators have started sifting through a repository of documents that formed the basis of the intelligence community's assessment that Russia used a variety of means to influence the election in favor of Trump, including hacking of Democratic email accounts and selectively leaking those emails.

Another set of documents is related to the panel's probe of Flynn's contacts in December with the Russian ambassador regarding sanctions that had just been imposed by the departing Obama administration. And then there's the potential for the committee to seek additional documents, as well as testimony, based on what they find, especially since the intelligence community's review was done on a crash basis before President Barack Obama left office.

The panel's ranking Democrat, Mark Warner of Virginia, said he is pleased with how Chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina has handled the inquiry so far.

"We both understand how serious this is," Warner said. "This was an assault on a basic democratic process," he said.

Advertisement

He added, "And what we are trying to do, and I give Richard a lot of credit, is to have this not devolve into a partisan food fight that doesn't serve the public purpose. This is so important that we get it right."

After a closed-door meeting Friday with FBI Director Jim Comey, Burr and Warner shared smiles, but declined to talk to the press even to confirm they met with the director. The FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies are conducting multiple investigations to determine the full extent of contacts that Trump's advisers and associates had with Russia during and after the 2016 campaign, according to four national security officials with knowledge of the matter.

Trump blasted the FBI on Friday over "leakers," following a CNN report Thursday that the bureau rebuffed a recent White House request that it shoot down a media report that Trump's associates communicated with Russians known to U.S. intelligence. The network cited a law enforcement official it didn't identify.

A senior administration official told reporters Friday that the request to the agency was only made after an FBI leader indicated to the White House that investigators didn't believe the news report was accurate.

So far, though, the Trump administration has been cooperating with the Intelligence Committee's work.

"I have a high level of confidence we'll get what we need," said Warner, who earlier described the investigation as the most important thing he has done in the Senate.

Advertisement

What's less clear is how long it will take, and whether Trump associates, including Flynn, will testify under oath and in public.

That's something many Democrats have demanded -- particularly in the case of Flynn -- but Republicans have generally been more circumspect.

Moderate Republican Susan Collins, who sits on the Intelligence panel, told Maine Public Wednesday that she wants Flynn to testify. With an 8-7 split between Republicans and Democrats, her vote could be pivotal. She even sounded open to the possibility of looking at Trump's tax returns as part of the probe.

All of it that can possibly become public will and should be public.  Republican Roy Blunt of Missouri

Two other Republicans on the committee -- Rubio and Blunt -- have also been especially vocal about the need to make their findings about Russia's actions as public as possible.

"All of it that can possibly become public will and should be public," Blunt told reporters.

But the nature of the work means many of the documents will remain secret. It's not clear that the public will ever get to see, for example, classified intercepts of conversations with Russian officials.

Advertisement

That will be a challenge for the committee as it works to write a public report that isn't merely a bundle of assertions without evidence. A report that is bipartisan in nature will also carry much more weight than partisan ones, which gives Democrats some leverage to negotiate the details of the probe.

"We will get to the bottom of this," Collins told Maine Public. "I will encourage that there'll be some public hearings as well as the closed hearings that we're doing now, and that we issue a report."

"We're not," she added, "going to exclude anyone from our review."
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is outraged over Washington leaks. Just like the cop in "Casablanca" who was "shocked, shocked" to discover gambling in a gambling den.

The California Republican is demanding an investigation of leaks about President Donald Trump's conversations with foreign leaders and more leaks about Trump's cashiered national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Nunes charged, on CBS's "Face the Nation," that the unauthorized disclosures broke the law, and he blamed holdovers from President Barack Obama's administration who are supposedly "burrowed in, perhaps all throughout government."

Advertisement

Nunes, Trump and others who fulminate about leaks should listen to Leon Panetta, a former White House chief of staff, director of the Central Intelligence Agency and Defense Secretary. "Leaks are a problem that every president has complained about," Panetta said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

He could have added that presidents usually find they can do little about them. Trump and Nunes have as much chance of curbing leaks in Washington as I have of beating LeBron James at a game of one-on-one.

Advertisement

A lot of leaks are valuable. They expose bad policies or corruption; remember Watergate? Others lubricate the levers of government. Presidents, including Trump, are as likely to be perpetrators of leaks as victims.

Few leaks violate the law, potential exceptions being those exposing legitimate national security secrets or personal tax returns.

Here's some news for Nunes: When the president insults foreign leaders in private chats, the word will spread. There's little doubt that some of the current leaks are coming from rival factions within the Trump administration.

Some leaks have been harmful. During World War II, for example, the Chicago Tribune clearly indicated after the Battle of Midway that the U.S. had broken the Japanese naval code. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who hated the paper, pressured officials to empanel a federal grand jury, but it decided not to indict.

One of the most insightful recent articles on leaks was by Malcolm Gladwell in the Dec. 19 issue of the New Yorker. While comparing two famous leakers, Daniel Ellsberg of the Pentagon Papers in 1971, and Edward Snowden on government surveillance after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Gladwell explained why leaks are central to the governing process:

"The relationship between the government and the press  between the source of leaks and the beneficiary of leaks  is symbiotic. Governments may make a fuss about how much leaks are harming them. But they need leaks as much as the press does. The legitimacy of government requires sunshine and the practice of governance sometimes requires darkness  and in the face of that contradiction, leaks are a kind of informal workaround."

That, presidents quickly learn, can be used to their advantage. It also can be abused. When the Obama camp leaked details of the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, it was nothing worse than self-serving. When Vice President Dick Cheney and others in the administration of President George W. Bush leaked intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction to justify a war against Iraq, the result was cataclysmically destructive.

Gladwell writes of Ellsberg as a noble leaker who selectively exposed government secrets out of his devotion to public service and sense of patriotic duty.

Advertisement

He gave newspapers 43 volumes of a Vietnam War study that he had helped prepare, and which revealed a history of deceit by three presidents. He first sought to get White House officials and senators to make the study public; when that was unsuccessful, he leaked it to The New York Times after deleting the final four volumes dealing with existing diplomatic efforts to negotiate peace. The administration of President Richard Nixon sought to suppress the story  Nixon's initial instinct was to leak defamatory parts about President John F. Kennedy  but the Supreme Court overruled him.

By contrast, Gladwell wrote, Snowden, a former mid-level national security employee, was a "hacker" incensed by pervasive government surveillance, conducted without judicial approval (and later ruled to be illegal by one court and upheld by another). But unlike Ellsberg, Snowden released the information he pilfered indiscriminately, and has been camped out in Russia since 2013.

It's possible to criticize Snowden and still see the value of some his actions. The subject of leaks is rife with inconsistencies. It was Obama's administration, not Reagan's or Bush's or Nixon's, that brought the most cases against leakers, though it moderated its pace in its final years.

The relationship between government and the press is both adversarial and symbiotic. When Trump encouraged the Russian-orchestrated leaks last fall of hacked private emails from Democrats, Nunes, the Intelligence Committee chairman, raised no objections.

Today, with a president who disdains transparency, has an authoritarian streak and is insensitive to the limits of power, leaks are vital.

Bloomberg View

Advertisement

Albert R. Hunt is a Bloomberg View columnist.

Related Articles:

The dangers of having a weak president

State Department writes anti-leak memo, which promptly leaks

Republicans suddenly realize destroying the health-care system might be a bad idea

Will it soon be Donald Trump vs. Mike Pence?
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, shown here in November 2015, hasannounced the arrest of an official in rural Kankakee County, Essex Township Clerk Traci Freytag, on allegations she spent taxpayer money on personal expenses. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

Small town trust. Big time theft. Again?

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office has announced the arrest of an official in rural Kankakee County, Essex Township Clerk Traci Freytag, on allegations she spent taxpayer money on personal expenses. She faces charges of theft of government property, financial institution fraud and two counts of official misconduct. If convicted, she could face up to 15 years in prison.

Advertisement

Freytag is accused of depositing roughly $94,000 in township money into a personal bank account. An investigation began when an employee's payroll check bounced. The township's account had been depleted, Madigan's office alleges.

She was arrested Feb. 15 in Aiken, S.C., where she had posted on her Facebook page she was staying and planning to move permanently from the town of Essex, 30 miles south of Joliet. Freytag's Facebook page indicates she worked as a payroll clerk for a casino company and became disabled. She was appointed township clerk a few months before the theft allegedly began.

Advertisement

Were there checks and balances that could have caught, or deterred, any such alleged theft, which Madigan's office says unfolded between November 2014 and May 2016? We'll find out as prosecutors move forward with their case.

But if the allegations are true  we're in no position to judge  this would be yet another example of what can happen when governments (Chicago's included) don't subject the flow of taxpayer money to proper restraints and transparency. Madigan's office says Freytag had access to township bank accounts and the authority to write checks. A couple of trips to Florida allegedly were too tempting to resist, which is how investigators say she spent some of the money.

The allegations in Essex Township pale compared to the embezzlement under Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell, who created fake invoices to cover her theft of $53.7 million from taxpayers between 1990 and 2012. She moved money among city accounts. She had sole control over the city's checkbook. She picked up the city's mail. She read the bank statements. And it wasn't until she took a long vacation that the city clerk, filling in for her, uncovered a secret bank account she had opened. Known as a specialized horse breeder, Crundwell used public money to finance that business along with two ranches with trainers, two homes, a horse farm, a home in Florida, a luxury motor home, a boat and jewelry. She was sentenced in 2013 to 19 years in prison.

With Illinois' nearly 7,000 local governments, who knows how often taxpayer money has been pilfered for personal priorities? There was Burnham Village Clerk Nancy Dobrowski, sentenced in 2014 to 18 months in prison for pocketing more than $650,000 in village funds. Prosecutors said she doctored financial records to make the books appear balanced  and gambled away money at Indiana casinos.

Governments are required to hire auditors, but many audits essentially rely on records provided by the officials being audited. Audits often are cursory and nonprobing. In the Dixon case, the city's outside auditors and bankers settled with the city for nearly $40 million  a rare admission of accountability failure. Burnham officials sued their auditors for not catching the theft.

The list of embezzlement cases involving public officials is long, but nearly every case involves three culprits: Too little oversight. Too concentrated control. Too much trust.

If you're an elected official (you too, school board members) or government worker who deals with taxpayer-funded accounts, be vigilant  and not only of your own conduct. Ask the questions: Who has access to the accounts and who oversees that person? How many signatures are required on transactions? How probing are the audits we're paying for?

That is: Who's watching the watcher?

Advertisement

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
Gov. Bruce Rauner answers questions from the press at his office in the State Capitol in Springfield Thursday Feb. 23, 2017 and talks about the AFSCME vote and the budget impasse. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

When senators return to the Illinois Capitol on Tuesday, they'll have the place to themselves. The House is not scheduled to be in Springfield again until March 7.

Perhaps the calm will focus minds and hearts. This might be the last chance for a budget compromise, now teetering toward collapse, to find its footing. Gov. Bruce Rauner has outlined what he'd like to see in a final deal. The compromise could end the budget standoff and include items on his agenda  freezing property taxes and passing pension reform. But it's unclear if his suggestions have been folded into the proposed deal's 12 bills.

Advertisement

It's been a rough month for Rauner. He got smacked by the left and the right for initially distancing himself from Senate negotiations. He stayed quiet lest his involvement derail the talks. Democrats didn't want to appear to be working with the controversial governor on his reform agenda. But Republicans didn't want to agree to a tax hike  one proposal in the package  without his backing.

Even Rauner's allies threw stones. The Illinois Policy Institute, a free market think tank, criticized Rauner for even encouraging the bargaining. The institute considers the Senate deal a sellout to Democrats who want higher taxes. So Rauner has stood largely alone. During his State of the State address in January and his budget speech in February, he avoided inflammatory oratory that would upset majority Democrats. Lawmakers knocked and mocked him anyway.

Advertisement

House Democrats greeted the governor during his budget address with signs on their desks that called his budget "fake news." They noisily punctuated his speech with laughter. They held news conferences before and after. From Chicago City Hall  Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool  to newly sworn-in state Comptroller Susana Mendoza, the message was unified: Blame Rauner.

Emanuel ridiculed his budget as nonexistent. Claypool blamed him for a "racist" school funding formula. Mendoza skewered him for the state's unpaid bills. Dozens of Dem lawmakers issued ready-made statements denouncing him.

Some details didn't make it into Democratic messaging. Such as that Democrats have controlled the legislature since 2002. They could have prioritized pension payments, spent less, fixed the school formula and paid a bill backlog that has been accumulating for a decade.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 155 (Scott Stantis/For the Chicago Tribune)

So remember, as the Senate now ameliorates or magnifies the dysfunction, how Rauner has tried to break the gridlock.

He took office in January 2015 with 44 items on his Turnaround Agenda. He dropped most due to opposition and as gestures in compromise. He's open to a politically risky tax hike. Anything else?

He tried meeting with legislative leaders behind closed doors. He tried putting a camera in the room. He tried meeting with leaders individually. He tried lobbying individual lawmakers.

He tried staying out of negotiations. He tried inserting himself. He tried tough talk. He tried gentle prodding.

He tried introducing his agenda in bill form: Scroll through all the bills in House rules, Speaker Michael Madigan's dead letter office, to find the pillars of that agenda. They've been ignored, along with Rauner's last two budgets.

Advertisement

What compromise or agenda have the Democrats offered? Not much in the House. Dems gave their speaker a 17th two-year term and received engraved clocks that read: "The Honorable Michael J. Madigan, Longest-serving House Speaker of a state House of Representatives in United States History."

Note what Rauner didn't do: Cave to that longest-serving speaker. Rauner won't write a blank check, via a tax hike, for Democrats without also getting pro-growth reforms to help build Illinois' tax base. That's what he ran on, what he continues to stand for.

Even that trade-off could alienate Republican voters who oppose higher taxes. It could alienate Democrats who say they want to end the impasse without his agenda. It could alienate voters anxious for results  we get it  who blame the gridlock on Rauner.

But as senators deliberate a moribund state's future, Rauner's efforts should be enough for them. Enough for them to set aside all the reasons to oppose any compromise. Enough for them to reject the lobbyists and interest groups. Enough for them to stop chewing their fingernails over their 2018 re-election chances.

The rabbit hole of Springfield is isolating and deep. We're confident if members of the Senate poke their heads out and take a serious look around, if they contemplate the reasons they ran for office, they'll conclude that cutting a deal to move Illinois forward is their duty.

If they can't or won't, they can all look in the mirror and admit that this time, what derailed the path forward was not Rauner or Madigan, but them.

Advertisement

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.

Related articles:

State workers should embrace the 40-hour week

Rauner: OK on Obama Day, but no one gets to skip work

Wake up, Bruce Rauner. Bring back Illinois.

A wake-up call for Illinois
The Obama Foundation announced plans to build a presidential library in Jackson Park. Community members are hoping that, along with a presidential monument, they can see growth. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

When it opens in 2021, the Barack Obama library and museum can be more than a monument to the legacy of America's first black president and a Chicago favorite son. Sited in historic Jackson Park on the South Side, it could help its neighbor to the west, the Woodlawn community, complete a revival that has progressed in fits and starts for decades.

Will it? That depends on the commitment of everyone with a stake in the project  Obama's team, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, local aldermen, the University of Chicago, and Woodlawn leaders and residents. It won't be easy, given the neighborhood's history of churning out visions that never get realized.

Advertisement

"Woodlawn is always on the cusp but never quite getting there," Kim Goluska, an urban planner who has done projects on the South Side, told the Tribune's Kathy Bergen and Angela Caputo.

The 1990s brought hopes of redevelopment on the eastern side of Woodlawn with the teardown of a milelong stretch of CTA "L" tracks over 63rd Street. The driving force behind the idea was Bishop Arthur Brazier, a civil rights leader who led Woodlawn's Apostolic Church of God. The tracks came down in 1997, Apostolic and the Woodlawn Community Development Corp. bought properties along 63rd at a discount or for unpaid taxes  and development never came. Most of that land is empty or used for parking.

Advertisement

Brazier died in 2010, and Apostolic is now run by his son, the Rev. Byron Brazier, who has taken up the cause of leveraging the Obama library into an economic renaissance for Woodlawn. The elder Brazier, who once marched alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., built a reputation of striving for change through confrontation. With Woodlawn and the library, the younger Brazier pursues a more productive tack: collaboration.

He has started by setting up an effort called 1Woodlawn, which gathers from the community ideas that will help shape a master plan for redevelopment. Brazier also has long-standing ties with the Obama family, Emanuel and the University of Chicago  stakeholders Woodlawn needs to make a rebirth happen. The U. of C., which developed the winning bid to bring the project to the South Side, has the urban affairs expertise to revise and improve a plan as needed. Emanuel and the area's aldermen will oversee the project, including working with Metra to upgrade stations at 59th and 63rd streets, and other infrastructure improvements.

The Rev. Byron Brazier takes a walk around the East Woodlawn neighborhood talking about development of the area near the future site of the Obama library on Feb. 6, 2017. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

Listening to the community will be key. Longtime residents worry, for example, that the library will trigger gentrification that prices them out of their homes. Whatever master plan emerges should embrace a mixed-use strategy. Dream big: affordable housing with new retail, restaurants and even light manufacturing.

We all know that deadlines drive projects. They force action and flag the kind of inaction that has stalled Woodlawn's redevelopment for too long. And if a push is needed when wheels start to spin, who better than a former president? He came into town earlier this month to chat with civic leaders about the library project, and has indicated he'll be back to take a hands-on role in planning. The library will have his name on it, and he'll want to make sure it seeds the neighborhood revival he and the Obama Foundation, the library's overseer, promise.

"The president and first lady have lived in this community and their children were born in this community," the foundation said in a statement last summer. "The plan is for the center to be developed in a way that benefits everyone in the community, uses broad collaboration with the community and embraces engagement with the entire community."

Woodlawn and surrounding communities have been handed a unique catalyst  a presidential library along the lakefront, dedicated to the only Oval Office occupant from Chicago. Foundation, City Hall and Woodlawn leaders: Make the most of this opportunity for uplift.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
A day after 10 Jewish Community Centers across the country were the target of bomb threats and over 170 Jewish graves were toppled in Missouri, President Donald Trump said "anti-Semitic threats... are horrible and painful." Feb. 21, 2017. (C-SPAN) (Chicago Tribune)

Subtlety is not Steve Bannon's strong suit.

Case in point, the senior adviser to President Donald Trump, who rarely speaks publicly, decided this would be a good week to use a term known as an anti-Semitic dog whistle.

Advertisement

Just days ago, the administration was deflecting accusations of anti-Semitism that arose from Trump's strange unwillingness to condemn a string of bomb threats on Jewish community centers across the country and the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis.

The president finally spoke about the issue Tuesday, under pressure from several Jewish organizations, and condemned the threats and other acts as "a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil."

Advertisement

But by Thursday, Bannon was smugly taunting the press at the Conservative Political Action Conference, saying: "They're corporatist, globalist media that are adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda like Donald Trump has."

"Globalist media" is a loaded term that bubbled up out of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories of a media controlled by Jewish elites, a concept akin to "international bankers," cabals of wealthy Jews supposedly plotting to take over the world.

Bannon knows this, I have no doubt. He ran Breitbart, a website that caters to white nationalists, many of whom are overtly anti-Semitic.

So why toss out the globalist media canard just days after the executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect condemned Trump and called the president's late statement about the Jewish center threats a "Band-Aid on the cancer of Antisemitism that has infected his own Administration."

I spoke with Anne Frank Center director Steven Goldstein following Bannon's comment Thursday.

"We are now seeing a pattern," he said. "And during the week in which the Trump administration has been under a microscope for anti-Semitism, this is how you refer to the press? In some of the most unfortunate anti-Semitic terms in history? That doesn't happen by accident."

I agree. Bannon's snarling "globalist media" comment struck me as a rebellious nod to the swath of Trump supporters who believe such nonsense.

Goldstein said: "Globalist and corporate media  these are code words of anti-Semitism, and when they're used by a man with an anti-Semitic history such as Steve Bannon, you'd have to be living in the Stone Age not to connect the dots."

Advertisement

Of course Bannon never used the words "Jew" or "Jewish" in his comments.

"Bannon is engaging in what I call plausible deniability anti-Semitism," Goldstein said. "He can turn around and say, 'Well, what are you talking about? I didn't attack Jews today, I attacked the media being linked to some corporate conspiracy.' By not mentioning Jews, he dares us to play rope-a-dope, to play a game of gotcha."

I don't believe Bannon thinks he's clever. He just doesn't care, and he's convinced Trump's victory and his own shocking elevation to the president's side justifies whatever conspiratorial language he wants to use.

It doesn't, of course, and Republicans allowing him to hold a position of such power should be ashamed.

But I'll say this to Bannon and anyone else in the administration who wants to act cute with the coded language of anti-Semites: Dog whistles are for cowards.

Tell us what you really believe. Please.

Advertisement

Because whether it's in your heart or just for show, it's still reprehensible.

You're fooling no one.

Listen to Rex Huppke and WGN radio host Amy Guth discuss presidential politics each week on the "Guth and Huppke on Politics" podcast at chicagotribune.com/guthhuppkepodcast.

rhuppke@chicagotribune.com

Related articles:

Donald Trump can't stop government leaks

Advertisement

The dangers of having a weak president

On anti-Semitic acts and how Trump can send a strong message to bigots

Donald Trump will likely betray his white working-class voters
U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton told the Chicago Tribune that he wants to avoid the "circus" atmosphere of town hall meetings with constituents. Roskam prefers the much more tightly controlled environment of a telephone conference, where questions can be screened, follow-ups can be ignored, and he can recite his prepared talking points.

So, unlike many of his fellow representatives who were holding face-to-face meetings with voters this week while Congress is on break, Roskam is in Eastern Europe to learn about emerging democracies. It seems he could learn a lot more about emerging democracy by simply participating in our own, right here in Illinois.

Advertisement

Yes, democracy, like a circus, can be loud and frantic at times, full of action and distractions in all three rings. But this is what you signed up for. This is American democracy. If you don't like the circus, get out of the tent.

 Michael Malone, Glen Ellyn
Kitsune, the latest from Iliana Regan, delivers wildly interesting flavors.

Review: Kitsune

4229 N. Lincoln Ave.

Rating: !! 1/2 stars (out of four)

Advertisement

The good news is the restaurant ceiling didn't fall on my head. When I dine at chef Iliana Regan's restaurants, weird things happen. When I reviewed Regan's Elizabeth, I went to the restroom, and when I closed the door, ceiling tiles fell on my head. I didn't mind. The tiles were soft and I was so buzzed on the foraged pre-fixe meal (and, to be honest, a little too much Hermitage blanc wine), I wouldn't have felt pain anyway. That night, Regan and her crew were very gracious and apologized for the mishap. Regan and I had a good laugh about this when we spoke last week about her new spot, Kitsune, a Japanese-skewing restaurant in North Center. "I think the bones of this place are much more solid," she said.

Champagne supernova

Advertisement

What I didn't tell Regan is that there was another mishap at Kitsune. I didn't say anything because what happened was a result of my own idiocy. For now, Kitsune is BYOB, so I toted along some sparkling rose. Contrary to what you see on TV, the proper way to open a bottle of sparkling wine isn't to shake it like a Polaroid picture and flip the cork off with your thumb. If you turn the bottle slowly while gently pulling on the cork, there should be a soft "pffft" of air, no spills. I did this, but I was so excited to open the bottle that I forgot it had sloshed around in the back of my car on the way to the restaurant. A fountain of wine soaked my wife's foot, the front of my shirt and the banquette seat next to me.

As a testament to its fine service, the Kitsune staff rushed over with towels and helped clean up the mess. When the server took our order, she didn't even stare at the giant wet spot creeping below my left shirt pocket. Though I looked like Marco Rubio schvitzing at a debate, no jokes were made at my expense.

Restaurant Nirvana?

When I reviewed Elizabeth, I compared the restaurant to Nirvana's "Bleach" album. You could see some serious sparks of brilliance, but it wasn't fully formed end-to-end like, say, "Nevermind." There were some hits but also many misses.

Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic once said, "Nirvana didn't go to the mainstream, the mainstream came to Nirvana." As a chef, Regan sings a similar tune. She is uncompromising and relentless and cooks with a very different voice. She often does things the hard way. She doesn't buy fermented ingredients, like miso out of the box, but makes them from scratch. She'll buy meat not from a mainline distributor like Sysco but from a dude shooting squirrels in Indiana. If she needs frog legs, she's going out in the middle of the night with a pitchfork.

At Kitsune, Regan has toned things down a bit. She's more of a conductor, guiding and harnessing the creativity of her team instead of being the sole driving force. When we spoke, she talked about making compromises to the traditional American palate while staying true to classic Japanese dishes. She achieves accessibility by combining local and Midwestern ingredients with Japanese recipes and techniques.

Gonads, ferments and ramen madness

One of the best things I ate was a piece of raw uni dusted with pulverized nori, sugar and sea salt splashed with yuzu juice ($11). As much as foodies love uni, most of America is not pining for sea urchin gonads sprinkled with dried seaweed. Yet the resulting tastea scoop of citrus-spritzed and slightly funky custardshould be universally delicious if people open their minds to it. In other dishes, there was hesitation. A bowl of wild rice with ferments ($8) features Minnesota wild rice mixed with fermented chestnut. I expected it to be assertive, bright, acidic and fizzy. And though the rice was comforting and substantial, the sour oomph never came.

Advertisement

Ramen is so prevalent these days that people seem to be in an arms race to make it as complex as humanly possible. They gild their bowls with pickles, bamboo, fishcakes and black garlic. It's only a matter of time before ramen goes full bloody mary and ends up accessorized with pizza and mini-cheeseburgers. At Kitsune, Regan and her team's restraint helps diners focus on what makes good ramen: deeply savory broth, chewy slurpable noodles and a few simple condiments.

Tonkotsu ramen at Kitsune (Lenny Gilmore / RedEye)

Regan's milky tonkotsu broth ($17) has more body and structure than Brad Pitt's character in "Legends of the Fall." The split soft-boiled egg is creamy and fortifies the soup. The pork is braised in a housemade teriyaki and then sauteed to order. The result is a firm plank of pork bursting with sweet and salty notes. The noodles are so chewy that I was sure they were made in-house and not sourced from artisan maker Sun Noodle.

"Yep, they're Sun," Regan said. "I went to Ivan Ramen in New York and I see a dolly with 10 cases of Sun noodles rolling up. Part of my heart broke. But I talked to Ivan [Orkin] about it, and he said you should always have your own recipe that you love and know, but you also have to work at scale. And people in the industry just use Sun Noodle."

They go through 20 pounds of pig trotters and hocks to make 5 quarts of stock. It takes 14 hours of simmering and a fortification of charred onion, garlic and ginger to make the final soup. It pays off. I have not had better ramen in Chicago.

Japanese pizza

Okonomiyaki ($15), a savory Japanese pancake, is often gluey, but Regan and her crew learned that grating sweet potato into the mix cuts down on flour and potential sogginess, resulting in a perfect cloud-like pancake. Topped with pickled ginger and wispy curls of cured tuna, each bite was a lovely mix of acidity, sweetness and smoke.

Advertisement

Okonomiyaki at Kitsune (Lenny Gilmore / RedEye)

Oysters with rice wine mignonette and flowers at Kitsune (Lenny Gilmore / RedEye)

Oysters topped with tiny edible flowers glistened with rice wine mignonette ($13), and each mouthful delivered a delightful dance of floral honey, acid and brine. As I ate the oysters, Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" played over the restaurant's speakers. Though I'm pretty sure ODB meant something different when he croaked, "Yeah, baby, I like it raw," this lyric is pretty appropriate for downing oysters.

Whiskey and donuts

A doughnut glazed with Japanese whiskey icing ($3.50) was as soft as a cloud. In a blind taste test, this doughnut would make a Krispy Kreme seem like wet cardboard. It was dusted with green tea powder that cut through the sugary glaze. Regan and her crew should cut back on the green tea powder a touch as the aftertaste became a little too bitter.

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

Also assertive was a pungent goat's milk yogurt adorned with satsuma granita crystals and caramelized nubs of sweet potato ($7). The contrast of textures and temperatures was lively but ate more like a healthy breakfast than a crave-worthy dessert.

The bottom line

Kitsune isn't quite the restaurant equivalent of the pitch-perfect "Nevermind." The plate selection is more familiar and accessible than my experience at Elizabeth, but there are still some jagged edges.

Advertisement

Kitsune is more like Nirvana's "In Utero." The dining room is intimate, and the plate glass window in the front frosts with steam. There's a towering wood cubby stuffed with cute fox figurines and a framed photo of Barack Obama. For the most part, the restaurant comforts and wraps around you like Kurt Cobain's plaintive lullaby "All Apologies." But sometimes, when I'm eating funky yogurt with orange ice crystals, I'm jarred and alienated the same way I am when I listen to Cobain's blood-curdling screams on "Scentless Apprentice."

Despite its commercial success, Nirvana felt like "Nevermind" was too overproduced and "In Utero" was a deliberate rejection of soulless industry gloss. Some think it's Nirvana's best album. While Kitsune often gives diners what they want, it also gives them something to think about, and as far as I'm concerned, that makes it really interesting.

Michael Nagrant is a RedEye contributor.

Reporters visit restaurants unannounced, and meals are paid for by RedEye.
The inclusive Chattanooga Spring Break Safari transforms the city into a place where kids rule and adventure is everywhere. Kids cant resist exploring the world with lots of hands-on activities designed just for them. The participating attractions are offering special experiences that can only be done Friday, March 10-Sunday, April 9, 2017.

While on Spring Break Safari in Chattanooga, kids can be a Pirate aboard a riverboat; Sword Fighter on a quest to see the Queen;Conductor and travel the rails; Island Explorer and meet the brand new lemurs; Speleologist deep within a cave; Zookeeperand encounter some of natures wildest creatures; Rock Climberand scale boulders; RockQuest Adventurer on an enchanted trail;Art Explorer and uncover hidden treasures; Inventor and create new things; or an Artisanal Adventurer and learn about cooking techniques.

Families can discover more about Chattanooga on an exciting Scavenger Hunt! Explore the city and complete each Scavenger Hunt at your own pace.

Be sure to get a free Spring Break Safari Guide that can be downloaded online or picked up at any of the participating Spring Break Safari attractions, Chattanooga Visitors Center located at 215 Broad Street, SpringHill Suites by Marriott/Downtown Cameron Harbor, Chattanooga Choo Choo, or The Chattanoogan Hotel. The guide includes details on the Safari Attractions and the Scavenger Hunt.

Get the full scoop on planning a Chattanooga Spring Break Safari at www.chattanoogafun.com/spring.
Officials at the Citizens Utility Board are warning residents in Arlington Heights and several neighboring communities to beware of potentially bad deals pitched by electric aggregation companies targeting new customers. (Karen Ann Cullotta / Pioneer Press)

Officials at the Citizens Utility Board are warning residents in Arlington Heights and several neighboring communities to beware of potentially bad deals pitched by electric companies targeting new customers.

The consumer alert issued by the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) earlier this month warns residents of seven northwest suburbs, including Arlington Heights, that are part of the Northwest Aggregation Consortium, which is suspending its program and reverting residents back to ComEd in May.

Advertisement

"It's important for consumers to have good information to protect themselves from bad deals, and that's why CUB created our 'Guide to Avoiding Electric Rip-offs,'" CUB Communications Director Jim Chilsen said in a statement.

The CUB guide includes tips on "avoiding rip-offs" and includes a list of alternative supplier offers, including how they compare with the electricity price of the regulated utility, ComEd, officials said.

Advertisement

"People should know that it's likely that ComEd is your best bet in the current market," Chilsen said.

Arlington Heights Village Manager Randall Recklaus said Wednesday that in recent years, the village was one of seven suburbs, including Buffalo Grove, Lincolnshire, Long Grove, Palatine, Vernon Hills, and Wheeling, that participated in a municipal aggregation program.

The group, like other similar ones in the Chicago area, was created to find cheaper electricity rates for residents than the ones from ComEd, the predominant supplier in the area.

The Northwest Aggregation Consortium decided to suspend the program this year because ComEd offered the lowest available fixed rates among all of the group's bidders, officials in Buffalo Grove have said.

With residents set to automatically switch back to ComEd in May, Recklaus said officials are, "very confident that ComEd rates are the best for the community."

Before the switch, local residents will be receiving a letter informing them of the automatic change over to ComEd, Recklaus said.

Recklaus also echoed CUB officials' concerns that the upcoming transition could potentially make residents the targets of sales pitches from electric companies aiming to attract new customers.

"There absolutely are a lot of companies that, unfortunately, put information out there that may be misleading," Recklaus said. "Like CUB, we're telling residents to be very cautious, and if a company tells them they're affiliated with the village in any way, they should call us."

Advertisement

While residents can still elect to find a different electricity supplier other than ComEd, Recklaus warned that they should beware of monthly fees and early termination penalties.

Officials at CUB also warn residents to refrain from providing their ComEd account numbers or ComEd bills to alternative supplier sales representatives, unless they are absolutely sure they want to sign up for another offer.

Residents interested in receiving a copy of the free CUB guide can visit: www.CUBHelpCenter.com.

kcullotta@tribpub.com

Twitter @kcullotta
Police say a 21-year-old Lisle man broke into a downtown Aurora restaurant early Thursday morning to replenish money he lost gambling.

Kurt Madridejos, 21, of Lisle, is charged with class 2 felony burglary and has bond call Friday morning, according to police.

Advertisement

Officers were dispatched after a key holder at La Quinta, 36 E. New York St., called police at 12:49 a.m. Thursday to report the break-in, which occurred after the restaurant had closed, said Aurora police Investigator Dave Brian, who responded to the scene.

The caller reported seeing someone breaking into the restaurant, Brian said. Madridejos allegedly smashed a window and tried to get money out of the cash register, but it was empty, Brian said.

Advertisement

Although the caller believed the burglar was still inside, the suspect apparently got out before police surrounded the restaurant, Brian said. Officers found Madridejos a short distance away with a bloody hand, and he was taken into custody without incident, Brian said.

Madridejos told police he had just been "hard on his luck" at the nearby Hollywood Casino and was attempting to replenish money he lost, Brian said.

Police believe the burglary was an isolated incident, and Madridejos wasn't involved in any other criminal activity in Aurora, Brian said.

One of the windows on the side of the restaurant had been shattered with a rock, Brian said. The total loss estimate is $400 in damage to the window and cash register, he said.

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
KANKAKEE, Ill.  A bishop is asking three Catholic churches northeastern Illinois to merge in an effort to make up for a priest shortage.

The request comes from the Joliet Diocese's Bishop Daniel Conlon. It would consolidate the St. Rose of Lima, St. Martin of Tours and St. Teresa parishes in Kankakee. Congregants received the news last week.

Advertisement

Church members tell the (Kanakee) Daily Journal they were "disheartened" but not surprised by the announcement.

Two Catholic churches in Kankakee have closed in the last 40 years. A single pastor currently serves all three churches considered for the merger.

Advertisement

Questions remain about what the consolidated church would be called and where it would hold services. The parishes may need to submit a plan as early as July before the church's fiscal year ends.
The grass-roots group Indivisible Chicago urges U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush on Feb. 23, 2017, to get more involved in his work. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Hundreds of protesters from a progressive group taking cues from a Tea Party playbook gathered at congressional offices across Illinois Thursday encouraging elected officials to push harder against President Donald Trump and Republicans.

"The Trump agenda and the GOP agenda is so appalling. We feel the majority of American believe that it is time for us to wake up and fight back," said Jeff Radue, a Beverly resident and local organizer for Indivisible.

Advertisement

Groups and groups across the country have been founded to organize around the Indivisible Guide, a manual drafted by former Democratic staffers that borrows heavily from Tea Party tactics.

Local Indivisible groups, including ones made up of people from the Illinois 1st and 3rd Congressional districts, rallied and called for action from Democratic congressmen to oppose Trump and adopt more progressive stances on issues.

Advertisement

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 13 Clare Duggan, center, with Indivisible Chicago, and Jeff Radue, right, with Indivisible Chicago Southside, speak to a staffer, left, with the office of Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush in Chicago to deliver petitions to his office Feb. 23, 2017. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Radue, who heads the 1st District group, called for Rep. Bobby Rush to step down due to long absences from Washington. He said it was their top concern with the longtime 1st Congressional District congressman.

Rush has made it publicly known since 2014 that he has been caring for his wife, Carolyn, and has spent much of his time in his Chicago congressional offices to be closer to her.

"We do respect Congressman Rush, his history and his service. And we also respect his need to take care of his family," said Radue, who heads the Indivisible Illinois 1st group. But if Rush "is incapable of being present due to family health concerns, he should step down and work with the community to find a qualified replacement."

Rush, who did not mention the group's top concern in an interview Thursday morning, said he supported Indivisible "on the issues, most of the issues, 90 percent of them."

"As a lifelong organizer, I appreciate them and I respect them and, frankly, I'm inspired by them," Rush said.

The congressman's office has sent letters to the Trump administration and welcomes a potential sit down, especially to address comments the president has made about ongoing violence and the suggestion of sending troops to Chicago, Rush said.

"Get off your rump, Trump, and come to Chicago," he said Thursday.

About 150 protesters converged on Rush's office. Many taped form letters bearing their name to the office's windows.

Advertisement

About 50 people gathered on the sidewalk Thursday afternoon on Archer Avenue outside Rep. Dan Lipinski's office. Members of Indivisible met with the conservative Democratic congressman from Illinois 3rd District on Tuesday. He spent Thursday in Lockport and was not scheduled to be present for the rally.

Jeff Radue, with Indivisible Chicago Southside, speaks to protesters as they rally in front of the office of Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush in Chicago on Feb. 23, 2017. The group was trying to get petitions signed and filled out to deliver to the congressman's office. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Several protesters said they were concerned with Lipinski's views on social issues, in particular his voting record on women's issues.

"He doesn't promote any of the social issues that affect the civil rights of people," said Jim Longino, another local organizer for Indivisible.

"We were united in the fact that we want him to stand up and represent us. And if he does that, we will back him. But if he does not, we will be holding him accountable," Longino said.

While Lipinski has a conservative record, most of what the congressman supports is in line with what the members have stated they want, said Jerry Hurckes, Lipinski's chief of staff.

Lipinski didn't vote the for the Affordable Care Act, which some members of the grassroots groups are concerned that Republicans will repeal, Hurckes said.

Advertisement

But Hurckes said Lipinski has opposed every vote by Republican to repeal the act. He expressed doubts that congressional Republicans will march forward with a repeal based on the "the yelling and screaming they have heard over the last several weeks."

Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Three men received weapons-related charges following a Wednesday morning stand-off with Blue Island police, officials said.

Jonathan Rodriguez, 29, of the 12700 block of Western Ave., was charged Thursday with felony aggravated discharge of a firearm from an alleged incident in October 2016 in Blue Island, police said.

Advertisement

Timothy Akins, 31, and Michael Dowd, 27, both of the 2200 block of 119th Place, were charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, police said. Police said Dowd and Akins are alleged Satan Disciple gang members with "extensive felony background." In 2014, Dowd was convicted of felony reckless discharge of a firearm and served one year in prison, Illinois Department of Corrections records show.

About 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, a man drove in the alley behind a building in the 2200 block of 119th Place and attempted to maneuver around a parked car when a man brandishing a shotgun warned him not to hit the vehicle, police said.

Advertisement

The driver left the alley and drove to the front of the building to find an address he could provide to police.

When another man with a handgun exited a parked car and entered the residence, the driver fled and called police, Blue Island police said.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

The South Suburban Emergency Response team was deployed to the scene, and SWAT teams surrounded the home, police said.

When police arrived on scene, the offenders first refused to come out before three exited the home and were taken into custody while others refused to leave, police said.

Officers wearing army fatigues and carrying assault rifles strode outside the home and down the narrow streets and alleys cordoned off with yellow caution tape, and hovered near black, military-style armored cars.

Snipers were seen wearing ghillie suits, a thick mossy mesh material draped over the body for camouflage.

Law enforcement entered the home after a search warrant was obtained, and the others were taken into custody without incident, police said. A total of seven people were taken into custody but only the three men were charged.

Police said they found three handguns and drugs at the home.

Advertisement

mmccall@tribpub.com
Illinois State Police crime scene investigators and the FBIremove the floor of abasement on Margaret Street in Joliet on Feb. 23, 2017. Investigators were looking for the remains of Will County sheriff's Deputy Robin Abrams, who has been missing since 1990. (Warren Skalski / Chicago Tribune)

State and federal investigators Saturday continued to dig under a portion of a basement in a Joliet home in hopes of finding clues about the 1990 disappearance of a former Will County sheriff's deputy.

Investigators from the Illinois State Police and the FBI used jackhammers to break up concrete that was removed in buckets from the home in the 100 block of South Margaret Street on Joliet's west side.

Authorities said "new leads" led them to the basement of the home Thursday in connection with the October 1990 disappearance of Robin Abrams.

Before she disappeared, Abrams filed a civil rights lawsuit against a former Will County sheriff's official with whom she said she had had an affair. Abrams claimed in the suit that the official was responsible for her losing her job with the sheriff's office.

Advertisement

According to sheriff's department records, Abrams was hired on Jan. 11, 1988, and fired Dec. 21 of that same year, just three weeks before her probationary status was to end.

Abrams, who was 28 when she disappeared, was last seen Oct. 4, 1990, when she and her father, who was an Orland Park police officer, exchanged waves as their cars passed each other on a rural Will County road near Beecher. She was scheduled to testify in a deposition regarding the lawsuit nearly three weeks later.

Advertisement

Her 1989 red Dodge Daytona hatchback was recovered 11 hours later by police in Harvey. Her keys were still in the ignition inside the locked car.

Barb and Don Abrams, along with daughter Jody, hold photos of missing daughter Robin Abrams as they ask for help on Oct. 8, 1990 in Beecher. (Chicago Tribune)

Harvey police said at the time that a nearby resident saw the vehicle dropped off by two men in what was described as a tow truck.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Another resident reported that someone was trying to break into the car. In addition to the keys, police found Abrams' camera inside the car.

Three days later, a woman telephoned Abrams' father saying his daughter's purse was found three blocks away from the car's location. The missing woman's wallet and credit cards were gone, but her checkbook was still in the purse.

Illinois State Police Lt. Jeffrey Padilla on Thursday declined to say specifically why police were led to the home or what may have been found in the home, but noted that neither current nor former homeowners were involved in the case.

Robin Abrams, a former Will County sheriff's deputy, went missing in 1990.

The home was built in 1990, the same year Abrams went missing, Padilla said.

"I'm in a state of shock," Abrams' sister, Jody Abrams Walsh, said outside the home Thursday.

Prosecutors with the Will County State's Attorney's office spoke with investigators on the scene Friday afternoon in a discussion that was described as "informational."

Advertisement

Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Reavis High School in Burbank has invited out-of-district students from the closing Queen of Peace to enroll. (Reavis High School / HANDOUT)

Reavis High School in Burbank will offer tuition-based admission to out-of-district students who currently attend its soon-to-be closing neighbor Queen of Peace High School, the school's superintendent said.

The high school district's board of education passed a resolution Tuesday to accept current Queen of Peace students starting this fall through the 2019-2020 school year at an annual rate of $8,500, District 220 Superintendent Dan Riordan said.

Advertisement

"This is really just a notion to be good neighbors, to try to take care of students that go to school six to eight blocks away from us and continue their education in a town they've been coming to," Riordan said Wednesday. "If one student takes advantage of it, great. If 50 do, we definitely can handle the enrollment."

Other than the children of full-time employees living out of district  who can attend Reavis at 25 percent of the school's per pupil expenditure, or approximately $4,169 per year  the high school has never before accepted out-of-district students, Riordan said.

Advertisement

The offer is limited in that it applies only to current Queen of Peace students, not prospective students who sat for the recent entrance exam or the siblings of current students, he said.

The $8,500 tuition figure was chosen, Riordan said, because board members knew that charging the full per pupil expenditure, which was $16,637, according to the latest Illinois Report Card data, would be prohibitive.

"We wanted to come up with a dollar figure that we thought would entice and give those students at least a good option if they so chose to take us up on the offer," he said.

The decision to welcome former Queen of Peace students who live outside the district comes one month after the all-girls Catholic school announced it would close at school year's end due to financial difficulties and declining enrollment.

St. Laurence High School, Queen of Peace's next door neighbor and brother school, also announced last week that it would welcome Queen of Peace students, transforming into a co-ed institution in the process. Full tuition at St. Laurence this year is $9,950, although many families receive some amount of aid, school president Joseph Martinez said.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Riordan said Reavis' decision to welcome current Queen of Peace students was not a response to St. Laurence's announcement  the move was actually being discussed before the announcement was made  and said the public high school had no intention of competing with St. Laurence for students.

Two Queen of Peace students who live in Burbank already have transferred to Reavis and another handful have said they'll enroll there in the fall, but it's unclear whether any out-of-district students will take up the public high school on its offer, Riordan said.

About 30 Queen of Peace families visited Reavis' booth at an open house the Catholic school held last week in its gymnasium, including five or six from outside of Burbank who expressed interested in attending Reavis, he said.

Advertisement

"If they all go [elsewhere], there's no problem, and we're not going to feel any sort of remorse as far as doing this because we're doing it out of the goodness of our hearts," Riordan said.

Queen of Peace families considering Reavis for next year are invited to attend a meeting and tour of the school's facilities Tuesday at 7 p.m.

zkoeske@tribpub.com

Twitter @ZakKoeske
On March 4, Cynthia Saldana will be presented with the Courage Award during the Crisis Center for South Suburbia's Heart to Heart Gala. Saldana, a court advocate for domestic violence victims, lost her husband last year when her former boyfriend shot and killed him on the driveway of the family's home in Bridgeview. She shares her story, she says, in the hopes that others will share theirs. (Photo by Donna Vickroy) (Donna Vickroy / Daily Southtown)

Strength came to Cynthia Saldana in a dream.

In the dark, painful weeks following her husband's murder in January 2016, she could barely leave the house, let alone carry on her work as a court advocate for victims of domestic violence.

Advertisement

But then the night after she arranged to have Catholic Masses said for her beloved husband of four years, Jorge Luis Villasenor (aka Santiago Garcia-Mendoza), she said she had a dream that simultaneously comforted and nudged her back into life.

In it, she saw a bright light and what she said was Jesus Christ asking why she had not arranged to have Masses also said for her ex-boyfriend, the man who killed Villasenor.

Advertisement

"I felt God's sadness and that made me sad," she said. "Right then, I knew what I had to do."

Last week, sitting in her office at the Crisis Center for South Suburbia, where she is a staff member of the center's Court Advocacy Program, Saldana shared her story and called the comfort of her friends and colleagues "a blessing."

On March 4, she will be presented with the center's annual Courage Award during its Heart to Heart Gala at the Hilton DoubleTree Chicago-Alsip. The honor recognizes an individual or organization that emulates selflessness, dedication and commitment to the CCSS mission under adverse conditions.

In their nominating submission to the CCSS board, Erika Hernandez, director of advocacy services, and the other CCSS court advocates cited Saldana's ability to continue helping others through the legal and emotional throes of domestic violence while picking up the pieces of her own life.

"We are so inspired by our colleague's strength and perseverance to go on with her life as a single mom of four children who depend on her for love and guidance and return to work full time," they wrote. "She is a true example of fortitude and courage under fire. We love her. We support her. She is our hero."

On Jan. 14, 2016, Saldana experienced the very outcome she'd worked all her adult life to help others avoid.

On that fateful day, her former boyfriend and the father of two of her children, came to her home and shot Villasenor several times on the family's driveway in Bridgeview before fleeing. A utility crew working nearby was able to provide police with a description of the vehicle and a chase ensued, records show. The shooter led law enforcement south on I-57 near Peotone, where he crashed through some fences and came to a stop on a median. He then shot and killed himself, according to police.

Cynthia Saldana and Jorge Luis Villasenor were only married four years when Saldana's ex-boyfriend shot and killed Villasenor on the driveway of the family's Bridgeview home. Saldana, a court advocate for victims of domestic violence, will be honored for her ongoing courage during the Crisis Center for South Suburbia's Heart to Heart Gala March 4. (photo courtesy of Cynthia Saldana)

In a matter of minutes, Saldana, 36, had lost her husband and the fathers of her children to gun violence.

Advertisement

"In the beginning I asked what could I have done, what could I have changed," she said. "It was such a shock. I really didn't see any visible signs or could have imagined that (her ex) was capable of something like this."

She said she'd believed her former boyfriend, with whom she'd had a 15-year relationship, had also moved on.

"I just don't understand, I still don't," she said.

Early on in her grief, the deeply devout Saldana said, Jesus came to her in a series of dreams, first asking her to pray for the man who caused so much anguish and then answering her question, "How is it I am surviving this?" with "Because you are filled with the Holy Spirit."

She said the dreams helped her see that although there is good and evil in the world, she should pray for both. The revelation, she said, has brought a sense of peace and the courage to continue with her work.

"I think with every suffering I have had, I have been better able to help others who are also suffering," she said. "So I do see this as a purpose."

Advertisement

Face of the issue

Saldana understood the turmoil of domestic violence long before her life was turned upside down by the death of her husband.

She recalled that as a child growing up in Summit, she endured many late nights hiding in closets and under the bed.

"I grew up in a home where there was a lot of domestic violence and alcohol abuse," she said. "Because of that we also suffered from poverty for some time. It was difficult. I totally understand the dynamics of domestic violence."

That includes what she said is often the biggest obstacle to healing: secrecy.

"As kids, we'd be up so late because of everything going on. We'd only get maybe three hours of sleep. But you hide everything at school. You still smile," she said. "Children seem to know they're not supposed to talk about it, not supposed to show it. That, I think is the reason so many victims and abusers don't get any help."

Advertisement

On March 4, Cynthia Saldana will be presented with the Courage Award during the Crisis Center for South Suburbia's Heart to Heart Gala. Saldana, a court advocate for domestic violence victims, lost her husband last year when her former boyfriend shot and killed him on the driveway of the family's home in Bridgeview. (Photo by Donna Vickroy) (Donna Vickroy / Daily Southtown)

Her goal, she said, is to, first, help victims understand they are not alone, and then, help them navigate the court system.

"It shouldn't be a secret. It's happening all over. In court, we see so many families torn apart, but there are so many more who keep it a secret. It's sad, really sad," she said.

"Today, I make it a mission to help in any way I can. To help empower the victims and their children. By empowering the victim, you're empowering the family," she said.

She encourages people in violent relationships to seek help not only for their own good, but for the sake of their children. Violence often becomes a cruel, vicious cycle, she said. She also advises people to beware of the red flags of a potentially violent relationship  jealousy, control, isolation. (More information is at the center's website, www.crisisctr.org)

The aim of the courts, Saldana said, is to help the victims by getting help for the defendants, getting them to domestic violence counseling, to mental health and drug or alcohol screenings and treatment, if needed.

"I think it's a great thing when victims decide to go forward. A lot of times they say they wish they had done this sooner," she said.

Advertisement

"The abuser needs to be held accountable," she added. And often once they are, they come back and tell the judge, "I didn't think I would get anything out of this, but I did. It changed the way I feel," she said.

Saldana graduated Argo High School in three years, hurried by the fact that she'd had a daughter at age 15. From there, she attended Moraine Valley Community College before moving on and finishing her degree at the University of Illinois Chicago.

"I had planned to major in psychology but I took a criminal justice class and totally fell in love," she said. So her degree is in both.

Her life has always paralleled her studies and career path, she said.

Though there were inklings that her former boyfriend could become violent, she said she did her best to curb the behavior, by making it clear she would not allow it.

After they broke up, she met Villasenor, whom she described as kind and joyful and always smiling.

Advertisement

"He truly loved me unconditionally," she said. "And I never got the chance to thank him for that."

Saldana said her faith gets her through the unbearable pain of the loss.

"I have always been very spiritual," she said.

Everyone, she said, has trials and pain and struggles. At the end of the day, she added, what matters is if you were able to help anyone else through theirs.

After her husband's death, she said, there was a flurry of social media postings about it. "People were spreading lies, making really bad comments," she said.

It was tough for her not to respond, she said. "But then I thought of course the devil wants us to react and be angry and say hateful things back. But it's not going to happen. I'm not going to create more damage. People can say whatever they want. I can't change that. I can't change what happened. But I have God with me and we're going to move forward."

Advertisement

She said her friends and colleagues at the Crisis Center, at her church and in her community were a beacon of light through those dark days.

"They were awesome. They made meals, sent cards and made monetary donations. I know they were all praying for me," she said. "I appreciate every single hug and thought and prayer. They helped me tremendously."

And so now, she said, she hopes to return the favor to others in need of solace, comfort, direction.

Hope on the horizon

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence estimates that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the United States have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner, according to its website. In 2014, almost 65,800 intimate violence incidents were reported to Illinois law enforcement.

Saldana said the numbers don't reflect the complete picture. She said she suspects a lot of cases go unreported.

Advertisement

Though domestic violence can wreak havoc on a family, Saldana said happy endings do occur.

"A lot of time abusers get the help they need and the family comes back together," she said.

And every day, she said, she is a witness to courage. She cited an 8-year-old girl who recently offered to testify in court to help keep an abuser away from her little brother.

Sometimes, she said, the victims are shaking, sometimes they're so scared they forget testimony.

"Court can be very intimidating," she said. "But they're so brave to pursue help. We advocate for them. We help prepare them and we stay with them."

Domestic violence, she said, is universal, affecting people of all income brackets, all ethnicities and all religions. Most times, the abuser is a spouse but sometimes it is an adult child or a stepparent or a distant relative.

Advertisement

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"We've seen everything," she said.

The solution, she said, begins with shedding a light on what is often a dark, family secret.

"You can make changes. You can move forward," she said, holding up her own story as an example.

"I give myself to permission to feel the way I am feeling, to be sad, to go through the grieving process," she said.

"But, I also know I am not alone, that I am loved. And that makes a huge difference."

dvickroy@tribpub.com

Advertisement

Twitter @dvickroy




The Tennessee Highway Patrol will soon be accepting applications for the second lateral trooper class. Men and women interested in a career as a state trooper can begin the application process online at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, March 8 through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, March 21.Preferred qualifications for the lateral class will be Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) certified police officers and those individuals who have graduated from a POST certified law enforcement training facility (i.e.Walter State Community College or Cleveland State, etc).This is the second year for the lateral that is scheduled to begin Aug. 27, and scheduled to graduate Dec. 15. The class will consist of 16 weeks of training condensed from the THPs traditional trooper academies which consist of 22 weeks.In the interest of public safety, I believe that the lateral trooper class will make Tennessee a safer state to work, live and play by putting highly trained troopers on Tennessee roadways, Colonel Tracy Trott said. Applicants with previous experience have the opportunity to become state troopers in a shorter training cycle.In October of 2012, legislation called the Tennessee Excellence, Accountability and Management Act (TEAM Act) revised the hiring method to incorporate an interview process that tests an applicants knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies. As a result, selected applicants will be required to successfully pass the physical agility test prior to being admitted for an interview. There is no longer an examination portion to qualify for the state trooper position.The THP anticipates the agility test and interview appointments to begin April 18 and conclude on April 21 at the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security Training Center. Individuals interested in applying for the position of state trooper must be at least 21 years old, POST certified, a U.S. Citizen and have a high school diploma or equivalent. No applicants with felony convictions will be considered.If hired, individuals must obtain a valid Tennessee driver license prior to class graduation on Dec. 15 and are required to successfully complete a Level II background investigation which includes a credit check and polygraph test. Recruits must also pass a psychological and medical examination including a drug screening.Interested and qualified candidates for the position of state trooper should submit an employment application to the Tennessee Department of Human Resources. All applicants must apply online at http://agency.governmentjobs.com/tennessee/default.cfm beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, March 8. Applications will not be accepted after March 21. Once approved by the Department of Human Resources, applicants will be notified of their qualification status via email.There are currently 897 authorized commissioned trooper positions within the THP. Trooper cadets will be assigned to vacant positions across the state upon graduation. The starting salary for a trooper cadet during the training academy is $2,859 per month.Upon graduation and commissioning as a Tennessee state trooper, the salary will increase to $3,163 per month and include a pension plan, health insurance and paid holidays. Troopers are also provided a uniform, equipment and patrol vehicles. With regular pay increases, a state trooper can earn $56,412 per year after 10 years of service under the current pay structure.For additional information on becoming a state trooper, visit http://www.tn.gov/safety/article/trpqualifications For more information about applications, interested individuals are encouraged to contact the Tennessee Department of Human Resources Applicant Services Division at 615-741-4841.
It is really sad when it is "news" that our president speaks out against anti-Semitism. "News" being that it is something unusual for him. Speaking out against hatred towards any group of people - whether the hatred is aimed at those because they are of a different religion, race, sexual orientation, nationality or sex  is something one expects a president to do. Reporting a president's remarks against hatred is expected. The fact that he made the remarks shouldn't be the story. So sad what our nation's reality has become in a short time.

Red, Chicago

Advertisement

Coal is a dirty fuel. Relatives who came over from Europe went to work in the mines in West Virginia and Kentucky in the early nineteen hundreds. Immigrants were cheap and disposable labor then. If you didn't die in a cave-in, you eventually died of black lung. We are unable to locate one great uncle, as some mines used numbers instead of names, so we are not sure what cave-in he died in. My grandfather died of black lung when my father was just twelve. Close the coal mines. Have the mine owners restore the land they have contaminated by giving the restoration jobs to the out of work miners. Put people back to work and help the environment.

I have been a voter for 50 years. President Donald Trump is the first elected official that I have ever seen that is actually trying to fulfill his campaign promises. Right wrong or indifferent Trump is addressing issues that should have dealt with many years ago. The difference is he is more concerned with the good of the country and not reelection.

Advertisement

J.K.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

If those who march in protests are being paid as suggested by many, all I want to know is where's my compensation? No evidence has been uncovered that those who attend demonstrations to show support for ideas they believe in are being paid. Wouldn't the crowds would be much larger if this were true?

Rose, Chicago

Somebody needs to explain to me how Jesse Jackson Jr. collects disability ( Depression, really?) and workman's comp payments of over $100,000. I'm sure his father has something to do with this.

There is just no end to the corruption in Illinois. There are many other people who need this help.

Greg

What's Speak Out?

Speak Out allows readers to comment on the issues of the day. Email Speak Out at speakout@southtownstar.com or call 312-222-2427. Please limit comments to 30 seconds or about 120 words and give your first name and your hometown.
Wheaton College art professor Joel Sheesley has painted three Fox River scenes so far, including of Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin (left) and Jon Duerr Forest Preserve in South Elgin. (Gloria Casas / The Courier-News)

Wheaton College art professor Joel Sheesley has been out along the Fox River this winter, sometimes on bone-chilling days, to capture scenes he hopes will inspire people to care more about conservation.

He is producing about 60 paintings of scenes along the river in Kane and Kendall counties as part of the Conservation Foundation's five-year plan called the Fox River Initiative.

Advertisement

"I am hoping, and this is the Conservation Foundation's hope, by offering a painting, it reminds people of the beauty of the place and people will look at the river with affection and a desire to preserve it," Sheesley said.

"I feel like every minute counts," he said recently at a luncheon where his work was displayed to kick off the initiative.

Advertisement

The foundation also hopes to create a book and hold exhibitions of the paintings, Sheesley said.

His work came to the foundation's attention through an exhibit he did of Lincoln Marsh in Wheaton, his hometown.

"I was thrilled to be asked and I am having a blast doing it," the professor said. "The only conflict I have is between fishing and painting. I am putting all my eggs in the painting basket right now."

He began work in November and has produced three pieces -- landscapes at Mill Creek in Batavia, Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin and at the Jon Duerr Forest Preserve in South Elgin.

Sheesley has been researching the Fox River and exploring different points. He sees three distinct parts of the river: a relatively flat, meandering ribbon from the upper Chain of Lakes to Algonquin; a more defined urban river reaching from Elgin to Yorkville, and a more rural river from Yorkville to Ottawa, he said.

There are interesting spots, like the Bluff Spring Fen, all along the Fox River, he said. The fen is bordered by Bluff City Cemetery and an industrial area.

He's learned the river has a storied past, he said, starting with Native Americans who lived along the banks, the white settlements that followed and the beginning of industry, which was, at times, overzealous and unregulated, causing damage to the river, Sheesley said.

"I find it all fascinating. It is all part of what the river has become for us," he said.

Advertisement

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Skeptical about national security: President Trump said he was going to drain the swamp. Did everybody see what his national security adviser did? Can we trust this administration? Sitting down at dinner and showing people what North Korea was doing. These people had no business seeing that. They were huddled around a table and talking about the guy who was carrying the nuclear codes. I want to ask Trump supporters: Have you had enough yet?

Opt for optimism: I'm getting tired of hearing people talking against President Trump. It's like they are reading his mind on what he's going to do, and it's always on the scary side for them. Give the man a chance.

Advertisement

Revenge is not the answer: We keep bringing O.J. Simpson up. He may have killed those people or maybe not. It's not always what it seems. If he did kill them, he will be judged. The Goldmans are hurting. When you start trying to get revenge, it consumes you. Would they be doing this if O.J. had been a white man? I think not. It has turned into a racial issue. It should not be. My brother was killed in a very bad way. They caught the killers. I did not want to see those people. I did not let his murder consume me. You must let it go.

Riled about religion: One big issue that turns off an element of our society is President Trump's references to God. Reverence for a creator appeals to the far right but not to the left. Perhaps the choice belongs to God. The Bible says there are those who are called. Can we assume the rest are on their own?

Advertisement

Past worries: I remember that when I was a kid, polio was the big threat. We thought about nothing else. What is going on now is a few teardrops in the bucket.

Profiting from the presidency: Immediately upon Donald Trump becoming the president, the Trumps doubled the membership fees on their exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort from $100,000 to $200,000. They know that wealthy people will be running to join it so they can catch the president's ear. The Trump family business has also announced that they will triple their buildings in the next two to three years. It sounds like the Trumps aren't wasting a minute to take advantage of the presidential office.

Religion and guns don't mix: You have conservatives and evangelical Christians talk about how connected they are to God, yet they are so into guns. How can religious people be so into guns? Guns kill people. I don't get it. Jesus didn't have a gun or any weapon. I'm a Christian, and I'm not a gun nut. Somebody please explain this to me.

Save tiles and plaque: The Hill Elementary School scheduled to be razed this year contains several pieces of art that were commissioned by the Works Progress Administration. This government program was initiated in the 1930s to put individuals to work and, in this case, to produce art for public spaces. The ceramic tiles in the school along with the wooden plaque must be carefully removed and displayed in the new building. They are an important part of Nancy Hill history.

Pain pill problems: I'm calling about the Speak Out regarding doctors refraining from prescribing pain pills. I know exactly where the caller is coming from. I am disabled. My pain is so bad I can't walk anymore. I am pretty much homebound. I can't drive anymore. I need to have someone go to my pain clinic doctor at Sherman Hospital to get a prescription so I can get 30 pain pills. This is not right. I don't want to live in assisted living, but what can you do if you can't get your pain medications? Something needs to be done for seniors and the disabled.

Filling the bill: On April 4, Harriet Tubman will be the first female on U.S. currency since the early 1900s. She will be the first black woman on U.S. currency. She won't be on the bill by herself. She was a slave, and a president who was a slave owner will be on the same bill with her. We can't give a black person a bill all to themselves. You have white presidents on all the currency. It just shows you how racially motivated America still is. This needs to go away.

Stem the flow: A segment of the American population is hopeless. They hate President Trump to the extent that they would rather play Russian roulette with this nation's security than admit that the sane thing to do is to stem the unrestrained flow of immigrants from the Islamic world. 9/11 was our Pearl Harbor. Every radical Islamic attack since is a seismic warning that an earthquake is on the horizon.

Perturbed by political interests: There are laws regarding immigration. It's a felony for anyone to aid or even feed illegal immigrants. I did not watch the Super Bowl, and I am not watching any commercials where they are using their organizations to influence people. I will not buy any products that were advertised during the Super Bowl with political implications. If President Trump must separate his businesses from the presidency, then these businesses must separate their political interests from their products. Keep politics out of business.

Advertisement

Learn from Pearl Harbor: I watched a movie about what the military and politicians were doing before Pearl Harbor was attacked. It was sad to see that they didn't take anything seriously. It gave the Japanese a free hand. Right now, we have almost the same thing going on with our politicians and our protesters. Nobody realizes the serious side of what is filtering in from Europe. Has anyone thought about who is supplying the conflict over in those Arab countries?

Comments on calls: Good grief, people of Speak Out. Are you crazy? One complained that President Trump just tweets and we never see him. He's on television every day. Do you live in a cave? Another caller said there is no voter fraud. Come on now. And a third caller said Mexico won't pay for the wall. The United States can add all kinds of taxes on visas and money being sent to Mexico. Trump doesn't have to demand a check for the wall from the Mexican president. There are ways to get Mexico to pay for it. The caller who said former President Obama took things in stride never saw him at the podium criticizing Trump and Fox News. He also constantly criticized Republicans.

Gaming the system: Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., a convicted felon, receives $138,400 a year in workers' compensation and Social Security disability. In 2013, he admitted stealing $750,000 from his campaign fund. Talk about gaming the system. Claiming unemployment and disability when the big bucks from Congress stop. Some people can't lose no matter what they do.

Comment about Kennedy: Chris Kennedy, who wants to run for governor of Illinois, is just another empty suit living off the legacy of his dad and uncle. He would just be another stooge for Michael Madigan.

Follow the laws: There was a commentator on television who took a photo of a mother and children and tore it in half. He said the mother has been here for 20 years and will be separated from her children. Anybody who has been here for 10 or 20 years should know what the laws are. She never attempted to apply for citizenship. This is a slap in the face for the immigrants who did go the right way. Put that out there first and don't feel sorry for the people who did nothing.

Endorsing outsourcing: This is in regard to School District U46 outsourcing bus drivers. It would be the best thing in the world. It would save the district money. Some say the replacement drivers wouldn't be as dedicated. They might be more dedicated. Why do the parents of special needs children want all the focus of attention? All children have special needs. Let's get a dedicated company that will save us money and be more efficient than the current U46 bus drivers.

Advertisement

Troubled times: People are griping about President Trump. People, you wanted change. You got change. Tell me you want these illegal immigrants in this country when your kids can't get jobs. Trump is trying to keep terrorists out. Former President Obama got 2 million illegal immigrants out of our country. Nobody protested. Our country is going down the tubes. When I watch the shootings in Chicago, I want to throw up. If Trump cuts Social Security, we seniors will be in trouble. Trump will give a tax break to the rich. I believe in some things Trump is doing, but I don't believe in everything.

Worried about water: When will the city insist that the school districts in Aurora release information about the quality of water in the schools? It's very important for parents to know what's going on.

Opt for double deck parking in Dundee: If West Dundee doesn't have the sense to put a double-deck parking facility where the former Ace Hardware store was, they have lost all their marbles. By the time the new theater gets going and the new building is up, there won't be enough parking if they just pave the lot. I hope they get serious.

Elgin Lone Star closed: For the person who said they drove through the Lone Star parking lot in Elgin and noticed there were no cars there, he should have gotten out of his car and read the note on the door like I did that said they are out of business.

Editor's note

Speak Out is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you see something you disagree with or think is incorrect, call us at 312-222-2460 or email couriernews@tribpub.com. Please include "speak out" in the subject line.
River Grove police on Thursday described the slaying of 44-year-old Marisol Hernandez as a violent altercation in her home, saying that Hernandez fought back when she was stabbed.

Police Chief Rodger Loni said the killing, which took place on Valentine's Day, did not appear to have been committed by anyone who posed a further danger. He said police continue to believe "it was an isolated attack."

Advertisement

"I think whoever went to that house went there explicitly to confront the victim," Loni said.

Police continue to investigate the death of Hernandez, who authorities said was found dead Feb. 14 in her home on Wrightwood Avenue. The next day, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death a homicide, with the cause listed as "multiple sharp force injuries."

Advertisement

Police don't have any suspects in custody and are continuing to interview people, Loni said. Investigators also are reviewing cellphone and computer records and waiting for results to come back from the crime lab, he said.

"We're moving slow but moving in the right direction, I hope," he said.

Some of Hernandez's family members previously had said that as long as the identity of the killer remained a mystery, they could not be satisfied there was no threat to the community. Melanie Martinez, Hernandez's oldest daughter, said that "police can't say there is no danger to the community until this person is found  until they know exactly who the person is."

Martinez and Jason Krzak, Hernandez's husband, said they have had little communication with police about the case. Loni said police have tried to be mindful of the family's grief and had wanted to wait until funeral services were complete before involving them more on the direction of the investigation.

Martinez said on the day of the killing, a friend was having a phone conversation with Hernandez when the friend heard Hernandez asking someone what they were doing in her home and threatening to call police before the phone call broke off.

Concerned, the friend contacted relatives to check on Hernandez's well-being, Martinez said. A relative who left work early to check and had a key to the home was the first to discover Hernandez dead, according to the family.

The family doesn't know whether the conversation their mother was having was with someone she knew or was with a stranger, Martinez said.

"As far as we're concerned," she said, "no one in their right mind would hurt our mother, and anyone who knows her would vouch for that."

Advertisement

She said her mother, manager of a parking lot at Midway Airport, loved being at home and with her family.

"She barely worked with email; she barely texted," she said. "She was a dedicated wife, dedicated mother who worked her entire life, paid her taxes and was most definitely a dedicated friend."

Martinez said her mother moved from Chicago to River Grove about five years ago, to get a better life. The house, brick with white siding, is near the River Grove Bible Church.

"We bought it out of foreclosure," said Krzak, who works as a truck driver.

"We put every penny we had to making it a loving home," he said."We were going to save up, send her son to preparatory school so he could get a better education. We were living the American dream."

Funeral services were scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. Feb. 23 at Michaels Funeral Home, 800 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg.

Advertisement

A GoFundme page, "Justice for Mari," has been set up. The family is requesting that those unable to make donations say prayers in Hernandez's memory.

"We just want answers," Martinez said. "We want people who know anything to step forward."
Skokie water rates could go up and Lincolnwood could soon tap into Evanston's Lake Michigan water as Evanston officials discuss the future of the city's water sales, according to a city report.

Evanston already notified Skokie officials that the 20-year water agreement between the two municipalities would not be renewed when it expires later this month, according to a report accepted at Evanston's Feb. 13 city council meeting. The two towns are considering a 10-month extension to work out a new agreement that, according to the report, could mean "the Skokie rate would increase significantly."

Advertisement

In the meantime, Evanston officials said they would like to see Skokie's rates go up for the 10-month negotiating period.

"We're just trying to find a rate that will work for us in this interim period while we negotiate a new long-term agreement," said Evanston City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz. "We still haven't found it."

Advertisement

Right now Skokie buys Lake Michigan water from Evanston and pays for water treatment costs. But the village pays only "a low percentage" of the distribution costs, according to Evanston reports. A specific cost increase amount was not listed. More details are expected at Evanston's Feb. 28 city council meeting.

Meanwhile Lincolnwood in "recent weeks" has been in touch about switching water providers from Chicago to Evanston, according to the report.

Evanston staff has provided Lincolnwood with a proposed water rate and could deliver water to Oakton Street and McCormick Boulevard, from where Lincolnwood would pipe it to village residents, according to the report. Talks continue between officials from the two towns.

The report on Skokie and Lincolnwood comes after Evanston in January approved agreements to provide Lake Michigan water to former Chicago water customers Morton Grove and Niles, with delivery starting as soon as 2018.

That deal will increase the number of suburban customers using Evanston water from 400,000 now to about 450,000, according to city figures. Morton Grove and Niles users are expected to make up about 13 percent of those using Evanston water.

The sale is expected to earn Evanston an additional $735,000 in revenue next year, rising to $1.2 million in 2022, according to city reports.

No water treatment plant improvements should be needed to accommodate the demand, Evanston officials said.

gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com

Advertisement

Twitter @GenevieveBook
The Glenview Park District Board of Commissioners on Feb. 23 approved boating on Lake Glenview, shown above behind Attea Middle School. (Alexandra Kukulka / Pioneer Press)

In a 6-1 vote, the Glenview Park District Board of Commissioners on Thursday approved boating on Lake Glenview, despite some resident concern.

Non-motorized boating on the 45-acre, man-made lake, located in Gallery Park behind Park Center and Attea Middle School, will be allowed from May 1 to Oct. 1, according to the policy approved by the board. But boating will begin on Memorial Day this year because Park District officials have to get approval from the Village Board of Trustees to allow boating, said Elsa Fischer, superintendent of leisure services.

Advertisement

Park District staff researched boating on Lake Glenview for a year and a half, "and we are finally at a time where it could be implemented," Fischer said. The 2017 boating season "will be a trial period for this activity," and adjustments can be made moving forward, she said.

Nature photographer Carol Freeman, one of seven residents who addressed the board, said that she previously asked Park District officials to consider shortening the boating period to Memorial Day to Labor Day to protect migrating birds. Fischer said that Park District staff has found that the proposed boating period will not effect the nesting and migration patterns of the birds.

Advertisement

But to protect the wildlife around Lake Glenview, the Park District will enforce the following rules: there will only be one entrance and exit point for boats, the islands and the south part of the lake will be off limits to boaters, and boat permits will be required, which will allow staff to contact people who are abusing the rules, she said.

"Although this activity will not be supervised, staff will be checking on boating activities on Lake Glenview at various, unannounced times. Boating privileges will be revoked for those who do not follow the rules," Fischer said.

Commissioner Angie Katsamakis voted against boating because of safety concerns. She said she disagrees with the policy that children under 13 years old have to be accompanied by an adult who is 18 years old or older.

"I feel that we have to implement a minimal age requirement to be in a boat. Our rule is too lenient. You could have a 7-year-old with an 18-year-old, and that 18-year-old not paying attention to that 7-year-old," Katsamakis said.

Resident Jessica Judge said that she "doesn't see the significance in having boats on the lake," because nearby communities have lakes where boating is allowed, like the Skokie Lagoons in Winnetka. The Park District has a liability to protect the environment and a liability to keep people on the lake safe, she said.

Resident Richard Baylander said he supports boating on Lake Glenview, and believes people will respect the environment while on the lake.

"I honestly believe that boating and birding can coexist," he said.

Commissioner William Casey said that he supports boating because "boaters are environmentalists."

Advertisement

akukulka@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @Akukulka11
A former Hinsdale high school teacher was sentenced to six years in prison Friday after admitting to a sexual relationship with a female student.

In a negotiated plea with DuPage County prosecutors, James Bryla, 31, of Yorkville, admitted guilt to one count of criminal sexual assault and agreed to the prison term. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop other counts Bryla was facing.

Advertisement

Authorities say that Bryla engaged in a sex act with a Hinsdale Central student in a car at a park near the school. The student would have been 16 years old at the time, which was sometime between March and June 2011, prosecutors said.

She went to authorities in December 2014, and Bryla was charged in April 2015.

Advertisement

His arrest came five months after Bryla resigned his teaching job. In December 2014, a student reported receiving what were described as inappropriate communications from Bryla, and he was placed on leave. He quit the following day, according to Hinsdale Township High School District 86.

The school district said Bryla had been first hired in 2010 and was working as a part-time teacher at both Hinsdale Central and South high schools when he was placed on leave.

Bryla must serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence, a little more than five years, and then must register as a sex offender. Bryla, who had been on bond, was taken into custody following the hearing in front of Judge Robert Miller.

Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.
A talented student in Dayton, TN could soon have her art on the Google homepage for hundreds of millions to see. Google is announcing the 53 state and territory winners in its ninth annual Doodle 4 Google competition, a contest open to K-12 students across the United States to redesign the Google logo inspired by the theme What I see for the future....



Sophia Hicks, a 3rd grader from Dayton City School, is one of the 53 winners with her doodle Building Homes, Building Communities, Building Friendships! Sophias doodle was selected from thousands of entries received this year. Students at Dayton City School helped Sophia celebrate during a surprise assembly Thursday morning.



To help their favorites succeed, everyone across the USA can vote for their favorite doodle from the 53 state winners. Voting will be open from Feb. 23 to March 6 on this site: http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html, and the public vote will determine the five national finalists (one in each grade group). Google will announce these five national finalists and one of them as the national winner on March 31  and the winners doodle will go live on Google.com that day.



The National Winner will take home a $30,000 college scholarship and his or her school will receive a $50,000 Google for Education grant towards the establishment and improvement of a computer lab or technology program.

To see a full list of state winners and to vote online, visit: http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html.



For more information, or would like to speak with a Google representative, send an email to cmccoy@blackrockgrp.com.
Lake County commuters head to local businesses using public transportation rather than cars on Feb. 24, at the Braeside Metra Station in Highland Park. (Mark Kodiak Ukena / Lake County News-Sun)

When it comes to ride sharing in Lake County, Maggie Daly Skogsbakken knows what it's all about. Not only is she the spokesman for Pace Suburban Bus, she was also drove a Pace vanpool for seven years.

Lake County's high number of non-traditional commuters  including those using these Pace programs, as well residents working from or closer to home  is one factor in what Lake County Partners describes as a higher quality of life in the county.

Advertisement

The nonprofit economic development organization recently released results of two independent studies showing that Lake County residents both live nearer to work and have a higher number of non-traditional commuters than other collar counties, according to Kevin Considine, managing director of the organization.

"The number of people both living and working in Lake County is a testament to the region, its thriving economy and quality of life," Considine said in a statement.

Advertisement

Elaborating on information sent out this week in the statement, Considine said people have shorter commutes due to the number of businesses in the county, which he said promotes a healthier life/work balance and higher quality of life.

"We have a lot of businesses here and a breadth of businesses here," he said. "Lake County is one of the largest manufacturing counties in the country."

There are 11 Fortune 500 companies in the county, including Abbott Laboratories, Baxter International, Discover Financial Services and Walgreens, he said.

The study Considine cited, Travel Trends 2016, was conduced by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). It showed that more than 69 percent of Lake County residents also work in the county, which has a higher live-and-work rate than any other suburban region.

Separately, American Community Survey estimates from 2011 to 2015 showed that nearly a quarter of Lake County residents were non-traditional commuters who either worked from home or carpooled to work.

"With more Lake County commuters opting for alternative transportation modes and a unique number of in-county commuters, we must continue to improve and enhance our local transportation infrastructure," Suzanne Zupec, president of the Lake County Transportation Alliance, said in a statement. "Development of new roads and investment in mass-transit options are essential to ease local traffic congestion and sustain Lake County's high quality of life."

For people like Daly Skogsbakken, ride sharing makes sense. In general, a group of people who live near each other who travel to work at the same company, same city or commute to the same train station can share a van, which Pace provides.

Pace buys the gas and pays for maintenance and car washes. The driver will arrange for all the maintenance and be responsible for picking everyone up in the van in exchange for free use of the van, as well as 300 miles a month for personal use, she said.

Advertisement

"It was a great cost-saving device," she said.

Daly Skogsbakken she now has a 10-year-old car with only 60,000 miles on it, most of which were gained after she stopped driving the van, she said. For others who drive vans, some are able to reduce the number of family cars, saving thousands on insurance, gas, and car payments, she said.

People who ride in the van pay about $120 a month, can sometimes get picked up at their door, and have a guaranteed ride home, she said. No matter what happens to the van or the driver, the rider will always be able to get home, which is written into the program, Daly Skogsbakken said.

Pace also has shuttles from train stations to work places, and provide assistance in getting people matched for carpooling. Websites such as http://www.PaceVanpool.com, http://www.PaceRideShare.com, and http://www.PaceBus.com are all designed to be secure sites where commuters can answer questions at their convenience in order to find alternative rides, she said.

Pace can offer extensive assistance in organizing a group, such as working with an employer or a driver to find people living in the same areas, she said. Also, Pace representatives can provide individual assistance in helping people adjust their accounts in order to find transportation matches, such as suggesting an expansion of the pick-up time to include a window of time, she said.

Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the Lake County News-Sun.
Just days before Tuesday's primary election, Waukegan Mayor Wayne Motley and an associate employed by the city filed a defamation complaint on Thursday against a longtime local activist, alleging she published false statements in "several public forums" that stated the plaintiffs "have undertaken corrupt actions in the execution of their respective offices, which actions have never taken place."

The lawsuit was filed in Lake County Circuit Court against Margaret Carrasco, a frequent critic of the mayor and a candidate for school board in Waukegan School District 60. The other plaintiff is Jorge Torres, a Waukegan city collector, special projects manager and friend of Motley's who also works as an independent contractor for the city of Park City. Torres works for Motley's re-election campaign, as well.

Advertisement

Carrasco appeared at a court hearing Thursday on an emergency motion the plaintiffs filed related to the suit. The motion sought a temporary restraining order barring Carrasco "from publishing defamatory statements that impute plaintiffs' commission of crimes and want of integrity in performing their employment duties."

The suit stems from a "WANTED" flyer circulated last weekend that showed photos of Motley and Torres manipulated to look like mug shots, according to the complaint, and accused them of possible corruption, including bribery, prostitution, payoff activities for liquor licenses or building permits, protection of drug cartels and sexual harassments, among other offenses.

Advertisement

Waukegan activist Margaret Carrasco in 2007. (Jim Robinson / Chicago Tribune)

The complaint alleges that Carrasco prepared the flyer, made copies of it and distributed it at Greater Faith Baptist Church and at a Waukegan business. The suit also accuses Carrasco of publishing defamatory Facebook posts against Motley and Torres.

"The litany of criminal activity stated by [Carrasco] has no basis in truth," the complaint reads. "Plaintiffs have not committed any of these alleged crimes identified in the poster, and are not wanted by any law enforcement authorities."

The first-term Motley is facing Ald. Sam Cunningham, 1st, in Tuesday's Democratic primary. The winner will go against Ald. Lisa May, 7th, who is running as an independent, in the April 4 general election.

Cunningham and Carrasco have questioned whether Torres has been double-dipping, completing work for Waukegan and Park City during the same hours. They also have raised concerns about whether businesses owned by Torres have received special treatment from Motley's administration. Motley has repeatedly defended Torres and denied that there has been any wrongdoing.

At Thursday's hearing, the court entered an order preventing Carrasco from "any further distribution of her flyer  or any other like poster or flyer making the same sort of defamatory, untrue allegations of criminal activity," said Robert O'Donnell, the attorney representing Motley and Torres, on Friday.

"She can't do that or anything like it, which makes the same sorts of statements, period  whether it be a flyer, an internet posting, a phone call," O'Donnell said.

Carrasco denied any connection to the flyer in court and again in a phone interview Friday.

"I had nothing to do with it," Carrasco said.

Advertisement

But O'Donnell said the plaintiffs "certainly stand behind everything we put into the complaint."

Ralph Peterson, another Waukegan activist who has come around to support Motley in recent months, also accused Carrasco of distributing the flyer during public comment time at Tuesday's City Council meeting, saying she "disrespected many African-American churches this past Sunday" by distributing the flyer during church service.

"I think the court properly understood there was a difference between aggressive campaigning and just flat-out name-calling," O'Donnell said.

Motley said Friday that Carrasco has been attacking him with such statements for weeks, but last weekend's flyer was the last straw.

"Enough's enough," Motley said. "It's not true. It's ridiculous."

Another hearing related to the defamation case is scheduled between Motley and Carrasco on May 25, according to court records. Carrasco and O'Donnell said there is one scheduled for sooner than that, on March 9.

Advertisement

The defamation suit isn't the first legal battle between Carrasco and Motley during the primary election season. Carrasco previously tried to get Motley thrown off the February ballot by arguing he did not use or disclose his legal name, Burrell Wayne Motley, in election filings. The Waukegan Municipal Officers Electoral Board voted unanimously to overrule Carrasco's objection, and a Lake County judge upheld the decision earlier this month.

lhammill@tribpub.com

Twitter @lucashammill
Dr. Thomas Rudd, on his way to bond court at 20 South County Rd., Feb. 16, 2017, in Waukegan. (Joe Shuman / News-Sun)

With several supporters watching in the spectator gallery, former Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd pleaded not guilty to five counts of perjury Friday morning in Lake County Circuit Court.

The charges against Rudd, 70, allege he committed perjury by signing election petitions that were collected by others, not himself, prior to the 2016 primary election.

Advertisement

After the allegations surfaced, but long before he was indicted, Rudd withdrew his nomination for re-election as a Democrat, and he unsuccessfully ran in the general election as a write-in candidate.

Prior to entering Rudd's not guilty pleas, Rudd's defense attorney, Jed Stone, asked for a substitution of judges, and Circuit Judge Victoria Rossetti was assigned the case, replacing Circuit Judge Daniel Shanes.

Advertisement

Last fall, Shanes heard and denied a petition for a new trial filed by Melissa Calusinski, a day care worked convicted of murder of a boy in her care. During that hearing, Rudd testified that he believes medical evidence points to Calusinski being innocent.

Rudd declined to comment Friday, referring questions to Stone. With regard to the motion for a judge substitution, Stone would not answer questions, saying only that it is every defendant's right to make such a request.

Stone also announced in court that he would file a motion to dismiss the charges against Rudd within the next few weeks. He said the motion would be based on his belief that the charges do not meet the criteria of Illinois statutes.

After the court appearance, Stone said the charges against Rudd were basically retaliation for certain comments Rudd made as coroner that ran contrary to the opinions of authorities in major criminal cases.

"It was political payback for Dr. Rudd embarrassing law enforcement because they did not do their jobs," Stone said. "Everybody knows it. I am getting such favorable comments (regarding Rudd) from the public."

A handful of protesters with signs stood outside of the Lake County Building prior to Rudd's court appearance, and several supporters and community activists, including members of Lake County Black Lives Matter, attended his court hearing.

Prosecutors and Lake County Sheriff's Office officials have adamantly denied that there was anything political about the grand jury indictments against Rudd.

Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim said the investigation began after private citizens submitted complaints to his office. He said that because it is part of his job to represent local public officials, which Rudd was at the time, he immediately asked an independent special prosecutor to look into the allegations.

Advertisement

Brian Towne, a former LaSalle County state's attorney who now works with the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor's Office, is prosecuting the case against Rudd.

Stone told reporters after the court appearance that prosecutors should be embarrassed, and Towne, walking by at the time, said "I am not embarrassed to have brought that prosecution."

The exchange seemed good-natured, with both attorneys smiling.

During his term in office, Rudd clashed at times with law enforcement officials, particularly in regard to the Calusinski case and the self-inflicted shooting death of Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz. Rudd said publicly that suicide was a possible cause of the officer's death prior to investigators making that announcement.

On Friday, Rossetti set a July 10 trial date for Rudd, and scheduled a case management hearing for April 4, when the expected motion to dismiss the charges against Rudd may be addressed.

Rudd, free on bond, faces a potential sentencing range upon conviction from probation to 2 to 5 years in prison.

Advertisement

The initial challenge to Rudd's candidate petitions was filed by attorney Burton Odelson in December 2015 on behalf of two objectors raising the same allegations  that Rudd was not the person who gathered the signatures on some of the sheets that he signed.

After Rudd was indicted on the charges, Odelson, when contacted, said he felt the felony charges against Rudd are "overkill."

A Lake County grand jury indicted Rudd on the perjury charges Feb. 15.

Undersheriff Raymond Rose said the investigation that led to the indictments began in January 2016 and is ongoing. He said it is possible it could lead to charges against others as well.

Rose said it appears from the investigation that some of Rudd's petition papers contained signatures for people who had been dead more than 10 years. In other cases, Rose said, signatures were listed for people who later said they didn't sign the petitions.

Those were not the issues addressed in the indictment, which alleges Rudd falsely claimed to have witnessed signatures on five pages of his nominating petitions.

Advertisement

The law requires the person who circulates a nominating petition to sign each page to attest that the signatures were witnessed and are valid.

jrnewton@tribpub.com

Twitter @jimnewton5
The whimsical classic, "Cat in the Hat," is one of the many favorite books being celebrated at a Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss Storytime, 11 a.m. Feb. 25 at Barnes and Noble, 720 Hawthorne Center, Vernon Hills. (Random House)

It's party time for the popular children's author of so many great books of whimsy. Dr. Seuss will be saluted at a Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss Storytime, 11 a.m. Feb. 25 at Barnes and Noble, 720 Hawthorne Center, Vernon Hills. Kids will hear "The Cat in the Hat" and "What Pet Should I Get?" color and participate in activities. The program also takes 11 a.m. Feb. 25 at Barnes and Noble, Deer Park Town Center, 20600 North Rand Road, Deer Park. In Evanston, the birthday party is at 11 a.m. Feb. 25 at Barnes and Noble, 1630 Sherman Ave., Evanston.

For details, go to www.barnesandnoble.com.

Peruse Seuss again

Advertisement

A nature walk will lead to pages of a book by Dr. Seuss along a trail at Hastings Lake, 21155 W. Gelden Road, Lake Villa, during Dr. Seuss's Read Across America Day, 10-11 a.m. March 2. The event, which celebrates Dr. Seuss's birthday, is for ages 2-10 with an adult. Residents pay $2 for ages 4-10, $5 for adults; Nonresidents pay $3 and $7.

For details, call (847) 367-6640 or go to www.lcfpd.org

Advertisement

Part 3 of festivity

Dr. Seuss will also be feted during Read Across America, 4-5 p.m. March 2 at Wilmette Public Library, 1242 Wilmette Ave. There will be games, activities and cupcakes for all ages at this celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday.

For details, call (847) 256-5025 or go to www.wilmettelibrary.info

Animal antics

The animals are on the loose in "Madagascar  a Musical Adventure" by Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. We caught up with Melman the Giraffe, played by Stephen Schellhardt.

Q: What's the best thing about being a giraffe?

A: It's fun to be so tall and I have a hat that that is about 4-feet-tall.

Q: Are there any disadvantages to being a giraffe?

A: I have to duck under things all the time and watch where I'm walking because I don't want to step on anybody.

Advertisement

Q: What's it like hanging around with your zoo friends?

A: I have three of the best friends  Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo and Marty the Zebra.

Q: Why should kids and parents see "Madagascar?"

A: For anyone who loves the DreamWorks movie, it's seeing all those characters come to life onstage.

Performances are 10 a.m. Tuesdays-Sundays plus certain 12:30 p.m. performances, Feb. 25-April 15. Tickets are $17.23.

For details, call (847) 634-0200 or go to marriotttheatre.com.

Advertisement

Jam with Jeanie B!

Kids will be singing and dancing along when Jeanie B! and the Jelly Beans present a family concert, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 N. Dunton Ave. The Billboard and Parents Choice Award-winners always present high-energy performances. Reservations are required.

For details, call (847) 392-0100 or go to www.ahml.info.

Bone up

Dig site operations and major dinosaur discoveries will be shared by fossil hunter Lisa Zago during Dinosaur Hunters, 2-3 p.m. Feb. 25 at Vernon Area Public Library, 300 Olde Half Day Road, Lincolnshire. Kids in kindergarten through eighth grade will view real dinosaur bones up close. Registration is required.

For details, call (224) 543-1486 or go to www.vapld.org.

Come to the carnival

Carnival games and activities plus free food will make the Carnival of Exceptional Character a great outing for families. The event, presented by the Community Character Coalition of Elk Grove, will be 5-7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Elk Grove Park District Pavilion, 1000 Wellington Ave.

Advertisement

For details, go to ccceg.org.

For the birds

Help your feathered friends prepare for the nesting season by attending This Old Birdhouse, 1 p.m. Feb. 25 at Crabtree Nature Center, 3 Stover Road, Barrington Hills. For a $5 donation, you and your children, ages 10 and older, can create a birdhouse. You'll also be given placement suggestions. Registration by phone is required.

For details, call (847) 381-6592 or go to fpdcc.com.

Tree-tapping time

Your family can go for a hike in the sugar maple forest at River Trail Nature Center, 3120 Milwaukee Ave., Northbrook, 1:30 p.m. Feb. 25 or 26. You'll learn about the techniques and history of making maple syrup at this free event.

Advertisement

For details, call (847) 824-8360 or go to fpdcc.com

Start your day with Namaste

A stress-free hour of massage techniques, stretches, songs and games will be led by yoga instructor Marti Anne LaHood during Yoga for Baby & Me, 10-11 a.m. Feb. 27 at Ela Area Public Library, 275 Mohawk Trail, Lake Zurich. Ela Area library cardholders will be admitted first to this program for children from birth through 18 months with a caregiver.

For details, call (847) 438-3433 or go to eapl.org

Pop in

to a Fine Arts Month Pop-Up Gallery, 5-8 p.m. March 3 at 111 E. Cook Ave., Libertyville. Students from Libertyville High School will display two-dimensional and three-dimensional artwork in celebration of National Youth Art Month and Libertyville's Fine Arts month. Adler Center students will provide live music and refreshments will be served.

Advertisement

For details, call (847) 367-0707 or go to www.adlercenter.org.

Parking permit

Your child, ages 2-6, will decorate their own car at a Preschool Drive-In Movie,10-10:45 a.m. Feb. 27 at Highland Park Public Library, 494 Laurel Ave. Afterwards, the two of you will see an animated short film. Registration is required.

For details call (847) 432-0216, ext. 205, or go to www.hplibrary.org.

Join the Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss celebration with Megan Wells, 10:30-11:30 a.m. March 4 at the Book Market at Hangar One, 2651 Navy Blvd., Glen Town Center, Glenview. There will be stories, crafts and other fun activities with the always enchanting Wells. Register early for this Flight-to-Fun Kids Club event for kids ages 2-6 and their families.

For details, call (847) 729-7500 or go to theglentowncenter.com.

Tree-tapping time

Your family can go for a hike in the sugar maple forest at River Trail Nature Center, 3120 Milwaukee Ave., Northbrook, 1:30 p.m. Feb. 25 or 26. You'll learn about the techniques and history of making maple syrup at this free event.

Advertisement

For details, call (847) 824-8360 or go to fpdcc.com
Asset Ventures has submitted plans to level the former headquarters, pictured, of CF Industries, which left Long Grove in the late 2000s, and build 65 houses on the nearly 37-acre site. (Pioneer Press )

Two separate developers recently have approached Long Grove officials with plans to build a total of nearly 100 single-family homes, leading village officials to believe the local housing market may start to rebound years after the Great Recession.

Asset Ventures has submitted plans to level the former headquarters of CF Industries, which left Long Grove in the late 2000s, and build 65 houses on the nearly 37-acre site.

Advertisement

Swanson Development Group also has submitted a proposal to build 31 houses on roughly 38 acres, located near the northwest corner of Old Hicks and Checker roads.

Village board members sent the designs from both developers to its Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals for further review.

Advertisement

But the fact that numerous proposal are developing at the same time has created excitement within Long Grove Village Hall, which hasn't seen many residential developments proposed in recent years, said Village Planner Jim Hogue.

"We were dead for a while," he said.

Village officials also received interest from developer Fidelity Wes Builders about a plan to build 29 homes near Old Hicks and Checker roads, but the group recently pulled back from the idea without explanation, Hogue said.

Representatives with the development firm did not return calls for comment.

But the two existing proposals have created buzz within the small community, where residential construction stopped during the recession and did not start returning until 2015, Hogue said.

During the past two years, the Long Grove village planner saw roughly 20 requests that called for construction of individual homes within existing subdivisions, he said.

Village officials last summer did discuss whether to let two developers build a 340-unit apartment complex at the former CF Industries location, but village board members decided to hold out for a more lucrative offer.

With the two latest proposals, village board members likely will have to decide on rezoning the two areas targeted by Asset Ventures and Swanson Development Group.

Advertisement

Both developers have proposed smaller units on smaller lots geared toward empty nesters looking to downsize, an idea in line with the current trends for suburban housing, Hogue said.

"This 'age in place' thing is kind of new, and we believed it would appeal here," he said.

Village President Angie Underwood said she was happy to see interest from residential developers looking to develop properties that local officials have regarded as prime locations for multi-family projects.

"We need to see how these things play out," she said.

rwachter@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer
Lincolnshire-Prairie View School District 103 board members recently stripped away three religious holidays from the vacation calendar to avoid showing favoritism to a particular faith, officials said.

Starting next school year, District 103 in Lincolnshire no longer will observe Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Good Friday  Jewish and Christian holidays that District 103 typically has taken off, said Superintendent Scott Warren.

Advertisement

District officials started toying with the idea after a district family of a different faith asked them to observe one of their holidays, Warren said.

As the student population at District 103 continues to diversify, district officials decided that the best way to appease students and parents of different faiths was to eliminate observances of religious holidays since they can't add days to the school-year calendar, he said.

Advertisement

"It makes it difficult to try and say, 'Yes, we will honor this particular holiday and not this particular holiday,'" Warren said. "It becomes more complex."

Rosh Hashana, Good Friday and Yom Kippur have been the only religious dates that District 103 has taken off in recent years. District students still will take two weeks off for winter break, which coincides with Christmas and sometimes with Hanukkah.

The racial and ethnic makeup of the student body at District 103 has changed in recent years, according to data from the Illinois Report Card.

The largest demographic at District 103  white students  has declined from 63 percent in 2012 to 52 percent in 2016. The second largest group of students, the Asian population, increased from 29 percent in 2012 to 40 percent in 2016, according to report card data.

The total population at the district, meanwhile, has remained relatively stable in the past few years. About 1,630 students attended District 103 in 2012 compared to the 1,706 students who attended the district in 2016.

While presenting the calendar change to board members, Warren noted how the First Amendment forbids any form of government from honoring one religious practice over others.

And in a letter to parents explaining the move, Warren noted how district officials initially decided to have students take those three religious holidays off because of a "high number of staff absences anticipated on those days, not for religious reasons."

Since teachers soon will be expected to work those three days, they still have the option to use a personal day or take a non-paid day off to observe any religious holiday they want, said Nicole Terson and Audrey Salzman, co-presidents of the Lincolnshire-Prairie View Teachers' Association.

Advertisement

The district will be monitoring staff absences on those three religious holidays next school year to gauge the new policy, Warren said.

"We'll need to see how it happens in this first year," he said.

rwachter@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer
A post in a local Facebook group Wednesday elicited a contentious discussion when an incumbent Mundelein trustee referred to a mayoral candidate's campaign funds as "Korean money."

The thread, which has since been deleted, appeared in the private Mundelein Village Issues Facebook group. The group has about 1,500 members.

Advertisement

The debate began when current village trustee and mayoral candidate Holly Kim responded to comments by Dawn Abernathy, an incumbent trustee seeking reelection.

Kim is running with the A Mundelein United Party, a slate that includes non-incumbent candidates for three trustee spots and a clerk seat.

Advertisement

A question arose as to whether or not Abernathy was on a slate of her own with Mayor Steve Lentz, Village Trustee Ray Semple, trustee candidate Scott Black and Village Clerk Katy Timmerman.

"Again you fail to see I am not part of a slate," Abernathy commented. "We have to work together to counter the $14,000 in Korean money you have funding your race. We are pooling our money together. That is called being fiscally responsible."

The reference to "Korean money" set off a string of comments criticizing Abernathy's wording and questioning her intent.

Mundelein Village Trustee Holly Kim pictured during a past board meeting. (Rick Kambic / Pioneer Press)

Later in the thread, Abernathy apologized for the comment and wrote that Kim placed an advertisement in a Korean newspaper outside of Mundelein and received a large sum of money because of it. She said that her comment was meant to highlight that ad.

Abernathy said by phone that she should have more clearly described her thought process. She insisted that she doesn't think less of Korean people.

"As an avid volunteer, mother and public servant; anyone that knows me or has worked with me, can attest to my lifelong dedication to improving the lives of all people in our community," Abernathy said in a statement Thursday morning.

Illinois State Board of Elections records show that as of the last quarterly filing of Kim's campaign on Dec. 31, Residents for A Mundelein United had an available balance of $12,590. Donations ranged from $200 to $2,000 and were from individuals and businesses in numerous north suburban communities, records show.

At the end of the same period, Abernathy's committee had $5,597 in cash on hand, records show. Semple's campaign committee was formed just last month while Lentz had a balance of about $14, records show.

Advertisement

Kim said Wednesday that Abernathy's comment was troublesome.

"To be honest, it stings. I was born here, lived here all my life, serve in my community, and it's comments like this that remind me that some will always view me as different," Kim, who is Korean-American, said in an email. "What message are we sending our young people when public officials make divisive comments like this and judge someone by their ethnicity instead of their character?"

Kim said her father is an officer in a few Korean business associations and that he relayed her accomplishments and aspirations to some of his colleagues.

"These business owners, and positive members of society, were like an extended family to me, and they want to see 'their daughter' succeed," Kim said in an email.

When reached by phone, Abernathy said she wrote her comment too quickly and was merely referencing a factual event. She said she doesn't have a problem with campaign contributions coming from outside of Mundelein.

"That's how she raised a lot of her money," Abernathy said. "It is what it is. I'm not alarmed by it and I meant no disrespect."

Advertisement

Semple said he is not on a slate with Abernathy because several of the incumbents have differing opinions on a few topics. However, he said they agreed to limited joint efforts in light of Kim's fundraising power.

"When I saw that she had $12,000 by September, I took a big gulp because that's a lot of money for a local election," Semple said. "I was alarmed by the sum. I didn't distinguish where it came from, though."

When shown Abernathy's Facebook comment, Brandon Lee, a communications coordinator for advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said he couldn't think of a reasonable context for identifying Koreans as the source of Kim's fundraising.

"We have a candidate who's running for mayor and raised a lot of money, and there's another person drawing a conclusion that it's Korean money," Lee said. "Would that same accusation or labeling come up if it was a Caucasian candidate who received large sums of money from Koreans? No, I don't think that connection would be made or voiced publicly."

Lee said several immigrant populations struggle with a perception known as "perpetual foreigner," which classifies people as different even after several generations as U.S. citizens.

"A report we put out in 2012 says 50,622 Asian Americans live in Lake County, which is a 77 percent growth from 2000 to 2010," Lee said. "Every person has a right to participate in the democratic process, and I think this comment is pretty dismissive of the Korean people in the region."

Advertisement

Mayor Steve Lentz said he's not affiliated politically with Abernathy other than sharing a few campaigning expenses.

"Dawn Abernathy posted on Facebook a poorly expressed idea that she immediately apologized for," Lentz said in a Thursday morning email. "It was heartfelt, sincere and should put the issue to bed so we can continue with our campaign to keep Mundelein moving forward."

rkambic@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @Rick_Kambic
Hundreds of people gathered this week to voice their opinions and learn about national issues for what organizers called a town meeting with residents of several west suburban congressional districts.

A standing-room-only crowd of 200 gathered Wednesday at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn to hear four speakers and to voice their concerns on education, freedom of the press and the Affordable Care Act.

Advertisement

"This is not a protest," said Sania Irwin, who said she is founder of a group called Our Voice  Chicago West Suburbs. "Our message is that people should get informed in order to engage with our government. Three congressional districts are represented here  the 6th, 8th and 11th  and we want to let our congressmen and senators know our concerns and to hold them accountable."

The congressmen from those districts  Democrats Bill Foster (D, Naperville) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D, Hoffman Estates) and Republican Peter Roskam (R, Wheaton)  did not attend. Organizers said they did not invite Foster or Krishnamoorthi because both already have scheduled in-person town meetings with constituents.

Advertisement

Nationwide, activists have been calling on Republicans to schedule open meetings to discuss major issues such as the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the Trump travel ban targeting seven Muslim-majority countries and other issues.

On Wednesday, Roskam was on a diplomatic mission to assure emerging democracies on Russia's border that the United States opposes Russian aggression, according to Roskam's office. Roskam has previously said he would not be scheduling a town hall forum to hear from constituents because he does not think it's a productive format. A Roskam spokesman said Wednesday that the congressman has hosted 130 tele-town halls, an average of more than once a month, since being elected.

Naperville pediatrician Jennifer McNulty appeared at the Wednesday event to call on people to fight the repeal of the health care reform act that has provided access to health care to people who were previously uninsured.

"I feel that people need to educate themselves, find the sources of the real information and fight against the repeal of the ACA. My call to action is for you to get online and find out what the Republicans are fighting for, because that's what you're going to have to argue about," she said, stressing those are her personal views.

Glen Ellyn School District 41 School Board President Erica Nelson compared the relationship between school boards and parents to that of taxpayers and lawmakers.

Our Voice cofounder Sania Irwin said: It is my personal belief that we have a fourth unofficial branch of government, which is the press. They hold our government accountable on behalf of we, the people. (Gary Gibula / Naperville Sun)

"School boards need to be connected to the community just as residents must be connected to our legislators," Nelson told the crowd. "We must challenge them when a bill is being presented and talk about the financial impact on the community. Education and schools, both public and private, are part of the fabric of our community, and being informed and engaged about it is part of our civic responsibility at community members."

In addition to speaking about charter schools, Glenbard High School District 87 superintendent David Larson assured the audience that police or immigration officers are not permitted in district schools without a criminal arrest warrant.

"The best thing to do is to get involved in the democratic process at your local school system and continue pushing for improvement," Larson said.

Advertisement

He went on to detail research that identified five elements for successful schools, including 'professionalizing' the profession of teaching, expecting a high standard of achievement from students, maintaining strong early childhood programs, channeling resources to those who need them the most and implementing effective staff training.

Irwin, an information technology professional, brought up the issue of press freedom, which has become a topic since President Donald Trump took office. Over the weekend, Trump issued a tweet that called the press the "enemy of the American people."

"When (the press) is attacked, we are attacked," Irwin said. "We need to support the press and let them know when we think they're doing the right thing. If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you must have a free and many times adversarial press."

Several members of the audience lined up to state opinions and ask questions of the panel.

"Democracy is messy," said one speaker. "This meeting has given me solace that I'm not alone."

Maggie Micklo, a high school senior from Glen Ellyn, asked the speakers how she might engage in more effective discussions about politics when some classmates seemed unwilling to hear her viewpoint.

Advertisement

"What I would suggest is to listen more than talk," McNulty offered. "People can be very passionate about what they feel is important. Walking in someone's shoes and listening more than you talk can be difficult for me, but that's how I try to overcome it."

"Perspective is key," Larson said. "And to have perspective, you have to listen and even see if you can find empathy, and then there's a lot of synergy that can happen."

Our Voice member Sarah Adler said she was excited about the engagement and motivation that she saw when she attended the women's march in Washington.

"It was so beautiful to experience how fun and peaceful it was," Adler said. "Everyone was so polite. There was a lot of positive energy and I hope we can maintain that."

Gary Gibula is a freelance reporter.
TUES/28 LCAA Candidate Forum7:30-9 a.m.EPB Building: MLK BoulevardThe Leadership Chattanooga Alumni Association hosts a meet and greet with candidates for City Council and Chattanooga Mayor.TUES/28 East Brainerd Chamber Council Meeting11:30a-1 p.m.Car Barn: 6721 Heritage Business Ct.Speaker: James McKissic$12TUES/28 Action/Priority Matrix: Stop Wasting My Time6-7:30 p.m.BrightBridge Womens Business Center: 535 Chestnut St.This free training uses a quad matrix so attendees learn how to prioritize to-do lists based on importance and necessity.WED/1 AM NetworkingCo-Sponsored by Elliott Davis Decosimo and Helen Ross McNabb Center8-9:30 a.m.Elliott Davis Decosimo: 629 Market St.Held the first Wednesday of every month, AM Networking brings an average of 100 business people together for networking and hot coffee.AM Networking this month will be co-sponsored by Elliott Davis Decosimo and Helen Ross McNabb Center and hosted at Elliott Davis Decosimo.Wed/1 Create a Facebook Business Page Workshop10:45-noonBrightBridge Womens Business Center: 535 Chestnut St.Training will cover the basics of creating a Facebook business page. Required materials: laptop computer and personal Facebook page. Laptops available for use with 3 days notice. Workshop developed and delivered by an e-commerce seller, not a Facebook employee. As such the views or opinions expressed are those of the instructor. Free.THUR/2 Reality Check - Soddy Daisy High School7:15a-2:15 p.m.Soddy Daisy High School: 618 Sequoyah Access 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/2 Downtown Chamber Council Meeting7:30-9 a.m.Bessie Smith Hall: 200 E M L King Blvd.Speaker: Stacy Lightfoot, PEF$15THUR/2 East Ridge Chamber Council Meeting11:45a-1 p.m.East Ridge Community Center: 1517 Tombras Ave.Speaker: Deborah LeVineTopic: Going Southern: How to Help Newcomers and Internationals Adapt$10THUR/2 Ribbon Cutting for AFC Urgent Care/Family Care: Ooltewah4-4:30 p.m.AFC Urgent Care/Family Care: Ooltewah: 9058 Old Lee HighwayFRI/3 Ooltewah/Collegedale Council Coffee8:30-9:30 a.m.Wired Coffee Bar: 5707 Main St.FRI/3 #EXPOcha Orientation (Session 2)11:30a-1 p.m.INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd.Topics include pre-event publicity, the power of promotional products, trade show follow-up tactics, booth etiquette and networking with other vendors. This lunch meeting cost is $15, and pre-registration is required. Check Chamber calendar for more information, or call 423-763- 4357 to sign up today.
Naper Settlement in Naperville is seeking applicants for paid camp counselor and intern jobs available this summer. (Naper Settlement)

Naper Settlement offering summer jobs

Naper Settlement is looking to hire camp counselors and interns for the summer season.

Advertisement

Camp counselors help implement camp activities, lead educational programs and work with campers to provide a quality museum experience.

College students who have completed their sophomore year can apply for the museum's internship program and work in various departments, including development, learning experiences, marketing, special events and guest services.

Advertisement

Interns work 20 hours a week, can be assigned a specific project and have weekly lunch meetings with staff members. Both programs are paid, temporary positions and run from June 5 to July 28.

Internship applications need to be submitted by Sunday, Feb. 26.

For more information, go to www.napersettlement.org/jobs.

School district candidate forums

The DuPage Branch of the NAACP Education Committee will hold a forum with local school board candidates on the April ballots for Naperville Community Unit School District 203, Indian Prairie School District 204 and Community Unit School District 308 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 1. at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St.

For more information, contact the committee at dcneducationcommittee@gmail.com.

The Indian Prairie Parents' Council and the League of Women Voters of Naperville will host a candidate forum for school board candidates for Indian Prairie School District 204 at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, at the Crouse Education Center, 780 Shoreline Drive, Aurora. Voters will be allowed to ask questions.

The parents' council will also publish a voter guide with the candidates' profiles and responses to questions on its website. Limited printed copies will be available at the forum.

Advertisement

Volunteer waterway monitors workshop

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is holding a workshop for residents interested in becoming volunteer waterway monitors from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, at the Urban Stream Research Center at Blackwell Forest Preserve, 28W680 Butterfield Road, Warrenville.

Volunteer waterway monitors work along the shores or by boat to protect the waterways of DuPage County. They identify and report invasive species and educate the public about invasive species and litter's effect on habitats.

Adults 18 years old or older can participate. Interested participants can register to attend the workshop by calling 630-206-9630 or emailing nrvolunteer@dupageforest.org by March 1.

A meeting for DuPage County residents interested in becoming volunteer waterway monitors will be held March 8 at the Urban Stream Research Center in Warrenville. (DuPage County Forest Preserve District)

Connelly, Ives holding town hall meeting

State Sen. Michael Connelly, R-Naperville, and state Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, will host a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, March 27, at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St.

Advertisement

The two will provide constituents with the latest state budget information and their efforts to reform the business climate in Illinois. Constituents can give their input and ask questions.

No advanced registration is needed, but seating could be limited.

Park district wants residents' input

The Naperville Park District will be updating its website this year and wants residents to give their feedback and ideas for the redesign by completing a short online survey at www.napervilleparks.org/websitesurvey.

The district is planning to include more video and photo content, additional opportunities for users to share content, a better system for posting requests for proposals and a more user-friendly virtual Program Guide in its redesign.
Should students be off of school permanently on Fridays? That was the lively topic for a mock bill voted on by middle school students at Pennoyer Elementary School in Norridge on Feb. 22.

Leading the discussion for fifth-, seventh- and eighth-graders was state Sen. John G. Mulroe, who serves Illinois' 10th District. Sixth-graders did not participate because they are taking a world cultures class, not U.S. history and government, at this time, officials said.

Advertisement

Seventh-graders passed the bill with a majority vote to not have school on Fridays. Eighth-graders voted 16-14 in favor but with 36 students, a majority was not reached, so the bill failed.

"The reason I said I would vote against the bill was that most students are not old enough to stay home by themselves, meaning that a parent would need to stay with them every Friday and the household would lose money," said Sahar Iqbaluddin, 14, an eighth-grader of Harwood Heights. "This means less food, less clothes and less money to pay bills."

Advertisement

The purpose of the senator's approximately 90-minute morning visit was to help explain to U.S. history classes how a bill becomes a law.

"I'm a kid that came from a background that had no idea of what went on in government," Mulroe said. "And I think that it is so important that people are informed about our government and to actually have them interact with it, they'll understand it better. I think we all probably should get more informed about how our government works and play a bigger role in it."

Mulroe greeted students in the school's learning resource enter. He was escorted by Superintendent Kristin Kopta and Principal Gina Sierra.

"We are very excited to have Sen. Mulroe visit Pennoyer School," Kopta said. "It is important for our students to learn about state and local government and have the opportunity to meet the representatives in our area."

Mulroe, of Irish background and raised in Chicago, told students he has been married for more than 30 years and has four children, ages 19 to 26. Mulroe's father was a laborer for a gas company. He said his parents, "stressed education and how important it was" for their many sons. Mulroe became a certified public accountant and a lawyer.

"Work really hard," Mulroe said. "Education is so important. If you put your mind to it, you can actually do anything you want to do."

Julia Peters of Harwood Heights is a Pennoyer social studies teacher for sixth, seventh and eighth grade.

"Having Sen. Mulroe here to explain to our students what he does as a senator and to take them through how a bill becomes a law by having them debate and pass the law is such a great, authentic learning experience," Peters said. "This shows students that their role in civic life is extremely important."

Advertisement

Some students said they enjoyed the exercise.

"The time I had working with Sen. Mulroe was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Krasimir Katrev, 12, a seventh-grader.

"It was great of him to teach us about the different branches of government and what they do," said Emanuel Kulis, 12, of Norridge. "He made us debate each other about a topic that meant something to us and that made people want to say stuff about it."

Olivia Radziszewski, 13, said "it was an interesting visit to experience and hear the opinions and job of someone who works in the government."

Tyler Alexander, 12, of Harwood Heights said Mulroe "was nice and taught me things about government that I haven't learned yet. It was really great of him to come to Pennoyer School."

Karie Angell Luc is a freelance photographer and reporter for Pioneer Press.
A 30-year-old Cicero man has been charged in the August 2016 death of a Wisconsin man from a heroin overdose at an Oak Brook hotel.

Matthew Chapman, of the 1800 block of South 58th Avenue in Cicero, was charged Thursday with drug induced homicide and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, according to information from the office of DuPage County State's Attorney Robert B. Berlin.

Advertisement

Chapman appeared in bond court Thursday afternoon where Judge Paul Marchese set bond at $500,000. Chapman is accused of supplying heroin to Zachary Giebel, 25, of Wisconsin, who died as a result of a heroin overdose, Berlin's office said.

It is alleged that Giebel traveled to Oak Brook on Aug. 13, 2016, to attend a party with friends and that he contacted Chapman, who used to live in Wisconsin, the following day to purchase heroin. It is alleged that Chapman sold heroin to Giebel, who ingested it. Giebel's friends called 911 after finding him unresponsive about 5 a.m. Aug. 15 in a guest room at the Hyatt Lodge at McDonald's Campus, 2815 Jorie Blvd., prosecutors said.

Advertisement

An investigation led by the Oak Brook Police Department, with assistance from the DuPage County Metropolitan Enforcement Group, led to Chapman being taken into custody without incident, Berlin's office said.

"Once again, we see a young, promising life snuffed out by heroin," Berlin said.

Oak Brook police Chief James Kruger said he is hopeful Chapman's arrest will send a message to drug abusers that "we will not tolerate their activities and the affects it is having on our communities."

Chapman's next court appearance is scheduled for March 20 in front of Judge John Kinsella.

cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @chuckwriting
Five years after the city of Park Ridge made its final financial contribution to nonprofit community organizations, a candidate for mayor has suggested that elected officials consider resuming the practice.

During a Feb. 22 Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce debate, mayoral candidates Lucas Fuksa and acting Mayor Marty Maloney were asked if the city should resume its financial "partnerships" with community, cultural and social service organizations.

Advertisement

Fuksa indicated he was open to the idea.

"I'm fiscally conservative myself, but I think we can at least consider it," he said, suggesting that the city could "take applications for it, have a program established for it and [also] promote the public to contribute to these organizations. There's a lot of them that actually do good things."

Advertisement

For years, the city earmarked money in its annual budget for about a dozen nonprofit organizations that applied for funding. In 2010, mayor David Schmidt vetoed the City Council's approval of a motion to distribute $190,080 among 13 community groups ranging from the Park Ridge Fine Arts Society to Rainbow Hospice.

In the end, aldermen upheld the veto for 10 organizations, but voted to provide about $68,000 in funding to three recipients: Center of Concern, Meals on Wheels and Maine Center. Center of Concern received the bulk of the funding.

By 2012, funding to these three groups was eliminated from the city's budget as well, largely at the urging of Schmidt, who said taxpayer money should not be used to support nonmunicipal services.

During the Chamber of Commerce debate, Maloney voiced a similar opinion.

"I don't believe we should be funding private, community groups," he said, calling the ones supported by the city in the past "all outstanding groups." "Everyone in this room knows where they want to send their charitable donations. The city should not be sending charitable donations using tax dollars on your behalf."

Maloney added that the City Council last year agreed to Police Chief Frank Kaminski's request to increase the department's social worker position from part-time to full-time in order to better address some of the mental health issues in the community. Prior to its closure in 2015, Maine Center had provided mental health resources to residents.

Fuksa accused his opponent of having "defunded pretty much all" the programs the city once supported. Maloney replied that the 2010 cuts occurred before he was elected alderman, but did say he voted against contributions in 2012 to the last remaining organizations that were receiving funds: Center of Concern, Meals on Wheels and Maine Center.

After funding was cut to most of the organizations that had previously received it, the city briefly created an opportunity for residents to donate to local cultural arts groups through the purchase of a special city sticker, and, since 2011, elected officials have hosted a barbecue to raise money for the Park Ridge Fine Arts Society, which brings orchestral concerts to Hodges Park in the summer.

Advertisement

jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
Donna Rowland (left to right), Kendra Vanderstar, George Maslankowski, Kari-Anne Innes and Jordan Dashiell portray a Jewish family preparing Shabbat, when they are interrupted by German airplanes and a heated discussion of the dire circumstances of their lives in the Terezin ghetto in Czechoslovakia, for a rehearsal scene in "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" opening March 10 at 4th Street Theater in Chesterton. (4th Street Theater)

Of all of the wars with United States involvement, Sandy Assarian believes World War II is the one revisited the most, in minds and memories, for today's generations.

"It's 72 years ago and the discussions and topics associated with what happened during World War II continue to come up in today's classrooms and headlines," said Assarian, who is directing a new production of "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" at 4th Street Theater in Chesterton.

Advertisement

The play by Celeste Raspanti details the lives, hopes and tragic memories of those who lived in Terezin, which Assarian describes as "a former military garrison set up as a ghetto in Czechoslovakia as a stopping-off place for hundreds of thousands of Jews on their way to the gas chambers of Auschwitz."

"I Never Saw Another Butterfly" opens March 10 and runs weekends through March 26 at 4th Street Theater, located at 125 N. Fourth Street, and operated as a local nonprofit, community theater in Chesterton and the Northwest Indiana region for nearly two decades.

Advertisement

"From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, more than 15,000 Jewish children passed through Terezin," said Assarian, who lives in Chesterton and also serves as the treasurer and executive secretary for 4th Street Theater.

"When Terezin was liberated in 1945, only 100 or so children were still alive."

She said the play, which is 90-minutes without an intermission, is told as the story of Raja, a survivor, who serves as the narrator explaining the lives and daily experiences of the Terezin children and their teacher, Irena Synkova, described by Assarian as "the woman who gave them hope even when there was none, creating a small pocket of laughter, flowers and butterflies behind the barbed wire."

"This play is an imaginative retelling of Raja's story compiled from documentary materials, including poems, diaries, letters, journals, drawings and pictures," she said.

"There were no butterflies at Terezin. But for the children, they became a symbol of defiance, of how the human spirit, even in the face of such reckless hate, can always find beauty, hope and love."

The cast for "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" includes Ione Calvin, Erin Shields and Helena Taft of Chesterton with Jordan Dashiell, Lily Dashiell, William Frost, Dakota Hildebrand, Jakob Innes, Kari-Anne Innes, Raegan Smedley and Jeff Zimmerman of Valparaiso, joined by Victoria Luster-Bartz of Portage and George Maslankowski, Kendra Vanderstar, Grace Vanderstar and Corinne Vanderstar, all of LaPorte with Mia Rettew, Donna Rowland and Rodney Thornton who are from Michigan City.

"I've been part of 4th Street Theater for 17 years and I've always wanted us to do this play," said Assarian, whose last production with the theater was "Crime and Punishment" in 2014.

"The programming committee for the theater read it and agreed this is a poignant play with an important message. The first time I ever saw it was in the mid-1970s, when it was done at the Jewish Community Center in Hyde Park."

Advertisement

Assarian and her cast of 12 children, ranging in age from 6 to 15, and seven adults, began rehearsals in January. She said she believes the play is appropriate for any audiences of any age, as long as they have the attention span to sit for the 90-minute duration.

"It's important to emphasize that Terezin was not a death camp," she said.

"This was the place that Hitler considered to be his model camp that promoted what he claimed his intentions to be. Therefore, he allowed art and music and theater to be part of the daily routine, and he would bring people in to see only what he wanted them to see. And once his guests left after these tours and artistic performances, then everything went back to the way things really were in this controlled environment."

Philip Potempa is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

'I Never Saw Another Butterfly'

When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, March 10 and 11 and March 17-26

Advertisement

Where: 4th Street Theater, 125 N. Fourth St., Chesterton

Cost: $18

Information: 219-926-7875 or www.4thstreetncca.org
Indiana University Northwest will welcome the family of Henrietta Lacks, the subject of an upcoming film starring Oprah Winfrey, on March 22.

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" raises discussions of ethics and race in scientific discovery.

Advertisement

In 1951, a poor tobacco farmer by the name of Henrietta Lacks was in the segregated ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital  where she was diagnosed with the cervical cancer that would kill her  when scientists took her cells without her knowledge. Those cells, now known the world over, became a powerful force in medicine, responsible for the polio vaccine, in vitro fertilization, gene mapping and more.

The cells were the first to survive and continue to grow in a lab, a breakthrough for scientists who had tried and failed for many years to do so. Because of this regenerative property, her cells were bought and sold by the billions for research projects around the world  and even in space  yet Lacks remained nearly unknown. Her family, which did not learn about the cells until the 1970s when researchers wanted to continue their research on her children, never benefited from the profit of her cells, which are still in use and for sale today.

Advertisement

Author Rebecca Skloot chronicled the story in her 2010 New York Times best-seller, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," which was chosen as the common read for the 2016-17 academic year by Indiana University Northwest.

The book  in addressing such topics as the collision between race, ethics and medicine; the history of experimentation on African-Americans; bioethics; and Lacks' family's search for the truth  has prompted endless discussions in classrooms and at university events throughout the year. The story even caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who co-produces and stars in an upcoming HBO film to be released this spring.

The IU Northwest campus and the Northwest Indiana region will have a unique opportunity beginning at 1 p.m. March 22 to have a discussion with two descendants of Lacks. In the signature event that will conclude the year's reading initiative, the campus will welcome Lacks' granddaughter Jeri Lacks Whye and great-granddaughter Veronica Robinson to the Savannah Center, where they will also answer audience questions and sign copies of the book. The event is free and open to the public.

Lacks Whye is employed with the judiciary system of Baltimore in the domestic violence unit. She has visited dozens of campuses and communities around the country, adding her own perspective on the legacy of Lacks and the HeLa cells. She is one of the family members consulting on the film produced by Winfrey and Allan Ball.

Robinson is studying to become a registered nurse at Baltimore City Community College. She represents the Lacks family on the National Institutes of Health's panel that reviews applications to conduct research using the HeLa genome. She is also a mentor at Johns Hopkins for Dunbar Scholars and an active member of the Lacks Family Foundation.

During their March 22 presentation and question-and-answer session, Lacks Whye and Robinson will share their perspectives of learning about Lacks' cells and their significance decades after scientists took them and began using them to change the face of medicine.

In 2013, the family partnered with the National Institutes of Health to discuss options for protecting the family without hindering future research. Now, 62 years after the fact, the family is finally able to participate and make decisions regarding their matriarch, thus actively continuing her legacy and contributing to scientific advancement.

Members of the family have visited more than 100 communities and campuses and offered their first-person accounts of how ethics, race and the commercialization of their matriarch's cells have collided. They discuss how the experience changed the Lacks family over generations and how they remain involved today.

Advertisement

For more information about the reading initiative, the free March 22 event and supplemental resources, go to www.iun.edu/onebook.

Erika Rose is a media communications specialist at Indiana University Northwest.
Whitenack named Fire Management Officer

The National Park Service has selected MaryEllen "Mel" Whitenack as the Fire Management Officer at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Selected from a national pool of applicants, Whitenack has been at Indiana Dunes since 2001 and has served as the Assistant Fire Management Officer since 2008. In her 20-year career with the National Park Service, she has been involved in fire programs such as Whiskeytown National Recreation Area as Fire Use Monitor and as a Fire Monitor at Grand Teton National Park. Her duties at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore have included managing fire programs at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. She has helped parks use prescribed burns as a management tool across the country. In addition, she has represented the NPS on the ground for disaster relief and wildfires from Florida to Alaska. Whitenack lives in Chesterton with her family.

Advertisement

PNW administrator gains national recognition

Mont Handley, the associate director of Purdue University Northwest's Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center, recently received the nationally recognized Tibbets Award for driving small business innovation, research and development. Handley was one of 37 small business owners and contributors who received the 2016 award, presented by the Small Business Association through its Small Business Innovation Research Program. The awards were presented during a ceremony at the White House. Handley was honored for inventing PITTMoss and founding PITTMoss, LLC. PITTMoss is an organic, recycled and engineered soilless product that enhances plant growth. At PNW, Handley assists early stage entrepreneurs with funding opportunities and developing product presentations.

Advertisement

Purdue professor receives honor

Carolyn Curiel, a Hammond native and clinical professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University, was named by Crain's NewsPro as one of the top journalism educators in the nation. Crain's NewsPro editorial staff reviewed dozens of nominees from across the nation and consulted other news industry experts to arrive at its final list of 10, including Curiel. Curiel came to higher education after a career in journalism and public service, including a stint as the U.S. Ambassador to Belize. She served on the Editorial Board to the New York Times, and was an Emmy-nominated producer-writer for the former ABC News Nightline program with Ted Koppel. She also has worked at the Washington Post and at United Press International. In addition, she wrote speeches for former President Bill Clinton during his first term. Curiel is an alumna of Purdue University and Morton High School.

AWLI elects new president

The board of directors of the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative elected Jack Walter as its president for 2017. A resident of Schererville, Walter is a retired investigator and paralegal, with a law degree from Indiana University, Bloomington. Jim Buiter, of Crete, Ill., was elected vice president of the nonprofit organization and land trust. He is a financial advisor and CPA, having earned his MBA from DePaul University, Chicago. Buiter is an executive board member and national director of the Izaak Walton League. Debbie Lucia, of Glenwood, Ill., was re-elected secretary. Miles Sullivan of Chesterton was elected to a three-year term as director. Sullivan works in financial technology sales. He holds a B.A. degree in history from the University of Illinois, Chicago. A member of the Duneland Chamber of Commerce, Sullivan also is a member of the Tree Care Industry Association and the Texas Nursery/Landscape Association.

Annual Heritage Gala

The Gary Section of the National Council of Negro Women will host its annual Heritage Gala at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Genesis Convention Center, One Genesis Plaza, Gary. The theme for the event will be "Fortified by the Past ... Focused on the Future." Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 at the door. Tickets and more information are at 219-808-4795 or 219-689-2158.

 Staff report
Housing Opportunities received word Thursday that the nonprofit agency is receiving much-needed funding to move forward with the low-income Aurora View Apartment Homes in Valparaiso.

The agency, which operates a homeless shelter and provides transitional and low-income housing, will receive $497,342 in rental housing tax credits and an additional $635,000 grant from the Housing Trust Fund, according to an announcement by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.

The tax credits are through a federal program, said Caroline Shook, executive director of Housing Opportunities, and will be sold to provide money for the project. The Housing Trust Fund grant is through the state.

Advertisement

"I am floating right about now," Shook said Thursday, shortly after being notified that her agency received the funds.

Last year, in a split vote, the Valparaiso City Council turned down rezoning and donating city-owned land for the project, which is being undertaken by Housing Opportunities and Porter-Starke Services.

Advertisement

Aurora View Apartment Homes will proceed with fewer units than originally planned, with new units on property at 1504 Vale Park Road, the site of an empty house that does not need to be rezoned.

While Mayor Jon Costas supported the project during an Oct. 24 council meeting for rezoning and donating a city-owned parking lot block between Valparaiso Street and Valley Drive, the City Council voted 4-3 along party lines against the move.

Neighbors and the owner of a nearby Montessori school expressed concerns about the clientele of the proposed apartment complex and their property values.

The project encompasses 15 units split between three buildings already owned by Porter-Starke along Valparaiso Street just south of the post office. The residents there will remain, and those buildings, which are 30 years old, will be rehabilitated. The new building on Vale Park Road will have eight units; the original plan called for 34 units.

The next step, Shook said, is an application for about $200,000 in funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis. The deadline for that application is May 10, and recipients will learn Sept. 7 if they receive the funds.

"That's the last piece of funding," Shook said, adding that the loan bank wants applicants to have other funding before they apply.

Assuming that money is in hand, Housing Opportunities and Porter-Starke will apply for building permits with the hope of having the project complete by October 2018.

"For us, probably more important was just that we got funded," Shook said, adding that planning for Aurora View started two years ago. "If we didn't get this one, we couldn't go forward."

Advertisement

According to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, 62 agencies applied for the tax credits and grant money. In all, 16 projects across the state were selected for the programs and are receiving a total of $19.7 million. The funds will provide more than 700 additional units of affordable housing.

Aurora View was the only project in Northwest Indiana selected for the funding.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
The re-appointment of attorney Rinzer Williams III as legal counsel for the Gary Common Council was thought to be basically a rubber stamp, but it became a close 5-4 vote.

The Tuesday vote was needed when some members questioned that council President Ronald Brewer signed an order retaining Williams' services late last year. He said at the most recent council meeting that he did so because he thought that was what his council colleagues wanted.

Advertisement

But some council members have expressed concerns with Williams' services and the fact that he lives in Merrillville, not Gary. Some members also questioned the procedure by which Williams was retained, suggesting it might not be in compliance with Indiana law.

Council member Mary Brown, D-3rd, proposed a measure to retain Williams as attorney and Virgil Moore as a financial adviser, with the appointments retroactive to Jan. 1. It passed by a 5-4 vote, with council members Ragen Hatcher, D-at large; Rebecca Wyatt, D-1st; Carolyn Rogers, D-4th; and LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th, in opposition.

Advertisement

In the past, Sparks-Wade has said she has problems with Williams' legal advice because she believes he consistently issues opinions that are contrary to whatever she wants the council to do. She joined Hatcher and Rogers in questioning Williams' residency.

"We want Gary residents to get Gary jobs," Rogers said.

Brown said residency requirements do not apply because both Williams and Moore are consultants rather than full-time employees

"We have always been able to sign off on a council attorney," she said. "It has never been a problem before."

Rogers disagreed with Brown's interpretation of the residency issue, saying, "I don't think it matters whether someone is a contractor or an employee."

Williams declined comment after the meeting. He said he moved to Merrillville several years ago after his Gary house was destroyed in a fire and he was unable to find a suitable new home within the city. His home is only about one block outside of the city limits, he said.

Hatcher said she wished the council would have voted separately for Williams and Moore.

"We don't have any objection to (Moore)," she said.

Advertisement

Hatcher said she believes it was important that Williams' retention be voted on because proper procedures for appointments were not followed. Brewer has said he only did what previous council presidents had done.

Brewer also said he thinks it is wrong that so much time and attention were paid to this issue.

"Sometimes, we waste so much time on petty stuff," he said.

To which Hatcher retorted, "Rules are not petty stuff."

Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
The March exhibit at River Gallery will feature works by Margaret Dyer and Jan Kransberger. There will be an opening reception with the artists on Friday, March 3, from 6:30-8 p.m. The snow date is Saturday, March 4, from 204 p.m.

In this show Margaret Dyer uses oil for her paintings of France, Italy, New York, and Atlanta as well as the figure.

Jan Kransberger's quotes Camille Pissarro, "Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing." Cast glass is Ms.

Kransberger's medium of choice to convey her love of the human figure through light and color.
Some Northwest Indiana voters, unhappy that Indiana's Republican Sen. Todd Young did not have a town hall meeting scheduled nearby, brought their concerns to him in a virtual meeting Thursday.

Forty or so voters gathered at Space Revival in Griffith to conduct a "Recess Resistance," phone call drive to Young's offices. The group, convened as an extension of the Women's March and 100 Days of Action, gathered their concerns over what Young and other members of Congress are doing  or not doing, as it were  and then placed calls to his offices around the state. None of those offices are in Northwest Indiana, event organizer Sue Eleuterio said.

Advertisement

Young has offices in Indiana in Indianapolis, New Albany, Evansville and Fort Wayne.

"It's frustrating to be the second most populous county in the state, but I would have to make a four-hour round trip to get face time with a sitting senator. What are we, chopped liver?" Eleuterio said.

Advertisement

Those who didn't want to make phone calls in a group were able to address Young in a cheeky way: Eleuterio and her co-organizers brought in a mannequin with a heart-shaped balloon for a head, and taped Young's headshot to it. Brandon Dothager, of Highland, did just that.

"Let's face it, Sen. Young. You didn't have a plan," Dothager said to the balloon as the room chanted, "Shame on you!" "You voted for Betsy DeVos, but this state voted against Tony Bennett in favor or Glenda Ritz. Hoosiers spoke very loudly, but you forgot your Hoosier history.

"Are you appropriate for the job since you forget those lessons?"

The group' focus was mainly the Affordable Care Act, and many had stories to tell about how it saved them.

Dan Reynolds, of Ogden Dunes, said he had a minor heart incident, but after doing everything he was supposed to do to remain healthy, he ended up needed a bypass five years ago.

After a series of health problems, he praised the ACA.

"Thank God for the ACA, or I would've been bankrupt or dead," Reynolds said.

Cherie Mack, of LaPorte, reminded the group that she wasn't getting paid to be there, as some have claimed.

Advertisement

"You can tell (Trump press secretary) Sean Spicer that, too," Mack said to cheering. "I'm not sure (Trump) has gotten the message, but the United States has all races and all religions. We have to pray this energy lasts to 2018."

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
A used car dealership that once came under fire from Merrillville officials concerning the number of cars on its lot will have a new owner.

Harbi Alabed received Board of Zoning Appeals approval Wednesday to take over Merrillville Auto Sales, located at 5924 Broadway.

Advertisement

An attorney for Alabed, Adam Sworden, told the BZA his client has many more years experience in the used car business than the current owners.

"There will be no changes. This will be a continuation of the business under new ownership," Sworden said.

Advertisement

The attorney said there would be no car repair work done on the premises and the amount of cars on display inside and outside would not exceed 20, as agreed upon by the Town Council.

The BZA and Town Council had originally approved the petition for a used car dealership by current owner Yousef Alahmad in 2015, with a limit of 10 vehicles for sale on the lot at a time.

Alahmad subsequently raised the ire of Council President Richard Hardaway, D-1st, who said he consistently saw more than 10 vehicles on the lot.

Hardaway said there had been no further problems with Alahmad since the 20-car limit agreement was made.

In other matters, the BZA approved a Smoothie King franchise to be located next to Jimmy John's restaurant at 8180 Mississippi St., and agreed to allow a residential home in the 9700 block of Colorado Street to be used as office space. The board also approved a sign for the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters that is smaller than requested.

Owner Parth Patel said the Smoothie King would be located to the north of Jimmy John's and would be about 996 square feet. He said it would have two to three employees.

Hytham Rifai told the BZA that he owns and has rented out the house at 9717 Colorado St. for residential use, but it's now vacant.

"The property's been vandalized three times. I thought if it were used for commercial space, there would be less damage and it would keep the area safe," Rifai said.

Advertisement

Board members noted the property is unique. Although it's zoned agricultural, it is just north of the Islamic Center and located near the Modern Forge manufacturing facility.

Board member John Minchuk expressed concern that the space could be used as a used car lot if the request was approved, but BZA attorney William Touchette said the owner would be limited to office space use.

"There could be a law office or accountant there," Touchette said.

The board approved the request, with the condition that no dental, medical or banking office locate there.

The BZA approved a sign for the carpenters union's new training center and administration building being constructed at 1560-1565 E. 70th Court that would not exceed an overall height of 35 feet and would be no larger than 360 square feet. This was smaller than the original request of a 450-square-foot pylon sign that would be 40 feet high.

Some board members questioned why the sign would need to be as large as requested.

Advertisement

"This is more than double our regulation. There will be more projects coming along I-65 that will need signs too," BZA member Robert Bigelow said.

Bigelow also was concerned that the lighted sign, which is mostly white, would be too bright and would distract traffic on Interstate 65.

While the carpenters union will face Mississippi Street, the pylon sign will be close to I-65 to promote the brand to oncoming traffic there.

Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
The Illinois company developing NorthWind Crossings business park in Hobart is looking to construct a spec building across Mississippi Street in Merrillville.

Paul Thurston, with Becknell Industries, asked the Merrillville Economic Development Commission for a 10-year tax abatement for the project, which is expected to cost about $12 million.

Advertisement

Thurston said the company is looking to build a 182,000-square-foot spec building on the now vacant cornfield between Menard's at 61st Avenue and Mississippi and the Grand Trunk Railroad tracks to the south. He said the project would create about 70 construction jobs, but the number of permanent jobs is unknown since there are no tenants for the building yet.

The project was first brought to the town about eight years ago, but was never built, he said.

Advertisement

Assuming Merrillville has the same tax rate as Hobart, Thurston said the spec building would generate about $263,000 in annual taxes once it is fully assessed, based on $1.45 per square foot.

"Now, I'm paying $644 a year in taxes on the land. Even at 100 percent full abatement, tax (money received by the town) would go up," he said.

Councilman Shawn Pettit, D-6th, said Merrillville has the lowest tax rate in Lake County.

"I would prefer to see a tax table," he told Thurston. "The project is good in concept, but I want to see what we're abating.".

He also said the building's loading docks would need to face Mississippi Street, not Interstate 65 to the west, and there needs to be extra landscaping on the Mississippi Street side. He told Thurston that he also needs Pettit said once he's granted his abatement request, Thurston will need a letter of sewer availability from the Merrillville Conservancy District and state approval.

NorthWind Crossings in Hobart is home to more than a dozen businesses, including NB Coatings, a subsidiary of Nippon Paint, ITR, a distributor of heavy machinery equipment parts, Hanson Logistics cold storage and Teleperformance call center.

Several of the companies moved into spec buildings at the 200-acre park located south of 61st Avenue and east of Mississippi Street.

Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Sen. Todd Young answers questions during a media availability at Lake Central High School to discuss his visits with Lake County officials. This is Senator Young's first visit to the region since being elected to the Senate. (John Smierciak / Post-Tribune)

U.S. Sen. Todd Young assured residents of Northwest Indiana he's available to relay their concerns to federal officials as the new presidential administration gets started.

Young, a Bloomington Republican, toured Lake County and met with local leaders, including Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland, both Democrats. Young's visit was the senator's first since he took over the seat left vacant by former Sen. Dan Coats, a Republican.

Advertisement

"Regardless of one's politics during this time of what sometimes feels like a dysfunctional political atmosphere, I think we should all be praying for the success of this president," Young said.

The prosperity, safety and security of the country depend on Trump's success, Young said.

Advertisement

The new senator said the biggest challenge to the administration moving forward is the pace at which the Senate is confirming President Trump's nominees to federal posts.

"No. 1, this administration, like all administrations, needs to be staffed up. That's happening at a very slow rate," Young said. "I offer my word to the people of Northwestern Indiana that I will make sure we have proper people in place to respond to their needs."

Some of Trump's nominees have faced strong opposition in the Senate, which has helped draw out the process.

Indiana's Sen. Joe Donnelly, a South bend Democrat, most recently voted against Betsy DeVos, now secretary of the Department of Education. Though Donnelly was at a meeting in East Chicago instead of the Senate floor, he said he also opposed Scott Pruitt, now Secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency.

"I appreciate Scott Pruitt's desire to improve EPA's working relationship with state partners and other stakeholders as it engages in its mission to protect our environment  that's an issue I've been focused on for years," Donnelly said, in a statement. "I, however, cannot support an EPA nominee who has sued the EPA to stop the sale of E15 and praised the erosion of a policy designed to strengthen our energy security and promote Hoosier-grown biofuels."

Young supported the confirmation of both DeVos and Pruitt.

While Young differed with his fellow Indiana senator, he's joined Donnelly and U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, in support of several efforts in Northwest Indiana.

Young met with Copeland and learned about issues the city and its residents face with the cleanup and relocation work at the U.S.S. Lead Superfund site in East Chicago, which encompasses the Calumet neighborhood.

Advertisement

Young said he wanted to spend some time on the ground and assess the needs of the city and its residents. The senator said he'd ensure the EPA meets its obligations.

"I just remain at the disposal of the elected officials and the residents of East Chicago," Young said.

Young also touted the South Shore expansion and its potential to help Northwest Indiana grow.

"I've been acclimated to and familiarized with the economic development advantages," Young said.

With the expansion, Young said more people could live in Northwest Indiana and easily commute to work in the Chicago area.

"Moreover, expanding this rail line and upgrading it would be a means to make sure our labor market is more flexible," Young said.

Advertisement

clyons@post-trib.com

Twitter: @craigalyons
A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the trial of a Hobart man charged with killing a business associate more than two years ago.

Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell granted the request by defense attorney Paul Stracci to declare a mistrial during the testimony of the first witness in the case against Thomas Raymond Smith, 65. He has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the death of David Krawczenia, 48, of Portage.

Advertisement

Theresa Jacobs, Krawczenia's girlfriend, mentioned twice during testimony that she had testified at Smith's hearings to set bail, which drew an admonishment from Boswell to limit her answers to the questions asked.

After Jacobs twice denied that special prosecutor Stanley Levco had showed her photos of the exterior of the business, All About Auto, 2600 Colorado St., in Gary, where Krawczenia bought and sold cars and Smith repaired them, Boswell conferred privately with the attorneys and then declared a mistrial. Jacobs said the previous prosecutor, Michael Woods, had shown her the pictures.

Advertisement

Afterward, defense attorney Ralph Staples said Jacobs' testimony regarding the photos had made the prosecutor a witness in the case. Levco had told the attorneys and the judge that he'd shown Jacobs the photos at lunchtime, just prior to the resumption of her testimony.

During opening statements, Levco said Krawczenia's killing was over a $16,000 debt that Smith was supposed to repay Nov. 1, 2014. Krawczenia drove a Chrysler Sebring convertible to the Colorado Street shop to collect the money, and 13 days later, his dismembered body was found in the trunk of the car, which had been abandoned in the parking lot at the Mansards apartments in Griffith, Levco said evidence would show.

Levco showed jurors photos from surveillance footage of another car, a Grand Marquis, which was towed to Merrillville, where Smith planned to move his business.

The day after the homicide, Levco said evidence would show that Smith met a co-worker at a restaurant and disclosed that he'd argued with Krawczenia, shot him in the back and shoved him in the truck of a Grant Marquis. Three days after that, Smith called the witness and asked him to pick him up at the Burger King near the Mansards complex, where the witness noticed Krawczenia's Sebring.

In his opening statement, Staples said there would be no forensic evidence linking Smith to the death of Krawczenia at the shop, at Smith's new business location in the 7100 block of Broadway in Merrillville or in the Sebring. Staples said there also would be no evidence that Krawczenia was shot because his body bore no bullet wounds.

"There will be more questions than you have answers," Staples said. "Who, what and when will not be clear to you, and that constitutes reasonable doubt."

Two years ago, Smith was freed on his own recognizance because Woods, the previous prosecutor, hadn't received bank and phone records he subpoenaed and was unable to bring the case to trial within the time allotted under the criminal rules of court procedure. Several months later, Woods joined Stracci's law firm, and Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter requested the appointment of a special prosecutor to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

The parties are expected to return to court April 3 for a status hearing.

Advertisement

Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
The Beke family moved out of their home at 105 Randle St. in Valparaiso in February 2012 after raw sewage backed up into the house when the city tried to fix a clog in the sewer line. (Amy Lavalley / Post-Tribune)

The family of a boy who drew attention to the plight of the family's 2012 fight with the city over their sewage-filled house with a YouTube video has reached a tentative agreement with Valparaiso officials.

The Beke family and the Valparaiso Utilities Board need to approve the agreement for $60,000, Ethan Lowe, the city attorney, said at a Friday Board of Works meeting.

Advertisement

The city itself won't be involved in the financial settlement, he said, adding the utilities board is expected to vote on the agreement Tuesday. The utility's insurance will pay $50,000 toward the agreement and the city's utilities department will pay the other $10,000, he said.

The Beke family is no longer living at the home at 105 Randle St. but the agreement specifies that they'll use the money to rehabilitate the home, Lowe said, adding the agreement came after months of negotiations.

Advertisement

Tom Dixon, an attorney representing the family, could not be reached for comment. Sarah Beke was not able to comment under the terms of the agreement.

The family's troubles began on Feb. 28, 2012, when there was a sewage backup in the family home. When the city used high pressure to clear the line, the house was contaminated with raw sewage.

The family of 10, now living in Chicago's south suburbs, was forced out of the home and spent a period of time without a permanent housing, moving repeatedly and sometimes being split up.

Out of exhaustion and frustration with his family's situation, Nolan Beke, then 15, put together a YouTube video explaining the family's predicament and asking viewers to email Mayor Jon Costas.

In June 2015, when the video first surfaced, Patrick Lyp, then the city's attorney, called Nolan's claims that the city had done nothing to remedy the problem "unfair and inaccurate."

Sarah Beke, Nolan's mother, said then that the family attempted to work with the city to get the house cleaned up so they could live in it again, to no avail.

Dixon, the family's attorney, said at the time that the family provided the city with both a list of lost belongings and medical bills, because the sewage backup made several family members ill and required one child to be hospitalized. The family also provided the city with a quote from an environmental cleanup firm.

The family also filed a lawsuit against the city and its utilities in March 2014.

Advertisement

The day after the video was posted to YouTube, the family took it down as a good faith effort in negotiations with the city, which also was supposed to help the family find rental housing while the Randle Street house was being cleaned.

The video resurfaced in October 2015 on a GoFundMe page after Sarah Beke and Dixon said remediation efforts with the city did not come to fruition.

"I think it's always prudent to try to work things out with people, but there's really nothing left," Sarah Beke said then.

Freelance reporter James D. Wolf Jr. contributed.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
St. John police Detective Steve Flores describes the case as "disgusting and disturbing."

It involves a home health care nurse who allegedly abused an 8-year-old boy with the mind and body of a 2-year-old. He weighs only 22 pounds due to a rare genetic disorder called Cornelia de Lange syndrome, characterized by abnormally slow growth, small stature and severe developmental delays.

Advertisement

This boy requires round-the-clock care, a feeding tube and a diaper, and is acutely vulnerable. He's also incapable of coherent speech to alert his parents or anyone else if something is wrong.

"What she did to this poor little child was heartbreaking to watch," said Flores, who saw home surveillance "nanny-cam" videos. "Watching that video was very tough to do, even for a police officer."

Advertisement

"It's one of the most disturbing cases I've ever had," Flores said.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed Feb. 15 in Lake Superior Court, Judy L. Cottrell, 56, of Lake Village, was charged with neglect of a dependent, battery on a person under 14 and battery on a disabled person.

When I called Cottrell for her response to these charges, an unidentified man who answered the phone told me she cannot comment on the case. When I asked to speak to her attorney, I was told that it is not possible.

According to the affidavit, Cottrell denied any abuse of the boy until she was shown the video recordings. Then she cried and admitted that she acted inappropriately, the document said.

"She told me she didn't mean to hurt the child, but come on," Flores said. "She did it repeatedly."

Cottrell, who began caring for the boy in November, was employed by Anchor Home Health Care in Valparaiso. The company did not respond to my call or email regarding how long Cottrell had worked there or how the agency vets its home health care nurses.

The boy's mother, who asked not to be identified, declined comment.

If anything comes out of this tragic story, it should be a warning to parents in similar situations with their children, or to elderly or disabled clients who rely on home health care professionals to ask a few additional questions of the hiring agency.

Advertisement

If it wasn't for the mother's curiosity about her nanny-cam recordings, nothing may have ever been known about the alleged abuse. One night earlier this month, she couldn't sleep, so she casually checked the recordings of the basement area where her son is cared for and spends most of his time, documents said.

She couldn't believe what she watched.

Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

The next day she called police, showing Flores the recording. He also watched hours go by on the recordings without the boy being fed or given water, though he needed to be fed six times a day. The mother claims Cottrell did not provide any nourishment for three days, the affidavit states.

Cottrell was hired to care for the boy for several hours a day, four days each week. Because the recordings only go back a few days, it's unclear what happened to him from November through January, Flores said.

Cottrell bonded out of jail Feb. 17, according to court records, and her trial date has yet to be scheduled.

St. John police said another Northwest Indiana family recently came forward to report alleged abuse by Cottrell against a disabled boy in Jasper County. No charges have been filed in that county.

Advertisement

Anyone with information about Cottrell's past as a home health care nurse can call Flores at 219-365-6035.

jdavich@post-trib.com

Twitter@jdavich
This Feb. 7, 2017, photo released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows foreign nationals being arrested during a targeted enforcement operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aimed at immigration fugitives, re-entrants and at-large criminal aliens in Los Angeles. (Charles Reed / AP)

I first met the couple in 2006.

They lived with their six children in an eastern Lake County community, but spent most of their time together at a restaurant in Hobart, where they worked, played, met with relatives, did their homework and took naps in empty booths.

Advertisement

The family paid their taxes and Social Security deductions, attended school functions, supported local merchants, practiced Catholicism, and abided by the law in every way except for one: They were living here illegally after entering the U.S. country from Mexico.

I shadowed the family for several months for a series of stories I wrote about people living in the U.S. illegally and its ripple effect in Northwest Indiana. My stories were met with an angry backlash of emotions by many readers who were convinced about their stance on this combative issue.

Advertisement

I don't know where they are today, or if they have become citizens.

I also felt strongly about this issue  illegal is illegal, right?  until I got to know this family in a very personal way. Their hopes, fears, joys, struggles and daily challenges. Mostly their fears, though, of being deported back to Mexico.

My relationship with them altered my viewpoint on a topic that is again back on the front burner in our country. It didn't compel me to entirely change my mind about such a complex and multi-layered problem facing our country. It did, however, compel me to change my viewpoint from the abstract to the personal.

This kind of realization is key with this topic, similar to other highly divisive subjects such as abortion, gay rights, race relations or stem cell research.

With this in mind, I have a question for you: Do you personally know a person living in the U.S. illegally, be it a friend, co-worker or loved one?

I believe your answer to this question plays a determining factor in your stance on the latest sweeping set of orders issued Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security. As you likely know, President Donald Trump's promised plan to increase immigration enforcement has been put into action, potentially placing millions of people at risk of deportation.

Once again, our new president is forcing us to reconsider or redefine our argument toward another conflict-ridden topic facing us. This week, it's those living here illegally. Not only in this country, but in this area.

On Tuesday, I began hearing from readers who feel strongly about the issue. That same day, my social media readers began dividing themselves roughly in half on whether the Department of Homeland Security's new orders have stepped over the line.

Advertisement

My readers reflect a reignited national debate, again separating us into two ideological camps regarding who we are as a country. On one side are Americans who feel the very principles that make our country great are under siege  acceptance, tolerance, inclusion. The banner "Refugees Welcome" draped symbolically underneath the Statue of Liberty on Tuesday morning (before it was taken down) aptly sums up their beliefs.

In the other camp are Americans who've had enough of those liberal-minded buzzwords and, what they believe, have to led disastrous, dangerous consequences. As one reader asked me over the phone, "I don't understand why so many level-headed, God-loving Americans are so eager to keep undocumented, illegal people in our country?"

That's a fair question. Illegal is illegal, right?

That is, until you fully understand what a complicated issue this has become, potentially affecting an estimated 11 million people and their families. And, again, prompting us to redefine who we are as a country.

According to the two memoranda issued by Secretary John Kelly, agents are instructed to target people who are here illegally who've been convicted of a crime as the highest priority for enforcement operations. This sounds acceptable and echoes what previous presidents attempted to do.

The devil, however, is in the details.

Advertisement

Immigration agents can now focus on picking up and detaining anyone charged with, or convicted of, any criminal offense, including minor ones. And Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents should also arrest and initiate deportation proceedings against any person living in the U.S. illegally that they encounter.

The government "no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement," according to the new directives. Does this mean that foreign-born American families can be ripped apart over a minor criminal offense or a traffic violation? We shall see.

"Jerry, go to Mexico illegally and commit a crime. If you come back, you can write about your experience," quipped Bill Aiken, a reader who supports the new directives.

Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

I see his point, and appreciate his humor, but should we compare our country's values to Mexico or any other nation? Do we want to be more like Mexico or more like America, an ideal in progress?

Although this proposed crackdown will take months, if not years, to roll out, and it targets only a certain demographic of "criminals" already here illegally, the idea itself is already reigniting heated arguments. It's also creating hypothetical situations that may become a reality in our corner of the state.

For instance, I'm wondering how many churches in Northwest Indiana will become a sanctuary safe place for people living here illegally and facing deportation. Does God's law ever trump U.S. law? Should we obey Jesus' teachings or punishable legalities? Which do we value more?

Advertisement

I'm curious which churches step up to protect undocumented immigrants, citing biblical scripture, and which churches stay out of this contentious issue. I'm intrigued by the human dilemma behind this decision.

What is first needed, I believe, is a broader, formal conversation on immigration reform, possibly with town hall forums to collect public opinion and educate citizens. Too many of us are woefully uneducated or wrongly misinformed to grasp this issue's complexities, often portrayed by a local family caught in the national crossfire.

jdavich@post-trib.com

Twitter@jdavich
"Rainbow Fish," a musical about friendship, is on stage at noon and 3 p.m. Feb. 26 at Wentz Concert Hall, North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. (ArtsPower Nat'l Touring Theatre)

Learning to share is the mark of true friendship. That's what kids will learn when ArtsPower National Touring Theatre presents, "Rainbow Fish," noon and 3 p.m. Feb. 26 at Wentz Concert Hall, North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville.

The musical, based on Marcus Pfister's bestselling book, tells the story of a fish whose shimmering scales and lovely color make her the most beautiful creature in the ocean. Because of her vanity, she refuses to help the other fish who need some of her silver scales. She learns to share her gifts by following the advice of a wish old Octopus.

Advertisement

Four colorfully costumed professional actors perform in this original musical by the New-Jersey based company that has toured since 1985. The adaptation and lyrics are by Artistic Director Greg Gunning with music by Richard DeRosa. Songs include "I Wanna be a Big Fish in a Big Pond!" and "Share Your Gifts."

Reservations are required.

Advertisement

For details, call (630) 637-7469 or go to finearts.northcentralcollege.edu/event/rainbow-fish-0.

Timely tales

Every story will begin with "Once upon a time" when the Children's Theatre of Western Springs presents "Storyville," 2-3 p.m. Feb. 25 at La Grange Public Library, 10 W. Cossitt Ave. All the characters will try to tell their stories at once in this interactive show.

For details, call (708) 215-3200 or go to www.lagrangelibrary.org.

Bone up

You and your children, ages 4 and older, will make some interesting Dinosaur Discoveries, 2 p.m. March 4 at Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art, 220 Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst. Your children will become dinosaur detectives through studying fossils and props. You'll also see live animals related to dinosaurs. The cost is $5 per person; free to museum members. Reservations are recommended.

For details, call (630) 833-1616 or go to lizzadromuseum.org.

Folk-pop fun

Spend 45 joyful minutes at Sing, Sing a Song with Laura Doherty, 10:30-11:15 a.m. March 1 at Clarendon Hills Public Library, 7 N. Prospect Ave. The popular family entertainer will keep kids, ages 1-6 accompanied by an adult, singing, dancing and clapping. Reservations are required.

Advertisement

For details, call (630) 323-8188 or go to www.clarendonhillslibrary.org.

Strokes of luck

Workout with your kids at a Free Family Open Swim for Elmhurst residents, 1-4 p.m. Feb. 26 at York Community High School, 355 W. St. Charles Road, Elmhurst. Lap swimming, open swim and diving boards will be available.
Approximately 1,300 light years away from earth is a bright star-forming region. The cloud of gas is a hub of activity that astronomers study to learn more about how stars form.

Found in the Orion constellation and visible to the naked eye, the Orion Nebula is one of the brightest nebulas in the night sky.

Dalton State has begun collecting images of this nebula through the 24-inch reflecting telescope recently installed in the Colleges observatory.

The M42, or Orion Nebula, is 1,344 light years from us, said Dr. Samantha Blair, assistant professor of physics and astronomy. To compare, the nearest star besides the sun is Proxima Centauri, 4.2 light years from us. This first image was a 10-second exposure. It absolutely blew my mind. I cannot wait to start imaging more celestial objects for the College and our students.

As a professional radio astronomer, Dr. Blair is working with optical astronomers and astrophotographers to learn how to use the new telescope and software to its full potential.

With the observatory, the astronomy classes at Dalton State will become lab courses and students can use the images for undergraduate research of their own, said Dr. Randall Griffus, dean of the School of Science, Technology, Mathematics. Griffus hopes to see that change in the Colleges curriculum by fall semester.

Were so thankful for the $300,000 grant from the Mashburn Charitable Trust that allowed us to build this observatory for our students and the community, Dr. Griffus said. Were excited about the future of our astronomy program, and were glad to provide this asset to the community.

Dalton State already hosted several public viewing events each year, using the Colleges growing telescope collection. But the observatory will take those events to a new level, allowing the public to see other galaxies, nebulas, supernovas, asteroids, and possibly extra-solar planets.

The observatory will provide unique access for Dalton State students, local school systems, and the community of Dalton to the beauty, intrigue, and majesty of the cosmos, Dr. Blair said. It is an amazing resource for North Georgia. Not only will the facility be used for student labs and research, it will be available for school events, public viewing nights, tours, and demonstrations.

Dalton State College partnered with Whitfield County Public Schools to construct the observatory, which is located on property at Beaverdale Elementary School off Ga. Highway 2 in northern Whitfield County. The location was ideal because there isnt much light pollution in the area, making it easier to capture images of the deep space objects.
Students celebrated Black History Month and their diversity through food and music Thursday at Lyons Township High School.

The Black and Multicultural Club organized a Taste of Soul that drew about 150 students who munched on rib tips, chicken, greens, macaroni and sweet potato pie.

Advertisement

But that wasn't all that was on the menu.

The club invited the French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Prism clubs, among others, to bring foods that represented those cultures to the event at the south campus in Western Springs.

Advertisement

They added such items as Spanish candies, guacamole and chips, fortune cookies, and croissants and salads to the banquet. The clubs manned stations where they served their foods to the guests.

"We wanted to share with all the groups because we're a family," said Elizabeth Watkins, sponsor of the Black and Multicultural Club. "Our slogan is 'We are LT.'"

Kendall Collins, a senior and president of the club, agreed.

"I wanted the kids to experience foods from all the cultures at LT and the amount of diversity we have and to celebrate it," he said.

With a guitarist playing music in the background as students visited the various stations that lined a conference room. They gathered at tables to eat and chat.

Senior Brandon Paras, co-president of the Spanish Club, said he was happy his club could participate.

"I love just how laid back it is and the atmosphere is positive. Everybody is smiling," he said.

Andrea Gonzalez, a sophomore from Countryside, said she liked celebrating "the uniqueness of every culture."

Advertisement

Her club  the Chinese Club  brought fortune cookies to the event.

"They aren't really Chinese, they're American," she noted.

French teacher Anna Maria Kostecki urged students to enjoy a croissant.

"We're just glad to be part of this," she said. "This is bringing kids together who might never see each other. I'm getting to meet a lot of students I might not ever run into."

Polishing off her meal while sitting with a group of friends, freshman Amani Kimber of La Grange was glad she came to the event.

"I like how everyone has their station and it's really welcoming," she said.

Advertisement

amannion@tribpub.com

Twitter @triblocalam
Pueblo state Senate candidates dispute claims made in 'dark money' ads

Incumbent Nick Hinrichsen and GOP challenger Stephen Varela have denied claims made by outside groups spending big money on competitive races
Cleveland business leader Lee Stewart will serve as community chair for Great Strides 2017, according to campaign officials at Lee University. The 17th annual Great Strides Walk and 15th annual 65 Roses 5K, which raises funds and awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, will be held on Saturday, April 1.

It will be a pleasure to serve with Lee Stewart, who has agreed to lead the Great Strides event this year, said Lee president Dr. Paul Conn. Mr. Stewart has gained the respect of our entire community, not only for his business leadership, but for his commitment to serving others. He is a good friend of Lee University and a great fit for this wonderful event.

Mr. Stewart is president, CEO and director of Southern Heritage Bank and has more than 40 years of banking experience. He began his career in 1972 at American National Bank in Chattanooga as business development officer and credit officer, and since then, has served at various banks throughout the South.

Mr. Stewart has served as campaign co-chairman and as chairman of the Board of United Way of Bradley County. He is a recipient of the United Way William F. Johnson Community Service Award, the 2017 M. C. Headrick Free Enterprise Award, and the Robert Varnell Leadership Award from the Chamber of Commerce. He was also awarded the Outstanding Christian Business Leadership award from the Bradley County Ministerial Association. He is an active member of the Bradley Sunrise Rotary Club and currently serves as a business committee member of the Cleveland Public Education Foundation.

Mr. Stewart is a graduate from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, University of Oklahoma, and Tennessee Wesleyan University.

He and his wife of 45 years, Cynthia, are members of First United Methodist Church, where he currently serves on the administrative board as well as the finance and outreach committees. The Stewarts have two sons, Ben and Mark, and two grandchildren.

I am so grateful to be in the middle of this wonderful event, said Mr. Stewart. Great Strides is helping to improve life and bring hope for a cure to CF patients, and to be able to aid in this endeavor is such an honor.

The Great Strides event will rally hundreds of community participants and Lee University students to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Last year, the event drew over 1,000 walkers, runners and volunteers who raised more than $68,000 which pushed the amount raised by Lee and Cleveland for CF research past $850,000.

Dr. Mike Hayes, vice president for student development at Lee, and Vanessa Hammond, CF parent and director of the office of grants at Lee, will serve alongside Mr. Stewart. The 65 Roses 5K road race will be directed by Dr. Bill Estes, dean of the Helen DeVos College of Education. Volunteer support will be provided by the universitys Student Leadership Council.

The route for the 2017 walk and 5K run (3.1 miles) will begin and end on the Lee campus and travel throughout Clevelands historic downtown area. The road race, in partnership with Terra Running Company, will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the walk at 10 a.m.

Great Strides is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundations largest national fundraiser, raising more than 42 million with over 125,000 participants at events all across the nation.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a nonprofit donor-supported organization dedicated to attacking cystic fibrosis from every angle. Its focus is to support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF, and ultimately find a cure. In the last 30 years, the life expectancy of a child with CF has doubled, and research is happening daily to find a cure and perfect drugs available to those living with CF.

For more information about the Cleveland Great Strides or to register, visit http://www.leeuniversity.edu/cf. For more information about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, visit https://www.cff.org/.


Our weekly round up of other news affecting foreign investors throughout Asia:

Philippines Finance Secretary Recommends 7 Percent Corporate Income Tax Cut

The Philippines Finance Secretary, Carlo Dominguez, has recommended a corporate income tax rate of 25 percent, reduced from the current 32 percent as part of the Governments Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP).

ESI (Central) Amendment Rules, 2017 Expands Maternity Health Benefits

The government of India doubled maternity leave for women and expanded benefits for insured women through amendments to the ESI scheme. This article discusses the changes and what they mean for female labor security in India.

Understanding Tax Treatment of Representative Offices in Indonesia

Understand the exposure of offshore invoicing to taxation in Indonesia and learn how to structure investments to ensure compliance.

Russia Attracting Interest from Singaporean Investors

As sanctions on Russia continue, many Asian countries  including Singapore  are now establishing closer trade and investment links with Russia. In this article, Chris Devonshire-Ellis explores the growing trade relationship between Russia and Singapore.

Understanding Vietnams Import and Export Regulations

Once an investor has set up their trading company within Vietnam, it is important that their workers gain a strong understanding of the countrys import and export regulations and procedures.



About Us Our Briefing updates are written by and provided by the various regional offices of Dezan Shira & Associates throughout Asia. To obtain a complimentary subscription to Asia Briefing please click here. To contact Dezan Shira & Associates concerning foreign investment and assistance in Asia, please email us at asia@dezshira.com

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.

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

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 India 2017

An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in India. As such, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Indian market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to stay up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

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.

An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017

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.
The latest issue of China Briefing Magazine, titled New Considerations when Establishing a China WFOE in 2017, is out now and currently available to subscribers as a complimentary download in the Asia Briefing Publication Store.

Contents

Situating the WFOE Structure within Chinas Changing Investment Landscape

Pre-establishment Considerations for Setting Up a WFOE in 2017

Setting Up a WFOE in China: A Step-by-Step Guide

Chinas FIE Registration and the New Actual Controlling Person Requirement

Foreign investors can use a range of investment models to enter the Chinese market. Experienced businesspeople in China note that, for first-time investors and SMEs, the representative office (RO) has traditionally served as the most popular investment structure, long making it the most commonly used model for foreign companies.

This, however, is beginning to change. As the Chinese economy continues to mature, Dezan Shira & Associates has assisted an increased number of foreign investors with the establishment of their wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE)  an investment model with a far wider business scope than the RO.

The past year, in particular, has been a formative one for the China WFOE. In tandem with its rise in popularity, the Chinese government has implemented new regulations affecting the WFOE business structure and setup procedure, mostly by cutting red tape and streamlining the overall process.

In this edition of China Briefing, we guide readers through all these changes: from the reasons behind foreign investors preference for the WFOE as an investment model, to managing Chinas new regulations. We discuss how economic transformations have favored the WFOE, as well as the investment models utility, and detail key requirements that businesspeople need to examine before initiating the WFOE setup process. We then walk investors through the WFOE establishment process, and, finally, explain the new and idiosyncratic Actual Controlling Person regulation.



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.
About 14 minutes from new X-Men film "Logan" were cut out for its Chinese release.

A Chinese poster of "Logan." [Photo / China.org.cn]

According to China Film Bureau's release permit for the film, the running time of "Logan" is 123 minutes. The movie database website IMDB.com states that the original length of the film is 137 minutes.

Sources close to the situation said the censors asked to delete 14 minutes of bloody and violent scenes. The film was rated R in the United States for strong brutal violence and language throughout as well as brief nudity.

The 20th Century Fox-produced Marvel superhero flick centers on an aging, isolated and despondent Logan, also known as Wolverine, and his last journey with Professor X as well as his clone-daughter Laura Kinney, known as X-23. It is the last installment of the X-Men spin-off franchise of Wolverine, and also serves as the actor Hugh Jackman's farewell film to Logan after playing the role for 17 years.

The film, directed by James Mangold and starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stuart and Dafne Keen, has received rave reviews from critics after it premiered at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 17. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 96 percent based on 71 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Hugh Jackman makes the most of his final outing as Wolverine with a gritty, nuanced performance in a violent but surprisingly thoughtful superhero action film that defies genre conventions."

"Logan" will open in China on March 3, 2017. Jackman and fellow actor Patrick Stuart will attend Chinese premiere in Beijing on March 1.
In the busy spring recruitment season in China's manufacturing hub of Guangdong, job vacancies in the traditional manufacturing sector decline, but the demand for technical personnel increases.

The general demand for labor in manufacturing has been surpassed by other sectors and tends to decline further, according to a local major recruitment agency.

"I thought it would be good if my son found work as a manager in a factory in Guangdong but, unexpectedly, he tried jobs as a courier and a seller of phones and even real estate," said Liu Guangli, a migrant worker from central China's Hunan Province.

To the father's growing astonishment, the son then resigned from his job in Guangdong and went back to Hunan to start his own business with friends.

Development of China's central and western regions is one factor in the dwindling flow of migrant workers into Guangdong, as there are now many opportunities in their home provinces. Some manufacturers have moved inland to reduce costs.

Another factor is the growing demand for technical personnel and declining need for unskilled or semi-skilled workers, a result of the use of robots, automated assembly lines and the growth of high-tech companies.

"We automated about 70 production lines, which means 60 to 70 percent fewer workers," said Liu Jiwen, vice president of a Shenzhen producer of phone parts. Liu's company once experienced labor shortages, which prompted him to invest heavily in reducing his demand for assembly workers.

Dongguan City, also in Guangdong, is in the same boat. In December 2015, the city's enterprises employed an average of 31 workers each, or 5.3 million workers in total. By December 2016, that average had fallen to around 27.

High-tech firms need high-quality staff. The number of high-tech companies in Guangdong's Pearl River Delta region, a manufacturing center, reached 18,880 in 2016, up 78.8 percent over 2015.

Vacancies for skilled and technical personnel accounted for 18.2 percent of the total in the province last year, up from 15.5 percent in 2015.

Thanks to transformation, the proportion of skilled workers in factories in Hengli Township of Dongguan, jumped from 15 percent in 2013 to 35 percent last year, said Liu Yingqiang, deputy head of the local human resources bureau.

Companies are doing more to keep workers happy in order to prevent job-hopping.

"Compared with 2016, the salaries of unskilled workers are almost unchanged, but intermediate technical workers see salaries rise," said Li Hanzhang, director of the Guangzhou human resources market service center.
You are here: Home

Air China will launch more international routes this year, linking China with Europe and North America to meet rising demand for outbound tourism.

From May this year, the airline will launch five new international routes including flights between Beijing and Zurich, Shanghai and Barcelona, and Shenzhen and Los Angeles, according to Air China.

Thanks to relaxed visa policies and rising disposable income, the number of China's outbound tourists has continued to grow over the past decade.

During this year's Spring Festival peak travel period, people in China made 6.15 million overseas trips, up 7 percent from last year.

China had the world's largest number of outbound tourists in 2015. About 120 million Chinese traveled overseas in 2015, up from 109 million the previous year, according to data from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

It was an increase of 19.5 percent year on year and nearly 13 times the level in 1998, said the CNTA.

The CNTA predicted that over 600 million Chinese tourists will travel abroad in the next five years.
You are here: Home

China's second largest bank, China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) officially launched its Indonesia local brand CCB Indonesia on Friday, CCB Indonesia said in a statement.

The listed CCB Indonesia, which CCB holds 60 percent of the stakes, was the result of a merger between Indonesia's PT Bank Windu Kentjana International Tbk and PT Bank Antardaerah in November last year, the statement said.

Besides small and medium enterprises it previously focused on, the company will also develop corporate banking business with large local Indonesia and Chinese enterprises and financial institutions.

The bank is also targeted to become the market maker of renminbi (RMB) business in Indonesia and penetrate the country's housing finance market.

"CCB Indonesia is committed to support the Indonesian economy, particularly in infrastructure financing." The statement said.

CCB Indonesia currently has a banking network consisting of 112 offices in the country's main cities.
After a surprisingly fast decision making process, China has suspended all imports of coal from North Korea. Coal makes up most of North Korea's foreign exports, and China is the biggest consumer. The move was announced by the Chinese commerce ministry and is believed to be part of the U.N. mandated sanctions against North Korea. The ban started on Feb. 19 and will be effective for the rest of the year.

Accordingly, a shipment of North Korean coal worth around $1 million was rejected at Wenzhou port on China's eastern coast, as reported by the South Korean news agency. The act comes amidst international concern over North's missile program. As far back as last April, China made it clear that it would follow the international community and ban North Korea coal imports with regards to the missile program of Pyongyang. However, despite the restrictions, North Korea as recently as last year was still China's fourth biggest supplier of coal.

This is by far the clearest symbol that there's normalization in process after Trump's debut as President of United States and is a clear indication of a thaw between China and United States.

What however is indicative is the olive branch being held out by China to Trump. Readers remember that one of the primary issues during Trump's campaign was his argument that China hasn't helped the United States in dealing with North Korea. That's simply not true, and China, along with Russia, has been a fundamental partner in negotiations with North Korea.

Donald Trump and the U.S. administration have repeatedly said that "China has total control" over North Korea. It's therefore a U.S. policy position that China should take the initiative in finding a solution to the periodic bouts of crisis that plagues this region. China, on the other hand, has repeatedly talked about its opposition to THAAD missile defense shield in South Korea, which they claim exacerbates the security situation in the peninsula.

There is therefore a positive chance of finding common ground. It also highlights that regardless of whether two powers are allied or antagonistic, there is always common ground to be reached when it comes to state and common national interests. If a G2 grand bargain could be reached in Asia Pacific, then that would immediately cool down the situation of the most important trade region in the world. If Donald Trump has any prudence, he won't miss this opportunity or ignore this highly symbolic action from the Chinese side.

Sumantra Maitra is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SumantraMaitra.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
You are here: Home

 Flash

A total of 56 Islamic State (IS) terrorists have been killed in northern Syria's al-Bab by Turkish forces and the U.S.-led coalition during the last 24 hours, the Turkish military said on Thursday.

The Turkish artillery have shelled 90 terrorist targets, destroying hideouts, defense positions, command control centers, weapons and vehicles, Turkish General Staff announced in a statement.

At least 14 positions, including 12 buildings, also have been destroyed by Turkish airstrikes.

Turkish military stated that it had largely established control in the residential areas of al-Bab.

The operation is part of the Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield launched in August 2016.

The Turkish army is supporting Free Syrian Army fighters in clearing al-Bab, a strategic city for IS.
 Flash

As many as 35 Syrian airstrikes targeted rebel positions in southern province of Daraa on Thursday, as part of a major offensive between Syrian forces and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, a monitor group reported.

The airstrikes were coupled with intense battles between the army forces and the Nusra Front, which recently changed its name to the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, or the Front for Conquering the Levant, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said the Syrian forces fired surface-to-surface rockets and dropped barrel bombs during the battles.

The Nusra Front last week unleashed a wide-scale offensive on government-controlled areas in Daraa, a bordering province with Jordan, aiming to capture Manshiyeh and Hamiedet al-Zaher as well as Busra square in Daraa.

The situation in Daraa was calm ahead of the attack, amid reports that there was an understanding between Russia and Jordan for halting the attacks on government areas in exchange for a halt on rebel-held areas in that province.
 Flash

Iraqi security forces on Thursday retook control of Mosul international airport after heavy clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants, a security source said.

Federal police and elite interior ministry units, known as Rapid Response, have completely liberated the airport in southern Mosul after several hours of fierce clashes with the IS militants, Lt. Gen. Raid Shakir Jawdat, the commander of the federal police forces, told Xinhua.

The troops also freed the adjacent compound of a sugar plant and its residential buildings, Jawdat said.

The battles in the perimeter and airport left 30 IS militants killed and dozens of others wounded, in addition to arresting 20 militants, including non-Iraqi Arabs and foreigners, Jawdat said.

The airport facilities and runway were badly damaged, as the extremist militants bombed all the buildings before they withdrew, he added.

Meanwhile, the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) special forces seized part of Ghazlani military base near the airport after heavy battles with the extremist militants, a security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

In the morning, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, from the Joint Operations Command, announced in a statement the start of an assault to retake control of Mosul's international airport and a military base nearby from IS militant group.

The attacks on Thursday came as Iraqi security forces advance toward the fringes of the western side of Mosul to drive out IS militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, announced on Sunday the start of an offensive to drive extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of Tigris River, which bisects the city.

Late in January, Abadi declared the liberation of the eastern side of Mosul, or the left bank of Tigris, after more than 100 days of fighting against IS militants.

However, the western side of Mosul, with its narrow streets and a population of between 750,000 and 800,000, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces.

Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
 Flash

The Islamic State (IS) group announced its withdrawal from the city of al-Bab, which has been taken by the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels on Thursday, according to pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV.

Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters take position during their advance in the city of al-Bab, some 30 kilometres from the Syrian city of Aleppo, on February 22, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The withdrawal of the IS from al-Bab, its largest stronghold in northern Syria near the Turkish borders, came after 100 days of battles against the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels fighting in an operation called the Euphrates Shield.

The IS claimed it had killed 400 Turkish soldiers and rebel fighters.

For the Turks, capturing the northern part of the city cuts the way in the face of the growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria, a red line drawn by Turkey.

The Syrian army succeeded recently to besiege al-Bab from its southern edge, a move to prevent IS fighters to withdraw toward other stronghold in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, or the northern city of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror-designated group.

Observers said the attacks on al-Bab were coordinated between the Russians and the Turks.
 Flash

China remains constant and clear in its opposition against the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) deployment in South Korea, deeming that the joint action by Washington and Seoul will jeopardize the strategic security interests of China and Russia, among other neighboring countries.

Col. Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, takes questions from media at a routine press conference on Feb. 23, 2017. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]



Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense (MOD) said on Thursday at a routine press conference that the THAAD deployment would break "regional strategic equilibrium." He said that the PLA will make necessary preparations and has the determination to safeguard the country's safety.

Recent media reports show that the United States has also been keen to sell THAAD to Taiwan, an allegation denied by the Taiwanese military. But this rumor has prompted Chinese mainland military experts to say that possible THAAD deployment in Taiwan would create the condition for the mainland's "armed unification" of China.

Col. Ren noted that the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council PRC has made an official response to this disturbance in cross-Straits relations. He reiterated that issues concerning Taiwan matter of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"We resolutely oppose any form of official communications and military contacts between China's Taiwan and the United States," he said.

The THAAD issue fundamentally reflects the U.S. intention to expand its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region so as to contain China and Russia, under the pretext of shielding South Korea from missile and nuclear threats.

The Chinese government has on many occasions expressed its hopes of solving the Korean Peninsula crisis through political measures and is actively observing the UN Resolution to sanction Pyongyang.

Col. Ren clarified rumors claiming that the PLA was sending a 1,000-man military unit to reinforce China's border with North Korea in the wake of the fatal attack on Kim Jong-nam, the elder half-brother of DPRK's supreme leader Kim Jong-um, deeming such comments as "sheer fabrications."
You are here: Home

 Flash

Malaysian police said Friday that a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man died in the country was killed by chemical weapon substance found on his body.

The man was killed by VX nerve agent, a lethal chemical weapon which was prohibited in Malaysia, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters at the airport.

He said the police were investigating how the chemicals were smuggled into Malaysia.

In a statement released earlier in the day, Khalid said a preliminary analysis by the country's Chemistry Department had identified VX nerve agent on the samples of eye mucosa and face of the man.

He said that VX is listed as a chemical weapon under Schedule 1 of Malaysia's Chemical Weapons Convention Act 2008 as well as Chemical Weapons Convention, an international arms control treaty which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their precursors.

The DPRK man died on the way from a Malaysian airport to hospital on Feb. 13.

Malaysian police identified him as Kim Chol from the DPRK.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said embassy documents showed the man was Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of the DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un, but the DPRK ambassador in Malaysia denied the dead man's identity.

Malaysian police have arrested two women who allegedly put liquid on the face of the DPRK man before he died.
 Flash

At least 30 people were killed on Friday when a suicide bombing believed to be carried out by an Islamic State (IS) fighter targeted rebel position near Syria's northern city of al-Bab, a monitor group reported.

The blast rocked the town of Susian west of al-Bab, in what was said to be a suicide bombing targeting Turkey-backed rebels, who, along with Turkish forces, captured al-Bab a day earlier after dislodging the Islamic State (IS) out of that key area near the Turkish borders.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the causalities were rebels. Other activists placed the death toll at 50.

A day earlier, the IS group announced its withdrawal from al-Bab, which has been taken by the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels on Thursday, according to pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV.

The withdrawal of the IS from al-Bab, its largest stronghold in northern Syria near the Turkish borders, came after 100 days of battles against the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels fighting in an operation called the Euphrates Shield.

The IS claimed it had killed 400 Turkish soldiers and rebel fighters.

For the Turks, capturing the northern part of the city cut the way in the face of the growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria, a red line drawn by Turkey.

The Syrian army succeeded recently to besiege al-Bab from its southern edge, a move to prevent IS fighters to withdraw toward other stronghold in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, or the northern city of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror-designated group.

Observers said the attacks on al-Bab were coordinated between the Russians and the Turks.
By ZHONG NAN in Beijing and LIU MINGTAI in Changchun | China Daily | Updated: 2017-02-24 07:19

Workers assemble subway trains at CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co in Changchun, Jilin province. WANG HAOFEI / XINHUA

Railway vehicle maker eyes big prospects in nation

CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co will supply 100 subway cars for Metro Line 2 in Mashhad, the second-biggest city in Iran in May, the company told China Daily on Thursday.

As a subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp Ltd, the country's railway vehicle and equipment maker and exporter, CRRC Changchun completed trial operations of the Mashhad metro line this month. The 100 subway cars will be formatted in five sets, said the media office of CRRC Changchun.

CRRC Changchun said that Metro Line 2 in Mashhad is just one aspect of the company's business in the country. It already started to ship subway cars to Iran in 2016 after it signed a $1.39 billion contract to supply 1,008 subway cars to Teheran, the Iranian capital, over a five-year period.

Iran plans to open 30 urban rail lines in nine cities over the next five years, with a total length of 350 kilometers. The demand for rail vehicles is expected to reach 2,000 subway cars.

The 14-km Metro Line 2 in Mashhad is scheduled to be operational in May, shuttling between the north and south of the city. There will be transfer stops between metro lines 1 and 2, expanding the city's transportation network.

Apart from the first three sets of subway cars shipped from China, the remainder will be manufactured in a joint venture formed by CRRC Changchun and a rail vehicle manufacturing company in Teheran, which was established in 2016.

The joint venture has an annual production capacity of 300 subway cars and 200 double-decker cars. It will also provide maintenance services and staff training.

According to the company, these new trains can be run at a maximum speed of 80 km per hour, with a capacity of 1,300 passengers per set.

At present, there is only one rail transit linethe 19-km Metro Line 1being operated in Mashhad.

CRRC Changchun's revenue amounted to 358 million yuan ($52 million) in Iran last year. Trainmakers from Japan, South Korea and Europe are the company's archrivals in the country.

Feng Hao, a rail transportation researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission, said: "Chinese trainmakers could find great opportunities in the surging demand in many developing countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative for improved railway infrastructure, passenger services and regional connectivity, as well as their desire to create jobs and new commercial areas".

Zheng Yiran contributed to this story.
A worker prepares a steel frame for an expressway bridge in Youxian county in Hunan province. LI AIMIN / FOR CHINA DAILY

China will prioritize and accelerate the restructuring of steel, coal and power businesses in its major State-owned enterprises to improve operational efficiency and enhance the profitability of State assets, the top State-owned assets regulator said on Wednesday.

Eager to crack hard nuts such as overcapacity, low commodity prices and financial losses, the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission will deepen the reform of SOEs from these three priority sectors via business reshuffles, reorganization and mixed ownership reforms.

Xiao Yaqing, minister of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission [Photo provided to China Daily]

In addition to steel, coal and power, other sectors, including petroleum, gas, railways, telecommunications, civil aviation and military-related industries, will also be given priority to conduct mixed ownership reforms, said Xiao Yaqing, minister of the SASAC.

Xiao said the government will invest more in optimizing management and operations to help unprofitable SOEs and reduce the number of "zombie companies" this year.

"Zombie companies" are economically inviable businesses, usually in industries with severe overcapacity, which only survive due to financing from the government and banks.

"Affected by lower coal prices and the saturated global steel market, the steel, coal and power sectors are confronted with more overcapacity problems and comparatively accommodate more 'zombie companies'. This is the fundamental reason why these three areas have to be addressed first," said Ding Rijia, a professor at the China University of Mining and Technology in Beijing.

The central government reorganized 22 central SOEs, including China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co and China Shipping Group, CNR Corp and CSR Corp, over the past three years. It also established new businesses such as AECC Commercial Aircraft Engine Co and China Tower Corp Ltd in 2016 and 2014, respectively.

So far, China has set up more than 200 funds worth more than 600 billion yuan ($87.36 billion) to support SOEs and private companies.

Chen Qingtai, former deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said the central government's reforms aim to explore new State-owned asset management models focused on the management of capital, find effective methods for a mixed ownership economy and improve corporate governance.

"SOEs with overcapacity, pollution and financial loss issues pose a major threat to China's economic structure," said Fan Hengshan, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic regulator.

Fan said the country therefore is turning to SOE mergers to create more global powerhouses and avoid cutthroat competition.

Zheng Yiran contributed to this story.
An Airbus A350-900 plane arrives at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Sichuan province. XIE MINGGANG/CHINA DAILY

Air China and Sichuan Airlines will be the first batch of mainland customers to take delivery this year of the A350a new widebody aircraft produced by Airbus Group SE, and the European group said it is bullish about the country's demand for widebody aircraft, fueled by fast-growing long-haul international routes.

Air China ordered 10 A350-900 jets, and Sichuan Airlines will get four A350 aircraft. Airbus said orders from the Asia-Pacific region account for nearly one-third of its total orders.

Last year, Airbus delivered 153 new aircraft to Chinese operators, accounting for 22 percent of its global deliveries of 688 commercial jets. The company has been delivering more than 100 jets to the China market every year for seven consecutive years, it said.

Airbus said global deliveries last year hit a record high and the company said its revenue from commercial aircraft sales rose 7 percent year-on-year.

This year, Airbus said it expects to deliver more than 700 commercial aircraft. Most of the growth in commercial aircraft is coming from Asia, according to the group's 2016 financial results released on Wednesday.

With a growth rate that is higher than the rest of the world, Airbus said it was also putting more innovation and manufacturing effort into Asia. In September, its new completion and delivery center in Tianjin of China will deliver its first A330. By 2019, the center aims to reach a stable production rate of two A330 aircraft a month.

The center, inaugurated last year, is the company's first overseas completion and delivery site for the A330. It has so far recruited more than 160 employees, nearly 60 percent of the total planned workforce.

In the first half of 2016, Chinese airlines transported 25.2 million people on international routes, jumping 27 percent year-on-year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Eric Chen, Airbus China president and CEO, said China's booming growth of international flights, especially long-haul routes, required widebody aircraft.

He said the A350 is suitable for those airlines with complete international flight networks.

Meanwhile, Airbus executives said the company planned to reduce the production of its A380 jumbo jet to 12 units a year in 2018, although the aircraft manufacturer said it was bullish on the growth potential for A380s in China in the near future and would try to win more orders.
Smaller aircraft on display at an aviation expo in Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]

Companies' moves on back of consolidation in the trillion-dollar industry

Chinese aircraft leasing firms are becoming game changers in the trillion-dollar industry as it consolidates on the back of growth in the global travel market.

In October, China-owned Avolon Holdings Limited agreed to buy the aircraft-leasing business of CIT Group for $10 billion in a deal that will create the world's third-biggest rental fleet.

Avolon, a Dublin-based lessor, is wholly owned by China's Bohai Capital Holding Co. It became a Bohai subsidiary through a $2.6 billion acquiring deal in 2015.

Meanwhile, Awas, another Ireland-based lessor that is owned by private equity firm Terra Firma, attracted the attention of Chinese bidders, including ICBC Leasing, Avic Capital and CK Hutchison Holdings, according to industry insiders quoted by the South China Morning Post.

"The aviation industry is entering a period of consolidation and if Chinese firms hope to further grow their size, then some players currently ranked between number five and 25 must be willing to sell," said Peter Carroll, a Dublin-based partner at BDO, an accountancy and advisory company.

The sector, which specializes in purchasing aircraft that are then rented out to airlines, has become hugely popular in recent decades as airlines have struggled to maintain large enough in-house fleets to keep up with demand. The numbers of leased aircraft have grown steadily, from 2 percent of the global aircraft fleet in 1980 to about 40 percent in 2014.

Within this context, Chinese aviation leasing companies have expanded ambitiously, especially in Dublin, a city that manages more than 5,000 commercial aircraft, worth in excess of $130 billion, which is half of all leased planes worldwide.

The city's low tax regime, generous capital allowances and vast network of double-taxation treaties have all contributed toward the growth of the hub.

During the past five years, the leasing arms of large Chinese banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of Communication, Bank of China, and China Development Bank, have all established European headquarters in Dublin.

Despite being newcomers, Chinese leasing companies' access to capital, thanks to their typical shareholders being large State-owned banks and insurance firms, gives them an advantage, said Duncan Batchelor, a partner at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. He said scale matters in the industry.

Brian Daly, a partner at KPMG, said Chinese companies' expansion into Dublin is linked to the fact that they are increasingly leasing aircraft to non-Chinese airlines, a trend that started in the last six-seven years.

The demand for leased aircraft is likely to grow. According to estimates from Boeing, airlines in Asia will be flying more than 16,000 planes within 20 years, almost three times the current number.

But there are risks. Protectionism tendencies exhibited by the new US government and Brexit could potentially impact air travel, reducing demand for aircraft.
ISTANBUL - China Sunergy Co Ltd (CSUN), a leading manufacturer of solar cells and modules, has been sharing its experience and business model with Turkey to help the country better tap solar power in its renewable energy development.

CSUN, the largest producer of photovoltaics in Turkey, has two workshops running and employs more than 500 local workers, said Sun Zheng, project development manager of CSUN Turkey.

CSUN Turkey, also known as CSUN Eurasia Energy Systems Industry and Trade Inc, is headquartered in Tuzla, a town about 50 minutes' drive from Istanbul.

Turkey started efforts to generate power with solar energy in 2011, and its photovoltaic capacity now stands at 1 gigawatt, according to Sun.

He expressed the hope that Turkey will take better advantage of its abundant natural light in the future.

The two workshops, in Tuzla, produce some 5,200 pieces of solar modules per day for CSUN Turkey, which exports about 80 percent of its products to European and US markets, Sun said.

In addition to Turkey, CSUN has also set up workshops in South Korea and Vietnam and is opening one in the US state of California.
Workers load steel products at a logistics park in Yichang, Hubei province. [Photo/China Daily]

BEIJING - China's steel exports fell 23.2 percent year on year to 7.42 million tons in January as the number of trade barriers rose, official data showed Thursday.

The plunge in January extended the 26.8-percent decline seen in December 2016, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

Rising trade protectionism amid a global glut has weighed on China's steel exports, which dropped 3.5 percent to 108.4 million tons last year.

In 2016, there were 48 trade cases filed by 20 countries and regions against China's steel products, a 29.7 percent rise from the previous year, according to Lange Steel Information Research Center.

China, the world's largest steel producer and consumer, has repeatedly stated that the root cause of the global steel sector's woes is a sluggish world economy and shrinking demand, and it is a global challenge that needs to be tackled through shared efforts.

The central government has been trying to reduce excessive and outdated production capacity in the steel sector, reducing its steel output by at least 45 million tons last year, meeting its annual target.

In January, China imported 1.09 million tons of steel, up 17.7 percent year on year, according to the GAC.
Visitors take photos along a highway in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, July 26, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Xinjiang Bureau of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) is preparing a list of its public-private-partnership projects (PPP) with local governments in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The region has set up more than 800 PPP projects, which are expected to involve a total investment of 444.7 billion yuan ($64.7 billion), and most of them are related with infrastructure construction, said Wang Junshou, director of Xinjiang Bureau of the CBRC, on Thursday.

A publicprivate-partnership is a cooperative model between governments and private sectors.

Xinjiang plans to invest 1.5 trillion yuan in fixed assets in 2017, up 50 percent year-on-year, to promote local infrastructures including highways, railways, airports, water resources, energies and communications, according to Xinjiang government work report.

"The ultimate goal of the PPP projects is to shore up weak spots that Xinjiang have met during its development," said Wang.

He added that although Xinjiang has a 5,700-kilometer border, it only has several low-level highways and lack of infrastructure is currently Xinjiang's weakest link.

"With investment from both the government and financial institutions, PPP projects will strengthen infrastructure construction of Xinjiang and help the region become an important transport corridor," Wang said.
A worker at the construction site of a flyover in Hami, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. CAI ZENGLE / FOR CHINA DAILY

East China's Shandong province has invested more than 5 trillion yuan ($728.63 billion) in fixed asset last year, ranking first among Chinese provinces, China Business News reported citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

In 2016, Shandong's fixed-asset investment rose 10.5 percent to 5.23 trillion yuan, becoming the only province whose investment volume exceeded the 5 trillion yuan mark.

Among them, fixed-asset investment in the industrial sector accounted for 50 percent. According to data from the Shandong Provincial Bureau of Statistics, the province's industrial investment reached 2.63 trillion yuan in 2016, up 13.6 percent from a year earlier.

East China's Jiangsu province, with a fixed-asset investment of 4.94 trillion yuan, ranked second, followed by Henan province (3.98 trillion yuan) and Guangdong province (3.29 trillion yuan).

In terms of growth rate, China's fixed-asset investment grew 8.1 percent in 2016, down from 10 percent in 2015 and 15.7 percent in 2014, official data showed.

China's fixed-asset investment growth showed imbalance last year with the underdeveloped western region posting higher growth rate than the well-developed eastern regions, the newspaper said.

A total of 19 provincial regions posted their fixed-asset growth rates well above 10 percent, with the central and western regions leading the growth. The top three were Tibet autonomous region, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces.

Fixed-asset investment includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.

Some provinces previously unveiled their investment plans for the new year. Both eastern provinces and central and western regions have put infrastructure investment, especially in the transportation sector, in an important position.
Carlos Ghosn, outgoing president and chief executive officer of Nissan Motor Co [Photo / Agencies]

Carlos Ghosn has handed over the day-to-day running of Nissan Motor Co to Hiroto Saikawa, who will take the mantle of president and chief executive officer while his long-time boss focuses on revamping struggling affiliate Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

Ghosn, 62, will remain chairman of Nissan, a title he also holds at alliance partners Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors. He will stay as CEO of Renault as the transformation of the French carmaker isn't finished, he said in an interview, with the current midterm plan ending in 2018. Saikawa will take charge at the Japanese company on April 1.

"There's a point in time where you have to be realistic about how much things you do and you can do well. This is the trigger," Ghosn said at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. "There's a moment when you have to pass the baton to someone else. I've always said I would love to have a Japanese to be my successor and Saikawa-san is somebody I have been grooming for many years."

The elevation of Saikawa, 63, a lifelong Nissan employee who joined the automaker from Tokyo University in 1977, takes place as Ghosn steps away from the day-to-day operations to devote more time to managing an alliance that sold just shy of 10 million vehicles last year, ranking it behind General Motors Co among the world's biggest carmakers. Nissan bought a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors in the wake of a fuel-rating cheating scandal.

Native leadership

"It's really been one man holding the alliance together, so what happens when that one man is no longer there?" said Maryann Keller, an independent auto analyst in Stamford, Connecticut. "For the alliance to continue post-Carlos Ghosn, there's got to be strong Japanese leadership inside Nissan that believes there's an advantage in making it happen."

The automotive world is also more tumultuous than it was when Ghosn arrived at Nissan more than two decades ago, Keller said. Ghosn's former top lieutenant at the alliance, Carlos Tavares, is now spearheading efforts by Peugeot SA to buy the Opel unit of General Motors, she said, citing one example. Serious competitive threats are sprouting daily as self-driving, connected cars and electrified powertrains proliferate.

"It's appropriate for Ghosn to step away from running the business day-to-day, and to devote all his time to thinking about the cosmic issues confronting the business," Keller said. "It's a different game today," she said. "You can't play it the same you played it in 1995."

Nissan turnaround

Ghosn, credited with turning around Nissan after taking over as chief operating officer in 1999, will look to do the same at Mitsubishi Motors. The executive had restored Nissan to profitability by breaking up its so-called keiretsu network of suppliers, shutting plants and leveraging the alliance with Renault, earning himself the nickname "Le Cost Killer".

Among the first results of cooperation between the three companies, Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors will share a common platform for a budget electric vehicle in China, which will allow the three companies to "capture the EV boom" there, Ghosn said.

For Saikawa, the promotion to CEO marks the apex of a 40-year career with Nissan that has seen him hold various senior management positions, including being chief of Nissan's businesses in the Americas and Europe, as well as executive vice-president of purchasing. Between April 2013 and October 2016, he was Nissan's chief competitive officer overseeing global purchasing, manufacturing, supply chain management, research and customer satisfaction.

Saikawa's background

"Carlos Ghosn changed Nissan, especially reorganizing procurementit is a very important thing," which makes Saikawa a good choice to lead Nissan, Takeshi Miyao, an analyst with Tokyo-based market researcher Carnorama, said. "Saikawa-san's background is in procurement. He has a very special intelligence and skill in a matter that's very important for a carmaker."

He also served on the board of Renault, Nissan's biggest shareholder, between 2006 and 2016. During Saikawa's tenure, the alliance came under pressure from the French government, which had increased its stake in Renault without informing Ghosn.

Saikawa led Nissan's negotiations with Renault and the French government in 2015 to address an imbalance in the alliance's ownership structure, in which the more profitable Japanese partner had no voting rights for its stake in the French carmaker. A crisis was averted after the French government pledged not to interfere in Nissan's governance.

"I don't think a merger is on the table," said Ghosn, who will continue to lead the alliance. "It has been said very clearly, many times, particularly by Nissan during the discussion with the French state that there will be no merger as long as the French state remains a shareholder of Renault."

Bloomberg
The logo of Huawei is seen at a store in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Jan 19, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is reportedly testing its self-driving prototype car, as the telecom equipment and smartphone maker joins the ranks of Google Inc and Baidu Inc to gain a lead in the red-hot industry.

The move comes as China strives to promote the development of internet-connected vehicles, which are highlighted in the country's Made in China 2025 initiative.

Huawei is partnering with Tsinghua University on driverless car technologies and is now testing its prototype in a high-tech industrial park in Shanghai, according to news portal sina.com.

In the Jinqiao Manka Tech Park, the car can now automatically avoid pedestrians, bypass obstacles and maneuver itself into parking lots, sina quoted people familiar with the matter as saying.

Huawei said in a statement to China Daily on Thursday that it has no intention of manufacturing cars.

"We focus on information communication technology and advocate intensive cooperation with the automobile manufacturers. We aim to offer technological solutions to help connect cars," Huawei said.

Sina.com released a photo of Huawei's autonomous car prototype. The picture featured a computer, without car shell but with internal frames.

Tech giants, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd and Baidu, are all eyeing cars, which are widely seen as the ultimate mobile devices to connect people with their online services.

Zhang Zhiyong, founder and CEO of Wenfeng Automobile Consultancy, said Huawei's years of research in telecommunications, especially 5G, would give it a big edge.

"It is impossible to have fully autonomous vehicles without the commercial application of 5G, which is essential in enabling super fast internet speed and real-time data analysis," Zhang said.

Global consultancy Accenture Plc predicts that the Chinese market in internet-connected cars will grow to $33.8 billion in 2020, from $7.7 billion in 2016.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi (eighth from left) and representatives of BRICS countries pose on Thursday at the opening ceremony of the year's first BRICS Sherpa meeting in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Yang urged BRICS nations to work together to raise the voices of developing countries in global affairs.LI XIANG/XINHUA

China says joint efforts can tap bloc's potential

BRICS countries should make joint efforts to maintain the openness of global economies and oppose trade protectionism amid worldwide economic sluggishness, China's top diplomat said on Thursday.

This year's BRICS summit, which will be attended by leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will be held from Sept 3 to 5 in coastal Xiamen, Fujian province, State Councilor Yang Jiechi announced at the opening ceremony of this year's first BRICS Sherpa meeting, held in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

Sherpas are senior diplomats and officials in charge of coordinating affairs ahead of the BRICS summit.

With the past decade's cooperation, BRICS has become an important force to boost economic growth and improve global governance, Yang said, adding that there remains great potential for cooperation between the BRICS countries.

"The advantages of complementary resources of the five countries are yet to be developed," he said.

Yang proposed that the five nations work together to raise the voices of developing countries and emerging economies in global affairs.

Yang cited an International Monetary Fund report that said emerging markets and developing countries contributed about 80 percent to global economic growth last year.

More than 100 representatives, including diplomats and bankers, attended the Sherpa meeting, which will end on Friday. The theme of the Sherpa meeting was to deepen BRICS partnership and create a brighter future.

China holds the BRICS presidency this year. In a letter to the leaders of BRICS countries on Jan 1, President Xi Jinping predicted that they will continue to make progress on cooperation and play a bigger role in international affairs in the next decade.

"In accordance with an open, inclusive and win-win BRICS spirit, China will work with other BRICS countries to make the Xiamen summit a success and move BRICS cooperation to a new level," Xi said in the letter.

Anil Sooklal, director-general for Asia and the Middle East for South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said China has chosen a very appropriate themestrengthening BRICS partnership for a brighter futurefor this year's meeting.

This year is one of the most difficult that the world has experienced as a global community, said Sooklal, who is South Africa's Sherpa at the meeting. He cited uncertainties brought by the new US presidential administration and problems in the European Union.

"This provides a major vacuum on the global stage, and BRICS is the only coherent forumthe five countries are a powerful force for good in the world," he said, adding that BRICS is well placed to show global economic leadership.

Sergey A. Ryabkov, Russian deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, said, "It's perfectly fine that China tries to present BRICS as an association with global reach."

"BRICS is not against anyone. We have an open mind," he added.
China urges countries outside of the South China Sea region to stop stirring threats of war and tension in the region, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Ren Guoqiang, 47, who debuted as the ministry's spokesman at its first news conference of the year, said China was monitoring the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group, which entered the South China Sea on Saturday.

It was the first patrol by a US carrier in the region since US President Donald Trump took office.

"We hope the US can sincerely respect the sovereignty and security interests of countries in the region, as well as the efforts they have made toward regional peace and stability," Ren said. "We will also respect other nations' freedom of passage and flight through the region so long as they adhere to international law."

The situation in the South China Sea is becoming peaceful and stable, Ren said. "Countries outside of the region shouldn't purposefully stir threats of war or tension, but should inject positive energy into this good development."

As for China-US ties, "a healthy Sino-US military relation adheres to the basic interests of the two nations' people, as well as being beneficial for peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region and the world," he said. "It needs China and the US to jointly maintain it. We hope both sides can work together, strengthen communication, avoid misunderstandings and push forward military relations on the right track."

Liang Fang, a professor at National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, said China should "calmly observe and respond carefully" to the situation.

"The US is reinstating its military presence in the region as a bargaining chip with China," she said.

"The US will continue its Asian rebalancing effort, and China has to be ready for anything."

Teng Jianqun, a senior US studies researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said the US has to accept the fact that the balance of power is shifting in the region.

"The US flexing its muscles doesn't bring peace. It only makes the situation even more complicated, especially when China and ASEAN countries are on the verge of signing a code of conduct for the South China Sea," he said.

At Thursday's news conference, Ren also denied a media report that China had sent troops to the border area adjacent to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after the reported death of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of DPRK leader Kim Jong-un.

"The report is a complete fabrication," he said.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

License for publishing multimedia online 0108263



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
The number of lawsuits in 2016 fell by 6.7 percent year-on-year

The Supreme People's Court released data on Thursday showing that the number of conflicts between health workers and patients has fallen in recent years, pledging to further boost efforts to prevent such incidents.

The total number of civil and criminal cases that stemmed from medical disputes fell by 6.7 percent last year compared with 2015, according to the top court.

Civil courts nationwide received 21,480 cases last year in which litigants claimed compensation for medical disputes, down by 7.5 percent year-on-year. Of those cases, 6,489 were resolved through mediation, while 3,572 were withdrawn.

The data did not include figures for criminal cases.

"We've cooperated with health authorities to take measures to reduce conflicts, such as introducing stricter punishments and setting up mediation centers at hospitals, and we are starting to reap the rewards" said Ma Yan, a deputy judge at the top court's No 5 Criminal Tribunal.

"There has been a decrease in disputes, but the negative effects of individual cases is still a significant issue," Ma said, adding that courts at all levels have been ordered to severely punish crimes related to medical conflicts.

On Monday, He Zhengping of Hunan province was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve after he attempted to kill the 10-year-old son of a doctor at a township hospital over a dispute about medical fees.

"It is understandable that some patients might want to express their grievances about insufficient medical resources and ineffective treatments, but venting their anger by harming medical workers is the worst way in which to do so," said Xu Yongjun, another judge at the tribunal.

"In addition to severe punishments, solving medical disputes requires intervention by legal workers ahead of lawsuits," Xu added.

In December, a court in Qingdao, Shandong province, set up a center at a major hospital for judges to provide legal aid to patients "to mediate disputes at an early stage", Xu said.

Guo Yanhong, deputy director of medical administration at the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said mediation services have been introduced at hospitals at provincial and city levels.

In addition, 85 percent of large-scale hospitals have had police offices built in them, and more than 6,000 have installed alarm systems that are connected to the local public security network, Guo said.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn
The Beijing Commission of Commerce will continue to accelerate the integration of the commercial sector in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

Zhao Weidong, spokesman for the commission, said on Feb 17 that the authority will establish innovative supply, logistics and financing for agricultural products in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

"Logistics services in the area will be standardized," Zhao said.

According to the central government's plan for integrated development, Beijing has moved 302 markets and 51 logistics centers from the city during the past two years to focus more on the capital functions of Beijing.

Those markets and logistics centers will be settled in neighboring Hebei province.

In 2017, the commission will move another 120 markets and 38 logistics centers out of Beijing.

At the same time, the authority is encouraging local Beijing brands, such as supermarkets, convenience stores and traditional food companies, to set up branches or stores in Tianjin and Hebei.

So far, those companies from Beijing have set up 110 new stores in Tianjin and Hebei, and the number is increasing, the commission said.

The commission held several meetings among companies in the three areas in 2016, aiming to create a platform for cooperation.

Hebei announced 180 cooperative projects with a total investment of about 400 billion yuan ($58 billion) involving modern services, strategic emerging industries, high-end manufacturing and high-tech industries.

"We will break the boundary limitations, providing convenience and full services for companies to do business in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," Zhao said.

Due to the government's encouragement, about 40 Beijing companies have signed agreements to set up branches or factories in Hebei's Cangzhou Biomedical Industrial Park.

In future, medical enterprises in Beijing will focus on product research and services, while the production base will go to nearby areas outside of the capital.
Joint cooperation on environmental protection in the past three years between Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province has resulted in significantly improved air quality in the region.

China has promoted the integrated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in recent years, relocating nonessential functions from Beijing and restructuring the economy in the region, with environmental protection, traffic management and industrial upgrading being prioritized.

In the past three years, the three local governments have expanded cooperation on information sharing, including holding joint emergency meetings, as well as standards drafting, policy-making and joint financing.

Yu Jianhua, chief engineer of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, said the authorities of the three areas formed a mechanism in March 2015 to jointly cope with violations of environmental laws.

At the beginning of last year, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei unified emergency response standards for severe air pollution.

In April, the three governments unified petroleum emission standards for vehicles.

"Beijing has invested in Hebei's environmental protection, helping to cut coal use," Yu said.

According to the bureau, Beijing has invested 962 million yuan ($139 million) in an air pollution control fund in Hebei in the past two years. Tianjin contributed 800 million yuan to the fund during the same period.

The results have been significant, with the industrial province of Hebei cutting coal use by 3.2 million metric tons in the past two years.

Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have reduced coal consumption by 40.3 million tons in the past three years and cut iron production capacity by 40 million tons, which has contributed to the improved air quality.
Guo Xiaoping, the head of Linfen Red Ribbon School in Shanxi province, plays with his students.Bai Qingxia / For China Daily

Former hospital director started school to cater for infected children

Linfen Red Ribbon School in Shanxi province is the only one of its kind in China - a facility providing education to children who are living with HIV.

It began in 2004, as an informal classroom in a vacant ward of Linfen Third People's Hospital with Guo Xiaoping, a doctor and the hospital's director, at its helm.

After seeing four young inpatients infected with HIV who could not attend school while receiving treatment, he set up desks and chairs in a ward for them so that they could continue their studies. Lessons were given by doctors and nurses at the hospital.

With more HIV-infected children joining during the past 12 years, the informal classroom has expanded and developed to its current size - a 60,000-square-meter campus in the suburbs of Linfen.

It now has seven staff and 33 students, the youngest just 8 years old. Schooling is free for every student enrolled, covering food and living expenses as well as medical costs. Government funding and individual donations have kept it running.

In December 2011, the school was given approval from the local education authority to provide compulsory education. It now offers classes from the first through 12th grade.

This allowed Guo to resign from his post as hospital director in 2012 and become the school's full-time principal.

Earlier this month, he was honored for his contribution to society at China Central Television's annual "Touching China" awards.

Yet Guo, 55, does not crave fame or even recognition.

"I just want these children to be known by more people," he said.

"Because, apart from their physical pain, they have suffered more from psychological pressure caused by social stigma and discrimination."

Most of the school's students were infected with HIV through mother-to-child transmission and lost their mothers at an early age.

Luo Kun, 9, was abandoned by his HIV-carrier mother and stepfather when he was only 8 months old. They left him to live with his step-grandfather in a village in Xichong county, Sichuan province.

In 2014, word got out that Luo had HIV and 203 villagers, including his grandfather, signed a letter calling for him to be banished. The following year, he was sent to the Linfen Red Ribbon School.

Guo said Luo had some bad habits at first, which meant he was unable to get along with other children and could be traced back to the days when he was ostracized. But after two years in the school, he has become accustomed to academic life and is behaving better.

"When I first started the school, I felt a great weight of social responsibility," said Guo.

"But gradually, as I became closer to the children, my thinking became much simpler: they are my children, that is all that matters."

Many of the students regard Guo as a father figure, rushing over to give him a hug whenever they see him on the campus. He often plays games with them at break times and tries hard to remember all their birthdays.

At present, there are 16 children busy preparing for the upcoming national college entrance exam in June. Guo and his colleagues are doing their best to support them, including by inviting teachers from other schools to help tutor them.

"College will be a turning point in their lives. We hope society can be more inclusive and tolerant of them. HIV/AIDS is not scary," Guo said.

Some have criticized the school for segregating its students from society, but Guo rejects this: "Without us, these children might not have even had the chance to go to school.

"I hope, as they do, that one day, when there is no discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, there will be no need for our school to exist," he said. "But until then, I will continue my work, raising people's awareness about an inclusive environment for people with HIV/AIDS."
Yi Xuan chats with her husband, Zhang, in their dessert shop in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on June 2, 2015. Zhang quit his job of pastry chef and an annual salary of 100,000 yuan ($14,550) after meeting his wife, Yi, a former manager of a youth hostel, and together they started a dessert shop. Yi is responsible for running the shop, while her husband purchases the raw materials, and delivers pastries to customers. [Photo/VCG]
Wenchang, the location of China's fourth satellite launch center in tropical Hainan province, will be built into an international aerospace city with a focus on developing six related industries, Mayor Wang Xiaoqiao told the media during the fifth session of the Fifth Hainan People's Congress, which closes on Friday in Haikou, the provincial capital.

China Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, which is also the country's first coastal launch center, became operational last year. Located about 19 degrees north of the equator, the center is suitable for launching geosynchronous satellites, heavy satellites, large space station components and lunar and interplanetary missions.

A plan to develop the launch center into a space industry base called Hainan Wenchang International Aerospace City is being drafted, in a bid to open it up to international, commercial launches, according to Wang.

"Wenchang will focus on six related industries including heavy space equipment assembling, space science research, finance, space breeding, tourism and international training," he said.

The launch center has provided unprecedented opportunities for Wenchang to develop, according to Wang, and the city is making full use of its advantages to benefit the local economy and tourism.

"Wenchang has started to support the development of its rural areas with space technology," said an official from the city government.

"For instance, farmers in Haosheng village in Longlou town, where the launch center is located, are preparing their fields to grow vegetable and fruit varieties that were developed with help from space technology."

The small village of a dozen households, where people used to fish for a living, will serve as a demonstration site for developing space-related tourism in Hainan, the official said.
Former Guangdong vice governor stands trial for graft

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-02-24 20:01

NANNING -- Former vice governor of Guangdong Province Liu Zhigeng stood trial Friday, on charges of corruption, in the city of Nanning, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.



Prosecutors alleged that from 1993 to 2012, Liu took advantage of various official positions to help companies and individuals acquire shares and loans, among other offences.



Liu was said to have accepted bribes worth more than 98 million yuan (14.3 million U.S. dollars) either personally or through his family.



Liu made a final statement, in which he pled guilty and expressed remorse.



More than 60 people, including relatives of the accused, representatives of legislators and political advisors, journalists and members of the public, were present at the open trial.

The verdict will be announced at a later date.
Bahrain attracts high numbers of visitors - 12.2 million in 2016 alone - and these numbers are sustainable and growing, according to a white paper produced in June 2016 by the Bahrain Economic Development Board.

Boasting 33 islands, a cosmopolitan capital city, an attractive liberal lifestyle and a rich history, Bahrain's authentic, open culture has drawn regional tourists for decades and is now attracting even more international visitors.

The Kingdom hosts a wide variety of tourist attractions, including sites and monuments linked to its 4,000-year history, from the Al Khamis Mosque, dating back to 692 AD, to one of the most modern Formula One tracks in the world at the Bahrain International Circuit. Various tour services operate in the Kingdom to provide a wide variety of activities covering Bahrain's rich history and unique lifestyle experiences.

Bahrain International Airport is undergoing an impressive and extensive modernization project, and already serves 51 destinations, making the Kingdom accessible to many international and regional tourists. Bahrain's national airline, Gulf Air, flies to more than 40 destinations.

Bahrain currently hosts a number of major global luxury hotel brands, including the Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, Sofitel, ART Rotana, Marriott, Le Meridien and Westin for tourists seeking a luxury experience. More hotel brands will offer unique experiences in Bahrain including the One and Only Resort, Anantara and the Fairmont.

Reflecting increasing visitor demand, the hotels and restaurants sector has been the fastest-growing sector in the Kingdom in the past years, expanding by 10 percent in 2014 and by 6.3 percent in 2015.

Bahrain's sustainable and growing attractiveness to visitors means there is a much greater potential for investors to be involved in developing the Kingdom's tourism offerings - compared to potential demand, Bahrain currently has relatively few resort and destination hotels.

There is also potential for development of leisure activities available given the Kingdom's visitor base.

The story is provided by the Bahrain Economic Development Board.

(China Daily 02/24/2017 page24)
The Gulf country is diversifying its economy, offering Chinese companies more chances to invest in local emerging industries

Efforts to diversify the Gulf's economies are creating new opportunities for international investors, especially businesses from China, according to the Bahrain Economic Development Board.

The board is an investment promotion agency with an overall responsibility for attracting investment into Bahrain, and is focusing on targeting economic sectors in which the Kingdom offers significant strengths, including tourism, manufacturing, ICT and logistics and transport services, as well as other sub-sectors.

Bahrain is an ideal hub from which to access these opportunities, according to the EDB, and a large number of Chinese businesses are already using the Kingdom for their regional headquarters. Huawei has based its Middle East regional headquarters in Bahrain since 2004 to service the Kingdom's telecommunications market. Bahrain was also the location for the Bank of China's first Middle East office.

China is already the third-largest non-Gulf Cooperation Council market for Bahraini exports. According to the EDB, in 2014, China became Bahrain's largest source of imports for non-oil goods, with annual non-oil imports standing at more than $1 billion.

Commenting on how Bahrain and the GCC markets can support Chinese businesses, Khalid Al Rumaihi, chief executive at the Bahrain EDB, said: "Chinese businesses have been among the world's leaders in a number of fields and as they increasingly look to expand their operations internationally, the GCC offers very exciting opportunities for further growth."

Today, the six economies that make up the GCC - Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain - make up an economy currently worth around $1.5 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund. The IMF expects GCC's economy to reach $2 trillion by 2020.

There is a wide range of opportunities available in the Gulf for Chinese investors, according to Simon Galpin, managing director of the Bahrain EDB.

"The Gulf region has a young, growing, affluent and highly-educated population," He said. "This is a driving demand for goods and services, and there is a particular demand for digital products and services, an area where China has been at the forefront of global innovation in recent years."

Bahrain is investing considerably in infrastructure, according to Al Rumaihi. He says the Kingdom currently has a pipeline of infrastructure projects worth more than $32 billion, while throughout the Gulf region, the pipeline is expected to reach $2 trillion in the coming years.

The Kingdom has also recently introduced a number of regulatory reforms, designed to boost innovation and growth. These include cutting the time to export goods to Saudi Arabia via the King Fahd Causeway, reducing the minimum capital required for start-ups, further liberalizing foreign ownership regulation and laws to support the creation of limited partnerships, protected cell companies and trusts. Further reforms are also expected to include a new bankruptcy law and the creation of a regulatory sandbox by the Central Bank of Bahrain to support the development of fintech.

"Infrastructure is vital for any economic growth story. It drives growth; it has a multiplier effect on any economy," said Al Rumaihi.

In the last 10 years alone, the GCC has seen trade between member countries grow nearly tenfold, from about $15 billion 10 years ago, to about $120 billion today, according to Al Rumaihi.

"But while investment in infrastructure is vital, it is not enough on its own. We also need to focus on the ease of doing business, especially as governments are forced to adjust to a new oil price norm of between 40 and 60 dollars a barrel - to transform their economies and to think about new ways of generating revenues," Al Rumaihi said.

This change has forced transformation away from a government allocation model, in which the government is the driver of growth, to a private-led growth model, in which the government is a facilitator of growth, according to Al Rumaihi.

"I really think that in that new norm, getting the soft infrastructure right, as well as the hard infrastructure, is going to be critical," he said. "When I say soft infrastructure, I am really referring to the laws and regulations that are going to encourage investment, that are going to protect investor rights, remove the red tape and make it easier to grow."

The story is provided by the Bahrain Economic Development Board. For more information on investing in Bahrain and the Gulf, the Bahrain EDB has two dedicated offices in Beijing and Hong Kong, led by Mr Yun Jiang. He can be reached at: yun.jiang@bahrainedb.com. You can also visit: www.bahrainedb.com.

Bahrain fact box

Capital: Manama

Head of State: His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

Population: 1.3 million (approximately 50 percent expatriates)

Area: 770 square kilometers (comparable to Singapore)

Languages: Arabic, English (used as a business language) Currency: Bahraini Dinar (BD)($1= 0.38 BD)

Time zone: GMT+3

Religion: Islam (85 percent, state religion). Local Christians, Hindus, Jews and others enjoy freedom of religion

Bahrain has one of the most diversified economies in the region. Bahrain was the first Gulf state to discover oil and the first to diversify away from oil. Today oil and gas represent less than 20 percent of GDP. Other major sectors include financial services (16.4 percent), manufacturing (14.6 percent), transport and communications (7.2 percent).

The Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom 2016 lists the country as the freest economy in the Middle East and North Africa region and 18th globally. KPMG 2016 rates Bahrain as having some of the region's lowest operating costs, with cost of doing business in the financial sector 30 percent lower than Dubai and 40 percent lower than Qatar. The HSBC Expat Explorer Survey 2016 puts Bahrain ninth globally and first in the MENA region.

Bahrain is investing more than $32 billion in key infrastructure projects across a broad range of sectors in the coming years, including transport, housing, manufacturing, energy, tourism, healthcare and education.

Provided By Edb

An employee works at Aluminium Bahrain, one of the largest aluminium smelters in the world. Photos Provided To China Daily A technician operates a hoisting machine at Khalifa bin Salman Port in Bahrain.

(China Daily 02/24/2017 page24)
A white porcelain statue of Bodhisattva made in Dehua county. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The first international porcelain contest, "Chinese white", was held in Dehua county in Fujian province on Tuesday.

Porcelain made in Dehua county is famous for its shiny, snow-white color. It is as thin as paper and can produce the sound of chimes when tapped. As early as the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368), Dehua porcelain had become one of the main export commodities sent to Europe through the Maritime Silk Road.

The decision to hold the contest every other year was finalized at the first China-France Culture Forum in May 2016. It aimed to provide a platform for artists from both countries to communicate and exchange ideas in the field of porcelain arts.

About a dozen artists will arrive at Dehua on March 1 for a seven-month visit where they will create porcelain art. The outstanding works will go on show in France in September.
Chinese designer Anna Yang's creations, which are "an ode to aliens", debut during Milan's Fashion Week on Wednesday.[Photo/Xinhua]

MILAN - Aliens landed at Milan's fashion week on Wednesday with Annakiki by Chinese designer Anna Yang, who debuted in the Italian city with an out-of-this-world collection.

Chinese designers are making serious headway in Milan, which is hosting newcomers, including Chen Xuzhi, who will show in Giorgio Armani's theater later in the week, and the baby-faced Angel Chen.

Yang, born into a tailor's family, was gripped by the fashion virus at age 8 and studied in South Korea and France before establishing her own label in 2012 and exhibiting at the London and Paris fashion weeks in 2014 and 2015.

Her latest creations, Yang says, are "an ode to aliens" and inspired by a documentary on the "discovery" of extraterrestrials in New Mexico in 1947, where pieces of aluminum foil were found.

"Maybe those aluminum pieces were aliens' clothes or part of their skin?" she says in the notes for the show.

So, she re-created the ETs: models sashayed down the runway wearing metallic-coated outfits with black patent leather boots, blood-red shiny skirts or grey metallic leggings.

The 1980s shoulder pads are back but wider and higher than ever and ending in sleeves so long they trail like tentacles.

Hands not lost in the long dangling tubes are kept snug in purple fur gloves.
Chairman Mao Zedong meets then US president Richard M. Nixon at Zhongnanhai in Beijing on Feb 21, 1972. [Xinhua]

Tuesday marked the 45th anniversary of the historic trip to China by US president Richard Nixon, a trip that ended more than two decades of hostilities between the two nations and a trip that Nixon called "a week that changed the world".

As people keep speculating on how the China-US relationship might evolve under the administration of President Donald Trump, it might be useful to reflect on the wisdom, courage and vision Nixon showed back then.

In announcing his trip on national TV on July 15, 1971, Nixon said there could be no stable and enduring peace without the participation of the People's Republic of China and its 750 million people (now 1.3 billion), and that was why he had undertaken initiatives to open the door for more normal relations between the two countries.

Nixon stated that the trip was not directed against any other nation, saying "we seek friendly relations with all nations. Any nation can be our friend without being any other nation's enemy".

He said all nations would gain from a reduction of tensions and a better relationship between the United States and China. "It is in this spirit that I will undertake what I deeply hope will become a journey for peace, not just for our generation but for future generations on this Earth we share together," he said.

While some thought that the trip would help settle all the issues that existed between the two countries, Nixon was not naive. In a talk with Dutch prime minister Barend Biesheuvel on Jan 26, 1972, he noted that the visit meant that the US and China would begin a process of getting to know each other.

He was well aware of the great gulf between the two countries in ideologies and even interests but he believed the two nuclear powers needed to find ways to talk and get along.

Nixon believed the contact would help reduce the chance of a confrontation between the two countries in the immediate future, such as the one they had on the Korean Peninsula and the one they had indirectly in Vietnam.

And as if knowing that China would rise on the world stage just a few decades later, Nixon said when China becomes a superpower and a nuclear superpower, having that kind of relationship meant it was not inevitable there would be a clash.

In a talk with US senators Allen Ellender and Michael Mansfield on Feb 29, 1972, immediately after his trip to China, Nixon pointed out that it was not shared beliefs that brought China and US together, but their common interests and common hopes.

Given his long anti-communist credentials, Nixon's move was politically incorrect at the time for many right-wing conservatives in the US. Nevertheless, he displayed courage in doing the right thing, even though it was not a popular move for many.

There is no doubt that the normalization of the relations started by Chinese leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai and Nixon all those years ago has helped ensure peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and the world since.

Compared with the Nixon years, the common interests and challenges that require close cooperation between China and the US, the world's two largest economies, have grown dramatically.

They include everything from global economic growth, to counter-terrorism, climate change, epidemics and cybersecurity. The list goes on, not to mention a probably longer list in the ever more interdependent bilateral relationship.

Despite the wishful thinking of some, Chinese and Americans are not going to be the same, but they are much closer thanks to a relationship started by Chinese and US leaders 45 years ago.

Indeed, many of Nixon's words still sound quite relevant for addressing bilateral, regional and global issues today.

The author is deputy editor of China Daily USA. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com
Zhao Yuanbing, a nurse at a mental hospital in Anshan city of Northeast China's Liaoning province, communicates with a new patient, May 9. [Photo/CFP]

Incidents of mentally ill people attacking others have increased. A few days ago, an aggressive customer allegedly beheaded a noodle shop owner following an argument over the price of a bowl of noodle in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. And the tragic incident has once again raised public concern over how to cope with people with mental health problems.

Some countries have a mandatory screening system to segregate patients with mental health problems so that they do not harm other people or damage their properties. Other countries follow the principle of voluntary treatment, respect the individual wish of the mentally ill, and prevent other individuals and organizations from illegally curbing their freedom through identification or psychiatric treatment.

The Mental Health Law of China is based on the principle of voluntary treatment of people with mental illness, which means if the patients do not consider themselves mentally ill, they cannot be forced to receive treatment in any medical institution. Unless mentally ill patients' actions harm other people or public interest, public security organs or social organizations cannot send them to the hospital for treatment.

This provision is aimed at maximizing the protection of citizens' basic rights. But abiding by the principle of voluntary care alone to cope with mentally ill patients could raise social risks.

As some experts say, if some patients with mental health problems are not effectively controlled, they could turn violent anytime and hurt other people. Therefore, we should review our decision to strictly follow the principle of voluntary treatment of mentally ill patients. Since some psychiatrists cannot discern such patients' behaviors, and the patients are incapacitated or restricted in their ability to distinguish their behavioral decisions, a fully voluntary principle for their treatment is a logical contradiction.

But forcing such patients to receive treatment or segregating them from society would be tantamount to curbing their personal rights as citizens. It's another matter, though, that the voluntary principle has not helped fully eliminate the hidden dangers posed by the mentally ill.

Actually, some forms of psychoses are "social disorders". And many mental illnesses stem from the community and the family, so creating a healthy social environment will not only help to reduce the number of mentally ill patients, but also to eliminate the risk factors associated with them. If the necessary measures are taken to create a good social environment for such patients, the chances of sudden onset of mental illness will be greatly reduced, which is more important for public safety, maintaining social order, and even for the protection of mentally ill patients' rights and interests.

By treating the mentally ill with utmost care, we can help build a harmonious society. Since we cannot admit all the mentally ill people to the hospital or use coercive measures to identify them, we should give them the respect, care and medical attention they deserve, in order to prevent them from turning violent and harming others. Of course, for those who show obvious traits of mental illness, the public security officials, with the help of the patients' families and community residents, should identify them and send them to the hospital for the needed treatment.

There is no need to exaggerate the social harm caused by mentally ill people. Nor is it wise to cite an isolated case of violence to maintain a high degree of vigilance against mentally ill patients.

We should also be cautious not to identify all people who behave abnormally as mentally ill patients. Only by analyzing patients' cases in depth, having a tolerant attitude toward them, and building an inclusive environment can we prevent them from harming others. It is important to let people with mental health problems know they have a place in society, as mental illness is a disease, not a crime.

The author is a professor of law at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.
Wang Duo/China Daily

The procuratorate of Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, recently filed a lawsuit in the city's intermediate people's court demanding compensation from the authorities of Yangpu district, Shanghai, for dumping the district's household garbage in Wuxi.

This is the first environmental public interest lawsuit in the country filed by a judicial department in one administrative region against a government department of another region.

In recent years, there have been few lawsuits involving cross-regional garbage dumping in China because the country's environmental protection law sets numerous requirements for the eligibility of such kind of lawsuits.

Despite the implementation of a regulation allowing procuratorial organs to file such cases on a trial basis, unblocked channels for other social organizations to do the same have not been established. That two nongovernmental environmental protection groups recently lost a soil pollution case jointly filed against three factories in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, and were ordered to pay an enormous amount of legal fees has drawn extensive public concern.

Their losing of the case has presented a worrying situation to the country's NGOs in their efforts to file public interest lawsuits. In this context, the public naturally has higher expectations that an environmental lawsuit brought by a procuratorate will be successful.

Statistics show that since the experimental implementation of the practice allowing procuratorial organs in some regions to file lawsuits in the public interest, such kind of lawsuits have drastically increased. This is a welcome development to protect the public interest.

The legal case filed by the Wuxi procuratorate is now in the public spotlight and the verdict will be a touchstone for whether cross-regional public interest litigation will be an effective way to strengthen environmental protection in the context of China's new round of judicial reforms aimed at promoting judicial justice.

--Southern Metropolis Daily
Children of She ethnic group sit in front of a monument that reads "China's No. 1 Poverty Relief Village" at Chixi Village, Panxi town, Fuding city in East China's Fujian province, Feb 14, 2016. The village has shaken off poverty thanks to assistance from Party and government officials at all levels over the past 30 years. [Photo/Xinhua]

China is in a critical stage as it strives to eradicate extreme poverty by 2020, as part of the central government's goal to build an all-round well-off society in which no one is left behind.

China has made remarkable progress in this respect. Over the past three decades, it has lifted nearly 700 million people out of poverty, or three-quarters of the world's total.

But as Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, pointed out during a meeting on poverty alleviation work on Tuesday, it is now "a daunting task", one that is becoming more and more difficult as it nears the end.

Although a further 10 million people were lifted out of poverty last year, there are still more than 60 million living below the official poverty line.

However, the ways that proved effective in lifting people out of poverty in the past, such as focusing on local economic growth with massive policy and capital support, are now no longer efficacious.

Thus a new way of thinking is imperative because the one-size-fits-all method has ceased to work. That is why Xi reaffirmed the importance of implementing precise actions in the battle against poverty during Tuesday's meeting.

The idea, initiated by Xi himself, aims to make sure that targeted anti-poverty projects, capital and other resources that are suited to the local situation directly benefit those who are really in need, with verifiable results.

To this end, some people living in remote impoverished regions will be relocated, health and education policies will be implemented to help poor families that suffer major or chronic diseases, or have difficulties in providing schooling for their children, and there will be greater fiscal support.

Yet grassroots corruption could compromise such best-intentioned efforts if it goes unchecked. According to the CPC's disciplinary watchdog, violations often include appropriation and embezzlement of anti-poverty funds through cheating or fabrication of the beneficiaries. Half of the nearly 400 corruption cases related to poverty alleviation exposed last year involved less than 100,000 yuan ($14,535) each, yet the destructive effect of such corruption should not be underestimated.

The highest assessment standards should also be applied to evaluate the success of poverty relief work in a bid to determine how useful they are and prevent any fraudulent practices.

Fighting poverty is the fundamental task on the path to building an all-round moderately prosperous society. To achieve that goal, the "solemn promise" to ensure that the rural poor shake off poverty as planned has to be honored by tackling the task with renewed vigor and resolve.
Nobel laureate C.N.Yang (left) and Turing Award winner Yao Qizhi. [File photo]

ON SATURDAY, the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that Chen Ning Yang, winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize for Physics, and Yao Qizhi, recipient of the 2000 Turing Award, have been admitted as academicians as they have renounced their US citizenships and are now Chinese citizens. China Youth Daily comments:

In China, being honored with the title of an academician brings with it economic interests as well as academic privileges, as the holders will receive many invitations to host research programs.

Actually, some academicians have been invited to host so many programs that they can hardly invest any energy in each of them. Many research institutions know this, but they still keep inviting academicians because there is a blind worship of them among domestic scholars, even residents.

That blind worship has squeezed the resources available for young scholars. Many young scholars are rather creative and have many fresh ideas, but they do not have honorary titles so they cannot get sufficient resources for their research. When they are senior enough to get the resources, they have already passed the golden era in their academic career.

We hope the ongoing reform of the education sector can change this. Those who have made major academic contributions deserve honorary titles and due respect, but that does not mean they should be given the majority of academic resources.

The blind worship of academicians must be abolished, so that young, creative scholars can get sufficient support to achieve academic breakthroughs.
At the 53rd Munich Security Conference (MSC), a major global forum for the discussion of security policy, Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi gave a keynote speech about adhering to the concept of cooperation and making the right choice. During his speech, Wang talked about the importance of strengthening cooperation between major powers; particularly China and the US, saying that bilateral relations between the two countries are one of the most important in the world. Given that importance, the US should do all it can to work with China as a partner on the world stage to build a new model of relations.

It is in the interest of the US to embrace a new model of major country relations, and abandon the old model that places fear and competition over trust and cooperation. At a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bonn, Germany, shortly before Wang Yis speech at MSC, Wang and his US counterpart Rex Tillerson met on the sidelines, and they both agreed that bilateral relations should be strengthened. At both meetings, China signaled its readiness to work with the new administration on moving the bilateral relationship forward in a new direction that features no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation. There is no strong evidence to support the assumption made by some scholars that the new model is a trap. The new model proposal is a reasonable solution to a difficult problem in international relations.

The Trump Administration should reject the argument that Chinas vision for a new model of relations is merely a power play intended to gain position on the international stage. The concept is a rational starting point for major powers including China and the US to build a peaceful and stable world order. In March 2014, Former US President Barack Obama recognized the potential of the concept for future peace and prosperity. President Xi and I are both committed to continuing to strengthen and build a new model of relations between our countries, Obama said. Today, the China-US relationship is at a crossroads, and the Trump Administration must choose between cooperation and competition. It is in Americas national interest to move the bilateral relationship forward in a promising direction by fully embracing the concept of a new model of major power relations.

Security should be inclusive, not exclusive. Fu Ying, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Peoples Congress, stressed at a sub-forum of the MSC that tension in the Asia-Pacific has been rising over the years in part because there is concern on the US side that China is competing with it for leadership in the region. In fact, the US just recently deployed an aircraft carrier strike group to the South China Sea for routine patrols. At the heart of the debate is the question of exclusive or inclusive security, Fu said. For the US, military alliances are the linchpin of security and stability in the region. However, this old-model approach fails to take into consideration the security of all regional partners by making the US and its allies secure at the cost of non-allies. When everybody feels secure, then there is security, Fu said.

There is a powerful assumption in international relations that a rising power and an existing power are in some manner destined for conflict, and there are historical cases that support this claim. But it is wrong and dangerous to assume that relations between major countries are based on some immutable law of physics. To avoid the Thucydides Trap and advance the national interest, the US will need to fully embrace the concept of a new model of major country relations, which places cooperation over competition and is the right choice.
Third-party commentators filling void, underscoring opportunity for proactive engagement by Chinese buyers

Defying tougher scrutiny and increased protectionist rhetoric across North America, Europe and Australia, 2016 was yet another record year for outbound mergers and acquisitions by Chinese companies. Despite the large numbers of Chinese investors looking beyond their own borders for growth, most of this activity has as yet failed to translate into an improved reputation on the international stage.

While several factors may be at work here, one could be their reluctance to engage with media more proactively. A study conducted by Asia-based strategic consultancy Ryan Communication shows that across several significant transactions in the technology sector between 2014 and 2016, only 28 percent of all quotes in media articles were provided by Chinese buyers. However, taken at face value this number considerably overstates the true extent of Chinese buyers representation in international M&A press reports ,since out of these quotes 83 percent came from a single company, Lenovo, during its acquisition of Motorola in 2014.

Moreover, very few companies chose a proactive way of engaging in media activity. Lenovo aside, no other Chinese company in the study engaged directly with the media through on-the-record interviews or email during the acquisition period. Instead, third-party commentators such as sell-side analysts are filling the void, contributing 45 percent of public comment in all news articles.

At a time when Chinas authorities are introducing more stringent capital control mechanisms and as new trade barriers are set to rise under the Trump administration, keeping a low profile may prove to be a missed opportunity to improve the environment for Chinese companies abroad.
China-UK electric vehicle collaboration is pushing forward new technology as the market grows rapidly and benefits from international commitments to reduce carbon emissions.

A BYD bus is driven down a rain-soaked London street. REUTERS/NEIL HALL



Last week, UK-based ELG Carbon Fiber and Chinese firm Adesso Advanced Materials Wuhu signed an agreement to jointly develop lightweight composite components that could be used to improve electric vehicle technology. It is the latest in a raft of such bilateral research agreements. The University of Nottingham is working with Chinese automotive company FAW Group on thermal management and improving thermal efficiency for electric and hybrid vehicles. The university also established a laboratory in Ningbo, China, to develop more efficient motors for electric and hybrid cars.

"The electric vehicle is the way for the future, and the UK and China are perfectly suited to work with each other," said Li Kang, a professor of intelligent systems and control at Queen's University Belfast.

Li said the UK leads on idea generation and China has the funding and market access to commercialize pioneering cutting-edge technology, meaning the partners complement each other very well.

In 2013, Li's team at Queen's University Belfast joined Cranfield University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and China's State Grid Electric Power Research Institute to establish electric vehicle research collaboration that focuses on improving electric vehicle battery efficiency, electric vehicle charging equipment, and developing wireless charging technology. The results of the research will be implemented in an electric vehicle project in China that will be used during the 2022 Winter Olympics.

China became the world's large electric vehicle market in 2015. In the first eight months of 2016, its market experienced the largest growth globally, with sales hitting 206,000 units during the period, up 160 percent on 2015.

Laboratory-based research breakthroughs can translate into major upgrades in electric and hybrid vehicle efficiency and cost-reduction for automotive firms, analysts say.

For example, current engine technology in hybrid vehicles can only turn less than 30 percent of fossil fuel energy consumed by the engine into useful energy that moves the vehicle. Research is exploring ways to recover some of the energy not being harnessed, said Yan Yuying, who leads the University of Nottingham's collaboration with FAW.

"Chinese companies are realizing and embracing the value of R&D collaboration with leading research universities, compared to the practice of buying technology from Western firms that they've traditionally commonly practiced," Yan said.

With advances in technology highly prized, many Chinese electric automotive firms have recently championed an internationalization strategy, with BYD the most successful example. BYD now supplies London's largest fleet of electric buses.

But challenges remain. The reputational challenge for Chinese automotive firms in international markets is bigger when it comes to electric cars, which are more expensive, said Felipe Munoz, global automotive analyst at JATO, a UK-based automotive research company.
Filephoto of Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. [Photo/VCG]

WASHINGTON -- Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, US President Donald Trump's pick for Ambassador to China, said on Thursday that he would work to ensure the continued growth of US agricultural exports to China when he begins his new job, particularly reopening the Chinese market for American beef.

"The US-China relationship offers many opportunities to continue to grow agricultural exports" to China, Branstad said at the US Department of Agriculture's annual Agricultural Outlook Forum. "I look forward to being an advocate for all agricultural exports in this new role."

US agricultural exports to China have grown more than 200 percent over the past decade and China was the United States' second-largest international market in 2015, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

China has already imported more US soybeans than all the rest of the world combined, and the world's second-largest economy has become a major importer of American pork as well, the governor said, noting that "multi-billion dollar soybean contracts between the United States and China have become a commonplace" .

In terms of his priorities as US Ambassador to China, Branstad said he hoped China to reopen the market for American beef "soon". China halted beef imports from the United States in 2003 to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.

"Mad cow disease is long since gone in this country, and there is no reason why the Chinese should continue to restrict American beef," he said. "I want to serve it in the embassy, and I certainly want to do what I can to try to convince the Chinese leadership to do that sooner rather than later."
The logo for Olympics 2024 bid is seen at a promotional spot on the bank of the Danube with the Hungarian Parliament in the background in Budapest, Hungary on Feb 23, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

BUDAPEST --- The Hungarian government announced a decision Wednesday evening on a proposal to withdraw the candidacy from the 2024 Olympic Games in Budapest, addressed to both the Budapest City Hall and the National Olympic Committee, according to the Hungarian news agency MTI.

"The Olympic Games are a national cause for Budapest and Hungary. According to our experience, unity is necessary to represent national causes. This unity between the leaders of the country and the parties was real at the time of the presentation of the bid, reflected in the decisions of the Budapest City Hall by a majority of 92%, and of the Parliament by a majority of 80%," the resolution of the government said.

This unity has been disintegrated in the last months, for which the opposition parties are to blame, according to the Hungarian government. The national cause of the Olympic Games became a political party affair, for which the opposition parties are liable, who turned their backs on the former decision, the government added.

As the necessary unity in Budapest has been lost, the bid of Budapest lost all of its chances,the government said.

"In such a context, the only responsible decision is that if the city of Budapest and the National Olympic Committee do not maintain their bid. That is why the government of Hungary proposes to withdraw the candidacy from the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games in Budapest, addressed to both the Budapest City Hall and the National Olympic Committee," the government said.

The Mayor of Budapest Istvan Tarlos said that the leadership of Budapest would suggest to the Budapest City Hall to revoke the Hungarian bid, in accordance with the government.

The decision was announced after a meeting between the Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Mayor of Budapest Istvan Tarlos and the President of the National Olympic Committee Zsolt Borkai on Wednesday evening.
A migrant walks on a highway in the Mexican state of Sonora, on Feb 10, 2017. US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Jan 25 to have the Department of Homeland Security begin planning, designing and building a "physical barrier" along the US-Mexico border, identify undocumented immigrants, and remove those who have criminal records. [Photo/Xinhua]

MEXICO CITY - Top US envoys on a working visit to Mexico on Thursday tried to allay fears that their government was preparing to massively deport undocumented migrants back across the border.

The reassurances came during a joint press conference by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, following their meeting with Mexico's Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Interior, Luis Videgaray and Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, in Mexico City.

"Let me be very very clear, there will be no, repeat no mass deportations. Everything we do at Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be done legally and according to human rights in the legal justice system of the United States," Kelly said.

US President Donald Trump's vow to crack down on undocumented migrants has struck fear into immigrants living in the United States, and Mexican officials are concerned that massive deportations could lead to a humanitarian crisis along the border.

Kelly said that "the focus of deportations will be on the criminal element that has made it into the United States. All of this will be done, as it always has been, in close coordination with the government of Mexico."

While there will be "no use of military force" in deportation proceedings, said Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, "we will approach this operation systematically, in a results-oriented way, in an operational way, and in a human dignity way."

Earlier, Trump had described the deportation campaign as "a military operation."

Tillerson said the two countries "reiterated our joint commitment to maintaining law and order along our shared border by stopping the potential terrorist and dismantling the transnational criminal networks moving drugs and people into the United States."

The US secretary of state said officials also discussed trade and energy ties, in addition to fighting cross-border crime, but gave no details.

"We agreed that our two countries should seize the opportunity to modernize and strengthen our trade and energy relationship," he said.

He noted crime went both ways across the border.

"Similarly we underscored the importance of stopping the illegal firearms and bulk cash that is originating in the United States and flowing into Mexico. There's no mistaking that the rule of law matters on both sides of the border," Tillerson said.

Videgaray said, "There is concern and irritation among Mexicans about what are seen as policies that could be harmful for Mexicans in Mexico and abroad," he said.

"Today we have taken a step in the right direction," the Mexican minister said, stressing the importance of cooperation.

Mexico and the United States are already at odds over Trump's plan to build a wall along their border and his attempts to pressurize Mexico into giving concessions on trade.

The US president wanted to renegotiate a two-decade-old agreement signed by Mexico, the United States and Canada, claiming it has unfairly benefited Mexico at the expense of US workers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hand with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) before their meeting at the West Lake State House on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, September 5, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

BERLIN  China for the first time became Germany's most important trading partner in 2016, overtaking the United States, which fell back to third place behind France, data showed on Friday.

German imports from and exports to China rose to 170 billion euros ($180 billion) last year, Federal Statistics Office figures reviewed by Reuters showed.

The development is likely to be welcomed by the German government, which has made it a goal to safeguard global free trade after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on imports and his top adviser on trade accused Germany of exploiting a weak euro to boost exports.

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has even suggested that the European Union should refocus its economic policy toward Asia, should the Trump administration pursue protectionism.

"Given the protectionist plans of the new US president one would expect that the trade ties between Germany and China will be further strengthened," Germany's BGA trade association said in response to the shift.

Neighoring France remained the second-most important business partner with a combined trade volume of 167 billion euros. The United States came in third with 165 billion euros.

In 2015, the United States became the top trading partner for Germany, overtaking France for the first time since 1961 thanks to an upturn in the US economy and a weaker euro.

Looking at exports alone, the United States remained the biggest client for products "Made in Germany" in 2016, importing goods from Europe's biggest economy worth some 107 billion euros.

France remained the second-most important single export destination for German goods with a sum of 101 billion euros, the data showed. Britain came in third, importing German goods worth 86 billion euros.

Britain accounted also for the biggest bi-lateral trade surplus: Exports surpassed imports from Britain by more than 50 billion euros, the figures showed.

The United States came in second with a bi-lateral trade deficit: German exports to the US surpassed imports from there by 49 billion euros.

This means that Britain and the US together accounted for roughly 40 percent of Germany's record trade surplus of 252.9 billion euros in 2016.

The figures are likely to fuel the debate about Germany's export performance, its trade surplus and global economic imbalances ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Baden-Baden mid-March.

($1 = 0.9483 euros)

Reuters
An Iraqi security forces member is pictured beside a destroyed Mosul's airport building after driving out Islamic State's militants south west Mosul, Iraq February 23, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

MOSUL -- Iraqi forces on Thursday fought heavy clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants as part of a new assault on Thursday morning to retake of Mosul international airport and a nearby military base from the hands of the extremist militants, the Iraqi military said.

The Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) special forces seized 85 percent of Ghazlani military base in the southern outskirts of the western side of Mosul after heavy battles with the extremist militants, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

The troops are still fighting to free the rest of the sprawling base, the statement said.

The troops killed many IS militants and destroyed five booby-trapped vehicles and two vehicles carrying heavy machine guns, along with defusing some 65 roadside bombs, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the federal police and elite interior ministry units, known as Rapid Response, entered Mosul international airport near Ghazlani base and managed to free more than 50 percent of the airport and the adjacent compound of a sugar plant and its residential buildings, according to the statement.

The battles in the airport resulted in the killing of many IS militants and the destruction of five booby-trapped vehicles, the statement said.

Earlier in the day, Lt. Gen. Raid Shakir Jawdat, the commander of the federal police forces, told Xinhua that the troops freed the airport after several hours of fierce clashes with the IS militants.

The airport facilities and runway were badly damaged, as the extremist militants bombed all the buildings before they withdrew, according to Jawdat.
VIENTIANE -- A delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is paying a visit to Laos from Tuesday to Friday to promote exchanges on governance experience with the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP).

During the visit, the delegation, led by Li Zhiyong, executive deputy secretary of the CPC's Work Committee of the Central Government Departments, was received by LPRP political bureau member and Chairman of the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) Central Committee Saysomphone Phomvihane, Secreatariat of the LPRP Central Committee and head of LPRP Commission for Propaganda and Training Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, as well as President of the Lao Academy of Social Sciences Soukkongseng Saingaleuth.

The Lao side positively evaluated the results of the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and highly praised the CPC's efforts to govern the party strictly.

At the meetings, the Lao side expressed their willing to further strengthen exchanges of experience in state and party governance and to consolidate and promote the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Laos and China continuously.
UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said here Thursday that he was encouraged by the fact that the Syrians came to Geneva and sat together in the same room earlier in the day to continue their peace talks.

"After six years of bloodshed, the secretary-general urges the Syrians who have accepted the invitation to be in Geneva to engage in good faith as the special envoy seeks to facilitate the process," said a statement issued here by Guterres' spokesman.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura formally kicked off a fourth round of Syria talks in Geneva on Thursday in an opening session that brought the opposition and government delegations face-to-face at UN headquarters in Geneva.

The secretary-general commended the work of his special envoy.

"He appreciates the presence of the members of the Security Council and the International Syria Support Group at today's welcoming, and underlines the importance of international unity behind the UN-led political process in the weeks and months ahead," said the statement.

"While acknowledging that progress will not be easy, the secretary-general believes strongly that only a political solution can bring peace to Syria and that all those Syrians who have committed themselves to this goal should redouble their efforts for peace," the statement added.

The last time the warring parties were convened in Geneva was in April last year. The talks were put on hold amid a humanitarian meltdown and systemic violence in the Middle East country.

Two rounds of talks also took place between the Syrian government and rebels in Kazakhstan's capital Astana last month and this month.

The Syrian conflict, which began in March 2011, have left an estimated 400,000 people dead and millions displaced.
Visitor examine Claude Monets Luncheon on the Grass at a new exhibition Monet: The Early Years at the Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco from Feb 25 through May 29. [Photo by LIA ZHU / CHINA DAILY]

Chinese tourists flocking to European museums to see Claude Monet's paintings now have a chance to learn about the formative years of the French master  in San Francisco.

Monet: The Early Years, the first major show in the US devoted to the initial phase of Monet's (18401926) career, will be on view at the Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museum from Feb 25 through May 29.

"Monet is an important and beloved artist. There are very few Monets in Chinese collections, so it is a unique opportunity to experience them in San Francisco," said Max Hollein, director and CEO of the museum, the largest public art institution in Northern California, comprising the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park and the de Young in Golden Gate Park.

The exhibition demonstrates the radical invention that marked the artist's development from 1858 to 1872, when the young painter developed his unique visual language and technique.

"It's not just another Monet show," said Esther Bell, co-curator of the exhibition.

"It's about the making of the artist that one knows as Monet. It's about the young, unbridled genius."

"It's very daring and unexpected in many ways. It's like the trajectory of the young Monet," she added.

Through more than 50 paintings on loan from some of the most important international collections  the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, the National Gallery in Washington, the Met in New York and other public and private collections worldwide  visitors can see the emergence of Monet's pre-Impressionism style and how he helped shape the movement.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for visitors to see Monet's mastery  before Impressionism," said Hollein.

He admitted that it had been difficult to arrange the loans, calling it a "major achievement". The companion exhibition, Monet: The Late Years, will come to San Francisco in 2019.

The paintings on display depict many genres  not only landscapes, but also still lifes, portraits and genre scenes. From the works, viewers can see the struggle and failure as well as early success of the artist.

The show opens with the first painting Monet ever exhibited in public, View Near Rouelles, on loan from a Japanese collection, which the artist painted in 1858 at the age of 17. The work displays an early mastery of oil painting through its brilliant handling of color.

Highlights also include two remnants from a large-scale figure painting Luncheon on the Grass (18651866), featuring his wife and a few other artists in response to a painting of the same title by Edouard Manet.

Daunted by its large size, Monet abandoned the painting, which he eventually presented as collateral to a landlord when his rent was late. By the time Monet could afford to get the painting back, the canvas had become moldy. Monet cut the canvas into several pieces, two of which survived.

"We expect a lot of international visitors, including from China," Hollein said. "We have already had many special tours from China with their own guides, and going forward we are hoping to be able to establish a group of docents with skills in the Chinese language."

Aside from the great visitorship from China, the museum is receiving a rapidly growing interest in its website. Last year, the museum saw a 125-percent increase in Chinese visitors.

"On the one hand, it comes from the excitement about San Francisco as a destination, on the other hand, the museums arrange unique and interesting exhibitions and enjoy perfect locations  in Lincoln Park and Golden Gate Park  both popular destinations for tourists," said Hollein.
Carnival revellers celebrate during "Weiberfastnacht" (Women's Carnival) in Cologne, Germany February 23, 2017, marking the start of a week of street festivals with the highlight "Rosenmontag", Rose Monday processions. [Photo/Agencies]

COLOGNE - Revellers in clown costumes and wigs kicked off six days of merriment on Thursday with Weiberfastnacht or "women's carnival", traditionally the day when women take over town halls and symbolically "castrate" men by cutting off their ties.

Carnival festivities began at precisely 11:11 a.m. in Cologne and other Catholic parts of Germany despite stormy weather and high security after an Islamist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin in December that killed 12 people.

In Mainz, police chief Achim Zahn appealed to carnival-goers to use common sense and avoid dressing up as suicide bombers with explosive belts, the German website Strand Journal reported.

Donald Trump-style wigs and masks were in high demand across Germany, where carnival activities traditionally poke fun at politicians.

Susanne Mueller, managing director of Festartikel Mueller, a Bavarian-based company that makes party costumes, told Reuters that about 30 percent of her company's wig production was dedicated to the US president's blond coiffure this year.

Reuters
TOKYO -- When Hua Yi, a journalist from Xinhua, on Thursday reached an area about five kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a radiation detector he brought with him would not stop vibrating and sounding alarms.

The machine showed the radiation level there was between 5 and 10 microsieverts per hour, which is more than 100 times that of Tokyo.

Invited by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO), Hua, along with some other foreign journalists, paid a visit to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

As the car he took approached the power plant, the radiation level rose quickly. Being 24 km away from the nuclear plant, the reading was about 0.114 microsieverts per hour, twice the amount of Tokyo, whereas being 15 km from the plant, the reading was 20 times higher.

Inside the power plant and close to one of the crippled reactors, the machine showed that the radiation level there was as high as 150 microsieverts per hour.

Dozens of workers wearing protection suits were spotted working by the No. 2 reactor, and according to a guide from TEPCO, the radiation level there was as high as 1,000 microsieverts per hour. Currently, some 6,000 staff are working in the Daiichi nuclear power plant.

A magnitude-9.0 earthquake in 2011 triggered a massive tsunami which destroyed the emergency power and then the cooling system of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and caused a serious nuclear disaster, forcing some 300,000 people to evacuate.

Almost six years later, the nuclear nightmare still continues in that part of Japan.

Inside the power plant, only the No. 2 reactor looked almost intact, while other reactors which suffered from hydrogen explosions were unrecognizable.

The operator of the crippled power plant said earlier this month that levels of radiation as high as 650 sieverts per hour were detected inside the No. 2 reactor, much to the consternation of Japan's nuclear watchdog and the local and international public.

The level was much higher than an earlier reading of 73 sieverts per hour in 2012, with the amount of radiation enough to kill a person, even after being exposed for just a brief period of time.

Even robots sent to gather information from the damaged reactor suffered malfunctions and failures, possibly due to extremely high levels of radiation.

For a long time, a number of TEPCO's gaffes and communication blunders regarding the nuclear disaster have attracted massive criticism from the public.

A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency shows that the potential damage of the Fukushima nuclear disaster to the health of the people and the environment in the area was hard to estimate due to a lack of information.

Meanwhile, messages from the Japanese government have always been "positive," stating that the nuclear disaster caused limited damage and the aftermath is being dealt with, despite some data made public by different bodies of the government being contradictory to each other.

The area around the crippled nuclear plant is like a ghost city with abandoned houses, bags of contaminated soil piled up along a railway and in the fields, weeds growing wildly and madly.

After the nuclear disaster, the government designated an area 20 km around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as a restricted area.

At a place called Narahamachi, the restriction has been lifted, and residents are allowed to go back home since Sept. 2015. However, according to Yuuichi Okamura, a manager from TEPCO, by now only 10 percent of the residents have come back home.

After the accident happened, TEPCO claimed that the reactor's core was damaged, but did not admit that the core had melted until two months later, though according to TEPCO's own standards, when 5 percent of a core is damaged, it means the core has melted.

A report from a third-party investigation committee showed that TEPCO's then-President Masataka Shimizu instructed officials not to use the specific description under alleged pressure from the Prime Minister's Office, though then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan and then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano both strongly denied it.

TEPCO's President Naomi Hirose apologized for keeping the fact from the public in June, 2016. "I would say it was a cover-up," he told a news conference. "It's extremely regrettable."

According to Yuuichi Okamura, the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors all had melted cores, and TEPCO still has no way to take out the melted nuclear fuel rods from the reactors. The over 1,500 nuclear fuel rods in No. 4 reactor have been successfully taken out and transferred to a safe place.

The Fukushima nuclear disaster ranked seven, the highest level on the international nuclear events scale, and was the most serious disaster since the former Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

Six years on, the crisis has yet to be fully brought under control, with no precise timeline for the full decommissioning of the plant, or a precise blueprint for the technological processes necessary for it to take place.

For TEPCO, the difficult tasks of dealing with the unprecedented problems such as processing contaminated water, cooling the reactors, and removing nuclear fuels, all continue to pose serious challenges.
Brazil welcomes China's proposal of boosting free trade and opposing protectionism as emerging markets make joint efforts to inject power into economic growth, said a senior Brazilian diplomat.

Ary Norton De Murat Quintella, director of the department of Central and South Asia and Oceania at Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Friday that there are trade problems that need to be addressed, and the BRICS summit is a proper forum for countries to discuss the issue.

He made the remarks while attending a meeting in Nanjing for the preparations of this year's BRICS summit, which will be held in September in Xiamen, a coastal city in East China's Fujian province. More than 100 diplomats, senior officials and bankers from BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - attended the meeting.

Mentioning that Brazil is a main exporter of agricultural products, he said Brazil is against all forms of protectionism.

"Brazil would like to see trade be more open, and to see developed countries to be more open to receiving agricultural products from developing countries," he told China Daily.

"We are discussing things such as money-laundering, counterterrorism and how to promote understanding between the five BRICS members on economic policy. So it's a very fruitful meeting," he said.

Contact the writer at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn
BRUSSELS  Alphabet Inc's Google and subsidiary Jigsaw launched on Thursday a new technology to help news organisations and online platforms identify abusive comments on their websites.

The technology, called Perspective, will review comments and score them based on how similar they are to comments people said were "toxic" or likely to make them leave a conversation.

It has been tested on the New York Times and the companies hope to extend it to other news organisations such as The Guardian and The Economist as well as websites.

"News organizations want to encourage engagement and discussion around their content, but find that sorting through millions of comments to find those that are trolling or abusive takes a lot of money, labor, and time. As a result, many sites have shut down comments altogether," Jared Cohen, President of Jigsaw, which is part of Alphabet, wrote in a blog post.

"But they tell us that isn't the solution they want. We think technology can help."

Perspective examined hundreds of thousands of comments that had been labelled as offensive by human reviewers to learn how to spot potentially abusive language.

CJ Adams, Jigsaw Product Manager, said the company was open to rolling out the technology to all platforms, including larger ones such as Facebook and Twitter where trolling can be a major headache.

The technology could in the future be expanded to trying to identify personal attacks or off-topic comments too, Cohen said.

Perspective will not decide what to do with comments it finds are potentially abusive; rather publishers will be able to flag them to their moderators or develop tools to help commenters understand the impact of what they are writing.

Cohen said a significant portion of abusive comments came from people who were "just having a bad day".

The initiative against trolls follows efforts by Google and Facebook to combat fake news stories in France, Germany and the United States after they came under fire during the US presidential vote when it became clear they had inadvertently fanned false news reports.

The debate surrounding fake news has led to calls from politicians for social networks to be held more liable for the content posted on their platforms.

The Perspective technology is still in its early stages and "far from perfect", Cohen said, adding he hoped it could be rolled out for languages other than English too.

Reuters
Assistant Village Idiot:

Consequently, the standard for avoiding mistakes is now the same for you as you have been applying to others for your whole career. When accusing Trump of making some inaccurate statement, if you get that wrong once it outweighs nine times that you got it right. And, just between you and me and the lampost, you arent close to getting it right 90% of the time just now. so in the minds of the public, you are digging yourself in deeper and deeper. Fresh examples are best. There was a lot of excitement this past weekend about Trump claiming something had gone wrong in Sweden, but there hadnt been any big incident that anyone could recognise. When I first read it, I thought What the hell is Trump talking about there? I thought the story plausible, because Trump does stuff like this. Then I saw the transcript, and without even knowing the rest of the story, I thought Unh, theres some window there. Its a little clumsy in the wording, but he could be talking about events in general in Sweden, maybe an Every Friday night You shouldnt try to slam dunk these, because they keep hitting off the rim. So when I read the full response, that Trump had watched Tucker Carlson on the news Friday with a story about the increase in rape and violence in Sweden due to immigration, it made entire sense.



The people who always believe you  the people who will believe any bad thing about Trump (and his minions  dont forget his minions) will throw up their hands, roll their eyes and say Aw come on, thats a ridiculous excuse. You got caught out, you old windbag. Dont try to bring that crap in here. Except its not ridiculous at all. Thats exactly how Trump talks, and how he thinks. Hes been talking like this for years. His claim is entirely plausible. It not only could be true, so you cant get your slam dunk, it is actually the most likely thing that happened. Because why the hell else would Sweden suddenly occur to him? The news story was in his stew, it bubbled to the top, and he spooned it.



Net result: Your pals, no change. They still dont believe Trump but even if he had some sort of definite proof they would just scowl and wait for the next time. (Well get him next time.) Trumps pals, no change. Even if you had proof theyd just shrug it off. People in the middle, that one-third of the population, most will now remember They lied about Trump again, about something really small and pointless like it was a big deal. Maybe a few will think you scored a point, but also notice that it doesnt much matter. Small potatoes. So now you need to catch him nine times, without a miss, to make up for it. Welcome to the world you made. How does it feel to be on the receiving end?



Remember the first rule of holes.
US President Donald Trump has overstated China's role in solving what he called "the national security challenge posed by North Korea" when he said Beijing could do it "very easily if they want to", Chinese analysts said on Thursday.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump said that "we're very angry" at North Korea's ballistic missile tests, and "We'll see what happens. But it's a very dangerous situation, and China can end it very quickly in my opinion."

"Historically there has never been proved that the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula could be solved as long as China wants it," Shi Yinhong, director of the Center of US Studies of Renmin University, said. "The difficulty of resolving the problem is far greater than what Trump said here."

Shi said such rhetoric on the Korean Peninsula issue is nothing new and does not fit in with the new situation on the Korean Peninsula. What the US really intended was nothing but having Beijing cut economic and other ties with Pyongyang thoroughly and perpetually, according to Shi.

But China will never do so; for even if they did, there is no guarantee that the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula would be solved, Shi said.

Over the years China has been striving toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Most recently, it announced it would phase out coal imports from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, according to Shi.

"It is unrealistic to demand China to sever economic and other ties with the DPRK," Shi said.

Wang Junsheng, a researcher of Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Trump's latest comment was a replay and an extension of his previous accusation that China has "total control" over the DPRK and is responsible for the volatile situation on the Korean Peninsula. Wang noted that this time the US president used "tremendous" instead of "total".

"It is manifest in the past few Korean nuclear crises that only Washington, not Beijing, can give Pyongyang the security guarantee it wants," Wang said.

Making China the scapegoat is not just unfair but also untrue, he said. "China is a victim of the DPRK nuclear issue. It has mobilized considerable diplomatic resources to pursue the resumption of the Six-Party Talks and implement its "dual-track" proposal that includes denuclearization and commitment to DPRK's security."
WASHINGTON  Several major US news organizations were barred from a White House press briefing on Friday by the Trump administration.

Reporters from CNN, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Politico were refused access to the briefing. Two of the barred outlets, CNN and the Times, have been a particular focus of Trump's ire.

The White House canceled Friday's on-camera briefing with press secretary Sean Spicer, and replaced it with an off-camera, invitation-only gaggle in Spicer's office. A gaggle is a more informal gathering than a press conference, in which reporters are allowed to ask questions on the record but not to make video recordings.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the White House had never planned to do a full press briefing Friday. "There is a limited amount of room in Sean's office and we wanted to do an informal gaggle," Sanders said. "No precedent here. The pool was included so that everyone could get info."

The White House action came hours after President Donald Trump railed against the media in a speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

"I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. It's fake, phony, fake," Trump said. "A few days ago, I called the fake news 'the enemy of the people,' and they are. They are the enemy of the people. Because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none."

Trump vowed the White House would do something about the coverage.

Only reporters from selected organizations, which included Breitbart News, the One America News Network and The Washington Times  all extremely conservative news organizations  were allowed to attend the briefing on Friday. Breitbart's founder, Steve Bannon, is Trump's chief strategist. The television networks NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News attended.

The Associated Press and Time magazine were also invited but declined to participate in solidarity with news organizations that were denied entry.

Representatives of the barred news organizations made clear that they believed the White House's actions were punitive.

"Apparently this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don't like," CNN said in a statement.

"Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties," said Dean Baquet, executive editor of the Times. "We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."

The White House Correspondents Association said it was "protesting strongly" against the move.

CNN, AP, REUTERS
President Xi's outlook on China-EU relations will definitely leave a mark on the history of the exchange between the two sides.[Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping met with visiting Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella and French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve in Beijing on February 22, and paid a state visit to Switzerland this January.

The frequent high-level interaction between Chinese and European leaders reflects a strong momentum of Sino-European ties.

President Xi's outlook on China-EU relations will definitely leave a mark on the history of the exchange between the two sides.

Supporting an integrated Europe

Chinese President Xi Jinping (front, L) holds a welcome ceremony for his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, Feb 22, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi said China has always supported the European integration and is willing to work with Europe for world's peace and development.

After the Brexit vote last July, President Xi said that China will continue to support an integrated Europe and wants to see EU and Britain prosperous and stable, when meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Xi reaffirmed China's stance when talking to his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella and French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve during their visits to Beijing on Feb 22.

The prosperity and stability of EU and Britain will boost China's ties with the two sides and bring benefits to China as well as multilateralism and globalization.
Loyola University Fraternity Suspended Over Alleged Hazing

By Stephen Gossett in News on Feb 23, 2017 11:50PM



Loyola University / Facebook

The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at Loyola University has been suspended, and the school is investigating after receiving "credible information" that it is engaging in hazing. It is the same fraternity chapter that was suspended at Northwestern University amid an investigation into sexual-abuse allegations.

"Hazing is directly in opposition to the mission and values of Loyola, and it will not be tolerated," Kristin Trehearne Lane, communication manager at Loyola University, told Chicagoist via email. Lane confirmed that the suspension is due to hazing allegations but did not elaborate on specific instances.

An investigation is being administered by Loyola's Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution and will progress according to the University's conduct process.

The Alpha Omega Chapter was placed on an interim suspension. "Consequently, the chapters privileges as a recognized student organization at Loyola are temporarily revoked until further notice." Lane declined to state how long the suspension would extend.

As noted by the Tribune, which broke the story, the same chapter is in trouble at Northwestern over sexual misconduct claims. On Tuesday, Feb. 7, NU posted an alert that the school was investigating a that four women who attended the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house in January were possibly given a date rape drug. Two of the students believe they were the victims of sexual assault. NU received another report that another female student was sexually assaulted after going to a fraternity house in Evanston, but the chapter of that fraternity was not disclosed.

The SAE house at Northwestern was suspended by the fraternity's national headquarters, which is based in Evanston, amid outcry from the university's student government.

A request for comment from the Associate Executive Director of Communications of Sigma Alpha Epsilon was not immediately returned.

The Beta Chi chapter of Sigma Pi at Loyola University was banned for three years in 2014 due to hazing and "bias-motivated discrimination and misconduct."
Portillo's Comes Through For Man Willing To Drop $300 For Discontinued Lemon Cake

By Stephen Gossett in Food on Feb 23, 2017 9:55PM



Flickr / User: Star Monkeybrass

One mans desperate, cost-be-damned quest to get his hands on his favorite discontinued dessert from an iconic Chicago restaurant had a warm and fuzzy happy ending on Thursday.

Ben, a 36-year-old Chicago native now living on Phoenix, posted on Reddit that he was willing to shell out a whopping $300 to anyone who could pass along the exact recipe or a faithful copy of Portillos no-longer-available lemon cake. (He sweetened the sweet-tooth pot with an extra $30 for anyone who could deliver an explanation as to why Portillos no longer made the cake.)

I've been searching for a substitute ever since. I've gone through dozens of cake and frosting recipes, Ben wrote. He even went so far as to have someone ask Dick Portillo himself about the recipe at a grand opening, but to no avail.

The thread blew up like few weve ever seen in the Chicago Reddit, with thousands up votes and more than 500 comments, with Portillos fans from all over chiming in to help or offer commiseration. A person who claimed to be a food scientist even offered his expertise.

The cakes had an emotional pull for Ben, too, since going to the Chicago-area staple was a regular family pilgrimage. "I used to go with my dad once every few weeks," he told Chicagoist.

Luckily, Ben's wish was finally granted, as a representative from Portillos chimed in on Thursday morning with the good news: the Chicago-based chain agreed to make him one of his elusive lemon cakes and offer the recipe, free of charge. Your passion for this cake is quite inspiring, wrote Portillos, rather hilariously. By the way, the reason it was kiboshed? The cake layers would slide due to the frosting, and the base couldnt maintain throughout the business day. Books closed!

For enthusiasts in a similar state of lemon longing, the cake buff even offered to share the recipe if Portillo's consented. Alas, the original concoction was a proprietary collaboration with Betty Crocker, and the restaurant didn't have the ability to do so, Marc Trevino, marketing manager of Portillo's told Chicagoist.

But Trevino promised that what they provide Ben should satisfy. "It will be almost identical to the one he had 10 years ago," Trevino said. "Just like old times." He added that Portillo's would "keep the door open" as far as bringing the cake back if demand proved robust. To that effect, Benclearly not one to back away from a challengelaunched on Thursday evening a Change.org petition to bring back the cake for good.

As for the money Ben was willing to pony up? Well, he'll still be making a $300 payoutbut he'll be giving it to one of Portillo's charity partners, he said. He was "100 percent serious" about dropping that much coin on his quest, he told us.

While this writer has never enjoyed the fabled lemon cake, and the Chicagoist staff in general is fairly agnostic on the whole about Portillos (dont @ us), as someone whos dropped amounts more than hed care to admit on rare beers and vinyl, I can absolutely sympathize. Were happy he found his beloved. And Portillos got a free brand boost. Like we said, we love a happy resolution.
(Photo : Getty Images. ) North Koreas state media blasted China for its recent coal ban import decision, accusing that its close ally was dancing on the U.S tunes and mocked its claim to be a 'big power.'

Advertisement

North Korea's state media has sharply criticised China, the only international ally of the isolated communist country, after it slapped the reclusive state with a harsh coal ban import last week that will last for the entire 2017.



Although North Korea's Korean Central News Agency did not name China directly, but made an almost obvious reference towards its only ally: "a neighbouring country, which often claims itself to be a 'friendly neighbour."



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

The agency minced no words as it blatantly accused that China's decision to ban coal import from North Korea was completely meant to appease the U.S and the decision clearly mocks its claim as a 'big power.'



"This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the U.S," the state agency mockingly said and accused further that China has "unhesitatingly taken inhumane steps" under the international community's pressure.



It termed international community's expectation that such a harsh measure would force North Koreas to step back as "utterly childish" and claimed that a meagre financial loss would not prevent the country from pursuing its nuclear missile program.



China's coal ban import last week came almost a week after Pyongyang tested fired its latest ballistic missile, which was the first missile test this year and also the first since U.S President Donald Trump assumed the office.



The decision is expected to have deep financial implications on the reclusive communist state, since coal is its most valuable export, most of which is exported to its friendly ally China. For decades, the improvised and secretive country has relied solely on coal export for sustaining its fragile economy and also apparently for funding its controversial nuclear missile program.



North Korea's latest missile test last week again brought back pressure on Beijing, after the international community including the U.S and Japan urged Beijing to do more in reining its neighbouring country's nuclear program.



Notwithstanding China's close relation with North Korea, it has been a critic of latter's controversial missile program. The contagious issue has apparently put a considerable strain on their bilateral relationship.



Advertisement

TagsNorth Korea, North korea and China, china, North Korea Coal Ban Import, North Korea Missile Program
(Photo : YouTube) China wants to build a trimaran frigate for the People's Liberation Army Navy.

Advertisement

China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will reportedly build a trimaran boat in 2018 that would serve as a frigate for the Navy and for export, You Yue, deputy director for China Shipbuilding Trading Company, said.



"We are in the development and design phase of the project... The plan form is fixed but many details remain," You said as quoted by Defense News.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

A model of the ship was exhibited by the China Shipbuilding Trading Company at the IDEX 2017 defense exposition in Abu Dhabi. According to Jane's Defense Weekly, the warship, which uses a three-hull trimaran design, bears some similarities to the USS Independence LCS-2 (littoral combat ship).







PLAN's multihull ship weighs 2,450 tons with an estimated length of 465 feet and width of 105 feet. It is powered by diesel engines equipped with a marine electric propulsion system, with a 5,000 nautical mile range at 16 knots. Its cruising speed could reach 25 knots and could sprint between 30 and 35 knots.



You, however, noted that the model does not necessarily provide the accurate replication of the current ship. A spokesperson from the company also confirmed that the figures from the model could differ from production, with speeds likely to go pass 30 knots. And the company is also reportedly considering of an all-MTU diesel-propulsion plant, driving three pumpjets, Sputnik News reported.



The model could also catered some weapons including a 76mm or 100mm range gun; a vertical launch system for surface-to-air missiles, surface-to-surface missiles in canister launchers amidships, close-in weapon system, to name a few.



But how does a trimaran ship really differ from the rest? The major distinction is that it has three hulls - one large, central one, and two rearward smaller hulls interconnected by either decks or griders. Such design could give more room to operate for more aircrafts.



The frigate design also has a two-door hanger for helicopters and vertical take-off landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), according to Popular Science. Side doors are also present to launch small boats, although no stern doors or mission bays are found below the flight deck.



While the design is still being finalized, the PLAN trimaran frigate is slated to begin production in 2018.



Advertisement

TagsChina Shipbuilding Trading Company, People's Liberation Army Navy, IDEX 2017, trimaran ship, USS LCS-2
(Photo : YouTube) A commercial airplane was forced to turn back midflight after discovering that their front cabin door was not completely closed.

Advertisement

A commercial airplane heading to the island of Bali in Indonesia from China's Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport turned back midflight on Wednesday after air crew learned that its cabin door was not completely closed, South China Morning Post reported citing the Southern Metropolis Daily.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

The Sriwijaya Air flight 1159, which took off at around 3 a.m., was forced to turn around after 90 minutes through the flight when the captain noticed a problem with the cabin doors. An airline official said that the front cabin door was incompletely closed although the cockpit's monitoring panel showed otherwise.



Some passengers were outraged for having to return to Guangzhou and demanded an explanation. Others also raised suspicions that "holes" were allegedly found on the aircraft, although these rumors were immediately brushed off by airline representatives.



"When the captain found the problem, he decided to return immediately," an airline spokesperson in Guangzhou said. The airline spent around 30 minutes conducting some tests and repairs in Guangzhou's airport before finally taking off again at 10:30 a.m. It landed safely in Bali at 2:30 p.m.



The Jakarta-based plane initially carried more than 180 passengers, but at least 20 decided not to re-board again. Airline representatives are reportedly planning to compensate the affected passengers.



According to SCMP, Sriwijaya Air has not responded to any request for comment on the incident.



Shanghaiist noted that Sriwijaya Air is listed as a Category 1 airline (the highest operational safety status) by Indonesia's Civil Aviation Authority. However, Airline Ratings only gave one out of the seven stars to rate the company's safety features in 2015, and only two stars in 2016.



Advertisement

TagsSriwijaya Air, Indonesia, Guangzhou, flight, plane safety
(Photo : IAF) Advanced Hawk trainer in service with the Indian Air Force.

Advertisement

The Indian Air Force has turned down the British Advanced Hawk trainer/attack aircraft as its new attack aircraft, a decision that appears final. Indian media earlier reported the IAF had done so.



The decision came after the Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced it will not make an acquisition request for the Advanced Hawk after allegations that Rolls-Royce Holdings plc, the world's second largest maker of aircraft engines, bribed officials of state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) between 2005 and 2009 to secure orders for engines of the British Hawk 132 advanced jet trainers.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

In November 2016, an internal MoD report established that Rolls-Royce paid bribes to secure orders for Adour Mk aero engines for the Hawk advanced jet trainer being produced by HAL under license from BAE Systems.



In January, a British court learned that Rolls-Royce allegedly used middlemen to help it secure deals in India for engine production for the Hawk trainer between 2005 and 2009. Indian law forbids the use of middlemen to secure defense deals.



"We will not make any formal request for the Advanced Hawk to HAL, and the program will be officially shelved," said a senior IAF officer not named by Indian media.



"This is because the MoD does not want (to) give additional orders for engines to tainted Rolls-Royce for the Advanced Hawk program. IAF has no intentions to place any order for the Advanced Hawk trainers."



The absence of any orders for Advanced Hawk trainers to be supplied by BAE Systems of the United Kingdom will make it difficult for the commercial agreement with HAL to proceed further. BAE Systems and HAL signed a memorandum of understanding in 2015 to fund the development and production of a combat role-capable trainer to be marketed in India and the export market.



Advanced Hawk made its public debut at Aero India 2017 in Bangalore earlier this month. It was developed over the past two years with HAL and BAE Systems pooling resources to develop a faster, more agile Hawk that can also carry smart weapons.



Faced with the indifferent attitude of both the IAF and the IN, both BAE Systems and HAL seem to have gone ahead with developing the Advanced Hawk as an inexpensive aircraft targeted at countries on the Asian mainland.



BAE said Advanced Hawk can carry 3,000 kilograms of weapons, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, laser designation pods and precision-guided munitions.



Among the innovations in Advanced Hawk are slatted wings that produce a significant increase in the plane's performance, including shorter take-offs and landings, and agility.



Hawk is a British-made, single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft first flown in 1974.



Advertisement

TagsIndian Air Force, Advanced Hawk trainer/attack aircraft, Ministry of Defense, Rolls-Royce Holdings plc, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, BAE Systems
(Photo : PLAN) PLAN Type 055 destroyer (artist's concept).

Advertisement

China plans to build only one Type 055 guided missile destroyer and this lone warship is receiving propaganda attention out of all proportion to its significance.



Admiral Li Jie with the Naval Military Academic Research Institute recently revealed more information about this lone destroyer, which is surprisingly being compared to the U.S. Navy's much superior USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), the world's most sophisticated -- and most expensive -- destroyer.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Admiral Li confirms the lone Type 055 will be a new-generation 10,000 ton-class destroyer. Currently being developed by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), the Type 055 will feature "high speed, great cruising ability, long endurance and sound global seaworthiness."



In addition to these advantages, the Type 055 destroyer will also have "outstanding stealth performance," thanks to "various stealth designs and comprehensive stealth means," claims Admiral Li. He claims the destroyer's hull has a very small radar cross section; emits low infrared radiation; emits weak small electromagnetic radiation and has low noise levels.



The Type 055 will also able to carry more than 100 missiles of various types in its vertical launching system (VLS). These missiles are anti-ship missile missiles; surface-to-air missiles; anti-submarine missiles and long-range ground-attack cruise missiles.



This mix of missiles allows the lone Type 055 destroyer to attack targets as far away as 2,000 km, indicating a massive enhancement of ground attack capability. The destroyer also mounts a single 130 mm main gun.



Short-range and medium-range aerial targets are detected by a double-band radar; an S-band Active Phased Array Radar (APAR) system and an X-band phased array radar system.



Admiral Li claims the Type 055 is "very good" at capturing and processing information. The warship can also integrate the information it receives from sources in space, air, on the water and underwater.



Admiral Li said the Type 055 will be developed and built based on the needs of aircraft carrier battle group.



"Type 055 guided-missile destroyer carries medium-long-range and medium-short range air-defense missiles, which can significantly improve its overall air defense capability. It also has a strong anti-submarine capability, so it is much more able to protect aircraft carrier battle group than the Type-052D destroyer currently in service", said Admiral Li.



"In addition to escorting aircraft carrier battle group, Type 055 destroyer is also able to head up an independent multi-purpose marine combat taskforce and carry out air-defense, anti-submarine and anti-ship missions."



Advertisement

Tagschina, Type 055 guided missile destroyer, Admiral Li Jie, Naval Military Academic Research Institute, USS Zumwalt, People's Liberation Army Navy, PLAN
Kansas Man Allegedly Shouted 'Get Out of My Country' Before Shooting 2 Indian Men, Killing 1

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Feb 24, 2017 4:23PM



Adam Purinton, mugshot

A Kansas City man was charged with first degree murder Thursday after shooting two Indian men outside of a bar, killing one of them, while allegedly shouting "get out of my country." The incident took place on Wednesday.

Adam Purinton, 51, was outside Austin's Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas, when he saw Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, both 32, and shot at them. He also shot 24-year-old Ian Grillot in the hand and chest after he attempted to defend the other men. Purinton has also been charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Kuchibhotla died from his injuries. Madasani has been released from the hospital, according to the Kansas City Star.

Grillot spoke with reporters from his hospital room Thursday, saying that he thought Purinton was out of bullets when he attempted to intervene.

"I'm very grateful that one of the gentlemen is fine. I think it is terrible what happened to his friend," he said.





Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke described the incident as "a tragic and senseless act of violence, in a Thursday press conference.

A witness told police that Purinton, who is white, yelled "get out of my country" right before he shot the men. He fled the scene but was found hours later after he reportedly entered an Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, and told the bartender that he "needed a place to hide out because he had just killed two Middle Eastern men," according to the Star. Kuchibhotla and Madasani are reportedly of Indian descent, and both worked as engineers at Garmin.

In a statement on Thursday, Garmin officials said: Were saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last nights incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved."

Purinton's bond has been set at $2 million. The FBI is investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime, according to the NYTimes. Meanwhile, India's government has decried the shooting. Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj Tweeted Friday that "I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family.
After President Trump signed a sweeping executive order on immigration and refugee resettlement, the Christian response seemed unambiguous.

Statements condemning the action came from Christian leaders and groups considered both conservative and progressive, evangelical and mainline, Catholic and Protestant  Christians who otherwise might disagree on any number of political or theological issues.

More than 500 evangelical pastors and ministry leaders from all 50 states signed a letter critical of the order, which temporarily halted the U.S. refugee resettlement program and barred entry to travelers coming from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Eight hundred mostly mainline and progressive clergy signed a petition that read in part: We pray that you remember immigrants and refugees have sacred worth in Gods eyes.

Judges have blocked the administration from enforcing parts of the presidents order, which was signed Jan. 27. But it still caps the number of refugees the U.S. will accept this year, and Trump has suggested his administration may file a new order.

A survey released last week by the Pew Research Center suggested a very different view of the presidential actions, especially among white Protestant Christians.

There was strong support among white evangelical Protestants, with more than three-quarters (76 percent) saying they approve of the policies outlined in Trumps order. Among white mainline Protestants, 50 percent approved.

Many Christians now are asking the question Helena Leffingwell of Arlington, Texas  not a pastor or ministry leader, just a regular member of Gateway Church, a nondenominational megachurch  put into words: How can we see things so differently?

Despite the protests and petitions, Leffingwell believes Trumps order is justified because, in her view, the Bible does not call on the government to care for the poor and widowed and orphaned, but rather on individual Christians. Most of her friends in the pews at Gateway seem to share that view, she said.

I dont think its virtuous for someone to take my money for a cause they think is necessary. Its for the church, the body of Christ  to do that, she said. The smaller the role of government, the better off and more free the people are.

That divide between the people in the pews and those in the pulpit and other positions of leadership isnt new, according to researchers. In the late 1960s, sociologist Jeffrey K. Hadden had noted a widening gap in beliefs about politics and theology between primarily mainline Protestant pastors and their congregations.

More recently it has been notable throughout Trumps campaign and in the first month of his presidency  and particularly on whats become known as Trumps travel ban.

And Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute, said its most acute right now in the white Protestant world.

Pew-pulpit divide

Going into the election, polls by Christian outlets such as World Magazine and LifeWay Research suggested few pastors and even fewer prominent Christian leaders supported Trump.

While Jones, who last year published the book The End of White Christian America, couldnt recall a single mainline leader who spoke out in support of Trumps candidacy, evangelical leaders were split. Jones pointed to Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, and the Rev. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church of Dallas as leaders of the charge in support of the Republican candidate, while Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and Erick Erickson, the conservative blogger behind The Resurgent, were among those prominently vowing Never Trump.

Yet exit polls indicated that 81 percent of white evangelicals voted for the Republican.

Something similar had happened in the 2012 election, too, Jones said. Evangelical leaders had organized a summit and come out in favor of former Sen. Rick Santorum for president but threw their support behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney when it was clear their followers had.

Often what you find is evangelical leaders see the parade leaving and then run to get in front of it, rather than leading people in a particular way, Jones said.

Meantime, he said, PRRIs unofficial polling suggests the white mainline vote was split.

This election year, Jones said, evangelicals in particular heard a message that resonated in Trumps campaign slogan, Make America great again.

As white Christians, particularly evangelicals, see their numbers and influence dwindling as the demographics are changing, Trump was someone who was promising to restore their power and their central place in the country, and that was a pretty strong appeal for them, he said.

The campaign also presented a narrative that the establishment wasnt representing the people, said Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College. Many rank-and-file evangelicals saw that in their leaders, he said.

I do believe many evangelical leaders are out of touch with the evangelical grass roots that, for good or for bad, is far more supportive of Trump than they are, Stetzer said.

The view from the pews

Thom Kohl has noticed that gap between the leadership in his denomination and other members of his congregation as long as he has been involved as a lay leader at Caledonia United Methodist Church, a church of fewer than 200 people in Caledonia, Mich.  about 15 years.

I certainly know the leadership is much more liberal than the masses are, he said.

Case in point, according to Kohl: The West Michigan Annual Conference had been part of a prayer vigil with several other denominations on the same night Trump held a campaign rally in nearby Grand Rapids, Mich. While organizers had said the vigil was not political, he said, It was very clearly to say, Oh, this evil guys in town, and we need to pray that he never gets in office.

Maybe that gap between pew and pulpit grows because those who may have more liberal views on politics and theology are leaving the church, leaving behind more conservative congregations, he said. Or maybe liberals are more likely to seek out a leadership position where they can work to change the things they are passionate about.

For him, Trumps policies on immigrants and refugees are just common sense, he said: There has to be some other means of figuring out how to make sure were letting the right people into the country who arent coming here for devious purposes.

Lindsay Nicholas of New Iberia, La., agrees, though she said detaining people at airports and denying entry to anyone who already has a green card or visa or has been admitted as part of the refugee program is extremely unfair and uncalled for. Her views are shaped by her faith  shes a member of Highland Baptist Church  and her upbringing in Utah  her dad always owned firearms, she said.

The Bible says Christians should go and make disciples, Nicholas said. She takes the go part seriously  maybe it would be best to support growth and development in other countries, rather than bringing citizens of those countries to the U.S., she said.

Still, she said, you wont find anybody in New Iberia protesting the way she had seen in Seattle, where she had lived for a year while her fiance finished school. And driving cross-country to Louisiana when she moved, she said, I feel like this is a lot of the country.

I havent seen any of that  not at work, not in my church, not in my community, not at all. They just get up and go to work and take care of their families, and thats it, Nicholas said.

The signature ministry of evangelical leaders

Earlier this month, about 100 students and faculty at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago rallied in support of refugees, bowing their heads in prayer and carrying signs that read Jesus was a refugee and made references to Scripture, like Act justly / Love mercy / Walk humbly / Love the refugee.

Moody certainly comes down on the conservative, evangelical side of Christianity, according to Craig Hendrickson, assistant professor of applied theology and church ministries at Moody and one of the organizers of the rally. And he noted his students are wrestling with the same tension between security and compassion others have noted.

But, Hendrickson said, there seems to be a lot of agreement the executive order is probably wrong, its not biblical, etc.

That may be because pastors and ministry leaders have gone through seminary and learned to see how culture shapes how they read and interpret Scripture  and right now Americans are living in a culture of fear, he said. It may be because pastors and ministry leaders spend much of their adult lives in a kind of theological reflection most Christians dont. After all, he said, its what the leaders are paid to do.

For leaders who have spent a lot of time reflecting on this issue, almost universally most of us recognize that this is a core central theme throughout Scripture, from the very beginning all the way through, of Gods care and concern for vulnerable people, he said.

Caring for refugees also has been the signature ministry for many evangelical pastors and ministry leaders through the National Association of Evangelicals because of World Relief, founded by the association after World War II, according to Stetzer. They have been engaged in the work for decades, and the predictions of doom and  great danger dont match their experiences.

Kim Kuzmkowski of Leesburg, Va., also has worked with refugees in her job as a social worker. She cant stop thinking about the images shes seen: images of children fleeing violence in war-torn countries such as Syria, images of children who are covered in blood because they were bombed.

Its hard for me to not feel like we need to be Jesus to them and really care for them, she said.

Kuzmkowski also always has considered herself conservative, always voted Republican  until this election. Shes become disenfranchised with the church over the ways shes seen religion and politics mix, worried the leaders of her nondenominational church, Cornerstone Chapel, have fallen into the patriotic Christianity thing.

Its a different thing to experience when your leadership has a different viewpoint, and it kind of makes you wonder, Do I want to be a part of this church community if this is the stance the leadership is taking?' she said.

But its also made me reflect on I can still be connected to my church community even if I dont agree.

Courtesy: Religion News Service

Photo: People demonstrate in solidarity with refugees in a march organized by Moody Bible Institute faculty and students that ended at the Chicago Water Tower on Feb. 4, 2017.

Photo courtesy: Craig Hendrickson

Publication date: February 24, 2017
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Feb. 21 made good on his threat to veto a bill redirecting funds from Planned Parenthood to health centers that do not perform abortions.



McAuliffe vowed to veto both H.B. 2264 and H.B. 1473, which would ban abortion after 20 weeks gestation. The former passed the House 60-33 and the Senate 20-19.



Abortion advocates applauded the veto, with NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia calling McAuliffe a brick wall against attacks on womens health.



Olivia Gans Turner, president of Virginia Society for Human Life, said the veto was no surprise given the Democratic governors record.



Planned Parenthood and the abortion lobby can depend on him to abandon the women and unborn children of the Commonwealth, Turner said. He does not care that Virginians do not want our taxes paying for abortion.



Efforts to redirect taxpayer funding from the abortion giant soared after the 2015 release of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthoods involvement in the sale of aborted baby body parts. But those efforts have had mixed success.



Last month in Texas, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks blocked a law that stripped Planned Parenthood of its $3 million in Medicaid funding. Sparks extended the injunction Tuesday while Planned Parenthood pursues its lawsuit against the new law.



The organization filed its suit in late 2015 after the state gave notice it planned to reallocate the funding.



Ohio, Wisconsin, and Tennessee, have successfully blocked funding to Planned Parenthood, but in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, judges have blocked similar laws.



Last year, the Obama administration issued a mandate through the Department of Health and Human Services that prevented states from redirecting Title X funds from Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to community health centers that do not provide abortions.



Earlier this month, the House passed a resolution to reverse that order.

Courtesy: WORLD News Service

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Publication date: February 24, 2017
The most influential missionary of the early 20th century never made it to the mission field.

Tucked away in the northwest corner of the American cemetery in Cairo lies the neglected grave of William Borden, one of the most celebrated missionaries of the 20th century Student Volunteer Movement. Heir to a family fortune, the Yale graduate instead devoted his life to Christ, pledged in service to the Muslims of China.

But at age 25 Borden died in Egypt, having contracted spinal meningitis while studying Arabic in preparation. His will distributed nearly everything to mission groups and Christian ministries, leaving him only a cement slab as a gravestone. Engraved at the bottom were words uttered in memorium, Apart from Christ, there is no explanation for such a life.

That is, if anyone could read them. A recently erected wall in the poorly tended cemetery pressed square up against his plot. This meant that the gravestone now faced the wrong direction, requiring the rare pilgrim to slither in between the wall and the grave to read the inscription. It was an ill testament for one whose death was mourned from Chicago to New York to Cairo to China.

Even stranger is the fact that what Borden is perhaps most known forthe inspirational quote that he is reputed to have written into his personal Bible, No reserves. No Retreats. No Regretshas not been found by historians or biographers.

Is the central anecdote of Bordens life a case of hagiography? That it has not been found does not mean it is not true. But as with many Christian heroes, the reality is more inspiring than any potential fiction. As the church grows in China and the gospel labors in the Muslim world, Bordens testimony is alive in the impact he made on the world.

No Reserves

Borden was born in Chicago on November ...
Even before President Donald Trump pledged to double down on policies against undocumented immigrants living in the United States, many Hispanics were already praying for protection.

Half of Latino Christians worry about themselves or someone close to them getting deported, according to Pew Research Center data provided to CT. And more than 4 in 10 have serious concerns about their place in America under Trump.

Hispanic Catholics (54%) and Protestants (47%) were more likely than the unaffiliated (38%) to say they worry a lot or some about the threat of deportation, Pews survey of Hispanic adults living in the US found. One in four Protestants worry a lot (25%), while Catholics are significantly most likely to worry a lot (37%).

The Trump administration announced Tuesday a plan to aggressively enforce current immigration laws, which is expected to result in more and quicker deportations for undocumented immigrants. Previous administrations had ...

1
As Turkey continues to crack down on dissent in the wake of a failed coup, two longtime American Christian expats are struggling to stay in the Muslim-majority nation they have long served. So far, they have fared quite differently in Turkish courts.

Last week, dozens of US lawmakers called for Turkey to release American pastor Andrew Brunson, who remains imprisoned there with limited access to his attorney and few details about the charges against him.

We respectfully ask you to consider Brunsons case and how the recent treatment of Brunson places significant strain not only on him and his family, but also on the robust bilateral relationship between the United States and Turkey, read the letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and signed by 78 members of Congress.

Brunsons wife, Norine, is praying the letter comes to the attention of President Donald Trump. After visiting her husband recently in prisonwhere they have been permitted to communicate ...

1
Four years ago, Buddy Hoffman, the founding pastor of the Grace Family of Churches, experienced a catastrophic aortic dissection. Doctors expected this to be fatal, but by Gods grace, he lived.

In October of 2016, Buddy received an epidural steroid injection to relieve pain from a ruptured, bulging disk in his back. The injection went well, but over the following three months, he experienced significant pain and health challenges.

On Thursday, January 12, Buddy gathered the staff from Graces campuses to discuss his declining health. Among his words of encouragement, he offered these thoughts:

The kingdom is bigger than any momentary pain. Distractions come and go, but the bigger issues of the heart are what we can never afford to overlook. Love well; cover one another in grace for the sake of the kingdom. Dont let a bulge in a relationship suck you away from the greater story, nor the rupture of your plans take your eye off the prize. It is a temporary pain; it is not ...

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe to Christianity Today magazine. Subscribers have full digital access to CT Pastors articles.

1
American Missionary Sentenced To 40 Years For Sexually Abusing Children In Kenya

An American missionary has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexually assaulting three girls and one boy while volunteering at a children's home in Kenya.

Matthew Lane Durham, 21, 'raped three girls  ages five, nine and 15  at least eight times', prosecutors told the court, in 'a span of just 33 days'.

During that same time period, they said, he sexually molested a 12-year-old boy twice.

A jury found Durham guilty on seven counts and judge David L Russell sentenced him to four decades behind bars, according to CNN.

Durham's attorney told the cable channel this week he plans to appeal the decision.

The region in east Africa where Durham served has been badly shaken by the incident, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum in February.

They wrote Durham's actions 'have had a chilling effect on the lives of dozens of foreign volunteers in Kenya and elsewhere who must now live under the cloud of suspicion...there is a real perception among Upendo's local Kenyan community that more paedophiles lurk among the volunteers, especially the male volunteers'.

It comes after he volunteered to care for neglected children at Upendo Children's Home in Nairobi, according to the criminal complaint.

It said Durham asked to stay in an 'overflow bunk' in the school rather than an off-site facilities with sponsor families to be in a 'better position to assist the children'.

A school caretaker noticed odd behaviour between Durham and the children, including 'lingering embraces' and 'lying beside some of the children on their beds' at night, the complaint says.

Leaders at the school confronted Durham and then held his passport, the complaint says. They returned the passport to him days later, and he flew back to Oklahoma. At the time of his arrest, Durham's attorney told CNN Durham was coerced into a confession to get his passport back.
Bishops Urge International Aid For South Sudan As Millions Starve

Church leaders in South Sudan have urged international intervention in the region as millions suffer starvation and conflict.

In a pastoral letter published yesterday from the South Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference, the bishops said: 'Our country is gripped by a humanitarian crisis  famine, insecurity and economic hardship. Our people are struggling simply to survive. While there have been poor rains in many parts of the country, there is no doubt that this famine is man-made, due to insecurity and poor economic management.

'Millions of our people are affected, with large numbers displaced from their homes and many fleeing to neighbouring countries, where they are facing appalling hardships in refugee camps.'

The church leaders urged 'immediate and unconditional concrete intervention and action before thousands of innocent lives are carried away and before it is too late'.

Bishop William Kenney of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, said: 'Having visited the country over the past few years, I commend the pastoral message from my brother bishops in South Sudan. The people of that country are suffering a brutal civil war, resulting in widespread violence, economic breakdown and famine. The world must wake up to this man-made humanitarian disaster. The violence must stop and the international community must intervene.

'Please remember the people of South Sudan in your prayers, support the famine relief and put pressure on our government to do their utmost to bring an end to the fighting.'

International aid agency CAFOD has been working increasingly in the region to offer relief to those affected.

Fergus Conmee, CAFOD's head of Africa, said: 'We will continue to support the life-saving activities of our Church partners in South Sudan and to do our utmost in responding to the enormous humanitarian challenges that have been with South Sudan since December 2013, and are worsening at this time.

'To stop this disaster, the belligerents have to listen to the bishops and come together to find a peaceful way of rebuilding a shattered country.'

South Sudan was thrown into humanitarian crisis following the outbreak of civil war in December 2013. More than 3 million have fled the violence, forced to seek refuge elsewhere. A famine has been declared in parts of the region, affecting 100,000 people. Aid agencies fear that the number affected could reach 5.5 million by July this year.

On Wednesday, the UK government pledged 200m in emergency aid to South Sudan and Somalia. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has appealed for prayer and action for the 'dire situation' in the region. Former Archbishop of Canterbury and chair of Christian Aid Rowan Williams has called the famine a 'horrific blow' and warned that 'millions more are on the edge of survival'.
AG Madigan Hosts Summit On The Spike In Hate Crimes

By aaroncynic in News on Feb 24, 2017 7:52PM



Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan appears onstage beside Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle at the Chicago Women's March in January 2017. Photo by Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist.

"We know from our own experience that the strength of our country has always been the strength of its peopleand all its people," Madigan told attendees at the event at the Thompson Center.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has recorded more than 1,000 hate incidents since Trumps election. In Chicago, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has recorded 175 in just the last two months. CAIR recorded 400 in 2016.

Muslim, Jewish, LGBTQ, immigrant and other marginalized groups have faced increased harassment in the past few months. Local college and high school campuses have been targets for racist and nazi propaganda, two Illinois Jewish community centers - one in Hyde Park and one in suburban Lake Zurich - have received bomb threats, a church in Pilsen was repeatedly vandalized with white supremacist graffiti, and a downtown synagogue had its windows smashed and was defaced with swastika stickers.

"Our community is on high alert, as you can imagine, based on these incidents," Jane Charney, director of domestic affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council, told the Tribune. "But it has also shown tremendous resilience.

We just had active-shooter training at our office, because we also realize that we have to keep our people safe, Kim Fountain, chief operating officer of Center on Halsted, told the Sun-Times. It scared a lot of our staff, but we had to do it.

The summit coincided with President Trumps decision to rescind the Obama administrations guidelines allowing transgender students to use bathrooms of their preferred gender identity. Madigan criticized the move and said in a press release her and her office were committed to defending trans students using current Illinois anti-discrimination statutes.

Schools have an obligation to provide a safe and inclusive environment for all students, including transgender students, she said. Todays actions by the federal government harm our students by creating unnecessary fear and confusion about the protections provided by Title IX.

The Attorney General also championed new legislation in Springfield proposed by Rep. Litesa Wallace which allows victims of hate crimes to file civil cases, including in instances of cyber-stalking and online harassment. HB3711 would:

Provide that independent of any criminal prosecution or the result of a criminal prosecution, any person suffering intimidation, stalking, cyberstalking, disorderly conduct, transmission of obscene messages, harassment by telephone, or harassment through electronic communications may bring a civil action for damages, injunction or other appropriate relief.

Its not just among kids anymore, Madigan said of online harassment. Its equal opportunity on the internet. Its a very high volume of the complaints we get.
Conservative Bishop Called To Step Down In Row Over ID Cards For 'Pure' Male Clergy

A campaign to block a bishop opposed to female clergy is being launched in a renewed row over women's ordination.

Rt Rev Philip North, currently Bishop of Burnley, is being promoted to the senior role of Bishop of Sheffield after his nomination was approved by Downing Street in January.

But he is facing calls to refuse the post over his role in an organisation that hands out 'identity cards' proving that male clergy have been ordained by male bishops.

Senior Oxford academic and prominent Anglican figure Martyn Percy accused North of 'fogeyish sacralised sexism' over his links to an traditionalist Church body known as The Society.

Led by a council of bishops, including North, The Society supports those who are unable, for theological reasons, to receive the sacramental ministry of women as bishops and priests, or that of male priests ordained by female bishops.

The council's secretary, Colin Podmore, has referred to the plans to hand out 'identity cards' identifying clergy who have been ordained by a male bishop who stands in a succession of bishops at whose at whose consecration a male bishop presided.

Justifying the move Podmore wrote in an article for the magazine New Directions: 'Until last year you could tell by looking who was a priest whose ministry we could receive, and who was not. But now we have male priests ordained by women bishops. We can't receive their ministry; but how can you tell who ordained whom, for example, when you're a churchwarden arranging cover in a vacancy?'

In an article to be published online today on the Modern Church website, Percy, who is Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, says he can't see how a senior bishop could be 'an ambassador for gender-based discrimination, and an advocate of inequality'.

He writes in an advance copy seen by Christian Today: 'Many clergy  male and female  are manifesting the symptoms of grief about the appointment, moving through the early stages of shock, anger and denial.

'But bargaining and acceptance are unlikely to be options. Their situation is profoundly unjust.'

North's promotion is from a junior suffragen position in Burnley where the vast majority of clergy are men to the more senior diocesan post of Sheffield where one third of clergy are women.

'A non-ordaining Bishop in Sheffield Diocese is a serious matter for the female clergy, who are present in very large numbers,' Percy writes.

'This will feel like a step backwards.'

He adds: 'Bishop North cannot currently give his unequivocal support and affirmation to his male and female clergy, as the position of The Society he leads refuses to receive the ministry of women clergy, and men ordained by women bishops. As such, Bishop Philip can only offer partial and conditional affirmation. You can't have a pastoral situation in which the Bishop effectively says to his clergy "I will love, support and affirm you all; but not all of you equally."'

His promotion was controversial within the Church. The chair of WATCH, a campaign group for women's ordination, Canon Emma Percy, saying she was aware of the 'sadness' many would feel in Sheffield about having a bishop who would not ordain women.

'Sheffield is a diocese with a large number of women clergy and we sincerely hope that the new Bishop will promote a culture in which ordained women will feel validated and encouraged to flourish,' she told Christian Today.

But in a recent meeting with women clergy in Sheffield, North said 'that he is in favour of women's leadership and would actively promote it', according to a Church of England spokesman.

The spokesperson added: 'The beauty of the Church of England is its theological breadth and its ability to hold together disparate views across a range of issues whilst still finding unity in Jesus Christ. The Church of England supports all orders of ministry being open equally, irrespective of gender, and remains committed to enabling all people to flourish within its life and structures.'

North has also said he is 'determined to be a bishop for all and will love, care for, appoint and develop the ministry of all clergy female or male'.

Bishop North has been approached for comment on this story.
'Hopeless' Muslim Family Try To Commit Suicide  But God Heals Them, With Dead Son Even Restored To Life

This Islamist radical intensely hated Christians. Named Ismail, this Muslim man from a South Asian country had attacked Christian churches, stoned preachers, and nearly killed a pastor by running over him using his motorised rickshaw, according to Bibles for Mideast.

But years later, this man is now a devout follower of Jesus.

What led to his transformation?

It all started when doctors discovered a tumor in the brain of his son, Afsal. Ismail would do anything to save his son. Thus, he sold his house and even his motorised rickshaw to be able to finance his son's treatment. He also borrowed a large amount of money.

But the money he spent for his son's treatment simply went down the drain. Despite the treatment, his son's condition even became worse as he was also diagnosed with leukaemia.

Ismail and his wife had no money left. With his rickshaw gone, he lost his source of income. And their son was dying.

Having lost all hope, he decided to end their misery by committing suicide.

Ismail, his wife and their son all drank poison and then walked as far as they could into the sea to drown.

But then some fishermen saw and rescued them, taking them to the nearest hospital.

Ismail and his wife survived, but not their son Afsal.

As the couple grieved, a group of Christians arrived uninvited and asked to pray for their son. To Ismail's utter shame, the Christians were led by Pastor Paul, the pastor he tried to kill years ago.

Pastor Paul then told Ismail, "If you personally believe Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, He is able to heal your son Afsal and bring him back to life. It is only because of the Lord you were prevented from committing suicide."

The pastor then led the group of Christians in praying over the Muslim couple's son. As they ended their prayer, the young man who they all thought was already dead suddenly opened his eyes.

Ismail and his wife were stunned. Afsal then told his parents that Jesus placed his nail-pierced hands on his head and chest, and he "felt new blood flowing from my heart to my veins, like electricity."

Right at that moment, Ismail, his wife and his son embraced Jesus Christ and put their faith in Him as their Lord and Savior.

This was just one of the many miraculous healings directly attributed to Jesus that have occurred and reported in various places in the world.

Earlier this month, a Christian woman reportedly died while trying to swim across an icy river into China after escaping from a North Korean labour camp.

Miraculously, however, she regained her consciousness, recalling later that Jesus bodily carried her to safety to the Chinese side of the river.
Jerry Falwell Jnr Says Steve Bannon Suggested Him For Top Education Role

One of Donald Trump's most vocal and conservative Christian supporters says the president's right hand man Steve Bannon suggested him for a job with the Administration. Jerry Falwell Jr gave Trump his backing early in the campaign and stood by him during the various controversies that caused other Christian leaders to reconsider their support.

The Washington Post now reports that Steve Bannon  the controversial White House senior strategist  was the one who suggested him to Trump. 'It was White House senior strategist Stephen K Bannon who offered him a role with the Trump administration as the head of a not-yet created task force on higher education,' claims the story.

The president offered the job to Falwell, who runs Liberty University, the conservative Christian institution founded by his father, Religious Right stalwart Jerry Falwell.

Falwell Jnr, according to the report, 'was offered the job of higher education secretary in November but declined'.

Bannon was described by the Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti Defamation League  a group that combats anti-semitism  as 'a man who presided over the premier website of the "alt-right"  a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists'.

In a separate development, Falwell is said to have become a target for Democratic senators who have now written of their concerns. 'We were extremely concerned to learn through media reports that President Trump has asked Jerry L. Falwell, Jr, president of Liberty University, to lead a new "task force" to recommend changes to federal regulations, policies, and procedures in higher education,' they say. Their letter has been sent to secretary of education Betsy DeVos.
Leading Gay Cleric Jeffrey John Narrowly Rejected As Bishop In Wales

A leading gay cleric has narrowly missed out on becoming a bishop after his appointment was rejected for the fourth time.

Very Rev Jeffrey John, who has twice been turned down for senior roles over his sexuality, was in the running to be Bishop of Llandaff, Christian Today understands.

But despite winning support from more than half of the nominating body, he just missed on the two-thirds majority required.

Christian Today understands Dr John's long-term civil partnership with Grant Holmes, another Anglican priest, was a factor in his rejection by traditionalists.

After three days of discussions the electoral body of 47 people, made up of locals from the diocese, bishops and the official nomination committee, failed to agree on any candidate. The final decision will now be down to senior bishops despite Dr John winning strong support among electors in the mainly Anglo-Catholic region of Llandaff.

Neither the Church in Wales nor the Church of England are opposed to clergy being in civil partnerships. The Church of England requests that clergy in civil partnerships vow to remain sexually chaste, but the Church in Wales has no such restriction.

Currently Dean of St Albans, Dr John was previously nominated to be Bishop of Reading in 2003 but was forced to withdraw himself under intense pressure from traditionalists.

He was later in the running for Bishop of Bangor in 2008 and then again for Bishop of Southwark in 2010 but was both times turned down with conservatives threatening a split in the Church.

But Dr John's latest rejection to be Bishop of Llandaff is particularly striking because of the strong support he received among local clergy and parishioners in the largely liberal diocese.

It comes after the recently retired Archbishop of Wales used his final address to urge the Church to rethink its stance on LGBT couples.

Dr Barry Morgan said supporting gay marriage did not mean 'abandoning the Bible' and that gay sex was perfectly 'proper'.

He said typical texts used to condemn homosexuality could be 'interpreted in more than one way' and read as a whole it is impossible to say there is 'one settled understanding of what the Bible says'.

He said: 'What all this amounts to is that one cannot argue that there is one accepted traditional way of interpreting scripture that is true and orthodox and all else is modern revisionism, culturally conditioned...so taking the Bible as a whole and taking what it says very seriously may lead us into a very different view of same-sex relationships than the one traditionally upheld by the Church.'

He went on: 'We are not thereby abandoning the Bible but trying to interpret it in a way that is consistent with the main thrust of the ministry of Jesus, who went out of His way to minister to those who were excluded, marginalised, and abandoned by his society because they were regarded as impure and unholy by the religious leaders of his day, either because of their gender, age, morality or sexuality.'

Dr Morgan's address came after the Church in Wales has apologised unreservedly for its mistreatment of gay and lesbian people and strongly indicated it could allow or bless same-sex marriages in the future.
Massive Cross Raised On Iraq Hillside Symbolises Victory Of Light Over Darkness

After the deaths, tortures and horrific extremes of Islamic State, a giant cross has risen on a hill outside Mosul in Iraq, an extraordinary symbol of the return of life and hope.

The cross has been erected by Chaldean Catholic Christians at Telekuf-Tesqopa, a town newly liberated from Islamic State.

Patriarch of Babylon Louis Sako, who blessed the cross and con-celebrated the first mass for over two years in St George's Church in the village, said in his homily that the event was 'the first spark of light shining in all the cities of the Nineveh Plain since the darkness of ISIS'.

According to the website of the Patriarchate of Babylon, Sako continued: 'This is our land and this is our home.'

He called on Christians to return home as a way 'to show the world that the forces of darkness, which wreaked havoc and ravaged the land', are ephemeral and that the Church of Christ, although it suffers, is 'built upon rock'.

After the service, he blessed the cross, raised to the sounds and sights of celebration fireworks and cries of 'Victory! Victory!'

He said the cross shows the world 'that this is our land, we were born here and we will die here. Our ancestors were buried in this pure land and we are going to remain to preserve them with all our might and for future generations.'

He called Christians to return and rebuild: 'We are joined to our land, to our future on the land of our ancestors. Here we can be proud of our history and here we can obtain the granting of all our rights.'

St George's was made fit for use again after its devastation by ISIS by the French organisation SOS Chretiens d'Orient.

The placement of crosses has become a recurring gesture since the Iraqi Army began the offensive to recover the city of Mosul, Catholic News Agency reports. In every village liberated on the Plain of Nineveh, Christians have made wooden crosses and have placed them on the roofs of churches and homes.

Muslims have also taken part in raising the crosses and cleaning and restoring churches as part of the rejection by Iraq's beleaguered local communities of all that ISIS stands for.
The 21st Century Solution To Displaying 16th Century Luther Artefacts: Print Them In 3D

A series of worldwide exhibitions to mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of his 95 theses includes the ability to make 3D printed replicas of 16th century artefacts.

A series of international exhibitions is being coordinated by German's heritage department.

The posting of the theses at Wittenberg marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation that transformed the Western world.

In the United States alone, the 'Here I Stand' Luther exhibitions include rare archaeological finds, authentic relics, original works of art, manuscripts and prints.

The State Museum of Prehistory in Halle will contribute recent finds from Luther sites in Mansfeld, Eisleben and Wittenberg.

There will be printed materials and artworks as well as manuscripts from the Reformation period along with loans from collections at the Luther house.

Exhibitions in Wittenberg New York, Minneapolis, and Atlanta are being financially under-written Germany's foreign office.

This early 16th century indulgence chest, made for storing income from the sale of indulgences, is among the items that can be 3D printed.

There is also this relief depicting the Protestant Law and Grace theme by the Wurzburg sculptor Peter Dell the Elder.
The Lesson For Labour From Its Forgotten Christian Socialist Leader: For The Greater Good, Corbyn Should Resign

I write in a Labour heartland. This is a safe Labour seat and has been since its creation. It's changed a lot over the years, but remains (and yes, remain is a key word) very much Labour.

Where am I? Well, let me give you a clue. On my way to the office I popped into Waitrose and picked up some food. Included in my basket was hummus and other vegetarian delights.

I'm in Islington South and Finsbury, seat of shadow cabinet member Emily Thornbury. It's an interesting vantage point from which to view two other seats that were once considered Labour's heartland.

Yesterday's by-election results in Copeland and Stoke were grim for Labour. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling a very special Corbyn-flavoured snake oil. Copeland, a beautiful and bracing coastal and mountain constituency in Cumbria, has been Labour since 1935. No longer. A brilliant, passionate and committed local candidate (who's also a Christian) was defeated by her Conservative challenger. This is not unprecedented, but it is seismic. The last time an incumbent government won a seat from the main opposition party at a by-election, I was two months old. I am about to turn 35. You have to go back much further in history to look for a time when Labour was at a lower ebb. As Jon Cruddas has argued, Labour is in a crisis unmatched since the 1930s, when Christian socialist George Lansbury had to rescue the Party from the brink. More of him in a moment.

In Stoke-on-Trent Central, Labour won, to retain a seat it has held since it was created in 1950. Yet this was not a glorious victory. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives made gains, as did UKIP  in spite of a calamitous campaign featuring the party's leader Paul Nuttall.

It is important, whichever side of the British political divide we fall on, to recognise that a vibrant and healthy opposition is essential to the functioning and flourishing of our democracy. Some of the worst excesses of the 1997-2010 Labour government were carried out while the opposition Conservatives were in disarray  such as the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Our system requires a coherent and credible opposition to the government. More than that, the Labour Party  an organisation founded more than 100 years ago, with Christian pioneers playing a key role  is an essential institution in the pursuit of the common good for the whole country.

The party, which famously owes more to Methodism than Marx, was formed by a creative collaboration between Trades Unionists, radical reformers and Christian socialists. Anglicans, Catholics and non-conformists built the party and strove to build the New Jerusalem among the dark, satanic mills.

Despite its many, many limitations, some of the UK's greatest achievements were brought about through the Labour Party. Not least among them, of course, was the creation of the NHS  the socialised healthcare system, free at the point of use, that has been the envy of the world. At a time when the NHS is in crisis because of a sustained lack of funding, it is barely comprehensible that Labour would lose a seat to the Conservatives, let alone one where local hospital services are under threat. But that's what happened yesterday.

Any analysis of the woes of Labour which simplifies the problem as being about the leader alone is worthless. Yet Jeremy Corbyn is undoubtedly a part of Labour's horrendous situation. His appeal may be obvious to those down the road from here in his Islington North constituency, but he seems to have little ability to connect with Labour's northern, Scottish and Welsh core.

Corbyn, though, is a symptom as much as a cause. He is caught in a bewildering array of issues. Brexit and its consequences, the rise of bad jobs and underemployment, alongside the threat of automation, the legacy of Blair and Brown  towering but deeply flawed figures... The list goes on.

At times of historic change, such as the tumultuous present, there's a tendency to look back and try to gain some guidance on what might happen next. Some look to the 1980s and the split in Labour between moderates and the hard left. Others look to the 1930s and the similarities to the rise of the far right. While those comparisons can be overblown, there is some mileage in looking to that decade.

Seeing Corbyn's beleaguered leadership, some commentators have compared him to George Lansbury. Lansbury was the leader of the Labour Party between 1932 and 1935, and rebuilt and unified the party after the sell-out of Ramsey MacDonald entering the National Government with the Conservatives. Lansbury, like Corbyn, had little experience of government, was a pacifist and anti-imperialist. This has led to direct comparisons between the two. These are to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Lansbury's radical credentials were burnished by the stunning Poplar Rates Rebellion, when he and his fellow East End councilors were thrown into prison for their support of their constituents. He was an idealist, whose commitment to Christian pacifism eventually made him unable to continue to lead the Labour Party at a time of rampant fascism in Europe.

Having been opposed by Ernest Bevin, Lansbury resigned as leader, taking an honourable exit and putting the good of the party and the country ahead of his personal beliefs, which he never compromised. This great figure of Christian Socialism died in 1940, but his example lives on. The country needs a united, radical and pragmatic opposition. That was the gift of George Lansbury to the Labour Party and the country. A reinvigorated Labour Party emerged in the wake of World War II and began that great task of building the NHS, extending the Welfare State and building the New Jerusalem.

They remember George Lansbury in his east London heartland. Schools, estates and roads are named after him. We would do well to remember him in Islington, Copeland, Stoke and elsewhere. The results in Copeland and Stoke show just how far Labour is from even beginning to address them. There are deeper issues for Labour than its leader, but the crisis is now existential and the time is right for Corbyn to emulate Lansbury and resign for the good of the party and the country.

Follow Andy Walton on Twitter: @waltonandy
Why Trudy Harrison's Victory In Copeland Is A Win For Traditional English Values

'How mad I am, sad I am, glad that you won.'

I can't get these famous words by John Betjeman out of my head this morning.

'With carefullest carelessness, gaily you won,

I am weak from your loveliness, Joan Hunter Dunn.'

Nor can some in the Conservative Party, judging by the jubilant tweets since Trudy Harrison became Copeland's first Conservative MP since 1935  the first time a ruling party has won a by-election since 1982.

Welcome to Trudy Harrison: Copelands first Conservative MP since 1935! pic.twitter.com/nvkkeVK5lW  Conservatives (@Conservatives) February 24, 2017

Congratulations to Trudy Harrison - a truly historic result! pic.twitter.com/O67GAmVbFd  Conservatives (@Conservatives) February 24, 2017

We don't know much about Trudy Harrison, as Paul Goodman has pointed out at Conservative Home.

But one thing we do know is that she likes taking tea  in tea rooms. And she also likes a bit of spice in her life.

'My favourite place in the world to eat is the Byre Tea Rooms in Bootle, nutritious and very delicious but if we are looking for something in the evening I would really be torn between Da Vinci's or something a bit hot from Curry Spice,' she said in a recent Q&A.

Tea. Tea rooms. Vicarages. Dappled evening sunlight in the summer dusk. But also a love for the spice of life.

This is not just Betjeman. It is also Rupert Brooke:

'The lies, and truths, and pain? . . . oh! yet

Stands the Church clock at ten to three?

And is there honey still for tea?'

The lies, the truth, the pain of Brexit and its opponents. Of what is happening in America. Of the terrors in the Middle East.

And now we have Trudy Harrison  seeming so much in the mould of the prime minister, Theresa May. Can we dare to hope that these women represent some kind of hope for the future for our troubled and frightened country?

Theresa May is the Tories' not so secret weapon. But perhaps the faith aspect of her success seems something of a secret, because she is so private about it. So very British.

While we know May goes to church on Sundays, we know very little about exactly how she believes, or why. Many of us, including myself, have faith embedded in the depths of our souls that is born of terrible trauma.

We are those who have tried life without God, and life with God, and know which we prefer.

In an era when so much personal tragedy is played out in public, Theresa May epitomises an old-fashioned Anglican faith that has no fear of the public devotion  the Sunday churchgoing. But the what and why of the private side of that faith is, rightly, kept private.

In this as in so much else, she is exemplary. As our world trembles around us, with old familiar certainties seeming to disappear perhaps forever, it is so comforting to know there are women such as Trudy Harrison and Theresa May, giving their all to community service and taking tea in Bootle.

UKIP has successfully exploited for years this fear of a disappearing English style of life.

Could it be that Theresa May, and now Trudy Harrison, have pulled that rug out from under them?

These dignified Conservative women have no need to reduce the argument to a home-grown form of terror of some nameless wolf in the forest. Instead, they show simply by being who they are that this life has not gone.

Traditional Englishness, with its inherent traditions of goodness, faith, service  and tea  endures still, even in regions so much on the edge such as Copeland.

For too long, we have been living with male politicians bigging up the fear of our beloved style of life, so English, so Betjeman, so Rupert Brooke, disappearing from Britain.

Well of course it has to change. It is changing. But we can perhaps dare to start to hope that while changing, it need not vanish entirely.

In Theresa May, in Trudy Harrison, we can trust in a future where good things can continue to happen. A future where it is possible to welcome the stranger to our land. To work with people of other faiths and no faith in voluntary service to build social capital. We know this is possible, because these women are doing it  and against the odds, they are winning.

It's not all sunlight and roses of course.

There's still Hillaire Belloc:

'And always keep ahold of nurse  For fear of finding something worse.'

The Church of England might no longer be the Conservative Party at prayer. But these victorious Conservative women are surely the answer to the prayers of the nation. They are like the Queen. They're even a bit like Joan of Arc  like Joan Hunter Dunn. We need to treasure them and vote for them when we have the chance.

The alternatives are so very, very much worse.
Witches Organise 'Mass Spell To Bind Donald Trump'

Donald J Trump has survived mass protests at airports, accusations of infiltration by Russia and wholesale condemnation from other world leaders.

But a new sort of action against him is taking place on Friday of completely different nature.

Witches around the world are being urged to join a 'mass spell to bind Donald Trump' on February 24.

The 'Bind Trump' resistance has more than 4,000 supporters on its Facebook page and lays out how the spell is to be cast at 'midnight on every waning crescent moon until he is removed from office'.

Participants are told: 'This binding spell is open source, and may be modified to fit your preferred spiritual practice or magical system  the critical elements are the simultaneity of the working and the mass energy of participants.'

The event details liturgy to use and all the props needed for the voodoo spell including a 'unflattering photo of Trump', a 'tower tarot card', a 'tiny stub of an orange candle' and a 'pin or small nail'.

This is not the first time witches have come together against Trump. A protest in mid-September was filmed and posted to YouTube.

On the other end of the spectrum, a group from ChristianNationalism.com are countering the protest with prayer.

Kevin Ambrose writes: 'While this sort of magical attack on believers and servants of God is nothing new this instance stands out to me because they are attempting to enlist the aid of non-religious liberals. These people, mostly young, who may be riled up by the non-stop media attacks on President Trump are a fertile recruiting ground for Satanic groups.'

He adds: 'This is a declaration of spiritual war and it requires a response. As such the Christian Nationalist Alliance is announcing a Day of Prayer on each of these days. We beseech all Christian soldiers to answer this call to action by reading from Psalm 23. We ask you to join us in praying for the strength of our nation, our elected representatives and for the souls of the lost who would take up Satanic arms against us.'
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A new podcast is being compared to "Serial" for its take on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of fitness guru Richard Simmons.

"Missing Richard Simmons" is hosted by former "Daily Show" producer Dan Taberski, who befriended the pop-culture icon before he fell off the map three years ago.

Simmons, now 68 years old, had been a mainstay on chat shows all over the country and was known as a cheerleader for those with weight problems after fighting his own battles as a young man.

DOUBLE TAP: 10 fitness trainers to follow on Instagram

Born Milton Teagle Simmons in New Orleans, Simmons opened his first health club in Los Angeles in the 1970s. The Anatomy Asylum taught the gospel of healthy living and exercise.

Taberski's podcast is just three episodes in and it features the host talking to people from around the country who were helped by Simmons over the years. Simmons' perky personality is lauded by Taberski, who attended numerous fitness classes lead by Simmons at his Slimmons fitness center.

His ghosting out was especially troubling for Simmons' fans because he had been teaching the classes for forty years and had a devoted group of attendees.

On February 15, 2014, Simmons stopped showing up to the classes. He was no longer meeting Hollywood bus tours by his home to take selfies with fans. He was MIA.

During the past three years TMZ has report on rumors regarding Simmons being the victim of elder abuse from his housekeeper. Some have said that he's transitioning to a woman. Nagging knee injuries and the death of one of his prized Dalmatians have also been blamed for his scarceness.

All of these and other theories have been shut down by the Simmons camp.

The host is looking to make Simmons human again. For many he's been a joke of sorts, but he's serious as a heart attack for the people who he helped along the way.

CHEERLEADER FIT: Fitness tips from a tire-flipping cheerleader

"This is about hopefully recontextualizing him a bit," Taberski told Wired magazine this week. "People laugh at him now, they've lost perspective on who he is. I want to make him three-dimensional again."

At one point in the second episode Taberski goes to Simmons' home (which he had visited a handful of times) and Simmons didn't appear.

Simmons' website is still up and running if a little dated. His official Facebook and Twitter accounts appear to be running on autopilot, but that's par the course for most celebs.

Taberski plans on turning in a total of six episodes of his podcast, which you can check out on iTunes or Stitcher.

Anyone with tips or stories about Simmons are asked to reach out to Taberski via voicemail at 402-93-SWEAT or 402-937-9328.
Born and raised in the United States, Bao Bao, a 3-year-old giant panda, fails to become a U.S. citizen and has arrived in China on Wednesday.

Unlike the U.S. citizenship policy for people, which stipulates that one becomes a U.S. citizen if he/she is born on the U.S. territory, the citizenship of giant pandas observes another policy.

In fact, most giant pandas around the world are on loan from China, and cubs born abroad have to be sent to the Chinese breeding program to expand the gene pool before they turn four.

As a result of artificial insemination, Bao Bao was born on Aug. 23, 2013, at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.. It is time that Bao Bao come back to China.

Unique to China and adored around the world, giant pandas have played an important role in China's diplomacy, or "Panda Diplomacy" as some experts call it.

Before 1982, giant pandas were given away to other countries by the Chinese government as a token of friendship and goodwill.

In 1941, a pair of giant pandas were given to the United States by Soong May-ling. They were the first batch of pandas given away as gifts.

After the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, more giant pandas were shipped abroad.

Two giant pandas were sent to the former Soviet Union by the Chinese government in 1957 and 1959 respectively.

In 1972, two giant pandas named Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing were given to the United States as gifts after U.S. President Richard Nixon' s visit to China.

From 1965 to 1980, five giant pandas were given to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

By 1982, 23 giant pandas were shipped abroad. Most of them have died.

However, the "give-away" policy was put to an end in 1982 because of the decreasing number of the endangered bear. Instead, the "on-loan" policy started.

From 1984 to 1988, zoos in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and several other cities of the United States managed to rent giant pandas from China.

Zoos in Japan, Britain, France, Germany and other countries also managed to borrow pandas.

The rent money, which ranges from tens of thousands to millions of U.S. dollars, was used to fund the conservation and breeding programs of the endangered species.

Funds from the rent combined with the Chinese government's subsidy and other conservation efforts have paid off.

Including cubs, the current population count is approaching 2,060 and mature adults are estimated to constitute 50.5 percent of the total population, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2016.

In the Red List of Threatened Species on Sept. 4, 2016, which assesses a species' conservation status, the IUCN reported the giant panda population has improved enough for the endangered species label to be downgraded to "vulnerable."

However, the threat of declining bamboo availability due to climate change could, in the near future, reverse the gains made during the last two decades, the IUCN warned.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A man who fatally shot his estranged wife and wounded her sister before turning the gun on himself died overnight, Pasadena police said.

The man, 20-year-old Manuel Ochoa, went in through the back door of the Tierra Caliente Refresqueria & Micheladas in the 4500 block of Red Bluff about 7:45 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Sonia Pineda, 24, the owner, was inside with her 20-year-old sister, Margarita Pineda. Ochoa, Margarita's estranged husband, entered with a gun and told everyone inside to leave, excluding his wife.

"They were sitting there, apparently taking a break," said Vance Mitchell, a Pasadena police spokesman.

Sonia confronted Ochoa, telling him to leave. Instead Ochoa shot her once in the arm. Sonia ran out of her restaurant to a neighboring business, S&Y Groceries, to call the police.

Police arrived to find Margarita had been shot twice. She died at the scene. Sonia was transported to a hospital with a non life-threatening injury.

The man then shot himself, dying shortly after being transported by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital.





Sonia has been active on Facebook in the last 24 hours since her sister and brother-in-law's death, posting a link to a GoFundMe page titled "Margie's Funeral Funds."

She captioned the post, "My sister might be gone but she still needs us. I lost my best friend and now my obligation is to take her (sic) of her babies, but I can't do this on my own."

Margarita's Facebook page features pictures of her three children and recent marriage to Ochoa on Feb. 7.
Ed Reitman loves to look at houses -- in newspaper real estate sections, at open houses and in magazines. Every now and then the 84-year-old gets the itch to buy a new one and he drags his resistant wife, Harriet, to look.

Their most recent move, to Lampasas Terrace near the Galleria, has taken them to a four-story modern townhome. When they bought it, it was a shell, so the couple got to finish it out exactly as they wanted instead of buying someone else's version of good taste.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Baytown police are searching for at least eight suspects in an ongoing series of baby formula thefts that began on Jan. 17.

In the most recent case on Feb. 20, six suspects stole more than $500 worth of baby formula from the Walmart at 4900 Garth Road, Det. Felipe Gallegos said Friday.

Gallegos said some suspects act as lookouts and others use objects to block store cameras while the prime suspects, usually female, bring babies in carts to the formula section and load cans of the product into diaper bags.

RESTAURANT SHOOTING: Man kills wife, himself in Pasadena

The Garth Road Walmart has been hit seven times, Gallegos said, adding he thinks the suspects may have branched out to stores in other cities.

"I'm pretty sure it's going on all over," he said. Walmart and the Baytown police shared images of the suspects with other stores and law enforcement agencies around the Houston area.

Gallegos said the Baytown Walmart has also designated specific employees to keep an eye on the baby section of the store and report suspicious activity to police.

In total, more than $3,000 in formula has been stolen from the store on Garth Road. Gallegos said the suspects steal the formula, then sell it online for a cheaper price than the store.

"There's a big black market for that," he said. If caught, the suspects will be charged with organized criminal activity.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call Baytown Crime Stoppers at 281-427-TIPS or the Baytown PD Detective Division at 281-420-6646.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Humble Surgical Hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday morning, three weeks after U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes entered a multi-million judgment against the specialty, five-bed hospital.

Earlier this month, Aetna Life Insurance Co. was awarded $51.4 million, including nearly $10 million in interest, to recover excessive health care fees the insurer said it paid to the hospital during the past seven years.

It's hard to operate when you have that kind of judgment against you, said Houston bankruptcy lawyer Edward L. Rothberg who is representing Humble Surgical. Without the judgment, the hospital was solvent, he said.

The hospital will remain open as Humble Surgical works its way through the bankruptcy proceedings, said Rothberg. But the longer term is murky.

"I can't see them generating that kind of revenue to satisfy the judgment," said Rothberg. The owners of the hospital may end up having to sell the facility, he said.

In its bankruptcy petition, Humble Surgical estimated its assets between $10 million and $50 million and liabilities between $50 million and $100 million.

"Aetna plans to actively participate in the bankruptcy proceedings to ensure that our customers receive payment," said Anjie Coplin, director of communications for Aetna.

RELATED: Aetna awarded $51.4 million in out-of-network dispute

Aetna sued Humble Surgical Hospital in 2012, contending that the surgical center in Humble charged the giant health insurance company for procedures up to 10 times more than typical market rates. The hospital is not in Aetna's managed care network, and Aetna accused the surgical center of attracting its patients by offering special discounts.

Typically, health care patients pay more when they use facilities and providers outside of a health insurance company's managed care network. The higher costs are designed to encourage patients to use facilities that negotiated lower fees for service in exchange for increased patient volume.

RELATED: Fancy amenities woo patients while insurers cry foul

Aetna alleged Humble Surgical charged its patients out-of-pocket fees similar to what in-network facilities would charge, but then the hospital billed Aetna for the procedures as an out-of-network provider.

The "sidebar deals" the surgical center made with patients as an inducement meant the surgical center received a "substantial windfall," according to Aetna's 2012 lawsuit.
Chef Anita Jaisinghani has decided that after 15 years with her Indika restaurant it was time to call it quits. She announced Friday that she and her partner (and ex-husband) Ravi Jaisinghani have sold the restaurant to a business partnership of Nepalese chefs who plan to continue operating the famed Montrose restaurant.

But Indika, the upscale Indian restaurant that gave Jaisinghani the wings to open her groundbreaking Pondicheri, won't be the same without the chef whose creativity and energy seem boundless. Last summer Jaisinghani opened Pondicheri in New York's Flatiron district to great notice including a two-star review from New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells.

"It's actually good news," Jaisinghani said Friday of her decision to move on from the restaurant that first brought her culinary fame in Houston. "It's good news to me because I've wanted to move on from Indika for some time. Everything has a finish point."

But Jaisinghani is far from finishing her exploration of the food of her native India. In fact she plans to debut an entirely new menu at Houston's Pondicheri at West Ave. She said there will still be some of the favorite street food dishes but that she plans to invest energy in bringing up the quality of the Pondicheri menu. She said she plans a menu --- that will begin on Tuesday -- that is "more focused."

Jaisinghani opened Pondicheri in Houston in 2011 with an audacious menu of refined takes on Indian street food classics such as lentil-stuffed poori; masala rice pancakes; chickpea flour rolls stuffed with coconut and chile; naan wraps; parathas; stuffed dosas; and kebab wraps. There were also evocative thali plates; curry and kebab dishes; clever stuffed rotis and burgers served with "desi fries" dusted with garam masala spice.

Since opening, Pondicheri has become a Houston favorite and was among the highest rated restaurants in Alison Cook's annual list of Houston's Top 100 restaurants.

"It's time for a change," said Jaisinghani sounding optimistic and excited about taking Pondicheri to "a new level."

"My love is so much with Pondicheri right now and I'm not doing justice to Indika anymore," she said. "So I need a clean break."

She emphasized that Indika's new owners plan to keep the restaurant open.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Inprint's Poets & Writers Ball last weekend raised more than $30o,000 for the literary nonprofit's programs.

About 375 guests gathered at the Houstonian for the annual black-tie dinner, the most literary social event on the calendar.

Curtis Sittenfeld was the featured author. Her most recent novel is "Eligible," an update of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" set in modern-day Ohio. She's also the author of "American Wife," a novel based loosely on the life of Laura Bush, and the best-seller "Prep," which HBO has optioned to develop a comedy series.

Sittenfeld talked about her next book, a story collection called "You Think It, I'll Say It" coming next year, and read part of a story that is set in Houston.

Cafe Annie's Robert Del Grande created the three-course menu inspired by bookish themes, and each table's decor was inspired by a different book or literary genre - including "1984," "Valley of the Dolls," "A Man Called Ove" and Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events."

Before dinner, guests heard readings from three writers who've received Inprint prizes and fellowships: Hayan Charara, J. Bradford Hipps and Janine Joseph.

The 2017 ball chairs were Claire and Robert Campbell and Kelly and Michael Sklar.

The Poets & Writers Ball benefits Inprint's programs for readers and writers, including the Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, which brings some of today's most important writers to Houston. Inprint also brings in children's authors for the Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People series, and the organization provides resources and workshops for writers, teachers and seniors and Houstonians of all ages.
A Houston businesswoman is giving $10 million to the University of Houston-Downtown to bolster its business school's academic programs and faculty.

News of the gift -- the school's largest -- coming from Marilyn Davies, CEO of Houston-based data company Bailey Banks Seismic L.P. was revealed Thursday during the University of Houston System's quarterly board meeting.

UHD plans to rename its business school to honor Davies, who has several relatives who graduated from the college.

Davies said she hopes her gift will encourage others to give to UHD, where about 80 percent of students seek financial aid.

"Sometimes the smaller schools don't get the press or the acknowledgement, and I want the money to go to them," she said. In 2015-16, total annual giving to UHD was $2.5 million.

UHD's MBA program has grown substantially over the last five years. Last fall, 1,067 students enrolled, compared to 49 students during the fall of 2012.

Davies said she expected her donation to help the college provide an accessible avenue to an advanced business degree for people who work downtown. The school's business program also has an undergraduate track.

Dean Mike Fields called the gift "a vote of confidence."

"With that investment comes, frankly, a lot of responsibility," Fields said. "Our faculty are up to it."

The university will first invest in elevating its business course assessment programs to make sure classes effectively prepare students for the jobs they pursue.

Also on Thursday UH regents officially appointed UHD's new president, Juan Sanchez Munoz, who will take the helm in April. He has been a senior vice president and vice provost at Texas Tech, focusing on student affairs, undergraduate education and diversity.

Munoz, who will start April 17, has said one of his main priorities will be to improve student success in the classroom and after graduation. Roughly 16 percent of first-time college enrollees at UHD graduated in six years in the most recent fiscal year. Many of the university's students are the first in their families to attend college.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

PORTER  An employee narrowly escaped severe injury during a robbery at a Kroger in Porter Thursday, and the juvenile suspects in the case could be responsible for more robberies in Harris County.

Three 16-year-olds entered the popular neighborhood grocery store in the 23600 block of U.S. 59 around 10:45 a.m., demanding money from a woman at the customer service desk, Montgomery County Sheriff's officials said. One of the teens allegedly fired a gun at the woman, the bullet whizzing past her head and lodging in the wall behind her.

The teller's mother-in-law Patricia Jessie and daughter Bryanna were inside the store as the robbery unfolded.

"We were going down the back of the store toward the milk aisle and heard a loud 'pow,'" Patricia Jessie said. "I thought something had fallen off the shelf. Everybody came running to the back. All the employees were running and scrambling in different directions. We didn't know what was going on."

At the front of the store, her daughter was struggling to get cash out of the register to hand over to the robbers, she said.

As the teens exited the store and entered a getaway car driven by a fourth 16-year-old, undercover Houston police officers who were trailing them began to follow them south on U.S. 59. The undercover officers had been investigating the four teens for their alleged involvement in robberies in Houston and Harris County when Thursday's robbery occurred.

As marked HPD patrol units caught up to the undercover car, officers attempted to pull the teens over, but they allegedly refused.

Houston police alongside Montgomery County Sheriff's and Precinct 4 Constable deputies began chasing the teens down U.S. 59. The chase turned west on the Sam Houston Parkway and eventually into a residential area off Ranch View Trail near Rankin Road.

The car eventually pulled over, and the three teenage passengers stayed behind as the teenage driver fled on foot, MCSO Lt. Scott Spencer said. An HPD K9 eventually tracked down the running teenager, Spencer said, though it did injure a DPS trooper and HPD officer who were assisting with the foot chase.

The four juveniles were brought back to the Kroger store less than two hours later so witnesses could help identify them. They were then transferred to the Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Facility and charged with aggravated robbery.
Davina Davidson's son had the n-word written on his notebook for two weeks before she found out about it on Wednesday.

The Lanier Middle School student was trying to wipe off the racial slur this week, when a teacher noticed and advised an assistant principal at the school.

After finding out about the incident from a teacher at the school, Davidson went to Lanier and tried to meet with the assistant principal, but was unsuccessful. She decided to post an image of the slur on her Facebook page to express her frustration.

CONTROVERSIAL PHOTO: Cypress Ranch HS seniors pose with Nazi-style salute

"At that point, I was really upset," she said in an interview on Thursday. "The administration never called me to tell me what happened. It was very concerning."

The incident comes at a time,when hate crimes increasingly are being reported at schools and other places across the country. Cypress Ranch high school students, for instance, were caught doing a Nazi salute in a photo earlier this month. A bomb threat was called into a southwest Houston Jewish Community Center on Monday.

Davidson said her son kept the incident quiet because he used to be friends with the student who wrote the slur on his notebook. It first came to light, she said, when he got up from his lunch table two weeks ago, went to grab some water and chat with friends, and then came back to find the n-word written.

BOOTED: Man kicked off flight to Houston after racist comments

"He doesn't want to see anybody get in trouble," Davidson said. "I don't know if he necessarily expected that kid to do that either."

After posting her photo to social media, Davidson on Wednesday received a call from both the assistant principal and principal at Lanier Middle School. The school told her the student who wrote the slur on her son's notebook has been identified and will be disciplined based on the student code of conduct. The principal also plans to have students discuss what happened in their homerooms.

HISD also released a statement Thursday confirming that Lanier Middle School administration was aware of the "inappropriate message a student reportedly wrote on a classmate's notebook" and the student would be disciplined per the HISD Student Code of Conduct.

"The use of such language is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated," the statement read.

But Davidson wants more to be done. She's heard reports of racial incidents happening at the school within the last year, long before the recent spate of issues that started after the presidential election. The mother wants a letter to be sent home to parents addressing the issue.

"I would like to blame it on the election, but that to me is not the ultimate reason why this situation is happening," She said. "I think it's happening because we lack tolerance of people's differences."

FAITH IN HOUSTON: Interfaith leaders gather to address JCC bomb threat

She said her son has been told by another student "to go back to the cotton field." Her son is in the gifted program at Lanier, and she describes the school as amazing.

"I don't have any negative feelings about his ability to learn there," She said.

However, the mom, who used to be a teacher herself, said she wants more progress to be made when it comes to educators, students and parents discussing race and diversity.

"To me, the work is in to love and accept people as they are," Davidson said. "When people are not being kind, then we call it out and we address it."
Deputies arrested two men they believe are responsible for almost two dozen burglaries in The Woodlands.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office completed a two-month investigation into 23 burglary of habitation cases that occurred in The Woodlands Township. The burglaries occurred in early December 2016 and continued into late January 2017.
"I could get on a plane and fly to China tomorrow," Monika Hoffarth-Zelloe said, as she marveled at dozens of photos that were on display in the library of a local community college in the U.S. state of Virginia.

The photos were part of the "China in my eyes" exhibition Hoffarth-Zelloe had volunteered to put together to promote the Chinese language and culture in local communities. This stop, which began on Feb.1, was the sixth in the tour exhibition.

The 70 photos hanging on the walls of the Northern Virginia Community College Library were an odd collection taken over three decades. Some were the works of National Geographic photographers while others were the casual snapshots of amateurs, but they shared one thing in common: they all reflected what the photographer thought the "real" China looks like.

For example, a vendor who had displayed dozens of pairs of shoes on a car was depicted in one picture, while a grandmother and her grandson playing cards on a busy public square were shown in another.

In South China's Jiangxi Province, a family bearing gifts make a strenuous hike on a mountainous trail to visit their relative was thought to portray the real China, while thousands of miles away in Northeast China's Jilin Province, a barbecued fish stand was also considered to carry the true Chinese flavor.

The exhibition is helping students at the college see what China is really like from various angles.

Matt Todd, associate dean of the college, said the exhibition has received "very positive responses from the students, many of whom studied the photos along with the captions on their sides."

Benefitting from the gallery, Chinese-related books have also seen a bump in check outs, said Paul Chapman, a librarian.

The exhibition was aimed at helping people get rid of their prejudices against China. "The more people are informed, the less fear they will have," Hoffarth-Zelloe, a language specialist at the Goethe Institute, said.

Once a staunch China sceptic, Hoffarth-Zelloe had no interest in visiting China while growing up, but that changed when her son, Alexander, decided to take a Chinese course in high school.

In 2010, Hoffarth-Zelloe accompanied her son on an exchange visit to China, touring the capital city of Beijing and a school in central Henan Province.

"People were really nice to us and made us feel welcomed," Hoffarth-Zelloe said, and at that moment, she realized how her previous impressions of the country were detached from reality.

Hoffarth-Zelloe went back to China in 2011 and again in 2016, and said she now looks at China "mostly in a positive way."

"During a trip last year, I took a bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai, it was fast and comfortable," Hoffarth-Zelloe said.

"I now feel it's my duty and mission to teach others, and ask people to see China for themselves, and if they can't make the trip, at least learn about it," Hoffarth-Zelloe said.

Now all four members of Hoffarth-Zelloe's family have started studying Chinese. Alexander and his sister Natascha are both learning Chinese in school, while Hoffarth-Zelloe has signed up for a Chinese course at a local Confucius Institute.

"My son plans to have his own travel consultancy company, while my daughter's studies focus on fashion. Both will include Asia in their future careers," Hoffarth-Zelloe said, confident that their knowledge of Chinese will prepare them well.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Lauren and Garyt Walker of The Woodlands learned in December they were finally going to become parents after more than 2 1/2 years of infertility.

Two days before Christmas, they found out they were expecting twins, a boy and a girl due in August.

Sharing such wonderful news seemed to warrant something special. It ended up being that and more.

BEFORE-AND-AFTER: Mom shares photo to prove that scales don't matter

On Feb. 9, the couple posted their news on Facebook, with a photo of two infant onesies surrounded by 452 plastic syringes with needles attached.

As explained in the post, the photo represented the 953 days they had prayed for a baby and the thousands of tears that had been shed over earlier failures.

"There was a lot of pain, hope and fear behind each of these needles," Lauren wrote in the post.

But now when she looks at the photo, all she sees are "these tiny onesies that so perfectly sum up our journey. Worth the wait. And wait, and wait, and wait."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The quinceanera that got more than 1 million RSVPs

The couple, who met at The Woodlands High School where they both graduated in 2006, are happy to share a very personal story in the hope that it can encourage others, Lauren said.

They worked with two physicians at Houston Fertility Institute, but drew deeply on their faith as well.

"I want to acknowledge that science had a whole lot to do with this," Lauren said Thursday by phone. "These twins are a true testament of what happens when faith and science come together and make something beautiful."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A large brawl involving around 200 people broke out Friday morning at a bar in Houston's Midtown, police said.

Multiple fights were breaking out around in the parking lot of F Bar on Tuam Street around 2:45 a.m. Only one Houston police unit was working the scene when it first sparked. Twenty more officers arrived later to help control the crowd.

One bar goer, "Ron," said he comes to the bar frequently and has never seen a fight like that occur there.

"I was really appalled at the crowd and the ruckus," he said.

The Midtown spot is described as "Houston's best gay bar" on its Twitter page.

Officers detained several people, but the Harris County District Attorney's Office declined to charge anyone. Everyone was eventually let go.

Houston Fire Department officials treated a few men, but no one was transported to a hospital.
Houston Police are looking for the driver who struck a woman trying to cross Westheimer Road early Friday morning.

The driver of a black Toyota Camry pulled out of a Valero gas station near Westheimer and Montrose Boulevard. The driver struck the woman around 3:45 a.m. and fled the scene.
The PSA Group, France's largest automaker, said Thursday that its net income rose by 79 percent to 2.14 billion euros (2.25 billion U.S. dollars) last year, thanks to the recovery in global demand and improvement in operating efficiency.

The French company's revenues increased by 2.1 percent to 54.03 billion euros (57.001 billion dollars) in 2016, after selling 5.8 percent more units around the world to 3.15 million vehicles, PSA, which owns the Peugeot and Citroen brands, said in a statement.

For its automotive division, PSA reported a profit of 37.066 billion euros (39.104 billion dollars), up by 2.7 percent year on year due to the success of new models and the group's pricing power strategy.

"The group is building the conditions for profitable and sustainable growth, reinforced by the success of the first launches in its product offensive," PSA Chairman and CEO Carlos Tavares said.

"These results demonstrate our ability to consistently deliver an excellent performance in an adverse environment. They are the outcome of the group's operating efficiency improvement and our competitive teams' focus on the execution of the Push to Pass plan," he added.

Looking to its performance in 2017, the French company expected a stable automotive market in Europe, Latin America and Russia, as well as a 5-percent growth in the Chinese market.
Denton police Tuesday arrested a man accused of holding his girlfriend at knife point in front of her daughter.

Tyrone Washington, 40, who also goes by "T-Bone," was taken to to Denton City Jail around 2:30 p.m., The Denton Record-Chronicle reports.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BRIDGEPORT  One day after Donald Trumps administration excoriated Connecticuts governor for defying its immigration enforcement orders, a man deported to El Salvador in 2013 was held in the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend and abduction of their daughter.

The grisly crime caught the attention of the White House, which issued new deportation rules this week as part of a presidential executive order  and threatens to further inflame partisan strife over sanctuary cities and states.

The tragedy in Bridgeport illustrates that undocumented criminals can and do find their way into our country and that must stop, a White House official told Hearst Connecticut Media.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy drew the ire of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Thursday after the governors office advised police chiefs across the state not to take any special action against undocumented immigrants, including honoring immigration detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for non-violent offenders.

Spicer said Malloy was selectively enforcing federal immigration laws and setting a bad example for his constituents and counterparts in other states.

On the same morning the Malloy-White House squabble was still getting coverage in newspapers, radio and online across the country, a manhunt for Oscar Hernandez was underway.

Wanted for murder and kidnapping as part of an Amber alert, Hernandez led police on a chase Friday that began in a bloody Bridgeport basement and then spanned four states before he was captured in Pennsylvania by late morning.

His 6-year-old daughter, Aylin Sofia Hernandez, suffered minor injuries to her head and leg and was being treated before being turned over to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.

Police identified the victim as Nidia Gonzalez, 26, who they said was stabbed along with a female friend in the couples basement apartment on Greenwood Street. The other victim, who police did not identify, was listed in critical but stable condition at St. Vincents Medical Center.

Court records show that Hernandez, 39, was deported to his native El Salvador in 2013 after being convicted of assaulting a former girlfriend in Stamford, where he worked as a chef at a deli on Long Ridge Road.

Malloy at odds with Trump

Malloy stood his ground Friday over the controversial guidelines after learning of the Hernandez case. The governors office said the state adheres to a 2013 law known as the Connecticut TRUST Act that sets specific criteria for the types of suspects that can be held and flagged for immigration violations by state and local police.

The person must be a convicted felon, gang member or on a terrorist watch list under the law, which went into effect in January 2014, after Hernandez was deported.

Our local laws are designed to protect our residents and also ensure that those in harms way feel safe seeking help from law enforcement, Malloy spokeswoman Kelly Donnelly said Friday. Thats why convicted violent felons are detained for deportation under our state laws that the governor has consistently and strongly supported.

The showdown over Trumps immigration executive orders  the first cracking down on sanctuary cities and the second giving ICE broader latitude over who it deports  foreshadowed a potential tense weekend for Malloy as he traveled to Washington for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association. The group had work sessions with Vice President Mike Pence on Friday and Trump coming up on Monday.

Connecticut has the widest wealth gap in the nation, with its largest cities reliant on tens of millions of dollars in federal aid annually. Several of them are clinging to their status as sanctuary cities, including Hartford and New Haven, despite Trumps executive order threatening to cut off funding for cities that harbor undocumented immigrants.

Bridgeport is weighing the adoption of the designation itself.

Ensuring public safety is a fundamental role of government and President Trump is committed to enforcing the laws that keep violent criminals off our streets, the White House official said. For that reason, all violent criminals that are here illegally will be apprehended and deported but to be effective we need greater security to ensure that these criminals are not entering the country.

On the lookout

The violence in Bridgeport began at 2:45 a.m. Friday, when the couples landlord made a 911 call about a disturbance in the cramped basement apartment, said Police Capt. Brian Fitzgerald. When police got there they found blood everywhere.

Police say the stabbings happened after the mother and the female friend returned home from a night of drinking. Its unclear whether the couples daughter witnessed her mothers murder.

She lost her mom and now she has lost her father, said Police Chief Armando Perez, tearing up. We as a community will embrace her.

Fitzgerald said Gonzalez had been stabbed multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene. Hernandez and the couples daughter were not at the scene and police immediately put out an Amber alert.

A traffic camera on the George Washington Bridge picked up the license plate of a silver Hyundai Sonata rented by Hernandez, tipping law enforcement off on his escape route. At 11:15 a.m., Bridgeport police received a call that the car had been spotted by a Pennsylvania state trooper.

Hernandez refused to pull over and led police on a chase that ended when he crashed into some patrol cars.

Hernandez suffered minor injuries and was held Friday night at the at the Centre County Correctional Facility, according to Pennsylvania officials.

Just over five years earlier, in December 2011, Hernandez was convicted in state Superior Court in Stamford of third-degree assault, second-degree threatening and reckless endangerment for a domestic violence incident against his girlfriend at the time, according to court records.

He walked out of the courtroom with a conditional discharge, a court order to stay away from the victim and court notice that he was going to be deported.

Oscar Obedio Hernandez, a citizen of El Salvador, was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on Oct. 29, 2013. He was removed from the United States by ICE officers in Hartford, Connecticut on Nov. 27, 2013, said Shawn Neudauer, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Republican Peter Lumaj, an immigration lawyer from Fairfield who is exploring a run for governor, slammed Malloy and said his lax policies are putting residents in danger.

Hes really promoting lawlessness and chaos in our state, said Lumaj, who immigrated to the U.S. from Albania. I think were turning our state into a sanctuary state. This thing is going to come back to haunt him.

nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy

Staff writers Frank Juliano, Jim Shay and Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message.
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...
You are here: Home

Western Returned Scholars Association of China on Saturday launched a global job fair, named to attract Chinese studying abroad.

A total of 378 mid- to high-end positions are available in the fair's main venue in Beijing, while more than 5,000 jobs are open for applications on the association's official website.

The job fair also has 129 partner venues in 21 countries, including Britain, France and Germany.

The posts cover an extensive variety, such as bio-medicine, IT technology and financial investment.

Returned overseas students are emerging as major forces in China's national strategy of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security showed a total of 410,000 Chinese students returned from overseas after graduating in 2015, 12.1 percent higher than in 2014.

In 2015, over 520,000 Chinese students studied overseas, and the number is expected to grow in 2016.
BNM anunta concurs pentru postul vacant de expert coordonator (durata determinata) responsabil de control pe teren si din oficiu a sistemelor de plati
Twenty military staff at a Taiwan air base where narcotics were allegedly found tested positive for drugs in initial urine testing, military authority said Thursday.

The 20 people have been sent to a hospital for retesting to confirm the results, Taiwan's defense authority said in a statement, adding it is continuing to conduct urine tests for the remaining 13 percent of personnel at the Ching Chuan Kang air base in Taichung city.

Since Monday, officers have discovered white powder in a number of plastic bags on the base, which they suspected to be narcotics, as well as possible equipment used for consuming drugs. Initial tests showed that the powder could be amphetamine, which is illegal in Taiwan, according to local prosecutors.

The defense authority has organized drug testing for all servicemen at the base since Tuesday.

The authority said it will make full efforts to cooperate with prosecutors in the investigation and vowed harsh punishment for those who take narcotics regardless of their ranks.

Local media reported that narcotics had been found "more than once" at the base, which hosts about 3,000 military staff.
Since George E. Akerson became the first official White House Press Secretary in 1929, under Herbert Hoover, the nations media has had a direct line to Office of the President, most notably in the form of press briefings. Usually mundane events, freshman Press Secretary Sean Spicers briefings have become an unexpected spectacle of the Trump administrationalready inspiring plentiful memes and SNL skits. The briefings, much like Trumps presidency, are often hostile; while they make news, its often for what Spicer doesnt give reporters, rather than what he does.

Much of the attention paid to these briefings has rightfully been focused on answersor a lack thereoffrom the administration. But a lot can be gleaned by examining the questions, and whos asking them. CJR analyzed transcripts and video from two weeks worth of *press briefings (of which there were seven), from January 31 (when the transcripts first became available) to February 14. We looked at questions asked, topics covered, and outlets called upon to see what we could learn from these early briefings. Heres what we found:

Mainstream outlets are, in fact, called on

Following Spicers very first press briefing on January 21, many mainstream outlets raised concerns about the attention the press secretary gave conservative media. The first four outlets called on that day were New York Post, CBN, Univision, and Fox News. Of course, conservative outlets saw things differently. Fox News applauded Spicers engagement with outlets beyond the usual suspects, calling it a really refreshing start to the Trump press policy. To demonstrate the break from tradition, The New York Times mapped out the briefing room seating chart and compared outlets Spicer called on to those called on by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs under Barack Obama.

RELATED: Former White House photographer grabs headlines with Instagram sass

What we found, however, is that the mainstream media still got a chance to ask questions at every briefing we analyzed. In some cases, mainstream outlets were even selected to ask first questions.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

To give a sense of whos being called on,we grouped outlets in the graphics below by ideological slant and by medium.

When it comes to ideologies, outlets from across the spectrum are called on, and in fairly equal measure.

Outlets called on, by ideological slant

When it comes to mediumprint, digital, broadcast, and radioeach type of outlet is represented, with digital media notable coming out on top.

Outlets called on, by medium

Conservative media is tough on Trump

While not every question deserves a gold star, conservative media isnt letting Trump off the hook. One standout reporter from the briefings we analyzed is John Roberts of Fox Newswho consistently asked tough questions and wasnt afraid to challenge Spicers answers.

During the February 14 briefing, for example, reporters hammered Spicer with questions about Michael Flynns resignation. When Spicer eventually turned to Fox News, Roberts didnt let up and asked for specifics on a possible investigation into Flynns actions. When Spicer started to dodge again, Roberts pushed, saying, I understand. Im speaking to the actual evidence, that the FBI has transcripts of these intercepts, which I assume were done by the NSA via a FISA Court order. Was there any communication between the White House Counsels Office and the FBI? Its the kind of steadfast questioning that resists the bounds of partisanship.

RELATED: An essential reading list for understanding Donald Trump

Heres another thoughtful question posed by conservative media, asked by Townhalls Katie Pavlich:

Today, President Trump talked about Christian genocide at the National Prayer Breakfast, and last year the Obama State Department officially declared a genocide by ISIS against Christians and other minority and religious groups in the Middle East and North Africa. Now that Rex Tillerson has been sworn in as the Secretary, what specifically is the administration planning to do to comply with the legal obligations of protecting these groups under the UN 1948 Treaty?

And this question asked by Sarah Westwood from The Washington Examiner: The President and his national security advisor have been clear the administration wants to put Iran on notice, but they havent specified what that is. What options are on the table? And are there any options, like military action, that might be off the table at this point?

If Trump and his team expected conservative outlets to be a relief from mainstream media pressure, they were wrong.

Skype seats loom large, with mixed results

Perhaps the most visible change to the White House briefings under Spicer is the introduction of Skype seats, wherein journalists and commentators from around the country are beamed into the briefing room and called on to ask questions. The White House has not yet released any details of the selection process, only stating that outlets more than 50 miles outside of Washington, DC would be considered for a virtual seat. In the seven briefings we analyzed, Spicer called on 14 reporters and commentators, representing outlets from 11 states. Called on most often were journalists from Ohio and Florida, states with influential and often decisive electoral colleges.

Skype seats called on, by state

Also notable is the percentage of broadcast outlets called on by Spicer, accounting for nearly 65 percent of all Skype seats.

Skype seats called on, by medium

The intention behind the initiative, which was originally floated by NBCs Chuck Todd, is a good one. By opening up briefings to reporters from outlets that cant afford to permanently base a correspondent in DC, Spicer can hear questions that move the conversation beyond the Beltway. Results so far have been mixed.

Some local reporters have used issues in their regions to speak to broader national problems. Josh McElveen of WMUR in New Hampshire referenced his states opioid crisis and right to work debate to question the administrations position on the two issues, which have national implications. John Huck, a reporter with a Fox affiliate in Las Vegas, asked Spicer for assurances that the administrations rollback of financial regulations wouldnt leave Nevadans holding the bill. Again, it was a question based in local experience thats of national importance.

Still, for every solid, issues-oriented Skype seat question, there has been another one that begins with Commander Spicer, its a pleasure, and ends with Does President Trump want to start returning the peoples land to the people? That question came from Portland, Oregon-based conservative radio host Lars Larson, and showcases the problem with including pundits and ideologues among the serious reporters who have been given the chance to join the briefing.

Spicer has taken questions from the monitors at four of his briefings, and theres plenty of time to improve the process. If the White House communications team doubles down on local reporters and cuts the talk radio bloviators, the Skype seat innovation will be worth keeping around.

Controversies drive coverage

In the first weeks of his administration, President Trump met in Washington with four foreign leaders and spoke with dozens more over the phone. He also authorized a raid in Yemen that resulted in the death of a US servicemember and several Yemeni civilians. All of this took place against intense speculation about Trumps relationship with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and doubts about the administrations commitment to the Iran nuclear deal.

As would be expected with any new administration, Spicers early briefings have been consumed with questions on impending legislation and changes to American foreign policy. Also unsurprisingly, when Trump announced Neil Gorsuch as his Supreme Court nomination on January 31, questions on the pick flooded the conversation. But much of Spicers time has been spent answering questions of a less typical nature, as reporters have pressed him on Trumps controversial travel ban, the actions of now-former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and reports of disorder within the West Wing. As a result, other important topics, like health care, unifying the country, and race relations, fall by the wayside.

Questions by topic

* All transcripts were obtained directly from the White House website. Not included in this survey were remarks from Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, who spoke and took questions at the beginning of the February 14 briefing.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the president who hired George Akerson as the first White House press secretary.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Carlett Spike and Pete Vernon are the authors of this piece. Spike is a CJR contributor and Vernon is a CJR Delacorte Fellow.
Despite publishers disillusionment with low financial returns, there is no sign of them retreating from publishing material directly onto Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and other distribution platforms.

Anxiety and uncertainty abound around the future of journalism. The initial promises from social media platforms of revenue for publishers are yet to materialize. Even as traffic rises, monetization remains a work in progress. Some publishers and industry watchers have started to question the conventional wisdom pushing the pursuit of scale.

In looking more closely at the relationship between platforms and publishers, its impossible to escape the conclusion that platforms are the dominant partner. Mark Zuckerbergs manifesto last week reminded us that social platforms like Facebook need the words produced by newsrooms to feed its billions of users and generate digital advertising revenue. Publishers rely on social media to exponentially increase the visibility of their work, and to bring in ad dollars via revenue-sharing models that are, slowly, being established.

Research conducted by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism shows publishers wading deeper into the Wild West of social media. During election week alone, the 14 publishers we studied made a total of 12,120 posts designed to sit natively on platforms, rather than drive traffic back to their own websitesan average of 866 per publisher.

We began tracking publishers activity on social platforms nine months ago as part of our ongoing Platforms and Publishers project. Our first week-long study in April 2016 covered nine publishers across 12 social platforms: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, CNN, The Washington Post, Fox News, Vox, Vice News, and BuzzFeed . We have repeated this data collection quarterly, and expanded the research to include four additional platforms and five more publishers, including three regional publishers: the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Buzzfeed News, and Vice.

In April 2016, heres how nine diverse journalism companies were posting across 21 different platforms:

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

By February 2017, heres how this landscape shifted:

There is no singular trend in the data we collected. Publishers are still experimenting with how best to reach, retain, and monetize their audiences. Meanwhile, the platform landscape is constantly changing: The tech companies behind the social platforms are continually competing to outdo (or replicate) their rivals latest innovations as they wage their own battles to keep publishers not just on but in their platforms.

Below are 10 takeaways from the three phases of data collection on platforms and publishers:

1. Election week saw a big increase in platform activity

Our third period of data collection began on Monday, November 7, and coincided with the week of the US election. It came as no surprise that we saw significant spikes in publishers activity across platforms, compared to the two previous phases of our analysis.

2. Publishers arent cooling on Instant Articles

But theyre not going all in, either.

Instant Articles is a format developed by Facebook that allows publishers to post articles natively to the platform. When a publisher posts one of its articles as an Instant Article on Facebook, the mobile reader is directed to a fast-loading page stored on Facebooks own servers. The downside for publishers is the article does not generate traffic back to the publishers own site, resulting in a loss of control over audience data, fewer opportunities to entice users to engage with further content, an increased reliance on Facebooks ecosystem, and the inability to shield content behind a paywall.

Looking at how much publishers have embraced Instant Articles is a barometer for their attitude toward hosting content on Facebook. Posting an Instant Article represents a clear choice by the publisher: to cede control over advertising and appearance to Facebook.

In September, Digiday reported that some publishers appeared to be cooling on Instant Articles. Findings from the first six months of our study do not support this. The picture is rather more nuanced. While some have reined in their use of Instant Articles (CNN), others have increased it (The Huffington Post). While some have remained pretty consistent, others have fluctuated (The New York Times). Our snapshots cant speak for the publishers overall strategy, which may change week to week. But it is clear that there is no mass rejection of Facebooks native publishing format.

The major players:

Vox (96%), BuzzFeed News (93%), BuzzFeed (84%), Fox News (83%), The Washington Post (82%), and The Huffington Post (both 82%) have fully embraced Instant. ( The Washington Post is no surprise; it decided to go all in on Instant Articles as early as September 2015.)

The New York Daily News (4%) and The Wall Street Journal (3%) post a tiny proportion of their links as Instant Articles.

Chicago Tribune , Los Angeles Times , and Vice News are not using Instant articles.

The New York Times (49%) and CNN (28%) are striking a middle ground.

3. On Instant, Vice News stands out from other digital natives

One might expect digital native Vice Newsone arm of a company whose name has become code for all things millennialto post content natively on Facebook like other digital natives such as Vox and BuzzFeed News. But Vice News has outright rejected Instant Articles, posting exactly zero of its articles via Instant. This positions Vices strategy alongside the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Timesthe latter being both tronc-owned, subscription-based regional newspapers.

This strategy aligns with how Vice CEO Shane Smith spoke publicly last year about publishers handing social platforms too much control over the distribution and monetization of journalism:

This is the biggest problem of the world: Facebook has bought two-thirds of the new media companies out there without spending a dime because they own a majority of their mobile. Thats great for Facebook, but bad for their platform. Thats why were trying to get on all platforms because we can monetize on all platforms then we can get away from the patrimony of Facebook.

4. Digital natives are embracing native Facebook contentwhile regional publishers consistently shun it

Of course, the content publishers post on social media goes beyond articles. It can include images, video, and livestreams as well. We make the distinction between native and networked content in our research. Native content is hosted on the social platform; on Facebook, native content includes Instant Articles, Live video, photos and galleries, non-live videos. Networked content drives traffic to destinations outside of the platforms, such as a publishers website: Users follow links that go outside Facebook and on to the open Web.

Below is a chart that shows the proportion of native and networked content publishers posted on Facebook in the week surrounding the election:

Here again, we can see a reluctance of the regional publishers in our sample to cede control of their content to Facebook. There are three possible explanations for this finding.

First, the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times have subscription-based business models, which rely on driving traffic back to their websites in order to encourage readers to sign up for access to their paywalled content. Because Instant Articles keep users on the Facebook platform, it could be smart business strategy for these regional papers to only loosely tie their content to the social platform.

On the other hand, there could be cultural reasons why regional publishers such as the Tribune and the LA Times do not post much to Instant Articles. Local and regional newsrooms, often strapped for resources and saddled with a legacy print product, can find it difficult to adapt to the continually changing opportunities and demands of distributed media platforms. As a journalist at one local outlet told us:

We are still very much tied to our print deadlines; people still very much have print job description.I would love to be in a place where we are thinking about engaging an audience via Snapchat Story or Facebook Instant Articles. Butwe are just not there yet.

There is one final reason we might expect to see these regional newspapers posting less native content. This pattern may be symptomatic of a broader problem many local publishers have had with gaining access to, and building relationships with, platform representatives. Representatives of local and regional publications have frequently complained in interviews of having less access to, or access to lower-ranking, partnership managers at platform companies. Indeed, neglecting the needs of local publishers in particular is a problem that Facebook has acknowledged publicly.

5. Instagrams stock is rising among publishers

With an active monthly user base of 600 million and growing, Instagram remains popular with publishers, despite making it close to impossible to drive traffic out of the platform. In keeping with reports of increased engagement by users with publisher content on Instagram, publishers use increased sharply during election week. Four-hundred-and-eight Instagram posts were recorded (340 images and 68 videos)almost twice as many posts made during the first two rounds of data collection. This may in part be driven by Instagrams introduction of an algorithm that changed users feeds from being chronological to being ordered to show the moments we believe you will care about the most, a move said to have created a direct mandate [for publishers] to post photos, videos and stories that users want.

A number of publishers upped their Instagram game during election week, most notably Fox News and CNN. Fox News made 105 posts over the week (an average of 15 per day), smashing its previous record of 52. CNN posted 50 timesalmost three times the 17 made in both previous data collection periods.

6. Snapchat Stories and Instagram Stories facilitate TV-like coverage, raising questions about brand/image

Platforms such as Snapchat Stories and Instagram Stories encourage publishers to build content through a rapid series of punchy, sequential visual updates. As such, they are often used to provide live, insider coverage of pre-arranged events or dramatic breaking news stories.

The Washington Post makes extensive use of Snapchat Stories to cover events. In our April collection, 73 of the 84 snaps were dedicated to live coverage of the White House Correspondents Dinner. In the November collection, their Snapchat included election coverage, anti-Trump riots, and the Cleveland Cavaliers visit to the White House.



Above: Snaps from The Washington Post for the White House correspondents dinner.

In our August collection, The New York Times amassed 216 snaps (easily the most weve observed from any one outlet since our study began), thanks to daily updates and reports from the Rio Olympics. The sheer quantity of snaps from the Times indicates a strategic decision to provide daily Olympics coverage via Snapchat Stories. But the visual style is also noteworthy. Much of the coverage contained garish bright text, arrows scrawled by finger, giant emojis, and uncharacteristically colloquial phrases like China is boss, in a break from what one might typically associate with The Gray Lady. Most of the snaps began and ended with a journalist talking directly to the camera, like a TV newscaster.

Content such as this prompts a number of questions around publishers, platforms, and brand. Is the Times adapting its style in an attempt to appeal to Snapchats core demographic? Or is it using the likes of Snapchat Stories and Instagram Stories to take risks and experiment, since any missteps will disappear within 24 hours? How does a newsrooms native brand translate from one platform to another?



Above: Snaps from The New York Times during the Rio Olympics.

7. Instagram Stories are pretty new, but many publishers have been quick to adopt it

Instagram Stories was only one week old when we collected data in August 2016, but many publishers were already showing a willingness to use it. During the week of our analysis, we recorded 151 stories across five accounts. (CNN in particular used it extensively in coverage of the Rio Olympics.) Three months later, during Phase 3, that figure jumped to 253 stories from eight accounts.

The platforms active on Instagram Stores also strongly correspond to those on Snapchat, indicating a strong commitment to visual, ephemeral content across both platforms. The Washington Post, Fox News, and The New York Timesthe three most active on Instagram Stories during election weekalso accounted for 76 percent of the snaps we saw during that time.

Finally, while the overall number of snaps recorded on Snapchat Stories (319) was greater than the equivalent for Instagram Stories, it was the lowest figure for Snapchat weve seen so farbucking a general trend for higher levels of use during the week of the election.



Above: Instagram Stories from select publishers during election week.

8. For video, most publishers go with Facebook over YouTube

YouTubes potential audience and opportunities to monetize carry obvious appeal for longer-form video. The format has become a priority for Facebook, with strategic changes to the News Feed algorithm favoring video.

A direct comparison between Facebook and YouTube shows that the majority of the publishers in our study posted more videos to Facebook (both regular and live) than to YouTube. In fact, the vast majority of videos uploaded to YouTube have come from just three publishers: the two broadcasters, CNN and Fox News, and The Wall Street Journal. Even CNN, among the most prolific YouTube users, recorded very similar numbers across the two platforms, posting 247 videos to Facebook (56 Live and 191 regular)only nine fewer than it uploaded to YouTube.

9. iOS 10 persuaded some subscription-based publishers to embrace Apple News

Above: Paywalled content on the Chicago Tribunes Apple News channel.

In September 2016, Apple released iOS 10, which gave publishers the option of placing Apple News articles behind a paywall. When users first attempt to access such content, they are greeted by a message stating that the story requires a subscription and prompted to either enter their existing credentials or sign up for an in-app subscription (with Apple taking 30 percent of subscription revenue). For some subscription-based publishers, this option paved the way for their use of the platform. The number of articles posted by the Chicago Tribune increased 1,810 percent, from 67 (in the August collection) to 1,280 during election week. The Wall Street Journals output increased tenfold, from 40 to 433, while The Los Angeles Times went up 68 percent, from 513 to 864. The paywall was not adopted by all of the publishers with a subscription modelmost notably, The New York Times, which continues to offer free content via Apple News.

10. LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Tumblr are important to certain publishers

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Apple, and Google inevitably dominate the conversation around platforms and publishers. But otherssuch as LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Tumblrremain an active part of many strategies. Both The New York Times and The Washington Post made a significant number of posts to all three, Vox is a frequent user of LinkedIn and Tumblr, while The Wall Street Journal makes consistent use of LinkedIn.

The Platforms and Publishers project at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; The Foundation to Promote Open Society; The Abrams Foundation, Inc.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Pete Brown is the Research Director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, and runs the Content Analysis Hub for the Publishers and Platforms project.
Louisiana Womans Contents Valued at $1000 in Bankruptcy and $100,000 After Fire Loss

A Monroe, La., woman pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a scheme where she lied on U.S. Bankruptcy Court filings and insurance documents, according to United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley.

Lasandra Laverne Edwards, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen L. Hayes to one count of mail fraud. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks. According to the guilty plea, Edwards filed for bankruptcy in October 2013 and valued her furniture and clothing at $1,000. In November of 2013, Edwards purchased a renters policy that valued her assets at $100,000. Edwards house caught fire and burned on December 1, 2013. The defendant attended a creditors hearing associated with her bankruptcy case on December 10, 2013. She reaffirmed the information in the previous filings that her furniture and clothing were valued at $1,000. However, the next day on December 11, 2013, Edwards filed a claim under her insurance policy with State Farm falsely stating that her personal property was valued at $116,063.

Edwards faces up to 20 years in prison, one to three years of supervised release, restitution and a $250,000 fine. The court set a sentencing date of June 1, 2017.

The U.S. Trustees Office  Region V, Louisiana State Police and Monroe Fire Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tennille M. Gilreath and Cytheria D. Jernigan are prosecuting the case.

New Washington Smartphone Apps Reinforce Workplace Safety, Train Teen Workers

Improving workplace safety just got easier with two new free apps available from the Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). They were developed with grant money awarded by L&Is Safety and Health Investment Projects (SHIP) Program. Both can be downloaded for IOS or Android devices.

The SHIP Program funds innovative projects that prevent workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities and help injured workers return to work.

We hope all employers will give these apps a try, said Jenifer Jellison, program manager for L&Is SHIP grant program. Theyre convenient, easy to use in the workplace, and offer a great new way to prevent injuries and reinforce safe work practices.

The Good Observation, Near-Miss and Accident Reporting app provides a simple and effective way to document safety incidents in the workplace. Employers can use it to photograph a safe practice, a near-miss or an accident, and then use the finger-drawing tool to markup the photo. A quick-report feature lets you save the photo, add a few details and send to others in your organization.

The new workplace safety tool was developed by three companies working together  John W. Shervey & Associates, Shuchart Construction and Mellora  using a $45,735 SHIP grant.

The app is suitable for most industries and can be used for training, hazard recognition, risk analysis or process improvement. Theres also a Spanish version, and theres a YouTube video that shows how to use the app. Download the app at WA-HSEQ app.

California Couple Use U-Haul Truck to Stage Auto Crash

Paige Nolasco sentenced in felony insurance fraud scheme, according to the Sacramento, California District Attorneys Office. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail, five years probation and order to pay $1,781 in restitution.

On April 30, 2016, Nolasco girlfriend rented a U-Haul truck and purchased insurance. Nolasco and her girlfriend intended to stage an accident and use the insurance money to repair Nolascos previously damaged car. The plan was for the girlfriend to run into Nolascos vehicle with the U-Haul and pretend they were strangers. The girlfriend backed out of the plan at the last minute. Nolasco proceeded to jump into the drivers seat of the U-Haul and ran into her own car.

On May 9, 2016, Nolasco filed an insurance claim against U-Haul alleging someone driving a U-Haul hit her car. Subsequent investigation revealed Nolasco and her girlfriend lived together and were not strangers. Law enforcement also discovered evidence that the alleged damage to Nolascos car existed prior to the truck rental date. Nolasco later admitted to staging the accident.
It may not be perfect, but its home.

With that in mind, Launch Louisiana volunteer Shanna Forrestall says the local grassroots flood recovery groups new campaign is Lets Rock! The focus: providing the Sheetrock  drywall  needed by affected residents to make their gutted homes livable again, six months after the August disaster.

They can live without fancy floors or painted walls, they just need walls, says Forrestall, an actress and Gonzales native. I cant imagine being out of your neighborhood that long and trying to hold a family together.

As flood recovery is a process, Lets Rock! joins the nonprofits ongoing campaign, Coats for Cajuns, which continues to provide winter clothing for residents who lost theirs when the waters inundated their homes. In the early post-flood days, Launch Louisiana canvassed neighborhoods handing out supplies and hugs and generally helping those in need.

Were trying to do what is relevant now, thats maybe getting missed, Forrestall says.

In the midst of the presidential campaign, national media pretty much overlooked the 1,000-year flood event, she says.

What we see right now is families not getting insurance money. Either its being delayed or its not coming, and theyve been gutted, they just need the money to get the Sheetrock up so they can get home, so its that little step.

Donors can sponsor one piece of the material, a wall, a room or a whole house with amounts of $20-$1,300.

Whatever you can do, it will go toward helping families, and you can help them right now, this week, she says.

Launch Louisiana organizer Janet Rhodus, of Baton Rouge, says the campaign also is seeking donations for home insulation as well.

There is a great need remaining, says Rhodus, whos done volunteer relief work all her adult life.

Rhodus says she formed LL because there was a need beyond what was being provided by FEMA and the Red Cross.

During this disaster, Forrestall explains, Rhodus has honed in on families of veterans, those with elderly or disabled members.

You know, people who just really need the help, Forrestall says.

Rhodus says shes had only about 20 volunteers along the way, in addition to a few local individual and corporate sponsors. Theyve also worked in conjunction with the Cajun Navy, another volunteer group who headed out in their own fishing boats immediately after the floods to rescue people trapped in their homes.

Forrestall, who now lives in Los Angeles, was out of the country when south Louisiana flooded. Returning to Los Angeles, she heard from family and friends back home about the devastation.

I flew home, and when I saw how bad it was I was like Oh my gosh, Ive got to do something, so I basically worked for free for the last three or four months to just try to help, she says.

Longtime friend Melissa Arman connected Forrestall to Rhodus. The actress made the Los Angeles-to-Louisiana flight every two or three weeks during those months, assisting with all facets of Launch Louisianas work, including becoming its unofficial spokeswoman. Back on the West Coast, she continued her work for the cause, soliciting individual and corporate donations of cash, supplies and coats.

At one point I brought in $50,000 worth of mosquito bands from a company called Bug Bam and Shacklee (a health supplement manufacturer) has sent multiple shipments that are valued at $60,000 each  vitamins, healthy cleaning supplies, meal bars  and it was perfect to hand out to these families who were living in rough conditions and trying to rebuild, Forrestall says.

Shacklee, through its nonprofit arm, has also given thousands of dollars in grant money to flood victims, Forrestall says.

She collected 230 pounds of new and almost-new coats and shipped them to Louisiana via Greyhound for distribution, and produced online commercials for the Launch group, including one for Lets Rock!

A group of Los Angeles-area autistic youth created the spots animation at no charge.

The generosity has blown me away, but its not enough. There are still people suffering, Forrestall says. People living in sheds, no electricity. People living in tents; thats just not OK.

Continuing to remind others elsewhere that 150,000 families were displaced and still need aid is crucial to getting them back under their own roofs, Forrestall stresses.

I know that everybody in Baton Rouge has been helping, she says. Im not even asking Baton Rouge for the money because I know these people have helped, they have given, they have sacrificed for their neighbors, and their family, and their friends. What I ask is that they share it (via social media, email, etc.) because I know I have friends in other states that have said, Wow, what can I do to help?

By visiting launchlouisiana.com, anybody anywhere in the country or world can make a donation and help someone in Louisiana, she says.

Unfortunately, Rhodus says she believes the relief organizations receiving the most money are wasting it on overhead and ineffective projects.

If not for churches and individuals like myself, the relief needs would be much greater, she says. Organizations such as LL are run by passion and volunteers. We get more done with fewer assets.

I just wish we could do more, Forrestall agrees. I wish everybody could do more  the national government, the president  but I think its going to come down to us, the citizens we should know that when someone else needs a hand, you give it.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Earlier this month, a Florida appeals court upheld a PIP statute that states a chiropractor isnt considered an authorized medical physician for the purposes of an emergency medical condition determination.

The facts, as outlined in the opinion, noted that in February 2013, an insured of Progressives, Alejandro Godoy, was involved in a car crash in Miami. He suffered injuries relating to the accident and treated with Eduardo Garrido, a chiropractor.

Godoy assigned his Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits to Garrido, resulting in Garrido submitting invoices to the insurer for chiropractic treatment that totaled $6075.12.

Progressive paid $2500 in PIP benefits and refused to pay any more, as there was no required determination of an emergency medical condition that necessitated treatment by an authorized physician as per section 627.736 (1)(a)3 of the Florida Statutes.

Garrido responded by filing a declaratory action against Progressive which sought the full $10,000 PIP benefit limit and disputed the fact that he was not qualified as an authorized physician, because chiropractors are not included in the list of authorized physicians under the statute.

The trial court found that a portion of Floridas PIP statute is unconstitutional as applied to chiropractors; and (ii) determined that, in the absence of an emergency medical condition diagnosis, Floridas PIP statute allows an insured to recover up to $10,000 in PIP benefits.

The trial court certified the constitutional issue to the appeals court as a question of great public importance.

The appeals court reversed the trial courts findings and found that the statutes requirements are not unconstitutional as applied to chiropractors, thus his diagnosis of Godoy was insufficient to trigger the $10,000 PIP benefits limit.

The case is Progressive American Insurance Co. v. Eduardo J. Garrido D.C. P.A.
AKRON, Ohio - At least two local chapters of Indivisible, a national movement to resist President Donald Trump's agenda, have planned a joint rally for this weekend to defend the Affordable Care Act.

The Rally to Defend the Affordable Care Act is scheduled for 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Summit County Courthouse, 209 S. High St. in downtown Akron.

Facebook event pages show about 40 people are planning to attend and 90 more are interested.

The Affordable Care Act is a hot political issue, as Republicans pledge to repeal and replace the law, also known as Obamacare. Akron Indivisible Defense posted, "We should not put insurance companies back in charge of our health care."

On its event page, Indivisible Cuyahoga Falls is asking for volunteers, sign-makers and speakers.

Since Indivisible posted its online guide earlier this year, "Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda," with best practices for reaching state and federal lawmakers, local Indivisible groups have sprung up in every state. Currently, 19 groups have organized within 20 miles of Akron.

Highland Square in November hosted a Love Trumps Hate rally, which drew about 200 marchers.
Akron police car 3.jpg

An Akron man is charged with murder in his wife's fatal shooting, police said Friday.

(File photo)

AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man is charged with murder in the Friday shooting death of his wife, police said.

Donald Alexander Sr., 51, is accused of shooting his wife Shannon M. Meyer shortly after 5:30 a.m. at a house on 14th Street Southwest near West Wilbeth Road, police said.

Meyer, 37, was found dead at the house with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Investigators believe Alexander argued with Meyer before he pulled out a gun and shot her, police said. Investigators did not release any other details.

Alexander was taken into custody and will be arraigned Saturday in Akron Municipal Court, police said.

Alexander's criminal history includes a 1998 conviction for domestic violence, but court records do not show any previous felony charges against him.

This is the second domestic-related fatal shooting this week in Akron. On Tuesday, investigators arrested a man who is accused of shooting a 31-year-old woman at a house on Romig Road near Kendale Drive.

Duane M. Lucas, 29, of Akron, is charged with murder in the death of Brittany Littlejohn and remains in custody at the Summit County Jail.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.
malls from F1

J.C. Penney store at Chapel Hill Mall in Akron, OH, Wednesday, February 1, 2017.

(Marvin Fong/Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- J.C. Penney Co., Inc. announced today, as part of its plan to optimize its national retail operations and return to profitability, that it plans to close 130 to 140 stores nationwide, displacing about 6,000 employees.

Under the plan, the company also expects to close two distribution facilities. The company said it will announce which stores will close in coming weeks, but J.C. Penney has 12 stores in Northeast Ohio:

-- Richmond Town Square in Richmond Heights

-- The Shoppes at Parma

-- Great Northern Mall in North Olmsted

-- SouthPark Center in Strongsville

-- Avon Crossing in Avon

-- Great Lakes Mall in Mentor

-- Market Square at Montrose in Akron

-- Midway Mall in Elyria

-- Chapel Hill Mall in Akron

-- Tri County Plaza in Akron

-- Carnation Mall in Alliance

-- Canton Centre in Canton

"In 2016, we achieved our $1 billion EBITDA target and delivered a net profit for the first time since 2010; however, we believe we must take aggressive action to better align our retail operations for sustainable growth. During the year, it became evident the stores that could fully execute the company's growth initiatives of beauty, home refresh and special sizes generated significantly higher sales, and a more vibrant in-store shopping environment," said Marvin R. Ellison, chairman and chief executive officer of JCPenney.

"We believe the relevance of our brick and mortar portfolio will be driven by the implementation of these initiatives consistently to a larger percent of our stores. Therefore, our decision to close stores will allow us to raise the overall brand standard of the Company and allocate capital more efficiently.

"We understand that closing stores will impact the lives of many hard working associates, which is why we have decided to initiate a voluntary early retirement program for approximately 6,000 eligible associates. By coordinating the timing of these two events, we can expect to see a net increase in hiring as the number of full-time associates expected to take advantage of the early retirement incentive will far exceed the number of full-time positions affected by the store closures," added Ellison.

"We believe closing stores will also allow us to adjust our business to effectively compete against the growing threat of online retailers. Maintaining a large store base gives us a competitive advantage in the evolving retail landscape since our physical stores are a destination for personalized beauty offerings, a broad array of special sizes, affordable private brands and quality home goods and services. It is essential to retain those locations that present the best expression of the JCPenney brand and function as a seamless extension of the omnichannel experience through online order fulfillment, same-day pick up, exchanges and returns," said Ellison.

"While many pure play e-commerce companies are experiencing dramatically increasing fulfillment costs, we are pleased with the double digit growth of jcpenney.com and how leveraging our brick and mortar locations is enabling us to offset the last-mile delivery cost. We believe the future winners in retail will be the companies that can create a frictionless interaction between stores and e-commerce, while leveraging physical locations to minimize the growing operational costs of delivery. In fact, in 2016 approximately 75 percent of all online orders touched a physical store. Even with a reduced store count, JCPenney is competitively positioned to deliver a differentiated department store model that meets the expectations of a digital world with an inspiring, tangible shopping environment," Ellison added.

As a result of the store actions, J.C. Penney will close a distribution center located in Lakeland, Florida, in early June, at which time operations will transfer to the company's logistics facility in Atlanta. The company also is in the process of selling its supply chain facility in Buena Park, California.

Associates who will be impacted by the store and distribution center closures will receive separation benefits, which includes assistance identifying other employment opportunities and outplacement services such as resume writing and interview preparation.
MORELAND HILLS, Ohio -- Open burning, Deepwood Drive: Responding to a complaint shortly before midnight on Feb. 19, an officer determined that residents were using an open fire to cook s'mores.

Complaints, Chagrin Boulevard: A resident at the REM Ohio Inc. group home called police on the afternoon of Feb. 20 saying the staff was taking her property away and not giving it back, telling her it belonged to someone else.The resident was advised that it was not a police matter, that the staff would handle it and to dial 911 only in case of emergency.

Complaints (general), Chagrin River Road: After a resident reported on Feb. 19 shortly before 1 p.m. that the neighbor's pit bull was again out running loose with people in the area. Police got together with both parties and took photographic evidence, which could result in charges being filed if it happens again.

Speeding, expired operator's license; Park Lane, Miles Road: A driver stopped for speeding on Feb. 18 was found to have an expired license. The car was left behind, possibly overnight, while the driver looked for a valid operator to remove it from the scene.

Suspicion, Chagrin Boulevard and SOM Center Road: When a jewelry shop owner called about a suspicious white van parked outside about 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 18, an officer learned that it was a scheduled delivery van for another business in the plaza.

Suspicion, Bentleyville Road: A dog sitter reported hearing hard banging on the roof of the house -- enough to rattle the house about three separate times -- on Feb. 17 shortly after midnight. Police found that the house was secure but were unable to locate the source of the noise. The dog sitter was told to call back if further concern arose.

Suspicion, Woodburn Drive: A caller reported being out for most of the afternoon of Feb. 16, then returning about 4 p.m. to find size 11 utility boot prints leading to the back of the house, to the back deck and around the pool.

Earlier in the day, a Chagrin Boulevard resident also noticed footprints outside, and police determined that it was an electric company meter reader.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.
You are here: Home

More than 1,200 illegal immigrants have been captured by police in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province since the Spring Festival.

A total of 1,178 people, all nationals of Southeast Asian countries, were arrested for trying to enter Guangdong without legal permits, according to the provincial border police Thursday.

Another 48 were captured in Hong Kong, but police gave no details of their nationalities.

Most of the immigrants were apprehended at bus and railway stations, ports and work places such as construction sites or factories, police added.

Police in Guangdong and Hong Kong have strengthened cooperation at borders to curb illegal immigration.
EastCleveland3.jpg

Derrick Wheatt (middle) and Laurese Glover (right) are suing the city of East Cleveland and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office for 20 years in prison for a killing for which they were later cleared.

(John Harper/cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two East Cleveland men who spent two decades in prison for murder convictions that were later overturned are suing the city, detectives and prosecutors who handled their case.

Laurese Glover, Eugene Johnson and Derrick Wheatt were convicted in 1996 for the death of Clifton Hudson the year before. All three maintained their innocence and were released from prison in 2015. The charges against them were dropped in August, more than a year after a judge granted new trials based on new evidence and the judge's finding that a former Cuyahoga County prosecutor "maliciously inserted himself into a criminal proceeding."

Glover, 38, and Wheatt, 39, argued in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that East Cleveland detectives who investigation Hudson's shooting death manipulated witnesses into identifying the men and withholding information that could help exonerate the men, known as "exculpatory evidence."

(You can read the full lawsuit here or at the bottom of this story.)

Johnson is represented by another attorney, who said Thursday that a separate suit will likely be filed in the coming weeks.

Glover and Wheatt's lawsuit says the case brought by the Prosecutor's Office was "weak" and relied on testimony from witness Tamika Harris, who was 14 years old at the time. The men say Harris was manipulated by detectives into saying the men did it.

"Had the Defendant Officers disclosed their misconduct, including but not limited to their withholding of exculpatory evidence and fabrication of evidence to prosecutors, Plaintiffs, or their counsel, the prosecution would not have been pursued and Plaintiffs would not have been convicted," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says former county prosecutors Carmen Marino and Deborah Naiman told the East Cleveland Police Department in 1998 to not release records relating to Hudson's death to the defendants, who by that point had been convicted, and instead told the department to send copies of the records to the Prosecutor's Office. Records were not released until 2013, when attorneys for the three again requested them.

"As a result of Defendants' actions, Plaintiffs spent an additional 17 years wrongfully imprisoned before these reports and the exculpatory information therein finally came to light," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says East Cleveland defendants and county prosecutors violated Glover and Wheatt's constitutional rights to due process and inflicted emotional distress. It is asking for an unnamed amount in damages.

Elizabeth Wang, Glover and Wheatt's attorney, said her clients are trying to move on with their lives.

"They're still young, relatively speaking, but they lost a lot and are still trying to move on the best they can," Wang said.

Even if the men were able to obtain a judgment against the city of East Cleveland, it is unclear whether they will ever be able to collect damages. The city has been in financial straits for years.

Asked about that, Wang said, "that is something we're aware of and we'll see what happens."

East Cleveland law Director Willa Hemmons said Thursday that she had not yet seen the lawsuit. Prosecutor's Office spokesman Ryan Miday said the office is reviewing the lawsuit.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge James Gwin.

Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo in 2015 ordered a new trial after lawyers working for the Ohio Innocence Project found evidence was suppressed at the original trial that threw into question the state's theory.

The 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals upheld Russo's decision to overturn the convictions. Prosecutors then reached an agreement with the men's lawyers to ask Russo to dismiss the original charges without prejudice, meaning the case against them can be re-filed should prosecutors decide they have probable cause.

Miday said prosecutors have no intention of re-filing, though the men said they want the case to be dismissed "with prejudice," meaning the case against them can no longer be pursued.

Russo has not decided whether to honor the men's request.

This article has been corrected to reflect the correct name of the man shot and killed in 1995.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
Screen Shot 2017-02-03 at 10.40.57 AM.png

Parma police officer Michael Yonek has resigned

(File photo)

PARMA, Ohio -- A Parma police officer accused of lying to gaming agents at a Cleveland casino resigned from his position.

Michael Yonek resigned Tuesday after meeting with the Parma police Chief Joseph Bobak, Deputy Chief of Police Joseph Manning and Parma Public Safety Director Thomas Weinreich, Capt. Kevin Riley confirmed.

Yonek was accompanied during the meeting by an attorney and a representative from Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association union.

Riley couldn't comment on Yonek's resignation relative to his pending criminal case.

"However, we want the public to know that each and every day, the men and women of the Parma Police Department proudly serve our community, its residents and visitors," Riley said. "Parma Police officers will be held to the highest legal and ethical standards, and criminal misconduct committed by any member of this police department will not be tolerated."

Yonek was indicted earlier this month and faces charges of obstructing official business and identity fraud. He is scheduled for a pretrial conference hearing at 9 a.m. March 7, according to court records.

Yonek, a patrolman who started with the department in August 1997, did not return a call seeking comment Friday afternoon.

His girlfriend Sandra Niermeyer, 31, was indicted Dec. 20, 2016 on charges of identity fraud, forgery, forging identification cards and tampering with records.

Gaming investigators previously said Niermeyer and Yonek were at Jack Casino Nov. 18, 2016 and gave false information to casino officials after they tried to cash in their winnings, according to a report.

Niermeyer asked a casino employee if she could cash in the winnings in Yonek's name, which the employee denied.

Investigators found several discrepancies between Niermeyer statements and the driver's license she gave to casino officials, according to the report. She also provided a Social Security number that did not belong to her, the report says.

Agents noticed Yonek also referred to her as Danielle. Another woman approached the group and called her "Sandy," reports say.

Niermeyer grew hostile when agents said they needed to hold her until they confirmed her identity, the report says.

When Cleveland police asked what her name was, she said Danielle Dobeck, but refused to give her Social Security number. She eventually gave her correct name.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.
huntingtongarage.jpg

Repairs to Cuyahoga County's Huntington Park Garage continue as concrete is replaced on the lower floors.

(ParkMe)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cuyahoga County's Huntington Park Garage, which has been undergoing $20 million in repairs and upgrades for almost a year, needs an additional $1 million to repair concrete on lower floors.

And more money is likely to be requested by the end of March, Public Works Director Michael Dever told County Council's finance committee on Wednesday.

The 41-year-old structure at Lakeside Avenue and West 3rd Street needed extensive structural repairs and replacement of its fire suppression system and elevators.

The four-level garage is used by employees and visitors to the Justice Center, Cuyahoga County Courthouse, the convention center and the Hilton Cleveland Downtown Hotel.

Dever, who has said the extent of the garage's problems would not be evident until work was underway, told the council committee an additional $1 million was needed to fix concrete.

"A lot of concrete repair is taking place," he said. "We are on the lower floors and are doing additional repairs as we chip the concrete. We are still not at the end."

He said council will likely be asked for additional money before the end of March.

Council in 2015 agreed to issue $22 million in bonds to repair the garage repairs and improve handicap access to the Cuyahoga County Courthouse by upgrading the elevator from the parking garage and courthouse bathrooms.

The bonds will be paid off by parking revenue, estimated at $1.6 million a year. That includes income from 510 garage spaces set aside for the Hilton hotel and the county convention center.

Parking rates increased a year ago from $1.25 to $2 per 15 minutes. The maximum daily rate increased from $8 to $10.

When repairs are complete and parking spaces are restriped, the number of spaces will increase from 1,110 to 1,177.

The renovations which will result in 183 fewer transient parking spaces.

Garage repairs are expected to be concluded by late fall. A $10 million underground walkway from the garage to the hotel will be complete by the end of the summer, Dever said.
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ohio

General assistance, Bishop Road:

A woman requested assistance from officers Feb. 19 because she had left her car lights on and the vehicle would not start. When they arrived, it was learned the temporary tag on her vehicle was expired and had been altered. The South Euclid woman, 21, was also found to have an active warrant out of Bainbridge. She was arrested and turned over to officers from that city.

Assault, Millridge Road:

A 12-year-old student at Millridge Elementary School reported Feb. 16 a substitute teacher put his hands on his neck. The incident in under investigation.

Suspicious vehicle, Castlehill Drive:

A boy, 15, reported at 7:28 p.m. Feb. 16 there were two vehicles in his driveway and he was concerned they were occupied by kids from his school that threatened him earlier in the day. Officers learned they were friends of the boy and there was marijuana inside one of the vehicles. A Mayfield Heights boy, 16, is expected to be filed on in juvenile court as a result of the incident.

Disturbance, Miner Road:

A man said Feb. 16 a friend's sister threw water at him and his iPad while he was visiting. He said the woman, 26, became upset during a political conversation. He only asked that the incident be documented.

General assistance, Belwood Drive:

A resident said Feb. 18 she was receiving phone calls from someone claiming to be from a sheriff's department in California and informing her that her credit card had been used fraudulently. An officer contacted the caller and determined it was a legitimate call.

Disturbance, Wilson Mills Road:

A man reported at 1 a.m. Feb. 19 he and his wife were at Denny's and guests at another table were throwing crayons at them and harassing them. Officers determined the two men and one woman at the other table were throwing the crayons on the floor and did not mean to harass the couple. The three were subsequently picked up from the location by an Uber driver.

Telecommunications fraud, Kenbridge Drive:

A man, 93, said Feb. 20 he received a phone call from someone claiming to be his grandson and asking for money to be sent to him in Mexico. The man told the caller his wife handles the money and to call back at a later time. He then called his daughter and confirmed his grandson was at the Ohio State University. When the suspect called back, the man told him to provide the name of his dog in order to prove he was really his grandson. The caller hung up the phone.

Suspicious, Wilson Mills Road:

A Home Depot shopper reported Feb. 21 seeing a young male place a marijuana pipe under a tree near the parking lot. An officer responded and found a pipe, lighter and grinder and returned the items to the station.

See more Highland Heights news at Cleveland.com/hillcrest.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.
Cleveland police car.png

A Cleveland man was shot early Tuesday during a drive-by shooting in the city's Corlett neighborhood.

(File photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Police are investigating after a man was shot Tuesday in a drive-by in Cleveland's Corlett neighborhood.

The 20-year-old victim was later treated at University Hospitals for a gunshot wound to his arm, according to a Cleveland police report.

The shooting happened about 1:30 a.m. in the 13300 block of Chapelside Drive near East 131st Street.

The victim told police he was at a friend's home and stepped outside to wait for a ride. He saw a car carrying a group of women, then heard another car take off, the report says.

Within moments, the man said he heard five or six gunshots and felt a sharp pain, the report says.

Paramedics rushed him to the hospital while police stayed behind to collect several spent bullet casings from the street.

When officers questioned the man's friend, he said both he and the victim were outside speaking with the group of women when a gold Buick passed by. He said a passenger in the car began firing at them both, the report says.

Police continue investigating and no suspects have been identified.

The victim was released from the hospital later on Tuesday, the report says.

To comment on this story, please visit cleveland.com's crime and courts comments section.
MEDINA, Ohio - Medina County officials wouldn't share preliminary autopsy results related to the mysterious death of Lafayette Township trustee Bryon Macron, whose body was pulled from a lake Tuesday, months after his disappearance.

Medina County Sheriff Tom Miller, Coroner Dr. Lisa Deranek and Prosecutor Forrest Thompson held a press conference Thursday that offered little in the way of answers in the months-old investigation.

Miller said that law enforcement officials are not currently searching for a person of interest in Macron's death. He offered no clarity as to whether this means police have a suspect in his death or whether his death was an accident.

Blood found in both Macron's office and SUV came from a single source, Medina County Prosecutor S. Forrest Thompson said.

Authorities confirmed Wednesday that it was Macron's body that was pulled from Chippewa Lake Tuesday afternoon after a kayaker spotted it in the water.

Macron, 45, had been missing since Dec. 16, 2016. An employee of Lafayette Township found Macron's in disarray and it looked like there was an altercation His SUV was later found unoccupied in a public parking lot at Chippewa Lake. Blood was found inside the vehicle.

At the time, law enforcement flew an airplane over the lake and searched the shoreline for clues, but did not send divers into the lake where the abandoned SUV was found. When asked why divers didn't search the lake in December, the sheriff said they had no reason to do so.

"If we thought it was appropriate at the time, if we found something that would indicate we thought he was in there, that would have been done," he said.

"The fact that his car was there, was that not an indicator that he would be in the lake?" a reporter asked.

"That's why the area was searched," he replied.

Neighbors told Cleveland.com that Macron was a family man and loved his wife, Victoria, and their three daughters, Alex Madeline and Mia. The neighbors didn't know of any enemies Macron had.

A lot of questions have gone unanswered, neighbor Janet Pindroh said.

Ray Ratcliff knew Macron back in 1994 and 1995 when they served together in the Marines at Guantanamo Bay.

"Breaks my heart to read this about him," he said. "Bryon was just a great guy. Always made us laugh, and was a great leader and really motivated the troops."
New Jersey voters approved measures in 2014 that give judges more discretion when setting bail and save the state and counties tens of millions of dollars in jail costs, Gov. Chris Christie said in a radio interview earlier this month.

Christie was responding to a comment from a listener who said bail reforms that took effect in January are not working and allow more violent offenders to be released without any oversight.

Christie argued that bail reforms target nonviolent defendants, many of whom are given electronic monitoring bracelets as a condition of their release. He also said he suspected the critic was either a bail agent or was repeating the "crap they put up there" on Facebook.

"The bail bonds community has made a fortune over the years predominately off of the poor in New Jersey, and we now are stopping them from doing that, and they're pissed," he said in a New Jersey 101.5 interview. "Too bad. You shouldn't be making money off the poor that way."

Christie also pointed out that one measure voters approved allows judges to detain defendants who are deemed a flight risk or potential danger without bail, something they couldn't' do before.

New Jersey is one of dozens of states and jurisdictions that have made changes to their bail systems in recent years to be more fair. Cuyahoga County and the state of Ohio are also considering ways to make their systems more equitable and cost effective.

At the same time, cleveland.com has spent the past 10 months examining Cuyahoga County bail systems and ways they could be more equitable and less costly to taxpayers as part of a series, Justice For All. The series also highlights other bail reform efforts across the country.

Read about some of them below:

Georgia class action bail lawsuit roils on: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit heard oral arguments Thursday as part of a class action suit that alleges Calhoun, Georgia's bail practices violate the 14th Amendment's due process and equal protection clauses.

Attorneys with two civil rights advocacy firms filed the suit last year on behalf of Maurice Walker, a 54-year-old mentally disabled man who spent six days in jail, because he could not afford his $160 bail on a charge of public intoxication.

A Georgia federal judge agreed with Walker's attorneys and ordered the city of Calhoun to consider a defendant's ability to pay before setting bail. Calhoun changed some of its polices as a result, but appealed the ruling.

The lawsuit is one of several filed across the country in recent years, arguing that bail discriminates against people who cannot afford to pay for their release. Dozens of court jurisdictions and several states are voluntarily changing their systems to be more fair to poor defendants.

This new wave of bail reform has bail agents -- which profit off indigent suspects who don't have the money for bail -- jockeying to secure the future of their industry.

Two bail agents, Duane "Dog" Chapman and his wife, Beth Chapman, of A&E's "Dog the Bounty Hunter" are leading the charge. They both attended Thursday's hearing on the Calhoun case and had this to say outside the courtroom:

"You can't allow everybody in jail to be let out for free," said Beth Chapman, president of the Professional Bail Agents of the United States, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "There'd be no repercussions, no deterrence, nobody would be out looking for them."

But the judges seemed to agree with Walker's attorneys, who argued that setting bail without considering a defendant's ability to pay is troublesome, The Journal-Constitution's Bill Rankin wrote. One judge said many of the city's arguments were "unpersuasive."

Massachusetts senator introduces bail reform bill: Sen. Ken Donnelly, D-Arlington, proposed legislation this week that would require the state to develop a system that determines pretrial release based on risk of skipping court or committing crimes, rather than ability to pay, masslive.com reports.

"We need to make sure people who deserve to be in [jail] are in people who don't deserve are not in," Donnelly said at a Thursday news conference, according to masslive.com. "It shouldn't be how much money you have."

The bill is among several that Massachusetts senators introduced Thursday aimed at enhancing fairness in the criminal justice system. Legislation introduced by Sen Michael Barrett of Lexington aims to limit the number of people who are jailed for failing to pay court fees and fines.

Boston protesters call for bail reform: As Massachusetts legislators and Gov. Charlie Baker introduced plans to curb the state's incarceration rate Thursday, protesters in Boston urged them to adopt policies that would reduce economic and racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

Rabbi Margie Klein Ronkin, a demonstrator from the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, told the Boston Herald the government needs to look at bail reform "because almost half the people in our jail system have not been convicted of a crime," she said. "We are not addressing that yet."

Arizona bail reform takes effect April 3: In less than two months, Arizona courts must stop jailing people simply because they are too poor to afford bail, the Phoenix New Times reports.

The reforms came via a December mandate from Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales. Mirroring recommendations from an Arizona task force on fair justice, Bales ordered judges to "impose the least onerous" conditions on a person. It also requires courts to adopt a system for assessing a defendant's risk of committing crimes or skipping court.

"The court must not impose a monetary condition that results in unnecessary pretrial incarceration solely because the person is unable to pay the bond," Bales' order states, according to the New Times.
Mandel Jewish Community Center

The Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood received a bomb threat on Monday that law enforcement authorities subsequently deemed "not credible."

(Jeff Piorkowski, Sun News)

WASHINGTON -- Congress members from both political parties have found an issue they can agree upon: a rash of bomb threats to Jewish community centers around the country must stop.

The Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood was among ten community centers threatened on Monday, and dozens more threats were recorded in recent weeks.

On Thursday, a bipartisan group of U.S. House of Representatives members sent a letter to FBI Director James Comey, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly that sought action.

The letter said concerns about violence at Jewish community centers aren't groundless, since there have "been at least three casualty-causing attacks at JCCs or other Jewish institutions in the last two decades."

"In the first two months of 2017 alone, there have been 68 incidents targeting 53 JCCs in 26 states, according to JCC Association of North America," the letter said. "A number of JCCs, such as the Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando, have received multiple threats.

"We urge the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to swiftly assess the situation and to advise Congress on what specific steps are being taken, or will be taken, to deter such threats from being made, to identify and prosecute the perpetrators for violations of federal criminal laws, and to enable JCCs to enhance security measures such as physical barriers and guards, in the event that an individual seeks to act upon these threats," it continued.

Those who signed the letter include all the state's Democratic congress members, as well as Republicans Dave Joyce of Bainbridge Township, Jim Renacci of Wadsworth, Bill Johnson of Marietta and the Columbus area's Patrick Tiberi and Steve Stivers.
Nearly 1,000 students take lunch together in silence. [Photo by Peng Nian/for chinadaily.com.cn]

No talking, no whispering, only the clatter of the stainless cutlery... this is unlike most scenes typical of a boisterous dinner rush. Students from a boarding school in Xinzhou, a rural area in Central China's Wuhan, make silence seem extra-blessed during their dinner time, absorbing themselves in eating and only eating.

According to news portal cjn.cn, the 984 boarders including 94 day students in Xiangdong Elementary School, the largest rural boarding school of the city, share silent daily meals together.

At 11 o'clock on Tuesday morning, while the students were still in class, 22 "life teachers", selected by parents of the boarding students and are responsible for their life, were busily arranging dinner ware on 100 tables, with each able to accommodate 10 students.

Stir-fry pork and corn, fried cabbage, dried tofu with meat and lotus root soup with pork ribs, that's the lunch recipe this day. According to the school, the food ingredients are purchased from the market everyday to make sure they're fresh.
The Education Ministry released a notice on its website on Wednesday, stressing that parents or guardians are not allowed to educate children at home without permission from education authorities.

According to the Compulsory Education Law, all school-age children must attend primary and junior middle school.

Schools and local education authorities shoulder the responsibility of finding those children who do not go to school and persuading them to attend, the notice said.

"For children who cannot attend school due to reasons such as poor physical health, their parents or guardians should report to the local education authorities and ask for a delay in enrollment," the notice said.

"They cannot give children home schooling as a substitute for school education if they fail to gain permission from the authorities."

The notice was released against a backdrop of an increasing number of students being educated at home or attending small, private teaching institutes.

Research conducted by the 21st Century Education Research Institute estimated that the number of children who receive home schooling rather than attending school in China has risen from 2,000 in 2013 to 6,000 today.

Wang Jiajia, who led the research, said the legality of home schooling had long been controversial in China, but that the increasing number of parents and children wanting to do so demonstrated that the unified, standardized education provided in the nations schools cannot meet everyones needs.
Trump card [By Zhai Haijun / China.org.cn]

A few weeks before the 2016 American Presidential election, an article written by Adam Segal appeared on the Observer Research Foundation's website highlighting the U.S.-China Cyber Agreement. A year after the landmark agreement, the article detailed the unlikely development of what became the two countries' surprising negotiation.

Segal, the director of the Digital Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council of Foreign Relations, revealed in the months leading up to the meeting that "Washington and Beijing had recently clashed over the global governance of cyberspace and, most conspicuously, cyber attacks and espionage," admitting, "there was little reason to think that the United States and China would be able to narrow the gap in cyberspace."

President Obama announced the agreement in September 2015, saying "neither the U.S. nor the Chinese government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information for commercial advantage."

Perhaps more importantly, the deal created a platform for common ground concerning the contentious issue, prompting both China and the U.S. to "identify and endorse norms of behavior in cyberspace; and establish two high-level working groups and a hotline between the two sides."

A dramatic shift in the tone of the ongoing arguments surrounding cybersecurity, critics of the U.S.-China consensus remained sceptical.

Obama, reflecting on the still tenuous nature of the issue, asserted, "The question now is, are words followed by actions? And we will be watching carefully to make an assessment as to whether progress has been made in this area."

In addition to scepticism, there were also legitimate concerns that it might not be enough to sufficiently reconcile the deep divide that exists between the two countries in cyberspace. According to Segal, "Framed against the broad landscape of cyber issues, the agreement on cyber espionage looks less consequential even if it was a significant diplomatic achievement. But the U.S. and China continue to hold fundamentally incompatible conceptions of how cyberspace should be ordered."

In an article for The Diplomat, Gary Brown and Christopher D. Yung detail China's fundamental perspective, writing, "Beijing emphasizes the importance of cyber sovereignty. At the World Internet Conference in December 2015, President Xi Jinping called for states to be allowed to set their own rules for cyberspace in their own countries," whereas the two authors believe that the Unites States fundamentally values the "free flow of information over the internet" seeing it as "the key to strategic and diplomatic success."

Speaking at the World Internet Conference, President Xi emphasized the importance of an international convention against terrorism in cyberspace in which countries might further signal intent and further their commitment to countering the rising threat of cyberterrorism.

Moving forward, the hope of continued cooperation and communication remains justifiable, but it is likely to be undercut by the uncertain future of Sino-U.S. relations heightened by the often antagonistic and unpredictable nature of the new administration in Washington.

At this point, Trump's position on cybersecurity is anyone's guess. And so too is the immediate future of Sino-U.S. relations. With Trump and company apparently mute on the subject, Xi Jinping stepped into the spotlight on Friday, perhaps reassuring China's commitment to the issue in light of U.S. silence.

According to Xinhua, President Xi, who heads China's National Security Commission, called for an overall national security outlook, "emphasizing the importance of political, economic, territorial, social and cyber security." Xi stressed that "safeguarding national security requires the grasp of rules in the context of the great changes in the international order," saying, "No matter how the international situation changes, we must maintain our strategic steadiness, strategic confidence and strategic patience."

At the time, Adam Segal wrote that the 2015 U.S.-China Cybersecurity Agreement was seen as an "important first step for China and the U.S." With the uncertainty of Trump's foreign policy and the current lack of confidence in Trump's cybersecurity platform, Sino-U.S. relations might need to rely on the Cybersecurity Agreement as the bedrock of cyberspace relations moving forward.

With so much at stake, it would be regrettable if the agreement existed as the high water mark of cyberspace cooperation. It's imperative that both countries see it as a point of origin, or at the very least, as Segal writes, as a platform for achieving "a greater understanding of each other's redlines so that a conflict in cyberspace does not spill into the real world."

Having previously lived in Beijing working as a journalist and editor, Kyle Calandra is currently based in America reporting on Sino-U.S. Relations as a contributor for China.org.cn.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a luncheon at the Congress of Tomorrow Republican Member Retreat January 26, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is at the "top of the pack," saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity.

In a Reuters interview, Trump also said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea "very easily if they want to," ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to exert more influence to rein in Pyongyang's increasingly bellicose actions.

In his first comments about the U.S. nuclear arsenal since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump said he would like to see a world with no nuclear weapons but expressed concern that the United States has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity."

"I am the first one that would like to see everybody - nobody have nukes, but we're never going to fall behind any country even if it's a friendly country, we're never going to fall behind on nuclear power.

"It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, we're going to be at the top of the pack," Trump said.

Russia has 7,300 warheads and the United States, 6,970, according to the Ploughshares Fund, an anti-nuclear group.

"The history of the Cold War shows us that no one comes out 'on the top of the pack' of an arms race and nuclear brinkmanship," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the independent Arms Control Association non-profit group.
A project of Google-parent Alphabet has filed a suit against Uber, after a botched email exchange revealed "striking resemblance" between the companies' self-driving car designs.

Engineers at Google's self-driving car company, Waymo, were "apparently inadvertently" copied on an email from a company providing components for Uber's self-driving car project that allegedly revealed drawings of Uber's technology, according to a lawsuit filed in San Francisco court on Thursday.

The drawings of the 3-D sensors contained Alphabet's trade secrets, the lawsuit claims. The suit also alleges that a former Google employee "downloaded more than 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary files shortly before his resignation."

The engineer, Anthony Levandowski, took "extraordinary efforts to raid Waymo's design server and then conceal his activities," the suit alleges. Levandowski left Google to launch a self-driving truck company called Otto, which went own to be acquired by Uber.

"We take the allegations made against Otto and Uber employees seriously and we will review this matter carefully," an Uber spokeswoman told CNBC.

It all comes at a tough time for ride-hailing technology company Uber, which is facing fallout amid complaints about its company culture.

The two companies once had close ties. Alphabet's venture capital arm invested in Uber, according to Crunchbase, and Alphabet executive David Drummond once sat on Uber's board.

But Drummond stepped down in August "given the overlap between the two companies," amid reports that Drummond had been shut out of board meetings. Uber revealed it had bought Otto that same month.

"Misappropriating this technology is akin to stealing a secret recipe from a beverage company," Alphabet said in a statement.
Residential buildings stand in the Mei Foo area of Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016. Billy H.C. Kwok | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The land supply for private housing in the coming financial year is expected to be sufficient to build almost 32,000 flats, exceeding the government target for the fourth consecutive year. The government's plan to sell 28 plots of land for private housing in 2017-18 is expected to provide almost 19,000 flats, while the remainder will come from railway property, urban renewal and private redevelopment projects. More from the South China Morning Post:

Why Hong Kong is failing to rein in housing prices

Regina Ip says Beijing offered her top jobs to quit Hong Kong leadership race

China will take 'necessary measures' in event of regime collapse in N Korea, says defence official Although the total supply of 31,620 flats  the most since 2012-13  has again exceeded the target of 18,000 units, Secretary for Development Eric Ma Siu-cheung did not promise to use some of those sites for public housing, even as the average waiting time for public housing hits four years and eight months, far exceeding the target of three years.

watch now

"We need to keep a continuous and stable supply of private housing to ensure the market develops steadily," he said. Ma said the government had already identified 26 new sites for housing development, which could provide about 60,000 flats, with 80 per cent planned for the public sector. He added that the government had changed the use of four adjacent private housing sites in Kai Tak to public housing, which could provide about 6,000 flats. Lawrence Poon Wing-cheung, a housing policy expert, agreed it was necessary for the government to maintain land supply for the private sector even if it exceeded the yearly target of 18,000 units. "The property market is very sensitive to any government policy changes. If the government says it will give excess land supply from the private sector to build public housing, it's most certain that property prices would be pushed up as a result," Poon said.

watch now

The government's current target is to supply 460,000 flats by 2027, with 60 per cent for the public sector and the rest private. Analysts said an ample supply would not fix the city's housing problem. Lau Chun-kong, head of the valuation department at JLL, said the recent increase in land prices showed developers were desperate to replenish their land banks. "It is still hard for home seekers to buy flats in the private sector," he said. "The government should continue to increase land supply." Ten of the 28 sites for sale are in Kai Tak, where mainland developers pushed home prices up by 27 per cent in just one month between December and January. Mainland conglomerate HNA Group paid a record HK$13,500 per square foot for its first site at Kai Tak in November last year, and then a month later broke its own record and won a second site for HK$13,600 per square foot.

watch now
For the past four years, if you asked me where I lived, I would tense up. I was a college graduate who hadn't moved out of the suburban house where she grew up. I graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 2012 with a good job offer in New York. I was going to move out within a year  or so I thought. It wasn't until the summer of 2016, four years later, that I moved out of my parents' house in Westchester into an apartment in Manhattan. My friends talked about their new apartments in the Upper East Side or in downtown Los Angeles. I felt truly lucky and grateful to have parents that could welcome me home, but I was also embarrassed. Did people think I was lazy, unadventurous, unsuccessful?

Me on my college graduation day in 2012, pretending I knew what the future held.

According to Pew research, living with one's parents is the most common living arrangement for Americans ages 18 to 34. And though it's the most common negative stereotype levied against millennials, living with my parents was one of the best decisions I could have made financially and career-wise in my 20s  and one that set me up for success in the coming years. If you have the opportunity, the privilege to live at home after college, don't feel embarrassed. Here's what I learned from the experience: I saved a ton of money: Over the four years I lived at home I saved about $62,000 on rent and utilities. To reach that number, I tallied the costs of my fictional alternative life in the city, assuming I lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Harlem with a roommate. The range for rent on a similar apartment is $2,200 to $4,500. Factoring in utilities and the fact we might not be able to snag the cheapest possible apartment, I planned for monthly costs of roughly $2,500 and divided by two. Since I lived farther away from New York City, I had to buy a monthly Metro North card from Harrison, New York, which costs about $260. Along with occasional subway rides, my transit costs added up to about $14,000 over the course of the four years. Still, that left me with savings of $47,000. While that money didn't go directly into my savings account, it went toward paying off my student loans, helping out with the occasional grocery run for my family, going out with friends or siblings, and eventually, covering costs associated with graduate school.

I got to spend quality time with my younger siblings, something you can't put a price tag on.

While I received a scholarship to attend the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism (which was a great investment in my career) I still had to pay for books and some equipment. Had I been saddled with New York City rent, that would have been challenging.

I found a job in the industry I love: After graduating from college, I had a good job in marketing with benefits and a salary. But after about a year, I realized that I wanted to be in another field, journalism. Had I chosen to move out and live in New York, quitting my job to break into a new field would not have been an option. While I had previous journalism experience, it was only after I completed three low-paying internships that I landed a promising writing job.

My parents and I when I graduated with my Master's degree.

How to make it work:

Living on your own as a 21-year-old certainly has its advantages, but if you can't afford it or don't want to, here's how to make living with your parents work: 1) Set a target move-out date Have a date or a benchmark after which you'll move out. By determining this at the beginning of your tenure at home, you won't feel like you're "stuck" there forever. For me, the target move-out date was after I found a steady job in journalism. While this took longer than I had expected, having the benchmark kept me goal-oriented. 2) Have a frank conversation with your parents about what is expected of you I offered to pay rent, but my parents said they would rather have me spend my take-home income paying off my student loans. Instead, they expected me to help out with my siblings  I was a live-in tutor and a part-time chauffeur. At first this wasn't clearly established and led to small arguments. But after a straightforward dinner conversation, the arrangement was formalized and we were all at ease. 3) Make time to get out of the house The worst days at home were ones where I felt stuck. I would see photos of my friends going on last-minute trips to Prospect Park or book shops. Since I lived over an hour and a half away from some of these places, I couldn't join.

Planning time to hang out with friends prevented me from feeling bored or isolated.
Here are some of the key stories CNBC is following this hour:

White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus are attending the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland this week. Bannon says every day is going to be a fight against the media and progressives.

Little Tikes is recalling more than 500,000 toddler swings because they can break and cause the child in them to fall. The swings were sold between November 2009 and May 2014. The company has received 140 reports of the swings breaking, including 39 injuries to children.

The American Psychological Association has released a report examining the roles that technology and social media play in your stress level. Forty-three percent of Americans say they are constantly checking their email, texts or social media accounts. On a 10-point scale, the average stress level among those surveyed was 5.3, nearly a full point higher than those that don't constantly check those accounts.
U.S. President Donald Trump's protectionist tone will likely hand China significant soft power on trade deals, economists said.

Diane Swonk, CEO of DS Economics, told CNBC's "The Rundown" on Friday that while she didn't expect the U.S. would label China a currency manipulator, she foresaw more trade tensions.

She expected that the administration would use the "back door" of the U.S. Commerce Department to target specific industries as dumping or violating trade rules, going across a spectrum of largely Asian economies to levy tariffs.

"That's really going to open the door for China to have a lot more power within Asia and power in Latin America, and in North America, even talking to Mexico directly now," she said. "That's going to change the equation for China and the balance of power on trade relative to the U.S. if we really pursue these bilateral agreements."

Trump has said he preferred to seek bilateral trade deals, rather than multilateral ones, such as the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which he withdrew the U.S. from after taking office.

Swonk's analysis was stark: "It may actually be to China's benefit and our loss."

To be sure, there's still a lot of uncertainty about what is rhetoric and what is policy.

During his campaign, Trump vowed to label the country a currency manipulator for the purposes of a competitive trade advantage on his first day in office and threatened to impose a tariff of as much as 45 percent on China's exports to the U.S.

On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that the administration would stick to the existing process to judge whether China was a currency manipulator. By those standards, China doesn't match the definition.

In fact, China's policymakers have appeared to be supporting their in recent months, not trying to push it lower.

But in an interview with Reuters on Thursday, shortly after Mnuchin's comments, Trump called China the "grand champions" of currency manipulation, saying he hasn't "held back" on the manipulator label despite not following through with his campaign vow.

Swonk wasn't alone in pointing to the Trump administration ramping up trade tensions as benefiting China.


Ride-hailing firm Uber has moved a little closer to its destination of being legalised in Hong Kong after securing insurance coverage in line with the city's laws.

Announcing the deal on Thursday, Uber Hong Kong said it had signed a contract with AIG in October last year to provide third-party coverage worth up to HK$100 million for any ride-sharing trip in the city.

The coverage period began on October 17 last year and runs until September 30. "The liability insurance policy ... applies from the moment you book a trip [until] the last passenger exits the vehicle," the company said.

More from the South China Morning Post:

Uber Hong Kong sees bumpy ride on long road to acceptance

Chinese bank wins landmark case against Vancouver homebuyer

Uber says it's hard to find cities to test self-driving cars



"The limit of liability is HK$100 million per occurrence for bodily injury or death, which is equal to that required of all vehicles under Hong Kong law."

Prior to this, the firm had taken out global insurance policies for passengers but the terms and conditions were not known to the public.
Trump named China the "grand champions" of currency manipulation in a Reuters interview, just hours after his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin touted a more analytical approach to China's currency practices.



In response to Trump's comments, China's Foreign Ministry said the country has no intention of using the devaluation of its currency as an advantage. (Reuters)

Senior Trump administration officials tried to moderate the White House's message on heightened efforts by the U.S. to enforce legal immigration at talks in Mexico City, but Mexican officials are driving a hard bargain. (WSJ)

Reince Priebus, Trump's chief of staff, requested that a top FBI official push back on media reports that Trump campaign aides were regularly in contact with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official told AP.

The U.S. nuclear arsenal should be at the "top of the pack," Trump said in an interview with Reuters, contending that the United States has trailed rival nations in its weapons capacity.

The Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) will welcome Trump to the stage, despite traditional conservatives' wariness about the 45th president's agenda. (USA Today)

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) posted a ninth straight annual loss, on expenses relating to past charges of misconduct as well as restructuring. One of the U.K.'s "big four" banks, RBS had a net loss of $8.72 billion. (CNBC)

Alphabet's (GOOGL) Waymo self-driving car unit filed a suit against ride-hailing service Uber, accusing Uber of stealing its sensor technology. Uber responded by saying it took the allegations seriously and would review the matter carefully. (CNBC)

Executives at Kohl's are taking the retailer in a new, smaller direction  after 19 store closings in 2016, the company's leaders are exploring moving some of its massive department stores into smaller shops. (CNBC)

Two senior Samsung executives offered to resign and take responsibility for the device maker's involvement in the grand theft scandal that also tied in South Korea's president. The Korean news agency that reported the story did not cite sources. (Reuters)

Airbus and Boeing suppliers are under pressure as steepening demand strains production of airplane parts including seats, toilets and engine components. (WSJ)
 Flash

The First Sherpas Meeting of the 9th BRICS Summit will be held in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province,from Thursday to Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing Wednesday that Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi will attend the opening ceremony of the meeting and deliver a speech.

The meeting will attract more than 100 participants, including coordinators from all sides, foreign diplomats, and representatives from the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), according to Geng.

He said the Sherpas Meeting will discuss priority areas for BRICS cooperation this year, especially in the areas of political affairs, economy and culture, under the theme "BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future."

The Sherpas Meeting, as a major channel to push forward BRICS cooperation, aims at political preparation for the leaders' meeting. It is also routine for the BRICS chairmanship to hold several Sherpas Meetings before the summit.

"We believe the first Sherpas Meeting will be a good start for China's chairmanship this year," Geng said.

China officially took over the chairmanship on January 1. The 9th BRICS Summit will be held in Xiamen in southeast China's Fujian Province.
Hollywood's Oscar glow could be dimmed by its biggest financial star. A cash crunch from China threatens to restrict what has been a welcome infusion of capital over the last few years. More than $5 billion from the People's Republic was pumped into U.S. movie production between 2014 and the second half of 2016, according to California-based lender East West Bank. A frenzy of deals included Viacom's Paramount Pictures, which recently received $1 billion from Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media to help finance a quarter of its film slate for three years. The arrangements have worked well both ways. Studio bosses get the red carpet rolled out for them in the world's biggest movie market and much-needed funding as margins flatten out or fall. More from Breakingviews : China regulator reshuffle leaves turf intact Chinese investors, meanwhile, get to enjoy A-list treatment and the opportunity to spotlight the Middle Kingdom's appeal to the rest of the world. Dalian Wanda Group's Legendary Entertainment, for instance, co-produced "The Great Wall," with Matt Damon starring as a European mercenary during the Song dynasty. Though reviews were mixed, it has raked in $270 million worldwide, more than half of which came from Chinese theatergoers, according to Box Office Mojo. The Beijing-Los Angeles connection may be starting to strain, however. For one thing, Chinese regulators are beginning to crack down on money leaving the country. That may be one reason Wanda boss Wang Jianlin's $1 billion deal for "Golden Globes" producer Dick Clark Productions is on the rocks. Chinese copper miner Anhui Xinke New Materials also scrapped its purchase of "The Hurt Locker" producer Voltage Pictures in December. These factors suggest cost-cutting could be in store. Twenty-First Century Fox's operating margin, for example, has slipped from 18 percent in 2010 to 13 percent last year. Lions Gate's motion-picture division, whose "La La Land" is a best-picture nominee this year, also has suffered a decline in profitability. If China's role gets smaller, Hollywood's whole script could be rewritten. For more independent commentary and analysis from Reuters Breakingviews, visit breakingviews.com

An Oscar statue is seen for the Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood. Getty Images
Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), an advanced missile system, is launched during a successful intercept test in the U.S. Pacific in 2013.

China's military stepped up its criticism this week of South Korea's plans to deploy an advanced anti-missile radar system.

Xinhua, the official press agency for China, also vowed that its "armed forces will make the necessary preparations and resolutely safeguard the nation's security."

The THAAD missile defense system, manufactured by U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin , is expected to be deployed on the Korean Peninsula to defend against the threat of a North Korean missile attack. Earlier this month, North Korea test fired a ballistic missile as President Donald Trump was meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

U.S. Navy Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, told CNBC on Friday: "The bottom line is we're not going to get into a debate in the public sphere. However, we have reiterated through direct meetings that THAAD is purely a defensive weapon. There's really nothing for China to be concerned with regards to its deployment."

THAAD, which stands for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, is designed to protect against both short and medium-range ballistic missile attacks. The Pentagon official said that THAAD interceptor technology is "highly accurate."

Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis visited Seoul where he restated American support for South Korea and defensive measures such as deploying THAAD to protect against the growing nuclear and ballistic missile threat from North Korea.

No firm date has been provided when the U.S. will deploy the THAAD system. The Pentagon spokesman said Friday the "deployment will happen as soon as feasible."

The Seoul government gave the green light to deploy the system last summer but that was before the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, South Korea's suspended president. The political crisis and change in leadership could ultimately result in a change in policy.

China's press agency on Thursday quoted a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense as saying the THAAD system "will gravely undermine the regional strategic balance and the strategic security interests of countries in the region, including China and Russia."

The comments come as a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group patrols the South China Sea to improve "readiness," according to the U.S. Navy.

The Chinese navy also is in the region to carry out a "counter-attack drill," according to the newspaper run by China's People's Liberation Army. The same paper reported that China is close to completing its second aircraft carrier.

Meantime, China is rapidly developing missile technology of its own that some see as a potential threat to the West, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a global defense think tank.
WHEN: TODAY, FRIDAY, February 24, 2017

WHERE: CNBC'S "SQUAWK ON THE STREET"

Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Meg Whitman, Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO, on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" today. Following are links to video of the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000596046 and http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000596047.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

WHITMAN ON EARNINGS

IT WAS A MIXED QUARTER. GOOD NEWS AS YOU MENTIONED WE DELIVERED EPS AT HIGH END OF OUR GUIDANCE. WE ALSO HAD BETTER FREE CASH FLOW THAN WE ANTICIPATED, BUT REVENUE WAS LIGHT. AND THERE WERE A COUPLE HEADWINDS, ONE WAS THE MARKET IS A LITTLE BIT SOFT FOR SURE, BUT SECONDARILY, FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND COMMODITY PRICES AND ACTUALLY COMMODITY AVAILABILITY IN THE FORM OF MEMORY.

WHITMAN ON UNCERTAINTY

AROUND THE WORLD I WOULD SAY THE MACRO ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT IS UNCERTAIN. AND UNCERTAINTY FOR BUSINESS IS NEVER A GOOD THING BECAUSE THEN PEOPLE SAY, WELL, REALLY DO I NEED TO REFRESH THAT DATA CENTER, SHOULD I MAKE THAT NEXT INVESTMENT IN MODERNIZING MY INFRASTRUCTURE? SO UNCERTAINTY IS NOT OUR FRIEND, BUT I'M NOT TERRIBLY WORRIED ABOUT THAT. I THINK WE'VE GOT THE RIGHT PRODUCT LINE. WE'VE GOT A SET OF NEW PRODUCTS. WE ARE NOW ORGANIZED TO DELIVER AGAINST A MUCH MORE FOCUSED BUSINESS.

WHITMAN ON HPE

WHAT WILL BE THE REMAINING COMPANY, THE GO FORWARD HEWLETT-PACKARD ENTERPRISE, THAT BUSINESS WILL GROW IN 2017 WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION OF ONE CAVEAT TIER ONE PROVIDER SERVICE BUSINESS WHICH DIDN'T MATERIALIZE AS WE ANTICIPATED IN Q1, AND WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN Q2, Q3, AND Q4.

WHITMAN ON EXECUTION

I PRIDE MYSELF ON EXECUTION. AND IT WASN'T PERFECT THIS QUARTER. THERE'S NO QUESTION I HAVE PUSHED THIS ORGANIZATION TO PROBABLY THE LIMITS IN TERMS OF THEIR ABILITY TO ACCEPT AND CREATE AND DEAL WITH CHANGE. THE GOOD NEWS IS, WHEN THE DUST SETTLES, THIS MAKES US A MUCH STRONGER COMPANY. SO IT WAS ABSOLUTELY THE RIGHT THING TO DO. BUT I MIGHT HAVE LOADED A LITTLE BIT TOO MUCH ON IN Q1.

WHITMAN ON BORDER TAX

THERE'S A NUMBER OF US THAT ARE PRETTY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS. WE'RE WORKING CLOSELY WITH, YOU KNOW, CONGRESS AND THEIR STAFFS TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR POINT OF VIEW HERE IS WELL UNDERSTOOD. BECAUSE MY VIEW IS THIS ACTUALLY DOES NOT CREATE JOBS. IT ACTUALLY LOWERS THE NUMBER OF JOBS FOR MANY, MANY COMPANIES.

WHITMAN ON SUPPLY CHAIN

THE ENTIRE SUPPLY CHAIN, EVERYTHING FROM MEMORY, FROM MOTHER BOARDS, EVERYTHING THAT IS IN OUR PRODUCTS COMES FROM OVERSEAS. AND BY THE WAY, THAT SUPPLY CHAIN HAS TAKEN 30 YEARS TO SET UP. SO WHEN ALL THOSE COMPONENTS COME IN AND ARE TAXED, IT'S NOT GOING TO BE GOOD FOR COMPANIES THAT HAVE A RELATIVELY LOW MARGIN AND A BIG OFFSHORE SUPPLY CHAIN.

About CNBC:

With CNBC in the U.S., CNBCin Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBCis the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-timefinancial market coverage and business information to approximately 381 millionhomes worldwide, including more than 94 million households in the United Statesand Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million householdsacross China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming inNorth America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC'sglobal headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBCNews bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming,CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number ofdistinctive in-house documentaries.

CNBC also has a vastportfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news andinformation across a variety of platforms including: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, thepremium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides live access to CNBCprogramming, exclusive video content and global market data and analysis; asuite of CNBC mobile products including the CNBC Apps for iOS, Android andWindows devices; and additional products such as the CNBC App for the AppleWatch and Apple TV.

Members of the media canreceive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversalMedia Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc.

For more information aboutNBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.
However, with the U.K. due to begin exit negotiations by the end of next month, the EU will be able to achieve important results that were previously blocked.

Enrico Letta, who served from 2013 to 2014, told CNBC Thursday that U.K. authorities had traditionally provided the EU with an "alibi" for inaction by opposing several major initiatives.

Brexit has provided the EU with a great opportunity to achieve results without the hurdles put in the way by Britain, the former prime minister of Italy has told CNBC.

Letta's comments come as the EU faces potential turmoil from a rise of nationalist parties across Europe.

He said the success of the economic bloc was crucial but would depend on the "good will" of the remaining 27 member states.

Italy itself has been at the center of this instability, having held a referendum on reforms to parliamentary powers late last year.

The Italian public voted against the reforms, prompting then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to step down. The country is due to hold a general election in 2018, however, the country faces continued uncertainty in the interim, said Letta.

"I think we have to be a little bit worried. I hope a more wise approach, unity, can take place," he said.

"If not, I start to think that the country (will see) big legislative instability. I think we have to push for more unity and less fragmentation today."
Donald Trump boards the elevator to the lobby after meetings at Trump Tower in New York City.

Gold prices have increased to highs not seen since U.S. President Donald Trump secured election victory in November as investors appear to seek respite in the so-called safe haven.

"(Gold price) support has come from the unwinding of the post-election Trump trade, which has seen bond yields and the U.S. dollar both move lower," Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen, said in a note on Friday.

The price of gold crept over the $1250 per ounce threshold for the first time in over three months on Friday. The breakthrough came just a day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stressed an ambitious plan to ensure "very significant" reform passed before Congress' August recess.

Trump has frequently told U.S. citizens he remains committed on both tax reform and regulatory cuts since entering the White House which has created optimism among business executives and investors.

So far, the new administration plan remains unclear though Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday, "We've been working closely with the leadership in the House and the Senate and we're looking at a combined plan."
"This is a question I encounter often as I travel across the country giving lectures at colleges and universities: 'Why don't 'illegals' get in the back of the line, and do it the right way?' The short answer is that 'the line' is a mythical place, a phrase used to deflect the need for immigration reform."

The third challenge undocumented immigrants face in obtaining legal status is the 3-year and 10-year bans. In 1996, under President Bill Clinton, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, among other provisions the law established a 3-year and 10-year ban for immigrants who entered the country illegally, or for those who overstayed their visas. The ten-year ban applies to immigrants who remain in the U.S. longer than one year after their illegal entry. It must be noted that the ban is triggered by the act of departing the U.S. Undocumented immigrants who become eligible to receive a green card (through marriage, special employment, investment, or asylum) must face the very real possibility of being banned from the U.S. for ten years. In most cases, if an immigrant enters the U.S. illegally, they cannot apply for permanent residency through adjustment of status, which allows them to remain in the U.S. while their application is reviewed. Instead they must leave the U.S., thus triggering the 3-year and 10-year ban. It's a catch 22, if they apply to fix their status they could be facing exiled from the country they call home, if they don't they must face possible deportation.

When I applied to become a permanent resident in 2009, my lawyer filed an adjustment of status; I entered the U.S. with a tourist visa in 1994 before the bans were established. I was able to remain in the U.S. while my application was processed and five years later on August 8, 2014, I became a U.S. citizen. I didn't remain undocumented because I wanted to, there was no process or line before I was married. I was one of the few undocumented immigrants for whom the exceptions and loopholes worked. For Guadalupe, and for millions more, "the line" continues to be a mythical place, a phrase used to justify our treatment of them.

If we want undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows, go through background checks, and seek legal employment, we should focus on actually creating "the line." The question shouldn't be, why don't illegals get in the line, the question we should be asking ourselves is, when are we going to create the line?



Commentary by Julissa Arce is author of the book, "My (Underground) American Dream." Arce made national and international headlines when she revealed that she had achieved the American Dream of wealth and status working her way up to vice president at Goldman Sachs by age 27 while being an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. She currently works with the Ascend Educational Fund, a scholarship program for immigrant students in New York City. Follow her on Twitter @julissaarce.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
Republican businesswoman Meg Whitman told CNBC that she's "very concerned" about a proposed border adjustment tax being discussed in Congress.

"My view is that this does not create jobs," CEO told " " on Friday. "It actually lowers the number of jobs for many, many companies."

Whitman endorsed Hillary Clinton in last year's presidential election, but told CNBC after Election Day that she would support President Donald Trump. Whitman said on Friday that she's working closely with Congress to ensure that her point of view is understood.

Trump has said he thinks a form of the tax could create jobs.

"I certainly support a form of tax on the border," Trump told Reuters on Thursday. "What is going to happen is companies are going to come back here, they're going to build their factories and they're going to create a lot of jobs and there's no tax."
Volunteers at the Turning Point USA booth wait to speak with people attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, February 23, 2017. Joshua Roberts | Reuters

"You have to go out every day and argue about lower taxes"

On Thursday, 23-year-old Jonathan Stack was at CPAC with a group of young conservatives called Turning Point USA. Dozens of Turning Point students milled around the convention hall, wearing matching T-shirts with "Socialism Sucks" written on the front in Sanders's iconic font and style. The Bernie-themed shirts serve as a way of drawing young people into a conversation that can become an explanation of conservative and free market principles, Stack said. "When I go out to campuses, people immediately see this and they walk right up. Then they see what we're talking about and we can have a good discussion," says Stack, a student at Penn State. Of course, not every Sanders supporter is a willing convert. But Stack says many are persuadable, and he is convinced more will become so during the Trump years: "Right now, it's just a Bernie Sanders fad  I really believe in what Trump and the Republicans can do with full control  when people see those changes in two or three years, they'll change on capitalism."

It's all about articulating what it means to be an American.  That sense of history and understanding, I think, will make a big difference. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)

Similarly, other Turning Point students agreed they had close friends who supported Sanders  but that those friends didn't understand the implications of his socialism. "I don't know if they know what the true form of socialism really means," said Isaac Michaud, of the University of Maine. Once Sanders's fans did understand, many of the students believed, they'd change course. Added Alli McGough, 21, of the University of Iowa: "I have a lot of friends who like Bernie. But they don't understand it  they just hear, 'Free stuff; that's what I want.'  They don't understand how taxes work. It's just what's cool right now." Joe Field, 17, a high school senior from Davenport, Iowa, said he has gone to activist training summits to learn about conservative principles. Davis is "frequently debating" friends of his who support Sanders  in his government classes, on weekends, in school  because he thinks there's no guarantee they'll eventually come back into the fold. "You can't just ignore them and say they'll come around," Field said. "You have to go out every day and argue about lower taxes, and 'no tariffs,' and stuff like that."

Conservatives: we need American education to warn of socialism's dangers

Older conservatives also cited a range of tools they hope will snap the Sanders spell. Some said young Americans would fall out of love with socialism as they grew older. Others expressed hope that an accelerating economy would improve millennials' faith in capitalism. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said in a panel discussion that if millennials saw that national monuments that pay homage to America's heroes, they'd be more likely to adopt American values. "Come to Washington, go to the National Mall and see the memorials to Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln  all of these great people who stood for all of these great ideas," DeSantis said. "It's all about articulating what it means to be an American.  That sense of history and understanding, I think, will make a big difference." Overwhelmingly, most argued the biggest difference would come from changing American education. Chris Astriab, 64, of Fairfax, Virginia, said students had forgotten "Economics 101" because they failed to teach it school. "They need basic economics about how the free market works," Astriab said. "These kids are so spoiled today that they don't even realize that the free market made them a possibility. That's the biggest problem." Other attendees cited the need to use government resources to reform American universities because the "indoctrination just starts younger and younger these days," said Brandon Johnson, 43. "I don't know if it's through cutting of use of funding or civil rights lawsuits, since a lot of these universities do engage in organized conspiracies to suppress assembly by conservative groups," said Johnson, a lawyer who volunteered on the Trump campaign. "If professors are saying 'Trump is Hitler' in class, if they want to use their teaching pulpit to bully their students, they should be willing to deal with the consequences. Change the tenure system."

Show them the dangers of the Soviet Union, remind them what capitalism does
Global hotelier Hyatt is to launch a new global advertising campaign during this Sunday's Oscars' broadcast on ABC, focusing on moments of understanding around the world. Set to the background of "What the world needs now is love," the Burt Bacharach and Hal David song, sung in the spot by Andra Day, it shows a series of small gestures between travelers filmed in Thailand, Morocco and Spain.

Hyatt will also launch its World of Hyatt loyalty program on March 1 as part of the initiative, it said in an emailed statement. "World of Hyatt is an expression of who we are," said Mark Hoplamazian, president and chief executive officer at the Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
watch now

President Donald Trump's pledge to crack down on multinational giants who store swathes of cash overseas rather than bring it home to spend in the U.S. is not being hindered by Ireland, according to the country's foreign investment chief. Indeed, Ireland's success in attracting large global corporations, particularly in key sectors such as technology and pharmaceuticals, to launch significant operations within the country is deserved, Martin Shanahan, chief executive officer (CEO) of IDA Ireland, told CNBC on Friday. "We've set out our stall. We have a very competitive, consistent corporate tax regime and we have been a full participant in all international efforts around tax avoidance so I don't think Ireland has any case to answer in that regard," affirmed the head of the agency responsible for the attraction and development of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ireland.



watch now

Shanahan's confident tone comes despite the stoking of popular support during and since the U.S. election campaign for President Donald Trump's proposals to encourage American multinationals to repatriate more of the cash they hoard overseas and to create more jobs domestically.

The cash piles of the largest tech firms has generated much attention, with Apple enjoying a cash balance of well over $200 billion and Google holding around $83 billion. Apple is currently ensnared in a 13 billion euro ($13.79 billion) battle with the European Commission over money the latter says the tech giant owes to Ireland for paying too little in taxes in recent years. Yet firms such as Apple, which has a workforce of 5,550 in Ireland, mostly based in its second city Cork and Facebook which is reportedly on track to add add a further 1,000 employees to its Dublin hub that already plays home to around 1,500 of its staff, are creating win-win situations for both countries, claims Shanahan.



watch now
 Flash

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Thursday to renew Yemen sanction measures until Feb. 26, 2018, after determining that "the situation in Yemen continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security."

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. [Photo/Xinhua]

In a resolution unanimously adopted here, the council renewed assets freeze and travel ban measures against individuals and organizations undermining the peaceful transition process in Yemen, which was imposed by resolution 2140 in 2014.

The council expressed concern at the ongoing political, security, economic and humanitarian challenges in Yemen, and threats arising from the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of weapons.

The council noted that "the critical importance of effective implementation of the sanctions regime imposed pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) and resolution 2216 (2015), including the key role that Member States from the region can play in this regard."

The council also reaffirmed its "strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Yemen" and reiterated its call for all parties in Yemen to adhere to resolving their differences through dialogue and consultation, reject acts of violence to achieve political goals, and refrain from provocation.

Yemen has been experiencing a civil conflict since the UN-backed government was ousted by the Houthi militants in late 2014.

The conflict triggered a Saudi Arabia-led military intervention in late March, which has been deepening the country's suffering.
On Election Day, marijuana advocates and entrepreneurs were dealt two conflicting realities. On one hand, the industry appeared poised to continue its explosive growth, with eight additional states voting to legalize the drug for either recreational or medicinal use. The other lingering reality is that the presidency of Donald Trump could tighten the way the industry is regulated at a federal level. Marijuana is still a federally illegal substance.



There is a big difference between the medical use  that's very different from the recreational use, which is something the Department of Justice will be further looking into. Sean Spicer White House press secretary

Just over a month into Trump's presidency, the industry continues to watch and wait for guidance. On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked if the government would take action on recreational marijuana use. "Well," Spicer said, "I think that is a question for the Department of Justice. I do believe you'll see greater enforcement of it. Because again there is a big difference between the medical use  that's very different from the recreational use, which is something the Department of Justice will be further looking into." The press secretary's separation of medicinal and recreational use was taken by many as a signal that the administration may very well take action on the recreational market. Medical marijuana is currently legal in 28 states and Washington, D.C., while recreational marijuana is legal in eight states and D.C.

'We hope they value states' rights'

However, analysts are cautiously optimistic that the marijuana industry will continue to expand, with projections from industry group GreenWave Advisors pointing to a $6.5 billion market in 2016, despite Spicer's comments. "Nothing the press secretary said indicates a specific plan or position the administration is taking," said Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization group. "We still know the same amount regarding their position as we did before. The administration has said they value states' rights  we certainly hope they value states' rights when it comes to marijuana policy." The Department of Justice declined to comment for this report, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump's appointment of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General did little to ease concerns about a potential crackdown on the drug, with the former Alabama senator having been a vocal critic of marijuana usage in the past. At his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Sessions did not appear to take a harsher approach to enforcing federal law on marijuana policy.
<#comment>undefined #comment

Investors may have moved into more defensive names this week, but this isn't necessarily a warning signal on the economy, strategist Liz Ann Sonders told CNBC on Friday.

Bonds and bond-proxy stocks like utilities and telecom did well, while the market rally took a pause on Friday.

Sonders believes it is simply a rotation, some of which is reflected by falling correlations. In other words, stocks and other assets are beginning to move in opposite directions after trading in lockstep.

And that benefits diversification and active management, she explained.

"I wouldn't yet suggest it signals sort of impending doom for the economy because of that defensive nature," the chief investment strategist for Charles Schwab said in an interview with "Power Lunch."

In fact, Sonders thinks this still an ongoing, secular bull market. Her advice  don't sell in anticipation of a pullback.

"I would be more of a buyer on a pullback," she said. "The bull market lives on."

Equities have moved higher since President Donald Trump's victory, with investors anticipating tax cuts, deregulation and infrastructure spending that they think will boost the economy.

However, Sonders said there has also been a turn in the economic data and earnings that have moved back into positive territory.

"The fundamentals were already there to support the market. The problem now of course  is that the expectations bar has been set high."

And the big driver of earnings has been the turn in the energy sector, and that will soon fade as a factor in terms of year over year comps, she explained.



"You are going to need some stronger top line growth looking out beyond this turn from negative to positive in earnings because valuation is stretched enough that I think earnings need to do more of the heavy lifting," Sonders noted.



"But I think we're in decent shape in terms of earnings and the economy. I think the fiscal stimulus would be additive to that."


Shares of Singapore-listed commodity trader Noble Group tumbled in Friday afternoon trade after gadfly anonymous researcher Iceberg Research launched another negative report about the company.

In a Wordpress post, Iceberg, which Noble has claimed is run by an ex-employee, wrote that the company's recently announced efforts to find a strategic investor were essentially just Groundhog Day all over again.

In an emailed response, Iceberg said Noble Group's claim that an ex-employee was behind the research was an "old story." Iceberg compared its research with Bethany McLean, a journalist known for her efforts to break the Enron story.

In the latest post, titled, "Noble Group: How many times can you fool the same people," Iceberg posted a list of purported previous efforts to find a strategic investor.

Much of the post was a re-hashing of Iceberg's previous complaints over how Noble values its commodity contracts and handles its accounting.

In a development that could also be compared with Groundhog Day, Singapore stock traders once again sold off Noble shares in a knee-jerk reaction to the latest report.

At one point, Noble shares plunged as much as 25.9 percent to as low as 0.20 Singapore dollars, before retracing some losses to close down 16.67 percent at 0.225 Singapore dollars. That followed a more than 41 percent rise between Feb. 10 and its last close at S$0.270 on Thursday. The trading on Friday quickly made the stock the most active share on the exchange.

In response to a query from SGX regarding the stock's fall on Friday, Noble said in a filing to the stock exchange that other than the Iceberg blog posting, it wasn't aware of any other potential reason for the share's fall.

In a note published on Friday afternoon, BNP Paribas pointed to the latest Iceberg blog and said, "we did not find any new information in the report; the concerns they had on contract valuation have been an old and recurring theme."

BNP Paribas said it believed Noble's operations showed improvement in 2016, adding that the company should be able to benefit more from increased coal, oil and other commodity prices in 2017.

"The insufficient disclosure on the gains/losses on commodity/derivative contracts have concerned us too and we have provided feedback to the company," BNP Paribas said, but added that it recommended buying Noble's 2018 bonds on dips as cash levels appeared sufficient to pay them off.

The stock's recent rise was likely driven by a Reuters report last week, citing three sources familiar with the matter, that China's state-owned Sinochem is in early talks with Noble Group to buy an equity stake in the embattled trader.

If a deal is reached, that would help Sinochem gain access to Noble's global supply chain, Reuters reported.

Reuters, citing sources, said the talks have not been completed and there is no assurance that a deal will be finalized.

When contacted by CNBC, Noble declined to comment on the latest Iceberg report and referred to its February 14 filing to the Singapore Stock Exchange that it was engaged in talks regarding possible strategic investment in the company, but that no binding agreements had been reached.

Iceberg's reports have figuratively drifted into Noble's ship for nearly two years.

The anonymously published Wordpress blog began in February 2015, when Iceberg Research published a report alleging that the Singapore-listed trader's accounting treatments were "unusual," resulted in "fabricated" profit and "intentionally misleads credit agencies and investors."

Noble has consistently and vehemently denied the allegations.






Containers of VX nerve agent. Source: Newport Chemical Depot Reuse Authority

watch now

South Korean intelligence officials believe this was an assassination plot orchestrated by the North Korean government. Here's the lowdown on VX.

What is it?

"VX is the most toxic chemical weapon ever produced," according to Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former NATO commanding officer and leading chemical weapons expert.

VX acts so quickly that victims would have to be injected with the antidote almost immediately to have a chance at survival.

It's banned under several international conventions and was designated a weapon of mass destruction by a U.N. resolution in April 1991. Its origins date back to the early 1950s, when a British scientist named Ranajit Ghosh was researching pesticides and developed the "V-series" of nerve agents  the V stood for "venom." According to the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington-based think tank, the compound was deemed to deadly for commercial use. However, the U.K. shared the formula with the American government, which began full-scale production of VX in 1961.

Who has it?

During the Cold War, both Washington and Moscow built up large quantities of chemical weapons, including VX. But after signing the Chemical Weapons Convention, which banned the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, the U.S. says it has destroyed all of its arsenal and Russia has pledged to do the same by 2020. Elsewhere, the spread of VX is believed to be relatively contained, mainly because it takes a sophisticated laboratory to produce. Saddam Hussein was accused successfully weaponizing VX in the 1980s, before using it against Iranian forces and the Kurds. A decade later, the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo killed 12 people on the Tokyo subway using the less-toxic nerve agent sarin. The group also killed one person using VX. The apparent assassination of Kim Jong Nam would add North Korea to this inglorious list. Although the recent focus has been on its nuclear arsenal, the country is believed to possess between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. "Nerve agents such as Sarin and VX are thought be to be the focus of North Korean production," it said, although Kim's death would be the first known occasion where the country has actually deployed it. North Korea, Egypt and South Sudan are the only countries in the world that haven't signed the Chemical Weapons Convention.

How does VX work?

Unlike sarin, which is usually deployed as a gas, VX is very slow to evaporate and is therefore usually found as a viscous liquid, similar in texture to motor oil or honey. In this state, it's highly toxic when it comes into contact with skin. "You need a microscopic amount to kill one person, which is what happened to Kim Jong Nam," said Bretton-Gordon, the chemical weapons expert. It's likely that Kim at experienced pinpointed pupils, a runny nose, and nausea, before finding it hard to breathe and feeling his heart racing. He probably then had loss of bladder and bowel control, convulsions, seizures, and finally death while on the way to the hospital just minutes later. There are antidotes, such as the medication Atropine, which the French military were issued with after the Paris attacks because they feared ISIS would attempt to use VX. But this needs to be administered almost immediately to be effective. "VX acts so quickly that victims would have to be injected with the antidote almost immediately to have a chance at survival," according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Bretton-Gordon added that "Kim Jong Nam had absolutely no chance at all." VX also featured in the 1996 action thriller "The Rock." Although the symptoms displayed in the movie  the liquid evaporating quickly and burning the skin  are inaccurate, and more closely associated with chlorine.

Containers of VX nerve agent. Source: Newport Chemical Depot Reuse Authority

Why was no one else killed?

This might be down to VX's chemical properties. It doesn't evaporate very quickly, so people have less chance of breathing it into their lungs. There may have been one other casualty, however: Malaysian officials say that one of the two women who allegedly attacked Kim vomited after the incident. Furthermore, police say the two women washed their hands straight after. This tallies with guidelines from the U.S. Army, saying that "a solution of common household bleach and water, followed by water rinse, can be used to decontaminate the skin where contact was made with VX." The airport itself has not been decontaminated and has remained open and at full capacity for more than a week. Asked by The Associated Press whether officials would sterilize the area following the discovery of VX, Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said: "We are doing it now."

How was VX smuggled into Malaysia?

Assuming the chemical was made in North Korea and not Malaysia itself, getting such a potent substance past security may have been relatively easy. Bretton-Gordon explained that when he gives talks about the danger of chemical weapons, he uses a thimble-sized container of honey as a prop to demonstrate how little of the liquid is needed to pose a threat. "I carry it in my hand luggage all over the world and no one has said anything  why would VX be any different?" he said.

What are the wider implications?
Low-cost airline Norwegian has unveiled a series of transatlantic flights enabling passengers to fly between the U.K., Ireland, and the U.S. for as little as $65.



From summer 2017, passengers will be able to fly from Edinburgh, Belfast, Cork, Shannon and Dublin to the greater New York, Boston and New England areas, as the airline piles pressure on other European carriers with the launch of ten new routes.

The direct flights, the first of their kind from Cork, will travel to smaller U.S. airports, which carry lower landing charges, enabling one-way flights for the equivalent of 69 or 69 euros.

These include New York State's Stewart International (SWF); Providence, Rhode Island (PVD); and Conneticut's Bradley International (BDL).

"Our new, non-stop service will enable tens of thousands of new travelers to fly between the continents much more affordably," said Norwegian's chief executive Bjorn Kjos.

"Norwegian's latest transatlantic offering is not only great news for the traveling public, but also for the local U.S, Irish and UK economies as we will bring more tourists that will increase spending, supporting thousands of local jobs."

The flights, on sale now, will be operated by a new Boeing 737 Max aircraft, for which Norwegian will be the pilot customer.

Norwegian already operates low-cost flights to eight major U.S. cities from London Gatwick.

CORRECTION: This story was updated to show that Norwegian passengers will be able to fly between the U.K., Ireland and the U.S. for as little as $65. The spelling of Stewart International Airport was also corrected.
Vice President Mike Pence issued a proclamation to the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday: the "Obamacare nightmare is about to end."

Pence told the fired-up conservative crowd that the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, would soon be repealed and replaced, no matter the raucous town halls nationwide packed with supporters of the health care law.

"Despite the best efforts of liberal activists at town halls across the country, the American people know better," the vice president told the fired-up crowd. "Obamacare has failed and Obamacare must go."





Pence took the stage at CPAC a vindicated and triumphant hero facing a crowd that knew him well  he has spoken at the conservative gathering many times before.

"My friends, this is our time," he said to rousing applause.

More from NBC News:



GOP Members Scarce at Key Conservative Conference

Bannon Touts Trump's 'Economic Nationalist Agenda'

White House Staffers Dismissed, Failed Background Checks

The comments were red meat to conservatives but varied only slightly from Pence's usual stump speech.
Here are some of the key stories CNBC is following this hour:

Turkish media reported that a car bomb north of a town just captured from ISIS by Turkish forces killed at least 35 people, including civilians and Syrian opposition fighters. The Syrians put the death toll at 45. The car bomb detonated outside a security office.

Malaysian police are investigating how two women received a nerve agent allegedly smeared on the face of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. They surmise it was a massive amount of the chemical because small amounts of the substance are difficult to detect.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she doesn't plan to retire from the court anytime soon. The 83-year-old judge appeared on a BBC broadcast Thursday night and said she plans to serve as long as she can.

A Colorado rancher plowed 800-feet long letters reading 'Trump' into his land. He said he was frustrated by the negativity coming from President Donald Trump's opponents. He also said if the president sees the sign flying overhead, he's invited to stop by the ranch.
 Flash

A delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is paying a visit to Laos from Tuesday to Friday to promote exchanges on governance experience with the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP).

During the visit, the delegation, led by Li Zhiyong, executive deputy secretary of the CPC's Work Committee of the Central Government Departments, was received by LPRP political bureau member and Chairman of the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) Central Committee Saysomphone Phomvihane, Secreatariat of the LPRP Central Committee and head of LPRP Commission for Propaganda and Training Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, as well as President of the Lao Academy of Social Sciences Soukkongseng Saingaleuth.

The Lao side positively evaluated the results of the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and highly praised the CPC's efforts to govern the party strictly.

At the meetings, the Lao side expressed their willing to further strengthen exchanges of experience in state and party governance and to consolidate and promote the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Laos and China continuously.
The stock market may be signaling something is awry in the oil market.

Like a seesaw, oil prices have gone up in February, while energy stocks have gone down. Matt Maley of Miller Tabak Securities says the action in crude oil creates a "conundrum."

"Energy stocks usually lead crude oil ... so if history is any guide, the decline in the XLE should be telling us that the recent bounce in WTI is not going to last," Maley said in a recent note.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR fund (XLE) is down more than 5 percent in one month, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures are up almost 2.5 percent. Energy is the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 over the same time period, logging a near 6 percent loss.

Still, investors have been piling into crude futures and traders say there aren't really signs of a pending correction. But the buying by speculative traders in oil futures has created the biggest net 'long' position in history, signaling that if there is a break in prices, investors running for the exits could cause some calamity in the market.

"The Commitment of Traders data shows that the 'specs' are loaded to the gills in crude oil  they have their largest net long position ever. Similarly, the 'commercials' have their largest net short positions ever," Maley notes.

He also indicates that the specs tend to be wrong when the commercials tend to be right.

"I think there are two different "agendas" allowing for the open interest to hit a record," said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Associates. "At these price levels, the specs are more inclined to enter the oil market on the long side as they feel we just won't go below $30 as world demand keeps rising."

The factors supporting crude at the moment include OPEC's production cut, a possible Saudi Aramco IPO, and seasonal demand starting to pick up in the United States.

The downside factors include U.S. shale producers aggressively pumping, and the potential for a producer like Russia to not keep up with compliance with the OPEC deal. So far, both OPEC and non OPEC seem to be complying with the plan to hold 1.8 million barrels a day off the world market, so that prices stabilize.

"The big bet is that OPEC/non-OPEC complies with the cuts and inventory draws. If over the next few months inventory surveys show little in the way of confirming the cuts, back to the mid $40s we go," Lipow said.

In December, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as the largest producer at roughly 10.5 million barrels a day. U.S. production is coming back strong, with the government's weekly report showing U.S. crude production was back at 9 million barrels a day last week, a level not seen since April of 2016.

Even though the market hasn't been that kind to energy stocks of late, the industry is making a big bet on stock prices holding up. Estimates suggest that the market could see as many as 40 IPOs launch this year. If that number of deals comes to market, it would be triple the deal flow of 2016.

Deals are expected across energy sub sectors. Everything from producers, to pipelines, to frackers, a group that faced particular hardship as oil prices got close to $26 a barrel in February last year.

But these energy deals are contingent upon crude over $50. Right now, Wall Street analysts are split. This week, Citi said crude could hit $70, while ANB warned that WTI could fall closer to $30 if OPEC does not follow through.

While $30 is not what most analysts expect, the movements in the XLE would suggest a re-test of a sub-$50 price might not be as far off as some would think.






President Donald Trump may think the Chinese are the "grand champions" of currency manipulation, but he's wrong, expert John Rutledge told CNBC on Friday.

"Trump is an idiot on this. He has no clue what currency manipulation means," the chief investment officer of global investment firm Safanad said in an interview with "Closing Bell."

During the campaign, Trump accused China of keeping its yuan currency artificially low against the U.S. dollar to make Chinese exports cheaper, "stealing" American manufacturing jobs.

On Thursday, the president told Reuters he has not "held back" in his assessment, despite not acting on a pledge to declare the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office.

"Well they, I think they're grand champions at manipulation of currency. So I haven't held back," Trump said. "We'll see what happens."

However, earlier Thursday Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told CNBC he wasn't ready to pass judgment on China's currency practices.

"We have a process within Treasury where we go through and look at currency manipulation across the board. We'll go through that process. We'll do that as we have in the past. We're not making any judgments until we continue that process," he told "Squawk Box."

Rutledge, who was one of the principal architects of President Ronald Reagan's economic plan, said China is actually trying to support its currency.

"Chinese authorities have actually sold a trillion dollars' worth of foreign reserves in the last year to support their currency that's trying to fall because Chinese nationals are trying to get their money out of China," he said. That is anti-manipulation."

Reuters and CNBC's Steven Desaulniers contributed to this report.


U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (R) and Mexico's Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray arrive to deliver a statement at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City, Mexico February 23, 2017.

A picture is beginning to emerge of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's first three weeks as America's top diplomat. It isn't pretty.

On Thursday, a pair of devastating articles in Politico and the Washington Post described how the former Exxon Mobil CEO has been cut out of the loop on major foreign policy shifts, slapped down by the White House on personnel choices, and given virtually no opportunities to make public appearances with President Trump. Per the Post:

The Trump administration in its first month has largely benched the State Department from its long-standing role as the preeminent voice of U.S. foreign policy, curtailing public engagement and official travel and relegating Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to a mostly offstage role.

The day-to-day chaos of the Trump White House and mini controversies the new president regularly stirs up on Twitter make it difficult to track what's going on in individual parts of the government, even ones as important as the State Department. And that's why understanding what Tillerson has  and has not  been able to do is so important.

More from Vox:

John Boehner told Republicans some inconvenient truths on Obamacare

A Russian newspaper editor explains how Putin made Trump his puppet

Kellyanne Conway: Women who oppose Trump 'just have a problem with women in power'



Here's one thing Tillerson hasn't been able to do: choose his own deputy. Tillerson, who has never worked in government, wanted State Department veteran and longtime Republican foreign policy hand Elliott Abrams. Trump personally rejected Abrams after learning that the former Bush administration official had criticized him during the campaign. Tillerson hasn't found a replacement, and it's not clear if, or when, he'll be able to fill the post.

"The Elliott Abrams example is pretty horrifying," Eliot Cohen, a top to aide to former Republican Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, told the Post.

Tillerson also doesn't seem to be much of a player on key foreign policy decisions, even though the job of the secretary of state normally is to help make them. Politico has this eye-opening anecdote:

Sources have told POLITICO that the secretary of state was never consulted when Trump, in an appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dropped the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

That suggests, to put it diplomatically, that Tillerson doesn't have remotely the same power as high-profile predecessors such as Rice, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry.
Despite what Donald Trump says, America's manufacturers are doing well right now.

Their success just hasn't resulted in large number of high-paying jobs for Trump's blue collar base.

Instead, the robots have taken over the factory.

Eighty-five percent of manufacturing jobs were lost to technology from 2000-2010, not Chinese job thieves, the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University estimates. And we can expect more automation, and not just on the shop floor. Last year the White House predicted 47 percent of existing jobs will eventually be eliminated by automation and artificial intelligence.

While some of those displaced workers will find other jobs, the purpose of automation and artificial intelligence is to reduce the need for human labor, not replace one lost job with one higher-paying job.

The result could be the biggest jobs-related crisis since the Great Depression, though unlike the 1930s, those jobs could be lost forever.

Unless Donald Trump has a time machine stored in a secret lair underneath Trump Tower, going back to a labor-driven manufacturing economy isn't an option.

Instead, we should look at real solutionsone of which may be the Universal Basic Income (UBI).

Tech executives, including Elon Musk, have become some of the most vocal supporters of a UBI. The idea is currently being tested in Oakland, California, where Silicon Valley incubator Y Combinator is conducting a study that provides a select number of residents with a $2,000 per month basic income.
President Donald Trump has tapped an economist from the American Enterprise Institute, Kevin Hassett, to be chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, CNBC has confirmed.



Formal vetting for the CEA position is already underway, according to a source with direct knowledge on the situation.

Should he be confirmed, Hassett will work with National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, tackling projects such as tax and budgetary reform.

Hassett is a tax expert with a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. His presence in the Trump administration would address the concern of some economists, including former Republican and Democratic chairmen of the panel, that Trump lacked academic economists on his team.

CNBC's Steve Liesman contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed another executive order as part of what he calls a broad push to curb regulations and help businesses.

The measure directs federal agencies to create "regulatory reform" task forces which will evaluate federal rules and recommend whether to keep, repeal or change them. Trump's administration wants the officials to reduce what it deems expensive or unnecessary rules.

Surrounded by business executives in the White House before he signed the order, Trump claimed "excessive regulation is killing jobs" and "driving companies out of our country like never before." He said the measure is "one of the many ways that we're going to get real results" in scaling back regulations.

Pledges to roll back regulations and slash taxes for individuals and corporations have helped to drive investor and business executive optimism. Trump also claims his policies will drive job growth, particularly in the Rust Belt regions that sealed his electoral win. He already signed one measure expanding regulatory review, with the goal of revoking two regulations for every new one put forward.

The executives who stood with Trump in the White House advise him on policy and met with him Thursday.
President Donald J. Trump is not shy with superlatives but, as he noted Friday, his short time in office has already notched a record most White House occupants would rather not set.



More than a month in, nearly half of Trump's Cabinet nominees have yet to be confirmed by the Senate, the longest run for any modern president.



"It's just delay, delay, delay - it's really sad," Trump told a cheering crowd at a Conservative Political Action Committee meeting Friday. "I love setting records. But I hate having a Cabinet meeting and I see all these empty seats. I said, 'Democrats, please, approve our cabinet.'"



For their part, Democrats have set records for party-line votes opposing Trump's choices, arguing that some of his nominees have not been fully vetted and others aren't qualified for the jobs they're filling.



"This is not even close to a normal Cabinet," Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said earlier this month. "I have never seen a Cabinet this full of bankers and billionaires, folks with massive conflicts of interest and such little experience or expertise in the areas they will oversee."

So far, Democrats have torpedoed one of Trump's Cabinet choices before a vote, pressuring fast food executive Andrew Puzder to withdrawn as a nominee for secretary of Labor.



And they have offered support for only three of the top 15 Cabinet positions, joining Republicans to approve Defense Secretary James Mattis, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and John Kelley to head the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Democrats have opposed the other six nominations that have been approved so far.



Here's how Trump's Cabinet confirmation timeline compares with the first terms of the last six presidents, according to Senate records.
As President Donald Trump rolls out more details of a plan that could deport millions of undocumented U.S. immigrants, the true cost of such an undertaking is coming into sharper focus.

In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, Trump outlined what he called his administration's "swift and strong action to secure the southern border." He said his administration would be "throwing" gang members, drug dealers and criminal aliens out of the country and "will not let them back in."

Until there are more details of the plan, much of which will require congressional approval, estimates are sketchy. But by any full accounting, the fiscal and economic costs would be huge.

Recently the Trump administration has backed off earlier pledges to deport anyone in the country illegally  Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Thursday "there will be no mass deportations" after he met with Mexican officials.
Allegations of widespread sexual harassment and bad behavior at Uber are "unfortunate and inexcusable," but Uber is not going to change its company culture, nor should it, said Gene Munster, Loup Ventures managing partner.



Speaking from a hypothetical Uber investor's perspective, "I would like to see the people that actually did this be held accountable, but I wouldn't like to see the culture change, as crazy as that sounds," he said. (Munster is not an investor in the company.)

Uber's company culture is under scrutiny following a viral blog post from former Uber Engineer Susan Fowler alleging sexual harassment published Sunday. A follow-up article from Mike Isaac at the New York Times included other allegations of harassment and an aggressive workplace culture, and two early investors in the company have called on others to demand change.

But Uber got where it did on the strength of its aggressive take-no-prisoners culture embodied by CEO Travis Kalanick, says Munster, and trying to change that could be "dangerous."

"It can be changed, but it is dangerous. What got Uber to where they are today is their intense culture, and their vision is to have transportation as accessible as running water, and to continue that vision and to impact the culture is something that's dangerous."

As Uber grappled with the fallout from these claims, it was also hit with a lawsuit from Alphabet's Waymo Thursday Munster thinks this lawsuit "probably sets Uber's self driving back a year."

Anthony Levandowski, a former manager in the Google autonomous vehicle unit, is accused of downloading 14,000 confidential files in December 2015, then using that information as he created self-driving truck maker Otto, which Uber acquired last year.


Uber has fired back at a lawsuit alleging it misappropriated trade secrets.



Waymo, a project of Google-parent Alphabet, filed a lawsuit filed in San Francisco court on Thursday, alleging that drawings of the 3-D sensors in Uber's self-driving cars contained Alphabet's trade secrets.

At the time, Uber told CNBC they would review the matter carefully. On Friday, in an updated statement, Uber said:

"We are incredibly proud of the progress that our team has made. We have reviewed Waymo's claims and determined them to be a baseless attempt to slow down a competitor and we look forward to vigorously defending against them in court. In the meantime, we will continue our hard work to bring self-driving benefits to the world."  Uber spokesperson

The lawsuit revolves around Anthony Levandowski, who left Google to launch a self-driving truck company called Otto, which went own to be acquired by Uber. The lawsuit claims Levandowski raided design servers and "downloaded more than 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary files shortly before his resignation."

"Misappropriating this technology is akin to stealing a secret recipe from a beverage company," Alphabet said in a statement.

Uber has ambitious plans for its self-driving cars. Earlier this month, CEO Travis Kalanick laid out his vision at a summit in Dubai.

"It sounds futuristic and sci-fi but that's where the world is going," Kalanick said.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Donald Trump's campaign advisors were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official said late Thursday.

The official said Priebus' request came after the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was not accurate. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to.

The New York Times reported that U.S. agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trump's 2016 campaign team.

Priebus' discussion with FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

"The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisors," said Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations "only when it is important for the performance of the president's duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective." When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus' communications with McCabe. The official was not authorized to disclose the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.

The FBI would not say whether it had contacted the White House about the veracity of the Times report.

CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI to weigh in on the matter.

Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Multiple media outlets were blocked from a White House media briefing Friday afternoon.



There was no planned on-camera daily briefing by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer when Friday's schedule was released Thursday night, but the original guidance read that there would be a gaggle in the briefing room. Around noon, the White House updated that guidance, scuttling the gaggle to off-camera with the "expanded pool.

The White House emailed previously selected reporters that they were okayed to attend.

While representatives from NBC News, CBS, ABC, and FOX were allowed into the off-camera briefing, CNN was not.

.@AP & @TIME boycotted as a result. WH Correspondents Assn protesting. Conservative outlets Breitbart, Washington Times, @OANN allowed in

Buzzfeed, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Politico were among the other outlets not allowed in to cover the gaggle, with representatives from the Associated Press and Time declining to go into the gaggle because of how it was being handled.

Read more from NBC News:

Trump launches attack on unnamed press sources

Trump aide Priebus asked FBI to knock down Russia stories

Poll: More than half disapprove of Donald Trump's job performance



White House Correspondents Association President Jeff Mason emailed members that the board "is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House."

WHCA president says they are 'protesting strongly' against how gaggle being held

"We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff," the email read.

During the briefing in question Spicer was asked about why certain outlets were not present. He said it was because the gaggle was an "expanded pool" and he made that decision.

The move comes after Trump doubled down on Friday on his criticism of American mainstream media calling them "the enemy of the American People" during his speech to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
A Mechanicville High School junior has been selected to represent the school and the state this summer at a prestigious youth conference on the environment in Washington, D.C.

Zachary DeCerce, 16, will attend the Washington Youth Summit on the Environment at George Mason University at Fairfax, Va. from June 25 to June 30.

The program accepts 250 high school applicants from across the country with outstanding grades and an interest in the environment and conservation.

DeCerce, who is the grandson of former Halfmoon Supervisor Ken DeCerce, credited his mother and father, Bonnie and David, with helping him appreciate nature from a very early age.

Im interested in helping my community and helping the earth as a whole to make it a better place, he said last week. Were earth conservation people here. We raise plants, we dont hunt, we try and live in tandem with nature.

DeCerce said getting accepted to the youth summit was an incredible honor but also a stroke of pure luck.

I was originally looking at colleges that had programs in ecology and environmental science, he said. When the counselors went over my interests they said I was qualified for the youth summit and I began looking into it.

He isnt sure who reached out to George Mason University, but his interests in the environment combined with his GPA and his score on the PSAT lead the university to reach out to DeCerce, tell him he was qualified, and send him an application.

I had to write an essay which asked why I wanted to attend, what my interests were, and what I hoped to accomplish, he said. For the section on what I wanted to accomplish I put down that I wanted to help raise some type of awareness and knowledge of whats going on (with the environment), that its more dangerous than we comprehend.

DeCerce said he the acceptance was an incredible honor, one that came as a surprise and made him very happy.

I wasnt expecting it, he said. When I received the letter of acceptance I was pleased to have accomplished something like this at 16, something at this level, he said.

By attending the conference he said he expects to gain knowledge that he can then disseminate upon his return to possibly help people and his community.

I put down in the essay that there was a major displacement of animals taking place through deforestation and along with the growing threat of climate change both were major threats to our survival as a whole. Its all tied together, he said. I said I wanted to help raise awareness of these events and get more people knowledgeable of it so they can do their part to fix them.

The six-day program costs $1,650 per student. Financial aid and ideas on how to fundraise are part of the pre-programs information package. George Mason University sponsors the program each summer in partnership with the Smithsonian and the National Zoo.

During their time on the college campus and on field trips to the nations capital, the students are presented with interactive and challenging experimental learning situations and asked to solve problems and explore the tensions inherent in the areas of conservation and the environment.

Since his acceptance, DeCerce said he has told very few people outside the family. However, one person he did speak to was his high school science teacher Ms. Jnaggs.

Im in her ecology studies course and Ive attended some study classes with her, he said. We share similar beliefs on the environment.

As a high school junior, DeCerce is beginning to consider colleges and their program offerings. Though he has yet to set his sights on one specific college or university he is focusing on one area of study, the medical field.

Id like to get a degree in psychology and help children or families under duress or dealing with mental impairments, he said. Everything is tied to the eco-system, everything is the earth. Anything I can do to help, even humans who are suffering in some way, is helping the eco -system as a whole grow stronger. It might not be conservation directly but I would be doing my part.

DeCerce has other interests in addition to conservation and the environment. In the past he took part in the school districts drama club, though in recent years he stepped aside. However, he is enrolled in a professional acting school outside of school to satisfy an urge to perform.

Unfortunately, Ive abandoned my love of acting at least for school, he said.

DeCerce is looking forward to the trio and said his review of past programs shows a large quantity of effective work being done there.

They seem to take an active interest in the students and want to teach them as much as they can as to helping their communities with their environment and Id very much like to be a part of that, he said.

His mother, Bonnie DeCerce, admits sending her teenage son off to Washington. D.C. this summer has given her some anxiety but she has been watching the news of the summit on the schools web site and on Facebook.

The program does a lot with leadership and we really like that, she said. We want Zak to be a leader not a follower. Theyre the ones that will carry on.

Having known nothing of her son completing the application, the acceptance came as a surprise.

Its an opportunity of a lifetime, an experience like no other, she said. Ive looked at their schedule and Im jealous. (Studying the environment) has been my passion. Its an absolute honor to get accepted.
ITHACA, N.Y.  The board of trustees of Ithaca College on Wednesday announced it has selected Shirley Collado as the colleges ninth president.

She will assume the presidency at Ithaca College on July 1, the school said in a news release posted on its website.

Collado succeeds Thomas Rochon, who has served as president of Ithaca College since 2008.

Collado currently serves as executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer at Rutgers UniversityNewark.

The boards unanimous approval followed the recommendation of Collado by a presidential search committee that the college formed in March 2016.

The 15-member committee included trustees, faculty, staff, and students.

I am deeply honored to have been selected as the next president of such an accomplished, energetic, and deeply engaged community, Collado said. I admire Ithaca Colleges devotion to student growth and success, its resolve in facing difficult problems together head-on, and its desire to make sure the college and its graduates make a powerful impact on the world.

Nancy Cantor, chancellor of Rutgers UniversityNewark and former chancellor of Syracuse University, said she is absolutely thrilled about Collados appointment as the next president of Ithaca College.

Shirley is a terrific leader who collaborates and motivates all those around her to pursue the mission of higher education today of educating the next diverse generation of professionals, citizens, and leaders, and to foster high-impact scholarship that makes a real difference in our world. She has been a true star. She is a consummate collaborator and a leader who gets things done, all wrapped up in one very strong and thoughtful and caring visionary. This is a wonderful appointment, and I look forward eagerly to all that will bloom under her leadership at Ithaca, Cantor said in the release.

Collado background

Described as an expert in organizational behavior and development, Collado has held executive leadership roles in higher education for more than 16 years at private and public institutions, as well as in the nonprofit sector.

Trained as a clinical psychologist at Duke University, Collado specializes in the intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender in trauma experiences and treatment, Ithaca College said.

She has taught at colleges and universities that include New York University, Georgetown University, George Mason University, the New School, Middlebury College, and Lafayette College.

Collado earned a bachelors degree in human and organizational development and psychology from Vanderbilt University, along with a masters degree and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Duke University.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

PHOTO CAPTION: Ithaca College has selected Shirley Collado as the schools ninth president. She will assume the presidency at Ithaca on July 1, succeeding Thomas Rochon, who has been president of Ithaca College since 2008, the college said. (Photo credit: Ithaca College website)
Big Brother Nigeria debuted its second season ten years after its initial season.

Today, Omotola Jalade was invited to the house when she talked to the housemates on women empowerment.

However, in 2006, the influential actress had visited the Big brother house where she showed her acting skills with the housemates.

A video of the star actress was shared by BBNs host Ebuka Obi-Uchendu.

In the video, Tinsel star Gideon Okeke was spotted among the housemates, drawing inspiration from the woman who will later become his senior college in Hollywood.

This makes Omotola the first celebrity to visit both seasons of the show.
A male teacher was abducted, drugged and [email protected] by four women suspected to be Sperm harvesters.

The victime disclosed that the alleged rapist and a male driver gave him a lift in a Toyota Quantum car on Friday, February 17, 2017 at Lupane, Zimbabwe.

It was stated that after the ordeal, he woke up to pains around his private part including a body weakness.

According to a police source who narrated the incidents circumstances, he said,

The teacher was intending to travel to Bulawayo on Friday night. He was given a lift by the group of women who were traveling in a Quantum with South African number plates.

After some time, the driver diverted the route and one of the women told him that they wanted to pick up someone.

The man said they forced him to drink a substance from a bottle and he passed out. He suspects that they sexually assault him and took away his semen as he woke up at 5AM Nakked with a weak body and bruised private part.

After wearing his clothes, which were left on the scene, he walked to the main road where he boarded a lift to Lupane police station and filed a report.

The man whose identity wasnt revealed, was taken to St Lukes Hospital for treatment.
When the U.S. Mint strikes its first American Eagle bullion coin in .9995 palladium, the issue will carry a face value of $25.

U.S. Mint officials are looking toward a 2017 release of the nations first palladium coin.

After seven years of development and study, an American palladium bullion coin may finally be struck before the end of calendar year 2017.

The coin has been a long time coming. It was authorized under provisions of the American Eagle Palladium Bullion Coin Act of 2010, which calls for production of a 1-ounce palladium coin with a $25 face value. The coin would be an extension of the American Eagle bullion coin program

Currently, development of a palladium bullion coin is progressing well enough to create a strong likelihood that collectors and investors will be able to purchase struck coins before the end of 2017, according to Mint sources.

Connect with Coin World:

Sign up for our free eNewsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

The enabling legislation calls for the palladium bullion coin to be struck at the Philadelphia, Denver or San Francisco Mint, but prohibits it from being produced at the West Point Mint. That facility, in New York, is where most of the nations other bullion coins are struck: gold and platinum American Eagles, most of the silver American Eagles, and the American Buffalo gold coins. The Philadelphia Mint strikes the America the Beautiful 5-ounce silver bullion coins and has been called upon to strike American Eagle silver bullion coins when demand requires.

The Philadelphia Mint is the likely frontrunner for striking the palladium coin, according to Mint sources, because that facility is where the palladium coins development is being explored.

However, should U.S. Mint officials choose to also strike a Proof collector version of the palladium American Eagle, the Proof issue must be struck at the West Point facility, according to the authorizing legislation.

The legislation mandates the obverse design be a high-relief version of sculptor Adolph A. Weinmans Winged Liberty Head design for the dime struck in 1916. The reverse is mandated to be a high-relief version of the Eagle design Weinman rendered in 1906 for the reverse of the American Institute of Architects gold medal first presented in 1907.

U.S. Mint officials are still working on securing reliable vendors to provide palladium planchets. The planchets must meet Mint specifications and be supplied in a sufficient quantity to fulfill market demand for a U.S. palladium bullion coin. U.S. Mint officials are still assessing that market demand.

The 2010 legislation authorized a feasibility study that was conducted in 2012 and issued in 2013 and that suggested that a palladium bullion coin program at that time was not economically viable, but that a Proof collector version could turn a profit.

The effort was virtually mothballed after release of the 2013 report, but was resurrected with the 2015 passage of legislation introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich.

Huizengas measure  The Bullion and Collectible Coin Production Efficiency and Cost Savings Act  negated the paragraph of the 2010 law that required favorable results before proceeding with a palladium coin, but left all other provisions of the 2010 act intact.

The technical correction legislation was included in a large transportation bill signed into law Dec. 4, 2015, by President Obama.
PCGS recently authenticated this 1909 V.D.B. Lincoln cent as a Matte Proof and graded and encapsulated the coin Proof 66 red and brown, with a CAC sticker added attesting to its quality.

Matte Proof PCGS Proof 66 red and brown, CAC 1909 V.D.B. Lincoln cent is valued at more than $50,000.

A 1909 Lincoln, V.D.B. cent originally thought to be a common Mint State example has been certified by Professional Coin Grading Service as a rare Matte Proof, of which fewer than 200 submissions have been made to major third-party grading services.

If the coin had been a common circulation strike, the coin would be valued below $100. Instead, experts believe the coin could realize between $50,000 and $60,000 at Stacks Bowers Galleries March 29 to 31 sale in conjunction with the Whitman Baltimore Expo, to which it has been consigned.

The coin is graded PCGS Proof 66 red and brown and stickered by Certified Acceptance Corp. for its quality.

Identified during attribution

The coin going to auction was identified and attributed by variety specialist Chris Simpson from California.

Simpson identified the coin from among a batch of coins in 2-inch by 2-inch cardboard holders that he examined in mid-November for a southern California dealer for whom he does variety attributions.

The cardboard holders were housed in a coin album, and the Matte Proof 1909 Lincoln, V.D.B. cent was in the slot for circulation strikes, Simpson said.

Connect with Coin World:

Sign up for our free eNewsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Simpson said when he picked up the group of coins and looked them over briefly, he raised the possibility with the dealer that the coin could be a rare Matte Proof strike.

Simpson didnt make a firm identification until he got the coins home where he could conduct a thorough examination. When he examined the cent extensively, he found that it possessed all of the obverse and reverse diagnostics for a Matte Proof.

FREE STUFF: Win a Copy of the Coin Hobby's No. 1 Grading Guide!

Simpson said he then shared the news of the verification with the dealer, who will share an undisclosed portion of the coins proceeds with him after the March auction, provided the piece sells.

PCGS has recorded grading 130 Matte Proof 1909 Lincoln, V.D.B. cents, while Numismatic Guaranty Corp.s census of certified examples is 45.

Some uncertainty exists over the mintage figure for the coin, with two numbers often cited: 1,194 and 420. The number of survivors suggests that the final mintage was likely closer to the smaller number, experts note. Some researchers believe that 1,194 coins may have been struck, with more than half destroyed when orders arrived to remove the designers initials from the reverse, to arrive at the 420 figure.

According to the Mega edition of A Guide Book of United States Coins for 2017, a limited number of the Matte Proof Lincoln, V.D.B. cents became available in August 1909 although many more requests for the coins were ignored by the Mint.

Diagnostics

Key points for collectors seeking to determine if their Lincoln, V.D.B. cent might be a Matte Proof are the raised, parallel die lines that appear on top and along Lincolns nose on the obverse on the Matte Proof cent.

On the reverse, an upside-down U-shaped raised mark appears to the right of the M in UNUM.

The use of a Matte Proof finish on the first Lincoln cents was a recent innovation for the Mint; until 1907, Proof coins generally bore a Brilliant Proof finish. The Proof 1909 Indian Head cents bore the traditional mirror finish.

A Matte Proof coins surfaces are granular and the rims flat and squared. The dies, not the planchets, were sandblasted to impart the grainy surfaces.

The Matte Proof cents were struck on a medal press running at slowing speed to bring up the relief in the coin designs, according to Q. David Bowers in A Guide Book of Lincoln Cents.
Types of obituaries

The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries  family obituaries and life stories.

A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries

A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories.
EquipmentShare officially celebrates expansion

EquipmentShare will expand its corporate office footprint in Columbia following the success of its application for a 10-year property tax abatement.
Toshiba has begun shipping samples of its third-generation 3D NAND flash chip technology, which stacks 64 layers of flash cells and has 65% greater capacity than the previous generation technology, which used 48 layers.

"This increases memory capacity per silicon wafer and leads to a reduction of cost-per-bit," Toshiba said in a statement.

Toshiba Based on a vertical stacking or 3D technology that Toshiba calls BiCS (Bit Cost Scaling), the company's NAND flash memory stores three bits of data per transistor, meaning it's a multi-level cell (MLC) flash chip. It can store 512Gbits (64GB) per chip.

Part of its BiCS flash product line, the new chips also store 3 bits of data per cell with the ability to store 512 gigabits (Gb) or 64GB per chip. Toshiba's second-generation BiCS flash chip held 256Gb (32GB) of capacity.

The new technology will enable a 1TB chip that will be used to create enterprise and consumer SSDs, the company said. Mass production of the new 512Gb chip devices is scheduled for the second half of 2017.

The next milestone in the BiCS flash development roadmap will be the industry's highest capacity chip, a 1TB product with a 16-die stacked architecture in a single package -- in other words, 16 of the 64GB chips. Tosbhia said it plans to begin shipping samples of its 1TB chip in April.

"By stacking the die, we are able to achieve higher density per package. From an industry perspective, a 16-die stack has long been the maximum for reasons of optimizing yield," Scott Nelson, senior vice president of the company's memory business unit, said in an email reply to Computerworld. "Our announcement of 512Gb BiCS FLASH is significant because, in a 16-die stack, we enable the industrys largest capacity in a single chip."

[ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ]

In addition to the new 512Gb chip, Toshiba's BiCS flash lineup also includes a 64-layer 256Gb (32 gigabyte) offering, which is already in mass production.

Toshiba Based on a vertical stacking or 3D technology that Toshiba and partner WD developed, the latest BiCS (Bit Cost Scaling) technology stores three bits of data per cell and stacks those cells 64-layers high.

Toshiba recently announced that construction has begun on a new state-of-the-art semiconductor fabrication facility, Fab 6, and a new memory-focused R&D center, at Yokkaichi Operations in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Fab 6 will be dedicated to the production of the company's BiCS flash memory products.

The company, which invented NAND flash in the early 1980s, announced last month it was exploring spinning off its memory business, which includes its 3D BiCS technology line. Nikkei's Asian Review reported that Toshiba had been considering spinning off its semiconductor operations and selling a partial stake to Western Digital (WD), "as it tries to cope with a massive impairment loss in its U.S. nuclear power unit."

Toshiba today announced it remains undecided about the sale of its memory business.

The move to spin off its memory business into the "Toshiba Memory Corporation" is designed to help it grow using the investments a partner could make, the company told investors.

Toshiba and WD already jointly operate memory fabrication plants, such as the Fab 2 plant located in Yokkaichi, Japan.

"Splitting off the Memory business into a single business entity will afford it greater flexibility in rapid decision-making and enhance financing options, which will lead to further growth of the Memory business," Toshiba said in its announcement today.

Toshiba The clean room in Toshiba's and Western Digital's jointly operated memory fabrication plant in Yokkaichi, Japan

According to a news report, Foxconn, Micron and SK Hynix are among those bidding to purchase Toshiba's memory business.

When the move was first announced in January, Toshiba had planned to sell off less than 20% of the memory business' shares to raise the cash it needed to remain solvent.

At a board meeting today, however, the electronics giant indicated it would likely approve the sale of a more than 50% stake, according to the Asian Review.

"Its financial woes worsened dramatically with the prospect of massive additional write-downs in its U.S. nuclear power business," the report said.

Toshiba Toshiba's and Western Digitals Fab 2 NAND flash manufacturing facility in Yokkaichi, Japan.

SK Hynix's CEO did confirm his company is considering purchasing a stake in Toshiba's memory business.

Toshiba's solvency and fundraising ability are presently in doubt because of a $1.9 billion accounting scandal and a huge loss related to the nuclear plant purchase.

"Its financial problems were a major drag on the growth of its memory business," Sean Yang, research director of DRAMeXchange, said in an earlier interview with Computerworld.
Iain Dale is Presenter of LBC Drive, Managing Director of Biteback Publishing, a columnist and broadcaster and a former Conservative Parliamentary candidate.

Twitter can be an unforgiving beast, as Jon Snow found out on Wednesday evening. He is a newsman I have tremendous respect for but, when he sent the following tweet, I and many others saw red: How many of those who voted Leave knew or had ever heard about the single market, and knew whether they wanted to stay in it or leave it?

Admittedly I have had to recreate the exact text of that tweet because after I sent the tweet below, he deleted his original.

and replaced it with this

The argument Snow was making was that the referendum was invalid because thick people didnt know what they were voting for. But the fact is that we had more information available to us in this referendum than any other referendum or election in history.

Just because Mrs Miggins from 32 Acacia Avenue didnt know the contents of an EU directive on environmental protection does not mean she shouldnt have been able to vote. In general elections, some people cast their vote fpr all sorts of peculiar reasons. Ive stood on enough doorsteps to know that.

Ive had people tell me they are voting for a candidate because they fancy him. Or that another candidate doesnt dress very well, so they couldnt possibly vote for him or her. Sometimes people vote with their gut instinct. If we expected people to read all four parties manifestos before casting their vote, wed have a very restricted electorate indeed. Perhaps Snow would like the electorate to be restricted to those living in Islington.

The fact is that we all knew wed have to leave the Single Market because it wasnt just Boris Johnson or Michael Gove who told us so: it was David Cameron, Nick Clegg and George Osborne on the Remain side. In addition, the EU itself made clear we wouldnt be able to stay if we didnt accept the continuation of complete freedom of movement of people and labour.

I rather like the fact that newscasters like Snow are cutting loose a bit and giving their views, but to treat voters as fools is perhaps not the wisest move.

         

I writing this weeks diary on Thursday morning, so I dont know the results of the two by-elections. But what I do know is that, whatever happens, its a lose-lose for Labour and a win-win for the Conservatives.

If Labour loses even one of the two seats, this will mark the first time that a governing party has taken a seat off the opposition in a by-election for 35 years. If Labour win both, this will guarantee Corbyns position until after the local elections in May.

The Corbynistas will be crowing about how it was Jeremy wot won it, when in actual fact it will be Jeremy who nearly lost it. These two by-elections have been vicious and spiteful  and for once its not the Liberal Democrats who have been most guilty of it. Labours campaign in Copeland has culminated in their message being encapsulated in the slogan Tories Will Kill Your Babies. Its been the modern day equivalent of the racist campaign in Smethwick in 1966, which saw the slogan: If you want a N***** for a neighbour, vote Labour.

Labours candidate in Stoke has been a disaster. His tweets have brought shame on him and his party, given that they selected him in the first place. When he does interviews, he comes across as shifty, nasty and just the kind of man youd not want to vote for.

None the less, Paul Nuttall has had a disastrous campaign and, whatever the truth of the matter, has emerged as someone who has a Walter Mitty streak to his character. He is a very clever man, but also quite sensitive  and he will have been horrified by the media coverage he has attracted. Politics can be a very ugly business sometimes, as he has come to realise personally.

         

I dont know what it is, but since they moved their studio into the so-called Glass Box ,something has happened to Sky News. The move coincided with them losing quite a few of their more experienced presenters. Presenter lineups on any channel do change from time to time, and theres nothing wrong with that. Im sure I will be refreshed at some point on LBC, although, having just signed a new contract, my detractors wont be getting their way for quite some to come!

But the secret of change is to implement it gradually, rather than in a big bang. I also detect signs of dumbing down. This week one of their breakfast shows 9.30am debates asked the question: Who was the best James Bond. Thats a phone-in for BBC Radio Surbiton, not for a major news channel. Most people tune into Sky to get the news, not an asinine debate like that.

Guess what! The presenters and the guests all disagreed who the best Bond was. Like anyone gave a toss. If my producer had told me wed be doing a phone-in on that subject on LBC, Id have laughed in her face and asked if she was feeling OK. I get the fact that programming is about light and shade, and three hour of relentless bad news is not going to drag in the viewers. But even so, if I want fluff in the morning, theres plenty available on ITV and the BBC.

I remain a huge fan of Sky, and always watch it in preference to the BBC News Channel. Its always had character, and the presenters seem freer to express their personalities than they do on the BBC  for obvious reasons, I suppose. I like a lot of their new presenters, especially Niall Paterson and Gamal Fanbulleh. At breakfast, Sarah Jane Mee and Jonathan Samuels are both fine journalists, but can we have less of the fluff, please?
LookSee Wellington is offering 100 techies the chance to win a free trip to the capital of New Zealand.

The project, which is being led by Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA) and Workhere New Zealand, describes its city as South Pacifics tech and innovation capital, bubbling with innovative tech companies developing leading edge solutions and exporting them to the world.

The technology industry in New Zealand is expanding rapidly and as such so is their technological skills gap, which is why they are looking to bring over 100 people to fill 100 tech jobs in Wellington.

WREDA chief executive Chris Whelan says employers in Wellington are crying out for mid to senior-level tech staff.

Theres a distinctive creative spirit in Wellington thats fuelling incredible innovation in everything from film technology to software. But capitalising on the momentum depends on having enough top IT talent to meet demand. LookSee Wellington is about being proactive in meeting that challenge head-on, said Whelan.

Winners can expect four days of pre-arranged job interviews, meet-ups and exploration, with all flights and accommodation paid for.

To be in with a chance of winning, you must first register your interest and create a profile with LookSee Wellington. Registered candidates will then be visible to Wellington employers who will nominate their chosen candidates. The candidates with the highest nominations will be selected to fly to Wellington and discover their potential job opportunities.

The list of available positions is extensive and includes roles such as Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer, Business Analyst, Security Consultant, Integration Specialist, Digital Strategist and Creative Director.

The companies looking for tech talent too are varied and range from digital agencies to bespoke technology innovators including the likes of Xero, Weta Digital, ShowGizmo, Totara and Springload.

Xero chief executive Rod Drury says the company is doing world-class work in Wellington alongside its shift to the Amazon Web Services platform, which allows developers to really delve into rewarding and challenging work in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Living in Wellington affords people the opportunity to have a gratifying career that's right up there globally, and enjoy an awesome lifestyle at the same time. said Drury.

As not only does Wellington have a booming tech industry, it also encompasses a waterfront promenade, sandy beaches, a working harbour and colourful timber houses on surrounding hills.

Known as the culinary capital of New Zealand, Wellington is famous for its tucked-away bars, quirky cafes, award-winning restaurants and great coffee.

For more information and to register for your chance to win visit the LookSee Wellington website.
Close

Robots are very useful nowadays. One of the most common robots is the mobile robot, capable of moving around in their environment and not just fixed into one physical location. Robots are also used in education, military, mining and research. But most importantly, robots are now becoming useful in the medical world.

According to CKNW, medical robots are changing the healthcare. Sheffield University professor Noel Sharkey is a robotic expert and narrate how a patient's normal hospital visit and their treatment has been changing through the years.

Sharkey cited St. George's Hospital in Scotland as an example. He said that it is a robot hospital which means that robots are doing assistive works like delivering patients to the surgery and doing laundry.

Normally, a medical staff would fetch a patient to bring to the surgery room. But with the use of these robots, a medical staff would just load the patient to the trolley and the robot will bring the patient to the surgery room.

Robots are also very useful during an actual surgery. But aside from being useful in surgeries, Sharkey said that medical robots are also capable in helping out in patients that needs rehabilitation. For example, if a patient needs to move his arm or legs for 300 times a day and it needs to be guided.

If a person does that every day, it will be quite tiring. This is where medical robots could help because they don't get tired or lose patients. They are machines after all.

In Australia, Queensland University researcher Nicole Robinson is conducting the first Australian study that could have a positive impact of robots in a person's eating habits, as per Gizmodo Australia. She will be using two knee-high NAO robots named Andy and Rob in her study. If this will become a success, robots could also help in weight loss programs.

Nurses, technicians and physicians will still be the backbone of the medical world. However, these medical robots will help hospitals in saving cost, reducing waste and improving patient care. Because the role of modern technology is to improve our quality of life.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

The use of psychiatry to silence political opposition was seen as an abuse tactic in the Soviet regime according to an acclaimed Soveitologist. Now, it is reported that a similar practice is being implemented in the United States.

Psychiatry abuse in the Soviet regime is based on a concept that citizens who oppose the government were mentally ill according to renowned Sovietologist Robert can Voren. He said that in USSR there was no logical explanation why would anyone oppose the 'best socio-political system in the world."

In 1950s to 1980s, thousands of nonconformists were incarcerated in mental hospitals. The communist government was reported to have destroyed its critics physically and mentally without trial. Political rebels were labelled as mentally ill.

According to a report published by Canada Free Press, Soviet psychiatrists fabricated a disease called sluggish schizophrenia with symptoms such as delusional rejection, depression, obsessive criticism of the government, paranoid thoughts of being watched by KGB and pessimism. They were not considered psychotic, and they even have families and productive careers.

In the United States, there are two online petitions to remove Donald Trump from the presidency because of psychiatric and personality disorders. One petition filed by Dr Lance M. Dodes states that the president's speech and actions demonstrate the inability to tolerate other views which lead to rage reactions. The petition was reported to be signed by 35 medical professionals who have never seen Trump in person.

Psychiatrist Allen Frances called on his colleagues describing them as amateur diagnosticians and disregarding professional ethics. Frances said that Trump may be a narcissist but that does not make him mentally ill. He added that it is an insult to the people with mental illness, who are behaved and well meaning, to be likened to Trump, who is neither as well. In his blog, Frances resents Trump as much as the anti-Trump does. However, he calls that opposition must base their criticism on politics, not psychiatry.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

Brian Richards, 33 has Proteus syndrome, which is an ultra-rare condition where one's bones and organs won't stop growing. It was made famous by Joseph Merrick who appeared in a UK freak show and inspired the film "The Elephant Man." Angie, 34 said the 'elephant man' condition doesn't scare her.

Richards has undergone 41 surgeries to help improve his quality of life. Toe amputations, bone removal from his knee and most recently he had a lung removed to helps stop his bones from growing. His toes have just grown back and have a second kneecap forming above the original one, making it difficult for him to walk.

Richards was diagnosed with Proteus syndrome when he was 3-years-old. Only one in a million are born with this condition. During puberty his condition amplified and his bones grew at an increased rate.

Daily Mail reported there are only 120 documented cases. Surgeons tried to destroy the growth plate in his knee but it grew back.

Aside from physical problems he also suffered from mental health issues. He was diagnosed with depression as a teenager after being bullied in school. His classmates called him "Frankenstein's monster."

According to The Sun Proteus syndrome is a condition that leads to disproportionate growth of tissues such as skin, bone, vascular and fatty tissue. The genetic condition is not passed on from parent to child but is caused by a sporadic mutation or change in a gene called AKT1.

Richards who is from Dover in Delaware, doubted he would ever find love. But in 2010 he met his wife Angie online. Now they are approaching their fourth wedding anniversary, they are aware he could die at any time.

"Before her I didn't have a lot of emotions. I had to shut down to protect myself but now I'm learning to be able to talk about problems and tell her when I'm in pain," said Richards.

There is no cure but to manage the symptoms of the condition treatment is available, such as surgery that can help reduce the amount of bone and physiotherapy can help with movement.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

A new study has found that back pain is not just uncomfortable but could also be an indicator of impending death. Australian researchers from the University of Sydney examined the health and death records of thousands of older sets of twin in Denmark. The study was published in the European Journal of Pain.

Scientists recorded death rates of 4,390 Danish twins aging over 70-years-old to determine if there was any link with back pain. Researchers analyzed the data and found those who reported lower back pain had a significantly higher chance of dying sooner than others.

Professor Paulo Ferreira, a physiotherapy researcher at University of Sydney, said back pain was a significant marker of impending mortality. He said "Our study found that compared to those without spinal pain, a person with spinal pain has a 13 per cent higher chance of dying every year."

Surgery and medications are mostly ineffective for treating back pain but simply staying fit and healthy goes a long way. Those who exercise more often will have less chance of developing back pain.

By studying twins it allowed the researchers to rule out the twin's shared genetic factors as a major influence on the result. If one of a pair of identical twins, who share the same genes, died early and the other one did not, inherited genes were unlikely to be the reason.

ABC reported that back pain has cost the economy around $1 billion annually for treatment expenses alone. An estimated 4 million Australians suffer different forms of back pain such as a twinge while bending up to debilitating chronic pain.

The best treatment is a healthy lifestyle but physical activity is not always an option for all back pain sufferers according to Michael Bates from the Australian Pain Management Association. He said many people with chronic and persistent back pain struggle just with daily tasks. Back pain is the number one cause of disability and affects about 700 million people around the world according to The Sun.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
James Lankford, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, recently reposted a stirring speech about religious freedom he gave at last years Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Lankford said that if we believe in religious freedom, we must extend religious freedom rights to people of all faiths.

If we believe in freedom of religion, that is all faiths. We stand for the person next to us to have a different faith than ours and for their right to practice their faith because we have a right to practice ours, he stated.

The senator also stressed that Christians need not be afraid of people holding different views than them because this is what religious freedom is all about.

This years CPAC has been going on this week, with speeches from Vice President Mike Pence as well as from President Trump.

Pence told those gathered at the conference that With your help and with Gods help and with President Donald Trump in the White Housethe best days for America are yet to come. Lets get to work.

Trump noted the strength of the Make America Great Again Movement as well as the danger of listening to fake news stories circulated by certain news sources.

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Publication date: February 24, 2017
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

Rock superstar Francis Rossi officially opened a new coffee shop in Coulsdon today (Friday) which will be run by two of his sons.

The legendary Status Quo frontman cut a gold-coloured ribbon and declared Rossi's coffee shop, on the Clockhouse estate, officially open.

The coffee shop and sandwich bar is a new venture by Rossi's sons, Patrick and Kieran, who are both former pupils of John Fisher School, in Purley.

Their proud dad said: "I am delighted that the boys are putting their heads together on this new venture.

"And while it's more soup and a roll here rather than rock and roll, I'm delighted to perform the honours."

He added: "My family history is very much tied to the food industry, particularly the ice cream business, so it's in the Rossi blood."

The shop on Hillcrest Parade had lain empty for some time and it was Kieran who initially came up with the idea.

The 38-year-old engineer, decorator and business entrepreneur told the Croydon Advertiser he often worked from home "just round the corner" and was tired of having to drive down to Coulsdon town centre to get something to eat at lunchtimes.

"I've had too many beans on toast at home lately," he quipped.

He discussed the idea of taking over the shop with brother Patrick, who is 28.

Patrick had worked as a chef in London, including at The Ivy; Le Caprice, in Mayfair; and J. Sheekey's.

But with the frequent cancellations of trains and endless waiting on platforms trying to make a takeaway coffee last for an hour, he was fed up with commuting, he said.

He liked his brother's suggestion of opening a coffee shop and the siblings approached Sutton Borough Council with a view to taking over the empty unit and acquiring the lease.

Now, some months later, it has been refurbished to provide a comfortable place for residents and passers-by to stop by for coffee, sandwiches, cakes and light bites.

The regulations mean that hot food such as soup and toasted sandwiches can be provided but full hot meals cannot be cooked on the premises as there are flats above and other restrictions.

Patrick said: "We know what people want from an operation like this; we will be offering top quality food and drink, served with a bit of flair. We can't wait to get started."

The cafe opens to the public tomorrow (Saturday).

Patrick, preparing a latte for one of the visitors, smiled and remarked: "It got mental in London with all the hours I had to work. Sometimes I was only getting about six hours' sleep in three days."

The Rossi family have lived in the Woodcote area of Purley since the 1970s.

As the last of the hoovering took place before the opening, Keiran, looking relieved, said: "We'll see how it goes and expand what we offer when we find out what people want.

"We may try out some Italian dishes in the future."

The coffee shop will be open from 7am to 4pm on weekdays and from 8am to 3pm on Saturdays. The lads will have Sunday off to have a well-deserved rest.

Francis Rossi's father's side of the family were Italian ice cream merchants responsible for the Rossi's Ice Cream parlours.

He was born in Forest Hill and went to school in Sydenham.

When at secondary school he met Alan Lancaster, with whom he formed the band The Scorpions - a predecessor to Status Quo.

He became close friends with future Quo bassist Lancaster while playing trumpet in the school orchestra.

The Scorpions were later renamed The Spectres and in 1965 they played at a Butlins holiday camp in Minehead.

It was here that Rossi met his future long-time Status Quo partner Rick Parfitt, who was playing as part of another band called The Highlights.

The two became close friends and agreed to continue working together.

In 1966, The Spectres signed a five-year deal with Piccadilly Records, releasing three singles that failed to chart. The group again changed their name, this time to Traffic Jam.

In 1967, Traffic Jam changed their name to The Status Quo but would eventually drop the definite article.

Rossi had written a song called Pictures of Matchstick Men, which hit the charts in both the UK and the US.

Shortly afterwards, Parfitt joined the band, completing the original lineup, and beginning an almost 50-year partnership with Rossi until Parfitt's death in 2016.

After some years of minor success, the band came to fame in 1972 with their album Piledriver.

Rossi became famous as their charismatic frontman.

Quo would continue to enjoy major success in the UK, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand through the 1970s and 1980s.

They were the opening act of 1985's Live Aid and Rossi wrote and co-wrote some of their most famous songs, including Caroline and Down Down.

In 2013 and 2014, Rossi and Parfitt reunited with original Quo bandmates Lancaster and John Coghlan for a series of reunion concerts.

To this date, Quo have sold over 128 million albums worldwide.
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

A traumatised tram crash survivor feared he could be left homeless and living on the streets after he stopped receiving payments from Transport for London (TfL) to cover his lost income.

Martin Bamford, 30, was one of the first survivors to describe the horror inside the tram after it overturned on November 9 at Sandilands Junction, killing seven people and injuring 51.

Since the derailment, he has struggled emotionally, is still unable to sleep properly and lost his job, which has had a damaging impact on his relationships and state of mind.

To help pay his bills and rent, he had to borrow more than 1,000 from friends and family, leaving him heavily in debt and in "vicious circle" of repayments.

TfL said this week that it has paid out more than 500,000 to families of the victims and survivors so far, with no payments outstanding.

But after hearing this Mr Bamford, from New Addington, hit out at TfL, which had stopped making payments to him in January, stating that he felt he needed more financial support.

And after the Advertiser got in touch with the transport operator on his behalf, TfL has promised to offer him further help.

Speaking before this latest offer, Mr Bamford said he feared he may be left sleeping rough within days because of how hard he was finding it to find a new job while coping with the trauma of the crash.

Mr Bamford, a dad-of-four and soon to be five, told the Advertiser: "I don't think there's a day since the tram crash that I haven't cried. It gets on top of me every day.

"I feel like giving up and I don't seem to be getting any help anywhere. It's an impossible situation."

(Image: Samantha Booth)

After the tram crash, Mr Bamford could not work, because of his wrist and arm injuries, preventing him from being able to lift heavy ladders at his roofing job.

He said: "My boss phoned me and said 'I'm going to have to let you go, I don't want to' but I said 'I understand mate that you've got a job to do and a business to run and you can't sit around and wait for me'."

Mr Bamford received three payments from TfL totalling about 3,000 across December and early January, with an extra payment in mid-January of 500, to cover his lost wages.

He had to prove to TfL that he was signed off work with a medical certificate from a doctor.

However, in late January he was told he had to go through the lawyers Gallagher Bassett, which he claims complicated matters.

According to Mr Bamford, he was asked to provide a "different type of evidence" to make another claim but was unable to provide this because of "the nature" of his work.

Payments therefore stopped coming through and Mr Bamford says he did not hear from TfL again.

Since recovering from his injuries, he has invested his energy in trying to seek work, but his criminal record for burglaries has made this difficult despite the fact he is keen to get his life back to normal.

He said: "I've been looking for work and I keep getting told unfortunately I don't fit the criteria, but the reality is it's only because 'mate you've got a criminal record, so do one'.

"I've tried to better my life and everything seems to get thrown at me.

"The last time I went to prison was mainly because of stress getting on top of me and I wanted to get away from that.

"But obviously, now, I don't want to go to prison, I want to be there for my kids, and it just seems like I'm having so much thrown at me and I've got no choice but to go with the flow, day after day.

"I accept the way my life is. I've had my ups and my downs. I've done a lot of things a lot of people can say they haven't done.

"It seems like now I'm trying to turn my life around, it seems like I'm being punished for everything I've done wrong.

"I haven't got a clue what I'll do at the end of February.

"I'm going to have to pack my stuff together, see if I can store it at a few mates' houses or something and if [I can't find anywhere to live] I'd just have to go on the streets."

He added that he feels like TfL "don't seem to care" about him which has added to his stress.

"For me to get in and out of New Addington I have to travel by bus and tram," he said.

"Not only have they messed my life up, but furthermore I now have to keep giving them money to get in and out of where I'm living.

"I would love to know what they have spent that (500,000) on."

Mr Bamford added that his pregnant partner is worried about his situation.

He said: "I've thought about taking my life, I've thought about going out and doing stuff to go back to prison, it's just everyday struggles. It's taking hold of relationships, family life.

"There's only so much I can handle before I end up self-destructing."

After being contacted by the Advertiser, TfL said it had been in touch with Mr Bamford and offered him an additional interim payment and other support.

A spokesman for TfL, said: "We have looked into Mr Bamford's case and have reached out to him again to offer him an additional interim payment and other support.

"This is clearly a terribly difficult time for everyone affected by the derailment and financial support of over 500,000 has been made so far.

"All requests for payments made to date from those injured in the incident have been paid and none are outstanding. We urge anyone needing further help to contact us straight away."
No one wants to believe they'd fall for a phishing scam. Yet, according to Verizon's 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report, 30 percent of phishing emails get opened. Yes, that's right -- 30 percent. That incredible click-through rate explains why these attacks remain so popular: it just works.

Phishing works because cybercriminals take great pains to camouflage their "bait" as legitimate email communication, hoping to convince targets to reveal login and password information and/or download malware, but there are still a number of ways to identify phishing emails. Here are five of the most common elements to look for.

[ Check out these 11 phishing prevention tips for best technology practices, employee education and social media smarts. | Get the latest from CSO by signing up for our newsletters. ]

1. Expect the unexpected

In a 2016 report from Wombat Security, organizations reported that the most successful phishing attacks were disguised as something an employee was expecting, like an HR document, a shipping confirmation or a request to change a password that looked like it came from the IT department.

Make sure to scrutinize any such emails before you download attachments or click on any included links, and use common sense. Did you actually order anything for which you're expecting a confirmation? Did the email come from a store you don't usually order supplies from? If so, it's probably a phishing attempt.

Don't hesitate to call a company's customer service line, your HR department or IT department to confirm that any such emails are legitimate - it's better to be safe than sorry.

2. Name check

If you receive an email or even an instant message from someone you don't know directing you to sign in to a website, be wary, especially if that person is urging you to give up your password or social security number. Legitimate companies never ask for this information via instant message or email, so this is a huge red flag. Your bank doesn't need you to send your account number -- they already have that information. Ditto with sending a credit card number or the answer to a security question.

You also should double-check the "From" address of any suspicious email; some phishing attempts use a sender's email address that is similar to, but not the same as, a company's official email address.

3. Don't click on unrecognized links

Typically, phishing scams try to convince you to provide your username and password, so they can gain access to your online accounts. From there, they can empty your bank accounts, make unauthorized charges on your credit cards, steal data, read your email and lock you out of your accounts.

Often, they'll include embedded URLs that take you to a different site. At first glance, these URLs can look perfectly valid, but if you hover your cursor over the URL, you can usually see the actual hyperlink. If the hyperlinked address is different than what's displayed, it's probably a phishing attempt and you should not click through.

Another trick phishing scams use is misleading domain names. Most users aren't familiar with the DNS naming structure, and therefore are fooled when they see what looks like a legitimate company name within a URL. Standard DNS naming convention is Child Domain dot Full Domain dot com; for example, info.LegitExampleCorp.com. A link to that site would go to the "Information" page of the Legitimate Example Corporation's web site.

A phishing scam's misleading domain name, however, would be structured differently; it would incorporate the legitimate business name, but it would be placed before the actual, malicious domain to which a target would be directed. For instance, Name of Legit Domain dot Actual Dangerous Domain dot com: LegitExampleCorp.com.MaliciousDomain.com.

To an average user, simply seeing the legitimate business name anywhere in the URL would reassure them that it was safe to click through. Spoiler alert: it's not.

4. Poor spelling and/or grammar

It's highly unlikely that a corporate communications department would send messages to its customer base without going through at least a few rounds of spelling and grammar checks, editing and proofreading. If the email you receive is riddled with these errors, it's a scam.

You should also be skeptical of generic greetings like, "Dear Customer" or "Dear Member." These should both raise a red flag because most companies would use your name in their email greetings.

5. Are you threatening me?

"Urgent action required!" "Your account will be closed!" "Your account has been compromised!" These intimidation tactics are becoming more common than the promise of "instant riches"; taking advantage of your anxiety and concern to get you to provide your personal information. Don't hesitate to call your bank or financial institution to confirm if something just doesn't seem right.

And scammers aren't just using banks, credit cards and email providers as cover for their scams, many are using the threat of action from government agencies like the IRS and the FBI to scare unwitting targets into giving up the goods. Here's the thing: government agencies, especially, do not use email as their initial means of communication.

Phishing scams continue to evolve

This is by no means a comprehensive list. Phishing scammers are constantly evolving, and their methods are becoming more cunning and difficult to trace. New tactics include this frighteningly effective Gmail attack, end-of-the-year healthcare open enrollment scams, low-priced Amazon bargains, and tax-season attempts.

So, trust your gut. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. If something seems even the slightest bit "off", don't open the email or click on links.

More resources on phishing and how to protect yourself can be found at Phishing.org.

This story, "5 ways to spot a phishing email" was originally published by CIO .
While working on something completely unrelated, Google security researcher, Tavis Ormandy, recently discovered that Cloudflare was leaking a wide range of sensitive information, which could have included everything from cookies and tokens, to credentials.

Cloudflare moved quickly to fix things, but their postmortem downplays the risk to customers, Ormandy said.

The problem on Cloudflare's side, which impacted big brands like Uber, Fitbit, 1Password, and OKCupid, was a memory leak. The flaw resulted in the exposure of "HTTP cookies, authentication tokens, HTTP POST bodies, and other sensitive data," Cloudflare said.

Complicating matters, the leaked data was being cached by search engines.

About an hour after being alerted by Ormandy, Cloudflare disabled three features on its platform; email obfuscation, Server-side Excludes and Automatic HTTPS Rewrites, as they were using the broken HTML parser chain determined to be the cause of the problem.

According to Cloudflare, the problem could have started five months ago, on September 22, 2016.

"The greatest period of impact was from February 13 and February 18 with around 1 in every 3,300,000 HTTP requests through Cloudflare potentially resulting in memory leakage (thats about 0.00003% of requests)," a blog post by Cloudflare's CTO, John Graham-Cumming, explains.

In an email exchange, Cloudflare pointed Ormandy to the company bug bounty, which offers a reward of a t-shirt instead of financial compensation, leading Ormandy to speculate the company doesn't take the program seriously. As the disclosure deadline quickly approached, Cloudflare engineers worked around the clock to resolve the problem.

Google has started removing cached copies of the leaked data, but other search engines are still holding some copies.

As an example of how wide-reaching the problem was, and how random the data leak became, we located Fitbit that was pushed to a website in the Philippines.

Server administrators are advised to use their best judgement when it comes to revoking and reissuing certificates, as well as rotating any critical keys or passwords.

While password changes wouldn't hurt for end users concerned about this issue, it's unclear exactly what options are going to be made available to Cloudflare customers, and the users exposed by this incident.

"The examples we're finding are so bad, I cancelled some weekend plans to go into the office on Sunday to help build some tools to cleanup. I've informed Cloudflare what I'm working on. I'm finding private messages from major dating sites, full messages from a well-known chat service, online password manager data, frames from adult video sites, hotel bookings. We're talking full HTTPS requests, client IP addresses, full responses, cookies, passwords, keys, data, everything.," Ormandy noted in a Project Zero ticket on the incident.

As mentioned, Uber, 1Password, Fitbit, and OKCupid are just some of the known brands affected by the flawed Cloudflare code. There is a running list of impacted domains available on GitHub, last count pegged the total at more than 4 million domains.

However, at the time this story was published, only 1Password has issued a statement on the incident, assuring customers that their passwords were safe.

"No 1Password data is put at any risk through the bug reported about CloudFlare. 1Password does not depend on the secrecy of SSL/TLS for your security. The security of your 1Password data remains safe and solid," the statement explains.

Salted Hash has reached out to several brands for comment, both on Twitter and offline. If any of them respond, we'll update this post.

Update:

John Graham Cumming, Cloudflare CTO, responded to questions earlier this morning.

With regard to contacting customers:

"We are currently involved in ongoing dialogue with our customers and have given them information about the best way to notify us if they have questions."

As to comments that they were downplaying the seriousness of the issue:

"We have written a very detailed blog post recounting all of our experiences identifying, fixing, and neutralizing the impact of a bug that was discovered in our system on Friday, February 17. From the moment we were notified of this bug, an internal team at Cloudflare has been working 24 hours a day to address it. "We've also been working with all of the major search engine providers to protect customers by removing any sensitive data inadvertently cached. The industry standard time to fix a bug like this is three months. Within 47 minutes of being notified, Cloudflare deployed an initial mitigation. We were completely finished with mitigating the bug in seven hours. We have worked quickly and taken this matter very seriously from the moment we were alerted to it."

On Twitter LastPass told customers that their product was not impacted as they don't use Cloudflare. At the bottom of this support document, a list of websites that support One-Click password changes is available. The list is limited, but many of the websites use Cloudflare, so it is a good idea to rotate passwords in the chance that doing so will reset authorization tokens.

Lots of vendors have written-in with comments and observations since the Cloudflare story started to spread, but one caught our attention:

"... A lot of popular internet companies/operators have been affected - and unfortunately they'll have to be the ones working directly with customers and giving them the bad news. All affected sites/services need to destroy all HTTP sessions and potentially do API key as well as password resets across the board..." - Kunal Anand, CTO and Co-Founder, Prevoty

Add your thoughts to our Facebook page.
The Verizon RISK Team - which publishes the popular Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) and performs cyber investigations for hundreds of commercial enterprises and government agencies across the globe - just released its 2017 Data Breach Digest.

Yahoo suffered the biggest known hack of user data ever, with more than 1 billion user accounts exposed.

Talk about polar opposites. And to think, Verizon Communications, Inc. will be acquiring Yahoo, Inc.'s core business for nearly $4.5 billion. The price tag is roughly $350 million less than what Verizon - the market leading U.S. wireless carrier - originally offered.

The cost per breach - as Verizon's RISK group calls it when determining the fallout in connection with a hack - on the Verizon and Yahoo! deal is staggering. $350 million is just for starters.

A story in Marketing Week this past summer reported that YouGov's BrandIndex - which measures corporate reputations - gave Yahoo a score of less than 4, compared with Google's score of 36.

Yahoo already has a shrunken reputation as an old school internet company trying to go new school with its Flickr, Tumblr, and other digital properties. The value of its business is tied to how many people are tuning their PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones into Yahoo channels.

Google's Gmail is used by more than 1 billion people and poses a major threat to Yahoo's user base. Switching from Yahoo Mail to Gmail is easy, and offers users more data security and peace of mind - with comparable services for photo sharing and other social activities. A mass defection of its email users would be a huge and costly blow to Yahoo.

Brian Krebs, author of the immensely popular blog Krebs on Security, a top source for deep-dive investigations into the latest hacks and breaches launched against corporations and governments, has been urging his friends and family to migrate off Yahoo mail for years. His blog states that Yahoo appeared to fall far behind its peers in blocking spam and other email-based attacks. A recent CSO story reports that Google's state-of-the-art email classifier detects abusive messages with 99.9 percent accuracy.

The big picture for Verizon - which originally offered nearly $5 billion to buy Yahoo - is taking over a massive (and hopefully loyal) user base. The more eyeballs for Verizon, the more advertising dollars for them.

An interesting twist on the deal - and one that Verizon corporate may not be thinking through - is how its own RISK Team may further devalue the Yahoo brand. The cybersecurity industry is sure to press for a DBIR assessment on the total cost-per-breach in connection with the Yahoo hacks.

Reputational harm due to a major data breach can be devastating. Target's reputation took a post-hack beating in 2013... and to this day the company remains inextricably linked to the list of biggest hack victims ever. Target, Sony, OPM, Yahoo, etc. - not the kind of list that any company wants to be on.

When the deal closes, will Verizon's RISK Team provide a report on the total damage costs involved with the Yahoo hacks? Is it possible that the total cost per breach would add another zero to the end of that $350 million? And what if they fail to provide a report? That could damage the RISK Team's brand.

In 2016, Verizon's RISK team investigated more than 500 cybersecurity incidents in more than 40 countries. The Verizon Enterprise Security group has been securing enterprise-level networks and infrastructure for decades. They provide professional services, network and gateway security, security monitoring and operations, incident response, and other security services. That's a big business in of itself - and one with lots of headroom for growth if Verizon corporate is serious about cybersecurity, a market that is projected to be worth $1 trillion over the next five years.

Security is at the core of Verizon's business - which includes network security around its customers wireless data. The trustworthiness of the Verizon brand is central to its market value.

Cybersecurity Ventures conducted a Twitter poll - asking is the Yahoo acquisition good or bad for Verizon's security business. Seventy-seven percent of respondents voted bad, and 23 percent voted good. (Disclaimer: Steve Morgan is founder and Editor-In-Chief at Cybersecurity Ventures, and he votes Good - more on that in a future story.)

One respondent, Thomas Doty, Esq., wrote "Bad. If the major oversight exhibited in the security and technical due diligence portion of this M&A action is any indication of Verizon's security IAM, then it indicates no benefit from that side of either organization. The breach liability tail surrounding this acquisition should have killed the deal, and may highlight that Verizon DBIR really is not reputable when it comes to actual security advice at a board level." Doty describes himself as a cyber evangelist with over 30 years technology experience as startup adviser, legal strategist, entrepreneur, attorney and military veteran.

Most of the other respondents - which included corporate executives, CISOs, and IT security team members - chose to remain anonymous.

By any measure, the Yahoo deal is risky business for Verizon.
Does reading this column depress you? Thats what Ive heard from a few faithful readers.

But in opining on transportation issues, my goal is to get you thinking. So this week, just to cheer us all up a bit, Im only going to comment on good news. (Trust me, its taken a while to accumulate these cheerier dispatches, but here goes.)

Faster times at DMV

A friend of mine who runs a limousine company said he recently went to the DMV expecting to waste a day on paperwork, but got out of there in record time. Given the horror stories last summer of long lines and never-ending computer problems, that is good news.

Food trucks at the station

When the Fairfield Metro station was built on the Metro-North line it was supposed to be part of a P3 (public-private-partnership) complete with offices, a hotel and full passenger amenities. But the deal fell apart when financing dried up, leaving the state Department of Transportation to build the station. The station ended up not having a waiting room, bathrooms or even a Porta-Potty. But the state DOT is now considering bringing food trucks into the parking lot to serve commuters. Care for an empanada with your morning coffee?

Wall Street Norwalk

As the train guy, I thought I knew everything about the New Haven Railroad. But until a reader in Norwalk told me, I never knew there once was a train station in the old downtown at Wall Street. There are plans underway to rejuvenate the station, adjacent to 2,000 new housing units, the bus station and the under-utilized Yankee Doodle garage. The project wont be an easy sell, considering the state DOT says its not interested since the location is just a mile from the South Norwalk station. Funny, because DOT officials didnt offer that as an excuse when Gov. Dannel Malloy promised Bridgeport a new $300 million Barnum train station just a mile from its downtown station.

More Information #GettingThereCT Use #GettingThereCT to chime in on Facebook and Twitter. Join the conversation What are your thoughts about "Proposed Barnum train station a boondoggle in Bridgeport?" "I agree with you in your commentary. But I also feel Bridgeport and its residents deserve better treatment than they've been getting from its mayor and governor for so many years. ... It seems as if the future of this city is nothing more than just a series of pipe dreams. I'm pleased to see that the Bridgeport Train Station is one of the five busiest on the New Haven Line. ... Bridgeport doesn't need a second train station. And it is highly doubtful that another train station would bring development to that area." - John Kenyhercz, of Bridgeport "This is a boondoggle of the biggest sort. That station would serve no one and just be a tremendous waste of our taxpayer monies. I hope guys like you can help get (rid) of the stupid plan." - Jim Carbone, of Bridgeport "I agree with you entirely. How can the state even think about a $300 million expenditure like this given its financial situation?" - Peter Crumbine, of Greenwich "I take offense at your comment to the bombed out South Bronx. ... The South Bronx is on the rise much faster the our own state of CT, so are the rents. Evidently, you have never been there except driving through. Look around the state of CT, before you write about others. - John Palma, of New Fairfield See More Collapse

Donald Trump likes trains

Our new president recently met with a group of airline CEOs, regaling them with promises to rehab old airports and streamline air traffic control. But he also used the occasion to lament the lack of high-speed trains in America. You go to China, you go to Japan, they have fast trains all over the place, Trump said. It remains to be seen if Trump will keep his campaign pledge to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure or how much of it will go to rail versus roads, but it seems our new president is pro-trains.

High-speed trains in Connecticut

There has been plenty of hype surrounding the Federal Railroad Administrations plans to build a high-speed rail line along the Connecticut coast. But fuzzy drawings of potential routes along (or atop) I-95 have raised plenty of concerns for local officials. I attended an FRA briefing last week in Darien where many of those fears were lessened. The FRA says it doesnt know where it will build these tracks. It may all be moot, considering opposition to the plan from Malloy, the state DOT commissioner and most of our Congressional delegation. The plan would require state approval and funding to move forward.

So, there you go. Good news, or at least hopeful signs of improvement on the transportation front.

What do you see in your daily commute? Any rays of sunshine?

Jim Cameron is a longtime commuter advocate based in Fairfield County. Contact him at CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com.
TRUMBULL  With potential aid cuts coming down from the state, First Selectman Tim Herbst has released a memo calling for contingency budgets to be drafted by each town department.

Trumbull is one of several Connecticut municipalities recalculating since the governors proposed budget was released.

Town employees have their work cut out for them to keep taxes from skyrocketing, Board of Finance Chairwoman Elaine Hammers said.

Without department reductions, Wed be raising taxes 6 percent, she said. Thats not going to happen, not on my watch.

Departments will begin developing contingency budgets showing both a 5 percent and 10 percent reduction. One major challenge, town officials say, will be cutting $3.4 million from the Board of Educations budget.

This is the single biggest assault on public education in the history of the town of Trumbull, Herbst said.

Trumbull officials say Gov. Dannel P. Malloys plan would also require the town to absorb one-third  about $5.4 million  for the cost of teacher pensions.

The governor is putting the burden of the states financial issues on communities that have been thriving in recent years, and that is not fair, Hammers said.

This is probably the worst situation that is coming to us in the over 30 years Ive been doing this, she said. They hurt us so much.

The contingency budgets are due to the first selectmans office on March 3, prior to a Board of Finance vote.

But until the final numbers from the state come down  Trumbull remains in a precarious position, Hammers said.

I dont have a crystal ball, she said.

ajohnson@hearstmediact.com
Two childrens hospitals in the state report staggering increases in children in mental health crisis getting sent to emergency rooms. Thats in spite of efforts to direct children with psychiatric issues to other services.

These visits increased 81 percent at Yale-New Haven Hospital and 32 percent at Connecticut Childrens Medical Center in Hartford.

Yale saw emergency department visits by children 15 and younger rise from fewer than 750 in 2013 to more than 1,350 in 2016  and the numbers are running even higher this year, said Dr. Claudia Moreno, medical director for psychiatric emergencies in Yales childrens emergency department. At times, she said, all emergency beds are full, and children wait on hallway gurneys.

A lot of families are really struggling to find services in the community, Moreno said. She said Yale has to turn down referrals from other providers for the hospitals 39 acute inpatient beds for children ages 17 and younger, just to accommodate its own emergency patients. Im in the position of keeping our beds for kids who come to us suicidal, homicidal or not able to function, she said.

Connecticut Childrens, meanwhile, reported nearly 3,300 visits last year  275 a month, on average  with the average length of stay increasing to 15 hours from less than 12 in 2013.

A nationwide problem

Increasing numbers of children with psychiatric problems showing up at emergency rooms is not unique to Connecticut. Nationwide, there has been 40 percent increase in emergency department visits from 2009 to 2013, according to a new report in Clinical Pediatrics co-authored by Steve Rogers, medical director of the Connecticut Childrens emergency departments behavioral health unit.

Connecticut has made a special effort to change the way these children are treated in the wake of the December 2012 school shootings in Newtown. In 2014, state officials announced a package of initiatives to expand community care and reduce emergency department stays. The initiatives were intended to quickly increase capacity in the system by adding crisis-stabilization beds, creating special behavioral health assessment centers as an alternative to emergency departments, and redirecting children with autism spectrum disorder to specialized services.

Some of those steps, such as creation of the behavioral health assessment centers, never materialized due to budget constraints. But the state has made progress on a number of initiatives intended to alleviate the emergency room bottleneck said Kristina Stevens, administrator for clinical and community consultation and support for the state Department of Children and Families. Improvements include expanding the number of available short-term crisis beds from 14 to 80 last year and expanding the states Emergency Mobile Psychiatric Services program, which provides crisis-intervention to children referred by parents, schools or others.

Were seeing some very good collaborative movement across the system, Stevens said.

Conflicts in the system

Hospital psychiatric clinicians point to a number of factors that are driving up emergency department visits, including increased vigilance by schools and parents about suicide, depression and aggressive behavior. They say the heavy reliance on hospitals points to a lack of easily accessible community care options  while also signaling that opportunities to intervene early in childrens mental health, before the crisis stage, are being missed.

Adding to the emergency crunch, they said, is a growing number of children with autism spectrum disorder, some who need specialized inpatient treatment that is in short supply in Connecticut.

We dont want to put a kid with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) into a typical facility for adolescents with acute psychiatric problems, Rogers said. Its not just that theres a set amount of beds out there  a lot of patients are stuck because of poor matching between whats available and what they need.

Hospital officials said they believe the emergency backlog has been exacerbated by DCFs sharp reductions in congregate care or residential treatment programs  a move that agency Commissioner Joette Katz has said is in line with national recommendations and trends. But critics say the state does not have a coordinated network of services in place yet to support that blanket policy shift. Also, in some cases when residential placements are found, DCF will not approve care, hospital officials said.

Stevens acknowledged that overhauling the mental health system will take more time and resources. But she said that 79 cents of every dollar saved by closing congregate settings has been re-directed to community and family-based services. She said some of whats needed is to educate teachers, parents and other caregivers that there are alternatives to dialing 911 when a child is in crisis.

At both Connecticut Childrens and Yale New Haven, the emergency departments are holding areas where children are stabilized and assessed, but not treated. Most are assessed within five to six hours to decide whether they need inpatient care or can return home. Delays, including multiple-night stays, occur when there are no inpatient beds available.
The startup craze is global. In 2015, the U.K. brought 608,100 new companies to life, while Silicon Valley alone gave birth to more than 23,000 startups and China created a mind-boggling seven businesses a minute. If the founders of these companies have just one thing in common -- other than a love of kale shakes and ping-pong tables -- it is the drive to succeed.

One of the key decisions you must make as a startup leader is whether to seek funding or to bootstrap your business. Accelerator programs offer a middle ground and are often a go-to choice for those looking for new networks, mentorship and investment.

But its far from a cut-and-dried decision. You need to invest a lot of time into the program. Sometimes you will need to relocate to take advantage of a specific accelerator. Then, of course, you may have to give up a significant chunk of equity -- for not very much investment.

Nevertheless, many top companies have graduated from accelerators. Airbnb, Dropbox and 9Gag are three famous examples.

I spoke with Franco Iovi Vollbrecht, who is the Latin America Program Manager at YouNoodle and also works closely with the Start-Up Chile accelerator, managing its evaluation and postulation process. He told me about the four things startup founders should consider before, during and after participating in an accelerator program.

1. Think about accelerating.

Before you apply to join an accelerator, Vollbrecht says, you must be sure your company is at the right stage.

You need to take into account what phase of development youre currently at, he says. While its true that some ... accelerators accept very early-stage startups with just a concept, most require a prototype or MVP (minimum viable product) at least.

When asked what factors startups should consider before they sign up for an accelerator, Vollbrecht was very clear: Founders should read the terms and conditions, and they should leave plenty of time to prepare.

Often accelerators will ask you to provide certain things, like video presentations, documents, business plans and so on," he says. "So, make sure to read the terms carefully. That way you know what youre facing before you apply. Perhaps you need to travel abroad, give an opening-day presentation or even give up a certain amount of equity.

Preparedness is essential. Don't leave your application until the last minute.

2. Make your startup a great fit.

Once youve decided to take the plunge, youll want to make sure youre accepted into the program. And when it comes to meeting the requirements of an accelerator, mission is key.

You need to be sure of what your startups goals are before you apply. Without a clear plan, you certainly wont impress the people evaluating your application.

Whats more, many startup accelerators have their own distinct missions. Its a good idea to make sure that your vision gels with that of the program to which you're applying.

Most programs you travel to are looking for people who intend to build the local ecosystem," Vollbrecht says. "If youre applying to Start-Up Chile, for example, you have to be committed to the ecosystem."

A knowledgeable, flexible team is also extremely important. Although there are many accelerators all across the globe, most prefer to work with groups of people, rather than lone founders.

An ideal startup has a number of different skillsets at its disposal, with flexible team members willing to jump in at the deep end and try new things. Youll be at an advantage if you have a tech-savvy person, a marketer and a sales person, as well as a firm handle on finances.

Even if youre outsourcing much of your work, its good to have someone on board who understands the technology well enough to know how things function. It helps with managing contractors and also makes sure theres no wool being pulled over your eyes.

To be accepted into an accelerator program, you need to be able to show progress -- how you have taken your idea and built a product, for example. Without this aspect, its hard for most mentors to see your skills and vision play out.

3. Pitch your startup perfectly.

There are a few big mistakes that startup founders make when pitching their products. The first is trying to be too technical when selling a solution. Algorithms and dashboards are fun (if youre a developer), but for the more business-minded audience, what counts is the value your startup is bringing to the table.

The reality is, too much jargon will make your product opaque: Your pitch should be tailored to the audience you are speaking to.

Maybe youre really tech savvy and youre trying to explain to investors how important your product is," Vollbrecht says. "You should never take for granted they have the same level of understanding as you. Its going to be hard for investors to interpret what youre saying.

Another factor is how you position your product within the market. While its hard to be totally unique, you should be able to differentiate yourself clearly and also show how you will target your section of the market.

If you cant differentiate your startup, you wont stand out, Vollbrecht says.

Although it might sound strange, experience doesnt really matter. You could have more than 20 years working in your field or have just started out. If you demonstrate vision, commitment and progress in your pitch, you are far more likely to be accepted into a program.

4. Get the most out of your accelerator.

One of the most valuable aspects of a startup accelerator is the network it connects you with. You are going to meet a host of extremely experienced and keyed-in people. Its often tempting for founders to hang on their mentors every word, but its also important, Vollbrecht says, to pay close attention to your peers.

You have a whole generation of people in the same spot as you. Maybe not in the same market space or field as you, but you come to understand that youre not the only one facing these situations, getting new customers, developing products and so on. You can learn from and support each other during and after the program.

Founders should be willing to listen to feedback -- and be very aware that not all of it will be positive. You should also be aware that while advice and criticism are valuable, you need to develop a filter. Not everything you hear is going to be great advice, and not everything will help you move forward as a company and grow.

When you enter an accelerator program, youll meet a lot of mentors who work in many different areas. The same goes for your fellow alumni. So, ensure you keep in touch, because you never know what these new connections will mean for you in the future.

If you do decide to put your foot on the gas and participate in a startup accelerator, remember that mission, progress and connections are all key ingredients to your startups success. If you put in the work and cultivate the right relationships, therell be no stopping you as you overtake the competition.

Related:

4 Things Startup Leaders Need to Know About Accelerators

What I Learned From Mentoring Startups in the World's Best Accelerators

The Most Essential Things You Need in a Business Accelerator



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Perpetual

We are part of Connecticut. We will be perpetually businessmen in this state.

Kevin Brown, the Mohegan Indian tribes chairman, as part of his testimony to state legislators that if a third casino were to open in Connecticut it would end the compact under which the Mohegan Sun casino and Foxwoods, property of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, contribute a share of slot machine revenue to the state of Connecticut.

Regardless

Our transgender students will continue to have their fundamental civil rights protected here in Connecticut, regardless of what Washington says.
Irish Legal News

23 February 2017



The Minister for Justice and Law Reform has successfully appealed an Order of the High Court, which quashed the Ministers decision to affirm an Armenian nationals deportation order. Delivering the judgment of the three-judge Court of Appeal, Mr Justice Michael Peart found that the trial judge had erred on both the issue of suicidal ideation, and the risk of assault as a Jehovahs Witness.



Background



In December 2010, the Minister for Justice and Law Reform affirmed a 2003 deportation order in respect of RB, an Armenian national who came to this country in the year 2000, and whose application for a declaration of refugee status was refused.



RB made an application for judicial review in the High Court, seeking to have the Ministers decision quashed on two grounds:



(a) that the Minister failed to properly consider certain country of origin information which had been submitted by RB which, he submitted, established a likelihood that he would, if refouled to Armenia, be exposed to the risk of assault as a Jehovahs Witness; and

(b) that the Minister failed to have regard to RBs mental health, and in particular to two medical reports of Dr Brian McCaffrey, Consultant Psychiatrist, which noted suicidal ideation resulting from his fear of being returned to Armenia, and which went on to state that RB is a high risk person for suicide if he is deported.



In December 2014, Justice Barr made an order quashing the Ministers decision, finding that the decision had to be quashed on both grounds.



Court of Appeal



In the Court of Appeal, the Minister appealed the decision of Justice Barr, submitting that the trial judge erred by entering into a consideration of the merits or weight of the reports of Dr McCaffrey, and the Country of Origin Information (COI) that was referred to in relation to the Jehovahs Witness issue.



In relation to the Jehovahs Witness issue, Justice Peart found that the trial judge fell into error by failing to apply the lower test appropriate to a review of a decision not to revoke a deportation order.



By the time the Minister came to deal with RBs application as a revocation application his claim for asylum based on his association with the Jehovahs Witnesses and the risk of persecution thereby claimed to arise, had already been considered at the various stages of the process and rejected. Accepting the authorities outlined on behalf of the minister, Justice Peart agreed that the trial judge erred in failing to appreciate the limited scope of the review required in respect of a revocation decision (as per O(O) v. Minister for Justice [2008] IEHC 325; Kouyape v. Minister for Justice [2011] 2 IR 1; and P.O. v. Minister for Justice [2015] IESC 64).



Furthermore, it was reasonable for the Minister to conclude that even if there were such dangers disclosed in the COI, RB himself was not a person at such risk as he was not a Jehovahs Witness even on his own case.



Accordingly, Justice Peart was satisfied that the Minister considered the application appropriately, and in the exercise of his discretion was entitled to conclude as he did.



In relation to the issue of suicidal ideation, Justice Peart explained that the Ministers duty on the application being dealt with under s. 3(11) of the Immigration Act 1999 was to consider all the medical evidence in his possession, and in particular the two reports from Dr McCaffrey which had not been available to him when he considered the s. 3 leave to remain application, and to form a view whether any new issue was raised in Dr McCaffreys two reports in 2005 which justified a revocation of the 2003 deportation order in 2010 or whether something of an exceptional nature arose in relation to RBs personal circumstances that would merit a revocation



Justice Peart was of the view that the question whether the reports of Dr McCaffrey constituted credible evidence that RB was a suicide risk was not the correct question for the trial judge to consider, and that the correct question was whether those reports raised some new issue in 2010 for the Ministers consideration which had not been previously considered when the deportation order was made.



As such, Justice Peart was satisfied that t he trial judge erred in determining that these reports had to be considered in a more specific way than was done by the Minister because they constituted new evidence of suicide risk.



Allowing the Ministers appeal, Justice Peart held that the High Court Order must be vacated and RBs application for judicial review dismissed.



https://www.irishlegal.com/6681/court-of-appeal-armenian-man-who-claimed-to-be-a-jehovahs-witness-has-deportation-order-reaffirmed/
Philippine Daily Inquirer

February 24, 2017



BAGUIO CITYJehovahs Witnesses (JW) in the Philippines have asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to intercede on behalf of Filipinos who face arrest or deportation in Russia for belonging to their faith.



The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of the Philippines, the legal and corporate arm of JW, made the appeal when it met DFA officials this week on behalf of more than 8,000 Filipino Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia.



Hundreds of Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia are affected by a warning issued by the Russian prosecutor general about what it described as the JWs extremist activities.



The law, enforced in 2002, bars public and religious associations or any other organizations, or of mass media, or natural persons [from undertaking activities] aimed at the forcible change of the foundations of the constitutional system and the violation of the integrity of the Russian Federation.



The prohibition covers religious activities that impart propaganda of the exclusiveness, superiority or deficiency of individuals on the basis of their attitude to religion, social, racial, national, religious or linguistic identity.



The warning was directed at the Administration Center of Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia, following the seizure and liquidation of pocket groups of JW congregations recently. The center serves as JWs national headquarters in Russia.



Dean Jacek, spokesperson of JW in the Philippines, said they filed a formal protest against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Committee.



He said the rule may be used to freeze the Watch Tower Societys assets and confiscate office properties and all Kingdom Halls in Russia.



Russia recently banned JW publications, including Bibles, which do not incite to violence, he said.



We are not engaged in any extremist activity. We simply want to freely carry out our worship and our Bible education work peacefully, he said. GOBLETH MOULIC



http://globalnation.inquirer.net/152841/pinoy-jehovahs-witnesses-russia-face-deportation
Eric Heisig

cleveland.com

February 22, 2017



CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up the case of imprisoned Amish bishop Sam Mullet, who was convicted of orchestrating a series of beard and hair-cutting attacks on his enemies.



Mullet, 71, is the only one of the 16 defendants federally prosecuted to remain in prison. A federal appeals court

rejected his appeal in May

and the U.S. Supreme Court decided Tuesday to not review the lower court's decision.



Ed Bryan, Mullet's attorney, said he was disappointed in the high court's decision.



Mullet is the leader of a breakaway sect of an Amish community made up of 18 families in the village of Bergholz, located about 100 miles southeast of Cleveland. They were convicted of several crimes in September 2012 for carrying out five nighttime raids in 2011.



Members of the community rousted five victims out of bed and chopped off their beards and hair with horse mane shears and battery-powered clippers. The attackers documented the attacks with a disposable camera.



Men's beards and women's hair have spiritual significance to the Amish.



Prosecutors brought hate-crime and obstruction charges against 16 members of the Amish community. They said the attacks were carried out at the behest of Bishop Samuel Mullet against the bishop's enemies. Witnesses portrayed him as a fire-and-brimstone preacher who imposed strict, and often bizarre, discipline on his flock.



The 6th Circuit later overturned the hate-crime convictions, citing faulty jury instructions. Cleveland-based U.S. District Judge Dan Polster re-sentenced all of them to shorter sentences in March 2015, and noted that it was clear that the attacks were religiously motivated.



Bryan said his client has been jailed for longer than any other defendant, yet he was the only one who didn't cut anybody's hair or beard.



He noted that Mullet's wife died while he was in prison.



Mullet is serving his sentence in a prison camp in Lisbon. Bryan said Mullet recently underwent triple-bypass heart surgery.



http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2017/02/supreme_court_will_not_hear_am.html
Church of Scientology

Frances MulraneyIrish CentralFebruary 24, 2017The Church of Scientology is once again hounding Irish speakers to assist in the translation of their educational material, contacting Irish teachers and groups in the US and Canada in the hopes of finding a translation team.An email from the Translations Unit of the Church of Scientology in Copenhagen, Denmark has been received by individual teachers, Irish staff at New York University, members of the Irish language book club in New York and by Irish teachers taking part in the Irish Canadian University Foundation (ICUF).We are currently engaged in a translation project of large volume consisting of some 5.5 million words. The work includes books, lectures, courses, promotional material, humanitarian campaign brochures, and more, the email reads.We have gotten started with a number of very fine, qualified Irish (Gaelic) translators and the project is rolling ahead. I am looking for more translators to expand the team.John Prendergast from Co. Kerry is currently teaching Irish in Nova Scotia as part of the ICUF Irish Language program, which each year appoints Irish teachers to partner universities in Canada to promote the language within the school and within the surrounding area.He had not heard of the previous efforts of the Church to translate their work into Irish until he received the call looking for translators. So he was surprised when he learned of the link to the controversial religion, questioning at first whether it could have been a joke.After some research, Prendergast decided the request was genuine and agreed to help with their translation work. He said he didnt believe the translation project was a bad thing and that as part of a multicultural society, he felt he should have respect for as many beliefs and spiritualities as he could and, so, he did not criticize or refuse it.This is not the first attempt by the Church of Scientology to translate their material into Irish. In 2015 the Churchs founder L. Ron Hubbard's drug rehabilitation program Narconon was believed to be behind an attempt to contact Irish translators via the translation service called ProZ.com, acting under the guise of a charity organization.Once translators started on the work, however, they became suspicious over lines such as, The drug scene is planetwide and swimming in blood and human misery  And children of drug-taking mothers are born as druggies.After a translator working on the project posted this line into popular Irish language Facebook group Gaeilge Amhain, it was found to be was found to be the work of Narconon, a company that works to publicize Hubbard's opinions regarding the use of drugs.The Church of Scientology has only one location in Ireland, on Dublins Abbey Street, although members are believed to be located throughout the country. Despite its attempts to claim charitable, tax-free status in Ireland, the Church of Scientology has yet to be officially recognized in the country as a religion, though it is free to promote Scientology beliefs.IrishCentral has contacted the Translations Unit of the Church of Scientology regarding the translating project and the number of Irish language translators who have signed up but have received no further information as of yet.http://www.irishcentral.com/news/why-is-the-church-of-scientology-hounding-irish-language-speakers
Support for Obamacare is at an all-time high, according to two surveys released this week as Republican leaders continue to press the case for repeal amid fierce resistance at many town halls.

The latest Health Tracking Poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 48% of Americans view the law favorably, compared to 42% who have an unfavorable view. This is the highest level of favorability measured in more than 60 Kaiser Health Tracking Polls conducted since 2010.

The boost comes largely from independents, half of whom view Obamacare favorably compared to 39% who don't. Nearly three-quarters of Democrats continue to view it favorably, while about the same share of Republicans have an unfavorable view.

Also, a survey from the Pew Research Center found 54% of Americans approve of the Affordable Care Act -- the highest level ever recorded by Pew -- while 43% disapprove. That's up from an even split (48%-47%) in a Pew survey from December, suggesting support for the law may be galvanized by the ongoing public fight over its future.

Still, opinions on Obamacare remain divided. Predictably, Republicans are most likely to say they disapprove (89%) while Democrats are most likely to express approval (85%). But slightly more independents say they approve (53%) than disapprove (45%) -- up about 10 points from December.

Among those polled by Kaiser, the public remains divided along partisan lines on whether Congress should repeal the law. Some 47% said lawmakers should dismantle it, while 48% say it should not.

The Pew survey results also found that even among those who disapprove of the law, 25% want GOP leaders to "make modifications" while just 17% want to "get rid of the law entirely."

And while most Republicans disapprove of the law (89% to 10%), they are also divided over what to do about it -- 42% favor modifications while 44% favor axing it.

The Kaiser survey also asked respondents about their views on Medicaid, which was broadened under Obamacare to cover low-income adults. Some 31 states -- including 16 led by Republicans governors -- have accepted Medicaid expansion.

Some 84% of those polled say it is either "very" or "somewhat" important for any replacement plan to ensure that states that received federal funds to expand Medicaid continue to receive those funds. This includes majorities of Democrats (95%), independents (84%) and Republicans (69%).

Two-thirds of respondents say they don't support turning Medicaid into a grant program, where the federal government would send a fixed amount of funding to the states but give them more control over who and what is covered. They prefer the status quo, they said.

During Congress' latest recess, Republican lawmakers have held a series of high-profile town halls that attendees have flooded to express their concern over plans for the Affordable Care Act's repeal.

The increasingly blunt outcry from Democrats has already rattled congressional Republicans and could extinguish hope for a quick and politically tidy repeal of Obamacare. To urge calm, some Republicans have already made promises that patients won't lose coverage during a transition period away from Obamacare, while Trump himself has promised "insurance for everybody."

The Kaiser poll was conducted from February 13-19 by telephone of 1,160 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points among all adults.

The Pew Research Center survey sampled 1,503 American adults between February 7-12. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 points for all adults; plus or minus 4.7 points for Republicans; and plus or minus 4.0 points for Democrats.
We must rethink the U.S. response to infectious disease. Here's why.
A woman who launched a clothing brand from her kitchen has seen it become one of the fastest-growing fashion brands with countless A-list fans and a nod from Forbes in just 18 months.

Holly Scarsella, 27, from London, single-handedly launched Pampelone Clothing and it's now sold in 20 countries via 90 retail partners and worn by Blake Lively and Eva Longoria.

Holly was recently named on Forbes 30 Under 30 and is getting set to follow in Victoria Beckham's footsteps by collaborating with Mother2mothers on a major charity fashion campaign.

Holly Scarsella, 27, from London, single-handedly launched Pampelone Clothing 18 months ago and has since seen it sold in 20 countries via 90 retail partners and worn by Blake Lively and Eva Longoria

Straight after university, Holly started her career as a fashion publicist looking after brands including Puma, UGG Australia, Tiffany & Co and luxury jewellery brand Astley Clarke.

'I absolutely loved seeing how brands could grow from getting them on the right people and in the right magazines. I always knew deep down that if I could find the right idea, I could start my own business,' Holly told FEMAIL.

Holly decided to leave her more corporate job and set up her own brand after being inspired by the women of St Tropez's style whilst she was living there.

'They always looked so chic yet effortless; this is the key look we try to emulate. Another catalyst for starting the brand was when I was going on my honeymoon and planning my outfits; I spotted a real gap in the market for well priced, good quality resortwear.

'We had the high street, and then very expensive brands, which you wince at the thought of throwing in your beach bag. Pampelone Clothing aims to bridge this gap.'

Holly left a corporate job to set up her own brand after being inspired by the women of St Tropez's style whilst she was living there. Her dresses retail for around 80 each

In six months, she secured funding, produced the clothes with a manufacturer, launched her website and social media channels. Holly works with an ethical factory in India, which she visits several times a year, right

Holly's dresses include the 120 Capri, left, and 120 Loren Maxi dress, right. She took inspiration from the ladies of St Tropez where she spent a lot of time growing up

Holly was immediately snapped up by the Virgin StartUp Scheme, which Richard Branson set up to promote entrepreneurship in the UK and to empower people to follow their dreams by turning ideas into businesses through access to advice, mentoring and funding.

Holly says it has been instrumental in helping her launch her brand and admits it has encouraged her to fight harder to prove herself.

'After quite an intense process I was approved and therefore had the funding but also mentorship from their amazing networks,' she said.

HOLLY'S GOLDEN ADVICE Firstly have a solid idea. Do your research and make sure there is a demand for your product/ service. If you get as far as launching, invest in marketing - there's no point having a great product if no one knows about it! Lastly, be tenacious and smart. Do whatever you can to make 'it' happen. You have to work for it - it will never come to you. Advertisement

With the help of the scheme and her fashion industry experience, Holly decided to create Pampelone in December 2014 and launched to market in July 2015 after designing the pieces herself and having them ethically made in India.

In just six months, she secured funding, produced the clothes with a manufacturer, launched her website and social media channels.

'Having worked in Fashion PR previously, I utilised as many relationships as possible to try and push the brand. On the day of launch, Pandora Sykes, one of the UK's top bloggers blogged about the brand and crashed our site on opening day. I couldn't believe seeing so many orders so soon.'

Holly saw four dresses completely sell out in the first three months of opening. 'On the surface an amazing achievement, but then you have the issue of trying to fulfill the orders that keep coming in. I was literally on the phone every day to my Indian factory begging them to make the pieces faster,' she said.

Holly pictured with Michael Perlis, CEO of Forbes, after being named on Forbes' Retail 30 Under 30

Holly cites a 'pinch me' moment as receiving an email from Gwyneth Paltrow's team at her lolifestyleite, Goop, saying she loved the brand and wanted it in her edit online.

'We work with a lot of retailers who are much bigger in terms of quantities but just knowing that Gwyneth Paltrow had noticed the brand was a "wow" moment,' said Holly.

Pampelone is now stocked by Beach Cafe, Shop Bop, Very Exclusive, several boutiques abroad and the iconic Bloomingdales in the US.

Explaining how her clothes found their way into some of the biggest retailers, Holly said: 'The big retailers have got in contact in all different ways - from Instagram (yes really) to the contact page of our website. I usually google the email addresses and buyers names because I'm so shocked I think it's someone joking with me.'

Holly is now focusing on expanding internationally by doubling her global retail partners over the next two years, releasing a kids' collection of mini-me pieces with Mothers2mothers charity and branching out into sunglasses.

Holly cites a 'pinch me' moment as receiving an email from Gwyneth Paltrow's team at GOOP saying she loved the brand and wanted it in her edit online. Her fans also include Made In Chelsea's Rosie Fortescue, left
Some people might see the term 'basic' as an insult, but one soon-to-be mom has embraced it with enthusiasm.

Georgia resident and recent college grad Kate Engelmaier, 22, is currently expecting her first child, a son named Max who is due next week.

In order to mark the big moment in her life, Kate told Cosmopolitan.com that she decided to stage a maternity photo shoot that 'would stand out as well as represent me, and I guess my basic-ness.'

Big fan: Kate Engelmaier, 22, of Georgia is such a big fan of Starbucks that she staged her maternity photo shoot there

All love: The soon-to-be mom even painted the chain's logo on her stomach in baby blue to represent her baby boy

Her choice of theme? Starbucks.

Not only did this mean she staged the shoot in one of the popular coffee chain's locations, but she even had her baby bump painted with the logo.

Of course, she also posed for pictures while holding and sipping from one of the famous Starbucks red holiday cups.

The shoot was inspired by founder of Spanx Sara Blakely's Belly Art Project, a book of maternity photos featuring women with their bellies painted.

Taking a sip: Kate was inspired to do the shoot by Sara Blakely's Belly Art Project

On his way: The recent college grad will be due to give birth to her son on February 28

The book, which was made with the goal of encouraging mothers to support fellow mothers, also features celebrities like Kate Winslet and Milla Jovovich.

In organizing the shoot, Kate called the Starbucks location in advance to 'make sure I wasnt going to get kicked out for having my belly out!'

'To my surprise, Starbucks was all for it!' she wrote on her blog. 'The manager I spoke with absolutely loved the cause and couldnt wait to see me when I arrived!'

Getting it done: The images were snapped by Kate's sister Lily, and she was helped in painting the logo by her friend Glory

With the help of her friend Glory, she stenciled and painted on the logo in baby blue, to represent her little boy, before heading out to the cafe.

The sweet images were then snapped in and around the location by Kate's sister Lily.

'Painting my belly was so therapeutic and truly reminded me how beautiful pregnancy and my body really is,' she wrote after the event.

'Did it tickle? Of course! Was I extremely uncomfortable in Starbucks at first? You betcha! But I know this is a memory I will always cherish and something I hope every woman gets to do!'
It costs an A-list actress a whopping $10 million to get ready for the biggest night of the showbiz year, but if you have a posh do coming up, is it possible to get Oscars-worthy glamour on a rather more everyday price?

FEMAIL challenged celebrity stylist Lucas Armitage who is responsible for the sophisticated new look Vicky Patttison was rocking at last month's NTAs, to create differently priced red carpet looks to find out if a budget ensemble can ever compete with a high end designer look costing thousands.

Harriet Nicholson, 23, a marketing assistant from London stepped in to model the looks to find out if you really could get away with hitting the red carpet on a tight budget.

Celebrity stylist Lucas Armitage created three different Oscars red carpet-worthy looks for Lauren, but would she prefer the 39.99 high street dress of the bespoke designer frock?

LOOK ONE

Lauren models a 39.99 floor length sequin gown in roe gold from Want That Trend and strappy silver heels, 35, from River Island

Lucas chose an ultra affordable floor length pink sequin dress for Harriet from online retailer Want That Trend.

She did her own beauty look, using affordable products from her make-up bag such as 12.99 Sport FX bb cream and 4.95 Mavala nail polish.

To prep her skin, she used a 99p Garnier moisture bomb sheet mask to really boost her glow without the need for an expensive facial.

Lucas helped Harriet with her hair, using a Panasonic Hair Straightener EH-HS95 to create loose waves.

BUDGET LOOK Hair Make-up Face mask Shoes Dress By model By model Garnier River Island Want That Trend Free Free 99p 35 39.99 TOTAL: 75.98 Advertisement

And she posed with some Glitz & Glam Tassel Tails balloons from Bubblegum Balloons to create the party mood.

'This is a dress I wouldn't normally pick out but when it was on I really liked it,' Harriet said.

'I can't believe the price of the dress and will definitely be checking out the brand when I next have a glamorous event to go to.

'The hair was amazing and so easy to do once Lucas explained how to achieve it.

'I also used given a moisture mask by Garnier to prep my skin, which was good.

'But the consistency was very wet and it's not the most glamorous thing to do yourself.

To keep within budget Lucas shows Lauren how to add beachy waves to her hair with a Panasonic Hair Straightener EH-HS95

Lauren's wavy look is easily created using hair straighteners

Harriet does her own contouring and eye make-up using products she already has to keep her look as purse friendly as possible

Lauren's wore her hair over one shoulder and kept her make up minimal and natural after using a Garnier mask to enhance her glow

THE STYLIST'S VERDICT 'A full sequin dress is a red carpet staple and always a safe option if your unsure of what to go for,' Lucas says. 'This one is great as it is full sleeves and the placement of the sequin is super flattering and optically nips you in at the right places. 'This amazing dress is only 39.99 from Want That Trend - what an amazing dress for an unbeatable price, It certainly gives you the look of a much higher price point. 'On this look we had no extra cash for hair or make up so I stepped in to do the hair. 'The hair is so easy to achieve with a little technique I have seen hair stylist do. 'You use the straightener and bend the hair into the styler. I've added a tutorial on my Instagram to show you how easy it is. Advertisement

LOOK TWO

Harriet wore a bustier top from Debut at Debenhams and white tuxedo trousers from Siren by Giles for Debenhams, costing 130 for both, teamed with a 45 belt from Aqaq

A number of female stars have been shunning fussy couture gowns for a decidedly more masculine look this awards season.

MID RANGE LOOK Top Trousers Belt Shoes Earrings Ring Hair Make-up Mask Bra Debenhams Debenhams Aqaq Lipsy Mishanto Mishanto Prettly Prettly Elemis Nudi Boobies 65 65 45 65 129 109 50 65 7.91 17.50 TOTAL: 618.41 Advertisement

Evan Rachel Wood, Octavia Spencer and Kathryn Hahn all rocked tuxedos to the Golden Globes and stars including Victoria Beckham, Daokta Johnson and Jessica Alba have also jumped on board the trend.

With more than a few stars are expected to eschew ballgowns for the tailored look at the Oscars, Lucas decided to see how the style would work for Harriet.

He dressed her in a bustier top from Debenhams' debut range and tuxedo style trousers from Siren by Giles for Debenhams.

To create a smooth silhouette under the tight fitting top, Harriet wore Secret Weapons Nudi Boobies stick-on bra.

Lucas added a touch of red carpet glamour with Talya 18ct Yellow Gold Amethyst Studs and a Blue Topaz Veneto Dome Ring from jeweller Mishanto.

The team from Prettly get to work on Harriet to create her perfect read carpet style

To make sure she looked bright eyed for the red carpet, Harriet used a ELEMIS Pro-Collagen Hydra-Gel Eye Mask (45 for six) to smooth away fine lines.

A glam squad from mobile beauty service Prettly styled her hair into a chic chignon with loose waves flowing free to keep her look undone and not too severe.

The team gave her red glossy lips and neutral eyes with a slight sparkle to perfect the party look.

'I loved this look it is very much my own style and I'd love to wear this to an event,' Harriet explained.

A make-up artist from mobile beauty service Prettly created Harriet's natural look with glossy red lips (left) while their hair stylist swept her locks into a stylishly wavy chignon (right)

Lucas puts the finishing touches to Sophie's ensemble after styling her in a twist on the androgynous look that's taking over the red carpet

'The Lipsy shoes were high but so comfortable to wear.

'Having Prettly do my hair and make-up was nice, but I felt like the end result was something I could have done myself.

'But then again I do like doing my hair and make up. The ELEMIS eye treatment was amazing and vanished away my eye bags, so it's perfect to do on the day of a big event.'

THE STYLIST'S VERDICT 'For me this is such a fashion forward look you would never think it came from the high street,' Lucas said. 'The top and trouser are from Debenhams, which is often overlooked on the high street in favour of younger brands. 'But they have brought in some real design kudos recently and I love their edition collections which showcase some really high concept pieces.' Advertisement

LOOK THREE

Lauren wears a bespoke nude and green dress by London-based designer Zeynep Kartal whose prices start at 2,000

While the Oscars ceremony itself is all about the floor length gown, a cocktail length is de rigueur for one of the glittering after parties.

HIGH END LOOK Hair Make-up Shoes Earrings Ring Dress Neville Hair & Beauty Lauren Murphy Gianvito Rossi London Road Glitzy Secrets Zeynep Kartal 200 300 550 1,995 20 From 2,000 TOTAL: 5,065 plus Advertisement

For the blow-the-budget look, Lucas dressed Harriet in a creation by Zeynep Kartal whose bespoke creations do not come with a price tag.

The London-based designer has a very prestigious client list for a young brand that launched in 2013, including Whitney Port, Cheryl, Lady Gaga and Michelle Keegan.

Specialising in natural silk, crepe, lace, and lurex silk hand-made embellishments, the price for one of her bespoke dresses starts at 2,000.

Lucas teamed the nude tiered dress with green leaf embroidery with neutral sandals from Gianvito Rossi, diamond earrings by London Road and a Hollywood Starlet Cocktail Ring by Glitzy Secrets.

Stylist Jack Merrick-Thirlway from Neville Hair & Beauty who has styled stars such as Maisie Williams, Arizona Muse and Chiara Ferragni tended to Harriet's locks, sweeping her hair back in a tousled, voluminous updo.

Stylist Jack from Neville Hair & Beauty preps Harriet's locks while celebrity make-up artist Lauren Murphy works on the perfect red carpet face

BEAUTY BREAK-DOWN The products used to achieve Harriet's high end make up Eyes: Urban Decay- liquid moon dust 'space time' Chantecaille eyeliner 'Olive Brocade' Charlotte Tilbury Rock'N'khol 'bedroom black' Skin: La Roche-posay thermal spring water Makeup Forever smoothing primer The Estee Edit Beam Team Hydrate & Glow Nars Creamy Concealers Nars Sheer Glow foundation Chanel Cream Bronzer - 'Soleil Tan de Chanel' Makeup Forever cream blush '410' Lips: Urban Decay 'Unicorn' lip pencil Tom Ford 'Pink Dusk' lipstick Givenchy 'Impertinent Nude' gloss Advertisement

The Voice's make-up artist Lauren Murphy created Harriet's beauty look.

'The look I created is the hottest makeup trend on the red carpet,' said Lauren.

'Using gorgeous glitters and shimmers on the eyes, working with the tones in your dress is key,' she added.

She also had advice for women who like to play up their lips rather than their eyes.

'If you prefer to make your lips the feature of your makeup, go bold with a statement lip,' said Lauren, who recommends deep reds and pinks for added impact.

'Opt for hot reds or berry toned lipsticks and keep the rest of your makeup simple - beautiful, glowing skin is always an essential on the red carpet,' she said.

The high end look was a hit with Harriet.

'I love this dress its quality is amazing,' Harriet said.

'The hair and make up were so amazing, I wish I could have them every day.

'I'll definitely be using both when I have weddings or big events to attend,' she said.

Our model's verdict? 'It's worth paying more to get the A list look.'

Harriet was delighted with her modern updo and shimmering make-up that picked up the tones in her dress, saying she'd definitely splash out on a high end pampering session in the future
It may have been selfies on the slopes recently, but it was back to business for Crown Princess Mary this week.

The Australian-born Royal both presented a Research Award and attended a business conference during her busy schedule.

On Wednesday, Princess Mary spoke to students at the Copenhagen Business School, while on Thursday she presented the EliteForsk awards at the Glyptoteket Art Museum in the same city.

For both occasions, the Princess returned to tried-and-tested styles.

Princess Mary has been busy since she returned from her skiing holiday; she presented the EliteForsk awards at the Glyptoteket Art Museum on Thursday (pictured)

For this occasion, the Princess channelled Sixties-inspired style (pictured), pairing a grey dress with a white Peter Pan collar and centre parting

Earlier on in the week, the Princess was the guest of honour at a business conference in the Copenhagen Business School (pictured)

On Wednesday, Princess Mary donned one of her favourite colours, purple, in a two-piece ensemble first worn in Moldova in November last year.

She paired the outfit with her much-worn grey coat from Joseph, pearl earrings from Dulong Fine Jewellery and Prada pumps.

Princess Mary was the guest of honour at the panel debate this year, and gave a passionate opening speech accordingly.

Speaking about the issue with women in developing countries, she focused upon gender equality as a cornerstone in growing the economy.

She also said it is as important to give women the same opportunities to carry out business as men.

For this occasion, Princess Mary wore a purple two-piece outfit worn previously in Moldova last year (pictured)

She paired the outfit with her favourite grey coat from Joseph (pictured), pearl earrings from Dulong Fine Jewellery and Prada pumps

Speaking about the issue with women in developing countries, the Princess focused upon gender equality as a cornerstone in growing the economy

On Thursday, Princess Mary opted for another stylish outfit, this time returning to the grey Sixties-inspired style she channelled at the opening of the 'Jewel Box' exhibition several weeks ago.

The 45-year-old mother-of-four wore a chic grey dress with a white Peter Pan collar, pairing the outfit with a directional centre parting and statement earrings.

The EliteForsk awards highlight and encourage the efforts and achievements of young Danish researchers. Princess Mary presented them researchers with their awards.

On Thursday, Crown Princess Mary presented the EliteForsk awards, which highlights and encourages the efforts and achievements of young Danish researchers (pictured)

The Danish Royal has been keeping busy in the New Year, attending exhibition openings and recently presenting the 2017 Danish Cancer Society's Honorary Award

The Danish Royal has been keeping busy over the past month.

Most recently, she has both attended the Old Town Museum exhibition opening and presented the 2017 Danish Cancer Society's Honorary Award.

She and her husband, Prince Frederik, also took some time off from their royal duties to enjoy a ski holiday with their young family in the Swiss Alps.
A seemingly simple procedure to remove a large varicose vein nearly cost one woman both of her legs.

Donna Zavaglia, now 42, had been embarrassed by the large vein that she could already see running down her left leg at the age of 30, she told that's life! magazine.

She had gone to a doctor for a treatment to eliminate a large vein two years prior and it had disappeared with a simple injection.

Donna, from Geelong, Victoria, figured the second time around would be just as easy. Instead, it turned into a years-long nightmare.

Donna Zavaglia, now 42, nearly lost both of her legs when she contracted a flesh-eating bug after undergoing a seemingly simple procedure to get ride of a varicose vein

As with the first procedure, the doctor injected a treatment into the large vein running down Donna's left leg.

This time he also injected the spider veins in both of her calves to make them disappear as well.

The doctor then told Donna to keep compression bandages on the legs for 24 hours and sent her home.

But by that night, Donna felt unwell.

Her brother Paul, who was living with Donna at the time, pointed out that her skin was red around the bandage. He questioned whether she should take it off.

But Donna didn't want to go against her doctor's advice and refused, even as pain radiated from the injection sites.

At 3am she woke up in excruciating pain and tried to get out of bed, crumpling in a heap on the floor as she tried to get up.

Donna called out to Paul, now 44, for help but he didn't hear her.

Donna (pictured with her parents) had undergone the procedure two years prior without any problems. But this time it left her in excruciating pain just hours later

She eventually pulled herself back into bed and at 7am rang her parents. They immediately called an ambulance and went straight to her house.

Things got increasingly worse as Donna made her way to the hospital.

'I could hardly move from the nausea and my legs, which had swelled to double their size, were agony when touched,' she told that's life!

A doctor then revealed that Donna had contracted necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating bug. He warned that she could lose her legs.

'The bug is eating away at your legs,' he told her. 'It will eventually get to the bone. You need surgery to remove the dead flesh to stop the bug.'

Donna fell in and out of consciousness, getting transferred to another hospital. She later found out that doctors weren't even sure she'd be able to survive the journey.

Donna went on to have four more surgeries in the next four days after she was first admitted into the hospital, losing most of both of her calves as she lay on the brink of death

She went on to have four more surgeries in the next four days, losing most of both of her calves as she lay on the brink of death.

Donna tried to prepare herself to die, but her mother pleaded with her to fight and remember her beloved border collie Doogle.

Just as things looked increasingly bleak, doctors managed to find a drug that quickly turned things around.

Donna's condition stabilized, but a long road to recovery lay ahead.

Donna shared her story - and the lesson it taught her - in that's life!

'The sight of my legs made me feel sick,' she said. 'They were a patchwork of skin grafts and staples, red raw and mangled.'

Donna cried as she tried to imagine learning how to walk again, a process that would take four months as she recovered at her parents' home.

She would go on to have 13 more surgeries in the next 10 years to help rebuild the legs the flesh-eating bug had nearly taken away forever.

A simple surgery had spiraled into a traumatising trial, but it was one that taught Donna an important life lesson.

'My experience has taught me to enjoy life more and not sweat the small stuff,' she said.

'I've learned not to let something as silly as a varicose vein get me down.'
A fitness model is speaking out after being shamed for posting a breastfeeding picture on Instagram.

Last week Nadine Muller shared a photo that showed her breastfeeding 16-month-old son Madden as she nursed him back to health from stomach flu.

Most of her followers posted sweet wellwishes to the sick tot, but it was one person's comments to Nadine that caught her eye.

One commenter said he believed Nadine's son would be 'embarrassed and grossed out' to know his mother was posting a picture of the moment.

Last week Nadine Muller was shamed after sharing this photo of her breastfeeding her 16-month-old son Madden as she nursed him back to health from the stomach flu

The commenter claimed Nadine's son would be 'embarrassed and grossed out' by his mother sharing such a photo with the public

'I certainly would be if mum showed me a pic like that or I stumbled across it on social media (I don't want to see mums boobs, let alone with my mouth on it)' he added.

'That's why I find pics like this selfish and only attention seeking, the mother isn't thinking about their child, just themselves and getting followers.'

Nadine, from Gold Coast, Queensland, hit back with a whole slideshow of pictures that featured her breastfeeding Madden to show the commenter he could not shame her.

The F45 trainer then wrote a lengthy post defending mothers' rights to post breastfeeding pictures on social media.

'If you've followed me for a while, you will know that I've adored the breastfeeding journey I'm on with Madden,' wrote the mother-of-one.

'It continues to be one of my life's sweetest of joys and I am gratified and incredibly passionate about it.'

Nadine then touched on how there was still 'taboo' surrounding breastfeeding, and how disappointed she was to see it in her own comments.

Nadine, from Gold Coast, Queensland, hit back with a whole slideshow of pictures that featured her breastfeeding Madden

Nadine hit out against the commenter's claims that mothers posted breastfeeding pictures 'for attention', saying she posted the photos because she was 'proud'

'There is nothing "weird" or "gross" about these photos and there's no difference in me feeding my child with my breast than someone feeding him/herself with a spoon!' she wrote.

'How about we simply appreciate that any mother has options, the right to her own choices, to feel supported and respected, the right to not have to hide, in fact the right to share and post proudly if she feels comfortable to do so!'

Nadine then hit out against the commenter's claims that mothers posted breastfeeding pictures 'for attention', or even to make a statement.

Nadine then encouraged fellow mothers to post their photos with pride instead of falling victim to people who 'want to discourage you'

'They post because they are are #proud, to give other mums encouragement, they post so that other mums feel accepted, supported & respected,' she wrote.

'So that mums know that it is okay, in fact it is more than just okay, it is celebrated and admired.'

'We share photos to let all mothers know that however you feed your child, breast or bottle, that it's a beautiful act and bond between a mother and her young.'

'We share photos to advocate that it can be done wherever, whenever, and however (covered/uncovered) and that you can do so without judgement.'

Nadine then encouraged fellow mothers to post their photos with pride instead of falling victim to people who 'want to discourage you'.

Nadine said she and her followers had become the 'Band of Mothers' as her followers began to share their breastfeeding pictures with her and each other

'I'm proud and confident to stand up to people's ignorance and enjoy the bonding with my child for all it is worth,' she wrote.

'If my feeding pictures bother you, unfriend, unfollow or plain old mind your own damn business.'

Nadine told the Huffington Post that she knew something needed to be done after she saw the comment.

'Even if it means that just a small handful of mums felt empowered from this movement, then I knew it would be worth it,' she said.

Nadine said she and her followers had become the 'Band of Mothers' as they began to share their breastfeeding pictures with her and each other.

'I know as a result we all felt supported, respected,' she said.

'We all felt the right to not have to hide, we felt encouraged and accepted and, most of all, we felt proud.'
Matt LeBlanc reveals why he chose to stay for another series of Top Gear

Talk about a poisoned chalice. Top Gear, as presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May between 2003 and 2015, was the most widely watched factual programme in the world, being broadcast in 214 countries and winning an Emmy.

But since Clarkson was fired for punching a producer and then took May and Hammond with him to Amazon to make their rival programme The Grand Tour, the show has seemed to lurch from one crisis to another.

In came Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc and a gaggle of co-presenters to take over. There was the unseemly car wheel-spinning stunt at the Cenotaph before the new series aired, criticism when it finally did last May (losing half of its 6.5 million viewers) and Chriss subsequent departure amid reports of him being a bully on set.

Matt announced he was staying on and rumours of bad blood between the two went into overdrive. It was even suggested Matt had engineered Chriss resignation.

I didnt even know he was quitting! says Matt today as he prepares to launch the first Top Gear of the post-Evans era, with himself in the driving seat. The way I found out was just like everyone else, I read it in the papers.

'And I must admit I did then think, Hmm, I wonder if Im going to get a phone call about this. My decision to come back was based on the fact that I had such a great time last time.

This new series will see some significant changes, not least the fact it will now be hosted by three men again.

Last years army of presenters  Chris, Matt, motoring journalists Chris Harris and Rory Reid, former Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan and German racing driver Sabine Schmitz  has been trimmed, with Eddie and Sabine reduced to bit-part contributors.

Matt finally puts all the rumours over Chris Evans' departure from the show to bed revealing he had no idea he was quitting

Another major change is that the Star In A Rallycross Car segment introduced by Chris Evans has been ditched, and the Mini Cooper he raced in is to be replaced with a Toyota GT86.

Each weeks guest star will not only try their luck on the track at the shows HQ at Dunsfold aerodrome in Surrey, theyll appear in other parts of that episode too.

And overseas trips will feature more prominently than they did last year, with Cuba, Montenegro, Monaco, the USA and Kazakhstan among the countries the team visited during filming on this years series.

But Matt says the basic principle of the show  the relationship between man and machine  is still at its heart.

Matt with his Top Gear co-presenters Chris Harris (left) and Rory Reid

Everybody has some relationship with the automobile, he points out. When you were a child, driving with your parents to go off on holiday. When you were at school and you got arrested for, maybe, drinking when you werent supposed to.

'After your wedding, when you went off on your honeymoon in a car pulling cans behind it. The automobile is such a part of our lives that I think everyone can relate to a show about it.

The thing he struggles with most, he says, is when a car hasnt lived up to his expectations.

My mother always raised me with the thinking that if you dont have something nice to say, dont say anything at all.

'But then Top Gear really encourages a very honest opinion of the cars we review, so if I personally dont like a particular car Im really torn. I dont want to say something bad because it might be somebody elses favourite car ever. So thats a struggle.

Former presenter Jeremy Clarkson who left the show disgraced after punching a producer

As for the stormy waters that seem to surround the Top Gear production, Matt says it can be overwhelming.

I dont know why theres such huge controversy about it, but boy, being on this show is like being in a fish bowl.

'Everybodys after you, waiting for you to put a foot wrong, and that can be tough. But I like cars, I know a little bit about cars, I can say some funny things about cars and hopefully people want to watch me. Hopefully.

He knows a little bit about the fish bowl himself. Hes well aware that no matter what he does in his career hell always be known as Joey from Friends.

Ive never set out to be in things that are controversial or that follow any great career plan, I do things that interest me. If because of the success of Friends the six of us are judged under a magnifying glass for anything we do after that  if Im judged more critically in my post-Friends projects than I might have been otherwise  well, thats OK.

'You either accept that or you dont, and I choose to accept it. I wouldnt say Id rather not have done Friends. That was a great thing to be part of, it was a ten-year-long education and I learned a lot. I wouldnt trade it.

It is this everyman quality that allowed Matt to lampoon himself mercilessly, and hilariously, in BBC1s Episodes.

The show follows a husband and wife writing team who go to Hollywood to make a US version of their British sitcom with Matt, playing a grossly exaggerated version of himself, as its star.

The fifth and final series is due to air this year, and Matt won a Golden Globe for his role in 2012.

Thanks to both Top Gear and Episodes, hes been spending a fair amount of time in Britain lately. I love it, he says. Its just a really nice place  and its not true any more that the foods terrible.

There are some great restaurants. The people are really nice and friendly, and theres something about the English accent I find very endearing. Even the great big guys on the Top Gear crew say, Ow about a spot o tea? Ah, thats luvly. I get such a kick out of the way they say that.

Nevertheless, hes recently been lured back to Los Angeles to shoot a new American sitcom. In Man With A Plan, he plays an old-fashioned husband and father who gets a sharp shock when his wife insists on going back to work, leaving him working from home to take care of their three lively children.

Its a show about parenting which is more for parents than for kids, he laughs. Parenting has become a very precious, politically correct endeavour these days and I play a guy whos not quite up to speed with it all, which is great to poke fun at.

Matt has three children in real life. Although two are stepkids but theyre like my kids anyway, he says of Tyler, 25, and Jacqueline, 22, his ex-wife model Melissa McKnights children, who are half-siblings to 13-year-old Marina, the child he and Melissa had together. They married in 2003 but divorced in 2006.

With Marina Im a single dad so I have her week on, week off, 50 per cent of the time. Being a parent has been really rewarding and taxing and patience-testing and funny and educational for me. You can read all the books you want about parenting, but until youre there with your feet in the trenches you dont know how its going to be.

I learned an interesting trick about kids from Melissa, which was to talk to them like theyre adults. Dont talk down to them, and if they feel respected theyll respect you back.

'It seems to work most of the time. Of course, your job as a parent is to teach your kids right from wrong, especially while theyre growing up, and sometimes you just have to be the disciplinarian, which is inevitable. But for the most part I try to respect their ideas and their opinions and it seems to work OK.

As he approaches 50, he says hes beginning to take stock of his own life. Its sort of a significant number, he agrees of his 25 July birthday.

You kind of look around and go, 50! Whooo, where did that go? OK, what am I doing? Where am I headed? What comes next? So Ive started to make plans that, in five years time, I want to have this accomplished and that struck off my bucket list.

'Not so much professional things as personal things. Professionally I want to have everything set up so I can retire before Im 65. That seems too long to me. I want to retire in my 50s.

Lets hope he can get Top Gear back up to full throttle before he does.

Top Gear returns on Sunday 5 March at 8pm on BBC2.
One of the most controversial events in British seafaring history occurred on 28 April 1789.

Angered by the increasingly severe punishments and abuse meted out by Captain William Bligh aboard HMS Bounty, which was on a mission to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and transport them to the West Indies, Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian forced Bligh into the ships open launch along with 18 sailors who remained loyal to him.

They were cast adrift and spent almost two months at sea amid storms and massive waves, covering 4,000 miles before reaching the safety of Timor in the East Indies.

A new Channel 4 show has attempted to replicate the journey of Captain Bligh. Pictured: 1962 classic starring Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard

Bligh has been painted as an overbearing monster and Christian a tragic victim in films such as the 1962 classic starring Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard, although historians have challenged this view.

But what is certain is that Blighs voyage in that open boat was an epic feat of endurance, and now an extraordinary Channel 4 show has attempted to replicate his journey. Leading the crew was Antony Middleton, the former Special Boat Service sniper and chief instructor on Channel 4s hit show SAS: Who Dares Wins.

The crew had to endure waves the size of skyscrapers, seasickness, dehydration, chronic weight loss and the constant fear of death, but Antony was determined to complete the journey unaided.

There was a rescue boat, he says, and in theory it could have come for us if wed got into trouble. But I said from the beginning that I had no wish to be involved in anything that wasnt as authentic as it could possibly be.

The gruelling re-run of Blighs voyage created by members of the crew lead by Antony Middleton, the former Special Boat Service sniper

'So I didnt want the safety boat near us, I wanted us to survive as a group, to stay in our own little bubble however much trouble we were in  and we were in serious trouble on numerous occasions.

'There were times when, if wed made the wrong decision, disaster would have ensued.

Channel 4 is being understandably coy about precisely what happened during the journey in a 23ft boat so as not to spoil it for viewers, but the producers tried to replicate Captain Blighs journey as closely as possible.

So only men were recruited and many of them, such as carpenter Ben Gotsell, 27, and doctor Luke Kane, 33, had real-life jobs that mirrored those of the original crew.

Their rations were the same as 228 years ago, practically indigestible biscuits made of flour and salt, and a small daily portion of dried beef. Each man consumed barely 400 calories a day, so its little wonder that weight loss became a major problem.

It got to the point where I couldnt bear to sit down on the benches or lie down in the boat because my bones were poking through and it was incredibly painful, says Luke Kane.

But dehydration was the worst. Weight loss you can survive, but dehydration can kill you.

As the doctor, Luke had to deal with a constant stream of medical emergencies, some of which were truly gruesome.

One of the crew members developed a supersized blister under his arm which needed lancing, and there was an outbreak of trench hand, similar to the trench foot suffered by soldiers in the First World War, as a result of being subjected to three days of heavy rain early in the voyage.

Our skin disintegrated, says Luke. The outer layer broke down and we developed ulcers and boils.

Some feared the journey might be over before it had begun. During two weeks of preparation on Tonga in the South Pacific, when their boat Bountys End was put through its paces, the nameplate snapped before it was attached to the craft.

It broke in two, which could have been seen as a portent of doom, says Conrad Humphreys, a 43-year-old professional sailor, who was one of the crew. I didnt like the name anyway, it was so doom-laden.

Despite fears over their vessel, it became the star of the journey. Designed by Mark Edwards of Richmond Bridge Boathouses, who created the Royal Barge Gloriana for the Queens Diamond Jubilee, it survived intact despite enduring pretty much every type of extreme weather.

But did all those who sailed in her survive? And what impact did their experience have? Thats the most striking thing, says Antony Middleton. Not only did the experience change me but it changed everybody who took part. Some of them are almost unrecognisable from how they started out.

But Im proud of every last one of them. I set out to prove that modern man is made of steel, like they were in the old days, and that if your mind is right its amazing what you can achieve. We live in a society dominated by health and safety which doesnt cater for extremes. This series is about nothing but extremes and Im delighted to have been a part of it.

Indeed, his time aboard Bountys End was so rewarding he called his four-month-old son Bligh and would relish the chance to set sail again with the same crew. Although perhaps not on the same journey, he says. A challenge somewhere else would be much more interesting.

He might struggle to convince some of his fellow sailors to sign up, though. Id definitely not do anything like this again, says Dan Etheridge, 38, one of the two cameramen on the boat. It was just about the worst experience in my entire life. The other cameraman, Sam Edwards, 32, adds, There were 15 wonderful moments on the journey, and the rest was god-awful!

As for the real Captain Bligh, he was feted as a hero when he returned to England in 1790. The Admiralty sent a frigate to the Pacific to round up the mutineers, and 14 were captured on Tahiti.

But Christian and his most loyal supporters, along with a group of Tahitians, settled on remote Pitcairn island, where they destroyed the Bounty so it wouldnt be spotted. Their settlement was only discovered in 1808, by which time just one of the mutineers remained alive. Descendants of the mutineers still live there today.

Mutiny starts on Monday 6 March, 9pm, Channel 4.
Merriam-Webster had a sassy response for Kellyanne Conway after she declined to call herself a feminist, saying she thought it meant being 'anti-male' and 'pro-abortion'.

The dictionary publisher, which has a history of making pointed references to Donald Trump's administration, tweeted the actual definition of feminism Thursday, after the president's adviser made her comments at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

In its tweet, the company reminded its followers that feminism, which became a part of the American language two centuries ago, is defined as 'the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities'.

Definition: Kellyanne Conway said during a talk at CPAC Thursday (pictured) in National Harbor, Maryland, that she thought being a feminist meant being anti-male and pro-abortion

Conway, 50, began by telling CPAC organizer Mercedes Schlapp that she believes a lot of women 'just have a problem with women in power'. Her interview-style talk marked her first public intervention in a week.

She further slammed feminists, adding: 'You know, this whole sisterhood, this whole, "Let's go march for women's rights," and you know, just constantly talking about what women look like or what they wear, or making fun of their choices or presuming that they're not as powerful as the men around.'

The adviser, who became the first woman to successfully run a presidential campaign, declined to identify herself as a feminist based on what she claimed was the 'classic sense' of the word.

'It's difficult for me to call myself a feminist in the classic sense because it seems to be very anti-male, and it certainly is very pro-abortion in this context. And I'm neither anti-male nor pro-abortion,' she told Schlapp.

Merriam-Webster's tweet, which included a link to a story about Conway's comments, pointed out that the traditional definition of feminism is actually quite different.

Retort: Merriam-Webster replied to Conway's comments by tweeting the actual definition of feminism, 'the belief that men and woman should have equal rights and opportunities'

'Feminism is defined as both "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities" and "organized activity in support of women's rights and interests," ' the dictionary wrote.

'It entered the language in 1895, at a time when efforts for women's political equality were becoming organized and widespread in England and the United States.'

The publisher previously offered a clever retort to Conway's use of the term 'alternative facts' to refer to false statements, tweeting: 'In contemporary use, fact is understood to refer to something with actual existence.'

Merriam-Webster has also subtly lampooned President Trump on Twitter, on one occasion making fun of his use of the word 'unpresidented' instead of 'unprecedented' in one of his own tweets.

'Good morning! The #WordOfTheDay is...not 'unpresidented'. We don't enter that word. That's a new one,' the dictionary wrote, linking instead to the definition of 'huh' - 'used to express surprise, disbelief, or confusion, or as an inquiry inviting affirmative reply'.
With the Academy Awards just two days away, Hollywood's leading ladies are no doubt busy undergoing luxe, innovative treatments and conferring with their glam squads to ensure a flawless beauty look for the big night.

Before laser facials and cryotherapy, however, stars were forced to rely on simpler methods of primping - though the results were no less glamorous.

Below, we round up the beauty tricks used by silver-screen icons like Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren. Some can be incorporated into your own routine tonight, others are probably best left in the twentieth century. Read on.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

To achieve baby soft skin, it's said that Elizabeth exfoliated her face with a razor instead of a facial scrub.

Celebrity facialist Kate Somerville revealed to The New York Times that she learned of the screen siren's preferred technique from an aesthetician who once worked with her and Marilyn Monroe.

After trying it herself Kate reported, 'I noticed that it was a great exfoliant and that my makeup went on a lot better.'

Ravishing in red: Elizabeth Taylor matched her nails to her lips for a portrait in 1955

MARILYN MONROE

In a 1952 article in Pageant magazine about her health and fitness habits, the actress detailed her comittment for shielding her skin from the sun, 'despite its great vogue in California'.

'I'm personally opposed to a deep tan because I like to feel blonde all over,' she said.

Sultry in swimwear: Marilyn Monroe is seen posing for a film still from the 1953 film How to Marry a Millionaire

JOAN CRAWFORD

In 1934, Max Factor, founder of the make-up brand of the same name, said in an article that Joan achieved 'true beauty' by emphasizing her eyes.

'Her eyes were once merely a pretty blue. Today she has made them the focal point in her face. Wonderfully large. Mysterious,' he said.

In addition to blending eyeshadow towards the outer corners to create depth, Max said that she also washed her eyes twice a day with boric acid solution and cold water to keep them looking crystal clear.

Blue-eyed girl: Jane Crawford's eyes look striking in a portrait from 1945

KATHARINE HEPBURN

In 1933, the then young starlet shared her beauty tips with the Gloucester Citizen.

On maintaining a flawless complexion, Katharine advised avoiding an 'overdose' of fresh and juiced fruit. 'It is likely to cause an acid coating to the inside and a spotty complexion. Try taking a change with an occasional glass of ice and tomato juice,' she said.

On trend: As Katharine Hepburn demonstrates, no actress' look was complete without a swipe of red lipstick in the 1940s

GRACE KELLY

Of his experience working with the actress-turned-princess, celebrity hairstylist and make-up artist Peter Lamas told shape.com that she reapplied hand cream multiple times throughout the day.

'When I asked her why, she replied, "A womans age shows on her hand much quicker than anywhere else".'

Career change: Before becoming Princess of Monaco after marrying Prince Rainier in 1956, Grace Kelly was known for her roles in films like Rear Window and Dial M for Murder

MAE WEST

The stage and screen actress told Max Factor in 1934 that a favorite trick of hers was to dab Vaseline over grey eyeshadow.

'It's not only good for my lids but adds a lovely soft look,' she said.

Thin was in: Mae West, pictured here circa the 1930s, helped popularize pencil-thin eyebrows

AUDREY HEPBURN

Want perfectly fluttery lashes like a young Audrey Hepburn? Use (carefully, please!) a safety pin.

According to the book, Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit, the Breakfast at Tiffany's star's make-up artist Alberto de Rossi would slowly apply mascara and then separate each eyelash with a pin.

Windows to the soul: Audrey Hepburn, seen here in 1955, once said, 'for beautiful eyes, look for the good in others', though she was no stranger to emphasizing her own features with make-up

GRETA GARBO

In a 1955 Life magazine cover story, Ernst Lubitsch, who directed Greta in the 1939 film Ninotchka, praised her for not having 'a slavish devotion to the mirror' like many other female stars of the time.

According to the article, the Sweden-born actress' simple off-set beauty routine consisted of 'an occasional dab of powder' and the application of an ice cube to her complexion, likely to boost circulation and reduce puffiness.

Actress off duty: Though she looked impossibly glamorous on screen, Greta Garbo, pictured in 1931, was low-maintenance off set

BETTE DAVIS

Before there were lip fillers as we know them, stars like Bette relied on make-up illusions to achieve a fuller pout.

On the set of the 1931 movie Way Back Home, make-up artist Ern Westmore extended the length of Bette's lower lip to correspond with the size of her upper lip.

In the book Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud by Sean Considine, it's recounted that the actress said of the the make-over, 'with my new lips and hair my face suddenly seemed to come together. I began to think I was rather beautiful, even if I wasn't.'

All about Bette: The actress' eyes were so alluring, Kim Carnes wrote a song about them

SOPHIA LOREN

After being recognized for her natural beauty in an online poll in 2006, the then 71-year-old told BBC that her secret is 'the odd bath in virgin olive oil'.

That and 'a love of life [and] spaghetti'.

Made in Italy: Sophia Loren, pictured in 1958 and now 82-years-old, credits olive oil baths as one of the secrets to maintaining her youthful appearance

RITA HAYWORTH

She was known for her fiery red hair, but the half-Spanish actress was actually a natural brunette.

In order to keep her colored hair healthy, Rita would saturate it in olive oil and wrap it in a towel for 15 minutes before rinsing it with hot water and lemon juice.

According to the book Vintage Secrets: Hollywood Beauty by Laura Slater, the Gilda star would sometimes take the treatment a step further by rinsing her hair a second time with a mixture of white vinegar and lukewarm water for manageability and shine.
Nasty Gal has officially shuttered its brick and mortar stores nearly four months after the once booming retailer filed for bankruptcy.

This week the company closed its two California locations in Melrose and Santa Monica, and the online retailer is currently liquidating the merchandise on it's website with everything being 70 per cent off.

Although the Los Angeles Times reports that Boohoo has purchased Nasty Gal and will continue to run the brand's online store as a standalone website, the company is facing backlash on social media because people are claiming that they have yet to receive their orders.

RIP: Nasty Gal closed its two brick-and-mortar locations in Los Angeles this week, including its store in Santa Monica

End of an era: #GirlBoss author Sophia Amoruso (pictured) started the company as an eBay store, and the brand enjoyed several years of rapid growth at the height of its success

Earlier this week, Nasty Gal celebrated National Margarita Day by posting a photo of 88-year-old social media star Baddie Winkle posed in a swimsuit on Instagram; however, some commenters were more concerned with their online orders than the cheeky snapshot.

'This picture depicts how old we'll all be when we get our orders - damn Nasty Gal there is no coming back. BTW thank you for selling all of our information to boohoo!' Lydia Abdulahi wrote.

Numerous people who were having trouble with their online orders noted that Nasty Gal wasn't responding to emails or calls, which has led to plenty of frustration.

'It's not my problem if she filed bankruptcy,' one person said of founder Sophia Amoruso. 'I don't care, #NastyGal is not been professional about their business.

Everything must go: Nasty Gal is currently liquidating the merchandise on it's website with everything being 70 per cent off

'I have been calling the company no answer. I was on hold for almost three hours, emails no reply. I am not a millionaire I want my credit refunded.'

The brand's Facebook page has also been inundated with angry customers who are claiming their online orders haven't been fulfilled.

'I have been on the phone with your customer service for over an hour waiting for someone to pick up... is someone going to pick up?' Victoria Romano commented. 'I wrote three emails in the last six days all about the same issue and never got a response back. Can you please have someone assist me?'

The Los Angeles Times reports that Nasty Gal had informed the state of Kentucky that it planned to close its 500,000-square-foot fulfillment center and lay off its 70 employees by April 10.

Focus: Nasty Gal celebrated National Margarita Day with a photo of Baddie Winkle, 88, posed on Instagram; however, some commenters were more concerned with their orders

Not happy: Customers have been leaving angry messages on the company's social media pages because of their unfulfilled orders

Missing in action: Numerous people claimed that they couldn't get a hold of anyone from customer service

Waiting game: This person said she waited on the phone for nearly three hours

Calm down: Some people pointed out on social media that the company is undoubtedly inundated with orders because of the liquidation sale and urged them to remain calm

Some people pointed out on social media that the company is undoubtedly inundated with orders because of the liquidation sale and urged them to remain calm.

'My advice is to just be patient,' Michelle Corral wrote. 'They are shipping out orders slowly but surely. I placed four orders on Monday and one of those shipped out today. With the sales they've been having the last few weeks they are inundated with orders I'm sure. '

Daily Mail Online has reached out to Nasty Gal for comment.

Amoruso's company was one a booming business, going from an eBay store specializing in vintage clothing to an e-commerce site that had reached nearly $100 million dollars in sales over the course of just six years.

Calling them out: People have also been leaving messages on the company's Facebook page

The entrepreneur went on to pen two books, including the 2014 bestseller #GirlBoss, which chronicles how she founded one of the fastest rowing retailers in the world.

Although Nasty Gal enjoyed several years of rapid growth at the height of its success, the business hit a bump in 2014 when it warned revenue would be flat compared to the previous year at worst and 10 per cent higher at best.

Sales continues to drop, and Amoruso, who started the company when she was 22, stepped down as CEO in January 2015.

By November 2016, the company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but despite the filing, Nasty Gal said it was confident it would return to its previous success.

Nasty Gal's $20 million sale to the British online retailer Boohoo is reportedly expected to close on February 28.
Nisha Katona is about to appear on ITVs new series The Secret Chef

Until recently, Nisha Katona thought she had a good idea of how her life would pan out.

Ive got two teenage children and Id been in the same career for 20 years, so I thought the next major life event for me was going to be retirement  and the menopause, she smiles.

Not quite. Instead, the 45-year-old former barristers recent life events have proved altogether more exciting.

For a start shes a published cookery author. Then theres Mowgli, her string of Indian street food restaurants that have opened in Liverpool and Manchester in the past two years.

Shes also become a TV chef with a regular slot on Lorraine Kellys daytime show, and now shes about to appear on ITVs new series The Secret Chef.

The hour-long shows follow someone with no culinary skills whos given just five weeks to learn to cook a grand restaurant meal.

Theyre taught in secret by a top chef  and the family and friends who come to the restaurant to eat the meal have no idea its been prepared and cooked by their loved one whod struggled to boil an egg.

Nishas pupil is Julie Green, a 51-year-old council worker who lives in Rochdale with her husband Gary and their daughters Courtney and Ledeane. Julie, a self-confessed hopeless chef whose husband does all the cooking, gets a crash course in Indian cookery.

There were times when I thought, Is this going to happen? because it was so bad at some points, says Nisha. But she did it and its changed her life. Julie even appeared at the Rochdale food festival afterwards.

'Shes making chapatis every night, and she and Gary cook together now which is a huge change in their relationship. The fact that she had the guts to enter the process behind his back is no small thing. It was with the intention of changing her life. She told me, For the first time I feel proud and Ive never felt proud about anything.

The hour-long shows follow someone with no culinary skills whos given just five weeks to learn to cook a grand restaurant meal

All this is quite a turnaround for Nisha, who until three years ago was a family court barrister and nothing more than an enthusiastic home cook.

My life has changed quite a lot too, she says. My family in India think Im mad. Their view is, Why would you give up all the respect of being a lawyer for this? But I love it.

Raised in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, by her Indian parents  both GPs who came to this country in the late 60s  Nisha grew up learning to cook recipes that had been handed down the maternal line for generations.

Her parents expected their daughter to follow in their footsteps and train as a doctor, but a work placement at a solicitors office soon put paid to that. I had this epiphany within about five minutes of setting foot in the offices. I fell absolutely in love with it.

Once qualified, she and her husband Zoltan Katona, a renowned Hungarian classical guitarist she met while studying, settled in Liverpool, where Nisha juggled her career with raising the couples two daughters, India, now 15, and Tia, 13.

Food remained a passion, though. Before dinner parties I used to phone my mother and get some recipes, and there came a point when I thought one of the few things I can pass on to my girls are these recipes, she recalls.

The mother and father of all curries are turmeric and chilli, so those two spices never change, and then the third spice changes depending on what ingredient youre cooking

It was while transcribing them one evening that she had what she calls her Archimedes moment. I realised that all Indian cooking basically boils down to a formula, she says.

Suddenly I could see it like a road map and I thought, People need to know this. So I started to put classes on for my friends and to write a book. That formula, it turns out, is this: Every curry breaks down essentially to three spices, she explains.

The mother and father of all curries are turmeric and chilli, so those two spices never change, and then the third spice changes depending on what ingredient youre cooking  so if its brassicas like cabbage or cauliflower it could be mustard seed, if its lentils its cumin seed.

But I didnt know what to do with this book Id written, so I looked in the front of a Jamie Oliver cookbook, Googled the names, found his agent and sent her a proposition, saying Ive found this three-spice formula. Ten minutes after she pressed send the agent phoned to ask for a meeting and three days later Nisha had a book deal.

Then, of course, there are the restaurants: she opened the first Mowgli  her pet name for her daughters  in Liverpool in 2014 while she kept up with the day job.

She only left the law when, three months after that first branch opened, there were long queues at both lunchtime and in the evening. Even now, though, two years on, she prefers to call it a sabbatical.

Today, if you asked me at a dinner party what I do for a living, I would say Im a barrister, she says.

At least her mum has taken on board the change of career. The other day at a party somebody said, So what do you do? and my mum said, Shes a restaurateur, Nisha says. It was a lovely moment.

The Secret Chef, Tuesday, 8pm, ITV.
A nine-year-old cancer patient may be forced to leave America before finishing the only treatment that could save his life.

Alex Goodwin traveled from Leicester in England to Kansas late last year in a desperate bid to cure his advanced bone cancer.

He had been dismissed by NHS doctors for months before scans revealed his joint and muscle pain was actually caused by Ewing's Sarcoma.

Finally, last month, he was wheeled into the operating theater at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City.

After doctors removed the cancer in January, they said he may need months of proton beam therapy - the highly-specialized form of radiotherapy that was famously denied to six-year-old British brain cancer sufferer Ashya King, who had to fly to Spain to be cured.

However, late last night Alex's father tweeted that they have been told there is an 'issue' with their immigration status that could force them to leave in April - eight weeks before the end of his treatment.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Alex Goodwin, from England, had his cancer surgically to removed in Kansas City last month. Given that it spread so far, he needs months of treatment - but that could be cut short

He started struggling to walk in Christmas 2015. By April 2016, he was forced to use crutches as he lost the strength in his right leg. And yet, he was repeatedly dismissed by doctors. Eventually he was diagnosed with bone cancer. Pictured (left) with his police officer father Jeff

Alex's issues began around Christmas 2015, when he started struggling to walk. By April 2016, he was forced to use crutches as he lost the strength in his right leg. And yet, he was repeatedly misdiagnosed and dismissed by hospitals.

In June 2016, tests revealed he had cancer.

His only chance at life was an incredibly complicated operation to remove his cancer-infected thigh bone - and due to the advanced stage of his disease, it could only be done in America.

Finally, last month, he was wheeled into the operating theater at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City.

The immigration issue deals a crushing blow to the family and the medical team, who were overjoyed and optimistic after the operation last month.

'He's a champion,' orthopedic oncology surgeon Howard Rosenthal told the Kansas City Star after completing the hours-long operation.

'He's going to make it through, he just has a tough road ahead.'

Before this, Alex's treatment had been tough and varying in success.

Ewing's sarcoma is a rare type of bone cancer that affects children and teenagers, widely believed to be caused by rapid bone growth.

Fewer than 30 children in the UK develop the condition each year.

If caught early, there is an 80 percent cure rate. Once it spreads to the muscles and tissues, the disease becomes incredibly difficult to reach using traditional methods.

Despite instantly starting chemotherapy, Alex's disease continued to spread. By the end of the treatment, he relied on a wheelchair to move around.

It meant that he was left with a significantly-reduced chance of survival.

Crucially, it reduced the treatment options available to him on the NHS.

Although Ewing's is notoriously susceptible to radiotherapy, the best kind of this treatment (proton beam therapy) is not available in the UK.

It is the same treatment that famously cured six-year-old British brain cancer sufferer Ashya King, who was forced to fly to Spain amid a high profile battle that captured the nation's attention.

Despite instantly starting chemotherapy, Alex's disease continued to spread. By the end of the treatment, he relied on a wheelchair to move around

Seeking advice worldwide, Alex's mother and police officer father from Dunton Bassett, Leicestershire, were directed to Kansas City.

The treatment and travel would cost upwards of 120,000, which they managed to raise through charity events - including a music video performed by his father PC Jeff Goodwin and other Warwickshire officers.

In his time in Kansas City the precocious little boy has been winning over the hospital staff with his vibrant sense of humor.

Speaking shortly before his operation, Alex told the Star: 'I just want everyone to be happy, keep those positive thoughts up, and have a nice day.

Alex is currently getting a specific kind of radiotherapy - not available in the UK until April 2018 - before heading home

'And don't worry, all those people.

'Whoever loves me, and anyone else, I'll always be in your heart.'

Alex's first treatment plan involved the resection of his right femur (or, thigh bone), hip replacement surgery and reconstructive surgery of his pelvic bone and acetabulum.

As Alex explains himself in an interview with the Star, most of his muscles was worn away by the chemotherapy.

The idea is to replace Alex's femur with a telescopic prosthesis that can be electro magnetized to lengthen as his body grows.

The procedure is complex and risky.

His next step is proton beam therapy - a highly effective form of radiotherapy that is not yet available in the UK.

It uses a high energy beam of protons rather than high energy X-rays, delivering targeted doses to the cancerous areas.

The treatment has been particularly effective treating cancers of the skull and the spine.

Its meticulous precision has been shown to effectively attack tumors while leaving surrounding muscles and tissues unaffected.
Young children who spend too long in childcare suffer from stress which could make them shyer in later life.

A study has found the stress levels of toddlers in creches are around a third higher than those who stay at home.

While children at home with a parent become more relaxed over the course of the day, those in childcare grow more anxious.

Children who spend more than eight hours in childcare are the most stressed, based on saliva samples taken by researchers and tested for the stress hormone cortisol.

A study suggests this is because they miss their parents and have upsetting conflicts with other children.

A study has found the stress levels of toddlers in creches are around a third higher than those who stay at home

Stress at such a young age can alter the way toddlers' brains develop, making them more shy, with less self-control.

But the good news for working parents is that they can reverse some of the ill effects by spending quality time with their children after they pick them up.

The study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology looked at 112 young children aged around one year to 18 months.

Lead author Professor Mary Britt Drugli said: 'Young children who are not very competent socially and don't have good language skills suffer stress in childcare.

'They miss their parents, being separated from them, and it is hard for them in day care, as it would be with a babysitter.

'We don't know if the stress they suffer is harmful, but parents can mitigate it by spending time with their children during afternoons and weekends.

'They should make meals together, sit together and read books, so the child gets the contact they have missed while in childcare.'

The children studied had all been in day care for five to six months and their saliva was measured for cortisol in the morning and mid-afternoon.

Children who spend more than eight hours in childcare are the most stressed, scientists say

The stress hormone is a marker of emotional reactions and rises when demands on a child exceed their ability to cope.

Readings were 32 per cent higher in children who attended day care than those at home.

Cortisol normally follows the same rhythm, reaching its highest level about 30 minutes after waking, then falling during the day and evening.

But Professor Drugli said: 'We saw that stress levels rose during the day in childcare, while they fell at home where the environment remained stable.

DIET MAKES CHILDREN PERFORM BETTER Parents do all kinds of things to help their children get top marks in school. But before you splash out on a tutor, consider this: research shows a child's diet can dramatically affect their IQ. Children who eat fruit, vegetables, fish, and whole grains in their first three years of school do far better in tests than their peers with poor diets, a study in September found. The findings, from the University of Eastern Finland, were independent of children's socio-economic status, physical fitness, and body type. Advertisement

'After eight hours or more, which is a typical working day for parents who both work, the stress levels were highest.'

The findings echo older studies on toddlers, the age group most vulnerable to the stress which evens out as children grow older, learn more and become better at regulating their emotions.

Researchers have previously found young children get more stressed in larger creche groups, with others of different ages and in smaller spaces.

It is not clear if stress levels caused by childcare are high enough to cause problems, but cortisol can change the way the brain develops.

The study, published in the journal Early Child Development and Care, states: 'Temperament in terms of shyness, poor self-control, and negative emotionality seems to be associated with elevated cortisol levels among older children in childcare.'

Misunderstandings and difficulties in peer relationships are particularly difficult for toddlers who struggle more socially.

But the study concludes: 'Sensitive support from parents may have an important role in re-equilibrating toddlers' emotions after a day in childcare.'
Voter fraud in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections is literally getting out of hand.

A undercover investigation by India Today TV has unearthed a ring of prosthetics suppliers who sell silicone fingers to political parties trying to rig the Uttar Pradesh elections by casting additional votes.

They revealed that the demand for the fake fingers has shot up as party leaders place orders in bulk. With each legitimate voter having their finger marked with indelible ink, the new scam works by allowing fraudulent voters to cast multiple votes by hiding their finger beneath a prosthetic replacement.

Indian women wait in a queue for their turn to vote at a polling station in the Naini area on the outskirts of Allahabad during the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections

Regarded as a badge of democratic privilege, the finger dye prevents voters from re-voting. But India Today TV's reporters found this conservative anti-fraud measure might itself now be under threat.

Shambhu Kumar Yadav, a consultant at Delhi's Born Life, disclosed a prominent political party of Uttar Pradesh has placed big orders for silicone fingers with his artificial limbs company.

According to Yadav, crooks are procuring prosthetic fingers to trick poll officials into allowing them in election booths for multiple voting, possibly in multiple booths.

Prosthetic consultants at P&O International Inc operating from Delhi's Vimhans hospital quoted a price of Rs 1.10 lakh for 10 silicone fingers.

The 'consultants' appeared fully aware that their product would be used for possible fraud in elections.

'When you punch (biometric devices), it's scanned. You can't, therefore, use it for punching. In voting, they just leave an ink mark. They won't be able to identify by touch,' said Namrata of P&O International Inc at Vimhans.Her boss, Dibakar Patra, promised delivery in four days.

'You are getting one index finger made in multiples of five for two,' said Namrata. 'You (one person) can cast your vote five times,' explained Patra.

Distributors of prosthetics like Patra were not only ready to hawk fake fingers to facilitate bogus voting, they also give a thorough demonstration about how to use them.

Shambhu Kumar Yadav, a consultant at Delhi's Born Life, disclosed a prominent political party of Uttar Pradesh has placed big orders for silicone fingers with his artificial limbs company.

Shambhu Kumar Yadav of Born Life was upbeat about sales. 'The truth is we just got orders for 500 fingers from Lucknow. I am telling you the truth,' he said.

'Keep these products with you and use them. No other party should be approaching you. You do your work and leave (the scene). I'll have the colour (of the fake finger) match (with the skin) as much as 90 per cent,' added Yadav.

Indian voters wait in a queue for their turn to vote at a polling station in Allahabad during the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections

He said he received a single order from a political party for 300 pieces. Agendra Kumar, a senior consultant at Delhi's Ideal Artificial Limbs Solution, also spoke about heavy demand because of UP elections.

'I am now running away. There's so much demand,' he said, naming a political party of Uttar Pradesh.

'No one has so far been detected wearing fake fingers while voting, he said. Kumar also explained the modus operandi, suggesting a private hospital place order with his company for bulk imports of the prostheses.

A undercover investigation unearthed a ring of prosthetics suppliers who sell silicone fingers to political parties trying to rig the Uttar Pradesh elections by casting additional votes

'It will be better to get them imported. There won't be any problem later,' he said.

Kumar demanded all his payment in cash for the procurement and supplies.

'You will be required to give us the address of a hospital with import permit. I'll let you know of some other documents which might also be needed,' said Kumar.

Not just elections, artificial limbs could also be widely misused in various other sectors, such as recruitment drives. Anupriya Chauhan, another consultant at Ideal Artificial Limbs Solution, revealed their clients include police and army aspirants.

'It (fake fingers) won't be identified in voting. There's hardly any scrutiny. People (with defective limbs) wear them in (medical) examination for police and army recruitment drives and clear them.

One supplier quoted a price of Rs 1.10 lakh for 10 silicone fingers

'As such, there shouldn't be any issue in voting. Go there, cast it and come back,' she said.

'Licence is not allowed to any applicant for auto-rickshaw driving in Delhi who has two fingers missing. But they wear these artificial fingers and get clearance,' Chauhan added.

After India Today TV broadcast the investigation, Vimhans denied its involvement in the wrongdoing, saying the hospital only extended office space to Patra to serve the patients for prosthetics consultancy.

'The hospital has no involvement in whatever claims he has made,' said Vimhans spokesman Pramod Tripathi.

No one was available for comment at Born Life. Ideal Artificial Limbs Solution's Anupriya Chauhan said she was not authorised to speak on-the-record about India Today TV's probe.

Cash for vote scandal mars UP polls

Claims of cleaner governance have been proved unfounded after several candidates across the political spectrum were found attempting to buy votes in Uttar Pradesh.

A damning India Today investigation has also established how nominees of some of the country's leading political parties have brazenly violated the election commission's limits on campaign spending.

Ateeq Ahmed Saifi, a BSP Candidate from Moradabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh, was caught on camera promising to abuse his position if he won his seat in the state assembly.

Indian voters wait in a queue for their turn to vote at a polling station in the Naini area on the outskirts of Allahabad during the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections

'Your work, whatever you have in your mind, will never stop, Inshallah,' he claimed.

'You just have to sit at home and your work, legitimate or illegitimate, will be done at the ministry.

'If it's something that Behenji (Mayawati) is required to do, I'll have it done that as well,' Saifi said to India Today's reporters posing as lobbyists.

He acknowledged vested interests often approached elected leaders for shady work.

If voted to office on the back of bribes, Saifi said he would make no distinction between right and wrong.

'Whatever you ask for, we'll get it done, whether it's a PWD or a mining tender,' Saifi promised.

In Uttar Pradesh, the election commission has capped campaign expenditure at Rs 28 lakh per candidate.

But Saifi told India Today's investigative reporters that his bill had already crossed Rs 4 crore since he began lobbying for ticket.

According to the BSP candidate, he used as many as 30 vehicles for campaign.

'Some of them are running with permission, some without it. How can we show so much of spending on paper?' he asked.

Indian Money Rs 100 = 1.19 1 Lakh = 100,000 (hundred thousand) 10 Lakh = 1,000,000 (a million) 1 Crore = 10,000,000 (ten million) Advertisement

Money power, India Today reporters observed, seemed to have deeply corroded the process across parties in the current voting. Atul Garg, an SP candidate from Agra North, was found soliciting funds in order to bribe voters.

'So, I have to buy 15,000 to 20,000 votes. Only then will it be satisfactory,' Garg said. Liquor too will be supplied to win voter support, Garg added.

'I can distribute money, food, material and liquor. We'll give whatever is required.' After India Today's expose, the election commission ordered a probe into this cash-for-vote scandal in current state elections.
The BJP has scored a resounding victory in the Maharashtra civil polls emerging as the largest party in eight of the 10 municipal corporations.

And while the larger saffron party finished a close second to ally Shiv Sena in the latter's Mumbai bastion, the BJP was the number one party in Ulhasnagar, Nashik, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur.

Shiv Sena led the tally in Mumbai and adjoining Thane. Making giant strides in the Shiv Sena citadel of Mumbai, BJP won 82 seats in the fiercely fought BMC polls, just two less than the estranged saffron ally, but both were well short of the magic figure of 114 needed to control the civic body.

The BJP has scored a resounding victory in the Maharashtra civil polls emerging as the largest party in eight of the 10 municipal corporations

The hung verdict will reset the political calculations as no party is in the position to rule the country's richest civic body on its own and an alliance seems inevitable.

However, it is not yet clear whether the saffron allies, who share power both in Maharashtra and at the Centre, will get back together or new combinations will emerge.

In the counting of votes held Thursday, the Congress was relegated to the third position with 31 seats, whereas the NCP and the Raj Thackeray's MNS were reduced to 9 and 7 seats, respectively.

Making giant strides in the Shiv Sena citadel of Mumbai, BJP won 82 seats in the fiercely fought BMC polls

AIMIM, which had made its maiden entry into the Maharashtra Assembly with two seats in the last polls, won three seats on debut in the BMC elections, Samajwadi Party six, Akhil Bhartiya Sena one and Independents four.

For the 25 zilla parishads, BJP led the tally, winning 397 of the 1,509 seats for which polls were held. It was followed by NCP 336, Congress 293 and Shiv Sena 259.

MNS got one and others 147. Results of 76 seats were awaited till late night.

For the 2,990 Panchayat Samiti seats, BJP got the lion's share, winning 803, while NCP got 630, Congress 555 and Sena 538.

MNS pocketed just two and others 281 seats. Results of the 181 seats were being awaited till late night.

Shiv Sena activists celebrate the results of BMC Election results in Mumbai

Thanking the voters, an elated Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, 'Our victory is the result of people's acceptance of our agenda of transparency, and indicated that his party's core committee would explore the options before it.'

Asked about the future course of action, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray said, 'What is the hurry? Wait for some time.

'We have not yet decided if an alliance has to be made or not. We will do so soon.'

With BMC polls throwing no clear winner, a senior Maharashtra BJP leader said both the parties should join hands in Mumbai.

'Enough of bitterness. Now, it's time to come together again', Chandrakant Patil, minister in the Devendra Fadnavis ministry said, indicating that the bickering allies in the state government could come together after Thursday's fractured verdict.

'Is there any option other than the two parties coming together, given the number of seats each one has bagged?

'Will they (Shiv Sena) take support of Congress?' Patil, known to have excellent rapport with the central BJP leadership, said. In January, BJP had emerged the number one party in polls for 212 municipal bodies, winning 1,207 seats followed by the Congress (919), NCP (788) and Shiv Sena (616).
Principal Rajendra Prasad has fallen under a cloud of controversy for allegedly not informing police about the two-day seminar in which two controversial Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students - Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid - were set to speak.

The controversy comes as students and teachers protest against Delhi Police's 'inefficiency' in averting the Ramjas College clashes, while top police sources hinted that Prasad may be called in for questioning.

SBK Singh, special commissioner of police told Mail Today: 'The police were not informed about the event. We had made precautionary arrangements on the first day after knowing about Umar Khalid's participation from other sources.'

NSUI activists participating in peace unity march at Delhi University in New Delhi

Khalid, who was charged with sedition last year and is out on bail, and Rashid were set to speak at the Delhi University college on Monday as part of a literary fest.

The invite was scrapped after activists, allegedly of the RSS-affiliated students' group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), barged into the college shouting slogans against 'anti-national activities', locked up the auditorium and cut off power.

The ABVP has denied the any role in the violence and vandalism.

Protesters have also alleged that Delhi Police stood by as violence marred a peaceful demonstration during which teachers, students and journalists were injured and cellphones were snatched on Wednesday.

'The protocol demands that the college inform the local police prior to any event if a ''controversial personality or a popular person'' is coming for an event,' said an officer.

'This is a precautionary measure that is taken by the college to maintain law and order situationProfessor Prasad could be called to join the investigation as he is on police radar for not informing us.'

When contacted, the principal told this reporter to call back after 10 minutes. He never responded after that despite several calls to his cellphone.

Teachers and students were beaten up during violent clashes between two student groups

However, speaking to Mail Today on condition of anonymity, a professor, who was part of the event's organising team said, 'The programme was being planned since October and after the names of the speakers were decided - specifically mentioning Umar Khalid's name - the Ramjas College principal gave permission.'

Khalid told Mail Today that the organisers got in touch with him in early January to speak on tribal issues and he agreed to it, while Rashid said she was contacted a month ago to speak on campus protests and she too gave her consent.

She also said that she was unaware of Khalid's participation in the seminar till a couple of days ago when the pamphlet reached her with the names of the participants.

Students of Ramjas college during the protest march on Wednesday

'ABVP wanted to project me as the hated person,' said Khalid. 'But I am not! They completely failed in their attempt.'

He added that following the JNU incident, he had spoken on public platforms across the country but in Delhi, Ramjas College would have been his debut.

While blaming the principal and college authorities, Delhi Police is not letting local cops off the hook as sources say the top brass feels 'the personnel present at the spot tried to control them but things got out of control.

'They eventually initiated baton charge to disperse the mob.' On Thursday afternoon, the case was transferred to Delhi Police's crime branch.

Action has been initiated against the errant cops, say sources, confirming that a head constable and two constables have been suspended for manhandling members of the media present at the spot.

A committee headed by a DCP-rank officer has been set up to investigate the matter.

'File FIR against ABVP'

A Ramjas College professor and event organiser, protesting outside Delhi Police headquarters said on Thursday: 'For the first time in my history of teaching, I saw students thrashing and throwing chairs on the professors who have taught them.

'I saw a professor being strangled and dragged on ground by his students. Police were mute-spectators.'

The Thursday protest staged by the teachers and students demanded an FIR against the clashes that erupted in Ramjas College after JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid were invited for a panel talk there on Tuesday.

'Ramjas college authorities would have indulged in sedition had the talk by Khalid taken place and now we are fearing sedition charges.

'If inviting Khalid was opposed, college principal would have rolled back his decision,' Professor Debraj Mukherjee from Ramjas College told Mail Today.

Over 500 student protesters gathered outside ITO, demanding an FIR against ABVP students for inflicting violence on students, professors and journalists for a silent march on Wednesday.

Delhi Metro officials shut down the exit number 5 and 6 of ITO metro station after students and teachers from SRCC, Hindu, KMC, Miranda college, Ramjas College, Ambedkar University, Jamia Milia Islamia and Mata Sundari joined the protest.

Condemning the spread of ideas of Umar Khalid and his likes on DU campus, ABVP leader and ex-joint secretary of the JNUSU, Saurabh Sharma said, 'Since police and government did not act on it, ABVP will not let Khalid enter DU campus. He still raises slogans like 'Bastar maange azaadi' . Why are police not cancelling his bail?'
The spate of animal deaths inside the Delhi zoo continues as all four monitor lizards are believed to have died.

Though the Zoo officials blamed its ranger for negligence that brought about the premature death of the reptiles, the documents accessed by Mail Today shows that the ranger was actually the whistleblower.

According to the documents it was the ranger who first informed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of the 'illegal' capture of five monitor lizards by zoo officials ahead of the incident.

Monitor lizards are an endangered species and are protected under Schedule I part II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act

According to a senior ministry official, the zoo ranger on sent a complaint via email alleging that that overnight five monitor lizard were 'illegally' brought into the zoo at the time when internal records reflected that there were no reptiles since December 20.

'It came to my notice that there are five monitor lizards in that beat number 7 where replies are kept.

'However, as per my knowledge there was no monitor lizard in the previous records.

'After enquiry, the keeper and head keeper told me that three monitor lizards were brought from outside and the remaining two has been captured within the zoo premises and transferred to beat number 7 as per orders given to them by the animal section in-charge,' wrote the zoo ranger in his complaint which was accessed by Mail Today.

In his complaint, the ranger also mentioned that animal section in-charge has instructed zoo keepers to hide the information of transfer of monitor lizard by others.

Delhi Zoo has come under scrutiny for its care of animals after a number of deaths

If the allegation by zoo ranger is found true then it makes for a case of hunting under Wildlife Protection Act which says hunting includes capturing, killing, poisoning or trapping any wild animal.

Monitor lizards are an endangered species and are protected under Schedule I part II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

However, the zoo officials have different story to narrate, which claims that lizards 'died of shock'.

Zoo curator Riyaz Khan denied commenting about the death of lizards but in other media reports he was quoted as, 'Lizards died of shock after being taken out of their enclosures during hibernation by a zoo ranger without seeking any permission. We have taken disciplinary action against the staff.'

Two reptiles had died on February 1 and 2. The remaining ones were kept under special care, but they were unable to recover and died on February 11 and 15.

The curator also said the lizards go into hibernation from November to March and are not disturbed during this period. No food or water is given to them during this period.

Sources claim that all the giraffes have allegedly died inside Delhi zoo, and the entire enclosure is now empty and unused. (picture for representation)

But an animal expert at World Wildlife Fund told MAIL TODAY that monitor lizard do not hibernate but they brumate which is hibernation-like state to handle temperature extremes.

In brumation an animal does not exactly sleep, but slow down metabolism and continue to feed. The animal experts claimed that reptile do not die if they are disturbed even during hibernation and death of all the four reptiles should be investigated.

The zoo officials have not confirmed the death of Cape buffalo, who allegedly died to lack of treatment

Another zoo official said reptile brumate only if temperature is below 8 degrees but in zoo temperature is maintained above 18 degrees so reptiles remains active.

Internal food supply documents of zoo show that ration for all the hibernating reptiles and animals were being bought except monitor lizard.

Since December no provision was made for the four monitor lizards.

'Snakes hibernate but still food for them is procured by zoo but they had stopped doing so for monitor lizards, raising suspicion. If the monitor lizards were present in the month of December and January then were zoo officials not buying food for them? Food supply is stopped only after mortality of an animal,' a zoo official said.
Sunil Mittal-led telco Bharti Airtel has announced the acquisition of Norwegian telecom company Telenor's India unit in the latest consolidation move in an industry.

The purchase comes as another example of the major players joining hands to stave off the challenge posed by the disruptive pricing of new entrant Reliance Jio, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

Airtel will not make any cash payment for Telenor's India unit but will take on Rs 1,600 crore future liability towards spectrum licence fee and mobile tower rentals.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises

Its market share will rise to 35.6 per cent following the acquisition of Telenor, which currently has 2.6 per cent share in the Indian market.

Telenor has a customer base of 44 million in seven circles of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and Assam.

India business was a loss making proposition for the Norwegian firm.

The announcement comes close on the heels Vodafone and Idea initiating talks for merging their businesses to create the biggest telecom company in the country with about $12 billion in sales.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications has already signed a pact to merge its wireless business with smaller rival Aircel.

The consolidation in the otherwise crowded Indian telecom industry has been triggered by Jio's free voice call and data plans, forcing incumbent players to slash tariffs to protect their market share at the cost of a sharp decline in revenues.

The proposed acquisition will include transfer of all of Telenor India's assets and customers, further augmenting Airtel's overall customer base and network, Airtel said in a statement.

Telenor India has 700-800 employees. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will also enable Airtel to further bolster its strong spectrum footprint in the seven circles, with the addition of 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.

Airtel is India's largest wireless operator with over 269 million subscribers and a revenue market share of over 33 per cent.

As the new owner, Airtel will take over Telenor India's spectrum, licences and operations, including its employees and customer base of 44 million, the Norwegian firm said in a statement.

Telenor's operations and services will continue as normal until the completion of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close within 12 months.

With Jio shaking the Indian telecom market, expectations have grown for continued consolidation which would lead to the emergence of a few large players and the exit of smaller players like Telenor, which accumulated losses of $2.87 billion since entering India in 2008.

The purchase comes as another example of the major players joining hands to stave off the challenge posed by the disruptive pricing of new entrant Reliance Jio, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani

'The decision to exit India has not been taken lightly. After thorough consideration, it is our view that the significant investments needed to secure Telenor India's future business on a standalone basis will not give an acceptable level of return,' Sigve Brekke, CEO of Telenor Group, said in a statement.

Shares of Bharti Airtel, in which Singapore Telecommunications is the second-biggest shareholder, rose as much as 11 percent in Mumbai trade to a one-and-a-half year high after the deal was announced.

They were up 4.7 percent in early afternoon trade. With the cut-throat prices announced by Jio, Bharti Airtel reported its lowest profit in four years in the October-December quarter while No. 3 player Idea Cellular posted its first-ever quarterly loss for the same period.
Traditionally, we are taught never to speak ill of the departed even if they were fallible in their lifetime.

We deify our ancestors, parents and leaders to a cult-status, to an extent their passage has an emotive quality.

There is a near-certainty when leaders die intestate, political and personal assets pass on to the favoured scion, wife or bestie, legitimised by a 'sympathy' vote through elections.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa: The bench of Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy convicted and sentenced Sasikala to four years in jail for conspiring with and abetting Jayalalithaa's 'sinister' design to 'launder ill-gotten wealth' to the tune of Rs 53.6 crore

Psychologists attribute this phenomenon of seeking a look-alike-talk-alike replica to 'a transference of affection', like seeing an 'Amma' in 'Chinnama' Sasikala.

Legacy

The problem is when collective grief throws up untested, untried leaders as in Tamil Nadu, feuding over a crown-of-thorns over the legacy of the now infamous ex- CM.

From near- cannonisation to a posthumous convict, Jayalalithaa today stands instead for the monumental rot of all that ails the system: political, legal, law-enforcement and the investigative arm of the government.

Visuals of contenders surreally receiving divine guidance from a hotline with heaven at Jayalalitha's grave, was reminiscent of minions prostrating at her feet when she ruled.

If there ever was a rating on a 'Global Corruption Index of Women in Power', India would surely be high on the radar.

What explains multitudes in mourning, instead of public indignation, knowing her political and personal fortunes were built robbing the State, but keeping the masses inebriated on an opium of freebies?

Its the Tamil Nadu model of welfarism.

Kamraj as CM introduced free food and school education that Jaya expanded to include domestic essentials, housing, aiding small entrepreneurs as also an investor-friendly government, with TN clocking higher than national growth rates.

The welfare schemes cost Rs 11 thousand crores over ten years, and that populist paradigm replicated in other states, making for good politics but bad economics.

Indians are resigned to governments that under-deliver, so when a leader bestows the basics of mixers and grinders, personal corruption is overlooked and venality gets masked as generosity.

The bench of Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy convicted and sentenced Sasikala to four years in jail

An assertive civil society with one of the highest literacy rates, who fought for Tamil identity in protest against the apex courts stricture on Jalikatu, must posses the spirit to reject both DMK and AIDMK that alternately pilfered the state.

Voter-angst cannot be gauged through an indirect vote where MLA's chose the leader, unlike Lok Sabha or Assembly elections.

Punjab, UP, Haryana and Kashmir have also alternated between two corrupt dynasties, so while TN may be ripe for change, it is becoming difficult for national parties pan-India to counter well entrenched regional forces, as also because the state is the last Dravidian bastion.

BJP is aware its only stake in the embattled state is support for central policies, though Tamil Nadu has a share of 39 seats in Lok Sabha.

Proxy

Also, ideas and rebellion take time to ferment for taller leaders to emerge.

Besides, the Indian voter has had enough of proxies and night watch-men holding the reigns of power for another, 'benami' or 'naami' fill-in, be it Manmohan Singh for Sonia, Rabri for Lalu, or Palaniswami for Sasi.

Besides,'if justice is blind, its interpreters are cockeyed.'

When a single-judge bench of Justice Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka High Court granted Jayalalitha absolution, miscalculating by a whopping 76.5 per cent of her income as against 8.12 per cent, it raises questions on a flawed verdict and justice delivery mechanism that took 21 years, allowing a CM-at-large a free run of two terms to compound illicit assets.

When a CM is forced to demit office mid-term, it stands to reason the ruling party too must have lost the confidence of its voters.

But there was no opposing moral voice within AIADMK who condemned the first-rung of leadership post the conviction, and that low-moral ground should nullify the legitimacy of Sasikala's protege Palaniswamy who is a proxy to a once- proxy himself.

Corruption

Importantly, the Tamil Nadu vote of confidence is the first acid test post demonitisation, even before the UP elections verdict on a reform that was intended as a panacea to eradicate corruption.

127 legislators don't swing camps without the mullah, and holing them in captivity comes at a price to buy their support or silence.

Which begs the question: post-demonetisation, how did Sasikala & Co have access to such money?

Lalu Yadav and Jayalalithaa's conviction should set multiple precedences for leaders holding public office who are awaiting trial.

Just on the basis of a chargesheet accepted by court, they should ideally be debarred till acquitted, as the stages from investigation, trial, appeal and ultimate supreme court verdict is lengthy, and the guilty have ways of prolonging closure.

Secondly, there is a need to de-politicise police and investigation agencies who act as 'caged parrots' to the centre.

Thirdly, the Centre must oversee governors are proactive in the timely discharge of their gubernatorial responsibilities to lessen the scope of horse-trading.

Absence of family interests does not guarantee sage like asceticism free of the need to amass wealth, as seen in the DA cases on Mayawati and Jaya.

Both are Indian versions of Imelda Marcos, legendary for her shoe-fetish, while our desi counterparts obsessed over gold and garlands strung with hard cash.

If there ever was a rating on a 'Global Corruption Index of Women in Power', India would surely be high on the radar.




Boss troubles: Lloyds director of corporate affairs, Matt Young

Lloyds bank's newly-published annual results reveals its director of corporate affairs, Matt Young, has amassed a shareholding in the bank worth 2.2million.

Not bad for a humble PR chief.

Of course, after the hurly-burly over Antonio Horta-Osorio's alleged Far Eastern canoodling, Young may well feel he's earned every penny.

Economist Vicky Pryce, jailed for accepting speeding points on behalf of her adulterous ex-husband Chris Huhne, was invited to speak at this week's National Manufacturing Conference.

Elsewhere, she's welcomed onto the airwaves as a respected pundit. As for the dreaded Huhne, 62, he stands accused of wasting millions while energy minister on hopeless green subsidies.

Isn't it funny how this modern political tragi-drama has played out?

Visitors to British American Tobacco's offices in London's Temple are greeted with posters pasted throughout the building foyer, bearing the ominous slogan: 'Smoking Kills'.

BAT employees must have a spring in their step and a song in their hearts when they arrive at their desks each morning.

Chirpy ex-chancellor Alistair Darling, now on the board at Morgan Stanley, spoke at the Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF) dinner in Park Lane this week.

He paid a brief tribute to gloomy crooner Leonard Cohen, who passed away last year.

Reminiscing on the 2008 financial crisis, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson once joked: 'Alistair became the first person ever to go to a Leonard Cohen concert to cheer himself up.'

Barclays' smoothychops finance director Tushar Morzaria explains the bank's decision to accelerate the closure of its 'bad bank' division: 'It was desynergistic to have a separate, walled-off, non-core group operating by itself.' Clears that up nicely.
A female assassin who murdered Kim Jong-un's half-brother used the world's deadliest chemical weapon that needs just a drop to kill someone, it has emerged.

Kim Jong Nam, 45, had traces of VX, which is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations, on his face and his eyes after being targeted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Experts say only a minute amount of the banned nerve agent is needed to kill.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is believed to have a large stockpile of the poison among a terrifying arsenal of up to 5,000-tonnes of chemical weapons.

It comes as a new image emerged of Doan Thi Huong, the Vietnamese woman who was arrested by Malaysian police over the murder, posing for photos in a white bikini during a motor show in Hanoi.

Scroll down for video

Shocking pictures show Kim Jong-Nam slumped in a chair having been poisoned

Vietnamese woman Doan Thi Huong, who was arrested by Malaysian police over the murder of Kim Jong Nam, poses for a photo during a motor show in Hanoi, Vietnam in July

Kim Jong Nam died on February 13 and now police say a nerve agent was found on his face

The nerve agent VX, which has the consistency of motor oil, can take days or even weeks to evaporate

Reports of the use of a nerve agent raised serious questions about public safety in Kuala Lumpur International Airport that authorities went 11 days without decontaminating.

If VX was used, it could have contaminated not only the airport but anywhere else Jong Nam had been, including medical facilities and the ambulance he was transported in. The nerve agent, which has the consistency of motor oil, can take days or even weeks to evaporate.

Security experts say it would be easy to smuggle a small amount of VX into Malaysia in a diplomatic pouch, which are not subject to regular customs checks.

Police said one of two women suspected of the killing was vomiting profusely afterwards and experts says that his murderers were probably wearing thin gloves and washed their hands afterwards to avoid killing themselves.

The revelation raised serious questions about public safety in a building that authorities went 11 days without decontaminating.

If VX was used, it could have contaminated not only the airport but anywhere else Jong Nam had been, including medical facilities and the ambulance he was transported in. The nerve agent, which has the consistency of motor oil, can take days or even weeks to evaporate.

Security experts say it would be easy to smuggle a small amount of VX into Malaysia in a diplomatic pouch, which are not subject to regular customs checks.

VX, THE LETHAL TOXIN CREATED BY BRITAIN VX is the deadliest nerve agent ever created, and is classed as a weapon of mass destruction by the UN. Just a fraction of a drop, absorbed through the skin, can take effect within seconds and fatally disrupt the nervous system. It is the only nerve agent to have been created since the Second World War, having been synthesised in Britain in the early 1950s. A liquid at room temperature, it has a similar consistency to motor oil, and evaporates as slowly. Inhaled as a vapour it is ten times more lethal than a liquid, causing poisoning symptoms within seconds, blurring the victims vision and leaving them coughing and fighting for breath. Experts say it is like drowning on dry land. Similar to a pesticide, it works by preventing the proper operation of an enzyme which acts as the bodys off switch for muscles and glands, acetylcholinesterase. Without that switch, they are constantly stimulated and rapidly tire. The victim dies when the muscles in their diaphragm fail and they can no longer breathe. The agent is thought to have been used in chemical warfare during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. It is up to 150 times more deadly than sarin, the nerve gas released by a Japanese doomsday cult on to the Tokyo subway in 1995. The V in VX stands for venom, in tribute to its high toxicity and how rapidly it penetrates the skin, even through clothing. However, there is an antidote  a chemical called atropine sulphate, which helps people breathe by drying bronchial secretions and opening airways. The antidote is carried routinely by members of the US military. A drop of VX the weight of a pound coin contains 950 human lethal doses. Advertisement

Police said one of two women suspected of the killing was vomiting profusely afterwards and experts says that his murderers were probably wearing thin gloves and washed their hands afterwards to avoid killing themselves.

VX and Sarin was used by a Japanese religious cult who killed a dozen commuters on Tokyo's underground rail network in 1995. Saddam Hussein was accused of using it on Kurds in the 1980s and Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria had stockpiled huge amounts before it was taken away in 2014.

CCTV footage of Jong-Nam's final minutes shows one female assassin wiping a fast-acting poison on his face from behind.

Other shots show him stumbling, wiping his face, and seeking help from people while gesturing to his eyes before being escorted to a clinic. He later slumped in a chair after he suffered a seizure and died on February 13.

Traces of VX, considered one of the five most deadly chemical weapons of war that produces a feeling of drowning before death, were detected on swabs of the dead man's face and eyes.

Matthew Meselson, a professor of biochemistry at Harvard, told the Washington Post that VX is quite easy to produce.

The board member of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation said: 'A good organic chemist could synthesize VX relatively easily. You could get the ingredients and make it in a couple of days, and if you make it pure, it's quite stable'.

Police have not said how the women were able to apply the nerve agent to his face and also avoid becoming ill themselves.

Detectives said earlier that the two attackers rubbed a liquid on Kim Jong Nam's face before walking away and quickly washing their hands. He sought help from airport staff but died before he reached the hospital.

NORTH KOREA'S 5,000-TONNE STASH OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS North Korea has up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons, South Korean experts said today, including the toxin used to assassinate its leader's half-brother. Traces of VX - a nerve agent listed as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations - were detected on swabs from the face and eyes of Kim Jong-Nam. South Korea's defence ministry said in its 2014 Defence White Paper that the North began producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and estimated that it has about 2,500 to 5,000 tonnes in stock. North Korea has chemical weapons production facilities in eight locations including the northeastern port of Chongjin and the northwestern city of Sinuiju, it said in the 2012 edition of the document. North Korea has up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons, South Korean experts said today, including the toxin used to assassinate its leader's half-brother 'North Korea is believed to have a large stockpile of VX, which can easily be manufactured at low cost,' defence analyst Lee Il-Woo at the private Korea Defence Network told AFP. Military science professor Kim Jong-Ha at Hannam University said the North has 16 kinds of nerve agents including VX and sarin, used by a Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, in the 1995 attack at the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people. It also possesses other lethal chemicals, including suffocating, blistering and blood agents, Kim said, as well as 13 types of biological weapons such as anthrax and bubonic plague. North Korea has not signed a global chemical weapons convention that prohibits the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. More than 160 countries signed the treaty, that went into force in 1997. Advertisement

VX nerve agent, or S-2 Diisoprophylaminoethyl methylphosphonothiolate, is chemical weapon classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.

The seeming contradiction of a poison that could kill him quickly but not sicken the attackers has stumped outside experts.

Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said some protective measures must have been in place if the women handled the substance without gloves.

'It's also possible that the toxin was encapsulated, then activated when applied to the skin,' he said before the latest police statement. 'As additional information is provided to the media by the police, it seems more likely that a new or modified chemical or biological agent was utilized in the attack.'

Alleged aassasin Doan Thi Huong had a Facebook account under the name Ruby Ruby and posted pictures of herself wearing a revealing red swim suit

Suspected assassin Doan Thi Huong can be seen wearing a shirt with 'LOL' emblazoned on the front

'The other chemical agents like sarin, tabun, those kinds of things, they're way below this. They're toxic, yes, but this is the king,' said John Trestrail, a U.S. forensic toxicologist who has examined more than 1,000 poisoning crimes.

He said an amount of VX weighing two pennies could kill 500 people though skin exposure.

He and other experts stressed the importance of having the results confirmed by an independent reference laboratory, especially given the nerve agent's rarity.

But South Korea said today that the use of VX was a 'blatant violation' of an international treaty.

'We are shocked by the latest revelation by the Malaysian authorities that VX... was used in the death of Kim Jong-Nam,' Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement.

It called it a 'blatant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and other international norms'.

Unlike Pyongyang, Seoul - which first pointed the finger at the North over Kim's death - is a signatory to the Convention, which went into force in 1997.

'The use of any chemical weapons is strictly banned for any reason and in any place,' the foreign ministry statement said.

A similar white top was worn by a woman shown in CCTV footage from the terminal minutes after Kim Jong-nam was killed

South Korea's defence ministry said in its 2014 Defence White Paper that the North began producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and estimated that it has about 2,500 to 5,000 tonnes in stock.

In a 2015 assessment, the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative wrote: 'North Korea claims that it does not possess chemical weapons.

'While assessing stockpiles and capabilities are difficult, the DPRK is thought to be among the world's largest possessors of chemical weapons, ranking third after the United States and Russia.'

Malaysia's police chief said last night that investigators want to question a North Korean embassy official about Kim Jong Nam's death, saying he should cooperate if he has nothing to hide despite having diplomatic immunity.

North Korea has previously used diplomatic pouches 'to smuggle items including contraband and items that would be subjected to scrutiny if regular travel channels were used', said Rohan Gunaratna, the head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar has previously said the woman who ambushed Kim from behind clearly knew she was carrying out a poison attack, dismissing claims that she thought she was taking part in a TV prank.

'The lady was moving away with her hands towards the bathroom,' Khalid said earlier this week.

HOW A SINGLE DROP OF MAN-MADE VX KILLS IN MINUTES As Malaysian toxicologists reveal that the banned nerve agent VX was used in the airport assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, here are some key questions and answers about the deadly weapon of mass destruction. What is it? Code-named by the US scientists who mass produced it, VX is an organophosphate compound and one of the deadliest chemical agents ever manufactured. Stockpiled by the US in huge quantities during the Cold War, VX is perhaps 10 times as powerful as the Sarin toxin. Odourless and clear when pure, it has the appearance of motor oil and is stable enough to be transported. It is also hard to detect, an advantage for a would-be assassin. Downsides are that it lingers, potentially contaminating areas for long periods of time. 'It can kill an adult weighing 70 kilogrammes with just five milligrammes on the skin,' said Yosuke Yamasato, former principal of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Chemical School. 'It's unbelievable that the executors of the crime used it with their bare hands - they must have not known the material was VX.' Code-named by the US scientists who mass produced it, VX is an organophosphate compound and one of the deadliest chemical agents ever manufactured (file picture) What does it do? It strikes the nervous system fast. A high dose can kill in minutes when inhaled, as the blood vessels in the lungs rapidly spread the compound into the bloodstream and vital organs. Nerve agents over-stimulate glands and muscles, leading them to quickly fatigue and become unable to sustain breathing. Symptoms depend on dosage and whether it is inhaled or introduced through the skin - the slower form of poisoning. Exposure to low doses is survivable. But more serious contamination is fast-acting and often gruesome. People exposed to the toxin may become short of breath and nauseous in minutes, or at a higher dose experience seizures, heart failure and a total shut down of the respiratory system. There are antidotes but treatment must be immediate. US soldiers carried kits to inject themselves with antidote during the first Iraq War. Nerve agent VX is odorless, tasteless and highly toxic, and is manufactured for chemical warfare Where does it come from? The compound was first created in a British laboratory in the early 1950s. But American scientists honed its potency during the Cold War arms race with the Soviet Union. Tens of thousands of tonnes of VX were churned out at Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana - a stockpile that was finally destroyed in the late 1980s as the Cold War ended. Accidental leaks have been reported in the US and Japan. It has been deployed as a war weapon infrequently but with devastating effect. Residues found on site suggest Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein may have used VX among a cocktail of chemical weapons he rained down on the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988 killing at least 5,000 people. In 1994 VX was used by Japan's Aum cult to murder an office worker in Osaka, and in the attempted murder of two other people. Legal status? VX is listed a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations. Under the international Chemical Weapons Convention 1997, countries are allowed limited stockpiles for research purposes only but must declare them and are obliged to progressively destroy their supplies. 'North Korea is not a signatory to CWC, so it's no surprise if it possesses VX,' Satoshi Numazawa, professor of toxicology at Showa University, told AFP. Advertisement

'She was very aware that it was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands.'

The leaked CCTV footage shows Kim asking for help from airport staff, who direct him to a clinic, after he is ambushed.

Police said he suffered a seizure and died before he reached hospital.

Detectives are holding three people - women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man - but want to speak to seven others, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.

One man wanted for questioning, who is believed to be still in Malaysia, is senior North Korean embassy official Hyon Kwang Song.

Police have acknowledged that his diplomatic status prevents them from questioning him unless he surrenders himself.

However, a North Korean official outside Pyongyang's Kuala Lumpur embassy said Friday Malaysia had not submitted a request to speak to Hyon, despite the police chief earlier saying the embassy would be asked for assistance.

Khalid said police have also asked Interpol to issue an alert for four North Korean men who left Malaysia the same day Kim Jong Nam was attacked by the two women.

The four men are believed to be back in North Korea, but police also want to question three other people still in Malaysia, including Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the North Korean Embassy.

Malaysian police said two women allegedly involved in the assassination - Siti Aisyah (left) and Doan Thi Huong (right) - knew the poisoning wasn't a 'TV prank'

Police want to question the North Korean embassy's second secretary, Hyon Kwang Song (left), as well as a North Korean airline employee called Kim Uk Il (right)

North Korean Ri Ji U has also been identified for questioning in connection with the murder of Kim Jong Nam

'The foreign officer has got immunity so we have to follow protocol,' Khalid told reporters. 'If you have nothing to hide, you don't have to be afraid. You should cooperate.'

Khalid acknowledged that Malaysia would not be able to question Hyon if the embassy exercises its immunity privileges.

North Korea's official, state-controlled media mentioned the case for the first time Thursday, saying Malaysia's investigation was full of 'holes and contradictions' without acknowledging the victim was Kim Jong Nam.

The report from KCNA largely echoed past comments by North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia, but the publication of at least some news inside North Korea could be a sign of its concern over growing international speculation that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam.

HOW JAPANESE CULT ALSO USED DEADLY NERVE AGENT A Japanese religious cult that carried out a deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways in 1995 also experimented with the VX nerve agent suspected in the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother in Malaysia. Months before killing about a dozen commuters and severely injuring dozens more in Tokyo with sarin, another kind of nerve gas, in March 1995, the Aum Shinrikyo cult tried VX on at least three victims, killing one whom cult members believed was a police informant. In their trial, cult members said they practiced using syringes to spray the deadly chemical on people's necks as they pretended to be out jogging. The suspected police informant spent 10 days in a coma before dying. One of the people attacked with VX by the cult, Hiroyuki Nagaoka, told Japanese public broadcaster NHK on Friday that news of Kim Jong Nam's murder reminded him of his own experience. A Japanese religious cult - led by Shoko Asahara (centre) - that carried out a deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways in 1995 also experimented with the VX nerve agent suspected in the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother He was walking on the sidewalk in his neighborhood in Tokyo in January 1995 when a member of the cult sprayed the nerve agent on the back of his neck. Most of it was blocked by his jacket collar. 'I had no idea what happened at that time,' he said. He was attacked because he was a vocal opponent of the cult. He finished walking home but about half an hour later realized everything seemed to be oddly dark - an effect of the toxin causing his pupils to shrink. He started feeling hot inside and, sweating profusely, took off his clothes. His wife later told him that he got down on all fours like an animal, twisting and scratching his neck and chest, before rolling onto his back in pain and losing consciousness. He was rushed to a hospital for emergency treatment, and was unconscious for several days. 'I was saved by the collar of the jacket I was wearing,' he told NHK after officials in Malaysia said they suspected VX in the Kuala Lumpur killing. He still has numbness on the right side of his body and uses an oxygen tube inserted in his nostrils to assist his breathing. Nagaoka said when he saw Kim Jong Nam in an airport surveillance video walking unassisted for a while but gradually seeming to slow down, he thought it must be VX. He also said Kim might have been sweating heavily like he did, citing wet spots on Kim's shirt when he was shown slumped in a chair. Advertisement

Long estranged from North Korea's leadership, Kim Jong Nam had lived outside the country for years, staying in Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.

The two suspected attackers, an Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese woman, are in custody.

Doan Thi Huong, 28, is one of the women being held in Malaysia over the killing of Kim Jong-nam. She posted a Facebook selfie online just days before the assassination and can be seen wearing a shirt with 'LOL' emblazoned on the front.

A similar white top was worn by a woman shown in CCTV footage from the terminal minutes after Kim Jong-nam was killed.

Separate photos, in a Facebook account under the name of Ruby Ruby, show her posing in a revealing red swim suit and wearing a black dress with floral patterns.

Jong-Nam died on February 13 after being attacked as he waited for a plane to Macau
The Mayor of Anaheim has said he was 'deeply disturbed' and angered by footage of an off-duty policeman pulling a gun on a teenage boy during a dispute over a hedge.

But Tom Tait denounced violence and damage caused by protesters who marched through the city demanding the officer be fired and arrested.

Tait said: 'The video shows an adult wrestling with a 13-year-old kid, and ultimately firing a gun. This has been a blow to our community.'

The Mayor of Anaheim, Tom Tait (pictured, center), has said he was 'deeply disturbed' by the incident. But the city's Police Chief Raul Quezada (far left) defended the decision to arrest two teenagers, rather than the off-duty cop. The pair gave a press conference yesterday, along with LAPD Assistant Chief, Michael Moore (far right).

Protesters march towards the off-duty officer's home in Anaheim, California

On Tuesday a scuffle broke out on a residential street after the off-duty LAPD officer apparently objected to students taking a shortcut across his lawn after school.

In the video the police officer, wearing casual clothes and sunglasses, grabs hold of a 13-year-old boy after accusing the youngster of threatening him.

When the boy's friends try to rescue him from the cop's grasp, he pulls out a gun from his waistband and suddenly fires a shot into the ground, causing panic.

Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada has defended his department's decision to arrest two of the teenagers but not the officer.

Videos shot from different angles and posted on YouTube show the officer clenching the boy's sweatshirt and pulling him across the lawn as they argued about what precipitated the incident.

The 13-year-old believed the officer, who was not named, had cursed at a teenage girl who had walked across his lawn.

The incident has been a rude awakening for Anaheim, a city of 350,000 people which is the home of Disneyland and is often dubbed The Happiest Place on Earth.

Cellphone video shows the shocking moment an off-duty police officer almost shot a teenager who he was scuffling with outside his home. The officer is seen as he pulled out his handgun

Michael Carrillo, an attorney representing the teenage girl, said she had 'grazed' the officer's lawn when he began shouting expletives at her.

Carrillo said the altercation turned physical after the boy stepped in and told the officer he shouldn't curse at a child.

In the video, the officer said he had heard the boy say he was going to 'shoot' him, but the teen insists he said he was going to 'sue' him.

At one point, the teen said, 'Let me go. ... I'm only 13.'

Protesters marched through the center of Anaheim on Wednesday but some of them damaged the officer's house

Graffiti was sprayed on the officer's garage door during the protests

Another youth rushed the officer, who stumbled back through a low hedge, still holding the 13-year-old.

A teen then took a swing at the officer. Other kids approached, and the man - still gripping the 13-year-old with one hand - pulled a gun from his waistband, crouched and fired a shot.

Teens shooting video began running down the street and cursing.

The 13-year-old, who is the stepson of an Anaheim police officer, was booked on suspicion of making a criminal threat and battery. A 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery.

Both boys, who weren't named because they're juveniles, were later released, Quezada said.

The union representing Los Angeles police officers said the officer had a right to self-defense after being physically assaulted.

Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada, left, and Los Angeles Assistant Chief Michael Moore take questions at a news conference regarding the incident

Some properties were damaged during the protest in Anaheim

If he mistakenly thought the boy said 'shoot' instead of 'sue,' he had a reasonable basis to fear for his safety, said Jon Shane, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

'You can always be mistaken about the facts, but you must be right about the law,' Shane said. 'Shooting and suing are two different things and they clearly have two different outcomes. ... Shooting would provide a reasonable basis for imminent fear of bodily harm. The other not so much.'

Carillo has filed a claim against the cities of Anaheim and Los Angeles, the precursor to a civil lawsuit, alleging the incident shows the Los Angeles Police Department was deficient in training officers.

Protesters hold signs in front of the LAPD officer's home in Anaheim during the demos

Attorney Carl Douglas, who is not involved in the case, called it an outrageous use of force and intimidation and questioned the officer's qualifications.

'Anyone present could have been killed because of this reckless use of force,' Douglas said. 'Because someone was walking on his grass, this officer thought the circumstances justified his walking out of his house with his gun in his waistband to confront some teenager.'

The LAPD is also investigating the incident.

Hundreds of people marched through suburban Anaheim streets late Wednesday, some blocking traffic and carrying signs that said 'no shooting zone.' Police arrested two dozen people, including children, after the crowd ignored orders to disperse.

The city 24 miles southeast of Los Angeles was roiled in 2012 by demonstrations following the fatal police shootings of two unarmed Latino men. The deaths sparked four days of violent protests resulting in smashed shop windows and dozens of arrests.

Neighbor Joe Gulrich, 76, said his house was spray-painted during the protest on Wednesday and police told him he should leave for his own safety. When he returned late at night, he found a rock had been thrown through his front window.

'He did the right thing,' Gulrich said. 'If he hadn't done that they would have ganged up on him.'

Mike Gutierrez, 35, said he was concerned by the officer's handling of the incident.

'What kind of officer goes against a child?' asked Gutierrez, who lives a few blocks away.
Little Yang Xiuxia's biggest wish is to find her parents whom she has never met.

The eight-year-old girl has been selling vegetable on the street of a Chinese city for five years in hope of bumping into her parents, who abandoned her when she was one month old.

Yang said she misses her parents and she wishes one day her parents could come to pick her up from school.

Yang Xiuxia ran the vegetable stand on the street of Dongguan, China, on February 21

A signboard next to the girl explained that she was waiting for parents to take her home

Little Yang, nicked Mao Mao, first started selling vegetable at the age of three in 2012

Yang Xiuxia lives in a Village called Lianhu which is a part of the Tangxia Town in southern China's Dongguan city.

Everybody in the village knows her by her nickname, Mao Mao.

Mao Mao was born to two migrant workers who are from Wenchuan city in Sichuan Province.

On May 10, 2008, the couple secretly left Mao Mao on the doorstep of a neighbour before moving away from the village.

The neighbour, named Huang Mengyi, recalled that she heard a baby crying in the wee hours outside her house.

The 70-year-old told a reporter: 'I opened the door and recoginsed she was the baby of that young man from Sichuan. I rushed to his home, but there was no one to be seen. He had left.'

It was thought that the couple had deserted Mao Mao due to her illness. The child had been born prematurely and suffered from pneumonia.

Mao Mao was pictured with Huang Mengyi, the woman who has found her and raised her

Every day after school, Mao Mao goes to set up her stand on the street of Lianhu in Dongguan

The child hopes her parents will be able to see her when they return to the town to find her. She was pictured with her grandma Huang in 2013

Since that fateful day, Huang, a retired military doctor, has taken Mao Mao under her wing and raised the child like her own granddaughter.

Huang and her husband run their little farm and sell vegetable to support Mao Mao.

In addition to Mao Mao, the couple have another child, a son named Yang Hengqing. 27-year-old Yang Hengqing was also abandoned by his birth parents, who had left him at the Nanning Train Station in 1988.

Although Mao Mao has never met her birth parents, she thinks of them every day.

In her diary, the fourth-grade pupil wrote in Chinese characters neatly: 'Where is my dad? Where is my mum? Dad and mum are in my dream with me. But when I wake up, I don't see them.'

The girl was left by her parents on Huang's doorstep in 2008 when she was one month old

It was thought that her parents had chosen to forsake her because of her illness

Grandma Huang brought up Mao Mao in this shack by planting and selling vegetable

Five years ago, Mao Mao started helping her grandma Huang sell vegetable. By doing so, she wants her parents to be able to see her if they return to Dongguan.

Pictures taken on February 21 show that Mao Mao sold bok choy, papaya and sweet potato leaves on Chayi Street.

She told a reporter from QQ.com that she charged one yuan (11p) for a bunch of bok choy or sweet potato leaves, and one yuan (11p) for one papaya.

She put a signboard next to her vegetable stall, which was a letter she had written to her parents.

The signboard said: 'Dear dad and mum, how are you? In 2008 when I was seriously ill, you secretly put me in front of an elderly woman's house at midnight.

'Now I've recovered, I look forward to being picked up by you. Otherwise, my grandma will have to hand me to the government.'

The letter continued: 'Nowhere is home. But at the same time, everywhere is home. I miss having my own home. I miss you, mum and dad.'

Pictures taken on February 21 show Mao Mao sold bok choy, papaya and sweet potato leaves

She said she charged one yuan (11p) for a bunch of bok choy or sweet potato leaves, and one yuan (11p) for one papaya

Mao Mao lives with Huang and her brother Yang Hengqing, who had also been adopted

Onlookers were moved by the girl's story. Many of them bought vegetable from her, and some urged the parents to return and find Mao Mao.

One passerby told a QQ reporter: 'Since they chose to have the child, they should have raised her properly. It didn't solve any problems by leaving her like this.'

Mao Mao expressed her wish to see her parents through the press.

The eight-year-old said she wanted to know why her parents hadn't treated her illness when she was little, instead they had forsaken me.

'My grandma is getting old. I don't know if I'll be able to carry on studying. If I can find my mum and dad, I'll have a home and I won't be afraid of anything.

'I want to be like my classmates. I want to have mother and father, who can come to pick me up after school.'

She added: 'Mum and dad, I hope you can come and take me home soon.'

She put a signboard next to her vegetable stall, which was a letter she wrote to her parents

In her diary, the fourth-grade pupil wrote: 'Where is my dad? Where is my mum? Dad and mum are in my dream with me. But when I wake up, I don't see you'

'Mao Mao is clever, smart, obedient and brave,' said Zhang Guowei, the founder of 'Let Love Come Home', a Dongguan-based charity group specialised in helping homeless people find their families.

The child was first spotted by volunteers from 'Let Love Come Home' who had seen her stall on the street. Zhang and his colleague reported Mao Mao's story on their WeChat account, a Chinese social media app, and the story received much attention.

Zhang, a father himself, told MailOnline that he was so moved when Mao Mao told him her story that he cried while speaking to the girl.

The 39-year-old man said the next step is to register Mao Mao's details on Bao Bei Huijia, a website helping people connect with their missing family members. He hopes that Mao Mao's parents would see her information and find her.

The man said that Mao Mao's grandmother dare not move homes because he wants Mao Mao's birth parents to be able to find them.

Onlookers were moved by the girl and her story. Many of them bought vegetable from her

The onlookers also urged Mao Mao's parents to come back and take the girl back home

People have donated money to Mao Mao on social media and through her vegetable stand

After Mao Mao's parents disappeared, they called their neighbour Huang once and told her they would come back soon to get Mao Mao.

Zhang feared the reason why the couple had never returned could be a tragic one.

'We know that the couple are from Wenchuan, Sichuan Province. They left Dongguan on May 10, 2008. Then on May 12, the Wenchuan earthquake took place.

'We think it might be possible that the parents had been killed by the earthquake.'

More than 87,000 people were killed or went missing during the Magnitude 7.9 earthquake that shook China in 2008.

Nevertheless, Zhang said they would continue looking for Mao Mao's parents.

'People have donated more than 20,000 yuan (2,319) to Mao Mao through our WeChat account. We thank these generous people,' added Zhang.
A mother has described how her heart screamed for her brain-dead daughter as her lifeless but warm body was pushed in to surgery so her organs could be taken for life-saving donations.

Darwin girl Ali van Os was 16 when she was killed in a freak boating accident in Phuket, Thailand, in 2009, when a mooring rope from a super yacht snapped, flung out and hit the young teenager in the head.

Eight years later the devastated mother Joanne van Os has revealed to Daily Mail Australia the true heartache involved with losing her daughter  and how she didn't realise her daughter's heart would still have to be beating when she donated her organs.

Darwin girl Ali van Os, pictured, was 16 when she was killed in a freak boating accident in Phuket, Thailand

Ali was on a round-the-world trip of a lifetime with her mother Joanne van Os and father Lex Silvester when the accident happened

'You're already dealing with the worst trauma you can imagine, the loss of a child, that is further compounded by the emotional trauma when you see her being wheeled away, still attached to life support,' Ms van Os said.

'Your brain is saying ''she is dead'' but your heart is screaming ''no she isn't''.'

Ms van Os, her husband Lex Silvester and their daughter Ali had 'run away from their lives in Darwin' to circumnavigate the globe on their yacht.

Ali had high-functioning autism and was struggling at school so the family decided an adventure abroad would be good for her.

'It was such a wonderful time, she was improving so much,' Ms van Os said.

Lex Silvester with Ali on the trip - the devastated parents made the decision to have their daughter's organs donated when she was pronounced brain-dead

'We wanted to give her a different life, she was very social and loved the sea so we sold the house and moved on to the boat.'

Then the accident happened.

'We had met friends at the marina and she had seen this big boat coming in and asked if she could watch.

'It wasn't considered a dangerous operation, it was very routine and there were a lot of people on the dock at the time, so we agreed.

'We were in our friend's boat less than two hundred metres down the dock when there was a knock on the hull, the person said there had been an accident and asked if we were the parents of a young girl.

'We ran down to where she was, everyone had come out of their boats and because there were a lot of big yachts around there were a lot of trained medical officers helping out.

Ali was still breathing, still had a pulse and 'looked like she was sleeping' when she was wheeled away for the surgery which her parents found confronting

'Within 15 minutes three German doctors arrived and did what they could for her but told me it was very serious and she would need to see a neurosurgeon as soon as she got to the hospital.'

Ms van Os remembers seeing a lot of blood on the dock, coming from her daughter's ears  but says she didn't have any visible marks on her face.

'She just looked like she was sleeping, her chest was going up and down, she had a pulse and colour in her face.

'I knew it was serious she was completely unconscious I just knew that it was not recoverable  but you don't let yourself think that. You never give up hope until there is no chance.'

She was rushed to hospital but there was no brain activity. For four days her family sat by her bedside as doctors continued tests, knowing they would soon have to say goodbye.

'I remember calling her brothers and sister and telling them what had happened,' Ms van Os said.

Her mother Joanne wants to let others know how organ donation works - that you don't get to see your loved one 'die' before they are taken away

'I don't remember what I said but it was one of the worst things I have ever had to do.

'They all came to be with us straight away.'

For four days the family surrounded Ali  taking turns to go back to the hotel to sleep.

'When we found out for the organ donation to work she still had to be attached to a ventilator when she was taken to theater, we were shocked  I guess we just thought that they would wait until her heart stopped beating,' Ms van Os said.

The mother believes in organ donation - and was glad her daughter could help others. A 15-year-old Thai girl received Ali's heart which saved her life

'The doctors told us we could wait until her heart stopped, but then we wouldn't be able to donate the major organs.

'We went back to our hotel and thought about it and the logic came to the foreground, there was no point in making a donation if it wasn't a proper one.

'The hesitation came from an emotional response, we knew she was gone she had suffered a catastrophic brain injury, she was brain-dead.

'After we talked about it we knew logically oxygen needed to be going through the organs to make them viable.'

The heartbroken mother and father were joined at Ali's bedside by her older brothers and sister as well as her aunt and uncle.

In the eight years since Ali's death her family have been getting the word-out about organ donation  and how it can be confronting to watch a loved one wheeled into surgery with a pulse, attached to ventilators.

Ms van Os believes everybody should understand the organ donation process so if confronted with it they will be able to make a logical decision.

'They need to understand what to expect - so it isn't as confronting. You are traumatised enough already.'

The family agree organ donation is important. Ali's heart saved a 15-year-old Thai girl's life and her other organs were shared between six different people.

Ali loved sailing and socialising with knew people - her learning difficulties had improved during her time at sea with her parents

'Another family wasn't going to have a funeral. It doesn't make up for what we lost but it makes it seem like not a waste,' she said.

'Ali was barely sick a day in her life, to not donate her organs would have been a terrible waste, it would be a shame to potentially deny another person life.'

Ms van Os wants families to take the time to talk about organ donation.

The Australian organ donation website now has information explaining the donation process.

This information wasn't available when Ali died but her mother believes if it was and she was aware of it, the decision to go ahead with the procedure would have been easier emotionally.
The Chinese man (pictured) demanded doctors remove his testicles as he said he cannot control his sex drive

A desperate man in central China rushed into a hospital two days ago asking to have his testicles removed.

The man in his mid-40s, whose name has not been identified, claimed he has a high libido that he cannot control.

The doctor rejected his request and called police for assistance.

According to a report on Xiaoxiang Morning Post yesterday, the man went to Changsha Sunshine Hospital and looked for Dr Wu Yin'e at the infertility department.

He told a reporter from Xiaoxiang that he had previously attended Dr Wu's online courses and decided to ask for her help.

However, Dr Wu was having a class with few female patients at the time.

'He just came in and told me he has a very strong sex drive and he wanted to remove his testicles,' Dr Wu recalled.

She transferred him to Dr Wang Xiang at the Andrology department.

Dr Wang said the man appeared to be hyper active and insisting on an orchidectomy, a surgical operation to remove testicles.

Doctors explain orchidectomy surgery is only performed to treat prostate cancer (file photo)

The doctor explained orchidectomy surgery is only performed to treat prostate cancer. He also examined the man's B-scan, an ultrasonography, and found that it did not show any signs of abnormality.

Dr Wang warned him of obstructing other patients and asked: 'Do you have a partner? Shall I call her over?'

The man replied no and did not understand why the doctors were not helping him when he requested a surgery that they could operate.

'This could just be some psychological problem and you can control it, why do you want to cut them off?' Dr Wang questioned.

'I am having too much sex drive and I cannot control it. I feel aroused every day,' he replied.

Dr Wang later reported to the police and the man left.

Lawyer Xiong Qi, from Hunan Tiandiren Law Firm, told Xiaoxiang Morning Post that the patient had been obstructing Dr Wang Xiang from performing his duty.

According to China's Public Security Administration Punishments Law, a warning or a fine of under 200 yuan (23) can be issued under the circumstances. On serious cases, the man can face a detention of five to 10 days and a fine up to 500 yuan (58).
Advertisement

It was the final ride of New Yorks famed West Side cowboys: George Hayde and his horse Cyclone rode up 10th Avenue for the last time, leading a 14-car train carrying a cargo of oranges at 10.50am from 17th Street.

It was delivering produce to a warehouse near 30th Street in Manhattans Meatpacking District and Haydes job was to monitor the trains speed  it traveled at no more than its six-mile-per-hour speed limit, the next days newspapers noted - and to warn pedestrians the 130 ton vehicle was coming  right down the middle of the street.

It was long before New Yorks 21st Century cowboy wore only underwear and posed for photos with tourists in Times Square. This was March 24, 1941, and it was the end of an era.

Cowboys on horseback toting red flags and lanterns to warn of oncoming cargo trains had been a common sight on the western avenues of New York City for 90 years.

They were there to protect pedestrians from the freight trains running through 10th, 11th and 12th avenues that had killed hundreds of people, giving 10th Avenue in particular the sinister nickname Death Avenue.

The last ride of the West Side cowboys: George Hayde, 21, pictured on his horse Cyclone, led the final ride of the West Side cowboys up 10th Avenue on March 24, 1941 at 10.50am. Hayde's job was to warn pedestrians of the oncoming freight train and to monitor its speed, making sure the 14-car train did not go faster than six miles an hour

To make transporting goods into New York City's industrial areas easier, train tracks were embedded into 10th, 11th and 12th avenues in 1846. After that, freight trains shared the streets with horse-drawn carriages, cars, trolleys and pedestrians. To keep people safe, the New York City Council commissioned men on horseback to ride ahead of the trains and warn pedestrians. Those men became known as the West Side cowboys. The cowboy pictured is William Connolly on 11th Avenue on December 18, 1932, near the end of the cowboys' era

Early on, the cowboys wore more formal uniforms like the cowboy pictured here on 11th Avenue in 1910 wearing a hat and coat. Later on, cowboys were pictured wearing more casual clothes such as jeans and ten-gallon hats like real cowboys from the Wild West would have worn

Despite the cowboys hard work, hundreds more adults and children were killed or seriously injured by the trains.

By 1934 the cowboys job became almost obsolete when the High Line railroad was introduced. Seven years later, George Hayde and Cyclone took their last ride.

Photographer and writer Annik La Farge has lived in New York City her whole life and wrote a guidebook about the High Line, which is now a public park. As an expert on the West Side, La Farge said the West Side cowboys connect the modern day to New York Citys past.

This really speaks to a whole other era of the way the city worked, she told DailyMail.com.

Trying to imagine freight trains running up and down 10th Avenue - it puts you into a whole different historical period. And I think that this figure  not only is he colorful because hes a cowboy in the middle of Manhattan, but hes connected with this idea of the 19th century and early 20th century process of moving goods around.

Stuff got into the city by freight trains and the freight trains came in at-grade, through the actual streets where people were living and working Today things get delivered by UPS that come from Amazons warehouse - they get delivered by air or by truck.

But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, everything was delivered by train including produce, raw materials, appliances and even clothes.

And the cowboys were an important part of that delivery process. They guided the trains down the street and protected people from the massive machines that were delivering goods.

The cowboys protected the West Side for 90 years, but there were still hundreds of adults and children who were killed or injured by the freight trains. This unknown cowboy is riding ahead of a freight train coming down 11th Avenue. In the distance, a man in white can be seen trying to cross in front of the train anyways, putting himself in danger

Freight trains were essential in the 19th and early 20th century for transporting goods from one place to another. In New York City almost everything that was delivered to the city came in by train, making the West Side cowboys an important part of the transportation and delivery process. This cowboy is riding down 11th Avenue wearing a formal uniform

Little is known about specific cowboys, but they all had to be over 18 and most were hired from outside the city. This unknown cowboy is riding down 11th Avenue ahead of a train wearing overalls, a hat and a flannel shirt - a more casual uniform than many of his predecessors

La Farge said: Its a really important part of the history of the city. Which is now really gone. Now here its all art galleries, and its fancy restaurants and beautiful buildings and hedge fund guys and whatnot, but in those days, it was a whole different thing.

So that figure, that one single figure, connects us to all of that history. And I think thats part of why hes captivated so many people for so long.

She added: I mean, who doesnt love a man on horseback? And these guys are in Manhattan doing this job of trying to protect people. Theyre almost like fire fighters. Theyre guys who are brave and really colorful.

In 1846 train tracks were embedded into the cobblestones of 10th, 11th and 12th avenues so that freight trains could bring shipments of produce and other goods to the warehouses and factories of the industrial Meatpacking District.

The convenience of having street-level freight trains for the warehouses also brought danger to the city streets that were shared by horse-drawn carriages, trolleys, cars and pedestrians, so in 1850 the New York City Council passed an ordinance to commission a proper person to ride in front of every freight train, warning pedestrians and monitoring train speeds.

That proper person soon became known as the West Side cowboy.

The cowboys were employed by whichever railroad company owned the West Side lines. Rail lines often changed hands because they were bought and sold or their companies went out of business.

Though many people think that railroads replaced horses, railroad companies had more horses than most companies, according to New York City carriage driver Christina Hansen. Besides the cowboy horses who protected the streets, rail yards used horses to move train cars on the tracks so they could be attached to the proper trains

In 1934 an elevated railroad called the High Line was built for the freight trains to continue delivering goods to warehouses and factories without the frequent casualties that the West Side saw. After freight trains were replaced with trucks for transporting goods, the High Line was renovated into a public park, pictured

The train lines ran all the way through Manhattan delivering cargo to different warehouses and factories along the West Side. There were large rail yards at 30th and 60th streets and smaller facilities at 17th, 41st and 145th streets

The West Side of Manhattan used to be largely industrial, with factories and warehouses. Pictured is one of the street-level trains in front of the Manhattan Refrigerating Company on today's 10th Avenue between Gansevoort and Horatio streets

The cowboys horses were also owned by the rail lines and were most likely stabled with the railroads other horses.

Christina Hansen, who is a New York City carriage driver, told DailyMail.com that rail lines actually employed many horses, not just the ones the cowboys rode.

The largest employer of horses were railroads, she said. People think railroads replaced horses, but railroads came and increased demand for horses.

Railroad horses worked in the yards and moved train cars along the tracks to be attached to the proper trains.

There were stables all over Manhattan, all over the West Side in particular. I dont know where particularly [the horses] were kept Presumably their stables would have been by the rail yard terminus, Hansen said.

The cowboys horses served for eight years before they retired and were auctioned off at a horse market in New York.

By 1934 the West Side cowboys' job was becoming obsolete because the High Line had been built. However, trains continued to run on the street-level tracks until 1941 when the cowboys took their final ride up 10th Avenue. The unknown cowboy that is pictured rode his horse ahead of a train on 11th Avenue

The West Side cowboys are an important reminder of the history of New York City, said West Side expert Annick La Farge. She said: Its a really important part of the history of the city. Which is now really gone... So that figure, that one single figure, connects us to all of that history. And I think thats part of why hes captivated so many people for so long. Pictured is 11th Avenue at 43rd and 44th streets above the rail yard at 30th Street

Photographs show that early on the cowboys wore formal uniforms, but as time went on they dressed more casually, like cowboys from the Wild West with jeans and ten-gallon hats.

At their height there were 12 cowboys and 24 horses. On their shifts the cowboys worked alone, though there were crossing watchmen who also worked for the railroad in designated spots along the two-mile route through Manhattan.

In the crowded streets of the West Side, the cowboys did not have an easy job. While they were waving a flag or lantern, they also had to keep their horses steady among the loud noises of the traffic around them and trains behind them.

The cowboys had to make sure the trains didnt go faster than six miles an hour, which they did by maintaining that speed themselves in front of the massive and dangerous machines.

Despite their heroism cowboys were also blamed for accidents and the children they tried to protect often harassed the men on horseback as they played in the street.

Though the cowboys were well-respected, they didn't necessarily live in luxury. The last known West Side cowboy, George Hayde and his wife Mary lived in a tenement apartment in a known slum. Pictured is a tenement house on 10th Avenue and 33rd Street

And even though the position of the cowboys was respected, the men did not necessarily live in luxury. The last cowboy, 21-year-old George Hayde and his wife Mary, 19, lived together on one of the worst blocks in New York City. It was a known slum at the time, a tenement apartment on 8th Avenue between 20th and 21st streets.

The cowboys, who all had to be over 18, were mostly hired from outside the city because it was difficult to find riders and because a country boy knows and understands horses, according to a newsletter from the West Side luxury apartment on 24th Street, London Terrace Towers.

The newsletter came out in 1934, the same year that the High Line railroad had been built. The newsletter was a way of saying goodbye to the era of the wild West Side, though the cowboys would continue riding until 1941.

The newsletter said: Every resident of London Terrace knows, and we believe, likes the cowboy riders of New York Central, who day and night, rain or shine, majestically precede the electric trains along Tenth Avenue [sic].

For eighty years [sic] this unique custom has been in existence, but now, even as the riders of the West have faded into glamorous limbo of romance, their own day is drawing to its close. With the early completion of the overhead roadway, they will disappear from the streets of New York.

Pictured is another tenement building beside the train tracks on 11th Avenue and 45th Street. Hayde and his wife lived at 8th Avenue between 20th and 21st streets

Today there are no more West Side cowboys and trains no longer run at street-level on 10th, 11th or 12th avenues. Pictured is 11th Avenue from the corner of 34th Street from April 2016

The High Line was built in 1934 as part of the West Side Improvement Project to combat the frequent deaths that were happening even with the cowboys.

Hundreds of adults and children were injured and killed by the oncoming trains and 10th Avenue became known as Death Avenue.

In one instance, a man named Willie Lennon lost a leg to a train in 1894 and in 1897 a train killed crossing watchman Michael Fox because the conductor did not wait for his signal.

Children, who often played in the streets on their way to and from school were also victims of the trains. Seth Low Hascamp, a seven-year-old, was killed in 1908, which led to a protest of 500 schoolchildren. And in 1911, five-year-old John Murray slipped and was decapitated.

Some estimations say that 436 people were killed on West Side train tracks from 1852 to 1908 despite the hard work of Manhattans cowboys, so the elevated platform of the High Line allowed trains access to warehouses and factories without endangering people.

Today the High Line is a public park that runs along the elevated rail road built in 1934. It was renovated in sections, beginning in 1999 with the founding of Friends of the High Line

But even after the High Line was built, trains continued to run on the street-level tracks until 1941, when the last cowboy, George Hayde, took his final ride down 10th Avenue.

After that ride, Cyclone and the two other cowboy horses moved on to jobs at a riding academy. And even though Hayde put up his ten-gallon hat for good, he continued to work for the railroad until a few months later.

He served in the Army during the Second World War after the US joined on December 7, 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

After the war, Hayde returned to work with the railroad until his death in 1977.

Hayde and Cyclone have become iconic because of their last ride, particularly since the High Line tracks were renovated into a public park. Trains stopped running on the High Line in 1980 when freight trains were largely replaced by trucks and the interstate.

In 1999 the Friends of the High Line was founded and began to renovate the elevated railroad.

La Farge said that since the group started, they have brought the West Side cowboys to life.

One of the things they did was to kind of fixate on this character and it was a really smart thing to do because hes really colorful and really interesting and kind of unbelievable, particularly in modern-day Manhattan.

They said not only is that a beautiful place, both in terms of its horticulture and its architectural design, and the perch that you get by standing on it, but it is filled with this history that connects us to the city.

The revised edition of Annik La Farges guidebook, On the High Line: Exploring Americas Most Original Urban Park, was published in 2014. It is the first illustrated guide to the High Line.
Netflix has successfully secured the rights to what is shaping up to be the most anticipated film of the decade, shelling out $105million for the rights to 'The Irishman.'

The picture was already in pre-production when Netlfix swept in and made their offer, with Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese at the helm.

It is based on the life of mob hitman Frank Sheeran, who allegedly confessed on his death bed to murdering his good friend Jimmy Hoffa, the union leader whose disappearance remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in American history, along with a number of others.

Robert De Niro will star as Sheeran in what will be his ninth film with Scorsese, the man who helped to launch his career back in 1972 with Mean Streets and later directed him to a Best Actor Oscar win in the 1980 classic Raging Bull.

And in the role of Hoffa will be Al Pacino, another Oscar winner and a good friend of De Niro's who has been in the business for six decades but has somehow never once appeared in one of Scorsese's film, making this their first project together.

It will also be just the third film together for the two actors, who first worked together in 1995 on the critically lauded Heat and followed that up in 2008 with the universally panned Righteous Kill.

Scroll down for video

Together again: Netflix has purchased the rights to the new film 'The Irishman,' which will be directed by Martin Scorsese and released in 2019 (Scorsese and De Niro above in 2013)

Reunited: The film tells the story of mob hitman Frank Sheeran, who will be played by Robert De Niro (left in 1976 witrh Scorsese, right in 1980 with Pacino) in his ninth film with Scorsese, while Al Pacino will play Jimmy Hoffa

Welcome back: Scorsese has cast Joe Pesci (above in Raging Bull with De Niro)as well, 25 years after he won an Oscar for his performance in the director's classic film 'Goodfellas '

IndieWire was the first to report details of the deal between Netflix and Scorsese, which would allow the streaming service to release the film to their 93 million subscribers worldwide.

Netflix reportedly entered the picture after Paramount Pictures had to drop out of the project, due to the number of risks the big-budget project presented to the company.

'Scorseses movie is a risky deal, and Paramount is not in the position to take risks. This way, he can make the project he wants,' said the source.

Netflix has become known over the past few years for the autonomy they give their talent, something that people like 'Orange Is the New Black' creator Jenji Kohan and more recently Brit Marling of 'The OA' have raved about in interviews.

It turns out that the project Scorsese wants will not only reunite him with De Niro, but also two of his other favorite actors.

For the role of Sicilian-born crime boss Russell Bufalino, who at one point ran the entire East Coast for the Cosa Nostra, Scorsese has selected Oscar-winning actor Joe Pesci, who picked up his prize back in 1991 for his work in the director's most beloved film, 'Goodfellas.'

Also play a Sicilian crime boss will be Oscar-nominated actor Harvey Keitel, who has been cast as Angelo Bruno in the film.

This will be Keitel's fourth time working with Scorsese, having previously starred in 'Mean Streets,' 'Taxi Driver' and the director's first feature, the 1967 film 'Who's That Knocking at My Door.'

Winners: Scorsese with his first, and only, Best Director Oscar for 'The Departed' in 2007 (left); De Niro with his Best Actor award for 'Raging Bull' in 1981

Living legend: Harvey Keitel, who starred in Scorsese's first feature film, 'Who's That Knocking at My Door,' will also have a part in the film

More Scorsese winners: Persci with his Oscar for 'Goodfellas' in 1991; Bobby Cannavle with his Emmy iun 2013 for 'Boardwalk Empire'

Bobby Canavalle is also onboard to play infamous New York City gangster Joe Gallo, who is better known as Crazy Joe and who Sheeran also allegedly confessed to killing on his detahbed.

The actor has also managed to take home so awards-show hardware thanks to Scorsese, scooping up the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series back in 2013 for his role on 'Boardwalk Empire.'

The screenplay for the film meanwhile is being penned by Steven Zaillan, the Oscar-winning writer behind 'Schindler's List' who has worked with Scorsese in the past on 'Gangs of New York,'

No other details have been given about the film at the time and Netflix would not comment on their purchase.

And while the prestige of everyone involved this far is reason for excitement, it is also worth noting that the film has been in pre-production for over five years.

There also countless other iconic mob members that Sheeran speaks of in I Heard You Paint Houses, the biography on which the film is based.

It was written by his lawyer Charles Brandt, who claims that most of Sheeran's admissions were made in 2003 while on his deathbed.

Unfortunately, none of those admissions were about a man that could be played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
As Foreign Affairs Minister, part of Julie Bishop's job is to create ties with countries overseas.

But she seemed to be taking that phrase a little too literally as she helped UK counterpart Boris Johnson adjust his tie during their meeting in London on Thursday.

Ms Bishop was in the UK to discuss the possibility of a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom after the country has split from the European Union.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop was photographed fixing UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's tie in his London office

Ms Bishop reached over to adjust Mr Johnson's outfit before the pair posed for the cameras

The ministers were unable to discuss the exact terms of an agreement, however, as the UK is barred from doing so until it has triggered Article 50 - a clause of the Lisbon Treaty that is the starting gun for EU exit negotiations.

Ms Bishop was also spotted checking out Mr Johnson's 'Foreign Secretary' mug as the pair met in his office.

After the meeting, Ms Bishop said: 'Britain isn't negotiating free trade agreements, it must first exit the European Union and then there are a number of countries that would seek to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom including Australia.

'We will continue to seek free trade deals that benefit Australia, that create the conditions for new jobs.'

Ms Bishop was also seen checking out Mr Johnson's tea mug, emblazoned with the words 'foreign secretary', during their meeting

The pair discussed the possibility of a free trade deal between the countries after Britain leaves the EU, a process which is expected to start later this month

In total, trade in goods and services between the two countries was worth just shy of $27billion in the 2015-16 financial year, according to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission.

But while Ms Bishop was seen cosying up to Mr Johnson, she also opened a rift with Prime Minister Theresa May over the continuing crisis in Syria.

In a call with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier on Thursday, Mrs May had stressed Britain's desire to see Bashar al Assad removed from power as part of any deal to end the civil war there.

While Ms Bishop said Assad had 'lost credibility' after using chemical weapons against his own people, she said he would need to be part of a political solution.

She said: 'The pre-condition that Assad must go has been a condition in place for some time but most countries have moved on from that.

Ms Bishop stopped over in London after a visit to Washington, where she met with senior members of the Trump administration

'There's a recognition that President Assad, backed by Russia, will have to be part of a transition and how long he remains will be a matter of negotiation.

'I think that's been a recognition across the coalition partners that he will be part of a transition.'

Elsewhere Ms Bishop confirmed that Australia is seeking a meeting between Malcolm Turnbull and US President Donald Trump 'as soon as possible'.

It comes after Ms Bishop met with Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and National Security adviser Lieutenant-General H R McMaster on her own trip to Washington.

Avoiding mention of Mr Turnbull and Mr Trump's heated phone call, she said there was 'an enormous amount of goodwill' towards Australia in the U.S.
Jailed murderers can fight for their freedom in bloody Muay Thai matches as part of a prison scheme in Thailand.

Gangster Noy Khaopan was released six years early from Khao Prik Prison in northern Thailand after winning his fight against a Buddhist convert from Kansas who now lives in the country as a professional fighter.

Khaopan, a heavily tattooed father-of-one, was serving an 11-year sentence for stabbing a teenage boy in the head in 2010 when the prison introduced Prison Fight.

It allows inmates to compete in Muay Thai matches against competitive fighters to win their freedom. If they lose, they return to jail and the pro-fighter goes home with prize money.

Khaopan won his match against Cody Moberly, who moved to Thailand from Kansas after falling in love with the sport by watching it in videos, and is now back on the streets.

Scroll down for video

Gangster Noy Khaopan was released six years early from Khao Prik Prison in northern Thailand after winning a Muay Thai match

Now a Buddhist convert, he said he'd gone in to their match with the murderer's victim 'on his shoulders'.

A similar fight-for-freedom scheme spawned the careers of two prolific Thai fighters, one of whom competed for the country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Another, who was jailed for drug possession, is considered Thailand's most famous fighter.

A Showtime documentary about Khaopan and Moberly's fight lays bare the dilemma at its heart - whether murderers, or inmates with violent convictions, should be able to take part.

In a documentary about his fight, he told Showtime producers how he'd learned to survive in Khao Prik Prison

Khaopan was serving an 11 year sentence for murder at the prison when it introduced the scheme, allowing him to train behind bars and travel outside for fights

He described the brutality inside the prison where others had succumb to beatings from guards

The New York Post, which was shown a preview of the documentary which will air on Friday, reports how the parents of Khaopan's victim reacted to the prospect he may be freed through violence.

'They did not [initially] know that Noy was part of the fight-to-get-out program.

'When we told them, the father wanted to kill Noy. The mother was inconsolably in pain. They dont think its fair for [the program to apply to] a crime like this one,' filmmaker Micah Brown said.

They said the scheme, though 'complicated' in its ethics, was quintessentially Thai.

Khaopan defeated US citizen Cody Moberly who moved to Thailand in pursuit of a Muay Thai career after falling in love with the sport

The pair sqaured off in five round match at a stadium in Bangkok. Khaopan was declared the winner

'Forgiveness is part of the culture. Its quite prominent here,' Muay Thai commentator Rob Cox said.

After being freed from prison, Khaopan returned to work with his parents on a modest chicken farm.

'I dont need forgiveness from everyone in this world. If my parents forgive me I am satisfied,' he said.

Earlier in the film he admitted to killing Anirut Vanichyaron, a high school student who was celebrating the end of the term, in 2010.

His parents believe he as attacked because he was with a pretty girl.

'I lost control. I was drunk. I killed him. I have to accept the truth,' Khaopan said of murdering him.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull looks set to meet President Donald Trump for the first time after their frosty phone call that was made public earlier this month.

The two leaders are planning to come together to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea and stand side-by-side on a battleship in the New York Harbour.

Malcolm Turnbull's visit is set to take place between May 4-8, but talk of the trip has concerned government advisers because the Federal Budget is expected to be handed down on May 9, according to Fairfax.

Scroll down for video

PM Malcolm Turnbull could be set to meet Donald Trump in New York between May 4-8

U.S. President Donald Trump exchanged a heated phone call with Australian Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull about taking in illegal immigrants

The visit would be the first time Mr Turnbull would meet the President of the United States after their frosty phone call regarding the Obama administration striking a deal to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia.

President Trump was clearly unimpressed with his predecessor's deal with the Australian government slamming the decision in a tweet.

Trump tweeted: 'Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!'

President Donald Trump was not impressed by the Obama administration's decision to take in illegal immigrants from Australia

The phone call between the leaders was expected to last around an hour, but was reportedly cut short when President Trump hung up on Mr Turnbull.

In a further insult to Mr Turnbull, after agreeing to honour the refugee deal, White House press secretary Sean Spicer mispronounced the Prime Minister's name.

Mr Spicer called PM Malcolm Turnbull, 'Mr Trunbull', when discussing President Trump's dissapointment in the refugee deal.

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop told Sky News that the phone call had not been brought up once in her visits to the U.S.

'We are close friends, and that has been quite evident from my meetings with not only the administration officials but also the intelligence community and others with whom I've met during my time here in Washington,' she said.

The Battle of the Coral Sea during WWII is the largest naval battle fought in proximity to mainland Australia.

Battle of the Coral Sea The battle of the Coral Sea took place in May 1942 during WWII and marked the first air-sea battle in history

The battle took place in the Coral Sea off the coast of Papau New Guinea

It is the closest battle fought to Australian shores

Australian and U.S. forces halted the march of the Japanese in the Pacific

It was the first loss the Japanese experienced in WWII

It prevented the invasion of Port Moresby by the Japanese Advertisement

The two leaders could meet to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea in WWII

The United States and Australian Navy joined forces to halt the march of Japanese forces in the Pacific in 1942.

Marking the first aircraft carrier battle ever fought, the Japanese attempted to cut off Australia's supply line to the U.S. but were intercepted by allied forces.

The battle was the first domino in helping the allies regain territory lost in the Pacific.

The battle of the Coral Sea was the first aircraft carrier battle ever fought
Fans of Kerrygold butter in Wisconsin have been traveling across state lines to stock up due to a decades-old ban.

A state law instituted in 1970 prohibits anything other than Grade A milk products from being distributed in Wisconsin.

Because Kerrygold is made from grass-fed cow's milk in Ireland, it isn't graded by the USDA - leaving loyal fans in Wisconsin out in the cold.

Scroll down for video

A law prohibits anything other than Grade A milk products from being distributed in Wisconsin. And since Kerrygold is produced in Ireland, it doesn't have a USDA grade

Jean Smith, who lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, relies on Kerrygold butter every morning.

She adds a dollop to her 'bulletproof' tea, and mixes it in her husband's coffee as the practice purports to increase cognitive function and encourage weight loss.

Smith, who argues Kerrygold tastes richer than other butter, drives to Nebraska with coolers in her car so she can stock up on several month's worth of the stuff at a time.

She told WTMJ: 'I want to please ask whoever it is that's preventing me from getting butter in our stores here to stop it, to stop it.'

While Kerrygold takes the number one spot among imported butter brand in the US, it's banned in Wisconsin, where dairy distributors could face fines of $1,000 or more, and spend up to six months in jail if they violate the law.

Kerrygold's parent company Ornua told the Irish Farmers Journal that while its grading system is a 'little bit different from the process here, the standards are universally very high.'

Kerrygold enthusiasts mourned the ban. Jean Smith, who lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha said she stocks up on the butter when she drives to Nebraska

The company was unaware that sales of Kerrygold was illegal in Wisconsin until the state began contacting distributors.

Consumers started complaining about the difficulty of getting their hands on the butter, and Kerrygold mentioned the ban in a 2015 tweet.

A crackdown has been enforced, although fans like Smith might not have to haul cartons of Kerrygold in their cars for much longer.

Ornua issued a statement that said: 'We are currently working with the Wisconsin authorities on a solution which will enable consumers throughout the state enjoy the great taste of Kerrygold butter.'
States that have approved the use of recreational marijuana could be on a collision course with the federal government.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he suspects that President Donald Trump's Department of Justice won't be as lenient with pot-approving states as the previous administration.

'I do believe that you'll see greater enforcement of it,' he told a reporter asking about future action.

Scroll down for video

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he suspects that President Donald Trump's Department of Justice won't be as lenient with pot-approving states as the previous administration.

Voters in eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use in direct violation of federal law.

Barack Obama instructed his Justice Department not to prosecute them. Trump has not said how his attorney general will handle the issue.

As a candidate, Trump said the federal government should 'leave it up to the states' to decide how to handle pot.

Yet, he also said at a conference in June of 2015 that he saw 'big problems' with the way the law was being applied in Colorado.

'If they vote for it, they vote for it,' he said. 'But, you know, they have got a lot of problems going on right now in Colorado.'

Six months later Trump had changed his tune, saying at rally in Nevada, where marijuana is also legal, that he wanted to study the issue.

'There's a question as to how it's all working out there, you know? That's not going exactly trouble-free. So I really think that we should study Colorado, see what's happening,' the Republican stated.

After Washington and Colorado voted yes on referendums to legalize the substance, Barack Obama's Department of Justice chose not to go after them.

'We've got bigger fish to fry,' he said in a Dec. 12, 2012, interview with Barbara Walters. 'It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal.'

Obama said he did not, at that point, support legalization and noted that it's a 'tough' topic because it's the legislative branch that sets the laws.

'I head up the executive branch; we're supposed to be carrying out laws,' he said. 'And so what we're going to need to have is a conversation about, how do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that say that it's legal?'

It took his administration until August of the following year to formally announce that it was 'deferring its right' to challenge legalization laws at that time.

'But if any of the stated harms do materializeeither despite a strict regulatory scheme or because of the lack of onefederal prosecutors will act aggressively to bring individual prosecutions focused on federal enforcement priorities and the Department may challenge the regulatory scheme themselves in these states,' a memo said.

Barack Obama instructed his Justice Department not to prosecute them. Trump has not said how his attorney general will handle the issue

Trump's attorney general, Jeff Sessions, must now decide, along with the president, whether he will follow in Eric Holder's footsteps or strictly enforce the law.

The president campaigned on a law and order platform but has copied Obama on some aspects of department prioritization, telling Justice and Homeland Security, for instance, that they should put their resources toward deporting criminal aliens over other illegal residents.

Trump could also decide that DOJ has 'bigger fish to fry,' as Obama said, and leave pot-passing states alone.

Spicer said Thursday that it was a question for the Department of Justice.

At the same time he made it clear to reporters that the Trump administration would abide by the intent of 2014 amendment that meant to end the prohibition on medical marijuana.

'That's very different than the recreational use, which is something the Department of Justice I think will be further looking into.'

Asked about medical marijuana, Spicer said, 'The president understands the pain and suffering that many people go through who are facing, especially terminal diseases, and the comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana, can bring to them.'

He suggested that the administration would take a different approach to recreational marijuana use, comparing it to the opioid addiction crisis sweeping across the country.

'The last thing we should be doing is encouraging people,' he said. 'There is still a federal law that we need to abide by...when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature.'
A Detroit man who had been shot in the leg was recorded injecting himself with heroin instead of calling for help.

Bystanders captured the shocking moment as the man is heard asking them not to call an ambulance so he can shoot up, according to WJBK.

The man is seen sitting on the ground as blood pours from his right leg. He can be heard yelling: 'It hurts! It f**king hurts!'

In the disturbing video obtained by the news station, the man can be seen fastening a belt around his arm as he prepared to inject himself with the deadly drug, instead of calling for help.

A Detroit man who had been shot in the leg was recorded injecting himself with heroin (right fastening a belt around his arm) instead of calling for help. Police said the man was shot on Monday around 5pm, adding that the shooting occurred after a fight broke out in the area

A bystander is heard in the video saying: 'He about to shoot up, man.' A woman also stood over the man yelling at him for not calling 911.

The video went viral Tuesday on Facebook and it was reportedly taken on the corner of Boulder and Fairmont in Detroit.

Police said the incident happened on Monday around 5pm, adding that the shooting occurred after a fight broke out in the area, according to the station.

The victim, who has not been identified, was on parole with a lengthy criminal history. He was taken to the hospital where he remained in stable condition.

Heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine that enters the brain rapidly and changes back into morphine, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

It binds to opioid receptors on cells located in many areas of the brain, especially those involved in feelings of pain and pleasure.

Last year, Gov Rick Snyder created the Michigan Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Commission, to help reduce the opioid epidemic in Michigan and ensure the health and safety of Michigan residents, according to MLive.com.

'We need to take action to address this epidemic before addiction takes its toll on more innocent people,' Snyder said.

Opiod's are commonly used as pain relievers, and included drugs such as Vicodin, OxyContin and morphine.

The victim, who has not been identified, was on parole with a lengthy criminal history. He was taken to the hospital where he remained in stable condition. A woman was seen standing over the man yelling at him for not calling 911

Between 2002 and 2013, the number of heroin overdose deaths in the US quadrupled, according to the Centers for Disease control.

Heroin deaths rose 23 per cent in 2015, to 12,989, slightly higher than the number of gun homicides.

Detroit police recently created a program to help combat heroin in the city.

Hope Not Handcuffs allows addicts to turn themselves in for treatment rather than go to jail.

The rehabilitation program saw 40 drug addicts seek treatment within the first month of implementation.
A student activist group at the University of Michigan is demanding campus officials provide them with a segregated space for students of color to organize social justice efforts.

The demand is one of several lodged by Students4Justice, who this month coordinated campus protests to pressure administrators to submit.

They wrote in an online petition that President Mark Schlissel has rebuffed their demands,The College Fix reports.

Scroll down for video

Students4Justice, a group at the University of Michigan, is demanding campus officials provide them with a segregated space for students of color to organize social justice efforts. Here a crowd of students protest against discrimination and ethnic intimidation on campus

'Our president has blatantly ignored us and it is time for us to speak up. We have been told that our demands are "rude",' Students4Justice states on its Facebook page in announcing its petition.

So far, the organization's petition has 134 supporters.

'We are calling on someone to care about students concerns and to lead us with integrity and help us fight against the oppression and hateful acts that try to destroy us and our community.'

The clamor for a 'a permanent designated space on central campus for Black students and students of color to organize, and do social justice work' comes even as the public university builds a $10million multicultural student center.

But Students4Justice want a separate on-campus space, 'solely dedicated to community organizing and social justice work specifically for people of color'.

'We want documentation of past, current, and future student activism and this should be a permanent space that is staffed, and has resources for students to organize and share resources', states the organization's demand letter.

Students4Justice (above) coordinated campus protests to pressure administrators to cave

University of Michigan spokesman Rick Fitzgerald told The College Fix that at 'this point, our colleagues in Student Life have been working with the Students4Justice leaders to better understand their concerns. This is our normal process'.

The organization first presented its demands to the university last fall, but a revised version was submitted to administrators in late January after a series of racist incidents on campus.

Earlier this month, the university's college of engineering students received racist and anti-Semitic emails.

According to The Michigan Daily, one of these emails read: 'Hi n*****s, I just wanted to say that I plan to kill all of you. White power! The KKK has returned!!! Heil Trump!!!!'

They circulated an online petition calling for the university's president to protect students

Members are also demanding that the university remove symbols and names of 'white supremacy' on campus, including former school president Clarence C Little

Among the organization's demands is a call to remove symbols and names of white supremacy on campus.

Students4Justice highlight the CC Little Science Building, named after former university president Clarence C Little who became a controversial figure for his outspoken favor of eugenics.

Eugenics sought to improve the genetic composition of humankind by preventing those considered 'defective' from reproducing.

The organization first presented its demands to the university last fall, but a revised version was submitted to administrators in late January after a series of racist incidents on campus

Posters on the University of Michigan campus promoting the white supremacist blog The Right Stuff. Students4Justice posted this on the Tumblr they created 'to document all the post-election hate and violence'

Students at the University of Michigan feel there's an anti-diversity subtext to these chalk messages scrawled around campus. The messages contained phrases, such as, 'F**** Safe Spaces' and 'Be Proud Euro American'

The organization's demands follows a nationwide trend of university groups calling for racially segregated spaces on their campuses, most notably California State University Los Angeles.

School officials honored requests by the university's Black Student Union to provide separate dorm housing for black students.

Proponents of self-segregation - when members of a racial or ethnic group isolate themselves from the greater community - argue that these spaces help ease racial tensions.

However, a study conducted by Harvard social psychologist Jim Sidanius found that membership in ethnic student organizations has a tendency to increase perceptions of group victimization and conflict toward other groups.
Defence officials were urged last night to come clean and reveal full details about secret RAF drone strikes against British jihadists.

It came as a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan claimed it was cowardly not to publish information about UK jihadists killed while fighting overseas for Islamic State.

Colonel Richard Kemp said: British citizens who have gone out there have become the enemy. Their death is something Parliament should be informed about unless there are security reasons.

Reaper Pilot at Kandahar carrying out a Pre Flight inspection of the RAF's aircraft

He argued there were a number of benefits of informing Parliament, adding: It shows IS are not supermen.

'It could well, in some cases, act as a deterrent because Brits will know that if they go there is a very good chance of us killing them.

There was a mounting backlash last night after it was revealed that drone pilots at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire and others flying jets had killed British jihadists in the Middle East but neither Parliament nor the public were informed.

Army veteran Colonel Richard Kemp

A cross-party group of MPs and peers, including former director of public prosecutions Lord Macdonald, wrote to the Prime Minister urging the Government publish the identity of Britons killed in RAF strikes.

The co-chairman of the group, Kirsten Oswald of the SNP, said the Daily Mails revelations that the RAF was ticking off a kill list that included UK jihadists were deeply concerning.

Commons leader David Lidington faced calls to allow an urgent parliamentary debate on the existence of the list, which includes high-value British targets.

Defending the Government, he told MPs Britons tempted to join militant groups must know they risk losing their lives.

Miss Oswald, the SNPs armed forces spokesman, urged the Government to reveal how many UK citizens have been targeted.

She later added that there were many questions unanswered.

If the UK Government is conducting an operation designed to take out UK citizens without parliamentary scrutiny or public awareness, that is clearly unacceptable, she said.

Britain's then Minister for Europe David Lidington speaks during a press conference in Pristina, Kosovo, in June 2010

Mr Lidington replied in the Commons: The Defence Secretary has been very clear that we and the coalition against Daesh [IS] will pursue people who are a threat to our security and to the safety of British citizens wherever those people may come from.

We act, as always in our military operations, within the law, but the message to anybody tempted to go join Daesh must be that they do so at great risk to themselves.

David Cameron stunned MPs 18 months ago with news that a British drone had killed a jihadist in Syria who was plotting an atrocity at an event attended by the Queen.

Shortly afterwards, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said Britain would not hesitate to carry out more drone strikes against jihadists plotting armed attacks on our streets.

That December, MPs voted in favour of the UK joining a coalition of nations carrying out airstrikes on IS targets in Syria.

Since then the RAF has been tasked with taking out UK jihadists plotting attacks in Britain and other high-value targets. Parliament has not been informed of the British deaths.

Labour MP John Woodcock, formerly a member of the defence select committee, said the British jihadists were a legitimate target of our armed forces, but added: The Government needs to be upfront about what is happening.

An RAF Reaper UAV as two British citizens who were fighting for Islamic State were killed in an RAF drone strike in Syria which was carried out without parliamentary approval

Reyaad Khan (left), Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni (centre), and Ruhul Amin (right) in an online video entitled There is no Life Without Jihad

RAF Waddington Media Facility for Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) being used by the RAF, Army and Navy

Members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Drones, including Lord Macdonald, wrote a letter to Theresa May yesterday demanding details of UK jihadists bombed by RAF jets.

Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, said: If someone from Britain breaks the law, if they get killed, then so be it. They are dead men walking.

If there is a policy of extrajudicial killings, that does need to be talked about.

'If we happen to kill them because we are targeting infrastructure, that is different.

However, Sir Michael Graydon, a former RAF head, said releasing details of Britons killed would be a golden opportunity for claims by crooked liberal lawyers.

The Ministry of Defence said: The UK is committed to the defeat of Daesh and publishes regular updates on airstrikes conducted by the RAF.'
A French gondolier will be deported after he tried to sneak $3,000 worth of drugs into a music festival by smearing them with Vegemite.

Romain Franche was one of 40 arrested at the Electric Parade festival in Melbourne last week, where 22 revellers were rushed to hospital for drug overdoses.

Sniffer dogs caught him with bags of MDMA, acid, ketamine, ecstasy, hashish and cocaine he bought to sell at the event that was already 'awash with drugs'.

Scroll down for video

French gondolier Romain Franche, 22, will be deported after he tried to sneak $3,000 worth of drugs into the Electric Parade music festival in Melbourne by smearing them with Vegemite

He was one of 40 arrested at the festival last week, where 22 revellers were rushed to hospital for drug overdoses

The 22-year-old, who was in the country studying at a business school, was fined $4,000 for drug trafficking in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

Daily Mail Australia understands he was released after the hearing, having spent five days in custody, and will be deported in four weeks time.

Sporting long hair tied into a topknot, Franche worked as a Yarra River gondolier and French vintage furniture salesman while studying.

The 22-year-old (right), who was in the country studying at a business school, was fined $4,000 for drug trafficking in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday

He posted on Facebook about 90 minutes before Electric Parade's doors opened at 1pm last Saturday trying to offload two spare tickets to the event for $130 each

Prosecutor Senior Constable David Lee told the court Franche smeared Vegemite on the bags of drugs to hide their smell from the sniffer dogs, but they were not fooled

He explained Franche did not possess large amounts of drugs, apart from 62 acid tabs which he said was 'a little bit alarming'

He posted on Facebook about 90 minutes before Electric Parade's doors opened at 1pm last Saturday trying to offload two spare tickets to the event for $130 each - but that was not all he was selling.

Prosecutor Senior Constable David Lee told the court Franche smeared Vegemite on the bags of drugs to hide their smell from the sniffer dogs, but they were not fooled.

He explained Franche did not possess large amounts of drugs, apart from 62 acid tabs which he said was 'a little bit alarming'.

Defence lawyer Lorna Williamson told the court her client had no prior convictions and had been in custody for five days

Franche was one of 40 people arrested at the festival held on February 18

Ambulance Victoria State Health Commander Paul Holman described the festival as 'awash with drugs' and said there was a serious risk of death

Defence lawyer Lorna Williamson told the court her client had no prior convictions and had been in custody for five days.

Ambulance Victoria State Health Commander Paul Holman described the festival as 'awash with drugs' and said there was a serious risk of death.

'It's the highest number of overdoses we have seen at a music event for some time,' he said, adding it was 'probably just good luck' no one died.
The family of a mother who was jailed for swindling more than $2 million from lonely men to fund her lavish lifestyle has lashed out at a news crews.

Tensions boiled outside Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Thursday after Sanaa Derbas, 42, was sentenced to at least 18 months behind bars.

Her supporters, including her sons, were far from impressed as they clashed with the Nine and Seven News camera crews.

Violent scenes emerged when her family stormed out of court, with family members lashing out at the cameras - as a Seven News reporter in a red blazer was knocked to the ground.

Footage shows male relatives pushing the cameras away after learning her sentence.

Scroll down for video

The family of a mother who was jailed for swindling more than $2 million from lonely men to fund her lavish lifestyle has lashed out at Seven and Nine news crews

Tensions boiled outside Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Thursday

Seven News Sydney Director Jason Morrison told Daily Mail Australia police will be investigating the incident.

'The reporter is OK and the cameraman suffered injuries after being hit from behind. He was pushed and kicked and the camera was also very badly damaged,' Mr Morrison said.

'Given the proximity to the Court complex, police were quickly informed and they have taken possession of the footage showing the attack and the man involved. They have assured us this will be investigated and those responsible prosecuted.

'Nobody deserves to be attacked in a cowardly fashion like this on a public street.'

It comes after Derbas pleaded guilty last year to 11 fraud-related offences over the scam which drew in seven victims between 2008 and 2014.

She told the men she had a wealthy Egyptian grandfather but in order to accept wire transfers from him she needed help paying bank charges, taxes and solicitor fees.

Some victims initially transferred money to Derbas to pay for a hotel room, but she never met turned up and offered excuses, including sick relatives and other calamities.

Judge Conlon noted Derbas spun an 'intricate web of lies' and possessed a 'talent for impersonation'. At times she posed as other fake family members.

A Seven News reporter in a red blazer was knocked to the ground by family members

Footage shows male relatives pushing the cameras away after learning her sentence

Her lies included that she needed money for her dead mother's funeral, that her son had died of swine flu and that she had lost an unborn child to an abusive ex-partner.

'I love you, can't wait to be with you,' she texted one of her victims.

'I haven't eaten since yesterday.'

The court heard Derbas spent the money on cocaine, gambling and building a house.

Although some of the victims became suspicious and even reported the scam, Derbas was 'utterly determined' to obtain funds and was capable of regaining their trust.

'How is borrowing money a fraud,' she replied when one of the men questioned her tales.

Defence barrister Greg Jones said the 42-year-old worked seven days a week to support four children and also acted as a carer for her mother and brother, who has a mental disability.

Derbas pleaded guilty last year to 11 fraud-related offences over the scam which drew in seven victims between 2008 and 2014

She told the men she had a wealthy Egyptian grandfather but in order to accept wire transfers from him she needed help paying bank charges, taxes and solicitor fees

'There has been a substantial change in her life and her environment since these matters,' he said on Thursday.

But Judge Conlon said Derbas' deception involved 'calculated cunning and guile', the callous nature of which was highlighted by her willingness to use her mother's death to bleed more money from vulnerable men seeking company.

A pre-sentence report revealed she felt an 'adrenaline rush' after her first offence but now experiences depression, extreme embarrassment and shame.

NSW Police fraud squad commander Arthur Katsogiannis said the outcome gave victims hope.

'Many of them were embarrassed about the behaviour, however, they did show courage and strength to come forward,' he said.

'In that respect I congratulate them.'

Derbas will be eligible for parole in August 2018.
Vice-chancellors must adopt a zero tolerance approach to anti-Semitism amid fears of spiralling abuse on campuses, according to University Minister Jo Johnson (pictured)

Vice-chancellors must adopt a zero tolerance approach to anti-Semitism amid fears of spiralling abuse on campuses, the Government ordered yesterday.

Universities Minister Jo Johnson said institutions have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for all students to protect them from discrimination, harassment or victimisation.

His intervention comes ahead of Israel Apartheid Week events, which have led to complaints from Jewish students of intimidation, threats and abuse during campus activities in previous years.

It also comes after a series of incidents in recent weeks, including the distribution of Holocaust denial leaflets on campuses and the etching of a swastika in a halls of residence.

Mr Johnson has written to Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, stressing that institutions must have robust policies in place to comply with the law and investigate and swiftly address hate crime, including any anti-Semitic incidents that are reported.

In his letter dated last week, he said he expected the legal position and guidelines of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism are universally understood and acted upon at all times by UK universities.

It also comes after a series of incidents in recent weeks, including the distribution of Holocaust denial leaflets on campuses and the etching of a swastika in a halls of residence (stock image)

This includes policy towards events that might take place under the banner of Israel Apartheid  an international movement which sees week-long events run across the world over the next two months.

Such events must be properly handled by universities to ensure that our values, expectations and laws are not violated, Mr Johnson warned.

He said: There is no place in our society  including within higher education  for hatred or any form of harassment, discrimination or racism such as anti-Semitism.

The University of Central Lancashire has already cancelled an Israel Apartheid Week event for fear it could contravene the definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the government in December and outlined in this letter.

Anti-Israel activist Ben White and pro-Palestinian academics were due to speak at the Friends of Palestine Society panel session next week.

The Jewish Chronicle yesterday reported that other universities including Essex, Liverpool and Sussex are also considering similar bans.

In a separate letter to Englands higher education funding council (HEFCE), Mr Johnson said universities should embed a culture of zero-tolerance to all forms of violence, sexual harassment and hate crime, including anti-Semitism.

The government supported recommendations made by UUKs Harassment Taskforce last year, which said that tackling violence against women, harassment and hate crime should be given priority status.

Mr Johnson told HEFCE: We are concerned by the number of recent reports of incidents of anti-Semitism on campus.

Last week, Exeter University launched an investigation after a swastika and a Rights for Whites sign, decorated with a union flag, were found in two separate halls of residence.

The incidents follow reports last September that students at the Russell Group institution were pictured wearing T-shirt bearing anti-Semitic and racist slogans during a freshers week social event.

Mr Johnson said: 'There is no place in our society  including within higher education  for hatred or any form of harassment, discrimination or racism such as anti-Semitism

Bristol University is currently investigating claims of anti-Semitism after an article by one of its lecturers emerged, in which she said Jews should stop privileging the Holocaust.

Dr Rebecca Gould, a reader in translation and comparative literature, has been accused of using the language of Holocaust denial. She has denied claims of anti-Semitism.

Earlier this month, the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) revealed that Holocaust denial leaflets have been found at University College London as well as Cambridge, Edinburgh and Glasgow universities.

Last December, Baroness Ruth Deech, a cross-bench peer, controversially claimed that some of the countrys leading universities were being no-go zones for Jewish students because anti-Semitism is so rise.

She said institutions may be failing to combat hatred against Jews because they were afraid of offending their potential benefactors from Gulf states. Universities denied her allegations.

A spokesman for Universities UK said yesterday: The university sector has been clear that there is no place for anti-Semitism or any other kind of unlawful discrimination at our universities.
Ordinary people should no longer be allowed to give evidence in court in civil disputes, the judge who heads Britains most senior court said yesterday.

Civil trials should be handled only by lawyers and there should be no place for witnesses, Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger said.

He said court cases were often decided by who calls the best-performing witness, not who calls the more honest witnesses.

Lord Neuberger (pictured, front centre) said there should be an experiment in trials without witnesses to see if they would work

Lord Neuberger said there should be an experiment in trials without witnesses to see if they would work without people who were involved in events giving their side of the story, and without paid experts giving their view on technical arguments.

Civil trials decide disputes that do not involve criminal charges, including financial and property matters; family matters including divorce, child custody and child abuse; immigration and asylum cases; and constitutional and human rights arguments.

Sometimes it might appear that factual disputes are being resolved by reference to who calls the best-performing witness, not who calls the more honest witnesses. Lord Neuberger

Most recently Lord Neubergers court ruled in the most politically controversial judgment in a generation  that Parliament must vote before Theresa May can trigger Article 50 and the Brexit negotiations.

The Supreme Court president told Oxford students and academics: I am very sceptical about judges relying on their impression of a witness, or even on how the witness deals with questions.

Honest people, especially in the unfamiliar and artificial setting of a trial, will often be uncomfortable, evasive, inaccurate, combative, or, maybe even worse, compliant. And our assessments of people are inevitably based on our particular experiences and subconscious biases.

Sometimes it might appear that factual disputes are being resolved by reference to who calls the best-performing witness, not who calls the more honest witnesses. Indeed, there is an argument for saying that, at least in some cases, it is safer to assess the evidence without the complicating factor of oral testimony.

He added: It would be hard to devise a practically feasible experiment which could convincingly establish whether my impressions about the value of disclosure and cross-examination are correct. But it might be interesting to try and devise an experiment, and it would be fascinating to see the results.
Malcolm Turnbull has slammed Tony Abbott's recent comments criticising the government as 'sad' and said he was not going to be distracted by them.

'I don't think Australians are very impressed by that latest outburst and I'm not going to be distracted by it,' he told reporters on Friday. 'We all know what it's about.'

Mr Abbott appeared on Sky News on Thursday night and told Andrew Bolt there was disappointment 'perhaps even despair' with Malcolm Turnbull's government.

Scroll down for video

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (right) has slammed Tony Abbott (left) and his comments criticising the government as 'sad', saying he was not going to be distracted by them

Mr Turnbull was at a factory in Silverwater, NSW on Friday morning. He told reporters he backed comments made by finance minister Mathias Cormann, who labelled Tony Abbott's interview on Sky News on Thursday as 'destructive and self-indulgent'

He said Mr Turnbull was losing votes to One Nation because he was running a 'Labour-lite government'.

'Plainly there are lots of people who are concerned about our direction and plainly the risk is we will drift to defeat if we don't lift our game,' Mr Abbott said.

It's also been revealed former Liberal senator Cory Bernardi said Mr Abbott told him last year that he hadn't ruled out a return to a leadership position.

Mr Bernardi reportedly approached Malcolm Turnbull with the news before he defected from the Liberal Party in early February.

Former Liberal senator Cory Bernardi (pictured) said Tony Abbott told him last year that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of a return to leadership

Mr Abbott (right) appeared on Sky News on Thursday night and told Andrew Bolt (left) that Mr there was disappointment 'perhaps even despair' with the government

However Mr Abbott said he would not be making a public tilt for Mr Turnbull's role as prime minister, reported Sky News.

Mr Turnbull echoed the statements made by finance minister Matthias Cormann.

'I think the views he expressed would be shared by many people in Australia and the parliament,' Mr Turnbull said on Friday morning.

'Matthias Cormann has described it perfectly, succinctly and accurately.'

Finance minister Matthias Cormann (pictured) said he was 'flabbergasted' with Mr Abbott's interview and described it as 'destructive and self-indulgent'

'In the last six months my government has delivered more than we did in the last three years,' he said.

Cory Bernardi told Sky News he wouldn't comment on private conversations.

Mr Abbott told Andrew Bolt Mr Turnbull should be winding back immigration, axeing the Human Rights Commission and should stop 'pandering' to climate science.

'I have a duty to try and ensure that our party and our government stays on the right track and plainly there are some issues right now and it's incumbent upon me to raise these issues, to exercise if you like the freedom of the backbench,' he said.

Mr Cormann described Mr Abbott's (pictured) interview on Sky News as 'sad' and said said he was 'not helping his cause, country or himself'

Mr Abbott's intervention is politically destabilising to Mr Turnbull, who governs with a bare one-seat majority.

Finance minister Matthias Cormann said he watched the interview from his office in Perth on Thursday night and said he was 'flabbergasted'.

'I'm saddened by his decision,' Mr Cormann told Sky News. 'He is not helping his cause, country or himself.'

'Much of what he says is inconsistent with what he did.'

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) said told 3AW on Friday he was not going to be provoked into a public slanging match with Mr Abbott. He said: 'Tony Abott is a very experienced politician, he knows exactly what he's doing and so do his colleagues'

Mr Cormann described the interview as 'destructive and self indulgent'.

'Nothing good comes from an interview like that,' he told Sky News.

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull also spoke on 3AW Radio in Melbourne on Friday morning and defended his leadership.

He said he wouldn't be provoked into a public slanging match with Mr Abbott.

'Tony Abbott is a very experienced politician, he knows exactly what he's doing and so do his colleagues,' Mr Turnbull said.
The man who confessed to raping and killing beloved South Australian outback nurse Gayle Woodford has a history of crimes against women.

Dudley Davey, 35, who pleaded guilty in the Port Augusta Magistrates Court on Thursday, was jailed for 20 months for a public sex attack on a woman who was asleep in Adelaide's CBD in 2012.

He was released on parole and returned to the dry zone of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, where Ms Woodford frequently worked.

He raped and killed Ms Woodford only six months after his parole conditions had lapsed.

Dudley Davey (centre), 35, who pleaded guilty to killing Gayle Woodford in the Port Augusta Magistrates Court on Thursday, was previously jailed for a public sex attack on a woman who was asleep

He raped and killed Ms Woodford (pictured) only six months after his parole conditions had lapsed

Ms Woodford's body was found in a shallow roadside grave three days after she went missing in March last year in Fregon, where the mother of two worked in a community health clinic.

Davey will be arraigned in the Supreme Court on March 20.

'Dudley Davey ... at Fregon you murdered Gayle Woodford. How do you plead?' magistrate Simon Milazzo asked the killer on Thursday.

'Guilty,' replied Davey, who appeared by video link from Yatala Labour Prison.

The Mimili man also admitted raping the 56-year-old nurse and stealing an ambulance she used in her work in the state's remote APY Lands.

Mimili man Davey also pleaded guilty to raping the nurse and stealing an ambulance she used in her work in the state's remote Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands

GAYLE WOODFORD'S DEATH March 23, 2016: Outback nurse Gayle Woodford, 56, is last seen on South Australia's Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, with her disappearance prompting a search. About the same time as Ms Woodford goes missing an ambulance she used for work is driven from a local health clinic. March 24, 2016: Police use GPS data to track the ambulance and intercept it in Coober Pedy. The 36-year-old Mimili man behind the wheel, Dudley Davey, is charged with the theft of the vehicle and other driving offences. March 26, 2016: Ms Woodford's body is found in a shallow grave outside the remote SA town of Fregon where she lived. Calls emerge for greater safety provisions for remote health clinicians, with an online petition collecting more than 130,00 signatures. March 27, 2016: Davey is charged with Ms Woodford's murder. March 29, 2016: Davey makes his first appearance at the Port Augusta Magistrates Court, losing a bid to have his name suppressed. February 23, 2017: Davey pleads guilty to murder and rape charges and is committed to the Supreme Court. Advertisement

Around the time Ms Woodford went missing, the ambulance left her home and was tracked using its GPS data.

Police intercepted the vehicle hours later at Coober Pedy and arrested Davey inside.

He was later charged with Ms Woodford's murder but the rape charge was not added until last month.

Members of Ms Woodford's family attended the hearing on Thursday, including her husband Keith Woodford.

About the time Ms Woodford went missing, the ambulance drove away from her home and was tracked using its GPS data before police intercepted it at Coober Pedy hours later

The schoolteacher said he would speak about the tragedy in time, but not yet.

The murder sparked a major push to improve the safety of nurses working in remote communities with an online petition securing more than 132,000 signatures.

After Ms Woodford's death a review of the risks facing remote health workers found they should be accompanied on call-outs to clients.

The report, by peak body CRANA plus, also recommended upgrades to alarm systems and better training.
Ulster Secretary James Brokenshire spoke out as he faced growing calls to prevent retired troops facing a witch-hunt some 40 years after they battled terrorism

Police and prosecutors will be barred from re-investigating killings by British soldiers in Northern Ireland unless there is new and credible evidence, a Government minister has said.

Ulster Secretary James Brokenshire spoke out as he faced growing calls to prevent retired troops facing a witch-hunt some 40 years after they battled terrorism.

He was urged to act after it emerged the Police Service of Northern Irelands (PSNI) taxpayer-funded Legacy Investigation Branch (LIB) was re-examining 302 deaths by UK troops during the Troubles.

It could result in up to 1,000 veterans being investigated as potential murder suspects over actions they took decades ago at the height of the IRAs terror campaign.

Critics are angry that 90 per cent of the 3,500 killings in Northern Ireland were terrorist-related  but the PSNIs focus has been on deaths at the hands of British security forces.

In a passionate Commons debate yesterday, the Democratic Unionist Party demanded measures to ensure ex-soldiers would not face probes into their actions if they have already been investigated.

Mr Brokenshire said he recognised concerns that inquiries in Northern Ireland were disproportionately to do with cases allegedly involving the army. He added that ministers were working on legislation which will compel the authorities to behave with proportionality when it comes to historical allegations against troops.

DUP defence spokesman Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said it was wrong that veterans at sitting at home wondering if they face more investigations

Under proposals being drafted in Whitehall, a new independent Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) could reopen closed cases only if fresh evidence, such as new witnesses or forensics, was discovered.

Mr Brokenshire said: Any legislation establishing the HIU would include specific tests which must be met in order that a previously completed case is reopened for investigation. This will mean specifically that new and credible evidence that was not previously available to the authorities is needed before the HIU will reopen any closed case.

We are looking at ways of ensuring that where prosecutions do take place, terrorists are not treated more favourably than former soldiers and police officers.

Speaking in the Commons debate, DUP defence spokesman Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: It is wrong that our veterans are sitting at home, wondering if perhaps a third or a fourth investigation is now going to take place into their case, simply because some hot, fast-thinking, make-a-quick-buck human rights lawyer in Belfast thinks its a good idea to reopen this case.
Dame Helen Mirren, 71, has admitted she battles crippling self-esteem issues - and confessed she only learnt to smile in her mid-thirties

She is one of the most celebrated actresses of our time  and, at 71, still one of the most glamorous.

But Dame Helen Mirren has admitted she battles crippling self-esteem issues - and revealed she only learnt to smile in her mid-thirties.

The Queen star opened up about how she constantly doubts herself on the Victoria Derbyshire show yesterday.

The Oscar-winning actress said: I dont know if anyone else is different than me but its something I have to handle on almost a daily basis.

Certainly, its more exacerbated I think when youre younger because you dont quite know what your place in the world is going to be.

But I think those moments of self-esteem certainly dont go away as far as Im concerned, you know, into your adulthood.

She added: It may be one of the reasons I became an actress, I dont know. But certainly its something I am aware of on a daily basis, you know, self-questioning.

The only comfort I find is I think everybody else is like that as well.

The Oscar-winning actress said: I dont know if anyone else is different than me but its something I have to handle on almost a daily basis

The star explained that at the beginning of her career her self-esteem was so low she didnt start smiling until the 1980s.

She said: It was only actually in my mid-thirties that I learnt to smile. I couldnt smile before that, I thought I looked stupid when I smiled.

And then I learnt the power of a smile and funnily enough when you smile, even if you dont feel like smiling, you immediately feel a bit better.

Life feels a little bit better when youre smiling.

Talking about braving the red carpet, Dame Mirren said stars are often full of terror and nervousness.

The star explained that at the beginning of her career her self-esteem was so low she didnt start smiling until the 1980s

She said: Ive been on a red carpet with people who are literally shaking literally trembling.

In a way its a good test, you cant run away, you have to do it. And certainly Ive felt that in that situation.

Dame Mirren launched a three-year programme in partnership with the Princes Trust and LOreal Paris to promote confidence in young men and women yesterday.

The All Worth It programme will offer up to 10,000 young people the opportunity to learn about the importance of body language, communication, employability and relationships through training in dedicated centres as well as via online resources.

The Elizabeth I actress, who was giving advice to young people at the Princes Trust centre in South London yesterday (Thurs), said her biggest tip was to fake it.

She said: Its always a good idea to fake it.

The stars 13 co-ambassadors include Cheryl Cole, Katie Piper and Marcus Butler, who will all discuss their own experiences with self-doubt in a series of videos for the campaign.




Vice President Mike Pence marked his ninth time on the Conservative Political Action Conference stage by promising that he and President Donald Trump would 'work our hearts out' on behalf of the conservative movement.

Echoing the top of his ticket, who has waged a war with the media since being sworn in, Pence noted, 'the other side is not sitting idle, and their allies in the media are more than willing to amplify their defense of the failed status quo every single day.'

But Pence made sure the audience was aware of the administration's progress thus far, including the fact that the vice president had been told by Trump, 'Mike, just get me the best,' and the vice president had obliged by assembling the likes of Jeff Sessions, James Mattis and Ben Carson.

'Folks, this is the A-team,' Pence said.

'President Trump has assembled the strongest conservative cabinet in my lifetime, bar none,' Pence told the crowd.

Scroll down for video

Vice President Mike Pence was the final speaker at Thursday's Conservative Political Action Conference, promising members of the movement that he and President Donald Trump would 'work out hearts out'

Mike Pence talked about being tasked with helping President Donald Trump assemble the cabinet. 'Folks, this is the A-team,' he said

The vice president's team tweeted out a number of points he made in his speech, which served as a warm-up act for President Donald Trump's CPAC appearance tomorrow

While Pence was the final speaker of the day, he was merely the opening act for President Donald Trump to storm the annual conference tomorrow morning.

Trump, a CPAC speaker in the past, albeit one who didn't get the kind of wholesale support as a Ted Cruz or a Sarah Palin, will be the first sitting president to address the affair in nine years.

Pence's politics make him a more natural fit for the more traditionally conservative crowd, though he joked that Trump was the better get.

'Some people have remarked that we're a little bit different,' Pence said of the president and the veep.

'You know, I'm a small town guy, he's big city. I'm Midwest, he's Manhattan island,' Pence said.

'He's known for his bigger-than-life personality, his charm and his charisma,' Pence continued.

'And I'm, like  not,' the former Indiana governor said to laughs.

Pence did, however, rile up the crowd throughout his speech.

'History will attest, every time America produces a leader who builds on this firm foundation, our nation reaches heights that once seemed unreachable,' he said, using soaring rhetoric.

'And let me assure you, President Trump is such a leader. And under his leadership, we are making America great again,' Pence said.

Pence ticked off a number of Trump's campaign promises.

Of the administration's pro-life ambitions he told the crowd, 'Because of Donald Trump, life is winning in America again.'

'After we repeal and replace Obamacare, we're going to do a whole lot more,' he pledged.

'We're going to start off by rebuilding the American military. We'll restore the arsenal of democracy. We'll provide our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard with the resources and training they need to accomplish their mission and come home safe,' he continued.

'And we will hunt down and destroy ISIS at its source, so it can no longer threaten our nation or our families,' he said to huge applause.

Pence, who refers to himself as a 'born again, evangelical Catholic,' got a raucous reaction for quoting scripture, 2 Chronicles 7:14, and then blending it into the Pledge of Allegiance.

He also asked the crowd to pray for the new administration.

'Now more than ever, as we did before when this movement won back the Congress in 2010 and ... won back the White House in 2016, we gotta do what we did before. We gotta mobilize,' he said.

'We gotta march forward as if it's the most important time in the history of our movement,' he said.

'Because it is,' he concluded.
The Brexit deal agreed between Britain and the EU should contain a clause that paves the way for a united Ireland, the countrys leader demanded yesterday.

Enda Kenny called on Theresa May to ensure that the agreement will allow the country to break away from Britain.

The Taoiseach said the proposal should mimic rules that allowed East Germany to merge with West Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Enda Kenny (pictured) called on Theresa May to ensure that the agreement will allow the country to break away from Britain

He said the arrangement would prevent Northern Ireland from being locked into Brexit by allowing it to easily join the Republic of Ireland as a member of the EU in the future.

While his demands may infuriate unionists, the Good Friday Agreement already allows a referendum to be called on reunification if it is thought a majority of voters would back the move.

Mr Kenny, who is expected to resign next month over his involvement in an Irish political scandal, was speaking in Brussels after a meeting with EU chiefs.

British Prime Minister Theresa May

The Irish leader had travelled to discuss the potential consequences of Brexit for Ireland with Jean-Claude Juncker and Michel Barnier, the EUs chief negotiator.

After the talks, he repeated demands that Brexit should not see the return of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Politicians in the country have expressed concerns that such a move, at what will be the UKs only hard border with Europe, could undo Northern Irelands peace process.

Mr Kenny said: The border issue is a political challenge. We [Theresa May and myself] had a discussion particularly about the border and the peace process.

I made the point that when the old style of the border existed you had sectarian violence.

The British government and the Irish government agreed that there would be no return to the borders of the past or the hard border.

Mr Kenny said that he was still unsure about the nature of any eventual agreement and hopes that the eventual triggering of the article 50 exit clause will ease tensions.

He also suggested that the expected decision to start the Brexit process in early March had been delayed a little but did not elaborate on what had caused the hold-up.
Jamal Al-Harith (pictured) was paid up to 1million by the Cameron Government  and now seems to have blown himself up in a terrorist attack in Iraq



Ben Wallace, Home Office minister with responsibility for spies, was sent to the Commons to answer an Urgent Question about Jamal Al-Harith, the former inmate of Americas Guantanamo Bay concentration camp. Al-Harith was paid up to 1million by the Cameron Government  and now seems to have blown himself up in a terrorist attack in Iraq.

Which Cabinet ministers agreed to that compensation payment? Why was Al-Harith not being watched more closely by MI5? Can we claw back the money?

At first it seemed Mr Wallace was going to adopt the old British PoW routine of disclosing nothing more than name, rank and number. It was policy not to comment on intelligence matters, he said. Nor could he comment on the alleged pay-off. All that sort of thing was subject to a legally-binding confidentiality clause.

How very convenient. Whitehall knows a compensation deal with some controversial geezer will outrage the taxpayers, and so allows lawyers to do one of their confidentiality stitch-ups. Ministers can then throw up their hands and say sorrree  we cant discuss that.

No doubt the confidentiality extended to the lawyers fees.

Ben Wallace, Home Office minister with responsibility for spies, was sent to the Commons to answer an Urgent Question about Jamal Al-Harith, the former inmate of Americas Guantanamo Bay concentration camp

Mr Wallace, at the despatch box for more than half an hour, actually did end up saying a little bit more than no comment. And he handled a tricky mission pretty well. But it was hard to avoid the whiff of badly-hidden ordure. The System has been up to its tricks again.

In such cases it helps if the House regards the minister as a straight piece of work and if he has some relevant hinterland. Mr Wallace scores on both fronts. He has never been a shrieking partisan and before politics was a Scots Guards officer who was mentioned in despatches in Ulster. He is one of the better Ministers of State and rather more impressive than several members of the Cabinet (e.g. Truss, Grayling, Greening, Javid, Wright, Brokenshire, Patel).

Al-Harith was previously known as Ronald Fiddler. Why on earth did he change a fine name like that? His case has given rise to two political questions. First, was it right to buy his silence? Second, did Theresa May approve the settlement?

Mr Wallace said that so far as he could remember, the Cabinet minister who approved the payment was Kenneth Clarke, then justice secretary. Mr Wallace at the time was Mr Clarkes parliamentary aide. He said he would write to Kevan Jones (Lab, N Durham) to let him know if Mrs May was involved.

On the ethical dilemma of coming to a confidentiality agreement with Al-Harith, Mr Wallace argued, with some success, that such deals were justified if they protected agents, methods, capabilities. He added that there was a difference between intelligence and evidence  i.e. some intelligence cannot be used in an open court of law.

Tom Tugendhat (Con, Tonbridge & Malling), a former Army intelligence officer, made an eloquent contribution saying although none of us is comfortable with paying money to terror suspects, it was the right decision morally if it protected sources.

Sir Julian Brazier (Con, Canterbury) said human rights laws needed changing to make it easier to prosecute suspects without betraying the identity of intelligence officers. Alistair Carmichael (Lib Dem, Orkney & Shetland) tried to throw a barb against Donald Trump, who has spoken of keeping Guantanamo Bay open for bad dudes. But Mr Carmichaels foggy voice made bad dudes sound like bad puds.

No one asked what was, to me, the screamingly obvious question how can we believe for a second that Al-Harith observed his side of the confidentiality deal and did not tell any of his more bearded Iraqi friends everything he knew about MI5 and MI6? But Chris Bryant (Lab, Rhondda) did ask if the Governments legal duty to Al-Harith still existed if the bloke was dead. Mr Wallace dodged that one as skilfully as he once dodged IRA bullets in Belfast.
'Fifty-one-year-old Helen Bailey was murdered at the hands of her fiance, Ian Stewart, a man unworthy of her affection and who cynically abused her trust'

Helen Bailey had everything to live for, but she died a terrible death: drugged by sleeping tablets slipped into her scrambled eggs, then crammed into an underground sewage tank, her adored pet dog thrown in beside her.

And what had she done to deserve this ghastly fate? Nothing, of course. Nothing except to dare to believe in love.

Fifty-one-year-old Helen was murdered at the hands of her fiance, Ian Stewart, a man unworthy of her affection and who cynically abused her trust. Helen was a successful author and entrepreneur, a woman of substance and taste, with a lovely home filled with cream-painted bookshelves and elegant neutrals.

Underneath this carapace of order and tranquillity, she had been struggling to get her life back on track following the death of her husband, who drowned in front of her during a holiday in Barbados six years ago, in 2011.

She met Stewart, 56, that same year on a Facebook group for widows and widowers. His wife had died suddenly in 2010, in circumstances that are now being investigated by police.

Ostensibly, the group was set up to help the bereaved share the burden of their grief with others in the same boat. However, in this instance at least, it was also a hunting ground for a man like him to find a woman like her: vulnerable, alone and rich.

Within a year, Stewart had asked her to marry him, and by Christmas 2012 the couple had decided to move to a seven-bedroom home in Royston, Hertfordshire.

Three years later, Miss Bailey would die there, unknowing perhaps until her very last breath  if even then  that the man she called her happy ever after had an ulterior motive all along. What a terrible tragedy.

'Helen had everything to live for, but she died a terrible death: drugged by sleeping tablets slipped into her scrambled eggs, then crammed into an underground sewage tank, her adored pet dog thrown in beside her'

And while Helens circumstances were extreme and unlucky, isnt it the truth that middle-aged single women are incredibly vulnerable on internet friendship websites? They are the most emotionally exposed players in the online dating game: a captive market eager for love and companionship, and all too aware that, given half a chance, men their age would, like Jeremy Paxman, often prefer to be with a much younger woman.

With options thinning and ankles thickening in this dreary no-man-land, it is not unknown for normally sensible women to start overlooking any obvious flaws or warning signs  and convince themselves that Mr Not Quite Right really is Mr Right.

Smart and self-possessed forty-something girlfriends of mine have sometimes introduced me to their online new loves  men who are clearly just a few meat cleavers short of being the full psychopath.

Isnt Colin marvellous? they will say, with that tell-tale, faraway look in their eyes and a swatch card of wedding dress fabrics already stashed in their handbag.

Usually they come to their senses just in time  but it is the speed of these instant relationships that is so terrifying and so fraught with emotional danger.

Younger women are tougher and more resilient about matters of the heart. They dont worry about the future so much. Indeed, they have a future.

Older women should know better but dont. In the autumn of their years, logic and common sense are among the first things to disappear when they become emotionally involved with a handsome stranger.

This week, a single woman in Kent revealed that she went to the police after a man she dated on Tinder turned out to be married. Antony Ray had lied to 44-year-old Anna Rowe about his circumstances during their 14-month relationship, which took place almost entirely within the confines of her Canterbury flat.

There, she cooked him dinners, had sex with him and allowed him to stay in her home for a couple of days every week. Rent free! What a great deal for the mysterious Mr Ray. It didnt strike caring Anna as odd that she never met anyone from Antonys life  she was too busy marinating steaks and lighting mood candles.

After she discovered the truth, Anna needed counselling for a year and is now campaigning for lying online to be made illegal. Good luck with that. Breaking a heart is not the same thing as breaking a law. And in many ways she was lucky.

Two years ago, a serial rapist who preyed on hundreds of women on dating website Match.com was jailed for at least 12 years. Jason Lawrance, from Hampshire, raped five women he met on the site and sexually assaulted two more.

'Women need to be smarter about romance, to protect themselves and their savings from men who prey on their generosity. And to listen to those inner voices of doubt, even when they are saying something we dont want to hear'

In the midst of all this, in a bizarre twist, he also married a woman he met on a Match.com date. Like Helen Bailey, she was also a widow  heartbroken and looking for companionship after her partner had been killed in a motorcycle accident. To her, Lawrance seemed like a knight in shining armour.

But behind her back he was obsessively trawling the profiles of hundreds of other women, and attacking with increasing violence.

Online dating and friendship sites are perfectly safe, marvellous inventions and an antidote to the loneliness of the age. Until they are not. And then they become the stuff of nightmares.

The lessons we learn from these wretched cases is that the search for love can make fools of us all, so lets be careful out there.

Women need to be smarter about romance, to protect themselves and their savings from men who prey on their generosity. And to listen to those inner voices of doubt, even when they are saying something we dont want to hear.

Of course, none of this could have saved Helen. She couldnt have known that the man she affectionately called Broad Bean harboured a dastardly plan for six years.

To those who read her book on grief and bereavement, Stewart was the gorgeous grey-haired widower who had helped to piece her life together after the death of her first husband.

During all the time they were together, his was the head on the pillow next to hers; theirs was the happiness she thought she would never find again.

Yet all along he had not been plotting their future together, but her death  so that he could get his hands on her 4 million estate.

All she wanted was a lasting relationship  but in the end she lost everything, including her life. And that really is heartbreaking.

Sorry, Kate, you can't match Diana for style

The Daily Mail recently published a series of photographs of some of Princess Dianas most iconic dresses  and an exhibition at Kensington Palace will showcase even more of the clothes she wore at work and at play.

Displayed in their glass cases, suspended on invisible wires, the dresses look like ghosts who have returned to haunt the palace in which she once lived.

All of this made me think how much Diana is missed. She would often surprise with her fashion choices  she could be dramatic and bold, occasionally making the world gasp at her glamour. She didnt always get it right, but that just made her even more mesmerising.

Once upon a time, she wore spotty ankle socks and woolly jumpers. As she grew in confidence, her style evolved. She was a woman who understood the power of a truly great dress.

The Duchess of Cambridge has none of Dianas megawatt allure, sense of occasion, or willingness to shock through fashion. She often looks wonderful, if slightly boring  like a Home Counties show pony, rather than a star.

They are different women from a different age, but still. Sigh.

Too much... even for gifted George

Elsewhere on the Brits, Andrew Ridgeley paid tribute to ex-Wham! bandmate George Michael.

Like everyone else, I think it is sad that George died at such a young age, with so much more to offer the world.

But when anyone famous dies these days, all reason is lost in such a thunderbomb of extravagant hype that it slides into meaninglessness.

In his short speech, Andrew variously described George as the greatest singer-songwriter of his generation  an icon of his era  a supernova in a firmament of shining stars  an immortal who left a legacy of unquestionable brilliance  transcendental beauty  poetic expression of his soul  etc etc. Too much? Perhaps a bit.

Even for the man who wrote One More Try and A Different Corner and made us all wonder, now and for ever more, if guilty feet really would have no rhythm. Perspective, please.

Save me from a pop star turned politico

First it was Trump-hating Hollywood actors wading through a swamp of their personal grief to let us know just how much they hate the new president.

And now, it is the turn of pop stars.

At the Brit Awards this week, Katy Perry (pictured) politicised her appearance by singing and dancing alongside two giant skeleton puppets dressed as Donald Trump and Theresa May. Radical or wot?

During the U.S. election, Katy campaigned for Hillary Clinton, and she is not giving up the fight  now, she wants her music to be known as purposeful pop.

But to what purpose? What indeed was her political statement with the dancing skeletons? That our leaders are going to die? Well, arent we all, darling?

The most interesting thing about Katy Perry  apart from the fact that she was married to comedian Russell Brand for five minutes  is that her fans spend more on her than any other pop act.

According to a study last year by Barclaycard, the KatyCats  as her fans like to call themselves  each spend 1,627 a year on their heroine.

This breaks down to 311.16 on concert tickets, food and travel, 1,144.30 on merchandise and 171.09 on the actual music itself.

Thats a lot of merch, as they say in the biz  but Perry, who is worth an estimated 100 million, is no slouch when it comes to divesting the kiddies of their pocket money.

The official Katy Perry website is groaning with items to tempt the KatyCats  40 T-shirts, 85 jackets, 16 ankle socks, plus the usual pocket patches and baseball caps.

If she really wants to empower young women, she should stop preying on their piggy banks in such an avaricious way.

Perhaps instead, she should encourage them to stop buying this rubbish and spend the money on books.

That would be a purposeful message indeed  but it wont ever happen.

Ker-ching!
When she stepped down from frontline politics two years ago, the Mail prayed we might hear a little less from Harriet Harman, Labours queen of sanctimony. Our hopes have been cruelly dashed.

In an article entitled If I ruled the world (heaven forbid!), she continues her long war against marriage and traditional families.

A Britain socially engineered to suit Miss Harman would see MPs banned from praising marriage, expressing concern about divorce or deprecating single motherhood. State childcare would push mothers into work while men go part-time so they can be at home.

A Britain socially engineered to suit Miss Harman would see MPs banned from praising marriage, expressing concern about divorce or deprecating single motherhood

In truth, far from ministers going on about marriage, as she claims, it barely features in our national debate.

Far from stigmatising single parents, our entire tax and benefits system is set up to penalise married couples and reward family breakdown. And in crime, welfare dependency, educational failure and a whole host of other social ills, the damaging consequences of this breakdown are everywhere to be seen.

Regrettably, Miss Harmans radical feminist world view has so gripped our politically correct ruling classes that little has been done to reverse her baleful influence since Labour left office  apart from a small tax break for married couples which followed a campaign by this newspaper.

A change is long overdue. For, as Trevor Phillips argued so brilliantly in yesterdays paper, it is political correctness that has prevented honest debate about some of the most vital issues of our time.

Of those, few could be more pressing than the devastating effects of family breakdown.

Be open about drones

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon would lose nothing by encouraging more openness about this very new form of warfare

This newspaper has no sympathy at all with Britons who join Islamic State in Syria or Iraq and find themselves on the end of a deadly RAF drone attack.

Anyone who allies themselves with this barbaric group is a traitor, an enemy to our way of life and a threat to this country. They deserve everything they get.

Nor do we join in the hand-wringing at the very idea of using remote-controlled planes operated from thousands of miles away. Is a drone strike really more barbaric than any other weapon of war?

No, this newspapers principal concern, following our revelation that the military is using targeted assassinations against jihadis on a kill list, is the lack of transparency with which it is being operated.

Yes, David Cameron told Parliament in 2015 that two Britons had been killed in a drone strike. But since then the programme has carried on in secret.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon whom the Mail believes holds our countrys best interests at heart  would lose nothing by encouraging more openness about this very new form of warfare.

SNP changes channel

Incredibly, the SNPs synthetic grievance machine is in high gear over a decision to pump 30million into a dedicated Scottish TV channel that will create 80 journalism jobs.

Nationalist noses are out of joint that the BBC has rejected out of hand a hare-brained scheme to spend every penny of licence-fee money raised in Scotland here.

Set aside for the moment that this is nothing more than a naked attempt to create a Scottish Broadcasting Service  what would happen if we expanded the SNPs logic to other forms of taxation?

If we were to spend every penny raised in Scotland and nothing more, hospitals would be shutting down, councils pulling down the shutters, schools ringing the bell for the last time...

The bottom line is that with the BBC, and with the overall finances of the country, we are better together as part of Britain.

But try telling that to a party of separatists who cannot ever find a silver lining without immediately hunting for the accompanying cloud.
The boss of the French car maker planning to buy Vauxhall yesterday set his sights on speedy cost savings from the deal  fuelling fears for thousands of British jobs.

Peugeot and Citroen owner PSA Group is in talks to buy the European arm of American giant General Motors (GM)  including Vauxhall in the UK and Opel on the Continent.

But it is feared the move will result in job losses and the closure of the Vauxhall plants at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire and Luton in Bedfordshire.

PSA chief executive Carlos Tavares  who has built a reputation as a ruthless cost-cutter having slashed thousands of jobs at Peugeot and Citroen

PSA chief executive Carlos Tavares  who has built a reputation as a ruthless cost-cutter having slashed thousands of jobs at Peugeot and Citroen  said GMs loss making Opel-Vauxhall business needs help.

He added: You can in quite a speedy way implement quite significant synergies.

Talk of synergies  or cost savings resulting from the deal  triggered fresh fears over jobs in the UK.

The row is shaping up to be the biggest industrial headache for Theresa May since she became Prime Minister.

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.

GMs European business also has a total of 38,000 staff, including more than 19,000 in Germany as well as sites in France, Poland, Spain, Austria, Hungary and Turkey.

It is feared that PSA, which is 14 per cent owned by the French government, would rather shut Vauxhall plants in Britain than Opel factories in Europe.

Mr Tavares said he wants to create a European car champion  but appeared to downplay the role of Vauxhalls plants in Britain.

Praising the halo effect that makes German cars so popular around the world, he said: Not only can we bring a solution and help Opel turn itself around, but we want to keep this company German.

He added: We believe there is an opportunity to create a European car champion, resulting from the combination of a French company and German company and without forgetting our UK friends.

Mr Tavares said he wants to create a European car champion  but appeared to downplay the role of Vauxhalls plants in Britain

Analysts at research group Evercore ISI said the deal would lead to the loss of 5,000 manufacturing jobs and the closure of Ellesmere Port, alongside GMs Eisenach plant in Germany and PSAs Villaverde plant in Spain.

British ministers are now under pressure to offer PSA 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.

Mrs May spoke to Mr Tavares over the phone on Wednesday to make the case for Vauxhalls future in the UK. The talks came a day after Mr Tavares spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel about protecting Opel workers.

A spokesman for Mrs May said: The prime minister and Mr Tavares discussed the importance the UK attaches to Vauxhalls plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton and their shared desire to protect and promote the jobs it supports and what Mr Tavares referred to as the iconic Vauxhall brand within the wider group.

Mr Tavares, a 58-year-old father of three, has won praise for turning PSA around since taking the helm in 2014 when the company was on the brink of financial ruin.

The Portuguese-born, French educated car fanatic yesterday reported that profits jumped 92 per cent last year to 1.5billion  underscoring the scale of the transformation he has overseen.

Mr Tavares said the company was now very, very close to becoming the benchmark of the automotive industry in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.

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

On the proposed deal to buy Vauxhall and Opel, he added: This company needs help. What we see today with the situation of Opel has a lot of similarities with what we were facing four years ago.

PSA expects the proposed takeover  which could be agreed as early as next week before the start of the Geneva Motor Show on March 6  to lead to savings of around 1.5billion.

Pointing out that GMs European arm has been loss-making for years  it last reported a profit in 1999  Mr Tavares said: They have a problem, they are not making money.

Opel knows this will not last forever, the companies have an interest in solving this. Eventually they will be too small and will need support from someone.

Business Secretary Greg Clark is due to meet Mr Tavares in London today [Fri]. The PSA chief is also due to meet union leader Len McCluskey.

Mr McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said: A very concerning picture is emerging here. I say again to both auto makers and the UK government we will not accept any threats to UK plants and jobs.

I will be reinforcing this when I meet with Carlos Tavares. I will be saying again to him that GM has a unique place in the UKs market place, and that the companys share of that market has never been higher so do not mistreat loyal UK workers and customers.
High Speed 2 was given the green light yesterday, kicking off one of the biggest infrastructure projects ever seen in Britain.

The Parliamentary Bill to build the rail line from London to Birmingham received royal assent, opening the way for construction work to begin in the spring.

It had more than three years of scrutiny, including a failed eleventh-hour bid to block it in the House of Lords last month.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling described the process of getting the legislation through Parliament as 'long and arduous', and said getting the go-ahead to start construction is a 'massive boost' to the UK's future economic prosperity.

He added: 'HS2 will be the world's most advanced passenger railway and the backbone of our rail network.'

But yesterday one of the leading campaigners against the HS2 line described it as a 'sad day'.

When the section the London to Birmingham section is completed, the Government expects to nearly triple the number of rush-hour seats on the route from 11,000 to about 30,000.

Most intercity trains will run on the HS2 network, allowing more commuter services on the West Coast line.

But critics argue that the government has exaggerated the benefits, and that many of the trains will be half empty.

HS2 would replace the older, slower trains currently clogging up the nation's railways

Cheryl Gillan, Tory MP for Amersham in Buckinghamshire, said: 'This is a very sad day for people whose lives, businesses and homes will be affected by the project and it's a sad day for taxpayers who will be paying through the nose.

'We basically have here the largest infrastructure project ever seen in this country and we don't know what the risks are to the public purse. I don't think this project will deliver what has been promised.'

Earlier this week the TaxPayers' Alliance lobby group warned HS2 could cost just under 100billion if costs overrun to the same scale as the London Olympics.

A series of reports have warned the costs could spiral and questioned the benefits of the project, arguing the money would be better spent on improving Britain's creaking infrastructure.

Phase one of the 56 billion scheme is scheduled to open in December 2026, with a second Y-shaped phase launching in two stages.

Phase 2a from the West Midlands to Crewe will open in 2027 and phase 2b, from Crewe to Manchester and from the West Midlands to Leeds, South Yorkshire and the East Midlands, will begin operation in 2033.

The potential HS2 train design. Construction is set to get underway within weeks

Yesterday HS2 came under fire again for runaway costs, as it emerged that 202 staff at HS2 are paid 75,000 or above. The information was provided by transport minister Andrew Jones in response to a question tabled by Ms Gillian.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'These extortionate salaries mean that the already eye-watering costs of this vanity project will only go up as it progresses.

'Unfortunately, with the first phase of this scheme being nodded through Parliament, the real danger now is that there will not be enough opportunity for politicians to hold bosses accountable on spending vast amounts of taxpayers' cash.

'HS2 did not represent value for money even before a single piece of track has been laid, so it is even more important now that MPs ensure that well-heeled HS2 bosses are held to account to keep costs down and ensure accountability.'
A precariously perched pooch that had wandered off the side of a bluff at a popular San Francisco oceanside park was rescued this week.

It took a team 16 firefighters an hour to save the dog.

The pooch's dog-sitting companion called for help after the off-leash pup tumbled partway down the cliff at Fort Funston, San Francisco Fire Department spokesman Jonathan Baxter says.

The animal became stuck on a ledge, Baxter told SF Gate. The dog could have fallen another 60 feet.

Scroll down for video

A precariously perched pooch that had wandered off the side of a bluff at a popular San Francisco oceanside park was rescued this week

The pooch's dog-sitting companion called for help after the off-leash pup tumbled partway down the cliff at Fort Funston

The noontime Wednesday rescue at the city's windy Fort Funston was captured on video.

'That area is a leashless area,' Baxter said. 'However, we recommend people remember that animals need to be within range for verbal commands, and people need to be responsible and keep their animals away from the cliffside.'

Baxter says a firefighter was lowered down and used a special canine harness to secure the dog.

Every dog has its day: The pooch is seen being hoisted up by firefighters during the rescue operation

Who's a good boy? The dog is seen safe and sound after it was pulled from danger

Fellow firefighters then pulled up the firefighter and the dog.

Baxter said the dog remained friendly during the hour-long process. It wasn't hurt.

Fort Funston is part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area and popular with hang gliders and horseback riders.

'Usually, owners or handlers of pets will go after their animal and get stuck,' Baxter added. 'But the person in charge of the dog today had the wherewithal to call 911.'
Eco friendly beauty store LUSH has refused to slash penalty rates after the Fair Work Commission cut Sunday and holiday wages.

Mark Lincoln, director of LUSH Australasia, has eased staff concerns and said nobody would have their pay cut irrespective of the independent tribunal's ruling.

'No one working for Lush Australia will be adversely affected by Fair Work's announcement today,' Mr Lincoln wrote in the Lush Staff Room Australia & New Zealand Facebook group on Thursday.

Scroll down for video

Eco friendly beauty store LUSH has refused to slash penalty rates after the Fair Work Commission cut Sunday and holiday wages

Mark Lincoln, director of LUSH Australasia, has eased staff concerns and said nobody would have their pay cut irrespective of the independent tribunal's ruling

'On behalf of Lush Australia, we wish to advise that we will not be applying these reductions to the rates of pay our staff are currently paid.

'We will continue to pay our staff under the existing terms and conditions for employees working on Sundays and Public Holidays.'

Mr Lincoln signed off on behalf of himself and fellow director Peta Granger.

Employees of LUSH Australia are paid under the terms of the General Retail Industry Award 2010, which was affected by the reduction in penalty rates.

The LUSH Australia & NZ Twitter account later publicly announced the company would not be slashing wages.

'The happiest and most productive employees are those who feel safe, valued and listened to by their employers,' the tweet said

'No one working for Lush Australia will be adversely affected by Fair Work's announcement today,' Mr Lincoln said (stock photo of employee with facial scrubs)

'The happiest and most productive employees are those who feel safe, valued and listened to by their employers,' the tweet said.

Left-wing commentator Van Badham shared Mr Lincoln's post on her Facebook page

Workers and consumers are making it worth the beauty retailer's worthwhile by recommending LUSH stores on social media.

Influential left-wing commentator Van Badham shared Mr Lincoln's post on her Facebook page.

'A wholehearted recommendation from me to the community of this Facebook page that you buy your cosmetics and toiletries from LUSH Australia,' Badham wrote to her 22,000 followers.

'Also, the products are really good,' she wrote on Friday morning.

More than 7,400 people had liked her Facebook post within five hours.

Workers and consumers are making it worth the beauty retailer's worthwhile by recommending LUSH stores on social media

A stock photo of LUSH face masks. Australasian director Mark Lincoln said penalty rates would not be slashed for staff

Facebook and Twitter users have been flooding the LUSH Australia Facebook page with congratulations and recommendations for shoppers to support the store that supports its staff.

'Well done LUSH for supporting your workers in regards to Sunday penalty rates! I've always liked your products and now I have yet another reason to buy from your business,' one person wrote on Facebook.

'I'm filled with so much joy that you value their [staff] time and effort. I will make an effort to explore your brand more and purchase your products,' another wrote.

'LUSH - you have just made the purchases of soap things so easy. LUSH and only LUSH. Only too happy to support an organisation that supports its employees. BRAVO!' another woman said on the company Facebook page.

'Just thought I'd let you know you have a new customer.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted LUSH Australia.

'LUSH - you have just made the purchases of soap things so easy. LUSH and only LUSH,' one consumer wrote

What does the cut to penalty rates mean for YOU? Retail: Sunday rates reduced from 200 to 150 per cent of standard wage for full and part-time workers, and from 200 to 175 for casual workers. Hospitality: Sunday rates reduced from 175 to 150 per cent of standard wage for full and part-time workers, casual employees will remain the same. Fast-food: Sunday rates reduced from 150 per cent to 125 per cent of standard wage for full and part-time workers, and 175 to 150 for casual workers. Pharmacy (7am to 9pm only): Sunday rates reduced from 200 per cent to 150 per cent of standard wage for full and part-time workers, and 200 to 175 for casual workers. Public holidays: Retail and hospitality workers will have their standard wage reduced from 250 per cent to 225 per cent. Other industries will not be affected. Saturday rates remain the same and the pay cuts will be implemented in July Advertisement

'I want to congratulate you on supporting your valuable staff,' another wrote
Chris Huhne works for a firm which benefits from wasteful green subsidies he championed in office, it has emerged

Disgraced former minister Chris Huhne works for a firm which benefits from wasteful green subsidies he championed in office, it has emerged.

The one-time energy secretary was forced to resign as an MP after he was jailed for perverting the course of justice, following a scandal over speeding points.

While in office, the Lib Dem supported payments to power stations for burning wood pellets rather than coal. And three months after he was released from prison, he became European chairman of Zilkha Biomass, a US supplier of wood pellets.

A report published yesterday found green subsidies for wood-burning power stations have cost hundreds of millions  and that the practice does more harm to the environment than coal.

Written by Mr Huhnes former special adviser Duncan Brack, it said that chopping down trees and transporting wood across the Atlantic to feed power stations produces more greenhouse gases than the much cheaper fossil fuel.

The report, for the Chatham House think-tank, blames the problem on the rush to meet EU renewable energy targets, which led ministers to the false assumption that burning trees was carbon-neutral.

The one-time energy secretary was forced to resign as an MP after he was jailed for perverting the course of justice, following a scandal over speeding points (pictured arriving at Southwark Crown Court)

Mr Brack said: It is ridiculous for the same kind of subsidies that go to genuine zero-carbon technologies, like solar and wind, to go to biomass use that might be increasing carbon emissions. Mr Huhne, 62, was sentenced to eight months in jail in 2013 after admitting asking his wife to take his speeding points.

He has denied any conflict of interest between his new role and former ministerial post, saying: I am not aware of being involved in development of policy, award of grants or regulatory work that might have impacted on Zilkha.

Last night, MPs attacked the latest example of the Whitehall revolving door, which sees former ministers and civil servants moving straight into lucrative jobs with private firms. Mr Huhnes Lib Dem successor as energy secretary, Sir Ed Davey, has advised three firms on low-carbon energy projects since leaving office. All the jobs were given the green light by a committee that is meant to vet ex-ministers appointments.

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said of Mr Huhne: This man served a prison sentence so he is not necessarily a model of uprightness. Wood pellets is yet another clean energy scheme that has turned into a racket. Britains largest power station, Drax in North Yorkshire, received more than 450million in subsidies in 2015 for burning biomass, which was mostly US wood pellets.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: All biomass power plants in the UK have to meet mandatory sustainability criteria to ensure they reduce carbon emissions.

Last night Mr Huhne strongly defended his latest role. He told Channel 4 News: The reason why I work with the US energy company that I do is because I believe that it is the right thing to do, not because I am taking that line because theyre paying me.
A Canberra man who killed his ex-partner with an axe while she was carrying her eight-day-old daughter has been sentenced to 32 years in jail.

Marcus Rappel pleaded guilty to murdering mother of three Tara Costigan, 28, in February 2015 in front of her sons, aged nine and 11 at the time.

Rappel had to be restrained during his sentencing and removed from the ACT Supreme Court room after yelling at Justice John Burns.

Ms Costigan's mother Trish Fuller said no sentence would have been good enough.

'(It) should have been forever,' she told reporters outside of court amidst sobbing tears.

'Whatever he did is never going to bring her back, this has just been devastating.'

Marcus Rappel, 42, has been sentenced to 32 years in jail after killing his ex-partner with an axe while she held their eight-day-old newborn daughter

Tara Costigan, 28, was slashed in the neck by Rappel while holding her daughter and in front of her sons, aged nine and 11 at the time

'(It) should have been forever,' Ms Costigan's mother Trish Fuller (pictured) was emotional outside of court after the sentencing

Ms Costigan's uncle Michael said Rappel, 42, got what he deserved.

'Many have suggested that today will bring closure. It hasn't - today's verdict does not bring me peace. Tara remains dead,' he told reporters outside court.

Justice Burns told Rappel the ruthless murder was 'vicious and cowardly' and would be 'felt for decades to come', the ABC reported.

'Those who witnessed your violence will have to live with their memories for the rest of their lives,' he said.

'Your actions deprived three children of their mother, including your own infant daughter.

Ms Costigan, 28, was killed just a day after she sought an interim domestic violence order against Rappel and one week after she gave birth to their daughter.

'Whatever he did is never going to bring her back,' an emotional Ms Fuller said

Ms Costigan's grieving family members (mother Trish Fuller, left, her uncle, right) told reporters the sentencing gave them 'no peace or closure' as 'Tara remains dead'

Ms Costigan, 28, was killed just a day after she sought an interim domestic violence order against Rappel (pictured together)

Rappel had to be restrained during his sentencing and removed from the ACT Supreme Court room after yelling at Justice John Burns

Ms Costigan was breastfeeding her newborn daughter when Rappel broke in to her Canberra home. She fled to the laundry in terror - but it was there she was struck in the neck

In a sentencing hearing in September last year, the court heard that the estranged pair's relationship had broken down and Rappel had become increasingly abusive.

'The love was gone, the trust was gone, the family was against me for things I didn't do,' Rappel said in his evidence.

'It was doomed.'

Angered at not being present for his daughter's birth and intent on reclaiming furniture which belonged to him, he arrived at the Calwell home in a rage.

Ms Costigan was breastfeeding her newborn daughter when Rappel broke in. She fled in terror to the laundry but was not quick enough.

It was there that she was struck in the neck by Rappel, falling face-first to the ground while still holding her newborn daughter.

Ms Costigan's sister Nikkie Schmidt and her partner were in the house at the time and both suffered injuries in the attack.

Ms Schmidt's partner eventually managed to knock the axe from Mr Rappel's hands and a neighbour was able to restrain him until police arrived.

Rappel was sentenced to 32 years and 2 months jail, with a non-parole period of 26 years, for murder, breaching a domestic violence order and two counts of assault.

He will be eligible for release in 2041.

Justice Burns said Rappel's motivation for the murder was the AVO that Ms Costigan had applied for

Rikki Schmidt, sister of domestic violence victim Tara Costigan is hugged by family members outside the Supreme Court after Rappel was sentenced
President Donald Trump blasted the FBI on Friday, saying it was incapable of stopping a series of embarrassing national security leaks.

The statement on Twitter - and on Facebook - followed leaks from his own White House which revealed that Trump's chief of staff had unsuccessfully asked the FBI to publicly discredit allegations that his presidential campaign was in touch with Russian intelligence throughout the election season.

'The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time,' Trump wrote.

'They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW.'

President Donald Trump blasted the FBI on Friday, saying it was incapable of stopping a series of embarrassing national security leaks. He tweeted his message before addressing CPAC

The FBI and Director James Comey (pictured) refused a White House request that the agency publicly rubbish reports claiming Trump's campaign was in constant contact with Russia

The morning intervention from the president came amid reports of a confrontation between the White House and the FBI.

CNN reported that the agency faced demands to knock down a story about contacts between Trump campaign staff and Russia which the FBI had privately told the White House was untrue.

The network said that it had been told that Reince Preibus, the White House chief of staff, spoke to Andrew McCabe, the FBI Deputy Director, at an event in the White House.

The network claimed an agency official said McCabe's chat with Priebus took place: 'on the sidelines of a separate White House meeting the day after the stories were published.'

The official who spoke to CNN for the report said Priebus also got in contact with McCabe, as well as Director James Comey, later on.

At that point, he allegedly asked if the FBI could at least speak to reporters about the allegations to knock them down - even if they would not go on the record.

Comey reportedly rejected that request, saying that the allegations were part of an ongoing investigation.

The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus' communications with McCabe.

The official was not authorized to disclose the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.

A senior Trump administration official confirmed to White House reporters that the exchanges occurred after the CNN ran its report.

The direct contact between the White House and the agency breaches decade-old restrictions.

The senior official said that McCabe told Priebus at a Feb. 15 event that a New York Times story from the day before alleging improper contact between the Trump campaign and the Russian officials was 'BS'.

At that time, Priebus asked McCabe, 'What can we do about this?' The White House chief of staff said he was worried he was 'getting crushed' and asked, 'What am I supposed to do?'

McCabe said he'd get back to him, the senior official told reporters during a background briefing this morning. The FBI official called him later and said, 'We'd love to help but we can't get into the position of making statements on every story.'

Priebus then asked if he could cite 'senior intelligence officials,' instead, and McCabe told him he could. Comey called Priebus after that, the official said, and gave him a similar answer.

A new report alleges FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe (left) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (right) were the first to speak about smacking down the claims

The senior official was unsure about an ongoing FBI investigation into Trump's campaign with regards to Russia but didn't get the idea there was.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer complained on Friday morning that prior reports on the conversations were 'indefensible and inaccurate.'

He said Priebus' response to McCabe's comments about the validity of the Times article was natural. If the White House official had walked away without making an ask, 'How insane would that be?' Spicer said.

'What sane person would not want to set the record straight?' he told a group of journalists.

The reports of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia were first published by The New York Times and CNN on February 14.

The Times claimed call records and intercepted conversations show: 'members of Donald J. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.'

The request from the White House claimed Trump's campaign team was in contact with Russian intelligence during the election. Trump is pictured on February 23

It also said the allegations were based off interviews it has carried out with four 'current and former American officials'.

The alleged contact was uncovered by US intelligence agencies that were working at the time to figure out if the president's campaign team was working with Russia in regards to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee or other attempts to influence the election.

The report was dismissed by the Kremlin.

'Let's not believe anonymous information,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters about the report, noting that the newspaper's sources were unnamed.

'It's a newspaper report which is not based on any facts.'

Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election.

US intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including about American sanctions policy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 23

Putin is seen speaking with officers at the Kremlin press conference on February 23

Still, Trump and his advisers have denied contacts with Russian officials during the election.

Last week, Trump said 'nobody that I know of' spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.

Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, telling Fox News 'the top levels of the intelligence community' have assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were 'not only grossly overstated, but also wrong.'

Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden said Priebus' comments opened the door for Comey to discuss the bureau's investigation publicly.

'If the White House chief of staff can make public claims about the supposed conclusions of an FBI investigation, then Director Comey can come clean with the American people,' Wyden said.

Justin Shur, a former Justice Department public corruption prosecutor, said it was imperative that Justice Department investigations not be swayed by political considerations.

'As a general matter, investigations and prosecutions should be about gathering the facts and the evidence and applying the law,' Shur said.

During the campaign, Trump and other Republicans vigorously criticized a meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, husband of Trump's general election opponent.

The meeting came as the FBI - which is overseen by the Justice Department - was investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address and personal internet server.
University students were handed a 29-point 'male privilege checklist' during diversity workshops on orientation week.

The checklist detailed ways in which males were perceived to have advantages over females in careers, sexuality, personal safety, child rearing, and even clothing.

The University of Western Australia in Perth confirmed the checklist was part of 'Diversity Dialogue' workshops last week, along with material on race and sexuality.

University of Western Australia students were handed a 29-point 'male privilege checklist' during diversity workshops on orientation week

'My odds of being hired for a job, when competing against female applicants, are probably skewed in my favour,' the first point read.

'My clothing is typically less expensive and better-constructed,' another read, adding that 'my clothes will probably fit better'.

Other lines on the first page said carelessness with finances or driving would not be attributed to a male's sex, their grooming is quicker and cheap, and were not assumed to have to sacrifice career for family.

Point 17 read: 'If I'm not conventionally attractive, the disadvantages are small and easy to ignore.'

Other material in the workshops included a 20-point list called 'understanding white privilege' where students had to tick yes, no or maybe next to each line

The third handout, 'understanding heterosexual privilege', asked if students took for granted rights like public displays of affection, and talking openly about their relationship

Promiscuous men were less likely to be called a s**t, males were interrupted less, under less pressure to be thin, and men's ability to make decision was never question due to the 'time of the month'.

Other material in the workshops included a 20-point list called 'understanding white privilege' where students had to tick yes, no or maybe next to each line.

One read: 'Can you go into a shopping centre by yourself and be confident you won't be harassed or threatened?'

'Can you operate successfully in public life, knowing only your first language?' another read.

Others dealt with whether people made them feel welcome and included, and saw people of their race on TV or at work, felt comfortable around authority figures, or were positively portrayed in the media.

Students discussing them on school leaver social media groups were outraged at being 'forced' to sit through the workshops

One student even wrote an eight-point 'female privilege checklist'

The last point read: 'Can you name five famous Australians of your own ethnic background?'

The third handout, 'understanding heterosexual privilege', asked if students took for granted rights like public displays of affection, and talking openly about their relationship.

Others included their partner appearing in family photos, not feeling judged, and not having people assume their partner was of the other gender.

A young woman said though men did have advantages over women, the checklist was 'dumb' and ignored the women also had privileges

Students discussing them on school leaver social media groups were outraged at being 'forced' to sit through the workshops.

'That's just wrong,' one student wrote, while another commented 'you have got to be joking'. A third even wrote an eight-point 'female privilege checklist'.

A young woman said though men did have advantages over women, the checklist was 'dumb' and ignored the women also had privileges.

UWA said the workshops were voluntary and used to start a conversation about unconscious biases about gender, race and diverse sexuality

'I think the best way to realise the different types of advantages we have all had is through listening to other people's stories, not to have a blatant check list that blames on (sic) section of people,' she wrote.

UWA said the workshops were voluntary and used to start a conversation about unconscious biases about gender, race and diverse sexuality.

'Some of the examples listed on the material are common unconscious biases that people may have, sourced from documents provided by organisations such as the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission,' it said.

'They are intended as discussion points, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, its staff, or students.'
A Canberra woman has been rushed to the hospital after taking a drug similar to that which killed three people in Melbourne last month.

It is believed the woman was taken to the hospital when she began having seizures after taking the drug, which she believed was MDMA, according to ABC.

David Caldicott, from ACT Health, said the woman would have died is she hadn't sought medical help and warned there is likely more of the same bad batch making its way around the ACT.

A Canberra woman has been rushed to the hospital with seizures after she took a drug similar to that which killed three people in Melbourne last month (stock photo)

Dr Caldicott said the drug the woman ingested was similar to a batch sold in Melbourne in January, which sent 20 people who were partying along Chapel Street to the hospital.

Three of the people died.

'There are strong similarities between this particular product that we've analysed and that which has been analysed in association with the recent overdoses in Melbourne  the only difference being this one in fact contains no MDMA or ecstasy at all  just the two most dangerous components [that caused the seizures],' Dr Caldicott told ABC.

The capsule the woman took contained psychoactive research chemical fluoroamphetamine and a psychedelic called 25C-NBOMe.

'I have no doubt that there is more of this locally,' Dr Caldicott said.

'It is very important that people who are in possession of this product dispose of it safely and do not consume it.'

It is believed the woman ingested the capsule, which she believed was MDMA (stock image)

Dr Caldicott said the drug the woman ingested was similar to a batch sold in Melbourne in January, which sent 20 people who were partying along Chapel Street (pictured) to the hospital

One Melbourne partygoer said last month had a severe reaction shortly after taking a capsule last month and immediately felt anxious and paranoid.

The man identified as Jack told VICE he believed he was lucky to be alive after taking one of the pills on Saturday night.

'If I'd taken two I don't know if I'd be here,' he said.

'It was just turbo and I was getting waves of anxiety,' he said, adding the drug made him paranoid and witnesses said he was acting 'crazy'.

'Next thing I know, I'm in the club getting schizophrenic.

'I've sort of been in that headspace before, having bipolar, and the drugs totally brought on the same feelings,' Jack said.

According to the man, the capsules looked 'the same' as any others he had seen and it would be impossible to tell if you had one of the dangerous drugs.
A man has been charged after allegedly assaulting two Domino's pizza store workers after they refused to sell him pizza because the store was closed.

The incident took place at the Hurlstone Park store in Sydney's inner west about 12.15am on Friday morning.

NSW Police said they were called to the store after reports a man had entered and allegedly attacked two people.

A man has been charged after allegedly assaulting two Domino's pizza store workers after they refused to sell him pizza because the store was closed

The incident took place at the Hurlstone Park store in Sydney's inner west about 12.15am on Friday morning

Police allege the man, who was shirtless at the time, became angry when he was told the store was closed.

CCTV footage shows three Domino's employees in the kitchen, facing the man and having a conversation, before the shirtless man appears in view.

The group has a lengthy discussion before the man is ushered outside, where he continues talking with one of the employees.

Police allege the man then slapped and punched 23-year-old worker in the head and when colleagues came to his aid, a 30-year-old worker was also allegedly hit.

The man then ran from the store.

Police arrived and assisted the injured men, while a second police crew patrolled the area.

A 26-year-old man was arrested at the corner of Canterbury Road and Crinan Street about five minutes later.

Police allege the man then slapped and punched 23-year-old worker in the head and when colleagues came to his aid, a 30-year-old worker was also allegedly hit

The man was taken to Campsie Police Station where he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault.

He was granted conditional bail to appear in Burwood Local Court on 14 March.

The 30-year-old man was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for further treatment with a suspected broken nose.

A Domino's spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the company has offered counselling for the team members who were the victims of the violent incident at the Hurlstone Park store.

'Our number one priority is the safety of our staff and our focus is on their wellbeing,' a spokesperson said.

'Domino's will continue to work closely with local police and has provided CCTV vision from the store to assist.'

The man allegedly flew into a rage when he was denied pizza from the closed store
A photograph of a woman sitting on a gym bench with her shoes on backwards has sent the internet into a frenzy.

The bizarre image shows a young woman in her workout gear but on closer inspection, her feet appears to point the other direction.

The photo has left social media users divided, with many sceptics suggesting the optical illusion was digitally altered.

A photograph of a woman sitting on a gym bench with her shoes on backwards has sent the internet into a frenzy - so can you work out how her feet are positioned that way?

Many have suggested the freakish image could be the reflection of a mirror behind her, which explains why her feet are bent in a peculiar way.

But the woman was only wearing a bracelet on her left wrist, as another person quickly pointed out the mirror could be beneath the bench.

Others suggested the woman may have artificial legs - and purposely turned her feet the other way as a joke.

While others attempted to do the stunt but struggled to twist their feet around.

The image has been baffling the internet since it emerged online in 2015 but recently made the rounds on social media.

The latest optical illusion comes after a seemingly simple picture of six women in a bar left the internet completely baffled.

The snap, which shows the friends sitting side-by-side on a sofa, appears to have something amiss - but this only becomes clear on closer inspection.

Since being shared online by Reddit user jr0d7771, it has attracted hundreds of comments and left social media users divided. But can you spot what's wrong with the image?

Scroll down for the reveal...

This seemingly mundane snap, which shows six friends sitting on a sofa in a bar, appears to have something wrong with it - but this only becomes apparent on closer inspection

If you look closely, you will see there are only five pairs of pins for the six women - meaning that the third woman from the left appears to be missing her legs.

Reddit users were desperate to solve the problem and spent hours squabbling over the correct answer.

Kacie1989 suggested: 'I actually think the first girl has [her] legs draped OVER the second girl's legs.'

Others were confused by the girl on the far right, whose left leg appeared to be abnormally long.

Have you spotted it yet? If you look closely, you will see there are only five pairs of pins for the six women - meaning that the third woman from the left appears to be missing her legs

Reddit users were desperate to solve the problem and spent hours squabbling over the correct answer, with the most plausible explanation coming from Canadian_Ireland

However the most plausible explanation came from Canadian_Ireland, who wrote: 'The second girl's legs are behind the first girl's legs.'

This would suggest that the girl with the 'missing' legs is actually sitting at an angle, with her legs appearing to belong to the friend on her right.

The snap is just the latest in a long line of optical illusion photos to leave people baffled.

In October, seemingly mundane photo of three women sitting on a park bench left the internet in a state of confusion.

An optical illusion image of three women sitting on a park bench that's recently resurfaced online has been causing confusion

At first glance the photo appears to show the trio pausing for a sit down during a sunny stroll.

But there appears to be no seat on the bench and the women are hovering mid air.

The most likely explanation is that the bench features smaller pull-out seats.

Earlier this year, a photo of a bed with a part of the duvet circled in red went viral this week - with many not realising that the picture is really an optical illusion.

Within the red ring there's a section of a white duvet covered in a black floral pattern, as well as part of the carpet.

A photo of a bed with a part of the duvet circled in red has been confusing people online - with many not realising that the picture is an optical illusion

However, people who have spotted the image - which has been shared on Reddit - are struggling to work out what the circle signifies.

The image was posted by Imgur user Idon'tevenknowwhat'sgoingon yesterday, and has received more than 63,500 views.

Optical illusions are increasingly popular online. At first glance the below picture looks like a regular selfie of a woman striking a seductive pose on her bed.

Scroll down for the reveal...

At first glance this picture looks like any normal selfie you might see. However, if you look closer you will see that something is not quite right

However, if you look closer you will see that something is not quite right with the black and white image.

The shot has been driving the web to distraction ever since it went viral, with puzzlers unable to figure out the oddity.

The image has recently resurfaced on Facebook after it first originated in 2003, when it was posted by Deviantart user Missmiserystock. It was titled 'Look-carefully'.

The woman in the image actually has six fingers, instead of the usual five

At closer inspection it is revealed that the woman actually has six fingers instead of five. The subtle abnormality is likely to be a clever trick of Photoshop, designed to confuse.

One internet user, Bogina, wrote: 'Hahaha thats insane it took me a while to catch it good job!' [sic]

But are your eyes sharp enough to solve this brain teaser driving the web crazy?

Scroll down for the reveal...

Can you spot the phone? The image has been shared nearly 16,000 times and reached 120,000 reactions

It is just the latest in a series of brain teasing images baffling the internet.

An image of a floral carpet, uploaded by Jeya May Cruz from Pasig, the Philippines, was shared nearly 16,000 times and reached 120,000 reactions.

Why? Because the photograph contains a camouflaged mobile phone that is devilishly hard to spot.

If you are struggling, the phone has a floral pattern which does not quite match the carpet.

Confused? The handheld device lies just beside the right side table leg at the top of the photo

The phone has a floral pattern which does not quite match the carpet but is still a devilishly hard spot

Still confused? The device is just beside the right side table leg at the top of the photo.

It may seem a simple find, but it has left thousands bewildered.

Jeya captioned her image: 'Since I can't sleep, let's play a game. Look for the cellphone.'

She works as a sales representative at Dell, and studied Banking and Finance at Far Eastern University.

Sometimes the easiest-sounding brain teasers are the most difficult ones. And another puzzle to recently sweep the web certainly plays by those rules.

Scroll down for the reveal...

Created by a PlayBuzz user, this colour photo depicts a grey car seat with a mysterious object hidden on it that it's up to you to find

At first, the secret object is impossible to find. However, after a more detailed search you can spot a grey iPad lying flat on the back on the seat

Created by a PlayBuzz user, this colour photo depicts a grey car seat with a mysterious object hidden on it for you to find.

At first, the secret object is impossible to find.

However, after a more detailed search you can spot a grey iPad lying flat on the back on the seat.

The iPad is well-camouflaged because it's the same colour as the seat, with similar markings.
A massive fire has torn through an historic RSL club in the NSW Blue Mountains with fears irreplaceable war memorabilia has been lost.

The blaze sent massive fireballs into the air as it engulfed the Katoomba RSL at about 1.30pm on Friday.

The force of the fire blew out several windows and flames burst from the side and the roof of the building.

The blaze sent massive fireballs into the air as it tore through the Katoomba RSL at about 1.30pm on Friday

The force of the blaze blew out several windows and flames burst from the side and the roof of the building

By 3.30pm the blaze had destroyed at least half of the club and the roof had collapsed.

Fire crews were still battling the flames well into Friday evening.

'We'll be here for several hours before the fire is extinguished,' an RFS spokesman told AAP.

One fire officer told the Blue Mountains Gazette 'the RSL is completely gone' and they 'were still in attack mode  we haven't extinguished it'.

Fire and Rescue's Ian Krimmer told Ten News they were fighting to salvage anything they could from inside the building.

'Medals, trophies... we're making every effort we can to try and retrieve what we can,' he said.

There are fears nothing inside the building will be saved

By 3.30pm the fire had destroyed at least half of the club and the roof had collapsed

Fire crews were still fighting to control the blaze well into Friday evening

Sean Glassford, who lives in nearby Wentworth Falls, told The Sydney Morning Herald the fire was a 'big deal' for the community.

'It's a pretty small community up here,' he said. 'A lot of people work there. A lot of casuals are now unemployed, and there's a lot of memorabilia up in smoke.'

About 20 people inside were evacuated from the building safely and a neighbouring house that was under threat has been saved.

An aerial shot as the fire rips through the club on Friday. The nearby Katoomba Public School has been declared safe

About 20 people inside were evacuated from the building safely

The RSL issued a statement on its website and said that staff and guests were all safe

The nearby Katoomba Public School has also been declared safe.

The RSL issued a statement on its website and said that staff and guests were all safe.

'Due to a major fire at Katoomba RSL this afternoon the club will be closed until further notice.

'Members, Guests and Staff who were in the club this afternoon are all well. We are unable to provide any further details at this stage.'
Gabby Giffords, the former representative who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, urged members of Congress to 'have some courage' and face their constituents.

Giffords' comments on Thursday were in response to Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, who this week invoked her near-death to justify why he is not holding in-person town halls.

The Republican is currently only speaking to constituents in telephone town halls.

Gohmert further tried to justify his decision by saying: 'At this time, there are groups from the more violent strains of the leftist ideology, some even being paid, who are preying on public town halls to wreak havoc and threaten public safety.

Gabby Giffords (pictured in 2016), the former representative who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, urged members of Congress to 'have some courage' and face their voters

'Threats are nothing new to me, and I have gotten my share as a felony judge.

'However, the House Sergeant at Arms advised us after former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot at a public appearance, that civilian attendees at Congressional public events stand the most chance of being harmed or killed - just as happened there.'

But Giffords said town halls were a hallmark of her tenure in Congress.

'To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage. Face your constituents. Hold town halls,' the former Arizona Democratic congresswoman said in a statement released by Americans for Responsible Solutions.

Giffords' comments on Thursday were in response to Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, who this week invoked her near-death to justify why he is not holding in-person town halls

GABBY GIFFORDS' RESPONSE TO REPUBLICAN LOUIE GOHMERT Town halls and countless constituent meetings were a hallmark of my tenure in Congress. Its how I was able to serve the people of southern Arizona. I believed that listening to my constituents was the most basic and core tenet of the job I was hired to do. I was shot on a Saturday morning. By Monday morning my offices were open to the public. Ron Barber  at my side that Saturday, who was shot multiple times, then elected to Congress in my stead  held town halls. Its what the people deserve in a representative. In the past year, campaigning for gun safety, I have held over 50 public events. Many of the members of Congress who are refusing to hold town halls and listen to their constituents concerns are the very same politicians that have opposed commonsense gun violence prevention policies and have allowed the Washington gun lobby to threaten the safety of law enforcement and everyday citizens in our schools, businesses, places of worship, airports, and movie theaters. To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage. Face your constituents. Hold town halls. Advertisement

She also pointed out how her successor in office and her former aide, Ron Barber, who was shot multiple times during the assassination attempt on her life, continued to participate in town halls.

Giffords was gravely wounded during the attack, which killed six and injured 13.

Although she resigned her seat, she remains active on the issue of gun safety and noted that she attended more than 50 public events over the past year.

The shooting made speaking difficult for her, so she generally talks only briefly, using extremely short sentences to make her point. She has little movement in her right arm and walks with a limp.

Gohmert tried to cite Giffords' shooting as a reason for him not to hold town halls - however the Democrat quickly hit back against the suggestion from the Texas Republican

Republicans have been met with protests at town halls since the election based off a number of Donald Trump's policies. Pictured is Matt Gaetz being escorted by Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office deputies as he makes his way to his car following a meeting with constituents in Milton, Florida, on Thursday

Around the country during this congressional recess week, several Republican lawmakers have faced protests and tough questions about health care and other issues.

Several lawmakers are avoiding the events, which are reminiscent of when tea party groups voiced unhappiness about President Barack Obama and his health care overhaul in the summer of 2009.

Gohmert said that when the threat of violence recedes, he'll go back 'to the civil town hall meetings I've had in the past to supplement the masses reached in our telephone town halls.'
A British suicide bomber who got a Government payout of up to 1million after being released from Guantanamo may have used it fund a terror cell based in Manchester, leaked ISIS documents have revealed.

Leaked IS documents reportedly revealed that Jamal Al-Harith, who was born in Manchester, was recommended to the terror group by Raphael Hostey, a 24-year-old jihadi based in the northern city.

Hostey is thought to have encouraged dozens of British Muslims to travel to Syria - including close friends Mohammad Azzam Javeed and Anil Khalil Raoufi - before being killed in a drone strike last May.

British suicide bomber Jamal al-Harith used taxpayer's cash he was given for being in Guantanamo to fund his trip to Syria to join ISIS

Leaked IS documents reportedly reveal Jamal Al-Harith, who was born in Manchester, was recommended to the terror group by Raphael Hostey (pictured), 24, a jihadi based in the city

The documents, obtained by the Daily Telegraph, claim that Hostey - who used the name Abu Qaqa al-Britani - acted as a 'sponsor' for many British fighters wanting to travel to Syria.

The news comes after ministers yesterday pledged to try and reclaim some of the 20million handed out to 17 former Guantanamo prisoners if any of that money was used to sponsor terrorism.

Calling for an independent investigation, Lord Carlile, a former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said: 'We don't know how much money he received. We know he bought a house. But it takes very little to fund a jihadist.

He told The Telegraph: 'The question now is: did he fund any other terrorists. There will be very important lessons to learn in the future. It raises the possibility that al-Harith funded a cell to travel to Syria.'

Al-Harith's wife Shukee Begum confirmed that the pair knew each other, but yesterday claimed there was not much of the money left after he used the money to buy a house and for his journey to Syria to fight for ISIS.

Speaking the Channel 4 last night, she also revealed the money he received was an out of court settlement, not compensation, although she claimed it was 'substantially less' than the 1million being reported.

Meanwhile, Sky News have claimed MI5 dropped Al-Harith, who was born in Manchester, off their watch list when he fled the UK in 2014.

Following questions over the monitoring of Al-Harith, his wife claims he was 'stopped and questioned by UK authorities for six hours on his return' from a trip to Gaza in 2009 but apart from this she believes that 'he was not monitored'.

A statement to the BBC on behalf of the family said they believed the claimed figure of 1million was wide of the mark and referred to a group settlement made to four ex-detainees, including Al-Harith, and included their costs.

The statement said: 'The Jamal they knew up until 2001 when he was taken to Guantanamo Bay would not have become involved with a despicable organisation such as so-called IS.

Shukee Begum, the wife of Jamal al-Harith

'He was a peaceful and gentle person.

'Whatever he may or may not have done since then, they believe from their own experience he was utterly changed by the physical and mental cruelty and the inhuman treatment he endured for two years at Guantanamo.'

The terrorist's wife will also tell Channel 4 News that when she was in contact with Al-Harith, he was 'involved in the distribution of aid in Al-Bab and was ideologically opposed to suicide attacks'.

After his release from Guantanamo Bay in 2004 and return to the UK, she says that for nearly ten years he did not pose a threat.

His radicalisation she says, began in late 2013, and was a response to 'atrocities committed by the regime in Syria.'

His views became more extreme after contact in Manchester with Raphael Hostey - known as Abu Qaqa al-Britaini - a major ISIS recruiter prior to his death in a drone strike in Syria last year.

He travelled to Syria in 2014, where he joined ISIS.

Last year, she flew to Syria with her five children she says to try to persuade her husband to return to the UK.

Begum says her attempts to persuade him 'failed'.

Al-Harith (left) is pictured in his early years in Manchester, England, before his detention at Gauntanamo in 2002. His wife Shukee Begum is shown right - she went to Syria with their five children but fled back to Turkey

Angry: Jamal Al-Harith, told the BBC in 2004 (pictured) that he wanted to spit at his American captors who were convinced he was a dangerous terrorist

The jihadi, who was born Ronald Fiddler, was detained in the lawless southern Afghanistan after going there after 9/11 he was then flown to Guantanamo in 2002.

The US authorities said he may have spent time with Osama bin Laden in Sudan and that his back story as a backpacking Islamic scholar simply did not add up.

But he was released from the notorious prison camp in 2004 and repatriated to England by private jet and released without charge.

He was among more than a dozen Guantanamo detainees who were handed settlements totalling nearly 20million to end a civil case after the coalition came to power in 2010.

The government is thought to have been unwilling to produce secret evidence in open court.

Fiddler, who also converted to Islam in the late 1990s, was a gentle character changed who friends and family say changed completely after being held at Guantanamo.

It has been claimed Al-Harith, previously known as Ronald Fiddler before converting to Islam, received 1 million compensation from the UK Government - a sum denied by his family, who regard it as wide of the mark.

Speaking to BBC North West Tonight soon after his return to the UK he described being frightened to leave Guantanamo because he was so used to life there - and his hatred for the Americans who held him there.

He said: I was very angry actually. First when they told me I was scared because I had been in a cage for so long I didn't want to leave, strange as it might sound. My first reaction was I don't want to go. That's what came to me.

'When they were taking us out I could see the British plane waiting for us - they had to walk us over the 300 metres - and we got put in front to the British Bobby and the American soldier was taking off my chains I wanted to spit in his face but you have to hold yourself inside'.

Fiddler, who also converted to Islam in the late 1990s, was a gentle character changed who friends and family say changed completely after being held at Guantanamo.

His sister Sharon said his conversion to Islam meant he stopped going to clubs, smoking and drinking and became 'placid' but added he had 'not changed much'.

But ten years later he would flee Britain to join ISIS and blow himself up for them in Mosul this year.

Describing the reaction when he came back to Manchester he said in the 2004 interview: 'People have been fine. People have stopped me in the streets giving me hugs and saying they have been praying for me saying if you can survive this long you can stay strong and keep going. There's been a lot of support.

'There have been people on the other side too but people generally have been very very supportive'.

At the time of his release, then-Home Secretary David Blunkett, insisted: No one who is returned  will actually be a threat to the security of the British people.

Backed by human rights lawyers, Fiddler posed for publicity photographs with fellow former Guantanamo Bay detainees Martin Mubanga and Moazzam Begg.

Shami Chakrabarti, the then head of Liberty who was made a Labour peer last year, said she was delighted he was being freed.

We are delighted that the five have been released, but let us not forget those that are remaining, she said.

In one interview with a national newspaper after his release Fiddler said: It was very, very hard times, but I tried to think about nothing but survival.

At the same time he married, set up a computer business and worked as an administrator in a Muslim school.

But in 2014, Fiddler travelled to Islamic State controlled Syria via Turkey, a common route for would-be jihadists.

His journey was revealed after his estranged wife, Shukee Begum, 34, managed to escape from the terrorist group with their five children.

She endured a 10-month ordeal being passed between rebel groups as a hostage after trying to persuade her estranged husband to return home.

JAMAL'S PATH TO GUANTANAMO AND THEN SYRIA 1966: Ronald Fiddler is born in Manchester to devout Christian parents originating from Jamaica 1994: He converts to Islam, changing his name to Jamal Udeen Al-Harith October 2001: Al-Harith travels to Quetta in Pakistan, on a 'religious holiday'. A few day later the US invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan began Early 2002: He is arrested by American forces in Afghanistan after they discover him in a Taliban jail and later transferred to Guantanamo Bay prison 2004: After lobbying from Tony Blair's Labour government, Al-Harith is released along with five others. He returns to the UK where he is released without charge, and joins three other prisoners in suing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld 2009: His case against Rumsfield and the US government is finally dismissed on the grounds of 'limited immunity' for government officials 2014: Despite security services being fully aware of his previous detention, he is able to escape the UK to fight with ISIS in Syria 2015: His British wife Shukee Begum, along with their five children, join him in Syria before fleeing from the Isis-controlled territory February 2017: Al-Harith is killed in a suicide attack near Mosul, Iraq Advertisement

Mrs Begum, a law graduate from Greater Manchester, said she was desperate as she was left with four children and pregnant with a fifth.

She said: Hes my husband and all of a sudden hes not there. It didnt feel like home any more. I was trying to manage school runs, things like that.

I was thinking about the childrens futures. Was he part of it Will he come back? All these things go through your mind.

At that time he was based near al-Bab in northern Syria. It appears that since his wife left he joined frontline fighters.

Fiddlers ability to flee the country will once again shine the spotlight on the Governments inability to effectively monitor terror suspects.
The staff at a childcare centre noticed the severe bruising on little Mason Parker's body.

They were so shocked by the extent of the injuries on the 16-month-old child's body that they photographed them  but didn't speak to anyone but the boy's mother about it.

Just eight days later, Mason was killed by his mother's lover Troy Reed  who later allegedly told detectives that the boy's injuries were inflicted by the family's dog.

But the Townsville toddler had been left with a fractured skull, internal injured including a ruptured bowel and more than 50 bruises after being looked after by Reed in April 2011.

Scroll down for video

Toddler Mason Parker (pictured) was killed by his mother's lover Troy Reed in April 2011

Mason's mother Cindy Sandeman (right) has spoken about her son's death for the first time

Reed was later found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for at least 15 years.

But even though the killer is in jail, Mason's death tore his family apart  and the public backlash against his mother has been harsh.

In an episode of 60 Minutes to air this Sunday, Cindy Sandeman will speak about her son's death for the first time.

The show will also examine why the childcare centre didn't call police, which Mason's grandparents Sue and John Sandeman believe could have saved their grandson's life, according to the network.

The couple have not spoken to their daughter since the day Mason died.

Mason's grandfather John Sandeman (above) says he will never forgive his daughter

And in the five years since their grandson died, they've worked to change the law in Queensland.

From July, it will be compulsory for childcare centres in the state to report all cases of suspected abuse  and it will be known as Mason's Law.

Sue and John Sandeman say they'll never forgive their daughter for failing to stop her son from being abused.

'It was her responsibility,' Mr Sandeman said.

And in her interview with 60 Minutes, she will answer difficult questions  including why she agreed to marry her son's killer before Mason was buried.

Cindy Sandeman met Reed in 2010 and months later, they were living together in Townsville.

In the five years since Mason died, his grandparents (pictured) have worked to change the law in Queensland

'He came across as a nice, caring man,' she said.

After childcare workers informed her about the injuries Mason had suffered in April 2011, she continued to let Reed care for the boy alone.

When she asked Reed about the injuries, he claimed the boy had fallen from his high chair, but photographs of the injuries allegedly show hand prints on the boys thigh and buttock, according to 9Honey.

'Hindsight is a beautiful thing,' Cindy said.

'It was something I didn't contemplate. It didn't enter my mind. I did the best I could.'

Within days of Mason's death, she agreed to marry Reed.

'You know it wasn't about the wedding,' she said. 'It was about him making sure I was there with him staying on his side, not talking to the police.'
Universities could soon offer two-year degrees charging annual fees of 14,000 under government plans unveiled yesterday.

The fast-track courses will cost more per year than their longer equivalents, but will be no more expensive over the whole of the qualification.

Ministers believe this will help students save a years housing and living expenses and enter the job market faster.

Universities will be able to offer fast-track degrees with a higher annual tuition fee under government plans

But a lecturers union attacked the proposals, warning of a huge burden on staff and a pile em high and teach em cheap approach to higher education.

Labours universities spokesman Gordon Marsden also questioned whether ministers were using the proposals as a Trojan horse to let tuition fees rip. Powers to lift the 9,000-a-year fee limit for undergraduates doing two-year degrees were proposed by the Government yesterday.

They were among a host of amendments to its Higher Education and Research Bill following fierce opposition from peers.

Ministers appear to have feared that the legislation was unlikely to make it through the Lords, where the Government does not have a majority, without amendments.

Announcing the plans, Universities Minister Jo Johnson (pictured) said, 'Students are crying out for more flexible courses, modes of study which they can fit around work and life'

Vice chancellors will be allowed to hike up fees for two-year courses only, as long as they can prove they are investing the same resources in the accelerated programmes.

The Department for Education is yet to confirm the level of higher fees, which would need Parliaments approval. It is also due to launch a consultation.

Universities minister Jo Johnson yesterday told an audience of vice chancellors that two-year courses will never be more, overall, than that of the same course over a longer period. However, tuition fees for three-year courses are already set to increase to 9,250 a year this September. They will later rise in line with inflation.

This means that, if the overall cost is the same, annual fees for two-year degrees in England could soar to 14,000 a year by the time the new charges are introduced  making them higher than many US state universities.

FULL TIME TUITION FEES FOR UK/EU STUDENTS 1998: 1,000 - The Teaching and Higher Education Act was enacted, which introduced tuition fees 2006/7: 3,000 - Under Higher Education Act 2004, universities in England could charge up to 3,000 2009/10: 3,225 - The cap rose to take account of inflation 2012: 3,290 - Before the coalition government nearly tripled the cap 2013/14: 8,096 - Once the rise came into effect, fees varied from 8-9,000 2015/16: 9,000 - In England, tuition fees are capped at 9,000 a year for UK and EU students. The average fee for a three year course is currently 26,000 in total 2017: 9,250 - Institutions meeting expectations under new teaching excellence framework (TEF) will be able to raise fees to 9,250 this September Advertisement

Mr Johnson told the Universities UK conference in London that the Bill provided an opportunity to introduce more flexible provision into Higher Education.

He said: I absolutely recognise that for many students the classic three-year residential model will remain the preferred option. But it clearly must not be the only option. He also said he wanted to make it easier for enrolled students to switch universities.

Undergraduates would have to work more intensely for accelerated courses, while their holidays would be shorter than their peers studying for three or four years.

Dr Tim Bradshaw, acting director of the Russell Group of elite universities, said: Careful consideration will be needed for how these accelerated courses are delivered so that they dont negatively affect student learning or compromise the overall undergraduate experience.

Sally Hunt, of the University and College Union, added: As well as placing a huge burden on staff, these new degrees would only be available to students who could study all year round.

Our universities must remain places of learning, not academic sweatshops and the Government needs to resist the pile em high and teach em cheap approach to students education.
This video shows the shocking moment a brazen thief snatched a woman's purse from her trolley while she was scanning items at a self-service checkout.

The incident occurred at a Woolworths in Ashwood, a suburb of Melbourne, earlier this month, 9News reports.

The woman, identified as Thi, had been scanning her groceries at the self-service checkout when a man is seen on CCTV footage passing by.

A brazen thief was caught on CCTV cameras as he snatched a purse from a woman's trolley

The man, wearing a T-shirt, shorts and carrying a plastic bag, is then seen going back to snatch the purse from inside her open handbag before leaving the store.

'When I turn back I cant see my purse and I thought, "Oh wow, where's my purse?''' she told 9News.

Her purse contained $600 in cash, but the opportunistic thief then went to withdraw $1,000 using her bank card from a nearby ATM.

The thief is seen taking the purse from the woman's open handbag at a Melbourne Woolworths

The purse contained $600 in cash, but the thief also withdraw money using the victim's card

The victim had attempted to cancel her bank card over the phone, but wasn't able to do so before the thief withdrew money from her account.

Her daughter Laura Bui said: 'There were people everywhere. It was really busy and no one even noticed it.'

She added: 'They can't get away with doing this to people. They're going to get caught eventually.'
Iraqi forces fighting ISIS in western Mosul have reportedly told local jihadists they would be offered 'special care from the judiciary' if they agreed to kill foreign militants.

The forces, who also encouraged locals to pick up weapons and join the fight against ISIS, made their announcement as they gained control of Mosul airport on Friday and a sprawling military base next to it on the city's southwestern edge.

'I can confirm that the airport is fully liberated,' said Brigadier General Abbas al-Juburi, of the interior ministry's elite Rapid Response units that led the assault on the airport, which was largely destroyed by ISIS forces,.

Iraq's federal police, special forces and the army are taking part in the battle, which is part of a major assault that started on Sunday to drive IS militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

Iraqi Federal policemen celebrate their victory while standing between the liberated airport and sugar plant in western Mosul, Iraq, on Friday. Iraqi forces pushed into the first neighborhood in western Mosul on Friday and took full control of the international airport on the city's southwestern edge from the Islamic State group

Iraqi forces fighting ISIS in western Mosul also asked locals to pick up weapons and join the fight as they secured the city's airport from ISIS members on Friday. Pictured above, Iraqi forces flash the sign for victory as they enter Mosul airport on Thursday

Iraqi forces were wounded during the battle on Friday. One army solder, pictured above, had to have his head dressed after being wounded

Elite Iraqi forces on Friday entered a west Mosul neighbourhood for the first time since the start four months ago of an offensive to retake the city, a commander said.

Sami al-Aridhi, a lieutenant general in the Counter-Terrorism Service, said his men had retaken a military base and a village southwest of Mosul and entered a residential neighbourhood of the city.

'We have attacked and fully control Ghazlani base, we have also taken Tal al-Rayyan... and we're attacking Al-Maamun neighbourhood,' he told AFP.

Iraqi forces secured the east side of Mosul a month ago and on Sunday launched a fresh push on the west side of the Tigris River that divides the city.

They have since retaken several outlying villages and desert areas near the city. On Friday, commanders confirmed that government forces had full control of the airport that lies on the southern edge of the city.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Counter-Terror Service (ICTS) circulated a six-point announcement across western Mosul, IBTimes reported.

An Iraqi federal police sniper fires from a roof of a building near the Mosul airport on Friday

Iraqi army soldiers wear gas masks in the streets of Mosul during a battle with ISIS for the western part of the city

An Iraqi amy soldier is wounded by a mortar fire during a battle near western Mosul on Friday

Rapid Response forces members cross farm land during a battle with Islamic State's militants south west of Mosul on Friday

Mosul airport is now under control of the Iraqi Federal Police, officials said Friday. Pictured above, smoke billows in the background as Iraqi forces advance on Mosul airport on Thursday

Iraqi forces also took control of most of the Ghozlani military comoplex, which is near the airport in the western side of Mosul. Pictured above, Iraqi army launch a rocket towards Islamic State militants during a battle with Islamic State militants near the military complex

The public announcement offered 'special care from the judiciary' to local ISIS members who were willing to kill foreign militants. They also offered members of ISIS a chance to surrender.

The announcement told locals: 'If you have weapons, take them up and fight the group's militants. They are weaker than you think.'

But for those who didn't want to join the fight, the announcement urged people to stay indoors and to turn away militants looking for shelter.

'Cooperation between residents of western Mosul with Iraqi armed forces will facilitate and speed up the operation to liberate the area from Isis. And your suffering under Isis will come to an end, just like the people of the left coast of Mosul,' the announcement said.

The announcement urged people to contact the organization through Facebook if they have information that could ' locate Isis militants' whereabouts, their weapons, hideouts, headquarters, and drones. We will take into account every single piece of information we receive confidentially.'

As the announcement circulated western Mosul, Iraqi forces took over the city's airport in the latest installment of the operation to take over the west side of the city.

Iraqi forces, pictured above advancing toward Mosul on Thursday, started a major assault on Sunday to drive Islamic State militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city

Troops from a US-led coalition joined Iraqi forces on Thursday. Pictured above, US special forces monitor as Iraqi forces advance toward Mosul's airport

Iraqi forces encouraged locals to pick up weapons and join the fight against ISIS as they entered Mosul airport on Thursday

ISIS fighters have control of west Mosul, while the coalition backed Iraqi Army has control of east Mosul and the south of the city. Iraqi troops, including British SAS fighters, are moving in from the south. On Monday, a British suicide bomber blew himself up in Tal Kisum and ISIS fighters are concentrating defences on a hill at Albu Saif

The operation to retake Mosul's airport took four hours, during which forces were met with heavy gunfire and mortars from ISIS, according to BBC.

Iraqi authorities declared Mosul's eastern half 'fully liberated' in January and afterward largely paused operations to prepare for the fight for the city's west.

Brett McGurk, the US envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition, tweeted out a congratulatory message after the operation, saying ISIS is 'trapped'.

'Congratulations to Iraqi forces for completing complex maneuver ops to secure #Mosul airport from #ISIS terrorists,' he tweeted. '#ISIS is now trapped.'

British Major Gen Rupert Jones, deputy commander of Operation Inherent Resolve, however, told CNN that the airport was 'reasonably well-secured'.

'We should just be a little bit patient. It will really be for the Iraqis to say for certain once they're confident they're holding it,' he said.

Thursday, officials said Iraqi forces came under heavy fire from inside airport buildings as they made it on to the grounds and seized the runway, which was largely destroyed by ISIS.

The operation to retake Mosul's airport (pictured above) took four hours, during which forces were met with heavy gunfire and mortars from ISIS

Smoke clouds from the western part of Mosul could be seen from miles away as a battle broke out over Mosul's airport

The Mosul offensive

They said troops from the US-led coalition were with the advancing forces, though they didn't specify the nationalities of the foreign forces.

The US troops are not supposed to be doing the actual fighting but in recent weeks have got so close to the front that they have come under attack, coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said.

'They have come under fire at different times, they have returned fire at different times, in and around Mosul,' Dorrian told reporters on Wednesday.

He declined to say if there had been any US casualties in the attacks, but an unnamed official later told CNN that several personnel had been evacuated from the battlefield.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Private broadcaster Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen aired live footage from the Mosul airport perimeter, showing a military helicopter buzzing overhead and firing at IS positions as gunfire rattled.

Thursday, officials said Iraqi forces came under heavy fire from inside airport buildings as they made it on to the grounds and seized the runway, which was largely destroyed by ISIS (pictured above, a file photo of the Mosul airport)

US Army soldiers stand outside their armored vehicle on a joint base with Iraqi army south of Mosul as forces push into the western side of the city on Thursday

Special forces troops had earlier on Thursday joined the government offensive to push the militants out of the western half of Mosul, reaching a sprawling, IS-held military base on the city's southern edge as police forces advanced toward the airport.

From the south, the elite counter-terrorism forces reached the Ghazlani base in the morning hours, officers said.

'The counter-terrorism forces will be an additional force which will expedite the liberation of Mosul's western side,' said Brigadier General Yahya Rasool.

Meanwhile, Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces have killed dozens of Islamic State terrorists in the western countryside of Mosul as Iraqi officials continue their work toward taking back the city.

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are Iraq's government-sanctioned paramilitary forces, made up mainly of Shiite militiamen.

The PMF are moving their units toward Tal Afar's countryside as allies in the Iraqi Army and Federal Police continue their offensive in the western sector of Mosul.

The battle for western Mosul, the extremist group's last major urban bastion in Iraq, is expected to be most daunting yet. Federal police react as they arrive in Albu Saif, which was recently retaken by Iraqi military forces, on Wednesday

Meanwhile, Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces have killed dozens of Islamic State terrorists in the western countryside of Mosul as Iraqi officials continue their work toward taking back the city. Pictured above, PMF fires toward Islamic State militants during a battle with Islamic State militants

The PMF is likely coordinated with government effort to recapture western part of Mosul from IS. Pictured above, PMF fires toward Islamic State militants during a battle with Islamic State militants

The battle for western Mosul, the extremist group's last major urban bastion in Iraq, is expected to be most daunting yet.

The streets are older and narrower in this section of the city, stretching west from the Tigris River that divides Mosul into the eastern and western half.

The dense urban environment is likely to force Iraqi soldiers to leave the relative safety of their armored vehicles, and the presence of up to 750,000 civilians will also pose a challenge.

Mosul fell to IS in summer 2014, along with large areas of northern and western Iraq.

Medical workers say the weakest are beginning to die of the combined effect of malnutrition and the lack of medicines, which IS fighters are keeping for themselves.

A smaller than expected proportion of the east side's population fled when Iraqi forces stormed it nearly four months ago but the United Nations is bracing for a bigger exodus from the west.

It had said 250,000 people or more could flee their homes on the west bank and has scrambled to set up new displacement camps around the city.
A North Carolina man convicted of his wife's manslaughter has walked free from court after spending eight years behind bars for her murder.

Michael Peterson, 73, is out of theories as to how his wife Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in the couple's mansion in Durham more than 15 years ago, but maintains his innocence.

The novelist, who served eight years of a life sentence for her murder before being released by a judge on appeal due to flawed evidence, went for a retrial on Friday on a manslaughter charge.

In court he took to an Alford plea, which allowed him to say he's innocent while agreeing the prosecution has enough evidence to convict him.

Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson sentenced him to 64 to 86 months in prison but gave him credit for the 89 months he has already spent behind bars so he walked free.

Scroll down for video

Kathleen Peterson's sister confronted Peterson in the courtroom during the hearing today

Michael Peterson is out of theories as to how his wife Kathleen died after her body was found at the bottom of a staircase in the couple's mansion in Durham more than 15 years ago. They are pictured together above

He maintains his innocence in her death and has agreed to accept an Alford plea

Peterson said he took the Alford plea because he had no faith in getting a fair shake at a second trial.

He said making an Alford plea in the death of his wife 16 years ago is one of the most difficult things he's ever done, and that the second most difficult was to sit through his trial and listen to what he called 'lies, perjury, fake evidence, made-up evidence.'

During the hearing on Friday, Kathleen's sister Lori Campbell got the chance to address the person she believed murdered her sister.

'It's wrong that after a jury sentenced him to life in prison for the murder of his wife, he gets to be a free man while Kathleen lies in her grave,' she said in an angry speech to Peterson and his attorney David Rudolf.

'Closure is for a door. Not for my murdered sister,' she added.

Rudolf said on Friday: 'The bottom line here is that Mr Peterson is not guilty. He was never guilty.'

Before the retrial Peterson said: 'The only thing I know absolutely, positively, is that I had nothing to do with Kathleen's death.'

The judge said one of the prosecution's main witnesses in the initial murder trial, a blood spatter analyst, had conducted flawed tests and misled the jury.

'That atmosphere, that culture of convicting someone, doing anything possible to convict someone is still there,' said Peterson, a Marine in the Vietnam War who later wrote 'A Time of War' and 'A Bitter Peace.'

Kathleen was found with multiple bruises on her arms, wrists, hands, and back. She also had abrasions on her face and at least seven deep lacerations on her head.

A medical examiner concluded she died from lacerations of the scalp caused by homicidal assault.

Exactly how she died has brought about many theories over the years. Michael's defense team had argued that an intruder could have been in the home and was responsible for her death. An owl attack had also been put forward as a theory.

Kathleen Peterson (pictured) was found, dead, at the bottom of a staircase in 2001

Pictured is the staircase spattered with Kathleen's blood following her death. The original trial concluded with Peterson being convicted of first degree murder of his wife, but that conviction was thrown out because one of the prosecution's main witnesses, a blood spatter analyst, had conducted flawed tests and misled the jury

His trial in 2003 had all the makings of a made-for-TV movie - and one was filmed, along with a multi-part documentary by a French film crew which explored his bisexuality; the death of a family friend, Elizabeth Ratliff, whose body also was found at the bottom of a staircase years earlier in Germany; and the state blood spatter analyst whose discredited testimony in another case eventually led to the first release of a man under the state's unique innocence commission.

Through all of it, Peterson's two biological sons with his wife support him, as do the two sisters he raised and whose mother is the woman who died in Germany.

But Kathleen's family, including her daughter Caitlin Atwater and sister Candace Zamperini, do not.

Michael Peterson is pictured with his wife Kathleen. The now 73-year-old served eight years of a life sentence in jail before he was released due to incomplete evidence and a misled jury

Kathleen's (pictured) family, including her daughter Caitlin Atwater and sister Candace Zamperini believe that Peterson killed his wife

In 2007, Atwater reached a $25million wrongful death settlement with Peterson, payable only if his guilty conviction stood.

Peterson maintained his innocence throughout, and has said he isn't sure the effect of the Alford plea on the settlement.

After Michael Peterson was released in 2011, Zamperini - who testified for the prosecution at trial - told Raleigh's News & Observer that she agreed with the guilty verdict.

And earlier this month, she said in a statement to media outlets that Michael Peterson has 'professed his false innocence' for over 15 years.

District Attorney Roger Echols didn't respond to a message seeking comment. Peterson's attorney, Rudolf, said prosecutors agreed to the Alford plea and Peterson will be sentenced to time already served.

Peterson has said he was innocent in his wife's death since her body was found December 9, 2001, at the bottom of the staircase in their 12,000-square-foot mansion.

Rudolf reiterates that innocence in a court memo filed Wednesday: 'He did not kill Kathleen Peterson. He did not attack Kathleen Peterson. He is not responsible for her death in any way.'

Though Peterson's biological children believe he is innocent, Kathleen's daughters Caitlin Atwater (pictured during the trial in 2003) and Candace Zamperini do not. In 2007, Atwater reached a $25million wrongful death settlement with Peterson, payable only if his guilty conviction stood

Peterson has said he was innocent in his wife's death since her body was found December 9, 2001, at the bottom of the staircase in their 12,000-square-foot mansion. The mansion is pictured

Peterson was convicted of first degree murder initially in 2003 without a murder weapon or a clear motive, although witnesses testified about financial problems and Peterson's bisexuality.

Rudolf said jurors relied on the testimony of Duane Deaver, the blood spatter analyst of the State Bureau of Investigation, who was fired in 2011 after an independent audit found problems in 34 cases he was involved in.

In December 2011, Judge Orlando Hudson, who heard the original trial, ordered a new trial on the basis of Deaver's testimony. Peterson was released from prison.

Prosecutors refused in November 2016 to drop the charges against Peterson, whose attorneys argued the case couldn't be tried because evidence hadn't been stored correctly.

After that, his sons advised him to settle the case somehow because they believed he would never get a fair trial.

Peterson said taking the Alford plea is incredibly hard, because he still considers himself to be completely innocent

Todd Peterson is pictured in 2003 during the first murder trial. He was one who convinced Peterson to settle the case somehow for fear of not getting a fair trial

'Taking the Alford plea is the most difficult thing I've done in my life - ever,' Peterson said. 'And I've thought back on it - (is there) any other decision that remotely rivals it? No.'

Though he maintained his innocence, the plea ultimately makes him a convicted felon.

He cannot trust the police or prosecutors again, he said, 'because I don't believe they would play fairly. They would do anything to convict me. And I am not going to put my life and my freedom in their hands.'

Peterson now lives in a 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom condo. It is more than enough, said Peterson, now a grandfather of two.

He plans to visit family, spread across the country. But after that, he's not sure about his plans, other than to write a book.

'For five years, I've lived with this over my head. But now, on Friday, I'll be free. I haven't really absorbed that yet,' he said.
The luckless ex-partner of a EuroMillions winner has received death threats after revealing he won't get a penny of the jackpot.

Sean Priestley, 48, has been inundated with vile abuse from Facebook users after the mother of three of his children, Beverley Doran, 37, won 14.5million last week.

Miss Doran, of Shipley, West Yorkshire, claimed the prize after buying a ticket following a lucky dip win of 50 two days before.

Scroll down for video

Miss Doran, 37, from Shipley near Bradford, West Yorkshire, celebrated a massive 14,509,500 win from Friday's EuroMillions draw

Her ex-partner, Sean Priestley, has since received abuse online after he told pals Miss Doran informed him he wouldn't get a penny of the winnings

Shortly after the announcement of her win, Mr Priestley posted on Facebook that he would not be receiving a penny and that he was 'chuffed' for Miss Doran despite being snubbed for any profits.

But Mr Priestley, who lives about eight miles away in Bradford, has received foul comments from around the world taunting him about missing out on the millions.

George Carrie posted on Sean's Facebook page:'Borrrow what , motherf*****? Borrow what, you f****** left her alone with the kids and now you are talking about borrowing money? If you f****** toch a penny of her i'll f****** kill you. I know where you f****** live f****** maggot.' (sic)

Another troll Ali Shah Khan wrote: '14.5 million. And you won't get a slice of the pie...good on her.' (sic)

Gill Smith chipped in: 'Oh the sympathy vote .... you don't deserve f***all and why should you ???? It's nice to see someone who actually needs the money to win it. Ex's are ex's for a reason. The woman has already said how much she was struggling, well she doesn't have to struggle anymore!!!!!!!!'

Mr Priestley told reporters he was 'chuffed to bits for her'. He added: 'It's not my money, but now the kids are financially secure for the future'

Priestley informed friends that there is little point in asking him for money after Ms Doran went public with her massive lottery win

Martijn Verhoef wrote: 'Hahaha f****** LOSER!'

Hanna Verhof posted: 'Sean Priestly you are a f****** loser!'

Roelof Paas stated: 'Good that you End up with Nothing!...you are a nothing and deserve nothing!!....mr Nobody!!!.'

The abusive comments come after friends were reported as saying Miss Doran was seeking legal advice as she was concerned about Mr Priestley filing a case to get some of the winnings.

Speaking to The Sun, a friend said: 'He doesn't deserve a single penny of it. She's getting advice at the moment and that's one area she's looking at.'

Another added: 'He should have stuck around a bit longer if he wanted some of the money. More fool him if he's stupid enough to try.

'If it was me I'd tell him to f*** off. It's not his money. It's for her and her kids. She'll get advice and deal with it.'

At least two of Mr Priestley's children were playing in the garden near a trampoline (pictured) when he spoke to MailOnline

But people close to Mr Priestley defended him.

One friend, who wished not to be named, said: 'Sean is a top bloke and cares for his children.

'He has had the little ones over the past few days whilst Bev sorts her new life out and he is not expecting a penny from her, although he knows she will help out money wise when it come to him and the kids.'

Sean's former father-in-law Colin Varley, of Halifax, spoke highly of him.

Mr Varley is the father of Lois Priestley, who Mr Priestley has three older children with.

Colin said: 'I never had a bad word to say about Sean. He was also a good man and a good dad.'

Miss Doran and Mr Priestley, split up seven months ago after a 12-year relationship.

The couple have three children together.

She cancelled her 320-a-week benefits and abandoned her council house after saying a new family home would be her first priority.

Today, the house had been covered in metal shutters to keep out squatters.

Miss Doran had to quit her job as a receptionist for a software company two years ago to care full-time for her children, who are aged 17, 10, 9 and 5.

Speaking earlier this week about her win, the single mother said: 'It's been a struggle financially - the benefit woman nearly dropped the phone when I told her I'd won the lottery.

As soon as she discovered she had won the jackpot, she went on a weekend away to north Yorkshire and bought new charms and bracelets for her children (pictured)

'It's overwhelming to think that I won't have to struggle again. Before all my money went on the children and I went around in rags.

'I could now even buy a plane! I suffered with depression just worrying about what was going to happen to my children.

'I'm still waiting for someone to come and burst my bubble.'

Mr Priestley told friends that she has already been in touch to tell him he will see none of the money.

He wrote on Facebook: 'My ex has won the lottery from Last week ...shes already assured me I will never see a penny so please don't ask me to have a word see if I can borrow owt or Invest in anything...its nothing to do with me I am n probably always will be skint (sic).'

Smoking a roll-up and sitting on the doorstep of his semi in the Allerton area of Bradford, Mr Priestley told MailOnline earlier this week: 'I'm chuffed to bits for her. It's not my money, but now the kids are financially secure for the future.

Lottery winner Ms Doran (pictured) is a carer for two of her children who have autism while another is currently being diagnosed with Aspergers

'I'd love to say more but I've got to think of the kids.'

During the press conference, Miss Doran didn't touch a drop of champagne, because she's allergic to it and turns her 'red like a lobster' if she takes even a sip.

Miss Doran, has so far treated herself to a luxury weekend in Harrogate, North Yorkshire - but had to borrow 1,000 from her friend to pay for the lavish few days.

She sipped 25 bottles of wine and ate off an a la carte menu, admitting that she is usually more accustomed to the Morrisons Cafe.

She added: 'It was a brilliant weekend, we stayed in a four star hotel and I spent 500 on a personalised bracelet complete with five charms which tells my life story.

Miss Doran moved out of her home earlier this week and treated herself to a luxury weekend in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Meanwhile Sean was seen shopping at his local Co-op

'I got charms for my children, for love and family and for my new wealth. One says 'sometimes you have to fall before you can fly'.'

Her first purchase will be a new home so that the family can leave their council house, which she began looking for the moment she discovered she had won.

Miss Doran had booked a family holiday before her win - a trip to Portugal in August - and joked that she still had 1,000 of it left to pay off.

The win is a welcome stroke of luck for struggling Miss Doran, who had to give up her job as a receptionist after two of her children were diagnosed with autism in 2015 within months of each other.

Speaking of the moment she won, she said: 'I was still waking up when I logged into my account.

Lucky mother Miss Doran (pictured today) now plans to buy a family home for her and her four children, all under the age of 17

'I could see the jackpot amount but couldn't work out what I'd won. Then I slowly realised it was one UK winner and that that person was me.

'I jumped out of bed and burst into my eldest son's bedroom. He was asleep but I was shouting 'I've won the Euros. I'm a millionaire'.'

'All he came back with was 'What you on about?' It was crazy, my head was spinning and nothing made any sense.

'I babbled to my son and collapsed on the floor and started crying and shaking.'

The single mother had lived at the house in Shipley for about four years with her children, Ben, 17, Kian, 10, Zach, nine and six-year-old daughter Erin.

Neighbour Kirsty Naismith, 33, said: 'When I saw what was going on I phoned Bev and asked 'Are you moving out?'

'Bev said 'I may as well tell you that I've won 14.5 million'. I couldn't believe it and did a lot of swearing. What she has not taken she is going to give to charity.

'I am so pleased for her. She is a good mum, who has really struggled to look after he kids alone. Like all of us, she could not afford a lot of things like clothes for herself.'

None of the neighbours had seen the childrens' father around and Bev has lived as a single parent for more than eight years.

Scarlett Brockhill, 25, said: 'I'm in shock, but good on Bev. You can't blame her for moving out of this place as quickly as she can. Dad has not been around here.'
An Oklahoma kindergartener who was adopted by a new family has touched hearts around the world after she set up a lemonade stall to raise money to help other children in foster care.

A'Layah Robinson, six, was placed into state custody at birth due to her mother's drug addiction.

She spent her childhood bouncing around foster homes and in children's shelters.

But one day her 'Forever Mom' Misty Robinson found her and her two younger siblings and adopted them.

A'Layah, who had just turned four at the time, had previously been placed with a foster parent who had given her toys including Barbies, a bike and even a little electronic tablet.

Scroll down for video

A'Layah Robinson, six, has made more than $6,000 for children in foster care thanks to her lemonade stalls

However, she was shocked to find that her baby brother, when he arrived in the new family home, owned no toys at all.

The little girl immediately went to her room to try and find something that her little brother could play with, and came back with a stuffed bear, a block and little book.

It was then that she realized she wanted to help other foster children who had not been as fortunate as her.

A'Layah's idea to set up a lemonade stall came after she was out at a garbage sale with her mom and younger brother Elijah.

The family, who live in Sulphur, Oklahoma, saw a group of teenagers who had set up a lemonade stall to raise money for a friend's quinceanera.

Her mom explained to A'Layah that she had bought some lemonade from them so that they could buy pretty dresses, and thus her idea was born.

A'Layah sells lemonade to fund 'love packages' for foster children - drawstring backpacks which contain a blanket, a stuffed bear, a bible and a toothbrush and toothpaste

Her mom agreed to purchase the mixes and lemons and her grandparents donated cups and ice, and at her first stall A'Layah raised $132, excitedly watching the $1 bills pile up.

She selected the bears that she wanted to buy herself on the internet, and also decided that she wanted to give each child a bible and a toothbrush.

After shopping around, A'Layah has been able to create 'love packages' for foster children - drawstring backpacks which contain a blanket, a stuffed bear, a bible and a toothbrush and toothpaste, at a cost of just $10 each.

She has already donated around 300 backpacks, but with more than 400,000 children in foster care in the United States she has her work cut out.

Little A'Layah has already made more than $6,000 on her GoFundMe page.

She brought in $1,400 in one stand alone.

A video of her charitable enterprise has already racked up more than 1,300,000 views on YouTube and she has captured the attention of celebrities, several of whom have backed her cause.

A'Layah spent her early years in foster care and in children's shelters until her 'Forever Mom' Misty Robinson found her and her two younger siblings

Ellen DeGeneres has apparently seen her story, and Usher reached out to A'Layah on Facebook, calling her a 'SUPERHERO'.

Companies and ordinary people across the country have also offered their support, with someone buying A'Layah the Barbie jeep she'd been saving for, and toy giant 'Mattel' delivering special gifts to A'Layah's home.

She has also received dozens of cases of donated lemonade, and supplies to fill her gift bags for the foster children.

Her mom has even had to source a trailer to meet the growing demand.

Her mother said 'I just want to continue to embrace her little generous spirit that the Lord has blessed her with as long as possible and pray it sticks with her throughout her life.'

She told kfor.com: 'We did one last week and had over 100 people and made $1,400. on a lemonade stand!'

And A'Layah herself said: 'I don't need any donations. The foster kids do. Because I have money. All I need is a TV, a keyboard, a bed, my mom and a Bible. That's all I need.'
Sue Howarth was brutally murdered by a gang of men who broke into her home in South Africa

Five people have been arrested after a British woman was horrifically murdered and her husband left for dead in an attack in South Africa.

Police made the arrests as it emerged that forensics had to return to the crime scene twice after friends discovered key pieces of evidence in the house - including a bullet.

The couple were asleep in bed on their farm in Dullstroom in South Africa's Mpualanga province, when three men broke in through a window at 2am and tied the terrified Britons up.

The attackers, who refused to believe Sue Howarth, 64, and husband Robert Lynn, 66, did not have a safe, tied them up and tortured them with a blowtorch at their remote home 150 miles from Pretoria.

Police said the horrific ordeal lasted several hours, in which they suffered horrific wounds before they were later both shot.

Five suspects are now under arrest after investigations led police to the South African towns of Belfast and Nelspruit.

According to Mobserver, friends of the couple were cleaning the house on Monday once forensics had left, and found a bullet lodged in the sheets of a bed.

A second attempt to clean the house then revealed that a charity collection can had been cut open and discarded in a laundry basket, the website reports.

A source close to the family is quoted as saying: 'How is it possible to sweep a crime scene for forensic evidence, and then they have to be called back two times because they kept on missing important pieces. It makes me shudder to think that these are the people tasked to gather evidence to get murderers convicted.'

Three men bundled the married couple into their own pick up truck, with plastic bags over their heads and tape around their necks during the horrific ordeal

They were driven off before Sue was shot twice in the head and Robert in the neck, as the thugs dumped the couple by the roadside to die on a mountain pass.

Sue had a plastic bag jammed down her throat and Robert had a bag tied round his neck to strangle him.

Close friend Claire Taylor invited local paper the Middleburg Observer into the hospital to photograph Sue in bed to show the full horror of what local farmers are going through. She said: 'She would have wanted the world to see what happened to her. What they did to her'

Back home: Roberet Lynn recovers after the farm attack which saw his wife murdered

But incredibly retired Robert survived the brutal attack and managed to free himself and find his terribly injured wife nearby.

Police said she was unrecognisable from her injuries and was in a coma. Her husband raised the alarm she was rushed to hospital but died 48 hours later.

She had multiple fractures to her her skull and gunshot wounds and horrific burns from the blowtorch to her breasts.

It is thought her life support machine was switched off on Tuesday morning, after doctors said she would not survive.

Her husband was treated in the intensive care unit but incredibly has survived and has returned home. It was the third violent farm attack in the province this month.

Janet Brown, a cousin of the murdered woman, told MailOnline: 'A lot of the people who live in South Africa take certain precautions but, to my knowledge, Sue and Rob didn't. I suppose they didn't think they needed to.'

Border collie lover Sue who is originally from Southsea, Hampshire, was extremely well-known in sheepdog trial circles and had three rescue collie dogs of her own.

They are believed to have lived in the area for over 20 years and although they have different surnames were married.

The couple lived at a remote farm 150 miles from Pretoria, with their three border collie dogs

The couple (pictured about 20 years ago) lived on a farm called Marshland with their three border collie rescue dogs.

The couple lived on a farm called Marshland with their three border collie rescue dogs.

Provincial police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlathis said: 'They were sleeping on Sunday when they were attacked by three men. This was violent and horrific attack and we are searching for those responsible.'

He said terrified Sue was tied and burned with a blow torch and shot and beaten and that her husband was also burned and stabbed repeatedly.

Doctors treated him for multiple knife wounds to his stomach hands and neck, and a bullet remains in his neck where he was shot by one of the gang.

Hi-Tech Security Highlands manager Mr Johan Pierterse said the gang broke in through a window and tied up the couple, demanding cash.

'They demanded money but could not find any in the house' he said.

He said the attackers then forced the couple into their own bakkie and drove them to a point on the R37 between Belfast and Stoffberg.

Mr Pierterse said they threw Robert into bushes with a blindfold over his eyes. After their attackers left, he moved towards the road where he found Sue.

She was near naked and was later found to have a plastic bag in her throat. A passing car saw the couple and stopped to help them.

Sue Howarth is pcitured with her best friend and fellow Briton Claire Taylor at sheepdog trials in Dullstroom

Close friends held a vigil at a Dutch Reform Church in Dullstroom to mourn death of Sue Howarth

A Hi-Tech Security vehicle rushed to the scene and an officer Mr Johan Bezuidenhout removed the bag from her throat.

He said: 'We arranged for an ambulance and notified the police. Howarth was already in a coma and Lynn was in a state of shock and badly injured'.

The couple was taken to a local hospital in Belfast and then transported to MidMed Hospital in Middelburg.

Mr Nico Uys, chairman of the Dullstroom Farmers Association and chairman of TLU Mpumalanga Safety, told Lowvelder newspaper that both were shot

Mr Uys said they were no longer active farmers, but were pensioners living on the farm. He added that it was clearly a planned attack.

Their blue Nissan bakkie was found abandoned in Middleburg.

Distraught Robert has been discharged from hospital and returned to their farm and told his local paper the Middleburg Observer he had to 'face the demons'.

He said: 'I have to come to terms with losing my best friend.

'I woke up because the dogs were barking and there was a racket at the bedroom window. After I stood up, I heard glass breaking.

'I suppose that is when they started shooting at us. I assumed they missed. They were wearing balaclavas and attacked us'.

He was pistol whipped with a gun and ordered to lie down.

Robert said: 'They kept on asking where the money is. I told them that we don't keep money but they would not believe me.'

He said he gave them a couple of hundred Rand he had in a money clip and his bank cards, telling his attackers that they will be able to withdraw R1000 per day from it.

Robert was taken to the living room and was covered with a blanket.

Shortly after his attackers started burning him with a blow torch on his chest and legs.

His hands were tied with baling twine and robbers then started cutting him with a knife in order to get him to confess to keeping more money or a gunsafe somewhere.

He said:'They were looking for things we just don't have.

'I said to them that whoever gave them their information, gave them the wrong information. One of them replied with "No they didn't".'

Robert kept on calling to his wife in the bedroom who he last saw lying in a sleeping position but said she did not answer.

He said: 'The small dark one, who seemed to be the leader, smacked me over the head with his gun and told me to shut up.'

Three men broke into the bungalow through a window and tied the terrified Brits up

Robert was put in the back of their Nissan Hardbody double cab and his attackers pulled a black bag over his head.

He said:'I suppose they wanted to suffocate me but I managed to bite a tiny hole through the bag through which I could breathe.'

He heard his wife moaning as she was thrown into the loading bin of their bakkie.

The attackers struggled for a while to reverse the vehicle out of the parking.

He said: 'I thought we were going to Dullstroom to withdraw money. But then they turned towards Belfast.'

The attackers drove on back roads through Belfast and Siyathuthuka and onto the road towards Stoffberg.

He said: 'They kept on stopping and going and when they stopped for good they pulled me out of the vehicle by my hair.'

The robbers walked with him into the field where he had to crawl through a barbed wire fence and was ordered to get on his knees.

He said: 'That was the last thing I remember. I thought I was dead after that until I looked up and saw the stars.'

It took Robert some time to free his hands, after he crawled back to the road.

He said: 'When I got to the road, something told me to turn right. But left made more sense because it was downhill. I turned right.

'I was not steady on my feet so I crawled most of the way. I thought I heard a cow mooing. Later I realised that it was Susan moaning.

'I crossed the road, crawling most of the way. On the other side I saw Susan, lying in a ditch. Her hands tied behind her back. She was bleeding from her head.'

'I didn't know what to do. I could see that she was in a very bad state. I could sit with her but the best thing would be to try and get help.

'So I stood next to the road. Five trucks and two cars passed me hooting their horns as they did but they did not stop'.

His saviours were two friends in a bakkie, pulling a boat, who stopped as dawn broke.

The couple lived on a farm called Marshlandin in Dullstroom in Mpualanga province

Devastated Robert said: 'Susan was a great girl. She had a great life just to end up in a ditch with her hands tied behind her back'.

She moved to Dullstroom in 1996 and started the Dullstroom Stables before the farm Marchlands where she was attacked became her home.

Her ashes will be flown to Southsea in England where she will be buried with her parents. She was an only child.

Meanwhile Robert Lynn says he will try to pick up the pieces in Dullstroom.

He said: 'I am amazed how good people have been to me. But I will never be able to forget what evil people are capable of.'

Close friend Claire Taylor invited local paper the Middleburg Observer into the hospital to photograph Sue in bed to show the full horror of what local farmers are going through.

She said: 'Sue is such a powerful person. She is so strong. She is straight shooter.

'She would have wanted the world to see what happened to her. What they did to her' she said in the intensive care unit while husband Robert was being treated 100 yards away in the surgical unit.

Tragically she never recovered from her coma and died on Tuesday morning.

Sue shared the farm with Claire and they both had a passion for Border Collies and are regular competitors in the South African Sheep Dog Trials.

Before settling in Dullstroom, Sue was at the head of a pharmaceutical company in Johannesburg. She kept her maiden name after marrying Robert, who was an electrical engineer for Eskom.

A reward is being put together by friends of the couple to try and track down their evil attackers.

A spokesman for the Democratic Alliance said: 'Sue and husband Robert were overpowered and tortured and left left for dead.

'Since the beginning of February 30 farms have have been attacked and 15 people have lost their lives in farm attacks across the country.

'We simply cannot allow these horrendous acts to continue and or our rural communities to live in fear.

'We call on the Government to employ rural safety units to protect rural communities from rural crime'.

Col. Phela Mahlangu, head of the detectives at the Middelburg Cluster, said that a task team has been established to work on the case around the clock.
The woman who was killed when Storm Doris flung a huge piece of wood through the air that struck her in the head has today been named by police as Tahnie Martin.

She worked at the University of Wolverhampton and was struck by the huge piece of wood 'the size of a coffee table' blown off the side of a building near Starbucks while walking with colleagues.

Police say they are now trying to ascertain who is responsible for the building that the rotten piece of wood came from as they may be held criminally responsible for the death.

Colleague Dr Aidan Byrne, who she worked with, today described her as 'irrepressibly optimistic and kind' in a heartfelt tribute left on Facebook after the tragic incident.

The woman who was killed when Storm Doris flung a huge piece of wood through the air that struck her in the head has today been named by police as Tahnie Martin

She worked at the University of Wolverhampton and was struck by the huge piece of wood blown off the side of a building outside Starbucks while walking with colleagues

The 29-year-old was a marketing manager at the University of Wolverhampton's faculty of Arts

She had studied at Birmingham University and was 'highly valued' in her job, the University of Wolverhampton's vice-chancellor Professor Geoff Layer said

A tribute left on Facebook posted on behalf of Dr Aidan Byrne, who she worked with. He described her as 'irrepressibly optimistic and kind'

Talking of how she spent her final night at a dinner she had organised for the English department's anniversary, he added: 'We were so grateful to her, and we're glad that the last thing we did on Wednesday night was give her a hug and tell her how much we appreciated everything she did.'

Detective Inspector Paul Joyce said: 'We are still trying to ascertain who the building belongs to and whether there is any criminal liability. This is a deeply tragic incident and our thoughts remain with Miss Martin's family. We would ask that their privacy is respected in their time of grief.'

There was no answer at Tahnie's parents' small terraced house in Cannock, Staffordshire, and black blinds are down on the windows.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: 'Tahnie's mother is absolutely devastated. She was incredibly proud of her.

It was also revealed today that a lorry driver in his 50s has died after crashing into a lamppost in New Cross, south east London

'I can't believe it. I heard about what happened but never expected it to be anyone from round here.

'Rosie is absolutely crushed and extremely upset as you can only imagine.'

Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, added: 'Rosie is shattered and absolutely heartbroken.

'Tahnie lived there with her until she moved to Stafford and I know Rosie was unbelievably proud of all her achievements.

'They were a private family and Tahnie was lovely. We are all in deep shock as a community.'

On Tahnie's Twitter profile she wrote: 'No one ever said it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.'

Today it emerged that there were two more victims of yesterday's storm, who have not yet been named, including a 32-year-old mother hit by a roadsweeper after the wind caught her pram, which pulled her into its path.

The 32-year-old woman, who has not yet been named, had been on the way to pick up her child from a minder in Swindon so the youngster was not in the pushchair that pulled her into the road.

The other victim revealed today was a lorry driver in his 50s has died after crashing into a lamppost in New Cross, south east London, amid high winds during the chaos yesterday.

A nine-year-old girl was left with life-threatening injuries after a ceiling collapsed on 40 students waiting in a hall for an after-school dance club at a primary in Milton Keynes.

In Aldgate, London, dramatic footage showed another woman receiving emergency treatment after also being struck in the head.

Two pensioners aged 70 and 80 were today fighting for their lives in hospital after suffering neck injuries when a tree crashed onto their car while driving near Church Stretton in Shropshire on Thursday morning.

Another woman was hurt when a tree was brought crashing down on to a car amid strong gales in Croydon, south London, but she did not require hospital treatment.

A rotten piece of wood was blown off the side of a building by the wind and struck a 29-year-old woman on the head in Wolverhampton

There was no answer at Tahnie's parents' small terraced house (pictured) in Cannock, Staffordshire, and black blinds are down on the windows

Miss Martin's parents were not in today but a neighbour said that they were 'devastated'

He colleagues described the 'talented and creative' marketing professional as 'one of our shining stars' today

Miss Martin was working at the University of Wolverhampton in a temporary role but had recently been taken on for a permanent job in the marketing department, which she secured just last week.

Vice-chancellor, Professor Geoff Layer, said: 'We are all deeply saddened by this tragic loss. During Tahnie's short time at the University, she made a real impact both in a professional and personal capacity. She became a very popular member of the team and was highly valued.'

Katharine Clough, Director of External Relations at the University, added: 'We feel privileged and honoured to have worked alongside Tahnie in our team.

TRAGIC EVENTS FROM DEADLY STORM DORIS Tahnie Martin, 29, was killed when she was truck by a piece of wood from a nearby building that was flying through the air in Wolverhampton

A mother, 32, died after the wind caught hold of her pram while she was on the way to pick up her child, pulling her into the path of a roadweeping vehicle in Swindon

A lorry driver in his 50s died after crashing into a lamppost during high winds in New Cross, south east London

A nine-year-old girl was left with life-threatening injuries after a ceiling collapsed on 40 students waiting in a hall for an after-school dance club at a primary in Milton Keynes.

In Aldgate, London, dramatic footage showed another woman receiving emergency treatment after also being struck in the head.

Two pensioners aged 70 and 80 were today fighting for their lives in hospital after suffering neck injuries when a tree crashed onto their car while driving near Church Stretton in Shropshire

Another woman was hurt when a tree was brought crashing down on to a car amid strong gales in Croydon, south London, but she did not require hospital treatment. Advertisement

'She was one of our shining stars, a talented and creative marketing professional with an enthusiasm and smile which were infectious.

'Tahnie was extremely popular and will be hugely missed. All of our thoughts are with her family and friends at this tragic time.'

Police have still not released the identities of the other two victims of Storm Doris, who died as the 100mph gales swept across the nation.

Writing today of the mother's death in Swindon on Facebook, local resident Alun Rossiter said: 'What awful day in Stratton when a young mum goes to pick up her child, and the wind takes a young mum's life.

'Having a young family really brings it home. Apparently pushing a empty push chair to the child minder, wind took hold of her.'

Devastated locals said yesterday's gales of up to 100mph swept the empty pram into the path of the road cleaner and she became trapped under the vehicle.

The mother was pronounced dead shortly after emergency services arrived at the scene near Arkells brewery at Beechcroft Road's junction with Hyde Road.

No arrests had yet been made in what Inspector David Ibbott said was an ongoing investigation over what appeared to be a 'tragic accident'.

The accident left the community in shock, with Charlene Mills from Swindon writing on Facebook: 'Oh my gosh! Just heard a lady [...] got blown into the road and hit by a road sweeper!'

Samantha Miles wrote: 'Oh my god poor women and poor baby with his or her mother. This weather is bad. Thoughts are with her family.'

Jessica Gilder wrote: 'The child was dropped off at childminders. It was just an empty pushchair. My mum was there when the lady passed away. Just horrible news. Thoughts are with family at this very sad time.'

Jo Thelma Breslin added: 'Terrible. My dad was there and seen it happen and tried helping her. My dad very upset. Life's too short.

'She was on the way to collect child with an empty pushchair and my dad panicked and thought there was a child too but there wasn't - just her pram she took to collect her child.'

Paramedics rushed to the scene, outside Starbucks, to try and help the woman, who has not yet been named, but she later died

A 32-year-old mother has died after being hit by a roadsweeper at a crossroads on her way to pick her child up from a minder

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said officers were appealing for further witnesses to the collision.

The spokesman said the collision happened just before 4.30pm yesterday.

He added: 'A white road maintenance vehicle was in collision with a pedestrian.

COLLEAGUE'S TRIBUTE TO TAHNIE MARTIN Dr Aidan Byrne, an English course leader from University of Wolverhampton, said: 'Everyone in the English department is shocked and saddened by the death yesterday of Tahnie Martin. The mood is very sombre today. 'She was a wonderful, wonderful girl and everyone who met her thought that she was just marvellous. 'She organised our 50th Anniversary Dinner on Wednesday night which was a big celebration, coping with us with humour and forbearance. 'She was irrepressibly optimistic and kind, full of ideas and always enthusiastic. 'We were so grateful to her, and we're glad that the last thing we did on Wednesday night was give her a hug and tell her how much we appreciated everything she did. She will be missed by everyone who knew her.'

Advertisement

'A 32-year-old lady from Swindon sadly died at the scene.

'Next of kin have been informed and formal identification will take place in due course.'

A post mortem examination was due to take place within the next few days.

The woman will be formally identified when a coroner for Wiltshire opens an inquest into her death.

The hearing will then be adjourned for a full inquest over the circumstances of her death to be determined by the coroner.

Meanwhile, in Wolverhampton, hundreds of tributes have been posted for the woman who was killed by falling timber outside a Starbucks.

Eye-witnesses reported the woman was struck on the head by a wooden board that was ripped from a nearby roof and thrown 60ft through the air like 'a piece of paper'.

Despite efforts by onlookers to revive the woman with CPR, she was bleeding heavily and passed away outside the coffee shop in Wolverhampton city centre.

The store, which was closed yesterday, was reopened this morning as police continue their investigation into the incident.

The woman's family have been informed of her death.

Police, pictured at the scene in Swindon today, are appealing for witnesses to come forward after the woman was killed

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said officers were appealing for further witnesses to the collision at a cross roads near where the woman lived in north Swindon

MOTHERS CALL FOR ACTION AFTER WOMAN KILLED IN STREET Mother-of-one Emily Woodman called for action after speaking to witnesses of the death on her street in Swindon during Storm Doris. Speaking of the tragedy, the 28-year-old said: 'From what I've heard from the mums that the wind blew the empty buggy into the road and she went in after it. 'She was hit by the road sweeper and was trapped and she died at the scene sadly. The accident was at 4.30pm and she wasn't moved until 8pm. General view of the cross roads of Beechcroft Road and Hyde Road in Swindon where a 32-year-old woman was killed yesterday, where Mother-of-one Emily Woodman lives 'The wind was strong but I wouldn't have thought that it would have been that strong to do that.' She called on the council to make the road safer and added: 'There is crossings but they are at either end of a very long road. 'Many people and kids that go to Kingsdown school cross opposite the pub. 'If you don't time it right - when the lights change, it gives you five seconds to cross before the other lights go green - I have had many close calls and abuse from drivers while trying to cross with my daughter. 'I understand she wasn't crossing but this just brings to light how dangerous that road is. It's awful. 'A pedestrian crossing either side so people can cross safely would really help. 'The council worked on the road a few months ago and we were thinking that they would put a crossing in but they didn't. They widened the road. 'It's a horrible time for the family involved - a dreadful accident. 'She was a young mum like myself. We are all shocked.' Advertisement

Police have put up signs at the scene in Swindon as they investigate the death of the mother

Becky Cresswell, 37, said: 'I'm still shaken by all of it. I was having a cup of coffee on the first floor of Marks and Spencers, quite near the window opposite Starbucks.

'I was looking out and I was right in position to see the building and suddenly this huge wooden boarding with metal on the back caught my eye. It had been picked up by a huge gust of wind and obviously blown it up off the roof.

'It was flying like a piece of paper, I thought it was going to come through the window so I immediately got up from my seat because my reaction was that it would kill someone.

'It was like it was all happening in slow motion, the board then just fell down and bounced off her. It was all very brutal.

'There was a lot of blood pouring from her head. She was being given CPR for about 15 to 20 minutes, but I could see by the amount of blood that it was going to be fruitless.

'It came from the top of the roof from the row of shops quite high up. The roof is above Starbucks, Clinton's and Boots and is three storeys high. It came off a square tower attached to the building.

'She was white, had dark hair and was wearing a dark grey, thin woollen dress.'

According to one witness, there was confusion among first aiders about where to find a defibrillator.

Ed Blackwell, a store manager at the Mander Centre where the Starbucks is also located, said: 'Working in the city I have access to the link radio.

'It was awful hearing the panic on the radio. One of the city's leading retailers were clearly distressed and asked twice for assistance regarding where they could get defibrillators from.

In Wolverhampton, hundreds of tributes have been posted for the woman who was killed by falling timber outside a Starbucks

'No response was given until later when she was told the ambulance was on their way

'It's really concerning that there wasn't any health and safety awareness yesterday.

'Whether defibrillators would of been useful isn't the point. We should all know where these things are located. Maybe lives could then be saved not lost.'

Many went to the scene to lay tributes after the news broke.

It was flying like a piece of paper, I thought it was going to come through the window Becky Cresswell, witness in Wolverhampton yesterday

Chris Brooke, 60, said: 'I'm just so sorry for her family, so so sorry. I can't connect what has happened in my mind, I've been trying to figure it out in my mind ever since I heard about it.

'It's a freak accident. She was clearly just at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a tragedy, that's all you can say.

'Her family must be absolutely devastated. She will have waved or kissed them goodbye yesterday morning, not knowing that it will have been for the last time.

'I'm very surprised to see Starbucks open today. It's disrespectful, I think. I know that they closed yesterday, but they should have waited at least a couple of days before re-opening, just as a mark of respect to her family'.

Margaret Pert, 27, said: 'This has just happened so close to home that it's been hard to take in. She was so young as well

Flowers were laid outside the store, which despite the death just yesterday, was open for business as usual this morning

'I don't live locally, but I had to come down to look at the tributes and pay my respects. I've got three children myself, so the reality of it really hits home. It was a one in a million accident, it really was.

'I've heard lots of different stories about what happened. Someone said that her head came off, but I don't think that's true.

'It was awful yesterday hearing complaining about the disturbances and the shops being shut. Somebody lost their life, and people should be respectful.

'It's really really bad that Starbucks is open today. It's disrespectful, even if people are coming to put flowers down outside here.'

A witness said that they saw saw the piece of debris that hit the woman 'fly through the air like a piece of paper'

Annette Bryan, 56, owner of the flower stall in Mander Shopping Centre, where many are buying flowers, said: 'I got in here at about 8 this morning, and it was unbelievable eerie. Everybody has been stunned by what's happened.

'People have been here all day buying flowers, there's been so many coming to pay their respects.

'Everybody that's walked past has had a look at the flowers, and has obviously been thinking about the girl that's died and thought about buying flowers.

'A young boy came up to buy some flowers earlier. It was very powerful.

'The community has come together in a very strong way, and everybody clearly has this poor girl in their thoughts.'

Judy Meredith, 68, said: 'It's tragic, what else can you say? It's just a case of wrong place, wrong time. Wrong age, too. To be taken that young is so so awful. I can't imagine what her family are feeling at the moment.

Linda Ellis, 68, said: 'I was so shocked when I heard about it. Everybody has been talking about it, it's clearly affected a lot of people.

'It's tragic that she's died so young. She's at the age where she could very possibly be somebody's mother.

'She's someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's best friend. I just feel so much for those people that were close to her and am so sorry for what has happened.'

SCHOOLGIRL FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE AFTER ROOF COLLAPSED A nine-year-old schoolgirl was left fighting for her life after being hit by a a 8ft by 5ft roof til when the ceiling collapsed on top of 40 pupils yesterday. Her injuries are now described as 'serious but stable' and she remains in hospital following the ceiling collapse during Storm Doris. Another child who was also injured was treated for minor injuries at the school, where pupils were waiting to start afterschool dance club. Health and safety entering Southwood Middle School in Conniburrow, Milton Keynes, where a girl was left with life-threatening injuries when part of the ceiling collapsed The incident happened at around 3.30pm as children were waiting for an after-school dance club to start at Southwood School in Milton Keynes. Today Health and Safety Officers were seen inspecting the damage, confirming it is now safe to enter, and teaching resumed as normal. However, the school said that the sports hall that was damaged will be out of action for some time. One person who did not want to named said: 'I have had a message stating that something has fallen onto the child. We know that someone has a bad head injury. 'I have also been told that it was a tile from the hall ceiling and that the child has been taken to hospital in an ambulance.' Local policing commander for Milton Keynes, acting superintendent Vince Grey said: 'Thankfully, the child did not require treatment at hospital. Another child who was also injured was treated for minor injuries at the school, where pupils were waiting to start afterschool dance club 'Another child was assessed and treated at the scene by SCAS for life-threatening injuries and was transported to hospital. Our thoughts are with the child and their family at this extremely difficult time. He added: 'It is possible that the collapse of the ceiling was caused by the adverse weather conditions that the country had been experiencing.' A joint-investigation between Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service and Milton Keynes Council is now underway. A spokesperson for the school said: 'We are co-operating fully with the relevant authorities in this investigation. 'Our thoughts are of course with this child and her family at this very difficult time.' Emergency services arrived at Southwood Middle School in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, just after 3.30pm yesterday Advertisement

The Next store's tribute read: 'Rest in peace. All staff at Next Dudley Street.

A local hotdog vendor wrote: 'Such a tragedy. So sorry couldn't do anything to help. God bless you and your family (Hot dog man & family).'

Another anonymous bunch of flower had the note: 'RIP beautiful angel. God bless + sleep tight.'

Taking to Facebook, many people have grief at the accident and expressed their sympathy for the woman's family.

Norma Dewolfe said: 'So sad and sympathy goes out to her family and friends.. Always cherish your loved ones because you never know if or when you're going to see them again. So sad.'

Linda Cartwright said: 'Me, mom and Fred had not long passed here. I'm so sorry RIP. My thoughts are with the family.'

Simon Perry said: 'We had to quickly leave Clintons when the police tape was going up. Condolences to her friends and family.'

Penny Massey said: 'What a very sad day for this young lady's family and friends and thank you to all who tried to help.'
A judge fought back tears as he described how a married couple subjected two young girls to 'wickedly cruel, chillingly heartless and utterly inhuman' abuse.

Michael Miszczak, 54, and his ex-wife Sandra Jones, 52, 'brainwashed' and repeatedly raped their extremely vulnerable victims and beat them with metal poles.

They forced the children from before the age of eight to eat their own vomit, watch pornography and fight with each other while half-naked.

Police said the abuse was 'some of the most despicable crimes against children' they had ever seen, while the prosecutor told Liverpool Crown Court, 'It's difficult to imagine a worse example of the rape of a child.'

Michael Miszczak, 54, (left) and his ex-wife Sandra Jones, 52, (right) 'brainwashed', raped and beat their extremely vulnerable victims

The court heard on one occasion Jones punched one of the victims between the legs, as Miszczak brutally raped the girl.

However, it was when describing another horrific rape by Miszczak, that Judge Denis Watson, QC, became emotional and his voice started to waver.

He said: 'I don't think I will ever forget listening to the evidence. That event, it was so appalling, I find it difficult to control the repetition of what occurred.'

The judge sentenced Miszczak to 25 years behind bars, with an extended three yearson licence. He jailed Jones for 14 years, with a further year on licence.

Miszczak, who showed no emotion as he was sent down, was found guilty of 10 charges, including child rape, indecent assault and child cruelty, after a trial.

Jones, who shook her head in the dock, was convicted of four charges including aiding and abetting rape, assault causing actual bodily harm and child cruelty.

Describing how she helped her then husband rape the girl, Judge Watson said: 'It was wickedly cruel, chillingly heartless and utterly inhuman.'

Michael Scholes, prosecuting, had earlier told the court: 'It's difficult to imagine a worse example of the rape of a child.'

He said the now adult women 'suffered significant psychological trauma as a result of their ordeal at the hands of these defendants'.

Judge Denis Watson, QC, described the crimes as 'wickedly cruel, chillingly heartless and utterly inhuman'

During the trial, the jury heard the girls both had eating problems and frequently vomited.

Mr Scholes said: '[One victim] said this was dealt with by both girls being required to eat their own and each other's vomit.'

The girls were beaten by Jones, who left one with a black eye and a split head, and struck one victim in the head with a metal pole.

Mr Scholes said of one victim: 'On one occasion she was pushed over and another incident, when she accidentally caused damage to a microwave oven, resulted in Sandra slapping her across the face and later that same day holding a knife to her throat.

'On another occasion she described wetting herself and Jones rubbing her face in her own urine.'

Miszczak would force the girls to 'toy' or 'play fight' with each other and made them strip to the waist before molesting them.

He repeatedly raped one of the girls, sometimes plying her with alcohol, after making her watch pornography to normalise the behaviour.

A witness also reported him mocking the girl after he was told she had tried to hang herself.

The pair suggested the girls were 'fantasists' and had made up all of the accusations.

Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Inspector Chris Sephton said the abuse committed by Miszczak and Jones were 'some of the most despicable crimes against children' police had ever seen.

He said: 'The victims have shown great strength in giving evidence, which has resulted in the conviction and lengthy sentences that have been passed. I hope that their determination serves as inspiration for others.

'No-one deserves to be treated this way and while today's sentences cannot undo the harm that has been caused, we hope they give the victims some sense of justice.'

Liverpool Crown Court (pictured) heard on one occasion Jones punched one of the victims between the legs, as Miszczak brutally raped the girl

David Potter, defending Miszczak, of Acorn Street, Newton-le-Willows, said the offences were 'desperately serious' but argued the judge need not pass an extended sentence.

Judge Watson disagreed and supporters cried in the public gallery as they heard Miszczak will serve at least two thirds of his sentence in prison before he is considered for parole.

Bridget Bailey, defending Jones, of Promenade, Southport, said her client continued to deny any wrongdoing and argued she was 'not the dominant partner in this relationship and perhaps not the instigator'.

Judge Watson told Jones 'you are most definitely not a victim' and even if she had not known everything Miszczak was doing, she knew 'a great deal'.

He said: 'One of the victims remembered you saying to him "when are you going to realise they have had enough?"'
Shocking footage has emerged of school students being violently attacked by teenagers as they walk home.

The footage was taken in Caboolture, Queensland, and shows students being repeatedly punched, kicked and knocked to the ground, 9 News reported.

One student was kneed in the head before being slammed against a brick wall.

Footage has emerged showing school students being violently attacked by teenagers

The footage shows teenagers brawling near the Caboolture railway station

Another was randomly punched in the face, while one was knocked to the ground and punched several times.

The students targeted in the attacks, near Caboolture railway station, are reportedly mostly from Horizons College, a school which offers an alternative to a mainstream learning experience.

Principal Jan Robinson told 9 News six of her students have been attacked since October last year.

'[There's] a group of young people hanging around outside of Caboolture railway station, threatening our students, bullying our students and in six cases actually assaulting our students,' she said.

'The group who has been assaulting them has been saying "go to the police and you'll be dead".

'One punch kills and we need our students to be safe.'

Queensland Police said they have charged a 15-year-old girl with assault occasioning actual bodily harm over an incident in November, following a complaint.

Angry parents held a protest march through the streets of Caboolture on Friday demanding an end to the violence.

Ms Robinson has also called for a non-loitering and non-smoking area near the railway station.

The violent attacks have occurred near Caboolture railway station (pictured)

Horizons College principal Jan Robinson has spoken out about violent attacks on her students

Angry parents and students of Horizons College have called for an end to violent attacks

The violent attacks have forced the school to bring in buses to transport students who are too scared to take the train.

Queensland police minister Mark Ryan told the Caboolture News the violence would not be tolerated.

'The key message for everyone is violence in any form is unacceptable, so we've all got to come together and reinforce the values of our community which has got to be safe for all members of community,' he said.

A spokeswoman for Queensland Rail told the paper the organisation has increased security at the railway station.

'We have been working together with the Queensland Police Rail Squad to increase the security presence at Caboolture station in recent months, which has included several targeted joint operations to enhance safety on the network,' she said.
Bodycam footage has been released showing the moment when police officers gunned down a man on Christmas Day after he killed his estranged wife and shot a state trooper.

James Tylka, 30, was shot 21 times - including a self-inflicted gun wound - when he was spotted in the bushes near Sherwood, Oregon.

Washington County District Attorney's office announced this week the five officers who fired at Tylka did not commit a crime when they took him out as he waited in the darkness to ambush them.

Officers train their weapons on the bushes and point a flashlight at Tylka, moments before they open fire on him

After killing his estranged wife, Katelynn Armand-Tylka, 24, Tylka shot and seriously wounded trooper Nic Cederberg.

Tylka then took Cederberg's gun and hid in the bushes in the darkness.

The bodycam footage shows the officers searching for him with a flashlight and opening fire with a hail of .38 caliber bullets when they spotted him with the gun.

The officers - Anthony Cristofaro, Eli Sanders, Stan Smith, Joe Twigg and Chris Pierce - were trying to rescue Cederberg, who was lying critically ill by the roadside.

'All officers believed James Tylka was attempting to shoot them or shoot fellow officers at the time they fired their weapons,' a memo form the DA's officer obtained by The Oregonian read.

Former police cadet James Tylka (left with his wife Katelynn Armand-Tylka) murdered her and critically injured a state trooper before he was shot dead

After Tylka was taken out, Twigg, an Army National Guard veteran, provided medical aid to Cederberg and saved his life.

Cederberg was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after being shot multiple times in the confrontation.

It later emerged that Tylka was an unpaid cadet with Beaverton Police between 2004 and 2006. He had a child with the victim but was separated from her.

The two were involved in an acrimonious divorce.

Tylka (pictured) had been involved in an acrimonious divorce at the time of the shooting

Victims: Kate Armand, 24, (left) was killed and Oregon State Police Trooper Nic Cederberg (right) was injured by James Tylka

The drama began at 10pm on Christmas Day when Tylka fired off several shots at his mother's home in King City and then sped off in a car.

Trooper Cederberg chased Tylka but was gunned down.

Cederberg, a seven-year veteran of the state police who also served in the military, is making a slow recovery from his injuries.

Tylka called his mother and texted his wife's sister and a friend, admitting having killed her.

He had bought the gun used in the killing privately on Christmas Eve.

Tylka sent his wife hundreds of text messages begging her to take him back and threatening to kill her if she did not.

Investigators found an unfiled petition for a restraining order against Tylka in his wife's car.

He also sent her an anniversary card, with a note saying: 'I am sorry for what I am about to do.'

Tylka was an unpaid cadet with the police for two years as part of a scheme run for teens with an interest in law enforcement.

Cadets are allowed to shadow officers and help with office work but could not take part in active duty or carry a firearm.

Armand, a mother-of-two, was a med tech at an Oregon senior living center.

She and Tylka has been going through a divorce before she was killed.

Tylka also had an ex-wife with whom he been engaged in several legal battles with over custody of their child and child support payments.

In September, his ex-wife had filed for immediate temporary custody of their son, saying he was at risk of abuse. She said they had agreed to joint custody in 2016 but that her former partner had become increasingly irrational and was acting aggressively.

The woman said that when she picked up her son in September, he was crying. When asked what was wrong, he said his father had yelled at him and ordered him to tell him what his mother was doing.
Win: Road rage killer Kenneth Noye has won a High Court case as he battles to be moved to a low security open prison

Road rage killer Kenneth Noye could be moved to a low security open prison after he won a High Court case today.

Noye, now 69, was convicted of murder in April 2000 and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years.

He stabbed 21-year-old electrician Stephen Cameron to death in a road-rage attack on the M25 in Kent in 1996.

After the killing Noye went on the run and was arrested in Spain two years later.

In September 2015 the Parole Board declined to order his release, but recommended he be transferred to open conditions.

But the board's recommendation was rejected by the then justice secretary Michael Gove.

Mr Justice Lavender was asked to rule on whether the rejection decision was 'unlawful and irrational' and he said: 'It will be for the current Secretary of State to take a fresh decision whether or not to transfer the claimant to an open prison'.

Edward Fitzgerald QC, for Noye, told the judge at a hearing in London last month the tariff period had now been served, and the 'sole issue is the issue of risk'.

He argued 'the Secretary of State has failed to give proper or adequate weight to the recommendation of the Parole Board and is therefore unreasonable and contrary to law'.

The QC said the Parole Board panel 'concluded that the benefits of a move to open conditions outweighed the risk of such a move, and they found that the claimant's risk had significantly reduced' since the killing of Mr Cameron.

Noye's judicial review challenge is contested by current Justice Secretary Liz Truss, who argues there was 'nothing irrational' in the decision taken.

Tom Weisselberg QC, for the Justice Secretary, said Mr Gove had decided he would 'personally take the decision on transfer and would not leave the decision to his officials'.

He said: 'He was rightly concerned about a decision which would have the effect of undermining public confidence.'

In 1985 Noye stabbed police officer John Fordham 10 times. A jury found him not guilty of murder or manslaughter on the ground of self-defence.

Mr Weisselberg submitted: 'The Secretary of State was entitled to consider that the claimant had made excessive use of violence, even where the jury acquitted him of murder, particularly in circumstances where his decision had the potential to put members of the public at risk.'

He argued: 'The Secretary of State was entitled to consider the risk to the public posed by the claimant and to decide that further work needed to be done by the claimant in closed conditions before a transfer to open conditions would be appropriate.'
Security guards were forced to eject a topless protester after she disrupted a press conference held by French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen.

The woman, from the radical feminist organisation Femen, jumped up from her seat as the far-right politician spoke to reporters and began shouting: 'Marine, fake feminist'.

Bodyguards were quick to remove the protester, who was naked from the waist up, and it took three of them to carry her out of the room.

The protester, who was naked from the waist up, jumped from her seat to disrupt Marine Le Pen's press conference in Paris

Bodyguards were quick to remove the woman who repeatedly shouted 'Marine, fake feminist'

National Front leader Le Pen held the press conference in Paris on Thursday to discuss her foreign policy.

Following the incident, Femen took to its Facebook page to criticise the politician.

The organisation said: 'Nothing in the programme of Marine Le pen promotes the empowerment of women, no proposal was raised to further equality between the sexes.

'Le pen is a fictitious Republican, she's neither feminist, nor secular, nor for the defence of human rights... yet she is a candidate for the presidential election!'

Femen, which was founded in Ukraine but is now based in Paris, has protested against Le Pen in the past.

It took three of the bouncers to carry the Femen activist out as surprised reporters looked on

Femen took to Facebook to criticise Le Pen after the incident, saying the National Front leader was a 'fictitious republican'

In 2015, members of the organisation made Nazi salutes and used a bullhorn to drown out the politician's voice as she gave a May Day speech.

Le Pen told reporters on Thursday that 'my only framework is what is in the interest of France'.

The anti-EU candidate also pledged her full support to US President Donald Trump and said the billionaire's actions have so far been good for France.

She credited Trump with a series of accomplishments, including 'the promotion of a form of intelligent protectionism, of economic patriotism'.

Le Pen praised Donald Trump at the conference and said the US President's actions have so far been good for France

She added that she only had 'reason to rejoice' in Trump's success and that 'there is no international fallout' so far from his presidency.

The incident comes as it emerged Le Pen has increased her lead in the polls ahead of the first round of elections at the end of April.

As it stands she would win 27.5 percent of the vote in the first round, up 2.5 percentage points from the last time the poll was conducted on February 4.

Independent centrist Emmanuel Macron was seen coming in second in the first round with 21 percent of the vote, down one percentage point, followed by conservative Francois Fillon at 19 percent, also down one percentage point.

However Macron is expected to win the second and final round of voting on May 7 beating Le Pen 61 per cent to 39 per cent.

Le Pen may take a hit in the polls as she currently finds herself in the centre of a fake jobs conspiracy.

On Wednesday Le Pen's chief of staff was put under formal investigation as part of a probe into alleged misuse of EU funds to pay parliamentary assistants.

Le Pen denies any wrongdoing.
This is the moment police arrested a group of street preachers including a British army major after they shouted 'Mohammed is a liar' and 'Allah is the greatest deceiver'.

An angry mob of around 150 people surrounded the men in Broadmead, Bristol after they told onlookers that being gay was 'immoral' on July 6 last year.

The three devoted Christians were using microphones and holding up placards before police intervened and arrested the men to cheers from onlookers.

Major Adrian Clark, 51, and evangelical Christian preachers Michael Overd, 52, from Creech St Michael, near Taunton, and American Michael Stockwell, 50, from Selden, New York, are standing trial at Bristol Magistrates Court.

They deny using religiously aggravated threatening or abusive words or behaviour.

A group of Evangelical street preachers were arrested after an angry mob formed in Bristol

A witness told the court that Clark, Overd, and Stockwell were there 'to pick a fight'.

Prosecuting, Ian Jackson said the preachers took a 'tag team' approach taking it in turns to speak using a microphone on the podium outside Boots.

He told the court that the incident took place on the first day of the Muslim festival of Eid.

The men preached about Islam, Buddhism, and even Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as sex before marriage and sexuality, leaving onlookers shocked.

The prosecutor said there began a 'considerable degree of hostility' from the crowd.

The men had refused to turn down their amplifier after being asked by a nearby trader.

Eventually the crowd began to chant 'go home' at the preachers before the police were called and the men arrested.

Mr Jackson said the Crown's case is that the men crossed the line.

Adrian Clark (left) and Michael Overd (right) are now on trial for religiously aggravated abuse

Over an hour of footage from a body camera worn by Overd was watched by the court.

During the video, Stockwell said: 'Allah is the greatest deceiver - that's in the Quran.'

'You will die for your sins and be cast into hell' and 'Jesus Christ is coming back and taking vengeance.'

Overd told the crowd: 'Mohammed is a liar and a thief, just like you and me.. Buddha isn't on the cross - he is a liar, just like you and me.'

He said sex before marriage was immoral and that it used to be a shameful thing to get divorced.

He added that the Bible talks of marriage between a man and a woman, and everything else is abhorrent.

'David Cameron is no more a Christian than my dogs - I've got two dogs,' he adds when talking about gay rights.

Footage from the scene show police arresting one of the men when he refused to disperse

Clark also named several other religions and stated they would all lead to 'the gates and the very depth of hell'.

Mr Jackson told the court some of the statements made by the preachers may have been in the King James Bible, translated in 1611, but that did not mean they were acceptable in 2016.

Don Karns, an American, was originally arrested and charged with the same offence, but the case against him has since been discontinued by the prosecution.

The four-day trial continues.
Charles Hess, 35, from Lakeside, Oregon, was left looking battered in his mugshot after he allegedly broke a deputy's leg while being arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run

A hit-and-run suspect was left looking battered and bruised in his mugshot after he allegedly broke a deputy's leg while being arrested.

Charles Hess, 35, from Lakeside, Oregon, is accused of resisting arrest and assaulting an officer during the incident on Wednesday.

Deputy Ernie Mitchell suffered a broken leg during the struggle with Hess, the Coos County Sheriff's Office said.

Officers had been alerted to reports of a suspect hitting a parked car with a Ford F150 at Kozy Trailer Park, before fleeing on foot, KCBY News reported.

Hess was discovered by deputies in a field near the trailer park.

He was said to be 'combative' during the arrest.

The Coos County Sheriff's Office said in a statement: 'During the apprehension of Mr Hess, he was combative and assaultive towards the Deputies.'

The statement added that Deputy Mitchell 'received an injury to his leg, breaking it when he was struggling with Mr. Hess, attempting to place him into custody.'

Hess, who was taken to Coos County Jail (pictured), faces charges of hit-and-run, interfering, resisting arrest and assault on a public safety officer

Deputy Mitchell, who has been at the Coos County Sheriff's Office for 17 years, was taken to hospital following the incident.

Hess faces charges of hit-and-run, interfering, resisting arrest and assault on a public safety officer.

He was taken into custody at the Coos County Jail.
A teenager has been blinded in a horrific car jacking just six miles from where former boxer Michael Watson was attacked by 'acid'-wielding thugs.

The savage robbery happened days before the disabled ex-pro was targeted in a cookie-cutter crime by robbers using the same model of car.

Police are now looking to see if a gang of corrosive fluid-spraying thugs are prowling the streets of Essex due to the similarities in the raids.

Bradley Robinson (left, before the attack, right, after the attack), was driving in Loughton when he pulled over and was sprayed with acid

His attacker, who had asked him for a lighter before spraying him, then kicked him and his friend out of his Audi and drove off in the car

Shockingly Watson was attacked in Chingford, east London, just a 15 minute drive from Loughton where Bradley Robinson, 19, was robbed and maimed.

Mr Robinson has been left feeling suicidal after the attack which severely damaged his eyes.

He was out driving with a friend in leafy Loughton when a white Mercedes with tinted windows started following him.

As he pulled into a petrol station a masked brute strolled up to his open window, asked him for a lighter and sprayed a mystery fluid into his eyes.

Reliving the moment the trainee engineer, of Epping Forest, said: 'It was horrible, it just tasted disgusting.

'The feeling of it in my eyes was horrendous and it instantly made my eyes just go fuzzy and my face went numb

'I couldn't see my hands in front of my face, I just felt instantly disabled. There was so much pain.

'I can't really describe the words for these people. People say they are scum and thugs, but they just don't care about hurting people.

He added: 'This gang done me in Loughton and later they went after Michael Watson in Chingford.

'They had the same white Mercedes with tinted windows.'

As he fell to the floor in agony the robber - who had a scarf pulled round his face - leapt into his beloved 30,000 Audi S3, kicked out his pal and sped away into the night.

Mr Robinson was rushed to hospital and has been left with severely damaged eyes - although he is hopefully his sight will return.

Mr Robinson was rushed to hospital and has been left with severely damaged eyes - although he is hopefully his sight will return

Michael Watson (right) was sprayed with ammonia by thugs in Chingford on Thursday last week

At the moment he is forced to wear dark glasses and must take seven eye drops every hour and take several pills - whilst making regular visits to the specialist Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.

He said: 'I don't care about the car, I care about my sight.

'It's coming back slowly, but I'm off work and sitting in my room with the blinds down as the light is just so painful.'

His devastated dad Greg Robinson , 57, has revealed his anger in the wake of the robbery.

'I feel shock, this is my son,' he said.

'He was crying at the weekend because he can't see and he said if "I can't see I wish I was dead".

'Whoever did this is not human, why would you do this to someone over a piece of metal?'

Essex police confirmed it is probing the robbery and working with the Met to see if last Thursday's attack on the former Commonwealth middleweight champion and Mr Robinson are linked

The former boxer was knocked out in a fight with Chris Eubank back in 1991

Essex police confirmed it is probing the robbery, which happened at around 12.40am on Saturday February 4.

They revealed the force is working with the Met to see if last Thursday's attack on the former Commonwealth middleweight champion and Mr Robinson are linked.

A police spokesman said: 'We are liaising with the Met Police to establish whether there are any links to both incidents.

'They are currently being treated as separate investigations.

'A 19-year-old man, from Epping, pulled into the Esso garage in a white Audi S3 and was then approached by a suspect who asked him for a lighter.

'A liquid was then sprayed into his face and his car was stolen by two men.

'He was taken to hospital with suspected burns to his face.

'Anyone with information is asked to call Loughton CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.'
A turtle was left in agony after it swallowed thousands of coins thrown into a pool for good luck.

The sea creature - nicknamed Bank - was found earlier this month with a broken shell and barely able to breathe as it floated around the filthy man-made pond at an abandoned park in Thailand.

Her shell was swollen, cracked and infected - causing vets to believe she had a tumour.

Scroll down for video

The turtle, named Bank, is inspected by a vet. The animal was left in agony after swallowing thousands of coins in a filthy pond in Thailand

CT scans this week found a huge lump of metal lodged inside the reptile's stomach

But medics were stunned when CT scans this week revealed an enormous lump of metal measuring 20 x 23 x 20cm lodged inside the turtle's stomach.

They say Bank had spent several years swallowing hundreds of pennies that tourists had thrown for good luck into the water in the country's Chonburi province.

The 25-year-old turtle had built up a nest egg in her belly of around 2,000 Thai baht in coins, equivalent to around 45.

Associate Professor Nantarika Chansue at Chulalongkorn University said: 'Unfortunately the turtle was raised in a public enclosure where people like to throw in coins.

'Her sickness was very severe and the size of the collected coins was 20x23x20 cm.

Vets found around 2,000 Thai baht in Bank's stomach, causing her to become severely sick

The filthy pond in an abandoned park in Thailand's Chonburi province where the turtle lived

'We hope to operate on her after the overall health condition improves in a few weeks. We named her Bank.

'Please do not throw coins into ponds with animals in. It is a serious sin and very dangerous for the marine life.'

Prof Nantarika, who also works at the Veterinary Medical Aquatic Animal Research Centre, said the coins had caused swelling inside Bank's stomach.

Vets hope to operate on Bank in a few weeks when her overall health condition improves

When the turtle was found, her shell was infected and swollen leading vets to originally believe the reptile had a tumour

Vets have now warned people not to throw coins into ponds with animals in them

This was pressing against her shell which had cracked from the pressure and became infected.

She was suffering from a severe lung inflammation that had been preventing her from diving and was struggling to breathe and eat.

Vets believe that Bank would have been doomed if rescuers had not been alerted to her in time.

She will now have an operation to remove the coins in around two weeks - with the cash being kept as a warning not to throw coins into pools used by animals.

Prof Nantarika added: 'The weight of the coins was making her move very slowly. The pain was slowly torturing the poor creature.

'Members of the public have now been very generous in donating money the right way to help to cover the medical expenses to make Bank healthy again.'
Colombian police have arrested a man suspected of 117 murders after a year-long investigation.

The man, identified as John Alexander Calderon Vidal, alias Largo (Large), was arrested in the city of Cali, in the western Colombian department of Valle del Cauca.

He was the leader of a criminal gang and has been charged with 117 homicides, committed in the city of Cali and on Colombias Atlantic coast.

Colombian police claim John Alexander Calderon Vidal, alias Largo - also known as Large - is responsible for 117 murders including the dismembering of an army officer in 2011

Police arrested him following a year-long surveillance operation in the cartel stronghold of Cali

Henry Jimenez, sub commander of the police of Cali announced the high profile arrest

The arrest took place in a flat in Cali.

Among his victims is thought to be Army Officer Nicolas Alberto Brito, who disappeared and was found dismembered and buried in 2011.

Largo is also suspected of the murder of Gaby Daza, the head of the gang called La 40 in the city of Barranquilla.

According to official sources, Largo was also a member of a gang called Los Rastrojos, which was under the control of drug lord Wilber Varela, alias Jabon.

After that gang was disbanded, Largo joined another gang led by a man nicknamed Seco. Then he decided to leave the gang following a power struggle with the leader and set up his own outfit, which was involved in drug trafficking and homicide, according to reports.

Largo was led on a perp walk in front of the media before being taken to a high security jail

Grainy footage showing the moment of Largo's arrest have been released by the police.

Largo was under heavy guard at the police station where he was initially held, as officers feared his accomplices might try to break him out.

After being paraded before journalists, Largo was taken to a prison to be held on remand.

After an alleged long criminal career in various gangs, he is expected to be tried for homicide, blackmail and weapons trafficking.
Advertisement

He is described as codebreaker's 'forgotten genius' and Bletchley Park's 'Architect of Ultra Intelligence' - but despite his contribution to the war effort, Gordon Welchman was persecuted by the British government UK.

The brilliant mathematician and University of Cambridge lecturer was selected as a codebreaker before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Welchman adapted Alan Turing's design for the codebreaking Bombe machine, transforming it into a workable device and established Hut 6, leading the team who decrypted more than 1 million German air force and army codes.

One of his colleagues at the time described him as 'one of the most original minds I have ever known'.

However, the Government Communications Headquarters described him as 'a disastrous example to others' in 1982 after he published details of WW2 codebreaking in his book, The Hut Six Story - and he was subsequently persecuted by US intelligence agencies.

Now a new book will reveal all about the man who, after the war, also transformed air traffic control, developed digital computers and taught one of the first computing courses.

Joel Greenberg's book 'Gordon Welchman: Bletchley Park's Architect of Ultra Intelligence' is available to purchase at the Mail Bookshop here

Gordon Welchman pictured with his first wife Katharine Hodgson in 1937. The couple went on to have three children

Pictured as a young boy with his dog growing up in Bristol, Welchman played a vital role in the Second World War - but was later persecuted by the British government

The British Typex cipher machine modified to replicate an Enigma machine - the devices were produced in large numbers for Hut 6s Decoding Room

A rare photograph of a prototype of the RM-26 designed by Welchman as a replacement for the Typex

A standard three-wheel Enigma machine as used by the German Army and Air Force

General Heinz Guderian in his command vehicle in 1940 during the battle for France with an Enigma machine and three operators

The masters at work in Bletchley Park: The brilliant mathematician and University of Cambridge lecturer was selected as a codebreaker before the outbreak of the Second World War

Joel Greenberg's book 'Gordon Welchman: Bletchley Park's Architect of Ultra Intelligence' is available to purchase at the Mail Bookshop here

Bombs under construction at BTMs Letchworth factory: Dozens of people can be seen hard at work, constructing bombs to use against the enemy forces

Hut 6 Control Room in Block D at Bletchley Park, which provided the interface between those in the hut and the intercept stations
A Chinese drink company has been criticised for claiming its latest product can enlarge women's breasts in a controversial advert.

The Coconut Palm Group launched its new juice with an advert featuring well-endowed models.

One beauty in a plunging top runs along a beach in slow motion while holding the drink in one hand.

Advertising: One model in a plunging top runs along a beach in slow motion while holding the drink

A slogan on the screen next to her reads: 'A can a day and you'll be white, tender and busty' as the model says: 'A can of Coconut Palm a day will give you a graceful figure.'

The company faced huge criticism from viewers on social media for the 'ridiculous' association between coconut juice and breast enlargement.

The drink is not a nutritional product so the company is not allowed to make such claims under Chinese regulations.

Chinese authorities from the country's Consumer Protection Bureau as well as the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television are expected to investigate the controversial advert.

The company faced huge criticism from viewers on social media for the 'ridiculous' association between coconut juice and breast enlargement

The Coconut Palm Group launched its new drink with an advert featuring well-endowed models

And the company also faces punishment for sexualised imagery as well as vulgar language.

A member of staff at the Coconut Palm Group said the drink did not include any new ingredients and pointed to 20-year-old research as the basis for the claim that coconut drinks can enlarge breasts.

They told Beijing News: 'We saw this benefit from a Hong Kong newspaper in 1997.

'Our manager recently felt it could be included as part of our marketing. So we used it as a reference.'

The firm did not conduct any studies into the drink's breast enhancement abilities.

One model in a plunging top runs along a beach in slow motion while holding the drink
Advertisement

Getting up close to a lion or tiger is a terrifying prospect for most people.

But it's a daily occurrence for vet Dr Justin Boorstein, who regularly performs life-saving operations on big cats.

He has worked his way up from being a volunteer who fed the animals 10 years ago to become one of the star vets at the Big Cat Rescue sanctuary in Tampa, Florida.

Scroll down for video

Dr Justin Boorstein, from Tampa, Florida, regularly performs life-saving operations on big cats. He is pictured operating on a tiger at the Big Cat Rescue sanctuary

The vet, pictured preparing to operate on a large female tiger, began as a volunteer who fed the creatures at the center

Dr Boorstein admits that his job can be a dangerous one, but says the actual operations are almost 'identical' to those performed on small cats.

He said: 'I get asked what it feels like to be that close to a big cat, it's intimidating and scary.

'The biggest difference is if the big cat wakes up it could kill me and people around me, so it can be a very dangerous job and one where you don't want to make any mistakes.'

Big Cat Rescue rehabilitates and rescues a huge variety of big cats, including tigers rescued from circuses and bobcats who have been hit by cars.

Dr Boorstein is now one of the star vets at Big Cat Rescue, which rehabilitates and rescues a huge variety of big cats, including tigers rescued from circuses

The vet, who is seen preparing a sedated lion for treatment, admits his job can be dangerous and 'one where you don't want to make any mistakes'

He says it can be 'intimidating' being so close to the big cats he operates on, including this sedated leopard (pictured)

The center also provides basic care for the big cats, ranging from vaccines to treating dental disease.

Dr Boorstein says his days are never dull, with one of his most memorable cases involving a tiger's penis.

Hoover, who was rescued from a traveling circus in Peru, was found to have his penis stuck out of its sheath.

This can lead to it drying out and even dying in some cases, so the tiger was sedated and neutered.

The center provides basic care for the big cats, ranging from vaccines to treating dental disease. Dr Boorstein is pictured performing dental surgery on a tiger

The Big Cat doctor is seen performing an X-ray on a sedated tiger at the rescue sanctuary in Tampa, Florida

The vet says the operations he performs on big cats like servals (left) are almost 'identical' to those performed on domestic cats (right)

Dr Boorstein carefully tucked the penis back in and put in a dissolvable stitch to stop it from popping back out.

Another recent case involved a lynx named Zeus with some very strange eating habits.

Dr Boorstein said: 'Zeus had been having some episodes where he seemed uncomfortable and he walked a little bit funny.'

'He shouldn't have anything in his stomach but there was a lot of something in his stomach. Upon exploring him we actually found mostly leaves and hair, and a whole lot of it, probably about a softball size or more.

Dr Boorstein (pictured before he qualified as a vet) began volunteering at the Big Cat Rescue ten years ago, starting off by feeding the animals

The vet, pictured performing dental work on a cougar, jokes that the big cats do not show much appreciation for his hard work

Dr Boorstein says his days are never dull due to the variety of cases that he works on at the center. Pictured is a serval

'We're just going to let him recover in the hospital and we're definitely going to keep a camera on him in the future to see if he's eating a lot of plant material. If he is we may have to figure out a way to keep him from doing that.'

While humans are grateful for the important work their surgeons perform on them, the big cats have not shown much appreciation for the vet's hard work.

Dr Boorstein said: 'Some people ask, do I go back and revisit the cats that I've helped out.

'All my cats that I've dealt with, that I've had to sedate a lot and fix and now they're doing better, they hate me probably more than anybody on the property.

'You would have hoped that they're appreciate but they're not appreciative at all, they just wanna eat me.'

Dr Boorstein (pictured right) performs an ultrasound on a sedated white tiger at the Big Cat Rescue center

Dr Boorstein, who volunteered at the sanctuary before he qualified as a vet, is pictured with a pair of cougars at the center
Alt right poster boy Milo Yiannopoulos could have found a way to stay in the U.S. despite quitting Breitbart News.

When Yiannopoulos parted ways with Breitbart he had just 60 days to find a new sponsor or his employment visa would be revoked.

The journalist, a British citizen, is in the U.S. on an O-1B visa for 'aliens of extraordinary ability', but without a sponsor he would be deported in 60 days.

Scroll down for video

Alt right poster boy Milo Yiannopoulos could have found a way to stay in the US; he has reportedly signed a deal to be part of a secret new media venture

It is unclear who his initial sponsor was but it is most likely to have been Breitbart.

Yiannopoulos, a former senior editor at Breitbart, is apparently not worried, as he is said to have already lined up a new sponsor.

He has signed a deal to be part of a secret new media venture, according to TMZ. The people behind the move have agreed in principle to file the necessary paperwork.

Yiannopoulos resigned from Breitbart on Tuesday after half a dozen employees threatened to leave over comments he made around pedophilia.

Taking part in an online debate between a group of men, the 33-year-old appeared to defend relationships between adults and boys, saying: 'There are certainly people who are capable of giving consent at a younger age.

'I would certainly consider myself to be one of them, people who are sexually active younger.'

Yiannopoulos resigned from Breitbart on Tuesday after half a dozen employees threatened to leave over comments he made around pedophilia

Prince of the alt-Right: Yiannopoulos' profile has sky-rocketed in the last year, with him traveling the country and visiting campuses on his 'Dangerous Faggot' tour

The comments cost him first a $250,000 book deal, then a prestigious conservative speaking engagement and finally his job as technology editor of Breitbart.

Publisher Simon & Schuster said: 'After careful consideration, Simon & Schuster and its Threshold Editions imprint have canceled publication of Dangerous by Milo Yiannopoulos.'

Earlier, Yiannopoulos was uninvited from the the Conservative Political Action Committee conference because of the controversial comments.

He is now trying to bounce back by releasing his book through a new publisher, and it is likely he will be able to stay in the U.S. thanks to his undisclosed new media role.

During his press conference Yiannopoulos said Breitbart had stood by him and that he had decided to step down to allow them to continue with their work. He added that he would now be focused on 'education and entertainment'.

He said that he would now be setting up his own website, and returning to speaking at campuses and commercial speaking events very soon.

He used the press conference to rail against the media and the Left, claiming the video of his comments had been deceptively edited.

'They have reported things about me which they know aren't true and f*** you for that, he told the assembled press.

He said that he had exposed three pedophiles in his journalistic career, adding 'three more than most of my critics'.

'Most journalists have no sense of the country they are reporting on and I do,' he later added.

He also said he believed he has done more for the image of gay people in the 'flyover states' than any other gay rights charities, advocacy groups and publications in the last 30 years.

HOW MILO STARTED STORM Video of the Breitbart editor taking part in an online discussion from summer 2016 were posted online by a Twitter account called the @ReaganBattalion - which is linked to a conservative blog. It said it was acting out of concern that he had been invited to CPAC later this week. In the videos he said: 'This is a controversial view, I accept. But we get caught up in this whole child abuse thing even to the extent we are policing consensual relationships between consenting adults, such as grad students and professors at universities. 'The whole consent thing is not as black and white as people try and paint it.' Yiannopoulos agreed that the age of consent was 'roughly' at the right age. He continued: 'There are certainly people who are capable of giving consent at a younger age. I would certainly consider myself to be one of them, people who are sexually active younger. 'I think it particularly happens in the gay world, by the way. In many cases actually, those relationships this is one of the reasons I hate the left. This one-size-fits-all policing of culture. This arbitrary and oppressive idea of consent, which totally destroys, you know, the understanding that many of us have, of the complexities, subtleties and complicated nature of many relationships. Milo Yiannopoulos claimed he was not defending pedophilia when he said some younger boys could benefit by coming involved in a consensual relationship with an older man. He has now been banned from speaking at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference 'People are messy and complex, particularly in the homosexual world. Some of those relationships between younger boys and older men, the sort of 'coming of age' relationships, the relationships in which those older men help those young boys to discover who they are, and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable rock where they can't speak to their parents.' Yiannopoulos said: 'Pedophilia is not a sexual attraction to somebody 13 years old who is sexually mature. Pedophilia is attraction to children who have not reached puberty. 'Pedophilia is an attraction to people who don't have functioning sex organs yet, who have not gone through puberty, who are too young to understand about the bodies. That is not what we are talking about. 'You don't understand what pedophilia is if you think I'm defending it, because I'm certainly not.' Yiannopoulos claimed some teenagers could find a relationship with an older man quite beneficial. He added: 'In the gay world, some of the most enriching and incredibly life-affirming and shaping relationships, very often between younger boys and older men, can be hugely positive experiences for those young boys. They can save those young boys from desolation, suicide and drug addiction, all sorts of things, providing they're consensual.' Following the storm it created, Yiannopoulos claimed that a section of the tape where he talked about the age of consent had been edited out. 'I don't believe that sex with 13-year-olds is okay,' he said during his press conference where he resigned from Breitbat. 'When I mentioned the number 13 [on the tape], I was talking about myself and the age I lost my virginity.' Advertisement




These shocking pictures show how a toothache led to a woman ending up with a cancerous growth on her face.

Monk Bhin, who is famous in Thailand for helping the poor - especially those who are sick, visited Vien Wongmano, 55, last year.

He said she had been suffering from a bad toothache but didn't have any painkillers so applied a local remedy, a balm, to relieve the pain.

Vien Wongmano (left) had been suffering from a bad toothache but didn't have any painkillers so applied a local remedy, a balm, to relieve the pain

'She applied the balm to her tooth and gum area for many days with the result the gum area became badly inflamed and infected,' Mr Bhin said.

'One day she went pick up her niece at school and she passed out so somebody took her to hospital.

'At the hospital, they took a sample of the tissue and discovered it was cancerous.'

Mrs Wongmano received cancer treatment three times, but stopped because she ran out of money for the transportation.

She also wasn't strong enough to undergo chemotherapy.

The balm the 55-year-old woman applied made her gums badly inflamed and infected

She had treatment for the cancer but has now stopped because she cannot afford transport

Now, she relies on painkillers alone, but cannot eat properly and can only take drinks and liquid food.

Her elderly husband cannot work and all three of her children have left home and have no contact with their parents.

'If I had money for transport, I would try to withstand the hospital treatment but, at the moment, a neighbour helps me with a herbal remedy,' she said.

Mr Bhin added: 'My friends, this is a case study about people who have poor knowledge and have followed a course of self-treatment and made the illness worse.'
Advertisement

An extremely rare map of Hitler's bombing targets during the Second World War has been unearthed after more than 75 years.

It belonged to a Luftwaffe navigator and highlights important buildings and infrastructure in central and south London, including Battersea Power Station and Chelsea Barracks.

Other notable German targets were the Duke of York's headquarters and Fulham Palace, the home of the Bishop of London.

The map, which focuses on Kensington, Wimbledon and Fulham, reveals how bombing targets appeared to follow the route of the river, using it as guidance for navigators.

It is dated from November 30, 1941, 14 months after the Germans began their Blitz bombing campaign on British cities.

The map was found in the loft of a late Second World War air gunner and is believed to have come from the debris of a shot-down Luftwaffe.

An extremely rare map of Hitler's bombing targets during the Second World War has been unearthed after more than 75 years. It shows Fulham Palace, Albert Bridge, Chelsea Town Hall and the Duke of York's headquarters - all of which survived the war intact. Battersea Power Station was only 'nicked' by a bomb but the Tate gallery was badly damaged during the way

It belonged to a Luftwaffe navigator and highlights important buildings and infrastructure in central and south London, including Battersea Power Station and Chelsea Barracks (pictured)

Mapped out: Other notable German targets were the Duke of York's headquarters and West Middlesex water works (pictured)

Power stations and other works are highlighted in purple on the rare map, while black lines accentuate the bridges

The 36ins by 27ins map, which is single sided and waterproof, is being auctioned off by his family and is tipped to sell for 200.

Key targets are marked with red blobs, while railway stations have red boxes drawn around them and a train logo inside.

Power stations and other works are highlighted in purple, while black lines accentuate the bridges, and blue colours identify bodies of water in London - including the West Middlesex water works.

One target was Battersea Power Station, which provided electricity to the city, while another was the Tate Gallery, which was hit numerous times during the war but survived.

The Duke of Yorks headquarters in Kensington was identified because the court martials of German spies Josef Jakobs and Theodore Schurch were conducted in the building.

Fulham Palace was on the hitlist but its inhabitants Bishop of London Geoffrey Fisher and his family were not intimidated by the aerial assault and stayed there throughout the Second World War.

Chelsea Barracks and other army headquarters were unsurprisingly flagged up to bombers, as were government offices, railway stations, bridges and sewage works, as the Germans sought to wipe out London's infrastructure and pummel the city into submission.

The map, which focuses on Kensington, Wimbledon and Fulham, is dated from November 30, 1941, 14 months after the Germans began their Blitz bombing campaign on British cities

The 36ins by 27ins map, which is single sided and waterproof, is being auctioned off and is tipped to sell for around 200

One of the bombing targets on the map was Battersea Power Station (pictured) because it supplied London with electricity

The Tate gallery (pictured left) was also one of the landmarks that was included on the rare map for the Luftwaffe navigator. It was badly damaged after being bombed during the Second World War (right)

Fulham Palace (pictured) was on the hitlist but its inhabitants Bishop of London Geoffrey Fisher and his family were not intimidated by the aerial assault and stayed there throughout the Second World War

One small mercy was that hospitals had a cross through them so they were off limits for the German bombers.

Despite the best efforts of Luftwaffe pilots, these landmarks, like the British people, stood firm in the face of relentless bombardment from the skies.

Bernard Pass, auctioneer at Bosleys of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, said: 'The map focuses on Wimbledon, Chelsea and Fulham and it really is quite rare - Ive never seen one like it before.

'The areas in red are targets and the numbers are the key to a grid of the locations names.

'I discovered it in the loft of a deceased chap who was an air gunner in World War Two.

'It's possible it might have been retrieved from a crashed German bomber and they then got it off someone who took it off the plane and perhaps swapped it for cigarettes.

'German navigators had great big maps to get them from Germany to London then would have taken out this map to pinpoint specific areas of London they wanted to bomb.

'Hospitals were marked with crosses but Battersea Power Station was highlighted as it was a key location since it supplied the electricity to London.

Key targets are marked with red blobs, while railway stations have red boxes drawn around them and a train logo inside

The map was found in the loft of a late Second World War air gunner and is believed to have come from the debris of a shot-down Luftwaffe

One small mercy was that hospitals had a cross through them (pictured) so they were off limits for the German bombers

Despite the best efforts of Luftwaffe pilots, these landmarks, like the British people, stood firm in the face of relentless bombardment from the skies

'Perhaps they are incredibly rare because they were meant to be destroyed and certainly not fall into British hands.

'For the British this map could have confirmed what they considered were the Germans principal targets and indicated minor targets they were unaware of so they could relocate if necessary.'

After the failure of the Battle of Britain, the Germans attempted to bomb London into submission.

In September 1940, the Luftwaffe unleashed a merciless bombing campaign and London received the brunt of the initial attacks, being bombed for 57 consecutive days at the start of the onslaught.

But, instead of breaking morale, the raids galvanised the will of the British people for the rest of the war.

Many prestigious buildings were destroyed including the City of London Hospital in Old Street (before hospitals became protected), the Carlton Hotel in Haymarket and the Great Synagogue of London in Aldgate.

St Paul's Cathedral was only narrowly saved from burning down in a firestorm caused by one raid.

The raids fell away as Luftwaffe forces were withdrawn from the west to prepare for the invasion of the Soviet Union.

In total, nearly 30,000 Londoners died and 50,000 were seriously injured as a result of German bombing in the Second World War.

The auction takes place on March 1.
NORFOLK  The Great American Comedy Festival announced its lineup for the 10th annual summer event, and many of the headliners from previous years are returning to join this years headliner, Martin Short, in honoring Robert Klein.

We wanted to plan something really special for this years festival. I think weve accomplished that, said Mark Zimmerer, chairman of the Norfolk festival.

Short, who donned a nude-colored leotard and sang about it onstage at Lincolns Pinewood Bowl last summer during a show with his buddy Steve Martin, returns to Nebraska to perform another theatrical set on June 17. That night, the festivals Johnny Carson Comedy Legend award will be presented to Klein, a 40-year veteran of standup who influenced scores of comics. (Billy Crystal revealed on the final-finale of Jay Lenos Tonight Show run that a Klein poster was Lenos lone apartment decoration when he was an aspiring standup.)

Short and Klein will have plenty of company in Norfolk. To celebrate the 10th year, The Great American Comedy Festival is bringing back half its past headliners and eight of the previous nine winners of the Best of the Fest competition.

First, the past headliners: Larry Miller, Caroline Rhea, Jake Johannsen, Tommy Johnagin, Mike E. Winfield and Wendy Liebman.

Liebman will headline a June 16 set featuring the Best of the Fest performers, who include: David Deacon Gray, Kermet Apio, Ryan Hamilton, Pete Lee, Phil Palisoul, Brian Kiley, Brad Wenzel and Marc Normand.

Theres also a June 17 panel discussion featuring former writers from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, including Mike Reiss (The Simpsons, The Critic) and the writing team of Andrew Nicholls and Darrell Vickers.

Ticket information for the festival, which runs from June 14-17, has not been released. To see a full list of events, go to greatamericancomedyfestival.com.
A pensioner who left around 70 animals to starve and rot has been banned from having pets again after causing unimaginable suffering.

John Gosnell, 72, abandoned his animals, leaving them in such horrific conditions that only four of an estimated 74 survived.

The four survivors included a rabbit and three degus, one of which had turned to cannibalism, eating the corpses of its dead cage mates.

A dead monitor lizard found by RSPCA inspectors and the police when they attended Gosnell's address in Blackpool

RSPCA inspector Carl Larsson called the incident 'one of the most disturbing investigations' he'd been part of.

He said: 'The level of neglect and suffering caused to these animals is unimaginable.'

On June 21, 2016, RSPCA and police attended the Gosnell's home in Blackpool, Lancashire, following reports that animals had been left behind.

Officers located several small cages on the ground floor containing the remains of small rodents.

One cage contained four live degus with no food, water or clean bedding, and six to eight further deceased degus lining the bottom of the cage.

Dead rodents found among the 70 decomposing animal corpses at Gosnell's home. One inspector called it one of the worst cases he had ever seen

Gosnell had also kept bearded dragons, but left them to starve and rot. The inspectors said there was an overpowering stench when they entered the home

The surviving degus, one of which had turned to eating its cage mates to try to stay alive. One of the smallest died in vet care

The smallest of the degus died after a few days in vet care.

The other seven cages in the downstairs room contained around 50 deceased rodents, including rats, mice and hamsters.

Officers were not able to determine exact numbers due to the level of decomposition.

On the second floor officers found a number of vivariums containing two Nile Monitors, one Black Throated Monitor, seven bearded dragons and a large constrictor snake.

All of these animals were dead.

The pensioner also kept a snake, which had been left to die. He had told inspectors there were no animals in the house when officers initially visited

Some of the corpses, like this dead rat, were badly decomposed. The officers are not sure of the exact figure of dead animals in the home

The environments of these animals was found to be inadequate by a vet who specialised in exotics.

More than two weeks later, workers clearing out the property discovered a black and white female rabbit living on the ground floor under piles of bin bags.

The animal was also found to be suffering due to being underweight and having an eye problem.

An RSPCA inspector who spoke with Gosnell before entering the property was told there were no animals inside.

Shocking images of the animals, including these bearded dragons, show the huge extent of the neglect they suffered

Above, a degu cage kept in the home. One degu cage contained six to eight further deceased degus lining the bottom

A dead lizard found in Gosnell's house. He was banned for life from keeping animals after the inspection

In a later interview he said this was because he believed they would have died in the time since he last fed them.

Mr Larsson said: 'On entering the house it became apparent it was in a terrible state with an overpowering smell. The conditions were appalling.

'The surviving three degus and the rabbit were all successfully rehomed by Blackpool and North Lancashire RSPCA Branch.'

Gosnell was banned for life from keeping animals, after admitting five offences under the Animal Welfare Act, including two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to four degus, one charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a rabbit and two charges of failing to meet the needs of multiple deceased rodents and reptiles.

The Blackpool Gazette reports that on February 13 at Birmingham Magistrates Court, Gosnell received a lifetime ban forbidding him from keeping animals. He will not be able make an application for the termination of the ban for 10 years.

At a previous hearing he received a suspended prison sentence of eight weeks and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of 115. He was not banned from keeping animals at that time.
A man has been charged with manslaughter after his girlfriend's four-year-old son accidentally shot and killed himself with a gun he found lying around.

Demeko DeSean Robinson, 26, from Winter Haven, Florida was arrested on Thursday in connection with the tragic death of Avion Weaver.

He was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, tampering with evidence and giving false information to a law officer during an investigation.

Avion Weaver, four, accidentally shot and killed himself with a gun he found in an apartment in Winter Haven, Florida

He also faces charges involving another gun that police say was shortened to an unlawful length and had the serial numbers filed off, according to The Ledger.

It was originally speculated by investigators that Robinson might be charged with culpable negligence, but that has been upgraded.

Little Avion died on January 20 when he was home alone watching television while Robinson, the boyfriend of Weaver's mother, Deja Perry, was outside talking to some friends, reports WTSP.

Demeko DeSean Robinson, 26, has been charged in the death of his girlfriend's four-year-old son

People outside heard a pop and ran inside to find the boy injured.

Authorities say the boy found a 9-mm handgun, possibly on the kitchen counter, and shot himself in the face. He died later at the hospital.

When police first arrived, Robinson told them the boy had fallen and hit his head, which was bleeding. But it soon became apparent that the boy had been shot.

Police say that originally Robinson told them the gun had been stored in a box, however, cops were unable to find such a box, reported The Ledger. Police say they later found the gun hidden outside.

Neighbors said the little boy was charming and everyone knew him.

'He was the neighborhood's little boy,' neighbor Towanda Jean-Louis told The Ledger. 'We all loved him.'
Eren Hussein has lost a compensation claim against Ronnie Scott's jazz club after she fell down the stairs while drunk

A jazz fan who sued for compensation after falling down stairs at Ronnie Scott's was overweight, drunk and careless in her high heels, a judge said.

Eren Hussein, 53, blamed dim lighting at the world famous Soho club after breaking her wrist and elbow in the fall after a party in 2012.

She sued for thousands in damages but, after a civil trial this week, a judge threw out her claim, saying the fall wasn't the club's fault.

Judge Heather Baucher QC said 18-stone Mrs Hussein, who was wearing high platform heels, should have been holding the banister as she descended the steps.

The judge said: 'In her inebriated, obese state on three-inch platforms, that would be an obvious, simple step for anyone presented with what they saw as a hazard.'

Company director Mrs Hussein, from east London, said she had been at a birthday party with her pregnant daughter-in-law when the accident happened in March 2012.

After missing a step outside an upstairs lounge, she fell, tumbling down one flight, round a corner and down another, she said.

'It was dark, it was dim and I didn't see my step as I was going down,' she told the judge.

'I tumbled over and over and over and I injured myself very badly. I recall landing on my neck and the back of my head as well.'

The incident happened after Mra Hussain attended a party at the famous venue in 2012

The mother, who has since shed five stones of weight, told the court she was walking down the left side of the stairs, whereas the bannister was on the right.

But Judge Baucher said, given her size at the time, that should not have prevented Mrs Hussein using the rail as she walked down the metre-wide stairway.

'Mrs Hussein, at 115kg, must have taken up much of the width of the stairway,' said the judge, 'but for some inexplicable reason, she did not use the handrail.'

Earlier, Mrs Hussein said she had drunk no more than a glass and a half of champagne and a glass of red wine, and was not tipsy.

Judge Heather Baucher QC found Mrs Hussain was overweight, drunk and on high heels and should have held the banister

But the club's barrister Catherine Foster pointed out medical records from her arrival at hospital, in which she was described as 'obviously drunk' and 'intoxicated'.

In her ruling, Judge Baucher found Mrs Hussein was under the influence, although she said she may have been affected by painkillers and the fact she had not had alcohol for six months before the accident.

'I find that the notes in the hospital records referred to her being intoxicated because she was so,' said the judge.

There was nothing wrong with the lighting in the stairwell, continued Judge Baucher, who visited the scene of the accident during the trial.

Hundreds of people use the stairs every week and yet there had only been one other report of a person falling down, she said.

Mrs Hussein had fallen because she had missed her step, something for which Ronnie Scott's management could not be blamed.

'In ordinary circumstances, she, like countless others, would have descended the staircase and gone home,' continued the judge.

'However, on that evening, whether due to one or more of the factors - painkillers, weight, shoes, drink - she simply missed her footing. I find she did so through no fault on the part of Ronnie Scott's.' The damages claim was rejected.
Browsing shops and sipping on a cold drink, Peru Two drug mule Michaella McCollum is pictured soaking up the sun in Spain - the country where she first agreed to smuggle cocaine.

The 24-year-old from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, was jailed in Peru in 2013 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 million of the drug out of the country to Spain with another woman, Melissa Reid.

McCollum had travelled to South America to carry out the drug smuggling plot at the beginning of August 2013, after hatching the criminal plan in the Balearic island Ibiza where she had moved just two months earlier to work as a dancer in a bar for the summer.

Just months after returning home, pictures have emerged showing her enjoying new found freedom with a break in Marbella, Spain.

Soaking up the sun: Peru Two drugs mule Michaella McCollum is pictured chilling in Spain - the country where she first agreed to smuggle cocaine

McCollum has used her new-found freedom to enjoy a break in Marbella, Spain with pictures showing her walking along the water front and shopping

Wearing gym clothes - including a pair of striped leggings - and sunglasses, McCollum holds a drink in one hand as she walks along. At one point she takes a seat to make a phone call

The 24-year-old (left) from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, was jailed in Peru in 2013 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 million of cocaine out of the country with fellow Briton Melissa Reid (right)

Wearing gym clothes - including a pair of striped leggings - and sunglasses, McCollum holds a drink in one hand as she walks around town, looks through shops and makes a telephone call.

Yesterday, images emerged showing her in a bikini walking up and down a beach. Images also showed her cooling off in the sea and using an outdoor beach shower to rinse sand off her legs.

Earlier this month, she posted a message on Facebook thanking 'everyone who has supported myself and family through these past few years.'

The post read: 'Please know I truly appreciate each one who cared and had my back.

Michaella McCollum has been spotted out in her gym wear wandering around Marbella, Spain

At one point McCollum stopped off and sat down on a bench to make a telephone call

On the move: McCollum was back in Spain, the country where she first agreed to smuggle cocaine

The 24-year-old from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, was jailed in Peru in 2013 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 million of the drug out of the country to Spain with another woman, Melissa Reid

'Thank you for all the sweet messages I have not got reading them all just yet or got a chance to reply to them but I will definitely make a good attempt to get back to you all.

'It has been a long ride to get where I am today but it just shows that when we fight hard enough for something we can achieve it.

'Something to have in mind when one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.'

McCollum returned home in August last year after reportedly doing a deal with Peruvian authorities.

Earlier this month, she posted a message on Facebook thanking 'everyone who has supported myself and family through these past few years'

McCollum returned home in August last year after reportedly doing a deal with Peruvian authorities

She and Reid - dubbed the 'Peru Two'  had each been sentenced to six years and eight months in jail after admitting to trying to smuggle cocaine out of the country

McCollum was released on parole last March after serving less than half of her sentence but was initially required to stay in Peru, where she carried out voluntary work

She and Reid - dubbed the 'Peru Two'  had each been sentenced to six years and eight months in jail after admitting to trying to smuggle cocaine out of the country.

The pair, who initially protested their innocence, were found in possession of 11kg of cocaine hidden inside food packets in their luggage as they prepared to board a flight from Lima to Madrid.

McCollum was released on parole last March after serving less than half of her sentence but was initially required to stay in Peru, where she carried out voluntary work.

Reid was released from prison in June last year, flying back to Scotland shortly afterwards.

Michaella McCollum, is pictured handcuffed as she arrives for a court hearing, in Lima, Peru, on December 17, 2013

The pair were found in possession of 11kg of cocaine hidden inside food packets in their luggage as they prepared to board a flight from Lima to Madrid

McCollum was pictured sipping a smoothie in the sunshine in Marbella as she enjoyed her new-found freedom

Speaking previously about her experience in Lima's Ancon 2 prison, McCollum described how she shared a cell with seven other prisoners including Reid, sleeping on concrete bunks and using a hole in the floor as a lavatory

Browsing: McCollum was seen looking a bags outside a gift shop in the resort of Marbella

Michaella McCollum took time out to make a telephone call as she strolled around the Spanish rerort

McCollum has been enjoying her new-found freedom ever since returning home

McCollum was jailed in Peru in 2013 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 million of the drug out of the country

Speaking previously about her experience in Lima's Ancon 2 prison, McCollum described how she shared a cell with seven other prisoners including Reid, sleeping on concrete bunks and using a hole in the floor as a lavatory.

Despite the harsh conditions, she told Mail On Sunday 'of course you have laughs in there' and said she adjusted to life in jail by running a beauty salon and participating in dance competitions.

She secretly took the pictures on a mobile phone she got by bribing a prison guard, in order to reassure her family that she was coping with the harsh reality of her situation.

One photograph showed her crouching alongside other inmates as she blew out candles on a cake they made for her 22nd birthday.
Advertisement

A 50 metre photograph has been installed at the bottom of Australia's most iconic pool.

The aerial image of the Italian Amalfi Coast, taken by renowned beach photographer Eugene Tan from Aquabumps, was installed at the bottom of Bondi Icebergs swimming pool in Sydney.

The pool is drained and cleaned once a week so on Thursday Mr Tan and his team installed the 50 metre long, 13 metre wide waterproof vinyl print.

The aerial image of the Italian Amalfi Coast, taken by renowned beach photographer Eugene Tan, was installed at the bottom of Bondi Icebergs swimming pool in Sydney

The pool is drained and cleaned once a week so on Thursday Mr Tan and his team installed the 50 metre long, 13 metre wide waterproof vinyl print

A 50 metre photograph has been installed at the bottom of Australia's most iconic pool

His wife Deborah Tan said they had to study the tide for six months so the conditions were just right.

'We needed the swell to not be too big, and needed the tide to be at its lowest point. It was tricky logistically,' Ms Tan told Daily Mail Australia.

Mr Tan took to the air on Thursday after the pool was refilled to shoot the spectacle in stills.

He returned in the evening to print the shots and unveil them to 120 guests gathered at Icebergs overlooking the art installation.

The project was born after Mr Tan decided to bring his passion and love for Italy to Australia.

'The Icebergs exhibition is a melting pot of my passions- aerial photography, Italy, the beach, Bondi, and large-scale prints' he said.

An aerial photograph of Italian Amalfi Coast, taken by Eugene Tan, was installed at the bottom of Bondi Icebergs swimming pool

His wife Deborah Tan said they had to study the tide for six months so the conditions were just right for the installation

Mr Tan took to the air on Thursday after the pool was re-filled to shoot the spectacle in stills

The huge print was at the bottom of the pool for less than 24 hours and was removed on Friday

'I pioneered aerial beach photography in Australia over 10 years ago and have always wanted to produce one of my aerial images publicly in a huge format.

'Icebergs was a logical location choice and the closest replication of the famous Italian beach clubs on the Amalfi Coast, which has become one of my favourite locations to shoot.'

The huge print was at the bottom of the pool for less than 24 hours and was removed on Friday.

'People were swimming in it again on Friday. Guys with goggles and wetsuits went in and pulled it up,' Ms Tan said.

On Thursday night at Bondi Icebergs Canon Australia put a call out to creative artists across Australia with the launch of Show Us What's Possible, inviting them to pitch projects for the brand to support.

Throughout 2017 Canon Australia will support a series of Show Us What's Possible'projects with funding, equipment, technical support and promotion.

The project was born after Mr Tan decided to bring his passion and love for Italy to Australia
The boyfriend of Towie star Cara Kilbey may walk free within weeks after being cleared of masterminding a multi-million pound drugs empire.

Daniel Harris, 33, was accused of making 'vast profits' by sending drug couriers on mopeds disguised as trainee cab drivers around central London over three-and-a-half years.

He was also charged over a 200,000 heroin deal which was scuppered by police in May 2015 and having 116,000 in ill-gotten gains hidden in his young daughter's bedroom.

Daniel Harris, 33, (left) - the boyfriend of TOWIE star Cara Kilbey (right), was cleared of plotting to supply cocaine and heroin, but found guilty of stashing some 116,000 in cash

Harris (left) was cleared of making 'vast profits' by sending drug couriers on mopeds disguised as trainee cab drivers around central London

When police searched the lavish apartment Harris shared with Ms Kilbey and their daughter Penelope Blu in Theydon Bois, Essex, officers found 116,000 in cash in an Asda shopping bag inside a black holdall in the child's bedroom

An Old Bailey jury deliberated for a day to clear Harris of plotting to supply cocaine and heroin, but found him guilty of stashing the money.

He was jailed for two years for possessing criminal property, but he could be out from jail within weeks having already served almost a year in Wandsworth prison.

Police launched a covert surveillance operation tracking Harris's movements over the course of more than a year before swooping to arrest him in March 2016.

Miss Kilbey and Harris had been separated for almost a year when he was taken into custody in early 2016.

Miss Kilbey appeared on the first four seasons of The Only Way is Essex, has 458,000 followers on Twitter and 344,000 Instagram followers.

The couple met while Harris was living out in Spain with his father and she was on holiday there.

They returned to the UK in September 2015 when she fell pregnant.

Other men, some of whom were Harris's friends, went on to plead guilty to their part in the plots and have been jailed for more than 68 years.

Harris, 33, lived in a luxury flat with the star and their baby daughter surrounded by designer clothes and shoes

Miss Kilbey, who appeared on the first four seasons of The Only Way is Essex, has 458,000 followers on Twitter and 344,000 Instagram followers. She is pictured with Harris

Mastermind Jay Tripp, 34, was jailed for 16 years and six months (left), along with his right hand man Joseph Maloney, 33, (right) who was jailed for 15 years

Evidence suggested the cocaine gang had a turnover of nearly 500,000 a week at the height of their activities.

They kept it under wraps by hiring an East End flat and lock-up where they stored six scooters and packaged the cocaine after it was cut with benzocaine.

He knew some of his friends were drug dealers and, after being let in on their secret during a ski holiday to Verbier in Switzerland, he made use of the moped delivery service once, he said.

DRUGS GANG JAILED FOR OVER 68 YEARS The other defendants have already been sentenced for their various involvement in either or both of the drugs plots. Joseph Maloney, 33, of Tower Hamlets, east London, received 15 years; Jay Tripp, 34, of Fyfield, Essex, 16-and-a-half years; Jack Lyman, 28, of Bexley, Kent, seven years; Danny Ward, 34, of Beckenham, Kent, 11 years; Nial Kellaghan, 29, of Greenwich, south-east London, seven years; Dean Standen, 34, of Sidcup, Kent, seven years and nine months; and Daniel Crook, 32, of HMP Peterborough, five years. Frederick Jennings, 20, of south-east London, was handed 21 months' detention suspended for 18 months with 200 hours of unpaid work. Advertisement

Harris's father was arrested in December 2015 for allegedly smuggling drugs from Spain to the UK but Harris said that he in 'no way' had anything to do with it.

Prosecutor Peter Clement told the judge that Harris had been 'no mere custodian' of the money, but arranged for it to be gathered, collected it and kept it for weeks before it was discovered - 'all with a view to smuggling to another jurisdiction'.

He acknowledged the offence was not motivated by personal gain, instead arising 'out of his father's crisis rather than his own'.

But, he said, an aggravating factor was that the cash was tainted by organised crime and that its intended destination was outside the UK - Spain.

Defending, barrister David Whittaker told the court the unemployed defendant had no money and had not funded the costs of his trial.

Mr Cooke ordered him to pay 4,576 costs to be paid within 56 days and a victim surcharge of 120.

He said he was satisfied that, while Harris may not be able to pay the sum himself, he could draw upon others for assistance.

While three men watched proceedings from the public gallery, the defendant's TV star girlfriend was nowhere to be seen.

From left: Nial Kellaghan, 29, jailed for seven years; Jack Lyman, 28, jailed for seven years and Dean Standen, 34, jailed for seven years and nine months

From left: Frederick Jennings, 20, 21 months' detention suspended for 18 months with 200 hours of unpaid work; Daniel Ward, 34, jailed for 11 years; Danny Crooks, 32, jailed for five years

Miss Kilbey's father Gary, 58, was called to give evidence as part of Harris' defence case

The millionaire father of TOWIE star Cara Kilbey bankrolled the luxury lifestyle of his daughter and her alleged drug dealer boyfriend Daniel Harris (pictured together), the court heard
A former school principal falsely accused of having sex with multiple co-workers claims she is a victim of 'double reverse extortion' after education bosses threatened to reveal X-rated photos of her at a disciplinary hearing.

Annie Seifullah believes New York City executives are trying to bully her into resigning  even though the 'evidence' provided by her vengeful ex-boyfriend was dismissed as false during a Department of Education investigation.

She was also devastated to discover her abusive ex's name among the witnesses listed to give evidence against her.

'The city is trying to bully and embarrass me into resigning,' Seifullah tells the DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

'I was extorted first by my ex who threatened to destroy my career and now the city is doing the same - using his discredited evidence to force me out of the job I loved. It is ugly and disgusting.'

Annie Seifullah believes New York City executives are trying to bully her into resigning  even though the 'evidence' provided by her vengeful ex-boyfriend was dismissed as false during a Department of Education investigation

The Utah-born Morman's troubles began almost three years ago when her ex Robert Conte, a bankrupt comic book producer who also uses the name Robert Sofia, made good on his threat to make her 'unemployable and undatable'

'The Department of Education is creating a template that means any angry ex partner can do the same thing.'

But Seifullah, who is currently on medical leave due to stress, is refusing to go quietly and has launched a lawsuit against the city for violating her human and civil rights and denying her due process.

The Utah-born Morman's troubles began almost three years ago when her ex Robert Conte, a bankrupt comic book producer who also uses the name Robert Sofia, made good on his threat to make her 'unemployable and undatable.'

She says he became abusive soon after they moved in together in 2013 and over the course of the year she handed him $18,000, including $300 a month in child support for his three kids.

When she finally plucked up the courage to leave, he went to her bosses and claimed she'd had sex with multiple co-workers, a parent and a student. He also allegedly placed incriminating photos of her engaged in sex acts on her DOE laptop.

He leaked an old photo of Seifullah in black underwear, fishnet stockings and high heels to The New York Post and claimed  anonymously  that she'd had romps on school property when students were in classes nearby.

The story made headlines around the world and Seifullah was instantly removed from her $142,890-a-year job at the Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology in Long Island City, Queens.

He went to her bosses and claimed she'd had sex with multiple co-workers, a parent and a student. He also allegedly placed incriminating photos of her engaged in sex acts on her DOE laptop. Pictured, Seifullah with her Lawyer Pete Gleason and her Private Investigator Vinny Parco

'When I saw his name on the witness list [for my lawsuit] I was shocked. The DOE investigators and forensics techs I expected. But not him, the man that verbally and emotionally abused me and made good on his extortion threats,' she said

Her salary was slashed to $66,326 and she was ordered to stay away from students while the DOE conducted an investigation.

Computer forensics experts quickly concluded that the photographs, including ones of Seifullah engaged in a threesome with a man and woman, had been placed on the computer.

Investigators also ruled that all of the sex allegations were unfounded but the 37-year-old single mother-of-one was asked to resign because she had failed to safely secure her work laptop.

Seifullah refused, saying she would admit that the photographs were on the computer but she had not put them there.

'They turned that down,' she tells the DailyMail.com. 'All I want to do is get back to the job I loved but they want me to resign.

'When I refused they said there would be a disciplinary hearing and on February 10 I was handed a big package of discovery evidence that they intended to use.

'It was actually the first time in the almost three years since the allegations were made that I actually got to see what they had.

'There was a CD containing dozens of explicit photos of me. They were effectively saying they would use private pictures of me that were stolen and placed on my work laptop without my knowledge.

'The DOE is trying to silence me and the lengths they are going to do it are mind boggling,' Seifullah said

'Those photos had been dismissed as irrelevant by DOE investigators yet they were going to take this irrelevant evidence to use against me and make the pictures public.

'These were private photographs of me and my ex-husband taken eight or nine years ago.

'Some of the photos aren't even of me, they are porn photos and I don't even know how any of them got onto my work laptop.

'The DOE is trying to silence me and the lengths they are going to do it are mind boggling.

'I admit that I did not safeguard my laptop. But I defy anyone who works long hours, who takes work home, not to do the same when they are living with someone.

'They also had my ex's so-called dossier of evidence against me. It was four-five pages of falsehoods and fiction and would be laughable if he hadn't caused so much damage.

'When I saw his name on the witness list I was shocked. The DOE investigators and forensics techs I expected. But not him, the man that verbally and emotionally abused me and made good on his extortion threats.

'After everything the DOE uncovered about him, how can he be a credible witness?'

Seifullah's lawyer Peter Gleason told the DailyMail.com he was 'horrified' by the city's 'double reverse extortion.'

'This is a plan to victimize her again. They are saying, 'If you don't resign we're going to bring these photographs into the hearing.'

'For the New York City Department of Education to attempt to use stolen, sexually provocative images, in furtherance to their agenda to destroy a well-regarded and successful educators career is reprehensible.'

Seifullah was instantly removed from her $142,890-a-year job at the Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology in Long Island City, Queens

Her salary was slashed to $66,326 and she was ordered to stay away from students while the DOE conducted an investigation. She went on to become a teacher at Automotive High School (pictured) in Brooklyn, but she was diagnosed with traumatic stress disorder as a result of the verbal assault at the school

Gleason, a city employee for three years in the 1980's added: 'Back in my day, city agencies would back their employees up.

'If it was clear that an employee was being subjected to false allegations, their agency would conduct a full, thorough and comprehensive investigation.

'Unfortunately in this case, the Department of Education has joined forces with the false accuser.

'The DOE has bought slut-shaming to a new low.'

Conte, 46, and the Department of Education did not return calls for comment.

Nick Paolucci, spokesman for the New York City Law Department, told DailMail.com': The Law Department is not commenting on any aspect of this matter while it is pending.'
Joe Scarborough outed Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway this morning as the 'leaker extraordinaire' within the White House.

Conway's behind many of the 'ugly' stories about her colleagues, the Morning Joe host said.

'You can go through a lot of those stories' and find her fingerprints, he said. 'Oh look, That's Kellyanne. She had her byline there. She actually had her byline there,' Scarborough said as he pointed at imaginary newspaper stories.

Last week, Scarborough said Conway is either 'out of the loop' or lying when she appears on television and makes claims like Michael Flynn enjoys 'the full confidence of the president.'

Hours later the president's national security advisor was fired.

Joe Scarborough outed Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway this morning as the 'leaker extraordinaire' within the White House

Conway's the source of all the negative stories about her colleagues, the Morning Joe host said. She's pictured yesterday at the Conservative Political Action Conference

'You can go through a lot of those stories' and find her fingerprints, he told John Heilemann (left) and Willie Geist (right). 'Oh look, That's Kellyanne. She had her byline there. She actually had her byline there,' Scarborough said as he pointed at imaginary newspaper stories

Scarborough had harsh words for Conway's White House rivals on Friday, as well.

The MSNBC host ripped into Stephen Miller, a policy advisor to the president, and Steve Bannon, Trump's chief strategist, for 'doing end runs' around White House staff and having Trump sign a problematic executive order applying travel bans to seven majority-Muslin nations.

'They're still having to clean up a month later,' Scarborough said.

Bannon insisted in a Thursday appearance that media reports detailing chaos in the administration are wrong.

'That's because they're in the middle of a lot of the chaos,' Scarborough rebutted.

Stories of dysfunction in the White House and arguments between senior Trump aides have routinely made their way into the press.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, held annually in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., Bannon, the former editor of a right-wing publication, and Reince Priebus, a previous Republican Party head, worked to dispel rumors that they're constantly butting heads.

Journalist John Heilemann observed on Morning Joe that 'there's still a lot of tension' between them because of their 'contrasting approach to the world.'

'Their ideology is different. Their kind of comportment is different. Their sensibility is different,' he said., 'And there will always be that tension, I think going forward, even though I don't doubt on some level that they get along fine.'

At least they don't leak, Scarborough said.

'What's interesting is that those two and Jared Kushner are all completely different. But they all seem to work together very well. And none of them leak about the others. You can't get any of those three people to leak from the others.'

At the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, held annually in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus tried to dispel rumors that they're constantly butting heads - one of the negative stories that has appeared in the press

Scarborough admitted his next statement was going to come out 'ugly' went on.

He said, 'If you read a really ugly story about Reince Priebus or an ugly story about Sean [Spicer], chances are good it came from Kellyanne.'

'I mean Kellyanne has been the leaker extraordinaire,' he said, adding that Priebus, Bannon and Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior advisor, 'do not seem to leak.'

MSNBC's Willie Geist told Scarborough, 'That's certainly the impression they were at least trying to give yesterday, is that there's a ying and a yang to the two of them.'

Scarborough brought a moment from Priebus and Bannon's side-by-side interview when the chief strategist tried to pat the White House chief of staff's hand and Preibus seemed to swat his contemporary away.

'There's a lot of awkwardness though there, wasn't there?' he stated.

Geist told him that 'in Reince's defense, I think he was trying to pat back but the hand was gone by then.'
Charged: Douglas Hammersley, 101, (pictured today) is accused of three counts of indecent assault against a girl under 14

A disco-loving 101-year-old appeared before a judge today accused of carrying out three sex attacks on a schoolgirl 40 years ago.

Wartime radio engineer Douglas Hammersley is accused of three counts of indecent assault against a girl under 14, who is now aged in her 40s, in 1977 and 1979.

He was taken into Amersham Law Courts in his wheelchair and was allowed to sit outside the dock for the short hearing.

All of the charges relate to the same girl.

Judge Francis Sheridan is set to rule whether the 101-year-old is too old to plead.

He sat in his wheelchair in the the middle of the courtroom as his case was heard.

The 101-year-old, dressed in a grey suit and wearing a grey scarf around his face, had been due to enter a plea at Amersham Law Courts this morning but the hearing was adjourned to allow experts to determine whether or not he is fit to plead.

The pensioner, who has lived through two world wars and is 10 years and a day older than the Queen, looked unperturbed as he was wheeled into the courtroom but shook his head as proceedings got underway.

A decision was expected to be heard on March 31 at Aylesbury Crown Court, although Hammersley was not ordered to attend that hearing.

Judge Sheridan said: 'I can see there is a problem. The problem is whether this man is fit to stand trial.

'He must co-operate and attend any examination that he is required to. Please bear in mind his age and please bear in mind his travel arrangements.'

Decision: Judge Francis Sheridan is set to rule whether the centenarian is too old to plead - he will rule next month

He added: 'If both experts say he is unfit then it would be too much for him to come on the 31st. If all the experts says he is fit to stand realistically we can excuse the defendant from appearing on the 31st.'

Hammersley, who used hearing aids in the court, lives at Cotsford Avenue, New Malden, Surrey.

The former second world war telephone engineer was photographed at his favourite New Malden pub in 2015 enjoying a pint when he turned 100.

Youngs Brewery presented Mr Hammersley with a book because he had been drinking at Woodies Freehouse for 68 years.

Friend Roger Sheffield told the Surrey Comet: 'He is a polite gentleman of the old school. He enjoys the disco evenings at Woodies, although he now has to rely on a walking stick.

Mr Hammersley served during the war making electrical components, but because of secrecy was never told what they were used for.

He moved to Surrey from Staffordshire after the war and has eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
An experienced fisherman who says shark numbers are 'exploding' has resorted to catching and killing them because he fears more people will die.

Tony Didio, who fishes off South West Rocks on the NSW north coast, told Channel Nine's A Current Affair program Australian waters are teeming with sharks.

'Shark numbers are absolutely exploding. If they don't do something soon I think we're going to see more fatalities on the beach,' he told the program.

Scroll down for video

Experienced fisherman Tony Didiois so alarmed at the rising number of sharks he has resorted to catching and killing them

Mr Didio, from South West Rocks on the NSW north coast, says shark numbers in the region are out of control

'The numbers that I'm seeing now is really scary. Three years ago out there I virtually didn't see a shark.'

On one recent fishing trip off the NSW coast, Mr Didio caught and killed two massive bull sharks, a species he says are particularly dangerous to humans.

'I think the poor old great white gets the raw end of the stick. It's the bull sharks out there that worry me,' he said.

'That's why I took three of them last year because I'm actually worried about the numbers.'

Mr Didio said: 'The numbers that I'm seeing now is really scary. Three years ago out there I virtually didn't see a shark'

On one recent fishing trip off the NSW coast, Mr Didio caught and killed two massive bull sharks (stock image)

Mr Didio's warning comes after a great white shark was seen swimming less than a metre away from a surfer at Ballina, about 300km north of South West Rocks.

Drone footage shows the animal swimming directly toward the man, who seems to be unaware of the shark's presence, and comes dangerously close before suddenly darting away.

The video was taken over the summer months by the NSW Government as part of a trial to detect shark movements, according to 9News.

There have been at least 11 total shark attacks  two which were fatal  in the Ballina area since 2014, according to The Australian.
About 30 million men in China can't find wives in China due to the country's gender imbalance issue. That's nearly half of the population of Britain.

And a renowned scholar seemed to have found a shortcut to deal with the looming 'bachelor crisis': foreign women.

Mao Shoulong, a dean from the Renmin University, wrote in a newspaper column that more female immigrants should be encouraged to live and work in China, so that they would perhaps marry Chinese 'leftover men'.

Mao Shoulong (pictured), a dean from the Renmin University, made the claim in a column

Mao, a scholar, professor and sociologist, said that the government should allow more foreign women to live in the country, whose population is 1.3 billion.

He wrote: 'It could be an advisable tactic to aptly improve the reformation of the immigration policy and let more foreign women to come to live and work in China so as to relieve the "bachelor crisis".'

The article was published today on The Beijing News, a publication affiliated to the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee of Beijing.

Mao claimed in the article that the recently launched two-child policy will not fully resolve the gender gap issue.

He then went on explaining the many issues the society will likely face if too many people are forced to live a single life, such as property and the ageing of population.

Around 15 million Chinese men aged between 35 and 59 won't be able to find wives by 2020, and by 2050 the number is set to double

The man then said it's very difficult for the government to use policies to fill the gender gap.

It is impossible on a technical and moral level to encourage people to give birth to baby girls, Mao wrote.

To conclude his column, the man pitched some possible methods the government could use to deal with the 'bachelor crisis', such as to encourage more companies to offer marital service and to reduce marital cost.

Many Chinese bachelors pay high prices to marry Vietnamese brides, prompting human-trafficking concerns

Traditionally, baby boys are preferred by Chinese parents because of their ability to carry forward the family name.

Decades of illegal baby gender selection, prompted by the one-child policy, has caused the country to suffer from a severe gender gap.

The gender ratio between baby boys and baby girls has reached 1.3 to 1 at its highest.

It's been estimated that around 15 million men between the ages of 35 and 59 won't be able to find wives by 2020, reported People's Daily, and by 2050 the number would be nearly 30 million.

Many Chinese bachelors, mostly from southern China, have paid high prices to marry Vietnamese women after failing to find Chinese partners, prompting human-trafficking concerns.
A greyhound trainer has been fined and suspended after one of his dogs tested positive to amphetamines.

Todd Kelly, of Adelaide, came under the scrutiny of Greyhound Racing SA after the dog It's No Myth won a race meeting at Gawler on October 6 last year.

A urine sample taken from the dog after the race 'had shown the presence of amphetamine', an inquiry found.

Scroll down for video

Greyhound trainer Todd Kelly has been fined and suspended after a dog he trained won a race with amphetamines in its system

The dog It's No Myth (circled) won a race in Gawler, South Australia, while on amphetamines

Mr Kelly had pleaded not guilty to the charge of presenting a greyhound free from any prohibited substance.

But the three stewards carrying out the inquiry found there was enough evidence to charge Mr Kelly on Monday.

'After considering the matter and all the evidence before them, stewards believed there was sufficient evidence to charge Mr Kelly,' a statement from Greyhound Racing SA said.

Mr Kelly was fined $5000 and disqualified for 15 months but the suspension period won't take effect until March 1.

He has been advised of his rights of appeal.
A Texas father-of-three shot dead his wife of just one month dead and wounded her sister before turning the gun on himself at a Mexican restaurant where the two women worked.

Manuel Casique Ochoa, 20, walked through the backdoor of a popular Mexican restaurant and open fired on his wife Margarita 'Maggie' Pineda, 20, and her sister Sonia Pineda, 24, before killing himself on Thursday night.

Police said Ochoa shot his wife, who he had married in early February, dead by firing at her 'several times' and shot Sonia in the arm at Tierra Caliente, in Pasadena, Texas, where the sisters both worked.

Manuel Casique Ochoa, 20, (left) walked into a popular Mexican restaurant, in Pasadena, Texas, and open fired on his wife Margarita 'Maggie' Pineda, 20, (right) and her sister on Thursday night

Pineda was killed after she was shot twice by Ochoa. The couple had just been married in early February (pictured) and were 'having problems'

Ochoa then turned the gun on himself in an apparent attempt to take his own life, and later died from his self-inflicted injury after he was taken by helicopter to the Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The estranged couple had not been married for very long and were 'having issues' but it is still unclear what had happened to lead to the shooting, according to Chron.com.

According to their Facebook profiles, Ochoa and Pineda were married on February 7 after they had been together for more than four years.

Pineda posted a profile photo of the two at a courthouse kissing and her caption said they had three children together.

The couple had been dating for the past four years and had three children together

Pineda's (left) sister Sonia Pineda, 24, (right) was shot once in the arm and ran to get help

Just weeks before the shooting, Ochoa also shared a photo of their wedding and said: 'Never thought I'd be this happy marrying my best friend and mother of my children. Words cant describe the way I feel for you Margarita Pineda.'

On Monday Pineda changed her profile picture to just a photo of herself and had unfriended her husband.

Before Ochoa began firing his weapon he asked everyone in the taqueria outside except for his wife, who was sitting down on a break, a Pasadena police spokesman said to the news outlet.

Sonia Pineda confronted Ochoa and demanded that he leave, causing him to shoot her in the arm, a police release said.

She then ran out of the building and called the police and heard three more shots as she was fleeing.
President Trump vowed Friday to 'totally obliterate ISIS' as the Pentagon prepares to deliver a range of 'options' for how to go after the group that could include a boost in U.S. forces.

Trump vowed in a speech to CPAC Friday: 'Working with our allies we will eradicate this evil from the face of the earth,' pledging to 'totally obliterate ISIS.'

He spoke as the Pentagon is preparing to present a range of options next week that would include a broad effort against violent extremists groups in response to the president's request for a plan to defeatISIS.

The plan could extend beyond just going after ISIS to include other extremist groups, and could even include beefing up U.S. forces inside Syria.

Remarks from some of the president's top military advisors could hint at a proposed increase in U.S. forces in Syria, where 500 U.S. special operators are assisting local forces in their efforts.

Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Wednesday he was concerned about maintaining momentum against ISIS in Syria, adding that it might be a possibility to take on a larger burden ourselves, McClatchy reported.

President Trump vowed Friday to 'totally obliterate ISIS'

'Weve been given a task to go to the president with options to accelerate the defeat of ISIS specifically, but obviously other violent extremist groups as well,' said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday in remarks at the Brookings institution in Washington: 'Weve been given a task to go to the president with options to accelerate the defeat of ISIS specifically, but obviously other violent extremist groups as well.'

That would include efforts to take on Al Qaeda, who has reportedly been taking up positions vacated by weakening local forces.

"We will go to him with a full range of options from which he can choose,' Dunford said.

Al Qaeda-linked groups have been making gains on rebel areas in northern Syria. The U.S. and allies have stopped providing supplies and ammunition to disparate groups in hopes of forging an alliance, the Washington Post reported.

Some of Dunford's language indicated Trump's military chiefs would argue against half-measures.

The U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, right, and Turkey's Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar talk during a meeting in Incirlik Airbase in Adana, Turkey, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Turkey's military says the Turkish and U.S. chiefs of staff have "confirmed" the need to fight terror groups in Syria and Iraq, including the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants

President Trump on January 28 ordered a preliminary review and a draft plan to defeat ISIS

'What we don't want to do is bring him options that solve one problem only to create a second problem,' Dunford said.

Votel, who commands U.S. forces in the Middle East, has said more U.S. troops might be needed to take on ISIS. The U.S. currently relies on 500 special operations troops who are assisting local forces inside Syria.

Vice President Mike Pence referenced the campaign against ISIS in his remarks at CPAC Thursday.

'We're going to start off by rebuilding the American military. We'll restore the arsenal of democracy. We'll provide our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard with the resources and training they need to accomplish their mission and come home safe,' Pence said.

'And we will hunt down and destroy ISIS at its source, so it can no longer threaten our nation or our families,' he said to huge applause.

President Trump on January 28 ordered a preliminary review and a draft plan to defeat ISIS within 30 days.
A deadly swarm of bees terrorized a California family on Thursday - injuring two people and killing four dogs who were stung more than 300 times.

The hive engulfed Sinthia Sullivan when she tried to rescue her beloved hairless terrier Evolve and her three puppies around 11am at her trailer on Parkridge Avenue in Norco, California.

She and her 70-year-old landlord were stung several dozen times and were taken to the hospital. Firefighters also rescued an eight-year-old girl from the attack who was unharmed.

Scroll down for video

The hive engulfed Sinthia Sullivan when she tried to rescue her beloved hairless terrier Evolve and her four puppies around 11am at her trailer in Norco, California

This deadly swarm of bees terrorized a California community on Thursday - injuring two people and killing four dogs who were stung more than 300 times

Firefighters had to don protective suits to combat the swarm, and sprayed the area with a foam that suffocates the bees in order to stop the attack

'This [dog] is my life line,' Sullivan told CBS LA.

'If this dog passes, I will be in the hospital myself, trying to stay alive.'

Sullivan refused medical treatment herself to seek help for four-year-old Evolve, who passed away shortly after being taken to an animal hospital by a good Samaritan after rescue crews wouldn't transport her themselves.

All three of her puppies, who were just a month old, also died.

Authorities believe the dogs may have aggravated the bees in some way to provoke the attack.

The landlord's son Marcus Cordero says he was also stung about 30 times by the aggressive bees, who were living in a tree just above where the dogs slept.

The landlord's son Marcus Cordero says he was also stung about 30 times by the aggressive bees, who were living in a tree just above where the dogs slept

Four-year-old Evolve passed away shortly after being taken to an animal hospital by a good Samaritan after rescue crews wouldn't transport her themselves

It was not the first time he'd been attacked by the same hive - which also stung him several weeks ago.

'I pushed my sister aside. Then the dog started getting bit. They started to sting me and I just started catching them and killing them [with my hands]' he said.

Firefighters had to don protective suits to combat the swarm, and sprayed the area with a foam that suffocates the bees in order to stop the attack.

Riverside County Fire Battalion 4 Chief Scott Lane told KTLA that the bees would be gone within 24 to 72 hours

They also rescued an eight-year-old girl by wrapping her in a blanket and transporting her to an ambulance.

Riverside County Fire Battalion 4 Chief Scott Lane told KTLA that the bees would be gone within 24 to 72 hours.

Typically bees swarm when their queen leaves the colony. Thousands of worker bees will then 'expel' themselves from the hive to follow her, typically in the spring, according to Scientific American.

They are usually non-threatening to humans unless otherwise provoked.
In a major break for Bill Cosby, a judge ruled Friday that just one of the comedian's multitude of other accusers can testify at his trial to bolster charges he drugged and violated a woman more than a decade ago.

The 79-year-old TV star is set to go on trial in June, accused of sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Prosecutors wanted to put 13 other women on the stand to show that his alleged conduct was part of a distinct pattern of behavior.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill disallowed all but one of those women, saying in a one-page ruling that he carefully weighed the possible value of their testimony against the potential prejudice to Cosby.

Bill Cosby won a major victory on Friday, when a judge barred all but one of his accusers from testifying at his upcoming trial. The comedian pictured above arriving for a hearing on November 2, 2016 in Norristown, Pennsylvania

The one witness who can testify - identified only as Prior Alleged Victim Six - says the comic drugged and assaulted her in 1996 at a Los Angeles hotel.

She is represented by attorney Gloria Allred, who released a statement in response to the judge's order on Friday.

'Although I agree with the prosecutors previous argument that it would have been important for the jury to hear the testimony of all 13 prior bad act witnesses I am glad that at least one such witness will be able to testify in this case,' Allred said.

Cosby is set to face trial in June for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand (above). Prosecutors had found 13 other women to testify against Cosby, but the judge only allowed one

With O'Neill's ruling, the trial will now rest more heavily on Constand's credibility.

'There is an obvious value to the prosecution when you have numerous accusers. That alone adds tremendous weight to the case,' said lawyer Joseph McGettigan, a prosecutor in the Penn State sex abuse scandal.

The ruling could also shave weeks off the trial.

Cosby, 79, who is free on $1 million bail, could get 10 years in prison if convicted. He is expected in court again Monday to ask that the jurors be selected from another county because of the heavy publicity.

Prosecutors compiled the list of 13 potential witnesses from the nearly 50 women who have come forward in recent years to say they were drugged and molested - a barrage that destroyed Cosby's good-guy reputation as the star of TV's 'Cosby Show' in the 1980s.

His lawyers objected to the testimony about 'prior bad acts,' saying that in some cases the sex was consensual, while others involved former models and actresses falsely accusing Cosby to gain money or attention.

His attorneys also argued that some of the allegations were so vague - with some of the women unsure of when the alleged encounters even took place - that it would be impossible for Cosby to defend himself.

While the ruling is a big victory for Cosby at his trial, it could deprive him of grounds for appeal if he is convicted. In 2015, a Pennsylvania appeals court threw out a Roman Catholic Church official's conviction because the jury was allowed to hear from 23 priest-abuse victims who were not directly part of the case.

'It's the best of times and the worst of times for Cosby. It gives the defendant the opportunity to try the case that should be tried, the lone accuser,' said defense lawyer William J. Brennan, who was involved in the church case. 'If it doesn't go his way, he probably is limited on appellate issues. However, I'd take this, hands down, over the alternative.'

The ruling is one of two key pretrial issues in the case. The judge earlier ruled that the jury can hear Cosby's damaging testimony from Constand's 2005 lawsuit against the comedian.

Cosby's deposition runs to nearly 1,000 pages and covers a string of extramarital liaisons dating to the 1960s. It was the release of the sealed testimony in 2015 that led prosecutors to reopen the case.

Constand told police he gave her three unmarked pills and then penetrated her with his fingers as she drifted in and out of consciousness. The comedian has said the sexual contact was consensual.

The additional accuser who can testify worked for one of Cosby's agents and had known the entertainer for six years when he invited her to lunch at his bungalow at the Bel Air Hotel to discuss her acting ambitions.

She said he was in a robe and slippers when she arrived and offered her wine and a pill that she consumed after he assured her it was safe. She said he then sexually assaulted her on his bed.

Among the other accusers who won't be allowed to testify, one said she was an aspiring actress when Cosby assaulted her at a home near Reno, Nevada, in 1984. Another said Cosby drugged and assaulted her in the late 1960s after befriending her and her 9-year-old son.
Ex-cop charged: Owen Farmer III, 45, formerly of the Upper Gwynedd Police Department in Pennsylvania, has been charged with shooting a 15-year-old girl in the back after a road-rage incident involving his stepdaughter and the victim's mother

A former Pennsylvania police officer has been arrested and charged with shooting a 15-year-old girl during a road-rage incident involving her mother.

According to court documents, the altercation took place on Saturday night in Upper Gwynedd Township where police say Owen Farmer III, 45, fired three rounds at a woman's BMW SUV, striking her teenage daughter who was in the front passenger seat.

The 15-year-old was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for a single gunshot wound to her back and later released.

Farmer, formerly of the Upper Gwynedd Police Department, was charged on Tuesday with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of simple assault and three counts of reckless endangerment. He was released on $50,000 bail.

The incident began unfolding at around 10pm near Farmer's home in Upper Gwynedd when his stepdaughter, 20-year-old Amber Shank, driving a Ford Escape had an angry exchange with Elma Campos, who was behind the wheel of a BMW X5 with her husband and 15-year-old daughter in the SUV.

Scroll down for video

The shooting took place outside Farmer's home on West Second Street in Upper Gwynedd

A probable cause affidavit states that Campos honked and flashed the lights at Shank for allegedly tailgating her, and the 20-year-old responded by showing her the middle finger.

Campos then began following Shank, which prompted the 20-year-old to call her ex-cop stepfather, Farmer, telling him that she was being followed and that he needed to come outside with his gun.

The court document states that when Shank pulled into Farmer's driveway, the 45-year-old man ran into the street brandishing a .40 caliber Glock and yelling, 'what the f***!'

Elma Campos told police that when she saw the gun in Farmers hand, she backed up and tried to drive away, running over the man's foot in the process.

Protect and serve: Farmer, a former Pennsylvania National Guardsman, served on the force as a patrolman between 2000 and 2009, when he was honorably discharged

At that moment, the former police officer squeezed off three rounds at the woman's SUV, with one of the bullets piercing the front passenger headrest and hitting her daughter in the back.

Campos rushed the wounded girl to Einstein Medical Center Montgomery to be treated for her gunshot wound.

When officers arrived at Farmer's home in the 1900 block of West Second Street, they found the man sitting in the road grasping his Glock.

Police recovered three .40 caliber shell casings and glass shards from the roadway.

Farmer was then transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital to be treated for a broken foot.

When interviewed by police on Sunday, the ex-cop allegedly admitted to firing the shots at Elma Campos SUV.

According to the Upper Gwynedd Police Department, Owen Farmer served on the force as a patrolman between 2000 and 2009, when he was honorably discharged.

NBC 4 reported that the 45-year-old is also a former Pennsylvania Army National Guard sergeant.

Farmer is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on March 13.
Advertisement

This is the moment riot police unleashed tear gas at drug addicts in Brazil - as millions across the country prepared to celebrate Carnival 2017.

The glittering annual party, which attracts more than a million tourists a year, is kicking off across Brazil against a grim background of recession and crime.

A cocktail of crises has hit the country since South America's first Olympic Games six months ago with at least 37 cities cancelling their carnivals for lack of funds or security.

Pictures show police in protective outfits clashing with drug users in an area of Sao Paulo known as 'crackland'. In the same week, thousands of the city's residents dressed up for spectacular carnival parades and parties.

Under fire: Pictures show police in protective outfits clashing with drug dealers in an area of Sao Paulo known as 'crackland'

Pictures captured the moment riot police clashed with rival drug gangs in Brazil - as millions across the country prepared to celebrate Carnival 2017

Contrast: In the same week, thousands of Sao Paulo's residents dressed up for spectacular carnival parades and parties

The glittering annual party, which attracts more than a million tourists a year, is kicking off across Brazil against a grim background of recession and crime

Officers resorted to tear gas and rubber bullets to quell a confrontation in what is an open-air crack cocaine market in the heart of city, where the drug is purchased and smoked in plain sight, day or night.

Police were attacked with rocks and pieces of wood during the two-hour clash in which nobody was arrested.

As Carnival prepares to enter full swing, the country's economy is crumbling, public coffers are empty and street protests are turning violent.

In much of Espiritu Santo state, which borders Rio de Janeiro, carnival has been scratched, Brazilian media report, because of a bloody episode this month when police went on strike and 140 murders were committed in the space of a week.

Rio, home to the country's and arguably the world's most important carnival, has also been on edge.

Violent confrontations have taken place since the start of the year between riot police and protesters against austerity measures meant to rescue the nearly bankrupt state.

A young girl cries after inhaling tear gas fired by the police as they clash with drug users in the region known as 'Cracolandia'

Police were attacked with rocks and pieces of wood during the two-hour clash in which nobody was arrested

Officers resorted to tear gas and rubber bullets to quell a confrontation in what is an open-air crack cocaine market in the heart of city, where the drug is purchased and smoked in plain sight, day or night

Military tactical police officers advance on suspected drug users in the region earlier this week

Earlier this month relatives of street cops tried to blockade stations in protest of late payment of salaries - raising fears that law and order would weaken further in a city buffeted by rising crime. Detectives are already on strike over late salaries.

In the run-up to the carnival, some 9,000 soldiers and marines were deployed in Rio streets, the camouflaged, rifle-toting men standing out amid the bathers of Copacabana and other popular sites.

Despite the state governor's plea for the troops to stay, they were ordered to withdraw as of Wednesday.

Given the tension in Brazil, it's no surprise that politics is not far from the partying.

Rio carnival goers were surprised to learn that their newly elected mayor, who is also an evangelist bishop, is not expected to attend.

He has already confirmed that he will break with tradition and not personally hand the keys to Rei Momo, apparently out of distaste for the wild excesses of the city's favorite public event.

As Carnival prepares to enter full swing, the country's economy is crumbling, public coffers are empty and street protests are turning violent

This woman pulled on fancy dress glasses during the colourful Carnival of Banknotes in Sao Paulo

A cocktail of crises has hit the country since South America's first Olympic Games six months ago with at least 37 cities cancelling their carnivals for lack of funds or security

The parades themselves have an unusually political slant this year.

One samba school will recreate an embezzlement scandal under France's King Louis XIV - a theme with distinctly current overtones in corruption-riddled Brazil.

Another school's parade will depict deforestation and destruction of indigenous lands, infuriating the country's powerful agribusiness lobby.

Yet even with all this rancor, the city is primed for fun.

Revellers celebrate at the 'LED is My Light' street party in Rio in the early morning hours of Friday

The party-goers took over an underpass and drank and danced in a see of LED lights

Cariocas, as Rio residents are called, have been partying hard in informal street 'blocos' for several weeks

Revelers walk past men sleeping on the pavement as the city bursts with the light of street celebrations

'The carnival looks like a party and it is one, but it's much more than that,' said writer Gregorio Duvivier, a prominent carnival participant.

'It often serves to help us put aside our problems for a few days.... I think that it's even greater in time of crisis, because it's even more needed.'

For Rio, carnival starts Friday and it couldn't come soon enough for a city reeling from a series of set backs.

Patients from the Nise da Silveira Mental Health Institute dance during a carnival parade coined, in Portuguese: 'Loucura Suburbana', or Suburban Madness in Rio on Thursday

A patient from the institute with an octopus on his head. Patients, their relatives and Nise da Silveira staff were all involved in the parade

Tourists and Cariocas gather at a pre-Carnival bloco, or street party, on Thursday night

Excited party-goers play musical instruments at a street party. The official Rio Carnival begins with the handing over of the city keys to the carnival king

The annual bash kicks off officially with the handing over of the symbolic city keys to Rei Momo, the carnival king.

Already the country was shutting down: streets were beginning to empty, most businesses prepared to close until next Thursday, and even the usually raucous chamber of Congress in the capital Brasilia was deserted.

Cariocas, as Rio residents are called, have been partying hard in informal street 'blocos' for several weeks, but now the serious fun begins with rival samba parades in the Sambodromo stadium.

People in a crowd fly the Pride flag during celebrations in Sao Paolo on Sunday

The first parades start in Rio on Friday. In the run-up to the event, some 9,000 soldiers and marines were deployed in the streets

Some of the parades will have political slants this year with some samba schools choosing to allude to corruption and deforestation in their performances

The first parades start Friday, warming up for the elite 'special group' samba schools like Mangueira and Beija Flor who compete all through Sunday and Monday nights.

Watched by 70,000 people in the Sambodromo, the parades are intense, heart-pounding affairs where as many as 3,000 performers at a time dance and sing in outrageously over-the-top costumes.

Their goal will be winning the coveted top prize awarded on Ash Wednesday - the start of Lent in this mostly Catholic country.
A father of five has been killed after a 19-year-old driver plowed his car into the man's bedroom while he was sleeping.

Antonio Jacinto, 41, was asleep in the bedroom of his Anderson County home in South Carolina at 11.15pm on Thursday when the car crashed through.

Police said 19-year-old Austin Burdette's SUV went off the road and hit a sign, a hydrant and went up an embankment before hitting the home.

Antonio Jacinto, 41, was asleep in his South Carolina home on Thursday night when 19-year-old Austin Burdette crashed his SUV into the father of five's bedroom

Footage obtained by Fox News showed his 2004 Ford Explorer stuck inside Jacinto's mobile home after ripping a hole in the side of the dwelling.

The father of five was pinned underneath the SUV and died of a traumatic head injury, according to Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore.

Jacinto's 14-year-old son was sleeping in the same room at the time but he was uninjured.

His four other children who were inside the home were also uninjured.

Burdette's 2004 Ford Explorer ripped a hole in the side of Jacinto's home when it crashed through late on Thursday night

Burdette was arrested and charged with felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury or death. The teen was not injured in the crash

His wife of 15 years, Hope Jacinto, was working at a nearby Walmart when the crash happened.

Burdette was arrested and charged with felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury or death. The teen was not injured in the crash. It wasn't known if he had an attorney.

Krystal Fields, a friend of the family, told the Independent Mail that Jacinto was a loving father who worked hard to take care of his wife and children.

'His whole life was him being devoted to his family,' Fields said.

'There are five kids now with no father so it's going to be tough on them.'
Steven Cook, 20, originally from Sandbach, Cheshire, vanished on a night out with friends in the Greek resort of Malia 11 years ago

Human remains found in a well in Crete belong to a British student who went missing while on holiday more than a decade ago, police have confirmed.

Steven Cook, 20, originally from Sandbach, Cheshire, disappeared on a night out with friends in the Greek resort of Malia in September 2005.

He was last seen in a bar asking for directions to his hotel, but walked off in the wrong direction.

Cheshire Police said they have received confirmation from Greek authorities that his remains had been found.

Police said the priority was to ensure the body was flown back to the UK as soon as possible.

A spokesperson said the investigation into Steven's death is being handled by the Greek authorities, adding that it is not yet clear whether it is a murder inquiry.

Workmen called police after they discovered the skeleton while cleaning the well last Thursday. A disposable camera and belt were found with the body.

Steven's family posted today on Facebook: 'Today we have learned that after over 11 years our much loved and missed son, brother, uncle, nephew and friend will be finally coming home to be with us again.

'Whilst we always carried hope in our hearts that Steve would come back much sooner and once again be able to share in our lives the laughter, love and happiness that he brought in the 20 years he shone amongst us, sadly we will be bringing him home to say our farewells.

'To bring Steve back home was always our goal, and as the years passed our hope never diminished.'

They added: 'Having a loved one go missing is a vacuum full of pain.

'If they are no longer with us then the idle mind imagines horrors of 'what ifs' in order to account for them being alive and not in touch.

'The 'not knowing' hurts but not as much as the thoughts that your imagination conjures in the dark hours whilst also having to try and quench the flames of 'what ifs', rumours and gossip that becomes accepted as fact.

'Knowing that Steve is now coming home is an end to all of that and the fog can lift at last.

'Our memories of him finally released without being accompanied by the horrific mental images, feelings and type of thoughts that can easily destroy you.

'In getting Steve home then we have truly found him again, and he will now continue to live through the shared memories of all that knew him.'

The family thanked the police and several media outlets as well as friends and volunteers for their help in the search.

Workmen found a skeleton at the bottom of the well last Thursday and police were called

The remains were removed from the site and taken to a nearby hospital for tests. Pictured is the outhouse where the well is located

Steven, a Liverpool FC fan, was on his first trip abroad in September 2005 when he disappeared.

He had been out drinking with friends but left a pub alone at the end of the night. A huge search of the island was carried out but nothing was found.

In 2015, the family launched a fresh plea for information to mark the tenth anniversary of his disappearance.

His parents Pat and Norman, both 73, put up a 7,000 Euro reward for information about their missing son.

Several sightings of a man of Steven's description by holidaymakers on Crete and nearby island Rhodes in the months after his disappearance had led the family to believe he may have still been alive.

It was believed that he may have had a head injury that made it difficult for him to communicate his whereabouts.

Steven was last seen in a bar asking for directions to his hotel, but walked off in the wrong direction. He had been on his first trip abroad

In 2015, the family launched a fresh plea for information to mark the tenth anniversary of his disappearance. Cheshire Police issued an image of how Steven might look aged 30

Steven's parents Pat and Norman, both 73, (pictured in Steven's room) had put up a 7,000 Euro reward for information about their missing son

Speaking last week following the discovery of the remains, Pat said: 'We have been told that a skeleton has been found - we don't know what to make of it.

'It was a shock to receive the call after all this time, it's upset all the family.'

The remains were taken to the forensic department of Heraklion University Hospital where a DNA test was carried out.

After the discovery, islanders said they believed it may have been Steven because there are very few unsolved missing persons in Crete.

One local said: 'The owner of the well brought in a company to clean the well and empty whatever was at the bottom of it.

'They found a complete human skeleton, a small camera and a leather belt. The police and coroner were both called to the scene.'

STEVEN COOK: HOW THE BRITON WENT MISSING IN MALIA IN 2005 Steven Cook went missing in Malia, Crete in 2005 during a night out with friends.

The then 20-year-old was on his first holiday away from parents.

Several sightings of a man of Steven's description by holidaymakers on Crete and nearby island Rhodes in the months after his disappearance convinced his family that he was still alive.

It was thought a blow to the head may have made it difficult for Steven to communicate his whereabouts.

Despite appeals on UK and Greek TV Steven has never been found.

In 2015 the family launched a fresh plea for information to mark the tenth anniversary of his disappearance.

At the time Cheshire police issued an image of how Steven might look in 2015 - aged 30.

Workmen discovered a skeleton down a well earlier this month Advertisement

Detective Inspector Gary McIntyre, from Cheshire Police, said: 'On Thursday February 16, Cheshire Constabulary was made aware of the discovery of human remains in a well in Malia, Crete.

'Since then, officers have been in close liaison with the Greek authorities and have been awaiting further information.

'Tests have been carried out and we have now received confirmation from the Greek authorities that the remains belong to Steven Cook, who went missing on September 1 2005 during a holiday to the island.'

He continued: 'Steven's family have been kept fully updated on the developments and are currently being supported by Cheshire officers.

'This is understandably an extremely upsetting and distressing time for the Cook family.

'Steven's relatives are very appreciative of all the support the media and the public have given them over the years in their quest to find him but they have asked for their privacy to be respected at this time as they are trying to come to terms with the news.'
A pensioner has been banned from beeping his car horn for the next three years - after annoying neighbours with loud honks.

Suresh Bhatia, 74, was arrested after he drove his car into neighbour Piotr Strzelec in Croydon, south London, during a row over noise on July 19 last year.

Croydon Magistrates Court heard that as Bhatia was sitting in his car and was waiting for his son to leave the house, he got angry, started shouting for his son to hurry up and beeped his horn.

Croydon Magistrates Court heard Suresh Bhatia, 74, was arrested after he drove his car into neighbour Piotr Strzelec in Croydon

As he waited in his car, neighbour Mr Strzelec confronted him over the noise, which ended with Bhatia driving into him, causing minor injuries to Mr Strzelec.

The court heard how there was often noise outside Bhatias home, caused in some part by Bhatias hearing problems - which caused him not to realise how much noise he was making.

Michael Gallagher, defending, said Bhatia was reckless and that hitting his neighbour with his car was not intentional and was at a very slow speed.

He said the argument with Mr Strzelec kicked off when Bhatia started shouting at his son to get in the vehicle.

The 74-year-old said that he did not hit his neighbour on purpose, but he was found guilty of common assault on February 10 and sentenced this week.

Bhatia was handed a criminal behaviour order which bans him from honking his horn or revving his car engine or flashing its lights, which runs until 2020.

He was also fined 300 and told to pay 420 in court costs and a victim surcharge of 30.
David Giaccone needed stitches to his face after four breakdancers jumped him on the NYC subway, he told DailyMail.com

A New York subway passenger and his fiancee were attacked by a group of breakdancers when he confronted them about their behavior while soliciting donations.

At around 1.20pm on Wednesday, David Giaccone, 40, and his fiancee Kassandra Noce, 26, were riding on the A Train in Brooklyn when a group of four dancers announced that their show was about to begin.

'I [usually] clap and enjoy the dancers,' Giaccone told DailyMail.com. 'This crew was out of line.'

The dancers began moving through the train car aggressively soliciting donations, Gianccone said.

'They were getting everyone's attention, threatened to snuff people cause they weren't getting money,' he said. 'When they got to me and my fiancee we stood up to the bullying and told them not to be rude, and it escalated from there.'

David Giaccone, 40, and his fiancee Kassandra Noce, 26, are shown in this Facebook photo. The pair were allegedly attacked on a subway train after refusing to move for breakdancers.

One of the dancers lunged at Gianccone, striking him in the face and hitting the man's fiancee with his forearm, he said.

Then four of the men piled on, pummeling Gianccone with 'cheap shots,' he said. A trained martial artist, he angled his head to avoid a broken nose as he tried to shield Noce, his fiancee.

When Noce tried to intervene, one attacker called her a 'b***h' and told her to stay out of it, according to Gianccone.

When the train, traveling southbound through the East New York neighborhood, pulled into the station at Euclid Avenue, the four men fled.

Dancers such as this one often bring boomboxes on the train and ask for donations (file photo)

Dance routines on the train are against system rules, as seen in this ad campaign that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority launched last year

Cops stopped the train an took a report, and Gianccone was transported to a hospital, where he received four stitches.

The attack left him with a cut on his left cheek and a deep scratch over his left eye.

'I got lucky, because the plastic surgeon was there on call and it was his specialty,' he said.

Breakdance routines, though against the rules, are ubiquitous in New York's subway system.

Former New York police Commissioner Bill Bratton spoke out against the trend in 2014, when misdemeanor arrests of performers for reckless endangerment spiked to 240 in the first six months, from 40 the year prior, according to the New York Daily News.
Far right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen refused a police summons to be interviewed about a corruption scandal that could see her jailed, it emerged today.

Instead the 48-year-old National Front (FN) leader said she would not cooperate with the judicial authorities until after the ongoing election campaign.

She received the summons on Wednesday to attend the judicial police headquarters in Nanterre, the Paris suburb, at 2pm.

Marine Le Pen today refused to meet with investigating magistrates who are probing allegations of expenses irregularities within her party. The far right leader claimed the timing of the investigation was politically motivated to stop her current successes in the opinion polls

Le Pen's chief of staff Catherine Griset, right, has been charged with breach of trust, while her bodyguard Thierry Legier, left, is also facing investigation by authorities

Despite the scandal, Le Pen is surging ahead in the polls. According to an Opinionway poll released today, Le Pen will get 26 per cent of the first round vote, compared with Emmanuel Macron on 23 per cent and Francois Fillon on 21 per cent.

However, in a run off against either candidate, Le Pen is likely to lose. Macron would secure 61 per cent in the second round, with Fillon securing 58 per per cent support in a head-to-head against the far right leader.

Two of her aides did turn up, including her Chief of Staff, Catherine Griset, who was formally charged with breach of trust, and now faces trial. But, despite regularly claiming she is a 'law and order' candidate, Ms Le Pen has showed absolute contempt for the police and examining magistrates.

Le Pen, who is an MEP denies her party made Ms Gristet and Mr Legier 'fake' parliamentary assistants on a salary of more than 6,000 a month costing up to 300,000 in total

Confirming the snub, her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, said: 'Justice is not a power, it is an authority' that 'should not be disturbing' the presidential campaign.

The scandal relates to an enquiry into fake jobs at the European Parliament that could see Ms Le Pen jailed for ten years.

Catherine Griset, her Chief of Staff, was arrested on Wednesday along with Thierry Legier, Ms Le Pen's bodyguard, who is nicknamed 'The Gorilla'.

Ms Le Pen, who denies all allegations, immediately said the move was part of a 'political dirty tricks' campaign involving a corrupt judiciary and media.

But the European Anti-Fraud Office says it has compelling evidence that Ms Le Pen, who is an MEP, made both Ms Gristet and Mr Legier her fake 'parliamentary assistants' on salaries of 6,000 plus a month.

The whole scam was worth as much as 300,000 to Ms Le Pen and the FN, prosecutors claim. Ms Le Pen was said to have produced a false employment contract on behalf of Ms Griset, a long-time friend, as part of the money-spinning arrangement.

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 10 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.

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.
The president's daughter and son-in-law pushed the Republican executive to get rid of a reference to the global climate change accord known as the Paris agreement in an executive order he intends to sign.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump talked President Donald Trump out of mentioning the deal in directives that take aim at his predecessor's environmental regulations.

Trump and Kushner moved to Washington from their liberal home state of New York to be close to Ivanka's father. Kushner took a job at the White House as a senior advisor, and Ivanka has been attending her father's business roundtables.

The president's daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kusher, pushed the Republican executive to get rid of a reference to the global climate change accord known as the Paris agreement in an executive order he intends to sign

A Politico article in December said Ivanka was positioning herself as a bridge between her father's conservative administration and liberal elites, who's circles she still runs in.

At the Republican National Convention, for instance, Ivanka endorsed equal pay and paid parental leave. He father in September unveiled a plan to pay for six weeks of leave for new mothers and lower the cost of childcare.

Ivanka wants climate change to be another issue in her White House portfolio, a source close to her told Politico in early December. A few days later, she met with former Vice President Al Gore.

In 2007 the Democrat won the Nobel Prize for his climate change work.

'It's no secret that Ivanka Trump is very committed to having a climate policy that makes sense for our country and for our world,' Gore told MSNBC after meeting with Ivanka and her father.

'That was certainly evident in the conversation that I had with her before the conversation with the president-elect,' Gore said. 'I appreciate the fact that she's very concerned about this.'

Donald Trump has claimed that climate change is a hoax.

Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has said that the president still believes that 'most of it is a bunch of bunk.'

Trump and Kushner moved to Washington from their liberal home state of New York to be close to Ivanka's father. Kushner took a job at the White House as a senior advisor

Trump campaigned against the 2015 Paris climate accord that was backed by the governments of 200 nations, including the Obama administration. Since winning the presidential election, though, he's said he has an 'open mind' to it.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested at his confirmation hearing last month that he doesn't believe that the United States should immediately get out of it.

'The president-elect, as part of his priority in campaigning, was "America First." So there are important considerations as to when we commit to such accords,' he said.

Continuing, Tillerson also stated, that 'its important for America to remain engaged in those discussions so we are at the table, expressing a view and understanding what the impacts may be on the American people and American competitiveness.'

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer declined to say at his press briefing Thursday if the president wants to pull out.

'I think I will leave that to Secretary Tillerson. Thats a conversation that hes having with him as far as where we are on that,' Spicer said.

Ivanka was positioning herself as a bridge between her father's conservative administration and liberal elites, who's circles she still runs in. She's seen attending a Thursday business roundtable

The Trump administration is expected to amend the Environmental Protection Agency order that brings the United States into alignment with the agreement.

The so-called carbon rule commits the US to a 32 percent cut in carbon emissions from 2005 emission levels by by 2030.

A Trump transition official whose expertise is in energy told reporters earlier this year, according to the Wall Street Journal, that Trump would withdraw from the deal for that reason.

'How can you remain a member of the Paris treaty if your commitment isnt even close to reaching it?' Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute said.
Police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons on Friday as the latest wave of anti-immigrant protests broke out in South Africa's capital, while President Jacob Zuma condemned anti-foreigner violence and appealed for calm.

Police tried to keep protesters apart from foreigners who gathered to express alarm about recent attacks.

'We don't have hate! We don't have hate!' one foreign man shouted in video posted by local broadcaster eNCA.

Police Commissioner Khomotso Phalane said 136 people had been arrested in the past 24 hours.

South African riot policemen fire rubber bullets to disperse Somali and foreign nationals clashing with South African nationals during a protest march against illegal immigrants

South African police detain dozens of men after violence broke out during the protest on Friday

South Africans wave anti-immigration placards during a protest in Pretoria on Friday

A South African resident is arrested by police after allegedly looting and clashing with foreign residents during a xenophobic march by the Mamelodi Concerned Residents through the streets of Pretoria

South African police dispersed a xenophobic protest that led to violent attacks against immigrants in Pretoria (pictured above). This new wave of violence came days after Johannesburg and Pretoria citizens set businesses belonging to Nigerian immigrants on fire

South African policemen arrest residents who are allegedly involved in looting and clashes with foreign residents

Attacks against foreigners in the country have erupted regularly in recent years, fueled by high unemployment and dire poverty. Pictured above, police try to control a group of South African nationals who had just been arrested during a protest against immigrants

Shops and homes owned by migrants have been looted and torched over the last two weeks, with some South Africans alleging that the properties were brothels and drug dens.

Attacks against foreigners in the country have erupted regularly in recent years, fueled by high unemployment and dire poverty.

Riot police in Pretoria formed lines to keep apart about 1,000 protesters as tensions rise over migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere.

Resentment against foreigners has sometimes turned deadly in South Africa amid accusations that they take jobs from locals in a country where unemployment is above 25 per cent.

Riot police in Pretoria formed lines to keep apart about 1,000 protesters as tensions rise over migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere. Pictured above, police arrest a South African resident

Somali nationals argue with police during clashes in Pretoria, South Africa, on Friday. Police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse rival marches by hundreds of protesters

Resentment against foreigners has sometimes turned deadly in South Africa. Pictured above, police usher detainees into a riot van after arresting them

Rioters (one pictured above being arrested) took the the Pretoira's streets as foreigners and anti-immigrant South African nationals clashed in the city on Friday

Protesters ran through the streets on Friday during violent clashes between South African nationals and foreigners

Others are blamed for drug-dealing and other crimes. In 2015, anti-immigrant riots in and around the city of Durban killed at least six people. In 2008, similar violence killed about 60 people.

Protesters marched toward the foreign ministry, some carrying sticks or pipes.

A petition they handed to the ministry, seen by The Associated Press, suggested that the government teach foreigners to speak properly.

'They are arrogant and they don't know how to talk to people especially Nigerians,' the petition said.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation in a statement criticized authorities for 'giving permission for a march of hatred.'

Somali migrants armed with rocks and sticks march in the Marabastad neighbourhood in Pretoria on Friday

omali migrants armed with a machete and rocks dmonstrate in the Marabastad neighbourhood days after a series of attacks against migrants in the country

Somali immigrants jump over a man who fell on the ground while fleeing from South African police forces during a stand off between members of the Somali community and anti immigrant demonstrators

A man holding his South African identification card is surrounded by a group of rioters in Pretoria

South Africans should not blame all crime on non-South Africans, the statement from Zuma's office said. It cited recent reports of violence in Pretoria and hate speech on social media.

'Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively,' Zuma said. 'It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers.'

The periodic backlash against foreigners has hurt the tolerant image South Africa has tried to present to the world after the long struggle to stop the harsh discrimination of white minority rule, which ended in 1994.

An Amnesty International statement blamed authorities' 'failure to address toxic populist rhetoric that blames and scapegoats refugees and migrants'.

The president said South Africans are not xenophobic, and he called on everyone, citizens and non-citizens, to work together to combat the country's high crime rate.

A man holds his South African identity document after being attacked by a mob of people in Pretoria

A South African riot policeman fires rubber bullets to disperse South African nationals during a protest march against illegal immigrants

A man reacts to tear gas fired by police fire to disperse rival marches by hundreds of protesters

Somali immigrants hold rocks and bricks during clashes with South African nationals in Pretoria on Frida

Despite South Africa's high unemployment, the country is one of Africa's largest economies and remains a draw for people from far more impoverished nations across the continent.

Businesses run by Somalis, Ethiopians and others are often targeted in anti-foreigner protests.

Amid the anti-immigrant sentiment, government data show the number of foreign-born people in South Africa has declined.

A report last year said the 1.6million foreign born people was down from 2.2million in 2011 - in a country of more than 55million people.

Zuma's statement acknowledged complaints about companies that hire illegal immigrants and said the foreign affairs office 'will be cracking down on all employers who continue with this practice, which is dangerous as it pits locals against non-nationals'.

omali migrants armed with rocks and sticks watch from the back of a pick up truck as a police helicopter hover over the anti-immigration march

South African police push away members from the Somalian community as the anti-immigrant march turns violent

South African riot policemen detain and arrest South African nationals during the protest march
Celina Kelly, 32, admitted to smoking marijuana laced with a narcotic before going on her violent rampage in Stamford

A naked woman broke through the window of a Connecticut chapel while high on drugs and went on a rampage destroying the property.

Celina Kelly, 32, smashed through the rectory of St Clement's Church in Stamford 'looking for a bomb' on Wednesday, police said.

Reverend Carlos Rodrigues had just marked his first anniversary at the church that day and was in the living quarters of the rectory when the woman stormed through.

'What a gift, right?....She was like a human tornado, just ripped through the place very fast!' he told CBS.

Kelly stripped down naked as she was approaching the church then broke through a window, leaving her clothes on the nearby road and a stone wall.

The woman smashed through St Clement's Church's rectory severely damaging the property by kicking through the drywall in the boiler room

Kelly started wildly swinging a fire extinguisher in the basement and left marks on the walls

The naked woman gained entry to the basement rectory where the priest lived and was said to be looking for a 'bomb'

Once she smashed in, she began swinging a fire extinguisher in the basement breaking doors and punching holes in the drywall of the boiler room, police said.

The reverend confronted the naked woman as she began to kick in the door. He said the woman kept asking about a bomb during her tirade.

'Where the f*** is the bomb? the bomb, the bomb!' he said she shouted.

Father Carlos Rodrigues said he had just marked his first anniversary at the church when the incident occurred

Police found the woman's clothes by the nearby road and on a stone wall outside of the building

Stamford Police had been in the area at the time of the violent spree and saw the woman ravaging through the room with the fire extinguisher.

Lieutenant Diedrich Hohn said the woman was calm and compliant when she was taken into custody.

'I think she lost a lot of steam from what she was doing inside the rectory,' he told CBS.

Police said in a statement that the woman was under the influence of 'some type of narcotic' and she later admitted to 'smoking marijuana laced with a chemical'.

Kelly was taken to Stamford Hospital to be treated and was later charged with second-degree burglary. Her bond was set at $20,000.
A career criminal named by the Mail as one of Stephen Lawrence's murderers has been jailed for more than six years over a 4million drugs plot.

But the judge who put him behind bars yesterday said Neil Acourt, 41, was 'not all bad' and had no 'criminal record of any note'.

Acourt, who has never been prosecuted for the racist attack on 18-year-old Stephen in Eltham in 1993, was the 'man at the top' of the scheme funnelling huge amounts of cannabis to the north-east of England.

In the dock: Stephen Lawrence suspect Neil Acourt (pictured in 2011) has admitted being part of a drugs gang that a judge said would have 'kept Newcastle in spliffs for many a long day'

His six-strong gang was caught 'red-handed' with 100kg of the drug, the court heard.

Jailing him Recorder Paul Clements said: 'You don't have a criminal record of any note.

He said the gang he led plotted to supply so much cannabis 'that in any estimation would have kept the people of the Newcastle area in spliffs for many a long day'.

Acourt, of Eltham, south-east London, was jailed for six years and three months at Kingston Crown Court yesterday for conspiracy to supply a Class B drug.

Recorder Clements described him as being at a very high level in the plot, with others reporting to him.

He said: 'You're not all bad and I don't think you are.

'Perhaps one of the problems with you is that, for various reasons, you have heard too much negativity about you and begun to believe the negative publicity about you.

'Perhaps it's time to walk away from that aspect of your personality and whatever or whoever it is controlling those parts.'

He described the plot as a pre-planned and concerted effort to move substantial amounts of cannabis ends.

The two-year conspiracy involved dozens of 600-mile (965km) round trips from London to the South Shields area, driving drugs up and bringing cash back.

Criminal: Acourt (left, in 1999) was charged with the 1993 murder of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence (right), but was never convicted

Swagger: Neil Acourt, one of the five named suspects of killing black teenager Stephen Lawrence, leave after giving evidence at the public inquiry into the racist murder in 1998

Luke Knight (L), Neil Acourt (2ndL,partially obscured), David Norris (C back wearing blue shirt), Jamie Acourt (2ndR throwing punch), and Gary Dobson (R back) had to run the gauntlet of an angry crowd after they had given evidence to the inquiry and were pelted with eggs

Acourt's co-defendants were also handed substantial jail terms for their various roles.

He told all six in front of him for sentencing: 'Well gentlemen after a year you will hear the outcome of this stupid criminality you were all involved in. It was stupid and it was criminal.

'The police caught red handed some of you, with in effect 100kg of cannabis. A substantial amount by any standards.

'There was a sufficient flow of money down the channel that there must have been other transportations of cannabis.

'Look at you all now sitting there, from the age running from 28 to 63. All thoroughly ashamed and all to one degree or another you have ruined your lives.

'All recognise the depth of the criminality, all apparently recognising how damaging drugs are to the people addicted to them.

'All of you were involved in a pre planned concerted conspiracy to move substantial amounts of cannabis that in any estimation would have kept the people of Newcastle area in spliffs for many a long day.'

The Daily Mail went to the extraordinary lengths of naming all five of the gang beneath the headline 'MURDERERS' in 1997

Developments in the case: Two original suspects, Gary Dobson (left) and David Norris (right), were convicted of murdering Stephen in 2012 and jailed for life

Acourt, a father of one, was a 'buffer', handling more than a dozen bundles of cash, ranging from 15,000 to 40,000 each, in return for 2.5% of the money.

Jonas Milner, defending, said he 'genuinely regrets' what he did and is a family man.

He has two previous convictions but no details about them were revealed in court because they are not drugs-related.

Acourt's childhood friend James Botton, 45, father-in-law Jack Vose, 63, and family friend Lee Birks, 55, were all recruited into the plot.

Vose was caught with around 220lb (100kg) of cannabis resin in the back of his white van in South Shields in February last year.

Vose, of Bexley, Kent, and Botton, of Greenwich, south-east London, were each jailed for four years and nine months.

Paul Beavers, 49, of Backworth, Tyne and Wear, was jailed for three years and four months and Daniel Thompson, 28, of South Shields, Tyne and Wear, for four years and two months.

Daniel Thompson (left), of South Shields, was sentenced to four years and two months and Jack Vose (right), of Bexley, got four years and nine months for the drugs conspiracy

James Botton (left) of Greenwich, was sentenced to four years and nine months and Paul Beavers (right), of Newcastle, was sentenced to three years and four months for drug dealing

All six previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply a Class B drug between January 2014 and February 2016.

Birks, of Orpington, Kent, had his sentencing postponed for medical reports.

In 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted at the Old Bailey of murdering Mr Lawrence and jailed for life.

Acourt was also arrested but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) formally discontinued the case against him after a meeting with the senior investigating officer.

Norris and Acourt were jailed for 18 months in 2002 for a racist attack on off-duty black policeman Gareth Reid.

Norris hurled a drink at the officer from a car and shouted 'n****r' while Acourt drove the vehicle at him during the attack in Eltham, less than a mile from where Mr Lawrence was murdered.

What happened to his four accomplices?

It took a change in the law for Gary Dobson, 41, to be convicted of Stephens murder

By Stephen Wright and Barbara Davies for the Daily Mail

GARY DOBSON

It took a change in the law for Gary Dobson, 41, to be convicted of Stephens murder.

The thug had been acquitted of Britains most notorious race killing but the subsequent reform of the double jeopardy law  a consequence of the Mails Lawrence campaign  meant he could be re-tried after compelling new forensic evidence emerged.

The 2012 convictions boiled down to three things; blood, fibres and hair. These tiny fragments of new evidence emerged in 2007 as scientists conducted a massive cold case review. The successful prosecution of Norris and Dobson for Stephens murder hinged on tiny traces of forensic evidence found by a cold case team.

The most important of their discoveries were 16 fibres linked to the black teenagers clothes and three tiny specks of blood.

In the debris from the original evidence bag holding Dobsons jacket, they found three blood fragments that had less than a one in a billion chance of not being Stephens.

They re-examined clothing taken from Dobson and Norris, starting a process that eventually led to a guilty verdict for both men.

At the Old Bailey in January 2012, Dobson was ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years and two months.

In March 2013, Dobson abandoned his appeal against his conviction and it later emerged he had received 203,309 in legal aid.

The killers family continue to insist he is innocent, despite the holes in his story about what happened on the night of the murder and evidence from a damning police surveillance video shot 20 months after Stephens death. The footage showed Dobson using violent, racist language. He was also seen recalling a time he threatened a black colleague with a knife.

Two years ago it emerged that he had been dumped by the mother of his two sons, who was reported to have left him for a new man. He is currently an inmate at Gartree Prison, a category B jail in Leicestershire.

Gangsters son David Norris, 40, continues to protest his innocence after being jailed for a minimum of 14 years and three months

DAVID NORRIS

Gangsters son David Norris, 40, continues to protest his innocence after being jailed for a minimum of 14 years and three months.

Like Dobson, he is in a high security prison  HMP Garth near Preston, Lancashire.

After losing a second attempt to challenge his conviction, Norris has asked the Criminal Cases Review Commission to investigate his case and refer it to the Court of Appeal for a new hearing. His latest appeal bid is still under review. Norriss lawyers have argued that the police surveillance video, shot 20 months after Stephens murder, did not prove he was involved in the killing and should not have been admitted as evidence at his trial.

In the police surveillance film, he was secretly filmed telling friends he wanted to torture and kill black people. If I was going to kill myself, do you know what Id do, he said, in one appalling clip. Id go and kill every black c***, every Paki, every copper, every mug that I know, Im telling ya.

Id go down Catford and places like that with two sub-machine guns, and Id take one of them, skin the black c*** alive, mate, torture him, set him alight. Id blow their two legs off and say: Go on, you can swim home now.

The father of five received 222,346 in legal aid to defend the murder charge.

Market traders son Luke Knight is currently working as a roofer and casual labourer

LUKE KNIGHT

Market traders son Luke Knight, who attended Kidbrooke School with fellow suspect Jamie Acourt, continues to depend on this wall of silence among his acquaintances for keeping himself out of prison.

The 40-year-old has never displayed a shred of remorse for Stephen's killing but has consistently whined about the impact it has had on his own life.

Ten years ago he even claimed he was suffering psychological problems brought on by threats from anti-racist campaigners and tried, in vain, to persuade Greenwich Council to rehouse him because of intimidation.

Despite his apparent struggle to make ends meet, he has been seen driving around in a 22,000 Nissan Qashqai bought new five years ago shortly before his partners in crime, Dobson and Norris, were jailed. He is currently working as a roofer and casual labourer.

Jamie Acourt is believed to be in Spain

JAMIE ACOURT

The 40-year-old younger brother of Neil Acourt is believed to be in Spain.

The unemployed father of two has previously tried to start a new life there with his partner, but they decided against emigrating at the last minute.

In 2012, the Mail revealed his penchant for designer clothes, his preference for greased back hair and how he rarely drove anything more than a year old.

Although he had no obvious signs of employment, he drove a 25,000 Vauxhall Insignia.

Since the Lawrence case, he has had only one conviction, when he and Norris stole empty soda siphons from a drinks warehouse in 1999. He was allowed to pay his 250 fine at 10 a week after the court heard he was living on disability allowance.
A memorial service has been held for former Labour MP Tam Dalyell.

The veteran politician and father of the West Lothian Question died last month aged 84 following a short illness.

Mr Dalyell's widow Kathleen led mourners at St Michael's Parish Church in Linlithgow.

Senior politicians including Scotland Secretary David Mundell, former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling, and former Scottish Labour leaders Jim Murphy and Iain Gray were in attendance.

Tam Dalyell's widow Kathleen led mourners in a memorial service at St Michael's Parish Church in Linlithgow today. Former MP Mr Dalyell died on January 26

Tributes were paid to Mr Dalyell from across the political spectrum and Scotland Secretary David Mundell represented the Government at today's service

Mr Dalyell's body was donated to science in line with his wishes, followed by a private interment.

The Old Etonian baronet spent 43 years as an MP after being elected to represent West Lothian in 1962.

He became MP for Linlithgow 21 years later and was named Father of the House, the longest continuously serving MP, in 2001.

A fervent opponent of Scottish devolution, Mr Dalyell's famous constitutional challenge, 'Why should Scottish MPs at Westminster be able to vote on English matters when English MPs would be unable to vote on Scottish issues,' became known as the 'West Lothian question'.

Tributes were paid to him from across the political spectrum after his death was announced on January 26.

Former Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray was among the people pictured arriving at St Michael's church in Linlithgow

Jim Murphy, another former leader of Scottish Labour, also turned out for the memorial service. A second service will be held in London at a later date

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called him a 'titan of parliamentary scrutiny', while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said he was a 'real giant' of Scottish politics.

A further memorial service is planned for London.

He was famed for warning the Labour government against devolving power to Scotland, saying it would become a 'motorway to Scottish independence with no exit routes'.

Other dignitaries from Scottish politics Ming Campbell (left) and Alistair Darling (right) were seen turning out at the church

MSP Neil Findlay was also photographed arriving for the service in Linlithgow

His appetite for pointing out the constitutional anomaly which allowed MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to vote on English-only legislation was named the 'West Lothian Question', after his then constituency  by his friend Enoch Powell.

Mr Dalyell eschewed his patrician roots, despite inhering a baronet and a grand ancestral home known as the Binns, overlooking the Forth in Scotland.

After being educated at Eton and Cambridge  where he was vice president of the Cambridge University Conservative Association  he became a socialist, motivated by unemployment in Scotland and the Suez Crisis.

The closest he ever came to a ministerial job was serving as an aide to Richard Crossman. But he was censured by MPs for leaking information about Porton Down, the secretive centre for biological warfare testing.

He disliked the tag of 'maverick' or rebel and preferred to be described as a dissenter.

Labour peer George Foulks and MSP Fiona Hyslop were also among the mourners at the memorial ceremony today




A Maryland woman shot and killed her 17-year-old son during an argument, according to authorities.

Officers responded around 9pm Thursday to a report of a shooting and found 17-year-old Christopher Perry suffering from a gunshot wound, Prince George's County Police said in a statement Friday.

He was taken to a hospital, where police say the teen was pronounced dead.

His mother, 48-year-old Angelique Chase of Clinton, is charged with first- and second-degree murder, authorities said.

Angelique Chase (left) shot and killed her 17-year-old son Christopher Perry (right) during an argument, according to police

Police say their preliminary investigation reveals that Chase and Christopher were arguing before the shooting.

Chase, who was arrested at the scene, 'admitted her involvement in the homicide', according to authorities.

Prince George's County Police said that Chase 'is in the custody of the Department of Corrections.'

The state's attorney's office told the Washington Post that Chase is awaiting an appearance to determine bond.

Police responded around 9pm Thursday to the 6200 block of Butler Road (pictured) over a report of a shooting and found 17-year-old Christopher Perry suffering from a gunshot wound

Christopher was described by the suspect's sister Lajuan Chase to the newspaper as 'a good kid' that resided with his mother and 'didn't give her any trouble'.

She said: 'Nobody in the family understands or knows what went wrong. We're trying to understand that ourselves.... I'm just at a loss for words.'

The teen's father Christopher Perry Jr. told the newspaper that his son was a 12th grader and scheduled to graduate from Grace Brethren Christian School in May.

He said: 'He was a good kid. He went to a good private school and everything. He was well-mannered and polite.'

The father also told the newspaper he didn't know might have started the argument.
President Donald Trump defended his administration's planned immigration immigration crackdown, telling a conservative crowd that 'bad dudes' were getting kicked out of the country first.

'And remember we are getting the bad ones out. These are bad dudes. We're getting the bad ones out, okay?' Trump told the crowd during his speech at the annual CPAC conference.

'Whether its drugs or murder or other things, were getting bad ones out,' Trump said.

Then he mocked his opponents, who have blasted the crackdown as counter to American values. The American Civil Liberties Union has already vowed to sue to stop it.

'If you watch these people its like, "Oh gee, thats so sad,"' Trump said.

'Whether its drugs or murder or other things, were getting bad ones out,' Trump said of his immigration crackdown

'Were getting bad people out of this country. People that shouldnt be whether its drugs or murder or other things, were getting bad ones out.'

'Those are the ones that go first and I said it from day one. Basically all Ive done is keep my promise,' Trump said.

The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday put out new orders for arresting and deporting immigrants, with a plan to focus on people who have committed crimes besides coming to the country illegally.

The DHS will no longer exempt 'classes or categories of removable aliens,' according to one document. The department is also calling for expedited removals, and for hiring 10,000 additional personnel for the crackdown.

Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's ImmigrantsRights Project, said this week: 'President Trump does not have the last word here  the courts and the public will not allow this un-American dream to become reality.'

Gen. John Kelly, who heads DHS, gave assurances during a trip to Mexico that there would be 'no mass deportations.'

Trump brought up his planned wall on the U.S. Mexico border after a member of the crowd yelled about it.

President Trump spoke about the wall and his immigration crackdown at CPAC on Friday

In this Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, photo released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows foreign nationals being arrested this week during a targeted enforcement operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aimed at immigration fugitives

Marlene Mosqueda, left, who's father, Manuel Mosqueda was arrested by ICE this month to be deported, is comforted at a news conference by her attorney Karla Navarrette. In one instance, agents showed up at the home of Manuel Mosqueda in the Los Angeles suburbs, looking to arrest an immigrant who wasn't there. In the process, they spoke with Manuel Mosqueda, arrested him and put him on a bus to Mexico although lawyers were able to halt his deportation and bring him back

'Weve defended other nations borders while leaving ours wide open, anybody can come in,' Trump said, prompting boos from the crowd at the prospect.

'Oh were gonna build a wall dont worry about it. Were building the wall. Were building the wall,' he said.

'In fact its going to start soon  way ahead of schedule. Way ahead of schedule. Way, way, way, ahead of schedule. Its going to start very soon.'

Later in his remarks, Trump linked national security and immigration, and talked up his controversial executive order on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, and a new draft that is forthcoming.

'Foreign terrorists will not be able to strike America if they cannot get into our country,' he said.

'We are going to keep radical, Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,' he said.
A vicious mugger attempted to snatch a woman's handbag - then dragged her along the road when she refused to let go.

Horrific CCTV footage captured the moment the hooded thug robbed the 39-year-old victim of her belongings as she walked along the street in Lower Cheetham, Manchester.

The brazen thief can be seen snatching her bag in broad daylight - but as she steadfastly holds on, he drags her across the ground while repeatedly punching her in the head.

Horrific CCTV footage captured the moment the hooded thug robbed the 39-year-old victim of her belongings as she walked along the street

Police have now issued an appeal for information after the man made off with the contents of the woman's bag, including her purse and phone.

Police were called shortly before 11.55am on Tuesday, February 7, to reports of the robbery on Lecester Road in Lower Cheetham, Manchester.

Video shows the pair grappling on the pavement as the woman desperately tries to hold on to her belongings.

As she loses her balances, the man then drags her furiously across the street.

Police said she suffered cuts and bruises but was not seriously injured in the attack.

The brazen thief can be seen snatching her bag in broad daylight - but as she steadfastly holds on, he drags her across the ground

The victim can be seen lying on the ground as the callous thief runs away with her bag

Police Constable Colin Chamberlain of GMP's City of Manchester Team, said: 'The terrifying lengths the offender went to to rob a woman of her handbag is truly shocking.

'As part of the investigation, we would like to speak to the person in the CCTV so if anyone recognises them or has any information about the robbery, please get in touch with us.'

Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 3925 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
A woman from Maine is charged with murdering her ex-husband after she allegedly flew into a rage after learning that she had lost custody of their two children.

Kandee Weyland, 46, was arrested Wednesday night on charges of murder and violating a protective order in the slaying of 42-year-old Scott Weyland.

The children, aged seven and 11, witnessed their mother stabbing their father to death, according to the victim's mother

Authorities said the father-of-two suffered severe injuries in the yard of his mother's home at 1097 Milton Mills Road in Acton on Wednesday afternoon.

Wife arrested: Kandee Weyland (left), 46, has been charged with murdering her estranged husband, Scott (right), and violating a protective order

Scott Weyland, 46, was found mortally wounded outside his home on Milton Mills Road in Acton, Maine (pictured), on Wednesday

The victim was taken to Goodall Hospital in Sanford, where he died from his injuries a short time later.

Scott Weyland's mother, retired Sanford police detective Gay Weyland, told the Portland Press-Herald that her son's divorce had just been finalized after an acrimonious 10-month legal battle, and that on February 17 her daughter-in-law received a copy of the judgement in the mail.

The document informed Weyland that the court has granted full custody of their children to her ex-husband.

Scott Weyland had been living with his mother in Acton since his separation from his wife in April 2016.

At around 1pm on Wednesday, Gay Weyland said her former daughter-in-law drove to her home with her two children in tow and rammed her son's vehicle parked in the driveway.

The Weylands have two children, believed to be pictured above with Kandee, who were turned over to grandparents after their father's murder

When Scott emerged from the house to find out what was happening, his mother said Kandee jumped out of her car, confronted him and began stabbing him in the yard.

The couple's two children witnessed the bloody attack, and according to their grandmother, it was her 11-year-old grandson who called 911 for help. Gay Weyland was not home at the time of the incident.

Court documents filed in the custody case paint a picture of Kandee Weyland as a woman spiraling out of control and unable to provide for her children due to her struggles with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Acrimonious divorce: Both the husband and wife had filed orders of protection against one another just days apart last April

According to the findings of an investigation carried by the Department of Health and Human Services, the home in Acton that Kandee shared with her son in daughter was uninhabitable owning to the fact that it was cluttered, had a flooded basement and a broken boiler.

A judge concluded that the woman's ability 'to provide a safe, clean, secure and comfortable home for the parties two minor children is severely compromised', adding that she was at risk of becoming homeless in the near future.

Both the husband and wife had filed orders of protection against one another just days apart last April.

Scott Weyland accused Kandee in a written statement of using the order to 'threaten and intimidate' him.

He also claimed that on one occasion, his wife pointed a gun at his head and tried to steal his car while he was at work, reported WMTW.

Scott wrote of his wife: 'she seems obsessed with destroying me,' according to the station WGME.

On her part, Kandee accused Scott of being physically and emotionally abusive towards her. She claimed that her husband of eight years had struck her on four occassion and pressed a finger into her throat.

On Thursday, the victim's mother called Kandee manipulative and dismissed her accusations agaisnt her late son as baseless.

The Weylands' children were turned over to grandparents Wednesday night. Scott's mother said her grandkids are traumatized by what they had witnessed.

Kandee Weyland is due in court for her initial appearance Friday afternoon.
President Donald Trump proclaimed that he was right about Sweden, after all, today while on the Conservative Political Action Conference stage.

'I took a lot of heat on Sweden,' the president said to laughs, referring to the blowback he received after bringing up the Nordic country at a campaign-like rally in Florida last week. 'I love Sweden. Great country, great people, I love Sweden, but they understand I'm right. The people over there understand I'm right.'

While in the midst of a discussion about terrorism in Europe, Trump had name-dropped Sweden  'You look at what's happening last night in Sweden.'  a comment that perplexed many, as no actual attack had occurred.

Scroll down for video

President Donald Trump defended his Sweden comments on the Conservative Political Action Conference stage, pointing to riots that broke out Monday in a Stockholm suburb

President Donald Trump brought up Sweden and lopped it into a broader conversation on migrant problems in Europe, name-dropping Germany and France as well

The president later clarified that he was referring to a Fox News Channel report on a documentary filmmaker blaming Sweden's growing immigrant population for a crime surge.

'Sweden, they took in large numbers, they are having problems like they never thought possible,' the president had said at the rally.

When news reports suggested Trump had made up a fake terror attack, the president attacked back.

'Give the public a break - The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!' Trump wrote on Twitter.

Then on Monday, a riot broke out in a predominantly immigrant Stockholm suburb, where a police officer had to fire his gun.

Rioters also threw rocks at cops and looted areas shops, however no one was hurt.

Today at CPAC, Trump pointed to this incident as proof he had been right all along.

'Take a look, take a look at what happened in Sweden,' Trump said, using the same language he used a week before. 'Take a look at what's happening in Sweden.'

Trump then pivoted, mentioning European countries where attacks have occurred.

'Take a look at what's happening in Germany,' the American president said.

He was likely referring to a 2016 shopping mall attack where a German-Iranian teen killed nine people before killing himself.

'Take a look at what's happening in France,' he continued. 'Take a look at Nice and Paris.'

On Bastille Day of last year, an ISIS-aligned terrorist drove a truck through a crowd in Nice, killing 86.

Paris has seen multiple terror attacks, the deadliest being the November 2015 shootings and bombings of restaurants, the Bataclan theater and the Stade de France, which killed 30 at the hands of the Islamic State.

Trump told the crowd he had a friend who used to go to Paris every year.

'He loves the city of lights,' Trump said. 'For years every summer he would go to Paris, it was automatic, with his wife and his family.'

Now, Trump said, his friend doesn't visit.

'I said Jim, let me ask you a question, how's Paris doing?' Trump said, playing himself in the conversation. 'I don't go there anymore, Paris is no longer Paris,' the president said, answering as his friend.

Now, Trump pointed out, 'he doesn't think in terms of going there.'

'Take a look at what's happening to our world folks,' Trump told the CPAC crowd. 'And we have to be smart. We have to be smart. We can't let it happen to us.'
A baby girl has died about five months after she was born prematurely when her mother was killed in a drive-by shooting in Chicago.

Five-month-old A'Miracle Jones died at a downtown Chicago hospital after doctors removed life support for the infant after her short battle with pneumonia on Thursday night.

Just a few months earlier her mother Parasha M. Beard, 19, was killed when she was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting and A'Miracle was delivered prematurely because of the accident.

Beard was sitting in a parked car with a documented gang member when another vehicle drove past and someone inside with dreadlocks fired shots at the two.

Five-month-old A'Miracle Jones (left) died after Chicago doctors removed her life support after her short battle with pneumonia on Thursday night. A'Miracle was born prematurely after her mother Parasha M. Beard (right) was shot in the head and died in September

The infant was in the care of her grandmother Crystal Jones (above) who said she wasn't 'going to let her suffer no more. I already lost my daughter'

Beard, who was six to eight months pregnant at the time, was pronounced dead within an hour of arriving at the hospital but doctors were still able to deliver baby A'Miracle.

Jayles Lewis Garrett, the child's father and Beard's ex-fiance, said A'Miracle was around seven pounds when she died, only two pounds heavier than when she was born, and his daughter will be forever in his memory.

The child was being cared for by her grandmother Crystal Jones since the shooting that happened in mid-September.

She posted on Facebook photos of her standing over the sick infant's crib and said: 'I'm praying for my strength to get over this hole in my chest keep us in yours prayers'.

The grandmother was involved in the decision to remove life support and said to FOX32: 'I'm not going to let her suffer no more. I already lost my daughter.'

'Today is a day she's going home, where she's better off, she's not suffering. She's not doing any of that no more.'

Beard, 19, (left) was killed in mid-September when she was sitting in a parked car with a documented gang member. She was between six and eight months pregnant at the time. Her ex-fiancee and child's father, Jayles Lewis Garrett (right), said he had warned her of this

Garrett said A'Miracle was around seven pounds when she died and was only five pounds when she was born. He said that she will always be in his heart

Garrett, who is a pastor, took to Facebook to report that the doctor's had 'pulled the plug' on his daughter but later said he needed people 'to pray hard' before A'Miracle was officially taken off life support.

He said: 'It hurts my heart that my little munchkin is no longer here on Earth but she'll forever be in my heart.'

He had previously claimed in a seven-minute long Facebook Live video that he had a 'prophetic gift' and had warned Beard of her own death.

Initially, Garrett was not sure if he was the father and said in the video: 'This possibly could be my baby. Its a possibility it could be mine. If it is I am going to make sure that baby is taken care of.'
Germany's foreign intelligence service BND long spied on journalists of the BBC, The New York Times, Reuters and other media, news weekly Der Spiegel reported Friday.

Media rights group Reporters Without Borders labelled the alleged surveillance 'a monstrous attack on press freedom', voiced fears the eavesdropping was ongoing and said it was planning legal action, according to Der Spiegel.

The magazine, which has extensively worked with US fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and reported on US and German espionage scandals, only cited documents it had seen.

While it is unknown exactly who the BND spied on, news of the surveillance is a culmination of the three year inquiry that resulted in German Chancellor Angela Merkel giving evidence last week.

Germany's foreign intelligence service BND listed at least 50 telephone and fax numbers and email addresses of journalists or newsrooms on its list of 'selector' keywords for surveillance since 1999. The list featured several BBC numbers

A number of The New York Times in Afghanistan was also on the list, as were mobile and satellite phone numbers of news agency Reuters in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria

Der Spiegel reported that the BND had listed at least 50 telephone and fax numbers and email addresses of journalists or newsrooms on its list of 'selector' keywords for surveillance since 1999.

These included several dozen numbers of the British Broadcasting Corporation at its London headquarters and in Afghanistan, as well as of the BBC World Service, it said.

A number of The New York Times in Afghanistan was also on the list, as were mobile and satellite phone numbers of news agency Reuters in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

The BND declined to comment, Der Spiegel said in an early excerpt of an article to be published in full in its weekly edition which hits news stands Saturday.

A BBC spokeswoman said: 'We are disappointed to hear these claims.

'The BBC's mission is to bring accurate news and information to people around the world and our journalists should be able to operate freely and safely, with full protection for their sources.

'We call upon all governments to respect the operation of a free press.'

While it is unknown exactly who the BND spied on, news of the surveillance is a culmination of the three year inquiry that resulted in German Chancellor Angela Merkel giving evidence last week

Meanwhile, Merkel admitted on earlier this month that she did not know how closely Germany's spies cooperated with their US counterparts until 2015, well after an uproar over reports of United States bugging of her cellphone.

Merkel, who is running for a fourth term in September, told a parliamentary committee that she assumed Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency would not help the US National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on European politicians and companies.

German media revealed in 2013 that the NSA had bugged Merkel's cellphone, which strained relations with Washington.

Opposition lawmakers wanted to know if Merkel knew that the BND was helping the NSA spy on European allies when she uttered those words. She told the committee that she had assumed at the time that 'the BND would not do such thing'.

The German parliament set up the investigation in 2014.

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.

Germany's highest court last year rejected a bid by opposition politicians to make the government disclose to the investigating committee the surveillance targets it worked on with the NSA.

German lawmakers in October approved a law to tighten oversight of the BND, but critics said the new rules do exactly the opposite.
A six-year-old was killed when a driver trying to park her SUV smashed through a dentist's office in Alabama while the little boy was getting a routine cleaning.

Camlyn Lee had just been called back for his dentist appointment when a Mercedes SUV plowed through the waiting room area of Vital Smiles in Midfield, Alabama, on Thursday morning.

Lee, a kindergarten student at Central Park Elementary School, was killed in front of his grandmother and teenage brother after the driver attempted to park in front of the office.

Camlyn Lee (left and right) was identified as the six-year-old boy who was killed when a driver smashed her Mercedes SUV through a dentist's office in Midfield, Alabama, on Thursday morning

The female driver was trying to park her car in front of Vital Smiles when she claims the vehicle suddenly lurched forward into the building's waiting area

No charges are expected to be filed against the female driver who said she was trying to park her car but it lurched forward into the building, Midfield Fire Chief Larry Manning told WBRC.

There were between 30 and 50 people inside the building at the time of the crash and several adults were taken to the hospital, including the boy's grandmother.

An employee of the dentist office said the crash sounded like a loud boom and people were terrified.

One of Lee's uncles said that his nephew loved to dance and was shy until he opened up to people who knew him.

His uncle Mike Eubanks said to AL.com: 'He was a good child, a blessed child. This is God's will and God is good always.'

Andra Walls, the principal of Lee's elementary school, said: 'He was a wonder child, full of life. Kind to everyone and friendly.

'He loved everyone at Central Park and everyone at Central Park loved him.'

No one in the SUV was injured and police said they would not speculate if charges would be filed against the 'inconsolable' woman.

Evidence technicians are working to determine if the crash was a result of a vehicle malfunction or a driver error.

There were between 30 and 50 people inside Vital Smiles (pictured) at the time of the crash




A veteran sniper has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 300 ISIS fighters in two years after volunteering to join the fight against jihad in his home country.

Abu Tahseen, 63, who has previously fought in five conflicts, volunteers with Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Units.

Now the silver-haired sniper has killed 321 militants since 2015, according to military.com.

Scroll down for video

The sniper joined the Popular Mobilization Units as a volunteer to defend Iraq

Mr Tahseen says he refuses to leave his post, and when he was given a month off, he returned to defend it just 12 days later

Mr Tahseen is a legend among his comrades and is so committed to the cause that he even spends his time off tracking down ISIS fighters.

In videos the sniper appears calm and focused as he talks about using his deadly skills to kill the enemy.

Following his 173rd kill last year, the fighter released a video in which he appeared to take out an enemy sniper.

And the soldier has spoken of how ISIS militants live in fear of entering the area he patrols.

As he gazes over the Makhoul Mountains, in North Baijiin, Mr Tahseen says: 'You see this area? I guarantee to God no one would come up it.

'I'm relaxed. My mind is relaxed.

The silver-haired sniper says he is 'relaxed' when he makes his kills

The sniper has fought in the Yom Kippur war, Iran-Iraq war, Invasion of Kuwait and Gulf War

'When I get my rotation I just want to get back here.

'Last time they gave me a month off and after 12 days I came back.'

The pensioner, who has bullets longer than his fingers strapped to his belt, talks about what his powerful weapon does to his targets, saying it 'pushes him back one meter before putting him down'.

Mr Tahseen has fought in the Yom Kippur war, Iran-Iraq war, Invasion of Kuwait and Gulf War.
A suicidal man with a gun caused an hour-long standoff on the George Washington Bridge forcing police to make a high-risk rescue.

Port Authority police approached the man threatening to jump off the bridge through the west-bound side Friday morning. Upper-level lanes were shut around 10.20am.

The man had been waving what police later discovered to be a starter gun, ABC 7 reported.

Police conducted a high-risk rescue of a man threatening to jump off the George Washington Bridge on Friday morning

The man was armed with a starter pistol which he eventually turned in to the police, but did not immediately surrender himself

He eventually surrendered his weapon to authorities, but did not turn himself in as easily, police said.

Dramatic chopper cam footage shows officers trying to bring the man to safety as he squirms and twists in their arms.

The 'would-be jumper' was eventually brought to safety and the lanes were reopened around 11.20am.

Footage shows the man twisting an squirming in the arms of officers before they bring him to safety

The man is seen finally being pulled up over the barrier. He is now in police custody

In a statement police said they were able to successfully negotiate with the man.

'Port Authority Police and the department's Emergency Services Unit have taken a would-be jumper into custody at the George Washington Bridge, after negotiating and convincing him to surrender,' the police department said.

Officials also warned commuters about delays of up to two hours and to use the lower levels of the bridge.
An upbeat Hillary Clinton popped back into the political spotlight Friday with a three-minute address to Democrats, applauding them for being the 'resistance' against President Donald Trump.

She urged her party to 'keep fighting and keep the faith,' while adding, 'I'll be there right with you every step of the way.'

Clinton's message was released in conjunction with the Democrats' meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, where they'll decide new Democratic National Committee leadership tomorrow.

But Clinton's frequent forays back into the limelight suggest she could still write another political chapter post-2016.

Scroll down for video

HELLO DEMOCRATS! Hillary Clinton released a three minute message to her party, applauding their good work in being the 'resistance' against President Donald Trump

Hillary Clinton gleefully pointed out all the recent protests including the women's marches, the airport protests and the town hall takeovers going on during Congressional recess this week

She's called out the new president several times on Twitter, writing simply '3-0' when a unanimous court decision came down against Trump's travel ban.

She's chided members of Congress for skipping town halls, urged Trump to speak out against anti-Semitism and applauded Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., during her floor fight with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Today Clinton looked pleased as she recited some of the left's recent moves against the Republican occupying the White House.

'Hello Democrats!' she began. 'Thank you all for coming together to represent our party at its best  united, energized and ready to wage and win the battles ahead.'

She threw some shade at the Republicans by touting the multi-ethnic composition of her party.

'Now as Democrats we have diverse views and backgrounds, we are Democrats after all,' she said, before adding, 'But we're bound together by the values and hopes we share for our country.'

And touted her popular vote total, which was higher than Trump's.

'Nearly 66 million votes are fueling grassroots energy and activism and everywhere people are marching, protesting, tweeting, speaking out and working for an America that's hopeful, inclusive and big-hearted,' she said with great pleasure.

'From the Women's March, to airports where communities are welcoming immigrants, refugees and people of every faith, to town hall meetings where people are speaking up for healthcare, the environment, good jobs and all the other issues that deserve our passionate support,' she continued, naming the places where progressive activists have taken on Republicans and Trump as of late.

She used a new tagline, which she and the Democrats tweeted out too.

'Let resistance plus persistence equal progress for our party and our country,' she said.

Clinton's campaign motto had been 'Stronger Together' and she preached togetherness six times in the three minute spot.

Trump, too, sounded a lot like his 2016 self during his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference today.

He attacked Clinton for calling his supporters 'deplorables' and listened to the crowd chant 'Lock her up!' a cheer heard time and time again on the campaign trail.

But would Democrats really give Clinton a take three?

Democratic National Committee chair candidates were asked this question during Wednesday night's CNN debate, as they brought up several times throughout the night the fact Clinton had won the popular vote.

None of the candidates would say yes outright.

'I think the important thing that we remember as the Democratic Party is that we're here for small-D democracy,' said DNC chair candidate Sally Boynton Brown, who runs the state party in Idaho. 'If Hillary Clinton wants to put her name on the ballot again, that's her decision.'

'That's not our decision,' Boynton Brown added.

Another female candidate for chair, Jehmu Greene, said that the older generation, which included former Vice President Joe Biden too, should be looking to the next generation.

'Look for a question about Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, when there are 13,000 women who have signed up and said they want to run for office since the November elections,' Greene noted. 'That's who we should be talking about.'

Clinton, in her message, gave a hat tip to those up-and-coming Democrats too.

'Among those millions making their voices heard are future mayors, city and state officials, governors, members of Congress, even future presidents,' she noted, while thanking 'the outstanding bench of Democrats stepping up to lead us forward.'

Tomorrow, while there are a handful of next generation candidates, including Boynton Brown, Greene and Pete Buttigieg, the 35-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, the party looks to be tilting toward picking one of two well known candidates representing Clinton or the Sanders wings of the party.

There's Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the progressive Muslim candidate backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders or former President Obama's Labor Secretary Tom Perez, thought to moreso represent the Democratic establishment.

Clinton didn't wade into the race, though thanked the departing leaders, including the Obamas and the DNC's interim chair Donna Brazile.

'We as Democrats must move forward with courage, confidence and optimism. And stay focused on the elections we must win this year and next,' the former secretary of state said.
The Conservative Political Action Conference ejected its second troublemaker in as many days on Friday, tossing out a liberal activist who distributed miniature Russian flags  emblazoned with 'TRUMP'  for fans of the president to wave.

Ryan Clayton, a liberal activist, was escorted off the property of the suburban Washington hotel where CPAC is held annually.

CPAC spokesman Ian Walters confirmed Clayton's identity in an email to DailyMail.com.

Conference security quickly collected dozens of the flags, passed out before Donald Trump's mid-morning speech. 'If you're waving them, you will be removed,' one guard told attendees.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

A liberal activist was ejected from the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday after he trolled President Donald Trump by distributing 'TRUMP'-branded Russian flags to his right-leaning audience

Only a few people in an audience of thousands got the flags before security confiscated them, but a few pictures emerged on Twitter showing the unwitting Trump fans waving them

The flags used Russia's colors  the same as America's red, white and blue  along with a gold 'TRUMP'

On Thursday CPAC expelled Richard Spencer, a notorious white supremacist, after he held an impromptu press conference in a hallway to declare that electing Trump was 'a miracle' for his movement.

What quickly became known in conservative circles as Clayton's 'false flag' operation, however, was more about embarrassing Trump's supporters than enraging them.

Some in the audience at the Gaylord National Harbor Hotel happily took the Russian tricolor white, blue and red flags and waved them. America's own flag uses the same three hues.

Security ejects protestor pretending to be Russian Trump fan. #CPAC2017 delegates saying "get him out of here" pic.twitter.com/yFOrTJU6Ca  David Rennie (@DSORennie) February 24, 2017

Clayton, shown in the 2012 political documentary 'Hating Breitbart,' was removed from CPAC on Friday after pulling the Russian flag stunt

A section of people in the back of #CPAC2017 waving Russian flags -- a staffer just came and demanded they all be handed over. pic.twitter.com/mZVoVUqudn  Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) February 24, 2017

While the president spoke, security officers confiscated the flags and marched Clayton out of the ballroom.

Security officers at CPAC grabbed the flags and told audience members that they would be ejected if they waved them while Trump spoke

Clayton has been an outspoken Trump opponent, and claimed in December that Moscow had hijacked the November election to help Trump.

'Russians hacking our democracy to elect Trump should tell you everything you need to know about him,' he told KTVZ in Oregon at the time.

'If Putin picked our President, not We the People, then Trump must be rejected by the Electoral College.'

Clayton's group, Americans Take Action, was also behind a series of YouTube videos urging presidential electors to ditch Trump when they met to formally declare Trump the president-elect.

The ads featured Martin Sheen, Debra Messing and other left-leaning Hollywood stars.

Clayton could not be reached for comment on Friday afternoon.

Democratic National Committee senior adviser Zac Petkanas, however, portrayed the monkeywrenching as an embarrassment for Trump.

'Donald Trumps most diehard supporters were waving Russian flags during his speech presumably as a thank you to Vladimir Putin for help getting the most electoral college votes,' Petkanas claimed.
Exactly 20 years after the rape and murder of 26-year-old student Sunny Sudweeks (pictured) cops named suspect Felipe Vianney Hernandez Tellez, 43

Twenty years to the day that photography student Sunny Sudweeks, 26, was found brutally strangled in her home, cops announced that at last they had a suspect in the young woman's death.

Police in Costa Mesa, California on Thursday named Felipe Vianney Hernandez Tellez, 43, as the suspect sought for the 1997 rape and murder of Sudweeks, saying a revolutionary new DNA-generated facial portrait technique helped them track down the suspected killer.

'Sunny was a beautiful young woman. She was just beginning to start her career,' her father Alan Sudweeks said at the police news conference. 'She had a bright future and that was all lost when she was attacked and killed.'

On the night of February 22, 1997, Sunny was home alone in the Costa Mesa apartment she shared with her boyfriend and a third roommate, who both worked night shifts as cab drivers.

Sunny, a student at Orange Coast College and part-time worker at art supply store Aaron Brothers, stayed up late that night, chatting with several girlfriends on the phone until about 11pm.

Investigators caught a break when they tried a new facial composite technique based on DNA. Shown is the actual profile generated from crime-scene DNA

The DNA-generated facial composite at age 25 (left) and Hernandez's mug shot from a 2000 domestic violence arrest, when he was 26. Investigators were stunned by the similarity

After she fell asleep in the bedroom, cops believe, an intruder snuck into the apartment through an unlocked window or door in the early morning hours of February 23.

The burglar raped Sunny and savagely strangled the young woman in her own bed, police say.

Hernandez (pictured in the past three years) is believed to be living with his wife and three children near the beachfront resort town of Puerto Escondido in Mexico, where he works delivering rotisserie chickens to customers

When her boyfriend returned home from work a bit after 4am, he discovered the gruesome crime scene and immediately called 911.

The murder shocked the suburban community, and police launched a massive investigation, canvassing the neighborhood for any clues and collecting more than 260 pieces of evidence and 130 DNA samples from the crime scene.

But fingerprints and DNA collected at the scene didn't turn up a match in any database investigators checked.

For years, investigators worked the case with no hard evidence pointing toward a suspect.

Meanwhile, Hernandez was living in nearby Santa Ana, another Orange County suburb on the outskirts of Anaheim.

He worked as a painter, and had lived in Costa Mesa from around 1991 to 1993.

Two years before Sunny's murder, in 1995, Hernandez had been arrested for burglary just a few miles away, in Newport Beach.

Then, in 2000, he was convicted of domestic violence, and his fingerprints were entered in a database.

Hernandez fled back to Mexico in 2006, police say, where he has spent the past decade.

After years of frustration, investigators in Sunny's death decided to try something new. With the help of a company called Parabon NanoLabs, they used DNA from the crime scene to generate a composite sketch of the suspect.

Sunny (left) pictured with her mom and dad. 'She had a bright future and that was all lost when she was attacked and killed,' Sunny's father Alan Sudweeks said on Thursday

Crime scene: Sunny's apartment is shown in 1997. Cops collected over 260 pieces of evidence and 130 DNA samples in their investigation into her murder

Police canvassed the neighborhood extensively in 1997 (right) interviewing residents for any clues and passing out fliers seeking any information about the heinous crime (left)

The new technique reads genetic indicators of hair and eye color, ancestry, and other features, using them to paint a hypothetical portrait of the subject.

Around the same time, cops ran fingerprints from the crime scene and came up with a possible hit: Hernandez, fingerprinted in his 2000 arrest.

When investigators compared the DNA composite to Hernandez's mugshot, they sere shocked at the similarities. At last, they had a suspect.

Further investigation showed that the DNA from the crime scene matched as someone related to Hernandez's U.S. family members.

'My staff worked hard to get to this point but we will not stop until this despicable individual is behind bars,' Costa Mesa police chief Robert N. Sharpnack said in a statement.

'While we can never make up for the loss associated with this heinous and vile crime, my hope is that we can provide some sense of closure and make life a little easier for the Sudweeks family.'

Hernandez is believed to be living with his wife and three children near the beachfront resort town of Puerto Escondido in Mexico, where he works delivering rotisserie chickens to customers.

'Im also angry that for 20 years he has been enjoying life, raising his own children, and yet he denied us the comfort and value of our daughter,' Sunny's father said Thursday.

Authorities are seeking Hernandez's extradition back to the U.S. to face homicide charges in Sunny's death.
Rose Marie LiMuli, 40, a former English teacher at Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old male student

A disgraced former teacher has been found guilty of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old male student.

Rose Marie LiMuli, 40, is a former English teacher at Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.

She has been convicted of having inappropriate sexual relations with a male student from December 2015 to March 2016.

On Wednesday a jury found LiMuli guilty of two felony charges of institutional sexual assault, reported The Intelligencer.

One contact involved oral sex, and the second involved sexual intercourse with her student. She was acquitted of 10 other institutional sexual assault charges.

The student gave a statement to police in April 2016, accusing his teacher of sexually assaulting him.

He explained to a jury of seven women and give men that it was a friendly relationship that eventually turned into a sexual one, according to the Ambler Gazette.

He alleged that he and other students began hanging out in her classroom at the beginning of the year because she 'was cool', and brought in baked goods frequently.

As a condition of her bail, she was ordered to have no contact with her accuser or any student from Upper Dublin High School (pictured). She also has been ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation prior to sentencing

As soon as the high school senior turned 18 in November 2015, LiMuli allegedly put her number into his phone and the two began texting and communicating on social media.

Thinking that she was in the clear because he was of a legal consenting age, the two allegedly began engaging in sexually inappropriate acts in December 2015.

He told police that she would pick him up and take him to the dog park, and that the pair had inappropriate sexual contact at his home when his mother was at work.

During the relationship she frequently bought him extravagant gifts, such as a dirt bike, sneakers and clothing while also giving him around $1,000 in cash.

He told the Gazette: 'She bought me... anything I wanted, honestly. She was buying me stuff every single week.

'I caught on that she wanted something sexual out of everything she gave me. I didn't have any affection toward her. She was buying me stuff'.

She also gave him her credit card information, according to the complaint.

During the investigation, police discovered that the two exchanged 262 phone calls from November 2015 to April 2016.

Assistant district attorney James Price told The Intelligencer about the conviction: 'It shows that a teacher cannot use the sanctity of a school to foster an inappropriate relationship with a student, not matter how old the student is.'

LiMuli argued that she never had sex with the student, instead saying that the student was blackmailing her and threatening her family after learning she was having a relationship with another man.

The married mother of two, who taught at the school for more than two years, testified that she gave the student cash and gifts in exchange for his silence.

The judge is allowing her to remain free on a $50,000 unsecured bail while she waits for a sentencing hearing. She could serve between seven and 14 years in prison, and the DA has said he will ask for jail time at her sentencing.

As a condition of her bail, she was ordered to have no contact with her accuser or any student from Upper Dublin High School. She also has been ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation prior to sentencing.
A Brooklyn man got quite a surprise earlier this month, when he was stopped on a street in Crown Heights while a commercial was shooting.

Cartoonist James Grebey told DNAinfo that he was walking to get coffee on February 11 when a film crewmember stopped him on a local street.

The crewmember said he had to wait a minute while the shoot finished up and to 'watch that window' - pointing to a red apartment building.

Video shows the moment that a couch was checked out of a New York City apartment building during a commercial shoot earlier this month

A spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office of Film and Television told DNAinfo that the shoot was for a commercial for the convenience store chain QuikTrip

Grebey whipped out his phone and was recording when a couch came shooting out of the window and down two floors onto the ground below.

'The crew was talking on radios and loudspeakers, making sure the area was clear and secure and ready to film. Then, finally, they shouted "fire in the hole!" he said.

'It was such a perfect arc,' he said. '"S*** cleared," to quote the guy in my video.'

A spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office of Film and Television told DNAinfo that the shoot was for a commercial for the convenience store chain QuikTrip.
A 36-year-old Rhode Island man has been arrested after police say he kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl while posing as an Uber driver.

Maj. David Lapatin announced Thursday that Francis Scott, of Woonsocket, was charged with kidnapping and second-degree sexual assault in connection to the February 14 incident.

At 10am that day, the victim was dropped off by her father at the Providence Career and Technical Academy, where she is a student, but instead of heading to class, she walked to a convenience store to pick up a can of iced tea.

Phony chauffeur: Francis Scott, 36, has been charged with kidnapping and second-degree sexual assault for allegedly luring a 15-year-old girl into his car

The victim, a student at Providence Career and Technical Academy (pictured), thought she was getting a free ride to school on Valentine's Day

As she was walking along Elmwood Avenue, Lapatin said she ran into Scott, who introduced himself as an Uber driver and offered the girl a free ride in his car, reported Providence Journal.

The 15-year-old asked the bogus ride-sharing driver to take her back to school.

As she was riding in the man's car, she noticed they were heading the wrong way and tried to escape at least twice, but she said Scott prevented her from jumping out.

Eventually, he pulled over at a shopping center in the Reservoir section of the city, led her behind Blast! Fitness gym, formerly known as Wow! Fitness, on Adelaide Avenue and allegedly assaulted her.

Police reports cited by the station Turn to 10 stated that before letting the teenager go, the suspect forced her to perform sexual acts.

Police say Scott took the girl behind Blast! Fitness, formerly known as Wow! (pictured), and forced her to perform sexual acts before letting her go

Detectives used surveillance video from nearby businesses to identify and track down Francis.

Police said they are not ruling out that the 36-year-old man might have used the same Uber ruse to try and lure other women.

Scott was released from jail after posting $50,000 bail. He is due back in court in May.
Donald Trump's travel ban resulted in a worldwide 6.5 per cent drop in the number of airline bookings for travelers headed to the United States.

According to data provided by software apps which track flight searches and bookings on the internet, the number of travelers searching for deals to US destinations declined in the week after Trump's controversial executive order on January 27.

Hopper, an app which uses data to predict and analyse airfare, says that its research indicates that searches for flights to the US between January 26 and February 1 by internet users from 122 different countries dropped 17 per cent compared to the first three weeks in January.

Hopper, an app which uses data to predict and analyse airfare, says that the number of internet users searching for flights to the US has dropped this month compared to the same time last year (a chart showing the waning interest compared to February 2016 is seen above)

Hopper says that there has been less demand for US flights among travelers from the seven countries named in Trump's executive order as well as other Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia (as seen in the chart above)

After the ban was temporarily lifted on February 3, the demand picked up slightly, but overall there were 10 per cent fewer searches for flights to the US as of February 10, the Montreal-based company said.

Hopper even produced a detailed, country-by-country study showing the number of flight searches to the US.

Notably, flight searches to the US by Russian internet users saw a significantly above average increase by 88 percent, according to Hopper.

ForwardKeys, a travel research company based in Spain, says overall flight bookings to the US dropped by 6.5 percent overall since the travel ban was announced.

That figure compares statistics from January 28 to February 4 of both this year and last year.

There has been a 17 percent drop in searches for US flights. 'Banned countries' are the seven nations listed in Trump's executive order - Syria, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan. 'Skipped' countries are Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Qatar, UAE, Azerbaijan

Tourists from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Asia have been less inclined to book a ticket to the US, while there has been a slight increase in tourism from Eastern Europe and Central and South America, according to ForwardKeys.

Perhaps not surprisingly, tourism to the US from the seven countries that were listed in Trump's travel ban  Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia  dropped 80 percent after the ban was announced.

When it was lifted a week later, there was a surge of bookings, primarily from Iranian travelers to the US. Overall, however, there was a decline.

'The data forces a compelling conclusion that Donald Trump's travel ban immediately caused a significant drop in bookings to the USA and an immediate impact on future travel,' said Olivier Jager, CEO of ForwardKeys.

The map above shows the change in demand for flights to the US since Trump's inauguration. The data shows that there was an 88-percent increase in searches for US flights among internet users from Russia while a drop in demand was seen virtually everywhere else

The map above breaks down the drop in demand by individual cities, with the West Coast apparently suffering the most from the ban

Travel industry experts say that the ban could end up costing the US economy $3billion. Protesters are seen above denouncing the ban during a demonstration at New York's Kennedy Airport on January 28, 2017

'This is not good news for the US economy.'

Another online travel site, Cheapflights.com, says that international searches for flights to the US dropped 38 percent on the weekend of January 27 to 29 compared to the previous weekend.

From February 10 to 14, there were 16 per cent fewer searches for flights to the US compared to the average for all of January.

A Swedish travel search engine, Flygresor.se, said that searches to the US fell by 47 per cent on the weekend after the travel ban was announced compared with the same period a year before.

ForwardKeys, a company specializing in travel research says that total flight bookings to the US dropped 6.5 percent in the week after the travel ban was announced. The map above shows that the Middle East and Asia saw the biggest drop in demand

Responsible Travel, a British tour operator, says that inquiries for trips to the US fell by 22 per cent, even though the company says that its business is growing compared to the same period last year.

'Prior to the ban, the US was one of our best-selling destinations, but our customers are now choosing to travel to other countries,' said Responsible Travel CEO Justin Francis.

The latest data is reflective of what tourism industry experts refer to as 'the Trump Slump,' according to Frommer's.

If the trend of lower demand continues, it could cost the US tourism industry upward of $3billion, according to Mother Jones.

The statistics point to the travel ban having a negative effect not just on the seven designated countries, but also on visitors from elsewhere.

Travel agent Melissa Erskine, owner of iDream Travel based in Ontario, Canada, says some of her clients 'are no longer interested in going to the US due to Donald Trump's policies and have looked at other options within Canada.'

'I just booked flights for two families to New York City for April and they have taken out trip cancellation insurance...They wanted peace of mind that they can cancel their trip if needed.'

Fred Dixon, CEO of NYC & Company, New York's tourism agency, said Canada is New York's second-biggest international market after the United Kingdom, 'so when our neighbors to the north call for a boycott, it's a huge cause for concern.'
A Michigan man whose 14-month-old stepdaughter died this week after having been beaten into a coma and suffering alleged sexual abuse has been charged with homicide.

Layla Heether passed away from her injuries at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids on Tuesday, a week after she was found unresponsive at a home in Newaygo while in the care of her stepfather, 29-year-old Wayne Brown.

A short time after Laylah was taken to the hospital on February 14, Brown was arrested on a count of domestic violence involving the baby's mother.

Monstrous claims: Wayne Brown (left), 29, has been charged with murder and child abuse in the beating death of hid 14-month-old stepdaughter, Laylah Heether (right)

He was ultimately released from jail on a $1,000 bond, only to be re-arrested on Thursday on the newly filed homicide charge.

On Friday, Brown was arraigned on charges of felony murder and first-degree child abuse in Laylah Heether's death, reported WOOD-TV.

Investigators said the toddler died as a result of complications stemming from child abuse.

According to a petition to Newaygo County Circuit Court, the baby girl also had sustained injuries to her genitals suggesting 'probable sexual abuse.'

The court document stated that when interviewed by police after Laylah's hospitalization, Wayne Brown claimed that his stepdaughter was injured falling off a couch.

A deputy who spoke to Brown noted that the 29-year-old 'showed a lack of emotion' and did not seem to appreciate the seriousness of the situation.

Medical staff at the Grand Rapids hospital who examined baby Laylah found both old and new fractures all over her body, as well as bleeding on her brain.

A doctor concluded that trauma is the only thing that could have caused these injuries, which she said were inconsistent with bumps and bruises sustained during a childs normal everyday activities.

Tortured: The Michigan toddler died a week after she was found unresponsive at home. Her skull had been cracked and she had suffered injuries to her genitals indicating sexual abuse

Information posted on a Facebook page called Justice for Laylah revealed that the young girl had her skull smashed and spent two days in a coma before succumbing to her injuries.

Laylah's great-aunt has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with the toddler's final expenses. As of Friday afternoon, it has drawn just under $1,900 in donations.

A funeral service for Laylah Heether will be held Monday at Crandell Funeral Home's White Cloud Chapel in White Cloud.

The child is survived by her mother, biological father Robert Heether and six brothers and sisters.
Barack Obama was spotted in Manhattan on Friday, marking the first time the former president has been seen since he took his wife on a post-White House vacation to the Caribbean.

The former president was treated like a rock star, with a crowd of hundreds cheering him on as he left a meeting at an office building in the Flatiron District.

Mr Obama looked to be in full retirement mode, forgoing a tie with his black suit.

Scroll down for video

Former President Obama was spotted in Manhattan on Friday, leaving an office building in the Flatiron District

Hundreds gathered outside the building and cheered Mr Obama on as he got into his car

It's still unclear what Mr Obama is doing in the city.

The Simons Foundation, an organization that funds research in mathematics and basic sciences, has an office in the building.

The foundation's founders, Marilyn and James Harris Simons, have donated $670,000 to the Obama Foundation and were invited to several events at the White House during his time in office.

Photos surfaced last night, showing the former president having dinner with his daughter Malia at Emilio's Ballato, an Italian restaurant in Soho.

Malia is currently living in the city while she interns at the Weinstein Co.

On Thursday night, Obama (third left) was spotted getting dinner with his daughter Malia (second right), at an Italian restaurant in Soho

The eldest Obama daughter is currently living in the city while she interns at the Weinstein Co. Above, another picture from the daddy-daughter dinner Thursday night

Malia looked to be in good spirits when she showed up to her internship on Friday morning

The restaurant is a hot spot for celebrities such as Rihanna, Billy Joel, Naomi Campbell and David Bowie.

The restaurant is known for its club-like feel, and a New York magazine reporter said that newcombers are 'scritinized' by owner Emilio Vitolo from his corner table.

Michelle Obama does not appear to have joined her husband for this trip. On Thursday, the former first lady was pictured leaving a Soul Cycle class in Washington, DC.

The Obama family have chosen to remain in DC so that their youngest daughter Sasha can finish high school.

Malia, 18, is set to start at Harvard this fall. She has spent the past year on a gap year, traveling South America and taking on this new internship.

Last weekend, she was spotted partying in Aspen with a cohort of fellow rich kids.
Advertisement

Temperature records continue to fall in the Northeast as spring-like warmth descends on the region.

The National Weather Service says Newark and New Jersey, reached 74 degrees, breaking the previous high of 73 for the date, set in 1985.

Temperatures also hit over 70 in Philadelphia; Hartford, Connecticut; and Providence, Rhode Island.

But Boston's record was even more impressive - as the city recorded its warmest February day on record. The mercury reached 73 degrees on Friday.

Boston (above) recorded its warmest February day on record. The mercury reached 73 degrees in the city on Friday afternoon as the Northeast continued to bask in an early spring

Workers enjoy lunch in the sun along the Rose Kennedy Greenway, on the warmest February day ever recorded in Boston

Sydney Dollmeyer (left) and Emily Daly enjoy lunch in the sun along the Rose Kennedy Greenway in the unseasonable sun

Temperature records have continued to tumble across the region with some cities enjoy 70 degrees

The National Weather Service says Newark, New Jersey, reached 74 degrees, breaking the previous high of 73 for the date, set in 1985. Temperatures also hit over 70 in Philadelphia; Hartford, Connecticut; and Providence, Rhode Island

A girl in a short sleeve shirt watches skaters in New York's Bryant Park on Friday. Temperatures reached 68 degrees by noon in the Big Apple, according to the National Weather Service while other cities in the Northeast basked in 70 degrees

The national Weather Service announced that temperatures in Hartford (72 degrees), Providence (71 degrees) , and Worcester (69 degrees) all tied for third warmest ever observed in meteorological winter (December, January, and February) since their records began.

Buffalo broke a 111-year record for February 24 daily temps, with the spring-like temps soaring to 71 degrees, four over the last record, set in 1906, according to Buffalo News.

Colder temperatures aren't due to move back into the Northeast until Tuesday, and then some higher level areas may experience snow, predicted Weather.com.

A strong cold front, potentially accompanied by storms, is predicted to pass on Saturday evening. Temperatures will then return to normal, with Sunday night lows in the 30s.

At Robbins Farm Park in Arlington, Massachusetts, Ben Potter gets a reading interruption by his dog Whiskey as they enjoy the warm weather

Williams College students take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather by dressing in shorts and tank tops as they hang out and study outside Chapin Hall on the school's campus in Williamstown, Massachusetts as temperatures soared in the 70's
Josue Ortiz, above, got more than he bargained for when cops say he broke into a martial arts master's home to steal tools

If you're going to rob a house, you might not want to pick one that belongs to a Jiu-Jitsu master.

That's the lesson Josue Ortiz might have learned after he ended up with a black eye, broken nose, and swollen lip after he allegedly broke into the home of Brian Burch of Fort Myers, Florida.

Burch said he was relaxing at home on Tuesday when he heard scuffling around in his open garage.

He said he went outside and discovered Ortiz loading up tools, including an air gun case and jackhammer case, from the garage into his car.

Questioned about what he was doing, Burch said Ortiz mumbled something about 'his boss' sending him to get tools and then tried to make a break for it.

Burch pulled some martial arts moves on the suspect and soon had him off his feet.

'I was holding him down,' he told WBBH. 'Once we got to the ground, he started pushing and fighting me, and I hit him one time.'

'Once I had him, he wasn't going anywhere,' he told ABC 7. Burch said there were already several of his tools in the alleged thief's car.

Brian Burch, above, of Fort Myers, says he's been practicing Brazilian Jui-Jitsu for two and a half years

Ortiz, above, looked worse for wear after Burch let him have it in his garage when he says he caught him stealing

Burch said he's been training in the martial arts for two and a half years. He practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which is a form of martial arts and combat sport that focuses on bringing your opponent down to the ground and grappling.

A neighbor saw the commotion and called police, who arrived to arrest Ortiz.

'[The police] told him he got exactly what he deserved,' said Burch. 'I'm just glad he's not on the street anymore and can't hit anybody else's home.'

Ortiz did one thing right at least - he didn't allegedly break in when Burch's kids were home. 'Then I would have been even angrier,' Burch said.

Neighbors did not feel sorry for the beaten Ortiz.

'The fact that he manhandled him maybe, I think it's well deserved,' said neighbor Darlene Donovan.

Another neighbor thought the thief was crazy to try anything with Burch. 'He's not a little guy,' he said of his neighbor.

Ortiz is charged with burglary and grand theft and was last known to still be in jail.

'He's not a little guy' said the neighbor of the muscular Burch, who practices a martial arts style that is heavy on floor grappling

Blood can be seen on the drive leading up to Burch's garage, suspect Ortiz sitting down in front after meeting up with Burch

Burch said the suspect had already taken some tools out of his garage (above) and put them in his car
The setting was a Manhattan restaurant, and after 25 minutes what allegedly emerged was a pro-Russian peace plan for Ukraine that its author believes may have ended up in the White House.
A woman who was framed for stalking and organizing the attempted rape of her ex-fiance's new wife has spoken out for the first time to detail her 'horrifying' trauma.

Michelle Hadley was jailed for nearly three months through a 'diabolical scheme' launched by Angela Maria Diaz, who sent herself threatening emails, pretended she was pregnant, made false police reports, faked a crime scene and posed as the victim of a 'rape fantasy' ad on Craigslist.

Diaz successfully convinced Anaheim Police that Hadley's 'harassment' would eventually lead to her death and murder - landing the innocent woman in prison.

Hadley and her attorney Michael Guisti said their focus is now on fully clearing her name, and holding the police responsible for not conducting what Hadley believes was a 'true and thorough investigation'.

The two appeared on NBC Today on Friday preceding their Dateline special, Diabolical, where Hadley was able to publicly tell her story for the first time.

'It really is like your worst nightmare coming true,' she said.

Scroll down for video

Michelle Hadley will appear on Dateline to discuss being imprisoned for three months for being falsely convicted of stalking and harassing her ex-fiancee's new wife

Diaz, 31, is now being held in the same prison where Hadley was wrongly held for months while Anaheim Police investigated Diaz's claims. Hadley was released on October and exonerated of the crimes.

'This is the reason why you become a lawyer,' Guisti told NBC's Dennis Murphy, saying that Diaz's elaborate plot was 'the perfect storm of catfishing'.

They now plan to take the Anaheim Police Department to court, after Hadley claims she felt they didn't want to hear her account of what happened.

APD released a statement, saying: 'We believe our actions were appropriate given the evidence was known to us at the time.

'In addition, it was the efforts of the detective who ultimately uncovered the truth and led to Michelle's exoneration.'

It really is like your worst nightmare coming true. Michelle Hadley, woman accused of stalking and pretending to be former fiances wife pic.twitter.com/Pjc9JvzQVm  TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 24, 2017

Deputy District Attorney Richard Zimmer told Dailymail.com: 'This is actually one of the most unusual things I've seen in my career. The amount of planning, the effort, the sophistication, the amount of time that went into framing Ms. Hadley was incredible.'

In an ironic twist, Diaz, right, is now being held in the same prison where Hadley, left, was falsely held for months while Anaheim Police investigated Diaz's claims

Diaz now faces a number of felonies including kidnapping, false imprisonment and filing false police reports.

Hadley had previously dated a 39-year-old Deputy US Marshal identified only as Ian.

They bought a condo and got engaged during their 'whirlwind romance' until Hadley and Ian broke up in August 2015.

In the months following their breakup, Hadley wrote Ian emails, some of which included religious language. The two ceased contact in the fall of 2015.

In January 2016, Ian met Diaz on a dating website and the two were married within two months.

After moving in together, Diaz lied in May 2016 and told Ian she was pregnant before launching her elaborate scheme to frame Hadley.

In June, Diaz, along with her new husband, appeared at the Anaheim Police Department, where she reported that Hadley had sent her a number of threatening emails.

It turned out that Diaz sent the emails to herself, using Virtual Private Networks and third-party proxy servers to disguise her Internet Protocol (IP) address, according to Rackauckas.

Diaz gave the police copies of the fake emails, some of which she doctored to appear as if they were sent from Hadley's real email address, Zimmer said.

After Diaz wrote hundreds of fake emails, which she pinned on Hadley, she claimed she was the victim of a 'rape fantasy' Craigslist ad she claimed was set up by Hadley. Pictured, Diaz (left and right, with red marks around her neck) after she told police a man tried to rape her

She pointed out where her 'attacker' slammed her face into the wall (above), and showed police her ripped shirt. But Zimmer said: 'We believe that whole crime scene was staged and that she did that to herself'

The hundreds of fake emails, which Diaz pinned on Hadley, included threats to have Diaz raped and killed, in addition to threats to her fake, unborn child, according to Zimmer.

The phony emails also included disturbing images of decapitated bodies, aborted fetuses and dead women.

Diaz also fooled authorities by using religious language that mirrored the contents of Hadley's correspondence with Ian shortly after they broke up.

Happier times: Hadley is pictured with her then-fiance Ian but the relationship didn't last

Zimmer told Dailymail.com: 'There were no threats from Hadley to Ian. But Diaz took the religious language and turned it into more threatening language.

The fake emails written by Diaz included mentions of God, Satan, and phrases like 'God knows the truth' or 'You'll suffer God's judgement', according to Zimmer.

Diaz was granted a Temporary Restraining Order against Hadley after making several false reports about ongoing threats.

The situation escalated when Diaz claimed she was the victim of a 'rape fantasy' Craigslist ad she claimed was set up by Hadley.

She told police Hadley had impersonated her and responded to advertisements on Craigslist saying she wanted to act out her 'rape fantasies'.

In reality, Diaz posted an advertisement herself. She told responding men that she wanted to have forced sex even if she screamed or resisted, and sent out photos of herself, along with details of her daily routine, according to Rackauckas.

'This is the reason why you become a lawyer,' Hadley's attorney Michael Guisti (pictured) told NBC's Dennis Murphy, saying that Diaz's elaborate plot was 'the perfect storm of catfishing'

The ad, which Diaz claimed was the work of Hadley, attracted at least two men who intended to travel to Diaz's home in Anaheim before they were intercepted by police.

On June 24, 2016, Diaz called 911, saying a man tried to rape her in the garage of her home - but that turned out to be another one of Diaz's lies, Zimmer said.

She pointed out where her 'attacker' slammed her face into the wall, and showed police a ripped shirt, along with an abrasion on her head and red marks on her neck.

Zimmer told Dailymail.com: 'We believe that whole crime scene was staged and that she did that to herself.'

But police at the time believed her story, and Hadley was arrested later that evening before she was released the next day on $100,000 bail.

Diaz claimed the threatening emails and responses to the rape fantasy ad ceased while Hadley was in jail and started up again after she was bailed out, incriminating Hadley further.

Weeks later on July 13, Diaz called 911 again and police arrived to find a 17-year-old boy outside her home who was responding to the rape fantasy ad.

'Due to the seriousness of the threats, the alleged attack on Diaz in her garage, the escalation in both the frequency and nature of the threats, and yet another man arriving at Diaz's residence to engage in a rape fantasy encounter, law enforcement believed a serious threat to public safety existed', according to the press release issued by Rackauckas.

A warrant was issued for Hadley's arrest, and she was charged with stalking, criminal threats, attempted rape, assault with intent to commit rape during a residential burglary, violating a protective order and a crime-bail-crime enhancement.

Hadley was held from July 14 until October 7 on $1million bail.

Pictured, Hadley outside Orange County Superior Court on January 9, 2016 after being cleared of all charges

Zimmer told Dailymail.com: 'The aha moment came after we spent a few months trying to unwind the third party proxy servers.'

He said: 'When we did that, we started getting IP addresses to Diaz's condo and her father's apartment. One came back to her cell phone.'

Further investigation also revealed Diaz's history of fraud, which included altering a paycheck from her employer to add $2,000, telling her previous boyfriend she had cervical cancer, pretending to be an attorney, forging doctor's notes and impersonating two of her husband's ex-girlfriends through email in addition to her fake pregnancy.

Zimmer told Dailymail.com: ' This was an ongoing thing, with emails coming in morning, noon and night.

'Thankfully this is very rare, but it certainly made me sick to my stomach to realize we probably had the wrong person in jail.

'That's certainly not something we want to have happen so we worked as fast as we could to clear Ms Hadley's name and reputation.'
A man and woman who each killed their first spouses have tied the knot in Nepal - but will not be able to consummate their marriage for 14 years.

Dilli Koirala, 33, is serving a 20 year term for murdering his wife, while his new bride Mimkosha Bista has another four years to serve for slaying her first spouse.

They had never met before the ceremony, but were married after Koirala's mother - who is also behind bars for helping her son carry out the murder - acted as matchmaker.

Happy couple: Dilli Koirala and new bride Mimkosha Bista tied the knot in Kalikot District Jail

They were married in Kalikot District Jail in the west of the country.

After the ceremony, Bista, 30, told Republica: 'He murdered his wife and I did in my husband. His mother likes me and that is one of the reasons I drew close to him.'

A Hindu ceremony was performed by a local priest on Thursday morning, witnessed by jail staff and fellow inmates, prison official Sanjay Mahato told AFP.

A Hindu ceremony was performed by a local priest on Thursday morning, witnessed by jail staff and fellow inmates

'They are not allowed to stay together in the jail as we have separate sections for male and female prisoners. But we have decided to allow them to have a face to face chat twice a month,' he added.

Lawyer Danam Raj Bam, who attended the unusual marriage, told AFP that the couple had decided to get hitched because they thought they would be unlikely to find anyone else willing to marry them.

'Since we both happen to have committed the same kind of crime, we won't be in any position to look down upon one another,' the groom said, according to local media.

Kalikot District Jail is a small prison in rural western Nepal with just 53 prisoners - 50 men and three women.
Dramatic CCTV footage has captured a man trying to rob a takeaway with what appears to be a gun wrapped in a plastic bag.

The video clip, released by Greater Manchester Police, shows the offender pointing the camouflaged weapon at the staff behind the counter, demanding that they open the till.

'Open it now!' the hooded and masked man yells, 'Open it!'

The video clip, released by Greater Manchester Police, shows the offender pointing the camouflaged weapon at the staff behind the counter, demanding that they open the till

'Open it now!' the hooded and masked man yells, 'Open it!'

He can be seen attempting to draw another weapon from his pocket before fleeing the premises in Atherton, Wigan.

Police were called to reports at around 8.45pm on Saturday 11 February that a man had entered the shop on Leigh Road, Howe Bridge, and threatened staff with a concealed weapon

The man is described as white, around 6ft tall and of slim build. He was wearing a blue jumper with a black hooded jacket underneath and had black material covering most of his face.

Officers have released CCTV footage in a bid to identify a man they want to speak to in connection with the incident.

He can be seen attempting to draw another weapon from his pocket before fleeing the premises in Atherton, Wigan

Police were called to reports at around 8.45pm on Saturday 11 February that a man had entered the shop on Leigh Road, Howe Bridge, and threatened staff with a concealed weapon

Detective Sergeant David Johnston, of GMP's Wigan Borough, said: 'I am appealing for information about this terrifying incident, which has put these people's safety in danger, all for petty cash from a till.

'If anyone recognises the man in the CCTV footage or has any other information that may help us then I urge you to get in touch.'

Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 7292 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Claims: Controversial headmistress Michelle Brindle

A headmistress whose staff have filed sixteen grievances since September has threatened to sue parents after they complained about her leadership.

Relationships between staff, parents and governors are said to have become toxic since Michelle Brindle took over Bollin Primary School in Bowdon, Cheshire.

The row reached a head this week when teachers staged a strike. Around 70 parents also protested outside the school.

Problems are said to have begun when Mrs Brindle paid for a mock Ofsted inspection. It led to new rules being brought in which teachers say greatly increased their workload.

Children reported seeing teachers crying in corridors, and a long-serving member of staff was allegedly suspended.

Parents held a protest outside the school this week, complaining about Mrs Brindle's leadership

Fourteen teachers and two assistants lodged grievances with the governing body, which are so far unresolved. Eight governors also resigned.

Worried parents then set up a WhatsApp online messaging group to discuss what was going on at the school, which was rated outstanding in 2007.

But when Mrs Brindle, 40, heard they were talking over the internet, she sent letters to the parents of all 450 pupils, warning she would sue if her reputation was harmed.

She wrote: A number of social media posts have been made which are damaging to the reputation of the head and the school. Some are potentially libellous and leave individuals vulnerable to legal action.

Businessman Howard Morris spoke to the Mail after hearing about problems at Bollin.

He claimed his wife, Caroline, was driven out of her job as deputy head of Mrs Brindles previous school, Golborne St Thomas, in Wigan, by her bullying style.

He compared Mrs Brindle to Roald Dahls Miss Trunchbull, who terrorises the school in Matilda. She is threatening and a bully  shes almost like Miss Trunchbull, he said.

Sinead Barry, 45, who has two daughters at the school, said issues began within weeks of Mrs Brindles arrival. She said: Children were coming home saying teachers were crying.

The headteacher has been likened to Miss Trunchbull, from Roald Dahl book Matilda

Kate Mazzag, 44, has taken her daughter out of school after a teacher was allegedly suspended. She said: When we asked questions we were told not to say she was suspended, but absent.

Erin Cherneski, 41, whose son is at the school, says Mrs Brindle has made a toxic atmosphere.

On Thursday, 17 of Bollins 21 teachers walked out in protest. By yesterday 889 people had signed a no confidence petition and Trafford Council last week issued a warning about the way the school is run.

Peter Middleman, from the National Union of Teachers, said members had met with the head, but reached no compromise.

Last night Mrs Brindle said: I am 100 per cent committed to the school, and astounded at the behaviour of a small group of vocal parents.
Brutal double murderer, Avni Metra, 54, from Albania, who lived in Britain for nearly 20 years has been finally extradited following an investigation by the Mail last summer

A notorious Albanian double killer has been booted out of the UK eight months after he was exposed by the Daily Mail.

Bogus Kosovan refugee Avni Metra, 54, was extradited back to his native country after living here freely for nearly two decades.

He was returned to Albania earlier this week after the High Court in London threw out the fugitives 11th hour bid to stay in Britain.

Three Interpol officers escorted him on a commercial flight to Tirana because he was considered so dangerous, sources said.

A picture of him behind bars in Albania this week was released by the authorities.

Metra, who fled to Britain in 1998 - a year after the brutal murder of two brothers in his home country  had argued that his human rights would be breached if he was extradited.

But his legal claim was rejected by the Appeal Court and officials moved swiftly to kick him out of the country.

Metra is the first of three Albanian murderers exposed by the Mail last summer to be returned home.

Last night the Home Office said it is making efforts to strip him of British citizenship, which he was awarded after lying about his true identity while on the run from Albanian police.

Metra, who fled to Britain in 1998 - a year after the brutal murder of two brothers in his home country  had argued that his human rights would be breached if he was extradited

Former gangster Metra, who gouged out the eyes and sliced off the ears of one of his victims, was detained by Scotland Yard in June last year following a tip-off from the Mail.

At the time of his arrest, he had been a fugitive for 19 years and was on Interpols Most Wanted list.

Our extensive, international investigation into his disappearance led us to his Home Counties bolthole.

As he was confronted about his real identity, his right hand was poised menacingly next to two knives.

Detectives had no idea where Metra was and had made little attempt to find him even though he was one of Albanias most notorious murder fugitives and had been arrested in London for wife-beating.

After going on the run from Albania in the late 1990s, Metra was sentenced to 25 years in prison in his absence.

Following his belated arrest, he made a desperate, state-funded bid to stay in the UK, arguing he would not get a fair trial back home.

He told an extradition hearing last summer: There is no justice in Albania. There is only corruption.

The labourer, who claimed he had fled his native country because his life was in danger after a friend was killed, also argued that he had a right to a private and personal life in the UK.

But district judge Margot Coleman ruled at Westminster Magistrates Court in August that he could be extradited, saying: Its right that you have lived here for some time and that you have a wife and children.

But your living here, your life in this country, is based on a lie.

Metra was detained on June 8 as he drove through Watford. At the time of his arrest he was living in a dingy bedsit in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.

At the time of his arrest Metra had been a fugitive for 19 years and was on Interpols Most Wanted list. When Metra was confronted about his real identity, his right hand was poised menacingly next to two knives

After last summers extradition ruling, his case was sent to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who authorised his removal from the UK.

But Metra, who had been living on benefits, sought leave to appeal against extradition.

His move was rejected and his extradition back to Albania earlier this week was headline news there.

Barcis ex-wife Linda Lami, 38, who lives in the London area, welcomed news of his extradition.

The Albanian mother  who has told of the appalling violence at the hands of Metra during their 14 year marriage  told the Mail: He should be in prison for a long time. But I am concerned he might be able to buy himself out of jail in Albania, and take revenge on those who helped put him behind bars.

The Home Office said last night: On 6 October 2016, the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed an order for Avni Metras extradition to Albania.

Following his belated arrest, he made a desperate, state-funded bid to stay in the UK, arguing he would not get a fair trial back home. A picture of him behind bars in Albania this week was released by the authorities (right)

Mr Metra has been convicted of two counts of murder and the illegal possession of firearms.

Mr Metra was extradited on 21 February 2017 after the High Court refused to grant him leave to appeal against the decision of the district judge to send the case to the Secretary of State.

We are seeking to strip him of his British citizenship.

Metra was one of three UK-based Albanian murderers exposed by the Mail in a series of explosive articles last summer which caused huge embarrassment at the Home Office.

In July, a judge ruled that a one-legged Albanian double killer - whose shocking story was revealed in this newspaper in May - should be extradited to face justice in his home country.

Saliman Barci, 41, deliberately misled UK immigration authorities with a false alias and passport after gunning down two men in northern Albania in 1997.

The drug dealer, who posed as a Kosovan asylum seeker to gain British citizenship while on the run from police, had been living on benefits in the UK for 14 years when his true identity was exposed.

Metra was extradited on February 21 after the High Court refused to grant him leave to appeal against the decision of the district judge to send the case to the Secretary of State

While on the run, Barci received a 25-year sentence in his absence for two horrific murders in Albania in the 1990s.

At the Appeal Court in London earlier this week, the father of threes barrister made a last ditch bitch to block his extradition - on human rights grounds. A ruling on his case is due in the coming weeks.

A third Albanian murderer exposed by the Mail is back on streets just months after we exposed the scandal of his case.

In June this newspaper revealed that Ardian Rragami, 45, had returned to Britain four years after being forcibly sent home to serve a 15-year sentence for murder.

Within hours of the Home Office being asked to account for his presence here, immigration enforcement officers detained him at his home in Essex pending deportation.

But in November we disclosed how Rragami had been granted bail as he appeals against the decision to boot him out of the UK a second time.

Home Office sources said he has made further representations which are being considered
The former business partners of Mark, Donnie, and Paul Wahlberg are suing the brothers claiming the trio did not include them in plans to develop the Wahlburgers restaurant franchise.

William 'Billy' Leonard and Edward St Croix filed a 33-page lawsuit on Tuesday seeking unspecified damages and alleging the brothers 'stole' the opportunities for themselves,' the Boston Globe reported.

The lawsuit states: 'Ultimately, the three Wahlberg brothers, whose interpersonal relationships are dysfunctional, wound up as the sole managers.

Former business partners and longtime friends of the brothers are suing Donnie, Paul, and Mark Wahlberg claiming the trio excluded them from plans to develop the franchise

The lawsuit states the brothers removed Edward St Croix as manager and reduced their stakes in the company to take the 'profits for themselves' (pictured: Wahlburgers opening in Coney Island in 2013)

'They then stole the most valuable franchise opportunities for themselves.'

Leonard has known Mark from growing up with the brothers in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

He was a minority owner in the business when the restaurant opened up its first location in 2011. He has also made appearances in the Wahlburgers television show that has been running since 2014.

Mark Wahlberg met with corporate offices in Grand Rapids, Michigan earlier this week to discuss opening new restaurants in the area

St. Croix, who had ownership in two restaurants in Hingham, takes credit for the idea for Wahlburgers saying he created the 'vision and strategy' for the design, menu as well as the television show, the lawsuit states.

Court documents said the brothers removed St Croix as manager and took over in an effort to 'cut out' the two partners and take 'the bulk of the store-generated profits for themselves.'

It is not clear why St Croix was removed, but the company had reorganized and his voting interest was reduced to 7.87 per cent and Leonard had a 3.37 per cent stake.

The former partners said they were left in the dark about the decision to grow the franchise and were not aware of agreements to develop the restaurants in multiple cities, the paper reported.

A spokesperson for Wahlburgers Headquarters called the claims 'false' and 'misleading.'

The statement read: 'It's obvious that this lawsuit, with its unbridled litany of false and misleading claims, was concocted to further the plaintiffs' own personal agendas at the expense of the truth, the Wahlberg family and other investors.

'Family, fairness, and integrity are at the core of the Wahlburgers brand, and we are prepared to protect the values for which we stand.'

Mark Wahlberg met with corporate offices in Grand Rapids, Michigan earlier this week to discuss opening new restaurants in the area.
Muhammad Ali's son was detained for two hours at a Florida airport, and claims that it is because he is Muslim.

Muhammad Ali Jr is considering suing after being held up at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport when he was returning from Jamaica on February 7.

He'd taken a trip with his mother, Khalilah Ali, Muhammad Ali's first wife, and was reportedly stopped by immigration officers.

Muhammad Ali Jr, who is pictured right next to his father Muhammad Ali, was detained for two hours at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport on February 7, and claims that it is because he is uslim

Ali's mother got through, but he was held in a small room and questioned for two hours, according to TMZ.

Ali Jr's spokesman Chris Mancini told TMZ that the 44-year-old was asked twice if he's Muslim, and also where he got his name.

His mother had no idea where he was the whole time.

He'd taken a trip with his mother, Khalilah Ali, Muhammad Ali's first wife, and was reportedly stopped by immigration officers. Ali Jr is pictured with his father and three sisters, sitting in his mother's lap

Muhammad Ali was an american professional boxer and political activist. He was black and a Muslim, and is celebrated as one of the most important sports figures of the 20th century. Ali is pictured versus Joe Frazier in 1965

Ali Jr is considering suing the US Treasury and Homeland Security over the incident, and may file the lawsuit as a class action. Mancini believes it hints at a larger issue of profiling and discrimination.

The incident occurred just four days after a federal judge halted President Trump's immigration ban.

The ban barred immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.

US Customs and Border Protections did not comment to TMZ about individual travelers, but said that 'all international travelers arriving in the US are subject to CBP inspection'.
The trouble began when police tried to arrest a teenage member of a notorious drug-dealing gang.

Within hours, the snowy streets of Rinkeby, a northern suburb of the Swedish capital Stockholm, had erupted into violence with his fellow gang members hurling Molotov cocktails at passing vehicles, torching parked cars, throwing rocks and looting shops.

The mob fought with police to free 17-year-old Maikal Hassan, the son of Ethiopian immigrants, and as they advanced, one officer drew his pistol and fired a shot at the gang and missed, while others shot high into the air to try to scare the masked youths.

Trump was reported  incorrectly  as claiming there had been a terrorist incident in Sweden

Eventually, police withdrew for their own safety and were forced to call the imam from the local mosque to ask him to appeal to the rioters to disperse. Even then the disturbance continued until the early hours.

The riots on Monday night in Rinkeby, a migrant ghetto known locally as Little Mogadishu, are a major embarrassment for the Swedish government. They came just two days after Donald Trump, the U.S. President, was widely ridiculed for comments he made at a rally in Florida last weekend.

You look at whats happening last night in Sweden, thundered Trump. Sweden? Whod believe this? Sweden? They took in large numbers [of asylum seekers]. Theyre having problems like they never thought possible.

In fact, he had been referring to a report on Fox News, which blamed an alleged breakdown in law and order in Sweden on an influx of migrants over the past 20 years

Trump was reported  incorrectly  as claiming there had been a terrorist incident in Sweden.

In fact, he had been referring to a report on Fox News, which blamed an alleged breakdown in law and order in Sweden on an influx of migrants over the past 20 years.

Trumps comments drew immediate derision from the Swedish government and pro-migrant groups, which gleefully pointed out that the most interesting item in the Swedish news that day had been a photograph of a live elk trying to mount a wooden elk.

King Carl Gustaf said it is important to present good news and that Trumps allegation was damaging the countrys reputation

The Swedish royal family even joined in. King Carl Gustaf said it is important to present good news and that Trumps allegation was damaging the countrys reputation.

The fact that Sweden, the most liberal of European countries, openly welcomed asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants over 20 years is not in doubt.

Some 1.7 million have arrived since the Nineties, transforming a country with a population of just ten million.

In the past two years alone  as war in Syria and Afghanistan, and conflict and poverty elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa has fuelled mass migration  Sweden has taken in 275,000 immigrants.

Now, in the wake of Trumps claims, the riots in Rinkeby this week and reports that some 300 foreign-born Swedes have joined Islamic State, that open-door policy and its consequences are under scrutiny as never before.

Once home to working-class Swedes, Rinkebys population is now 90 per cent foreign incomers.

The few Swedes who remain called the place Little Mogadishu not just because of the large population of Somalis, but because  as in the Somali capital  violence and fear are endemic.

Maikal Hassan, the young man whose arrest led to the disturbances, was a member of the Rinkeby Network gang that controls much of the local drug dealing.

Hassan  first named in a criminal police report when he was just ten years old; at 15, he was under youth detention for eight counts of assault, robbery and burglary  had been apprehended during a rare foray by officers into what is generally accepted as a no-go zone.

His brother was shot dead in a gangland feud last year.

These people dont want to live a normal European life, a Rinkeby resident named Anton told me.

Its a jungle. I never go out after dark and dont carry much money. Its too dangerous.

Now, in the wake of Trumps claims, the riots in Rinkeby this week and reports that some 300 foreign-born Swedes have joined Islamic State, that open-door policy and its consequences are under scrutiny as never before. Pictured, the Rinkeby riots

As I arrived at Rinkeby underground station this week, I was approached by a group of a dozen or so young foreign men who tried to sell me hard drugs  even though police patrols were less than 100 yards away.

When I ignored them, they turned their backs. I headed away from them towards the shops, many bearing Arabic script, and restaurants offering specialities from Africa and the Middle East.

The gangs here rule by fear  and even warn shopkeepers when they are going to be burgled, telling them they will get back a small cut of the takings as long as they do not raise the alarm. Many feel they have little choice but to comply.

The youths come into my shop and threaten me and my staff almost every day, said Nouri, 44, an Afghan granted asylum in 1998 who runs a shoe shop close to where the riots broke out.

They come in here and grab pairs of expensive shoes and just walk out. There is nothing I can do. If I report them to the police they will torch the store. There are usually about 40 to 50 thugs hanging out here on the square at night.

One man who knows from bitter experience about the reality of life in Rinkeby is Hanif Azizi, the officer responsible for policing the area. On Monday, as the police faced the rioters, he says he told a colleague: Perhaps Trump was right after all.

The gangs here rule by fear  and even warn shopkeepers when they are going to be burgled, telling them they will get back a small cut of the takings as long as they do not raise the alarm. Pictured, a burnt-out car in Rinkeby

At his office a mile from the flashpoint, dressed in plain clothes and with a pistol tucked into his belt, he admitted that, regardless of claims by the Swedish government, many areas are firmly in the control of foreign criminal gangs.

They are laughing at our society because they can do whatever they want, he told me. They use fear and violence to try to stop the police from doing our job. There are so many that you cant handle them.

They have tactics and they are very clever. The people here dont think they are part of Swedish society. They listen to the imams at the mosque more than they listen to us. These criminals are in control.

An Iranian immigrant who came to Sweden aged nine, Mr Azizi blamed social ills, lack of officers, 'passive' policing, and sentences being too soft for criminals, and that anyone helping police was more likely to be punished by their community than praised.

The good people leave, he said.

And Rinkeby is not an isolated example. Immigrant gangs are said to control several other areas of Stockholm. In a recent report, police admitted there are a staggering 53 no-go zones in the country where it is unsafe to patrol.

Similar demographic changes due to migration have occurred in the suburbs of other Swedish cities, too, where tension is always simmering.

In Gothenburg, on the west coast, gangs of youngsters, mainly from Morocco, live on the streets having rejected life in care homes to survive on their wits.

One of the citys biggest shopping malls, Nordstan, has been so plagued by gangs of young thieves it was declared another a no-go zone. If caught, the youths, who have no ID documents, claim to be under 16 and escape prosecution.

As I arrived at Rinkeby underground station this week, I was approached by a group of a dozen or so young foreign men who tried to sell me hard drugs  even though police patrols were less than 100 yards away

It must be a wretched life for these youngsters. It has been reported that six Afghan child refugees have committed suicide in Sweden in the past six months as the government attempts to care for 25,000 unaccompanied migrant children.

The authorities stand accused of trying to cover up crimes involving migrants, including alleged sexual assaults committed at a recent music festival, and at New Year celebrations in the capital.

The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention statistics for 2016 show the number of reported rapes increased by 13 per cent year on year, to 6,560, while the number of reported sexual assaults increased by 20 per cent.

While it is not clear who is to blame for this increase, the National Councils annual security survey found that immigrants were 2.5 times more likely to commit crimes than Swedish citizens.

Yet, despite this, the Swedish government continues to dismiss allegations that immigration is to blame in part for the rise in crime and civil unrest, saying any problems were due to alienation, unemployment and problems with housing.

Fredrik Lundh Sammeli, a spokesman for the ruling Social Democratic Party, told me that the troublemakers are a very small group of individuals that has been challenged by the police and our society  but they are not related to immigration. Whatever the truth, at the very least there has been a massive failure of integration.

And, as in other European countries with rising immigrant populations, this has promoted the rise of Far Right groups.

In Sweden, such groups have been accused of a series of fire bombings of mosques, as well as violent attacks on drug dealers and street children.

Politically, the beneficiary of growing anger about migration and its impact has been the Swedish Democrats, a Right-wing party that won 13 per cent of the vote at the general election in 2014.

A poll this week showed it is now backed by more than one in four Swedes.

It has been reported that six Afghan child refugees have committed suicide in Sweden in the past six months as the government attempts to care for 25,000 unaccompanied migrant children

Mattias Karlsson, leader of the party in the Swedish parliament, told me he was very grateful to President Trump for focusing attention on this issue, and expressed incredulity that the U.S. leaders comments had proven so controversial.

Sweden is the most politically correct country in the world, he said.

For a long time, there have been no reports about the negative consequences of our open-door immigration policy because anyone who speaks out gets called a racist or a Nazi.

Riots like [that in Rinkeby] have become part of everyday life in Sweden.

We have huge problems with immigration and law and order. This is not only in Rinkeby. Now we have problems in our towns and cities that we did not dream could be possible ten years ago. People have had enough.

So where did it all go so badly wrong for Sweden?

With a rapidly ageing population, the country began to welcome migrants from countries such as Turkey in the late Seventies, even arranging flights to bring in workers, who received the same generous welfare payments as locals.

But from 2011 onwards, the rate of immigration accelerated as those who arrived alone were allowed to send for their families once they were admitted. Many of these new arrivals are economic refugees.

Saeb Al-Saedy, a mechanical engineer originally from Baghdad, lives in Rinkeby and admits that there are many really, really bad guys in the area.

Yet even so, he still blames the Swedish government for oppressing immigrants. The unemployment rate among Swedes is 4 per cent, but among migrants its 22 per cent  partly because the job market is closely regulated.

When people dont have any work, they take welfare and become criminals, Saeb told me. Swedish people feel there are too many foreigners, and are scared of Islam. There are terrorists who are Muslims. But how many people were killed by Hitler?

Such comments infuriate Swedes, who believe newcomers should be grateful to live in a country  funded by progressive personal taxation of up to 50 per cent for all earning more than 63,000  with a generous welfare state offering free housing and healthcare for the unemployed.

But it is the rise in crime that causes most concern, particularly among women, some of whom told me they no longer go out at night in a country long regarded as being at the forefront of gender equality.

Anna, 27, an office worker, told me that because pepper spray is illegal in Sweden, she carries a can of criminal identifier  an indelible spray paint that stays on the attacker. She hopes if she has to use it, it will disable an assailant long enough for her to flee.

I live in the area nearest to Rinkeby, where there is a shopping mall, she told me. Gangs hang about in groups of 20 or more. They shout comments about me, and laughed when I used to go jogging.

I used to feel unsafe only after dark. Now, I feel scared even in daylight. I wont even wear headphones in case I cant hear someone creeping up to attack me.

Such is the price that Sweden appears to be paying for its liberal and well-meaning policies, with a growing number of areas in its major cities where even the police fear to tread, let alone law-abiding citizens.

This may be an issue fraught with social and political complexities. But at its heart is the question increasingly convulsing nations across Europe: just how can they assimilate ever-growing number of migrants without creating dangerous social divisions that only serve to inflame extremism?
Chris Grayling suggested that an imminent clampdown on air pollution would encourage a switch to cleaner cars

Motorists should be wary of buying diesel vehicles, the Transport Secretary warned last night.

Chris Grayling suggested that an imminent clampdown on air pollution would encourage a switch to cleaner cars.

Asked whether motorists should hesitate before buying a diesel, he replied: People should take a long, hard think about what they need  about where theyre going to be driving  and should make best endeavours to buy the least polluting vehicle they can.

I dont think diesel is going to disappear but someone who is buying a car to drive around a busy city may think about buying a low-emission vehicle rather than a diesel.

Four in ten cars on British roads are diesel  almost 12million in total  with older, more polluting models in the firing line.

The last Labour government encouraged motorists to buy fuel-efficient diesels to cut carbon emissions. But their engines create more nitrogen oxide than petrol equivalents, and that gas has now been recognised as a major danger to health.

In November the High Court ordered ministers to cut NOx levels in the shortest possible time. Mr Grayling said this ruling created a legal duty to act, adding: It is inevitable over the coming years were going to have to really migrate our car fleet, and our vehicle fleet more generally, to cleaner technology.

The Royal College of Physicians and of Paediatrics and Child Health warned last year that air pollution was contributing to about 40,000 deaths a year. A committee of MPs described the situation as a public health emergency.

The Government is expected to publish a strategy to tackle the issue in the coming weeks. It is likely to include low emission zones in cities. Drivers of older diesels would face charges. Tax rises are also being considered, as are incentives to switch to hybrid and electric vehicles.

Ministers have not ruled out a scrappage scheme, which would pay drivers to ditch older diesels. Any such measures are likely to be targeted tightly at commercial drivers and the poor.

The Royal College of Physicians and of Paediatrics and Child Health warned last year that air pollution was contributing to about 40,000 deaths a year (file photo)

Sadiq Khan has already announced plans to introduce a 10-a-day toxicity charge on older, polluting cars entering central London on weekdays from October.

The citys mayor has warned driving could even be banned altogether on certain days to help bring air pollution below legal limits.

Department for Transport sources last night stressed that Mr Grayling was not telling people to stop buying diesel cars, but urging them to consider whether a less polluting vehicle might suit their needs.

A source pointed out that ministers have already announced incentives for electric car purchases and are investing heavily in a nationwide charging network.

Mr Grayling said previous governments had encouraged diesel cars for understandable reasons, but added: We have now learned much more about the health impact of NOx emissions and its clearly not an issue we can now ignore.

But one motoring campaigner claimed Mr Grayling was being irresponsible.

Howard Cox, founder of FairFuelUK, said: Motorists are being penalised for driving diesel cars after being encouraged to buy them by previous governments. It is irresponsible of a minister to be telling people what cars they should be buying and devaluing the diesel market.

Mr Grayling said previous governments had encouraged diesel cars for understandable reasons (file photo)

Almost half of new cars sold last year were diesel and sales of older second-hand diesels, which emit higher levels of dangerous pollutants, are shooting up. Despite the pollution warnings, and the VW emissions scandal, sales of new diesels edged up by 0.6 per cent to 1.29million last year.

Charlie Elphicke, a Tory MP and chairman of the cross party FairfuelUK group, said: Diesel drivers are being unfairly demonised, particularly those with older cars.

Pollution is a serious problem. Yet incredible progress has been made in the past decade  nitrogen oxide emissions have halved, while particulates are well down.

Nowadays, the emission standards for new diesel cars are as tough as new petrol cars. So it would be a mistake to think the pollution problem can be solved simply by going from diesel to petrol. Recent estimates from the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory show diesel cars account for 11 per cent of nitrogen oxide emissions, less than non road mobile machinery such as bulldozers and diggers which account for 14 per cent. Trains and buses account for 16 per cent in total.

In an effort to meet emissions targets agreed at the Kyoto Summit, Labours Gordon Brown introduced a 3p cut in fuel duty for modern low sulphur diesel engines in his March 2001 budget.

Changes in road tax also initially favoured diesel cars. But as engines have generally become more fuel efficient they no longer enjoy the same tax advantages.
A mother of four teenage girls, Copelands new MP only joined the Tories last autumn after being inspired by Theresa Mays conference speech.

Trudy Harrison, whose husband is a welder at the Sellafield nuclear plant, came to prominence locally after saving her local primary school.

But it was not until she watched the Prime Minister addressing the Conservative party conference in October that she considered going into politics.

Trudy Harrison (middle) campaigning with her daughters, (left to right) Gabi, Savannah Francesca, and Rosie

Trudy Harrison shares a kiss with her husband Keith after winning the Copeland by-election

She said: I just thought, thats who I am, thats what I want and thats what my community needs. That was a really inspirational moment for me.

Mrs Harrison, 40, joined the Tories overnight and was catapulted onto the national stage when she was selected as the candidate for Copeland in January.

She had previously run a successful campaign to save Captain Shaws C of E Primary School in the village of Bootle, in the south-west corner of the Lake District, where she lives in a 215,000 four-bedroomed terraced house.

This victory was so central to her by-election campaign that Mrs May visited the school in the run-up to Thursdays vote.

She only joined the Tories last autumn after being inspired by Theresa Mays conference speech

Mrs Harrison, a former council community officer, grew up in the Cumbrian seaside town of Seascale. Her father Alan was an engineer.

She married her husband Keith, 53, in Gretna Green in Scotland 18 years ago, becoming his second wife. Mr Harrisons experience working in the nuclear industry proved helpful in the constituency, where the future of the Sellafield plant was a key issue for voters.

In 2002 the couple and their young family moved to Whitehaven, the heart of the Copeland constituency, before settling in their current home.

They live with their four daughters  Rosie, Francesca, Savannah and Gabi  who are aged between 13 and 18.

Mrs Harrison, who studied for a foundation degree in sustainable communities at the University of Salford, yesterday spoke with affection for the role her children play in her life.

She said: My daughters have become the best political activists, Im incredibly proud of them. Theyre my motivation, theyre the reason to wake up every morning. Writing on Facebook last month, her eldest daughter Gabi said: Massive congratulations Trudles, were so proud of you! Youll be incredible.

Prime Minister Theresa May made a surprise visit to Cumbria to celebrate the landmark Tory win

She added later: She continues to inspire us throughout this amazing journey. Were rooting for you Mum.

Mr and Mrs Harrison are involved with their local pub, called The Pub at Millstone.

A photo online shows the MP getting the venue ready one evening with a vacuum cleaner in one hand and a glass of prosecco in the other.

Her part-time roles as a governor for the local primary school and as a parish councillor influenced her decision to join the Conservative party.

Yesterday, Mrs Harrison said protecting maternity services would be one of her key priorities as an MP.
Christine Dolce, a former Myspace phenomenon known as ForBiddeN, has died from liver failure aged 35.

She had been hospitalized since December for alcohol-related issues and died on February 6 from liver failure surrounded by family and friends, TMZ reports.

Her funeral was last week.

Christine Dolce, a former Myspace phenomenon known as ForBiddeN, has died from liver failure at 35. Here she arrives at Spike TV's 2nd Annual 'Guys Choice' Awards in May 2008

The photogenic star made a name for herself with racy selfies in the early days of the once-popular social media site.

Dolce was christened the Queen of Myspace in a March 2006 Vanity Fair feature.

At the time of the article, Dolce had amassed nearly 800,000 Myspace 'friends', including the band Nine Inch Nails and Inkmaster's Dave Navarro.

From the site, she spun off a clothing line, Destroyed Denim, attracted a manager and a legion of fans, who referred to themselves as Camp ForBiddeN.

Camp ForBiddeN had a rival gang in the circle of TV personality Tila Tequila.

Dolce had been hospitalized since December for alcohol-related issues and died on February 6 from liver failure surrounded by family and friends, TMZ reports

'We're turning her into a brand,' Keith Ruby, Dolce's then-manager told Vanity Fair.

'I'm her Karl Rove. It's like beauty meets the brains. But she has the brains, too.'

At the peak of her fame, Dolce shot a celebrity pictorial for Playboy and appeared in the October 2006 issue.

In a 2008 interview with AskMen, Dolce described her Playboy experience as 'a great opportunity'.

'I've always looked up to Playboy... The scene that I did was a little bit more edgier and darker-themed... kind of like the movie Sleepy Hollow, you know? With the darker sky and the full moon and the gargoyle statues...

'They were really open to go with my idea for the shoot and I was really happy with it and happy with the way it came out and yeah, it was definitely a great opportunity.'

The photogenic star made a name for herself with racy selfies in the early days of Myspace

Dolce was christened the Queen of Myspace in a March 2006 Vanity Fair feature

At the time the piece was written Dolce had amassed nearly 800,000 Myspace 'friends'

A year later she also appeared in the video game, Def Jam: Icon.

Since then, Dolce lived in Huntington Beach, California, working as a 'model, make-up artist, actress and fashion designer', according to her profile on the website Model Mayhem.

She had been inactive on her Twitter page since August 2016.

Around that time, she was mourning the loss of her dog, Sebastian.
Tens of thousands of children are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution at school, researchers have found.

Some 802 of the 3,261 educational institutions in London  including colleges and nurseries  are in areas with illegally high levels of nitrogen dioxide, according to a study commissioned by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Conducted by Kings College London and environmental data analysts Aether, the study showed that 33 per cent of nurseries, 20 per cent of primaries, 18 per cent of secondary schools and 43 per cent of further education colleges are in areas where nitrogen dioxide levels are high enough to threaten childrens health.

Tens of thousands of children are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution at school, researchers have found (file photo)

Experts said air pollution was not confined to the capital  it regularly breaches levels considered to be dangerous for human health in 16 cities.

The problem  much of it caused by fume from diesel engines  was most dramatically illustrated in April 2014, when smog levels in London became so bad that some schools would not let their pupils play outside.

Dr Francis Gilchrist, consultant respiratory paediatrician at Royal Stoke University hospital, said children were particularly sensitive to air pollution.

If something is not done about air pollution these issues are going to get worse and worse, he told the Guardian. There is definitely concern that air pollution is affecting childrens lungs  in particular it exacerbates respiratory illness, like asthma, and it predisposes children who are healthy to having repeated chest infections.

Some 802 of the 3,261 educational institutions in London  including colleges and nurseries  are in areas with illegally high levels of nitrogen dioxide (file photo)

If you damage your lungs in childhood you are likely to see these effects right through into adulthood, so there is a lifelong impact.

Elizabeth Hillyard, who is the headmistress of Tachbrook nursery school in Pimlico, central London, said: Air pollution has bad effects on health and it needs to be addressed.

Mr Khan, who last week announced a 10 toxicity charge for cars more than a decade old to enter central London, said: It is an outrage that more than 800 schools, nurseries and other educational institutions are in areas breaching legal air pollution limits.
Danny Dyer's family and friends 'fear he could become sex addict' as he takes a break from Eastenders, according to reports. Dyer at a film premiere in 2012

Danny Dyer's family and friends 'fear he could become sex addict' as he takes a break from Eastenders, according to reports.

Dyer is currently on an extended break in South Africa to recover from his party lifestyle and the pressure of starring in the soap, in which he plays pub landlord Mick Carter.

An Eastenders source told The Sun: 'A number of people close to Danny, including members of his family, close friends and people here, realised he was on the wrong track sexually.

'Obviously he has battled issues with drink and drugs  but they don't want him to be heading down path towards sex addiction.

'There has been incident after incident involving other women and it's impacting his life and could cause damage to his career in the future if he doesn't sort it out.'

It comes after the Eastenders star was embroiled in another cheating scandal after allegedly sending pictures of his penis to a fan.

The 39-year-old sent a series of lewd messages to the fan - who has been left devastated after being 'led on' by the star - just weeks before he married his the mother of his three children, Joanne Mas, in September 2016.

According to the young mother, who he met at an Essex book signing event the previous year, he told her 'bend over and show me that bottle' - cockney rhyming slang for her backside.

It comes after the Eastenders star was embroiled in another cheating scandal after allegedly sending pictures of his penis to a fan

He also delves into his east London dialect to describe her 'lills', or breasts.

Dyer has not commented on his break from the show, remaining silent on social media, but it has also been alleged that Danny became embroiled in a backstage feud with co-star Steve McFadden prior to his sudden departure from the soap.

Last month, he was seen being led out by security following the National Television Awards in London.

And now he has been plunged into further turmoil by these latest revelations, which resulted in him sending a picture of his privates poking out of his boxer shorts on June 27, just nine weeks before his wedding to Ms Mas, 40.

Dyer also told her 'You look proper sexy' and 'You're a Beaut'when she sent him pictures of herself.

A friend of the starstruck fan told The Sun: 'She's heartbroken. She genuinely thought something might happen with him.

It is far from the only time the actor has been led astray by another woman during his 20-year relationship, but it is the first incident to emerge since he tied the knot.

It June 2014, it was reported he had 'spent the night with a 21-year-old student after meeting her in a club and was allegedly pictured naked on her mobile phone.

Last month, Dyer was seen being led out by security following the National Television Awards in London

Dyer pictured with his wife Joanne Mas - who he has been accused of cheating on again - at a Dynamo show in March 2016

Earlier that year, Cara Chamberlain, 29, came forward after a night out she reportedly spend with the actor in 2010, which involved partying in a nightclub, and then going back to his hotel room.

But he vowed to change and in 2015 said: 'I don't want to go there again. I have cheated in the past and I suffered the consequences quite badly.

'Jo's always been the girl for me. Those things happened a long time ago and what we've got together is much more important than that.'

MailOnline has contacted Dyer's representatives for comment.
By REUTERS and GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Ohio Governor John Kasich met with former rival President Donald Trump at the White House  comparing his situation to being on a plane with a pilot who you hope won't crash.

'The man is the president of the United States. It's sort of like being on an airplane. You want to root for the pilot. If you're on the airplane with the pilot, you don't want the pilot to screw up,' Kasich said after he met with Trump Friday.

Kasich worked to repair his strained ties with Republican President Donald Trump on Friday, meeting with Trump for about an hour.

He didn't endorse Trump in his fierce battle against Democrat Hillary Clinton, and notably didn't participate in the Republican National Convention even though it was in his home state of Ohio.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich yells to reporters as he arrives at the White House to meet President Trump. He compared his role to being on a plane with a pilot he doesn't want to 'screw up'

Kasich was the last rival to oppose Trump in the Republican presidential nomination fight and famously refused to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, in his home state, last summer when Trump officially became the party's nominee.

At the White House, Trump brought Kasich into the Oval Office for a half-hour meeting. They discussed Kasich's ideas for overhauling President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, a pressing priority for Trump and the U.S. Congress.

Asked if he had buried the hatchet with Trump, Kasich told reporters after the meeting that he wanted Trump to succeed and would agree with him on some occasions and would speak out when he does not.

DON'T FORGET THE LANDING GEAR! Ohio Gov. John Kasich yells to reporters as he arrives at the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, for a meeting with President Donald Trump

THANKS FOR THE MEDICAID: Former Repblican primary rival Ohio Gov. John Kasich arrives at the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, for a meeting with President Donald Trump

Kasich said he stressed with Trump the importance of his administration speaking with one voice, saying he had attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany recently and heard concerns about Trump's policies despite reassurances given by Vice President Mike Pence.

Kasich said he would meet with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and White House chief of staff Reince Preibus to discuss revisions to Obamacare.

'Don't know where that will all go,' Kasich told reporters after the hour-long meeting. 'I will tell you, the president . . . listened very carefully to what I had to say about it and had a very positive response and he was very open to it and asked a number of questions,' the Dayton Daily News reported.
Two men who left a flannel shirt tied to a woman's windshield wiper told police that it was a harmless prank after her fears of a possible kidnapping attempt went viral.

Ashley Hardacre was leaving work at the Genesee Valley Mall in Flint, Michigan, on February 15 when she spotted the shirt tangled around her wiper after she got into her car.

The 19-year-old said she noticed two cars hovering near her vehicle, almost as if they were waiting, which made her suspicious.

She then took to Facebook to warn others about the possible tactic of human traffickers trying to distract and kidnap women.

Two men who left a flannel shirt tied to Ashley Hardacre's (left in cap and gown and right) windshield wiper told police that it was a harmless prank after her fears of a possible kidnapping attempt went viral

Hardacre was leaving work at the Genesee Valley Mall in Flint, Michigan, on February 15 when she spotted the shirt (pictured) tangled around her wiper after she got into her car. The 19-year-old took to Facebook to warn others about the possible kidnapping tactic

But after police reviewed surveillance tape from the mall and got in touch with the two males who were seen leaving the shirt on Hardacre's car, they determined there was no criminal intent, according to FOX 26.

Police said the men told them it was meant as a harmless prank and they had no idea that leaving items on women's windshields could be a human trafficking ploy.

Authorities told the station they believe the men's story and are not naming them since no crime was committed.

The men had been gone from the parking lot for more than an hour before Hardacre left work, police added.

Hardacre warned others in her Facebook post immediately following the incident.

She wrote: 'I got to my car and locked the doors behind me immediately as I always do and noticed that there was a blue flannel shirt on my windshield.

'Instead of trying to remove it, I drove away and rolled down her window at a safe location to pull the shirt off. At first I thought maybe someone had just thrown it on my car for some odd reason.'

'I used my windshield wipers to try to get them off but the shirt was completely wrapped around my wiper blade. I had seen posts lately about people finding things under their windshield wipers in the Burton/Flint area as an attempt to get girls out of their cars and distracted.'

But after police reviewed surveillance tape from the mall and got in touch with the two males who were seen leaving the shirt on Hardacre's car, they determined there was no criminal intent. Hardacre had warned others in her Facebook post immediately following the incident

She took to Facebook because she said she saw posts about possible kidnap attempts in the area. She said she knew to pull over to a safe area to roll down her window to remove the shirt

Because she saw the posts and heeded her parents' warnings, she knew to pull over to a safe area to roll down her window to remove the shirt.

Local police saw Hardacre's post, which has now accumulated more than 100,000 shares. Her Facebook post is no longer public.

Flint Township Police Detective Sergeant Brad Wangler told CBS News that 'nothing like this has ever happened before'.

'There have been no other incidences like this. Its kind of unknown as to what or why or who [did this].'

Hardacre told ABC12: 'It is something that you never expect that would ever happen to you or someone would ever try to harm you in any way, but I was just so shocked.'

'And now, I'm kind of passed the scared, I'm more of - I want other people to know that it is, you know, something that can happen to them.'

Michigan ranks second in the country for human trafficking because of its proximity to Canada and waterways according to the Times Herald.




When Europeans came to the Americas over 500 years ago, they unknowingly brought over diseases including measles and smallpox.

But a new study suggests that these diseases may not be the only harmful ones the Europeans brought with them.

Researchers have discovered that Europeans also brought over harmful stomach bacteria which contributes to ulcers and stomach cancer - much of which is still present in Latin America today.

Scroll down for video

Foreign strains of the harmful stomach bacterium (artist's impression) aggressively replaced their American counterparts upon their arrival on the continent in the fifteenth century

BACTERIA FROM EUROPE Scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan analysed 401 H. pylori genome sequences from strains collected in North, Central and South America. Studies of global diversity of H. pylori have shown that Europeans, Africans and Native Americans carry genetically distinct populations of bacteria. They found that European and African strains mixed together across the Americas, with little input from local strains. This suggests that the bacterial populations evolved quickly and spread rapidly to people of different ethnicities. Advertisement

In 1492, Christopher Columbus began the colonisation of New World by European migrants and Africans brought as slaves, which had catastrophic consequences for the indigenous population.

The new migrants brought unfamiliar weapons and pathogens, including a new population of the stomach-colonising bacterium Helicobacter pylori.

H. pylori bacteria can persist for decades in the stomach and is spread by people in close proximity, as well as from parent to child.

Scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan analysed 401 H. pylori genome sequences from strains collected in North, Central and South America.

Previous studies of H. pylori have shown that Europeans, Africans and Native Americans carry genetically distinct populations of bacteria.

The researchers found that European and African strains mixed together across the Americas, with little input from local strains.

This suggests that the bacterial populations evolved quickly and spread rapidly to people of different ethnicities.

The experts also revealed that the ability of a strain to adapt to a different ethnic group relies on a handful of human immune system genes.

The harmful stomach bacteria contributes to ulcers (artist's impression) and stomach cancer - much of which is still present in Latin America today

Distinct new bacterial sub populations have formed in Colombia from a European source and in Nicaragua and the US from African sources.

Co-author Daniel Falush said: 'Helicobacter pylori has often been described as a pathogen which is mostly passed from parent to child.

'Our study shows that in the Americas its evolution has been much more dynamic. Native American strains have been largely outcompeted.

The findings suggest that distinct new sub-populations of Helicobacter pylori have evolved in North, Central and South America

'Bacteria of African origin seem to have done particularly well, hybridising with strains of European origin and forming distinct new sub-populations, adapted to local conditions, in North, Central and South America.'

The researchers hope that their findings could help prevent the spread of the bacteria, which still contributes to ulcers and stomach cancer today.
When settlers arrived in the Atacama Desert 7,000 years ago, they were met with an impossible dilemma: drink poisoned water or die of dehydration.

They had arrived at the driest non-polar desert on Earth and the only available water was laced with high levels of arsenic.

Despite this, the settlers flourished and hundreds of Atacama people are still living in the harsh desert conditions today.

Researchers from the University of Chile discovered that people living in the Atacama Desert, Chile, have evolved the ability to drink poison. Stock photo

HOW CAN THEY DRINK POISON? Researchers looked at the genes of 150 people living in the Atacama desert in Chile and found that the desert dwellers possessed a rare variant of a gene key to digestion. The gene codes for an enzyme called AS3MT that breaks down arsenic into two less toxic compounds. Arsenic is a toxic chemical element that can cause cancer, heart disease and problems with embryonic development. The researchers believe the harsh consequences of arsenic poisoning led to a period of rapid natural selection among the desert dwellers. They said that while people who had the favourable genetic variant of AS3MT could survive and reproduce, those without the gene caught severe diseases and died without having children. Over time, this would increase the number of people with the ability to digest arsenic in the population. Advertisement

Now, scientists have discovered that the secret to their survival lies in their unique ability to drink and digest arsenic.

Researchers looked at the genes of 150 people living in the Atacama desert in Chile and pinpointed a rare variant of a gene key to digestion.

The gene codes for an enzyme called AS3MT, or arsenite methyltransferase, that breaks down arsenic into two less toxic compounds.

They found that people living in the Quebrada Camarones region of the Atacama desert, where levels of arsenic are more than 100 times over the World Health Organisation's safe limits, are most likely to possess the rare genetic mutation.

'Our data suggest that a high arsenic metabolisation capacity has been selected as an adaptive mechanism in these populations in order to survive in an arsenic-laden environment,' said Mario Apata, from the University of Chile, in a research paper.

The researchers found that 68 per cent of people living in the Quebrada Camarones region of Chile possessed the rare genetic variant responsible for digesting the poison.

Arsenic is a toxic chemical element that exists naturally as a solid mineral in the ground.

People living in Quebrada Camarones region of the Atacama Desert, pictured, possess a unique genetic variant of the enzyme AS3MT

The compound often contaminates groundwater supplies which has led to widespread arsenic poisoning across the world.

In the short term, arsenic causes vomiting, severe abdominal pain and diarrhoea and in the longer term, arsenic can cause the thickening of skin, heart disease, cancer and problems with embryo development.

The researchers believe the harsh consequences of arsenic poisoning led to a period of rapid natural selection among the desert dwellers.

They said that while people who had the favourable genetic variant of AS3MT could survive and reproduce, those without the gene caught severe diseases and died without having children.

The Licancabur volcano in the Atacama Desert, which is the the driest non-polar desert on Earth

Over time, this would increase the number of people with the ability to digest arsenic in the population.

The variant that allows people to drink poisoned water is known as a single nucleotide polymorphism, which means that only a single DNA letter had to be changed to give rise to the unique ability.

Previous studies have shown that people living with levels of high arsenic in Vietnam and Argentina also possess a unique variant of the AS3MT gene.

The study was published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
The ancient origins of a technique used by several famous Romantic-era painters have been found among a bumper haul of ancient engravings.

A treasure trove of 16 engraved limestone blocks crafted 38,000 years ago confirms the ancient origins of 'pointillist techniques'.

These techniques were later adopted by 19th and 20th-century artists such as Georges Seurat, Vincent Van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, and Roy Lichtenstein.

Scroll down for video

A treasure trove of 16 engraved limestone blocks created 38,000 years ago confirms the ancient origins of 'pointillist techniques'. This limestone slab reveals one of the pointillist-style paintings, which uses small dots to create a larger image, uncovered by the team

WHAT IS POINTILLISM? Pointillism is a painting technique in which small dots are used to create the illusion of a larger image. It was thought to be developed in the 1880s. However, archaeologists have now found evidence of this technique thousands of years earlier. An archaeological dig in France's Vezere Valley found engravings that used the technique dating back more than 35,000 years. Georges-Pierre Seurat, who painted this piece titled 'Le Pont de Courbevoie' in 1886, used the Pointillist technique Advertisement

An international team of archaeologists led by New York University stumbled upon the haul of engravings while excavating a site in France's Vezere Valley.

Major discoveries by the group - which include carved images of mammoths and horses - confirm that a form of pointillism was used by the Aurignacian, the earliest modern human culture in Europe.

Pointillism is a painting technique in which small dots are used to create the illusion of a larger image.

It was popularised in the 1880s by a host of famous romanticist artists.

But the New York team's research suggests that the technique was invented 35,000 years before the likes of Vincent Van Gogh.

'We're quite familiar with the techniques of these modern artists,' New York University anthropologist Professor Randall White, who led the excavation, said.

'But now we can confirm this form of image-making was already being practiced by Europe's earliest human culture, the Aurignacian.'

The team's findings add weight to previous isolated discoveries, such as a rhinoceros, from the Grotte Chauvet in France, formed by the application of dozens of dots first painted on the palm of the hand and then transferred to the cave wall.

Earlier this year, Professor White's team reported the uncovering of a 38,000-year-old pointillist image of an 'aurochs' or wild cow.

The finding marked some of the earliest known graphic imagery found in Western Eurasia and offered insights into the nature of modern humans during this period.

This image shows a wild cow engraved into a limestone block carved 38,000 years ago revealing an early example of Van Gogh's 'pointillist' technique (A) and a computer generated scan of the same artwork (B)

WHO WERE THE AURIGNACIANS? This image shows the Venus of Hohle Fels, one of mankind's earliest examples of art, carved more than 35,000 years ago The Aurignacian is Europe's earliest modern human culture. It was an archaeological culture of the Upper Paleolithic period, a prehistoric era distinguish by the making of the first stone tools. Anatomically, modern humans appeared around 100,000 years ago. But there is little evidence of culture until the Aurignacians around 35-40,000 years ago. This is because they were among the first humans to begin making and using tools to carve art and weapons. The oldest undisputed example of human art, the Venus of Hohle Fels, comes from the Aurignacian period. Advertisement

Now they have found another pointillist image, this time of a woolly mammoth, in a rock shelter.

The shelter is of the same period known as Abri Cellier located near the previous find-site of Abri Blanchard.

Abri Cellier has long been on archeologists' short-list of major art-bearing sites for the European Aurignacian.

Newly discovered limestone slab with 'pointillist' mammoth in profile view formed by dozens of individual punctuations and re-shaping of the natural edge of the block to conform to the animals head and back line

This Aurignacian engraving appears to represent an animal, possibly a horse. The Aurignacian was an archaeological culture of the Upper Paleolithic period, a prehistoric era distinguish by the making of the first stone tools

Excavations in 1927 yielded 15 engraved and pierced limestone blocks that have served as a key point of reference for the study of Aurignacian art in the region.

In 2014, White and his colleagues returned to Cellier, seeking intact deposits that would allow a better understanding of the archaeological sequence at the site and its relationship to other Aurignacian sites.

They had their fingers crossed that the new excavation might yield new engraved images in context.

But nothing prepared them for the discovery of the 16 stone blocks detailed in the Quaternary International article.

One of these, broken in half prehistorically, was found in place with a radiocarbon date of 38,000 years ago.

Romantic painters popularised the pointillist technique in the 1880s, including Georges Seurat. 'A Sunday on La Grande Jatte', painted by Seurat in 1884 and pictured here, is an early example of the dotting technique

Archaeologists from the University of New York stumbled upon the haul of engravings while excavating a site in France's Vezere Valley

Remarkably, the remaining 15 blocks, including the pointillist mammoth, one of three mammoth figures recognised during the new work at Cellier, had been left on-site by the 1927 excavators.

As many of the engraved traces are rudimentary and thus difficult to interpret, the original excavators set them aside just in case they might have something inscribed on them.

The new article presents evidence that the 38,000 year date for the newly excavated engraving also applies to the new trove and to the other blocks found in 1927 and now housed in the French National Prehistory Museum.

Another example of one of the newly discovered limestone slabs uncovered by the team. The archaeologists are unsure as to what the carving might represent

An image of the archaeological team as they excavate the site where the limestone slabs were found. The team was led by experts at New York University

Over the past decade, with these and other discoveries, White and his team have increased our known sample of the earliest graphic arts in southwestern France by 40 per cent.

The team includes researchers from the University of Arizona, the University of Toronto, the University of Toulouse, Paris' Museum of Natural History, and the University of Oxford.

They hope to uncover more artwork from Europe's Aurignacian culture in future.

The Aurignacian culture is Europe's earliest human culture.

Vincent Van Gogh experimented with the pointillist technique in several paintings. His piece tarry Night Over the Rhone was painted in 1888 and used lots of small brush strokes to create an image of the night sky over the Rhone River in Switzerland

It was an archaeological culture of the Upper Paleolithic period, a prehistoric era distinguish by the making of the first stone tools.

Anatomically, modern humans appeared around 100,000 years ago.

But there is little evidence of human life until the Aurignacian culture around 35-40,000 years ago.

This is because they were among the first humans to begin making and using tools to carve art.

The oldest undisputed example of human art, the Venus of Hohle Fels, comes from this culture.
The eggs of ancient hard-shelled creatures called trilobites that existed more than 520 million years ago have been discovered by researchers in upstate New York.

They are one of the earliest known groups of arthropods, dying out at the end of the Permian about 250 million years ago - and the new find is the first time that a trilobites eggs or genitalia have been unambiguously preserved.

The eggs were found in the back of the trilobites' heads - the same place where female horseshoe crabs release unfertilized eggs from an ovarian network in their heads.

Scroll down for video

Fossilized trilobite specimens (Triarthrus eatoni) from the Lorraine Group, upstate New York. Photos E, F and G show the preserved eggs that are spherical in shape and measure nearly 200 micrometers in size. Photos A and B show the trilobites body

The now extinct trilobites and are one of the earliest known groups of arthropods, dying out at the end of the Permian, about 250 million years ago.

There are over 20,000 described species of trilobites - making trilobites the most diverse class of extinct organisms.

The smallest known trilobite species is under a millimeter long, while the largest include species from 30 to over 70 cm in length (about foot to over two feet long).

It's thought that the 'Great Dying', the largest extinction event that took place 252 million years ago, wiped out the trilobites.

The 'Great Dying' was one of the Earth's five greatest mass extinction events that affected the Earths ecology most profoundly.

Trilobites likely released their eggs and sperm through a genital pore - probably located near the back of the head. Photos K and L show the back of the trilobites head

As much as 97% of species that leave a fossil record disappeared forever.

The eggs inside the fossils of the New York trilobites are spherical in shape and measure nearly 200 micrometers in size.

Trilobites likely released their eggs and sperm through a genital pore - probably located near the back of the head.

The trilobite fossils that were found were of a species called Triarthrus eatoni.

There are over 20,000 described species of trilobites - making trilobites the most diverse class of extinct organisms. The smallest known trilobite species is under a millimeter long, while the largest include species from 30 to over 70 cm in length (about foot to over two feet long)

They belonged to the Lorraine group - a geologic group in the northeastern US and Canada.

Like other exceptionally preserved trilobite fossils, the New York trilobites' skeletons were replaced with pyrite.

Pyrite is a hard iron containing mineral that, under the right geological conditions, covers or replaces creatures and plants - fossilizing them.

Pyrite preferentially preserves the external features of fossils, so the researchers say there is probably a bias in the fossil record toward the preservation of arthropods that brood eggs externally.
Most women would insist that while men may sweat on a warm day, they merely glow.

However that has been debunked by scientists who found men and women perspire the same amount.

While female joggers and spinning enthusiasts may be unhappy to hear it, they get roughly just as sweaty as men.

While female joggers and spinning enthusiasts may be unhappy to hear it, they get roughly just as sweaty as men

It had been suggested that women stay drier, but any difference between women and their partners is actually more to do with their body size.

A study by the University of Wollongong in Australia examined skin blood flow and sweating responses in 36 men and 24 women exercising at 28C and 36% per cent humidity.

Researchers found that smaller males and females with more surface area lose heat more often through increasing their circulation rather than losing sweat.

Rod Stewarts wife Penny Lancaster this week shared her self-consciousness about perspiring on the programme Loose Women. She has hyperhidrosis, a common condition which causes excess sweating.

The model said she tries to avoid shaking hands when she is first introduced to someone new and feared her husbands reaction when he found out.

A study by the University of Wollongong in Australia examined skin blood flow and sweating responses in 36 men and 24 women exercising at 28C and 36% per cent humidity.

She said: 'You can see a little shining hand going on. A lot of the time they re bone dry and fine but its something to do with the nervous system.

The body cools itself down in two main ways, by sweating or increasing circulation to the skin's surface.

Men are more likely than women to sweat across their whole body, but the difference in how much they sweat is no more than five per cent.

The Australian researchers asked study participants to do light and moderate exercise in shorts, a vest for women, and trainers before measuring their perspiration levels.

Lead author Sean Notley said: 'Gender has long been thought to influence sweating and skin blood flow during heat stress. We found that these heat loss responses are, in fact, gender independent during exercise in conditions where the body can successfully regulate its temperature.'

The research is published in the journal Experimental Physiology.
The Great Barrier Reef could be struck by its worst-ever blast of coral bleaching as early as this year, experts have warned.

Sea temperatures around the reef near Queensland, Australia, have reached a year-long high, putting coral at risk of extreme heat stress, according to a UN report.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority warned that the reef is more at risk now than it was just before its previous worst-ever bleaching last year, when a quarter of all coral was killed off.

It said a 'lack of planning' for climate change was to blame.

Scroll down for video

 Slide me  Coral bleaching has seen healthy corals (left) on the Reef slowly turn a white, fluorescent colour (right)

WHY DOES CORAL BLEACHING HAPPEN? Corals have a symbiotic relationship with a tiny marine algae called 'zooxanthellae' that live inside and nourish them. When sea surface temperatures rise, corals expel the colourful algae. The loss of the algae causes them to bleach and turn white. While mildly bleached corals can recover if the temperature drops and the algae return, severely bleached corals die. Advertisement

The report, which was presented to the UN on Friday, said that 'unprecedented severe bleaching and mortality of corals in 2016 in the Great Barrier Reef is a game changer'.

The vast coral reef is under pressure from agricultural run-off, the crown-of-thorns starfish, development and climate change.

Last year swathes of coral succumbed to devastating bleaching, due to warming sea temperatures, and the reef's caretakers have warned it faces a fresh onslaught in the coming months.

Canberra updated the UN's World Heritage committee on its 'Reef 2050' rescue plan in December, insisting the site was 'not dying' and laying out a strategy for incremental improvements to the site.

But an independent report commissioned by the committee concluded that the government had little chance of meeting its own targets in the coming years, adding that the 'unprecedented' bleaching and coral die-off in 2016 was 'a game changer'.

'Given the severity of the damage and the slow trajectory of recovery, the overarching vision of the 2050 Plan... is no longer attainable for at least the next two decades,' the report said.

Coral bleaching occurs when extreme heat stress causes coral to expel the symbiotic algae that is crucial to its survival

The Great Barrier Reef could be struck by its worst-ever blast of coral bleaching as early as this year, according to The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

shallow-water corals in the north of the 1,400-mile (2,300-kilometre) long reef, although central and southern areas escaped with less damage.

The government has pledged more than 1.2 billion (US$1.5 billion) to protect the reef over the next decade, but researchers noted a lack of available funding, with many of the plan's actions under-resourced.

The latest assessment comes after the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority warned the Queensland State government of an 'elevated and imminent risk' of mass-bleaching this year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

With heavy use of coal-fired power and a relatively small population of 24 million, Australia is considered one of the world's worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters.

Researchers highlighted that the government's rescue plan does not do enough to address climate change, noting that 'new coal mines pose a serious threat' to the reef's heritage area.

Last year's bleaching killed two-thirds of shallow-water corals in the north of the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) long reef

Australian environment minister Josh Frydenberg said the bleaching was strongly linked to climate change

While the plan has a strong focus on improving water quality, environmental groups too have been critical of the government for inactivity on global warming.

'These independent experts have given UNESCO a far more accurate assessment of progress than the rose-coloured-glasses version released by the Australian and Queensland Governments late last year,' said World Wildlife Fund Australia head of oceans Richard Leck.

But Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg told the ABC the government had been 'very successful to date' in implementing the reef's 2050 plan.

'Climate change is the number one threat to the reef together with water quality issues,' he said, citing the government's ratification of the Paris agreement, the world's first universal climate pact, as part of the 'broader' efforts to reduce stress on the reef.
Internet security firm Cloudflare has suffered a bug that saw hundreds of thousands of webpages leaking personal data such as passwords and personal messages.

The leak leaves millions at risk of being hacked or having their private conversations, including chats on dating websites, leaked across the web.

There is no sign yet that the prolonged leak, which lasted for months, was exploited by hackers, Cloudflare said.

Scroll down for video

Internet security firm Cloudflare Inc has suffered a bug that saw hundreds of thousands of webpages leaking personal data such as passwords and personal messages. There is no sign yet that the prolonged leak was exploited by hackers (stock image)

WHAT IS CLOUDFLARE? Cloudflare in a US content delivery and internet security company. It helps 6million websites securely push their content around the internet including Uber, Ok Cupid and Fitbit. The company spreads these sites for better security against Distributed Denial of Service attacks that could knock them offline. Cloudflare is largely considered a secure company to host big websites and store private data with. Advertisement

The bug, known as Cloudbleed, is said to be a fundamental software issue in Cloudflare's coding, which has now been fixed.

The California company helps 6 million websites push their content around the internet, including Uber, Ok Cupid and Fitbit.

A list of all of the websites affected by the leak has been published online.

In a blog post, Cloudflare said that the bug leaked website password, cookies and authentification tokens, posted in plain text online.

Cloudflare is a content delivery network that spreads the millions of sites it hosts across the Internet.

It does this to put the sites closer to customers while at the same time reducing their exposure to the so-called Distributed Denial of Service attacks that could knock them offline.

The data leak was attributable to a bug in the firm's software that had been sending chunks of unrelated data to users' browsers when they visited a webpage hosted by Cloudflare, according to Google researchers.

Cloudflare Chief Technology Officer John Graham-Cumming said the problem had been fixed quickly and most of the exposed data removed from the caches of search engines like Alphabet's Google.

'We've seen absolutely no evidence that this has been exploited,' he told Reuters by phone.

'It's very unlikely that someone has got this information.'

The leakage may have been active from September, but the period most affected was from February 13 until it was discovered on February 18.

At its height earlier this month, Graham-Cumming said, about 120,000 webpages were leaking information every day.

The bug is said to be a fundamental software issue in Cloudflare's coding, which has now been fixed. The company helps six million websites push their content around the internet, including Uber, Ok Cupid and Fitbit (stock image)

Some of this data included 'private messages from major dating sites, full messages from a well-known chat service, online password manager data, frames from adult video sites, hotel bookings' as well as cookies, passwords and software keys, Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy, who discovered the bug, wrote in a forum.

Mr Ormandy also wrote on Twitter that data from ride-sharing service Uber and cloud password company 1Password had been leaking.

An Uber spokesperson told MailOnline: 'No Uber passwords were exposed and the handful of session tokens affected have since been changed.'

AgileBits, the maker of 1Password, denied in a blog post on Thursday that any personal data had been compromised.

Mr Graham-Cumming said it was difficult to say which of Cloudflare's six million websites had been affected.

He said that Google and Cloudflare had been working together to remove any sensitive data from the store of webpages that search engines like Google collect when they index the web.

He said that process was not yet complete, which is why some researchers were still finding data if they knew where to look.

Some security researchers have said the problem is more serious than Cloudflare has described.

Jonathan Sublett of internet security company Shield Maiden said in a blog post that anyone who accessed sites that used Cloudflare 'should consider their data public and work towards securing their accounts'.

Graham-Cumming said it was difficult to say which of their customers were affected.

'There will be a debate about how serious this is,' he said.

'We do not know of anybody who has had a security problem as a result of this.'
Easy listening and upbeat music may have a hidden dark side, new research has suggested.

Scientists have found that listening to happy music can increase people's willingness to hurt other people and bend what they deem morally acceptable.

They say the findings reveal just how powerful music can be when it comes to influencing our behaviour.

Scroll down for video

Easy listening and upbeat music such as by Taylor Swift (pictured) may have a hidden dark side, new research has suggested. Scientists have found that listening to happy music can increase people's willingness to hurt other people

WHAT DID THEY DO? In one of the tasks, scientists asked volunteers to listen to music and then asked them to tell a student they could not complete their degree. When James Brown's hit 'I Got You (I Feel Good)' was playing in the background 82 per cent agreed to do it. The majority refused when no music was playing. In another task scientists asked volunteers to forge documents. Those who listened to Mozart in the background were more accepting of cheating in this way. Advertisement

In a series of tests, volunteers were asked to do the researchers a favour by telling a student they could not take part in work they needed to do in order to complete their course.

When James Brown's hit 'I Got You (I Feel Good)' or Mozart's 'A Little Night Music' were playing the background, the volunteers were more likely to agree.

It contrasts with the idea that aggressive music like metal and rap may encourage violence among its fans, instead suggesting upbeat music is also a risk.

Dr Naomi Ziv, a psychologist at the College of Management Academic Studies in Rishon LeZion, Israel, who led the study, said upbeat music seems to make people more accepting of what they are told or being asked to do, even if it goes against their morals.

She warns the effect could be exploited by politicians or radical groups hoping to spread messages of hate or encourage people to harm others.

She said: 'In politics it is used all the time to create enthusiasm and agreement.

'There are many social contexts when people are together, singing together or hearing music together it creates a feeling of group cohesion and agreement.

'The message that is put forward is accepted more easily.

'In laboratory situations, we are limited by ethics and the context, so we don't know how far this could go. In real life I think it can go to extremes.'

Volunteers were asked to do the researchers a favour by telling a student they could not take part in work they needed to do in order to complete their course. When James Brown's hit 'I Got You (I Feel Good)' were playing the background, the volunteers were more likely to agree

MUSIC IS AN ADDICTIVE PLEASURE Researchers have found that the part of our brains that enjoys music is intrinsically linked to the part that feels pleasure from sex, recreational drugs, and food. Researchers from McGill University in Montreal found a connection between pleasure-boosting opioids in the brain and enjoyment in music. Those who have a deep passion for music could be more likely to get a deeper pleasure from sex, recreational drugs or food. 'This is the first demonstration that the brain's own opioids are directly involved in musical pleasure,' says cognitive psychologist Dr Daniel Levitin, senior author of the paper. Advertisement

In a series of studies published in the journal Psychology of Music, scientists asked volunteers to listen to fictional radio adverts that offered them forged documents to get a higher pension.

Those who listened to the advert with Mozart playing in the background were more accepting of cheating in this way.

In another test, volunteers were asked to perform a grammar test and were then asked if they could do the scientists a favour.

They were either asked to tell a student that they could not take part in a key part of their course or could not have material from a series of lectures they missed due to illness.

In both cases they were told the student needed these to complete their course and would not graduate without them.

The researchers asked the participants to break the news to the student simply because they 'didn't feel like' doing it themselves.

While most people would balk at doing someone else's dirty work, surprisingly when the James Brown hit was playing in the background, 82 per cent agreed to do it.

In contrast, the majority of those asked to do the favour when no music was playing refused.

'What is most concerning is that this was just background music - they were not actively listening,' said Dr Ziv. 'The favour involved hurting someone else and many of them said they would do it.'

Volunteers who listened to fictional radio adverts with Mozart playing were more willing to forge documents (stock image of Mozart statue)

She said that this may explain why music has become a popular tool in the advertising industry and in shops.

She said: 'Music has a strong effect without people really being aware that is happening. It works without you noticing it, which is maybe its power.'

The effect, however, could be far more serious.

Dr Ziv notes that during the Rwandan genocides, music played a key role.

Jason McCoy, a musicologist at the Dallas Baptist University in Texas, has studied how music on the radio may have been used to support messages of hate broadcast during the massacres of 800,000 people by Hutu militias in 1994.

'Music helped to normalize the narrative that became the emotional and rational basis for genocide,' he explains.

'It was one component of a total propaganda effort that, in conjunction with actual on-the- ground circumstances, had the effect of instilling fear in many Hutu and creating a sense of unity among them.'
In a bid to ensure that self-driving cars are safe when they hit the roads, the UK government has put together a new proposal.

The proposal states that insurance cover for self-driving cars must offer protection for both times when the driver is in control, and when the car is in autonomous mode.

Ministers hope that if the bill is passed, it will put the UK at the forefront of the modern transport revolution.

Scroll down for video

In a bid to ensure that self-driving cars are safe when they hit the road, the UK government has put together a new proposal. Pictured is an Uber driverless Ford Fusion

WHAT DOES THE BILL SUGGEST? The proposal states that insurance cover for self-driving cars must offer protection for both times when the driver is in control, and when the car is in autonomous mode. Insurers could still try to recover the costs from the vehicles' makers. But the bill has two important exemptions. Firstly, if a vehicle's owner has made unauthorised changes to the car's software, and secondly if they fail to install an update that their policy asks them to, then the driver becomes liable. As well as providing suggestions on insurance, the bill also touches on electric charging technology. The bill suggests that petrol stations and large retailers should offer electric charging points. And it indicates that car charging point operators should be forced to publish details of their prices, opening hours and locations to users. Advertisement

The measures are outlined by the government in the Vehicle Technology and Aviation Bill, which was created to ensure accident victims can easily claim compensation if a crash occurs when a car is in autonomous mode.

Insurers could still try to recover the costs from the vehicles' makers.

But the bill has two important exemptions.

Firstly, if a vehicle's owner has made unauthorised changes to the car's software, and secondly if they fail to install an update that their policy asks them to, then the driver becomes liable.

The bill, which applies to England, Wales and Scotland, has been welcomed by the insurance industry.

Speaking to the BBC, Ben Howarth, a senior policy adviser at the Association of British Insurers, said: 'It demonstrates the government's clear commitment to moving forward when it comes to automated vehicles.

'As an industry, we want to keep insurance as straightforward as possible, which is why insurers proposed the simple approach which the government is now taking forward.'

While self-driving cars are already being tested on UK roads, many car companies predict that it could be up to 10 years before autonomous vehicles are sold to the general public.

But if the bill is passed, it could move this prediction forwards.

The bill states: 'It will enable consumers in the United Kingdom to be amongst the first in the world to reap the rewards that improved transport technology will bring.

As well as providing suggestions on insurance, the bill also touches on electric charging technology. The bill suggests that petrol stations and large retailers should offer electric charging points

'Putting the United Kingdom at the forefront of the most modern transport revolution will create new jobs and fuel economic growth around the country.'

As well as providing suggestions on insurance, the bill also touches on electric charging technology.

The bill suggests that petrol stations and large retailers should offer electric charging points.

And it indicates that car charging point operators should be forced to publish details of their prices, opening hours and locations to users.
Male Siberian lamprey fish hoping to spread their seed are in for a tough challenge.

Female lamprey fish have been found to fake their way through hundreds of partners, before meeting the most desirable mates.

Although such behaviour is common in some species of birds and mammals, there have been almost no reports of it in other animals, like fish, that fertilise their eggs externally.

Scroll down for video

Male and female Siberian brook lampreys will meet for orgies in areas of the streams they inhabit which have been specially prepared for mating. Females may mate up to 200 times with multiple males

THE FINDINGS Research was conducted at Hokkaido University in Japan. The researchers discovered that female Siberian brook lampreys (Lethenteron kessleri) mate repeatedly without releasing eggs, in a behaviour termed 'sham mating'. Two test groups were set up, with one containing a single male and another with multiple males. The second group, where the female could select from a range of mates, displayed a higher degree of 'sham' mating. The findings suggest that females choose the most attractive mates to fertilise their eggs, based on body size, nest-building abilities and other qualities of the male. Advertisement

Lampreys are often promiscuous, with large groups of males and females gathering for group orgies at spawning sites.

A single female will mate with as many as 10 males multiple times sometimes more than 100 per individual.

It has been unclear why this method of reproduction is favoured by the species, as it requires a greater energy expenditure and increases the danger of attack from predators.

But Researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan have found that, despite a high number of sexual interactions, female Siberian brook lampreys (Lethenteron kessleri) will only release their eggs on a limited number of occasions.

And the males of the species seem to be none the wiser, as they release their sperm irrespective of whether the females lay their eggs.

LAMPREY MATING Male and female Siberian brook lampreys will meet for orgies in areas of the streams they inhabit, which have been specially prepared for mating. Males and females typically mate with multiple partners, but mating is usually conducted one-on-one. First, the female anchors herself to a stone or other substance on the riverbed with her sucker-like mouth. The male then uses his mouth to attach himself to the females head, and wraps his lower body around the females cloaca, an opening that serves both digestive excretory and reproductive purposes. Finally, the male induces egg excretion by shaking the lower half of the females body. A second 'sneaker' male may also wrap itself to the female in an attempt to fertilise some of the released eggs. Advertisement

The Japanese team hypothesised that 'sham' mating allows the females to identify and select a superior partner - a tactic that is used in other parts of the animal kingdom.

To test out their theory, two experimental areas were set up with differing numbers of males.

In experiment area A, one male and one female were placed together, with three males and one female in area B.

Following each spawning event, any eggs released were removed with a suction device and counted.

The researchers predicted the proportion of 'sham' mating would be lower in group A, as the female could not select her mate.

The experiment was repeated fifteen times using different females.

Each female mated an average of 77 times, ranging from 20 to 196 times.

On average, sham mating occurred 65 per cent of the time, ranging from 35 to 90 per cent.

Despite their promiscuity, eggs are only released by the female lamprey on a limited number of occasions. This suggests females identify 'desirable' males to fertilise their eggs - behaviour common in some mammals and birds, but not in creatures that fertilise their eggs externally

Their analysis showed sham mating increased with a larger number of males, while the number of eggs released on each occasion fell.

Dr Chitose Koizumi, who led the study, said: 'The discovery of pre-breeding mate selection in highly promiscuous creatures is a new finding and of great interest.

'The study shows there is a possibility that, despite the presence of many males, females recognise individual males and actively control when they release their eggs.

During mating, the female lampreys anchors herself to the riverbed with her sucker-like mouth. The male then uses his mouth to attach himself to the females head and wraps his lower body around her, before shaking her to release her eggs and releasing his sperm

'This depends on the body size, nest-building abilities, and other qualities of the male.

'It is highly advantageous for females if they can choose their mate even when a large number of females and males gather at a single spawning site.

'Even though our results are only preliminary, further examination of the lampreys breeding behaviour should give us a deeper understanding of mate selection and the evolution of breeding systems.'

The males of the species seem to be none the wiser, as they release their sperm irrespective of whether the females lay their eggs




Advertisement

If you often find yourself tossing and turning in bed with not even counting sheep helping you to sleep, there's good news  you're not alone.

A new interactive tool has been released, which shows how many people around the world are also unable to sleep at any given time.

Based on people tweeting about their insomnia, the map is designed to help people who struggle to fall asleep to feel less alone in their plight.

Scroll down for video

COUNTRIES STRUGGLING TO SLEEP The places where most people tweet about insomnia are: 1) US - 83,952 people 2) Brazil - 56,628 people 3) Argentina - 33,759 people 4) UK - 14,850 people 5) Mexico - 8,712 people Advertisement

The map has been created by Hillarys, a Nottingham-based home interior brand, based on data from social media.

The tool analyses social media across a range of locations and languages, in order to provide statistics on how many people can't sleep at any given time, as well as where they are in the world.

By analysing Twitter searches related to sleep deprivation, the map shows how hundreds of thousands of people are sleepless around the globe.

Users can zoom in on their specific area, or view a map showing a wider range.

A league table displays the areas where the most people are tweeting about their struggles.

By analysing Twitter searches related to sleep deprivation, the map shows how hundreds of thousands of people are sleepless around the globe

As of 24 February, the US appears to have the most people struggling to sleep, with 83,952 people tweeting about it, while Brazil came in second, with 56,628 tweeting about it.

Meanwhile, the UK had 14,580 tweeting about their lack of sleep.

Tara Hall, a spokesperson for Hillarys, said: 'There's something about being unable to sleep at night that makes everyone else in the world seem so far away.

As of 24 February, the US appears to have the most people struggling to sleep, with 83,952 people tweeting about it

In the league table, Brazil came in second, with 56,628 tweeting about it. Meanwhile, the UK had 14,580 tweeting about their lack of sleep

'But that's far from the case.

'As the Sleep Loss Map shows, not being able to sleep affects most people at times, from the neighbours to strangers in Australia.'

To help people with their predicament, Hillarys has also put together a function that helps visitors to time their breathing to enable them to relax and drift off.
Get ready for the first solar eclipse of 2017 which is poised to appear on Sunday.

The sun will be hidden by the moon leaving just a slender 'ring of fire' around the edge.

The spectacle will be visible to more than half a billion people across the world - provided it doesn't cloud over.

Scroll down for video

The eclipse will first be visible in Chile and Argentina on the morning of 26 February before moving across the South Atlantic Ocean and ending in Africa at sunset (stock image)

WHERE TO WATCH IT The solar eclipse will start at about 12.10pm GMT on Sunday 26 February over Chile and Argentina. It will reach its peak at around 2.58pm GMT at which point it will unfortunately be over the Atlantic ocean. It will finish at 5.35pm GMT on Sunday in southern Africa - between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. You can still see a partial solar eclipse if you are outside this zone. Alternatively you can stream the spectacular online. Advertisement

A full eclipse occurs when the moon obscures the sun so only the solar corona is showing around the edge.

The natural phenomenon will first be visible in Chile and Argentina on the morning of 26 February before moving across the South Atlantic Ocean.

It will pass over Angola and then come to an end somewhere between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The moment of greatest eclipse will occur midway between the two continents at just before 10am ET (15:00 GMT) when the moon will cover over 99 per cent of the sun.

The best sky watching will be from the lower half of South America and western and southern parts of Africa.

Observers in this path will see a darkened sun, sometimes described as a 'hole in the sky', and the glow of the coroner around the edge.

A phenomenon called 'Bailey's Beads' might occur when the sunlight shines out through ruts on the lunar surface.

For people in these regions the sun will pass right behind the moon's face, according to Space.com.

At least twice a year, the orbits of the moon and Earth block the sun to cause a shadow on Earth.

Most eclipses are partial, but when the moon is close to the earth, it results in a total eclipse.

The moon's shadow will wander to different places each time but every point will have the chance to see a solar eclipse at some point in history. This map shows the solar eclipses happening between the years 2001 and 2020

This incredible natural phenomenon will last approximately 44 seconds.

'The width of the path of totality is usually about 160 km across and can sweep across an area of Earth's surface about 10,000 miles long', according to space-facts.com.

'Almost identical eclipses occur after 18 years and 11 days. This period of 223 synodic months is called a saros.'

There are between two and five solar eclipses each year.

This shows the path of the eclipse: The best sky watching will be from the lower half of South America and western and southern parts of Africa

BEST PLACES TO SEE THE ECLIPSE Places that will see a full solar eclipse: Coyhaique, Chile Facundo, Chubut, Argentina Camarones, Chubut, Argentina Huambo, Angola Advertisement

But you can still see a partial solar eclipse if you are outside this zone.

The best way to view it is through a pinhole camera or with special solar viewing glasses.

The geometry of the sun, moon and Earth changes with every eclipse.

The moon's shadow will wander to different places each time but every point will have the chance to see a solar eclipse at some point in history.

For those not able to view the eclipse from the ground this time there are a number of flights people can take to see it in all its glory.

Alternatively you can live stream it online from the comfort of your own home.

The next solar eclipse will be over the US on 21 August.
Advertisement

Just last week, NASAs top staff was given instructions to assess the feasibility of sending humans to space with the first flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.

The mission was originally designed to be uncrewed, and was set to launch in 2018.

In a press conference today, officials leading the study revealed the evaluations are now well underway, and theyve already created a 'hard, crisp list' of everything that will need to change from a hardware standpoint in order to add crew.

But, so far, the team says theyre sticking to their baseline plan for EM-1, and will let the let the data drive any decisions moving forward.

Scroll down for video

The mission will use NASA's Orion capsule to carry up to four astronauts around the moon  the first time humans have left low orbit since 1972. The mission was originally set for launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, as early as 2021 - but could now been far sooner.

THE EM-1 MISSION Nasa's Orion, stacked on a Space Launch System rocket capable of lifting 70 metric tons will launch from a newly refurbished Kennedy Space Center in November 2018. The uncrewed Orion will travel into Distant Retrograde Orbit, breaking the distance record reached by the most remote Apollo spacecraft, and then 30,000 miles farther out (275,000 total miles). The mission will last 22 days and was originally designed to test system readiness for future crewed operations. Advertisement

In the press call, NASAs associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Missions Directorate Bill Gerstenmaier explained that the study aims to assess the advantages and disadvantages of adding crew to Em-1.

While they say it could be within the realms of possibility, there are a number of changes that would need to be made to put humans aboard Orion, including the addition of an on board life support system.

For now, they say they are not going to let the feasibility study interrupt their plans for Em-1 and Em-2, but the assessment will benefit the overall program either way.

We arent really changing our stance on what Em-1 is, were probably still getting it ready to fly by 2018, Gersternmaier said.

Overall, were still on the baseline plan of Em-1 first, and then Em-2, but this study lets us look at what things we would want to add and what things we would want to change to add crew to the vehicle.

According to William Hill, deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development in Washington, there were early discussions with the transition team regarding accelerating crew capability even before the inauguration.

The new mission could give President Trump an 'Apollo 8 moment' echoing Richard Nixon's success in sending man to the moon

Sending humans aboard Orion would require a new look at some of the equipment inside, Hill explains.

But, during a media Q&A, the team explained that they feel encouraged by the recent instructions, and 'don't consider this a ton of extra work.'

Ultimately, they say it will make for a 'more robust program,' whether its manned or unmanned.

The results are set to be completed early this spring, and the researchers stress that in making any decisions, they will 'let the data drive us and let the information drive us.'

Last week, it was revealed that NASA's acting administrator instructed top staff to dramatically speed up plans to send mankind beyond the orbit of Earth for the first time since 1972.

Robert Lightfoot, who was previously the space agency's acting Associate Administrator, has asked staff to initiate a study to assess the feasibility of adding a crew to Exploration Mission-1, the first integrated flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.

By moving the manned mission up, commentators say it could give President Trump a 'Nixonesque' moment - and also prove the worth of Nasa's SLS megarocket as it vies for funding.

'The SLS and Orion missions, coupled with record levels of private investment in space, will help put NASA and America in a position to unlock the mysteries of space and to ensure this nations world preeminence in exploring the cosmos,' NASA said.

Nasa's Orion, stacked on a Space Launch System rocket capable of lifting 70 metric tons will launch from a newly refurbished Kennedy Space Center in November 2018.

The study, headed by Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, will examine the opportunities it could present to accelerate the effort of the first crewed flight and what it would take to accomplish that first step of pushing humans farther into space.

According to the Washington Post, Lightfoot sent a note to employees revealing the plan, saying: '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.

'That said, I also want to hear about the opportunities it could present to accelerate the effort of the first crewed flight and what it would take to accomplish that first step of pushing humans farther into space.'

Astronauts haven't gone beyond a low orbit around Earth since 1972, when NASA ended its Apollo program.

Bob Walker, an adviser to the Trump transition team and a former congressman who chaired the House Science Committee, told the Post 'What I hear being discussed is the potential for sometime within the first Trump term being able to go and do an Apollo 8 mission' - meaning a lunar orbit mission like the one performed by Apollo 8 in December 1968.

The mission plan for the flight is built around a profile called a multi-translunar injection (MTLI), or multiple departure burns, and includes a free return trajectory from the moon.

HOW THE HISTORIC MANNED MISSION WILL WORK NASA's original plan for the manned mission is built around a profile called a multi-translunar injection (MTLI), or multiple departure burns, and includes a free return trajectory from the moon. Basically, the spacecraft will circle our planet twice while periodically firing its engines to build up enough speed to push it toward the moon before looping back to Earth. After launch, the spacecraft and upper stage of the rocket will first orbit Earth twice to ensure its systems are working normally. Orion will reach a circular orbit at an altitude of 100 nautical miles and last 90 minutes. The move or burn to get the spacecraft into a specific orbit around a planet or other body in space is called orbital insertion. Following the first orbit, the rocket's powerful exploration upper stage (EUS) and four RL-10 engines will perform an orbital raise, which will place Orion into a highly elliptical orbit around our planet. The mission will send crew around the backside of the moon where they will ultimately create a figure eight before Orion returns to Earth. Instead of requiring propulsion on the return, the spacecraft will use the moon's gravitational pull like a slingshot to bring Orion home, which is the free return portion of the trajectory. Crew will fly thousands of miles beyond the moon, which is an average of 230,000 miles beyond the Earth. This is called the partial translunar injection. This second, larger orbit will take approximately 24 hours with Orion flying in an ellipse between 500 and 19,000 nautical miles above Earth. For perspective, the International Space Station orbits Earth from about 250 miles above. Once the integrated vehicle completes these two orbits, the EUS will separate from Orion and any payloads selected and mounted inside the rocket's universal stage adapter will be released. The payloads will then fly on their own to conduct their unique missions. After the EUS separation, the crew will do a unique test of Orion's critical systems. They will gather and evaluate engineering data from their day-long orbit before using Orion's service module to complete a second and final propulsion move called the translunar injection (TLI) burn. This second burn will put Orion on a path toward the moon, and will conclude the 'multi-translunar injection' portion of the mission. Advertisement

'This would be another precursor to ultimately landing,' Walker said.

'And I think sometime within a second Trump term, you could think about putting a landing vehicle on the moon.'

The European Space Agency and aerospace company Airbus have already delivered the propulsion and supply module for the unmanned flight of NASA's new Orion spacecraft next year.

Last week it was announced ESA and Airbus have now agreed with NASA to build a module for a second, manned mission that will fly around the moon as early as 2021 - which could now be pushed forward.

The Service Module provides propulsion, electrical power, water and thermal control as well as maintaining the oxygen and nitrogen atmosphere for the crew.

The first Orion with the service module will be launched in late 2018 on NASA's new Space Launch System.

Subjects in the simulation were fitted with advanced crew escape suits as they carried out tests to determine how well they could see the display and controls as the craft vibrated atop the Space Launch System rocket

An expanded view of the next configuration of NASA's Space Launch System rocket, including the four RL10 engines, giving it enought power to take man into deep space

The month-long mission will be unmanned and will orbit the Moon before returning to Earth, testing the spacecraft and rocket before carrying astronauts.

The European Service Module is designed, built and assembled by a team of companies from 11 countries led by Airbus Space & Defence, based on proven technology from ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle that flew to the International Space Station five times with supplies.

The mission and collaboration with NASA is part of ESA's vision to prepare for future voyages of exploration further into the Solar System, and continues the spirit of international cooperation that forms the foundation of the International Space Station.

Earlier this month NASA engineers simulated what it will be like inside of the Orion spacecraft during launch when it takes off on its first manned mission as early as 2021.

Subjects in the simulation were fitted with advanced crew escape suits as they carried out tests to determine how well they could see the display and controls as the craft vibrated atop the Space Launch System rocket.

APOLLO 17: THE LAST TIME MAN LEFT EARTH ORBIT On December 19, 1972, humans returned from another celestial body for the last time following the last Apollo mission. In this photo, astronaut Eugene Cernan walks toward the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) near the U.S. flag at the Taurus-Littrow landing site of Apollo 17. The photograph was taken by astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot. Cernan was the last human being to step on the moon as he was entered the Lunar Module after Schmitt for the return flight to earth. Apollo 17 blasted off on December 6, 1972 - the United States' final manned mission to the moon, and first nighttime launch. 'Apollo 17 built upon all of the other missions scientifically,' said Gene Cernan, the mission's commander, and the last man to walk on the moon, in 2008. 'We had a lunar rover, we were able to cover more ground than most of the other missions. We stayed there a little bit longer. We went to a more challenging unique area in the mountains, to learn something about the history and the origin of the moon itself.' On their way to the moon, the Apollo 17 crew took one of the most iconic photographs in space-program history, the image of the Earth dubbed 'The Blue Marble.' The Apollo 17 mission saw Cernan and his fellow astronauts land the Challenger on the moon where they would spend the next three days exploring and taking samples. It set new records for longest manned lunar landing flight, longest time in lunar orbit, longest time in lunar extravehicular activities and biggest lunar sample return. During that time, Captain Cernan logged 566 hours and 15 minutes in space-of which more than 73 hours were spent on the surface of the moon. While he and lunar module pilot Harrison H. (Jack) Schmitt conducted activities on the lunar surface, command module pilot Ronald Evans remained in orbit. At the end of the mission, Cernan was the last to board the spacecraft, making him the last man to walk on the moon. While on the Moon, Cernan he and Schmitt performed three EVAs (Extravehicular Activities) for a total of about 22 hours of exploration of the TaurusLittrow valley. Their first EVA alone was more than three times the length Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent outside their spacecraft on Apollo 11. Cernan piloted the rover on its final outing, recording a maximum speed of 11.2 mph - giving him the unofficial lunar land speed record. Advertisement

The first mission is set to launch in 2018, and while this was supposed to be uncrewed, the space agency has plans to send astronauts aboard Orion just four years from now.

The researchers at NASA are working to understand how Orion's launch vibrations will affect an astronaut's ability to see the displays and operate controls.

In the simulation, subjects sat in the latest design of the seat, atop the crew impact attenuation system.

According to the space agency, the achievement marks the first time this hardware was brought together for this type of assessment.

These efforts will help to ensure the spacecraft is ready for its first manned mission, which could come as soon as 2021.
Advertisement

In 1987, astronomers spotted a titanic supernova in a nearby galaxy blazing with the power of over 100 million suns.

Now, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its discovery, NASA has released stunning new data on the phenomenon, which is said to be one of the brightest exploding stars seen in over 400 years.

The series includes breathtaking images, time-lapse movies, and a 3D model, providing an unprecedented glimpse at Supernova 1987A.

Scroll down for video

The series of data released by NASA includes breathtaking images, time-lapse movies, and a 3D model, providing an unprecedented glimpse at Supernova 1987A. The animation above shows the luminous ring material that can be seen today

SUPERNOVA 1987A The supernova was first spotted on February 23, 1987. Its said to be one of the brightest events of this kind to be detected in over 400 years, blazing with the power of 100 million suns. SN 1987A is located in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, making it the nearest stellar explosion seen in hundreds of years. Its been observed by a number of instruments, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra x-ray Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA). Advertisement

Since it was discovered 30 years ago, the remarkable supernova has been observed by a number of instruments, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra x-ray Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA).

SN 1987A sits in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, and is the nearest supernova observed in hundreds of years, according to NASA.

The 30 years worth of observations of SN 1987A are important because they provide insight into the last stages of stellar evolution, said Robert Kirshner of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in Palo Alto, California.

With this data, astronomers have determined the supernova has crossed an important threshold, with the shock wave moving beyond the dense ring of gas late in the life of the pre-supernova star.

This happens when a fast outflow of wind from the star collided with a slower wind from an earlier red giant phase.

But, little is known about what lies beyond the ring.

The details of this transition will give astronomers a better understanding of the life of the doomed star, and how it ended, said Kari Frank of Penn State University who led the latest Chandra study of SN 1987A.

In 1987, astronomers spotted a titanic supernova in a nearby galaxy blazing with the power of over 100 million suns. Now, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its discovery, NASA has released stunning new data on the phenomenon, which is said to be one of the brightest exploding stars seen in over 400 years

Supernovae like this one can trigger the formation of new stars and planets, NASA explains.

These objects form from gas enriched with elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and iron  the basic components of life.

These elements are formed in the pre-supernova star, and during the supernova explosion.

As the remnants expand, they are dispersed throughout the host galaxy.

According to the researchers, studying the supernova could give clues into this process.

Throughout the years of observation, Hubble studies have found that the ring of gas around the supernova is glowing in optical light, with the diameter of roughly a light-year.

SN 1987A sits in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, and is the nearest supernova observed in hundreds of years, according to NASA. The images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope show the brightening of a ring of gas around the exploded star

This existed at least 20,000 years before the star exploded, and ultraviolet light from the explosion energized the gas inside, causing it to glow decades after.

Now, the central structure inside the ring in the Hubble image has grown to roughly half a light-year across.

And, there are two blobs of debris at the center of the supernova remnant.

These are travelling away from each other at about 20 million miles an hour.

Chandra data from 1999-2013 showed that an expanding ring of X-ray emission was getting brighter.

This was created as a blast wave from the original explosion bust through the ring of gas around the supernova.

Since it was discovered 30 years ago, the remarkable supernova has been observed by a number of instruments, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra x-ray Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA)

But, its stopped getting brighter in the past few years, and data from about February 2013-September 2015 show the total amount of low-energy X rays has been constant.

On top of this, the bottom left part of the ring has begun to fade.

Astronomers say this indicates the blast wave has moved to a region with less dense gas, beyond the ring  marking the end of an era.

Observations starting in 2012 with ALMA have shown that the remnant is forging new dust from the elements made by the progenitor star.

The findings suggest dust in the early universe may have formed in a similar way.

And, the team is working to find evidence of a black hole or neutron star left behind by the explosion, after observing a flash of neutrinos from the erupting star.
The US Air Force is spending $15m on a mysterious drone killing system from an Israeli firm.

The contract for 'counter-unmanned aerial systems' will supply 21 kits, which are believed to be earmarked for dealing with the growing threat of drones from ISIS.

However, details of the kits and how they will work have not been revealed, although it is believed to be a modified version of the firm's existing 'drone shield'

Scroll down for video

The deal is with ELTA North America, a U.S. subsidiary of Israeli Aerospace Industries which does produce a 'drone buster' called Drone Shield, pictured here. It is believed the new system mixes scanning systems with a system to disable drones mid flight, or cause them to return to their base, allowing them to be tracked.

According to Army documents, 'ELTA North America Inc., Annapolis Junction, Maryland, has been awarded a $15,553,483 firm-fixed-price letter contract for counter-unmanned aerial systems.

'Contractor will provide the procurement, delivery, and training of 21 Man Portable Aerial Defense System kits.

'The kits will be made is Israel and delivered to US bases by July 28, 2017,' it states.

According to Defence One, the system was purchased by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

'It oversees communications and electronics purchases, which would hint the deal is likely for some some type of jamming system that can take down the small drones without firing a shot.'

ELTA North America is a U.S. subsidiary of Israeli Aerospace Industries - which does produce a 'drone buster' called Drone Shield.

The system's radars can detect, track and jam small drones, and it is described as a'Compact and scalable drone detection and disruption system.'

Last year, the company said it had sold Drone Guard to 'several customers for critical asset and personnel protection,' but did not disclose the buyers.

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS ELTA has tweaked its 3D radars to search for drones for short (10km), medium (15km) and long (20 km) ranges with special drone detection and tracking algorithms. It also built sensors to spot them visually. In order to disrupt the hostile UAV, ELTA has developed 'advanced adaptive jamming systems' which can be used in concert with its detection and identification sensors, or as a continuously operated stand-alone system. The jamming disrupts the drone's flight and can either causes it to return to its point-of-origin or to shut down and make a crash landing. Advertisement

'IAI's Subsidiary and Group, ELTA Systems Ltd., is offering specially designed 3-Dimensional (3D) radars and existing Electro-Optical (EO) sensors for detection and identification, as well as dedicated Electronic Attack (EA) jamming systems for disrupting drone flight,' it said.

Nissim Hadas, IAI Executive VP and ELTA President said: 'We have managed to pack high grade military radar and jamming capabilities into a compact, effective and affordable drone protection system.

'Since unveiling the Drone Guard system earlier this year we are experiencing steadily growing sales and demand of the system for military, HLS and civilian protection tasks'.

Earlier this year social media posts revealed that ISIS was modifying commercial drones to drop bombs.

Coalition air forces have hit ISIS-made drones and drone production sites in both Syria and Iraq.

According to press releases from the Combined Joint Task Force, coalition military forces conducted 32 strikes against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq on January 12th alone, hitting an ISIS drone launch site in Northwestern Iraq.

A US central command official told Defense One : 'Over the last two months, coalition forces have observed about one adversary drone every day around Mosul'

With the exception of just one day (January 10th), the forces have hit ISIS drones, drone launch sites or drone production sites daily since January 7th.

A US central command official told Defense One: 'Over the last two months, coalition forces have observed about one adversary drone every day around Mosul.

'The Coalition has struck a number of what we believed to be unmanned aerial vehicle facilities in Mosul.

Iraqi soldiers have captured various kinds of drones from ISIS terrorists, especially quadcopters (pictured) - a drone with four rotors that help lift it

'We spend considerable time researching and developing target lists to ensure maximum effects against ISIS.'

Iraqi soldiers have captured different kinds of drones from ISIS terrorists, especially quadcopters- a drone with four rotors that help lift it.

The drones have been found to be carrying various types of bombs, including grenades and mortars.

Quadcopter drones were reportedly captured by Iraqi Rapid Response Units in Mosul on January 4th

Iraqi Rapid Response Units reportedly brought down two drones on January 4th.

And on January 7th, Peshmerga forces in Mosul shot down a drone that may have been a quadcopter.

According to Kurdish Rudaw news, the drone dropped ten bombs before it was shot down.

Footage was recorded showing the moment the Peshmerga forces shot down the drone.

Some of the drones even deploy hidden explosives.

In October, a drone that crashed near a Peshmerga camp outside Mosul suddenly exploded when the soldier took it apart.

The battery pack inside the drone hid an IED - an improvised explosive device - that exploded, killing two Peshmerga soldiers.

IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) are homemade bombs are 'homemade' bombs that are sometimes used with destructive devices.

IEDs are used by criminals, vandals, terrorists, suicide bombers, and insurgents.

Because they are improvised, IEDs can come in many forms, ranging from a small bombs to a sophisticated device capable of causing massive damage.

What makes IEDs especially dangerous is that they can can be easily carried, concealed, transported or thrown by a person.

The term IED came into common usage during the Iraq War that began in 2003.

IEDs consist of a range of components that include an initiator, switch, main charge, power source, and a container.

IEDs may be surrounded by or packed with other materials such as nails, glass, or metal fragments designed to increase the amount of shrapnel thrown by the explosion.

Iraqi forces have retaken at least 80 percent of east Mosul from Islamic State jihadists, the spokesman of the special forces spearheading the campaign said Wednesday

ISIS's use of drones as weapons isn't new.

In August 2015, the US Central Command announced that an ISIS drone had been destroyed in an airstrike.

In November, Popular Mobilization Units (PMU's) shot down a huge drone, with footage showing the drone below.

Iraqi forces have retaken at least 80 percent of east Mosul from Islamic State jihadists, the spokesman of the special forces spearheading the campaign said Wednesday.

Over the past two weeks, Iraqi forces have overrun several districts and, for the first time, reached the Tigris River that runs through the heart of the city.

But the western part of Iraq's second city remains largely in IS hands.

Colonel Brett Sylvia, who commands an 'advise and assist' US unit in Iraq, said on Wednesday: 'There's a lot of fight that's left to do in western Mosul,' noting that IS had conducted extensive defensive work.

Still, he said, IS resistance had weakened in several areas.
I am not a great cook but I do love a cookery lesson. So when Waldorf Astoria's chef of the year offers to teach me how to make his new dish, the Jing Roll, I sign up.

These are the people, after all, who invented the Waldorf Salad, Eggs Benedict, and Red Velvet cake.

Two years ago the hotel group began a contest, The Taste of Waldorf, in which five chefs were pitted against each other to create a new iconic dish.

Sue Ryan travelled to China to learn how to make the Waldorf hotel's latest iconic dish - the Jing Roll (pictured)

The Waldorf Astoria, Beijing, is an impressive building in the neighbourhood of Wangfujing

Each was given another chef to work with from The James Beard Foundation and the winners' creation would appear on menus worldwide in all 28 of their hotels.

Last year the accolade went to Chef Erik Bruner Yang who had teamed up with a young Taiwanese American who has been making waves in Washington, Benoit Chargy.

Together they beat their fellow chefs from Amsterdam, New Orleans, Orlando and Jerusalem.

The slightly trickier issue, given my rather manic diary, is that the lesson was to be next week, in Beijing.

But what is a ten-hour flight when the secrets of the (Be) Jing Roll can be revealed to be reproduced in the Ryan kitchen?

The Waldorf Astoria, Beijing, is an impressive building in the neighbourhood of Wangfujing (the jing again) a straight kilometre from the west gate of the Forbidden City.

It has 176 rooms and 300 staff and they are proud that they are on average 15 per cent more expensive than other five-star hotels in the city.

This is a hotel where Government officials hold their meetings, and so in status terms it is one of the highest ranking in the city.

Marble floors, silk walls and grandiose art works greet the visitor. The most dominant of which is a two-metre wide androgynous face by Shadong painter Ling Jian.

He/she gazes down at us as we enter Brasserie 1893.

The Waldorf Astoria, Beijing, offers incredible dining spaces

The open plan kitchen and restaurant is dominated by two blue glazed Italian Moleteni cooking ranges on which the ingredients are laid out for each of us.

It is important, says chef Eric, that the ingredients are readily available in all countries. So the roll part is cabbage leaves and the filling is minced wagyu beef.

Hoisin sauce, sweet purple potato and a slice of pickled okra are arranged around the roll. Then the whole thing is topped up with three pieces of enoki mushroom, dipped into batter and deep fried for a second, to represent the birds nest look for which China is famous.

When it's completed I notice we have forgotten the duck's egg for the filling. 'It doesn't matter,' says chef Erik, and he is right, indeed it doesn't.

What does matter, is the monsoon lashing down outside.

We have only one day in Beijing and you cannot come here and not go to the Forbidden Palace. So we set out armed with umbrellas and, in the absence of wellies, flip flops.

The Palace was the ceremonial and political home of the China Government for 500 years from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing dynasty 1420 to 1912. This is where the emperors and their households lived in splendour.

It takes the best part of an hour to walk through, without pausing, and today it is one big lake. We emerge at the other end so sodden that a shop keeper takes pity on us and rings a friend to deliver us back to the Waldorf in time for our flight to Shanghai, where we'll be staying in another Waldorf.

Brasserie 1893 is dominated by two blue glazed Italian Moleteni cooking ranges

Except the weather is so bad all flights are cancelled and instead we take the train, a much more pleasant experience in which we see a bit of countryside.

It is like arriving in a different country. Beijing is serious and, a tad grey. Shanghai in contrast is light, colourful and buzzing.

In the mid-19th century Shanghai was a modest trading town with only 250,000 people enclosed within 16th-century walls.

Now it is the biggest city in the world - towers and malls are going up almost overnight.

Designer brands are everywhere  though luxury goods are much pricier than in Europe or the States.

Areas like the Bund (once a British colonial outpost on the river bend), the French quarters and the artistic quarter of Tianzifang are protected while other traditional residential areas are being flattened.

The Waldorf Astoria has a prime position on the waterfront.

The Waldorf Astoria in Shanghai (pictured) occupies a superb spot on the waterfront

The Long Bar at The Waldorf Astoria in Shanghai is still the place to come

It's a hotel of two parts. A gleaming new tower houses 240 rooms, most, including mine, directly looking over the Bund, and the new business area of Pudong, which in terms of a view is pure film set.

The modern bit is linked to the heritage site of what used to be the very exclusive Shanghai Club.

A hundred years ago this was the most glamorous place to go and be seen. You can imagine the expats downing their pink gins at the famous 33.7 metre (110 foot) Long Bar. No women allowed.

It is beautifully restored in neo classical style with crystal chandeliers and acres of gleaming marble.

Today the Long Bar is still the place to come. It appears on most lists of the ten best bars in the world.

The hotel in Shanghai has been beautifully restored in neo classical style

Waldorf hotels offer sumptuous accommodation - so a stay is never cheap

Try a Waldorf cocktail. Many have names linked to the place - Shanghai Club, Collins-on-the-Bund, Waldorf Express and Waldorf Queen. Some come in delicate china tea cups.

The Waldorf Kettle cocktail is derived from the Waldorf salad with celery and apple involved.

Chef Jan van Dyk was third in the first of the Taste of Waldorf contests. His dish was Shanghai Suckling Pig stuffed with foie gras and pork mince.

The lobby at the Waldorf Shanghai is quite something to behold

Bath-time at the Waldorf Shanghai is always going to be memorable

HOW TO MAKE THE JING ROLL 3 Nappa Cabbage leaves 30g Onion 30g Chinese Chili Sauteed Black Fungus Mushroom (Soak the dry black fungus in hot water for 10 min) 1 piece Salted Duck Egg Yolk 20g Okra 40g Hoisin Sauce 300g Beef 40g BBQ Sauce 20g Coriander 1 pinch Cumin Powder 1 tsp Sesame Oil Cabbage Stock to adjust Salt and Pepper 2. Potato Puree  150g Sweet Purple Potato  30g Butter 3. Sauce 20g Hoisin Paste 30g BBQ Paste 5g Cornstarch 100ml Cabbage Stock 4. Enoki Mushrooms 90g Enoki Mushroom 3 bunches 3-4 mushrooms 60g Corn Starch 200g Sparkling Water Corn Starch for Coating Oil to Fry Sweet Purple Puree Steam the Potato for 45 min. Peel the potato and pass through a food mill, add the butter and the cabbage stock. Mash the potato to desired consistency, and then season to taste with salt and pepper. Sauce Combine all ingredients, boil them and thicken the sauce with the cornstarch. Enoki Mushroom Make the batter by mixing the cornstarch and sparkling water. Coat the mushroom with corn starch flour, dip in the batter, remove excess batter allowing it to drip off, then deep fry in the oil (temperature 170C). 1. Jing Roll Jing Roll Blanch three leaves of Nappa cabbage for one minute, remove the white core and dry on the absorbent tissue paper. Leave it on the side for now. Cut all the ingredients into brunoises, except for the cabbage and egg yolk. Using a nonstick pan, sear the beef to remove moisture; add the garlic, onion, chili, cumin and confit them, for two minutes, add the sauces. At this point you add a spoon of cabbage stock, the sesame oil and the egg yolk. Mix everything together well and finish by adding the chopped coriander. On parchment paper lay out the cabbage leaves. Place the beef on the upper side of the cabbage and using the paper, fold the cabbage over the beef to form a roll. At this point cut each cabbage roll into three even portions. Plating Make a circle with the sauce. Display the three quenelles of sweet potato puree, equally placed in triangular form along the sauce. Place a slice of pickled Okra, to sit beside the portion of potato. To finish: place a cabbage roll in between each serving of potato and then top with the mushroom. Recipe created by Waldorf Astoria Master Chef Benoit Chargy and JBF Semi Finalist Erik-Bruner Yang Advertisement

The pig is cooked by spooning hot oil over it until it is crisp and then is baked for four minutes.

For dinner he thought we should try the two Chinese specialities, always served at weddings.

The first was sea cucumber  a sort of large sea slug. I am told it was good but was not brave enough to try.

The last was a bird's nest dessert. This is the most expensive delicacy, largely because of the danger of collecting it from high caves.

It was cooked with ginger and honey and I wished I was man enough to try, but the idea of eating bird spit  for that is what it is, did not appeal

I opted for a Waldorf Kettle instead at The Long Bar where the live jazz band was in full flow and the cool kids were arriving.
You wouldn't be alone if you regarded an airport as a functional, tedious necessity - but it turns out that they're actually great places for helping your love life take off.

Talking to MailOnline Travel, Jane, 31, a business consultant based in New York, revealed how she's mastered pick-up techniques tailored around her jet-set lifestyle.

She says that she finds airports a 'very organic place to meet new people as they slow people down and connect' - also, 'travel has a romantic sense of time'.

You wouldn't be alone if you regarded an airport as a functional, tedious necessity - but it turns out that they're actually great places for helping your love life take off

Jane says the top place to pick-up at an airport is at the bar.

She says before getting comfortable you should do a loop of the bars in your terminal to 'scope out the crowds'.

The native Australian adds: 'Remember, you never want to commit to a seat without a prospect or target in sight.'

If there are no obvious targets in view, Jane says you can position yourself in a seat facing foot traffic so you can scout out possible love interests.

Explaining why the airport bar is such a hot spot, Jane reveals: 'People at the bars can give you undivided attention and are often travelling alone.

'Travelling alone, for work or otherwise, you usually find yourself without your typical social "posse" which would be a standard shield at a local bar or social situation outside of the airport.

JANE'S TOP AIRPORT PICK-UP TRICKS Scope out the airport bars and find a 'target'

Security lines and waiting rooms can also be fruitful

Have a strong conversation opener

Don't have expectations - prioritize friendships over hook-ups

Continue your flirtations on board the plane if you are catching the same flight

Send drinks to the person on the plane as a way of saying 'hello'

Meet in the service area for a tryst

Be sure to swap social media contacts and numbers sooner rather than later - airports can be busy and you can quickly lose sight of people

If it's going well, offer to share a cab on the other side Advertisement

'As you drink, you are open to talking about deeper things. This is further exacerbated by the sense that you could be speaking with someone from anyone stage in their lives.

'When you can access these deep conversations with people quickly, you accelerate your sense of closeness.'

But it's not just airport bars that can be lucrative on the love front. Jane says she's also met people in security lines and waiting areas.

'Just as long as you have a confident conversation opener, alcohol doesnt have to be present,' she explains.

When it comes to conversation themes, Jane says you should observe what is going on around you.

'More often than not there are also other discussion topics you can easily reach - flight delays, weather conditions in the location you are in, destination plans.

'It's very easy to strike up a light and un-intrusive, unassuming friendly conversation.'

Jane says that you shouldn't be scared of approaching groups of people if no singletons take your fancy.

She adds: 'Personally, I'm a dark horse; As a woman in the U.S, people don't often expect to have a very confident, successful, somewhat attractive person approach them at an airport.

More often than not there are also other discussion topics you can easily reach - flight delays, weather conditions in the location you are in, destination plans.

'More often than not the numbers are on my side (limited female travelers on their own) and I am very comfortable working a crowd.

'More often than not I approach a group of people (all travelling on their own), create a group dynamic, a fun experience and focus in on the guy I am most interested in.

'I've actually picked up multiple guys at the one time in this fashion. It also doesn't hurt I have a foreign accent!'

Along with romantic relationships, Jane says she's made many business connections at the airport.

She highlights that it's important to prioritize friendships over hook-ups, and just see where the conversations goes.

Where possible, if you're both boarding the same flight, Jane says you can continue your airport flirtation in the sky

Over the years she's met a whole spread of people, including high-up executives at Walmart, design engineers at Tesla, ancient archaeologists and celebrity personal trainers.

One thing Jane encourages is to 'always, always, always suss out the family situation'.

She reveals: 'I have been very disappointed with discovering married or committed men who have not disclosed information to me.

Every now and then you meet a kindred spirit. I'm still seeing someone today that I met over for years ago in Minneapolis.

'While, thankfully, I have never engaged in an affair, youd be surprised by the lengths that men go to cover up their relationships.'

Where possible, if you're both boarding the same flight, Jane says you can continue your airport flirtation in the sky.

She says she's been known to swap seats so she can continue her encounter and if seat-swapping isn't an option she will flirt by sending drinks to their seats or 'catching them in the service area for a tryst'.

So, are airport dalliances grounds for a longer-lasting romance?

Reflecting on her own experiences, Jane concludes: 'Usually the interactions are quite fleeting - the odd two to three month fling is also there - but every now and then you meet a kindred spirit.

'I'm still seeing someone today that I met over four years ago in Minneapolis.

'As with everything, you just have to get the timing right.'

And when it comes to timing, Jane highlights the importance of swapping social media contacts and numbers before you part ways or get lost. You never know, you may have just met the love of your life!

CASE STUDY: JANE'S BEST AIRPORT ROMANCE I saw a gentleman at a bar in San Francisco's airport. He had Aziz Ansari's latest book about 'Modern Romance'. Since my book club had been considering reading this book, I asked him about it and we got into this pretty intense conversation about the different forms of love that exist in the world today and how there is no real 'one size fits all'. Our conversation continued over a few glasses of wine before he surprised me by getting the check for both of our drinks. Turns out we were on the same flight, and while I offered to pay him back with a mid-flight wine, he casually suggested we just grab a drink on the other side (in LA) once we landed. Fast forward, 50 minutes later we land in LA and I run off the plane to quickly 'powder my nose'. When I emerge, I thought he would still be in the crowd, but we lost each other among the crowds of LAX. Shrugging and giving up, I went to go grab an Uber from the designated space. Just as I was opening the car door, I heard him run up behind me (a little out of breath) and offer up his book. 'If nothing else, I wanted you to have this. You should read it,' he said. I thanked him and left. Inside the book he had written his name and number... and we went from there. Advertisement




From the surreal panic of flight attendants being thrown around to the eerie calm of helpless passengers, travellers have shared tales of the most turbulent flights theyve ever been on.

Fliers have revealed the terrifying moments when theyve been slammed against the cabin ceiling or heard grown men screaming, on a number of online forums.

Others have expressed the catharsis of kissing their loved ones goodbye then living to tell the tale.

Fliers have revealed the terrifying moments when theyve been slammed against the cabin ceiling or heard grown men screaming, on a number of online forums (file image)

Frequent fliers have taken to Quora, Airliners.net and Flyertalk to answer the same question: What happened during extreme turbulence?

Read on for some of the most shocking in-flight experiences, which show no matter how bad turbulence may feel, more often than not it's survivable.

In-flight injuries

Theres a reason cabin crew ask you to wear your seat belt during a flight, as passengers can suffer horrific injuries if they suddenly hurtle out of their seat.

HOW DO PILOTS DEAL WITH TURBULENCE? A serving airline captain reveals four methods for dealing with turbulence: 1. Grin and bear it - the aircraft is more than capable of withstanding the loads associated with turbulence (although severe turbulence can be quite uncomfortable and best avoided for passenger comfort). 2. Try flying higher (if aircraft performance allows it) or lower (although this burns more fuel and might make things worse). 3. Fly at the aircraft turbulence penetration speed - generally a little slower than normal cruising speed. 4. Turn to avoid the area of turbulence if its localised (such as near a thunderstorm). Advertisement

But flight attendants who spend much of a journey on their feet are at risk if turbulence unexpectedly hits.

Traveller Chris Huffman took to Quora to describe a night flight from Atlanta to Kinshasa on a 747 aircraft. He said: We were somewhere above the coastal mountains of the Cameroon when we began to shake, rattle and roll.

The FAs [flight attendants] checked everyone for seat belts and went about their business. Then we hit an air gap and dropped thousands of feet in seconds (or less). One FA was tossed across the plane and broke her back. It was horrible.

Pilot Robert Iodice shared a tale of flying a Cessna Skyhawk while practising for his private pilots licence.

He said: I apparently had not tightened my lap belt adequately. The turbulence was so severe that I slammed my head into the cockpit ceiling. I had a sore neck for days after that.

Preparing for impact

Many revealed that during a bout of turbulence they genuinely thought they would crash.

On his way back to France from Turkey, Pierre Le Poulain experienced the plane shaking violently. He reported: Everybody went dead silent, waiting for the something, a sign that would tell us if we would die today or if we would make it.

The girl sitting next to me kept whispering to herself f***, f***, f***.

After half an hour of intensifying turbulence, Mr Le Poulain accepted that he would crash. He said: I tried to relax my thoughts and told myself if you are going to die today, do it properly".

I put my headphone over my ears, decided that the Pink Floyd would be a nice song to die to and waited for the inevitable.

Thankfully, he lived to tell the tale.

Also feeling helpless as his aircraft plummeted into what felt like freefall, flier Pranay Chaturvedi was on a flight from India to Singapore with his wife when turbulence hit.

He said: Some of the passengers screamed, some were shocked, we held hands, looked at each other and without saying anything, kissed.

Some fliers described the surreal panic of flight attendants being thrown around (file image)

Sickening experience

Less life-threatening but equally memorable was Ian Sawyers flight over eastern Kakadu in Australia in a small six-seater aircraft.

He said: It was a very hot day, in the mid-40 degree C, and the thermals rising off the baked cliff faces below were causing the aircraft to be thrown around in almost every direction you can think of.

[I was] seated next to a girl who never took her head out of a sick bag for the whole hour of the flight, it wasnt the most pleasant of experiences.

Pilot's skill

Many passengers praised and acknowledged the expertise of their pilots during their accounts. One surprising tale came from an Airliners community member called Kubus who said during turbulence: ' I looked a little further ahead, nothing but blackness, lit up by lighting. Once again the seatbelt saved the head.'

However once it had ended, he admitted: 'I have never seen or felt a smoother landing, after all the shaking, the swings, and turbulence.

'It was as if someone just turned off everything and let us glide down gently onto the runway. Since I was the last one off the plane, I asked the pilot about the landing. He said he flew almost the whole trip by hand.'

One flier, Parth Sharma, described a scenario where his plane circled four times over Phuket, Thailand, after a storm hit.

He shared: 'The flight was shaking vigorously for a good 20 minutes including at least a couple of sudden drops (elevator effect). Needless to say I was having heart-in-mouth experience.'

He was seated separately from his wife during the journey and afterwards asked her how she fared. He said: 'I asked my wife how was it (with a similar smile when you had an adventure and are happy that you are alive). Turns out she was sleeping the entire duration.'
She found her happily ever after with photographer Lee Henderson, with the pair tying the knot almost 15 years ago.

But in an interview on KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O Show on Friday, Jackie O Henderson opened up about her sex life, revealing the number of men she has slept with.

'I've slept with seven guys,' the 42-year-old confirmed to her co-host Kyle Sandilands.

'I've slept with seven guys': Jackie O Henderson, 42, revealed her number on Friday's KIIS FM Kyle and Jackie O Show

The conversation started when co-host Kyle, 45, said he would be surprised to hear of Jackie's sex life.

'Our girl Jackie O has only let seven different men enter her in her entire life,' he said.

'Yeah, well I've slept with seven guys, yeah,' the mother-of-one confirmed.

Not holding back: The conversation started when co-host Kyle Sandilands, 45, said he would be surprised to hear of Jackie's sex life

Revealing all: 'Our girl Jackie O has only let seven different men enter her in her entire life,' he said

Jackie exchanged vows with her English husband Lee Henderson in 2003.

The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Catalina 'Kitty' Mae via IVF treatment in 2010.

Not much is known about Jackie's past boyfriends, however the personality did reveal in January last year, that she dated a drug dealer.

The blonde mentioned her shady ex during a competition with Kyle and guest Guy Sebastian, to establish who had dated the most 'Bogan' people in their past.

Married bliss: Jackie tied the knot with her English husband Lee Henderson in 2003

'Drug dealer on the Gold Coast, drove a Kombi van...hello,' Jackie giggled, much to Kyle and Guy's delight.

Naturally it didn't take long for co-host Kyle to chime in, playfully teasing: '[He was] selling bags of weed out the back.' While Guy added: 'Such class.'

Jackie was previously married to radio host "Ugly" Phil O'Neil, who somewhat helped launch the blonde's career in media.

Former flame: Jackie was previously married to radio host "Ugly" Phil O'Neil, 53, who somewhat helped launch the blonde's career in media

In 1993, when a staffer of Phil unexpectedly quit, Jackie joined her husband on-air.

'I was answering the phones, I was doing on-air messaging and a little bit at a time I fell into it,' she previously told The Daily Telegraph.

'And it was my fate, my calling. I love radio. I'm in the right job, for sure,' she added.

The duo became a hit in the 90s, but as her marriage fell apart, 2DAY FM teamed her with Kyle Sandilands.

The pair soon became the number one radio program.
Em Rusciano's penchant for sharing unfiltered opinions on controversial topics regularly raises eyebrows.

But on Thursday, it was her own that were looking notably skyward.

The 2DAY FM breakfast host took to Instagram several times throughout the day to document her permanent eyebrow 'feathering' tattoo procedure.

New look: Em Rusciano took to Instagram Thursday to document her permanent 'feather' eyebrow procedure

Also known as Permanent Makeup, the technique is heralded as an advancement for eyebrow tattoos, using needles and dye to replicate the depth of individual hairs rather than simply applying straight black lines.

The 37-year-old came across as pleased with the results of her procedure, despite admitting to not yet being used to the thick, defined new look.

The post-tattoo before-and-after snaps showed a new set of much thicker, filled-out brows.

Pleased! The 37-year-old came across as pleased with the results of her procedure, despite admitting to not yet being used to the thick, defined new look (pictured here after procedure)

It looked as if the mother-of-two took the opportunity to opt for a higher curve line, flaunting a notably steep arch.

The four-panel image posted to Instagram showed before and after pics, as well as a close-up of a special ruler being used to assist with the procedure.

'I totally got a face tatt today!' Em wrote in the caption.

'I over plucked in the 90's and they never recovered.'

The preparation: Also known as Permanent Makeup, the technique is heralded as an advancement for eyebrow tattoos, using needles and dye to replicate the depth of individual hairs rather than simply applying straight black lines

The before: The post-tattoo before-and-after snaps showed a new set of much thicker, filled-out brows (pictured here before procedure)

Indicating she was still growing on the bolder brows, the beauty also wrote: 'They need to settle a bit and I'm still getting to know them but I'm very happy.'

In the comments, the majority of fans praised the radio host's transformation.

'Wow in all honesty I wouldn't have guessed they were tatted on looks very natural love them,' one wrote.

'They look fabulous- no need to be self conscious at all,' another reassured.

Fabulous! In the comments, the majority of fans praised the radio host's transformation, with one writing: 'They look fabulous- no need to be self conscious at all,'

While often referred to as permanent, the effect generally fades over time, with varying reports on whether the brows will ever revert to their completely untouched state.

Tiffany Scanlon - one half of The Bachelor's first ever same-sex couple - also documented her foray into eyebrow feathering earlier this year, expressing similar delight with the results.

Tiffany too! Tiffany Scanlon (L) - one half of The Bachelor's first ever same-sex couple - also documented her foray into eyebrow feathering earlier this year (pictured here with girlfriend Megan Marx)

Pleased! As with Em, the blonde beauty expressed delights with the results




She's going from making babies to Making History.

Leighton Meester left her 17-month-old daughter Arlo at home as she headed to Sirius XM in New York on Thursday.

The 30-year-old was the epitome of elegance as she stepped out to promote her new Fox show.

Polka dots: Leighton Meester left her 17-month-old daughter Arlo at home as she headed to Sirius XM in New York on Thursday

She showcased her slim frame in a polka dot sheath skirt, which had a frill trim.

The notoriously low-key star added a fitted black top, as she joined the hosts for a chat on the air.

The Gossip Girl star actress added simple black pumps and pulled her honey tresses into a sleek ponytail.

Stylish: The 30-year-old was the epitome of elegance as she stepped out to promote her new Fox show

The beauty was once a fashion darling - helped by her Gossip Girl character Blair Waldorf's passion for style - and vamped up her look with a classic bright red lip.

The mother of one is marking her return to Hollywood with the Fox time travel series, after she took a break to care for her daughter in 2015.

The actress told the latest edition of Rogue Magazine that she loves her new series and it was a case of love at first script read.

Interview: The notoriously low-key star added a fitted black top, as she joined the hosts for a chat on the air

Low-key: The Gossip Girl star actress pulled her honey tresses into a sleek ponytail

Natural beauty: Leighton was once a fashion darling - helped by her Gossip Girl character Blair Waldorf's passion for style - and vamped up her look with a classic bright red lip

Family first: The mother of one is marking her return to Hollywood with the Fox time travel series, after she took a break to care for her daughter in 2015

She liked the comedy about time travel so much, that it was the first show to tempt her to go back to work since becoming a mum.

'When I went into [the show], and when I decided that I wanted to work consistently on something, I had criteria.

'I read other [scripts] too, but this was just the one. It was love at first sight.'

Promotional trail: Rapper & SiriusXM host Sway Calloway joined Leighton at Sway in the Morning on Eminem's Shade 45 at SiriusXM Studios

Looking good: She showcased her slim frame in a poker dot sheath skirt

Leighton shares daughter Arlo with husband of over two years, Adam Brody, who also knows a thing or two about being a beloved character on a cult teen hit, having starred in The O.C.

The couple wed in 2014 but in a secret ceremony. They took a similar approach to the birth of their first child, keeping her arrival under wraps for two months.

Making History premiers on Fox on March 5 and airs Sundays.
Karl Stefanovic is said to be enjoying a new relationship with Jasmine Yarbrough.

And from pictures taken of the 33-year-old blonde beauty on Tuesday, it's no wonder the 42-year-old Today Show host is smitten.

The model and shoe designer flaunted her lean legs in activewear, while out running errands in Sydney.

No wonder he's smitten! Karl Stefanovic's model 'girlfriend' Jasmine Yarbrough, 33, flaunted her lean legs in activewear, while out running errands in Sydney on Tuesday

Jasmine looked relaxed and at ease as she took to Sydney's streets.

A pair of black full-length tights showed off her slender legs, teamed with a coordinating zip-up jacket by PE Nation that covered her petite upper frame.

Purple Nike trainers added a pop of colour, while a black tote bag, delicate bracelets and round-rimmed sunglasses worked as stylish accessories.

Sweeping her blonde locks into an effortless ponytail, Jasmine appeared to go makeup-free, allowing her natural beauty to shine through.

In style: A pair of black full-length tights showed off her slender legs, teamed with a coordinating zip-up jacket by PE Nation that covered her petite upper frame

Effortless: Purple Nike trainers, a black tote bag and delicate bracelets worked as low-key accessories

She's a natural: The personality appeared to go makeup-free, shielding her eyes behind a pair of round-rimmed sunglasses

Jasmine was a lady on a mission as she ran a series of errands in Sydney's trendy Eastern Suburbs.

First up she stopped by Double Bay's Indigo Coffee for a quick caffeine hit.

Catching up with friends including her Mara & Mine business partner Tamara Ingham, Jasmine then treated herself to a pedicure at Westfield Bondi Junction, before heading to Surry Hills to pick up an outfit.

Content: Jasmine could not wipe the smile off her face as she ran a series of errands in Sydney's trendy Eastern Suburbs

Low-key: The LA-based model swept her blonde locks into an effortless ponytail

Company: Jasmine caught up with her Mara & Mine business partner Tamara Ingham

Pampering: The pair were said to enjoy a pedicure at Westfield's Bondi Junction

According to reports published by The Daily Telegraph, Jasmine certainly has reason to smile.

Karl and his love interest were said to put on quite an amorous display as they partied on a boat last weekend, on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

A source close to the LA-based model told the publication that Karl, 'rented a secret hideaway with water views' for the pair.

Meanwhile, according to another story in Woman's Day, Karl and Jasmine are 'so committed to each other' that they are 'looking for a place to rent together in Sydney.'

In fashion: The leggy beauty then picked up an outfit from Surry Hills with Tamara

Calling Karl? While heading into a premise in Sydney's Riley Street, Jasmine engaged in conversation on her iPhone

Social: Jasmine was spotted catching up with a male pal on the outing
She shot to fame playing Joanna, the American exchange student who caught the eye of adorable Sam, in the 2003 classic Love Actually.

And now, Olivia Olson has revealed there may be a happy ending in store for the childhood sweethearts, who have been seen filming together on the highly-anticipated sequel.

Speaking with The Fix, the now 24-year-old stated: 'I can't tell you much about where Joanna and Sam are nowadays, because obviously we need you to watch', however in regards to wedding bells she said, 'Maybe it will happen'.

Spilling a sequel secret? Olivia Olson, who played Joanna in 2003's Love Actually, has reprised her role in the sequel and hinted in an interview with The Fix that her character may marry childhood sweetheart, Sam

News of a Love Actually sequel - which will be a 10-minute special in aid of Comic Relief - has sent the world into a frenzy.

Olivia has been seen filming alongside Liam Neeson and Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who played Sam.

Dishing more details, Olivia told The Fix: 'We [Joanna and Sam] do re-meet later in life and we come to Liam Neeson to tell him a little something... I think you can tell from the photos, it all seems very happy and we're in a good place'.

Cute couple: Olivia, with co-star Thomas in 2003, after their romance playing Joanna and Sam lit up the original film

Back together again: Olivia and Thomas were seen filming last week in London, with Olivia telling The Fix, 'I think you can see from the photos, it's all very happy'

The stars were seen filming in London's Southbank last week, using the same park bench that featured in the original film.

This set tongues wagging that the significant site might be the perfect place for Sam to pop the question to Joanna.

Happy ending? Olivia looked happy to reprise her role as

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Emma Thompson will not reprise her role in the sequel, after her on-screen husband Alan Rickman passed away early last year.

Emma and Alan played a couple going through troubles in their marriage, with Digital Spy reporting that Emma 'just can't do it' [film the sequel].

Tragic: Emma Thompson (pictured with the late Alan Rickman who played her husband in the original film) may be returning after all, Olivia revealed

However, Olivia told The Fix: 'I think that because of the craze over the revival, they may write in some parts for Emma Thompson now.'

'I did read the entire script, and so far there is nothing,' Olivia added.

'But I did speak with Richard Curtis [the screenwriter] and he was saying we might have to change it and do something for him [a tribute to Alan]'.

First kiss: Olivia also revealed that Thomas was her first kiss, and so she was nervous to reunite with him years later

The American actress also revealed that Thomas was her first kiss.

'Seeing everyone fifteen years later was a trip,' Olivia said. 'I think more so seeing Thomas. He was my first kiss, so I think there was kind of a looming, almost nervousness that I had.

The Love Actually sequel will air on BBC on March 24.
On Thursday, she was snapped visiting her rumoured new beau, Julian Assange, at the Ecuadorean embassy where he is living in a bid to avoid extradition.

But a few hours later, Pamela Anderson opted to enjoy some time with her pals as she arrived at the Project Polunin dance event at Banqueting House in London.

The 49-year-old former Baywatch star oozed her statement sexy style in a daringly low-cut dress which aimed to accentuate her eye-popping cleavage as she hung out with photographer David LaChapelle.

Scroll down for video

Wow: Pamela Anderson, 49, wore a plunging dress which flaunted her ample assets as she mingled with photographer David LaChapelle at the Project Polunin at Banqueting House in London

The sparkling black number hugged onto her jaw-dropping curves and flaunted her ample assets in the process.

Pamela's show-stopping garment fell just above her knees and she boosted her height in a pair of towering stilettos.

Adding a further touch of elegance to her look, the American born star expertly draped a chic white blazer on her shoulders.

She kept her make-up look pared down, opting for just a slick of blush and slight lashing of mascara.

Figure-hugging: The sparkling black number hugged onto her jaw-dropping curves and flaunted her ample assets in the process

Fashionista: Pamela's show-stopping garment fell just above her knees and she boosted her height in a pair of towering stilettos

Stylish: Adding a further touch of elegance to her look, the American born star expertly draped a chic white blazer on her shoulders

The mother-of-two worked her shoulder length blonde tresses, which were styled in glamorous curls.

LaChapelle kept it super cool in a trendy all-black ensemble as he posed with the blonde beauty icon.

Meanwhile, Pamela was pictured visiting Julian Assange - her rumoured new beau who is living at the Ecuadorean embassy to avoid extradition.

The gorgeous star yesterday alluded to a relationship between the pair, telling an Australian radio show that she has spent more time with the WikiLeaks founder than her three husbands combined.

She has become an advocate for men falsely accused of rape, after at least six visits to Assange in London.

Beauty: She kept her make-up look pared down, opting for just a slick of blush and slight lashing of mascara

A few hours earlier: The former Baywatch star was pictured outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where her rumoured beau Julian Assange is living

Assange is accused of rape in Sweden.

Speaking to The Kyle and Jackie O Show, Anderson said: 'I've spent more time talking to Julian than all of my ex-husband combined!'

When asked if she'd 'kissed' the Australian journalist, the model and animal rights activist burst into a giggle and said: 'It was never the intention to become romantic. It was just to join forces to do something important.'

But she then added cryptically: 'Things happen, for sure.'

She also then revealed a fantasy in which she would become First Lady to 'world leader' Julian.

Keen on him: This week Anderson said: 'I've spent more time talking to Julian than all of my ex-husband combined!'

In hiding: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange took refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in August 2012 after being accused of rape in Sweden

'He's wonderful,' Anderson gushed. 'I always thought I'd make a good First Lady. If I had to pick a world leader to stand beside it'd be Julian Assange.'

'Wouldn't that be great?' she added.

The Barb Wire star, who has been visiting the 45-year-old regularly at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he's currently living under asylum, then defended his innocence against a rape accusation in Sweden.

'This silly ridiculous case in Sweden, people really need to look at it and see there was no crime committed, he hasn't been convicted of anything, and we need to support him,' she said defiantly.
Saturday Night Live has been on a roll of late with its hilarious skits of Alec Baldwin as President Trump and Melissa McCarthy as White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

So it will be interesting to see whether Scarlett Johansson will play a member of Trump's administration when she returns to host SNL for a fifth time on March 11.

The news of the 32-year-old's casting was revealed on Thursday by Variety.

She'll be back: Scarlett Johansson, who donned an elegant black suit for New York's amFAR gala on February 8, is set to host Saturday Night Live for a fifth time on March 11

The actress, whose new film Ghost In The Shell from Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks bows on March 31, will be joined by musical guest Lorde.

It's the 20-year-old Grammy Award winner's debut on NBC's sketch-comedy series.

Scarlett last hosted Saturday Night Live on May 2, 2015 with Wiz Khalifa as the musical guest and first appeared on January 14, 2006 with Death Cab For Cutie.

The month's appearance makes her the 17th member of the shows Five-Timers Club - celebrities who have hosted the show five times or more.

Opening monologue: The 32-year-old last appeared on NBC's skit show on May 2, 2015

Wigging out: The actress donned a brunette hair piece to play Daniela during the show's Right Side Of The Bed skit, which seemed to involved a stiff drink

The list includes Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, Drew Barrymore, Candace Bergen, Chevy Chase, Danny DeVito, Tina Fey, John Goodman, Elliott Gould, Tom Hanks, Buck Henry, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Paul Simon, Justin Timberlake and Christopher Walken.

Alec has hosted the show the most times with 17 under his belt while Steve has hosted it 15 times.

Saturday Night Live will return with new episodes on March 4, with the first episode lead by Hidden Figures star and Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer.

First time out: Scarlett as Donna Smalls English, Kenan Thompson as D.J. Dynasty Handbag and Rachel Dratch as Tiara Zee during the Deep House Dish skit on January 14, 2005

She will be joined by musical guest Father John Misty, whose new album Pure Comedy is about to be released.

Meanwhile, Scarlett is now negotiating Hollywood as a single mother.

In January, it was announced that she and her French journalist husband Romain Dauriac, 34, had separated last summer after two years of marriage. They share two-year-old daughter Rose.
His Hollywood heavyweight father Clint Eastwood certainly had a heartthrob status in his younger years.

And his 30-year-old son Scott Eastwood is certainly following in his footsteps.

The American actor was seen working out shirtless at the park by Bondi Beach, before cooling off as took a dip in the surf.

Scroll down for video

Cooling down: Scott Eastwood, 30, took a dip at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Wednesday, after working out at a park nearby

The Fast and Furious star wore a pair of navy patterned board shorts on the day and showed off his rippling abs.

Beating the summer heat, the Pacific Rim: Uprising star fully submerged himself in the water and wet his hair, no doubt glad to swim after the intense workout.

Scott was seen performing a number of grueling moves as some friends watched on.

Working up a sweat: Scott was seen performing a number of grueling moves as some friends watched on

Working hard: He could be seen doing pull ups, push ups and chin ups, as he honed his physique

Motivation? Scott was seen with a mystery blonde beauty, who helped him as he worked out

He could be seen doing pull ups, push ups and chin ups, as he honed his physique.

Scott was seen with a mystery blonde beauty, who helped him as he worked out.

Scott has spent time in Australia while filming his new flick, Pacific Rim: Uprising, which is expected to be released next year.

Down Under: Scott has spent time in Australia while filming his new flick, Pacific Rim: Uprising, which is expected to be released next year

Like a local: While in Australia, Scott enjoyed checking out some local tourist attractions including the figure eight rock pools at the Royal National Park

Just one more! Scott looked strained as he worked out

familiar face: Scott is known for films including The Longest Ride and has appeared in Taylor Swift's Wildest Dreams film clip

While in Australia, Scott enjoyed checking out some local tourist attractions, including the figure eight rock pools at the Royal National Park south of Sydney, as well as regularly being on Sydney Harbour.

The hunky star was also in Sydney on New Years Eve, sharing a shot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the fireworks display, writing: 'Sydney puts on the most incredible firework show for NYE in the world. Warm weather and the most fun people on the planet.....yep Australians!!! Such a great night!!!!'

It is believed he has just finished filming Pacific Rim, taking to Instagram to share a shot of himself with some pals, writing: 'Here's to a summer I'll never forget. Thanks for all the good times, Aussies.'

Scott is known for films including The Longest Ride and has appeared in Taylor Swift's Wildest Dreams film clip.

He has also starred in Suicide Squad and will appear in this year's Fast and Furious film, called The Fate of the Furious.

Look out, ladies! The Fast and Furious star wore a pair of navy patterned board shorts on the day and showed off his rippling abs

Hitting the surf: Beating the summer heat, the personality fully submerged himself in the water and wet his hair, no doubt glad to swim after the intense workout

Making waves: Scott is the son of Hollywood heavyweight Clint Eastood
Their relationship was rocked with scandal when Tom Daley was accused of having an 18-month affair with a male model while Dustin Lance Black was working abroad.

But the Olympic diver, 22, and his movie maker fiance, 42, looked stronger than ever as they attended the premiere for Dustin's new ABC series, When We Rise, in San Francisco on Thursday.

Confirming that there was nothing but love between them, Tom took to Instagram to share a clip of himself asking: 'Are we good?' to which Lance shouted back 'Yeah, we're good!'

Scroll down for video

Cute couple: Tom Daley, 22, and his fiance Dustin Lance Black, 42, looked stronger than ever as they attended the premiere for new series When We Rise, in San Francisco on Thursday

The gold medallist - who was accused of exchanging explicit messages and having 'physical' liaisons with model Edward William, 27 - also shared a cute snap of the pair attending the premiere, and gushed in the caption:

'I'm so proud of my @dlanceblack for premiering the whole 8 hours of his mini series @whenweriseabc :).'

Dustin also took to Instagram on his night, posting: 'Thanks to everyone who made it possible and @tomdaley1994 for crossing an ocean to be by my side.'

The outing is their second public appearance in a week, as Tom and Dustin united for a screening of When We Rise at Castro Theatre on Monday.

Rumour has it: Tom is said to have exchanged sexually explicit messages with Edward William (pictured), 27, and is also accused of having 'physical' liaisons

Going strong: Confirming that there was nothing but love between them, Tom took to Instagram to share a clip of himself asking: 'Are we good?' to which Lance shouted back 'Yeah, we're good!'

Having fun: In the clip, the pair announced they are good before Dustin larks around for the camera pretending to pick his nose before heading inside for the premiere

The Team GB athlete and his beau brushed aside the shocking cheating allegations as they wrapped their arms around each other and smiled defiantly.

The pair looked happy, with Tom wrapping an arm around Dustin, as they attended the screening for the ABC series that Dustin wrote and produced.

And it seems the director was keen to move on from the allegations, as he shared a cryptic Instagram snap of himself looking rainbow on Sunday - which he captioned simply: 'Hopeful.'

Brave face: The outing is their second public appearance in a week, as Tom and Dustin united for a screening of When We Rise at Castro Theatre on Monday

United front: The Team GB athlete, 22, and the American film director, 42, brushed aside the shocking allegations as they wrapped their arms around each other and smiled defiantly

All smiles: The pair looked happy, with Tom wrapping an arm around Dustin, as they attended the screening for the ABC series that Dustin wrote and produced

On Sunday Tom was rocked with allegations that he an 18-month affair with male model Edward William while his fiance was working abroad.

The Team GB athlete reportedly met his 6ft 6ins lover in the street and began chatting online in 2014.

A source told The Sun: 'Ed said the messages Tom sent would say things like, "I'm home and horny, can you come round?"

'Others would say, "Lance is away, are you going to be about?"

'Ed told them it was a purely physical relationship with not much emotion involved.

Looking dapper: Tom looked casual in an all-black outfit while Dustin kept things quirky in a denim jacket

''Hopeful': It seems the director was keen to move on from the allegations, as he shared a cryptic Instagram snap of himself looking rainbow

British diver Tom Daley announced his engagement to American writer, director and producer Dustin Lance Black in 2015

'He said Tom was very confident and forward with a huge sex drive.'

The newspaper reported that the pair would meet for coffees at Mr Daley's London flat and also attended.

Their relationship is also said to have become 'an open secret' among the local gay community.

Mr William and Mr Daley's affair ended in 2015 but they have been in touch as recently as this month.

Claims: The newspaper reported that the pair would meet for coffees at Mr Daley's London flat and also attended

Loved-up: Just days before the allegations, the couple shared a sweet Valentine's Day selfie

Mr Daley previously confessed to having an online tryst with another man during a secret relationship break with Lance  and has promised to his fiance that it will never happen again.

Footage of the diving ace stripping for online sex has emerged, prompting Tom to confess a number of online relationships to his fiance.

Mr Daley admitted to being on a seven-month break from his then boyfriend as the pair were tied up with demanding work commitments.

Last month, Mr Daley revealed that he knew he wanted to settle down with the 42-year-old film-maker just one week into their romance - and it only took a month of being together before they had the discussion.

Diving into romance: Tom Daley has revealed that he wanted to marry his fiance Dustin Lance Black just one week into their romance

Tryst: Tom recently admitted to having had an online tryst with a fan during a secret break in his relationship with Dustin

'After the first week wed been together, I just knew,' the Olympian told The Mirror. 'And ever since then its just felt like a waste of time not being married to Lance.'

When asked if he'd have seen himself getting married so young, he responded: 'Not at all. If youd have told me five years ago Id have been, "Pff, yeah, sure." But it just felt right. Within the first month wed talked about it.'

As for their wedding plans, he added: 'Its all going well, were looking at dates, but everything is staying under wraps at the moment.

'Who knows what its going to be like, I havent been to a wedding since I was five, so I have no idea. We just want to do what we like. Well just make it us.'
Ashley Roberts reportedly got cosy with Brooklyn Beckham at the BRITs after party, despite being double his age.

The former Pussycat Doll, 35, and the son of David and Victoria Beckham, 17, are said to have got chatting at the Warner Music & Ciroc party on Wednesday after Ashley asked her agent to make introductions.

A source told The Sun: 'She was very keen to get to know Brooklyn so asked her agent to introduce her to him.'

Scroll down for video

Cosy: Ashley Roberts, 35, reportedly got cosy with Brooklyn Beckham, 17, at the BRITs after party, despite being double his age

They added: 'He jumped out of his seat to talk to her and they chatted for over 30 minutes as Ashley tried to get Brooklyn to dance by showing him some of her moves.

'At one point Ashley was mouthing the lyrics of the song playing to Brooklyn, who by this time had a huge smile on his face.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Ashley and Brooklyn for comment.

Meeting up: The pair are said to have got chatting at the Warner Music & Ciroc party on Wednesday after Ashley asked her agent to make introductions

Feeling brave: Brooklyn Beckham showed off his arm sling at the Warner Music & Ciroc Brit Awards party after strategically disguising it under a statement coat at London's O2 a few hours earlier (R)

Earlier on in the night, Brooklyn made a stylish arrival to the annual music spectacle at London's O2 Arena.

The rising model stole the spotlight on the red carpet in a statement tartan jacket and topped off the look with a brand new beard.

The over-sized outerwear swamped his slim physique and he completed the look with all-black essentials underneath.

Brooklyn, who has been spotted with the hard-to-miss sling on his arm during his recent outings, covered it under the coat.

Feeling better: The budding photographer, 17 - who broke his collarbone - looked content as he posed for photographers while donning an all-black ensemble

Mingling with the stars: The son of David and Victoria Beckham looked more than comfortable in his celebrity surroundings

Trendy: Earlier on in the night, Brooklyn made a stylish arrival to the annual music spectacle where he hid his injury in the over-sized outerwear

New look: The teen model also sported a moustache on the red carpet

The tight stuff: Brooklyn kept it simple in a tight T-shirt and jeans

The eldest child of David and Brooklyn Beckham also seemed to be growing a moustache as he sported a few hairs on his upper lip.

Brooklyn displayed a slight smirk on his face, which only seemed to emphasis his new look further.

The wannabe photographer mingled with a slew of stars at the bash including Holly Willoughby, Charli XCX, Doutzen Kroes and Abbey Clancy.

Looking fan-tache-tic! The eldest child of David and Brooklyn Beckham seemed to be growing a moustache as he sported a few hairs on his upper lip

Happy display: Brooklyn sported a slight smirk on his face, which only seemed to emphasis his new look further

Going solo: Brooklyn appeared to be heading into the bash alone

'I held him as a baby and now he's a big man!': His appearance at the BRITs seemed to shock former Spice Girl Emma Bunton (Far R)

Wannabe: Emma sported black trousers and high heels as she posed for snaps with partner Jade Jones

Frank Lampard and Christine Bleakley were also among the attendees, with Christine looking striking in a silky emerald green top and black trousers.

His appearance at the BRITs seemed to shock former Spice Girl Emma Bunton who revealed on the ITV2 after show party: 'Brooklyn is here!

'Im like, "I held you as a baby and now hes a big man!" Its frightening! He looks very handsome,' the songstress gushed.

Going green: Christine Bleakley looked pretty in a slinky emerald shirt teamed with black trousers as she posed with husband Frank Lampard

Behind the decks: There was no relaxing for BRITs host Dermot O'Leary who spun some tunes at the bash

My other half: Dermot brought along wife Dee Koppang who cut an eye-catching figure in a black dress and fluffy coat

Coordinated couple: Peter Crouch sported a velvet dinner jacket while wife Abbey Clancy sported a stunning one-shouldered black and white frock

All the glamour: Nicole Appleton shimmered in blue while Ashley Roberts wore a black and white patterned number and Caroline Flack an LBD with leopardprint coat

The teen star seemed in great spirits despite suffering a painful accident after he hit the slopes in Whistler.

He shared a video of the moment he injured himself on Instagram where he showed his impressive snowboarding ability leading up to the accident, smoothly carving through the powder in the scenic setting.

After seemingly negotiating the trickiest part of the descent, he falls forwards while on an innocuous wide expanse, cracking his bone in the process.

Starry affair: Ed Sheeran and Noel Gallagher were among the guests at the Warners bash

Two different looks: Zara Martin sported a leather-look black and orange striped frock while party-girl Amber Le Bon wore a semi-sheer top and maxi-skirt

Fringe benefits: Pixie sported a metallic ensemble with fringed skirt

Model behaviour: Doutzen Kroes sported a black dress teamed with padded jacket and chunky boots

In their glad rags: Natalia Vodianova looked a striking sight in a pink embroidered and feathered gown while Holly Willoughby dazzled in a sequinned mini dress

Party girls: Maisie Williams, Charli XCX and Louise Thompson all looked very different with Maisie going flouncy, Charli sporty and Louise sporting a classic little black dress

Unlikely pair: James Blunt had a catch up and a photo with former footballer Frank, while Niall Horan was also at the bash in a suit and trainers

The video, which was viewed almost 400,000 times in the first four hours, was simply uploaded with the caption: 'Broke my collarbone at the end.'

Hours later, he shared an image of his X-Ray, displaying his collarbone ripped apart, putting him out of action for the rest of the trip.

The family appear to be have spent some quality time together in the winter hotspot after a hectic and fraught few weeks.

Ouch: The second-generation star also shared the X-ray confirming the injury on his social media

Man down: The model lost control of his body, leading to the a violent impact on the snow

Slope master: Prior to his tumble, Brooklyn navigated the mountain with precision

Not only was Victoria busy preparing for her A/W17 showcase in New York City, emails were then leaked of David reportedly reacting angrily to not being given a knighthood.

The former England captain allegedly branded the Honours Committee unappreciative c***s in the messages, and dismissed lower awards.

According to the revelations, the Honours Committee had already agreed that Beckham's nomination  almost certainly proposed by his PR advisers  was well 'merited' before a routine check of his tax affairs.

BRIT AWARDS 2017 - THE WINNERS BRITISH MALE SOLO ARTIST David Bowie - WINNER Craig David Kano Michael Kiwanuka Skepta BRITISH FEMALE SOLO ARTIST Emeli Sande - WINNER Anohni Ellie Goulding Lianne La Havas Nao BRITISH GROUP The 1975 - WINNER Bastille Biffy Clyro Little Mix Radiohead BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH ACT Rag'n'Bone Man - WINNER Anne-Marie Blossoms Skepta Stormzy BRITISH SINGLE Little Mix - Shout Out To My Ex - WINNER Alan Walker - Faded Calum Scott - Dancing On My Own Calvin Harris Ft Rihanna - This Is What You Came For Clean Bandit- Rockabye Coldplay - Hymn For The Weekend James Arthur - Say You Won't Let Go Jonas Blue & Dakota - Fast Car Tinie Tempah Ft Zara Larsson - Girls Like Zayn - Pillowtalk BRITISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR David Bowie - Blackstar - WINNER The 1975 - I Like It When You Sleep For You Are Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It Kano - Made In the Manor Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate Skepta Konnichiwa BRITISH ARTIST VIDEO OF THE YEAR One Direction - History - WINNER Adele - Send My Love (To Your New Lover) Calvin Harris Ft Rihanna - This Is What You Came For Clean Bandit Ft Sean Paul & Anne-Marie - Rockabye Coldplay - Hymn For The Weekend James Arthur - Say You Won't Let Go Jonas Blue & Dakota - Fast Car Little Mix Ft Sean Paul - Hair Tinie Tempah Ft Zara Larsson - Girls Like Zayn - Pillowtalk INTERNATIONAL MALE SOLO ARTIST Drake -WINNER Bon Iver Bruno Mars Leonard Cohen The Weeknd INTERNATIONAL FEMALE SOLO ARTIST Beyonce - WINNER Christine and the Queens Rihanna Sia Solange INTERNATIONAL GROUP A Tribe Called Quest - WINNER Kings Of Leon Drake And Future Nick Cave And the Bad Seeds Twenty-One Pilots Advertisement




Born Too White

Rating:

Has Political Correctness Gone Mad?

Rating:

Born Too White (BBC2) showed how albino populations live in Tanzania

Tanzania has one of the highest albino populations in the world. Most of the 60,000 sufferers are children and only 2 per cent of them will make it to their 40th birthday.

As if things werent tough enough for them, in Born Too White (BBC2) we saw how they also live in fear for their lives.

Those with albinism risk being attacked, abducted and murdered for their body parts.

A superstitious belief, widely held among local people, was that albinos bodies contained special minerals and, when witch doctors put them into a potion, they brought good luck.

Such potions sold for around 7,000 with politicians and wealthy businessmen thought to be the biggest customers.

Presenting the show was Dr Oscar Duke, familiar to some as one of the medics on 24 Hours In A&E. He also has albinism.

One of the most inspirational children Oscar met was 15-year-old Festo

One of the most inspirational children Oscar met was 15-year-old Festo. Attacked for his body parts when he was seven years old, he lost his left arm and right hand and spent four months in hospital. Thanks to encouragement from his wonderful teacher, Festo was flourishing at school with a particular talent for art and portraiture.

Some parents feared for their childrens lives so much that they sent them to special residential centres for protection.

As police cracked down on the trade in Tanzania, it pushed the problem over the border to Malawi.

Some parents feared for their childrens lives so much that they sent them to special residential centres for protection

There Oscar met the relatives of farmer Fletcher Masina, who had been savagely hacked to death while tending to his crops.

Oscar interviewed one of his dead-eyed killers in prison who tried to claim he was possessed by Satan but had really done it for his share of a promised 40,000 fee.

Uncomfortable viewing it may have been, but it was a powerful and deeply upsetting documentary. Dr Duke isnt an experienced presenter but he had a gentle, natural touch and was able to draw on his own experiences without hijacking the programme.

It only served to make some of the deluded fools in Trevor Phillipss Has Political Correctness Gone Mad? (Channel 4) seem all the more ridiculous and petty.

Trevor Phillipss Has Political Correctness Gone Mad? (Channel 4)

We saw Student Union representatives from universities across the country who had, between them, decided that: sombrero hats were offensive; fancy dress Pocahontas costumes were in bad taste; and that it was not on for men to dress up as women for fun.

Post-Brexit and the Trump election victory, Phillips was posing the question of whether liberal Lefties (as he admitted to being) had stifled debate with their over-sensitivity towards big issues.

A key player in the official Remain campaign, he realised that the Remainers refusal to even engage in an immigration debate had cost them the EU referendum.

In another example quoted, at Cardiff University, students even fought to ban feminist Germaine Greer from speaking after she stated that she didnt consider male-to-female transgender people real women. Transgender campaigner Paris Lees called Greer an old bigot yet simply couldnt see that trying to ban somebody who doesnt hold a certain belief was in itself illiberal.

However, when the general public were asked for their views, they were far more sensible than any student union representative or campaigner. It certainly proved that the professionally offended dont represent the vast majority.

Trevor Phillips concluded that we have, indeed, all gone PC potty and that people need to learn to live with offence. And thats certainly going to offend a few people.
The Love Actually reboot has sent fans into a frenzy, with a host of stars all confirming their return.

But Emma Thompson has ruled out a part in the Comic Relief special as she can find 'no comedy' since the death of her co-star, Alan Rickman.

She told PA: 'It's too soon. It's absolutely right because it's supposed to be for Comic Relief but there isn't much comic relief in the loss of our dear friend really only just over a year ago.

Scroll down for video

Ruled out: Emma Thompson has ruled out a part in the Comic Relief special as she can find 'no comedy' since the death of her co-star, Alan Rickman, in January 2016

'We thought and thought but it just seemed wrong but to revisit the wonderful fun characters of Bill Nighy and Hugh Grant and Liam (Neeson) and all of that, that's fantastic but obviously what would he have done?'

Love Actually follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before in London.

In the 2003 classic, Emma played Karen, the wife of Harry (Rickman) who was devastated to discover he had embarked on an affair with his secretary Mia (Heike Makatsch).

Former flames: In the 2003 classic, Emma played Karen, the wife of Harry (Rickman) who was devastated to discover he had embarked on an affair with his secretary Mia (Heike Makatsch)

Following Alan's death from pancreatic cancer in January 2016, Emma claimed it would 'not be the same' to reprise her role alongside the likes of Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth and Rowan Atkinson.

This comes after director Richard Curtis revealed the eagerly anticipated special will not feature a tribute to the late star.

'You know dealing with Alan is very complicated so not really,' the flick's spearhead revealed to the Press Association about Rickman.

Classic: Love Actually follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before in London

Love Actually follows the lives of eight very different couples dealing with their love lives in loosely interrelated tales, all set in the month before Christmas.

'Were not doing everyone. 'Were doing about two thirds of people,' Richard continued explaining the lack of tribute for Rickman.

The 10 minute film, dubbed Comic Relief Actually, will air during the Red Nose Day broadcast on March 24 on BBC1.
She was spotted heading to a gym without wearing her wedding rings on Thursday.

And after explaining why she doesn't train with her pricey diamonds on her fingers, Roxy Jacenko has taken to Instagram to defiantly flash her jewels.

The 36-year-old PR maven shared a snap of herself holding a bunch of flowers she received on Friday, with her adorned wedding ring finger in full view.

Scroll down for video

They're blooming there: Roxy Jacenko has taken to Instagram to flash her wedding and engagement rings after telling Daily Mail Australia why she takes them off during workouts

'The most magnificent arrival,' Roxy captioned in part of the snap.

The mother of two, whose husband Oliver Curtis is currently serving a jail sentence for insider trading, showcased her wedding bling and gold Rolex after being seen without her jewellery while working out the day before.

The blonde also flaunted her trim figure and 10kg weight loss in the snap, wearing a black mini skirt and white T-shirt.

Ring riddle! She was spotted heading to a gym without wearing her wedding rings on Thursday

Bare: Roxy is seen here on Thursday, in her leggings and crop top ready for her workout

Missing bling: Earlier on Friday, Roxy didn't have her rings on as she posed up in the mirror

Earlier on Friday, Roxy didn't have her rings on as she showed off her outfit in her wardrobe mirror.

Roxy explained to Daily Mail Australia this week that she takes her wedding rings off during her grueling workouts because she worries about crushing her diamonds.

'I do weights based training, can't be doing that with rings on my fingers!,' she explained.

Meanwhile, Roxy was also seen wearing her wedding rings on Thursday evening as she attended the exclusive Hermes At The Beach event in Sydney.

White hot: Meanwhile, Roxy was also seen wearing her wedding rings on Thursday evening as she attended the exclusive Hermes At The Beach event in Sydney

Earlier this month, Roxy, who lives with her two children Pixie and Hunter Curtis, referred to a minor wardrobe hiccup as one of many 'single girl issues.'

The Sydney businesswoman's clip documented her failed attempt at trying on a fitted-floral Zimmermann frock in front of a full-length mirror.

The late-night post is believed to have been uploaded when her two youngsters, Pixie, five, and Hunter, two, were asleep.

Roxy noted that she was having 'single girl issues' while 'trying to get her zipper up' on her own.

Making headlines: Earlier this month, Roxy, who lives with her two children Pixie and Hunter Curtis, referred to a minor wardrobe hiccup as one of many 'single girl issues' (pictured in December)

Sweat: Roxy is seen here working out and showing off her incredible figure

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the Sweaty Betty owner revealed she never managed to get the dress up solo, adding she: 'Gave up in the end!'

'Pix and Hunty help me with tricky zips these days - they were in bed so I was almost a contortionist trying to get it up solo!' she explained of the situation.

In the past Roxy had sent tongues wagging by choosing to not wear her engagement ring in public.

Roxy's husband Oliver is expected to be released from Cooma in June on good behaviour, after one year behind bars.
Scheana Shay made her public debut with her new boyfriend on Wednesday night.

The Vanderpump Rules star, 31, and Robert Valletta, who is the younger brother of actress Amber Valletta, attended OK Magazine's pre-Oscars party in Hollywood together.

While she walked the red carpet alone, they couldn't keep their hands off each other once inside the Nightingale club.

Scroll down for video

Happy couple: Scheana Shay and Robert Valletta attended OK Magazine's pre-Oscars party in Hollywood together

Dancing queen: The Vanderpump Rules star put on a racy show for her new guy

Letting loose: The pair went wild on the dance floor at Nightingale

The pair put on a racy show as they the night away together. Fellow Vanderpump Rules personalities Tom Sandoval and Lala Kent also attended the bash.

Scheana split from her husband, Michael Shay, in November after two years of marriage and they are in the throes of sorting out their divorce.

The reality star has been friends with Robert for a decade, but it wasn't until recently that their relationship took a romantic turn, a source told E! News earlier this week.

PDA: The new couple showed plenty of affection during their night of fun

According to the source, the romance started over the holidays when Robert reached out to the Bravo star.

The insider admits that the two have 'supported each other through the year' and spent New Year's Eve together.

The reality star may also team up with Robert on a few projects her new boyfriend is working on.

'Scheana wasn't looking for anything; she just got out of a marriage. But things happened and this feels right,' the E! News insider shared. 'They're seeing where it goes, but are really enjoying each other's company.'

The two spent the holidays together and Robert apparently traveled to New York to support Scheana for her appearance on Watch What Happens Live.

Low key: Scheana opted to walk the red carpet without her new guy

Scheana and her husband had a very public falling out on the last season of Vanderpump Rules.

'I just didn't think it was something that was fixable,' she explained during an interview with E! News.

'From three months into the marriage, if it wasn't one thing it was another and we both decided amicably that this relationship wasn't working anymore and a divorce was the way to go.'

Famous siblings: Actress Amber Valletta is Robert's older sister

Time together: They haven't publicly confirmed the romance, but they did spend the holidays together

The couple had been estranged since early November when it was claimed Michael - who also goes by Mike - was missing and was struggling with his sobriety.

Mike, 29, later took to Instagram to assure family, friends and fans he was not in a drug spiral and was not missing.

He's publicly battled with an addiction to prescription drugs, but had been sober since January.
He's a radio host and doting dad to two young boys.

And on Thursday, Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli was rightfully concerned after Ted, 2, took a tumble, falling a meter off the edge of the stairs and landing on his head.

The 37-year-old opened up about the incident on Friday morning's Fitzy and Wippa show, revealing that Ted was taken to the Children's Hospital after the accident.

Accident: Michael Wipfli's son Ted, 2, (pictured with dad on his second birthday) took a tumble, falling a meter off the edge of the stairs and landing on his head

'Lisa [Wippa's wife] was balling her eyes out and he was crying,' revealed Wippa.

Thankfully, the tiny toy was okay despite suffering a lump on his head.

This isn't the first time that Ted has been in trouble lately.

The youngster's 2nd birthday party didn't quite go to plan after the little one fell violently ill after eating cake earlier this week.

Wippa shared a story about his son's unfortunate situation in an off-limits chat on the Fitzy & Wippa Show on NOVA FM on Monday.

Wippa, his wife Lisa and their two young sons flew to Melbourne last weekend for the joint celebration of Ted's second birthday and Jack's christening.

Not such a Happy Birthday! Ted's 2nd birthday party didn't quite go to plan after the little one fell violently ill after eating cake

He said his sister and brother-in-law invited them to use their recently completed home, which was due to be photographed for a magazine, to entertain guests.

But the radio host was told by his brother-in-law that one of the rooms was off-limits, a newly decorated space with brand new wall art, a couch and rug.

However, after noticing Ted was looking quite unwell after jumping on the trampoline, Wippa took into him a the nice room to try to settle him down with hugs and watching Hi-5.

So cute: Ted is pictured cuddling his younger brother Jack

About five minutes into the watching the video, Ted started coughing.

'And then bang, all of a sudden the vomit started coming out of his mouth, and then I reckon for the next five seconds, like a high pressure hose that didn't stop,' Wippa described to his listeners.

'I'd picked him up to try and clear the vomit off the couch, but in doing so I swung him around and spray across the wall.'

Another year older! Beauty writer and Go-To Skin Care founder Zoe Foster Blake shared another snap of Ted's birthday party

Grabbing dad by the beard! Also at the party was Zoe's husband, comedian and radio host Hamish Blake, who looked on as little Jack latched Wippa's thick facial hair

Co-host Fitzy chimed in and joked: 'A bit of Jackson Pollock.'

'And then we rounded off with a bit of Pro Hart on the rug on the floor,' Wippa added.

The reason for his son's illness was because he ate cake.

Wippa said that his wife doesn't like feeding their kids sugary foods, in particular cakes, and as a result had a bad reaction to the delicious dessert.

'There's nothing you can do, you can't stop a kid spewing. Poor little Ted, we got home and he just continued to spew.'
She's the Big Brother contestant better known for her plastic surgery and numerous Instagram selfies.

And Skye Wheatley showed off her surgically enhanced features while attending a Real Housewives Of Sydney event in the harbour city on Thursday.

The 23-year-old debuted her recent rhinoplasty while posing on the red carpet alongside fellow busty surgery fan, Zilda Williams.

My how you've changed! Big Brother's Skye Wheatley showed off her surgically enhanced features at RHOS screening event

My how you've changed! Big Brother's Skye Wheatley shows off her surgically enhanced features alongside Zilda Williams at RHOS screening event

The Gold Coast-based makeup artist showed off her summer tan in a beige off the shoulder jumpsuit.

Going without the wigs she favours in her Instagram posts, the reality TV star wore her blonde locks straight in a bob.

She elongated her slim legs by wearing a pair of black pump heels and accessorised with a cream handbag.

Styling: The Gold Coast-based makeup artist showed off her summer tan in a beige off the shoulder jumpsuit

The glamourous red carpet look was a far cry from Skye's first foray into the public eye when she was a fresh-faced teenager on Big Brother.

Skye appeared on the popular reality star in 2014, entering the house as the girl next door Gold Coast barista.

But after her time on the show finished the teenager underwent a drastic change in her appearance, most notably travelling to Bangkok in 2015 for a boob job that went wrong, leaving her with a double bubble in one breast.

Fresh look: Skye appeared on the popular reality star in 2014, entering the house as the girl next door Gold Coast barista with blonde curls

Skye has since gone onto to lose weight and get lip fillers, going under the knife for the second time last year for a nose job.

Also showing off her surgically enhanced-breasts was Zilda, who looked stunning in a ruffled floral frock.

The busty beauty wore her blonde locks back in a ponytail and favoured a simple bronzed makeup look.

Flaunting it! Also showing off her surgically enhanced-breasts was Zilda, who looked stunning in a ruffled floral frock

Showing Richie what he's missing! Also representing The Bachelor babes were Olena Khamula and Kirralee 'Kiki' Morris

Also representing The Bachelor babes were Olena Khamula and Kirralee 'Kiki' Morris.

Olena looked sleek in a black mini dress, which showed off her lithe figure, pairing the ensemble with a pair of pointed cream heels.

Kiki went for a summery vibe, wearing a flirty floral red shirt with a white shirt which showed off her ample cleavage.

You beauty! Kiki went for a summery vibe, wearing a flirty floral red shirt with a white shirt which showed off her ample cleavage

Who's the girl? Also at the screening was The Bachelorette's Ben Lyall, who posed on the red carpet alongside a mystery blonde

Also at the screening was The Bachelorette's Ben Lyall, who posed on the red carpet alongside a mystery blonde.

The quirky contestant wore an army camouflage print T-shirt with a white blazer and ripped skinny jeans, while his female companion wore a striped frock with cut out panels.

Former Miss Universe Australia Renae Ayris showcased her amazing figure in a striped bandeau blue ensemble.

Winning look: Former Miss Universe Australia Renae Ayris showcased her amazing figure in a striped bandeau blue ensemble
They've been together for 23 years, and married for 16.

And Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith look as in step as ever as they walked arm in arm in Beverly Hills on Thursday.

The 63-year-old actor and the 53-year-old journalist made a stylish pair as they headed to sceney restaurant El Baldi for lunch.

Scroll down for video

Close: Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith look as in step as ever as they walked arm in arm in Beverly Hills on Thursday

The James Bond star tied a silk scarf around his neck, which he teamed with a black biker jacket.

He has embraced his silver fox status, and looked relaxed and tanned in his smart casual sartorial style.

The Remington Steele actor offered the crook of his elbow to his wife - who wore all black.

Suave: The 63-year-old actor and the 53-year-old journalist made a stylish pair as they headed to sceney restaurant El Baldi for lunch

She chose a classic LBD with lace overlay, and black tote, and added glamour by way of rows of pearls.

The brunette mother-of-two wore her tresses in a youthful half up style.

The Mamma Mia! star and Keely have got two biological sons, a 20-year-old called Dylan and a 15-year-old called Paris.

Mixed up style: The James Bond star tied a silk scarf around his neck, which he teamed with a black biker jacket

Stepping out: He has embraced his silver fox status, and looked relaxed and tanned in his smart casual sartorial style as he held his phone up

Pierce recently lost his title as the second longest running 007 to his successor, Daniel Craig.

Roger Moore was the British spy for 5,118 days and at February 23, Daniel Craig has served 4,150 days - overtaking Pierce's 4,146 days in the role.

Meanwhile he has been supporting his wife on her career, as she recently co-directed documentary Poisoning Paradise.

Keely - who famously appeared in Huey Lewis's 1986 video for Stuck With You - focuses on the ramifications of pesticides being used in Hawaii in the film.
Jared Leto lived up to his reputation as one of Hollywood's most idiosyncratic clotheshorses when he was spotted emerging from LAX Thursday.

A sizable beard sprouting onto his face, he'd pulled on a gleaming bomber jacket featuring patterns of sun rays and scaly yellow tentacles.

The tentacles snaked across a blue field, and his sleeves featured red stripes - matching the lining - running down a green background.

Back in town: Jared Leto lived up to his reputation as one of Hollywood's most idiosyncratic clotheshorses when he was spotted emerging from LAX Thursday

He was returning from a brief trip to Milan Fashion Week, having swung into the Lombard city Wednesday for the Gucci show.

For his flight home, the bomber jacket was flung over a red, blue, green and grey hoodie with 'HOLLYWOOD' written over a picture of a flying saucer.

The hoodie had been pulled over yet another layer: a black T-shirt that matched the aviator sunglasses he wore beneath a red, white and black beanie.

Signature style: A sizable beard sprouting onto his face, he'd pulled on a gleaming bomber jacket featuring patterns of sun rays and scaly yellow tentacles

His tight trousers featured a charcoal pattern spattered with multiple designs, including of flowers and enraged feline faces.

Trailing along behind him was a woman who looked similar to a woman who'd been seen with him at LAX Wednesday, when he'd shown up for his Italy-bound flight.

For that flight, he'd donned a red Gucci bomber jacket emblazoned with images of Donald Duck, which can be found online for over $2,000.

Colorful: The tentacles snaked across a blue field, and his sleeves featured red stripes - matching the lining - running down a green background

Leto's wrangled a part in Blade Runner 2049, the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel to the iconic 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner.

Based on the 1968 Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner starred Harrison Ford, who'll reprise his role in the sequel.

The new film, out this October, includes Ryan Gosling, Ana De Armas, Sylva Hoaks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Dave Bautista and Barkhad Abdi.
Jackie Cruz and Nina Agdal hung out with skincare mogul Ole Henriksen at the brand relaunch of his company at Manhattan's ArtBeam on Thursday.

The Dominican 30-year-old captioned a bicycle snap with the Danish 24-year-old: 'Cruz'in through Copenhagen with @ninaagdal #oleglow @ole_henriksen #OHpartner.'

The IMG Model looked leggy in a black blazer-style fringed frock and caged booties selected by her stylist Jamie Frankel, adding a Sandro bag to her ensemble to complete the look.

Scroll down for video

5ft9in duo: Jackie Cruz (L) and Nina Agdal (R) hung out with skincare mogul Ole Henriksen (M) at the brand relaunch of his company at Manhattan's ArtBeam on Thursday

The Dominican 30-year-old captioned a bicycle snap with the Danish 24-year-old: 'Cruz'in through Copenhagen with @ninaagdal #oleglow @ole_henriksen #OHpartner'

Nina sported a bronzed glow applied by make-up artist Jennifer Nam, and her long flaxen locks were straightened by Riad Azar.

Missing from the fashionable festivities was Agdal's Oscar-winning boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio, whom she's been romancing for nine months.

The SI Swimsuit stunner is currently featured on the March cover of Maxim shot by Gilles Bensimon, which just hit newsstands Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Jackie rocked suspenders over a black top, grey-patterned pants, and black pumps selected by stylist Philippe Uter.

Shimmy! The IMG Model looked leggy in a black blazer-style fringed frock and caged booties selected by her stylist Jamie Frankel, completing her look with a Sandro bag

Where's Leonardo DiCaprio? Nina sported a bronzed glow applied by make-up artist Jennifer Nam, and her long flaxen locks were straightened by Riad Azar

Busty: The SI Swimsuit stunner is currently featured on the March cover of Maxim shot by Gilles Bensimon, which just hit newsstands Tuesday

The Orange Is the New Black stunner finished off her menswear-inspired attire with red lipstick, a jaunty black beret, and matching choker.

The Women's Marcher and her fellow 'Litchfield inmates' scored their third trophy for best ensemble in a comedy series at the SAG Awards on January 29.

Cruz returns as fraud convict Marisol 'Flaca' Gonzales in the 13-episode fifth season of the binge-watching favorite, which begins streaming June 9 on Netflix.

'I want to encourage my fellow minorities to speak up, especially in the time that we're living in right now,' Jackie told Refinery29 this week.

'Im first-generation American. There are a lot of people like me and Flaca who speak both perfect English and perfect Spanish. We should be represented on television, and thats why I think Orange Is The New Black is so popular, because people are finally seeing themselves on TV.'

Trouser time: Meanwhile, Jackie rocked suspenders over a black top, grey-patterned pants, and black pumps selected by stylist Philippe Uter

Just scored third SAG trophy! The Orange Is the New Black stunner finished off her menswear-inspired attire with red lipstick, a jaunty black beret, and matching choker
As the co-host of Sunrise, Samantha Armytage is no stranger to getting glammed up for the cameras.

So on Friday, it was business as usual for the esteemed broadcast journalist, who had her makeup professionally done before getting her driver's license photo taken at the RTA.

The 40-year-old beamed in a selfie posted to Instagram, which she used to thank the assistant who helped her.

All smiles: Samantha Armytage beamed at the RTA after having her makeup professionally done for her driver's license photo

'Big Friday-shout-out to the lovely Rhiannon from the Bondi Junction RMS who took the best photo of me today when I renewed my driver's licence (I know right?!?),' wrote Sam.

She continued: '& even bigger shout-out to @monikabunic for doing such beautiful make-up that the crappy RTA cameras couldn't stuff it up!'

It's unclear if Monika did Sam's makeup specifically for the RTA, or if Sam simply kept her makeup on from filming Sunrise that morning.

Fans were quick to leave some fun comments underneath the image.

'Big Friday-shout-out to the lovely Rhiannon from the Bondi Junction RMS who took the best photo of me today when I renewed my driver's licence (I know right?!?),' wrote Sam

'This is hilarious. Can I book in to see Rhiannon?' wrote one.

Another said: 'Got mine done yesterday ... it's not pretty.'

One person commented 'We love our Rhiannon,' indicating that they may be one of Rhiannon's co-workers.

'I'm bringing Flat Cap's back!' Sam recently posed inside of Sydney hat store Strand Hatters

Earlier this week, Sam posted a selfie from inside Sydney hat store Strand Hatters.

'I'm bringing Flat Cap's back,' wrote the blonde star.

She added a musical emoji after the comment to make sure that her followers could tell that she was referencing Justin Timberlake's hit single 'Sexy Back.'
She's the Kiwi-born beauty that's taking the modelling world by storm.

And Georgia Fowler turned heads as she took to the runway for the Alberta Ferretti show at Milan Fashion Week, on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old bared her chest in a transparent floor-length gown as she sauntered down the catwalk.

Sheer beauty! Georgia Fowler turned heads as she took to the runway for the Alberta Ferretti show at Milan Fashion Week, on Wednesday

Her sheer floor-length frock showed off her entire decolletage and slender legs, while a pair of high-waisted black boxer-style shorts drew attention to her taut torso.

Embellishment along one spaghetti strap added a flirty dimension, while fringing, pointy-toed heels and statement drop earrings worked as glamorous accessories.

With her signature brunette tresses framing the majority of her striking face, Georgia's almond-shaped eyes were accentuated with defined brows, a metallic shadow and kohl liner.

Svelte: A sheer floor-length frock showed off her chest and slender legs, while a pair of high-waisted black boxer-style shorts drew attention to her taut torso

Beauty: The star's signature brunette tresses framed the majority of her striking face, while her almond-shaped eyes were accentuated with defined brows, a metallic shadow and kohl liner

Georgia's appearance at Milan Fashion Week is another major coup for the brunette beauty.

Just last November, the rising star took to the runway for the Victoria's Secret annual fashion show in Paris.

Georgia looked phenomenal in a green diamante ensemble that flaunted her leggy figure.

Later in the show, the New York-based star slipped into a metallic lace bra and pair of high-waisted briefs.

Major coup: Just last November, the rising star took to the runway for the Victoria's Secret annual fashion show in Paris, looking phenomenal in a green diamante ensemble

Racy in lace: Later in the show, Georgia slipped into a metallic bra and pair of high-waisted briefs

While on the local front, Georgia has been announced as the new face of fashion chain Portmans, replacing model Jessica Hart.

Sharing her excitement with The Daily Telegraph, she said: 'I think this is a perfect fit. It's young but it's still about a woman who is driven and career-focused.

'It's always been one of my big goals to be the face of an Australian brand,' Georgia continued.
She was recently slammed by fans on social media for posting a lewd sex video to Instagram.

But Tahnee Atkinson's latest photo shoot is sure to win back fans, with the 25-year-old starring in a campaign for menswear label Calibre alongside a hunky co-star.

Flaunting her sultry good looks, the former Australia's Next Top Model winner exuded confidence as she cuddled up to Jack Tyerman in the bedroom-themed shoot.

Scroll down for video

Hot stuff! Tahnee Atkinson shows off her sultry side as she posed for a bedroom-themed shoot with a hunky male model for Calibre menswear

One snap saw the leggy brunette resting in her co-star's lap while wearing nothing but a white business shirt.

Jack meanwhile, cut a dapper figure in a blue suit while sitting on a bed, holding Tahnee's hand as they both cast a sultry gaze at the camera.

Tahnee's long locks were styled into natural waves while he makeup was kept fresh with a nude shade of lipstick.

Getting close: The 25-year-old was seen cuddling up to handsome Jack Tyerman for the steamy campaign

The model's dark brows were primped to perfection while lashings of mascara highlighted her piercing blue eyes.

The stunner flashed her model pout in one snap while appearing to be topless.

The brunette appeared to have a white shirt wrapped around her while showing off her decolletage.

Natural beauty: The brunette showed off her bronzed complexion in one snap, appearing to pose with just a white sheet wrapped around her

Another snap had Tahnee wrap her arms around Jack's shoulders as the pair got extra close.

Tahnee's white shirt was pulled down on one side to expose her flawless complexion.

The duo certainly looks like the perfect couple, with Tahnee seen fixing her co-star's tie in another shot.

Perfect pair: The genetically-blessed duo looked the part of a power couple, with Tahnee flashing her cleavage as she adjusted her co-star's tie

For this look, Jack wore a grey suit while Tahnee showed off her ample cleavage in a strapless white top.

Tahnee was seen leaning on Jack's shoulder as the male model stared into the distance.

Last week, the Freemantle-born beauty raised eyebrows when she shared a video of a couple appearing to have sex on Valentine's Day.

They mean business! Jack cut a smart figure in a grey suit for one of the snaps, while Tahnee stunned in a white strapless top

In the video, the woman falls backwards off a ledge, presumably due to being intoxicated.

'Unfollowing. You were such a great Aussie babe, why did you lower yourself with this video?????? (sic)' user julesbrench wrote.

Tahnee first rose to fame after she was crowned the winner the fifth cycle of Australia's Next Top Model in 2009.

Slammed: The model came under fire last week when she shared a sex video on her Instagram page
Australians are known for their love of Chinese food.

And on Wednesday night's episode of Gogglebox, married couple Lee and Keith listed off their go-to choices.

However, the scene was hilariously edited to include side-by-side footage that showed another Gogglebox pair, friends Zina and Vivian, poking fun at the standard non-Asian's typical Chinese order.

TV favourites: On Wednesday night's episode of Gogglebox, stars Lee and Keith listed off their Chinese food choices, which were accurately predicted by co-stars Zina and Vivian, who laughed at the conventional options favoured by non-Asians

Making fun: Googlebox pair Zina and Vivian predicted the typical non-Asian Chinese order

The conversation for both Gogglebox pairs was sparked as they were watching the program 'Gok's Chinese Takeaway', in which TV presenter Gok Wang traveled to Spain to take a look at Barcelona's Chinese dining.

'It's actually so funny, whenever we go to a Chinese restaurant and see a table that aren't Asian ordering food we always say, 'Fried rice!'' Vivian said, beginning to list off typical choices.

The show then cut to Lee and Keith reclining on their suede lounge, with Lee asking Keith, 'What do we normally get? Go on!'

Fried rice, spring rolls and lemon chicken: Lee listed off her favourite dishes

What ensued was a back-and-forth between the two pairs.

'You like your special fried rice,' Keith said, to which Lee agreed, before the show cut back to Vivian.

She continued listing typical choices- spring rolls and lemon chicken, before Zina added, 'Steak and black bean!'

Nailed it! Vivian continued to accurately predict the standard Chinese order

'It's beautiful!' Lee and Keith love their Chinese food

All three options were then listed off by Lee and Keith as their favourites.

'That's all we get really, isn't it?' Keith stated.

'Yep,' replied Lee, 'And it's beautiful!'

The segment ended with a cut back to Zina and Vivian laughing hysterically at nailing the cultural stereotype.
She recently confirmed her rekindled romance with comedian Andy Lee.

But Rebecca Harding chose to take some time away from her beau on Friday to enjoy a girl's day out at the Mirabel Ladies Lunch event in Melbourne.

The model, 25, cut a stylish figure in a daring sheer ensemble that showed off her trim pins.

Pretty in pink! Andy Lee's girlfriend Rebecca Harding wears daring trench coat dress and sheer slip to Miral Ladies Lunch charity event in Melbourne on Friday

She was pictured wearing a pink trench coat and a sheer panel draped over her thighs.

Her svelte frame was highlighted by the fabric belt fastened around her waist.

The slender beauty was more than happy to pose for photographer at the star-studded event, which raises money for children abandoned or orphaned due to their parents' illegal drug use.

Leggy display The striking brunette went for a bold look, with a sheer skirt panel flowing to her knee from beneath the dusty pink clipped coat, pairing the look with nude pointed pumps and a white woven clutch

She paired the look with nude pointed-toe pumps, silver drop earrings and a white woven clutch.

Her makeup was flawlessly applied in neutral shades than enhances her natural beauty, while her locks were parted over her left shoulder.

The model also took to Instagram Stories to give her 12.7k followers a glimpse at the happenings of the luncheon.

'Ladies lunch with the girls': Rebecca took to Instagram Stories to give her 12.7k followers a glimpse at the luncheon, where she appeared to be seated at the same table as TV presenter and WAG Rebecca Judd

Ladies who lunch! Rebecca also cut a stylish figure at the Mirabel event, as she showed off her post baby body in a pink, white and black Yeojin Bae fitted dress

In one snap, she appeared to be seated at the same table as TV presenter and WAG Rebecca Judd.

Rebecca also wore pink to the event, donning a pink, white and black Yeojin Bae dress, which she paired with a black leather jacket.

As it was a ladies event, boyfriend Andy was nowhere to be seen.

Back together! Rebecca and comedian boyfriend Andy Lee, who met at a Melbourne cafe where Rebecca worked last year, dated for 18 months before parting ways last year, only to get back together this year

The couple, who met at a Melbourne cafe where Rebecca worked last year, dated for 18 months before parting ways last year, only to get back together this year.

According to a November report in Woman's Day, the funnyman had since come to regret their relationship ending.

However, when Andy, 34, was asked by the Sydney Morning Herald in January whether he would propose to his much younger girlfriend this year, he laughed it off by saying: 'No.'

Rebecca apparently also chuckled and shook her head to confirm it wasn't in their immediate future.
Justin Bieber felt the need to fully explain why there was a 'pee stain' on his $700 Vetements sweatpants during an outing Wednesday.

'Someone got me flowers and I was driving, made a turn, and the water spilled on my d*** area,' the Calvin Klein underwear model tweeted to his Beliebers.

'Didn't bother me if it made ya laugh nice!'

Scroll down for video

Awkward! Justin Bieber felt the need to fully explain why there was a 'pee stain' on his $700 Vetements sweatpants during an outing Wednesday

The Calvin Klein underwear model tweeted: 'Someone got me flowers and I was driving, made a turn, and the water spilled on my d*** area...Didn't bother me if it made ya laugh nice!'

The Canadian Grammy winner must have gotten a lot of flack online for the awkward stain, which was 'spotted' as he exited Earthbar in West Hollywood.

Justin's explanation came hours after he likened his embarrassing moment to a memorable scene from Adam Sandler's 1995 comedy Billy Madison.

Quoting the immature hotel heir character from the funny flick, Bieber captioned a comparison: 'You ain't cool unless you pee your pants.'

Soiled joggers: The Canadian Grammy winner must have gotten a lot of flack online for the awkward stain, which was 'spotted' as he exited Earthbar in West Hollywood

'You ain't cool unless you pee your pants': Justin's explanation came hours after he likened his embarrassment to a memorable scene from Adam Sandler's 1995 comedy Billy Madison

The T-Mobile spokesman - who boasts an eye-popping 248.2M followers - is gearing up to celebrate his 23rd birthday next Wednesday.

The Let Me Love You belter will then resume his 161-date, $158.7M-grossing Purpose World Tour beginning March 6 at Australia's nib Stadium in Perth.

Festivities to come: The T-Mobile spokesman - who boasts an eye-popping 248.2M followers - is gearing up to celebrate his 23rd birthday next Wednesday
Jennifer Hawkins certainly has the wind in her sails after a stunning performance at the Myer Autumn-Winter fashion show last week.

And it looked plain sailing for the supermodel on Thursday, as she was ferried around Trinity Point, Lake Macquarie on a yacht.

The 33-year-old wore a crisp all-white ensemble as she posted a picture from the excursion on Instagram.

Plain sailing: Jennifer Hawkins was ferried around Trinity Point, Lake Macquarie in a yacht on Thursday

She captioned the snap: 'All white.. all white ! Checked out @trinitypoint marina... was impressed !!! (sic).'

Perched on a seat in the corner of the boat, Jennifer is seen in a pair of loose-fitting trousers and a vest top.

The former Miss Universe shielded her face from the sun with a straw hat, which sat on top of her long blonde locks.

Stealing the show: The 33-year-old has the wind in her sails after a stunning performance at the Myer Autumn-Winter fashion show last week

Show stopper: Jennifer walked the runway just twice during the department store's showpiece event, but still managed to steal the show

Melbourne University provided the backdrop for the Newcastle native's latest outing as Myer ambassador last week.

Jennifer walked the runway just twice during the department store's showpiece event, but still managed to steal the show.

The beauty, who has been a Myer ambassador since 2007, showed off some serious summer glow in a bold Alex Perry dress with a thigh-high slit in the front and a low-cut V down her chest to open the show.

Ending on a high: The Next Top Model presenter brought the curtain down on the evening when she walked in a shimmering Toni Maticevski strapless gown

Social star: The catwalk queen later took to Instagram to congratulate the company on an 'amazing' launch

And the Next Top Model presenter brought the curtain down on the evening when she walked in a shimmering Toni Maticevski strapless gown.

The catwalk queen later took to Instagram to congratulate the company on an 'amazing' launch.

An exclusive guest list of 120 was in attendance to see Jennifer in action at the University's car park, which had been completely transformed.

Myer Ambassadors Jodi Anasta and Lauren Phillips attended alongside celebrities including Carrie Bickmore, Nadia and Jimmy Bartel, Lindy Klim, Andy Lee and Rebecca Harding, Ksenija Lukich, Emma Booth and Rebecca Maddern.
She has jetted to New York, London and now Milan in recent weeks to attend glitzy fashion week parties.

But Lottie Moss showed no signs of tiredness as she mingled with her fellow models at the Bulgari Dinner Party in Milan on Thursday.

The beautiful blonde wore what appeared to be a tiny midnight blue velvet dressing gown which showed off her enviably toned legs.

Scroll down for video

Statuesque: Lottie Moss donned a minuscule velvet dressing gown as she stepped out at the Bulgari Dinner Party during Milan Fashion Week on Thursday

The slinky gown featured gold piping and was secured at the waist with a matching velvet belt.

The plunging neckline revealed Lottie's flawless skin and she wore a rose gold pendant necklace.

Lottie carried a pink and gold box clutch and donned a pair of nude stilettos which elongated her lithe legs.

Her blonde locks were tousled in a sexy bed-head 'do which was similar to how her supermodel sister Kate often styles her hair.

Bed-head: The beautiful model styled her blonde locks into a tousled bed-head look upping the sex appeal of her slinky look

The posse: L-R Lottie, Xenia Tchoumitcheva, Caroline Vreeland, Bella Hadid, Winnie Harlow and Anna Cleveland

She kept her makeup simple, showing off her blemish-free English rose complexion and adding some drama with a sweep of black eyeliner.

Inside the Fashion Week bash, Lottie was quick to find models-of-the-moment Bella Hadid and Winnie Harlow.

Bella looked cool and composed in a very fashion-forward sparkling one-shouldered cape and miniskirt ensemble.

She rocked the futuristic look with a matching two strand choker, silver clutch and diamante encrusted heels.

A Lottie leg: Moss and Bella flaunted their legs, donning sky scraper heels and high hemlines

The new supers: Lottie, Winnie, Bella and Jasmine Sanders (r) oozed sex appeal at the glitzy event with Jasmine opting for a sheer floor length skirt which showed off her shapely legs

She wisely kept her makeup to a minimum and slicked her hair back into a chic bun so that she didn't distract from her eye-catching outfit.

Winnie Harlow rocked a seriously seductive look in an oversized tuxedo jacket which she paired with gold strappy sandals.

The model, who suffers from skin condition Vitiligo, wore a silver choker and styled her long raven locks into a quiff.

Flawless skin: Lottie revealed a blemish-free peaches-and-cream English rose complexion

Russian model Xenia Tchoumitcheva, 29, put on a sexy display in a floor length citron yellow gown which showed off the beauty's impressive chest.

The great granddaughter of fashion editor Diana Vreeland also put in an appearance at the Milan Fashion Week event.

Caroline Vreeland, 28, stunned in an alluring PVC wrap dress which clung to her hourglass figure.

Fashion friends: Lottie posed with Bulgari chief executive Jean-Christophe Babin at the jewelry company's gold-themed party

Lottie was last seen on the catwalk for high street giant Topshop at London Fashion Week.

She donned a black blouse emblazoned with a red and white graphic design and a flirty floral skirt with a thigh-high split which offered a glimpse of her toned legs.

The social media savvy star was recently named the face of Chanel eyewear and is clearly ready to give big sister Kate a run for her money in the modelling world.
She has previously dabbled in panto and had one stint on ITV prankster show Off Their Rockers.

But it seems Katie Price is ready to hit the big time, joining the likes of American Pie star Tara Reid and the Jedward twins to film disaster movie Sharknado 5: Earth O.

The former glamour model, 38, plays the love interest of American actor Chris Kattan and was spotted filming a passionate kissing scene with him in London on Thursday.

Scroll down for video

Hollywood debut: Katie Price, 38, is ready to hit the big time, joining the likes of American Pie star Tara Reid and the Jedward twins to film disaster movie Sharknado 5: Earth O

The Middle actor Chris shared a snap of the two sharing an intense moment while sitting on some steps on Twitter.

He captioned the pic: Currently in #London filming #Sharknado5 for #syfy with #KatiePrice #kisskiss 

Katie seemed to be getting into the role, dressed in red leather heels, black vinyl trousers and a necktie.

Intense: The former glamour model plays the love interest of American actor Chris Kattan (pictured) and was spotted filming a passionate kissing scene with him in London on Thursday

Pucker up: The Middle actor Chris shared a snap of the two sharing an intense moment while sitting on some steps

Backstage: Katie seemed to be getting into the role, dressed in red leather heels, black vinyl trousers and a necktie

The mum-of-five also shared a snap of her outfit from her make-up chair, captioning the look: 'Loved my look today! What do you guys think.'

The Sharknado franchise centres around a tornado of sharks pillaging various cities and will be shown on TV channel SyFy later this year.

In the upcoming film the tornados leave North America and cause destruction on a global scale - including in London.

Seeing double: Tara shared an excitable selfie with co-stars Jedward during filming

Just hanging out: The 41-year-old actress seems to be getting on famously with the twins

Tara Reid, who has starred in the films since its debut in 2013, has already begun filming and shared several excitable Instagram snaps with John and Edward Grimes of Jedward on location.

Meanwhile Katie previously had a turn as the Wicked Fairy in Sleeping Beauty in December 2015.

The performance was heavily criticised, with one audience member describing her performance as 'so wooden I had to duck for flying splinters', amid accusations of miming.

Veteran: Tara Reid has starred in the films since its debut in 2013 (pictured on Sharknado 2)

Jaw-dropping: The Sharknado franchise centres around a tornado of sharks pillaging various cities and will be shown on TV channel SyFy later this year (pictured Sharknado 3)

It comes as her husband Kieran Hayler revealed he is worried he won't be able to go horse riding with Katie again after injuring himself whilst showjumping.

The stripper, 29, took to Instagram on Thursday ahead of his 'kneeoscopy' to explain that within six weeks he should be able to get back in the saddle, and hoped it wouldn't limit his skills as he wanted to impress his wife.

He revealed: 'Kate's always wanted a husband who can ride and I was just getting and getting good... and then I fell off!'

Back in the saddle: Kieran Hayler took to Instagram on Thursday to reveal he was undergoing a 'kneeoscopy' as a result of falling of a horse during a showjumping incident

Candid: Kieran opened up about his concerns as he revealed: 'Kate's always wanted a husband who can ride and I was just getting and getting good... and then I fell off!'

In the clip, he explained that by April he should be back to his best and looked solemn as he revealed that he hasn't been able to ride since before Christmas.

After his surgery, Kieran shared a snap of his bandaged knee which he captioned: 'Operation done....recovery begins'.

Katie has always been a keen equestrienne, even fronting TLC's Katie Price's Pony Club - a show focused on launching her brand new horse school.

Out of action: In the clip, he explained that by April he should be back to his best and looked solemn as he revealed that he hasn't been able to ride since before Christmas

Well earned rest time: After his surgery, Kieran shared a snap of his bandaged knee which he captioned: 'Operation done....recovery begins'

The star often shares pictures of herself enjoying a session with her family, although Kieran isn't her only loved one to have been injured out on the field.

Earlier this month, Katie's daughter Princess, nine, had to have the pins removed from her broken arm after she fell off a horse.

The youngster underwent surgery to have the pins slotted into her body in a bid to aid the healing process and spent six weeks with a vibrant cast on her forearm.

Stop horsing around! Katie has always been a keen equestrienne, even fronting TLC's Katie Price's Pony Club - a show focused on launching her brand new horse school

No harm no foal: Earlier this month, Katie's daughter Princess, nine, had to have the pins removed from her broken arm after she fell off a horse

Peter Andre  who also has 11-year-old son Junior with her ex-wife Katie  tweeted at the time: 'Yeah she broke her arm. She is fine now. Has her arm in a cast. She's excited about people signing it.'

Katie also revealed that her youngest child Bunny, two, was trampled by one of their mares.

She admitted on Loose Women: 'Mind you, Bunny did get trodden on last Sunday by a horse, and she did cry but then she was over it.

'We got her foot out of the boot, it was a bit red but we moved her toes and she was alright.'
She's the stylish new mother who has chosen to keep the father's identity of her newborn a secret.



And Laura Csortan's three-month-old daughter Layla Rose has certainly taken after her model mum, with the pair posing in an adorable selfie shared to Instagram on Friday.

Sporting matching double denim, the pair were pictured bonding as they made their way outdoors to enjoy the sunshine.

Scroll down for video

Selfie time! Model Laura Csortan shares snap with three-month-old daughter Layla Rose in matching double denim looks on Friday to Instagram

Since giving birth to the youngster in November, Laura has made no secret of her love for Layla by posting countless photos on Instagram to her 23k followers.

The TV presenter captioned their latest snap: 'On the go...' before adding hashtags: 'double denim, team and nappy bag on fleek.'

Her lithe legs were on display and her busty assets were covered up in the T-shirt dress.

Casual chic! Her busty assets were highlighted in her T-shirt dress, as her lithe legs were on display in the short design

The model dressed her baby in a frilled denim jumpsuit, as she held her with one hand over her right shoulder for the mirror selfie.

Laura's hair and makeup appeared minimally styled, as she chose to ditch accessories and toted a large nappy bag for her outing.

In recent posts she's spoken of her experience thus far, writing: 'As a single mum, and as tough as it is at times, I wouldn't change it for the world!'

'She is my greatest success': For the past three months she's been doting over her newborn daughter Layla Rose and has revealed despite the challenges of being a single mum she 'wouldn't change it for the world'

'She is my greatest success, my joy, the best thing I have ever done,' she added.

Laura told Woman's Day that while she still speaks to her ex, whose identity remains a secret, he will not be involved in their child's life.

Doing it her way: In recent posts she's spoken of her mothering experience thus far, writing: 'As a single mum, and as tough as it is at times, I wouldn't change it for the world!'

'He respects my decision (to have the baby), and when the baby's older I'm happy with her finding out who her father is. I'm going into this with an open mind,' she explains to the publication.

Laura's last reported romance before announcing her pregnancy was with Port Adelaide AFL player Chad Cornes.

The former Miss Universe is no doubt leaning on her family for support, and Laura, who has travelled the world for her job, will continue to base herself in Sydney.

Laura recently took on the challenge of taking the young child on a flight, taking to social media to reveal her secrets to travelling hassle-free with a baby.

She shared a photo of her and Layla onboard a plane, before telling fans how she ensures her journey isn't disrupted by a screaming baby by feeding her on take off and landing.

It seemed Laura and her bub were returning home after enjoying a break on the Gold Coast.

The former Great Outdoors host documented her visit to the beachside city, in which she visited a day spa.

Tips: Laura has revealed her secret to travelling on an aeroplane with a young baby is to feed on take off and landing

Helping hands: Laura has previously let Layla in the care of her mother while recharging during a spa visit on the Gold Coast

Game changer: Laura recently enjoyed an escape to the Gold Coast with her new daughter

'My Mum looked after Layla for me while I popped into Spa Q @qtgoldcoast for an hour long personalised massage perfect for a new mum,' she captioned.

'It's the longest I've been away from my baby since she was born, Yep! I soaked up every baby free second and now feel a million bucks (I missed bub though, hopeless).'

She added: 'Feeling recharged and have sorted out some of the knots on my knots, I'll be ready for another next week. Wishful thinking... but seriously.'

Poolside: Laura poses for the camera in a black two-piece bikini while holding two-month-old Layla Rose close to her chest
This week he opened up about the travel precautions he is taking with his wife.

And George Clooney, 55, looked in good spirits as he arrived at Salle Pleyel in Paris ahead of the Cesar awards on Thursday.

The American actor, who is expecting twins with his human rights lawyer wife Amal, 39, will be receiving the Honorary Cesar Award at the ceremony, which is the French version of the Oscars.

Scroll down for video

Dapper dad-to-be: George Clooney, 55, looked in good spirits as he arrived at Salle Pleyel in Paris ahead of the Cesar awards on Thursday

The daddy-to-be looked dapper in a suede jacket and jeans as he arrived at the venue.

Wrapping up against the cold in a knitted scarf, the silver haired fox looked in good spirits despite the chilly weather.

George will be receiving the coveted award on Friday, and was described by France's Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema as : 'The most charismatic actor of his generation, George Clooney embodies the Hollywood glamour that big cinema stars have. His charm, sense of humor, personality and engagement are at the heart of our perpetual and eternal admiration.'

Good spirits:The American actor will be receiving the Honorary Cesar Award at the ceremony, which is the French version of the Oscars

His appearance comes a week after his mother revealed Amal was expecting a boy and a girl.

'It will be one of each! Yes, a boy and a girl. That's what I've been told,' she said from her Kentucky home.

'How marvellous! My husband and I are extremely excited.' she told RadarOnline

Meanwhile George recently revealed he and and his pregnant wife Amal have agreed to self-imposed travel restrictions while she's pregnant.

Suave: The daddy-to-be looked dapper in a suede jacket and jeans as he arrived at the venue

Theactor and his human rights lawyer wife earlier this month confirmed they were expecting twins.

The Syriana star told the French publication Paris Match that he and Amal will be more cautious as they expect their first children together.

'We decided to be much more responsible, to avoid the danger,' George told the magazine.

One of each: His appearance comes a week after his mother revealed Amal was expecting a boy and a girl

'I won't go to South Sudan any more or the Congo, Amal will no longer go to Iraq and she'll avoid places where she knows she isn't welcome,' he said.

Amal as an international human rights lawyer has represented a journalist being held in Egypt and criticized Egypts' judiciary process in a February 2014 report. She's also been to several other international hotspots working on disputes.

Clooney has been a staunch advocate for a resolution of the Darfur conflict in southern Sudan.

Careful: This week he opened up about the travel precautions he is taking with his wife Amal

He spent 10 days in Chad and Sudan in April 2006 to produce the TV special A Journey To Darfur that highlighted the plight of refugees.

George also discussed his growing family's plans as they are about to double in size.

'We have the chance to live between three countries: Italy, America and England,' George said in reference to their properties in each country.

Going strong: The actor and human rights lawyer, 39, shown in October in Los Angeles, have been married since September 2014

'But as soon as the children go to school, it'll be necessary to choose where to settle. In the meantime, we will continue to move according to our respective schedules,' he said.

He admitted that parenthood was at the forefront of their thoughts.

'How can we not be anxious about this immense responsibility?,' he said.

He also nixed tabloid reporting that they were expecting a boy and a girl.

'I don't know where this rumor comes from that we're going to have a boy and a girl. We ourselves don't know yet and don't want to know,' George said.

The actor will receive the prestigious Cesar Award for career achievement Friday during the 42nd Cesar Awards in Paris.
She's one of the hottest supermodels on the planet.

But Petra Nemcova didn't have a shred of arrogance about her as she larked around at the Artists for Peace and Justice Present 'Songs From the Cinema' Benefit in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The 37-year-old philanthropist pulled a mock-seductive pout as she playfully balanced a plate on her head at the charity event, sponsored by Bovet 1822.

Scroll down for video

Balancing act: Petra Nemcova larked around at the Artists for Peace and Justice Present 'Songs From the Cinema' Benefit in Los Angeles on Thursday

The blonde beauty seemed to be having a whale of a time as she posed with one plate perched on her head, while carrying another dish in her hand.

Despite her antics, Petra's style stole the limelight as she stunned in a floral print mini-dress.

Featuring sweet cap sleeves and a flirty A-line skirt, the garment also nipped in her tiny waist thanks to opulent gold-sequinned panelling.

Injecting an added dose of sparkle to the ensemble, the Czech beauty rocked some metallic three-strap heels and a textured box clutch.

Showstopper: Despite her antics, Petra's style stole the limelight as she stunned in a floral print mini-dress

Saucy: The 37-year-old philanthropist pulled a mock-seductive pout as she playfully balanced a plate on her head at the charity event, sponsored by Bovet 1822

What a dish: The blonde beauty posed with director Paul Haggis, who balanced one plate on his head, while carrying two truffle pasta-laden dishes in his hands

Stylish: Featuring sweet cap sleeves and a flirty A-line skirt, the garment also nipped in her tiny waist thanks to opulent gold-sequinned panelling

Styling her golden tresses in a tousled topknot with glossy tendrils framing her face, the supermodel added a berry slick of lipstick.

The stars gathered for the event held for director Paul Haggis' charity Artists for Peace and Justice and hosted by Bovet 1822.

Jackson Browne curated the concert benefit featuring performances of songs from iconic movies, performed by Jeff Bridges, Rita Wilson, Jack Black, Moby and more.

Last year, Petra was honoured the Ischia Humanitarian Award at the annual Ischia Global Film and Music Festival in Italy for her outstanding charitable work.

Chic: Injecting an added dose of sparkle to the ensemble, the Czech beauty rocked some metallic three-strap heels and a textured box clutch

Social butterfly: Petra mingled with actress Moran Atias and adventurer Johan Ernst Nilson

Making a hit: The model later beamed alongside musician and producer Quincy Jones

The whole gang! Petra, director Paul Haggis, actress Moran Atias and actor Jeremy Renner aimed their best smiles at the lens

Body goals: She showed off her sensational physique in a black cut-out swimsuit just days before for a sultry Instagram snap

Her Happy Hearts Fund has been running for a decade, having been launched two years after her fiance, British photographer Simon Atlee, was among the 230,000 people killed in the Thai natural disaster in 2004.

The model spent eight hours clinging to a palm tree as the waves wrecked the Thai landscape.

Eventually she was rescued, airlifted to hospital suffering serious internal injuries and a shattered pelvis, and told her injuries were so appalling she would never walk again. Simon's body was recovered three months later.

Belting out the vocals: Actress Rita Wilson later took to the stage to cover some iconic songs

To be a fly on the wall: She grinned cheekily as she had an intense chat with Heroes actor Jimmy Jean-Louis

Serving up a treat: Moran Atias got stuck in with dishing out the plates of food

Team effort: Jeremy Renner didn't seem to mind chipping in with the work

Looking good: Homeland star Nazanin Boniadi flashed a sultry grin as she acted as waitress for the night

Petra now works with the charity to rebuild safe, resilient schools in areas impacted by natural disasters.

Speaking after the ordeal, the model retained her optimism as she said: 'I think one of the things I've always had is gratitude.

'Every morning when I wake up and every evening before I fall asleep I say thanks.

'Not for huge things, just things that have happened that day, the experience I have had, the people I have met, and the things that the new day will bring.'

Double trouble: Jeremy Renner and singer-songwriter Jackson Browne beamed as they posed together

In good company: Actor Jeff Bridges was joined by actress Moran, who stunned in a silver minidress

For me? Jeff gratefully accepted a laden plate of food

Come here, you! Jack Black gave director Paul an affectionate cuddle
Style is clearly in his family's genes.

As teenage heartthrob Anwar Hadid, 17, looked fashion forward just like his superstar sisters Gigi Hadid, 21, and Bella Hadid, 20, when he walked the streets of Beverly Hills on Thursday afternoon.

Opting for a punk rock look, the television personality rocked mismatched shoes with a pair of checkered trousers and a Saint Pablo hoodie as he headed to lunch with his father Mohamed Hadid, 68, and older sister Marielle Hadid, 36, at Il Pastaio.

Scroll down for video

Effortless: Teenage heartthrob Anwar Hadid, 17, looked fashion forward when he walked the streets of Beverly Hills on Thursday afternoon

Like father like son, Mohammed also went for a rock n'roll look, wearing a long black trench coat on top of a plain white t-shirt and black skinny jeans.

To further complement his punk style, he slipped on a pair of black buckle boots.

Marielle decided to keep it casual like the men in her family by wearing a slim black trench-coat on top of a grey crop shirt and baby blue boot cut jeans.

Too cool for my little brother: Marielle Hadid, 36 walked ahead of her sibling as she strutted her stuff on the streets of Beverly Hills

Simplicity: Marielle decided to keep it casual like the men in her family by wearing a slim black trench-coat on top of a grey crop shirt and baby blue boot cut jeans

Uh oh, did someone forget to book the table? The Hadid family stood outside the Italian restaurant looking confused but trendy at the same time

With minimal makeup, the beauty wore her silky blonde locks loose around her shoulders as she enjoyed the sun.

Meanwhile, Gigi and Bella weren't able to attend the family outing because they are currently in Milan for this season's fashion week.

And ever since the sisters arrived earlier this week, they have been showing off their style credentials both on and off the catwalk.

Like father like son: Mohammed also went for a rock n'roll look, wearing a long black trench coat on top of a plain white t-shirt and black skinny jeans

The pair hit the streets of Italy on Thursday night both looking casual and sexy.

Zayn Malik's girlfriend wrapped up in a long plaid shirt as her sister wore a black leather jacket on top of a colourful t-shirt.

Disguising their beautiful eyes, they both accessorized with black sunglasses.

Gigi's stylish display comes after her appearance on the runway for Versus Versace at LFW alongside her younger sister.

Hot in Italy: Gigi Hadid, 21, and Bella Hadid, 20, weren't able to attend the family outing because they are currently in Milan for this season's fashion week
She's just back from her seemingly never-ending beach break in the Caribbean.

And Bella Thorne couldn't resist sharing another throwback snap from her exotic getaway with her gal pals, taking to social media on Thursday to post yet another bikini picture.

The 19-year-old actress can be seen posing in a bright blue, patterned two-piece to match her current bold hairdo.

Scroll down for video

Beach babe: Bella Thorne couldn't resist sharing another throwback snap from her exotic getaway with her gal pals, taking to social media on Thursday to post yet another bikini picture

Gazing over one shoulder, Bella pulls off her best seductive pose, ensuring her derriere in the focal point of the snap.

She captioned her pic: 'lookin at #bae like damn get yo fine a** over here #tbt'.

The rebellious former Disney starlet's followers were quick to praise her figure, calling her 'beautiful' and 'hot'.

Bella stopped by the Kate Somerville skin care clinic in West Hollywood to get a chemical peel on Wednesday and later posted a closeup of her skin peeling off her face.

Clear and clear: Bella stopped by a skin care clinic in West Hollywood to get a chemical peel on Wednesday and later posted a closeup of her skin peeling off her face

Bella posted an Instagram picture right after the peel, which didn't appear to have started peeling at that point.

She took a photo of herself in the car with a cup of water, presumably from the skin care clinic, as she left her appointment.

The actress still had some of the peel on her skin as it looked a darker color against her neck and eyes and had a shiny texture.

She later kept fans in the loop regarding her progress by posting a closeup of her face and nose with the top layer of her skin peeling off.

Easy now: Thorne carefully clipped off the peeling remnants

She was seen wearing no make-up as she headed into the celeb hot spot.

Kate Somerville is renowned in Hollywood and the successful skin care based salon boasts celebrity clients from Jessica Alba to Olivia Wilde and even Kate Hudson.

It's no wonder Bella was headed into the facial clinic as the former red-headed beauty posted a very real and honest photo to her Instagram yesterday.

She shared a photo with her 15 million followers on Instagram that was a very refreshing and honest departure from the picture-perfect celebrity lifestyle we usually see.

Repulsive: Bella used a small pair of scissors to help incessantly pick at her raw complexion

Mirror, mirror: The actress gazed at her reflection as she continued to remove the peel

Before the peel: The actress was spotted makeup free heading into the clinic before her treatment

Real: She shared a photo with her 15 million followers on Instagram that was a very refreshing photo as she sported dabs of white acne cream on her face

In the photo the star lay on a white bed while covered in countless bouquets of roses as she sported dabs of white cream on her face.

'15 mill on insta:) I love you guys. Thank you for supporting me and my pimple creme hehe,' she hilariously captioned the image.

Later in the day, the star was seen rocking a body suit while dancing it up at a dance studio.

The 19-year-old posted a video of herself dancing to some rather rude lyrics on Wednesday night.

The actress rocked a revealing black bodysuit and white Nike Trailers as she flailed about to the rap tune.
He recently sent fans into overdrive with rumours that he had reunited with his ex-girlfriend Eleanor Calder two years after the couple split.

But Louis Tomlinson wasn't giving anything away as he stepped out to visit his record company Sony in West London on Thursday.

The One Direction star, 25, opted for a casual look for the meeting, wearing a black zip-up hoodie over a white t-shirt.

Scroll down for video

Casual: Louis Tomlinson sported a black zip up hoodie over a white t-shirt, pale blue jeans and pristine sneakers as he visited his record company in West London on Thursday

He donned pale blue jeans which were ripped at the knees and spotless white sneakers.

The dad-of-one looked a little sleepy as he clutched a coffee on his way into the office.

Louis's casual appearance comes just days after speculation that he had reunited with his fashion blogger ex-girlfriend Eleanor.

Ruffled: The One Direction star's hair looked a little ruffled by Storm Doris as he headed inside clutching a cup of coffee

Not giving anything away: Louis looked oblivious to the rumours that he has reunited with his ex-girlfriend Eleanor Calder

The pair, who dated for three years, triggered intense speculation when they followed each other again on Instagram and started liking posts.

Sources claim that the pretty pair are back together following a secret reunion in Los Angeles.

Adding to the rumour mill, Louis and Eleanor were spotted wearing very similar sweatshirts.

Back on? Sources have claimed that exes Louis Tomlinson and Eleanor Calder are back together two years after they split, following a secret reunion in Los Angeles

The couple, who parted ways in March 2015, reportedly rekindled their romance after Eleanor flew out to LA for work.

'Louis and Eleanor spent a lot of time in Los Angeles together this month,' a source told The Sun.

'Its early days but they are an item again. Eleanor was flown to Los Angeles for a huge Tommy Hilfiger fashion event as she works with the label as a blogger.

'They have a really special three years together and they have found it quite easy to find that spark between them again.'

Sharing fashion tips: The One Direction hunk, 25, and fashion blogger caused a frenzy among their supporters after they were spotted wearing very similar sweatshirts

Excited: Fans naturally stirred up a frenzy in the comments section, claiming that the almost identical garment was a sign of their imminent reconciliation

Louis and Eleanor donned a Vetements hoodie inspired by Jack and Rose from Titanic just weeks apart from one another.

Louis wore his to pick up a coffee on Thursday in Hollywood, while Eleanor posted a sizzling shot of herself wearing a hoodie from the same French brand.

Her sweatshirt appeared to be the same as Louis's apart from the yellow lettering.

Rumour has it: Louis and Eleanor, who split in March 2015 after three years together, reportedly rekindled their romance after Eleanor flew out to LA for work

Like: Shortly after following Louis again, Eleanor liked one of the singer's week-old snaps

More evidence? Eleanor was clearly a fan of Louis's red and black hoodie as she liked his snap on Instagram

Pouting sultrily at the camera, the brunette beauty - who split with Louis in 2015 - rocked a pair of black thigh-high boots in the snap.

And Louis was clearly impressed with the photo - and their similar taste in fashion sense - as he liked it on Instagram.

Fans claimed that the almost identical garment was a sign of their imminent reconciliation.

'I'm so happy you're on good terms with Louis,' one wrote, while another added: 'Louis was wearing the same top recently!'

'It's obvious that Louis is going to come back with her to end all this s**t, so here we go.'

Reunion? 'They have a really special three years together and they have found it quite easy to find that spark between them again,' a source claimed (pictured, Eleanor)

Interesting: A source claimed that it was 'early days' but Eleanor and Louis are an item again

Others eagerly picked up on the fact that the father-of-one had liked Eleanor's photo, commenting: 'Louis be stalking lol.'

'Omg Louis liked the post,' while another pleaded: 'GET BACK YOU TWO.'

The couple were introduced by Harry Styles, and in 2014 Eleanor, now 24, acted as the Maid of Honour at Louis' mother's wedding.

But the pair split just a year later, with the stress of constantly travelling the globe said to have been the root cause of their relationship woes.

Louis has been ostensibly single since splitting with American actress Danielle Campbell last year after the tragic death of his mother Johanna from leukaemia in December.

All over: Louis has been ostensibly single since splitting with American actress Danielle Campbell last year
She's relocated to Los Angeles in a bid to crack Hollywood.

And it looks like Kimberley Garner's hard work has finally paid off since she was spotted shooting scenes for her big screen debut on Thursday in the Californian desert.

The former Made In Chelsea star looked every inch the screen siren in the first look images from her first film, Sweetheart, slipping into a silk negligee to film a hostage scene.

Hollywood debut: Kimberley Garner was spotted shooting scenes for her big screen debut, Sweetheart, on Thursday in the Californian desert

Kimberley looked incredible in her skimpy sleepwear, featuring a pretty lace trim at the bust and a thigh-grazing hem.

The blonde bombshell was given a natural hair and beauty look for filming, her pout enhanced with a slick of pink lipstick and her blonde hair styled in loose waves.

The action scenes saw Kimberley turning the gun on her own captors, taking control of the situation.

Kimberley was pictured standing over a dead body on the ground, holding a bag presumably filled with a cash reward.

Skimpy: Kimberley looked incredible in her skimpy sleepwear, featuring a pretty lace trim at the bust and a thigh-grazing hem

Tense: The hostage scenes saw Kimberley turning the gun on her own captors, taking control of the situation

Hold em up! The blonde bombshell was given a natural hair and beauty look for filming

Hostage scenes: Kimberley was pictured standing over a dead body on the ground, holding a bag presumably filled with a cash reward

Her film debut will no doubt bring back haunting memories for poor Kimberley, who was the victim of a terrifying home intruder ordeal earlier this year.

She revealed she was staying at a rented Beverly Hills home with a female pal when she spotted a hooded man trying to get into the door.

Kimberley phoned local cops as she and her pal hid silently in a wardrobe - but has blasted their 'patronising' advice after claiming they released him moments after catching him on the grounds.

Debut: The former Made In Chelsea star looked every inch the screen siren in the first look images from her first film

First film: Kimberley has relocated to Los Angeles in a bid to crack Hollywood, and it appears all her efforts have paid off

Barefoot: The statuesque star's wardrobe suggested she had been roused from her sleep

Femme fatale: Kimberley certainly fit the part of a Hollywood pin-up

Taking to Instagram to share her terror at the time, she wrote: 'Tonight. Was just going to bed in our newly rented house. When we saw a large hooded man at the door at midnight, with a van outside.

'Just me and a girlfriend were alone in the house, which was big and up in the hills in Beverley hills totally isolated. We had no lock on our bedroom door.

'So were very silent and climbed inside the wardrobe in the dark. We were in there for 20 minutes as we heard him try every door around the house, and listened as he broke one.

Captors: The scenes involved Kimberley pulling up in the middle of the desert with her captors

Clutching her possessions: The star was spotted holding some colourful clothing to her chest

Bad memories: Her film debut will no doubt bring back haunting memories for poor Kimberley, who was the victim of a terrifying home intruder ordeal earlier this year

Harrowing: She revealed she was staying at a rented Beverly Hills home with a female pal when she spotted a hooded man trying to get into the doors

Dramatic: Kimberley phoned local cops as she and her pal hid silently in a wardrobe - but has blasted their 'patronising' advice after claiming they released him moments after catching him on the ground

'Staying very still as we heard him in every room around the house. We called the police and when they finally arrived.

'Caught the hooded man in the house. Not only did they not file a report. They did not take his details and just let him go.

'With the patronising advice of 'better go around the house girls to check if the doors are locked' before they left us.

'This man only had bad intentions, rob, rape or worse, and if we hadn't seen him and hid to call the police I hate to think what he was going to do to us.'

She said: 'Not only did they not file a report. They did not take his details and just let him go'

Kimberley recalled: 'With the patronising advice of 'better go around the house girls to check if the doors are locked' before they left us'

She concluded: 'This man only had bad intentions, rob, rape or worse, and if we hadn't seen him and hid to call the police I hate to think what he was going to do to us'

One to watch: Kimberley's career has been on the rise since her MIC debut

From the small screen to the silver screen: The starlet previously teased she had several acting projects in the pipeline
She is usually one of the best dressed actresses on the red carpet.

But Thandie Newton, 44, took a break from the glamour ahead of the most glitzy night in Hollywood as she jetted to LA ahead of Sunday's Academy Awards.

Proving her star quality at London's Heathrow Airport on Friday, the actress still managed to wow in a casual ensemble consisting of a dark grey long coat on top of an embellished gray jumper and eccentric grey sweatpants.

Scroll down for video

Oscars, here I come! handie Newton, 44, took a break from the glamour ahead of the most glitzy night in Hollywood as she jetted to LA ahead of Sunday's Academy Awards

The Westworld star traveled in style, looking casually chic as she pushed her luggage through the terminals.

With her hair tied up, she looked flawless despite only wearing minimum make-up.

Despite this, the star has been one of the busiest stars in awards season - and didn't shy away London Fashion Week either.

Lovely: With her hair tied up, she looked flawless despite only wearing minimum make-up

On Monday, she proved her star quality again as she attended the Erdem fashion show, flashing her enviable curves.

Thandie braved the cold in the powder blue and black low-cut blazer.

Teaming it with coordinating trousers, she added a splash of colour with purple reflective court shoes.

And showcasing her enviable bone structure, she pulled her hair off her face in an array of delicate braids.

The mother-of-two posed alongside Clemence Poesy, who looked chic in a pussybow embellished shirt and striped cardigan.

Also sitting alongside the star in the FROW was Ellie Bamber, who continued the floral theme in a semi-sheer blouse dress.

Turning heads! Earlier this week, Thandie proved her star quality as she attended the Erdem London Fashion Week show

Spring chic: The Westworld star, 44, wowed in a plunging jumpsuit, while Daisy Lowe, 28, joined her in the floral trend, rocking a kimono-inspired dress

Chic duo: The mother-of-two posed alongside Clemence Poesy, who looked chic in a pussybow embellished shirt and striped cardigan

Baby blues: Also sitting alongside the star in the FROW was Ellie Bamber, who continued the floral theme in a semi-sheer blouse dress

Thandie, who is a proud vegan and studied Anthropology at Cambridge, narrowly missed out after being nominated for Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe her role in HBO series Westworld.

Starring as Maeve Milly, a prostitute in a wild west theme park, she opened up about her nude scenes to The Guardian last month.

'Its so ironic that here I was, utterly, utterly naked  and I felt completely liberated.

Model behaviour: Daisy flaunted her model credentials in a black wrap dress embellished with white flowers

Geisha-inspired: Continuing the Kimono-inspired theme, she wore her hair piled on top of her head in a high bun, framing her pretty face with her trademark heavy fringe

Boasting a model posse: Daisy sat alongside Alexa Chung who wrapped up in a shearling aviator jacket

'Not because I was naked but because it was my choice. Totally my choice.'

Westworld, which co-stars Anthony Hopkins and Ben Barnes, was nominated for several Golden Globes including Best Drama TV Series and Best Actress in A Drama TV Series.

Meanwhile Daisy flaunted her model credentials in a black wrap dress embellished with white flowers.

A LFW gift: Ellie Bamber added a splash of colour with a red satin bow around her neck while Alexa worked biker chic and sported a racy nude graphic emblazoned on her top

Casual chic: Caroline Sieber went understated in gold embellished pumps and a wrap dress

Denim delight! Clemence Poesy teamed jeans with her pussybow shirt while Ellie put on a leggy display

FROW pals: Alexa Chung (L) and Caroline Sieber put on a stylish display as they posed together

Judge and jury: Vogue legend Anna Wintour rocked a geometric skirt and plush jacket

The piece was cinched in at the waist, showcasing her slender midriff.

Continuing the Kimono-inspired theme, she wore her hair piled on top of her head in a high bun, framing her pretty face with her trademark heavy fringe.

Boasting a model posse, she sat alongside Alexa Chung who wrapped up in a shearling aviator jacket.

Last but certainly not least, Vogue legend Anna Wintour joined the fashionistas, rocking a geometric skirt and plush jacket.

Chic: The Erdem show at the Old Selfridges Hotel showed a remarkable unity of vision despite a wide range of colors, fabrics and mood

(L-R) Alexa Chung, Daisy Lowe, Hikari Yokoyama, Olivia Palermo and Veronika Heilbrunner

Detail: Most of the outfits featured high necks and long sleeves with elaborate detailing, intricate beadwork and delicate embroidery

Meanwhile Olivia Palermo rocked a full length floral black shirt dress with chic shoe boots.

And Laura Bailey added a splash of colour in a pink silk two piece as she posed alongside Thandie.

Virginia Bates upped the colour ante, layering a clash of materials and patterns.

Clashing: Despite their differences, the pieces complemented each other, making the entire collection come alive

Bright duo: Laura Bailey (L) and Thandie Newton made great adverts for the brand

Standing out! Laura Bailey added a splash of colour in a pink silk two piece
Rebecca Judd juggles four children along with TV presenting, modelling and design work.

So it's no surprise that the 34-year-old has confessed to doing school runs in glamorous outfits.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, the AFL WAG recalled a time she left other parents bemused by picking up her kids in figure-hugging attire and high heels.

Scroll down for video

Full on: Rebecca Judd, 34, recently confessed to doing school runs in glamorous outfits

'I've been to pick up the kids from preschool in a tight dress and high heels,' she said.

'I'm sure the other parents would look at me and think, 'What the hell?' But you just have to do what you have to do and make it work.'

The Jaggad founder also opened up about pursuing a modelling career while on placement at Melbourne's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital during her younger years.

Caught short: So it's no surprise that the 34-year-old has confessed to doing the school run extremely overdressed on occasion

Overdressed: Bec recounted how she's previously left other parents in the playground bemused by showing up in figure-hugging clothes and high heels

She said she would occasionally turn up to work sporting evidence of her other ventures.

Bec and her footy star husband Chris Judd, 33, expanded their brood, which also includes Oscar, five, and Billie, three, when she gave birth to twins in September.

The two boys, Tom and Darcy, have ensured that Bec is always on call as she juggles her work life, which includes filming Channel Nine's Postcards.

Family: Bec and husband Chris Judd, a former AFL player, added to their brood, which already contained Oscar, 5, and Billie, 3, when she gave birth to twins in September

Double trouble: The two boys, Tom and Darcy, have ensured that Bec is always on call as she juggles her work life, which has included filming for Channel Nine's Postcards

And as the brothers approach the six-month mark, their mum had some words of wisdom for other parents in the same position.

'When the twins were born at 35 weeks, I remember my midwife asked if I had any support lined up ... the biggest mistake new mums of twins make is thinking they can do it all themselves,' she said.

The mum-of-four added that she's come to the realisation that 'you can't do everything' alone, and has since scaled back some of her work commitments - like her lifestyle blog.
In December, he confessed that he's loved Kylie Minogue 'from afar for many years'.

But on Friday morning, David Walliams turned the spotlight on the pop superstar's younger sister Dannii Minogue, who he claimed had once unsuccessfully propositioned him for a late-night 'booty call'.

The 45-year-old funnyman made the claim during an appearance on Chris Evans' BBC Radio 2 Breakfast show, after the Australian beauty dubbed him 'scary' on air.

Scroll down for video

Booty call: David Walliams claimed that Dannii Minogue once approached him for a 'booty call' when they both made an appearance on Chris Evans' BBC Radio 2 Breakfast show on Friday

Responding to his 45-year-old friend's assertion that she has 'always' been petrified in his presence, the comedian shot back: 'You gave me a booty call once.'

He then explained what he meant by his use of the term, saying: 'When youre lying in bed and its quite late and you get a call from somebody saying, "Where are you?"'

Dannii quickly shot David's words down, prompting the Britain's Got Talent judge to dub her a 'liar' - before host Chris intervened, saying: 'Danniis dying a thousand deaths here. Like, "Im never coming on this show again."'

Denied: Dannii, pictured with the comedian in 2005, quickly shot down the comedian's claims

Back and forth: The pair, pictured with gallery owner Tim Jeffries in 2005, jokingly argued back and forth during their radio appearance together on Friday

'Its not a joke of mine, Im just remembering,' responded father-of-one David, who was once married to Dutch model Lara Stone.

In December, on ITV's Jonathan Ross Christmas Special, the former Little Britain star admitted that he has pined for Kylie for years - and has even asked her on a date.

With his 48-year-old pop pal sitting beside him, he revealed: 'I've loved her from afar for many years and I will always love her. I have tried a little bit but it didn't work at all, she weren't having it.'

Connection: David works on Britain's Got Talent with Simon Cowell, who famously had an affair with Dannii when the two worked together several years ago on The X Factor

Sign of the times: The former Little Britain star signed autographs ahead of his interview

He revealed that Kylie turned him down, getting the message to him through their mutual pals.

'You can't blame her though can you. No I didn't, I sort of asked through other people [and they all said no she wouldn't go on a date with me.]' he explained.

Kylie - who recently split from fiance Joshua Sasse - attempted to defend herself, explaining that the pair go out together all the time, adding: 'We have lots of mutual friends so dinners with people in abundance.'

Besotted: Last month, the Britain's Got Talent judge revealed he's always pined for Dannii's big sister Kylie Minogue

Just good friends? The TV funnyman made the confession on ITV's Jonathan Ross Christmas Special, that he loved Kylie 'from afar for many years' - and even asked her on a date
Advertisement

Her alter ego Queen Victoria is long rumoured to have been uttered the rather disdainful royal phrase 'one is not amused.'

But actress Jenna Coleman, who plays the late, great dignified royal was expressing herself in a rather different way on the set of the ITV drama on Friday.

The former Doctor Who star was spotted poking her tongue out in between takes while dressed in a bonnet and all the finery of the era.

Scroll down for video

Playful: Jenna Coleman cheekily stuck her tongue out in between takes inYorkshire on Friday to film the second series of Victoria

Filming for the second season of the drama began on Friday, with viewers left on tenderhooks after the queen gave birth to her first child in the last episode of the eponymous ITV drama.

Real-life and onscreen lovers Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes arrived on set to filming a christening scene in Yorkshire.

The new series of the historical drama will be set in the 1840s, the decade where Victoria gave birth to six of her nine children.

According to screenwriter Daisy Goodwin, the series will focus on Victoria's struggle to balance family and work life, like a modern woman.

She told the Radio Times in October: 'Even though she reigned in the 19th Century, Victoria is a heroine for our times.

'In the next series she faces the very modern dilemma of how to juggle children with her husband and her job.

'As Victoria will discover, it's hard to be a wife, a mother and ruler of the most powerful nation on earth!'

Reigning supreme: Real-life and onscreen lovers Jenna and Tom Hughes arrived on set

Lavish: Wearing her raven tresses coiled into an intricate braided updo, Jenna, 30, stunned in the off-the-shoulder creation which she teamed with a diamond necklace. She arrived at Beverly Minster to film a christening scene for the new series

The series is set to air this autumn.

In December, Jenna Coleman told Digital Spy: 'It's really exciting. 'There's so much story. It's a case of pacing it and working out where to go with it.

'There are nine children to have, so there is a long way to go.'

Looking resplendent in an ivory gown and opulent tiara, Jenna fully embodied the role of the iconic monarch, while her 30-year-old boyfriend kept things casual in jodhpurs.

Wearing her raven tresses coiled into an intricate braided updo, Jenna, 30, stunned in the off-the-shoulder creation, which she teamed with a diamond necklace.

Jenna arrived at Beverly Minster, Yorkshire, to film a christening scene.

It is possible that she could be filming the baptism of her first child, also called Victoria, who was born at the end of the first series.

Last series, Beverly Minster was used as a stand-in for Westminster Cathedral.

Real-life lovers: Tom and Jenna have been keen to keep their romance under wraps, despite the rumour mill having first gone into overdrive nearly a year ago

In the second series, Victoria will face the Irish potato blight of 1845, where more than a million people died.

Even though locals labelled her the 'famine queen', the queen is said to have donated 2,000 to help with relief.

Fans of Tom Hughes' Prince Albert will be pleased to know that his character will not die in the second series of the TV show.

In real life, the Prince consort died in 1861.

Ready for her close-up: The brunette beauty seemed to be in great spirits as she mingled with the cast and crew

Tom and Jenna have been keen to keep their romance under wraps, despite the rumour mill having first gone into overdrive nearly a year ago.

The good-looking couple have kept fans happy by reprising their roles as the titular Queen and her consort, Prince Albert.

The drama is likely to air in Autumn after ratings averaged 7.7 million viewers and the show took a 29.7 per cent share of viewing figures.

Characters looking lavish in full period costume arrived at Beverley Minster in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, which is standing in for Westminster Abbey.

Ravishing: Wearing her raven tresses coiled into an intricate braided updo, Jenna, 30, stunned as she rehearsed her lines on set

Exquisite: Jenna looked sensational as she later changed into an Oriental-inspired green embroidered jacket over a cream full-skirted gown

In great spirits: Jenna flashed a relaxed grin as she strode onto the set

The action-packed final episode of the drama saw Victoria give birth to her first child, Victoria.

The show, up against Poldark, took a 25 per cent share of the audience and saw the number of viewers peak at six million.

The average was 4.8 million viewers - its best overnight figures since the launch episode.

On Twitter, history fans poured out their grief that the show had finished, with many questioning how they'd fill the Victoria-shaped hole in their lives.

@KrystenSwin wrote: 'So sad that @ITV #Victoria has finished! It's been the best Sunday night viewing in a long time!'

Fresh-faced beauty: The former Doctor Who star showed off her striking looks with just a subtle sweep of mascara as she arrived onset

Rugged good looks: Tom is reprising his role as Queen's consort, Prince Albert

Getting into character: Cemetery Junction star Tom wore a casual navy denim jacket over his costume

Dynamic duo: The pair later headed to set together arm-in-arm

In her first role since Doctor Who, Jenna plays the British monarch from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of 18 through to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert, played by Tom Hughes.

BAFTA-nominated actor Rufus Sewell, who has himself played a royal on screen in the 2003 TV drama Charles II: The Power and The Passion, is cast as Lord Melbourne, Victoria's first prime minister and close confidant.

The pair's friendship became a popular source of gossip that threatened to destabilise the Government  angering both Tory and Whigs alike.

Showstopping: Characters looking lavish in full period costume arrived at Beverley Minster in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, which is standing in for Westminster Abbey

Setting the scene: The characters looked impossibly lavish in their decadent ball gowns

Extravagant: The last episode saw the number of viewers peak at six million as Victoria gave birth to her first child

Victoria began with a 90-minute episode followed by seven one-hour episodes.

The series has been created and written by acclaimed novelist Daisy Goodwin, in her screenwriting debut, who will also serve as executive producer alongside Dan McCulloch (Indian Summers) and Damien Timmer (Poldark).

Torchwood star Eve Myles and The Sarah Jane Adventures actor Tommy-Lawrence Knight also joined the stellar line-up.

Speaking at the announcement of her role last year, Jenna gushed: 'I am delighted to be cast as Queen Victoria in this ambitious drama of her life.

'She is a vivid, strong, inspirational and utterly fascinating woman in British history and I can't wait to tell her story.'

Successful: The drama is likely to air in Autumn after ratings averaged 7.7 million viewers and the show took a 29.7 per cent share of viewing figures

Left on tenterhooks: On Twitter, history fans poured out their grief that the show had finished, with many questioning how they'd fill the Victoria-shaped hole in their lives

Big budget drama: Characters were decked out in decadent military costume complete with medals

Politics, gossip and marriage: Queen Victoria's early reign Victoria turned 18 on 24 May 1837. Less than a month later on 20 June 1837, her uncle William IV died at the age of 71, and she became Queen of the United Kingdom. The British Empire was at the height of its power in Victoria's early reign, and she ruled over 450 million people, one quarter of the world's population. The United Kingdom though was already an established constitutional monarchy, with the sovereign holding little political power and Victoria's early years on the throne were spent developing her understanding of British politics. In the early part of her reign, she was influenced by two men. At the time of her accession, the government was led by the Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne (played by Rufus Sewell in the series), who at once became a powerful influence on the politically inexperienced Queen. Victoria's reliance upon Lord Melbourne increased her support of the Whig party, and Melbourne ensured that the Queen was surrounded by ladies-in-waiting from notable Whig families, a situation that would lead to the so-called 'bedchamber crisis' after Melbourne, briefly, resigned in 1839. While the Queen's intimate friendship with Melbourne was the subject of much gossip, her reputation also suffered in 1839 when one of the court's ladies in waiting, Lady Flora Hastings was falsely accused of becoming pregnant by Sir John Conroy, a man the Queen openly despised. When the matter became a public scandal, the Queen was accused of spreading the false rumours and her early popularity with the public was severely dented. Victoria had met her future husband Albert at the age of 17 before ascending to the throne, when her uncle played matchmaker between the two cousins. According to Victoria's diary, she enjoyed Albert's company from the moment they met, but the future Queen decided that she was too young to marry. In October 1839 Albert paid another visit, and just five days after he had arrived at Windsor, the Queen proposed. They were married on 10 February 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace, London, with the besotted Queen writing in her diary of their wedding: 'I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert ... his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before!' Victoria desired that Albert receive the title King Consort, but was met by opposition from British officials who refused to see a German prince assume any part of the sovereign power. Prince Albert though was to become a hugely influential adviser to the Queen, with his interests lying in the arts, science, trade and industry. He established the Great Exhibition of 1851, the profits from which helped to establish the famed South Kensington museums in London. Advertisement




Her spell on The Simple Life made her a household name.

But Paris Hilton insists she will never return to reality TV - because she's too busy with her business interests.

Speaking to Plastik magazine, she insisted: 'My team gets calls every single day with offers for reality TV but I am so busy running my empire that I dont have time for it.'

'I don't have time!' Paris Hilton strips off for sizzling shoot as she reveals why she turned her back on reality TV

And she added: 'I feel like I have been there and done that and its not a priority in my life. I am more interested in being a businesswoman.'

While Paris may have turned her back on reality stardom, her onetime assistant slash BFF Kim Kardashian now rules the roost as the queen of the small screen.

But as Paris tell the magazine, she has plenty to keep her busy, with 19 'product lines', 20 fragrances - including the newly released Gold Rush - and a standing gig as a DJ in Ibiza.

No time! As Paris tell the magazine, she has plenty to keep her busy, with 19 'product lines', 20 fragrances - including the newly released Gold Rush - and a standing gig as a DJ in Ibiza

The 36-year-old said of her success: 'The most challenging part has been people taking me seriously.

'They are always so surprised when I come prepared to meetings and that I am well versed in whatever business venture we are discussing.'

A Hilton hotel heiress, Paris comes from a family of successful business leaders.

As a Hilton hotel heiress, Paris comes from a family of successful business leaders.

Business minded: She said her grandfather, Barron Hilton, was her mentor

And she said that she didn't need to look far for a mentor.

'My grandfather, who is an incredibly successful businessman. I am so lucky to have such a mentor and I have always looked up to him.'

Asked if she was a feminist by the magazine, Paris explained: 'I love that I can be a role model and inspiration to young women.

Handing out advice: 'Dont let it get to your head and treat your fans with love and respect'

Paris appears on the cover of Plastik magazine, in a shoot produced by Plastik Studios

'All about girl power!' Paris said 'hard work and focus' was her best advice for young women

'I am all about girl power. I love being an inspiration to girls who want to be independent women and build their own brand and business and showing them that if you work hard and focus, dreams can come true.'

And she shared her advice for girls wanting to follow in her footsteps.

'My advice would be to continue to work hard and surround yourself with good people and a great team who really want the best for you.

'Also, dont let it get to your head and always treat your fans with love and respect.'
It's one of California's most beloved fast food restaurants.

But some fans must have been in a state of disbelief when Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson revealed on Thursday that he visited In-N-Out for the very first time in his life.

The actor, 44, shared an Instagram photo of himself grinning broadly and giving the camera the thumbs up as he pulled up into the restaurant's drive-through, with two employees smiling from inside the fast food joint.

'I've never been to In-N-Out': Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson revealed on Thursday that he visited the chain for the very first time in his life during a late night fast food run with his girlfriend Lauren Hashian and his daughter, Simone Garcia-Johnson

Dwayne raved about his experience at the restaurant, revealing he finally visited In-N-Out for a late night fast food run with his long-term girlfriend Lauren Hashian, 32, and his daughter, Simone Garcia-Johnson, 15.

'I've never been to IN-N-OUT before (I know, what an a**hole;), but when my lovely ladies @laurenhashianofficial & @simonegjohnson wanted late night grub, I happily obliged and pulled in the drive thru,' he captioned the snap.

'Seriously, the most excited and suuuuuper nice fans ever. Thanks Victor (manager pictured here) and staff for being so cool.

'You made my ladies very happy with the burgers, fries and shakes and that's what it's all about.'

Coming soon? The Rock than pledged to return to the restaurant in a full tuxedo if his movie, Moana, won an Oscar on Sunday (pictured in 2016 in Hollywood)

The Rock than said he would return to the restaurant in a full tuxedo if his movie, Moana, won an Oscar on Sunday.

'If our Moana wins the Oscar this Sunday, I will return - in my tux and completely destroy multiple burgers and fries to celebrate. I'm talkin' about takin' cheat meal to another level.

'Thanks guys for being so cool. And for the free ketchup. #InNOut #NewestAndBiggestFan #Literally.'

Love story: Dwayne has been with Lauren since 2007 and the couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Jasmine, in December 2015

Dwayne's animated movie, about a girl who joins forces with a Demigod to save her community, has been nominated for Best Original Song and Best Animated Feature Film.

It features the voices of Auli'i Cravalho and Rachel House.

Dwayne has been with Lauren since 2007 and the couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Jasmine, in December 2015.

The wrestler-turned-actor was previously married to Dany Garcia from 1997 to 2007, and they welcomed daughter Simone in 2001.
She welcomed her third child last week.

But Zoe Saldana still found time to spend some one-on-two time with her twin sons on Thursday.

The 38-year-old actress looked laid back and relaxed as she strolled hand in hand with Bowie and Cy in Studio City, California.

Glowing: Zoe Saldana, 38, strolled hand-in-hand with twin sons Cy and Bowie in Los Angeles on Thursday

The adorable two-year-olds were dressed in matching chinos and monochrome hoodies as their mother carried their lunch bag.

There was no sign of baby Zen however, who was presumably at home being looked after by Zoe's Italian artist husband, Marco Perego.

The Guardians Of The Galaxy actress surprised fans when she announced the birth last week with an Instagram photo of all three children, saying: 'Marco and I are elated to share the news of the the birth of our son Zen. We couldnt feel more blessed with the new addition to our family. #threeboys... oh boy!'

Expanding family: The Avatar actress enjoyed some quiet time with her sons after announcing the birth of her third child, Zen, last week

Zoe looked tired but elated on her outing, casually dressed in stonewashed jeans and a navy cardigan, which hung loosely over a simple black T-shirt.

Although the sun was shining, she wore heavy brown boots - perhaps to tackle the currently unpredictable weather in Los Angeles.

The low-key beauty appeared to be going makeup free, wearing her long hair loose around her shoulders and framing her face with a simple pair of tortoiseshell glasses.

How does she do it? Later on Thursday, Zoe amped up her look at Cadillac's Annual Oscar Week Soiree at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood

Later on Thursday evening, Zoe amped up her look as she made an appearance at Cadillac's Annual Oscar Week Soiree at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.

The Avatar star looked effortlessly chic on the red carpet, showing off her slim frame in a quirky cream-colored dress complete with ruffles and lace-up arm detail.

Unusual style: The Avatar star looked effortlessly chic on the red carpet, showing off her slim frame in a quirky cream-colored dress complete with ruffles and lace-up arm detail
Caitlyn Jenner emerged for her morning coffee in Malibu, California on Friday after delivering a strong message to Donald Trump .

The 67-year-old wore a cowl-neck top with black lace detail and a matching cardigan worn over slim-fitting blue jeans.

In an Instagram video posted on Thursday, the gold-medalist criticized the President's decision to reverse Barack Obama's transgender bathroom directive.

Addressing the president, Caitlyn said she had a message 'from one Republican to another'.

Cool in cream: Caitlyn Jenner, 67, looked chic on her morning coffee run in Malibu, California on Friday - after blasting Donald Trump on Instagram

Effortless: The Olympic gold-medalist appeared calm and collected in a flowing cardigan, slim-fitting jeans and classic accessories

Trendy: The former reality TV star gave her outfit a youthful twist by opting for a cowl-necked top with black lace panel that showed a hint of midriff

The reality TV star, who appeared to support Trump in the race for the White House, said: 'This is a disaster. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me.'

Trump's administration announced on Wednesday that it lifted federal guidelines that said transgender students should be allowed to use public school bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity.

In the video, Jenner issued a message of hope to transgender children, saying: 'You're winning. I know it doesn't feel it today or every day, but you're winning.

'Very soon we will win full freedom nation-wide and it is going to be with bipartisan support,' she said.

Elegant: Caitlyn (formerly known as Bruce) came out as a trans woman in April 2015

Caitlyn criticized President Donald Trump's decision to reverse Barack Obama's transgender bathroom directive

She went on to denounce bullies, calling them 'sick' and 'weak', before going after Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Jenner said: 'Apparently even becoming the Attorney General isn't enough to cure some people of their insecurities.

'As proof the Supreme Court will soon hear a very important Title IX case, thanks to the courage of a very brave young man, Gavin Grimm.

'Mr. President, we'll see you in court.'

Grimm is a female-born transgender high school student who was mentioned by actress Laverne Cox at the Grammy Awards.

The Supreme Court will hear Grimm's case on March 28, and determine whether he will be allowed to use the boys' bathroom at Gloucester High School in Virginia under Title IX, the federal law prohibiting gender-based discrimination.

If the court rules in favor of Grimm, the decision will become the law of the land, binding the Trump administration and the states.

Jenner ended her message by saying: 'This is a disaster. And you can still fix it. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me'

Jenner ended her video by saying: 'Finally I have a message for President Trump, from, well, one Republican to another. This is a disaster. And you can still fix it. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me.'

After Trump said in April that transgender people should be able to use whatever bathroom they choose, Jenner filmed herself going into the women's bathroom at New York's Trump International Hotel and Tower.

Jenner later went on to praise Trump for being 'very much behind the LGBT community' in a chat with STAT last June.

Jenner spoke at the Republican National Convention in July and attended the Liberty Ball at Trump's inauguration (pictured)

The 67-year-old transgender reality star initially supported Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz.

But in an March 2016 episode of I Am Cait, Jenner said she would vote for Trump without a moment's hesitation if she had to choose between him and Hillary Clinton in the general election.

While daughter Kim Kardashian revealed Jenner was voting for Trump in an interview with Wonderland magazine, the 67-year-old tried to say she hadn't 'outwardly supported anybody' in the race.

Jenner spoke at the Republican National Convention in July and attended the Liberty Ball at Trump's inauguration.
Amy Schumer is taking a well-deserved vacation.

The hard-working comedienne took to Instagram - where she boasts 5.8million followers - on Friday to share photos from her tropical getaway with her girl friends.

The 35-year-old Trainwreck star proved she isn't afraid of a little danger as she took the plunge into the deep blue and swam with sharks in the Bahamas.

Scroll down for video

Best friends: Amy Schumer, 35, vacationed in the Bahamas with her 'girls of 25 years'

Brave: The comedienne proved she isn't afraid of a little danger as she took the plunge into the deep blue and swam with sharks in the Bahamas

Amy captioned the video of the experience: 'Swimming with sharks and Jess.'

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo author and her friend float around as the opportunistic predator crosses their path.

The fish is likely of the Caribbean reef shark species, which is recognized as generally safe to swim with.

All's well: The fish is likely of the Caribbean reef shark species, which is recognized as generally safe to swim with

Amy has said before that when she was younger, she nearly died from a surfing accident and thought she would be attacked by a shark because she was bleeding so much.

The jokester was saved and ended up with 41 stitches in her leg. She is clearly over the ordeal as she took on the shark-filled waters of the Bahamas.

Girl friends: The hard-working comedienne and her girlfriends enjoyed a sunset hot tub dip

The Inside Amy Schumer star was also joined by comedian-actress Bridget Everett on the girls' trip, who was featured in Amy's Trainwreck and is known for her cabaret show in NYC.

Amy posted several picturesque shots from her island adventures, from snorkeling, to hanging out with swimming pigs on Exuma and enjoying a sunset hot tub dip with her 'girls of 25 years and counting.

She captioned a photo of herself and four other ladies, all wearing stylish shades: 'Real love.'

Island life: Amy posed behind a swimming pig on the island Exuma

In another, Amy smiles brightly as she poses with a friend behind a swimming pig.

While on vacation, the New Yorker took time to share a preview clip of her upcoming film starring herself and Goldie Hawn - unfortunately, the sound for the video did not work, to the dismay of her fans.

Amy plays Emily Middleton, whose boyfriend dumps her on the eve of the exotic vacation they were meant to take together. Instead, she takes her mother Linda (Hawn).

Snatched hits theaters May 12.

Meanwhile, Netflix subscribers can expect a stand-up special from the comedian premiering on March 7.
Dancing With The Stars is fast filling out its list of celebrity contestants for the upcoming 24th season.

With just a month to go, Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Erika Girardi is set to join the cast, according to E! News on Thursday.

A source also told E! that Mr. Bachelor Nick Viall is being pursued to join the fun, although his participation hasn't been locked down yet.

Ready to cha-cha-cha: Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Erika Girardi is set to join the celebrities on the 24th season of Dancing With The Stars

Meanwhile, Fifth Harmonys Normani Kordei has signed on, People revealed.

And Olympic figure skating legend Nancy Kerrigan has agreed to step off the ice and into the ballroom, Variety reported the same day.

The news comes a day after ABC announced the first celebrities to make the cut - Mr. T, whose full name is Laurence Turead, and 2016 Summer Olympic gymnastics phenom and multiple gold medal winner Simone Biles.

Erika, who is married to attorney Thomas Girardi, has become popular since debuting in the sixth season of the Bravo reality show, thanks to her alter ego, pop star Erika Jayne, who produced hits Rollercoaster, How Many F**** and Xxpensive.

Girl power: Normany Kordei, second from right, with her Fifth Harmony gal pals Lauren Jauregui, Dinah Jane and Ally Brooke, at an event in LA on February 12. She will be flying back and forth from their tour in Asia to take part in DWTS

Other Real Housewives have danced ahead of her, including RHOBH co-star Lisa Vanderpump in 2013 and Lisa Rinna back in 2006 before joining the Housewives franchise.

Real Housewives of Atlanta stars Kim Fields, NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak-Biermann also put their best feet forward for the show.

It's going to be a busy time for Normani as the new season of DWTS premieres next month, when Fifth Harmony will be on tour in Asia while also writing and recording a new album.

Ice queen: Nineties Olympic figure skating champion Nancy Kerrigan, pictured on the ice at a show in Florida last month, is also set to compete in the upcoming season

Off the ice: The beautiful brunette was revealed as a contestant by ABC

For the first two weeks, Normani's pro-partner will fly back and forth with her to rehearse.

Meanwhile, Nancy shot to fame after winning the bronze medal at the 1992 Winter in France and the silver at the 1994 games in Norway.

She, of course, gained notoriety after a failed attack on her set up by her rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband to keep Nancy out of the '94 Olympics.

He's a lover but can he dance?: The Bachelor hunk Nick Viall is in talks to appear on the show

Building his body: The handsome hunk picked up a coffee after working out in LA on Thursday

Since retiring from competition, Nancy has had film and TV cameos over the years, most notably in Will Ferrell's figure skating spoof Blades of Glory in 2007.

On Thursday, ABC announced that Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles and the A-Team's Mr. T would also appear on the show

The full list of stars competing for the DWTS mirrorball trophy will be revealed on Good Morning America on March 1.

The hit reality show will premiere March 20 at 8 pm on ABC.

Previously announced: ABC revealed on Wednesday that petite gymnast Simone Biles, who won four gold medals and a bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, will take part in the show
Advertisement

Its not often that George Clooney is overshadowed, but the veteran star was eclipsed by pregnant wife Amal on Friday evening in Paris.

The couple, who are expecting twins, led the glamour as a host of stars made their way across the red carpet for the 42nd Cesar Awards Ceremony in the French capitals Salle Pleyel.

But it was human rights lawyer Amal, 39, who inevitably claimed the spotlight courtesy of her growing baby bump as she greeted photographers shortly before making her way inside.

Scroll down for video

Stunning: Its not often that George Clooney is overshadowed, but the veteran star was eclipsed by pregnant wife Amal at the Cesar Awards on Friday evening in Paris

The brunette looked typically elegant in a sweeping ombre feathered ballgown that showcased her tummy as she joined her husband at the annual event - the most prominent film ceremony in France.

An off-the-shoulder detail generously exposed Amal's slender arms, while a white and grey mottled lower-half gave her choice of ensemble a tasteful flourish.

With her tousled locks effortlessly pushed away from her face, the Beirut born international law specialist revealed a pair of glittering, diamond studded earrings.

She's expecting: Amal's growing baby bump was evident as she posed for photos alongside her husband

Glittering: With her tousled locks effortlessly pushed away from her face, the Beirut born international law specialist revealed a pair of glittering, diamond studded earrings

Sweeping statement: Amal looked typically elegant in a sweeping ruffled ballgown that showcased her tummy as she joined her husband at the annual event - the most prominent film ceremony in France

Hand in hand: The couple were rarely apart as they made their way across the red carpet

Coming soon: Amal's pregnancy was confirmed by CBS show The Talk in February

High glamour: The couple were on ha d to celebrate the best of French and international cinema on Friday evening

Power couple: George and Amal dominated the annual film ceremony on Friday evening

The look of love: The pair looked smitten as they gazed into one another's eyes

A liberal use of red lipstick added a splash of vibrancy to an otherwise muted colour scheme, while deft touches of foundation and eyeliner drew further attention to Amal's delicately proportioned features.

Standing alongside his wife, George, 55, looked suitably dapper in black tuxedo suit, crisp white shirt and bow tie.

Rarely apart throughout the night, the couple looked completely smitten as they gazed into one another's eyes during an intimate momentthe Parisian venue.

All mine: Amal pressed a hand against her husband's chest as they arrived for the 42nd edition of the French film ceremony

Incoming: The couple greeted onlookers as they prepared for their arrival at the event on Friday evening

Suited and booted: George looked suitably dapper in a black tuxedo suit, crisp white shirt and bow tie

The pair were making their latest red carpet appearance shortly after George's mother Nina revealed the couple are expecting one of each sex.

In an interview with RadarOnline, the 77-year-old former city councilwoman shared her excitement over the expected June arrival for George and his glamorous wife.

'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.'

Stepping out: The pair were making their latest red carpet appearance shortly after George's mother Nina revealed the couple are expecting one of each sex

Opening up: George recently spoke for the first time of his 'excitement' at the news that he and Amal will be welcoming twins this summer

Speaking to French programme Rencontres de Cinema, he said: 'We are really happy and really excited. It's going to be an adventure. We've sort of embraced it all with arms wide open'

Pointing it out: Something seemed to catch George's eye as he embraced his glamorous wife

Cheek to cheek: Amal could barely keep her hands off her husband

Reunited! George happily embraced Jean Dujardin once inside

Boys will be boys: Leaving Amal to mingle, George later fooled around with the French actor

Getting weird with the beard: George appeared to stroke Jean's facial hair as they caught up at the bash

George recently spoke for the first time of his 'excitement' at the news that he and Amal will be welcoming twins this summer.

The actor said: 'We are really happy and really excited. It's going to be an adventure. We've sort of embraced it all with arms wide open.'

Speaking to French programme Rencontres de Cinema, he said his friends were 'very supportive' of the news, despite having given him a hard time at first.

'Then it got really quiet,' he said. 'And they all just started making baby crying noises, and the whole table just busted up laughing.'

Plenty to look forward to: The couple will welcome their first children over the summer

Do you want to know a secret? George leaned into Amal as they posed on the red carpet

Inseparable: George kept a tight hold of his pregnant wife's hand

Surrounded: The pair were swamped by a mixture of fans and photographers outside the Parisian venue

Helping hand: George was careful to mind his wife's dress as he escorted her off the carpet

Glowing: Amal's blossoming bump was clear for all to see as she posed with her partner on the carpet

Having a ball: George and Amal appeared to share a giggle as they took their seats at the show

Divine: Amal looked undeniably stunning at the annual ceremony in Paris

Expectant couple: Parenthood has been a long time coming for George, who will be 56 by the time his twins are born

Over here Amal! His stunning wife owned the red carpet outside Paris venue Salle Pleyel

George and Amal were joined by a number of the biggest French stars in the industry at the bash - including young beauty Lily-Rose Depp.

The Chanel muse - who set to star alongside Natalie Portman in Planetarium - was sure to command attention in her partly sequin number.

The daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Pardis looked sensational in her halterneck dress that accentuated her lithe frame with a waist-cinching thick patent leather belt.

Fashion forward: George and Amal were joined by a number of the biggest French stars in the industry at the bash - including young beauty Lily-Rose Depp

Attention grabbing: The Chanel muse - who set to star alongside Natalie Portman in Planetarium - was sure to command attention in her partly sequin number

Demure darling: The daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Pardis looked sensational in her chiffon halterneck dress that accentuated her lithe frame with a waist-cinching thick patent leather belt

Her ensemble featured a calf-grazing chiffon overlay which proved to be semi-sheer to showcase her embellished mini-skirt underneath.

Letting her dress do the talking, she opted to forgo overloading her look with jewels as she simply teamed her red carpet attire with a pair of diamond studs.

The petite beauty completed her ensemble as she teetered up the carpet in her bow detailed high heels.

Blessed with a flawless complexion, Lily highlighted her incredible bone-structure by sweeping her locks into high ponytail as she worked a number of poses on the carpet.

Show-stopper: Her ensemble featured a calf-grazing chiffon overlay which proved to be semi-sheer to showcase her embellished mini-skirt underneath

Chic: Her show-stopping number complemented her sandy coloured locks perfectly

Also making a glamorous appearance was French acting legend Isabelle Huppert, who truly dazzled in a gorgeous emerald green gown.

The 63-year-old oozed class and elegance in the floor-length dress, which remained simple but classic in style with a V neckline and ruched waistband.

The actress, who is up for an Academy Award for her role in Elle, styled her red hair into vintage curls and accessorised with bejewelled drop earrings, for a subtle hint of glitz.

Green dream: Also making a glamorous appearance was French acting legend Isabelle Huppert, who truly dazzled in a gorgeous emerald green gown

Stunning: The 63-year-old oozed class and elegance in the floor-length dress, which remained simple but classic in style with a V neckline and ruched waistband

Hint of glitz: The actress, who is up for an Academy Award for her role in Elle, styled her red hair into vintage curls and accessorised with bejewelled drop earrings

What a pair: Jean Dujardin also looked in good spirits at the event in a slick black tuxedo as he arrived with his partner Nathalie Pechalat

All that glitters: Meanwhile Melanie Thierry captured attention in a red maxi gown formed entirely of chunky sequins

With guests settled inside the French venue, George took to the stage to collect the prestigious Cesar dHonneur Award for his services to film.

The actor looked touched as he collected his Cesar - the French equivalent of the iconic Academy Award - from former Oscar winner Jean Dujardin - his co-star in 2014 release The Monuments Men.

The old friends warmly greeted one another before George turned to the audience, where a visibly emotional Amal proudly looked on as they rose to give him a standing ovation.

Centre stage: George recieved a standing ovation from the star-studded audience after taking to the stage

So special: George was honoured at the event with the Cesar dHonneur Award - recognition for his illustrious Hollywood career

All yours: Jean Dujardin greeted George before he received the French equivalent of the Academy Awards' golden statue

Banter: The two freinds warmly congratulated one another at the Salle Pleyel

So proud: Amal struggled to contain her emotions as she watched from her vantage point in the audience

Humble: George thanked those in attendance at the annual event after collecting his award on Friday evening

Old pals: George and Jean previously starred alongside one another in 2014 film The Monuments Men

Love not hate: Asking native Frenchman Dujardin to translate on his behalf, the politically minded actor reflected on recent developments in his home country, telling those in attendance '(US President Donald) Trump is a danger to the world'

Asking native Frenchman Dujardin to translate on his behalf, the politically minded actor reflected on recent developments in his home country, telling those in attendance: '(US President Donald) Trump is a danger to the world... as citizens of the world were going to have to work harder and harder not to let hate win.'

The actor also paid an emotional tribute to his expectant wife, adding: 'To my wife Amal, there isnt a day that goes by that Im not proud to be your husband.

'And I am excited about the years to come, and particularly the months to come. I love you very much.'

Clooney has been to South Sudan and the Congo on humanitarian work, while Amals job has seen her travel to places including Iraq.

Other stars expecting babies include singers Beyonce and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini.

Topical speech: 'As citizens of the world were going to have to work harder and harder not to let hate win,' he added

I love you: The actor also paid an emotional tribute to his expectant wife, adding 'To my wife Amal, there isnt a day that goes by that Im not proud to be your husband. And I am excited about the years to come, and particularly the months to come. I love you very much'

Side by side: George took his place in the audience alongside his proud wife

Sleepy: A very tired looking Amal rested her head on George's shoulder as the ceremony wore on

He's got his hands full: George later posed backstage with his award following a moving tribute to his wife, and an attack on US President Donald Trump
A Camilla-clad woman has been arrested and charged by police after posing as a security guard and shoplifting thousands of dollars worth of clothing during a frenzied Camilla Franks warehouse sale on Friday.

The Daily Telegraph reported that a thousand fashion devotees flocked to the sale at Paddington Town Hall in Sydney's eastern suburbs, with pieces discounted by up to 70 per cent.

NSW Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that the 43-year-old woman was hauled away by police and arrested after being allegedly caught shoplifting designer items at the warehouse sale.

Someone call the fashion police! A woman is ARRESTED for shoplifting during a frenzied Camilla warehouse sale

According to police, the NSW Central Coast woman entered the sale around lunchtime after claiming she was an undercover security guard to staff.

She left and re-entered the warehouse sale multiple times, taking with her in total 17 Camilla items worth thousands of dollars.

But she was finally stopped by security two hours later, arrested and charged by police for shoplifting and carrying on security activity without a licence.

She will appear in court next month.

Keen for a kaftan: A thousand fashion devotees flocked to the sale at Paddington Town Hall in Sydney's eastern suburbs, with pieces discounted by up to 70 per cent

Meanwhile, those at the sale took to the kaftan brand's Facebook page to vent their anger over the long waits to get inside the event.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Camilla for comment.

'I got in line at 9 am, waited for 2 hrs and moved 50 metres,' one frustrated woman wrote.

Long lines: Those at the sale reported waiting up to six hours with some leaving empty-handed

'Security were rude, people pushing in, no time estimates or communication. This is not customer service.'

Another woman said she had driven from Newcastle for the sale but had to leave without one of the brand's coveted pieces.

'My mother and I waited in line for 6 hours. Drove 2.5 hours from Newcastle to come only to have to turn around and leave empty handed as we still had at least an hour wait,' she posted to Facebook.

'I was surprised by the rudeness of some of the young girls,' Camilla fanatic Susan Bonaccorso told The Daily Telegraph.

Popular: Established out of a small Bondi Beach boutique 13 years ago, Camilla Franks' floaty kaftan designs have become an international cult classic.

She queued from 7am for three hours before being let in and purchasing a Camilla item.

'I would be holding something and they grabbed it off me or pushed me out of the way. Some were desperate.'

Established out of a small Bondi Beach boutique 13 years ago, Camilla Franks' floaty kaftan designs have become an international cult classic.

The brand has a strong Australia fan base and celebrity devotees such as Beyonce, Tash Oakley, Erin Holland, Gold Hawn and Shanina Shaik.
She's been in the same shoes as Keira Maguire, as both a contender on The Bachelor and I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

And in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, Laurina Fleure has lent her support for the reality villain and 'thinks she is slowly on her way to winning over the country.'

Sharing her advice for the 29-year-old, the brunette bombshell told the publication: 'She needs to suck it up and conform.'

'She needs to suck it up and conform': Fellow reality star Laurina Fleure showed her support for Keira Maguire in an interview with Saturday's The Daily Telegraph, revealing the I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! outcast has a strong chance of winning the series

'I had a very similar situation as Keira where I was also the outcast,' Laurina admitted, reflecting on her run in last year's I'm A Celebrity.

'I saw her at the Tucker Trial where she tried to eat everything which is a smart move.

But Laurina added that egos in the camp are one of the biggest challenges, with 'a hierarchy of how famous you are.'

Similar stories: Laurina and Keira (right) 29, have both starred in The Bachelor Australia and I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in different seasons

Advice: 'I had a very similar situation as Keira where I was also the outcast,' Laurina admitted to The Daily Telegraph, reflecting on her run in last year's I'm A Celebrity, and admitted that 'big egos' in the camp can provide a challenge

Since Keira's entry into the South African jungle as an intruder, she hasn't been warmly welcomed by everyone.

In particular, she's clashed with former My Kitchen Rules star Ash Pollard, 31, and radio shock jock Steve Price, 62.

An on Keira's first day, she found herself arguing with Ash over food and sleeping arrangements.

Conflict: Keira's first day in the South African jungle saw her arguing with former My Kitchen Rules star Ash Pollard, 31, over food and sleeping arrangements

Ash made it clear that Keira was annoying her when the reality TV star decided to sleep on the camp couch instead of her own bed.

Ash snapped: 'I can see what's going to happen here sweetie, it's not going to be good, alright.'

'Too bad, my bed,' Keira replied smugly, as she made herself comfortable and Ash looked visibly disgusted.

Keira had previously decided her bed was too dirty, complaining, 'This bed is so gross! No one is allowed to sit on my bed.'

Tension: Ash made it clear that Keira was annoying her when the reality TV star decided to sleep on the camp couch instead of her own bed. She snapped: 'I can see what's going to happen here sweetie, it's not going to be good, alright'

Not budging: Keira had previously decided her bed was too dirty, complaining: 'This bed is so gross! No one is allowed to sit on my bed'

They clashed yet again over dinner when Keira asked Ash to make potato salad, despite a lack of ingredients.

A dumbfounded Ash replied: 'Babe, there's no mayonnaise or anything, or egg. Or onion.'

Ash was clearly unimpressed with Keira from the moment she saw her, telling Casey Donovan: 'Oh an intruder, fine guess we will have to deal with it.'

Drama: Meanwhile, Thursday night's episode saw Steve Price, 62, vowing 'to knock her head off' as he faced off against the Bachelor reject in a Tucker Trial

Meanwhile, Thursday night's episode saw Steve Price vowing 'to knock her head off' as he faced off against the Bachelor reject in a Tucker Trial.

Unlike most trials, which see two contestants work together to collect the most food stars, this episode's challenge saw Keira and the journalist compete against each other, to avoid a further trial in the ominously-named Skull Cave.

They were accompanied by 'cheerleaders' Ash supporting Steve, and Lisa Curry, 54, supporting Keira.

Watching on: They were accompanied by 'cheerleaders' Ash supporting Steve, and Lisa Curry, 54, supporting Keira

'Today is a trial with a bit of a difference, you guys are going to be competing against each other,' co-host Julia Morris revealed.

The revelation seemed to go down well with Steve: 'Keira and I have had words, we've put all that on hold today [because] we thought we were competing together,' he said.

'Now that we are competing against each other I can't stand it and I intend to knock her head off!'

Not holding back: 'Now that we are competing against each other I can't stand it and I intend to knock her head off!' Steve shared to camera

An uncharacteristic Keira did not match Steve's competitive tone, instead sniping: 'I am actually not that aggressive!'

'I am actually quietly confident that I will kick his ass,' she added.

The trial's chosen cheerleaders Lisa and Ash let out whoops of delight when they heard Keira and Steve were competing against each other.
Shannen Doherty has completed chemotherapy.

The 45-year-old actress was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2015, and two years later, she has marked another milestone in her battle against the disease.

Taking to Instagram on Friday morning to announce her good news, the 'exhausted' actress posted a selfie of herself in bed, getting some well-deserved rest as the 'waiting game' begins.

'Cancer slayer': Shannen Doherty, 45, has completed chemotherapy

She began: 'Last day of chemo. Exhausted. Now that I'm done with chemo and radiation, the waiting game is here.

'Waiting for test. Waiting to see if I'm clear or not. Waiting for reconstruction. Waiting. I think when one gets cancer, they are always waiting to a certain extent.'

She concluded: 'To those who know...I'm waiting with you. #cancerslayer.'

The animal rights activist told People in 2015: 'Yes, I have breast cancer, and I am currently undergoing treatment. I am continuing to eat right, exercise and stay very positive about my life.

The animal rights activist told People in 2015: 'Yes, I have breast cancer, and I am currently undergoing treatment'

'I am thankful to my family, friends and doctors for their support and, of course, my fans who have stood by me.'

And her fans continue to support the Charmed star.

Some were able to empathize, writing to the actress on her photo: 'You said it. So much waiting, in the hands of others, going through the motions until one day you are not...& you have your life back, it is yours again. Until then waiting with you! #tenyearscancerfree.'

The majority of followers sent their well-wishes, prayers, and love.
She's currently heating things up cooking alongside her friend David on My Kitchen Rules.

But there was no apron in sight when Betty Banks was at Sydney's Bronte Beach recently.

The 'social media influencer' shot photos for her blog in an array of barely there bikinis.

Smoking hot! MKR 'social media influencer' Betty Banks poses up a storm in tiny bikini at Bronte Beach

While she has been appearing on Channel Seven Betty has also made headlines thanks to her 47,000 strong Instagram following.

The blogger isn't shy about flaunting her enviable physique on social media, posting her fair share of revealing photos.

At Bronte Beach last month, Betty wore a crocheted yellow bikini top with barely-there swimming briefs as she posed by the water.

Cooking isn't her only asset! At Bronte Beach last month, Betty wore a crocheted yellow bikini top with barely-there swimming briefs as she posed by the water

Looking good! The revealing style showed off her taut stomach and toned legs, with Betty's many tattoos also on full display

The revealing style showed off her taut stomach and toned legs, with Betty's many tattoos also on full display.

Wearing her sun-kissed brown locks up from her face in a ponytail, the curvy beauty shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of chic round metallic sunglasses.

Betty adjusted her hair as a male companion took photos, before returning to the sand for another outfit change.

Work it Betty! The reality TV star and blogger adjusted her hair as a male companion took photos

Time for a change: After snapping some photos in the waves, Betty returned to the beach and adjusted her hair

Returning to the beach, Betty sat on the sand and struck a flattering sitting pose favoured by bloggers as she shot more photos.

The avid foodie stuck her elbow out and gave the photographer a sultry stare, later changing the pose with her hands facing upwards.

Strike a pose: The avid foodie stuck her elbow out and gave the photographer a sultry stare

Showing off her best assets: Betty adopted a favoured Instagram pose which showcases her abs and pert assets

Runners pose: Betty got up from the sand and went over to a female friend to change into her next swimwear look

Shaking things up: Betty changed on the beach into her next outfit with the help of a female assistant

After having her fill of posing for photos sitting Betty got up from the sand and went over to change into her next swimwear look.

The athletic beauty changed on the beach into her next outfit with the help of a female assistant.

She donned a fashion forward turban scarf on her head with a blue patterned string bikini.

Pin up girl: The bikini and turban combo gave Betty a retro vibe as she posed cheekily on a set of stairs

Pouting it out: After a few playful poses she went back to a more sultrily look for photos

Say cheese: Two companions snapped away on cameras as the My Kitchen Rules contestant posed

The bikini and turban combo gave Betty a retro vibe as she posed cheekily on a set of stairs smiling happily.

But after a few playful poses she went back to a more sultrily look for photos, as two companions snapped away.

Happy to flaunt: The reality TV star defended her scantily-clad pictures in an Instagram rant last month, saying there is nothing wrong with confidence

The reality TV star isn't shy about showing off her best assets, defending her scantily-clad pictures in an Instagram rant last month, saying there is nothing wrong with confidence.

Betty vowed even though she gets often slammed for her revealing photos, she won't stop posting photos.

Betty posted the impassioned message alongside a photo of her in a crop top and leggings, beginning: 'Here's to the women who work so god damn hard for their bodies only to have society say that they still aren't good enough and to cover it up.'

Won't stop posting: Betty vowed even though she gets often slammed for her revealing photos, she won't stop posting photos.

'Here's to the women who work so god damn hard for their bodies': Betty wrote that females shouldn't cover up because society tells them to

No body shaming here: She went on to say that women should never be made to feel ashamed of their physique

She went on to say that women should never be made to feel ashamed of their physique.

'I get SLAMMED all the time for "showing too much skin". But isn't it my body? So, IT'S MY RULES,' Betty wrote.

'There's nothing wrong with being confident with showing some skin. Nothing wrong with SELF LOVE.'

The reality TV star also added: 'For the woman who are slamming each other down. STOP.'

Betty also added the hashtags 'rantover', 'youareenough' and 'nothingwrongwithconfidence'.

'I get SLAMMED all the time': Betty revealed that she had faced negative attention due to her photos
Manzo'd With Children star Lauren Manzo Scalia is now a happy mom.

The 28-year-old welcomed her daughter with husband Vito Scalia to the world this Friday.

The reality star took to Instagram to announce the birth of the couple's first child.

It's a girl! On Friday, reality star Lauren Manzo and husband Christ Manzo welcomed their first child into the world

In the pic the Bravo talent can be seen holding her darling newborn from the comfort of a hospital bed while looking at her with adoration.

The star captioned the image 'My little Markie girl,' referencing either the baby girl's name or nickname.

The little lady arrived just in the nick of time, coming just two day before the expected due date of February 26.

The 28-year-old beauty salon owner and husband Vito Scalia were married in 2015. Above is a picture of the couple from Lauren's birthday in 2014

Lauren originally appeared The Real Housewives Of New Jersey with mother Caroline, aunt Dina and the rest of her family.

The family later starred in the first RHONJ spin-off Manzo'd with Children, which has graced Bravo for three seasons.

The New Jersey newlyweds are overjoyed to be adding another member to the family.

'It actually happened' Lauren was thrilled when she and husband Vito announced they were expecting a girl back in November after spending a bit of time trying to conceive

'We had been trying to get pregnant for a while, and as soon as we stopped placing so much pressure on ourselves, it actually happened,' the couple told People Magazine back in September.

Lauren and Vito were married July 18 2015 in a glamorous ceremony at the family's Brownstone Restaurant in Paterson, New Jersey.

The longtime sweethearts met years ago when Ms. Manzo's older brother Albie befriended her future husband while they were peers at Fordham University in New York.
Philippine Senator Leila De Lima (C), a top critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, is escorted by police officers and her lawyer Alex Padilla (R) after her arrest at the Senate in Manila on February 24, 2017

The highest-profile critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal drug war was arrested Friday on charges she said were meant to silence her, but she vowed to keep fighting the "sociopathic serial killer".

Speaking to journalists minutes before armed police in flak jackets detained her, Senator Leila de Lima insisted she was innocent of the drug trafficking charges that could see her jailed for life.

"It is my honour to be imprisoned for the things I am fighting for. Please pray for me," De Lima, 57, said outside her Senate office where she had sought temporary refuge overnight after an arrest warrant was issued on Thursday.

"They will not be able to silence me and stop me from fighting for the truth and justice and against the daily killings and repression by the Duterte regime."

De Lima also recorded a polemical video just before her arrest in which she called for Filipinos to show courage and oppose Duterte's drug war, which has seen more than 6,500 people killed since he took office eight months ago.

"There is no doubt that our president is a murderer and a sociopathic serial killer," she said in the 10-minute video that was posted on her Facebook page.

Philippines drug war

De Lima, a former human rights commissioner, said her arrest was an act of revenge for her decade-long efforts to expose Duterte as the leader of death squads during his time as mayor of southern Davao city.

Duterte first raised allegations in August that De Lima had been running a drug trafficking ring with criminals inside the nation's biggest prison when she was the justice secretary in the previous government.

"I will have to destroy her in public," Duterte said then as he began a campaign to tarnish her reputation, including by making unsubstantiated allegations about her sex life.

- 'People are afraid' -

"De Lima is not only screwing her driver, she is also screwing the nation."

The senator was last week charged with three counts of drug trafficking, and the arrest warrant was issued on Thursday.

De Lima was taken Friday to a special detention centre for high-profile prisoners at the national police headquarters. The detainees' rooms are spartan, but are comfortable compared with the nation's notoriously crowded jails.

Senator Leila de Lima has called on ordinary Filipinos to stand up in opposition to President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, which has seen more than 6,500 people killed since he took office eight months ago

De Lima and her supporters insisted that Duterte orchestrated the charges not just to crush her opposition, but also to intimidate anyone else who may want to speak out against the president or his drug war.

"People are afraid," Father Robert Reyes, an activist priest who spent the night at the Senate with De Lima and other supporters, told AFP after her arrest.

"If the government can arrest a powerful person like her, what chance does the little man have? That is the implied message of her arrest."

Vice President Leni Robredo, a member of De Lima's opposition Liberal Party and elected separately from Duterte, described the arrest as "political harassment".

Amnesty International said Thursday that it would regard De Lima as a prisoner of conscience.

"The arrest of De Lima is a blatant attempt by the Philippine government to silence criticism of President Duterte and divert attention away from serious human rights violations in the 'war on drugs'," it said.

Philippine Senator Leila De Lima, a top critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, sits in the senate in Manila on February 23, 2017

United Nations human rights chiefs also expressed concern.

"We are following the situation very closely," said spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani.

Duterte's aides insisted they had a strong case against De Lima and said her arrest showed even the most powerful people would be brought to justice if they broke the law.

"The war on illegal drugs targets all who are involved and the arrest of an incumbent senator demonstrates the president's strong resolve to fight pushers, peddlers and their protectors," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

Duterte, 71, won the presidential election last year after promising during the campaign to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people.

He launched the crackdown immediately after taking office in June and police have reported killing 2,555 drug suspects since then, with about 4,000 other people murdered in unexplained circumstances.

Amnesty has warned that police actions in the drug war may amount to crimes against humanity.

Duterte has repeatedly urged police to kill drug addicts as well as traffickers. But his aides insist he has never broken any laws.
Malaysian detectives are holding three people -- two women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man -- believed to have killed Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half brother was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare and listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction, Malaysian police said Friday.

Releasing a preliminary toxicology report on Kim Jong-Nam's murder at Kuala Lumpur airport, police revealed the poison used by the assassins was the odourless, tasteless and highly toxic VX.

The news brought condemnation from South Korea, which slammed the use of the nerve agent as a "blatant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and other international norms".

Experts in the South said Friday that North Korea has up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons stockpiled, including a supply of VX.

Kim died on February 13 after being attacked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport by two women, who are seen on CCTV footage shoving something in his face.

Nerve agent VX

He suffered a seizure and was dead before he reached hospital.

An autopsy revealed traces of VX -- a fast-acting toxin that sparks respiratory collapse and heart failure -- on the dead man's face and in his eyes.

Tiny amounts of the poison are enough to kill an adult, whether it is inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

"I am outraged that the criminals used such a dangerous chemical in a public area," said Malaysia's Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

It "could have caused mass injuries or even death to other people".

One of the two women arrested after the attack fell ill in custody, police said, adding she had been vomiting.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has previously said the woman who attacked Kim from behind clearly knew she was carrying out a poison attack, dismissing claims that she thought she was taking part in a TV prank.

"The lady was moving away with her hands towards the bathroom," Khalid said earlier this week.

"She was very aware that it was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands."

- Diplomatic pouches -

United Malays National Organization (UMNO) Youth activists protest against Pyongyang's "impermissible attitude and rudeness" and urging the North to "reconsider its aggresive approach" outside the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur

The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), whose member states include Malaysia and South Korea, said Friday the suspected use of a nerve agent was "deeply disturbing".

"OPCW stands ready to provide its expertise and technical assistance," it added in a statement.

Khalid on Friday said experts would sweep the busy airport terminal where the attack took place for traces of the toxin as well as other locations the women had visited.

"We are investigating how (the VX) entered the country," he told reporters.

However he added that "if the amount of the chemical brought in was small, it would be difficult for us to detect".

A leading regional security expert told AFP it would not have been difficult to get VX into Malaysia in a diplomatic pouch, which would not be subject to regular customs checks.

Kim Jong-Nam (grey suit), half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un, speaks to airport authorities at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13, 2017 in this screengrab made from CCTV footage obtained by Fuji TV

North Korea has previously used the pouches "to smuggle items including contraband and items that would be subjected to scrutiny if regular travel channels were used", said Rohan Gunaratna, the head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.

Detectives are holding three people -- women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man -- but want to speak to seven others, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.

One man wanted for questioning, who is believed to be still in Malaysia, is senior North Korean embassy official Hyon Kwang Song.

Police have acknowledged that his diplomatic status prevents them from questioning him unless he surrenders himself.

- Chemical warfare -

North Korea, which has not acknowledged the dead man's identity, has vehemently protested at the investigation, saying Malaysia is in cahoots with its enemies.

Its ambassador Kang Chol has said Pyongyang "cannot trust" the Malaysian police to prosecute their probe fairly.

He was told Friday to shut up or face the prospect of being kicked out of the country.

"The ambassador has been informed of the process involved (in the police investigation) but he continues to be delusional and spew lies and accusations against the government of Malaysia," Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said.

A senior Malaysian government official said Kang had been shown a "yellow card", adding: "If he repeats the baseless allegations, he will be expelled."

The only known function of VX is as a chemical warfare agent and the US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as the "most potent" of all nerve agents.

VX was used by Japan's Aum cult in the 1994 murder of an office worker in Osaka, and in the attempted murder of two other people.
Analysts are backing Damien Chazelle's "La La Land" to win most of the 14 Oscars for which it is nominated

The Hollywood awards season reaches its glittering climax at the Oscars on Sunday with "La La Land," a starry-eyed love letter to the glamour of Old Hollywood, tipped for glory.

Millions of viewers around the world will tune in for Tinseltown's biggest night, with Damien Chazelle's romantic musical pinning its hopes on 14 nominations, tied with "Titanic" (1997) and "All About Eve" (1950) for the most ever.

"When you mention those movies, it makes my head spin even more than it's spinning. I'm a little speechless," Chazelle, 32, told trade magazine Variety when the nominations were announced in January.

Oscar nominations 2017

With voting among the Academy's 6,000-plus members closed since Tuesday, the frenzied and at times schmaltzy campaigning that perennially marks the awards merry-go-round can no longer impact the results.

Analysts are backing "La La Land," which stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as an aspiring actress and a struggling jazz musician who fall in love in Los Angeles, to win most of the awards for which it is nominated.

However, it is expected to fall short of the record 11 statuettes achieved by "Ben-Hur" (1959), "Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" (2003).

Gold Derby, a site that collates the awards predictions of experts and members of the public, has "La La Land" as a clear favorite in 10 categories, including best film, director, actress, score and song.

- 'Storm expected' -

Stone, who has dominated the awards season, is expected to bag her first statuette despite late momentum for France's Golden Globe winner Isabelle Huppert, nominated for rape-revenge thriller "Elle."

Emma Stone, who has dominated the awards season, is expected to bag her first Oscar statuette as best actress in "La La Land"

"I think (Stone) will win but if she doesn't, it's because she makes it look so easy and because you don't see her putting on an accent, putting on a fake nose, all those things," Stephen Galloway, editor-in-chief of weekly trade paper The Hollywood Reporter, told AFP.

"People like to see the acting. You don't with her. That is actually why she is so great."

Stone also faces competition from Natalie Portman ("Jackie"), Ruth Negga ("Loving") and Meryl Streep, 67, who earned her record-breaking 20th nomination for "Florence Foster Jenkins."

Gosling is expected to lose out in the best actor category, however, to Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea") or Denzel Washington ("Fences"), who are seen as neck-and-neck in the show's closest race.

"I really don't know which way best actor will go," veteran film critic Anne Thompson, awards editor for movie blog IndieWire, told AFP.

Denzel Washington ("Fences") and Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea") are seen as neck-and-neck for the best actor Oscar in the show's closest race

"I keep changing my mind. And production design and costumes are also hard to call. If 'La La Land' wins both, it gets 10. If it wins one, it gets nine."

Crews rolled out plastic sheeting on Wednesday to protect the red carpet and fan bleachers, with intermittent rain showers expected to hit Los Angeles on Sunday.

"La La Land" -- buoyed by a record seven Golden Globes in January -- will vie for best picture with eight films including "Arrival," family drama "Manchester by the Sea" and "Moonlight," the coming-of-age tale of an African-American in Miami.

- Youngest ever -

This year's nominees reflected a push by the Academy to reward diversity after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of the past two years that prompted calls for a boycott of the annual bash.

Preparations continue for the 89th Academy Awards amid tight security on Hollywood Boulevard

Black actors Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris are first-time nominees for "Moonlight," while "Fences" hopefuls Washington and his co-star Viola Davis are both old hands, with 11 nominations between them and two wins for Washington.

Also nominated is past winner Octavia Spencer, a best supporting actress candidate for "Hidden Figures."

She, Davis and Harris compete against past Oscar winner Nicole Kidman ("Lion") and Michelle Williams ("Manchester by the Sea"), who has been nominated three other times before this year.

For best supporting actor, Ali is leading the betting ahead of Dev Patel ("Lion"), Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Michael Shannon ("Nocturnal Animals") and Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea").

In the directing category, Mel Gibson's surprise nomination for the critically acclaimed WWII biopic "Hacksaw Ridge" marks his comeback a decade after being ostracized by Hollywood for an anti-Semitic tirade.

Barry Jenkins ("Moonlight") and Kenneth Lonergan ("Manchester") are also in the running, but Chazelle is expected to go one better than his losing nomination in 2015 for writing "Whiplash," to become the youngest best director winner ever.

Televised live by ABC and shown around the world, the 89th Academy Awards will be held at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, and hosted by late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
South Korea's defence ministry said in its 2014 Defence White Paper that the North began producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and estimated that it has about 2,500 to 5,000 tonnes in stock

North Korea has up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons, South Korean experts said Friday, including the toxin used to assassinate its leader's half-brother.

Traces of VX -- a nerve agent listed as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations -- were detected on swabs from the face and eyes of Kim Jong-Nam, who was poisoned at Kuala Lumpur's international airport last week, Malaysian police said Friday.

Malaysian detectives are holding three people -- women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man -- but want to speak to seven others, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.

South Korea's defence ministry said in its 2014 Defence White Paper that the North began producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and estimated that it has about 2,500 to 5,000 tonnes in stock.

North Korea has chemical weapons production facilities in eight locations including the northeastern port of Chongjin and the northwestern city of Sinuiju, it said in the 2012 edition of the document.

"North Korea is believed to have a large stockpile of VX, which can easily be manufactured at low cost," defence analyst Lee Il-Woo at the private Korea Defence Network told AFP.

Nerve agent VX

Developed some 100 years ago, VX can be produced at small laboratories or facilities producing pesticides, he said.

"Chemical and biological weapons can be delivered through various means such as artillery, missiles and planes", he added.

If absorbed through the skin, eyes or nose, just a tiny drop of the colourless, odourless nerve agent is enough to fatally damage a victim's central nervous system.

- Bubonic plague -

Military science professor Kim Jong-Ha at Hannam University said the North has 16 kinds of nerve agents including VX and sarin, used by a Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, in the 1995 attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people.

It also possesses other lethal chemicals, including suffocating, blistering and blood agents, Kim said, as well as 13 types of biological weapons such as anthrax and bubonic plague.

Defence analyst Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. has said that North Korea "produces and possesses the capability to effectively employ throughout the Korean peninsula, significant quantities and varieties of chemical weapons", and could have as many as 150 chemical weapons warheads for ballistic missiles.

"It also has, to a lesser extent, the ability to employ these weapons worldwide using unconventional methods of delivery," he wrote on the closely-watched US-Korea Institute's website 38North in 2013.

There was a "growing body of evidence" that the North had an "ominous" history of proliferating chemical weapons capabilities to countries such as Syria and Iran, he added.

North Korea has not signed a global chemical weapons convention that prohibits the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.

More than 160 countries signed the treaty, that went into force in 1997.

In a 2015 assessment, the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative wrote: "North Korea claims that it does not possess chemical weapons.

"While assessing stockpiles and capabilities are difficult, the DPRK is thought to be among the world's largest possessors of chemical weapons, ranking third after the United States and Russia."
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels patrol through the town of al-Bab shortly after they captured it from the Islamic State (IS) group

An Islamic State group suicide bomber killed 51 people outside Syria's Al-Bab on Friday, in a major blow just hours after rebels seized the town from the jihadists.

In a statement distributed online, the group said its suicide bomber "drove his car bomb into the middle of a gathering of Turkish soldiers and apostates working in Susian".

At least 51 people were killed in the blast, most of them civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The monitoring group said the car bomb had targeted twin command posts at a rebel base in Susian, about eight kilometres (five miles) from Al-Bab.

Rebel field commander Abu Jaafar told AFP that fighters, Turkish soldiers, and civilians had gathered at Susian for an overnight meeting "to organise a security apparatus and set a plan for rebuilding Al-Bab".

"This information reached the (IS) sleeper cells, which prepared a car bomb" that detonated at Susian at around 0800 am (0600 GMT), he told AFP.

Abu Jaafar, who was near Susian at the time of the attack, said hospitals in the area were full of wounded.

"(IS leader Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi's dogs could not bear their huge loss, and their suicide bombers have begun to take revenge," he said.

Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Al-Bab on Friday as they were carrying out road checks, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

- Stray cats, battered streets -

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

An AFP correspondent inside Al-Bab said stray cats were on the bombed-out streets Friday, sniffing at the bodies of alleged IS fighters.

Syrian rebels have blamed the attack on IS

Doors of shops in the town's main marketplace had been blown open by bomb blasts, and boxes of food and medicine were scattered on the ground.

A rebel scrawled the name of his battalion -- "Mutasem Brigades" -- on a wall.

In the town's south, rescuers and bulldozers were pulling bodies from under the rubble, careful not to detonate any mines left behind by IS.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 71 Turkish losses so far.

On Friday the Turkish army said in a statement that "control of all neighbourhoods in Al-Bab have been secured" by opposition fighters supported by Ankara.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from its outskirts in recent weeks.

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in Aleppo province.

- Rebels, regime pound Aleppo -

West of the second city, where government forces took full control in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

Exchanges of rocket and artillery fire first broke out on Wednesday, centred on the rebel-held district of Rashideen, the Observatory said.

The government responded with intensive air strikes on Thursday that killed at least 32 rebels.

Syrians carry their belongings on top of a car in the northwestern border town of al-Bab on February 24, 2017 as they return to their houses after Turkish-backed rebels announced the recapture of the town from the Islamic State (IS) group

A fragile ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels has been in force since late December, brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

It has led to a sharp reduction in fighting in many areas.

But parts of the country which are held by IS or its jihadist rival, former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, are not covered by the truce.

The talks in Geneva between government and opposition representatives formally opened on Thursday.

They are the fourth round of UN-brokered negotiations, aimed at ending a conflict that has dragged on for nearly six years and claimed more than 310,000 lives.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said: "I'm not expecting miracles," but warned of dire consequences if the talks "fail again".
Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniya (right) meets with Yahya Sinwar -- Hamas' newly-elected Gaza chief -- in Gaza City, on February 21, 2017

Yahya Sinwar, the new leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is a top commander in the Islamist movement's armed wing with decades of intelligence experience and a reputation for secrecy.

He rose through the Hamas ranks as a fierce advocate of armed struggle against Israel, imposing his authority among prisoners whilst in Israeli jails.

Slightly built with white hair and a salt-and-pepper beard, the Hebrew speaker knows Israel well, having spent 23 years in jail there with four life sentences for "terrorist activities".

The 55-year-old's election this month makes him the party's second most important figure, behind exiled leader Khaled Meshaal, and observers say it reflects a strengthening of Hamas hardliners.

Israeli commentators say Sinwar's appointment could trigger a countdown to the fourth conflict in 10 years between Israel and the Islamists.

- Terror list -

Born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, Sinwar began his political education at a young age, joining Hamas's predecessor, the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Al-Mujama' Al-Islami.

When its founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin set up Hamas in 1987, Sinwar joined that too.

He also set up the Organisation of Jihad and Preaching, a Hamas intelligence unit that flushes out and punishes "collaborators" -- Palestinians alleged to have provided information to Israel.

Israeli media said Sinwar took a direct and often brutal role in executing alleged agents and commentators have labelled him an ideological extremist who rejects any compromise with Israel.

As recently as 2016 he was involved in the execution of a Hamas military commander allegedly seen as too critical of him, according to a report by a body linked to Israel's Defence Ministry.

Hamas official Ismail Haniya (left) and freed Palestinian prisoner Yahya Sinwar -- a founder of Hamas' military wing -- wave to supporters during a 2011 rally to celebrate the release of hundreds of prisoners

Sinwar also established long-running relations with Iran and other countries supporting what Hamas calls "resistance" to Israel.

Arrested by Israel in the late 1980s, he was tasked by Hamas to oversee intelligence gathering and security among prisoners.

"He is a man of security par excellence," said Abu Abdallah, a Hamas official who spent several years in prison with him.

Like many Palestinians, Sinwar learned Hebrew in jail.

He "knows Israeli culture and society in depth," said Abu al-Abed, a Hamas official.

In 2011 Sinwar was released along with more than 1,000 other Palestinians in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli solder Hamas had detained for five years.

On his release, Sinwar married.

In 2015 he was placed on the US list of international terrorists. Today he refuses to give media interviews and his movements are a closely-guarded secret.

Over the years, Israel has killed several of Sinwar's mentors. It assassinated Yassin in Gaza in March 2004 and his immediate successor Abdel Aziz Rantissi a month later.

Salah Shehadeh, founder of the armed wing of Hamas in which Sinwar played a key role, was also killed.

Sinwar, who dresses in plain clothes, made a few public appearances after his 2011 release, then disappeared into hiding.

But Abu Abdullah described him as a "charismatic leader."

"He makes decisions in the utmost calm, but is intractable when it comes to defending the interests of Hamas," he said.

Abu al-Hassan, a leader of Islamic Jihad, the other major Islamist force in Gaza, remembers his former co-detainee as a "wise man" who makes "firm decisions."

Sinwar's outlook contrasts with that of his predecessor.

Leader Meshaal has encouraged efforts by Hamas to present a moderate face to the world despite the movement being listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union and Israel.

But Sinwar is much less concerned by international attitudes.

"He predicted in prison that one day, when Hamas would speak, the whole world would listen," recalled Abu Abdallah. "And that's exactly what happened".
The leader of Boko Haram's main faction, Abubakar Shekau, admits killing the group's spokesman

The leader of Boko Haram's main faction, Abubakar Shekau, has admitted killing the group's purported spokesman over an apparent plot to oust him, he said in an audio recording obtained by AFP.

In the 50-minute tape of a meeting with the inner circle of his militant Islamist group, Shekau said he killed "Tasiu" -- also known as Abu Zinnira -- who appeared in several video messages.

"You should hear me: I killed Tasiu, hear me well," he told the gathering in Hausa, which is widely spoken across northeast Nigeria.

Shekau states the date of the meeting -- December 18 -- and said it had been called to discuss "those elements grumbling over the killing of Tasiu".

AFP received a copy of the recording earlier this month. The tape appears to have been meant for circulation only within the armed Islamist movement.

Shekau's claim appears to lend weight to reports of infighting within Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 in northeast Nigeria since 2009 and left 2.6 million homeless.

- Leadership plot -

Shekau has been the most visible face of Boko Haram over the years, claiming attacks and launching rambling, often barely coherent tirades against the government in a series of videos.

But Abu Zinnira has acted on occasion as de facto spokesman and appeared in video recordings, including those about the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the town of Chibok in April 2014.

He was always shown in military camouflage, wearing a turban and with his face covered.

In one video released in August last year, Abu Zinnira warned that the remaining girls still being held would die if troops attempted to rescue them.

He also renewed calls for the release of Boko Haram members in custody.

In the December audio recording, Shekau accused Abu Zinnira of plotting with another senior commander called Baba Ammar to take over leadership of the group.

He accused them of sending fighters to carry out raids without his consent, spreading rumours among his lieutenants that he intended to kill them and portraying him as unfit to lead.

Abu Zinnira and "other elements" had tried to make him out to the rank and file as being "not on the right track", Shekau added.

"Tell me, what is the punishment... for the people that plot against their leader?" he asked.

"By our code of allegiance we don't hesitate to pass appropriate sanction on any one of us that commit an offence."

- 'Devil's advocates' -

Nigeria's military claims that Boko Haram, which in 2014 held territory across northeast Nigeria, is on the brink of defeat as a result of its counter-insurgency operations since early 2015.

Sporadic attacks and suicide bombings persist but analysts tracking the conflict have been intrigued by the apparent split in the group and how it may develop.

Last August, the Islamic State group, to which Shekau pledged allegiance in March 2015, announced that Abu Musab Al-Barnawi was now Boko Haram's leader.

Barnawi's father, Mohammed Yusuf, founded Boko Haram in 2002. He was killed in police custody in 2009, after which Shekau -- his deputy -- took over.

The Boko Haram insurgency has left millions of Nigerians threatened by famine

Shekau has rejected the change in leadership and maintained he was still in charge -- a position he reiterated at the December meeting.

Followers of the two factions have reportedly clashed while Barnawi has blamed Shekau's high-handed leadership style and his indiscriminate killings of his lieutenants for the split.

Ideologically, Barnawi's faction has opposed Shekau's indiscriminate targeting of civilians, vowing instead to hit "hard" targets such as the military and police.

Shekau in the recording denounced his detractors as divisive influences.

"Devil's advocates are at work, trying to instill doubt in the minds of our fighters after realising we are gathering momentum for real jihad," he said.

"They try to confuse whoever they see getting close to me and distance him from me, they are going about dampening the spirit of our fighters.
On the back foot in the northern city of Mosul, their last major stronghold in Iraq, IS jihadists have carried out a series of diversionary attacks elsewhere in the country

The Islamic State group carried out an attack on an Iraqi border guard position near Jordan on Friday, killing at least 15 guards, officials said.

"Daesh launched an attack with a suicide car bomb and gunmen on the 2nd border guard regiment near Trebil," an officer in the border guard told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

"The attack came from several directions and killed 15 border guards, including two officers," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The border with Jordan lies in Anbar, a vast western province where IS fighters have lost most of their urban strongholds but continue to harass government forces.

Border guards deployed near Jordan and Syria have been repeatedly attacked by the jihadists but Friday's attack was among the deadliest.

An official in Rutba, the nearest town, confirmed the attack and the death toll.

On the back foot in the northern city of Mosul, their last major stronghold in Iraq, IS jihadists have carried out a series of diversionary attacks elsewhere in the country.

Since the launch of a massive offensive against Mosul on October 17 last year, they have staged deadly attacks on Kirkuk, in the Sinjar area, in Rutba as well as continued car bombings in Baghdad.
An explosion hits near a vehicle belonging to Iraq's elite Rapid Response Division on February 25, 2017, during the assault to retake the western half of Mosul, which is still occupied by Islamic State group jihadists

Iraqi forces battled jihadists in west Mosul on Sunday, aiming to build a floating bridge across the Tigris to establish an important supply route linked to the recaptured east bank.

A week into a major push on the western side of the city, where an estimated 2,000 holdout jihadists and 750,000 civilians are trapped, government forces made steady progress.

But after relatively easy gains on the city's outskirts, they encountered increasingly stiff resistance from the Islamic State group (IS) defending its emblematic stronghold.

"We had an important operation this morning to move towards the bridge," Colonel Falah al-Wabdan of the interior ministry's Rapid Response units that have spearheaded the breach into west Mosul told AFP in the Jawsaq neighbourhood.

The battle for Mosul

"We have moved past a large berm constructed by Daesh (IS) with tunnels underneath," he said, adding that the area was heavily mined and his forces had killed 44 jihadists on Sunday alone.

Wabdan was referring to what is known as "the fourth bridge", the southernmost of five bridges -- all of which are damaged and unusable -- across the Tigris River that divides the northern Iraqi city.

Government forces retook the east bank from IS a month ago, completing a key phase in an offensive on Mosul that began on October 17 and has involved tens of thousands of fighters.

Wabdan said that securing the bank area near the fourth bridge would allow engineering units to extend a ribbon bridge to the other side and further pile pressure on the jihadists.

- Key supply line -

Members of Iraq's elite Rapid Response Division carry a wounded comrade during an offensive to retake the western half of Mosul from Islamic State group fighters on February 25, 2017

"It is very important because if we take it, engineering units... will be able to throw a bridge across from the left bank so we can move supplies and ammunition from the battle field," he said.

Bridging operations under fire are complex and perilous, but Iraqi forces have been trained by the US military and successfully used that strategy before in the fight against IS.

A ribbon bridge assembled with US assistance over the Euphrates River was considered a turning point in the battle that eventually saw Iraqi forces retake the western stronghold of Ramadi from the jihadists a year ago.

A family stands outside a house on February 25, 2017, as Iraqi forces advance towards the Dindan neighborhood in western Mosul to retake the area from Islamic State (IS) group fighters

Rapid Response was confident it could reach the bridge on Sunday but IS was fighting back with suicide car bombs, roadside bombs, snipers and weaponised drones.

The elite Counter-Terrorism Service that has done most of the fighting against IS in Mosul so far entered the western neighbourhood of Al-Maamun on Friday.

Troops from the US-led coalition assisting Iraq in its efforts to claw back the swathes of territory it lost to IS in 2014 have stepped up their involvement on the ground in recent weeks.

They are officially deployed in Iraq as trainers and advisers, but have increasingly been drawn into combat and been more visible than ever on the front lines since the push on west Mosul was launched on February 19.

- 'Eating bird feed' -

The western side of the city is a little smaller than the east but more densely populated and home to some areas considered traditional jihadist strongholds.

Iraqi forces take cover as they advance towards the Dindan neighborhood in western Mosul on February 25, 2017, to retake the area from Islamic State group fighters

It includes the Old City, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance and proclaimed a "caliphate" in July 2014, and several of Mosul's key landmarks.

Around three quarters of a million people are virtually besieged there, in some cases used as human shields by the IS fighters preparing to defend their last major bastion in the country.

"With the battle to retake western Mosul now in its second week, we are extremely concerned about the 800,000 or so still trapped in some of the most dire conditions," Karl Schembri, spokesman for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told AFP.

Food supplies have dwindled as fast as costs have soared, leaving many on barely a meal a day.

"We're hearing reports of people eating bird feed inside western Mosul as they cannot afford the skyrocketing prices," Schembri said.

Residents and medical workers say that the combined effect of malnutrition and the shortage of drugs is starting to kill the weakest.

The United Nations has planned for an exodus of at least 250,000 people from west Mosul, but in the absence of humanitarian corridors only a few hundred have been able to flee so far.

Around 160,000 are currently displaced as a result of the first phase of the Mosul operation. Iraq has a population of more than three million people who have been displaced by the IS conflict.
Palestinian chant slogans as they demand Israel re-open Shuhada Street, near a Jewish settler enclave in the West Bank city of Hebron, on February 24, 2017

Hundreds of Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers Friday in the powderkeg West Bank city of Hebron on the anniversary of a 1994 massacre carried out by a far-right Jewish settler.

Soldiers fired tear gas and sound grenades to disperse the crowd as cannons doused them with stinking water, an AFP correspondent said. There was no immediate report of injuries.

Jewish settlers, of whom 500 are entrenched in the centre of the city of around 200,000 Palestinians, hurled stones at the protesters.

On February 25, 1994, settler Baruch Goldstein mowed down 29 Palestinians inside Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, holy to Muslims and Jews alike, before being lynched.

Palestinians have stepped up calls for the Israeli army to re-open a street near the Jewish settler enclave in the heart of the city that has been largely closed off to Palestinians for the past 23 years since the massacre.

Hebron has been at the centre of a wave of deadly unrest since October 2015 that has killed 252 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two US nationals, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels patrol through the town of al-Bab shortly after they captured it from the Islamic State (IS) group

A suicide bomber killed eight people at a Yemeni army base Friday as clashes between pro-government forces and Huthi rebels left 35 dead and five civilians died in shelling, security and local officials said.

The bomber blew up his vehicle at the entrance to Najda Camp in Abyan province's capital Zinjibar, just 55 kilometres (33 miles) from second city Aden where the government is based.

The attacker failed to get through the gate and heavy exchanges of fire ensued as other assailants tried to penetrate it.

The explosives were concealed in the back of a pick-up truck under a pile of firewood, the sources said.

Al-Qaeda, which has taken advantage of nearly two years of fighting between loyalists and rebels who control the capital Sanaa to entrench their presence in swathes of the south, claimed responsibility for the attack, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.

Further north, in the central province of Baida, fierce clashes erupted Friday between pro-government tribes and Shiite Huthi rebels, a local official said.

Twenty rebels and six tribal fighters were killed in heavy fighting near Walad Rabi district, the source said, adding that the clashes flared when the Huthis tried to take control of a tribal territory.

Nine other rebels died when tribal fighters ambushed their convoy in the Sawmaa region, another area of tension between rebels and local tribes, the official said.

Relations are tense between the Huthis and tribal fighters are in central Yemen, where the rebels, who hail from the country's north, have sought to expand the territory under their control.

In Marib, east of Sanaa, five civilians were killed on Friday in shelling blamed on Huthi fighters, local officials said.
Yahya Sinwar, the new leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, attends the opening of a new mosque in Rafah, on February 24, 2017

The new leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, made his first public appearance since his election for the inauguration of a mosque on Friday, winning praise from his predecessor.

His Islamist movement which has run the Gaza Strip for the past decade invited the media to attend the opening of the Gaza City mosque without announcing Sinwar's participation.

Sinwar himself made no statement at the event, but his predecessor Ismail Haniya paid tribute to the former prisoner who spent 25 years "in the jails of the (Israeli) occupation".

"This is a source of pride for Hamas and for its prisoners," Haniya told the crowd.

"The Zionist media are trying to... make a distinction between the military and political figures (in Hamas), but we tell them we are all fighters and that in the face of the occupation we are all military," the former premier said.

Haniya is considered a supporter of a relatively moderate element in Hamas, while Sinwar is a top commander in its armed wing and strong advocate of armed struggle against Israel.

The former premier is seen by many observers as the most likely successor to Hamas's overall leader Khaled Meshaal, who currently lives in exile.
Syrians drive a damaged vehicle in the northwestern border town of al-Bab on February 24, 2017 as they return to their houses after Turkish-backed rebels announced the recapture of the town from the Islamic State (IS) group a day earlier

Tens of thousands of Syrians have returned home from Turkey since the start of Ankara's military operation inside the country, Turkey's foreign minister said Friday.

"Nearly 50,000 Syrians have returned to this area from Turkey since the Euphrates Shield operation started," Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

He was referring to Ankara's ambitious military operation launched last August in northern Syria to help Syrian rebels oust jihadists.

They have recaptured several towns from the Islamic State group (IS), including Jarabulus and Al-Rai near the border after a lightning advance.

Earlier, the Turkish armed forces said the Turkey-backed fighters had "control of all neighbourhoods in Al-Bab", IS's last stronghold in the northern province of Aleppo.

The military said work to clear the areas of obstacles, mines and explosives continued in the town, which was taken by them after a more than two-month campaign.

"I believe after Daesh is cleared from Al-Bab, many people will go back," Cavusoglu told reporters in the southern Turkish city of Antalya, using the Arabic name for IS.

Turkey has repeatedly called for a safe zone inside Syria as well as a "no-fly" zone, where refugees could live safely in the country.

"When there is a safe zone free of terrorism, Syrians have the chance to return to a normal life," Cavusoglu added.

Turkish chief of staff General Hulusi Akar was quoted by local media giving reassurances of Turkish support for people in Al-Bab to ensure they can return to their homes safely after the bloody fight.

Since Turkey launched the operation, 71 Turkish military personnel have been killed, most of whom during the battle for Al-Bab including two soldiers Friday.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gives a press conference in Tehran on Jaunary 17, 2017, to mark the first anniversary of the implementation of the historic nuclear deal

Iran is complying with the landmark nuclear deal it sealed with major world powers in 2015, according to a report from the UN watchdog seen by AFP on Friday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency addressed key limits set under the agreement, which is under intense scrutiny after the election of US President Donald Trump.

The report said Iran is not pursuing construction of its existing heavy water research reactor and has not enriched uranium above an agreed 3.67 percent-limit.

And Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium -- which can be used for peaceful purposes, but when further processed for a nuclear weapon -- was 101.7 kilos (225 pounds), well below the agreed level of 300 kilos.

Senior diplomats said that Tehran recently came close to reaching the limit.

Another key condition concerns Iran's level of so-called heavy water, a modified form of water used in certain types of nuclear reactors.

The IAEA's latest report said Iran has not exceeded the permitted level of 130 tonnes, as it did briefly during previous periods.

Plutonium for use in nuclear weapons can be extracted from fuel rods used in heavy water reactors.

In November 2016, the atomic watchdog noted that Iran had crept above the 130-tonne limit.

- Sanctions under Trump -

Tehran shipped out the excess amount and its current stock was just above 124 tonnes, the latest report said.

"Iran has not conducted any uranium enrichment or related research and development activities" at its Fordo nuclear plant, the IAEA added.

Verification has continued as agreed, according to the UN watchdog's fifth quarterly assessment since the pact was struck.

Under the accord, Iran dramatically scaled back nuclear activities to put atomic weapons out of its reach -- an aim Tehran always denied having -- in exchange for the relief of crippling sanctions.

The agreement extends to at least a year the length of time Tehran would need to make one nuclear bomb's worth of fissile material -- up from a few months prior.

Steps taken by Iran included slashing by two-thirds its uranium centrifuges, cutting its stockpile of uranium -- several tonnes before the deal, enough for several bombs -- and removing the core of the Arak reactor which could have given Iran weapons-grade plutonium.

But the pact, endorsed by the European Union, has been on shaky ground since the inauguration of Trump, who on the campaign trail last year called it the "worst deal ever negotiated".

Tensions between Iran and the United States have been backsliding for months but worsened after Tehran carried out a missile test on January 29, followed by army drills.

The White House responded by slapping fresh sanctions on Iran's weapons procurement network. Tehran insists that its military power is for "purely defensive" purposes.
Angola will allow abortions before the sixth month of pregnancy if the mother's life is in danger or her pregnancy was a result of rape

Angola's parliament has approved changes to a colonial-era law and decriminalised abortion in some cases, including for victims of rape.

Under the changes, abortions may be carried out before the sixth month of pregnancy in cases where the mother's life is in danger or if the pregnancy is a result of rape.

But abortion per se remains illegal and can fetch up to three years in jail for the woman and four years for the practitioner.

"Abortion is forbidden, it is a crime in Angola," Justice Minister Rui Mangueira told reporters on Thursday.

But in cases where "the ban has been lifted ... in cases where the life of the mother is in danger."

Angola, a former Portuguese country, is predominantly Christian.
Indian man Jagan Mohan Reddy holds a smartphone with an image of his son Alok Madasani at his residence in Hyderabad on February 24, 2017, after Alok was injured in the shooting of two Indian men in the US state of Kansas

An Indian man was killed and another wounded in a shooting being investigated by US authorities in the midwestern state of Kansas as a possible hate crime.

The two men, one of whom reportedly had lived in the US for more than a decade, were shot at a bar outside Kansas City late Wednesday, according to The Kansas City Star newspaper.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani, 32, was wounded in the attack. Both men worked as aviation systems engineers for GPS manufacturer Garmin.

Authorities arrested 51-year-old Adam Purinton, who allegedly told the men "get out of my country" before opening fire, according to the daily.

Purinton was apprehended late Wednesday at a restaurant, after claiming he had killed two Middle Easterners, according to the Star.

Purinton has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder. He is being held on $2 million bond.

The FBI is trying to determine if the shooting was a hate crime, said Eric Johnson, Special Agent in Charge of the bureau's Kansas City field office.

"We're less than 24 hours into this investigation. I have FBI personnel working this investigation from every angle," he said.

The shooting garnered headlines in Indian media, amid concerns that the immigration policies of President Donald Trump laid the groundwork for such an attack.

The incident comes amid a tense atmosphere in the United States, as evidence grows of increased hate crimes since the contentious presidential campaign and the election of Donald Trump.

The number of hate groups rose for the second year in a row in 2016 and anti-Muslim groups nearly tripled, according to an annual census by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"The growth has been accompanied by a rash of crimes targeting Muslims," the organization said last week.

Anti-Semitic crimes have also increased.

The Jewish Community Center Association of North America has recorded 69 bomb threat incidents at dozens of centers in 27 US states and one Canadian province since the start of the year.

The Hindu American Foundation condemned the shooting, demanding that it be investigated as a hate crime.

"Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and their families," the group said.

India's government also chimed in.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas," tweeted India's minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj.
Morocco's King Mohammed VI spoke with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to deplore "repeated incursion by armed Polisario men" in the Guerguerat distric

Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Friday asked the United Nations to take urgent measures to end "provocation" by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front threatening the ceasefire in the disputed Western Sahara.

Morocco insists that the former Spanish colony is an integral part of its kingdom, but the Polisario is demanding a referendum on self-determination.

The two sides fought for control of the Western Sahara from 1974 to 1991, with Rabat gaining control of the territory before a UN-brokered ceasefire took effect.

Mohammed VI spoke on Friday with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to deplore "repeated incursion by armed Polisario men" in the Guerguerat district, a royal court statement said.

The king said that Polisario "provocation" and "premeditated" action in the region took place a month before Morocco rejoined the African Union in January.

Morocco had quit the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1984 after the bloc admitted the former Western Sahara as a separate member.

Mohammed VI urged Guterres to "take urgent and necessary measures to put an end to this inadmissable situation which is seriously threatening the (1991) ceasefire and placing regional stability at risk," the statement said.

Tensions flared last year after the Polisario set up a new military post in Guerguerat district near the Mauritanian border, within a stone's throw of Moroccan soldiers.

The move came after Morocco last summer started building a tarmac road in the area south of the buffer zone separating the two sides.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - An oil industry services company will pay $9.5 million in penalties for Gulf of Mexico safety violations and for pollution from a 2012 offshore platform fire that killed three workers.

The penalties against Houston-based Wood Group PSN were announced Thursday by the U.S. Justice Department in Washington and U.S. attorneys in New Orleans and Lafayette, Louisiana, where civil and criminal cases have been playing out. The penalties followed plea agreements.

Wood Group will pay $7 million for falsely reporting that safety inspections were performed on Gulf of Mexico facilities over several years. Another $1.8 million in penalties are for discharging oil into the gulf in the November 2012 explosion that killed three workers on a platform owned by Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC.

FILE- In this Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, file aerial photo, a supply vessel moves near Black Elk Energy's oil platform damaged by an explosion and fire in the Gulf of Mexico about 17 miles from Grand Isle, La. An oil industry services company will pay $9.5 million in penalties for Gulf of Mexico safety violations and for pollution from the 2012 offshore platform fire that killed three workers. The penalties against Houston-based Wood Group PSN were announced Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, by the U.S. Justice Department in Washington and U.S. attorneys in New Orleans and Lafayette, Louisiana, where civil and criminal cases have been playing out. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Wood Group also will pay $700,000 for community service projects.

"We deeply regret these incidents occurred and we cooperated fully with the government and relevant regulatory bodies throughout both investigations," Wood Group said in an emailed statement.

The November 2012 explosion killed three workers on a platform owned by Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC.

A 2013 report by federal regulators identified a string of safety lapses that led to the blast, which killed Ellroy Corporal, Jerome Malagapo and Avelino Tajonera.

Black Elk Energy's platform was about 17 miles (27 kilometers) from Grand Isle, Louisiana, in about 52 feet (15 meters) of water. It had been "shut in" and wasn't producing oil at the time of the explosion. Workers were on the platform preparing to resume production. On the morning of Nov. 16, 2012, a worker ignited oil vapors while welding pipe, triggering a chain reaction that caused oil tanks to explode.

In 2015, a grand jury indicted Black Elk, Wood Group, Grand Isle Shipyards and some of the people who worked on the platform on a variety of charges. A judge threw out some of the most serious charges last April but prosecutors' appeals of that decision are pending.

Black Elk and Grand Isle Shipyards remain charged with manslaughter. Black Elk also faces charges involving regulatory violations of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - The poison used to kill the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader at a crowded air terminal in Malaysia last week was the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent, police said Friday.

The revelation that VX nerve agent, deadly even in minute amounts, was used in the Feb. 13 attack boosted speculation that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam, the outcast older sibling of North Korea's ruler.

The case also raised questions about public safety, although there was no sign that any bystanders had fallen ill. Police said one of the alleged attackers had been vomiting in the hours after the attack, but there were no reports that anyone else had been sickened.

People move through the airport hall at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. According to police Friday, forensics has stated that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport. The announcement raised serious questions about public safety in a building that authorities went 11 days without decontaminating. (AP Photo)

Police had gone more than a week saying the airport was safe, even though it had not been decontaminated after a mysterious and deadly poisoning. After the announcement that VX was to blame, The Associated Press asked Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar in a text message whether decontamination would take place. He responded, "We are doing it now."

He later said police were arranging for the atomic energy agency to decontaminate the airport and "sweep all locations which we knew that the suspects went to."

Asked if people should avoid the airport because of fears of contamination, Khalid said, "No. No. No. But I don't know. I am not the expert."

Director-General Hamrah Mohamad Ali of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board later told The Associated Press in a text message that although his office received a police request for technical assistance, VX doesn't come under his jurisdiction because it's not radioactive. Police did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The airport operator said in a statement issued Friday that the KLIA2 terminal where Kim was attacked is safe. Malaysia Airports said workers who attended to Kim and who clean the airport are healthy, and that anyone exposed would have shown symptoms within 18 hours.

VX nerve agent was detected on Kim's eyes and face, Khalid said earlier in a written statement, citing a preliminary report from the country's Center for Chemical Weapons Analysis.

According to Malaysian investigators, two female suspects coated their hands with the liquid toxin and wiped it on Kim's face as he waited for a flight home to Macau, where he lived with his family.

Kim sought help from airport staff but he fell into convulsions and died on the way to the hospital within two hours of the attack, police said.

Malaysian police say the women - one Vietnamese, one Indonesian - washed their hands immediately after the attack as they'd been trained to do, and had practiced the attack in Kuala Lumpur shopping malls.

Malaysian police had initially said no one besides Kim Jong Nam had been sickened. But Khalid told reporters that one of the two women accused of wiping the toxin on Kim's face became sick later and suffered from vomiting. He declined to say which woman had been sick but said she is no longer under treatment.

Khalid said police were still investigating how the lethal nerve agent entered Malaysia.

VX nerve agent has the consistency of motor oil and can take days or even weeks to evaporate. It could have contaminated anywhere Kim was afterward, including medical facilities and the ambulance he was transported in, experts say.

Dr. Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said even a tiny amount of VX nerve agent can be fatal. An antidote can be administered by injection. U.S. medics and military personnel carried kits with them on the battlefield during the Iraq war in case they were exposed to the chemical weapon.

"It's a very toxic nerve agent. Very, very toxic," he said. "I'm intrigued that these two alleged assassins suffered no ill effect from exposure to VX. It is possible that both of these women were given the antidote."

He said symptoms from VX would generally occur within seconds or minutes and could last for hours starting with confusion, possible drowsiness, headache, nausea, vomiting, runny nose and watery eyes. Prior to death, a victim would likely have convulsions, seizures, loss of consciousness and paralysis.

The toxin was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, and is banned under an international treaty. But North Korea never signed that treaty, and has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons program that has long worried the international community.

Outside experts believe North Korea has the capacity to produce up to 4,500 metric tons of chemical weapons a year, and could raise that to 12,000 tons during a crisis. Its current inventory has been estimated at 2,500 to 5,000 tons.

It is suspected of being particularly focused on mustard, phosgene, sarin and V-type chemical agents - substances including VX that are designed to poison through contact and remain lethal for long periods of time. The North's development of such agents has been of special concern because of fears it might try to put them in artillery shells for an attack on South Korea's capital, potentially threatening the lives of millions.

Joseph Bermudez, a well-known North Korea analyst, wrote an article for the respected 38 North website in 2013 that said the North is capable of not only employing "significant quantities and varieties of chemical weapons" across the Korean Peninsula but also using those weapons worldwide "using unconventional methods of delivery."

He also said there is a "growing body of evidence" indicating the North has shared chemical weapons capabilities with Syria, Iran and others.

In addition to the suspected attackers, Malaysia has arrested a North Korean man said to be an information technology worker at a Malaysian herbal supplements company and is seeking at least seven other North Koreans, including the second secretary of North Korea's embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Kim Jong Nam's very public assassination has unleashed a diplomatic crisis. North Korea has denounced Malaysia's investigation as full of "holes and contradictions" and manipulated by Pyongyang's enemies.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman defended his country's work on Friday, saying at a news conference, "The entire world knows that the investigation has been objective, impartial and also transparent."

He said the North Korean ambassador "continues to be delusional and spew lies and accusations" about the Malaysian government, and pointedly noted that Pyongyang's top diplomat in Kuala Lumpur "must realize that he must enjoy the confidence of the government of Malaysia."

___

AP writers Margie Mason in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Eric Talmadge in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Passengers scan departure information at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. According to police Friday, forensics has stated that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport. The announcement raised serious questions about public safety in a building that authorities went 11 days without decontaminating. (AP Photo)

A police officer talk to a woman at the main gate of the forensic department at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Police announced forensic tests showed that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan)

A heavy downpour soaks the street outside of the forensic department at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Police announced forensic tests showed that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan)

A police officer close the main gate of the forensic department at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Police announced forensic tests showed that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan)

Police officers guard the main gate of forensic department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan)

North Korean Embassy counselor Kim Yu Song, second right, reads out a press release to reporters at the gate of the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. North Korea has denounced Malaysia's investigation as full of "holes and contradictions" and accused the authorities here of being in cahoots with Pyongyang's enemies. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

ADDITION: ADDING MALAYSIA POLICE WANT TO QUESTION NORTH KOREA EMBASSY STAFF: North Korean Embassy counselor Kim Yu Song, left, talks with a translator after reading out a press release to reporters at the gate of the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Malaysia's police chief said Thursday investigators want to question a North Korean embassy official about the death of the exiled half brother of Pyongyang's leader, saying he should cooperate if he has nothing to hide despite having diplomatic immunity. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Caitlyn Jenner is taking President Donald Trump to task for his administration's reversal of a directive on transgender access to public school bathrooms.

Jenner addresses Trump in a video posted Thursday night on Twitter. She says, "From one Republican to another, this is a disaster."

The Trump White House has ended a directive issued during Barack Obama's presidency that told public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms of their chosen gender.

FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2016 file photo, Caitlyn Jenner arrives at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in Los Angeles. Jenner is taking President Donald Trump to task for his administration's reversal of a directive on transgender access to public school bathrooms. Jenner addressed Trump in a video posted Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, on Twitter. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Jenner is particularly critical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying, "Apparently even becoming attorney general isn't enough to cure some people of their insecurities."

Addressing Trump, the former Olympic champion says: "You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."

Jenner came out as a transgender woman in 2015.
SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq (AP) - U.S. Army Lt. Col. James Browning juggled phone calls on an overstuffed sofa in a small village south of Mosul. His counterparts in the Iraqi army's 9th Division were pushing toward western Mosul, just a few miles away and were coming under mortar fire from the Islamic State group as they moved on a power station.

Iraqi army Brig. Gen. Walid Khalifa called Browning on a simple Nokia phone to relay the approximate location of the mortar fire. Browning swapped phones to make another call.

"Can you tell them that (the 9th Division) is receiving fire?" he told his coalition colleagues at another forward base overseeing the operation. He asked them to pinpoint where the attack was coming from using coalition aerial surveillance and take it out.

In this Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 photo, U.S. Army soldiers stand outside their armored vehicle on a joint base with Iraqi army south of Mosul, Iraq. As Iraqi forces push into western Mosul coalition troops are closer to frontline fighting than ever before. Coalition forces have moved their bases closer to the front, relaxed their rules of engagement and during the push on Mosul airport coalition advisors were embedded with forward Iraqi rapid response and special forces units. Coalition officials say the change is helping speed up Iraqi military gains, but it marks a steady escalation of U.S. involvement in Iraq that could undermine the sustainability of Iraq's territorial victories. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

Just a few months ago, Lt. Col. Browning's phone conversation would have been impossible. Rather than request assistance directly, his call would have likely been routed through a joint command center much farther from the battle zone.

In the fight against the Islamic State group in Mosul, the United States has adjusted its rules of engagement as American and other international troops are now closer to front-line fighting than before.

During the push to take Mosul International Airport on Thursday, American and European advisers were embedded with forward Iraqi rapid response and special forces units.

Coalition officials say the changes are helping speed up Iraqi military gains, but they mark a steady escalation of U.S. involvement in Iraq that also reflects lingering shortcomings on the part of Iraq's armed forces and growing political and military pressure to finish the Mosul operation quickly.

"Usually I'm right by his side," Browning said between phone calls of his Iraqi army counterpart Brig. Gen. Khalifa. "When a threat comes in like this, we take it just as seriously as if we are under threat."

This closer relationship is new.

In the lead-up to the operation to retake Mosul, U.S. forces steadily increased their footprint in Iraq, increasing the number of troops in the country and moving outposts closer to front-line fighting. But the number of U.S. forces on or near the front lines remained relatively small.

Two months into the campaign to retake Iraq's second-largest city from IS control, Iraqi forces appeared bogged down by weeks of grueling urban combat. Some front lines went stagnant for weeks and Iraqi forces were suffering relatively high casualty rates under fierce IS counterattacks.

On Dec. 26, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend issued a tactical directive sending more coalition troops away from the safety of their outposts, deeper into Mosul and closer to front lines to work side by side with their Iraqi counterparts. In January, the Pentagon first confirmed that U.S. forces were at times operating inside the city of Mosul.

As Iraqi special forces and rapid response units stormed Mosul's airport and the sprawling Ghazlani base on the southern edge of the city's west, coalition forces were embedded with forward units advising them on their plan of attack, according to two Iraqi officers overseeing the operation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Inside eastern Mosul, in the weeks leading up to that half of the city being declared "fully liberated," coalition troops became a more common sight on the city streets alongside Iraq's elite military units.

"It changed the relationship," Browning said of moving closer to the front and spending more time with his Iraqi counterparts. "It gives me a better understanding of how I can bring to bear the limited capabilities I have."

During his Thursday interview, Browning spoke from a modest forward Iraqi base in a small village south of Mosul where a living room in an abandoned home had been converted into an operations room.

Under the December directive and an additional directive issued a few weeks ago, Browning said advisers like him embedded at the brigade level are now able to directly deliver support such as airstrikes and artillery fire to the units they're partnered with.

Previously, such support "would have gone through a whole bureaucracy and through Baghdad," he said.

The spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, Air Force Col. John Dorrian, confirmed to The Associated Press the rules of engagement in the fight against IS in Iraq were adjusted by the December directive, explaining that some coalition troops were given the "ability to call in airstrikes without going through a strike cell."

More coalition forces have been "empowered" to have the ability to call in strikes in the Mosul operation, Col. Dorrian told a Pentagon press briefing on Wednesday.

"This is something that maintains a very high level of precision, but it also increases the amount of responsiveness for the teams on the ground," he said.

Since the late December directive from Lt. Gen. Townsend, Iraqi forces have secured swifter territorial victories in the fight against IS and in the first days of the renewed push on Mosul's western half, Iraqi forces have sustained relatively low numbers of casualties, compared to the early days of the fight inside Mosul from the eastern front.

"There was a lot of focus on a big training effort and I think what (the coalition) realized in Mosul is that (Iraqi security forces) needed more tactical support," said Nathaniel Rabkin, managing editor of Inside Iraqi Politics, a political risk assessment newsletter.

Iraqi and coalition forces are coming under increasing political and military pressure to wrap up the fight for Mosul quickly. Lt. Gen. Townsend has repeatedly said he wants the operations for both Mosul and Raqqa to "conclude" within the next six months.

The Iraqi and American leadership is concerned the humanitarian situation in western Mosul could quickly deteriorate, Rabkin said, and that infighting could break out within the "fragile" coalition of anti-IS forces, including Shiite militias, conventional Iraqi military forces and Kurdish fighters.

"You want to finish this while there is still good will," Rabkin said.

In this Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 photo, U.S. Army Lt. Col. James Browning speaks during an interview with The Associated Press on a joint base with the Iraqi army south of Mosul, Iraq. As Iraqi forces push into western Mosul coalition troops are closer to frontline fighting than ever before. Coalition forces have moved their bases closer to the front, relaxed their rules of engagement and during the push on Mosul airport coalition advisors were embedded with forward Iraqi rapid response and special forces units. Coalition officials say the change is helping speed up Iraqi military gains, but it marks a steady escalation of US involvement in Iraq that could undermine the sustainability of Iraq's territorial victories. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Three Western Michigan University graduate students moved into their on-campus apartments at the beginning of the fall semester.

The campus on which they are living, though, is not Western Michigan's. And their neighbors are not college students - at least they have not been for a long time.

Colett Chapp, Corey Youngs and Lori Johnson are about a third of the way through the 19 months they will spend alongside 80 senior citizens in a Grand Rapids, Michigan, retirement community as part of what is believed to be one of the first such research projects of its kind in the U.S.

In this Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 photo, Laura Berick, left, a retired art dealer, has lunch with Justine Myers at Berick's home in Judson Manor, in Cleveland. In a research project, graduate-level students live among residents of the Judson Manor retirement home. The study looks at the impact of isolation and loneliness, aging and stereotypes of retirees by students and vice versa. Myers is an artist-in-residence at Judson Park. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The three will live at the Clark on Keller Lake facility for their entire time in Western's occupational therapy graduate program. A research team will collect qualitative data from the students, the senior residents and their families, as well as Clark staff, as part of the social and communication-based research project looking at the impact of isolation and loneliness, aging and stereotypes of retirees by students and vice versa.

Chapp said the move-in last year was not without some initial uneasiness. But the 22-year-old from suburban Detroit quickly found a way to connect with her much older neighbors.

"We went to the meals, but it's kind of awkward to just sit down with somebody that you don't know and just start eating with them," Chapp said. "So, the first time that I felt like I was really relating to somebody was at poker."

Chapp and David Burkholder, an 87-year-old retiree, became fast friends while doing battle at the poker table.

"I like her. She's a very nice gal," Burkholder said of Chapp after the pair, along with Youngs, Johnson and three other residents, finished up a card session.

The architects of the study said they hope that by the time the students move out in 2018, the experiment will have led to more effective intergenerational communication - something that already has been established at a retirement community in Ohio.

A similar program is underway in that state, where students from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Art live among residents of the Judson Manor and Judson Park facilities. While the arrangement in Cleveland isn't tied to academic research, it features like-minded goals: reducing the social isolation often experienced by the elderly and bridging the gap between young and old.

For retired art dealer Laura Berick, 81, the gap has been bridged.

"Here I came to Judson Manor, where there were young adults. And life sparkled," Berick said after hosting violinist Tiffany Tieu, 27, for lunch at her apartment inside the historic former luxury high-rise hotel.

Tieu, who recently moved out after three years to take a job with the National Opera of Chile, said she and Berick developed "a really special friendship."

"You do have those opportunities to find someone - a kindred spirit, I guess you could say - that's very unexpected and that wouldn't happen otherwise," Tieu said.

___

Follow Mike Householder on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mikehouseholder

In this Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 photo, Laura Berick, left, has lunch with Justine Myers at Berick's home in Judson Manor, in Cleveland. In a research project, graduate-level students live among residents of the Judson Manor retirement home. The study looks at the impact of isolation and loneliness, aging and stereotypes of retirees by students and vice versa. Myers is an artist-in-residence at Judson Park. She is an Oberlin College graduate student studying music. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

In this Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 photo, Laura Berick, left, a retired art dealer, has lunch with Justine Myers at Berick's home at Judson Manor, in Cleveland. In a research project, graduate-level students live among residents of the Judson Manor retirement home. The study looks at the impact of isolation and loneliness, aging and stereotypes of retirees by students and vice versa. Myers is an artist-in-residence at Judson Park. She is an Oberlin College graduate student studying music. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

In this Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 photo, Rixiang "Ricky" Huang, right, and Ilona Engel Travis play ping-pong at Judson Manor, in Cleveland. In a research project, graduate-level students from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Art live among residents of the Judson Manor retirement home. The study looks at the impact of isolation and loneliness, aging and stereotypes of retirees by students and vice versa. Huang is an artist-in-residence at Judson Manor. He is a Cleveland Institute of Music undergraduate student studying music. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

In this Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 photo, Rixiang "Ricky" Huang, right, and Ilona Engel Travis play ping-pong at Judson Manor, in Cleveland. In a research project, graduate-level students from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Art live among residents of the Judson Manor retirement home. The study looks at the impact of isolation and loneliness, aging and stereotypes of retirees by students and vice versa. Huang is an artist-in-residence at Judson Manor. He is a Cleveland Institute of Music undergraduate student studying music. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

In this Jan. 18, 2017, image made from a video, David Burkholder looks at his cards during a poker game at the Clark on Keller Lake retirement home in Grand Rapids, Mich. Sitting next to Burkholder is Colette Chapp, who, along with two other Western Michigan University graduate students, are about a third of the way through the 19 months they will spend alongside 80 senior citizens at Clark on Keller Lake as part of what is believed to be one of the first such research projects of its kind in the U.S. Burkholder and Chapp have become friends. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

In this Jan. 18, 2017 image made from a video, Colette Chapp plays poker at the Clark on Keller Lake retirement facility in Grand Rapids, Mich. Chapp and two other Western Michigan University graduate students are about a third of the way through the 19 months they will spend alongside 80 senior citizens at Clark on Keller Lake as part of what is believed to be one of the first such research projects of its kind in the U.S. Chapp says the first time she started really relating to the senior residents was while playing poker (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

In this Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017 photo, residents watch Nina Sandberg play violin at Judson Park, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. In a research project, graduate-level students from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Art live among residents of the Judson Manor retirement home. The study looks at the impact of isolation and loneliness, aging and stereotypes of retirees by students and vice versa. Sandberg is an artist-in-residence at Judson Park. She is a Cleveland Institute of Music graduate student studying music. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

In this Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017 photo, Nina Sandberg plays violin at Judson Park, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. In a research project, graduate-level students from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Art live among residents of the Judson Manor retirement home. The study looks at the impact of isolation and loneliness, aging and stereotypes of retirees by students and vice versa. Sandberg is an artist-in-residence at Judson Park. She is a Cleveland Institute of Music graduate student studying music. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
KELIBIA, Tunisia (AP) - Tunisia has the unhappy distinction of being one of the world's biggest exporters of jihadi fighters, only to see young men trained by the Islamic State return home to kill Western tourists, soldiers and even an unfortunate shepherd.

Now, as the extremists suffer one battlefield defeat after another, Tunisia is being torn by a furious debate over what to do with returnees from among the 3,000 to 6,000 who left - and even how to determine the threat they pose.

"The danger is there. These are people who were indoctrinated. These are people who left and who destroyed their Tunisian passports and who announced that they belonged to the nation of Daesh," or IS, said Dr. Boutheina Chihi Ezzine, a leader of a protest movement against a government she fears is too willing to downplay the danger in exchange for social peace.

In this photo dated, Dec. 24, 2016, women demonstrate outside the Tunisian parliament, in Tunis, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016. Poster reads : no to the return of Daesh's criminals in Tunisia. About 200 people have protested in the Tunisian capital against the return of Tunisian jihadis who have fought abroad. The gathering was prompted by the deadly truck attack in a Berlin Christmas market by Tunisian Anis Amri, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and was killed Friday in a police shootout. (AP Photo/Ons Abid)

"Frankly," she said, "we do not know how these people can come back and have the same values as we do, the sense of belonging to Tunisia, to the Tunisian nation."

The country's prisons are full, its courts are backlogged with terrorism cases, and its desert borders are porous. The country, which is not on the Trump administration's banned travel list, is the only one to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring with a functioning democracy.

It's that democracy that allowed Ezzine and others to start organizing when President Beji Caid Essebsi said Tunisian jails were too crowded to jail every jihadi who returns, and that most posed no danger. The first protest, held after a Tunisian follower of Islamic State attacked the Berlin Christmas market, drew just a few hundred; the second attracted upward of 1,000.

By official count, around 3,000 Tunisians traveled to the war zone in Libya, Syria and Iraq - most of them to join Islamic State and other extremist groups. Many analysts believe the real number is at least double that. Another 1,250 young people were blocked from leaving, and it is believed that thousands of others are smoldering sympathizers.

In 2015, a Tunisian trained in an Islamic State camp in Libya opened fire on a beach, picking off tourists as they sunbathed. Two others stormed the galleries of Tunis' Bardo Museum, a popular destination for foreign visitors. In March this year, Islamic State fighters attacked the border garrison of Ben Gardane, and 55 people died in the ensuing fight. A teenage shepherd who refused to hand his flock over to the jihadis was beheaded.

Ezzine is among many who believe the government can't handle the coming influx, and for her, the last straw was hearing the president downplay the threat in an early December interview. She tracked down Facebook groups of Tunisians with the same concerns and persuaded them to pull together into a collective.

"Even if we have begun to have some political stability, we remain a country that has lived through attacks, through political assassination," she said.

The group's slogan - "No to the return of terrorists" - touched a nerve. Her group is now meeting with political leaders, ministry by ministry, to press for a plan.

The government is careful to say that any Tunisian who wants to return can do so.

"We deal with this subject according to the constitution and to the laws," said Chafik Hajji, a Tunisian diplomat who handles the returning fighters. "Article 25 of the Constitution says that it is forbidden to deprive a Tunisian of his citizenship and to prevent him from returning home. We treat this subject, therefore, with all the seriousness and responsibility that it deserves."

Ezzine herself acknowledges that no Tunisian can be blocked from returning home, but says the government has done little to prepare for them. Unlike Saudi Arabia, which has had similar issues with jihadis in the past, there is no formal deradicalization program, even if one could be shown to work.

The government says it jails the most dangerous and monitors the rest. Around 800 are already back, Hajji said. Many, additionally, are trapped in legal and diplomatic limbo abroad.

"Tunisia is horrified by the idea that there are thousands of Tunisians who will return together to Tunisia. That's not happening. We know that these people left in small groups of two or three people and they are returning the same way," said Ridha Raddaoui of the Tunisian Center of Research and Study of Terrorism.

Raddaoui and Ezzine say the government has no real way to evaluate those who return. They are questioned, and anyone who acknowledges having committed crimes in the war zone is jailed for trial. But the evidence needed for conviction, if it exists at all, is in Syria or Libya. And, Raddaoui said, most end up being freed.

For months, Raddaoui has been examining more than 500 legal cases involving Tunisians accused of terrorism. The result was an in-depth, statistical look at why the Arab Spring's only democracy is also a major exporter of armed extremists. A significant find, Raddaoui said, was a handwritten letter captured during a firefight with extremists near the Libyan border.

"In the text, these terrorists say we are the people who benefited most from the Tunisian revolution," he said. "Because first they were able to get out of prison, they were able to organize on a national level, with recruits and everything. They trained, they armed themselves, they created their own camps in the mountains of the northwest."

They found easy prey in the young people of Tunisia, who expected little from the pre-2011 authoritarian government but had high hopes after its fall. It turned out to be no easier to find good work under democracy than under an autocratic government. Things have only deteriorated further for the nation of 11 million. Tourism dried up, and the unemployment rate, officially around 15 percent, soared among the young, who began to leave for Europe - and for the war zones of Syria and Libya, which shares a 400-kilometer border with Tunisia.

The situation of the travelers can be murky. Mohammed Bel Hadj Amor crossed into Syria at age 19 in 2012, among the first of successive waves of young Tunisians headed for the war zone. Whatever his plans - he says he only wanted to help the Syrian people - he was thwarted almost immediately. He was intercepted first by Islamic State extremists, who killed four of his friends, and then detained by Syrian government forces.

His mother only learned what had happened to him 13 months later, when he appeared in a documentary from the prison where he was being held with 42 other Tunisians. Since then, she has visited him once and received countless calls and texts from behind bars.

But, the family said, Tunisia would not let the group come home. Hajji said the government has received no official request from Syria to take them back. But on Jan. 15, Amor called home to say they had been released and walking out of the prison in Damascus, destination unknown.

"We are leaving now. Pray for us! Don't worry. God bless you all," he said in a voice message that his sister, Leila, plays over and over in the family's home in coastal Tunisia.

That was the last word from the group.

The man who persuaded Mohammed to leave for Syria ultimately died there himself more recently, fighting for the Islamic State group. Another recruiter, who had targeted Leila's 12-year-old son, remained in town. Her son, she said, now harangues his mother to wear the veil and spends his free time at the mosque.

___

Bouazza ben Bouazza contributed from Tunis.

In this photo dated, Dec. 24, 2016, women demonstrate outside the Tunisian parliament, in Tunis, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016, with banner reading : No to Terrorism. Tunisia has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's primary exporters of jihadi fighters, and now as extremists suffer defeats on the battlefield, many Tunisian people fear what will happen when Jihadis return to this vulnerable country.(AP Photo/Ons Abid)

In this photo dated Thursday, Feb. 4, 2017, Rabia Farjallah, the mother of Mohamed Bel Hadj Amor, who was arrested by Syrian forces and jailed since 2012, poses next to a portrait of her son in Kelibia, Tunisia. Tunisia has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's primary exporters of jihadi fighters. Now, many fear they will return to a vulnerable country of backlogged courts and porous borders. (AP Photo/Ons Abid)

In this photo dated Thursday, Feb. 4, 2017, Rabia Farjallah, holds a picture of her son, Mohamed Bel Hadj Amor, who was arrested by Syrian forces and jailed since 2012, in Kelibia, Tunisia. Tunisia has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's primary exporters of jihadi fighters. Now, many fear they will return to a vulnerable country of backlogged courts and porous borders. (AP Photo/Ons Abid)

In this photo dated Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, a shepherd leads his flock to the pasture, in Oueslatia, central Tunisia. Tunisia has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's primary exporters of jihadi fighters, and now as extremists suffer defeats on the battlefield, many Tunisian people fear what will happen when Jihadis return to this vulnerable country of backlogged courts and porous borders. (AP Photo/Ons Abid)

In this photo dated Tursday, Feb. 2, 2017, Ridha Raddaoui, a Tunisian researcher and lawyer poses for a photo at his home in Tunis, Tunisia. Tunisia has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's primary exporters of jihadi fighters, and now as extremists suffer defeats on the battlefield, many Tunisian people fear what will happen when Jihadis return to this vulnerable country.(AP Photo/Ons Abid)

In this photo dated Thursday, Feb. 4, 2017, Rabia Farjallah, wipes away tears while posing next to a picture of her son, Mohamed Bel Hadj Amor, who was arrested by Syrian forces and jailed since 2012, in Kelibia, Tunisia. Tunisia has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's primary exporters of jihadi fighters. Now, many fear they will return to a vulnerable country of backlogged courts and porous borders. (AP Photo/Ons Abid)

This photo dated, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017 shows the Habib Bourguiba avenue which is the central thoroughfare of Tunis and considered the historical political and economic heart of Tunisia. Tunisia has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's primary exporters of jihadi fighters, and now as extremists suffer defeats on the battlefield, many Tunisian people fear what will happen when Jihadis return to this vulnerable country. (AP Photo/Ons Abid)

In this photo dated Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, Chafik Hajji, a diplomat with the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs who handles the cases of Tunisians returning from the war zones, poses for a photo at his office in Tunis, Tunisia. Tunisia has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's primary exporters of jihadi fighters, and now as extremists suffer defeats on the battlefield, many Tunisian people fear what will happen when Jihadis return to this vulnerable country. (AP Photo/Ons Abid)
EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) - Suspected Islamic militants gunned down a Christian man inside his home in northern Sinai, officials and a priest said Friday, the latest in a string of sectarian killings there that has sent hundreds of Christians fleeing and raised accusations the government is failing to protect the community.

The militants stormed the home of Kamel Youssef, a plumber, on Thursday and shot him to death in front of his wife and children in the town of el-Arish, said two security officials and the priest.

The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, as did the priest, fearing retaliation by militants. The priest said initial reports that the man's daughter was kidnapped and killed turned out to be incorrect.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Egypt's Islamic State group affiliate, which is based in the Sinai Peninsula and which in December carried out a devastating suicide bombing against a Cairo church, vowed in a video earlier this week to step up attacks against the embattled Coptic Christian minority. It described them as "infidels" empowering the West against Muslims.

That stoked panic among Christians, who before Thursday's death had already seen six members of their community killed in recent weeks.

Over the past two days, around 75 Christian families - hundreds of people - have arrived from Sinai in the city of Ismailia on the Suez Canal, according to Mina Thabet, a researcher with the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms who visited the families.

They brought suitcases of clothes, but left most of their belongings behind, hoping to be able to return soon. Some reported receiving death threats on their cell phones.

"The scene here is really painful," Thabet said.

Christians in northern Sinai have been fleeing in waves over recent years because of militant threats, and the community that before 2011 numbered up to 5,000 people has now dwindled to fewer than 1,000, said the priest. There are no official statistics on the number of Christians in cities or across the country.

But the priest, who also left el-Arish, said the flight in recent days is unprecedented in size. He blamed lax security.

"You feel like this is all meant to force us to leave our homes," he said. "We became like refugees."

The displacement underscores what many rights activists said the failure of the Egyptian government in providing the minimum level of security to the Christians in this volatile region of northern Sinai, where the military has been battling for years against militants.

"This was a test to the government. It failed and its management of the crisis was terrible," Thabet said.

He pointed to the failure to step up security for Christians despite public threats by IS or help them as they fled. After pressure on social media, authorities agreed to put up the fleeing Christians in government housing in Ismailia.

A day before Youssef's killing, militants killed a Christian man and burned his son alive, then dumped their bodies on a roadside in el-Arish. Three other Christians in Sinai were killed earlier in drive-by shootings or attacks on their homes and shops.

Youssef Tawfiq said his father Gamal, a teacher, was shot to death on Feb. 16 by two masked gunmen 200 meters (220 yards) from a heavily fortified army post in el-Arish. He said no government official or agency provided any support to the family after his father's death.

"I feel like I am carrying a mountain over my shoulders," he said. "We loved our country but our country doesn't love us."

The Coptic Church issued a brief statement Friday and, as it traditionally does, stuck close to the government's line in the war on terrorism.

"They aim to strike our national unity ... in the face of terrorism, which has been exported to Egypt from abroad," it said.

The military's fight against the Sinai militants, who vowed allegiance to the Islamic State group, has been bitter.

Hundreds of troops have been killed, the military has razed hundreds of houses to stop alleged militant infiltration through tunnels from neighboring Gaza, and President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in 2014 declared a state of emergency and curfew there after suicide bombings killed more than 30 soldiers. Still, the insurgency has shown little sign of calming.

The northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, bordering the Gaza Strip and Israel, has been a battleground since 2011, when the region sank into lawlessness during the 18-day uprising that led to the ouster of longtime autocratic President Hosni Mubarak.

But the militant campaign accelerated after the military - then led by el-Sissi - overthrew elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

Christians, mainly belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church, make up an estimated 10 percent of Egypt's population and have suffered decades of discrimination and attacks by Islamic militants. Those attacks increased after 2013.

A total of 30 Christians in northern Sinai, including Copts in the military and two priests, have been killed since 2013, said the priest.

In December, an IS-affiliated suicide bomber blew himself up inside a landmark Cairo church, killing around 30 worshippers, mostly women.

__

Michael contributed to this report from Cairo.
KADUNA, Nigeria (AP) - Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about $200,000) for a German archaeologist and his associate abducted this week from a northern Nigerian village, a worker at the excavation site said. Two villagers were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police confirmed Friday.

The worker said he heard a man make the demand in a telephone call Thursday to the site's supervisor. The caller warned him not to involve police or security forces, said the worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Police special forces and a special investigative team for kidnappings have been searching around the village of Jenjela in the state of Kaduna, where gunmen on Wednesday abducted Professor Peter Breunig and his associate, Johannes Behringer, and walked with them into the bush.

Security officers stand guard at the scene where a German archaeologists and his associate were kidnapped in Janjala Village, Nigeria. Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about Dlrs 200,000 US) for the two captives abducted this week from Janjala village in northern Nigeria, the excavation site where the German archaeologists was working. Two villagers were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police confirmed Friday.(AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi )

Breunig, 65, and Behringer, who is in his 20s, are part of a four-person team from Frankfurt's Goethe University collaborating with the Nigeria's National Commission for Museum and Monuments to recover relics of the Nok culture. The early Iron Age people are considered the earliest ancient civilization of the region that is now Nigeria, famous for their terracotta sculptures.

Two villagers accompanying the Germans were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police spokesman Aliyu Usman confirmed Friday, adding that police were not aware of any ransom demand.

The kidnappers told police to keep away from them or "they will kill the German archaeologists," said Shehu Musa Tafa, chairman of the Kagarko local government area.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, but victims usually are freed unharmed after a ransom is paid.

Nigeria's acting President Yemi Osinbajo summoned the federal police chief for a briefing Thursday on efforts to find the kidnap victims, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.

___

Faul reported from Johannesburg. AP videographer Lekan Oyekanmi in Jenjela contributed to this story.

Security officers stand guard at the scene where a German archaeologists and his associate were kidnapped in Janjala Village, Nigeria. Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about Dlrs 200,000 US) for the two captives abducted this week from Janjala village in northern Nigeria, the excavation site where the German archaeologists was working. Two villagers were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police confirmed Friday. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi )

Security officers stand guard at the scene where a German archaeologists and his associate were kidnapped in Janjala Village, Nigeria. Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about Dlrs 200,000 US) for the two captives abducted this week from Janjala village in northern Nigeria, the excavation site where the German archaeologists was working. Two villagers were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police confirmed Friday. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi )

Two women walk past the archaeological excavation site where gunmen abducted German archaeologists professor Peter Breunig and his associate Johannes Behringer in Janjala Village, Nigeria. Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about Dlrs 200,000 US) for the two captives abducted this week from Janjala village in northern Nigeria. Two villagers were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police confirmed Friday. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi )

Security officers patrol the area near to the site where gunmen abducted German archaeologists professor Peter Breunig and his associate Johannes Behringer in Janjala Village, Nigeria. Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about Dlrs 200,000 US) for the two captives abducted this week from Janjala village in northern Nigeria, the excavation site where the German archaeologists was working. Two villagers were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police confirmed Friday. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi )
The banned chemical weapon VX is considered by some experts to be the nastiest of the nasty nerve agents known to exist. With a consistency similar to motor oil, it lingers for long periods in the environment and even a tiny amount causes victims' bodies to flood with fluids, producing a feeling of drowning before death.

So when Malaysian authorities announced Friday that VX was to blame for the Feb. 13 death of the North Korean leader's exiled half brother inside a busy Kuala Lumpur airport, it raised nearly as many questions as answers.

First, with a substance so potent, how is it possible that the two women who allegedly attacked Kim Jong Nam with it could have survived? Second, given that particles can remain in the environment for possibly weeks after being released, why didn't the airport undertake specialized decontamination measures to ensure the public's safety?

Police officers guard the main gate of forensic department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan)

"The other chemical agents like sarin, tabun, those kinds of things, they're way below this. They're toxic, yes, but this is the king," said John Trestrail, a U.S. forensic toxicologist who has examined more than 1,000 poisoning crimes.

He said an amount of VX weighing two pennies could kill 500 people though skin exposure. It's also hard to acquire and would likely have come from a chemical weapons laboratory, making it more likely that the attack was executed by a government. Police are seeking the second secretary of North Korea's embassy in Malaysia, but embassy officials have vehemently denied any involvement.

He and other experts stressed the importance of having the results confirmed by an independent reference laboratory, especially given the nerve agent's rarity.

VX is an amber-colored, tasteless, odorless chemical weapon first produced in the 1950s. When inhaled or absorbed through the skin, it disrupts the nervous system and causes constriction and increased secretions in the throat, leading to difficulty breathing. Fluids pour from the body, including sweat, spontaneous urination and defecation, often followed by convulsions, paralysis and death. Kim Jong Nam sought help at the airport clinic and died en route to a hospital within two hours of being attacked, police said.

An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.

But Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, questions how no one else fell violently ill in the attack on Kim Jong Nam, who had been living abroad for years after falling out of favor with his family, including North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The two women - one Vietnamese, one Indonesian - recorded on surveillance cameras thrusting a substance into Kim Jong Nam's face as he was about to check in for a flight home to Macau, apparently did not suffer serious health problems. Malaysian police have said they were not wearing gloves or protective gear and that they washed their hands afterward as they were trained to do. However, authorities said Friday that one of them vomited afterward.

Both have been arrested along with another man. Authorities are also seeking several others, including an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo.

"If they used their bare hands, there's just no possible way that they would have exposed him to VX unless they took some sort of precaution," Goldberger said. "The only precaution I know of would be administration of the antidote before this went down."

No passengers, airport workers or medical personnel who tended to Kim Jong Nam at the clinic or hospital have been identified as having been sickened. Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the terminal at Kuala Lumpur's airport, used by budget carriers such as AirAsia, since the apparent assassination was carried out a week and a half ago.

No areas were cordoned off and protective measures were not taken. When asked about it a day after the attack, airport spokesman Shah Rahim said there was no risk to travelers and the airport was regularly and properly cleaned. But officials announced Friday that the facility would be decontaminated.

"It's as persistent as motor oil. It's going to stay there for a long time. A long time, which means anyone coming in contact with this could be intoxicated from it," Trestrail said. "If this truly is VX, they ought to be calling in a hazmat team and looking at any place these women or the victim traveled after the exposure."

VX, which is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, has been used before. The Japanese religious cult Aum Shinrikyo used the nerve agent in the 1990s, killing one victim they believed was a police informant.

___

Follow Margie Mason on Twitter: @margiemasonap
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia is hoping to ring up investment deals worth billions of dollars when Saudi Arabia's King Salman and an entourage of 1,500 officials, princes and businessmen visit the Indonesian capital next week.

The March 1-9 state visit is the first to Indonesia by a Saudi monarch since 1970. The Indonesian government says Salman will spend most of the nine days vacationing on the resort island of Bali.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said this week that Salman and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo will discuss trade, business and other matters. Salman will meet chief executives and leaders of Indonesia's biggest Muslim organizations and perform Friday prayers at Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque.

Indonesia has been a source of workers for Saudi Arabia, mostly maids, but in 2011 the government said it would no longer send domestic workers after an Indonesian woman found guilty of killing her Saudi employer was executed by beheading.

Meanwhile, Indonesian victims of haj disasters in Mecca in 2015 are still waiting for compensation promised by the Saudi government.

Anung said the government is targeting $25 billion in investment commitments including a $6 billion project with national oil company Saudi Aramco.

For the Jakarta leg of the visit, Salman's party has booked out four hotels in a posh south Jakarta neighborhood.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - A group of countries pledged at least $672 million at an international donor conference Friday to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin.

"We have now started an important process," said Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, whose country pledged 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to tackle "a serious humanitarian situation" in the region encompassing Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

"We expect more pledges in the future," said Brende, who co-hosted the one-day conference in Oslo with Germany, Nigeria and the United Nations. "The United States have said they would come back later" and other countries may chip in too, he added.

Minister of Foreign Affairs for Norway Borge Brende, left, greets his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, ahead of the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

His German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel said Germany added 120 million euros ($127 million).

The United Nations has launched a more than $1 billion appeal for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region that are enduring the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa.

Other donor countries at the conference attended by 40 countries, civil society groups and humanitarian organizations included Italy, Finland, Switzerland and Japan. The money would be channeled via the United Nations, the international Red Cross and NGOs.

"Twenty-six million people have been affected by Boko Haram and we must address the root causes," Nigeria's Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said, speaking about the Islamic extremist group that remains a serious threat to regional stability.

In Nigeria, a seven-year uprising by the group has killed more than 20,000 people, driven 2.6 million from their homes and shocked the world with the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls. After aid workers got into areas once controlled by the Islamic militants driven away by military campaigns, the suffering they left behind became clear.

Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Borge Brende, speaks at the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama speaks during the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

United States Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien speaks at the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama speaks at the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Chad's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hissein Brahim Taha, looks on during the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Cameroon Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of cooperation with the Commonwealth, Joseph Dion Ngute, at the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Niger's Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Magagi Laouan, smiles at the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, looks on during the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, looks on during the Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad region, in Oslo, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende says his country is giving 1.6 billion kroner ($192 million) over a three-year period to prevent a famine in the African countries around the Lake Chad Basin, while Germany on Friday added 120 million euros ($127 million). (Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
ASIA:

MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA-WHY VX? - Was it a poorly executed assassination or did North Korea want to showcase its stockpile of banned chemical weapons? The use of the highly toxic VX warfare agent to kill the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader has raised questions about Pyongyang's real motives. By Kim Tong-Hyung. SENT: 980 words, photos. With MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA - Malaysia's health minister says autopsy results suggest a nerve agent caused "very serious paralysis" that killed the exiled half brother of North Korea's leader, as police declare the budget terminal where was poisoned safe of any toxin. By Eileen Ng. SENT: 1,000 words, photos; MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA-THE LATEST; MALAYSIA-HIT SQUAD SUSPECTS - Profiles of two female suspects. By Tran Van Minh. SENT: 620 words, photos; MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA-DEVELOPMENTS - Key development at the glance. SENT: 520 words, photos.

AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA - Indonesian and Australian leaders have committed to free trade and closer naval cooperation as they urged countries in the Asia-Pacific region with competing territorial claims to obey international law. SENT: 450 words, photos.

AUSTRALIA-ISRAEL - Israeli prime minister calls 1st visit to Australia 'wonderful.' SENT: 200 words, photos

BUSINESS AND FINANCE:

CHINA-STOCK MARKET - A Chinese regulator says Beijing needs to rein in risky behavior by financial industries following market turmoil in 2015 that battered investors. SENT: 130 words, photos. UPCOMING: 350 words by 0600 GMT.

___

HOW TO REACH US:

The editor in charge at the AP Asia-Pacific Desk in Bangkok is Hrvoje Hranjski. Questions and story requests are welcome. The news desk can be reached at (66) 2632-6911 or by email at asia@ap.org. The Asia Photo Desk can be reached at (81-3) 6215-8941. Between 1600 GMT and 0000 GMT, please refer queries to the North America Desk in New York at (1) 212-621-1650.

Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call (1) 877-836-9477.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) - Estonia has marked its 99th anniversary of its declaration of independence with more than 1,000 troops from eight NATO nations parading and presenting military hardware on Friday, including two U.S. Abrams tanks that were displayed to the public for the first time.

Fighter jets from the alliance's Baltic air policing mission roared over the flag-waving crowd that included President Kersti Kaljulaid and a U.S. Air Force band.

NATO military forces were deployed into countries bordering Russia after Moscow's aggression in Ukraine in response to fears that other ex-Soviet republics - including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - could be next.

On Friday, dozens of German army tanks arrived by train in Lithuania as part of the alliance's deployment. Some 1,200 troops part of NATO's battle group have in the past been deployed to the central Lithuanian military base of Rukla.

Estonia declared its independence from Russia on Feb. 24, 1918, but the small country of 1.3 million was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940, and - albeit with Nazi German occupation from 1941-44 - remained part of the USSR until 1991.
BERLIN (AP) - German officials are criticizing plans by the Russian military to build a replica of Berlin's Parliament building as a target for Russian teenagers to attack at a patriotic theme park near Moscow.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday the replica would give members of the Young Army, a program to teach youths military skills and encourage patriotism, the opportunity "to storm a specific location, not something abstract."

German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said Friday the plan was "surprising and speaks for itself."

"We wouldn't build something like that for the education of German youth," added Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer.

The Reichstag Parliament building in Berlin was the scene of bitter fighting in 1945 between the Red Army and Nazi troops. The building, first opened in 1894, was refurbished after German reunification and in 1999 became the home of the German parliament.

Images of Soviet soldiers hoisting their flag over the building are iconic and are largely viewed in Russia as the symbol of the allied victory in the war.

In Moscow, Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov lashed out at the German officials for their reaction and vigorously defended the ministry's plan, saying the Reichstag replica "will contribute to the patriotic education of young citizens and foreign guests."

Konashenkov also referred to the 1933 Reichstag arson, which is seen as a pivotal moment in establishing Nazi Germany and hinted that the Germans who are worried about Russia wanting to build a replica building could be Nazi sympathizers.

"Verbal attacks by certain German politicians are not only dismaying but they also make one wonder about how these people really feel about the creators of the Third Reich," Konashenkov said Friday.

The Kremlin has turned to World War II to encourage patriotic feelings, as the country's massive wartime suffering and enormous losses during that time form a key element of Russia's national identity. Victory Day has remained Russia's most important secular holiday, a rallying point for a nation deeply divided over its Soviet-era history.
MOSCOW (AP) - Diplomats, colleagues and relatives said their final farewells Friday to Vitaly Churkin, Russia's long-time ambassador to the United Nations who died earlier in the week.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised Churkin as an "exceptional professional and people's diplomat" in remarks at the funeral, where the open casket was draped in a Russian flag, flanked by an honor guard and surrounded by wreaths in a memorial chapel.

"We are saying goodbye to our friend, a prominent diplomat of the modern age, a person who always reached the maximum possible results wherever the motherland would send him," Lavrov said before the burial at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in western Moscow.

FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 22, 2014, file photo, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin speaks during a news conference to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, at United Nations headquarters. Russian officials said Churkin died suddenly in New York City on Monday, Feb. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

The Order of Courage, a medal awarded posthumously to Churkin by President Vladimir Putin, was displayed at the coffin.

Churkin died Monday at a New York hospital at age 64. Medical examiners who performed an autopsy said more tests were needed to determine the cause of death.

He had been Russia's envoy at the U.N. since 2006. He was the longest-serving ambassador on the Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful body. He also served as ambassador in Canada and Belgium, and was a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in the early 1990s.
CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) - The Latest on the Dakota Access oil pipeline. (all times local):

12:15 p.m.

Authorities this week cleared the last holdouts from a Dakota Access pipeline protest camp on federal land in North Dakota, but it will be a while before the region returns to normal.

This aerial photo provided the Morton County Sheriff Department shows the closed Dakota Access pipeline protest camp near Cannon Ball, N.D., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. Authorities on Thursday cleared the camp where opponents of the pipeline had gathered for the better part of a year, searching tents and huts and arresting dozens of holdouts who had defied a government order to leave. (Morton County Sheriff Department via AP)

There's tons of debris to be cleared. There's a highway bridge that remains closed. Pipeline drilling continues. There's a court battle lingering. And hundreds of protesters remain in the area.

Many in the closed camp have gone to other camps nearby on the Standing Rock Reservation. But the status of those camps is unclear.

Protest leader Joye Braun says there's a dispute over whether two camps are on private land or tribal land. And people haven't been able to get into another camp established on private land by the Cheyenne River Sioux because of a Bureau of Indian Affairs roadblock.

___

7:30 a.m.

The Cheyenne River Sioux tribe has joined the Standing Rock Sioux in asking a federal judge to revoke permission for the Dakota Access pipeline to be built under the Missouri River in North Dakota.

The tribes say the $3.8 billion oil pipeline threatens their drinking water, cultural sites and ability to practice their religion, which depends on pure water. Developer Energy Transfer Partners rejects those claims, and expects to finish work under the river quickly, perhaps in two weeks.

Earlier this month, the Standing Rock Sioux asked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to overturn permission for the river crossing that the pro-energy Trump administration granted to ETP. The Cheyenne River tribe filed a similar request on Wednesday.

The Cheyenne River Sioux requested an injunction to stop the construction earlier this month.

ETP hasn't yet responded to the motions.

___

7:15 a.m.

The Texas-based company building the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline says oil could be flowing in less than two weeks.

Energy Transfer Partners says in court documents that it has finished drilling under Lake Oahe in North Dakota and will soon be laying pipe under the Missouri River reservoir.

It's the last stretch of the 1,200-mile pipeline to move North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. ETP got permission for the final piece of construction last month from the pro-energy Trump administration, though American Indian tribes continue fighting the project in court.

ETP says in court documents filed this week that the pipeline "will be complete and ready to flow oil" between March 6 and April 1.

___

12:05 a.m.

Dozens of people have been arrested as authorities in North Dakota cleared a protest camp where opponents of the Dakota Access oil pipeline had gathered for the better part of a year.

About 220 officers and 18 National Guardsmen methodically searched protester tents and other temporary homes for more than three hours on Thursday. Authorities say 46 people were taken into custody, including a group of military veterans who had to be carried out.

The arrests occurred a day after the Army Corps of Engineers ordered protesters to clear the camp by a 2 p.m. Wednesday deadline.

Native Americans who oppose the $3.8 billion pipeline set up camp last April near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation the shed light on their concerns about the project that would carry oil through the Dakotas and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois.

A backhoe rips through a wood structure to begin the cleaning up process at the Oceti Sakowin camp as law enforcement swept through the camp arresting the final Dakota Access oil pipeline protesters in Morton County Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, near Cannon Ball, N.D. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, Pool)

A law enforcement officer climbs a ladder to speak to one of the final holdouts of the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp sitting atop a wood structure built at the Oceti Sakowin camp in Morton County Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, near Cannon Ball, N.D. After a couple of hours the protester came down on his own and was arrested. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, Pool)

Law enforcement enters the Oceti Sakowin camp to begin arresting Dakota Access Pipeline protesters in Morton County, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, near Cannon Ball, N.D. As the arrests were underway law enforcement personnel drove several large construction equipment into the camp to begin the cleanup process of razing tents and structures. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, Pool)

This aerial photo provided the Morton County Sheriff Department shows the closed Dakota Access pipeline protest camp near Cannon Ball, N.D., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. Authorities on Thursday cleared the camp where opponents of the pipeline had gathered for the better part of a year, searching tents and huts and arresting dozens of holdouts who had defied a government order to leave. (Morton County Sheriff Department via AP)

An elderly woman is escorted to a transport van after being arrested by law enforcement at the Oceti Sakowin camp as part of the final sweep of the Dakota Access pipeline protesters in Morton County, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, near Cannon Ball, N.D. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, Pool)
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) - The South American country of Guyana said Friday that it is investigating allegations the Chinese embassy has been using its diplomatic status to bring in tax-free goods from China and distribute them to local merchants.

Guyana Revenue Commissioner Godfrey Statia told The Associated Press that customs officers reported the embassy had been receiving unusually large shipments. Shipments tied to a diplomatic mission are not fully searched, and the government said that Chinese officials have imported more containers with commercial items than all other embassies combined, including the U.S.

"It is an area of concern," Statia said, adding that there's a "vast difference" in prices in items being sold by Chinese-owned stores compared with the Guyanese ones.

Chinese-owned stores have been popping up across Guyana in recent years, selling everything from balloons to tiles to glass windows.

The Chinese embassy called the allegations baseless and said in a statement it will investigate the matter and that it reserves the right to take legal action.

The investigation comes as Chinese public and private corporations invest millions of dollars in Guyana, including a renovation at the country's main international airport.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

4:55 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence's speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition will be the visual evidence of the fruits of years of labor by the politically active group.

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The annual conference at billionaire donor Sheldon Adelson's casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip has become a de facto campaign stop for Republican presidential candidates over the past few years.

With the first Republican White House in eight years, the group of Republican donors and Jewish leaders is set to hear not only from Pence on Friday night, but from many other Republican leaders.

Among those scheduled to speak this weekend are former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney, and Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Lindsay Graham of South Carolina.

___

3:55 p.m.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru says he and President Donald Trump had a "cordial and constructive conversation" during their meeting at the White House.

Kuczynski tells reporters after the gathering that he discussed Trump's plans for the construction of a wall along the border between Mexico and the United States.

The Peruvian leader says he told Trump that he is interested in the free movement of people - he emphasized "legally" - and also told the U.S. leader, "we prefer bridges to walls."

He says the conversation focused on immigration, trade and other "subjects of common interest."

___

3:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump is welcoming Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to the White House.

Trump says in brief remarks in the Oval Office that it's an honor to welcome his Peruvian counterpart to Washington.

He says, "Peru has been a fantastic neighbor. We've had great relationships, better now than ever before."

Trump says the two men have known each other for quite a while. They're expected to discuss business, including Peru's purchase of U.S. military vehicles and problems in Venezuela.

Kuczynski says Latin America needs to grow and that he plans to discuss how to do that with Trump.

___

3:10 p.m.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich says there is no animosity between him and President Donald Trump, his former Republican presidential rival.

Kasich says after a White House meeting that now that Trump is the president, "it's sort of like being on an airplane. You want to root for the pilot."

The governor says he shared his ideas on potential changes to former President Barack Obama's health care law. Ohio was among 31 states that expanded Medicaid under the law and Kasich says Trump "listened very carefully to what I had to say about it and had a very positive response."

Kasich is in Washington for a weekend of meetings at the National Governors Association.

___

2:15 p.m.

The head of the National Rifle Association says conservatives should stand up for themselves if "the violent left brings their terror into our communities."

Wayne LaPierre spoke Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he showed videos of violent protesters. He asked the crowd if they were ready to take on the left.

LaPierre said: "Show them you won't submit. We will not be intimidated."

He says members of the NRA helped President Donald Trump win the election, that "Americans wanted a fire, and we got one."

He also argues the media is a threat, saying, "You're not going to win, and you will not defeat us."

___

1:20 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is welcoming about 40 of the nation's governors to the Naval Observatory and telling them "the door is open to the West Wing" for governors.

Pence welcomed the governors to his residence at the start of a weekend of meetings, including events at the White House with President Donald Trump.

The former Indiana governor says he and Trump want to work with the states on issues like jobs, health care and infrastructure.

He says the Trump administration wants to "forge strong partnerships" with governors.

___

12:50 p.m.

British politician Nigel Farage (fah-RAHZH') is telling American conservatives that "what happened in 2016 is the beginning of a great global revolution."

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Farage on Friday compared Britain's June vote to leave the European Union and President Donald Trump's victory in November. He said both campaigns were about putting their countries first and most doubted they would win.

"We're winning!" he said to huge cheers.

Farage was the leader of the UK Independence Party and has long campaigned to leave the 28-nation bloc. He said there could be similar results in upcoming elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany.

"What I do know is if the challengers don't get over the line this year, they will shift the center of gravity of the entire debate," Farage said.

___

12:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order taking aim at government regulations.

The president says the order will direct each federal agency to establish a regulatory reform task force.

The task forces will then recommend which regulations they can simplify or eliminate.

The president has long argued that excessive regulations are "killing jobs, driving companies out of our country like never before."

He says the regulator burden is "an impossible situation" for big and small businesses, but says, "we're going to solve it very quickly."

Trump signed the order in the Oval Office surrounded by top executives from major corporations.

He signed a previous order that instructed agencies to identify two regulations to eliminate for every new one they create.

___

11:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump's speech Friday to a leading conservative group was like a series of greatest hits from his campaign rallies.

He reminisced about his victory in the Republican primaries. He vowed to "build the wall" along the Mexican border. He denounced Hillary Clinton's characterization of some of his supporters as belonging in a "basket of deplorables."

And perhaps most strikingly, the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference responded to his Clinton criticism with chants of "Lock her up!" just as they did at Trump rallies last year.

Further blurring the line between Candidate and President Trump: He left the Conservative Political Action Conference stage to "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones, the same exit music he used during the campaign.

___

11:10 a.m.

President Donald Trump is signaling more reforms are ahead for the nation's welfare system. He tells conservatives that "it's time for all Americans to get off welfare and get back to work." He adds, "You're going to love it."

The nation's welfare laws were overhauled under former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. The changes provided states with grants in exchange for greater flexibility in how they can use the funds.

There's been a steady decline in the number of needy families participating in the nation's welfare program since the mid-1990s.

Trump says at the Conservative Political Action Conference that "jobs are already starting to pour back" and points to pledges for more manufacturing jobs in states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

___

11:04 a.m.

President Donald Trump is pledging that "in a matter of days," his administration will take "a brand new action" to prevent potential terrorists from entering the U.S.

Though Trump did not specify what is coming, White House officials have said a new immigration ban will be released shortly.

The original ban was knocked down by a federal court. Trump said Friday to a gathering of conservatives that "we will not be deterred from this course."

He vowed that would "never apologize" for protecting the safety of American people and promised that "we are going to keep radical Islamic terrorism the hell out of country."

The original order sparked widespread protest.

___

10:55 a.m.

President Donald Trump is vowing again to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have committed crimes.

Trump's telling a gathering of conservatives that "as we speak today, immigration officers are finding gang members, drug dealers and criminal aliens and throwing them the hell out."

His declaration comes the day after he and one of his Cabinet secretaries offered clashing takes on the nature of the deportation push.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly pledged in Mexico that the United States won't enlist its military to enforce immigration laws and that there will be "no mass deportations."

But only hours earlier Trump suggested the opposite, saying it would be a "military operation."

Press secretary Sean Spicer later said Trump used "military" as an adjective and was stressing "precision."

___

10:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he inherited a "failed health care law" in his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference. Trump claims it threatens the nation's medical system with "total catastrophe."

Trump reiterated his promise to repeal and replace the sweeping health care law signed into law by former President Barack Obama.

Trump says at CPAC that "Obamacare" doesn't work and it covers "very few people," even though the 2010 health law has provided medical insurance to 20 million Americans. The president says he and the GOP-led Congress will "make it much better" and "less expensive."

___

10:45 a.m.

President Donald Trump is complaining about the media's use of anonymous sources and accusing news news outlets of making up source for damaging reports about his White House.

Trump spoke just hours after members of his own staff held a press briefing in which they refused to attach their names to the information.

Trump is speaking at the nation's largest gathering of conservative activists.

He escalated his attacks on what he calls the "fake news." He says fake reporting is the "enemy of the people."

___

8 a.m.

President Donald Trump is blaming the FBI for failing to stop leaks to the media, saying the information being reported is classified and could have a "devastating effect" on the country.

Trump made the remarks in a tweet early Friday. His tweet follows reports that White House chief of staff Reince Priebus had asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election.

Trump writes, "The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself."

He adds, "classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW."

President Donald Trump meets with Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre waves as he arrives to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom's Independence Party, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - An intentionally set fire damaged a prayer hall at a Tampa-area mosque early Friday, investigators said.

The arson occurred at the Islamic Society of New Tampa, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said in a news release.

Fire investigators responded at around 2 a.m. After gathering evidence, they determined the fire was intentionally set. No one was at the mosque when the fire started.

Fire officials inspect a side door where an arson took place at the Daarus Salaam Mosque in Thonotosassa, Fla., Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. (James Borchuck/The Tampa Bay Times via AP)

"It is worrisome that our community has fallen victim of what appears to be another hate crime," said Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Florida.

An alarm company notified a mosque board member early Friday, and he found first responders there when he arrived, CAIR said.

Investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives also responded, the group said. The ATF confirmed its agents were there but said the local fire department was leading the investigation.

CAIR said the fire started at a door to the prayer hall. There was damage to the door and carpet inside from sprinkler water and smoke.

Authorities said there were holes found in the door, but determined they were not made by bullets, as some had initially feared.

Morning prayers were moved to another building. Afternoon prayers may be cancelled due to the damage to the hall, local news media reported.

Worshippers were directed to other mosques in the area until the building is repaired.

The blaze was at least the second intentionally set fire at a Florida mosque in the past year. Joseph Schreiber was sentenced to 30 years in prison earlier this month for setting fire to the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce on Sept. 11. It was the same mosque that the Orlando nightclub shooter attended occasionally.

Mustafa Ameen, the Islamic Society of New Tampa's lawyer and spokesman, said this is the first time a fire has been intentionally set at the mosque. He said they're awaiting the outcome of the investigation to better understand the motive, but have been boosted by community support.

"We appreciate the entire community standing in solidarity with us," he said.

Officials from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office, Fire Department and ATF talk outside the Daarus Salaam Mosque in Thonotosassa, Fla., after an arson there early Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. (James Borchuck/The Tampa Bay Times via AP)
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on a fight between an off-duty Los Angeles officer and a group of teens in Anaheim (all times local):

8:25 a.m.

Anaheim police are maintaining watch on a neighborhood where a raucous demonstration erupted after an off-duty Los Angeles police officer scuffled with teenagers fired a gunshot into the ground.

Protesters march towards the off-duty officer's home in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. A Los Angeles policeman is under investigation after a video appears to show him firing a single round during an off-duty tussle with a 13-year-old boy. No one was injured but two teenagers were arrested after the incident, which spurred dozens of people to protest against police Wednesday night in the streets of Anaheim, where the officer lives and the confrontation occurred. (Joshua Sudock/The Orange County Register via AP)

Radio station KNX reports that some protesters returned Thursday night but police barred them from the neighborhood where the Los Angeles officer lives.

Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt tells KNX his department is prepared to keep the neighborhood safe.

The confrontation earlier this week involved an ongoing dispute over youths walking across the Los Angeles officer's property.

Authorities say the physical struggle happened when the off-duty officer tried to detain a 13-year-old he alleges threatened to shoot him. The youth said he threatened to sue the officer.

That youth and a 15-year-old were arrested but have since been released.

Anaheim's police chief says the investigation could lead to charges against any and all participants in the incident.

A property that was vandalized in last night protests in Anaheim, Calif., is seen Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. An off-duty California officer who didn't want teens walking across his lawn fired his gun during a struggle with a 13-year-old boy and other youths, igniting unruly protests after video of the fight surfaced and two boys were arrested. No one was hurt during the struggle, but hundreds of people marched through suburban Anaheim streets late Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, some blocking traffic and carrying signs that said "no shooting zone." The fight Tuesday between the off-duty Los Angeles police officer and the group of kids stemmed from ongoing issues with teens walking across the man's property in Anaheim, a police statement said. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Protesters then took to Euclid Street, blocking traffic and marching north toward Ball Road, where they congregated in the intersection for several minutes in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. A Los Angeles policeman is under investigation after a video appears to show him firing a single round during an off-duty tussle with a 13-year-old boy. No one was injured but two teenagers were arrested after the incident, which spurred dozens of people to protest against police Wednesday night in the streets of Anaheim, where the officer lives and the confrontation occurred. (Joshua Sudock/The Orange County Register via AP)

Protesters then took to Euclid Street, blocking traffic and marching north toward Ball Road, where they congregated in the intersection for several minutes in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. A Los Angeles policeman is under investigation after a video appears to show him firing a single round during an off-duty tussle with a 13-year-old boy. No one was injured but two teenagers were arrested after the incident, which spurred dozens of people to protest against police Wednesday night in the streets of Anaheim, where the officer lives and the confrontation occurred. (Joshua Sudock/The Orange County Register via AP)

Protesters hold signs in front of an LAPD officer's home in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. A Los Angeles policeman is under investigation after a video appears to show him firing a single round during an off-duty tussle with a 13-year-old boy. No one was injured but two teenagers were arrested after the incident, which spurred dozens of people to protest against police Wednesday night in the streets of Anaheim, where the officer lives and the confrontation occurred. (Joshua Sudock/The Orange County Register via AP)

A vandalized truck and broken windows are seen in a home in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. An off-duty California officer who didn't want teens walking across his lawn fired his gun during a struggle with a 13-year-old boy and other youths, igniting unruly protests after video of the fight surfaced and two boys were arrested. No one was hurt during the struggle, but hundreds of people marched through suburban Anaheim streets late Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, some blocking traffic and carrying signs that said "no shooting zone." Police arrested two dozen people, including children, after the crowd ignored orders to disperse. The protests Wednesday started calmly but some demonstrators blocked traffic, vandalized the officer's home and hurled objects at police. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
PLZEN, Czech Republic (AP) - A zoo in the Czech Republic has welcomed a new baby rhinoceros.

The Indian rhino was born Feb. 5 at Zoo Plzen, 95 kilometers (60 miles) west of Prague. She weighed around 47 kilograms (104 pounds) at birth and is now up to 70 kilograms (154 pounds.) The zoo hasn't decided what to name her.

Her mother, Manjula, was pregnant for 485 days, but zoo officials said the birth itself was quick and uneventful. She's now one of 74 Indian rhinos in zoos across Europe.

A newly born baby Indian rhino walks in its enclosure at the zoo in Plzen, Czech Republic, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The baby was born on Feb. 5, 2017, and is yet to be named. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

You can watch the new arrival (and her parents) on the zoo's webcam.

A newly born baby Indian rhino stands by its mother Manjula in its enclosure at the zoo in Plzen, Czech Republic, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The baby was born on Feb. 5, 2017, and is yet to be named. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

A newly born baby Indian rhino walks next its mother Manjula in their enclosure at the zoo in Plzen, Czech Republic, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The baby was born on Feb. 5, 2017, and is yet to be named. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

A newly born baby Indian rhino walks next its mother Manjula in its enclosure at the zoo in Plzen, Czech Republic, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The baby was born on Feb. 5, 2017, and is yet to be named. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

A newly born baby Indian rhino sticks its head out of the enclosure at the zoo in Plzen, Czech Republic, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The baby was born on Feb. 5, 2017, and is yet to be named. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say a man suspected of killing his uncle during a land dispute in Texas was arrested after coming to Florida to attend NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal (http://bit.ly/2lDHvC4 ) reports 50-year-old Joe Earl Smith told police who arrested him Thursday that he was in town "for the races."

Daytona Beach Shores police spokesman Lt. Mike Fowler says Smith's family had informed investigators he was likely heading to Florida for the Daytona 500.

Officers spotted his SUV parked in a lot next to City Hall.

Fowler says Smith told investigators he shot 68-year-old Jack Smith over a land dispute in Marion County, Texas. Joe Smith told authorities his family had been evicted.

He's being held without bond. Records don't say whether he has a lawyer.

___

Information from: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) - A Michigan congressman is embracing the town halls that many of his Republican counterparts have avoided as people lash out at President Donald Trump's early actions and the planned repeal of the federal health care law.

"It's my duty to be here," Rep. Justin Amash, 36, said Thursday after taking pointed questions for 90 minutes during a raucous session inside a gymnasium in Battle Creek, 110 miles west of Detroit.

He will host another town hall on Saturday, his fourth in nearly six weeks, and promises more in the future.

U.S Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, left, shakes hands with Battle Creek resident Toni Ailene Morris after a town hall meeting on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 at the Full Blast Recreation Center in Battle Creek, Mich. Amash is embracing the town halls that many of his Republican counterparts in Congress have avoided as people lash out at President Donald Trump's early actions and the planned repeal of the federal health care law. (Carly Geraci/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group via AP)

The events are earning Amash, one of Trump's most prominent GOP critics, some respect from angry Democrats who vehemently oppose many of the congressman's stances but credit him for listening to his constituents rather than ducking them.

Others "don't have the guts to come and take the heat like Justin Amash just did," said Deborah Look, 60, a retired special education teacher from Battle Creek who participated in the town meeting. She said when Amash tweeted "Dude, just stop" last month after Trump's criticism of legendary civil rights activist John Lewis, it "gave me hope."

Known for libertarian views that put him at odds with the Republican establishment, the fourth-term congressman also has encountered criticism from Trump loyalists.

Reggie Dickson, 80, a retired principal from Battle Creek who voted for Trump to "drain the swamp" in Washington, said after the town hall that he likes Amash's adherence to the Constitution but is disappointed Amash never endorsed Trump, even after he won the GOP nomination. Trump won the district by more than 9 percentage points over Democrat Hillary Clinton, better than Mitt Romney's margin in 2012.

Amash, who explains all his votes on social media, has made wide-ranging town halls a staple in western Michigan's 3rd Congressional District since 2011, when he took office amid the national tea party wave. He navigates the jeers, applause and interruptions that have become common in this year's unruly events by staying calm but also sticking with his positions. He urges people at odds in the crowds to be respectful to each other and says his job is to defend the Constitution, not the president, regardless of his political affiliation.

The son of a Palestinian refugee father and a Syrian immigrant mother, Amash said both of his parents would have been banned from the U.S. under Trump's travel ban that he has deemed "unlawful." He was the only House Republican to vote against the one-time exemption for retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to become secretary of defense.

When a man warned that his small business would close if the health law is repealed, Amash said he knows the insurance expansion has helped many people but "a lot of other people in the community have been hurt by it as well." The comment elicited boos and then more groans when Amash said those impacted negatively included audience members' neighbors.

Amash was blunt when electrician Scott Markham of Kalamazoo criticized him for voting recently to block an Obama-era regulation that would prevent an estimated 75,000 people with mental disorders from being able to purchase a firearm. Urging Amash to stand for "common-sense" gun controls and against the National Rifle Association, Markham said he was afraid for his two young sons in an age of mass shootings and decried how no policy changes were made after the Orlando nightclub massacre.

Amash said the rule was too broad and when crowd members demanded that he propose alternative legislation then, he responded: "I believe very strongly in the Second Amendment. I don't believe we should have additional regulations at the federal level."

Markham, 40, said afterward that he was "wholly unsatisfied" with Amash's response but was pleased he had the town meeting. He said his congressman, Rep. Fred Upton in the adjacent 2nd District in the state's southwestern corner, seems to be avoiding in-person blowback.

"Any time they have an opportunity to hear what the people who put them in office have to say I think is probably a good thing," Markham said. An Upton spokesman said he is doing telephone town halls because political discourse has coarsened so much that traditional ones "have become circus atmospheres."

So far, Amash - who considered a Senate bid in 2014 and might eventually look at it again as his profile grows - is the only one of Michigan's nine Republican House members to have hosted town halls this year. Fourth-term Rep. Bill Huizenga has scheduled an event for Saturday. Others are having tele-town halls that allow some of the thousands of participants who call in to ask questions.

"I'm comfortable with it," Amash said, describing his town meetings as heated occasionally but generally civil. "I know that at times people will get upset and disagree, and that's OK."

___

Follow David Eggert on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/author/david-eggert

U.S Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, speaks to the audience during a town hall meeting on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 at the Full Blast Recreation Center in Battle Creek, Mich. Amash is embracing the town halls that many of his Republican counterparts in Congress have avoided as people lash out at President Donald Trump's early actions and the planned repeal of the federal health care law. (Carly Geraci/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group via AP)

U.S Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, speaks to the audience during a town hall meeting on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 at the Full Blast Recreation Center in Battle Creek, Mich. Amash is embracing the town halls that many of his Republican counterparts in Congress have avoided as people lash out at President Donald Trump's early actions and the planned repeal of the federal health care law. (Carly Geraci/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group via AP)

U.S Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, speaks to the audience during a town hall meeting on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 at the Full Blast Recreation Center in Battle Creek, Mich. Amash is embracing the town halls that many of his Republican counterparts in Congress have avoided as people lash out at President Donald Trump's early actions and the planned repeal of the federal health care law. (Carly Geraci/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group via AP)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Paul Waring led by one shot after 12 holes of his second round when play was suspended for bad light at the Joburg Open on Friday.

The Englishman made five birdies in those holes on the West Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington to move 12 under par, ahead of South Africans Darren Fichardt and Dean Burmester.

Fichardt was in the clubhouse with a second 66, thanks mainly to a sizzling opening nine on the East Course. Fichardt picked up six shots in those nine holes with four birdies and an eagle. Burmester was 11 under with three holes of his second round to complete.

Organizers have been playing catch-up since rain led to a waterlogged course on Thursday, forcing 98 players to finish their first rounds on Friday morning.

Fichardt was one of those, playing the last six holes of his opening round on the West Course before dashing across to the East Course to play his second round.

He was the clubhouse leader before Waring, who opened with a 65, made a run of three straight birdies to push ahead before the light faded.

Jacques Kruyswijk is fourth on 10 under and defending champion Haydn Porteous part of a five-way tie for fifth a shot further back.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin's Republican attorney general filed an appeal Friday with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a ruling striking down GOP-drawn legislative boundaries as unconstitutional.

Brad Schimel had said he would appeal since a panel of judges last month struck down the maps and ordered the Republican-controlled Legislature to draw new boundaries. The judges ordered that new maps be drawn by November so they would be in place for the 2018 election.

Democrats who challenged the maps are calling on the Legislature to move quickly to draw new ones. But Schimel and Republicans don't want to do that unless the Supreme Court requires it.

Schimel simply filed the notice of appeal on Friday. He does not make any legal arguments and had no comment, spokesman Johnny Koremenos said.

An attorney for those challenging the maps, Doug Poland, said Republicans used taxpayer money to draw the maps so they could entrench their power.

"With this appeal, Wisconsin citizens now look to the United States Supreme Court to finally and permanently remove the cancer of extreme partisan gerrymandering from our democracy," Poland said.

Republicans redrew the district lines shortly after they gained complete control of state government in 2011. The new boundaries have helped the GOP maintain control of the state Senate and Assembly in every election since then. Republicans have their largest majority in the state Senate since 1971 and their biggest in the Assembly since 1957.

A dozen voters sued in 2015 over the Republican-drawn maps, alleging they unconstitutionally consolidated GOP power and discriminated against Democrats. The three-judge panel agreed.

The Supreme Court is split 4-4 between conservatives and liberals. The U.S. Senate is considering whether to confirm President Donald Trump's nominee Neil Gorsuch, a conservative.

Schimel is representing the state Elections Commission in the case. Republican legislative leaders hired a pair of law firms to represent them before the Supreme Court. Taxpayers could be on the hook for $175,000 in legal fees to one firm, while another is being paid $300 an hour to work the case. Taxpayers have already spent $2 million for the Republican defense of the maps.

___

Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sbauerAP and find more of his work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/scott-bauer
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - The bill to repair California's crumbling roads, dams and other critical infrastructure hammered by an onslaught of storms this winter could top $1 billion, including nearly $600 million alone for damaged roadways that more than doubles what the state budgeted for road repair emergencies, officials said Friday.

Adding to the problems, many communities have drained their emergency budgets and are looking to the state and federal government for help. But on top of the latest damage, the nation's most populated state is struggling with a $6 billion annual backlog of repairs for roads, highways and bridges that leaders can't agree on a way to fund.

Winter storms have dumped enough rain and snow on the northern part of the state to end a five-year drought. But with the wet weather, comes a host of problems for crumbling infrastructure.

FILE--In this Feb. 21, 2017, file photo, the shoulder and one lane of westbound Highway 50 are damaged due to storms near Pollock Pines, Calif. The bill to repair California's roadways hammered by floods and rockslides in an onslaught of storms this winter is already at least $550 million, more than double what the state budgeted for such emergencies. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)

A section of mountain highway between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe has buckled, with repairs estimated to cost $6.5 million. In the Yosemite Valley, only one of three main routes into the national park's major attraction is open because of damage or fear the roads could give out from cracks and seeping water, rangers said.

On central California's rain-soaked coast, a bridge in Big Sur has crumbled beyond repair, blocking passage on the north-south Highway 1 through the tourist destination for up to a year. Until it is rebuilt, visitors can drive up to view the rugged coastline, then turn back.

The total cost for responding to flooding, storm damage and repairs statewide in the first two months of 2017 will probably exceed $1 billion, Gov. Jerry Brown's finance director, Michael Cohen, said Friday. Much of it will be covered by the federal government, which is helping the state recover from severe storms, he said.

The tally includes $595 million to clean up mudslides and repair state highways. Costs for evacuations and non-highway damage, as well as for repairs at Oroville Dam, whose spillways threatened to collapse and flood communities downstream, have not been precisely tallied, he said.

Early estimates put the fixes at the nation's tallest dam as high as $200 million.

Several more weeks remain in California's wet season, which brings the potential for more costly infrastructure damage.

The California Department of Transportation, which is responsible for maintaining highways, roads and overpasses, has a reserve fund of $250 million that's far short of what it would cost to fix recent storm damage.

"This is for 2017," Caltrans spokeswoman Vanessa Wiseman said. "So, essentially we're talking only two months."

Storms across the state have wrecked more than 350 roads, shutting down traffic on at least 35 that await rebuilding or shoring up of stretches that washed out, sunk or got covered in mud and rocks, officials said.

To cover the shortfall for emergency repairs, Caltrans will ask for more money next month from an appointed board that allocates state cash for road projects, Wiseman said.

Aside from emergency road repairs, Gov. Brown said Friday that California has $187 billion in unmet needs for water and transportation infrastructure. He suggested tax increases may be required, but he wasn't prepared to offer "the full answer" to raising enough money to shore up infrastructure.

That's bad news for local communities hardest hit by the storms. They say rebuilding will cost millions of dollars they don't have.

In San Jose, where storm flooding forced 14,000 residents from their homes this week, officials say they have not yet calculated the cost of the damage. Some people have not even returned home yet.

Storms in January cost Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, $12.5 million, mostly for road work. Spokeswoman Jennifer Larocque said the county is requesting federal emergency relief funding.

Dennis Schmidt, Butte County's public works director, said storms that led to the emergency at Oroville Dam tore out two roads and left potholes that will cost more than $1 million to repair. He said that will wipe out the county's emergency budget.

"I'm looking out the window, and it's blue skies and sunny," Schmidt said. "We need it for a couple days to get out and patch some potholes. Our residents will greatly appreciate that."

___

This story has been corrected to show that Brown suggested tax increases may be necessary, not that they may be the only solution.

___

Associated Press writer Jonathan J. Cooper in Sacramento contributed to this article.

FILE--This Feb. 13, 2017, file photo, shows erosion caused when overflow water cascaded down the emergency spillway, right, of the Oroville Dam in Oroville, Calif. The bill to repair California's roadways hammered by floods and rockslides in an onslaught of storms this winter is already at least $550 million, more than double what the state budgeted for such emergencies. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)

In this Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017 photo, a Caltrans engineer shoots a photo of the inside of a large crack on the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge on Highway 1 in Big Sur, Calif. On the rain-soaked coast in Central California, the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge has crumble beyond repair, blocking passage on the north-south Highway 1 route for up to a year. Until it is rebuilt, visitors can drive up to view the roughed coastline, then turn back. (David Royal /The Monterey County Herald via AP)

A man stands where Trenary Way, Hillside Drive and South Santa Cruz Avenue meet in the Airport District after flooding in Modesto, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, In the distance is the overflowed Tuolumne River. (Brian Clark /The Modesto Bee via AP)

Cars are partially submerged and covered in mud from receding floodwaters Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. Thousands of people evacuated from a flood in San Jose, California, returned home Thursday amid warnings to be careful about hygiene and handling food that may have come into contact with flood water. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

FILE--In this Feb. 18, 2017, file photo, officials look over the scene where a tractor trailer fell from southbound Interstate 15 where part of the freeway collapsed due to heavy rain in the Cajon Pass, Calif. The bill to repair California's roadways hammered by floods and rockslides in an onslaught of storms this winter is already at least $550 million, more than double what the state budgeted for such emergencies. (David Pardo/The Daily Press via AP, file)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A draft Republican bill replacing President Barack Obama's health care law would end its Medicaid expansion, scrap fines on people not buying insurance and eliminate taxes on the medical industry and higher earners.

Instead, it would create tax credits worth up to $4,000, allow bigger contributions to personal health savings accounts and impose a new levy on expensive health coverage some employees get at work.

The 105-page measure largely tracks talking points that House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., unveiled last summer and a similar outline that GOP leaders recently gave lawmakers. The document is 2 weeks old, and GOP aides said it is subject to change.

Still, it provides some new details of Republican thinking and reaffirms others, such as blocking federal payments to Planned Parenthood for a year.

It also shows Republicans have begun translating their ideas into legislative language, even as they continue their seven-year struggle to unify their party behind a bill repealing Obama's 2010 overhaul.

Though just a preliminary document, the package drew quick criticism from Democrats.

"This isn't a replacement, it's a recipe for disaster," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. He said it would "put insurance companies back in charge" while boosting health care costs for millions and kicking millions of others off their plans.

"The Republican bill raises families' costs, weakens coverage and pushes millions of Americans off of health coverage of any kind," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Congressional leaders say they want committees to write legislation reshaping the nation's health care system in March. That represents slippage from earlier suggestions by President Donald Trump and GOP leaders of quicker action, reflecting internal Republican disagreements about what to do.

It is uncertain how their plans will be affected by this week's town halls during Congress' recess where GOP lawmakers were confronted by noisy defenders of Obama's law.

According to the Republican draft, insurers could charge older customers five times more than what they charge younger ones, who are generally healthier and less costly to cover. That ratio is limited to 3-1 under Obama's statute.

The GOP plan would end an expansion of Medicaid to people just over the poverty line that has been adopted by 31 states - many with Republican governors - and has led to coverage of 11 million additional low-income people.

Overall, Medicaid serves more than 70 million people who automatically receive coverage for much of their medical care. Under the GOP bill, Medicaid spending would be curbed by providing states fixed annual amounts per beneficiary.

The tax penalty on people who don't purchase policies would be eliminated, as would federal subsidies for lower earners who buy insurance.

Instead, those who don't get coverage at work or under government programs would get annual tax credits based on age, growing from $2,000 for people under age 30 to $4,000 for those age 60 and over. Republicans would also make it easier for people to contribute more money to health savings accounts.

Under Obama's overhaul, people with lower incomes currently get larger subsidies. Democrats say the GOP proposals would leave people short of what's needed to afford medical bills and that most are already too strapped to save money.

The GOP proposal would also:

-Let insurers charge 30 percent higher premiums for people who have let their coverage lapse.

-Repeal taxes Obama's law imposed to pay for its coverage expansions including on health insurers and pharmaceutical companies, investment income of higher earners and on many medical devices.

-Tax partial value of health coverage that people get at work if their plan ranks among the costliest 10 percent in the nation.

-Scrap Obama's requirement that insurers cover 10 kinds of services like prescription drugs and maternity care, instead letting states decide.

-End the tax penalty on larger employers who don't offer health coverage to workers.

-Provide $100 billion over 10 years for grants to states to restrain health costs.

___

Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Juan Martin del Potro never faced a break point and eliminated defending champion Sam Querrey 7-5, 7-5 on Friday night to reach the Delray Beach Open semifinals.

Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, overcame 16 aces by Querrey, who was seeded fourth.

On Saturday, del Potro will take on No. 1-seeded Milos Raonic for a berth in the final. Raonic edged Kyle Edmund 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Raonic and del Potro are two of the biggest hitters on tour and have split two past matches against each other - but they have not faced off since 2013.

On the other half of the draw, Jack Sock moved into the semifinals by beating Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6 (4) in an all-American matchup.

Sock will play yet another American next: Donald Young, who didn't even need to play a point to get to the semifinals. Young's quarterfinal opponent, Steve Darcis, withdrew from the tournament, citing personal reasons.

The third-seeded Sock is the only player remaining in the hard-court event who has not dropped a set as he seeks his second title of 2017, third of his career. Young has never won an ATP title. Sock is 2-0 against Young.
NEW YORK (AP) - A member of a Mexico-based sex trafficking ring has been sentenced in New York to more than 15 years in federal prison.

Paulino Ramirez-Granados was sentenced Friday in federal court in Brooklyn. He had pleaded guilty to smuggling Mexican women into the United States and forcing them into prostitution.

Prosecutors say Ramirez-Granados was part of a family-based sex trafficking ring in Tenancingo, Mexico. They say he and other members of the Granados family used false promises of romance and marriage to lure women into relationships and persuade them to travel to the United States.

They say the women were forced into prostitution in New York.

Ramirez-Granados also was sentenced to five years of supervised release after his prison term and was ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution to a victim.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Novelist Michael Peterson agreed to a plea deal Friday that enables him to maintain his innocence even as he acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him of manslaughter in his wife's death. The district attorney, for his part, insisted that he's guilty.

Wearing a dark suit and flanked by his defense team, Peterson answered questions from Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson and agreed to the terms of his Alford plea.

But before he could leave, he got a scolding from Candace Zamperini, whose sister Kathleen's body was found at the bottom of a staircase in their North Carolina mansion on Dec. 9, 2001.

Novelist Michael Peterson is directed to the exit of a Durham County, N.C., courtroom on Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Peterson agreed to an Alford plea to a charge of manslaughter in the 2001 death of his wife, Kathleen, in their mansion. (AP Photo/Skip Foreman)

Zamperini described Peterson's accounts of his wife's death as a "fictionalized story" and berated her former brother-in-law, telling him "Kathleen was the best person you ever had in your life."

"This hearing is as close to justice as anything that can be found," Zamperini said. She called the wording of the Alford plea "meaningless."

Peterson, 73, still maintains that he didn't kill his wife. His initial murder conviction and life sentence were overturned after questions arose about the reliability of a key witness, among other things.

"Right now, I can live with this. It's not fair, It's not right," he told reporters after the hearing. "I'm innocent. This deal is not a good one for me . . . It is a great deal for the district attorney."

Peterson said making this plea was his most difficult decision.

"The second most difficult thing I ever did in my life was to sit through that trial and listen to lies, perjury, fake evidence, made-up evidence, withheld evidence, unconstitutional searches so many times, I wanted to jump up and scream, 'Liar! This is not right," Peterson said.

Alford pleas are treated generally the same as guilty pleas by criminal courts, but some defendants prefer them psychologically or believe they may offer advantages if they later face a civil lawsuit, according to a blog written by University of North Carolina legal scholar Jeff Welty.

Durham District Attorney Roger Echols said his office maintains that Peterson is responsible for the death of Kathleen Peterson.

"There could be a need for Mr. Peterson to spin things in the media the way that he wants to, and that's fine. That doesn't change what my duty is and the reasoning and the logic behind the decisions that I make and what we make in this office," Echols said in an interview Friday. "The law will treat him as guilty, and he will forever be treated as guilty."

Peterson's fictional works include "The Immortal Dragon," ''A Time of War," and "A Bitter Peace," novels centered on the conflict in Vietnam, where he served as a Marine.

His trial in 2003 had all the makings of a made-for-TV movie - and one was filmed, along with a multi-part documentary. Salacious details included his bisexuality; the death of a family friend whose body also was found at the bottom of a staircase years earlier in Germany; and the state blood spatter analyst whose discredited testimony was reviewed by the state's unique innocence commission.

The story also offered mystery: the prosecution did not describe a murder weapon, nor a clear motive.

Through all of it, Peterson's two biological sons with his wife support him, as do the two sisters he raised, whose mother is the woman who died in Germany.

Kathleen's family, including Zamperini and Kathleen's daughter, Caitlin Atwater, do not.

In 2007, Atwater reached a $25 million wrongful death settlement with Peterson, under which he acknowledged no guilt, that would have been payable had his murder conviction stood.

But the verdict fell apart after Duane Deaver of the State Bureau of Investigation was fired in 2011 following an independent audit that found problems in 34 of his cases.

Defense attorney David Rudolf cited statements from jurors that they relied on Deaver's discredited testimony, and the original trial judge, Orlando Hudson, ordered a new trial. Peterson was released from prison and slowly gained more freedom.

Hudson declined in November 2016 to drop the charges, however. And Peterson said his sons advised him thereafter to settle the case somehow, because they believed he would never get a fair trial from the police or prosecutors.

"They would do anything to convict me. And I am not going to put my life and my freedom in their hands," he said.

Peterson now lives in a 1,200-square-foot condo, a tenth the size of the mansion where his wife died. It is more than enough, said the grandfather of two. He said plans to visit family, and write another book.

"For five years, I've lived with this over my head," he said. "... But now, on Friday, I'll be free. I haven't really absorbed that yet."

____

Contributors include Allen G. Breed in Durham. Waggoner reported from Chapel Hill. Follow her at http://twitter.com/mjwaggonernc .

Novelist Michael Peterson addresses reporters after his court hearing in Durham County, N.C., on Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Peterson agreed to an "Alford plea," which enables him to maintain his innocence in the death of his wife Kathleen Peterson in 2001, even as he acknowledges that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him of manslaughter. To Peterson's right is defense attorney David Rudolf; behind him is defense attorney Butch Williams. (AP Photo/Skip Foreman)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca went on trial on federal corruption charges Friday stripped of a ceremonial badge and unable to present a defense that might have won him sympathy if jurors knew he was in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease.

Instead, his lawyer dropped only a hint of what he couldn't say as he attacked the obstruction of justice and lying charges as an outgrowth of a rookie FBI investigation riddled with blunders.

Defense lawyer Nathan Hochman emphasized that Baca was 71 at the time he allegedly lied to federal authorities in 2013 about his role in the 2011 effort to stymie the FBI probe into guards who savagely beat inmates in the jails he ran and deputies who smuggled contraband to prisoners.

FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2016 file photo, former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca leaves federal court in Los Angeles. Baca went on trial on federal corruption charges Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, stripped of a ceremonial badge and unable to present a defense that might have won him sympathy if jurors knew he was in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease. Instead, his lawyer dropped only a hint of what he couldn't say as he attacked the obstruction of justice and lying charges as an outgrowth of a rookie FBI investigation riddled with blunders. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

"Sheriff Baca did not lie, hide, conceal what happened 20 months before, but explained it to the best of his memory," Hochman said, putting additional emphasis on that final word.

Baca, now 74, is facing a retrial on charges that he conspired with underlings and obstructed justice in the investigation of civil abuses in the nation's largest jail system. Jurors in December deadlocked 11-1 to acquit him on those charges.

He was to face a separate trial on a lying charge, but prosecutors have added that count to the other two charges in the retrial.

The two cases were severed when Judge Percy Anderson said evidence of Baca's diagnosis was irrelevant to the 2011 conspiracy and could cause jurors to sympathize with him and harm the prosecution case. Anderson said Alzheimer's might be relevant to the lying charge because a psychiatrist said Baca's memory could have been impaired when he told prosecutors in 2013 he was unaware of actions taken by deputies to thwart the FBI investigation.

Anderson suggested prosecutors seek separate trials and they went forward in the first trial with the obstruction and conspiracy charges. After the mistrial was declared, prosecutors said they would take their chances and face consequences if jurors sympathized with Baca because of his condition.

However, Anderson has now barred that evidence, ruling it was speculative and a waste of time. Anderson also ordered Baca not to wear a ceremonial sheriff's badge on his lapel that he wore during the first trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Fox told jurors in his opening that Baca had been atop the conspiracy to derail the investigation after guards discovered that an inmate with a contraband cellphone was acting as an FBI informant. An undercover FBI agent had bribed a jail guard to give the phone to the inmate so he could stay in touch with the FBI and shoot photos and video of beatings.

Fox said Baca had failed in his role to bring criminal conduct to light and instead concealed it in an elaborate scheme to hide the jail informant from his handlers.

"Mr. Baca viewed this as a chess match," Fox said. "He was trying to move pieces to get the federal government to back down."

Baca headed the department for more than 15 years before resigning abruptly in 2014 as indictments targeted underlings with taking bribes, attacking inmates and falsifying reports.

The scheme unfolded in August and September 2011 as sheriff's brass scrambled to find out about the scope of the FBI investigation. What had been a probe targeting jail deputies blossomed into a more sweeping corruption investigation that led all the way to the top of the department.

Baca's second-in-command, Paul Tanaka, was one of nine people convicted on obstruction-related charges.

Tanaka was sentenced to five years in federal prison. Another 11 members of the department were convicted of various other charges, including beatings, falsifying reports and taking bribes.

Baca managed to escape charges until a year ago, when he pleaded guilty to a single count of making false statements to federal authorities.

He backed out of the plea deal after a judge rejected a sentence of no more than six months as too lenient. He was then indicted on the more serious obstruction charges.

Jurors were not told about the withdrawn guilty plea.
Banned chemical weapon VX was used to murder North Korean ruler Kim Jong Uns outcast half-brother in an airport attack, Malaysian police have said.

The nerve agent was detected on Kim Jong Nams eyes and face, Malaysias inspector general of police said in a statement, citing a preliminary analysis from the countrys Chemistry Department.

Kim Jong Nam died shortly after two women smeared a substance on his face while he was checking in for a flight in a crowded airport terminal on February 13 in Kuala Lumpur.

The airport is now being decontaminated (Daniel Chan/AP)

Malaysian authorities are decontaminating the airport and police said one of the two women accused of wiping the toxin on Mr Kims face was later ill and suffered from vomiting.

Police did not initially decontaminate the Kuala Lumpur airport, but in a text message to a reporter, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said: We are doing it now.

VX was detected on Mr Kims eyes and face, Mr Khalid said, citing a preliminary analysis from Malaysias Chemistry Department.

The death of Mr Kim, whose daylight assassination in a crowded airport terminal seems straight out of a spy novel, has unleashed a diplomatic crisis that escalates by the day.

Journalists outside the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur (Vincent Thian/AP)

A Japanese religious cult that carried out the nerve gas attack on Tokyos underground rail network in 1995 also used VX. The Aum Shinrikyo cult, which killed about a dozen commuters and severely injured dozens more with sarin, another kind of nerve gas, tried VX out on at least three victims, killing one whom cult members believed was a police informant.

With each new twist in the Kim case, international speculation grows that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to Malaysia to kill Kim Jong Uns exiled older sibling while he was checking in for a flight to Macau, where he lived with his family.

North Korea has condemned Malaysias investigation as full of holes and contradictions and accused authorities of being in league with Pyongyangs enemies.

After the attack, Mr Kim sought help from airport staff but fell into convulsions and died on the way to hospital within two hours, police said.

The case has perplexed toxicologists, who question how the women could have walked away unscathed after handling a powerful poison, even if, as Malaysian police say, the women were instructed to wash their hands right after the attack.

Dr Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said even a tiny amount of the nerve agent  equal to a few grains of salt  was capable of killing.
Boeing is to open its first European factory in Sheffield, delivering a significant vote of confidence in post-Brexit Britain.

The 20million plant will manufacture parts and systems used on wings for the American aerospace giants best-selling 737 and 777 passenger planes.

Boeings UK boss said the company was drawn to Sheffield by its world class workforce and its links to the citys Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, where it will launch a programme to develop new manufacturing techniques.

Boeing's proposed 2,300 sq m factory is to be built in Sheffield

It comes two weeks after the supercar manufacturer McLaren announced it is planning to build a 50million chassis factory in the same area of Sheffield, creating 200 jobs.

Other multi-national firms including Nissan, Apple, Honda, Amazon and Airbus have also announced expansion plans since the referendum last June, confounding warnings that Brexit would scare off big business.

Boeings proposed 2,300 square metre factory will be built alongside the AMRC, between Sheffield and Rotherham.

The Seattle-based firm is expected to begin hiring new employees next year.

The facility, to be named Boeing Sheffield, will manufacture key high-tech components and systems for the companys new line of planes.

It is hoped that the first components will roll off the production lines late next year, with an initial staff of 30. Boeing, which employs around 2,300 staff in the UK in its civil and military arms, typically uses other firms to make these components.

But Sir Michael Arthur, president of Boeing UK, said: We are ramping up production of our aircraft and want to have more control over key systems in our aeroplanes. We need the right quality and want to do it ourselves.

He added: The area has very high skills, particularly in advanced manufacturing technology, which we think is world class. We, as a company, want to start making these sophisticated components  actuation systems, the gearing systems on wings  and Sheffield is a good place to come.

Last night Boeings expansion plans were hailed as fresh evidence that big businesses are confident in Britains future outside the EU.

Tory MP John Redwood said: This is more great news that big companies want to make things in Britain as we have a super-competitive, highly skilled workforce.

Tory MP John Redwood said: This is more great news that big companies want to make things in Britain as we have a super-competitive, highly skilled workforce.

He added: So much for the gloomy spectre of Brexit. The leave vote seems to have done us good.

David Buik, a veteran City commentator who works for the stockbroker Panmure Gordon, said: After the referendum, Boeing said they saw no reason to weaken their relationship with the UK. They have been true to their word.

This shows that Project Fear had no substance to it. We have seen the likes of Nissan, Honda, Amazon and Apple all fall into line in support of post-Brexit Britain.

Boeing recently won two massive contracts for the British military: Supplying the P-8 Poseidon spy plane for the RAF and upgrading the Armys fleet of Apache helicopters.

Together these deals were worth about 5billion but very little of the work will be carried out in the UK.
Jose Mourinho has described Manchester Uniteds Europa League pairing with FC Rostov as a bad draw in every aspect.

United will face the Russian side in the last 16 of the competition, travelling to Rostov for the first leg on Thursday, March 9.

The return match will take place at Old Trafford the following Thursday, 72 hours after United play an FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday, March 13.

Manchester United (Martin Rickett/PA)

The official result of the #UELdraw



Best tie? pic.twitter.com/xqxWnW3xCD  UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 24, 2017

United boss Mourinho had already complained about the scheduling of that domestic cup tie for TV purposes, and the travelling now involved in the Europa League has compounded his frustration.

Speaking at a press conference, Mourinho said: It is a bad draw in every aspect. It is far and it is difficult. It is far and comes in a bad period for us. It is difficult because they are a very difficult team. They had a very good Champions League campaign, they beat Ajax and Anderlecht in the play-offs.

And then in the group phase they obviously had a very difficult group with Bayern (Munich) and Atletico (Madrid) and they managed important results against them. They beat Bayern, they drew with Atletico. They got the third position, leaving PSV (Eindhoven) out.

I know the manager (Ivan Daniliants) well, I played against him when he was at Rubin Kazan and I was at Inter. The team is really difficult - very defensive, very physical. So, a bad draw but, after Southampton and Bournemouth, we focus on it and we go for it.

German Bundesliga derby 

Belgian First League derby 



Better the devil you know... #UELdraw pic.twitter.com/Q7AOviOSLG  UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 24, 2017

Rostov, who are based approximately 1,000km south of Moscow, finished second in the Russian Premier League last season and beat Sparta Prague in the last 32. They have welcomed the tie in a season which has already seen them face some of Europes biggest clubs in the Champions League.

Assistant manager Dmitri Kirichenko told the clubs website, www.fc-rostov.ru: Probably Manchester United are the most powerful rival we could get. Wow, in one season our fans will see many super clubs.

Elsewhere in the draw Tottenhams conquerors Gent were drawn against Genk in an all-Belgian tie.

There was also an all-German match-up as Schalke were paired with Borussia Monchengladbach. Roma, one of the competition favourites, will face Lyon while Celta Vigo were drawn against Krasnodar.
Dramatic CCTV footage has been released of terrified store staff being held at knifepoint by two raiders who escaped with around 2,500.

An 11in kitchen knife was brandished by one of the robbers as he and his hooded accomplice burst into a Co-Op store in Old London Road, Brighton.

The knifeman vaulted the counter before bundling three members of staff into a room where they were ordered to hold their hands up and get on the floor.

One of the robbers was then seen grabbing wads of cash from the tills, before the pair were captured escaping at around 9.55pm last December 16.

Detective Constable Julian Harrison-Jones, of Sussex Police, said: This was an alarming and violent robbery with staff having a near foot-long knife brandished at them and being forced to co-operate with the men.

(Joe Giddens/PA)

Thankfully, they were unhurt, but shaken by their ordeal. We are keen to speak with anyone who may have been a witness or have any information that may assist in identifying these men.

Both men spoke with Irish accents. The first man with the 11in knife is described as white, wearing a black jacket with the hood up, black tracksuit bottoms, black boots and a black scarf over his face.

The second man wore a black top with the hood up, grey tracksuit bottoms and green Nike Air Max trainers. Anyone with information is asked to call Sussex Police on 101, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Paul Waring held a one-shot lead when fading light stopped play on the second day of the Joburg Open.

The Englishman had sunk five birdie putts in 12 holes to move to 12 under par when play was suspended, leaving him a shot ahead of Darren Fichardt and Dean Burmester with a third chasing South African Jacques Kruyswijk a shot further back.

PLAY SUSPENDED!



Play has been called due to bad light @JoburgOpen_

We'll resume at 07:00 tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/GpF5EENrZP  Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) February 24, 2017

Overnight leader Paul Peterson was two-over-par after 12 holes of his second round, leaving him five shots off the lead on seven under, while defending champion Haydn Porteous  having managed to complete his round  was among the group on nine under after equalling his first-round score of 67.

Waring, who opened with a seven-under-par 65 in his first round, still has six holes remaining as more than 70 other players wait to complete their second round after heavy rain affected day one.

After 2 days:



 -12 Waring

 -11 Fichardt

 -11 Burmester

 -10 Kruyswijk



Day 2 Report: https://t.co/ieDEEvmtF4 pic.twitter.com/moaDzZYlJG  DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 24, 2017

Fichardt was first back in the clubhouse with another round of 66 before Burmester, aided by four straight birdies from the eighth hole, joined his countryman on 11 under par after picking up five shots overall.

Kruyswijk might have made it a three-way tie had three bogeys not blotted his second round of 70, following five birdies himself.

Fichardt has dropped only one shot in the whole tournament  on the 10th hole during his second round  and the 41-year-old was pleased with his performance so far.

Darren Fichardt is a shot behind (Jane Barlow/PA)

I got off to a great start. I knew it was going to play long and I needed to get off to a good start and that I did, he told europeantour.com.

I got to six under pretty quickly  after eight I was six under so I was very happy about that start.

Unfortunately I made a bogey on the 10th and then birdied the 18th, so I ended off well. But I am very happy with 66.

Waring was not on until the afternoon and began his second round two shots behind overnight leader Peterson.

He birdied the first two holes and gained three more shots on the turn to top the leaderboard after 11 holes.

The 32-year-old from Birkenhead then safely made par at the 12th before play was halted at 6.42pm local time.

The second round will resume at 7am on Saturday.
BAKU, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Southern Gas Corridor will start pumping gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe by 2020, its backers said on Thursday, despite the risk of delays to this option for reducing dependence on Russia.

Politicians and ministers meeting in Baku backed the $40 billion, 3,500-km (2,200-mile) chain of pipelines, a step towards curbing Russia's one-third share of Europe's natural gas market.

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is the project's end piece, joining up with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline at the Turkish border, then crossing Greece and Albania to reach Italy.

But the slow pace of work in Italy's Puglia region and growing concern over Azerbaijan's ability to honour its supply commitments -- it faces domestic shortfalls -- have knocked confidence in the project.

Sponsors sought to soothe concerns. Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said that work to clear a major hurdle to establishing TAP's landing point in southern Italy -- a grove of more than 200 ancient olive trees -- would begin on Monday.

The trees stand in the way of Europe's best hope of realising a decade-long plan to open the continent to new gas suppliers.

Local authorities want the pipeline re-routed away from the grove, which includes trees thought to be more than 400 years old. That could delay a project meant, in three years, to carry the equivalent of 10 percent of Europe's Russian energy imports.

"There are no problems with the construction of the Italian section of the TAP pipeline," Calenda told reporters in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

In a largely unified front, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev pledged to implement the Southern Gas Corridor on time, saying delays would be unacceptable, though even he seemed to make pointed reference to hold ups on the Italian end.

"Someone can seek excuses in ecological problems, but I'm sure that all ecological standards are fully respected and the project will be implemented in time," Aliyev said.

European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said talks were under way about replanting the trees on time.

BOOSTING SUPPLY

Azerbaijan is also considering using supplies from the Total -operated Absheron gasfield in the Caspian Sea to fill out one of the world's longest pipeline projects, easing concern over growing domestic shortfalls eating into the share left over for exports.

The BP-led consortium developing Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz II gas field was until now solely responsible for filling the pipeline.

Elshad Nassirov, the vice president of Azerbaijan's state-run oil company SOCAR, said the consortium developing Absheron had taken part for the first time in a meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor's supervisory board on Thursday.

Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said countries such as Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro seeking to join the Trans Adriatic Pipeline section offer new possibilities.

Under this scenario, one section of TAP would continue as planned across Greece, Albania and into Italy, while another part may feed into a separate link, known as the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline, in Albania to go up through the Balkans.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan could also export gas to Bulgaria once the Bulgaria-Greece interconnector was completed in 2019.

A TAP spokeswoman said its route remained unchanged but acknowledged the possibility of spurs feeding into regional infrastructure. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova, additional reporting by Alissa De Carbonnel in Brussels; Writing by Oleg Vukmanovic,; Editing by Joseph Radford/Ruth Pitchford)
By Andy Home

LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - It's time to talk about the London Metal Exchange (LME).

The venerable old institution that sets the global reference price for metals such as aluminium and copper seems to be lurching from crisis to crisis.

Volumes are down. They fell 4 percent in 2015 and another 8 percent last year, the first time since the turn of the century activity has contracted over two consecutive years.

Discontent is up, particularly among the core broker community, which has bridled at higher trading fees and lambasted the exchange's wooing of financial players.

The LME's chief operating officer Stuart Sloan left in December. One month later came the resignation of its chief executive officer Garry Jones.

To lose one senior office is unfortunate, to lose two in such quick succession suggests deeper tensions with the LME's owner Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), which has been trying to monetize its massive $2.2 billion investment in the London exchange.

Rivals are lurking in the wings.

CME Group, which has historically only competed with the LME in the copper space, has been rolling out new contracts for other metals at an accelerating rate. Somewhere under the radar is a potential new metals trading platform project led by Jones' predecessor Martin Abbott.

More pressing is the drift of trading liquidity into the over-the-counter shadows.

Is the LME broken? And if it is, how is it going to be fixed?

UNIQUELY COMPLEX

Jones' departure has been the trigger for a bout of collective soul-searching among the LME's members as they attempt to answer those two key questions.

At the heart of the debate is the Gordian knot of fee structure, date structure and trading structure.

The LME is a very strange institution. Electronic trading co-exists with both a telephone market and open outcry in the form of the talismanic leather-seated "ring".

It trades daily prompts out to three months, weekly prompts between three months and six months and then monthly prompts thereafter, the whole system rotating around a continuously moving three-month "anchor" prompt.

Excepting the new steel contracts, it is not cash settled, which injects a credit dimension to an already complex ecosystem.

Let's face. If you started from scratch, you'd never come up with such a labyrinthine format. But that's the point. The LME was never consciously designed. Rather, it has organically evolved over a century of trading practice.

That rolling three-month date, for example, harks back to the sailing times of copper-laden vessels from Chile to London at the turn of the 19th century.

Which seems as anachronistic as dealers sitting around a ring shouting at each other just as they did a century ago.

But this weirdly wonderful market structure has not only worked but has proved remarkably resilient over time.

CUTTING THE GORDIAN KNOT

Until now.

The genesis of this crisis was the hike in trading fees at the start of 2015.

In particular the hike of fees on short-dated spreads, first and foremost "tom-next", which denotes the spread between tomorrow and the day after.

The cost of trading "tom" had in the past been so negligible it was in effect a free trade for players rolling daily their inventory price risk.

When that stopped being the case, volumes nosedived. Total volumes in aluminium, the LME's most liquid contract, fell by 9 percent in 2015 and by 10 percent last year, but aluminium "tom-next" volumes plunged by 24 and 23 percent respectively.

While industrial users voted with their feet, the LME tried to compensate for the loss of volume by opening its membership to new "liquidity providers" such as Chicago high frequency trader Jump Trading, deepening the rift between industrial and financial parts of the LME trading community.

The LME subsequently relented on those short-dated carry fees but for many it was a case of too little too late.

And the debate has since moved on to encompass other parts of the LME's unique structure such as that rolling three-month "anchor" price.

Because unless a user trades in and out of the three-month date on the same day, it becomes a multi-leg trade with higher fees since the position has to be adjusted one day forward to catch that Chilean shipping time.

Reformists, many of them sitting in the financial camp, are suggesting an evolution to something a bit more, well, conventional, simplifying both trading and fee structure.

Traditionalists counter that the uniqueness of the date system is the "sine qua non" not just of the open outcry "ring" but of the whole market. Start pulling at the strings of the Gordian knot, they argue, and the whole thing will unravel.

Triangulating the debate is HKEx itself, which still needs to claw back some of that whopping 2012 purchase price but which has signally failed to deliver any tangible "China" dividend in return.

TEMPLATES

Squaring this problematic triangle will be the task of the new chief executive. Or, quite possibly, Matt Chamberlain, current acting chief executive and, on the LME "Street" at least, favourite to take the helm full time.

And the irony is he might not have to look very far to find a solution that could work for both sides of the change-don't change argument.

Although not trading yet, the LME's new gold and silver contracts offer an interesting template for marrying the old and the new.

They comprise a hybrid model of daily prompt dates over the front part of the curve together with more standard monthly future dates further along the curve.

That means industrial players can still roll their positions daily using "tom-next", while fund players get the sort of monthly roll trades they use in other markets.

Those precious contracts are only due to go live in June but their structure has been designed to attract what is at the moment an OTC market, similar to that which feeds the LME's base metals.

And there is also a template as to how to go about cutting Gordian knots on the LME. Chamberlain oversaw the reform of the exchange's dysfunctional warehousing system, a similarly complex series of intertwined problems that split the LME community.

A key part of the process was the extensive series of consultations with stake-holders at every stage of the tortuous reform programme.

Right now this debate about the increasingly dysfunctional London dame of metal trading is taking place behind closed doors. It needs to be opened up and formalised.

It's time for everyone to start talking about the future of the London Metal Exchange.

(Editing by Susan Thomas)




1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.
By Mark Tay

SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Traders are selling oil held in tankers anchored off Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in a sign that the production cut led by OPEC is starting to have the desired effect of drawing down bloated inventories.

Yet in the short-term, the crude released from tankers will weigh on markets and possibly undermine OPEC's goal of achieving a balanced market by mid-2017.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers outside the group, including Russia, announced late last year that they would cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of 2017, looking to drain a glut that pulled down prices from over $100 per barrel in 2014 to around $56.50 currently.

"OPEC's strategy is targeting inventories - given the scale of the overhang, the market won't rebalance in six months - we expect an extension into (the second half of 2017)," said Energy Aspects analyst Virendra Chauhan.

As OPEC's cuts start to leave some demand unmet, a hefty 6.8 million barrels of crude has been taken out of tanker storage from Linggi, off Malaysia's west coast, in February, shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon shows.

An additional 4.1 million barrels and another 1.2 million barrels have been taken out of storage on tankers in Singaporean and Indonesian waters, the data shows.

DANCING CONTANGO

In the short-term, the flood of crude from floating storage will add to supplies coming into Asia from as far away as the Americas and Europe.

In the longer-term, however, clearing oil out of inventories like tankers is part of OPEC's goal to rebalance markets.

"Inventories will continue to decline driven by the combination of production cuts and the strong demand growth," U.S. bank Goldman Sachs said this week in a note to clients, adding that it expected Brent prices to rise slightly in the second quarter, to $59 per barrel.

Traders charter supertankers like Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC), in which they can store up to 2 million barrels of oil for extended periods of time, when a market situation known as contango is in place, with prices for later delivery higher than those for immediate dispatch.

The January to June 2017 contango in the forward curve was almost $3 per barrel, compared to a June premium of under half a dollar now.

With prices further out into 2018 and beyond even falling, the curve has fallen into what traders call backwardation, which makes it unattractive to store oil on chartered tankers.

"Dancing contango is now not a profitable thing to do, so we've sold out," said one oil trading manager who, until recently, held crude stored in a tanker. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the commercial sensitivity of the issue.

(Reporting by Mark Tay; Editing by Henning Gloystein and Joseph Radford)
DAKAR, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Senegalese authorities have arrested two suspected foreign jihadists in Dakar, including one who had been in contact with the mastermind of an attack on an Ivory Coast hotel a year ago.

Police spokesman Henry Cisse said an operation in Dakar on Thursday had led to the arrest of Ould Sidy Mohamed Dina, a Malian, as he was trying to leave his home. He had been in Senegal for a month, he said.

Another suspected jihadist, whom he did not name, from Mauritania, had been arrested trying to board a bus to Gambia. The suspects have not yet been charged.

"(Dina) was in contact with Ould Nouwayely, the very same who planned the attack on Grand Bassam (in Ivory Coast)," Cisse said by telephone.

Fifteen civilians and three members of the special forces were killed and 33 people were wounded in the attack in Grand Bassam, a weekend retreat popular with Ivorians and westerners, in March last year.

The attack was one of several in the region viewed as targeting France and its allies, including Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, after Paris intervened militarily in Mali in 2013 to drive out al Qaeda-linked militants who had seized the desert north a year earlier.

Senegal has thus far been spared jihadi attacks like those that frequently plague its eastern neighbour Mali, but authorities are on high alert. (Reporting by Diadie Ba; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
By Fransiska Nangoy JAKARTA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia's crude palm oil (CPO) output likely declined in January, a second straight monthly drop in the world's top producer of the widely used commodity, a Reuters survey showed. CPO production in the Southeast Asian nation likely slipped to 2.95 million tonnes in January from 3.22 million tonnes in December, according to the median estimate in a survey of three industry associations and a state palm research firm. Exports of Indonesian CPO were estimated to have also declined in January to 2.21 million tonnes from 2.38 million tonnes a month earlier. Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) data showed the country exported 2.68 million tonnes of palm oil and palm kernel oil in December. The group's January data is not yet available. Consumption in Indonesia was seen between 800,000 and 947,000 tonnes, while the survey median showed domestic palm stocks at 1.475 million tonnes. The January survey comprises responses from GAPKI, the Indonesia Palm Oil Board, the Indonesian Vegetable Oil Industry Association and the Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute. Below is a table of the median responses to the Reuters CPO survey and GAPKI palm and palm kernel oil export data for 2015/2016/2017 (in million tonnes). Month Output Exports Inventories GAPKI palm & kernel oils export January 2.949 2.214 1.475 -- 2016 December 3.218 2.382 1.886 2.68 November 3.310 2.221 1.786 2.84 October 3.064 2.225 1.945 2.41 September 2.900 2.000 1.738 1.73 August 2.833 1.740 1.700 2.07 July 2.802 1.875 1.875 1.60 June 2.464 1.798 1.712 1.78 May 2.188 1.919 2.100 1.76 April 2.132 1.928 2.250 2.09 March 2.150 1.895 2.592 1.74 February 2.300 2.010 3.633 2.29 January 2.440 2.005 2.025 2.10 2015 December 2.457 2.675 2.425 2.51 November 2.800 2.093 2.950 2.39 October 3.010 2.213 3.025 2.61 September 3.100 2.235 3.050 2.34 August 3.198 1.885 3.392 2.10 July 2.856 1.920 3.200 2.09 June 2.800 2.400 3.046 2.27 May 2.774 2.150 2.540 2.22 April 2.662 2.046 2.602 2.25 March 2.397 1.800 2.667 2.03 February 2.049 1.750 2.425 1.79 January 2.056 1.658 2.413 1.81 (Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Additional reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Tom Hogue)
BEIJING, Feb 24 (Reuters) - China's coal imports from North Korea eased last month after new U.N. Security Council sanctions curbing the isolated country's sales abroad came into effect, while Russia, Mongolia, Australia and Indonesia raised shipments, data showed on Friday.

January imports from North Korea eased 13 percent from a year earlier to 1.45 million tonnes, the data showed. They were down 28 percent from December.

January's volume accounted for almost 20 percent of the latest U.N. annual sales quota of 7.5 million tonnes or $400.9 million, whichever is smaller, on North Korea's biggest export.

The imports last month came before Beijing's decision last Saturday to ban coal shipments entirely after Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile in its first direct challenge to the international community since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he had not seen the latest figures, but that the latest U.N. resolution was clear about limiting North Korea's coal exports and China would fully enforce Security Council resolutions.

"According to our statistics, China has already approached the upper limits of coal imports from North Korea," Geng told a daily news briefing. "So because of this, we have stopped imports of coal from North Korea with a responsible attitude."

Sources said the few traders that have been left handling North Korean coal had been scooping up the fuel in recent weeks amid earlier speculation Beijing would slap a ban on imports after Pyongyang's recent ballistic missile test.

North Korea was China's biggest supplier last year of high-grade anthracite coal, used mainly by the country's steel mills, with imports reaching 22.4 million tonnes, up 14.5 percent compared with 2015.

Analysts have said steel mills will likely be forced to buy more expensive domestic anthracite or seek alternatives further afield from Russia or Australia, driving up costs.

Coal shipments from Mongolia <COA-MNCN-IMP> rose 154 percent to 3.12 million tonnes, the fourth highest on record, as traders took advantage of its significant price advantage over Australian coal.

Australian imports <COA-AUCN-IMP> were up 70.8 percent from a year earlier at 7.27 million tonnes.

Australian Newcastle spot prices fell sharply from about $93 per tonne at the end of December to about $83 by the end of January. (Reporting by Josephine Mason and Meng Meng; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Richard Pullin and Tom Hogue)
By Karen Lema

MANILA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - A Philippine senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs was in police custody on Friday following her high-profile arrest for drugs offences that she described as a vendetta that would fail to silence her.

Leila de Lima, who last year led a Senate probe into alleged extrajudicial killings during Duterte's anti-drugs campaign, said the arrest was payback for taking on a president who had acted like a dictator.

On Tuesday she called Duterte a "sociopathic serial killer" who had a "criminal mind".

"The truth will come out at the right time," de Lima told reporters outside the Senate office where she spent the night, moments before law enforcers marshalled her into a waiting van.

De Lima, her former driver and bodyguard and a former prison official were ordered arrested after a judge found merit in criminal charges filed by the justice ministry last week.

She faces two more drug-related charges in the same court and described the cases as "all lies".

Bail is not permitted under the charges and if found guilty, de Lima faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a close ally of Duterte, described her arrest as a victory of the war against drugs, adding "no one is above the law, not even a senator".

But de Lima's supporters quickly came to her defence, with Vice President Leni Robredo describing the arrest as "political harassment".

Senator Paulo Benigno Aquino, a cousin of former president Benigno Aquino, called it "a concern for anyone who will dissent on any of the policies of this administration".

The criminal complaint alleged de Lima received 5 million pesos ($99,850) from a former prison official when she was justice minister between 2010 and 2016.

The allegations she was in cahoots with drugs gangs surfaced when she led a Senate investigation, which probed alleged summary executions during Duterte's bloody drugs war and a pattern of similar killings over the 22 years in which he was mayor of Davao City.

That investigation found no proof of wrongdoing by Duterte, who disparaged de Lima almost daily in televised speeches in which he made lurid allegations about her private life and even suggested she hang herself.

She filed a complaint with Supreme Court to try to muzzle the president.

At the heart of de Lima's campaign has been the 7,700 deaths since Duterte took office eight months ago, more than 2,500 in police operations. The cause of many of the other deaths remain in dispute and human rights groups believe many of them were extrajudicial killings.

De Lima was removed as head of her Senate probe by Duterte's allies and days later came under investigation herself in a congressional inquiry in which witnesses, several of them convicts, identified her as a key player in the narcotics trade.

Phelim Kine of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Duterte had "effectively expanded his 'drug war' from the urban poor to the legislative branch" by arresting de Lima.

($1 = 50 pesos) (Additional reporting by Manuel Mogato and Martin Petty; Editing by Nick Macfie)
ROME, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Morale among Italian businesses and consumers moved in different directions in February, data showed on Friday, giving little clarity on the prospects for the country's fragile economic growth.

The surveys by statistics office ISTAT indicated improved sentiment among most business sectors, with manufacturing morale reaching its highest level for more than two years, but consumer confidence declined.

February was the second consecutive month to register an improvement in business sentiment but a decline in consumer morale.

Economic growth strengthened in the second half of last year but still rose only 0.9 percent in 2016 as a whole and is not expected to accelerate this year, leaving Italy in its customary position as one of the most sluggish economies in the 19-nation euro zone.

ISTAT's manufacturing confidence index increased to 106.3 in February from an upwardly revised 105.0 in January to record its highest reading for more than two years. That easily beat the median forecast of 104.6 in a Reuters survey of 11 analysts.

The composite business morale index, combining surveys of the manufacturing, retail, construction and services sectors increased to 104.0 from 103.3 to hit its highest level since December 2015.

Consumer confidence, on the other hand, declined for the second month running 106.6 from 108.6 in January - below all nine forecasts in a Reuters survey and the lowest reading since September last year.

ISTAT gave the following data on the January manufacturing confidence survey:

FEB JAN DEC NOV OCT Overall index 106.3 105.0r 103.8r 102.4 103.2r Orders level -6 -10 -11r -13 -11 Inventories 4 3r 5 5 4 Output outlook 12 13 12 10 10
By Emilio Parodi

MILAN, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors are investigating French tycoon Vincent Bollore for alleged market manipulation when the company he chairs, Vivendi, bought a stake in Italian broadcaster Mediaset, a source said on Friday.

The probe will dampen speculation that the Berlusconis and Bollore are about to end a dispute that began last July when Vivendi abandoned a deal to buy Mediaset's pay-TV unit.

Hopes of an end to the hostility were raised when Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine, also being investigated according to the source, said on Thursday his company was still open to building a "strong business relationship" with Mediaset.

Vivendi confirmed some of its executives were being investigated, but did not name them.

In Italy, investigations do not imply guilt and do not necessarily mean charges will be laid.

At 1450 GMT Mediaset shares were down 2.4 percent while Vivendi shares were 4 percent lower after it reported a sharp fall in profits late on Thursday.

Mediaset has accused Vivendi of never intending to honour the deal to buy its pay-TV unit and tearing it up with the aim of driving down Mediaset's share price to raid its stock.

Vivendi questioned the pay-TV unit's profit forecasts when it ditched the deal and later bought up Mediaset shares, acquiring a stake of just under 30 percent and becoming its second biggest investor after former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's family.

It has denied Mediaset's claims.

"The registration of Vivendi executives by the Milan public prosecutor is the result of an unfounded and abusive lawsuit filed by the Berlusconis," Vivendi said in a statement.

A source familiar with the prosecutor's investigation said Bollore, Vivendi's biggest shareholder with a 20.7 percent stake, and de Puyfontaine, were being investigated under a 1998 law banning the dissemination of false news that can affect share prices.

Market manipulation carries a jail sentence of up to six years and a fine of up to 5 million euros ($5.3 million) which can be increased under certain circumstances.

Fininvest has also filed complaints against Vivendi with Italy's market and competition watchdogs.

Vivendi's aggressive stake building has riled the Italian government, which is concerned that Bollore could end up with too much influence in corporate Italy.

The tycoon, acting through Vivendi and other firms, is already the biggest shareholder in Telecom Italia and has a major stake in investment bank Mediobanca, which in turn controls Italy's biggest insurer, Generali.

Rome is drafting new corporate transparency rules to force buyers who build up significant minority stakes in Italian firms to disclose what their ultimate intentions are.

Industry minister Carlo Calenda said the rule would apply to any bids to buy 5 percent or more of a listed company and would be based on similar rules in France and the U.S.

Vivendi has denied it plans to take over Mediaset. Under Italian law, it would be required to launch a mandatory takeover offer if it were to reach a 30 percent shareholding. ($1 = 0.9443 euros) (Additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Mathieu Rosemain in Paris; Writing by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Giselda Vagnoni and Elaine Hardcastle)
By Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Israel has denied a work permit to a Human Rights Watch researcher, accusing the group of serving as Palestinian propagandists in a move the U.S.-based organisation called an "ominous turn".

Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said the decision had been taken because of HRW's "extreme, hostile anti-Israel agenda which was working at the service of Palestinian propaganda...in a totally biased manner."

The news emerged as Israel faced criticism from the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva over the 18-month jail sentence handed to an Israeli soldier who shot an incapacitated Palestinian assailant in the head. The council called it an "apparent extrajudicial execution of an unarmed man".

U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the sentence given to soldier Elor Azaria was "excessively lenient" and part of a "chronic culture of impunity" for Israeli abuse of Palestinians.

Many Israelis, particularly from the right-wing, opposed the prosecution of Azaria for killing Abdel Fattah al-Sharif Elor, who had attacked one of his comrades with a knife.

HRW said it was "disappointing that the Israeli government seems unable or unwilling to distinguish between justified criticisms of its actions and hostile political propaganda".

The organisation had been granted unimpeded access to Israel and the West Bank for three decades. Israel had now joined Cuba, Egypt, North Korea, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela as countries that have impeded its access, HRW said.

In its letter, the Israeli immigration office said the Foreign Ministry had advised it that HRW's work amounted to "Palestinian propaganda under the false banner of human rights".

"Because of this, we recommend denying the permit," it said.

The U.S. State Department said it strongly disagreed with Israel's characterisation of HRW, which it considers a credible human rights organisation.

"Even though we do not agree with all of their assertions or conclusions, given the seriousness of their efforts, we support the importance of the work they do. We reference HRW reports in our own reporting," acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

Israeli spokesman Nahshon said the decision was a one-off and did not represent a change in policy towards NGOs. The HRW representative could enter Israel on a tourist visa and the work visa application may be reconsidered if an appeal is lodged.

Last year, a new law limited foreign funding for NGOs which Israel considers critical of its policies. The law was heavily criticised by the European Union .

Many of the Israeli NGOs that receive support from foreign governments oppose the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government towards the Palestinians.

Israel has come under renewed international criticism for its expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, seen as an obstacle to resolving the Israeli-Palestiniam conflict.

The prospects of peace talks, already at a stalemate, were thrown into additional uncertainty this month when new U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to abandoned a long-standing commitment to a two-state solution.

Israel also dismissed the U.N. council's criticism of the Palestinian's killing.

"The (council) has proven once more that according to it's twisted scale, one bullet fired by Azaria at a terrorist is more severe than the millions of bullets that murder innocent people in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Yemen. This is a council of hatred of Israel, not a human rights council," Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on social media.

Israel says the council is biased against it due to its frequent resolutions condemning Israeli settlements and practices in the Gaza Strip.

At least 235 Palestinians have been killed in violence in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza since October 2015. Israel says that at least 158 of those killed were assailants and others died during clashes and protests. Two American tourists and 37 Israelis have also been killed.

(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
ATHENS/ISTANBUL, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Greece said on Friday it was expecting an extradition request from Turkey for two Turkish soldiers who have claimed asylum and are suspected by Ankara of links to last year's failed coup attempt.

The naval commandoes are accused of being members of a team that attempted to assassinate President Tayyip Erdogan on the night of July 15, a Turkish security official told Reuters.

Eight other members of the Turkish military flew to Greece by helicopter last year in the aftermath of the failed attempt to topple President Tayyip Erdogan.

Greece's top court has declined to extradite them, in a case which has strained relations between NATO allies Greece and Turkey.

"We would expect that Turkey will submit an extradition request (for the two) ... this case looks a lot more serious," a Greek government official said, without giving details.

The Turkish security official confirmed that was likely but did not say whether the request had been formally submitted.

"They have been on the run since (the coup) and are being sought," the security official said, giving their names as Fatih Arik and Halit Cetin. He confirmed that Turkish authorities were in touch with their Greek counterparts over the issue.

The two men, former members of a special operations unit in Turkey's navy, have been held at an undisclosed location in northern Greece since applying for asylum on Feb. 20.

MASS ARRESTS

Since the failed coup, which Ankara says was orchestrated by U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, some 40,000 people have been arrested in Turkey and more than 100,000 sacked or suspended from the military, civil service and private sector.

Gulen denies the allegations.

The trial of 47 Turkish soldiers charged with attempting to kill Erdogan during the failed coup is under way in the southern city of Mugla, near the luxury resort where Erdogan and his family evaded the soldiers, fleeing in a helicopter before their hotel was raided.

Three of those suspects are being tried in absentia. Arik and Cetin are not part of that indictment, according to a copy obtained by Reuters.

"They initially claimed doing different professions ... when we ascertained their identity, we realised they were members of the military," a Greek police official told Reuters. Greece's defence minister Panos Kammenos told Ant1 TV: "Greece condemned the coup attempt from its inception, and from there on it's Greece's courts which will decide, based on Greek laws and international conventions, the extradition or not of someone who seeks asylum." (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Lefteris Papadimas and Michele Kambas; Editing by Andrew Roche)
By Sujata Rao

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Economic turnaround in Russia and Brazil may be tempting investors back to BRIC equity funds, with EPFR Global on Friday reporting such funds took in new cash for two weeks in a row for the first time in five months.

The Boston-based fund tracker said funds dedicated to the BRIC cohort - Brazil, Russia, India and China - had received $45 million so far in 2017 from investors, taking in $16.7 million in the past week and $29 million the week before.

The gains come against the backdrop of emerging equities hitting multi-month highs and funds tracked by EPFR enjoying the longest inflow streak since mid-2016 - thanks to robust commodity prices, rising company earnings and expectations of a benign U.S. Federal Reserve.

But BRIC funds, based on countries grouped together by former Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill, have remained largely out of favour compared to their heyday a decade ago, and the category has come to be seen as an arbitrary one.

(http://reut.rs/2lDtnIS)

Slumping commodity prices tipped Russia and Brazil into recession after 2014 and fears have grown about China's debt levels and ability to curb capital flight. While India is in favour now, a large current account deficit in 2013 almost sparked a severe financial crisis.

Now, as both Brazil and Russia return to growth amid commodity price stabilisation and fiscal and monetary reforms, interest in BRIC funds may grow. But investors are still more likely to invest via funds dedicated to individual BRIC members.

So far in 2017, Brazil-, China- and Russia-dedicated equity funds tracked by EPFR have received around $1 billion each, with Brazil posting its biggest weekly inflow this week since end-2014.

India funds bring up the rear, having taken $380 million this year, albeit after absorbing $2.3 billion in 2016, EPFR data shows.

Signs are that BRIC as an investment concept will not recover to previous levels.

The number of active BRIC funds had fallen to 79 at the end of 2016, down from 98 a year before and 106 towards end-2014, according to Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company. Among the BRIC funds to shut was the one run by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where O'Neill worked, closing in 2015.

BRIC funds' net assets have shrunk to 4.6 billion euros ($4.87 billion) from 7.2 billion euros two years before and a fifth of end-2010 levels, Lipper data shows.

Last year, BRIC funds tracked by EPFR suffered over $1 billion in outflows last year after shedding $1.5 billion in 2015.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch in a recent note described the BRIC grouping as "strange", with few similarities among its member countries other than size.

"Two are big commodity producers and two are big commodity consumers, hence their currencies and economies are often out of sync. Their political systems and growth models are different," BAML said in the note, suggesting "BRIC" be shortened to "IC".

"The bottom line: we think it is time to break up the BRICS"

($1 = 0.9445 euros) (Reporting by Sujata Rao; editing by Andrew Roche)
By Ian Graham

OMAGH, Northern Ireland, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Irish nationalists may force a prolonged collapse of Northern Ireland's devolved government and a return to direct rule from London if they cannot agree a new government with unionists, the leader of the British province said on Friday.

First Minister Arlene Foster told Reuters such a scenario would be "very damaging" for a province recovering from three decades of sectarian violence and now facing the upheaval of Britain's exit from the European Union.

The province's cross-community government - a forced coalition between Irish nationalists and Foster's pro-British Democratic Unionist Party - collapsed last month after Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister.

Sinn Fein has detailed a number of red line issues it says must be met before it governs with the DUP again, including legislation to give equal status to the Irish language.

Sinn Fein has, however, not called for direct rule. Neither side has made any indication of compromise and decision-making would automatically return to Westminster if the deadlock persists.

"Sinn Fein seems to be saying if they dont get what they want then they are prepared to live with direct rule," Foster said in an interview.

Northern Ireland's economy had prospered in the 10 years since devolved power was transferred to the Northern Ireland Assembly, she said.

"We will lose that if we have direct rule and that is very dangerous," she said.

The two parties supported opposite sides of a three decade conflict between Irish nationalists who wanted a united Ireland ruled from Dublin and pro-British unionists who wanted the province to remain British, which ended with a 1998 peace deal.

Neither side is showing signs of blinking first ahead of next week's election, which was triggered by McGuinness' departure. Sinn Fein says he quit over the alleged abuse of a green-energy scheme, which could cost the Northern Ireland Executive nearly 500 million.

But Foster said the breakdown was "caused by Sinn Fein wanting to push ahead on their own agenda."

'CRITICAL' ELECTION

Some political commentators have suggested Sinn Fein wants a collapsed administration to minimise the influence of the DUP during Brexit negotiations, a charge Sinn Fein has denied.

The province could be the region hardest hit by Brexit due to the loss of significant European Union funding and the risk of border controls that are fiercely opposed by Irish nationalists.

"To deal with Brexit ... we need to have a voice at the table and at the moment we dont have an executive to have that voice," Foster said.

Foster has rejected the proposed Irish language act, saying it would be too costly to operate and that the Irish language should not have equal status with English in the United Kingdom.

Sinn Fein is also demanding an investigation into the green-energy heating scheme. While a public enquiry has been established to probe Foster's role, it has not started sittings and the first minister has refused to contemplate standing down.

Most opinion polls indicate the DUP will remain the largest party, but that Sinn Fein may make gains.

Foster described the March 2 vote as the province's most important in two decades due to the possibility that Sinn Fein could become the largest party and push for Irish reunification just as Britain is negotiating its exit from the European Union.

Under the terms of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, Britain's Secretary of State to Northern Ireland is obliged to order a referendum if it appears likely that a majority would seek to form part of a united Ireland.

Even if it was not successful, just holding a vote would be destabilising to Northern Ireland, Foster said.

"That would be disastrous for Northern Ireland in terms of the divisive nature of such a campaign and indeed the instability that would cause," she said.

($1 = 0.8004 pounds) (Editing by Conor Humphries and Richard Lough)
NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. drillers added oil rigs for a sixth consecutive week, extending a nine-month recovery as shale producers ramp up spending to take advantage of a recovery in oil prices.

Drillers added five oil rigs in the week to Feb. 24, bringing the total count up to 602, the most rigs since October 2015, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said on Friday. <RIG-OL-USA-BHI>

During the same week a year ago, there were 400 active oil rigs.

Since crude prices first topped $50 a barrel in May after recovering from 13-year lows last February, drillers have added a total of 286 oil rigs in 35 of the past 39 weeks, the biggest recovery in rigs since a global oil glut crushed the market over two years starting in mid 2014.

The oil rig count plunged from a record 1,609 in October 2014 to a six-year low of 316 in May as U.S. crude collapsed from over $107 a barrel in June 2014 to near $26 in February 2016.

On Friday, U.S. crude futures were up about 1 percent on the week but lower on the day at around $54 a barrel on Friday, amid the market's concerns over whether a surge in U.S. production will dampen efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers to drain a global oil glut.

Production increases in the United States, predominantly from onshore shale plays, could potentially limit further increases in oil prices during 2017/18.

Futures for the balance of 2017 were trading around $54.75 a barrel, while calendar 2018 was fetching less than $54.40.

U.S. producers have signaled higher capital spending and further production growth, perhaps beyond what many analysts expect, Citi Research said in an investor note this week.

"The global crude stock draws expected would be partially offset by the outperformance of U.S. production, which might upset calculations of core OPEC countries in lifting prices," Citi said.

Oil and gas producer Apache Corp said on Thursday it would spend $3.1 billion in 2017, 63.2 percent more than it did last year, joining Exxon Mobil Corp and Hess Corp in boosting their capital budgets.

The surge in drilling activity can be seen in the oilfield service industry.

Investment bank Raymond James, which predicts the rig count could approach 1,000 by the end of 2018, estimated frac sand demand would hit record levels this year at roughly 55 million tons and exceed 80 million tons by next year, 60 percent above 2014 levels, due in large part to producers requiring more sand per well. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
By Daniela Desantis

HERNANDARIAS, Paraguay, Feb 24 (Reuters) - When toymaker Estrela decided to move manufacturing capacity back to Latin America from China, it sank $2 million into a new factory not in its native Brazil - the region's largest economy - but in its tiny southern neighbor Paraguay.

The plant, which opened this month in the border town of Hernandarias, stands near a 4,500 hectare (11,000 acre) industrial park filled with Brazilian companies making everything from autoparts to clothing.

The dark-blue electric scooters assembled by 20 workers at the Estrela factory, known as a "maquila", will be shipped across the border to Paraguay's giant northern neighbor under a Paraguayan system that allows hefty tax breaks for exporters.

For Carlos Tilkian, chief executive of Manufatura de Brinquedos Estrela SA, it was an easy decision to open the assembly plant in the landlocked nation of just 6.8 million people sandwiched between Brazil and Argentina.

"Paraguay has important competitive advantages: cheap energy, labor flexibility and low social charges on wages," he said in an interview before the factory's inauguration. "In Brazil, this would be much more expensive."

Brazilian companies increasingly have been flocking to Paraguay since the election of former-businessman turned President Horacio Cartes in 2013, when he steered his nation to the right after the impeachment of leftist Fernando Lugo.

In a bid to create jobs, Cartes built on a 1997 reform that allowed foreign exporters to pay taxes in the low single figures and excluded them from customs tariffs with additional pro-business measures. Though more than 90 percent of its manufactured goods go to Brazil, Paraguay's Mercosur trade bloc membership also gives exporters easy access to Argentina and Uruguay.

Since Cartes's election, the number of foreign manufacturers in Paraguay has nearly tripled, according to government figures, also spurred by Brazil's worst recession on record. The economic downturn has forced manufacturers to cut costs to remain afloat amid onerous taxes and bureaucracy.

Of the 126 foreign manufacturers now in Paraguay, four-fifths are Brazilian.

The move by Brazilian companies southward is sparking outrage among Brazilian unions.

Anthony Lisboa, secretary for international relations at Brazil's umbrella union federation, denounced the "maquila" system, saying it relied on "slave labor." He said he was trying to galvanize opposition in Paraguay - which lacks Brazil's tradition of organized labor.

"The U.S. auto industry has the same issue with Mexico: they are simply moving production to a country where laws permit worse working conditions," Lisboa said.

Brazilian businesses and economists say jobs created in Paraguay are replacing jobs in China, not Brazil, and that Brazil benefits from a more prosperous neighbor.

"As China gets more expensive, it becomes viable for some industries to produce closer to home and Paraguay is close to home," said Thomaz Zanotto, foreign trade director for Sao Paulo's powerful business chamber FIESP.

"This is not going to rob Brazilian industry - Paraguay is not big enough for that - but ... it shows we could be more cost competitive in Brazil if we had better economic policies."

'BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE'

Hernandarias' residents are overwhelmingly in favor of the Brazilian factories. The town of 80,000 has long been overshadowed by its neighbor Ciudad del Este, the second-largest city in Paraguay and home to a giant street market hawking everything from contraband perfume to televisions and assault weapons.

Convenience store worker Fabiola Vargas, 22, said the factories offer an option to residents who relied on part-time or informal jobs in Ciudad del Este as Paraguay tries to shed its reputation as a hub for illicit trade and finance.

"We won't have to travel so much and will have a better quality of life," she said.

Brazilians invested $101 million in Paraguay in 2015, according to the most recent Paraguayan central bank data, more than one-third of the total foreign investment of $260 million.

After posting China-paced growth as recently as 2010 amid a commodities boom, Brazil now has the highest unemployment ever among its 207 million inhabitants. By contrast, Paraguay saw GDP growth of at least 4 percent last year, helped by the manufacturing boom.

Eduardo Almeida, the Inter-American Development Bank representative in Paraguay, said a 2015 law guaranteeing foreign companies investing more than $100 million a stable tax rate for 20 years had provided vital stability.

Brazilian meat packer JBS SA, the world's largest, said Paraguay's stability was important to its decision to double output there this year and lift national revenues to $550 million.

"Paraguay is an economy that grows, has clear policies, and stable monetary policy," its local director Felipe Azarias told Reuters.

In Brazil, ranked among the world's most expensive nations to do business, benefits and taxes inflate workers' salaries by 40 to 60 percent, according to Rio de Janeiro-based think tank FGV.

Labor costs are on average 45 percent less in Paraguay than in Brazil, while companies pay average taxes of around 3.5 percent in Paraguay, compared to 36 percent in Brazil, Almeida said.

Cartes' government says it created 21,333 manufacturing jobs between August of 2013 and December of 2016, generating $900 million in exports.

DISCONTENT

In Paraguay, some academics say Cartes' policies are depriving the government of revenue for long-term development, particularly in infrastructure.

"The more exceptions and exemptions we have on manufacturing, the more we deprive the treasury of something foreign investors themselves need - financing for infrastructure," said Fernando Masi, director of the Asuncion-based Center of Analysis of the Paraguayan Economy.

A source at a large Brazilian infrastructure company said Brazilian builders had mostly left Paraguay due to concerns the government did not have the money to provide support for private investment in bridges, dams, airports and other projects.

Paraguays Commerce and Trade Minister Gustavo Leite told Reuters that Cartes is committed to the low-tax policy and has no plans to seek more revenue from Brazilian companies.

"If jobs are so important, why wouldn't we take care of employers," Cartes said at the Estrela factory opening. "This is the Paraguay I believe in: we take care of those who provide jobs." (Additional reporting by Caroline Stauffer and Daniel Flynn; Editing by Christian Plumb and Ross Colvin)
By Francois Murphy

VIENNA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Iran's official stock of enriched uranium has fallen by half after large amounts stuck in pipes have been recategorised as unrecoverable under a process agreed with major powers, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Friday.

But before that process began last month, Iran came close to reaching a limit on its uranium stock, one of the most sensitive aspects of Tehran's nuclear deal, a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) obtained by Reuters made clear.

The agreement that the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia reached with Iran in 2015 restricts Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

"As of 18 February 2017, the quantity of Iran's uranium enriched up to 3.67 percent U-235 was 101.7 kg," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a quarterly report on Iran, its first since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, a vocal critic of the deal.

That was about half the limit of 202.8 kg, but only after 100 kg of material at one plant alone was deemed unrecoverable and not included in the calculation.

The deal also caps the concentration of the highly fissile U-235 isotope to which Iran can enrich uranium at 3.67 percent, far below the roughly 90 percent of weapons-grade uranium.

The major powers and Iran published agreements in December and January specifying types of uranium that would be considered unrecoverable and therefore not considered part of its stock of low-enriched uranium.

"DOWNBLENDING"

One of those agreements defined a process by which Iran would flush out low-enriched uranium (LEU) from pipes and other equipment at a plant in Isfahan and "downblend" it to the level of natural uranium.

That process started on Jan. 31, the report said, at which point 99.9 kg of LEU was excluded from the total stock. Friday's report was the first to specify the size of the stock, since the papers published clarified what should be excluded. Previous reports had said only that it was within the limit.

Iran's stock of heavy water - a moderator used in a type of nuclear reactor that can produce plutonium - was within a 130-tonne limit at 124.2 tonnes, but that did not include 11 tonnes that Iran has shipped to Oman.

The Obama administration criticised Tehran after it went over the limit on heavy water for the second time last year, adding that the deal specifies that excess heavy water must be delivered to a foreign buyer.

Iran shipped 11 tonnes to Oman with a view to selling it later, which defused the standoff. But it continues to produce heavy water and the issue could yet attract the attention of Trump, who has said he wants to "police that contract so tough (the Iranians) don't have a chance". (Editing by Andrew Roche)
By John Walcott and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - A proposal the Trump administration is considering to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization has stalled over warnings from defense and intelligence officials that the move could backfire, according to officials familiar with the matter.

"If you do that, there is no way to escalate, and you would foreclose any possibility of talking to the Iranians about anything," one of the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Momentum behind a possible presidential order has slowed amid an internal debate that has included concerns it could undermine the fight against Islamic State, draw opposition from key allies, torpedo any U.S.-Iran diplomatic prospects, and complicate enforcement of the Iran nuclear deal, U.S. and European sources said.

The proposal - part of a broader effort to make good on President Donald Trump's vow to take a tougher line against Iran - would, if implemented, take the unprecedented step of blacklisting the entire IRGC as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization."

That would go far beyond the targeted sanctions already imposed on individuals and entities linked to the IRGC, Iran's most powerful security force, which also controls large swathes of the Iranian economy and wields great political influence.

The proposal has been in the works for weeks, and was originally expected to be rolled out this month. But while the idea remains under consideration, it is unclear when - or even if - an announcement might be forthcoming, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran denies any involvement in terrorism, though it is listed by the State Department along with Syria and Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.

A decision on the matter was complicated by the Feb. 13 resignation of Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, over disclosures that he discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador before taking office. Flynn was one of the Trump White House's leading Iran hawks, and was spearheading the crafting of a strategy for confronting Tehran.

DEFENSE, INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS RAISE OBJECTIONS

Even before Flynn's departure, however, officials from the Pentagon and U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies had raised objections to naming the IRGC a terrorist group.

Such a move would be the first time the 1996 Foreign Terrorist Organizations law, which has been applied to militant groups such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State, has been wielded against an entire institution of a foreign government, potentially subjecting it to a wide range of U.S. sanctions.

It likely would complicate the U.S. fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, defense and other officials said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity. Shi'ite militias backed by Iran and advised by IRGC fighters are battling Sunni jihadist groups there, putting them on the same side as American forces.

It could encourage Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria to curtail action against Islamic State and possibly even sponsor actions against U.S.-backed or American forces in Iraq, one official said. The Revolutionary Guards answer to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Naming Iran's most influential military force a terrorist group also could further inflame proxy conflicts elsewhere, including in Yemen, that the United States and its regional allies say Iran is fueling, the officials said. Iran denies those allegations.

"That move could potentially backfire" in Iran's domestic politics, too, said one of the officials. "The Iranians are a major source of trouble ... but those kind of moves would only help the hardliners" in Iran and undercut more moderate leaders such as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

In addition, said another of the officials, adding the IRGC to the terrorist list would cause friction with U.S. European allies, who in the wake of the 2015 nuclear agreement are trying to rebuild business ties to Iran, which often means contact with the Revolutionary Guard and the companies it controls.

For now, the officials said, the discussion of naming the IRGC a terrorist organization is still in play, but apparently on the back burner. A European security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. counterparts told him the order is on hold.

A failure to go forward with the IRGC terrorist designation, which also has gained some support among U.S. lawmakers, could disappoint those looking for a strong response to Iran's recent ballistic missile test.

The new administration warned Tehran at the time that it was being put "on notice" and then imposed a series of new sanctions on Iranian individuals and companies, which a White House official said was just an "initial" step. (Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and Phil Stewart; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by John Walcott and James Dalgleish)
LIMA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The first Latin American leader to visit U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House said on Friday that he told Trump he prefers bridges to walls and favors the free movement of people across borders.

However, Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski declined to comment specifically on Trump's proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking in a press conference following the meeting.

"I don't want to get into the wall," Kuczynski, a former Wall Street investment banker said in a video distributed by his office. "We're interested in the free movement of people ... I emphasized that to President Trump and we prefer bridges to walls."

Kuczynski has previously likened Trump's wall proposal to the Berlin Wall and once joked that he would cut off ties with the United States if Trump were elected president.

Kuczynski later congratulated Trump on his surprise electoral victory and described their talk on Friday as "cordial and constructive."

Trump called Peru, a country of 30 million in South America, "a fantastic neighbor" and said it was an honor to have Kuczynski in the White House, according to video showing the two posing for pictures after the meeting.

Kuczynski said the two leaders only briefly discussed Peru's fugitive former President Alejandro Toledo, whom Peru had asked Trump to deport from the United States under a provision of migratory law that allows for deportations to preserve diplomatic ties.

"This is a matter of the judiciary that was not discussed for more than a few seconds," Kuczynski said of Toledo.

Up until a week ago, Kuczynski's centrist government had seen deporting Toledo as a better alternative to a potentially lengthy process of Peru's judiciary seeking his arrest and eventual extradition.

Toledo is wanted in connection with a far-reaching graft probe and has denied prosecutors' allegations that he took $20 million in bribes from Brazilian builder Odebrecht SA .

In discussing migration, Kuczynski said he emphasized to Trump that only 70 Peruvians out of 1 million living in the United States are in jail, 200,000 of whom are there illegally.

"Peru has not exported criminals to the United States," Kuczynski said. "They're nurses, they're doctors, they're all sorts of people." (Reporting by Mitra Taj; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Lisa Shumaker)
Eighteen Sri Lankans who attempted to migrate to New Zealand illegally were arrested in Negombo in a combined operation carried out by the Navy and the police last night.

Navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Chaminda Walakuluge said a van used by the suspects were also taken into custody.

He said the suspects were handed over to the Negombo police for investigation.
Speculo 2017, a painting and visual arts exhibition organised by SriLankan Airlines under the theme My SriLankan Perspective, was unveiled yesterday at the J.D.A. Perera Art Gallery in Colombo and will continue till February 26.



The exhibition featuring top artwork of over eighty renowned local artists will also display paintings of schoolchildren who won the all-island art competition hosted in the run-up to Speculo 2017.

Schoolchildren from remote areas such as Jaffna, Mannar, Bibile, Silawathura, Kalaoya and Balangoda had sent their entries to the exhibition that is currently being attended by hundreds of people including the clergy.



In a bid to flock the creative community, events host SriLankan Airlines has also taken an unprecedented step in displaying the paintings of nine inmates in the Welikada prison.

Daily Mirror managed to talk to some of the reputed artists who were present at the exhibition.
Blue Mountain Achilleion, Sri Lankas seven star luxury real estate project, made a splash at the Maldives Living Expo 2017, which was held in Male, in the Maldives, recently from 16th to 18th February 2017. The attractively decorated stall by Blue Mountain Achilleion witnessed a throng of prospective clients wanting to know further details of the project. This one-of-a-kind seven star luxury project stood out amongst the international condominiums, local buildings and apartments, lifestyle appliances for modern homes and home financing and insurance suppliers who were present at the Maldives Living Expo. Blue Mountain Apartments latest real estate development, Achilleion, the first-ever 7-star luxury apartment building in Sri Lanka, is ideal for investors and home-owners seeking a high return on investment - as it will be an iconic, first of its kind, super luxury in the South Asian region.

We were glad to have Blue Mountain onboard with a signature project such as Achilleion at the Maldives Living Expo as it attracted many Maldivian investors. Given the current trend for Maldivians to own a second home or a home-away-from-home in another country, many investors have evinced in this luxury project. Highrise has built the Living Abroad platform to introduce high-end apartments for sale in Sri Lanka in conjunction with one of Maldives' premier lifestyle shows, Living Expo, that has become one of the top events in Maldives since 2013, explained Tuan Saabir Vaffoor - Director, Highrise Pvt Ltd and Organizer of Maldives Living Expo and Living Abroad 2017.

Commenting on the overwhelming response received for the Achilleion project during the Maldives Living Expo 2017, Dr.Hiran Hettiarachchi (MBBS-Colombo & MBA-Australia)  Group Chairman of Blue Mountain said, We are pleased with the tremendous flood of customers who expressed interest in investing in Achilleion during the expo. The high profile projects sound credentials and reputed partners such as Singapore-based architect and interior design specialists - Palmer and Turner and Index - respectively, and the cutting-edge facilities, which have been incorporated into the propertys iconic design has struck a chord with discerning investors, who realize the value of the project. We look forward to add many of the prospective clients who approached us at the expo as our loyal customers who can enjoy the prestige and luxury of owning a home in Achilleion.

In order to ensure that residents always travel in style, the complex will offer access to a rooftop helipad and a private helicopter for the use of the residents. A fleet of 5 Mercedes Benz luxury cars will also be available for residents to use at their leisure. This state-of-the-art complex will also feature Sri Lankas first-ever sky bridge, the tallest sky restaurant by sea and an infinity pool, which will offer breath-taking views of the Indian Ocean and the vibrant Marine Drive stretch. Other facilities include a 24-hour medical centre  the first of its kind to operate in a private residential complex, a comprehensive library and a private theatre.

The 50-storey twin tower apartment complex will consist of 618 luxury units of one, two or three bedroom apartments, duplexes and two penthouses with more than 85% of the apartments enjoying the glorious view of the Indian Ocean.

The iconic design and structure of the development is being supported by the global real estate titan, Palmer & Turner (P&T) Group Singapore, heralded as the No. 2 ranked residential developer in the world. Enhancing the propertys value even further, the complexs plush interiors are being curated by Index Design, a leading interior design practise also based in Singapore, which reflects the ultra modern and latest international style that the apartments will deflect. Achilleion has won three international awards already, including the best Luxury Show Apartment at the prestigious Asia Pacific Property Awards 2016/2017.
MEXICO CITY REUTERS Feb 23-A bid by U.S. President Donald Trump to deport non-Mexican illegal migrants to Mexico that has enraged Mexicans will top the agenda when officials from both countries meet on Thursday amid a deepening rift between the two nations.



The U.S. government on Tuesday said it would seek to deport many illegal immigrants to Mexico if they entered the United States from there, regardless of their nationality, prompting a fiery response from Mexican officials.



Calling the measure unilateral and unprecedented, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said new immigration guidelines would top the agenda of meetings in Mexico City with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.



The stakes are high for the United States, since Mexico has warned that a breakdown in relations could affect its extensive cooperation on the fight against narcotics and on stemming the flow of Central American migrants that reach the U.S. border. Talking points from a senior official show Mexicans plan to seek more information on Trumps executive orders at the summit. Officials plan to say, We are worried about the consequences that these can have for Mexican nationals, in the United States, the notes show.



As part of its response, Videgaray said Mexicos foreign ministry would get involved in legal cases in the United States where it considered the rights of Mexicans had been violated.
Page Content



Across the EU, women are underrepresented in decision-making positions, particularly in politics and business, even if the situation varies from country to country. The European Parliament has argued that only EU-wide legislation will really improve the position of, and opportunities for, women in Europe. Moreover, studies have shown that not taking full advantage of the skills of highly qualified women constitutes a waste of talent and a loss of economic growth potential.



The European Committee of the Regions and its Joint Committees on Equal Opportunities (COPEC) are pleased to invite you to mark International Women's Day 2017 with a lunchtime debate entitled "Women on Board: Gender equality in politics, management and boards in Europe" at 13.00 on 1 March 2017 at the European Committee of the Regions premises.



According to a European Commission factsheet from 2015, 60% of new university graduates are female but despite this, women are outnumbered by men in leadership positions in the corporate sector in the EU. On average, only 21.2% of board members of the largest publicly listed companies in the EU are women. While this marks a significant increase from 11.9% in 2010 when the European Commission first put the issue of women in leadership positions high on the political agenda, there is still a very long way to go if we are to achieve gender balance.



This event therefore aims to inspiring stories of best practice for breaking the glass ceiling and an occasion to challenge governments and corporations on gender imbalance.


On the 16th February, D. Samson & Sons (Pvt) Ltd celebrated the opening of the recently re-located DSI showroom in Kandy.

The showroom, which was previously, located at No. 42, Dalada Veediya can now be found at No. 28, Dalada Veediya with an entirely new look.

Present at the event was Thusitha Rajapaksa, the Managing Director of D. Samson & Sons (Pvt) Ltd and other members of the senior management.

The showroom features a large number of popular local brands such as, DSI, Samson, Ranpa, DSI Supersport, U Softo, Beat, Beach, Jessica, Silviar, Waves, Piccaso and AVI, while well-known international brands like, Reebok, Fila, Puma and Red Tape can also be found at the new showroom. Thus providing customers with a wide array of top quality footwear to choose from.

Being a reputed provider of footwear of excellent quality in Sri Lanka, D. Samson & Sons (Pvt) Ltd is the main marketing and distributing sector of the DSI Samson Group. It is one of the largest retail networks in the country that provides footwear and apparel to the local customer.

D. Samson and Sons (Pvt) Ltd is the sole distributor of local footwear brands; DSI, Ranpa, Samsons, DSI Supersport, Beat, Beach, Waves, U Softo, Jessica, Silviar and AVI. Additionally, the line carries popular international brands such as Reebok, Puma, Fila, Clarks,Florsheim, New Balance, Flitflop, INC 5, W, Aurelia and U.SPolo.

The DSI network spans more than 200 company outlets, 4000 dealers and 50 sales representatives island wide.
As a prelude to the 2017 wedding season, Hameedia who dressed bridegrooms for generations will offer its customers a bespoke tailoring package that will award the third piece free of bespoke tailoring charges.

The promotion will apply to orders for 2 shirts or trousers and the customer will enjoy the benefit of having the full bespoke charges waived off on the 3rd shirt or trouser. The promotion is tipped to run until March 15th.

This is a valuable opportunity for the fastidious gentleman avail themselves of Hameedias bespoke and Made to Measure (MTM) services that has been a hallmark of their business. Using the latest technology and a modern manufacturing center, Hameedia ensures the best bespoke tailoring in the country. Bespoke tailoring enables customers to handpick their own fabrics not usually found in the readymade range, and have their garment stitched to fit perfectly well according to the contours of their body structure.

The menswear specialist established its credentials decades ago for its impeccable master sewing capabilities and has since innovated and expanded its suite of products and services. This precise tailoring capability remains at the core of the brands success for over decades using fabrics and accessories sourced from specialists in the bespoke trade worldwide. Bespoke tailoring has been an age old preference for men who understand the little details of classy dressing. The impeccable fit and styling of Hameedias bespoke tailoring enhances the personality of the wearer and makes a lasting impression, whilst updating his wardrobe for the festive season ahead.

Hameedia was established in 1949 and has grown to become a fashionable brand in Sri Lanka. Renowned for their high quality custom tailoring under the Bespoke category and ready-made clothes for gentlemen, the Hameedia multi-brand retail stores house a collection of quality menswear brands Le Bond, Envoy, Signature, Raymond, Lee and Adidas to name a few. Hameedia also prides itself on offering exceptional standards of service to ensure that clients enjoy a positive and personalized experience at each store.

With a network of over 30 outlets across Sri Lanka and a large and experienced team Hameedia has a strong local presence and has also expanded globally with outlets in the Maldives and Australia.
For the first time since the famous Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed 29 years ago, India had this week officially and unambiguously repudiated one of the major provisions of that Accord. Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar during his three day visit to Sri Lanka told the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) on Monday that India would not be pressing Sri Lanka to merge the Northern and Eastern Provinces to form a single Tamil-majority, Tamil-speaking province as envisaged by the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987.

He was responding to a request by the leader of the EPRLF, Suresh Premachandran, that India should honour its promise to keep the North and East united as one administrative unit. According to Indian Express Premachandran had pointed out that India has a moral responsibility to ask the Sri Lankan government to re-merge the North and East as it is a part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987.

If the Accord is still valid, every part of it should be deemed to be equally valid and implemented, he had argued while interestingly recalling that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had promised that the merger would remain and that the proposed referendum would not be held. However, Jaishankar had told Premachandran that much water has flowed under the bridge since 1987 and it will be better for all concerned to make use of the various windows of opportunity which have opened up recently with the change of regime in Colombo and secure the rights of Tamils. He had further argued that it would not be wise to hold every other matter hostage to one issue - the merger of the North and East.



This statement by the senior Indian official might have disappointed many Tamils in the country as well as the Tamil diaspora as they believe with or without reasons that their problems would be resolved through a settlement that includes the merger of these two provinces. But India had always handled Sri Lankas Tamil question keeping its interest in mind. The factors that pushed India to support the merger and the armed struggle of the Sri Lankan Tamil youth when the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed were different from the present circumstances under which Jaishanker absolves India from accepting some of the Tamil demands.

Towards the 1970s president J.R. Jayawardene had provoked Indian leaders, especially Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was a close ally of the socialist bloc in the bipolar world that prevailed then, by pursuing a policy bias towards the capitalist bloc headed by the USA. His allegiance to the West was seen by the Indian leaders as a part of the Western scheme to surround India, as Pakistan and Bangladesh already had strong links with the anti-socialist camp. At the same time India conveniently used the issue of more than 100,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who had fled to India to escape the armed conflict in the North and the East as a ruse to meddle in the affairs of the island.

Indian leaders in the process accepted the standpoint of Tamil leaders and pressurized the Sri Lankan government. It was against that backdrop that India supported the merger of Northern and the Eastern Provinces among other demands, in spite of the mixed demographic composition of the Eastern Province. Today India is definitely wary of Sri Lankas increasing economic ties with China, but it does not seem to want to use the same strategies it did in the 1980s to tame Sri Lanka. Today India looks forward to economic opportunities similar to those gained by China in the island for which Tamil demands are not so relevant.

"However, Jaishankar had told Premachandran that much water has flowed under the bridge since 1987 and it will be better for all concerned to make use of the various windows of opportunity which have opened up recently with the change of regime in Colombo and secure the rights of Tamils"



Tamil leaders have been stressing for the past four decades mainly four main demands in their pursuit to a solution to the ethnic problem, namely recognition of right of the Tamil people to self-determination, merger of Northern and the Eastern Provinces, devolution of power and a federal form of governance.And they had in deed achieved four of the three goals for some extent through the Indo- Lanka Accord, but the merger of provinces was annulled by a Supreme Court ruling in 2006.

It is in a way ironic that the parties that are pushing for devolution of power demand for the amalgamation of Northern and Eastern provinces as well. Devolution of power is a means to take the administration to the people by carving out smaller units of administration. The smaller the units, the easier the dealings with their local political administrators.

The merger of Northern and the eastern Provinces was initially demanded by Tamil political parties and armed groups in the late seventies not in an economic perspective. It was purely a political demand based on an ethnic standpoint. In fact it was a shrewd concept put forward to use as a stepping stone for a future separate Tamil State. Since the government had sensed the motive it had opposed the demand from the beginning.

When India intervened in the Sri Lankan ethnic issue in the early 1980s it had to strike a balance between the viewpoints of the government and the Tamil groups at least overtly while supporting the Tamil demands shrewdly and cautiously. Thus, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi convinced President Jayawardene to accept a temporary merger of Northrn and the Eastern Provinces until a referendum on the continuity of it in the eastern Province is held, while promising the Tamil leaders that the referendum in the East would never be held. This is what Premachandran had reminded Jaishankar of, on Monday.

"The factors that pushed India to support the merger and the armed struggle of the Sri Lankan Tamil youth when the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed were different from the present circumstances under which Jaishanker absolves India from accepting some of the Tamil demands."



After this deception of President Jayawardene by Premier Gandhi, Sri Lankan authorities had included that agreement between the two leaders in the Provincial Councils Act promulgated in 1987. Accordingly, President Jayawardene had to merge the two provinces once the Tamil armed groups laid down arms under the provisions of the Accord.

However, fighting between the Indian forces and the LTTE broke out, in late 1987, making the merger legally impractical.Then India persuaded President Jayawardene to amend the Provincial Council Act using Presidential powers and emergency regulations in order to get the two provinces merged.

Therefore, it is clear that the amalgamation of Northern and the Eastern Provinces was effected with Indias sheer deception and coercion and not with an understanding among the stakeholders. This was the moral basis that was employed apart from the Sinhala nationalistic agenda for the annulment of this merger in the legal battle on the matter in 2005/2006.

All Ceylon Tamil Congress leader the late Kumar Ponnambalam had realized the undemocratic nature of the demand for the merger of the whole multi-ethnic Eastern Province with the Northern Province and he along with Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader the late M.H.M.Ashraff worked out a plan in 1988 to merge only the Tamil dominated areas of the Eastern Province with the Northern Province while amalgamating all Muslim areas in the two provinces as a separate administrative unit.

Tamil and Muslim parties now have to look at the problem afresh in the post-war context. Now that the Tamils have lost their main bargaining power, the LTTE and the Indian support while the governments position with regard to the merger of provinces having been strengthened after their de-merger and having elections twice for the Eastern Provincial Council, the demand for the merger seems to be impractical or sometimes ridiculous.It is now just a prestige issue.

In the same way, Muslim leaders in the East have to reconsider the validity of a Muslim Provincial Council in the light of the institution of the Eastern Provincial Council in 2007 and other post-war scenarios. The need of the day is integration of various communities without harming the identity as well as their rights them.
Indonesian President Joko Widoda has invited President Maithripala Sirisena to pay a state visit immediately after his scheduled participation at the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Summit meeting to be held in Jakarta, the Presidents Media Division said yesterday.

Indonesian Presidents special envoy, A M Fachir, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered the letter of invitation to President Sirisena at the Presidential secretariat. President Sirisena will attend the IORA Summit on March 6 and 7 and pay a state visit on March 8.

The President conveyed his thanks to President Widoda, through the Special Envoy, for the invitation and said he was looking forward to attend the Summit, which marks the 20th Anniversary of IORA and to meet the Indonesian President for discussions on enhancing bilateral friendship and cooperation in trade, investment, tourism and other areas of common interest.

The Special Envoy, Fachir said that Indonesia has already dispatched the first consignment of the rice donation for drought relief announced by President Widoda. He said that President Widoda personally attended the brief ceremony held at the State Logistics Agency Warehouse in Kelapa Gading in Jakarta.

President Sirisena conveyed his thanks to the President, the Government and the people of Indonesia for the donation. He said the Indonesian donation of 5,000 MT symbolizes the strong friendship that exists between Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

He recalled the strong ties between the two countries since ancient times. He said that Indonesia played an invaluable role at the Non-Aligned Summit of 1976 hosted by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
As a strong advocate and practitioner of sustainable initiatives within the construction industry in Sri Lanka, INSEE Cement was lauded with the Green Platinum Award at Haritha Sihinaya 2017, an educational and environmental exhibition organised by the North Western (Wayamba) Provincial Council through February 12  14, 2017.

The award was presented by President Maithripala Sirisena during the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

The North Western Provincial Council, the only provincial administrative body that has won at the National Energy Efficiency Awards, has focused heavily on energy savings and environmental best practices during the past few years. With the North Western Provincial Energy Plan implemented in 2016, the provincial council then focused on reducing the carbon footprint across the geographical area under eight sectors, including construction, industrial, domestic and transportation. The exhibition was aimed at creating public awareness and interest in sustainable initiatives and green energy under these eight sectors.

As one of the leading cement producers in the country contributing to the construction sector, INSEE Cement invests in technology and expertise to reduce emission levels that result from different facets of the companys operation, recording the lowest emissions in cement production in Sri Lanka. These efforts also resulted in the production of Sri Lankas first cement brand to be awarded the Green Labelling Certification by the Green Building Council, Sanstha, produced with 7kg less CO2 emissions per bag.

The INSEE Innovation & Application (I&A) Centre too, collaborates with all stakeholders including architects, engineers, contractors and researchers, introducing green concepts, sustainable concrete solutions, products and technologies. In doing so, the INSEE I&A Centre identifies better ways to build superior, high-performance and sustainable living structures and infrastructure in Sri Lanka, realizing the countrys vision of transforming into a sustainable ecosystem. The company operated a stall at the exhibition, showcasing their brands as well as sustainable practices and applications.

INSEE Cements contribution to sustainable construction is twofold, stated INSEE Director Commercial Janaka Weerakoon.

One is to minimize environmental damage through optimization of process and product and the second is through the dissemination of knowledge and information to a wider audience. Haritha Sihinaya 2017 proved to be one such platform where we could promote our brand and reach out to a progressive demographic. We are proud to have been part of this exhibition as a Green Platinum Sponsor of the event.

The exhibition ended on a hugely successful note attracting large crowds, including students from across the province. Having reached out to the public during this edition of the exhibition, the North Western Provincial Council hopes to attract the participation of the commercial sector for the next exhibition, proposed for 2018.
MP Wimal Weerawansas request that five members of the National Freedom Front (NFF) would function separately in Parliament was a strategy, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday.

Addressing the media at the launch of the National Assets Protection Centre, Mr. Rajapaksa said members of the NFF would remain as members of the joint opposition even though they would no longer be a part of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

At a point we all will get together. We are working according to a certain plan. We cannot reveal those tactics in public, he said. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)
The skipper of the boat which capsized off the coast of Kaluthara a week ago was taken into custody today, Police said.

The accident which took place near Katukurunda due to over-crowding of the boat left 16 dead and 20 injured.

The suspect, Punchihewage Dinesh Ruwan Kumara (24) a resident of Bogolla, Kaluthara was the skipper of the boat when the tragedy occurred.

It was reported that the boat was among several vessels which left for Kalutara from the Beruwala Fisheries Harbour for a religious ceremony.

The suspect is to be produced before the Kaluthara Magistrate today. Kaluthara -South Police are conducting further investigations. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)
Jan 27 this year was a day that the staff of Link Natural Products (Pvt) Ltd, will remember for years to come, as they celebrated the Charter Installation ceremony of their Toastmasters Club, LNP Toastmasters in an impressive manner at Grand Monarch, Thalawathugoda.

At this ceremony 7 club officers were installed by the Area Director of Area C5, TM Buddhika Fernando & 22 Charter members were inducted by the Division Director of Division C, Varuna Ratnaweera, DTM.

Chairman of Link Natural Products, Dr. Devapriya Nugawela was the Chief Guest & the Program Quality Director of District 82, Ajantha Jayawardena, DTM graced the occasion as the Guest of honour, along with the District officers & Toastmasters of District 82 & the staff of Link Natural Products.

The company values the Personal Development of its staff, sponsored a Speechcraft program in 2015 to develop their public speaking skills & self confidence. This program, which was conducted with the assistance of Serendib Toastmasters Club, led to the chartering of LNP Toastmasters Club, the, first club to be chartered in Sri Lanka for the year 2016 /2017 for District 82.

A professionally conducted event came to an end with the Vice President, Education, TM Varuni Ratnasiri, proposing the vote of thanks.
Parliamentary authorities have decided to prevent school children who visit the House from taking handkerchieves into the visitors gallery, informed sources said.

The decision had been taken after a handkerchief belonging to a child fell on a lamp causing a minor fire on Tuesday -- which was instantly doused.

The tables of the police officers outside the gallery were covered with handkerchieves last morning as the school children had to leave them behind. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)
A woman married to a sufferer of the fatal elephant man condition says the disease doesnt scare her.



Angie Richards, 34, first met Brian, 33, whose bones and organs wont stop growing, on an online dating website seven years ago.



He has Proteus syndrome, an ultra-rare condition made famous by Joseph Merrick who inspired the film The Elephant Man.



But she was never put off by his deformities - despite knowing he was only expected to live until he was 18. Now they are approaching their fourth wedding anniversary, but they are aware he could die at any time.



Ms Richards, from Dover in Delaware, US, said: From his dating profile picture, I could tell he had something wrong but didnt know what it was, nor did I care; disease and handicap,

doesnt scare me.



Having a condition was not enough for me to think of Brian as a no.



I grew up in an environment where you dont care about what a person looks like, you care about who they are and how they treat others.Brian is very caring, loving man, early on in our relationship he drove three hours for my daughters birthday and even made her a woodwork penguin toy - which is her favourite animal.



The food inspector added: He cant change his condition and didnt choose it to happen, it was just luck of the draw.



People asking questions never bothers me, but I have to bite my tongue when they point or whisper.As he grows older, things continue to change and he is gradually getting worse. Despite all of this is, he always has a smile on his face and is always optimistic, he never complains.



With only 120 documented cases, Mr Richards condition led to cruel bullying and all prospective dates were scared off.Before meeting his wife online in 2010, he doubted he would ever find love.

He added: When people meet me they normally like me for who I am, but dont like how I look.

But with Angie, she cares about the beauty inside not whats on the outside.
Eleven hundred years ago Europe was a backwater. There were no grand cities, apart from Cordoba in Spain which was Muslim. The Middle East was much further ahead, still absorbing the intellectual delights and challenges of Greek science, medicine and architecture which Europeans were largely ignorant of. In southern China agriculture advanced and trade in tea, porcelain and silk flourished.

By 1914 it was a totally different world. The Europeans ruled 84% of the globe and they had colonies everywhere. How was it that Europe and its offspring, the United States, became the dominant dynamic force in the world, and still are today in most things?



If I walk round my university town and stop the first ten students I meet and ask them why this was so they would probably say because of the Industrial Revolution. But in 1800 when the Industrial Revolution was only just beginning Europeans already ruled 35% of the world and had armed ships on every ocean and colonies on every continent.



If they didnt say that, they might say it was the way the Europeans spread their fatal diseases, smallpox and measles, to which they had gained a good deal of immunity, and this enabled them to lay low native peoples. But in fact all the major Middle Eastern and Asian civilizations had this same advantage. In Africa it was local diseases that attacked the Europeans more than vice versa.



Maybe one of the ten students would say it was because the Europeans were ahead in the development of gunpowder technology. After all the military revolution preceded the Industrial Revolution. But I doubt that, even though on the right track, this one student could explain why.

Gunpowder was invented in China and by the sixteenth century the Ottomans were making high quality artillery. But they could not keep up with the pace of European technological development. Europe had military competition and thus innovation baked into it.



Europe, unlike the Ottoman Empire or China, was a very un-unified kind of place. Since the fall of Charlemagne there was no one strong enough to hold Europe together. Moreover, the popes preferred divide and rule and did not want a single strong European leader to diminish their power. In Europe dozens of small states and principalities, often each vying to be top dog, were stimulated to nurse their competitive instincts. This pushed research and the gunpowder technology forward at a much faster pace than anywhere else in the world.



In contrast, China was a massive hegemon; Japan and the Ottoman Empire sizeable ones. A hegemon inevitably comes to believe that since it is politically dominant far and wide it doesnt have work so hard at maintaining superior arms. But when it came to gunpowder technology and its adaption to warships the smaller European powers, each seeking to outscore each other, could often call the shots against Asias hegemons.



Philip Hoffman, professor at the California Institute of Technology, argues in his new book, Why Did Europe Conquer The World? that Europes pace of innovation was driven by a peculiar form of military competition which he calls a tournament- the sort of competition that under the right conditions, can drive contestants to exert enormous effort in the hope of earning a prize.



This is what happened in Europe, but not elsewhere. European rulers raised taxes and lavished resources on armies, navies, gunpowder technology and pushed forward research. Moreover, unlike in Asia, private entrepreneurs faced few legal, financial or political obstacles to launching expeditions of conquest and exploration. This is why the British East India Company could conquer much of India.



The wars that led to Europes and particularly Britains domination of the world made possible (although there were important other factors too) the Industrial Revolution, not vice versa. Victory in battle had given Britain a large share of Europes intercontinental trade. That created jobs in British cities. That raised wages and agricultural demand. High wages stimulated the invention of labour-saving machines, such as spinning machines and steam energy. Then there were the huge deposits of coal. Hence the industrial revolution. Some historians add into the mix the immense profits from the Caribbean and North American slave trade which provided much of the capital needed to build machines and factories. Others would add the long European tradition of the separation of church and state. Hoffman himself stresses the importance of Britains uniform legal and fiscal system and Parliaments control of the purse.



Well, as they say, thats history. Now we have a new struggle for dominance. If only it could be done without another round of gunpowder technology and within the legal framework of the Charter of the United Nations.
There seems to be no let-up in the acronym fever this poll season.

In the 2015 Bihar elections, we saw a different kind of "name game"  distorting abbreviations of party names. It all started when Prime Minister Narendra Modi said JD(U) stands for Janata ka Daman and Utpidan" party and RJD means "Rozana ke Jangalraj ka Dar".

Countering the prime minister, Nitish Kumar said the BJP stands for Badka Jhootha (big liar) Party".

Shah has urged people not to vote for "Kasab  Ka for Congress, Sa for Samajwadi and B for BSP".

In the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections, it was again the prime minister who started coining new acronyms. On February 4, while addressing a public rally in Meerut, Modi said "scam" is an acronym for Samajwadi Party, Congress, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati. In his typically interactive style he asked the public: "Do you know what 'scam' stands for?" He then answered: "It is 'S' for Samajwadi Party, 'C' for Congress, 'A' for Akhilesh and 'M' for Mayawati."

On the same day, the Samajwadi Party came up with a counter analogy  "Sirf Communal Amit Shah-Modi"  while Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi alleged that one who is in the wrong sees scam in everything. He went a notch "higher": S in fact stands for service, C for courage, A for 'ability and M for modesty."

Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan, however, wasn't as kind as Gandhi. He said, "Scam means Sattabhogi (hungry for power), Kapti dhongi (fraudster) and Amit Shah Modi,".

The Samajwadi Party came up with a counter analogy for Modi's version of SCAM with "Sirf Communal Amit Shah-Modi".

The Congress also came up with six other abbreviations for the BJP. It said the BJP is a party that represented  Bhagora Judao Party (party of turncoats), Bhai-bhatijawad Party (party of nepotism), Bhaichara Jalao Party (party that promotes enmity), Brashtrachar Jagao Party (party that promotes corruption), Bhramjaal Party and Bhram Jagao Party (party that creates illusion).

It was again the prime minister's turn to come up with the next acronym. So on February 20, addressing a rally in Jalaun, Modi mocking Mayawati's opposition to note ban, said the BSP is no longer Bahujan Samaj Party but "Behenji Sampatti Party" (Behenji Assets Party).

Mayawati hit back with "the prime minister has compelled me to define Narendra Damodardas Modi as "Mr Negative Dalit Man". She elaborated: "Narendra stands for 'negative', Damodardas means 'Dalit' and Modi is 'man'." She said, "I have given the definition of the prime minister taking into consideration his work and behaviour."

In a latest in the ongoing series, BJP president Amit Shah likened the BJP's rivals to the terrorist who became the face of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. On February 22, Shah urged people not to vote for "KASAB  Ka for Congress, Sa for Samajwadi and B for BSP".

Reacting to this, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: "Need to end acronyms, statement shows BJP's repulsive thinking. It shows party's communal mindset."

Modi is known for his penchant for coining acronyms. In 2014, campaigning for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the newly elected prime minister said the NCP is "Naturally Corrupt Party". NCP chief Sharad Pawar, instead of countering him with another acronym, said Modi was undermining the dignity of the PM's post by making such "personal attacks".

But in Bihar and UP, Modi's opponents are not as restrained. They believe in throwing stones for every brick hurled. The way it is going in Uttar Pradesh, every party in the fray seems to be working overtime to come up with a "better" (read worse) acronym than the last.
"No government has ever been subject to such a level of scrutiny," remarked Dr Anirban Ganguly, director, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Research Foundation, at the launch of his book Redefining Governance: Essays on One Year of Modi Government in 2015 at India International Centre (IIC) to discuss some of the policy achievements of the Narendra Modi government.

It was certainly true because ever since the seating of Modi government (May 2014) in Delhi, Lutyens' Delhi, which some have referred to as "state of mind", has been critical of every single policy initiative at large.

Interestingly, criticism is a valid "political right" in a democracy like India but being conclusive in your words before the policy outcomes have not been even realised is not just an act of falsehood but rather of "fabricated journalism".

Being a student of political science I wish to admit that in a "functional democracy" like India, it is more or less the level of electoral success that determines the acceptance of any political party, its ideology and the working of its government.

In the case of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) every minor election since 2014 has been painted as a referendum on the performance of the Modi government. Considering the case of electoral success, it can be easily seen that BJP has been on a "steady rise" since the formation of its government at the Centre led by Modi.

Looking at major poll results after the 2014 general elections, the BJP has made "good progress" if we see the results of the Assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

While the major opponent Congress started losing its relevance with losses in Assam and Kerala, the victory of BJP in Assam opened the gates for its further expansion in the North East. Led by the brilliant strategy of party general secretary Ram Madhav, the BJP was able to win 86 of 126 Assembly seats in Assam with an effective vote share of 29.5 per cent.

In the case of Kerala, BJP's vote share increased from 6 to nearly 15 per cent although it could not be converted in number of seats. Nonetheless, the BJP was able to dislodge the Congress-led UDF from power in the state.

UDF losing 26 seats in the Hindu heartland is one such example. In Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, the BJP was able to maintain its vote share with candidates contesting on almost all seats. Considering the tough walk for BJP in the southern states, these successes cannot be overlooked.

BJPs electoral success makes a case for good governance. (Photo: India Today)

In Bihar too, the BJP was able to register a "moral victory" against an "opportunist alliance" between JD(U) and Lalu Yadav-led RJD by drawing the maximum share of votes at 24.4 per cent in the keenly contested state elections.

Except for Delhi, the BJP did not lose so badly where it was supposed to be a major opponent. In Delhi too, BJP was able to maintain its vote share of more than 30 per cent unlike the Congress, which lost all seats with a vote share of just 9.7 per cent.

Even if these results mark an early referendum on the BJP government at the Centre, the comfortable success of the party makes the argument flawed and misleading.

Moreover, in a key state like Maharashtra the BJP was able to win the maximum number of 122 seats with the highest vote share of 27.8 per cent. Not only did the BJP get its first CM in the state, it was also able to dilute the Shiv Senas "political immaturity".

The BJP was also able to register a victory in local body polls in other parts of the country like Rajasthan, Gujarat and Chandigarh, with the demonetisation policy as one of the main campaign planks.

In Madhya Pradesh (MP) municipal elections, the BJP won 30 seats in the 35-member civic body. In Chandigarh, it was able to muster 20 of 26 seats in the municipal elections. In Rajasthan too, the BJP improved its performance by winning 67 civic bodies in comparison to 49 in 2010.

In Arunachal Pradesh, a BJP government was formed with the joining of 33 of 43 PPA MLAs led by CM Pema Khandu. The party has good prospects in the Meghalaya state elections (2017), led by strategic "political alliancing" with regional parties like UDP.

In Manipur too, the BJP is a strong opponent to the Congress in the upcoming elections. In UP, the Congress-SP alliance is the outcome of a strong undercurrent in favour of the BJP.

With the recent success of the BJP in the Odisha panchayat elections (2017), the party has been able to give up the tag of being an "urban party". In the just concluded Maharashtra municipal elections, the BJP emerged as the big winner by conquering the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation, along with Akola, Amravati, Solapur, Pune, Nasik, Nagpur and Ulhasnagar. In Mumbai too, it got 82 seats, just two less than its bitter partner Shiv Sena.

All these results for more than two years in favour of the BJP are not the outcome of a coincidence. Rather it shows identification of the people, both in rural and urban areas, with the partys ideology, governance model and leadership.

The consecutive victories of the BJP government in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are reflection of this growth model. While Gujarat for long has been hailed as a "model of governance", BJP leaders like Shivraj Singh Chouhan (MP) and Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh) have been populist faces among the masses with affectionate labels such as "mama" and "chawal wale baba". All this comes due to the partys commitment towards good governance, welfare politics and inclusive development.

A similar line has been observed in the central government led by Modi. The massive push for infrastructure development, railway reforms, cooperative federalism, development of the North East, Swachh Bharat abhiyan, rural electrification, rationalisation of subsidies, financial inclusion, solar power generation, banking reforms, promotion of entrepreneurship, digital growth, demonetisation, insurance for poor and gender justice are some of the examples of this model of governance.

No government ever realised the power of the "Indian diaspora" in foreign policy earlier, and the credit for this goes to the BJP and Modi. Similarly, it is the present BJP rule which allowed final acceptance of One Rank One Pension for the Army.

In the recent Budget allocations, finance minister Arun Jaitley pegged farm credit at Rs 10 lakh crore, besides hiking budgetary allocation to the agriculture and rural sector by about 24 per cent to about Rs 1.78 lakh crore. He also proposed to create a dedicated micro-irrigation fund of Rs 5,000 crore with the NABARD and setting up of 688 mini-labs in kisan vikas kendras to give a boost to reforms in the agriculture sector.

With a record Rs 48,000 crore allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) for the next financial year, the Budget aims to increase rural demand and double farm income by 2022.

Based on its growth model and quality of governance, the success of BJP is also backed by the organisational power of the RSS and its affiliate organisations. The presence of RSS has been able to provide a "check and balance" for the party with adherence to the "mass line" in terms of feedback on government policies.
History has been written in Maharashtra by the BJP. This has never happened before. Although the Shiv Sena on Thursday emerged as the largest party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections with 84 seats, it was the BJP that made massive gains, with 82 seats in hand.

The party dashed all of Sena's hopes of crossing the 100 mark in the Mumbai BMC poll. While initially the Sena made big gains, by 3 pm it was a different man who emerged as the big boss - Nagpur boy and CM Devendra Fadnavis. The BJP started celebrating. In other big cities such as RSS den Nagpur too, the BJP recorded a bumper profit with figures crossing over 70 of 145 - way more than the last election of 2012.

The BJP claims to have got a big chunk of zilla parishad votes, a bastion of Congress and NCP with farmer support, but this time the voters ditched the secular parties to make the right-wing party their big daddy. Some say better coordination between the state and Centre resulted in a better deal for people on the ground.

The BJP also claims to have got the maximum corporators in 10 municipal corporations that had gone to the polls. If that is to be believed, the saffron party is standing at the number one position with 521 corporators of 666.

Here are the key takeaways from the results:

1) Devendra Fadnavis is the big boss of Mumbai

The number 40 was the maximum mark the BJP had achieved till now. But this time, it has had a bumper jump of 50 seats. A new Brahmin face as CM, Devendra Fadnavis, has been one big reason. The last Shiv Sena CM Manohar Joshi was popular with the people. Congress leaders remained busy fighting among themselves, while MNS's inefficient performance disappointed Mumbaites. North Indians got a bad deal when Sanjay Nirupam and Kripashankar couldn't come up as strong leaders, while Narayan Rane also could not lure Marathi voters. The BJP got both Congress and MNS votes. MNS has been limited to six seats from 21 in the last election. PM Narendra Modi did not hold a single rally or public meeting and Fadvanis remained the face of the BJP in the state. The BJP slogan goes "Narendra in country and Devendra in state".

2) Who will be the big brother of Mumbai?

With none of the two parties getting a majority in the poll and the Shiv Sena ahead, the question is who would be the big brother? It is likely that BJP and Sena will go for a coalition and the next few days will see the parties trying to increase their numbers by claiming support from Independents. But the Sena this time may need to mend its ways as it's only Thane where it has majority while all other strongholds have been conquered by the BJP. Having good relations with BJP will only help them.

3) Nitin Gadkari passed the litmus test in Nagpur

BJP had a clean sweep in Nagpur, which was a litmus test for Gadkari since he and Fadvanis had made a deal to differentiate their work ground. Gadkari got a bumper win crossing 70 seats. Apart from local work, his big achievement remained getting all four seats in the Muslim-majority area of Mommin Pur. Earlier, Congress used to score heavily here. The announcement of the Mumbai-Nagpur special corridor by Gadkari also helped him to victory.

4) Big setback for Ajit Pawar, Raj Thackeray, Pankaja Munde, Sanjay Nirupam and Sushil Kumar Shinde

- Face of Maharashtra irrigation scam Ajit Pawar's big hold in Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune is over, with his loyalists joining Fadvanis.

- Raj Thackeray lost heavily and was left with double digits in Mumbai and Nasik.

- Pankaja Munde, daughter of BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who was embroiled in a controversy over taking selfies in drought-hit areas, lost her father's Parli on all six seats. All went to NCP.

- Sanjay Nirupam of Congress had to resign. The party suffered such a big loss in Mumbai that it can't even make second position.

- Former Maharashtra CM and home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde lost heavily in Solapur. Congress lost this to BJP.

5) Future of big mouth Raj Thackeray is diminished

It's a big setback for Raj Thackeray who has lost his base in Mumbai and Nasik with less than 10 seats in number. His high hopes were deflated because of lack of groundwork and losing active workers. He promised big but couldn't achieve a little.

6) Asaduddin Owaisi's MIM opened its account in Mumbai with three seats in Muslim-majority areas

Who doesn't know Owaisi's speeches and his habit of polarising votes by attacking saffron and secular parties. The election has borne him fruit. A close watch has to be kept on Owaisi's party.

7) No effect of demonetisation seen in Maharashtra

The winning strategy was more of individual and local than a big one. Getting winning candidates and Fadnavis's face helped. Political pundits may have to rethink BJP's prospects in state Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur.

8) Right-wing vs right-wing in Maharashtra

For the first time in Maharashtra, it was a fight between the right-wing and right-wing. No secular party like the Congress or NCP could hold its ground. The future will show whether these dynamics will change politics in Maharashtra. Another party with extreme ideology, the MIM, is also making inroads for the first time. This may force other parties to change their game-plan.

9) BJP has recorded many firsts. Conquered west (Pune, Pimri, Solapur) and north Maharashtra (Nasik)

- Nasik has been a big setback for the Thackeray brothers. While the Shiv Sena came to second position crossing 20 seats, Raj Thackeray's MNS was diminished to six seats while it had 40 last election. Analysts believe the mandate went to BJP when Fadnavis's speeches gave high hopes. He said: "I have adopted Nasik, you don't have any leader now. If I don't undertake development in five years, I will not show you my face next time." The people believed him and the rest is history. Nasik faces the problem of air connectivity despite having an airdrome. The city also lacked a leader and Fadnavis touched a nerve while the MNS did not fulfil any promise.

- Big setback to NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad corporations. Cracking this bastion was not easy. Fadnavis roped in all those who had been associated with NCP in Pimpri Chinchwad and Shiv Sena in Pune. Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar's nephew's associate Laxman Jagtap joined hands with the BJP and with one more MLA, led the campaign. Basically, the same names with different party symbols. After Congress lost the popular face of Suresh Kalmadi in Pune, it was Shiv Sena that took the baton but had to transfer it this time to the BJP. Plus, Pune's Brahmin majority voted for Fadnavis. Independent Rajya Sabha MP from Pune Sanjay Kakde led the campaign in the city. Earlier, he was associated with the Congress and NCP.

- BJP won Sindhi Belt Ulhasnagar near Mumbai by making Pappu Kalani's son Omi join the party.

10) Next generation in Maharashtra politics
The Pakistan governments move in putting Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed on terror list and a flurry of other actions give the impression that India has finally been able to put pressure on Islamabad.

A couple of months back, the 26/11 mastermind, along with four other members of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, was placed in preventive detention and later put under house arrest, only to be released.

But Saeed has been listed under Pakistans anti- terrorism act by the provincial Punjab government a few days ago. It also cancelled his license to carry weapons, a step taken in "line with the government's actions against the terrorist".

Islamabad has also reportedly put restrictions on the functioning and funding of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its charitable front organisation  Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation, while Pakistan's army has backed Saeeds detention by terming it a policy decision in the national interest.

The Ministry of External Affairs has described his "house arrest" of Hafiz Saeed as the first logical step. (Credit: AP photo)

But should India be euphoric about it?

The Ministry of External Affairs has described his "house arrest" as the first logical step towards bringing the international terrorist to justice. But it is too early to jump to conclusions because on umpteen occasions in the past India has been deceived by seemingly positive signals from Islamabad.

The move against Hafiz Saeed is not new or the most serious action taken against him in the past two decades. Since 2001, he has been in and out of detention at least five times, and released by the courts on a number of occasions.

Besides, unlike in 2008 and 2009, when he was detained for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case, this time there has been no FIR registered or any specific reason given.

If Pakistan were indeed serious, these actions should have been carried out in December 2008 when Saeed was designated a terrorist by the UN (Saeed is the head of Falah-e-Insaniat foundation and Jamaat-ud-Dawa, both groups listed as terrorist organisations by the US and the UN Security Council).

Let's take a look at Pakistan's flip flops over the years.

December 2001Hafiz detained after attack on Indian Parliament

March 2002Released from house arrest

August 2006Arrested in connection with 2006 Mumbai train blasts

October 2006 Lahore High Court orders release

December 2008UN declares Hafiz Saeed a terrorist; Pakistan orders house arrest

July 2009Pakistan court orders release

September 2009 Interpol issues notice; Hafiz Saeed put under house arrest

October 2009 Lahore High Court orders release

It shouldn't come as a surprise to India why Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf "acted as Saeed's spokesperson" and asked the Nawaz Sharif government to release him from his 90-day house arrest, claiming his Jamaat-ud Dawa is a "very fine NGO" engaged in relief work.

"In my opinion they are against Taliban (in Pakistan), they did not commit any terrorism in Pakistan or anywhere in the world. So they should be dealt separately," Musharraf was quoted as saying by a local television channel.

"We (as a nation) remain confused on terrorism, like we are confused in respect to JuD and Hafiz Saeed."

It is quite likely that Pakistans action was actually timed for the five-day meeting of the Financial Action Task Force in Paris this week, where a report on Pakistans terror funding record is being presented.

The move against Saeed could be a result of Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif's efforts to "prove his sincerity" to both US president Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narednra Modi, even as he faces domestic pressure in wake of a series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Indians are tired, exhausted, burnt-out, worn out and ready to drop.

Yes, in the dogged pursuit of that paycheck we are working ourselves sick. According to a recently released research report by Mintel, over one in five Indians aged between 18 and 64 (22 per cent) are concerned about being tired more than anything else, including blood pressure and diabetes.

It shouldn't come as a surprise because Indias millennials put in more hours at work  52 hours a week  than their counterparts in any other country. While the often-cited-as-example Chinese millennial works for 48 hours a week, Indians work far more than the 41 hours a week clocked by the Australian and British competition.

What's more, last year, India was the worlds fourth-most vacation-deprived nation.

While India often boasts of its rich tradition and culture, Indians show scant regard for work culture. (Photo for representational purpose)

But who is to be blamed for all this?

Is it the over-zealous employee who wants to get ahead of everyone or the employer whose only motto is maximising resources and minimising cost.

Well, one can't really blame the "over-zealous" worker alone because our workplaces have become extremely competitive with employers often citing a "turbulent economy" as an excuse to cut jobs.

To top it all, there are practically no standard working hours (except public sector) for employees across professions which leads to have an unbalanced lifestyle. Although most workplaces officially demand 8-9 hours a day from employees, it is often seen that the work (load) given to them is too much to finish within office hours.

Also, for professionals whose nature of job includes attending to emergencies, standard working hours are not feasible.

While India often boasts of its rich tradition and culture, Indians show scant regard for work culture, which is why there is no option but to work hard and long hours.

So, does that mean we are doomed to work till we drop?
Juniper Networks, Inc. designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers. It also provides switching products, including EX series Ethernet switches to address the access, aggregation, and core layer switching requirements of micro branch, branch office, and campus environments; QFX series of core, spine, and top-of-rack data center switches; and juniper access points, which provide Wi-Fi access and performance. In addition, the company offers security products comprising SRX series services gateways for the data center; Branch SRX family provides an integrated and next-generation firewall; virtual firewall that delivers various features of physical firewalls; and advanced malware protection, a cloud-based service and Juniper ATP. Further, it offers Junos OS, a network operating system; Contrail networking, which provides an open-source and standards-based platform for SDN; Mist AI-driven Wired, Wireless, and WAN assurance solutions to set and measure key metrics; Mist AI-driven Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, which identifies the root cause of issues; Juniper Paragon Automation, a modular portfolio of cloud-native software applications; and Juniper Apstra to automate the network lifecycle in a single system. Additionally, the company provides software-as-a-service, technical support, maintenance, and professional services, as well as education and training programs. It sells its products through direct sales, distributors, value-added resellers, and original equipment manufacturers to end-users in the cloud, service provider, and enterprise markets. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
The following companies are subsidiares of InterContinental Hotels Group: 2250 Blake Street Hotel LLC, 24th Street Operator Sub LLC, 36th Street IHG Sub LLC, 426 Main Ave LLC, 46 Nevins Street Associates LLC, Allegro Management LLC, Alpha Kimball Hotel LLC, American Commonwealth Assurance Co. Ltd., Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, BHMC Canada Inc., BHR Holdings B.V., BHR Luxembourg SARL, BHR Pacific Holdings Inc., BHTC Canada Inc., BOC Barclay Sub LLC, Barclay Operating Corp., Bristol Oakbrook Tenant Company, Cafe Biarritz, Cambridge Lodging LLC, Capital Lodging LLC, Compania Inter-Continental De Hoteles El Salvador SA, Crowne Plaza Amsterdam (Management) B.V., Crowne Plaza LLC, Cumberland Akers Hotel LLC, Dunwoody Operations Inc., EVEN Real Estate Holding LLC, Edinburgh IC Limited, General Innkeeping Acceptance Corporation, Guangzhou SC Hotels Services Ltd., H.I. (Ireland) Limited, H.I. Soaltee Management Company Ltd, HC International Holdings Inc., HH France Holdings SAS, HH Hotels (EMEA) B.V., HH Hotels (Romania) SRL, HI Sugarloaf LLC, HIM (Aruba) NV, Hale International Ltd., Hoft Properties LLC, Holiday Hospitality Franchising LLC, Holiday Inn Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Holiday Inns (China) Ltd, Holiday Inns (Chongqing) Inc., Holiday Inns (Courtalin) Holdings SAS, Holiday Inns (Courtalin) SAS, Holiday Inns (England) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Germany) LLC, Holiday Inns (Guangzhou) Inc., Holiday Inns (Jamaica) Inc., Holiday Inns (Malaysia) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Middle East) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Philippines) Inc., Holiday Inns (Saudi Arabia) Inc., Holiday Inns (South East Asia) Inc., Holiday Inns (Thailand) Ltd., Holiday Inns (UK) Inc., Holiday Inns Crowne Plaza (Hong Kong) Inc., Holiday Inns Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, Holiday Inns Inc., Holiday Inns Investment (Nepal) Ltd., Holiday Inns of America (UK) Ltd., Holiday Inns of Belgium N.V., Holiday Pacific Equity Corporation, Holiday Pacific LLC, Holiday Pacific Partners LP, Hotel Inter-Continental London Limited, Hotel InterContinental London (Holdings) Limited, Hoteles Y Turismo HIH SRL, IC Hotelbetriebsfuhrungs GmbH, IC Hotels Management (Portugal) Unipessoal Lda, IC International Hotels Limited Liability Company, IHC (Thailand) Limited, IHC Buckhead LLC, IHC Edinburgh (Holdings), IHC Hopkins (Holdings) Corp., IHC Hotel Limited, IHC Inter-Continental (Holdings) Corp., IHC London (Holdings), IHC M-H (Holdings) Corp., IHC May Fair (Holdings) Limited, IHC May Fair Hotel Limited, IHC Overseas (U.K.) Limited, IHC UK (Holdings) Limited, IHC United States (Holdings) Corp., IHC Willard (Holdings) Corp., IHG (Australasia) Limited, IHG (Marseille) SAS, IHG (Thailand) Limited, IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan LLC, IHG ANA Hotels Holdings Co. Ltd., IHG Bangkok Ltd, IHG Brasil Administracao de Hoteis e Servicos Ltda, IHG Commission Services SRL, IHG Community Development LLC, IHG Cyprus Limited, IHG ECS (Barbados) SRL, IHG Franchising Brasil Ltda, IHG Franchising DR Corporation, IHG Franchising LLC, IHG Hotels (New Zealand) Limited, IHG Hotels Limited, IHG Hotels Management (Australia) Pty Limited, IHG Hotels Nigeria Limited, IHG Hotels South Africa (Pty) Ltd, IHG International Partnership, IHG Istanbul Otel Yonetim Limited Sirketi, IHG Japan (Management) LLC, IHG Japan (Osaka) LLC, IHG Management (Maryland) LLC, IHG Management (Netherlands) B.V., IHG Management MD Barclay Sub LLC, IHG Management SL d.o.o, IHG Management d.o.o. Beograd, IHG Orchard Street Member LLC, IHG PS Nominees Limited, IHG Systems Pty Ltd, IHG Szalloda Budapest Szolgaltato Kft., IHG de Argentina SA, IND East Village SD Holdings LLC, Inter-Continental D.C. Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Investment Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Partner Corp., Inter-Continental Hospitality Corporation, Inter-Continental Hoteleira Limitada, Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Owning Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation, Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation de Venezuela C.A., Inter-Continental Hotels of San Francisco Inc., Inter-Continental IOHC (Mauritius) Limited, Inter-Continental Management (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental (Branston) 1 Limited, InterContinental (PB) 1, InterContinental (PB) 2, InterContinental (PB) 3 Limited, InterContinental Berlin Service Company GmbH, InterContinental Brasil Administracao de Hoteis Ltda, InterContinental Gestion Hotelera S.L., InterContinental Hotel Berlin GmbH, InterContinental Hotel Dusseldorf GmbH (Germany), InterContinental Hotels (Puerto Rico) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Canada) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Espana) SA, InterContinental Hotels Group (Greater China) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (India) Pvt. Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Japan) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (New Zealand) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Shanghai) Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Customer Services Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Healthcare Trustee Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group Operating Corp., InterContinental Hotels Group Resources Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group Services Company, InterContinental Hotels Group do Brasil Limitada, InterContinental Hotels Italia S.r.L., InterContinental Hotels Limited, InterContinental Hotels Management GmbH, InterContinental Hotels Nevada Corporation, InterContinental Management AM LLC, InterContinental Management Bulgaria EOOD, InterContinental Management France SAS, InterContinental Management Poland sp. z.o.o, InterContinental Overseas Holding Corporation, Intercontinental Hotels Corporation Limited, KG Benefits LLC, KG Gift Card Inc., KG Liability LLC, KG Technology LLC, KHP Washington Operator LLC, KHRG 11th Avenue Hotel LLC, KHRG 851 LLC, KHRG Aertson LLC, KHRG Alexandria LLC, KHRG Alexis LLC, KHRG Allegro LLC, KHRG Argyle LLC, KHRG Austin Beverage Company LLC, KHRG Baltimore LLC, KHRG Born LLC, KHRG Boston Hotel LLC, KHRG Canary LLC, KHRG Cayman Employer Ltd., KHRG Cayman LLC, KHRG DC 1731 LLC, KHRG DC 2505 LLC, KHRG Donovan LLC, KHRG Employer LLC, KHRG Goleta LLC, KHRG Gray LLC, KHRG Gray U2 LLC, KHRG Hillcrest LLC, KHRG Huntington Beach LLC, KHRG King Street LLC, KHRG La Peer LLC, KHRG Miami Beach LLC, KHRG Muse LLC, KHRG NPC LLC, KHRG Onyx LLC, KHRG Palladian LLC, KHRG Palomar Phoenix LLC, KHRG Philly Monaco LLC, KHRG Pittsburgh LLC, KHRG Reynolds LLC, KHRG Riverplace LLC, KHRG SFD LLC, KHRG Sacramento LLC, KHRG Savannah LLC, KHRG Schofield LLC, KHRG Sedona LLC, KHRG State Street LLC, KHRG Sutter LLC, KHRG Sutter Union LLC, KHRG Taconic LLC, KHRG Tariff LLC, KHRG Texas Hospitality LLC, KHRG Texas Operations LLC, KHRG Tryon LLC, KHRG VZ Austin LLC, KHRG Vero Beach LLC, KHRG Vintage Park LLC, KHRG WPB LLC, KHRG Wabash LLC, KHRG Westwood LLC, KHRG Wilshire LLC, KHRG Zamora LLC, Kimpton Hollywood Licenses LLC, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC, Kimpton Phoenix Licenses Holdings LLC, Kimpton Sedona Licenses LLC, Louisiana Acquisitions Corp., MH Lodging LLC, Mercer Fairview Holdings LLC, PML Services LLC, PT SC Hotels & Resorts Indonesia, Pollstrong Limited, Powell Pine Inc., Priscilla Holiday of Texas Inc., RM Lodging LLC, Regent Hotels and Resorts, Resort Services International (Cayo Largo) L.P., SBS Maryland Beverage Company LLC, SC Cellars Limited, SC Hotels International Services Inc., SC Leisure Group Limited, SC NAS 2 Limited, SC Quest Limited, SC Reservations (Philippines) Inc., SCH Insurance Company, SCIH Branston 3, SF MH Acquisition LLC, SPHC Group Pty Ltd., SPHC Management Ltd., Semiramis for training of Hotel Personnel and Hotel Management SAE, Six Continents Corporate Services, Six Continents Holdings Limited, Six Continents Hotels Inc., Six Continents Hotels International Limited, Six Continents Hotels de Colombia SA, Six Continents International Holdings B.V., Six Continents Investments Limited, Six Continents Limited, Six Continents Overseas Holdings Limited, Six Continents Restaurants Limited, SixCo North America Inc., Solamar Lodging LLC, Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation (BVI) Ltd., Southern Pacific Hotels Properties Limited, Universal de Hoteles SA, White Shield Insurance Company Limited, and World Trade Centre Montreal Hotel Corporation.

Read More
On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he wanted to ensure that the nuclear arsenal of the U.S. was top of the pack.

He said the U.S. has dropped behind in weapons capacity.

Get

Warning: Undefined variable $CompanyName in /home/acctdp/public_html/wp-content/themes/responsalambre/single.php on line 65

alerts:

During an interview with Reuters, Trump said that China could solve the challenge of national security quite easily that is posed by the secretive country of North Korea.

The comment increased the pressure on Beijing to help rein in the actions being taken by Pyongyang.

In addition, Trump gave his support to the European Union, saying he was completely in favor of the governing body.

For just the first time, Trump said he preferred a two-state solution in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. However, he did say he would end up satisfied with any decision that makes both sides happy.

The president predicted that efforts he has made to pressure allies from NATO into paying more for their individual defenses and ease the U.S. budget burden would end up paying dividends.

Commenting about the nuclear arsenal of the U.S. for the first time since becoming the president, Trump said the U.S. must strengthen and grow its nuclear capacity until a time when everyone else in the world is able to come to their senses over nukes.

Trump added that he wants a world in which there are no nuclear weapons but is concerned that the U.S. had dropped behind on its weapons capacity.

Russia has over 7,000 nuclear warheads to just 6,800 for the U.S. shows data from a group that is anti-nuclear Ploughshares Fund.

New START treaty, which is the latest strategic arms treaty, between Russia and the U.S. requires that no later than February of 2018 both nations must keep their number of strategic nuclear weapons to levels in existence a decade ago.

This treaty allows both nations to have only 800 deployed as well as non-deployed land-based and submarine launched missile launchers along with heavy bombers that are equipped to haul nuclear weapons.

Analysts are questioning if Trump wants to abrogate the New START agreement or would start deploying other new warheads.

Trump reiterated that he feels the New START agreement was one-sided.

He added that it was just one more bad deal made by the country, similar to the one with Iran. He added that the U.S. would start making good deals.

Trump complained as well that the deployment by Russia of cruise missile that is ground based was a violation of a treaty signed in 1987.
125 Years of Progress takes you inside The Daily Progress' archives every day in celebration of our 125 years serving Charlottesville and the rest of Central Virginia. Sponsored by Hanckel-Citizens Insurance Charlottesville

Harrison Burgess, a Charlottesville native, University of Virginia graduate and U.S. consul to British Honduras, shared some unusual observations of the world during his diplomatic service with the Daily Progress on this day in 1964. Burgess first Foreign Service assignment was in Beirut, Lebanon where the United States helped airlift thousands of pilgrims to Mecca in August of 1952 because commercial airlines had oversold seats.

Some of the Moslems had never been on a plane before. Some built fires in the planes to cook food on while others kept asking the pilots where the east was on an airplane so they would know which direction to bow.

From Beirut, Burgess went on to Salzburg, Austria, full of Hungarian refugees fleeing the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

One of the most unique experiences he saw there was children drinking milk out of paper cartons who had never seen milk in anything but a bucket and they couldnt figure out how the milk came this way.

Leaving Austria, Burgess spent four years in Washington, D.C. reflecting, The government has to be sure its diplomats dont lose perspective of what the United States really is.

Burgess was then assigned to British Honduras. The article then offered a piece of history not widely known: The United States had a consul there since the Civil War. A large colony of people from the south fled there after the Civil War and many of their descendents are still in British Honduras.

According to Burgess obituary, which ran in the July 7, 1999 Daily Progress, he went on to serve in Turkey and China. While assigned to the Department of State, he was named official escort to Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt when she was the U.S. delegate to the inauguration of the University of Newfoundland. He was a delegate to the United Nations Womens Conference in Mexico City in 1975, and the U.N. Water Conference in 1976. After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1978, he returned to Charlottesville and joined the staff of UVa Medical Center.
125 Years of Progress takes you inside The Daily Progress' archives every day in celebration of our 125 years serving Charlottesville and the rest of Central Virginia. Sponsored by Hanckel-Citizens Insurance Charlottesville

I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.

Thomas Jefferson

Letter to James Madison, Jan. 30, 1787

This was the opening quote in a supplemental section to the Feb. 26, 1993 edition of The Daily Progress, kicking off the 250th celebration of Jeffersons birthday. The lead article Jeffersons presence endures worldwide, written by Jim Denery, addressed Jeffersons enduring and continuing legacy. After nearly 250 years, Thomas Jeffersons presence still can be felt  not only in America but throughout the world. He is the driving force in an Eastern Europe now struggling with newfound freedom. He was with the students at Tiananmen Square in 1989, and decades earlier his beliefs inspired the marchers at Selma. He inspired others in their quest for self-determination, including Ho Chi Minh, just as peasants claimed his thoughts as their own in 19th century revolutions stretching from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean Sea.

The articles in that special supplement covered Jeffersons early years, his technological innovations, his business practices and career as a lawyer, the Declaration of Independence, his tenure as president, his often controversial faith and slave ownership. Special attention was paid to the construction of Monticello and Poplar Forest, the ideals behind the founding of the University of Virginia, and his influences on farming and viticulture. Quotations by and about Jefferson dotted the editions pages and a detailed listing of celebration events leading up the founding fathers actual birthday on Apr. 13 was included as well.

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government or himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

Thomas Jefferson

First inaugural address, March 4, 1801.
They are sometimes called the windows into heaven and now, after a nearly 20-year process, a full complement of iconography will adorn the walls of the Pillars of Orthodoxy Church in South Middleton Township.

Icons are fresco-style murals depicting saints and stories from the Christian Gospel.

The purpose of icons in orthodox church is to teach, Father Mark Beesley said. You are surrounded by the gospel.  No matter where you look you are reminded of our savior and Gospel and all he has accomplished and done for our salvation.

On Wednesday, three nuns from the Holy Nativity Convent in Boston installed the final four panels, bringing to fruition a project that began when the congregation moved from its former building in Mount Holly Springs nearly two decades ago.

The paintings now encompass the walls of the nave of the church, which is where the religious ceremonies and services are held.

Traditional fresco painting involves applying paint to wet plaster to create murals. Father Peter Farnsworth said the church has moved away from this technique because modern society tends to see churches move and grow.

We dont do that because we live in a fluid society, and our bishops dont want us to have to leave behind thousands and thousands of dollars of frescos, Farnsworth said.

Its not a society where you build a church and you know its going to be there centuries later, said Mother Macrina, one of the painters.

Like wallpaper

The icons are now painted on a thick canvas and applied to the wall like heavy wallpaper.

This allows the icons to be removed and relocated if the congregation moves, Farnsworth said.

Even though we are using a more modern method, we try to continue the traditions as we find them ... and hopefully duplicate the same beauty and the same things weve seen in the old churches, Mother Macrina said.

Farnsworth said iconography dates back to the beginning of Christianity. He said it was a way to teach individuals about the religion and the Gospel at a time when many were unable to read.

Many millions of Christians were illiterate, so the icons and the murals  helped people when they heard the Gospel, or people spoke about particular miracles, they were able to see it, he said. That helped because they couldnt really read about it.

For Beesley, the iconography helps to remove the barrier of the walls of the building to allow for a more spiritual experience.

The iconography helps the physicality of the walls fade away in our worship, Beesley said. We become very aware that we are not just physical people in a physical place, but we are standing in the midst of something that is beyond this world. When we study liturgy, it truly becomes heaven on earth.
An inmate died by suicide Tuesday at Cumberland County Prison the same day she had been cleared by mental health professional in preparation for placement in the prisons general population, according to prison officials.

Mary Ann Kimberlin, 26, Harrisburg, died Tuesday in an apparent suicide by hanging while incarcerated at the prison, according to Cumberland County Coroner Charley Hall.

Kimberlin had been under a mental health status since being brought to the prison on Feb. 10 because of opioid addiction, according to Deputy Warden Michael Carey.

Kimberlin was cleared of the heighten observation earlier in the day and was preparing to enter the prisons general population when she was found dead Tuesday night.

That day, she had seen numerous people, psychologist  and they felt good about her and confident about her and cleared her for classification status, Carey said.

Kimberlin was being held on $20,000 bail after she was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of children, according to court records.

A formal arraignment was scheduled April 13 in Kimberlins case.
ORANGE  Orange Countys former tourism director pleaded guilty Friday to stealing money from a school-related program, one she helped raise money for and in which her child participated.

Leigh Crebbs Mawyer, 45, was initially charged with felony embezzlement, but the plea agreement in Orange Circuit Court lowered the charge to a misdemeanor.

She was sentenced to a year in jail, with all of the time suspended. Mawyer also was ordered to serve three years of probation and to pay restitution, which she did by handing over a check during her hearing.

I just want to apologize to all those involved, Mawyer said in court.

Mawyer, who resigned in January from the county post shed held for seven years, took about $2,000 from an account for the county school systems Destination Imagination program. The worldwide program challenges student teams to find creative solutions to projects, according to the Destination Imagination website. Teams can qualify for tournaments.

The thefts happened between Aug. 3, 2015, and Sept. 6, 2016. The embezzlement wasnt discovered until December because the countys Destination Imagination teams did not qualify for tournaments that the money would have covered.

Mawyer and another person had control of the account. The other account holder was notified when the funds in the account fell below $500 and then contacted police.

Mawyer was indicted in January.

After the hearing, Commonwealths Attorney Diana OConnell said that wrapping up the case, especially by getting the restitution paid, eliminated a lot of angst in the community.
A group of educators working on the county school divisions High School 2022 concept presented their draft of its program guide to the Albemarle County School Board on Thursday night, kicking off the second phase of the projects planning process.

This draft outlines a conceptual model for the initiative, which seeks to incorporate community- and work-based learning into the curriculum, beginning with freshmen entering high school in fall of 2018.

This effort goes along with an initiative known as Profile of a Virginia Graduate, which is being hashed out by the Virginia Board of Education.

During the meeting, Patrick McLaughlin, strategic planning officer for the county school division, led the board through the progress made so far on bringing the program guide together and what theyve been able to accomplish.

In the past few months, groups of educators have come together to discuss how High School 2022 should look and have solicited community feedback along the way. Thursdays presentation was based on a culmination of that work.

Some of the ideas include implementing more interdisciplinary instruction, as well as a freshman seminar class to develop students in ways that can help them understand what type of learner they are and what pathways toward graduation best suit their needs and interests.

Matt Haas, deputy superintendent, pointed out to the School Board that this draft of the program guide would focus more on freshman students, since they would be the first cohort to experience it in 2018.

Its a conceptual paradigm shift, he said.

All of these ideas still would coincide with state-required assessments, such as Standards of Learning tests, and other requirements the schools are expected to meet.

The program guide presented to the board was a draft and will need additional work moving forward. The feedback from the School Board will go toward defining and developing the implementation of some of the programs discussed.

McLaughlin said after the meeting that he felt the School Board understood the majority of concepts outlined in the draft of the program guide and reacted positively to it.

I think theres  as with anything thats new  going to be questions along the way that we quite frankly dont know all the answers to right now, he said, and as we start to work on an implementation plan for this, thats when I think were really going to get down to the nuts and bolts of what these programs are going to look like.

A comment made from several board members was that some of these programs and interdisciplinary work already resemble some of the work that theyve seen in the schools in the past years, such as with the academies and pathways.

Rivanna District member Pam Moynihan pointed out that interdisciplinary work was something she remembers seeing in the county high schools in the early 2000s.

McLaughlin said after the meeting that part of the approach with High School 2022 is to take some of existing ideas and programs already seen in the school division and implement them on a larger scale, thus making them available to more students.

What I think we dont have right now is parity and equity to all those programs at all of our schools, he said. So one of the designs of this committee was to imagine what would it look like for us to take those programs that we know are working well and make them available to every student, regardless of where they came from or what school they were able to attend.

The next steps for the group are to begin forming implementation and communications plans, as well as teams to get ready for the first class of freshman who will enter the program.

Thursdays meeting marks the end of the first phase of the High School 2022 planning process referred to as Visioning. The second phase, Facility Planning Study, will run until October.

More information about High School 2022 can be found at k12albemarle.org under the Division section of the website.
 Antioch Baptist Church (Scottsville) is hosting a 23-week Bible study on the Book of Revelation from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays. 4422 Antioch Road. (434) 286-6315.

 Buck Mountain Episcopal Church (Earlysville) hosts activist Grace Aheron and Will Dickinson presenting A Conversation on Christian Activism, 6:30 p.m. Thursday. 4133 Earlysville Road. (434) 973-2054.

 Faith, Hope and Love International Healing and Deliverance Center holds its Junior Usher Appreciation program with guest speaker Pastor Terry Jones of First Baptist Church in Louisa, 3 p.m. Sunday. 1229 Teel Lane. (434) 296-1995.

 Mechanicsville Baptist Church (Gordonsville) holds How Can I Be Blessed?, a Precepts Bible Study of the Sermon on the Mount, 12:30 p.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. each Tuesday. 10200 Louisa Road. (540) 832-3269.

 Mount Zion First African Baptist Church hosts a production by its drama ministry at 3 p.m. Saturday. 105 Lankford Ave. (434) 293-3212.

 Operation Esther Circle meets to fast and pray for stranded international students and missions at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Overseas Students Mission, 3045 Ivy Road. (434) 227-0811.

 Pleasant Grove Baptist Church (Earlysville) observes Black History Month with guest speaker Tracy Holliday and a performance by the church youth, 11 a.m. Sunday. 3417 Earlysville Road. (434) 978-1090.

 Rock Springs United Methodist Church (Faber) hosts a barbecue dinner from 5 to 6:30 p.m. March 4. Route 6. (434) 263-4603.

 Seays Chapel United Methodist Church (Palmyra) holds a healing prayer service at 6:30 p.m. March 4. Route 640. (434) 981-1376.

 United Christian Academy (Stanardsville) holds a Bluegrass Gospel Sing with performances by Jordan Deane & Friends, Rapidan Ridge and Glory Road, 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday. 225 Crusaders Court. (434) 293-8891.

 Westminster Presbyterian Church hosts a concert by organist Michael Unger, assistant professor of organ and harpsichord at the University of Cincinnati  College-Conservatory of Music, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Friday. 400 Rugby Road. (434) 963-4690.
YORK  Child pornography charges have been filed against a York County police officer, according to documents from the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.

Following an investigation, agents with the attorney generals office met with Chad Richard Howell early Thursday morning as he was getting off duty at the West Manchester Township Police Department.

Documents state Howell confirmed usernames he used for profiles on Pinterest, which were linked to child pornography activity. One of the usernames, howellycpd, was a nod to the York City Police Department, Howells former employer, he told agents.

The social media site alerted the attorney generals office that Howells accounts were used to upload explicit images of minors. They were uploaded in October and November.

Documents also state images of child pornography were uploaded by one of Howells usernames in 2013.

Howell consented to have his phone and personal laptop searched while still at the police station, according to documents.

When asked whether images of child pornography would be found on either his computers or his cellphone, Howell replied, I would like to say no, but I really dont know.

An agent with the attorney generals office said he discovered about 50 images of apparent child pornography, which was only a sampling of images on Howells cellphone.

Agents also executed a search warrant at Howells residence on Wargo Lane in Dillsburg to locate electronic devices.

Howell, 36, was charged with 50 felony counts of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility. He was taken to York County Prison following arraignment and was unable to post $25,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. April 24 at District Judge Keith Albrights office.

ABC27 called the West Manchester Township Police Department to inquire about Howells current employment status but has not heard back.
As eyes across Virginia have been directed to Charlottesville following the City Councils controversial decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee from a public park downtown, a councilor who was targeted because of his calls to remove the statue  and subsequently found to have written a litany of offensive comments online several years ago  appeared in court Thursday for a hearing in a case that could see him removed from office.

The hearing was well attended by local media, observers and supporters of both Councilor Wes Bellamy and Jason Kessler, the conservative blogger who launched the campaign to gather enough signatures to have a court consider Bellamys removal. But it offered little more than a discussion about scheduling for a future hearing, which may be held as soon as next week.

Kessler is seeking Bellamys dismissal from the council, alleging that Bellamy committed civil rights violations and misused his office by writing tweets several years ago that he believes are sexist, racist and homophobic. The majority of those tweets were written in a period from 2009 to 2013, prior to Bellamys election to the council. Furthermore, Kessler says he believes the attitude reflected in those tweets  and in Bellamys support for the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from Lee Park in the city  shows that Bellamy is a black supremacist.

After the hearing, Bellamy walked out of the courthouse cheerfully smiling.

Jason Kessler has every right to do what hes doing, Bellamy said, reiterating several times that Kessler is not my enemy.

Although some individuals and organizations, such as Showing up For Racial Justice Charlottesville, have alleged Kesslers work to remove the citys only African-American city councilor from office is racially motivated, Bellamy declined to say whether he thinks Kessler is a white nationalist, as SURJ labeled him in a statement last week, alleging that he promotes a racist agenda.

I dont get into the name calling or mudslinging. Id be contradicting myself and everything we stand for in this community if we get into the name calling, Bellamy said.

Theyre all human beings, Bellamy said about Kessler and those seeking his removal. We may have different opinions and disagree, but that doesnt mean I hate him. And I hope he doesnt hate me. We all have the same goal of making this community a better place.

Kessler has repeatedly said he is not a racist or a white nationalist. Addressing a Daily Progress reporter as people were exiting the courtroom, he said reports that repeat those allegations have been a low blow against him and his cause.

After meeting with Kessler, Lynchburg Commonwealths Attorney Michael Doucette, who has been appointed to be the special prosecutor in the case on Tuesday, addressed reporters who remained outside the courthouse after Bellamy left following the hearing. Doucette requested that the judge continue the case so that he can look further into the facts of the case and whats being alleged.

I dont think were quite done discussing the matter, he said about his interview with Kessler.

In 2013, Doucette was assigned to two similar cases that involved a petition to remove an elected official, one of which was in Albemarle County, which resulted in judge ruling that county Supervisor Christopher J. Dumler should not be removed from office despite serving a 30-day jail sentence for misdemeanor sexual assault.

Doucette said he is planning to prioritize this case but that he wants to make sure that its prosecuted both efficiently and appropriately.

There needs to be a balance between speed and thoroughness, he said.

Responding to questions about assertions that Pam Starsia, Bellamys attorney and a member of SURJ, made in a filing to dismiss the case, which alleges that Kessler has neither collected enough signatures nor presented enough reason for the court to remove the councilor from office, Doucette said he has discussed those claims with Starsia and will investigate those matters, as well.

While Kessler has nearly 600 signatures on his petition, which he has said meets the required number needed for a court to consider his petition, Doucette said he plans to reach out to the state attorney generals office for clarification.

According to state code 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. Official election documents show there had been nearly 15,800 votes cast in the 2015 council election.

Theres very little guidance as far as case law and [opinions by attorneys general] as to what is meant in this particular scenario where you have the top three people running for office get elected, as opposed to just one person, Doucette said.

Several minutes after Doucette spoke with reporters, Kessler left the courthouse after further discussions with Chuck Smith, a Republican candidate for attorney general who has offered to assist Kessler in the case.

Although Doucette said Smith has no formal role in the case, Kessler said Smith is the first person to provide him legal counsel on the matter.

Immediately after approaching reporters outside, Kessler said he would not discuss the ongoing investigation, adding that he does not have a racial bias toward Bellamy. This isnt personal, he said. He added, however, that he thinks Bellamy does have a racial bias toward his constituents.

About a minute after speaking with reporters, Isaac Smith, secretary of Unity & Security for America, a conservative nonprofit Kessler recently founded, told the assembled reporters that they will not be taking any more questions.

When asked about an email sent widely to city employee email addresses that he obtained through a recent Freedom of Information Act request  which invited the employees to make anonymous complaints about Bellamy to the citys Human Resources department and join a class action lawsuit against him for violating their civil rights  Kessler declined to discuss it.

We will sue for damages and to remove Mr. Bellamy from his position of authority over those he has discriminated against, the email said, alleging that Bellamys anti-white, sexist and homophobic words and actions may have created a hostile work environment for some of those employees.

Although Kessler and USA Secretary Smith declined to discuss the matter, Smith offered a quick statement: Lets just say time will tell. Well keep you in suspense. But were not taking any more questions right now.
CULPEPER  Bailey Wilsons sketch detailing diversity could garner her $30,000 toward a college scholarship and a $50,000 Google for Education grant for Culpeper County High School to go toward the establishment and improvement of a computer lab or technology program.

The 16-year-old junior, however, must win the Doodle for Google national campaign, a contest open to K-12 students across the United States to redesign the Google logo using the theme What I see for the future.

During Thursdays assembly at CCHS, two Google representatives revealed that Bailey is one of 53 winners from the U.S., Puerto Rico and Guam for the ninth annual competition.

Bailey will represent Virginia during the national competition in March. Baileys Google image, Stronger Together, represents a future in which all hatred and negativity has ceased to exist and features nine people standing in front of a brick wall with the words Respect, Love, Strength, Unity and Peace around the word Google. The os in Google are filled with a peace sign and a heart.

I drew this because I think its really important, especially now, that everyone is included and that theres respect and love for everyone, and Im really happy that I was chosen for this message to be put out there, said Bailey, who said her artwork took about six hours to complete.

Google marketing representatives Jarett Jacobsen and Alexandra Abed, both of California, presented Bailey with an Android tablet and a Google T-shirt.

We want to showcase the students and their art and how they can influence people and show their creativity and their uniqueness behind it, said Abed.

Baileys doodle was selected from thousands of entries received this year.

Voting for the national finalist is open until March 6 at google.com/doodle4google/vote.html, and the public vote will determine the five national finalists, with one from five grade groups.

Google will announce these five national finalists  one of them as the national winner  on March 31, and the winners doodle will go live on Google.com that day, according to a news release.
      :       FIR;        
DEAR HARRIETTE: I try to stay up-to-date on the newest fashion and beauty trends. I have tried extending my look into the workplace, a local coffee shop, and have gotten compliments from customers. My boss, who is old enough to be my father, constantly gives me an eye roll whenever I come in with a new piercing or hair color. I wear my uniform and maintain a well-kempt appearance. Should I tone down my style just because my boss doesn't like how I present myself? I cannot lose this job. -- Beauty vs. Bills, Syracuse, New York

DEAR BEAUTY VS. BILLS: This is tricky, in that legally you should be able to present yourself any way you want, within reason, at a job. More subtly, though, it is important for you to have a sense of what is expected at your job and for you to find a way to express your own creativity within a comfort zone for your boss, too.

Why not speak to your boss directly? Tell him that you enjoy having fun with fashion and beauty trends, but you have noticed that he sometimes seems to disapprove. Remind him that you do not break the rules. You always wear your uniform and stay neat and clean. Ask him if he has objections, what they are and how you can agree on a compromise that allows you some freedom and gives him some comfort. Talking to him may break the ice. You never know what your image provokes in him. If he has children your age who are experimenting with piercings, tattoos, colored hair, etc., you may be reminding him of what is happening in his life. Who knows? Talk to him.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have a long first name and am almost always referred to by my nickname, "Dani." When I introduce myself for interviews or more formal occasions, I want to introduce myself as "Danielle," but I fear I will be seen as stuck up. As I get older, is it OK to abandon the shortening of my name? I would prefer to be called by my whole name, but I don't want to negatively answer "Can I call you Dani?" -- Full Name Only, Stamford, Connecticut

DEAR FULL NAME ONLY: Let's start with your name: Danielle is not long. It sounds like you are part of a community that likes to shorten names. Living in a nickname culture can make it tough to reinforce a more formal name.

Here's the thing -- your name belongs to you. You have every right to be called whatever you prefer. If you are asked if people can shorten your name, say no. State that you prefer being called Danielle. This may take time, but certainly in job interviews and other formal events, feel free to claim your full name. What happens for many people is that over time as they mature, their new set of associates and friends begins to call them by the name they put forth. Often, family and childhood friends will cling to your nickname for life. You may have to endure that. Later in life you may even consider it nostalgic.

DEAR HARRIETTE: As an early Valentine's Day present, my ex-boyfriend left a 6-foot-tall teddy bear at my front door. An oversized card was attached along with the bear. There is no possibility of a reunion between us, and I am stuck with this gigantic stuffed animal. Should I offer it back to him? I was thinking about donating it to a children's hospital, but this bear must have cost hundreds of dollars. -- Can't Bear It, Milwaukee

DEAR CAN'T BEAR IT: If you feel like having a conversation with your ex, you can offer him back the bear. Thank him for it, but say that you cannot keep it. Know that you will be putting yourself in a situation where you will have to talk and likely explain your reason for not wanting to be together all over again. It could be kind for you to talk to him if you believe that you will be able to talk straight and be heard without having any old wounds open up as a result.

If you are not up for or interested in having that chat, donate it. Your idea of giving it to a children's hospital is perfect. The bear was offered to you with love, and those children need every ounce of love they can get. You will be honoring his gift even though you will not be keeping it.

FYI: My husband bought a giant bear for my daughter a few years ago, and it wasn't that expensive. Even the big ones come in different prices. Don't let your guilty feelings about your ex spending money on you keep you from taking care of yourself.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I am sober since a near-death experience with alcohol poisoning. I have learned to cope without a drink or shots at the bar; however, I have learned that people question my sobriety behind my back. I hate these rumors swirling, considering they aren't true. Should I confront the perpetrators of the rumor, or simply take the high road? -- Sober Sally, Dallas

DEAR SOBER SALLY: One of the side effects of stopping drinking (or any other communal habit) and still hanging with people who do it is that people will talk. You cannot control their chatter, nor should you try. What you must do instead is guard your sobriety. Even though you are strong right now, you may want to consider fortifying yourself by going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, at least for a while. You can gain insight into why people do the things they do with excessive drinking, and learn strategies for how to stay sober in the long run. These meetings are confidential, and many people have testified to their immediate and ongoing support in keeping them sober. Go to aa.org to find a meeting in your area.

One of the things that 12-step programs suggest is that you be aware of people, places and things. I mention this because your hanging out at bars with your friends could be dangerous in the long run. You may want to consider choosing more neutral locations to get together with them, as you also consider widening your friend pool. Find some sober friends to be part of your inner circle.

DEAR HARRIETTE: This past election spurred me to get involved in government. I have gone to town hall meetings, but I feel as though I am not doing enough. I want to seriously influence changes in my community and state. How can I finally make my voice loudly heard so I can see some changes? I can't quit my job to become a full-time politician. -- Riled Up, Jackson, Mississippi

DEAR RILED UP: If there is one good thing that came of the most recent presidential election, it is that many people have awakened to the political process, and apathy is waning. We all need to pay attention to what's happening in our cities, states and nation.

Not everyone is called to full-time political office. What you may not know is that there are many elected and non-elected formal roles that people can take while keeping their full-time jobs.

Getting involved in local politics does start by attending the meetings. Beyond that, you can run for a range of roles, from member of the school board to alderman to city council. You can volunteer for a political campaign of another candidate and agree to canvass neighborhoods on weekends to get the message out in advance of coming elections. You can also write and call your local and national elected officials on a regular basis to make your opinions known. This is a simple step that has been in place for many years and can help officials to be clear on the convictions of their constituents.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I don't want my teenage children going to the marches and protests taking place in my city. These marches are for causes I support, like women's rights, the environment and raising the minimum wage. But these marches can get dangerous and almost always have a police presence. Also, I am not sure how much of a positive impact they end up having in the long run. How can I ensure that my teenagers are in school and not out on the street with signs? -- Skipping School, New York City

DEAR SKIPPING SCHOOL: I want to encourage you to rethink your position. The fact that your teenage children want to be involved in the political process and speak up about their thoughts is a good thing. It will encourage active participation in the voting process when they come of age. Of course you want them to be safe. A different approach might be to offer to go with them, letting them know that you want to protect them from harm. You can also give them instructions on how to be in a crowd, including not pushing their way into a crush of people where it can get dangerous, even when people are well meaning. You can find out from their school if any organized or chaperoned efforts are being considered as these protests pop up.

Reality says you may not be able to prevent them from going. What you want to avoid is having them lie to you. Then you really won't be able to protect them. I recommend that you keep the dialogue open, talk about safety and possibly even become their chaperone.

DEAR HARRIETTE: In photos, I like to pose only on a certain side (the left). This is definitely my best angle, and I've struggled with figuring out how to ask people to move or switch with me so I can look my best in photos. What is the best way to phrase this? I don't want to sound overbearing, but I do want pictures I can be proud of. -- Cheese!, Milwaukee

DEAR CHEESE!: You are going to have to accept the reality that you will not be able to get your perfect photo angle in every picture without seeming arrogant and selfish. So you have to be strategic. When group photos begin to form naturally, you can scoot yourself over to the best location for you. You can even sometimes say that you want to be in a particular place because "this is my best side," but don't become obnoxious about it.

Instead, practice taking photos in different ways so that you find a few poses that make you feel comfortable. Usually, a slight movement of the chin or repositioning of the shoulders can help one's overall look in a photo. You can practice by taking selfies alone or with a trusted friend.

In the end, I recommend relaxing and enjoying being with the people with whom you are being photographed, rather than obsessing about your perfect side.

DEAR HARRIETTE: As I am writing this, I have just gotten some free time from sorority recruitment events. After two full days of nearly nonstop events, I realized that I am falling behind on extracurriculars and schoolwork. All of my friends have made it through Greek life; however, I find it taking up all of my time. At this rate, I feel like I may have to leave my sorority. Is there any way I can try to find a balance? I tend to crash the second I don't have to be at a mandatory event. -- Greek Grievances, St. Paul, Minnesota

DEAR GREEK GRIEVANCES: This could be a good thing for you, as the intense work requirements for your sorority are preparing you for what your work life may be like when you graduate. At the same time, you do need to learn to create boundaries, to be able to plan out your week or month and include everything, including your sorority. That said, it's not healthy when there is no endpoint and your studies and health are compromised. Evaluate your schedule, and carve out downtime as well as time for schoolwork and other activities. Tell your sorors that you can participate fully on some activities, but -- especially if you have to prepare for a test or do homework -- you might have to miss an event or two.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I lost about 50 pounds in the past three years and now look back on old photos of myself in shock. I do not know if I feel proud of how far I have come, or ashamed that I let myself be so overweight to begin with. Additionally, showing people pictures of me before I lost weight usually opens up the Pandora's box of others not recognizing me and asking me why I decided to lose weight.

Are photos of myself from the past something I should take down in my home if I don't want any questions about my weight loss? I used to think people would know not to ask unless I brought it up first. -- Transformer, Richmond, Virginia

DEAR TRANSFORMER: You should not take down old pictures of yourself. They are part of who you are. Be proud of your accomplishments and your journey to reach where you are today. You do not need to emphasize your weight loss or draw people over to old photos -- advice I would also give someone who had not experienced dramatic weight loss, as it's better to steer most conversation to the present.

That said, when people transform their bodies dramatically, it is natural for others to ask what they did or how they did it. For some people, the question is personal. They want to know if they can possibly do it too. For others, it's pure curiosity. I suggest that you stand proud of your efforts to be strong and committed to your health. You may want to add some current photos of yourself with friends enjoying your life.

Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106
Thank you for reading!

To read this article and more, subscribe now for as little as $1.99.
A blog about life under, and resisting, a dictatorship
Skip to main navigation

Steelhead Fishing in Lake Erie Tributaries

Lake Erie's tributary streams, both big and small, receive an annual run of migratory rainbow trout called "steelhead." From October through April, thousands of steelhead ascend New York's Lake Erie tributaries on their mission to spawn. Excellent fishing opportunities await any angler who wishes to try their hand at steelhead fishing. Between the acrobatic leaps, long drag-screaming runs and rod quaking head shakes, the fight of an early run steelhead is a truly exhilarating experience. It is no wonder that this steelhead fishery draws anglers from across New York, surrounding states, and Canada.

Lake Erie Steelhead

New York's Lake Erie steelhead fishery is supported by an extensive stocking program and natural reproduction. Current NYS DEC stocking targets are 230,000 Washington strain yearlings that are stocked annually between 9 major tributaries. In recent years, the DEC has also stocked surplus Skamania strain steelhead in Cattaraugus Creek when available. Stocked steelhead typically spend two years in the open lake, feeding on smelt and other forage, before maturing and returning to the tributaries as three year olds. Besides steelhead, brown trout and a small number of domestic rainbow trout are stocked into Lake Erie as yearlings. These stockings supplement and diversify the harbor, main lake and tributary fisheries. In addition to stocking, the steelhead population is further supplemented by natural reproduction in the New York tributaries, most notably Cattaraugus Creek and its feeder streams.

The Washington strain is a winter run, anadromous strain of rainbow trout (steelhead) derived from eggs imported from the state of Washington. In Washington, the native stock migrate between the Pacific Ocean, where they do most of their growing, and freshwater mountain streams, where they spawn. Similarly, the naturalized Washington strain steelhead in Lake Erie utilize the lake for the bulk of their feeding/growing and the tributary streams for spawning. Mature Washington strain steelhead enter the Erie tributaries as early as mid-September; however the bulk of the run occurs from mid-October through April.

The Skamania strain also originates from the state of Washington. This anadromous strain is considered a summer-run fish as they have the potential to enter streams earlier than Washington strain fish. The DEC has stocked Skamania steelhead in Cattaraugus Creek since 2005 with the hopes of boosting the early runs by having fish enter the creek in late August through September. A portion of stocked Skamania steelhead have a double fin clip: adipose fin and left pectoral fin.

Steelhead Tackle and Equipment

Steelhead in the Lake Erie tributaries generally average 5-8 pounds; however fish up to 10-12 pounds are common, so specific equipment is required. Lighter equipment used for inland trout will simply not do. Leave your ultralight spinning rod or 3-4 weight fly rod at home as these powerful fish can break lighter equipment. In addition, by using light gear, there is also a tendency to overplay or completely exhaust the fish which could lead to delayed mortality.

Spinning Combo

The spinning rod and reel combo is the most widely used fishing gear; so many anglers first try for steelhead using this combo. Its versatility and ease of use are good reasons for its popularity. A spinning combo works well for drifting egg sacs or casting spinners, spoons and stickbaits. At the very minimum, a 6.5 foot long medium action rod combined with a spinning reel capable of handling 6-12 lb test line will work for steelhead. Eight pound test main line is a safe bet for a combo like this. More often, steelhead anglers employ 8.5-10 foot rods with medium or medium-light action that are rated for 6-12 pound test line. These rods combined with a multiple ball bearing reel with a smooth but strong drag system and at least 150 yards of 6-8 pound test line is a good all around steelhead spinning combo.

Some anglers prefer to use a spinning reel with an ultra long and lighter action "noodle rod", which can be up to 14' long and rated for as little as 2-4 pound test line. An advantage of noodle rods is they allow for delicate presentations of small baits on light leaders, which is beneficial when fishing for spooked fish in clear water. A longer rod also helps improve your drift by reducing slack and keeping more line out of the water.

Float Fishing

Float fishing is a very effective method of catching steelhead and subsequently has become quite popular among steelhead anglers. Also referred to as center pin fishing, this method gives the angler better control over drifts and the ability to make much longer drifts than their spinning combo counterparts. Rods are generally long, between 11.5 and 14 feet long. The center pin reel is the basis behind this technique. These reels resemble fly reels, but with a larger diameter. The main difference is that center pin reels are free-spinning with no drag mechanism. Essentially, the angler's hand acts as the drag when fighting a fish. The spool sits on a central spindle and line peels from the reel smoothly when pulled by the stream current. Center pin reels for steelhead should hold 250-300 yards of 8-10 pound test line.

Fly Fishing

Anglers can use 6-8 weight fly rods that are between 8-11 feet long to catch steelhead. However, a 7 weight, 10 foot long rod is considered a good all around steelhead rod for the Lake Erie tributaries. This size can be used effectively to dead drift egg patterns or swing streamer patterns. Fly rods of 7 weight plus often come with an extended fighting butt, which is helpful when fighting these powerful fish. Fly reels should have a smooth adjustable disc drag system and have the capacity to hold the floating fly line and at least 100 yards of 20 pound test dacron backing. Large arbor reels are ideal for steelhead fishing. The larger spool diameter of these reels allows for quicker line retrieval, reduces line memory and allows for a more consistent, uniform drag. Most steelhead anglers go with a weight forward floating fly line because of its versatility; it can be used effectively for dead drifting with a strike indicator and also works well casting large streamers.

Fishing Locations

Tributary fishing is by far the most utilized and productive aspect of the Lake Erie steelhead fishery. Any stream that empties into Lake Erie has the potential for a steelhead run. The major Lake Erie tributaries such as Cattaraugus, Canadaway, Chautauqua and Eighteen Mile Creeks are the most popular among steelhead anglers. This is due to the high quality of steelhead runs and the amount of public access on these streams. Stream information and Public Fishing Rights Maps that detail public fishing areas are available for each of these popular tributaries. Other tributaries such as Buffalo, Cayuga, Cazenovia, Silver and Walnut Creeks receive good runs of steelhead; however there is very limited or no public access on these streams. In addition, numerous small tributary streams or feeders to the larger streams can provide decent fishing. To fish sections of stream that are on private lands, you must have landowner permission. Your fishing license is not a permit to trespass on private property.

Lake Erie harbors also offer steelhead angling activity, most notably Dunkirk and Barcelona Harbors. Anglers can catch trout in these harbors from October through April when not frozen; however the most productive months are March and April. Buffalo Harbor and the head of upper Niagara River also have some trout fishing activity.

Starting in mid-August, steelhead begin staging in deeper water off the major tributary mouths in preparation for their seasonal run. At that time, trollers can target steelhead in 70-90 feet of water. Spoons work well when run near the thermocline at 2-2.5 miles per hour. The deep water bite can last through September. As creek temperatures drop during September and October, trolling closer to the creek mouths becomes productive as the first of the steelhead start to enter the creeks. Also at that time, wading and casting spoons near creek mouths or from the Cattaraugus Creek breakwall works well at dawn and dusk.

Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Overview Map (PDF)

Steelhead Streams with Public Access




Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
New Delhi: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) today said it will invest Rs 7,327 crore in developing four oil and gas projects, including the Ratna field which it had got back from Essar Oil.

The Board of ONGC approved an investment of Rs 4,104.63 crore in development of R-Series fields including revival of R-12 (Ratna), the company said in a statement.

Ratna field was discovered in 1979 and put on production in 1983 which continued till 1994. The Government awarded the contract for development of Ratna and R-Series fields in 1996 to a consortium led by Essar Oil.

However, the contract could not be signed due to various issues and in March last year the Government reverted the Ratna & R-Series fields to ONGC for development and production.

Out of 37 structures in the Ratna-R Series field, which is located about 130-km offf Mumbai, 8 structures were found to be oil bearing and only one R-12 (Ratna) field was under exploitation during the period 1982 to 1994. The remaining R-series structures are yet to be monetized, it said.

ONGC said first oil is expected by 2018-19 but the peak out of 14,583 barrels per day is expected to be achieved in 2019-20. The field will produce a cumulative of 8.39 million tons of oil and 1.696 billion cubic meters of gas during the project life.

ONGC Board also approved redevelopment of Santhal field in Gujarat at a cost of Rs 1,162.56 crore. The field located in Mehsana Asset in North Gujarat was discovered in 1971 and put on production in 1974.

ONGC will use enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques to double recovery rate from current 17 per cent. After the project, cumulative oil production from the field is expected to be 20.46 million tons by 2029-30.

The company will invest another Rs 546.15 crore in development of B-147 field in western offshore.

"The field, discovered in March 1991, is a marginal field which would have been otherwise uneconomical to develop on a standalone basis. However, after creation of infrastructure in the nearby fields, there is an opportunity to develop this field by utilising existing surface facilities in an optimised cost environment," the statement said.

The field will produce 0.489 million tons of oil and 0.708 billion cubic meters of gas during the project life with peak oil and gas production estimated at about 1,576 barrels of oil per day and 0.25 million standard cubic meters per day of gas.

The project is scheduled for completion by November 2019. Another Rs 511.30 crore will be spent in development BSE-11 block in western offshore to produce 1,000 barrels of oil per day, 1,808 barrels of condensate a day and peak gas production of 0.34 mmscmd.

ONGC said another Rs 1,002.67 crore would be investment in 4th Phase Development of NBP field in western offshore to produce 2.08 million tons of more oil. B-147, BSE-11 block and NBP field will be completed by November 2019.
New Delhi: Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) today said it has received a demand notice from income tax authorities for a sum of Rs 32.87 crore. The company is contesting the demand, which is for the assessment year 2013-14, SPARC said in a regulatory filing.

"The company is in receipt of a 'Demand Notice' under the Section 156 of the Income Tax, 1961, demanding the payment by the company of a sum of Rs 32.87 crore for the assessment year 2013-14," it said.

The company is contesting the demand and will file an appropriate appeal against this under the applicable provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, within the stipulated period, it added. SPARC was demerged from Sun Pharma as a pharma research and drug discovery company in 2007.
New Delhi: India has submitted a proposal at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to start discussions on trade facilitation agreement in services. The proposal aims at liberalising rules for movement of professionals and other steps to reduce transaction costs to boost growth of the services sector.

"Today we have submitted the legally vetted paper in Geneva," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters here. She said that the special committee of the global trade body WTO will discuss the proposal in March.

India is pitching for this trade facilitation agreement in services as the sector contributes over 60 per cent to the GDP and 28 per cent to total employment. The move is aimed at developing a broader framework governing global services trade, just like a TFA on goods.

A TFA in services would focus on issues like liberalised visa regime, long-term visas for business community and freer movement of professionals for the greater benefit of both India and the world, among others.

The WTO's trade facilitation agreement on goods has come into effect from yesterday with its two-thirds members ratifying the pact.
ADB had last September approved $631 million in loans and grants for the industrial corridor.

New Delhi: India and ADB have signed $375 million pact for loans and grants to develop 800-km Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, which is the first phase of a planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor.

ADB had last September approved $631 million in loans and grants for the industrial corridor.

The ADB said in a statement that it approved loans comprising a $500 million multitranche facility to build key infrastructure in the four main centers along the corridor  Vizag, Kakinada, Amaravati, and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti in AP.

The first tranche of $245 million that was signed will finance subprojects to develop high-quality internal infrastructure in 2 of the 4 nodes of the corridor  Visakhapatnam and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti.

Another component of the approved ADB funds that the signatories signed was a $125 million policy-based loan that will be used for capacity development of institutions engaged in corridor management, provide support to enhance ease of doing business and for supporting industrial and sector policies to stimulate industrial development, it added.

The statement said along with the ADB loans, agreement was also signed last evening for a $5 million grant from the multi-donor Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund that is managed by ADB to build climate change resilient infrastructure.

Among the outputs envisaged under the $245 million tranche-1 loan include strengthening and widening of a 29.6-kilometer section of state highway to four lanes to improve connectivity.
Fitch estimates that the banking sector will require around $90billion in new total capital by FY19 to meet Basel III standards and ongoing business needs.

Mumbai: The creation of a bad bank and the efforts of privately run small asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) to help resolve the stressed assets in the banking sector have run into roadblocks.

Whilst the bad bank will help to unburden some of the bad assets, banks would still simultaneously require a credible bank recapitalisation programme to address the capital shortfalls at state-owned banks said rating agency Fitch.

The small ARCs, on the other hand, have met with resistance from banks as they were reluctant to take a haircut on their bad loans, fearing queries from vigilance organisations.

Fitch estimates that the banking sector will require around $90billion in new total capital by FY19 to meet Basel III standards and ongoing business needs.

Asset-quality indicators may be close to their weakest levels, but the pace of recovery is likely to be held back by slow resolution of bad loans, the agency said.

50 corporates account for around 30 per cent of banks stressed assets.

Several small private ARCs already operate in India but they have bought up only a very small proportion of bad loans in the last two years, as banks have been reluctant to offer haircuts on bad loans even where they are clearly worth much less than their book value.
Under the PMGKY, declarants also have to park a quarter of the total sum in a non-interest bearing deposit scheme (PMGKDS) for four years.

New Delhi: The finance ministry has warned banks not to refuse to accept taxes from people under the new black money amnesty scheme  Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). Any bank refusing to accept taxes will face de-authorisation of those branches, it warned.

The Narendra Modi government had announced the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana after the November 8 demonetisation, to offer a last chance to people having unaccounted cash to come clean by paying 50 per cent tax on bank deposits of junk currencies.

Under the PMGKY, declarants also have to park a quarter of the total sum in a non-interest bearing deposit scheme (PMGKDS) for four years. In a notice to banks, the ministry said that they should make necessary changes in their system/software to accept the tax. Non-compliance of this order may be viewed seriously and may lead to de-authorisation of that branch in case of refusal to accept taxes, the ministry said.

The scheme opened on December 1. There have been complaints that many banks were not accepting payments of tax under PMGKY due to lack of awareness of the prescribed challan and certain technical reasons.

Accordingly, the matter was referred to the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts, who issued an order directing banks to accept taxes under the PMGKY or face action.

As per the scheme, taxes will have to be paid first and then the scheme can be availed of on production of the tax receipt, unlike the recent Income Disclosure Scheme and other such plans wherein disclosures were made first and taxes were recovered later. Also, as the disclosures will be kept confidential, the holder of unaccounted cash need not disclose it in his/her I-T Returns form.

Those who don't declare their black money and are caught by the tax department will have to now pay tax between 77 per cent to 100 per cent and will also be liable for prosecution.
New Delhi: Regulator Sebi today barred Gautam Sanjay Khandelwal from capital markets till further directions for being involved in manipulative transactions and misuse of the securities market.

Besides, Khandelwal carried out research analyst activities without obtaining regulatory approval. By indulging in such activities, Khandelwal has violated research analysts regulations and PFTUP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practice) norms.

The decision comes after Sebi received investor complaints alleging SMSes from certain numbers with fake or bogus recommendations on trading. A preliminary examination of trades conducted by Sebi found that Khandelwal sent SMSes recommending purchase of Supreme Tex Mart Ltd (STML) shares.

The messages, attempted to induce investor interest in the scrip, were misleading as details regarding poor financial fundamentals of the company  the fact that STML was a sick company -- were not revealed.

Khandelwal took contra position in the STML scrip and sold shares of the company during the same time as he was sending messages recommending purchase of the scrip, Sebi noted.

"I am of the considered view that the scheme, plan, device and artifice employed in this case is prima facie a fraud in the securities market inasmuch as it involves manipulative transactions in securities and misuse of the securities market," Sebi Whole-Time Member G Mahalingam said in an interim order.

"The STML scrip's volume and price were manipulated by inducing gullible and genuine investors to trade in the scrip in contravention of provisions of the Sebi Act and regulations thereunder."

Besides, Sebi said, "Khandelwal is not registered with Sebi in any capacity, either as an investment advisor or as a research analyst. The characteristics and features of the business activity carried out by Khandelwal... prima facie leads to the conclusion that the entity is providing services of research analyst".

In an order passed today, Sebi has prohibited Khandelwal "from buying, selling or dealing in securities, directly or indirectly, or in any manner whatsoever, till further directions".

Also, it has directed him "to cease and desist from disseminating news or messages in any form related to the securities market, by any means whatsoever". Sebi has directed Khandelwal to remove all brochures, advertisements and documents with the regard to the scheme.
Mumbai: Condemning the decision of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for refusing to certify his upcoming Bollywood flick 'Lipstick Under My Burkha', producer Prakash Jha said, "This problem will end only when we will focus on certification rather than censoring the movie."

Talking exclusively to ANI, Jha said, "Central Board of Film Certification have certain people, who have their own thought process and they interpret the guidelines differently."

"I believe my film is a beautiful story about section of women, who feel these things but never say something like this. The movie, 'Lipstick Under My Burkha', states how suffocated their lives are and how suffocated their dreams become. It is not about Burkha, but it's a story about Ratna Pathak, who is a Hindu and Ahana, who is also a Hindu," the ace director said.

Stating that many issues were raised before the release of 'Rajneeti' and 'Aarakshan', 'Jai Gangaajal', the 64-year-old said, "This time also we will go to tribunal."

"Indian audience is mature enough and they know what is right and wrong," feels Prakash Jha after his latest Bollywood movie ' Lipstick Under My Burkha' was denied certification by Central Board of Film Certification ( CBFC).

The ace producer told ANI, "These problems were also raised before the release of 'Rajneeti', 'Aarakshan' and 'Jai Gangaajal'. That time we went to tribunal and this time also we will go to tribunal."

"We should view this movie in an open minded way and we should agree that Indian audience is also mature and they know what is right and wrong," he added.

Talking further about the repo that he shares with Pahlaj Nihalani, he said, "I share a good repo with Censor Board chairman Pahlaj Nihalani. He is a great producer of our Hindi Film industry and I have no personal issues with him."

The film has been directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and produced by Prakash Jha.

It stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur in lead roles along with Sushant Singh, Vikrant Massey, Shashank Arora, Vaibbhav Tatwawdi and Jagat Singh Solanki.

The film premiered at the Tokyo and Mumbai Film Festivals, where it won the Spirit of Asia Prize and the Oxfam Award for best film on gender equality.
Mumbai: Actress-turned-director Pooja Bhatt has revealed that a man has been posing as her agent and taking funds from event companies on her behalf. The 44-year-old 'Jism' filmmaker says she is 'horrified' by this incident and plans to take police action against the man named Prashant Malgewar from Solitude Lifestyle Inc.

"Horrified that a man called Prashant Malgewar-Solitude Lifestyle Inc is masquerading as my agent and taking funds from event co's on my behalf," Pooja tweeted.

"This is a very DANGEROUS trend. Strict action needs to be taken against Prashant Malgewar(Soulitude Lifestyle Inc) as this amounts to FRAUD. Prashant Malgewar is NOT my agent or representative. He is a fraudster who needs to be booked for claiming he does," she further wrote.

Pooja wondered how reputed companies could not call the man's bluff and gave him money without even asking for a signed invoice from her.

"A man walks into a reputed event co's office, claims money on my behalf & no-one there asks for authentication or a signed invoice from me? "Have to file a complaint against Prashant Malgewar (Soulitude Lifestyle Inc) New Delhi with both Mumbai Police and Delhi Police for fraud."
Rating:

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan

When a film is directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, expectations are bound to happen. He is back on the silver screen with his much anticipated Rangoon which could tickle your patriotic bone up to some extent, but the film is an out and out romantic film set against backdrop of World War II.

Nawab Ali (Shahid Kapoor) serves British Army and accidentally meets superstar Julia (Kangana Ranaut) on his way to Burma. Rusi Billimoria (Saif Ali Khan), who is the biggest film producer of that time, is madly in love with Julia.

Julia and her assistants get trapped in the attack and Nawab rescues Julia. The two lose the way and reach an isolate village. The two gradually fall in love, but on the other hand, Roosi is in search of Julia. He seeks help from British Army and finds his love Julia back home but it is too late now. Julia gives away her heart to Nawab. Is there a happy ending for Nawab and Julia's brewing love story or Roosi will take revenge of his long lost love? This is what forms Vishal Bharadwaj's Rangoon.

Rangoon is perhaps one of the weakest films of Vishal (not to forget Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola). If his last outings are considered, Rangoon is not even close to them. It is clearly visible that Vishal just wanted to make a love triangle set in 1942.

The trailer promised a masterpiece but the entire film will disappoint you. No doubt, Rangoon is one of those Vishal Bharadwaj lookalike films which is engaging and dark but the weak plot of the film is just not expected. We have seen several love stories set against the backdrop of dark themes like war and terrorism in the past, Roja, Bombay, 1942 A Love Story, Dil Se among some of the best examples.

Rangoon is acceptable in the contemporary day since Vishal is a master of his craft. From costumes to sets, he won't let you down. Rangoon will surely take you to that era of British rule but the point is that you will keep juggling with the thought that is it a war film or a love story.

The most awful part of the film is its climax, which is shot in the most melodramatic format as possible for a Bollywood film. Rangoon started off well and in fact, post intermission, there are several hook points to rely upon, but then as the film reaches its climax, it's not convincing enough. The scene where Julia rescues Nawab from the arrest of British Army is not believable. Also in the last scene, where Roosi changes his mind and helps Julia is laughable. VFX in these scenes are horrible.

Over to the actors now. Rangoon will surely be remembered for its performances. Shahid Kapoor is too good in his act of a soldier. Kangana suits the part in her bubbly role of a superstar of that era. Saif Ali Khan steals the show as an arrogant and dominant film producer. All other supporting actors did a fair job too.

Rangoon is definitely not avoidable but it is certainly not a Vishal Bhardwaj masterpiece. Watch the film for its performances and if you come to know whether it is a war film or a love story, then please post your comments in the section below.
People who actually practise the occult are planning to do a group hex on Donald Trump to get him kicked out of the White House. (Photo: Pixabay/ AFP)

Donald Trump seems to have invited the wrath of yet another group of people because of his shenanigans. This time they are none other than real-life witches.

We are serious. People who actually practise the occult are planning to do a group hex on Donald Trump to get him kicked out of the White House.

Reportedly a mass ritual to defeat Trump and all of his supporters is going to be performed on Friday, February 24th, 2017. The word is being spread using social media and theres also a Facebook page dedicated to the event.
Kochi: A 23-year-old man, who was filmed and shamed by moral vigilantes on Valentines Day committed suicide at his home in Kerala's Palakkad district on Thursday.

The youth, Aneesh, was found hanging from a tree behind his house late last evening, reports said.

A suicide note recovered from the crime scene held two persons responsible for his death. A case has been registered against the two persons mentioned in the note, under section 306 of IPC (Abetment of Suicide).

According to an NDTV report, the man was with a female friend at a beach in Kollam, when a group of five men approached them and grilled them with a vulgar line of questioning.

Apparently, the woman was relieving herself in the bushes as there was no public toilet around. The gang attempted to attack her. The young man who attempted to defend her was also thrashed by the gang.

The entire episode was videotaped and was shared on social media.

The incidence triggered outrage in the state, prompting an assurance from the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. "Such criminal activities will not be tolerated in Kerala," he said. The men were eventually arrested after the couple approached the police.

Kerala has off late witnessed a hike in moral policing cases. Recently a Thiruvananthapuram based couple live streamed harassment by police officers on Facebook.
Bengaluru: When the Suryanagar police in Bengaluru Rural district nabbed 12 people for allegedly preparing for dacoity, they didnt have a clue that they had in fact, caught the killers of Air Commodore (Retd) Parvez Hamilton Khokhar.

The former IAF officer was murdered two-and-a-half years ago and a thorough grilling led five of them to confess to the sensational murder. Investigations revealed that it was a clear case of murder for gain, although killers could not get any valuables from Khokhar's sprawling villa at Smilee Greens Estate Club off Hosur Road in Hebbagodi police limits. He was found murdered on November 24, 2014.

Police said they got information about a gang carrying out burglaries in bungalows located in the area. On Feb 9, Suryanagar police got information that an 11-member gang was waiting to commit dacoity on Chandapura-Ramanasagara Road.

Police swung into action and arrested them all. Based on their information another man was arrested. R. Srinivas, 21, M. Girish, 33, V. Subramani, 32, N. Nagaraju, 28, Satyanarayan, 28, S. M. Suresh, 38, Y. Manjunath, 24, N. Subramani, 29, N. Thimmaraju, 22, N. Babu, 26, M. Babu, 26 and M. Ravindra, 30, were the arrested.

All the accused are residents of Anekal taluk. They confessed to their involvement with 20 cases, including Khokhar's murder and 15 house theft cases.

"When they were grilled about the murder, it was revealed that R. Srinivas, M. Girish, V. Subramani, N. Nagaraju and Satyanarayan were involved. They confessed to conducting a two-day recce of his villa and had planned to commit dacoity. The five men parked a jeep behind the villa. Satyanarayan stayed in the vehicle and Nagaraju remained at the entrance to keep an eye out for passersby, while three others went inside" the police said.

"When they failed to enter through the front door, they broke open the terrace door instead. They searched for valuables in the two rooms on the first floor, but drew a blank," the police said.

They went to the ground floor and locked Khokhars sleeping wife Pramila inside her room. Khokhar, who was awake, tried to catch them, but was overpowered. One man smothered him and the others tied his limbs with cloth.

Noticing security guards in the vicinity, they escaped through the kitchen door," the police said. Police have seized diamonds, gold, silver, and a Rolex watch, worth Rs 1.25 crore in all.

They also seized a revolver, 20 live rounds, and original documents of a property worth Rs 60 crore, stolen from the house of one Zubair Ahmed, in Lakshminarayanapura on July 20, 2016. Ahmed is a businessman who runs a private company and a software firm.

The accused had reportedly tried to fudge the land documents and made futile attempts to sell if off, the police added.
A popular Malayalam actress was abducted by a group of persons and assaulted in a moving car in Kochi last week.

Kannur: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today cautioned against possible presence of those with a criminal background in the film industry, a day after the prime accused in actress molestation case was held.

"Those who are active in the film industry do not have any underworld connections. But there are people other than these actors and technicians in the industry.

"Some among them may have some sort of underworld connections and have a criminal background. There should be a strict scrutiny before permitting them in the industry," the he said here during a function.

The Malayalam film industry is a democratic one and criminals cannot wield their influence over it, he said, if any such attempt was made by these elements, government would extend complete support to check it.

He said police successfully had nabbed the criminals who had assaulted the actress and the probe would now proceed as per their revelations and evidence got after questioning.

Vijayan also termed as "unfortunate" and "wrong" the trend of bringing out fictitious names and depicting certain people, who are no way connected to the incident, as culprits.

The popular Malayalam actress was abducted by a group of persons and assaulted in a moving car in Kochi last week.

Police arrested the prime accused in the case 'Pulsar' Suni and his accomplice V P Vijeesh as they entered a local court complex in Kochi yesterday to surrender.
Hyderabad: A pall of gloom descended on the residence of engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla at Bachupally here on Friday when his parents and family learnt about his death. An American navy veteran yelled "terrorist get out of my country" and opened fire on Srinivas in the US.

The 51-year-old shooter, Adam Purinton, started hurling racial slurs following an altercation on Wednesday night in the US.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, died of bullet injuries in hospital while his Indian colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured.

Some cousins of Srinivas, who met and consoled his parents, told reporters that after completing his B Tech from the city, Srinivas left for the US in 2005 for M Tech.

"Four years back he got married. He was highly appreciated by his managers at workplace. In 2014, he shifted to Garmin company.

"We have been told the shooting is due to hate crime. Srinivas was a very good person... we miss him," an inconsolable Krishnamohan (cousin) said.

"This is a hatred kind of murder (hate crime attack). We normally won't answer when such people shout. I have worked in the US and I know it. I think my cousin also might have not answered back to him. After (US President Donald) Trump we are seeing this... we feel racist attacks have increased. Previously this was not the scene. There were incidents once in a while, now it has become very frequent. It happened in our house this time. It's very sad," Venu Madhav, another cousin, said.

However, they thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for immediate response in the matter by sending two officials for completing the formalities.

"Srinivas's brother stays in Dallas. I co-ordinated with my friends and asked them to help them out. Till now the body has not been given to us and we are expecting the body to be handed over by tonight," he said.

"Sushma Swaraj spoke to our family members and has extended support. Recently one youth (M Vamshi Reddy) from Warangal, was also shot dead in US (California). Such incidents should not be repeated," they said.

Meanwhile, Alok's father Jaganmohan Reddy, who stays in Chaitanyapuri area here said his elder son who also stays in the US called him this morning and informed him about the shooting incident and that his younger son (Alok), who was injured in the incident has been admitted to a hospital.

"I have spoken to Alok... he is doing fine... I am planning to go to the US and meet him," Jaganmohan told.

Besides Srinivas and Alok, a third person, an American identified as Ian Grillot (24), who tried to intervene also received injuries in the firing in Austins Bar and Grill in Olath.

"As per the information I have got, Srinivas, Alok and the American man (Ian Grillot) were in the restaurant. The moment the attacker saw Srinivas and Alok he started shouting on them and asked them to leave the country," Jaganmohan, whose son Alok has been working in the US since 2006, said.

"Neither Srinivas nor Alok argued with him. But he continued shouting and within minutes came out with a gun and fired a round at Srinivas while my son was near the food counter.

"After hearing the bullet shots, he ran out but one bullet hit my son in the thigh. My son escaped... saved his life. The American was also shot by the attacker... unfortunately Srinivas died in the shooting," Jaganmohan added.
According to one officer, since the news of incident broke, a number of parents had approached them to inform them that their children had also been subjected to sexual harassment (Representational image)

Bengaluru: Two more toddlers at the Marathahalli pre-school have been sexually assaulted by the live-in-supervisor, alleged parents who have approached the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KCPCR) late on Wednesday and registered their formal complaints, even as ongoing investigations into the Marathahalli nursery school sexual assault incident has revealed that the accused Mr. Manjunath was a serial predator and that the number of kids subjected to sexual assault by the accused over the last one year could be as shockingly high as 20, sources at multiple investigative agencies probing the case told Deccan Chronicle.

According to one officer, since the news of incident broke, a number of parents had approached them to inform them that their children had also been subjected to sexual harassment. 'We are investigating each case," sources said.

While police said that no FIRs has been registered in regard to last two sexual assaults thus far for which complaints have been received, the mother of a three year old boy who she claimed had been assaulted by the supervisor only a few days ago, staged a protest in front of the school premises on Thursday.

"My son has been complaining of pain in his private parts and we had put it down to his not wanting to go to school, " she said, part of a growing number of parents calling for Mr. Manjunath, the accused, who has thus far been detained, to be formally arrested and prosecuted for his crimes. "When we finally took my son to a doctor, we were told to our shock that he had been sodomised. Our son has identified his attacker as 'uncle.' " Late on Wednesday evening, the parents of yet another girl child from the pre-school also approached KCPCR and lodged a complaint of sexual assault on their child by the same accused.
The government has suspended Bodhan assistant commercial taxes officer Vijay Kumar, senior assistants Venugopala Swamy, Naga Raju, and junior assistant, Hanuman Singh and has registered criminal cases against them. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: The dimensions of the scam unearthed in the commercial taxes department is getting bigger, and more heads are likely to roll in the coming days with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao taking a serious view of the matter.

The government has suspended Bodhan assistant commercial taxes officer Vijay Kumar, senior assistants Venugopala Swamy, Naga Raju, and junior assistant, Hanuman Singh and has registered criminal cases against them.

The scam was thought to be worth Rs 60 crore and restricted to Bodhan in Nizamabad district. The scam came to light as officials in the commercial taxes department and tax consultants colluded to siphon off tax paid by dealers by producing fake challans and stamp papers.

Mr Rao, who handles the portfolio, ordered an inquiry by senior officials of the commercial taxes department, which revealed the irregularities. The scam is now estimated to be worth Rs 400 crore.

Report recommends action on 30 officials

There are 91 circles in TS for collection of commercial taxes. The inquiry revealed that irregularities have been committed in nearly 80 per cent of the circles.

The inquiry report has been submitted to the CMO, recommending action against 30 officials, ranging from the rank of commercial tax officer to joint commissioner.

A simultaneous inquiry by the ACB and Vigilance department has been going on in all the circles. Sources in the CMO said, The CM is very angry at the failure of the higher officials of commercial taxes department to detect the scam though irregularities have been happening for the past three to five years, causing huge loss to the state exchequer. He has directed the CS to give fast clearances to ACB and Vigilance department to conduct inquiries against all the officials involved irrespective of their rank. Since there is no minister for the department, the CM has handed over the responsibility to the chief secretary.

The CM was shocked to find that huge amounts of tax collected from dealers was not credited to the state exchequer and that taxes paid by some dealers were adjusted against others who had not paid at all.
Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was killed in a shooting at a Kansas bar on Thursday. (Photo: GoFundMe)

New Delhi: The United States Embassy on Friday strongly condemned the shooting in Kansas resulting in the tragic death of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, and assured that justice will be delivered and the federal authorities are investigating the case.

"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured. We have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims," the Embassy said in a statement.

Expressing full faith in the U.S. legal authorities for bringing the case to justice, the Embassy further said that the shooter is expected to be prosecuted for the crime.

Charge d'Affaires MaryKay Carlson stated that the United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live.

"U.S. authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognize that justice is small consolation to families in grief," she added.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has assured that India would undertake all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of the former to Hyderabad.

"We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderabad, she said in a tweet.

Swaraj spoke to the father and brother of Kuchibhotla and conveyed her condolences to the bereaved family.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family. We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family." Sushma tweeted.

MEA's official spokesperson Vikas Swarup further said that they will be in touch with the local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action.

"The deceased and the injured persons are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe (Kansas)," Swarup said.

According to local U.S. media, the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran, was arrested after he allegedly blasted off several rounds of fire on Thursday.

The Police say Purinton shot and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani.

"We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," said a statement released by Garmin International.

At least one witness has claimed that Purtinton yelled 'get out of my country' and also heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire.

According to reports, Kuchibhotla died at a local hospital and Madasani and another injured man were hospitalized.

Local U.S. media reports said that Purinton came back after he was asked to leave the bar for shouting racial slurs and opened fire on the people.

He was reportedly taken into custody by the police at Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles southeast of Olathe.

Purinton was working as desktop support specialist for an information technology company in the Kansas City area.

He was described by the witnesses at the bar as a "disgruntled customer".

Olathe Police said the FBI will investigate if it's proven that the shooting was a result of a hate crime.
CHENNAI: DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Thursday met President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a petition to cancel the confidence vote passed in the Assembly on February 18 and order taking up the voting again through secret ballot.

Stalin said he had complained about the functioning of Speaker P. Dhanapal in the Assembly and explained the incidents that took place. Addressing the media after meeting the President, Stalin said he had told the President that the confidence motion was taken up after the forcible eviction of DMK MLAs en masse.

The party had requested the President to cancel confidence motion passed in the Assembly and order fresh voting through secret ballot, he said. In the memorandum, the DMK brought to the Presidents notice the undemocratic and unconstitutional conduct . It said the AIADMK MLAs were taken to a sea-side resort at Koovathur 70 km from Chennai, detained illegally and their freedom of movement was curtailed.

The petition said Speaker P. Dhanapal facilitated Edappadi K. Palanisami to prove his majority within two days and accordingly the House was hastily convened on February 18. It alleged Speaker neither applied his mind while convening nor ascertained whether the MLAs were attending the Assembly with free will and consent. It further alleged At one stage, the Speaker brought the police of the city law and order wing inside the house dressed as Assembly Marshals to conceal their identity, illegally and forcibly expelled and evicted all the DMK MLAs without following the procedure prescribed and forced the other opposition parties to walk out.

Stalin, who explained the contents to media said the DMK did not encourage violent activities in the Assembly, he said and recalled the violence that occurred in 1988 between the factions of former Chief Minister V.N. Janaki and J. Jayalalithaa in the Assembly. When asked about AIADMK deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dinakarans comments that Stalins Delhi visit would end in failure, he said I need not answer him. I did not ask permission from him to come to Delhi.

When asked about Jayalalithaas niece J. Deepak opposing the appointment of Dinakaran, he said It could be some personal problem. It is an internal problem of AIADMK and the DMK will not interfere. Reacting to a question why Deepak who was with Sasikala during the funeral of Jayalalithaa is opposing Dinakaran now, the DMK leader said The truths are coming out. Panneerselvam started speaking only after he lost the CM post. But, the DMK was pressing for the release of Jayas treatment details even before her death.

He demanded that CM order a probe into Jayalalithaas death and promised that the DMK, which would come to power soon would order such an enquiry. He was accompanied by party principal secretary K. Duraimurugan, MPs T.K.S. Elangovan, Tiruchy N.Siva and R.S. Bharathi.

Stalin seeks video footage of Assembly proceedings from Speaker:

DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Thursday requested Speaker P. Dhanapal to provide the unedited video footage of the proceedings of the Assembly during the session on 18 February. In a letter to the Speaker, he said the Madras High Court had passed n oral direction to produce the video footage of the proceedings, during the hearing on the DMKs petition on the proceedings.

He said his party advocates had argued that there were patent illegalities in the Assembly proceedings. He also requested the Speaker to give the requisite certificate along with the video footage as per section 65-B of the Indian Evidence Act for producing in court during the next hearing on 27 February.
Hyderabad: The father of the Indian techie injured in a shooting at a Kansas bar on Thursday, has questioned the need to move to the US for work following the incident.

After this nightmarish incident, do we really need to go work in US? Madasani Jaganmohan Reddy said to a news daily on Friday.

Alok Madasani was injured when Adam Purinton, a navy veteran, opened fire on him and another Indian, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, at a bar in Kansas City. While Kuchibhotla died, Madasani escaped with injuries because of the intervention of an American named Ian Grillot.

Speaking to a news daily, Aloks father said, My son and Srinivas along with their American friend had visited the bar. The assailant started yelling at them to get out of his country. The American friend alerted the bar owner, who sent away the person, who was reportedly heavily drunk.

However, Purinton returned with a gun and shot dead Srinivas, who was sitting alone. "Alok was holding a plate to have his dinner, when he saw the firing and tried to escape. Three shots were fired at him but two whizzed past him. The third one hit a wall and pierced into his thigh," Reddy said.

Reddy confirmed that Grillot had sustained injuries when he rushed to protect Alok from the shooter.

The report quoted a police official as saying that Grillot had tried to pacify Purinton by telling him that Alok and Srinivas were legal immigrants, but to no avail.

Reddy, who resides in Telephone Colony of Kothapet in Hyderabad, said his son had obtained his passport in Warangal, and hence it was initially believed that they hailed from that city.

However, he added that he had received assurance from his elder son, who works in Dallas, that Alok was safe.

Madasani Reddy said he was now trying to visit the US to meet his sons. I have been trying for the last 11 years to book tickets to the United States, but in vain. My work has resulted in the trip getting postponed everytime. But this time I want to rush there to meet my sons, he was quoted as saying.

Reddy added that he had also spoken to Srinivas Kuchibhotla a few times in the past.
New Delhi: India has stepped up its lobbying effort against moves in the US Congress to impose curbs on visas for skilled workers that threaten the tech sector, which employs more than 3.5 million people.

Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said New Delhi has reached out to the administration of President Donald Trump to stress the importance of India's $150-billion IT services industry to US citizens.

"India's investments in the United States have provided jobs to US citizens," she said in an interview. "That has to be brought to the notice of the US administration."

The comments come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Washington to keep an open mind on admitting skilled Indian workers.

Indian software companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd shot to prominence in the 1990s by helping Western firms stamp out the "Y2K" bug.

Trump's "America First" rhetoric on jobs, however, has put their biggest market under threat.

A bill was introduced in the US Congress last month to more than double the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders, which could significantly boost costs for IT companies, whose margins are already being squeezed.

New Delhi has backed a move by NASSCOM, India's high-tech industry association, to lobby US lawmakers and companies to urge the administration not to crack down on allowing its skilled workers into the United States.

A NASSCOM delegation is now in the United States to make its case to officials on Capitol Hill and in the White House.

"We will have to engage with the new administration," Ms Sitharaman said. "Our engagement at every level is intact and continuing."

Indians are by far the largest group of recipients of the 65,000 H-1B visas issued annually to new applicants under a cap mandated by Congress. More than 60 percent of the US employees of Infosys hold H-1B visas.

A global pact on services trade would go a long way towards settling disputes over professional visas, Ms Sitharaman said.

"If only there is a framework...you will know how movement can happen and how certain restrictions can or cannot come," she said. "It's time for countries to sit together and look at it."
In his address in the Assembly on Thursday, Governor P. Sathasivam said that it would be the first such initiative in the country. (Representational image)

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has decided to set up a sex offenders register for the general public as a social deterrence against the increasing sex offences.

The announcement come days after an actress was abducted and sexually assaulted in a moving car while returning from a shooting site in Kochi.

In his address in the Assembly on Thursday, Governor P. Sathasivam said that it would be the first such initiative in the country.

The increasing impunity of sex offences due to lack of social deterrence is a growing concern all over the country. To ensure deterrence, the government will set up a sex offenders register, which will maintain all identification details of sex offenders. It will be the first in the country and will be kept in public domain, said the Governor.

Though the Nirbhaya Cell under the department of social justice has been functioning commendably in the state, Kerala lacked a comprehensive victim relief fund, he added.

The government will set up a comprehensive victim relief fund to provide interim relief for victims of sex crimes, both children and adults, the Governor said. Another initiative on women safety announced by the Governor was setting up of women police stations at taluk levels and enhancing women representation in police to 15 percent.

A woman police officer would regularly visit panchayats on a pre-announced date, the Governor said.

The Governor also announced that the Nirbhaya centres would be enhanced and a comprehensive victim relief fund to provide relief to victims of sex crimes would be constituted.

The opening day of the Budget Session witnessed the Opposition raising banners and placards protesting against various issued like disruption ration supply, drought and women safety.
AIADMK General secretary VK Sasikala arrives to surrender at the special court after she convicted in DA case in Bengaluru last week. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: Tamil Nadu government, AIADMK and dissident leader O Panneerselvam on Friday observed the 69th birth anniversary of late J Jayalalithaa in different ways including planting of saplings and giving away welfare assistance.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami planted a sapling at the Omandurar Government Estate here marking the launch of a drive to plant 69-lakh saplings and a greening project in areas hit by last year's Vardah cyclone commemorating the late Chief Minister's birth anniversary.

The sapling planting drive is being taken up across the state at an estimated cost of Rs 65.86 crore and will be completed before December.

"The saplings will be planted and maintained in forest areas, in the premises of schools, colleges, government and private office complexes, road sides and in parks," an official release here said.

In districts affected by storm, it has been planned to plant 50,000 saplings in private and government lands and 2.2 lakh saplings in reserve forests.

Besides, 2.62 lakh saplings will be provided to public at subsidised rates and all the initiatives will be implemented at a cost of Rs 13.42 crore.

A photo exhibition of Jayalalithaa was unveiled by Finance and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, it said.

Meanwhile, AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala, in her letter published in today's party mouthpiece "Dr Namadhu MGR", said, "Let us vow to protect the party, and work for the people."

Lodged in a Bengaluru prison, she said cadres should give welfare assistance, provide community lunches (Annadanam) to the people and carry on by working shoulder to shoulder with the government.

In a veiled attack on Panneerselvam, she said, "When enemies and traitors wanted to defeat the party and the government, Amma's soul guided us and has put up the AIADMK government in the seat of power."

Paying floral tributes to Jayalalithaa, Panneerselvam gave away welfare assistance to the people at Tondiarpet in North Chennai.

He hit out at Sasikala and her family without naming her for trying to take over the party against Amma's wishes.

"Dharma Yudham will continue (to retrieve the party and government)," he said and reiterated his demand for a judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Jayalalithaa.

AIADMK presidium chairman K A Sengottaiyan led the birth anniversary celebrations of Jayalalithaa at party headquarters here in which Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and other senior leaders participated.

Palaniswami alongwith party Deputy General Secretary T T V Dinakaran inaugurated a medical camp at the party headquarters premises.

Leaders including Palaniswami paid floral tributes to a portrait of Jayalalithaa at the AIADMK headquarters. Similar events were held across the state by senior by AIADMK leaders.

Community lunches, medical camps, blood donation camps and distribution of food for inmates of destitute homes and orphanages were organised to mark the occasion.

Leaders also distributed sweets to public, and gave away notebooks to school children.

Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan released the birth anniversary souvenir which was received by Assembly Deputy Speaker Pollachi Jayaraman.

Later, Health Minister C Vijayabaskar told reporters that across Tamil Nadu, 690 medical camps were being held. "The camp is being held from today till 28 February at government hospitals, people should avail the opportunity," he said.

Finance Minister D Jayakumar said gold rings were being presented to new born kids and gifts to their mothers in view of the birth anniversary of late Jayalalithaa.

In Tuticorin and Dindigul, gold rings were presented to babies born at government hospitals by senior party leaders following the practice of previous years.
New Delhi: Amar Singh, who was expelled from the Samajwadi Party in January, on Friday said he is looking for a "graceful opportunity" to join another party.

"I am available, waiting for a graceful opportunity. If it comes, I will be more than happy to give it a thought...," he said.

He was responding to a poser on his future plans after the Samajwadi Party expelled him.

The Rajya Sabha secretariat has since declared him as a member without any party affiliation.

Asked to elaborate what he meant by "graceful opportunity", Singh said it would not be a "hurried decision" and he would take a call keeping in mind his past experiences.

He told PTI in an interview that since he has been expelled twice by the Samajwadi Party, he would not return to it in future.

Since he does not plan to rejoin the SP, would he resign from the Rajya Sabha seat as he was elected from a Samajwadi Party ticket?

"Why should I resign. I was given the ticket by Mulayam Singh Yadav when he was the party president. Had Mulayam Singhji as party president asked me to resign, I would have happily done that," Singh said making it clear that he would continue his stint as Rajya Sabha member.

Singh, who had defied the Samajwadi Party by defending demonetisation, said he has not talked to anyone in the BJP on the issue of joining that party.

To a question on whether he could be heading the Congress way, Singh was critical of the role the party played during the cash-for-vote scam case in which he had spent time in Tihar jail.

"I have no bitterness against the Gandhis, but I cannot forget the torture I went through in Tihar where I was made to drink water from a plastic bucket and mug," he said.

The one-time close confidante of Mulayam, Singh has of late been critical of the role the SP patron played during the family feud of the Yadavs.

"It was a programmed drama in which all of us were given a role. I subsequently realised that we are being used... I came to realise it was a ploy to distract from the anti-incumbency, law and order situation," he had said.

"Mulayam loves being defeated at the hands of his son. Cycle (SP's election symbol), son, and SP are his weaknesses.

Even at polling day, the entire family went (to vote) together. So why all the drama?" Amar asked.

The Samajwadi Party went through a bitter power struggle between Mulayam and Akhilesh, with the latter taking the fight to the Election Commission and, ultimately, winning the battle and the party symbol.

Amar has been blamed by a section of the party leadership for creating fissures between Mulayam and Akhilesh.
Mumbai: An MNS leader celebrating victory in the civic poll and eight other party workers were injured when they were allegedly attacked by a mob in suburban Kurla, police said on Friday.

MNS candidate Sanjay Turde was returning home after celebrating his victory in the recently held BMC polls when a mob of around 100 people armed with rods and sticks arrived at his office in Kurla at around 10.30 pm yesterday.

The mob, apparently comprising of persons from rival parties, allegedly attacked MNS activists present on the spot, a police official said.

Turde and eight other party workers were injured in the incident and were rushed to hospital, he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone V, Parmimder Singh Dahiya said the situation in the area is peaceful.

The victims are undergoing treatment in hospital and their injuries are not life-threatening, he said.

A case under IPC sections 141 (unlawful assembly) 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (hurt cause by dangerous weapon), 504 (breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and relevant sections of Arms Act has been registered against unknown persons at VB Nagar police station in Kurla, the DCP said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy after taking the oath of secrecy administered by Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao during the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan in Chennai. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday released a list of 500 retail liquor shops that will be closed from Friday even as it assured employees of these outlets that they will not lose their jobs.

Soon after he assumed office on February 20 after winning the trust vote on Saturday, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy had issued various orders, including for closing 500 more Indian Made Foreign Liquor outlets of the total 6,300 present in the State.

AIADMK Supremo and late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had announced that prohibition would be implemented across the State in a phased manner and announced closure of 500 liquor shops from June 2016.

In an official release, the Government said the 500 liquor outlets, operated by State Marketing Corporation, would be closed from tomorrow across the state and also assured the employees that due to the closure they would not lose their jobs.

"They will be appointed in various posts in the state owned TASMAC", the release said.
Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said the results of the Maharashtra civil polls were "very encouraging" for his party as it won a number of seats and also opened account in the all-important Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

"For us, it has been encouraging because we won eleven seats in Solapur, ten in Amravati, two in Mumbra, three in Mumbai. Nagpur..I am yet to get information. But it has been very good. It has been very encouraging for us. We have opened an account in Mumbai, we have opened an account in Mumbra (in Thane Municipal Corporation)," the Hyderabad Lok Sabha member told PTI.

"We have done very well in Solapur, Amravati. In Akola, we have won two or three seats. So, this is very encouraging, and I thank the people for making our candidates victorious and reposing confidence. Wherever we could not do better, like in Pune we could not open (our account), we will definitely identify our weakness and take it forward", he said.

On Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s big gains in the elections, Owaisi, in an obvious reference to Congress which put up a poor show in the polls, said at least now secular parties should stop blaming him for splitting secular votes.

"Secular parties should do some introspection and see why are they losing elections after elections to BJP and Shiv Sena. Now the time has come for them to leave their arrogance and do self-introspection.

There is no point blaming MIM every time. You (Congress) are losing your vote. You have lost every where. Now, it's the time for them to do reality check, introspection. Show humbleness instead of being arrogant even in defeat," Owaisi said.

"From day one there has been no truth in this obnoxious allegation (that his party splits secular votes). Look at the results. There is definitely something wrong with them (Congress). That's why they are losing elections after elections," he added.

Apart from Mumbai, the municipal corporations which went to polls in Maharashtra on February 21 were Thane, Ulhasnagar, Nashik, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur.

About 56 per cent voters had exercised their franchise across ten civic bodies, including the cash-rich BMC, which recorded a 55 per cent turnout.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday expressed shock at the murder of an Indian engineer, who was shot dead in US by a gunman in an alleged racial attack, and offered her condolences to the bereaved family, adding that India would provide all assistance and help to the victim's family.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family. We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family." Sushma tweeted.

She further said that the Indian Ambassador in US Navtej Sharma has informed her that Alok Madasani, who was injured in the incident, has been discharged from the hospital.

Meanwhile, RD Joshi, Consulate General of India, Houston and Vice Consulate H. Singh have rushed to Kansas to assist the shooting victim.

"I have spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Navtej Sarna. He informed me that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to Kansas," she tweeted.

According to local US media, the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran, was arrested after he allegedly blasted off several rounds of fire on Thursday.

The police say Purinton shot and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani.

At least one witness has claimed that Purtinton yelled 'get out of my country' and also heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire.

According to reports, Kuchibhotla died at a local hospital and Madasani and another injured man were hospitalized.
The state government has decided to introduce stringent norms over the Central Act to make Aadhaar usage foolproof, encourage Aadhaar-based payments and ensure that benefits reach only the eligible groups. (Photo: Representational Image)

Hyderabad: After the Land Acquisition Act, the state government is all set to bring its own version of the Aadhaar Act, making the card mandatory to avail government services and schemes.

The state version of the Act aims to give legislative backing to the Aadhaar number issued by the UIDAI. The Act was necessitated as the state government has made Aadhaar mandatory to access government services, benefits and schemes; this is being challenged in courts.

The state government has decided to introduce stringent norms over the Central Act to make Aadhaar usage foolproof, encourage Aadhaar-based payments and ensure that benefits reach only the eligible groups. The TS Act is expected to make it mandatory for Aadhaar card holders to undergo authentication or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number, unlike the Central Act.

The Maharashtra and Gujarat governments have passed their own Aadhaar Acts.

The TS government runs over 100 welfare schemes spending Rs 30,000 crore per year. Of this, it is estimated that 25 per cent, or about Rs 7,500 crore, goes waste with ineligible persons claiming the benefits and leakages.

Formalities to take 2-3 months

We are examining the Acts passed by the Gujarat and Maharashtra governme-nts. We are also examining the possibility of inc-orporating a few more stringent norms to ensure that there is no scope for any irregularity in the government delivery mechanism, said a source in the finance department.

He said finance minister Etela Rajendar had a meeting with senior officials on the issue and asked them to expedite the drafting of the Bill.

The chances of introducing the Aadhaar Bill in the ensuing Budget session in March looks remote; officials say it may take two-three months to complete the formalities.
Visakhapatnam: Vizag rural police shot down two Maoists in a shoot-out between the security forces and Maoists, on Friday morning. The incident occurred in a forest of Annavaram area, which comes under the Koyyuru police station limits of Vizag Agency.

The police also recovered two guns and two bags from the spot. Sources said that few Maoists also managed to escape from the spot.

The bodies of the deceased Maoists, who are yet to be identified by the cops, will be shifted to either Narsipatnam or Vizag by Friday evening. The police suspect that one of the deceased was Gemmeli Narayana Rao alias Jambri.

In a previous encounter at Ramguda, 30 Maoists were gunned down in October 24, 2016.
New Delhi: Following the deadly shooting in Kansas in which an Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was killed by a gunman in an alleged racial attack, the Indian Consulate in Houston has stepped in to ensure the victims' mortal remains are brought back and adequate facilities are provided to another Indian, Alok Madasani, who was injured.

"Consul Mr. R. D Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. Vice Consul, Mr. Harpal Singh is also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas. They will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

He further informed that they will be in touch with the local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action.

"The deceased and the injured persons are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe (Kansas)," Swarup said.

According to local U.S. media, the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran, was arrested after he allegedly blasted off several rounds of fire on Thursday.

The Police say Purinton shot and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani.

"We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," said a statement released by Garmin International.

At least one witness has claimed that Purtinton yelled 'get out of my country' and also heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire.

According to reports, Kuchibhotla died at a local hospital and Madasani and another injured man were hospitalized.

Local U.S. media reports said that Purinton came back after he was asked to leave the bar for shouting racial slurs and opened fire on the people.

He was reportedly taken into custody by the police at Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles southeast of Olathe.

Purinton was working as desktop support specialist for an information technology company in the Kansas City area.

He was described by the witnesses at the bar as a "disgruntled customer".

Olathe Police said the FBI will investigate if it's proven that the shooting was a result of a hate crime.
Hyderabad: The Congress on Friday threatened to move High Court against Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for using public money to fulfil his personal vows. Congress leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy said he would file a petition in the High Court soon.

He said the funds mobilised under Common Good Fund should be utilised for renovation of old temples and to financially assist temples with no income. However, the CM donated ornaments worth over Rs 5 crore from the CGF to the TTD, the richest temple, which is illegal, Mr Reddy said.

We will take legal course of action against the Chief Minister. Using CGF to fulfil his personal vows is illegal and unconstitutional. We have never witnessed such a blatant violation of norms by any CM in the country. We will move High Court on this issue, Mr Reddy said.

Stating that hundreds of temples in Telangana are lying in dilapidated condition and hundreds of temples cannot afford to perform even daily rituals (doopa deepa naivedhyam) to gods due to lack of funds, he said, Instead of taking care of such temples, the CM wasted nearly `10 crore from CGF to fulfill his personal vows. Anyone questioning this wastage is being verbally attacked by CM and TRS leaders. The CPI also lashed out at CM for using CGF to fulfil his personal vows.

CPI leader Chada Venkat Reddy said the CM has been indulging in unnecessary splurging of money. He should realise that as CM he should be custodian of public money. Unfortunately, he himself is indulging in wasteful expenditure, the CPI leader said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev during the unveiling function of 112-ft iconic statue of Adiyogi Lord Shiva at Isha Foundation in Coimbatore on the occasion of Mahashivaratri on Friday (Photo: BALU MAHENDRAN. R)

Coimbatore: The Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi asserted here on Friday that the progress of humanity would be incomplete without empowerment of women. Speaking after unveiling the 112-ft high iconic statue of Adiyogi- the Source of Yoga at the Isha Yoga Center near here on the occasion of Mahashivaratri, the Prime Minister said that humanity could hardly progress without the empowerment of women. The issue is no longer womens development, but it is women-led development, he said.

Mr. Modi said that yoga can give peace, which is longed by the world riddled with conflicts. Today the world longs for peace, not only from wars and conflicts but also from stress and diseases. Only yoga can create a spirit of oneness. If the body is a temple of the mind, yoga creates a beautiful temple, he said to huge applause from the crowd. Referring to todays changing lifestyles bringing their own set of challenges, Mr. Modi said, lifestyle related ailments and stress related diseases are becoming more and more common. Yoga is the passport of well-being as practicing yoga helps combat stress and chronic conditions.

Pointing out that women is a manifestation of the divine, the Prime Minister said, I am proud of the fact that the role of women is central in our culture. Our culture has so many goddesses who are worshipped. India is home to many women saints, who led the movement of social reforms. They shattered stereotypes to become trendsetters, he said.

Modi said that India is a land of unparalleled diversity, which has proved to be the nations greatest strength. Diversity is not a cause of conflict. We should accept it and embrace it wholeheartedly. In fact compassion, kindness, brotherhood and harmony are virtues that have kept the Indian civilization alive for centuries, he said.

Stressing on the changing tenets of yoga, Mr. Modi said, its essence has not changed, which needs to be preserved. Yoga is the catalytic agent aspiring for transformation. By practicing yoga, a spirit of oneness is created. Yoga is a beautiful journey from me to we, he said.

The Prime Minister further said, our mind should always be open to new thoughts and ideas from all sides. Unfortunately there are a select few, who in order to hide their own ignorance take a rigid view and destroy welcoming any new thoughts and experiences. In the same way, rejecting an idea just because it is ancient can be potentially harmful. It is essential to analyze it, understand and strive to take it to the new generation in a manner to make them understand it best.

The Prime Minister also lighted the sacred fire to commence the Maha Yoga Yagna, wherein one million people will take an oath to teach a simple form of yoga to at least 100 people each in the coming year and thereby reach 100 million people before next Mahashivaratri.

The iconic face of Adiyogi, designed and consecrated by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Founder - Isha Foundation, symbolizes liberation, representing the 112 ways in which every human can attain ones ultimate potential through the science of yoga.

Several lakh devotees, besides scores of dignitaries including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy, Governor-in-charge, Ch. Vidyasagar Rao and a bevy of BJP leaders were among those who participated in the dazzling event, close to the foothills of Western ghats.
Hyderabad: Madasani Jaganmohan Reddy, father of Madasani Alok Reddy who was injured in the Kansas shooting, is deeply upset over the incident in Kansas, and said he and his wife would as soon as possible visit their son there.

The family has been informed that on Wednesday evening, Alok was with his friend Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a bar at Olathe when American Purinton started hurling hate words at them. The bartender asked the man to leave the place. He went out, but came back with a gun and shouted at the two Indians, Get out of my country, and then started shooting. Alok had a narrow escape with a thigh wound, but Srinivas was shot fatally. Another American, Ian Grillot, 24, has intervened in a bid to stop Purinton, was injured, the family here has been told.

Aloks father, Mr. Reddy said his son went to the US for studies in 2006 and started working there from 2008. He had tried to visit his son a couple of times but could not make it because of his work commitments. He and his wife will now fly to the US and meet his son, he said.
Hyderabad: The residence of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Hyderabad is filled with mourning relatives. His parents are in a state of shock. His family has appealed to the Indian government to ensure the safety of Indians in the US.

We had never heard of hate crime in the US, but we are seeing it after Trump took over as the President recently. It seems they are cultivating hatred against Asians and people from Middle East residing in the US, says Venu Madhav, Srinivas Kuchibotlas relative.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla was the second of three sons of Madhusudan Shastry, who retired from service in IDPL, and Vardhini. His elder brother Parashuram is a businessman and his younger brother Saikir-an is pursuing his Masters in Dallas in the USA.

Srinivas is survived by his wife Sunayana Dumala, who he married four years ago. Sunayana also works for a technology firm in the US.
New Delhi: School buses will now have to be equipped with GPS, CCTV arrangements and speed governors as per the revised guidelines issued by the CBSE to ensure greater safety of children.

These guidelines have been issued on the directions of Human Resource Development minister Prakash Javadekar after a recent school bus accident in Uttar Pradesh, official sources said.

"Windows of the bus should be fitted with horizontal grills with mesh wires. School buses should be fitted with speed governors with maximum speed limit of 40 km/h. GPS and CCTV arrangement should be made compulsorily in each vehicle and should be in working condition all the time," a CBSE circular said.

"The management and the head of the school will be held responsible for any lapse and it could lead to disaffiliation too. School buses will have to be fitted with alarm bells and sirens," it said.

"School authorities have also been directed to voluntarily evolve an arrangement, that in each school bus at least one parent should be present who can oversee the conduct of the driver and the other staff," the circular said.

For security of students a transport manager and a "well-trained" lady attendant will have to be designated. Schools will have to provide a mobile phone inside the bus to be used in emergency situation, it said.

Students will be asked to give their feedback on the transport facility, especially about the driver, the circular said.

In January, 12 minor school students and their bus driver were killed and 35 children injured when their vehicle collided with a lorry near Etah in Uttar Pradesh.
Chandigarh: Construction labourers in Haryana can now look forward to getting food at heavily subsidised rates of Rs 5 for breakfast and Rs 10 for full-coarse meal.

While they would be provided cheap yet wholesome food right at their work place, mobile vans would be deployed to make food available to the poor at the "labour chowks", as per a decision of the state government aimed at providing food at affordable prices to construction workers and the poor people.

This decision was taken at a meeting of the Labour Department held here today to review plans of the Haryana Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board to start canteens under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) which will provide the affordable meals.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who presided over the meeting, issued directions that final touches should be given to the scheme within a month, an official spokesman said.

Similar schemes run in other states were discussed and reviewed at the meeting to arrive at the best possible option.

The Chief Minister said initially the scheme would be started for one year and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and social organisations would also be involved in its implementation, according to the official.
Jaipur: The site of an indefinite hunger strike for Special Backward Class quota turned into the marriage venue for 26-year-old Devraj Gujjar, who tied the nuptial knot here, as he chose not to leave the protest.

Gujjar is one of the 10 men who are protesting since February 16 the scrapping of quota to Special Backward Classes in Rajasthan by the high court in December in 2016.

The men were selected as lecturers by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission. But after the high court struck down the SBC quota, they, like several others, did not get appointment letters.

They are now on an "indefinite hunger strike" in Sikandara area of Dausa district.

Gujjar said his marriage was fixed eight months ago and because he did not want to delay it, he decided to marry Mamta at the protest site.

He said his family members made all arrangements for the wedding.

"Both marriage and job are important in a person's life. After Mamta agreed to it, we decided to tie the nuptial knot at the spot. I will continue my fast unto death. I cannot betray my fellows," he said.

His wife Mamta said that it is tough to decide whether to sit on an indefinite fast and "I am with my husband in his fight. I am proud of him and if our demands are not met, I will also join the protest.

While Gujjar carried on with his protest after the wedding was over, Mamta went to her in-laws' for post-marriage rituals.
Necessity is the mother of invention and it is interesting to see it come to life in the story of the ubiquitous ambulance. The first record of ambulances being used for emergency purposes was in 1487 by Isabella I of Castile. The Spanish army of the time treated their soldiers well and attracted volunteers easily. Among their benefits were the first military hospitals or 'ambulancias'. A major change in usage of ambulances in battle came about with the ambulance volantes designed by Dominique Jean Larrey (1766-1842), Napoleon Bonaparte's chief physician, and is often considered the first modern military surgeon.

A son of a shoemaker, Larrey was present at the battle of Spires, between the French and Prussians, and was distressed that wounded soldiers were not picked up by the numerous ambulances, which Napoleon required to be stationed two and half miles back from the scene of battle, until after hostilities had ceased. Seeing the speed with which the carriages of the French flying artillery maneuvered across the battlefields, Larrey adapted them as Flying Ambulances for rapid transport of the wounded and manned them with trained crews of drivers, corpsmen and litterbearers.

Rural Bangladesh has been battling a different problems, not very similar to what Larrey had on the battle fields. The streets of the country are so narrow, it is difficult for a regular modern day ambulance to drive through. In many rural areas, emergency patients are often taken to hospital in hand-pulled rickshaw which can fit into the narrow streets.

The problem of the narrow roads needed a solution, which gave birth to a small sized, three wheeled solar-powered ambulance that can fit in the narrow streets in rural Bangladesh. The well-equipped ambulances, runs entirely on solar power, and can be used in rural areas with no grid electricity. It can accommodate three people, has a maximum speed of 15-20 km per hour, and a range of up to 50 km, sufficient to get to a hospital. By day it is powered by four 100-watt solar panels on the roof, and by night it runs on four 12-volt batteries, which are charged by the solar panels.

BRAC University's Control and Applications Research Centre is running the project in association with vehicle manufacturer Beevatech. A.K.M. Abdul Malek Azad, the project's team leader and a professor at BRAC University in Dhaka, said that most rural community health clinics cannot afford conventional ambulance services, but that the new ambulance would be cheap to buy and to run. "I thought a low-cost ambulance service would be a good idea for these rural clinics. And by using solar power we can reduce operational costs and save the environment," he said. The inspiration for it came from solar racing cars in Australia. "I thought if researchers can develop a solar racing car, there is potential to develop a solar ambulance," he said.

The ambulance is expected to cost US$1,900 to US$2,500, compared to US$30,000 for a conventional ambulance. Financing comes from the World Bank through Bangladesh's Infrastructure Development Company Limited, with seed funding from the U.S. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

"The last layer of the development includes installation of a battery charging station that is completely fuelled by a solar canopy," Azad said. "This step is taken to ensure complete independence of these electrically assisted rickshaws from the national grid." Five prototypes have been tested and the new ambulances are expected to hit the roads at the end of 2017.

The journey from Larrey's flying ambulances to Azad's solar ambulances was a long one, but one that fulfils a human need and the need of the planet. Solar vehicles are the need of the hour for a planet crying to be relived of the polluting greenhouse gases, that cause climate change and associated extreme climate events. The injured people and the injured planet covey their thanks to Larrey & Assad.
Mumbai: Internal disputes in the Mumbai Congress spilled forth for the public to watch on the day of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election results.

While former chief minister Narayan Rane blamed Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam as the sole reason for the partys defeat in the city, Mr Nirupam took jibes at Mr Rane while briefing the media.

Mr Nirupam also declared that he had offered to tender in his resignation from the presidents post.

The Deccan Chronicle had earlier reported on a storm brewing in Congress ahead of the poll results (Congress men roll sleeves for post election war).

After the results of Congress started pouring in on Thursday, Mr Rane said, Nirupam didnt fight these elections to win.

He was not even aware about issues in Mumbai and how party should raise these while campaigning. He is solely responsible for this defeat.

However, Mr Nirupam countered by saying, He also had some seats. Why didnt he win those at least?

Talking about his resignation, Mr Nirupam said he had spoken to the party high command on Wednesday and said that in case Congress lost, he was ready to take responsibility and offer his resignation.

He went on to add that while he was taking responsibility for the loss, he alone could not be blamed. I cannot be the only one doing the good work. The party needs teamwork. Senior senior party leaders spread a lot of negativity before the elections, especially during campaigning. They leaked internal disputes of the party, which gave a bad name to the party, he alleged.

As Congress came down from 52 seats in 2012 to 31 this time, Mr Nirupam had no option left but to resign. Names of his replacement also started doing the rounds. MLC Bhai Jagtap is the frontrunner for the post while other names including ex-minister Milind Deoras are also doing the rounds in Congress circles.

Deora draws flak

Milind Deoras tweet drew strong reactions on social media. Deora wrote, Conclusion one can draw from BMC election results is that Mumbaikars seem content living with potholes, flooding, malaria & water tankers. Many users said Congress should put its house in order first and then talk about Mumbaikars.
Srinagar: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday called for resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the policy of "bullet for bullet" will only worsen the situation in the state.

"If you want to improve the situation in Kashmir, then the only way is to start a dialogue. The talk of bullet for bullet will only make the things worse," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

He said India and Pakistan need to come together and resume the stalled dialogue process to resolve the long standing Kashmir problem.

"Bullet cannot be an answer to a bullet. Bullet can be answered by patience, love and through dialogue. We should desist from that and hope India and Pakistan come to the dialogue table and a new phase of talks will resume so that this problem is resolved," the former Chief Minister said.

Abdullah, who was a union minister during the previous UPA government, said it was "imperative that an effort be made towards restoration of peace (in Kashmir). Both the countries should talk peace. There is no other option."

He said poor people in the state would be the worst affected by lack of tourism because of violence.

"Death and destruction should come to an end so that the people of Kashmir can live in peace. The tourism season is about to start and if this death and destruction continues, who will come here? Who is going to suffer because of that? It is the poor people here who depend on tourism," he said.

Abdullah also demanded constitution of a judicial commission to look into the reasons for youths joining militant ranks and people rushing towards encounter sites to save holed up militants during counter-insurgency operations.

"We have to take into account their (militants') sentiments. What is the reason for their taking up arms? A high-level judicial commission should be constituted to look into what is compelling the youth to take up arms," he said.

Referring to the warning of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to the youth against interfering in anti-insurgency operations, Abdullah said "That is not right. That is unfortunate because if you have to address a problem, the solution does not lie in the gun but talks."

"Dialogue is the only way and we have to tread that path. There is some reason why people are doing this (protesting near encounter sites). We have to look into that reason and address that reason so that the guns stop and peace prevails in the state," he said.

The National Conference president said Peoples Democratic Partys (PDP) coalition with BJP is one of the reasons for the latest tendency of people to rush towards encounter sites.

"The present government (during electioneering) had made a promise to the people that they won't align with communal parties. (Former Chief Minister) Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) entered into an agreement with them (BJP). The people will not accept this. And this is the one of the reason for it," he said.

Abdullah also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his claim about discrimination in power supply during Ramzan and Diwali in Uttar Pradesh.

"It is regretful. Prime Minister should talk in such a way that unites people rather than creating a division. I had not expected such statements from the Prime Minister," he said.

During his address to party workers on the occasion of the second death anniversary of former NC general secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmad, Abdullah said the youth of Kashmir were "sacrificing their lives for their rights and not for any political positions."

He said the people of Kashmir are not enemies of any nation.

"We are not anyone's enemy. Neither are we India's enemy nor Pakistan's enemy, but we ask them to do justice with us. You have not done justice with us," he said.

He said for peace in the region, India and Pakistan's friendship is vital.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during an election campaign in Allahabad. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: A total of 168 crorepati candidates are in the fray for the fifth phase of UP Assembly elections to be held on Monday, while 117 have declared criminal cases against themselves, says a report.

UP Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 612 out of 617 candidates from 75 political parties, including 6 national parties, 4 state parties, 65 unrecognized parties and 220 independent candidates, who are contesting in the fifth phase, which will be held on February 27.

As per the report, out of 612 candidates, 168 (27 per cent) are crorepatis. Among crorepati candidates party-wise, 43 out of 51 are from BSP, 38 of 51 from BJP, 32 of 42 from SP, 7 of 14 from INC, 9 of 30 from RLD and 14 of 220 Independent candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, the report released today by Delhi-based ADR said.

The average assets per candidate contesting in the fifth phase of polls is Rs 1.56 crore.

ADR said that among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 14 INC candidates is Rs 4.40 crore, 51 BJP candidates (Rs 4.64 crore), 51 BSP candidates (Rs 4.16 crore), 42 SP candidates (Rs 3.48 crore), 30 RLD candidates (Rs 2.20 crore) and 220 independent candidates (Rs 44.96 lakh).

The three richest candidates contesting in the fifth phase are Ajay Pratap Singh of BJP with total assets of over Rs 49 crore, followed by Ameeta Singh of INC (over Rs 36 crore) and Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh also from BJP (over Rs 32 crore), it said.

A total of 156 candidates have not declared their PAN details. Also, 365 out of 612 candidates have not declared income tax details.

Moreover, out of 612 candidates analysed, 117 have declared criminal cases against themselves, it said.

"Ninety six candidates have declared serious criminal cases, including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women etc.," it said.

Among party-wise candidates with criminal cases, 21 from BJP, 23 from BSP, 8 from RLD, 17 from SP, 3 from Indian National Congress and 19 Independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

On educational qualification of candidates, ADR said 266 have declared their qualification to be between 5th and 12th, while 285 have declared themselves as graduates or above, 38 candidates have declared themselves to be just literates while 9 are illiterates.

The report also said that 429 candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years, while 181 between 51 and 80 years. Two candidates have not disclosed their age. In the fifth phase, 43 women candidates are contesting the polls.
Azamgarh: Taking a dig at former Delhi chief minister and Congress senior leader Sheila Dikshit's remark that party vice president Rahul Gandhi still lacks maturity, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Friday said the entire nation agreed with this 'fact' which did not explain why he was being 'forced' into the state.

Addressing a rally here, Shah said, "Sheila ji, the whole country acknowledges the fact which you stated that Rahul is immature but I want to ask why you are forcing him into Uttar Pradesh?"

Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi for questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance, Shah asked him to become accountable regarding the NDA Government's rule in the last 60 years.

Lashing out at the Samajwadi government, Shah asserted that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued several schemes for the Uttar Pradesh Government, but the ruling dispensation in the state was not interested in implementing those.

Further attacking the SP and B SP, Shah said that these two parties have destroyed the state, adding the number in the cases of murder, theft, loot, incidents of kidnappings have risen under their governance.

Amit Shah's response was in reference to Sheila Dikshit's statement saying that Rahul Gandhi is not a mature politician but is ready to take over the reins of the party

"Please remember Rahul is still not mature, his age does not allow him to be mature. He is what... in his forties. Please give him time," she said in an interview to a leading daily.

However, she also made it clear that Rahul was the only Indian politician to talk about farmers' issues, adding that he speaks his mind.

Dikshit also said that the Congress needs a change in its leadership and noted that Rahul should take over as the party president soon.
Bengaluru: Dinesh Aminmattu, the Media Advisor to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Friday gave a new twist to the diary controversy. In a Face Book post on Friday, Mr Aminmattu recounted how BJPs L.K. Advani had resigned in the mid-90s after his name figured in the Jain Hawala Diary.

Mr Aminmattu mentioned about the Birla-Sahara Diary and said PM Narendra Modi should set a precedent by resigning as PM. The punch line came at the end. Thereafter, politicians whose names were mentioned in Govindarajus diary should throw resignation.

When the content of this post was brought to the notice of Ra. Ramalinga Reddy whose name was mentioned in the diary, he admitted that he was called by the IT department after the purported diary was seized. "They asked me whether I had given money. I told the IT department that Mr Govindaraju and I belong to the same party. Except this, we do not have any other association let alone giving money to any one," he said. About Mr Aminmattus statement, Mr Ramalinga Reddy said, Since Mr Mattu is an advisor to chief minister, he can give the same advice to Mr Siddaramaiah and if the latter asks us, we will have to follow it. Meanwhile, when asked whether the CM concurred with Mr Aminmattus view, the CMs office clarified that the Chief Minister did not share any matter with Mr Aminmattu.

Cases likely against BJP netas

A day after the release of purported diary of K Govindaraju, Congress MLC and Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs parliamentary secretary, listing cash transfers to top party leaders, camp followers of the Kuruba strongman are contemplating a no-holds-barred offensive against BJP leaders, including a slew of cases against them. A section of Congress leaders, however, have cautioned against such a move but suggested an alternative of "tightening" cases involving BJP leaders. For, a slew of cases against BJP leaders at this juncture could help BJP leaders gain sympathy ahead of next years polls to the Legislative Assembly, they argued. Speaking to DC, a senior leader belonging to Mr Siddaramaiahs camp felt the state government was moving at a slow pace with regard to cases involving BJP leaders like S. R. Vishwanath, C. T. Ravi and Lingayat strongman B. S. Yeddyurappa. "There are many cases pending against Mr Yeddyurappa but nothing moved till now. For instance, huge cash recovered from an advocates car at the entrance to Vidhana Soudha is one such case which is not heading anywhere. There are several such cases against BJP leaders, not only Mr Yeddyurappa alone, which needs to be expedited. This is what we are all thinking of as of now," the leader added.
New Delhi: Upbeat over feedback from the last four phases of polling in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is now preparing for the battle in the Purvanchal region, including Prime Minister Narendra Modis parliamentary constituency, Varanasi.

Speculation has been rife that other than addressing a rally in his constituency, the Prime Minister could also seek divine blessings at Kashi Vishwanath temple, which can also serve as an occasion to rally around supporters. The BJP leadership, including the Prime Minister, has come under Opposition attack for using communal languages in their speeches. All eyes will be on BJPs Hindutva hawks as polling will also take place in Ayodhya, Deoria and Varanasi in the coming phases. Of the total 403 Assembly seats, polling now remains on 141 constituencies and will go to polls phase-wise on February 27, March 4 and March 8. BJP president Amit Shah is camping in Varanasi with key poll strategists.

Just like other regions, BJP had to face angry cadre and disgruntled leaders over ticket distribution in Varanasi also. Mr Shah and other senior leaders of the party held several rounds of meeting to pacify them. Numerically dominant other backward classes have a strong presence in Purvanchal.

Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party is also trying hard to win non-Jatavs. UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will address a joint roadshow on February 27 in Mr Modis constituency. The BJP cadre has been reaching out to voters with the Modi governments achievements and why the state needs to give the saffron party a chance this time. BJP strategists feel that they are better placed in these phases in terms of demographics. Of the remaining seats, 52, 49 and 40 seats will go to polls in the last three phases, respectively.

In the fifth phase, districts including Amethi, Sultanpur, Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Siddharthnagar and Basti will go to polls. Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Azamgarh, Mau and Ballia will go to polls in the sixth phase. In the last phase, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Chand-auli, Mirzapur, Sonabhadra, Bhadoi and Jaunpur districts will go to polls.
With the killing of three Rashtriya Rifles jawans in the Shopian area of South Kashmir in a militant attack on their convoy in the pre-daylight hours of Thursday, a disturbing trend of attacks by extremist terrorist groups appears to be firming up. Two officers, a lieutenant-colonel and a major, were reportedly seriously injured in the ambush. The three deaths have taken the tally to 20 in the past fortnight alone. Altogether 29 militants have also been killed. But the loss of armed forces personnel appears to be way too high for such a short period of time. This is suggestive of the rising frequency of militant strikes on the Army. Evidently, the past wariness of militants about directly engaging the Army is ebbing. This is far from being a happy state of affairs and speaks of a psychological escalation.

The Rashtriya Rifles unit was returning after a cordon and search operation when its convoy was fired upon past midnight. It is possible that the militants had escaped the search and set up an ambush. At any rate, the militant outfit involved  Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility  had precise information on the movement of the convoy. Less than a fortnight ago, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat had warned in a public statement that those coming to the aid of militants by obstructing the work of the security forces by engaging in stone-throwing against them, or in any other way, while an operation was on, would be deemed anti-national, and appropriate action would be taken against them. Clearly, the warning is yet to have any effect.

The principal reason seems to be that the new generation of Kashmiri youth feels shut out. Unemployment is high for educated as well as uneducated young men and women. They become easy fodder for the propaganda of the extremists. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the numbers coming forward to join the ranks of militancy has grown rapidly. There has also been virtually no effort by the Centre to give the youth an opening, no political initiative to take them into confidence. The impression has grown that the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi regards the people of Kashmir with suspicion, principally due to the religion of the majority there. This is an unhelpful badge to wear as it narrows the scope for lessening of tension. Cordon and search, as a routine process of activity by the security forces, has returned to the Valley after over two decades. The pity is this happened after a sustained interregnum of relative peace. The government must think hard about how to turn things around and reflect on what has led to the current state of affairs. Its simply not enough to blame Pakistan alone.
Young Hyderabad techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla was extremely unlucky to be at the wrong place at the wrong time while his friend Alok Madasani and brave onlooker Ian Grillot, who tried to block US Navy veteran Adam W. Purinton, were fortunate to survive an obvious hate crime in Kansas City earlier this week. Its a terrible irony that the victim of the first such senseless shooting in the Donald Trump era should be an H-1B visa holder from India. Touching aspects have been lent to the tragedy with an unknown American rising to defend a couple of Indians, mistaken for West Asians, and who were under attack from a man who came back to the pub deliberately with his gun to fire on aliens.

It may be too early to say that Mr Trumps immigration policy tilt or the climate of animosity against migrants in a divisive White House campaign led to the incident that is not an unknown phenomenon in a land with liberal gun laws. In fact, the first such hate crime may be portentous as Alt-right and such movements spawned or encouraged by Mr Trumps rise would probably feel emboldened. How much leeway the new administration will give the gun lobby is the more frightening thought. With a right-wing government firmly in place, its only likely that gun ownership will be seen as macho support of the Make America Great Again agenda.
Apart from you my Krishna

Whom should I adore?

O storm-tossed heart I beg her

Bring me safely to the shore!

From A Bend in the

Liver by Bachchoo

Yes, all the worlds a stage  at times a circus stage onto which they bring in the clowns. Marine Le Pen is now the favourite to win the first round at least of the coming French presidential elections. Geert Wilder is poised to make a severe dent in the politics of the Netherlands. Beppe Grillo, a professional clown, runs the party that may rule Italy come the next election; while here in Britain, the minister for international trade, Dr Liam Fox, circulates a list of countries which are potential trading partners, the second of which is er... Africa. Of course the US of A already trumps the clowning list. There is no hiatus in the entertaining programme of events overtaking our mournful and happy world, but one needs must, once again, bring in the clowns: On February 18, President Donald Trump, having occupied the White House for a month, after the shambles of several embarrassments, resignations and defeats in the courts for his Muslim bans, decided or was advised to go back on the stump.

He held a rally of supporters in Florida, presumably to demonstrate through the media that he could still pull loyal crowds, but even more likely to hear himself sound off for hours. He is his own Masters Voice, though his orations are far from masterful. Look at whats happening last night in Sweden, he told his assembled followers, some of whom were placed where the TV cameras would focus bearing placards saying Blacks for Trump prompting one to shout Hes already the President, for goodness sake! Maybe the placards were leftovers from the campaign and what the blacks holding them wanted to convey was that they support his every official gesture. The pronouncement about Sweden posed a puzzle to the worlds media. They scrambled to find out what they had missed. Slaughter? Plane crash? Mass cannibalism? The rebirth in Stockholm of Elvis Presley?

What were the Swedish TV and newspapers hiding? Was there indeed a regrouping and revival of ABBA? Had IKEA invented a robot that could assemble any article of IKEA furniture from the flat pack? Had here been a Swedish law passed allowing pet dogs to have civil partnerships? Maybe all of the latter, but why would any of it appall the Trumpeteers? Were ABBA thinking of converting to Islam and emigrating? Were IKEA robots poised to take over American jobs? Would the civil partnership of domestic pets be taken up as a cause by the liberal elites of Washington? No! Mr Trumps pronouncements, taken in the context in which they were delivered, suggested that he was talking about a major Swedish disaster, a terrorist attack perpetrated by Muslim refugees who had been admitted to the country through the folly of the Swedish liberal temperament and government. The problem was that no such incident had occurred in Sweden. There were no deaths through violence of any sort in Sweden on February 17, 2017.

The Swedish Prime Minister retaliated by telling a rally in Stockholm that in the US, on the same February 17, there were 32 fatal shootings and 128 reported violent incidents involving guns. Oh all right, I made up the bit about the Swedish Prime Minister retaliating, but I didnt make up the bit about the 128 shooting incidents and 32 deaths which ensued on that particular day in the US of A. The Trumpeteers know and presumably support Mr Trumps stance on increasing the number of guns and enshrining in further law the right of Americans, including children, to carry and use them. Mr Trumps critics in the media jumped upon this Swedish booboo and threw his favourite accusation of fake news back at him. He was talking nonsense and entirely manufacturing a massacre in Sweden to justify his attitude towards banning refuge-seekers from the country. Yes, the circus had come to town.

But there is another, more worrying, explanation for Mr Trumps Swedish howler. His office said he had seen something on Fox TV News and had used that as his source for the pronouncement. Mr Trump had in his speech  which I viewed on the BBC  repeated the word Sweden Sweden in a questioning cadence to imply that here was the consequence of liberalism. What the worlds media had reported on February 17 was the massacre that took place in Pakistan at the shrine of Shahbaz Qalandar. Anyone familiar with the several renditions of the qawwali tribute to this Sufi, not the least of them those of Abida Parveen and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, will have heard the lines:

Sindhrii da

Sehwan da

Shahbaz Qalandar

 from Sind, from Sehwan!

And there you have it. Donald Trump, President of the United States, misread or misheard the word Sehwan and mistook it for Sweden. I have no evidence, and can find none on the Internet, of the state of Mr Trumps hearing but have come across the report that he has a reading difficulty. He refuses, for instance, to use an autocue and prefers to wing it with improvisation on the spot. This would, on the part of a high-ranking politician, be an admirable and distinctive trait, a breath of honesty in the lungs of political contrivance, except when it results in the mistaking of Sehwan for Sweden. Jehovah, Allah, Bhagwan and Ahura Mazda come to our aid as this is the man with his finger on the button, which sets off the worlds most formidable nuclear arsenal. Will he mistake Kerala for Korea? Is he able in his cavalier way to distinguish between Canada and Kannada  even though the latter is a language and not a country? I am sure he knows and will be mindful of the distinction between India and Indiana. Please God, dont let the clowns have the last laugh!
Suddenly, urban India seems so yesterday... When I came back from the polling booth earlier this week, it suddenly struck me that every single urban voter who had taken the trouble to get out of their lovely homes on a particularly muggy day, was irrelevant. Even the poor, overworked, underpaid polling agents were wilting and appeared totally listless as the trickle of citizens started to get thinner and thinner. Right across the street were two busy polling stations with long lines that were getting longer as the mid-day sun blazed mercilessly overhead. Choudhary, who works with our family, smiled sardonically at the contrast. He sniggered: Woh sab zopadpattiwaley voters hain... unko paisa diya tha.

Well, most of those queuing up just a few feet away were clearly denizens of the sprawling slum close by. Some work as domestic helps in highrises, others have managed better-paying jobs as drivers and assistants to the saablog. Choudhary is from Bihar. He has been in Mumbai for the past 20 years. But for all it matters, his mind and heart are still in his village back home. Mumbai is a transit point. He doesnt speak a word of Marathi, and says there isnt a single Maharashtrian family in his neighbourhood. Despite his obvious indifference to Mumbai and a lack of connect to Maharashtra, he has ambitious plans of raising his sons in this city. I asked him why when I knew his answer  For a better future... He is not a stakeholder in Mumbai. How can he possibly care what happens to this mad metropolis five, 10, 20 years from now? He didnt bother to cast his vote, because he says all politicians are crooked and do nothing for the people. His neighbours had taken Rs 2,500 each from candidates who had promised to regularise their papers if they came to power. Its the same promise they make year after year, and do nothing.

Its not an exclusive Mumbai story. I watched two Bollywood movies recently and the migrant issue came up in both of them. Not directly, but obliquely. I thoroughly enjoyed both films mainly because there was so much authenticity embedded in the narrative. During the past five years, small town India has grabbed space for itself in the countrys imagination. Not just in popular cinema but also in different fields like sports. The old, exaggerated splendour of aamir log that a socialist India obsessed over has been replaced by a more realistic grip on the representation of our semi-urban communities  the same communities we used to feel embarrassed to own. When Taapsee Pannu, playing a feisty Nimmi in Running Shaadi, taunts her besotted suitor by calling him a ganwaar, it is at once a comment on two things that have upturned our society  young women who defy the rules, and guys like Amit Sadh playing the ganwaar Ram Bharose, who wins the girl in the end.

In Jolly LLB 2, it is Akshay Kumar who plays a Kanpur Brahmin struggling to find his feet as a lawyer in Lucknow. It is the nuances in this clever script that capture the immigrant dilemma without hammering a message home. Both movies use the politics of local slang to highlight discrimination. In the more telling Running Shaadi, it is the semi-literate simpleton Ram Bharose who compassionately helps out Nimmi, the daughter of his overbearing Sikh boss, when she requires an abortion after casual sex with a classmate. Its the same Nimmi who scorns him throughout the film for his lack of education while she pursues an MBA degree and parties with affluent college buddies. There is also an endearing character named Cyberjeet, who is in a way symbolic of the mismatch between a tech-savvy young India which is disconnected with other aspects of modernism. This other India is being projected with enormous cinematic dexterity in smaller films with ambitious dreams. Suddenly, all those monstrous Bollywood productions with big, fat budgets are beginning to look depressingly fake and plastic. I, for one, would rather access the world of a Ram Bharose, just about surviving a kadka charpoy existence in a dilapidated barsaati, than the over-glamourised lives of overdressed superstars playing NRI billionaires and living in homes which are actually hired castles in Scotland.

The new genre of movies of all the thousands of little Indias we routinely overlook and dismiss is endearing and enchanting, authentic and identifiable. Most of the filmmakers stay true to the milieu and the scripts crackle with local wit and subtle digs that make a powerful comment on the great divide between the Mumbai brand of OTT movies and them. This is exactly what is happening in politics as well. Most experts have gone hopelessly wrong with their poll predictions and analysis mainly because they have no idea of the ground realities outside their fancy offices and studios. Just as very few people could figure out what the hell was going on in Tamil Nadu last week, the story in Uttar Pradesh is also not all that different. The results may shock and surprise us all! Ram Bharoses time has come. And so has Nimmis.
An illustration showing the SpaceX Dragon attached to the Space Station Harmony Module. (Photo: AFP)

An unmanned cargo ship packed with food and supplies for astronauts arrived safely Thursday at the International Space Station, a day after SpaceX aborted the process due to a GPS problem.

This time, the Dragon cargo ship made a "perfect approach to the capture point," a NASA commentator said.

The space station's 57-foot (18-meter) robotic arm, operated from inside the orbiting research lab by astronauts Thomas Pesquet of France and Shane Kimbrough of the United States, reached out and grabbed the Dragon at 5:44 am (1044 GMT).

"We had a great capture," Kimbrough said. "Thomas did an awesome job."

The gumdrop-shaped Dragon vessel is packed with more than 5,000 pounds (2,267 kilograms) of food, gear and science experiments for the six astronauts living at the orbiting space station.

"Congratulations Dragon on a successful journey from Earth and welcome aboard," said Pesquet.

The cargo ship was officially berthed to the space station at 8:12 am (1312 GMT), and astronauts will begin unpacking it later Thursday, SpaceX said on Twitter.

The cargo launched into space Sunday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, marking SpaceX's 10th resupply mission under a contract with NASA.

SpaceX is currently working on another version of the Dragon that aims to ferry people to space as early as 2018.

Since the US space shuttle program ended in 2011, the world's astronauts have paid Russia to ride to the space station aboard the Soyuz capsules. The price tag is currently $82 million per seat.

Astronauts will be busy unloading goods again tomorrow, with a second shipment of supplies arriving Friday morning aboard the Russian Progress cargo carrier at 0834 GMT.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
The technology, called Perspective, will review comments and score them based on how similar they are to comments people said were "toxic" or likely to make them leave a conversation.

Alphabet Inc's Google and subsidiary Jigsaw launched on Thursday a new technology to help news organisations and online platforms identify abusive comments on their websites.

The technology, called Perspective, will review comments and score them based on how similar they are to comments people said were "toxic" or likely to make them leave a conversation.

It has been tested on the New York Times and the companies hope to extend it to other news organisations such as The Guardian and The Economist as well as websites.

"News organizations want to encourage engagement and discussion around their content, but find that sorting through millions of comments to find those that are trolling or abusive takes a lot of money, labour, and time. As a result, many sites have shut down comments altogether," Jared Cohen, President of Jigsaw, which is part of Alphabet, wrote in a blog post.

"But they tell us that isnt the solution they want. We think technology can help."

Perspective examined hundreds of thousands of comments that had been labelled as offensive by human reviewers to learn how to spot potentially abusive language.

CJ Adams, Jigsaw Product Manager, said the company was open to rolling out the technology to all platforms, including larger ones such as Facebook and Twitter where trolling can be a major headache.

The technology could be expanded to identify personal attacks or off-topic comments too, Cohen said.

Perspective will not decide what to do with comments it finds are potentially abusive; rather publishers will be able to flag them to their moderators or develop tools to help commenters understand the impact of their writing.

Cohen said a significant portion of abusive comments came from people who were "just having a bad day."

The initiative against trolls follows efforts by Google and Facebook to combat fake news stories in France, Germany and the United States after they came under fire during the US presidential campaign when it became clear they had inadvertently fanned false news reports.

The debate surrounding fake news has sparked calls from politicians for social networks to be held more liable for the content on their platforms.

Jigsaw is offering the product to publishers for free and hopes to support languages other than English soon, Cohen said in an interview. While the technology is in its early days and could misinterpret language such as sarcasm, it will improve over time, Cohen said.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
ISE 2017, the largest audio-visual and systems integration show, was held recently in Netherlands.

Casio, a major player in the industry, showcased its new projectors made with the latest technologies.

At the event, the 4K technology integrated projectors remained the showstopper.

Danyang Oram, Casio Assistant Planning Manager of Projector Division UK, "4K is a resolution that is four times of full HD resolution which gives you a much better image than a full HD, and be able to present a more detailed videos also crispier images on the edge. And also if you look at the presentation in the still images that are not moving, then a full HD projector comparing to a 4K is much different."

These projectors are more environmentally friendly compared to conventional mercury lamp projectors.

A Netherlands teacher said, "I am now very interested in projectors that will work with LED lights so we will substantially reduce our energy consumption. Then we won't be needing mercury for the bulbs we are now using any longer. And I hope therefore, that we, with that, can take another step to become indeed the greenest school in the Netherlands."

The high-resolution and environmental friendly projectors can make the users' life more exciting and convenient.

Sadatoshi Nakamura, General Manager of Projector Development, Casio, said, "We have succeeded in creating projectors using a new light source, the semiconductor light source. Particularly, we developed the hybrid semiconductor light source from a LED laser. By doing so, we have made this table-top style projector with this kind of light. This one is using interactive software, therefore it is operable by touching the 'table-top' screen. When you touch the screen, you can enlarge and reduce sizes, flip pages, or switch displays. With products like this, we are considering how it will be used by the consumers and how we can help them."

In Japan, many infrastructures like the bridges are getting old.

NEC has been conducting experiments to enhance the efficiency of the maintenance of bridges in the country.

Akihiko Iketani, Senior Manager, Central Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation, "In Japan, we have a serious aging problem with the social infrastructures. The majority of the infrastructure is turning 50 years old which is the end of their lifecycle. Because of that, we are spending $10billion per year to maintain those aging infrastructures."

NEC's maintenance staff has been examining old bridges to make repairs by using efficient system.

Iketani added, "The key idea is 'Preventive Maintenance'. Instead of applying a heavy, large scale of repair, we apply small repair at the early stages. Think about curing a cancer. The earlier you detect the cancer cells, the higher the survival rate and the lower the medical fee."

The engineering staff identifies the damage and diagnoses it with adequate technique.

The process of repairing the road is to install sensors on it to measure the vibrations of the cars passing through above at all times.

The movement of the concrete structure will be displayed via visual data.

While the road appears to be a neat waveform when it is normal, when deterioration progresses, it becomes irregular and the shape changes randomly.

NEC is targeting to implement this technology by 2018.

Iketani said, "Any country can have this kind of same aging infrastructure problems. We believe that technologies and solutions that we have proved in Japan can be applied to other countries as well. NEC has the technology. NEC has the solution. We are ready to solve that problem."

In Tokyo, where the residents consume 70 per cent of the electricity in all of Japan, efforts are being made to create a society that uses hydrogen, the next generation's energy with no CO2 or exhaust gas emissions.

To electrolysis water, hydrogen will be generated from the negative pole and oxygen will be generated from the positive pole.

When hydrogen enters the fuel cell, one side of the electrode splits into hydrogen atom and electric. The hydrogen atom goes through the electrolyte.

Electronics develop into electricity and move to the next electrode. After mixing with the oxygen in the air, it comes out as water.

Fuel cell can be charged with hydrogen and it can move automobiles.

During calamities, using the electricity from the hydrogen fuel cell, people at hospitals or shelters can evacuate.

Kiyofume Tobe of the Tokyo Environmental Public Service Corporation said, "In order to prevent global warming, a low carbon society must be achieved. It is very effective considering realizing a hydrogen energy society as a trump card of the low carbon society."

Hydrogen will be spread out into the world and be connected to effectively maintain the environment.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
This file photo taken from video by Nigerias Boko Haram terrorist network, shows their leader Abubakar Shekau speaking to the camera. (Photo: AP)

Kano, Nigeria: The leader of Boko Haram's main faction, Abubakar Shekau, has admitted killing the group's purported spokesman over an apparent plot to oust him, he said in an audio recording.

In the 50-minute tape of a meeting with the inner circle of his militant Islamist group, Shekau said he killed "Tasiu" -- also known as Abu Zinnira -- who appeared in several video messages.

"You should hear me: I killed Tasiu, hear me well," he told the gathering in Hausa, which is widely spoken across northeast Nigeria.

Shekau states the date of the meeting -- December 18 -- and said it had been called to discuss "those elements grumbling over the killing of Tasiu".

AFP received a copy of the recording earlier this month. The tape appears to have been meant for circulation only within the armed Islamist movement.

Shekau's claim appears to lend weight to reports of infighting within Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 in northeast Nigeria since 2009 and left 2.6 million homeless.

Shekau has been the most visible face of Boko Haram over the years, claiming attacks and launching rambling, often barely coherent tirades against the government in a series of videos.

But Abu Zinnira has acted on occasion as de facto spokesman and appeared in video recordings, including those about the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the town of Chibok in April 2014.

He was always shown in military camouflage, wearing a turban and with his face covered.

In one video released in August last year, Abu Zinnira warned that the remaining girls still being held would die if troops attempted to rescue them.

He also renewed calls for the release of Boko Haram members in custody.

In the December audio recording, Shekau accused Abu Zinnira of plotting with another senior commander called Baba Ammar to take over leadership of the group.

He accused them of sending fighters to carry out raids without his consent, spreading rumours among his lieutenants that he intended to kill them and portraying him as unfit to lead.

Abu Zinnira and "other elements" had tried to make him out to the rank and file as being "not on the right track", Shekau added.

"Tell me, what is the punishment... For the people that plot against their leader?" he asked.

"By our code of allegiance we don't hesitate to pass appropriate sanction on any one of us that commit an offence."

Nigeria's military claims that Boko Haram, which in 2014 held territory across northeast Nigeria, is on the brink of defeat as a result of its counter-insurgency operations since early 2015.

Sporadic attacks and suicide bombings persist but analysts tracking the conflict have been intrigued by the apparent split in the group and how it may develop.
Washington: Finding a second Earth may be just a matter of when rather than if, suggest astronomers who discovered a new solar system of seven planets with the potential to host life located less than 40 light years away.

The US space agencys Spitzer Space Telescope found the first known system of seven Earth-sized planets around a single star. Three of these planets are located in the habitable zone, the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water.

The discovery sets a new record for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system. All of the seven planets could have liquid water, key to life as we know it under right atmospheric conditions, but the chances are highest with the three in the habitable zone.

This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life, said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator at NASAs Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Answering the question are we alone is a top science priority and finding so many planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward toward that goal, said Zurbuchen.

At about 40 light-years  235 trillion miles  from Earth, the system of planets is relatively close to us, in the constellation Aquarius. The exoplanet system is called TRAPPIST-1, named for The Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile.

In May 2016, researchers using TRAPPIST announced they had discovered three planets in the system. Assisted by several ground-based telescopes, including the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope, Spitzer confirmed the existence of two of these planets and discovered five additional ones, increasing the number of known planets in the system to seven.

Following up on the Spitzer discovery, NASAs Hubble Space Telescope has initiated the screening of four of the planets, including the three inside the habitable zone.

These observations aim at assessing the presence of puffy, hydrogen-dominated atmospheres, typical for gaseous worlds like Neptune, around these planets.

Meanwhile, the seven newly discovered Earth-sized planets in the ultra-cool dwarf star system may only face one way towards their sun, similar to the Earths moon, and orbit very close to it, scientists have found.
Washington: Recently declassified documents from American archives have said that Hitler may have tested an operational nuclear bomb before the end of World War II.

According to a Daily Mail report, the file APO 696 which was declassified from the National Archives, documented the progress of the Third Reich scientists in producing an atomic bomb.

The file included statements from four German experts -- two chemical physicists, a chemist and a missile expert.

All of them concurred in stating that while Hitlers scientists failed to engineer a breakthrough in nuclear technology, a rudimentary warhead may have been tested in 1944.

The statement of German test pilot Hans Zinsser mentioned him seeing a mushroom cloud in the sky during a test flight near Ludwigslust.

'A cloud shaped like a mushroom with turbulent, billowing sections (at about 7000 metres) stood, without any seeming connections over the spot where the explosion took place. Strong electrical disturbances and the impossibility to continue radio communication as by lighting turned up,' he was quoted as saying.

A different pilot in a separate machine which also took off from Ludwigslust, witnessed the same phenomenon.

Reiterating the claim, Italian correspondent Luigi Romersa was also quoted to have observed the same explosion from ground.

Other archival documents claimed that Romersa was sent by Dictator Benito Mussolini to see the test of a new German weapon.

The testimony of the four German scientists also mentioned a top-secret meeting held in Berlin in 1943 called a nuclear summit. Hitlers favourite and Albert Speer was also present for the discussion, the report mentioned.

While the report claimed that the Third Reich scientists couldnt trigger the chain reaction that would result in a nuclear blast, it could not explain what caused the smoke in Ludwiglust in 1944.

It is well known that Hitler was fascinated by nuclear technology and wanted to use it to destroy the UK.
The $25 million grant program is designed to boost safety at schools and day-care centers considered at particular risk, by funding additional security measures and training needs. (Photo: Representational Image)

New York: New York state took fresh steps Thursday to combat a spike in anti-Semitism and hate crimes, promising a $25 million grant to boost security and a $5,000 reward for information leading to arrests and convictions.

Governor Andrew Cuomo made the announcement after meeting dozens of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders from across the state.

Hate crimes shot up in 2016 mainly against Muslims, Jews, blacks, Latinos, Asians and the LGBT community, according to New York City police.

Advocacy groups have also recorded an explosion in hate crimes since Donald Trump won the presidential election last November.

"With the recent explosion of anti-Semitism and hate crimes, it is more important than ever before that we do everything in our power to ensure the safety and equal treatment of all New Yorkers," Cuomo said.

"Any acts of bias or discrimination will be met with the full force of the law," he added. "New York is and always has been a place that celebrates diversity and religious tolerance."

The $25 million grant program is designed to boost safety at schools and day-care centers considered at particular risk, by funding additional security measures and training needs.

The state is also expanding a toll-free hotline, set up last November, to allow people to report bias and discrimination by text message.

The authorities are also offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to arrests and convictions for hate crimes, Cuomo's office said.

The Jewish Community Center Association of North America has recorded 69 bomb threat incidents at dozens of centers in 27 US states and one Canadian province since the start of the year.

On Wednesday, a bomb threat targeted the Anti-Defamation League's national headquarters in Manhattan. On Monday alone, nearly a dozen Jewish community centers in the United States received bomb threats that prompted evacuations. All turned out to be hoaxes.
Mexican citizens arrive to the airport in Mexico City after being deported from the US. (Photo: AP)

Mexico City: US officials promised Mexico no "mass deportations" or use of military force to expel immigrants, moving to calm tensions over President Donald Trump's vow to crack down on "bad dudes" illegally residing in his country.

US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Mexican ministers who expressed "concern and irritation" over Trump's combative stance on trade and migration ties with Mexico.

Trump has outraged the United States' southern neighbour by vowing to build a wall along the border to keep out immigrants, and branding those from Mexico as rapists and criminals during his presidential campaign.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday issued new orders to step up the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants, many of them Mexicans.

But Kelly promised at a news conference in Mexico City on Thursday that "there will be no, repeat, no mass deportations. Everything we do in the DHS will be done legally."

"There will be no use of military force for immigration operations," he added.

Earlier at the White House, Trump had described the stepped-up deportation drive as "a military operation."

But his spokesman Sean Spicer later told a news conference that Trump was using the term "military" simply "as an adjective" to mean "efficient."

Or as Trump himself put it: "We're getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before."

Mexican irritation

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who met with Tillerson, repeated his vow not to let the United States impose migration reforms on it "unilaterally."

"There is concern and irritation among Mexicans about what are seen as policies that could be detrimental for Mexicans in Mexico and abroad," he said.

"There are well-known differences and the best way to resolve them is through frank, clear dialogue."

Tillerson said the two sides "reiterated our joint commitment to maintaining law and order along our shared border by stopping potential terrorists and dismantling the transnational criminal networks moving drugs and people into the United States."

But he agreed that cooperation on border security had to work both ways.

"We underscored the importance of stopping the illegal firearms and bulk cash that is originating in the United States and flowing into Mexico," he said.

"There's no mistaking that the rule of law matters along both sides of the border."

Kelly said the two countries were also cooperating on ways to stop US-bound migrants travelling up through Mexico from the impoverished and violent nations of Central America.

Strained relations

The US officials met later with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who had cancelled a planned meeting with Trump in Washington last month over the US leader's vow to make Mexico pay for the border wall.

Meanwhile, a few dozen mostly American protesters gathered in front of the US embassy to demand a halt to Trump's rhetoric against Mexico.

In a move that may be aimed at pressuring Mexico, Trump has ordered US government agencies to count how much aid they are giving to that country.

Mexico sends 80 percent of its exports to the United States.

Trump has vowed to crack down on US companies producing in Mexico, hoping to see jobs shifted back to the United States.

He has also threatened to block remittances sent to Mexico by Mexican workers in the United States and called for a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.

Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network Thursday that his country would place retaliatory tariffs on US goods as a "plan B" if a renegotiated agreement left Mexico in the lurch.

Trump has said he is determined to reduce the $70 billion US trade deficit with Mexico even at the risk of harming ties.

"We're going to have a good relationship with Mexico, I hope," he said Thursday. "And if we don't, we don't."
Washington: The US should stop being manipulated by Pakistan and cease all military and financial aid to the country, a former top Pentagon official has said.

As the first step, the Trump administration should suspend Pakistans non-NATO ally status and cease military aid and assistance payments, Christopher D Kolenda, a Pentagon senior advisor from 2009-2014, said in an op-ed highlighting the Pakistan policy of duplicity in Afghanistan.

Lets stop being manipulated by Pakistan. Its time for the United States to restore dignity in its relationship with Pakistan, he said in the opinion piece published in The Hill.

The United States should be prepared to add more penalties if necessary, he said.

These actions will not compel Pakistan to turn against the Afghan Taliban, he added.

Kolenda is currently an adjunct senior fellow at CNAS and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy.

Even under a robust U.S.-led sanctions regime in the 1990s, Pakistan was supporting insurgencies in Kashmir and Afghanistan, while still pursuing their nuclear programme, he noted.

These actions will, however, stop the mad practice of subsidising Pakistan while it undermines the US interests, Kolenda asserted.

He said that the US should come to grips with the fact that it cannot accommodate the competing interests of India, Pakistan, Iran, and others in Afghanistan and instead, the US should back an Afghan declaration of regional neutrality in exchange for commitments of non-interference in the war-torn country.

A regional forum, perhaps managed by the UN, will be needed to monitor and enforce these agreements. This way, no regional actor controls Afghanistan, and Afghan officials are less prone to play regional powers against the one another, he argued.

The former Pentagon official recommended that America should also consider a peace dividend for Pakistan once Afghanistan achieves sustainable peace.

This could include resumption of aid and assistance and consideration for a civil-nuclear agreement, Kolenda said.
The mass killing at the facility in mountainous Sagamihara city in Kanagawa prefecture shocked Japan and sparked a review of the country's mental health system. (Photo: AP)

Tokyo: A man will stand trial over the brutal stabbing deaths of 19 people at a disability centre in Japan last year, the nation's bloodiest crime in decades media reported on Friday.

Satoshi Uematsu claimed he was on a self-styled mission to rid the world of people with mental illness when he allegedly carried out the attack at the Tsukui Yamayuri-en care centre south of Tokyo on July 26.

The mass killing at the facility in mountainous Sagamihara city in Kanagawa prefecture shocked Japan and sparked a review of the country's mental health system.

The Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office indicted Uematsu for killing 19 residents and attempting to kill or injure 24 others at the centre, according to public broadcaster NHK and other media.

Uematsu, who once worked at the facility, had previously been under psychiatric care and had made public threats against the centre.

The 27-year-old experienced a "personality disorder" but psychological reviews have suggested he is fit for trial, media including Jiji Press said, citing unnamed investigators.

The prosecutors' office declined to immediately comment when reached by AFP.

Uematsu allegedly broke into the centre, tied up caregivers and roamed the facility stabbing sleeping residents and leaving them in pools of blood, authorities have said.

Shortly afterwards Uematsu turned himself in to local police and confessed, investigators have said.

Uematsu was forcibly hospitalised in February 2016 after telling colleagues at the care centre that he intended to kill disabled people.

He had previously delivered a letter to the speaker of the lower house of Japan's parliament in which he outlined a plan for night-time attacks against Tsukui Yamayuri-en and another facility.

He presented a vision of a society in which the seriously handicapped could be euthanised with the approval of family members.
Beirut: A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab on Friday, killing 42 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from the Islamic State group.

The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of Al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The blast devastated the twin command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

Most of the dead were fighters.

There was no immediate claim for the attack but it bore all the hallmarks of IS, which had put up fierce resistance in Al-Bab for weeks.

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 69 Turkish losses so far.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday that its rebel allies now had "near complete control" of the town.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from its outskirts in recent weeks.

On Thursday afternoon, an AFP correspondent heard intermittent gunfire as rebel units continued to clear the heavily damaged town.

Rebels pounded outside Aleppo:

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in the fighting in Aleppo province.

West of the second city, which government forces took full control of in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

Exchanges of rocket and artillery fire first broke out on Wednesday, centred on the rebel-held district of Rashideen, the Observatory said.

The government responded with intensive air strikes on Thursday that killed at least 32 rebel fighters.

"The regime wants to reinforce its positions around Aleppo and is using the rocket fire by the rebels as a pretext to bombard their positions and attempt to drive them out of the suburbs," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

A fragile ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels has been in force since late December, brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

It has led to a sharp reduction in fighting in many areas.

But parts of the country which are held by IS or its jihadist rival, former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, are not covered by the truce.

The talks in Geneva between government and opposition representatives formally opened on Thursday.

They are the fourth round of UN-brokered negotiations, aimed at ending a conflict that has dragged on for nearly six years and claimed more than 310,000 lives.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said: "I'm not expecting miracles," but warned of dire consequences if the talks "fail again".
Beirut: A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab Friday, killing 51 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from the Islamic State group.

The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of Al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The blast devastated the twin command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

It had earlier said that 42 people, mainly rebels, had died, but later clarified to say the majority of those killed were civilians.

There was no immediate claim for the attack, but rebels blamed it on IS, which had put up fierce resistance in Al-Bab for weeks.

"(Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi's dogs could not bear their huge loss, and their suicide bombers have begun to take revenge," said field commander Abu Jaafar of the Mutasem Brigades.

He said rebel fighters, Turkish soldiers, and civilians from Al-Bab had called a meeting in Susian "to organise a security apparatus and set a plan for rebuilding al-Bab."

"This information reached the (IS) sleeper cells, which prepared a car bomb" that detonated at Susian around 0800 am (0600 GMT), he told AFP.

Abu Jaafar, who was near Susian at the time of the attack, said hospitals in the area were full of wounded.

Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Al-Bab on Friday as they were carrying out road checks, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

Intermittent fire:

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 71 Turkish losses so far.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday that its rebel allies now had "near complete control" of the town.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from its outskirts in recent weeks.

On Thursday afternoon, an AFP correspondent heard intermittent gunfire as rebel units continued to clear the heavily damaged town.

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in Aleppo province.

West of the second city, which government forces took full control of in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

Rebels, regime pound Aleppo:

Exchanges of rocket and artillery fire first broke out on Wednesday, centred on the rebel-held district of Rashideen, the Observatory said.

The government responded with intensive air strikes on Thursday that killed at least 32 rebel fighters.

A fragile ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels has been in force since late December, brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

It has led to a sharp reduction in fighting in many areas.

But parts of the country which are held by IS or its jihadist rival, former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, are not covered by the truce.

The talks in Geneva between government and opposition representatives formally opened on Thursday.

They are the fourth round of UN-brokered negotiations, aimed at ending a conflict that has dragged on for nearly six years and claimed more than 310,000 lives.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said: "I'm not expecting miracles," but warned of dire consequences if the talks "fail again."
London: A right-wing extremist from London who described Adolf Hitler as "his God" was jailed for five years on Thursday for terrorism and hate crimes over his social media posts.

Sean Creighton was sentenced at a court in London after using social media to call for Muslims and Jews to be killed.

An investigation was launched after a photograph was posted online of Creighton, 45, holding an assault rifle and standing in front of a Nazi flag.

The probe uncovered his wider hate campaign, including leaving offensive stickers in public and ownership of a "White Resistance Manual 2.4" document with details of weapons and explosives.

Creighton was described as a "committed racist" by prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford.

"He was enthralled by Nazism and Adolf Hitler, whom he told police in his interviews was his God," Sandiford told the court.

In addition to homophobic and racist social media posts, evidence against Creighton included an image of Hitler posted online alongside the message "kill the Muslims".

"Jews prepare to die" he wrote in another social media post, published with an image of a gun and a Swastika.

Creighton told police he was "a bit of a hater who hated for the people", the court heard.

Following the sentencing, Dean Haydon from the Counter Terrorism Command of London's Metropolitan Police said the force would continue to tackle different forms of extremism.

"We are as committed to apprehending and prosecuting far-right extremists who commit terrorist offences and promote hatred as we are those who support and promote ISIS," he said in a statement.
It wasn't clear how many were diplomats and how many family members, and there was no indication how many applications had been processed. (Photo: Representational Image)

Berlin: Germany is continuing to receive requests for asylum from Turks with diplomatic passports in the wake of a crackdown on the opposition following the July 15 failed coup.

A research group of broadcasters WDR, NDR and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Friday that 136 people with Turkish diplomatic passports applied for asylum between August 2016 and January 2017, according to the Interior Ministry. In November the group reported 53 such applications.

It wasn't clear how many were diplomats and how many family members, and there was no indication how many applications had been processed.

The situation has caused diplomatic tension between the countries, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressing Chancellor Angela Merkel at a meeting this month to reject asylum requests and extradite 40 soldiers allegedly involved in the coup.
South of Mosul: US-backed Iraqi security forces captured Mosul airport from ISIS on Thursday, advancing on multiple fronts towards the jihadists' last major stronghold in the western half of the city.

The troops have gained ground rapidly in outlying areas south of the city, Iraq's second largest, since launching a new phase of a four-month offensive to terminate ISIS's territorial holdings in the country.

Elite counter terrorism forces joined the battle on Thursday in the southwest, entering the Ghozlani army base and pushing towards the districts of Tal al-Rayyan and al-Mamoun.

Federal police and an elite interior ministry unit known as Rapid Response drove Humvees flying Iraqi flags into the perimeter of the airport, and state television later said they had taken full control of the heavily damaged facility.

Islamic State fought back with suicide car bombs, drones carrying grenades and mortars, Reuters correspondents in the area said. The burnt corpses of two militants and the motorcycle from which they had fired at Iraqi forces were lying under a tree, apparently hit by an air strike.

"Daesh (Islamic State) resistance is not inconsiderable but they are trying to save their strength for inside the city," First Lieutenant Ahmed al-Ghalabi of the Rapid Response force said outside the airport's main entrance.

Iraqi forces hope to repair the airport and use it as a base from which to drive the militants from Mosul's western districts where around 750,000 people are believed to be trapped.

The United Nations has warned up to 400,000 civilians could be displaced by the offensive and that residents are already suffering from food and fuel shortages.

A Reuters correspondent saw more than 100 civilians, mostly women and children, fleeing towards Iraqi security forces from the district of al-Mamoun.

Several were wounded and at least one, wrapped in a blanket and carried on the back of a donkey, appeared to be dead, casualties of Islamic State mortars and roadside bombs.

"Daesh fled when counter terrorism Humvees reached al-Mamoun. We were afraid and we decided to escape towards the Humvees," Ahmed Atiya, one of the escaped civilians, said. "We were afraid of the shelling."

Troops directed the civilians to safety and medical care as mortars landed nearby. One soldier offered an elderly shepherd two cigarettes, which are banned by Islamic State.

Narrow alleyways

Iraqi forces launched the new offensive on Sunday after they finished clearing militants from eastern Mosul in January and redeployed to the other side of the Tigris river that bisects the city.

On Thursday, counter-terrorism troops captured the Ghozlani base close to the Baghdad-Mosul highway, which includes barracks and training grounds, a CTS spokesman told Reuters.

The airport and the base, which Islamic State fighters seized when they overran Mosul in 2014, have been heavily damaged by air strikes intended to wear down the militants ahead of the offensive, a senior Iraqi official said.

The campaign involves a 100,000-strong force of Iraqi troops, Shi'ite militias and Sunni tribal fighters. It is backed by an international coalition that provides vital air support as well as on-the-ground guidance and training.

Western advisers were seen close to the clashes at the airport as well as some 2 km (1 mile) behind the frontline.

One Rapid Response officer asked them for advice about which route to take to the airport. Coalition troops fired intermittently at Islamic State targets from inside MRAPs (mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles).

The U.S. military commander in Iraq has said he believes U.S.-backed forces will retake both of Islamic State's urban bastions - the other is the Syrian city of Raqqa - within six months, which would end the jihadists' ambitions to rule and govern significant territory.

Losing Mosul could spell the end of the Iraqi side of militants' self-styled caliphate in those countries, which Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared from the city in 2014.

Iraqi commanders expect the battle in western Mosul to be more difficult than the east, however, in part because tanks and armoured vehicles cannot pass through narrow alleyways that crisscross the city's ancient western districts.

Militants have developed a network of passageways and tunnels to enable them to hide and fight among civilians, melt away after hit-and-run operations and track government troop movements, according to inhabitants.

But Iraqi forces are hoping that residents will help them in pushing out the militants, who subjected people under their rule to extreme violence and deprivation.

A leaflet dropped by the Iraqi air force last week lay on a hillside near the airport on Thursday.

"Prepare to receive the sons of your armed forces and cooperate with them as your brothers on the east side did in order to reduce losses and make victory swift," it said.
Dozens of expatriates of various nationalities had already been let go by his firm and others will follow. (Photo: AFP)

Riyadh: Seventeen years after first setting foot in Saudi Arabia, Dominic Steck shipped his two cats and returned to Germany with his wife and school-age children, who hardly know their homeland.

As Saudi Arabia steps up efforts to employ more of its own people, and with economic growth slowing, the ranks of well-paid white-collar expatriates like Steck are thinning.

For them, the good times are over.

Steck said that to reduce costs, his employers "sent the Westerners" away.

"I have to admit, they will save a lot," he told AFP with a chuckle.

Cost-cutting, financial problems and a drive to employ more Saudis have all led to a noticeable reduction in expatriate employment as the Arab world's largest economy adjusts to lower crude prices.

Saudi Arabia, which exports more oil than any other country, since last year has pursued its "Vision 2030" economic diversification effort to broaden its investment and business base, while placing more Saudis in the private sector.

The drop in global oil prices by about half since 2014 left the kingdom with a huge budget deficit and billions of dollars in debt to private firms, chiefly in the construction business.

Saudi Binladin Group alone laid off around 70,000 expats from poorer countries, but the impact of slower economic growth has gone further and left many Western expatriates also saying goodbye.

Latest official figures showed almost nine million foreigners employed in the kingdom but that was before the worst of the economic pain struck, sending home expats like Steck.

"People are leaving because there's not enough business for their contract to be renewed," said a foreign manager in the consumer electronics sector whose business is down 10 percent.

"Everybody's margins are seriously under pressure. There's not a business out there that's really doing well," he said, declining to be named.

More pain is expected come July when the government plans to impose a levy on foreign workers with dependents.

The fee will start at 100 riyals ($27) a month, rising to 400 riyals monthly by 2020, according to a government document seen by Bloomberg News.

So expensive:

The electronics manager said his company will make its nearly 300 expatriates, largely Indians, Pakistanis and Filipinos, pay these charges themselves.

With most of them earning less than 10,000 riyals monthly, this will encourage them to either send their families home or quit -- creating space for hiring Saudis, he said.

According to the document seen by Bloomberg News, the government will also raise monthly fees paid by employers who hire more foreign workers than Saudis as part of a programme to encourage local hiring.

Abdulrahman al-Zamil, chairman of Saudi Arabia's Zamil Group which employs thousands of foreigners, said the government will continue to increase such fees if necessary "because they need to be fair to the country" and ensure jobs for locals.

The new levies add to rising costs including water and electricity bills as the government cuts subsidies, noted a foreign diplomat.

"The cost of doing business is so expensive," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Western expatriates, often more highly paid than their Asian or Arab counterparts, said they could afford the new family levies, but admit that the lucrative packages that drew them to the kingdom are becoming harder for companies to maintain.

These include housing allowances worth thousands of dollars each month, family flights home and, in many cases, international school fees.

There is no income tax in the kingdom although it plans to introduce taxes on some consumer items this year.

Not as lucrative:

"Budgets are getting tighter and I don't think it's as lucrative as maybe it was" for expats, said an Australian engineer, lured to the kingdom with his family, partly out of a sense of adventure but also because of the financial benefits.

Three years later, he is going home, with his firm still "owed a lot of money" by its Saudi contractor.

"I've actually been made redundant but I was going to leave anyway," the engineer, who also declined to be named, said.

Dozens of expatriates of various nationalities had already been let go by his firm and others will follow, he said.

The Australian leaves with mixed feelings, having made friends and enjoyed his expatriate housing compound complete with a swimming pool and other diversions hard to come by in Riyadh, where alcohol is banned and there are no public cinemas or theatres.

A foreign fund manager with several years in the kingdom said the good times are over for expensive Western labour.

"In 10 years I don't think there will be expats, because they have to get the Saudis to work," he said.

The foreign diplomat said the departing workers were often replaced by less expensive hires including Portuguese, Greeks and, increasingly, Arab nationals.

Steck, who flew home in early February, had planned to stay another year.

He was the last of several Western managers let go by his firm.

The company, a subsidiary of a German multinational working for a major local telecommunication firm, had been under-bid by China's Huawei.

With a company car, the house and school fees all paid for, he had hoped for a final boost to his savings.

"Leaving, I'm happy, (but) not for my salary in the future," he said.
Kathmandu: Nearly one million devotees from India and Nepal on Friday thronged the famous 5th century Pashupatinath temple here to observe Maha Shivaratri festival.

Security has been beefed up with the deployment of 6,000 security personnel in the vicinity of the temple, situated on the banks of Bagmati river for the annual Maha Shivaratri festival to be observed on Saturday.

Police are keeping a close watch on illegal trade of marijuana, hashish and alcohol as possession, sale, distribution and smuggling of narcotics are punishable.

Over 6,000 policemen from Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department have been mobilised to maintain law and order, said Superintendent of Police Pradyumna Kumar Karki, chief of Kathmandu Metropolitan Police.

A senior police officer said that only seers and saints who have travelled to the temple -- one of the holiest Hindu sites -- from Nepal and India will be allowed to consume marijuana and hallucinating substances on religious grounds.

However, they will be strictly barred from selling marijuana and such substances to devotees.

All the four gates of the temple remained open for devotees from 3:00 am on Friday.

Emergency health care centres, security posts, information desks, first-aid treatment centres have been set up.

Around 4,000 seers were expected to visit the temple for the celebrations, Pashupati Area Development Trust said.

The Nepali Army organised a special function at the Army Pavilion, Tundikhel Open Ground here on the occasion of the Nepal Army Day coinciding with the festival on Friday.

On the occasion, President Bidya Devi Bhandari, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Nepali Army, garlanded the 'Brave Soldier' monument at Tudinkhel and received the guard of honour. Prime Minister Prachanda also attended the function.
China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe, the article said. (Photo: Representational Image)

Beijing: China has made a "mistake of ignoring" science and technology experts from India, Chinese official media said on Friday, underlining that the Communist giant should attract high-tech Indian talent for maintaining its innovation ability.

"China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe," an article in state-run Global Times said.

"China has perhaps not been working hard enough to attract science and technology talent from India to work in the country," the tabloid daily from the group of ruling Communist Party of China which has been carrying articles critical of India all most on daily basis in recent months said in a rare positive write-up.

"Over the past few years, China witnessed an unprecedented boom in tech jobs as the country became an attractive destination for foreign research and development centres."

"However, now some high-tech firms are turning their attention from China to India due to the latter's relatively low labour costs. Attracting high-tech talent from India could be one of China's options for maintaining its innovation ability," it said.

Referring to reports that US-based software firm CA Technologies has disbanded its almost 300-person research and development team in China while setting up a team in India with some 2,000 scientific and technical professionals over the past few years, it said, "with a sufficient young talent pool, India is becoming increasingly attractive."

"China cannot afford to risk a decline in its attractiveness for high-tech investors. The nation is among the third echelon in cutting-edge technology fields and is working to catch up with the US and the result of its efforts will decide whether China will maintain its status as an emerging global economic power," it said.

China in recent year boosted the budget for technological innovation by allocating billions of dollars of incentives for start ups and research firms as it witnessed decline of its labour force due to rapid increase in old age population.

China has carried out a lot of measures, including increasing research spending and creating a favourable investment environment for high-tech firms, to enhance its innovation capability.

"However, one issue has become increasingly prominent: The talent pool in China is not large and flexible enough to meet demand for the rapid expansion of innovation capability," the article said.

"In Silicon Valley, a considerable number of software developers working there are born outside the US. China should also strive to attract more foreign talent into the country as it aims to build itself into a world-class research hub," it said.

"A total of 1,576 foreigners were granted Chinese permanent residence in 2016, registering an increase of 163 per cent from the previous year. It seems that China is aware of the importance of tapping into international talent," it said.

"Some reports claim that the cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker, which means Indians could see their revenue more than double if they came to work in China," it said.

"Some enterprises in Southwest China's Guizhou Province provide convenience for Indian talent in terms of housing, insurance and transportation and could enjoy a much better standard of living in Guizhou cities than in Bangalore," it said.
China's OBOR initiative's stated aim is to link countries in Asia, Africa and Europe to promote "an open and inclusive global economy" by building regional trade networks and enhancing connectivity for future growth. (Photo: Representational Image)

Beijing: India's concerns over sovereignty relating to the USD 46-billion CPEC is "unwarranted", Chinese state media on Friday said, asking New Delhi to take an "objective and more pragmatic" view of China's ambitious Silk Road project.

The comments in an oped piece in Global Times comes after Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on February 22 co-chaired the upgraded India-China Strategic Dialogue in Beijing.

After the dialogue, Jaishankar told reporters that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which runs through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), violates India's sovereignty. The CPEC is part of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative, the official name of the Silk Road initiative.

Reacting to Jaishankar's remarks, the article said India's concerns were "unwarranted". "China respects India's sovereignty concerns. Taking a strong stand on territorial issues is important, but it's hoped India could adopt anobjective and more pragmatic attitude towards the One Belt, One Road proposal."

China's Foreign Ministry is yet to react to India's stand. The article, however, asked India to take part in the Silk Road summit to be held in Beijing in May, stressing the "potential economic benefits" of CPEC and packaging it as a project promoting greater regional cooperation.

China's President Xi Jinping has convened the summit. Leaders of about 20 nations have confirmed participation, the Chinese foreign ministry has said without identifying them. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickramasinghe are expected to attend the event.

Calling on India to soften its stand, the article said, "New Delhi fears that the CPEC, passing through the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, would serve the purpose of granting legitimacy to Pakistan's control over the region, and by promoting the construction of the corridor, China intends to meddle in the Kashmir dispute. These concerns are unwarranted."

"China has no intention of interfering in the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. China has long believed that the two neighbours should solve their dispute through dialogue and consultations, and it has repeatedly emphasised that the construction of the CPEC would not affect its stance on the issue," it said.

China's OBOR initiative's stated aim is to link countries in Asia, Africa and Europe to promote "an open and inclusive global economy" by building regional trade networks and enhancing connectivity for future growth.

Also, the article said, "India should not view Pakistan's development as a threat. As long as India is willing to, China, Pakistan and India could cooperate to tap the vast economic potential in the disputed Kashmir region."
The operation was launched to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of counter-terrorism operations made so far. (Photo: Representational Image)

Peshawar: Two militants, including the mastermind of a suicide attack on Punjab Assembly building that claimed 10 lives, were killed today after Pakistani army heavily shelled their hideouts near Afghan border.

According to security sources, Wajihullah alias Ahrar, who belonged to the banned Jamaatul Ahrar, was killed in artillery shelling on Pak-Afghan border.

The other militant, Hikmat alias Qari Zubair, was in charge of a terrorist transit camp in Afghanistan. Both the terrorists were supported by a hostile intelligence agency.

Hikmat was the mastermind of the attack on Punjab Assembly in which at least 10 people were killed and dozens injured in the attack near Punjab Assembly on February 13. The militants were killed a day after military operation 'Radd-ul-Fasaad' was launched.

The operation was launched to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of counter-terrorism operations made so far, days after a suicide bomber killed 88 people at the Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh.
Solar power price in the country went below a low threshold when a bid price of Rs 3.29 per kwH was finalised for over 25 years in the bidding for a 750 MW mega solar power project in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh last week. For the first time in history, solar power tariff dropped below Rs 4 and even Rs 3, because in the first year the bid price is just Rs 2.97 per kwH. It was a group of three companies which won the bid and they based their price quotes on some assumptions about the industry and concessions from the government. The major assumption is that the cost of solar panels, which account for 40% of the costs, would drastically fall in the coming months. This should hold, because the price has been steadily falling with improvements in technology. The state governments guarantee of grid availability and timely payment of dues also encouraged the companies to quote the lowest possible price. The price might serve as a benchmark now.



This is an important breakthrough because solar power is now competitive in real terms with that from other renewable sources like wind and from conventional coal which is the cheapest. While solar tariffs may even fall further, that cannot be said about coal. The real advantage, however, is that it is clean and helps to fulfil the countrys commitments under the Paris agreement on climate change. The falling prices should also help the country meet the ambitious target of creating an installed capacity of 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2022. Though the national solar mission was set up in 2010 and the initiative has received much attention in the last two years, performance till now has been tardy. The 2016-17 target is unlikely to be achieved. But the trend has been positive with more capacity being created. It is felt that attainment of even 75% of the targeted capacity by 2022 would be a game changer. But there is no reason why the target cannot be achieved if the present trends continue. There are some concerns and uncertainties about solar power which need to be addressed. Much of the initiative is directed at setting up grid-connected solar plants which produce power on a large scale. But more attention should be given to the setting up of roof top solar units with the involvement of citizens. It will make the system more self-reliant and less dependent on availability of land, which is a problem in many states. Power utilities should take more interest in the matter. The impact of GST on solar plant costs should also be clarified.








Releasing a preliminary toxicology report on Kim Jong Nam's murder at a Kuala Lumpur airport, police said the poison used by the assassins was the odourless, tasteless and highly toxic nerve agent VX. Traces of VX were detected on swabs of the dead man's face and eyes.





Leaked CCTV footage from the brazen attack on February 13 shows the portly Kim being approached by two women who appear to put something in his face. Moments later he is seen asking for help from airport staff, who direct him to a clinic.





Malaysian police said he suffered a seizure and died before he reached hospital. An autopsy ruled out heart failure, and investigators had focused on the theory that a toxin was applied to his face, in what South Korea has insisted was a targeted assassination.





Malaysian detectives are holding three people -- women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man -- but want to speak to seven others.





North Korea's state media broke a 10-day silence Thursday on the murder launching a ferocious assault on Malaysia for "immoral" handling of the case and for playing politics with the corpse.





The North's official KCNA news agency said Malaysia bore prime responsibility for the death, and accused it of conspiring with South Korea. It also condemned the Malaysian authorities for not releasing the corpse "under the absurd pretext" that it needs a DNA sample from the dead man's family.





North Korea has never acknowledged the victim as the estranged brother of leader Kim Jong-Un and the lengthy KCNA dispatch avoided any reference to the dead man's identity, calling him only "a citizen" of North Korea "bearing a diplomatic passport".





The only known use of VX is as a chemical warfare agent and the US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as the "most potent" of all nerve agents.





"It is possible that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, would be lethal," the CDC said on its website.





All nerve agents cause their toxic effects by preventing the proper operation of an enzyme that acts as the body's "off switch" for glands and muscles.





Without that switch, the glands and muscles are constantly being stimulated, and eventually tire and become unable to sustain breathing.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half brother was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare, Malaysian police said today.
China has made a "mistake of ignoring" science and technology experts from India, Chinese official media said today, underlining that the Communist giant should attract high-tech Indian talent for maintaining its innovation ability.





"China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe," an article in state-run Global Times said.



"China has perhaps not been working hard enough to attract science and technology talent from India to work in the country," the tabloid daily from the group of ruling Communist Party of China which has been carrying articles critical of India all most on daily basis in recent months said in a rare positive write-up.



"Over the past few years, China witnessed an unprecedented boom in tech jobs as the country became an attractive destination for foreign research and development centres."



"However, now some high-tech firms are turning their attention from China to India due to the latter's relatively low labour costs. Attracting high-tech talent from India could be one of China's options for maintaining its innovation ability," it said.



Referring to reports that US-based software firm CA Technologies has disbanded its almost 300-person research and development team in China while setting up a team in India with some 2,000 scientific and technical professionals over the past few years, it said, "with a sufficient young talent pool, India is becoming increasingly attractive."



"China cannot afford to risk a decline in its attractiveness for high-tech investors. The nation is among the third echelon in cutting-edge technology fields and is working to catch up with the US and the result of its efforts will decide whether China will maintain its status as an emerging global economic power," it said.



China in recent year boosted the budget for technological innovation by allocating billions of dollars of incentives for start ups and research firms as it witnessed decline of its labour force due to rapid increase in old age population.



China has carried out a lot of measures, including increasing research spending and creating a favourable investment environment for high-tech firms, to enhance its innovation capability.



"However, one issue has become increasingly prominent: The talent pool in China is not large and flexible enough to meet demand for the rapid expansion of innovation capability," the article said.



"In Silicon Valley, a considerable number of software developers working there are born outside the US. China should also strive to attract more foreign talent into the country as it aims to build itself into a world-class research hub," it said.



"A total of 1,576 foreigners were granted Chinese permanent residence in 2016, registering an increase of 163 per cent from the previous year. It seems that China is aware of the importance of tapping into international talent," it said.



"Some reports claim that the cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker, which means Indians could see their revenue more than double if they came to work in China," it said.



"Some enterprises in Southwest China's Guizhou Province provide convenience for Indian talent in terms of housing, insurance and transportation and could enjoy a much better standard of living in Guizhou cities than in Bangalore," it said.
Unfazed by the BJP breaching its citadel of Mumbai by winning 82 seats in the BMC polls, the Shiv Sena today asserted that the civic body's mayor will be from their party and accused its estranged ally of using deceitful means to destabilise them.





Indicating its unwillingness towards a post-poll alliance with BJP in the country's richest civic body, the Sena said its fight with the saffron party will continue and it will keep walking on the difficult path, whatever be the consequences.



The BJP yesterday scored a resounding victory in the Maharashtra civil polls emerging as the largest party in eight of the 10 municipal corporations while finishing a close second to bellicose ally Shiv Sena, which won 84 seats, in the latter's Mumbai bastion.



A day after the verdict, the Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' claimed that BJP used the entire state machinery and all its might of Central leadership to secure unprecedented results in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other local body polls.



"The Sena has been ruling the BMC from the last 25 years. They (the BJP) used deceitful means to destabilise our rule. This has never happened before when the Congress ruled the state," it charged.



"The BJP used all that it had for the BMC polls. But, despite the BJP getting 82 seats, the Mayor will be from Shiv Sena only," the Sena proclaimed.



In the counting of votes held yesterday for the BMC, the Shiv Sena got 84 seats, BJP secured 82 seats, Congress was relegated to the third position with 31 seats, whereas the NCP and Raj Thackeray's MNS got 9 and 7 seats, respectively.



The Sena today said it will walk on the path of fire and continue its fight without worrying about the outcome.



"It is always easier for the party in power to win local body polls. Power helped the Congress and is now helping the BJP. We have decided to walk on the path of fire. We will not worry about the consequences," it said.



"Our fight (with the BJP) will continue. The war that had started was not only for power but for dharma, ideals and the integrity of Maharashtra," the Sena said.



The elections to the cash-rich BMC and nine other civic bodies in the state, which had virtually turned into a battle of prestige for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, heading the state's first BJP-led government, and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, were held on February 21. The counting of votes for the "mini Assembly election" was held yesterday.




The comments in an oped piece in Global Times comes after Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on February 22 co-chaired the upgraded India-China Strategic Dialogue in Beijing. After the dialogue, Jaishankar told reporters that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which runs through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), violates India's sovereignty.





The CPEC is part of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative, the official name of the Silk Road initiative.





Reacting to Jaishankar's remarks, the article said India's concerns were "unwarranted". "China respects India's sovereignty concerns. Taking a strong stand on territorial issues is important, but it's hoped India could adopt an objective and more pragmatic attitude towards the One Belt, One Road proposal."China's Foreign Ministry is yet to react to India's stand.





The article, however, asked India to take part in the Silk Road summit to be held in Beijing in May, stressing the "potential economic benefits" of CPEC and packaging it as a project promoting greater regional cooperation.





China's President Xi Jinping has convened the summit. Leaders of about 20 nations have confirmed participation, the Chinese foreign ministry has said without identifying them.





Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickramasinghe are expected to attend the event.





Calling on India to soften its stand, the article said, "New Delhi fears that the CPEC, passing through the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, would serve the purpose of granting legitimacy to Pakistan's control over the region, and by promoting the construction of the corridor, China intends to meddle in the Kashmir dispute. These concerns are unwarranted."





"China has no intention of interfering in the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. China has long believed that the two neighbours should solve their dispute through dialogue and consultations, and it has repeatedly emphasised that the construction of the CPEC would not affect its stance on the issue," it said.





China's OBOR initiative's stated aim is to link countries in Asia, Africa and Europe to promote "an open and inclusive global economy" by building regional trade networks and enhancing connectivity for future growth.





Also, the article said, "India should not view Pakistan's development as a threat. As long as India is willing to, China, Pakistan and India could cooperate to tap the vast economic potential in the disputed Kashmir region."

India's concerns over sovereignty relating to the USD 46-billion CPEC is "unwarranted", Chinese state media today said, asking New Delhi to take an "objective and more pragmatic" view of China's ambitious Silk Road project.
Though the word polarisation is mostly linked with the right-wing religion-centric politics, yesterday's results of elections to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation here showed polarisation along linguistic lines between the two right-wing parties, Shiv Sena and BJP, themselves.



Sena and BJP, the bickering alliance partners in Maharashtra who fought the civic elections separately, seemed to have divided the voters on regional or linguistic lines, going by the voting patterns, a BJP leader said.



Lower middle class and the working class among Marathi-speakers voted largely for Shiv Sena, while the upper middle class and areas with large number of Gujarati-speakers and North Indians voted for BJP, the voting patterns show, said Soumen Mukharjee, co-convener of BJP's media cell.



Also, the `old Mumbai' city seemed to have supported Shiv Sena, while BJP, which attained its highest-ever tally by winning 82 out of 227 seats, only two less than the Sena, gained more in suburbs, especially the western ones.

"The polarisation has taken place over the linguistic base. Non-Marathi speaking voters have largely voted for BJP. On the other hand, the old city areas have voted Shiv Sena because of its strong network of party workers developed over the last so many years," Mukharjee told PTI.

As per the data given by the State Election Commission, of the 114 seats in the western suburbs from Bandra to Dahisar, which have a sizable population of North Indians and Gujarati-speakers, BJP won 52 and Sena 38.



The exception to this pattern was Bandra East, where Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray lives. BJP did not win a single seat here, while the Sena won five and AIMIM won remaining one seat.



A Sena leader pointed out, speaking on the condition of anonymity, that though Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar represents the Bandra constituency in the state Assembly, in the BMC elections his party drew a blank in the area.



The eastern suburbs had a neck-to-neck contest between BJP and Sena. Of the 57 seats, Shiv Sena won 18 and BJP 17. Rest went to NCP, Congress and others.



However, the exception was the suburban Mulund area, a stronghold of BJP MP Kirit Somaiya who had targeted the Sena leadership aggressively during the campaign. In Mulund, which has a sizable Gujarati-speaking population, BJP won all the six seats.

In old Mumbai, which has slums, tenements (chawls) and old `waadis' (old one-two storey settlements), Sena had an upper hand. Out of 56 seats, it won 28, while BJP won 13, Congress 11, MNS two, SP one and Akhil Bhartiya Sena one. This area comprises Sion-Koliwada, Wadala, Dharavi, Mahim, Worli, Shivdi, Byculla, Mumbadevi, Malbar Hill and Colaba.



BJP did not win a single seat in Dharavi, known as Asia's largest slum area, Worli and Shivdi.

"Sena's appeal to `sons of soil' (native Maharashtrians) received a good response in the Mumbai city area. On the other hand, BJP's plank of development and transparency was appreciated by western and eastern suburbs," Mukharjee said.


While reviewing the overall security situation in Kashmir, Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday called for coordinated efforts to deal with stone-pelting by civilians during counter-insurgency operations.



General Rawat, who had arrived in Srinagar on Thursday to pay tribute to the soldiers killed in the Shopian encounter, reviewed the collaborative measures of security forces to ensure peace and calm in the region.



Sources said the local commanders also briefed General Rawat about the security situation on the Line of Control with Pakistan, Line of Actual Control with China, and the recent operations conducted by the security forces.



This was the first visit of General Rawat to the area after his strong warning to people who engage in stone-pelting during anti-militancy operations.



He had said that stone-pelters would be treated as overground workers of terrorists and would thereby face the same punishment meted out to jihadis.


After making his successful debut with popular director Divya Khosla Kumars Yaariyan (2014), Bollywood actor Vikas Verma will soon be spotted with Arbaaz Khan and actor Aindrita Ray in his upcoming movie Coming Back.





Earlier, the star was also seen portraying the on-screen groom in Shandaar, with Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapoor.



My experience for Coming Back is like a dream. We all cribbed about waking up early and shooting in the cold  with frozen feet, frozen face, jammed mouth but every day was so beautiful and serene, said Vikas, who was recently in Switzerland for the shoot.



Going by his Instagram pictures, the actor seems to have bonded well with Aindrita, both on and off the sets.Aindrita and I met in Bombay during story sitting but did not instantly bond. Now after the Switzerland schedule, I can say Ive made a friend for a lifetime. We talk almost every day and you will watch the movie and find the chemistry between us very natural. She is an amazing person, a very happy girl and I am looking forward to working with her again, added Vikas.



Moreover, the actor will also be seen in Mom alongside Sridevi and Nawazudin Siddiqui. Vikas is also a part of Raabta which is set to hit the theatres on June 9.



(Compiled by Jaideep Pandey)




Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) vice chancellor D Shivalingaiah has said that all conditions set by the University Grants Commission (UGC) have been fulfilled and there is hope that the courses of the institution would soon get recognition.



Additional Chief Secretary for Higher Education Bharat Lal Meena has also written a letter to UGC Chairman Ved Prakash seeking permission for admission of students to the courses.



Due to the de-recognition of courses, the KSOU and its students are a worried lot. As the KSOU could not admit students for two years, the university is facing a financial crisis. The only source of income for KSOU is the fees paid by the students for the courses, he said.



The VC told DH that KSOU has submitted over a quintal of documents in hardcopy to the UGC authorities in New Delhi on February 6 and no stone has been left unturned in view of getting recognition for courses from the upcoming academic year. Four officials of KSOU took the documents in a flight and have submitted them to the UGC. They have also explained about the steps taken by KSOU to fulfil the conditions laid down by UGC through a power point presentation, he said.



KSOU has presented details about all courses offered by the institution for the past 10 years and has given details about all admissions, study materials of all courses, syllabus of all courses, academic partnership cancellation modalities, copies of notices issued to partners not to use the website of KSOU, public notices issued, so far, for publication and copies of the updates of the website.



KSOU authorities have sought permission to admit students to 66 courses for the academic year 2017-18 including undergraduate, post-graduate, PG diploma, certificate and PhD programmes. Besides giving an undertaking that KSOU would not make the UGC a defendant in court cases, KSOU officials have also provided all documents about following directions of UGC so far.



Since the UGC de-recognised the courses offered by KSOU on June 15, 2015 for violating jurisdiction and other guidelines, the institution has had two zero years (2015-16 and 2016-17). H P Dixit-headed commission, which studied the documents of the KSOU in December 2016, had submitted a report to the UGC. Following objections of the UGC, based on the Dixit report, KSOU had submitted a 600-page action taken report earlier also.


Less than 5% of trauma patients reach the right hospital within eight minutes in Karnataka, says a study by the Indian Institute of Health Management and Research (IIHMR).



Eight minutes is the global standard response time to take any patient with a medical emergency to a facility where they can get treatment. The study Assessment of Emergency Health Services including Geospatial Analysis in Karnataka was funded by the state governments Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust. It surveyed 1,583 healthcare facilities, including 375 government and 1,208 private ones.



Speaking to DH, Dr Biranchi Narayan Jena, director, IIHMR, said, This leaves us with a lot of scope for improvement. The study found that only about 20% patients reached appropriate hospitals after eight minutes and had scope for improvement. For 10-12% patients, even as they were taken to a medical facility within the prescribed time, these hospitals did not have the facilities to treat them.



In several cases, the 108 ambulance could not reach the hospital in time due to traffic snarls. However, it was found that in a majority of the cases, hospitals that these patients were taken to denied them treatment for want of specialists or infrastructure.



The institute has written to the state regarding a set of reforms that can be introduced. Better services by the 108 Arogya Kavacha is one of them. Directing the patient to the right hospital can save lives, Jena said.



Crucial data missing



Even as the National Crime Records Bureau has statistics of road accidents, crucial data is missing, said Jena. The details of previous FIRs also need to be compiled and reporting has to improve, he suggested.



The study has recommended that infrastructure and manpower in at least 50% of the cases be improved to attend to emergency cases, especially in rural areas. Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, medical director, Manipal Hospitals, said, Dozens of patients are outside hospitals within 200 yards distance, but are unable to get in due to traffic. We lost a patient in a similar case where he was almost at the gate of the hospital but could not get in. There is a need to improve emergency medical services and introduce more ICU ambulances.




Rampant burning of animal carcasses and unauthorised dumping of garbage and poultry waste have become a health hazard for citizens of Razakpalya and neighbouring localities near Yelahanka Air Force Station.



Two years ago, Prakash Rao (name changed on request) shifted from a bustling part of the city to Razakpalya near Air Force Colony with his family to find peace. However, he is distraught now. His wife has been suffering from asthma and his son's health has worsened ever since he shifted to the locality.



Rao attributes the prevailing health problems faced by residents in and around Razakpalya to burning of carcasses, garbage and poultry waste.



He said: Animal carcasses and their skin are burnt at a private bone factory, especially late in the evenings and at night. Over the last few weeks, the atmosphere has turned from bad to worse, impacting the health of the aged and children. The bone factory is said to retrieve bones from carcasses and process them for pharma industries.



Residents in and around Venkateswara Engineering College between Vidyanagar cross and Razakpalya in the proximity of Uttarahalli in northern Bengaluru are the most affected. They complain of breathlessness, wheezing and throat irritation due to exposure to the onslaught.



Secretary of the Army Colony Residents Welfare Association (RWA) Col M S Salunke and a resident, Satyanarayan B S, said that just adjacent to the bone factory, there is an unauthorised garbage dump run without the knowledge of authorities. Along with garbage, bird carcasses and feathers are dumped and burnt, they added.



Earlier, Razakpalya was synonymous with breeding of banned African Catfish. Following high court orders, the menace has stopped.


The Karnataka governments move to take up the much-needed upgrade of the award-winning Bhoomi software has come to a grinding halt.





The government and the contractor  Accenture Services Pvt Ltd  have locked horns over the cost of the project  Namma Bhoomi.



The project envisages not only upgrading the 15-year-old land records software, but integrating it with all nationalised banks and government departments, including Stamps and Registration.



The Bhoomi project was launched in 2001 for digitising land records. It enabled farmers to obtain Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC) without much ado. It won the national e-governance award in 2005, and many states later adopted it.



Software upgrade



But this Windows-based software has since become outdated, and needs to be upgraded. Maintenance of the software is becoming increasingly difficult due to non-availability of tools. However, the software is still functioning, the sources pointed out.



The project, among others, involved creating a central database of land records in Bengaluru. For this, a backup server has to be set up. Besides, it involved incorporating security features to prevent hacking. The sources said Accenture came up with a request to increase the project cost by about Rs 10 crore after the award of the Rs 17-crore tender.



The company told the government that it would incur huge losses if the cost is not increased. But the government turned down the request. Currently, the issue is before the Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) headed by Additional Chief Secretary K Ratna Prabha.



No provision



Special Deputy Commissioner of Bhoomi Monitoring Cell (BMC) Harish Kumar said there is no provision in the agreement to increase the project cost beyond 25%.



The company appears to have failed to properly assess the cost of work involved despite the BMC clearly spelling out all the work involved. The project, the tender for which was awarded in 2014, was scheduled to be completed in 2016. But it has not taken off yet, he added.



BMC has also informed the government that it is capable of upgrading the software in-house.



But the government will be able to take a call in this regard only after DRC takes a decision on resolving the issue, he added.



The project, once implemented, is expected to prevent fraudulent land transactions. Banks will be able to verify land record details using the upgraded software before sanctioning home loans. Similarly, the Stamps and Registration Department can examine the records before allowing registration of properties, sources in the Revenue Department said.




Preparations have begun for Vidhana Soudhas diamond jubilee celebrations which houses the state secretariat and legislature.



As part of the grand celebrations, there are plans to produce two telefilms and present a lifetime achievement award to a politician.



Filmmakers Girish Kasaravalli and T N Seetharam have been requested to produce two telefilms, each of 45 minutes duration.



Kasaravalli would produce a telefilm on Vidhana Soudha, its history and the efforts that went into constructing the magnificent structure.



The task for Seetharam is to produce a film on the history of Karnataka legislature, according to Assembly Secretary S Murthy.



Murthy said the budget for the telefilms is yet to be decided. Kasaravalli said, A preliminary meeting was conducted. I am yet to get a letter of intent from the government to produce the docudrama. The format has not been finalised. A lot of work would have to be done to make a film on a structure interesting.



Murthy said the plan is to get the telefilms ready by June-July as an event to mark 60 years of Vidhana Soudha would be held by September.



Referring to the award to be instituted, the secretary said there are many senior politicians who have served Karnataka. One of them would be presented with the lifetime achievement award which would carry a cash prize. In addition, family members of political stalwarts such as Kengal Hanumanthaiah, Kadidal Manjappa and K C Reddy would be felicitated.



A committee comprising the chief minister, two leaders of the Opposition and two chairpersons of the legislature would make the selection for the award.



Murthy said that on October 10, 2016, Vidhana Soudha completed 60 years. The celebrations would have to be completed before the end of October this year. The modernisation, including cleaning and painting of the building has been taken up by the Public Works Department, he added.



Assembly Speaker K B Koliwad said there are plans to invite the President to address the joint session of the legislature. We are yet to work out the budget for the programmes. But funds would not be a constraint, he added.



Asked whether mementoes would be presented to legislators on the occasion, Koliwad said, We have not taken a final decision. But we are contemplating gifting iPads because the legislature secretariat is moving towards e-governance. May be at the next meeting, a lot of decisions would be taken, he added. The speaker said iPads were earlier gifted to legislators but that was long ago.




On Maha shivaratri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to invoke Lord Shiva with respect to the BJP win in Maharashtra civic polls, surgical strikes, one rank-one pension and note ban to bolster his partys election campaign in Uttar Pradesh (UP).



People saw through it with their third eye (Shiva, according to Hindu mythology, possesses a third eye) to ascertain what is right for them. They gave us their blessings, Modi said, while addressing an election rally at Gonda, about 200 km from here, on Friday. He said there was no dearth of those who try to mislead the public by resorting to lies.



PMs Kanpur reference



The prime minister also referred to the train accident near Kanpur in November and said it was the result of a conspiracy hatched across the border.



Attacking the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Modi said these arch-rivals had joined hands on the note ban issue.



Both Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav said seven-eight days time should have been given before the note ban decision, he said.



Referring to the BJP victory in Maharashtra municipal polls, the prime minister said the Congress has been wiped out in the state.



He also referred to the BJP victory in Odisha and Chandigarh local body elections.

The prime minister raked up the menace of the alleged naqal mafias (gangs which facilitate unfair means at UP board examinations) in Gonda and said that exam centres were auctioned there.



He attacked Opposition parties for doubting the surgical strikes across the Line of Control with Pakistan last year and said it amounted to humiliation of the armed forces.




A day after her remark on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi created a stir, senior Congress leader Sheila Dikshit tweeted a clarification, and said her words had been twisted.



She had said, in a newspaper interview, that Rahul is not a mature politician and needed more time.



Rahul has the sensitivity and concern of a mature leader. His words are those of a young, courageous and restless man, she said in her tweet, along with the hashtag #DontTwistMyWords.



In the interview, Sheila (79) made the controversial statement when she was responding to a question on why the Congress has been decimated in several states despite aggressive campaign by Rahul Gandhi.



Dikshit was earlier announced as the chief ministerial candidate of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. Her name was later withdrawn after the Congress formed an alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the state polls.



She also said in the interview that the Congress is undergoing a generational change and that political language also has changed in the past few years.



The political language has changed quite a lot. For instance, you would not expect the prime minister to say what he said about former prime minister Manmohan Singh. And please remember, Rahul is still not mature, his age does not allow him to be mature. He is what in his forties. Please give him time. The Congress believes in development of the weak and marginalised. Rahul is the only one who has spoken about farmers, she had said.






The battle of nerves for the mayoral seat of Mumbai continued on Friday with the Shiv Sena and the BJP trying to garner as much support as possible.





However, the easiest option is for the both the saffron parties to come together with a long-lasting, power-sharing formula.



The mayoral elections of the 227-ward Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is likely to be held on March 9  four days after the budget session of Maharashtra legislature commences.



The Shiv Sena, which won 84 seats at the BMC, garnered some support when Tulsidas Shinde and Snehal More, who won as independents  both contested as rebels  met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and joined the party.



Another independent, Changez Multani, also met him and extended support to the Shiv Sena. Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar claimed the support of four independents in addition to the partys strength of 81. However, he did not name them.



Asked about his stand on the mayoral polls, Thackeray said, We have not thought about it yet. I am happy, I am celebrating, we all are celebrating. After all, for the fifth time that we have emerged as the largest party.



Shipping, Highways and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari feels that both the parties need to come together. The situation now is that both parties (the BJP and Shiv Sena) have no option but to come together again. The decision of course, he said, has to be taken by Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray. Both are mature and I am sure they will take the right decision, Gadkari told a TV channel.


JD(S) State President H D Kumaraswamy on Friday sought the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the diary controversy and said the BJP too is equally corrupt.





Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy said the diary purportedly providing details of payoffs by state Congress members to their national leaders had exposed the partys hand in looting the state. But the BJP is no angel. The Congress and the BJP are partners in crime in looting the state to fill the coffers of their respective national leaders. Karnataka has become a green pasture for them, Kumaraswamy said.



The JD(S) leader wondered who had leaked the contents of the diary, reportedly belonging to Congress MLC K Govindaraju and seized by I-T sleuths during a raid last year. It is obvious that the BJP, which is in power at the Centre misused its office, flouted laws to leak the contents,  he said answering his own query.



Kumaraswamy said he had documentary evidence that BJP state leaders too had provided payoffs to the party central leaders. I can reveal the details if the BJP gives an assurance that action will be initiated, he said.



Kumaraswamy said he will retire from politics if it proved that he had sought bribe from officials or contractors during his 20-month tenure as chief minister of the state.
BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on Friday demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recommend dissolution of the Assembly as his statements that the state Congress leaders provided payoffs to the party high command were now proven.





Siddaramaiah had stated that he will resign and retire from politics if my charges were proven. The contents of the diary have now been revealed. Siddaramaiah should resign immediately, Yeddyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru.



A national channel on Thursday had aired the contents of a diary reportedly belonging to Congress MLC K Govindaraj which provided details of payoffs by state Congress members to their national leaders. Yeddyurappa has been mentioning the diary for the past few weeks.



Yeddyurappa said Siddaramaiah should recommend dissolution of the Assembly and go to the peoples court. Taxpayers money had been looted. It is an unpardonable offence. Siddaramaiah has no option but to resign, Yeddyurappa said.



On Congress charges that the diary is fake, Yeddyurappa said the document was seized by I-T officials from Govindarajs residence, mahajar was done and signatures of two witnesses were obtained. Let Govindaraj own up and admit that the diary belongs to him. He will be able to lead a respectable life. Otherwise, he is bound to land in deep trouble, he said.



Yeddyurappa said the kickbacks received by Siddaramaiah for the controversial steel flyover had also been exposed in the diary. Asked whether the entire contents of the diary had been revealed, Yeddyurappa said all he knew is that the diary seized by I-T officials had about 24 to 28 pages.



He said what had been exposed is just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of crores have been siphoned off in the irrigation and Public Works departments. If a through enquiry is conducted, the truth will come out, he said.



Shettar wants narco test on Govindaraju



Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar has said that narco analysis should be conducted on Congress MLC K Govindaraju to unearth the truth in the diary, which reportedly mentions payments made to top Congress leaders, reports DHNS from Hubballi.



The diary has entries on huge amount of money paid to Congress high command. Though it was found at Govindarajus house during an income tax raid, he is now saying that the handwriting in the diary is not his. Therefore, he should be subjected to narco analysis to know the truth, Shettar told reporters here on Friday.



He demanded a CBI enquiry into the scam. He said that the Congress leaders had criticised state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa, when he first mentioned about the diary.They said that Yeddyurappa had lost mental balance. Now, it is clear that Congress leaders themselves have lost mental balance, Shettar added.




China on Friday said it was still discussing with India the contentious issue of imposing United Nations sanctions on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and such discussions took time.



Discussions are going on. Foreign Secretary (of India) was in Beijing two days ago. The discussions were very good and covered everything, Chinas ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said when asked about differences between New Delhi and Beijing over bringing the leader of the terror outfit under UN sanctions.



He was referring to Foreign Secretary S Jaishankars visit to Beijing earlier this week to launch the India-China strategic dialogue with the communist country's Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui.



Just wait (for the outcome of the discussions). China's support to India and every country on matters related to terrorism will always be there. Some discussions are going on. It takes time, Luo told journalists at the inauguration of the Chinese visa application centre at Shivaji Stadium Metro station in Delhi.



New Delhi has been nudging Beijing to shed its policy of shielding terrorists based in Pakistan from United Nations sanctions. The issue was discussed by Jaishankar and Zhang at the launch of the Strategic Dialogue in Beijing recently.



Beijing reiterated that lack of solid evidence prevented it from supporting the moves at the UN to designate the JeM chief as an international terrorist and to impose sanctions on him. New Delhi argued that the extent of Azhar's actions were well documented and the burden of proving it was not on India.



The US has moved a fresh proposal at the UN panel established under the Security Councils resolutions 1267, 1989 and 2253, seeking sanctions on Azhar. The US proposal was co-sponsored by two other permanent member of the Security Council  the UK and France.



The proposal was put forward in coordination with India. Russia, which is also a UNSC permanent member, supported the move and so did 10 other non-permanent members of the council.



China, however, was the only UNSC permanent member which remained opposed to the proposal to bring the JeM chief under UN-mandated international sanctions. China had last year blocked a similar move by India to designate Azhar as a terrorist leader by the UN and impose UN sanctions on him.



China is against any form of terrorist activity and organisation. So, on this matter, China will always be in same line with the international community and take concrete measures, said ambassador Lou.



He said China and India were also discussing the contentious issue of Beijing's opposition to New Delhi's proposed entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday maintained silence on the charges that many of his ministers paid huge sums of money to Congress high command, while the partys state unit chief G Parameshwara questioned the authenticity of the purported diary which contained information on the payments.



Siddaramaiah remained at his official residence Kaveri through the day. He visited Male Mahadeshwara Swamy temple at Chamarajpet in Bengaluru and offered pooja on the occasion of Shivaratri, in the evening. He remained incommunicado despite Opposition parties, BJP and JD(S), demanding his immediate resignation in the wake of the charges.



BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa had charged that a huge sum of money was paid as donation to the Congress high command and claimed that details of the payments are available in a diary maintained by Congress MLC and KPCC treasurer K Govindaraj.



Contents of the diary, which was said to have been seized by IT department during a raid last year, were reportedly leaked to a national TV news channel on Thursday.



KPCC, the state unit of Congress, also did not counter the charges. None of the ministers, whose names are said to be written in acronym in the diary, denied the charges.



However, Parameshwara questioned the authenticity of the diary and its contents when a Kannada TV news channel approached him for his reaction. The IT department has to clarify whether it has really seized the diary from Govindrajs residence and reveal its actual contents. Till then, there is no point discussing it, he stated.



Sources in the party said the issue is likely to come up for discussion at the KPCC co-ordination committee meeting on Sunday in Bengaluru.



Senior party leaders, including AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Digvijaya Singh, party leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Siddaramaiah, are scheduled to attend the meeting. The panel is likely to chalk out a strategy to counter the BJP, the sources added.



Asked how Congress will counter the charges, KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao said the party will educate the people on the dirty tricks of the BJP.
The mystery surrounding the murder of Prabha Arun Kumar, a software engineer from Bengaluru stabbed to death in Sydney in March 2015, has deepened, with Australian investigators revealing a suspicious transfer of funds to a womans account in Sri Lanka from Prabhas compensation amount.



The murder is being investigated by special detective squad, Strike Force Marcoala of New South Wales, Australia.



After Prabhas death, Rs 1 crore, which included the Australian governments compensation and benefits from life insurance, was deposited into her account.



The husband is the legal nominee to receive compensation, CID sources said. The money was transferred to a womans account in Sri Lanka in 2015-16. NWS detectives visited Bengaluru in January and verified details of the accounts of Prabha, her husband Arun Kumar and family members.





The suspicious transfer of funds to Sri Lanka came to light during the verification.

The detectives interrogated Prabhas relatives and Kumar over the transfer of funds.



Financial crisis



The sleuths were told that the woman, a techie from Bengaluru, was Prabhas family friend and was undergoing a financial crisis. Hence, the funds were transferred to her account from Prabhas account.



The woman was in Sri Lanka on an official assignment in 2015-16 and had opened an account there. She was a close friend of the man who transferred the funds.



The woman made a statement to Australian investigators that she received the funds as loan to overcome a financial crisis.



The investigators did not find any convincing evidence to establish a link between the suspicious transfer of funds and Prabhas murder, sources said.



An unidentified man had followed her and slit her throat on March 7, 2015, while she was passing through a Sydney park about 300 metres away from her house, minutes after she got down from a tram.



CCTV image



The CCTV in the park had captured the image of the assailant. The sleuths had detained over 30 men involved in crimes in Sydney who resembled the assailant. However, it later emerged that they didnt have any role in that murder.



The sleuths had also interrogated a 27-year-old man who had stabbed two women in the park earlier. However, the investigation established that he was not involved in Prabhas case.



A native of Nandagokula in Amtoor near Kalladka in Bantwal taluk, Prabha had moved to Bengaluru in 1998. She was sent to Australia for a project for a year by her employer Mindtree in 2012.


City residents expressed concern about the safety of their loved ones in the US after news about the killing of a Hyderabad aviation engineer Srinivas Kuchibotla (32) in Kansas spread on Friday. This is the first hate crime involving an Indian after Donald Trump took charge.



Another Hyderabadi, Alok Madasani (32), who was also injured in the attack by the US Navy veteran Adam Puriton (51), is undergoing treatment in a hospital there. A US citizen Ian Grillot (24) was also injured. Social media and Twitter trended with condolences, praise for the heroic efforts of the US citizen who was injured when he intervened and sharp criticism of Trump. There were also hate message posts in the name of religion that went viral on social media platforms. The shooter said he shot the two Indians thinking they were Middle Easterners.



My friend said ever since Trump took oath, there have been protests against Indians with placards reading Go Back Indians which has spread insecurity among Indians in several cities in the US.The Indian embassy there has also issued guidelines to harried Indians not to panic and explained how to deal with any situation, said Minhaj Ahmed, whose friend has settled with her husband and her 5-year-old child in the US.



Her parents too are worried as she is expecting her second child. Sathish, a Bengalurean, whose brother Pragadish lives in Los Angeles, was relieved when Pragadish called him to say Los Angeles was safe and protests were happening elsewhere in the US.



Krishna, a frequent traveller to the US from Bengaluru said: There is definitely skepticism about what might happen next, but its nothing specific to Indians. Its to do with all immigrants in general. Native US citizens are up in arms against Indians and Chinese whom they see as the ones stealing their jobs.



The incident is highly condemnable and Indians should be united in raising their voices against the brutality. It has raised concern over safety of Indians, Dr Mithun, who is on a Neurosurgical Oncology Fellowship at Ohio, said.



Some, however, gave a benefit of doubt and said that more than the isolated and unfortunate incidents like these, they are worried about Trumps immigration policies.


Now, but for a very short time, the First Responders exhibit is at the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park with historically significant emergency vehicles spanning many decades. The museum tells us, via informational text placards and historical photographs located throughout the exhibit, that first responders are among the first persons to arrive at the scene of an emergency, and are responsible for the protection and preservation of life and property. These emergencies include natural disasters, accidents, medical emergencies, criminal incidents, rescues and terrorist attacks. First responder agencies include law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, lifeguards and the U.S. Coast Guard. They use specialized emergency vehicles including cars, SUVs, motorcycles, specialty trucks outfitted with unique mechanisms that provide rescue and protection capabilities, ATVs, armored vehicles, command vehicles, sea craft and aircraft. Ever more sophisticated technology has led to many improvements in the capabilities of modern day emergency vehicles.

1926 Buick Police Paddy Wagon (Jan Wagner / C 2017 Jan R. Wagner, AutoMatt) (Jan Wagner / (C) 2017 Jan R. Wagner, AutoMatt)

One of several law enforcement agencies represented here, the San Diego Police Department was established in 1889. In 1909 the first motorcycle officer joined the department, and in 1912 the first woman was hired. Lucille Jeardue became SDPDs first policewoman in 1917. Her beat was La Jolla. Today, with over 1,800 police personnel, the San Diego Police Department handles an average of 1.4 million calls per year. This exhibit includes a 1926 Buick Police Paddy Wagon, complete with an incarcerated and very unhappy prisoner.

Dating back to 1850, the San Diego Sheriffs Department handles calls for the County of San Diego, including the unincorporated parts of San Diego. It also provides support for other law enforcement and rescue operations. The department has over 4,100 employees, including more than 1,400 women. The museums exhibit includes a 1989 Sheriffs Chevrolet Caprice cruiser.

Sherrifs Department & SDPD cruisers (Jan Wagner / C 2017 Jan R. Wagner, AutoMatt) (Jan Wagner / (C) 2017 Jan R. Wagner, AutoMatt)

The California Highway Patrol , made familiar to people far beyond California by the long-running T.V. show CHiPs, is of course represented by a motorcycle (a 1999 Kawasaki KZ1000 P-18 Police 1000) and an accompanying uniformed officer, wearing a distinctive CHP motorcycle helmet. This agency was created in 1929 to enforce traffic laws on state and county highways. Some of its first police patrols were actually on bicycles. Today its vehicles also include SUVs, sedans, aircraft, boats and more.

The San Diego Fire Department (SDFD) had its origins way back in 1869 with the Pioneer Hook & Ladder Company. Its first fire engine company, Company 1, was acquired in 1872. The San Diego City Fire Department was established in 1889.

1999 Kawasaki KZ1000 P-18 Police 1000 motorcycle (Jan Wagner / C 2017 Jan R. Wagner, AutoMatt) (Jan Wagner / (C) 2017 Jan R. Wagner, AutoMatt)

In 2016 the SDFD answered 154,263 calls. The types of calls, from most to least, were emergency medical response (at 111,496, these were by far the most frequent), non-emergency medical, hazard, fire and rescue. Originally maintained by the police department, ambulance services are currently provided by independent ambulance companies.

In addition to fire engines, the fire department has firefighting boats with the ability to pump 1,000 gallons of seawater per minute on fires, and pump 300 gallons per minute out of sinking vessels.

Also serving the community in and on the water, the Lifeguard Services began in 1918 in response to the drowning deaths of 13 people one day in Ocean Beach. Originally three lifeguards were attached to the police department, first serving Wonderland Park and then Mission Beach and La Jolla. The Childrens Pool lifeguard station was established in 1926, followed by stations in Mission Beach (1927) and Pacific Beach (1929).

Recently retired fire engine on the road (Jan Wagner / C 2017 Jan R. Wagner, AutoMatt) (Jan Wagner / (C) 2017 Jan R. Wagner, AutoMatt)

They perform cliff rescues along the steep, rugged parts of the coastline. To facilitate this type of rescue, a specialized cliff rescue apparatus was developed in the 1940s. This rudimentary apparatus was essentially a crane with a powered winch that was attached to a rescue vehicle. Today Rescue 44  a highly specialized, multi-purpose emergency response vehicle  performs cliff rescues.

Founded in 1790 and named by an Act of Congress in 1915, the United States Coast Guard is a branch of the military and serves the country as its premier maritime agency. Comprised of nearly 46,000 personnel, it includes the Revenue Cutter Service, the Lighthouse Service, the Steamboat Inspection Service, the Bureau of Navigation and the Lifesaving Service. It utilizes emergency response vehicles, boats, security cutters, communications trailers, helicopters and more.

Operators at communication dispatch centers take emergency calls concerning safety, health and property, processing over 2,000 calls each day for law enforcement.

First Responders runs through May 29th at the San Diego Automotive Museum (https://sdautomuseum.org) in Balboa Park.

Join in the conversation. Send your comments and suggestions to AutoMatters@gmail.com.

Copyright  2017 by Jan Wagner  AutoMatters & More #477r2
By a vote of 4-1, San Dieguito Union High School District trustees in December approved offering stipends to any employee teacher or not  who gave notice before Feb. 1 of their intent to retire by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

The rationale, according SDUHSD superintendent Eric Dill, was not to provide an early retirement notice for the purpose of reducing the number of highly-paid veteran employees and replacing them with new, and less costly, workers  although the reduction in payroll costs was a secondary benefit.

Rather, he said, the primary purpose was to give the district more time to recruit and hire teachers with credentials in hard-to-fill fields. The most difficult areas to recruit teachers, he said, are special education, mathematics and science.

In his report to the board, Dill wrote, The shortage of highly qualified teachers in California is well-documented.

The decision was also driven by the fact that more SDUHSD teachers this year had reached retirement age than in previous years. He said the number this year was about 40, compared to previous years when there were 10 or 12.

Right now weve got a huge bubble [of teachers] that are retirement age, Dill said. We know were going to get a bunch of teachers retiring this year.

He said the retirement age for teachers is typically 58 to 60. By 60 or 61, many employees seriously consider retiring.

Dill said he wanted to know early, for planning purposes, the number of those leaving and what credentials they hold, so the district can begin recruiting in those subject areas.

We want to get out in advance of other districts, he said.

Shortages, he said, are higher for high school districts, which require special single-subject credentials for all course content areas.

The earlier we can determine the number of teachers who intend to retire and the credentials held by those teachers, the earlier we can begin our efforts to recruit highly qualified teachers to fill those vacancies, Dill said.

The incentive if notice was given in Jan. was 5 percent of their annual salary, and 2 percent for notices given Feb. 1 to Feb. 15.

He said the stipends would cost the district roughly between $3,000 and $6,000 per employee and would be paid for out of the substantial salary and benefit savings recognized through attrition, Dill wrote in his report.

Weve had little success when weve just nudged them, he said in an interview. This is an intent to get people to commit early.

He added that it was important to know who was not leaving as well, for more accurate budget projections.

If we have another year of very few retirements, I need to know that too, he said.

The longer we wait to replace retiring teachers, the more difficult it will be to find replacements, in addition to the teachers we need to hire to accommodate enrollment growth, the board report reads.

Dill said the stipend was not intended to encourage anyone to retire.

This is not meant to incentivize anyone to leave, he said. This is to incentivize anyone who already is thinking of leaving to let us know so we can start planning.

If the district receives retirement notices later in the year, the district has to scramble, he said, to find qualified replacements, noting that the district wants to avoid repeating last falls school openings when substitutes were hired for classes that had no qualified teachers.

Not just teachers

Its not just certificated teachers who were offered the stipend. It was offered to all certificated non-teachers as well as classified employees.

Staff recommends that this stipend apply to classified employees as well, Dill wrote in his board report.

When asked why classified, Dill said the same benefits have always been offered to classified employees when benefits are offered to certificated.

Vacancies in classified personnel  secretaries, bus drivers, instructional aides and others  are an efficiency problem, he said, noting that it can take up to three months to recruit for a vacancy.

Trustee John Salazar, who voted against the offer, wrote in a letter to Dill before the Dec. 8 board meeting, I think it is a complete waste of taxpayers money to pay someone to let you know if they plan on retiring.

Trustee Mo Muir questioned why it seemed the district was encouraging qualified teachers to leave. I dont want to lose any good teachers, she said.

Muir disagreed with the offer but voted for it because, she told me, the district needs the money to help lower the deficit, which is estimated to be $9.7 million this year.

Trying to strike a balance, Torrey Pines High School student board representative Isaac Gelman asked if the incentive offer could apply only to those teachers in hard-to-fill positions. Although board members agreed it was a good question, Dill said the labor contract did not permit offering a benefit to only select teachers.

Giving notice before Feb. 1 were 18 certificated and 18 classified employees  all qualifying for the 5 percent stipend.

For certificated staff, Dill estimated the stipends would cost the district about $127,000, and the net savings after hiring replacements would be about $1.3 million.

For classified, he estimated the stipends would cost the district about $51,200, and the net savings after hiring replacements would be about $283,700.

The total cost for the stipends for all those who gave notice is about $180,000.

If the district decides not to hire replacements for some positions, the savings would be higher, Dill said.

On Feb. 14, Dill said there have been no employees taking advantage of the 2 percent stipend for notices given between Feb. 1 and Feb. 15.

He did say that a few people will give notice before the end of the fiscal year, but they will receive no stipend.

The net savings will be larger, but the positions will be more challenging to fill before school starts, he said.

Whos leaving

A revised list of resignations was handed out at the Feb. 2 school board meeting, updating the list posted in the agenda before the meeting.

The revised list is still not available on-line, even after I asked multiple times. Because the agenda on the districts website has not been updated as of press time, the public can only review the full list by contacting the superintendents office directly.

Eighteen certificated employee resignations were accepted: 14 teachers and four non-teachers.

Ten of those 14 teacher resignations are for teachers of art, English, physical education and other subjects not considered difficult to fill.

One of those 10 is Bob Croft, who is listed as teaching P.E. and English at Earl Warren Middle School. But according to the district, he has not taught in the classroom since 2010.

Croft is paid a full salary  $125,797  and serves as president of the San Dieguito Faculty Association, the districts teachers union. The district pays a substitute to teach his classes.

Besides continuing to receive his full salary through the end of the fiscal year, Croft will receive over $6,000 as a stipend for announcing his resignation in January.

Of the hard-to-fill positions, four of the 14 were teachers of science and math, and none were special education.

The four science/math teachers are: Susan Atkinson, math teacher at La Costa Canyon High School; Isla Cordelae, science teacher at Torrey Pines; David Fleischman, physics teacher at Torrey Pines; and Celia Walsh, science teacher at Oak Crest Middle School.

Other teacher resignations by school include:

*Canyon Crest Academy: Lisa Caston, Carol Limbach

*La Costa Canyon: Deborah Elliott, Joseph McCormick, Jamie Ritchie, Daniel Salas

*Torrey Pines: Daniel Aposhian

*Carmel Valley Middle School: Kim Bullock, Sally Hackworth

The four certificated non-teacher employees are:

*Adrienne St. George Cavanaugh, district library media coordinator

*Jeanne Jones, assistant principal at San Dieguito Academy

*Elizabeth Levario, counselor at La Costa Canyon

*Torrie Norton, associate superintendent of human resources

The 18 resignations from classified employees include bus drivers, secretaries, instructional aides, grounds workers, administrative assistants, nutrition services workers, the director of student information services (Patricia Gaul) and the chief facilities officer (Russell Thornton).

Whats the problem?

Whats wrong with this plan is that, despite Dills assertion that the stipend is not an incentive to retire, thats exactly what it amounts to. There are ways to attract highly qualified teachers to the district besides giving away district money. Signing bonuses for hard-to-fill positions are commonly used, for example.

And offering stipends to classified employees because the district has always offered to one group the same for all groups makes no sense.

Its the way weve always done it is the common district excuse for so many costly traditions that can no longer be justified.

If one accepts what Dill wrote in his board report, that it is a highly competitive market for certificated staff, then what is the point of incentivizing secretaries and bus drivers to retire?

Furthermore, if the intent is to get a head start on the hiring of science, math and special education teachers, only four gave notice. The rest are positions that are less hard to fill.

And one more point. Torrie Norton, the districts associate supt. of human resources, is taking advantage of the policy she and Dill formulated together, by herself announcing her resignation.

Norton is paid $195,466 annually, as of July 1, 2016. That, by the way, is up from $162,265 in June 2015. She and the three other associate superintendents are paid exactly the same  which means that a replacement for Norton will be offered her same salary. Not much savings there. Nortons stipend will be close to $10,000.

Salazar was nearly apoplectic over what he called a money giveaway, suggesting that most of these people would have retired anyway, without a bonus.

He is doubtful that it will be difficult to fill the vacant teaching positions, considering that the teachers contract includes the outrageous statement that San Dieguito teachers must be the highest paid in the county.

Lest we be distracted by the claim to justify the stipends that the district will realize tremendous savings when these veteran employees are replaced by less costly workers, keep in mind that those savings would have been realized anyway, without the stipends.

But its done. And the news, after offering money to know how many science, math and special education teachers will be leaving, is merely four.

To learn this, it will cost the district about $180,000 in stipends.

Just wondering how many musical instruments and how much science equipment $180,000 could buy.

Sr. Education Writer Marsha Sutton can be reached at suttonmarsha@gmail.com
Politics, books, history, foreign affairs, Caribbean, Middle East, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, China, Britain, United Nations, Oil For Food, Bush the Deserter, sex and rum and 1776 and tequilla and lots of fun things from someone who has more columns than the Parthenon.
Consumer boycotts can be an exceptionally effective way for shoppers to express their unhappiness with businesses, corporations, or even entire countries. When consumers stop shopping en masse, companies listen  at least, that's the theory. But what happens when everyone is boycotting everything?

We explore the "trend" of ethical boycotts, the three things that make for a successful boycott, and actions you can take when boycotting isn't an option.

American History Is Full of Boycotts

With boycotts taking up so much space in today's newspapers, it's easy to forget they're not a modern invention.

In fact, the principled boycott has an honored place in the history of American protest. After the Boston Tea Party, future president John Adams called for a tea boycott, saying, "Tea must be universally renounced," and "I must be weaned, and the sooner, the better." In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white man. This event triggered the Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted for more than a year and started a critical period in the civil rights movement.

But boycotts haven't always been about civil rights and revolution. In 1997, the New York Movie Theater Association announced a $1 price increase, to $9.50 per ticket. This prompted calls for a boycott from consumer advocacy group "Consumers Unite!" and City Council Speaker Peter F. Vallone, who called the price hike "an absolute outrage," and "a mugging of the middle class."

'I said I would picket as long as one person was behind me. I looked behind me when I got to the theaters; nobody was there. So I bought a ticket and saw the movie.'

That boycott failed  though not so dramatically as a similar boycott led by New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1988, when ticket prices increased from $6 to $7. "I said I would picket as long as one person was behind me," Koch told the New York Times. "I looked behind me when I got to the theaters; nobody was there. So I bought a ticket and saw the movie."

Boycotts Are 'In'

These days, it seems like boycotts are everywhere. And businesswoman and first daughter Ivanka Trump's clothing lines are the most recent targets.

The #GrabYourWallet campaign, which is protesting the Trump administration, claimed credit for several major retailers (including Nordstrom, Sears, Kmart, and Neiman Marcus) discontinuing her products or other Trump-branded items. For their part, these companies have blamed poor performance on the products' discontinuation, but stopped short of attributing that performance to any boycott.

SEE ALSO: Is Your Local Macy's, Sears, or Kmart Closing?

And that's not the only boycott happening right now. Advertising activist group Sleeping Giants has been pressuring companies to pull their ads from conservative news site Breitbart. As retaliation, Breitbart called on its readers to boycott Kellogg, one of the companies that withdrew ads. Also, when Uber turned off its "surge pricing" feature after a New York taxi strike, more than 200,000 users deleted their Uber accounts.

In a shopping environment that seems more politicized than ever, it can be difficult to keep up with everything shoppers are supposed to be abstaining from. So many groups are calling for so many different boycotts that it's impossible to keep track of them all.

"We may be starting to see boycott fatigue," suggested Brayden King, a professor at Northwestern University who studies how consumer activism affects corporations. "We're just overrun with boycotts at the moment," King told Fast Company.

So many boycotts are happening, in fact, that there's an app for that. Buycott, available for Android and iOS, allows consumers to scan barcodes and see how particular products line up with their values.

3 Things That Make Boycotts Successful

Before deciding whether to spend your time and energy participating in a boycott, you should know what makes one successful.

Clear goals

First, the boycott must have a clear target and clear goals. Boycotts of multinational conglomerates are challenging because those entities produce so many different products that it's sometimes hard to tell which goods are made by which subsidiary companies.

The real power of a boycott lies in its ability to damage a company's reputation.

Easy participation

Second, the boycott must be easy to participate in. Ideally, shoppers should be able to find alternatives to the boycotted products without difficulty. For example, The Washington Post described Ivanka Trump's clothing as "unremarkable" and "safe," in that it "doesn't give [shoppers and merchants] anything they can't get elsewhere." Supporting a boycott needs to be as easy as looking at the next item on the rack.

Lots of publicity

Third, the boycott needs public attention. "Boycotts don't tend to work in the way people think, meaning by hurting the bottom line," King said in a University of Pennsylvania Knowledge@Wharton podcast. The real power of a boycott, according to King, lies in its ability to damage a company's reputation. And for that to happen, the boycott must be well-publicized.

The Best Boycott Alternatives

Sometimes, it's impossible or impractical to support a boycott. For instance, boycotting the electric company would be exceptionally difficult for many. Boycotting the IRS could land you in federal prison. And boycotting the only grocery store in a small town probably isn't realistic.

When joining a boycott isn't an option for you, there are other ways to express your displeasure.

For example, if the target has a monopoly in their industry or is part of the government, think about reaching out to your elected officials. You may not be able to boycott the electric company, but you can write letters to your representatives and your public utilities commission demanding change.

SEE ALSO: What Happens to Prices When a Store Closes?

Also, you probably can't boycott your trash service, but calling it out on social media, sending emails to its investors, or writing letters to the editor in your local paper can all influence decision-makers  especially if you get your friends to join in.

And while you might not be able to influence a big box retailer's plans to open a new store in your town, you can talk to your local elected officials about zoning laws, and attend planning meetings to express your concerns.

Even the oft-maligned online petition can be useful. A Change.org user named Molly Katchpole created a petition asking Bank of America to drop its $5/month debit card fee. Then the petition got more than 300,000 signatures, and the bank dropped the fee. She did the same thing when Verizon proposed a $2 online-bill-paying fee; the wireless carrier ended up dropping the proposal.

Readers, have you ever participated in a boycott? Do you know of any other boycott tips or alternatives? Share them in the comments below!
So, Samsungs 2017 flagships are almost upon us, and though most would rather talk about the seemingly bezel-less display or new fingerprint sensor, theres one aspect thats more important. Samsungs new SoC, the Exynos 8895 was made official recently and with it, the South Korean OEM takes on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835. Its even more important for India, since Samsung usually launches the Exynos version of its flagship handsets in the country.

Last years Exynos 8890 was quite close to the Snapdragon 820s performance levels, but Samsung goes a step further this time. It matches Qualcomm on the manufacturing process, data speeds and more. Interestingly, the Galaxy branded flagships are the only smartphones that offer an even testing ground for SoCs. Given that Samsung launches a Snapdragon and Exynos variant of the Galaxy S flagships, its easier to compare SoCs, since all other aspects are constant.

Mongoose vs Kryo

Well, a real-world comparison is at least a month away right now, but from the specifications each company has talked about, we can draw some inferences of what to expect.

While the 10nm FINFET process takes centre-stage here, the emphasis this year would be on efficiency over raw power. To be clear, both chipsets should be more powerful than their predecessors, but we do not expect to see much real world implications of that. The difference here should be efficiency, on how much power they consume while delivering breakneck speeds.

As we explained when talking about the Snapdragon 835, Samsung is going for efficiency over power here. In fact, the companys own claims are that the Exynos 8895 will be 27% faster than the 8890, while consuming 40% less power. In real world terms, this should be an either or situation, meaning itll either run at 37% faster speeds, or consume 40% less power.

Both Samsung and Qualcomm have custom core designs, although Qualcomm has a more semi-custom approach this time, utilising one of ARM's newest licenses. The Mongoose and Kryo cores are both fitted in a big.LITTLE architecture on these chipsets, but where Qualcomm uses two Kryo clusters, Samsung uses a Mongoose cluster and a Cortex A53 cluster. Neither Samsung, nor Qualcomm have confirmed whether their custom cores are based on ARM's Cortex A73 design, but their top clock speeds to suggest that the excellent Cortex A72 core is in play here. To recall, the Cortex A72 is in play in all the most powerful SoCs you can think of today, including the Snapdragon 650, 652 and 653.

Mali vs Adreno

On testing Samsung and Qualcomms chips last year, the Snapdragon 820 and 821 usually came out ahead on GPU tests. However, this year may not be the same. Samsung has chosen a Mali G71 MP20 GPU, that is based on ARMs new Bitfrost GPU architecture. Where Qualcomm claims 25% improvement on the Adreno 540 (with the Snapdragon 835), Samsung has gone ahead claiming 60% faster performance from its new GPU.

With VR seeing a big marketing push in 2017, its natural that both SoC makers would want better GPUs this year. Its even more important in Samsungs case, since the company is already invested in VR with its mobile VR focused, Gear VR headset. It is worth noting that ARM itself claims 50% better graphics on the Bitfrost architecture, which means Samsungs own enhancements account for an extra 10% here.

Of course, these are only claims right now, but if a 60% boost in graphics is indeed accomplished, itll make for much better VR gaming capabilities for Samsungs Galaxy S8 and Note 8 flagships. Similarly, Qualcomm has to manage the VR capabilities, including Samsungs Gear VR. So, the chipmaker has no respite either.

Taking the load off

An addition to both the Exynos and Snapdragon chipsets this time is a VPU that will almost literally give your phone eyes. While the SoCs are pretty much evenly matched in their camera megapixel counts or video processing and playback capabilities, the VPU and its concerned algorithms may make a difference here.

The VPUs in both these SoCs will add not only to their camera prowess, but in other fields as well. They will offer features like object detection, gesture detection and facial recognition. Ring a bell? These features should, ideally be used in tagging photos, recognising faces from your gallery of Facebook images and so on.

In addition, the addition of machine vision could also mean that both these manufacturers want to explore more than just phones. In Samsungs case, the companys Exynos 8895 chipset is already being used for Audis cars.

Exynos vs Snapdragon

Ever since it achieved the 14nm FINFET process, Samsungs chipsets have become much more competitive. Last years SoC was an eye opener for the market, with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge doing well in India, despite the lack of a Qualcomm chipset inside. With the 10nm process, Samsung can only make things better, unless something goes royally wrong, like the Note 7 debacle, and we doubt a company as big as Samsung will have another one of those.

The Exynos 8895 Soc is also the first chipset to be designed and fabbed by Samsung. This, combined with the fact that the company started selling its SoCs last year as well, could mean well see more of Samsungs chipsets on other devices. With its own fab in place, Samsung has a realistic shot at challenging Qualcomm in the market, if it chooses to do so.
Shares in tidal power company Atlantis Resources rose on Friday as its turbine has successfully exported power to the grid in Scotland and has operated at full capacity.

The AIM-listed company said that following the deployment of the first AR1500 tidal stream turbine, which part designed by Lockheed Martin, at the MeyGen project in Pentland Firth on Monday, the 1.5 megawatt turbine exported power and operated at full capacity.

This follows the November 2016 announcement that power had been delivered to the grid from the first of the three Andritz Hydro Hammerfest tidal stream turbines.

All four of the turbines in phase 1A have now been installed and connected to the grid onshore at a control building at Ness of Quoys in Caithness.

The company confirmed that that construction for the next 6 megawatt phase of the project is due to start later in 2017.
Beowulf Mining's shares rose almost 7% after saying it remains hopeful it will be issued an exploration concession for the Kallak North project, but is frustrated with a now four-year-long application process laden with "twists and turns".

It had written to Sweden's Mining Inspectorate to state it did not agree with that body consulting with Sweden's National Heritage Board and Environmental Protection Agency in relation to Kallak North project.

"Both these agencies have already reviewed the company's application for an Exploitation Concession for Kallak North and provided comments," it said in a statement.



Beowulf has stated it was for the County Administrative Board (CAB) for the County of Norrbotten to answer the Mining Inspectorate's questions and to give an opinion on the Company's application.

"The CAB has stated on more than one occasion that the company's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is sufficient for an assessment, and in July 2015, the CAB detailed a robust economic case for Kallak," said Beowulf.

CEO Kurt Budge commented it was reassuring the Mining Inspectorate was now showing some urgency with regards to handling the application.

"But the level of frustration now felt, after submitting the application nearly four years ago, and with all the twists and turns since I became involved, is palpable," he said.

At 10:27 GMT, shares in AIM-listed Beowulf were up 6.41% to 10.38p each.
PowerHouse Energy updated the market on the movement of its G3-UHt ultra-high temperature demonstration gasification system on Friday, which was enroute from Australia to the UK, moving to its final transshipment point prior to its expected arrival in the UK in late March 2017.

The AIM-traded company said it had agreed with University of Chester to deploy its G3-UHt unit at its Thornton Science Park, adjacent to the newly constructed Energy Centre of the university.

It said it entered into a heads of terms with the university to take offices at Thornton Science Park to support the G3 Unit, and to allow potential customer and partner evaluation of the G3 system.

Working with Waste2tricity and Peel Environmental, PowerHouse added that it was negotiating a commercial relationship with University of Chester, which would allow it to both demonstrate its technology and connect to the facilitys micro-grid for the supplying of power to Thornton in situ.

As previously announced, PowerHouse also entered into a memorandum of understanding to negotiate the establishment of its first commercial facility at the Protos Energy Facility which is adjacent to the Science Park.

This is a very important and exciting development for Thornton Science Park, said Thornton Science Park CEO Paul Vernon.

We are delighted that PowerHouse are committed to becoming our first commercial tenant in the Energy Centre.

It is a prime example of how the investment made to the Energy Centre is attracting new and innovative energy solutions to Thornton and Protos.

Keith Allaun, executive chairman of PowerHouse, said the company could not have envisaged a more ideal location for the siting of the G3-UHt, or a better relationship with University of Chester.

Their commitment to advanced energy sciences, the enthusiasm of their welcome to their facility, and our intent to be the leader in Modular Distributed Gasification makes this feel like the right home for the demonstration unit, Allaun commented.

We believe that Protos will be one of the most highly visible advanced and alternative energy facility ecosystem in the world and were grateful to be in the conversation as a key contributor to this incredible partnership.

We look forward to a long-standing, highly productive, relationship with University of Chester, Thornton, and Peel.
Analysts at Credit Suisse bumped up their target price for BAE Systems to incorporate the firms recently-released 2016 full-year numbers and its latest financial guidance.

As regards the defence contractors's 2016 financials, earnings per share were 2.0% ahead of analysts' estimates and at 1.54bn pounds net debt was below those same forecasts as the company churned out more cash than anticipated.

The Farnborough-based aerospace and defence group also guided towards a rise in underlying earnings per share in 2017 of between 5.0% and 10.0%, which was roughly in-line with the consensus figure.

Assuming a pound-US dollar exchange rate of 1.25 against 1.30 before and lower financial costs, operating income in 2017 would be largely unchanged from Credit Suisse's prior estimate, but the 2018 figure would be 1.0% higher and 4.0% more in both 2019 and 2020, analyst Oliver Brochet said.

On the basis of the above, and using a sum-of-the-parts methodology, Brochet raised his target price from 520.0p to 610.0p, while keeping his recommendation on the shares at 'Neutral'.

Brochet also factored in a higher enterprise value-to-earnings before interest and tax (EV/EBIT) multiple of 11.8, versus 10.5 before.

That increased multiple was a reflection of the more favourable prospects for the US business and in-line with that of its US peers.

BAE shares were then trading at a 27.0% discount to its US rivals in terms of its 2018 price-to earnings (P/E) multiple, in comparison to an average discount between 2009 and 2016 of 24.0%.

"We believe that this discount results from the less attractive portfolio of BAE vs the main US primes and the large UK pension deficit. A 'blue sky' scenario comes to 720p, including higher US defence spending and a Typhoon order from Saudi Arabia."
President Donald Trump has said that the US should expand its nuclear capability while there is no agreement to eradicate weapons on a global scale.

Trump told Reuters that the US must come "top of the pack" when it comes to the possession of nuclear arms, or it will leave itself vulnerable to attack.

"It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, we're going to be at the top of the pack," Trump said.

"I am the first one that would like to see everybody - nobody have nukes, but we're never going to fall behind any country even if it's a friendly country, we're never going to fall behind on nuclear power."

The comments come as the US and Russia work to meet a deadline of February 2018 to lower their nuclear arsenals to the same levels. The US is currently estimated to have 6,800 weapons with Russia slightly ahead on 7,000, according to the Arms Control Association.

The impartial ACA released a statement condemning Trump's comments, saying he is "ill-informed" about the issue.

"Mr Trump's comments suggest, once again, that he is ill-informed about nuclear weapons and has a poor understanding of the unique dangers of nuclear weapons," the association said.

"The history of the Cold War shows us that no one comes out on 'top of the pack' of an arms race and nuclear brinksmanship."

Trump has often been accused of being too erratic to be in charge of nuclear weapons, with former presidential election rival Hillary Clinton saying that "a man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his fingers anywhere near the nuclear codes".
Markets in Asia were mostly lower on Friday, with investors turning their attention to Samsung Group after reports emerged that some of its executives had offered to resign amid the presidential cash-for-influence scandal.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.45% at 19,283.54, with the yen trading relatively stronger - it was last ahead 0.27% on the greenback at JPY 112.31 per $1.

That stronger currency put pressure on the major exporters, with Honda down 0.48%, Sony losing 0.83% and Toyota 0.77% softer.

Shares in beleaguered technology firm Toshiba added 4.14% after spending the session bobbing above and below the line.

Investors were trying to make sense of reports on Thursday that South Korean company SK Hynix was still interested in Toshibas valuable memory chip business, but only if Toshiba was willing to offer up a larger stake.

Toshiba was also forced to respond to reports that its acquired, struggling US nuclear division Westinghouse was looking to file for court protection stateside.

The company said it was not aware of any such plans.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.05% to 3,253.03, while the Shenzhen Composite was up 0.42% at 2,000.37.

South Koreas Kospi lost 0.64% to finish the day at 2,094.12.

The countrys Yonhap news agency reported that two senior executives at the Samsung conglomerate had offered up their jobs in a bid to shoulder responsibility for the groups involvement in the cash-for-influence scandal surrounding impeached President Park Geun-hye.

Prosecutors had identified the pair as suspects as part of their investigation, which led to the arrest of Samsung chief Jay Lee last week, the reports continued.

Samsung Electronics, the jewel in the conglomerates crown, announced a number of new policies on Friday to improve transparency in their donations and financial support for activities related to their corporate social responsibility functions.

The firm said any donations and funding over KRW 1bn would be publicly disclosed, and would require the approval of the board.

A further report suggested Samsung Electronics was planning a shareholder meeting for 24 March.

Shares in the groups various arms finished mostly lower, with Samsung Electronics down 2.5% and Samsung SDI off 0.4%, although Samsung C&T added 0.8%.

Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index was down 0.62% at 23,965.70.

The red Friday in Asia came on the back of a mixed finish on Wall Street overnight, after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gave some clarity on the significant tax reforms promised by President Trump.

We want to get this done by the August recess, he told CNBC.

We've been working closely with the leadership in the House and the Senate and we're looking at a combined plan.

Oil prices were lower, with Brent crude last down 0.8% at $56.13 and West Texas Intermediate losing 0.7% to $54.07.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.79% to 5,738.98, led lower by the materials subindex, which fell 2.09%.

The major miners were all lower, with BHP Billiton down 3.02%, Fortescue Metals losing 3.38% and Rio Tinto down 4.15%.

New Zealands S&P/NZX 50 lost 0.4% to settle at 7,058.59, led lower by local retail giant The Warehouse Group, which slipped 2.6%.

The retailer had announced plans to shed 1.1% of its workforce on Thursday, in a bid to save NZD 20m a year as it slims down its operation.

Both of the down under dollars were weaker, with the Aussie last off 0.39% at AUD 1.3012 against the greenback and the Kiwi retreating 0.28% to NZD 1.3870.
AstraZeneca has received a positive recommendation for its treatment of a condition caused by cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases.

Following the FTSE 100 drug company's ongoing trials of its ZS-9 drug -- sodium zirconium cyclosilicate, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency has given a positive opinion recommending the approval of its use for the treatment of hyperkalaemia, a serious condition characterised by high potassium levels in the blood.

The CHMP's opinion will now go before the European Commission to decide whether ZS-9 will receive a EU-wide marketing authorisation of the medicine, in which case it could applicable to all 28 European Union member countries plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

The trials, which have seen more than 1,600 patients treated so far, include a Phase III study that showed hyperkalaemia sufferers had their blood serum potassium returned to normal levels within 48 hours after taking sodium zirconium cyclosilicate and that this was maintained during 12 days of maintenance therapy.

Normal levels of potassium in the blood serum were also achieved within 48 hours in an additional study, with a higher proportion of patients maintaining normokalaemia for up to 28 days on treatment versus placebo.

AstraZeneca's trials have found sodium zirconium cyclosilicate significantly lowers serum potassium levels quickly and effectively in patients with acute and chronic hyperkalaemia.

Hyperkalaemia occurs in 23-47% of patients with chronic kidney disease and/or chronic heart failure and can lead to cardiac arrest and death.

"As current therapy options are limited, sodium zirconium cyclosilicate has the potential to address a long-standing unmet need for the fast, safe and effective long-term treatment of hyperkalaemia," the company said.
Africa and Europe-focused upstream gas company Sound Energy upstream said the third Tendrara well, TE-8, has been drilled to the first casing point at a measured depth (MD) of 461m.

The 13-3/8 inch casing was being set and cemented in the top of Upper Lias formation. The company would now proceed to drill towards the second casing point at an MD of about 2070m.

Cambridge Cognition

Shares in Cambridge Cognition rose more than 9% on news it has teamed with Japanese pharmaceutical Takeda to pilot the use of an Apple Watch app to monitor and assess cognitive function in patients with major depressive disorder.

The collaboration is the first contract signed by Cognition Kit Ltd, the joint venture with Ctrl Group, since launching the wearable cognitive technology in 2016.

Atlantis Resources

Shares in tidal power company Atlantis Resources rose on Friday as its turbine has successfully exported power to the grid in Scotland and has operated at full capacity.

The AIM-listed company said that following the deployment of the first AR1500 tidal stream turbine, which part designed by Lockheed Martin, at the MeyGen project in Pentland Firth on Monday, the 1.5 megawatt turbine exported power and operated at full capacity.

Audioboom

Audioboom confirmed on Friday that it had received a further acceptance of its offer to purchase the entire issued share capital of SONR News, following its announcements on 25 January and 1 February over the acquisition of SONR.

The AIM-traded firm said as a result, a further 1,828,913 consideration shares were being allotted and issued to the holder who accepted the offer, and those shares would be admitted to trading on AIM on 2 March.

PowerHouse Energy

PowerHouse Energy updated the market on the movement of its G3-UHt ultra-high temperature demonstration gasification system on Friday, which was enroute from Australia to the UK, moving to its final transshipment point prior to its expected arrival in the UK in late March 2017.

The AIM-traded company said it had agreed with University of Chester to deploy its G3-UHt unit at its Thornton Science Park, adjacent to the newly constructed Energy Centre of the university.

Edenville Energy

Edenville Energy announced on Friday that as it was now concentrating on advancing activities at its Rukwa coal deposit, its exploration prospecting licence for uranium had been relinquished.

The AIM-traded firm said the Matiri South licence PL6147/2009 covered 28.5 sq km and was originally acquired for shares at the time of the company's admission to AIM in 2010.

Savannah Resources

Savannah Resources has almost halved its full-year pre-tax loss to 1.8m, from a loss of 3.1m, after a productive 12-month period that had enabled it to start 2017 with three projects, each at exciting stages of development.

"We have secured and amalgamated our individual projects in Mozambique into a globally significant ilmenite project at a time of rising prices, increased demand and declining inventories," said chief executive David Archer.

Webis Holdings

Shares in Webis Holdings are down more than 8% after it agreed a term loan on behalf of Watch & Wager Inc (W&W) for $500,000 from Galloway Ltd, as part of its strategy to consolidate and increase the number of operating licenses.

At present, W&W is licensed in the US states of California, North Dakota, Maryland, Minnesota, Kentucky and Washington, as well as additional licences to place wagers, principally in Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Canada.

Beowulf Mining

Beowulf Mining's shares rose almost 7% after saying it remains hopeful it will be issued an exploration concession for the Kallak North project, but is frustrated with a now four-year-long application process laden with "twists and turns".

It had written to Sweden's Mining Inspectorate to state it did not agree with that body consulting with Sweden's National Heritage Board and Environmental Protection Agency in relation to Kallak North project.

Palace Capital

Property investor Palace Capital has sold a warehouse in Stockport and an office building in Leeds for a combined 3.7m.

The AIM-listed company sold vacant freehold of Allen House in Greater Manchester for 1.55m, which was slightly above the book value. Palace also sold its long leasehold stake in Warwick House in Leeds to a private investment group for 2.1m, which is 750,000, or 54%, above book value.

Cloudtag

Shares in Cloudtag plunged more than 30% as it said its nominated adviser had resigned, and that it has raised 975,000 in a subscription at 3.75p a share.

The subscription, for 26m new shares, would produce net proceeds of 916,500, which would be used for general working capital purposes.

Idox

Shares in Idox rose almost 4% after reporting a strong start to the new financial year, in line with its expectations.

The supplier of information management software solutions said it was seeing a solid pipeline of opportunities.

CPL Resources

CPL Resources announced on Friday that application had been made to the Irish Stock Exchange and to the London Stock Exchange for 330,697 new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on the ESM market of the Irish Stock Exchange and to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

The firm said the application was being made pursuant to the vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the terms of the company's 2013 long term incentive plan.

Ascent Resources

European oil and gas exploration and production company Ascent Resources announced on Friday that received a notice of exercise to convert 1,831 convertible loan notes of 1 each, which were issued in May 2013 as part of an open offer to all shareholders, the terms of which were amended in February 2015 and October 2016.

The AIM-traded firm said the 2013 loan notes, including rolled up interest, were convertible into new ordinary shares at a rate of 100 new shares per 1 loan note.

OneView Group

Retail software provider OneView Group said it expected revenue for the 2017 financial year to be significantly lower as it restructures it debt.

The AIM-listed company anticipated full year revenue would be no less than $3m, which included the up-front element of the recently announced contract win from retailer Discount Tire. This, however, is lower than the $8.1m it recorded in 2016.
Save my User ID and Password

Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site.

Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site.
Worldwide notebook shipment update - January 2017

Notebook Tracker data services. Please The DIGITIMES Research analysis you are trying to open requires subscription todata services. Please sign in if you wish to continue.

Worldwide top-5 notebook vendors and top-3 ODMs saw their combined shipments drop 35% and 30% on month, respectively in January because the month was the traditional slow season and there were fewer working during Lunar New Year holidays period in late January. However, compared to the same month a year ago, the top-5 vendors' combined shipments were up 10% and top-3 ODMs' went up 20%, showing that the PC industry is starting to recover.
Subscriber content preview

VATICAN CITY (AP)  Florence's famed Duomo is cleaning up its act, removing centuries of graffiti from the cathedral dome interior and letting new visitors leave their mark digitally instead.

The cathedral launched a pilot project last year in its Giotto-designed bell tower to allow visitors to use a touchscreen to leave a digital message rather than deface the 14th-century structure.





. . .
Subscriber content preview

Image by Ankrom Moisan Architects [enlarge]

Holland Partner Group is finally getting ready to break ground on a 17-story apartment tower at 1001 Minor Ave. on First Hill.





. . .
Subscriber content preview

SEATTLE  Mayor Ed Murray announced on Thursday the creation of a 10-member community advisory panel that will consider proposals to redevelop or rebuild KeyArena.

The city issued a request for proposals in January. The proposals are due on April 12.





. . .
Reliance Jio's 4G will become a paid service from 1 April 2017. So it looks like the free data ride is now coming to an end. Under a new deal, Reliance Jio Prime membership at Rs99 was announced on Tuesday by Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani, and it could prove to be an effective way of retaining its 100 million subscribers. But is the Rs99 per year Reliance Jio Prime membership worth it? What are rivals like Vodafone and Airtel offering for data charges? Here's a look at the options. The Rs99 membership is valid till 31 March 2018. Once you've paid the Rs99 yearly fee, your Reliance Jio number will continue to offer the same services under the Happy New Year Offer, but there's a Rs303 monthly charge involved. Essentially for this Rs303 per month you will get unlimited voice and video calling services with 1GB high-speed daily data. Post the FUP (Fair Usage Policy) limit of 1GB, speed will reduce to 128 Kbps for the day. Basically customers are getting 30GB for the month at Rs303, which is a lot if you consider that a majority of users are relying on Jio as their primary data connection. Additionally, users will get unlimited data between 2 am to 5 am. Users will get to enjoy all Jio premium apps free for one year, but remember data consumed on these apps is deducted from your regular data balance. Users need to sign up before 31 March to get the benefits of Reliance Jio Prime membership. Rivals' plans

But Jio is not the only one offering unlimited calling, extra data benefits to its customers. Here's a look at plans from rival Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular. Technically no other player is offering 1GB data per day to its users, but free calling has become common across telecom players. Airtel: Airtel's 'Myplan Infinity' plan offers free unlimited calling starting at Rs799, but only 100 local + STD messages per day and a limit of 2GB of 3G / 4G data the month. These plans also come with free subscription to Wynk Music + Wynk Movies. Then there's the Rs1,199 plan, which has similar benefits except it has a higher 5GB data limit and this applies for 3G and 4G. The Rs1,599 plan offers 10GB of 3G/4G data, while there's a Rs1,999 plan with 15GB of 3G/4G data. Finally the Rs2,999 plan gives 30GB of 3G/4G data with similar free voice calls, 100 local+STD messages, etc. On the prepaid side, Airtel users can get a Rs345 recharge, and then they will be able to make unlimited calls to any network, but the data limit is stingy at 1GB of 4G data for 28 days. Airtel also has a smaller Rs145 recharge pack, which offers unlimited free voice calls to any network, but only 300MB 4G data free for 28 days. Vodafone: Vodafone Red plans from Rs1,699 offer unlimited calling for postpaid users. The Rs1,699 plan includes unlimited free (local + STD) calls, free incoming on roaming, 500 (local + STD) messages and 12GB of data. It is followed by a Rs1,999 plan with similar details, except it has 16GB of data. Vodafone's Rs1,299 plan offers only 3,000 minutes of local + STD calling and around 8GB of data. On the prepaid side, there are recharges above Rs144 which offer free roaming on Vodafone network and 50 MB free data. There's also a Rs344 prepaid recharge that has unlimited calls, roaming on all mobile networks and 300 MB free data for 3G handset users and 1 GB data for 4G handset users. The daily data part is still less than what Reliance Jio offers under the Prime membership. Idea Cellular: Idea's unlimited calling plans come with just 3G data; there's no 4G bundled along as with the other operators. Idea Cellular's Rs1,199 plan gives users unlimited local + STD calling, unlimited free calling on roaming, 5GB of 3G data and 3000 local + national SMS. There's a Rs1,599 plan that offers the same deal, but with 10GB of 3G data. Jio best so far

If Reliance Jio has become your primary data supply, then it makes sense to get the Jio Prime membership for the 1GB data per day at Rs 303 per month. But remember Jio is 4G VoLTE only, and your phone needs to have the relevant bands supported for you to enjoy the full benefits of these services. Players like Vodafone, Airtel, and Idea Cellular have implemented the free voice-calling bit in some most of their plans, but the data part is still less compared to what Reliance Jio is giving under Prime. However, don't be surprised if the older players launch some new lucrative data plans soon to counter Jio Prime.








Wind power tariffs in India hit new low of Rs3.46 per unit

Wind power tariffs in the country fell to a record low of Rs3.46 per unit in a government-run auction on Friday, weeks after solar power rates to fell below Rs3 per unit in another government-run auction, as the government continued its push for cleaner energy.

India, the world's third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, has set a target of raising its renewable energy generation to 175 giga Watt by 2022, around five times the current usage, to fight cliamate change without cutting power supplies to its 1.3 billion people.

With cumulative installed wind power generation capacity of 28,279 MW, India has emerged the fourth-largest wind power producer in the world, after China, the USA and Germany.

The aggressive push for renewable power is bringing down tariffs with every government auction of power projects - both in the wind and solar power projects- as companies bid aggressively for new projects.

The rates for renewable power has come to levels low enough to challenge power generated by fossil fuels such as coal over the long term.

In an auction conducted by state-controlled Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for various wind projects totalling 1 gigawatt, five companies separately quoted a tariff of Rs3.46 per unit to win the projects.

"After solar cost reduction below 3 rupees/unit, wind power cost down to 3.46 rupees/unit through transparent auction," India's coal, power and renewable energy minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet on Friday.

Mytrah Energy, part of London-based Mytrah Group, Ostro Kutch Wind, backed by British private equity firm Actis, and Indian company Inox Wind Infrastructure won contracts for 250 megawatts (MW) each.

Green Infra Wind Energy, majority-owned by Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries Ltd, won a contract for 249.90 MW and Adani Green Energy, part of billionaire Gautam Adani's infrastructure group, was awarded a 50 MW project, according to a senior SECI official.

"The auctions have been hard fought and have led to tighter pricing than one would have foreseen even a few months earlier," said Vikram Kailas, chief executive of Mytrah Energy.

With cumulative installed wind power generation capacity of 28,279 MW, India has emerged the fourth-largest wind power producer in the world, after China, the USA and Germany.

India achieved the largest-ever wind power capacity addition of 3,423 MW in 2015-16, exceeding the target by 43 per cent. During 2016-17, a total of 1,502 MW capacity has been added till 31 October 2016, making cumulative achievement 28,279 MW.

The country also achieved the biggest ever solar power capacity addition of 3,019 MW in 2015-16, exceeding target by 116 per cent. During 2016-17, a total 1,750 MW capacity has been added till 31 October 2016, making cumulative achievement of 8,728 MW.
The Donegal Democrat has been informed of the following deaths:

- Sr. Martha Doherty, Ballybofey



- Roy Wilkie, Ballyholey, Raphoe



- Peggy Mannion, Ardlongfield, Ballyshannon



- Patrick Logue, the Bogue, Cranford



- Neil Doogan, Magheraclougher, Gaoth Dobhair



- James Doherty, Letterkenny



- Shaun Smiley, Dungloe



- Leo OGorman, Middlesex and Mountcharles



- Kevin Mc Menamin, Killygordon

Sr. Martha Doherty, Ballybofey



The death has taken place of Sr. Martha Doherty, 17 Blackrock Drive, Ballybofey at Aras Mhic Shuibhne Nursing Home, Laghey. Deeply regretted by her Mercy Community, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Remains reposing at 17 Blackrock Drive. Funeral from there on Friday at 10.40am to the Church of Mary Immaculate, Stranorlar for Requiem Mass at 11 am with interment afterwards in Drumboe Cemetery.

Donations in lieu of flowers please, if so desired, to Social Services and Care of the Aged, C/o G.Mc Cool & Son, Funeral Directors.

Roy Wilkie, Ballyholey, Raphoe



The death has occurred of Roy Wilkie, Ballyholey, Raphoe. Remains are reposing at his late residence from Wednesday, February 22nd. Family time from 11pm to 11am. Funeral service there on Friday 24 February at 1.30pm and burial afterwards in the family plot at Ray Presbyterian Church. Family flowers only. Donations, if desired, to Independent Living care of Gibson Funeral Directors, Convoy.



Peggy Mannion, Ardlongfield, Ballyshannon



The death has taken place of Peggy Mannion, Ardlongfield, Ballyshannon. Reposing at the family home on Thursday, February 22, from 11am to 10pm. Funeral arriving on Friday to St Joseph's Church the Rock, Ballyshannon for 11 o'clock Funeral Mass of the Resurection with interment in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only donations in lieu, if so desired, to the North West Hospice or The Irish Cancer Society c/o of Patrick McKenna Undertakers Ballyshannon. House Private to family on the morning of the funeral.



Patrick Logue, the Bogue, Cranford



The death has occurred in St James Hospital, Dublin of Patrick Logue, the Bogue, Cranford. Remains reposing at the residence of his brother Bernard, Mulroy Park, Carrigart from 8pm on Wednesday, February 22. Funeral from there on Friday, February 24th to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Coole, Cranford for requiem mass at 11am followed by interment in Milford cemetery. Family time from 11pm until 11am.



Neil Doogan, Magheraclougher, Gweedore



The death has taken place of Neil Doogan, Magheraclougher, Gweedore, and formerly of Glasgow. Remains reposing at his late residence. Funeral mass on Friday, February 24 at 11 o clock in St Marys Church, Derrybeg with burial afterwards in Magheragallon Cemetery.Rosary both nights at 9pm. House private from 11pm until 10am and on the morning of the funeral.Family flowers only, donations in lieu to Donegal Hospice c/o any family member or Kieran Roarty Funeral Director, Gweedore.



James Doherty, Letterkenny



The death has taken place at St Jamess Hospital Dublin of James Doherty, late of Dromore Lower, Letterkenny.

His remains will be reposing at his Son Paurics residence at Ruskey, Manorcunningham from 7pm, Thursday evening February 23rd.

Funeral on Saturday February 25th at 10.15am going to St Eunans Cathedral, Letterkenny for 11am Funeral Mass. Interment afterwards to Conwal Cemetery.

Family time please from 11pm to 10am and on the morning of the funeral.



Shaun Smiley, Dungloe



The sudden death has occurred of Shaun Smiley, late of Fairhill, Dungloe.

His remains will be reposing in McGlynns Funeral Home this evening, Thursday February 23rd from 6pm. Rosary at 9pm.

Tomorrow, Friday, viewing from 3pm with removal to St Cronas Church Dungloe for 7pm, to repose overnight.

Funeral Mass is on Saturday February 25th at 10am, with interment afterwards in Maghery Cemetery.



Leo OGorman, Middlesex and Mountcharles



The death has taken place of Leo OGorman, late of Uxbridge, Middlesex, England and formerly of 9 Bayview Terrace, Mountcharles.

Remains reposing at the home of his brother Denis in Drumathumper, Frosses, on Friday from 5pm until 9pm. Memorial Mass takes place on Saturday in the Church of the Sacred Heart, Mountcharles at 10am with interment of ashes immediately afterwards in the adjoining churchyard. A one-way system will be in operation at the wake, entry via the Frosses side and exit on the Drumduff road.



Kevin Mc Menamin, Killygordon

The sudden death has occurred of Kevin Mc Menamin, late of Lismulladuff, Crossroads, Killygordon.

His remains will repose at his late home from 6pm this evening, Friday 24th February and funeral arrangements to follow later.

* If you wish to have a death notice included, please e-mail: editorial@donegaldemocrat.com and include a contact telephone number for verification.
Tallahassee, FL  A broad net cast in North Florida by law enforcement officials to catch child predators landed a dozen men  a retired U.S. Army colonel, a high-ranking Florida State University attorney, and the page and messenger manager for the Florida House of Representatives, among others  who were attempting to meet up with young girls.As part of a major sting, twelve men  ranging from 21 to 70 years of age  were arrested by authorities after they made contact through emails, texts, chat rooms, and Internet ads, with undercover officers pretending to be teen girls.According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the Crimes Against Children Task Force  run by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in cooperation with other agencies  performed the operation.Read more at Army Colonel, Politicians, and State Employees Arrested in High-Profile Child Sex Sting
The annual Colmcille Winter School has discussed a wealth of important topics over the years, and this year is as interesting as ever, as experts gather to discuss Ireland and the EU post British withdrawal.

The weekend of discussions begins today, Friday February 24, with registration at 5pm.

Aine Bn. Ui Dhomhnaill Uasal, Cathaoirleach Oidhreacht Cholmcille will officially open the event.

Sean O Coinn from Foras na Gaeilge will discuss the future of the Irish language on Friday evening. The issue which will be discussed is Cos amuigh cos istigh, an bhfuil na dushlain roimh an Ghaeilge dosharaithe.

Dinner will take place at 8.40pm.

On Saturday morning the chairperson of Donegal County Council, Councillor Terence Slowey, will chair a discussion on the economic prospects for Ireland post brexit.

Professor Edgar Morgenroth, an associate research officer with the ESRI will discuss the poingnant issue.

Councillor Liam Blayney will chair a discussion by Dr. Paul Gillespie on What model of the EU best suits Ireland after Brexit.

Dr. Paul Gillespie is an Irish Times columnist and senior research fellow at the school of politics and international relations University College Dublin (UCD).

Achieving Economic Growth in a North West that is 'In and Out,' will be discussed by Mr. Michael Gallagher, the Strategy Manager with Derry City and Strabane District Council at 12pm.

Lunch will take place at 1pm.

A member of the Colmcille Heritage Trust, Margaret Alcorn, will chair a session on The EU-post Brexit-stronger or weaker? This issue will be discussed by Ms. Mairead McGuinness, Vice Chairperson of the European Parliament.

This will be the 28th year that the event will take place.

The events will take place outside Letterkenny at the Colmcille Heritage Centre in the picturesque surroundings of Church Hill. The road is sign posted.

Directions can be found on the Colmcille Winter School website.

Anyone who would like to further details or information in relation to the event should contact www.colmcilleheritagecentre.ie or martinjegan@eircom.net.




Judgement has been reserved in the trial of a former Donegal public representative charged with assaulting a Garda.

Former Bundoran Town Councillor, Florence McNulty (56) of The Palace, Main Street, Bundoran is charged with assaulting Garda Helen Munnelly outside Bundoran Town Council offices on February 10th, 2014.

The long-running case was adjourned at todays sitting of Ballyshannon District Court.

Reserving judgement until March 24th, Judge Paul Kelly said: " I am going to go back over the evidence of the last number of hearings and the submissions heard here today."

Mrs McNultys son, Joseph McNulty (34) of 85 Doran Close, Bundoran is charged with threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour as has her husband, Thomas McNulty (57) of Main Street, Bundoran.

Opening the submissions this morning at Ballyshannon District Court, Supt. Colm Nevin said: Evidence from Garda Gilvarry and Garda Munnelly identified Florence Mc Nulty as assaulting Garda Munnelly in Bundoran. The CCTV evidence also identified Mrs. McNulty as being present.

In regard to defence claims that it was Florence McNultys sister who assaulted the garda, Supt Nevin said: The evidence is very strong from the two gardai. We saw CCTV where the camera jumped from one site to another.

My submission is that there is very, very strong evidence in relation to the assault.

In respect of the charges against Joseph and Thomas McNulty, he said: You can see from the CCTV that there was a breach of public order - there was roaring, shouting and abusive and insulting comments made toward the gardai. There has been an attempt by the defence to put the blame on one of the younger McNulty family, Diarmuid. But we have ample evidence to show otherwise.

Counsel for the defence, Mr. Johnnie McCoy (BL), said that the case is still prejudiced by the fact that Cllr. Sean McEniff is regrettably unable to give evidence, as he was a crucial witness in defence arguments.

The 81-year-old is in intensive care in Sligo University Hospital after been transferred from the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin. At a previous hearing Judge Kelly accepted medical evidence that Mr McEniff would never be able to give evidence to standards required by a court of law. Mr. Coy told the Judge that Judge Kevin Kilrane had made a previous order to disclose video evidence by Patricia McCafferty to the prosecution which was totally wrong. The onus is on the prosecution to prove the case, he said. It was very unfair that the prosecution knew what the defence evidence was. This was refuted later by Supt. Nevin who said that the video evidence was in fact sent to GSOC by Patricia McCafferty. He added that Diarmuid McNulty, a son and brother of the accused, had accepted in sworn evidence that he was the person that was shouting at the gardai.

Mr. McCoy alleged that the incident was a case of Garda mismanagement and overreaction by the gardai.

Mr. McCoy spoke about the public order charges against his clients, Thomas and Joseph McNulty. He told the court that video evidence will show that Joseph McNulty had his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, and that it was quite clear that it was Garda Ciaran OBrien who put his hands on the defendant and instigated the matter. "The use of the pepper spray on Joseph McNulty by the garda without warning was an overreaction. he said. Mr. McNulty was not trying to resist arrest."

In relation to Thomas McNulty, Mr. McCoy said that nobody had asked him to move away and that he only came to the attention of the gardai when pepper spray was deployed.

Mr McCoy added: "There was no threat to the gardai and it was an overreaction. There was no justification for the pepper spray.

On the assault charge against Florence McNulty on Garda Helen Munnelly, Mr. McCoy said that video evidence shows that the time estimated for the alleged offence was 1.5 seconds and that Florence McNulty could not have assaulted Garda Munnelly in that time.

It could not have happened in that timeline - it is simply impossible, he said. She was being kept away from Garda Munnelly by Garda OBrien and would simply not have been able to assault her in the alleged time frame. In reply to Mr McCoys submissions Supt Nevin said: In relation to the video evidence by Patricia McCafferty this was sent to GSOC and not to us."

Addressing the allegation of overreaction, the superintendent said this was not the case, adding that the use of pepper spray was the first form of defence by gardai.

Supt Nevin added: In regard to the alleged assault on Garda Munnelly, two gardai have stated clearly that they saw Florence McNulty assault Garda Munnelly. The video evidence produced in court here today has breaks in it, and I am not sure if it was edited or not.

Judge Kelly said:I am going to back over the evidence of the last number of hearings and the submissions heard here today. Consequently I will reserve judgement until March 24th."
A deputys kind gesture led to the arrest of two people for multiple felonies in Washington County, Fla.

According to a report from the Washington County Sheriffs office, a deputy stopped to assist a stranded motorist Thursday. During the course of rendering aid, the deputy ran an information check on the person. The check revealed the person had outstanding warrants and was driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen in Bay County, Fla.

An associate also had outstanding warrants, according to the release.

Patricia Stevenson, 38, of Chipley, Fla., was arrested and charged with felony theft and obstruction without violence. Christopher Crunkelton, 34, of Chipley, was charged with felony theft, dealing in stolen property and driving while license suspended  also a felony because Crunkelton is believed to be a habitual offender.

Through the care and concern our deputies have for our citizens, assistance such as this is rendered numerous times a day. This time it led to the apprehension of two fugitives, Washington County Sheriff Kevin Crews said in a written release.
GENEVA -- Geneva County students will soon receive instruction in five high-demand trade and technical areas when the county's regional career tech center opens this fall.

U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, took a brief tour on Friday at the center, which will operate at the Geneva National Guard Armory, and spoke to students and administrators at Geneva High School to recognize National Career Technical Month.

"The investment made right now will directly affect our workforce down the road," Roby said Friday at Geneva High School.

The armory will serve as the career tech center through the week while still being available for national guard use on the weekends. The center will be known as G-Tech.

"This is a huge win for us because we were going to lose our armory," said State Rep. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva.

Chesteen would like to piggyback the career tech center with a rural broadband initiative which would provide high-speed Internet access in rural locations throughout the state.

"If you don't have that type of broadband access, you're sunk," Chesteen said.

Students will receive instruction in automotive technology, aviation maintenance, health science, welding technology, and education training at the center.
The Houston County Commission is expected to approve a resolution Monday to support a program that could result in more workforce training dollars for the Wiregrass.

A federal program known as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act has been recently amended by Congress and will be tweaked in Alabama to spread workforce training funds throughout the state.

The new rollout divides the state into seven geographic regions. Houston County is part of a 10-county area in southeast Alabama. Under the old program, the state was divided into three regions; Jefferson County, Mobile County and the rest of the state. Each region will have its own decision-making power concerning the best way to utilize the workforce training money attached to the program.

This program provides for individuals to receive workforce development training for high-wage, high-demand, high-skill careers, said Roger Fortner, who represents the Department of Regional Workforce Councils within the Department of Commerce. It provides funding for workers who are currently employed to receive skill upgrades with their current employer. It provides training funds for dislocated workers, young workers and older workers.

Under the new configuration, the area could receive between $3 million and $4 million annually for workforce training.

It makes perfect sense, District 4 Commissioner Brandon Shoupe said. Im surprised we did it the other way for as long as we did it before changing it. The closer to the local level you can make decisions, the better.

No county funds are allocated to the program.

The commission will vote on the resolution Monday during the regular meeting of the Houston County Commission. The commission meets at 10 a.m. in the third floor commission chambers of the Houston County Administration Building.

-------------------

Other items on Mondays agenda include:

A request to amend the county purchasing policy, which would set a $5,000 threshold for a county-owned item to be considered a capital asset. The change would align the county with the State of Alabama standard.

A request to set levies for county alcohol licenses. The levies would remain the same as those imposed the previous year.

A request from the Sheriffs Office to purchase 20 rifles for the Sheriffs Special Response Team at a cost of $16,780. The expense has been budgeted by the Sheriffs Office.

A request to award the Prisoner Transport Services Contract to Security Transport Services. Two businesses submitted bids. PTS of America provided a bid of $1.10 per mile while Security Transport Services bid $1.16 per mile. However, PTS set a minimum charge of $400 per trip and Security Transport Services set a $325 per trip minimum. The Sheriffs Office determined Security Transport Services would be the less costly of the two in the long run.
GENEVA -- U.S. Rep. Martha Roby said Friday that she and House Republicans remain committed to repeal and replace Obamacare.

"We're going to have something better, something with free market principles that will improve access, yet be affordable," Roby said Friday during a stop at Geneva High School to recognize National Career Technical Month.

Roby said she expects the House bill to remove the health care insurance mandate, which requires all Americans to have health insurance or face an escalating penalty.

"We want the federal government out of the examination room. We want decisions to be between you and your doctor," Roby said.

Roby said she also expects the House plan to contain portability, which is an employee's ability to retain insurance when leaving one employer and going to another.

"Of course the devil is in the details and that is what is being written right now," Roby said. "We are committed to this and are going to replace it with something that makes much more sense."

Roby lauded the appointment of Tom Price as Director of Health and Human Services, and said he would play a major role in drafting the new healthcare bill.

Republicans in the House and Senate have yet to come to a consensus on the key details of a replacement plan, but recent media reports indicate a bill could come forth soon.
Lillie Bonds came to see her brother Thursday. Dancing Dave died more than 17 months ago, but Bonds doesnt have to go to a cemetery to spend time with him.

He is larger than life in downtown Dothan among other city icons, memorialized for family, friends and innumerable Wiregrass residents to visit any time they wish.

The Dancing Dave mural has been a part of Dothan for more than four months, but organizers chose Thursday to officially dedicate the newest addition to downtown art.

I just have one regret, 92-year-old Bonds said as friends and family helped her approach the mural on Foster Street across from the George Washington Carver Interpretive Museum. I just wish Dancing Dave could have been here.

Dancing Dave Whatley became famous throughout Dothan and surrounding communities because he walked everywhere he went. He dressed in all white and would stop and dance for a few dollars when he met someone. He died in 2015 at the age of 88.

Atlanta artist Charly Palmer painted Dave. It is his first mural. Palmer said his interaction with Dothan residents helped craft the image displayed on the Foster Street wall. It depicts a larger-than-life image of Dave dancing in the Peanut Festival parade, complete with signature white gloves and his duffel bag, a special request from the family. It also depicts Daves white beard and his sailors hat with the word DAVE written across in all capital letters.

Everybody had a Dancing Dave story, Palmer said Thursday. I learned so much about how he impacted this entire area. I had one man come up to me while I was working on the mural and told me that every night that he had a dream about Jesus, he saw Dancing Dave the next day.

He was in no way a one-dimensional person, Palmer added.

Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz said Dancing Dave added value to Dothan.

Did he save the world? No. Did he bring great joy to the Wiregrass? Absolutely. It is important that we remember our history. Would he be recognized like this if he was from New York? No. He is our icon, Schmitz said.
One person was killed and five others were injured in a fiery three-vehicle crash in rural Geneva County on Friday morning.

The wreck happened at the intersection of county roads 49 and 4, south of Slocomb and almost to the Alabama-Florida state line.

A Ford Explorer, a Ford Ranger, and a GMC truck were all involved in the crash, which resulted in a fire.

According to Alabama state troopers, a person in one of the vehicles died as a result of the fire. Four of the five other victims were taken to hospitals in Dothan for treatment. The fifth person was flown to a burn center in Birmingham.

A bystander helped get some of the victims out of their vehicles immediately after the crash. Troopers have not yet identified all of those involved. At least one of the vehicles in the crash had a Florida license plate.
Nikolai Sennels is a Danish psychologist who has done extensive research into a little-known problem in the Muslim world: the disastrous results of Muslim inbreeding brought about by the marriage of first cousins. This practice, which has been prohibited in the Judeo-Christian tradition since the days of Moses, was sanctioned by Muhammad and has been going on now for 50 generations (1,400 years) in the Muslim world.



This practice of inbreeding will never go away in the Muslim world, since Muhammad is the ultimate example and authority on all matters, including marriage.



The massive inbreeding in Muslim culture may well have done virtually irreversible damage to the Muslim gene pool, including extensive damage to its intelligence, sanity, and health. According to Sennels, close to half of all Muslims in the world are inbred. In Pakistan, the numbers approach 70%. Even in England, more than half of Pakistani immigrants are married to their first cousins, and in Denmark the number of inbred Pakistani immigrants is around 40%.



The numbers are equally devastating in other important Muslim countries: 67% in Saudi Arabia, 64% in Jordan, and Kuwait, 63% in Sudan, 60% in Iraq, and 54% in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.



According to the BBC, this Pakistani, Muslim-inspired inbreeding is thought to explain the probability that a British Pakistani family is more than 13 times as likely to have children with recessive genetic disorders. While Pakistanis are responsible for three percent of the births in the UK, they account for 33% of children with genetic birth defects.



The risks of what are called autosomal recessive disorders such as cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy is 18 times higher, and the risk of death due to malformations is 10 times higher. Other negative consequences of inbreeding include a 100 percent increase in the risk of stillbirths and a 50% increase in the possibility that a child will die during labor.



Lowered intellectual capacity is another devastating consequence of Muslim marriage patterns. According to Sennels, research shows that children of consanguineous marriages lose 10-16 points off their IQ and that social abilities develop much slower in inbred babies. The risk of having an IQ lower than 70, the official demarcation for being classified as "retarded," increases by an astonishing 400 percent among children of cousin marriages. (Similar effects were seen in the Pharaonic dynasties in ancient Egypt and in the British royal family, where inbreeding was the norm for a significant period of time.)



In Denmark, non-Western immigrants are more than 300 percent more likely to fail the intelligence test required for entrance into the Danish army. Sennels says, "The ability to enjoy and produce knowledge and abstract thinking is simply lower in the Islamic world." He points out that the Arab world translates just 330 books every year, about 20% of what Greece alone does.
Home Off beat This Harley-Davidson Chapter's Newest Member Is Cute As A Button oi-Sukesh

The Harley Davidson Dragon Chapter of the Smoky Mountain welcomed its newest and youngest member - a seven-year-old girl Madi Nask.

{photo-feature}

Most Viewed Bike Photo Gallery

KTM has launched the Duke 250 in the Indian market. Check out the photos of the new quarter-litre naked streetfighter by clicking the gallery below.
80 local volunteers are needed in Louth on Wish Day, which takes place on Friday, March 31st to celebrate and support the work of Make-A-Wish Ireland.

The call for volunteers is to support Make-A-Wish Irelands flagship fundraising day.

Volunteers are simply asked to give a few hours of their time to sell wristbands and badges for 2 each in their local area.

Make-A-Wish is funded entirely through donations and fundraising.

To support the ongoing happiness they give to children and their families from Louth and throughout Ireland, Make-A-Wish needs the help of volunteers in Louth to continue their important work.

Last year in Louth we were able to make memories for 8 brave local children and their families.

The value of these memories is truly immeasurable. Make-A-Wish offers positivity in an extremely dark and anxious time. Every child deserves that.

We are approaching our 2,000th wish for Irish kids which would not be possible without our volunteers.

All we are asking is a few hours from the people of Louth on Friday 31st March to sell some of our wish bands and badges, which cost 2 each, with 100 per cent of proceeds to Make-A-Wish.

Wishes make memories that last many lifetimes, but we cannot make them without our volunteers.

Wish Day will take place across Ireland on 31st March and Make-A-Wish volunteers will be located throughout Louth.

To sign up to volunteer visit www.makeawish.ie or contact Daragh on (01) 2052011 / volunteer@makeawish.ie

Wish Day began in 2013 and the event has grown from strength to strength with thanks to the support of Make-A-Wish volunteers and the general public.

Last years event raised over 80,000 and this year Make-A-Wish are hoping to raise over 100,000 to help them reach their target of 210 wishes in 2017.

In order to achieve this, they need at least 1,500 volunteers nationwide.

Since its inception in 1992, Make-A-Wish in Ireland has granted wishes for over 1,900 children and realised their greatest wish and experienced the hope, strength and joy each wish provides.

In all possible cases Make-A-Wish grants the child's first wish ensuring that all immediate family members participate. In doing so it provides long-lasting and happy memories for those relatives, whatever the future may hold.

To continue with its work and succeed in its aims, Make-A-Wish rely overwhelmingly on the kindness of the general public as they receive no government funding.
Dundalk woman Jane McDermott organised a table quiz in her local pub, Kennedys Bar last Friday night to raise funds for Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Irelands (SBHI) summer respite programme which she has volunteered on for the past five years.

Having set herself a fundraising target of 1,000, Jane, from the Carrick Road in Dundalk, was overwhelmed with the support she received from her local community in exceeding her goal by raising a total of 1,300.

17 groups of four people paid 20 a team to enter the quiz and vied with each other to correctly answer all the questions posed by quizmaster, Janes dad, Peter McDermott.

Thanks to the generosity of many local businesses donating raffle and spot prizes, including local artist Geraldine Leonard who donated a painting of local scenery, almost 1,000 was raised from the raffle.

Jane was assisted on the night by her friends Lorraine Tinnelly, Chelcy Sharkey, Roisin McDermott and Kevin Adams who sold the raffle tickets. And she was also supported in the fundraiser by her mother and brother Deirdre and Peter McDermott.

When anyone is organising a fundraiser, without the support of the local community, they have nothing, said Jane.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderfully supportive community here in Dundalk. People were so brilliant, kind, and generous.

People really rallied to the call and I am so delighted to have such a wonderful support system and to have raised so much money.

The staff of Kennedys were so kind, they went out of their way to help us on the night. People have even suggested that I make it an annual night!

Jane, who lives with Spina Bifida, first experienced SBHIs SHINE (Spina Bifida  Hydrocephalus  Ireland  Nurturing  Empowerment) summer programme as a participant. It was such a positive, enjoyable, and fulfilling experience for her, she decided to become a volunteer to ensure that many other people living with Spina Bifida and/or Hydrocephalus could enjoy SHINE.

There are five different SHINE weeks each summer to cater for children and young adults, including an Independence Week and a Special Care Week, called Sunflower Week, explained Jane.

All the SHINE weeks are so important to the participants for different reasons, and while no one week is more important than the other, I love volunteering on Sunflower Week.

There is something very special about Sunflower Week which is a respite week mainly. It is hard to explain why it is so special, I just love being part of it and seeing how much each participant gets out of the week  they enjoy themselves so much, they are sad to go home!

For the last few years, Jane had wished to undertake an event to raise money for Sunflower Week to ensure the resources remain in place to keep this vital project going.

She was spurred on to make her fundraising promise a reality following the death late last year of one of the Sunflower Week participants, Derek Smith from Co. Wexford, whom, she said, looked forward to his respite week all year.

Jane is now looking forward to volunteering as Liaison Officer again this year at Sunflower Week from 22nd to 28thJuly at Cuisle Holiday Centre, Donamon, Co. Roscommon.
Under water drones of the Dutch start-up Indymo were recently used to inspect the poor quality of the surface water around Surabaya, Indonesia.

The use of the drones is part of a large-scale international research project to find ways to improve the water quality of the Brantas- and Surabaya rivers that both end up in this Indonesian city.

The research is conducted by a Dutch-Indonesian consortium with experts from many organisations, including the Indonesian organisation Ecological observation and wetlands conservation (Ecoton), the Indonesian water board Jasa Tirta 1, the river basin management organisation BBWS and the technical university of ITS Surabaya.

The heavily polluted rivers in and around Surabaya, Indonesia.

Healthy rivers

The consortium was hosted by the non-governmental organisation Ecological observation and wetlands conservation (Ecoton) that launched a number of initiatives to stop the pollution of these rivers and make them healthy again.

The activities range from raising awareness amongst citizens, to organizing lawsuits against polluters, and placing warning flags on locations where the river water is dangerously contaminated.

Base-line assessment

Together with Ecoton, Dutch-Indonesian experts started a base-line assessment of all aspects of water quality management, including data collection, modelling, regulation, monitoring and planning. This baseline is a first step to be able to determine the ambition and strategy with the various stakeholders.

To determine the full extent of the pollution of both rivers, different measurement methods have been applied, including the use of underwater drones of the Dutch firm Indymo.

Random samples

The current measurement of the water quality, is often random and static with sensors only in one place. An important lesson of the collaborative research is that such random samples are not representative of a body of water, given the water quality parameters in space and time can vary widely.

The use of drones allowed to take a closer look at the 35 m deep sediment underneath a floating fish pond. It was assumed that such fish ponds, by the excessive use of fish feed, are responsible for high nutrient and low oxygen levels.

The measurements showed that the water quality at these ponds do not differ much from other locations. However, there are now clear indications that the sediment is contaminated by accumulation of contaminants which needs further research.

High pollution levels

Measurements with sensors on fishing boats revealed that the water quality varies from location to location. Locations with high BOD and COD levels could be associated with the various points of discharge of domestic and industrial waste water.

The industrial-related measurements have not yet been published but will be discussed first in a constructive and open dialogue with the industry and individual companies.

The joint outcome of sustainable, cost-effective solutions is one of the most important tasks of the consortium in the coming years.

Floris Boogaard (right) and Rui Lama (left) holding the equipment they used to measure the water quality.

About Indymo

Indymo is a start-up that works in the field of the management of water resources and water quality.

The company focusses on innovative ways of monitoring water quality and ecology using underwater drones and apps.

Indymo has two offices in Leeuwarden and Delft and the main supporting partners in this project are Delft university of technology, consultancy firm Tauw, water quality centre WLN, research institute Deltares and specialist on floating urbanization DeltaSync.

Read also on this website

 Research team uses specially-made GPS trackers to chart Irrawaddy river, Myanmar, 31 January 2017

 Indian-Dutch consortium rolls out cleaning project Barapulla drainage canal, New Delhi, India, 21 September 2016

 Van Oord signs dredging contract Surabaya harbour, Indonesia, 3 April 2014

 Country: Indonesia



More information

Indymo

Delft, the Netherlands

+31 6 1916 0401

www.indymo.nl

Water quality study of Brantas Basin using underwater drones in East Java, Indonesia.




Melbourne-based audio tech startup nura made headlines, last year, when its flagship product  nuraphones  attracted US$1.8 million on Kickstarter, making it the most-funded Australian campaign ever. Since then, the company has continued to gather pre-launch support for their headphones, described by one investor  UK music industry veteran Ric Salmon  as a game-changer

Earlier this month, nura announced it had raised $6 million in seed capital, bringing its total funding to more than $8.5 million. Major investors from the seed round included Sydneys Blackbird Ventures and former Google Access CEO Craig Barratt plus Brian Message and Ric Salmon from UK-based ATC management, which represents musicians including Nick Cave and PJ Harvey. The co-founders  electronics engineer Kyle Slater, hearing specialist Luke Campbell and electrical engineer Dragan Petrovic  have also received support from accelerators like the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP).

The latest capital raise will be used to fulfil pre-orders from over 80 countries and bolster production of nuraphones, which is a world-first innovation according to Slater, nuras CEO: nuraphones are the only product that automatically and objectively detect an individuals unique hearing profile and adapts the sound to match their ears perfectly, using in-ear and over-ear design, so they hear every note, feel every beat. Prior to nuraphones, there really was no such thing as the perfect set of headphones. Now, were able to offer one that perfectly suits the hearing needs of everyone. Its a new, more immersive way to experience music

Slater spoke to Dynamic Business about the companys grass-roots approach to creating buzz for their flagship product, available later in the year, as well as its investor strategy and future plans.

Dynamic Business: How did the company get its start?

Slater: Luke and I were working about 50 metres from each other for five years before we met. We were both wrapping up our PhDs, and I picked up some work co-supervising a project with him. I had been bubbling away on a concept of adaptive headphones for quite some time, but I wasnt sure whether it would be practical. One day, I asked Luke if he thought it was possible to put a hearing measurement machine into a pair of headphonesand that set us on the course of inventing nuraphones. Luke, Dragan and I were fortunate to have extremely supportive friends at the very initial stages of the company, before our product demos and market traction. In the space of 15 months, nura has grown from three to a team of 12 people.

Dynamic Business: What fuelled your Kickstarter success?

Slater: We relied very little on social media and industry influencers to drive interest early on in our Kickstarter campaign. We literally went out into the world and showed hundreds of people the product demo we had created: From San Francisco to Berlin, to Warp Records in the UK and over to Denmark Technical University, and of course all over Australia. Ill admit that it was a physically demanding way of getting the word out, but we knew that our product spoke for itself. And once people tried the demo, they were instantly sold. Our success with Kickstarter demonstrated the global market traction for nuraphones, which helped us secure seed funding.

Dynamic Business: Whove been your main consumers?

Slater: Typically, Australia accounts for about 3% of any given crowdfunding campaign but in our case, it was 30%. We are very proud we had reached this many people in Australia. In total, we attracted backing from over 80 countries, with the US being the strongest, so the interest was significantly widespread. nuraphones were a global product from day one, so there is no going back!

Dynamic Business: Whats your investor strategy?

Slater: Often people assume that investors are only there to hand out money. But investors, much like other advisors, can act as a form of headlights for your business. They help you connect with other likeminded people and businesses as you attempt to navigate and drive your company forward. For this reason, we were very selective with the people who invested in nura. We attracted a remarkable and diverse group of investors from the music, tech and business industries, who will provide invaluable insight for us as we prepare to ship the product for the first time this year. They believe in our team, our vision and our ability to succeed.

Dynamic Business: What has been the biggest challenge ?

Slater: I think the most challenging thing, and equally the most important, was forming a diverse team of employees, partners and collaborators who possess a similar vision. Its absolutely essential to incorporate unique experiences, backgrounds and skills when building a company. The challenge with diverse groups is that sometimes they fall apart. Our team is held together strongly by a united and passionate vision for creating the perfect sound for every person in any place, and in time we have evolved to become incredibly adaptable and creative. This idea of contained diversity makes nura much bigger than any given person.

Dynamic Business: Finally, whats next for the company?

Slater: Well be selling our product directly from our website (nuraphone.com) and sharing the nura experience with as many people as possible. We have an active research and development team that is continually evolving our core technology and we are not short of ambition. Our company was formed to deliver the perfect sound in any place for every person and thats what we intend to do. Stay tuned!
This is madness.

A Michigan law passed by Republicans allows for schools that dont meet specific requirements for academic achievement to be simply closed. Shut down. Kids thrown out.

Its a draconian step, one that essentially tells parents, We dont want to make the investments in your childrens schools needed to bring them up to par, so we are giving up on you. These schools are often the focal point of communities, places where families interact, the glue that helps hold the neighborhood together. Shutting them down is one more nail in the coffin in terms of rebuilding communities.

This year, 38 schools, 24 of which are in Detroit, are slated for closure. Michigan Radios Jennifer Guerra produced some terrific reporting on this issue this week in her segment titled, Whats the deal with Michigans plan to close 38 schools? In it, she shows how few options are left for parents and their kids:

[I]t came as a big surprise to Eugene Brown to learn that his daughters school was among the worst in the state and could possibly close. How did he find out? He and parents at 38 schools across Michigan got a letter in the mail from the state School Reform Office (SRO). [] [T]he state says it only gave parents a list of options that were ranked in the 25th percentile or higher. But according to our research, thats not true. The Fitzgerald middle school, where [Browns daughter] Gniyah would go, is not in the 25th percentile; its in the 12th percentile. [] Another problem with the list Eugene Brown got? It includes districts that dont even take kids from Wayne County. Michigan law allows districts to take kids from other districts, whats known as open enrollment. Open enrollment is optional, though most districts participate and the law stipulates that districts can only enroll kids who live in the same county or ones adjacent to it. Our friends over at Chalkbeat first reported that the list Detroit parents got from the SRO included districts that dont take kids from Wayne County, and even those districts that do take Wayne County kids might not have enough seats for them. Thats the case with Fitzgeralds middle school. I called the district and found out that it has seats available for Wayne County kids for K-2nd grades and high school, but the middle school, where Brown was hoping to send his daughter, wont be taking any kids from outside Macomb County next fall. [] The list that Eugene Brown and other Detroit parents got includes Detroit and other nearby districts, but it also includes districts 20, 30, even 40 miles away. How would parents get their kids to those schools? Parents havent gotten an answer to that, and neither have two of the top education officials in the state.

In other words, the school district is lying about the options its giving parents, largely because there simply are no other options. And the options they ARE giving arent real options at all.

There is, of course, a lawsuit pending to stop the school closures. Detroit Mayor Duggan launched his reelection bid with a promise to fight the closures. Even Gov. Rick Snyder concedes there are major problems with this:

Snyder now says that closing the schools might not be the best option for Detroit students, and has asked the reform office and the Michigan Department of Education to come up with other potential plans to bring the schools around. He gave state officials until May to come up with new plans.

But the fact is we shouldnt even be having this conversation. In a rational society, if a school is struggling, there would be a recognition of a systemic problem that needs to be dealt with. In the case of schools, that problem is invariably crippling poverty. Shutting down community schools doesnt resolve that problem. Making these schools compete on an uneven playing field with for-profit charter schools doesnt resolve that problem. Instead, our government should be INVESTING in schools and INVESTING in rebuilding communities. This is the only way improving our so-called failing schools will work.

And, lets be clear: These schools arent failing. These schools have been FAILED. Failed by the state government that left them to molder and devolve as the communities around them fell into financial hardship with the implosion of the industrial base that supported them for so long. There has never been the sort of educational surge that could change their course. After years of neglect, they have had austerity forced upon them all while blaming teachers and administrators for the problems they had nothing to do with and screeching that they arent being competitive and deserve the fate imposed upon them.

None of this is rational. None of this is helping the multiple cohorts of students who have been failed by their state. None of this has resulted in the improvements everyone agrees are needed. It has, in fact, had the opposite effect. The state of Detroit Public Schools after years and years of state control and forced austerity should be a screaming, flashing, red-lettered neon sign telling us a new approach is desperately needed.

But, instead, Republicans are actually considering lowering our state income tax or even abandoning it altogether, which will reduce state revenues by astronomical levels, giving us even fewer options. This is madness and it all points back to something I and others have been saying all along: its intentional. Republicans have set things up in a way that is designed to fail. Then, when their Shock Doctrine policies have had the intended result, for-profit education corporations can swoop in to gather in those school-based tax dollars to enrich their shareholders.

Its high time we  the collective, statewide WE  demanded a change.
Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5)
Close to 50 people gathered Wednesday night in the library of South Albany High School to hear a presentation in Spanish on farm and field workers' rights.

Organizers said the same presentation, given that morning at the Boys & Girls Club of Albany, brought another 30 or so.

Albany's Latino community has high interest in these and similar informational presentations, and Greater Albany Public Schools officials have been looking for ways to extend their outreach to Latino families.

Wednesday's meetings are part of that effort, and presentations on additional topics are being scheduled.

The farm and field workers' rights meeting was a partnership between South Albany's Amigos Latinos group, which marked its second official meeting with Wednesday's presentation, and a new group called Community Outreach Meetings for Parents and Schools. The presentation was the first meeting for COMPAS, organizer David Jazmin said.

Amigos Latinos grew from conversations this past fall between Josh Davalos, who joined South Albany this year as the high school's student and family diversity coordinator, and a first-year assistant principal, Nate Munoz.

The two were talking about ways they could work more closely with Spanish-speaking families at the school and ideas to make South Albany more of a community hub for all students and parents. That led to discussion of forming a sort of Parent Teacher Association for Latino families  and Amigos Latinos was born.

The group had its first meeting, a get-to-know-you session to hear family concerns, in January. The next is coming up at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, at South Albany, Davalos said, and the topic will be the "Juntos" program at Oregon State University, which works with families on gaining access to higher education.

COMPAS also is planning its next meeting, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 25, at South Albany, with the time to be announced.

Both groups conduct meetings in Spanish.

At Wednesday's meeting, organizers provided wireless English translation headsets for the three or four non-Spanish speakers in the room.

Guest speaker Laurie Hoefer, an attorney for the Farmworker Program of Legal Aid Services of Oregon, went over basic workers' rights for the audience, from the intricacies of the changes in minimum wage to requirements to have fresh water available on site. She also handed out fact sheets from the Bureau of Labor and Industries outlining the requirements of Oregon's new sick time law.

Through English interpretation by David Jazmin of COMPAS, the district family and community liaison for the school district's Welcome Center, Hoefer told the families it isn't legal for an employer to become upset or seek retaliation if workers point out the laws regarding their rights.

One woman in the audience told Hoefer some workers feel if a paycheck is late or incomplete, but the workers are not in the country legally, they are afraid speak up, believing pay laws do not apply to them.

That's not true, Hoefer said. "Work rights laws apply to everyone."

Asked another woman in the crowd: How do we prove discrimination?

That's harder, Hoefer said, and subject to court interpretation. However, she urged the audience, it's important to keep records. Note on a calendar the time you check in and check out and the length and timing of any breaks, then compare that information with pay stubs. Keep a log of any incidents and document problems.

Davalos and Jazmin said they both felt the meeting was successful and an indication that both groups are on the right track for outreach.

"I've been talking to a bunch of parents, following up about yesterday," Davalos said Thursday. "They're really excited."
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner pushed President Trump to exclude language that criticized the Paris agreement from an upcoming executive order, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening.

According to the Wall Street Journals multiple sources, the upcoming executive order targeting Obama-era climate regulations now excludes any mention of the deal due to the Kushners intervention.

https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/804519223150182400 expand=1]

Savingor killingthe agreement has been front-of-mind for many interested parties recently: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Sec. Patricia Espinosa told reporters she is hoping to meet with Rex Tillerson to discuss the deal while she visits Washington next week, while a coalition of 300 high-profile climate change deniers sent a letter to Trump Thursday asking him to pull out of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entirely.

Tillersons successor at ExxonMobil, meanwhile, praised the 2015 agreementand the carbon tax plan rolled out by GOP luminaries earlier this monthin a blog post published Thursday.

https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/829790285110599683

For a deeper dive:

Ivanka: WSJ, The Hill Espinosa: Bloomberg

Denier letter: The Hill, Politico Pro, Washington Examiner Exxon: Washington Examiner

For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.

[facebook https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/1460041177342148/
By Andy Rowell

Once again Big Oil has been forced to rely on brutal militarized force to bludgeon, bully, beat and intimidate peaceful water protectors fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

https://facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/1462944880385111/

But in the face of such violence and intimidation, the growing movement against new fossil fuels will not be intimidated, it will only grow.

The latest violence was Thursday morning. In highly distressing scenes for anyone who has been involved fighting the highly controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, highly militarized law enforcementsome carrying guns, riot gear and backed up by Humvees and bulldozersmoved into the Oceti Sakowin camp near the pipeline route.

Their aim was to officially shut it down and clear it. Only the last hundred or so defiant protectors remained. Some 46 people, including journalists, veterans, elders and other water protectors who had remained were said to have been arrested. Many others had left the camp voluntarily the day before, marching in solidarity arm in arm out of the camp.

Journalist Ed Higgins being arrested during the raid on the Oceti Sakowin Camphis press badge clearly visible. Rob Wilson Photography / Facebook

Last week, the North Dakota governor had given a deadline of mid this week for people to leave. By Wednesday, the camp had been surrounded by police and military. As they left many people burned their tents, teepees and shelters in a symbolic act of defiance.

Chase Iron Eyes of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said: It reminded me of pictures or maybe memory in my DNA, of the massacres, when you see teepees and structures burned; it was extremely traumatic, a heavy feeling.

There was outrage at the over-use of force Thursday. Knifing tipis and pointing loaded rifles at the occupants. Its the 1800s all over again, tweeted Ruth Hopkins, a former judge for the Spirit Lake Nation and Crow Creek Sioux Tribe.

Knifing tipis and pointing loaded rifles at the occupants. It's the 1800s all over again. https://t.co/ODIh9sOt1d  Ruth H. Hopkins (Red Road Woman) (@Ruth_HHopkins) February 23, 2017

The activities by the authorities Thursday are just not acceptable.

However, from the ashes of the camp, comes a new empowered movement that will resist this horrendous Trump assault on the environment and on Indigenous rights.

Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, said the forced evacuation was a violent and unnecessary infringement on the constitutional right of water protectors to peacefully protest and exercise their freedom of speech.

However, Goldtooth, added: Our hearts are not defeated. The closing of the camp is not the end of a movement or fight. It is a new beginning. They cannot extinguish the fire that Standing Rock started.

Others were equally angry: James T. Meggesto, a member of the Onondaga Indian Nation, told Salon:

Today is a sad reminder that at its core, this dispute has always been about environmental justice and the lack thereof in Indian country, because once again Indian people are literally being forced to accept a dangerous oil pipeline directly upstream of their water supply that was rejected by a non-Indian community for precisely this reason.

After watching the events unfold, Chairman Frazier of the Cheyenne River Sioux said:

What I have witnessed today is pretty sickening. Really disappointed. Like in our history we will rise again. I feel more defiant than ever. There are a lot of things that North Dakota have done that they need to pay for. To destroy sacred sites, ceremonial lodges. They have to be held accountable  They have no respect for our way of life and for all the people in the camp.

In a defiant post on Facebook Thursday, one of the activists and community organizer, Lyla June, said:

They might have buried things, but we have planted seeds and we have planted seeds all across the world. We have inspired and awakened people to see what in a new way. To see what as life. We have united things that were never united before

She continued:

We united people from all races behind a common dream and that is a win  And we fought in a manner that was so beautiful, with so much honor and dignity .. The other win is that we gave our bodies on the line, we fought in courts, we fought financially, we have done everything in our power to protect our water and that is a win. We are going to continue by taking the money from Wells Fargo and other banks.

And as if on cue, Thursday the German bank BayernLB, which has $120 million invested in the pipeline announced they will withdraw from the financing contract at the earliest possible date. Furthermore, they will not be renewing their contract with Energy Transfer Partners.

The move came after a petition had been handed to the bank with more than 300,000 signatures opposing the pipeline.

So the camp may be gone. The fight will continue. The seeds have been planted. And they will continue to grow. We will resist Trump and his fossil fuel cronies. This is not the end, just a new beginning of resistance.

https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/1448710808475185/
President Donald Trump has signed another executive order aimed at eliminating regulations that he claims are damaging to the U.S. economy, but some worry that the measure will roll back critical environmental protections.

The order, called Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda, directs each government agency to create a task force to evaluate existing federal regulations and recommend whether they should be kept, repealed or modified.

https://twitter.com/cspan/status/835204626383175681

A White House official told POLITICO that the task forces will focus on eliminating costly and unnecessary regulations.

The new order also directs agency heads to appoint regulatory reform officers to ensure that agencies are carrying out the presidents other executive orders, such as his recent 2-for-1 rule that requires federal agencies to repeal two old regulations for every new one.

Excessive regulation is killing jobs, Trump said during the signing ceremony. Every regulation should have to pass a simple test: Does it make life better or safer for American workers or consumers? If the answer is no, we will be getting rid of it.

We will stop punishing companies for doing business in the United States, Trump added. Its going to be absolutely just the opposite. They will be incentivized to doing business.

The president was flanked by leaders of major U.S. corporations, including Lockheed Martin, Johnson & Johnson, Dow Chemical Co. and Campbell Soup.

Dow Chemical Co. chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris, who leads Trumps advisory council on manufacturing and received the presidential signing pen. Just yesterday, Liveris praised the Trump administration for being the most pro-business administration since the Founding Fathers.

Bloomberg Politics pointed out that The White House already has an entire agency, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, that reviews all government regulations before they are issued. It is unclear how the existing office will be working with the new officials.

Environmental groups have criticized Trumps latest executive order, saying that it is crafted to help the countrys biggest polluters.

The Trump administration wants less government, except when it wants more to carry out its oil and gas industry agenda, Greenpeace spokesperson Travis Nichols said in a statement. This executive order will put Trumps unvetted corporate minions above experts at our federal agencies in charge of protecting our water, our land and our climate.

We can only hope that the resistance inside these agencies will be strong enough to stop these destructive Trump toadies from dismantling protections for the American people, Nichols continued. This administration and its deluded enforcers will never understand what it feels like to worry about the water their families are drinking, the food their families are eating or if their houses will survive the next superstorm. Its up to all of us outside the billionaire bubble to resist the ways in which the Trump administration is destroying this country.

Tiernan Sittenfeld of the League of Conservation Voters had similar sentiments.

President Trump is rigging the system so corporate lobbyists can lower standards that protect the public health and safety of all people in this country, Sittenfeld told NPR . These task forces will attempt to roll back common-sense protections for the air we breathe, the water we drink and the lands we cherish.

Waterkeeper Alliance said that Trumps latest order will only help destroy agencies and regulations that are designed to protect people and the environment. For instance, rules that ensure that tap water does not contain pollutants that cause cancer or brain damage could be on the chopping block.

President Trumps action to slash regulation is more like a pollution prison sentence, subjecting our communities to increased exposure to polluted water, toxins, disease and economic burden for generations to come. There is no justification for this type of brazen policy that only benefits the richest and most powerful corporations in the world, said Waterkeeper Alliance Executive Director Marc Yaggi. Americans and all world citizens want and deserve clean water and clean air. President Trump will face massive resistance to this misguided executive order.

The Waterkeeper Alliance pointed out that the assumption that regulations have a negative impact on job creation is false.

The reality is that only two-tenths of one percent of layoffs are caused by all governmental regulations, including environmental ones, the organization said. Earlier this month, job loss was cited as a major reason for overturning the Stream Protection Rule despite the fact that the Congressional Research Service found the rule would have created as many jobs as it eliminated. If implemented, the Stream Protection Rule would have protected an estimated 6,000 miles of streams over the next two decades from the devastating effects of mountaintop removal coal mining.

Earlier at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland on Friday, Trump promised to slash 75 percent of regulations all while claiming he wanted to protect our environment.

Were going to put the regulation industry out of work and out of business. And by the way, I want regulation. I want to protect our environment. I want regulations for safety, Trump said, according to CNBC. I want all of the regulations that we need and I want them to be so strong and so tough. But we dont need 75 percent of the repetitive, horrible regulations that hurt companies, hurt jobs.

But Trumps first month in the White House has been a nightmare for environmentalists and the planet alike. He has appointed a cabinet full of polluters with ties to the fossil fuel industry, and signed executive orders to push through the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline and nullify Obama-era climate policies such as the Stream Protection Rule.

And as Scott Faber, Environmental Working Groups senior vice president for government affairs, put it, President Trump is engineering the most hostile assault on public health, and mark my words, his administrations planned destruction of many rules will put the health of millions of hard-working Americans and their families in jeopardy.

Incidentally, it emerged Friday morning that his daughter, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner pushed the president to exclude language that criticized the Paris agreement from an upcoming executive order, the Wall Street Journal reported.
ECSU Drug Information Center Celebrates American Heart Month

Reaching out to the communities that surround Elizabeth City State University is a part of the campus mission. Thats why when ECSU Drug Information Center director, Dr. Anthony Emekalam, was planning activities for American Heart Month, he knew bringing area senior citizens in for a lunch and learn about heart health was the right thing to do.

To celebrate the American Heart Month, area residents gathered in the lobby of the Pharmacy Complex Thursday, Feb. 24. Dr. Emekalam captured their attention with important information about their health.

During the session, Dr. Emekalam talked about the importance of taking good care of the heart by controlling blood pressure, blood sugar and stress management. He said that there are several simple everyday disciplines that can greatly help to keep blood pressure under check, including routine engagement in physical activity, sensible eating habits and taking medications as prescribed by the physician.

About 20 community residents attended the 1 hour session which was facilitated by Shirley Brown, RN. Ms. Brown is in charge of everyday operations of the center. The ECSU Drug Information Center is located on the ground floor of the pharmacy complex and is open to the public Mondays through Fridays from noon to 5 p.m.
(Photo: LWF/ Rodrick Beiler)Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dances with Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of South Africa to celebrate some 1.8 million signatures on an interfaith petition for climate justice during the COP21 climate summit in Paris, France.

The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, has appealed to the South African government to scrap plans for developing nuclear energy and instead spend the money on education, training and other development initiatives.

The archbishop said in a statement issued from the church's Synod of Bishops Feb. 22 coming at a time that faith and environmental groups are issuing a court challenge to a secret nuclear deal the government has struck up with Russia.

"The Synod of Bishops has revisited the resolution adopted by the church's Provincial Synod last September, in which the church expressed its opposition to the expansion of nuclear energy and urged the government to pursue the path of renewable energy initiatives.

The bishops noted that South African President Jacob Zuma committed the government in the 2016 State of the Nation address to procure new nuclear energy only on a scale and at a pace that the country can afford.

"We also welcome the president's acknowledgement in this year's State of the Nation address that renewable energy will be an important part of the mix of energy sources in the future.

But the bishops said that nuclear energy still remains part of the mix, despite a resource by the Department of Energy's which concluded that additional nuclear power, originally expected in 2023, will not come on stream until 2037.

Makoba, who has frequently campaigned on environmental issues said he had written to Zuma last year conveying his church's appeal in which he noted that South Africa already has progressive renewable energy initiatives that could lead to greater sustainability and flexibility.

"Solar and wind generation of power is becoming cheaper and cheaper to develop. By 2037, the energy generation scenario is likely to have changed completely.

"The priority for our country is the education, training and well-being of its citizens. We should not impoverish the country through incurring unaffordable debt through attempting to obtain loans or providing guarantees for Eskom [the national electricity company] to raise loans for nuclear power stations," said Makgoba.

"We are deeply concerned that an expanded nuclear energy program will become an albatross around the necks of our children. And we cannot leave to the generations to come the task of disposing of our nuclear waste."

Makgoba said the bishops believe South Africa has the potential of becoming a renewable energy hub for Africa, with huge potential for investment in manufacturing and associated employment.

"We note that overseas investors are queuing up to invest in our renewable energy program and since the design of the program is such that they provide the finance, this does not burden our people."

ENVIRONMENT JUSTICE GROUPS

Environmental justice groups have renewed a challenge to the government's planned expansion of nuclear energy in a court hearing in currently Cape Town.

In November the Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute said a closed meeting on a nuclear build plan reinforces the perception that government has something to hide.

The institute said that, according to South Africa's constitution, the National Assembly may not exclude the public, including the media, from a sitting of a committee unless it is reasonable and justifiable to do so in an open and democratic society.

"What is it that we are not allowed to know? Why is it secret now, four weeks before we go to court?"

The Southern African Faith Communities' Environment and Earthlife Africa JHB are challenging the government over an intergovernmental agreement it signed with Russia that it believes was intended as a done deal, which would have been illegal.

The South African government does not understand why everybody is picking on its agreement with Russia to possibly supply nuclear power infrastructure when similar agreements have been made with France and China, the Western Cape High Court heard on Feb. 23.

It was not even a commercial agreement which would need a budget approval, just a ''proposed partnership'' agreement for now, said Department of Energy lawyer Marius Oosthuizen for the government.

''Why can't South Africa ask Russia to help out with nuclear power?'' Oosthuizen asked.
Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o...
The Trump administrations decision to rescind Obama-era guidance on the rights of transgender students won praise from conservative organizations and officials, who said the guidance was federal overreach and a threat to the privacy rights of students.

But transgender advocacy groups, families of transgender students, and a long list of national education groups say leaving a civil rights issue to local decisionmakers would remove an important layer of protection from vulnerable students, threatening their well-being.

Attention of advocates and conservative activists alike now turns to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is set to hear a case on transgender-student issues this month, and to at least five other lawsuits on the issue pending in federal courts.

The high court has asked both parties in the case before it to give their views on the administrations decision to rescind the guidance.

The U.S. departments of Justice and Education issued a Dear Colleague letter Feb. 22 that lifted requirements that schools allow students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

The Trump administration had signaled the shift. In retracting the guidance, it did not provide its own interpretation of whether the sex discrimination protections in Title IX apply to gender identity, the position taken by the Obama administration.

This is an issue best solved at the state and local level, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said in a statement.

Advocates insisted that the federal law still protects transgender students, regardless of the interpretation of the current administration.

In addition to directions on school facilities, the Obama administrations May directivewhich had been placed on hold by a federal court pending litigationcalled upon schools to respond quickly to harassment of transgender students, to use their preferred gender on school forms and in assigning them to sex-segregated classes and activities, and to keep their transgender status secret if they did not wish to disclose it publicly. Federal civil rights guidance carries an implied threat that schools could lose federal funding if they dont comply.

More Than Bathrooms

While bathroom policies have gotten the most attention, the issue at hand is whether schools will acknowledge transgender students core identities, advocates said.

The reality is that while schools nationwide are increasingly supporting and affirming transgender students, the majority of transgender students have been left behind, said a joint statement from 19 organizations, including GLSEN, the National PTA, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, which had asked for the original guidance. For the 60 percent of transgender students who do not attend a school with supportive and affirming policies, life can be much more difficultand even dangerous.

The organizations also disputed the Trump administrations assertion that the guidance had created confusion among school districts.

The decision was the first major policy announcement by DeVos, who entered office a few weeks ago after a bruising confirmation battle. Some media outlets, including the New York Times, reported that there was disagreement between DeVos and Attorney General Jeff Sessions about whether to rescind the guidance. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the disagreement was about the timing and wording of the letter, not on the core decision.

Sessions and DeVos issued separate statements along with the agencies Dear Colleague letter withdrawing the guidance. DeVoss statement emphasized a continued need to protect students from bullying and harassment. Sessions mentioned bullying, but focused more on interpretations of the federal law.

I have dedicated my career to advocating for and fighting on behalf of students, and as secretary of education, I consider protecting all students, including LGBTQ students, not only a key priority for the department, but for every school in America, DeVos said.

Sessions said the guidance did not contain sufficient legal analysis or explain how the interpretation was consistent with the language of Title IX.

The Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law estimates that 0.7 percent of U.S. children ages 13 to 17, or about 150,000, are transgender.

The federal rollback of the guidance doesnt limit the ability for state and local decisionmakers to set policies for transgender students. Fifteen states have non-discrimination laws that include gender identity. And many districts were already accommodating transgender students long before the federal guidance.

North Carolina has the only state law restricting school bathroom and locker room access by biological sex, but legislatures in many states have floated similar proposals.

The Trump administrations decision will now trickle down to several pending court cases.

On the same day the Obama administration guidance was rescinded, the U.S. solicitor generals office informed the U.S. Supreme Court of the change, explaining in a filing that the Education and Justice departments had decided not to rely on the views expressed in the [Obama] guidance, and instead to consider further and more completely the legal issues involved.

What that means for the Virginia student Gavin Grimms case, Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., is not entirely clear. Grimm, a transgender boy, has been denied the use of boys school restrooms. In ruling for Grimm last April, the 4th Circuit court gave deference to a letter outlining the Education Departments views by James A. Ferg-Cadima, then an official in the departments office for civil rights. The document this week specifically rescinded that letter.

While there has been speculation that the Trump administrations move might motivate the Supreme Court to find a way to avoid deciding the case, neither party is asking it to do so at this point. The court on Feb. 24 asked lawyers for the Gloucester County school board and Grimm to give their views on how the case should proceed.

But Joshua A. Block, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing Grimm, saidprior to announcement of that requestthat even if the Obama administrations approach is no longer a factor in his case, the question of whether Title IXs reference to discrimination based on sex is something the high court could still rule on.

The ACLU argues that the Gloucester County school boards policy limiting restrooms to people of corresponding biological genders violates the plain text of Title IX. The boards discriminatory treatment of Gavin is explicitly on the basis of sex, the brief says.

Meanwhile, the Gloucester County school board praised the Trump administrations action in a statement and said it looked forward to telling the high court why this development underscores that the Boards common-sense restroom and locker room policy is legal under federal law.

Pending Lawsuits

While there has been speculation that the Trump administrations move might motivate the Supreme Court to avoid deciding the case, neither party is asking it to do so at this point.

Meanwhile, at least five other lawsuits are pending around the country involving transgender issues in schools. The most prominent one is Texas v. United States, in which Texas, 10 other states, two school districts, and other plaintiffs challenged the Obama administrations transgender-student guidance, receiving the nationwide injunction that had put a pause in its application.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the Trump administration action encouraging. With the change, the Texas case may have little left to it, legal experts said.

The same is not necessarily the case in other suits, some involving transgender students seeking facilities access, and others filed by families who object to school policies that allow transgender students to use facilities consistent with their gender identity. In several cases, rulings have been based not just on deferring to the then-prevailing Obama administration guidance, but on Title IXs statutory protections.

Gary S. McCaleb, a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based group that is involved in three cases that contend Title IX does not cover gender identity, said the Trump administrations action will allow the federal government to extract itself as a defendant in some of these lawsuits.

But it is correct that it is more than just the [Obama administration] guidance that is at issue, he said, so those cases wont all just go away.
A domestic violence call near Lebanon ended with a crash in a farmer's field Thursday morning after the suspect bolted from deputies on two separate occasions, according to Linn County Sheriff Sergeant Dave Lawler.

The events began to unfold just after 10 a.m., when deputies responded to a restraining order violation in the 35000 block of Tennessee Road, north of Lebanon. When a deputy recognized the suspect, Cameron Farver, 41, driving a later model Chevrolet Suburban, he attempted a traffic stop, but Farver sped up, leading the deputy into Lebanon. When Farver began speeding the wrong way down Main Street, the deputy called off the chase in favor of public safety. That chase lasted about 10 minutes.

Next, at 12:20 p.m., Lawler and Deputy Matt Wilcox noticed Farver driving along Shingle Mill Road near Lacomb. The resulting chase took 15 minutes and ended when Farver failed to negotiate a turn at high speed and crashed through a fence, coming to rest in a field.

Wilcox and Lawler found a pipe used for smoking methamphetamine and several beer cans.

Farver was arrested at the scene and charged with violating a restraining order, strangulation, two counts of attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, possession of methamphetamine and driving while intoxicated.

He was booked into the Linn County Jail.
Heres a message from Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson to President Donald Trump: If youre looking for evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 general election, youre wasting your time looking in Oregon.

"I'm pleased to report that in Oregon we have reviewed the processes and we are confident that voter fraud in last November's election did not occur in Oregon," Richardson wrote in a letter to Trump. "In short, elections in Oregon cannot be hacked."

President Trump repeatedly has said he would have won the popular vote in the 2016 election were it not for 3 million to 5 million immigrants in the country illegally who voted for Hillary Clinton. (Trump lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.) He has not offered any evidence that voter fraud occurred on anywhere near that scale, but he apparently is not willing to concede the point  and, apparently is unwilling to settle for the consolation prize of actually winning the presidency. Trump has called for a thorough investigation.

Richardson, the first Republican elected to a statewide office in Oregon in a couple of decades, doesnt stand to lose much political credibility here by pushing back a bit against the president. In fact, it might bolster his standing among the states Democratic voters, who hold a comfortable numerical advantage.

But Richardsons stance still was welcome to see  and a related point he made is worth exploring.

In his letter, he asked Trump to roll back an Obama administration initiative to declare elections systems as "critical infrastructure. The designation was made shortly before last year's presidential contest in response to allegations of Russian meddling in the election. Richardson and other secretary of states pushed back against the designation, worried that it might open the door for allowing the federal government more authority over elections systems. In his letter to Trump, Richardson wrote "federal intrusion into Oregon's election process should be rejected."

Richardson said he had no problem with sharing information about potential threats to our elections with the federal government. But he told Trump that states should retain full authority over elections.

That seems sound. In fact, one of the hurdles hackers face when attempting to wreak havoc with our elections is the decentralized nature of our elections. And there seems little need to create a centralized election system under the aegis of the federal government.

A decentralized approach also allows states to try their own experiments with elections. Oregon, for example, could have been prevented from its successful vote-by-mail system if it had been required to jump through a variety of federal hoops. Now, other states interested in following Oregons lead can do so  and, in fact, they should.

As far as voter fraud in Oregon goes, Richardson did tell The Oregonian newspaper this week that his election office is looking into two addresses that received a suspicious number of ballots. More than 6,500 addresses across Oregon receive more than 10 ballots, but they tend to be locations such as retirement homes and fraternities or sororities. Richardson told the newspaper that two addresses, which he declined to identify, seem suspicious and that investigation into the two is continuing. He cautioned that no actual voter fraud has yet been found.

We have worried that Trumps continued insistence about widespread voter fraud is an attempt to pave the way for tighter voter ID laws or other measures that could make it more difficult for certain segments of the population to cast ballots. But Oregon continues to roll in the opposite direction  this state has aggressively removed barriers to voting. Its encouraging to see Richardson rolling in that direction as well. (mm)
A spike in the number of sexually transmitted diseases locally has spurred the Linn County Health Department to develop a fact sheet for distribution to local health care providers and emergency rooms.

Health care providers and laboratories are required by law to report gonorrhea cases within one working day to local health departments. Numbers have increased state and nationwide as well.

According to local public health officials, the average number of reported cases of gonorrhea over the last nine years is 29 in Linn County. In 2016, there were 113 cases, a nearly 200 percent increase from 40 cases reported in 2015.

The number of syphilis cases dropped from 12 in 2015 to 5 in 2016, but had been zero in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and 5 in 2014.

The largest increases have been seen in males aged 30 to 49, which is also a key demographic for those at high risk to contract syphilis.

At this point, we do not fully understand the dynamics that are represented by the increase in gonorrhea cases, said Frank Moore, Linn County Public Health director. We are actively researching causal factors and interviewing, as they are willing, each individual so diagnosed in order to determine causal factors and to develop a strategy that provides optimal opportunities for prevention, education and intervention.

According to the Oregon Public Health Department, there were 17 reported cases of gonorrhea in Benton County in 2007 and 47 in 2016. The number of syphilis cases dropped from 8 to 3 from 2015 to 2016, but had been zero in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and no more than two from 2010-2013.

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection affecting the genitals, rectum, mouth and throat in both men and women. Symptoms of infection include painful urination and pelvic pain in women, and painful urination and infections of the testicles and prostate in men.

In women, the infection can lead to infertility. If untreated, a pregnant woman may experience premature delivery.

Since 2007, the number of gonorrhea cases in Oregon has increased from 1,239 to 4,367 in 2016. The number of syphilis cases jumped from 30 in 2007 to 450 in 2015.

Treatment includes antibiotics such as ceftriaxone, azithromycin and doxycycline.

Partners of those with sexually transmitted diseases should be immediately notified. Those unlikely to see a health care provider may be given medication or a prescription that can be delivered privately.

Public Health strongly advises that men who are having sex with other men should be examined for the possibility of other diseases, including HIV.

To learn more about sexually transmitted diseases and their treatment, call the Linn County Public Health Department at 541-967-3888.

Sexually transmitted diseases reached record numbers nationwide in 2015, according to the annual Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There were more than 1.5 million chlamydia cases reported (1,526,658), nearly 400,000 cases of gonorrhea (395,216), and nearly 24,000 cases of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis (23,872)  the most infectious stages of the disease.

The largest increase in cases reported from 2014 to 2015 occurred in P&S syphilis (19 percent), followed by gonorrhea (12.8 percent) and chlamydia (5.9 percent).

We have reached a decisive moment for the nation, said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDCs National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. STD rates are rising, and many of the countrys systems for preventing STDs have eroded. We must mobilize, rebuild and expand services  or the human and economic burden will continue to grow.

CDC officials noted that in recent years more than half of state and local STD programs have experienced budget cuts, resulting in more than 20 health department STD clinic closures in one year alone.

Fewer clinics mean reduced access to STD testing and treatment for those who need these services.

The CDC estimates sexually transmitted disease cases cost the U.S. health care system nearly $16 billion each year.

According to the CDC report, the 2015 data show:

 Americans ages 15 to 24 years old accounted for nearly two-thirds of chlamydia diagnoses and half of gonorrhea diagnoses.

 Men who have sex with men accounted for the majority of new gonorrhea and P&S syphilis cases (82 percent of male cases with known gender of sex partner). Antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea may be higher among this sector.

 Womens rate of syphilis diagnosis increased by more than 27 percent from 2014 to 2015. Reported congenital syphilis (which occurs when the infection is transmitted from a pregnant woman to her baby) increased by 6 percent. Women still account for less than 10 percent of new P&S syphilis infections.
Todo lo que necesitas saber para comenzar tu dia

Suscribirse implica aceptar los terminos y condiciones
Search All categories Advertising General Aerospace General Agriculture General Airlines General America - Post 9/11 General Apparel General Apple Products General Architectural General Architecture Architecture Art & Entertainments Books Celebrities Country Music Dance Magazines Movies Museums Music Music Downloads News & Talk Shows Performing Arts Photography Television Web Sites Arts/Culture General Auction General Automotive Aftermarket Classic Autos Consumer Publications General Motorcycle & Bike Racing Recreational Vehicle Repair & Service Trade Publications Blogging & Social Media Blogging & Social Media Business Advertising / Marketing Books Consumer Research Direct Marketing e-Commerce Entrepreneurs Finance Franchise Human Resources Insurance Investment Management Markets Network Marketing Online Marketing / SEO Payday Loans Public Relations Publications Real Estate Retail Stocks Supermarkets Women in Business Careers/HR General Chemical General Coaching / Mentoring Coaching / Mentoring Computers Apple Products Databases Games & Entertainment General Hosting Instruction Linux / GNU "Open Source" Macintosh Microsoft Windows PC Operating Systems Programming Security Software Tablet PCs Utilities Construction General Consumer Gifts and Collectibles Hobbies Web sites / Internet Design Graphic Design Industrial Web E-Cigarette General eCommerce General Economy General Education College / University General Home Schooling K-12 Post Graduate Technical Electronics General Email Marketing General EmailWire Press Releases Press Release Tips Employment/Careers General Engineering General Entertainment General Environment General Events / Trade Shows General Finance General Food General Franchise General Fraud / Identity Theft General Gaming General Government General Judicial Law Enforcement Legislative Local National Public Services Security State Transportation Healthcare General Home and Family Banking / Personal Finance Bereavement / Loss Home Furnishings / Interiors Landscaping & Gardening Marriage / Relationships Money Parenting Payday Loans Pets Taxes Wedding / Bridal Home Schooling General Hotels/Resorts General Household General Industry Aerospace / Defense Agriculture Apparel / Textiles Broadcast Construction / Building Electrical Food Funeral Healthcare Leisure / Hospitality Logistics / Shipping Manufacturing / Production Mining / Metals Oil / Energy Paper / Forest Products Plumbing, Heating & AC Print Media Printing Publishing Radio Restaurants Tobacco Toy Insurance General Internet/Online General Legal General Leisure General Lifestyle Beauty Dating / Singles Diet / Weight Loss Fashion Food / Beverage Health & Fitness Hotel / Resorts Pastimes Restaurants Retirement Travel & Tourism Machinery General Maritime General Medical Addiction Allergies Alternative Medicine Asthma Cancer Cardiology Chiropractic Dental Dermatology Diabetes Emergency Family Medicine General General Geriatrics Hospitals Infectious Diseases Internal Medicine Managed Care / HMO Medical Products Mental Health Neurology Nursing Nutrition OB / GYN Pediatrics Pharmaceuticals Physical Therapy Plastic Surgery Psychology Radiology / Imaging Research Sports Medicine Surgery Vision Military General Mining/Metals General Miscellaneous General Nanotechnology Nanotechnology Non-profit General Occupational Safety Occupational Safety Oil/Energy General Opinion / Editorial Opinion / Editorial Paper Products General Paper/Forest General Pharmaceuticals General Podcasting Announce Tools and Services Politics Politics Print Media General Public Utilities Public Utilities Publishing General Radio General Real Estate General Religion Christian General Islam Jewish Other Restaurants General Retail General RSS & Content Syndication RSS & Content Syndication Science and Research Science and Research Self-Help / Personal Growth Self-Help / Personal Growth Shipbuilding General Society African American Interests Asian Interests Childrens Issues Disabled Issues / Disabilities Gay / Lesbian Hispanic Mens Interests Native American Senior Citizens Social Services Teen Issues/Interests Womens Interest Software General Sports Baseball Basketball Bicycling Boating / Maritime Bowling Boxing Fishing Football Golf Hockey Hunting Martial Arts Outdoors Rugby Soccer Tennis Water Winter/Snow Sports/Fitness General Stocks General Supermarkets General Technology Biotechnology Computer Electronics Enterprise Software Games Graphics/Printing/CAD Hardware / Peripherals Industrial Information Internet Multimedia Networking Public Sector/Government Robotics Semiconductor Software Telecommunications Webmasters Telecom General Wireless Television General Tobacco General Trade General Transportation General Travel General Utilities General Volunteer Volunteer Weather Weather
Quayle insists refugee decision not due to a lack of caring



Chief Minister Howard Quayle MHK

The Chief Minister insists the Government's decision not to allow Syrian refugees to come to the Island is not due to a lack of caring.

Howard Quayle confirmed last week that those fleeing Syria won't be allowed to seek refuge on the Island, but instead has donated almost 1m to the United Nations to help those in camps in the country.

A petition with over 1,000 signatures called for the Island to take in 20 refugees, but Mr Quayle believes thousands will benefit from the Isle of Man's funding.

Speaking in response to a query in this month's Tynwald sitting, the Chief Minister also listed a lack of proper facilities, no Syrian community and the need for interpreters as reasons not to house Syrian refugees locally.
CityWing flights grounded after incident

Passengers travelling to and from the Isle of Man with CityWing could face disruption over the next couple of days with some of the operator's flights grounded.

Services run by Van Air have been grounded after the Civil Aviation Authority asked to speak with the airline following an incident yesterday.

A CityWing flight to Belfast operated by Van Air had to turn around and head back to Ronaldsway after conditions deteriorated in Northern Ireland.

Titan Airways has been chartered to cover some services, but CityWing warn disruption is likely for the next 24 to 48 hours.
Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere was crowned on Jan 29 in Manila, Philippines. Now, she moves to her new home in New York City and seems to love every minute of it.

Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere said that New York City reminds her of her hometown, Paris, France because both places have a lot of history to tell. In an interview with Hollywood Life, she said that it was her first time to see the Statue of Liberty. She has also visited Times Square and Central Park.

Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere said that she and her mom are very close. Though they were very happy for her for winning the Miss Universe 2016 crown, she is still afraid because her daughter will stay far from their home. Paris is more than seven hours away from New York City by plane.

Pia Wurtzbach has been very supportive of the new Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere. "She's given me a lot of advice. She said that I need to be relaxed and enjoy everything and don't pressure myself," she said. The Miss Universe 2015 has revealed that Iris Mittenaere is one of her favorites according to the French model.

Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere will be busy working in Smile Train, an organization that raises funds for children with cleft palates. She said that it is one of her passion to helping these children. The charity is the official partner of The Miss Universe Organization to raise awareness of the condition and its treatment. Since 1999, there have been more than one million surgeries across the world.

Interestingly, what Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere loves the most about New York City is the hotdogs. "This is like in a movie where people eat hotdogs in the street with yellow cabs," she said. The Miss Universe 2016 admitted that this is what French people want to do when they are in the Big Apple.
Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum are undeniably two of the hottest and most in-demand actors in Korea. While Song Joong Ki became internationally popular with his role as Capt. Yoo Si Jin in "Descendants Of The Sun," Park Bo Gum stole the hearts of the viewers with his role as the crown prince in "Moonlight Drawn By The Clouds." While many would expect that the two South Korean actors are competing in terms of popularity, Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum's relationship are actually built on a good friendship.

Although some showbiz insiders and colleagues are already aware of Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum's relationship as friends, the fans were delightfully surprised to find out that the two Hallyu stars are actually very good friends. Some sources even say that Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum relationship makes them treat each other like blood brothers.

Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum's relationship as good friends may seem sincere and brotherly, but recently, there have been reports that they might actually be in a real, romantic relationship. These reports shocked the fans and some are even refusing to believe that Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum's relationship is a romantic one.

However, the closeness of Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum may have led people to speculate that there might be more to their brotherly relationship. According to Straits Times, Song Joong Ki graced the fan meet of Park Bo Gum in Singapore. This was not the first time that Song Joong Ki surprised the crowd with his appearance in Park Bo Gum's Asian tour, as he also wowed the crown in Thailand.

According to Soompi, Singapore was the last leg of Park Bo Gum's Asian tour. Do you think there's something romantic in Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum relationship? Or is purely brotherly love? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
The European Union and the United Kingdom will join their forces together to help South Sudan fight famine. The European Commission has announced an emergency package of 82m to help South Sudan tackle  what the UN described as  a man-made famine in an oil-rich economy. The money provided by the EU will supplement aid provided by Britains Department for International Development (DfID), which is making 100m available to South Sudan this year. The UK has also announced 100m to Somalia, which is also facing the threat of famine.

According to the United Nations, famine in South Sudan has already left 100,000 people on the verge of starvation and almost 5 million people, more than 40% of the countrys population, are in need of humanitarian assistance. In some parts of the country people are already dying out of hunger. The war and political turmoil in the country have disrupted agriculture and left people with little choice but to scavenge for food to survive. People have been pushed to the brink, [they are] surviving on what they can find to eat in swamps, said Emma Jane Drew, Oxfams humanitarian program manager in South Sudan.

George Fominyen, the UN food program spokesman in South Sudans capital, Juba, added that the problem had been building for years. It has not been sudden, he said and pointed out that food insecurity, hunger, malnutrition has been getting steadily worse since the conflict started three years ago. The EUs commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, Christos Stylianides, who recently visited South Sudan, has urged government and opposition forces to provide humanitarian organizations with access to some of the worst hit areas.

Pope Francis echoed Mr. Stylianides words, calling for an urgent action and saying that millions could be condemned to death by the famine. Now more than ever there should be a commitment by everyone to not just talk but contribute food aid and allow it to reach suffering populations, said Pope Francis.
The leaders of Egypt and Jordan  President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Jordans King Abdullah met on Tuesday (21 February) in Cairo to discuss the coordination of their positions on the Middle East peace process, reaffirming their continued support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their meeting came shortly after the new American President Donald Trump suggested last week at a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would be open to new ways to achieve peace. Donald Trump suggested that he would be happy with any solution including one that would not necessarily entail the creation of a Palestinian state.

Most Arab countries support a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders prior to the Six Day War. Mr. Netenyahu, however, said that the 1967 lines are indefensible and many Israeli politicians believe that the solution entailing two states for two peoples is a huge risk for Israels security. The biggest obstacle to the two-state solution is Israels construction of the settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Although President Trump was initially favorable to the construction, he later said that the settlements dont help the process.

The European Union has for long been supporting a two-state solution with an independent, democratic, viable and contiguous Palestinian state. The EU wants to work with its partners to re-launch peace negotiations, taking into consideration a just and realistic solution to the refugee question, fulfillment of the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem, an agreement on the borders based on the 1967 lines including land swaps as may be agreed by both parties as well as security arrangements satisfactory for both sides.

However, according to the EU, the Israel-Palestinian peace process is at a critical juncture. The members of the EU Parliaments Palestine delegation, which visited Jerusalem and the West Bank earlier this week, stressed that the EU and its Member States should recognize Palestinian statehood. The delegation led by Neoklis Sylikiotis described Israels recent decision to build 3,000 new settler homes in the West Bank and to retroactively legalize thousands of illegal settlements as a new violation of the rights of Palestinians to self-determination.
As part of the same, Network18 and TV18 will amalgamate 14 and 4 subsidiary companies, respectively

On January 14, the board of directors at both Network18 Media & Investments Limited and TV18 Broadcast Limited approved an ambitious scheme of amalgamation. Network18 Media & Investments Limited, the groups holding company, will take within its fold 14 subsidiary companies that are wholly owned by it either directly or indirectly. TV18 Broadcast Limited, a subsidiary of Network18 Media & Investments Limited, will also amalgamate 4 companies. Subject to the approval of government authorities, the appointed date of both the amalgamations is April 1, 2016.

Rationale behind the amalgamation

The rationale behind both the amalgamations is to reduce the number of legal entities and save costs. (It is) in order to consolidate and effectively manage the transferor companies and the transferee company in a single entity, which will provide several benefits including synergy, economies of scale, attain efficiencies and cost competitiveness, said Network18 Media & Investments Limited and TV18 Broadcast Limited in separate filings to the stock exchange.

Additionally, TV18 Broadcast Limiteds amalgamation scheme will enable it to successfully integrate the various news channels falling under the purview of business, English, Hindi and regional broadcasting. The belief is that the amalgamation will result in maximising overall shareholder value for the company, said the stock exchange filing.

Opining that most news media companies are not in profit, Arun Sharma, Senior Vice President at Lodestar stated that the media industry is suffering on account of spiralling costs. Stressing that the media industry is getting quite aggressive nowadays, Sharma hailed Network18 groups scheme of amalgamations as a smart move. I think it will help in bringing in synergy and increase in the response time. The third benefit is huge saving of costs, he said.

Financials involved

An important aspect of the amalgamations is the scale of the companies involved. Alok Bansal, Co-founder & CFO at Policybazaar explained that in the course of expanding a business, one ends up creating multiple legal entities, which results in splitting of revenues and costs. If you bring the businesses under the roof of one legal entity then you are able to consolidate profits/losses, Bansal said. He added that it enables cleaning up of the balance sheet and easier company understanding for the market.

At the end of the fiscal year 2015-16, Network18 Media & Investments Limiteds net worth stood at Rs 2623.36 crore. Some of the biggest companies in terms of revenues who are slated to amalgamate with Network18 Media & Investments Limited are Colosceum Media Private Limited, Digital18 Media Limited and Capital18 Fincap Private Limited.

As of March 2016, Colosceum Media Private Limiteds net worth is valued at Rs 15.22 crore, and Capital18 Fincap Private Limited at Rs 17.32 crore. The financials of the other companies can be found below:

Being the cash cow of the group, TV18 Broadcast Limited is the anchor of the second amalgamation. Known for forging foreign tie-ups with companies such as Viacom and CNN, TV18 Broadcast Limited ended the last fiscal on a strong footing with over Rs 650 crore in revenues.

The companys net worth was above Rs 3,600 crore in March 2016. Transferor companies are quite rich too with Equator Trading Enterprises Private Limiteds valuation being close to Rs 200 crore. Panorama Television Private Limiteds net worth at the end of the previous fiscal was Rs 101.65 crore and it generated Rs 241.73 crore in revenues.

When asked about the likely impact on the valuations of the holding company as a result of the amalgamation, Bansal said, The market will reward with a premium.

Background of companies

As far as the amalgamation of 14 subsidiary companies into Network18 Media & Investments Limited is concerned, 1/3rd of the transferor companies are of foreign origin. They are situated in Mauritius and engaged in the business of investing in media and digital business, said the stock exchange filing. These companies are E-18 Limited, Network18 Holdings Limited, Television18 Mauritius Limited, Television18 Media and Investments Limited and Web18 Holdings Limited.

Another four, namely, RRB Investments Private Limited, RRK Finhold Private Limited, RVT Finhold Private Limited and Setpro18 Distribution Limited have similar mode of operations. They are engaged in investment, trading and commercial services business. The remaining five have slightly distinct interests.

While Colosceum Media Private Limited is into the creation of multimedia assets and content development for films, Capital18 Fincap Private Limited is more concerned with financial operations and trading. Both Digital18 Media Limited and Reed Infomedia India Private Limited are in the realm of publishing magazines. The one company left is an e-commerce property called Web18 Software Services.

TV18 Broadcast Limiteds scheme of amalgamation involves only four companies. Mauritius-based investments and consulting firm ibn18 (Mauritius) Limited is the sole foreign entity. Equator Trading Enterprises Private Limited, the holding company of Panorama Television Private Limited, along with Panorama itself is part of the amalgamation. Panoramas business revolves around broadcast of regional general news channels. The fourth company which has multiple interests besides broadcasting and commercial services is RVT Media Private Limited.

Claiming that everyone is looking towards consolidation, Amita Karwal, COO, Vizeum India (North & South), said, There is a lot of unpredictability in the market. Companies have built these large networks with several skilled people. They are now scaling down. She maintained that this pattern was on show across industries including e-commerce and news media, especially print.

She recalled that once Hindustan Times had got into a sort of memorandum of understanding with The Hindu and ABP to counter The Times of India. They resolved to work around their strengths and weaknesses but the exercise turned futile as it was unable to cut costs by reducing the number of people involved in the operations. Terming the outline of the schemes of amalgamation at Network18 Media & Investments Limited and TV18 Broadcast Limited as sketchy, she stated one cannot predict its definitive impact at this stage.

Controlled by Mukesh Ambani, the financials involved in the schemes of amalgamation at Network18 Media & Investments Limited and TV18 Broadcast Limited are a reflection of their scale of business and an overall desire to manage the costs and assets of the media group more effectively.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
With what ?



Use of the Search function, Google or a desire to know the weather here ?



If you'd like to be a bit more specific, I am sure help is available. Start with the Sticky threads at the top of the forum, then use the search facility and then ask about what you cannot find there.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
New measures have been announced in New Zealand to stop rogue employers from recruiting people from overseas to work for them.Employers who breach immigration and employment law will be prevented from giving jobs to workers from abroad under the changes which will come into operation on 01 April 2017.  Migrant workers make a valuable contribution to our workforce and have the same rights as any other worker. It is simply unacceptable that those employers who exploit migrant workers are still able to recruit from the international labour market and disadvantage those employers who do the right thing, said Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse.Thats why the Government is introducing stand down periods during which time employers who flout the law will be banned from recruiting further migrant workers. Employers who have incurred an employment standards related penalty will be banned from recruiting migrant labour for defined stand-down periods ranging from six months to two years, depending on the severity of the case, he explained.The new measures will apply to all employers intending to recruit labour market tested migrant workers, including employers who are supporting work visa applications and approvals in principle, seeking accredited employer status or supporting residence class visa applications based on employment and employers who are part of the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme.Woodhouse said that published guidelines and criteria will ensure that stand down periods are applied fairly, consistently and transparently.Access to the international labour market is a privilege, not a right and if employers abuse that privilege by exploiting migrants or failing to comply with employment law, there will be consequences, he added.While non-compliant employers would not be eligible to recruit further migrant workers for the duration of their stand down period, some employers who meet the threshold for non-compliance with employment standards will already have migrant workers in their employment. These employees will be able to work out the duration of their work visa, but will not be granted further work visas to work for the non-compliant employer.Employers issued with penalties as a result of private actions taken by employees either through the Employment Relations Authority or the Employment Court will also be included in the new rules.Under the new rules the threshold for non-compliance would not include employers at the very minor end of breaches, such as those who have entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Labour Inspectorate. These are employers with mostly adequate wage and time records who demonstrate a desire to comply by agreeing with a Labour Inspector to a written undertaking for how and when they will rectify their breaches.Employment standards related penalties extend from formal infringement notices issued by the Labour Inspectorate through to penalties issued by the Employment Relations Authority or the Employment Court, a declaration of breach or banning order issued by the Employment Court.
Another week, another record for U.S. crude exports.

Producers and traders shipped out 1.21 million barrels a day of U.S. crude in the week that ended Feb. 17, the most in Energy Information Administration data going back to 1993. Domestic output increased to 9 million barrels per day last week, the fastest pace since April, while U.S. refiners used the least crude since October 2015.

Shale output has surged and tankers loaded in the Middle East during the last days of all-out production by OPEC nations arrived this month in the U.S., swelling stockpiles to a record. Prices for West Texas Intermediate crude have averaged $2.24 a barrel below global marker Brent this year, making U.S. oil more attractive to refiners around the world.

Local refiners are using as much domestic crude as they can and the remaining incremental production is being exported, Gary Morgan, director for Clarksons Platou Shipping Services USA LLCs analyst group, said by phone from Houston. Going forward, most of the increasing production will be for exports. As output moves from 9 million barrels a day to 9.3 million or 9.4 million, three-quarters of that increased output will be for export.

For now, U.S. crude is looking especially attractive to buyers in Asia. WTI has averaged 22 cents below Dubai, a lower-quality grade thats the benchmark for Asia, this year, based on front-month swaps data from broker PVM Oil Associates Ltd.. That compares to a $3.76 premium a year ago.

Most of the incremental volumes from last week were destined for the Far East, Court Smith, director of research with shipbrokers MJLF & Associates, said by instant message from Stamford, Connecticut. The Far East will remain the main destination for U.S. crude exports in the short-term, assuming there are no big swings in price spreads.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

U.S. retailers, battered by the rise of online shopping and off-price brands, are facing down a new and unlikely source of pressure: Republicans.

A series of protectionist proposals, from President Donald Trumps on-again, off-again support for a tariff on imported goods to House Republicans push for the so-called border adjustment tax, have left apparel chains and big-box stores wary that their already rocky sector wont receive the same push from the administration to rebuild their industry that has been promised to energy and manufacturing interests.

Retailers and analysts say protectionist policies will lead to higher prices on consumer goods, falling sales and accelerated retailer bankruptcies  adding more stress to an ailing industry.

I think youd just see more bankruptcies, youd see more retailers in trouble, youd see more store closings if lawmakers approved a border tax proposal, New York-based analyst Jan Kniffen said. It would just exacerbate whats already a lot of pressure.

Major retailers, many of which manufacture goods overseas because of low labor and production costs, have come out against the border adjustment tax. More than 200 retailers and trade groups  including Walmart, Best Buy, JCPenney, Macys and Target  have signed on with Americans for Affordable Products, a coalition that opposes the measure.

It would be a significant burden to the retail community across the board in Texas as well as in the U.S., said George Kelemen, CEO and president of the Texas Retailers Association. Ultimately, its a cost that would be passed onto consumers. We dont think this is what House Republicans want or the White House wants.

Trump has already tussled once with retailers during his young administration. The president blasted Nordstrom on Twitter this month for unfairly dropping daughter Ivanka Trumps line of clothing and fashion accessories. The Seattle-based luxury fashion chain said the presidents daughters products were nixed because of poor sales performance, not politics. The spat had a negligible effect on sales at Nordstrom, company co-president Peter Nordstrom said during an earnings call Thursday.

Retailers, otherwise eager to work with the new administration on cutting taxes, argue that consumers will bear the largest brunt from Republicans trade proposals. An Ernst and Young study commissioned by the National Retail Federation found that the average family  a married couple with two children  would see 27 percent of their savings disappear to compensate for cost increases on goods and could see annual apparel costs increase by $437 and annual gas spending jump by at least $400.

I dont think a lot of those folks would like to be saddled with two, three, four hundred dollars a month in added costs just in their daily cost of living, Kelemen said.

Republicans have migrated to the border adjustment tax proposal because representatives can sell the policy as a tax on foreign countries, not on U.S. citizens, even though they may wind up with larger bills because of the tax, said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University.

The fact that it allows politicians to dodge the idea that they have adopted a tax increase is of great benefit to them, Jillson said.

Just this week, Trump gave his most enthusiastic support to date for the border adjustment tax proposal, although he stopped short of specifically endorsing the House proposal. He told Reuters on Thursday that the tax could lead to a lot more jobs in the United States.

I certainly support a form of tax on the border, Trump told Reuters. What is going to happen is companies are going to come back here, theyre going to build their factories and theyre going to create a lot of jobs and theres no tax.

Earlier Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gave a more lukewarm assessment of the proposal in an interview with the business network CNBC.

A proposed corporate tax code overhaul would replace the current 35 percent corporate income tax with a 20 percent rate on imported goods sold domestically, rewarding companies that produce their goods in the U.S. and punishing those that rely on international suppliers. Supporters say the tax would ultimately strength the U.S. dollar.

We think there are some very interesting aspects of it, Mnuchin said, but added, We think there are some concerns about it.

But any proposal that takes aim at imports could mean one more hit for retailers, which depend on cheap goods including apparel, electronics and produce manufactured or grown overseas for sale stateside. The U.S. imported about $2.2 trillion in goods last year, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, down $49.9 billion from 2015. Comparatively, the U.S. exported almost $1.5 trillion in goods in 2016, almost $51 million less than the prior year.

The National Retail Federation projected that imports at major retail container ports in the U.S. would increase 4.6 percent during the first six months of 2017, citing an improving economy.

We had a positive and productive conversation with President Trump about the important role the retail industry plays in our national economy, the Retail Industry Leaders Association said in a statement last week after retail CEOs met with Trump. We stressed the importance of taking a thoughtful approach to tax reform for both individuals and corporations.

U.S. shoppers spent $3.7 trillion on retail goods including apparel, electronics and groceries in 2016, according to preliminary retail sales estimates from the Census Bureau, up from $3.6 trillion in 2015 and 2014.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

But major retailers are already struggling with how to compete with online retail giant Amazon and off-price stores including Nordstrom Rack, T.J. Maxx and Ross  without having to navigate U.S. protectionist policies.

Several big-box chains have announced store closures within the past year. Plano-based JCPenney said Friday that it plans to close up to 140 stores even though it turned a net profit last year, the first time since 2010. Macys plans to shutter 34 locations, on top of 68 previously announced closures, the Cincinnati-based retailer said Tuesday. Sears, based in Chicago, aims to close more than 150 stores nationwide, while the womens apparel chain The Limited closed all 250 of its stores last month.

Consumer confidence fell in February after soaring to record highs following Trumps Nov. 8 election victory, according to a University of Michigan survey released this month. If prices on consumer goods go up because of action on trade, U.S. shoppers may take their dollars elsewhere.

I think people would just shift their spending rather than pay more for sweaters, said Kniffen, the New York analyst. They would just buy fewer sweaters. They would still go out to dinner, they would still buy gas for their car and they would still go on vacations because that at the moment is more important to most consumers than having one more sweater in their closet.

Kniffen added, They may pay the higher price on what they buy, but theyre not going to spend more on shirts than they did last year. There are too many alternatives on what they can do, and nobodys closet is empty.

Retailers have been equally wary of changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump has repeatedly signaled his intent to tweak parts of NAFTA, implying during a recent meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Mexico would benefit the least from those changes.

Speaking at a Border Caucus hearing in Weslaco on Wednesday, H-E-B director of global sourcing Jody Hall said the San Antonio-based supermarket chains customers are worried that they wont have access to their products. The company operates 58 stores in Mexico and imports produce and other goods for sale in its Texas stores.

H-E-B supports free trade, Hall said. NAFTA has created greater access to fruits and vegetables in groceries at lower prices.

Trumps overall push to make businesses produce more goods stateside would require billions of dollars in investment, capital that retailers may not have on hand.

When you talk about some of the food and agricultural products like bananas, avocados, coffee, cocoa, youre talking about basically having to create entire new industries, in some cases, here in the U.S., said Kelemen of the Texas Retailers Association. Im not going to say it would be impossible, but it would be a very difficult and very lengthy process.

jfechter@express-news.net

Twitter: @JFreports

Staff Writer Aaron Nelsen and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  After a standing ovation Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz talked in triumphal tones about his recent visit to McAllen, on the Texas border with Mexico.

Since Inauguration Day, the Texas Republican told the sympathetic audience, illegal crossings have dropped 50 percent. His source: Unnamed Border Protection agents in the Rio Grande Valley.

Though large drops in border crossings are not unusual in winter, Cruzs number could not be officially confirmed by the White House or the Department of Homeland Security. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official, who asked that his name not be used because the latest figures still are being tallied, said arrests are markedly down in the Rio Grande sector, but not to the extent suggested by Cruz.

This is the time of year when they typically go down some, but this is a steeper decline than in recent history, he said.

Cruz, making his first appearance before a national conservative audience since the Republican National Convention in July, said agents could not give him a reason why, but that they suspected it may have something to do with President Donald Trump, who has ordered expanded deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

They assumed it was because, with the new administration, they understood we have an administration that will finally, finally, finally enforce the law, Cruz said.

He chided the media for not reporting the drop, saying viewers did not see it on the 6 oclock news. His office, however, cited as backing for his claim a recent CNN report on preliminary Customs and Border Protection numbers showing that total apprehensions along the southern border in January decreased by 27 percent, in line with yearly seasonal trends.

Cruz was just one speaker in a powerhouse lineup that included White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, whose remarks drew the most attention when he said that atop the Trump administration agenda was the deconstruction of the administrative state  meaning a system of taxes, regulations and trade pacts that the president and his advisers believe stymie economic growth and infringe upon ones sovereignty.

If you look at these cabinet nominees, they were selected for a reason, and that is deconstruction, Bannon said. He called Trumps announcement withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history.

Priebus and Bannon also sought to discredit speculation in the media that the two frequently were at odds and their relationship filled with tension.

Not only is it not going to get better, its going to get worse every day, Bannon said of the medias treatment of Trump. Theyre corporatist, globalist media. Theyre adamantly opposed to the economic nationalist agenda President Trump has.

The crowd cheered Bannons assessment.

Vice President Mike Pence was slated to speak Thursday night. Trump is expected to address the event Friday.

For Cruz, his 23-minute appearance with nationally-syndicated radio talk show host Mark Levin was a homecoming of sorts, re-establishing him firmly in the constellation of leading national conservatives after the bitter divisions of his losing primary race against Trump.

Returning from the political wilderness, he proved he still could be controversial, pugnacious, and armed with a quiver full of new arrows for his opponents.

Levin, in an interview after their joint appearance, billed as a conversation about the Constitution, said Cruz has earned his position.

We dont have roles in the conservative movement, he said. Youre a conservative if youre principled and you attract people to your arguments and your positions  Its not something you run for and become.

For long-time Cruz partisans at the convention, the largest and most influential conservative gathering in the nation, it was a chance to display unity and commitment to a conservative agenda now being led by Trump, Cruzs erstwhile foe.

Cruz lived up to the moment Thursday by praising Trump and his conservative cabinet, and taking shots at prominent Democrats, like former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. He also praised Trumps Supreme Court pick, Judge Neil Gorsuch, and predicted better days ahead for conservatives on the nations high court.

I think well have another Supreme Court vacancy this summer, he said, without specifying which of the current eight justices would have to make way, or by what means.

He predicted a tougher confirmation fight for the next vacancy Trump might fill.

As much as the left is crazy now, they will go full Armageddon meltdown, he predicted.

Cruz, who faces re-election in 2018, also touted his proposal for congressional term limits, calling it one of the first and biggest steps we can take to actually drain the swamp.

He rebuked Democrats for resisting Trumps moves to crack down on illegal immigration, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and ease environmental regulations, saying theyre now opposing everything, even minor procedural measures in the Senate.

Cruzs complaints echoed those of Senate Democrats when they were in the majority.

Invited by Levin to comment on Democratic chatter about impeaching Trump, Cruz responded that Democrats right now are living in an alternative universe  Theyre in denial and theyre angry.

The applause lines kept coming, delighting a capacity crowd in a cavernous ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in suburban Maryland. Going back on the attack on Democrats, Cruz said, Theres a technical term for their base 

Moscow, Levin interjected.

I was going in a different direction, Cruz continued. Which was bat-crap crazy.

The Tribune News Service and Washington Post contributed to this story.
A federal judge denied bail Thursday to a San Antonio man after finding probable cause that he robbed and shot a mail carrier Feb. 11 and then shot at law officers in two wild car chases in the days that followed.

Federal agents at the hearing painted the most detailed picture yet of the running gunbattles, describing how stray bullets hit passing cars and a restaurant TV.

Bradley AHearn II, 22, cried as his lawyer called his mother, Christine AHearn, to the stand in an unsuccessful attempt to convince the judge to release him on bond to her custody or to a halfway house.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth S. Betsy Chestney agreed with prosecutors that AHearn is a danger to the community and a flight risk.

The U.S. Postal Service mail carrier was shot in the legs in the Comal County community of Spring Branch on Feb. 11 during a robbery and carjacking. In testimony Thursday, federal investigators placed Bradley AHearn there with an accomplice, Sara Richford, 26, and said both were at two other crime scenes in which AHearn allegedly fired at police in busy, high-risk areas as a strategy to avoid getting caught.

Postal Inspector Robert Strande testified the pair were joined later by Piper Lee, 40, who drove a car that the trio abandoned at North Star Mall on Valentines Day, eluding a police dragnet.

Christine AHearn testified that her son visited her home a day after the shooting in Spring Branch, then disappeared. She said she often didnt know where he would go or what he would do, and that he used drugs and has mental health issues but would not take his prescription medications.

Strande said Richford told investigators she was with AHearn at all three shooting incidents and that he fired the shots at each  wounding the mail carrier, trading gunfire with pursuing officers on U.S. 281 in a wrong-way chase on Feb. 13, and firing at police on the North Side on Feb. 14 before the trio fled to the mall.

AHearn, Richford and Lee slipped through a heavy police presence at the mall and escaped with the help of a friend of Richfords who later told police he had taken them to a South Side motel, which led to their arrests on Feb. 15, officials have said.

The hearing revealed other new details about the fugitives four days on the run, including that the gun used in all the shootings was given to a man known as Hot Wheels Mike after they left the mall.

Inspectors recovered the Glock handgun from Hot Wheels on Feb. 15, and tests show it is likely the one used in all three shootings, Strande said. It had been reported stolen in New Braunfels on Jan. 31, and the Toyota Venza used by AHearn and Richford during part of their crime spree was also stolen, Strande said.

On Feb. 13 at about 9:15 a.m., another postal inspector in an unmarked police vehicle saw a Toyota Venza at a McDonalds at U.S. 281 and River Way Crossing, near where the mail carrier had been shot, Strande testified. The vehicle and two occupants were similar to those seen at the carjacking, so the postal inspector turned on his emergency equipment and tried to pull the Venza over, Strande said.

The car sped off, going the wrong way in the northbound lanes with the postal inspector in pursuit, Strande said. The Venzas male driver fired at his pursuer and other officers who joined the chase, which went on for 10 to 15 miles, Strande said. Officers shot back. More than 15 shots were fired and two civilian vehicles were hit, one in the roof and the other in a tire, Strande said, but he didnt identify which law enforcement agency fired or whose bullets hit the vehicles.

The chase was called off because it was becoming unsafe for the public, Strande testified. The Venza got away.

On Feb. 14 about 2 p.m., inspectors were called to a motel on San Pedro Avenue by workers who saw stolen mail and a gun case in one of the rooms, Strande said. He did not name the motel. The Venza had been there, but was later found a mile away, abandoned, he said.

While watching the motel, agents saw the carjacking suspects get in a yellow Volkswagen GTI driven by a man later identified as Lee. As San Antonio police tried to pull over the vehicle, the car sped off while an occupant shot at officers. That chase lasted 20 to 30 minutes  bullet casings were recovered near McArthur High School and a bullet went through a window at a Jims Restaurant on Broadway and hit a television there, Strande said.

Police followed the VW to North Star Mall, where it was abandoned in a parking garage. The three suspects fled with the help of a friend before police could set up a dragnet.

The fact more people werent injured or killed is amazing but certainly not to his credit, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bettina Richardson said of AHearn.

AHearn and Richford are charged with assault on a federal officer, carjacking, interfering with commerce by violence and mail theft. If convicted of all, they could get sentences totaling 65 years if theyre stacked. Lee faces charges of aiding and abetting the assault of a federal officer, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. Richford and Lee are set for bail hearings next week.

The postal carrier, meanwhile, was set to retire from the Postal Service before she was shot on what would have been her last day, a spokesman said Thursday. She is still recovering at a local rehab facility, spokesman Michal Martinez-Partida said.

The $50,000 reward for information about the shooting of the mail carrier remains pending.

It was conditional on an arrest and conviction, Martinez-Partida said. Nobodys been convicted.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

About 50 people gathered outside a local church late Thursday, protesting what they said was a closed meeting regarding Islamic mosques and concerns about domestic terrorism.

Many demonstrators carrying signs and chanting outside Village Parkway Baptist Church said the meeting sought to spread anti-Muslim rhetoric, and was being held by a known hate group. But the leader of the church countered that he would not tolerate such activity on his campus.

As part of its stated mission, ACT for America, the group holding the meeting, seeks to educate and inform the American public about the threat of radical Islamic ideology. An online promotion for the meeting, which was closed to the media, said it would feature Karen Lugo, a constitutional law consultant and national security analyst, as its guest speaker.

How many mosques are there in the United States? What do local officials need to know in order to use existing laws and codes to effectively push back? the promotion asked.

Steve Branson, senior pastor of Village Parkway, said he gave permission to hold the meeting there, and did not view ACT for America or its local chapter as a hate group. He said he had not heard of Lugo, and did not know what she would say.

Theyve used our building here two or three times, Branson said. They talk about radical Islam. They talk about education. But Ive never been aware of anything mean-spirited that they have put out. If they had, we wouldnt be letting them meet here.

Judith Norman, one of the demonstration leaders and a local member of Jewish Voice for Peace, said ACT is spreading a hateful message that enjoys a fertile climate under President Donald Trumps administration. She and others noted a January arson fire that destroyed a mosque in Victoria, and said the worship centers have been targets of hate crimes, not instigators of radical Islamic ideology.

Theres evidence that the presence of mosques in fact prevents radicalization, Norman said.

Demonstrators read statements of concern about the meeting from U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett; State Rep. Diego Bernal; and State Rep. Diana Arevalo. Manuel Medina, Bexar County Democratic chairman and mayoral candidate, said San Antonio needs more churches, more synagogues and more mosques. City Councilman Ron Nirenberg, also running for mayor, said in a statement that he will continue to stand with our Muslim neighbors.

Sarwat Husain, local chapter president of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said she would like to start a dialogue with Branson and his congregation, as they may not understand that practicing U.S. Muslims are peace-loving people. By hosting forums like the one Thursday, they are going against the teachings of Jesus  perhaps without knowing, she said.

We are here. Invite us in. Talk to us, Husain said.

The church on the citys far West Side is a member of the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention, an evangelical Christian organization that encompasses about 2,600 Southern Baptist churches. Spokesman Gary Ledbetter said that although the Grapevine-based group doesnt know enough about ACT for America or its work to comment, neither does it agree with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has called ACT a hate group.

The law center defines many groups as such, if they disagree with the center politically and morally, Ledbetter said.

The Southern Baptist convention  one of two distinct Baptist conventions in the state  doesnt view the law center as a credible group, Ledbetter said. The convention disagrees with many of the law centers positions, especially those in which the Bible has spoken clearly, he said. Ledbetter also said all the churches under its umbrella are autonomous.

Valley Parkway Baptist seems to be a good church that reaches out to its community, he said. They do a lot of good things.

Branson said he also questions the views of the law center, which he said published an article about him once that was inaccurate and portrayed him as vehemently anti-LGBT. There are a large number of congregants in the church with a military background who have concern about issues regarding radical Islam, Branson said. He did not believe Thursdays meeting would promote hate speech.

Branson said he respects the constitutional rights of practicing Muslims in San Antonio.

Some of my best friends are Muslim, he said. Some of them have worshiped with me.

Staff Writer Elaine Ayala contributed to this report.

shuddleston@express-news.net

Twitter: @shuddlestonSA
BROWNSVILLE  At a time when Congressional delegations touring the Texas-Mexico border in recent days have stressed the need for beefed-up security here, one Congressman from deep South Texas has taken a different tack on securing the border: peace in neighboring Tamaulipas.

Congressman Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, on Thursday announced the launch of #Tamaulipazahora, a social media campaign aimed at bringing peace to the violence-plagued state of Tamaulipas, and restoring the natural order on the border.

We used to go to Matamoros and Reynosa and Rio Bravo and Progreso, Vela said of Texas border residents. We want to reach the point where we can do it again  like we used to do.

Texas border has become a flashpoint in the wake of President Donald Trumps announcement on economic and immigration policies. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, who visited McAllen on Wednesday, affirmed his commitment to providing the necessary tools to law enforcement to secure the border, a sentiment echoed by other Congressional Republicans.

Indeed, thousands of people cross international bridges in the Rio Grande Valley every day, and yet the high level of drug cartel violence in Tamaulipas has forced many Tamaulipecos to seek refuge in Texas. The U.S. Department of State warns citizens to defer non-essential travel to Tamaulipas because of violence, including homicide, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, extortion and sexual assault.

But Vela sees the discussion of border security differently. The Brownsville native has railed against organized crime in Tamaulipas at a time when few others have, urging Congress to do more to quell the violence in the embattled border state, and even to extradite the indicted former governor of Tamaulipas, Tomas Yarrington.

The hashtag campaign was inspired by the revelation that just as most people in Tamaulipas rely on social media to navigate risk, organized crime uses social media to lure in young recruits. Vela wants to use hashtag activism to steer young people toward peace. The campaign has the support of local and state leaders in Tamaulipas, Vela said

We plan to keep hitting this, Vela said, Im hoping that every month were going to have some related event that continues to push the hashtag.

Congressman Beto ORourke, D-El Paso, wrapping up several days in South Texas, recalled his time on the El Paso City Council in 2009 when thousands were murdered in the streets of neighboring Juarez, giving it the highest murder rate in the world. As the drug-fueled violence spiraled out of control, ORourke drafted a resolution urging federal officials to rethink its approach to fighting the drug war.

We could have satisfied ourselves saying thats happening over there, and those are bad people doing bad things to other bad people, ORourke said. Or, as we did, we could recognize that their problem is really our problem.

After stops in McAllen, Laredo and Brownsville, ORourke said his nascent bid to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz for his seat was more likely than ever. Now he returns to Washington, eager to shift the narrative to what he said is lost in the security debate.

Cooperation with law enforcement on the other side is being undermined, ORourke said. You put this on those who want to further militarize the border and make sure that everyone understands that through this militarization youre going to lose the security that you have right now.

The launch of #Tamaulipazahora comes as Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were in Mexico City, attempting to calm fears amid escalating tensions. Meanwhile, Brownsville is in the midst of Charro Days, the citys annual bi-national festival celebrated together with Matamoros.

Earlier in the day, Vela was joined by ORourke and Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, at the Hands Across the Border Bridge Ceremony, a highly anticipated event held every year in the middle of an international bridge connecting Brownsville and Matamoros.

But even at celebrations, these days the conversation will inevitably turn to President Trump.

I wish I could be more optimistic about where President Trump is heading us, Vela said, But Im not and thats what Im going to fight against.

anelsen@express-news.net

Twitter: @amnelsen
AUSTIN  A day after the Trump administration rescinded a federal policy on transgender access to restrooms in schools, supporters and opponents of the so-called Texas bathroom bill predicted the move would help their side win.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has championed the passage of Senate Bill 6, which he has dubbed the Texas Privacy Act, said Trumps withdrawal of the U.S. Department of Education letter of guidance leaves the issue up to states to decide, a move that makes it more important to pass the bill that has provoked repeated protests and thousands of constituent emails, letters and telephone calls to state leaders.

The bill, Patrick said, ensures that public schools continue to designate separate restrooms, locker rooms and showers for boys and girls, as well as allowing schools to continue to determine how they will accommodate students with individual needs, as they have always done.

SB 6 also protects private businesses from being forced by a local government to adopt any kind of restroom, locker room or shower policy and requires government buildings to continue to designate separate restrooms, locker rooms and showers for men and women, he said, insisting the proposed law does not discriminate against anyone.

Opponents said the Trump administrations move bolsters their arguments, noting that it was the issuance of the letter of guidance by the Obama administration last May that prompted Patrick to push the measure. The Obama policy directed school districts to allow transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to the gender with which they identify.

There is no longer any rationale for SB 6, Texas bathroom bill, said Legacy Community Health CEO Katy Caldwell, echoing other opponents who warned that withdrawal of the federal policy, now an official government position of discrimination, wont help the extreme bullying these (transgender) kids face.

At the Texas Capitol, lawmakers reaction to the Trump move was muted. Senators said that while the bill has 15 solid votes in favor, all Republicans, five other GOP senators remain publicly uncommitted. That leaves the bill four votes short of being able to come up for a vote by the full Senate.

Senate rules require at least 19 votes to bring a bill to the floor for debate and a vote by the full chamber.

Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo, one of the Republicans who is publicly uncommitted on the bill, declined to say how he would vote on the measure, and said no one has asked him yet for a commitment. The other four could not be reached.

Ive been watching the development of the debate and Ive been completely non-committal so far, he said. Its not my bill, so...

Other senators said they expect Patrick eventually will get the votes needed to get the measure passed out of the upper chamber. Patrick, as the Senates presiding officer, has clout over which bills come up for consideration and passage by the Senate and which bills die in committee.

State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, the sponsor of SB 6, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

In the Texas House, several GOP members said Thursday the withdrawal of the federal policy likely will make it harder for Republican supporters there to justify its passage, through they expect conservative Republicans will try if it passes the Senate.

They asked not to be quoted by name, fearful of becoming targeted by supporters and opponents of the controversial measure.

Gov. Greg Abbott remained mum on where he stands. Two months ago, he said he would leave the issue for the Senate and House to decide before he announced his position. At the time, he questioned whether existing state laws were sufficient to cover crimes in restrooms that the new legislation is supposed to cure.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, has said only that it is not one of his priorities for the legislative session.

So far, Kolkorsts bill still has not been set for a public hearing in the Senate, though supporters said Patrick has pledged that it will get one soon and move quickly for approval by the entire chamber.

On Thursday afternoon, activists showed their support for the LGBTQ community and protested against the so-called bathroom bill by having a dance party in front of Abbotts mansion.

About 100 people danced to the music played by two DJs while holding signs protesting SB 6.

The Queer Dance Freakout, as named in the Facebook event, was formed by a group of friends to show they are not going to take the transphobic and homophobic laws Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick and their administration have got in the pipeline.

Anna Nguyen, a transgender woman who attended the event, said she attended because she wanted to make her presence known and protest against SB 6.

I know this will call the governors attention, Nguyen said. It is really hard to ignore what people feel. I dont think it will do much to change their minds; however, we are here and we will make sure that everybody knows that Texans will not stand by idly and let bills like SB 6, which are extremely discriminatory, to pass.

Staff writer Elena Mejia Lutz contributed to this story.
Duane Buck, the Houston murderer who was sentenced to death after a psychologist testified he would be a continuing threat to society because he is black, will return to Harris County for a new punishment hearing, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

The case, which has made national headlines for years, could be a harbinger of how the country's highest court deals with death penalty cases with racial overtones, experts said.

It also comes at a time when two members of the Supreme Court, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, have argued the court should take another look at the constitutionality of the death penalty because of indications that it is being applied arbitrarily throughout the country.

Calling racism a "toxin" that can poison even in small doses, Chief Justice John Roberts led a 6-2 majority to send Buck's case back to Harris County.

"When a jury hears expert testimony that expressly makes a defendant's race directly pertinent on the question of life or death, the impact of that evidence cannot be measured simply by how much air time it received at trial or how many pages it occupies in the record," he wrote. "Some toxins can be deadly in small doses."

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg reiterated Wednesday that Buck was a killer who was convicted 20 years ago with a lengthy criminal history involving weapons possession, drug dealing, aggravated assault and domestic violence. Like other capital murder retrials, Ogg said her office will review Buck's case, including speaking with the victims' families and looking over mitigation evidence, before deciding how to proceed.

"Racially charged evidence has no place in any courtroom, and this administration will not tolerate its presence," she said. "We remain committed to seeking justice for the victims of Duane Buck's heinous criminal acts and will do so without what Chief Justice Roberts described as the 'strain of racial prejudice' present at the 1997 trial in which Buck was convicted."

The 53-year-old could be resentenced to death again or given a life sentence. His lawyers applauded Wednesday's decision and said it clears the way for Harris County to sentence him to life in prison.

"Today, the Supreme Court made clear that there is no place for racial bias in the American criminal justice system," said Christina Swarns, Buck's attorney and litigation director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Kate Black, senior staff attorney at Texas Defender Service, which also represented Buck, agreed.

"This decision gives Harris County the opportunity to put the ugliness of the racial bias that affected Mr. Buck's original trial behind it," Black said. "What it's done is show that the Supreme Court has deep concern about race in the death penalty."

Other opponents of the death penalty also praised the decision.

"Today's decision in Duane Buck's case reflects a welcome and necessary commitment by the Supreme Court to rejecting death sentences grown from the poisonous soil of racial discrimination," said David Cole, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Mr. Buck's death sentence was based on expert testimony that showed blatant racial bias."

He said the decision has broad implications, "given the myriad ways racial bias determines who receives capital punishment in the United States."

Buck was sentenced to death for the July 1995 slaying of his girlfriend, Debra Gardner, and her friend, Kenneth Butler.

Police reports at the time showed Buck shot his own sister and Butler after he barged into Gardner's home with a rifle. He then chased his girlfriend outside and shot her as her young daughter watched.

At trial, his attorneys called psychologist Walter Quijano to the stand as their own expert witness without reading his report in which he claimed Buck was more likely to remain a threat to society because he is black. Quijano then reiterated that position from the stand.

After Quijano's flawed methodology was exposed in other cases, other defendants who had been sentenced to death after his testimony were given new punishment hearings. But because Buck's own lawyers called Quijano to the stand, his request for a new punishment phase has long been denied by appellate courts.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court reversed that by ruling that Buck's attorneys were ineffective and that race played a part in the jury's decision.

"No competent defense attorney would introduce evidence that his client is liable to be a future danger because of his race," Roberts wrote in his opinion. "By acknowledging that Mr. Buck's trial counsel's injection of racially biased evidence into the capital sentencing proceedings was unconstitutional, the Court has reaffirmed the longstanding principle that criminal punishments - particularly the death penalty - cannot be based on immutable characteristics such as race."

Roberts also blasted Quijano for engaging in stereotypes.

"Dr. Quijano's testimony appealed to a powerful racial stereotype - that of black men as 'violence prone,' " he wrote.

Calls to Quijano's office went unanswered Wednesday. Buck's trial attorney, Jerry Guerinot, did not return calls for comment.

One of Buck's trial prosecutors, his sister, a former Texas governor and more than 100 civil rights leaders, elected officials, clergy, former prosecutors and judges, and past American Bar Association presidents have supported Buck's claim that his racially biased death sentence cannot stand.

Kenneth Williams, a professor of law at South Texas College of Law Houston, called it a powerful decision.

"It will have an impact on the death penalty here in Texas," he said. "And it's obviously good news for Mr. Buck and those who oppose the death penalty, or at least those who want to have a fair process."

Ever the law professor, Williams said the ruling also changed the standard of review for other death penalty appeals.

"It's kind of a technical issue," he said. "They found that the 5th Circuit of Appeals had been using an incorrect standard in determining whether an inmate had a right to have his appeal considered, so that part will have a big impact on inmates here in Texas."

Nicole Casarez - the professor at the University of St. Thomas credited with the exoneration of Anthony Graves, an innocent man who spent 18 years behind bars, including a dozen on death row - said Quijano testified against Graves as well. She said the psychologist did not do the same damage that was inflicted on Buck, but it could have been an issue.

"It's good for criminal justice to have the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledge that race can be used in proceedings and that it's not to be tolerated," she said.

Roberts was joined by Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sonia Sotomayer and Elena Kagan.

The dissent, written by Justice Clarence Thomas and joined by Justice Samuel Alito, argued that the heinousness of the crime, not any testimony about race, led jurors to determine that Buck would be a future danger. Future dangerousness is a threshold question of whether the death penalty is appropriate in a case.

"What people have to understand is that the court is not taking a position about whether a new hearing would result in a different outcome," said Geoffrey Corn, a professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston.

He said the Supreme Court has to imagine hearing that information as it was presented. Then it has to imagine whether there was a reasonable probability that the outcome might have been different.

brian.rogers@chron.com

mike.ward@chron.com
It is a small testament to his lasting brilliance that 14 years after his death, Fred Rogers captivates my daughter.

When he speaks about feelings, she listens. When he takes us to factories to witness the manufacturing of crayons or bells, her eyes follow. When he sings, Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood, she happily makes it a duet. As so many American children and parents have done for generations.

Pop star Justin Timberlake recently said being a parent makes you relearn who you are. And you realize who you thought you were is not who you are. But it breaks you open to this whole different level of empathy, compassion and patience and humility.

Thats exactly how I have felt watching reruns of Mister Rogers Neighborhood with my daughter, age 2 and a very important . A show I loved as a child and mocked as a teenager now leaves me with a profound sense of joy, gratitude and loss.

Joy in this man, who sometimes fumbled about on TV, and so honestly loved and valued children. Gratitude that he would live with such high purpose. And, yes, loss.

Its hard to reconcile how a nation that entrusted Rogers, a Presbyterian minister, with our children could elect a president such as Donald J. Trump. Thats not to politicize Rogers, but as a viewer of both men this winter, the juxtaposition has been startling. In many ways, they inhabit the same geographic space during different times, and with strikingly divergent worldviews.

Rogers filmed in Pittsburgh, and Trumpism caught fire in the Rust Belt, especially rural western Pennsylvania. Rogers frequently marveled at American manufacturing, taking viewers behind the scenes to see how goods were made or visiting a family-owned business such as Wagner Quality Shoes.

Trumpism calls for the return of American manufacturing. But they split in substance and style.

Rogers words, spoken so slowly, unify and soothe. Trumps words, scattered and chaotic, divide and denigrate. One welcomes neighbors, the other angrily shuts them out. One speaks with the steady grace of morality, and the other, well, we all know where he likes to grab women.

I think one of the greatest gifts that we can give anybody is the gift of one more honest adult in that persons life  whether (the recipient) be a child or an adult, Rogers once told Amy Hollingsworth, author of The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers.

Fred Rogers lived with remarkable focus and discipline, waking up at 5 a.m. for prayer and reflection, swimming every morning, Hollingsworth wrote.

He rarely put outward expressions of faith in his shows  once he quoted Isaiah 2:4 to conclude a series on war and peace  but it was infused in the neighborhood.

In his book Peaceful Neighbor, Michael G. Long, a professor at Elizabethtown College, describes how Rogers spiritual center arrived in the belief, or at least wonder, that God is present in every one of us.

Rogers dared not confine God to any particular group of people; God is within and between all of our neighbors, Long wrote. Perhaps, most important, later in life Rogers even dared to suggest God and neighbor are so closely aligned that they are indistinguishable.

Despite this honest yearning for a better or lost world, arguably a world much like Rogers neighborhood, Trumpism is mangled because it lacks Rogers moral underpinnings. Trumpism lashes out at the outside world with fear and suspicion, dividing one from another. Mexicans are rapists, Trump declared. Muslims are terrorists. Trade deals only burn us. The media misinform us. The world is an angry place.

Rogers embraced the outside world in unifying words and action. Prosperity is shared, neighbors are welcome reflections of God, diversity is celebrated. Consider: Months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., a time of widespread race riots and police beatings, Rogers introduced Officer Clemmons, a black police officer, to keep the neighborhood safe.

What would Fred Rogers do now?

Somehow we have confused anger with strength, success with money, diversity with otherness, vitriol with clarity, social media with connection.

Watching these reruns with my daughter, I have repeatedly thought we could use a Fred Rogers for this time. Many of them. Voices that break through the cacophony, with patience and grace, appealing to our higher moral selves.

Fearless voices that remind us to see the best in our neighbors.
The future of Fauquier Times now depends on community support. Your donation will help us continue to improve our journalism through in-depth local news coverage and expanded reader engagement.

Support
In an effort to reduce the lines at the Prince William landfill and compost facility, now that both are closed on Sundays, the county is encouraging residents who regularly visit such faciliti
WATCH: Candidate Conversations with WIDU and The Fayetteville Observer

Watch Candidate Conversations to see WIDU and Fayetteville Observer interviews with people on the ballot in Cumberland County.
The Treasury Departments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network renewed rules Thursday that force U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind companies used to pay all cash for high-end residential real estate in some parts of the country.

FinCENs Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) cover:

All boroughs of New York City

Miami-Dade County and the two counties immediately north (Broward and Palm Beach)

Los Angeles County

Three counties comprising part of the San Francisco area (San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties)

San Diego County, and

The county that includes San Antonio, Texas (Bexar County).

The GTOs target purchases made without a bank loan or other external financing.

Covered in Bexar, Texas are cash property deals with a total purchase price of $500,000 or more.

In Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach, deals worth $1 million or more are covered.

The threshhold for Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island is $1.5 million, and $3 million or more in Manhattan.

In San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara, the order covers cash purchases of $2 million or more.

FinCEN said this week about 30 percent of the transactions covered by the GTOs involve a beneficial owner or purchaser representative who is also the subject of a previous suspicious activity report.

This corroborates FinCENs concerns about the use of shell companies to buy luxury real estate in all-cash transactions, FinCEN said.

The GTOs first came into effect on March 1, 2016. The latest renewal extends the orders for 180 days beginning February 24.

In March 2015, Transparency International-USA sent a letter to FinCEN, endorsed by 17 civil society groups, asking for due diligence requirements for professionals in the real estate sector.

TI-USA said in the letter that millions of dollars are spent in the United States on luxury property by people who hide behind anonymous companies, including corrupt overseas officials and organized crime operators.

Before FinCEN acted last year, U.S. law didnt require the real estate industry to carry out background checks on the source of purchase funds or determine ultimate or beneficial owners. Real estate still falls under a 2002 temporary exemption from the PATRIOT Act requirement for anti-money laundering programs.

FinCEN said by targeting title insurance companies it is not implying any derogatory finding.

To the contrary, FinCEN appreciates the continued assistance and cooperation of the title insurance companies and the American Land Title Association in protecting the real estate markets from abuse by illicit actors, the regulator said.

FinCEN published a sample of the form (pdf) title insurance companies need to file for covered transactions.

____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
Emma Watson says the 'Beauty and the Beast' remake offers "more depth" than the original.

Emma Watson at the Beauty and the Beast premiere

The 26-year-old actress plays the role of Belle in the fantasy movie, which is a remake of the 1991 Disney animation, and has said the upcoming production gives the original story "more detail" and gives fans "more to enjoy."

Speaking at the UK premiere of the movie at Spencer House in London on Thursday (23.02.17), Emma said: "I just think that if you love the original, then we really fill in parts of the backstory. There's more depth, there's more detail, and I think that if you're a fan then there's more to enjoy."

And the actress - who stars alongside Dan Stevens as the Beast and Luke Evans as Gaston - say she connects with the character because of her ability to be "non-judgemental".

When asked what makes Belle such a good person, the brunette beauty said: "For me it's just that she's so non-judgemental. She's able to see past Beast's exterior and even his bad temper, frankly, to see that there's a vulnerable and loving man underneath. And I think people could learn a lot from Belle."

Emma also dubbed the movie as "joyful" and "romantic", and said the movie's "universal" themes are what makes it a story that has stood the test of time.

She said: "It's so joyful. It's so romantic, it's so funny, it's so deep. It's at moments really frightening, and I think it's one of these films that is just really universal.

"It just fills you with joy. You go and watch it and you come out just feeling fuller for having seen it."

Meanwhile, the star recently said she found it "really fun" playing the lead role as the iconic Disney princess because she was able to "pad" out her characters backstory.

She explained: "That's the wonderful thing about Belle I feel like even in the original she was very progressive she was kind of a departure from a lot of the other Disney princess characters and so I think it was really just where in the moments I can fill in a bit more of her back story I can pad her out a little bit more, it was really fun to be able to do that."
From director James Mangold comes Logan, the forthcoming final instalment into Hugh Jackmans time in the X-Men universe as perhaps the worlds most famous mutant, Wolverine. For the first time in the series, the film will be R-rated (the highest certification a movie can receive in the US), which means a brutal and bloody affair is likely. Following on from some of the trailers and teasers weve seen ahead of release, this could be the most chaotic X-Men flick so far. Here are 10 more Logan teasers you need before going to see Jackmans final outing on the big screen

In cinemas this March

10. Were moving to the future  Logan takes place in 2024

Online news outlet TheWrap revealed in 2016 that the movie will be taking place in the future, with fans catching up with Wolverine in 2024. Featuring the Old Man Logan version of the character straight from the Marvel comic book of the same name, well see a grizzled, older version of the claw-wielding mutant, whose healing powers are beginning to fade. Hes not the only one in bad condition however, with Wolverine protecting an ailing Professor Xavier from any outside forces that may wish to do him harm. Will everybody make it out of the film alive?

9. Well meet Wolverines protege X-23 for the first time

In all of the teasers released, weve been allowed a glimpse of young mutant Laura, a girl with abilities that are scarily similar to Logan himself. Here her character is more streamlined than the one fans may have come across in the past. Otherwise known as X-23, Laura has a traumatic origins story and isnt afraid to get her hands dirty. Trying to navigate herself around a world that wont accept her for who she was born to be, shes got an array of enhanced senses that allow her to track whoever she chooses by scent and sound. Though shes clearly similar to Logan, she only has two claws on each hands and one retractable claw on each of her feet, giving her an all new fighting style when compared to Wolverine. She is more delicate in fighting however, with only her claws coated in adamantium rather than her entire skeleton; shes very vulnerable when attacked.

8. The films an emotional one

Hugh Jackman has admitted in a Sao Paulo, Brazil press conference that he cried more than once on the set of Logan. Fans are in for an emotional ride. He explained: It was very emotional to make this movie. I always felt that there was a deeper story about this character. Im very proud of the movies of the past, but I felt I had something more. Like a man. He did not want to be just the tough Wolverine, but the difficult Logan. I cried a few times on the set. I hope fans will say: Finally, this is the Wolverine movie I wanted to see.

7. Logan will focus on the main mans humanity

While at the same press conference, Hugh Jackman also opened up a little bit more about what long-time fans can expect to enjoy when Logan arrives. Promising that Wolverines humanity is a focal point of the movie, he said: With this film, Logan, we can delve deeper into this humanity. Logans biggest enemy is intimacy. Having intimacy with friends, family, reveals who you really are, shows you what you do not accept. Now he surrenders and lets a family in.

6. Things could get political

Sir Patrick Stewart has also been opening up about the movie, and in a chat with Variety magazine while attending the Berlinale Film Festival, he explained how the real-life current political climate may have made a big impact to the story well see on screen. He said: We are affected by the changing times. You present your part as a person influenced by the times. We did not set out to make a political movie, yet there are echoes in the film that exist today  this is serendipity. If people want to take messages from this film, then we have done a good job.

5. Despite his age, Logan is still an incredible fighter

4. Theres no Deadpool

Dont go into Logan expecting a cameo from Deadpool; its already been denied. Ryan Reynolds who plays the cheeky mercenary took to Twitter late last year to reply to a fan who asked if he would appear: No. I want a Deadpool/Wolvie film. But Logan is its own unique and perfect thing. The Big Red Shit-Talker wouldnt mix with the tone. Unfortunate perhaps, but this is a story thats designed to focus solely on the mutants who have already been teased. Bringing Deadpool into proceedings could take away from that.

3. Stephen Merchant is Caliban

Stephen Merchant looks stranger than ever before in his role of Caliban; a mutant tracker who makes his living as a nurse in Logan. Though not much has been revealed about what part Caliban will play in the movie, in the comic book universe hes a part of the Morlocks; a tribe that reside in the sewers and have a long-standing relationship with the X-Men. Also able to channel the emotions of those around him to increase his own physical strength, he may not look a huge threat, but hes certainly going to be able to stand up for himself if needs be.

2. Logan will act as a mentor to Laura

A second trailer for the movie focused mostly on Logan and his training of Laura, who seems to be struggling with how to adapt to life in the real world despite being a mutant. Check out that trailer above for a deeper insight into how their relationship works in the flick.

1. If youre looking for action, youve found the right movie

Logan comes to cinemas in the UK on March 1 and to theaters in the US on March 3.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

find me on and follow me on
Leah Bracknell is only allowed "six rounds of palliative chemotherapy".

Leah Bracknell

The former 'Emmerdale' actress - who starred as Zoe Tate in the ITV soap - set up a crowdfunding page in a bid to find a cure for her terminal lung cancer but, although doctors are telling her they're limited as to what they can offer her, she's determined to remain positive.

Appearing on ITV's 'Loose Women' on Friday (24.02.17), she said: "They're telling you, 'We can't do this, we can't do that, we can't give you radiation but we can give you six rounds of palliative chemo and I just think I can't change the diagnosis but what I can do is choose how I respond.

"Of course, It wasn't the case when I first found out.

"But we are going to move on with this in a positive way.

"I'm going to choose to embrace life and going to choose to make positive decisions. I haven't got the energy to react to negative stuff."

The 52-year-old star was angry when she first found out she had the life-threatening disease and she has chosen not to be told when she may die and just be "grateful" for each day she has left.

She explained: "I reacted with anger at first and it's why I don't want doctors to guesstimate how long I have left.

"I don't wake up every morning feeling fearful I wake up feeling grateful and excited about life."

Leah launched a fundraising campaign in the hope of receiving treatment at a cutting-edge hospital in Germany.

And though she achieved her 50,000 target from public donations via an online page, she has admitted she needs more money as she will need "several" sessions of treatment and the initial outlay will only cover her first visit to the European clinic.

She previously wrote on her Facebook page: "Not in Germany yet, as there are many procedures to undergo first. But everything is moving in the right direction.

"The fundraising will still be continuing, as the initial target will likely cover only my initial visit, and it is more than likely I may need several more."

Leah - who is now a yoga teacher - also thanked her fans for their outpouring of "love and concern".

She said: "I cannot tell you how healing it is to be the recipient of such love and concern. It takes my breath away.

"Please know how grateful I am, and how I appreciate each and every message."
Linda Lusardi's topless modelling past has "never really been part" of her daughter Lucy Kane's life.

Linda Lusardi

The 58-year-old beauty gave up her job as a Page 3 model 10 years before her daughter Lucy - who is currently competing in ITV singing competition 'The Voice UK' - was born, and says she was seven years old before she found out about her mother's raunchy career.

Speaking on 'Loose Women' on Friday (24.02.17), Linda explained: "I feel like I'm talking about a different person. As I say, I gave up 10 years before Lucy was born, eight years before I met her dad [Samuel Kane], so it's never really been part of their lives at all.

"I do remember we were up clearing out the loft and we'd got all my cuttings and I was like 'Oh dear, how do I deal with this?' and I think Lucy was about seven. And I was like 'Look, this is what mummy used to do Lucy, I used to have pictures in the papers.'

"She went 'Oh mummy that's a lovely shot, shame you forgot to put your bra on.'"

Since quitting her job as a model, Linda decided a few years back to take up photography and now has her own studio in her home in Hertfordshire.

She said last year: "All the time I was doing photoshoots, I was learning about it, but I was put off by the darkrooms. Then digital came along and everyone seemed to become a photographer. I know what it's like on both sides of the camera and how to make people relax into it if they're nervous.

"Even when I was a model, the photographers liked working with me because I could help other girls. Lighting is the most important element. It doesn't matter who you're photographing, if you haven't got decent lighting it's going to be a problem."
Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx recently became a target of racial discrimination in Croatia. The police have filed disorderly conduct charges against two people who used a racial slur to insult Foxx in a restaurant.



According to the police, they acted after receiving reports on Sunday of particularly arrogant and rude insults made against restaurant guests, including one of the guests on racial grounds.





The police statement did not name Foxx as the target, but the actor briefly posted comments about the incident on his Instagram profile before deleting them. Foxx mentioned an offensive racial term among the examples of the vulgar language used.



The police officials said they are investigating whether to pursue other charges against the men. Foxx was in Dubrovnik, a resort on the Adriatic Sea, filming 'Robin Hood: Origins', in which he plays Little John.





47098138


Gold Coast, Australia based Billabong International Limited has entered into binding documentation to sell the Tigerlily business to Crescent Capital Partners. The transaction is in line with Billabongs strategy to simplify its brand portfolio. The sale of Tigerlily will fetch Au$60 million, and the net proceeds from the sale will be used to retire debt.

Established in 2000, Tigerlily is all about the beach. Unique textiles, distinguishable prints, the fusion of fashion and classic themes, the continuous quest for the perfect bikini; these are the elements that have established Tigerlily as a leader in premium swimwear and beachwear, according to Tigerlily website.

Billabong had acquired Tigerlily business in December 2007 for Au$5.8 million. For the twelve month period ended December 31, 2016, Tigerlilys revenue was approximately Au$30 million. On a full year basis, Tigerlily was expected to contribute between Au$7 million and Au$8 million in EBITDA to Billabong for the 2017 financial year.

Gold Coast, Australia based Billabong International Limited has entered into binding documentation to sell the Tigerlily business to Crescent Capital Partners. The transaction is in line with Billabong's strategy to simplify its brand portfolio. The sale of Tigerlily will fetch Au$60 million, and the net proceeds from the sale will be used to retire debt.#

Billabong was advised by Houlihan Lokey and Baker McKenzie on the transaction. The transaction is subject to conditions precedent which are typical for transactions of this type, with completion expected before the end of the current financial year. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The second Dhaka Apparel Summit 2017 will be held on February 25 in Bangladesh with the objective of opening dialogue on framing strategies to secure a more sustainable apparel supply chain from local and global perspectives. The summit on textile and apparel industry will feature three panel discussion sessions offering an opportunity for exchanging ideas.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, will inaugurate the daylong event organised by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in collaboration with Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE).

"The Dhaka Apparel Summit is a prime event on textile and apparel industry in Bangladesh that brings together some of the world's leading experts in their respective fields to share their experiences and visionary thoughts on issues pertaining to the apparel industry and ways in which the business can realise sustainable growth well into the 21st century," said Md. Siddiqur Rahman, president, BGMEA.

The second Dhaka Apparel Summit 2017 will be held on February 25 in Bangladesh with the objective of opening dialogue on framing strategies to secure a more sustainable apparel supply chain from local and global perspectives. The summit on textile and apparel industry will feature three panel discussion sessions offering an opportunity for exchanging ideas.#

Sessions will be held on topics like 'Business Policy & Environment: Towards a Better Bangladesh', 'Collaborative and Responsible Sourcing For Sustainable Growth' and 'Bangladesh Apparel Industry: Transformation and the Road Ahead'.

Discussions to be held at the event will shed light on different timely issues, including Bangladesh RMG industry, which is at the dawn of a new era in its development, with unprecedented safety standards being adopted and great strides being taken towards achieving environmental and sustainable targets. There is a strong desire to continue the growth of the industry with these principals in mind, informed a BGMEA press release.

The summit will offer a forum to express and discuss visionary views with a broad spectrum of proposals to further improve the industrys environmental and sustainable credentials. It also aims to bring to light various methods to achieve these goals.

The seminars will be attended by representatives of the government, international organisations, economists, brand representatives, development organisations, employers, workers representatives, civil society members, academics and more. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Google has partnered with British fashion designer Christian Cowan to create 'really blue' jeans to match the company's 'really Blue' Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. Especially tailor-made for the owners of the Google flagship smartphone, the new pair of jeans features a single pocket, which is customised for the exact size of the smartphone.

Embellishments on the jeans include ruffles on the waist and the pocket, and glittery stars. The jeans feature only one pocket instead of five because Google believes that people do everything on their phones and does not need to carry extra gadgets any more.

The jeans have been designed for the UK and those interested in getting a pair need to contact Cowan for a fitting session.

Google has partnered with British fashion designer Christian Cowan to create 'really blue' jeans to match the company's 'really Blue' Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. Especially tailor-made for the owners of the Google flagship smartphone, the new pair of jeans features a single pocket, which is customised for the exact size of the smartphone.#

"I think technology and fashion belong together more than they are shown already. Theyre both constantly innovating and creating something new," Cowan told Metro.co.uk.

Speaking about how he found the exact match for the jeans, Cowan said, "I went through endless colour matches to make sure they were exact because obviously, no one has ever done it before so it took a bit of time to get it perfect." (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Karl Mayer, Germanys leading textile machinery firm and an expert partner to the composites sector, is set to participate at the JEC World show, the largest composites show that covers the whole composites value chain from raw material to final products, from March 14 to 16, 2017, at the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre, in hall 5A, stand N 54.Visitors to the stand can look forward to having some interesting conversations with Karl Mayer representatives. They will also be able to network and gather information on what the company has to offer. Karl Mayer will present the COP MAX 4 and COP MAX 5 multiaxial warp knitting machines for the production of high-performance composites. The COP MAX 4 is a flexible, all-round machine for producing multilayered, multiaxial structures having angles of from maximal +20 to -20. The COP MAX 5 is the machine of choice for processing carbon fibres in particular. This machine enables multiaxial textiles having very low weights per unit area to be produced, and the fibre material can either be delivered online or offline. For the offline version, the company will also showcase the UD 700 spreading unit for spreading the fibre tapes. (GK)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The Buckingham Palace is all set to host a grand UK-India cultural event and as per reports, Queen Elizabeth 2 and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh have sent out a royal invitation to Amitabh Bachchan to launch the cultural extravaganza. However, it is reported that Big B has politely declined the offer due to prior commitments. The event is set to take place on February 27 at the Buckingham Palace.

Priyanka Chopra Talks About 'Showing Off Her Bra'!

Amitabh Bachchan's publicist said in a statement, "Yes, Mr Bachchan has been extended a rare invitation by Queen Elizabeth and Buckingham Palace to grace the UK-India Cultural Year reception. Unfortunately, however, he will be unable to attend due to prior commitments."



Big B is currently busy with Thugs Of Hindostan, Sarkar 3, Dragon and Aankhen 2 and all these commitments made him decline the invitation from the royal family. Also, we'll have to wait and watch if they would send out a few more invitations to other Bollywood stars to launch the cultural event.

Last year Prince William and Kate Middleton had visited India and a lot of B-town celebrities had gathered together to meet the couple and dine with them. They received a warm reception and love which they will never forget.

Hot Lesbian Scene By Riya Sen & Kyra Dutt In 'Lonely Girl'!
Mira Rajput Had Invited Kangana To Celebrate Shahid's Birthday

Sources close to DNA have revealed that Mira Rajput had personally sent out an invite to Kangana Ranaut as she really wanted her to attend the party.

Why Kangana Didn't Attend The Party?

Kangana Ranaut was in Delhi that evening for the promotions of her recently released film Rangoon and that's why she could not attend the party.

Kangana's Letter To Mira...

A source revealed, "It was Shahid's wife Mira who organised the party and she was the one who sent out the invites. Kangana was also on the list but since she was in Delhi for the promotion of her upcoming film, she couldn't make it. However, she wrote a long letter to Mira thanking her for the invite and the reason why she won't be attending."

Katrina Kaif At Shahid's Bash

Meanwhile check some more pictures from Shahid's bash below.

Katrina Kaif was seen in a beautiful floral maxi dress at Shahid Kapoor's pre-birthday bash. Here, the diva is seen smiling for the shutterbugs.

Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone surely knows how to impress the fashion police. Look how stunning she is looking in her glamorous attire.

Sara

A cute picture of Sara Ali Khan clicked at Shahid Kapoor's pre-birthday party. Saif Ali Khan had recently confirmed that his gorgeous daughter will make a debut in Bollywood with Karan's film.

Ranveer Singh

Ranveer Singh wore an interesting outfit to Shahid Kapoor's pre-birthday bash. Need we say more?

Inside Pic

An inside picture of Shahid Kapoor with his darling wife Mira Rajput and close friends, clicked on his pre-birthday bash.
Constant film shoots, events, promotions and family affairs can bog down an actor and bring in a lot of stress as there's no 'personal time' left for them. Yes, working out at the gym makes them feel good, but that too adds in a lot of stress as they need to be fit and toned all the time. However, Saif Ali Khan has a different take on stress and to be stress-free, he goes on a 45-minute walk every morning from his house till Juhu beach, and that relaxes him!

Priyanka Chopra Talks About 'Showing Off Her Bra'!

A source close to the actor was quoted as saying, "He thinks walking is a great stress-buster and whenever he can, he puts on his track suit and jogging shoes and goes walking along the lanes of Bandra till he reaches the sea-facing side."



The source further commented, "For Saif, while walking in London is more preferable as the streets are better and more parks, in Mumbai he doesn't let anything deter him from taking a brisk 45-minute walk. Wife Kareena is not so much a walker, but is more into other forms of exercises. When he walks Saif loves listening to music and is usually alone. The actor wears a cap and a hoodie to cover his face so he's not recognised."

Hot Lesbian Scene Between Riya Sen & Kyra Dutt In The Short Film 'Lonely Girl'!

Also, Saif Ali Khan's latest film Rangoon has released and it's been receiving quite a lot of positive reviews. The film also stars Shahid Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut in the lead roles and is directed by Vishal Bhardwaj.
Sidharth Malhotra and Priyanka Chopra have not starred in a movie yet, but the duo recently shot a commercial for a popular jewellery brand. The advertisement is already out and quite a few people have loved the chemistry between Sidharth and Priyanka. When asked how it felt like working with PeeCee, Sidharth quipped,

Priyanka Chopra Talks About 'Showing Off Her Bra'!

"Priyanka is a fun actor to work with. We did hit it off really well in the first hour. It is commendable to see how she manages her time so seamlessly. She is fabulous at multi-tasking. We talked about everything from her upbringing in Bareilly to Punjabi culture. We even spoke about her experience in the US. Our ad is out and the people are loving it. So it feels great."



Hot Lesbian Scene Between Riya Sen & Kyra Dutt In The Short Film 'Lonely Girl'!

Also, Sidharth wishes that Bollywood film-makers would cast him and Priyanka in a movie and said, "I hope that directors are reading this. Hopefully, we will get something good together soon. I think it will be very exciting to watch a fresh pair like us on the silver screen in a full-fledged film."

Bikini Diaries! Riya Sen Holidays In Goa With Her Girlfriends

On the work front, Priyanka Chopra is gearing up for the release of her Hollywood debut Baywatch and the film also stars Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock and Zac Efron in the lead roles. The film is all set to hit the theatres worldwide in May 2017.
Plot

The year is 1943. The British are fighting Hitler. On the other hand, the people of India are caught between two idealogies - Gandhiji's ahimsa and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose' Indian National Army, which believes in 'killing the enemy rather than dying at their hands'.

Amidst this wartorn bloodshed and revolutionary chaos, closer home, there is Miss Julia (Kangana Ranaut), the daredevil actress from the 40s who swings from chandeliers, runs across tops of trains and makes people crazy each time she goes 'Bloody Hell'. Besotted by her is the Parsi boy, Rusi Billimoria (Saif Ali Khan), an action hero turned movie producer with a crumbling marriage.

Julia is Rusi's muse whom he lovingly calls 'kiddo' and a darling of the masses. Soon, the British army persuades Rusi to send Julia to Burma to cheer the troops at war at the Indo-Burma border. The young girl is whisked off in a train under the protection of Jamadar Nawab Malik (Shahid Kapoor).

In a turn of events, Julia and Nawab are cast adrift and and must fight against all the odds to reach back India. In the course of their journey, the duo indulge in some steamy affair before Rusi comes back into the picture. What will happen if he gets a whiff of their whirlwind romance? Is Nawab Malik really who he seems to be?

Direction

After the impressive Haider in 2014, Vishal Bhardwaj is back with yet another tale. But this time, there is no Shakespearean adaptation nor is there plenty of metaphors and symbolism. He keeps it simple or should I say spells it out for us? Rangoon is an ambitious film with a stellar cast. Unfortunately, it's the dangling plot that makes it fall short of a spectacle. The film scores less on emotions and at times, the narrative goes tedious. The characters face a change of heart at several junctures but it's just isn't convincing enough to 'feel' for them unlike his previous films like Haider, Omkara and Maqbool.

Bhardwaj gets to paint a larger than life canvas but sadly, the colors of emotions don't leave a lasting impression.

Vishal Bharadwaj adds an interesting shade to his three characters and makes Rangoon an intriguing watch. In the film, Saif's Russi treats Kangana's Julia like a kiddo' and is a sub-ordinate for whom he would like to think and take decisions. Shahid's Nawab on the other hand treats her like an equal and also considers her someone who is not just powerful but fiercely capable! But, it is always Russi who kisses Julia, with Nawab, Julia always share lip-locks with equal fervor and passion.

There is a scene in Rangoon where the leading lady dons her stunt scene costume, wears a mask and zooms off on a bike to rescue our hero who is in the clutches of the enemies. How many times do you get to see such interesting gender dynamics in Bollywood? Very few may be your answer and that's where the film pulls up the reigns.

Performances

Kangana Ranaut is the star attraction of Rangoon. Be it her fiesty masked, whip-lashing avatar as Jaagraati Julia on screen or wearing her insecurity and vulnerability on the sleeves once the camera goes off in Julia's land, the coming-of-the-age of her character makes up for a lovely watch.

Shahid Kapoor as a reclusive soldier doesn't get much to venture into the emotional territory. However he holds on his own and shares a raw chemistry with Ms Ranaut.

Saif Ali Khan as the pompous producer displays a fine sense of aristocracy and manages to leave a mark even in his limited screen presence.

Tony-winning British actor Richard McCabe as the Urdu-spouting Commander Harding lends a humourous touch to the otherwise sobre narrative.

Technical Aspects

Poetic dialogues find their way in Bhardwaj's latest outing as usual and keep you engrossed. Rangoon stumbles and fumbles at the screenplay level as you spend much of their time in searching for the plot. The first half takes its own time to build up the pace but a couple of interesting moments keep you engrossed.

Be it the old world charm, the heart-wrenching war scenes, dense landscape or the azure waters, Pankaj Kumar's camerawork seduces you right into each and every frame as you marvel at the visual beauty.

The editing looks patchy at a couple of places in the narrative.

Music

The songs 'Yeh Ishq Hai' and 'Tippa' stand out in the film and are hummable. 'Mere Miyan Gaye England' has nothing new to offer. 'Alvida' makes up a good listen.

Verdict

Definitely not one of Vishal Bhardwaj's best works, but this one needs to be viewed solely for Kangana's 'Jaanbaaz' act that wins over your hearts.
NUREMBERG, Germany, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Independent global researcher, GfK, has released findings showing which vehicle features, from a given list, people see as being 'very important' in a vehicle. Hygiene factors of safety in an accident, reliability, fuel economy and low running costs naturally top of the list. However, significant numbers state that the latest driver technology and passenger technology are 'very important' to them - and the percentage of people claiming this increases notably with income.

Over a third (36 percent) of the online population across 17 countries see having the latest driver technology in a vehicle (e.g., steering or parking assist, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry or ignition) as 'very important', and over a quarter (28 percent) say the same for the latest passenger technology (audio or video streaming, social network connectivity, etc.).

Importance of vehicle technology increases with income

Looking at these results by income - i.e. breaking each countries' earners down into quartiles - there is notable difference in the numbers that say having the latest technology in their vehicle is 'very important'. On average, 44 percent of people in the high income quartile (the top quarter of the total income in each country), see the latest driver tech as 'very important', compared to just 30 percent of people in the low income quartile (the bottom quarter of total income within each country). Likewise, for the latest passenger tech, 35 percent of those in the high income quartile say it's very important, versus 22 percent on those in the low income quartlie.

The effect of income on what people see as important in their vehicle is seen across a range of features, not just the vehicle technology - in particular the quality of workmanship, a comfortable interior, a spacious interior, a powerful engine, the reputation of the manufacturer. In other areas such as the fuel economy or environmentally friendly, the results are much more even across all income bands.

Driver technology is most important in Brazil, China and Korea

Brazil (48 percent), China (43 percent) and Korea (42 percent) have the highest overall percentages saying that the latest driver technology is 'very important'. And for the latest passenger technology, China (37 percent), Brazil (36 percent) and Mexico (30 percent) have the highest percentages saying it is 'very important'.

Siegfried Hoegl, GfK's Global Head of Automotive Research, comments, "The value of these findings for vehicle manufacturers lies in being able to assess precisely which features different consumer segments say appeal most to them - and adjust marketing content and product development to match those aspirations. By combining this attitudinal data with analysis of actual sales across different markets and consumer segments, or insights from running in-depth car clinics, we help our clients to fine-tune their customer insights to the maximum extent - both globally and at country-specific level."

Download full findings for each of the 17 countries, visit http://www.gfk.com/global-studies/global-study-overview/




Public Affairs Division Global Communications Department Toyota Motor Corporation Tel: +81-3-3817-9926

Toyota City, Japan, Feb 24, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporation delivered the first fuel cell bus (FC bus) sold under the Toyota brand to the Bureau of Transportation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. This FC bus (model name: Toyota FC Bus) will be put into operation as a Toei route bus in March along with a second bus that is scheduled for delivery in the same month.Toyota plans to introduce over 100 FC buses mainly within the Tokyo area, ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The increased use of FC buses in urban areas is expected to help raise the level of understanding by the general public regarding the use of FC buses as a form of public transportation.http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_ToyotaFCBus.jpgToyota FC Bus (modified for Toei route bus)The Toyota Fuel Cell System (TFCS)(1), which was developed for the Mirai fuel cell vehicle (FCV), has been adopted to provide better energy efficiency in comparison with internal combustion engines, as well as to deliver superior environmental performance with no CO2 emissions or Substances of Concern (SoC) emitted when driving. In addition, the FC Bus is compliant with Non-Step Standards(2), making for easy boarding and exiting by elderly people and young children.The bus also uses a high-capacity external power supply system. With a power supply capable of a 9 kW(3) maximum output, and a large capacity of electricity supply at 235 kWh(4), the FC bus can be used as a power source in the event of disasters, such as at evacuation sites such as in school gymnasiums(5) or, its electricity supply can also be harnessed for home electric appliance use.Development and demonstration tests of the Toyota FC Bus were conducted under the Next-Generation Energy and Social Systems Demonstration Project(6) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Low Carbon Technology Research and Development Program(7) under the Ministry of Environment. It was then introduced under the Program for promoting low carbonization of local transportation(8) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).The Toyota Group considers the use of hydrogen to be a powerful source of energy for the future. Toyota has launched the Mirai FCV, while also engaging in the technological and product development of FC buses, fuel cell forklifts, as well as stationary fuel cells for use in homes. Going forward, the group will accelerate developments in a unified manner, so as to contribute to the realization of a hydrogen-based society.(1) A system combining hybrid technology with fuel cell technology composed of Toyota FC stacks and high pressure hydrogen tanks etc.(2) Barrier-free buses that satisfy the Standard Specification Non-Step Bus Certification Guidelines specified by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.(3) Possible electric power varies depending on the performance of the power supply unit.(4) After DC/AC conversion by power supply unit. Power supply capacity varies according to power supply unit conversion efficiency, amount of remaining hydrogen and power consumption.(5) Requires wiring work at the facilities.(6) Support for regions that set high targets for creating next-generation energy and social systems and undertake advanced initiatives and are selected as Next-Generation Energy and Social System Demonstration Regions.(7) Support from the Ministry of the Environment for development and demonstration of CO2 emissions reduction technologies with the aim of achieving drastic reductions in CO2 emissions.(8) Support from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to motor carrier enterprises and other businesses for the introduction of electric buses, taxis, and trucks, fuel cell buses and taxis, and ultra-compact means of mobility.About ToyotaSupported by people around the world, Toyota Motor Corporation (TSE: 7203; NYSE: TM), has endeavored since its establishment in 1937 to serve society by creating better products. As of the end of December 2013, Toyota conducts its business worldwide with 52 overseas manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions. Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.Source: ToyotaContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.


CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The New Zealand dollar weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Friday, as Asian stock markets traded lower following the lackluster cues from Wall Street and as weaker commodity prices weighed on resources stocks.



Investors also digested mixed corporate earnings results.



Thursday, the NZ dollar rose 0.65 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.35 percent against the yen, 0.38 percent against the euro and 0.39 percent against the Australian dollar.



In the Asian trading, the NZ dollar fell to 1.4664 against the euro and 0.7214 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.4631 and 0.7229, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.49 against the euro and 0.70 against the greenback.



Against the yen, the kiwi dropped to 81.35 from an early high of 81.59. The kiwi may test support near the 79.00 region.



The kiwi edged down to 1.0688 against the Australian dollar, from an early 4-day high of 1.0656. On the downside, 1.07 is seen as the next support level for the kiwi.



Looking ahead, the German import price index for January is due to be released in the pre-European session at 2:00 am ET.



U.K. BBA mortgage approvals for January is slated for release at 4:30 am ET.



In the New York session, Canada CPI data for January, U.S. new home sales data for January, U.S. University of Michigan final consumer sentiment index for February and U.S. Baker Hughes rig count data are set to be announced.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
NEC Seiichiro Toda s-toda@cj.jp.nec.com +81-3-3798-6511

TOKYO, Feb 24, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701), BT and EE will work with the University of Salford as a research partner to undertake the most thorough testing yet into the performance of vital millimetre wave mobile backhaul technology for 4G and 5G networks.With smaller cell sites set to play an integral role in meeting the capacity, latency and throughput requirements of future 4G and 5G networks, mobile backhaul is a growing challenge.To meet this challenge, NEC, BT and EE have teamed up to test the performance of V-band point-to-point mobile backhaul, using millimetre wave spectrum in the 60GHz band. The test will focus largely on how these links may stand up to the rigours of the British weather.Using the University of Salford as a base, the companies have created a test bed to measure the performance of the V-band radio system over a 12-month period when exposed to rain, wind, fog and ice. The University has installed a radio system complete with transceivers and antennas on the Newton Science and Engineering building and the Maxwell Building at its Peel Park Campus and will monitor transmissions at the test site from now until early 2018."This will be one of the most detailed tests of this type done anywhere in the world to date, so we are delighted it will be hosted in Salford with our partners NEC, BT and EE," explained Nigel Linge, professor of telecommunications, University of Salford."Millimetre wave point to point links operate at very high frequencies to transmit high volumes of data over relatively short distances. However, the high frequency does mean that it is possibly affected by climatic conditions - the question being by how much. This is a vital technology for the future of 4G and 5G networks, so this research can play a major part in influencing deployment in years to come."Stephen Walthew, Manager - Transport Networks at NEC Europe, said Salford was a perfect choice for the testing: "We were looking for an urban area, somewhere the weather is very variable and where there is expertise in network engineering. Given our long-standing relationship with Professor Linge and his colleagues, we are delighted the University of Salford can host the tests."The 60GHz connection has the opportunity to become the solution of choice for high capacity backhauling, so the more scientific evidence we can collect about its performance, the better we can make decisions about design and deployment."Professor Andy Sutton, Principal Network Architect at BT, said, "V-band radio systems have great potential as a backhaul solution for small cells within a heterogeneous network. We are delighted to be cooperating with NEC and the University of Salford to validate the achievable network performance of this exciting technology in a real-world environment."This is the most extensive testing we've ever undertaken. Having a full year's worth of results against a diverse range of weather and atmospheric conditions will provide a critical input to our future network strategy and architecture."About NEC CorporationNEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.Based on its Mid-term Management Plan 2015, the NEC Group globally provides "Solutions for Society" that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company's corporate message of "Orchestrating a brighter world," NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/solutionsforsociety/message.html.Source: NEC CorporationContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS, RBS.L) reported that its net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders for the fourth-quarter winded to 4.441 billion pounds from 2.740 billion pounds in the fourth-quarter of 2015. The latest-quarter result included a litigation and conduct charge of 4.128 billion pounds and restructuring costs of 1.007 billion pounds.



Looking ahead, RBS plans to reduce adjusted operating expenses in the order of 2 billion pounds in the next four years with around two thirds of this from the core bank.



The company said it is targeting a gross RWA reduction of approximately 20 billion pounds across Personal & Business Banking or PBB, Commercial & Private Banking or CPB and NatWest Markets or NWM by the end of 2018, with some offsetting volume growth.



It expects that the reduction will be largely achieved through improvements in the quality of risk models, exiting low return, non strategic and risk intensive asset pools, improved risk metrics in certain portfolios and benefits from data clean-up. It estimates that the income loss associated with this reduction will be in the range 250 million pounds- 300 million pounds on an annualised, pre tax, basis.



Operating expenses for the four-quarter were 7.354 billion pounds were 1.593 billion pounds higher than the fourth-quarter 2015 reflecting a 2.004 billion pounds increase in litigation and conduct costs and a 393 million pounds increase in restructuring costs, partially offset by a 498 million pounds write down of goodwill in Q4 2015 and a 306 million pounds reduction in adjusted operating expenses, principally driven by a 218 million pounds reduction in Capital Resolution.



Adjusted operating profit was 1.185 billion pounds was 499 million pounds, or 73%, higher than the prior year.



Net interest income of 2.208 billion pounds increased by 46 million pounds compared with last year. principally driven by a 115 million pounds increase across PBB and CPB.



Non-interest income for the quarter was 1.01 billion pounds, up from 322 million pounds in the prior year. A gain of 308 million pounds was recognised for volatile items under IFRS, compared with 59 million pounds in the fourth-quarter of 2015, and the fourth-quarter 2015 included a 263 million pounds loss on redemption of own debt. In addition, NatWest Markets non-interest income increased by 98 million pounds to 256 million pounds.



The company expects that income in 2017 will continue to be supported by balance sheet growth across PBB and CPB.



RBS plans to reduce adjusted operating expenses by a further 750 million in 2017, in addition to the 3.1 billion achieved across 2014 to 2016, and it expects that the adjusted cost:income ratio will improve across our combined PBB, CPB and NatWest Markets franchises in 2017 compared with 2016.



RBS is targeting a CET1 ratio of at least 13% at the end of 2017. As part of the 2016 Bank of England stress testing exercise, RBS submitted a revised capital plan, incorporating further capital strengthening actions, which was accepted by the PRA Board.



RBS issuance plans for 2017 focus on issuing 3-5 billion MREL-compliant Senior holding company (RBSG) securities. We do not currently anticipate the need for either AT1 or Tier 2 issuances. In addition, and reflecting strategic progress, it also target a progressive return to other funding markets to support our lending growth.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
- Demonstrations Showcase Intelligent and Programmable IoT Gateway Working in Conjunction with Solutions from PNI Sensor Corporation, BluBoard, Device Authority, SKS Automaatio Oy, STMicroelectronics, myDevices, Asavie and Actility

- Recently Launched MultiConnect Conduit' AP Access Point for LoRa now fully pre-configured & Approved for Actility's ThingPark' Wireless Platform

- NB-IoT enabled MultiConnect Cell' Serial to LTE-NB1 modem to enable smart city School Safety Crossing application by RTC

MOUNDS VIEW, Minnesota, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

WHEN: Feb. 27-March 2, 2017

WHERE: Barcelona, SPAIN

WHAT: Mobile World Congress

Demonstrations: Live product demonstrations of MultiTech's newest wireless industrial IoT technologies will model real-life scenarios across a wide range of industries.

LoRa Alliance ' Exhibit: IoT Pavilion in Hall 8.0, Stand #8.0D3

PNI Sensor Corporation

Demonstration highlights PNI Sensor Corporation's PlacePod' smart parking sensor, communicating with the MultiTech MultiConnect Conduit' gateway and LoRa MultiConnect xDot' module to provide accurate real-time parking data. It provides accurate real-time parking data, 10 years of battery life, and is stable over temperature fluctuations, even in harsh environments. PlacePod is the industry's most accurate magnetic sensing system for vehicle detection with the combination of PNI's high-performance magnetic sensor and vehicle detection algorithms that accurately detect the presence or absence of a car in a parking space. PNI's parking cloud solution includes a parking management application that serves as a comprehensive dashboard for all parking resources, a mobile installation application for easy provisioning, and a parking API for external communication with any third-party and internal system.

The MultiTech MultiConnect Conduit is the industry's most configurable, manageable, and scalable communications gateway.

The MultiConnect xDot is a secure, CE/FCC/RCM LoRa Alliance Certified', ARM mbed' programmable, low-power RF module, that provides long-range, low bit rate IoT data connectivity to sensors, industrial equipment and remote appliances.

LorkTech

Demonstration highlights LorkTech's BluBoard digital sign utilizing MultiTech's LoRa functionality. The low power signage is updated remotely via the LoRaWAN' capabilities of the MultiConnectmDot', an inexpensive LoRaWAN ready, low-power wide area network (LPWAN) RF module.

The MultiConnectmDot(MTDOT Series)offers significantly longer range and improved radio performance compared to traditional wireless solutions-resulting in greater transmission range and reduced capital expense.

Device Authority

Device Authority' is the global leader in policy and device-driven security for the IoT. Its new KeyScaler' IoT Security Platform combines their device authentication engine with Cryptosoft's policy-driven data security manager and agents to provide a single, comprehensive software security offering for IoT applications.The demonstration highlights the new Device Authority secured MultiTech gateway, which provides end-to-end security for applications, agnostic to any network architecture, up and running. The demonstration highlights data protection from the source, in transit, when at rest and when accessed.

SKS Sensors from SKS Automaatio Oy

Demonstration taps into live, in-field (Finland) preventive maintenance system from IoTKey. The system provides information supporting the demand-based maintenance of production equipment and the real-time monitoring of processes - including via mobile devices. The IoTKey system consists of MultiConnect mDot modules, a MultiConnect Conduit gateway device and a graphical user interface running as a cloud service.

STMicroelectronics & myDevices Cayenne

Demonstration consists of an STMicroelectronics sensor board connected to a MultiTech MultiConnect mDot' LoRaWAN' certified module connected to the Actility LoRaWAN network to the myDevices Cayenne dashboard, showcasing the MultiTech MultiConnect Conduit' AP access point's ideal tailoring to connect environmental sensors located in commercial facilities such as hotels, convention centers, retail outlets and industrial kitchens.

The MultiConnect Conduit AP Access Point for LoRa Technology affordably provides deep in-building connectivity and improved service levels for network operators and enterprises connecting thousands of IoT assets by harnessing the power of the LoRaWAN protocol.

Asavie, Hall #7 Stand #7182

Asavie

Asavie's PassBridge', an IoT connectivity platform, now integrates with the MultiConnect Conduit' gateway providing secure communications for low-power devices. Addressing the network connectivity and integration challenges hindering the implementation of IoT projects. The joint solution offers organizations secure, seamless end-to-end connectivity off the public internet. The demonstration highlights LoRaWAN sensors, seamlessly and securely connecting to the cloud.

Stream Technologies, Hall #7 Stand #7C30

Demonstrating the suitability of NB-IoT technology for smart cities applications, MultiTech and Stream will leverage a uBlox NB-IoT module integrated into a MultiConnect Cell 100 Series cellular modem into a solar-powered school zone blinker. The demo, based on currently available solution from RTC enables school systems to re-set the blinkers in the event of schedule changes. IoT-X is a multi-technology connectivity management platform allowing users to monitor, manage and monetize connectivity across any technology types. IoT-X supports connectivity from MNOs including NB-IoT and CAT-M as well as traditional Packet Data. IoT-X also supports Satellite and LPWA networks, including an LoRaWAN' network server for the easy creation of public and private networks. IoT-X allows management of all your connectivity on a single pane of glass.

The MultiConnectCell 100 Series cellular modems, fully certified and carrier approved, deliver fast, secure data for remote operations, and integrate easily to extend the life of legacy equipment.

Actility, Hall #8 Stand #8.0C3

Actility

MultiTech and Actility today announced that its leading LoRaWAN'gateway, MultiConnect Conduit' AP Access Point for LoRa is now fully pre-configured and Approved for the Actility ThingPark' Wireless Platform, a core network management and supervision solution for LPWA connectivity. Demonstrations will highlight how the new ThingPark Approved Conduit AP and MultiConnect Conduit' IP67 Base Station delivers an end-to-end solution to the fast growing LoRa ecosystem, opening a wide range of opportunities for innovative SmartCity and SmartBuilding applications in both macro deployments on cell towers and broadcast masts and inside commercial facilities for network densification and improved Service Level Agreements.

MultiConnect Conduit AP Access Point for LoRa  provides deep in-building connectivity and improved servicelevels for network operators and enterprises connecting thousands ofIoT assets by harnessing the power of the LoRaWAN protocol.

provides deep in-building connectivity and improved servicelevels for network operators and enterprises connecting thousands ofIoT assets by harnessing the power of the LoRaWAN protocol. The MultiConnectConduit IP67 Base Station is a ruggedized IoT gateway solution, specifically designed for outdoor LoRapublic or private network deployments.

About MultiTech

MultiTech designs, develops and manufactures communications equipment for the industrial internet of things - connecting physical assets to business processes to deliver enhanced value. Our commitment to quality and service excellence means you can count on MultiTech products and people to address your needs, while our history of innovation ensures you can stay ahead of the latest technology with a partner who will be there for the life of your solution. For more information, please visitwww.multitech.com.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 4:30 am ET Friday, British Bankers' Association releases U.K. mortgage approvals for January. The number of mortgage approvals are forecast to drop slightly to 42,600, compared to 43,228 in December. Ahead of the data, the pound fell against its major rivals. As of 4:25 am ET, the pound was trading at 0.8446 against the euro, 1.2609 against the Swiss franc, 1.2532 against the U.S. dollar and 141.02 against the yen. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
HONG KONG, CHINA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Hong Kong Airlines has been committed to supporting the young generation to realise their dream of flying high, encouraging them to learn outside the classroom to broaden horizons and stick to their dreams. During February 10 to 17, Hong Kong Airlines had the full support from Tourism and Events Queensland and Wing On Travel to organize a study tour to Australia, bringing nine outstanding students who exceled from "Embrace the World" Student Sponsorship Programme (the "Programme") to Gold Coast and Cairns to learn about environmental conservation, local history and culture, and aviation knowledge.

Ms Ming Chan, General Manager of Corporate Communications of Hong Kong Airlines, said, "Gold Coast/Cairns of Australia is our first long-haul route launched in 2016 -- the tenth anniversary since the company's establishment. It signifies the first step of the airline on its way from regional to international. While growing fast over the past decade, Hong Kong Airlines hopes to support the students in pursuing their dreams with continuous investment in resources to education, helping the youth to reach farther, fly higher."

The students spent eight days and seven nights packed with excitement in Australia. After landing at Gold Coast airport, the group visited Gold Coast Airport where they met the Gold Coast Airport Ambassador. It was followed by a visit to the pilot training center -- Air Gold Coast, where pilots start their career with a series of strict training. Students are also encouraged to learn continuously beyond aviation knowledge. They toured Gold Coast City Council as part of the agenda, and had a good chat with the oversea students from China at the Griffith University.

Environmental conservation is one of the key themes of the trip. Australia is famous for its high conservation value. During the tour, students had close encounters with koalas and kangaroos at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. They also got on the Tweed Endeavour Cruises to observe a variety of marine animals. The group had great fun discovering night adventures at Tamborine National Park, excited to find the glow worms deep in the jungle. At the gold beaches and into the ocean, the students completed their first try of surfing and kayaking, also indoor sky diving, all of which are boasted as "must-try" activities in Gold Coast.

The group stopped at Cairns for three days before flying back to Hong Kong. Unforgettable experience into beautiful nature and the exchange of culture was acquired in the rainforest and at Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park respectively.

Keung Kwan Shun from Yan Chai Hospital Lan Chi Pat Memorial Secondary School was one of the nine students. He has a passion for aviation education and has been studying courses in tourism and hospitality. The trip was indeed eye-opening to him and he looks forward to sharing the invaluable experiences of this trip to his students in the future.

Hong Kong Airlines' "Embrace the World" Student Sponsorship Programme was firstly launched in 2014. So far, the airline has sponsored over 2,100 complimentary air tickets to students who outstand in different areas, offering them an opportunity to travel the world and broaden their horizons. Students participating in the Australia tour were from different schools in Hong Kong. All of them had joined the 2016/17 Programme and shared the most exciting stories travelling with Hong Kong Airlines by submitting travel journals. Hong Kong Airlines shortlisted up to 10 outstanding journals and awarded the student writers with an invitation to join the Australia tour. Last year, Hong Kong Airlines also sponsored 10 outstanding students who joined the Programme to visit the Airbus Final Assembly Line in Tianjin, Airbus Beijing Campus and Training Centre, which was the first-ever Hong Kong student tour to Airbus' aircraft manufacturing base in Asia.

About Hong Kong Airlines

Established in 2006, Hong Kong Airlines is a full-service airline firmly rooted in Hong Kong. It has grown remarkably in just ten years with a wide destination network covering 36 major cities across the Asia Pacific region, including Gold Coast, Auckland, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Sapporo, Seoul, Bangkok, Bali and Okinawa. The Company has also signed codeshare agreements with 13 airlines and 70 interline partners. The current operating fleet is made up of 34 Airbus aircraft, consisting of 29 passenger aircraft and 5 freighters. With an average age of around 4.6 years, Hong Kong Airlines operates one of the youngest fleets in the world. Hong Kong Airlines has been awarded the internationally acclaimed four-star rating from Skytrax since 2011. It was also the winner for Asia's Leading Inflight Service in World Travel Awards 2015.

For more information, please visit:

Official website: www.hkairlines.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hkairlines

Sina Weibo: weibo.com/hongkongairlines

WeChat and Instagram ID: hkairlines

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-airlines

For media enquiry, please contact Corporate Communications Department:

Tel: +852 3151 4667/ 6461 4382

Email: Email Contact




BEIJING, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wanda Hotels & Resorts has become the first Chinese hotel management company to export its luxury hotel brands overseas, following an agreement signed today in Shanghai with Mar Yapi to build Wanda Vista Istanbul. As the first brand marketed overseas by the Chinese hotel management group, Wanda Vista Istanbul is expected to open by the end of 2018.

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/471402/Wanda_Vista_Istanbul_Signing_Ceremony.jpg

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/471403/Wanda_Vista_Istanbul_Signing_Ceremony_group_photo.jpg

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/471404/Wanda_Vista_Istanbul.jpg

The project is funded by Mar Yapi, designed by the prestigious designer Philippe Starck. Located in a bustling business district featuring many office buildings, apartments and shopping malls, the new hotel is just a short stroll from the biggest shopping district in Istanbul, five-minute drive from Ataturk International Airport and 25 minutes away from the city center. Its 150 luxury guest rooms and suites will feature modern and local elements, complemented by Wanda's high-quality services, to offer unique experiences to local and international travelers.

"Wanda Vista Istanbul is more than just the first Wanda hotel to be opened overseas; it is also the first brand we have marketed overseas. It marks another significant step toward our goal of becoming a respected international luxury hotel company from China," said Qian Jin, president of Wanda Hotels & Resorts.

Munir Ozkok, chairman of the Turkish company, Mar Yapi, said, "We are delighted to be working together with Wanda Hotels & Resorts, who has a clear competitive edge among hotel brands. Among 50 major cities in China where Wanda hotels operate, more than 50% of them have achieved outstanding performance, being the lead in the market. As China and Turkey move toward closer economic cooperation, I am confident Wanda Vista Istanbul will successfully offer oriental services that delight guests not only from China but from many other countries globally."

By the end of 2016, the number of luxury hotels owned and operated by Wanda Hotels & Resorts had reached 104 in China. Also, the company has re-launched its own brands, including the ultra-luxury brand Wanda Reign, luxury brand Wanda Vista, deluxe brand Wanda Realm, and lifestyle hotel brand Wanda Jin. As China's largest luxury hotel company, Wanda Hotels & Resorts believes that a greater goodness in life is achieved by treating each other with great respect and sincerity. An established industrial leader in China, Wanda Hotels & Resorts works to spread a hospitality approach that is embedded in Chinese culture. Today, Wanda Hotels & Resorts has six international projects, including those in the Gold Coast, Sydney, Chicago, Los Angeles and London. These international hotels are under the same brand, Wanda Vista, positioned as a luxury hotel brand for distinguished guests who relish extraordinary services in oriental elegance that seamlessly blends with local culture. Wanda Hotels & Resorts believes that hotel brands deeply rooted in China's cultural legacy will achieve wide recognition among international markets and global travelers.

For more information or bookings, please visit http://www.wandahotels.com.




Trading Symbols

AIM: AGQ

FWB: I3A

24 February 2017

Panfilo Natera Exploration Update

Arian Silver Corporation ("Arian Silver" or the "Company") is pleased to publish its latest set of results from the surface mapping and sampling programme at its wholly owned La Africana project, as first announced on 23 January 2017.

Grab Sample ID Au

g/t Ag

g/t Pb

% Zn

% N299601 0.044 196 0.08 0.12 N299602 0.044 315 0.15 0.14 N299603 0.034 842 0.52 0.53 N299604 0.01 78.1 0.17 0.16 N299605 0.038 370 0.18 0.20 N299606 0.046 612 0.06 0.09 N299607 0.043 358 0.13 0.17 N299608 0.016 8.55 0.00 0.00 N299609 <0.005 1.42 0.00 0.00 N299610 0.158 31 1.99 0.01 N299611 0.065 281 4.87 0.47

These assay results support the findings reported in our press release of 23 January 2017, that the Africana vein contains significant zones of high-grade silver mineralisation over respectable widths. The Company's geologists will use this data to prioritise projects for potential development and to help identify optimum areas for future drilling with a view to delineating a compliant mineral resource.

The La Africana project is a "brownfield" site comprising the small-scale and past-producing Africana Mine, situated within Panfilo Natera which is an emerging mining district known to host several large silver and base metal deposits, approximately 50 kilometres south of the State capital, Zacatecas.

Arian Silver also reports that, further to the Company's press release dated 19 December 2016 regarding the Company's exclusivity agreement with Tierra Nuevo Mining Limited ("TNM") over the Noche Buena gold and silver tailings project in Mexico, the period of exclusivity has been extended by a further 60 days to 26 April 2017 at no additional cost whilst the final results of the metallurgical testwork are awaited and evaluated.

Jim Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Arian Silver commented: "We remain excited by the prospects of our existing portfolio of silver projects in Mexico and are committed to assessing the viability of their development. We are also keen to reach a definitive conclusion on the advancement of the Noche Buena tailings project as soon as possible once we have received the final test results. Meanwhile, we are working to identify new opportunities which we believe would add shareholder value, and we shall report on further progress in due course."

Arian Silver owns mineral concessions over approximately 1,500 hectares in the heart of the Zacatecas mining district, which includes the Company's wholly-owned San Celso project.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.

For further information please contact:

Arian Silver Corporation

Jim Williams, CEO

David Taylor, Company Secretary

Tel: +44 (0)20 7887 6599 Northland Capital Partners Limited

Gerry Beaney / David Hignell

Tel: +44 (0)203 861 6625

OR OR Beaufort Securities Limited

Jon Belliss

Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 8300 Yellow Jersey PR Limited

Charles Goodwin / Harriet Jackson

Tel: +44 (0)7544 275 882

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information". All statements, other than statements of historical fact that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are deemed forward-looking information.

This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company as well as certain assumptions. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realised or substantially realised, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company.

Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
OT (Oberthur Technologies), a leading global provider of embedded security software products, services and solutions, has successfully achieved the GSMA Security Accreditation Scheme certification (SAS-SM) for its eSIM subscription management solution for consumer devices at its European data center. OT thus becomes the first player worldwide to obtain this certification for the Consumer remote SIM provisioning (RSP) server also known as the SM-DP+ (Subscription Management Data Preparation).

With OT's eSIM subscription management solution, mobile operators can offer global connectivity services meeting the consumer market needs. They can remotely allocate their subscription credentials onto the devices, without any compromise on the security.

OT's subscription management solution accreditation complements the recent certification of OT's factory in Vitre, France with SAS UP v7.0 for the production of OT's eSIM called DakOTa. DakOTa offer addresses both:

the M2M market with DakOTa v3.1 1 , already selected for a worldwide deployment by an industrial OEM,

, already selected for a worldwide deployment by an industrial OEM, the consumer market with DakOTa 4.0, giving the possibility to consumers to manage their connectivity plans directly on their devices, in compliance with GSMA phase 2 specifications2

"Our state of the art datacenters are a key asset to operate and host business critical solutions for our customers. These certifications are yet another proof towards our clients that OT is fully committed to security and data protection aspects in the eSIM environment. GSMA accreditation for both eSIM production and the SM-DP+ capabilities of our solution confirms our legitimate position in the Consumer and IoT markets." said Viken Gazarian, Deputy Managing Director of Connected Device Makers business at OT.

1. compliant with GSMA M2M SGP.02 v3.1 specification

2. GSMA SGP.22 v2.0

ABOUT OBERTHUR TECHNOLOGIES

OT is a world leader in embedded digital security that protects you when you connect, authenticate or pay.

OT is strategically positioned in high growth markets and offers embedded security software solutions for "end-point" devices as well as associated remote management solutions to a huge portfolio of international clients, including banks and financial institutions, mobile operators, authorities and governments, as well as manufacturers of connected objects and equipment.

OT employs over 6 500 employees worldwide, including almost 700 R&D people. With a global footprint of 4 regional secure manufacturing hubs and 39 secure service centers, OT's international network serves clients in 169 countries. For more information: www.oberthur.com

Download The M World

All you need to know about the latest trends of the Mobility world, available on AppStore and Google Play

www.oberthur.com/themworld

FOLLOW US

Twitter

LinkedIn

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005249/en/

Contacts:

MEDIA

Elan-Edelman

Chloe Tisseuil, Tel.: +33 1 86 21 50 54

chloe.tisseuil@elanedelman.com
ZHOUSHAN, China, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Jinhai Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (JHI) held discussions with several top intelligent equipment providers regarding the introduction of intelligent shipbuilding production lines and software systems. As one of the world's few shipbuilders dedicated to large-scale investment, JHI will spend 500 million RMB on intelligent transformation. All related business contracts will be signed before June.

Last July, JHI announced an investment of 3 billion RMB in the construction of intelligent shipyard that is "sophisticated, light, flexible and beautiful" according to the requirement of "one workshop, one shipyard, one system". The intelligent upgrading will lay equal emphasis on hardware and software. On one hand, JHI will bring in several dozen units of intelligent manufacturing equipment, construct intelligent steel stockyard, segmented intelligent workshop, intelligent tube workshop, intelligent coating workshop and intelligent shipyard. On the other hand, ERP, MES and other information systems and software will be installed, giving "brain" to the hardware and linking the whole process from design, manufacturing, logistics, quality to on-site operations. The upgrading will lead to automatic, digital and intelligent shipbuilding.

According to a project manager of some equipment provider, to make the need of an industry leader of JHI, they have introduced advanced concepts of auto manufacturing and other industries and come up with a few practical solutions, e.g. intelligent sub-assembly line, intelligent plane line, intelligent tube processing line and intelligent stereoscopic warehouse, etc.

Suo Zhe, director of JHI Chief Engineer's Office, said, "according to the principle of 'overall planning, step-by-step implementation', we will primarily focus on the construction of automatic production lines and improve the capabilities of lean production and flexible manufacturing in the 1st phase. Meanwhile, the interface should be reserved for later use. The project is expected to be completed at the end of the year. In addition, the newest technology like double-curved-surface steel plate bending machine will be co-developed, which is meant to explore a path to intelligent upgrading that fits in with shipbuilding sector."
Copenhagen, 2017-02-24 11:36 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the Board of Directors of Per Aarsleff Holding A/S has discussed and approved the interim financial report for the first quarter of the financial year 2016/2017. The interim financial report has not been audited or reviewed by the company's auditor. First quarter results -- Operating profit (EBIT) came to DKK 103 million compared to DKK 123 million in the first quarter of last financial year. Results are in line with expectations. -- Consolidated revenue came to DKK 2,917 million compared to DKK 2,555 million in the first quarter of last financial year. -- Construction generated EBIT of DKK 62 million. -- Pipe Technologies generated EBIT of DKK 31 million. -- Ground Engineering generated EBIT of DKK 10 million. -- The Group's net interest-bearing debt came to DKK 205 million as at 31 December 2016. -- The equity ratio was 40.5% as at 31 December 2016. Outlook for the financial year 2016/2017 -- The outlook for the full financial year remains unchanged. EBIT is expected to amount to DKK 430 million. Revenue is expected to be approx. 5% up on the financial year 2015/2016. Further information: General Manager Ebbe Malte Iversen, tel. +45 8744 2222. Attachment: https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=617026

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.
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French shares retreated on Friday as concerns over European political risks and policy uncertainty in the U.S. helped fuel demand for safe-haven assets. Amid a lack of triggers, investors now await more clarity on President Donald Trump's proposals, when he delivers a speech to a joint session on Congress Tuesday. The benchmark CAC 40 was down 27 points or 0.56 percent at 4,863 in opening deals after closing 0.1 percent lower in the previous session. Vivendi shares slumped 5 percent. After a tough year in 2016, the media and music firm said it expects Canal Plus' turnaround efforts to bear fruit in 2017. Building materials firm Saint-Gobain fell 3 percent on posting muted growth in full year net income on lower revenue. Safran shares slid 1 percent. The company rejected criticism by a U.K. hedge fund over a proposed $9 billion offer for Zodiac Aerospace, saying the proposed deal is financially sound and consistent with its plans to create the world's third-largest aerospace supplier. In economic releases, French consumer sentiment remained stable in February, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed today, with the corresponding index holding steady at 100, in line with expectations. 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.
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks edged lower on Friday, with overnight declines in metals prices, French election worries, a slew of disappointing earnings updates and concerns about policy uncertainty in the U.S. weighing on markets. On a light day on the economic front, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed that French consumer sentiment remained stable in February. The corresponding index held steady at 100, in line with expectations. Another report from the British Bankers' Association revealed that U.K. mortgage approvals increased to a one-year high of 44,657 in January from 43,581 in the previous month. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.7 percent at 370.26 in late opening deals after declining 0.1 percent the previous day. The German DAX was tumbling 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 index was down 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was losing 0.6 percent. Saipem shares slumped 5.5 percent after the Italian oil services group warned of a tough year ahead. British lender Standard Chartered fell 5 percent after its annual profit missed analyst estimates. Royal Bank of Scotland Group fell over 3 percent as it posted a 7bn annual loss, hit by misconduct charges and restructuring costs. Vivendi shares tumbled 4.5 percent. After a tough year in 2016, the French media and music firm said it expects Canal Plus' turnaround efforts to bear fruit in 2017. Building materials firm Saint-Gobain fell almost 3 percent on posting muted growth in full year net income on lower revenue. German chemicals giant BASF lost over 3 percent. The company issued a cautious outlook for 2017 after reporting a rise in fourth-quarter profit adjusted for one-off items. On the positive side, International Cons Airlines Group rallied 2.5 percent. The British-Spanish multinational airline holding company announced a share buyback after posting 2016 operating profits in-line with forecasts. 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) -- 02/24/17 -- Highlights:

-- Measured and Indicated Resources of 7.34 million ounces at 1.44 g/t Au and Inferred Resources of 1.43 million ounces at 1.43 g/t Au, as at December 31, 2016 -- Mineral Resource Estimate includes updated constraining parameters, in line with best practice -- Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 4.82 million ounces at 1.57 g/t Au, post Nkran mining depletion of 270,471 ounces, representing no material change to the global reserve inventory. -- Increased exploration program in highly prospective belt expected to add additional ounces in 2017

Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (TSX: AKG)(NYSE MKT: AKG) today publishes updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates, as at 31 December 2016, for the Asanko Gold Mine ("AGM"), located in Ghana, West Africa, as part of its annual filings. A technical presentation is also available on the Asanko website at: www.asanko.com.

The updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates reflect depletion from the first two years of mining, the application of updated constraining parameters for resource modelling, and includes the three deposits discovered in 2016; Akwasiso, Nkran Extension and Adubiaso Extension, two additional pits at Esaase, as well as an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Nkran pit, which has been prepared by a second independent expert CSA Global ("CSA"), a leading mineral consulting group.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Resource Tonnes Grade Ounces Estimate (Measured & Indicated) (Mt) (g/t Au) (Moz) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nov 2014 DPP Resource (unconstrained pit shell) 144.26 1.71 7.94 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Depleted Dec 2016 DPP (with constraining parameters) 143.46 1.61 7.42 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Updated Dec 2016 MRE (with constraining parameters) 158.27 1.44 7.34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Variance between Depleted Dec 2016 DPP and Updated Dec 2016 MRE +10% -10% -1% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Reserve Tonnes Grade Ounces Estimate (Proven & Probable) (Mt) (g/t Au) (Moz) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nov 2014 DPP Reserve 97.10 1.68 5.24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dec 2016 DPP Reserves based on Depleted Resources 91.48 1.68 4.94 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dec 2016 Reserves based on Updated Resources 95.41 1.57 4.82 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Variance between Dec 2016 DPP Reserves (Depleted Resources) and Dec 2016 Reserves (Updated Resources) +4% -6% -2% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commenting on the announcement, Peter Breese, President and CEO, said, "Our global gold reserves have remained largely unchanged at 5 million ounces, supported by the successful 2016 near mine exploration program which added over 300,000 low cost ounces to the mineral inventory, offsetting mining depletion. We are very excited by the exploration potential that the AGM complex holds and anticipate adding more ounces to our resource base during 2017 from a considerable list of near mine high priority targets.

Our understanding of the complex Nkran mineralization continues to evolve as we mine deeper into the main ore zones. Although two respected independent experts have reached different conclusions regarding grades and tonnes of this complex ore body, the contained ounce profile remains very similar at a 0.5 g/t cut off. However, to be prudent, we have elected to use the more conservative CSA resource model for our corporate reporting, life of mine planning and future capital expenditure projects. As we start to develop and open up more pits, commencing with Dynamite Hill in H2 2017, the multi-pit nature of the AGM complex offers considerable flexibility and optionality through the life of the asset.

We are advancing with the Project 5M expansion, which will be funded from internal cash flows at current gold prices. Detailed engineering is progressing on schedule and all long lead items have been ordered. We expect to have the plant upgrade complete during H2 2017.

The updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate will now form the basis for a revised life of mine plan and multi-pit schedule, which is the final component of the Expansion DFS. Due to the complexity in planning a schedule for 11 different pits and the detailed design process, we now anticipate publishing the expansion feasibility study in Q2 2017. This will coincide with the completion of detailed engineering for the plant upgrade and the overland conveyor and an updated Control Budget Estimate for all our growth projects."

CSA Global Review

The new Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for Nkran is the outcome of a third party external audit carried out by CSA, which was commissioned by the Company in mid-2016. The scope of the review was for CSA to verify the modelling techniques applied by CJM Consulting ("CJM") to the original November 2014 Definitive Project Plan ("DPP) MRE (see press release dated November 13, 2014) and to verify the Company's grade control, mining, reconciliation methodology and the mine to metal accounting. The audit concluded that the MRE modelling methodology was appropriate for the style of mineralization at Nkran and that the grade control, mining, reconciliation methodology and the mine to metal accounting that was implemented at the mine was excellent.

As part of the audit, CSA also reviewed the geological modelling of Nkran, given the complex nature of the structural controls associated with the Nkran mineralization. The Nkran pit gold mineralization is controlled by a combination of sandstone rock units enclosed by steep shear structures and a later cross cutting and shallow dipping vein style of mineralization. The challenge for mineral resource estimation is the integration of the gold mineralization associated with both of these structures. CSA concurred with the Company's geological interpretation and acknowledge the existence of the flat structures but downplay the contribution of gold from them into the block model.

CSA compiled the MRE for Nkran and Dynamite Hill, and reviewed the Esaase Main pit MRE and concurred with the CJM estimate. CJM compiled the MRE for all the other deposits.

Mineral Resource Estimate

The MRE has been updated as at December 31, 2016 following two years of mining operations at the Nkran pit, infill drilling at the Dynamite Hill deposit, and the discovery and evaluation of the Akwasiso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension deposits.

In line with best practice, the AGM MRE has also been updated from previous Mineral Resources (using a 0.3 g/t Au waste determination and a 0.8 g/t Au cut-off) to Mineral Resources above a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au within a US$2,000 per ounce gold pit shell. The resultant resource estimate is fully compliant with the intent of the CIM 2014 Code (Canada) with respect to stating mineral resources that have a reasonable prospect of eventual economic extraction.

With regards to Nkran, the reserve has been depleted by 270,471 ounces during 2015 and 2016 due to mining operations through to the end of December 2016. In addition, the application of the constraining parameters has resulted in a further 352,000 ounce reduction when compared to the original unconstrained November 2014 DPP MRE. The MRE includes the grade control drilling data on a 10m x 5m grid below the December 31, 2016 pit floor.

Analysis was conducted using uniform conditioning, indicated kriging and ordinary kriging to align the mineral resource estimate methodology to reflect the reconciliation of production during 2016. The sensitivity of the indicated kriging method for ore zone delineation was analyzed in detail and the method confirmed to be appropriate for the Nkran style of mineralization.

During Q4 2016, additional infill drilling was completed at Dynamite Hill, which increased the resource estimate from 110,000 ounces to 180,000 ounces.

The Phase 1 drilling program at the Akwasiso deposit has provided the basis for an initial MRE. The Company is currently completing a second phase of drilling (4,800 metres) which aims to upgrade the considerable inferred resource at this pit to an Indicated classification. The results are expected in H2 2017.

There have been other incremental increases in the satellite pits due to an adjustment of Whittle input parameters such as an improved fuel price, mining and processing costs, process plant throughput and gold recovery rates.

Table 1: Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Resource Estimate (as at December 31, 2016)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deposit Measured Indicated Total (M&I) --------------------- Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Esaase Main 26.64 1.37 1.17 65.50 1.37 2.89 92.14 1.37 4.06 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nkran 5.58 1.67 0.30 34.71 1.68 1.87 40.29 1.68 2.17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abore 2.30 1.39 0.10 4.68 1.33 0.20 6.98 1.35 0.30 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dynamite Hill - - - 3.80 1.45 0.18 3.80 1.45 0.18 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Akwasiso - - - 4.61 1.20 0.18 4.61 1.20 0.18 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adubiaso 0.83 2.35 0.06 1.57 1.89 0.10 2.40 2.05 0.16 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Esaase D 0.97 1.09 0.03 1.35 1.39 0.06 2.33 1.26 0.09 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Esaase B 0.87 0.99 0.03 2.21 0.76 0.05 3.08 0.82 0.08 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asuadai - - - 1.97 1.21 0.08 1.97 1.21 0.08 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adubiaso Ext. 0.16 1.94 0.01 0.31 1.59 0.02 0.47 1.71 0.03 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nkran Ext. - - - 0.20 2.61 0.02 0.20 2.61 0.02 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 37.36 1.42 1.71 120.91 1.45 5.63 158.27 1.44 7.34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: All pits are at a cut-off of 0.5g/t Au within a US$2,000 per ounce of gold pit shell. Nkran includes depletion of 5.08Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 270,471 ounces. All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding. CSA Global undertook the MRE for Nkran and Dynamite Hill and reviewed the Esaase Main pit. CJM undertook and completed updates to the MRE on Abore, Asuadai, Esaase B and D zones, Akwasiso, Adubiaso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension.

Table 2: Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Resource Estimate (as at December 31, 2016)

------------------------------------------ Deposit Inferred --------------------------- Mt g/t Au Moz ------------------------------------------ Esaase Main 0.95 1.37 0.04 ------------------------------------------ Nkran 1.69 1.77 0.10 ------------------------------------------ Abore 5.37 1.44 0.25 ------------------------------------------ Dynamite Hill 1.19 1.43 0.05 ------------------------------------------ Akwasiso 3.85 1.56 0.19 ------------------------------------------ Adubiaso 0.30 1.98 0.02 ------------------------------------------ Esaase D 1.17 1.24 0.05 ------------------------------------------ Esaase B 2.46 0.84 0.07 ------------------------------------------ Asuadai 0.92 1.61 0.05 ------------------------------------------ Adubiaso Ext. 0.24 2.55 0.02 ------------------------------------------ Nkran Ext. 0.02 1.12 0.00 ------------------------------------------ Total 18.17 1.43 0.83 ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Notes: All pits are at a cut-off of 0.5g/t Au within a US$2,000 per ounce of gold pit shell. Nkran includes mining depletion 5.08Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 270,471 ounces. All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding. CSA Global undertook the MRE for Nkran and Dynamite Hill and reviewed the Esaase Main pit. CJM undertook and completed updates to the MRE on Abore, Asuadai, Esaase B and D zones, Akwasiso, Adubiaso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension.

Mineral Reserve Estimate

The Mineral Reserve Estimate ("MRev") update process commenced with the depletion of the 2014 November DPP MRev to the Nkran pit bottom, as at December 31, 2016. Since the re-commencement of mining operations at the Nkran pit in 2015, 5.08 million tonnes ("Mt") of ore have been mined at a grade average of 1.66 g/t Au for a total of 270,471 ounces of gold.

The mining depletion of the 2014 November DPP MRev reduced the reserve ounces in Nkran from 2.2Moz to 1.9Moz over the last two years, resulting in a 14% reduction in the Nkran reserve base, although this translated to only a 6% reduction in global DPP reserves.

The reserves for Nkran have been updated based on the more conservative CSA resource model, which has impacted the size and strip ratio of the final Nkran pit. This updated MRev reduced the Nkran ounces from 1.9Moz to 1.47Moz, a reduction of 23%. However, with the addition of new reserves for Akwasiso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension, as well as the reserves for Dynamite Hill, Abore and Asuadai, the global Mineral Reserves for the AGM complex have only been reduced by 2%.

Table 3: Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Reserve Estimate (as at December 31, 2016)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deposit Proven Probable Total --------------------------------------------------------------- Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Esaase Main 22.8 1.40 1.03 36.5 1.38 1.62 59.39 1.39 2.65 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nkran 3.96 1.98 0.25 18.57 2.04 1.22 22.53 2.03 1.47 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abore 1.35 1.62 0.07 1.77 1.70 0.01 3.12 1.66 0.17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adubiaso 0.96 2.19 0.07 1.23 1.92 0.08 2.19 2.04 0.14 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dynamite Hill 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.62 1.60 0.13 2.62 1.60 0.13 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Akwasiso 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.03 1.38 0.13 3.03 1.38 0.13 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asuadai 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.08 1.23 0.04 1.08 1.23 0.04 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nkran Ext. 0.24 1.98 0.02 0.26 1.79 0.01 0.50 1.88 0.03 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Esaase D 0.20 1.05 0.01 0.40 1.70 0.02 0.62 1.50 0.03 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adubiaso Ext. 0.11 2.26 0.01 0.10 1.68 0.01 0.22 1.98 0.01 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Esaase B 0.10 0.83 0.00 0.00 0.92 0.00 0.13 0.85 0.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 29.8 1.52 1.45 65.6 1.60 3.37 95.41 1.57 4.82 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: Nkran includes depletion since February 2015 of 5.08Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 270,471 ounces. Reserves excludes the ROM stockpile of 1.52Mt at 1.36 g/t Au for 66,669 ounces and the marginal stockpile of 0.43Mt at 0.67 g/t Au for 9,121 ounces. All pits are at a cut-off of 0.8g/t Au, except Esaase Main, Esaase B and D zones, which are at a cut-off of 0.6g/t Au. Reserves estimated at a US$1,300/oz gold price. All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding. Only Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources were converted to Mineral Reserves.

Expansion DFS Update

The updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate will now form the basis for a revised life of mine plan and multi-pit schedule, which is the final component of the Expansion Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS"). The detailed designs on all the AGM pits are being updated using current actual mining costs, improved diesel prices and improved gold recovery rates. Integral to the redesign and multi-pit schedule is a cut-off grade optimization that is also being run to confirm the best NPV outcomes for each pit.Due to the complexity in planning and scheduling 11 different pits and the associated optimization processes, the Company now expects to publish the Expansion DFS in Q2 2017.

Front End Engineering and Design ("FEED") for the plant upgrade and the overland conveyor from Esaase is progressing well and on schedule for completion in Q2 2017. Orders have been placed on all long lead items and the plant upgrade to increase throughput to 5Mtpa is anticipated to be installed and completed in H2 2017. The Company is well positioned to finance Project 5M from internal cash flow at US$1,250/oz gold price.

Qualified Person Statements

Malcolm Titley (CSA Global Principal Geologist; AIG), is the Qualified Person for the sign off of the Nkran and Dynamite Hill MRE. Charles J. Muller, (B.Sc. Geology (Hons), PR.Sci.Nat., MGSSA, a Director of CJM Consulting Pty Ltd. ("CJM") of Johannesburg, South Africa) is the Qualified Person for the sign off of the Esaase Main, Esaase B and D zones, Abore, Adubiaso, Adubiaso Extension, Asuadai, Akwasiso and Nkran Extension MRE. The MREv are reported in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 requirements and the South African Code of Reporting of Exploration Results (SAMREC), which is consistent with the CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines in Canada. Mr Titley and Mr. Muller have reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release. Phil Bentley, Asanko Executive: Geology and Resources (Pr.Sci.Nat.) is the Asanko Qualified Person under NI 43-101 guidelines who assumes technical responsibility for Mineral Resource contents of this news release.

The Reserve Statements were all prepared by Thomas Obiri-Yeboah, B.Sc. Mining Engineering (Hons), PR.Eng, a Senior Mining Engineer of DRA Mining (Pty) Ltd. ("DRA") of Johannesburg, South Africa. The reserve is reported in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 requirements, which is consistent with the CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines in Canada. Frederik Fourie, Asanko Senior Mine Engineer (Pr.Eng.) is the Asanko Qualified Person under NI 43-101 who assumes responsibility for the Mineral Reserve contents of this news release. Mr. Obiri-Yeboah has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

About Asanko Gold Inc.

Asanko's vision is to become a mid-tier gold mining company that maximizes value for all its stakeholders. The Company's flagship project is the multi-million ounce Asanko Gold Mine located in Ghana, West Africa. Asanko is managed by highly skilled and successful technical, operational and financial professionals. The Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighboring communities.

Forward-Looking and other Cautionary Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address estimated resource quantities, grades and contained metals, possible future mining, exploration and development activities, are forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes the forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices for metals, the conclusions of detailed feasibility and technical analyses, the timely renewal of key permits, lower than expected grades and quantities of resources, mining rates and recovery rates and the lack of availability of necessary capital, which may not be available to the Company on terms acceptable to it or at all. The Company is subject to the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and business conditions. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's annual Form 20-F filing with the United States Securities Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

Neither Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note to US Investors Regarding Mineral Reporting Standards:

Asanko has prepared its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Terms relating to Mineral Resources in this press release are defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects under the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. The Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. Asanko uses certain terms, such as, "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources", "Inferred Mineral Resources" and "Probable Mineral Reserves", that the SEC does not recognize (these terms may be used in this press release and are included in the public filings of Asanko which have been filed with securities commissions or similar authorities in Canada).

Contacts:

Alex Buck

Manager, Investor and Media Relations

Toll-Free (N. America): 1-855-246-7341

+44-7932-740-452

alex.buck@asanko.com



Wayne Drier

Executive, Corporate Development

+1-778-729-0614

wayne.drier@asanko.com



www.asanko.com

info@asanko.com




DENVER, COLORADO -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- TrackX Holdings Inc. (TSX VENTURE: TKX) ("TrackX" or the "Company"), announced today its partnership with Barcoding, Inc. ("Barcoding"), the leader in supply chain efficiency, accuracy and connectivity. With thousands of customers and more than 20 years of experience in the delivery of auto-id and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions, Barcoding focuses on the design, deployment and support of fully integrated enterprise asset tracking solutions. The core markets serviced by Barcoding include retail, distribution, manufacturing, healthcare and logistics for an extensive Fortune 500 company customer base.

Barcoding is a premier partner with the most prominent providers of unique item level tracking, and offers enterprise mobility and deployment management services to its thousands of customers throughout North America. With customers in the same industries, Barcoding will expedite TrackX implementations to its large customer base while presenting new opportunities beneficial for both companies.

Jay Steinmetz, CEO of Barcoding, Inc., said, "The demand for cloud-based, enterprise-scalable asset tracking and inventory management solutions is increasing at a rapid rate. Through our TrackX partnership, Barcoding is able to expand our service offerings with solutions to address this demand and deliver significant value to our customers. TrackX will expand upon its implementation capacity and be in a position to accelerate deployments across a growing number of Fortune 500 customers by tapping into the resources and capability provided by Barcoding."

"Barcoding has acute knowledge in the utilization of scanning and IIoT solutions which incorporate auto-id technologies such as RFID, GPS and the emerging world of sensors," said Tim Harvie, president and CEO, TrackX. "As a value-added reseller and systems integrator, Barcoding has the expertise and geographical coverage to support the delivery of TrackX solutions across a growing customer base in the US and Canada. This mutually beneficial partnership provides a strong catalyst for TrackX revenue growth moving forward."

About Barcoding, Inc.

Barcoding, Inc. is a systems integrator specializing in the development, deployment, and management of enterprise-wide solutions that drive efficiency, accuracy, and connectivity. With dedicated practices in Supply Chain Architecture and Analytics, Automatic Identification (AIDC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Consumables, Software, and Professionals Services, Barcoding impacts tens of thousands of organizations in a wide range of industries by increasing revenue, reducing operational costs, and improving customer experiences. Founded in 1998, Barcoding is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, with offices across the United States. For more information, visit www.barcoding.com.

TrackX also announces that Robb James, former Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, has left the Company. The Company thanks Mr. James for his service and wishes him the best in his future endeavors.

About TrackX

TrackX, based in Denver, Colorado, is an enterprise Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) software platform provider leveraging multiple auto-ID technologies for the comprehensive management of physical assets. TrackX's Global Asset Management for the Enterprise (G.A.M.E.) enables the IIoT by providing unique item level tracking, workflow processing, event management, alerts and powerful analytics to deliver solutions across a growing number of industries. This platform creates unprecedented visibility and business intelligence of man-to-machine and machine-to-machine interaction. TrackX delivers significant value to a growing list of Fortune 500 companies and for customers in industries such as transportation, beverage, brewery, healthcare, hi-tech, hospitality, mining, agriculture, horticulture, manufacturing and government.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations 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.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements that address future plans, activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur including the Company's anticipated pipeline and value of current and customer deployments and future opportunities are the managements best estimates and cannot be guaranteed or relied upon and is forward-looking information. 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this news release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contacts:

TrackX Holdings Inc.

Knox Henderson

778-373-2003

khenderson@trackx.com



Sophic Capital

Sean Peasgood

416-565-2805

Sean@SophicCapital.com




MADRID, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Telepizza has entered into a binding agreement to acquire " Pizza Blitz " , the first pizza delivery brand in Switzerland

The acquisition of 10 additional stores will bring the total number owned by Telepizz a globally to 1,352

Telepizza continues to invest and grow internationally, through company stores, JVC and master franchisees

Telepizza, the world's largest pizza delivery company outside of the USA, is delighted to announce its acquisition of "Pizza Blitz", Switzerland's original pizza delivery brand.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150317/735407-a )



The additional 10 stores bring Telepizza's global network to an impressive 1,352 stores, supporting the brand's aggressive growth plans which aim to triple market share over the next 3 years.

Telepizza CEO and Chairman, Pablo Juantegui Azpilicueta, comments, 'At Telepizza, we are proud of introducing our brand in new markets. For us, Switzerland represents an exciting step for the brand. We have taken into account Swiss people's distinctive features for adapting our recipes to their taste, always keeping our brand essence: the secret is in dough.'

President of International, Giorgio Minardi, comments, 'We are delighted with this new acquisition as it marks another step towards achieving our ambitious expansion plans. Switzerland is an important market for us; we know our outstanding customer service and excellent product quality will appeal to Swiss consumers.'

Telepizza currently operates in more than 15 countries and recently posted 506 million in chain sales and 63.4 million in EBITDA. With ambition for further business growth through ongoing investment, Telepizza is continuously looking for potential JVC and master franchisees that seek to join this incredible opportunity.

Note to Editors

Telepizza is the largest non-U.S.-based pizza delivery company in the world by number of stores. Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, Telepizza operates in more than 15 countries through a network of own stores, franchisees and master franchisees, with 1,342 stores globally, including 456 own stores (34%) and 886 franchised and master franchised stores (66%) as of 30 September, 2016.

Including our U.S.-based competitors, we are the fourth largest global player in pizza delivery in terms of number of stores. We are the market leader in our core markets by number of stores (number one in Spain, Portugal, Chile and Colombia and number two in Poland).

The total sales within our network, including own stores, franchisees and master franchisees, are recorded as chain sales, which amounted to 506 million in the twelve months ended 30 September 2016, with an underlying EBITDA of 63.4 million over the same period.

http://www.telepizza.com

Miguel Justribo

Telepizza - +34-91-6576200

prensa.telepizza@telepizza.com


GOTEBORG, Sweden, Feb 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Aktiebolaget SKF will be held at SKF Kristinedal, Byfogdegatan 4, Gothenburg, Sweden, at 13.00 on Wednesday, 29 March 2017. The doors are open from 11.00. Please note that refreshments will be served, prior to the Annual General Meeting, between 11.00 and 12.30.

Annual General Meeting

For the right to participate at the meeting, shareholders must be recorded in the shareholders' register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB by Thursday,23March 2017 and must notify the company at the latest on the same day by letter to Computershare AB, "AGM 2017 of AB SKF", Box 610, SE-182 16 Danderyd, Sweden, or via the company's website www.skf.com, or by phone +463133725 50 (between 09.00 and 16.00). When notifying the company, preferably in writing, this should include details of name, address, telephone number, registered shareholding and number of advisors, if any. Where representation is being made by proxy, the original of the proxy form shall be sent to the company before the annual general meeting. Shareholders whose shares are registered in the name of a trustee must have the shares registered temporarily in their own name in order to take part in the meeting. Any such re-registration for the purpose of establishing voting rights shall take place so that the shareholder is recorded in the shareholders' register by Thursday,23 March 2017. This means that the shareholder should give notice of his/her wish to be included in the shareholders' register to the trustee well in advance before that date.

Agenda

Opening of the Annual General Meeting Election of a Chairman for the meeting Drawing up and approval of the voting list Approval of agenda Election of persons to verify the minutes Consideration of whether the meeting has been duly convened Presentation of annual report and audit report as well as consolidated accounts and audit report for the Group Address by the President Matter of adoption of the income statement and balance sheet and consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet Resolution regarding distribution of profits Matter of discharge of the Board members and the President from liability Determination of number of Board members and deputy members Determination of fee for the Board of Directors Election of Board members and deputy Board members

14.1 Leif Ostling

14.2 Peter Grafoner

14.3 Lars Wedenborn

14.4 Baba Kalyani

14.5 Hock Goh

14.6 Marie Bredberg

14.7 Nancy Gougarty

14.8 Alrik Danielson

14.9 Ronnie Leten

14.10 Barb Samardzich Election of Chairman of the Board of Directors Determination of fee for the auditors Election of auditors and deputy auditors The Board of Directors' proposal for a resolution on principles of remuneration for Group Management The Board of Directors' proposal for a resolution on SKF's Performance Share Programme 2017 Resolution regarding Nomination Committee

Proposal under item 10

The Board of Directors proposes a dividend for the financial year 2016 of SEK 5.50 per share. It is proposed that shareholders with holdings recorded on Friday,31 March 2017 be entitled to receive the proposed dividend. Subject to resolution by the Annual General Meeting in accordance with this proposal, it is expected that Euroclear will distribute the dividend on Wednesday, 5 April2017.

Proposals under items 2, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17

The Nomination Committee formed according to a resolution of the Annual General Meeting 2016 to represent all shareholders of the company consists of, besides the Chairman of the Board of Directors, representatives of FAM, Alecta, Skandia and AFA Insurance, shareholders who together represent close to 40% of the votes of the total number of company shares. The Nomination Committee has informed the company about the following proposal:

that Leif Ostling is elected Chairman of the Annual General Meeting;

that the Board of Directors shall consist of ten members and no deputy members;

that the Board of Directors for the period up to the end of the next Annual General Meeting, receive a fee according to the following:

a) a firm allotment of SEK 7,512,000 to be distributed with SEK 2,008,000 to the Chairman of the Board of Directors and SEK 688,000 to each of the other Board members elected by the Annual General Meeting and not employed by the company; and

b) an allotment for committee work to be distributed with SEK 233,000 to the chairman of the Audit Committee, with SEK 166,000 to each of the other members of the Audit Committee, with SEK 133,000 to the chairman of the Remuneration Committee and with SEK 106,000 to each of the other members of the Remuneration Committee.

A prerequisite for obtaining an allotment is that the Board member is elected by the Annual General Meeting and not employed by the company.

re-election of the Board members Leif Ostling, Peter Grafoner, Lars Wedenborn, Baba Kalyani, Hock Goh, Marie Bredberg , Nancy Gougarty and Alrik Danielson . It is proposed that Ronnie Leten and Barb Samardzich are to be newly elected. Leif Ostling is proposed to be the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Ronnie Leten has a Master of Science in Applied Economics from the University of Hasselt, Belgium . He is since 2009 President and CEO of Atlas Copco and has experience from several leading positions within the Atlas Copco Group 1997-2009 and 1985-1995. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of AB Electrolux. Barb Samardzich has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida , a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from Wayne State University . She has experience from several management positions within Ford Motor Company 1990-2016. She is also a Board member of Adient plc, Velodyne LidDAR and MTS Systems (a presentation of the proposed board can be found at the company's website www.skf.com). Lena Treschow Torell and Joe Loughrey have declined re-election; and

, and . It is proposed that Ronnie Leten and are to be newly elected. Leif Ostling is proposed to be the Chairman of the Board of Directors. has a Master of Science in Applied Economics from the University of Hasselt, . He is since 2009 President and CEO of Atlas Copco and has experience from several leading positions within the Atlas Copco Group 1997-2009 and 1985-1995. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of AB Electrolux. has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the , a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from . She has experience from several management positions within Ford Motor Company 1990-2016. She is also a Board member of Adient plc, Velodyne LidDAR and MTS Systems (a presentation of the proposed board can be found at the company's website www.skf.com). and have declined re-election; and that the auditor during the term of office is paid for work performed according to approved invoice; and

re-election of PWC as auditors until the close of the Annual General Meeting 2021 in accordance with the recommendation of the Audit Committee.

Proposal under item 18

The Board of Directors has decided to submit the following principles of remuneration for SKF's Group Management to the Annual General Meeting.

Group Management is defined as the President and the other members of the management team.

The Board of Directors' proposal is that the remuneration of Group Management members shall be based on market competitive conditions and at the same time support the shareholders' best interests. The total remuneration package for a Group Management member shall primarily consist of fixed salary, variable salary, performance shares, pension benefits, conditions for notice of termination and severance pay, and other benefits such as a company car. The objective of the principles of remuneration is to ensure that the SKF Group can attract and retain the best people in order to support the SKF Group's mission and business strategy.

The fixed salary shall be at a market competitive level. Competence, responsibility and performance shall be taken into account when the fixed salary is established.

The variable salary runs according to a performance-based program and the maximum variable salary is capped at a certain percentage of the fixed annual salary varying between 40 and 70%.

The Board of Directors proposes that a decision be taken at the Annual General Meeting on SKF's Performance Share Programme 2017. The programme is proposed to cover not more than 225 senior managers and key employees in the SKF Group with an opportunity to be allotted, free of charge, SKF B shares. (See further item 19 below.)

SKF strives to establish pension plans based on defined contribution models.

A Group Management member may terminate his/her employment by giving six months' notice. In the event of termination of employment at the request of the company, employment shall according to the agreement cease immediately. A severance payment related to the number of years' service shall, however, in this case be paid out, provided that it shall always be maximized to two years' fixed salary.

The Board of Directors also proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves to authorize the Board of Directors to, in certain cases, deviate from the principles of remuneration decided by the Annual General Meeting.

Proposal under item 19

Background

At the Annual General Meeting in 2008 the SKF Group introduced a long-term performance share programme for senior managers and key employees (SKF's Performance Share Programme 2008). Since 2008 the Annual General Meeting has resolved each year upon a performance share programme. The terms and conditions of SKF's Performance Share Programme 2017 are the same as for SKF's Performance Share Programme 2016 that was resolved at the Annual General Meeting 2016.

SKF's Performance Share Programme 2017

The Board proposes, in order to continue to link the long-term interests of the participants and the shareholders, that a decision be taken at the Annual General Meeting 2017 on SKF's Performance Share Programme 2017.

The programme is proposed to cover not more than 225 senior managers and key employees in the SKF Group with an opportunity to be allotted, free of charge, SKF B shares in accordance with the following principal terms and guidelines.

Under the programme, not more than in total 1,000,000 SKF B shares may be allotted to not more than 225 senior managers and key employees in the Group. The number of shares that may be allotted must be related to the degree of achievement of the Total Value Added (TVA) target level, as defined by the Board, for the TVA development for the financial years 2017-2019 compared to the financial year 2016. TVA is a simplified, economic value-added model promoting greater operating profit, capital efficiency and profitable growth. TVA is the operating profit, less the pre-tax cost of capital. After the expiry of the financial year 2019 a comparison is made between the average TVA for the financial years 2017-2019 and TVA for the financial year 2016. The TVA change is expressed as a percentage.

The allocation of shares is based on the level of TVA increase. In order for allocation of shares to take place the TVA increase must exceed a certain minimum level (the threshold level). In addition to the threshold level a target level is set. Maximum allotment is awarded if the target level is reached or exceeded.

Provided that the TVA increase reaches the target level, the participants of the programme may be allotted the following maximum number of shares per person within the various key groups:

CEO and President - 30,000 shares

Other members of Group Management - 13,000 shares

Managers of large business units and similar - 4,500 shares

Other senior managers - 3,000 shares

Other key persons - 1,250 shares

If the TVA increase exceeds the threshold level for allotment of shares but the final allotment is below 5% of the target level, payment will be made in cash instead of shares, whereupon the amount of the cash payment shall correspond to the value of the shares calculated on the basis of the closing price for SKF's B share the day before settlement.

Allotment of shares normally requires that the persons covered by the programme are employed in the SKF Group during the entire calculation period. If all the conditions included in SKF's Performance Share Programme 2017 are met, allotment of shares shall be made free of charge following the expiry of the three year calculation period, i.e. during 2020.

Before the number of shares to be allotted is finally determined, the Board shall examine whether the allotment is reasonable considering SKF's financial results and position, the conditions on the stock market as well as other circumstances, and if not, as determined by the Board, reduce the number of shares to be awarded to the lower number of shares deemed appropriate by the Board.

The Board is furthermore entitled to introduce an alternative incentive solution for employees in countries where participation in SKF's Performance Share Programme 2017 is not appropriate. Such alternative incentive solution shall, as far as practicable, be formulated employing the same conditions as SKF's Performance Share Programme 2017.

The company has 455,351,068 shares in issue as per 31 January 2017. In order to comply with the obligations of SKF's Performance Share Programme 2017, a maximum number of 1,000,000 B shares are required, corresponding to approximately 0.2% of the total number of outstanding shares.

Assuming maximum allocation under the Performance Share Programme 2017 and a share price of SEK 170, the cost, including social security cost, is estimated at approximately MSEK 204. On the basis of a share price of SEK 215, the cost, including social security cost, is estimated at approximately MSEK 258. In addition the administrative costs are estimated at approximately MSEK 2.

The Board does not propose for the time being to take any action to hedge the SKF Group's obligations under the programme. Delivery of shares under the programme shall not take place until 2020.

Majority requirements

A valid resolution in respect of the Board of Directors' proposal at the Annual General Meeting requires that the resolution be supported by shareholders with more than half of the votes cast or, in the event of a tied vote, through the Chairman exercising his casting vote.

Proposal under item 20

The Nomination Committee has informed the company that it will propose to the Annual General Meeting to resolve:

that the company shall have a Nomination Committee formed by one representative of each one of the four major shareholders with regard to the number of votes held as well as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. When constituting the Nomination Committee, the shareholdings on the last banking day in August 2017 will determine which shareholders are the largest with regard to the number of votes held. The names of the four shareholder representatives will be published as soon as they have been elected, however not later than six months before the Annual General Meeting in 2018. The Nomination Committee shall remain in office until a new Nomination Committee has been appointed; in the event that the shareholder the member represents would no longer be one of the four major shareholders with regard to the number of votes held, such member, if the Nomination Committee so deems appropriate, may resign and a representative of the shareholder next in turn size-wise with regard to the number of votes held be offered the opportunity of being elected in his/her place;



and in the event that a shareholder representative no longer represents the shareholder, the shareholder is asked to elect a new representative to become a member of the Nomination Committee; that the Nomination Committee, if the Nomination Committee so deems appropriate, may offer the fifth largest shareholder to elect a member of the Nomination Committee and thereby increase the Nomination Committee by one additional shareholder representative; that the Nomination Committee is to furnish proposals on the following matters to be presented to, and resolved by, the Annual General Meeting in 2018:

a) proposal for Chairman of the Annual General Meeting

b) proposal for Board of Directors

c) proposal for Chairman of the Board of Directors

d) proposal for fee to the Board of Directors

e) proposal for a Nomination Committee ahead of the Annual General Meeting of 2019; and that the Nomination Committee, when performing its duties, will fulfil the tasks that rest upon the Nomination Committee under the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance, among other things to supply the company with certain information in order to enable the company to fulfil its information obligation under the code.

Number of shares and votes, and documentation

When this notice is issued, the total number of shares in the company are 455,351,068, represented by 36,298,533 series A shares and 419,052,535 series B shares, with a total number of votes of 78,203,787. The company holds no own shares.

The Board of Directors' complete proposal according to item 18 and 19 of the agenda and the Nomination Committee's reasoned statement are available at the company and at the company's homepage, www.skf.com, and will be sent to shareholders who request this and state their address.

Information at the Annual General Meeting, etc.

The Board of Directors and the President shall, upon request by any shareholder and where the Board of Directors believes that it may take place without significant harm to the company, provide information in respect of any circumstances which may affect the assessment of a matter on the agenda, any circumstances which may affect the assessment of the company's or a subsidiary's financial position and the company's relationship to other group companies. Anyone who wishes to dispatch questions in advance may do so to AB SKF, Att. General Counsel, SE-415 50 Gothenburg, Sweden, or by e-mail: chairman@skf.com.

SKF's web-based financial report in English will be made public on 7 March 2017.

Proxy forms will be available at the company's homepage, www.skf.com, and may also be requested by letter to Computershare AB, "AGM 2017 of AB SKF", Box 610, SE-182 16 Danderyd, Sweden or by phone +46 31 337 25 50.

Aktiebolaget SKF

(publ)

The Board of Directors

The information in this press release is information which AB SKF is required to disclose under the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014. The information was provided by the above contact persons for publication on 24 February 2017 at 13:00 CET.



Visit SKF's factory in Gamlestaden, Gothenburg

Shareholders are welcome to visit SKF's factory in Gamlestaden, Gothenburg, in connection with the Annual General Meeting, directly after the close of the Annual General Meeting, alternatively on 30 March 2017 at 09.00. Shareholders that wish to participate shall notify the requested visiting date, complete name and address to: SKF Sverige AB, Besoksservice HK3/3, 415 50 Gothenburg alternatively via email to: Lars.Werner@skf.com. Please note that the number of participants is limited.

SKF is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 17,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2016 were SEK 72 787 million and the number of employees was 44 868. www.skf.com

 SKF is a registered trademark of the SKF Group.

For further information, please contact:

Press Relations:

Theo Kjellberg,

Tel: +46 31-337-6576; +46-725-776-576;

E-mail: theo.kjellberg@skf.com

Investor Relations:

Patrik Stenberg,

Tel: +46-31-337-2104; +46-705-472-104;

E-mail: patrik.stenberg@skf.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/skf/r/notice-of-annual-general-meeting,c2199020

The following files are available for download:
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Bank of Greece forecast robust positive economic growth for 2017 but cautioned that the realization of these positive development hinges upon the 'timely and effective' conclusion of the bailout review. At the 84th annual meeting of shareholders, central bank governor Yannis Stournarasat said it is reasonable to anticipate positive growth of 2.5 percent in 2017. The driving factors behind this outlook were an upward trend in private consumption, a further strengthening of business investment and a rise in foreign direct investment and improvement in goods exports. The performance of 2016 suggests that the projected recovery in 2017 is feasible under the strict condition that implementation of the programme will continue without delays, he noted. In 2016, GDP expanded 0.3 percent and the twin deficit namely, the primary fiscal deficit and the current account deficit, were eliminated, central bank chief said. Stournarasat said the primary surplus in 2016 is expected to turn out at around 2 percent of GDP, while the target for a primary surplus of 1.75 percent of GDP in 2017 appears to be within reach. 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.
COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Timberline Resources Corporation (OTCQB: TLRS)(TSX VENTURE: TBR) ("Timberline" or the "Company") has received approval from the Toronto Venture Exchange to extend the final closing date of Timberline's non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") until March 29, 2017. As announced on February 17, 2017, the Company has already closed the first tranche of the Offering by issuing 1,945,000 units ("Units") for a total of US$486,250.

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 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.

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:

Steven A. Osterberg

President and CEO

208-664-4859

info@timberline-resources.com




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) -- 02/24/17 -- CannaRoyalty Corp. (CSE: CRZ)(CSE: CRZ.CN)(OTCQB: CNNRF) ("CannaRoyalty") is pleased to announce that its strategic partner Natural Ventures PR, LLC ("Natural Ventures"), Puerto Rico's largest licensed cultivation and manufacturing medical cannabis company with an indoor growing facility of 100,000 square feet, has successfully harvested its first crop and has begun selling cannabis products to licensed medical dispensaries.

"The successful first harvest and sale is a significant milestone for Natural Ventures," said Edgar Montero, Chief Executive Officer of Natural Ventures. "With the support of our strategic partner CannaRoyalty, we are well positioned to lead the medical cannabis market in Puerto Rico. In step with our first harvest, we have already started generating revenue with the first bulk sale of US$150,000 of flower and CO2 oil. Additionally, our team has ordered 10,000 of CannaRoyalty's proprietary Dreamcatcher Labs cartridges and expects similar sales volumes monthly in the short term with a strong pipeline of demand thereafter."

CannaRoyalty previously announced its royalty financing arrangement with Natural Ventures on December 20, 2016. Natural Ventures continues to leverage CannaRoyalty's resources and brands by way of license agreements. In Q1 2017, Natural Ventures intends to sell its newly produced CO2 oil in CannaRoyalty's proprietary Dreamcatcher Labs vape cartridges and expand its commercial portfolio of products to include CannaRoyalty's skin care related brand, DermaLeaf.

"Edgar is building an impressive business in Puerto Rico, which is poised to be a robust medical cannabis market with estimates ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 patients. We look forward to supporting their further growth in Puerto Rico," said Marc Lustig, Chief Executive Officer of CannaRoyalty.

The U.S. island territory of Puerto Rico legalized medical cannabis for qualifying health conditions in 2015 and permits the use of medical cannabis derivatives only (e.g. capsules, extractions, lotions, patches, edibles, suppositories, flower and oils). Puerto Rico's population is estimated at 3.6 million and receives 2 million tourists annually.

About CannaRoyalty

CannaRoyalty is a fully integrated, active investor and operator in the legal cannabis sector. Our focus is to build and support a diversified portfolio of growth-ready assets in high-value segments of the cannabis sector, including research, consumer brands, devices and intellectual property. Our management team combines a hands-on understanding of the cannabis industry with seasoned financial know-how, assembling a platform of holdings via royalty agreements, equity interests, secured convertible debt and licensing agreements.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in CannaRoyalty's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward- looking statements.

Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements including the Company's expectations with respect to pursuing new opportunities and its future growth and other statements of fact.

Although CannaRoyalty has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under US Federal Laws; changes in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change.

There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. CannaRoyalty disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and CannaRoyalty does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.

Contacts:

CannaRoyalty Corp.

1-844-556-5070

InvestorRelations@cannaroyalty.com

www.cannaroyalty.com




LONDON (dpa-AFX) - AES Corp. (AES) and Alberta Investment Management Corp. or AIMCo, on behalf of certain of its clients, have agreed to acquire FTP Power LLC (sPower), the largest independent owner, operator and developer of utility scale solar assets in the United States, from Fir Tree Partners and its minority owners, for $853 million in cash, plus the assumption of $724 million in non-recourse debt. In connection with the transaction, AES and AIMCo will each directly and independently purchase and own slightly below 50% equity interests in sPower. sPower, a Fir Tree portfolio company that the firm capitalized in 2014, owns and operates utility and commercial distributed electrical generation systems across the United States. The sPower portfolio includes 1,274 MW of solar and wind projects in operation or under construction and a development pipeline of more than 10,000 MW located in the United States. The transaction is expected to close by the third quarter of 2017, subject to review or approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the expiration or termination of any waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The acquisition price is subject to customary post-signing purchase price adjustments. 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 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research report "Ablation Technologies Market by Product (Radiofrequency, Ultrasound (ESWL, HIFU), Laser, Electrical (Argon Plasma, IRE), Cryotherapy, Microwave, and Hydrothermal) & Application (Cardiovascular, Cancer, Pain Management, Orthopedics) - Global Forecasts to 2021" published by MarketsandMarkets, The market is expected to reach USD 4.73 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 10.9% from 2016 to 2021.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 76 market data Tables and 43 Figures spread through 197 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Ablation Technologies Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ablation-devices-market-791.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The report analyzes and studies the major market drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the world (RoW). A number of factors such as an increasing number of ablation procedures, growing prevalence of target diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases, the emergence of next-generation ablation products and technologies, increasing number of hospitals and ablation centers drive the growth of the market. On the other hand, factors such as reuse and reprocessing of devices in developing countries and healthcare cost-containment measures may restrict the growth of the market.

Inquiry Details: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=791

On the basis of type, the Ablation Technologies Market is categorized into laser/light, radiofrequency, ultrasound, electrical, cryoablation, microwave, and hydrothermal ablation technology. The radiofrequency ablation segment is estimated to command the largest share of the market in 2016, due to lower cost of radiofrequency ablation procedures than other ablation techniques.

Based on product, the market is classified into seven major segments, namely, light/laser ablators, radiofrequency ablators, electrical ablators, ultrasound ablators, microwave ablators, cryoablation devices, and hydrothermal ablators. The light/laser ablators segment is further classified into excimer laser ablators and cold laser ablators. The radiofrequency ablators market is categorized into temperature-controlled RF ablators, fluid-cooled RF ablators, and robotic catheter manipulation systems. Similarly, the electrical ablators market is categorized into argon plasma/beam coagulators and irreversible electroporation ablators. The ultrasound ablators segment includes high-intensity focused ultrasound ablators, magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound ablators, ultrasonic surgical ablation systems, and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy systems. Similarly, the cryoablation devices segment is categorized into three subsegments, namely tissue contact probe ablators, tissue spray probe ablators, and epidermal & subcutaneous cryoablation systems. The microwave ablators segment is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2021 due to advantages offered by it over other ablation technologies.

Download PDF Brochure: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=791

By application, the Ablation Technologies Market is categorized into cardiovascular disease, pain management, cancer, ophthalmology, cosmetic surgery, gynecology, urology, orthopedics, and others. The cardiovascular disease segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the global market in 2016 owing to the rising incidence of atrial fibrillation across the globe.

As of 2016, North America holds the largest share of the market, followed by Europe. However, the Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2021. A number of factors including growing popularity of minimally invasive surgeries, government efforts to increase population access for elective surgeries, rising focus of global players, large population base and improving healthcare infrastructure in the region are stimulating the growth of the market in the Asia-Pacific region.

The major players in the Ablation Technologies Market are Medtronic plc (Ireland), Biosense Webster, Inc. (U.S.), St. Jude Medical, Inc. (U.S.), Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.), CONMED Corporation (U.S.), AngioDynamics, Inc. (U.S.), AtriCure, Inc. (U.S.), Smith & Nephew plc (U.K.), and Olympus Corporation (Japan).

Browse Related Reports:

Tumor Ablation Market by Technology (Radiofrequency, Microwave, Cryoablation, IRE, Ultrasound, Laser), Mode of Treatment (Surgical, Laparoscopic, Percutaneous), Application (Liver, Lung, Kidney, Bone Metastasis, Prostate, Breast) - Global Forecast 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/tumor-ablation-market-142550258.html

Electrosurgery Market by Product (Generators, Instruments-Bipolar (Vessel Sealing, Forceps) & Monopolar (Pencils, Electrodes), Accessories, Argon & Smoke Management Systems), Type of Surgery (Orthopedic, Cosmetic, Gynecology) - Global Forecast to 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/electrosurgery-market-142006761.html

About MarketsandMarkets:

MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.

M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers.

We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository.



Contact:

Mr. Rohan

MarketsandMarkets

701 Pike Street

Suite 2175, Seattle,

WA 98101, United States

1-888-600-6441

Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com



Connect with us on LinkedIn @http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Kootenay Zinc Corp. (the "Company") (CSE: ZNK)(CSE: ZNK.CN) announces that its drilling contractor, FB Drilling of Cranbrook, B.C. has mobilized to the Sully Property and will re-commence the planned drilling program shortly.

Drill hole SY17-11 will continue to focus on the E1 Zone of the Project's EAST Anomaly Area. This hole will test the current model of gravity data as a stratabound feature constrained by the most recent detailed structural and stratigraphic trends determined from drilling in late 2016.

Mr. Brian Jones, principal of Excel Geophysics and advisor to the Company, stated: "Every additional gravity survey at Sully has confirmed the presence of significant size masses on the property; recent gravity modeling which evaluated the complex structural trends in the local area of E1 has also maintained the inferred size while more narrowly constraining location of the target."

The Company will also be conducting new downhole EM and Mag survey trials on holes SY16-10 and SY17-11, to expand geophysical definition of the targets and perhaps assist in defining their geometry. The project team has also developed plans for subsequent drill holes on E1 and on the larger E3 anomaly after SY17-11 is completed.

About the Company

Kootenay Zinc Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, British Columbia that is presently targeting the Sully Property. The Company is focused on discovering large-scale sedimentary-exhalative ("SEDEX") deposits.

The Sully Property comprises 1,375 hectares located approximately 30 kilometres east of Kimberley, B.C., and overlies rocks of similar age and origin as those which host the world-class Sullivan deposit, owned by Teck Resources Ltd. Sullivan was discovered in 1892, and is known to be one of the largest SEDEX deposits in the world. Over its 100-year lifetime, Sullivan produced approximately 150 million tonnes of ore, including approximately three hundred million ounces of silver, eight million tonnes of zinc and eight million tonnes of lead. The equivalent level of strata as at Sullivan and that formed on the margin of that same basin are present at the Sully Property. The Company cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Sully Property.

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by the Company's Project Manager, Paul Ransom, P.Geo., a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

David Schmidt

President and Chief Executive Officer

Forward Looking Information

This news release includes certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the Sully Property, comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, costs and timing of future exploration and development, requirements for additional capital, other statements relating to the financial and business prospects of the Company. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved), and variations of such words, and similar expressions are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statement are necessarily based upon a number of factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements express or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of zinc and other metals, anticipated costs and the ability to achieve goals. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events, level of activity, performance or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: (i) risks related to zinc, base metal and other commodity price fluctuations; (ii) risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration results; (iii) risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; (iv) that resource exploration and development is a speculative business; (v) that the Company may lose or abandon its property interests or may fail to receive necessary licences and permits; (vi) that environmental laws and regulations may become more onerous; (vii) that the Company may not be able to raise additional funds when necessary; (viii) the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; (ix) exploration and development risks, including risks related to accidents, equipment breakdowns, labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in exploration and development; (x) competition; (xi) the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of geologic reports or studies; (xii) the uncertainty of profitability based upon the Company's history of losses; (xiii) risks related to environmental regulation and liability; (xiv) risks associated with failure to maintain community acceptance, agreements and permissions (generally referred to as "social licence"); (xv) risks relating to obtaining and maintaining all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations relating to the continued exploration and development of the Company's projects; (xvi) risks related to the outcome of legal actions; (xvii) political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; (xix) risks related to current global financial conditions; and (xx) other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business strategy.

These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. There can be no assurance that planned exploration will be completed as proposed or at all, or that economic resources will be discovered or developed at the Sully Property. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, the loss of key directors, employees, advisors or consultants and fees charged by service providers. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof 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 the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Contacts:

Kootenay Zinc Corp.

604-833-6999




THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- White Metal Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE: WHM) ("White Metal" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will begin its work program on the Shebandowan gold property where recently White Metal acquired a 100% ownership on claims that were controlled by Benton Resources Inc. ("Benton") (see press release dated December 16, 2016). The Benton claims lie directly south of the Company's 100%-owned Vanguard property located in the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt. The work program will consist of soil sampling over the old gold occurrences to expand known areas and also explore for new targets. This will be followed up by prospecting, mapping and drilling of favourable targets. The Shebandowan property is located approximately 20km east of the past producing Coldstream Mine which produced 102 million pounds of copper, 440,000 ounces of silver and 22,000 ounces of gold (Canadian Mines Handbook, 1968-69, p251). Also, to the west of the Shebandowan property is the Moss Lake gold mine which has a total resource (all categories) of 3.13 million ounces of gold (NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate - Moss Lake Deposit, May 2013, Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd.). In 2011, Benton completed a diamond drilling program on the Shebandowan property to test various rock and soil geochemistry and geophysical induced polarization (IP) anomalies for gold. The best results from the diamond drilling program were 19.5g/t Au over 0.80m in hole SH-11-003 and numerous intersections of 1 to 2 g/t Au over narrow intervals in SH-11-007 (see Benton PR dated June 7, 2011). The Shebandowan property borders the Company's 100%-owned Vanguard property which hosts two historical non 43-101 compliant resources known as the East Vanguard and West Vanguard properties. The East Vanguard property has a historical resource of 100,000 tons grading 1.8% Cu, 4.5% Zn, 6.8g/t Ag and 5g/t Au while the West Vanguard deposit contains 200,000 tons of 1.3% Cu, 1.5% Zn, and 8.62g/t Ag (Allegheny Mines Corporation, NR November 1997). A 1991 Noranda Inc. report indicated that the West Vanguard resource also contained 4-6 g/t Au. It should be noted that these historical resource estimates for the deposits were calculated prior to CIM National Instrument 43-101 guidelines and as such should only be considered from a historical point of view and not relied upon. A qualified person has not completed sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources.

The Company also would like to announce that work will commence on the southern portion of the Shebandowan property which is along strike approximately 10km west of the Shebandowan nickel-copper mine which was in production from 1972 to 1998 and produced 8.34 million tons of 2.0% nickel, 1.2% copper and 3.96g/t PGE plus gold (MNDM MDI52B09SE00003, June 12, 2007). This southern portion of the Shebandowan property is host to various copper, gold and silver occurrences such as Copper Island. The Copper Island trend is identified by an alteration zone that has been traced by geophysics for roughly 1.8 kilometers (MNDM Assessment File 53B09NW069). Of importance is an 800m long untested airborne electromagnetic conductor (EM) located along trend from the Copper Island Occurrence. Benton's 2011 diamond drilling program (hole SH-11-001) intersected units of gabbro, diorite, and a 0.26 meter interval described as black mafic intrusion with 50% sulfides. Assay results from this section ran 0.4% copper, 0.11 nickel, 0.09% cobalt and 228ppm gold over 0.26m. The work program will include ground geophysics over existing airborne electromagnetic anomalies to better determine drill targets. The Company will also conduct soil and lake sampling geochemistry to test for the presence of gold and base metals in and around the conductor trend.

Paul E. Nielsen, PGeo, is the qualified person responsible for this release and has prepared, supervised and approved the preparation of the scientific and technical disclosure contained within the release.

About White Metal Resources Corp (TSX VENTURE: WHM):

White Metal Resources Corp is a junior exploration company exploring in Canada and currently has 30,841,073 common shares issued and outstanding.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of White Metal Resources Corp.

Michael Stares, President and CEO

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements."

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projection.

Contacts:

White Metal Resources Corp.

Michael Stares

(807) 628-7836

(807) 475-7200 (FAX)




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Quadron Capital Corp. (the "Company" or "Quadron") - (CSE: QCC) - is pleased to announce that it has entered into a letter of intent (the "LOI") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Cybernetics Control Systems Inc. ("Cybernetics"), an arm's length party, (the "Acquisition").

Highlights

-- Cybernetics has developed electronic/automated products and systems relating to LED lighting systems and nutrient mixing/sensing systems specific to the cannabis industry -- Automation designed to increase efficiencies and improve ROI for licensed marijuana growers with proven track record

Specific to the cannabis industry, Cybernetics has developed electronic/automated products and systems relating to LED lighting systems and nutrient mixing/sensing systems which are designed to increase efficiencies and reduce costs associated with these two main components of the cannabis growing lifecycle.

Cybernetics designs, manufactures and supplies custom and standard machines and automated control packages to the process manufacturing and industrial sectors, with a focus on cannabis, oils, hydroponics, automated growing and bioenergy. Cybernetics works closely with customers' machinery and factory process concerns and develops solutions to automate them.

After the design phase, Cybernetics provides custom control (electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic) panels and various touch screen operator consoles/controls. Automation equipment is typically wi-fi and smart phone enabled - allowing for remote alerts and even remote reset/control of systems. Cybernetics was instrumental in the design and development of Quadron's newest extraction processing equipment.

In addition to providing Quadron with R&D and design services on an ongoing basis, Cybernetics currently provides its automation and design services to over 30 customers across a broad range of industries, including Teck, SkyTrain, Pretivm Gold and the Department of Fisheries, amongst others. More information regarding Cybernetics is available at www.cyberneticcontrols.com.

Rosy Mondin, President of Quadron, stated "With the acquisition of Cybernetics, Quadron immediately increases revenue and will be able to greatly reduce its R&D costs as we continue to design, manufacture, and supply innovative, safe, compliant and efficient cannabis extraction systems and products. Furthermore, Cybernetics meets Quadron's criteria of acquiring revenue generating businesses that also have an opportunity to grow their operations organically."

Pursuant to the Acquisition, on closing, the shareholders of Cybernetics shall receive an aggregate of 2,700,000 common shares of Quadron at a deemed price of $0.25, in exchange for all outstanding Cybernetics shares. Up to an additional 6,150,000 common shares of Quadron may be issued to Cybernetics shareholders, upon Cybernetics meeting certain revenue milestones, of up to $2,500,000, for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2018. The purchase price also includes an offset of $350,000 owing to Quadron.

Closing of the Acquisition remains subject to a number of conditions, including the completion of satisfactory due diligence, the entering into definitive agreements, receipt of all required shareholder, regulatory and third party consents, including CSE approval, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. The Acquisition cannot close until the required approvals are obtained. There can be no assurance that the Acquisition will be completed as proposed or at all.

About Quadron: Quadron operates through its two subsidiaries: Soma Labs Scientific Inc. ("Soma") and Greenmantle Products Limited ("Greenmantle"), providing ancillary equipment, products and services, designed and structured to address the complex needs and requirements of cannabis industry participants in Canada and the US. Soma provides research, services and production equipment to the biotech and bioceutical industries, including cannabis extraction and processing equipment that is being leased and/or sold to various industry participants. Greenmantle's business involves the sale of ancillary cannabis products, such as customized dispensing devices (i.e. vaporizer pens) and consumption type products such as branded encapsulation products to authorized cannabis industry participants.

For more information, visit: www.quadroncapital.ca

On behalf of the Board of Directors of

QUADRON CAPITAL CORPORATION

Rosy Mondin, Director

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

Contacts:

Quadron Capital Corp.

Rosy Mondin

Director

(604) 346-8118

rosy@quadroncapital.ca

www.quadroncapital.ca



Investor Relations Contact:

KIN Communications Inc.

Caleb Jeffries, VP, Investor Relations

1-866-684-6730

Caleb@kincommunications.com




COLUMBUS, OH -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- SCI Engineered Materials, Inc. ("SCI") (OTCQB: SCIA), a global supplier and manufacturer of advanced materials for physical vapor deposition thin film applications that works closely with end users and OEMs to develop innovative, customized solutions, today announced an increase in the Board of Directors from five to six members and that John P. Gilliam will serve as an independent Board member. He will stand for election to a full term on the Board at the Company's 2017 annual meeting of shareholders. Mr. Gilliam was also added to the Board's Audit Committee.

Mr. Gilliam is currently the Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director of Bluff Point Associates, a private equity firm based in Westport, Connecticut. Bluff Point Associates invests in growth companies within the financial services and healthcare industries.

Prior to joining Bluff Point in 2009, Mr. Gilliam served as Senior Vice President of Finance at The BISYS Group, Inc., a diversified publicly-traded financial services company. His responsibilities included controllership, mergers and acquisitions, SEC and management reporting, tax, treasury, and financial systems. His experience as a senior financial executive has provided him with a substantial background in strategic business planning, organizational restructurings, and financial statement analysis.

Mr. Gilliam received a B.B.A. degree in accounting from Ohio University and obtained his CPA license in 1978. He joined the national accounting firm of Coopers and Lybrand L.L.P. and became a business assurance partner with the firm in 1988 serving clients primarily in the banking, insurance and investment sectors.

About SCI Engineered Materials, Inc.

SCI Engineered Materials is a global supplier and manufacturer of advanced materials for PVD thin film applications that works closely with end users and OEMs to develop innovative, customized solutions. Additional information is available at www.sciengineeredmaterials.com.

Contact:

Robert Lentz

(614) 876-2000




Transcription

1 A Study on Economic Diversification in Saudi Arabia Dr Syed Ahmad Murtaza Alvi 1, Riyadh 2 1 Assistant professor, Saudi electronic university 2 Kingdom of saudi Arabia Assistant professor(finance), College of administration and finance. ABSTRACT Saudi Arabia s economy has grown very strongly in recent years as it has benefited from high oil prices and output, strong private sector activity, increased government spending, and the implementation of a number of domestic reform initiatives. Rising oil prices and oil production have also resulted in large external and fiscal surpluses, and government debt has declined to very low levels. The economic outlook remains favorable. Nevertheless, the substantial drop in oil prices since the summer of 2014 is an important risk to the outlook. The Saudi Arabian economy remains very dependent on oil revenues to support growth and fiscal and external balances over 90 percent of fiscal revenues and 80 percent of export revenues come from the sale of oil. Developments in the global oil market are therefore central to the economic outlook. Lower oil prices will have an immediate negative effect on the fiscal and external balances, and over time will also likely lead to slower growth. INTRODUCTION Saudi Arabia s economy has evolved significantly over the past decade, but further diversification is important. As stated in the Ninth Development Plan of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: With successive development plans recognizing the risks inherent in one-sided heavy reliance on production and export of crude oil, diversification of the production base of the Saudi economy has been, ever since the beginning of development planning, a prime target for economic development. The government has used rising oil receipts to increase investments in human resource development and public infrastructure. The share of non-oil output in GDP has increased steadily, although export diversification has been more limited. While non-oil exports have grown quite strongly, they remain a small share of total exports and are largely concentrated in products closely related to oil. Experience from other oil-exporting countries suggests diversification is a long and difficult process. Saudi Arabia does not appear to suffer from traditional Dutch disease problems holding back the development of a competitive nonoil tradable sector, although oil revenues may crowd out tradable production in other ways. The relatively higher wages available in the public sector mean this is often a more attractive employment choice, particularly for lower-skilled workers, than the private sector. For firms, producing goods and services to meet the consumption and investment needs of the domestic market is a more reliable profit source than gearing business plans toward riskier export activities. Addressing these incentives while undertaking further reforms to strengthen the business environment and improve the education and skills of the workforce will be necessary to meet the government s goal of further economic diversification. The non-oil sector in Saudi Arabia has grown strongly over the past decade. While oil GDP rose, non-oil output almost tripled during in nominal terms and doubled in real terms. On average, nominal non-oil output now constitutes half of total GDP, with the share of private sector (non-oil) activity in total output amounting to over a third, on average. However, in real terms, the share of non-oil economic activity increased by some 10 percentage points of GDP between 2004 and 2014, reaching almost 80 percent by 2014 due to stronger private sector activity. Real growth in the non-oil sector has outpaced that in the oil sector, yet decelerated starting in late Real growth in non-oil GDP averaged 7.7 percent during , compared to oil GDP growth of 1.6 percent. The contribution of non-oil output to overall GDP growth over the past decade has averaged 5.7 percentage points compared to the smaller and more volatile contribution of oil GDP to overall growth. Nevertheless, non-oil growth has steadily decelerated since 2010, beginning with wholesale and retail trade in 2011, and followed by slower growth in other sectors over the past two years (manufacturing, construction, transport and Dr. Syed Ahmad Murtaza Alvi1, RAJAR Volume 2 Issue 02 Feb

2 communication, and to some extent, government services). Within the energy sector, efforts are ongoing to diversify energy sources away from oil through the development of gas, solar, and other sources. In terms of employment, diversification in the jobs held by nationals is limited. Saudi Arabia has created over 2.7 million new jobs since 2008, of which 1 million were filled by Saudi citizens, yet most of the latter were in the public sector. In construction, 800,000 new jobs were added, while in the services sector, the number of workers increased by a cumulative 1.5 million, particularly in social and community services, trade, and tourism. Out of this total, 37 percent or approximately 1 million new jobs went to Saudi nationals. However, most of the Saudi new employment was concentrated in the administrative, educational, and health sectors (social and community services), which are typically associated with the public sector. ONGOING EFFORTS TO DIVERSIFY SAUDI ARABIA S ENERGY SECTOR The correlation between oil and non-oil activity is strong in nominal terms, but weaker in realterms. The correlation between the two sectors is 0.9 in levels and 0.7 in growth rates for nominal components (oil and non-oil, respectively), and 0.5 and 0.17 for the real components. Energy use per capita in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies is much higher than in other countries and regions. All GCC countries rely almost exclusively on fossil fuel consumption for their energy needs, compared to relatively lower ratios for a number of advanced economies (as well as India and Brazil). While Saudi Arabia consumes the lowest amount of energy per capita in the GCC, fuel consumption has almost doubled since Given rising energy needs on the back of a rapidly expanding economy and population, the Saudi government is taking steps to diversify out of fossil fuels. Saudi Arabia is estimated to need three to four giga-watts of additional electric power capacity annually to meet rising energy demand. This will require large investments in both transmission and distribution networks. As such, the authorities have established the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy to diversify the economy s energy mix (particularly from nonrenewable sources), and are contemplating the involvement of the private sector in about one-third of the total planned investments. In the electricity field, investment in and ownership and management of a few electricity and water plants has been opened up for foreign and private investors. The authorities have adopted an Electricity Industry Restructuring Plan to oversee the breakup of the Saudi electricity company into three subfields of activity; transmission, generation, and distribution. This is a step to restructure the sector and introduce competition among firms to liberalize electricity prices. Saudi Arabia is a major Dr. Syed Ahmad Murtaza Alvi1, RAJAR Volume 2 Issue 02 Feb

3 investor in the GCC electricity grid, which has potential for regional expansion. The GCC grid spans more than 800 kilometers and links power networks in Saudi Arabia with Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Oman. The World Bank has carried out a feasibility study on linking Saudi Arabia s power networks with those in the European Union to harness the different peak load times between the regions. SAUDI ARABIA, GLOBAL TRADE, AND THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION Saudi Arabia joined (acceded to) the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December The country is a member of two main regional trade agreements: the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which entered into force in January 2003 as a customs union covering goods; and the Pan-Arab Free Trade Area (PAFTA), which adds Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries to the GCC and entered into force on January As a GCC member, Saudi Arabia also participates in GCCrelated regional arrangements, such as the European Free Trade Area (EFTA)-GCC (signed but not ratified), Australia-GCC (announced), and Japan-GCC blocs (announced). The country is also a beneficiary of a number of Preferential Trade Arrangements in force with Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Switzerland, and Turkey (all under the generalized system of preferences). While Saudi Arabia s total trade value per capita is the lowest among GCC economies given its relatively larger population, it is comparably higher than in most MENA countries, and also comparable to that of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). In terms of merchandise trade, Saudi Arabia s share in total world exports is slightly above 2 percent, which is much higher than for other countries in MENA, larger than most GCC shares (United Arab Emirates has the closest figure of 1.9 percent), and even higher than that for a number of developing and emerging markets (such as South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia and India). However, manufactured exports as a share of total exports are low, at less than 15 percent compared to a share of up to 70 percent in a number of countries in the MENA region. Oil dominates the export basket (constituting nearly 85 percent of total exports in 2012). EXPERIENCES WITH ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION IN OIL-EXPORTING COUNTRIES Achieving economic diversification in oil-exporting countries is a difficult task. Historical experience offers few examples of countries that have been able to successfully diversify away from oil, particularly when their oil production horizon is still long. A number of key obstacles that often stand in the way of diversification include the economic volatility induced by the reliance on oil revenues, the corroding effect that oil revenues often have on governance and institutions, and the risks that oil revenues often lead to overvalued real exchange rates (traditional Dutch disease issues). Malaysia, Indonesia, and Mexico perhaps offer the best examples of countries that have been able to diversify away from oil, while Chile has had some success in diversification away from copper. Malaysia s diversification experience involved active intervention on the part of the state to spur growth in targeted sectors. This was predicated on an international competitive drive underpinned by technological transfers, with a focus on developing national oil companies into global firms. While the economy had an import-substitution strategy in heavy industry, there was an export promotion focus for manufactures, given strong global competition. Diversification was achieved by means of (i) attracting foreign direct investment in the export sector (which led to a stronger capital base), and (ii) a focus on human and capital development through training and skill-upgrading of workers, which was provided by a fund targeting Dr. Syed Ahmad Murtaza Alvi1, RAJAR Volume 2 Issue 02 Feb

4 manufacturing firms as well as sponsored state funds for foreign education. At the same time, Malaysia also targeted small and medium enterprise (SME) development. Taken together, all of these factors led to eventual export diversification and takeoff over the years. Indonesia s experience also highlights the benefits of having strong incentives to successfully diversify the export base. Similar to Malaysia s approach, Indonesia also had an importsubstitution policy in place, as well as policies to attract foreign capital in the manufacturing exports field. In addition, the country enacted a number of incentives to promote exports, such as setting up free zones, providing tax incentives to firms and industries, and reducing barriers to trade (tariff and nontariff). A fundamental element of its diversification strategy, however, was a large exchange rate devaluation. Indonesia s experience also relied on using oil revenues to tap, enhance, and develop other sectors, such as agriculture and the country s aircraft industry (on both maintenance and manufacturing frontiers). BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN SAUDI ARAB Saudi Arabia compares relatively well across a number of business indicators, yet challenges remain. For example, the country has been doing well in terms of its business environment and infrastructure, incentives for export promotion, labor market regulation, and education. However, challenges remain in contract enforcement and resolution of company insolvencies, and in trade integration, despite export incentives. Saudi Arabia has improved its business climate. It was ranked as the 18th most competitive economy worldwide among 144 countries in 2013 according to the Global Competitiveness Index. Saudi Arabia s ranking on the Ease of Doing Business Index was second to the United Arab Emirates among the GCC countries in 2013, and it outperformed key emerging market and developing countries. It is comparatively much stronger than other countries in the MENA region. The country has facilitated business startups. The number of days to start a business was reduced from over 70 days in 2004 to 25 days by 2013, an improvement that is second only to Indonesia and India over the same period. In addition, business startup costs (in percent of GNI per capita) were brought down from 60 percent to just 5 percent, and the number of procedures to register a business was reduced to nine from 14 over the past 10 years. In May 2013, a new online company application process was introduced and the number of procedures has been further reduced to seven and the number of days to 23. The strength of investor protection in Saudi Arabia has helped forge a business friendlyenvironment that is the highest ranked among GCC and selected MENA countries. Despite this progress, more needs to be done to address areas of weakness, including contract enforcement and resolving insolvencies. In these two areas Saudi Arabia ranks low on a global scale (at 127 and 106, respectively). To address these issues, the government is planning to introduce a new insolvency law, and is working to shorten the time taken to enforce judgments by recruiting more judges to work in that area and by establishing commercial courts to oversee resolution of business disputes. Other measures being taken by the authorities to improve competition and strengthen the business environment include improvements to consumer protection, stronger enforcement of competition policy, and revisions to company law. REFERENCES Alawaji, Saleh (Deputy Minister of Water and Electricity for Electricity Affairs and Chairman of the Saudi Electric Company) Saudi Arabia: A Proactive Approach to Energy. Living Energy No. 7 (November): Alhouti, Aljowhara Deployment of Solar Energy in Saudi Arabia: A Case Study. Georgetown University Law School. lhouti.pdf. Capital Market Authority (CMA). Annual Report (various issues). Riyadh. Central Department of Statistics and Information (CDSI). Annual Statistical Bulletin (various issues). Saudi Arabia Ministry of Economy and Planning.Export Statistics Bulletin (various editions). Cherif, Reda, and Fuad Hasanov Soaring of the Gulf Falcons: Diversification in the GCC Oil Exporters in Seven Propositions. Paper prepared for the IMF conference on Economic Development, Diversification, and the Role of the State, Kuwait City, April 30 May 1. Dr. Syed Ahmad Murtaza Alvi1, RAJAR Volume 2 Issue 02 Feb

5 General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). Annual Statistics Bulletin (various issues). Riyadh: GOSI. United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade). World Bank. World Development Indicators (WDI) Database. World Economic Forum and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (WEF/EBRD) The Arab World Competitiveness Report Geneva: WEF. Dr. Syed Ahmad Murtaza Alvi1, RAJAR Volume 2 Issue 02 Feb
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Launching an unprecedented global campaign, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is urging everyone to eliminate the use of microplastics and stop the excessive, wasteful use of single-use plastic, to save the world's seas and oceans from irreversible damage before it's too late. Erik Solheim, the Executive Director of UNEP, said in a news release announcing the campaign that as much as 51 trillion microplastic particles - 500 times more than stars in the galaxy - litter the seas. Each year, more than eight million metric tonnes of plastic end up in oceans, wreaking havoc on marine wildlife, fisheries and tourism, and cost at least $8 billion in damage to marine ecosystems. According to estimates, by 2050, oceans will have more plastic than fish if present trends are not arrested. 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.
SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- CFN Media Group, the leading creative agency and digital media network dedicated to legal cannabis, announces publication of an article discussing the Canadian Cannabis Task Force's recommendations for addressing impaired driving, and Cannabix Technologies' (OTC PINK: BLOZF) position in the emerging cannabis breathalyzer market.

Canada has become the epicenter of the cannabis industry with the country-wide legalization of medical and soon-to-be recreational marijuana. Justin Trudeau's liberal government may be the driver behind these drug laws, but the drug's legalization has been carefully planned from start to finish.

In December, the Canadian Cannabis Task Force issued its final report that contains more than 80 recommendations for the government to consider when legalizing recreational marijuana. Section 4.5 of the final report describes the controversy surrounding marijuana-impaired driving and the public safety risks. In addition to discussing these risks, the report made several recommendations for addressing the key issue before legalizing the drug.

In particular, the fifth recommendation issued by the task force reads:

"Support the development of an appropriate roadside drug screening device for detecting THC levels and invest in these tools."

Cannabix Technologies is developing a marijuana breathalyzer in conjunction with the Yost Research Group at the University of Florida that leverages mass spectrometry technologies for accurate detection of THC. The company holds an exclusive worldwide license of the University of Florida U.S. Patent 8,237,118 in the area of breath analysis of controlled substances, while leveraging a unique approach to detecting THC in breath samples. The technology is powered by high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS), which is capable of identifying THC in ultra-low ranges using highly sensitive equipment. Over the past few quarters, Cannabix has significantly reduced the size of its technology so that it can be eventually used by law enforcement to identify impaired drivers at roadside.

Since introducing its second beta version in late-2016, the company announced that it has significantly improved reliability, reduced the size, and made the design more rugged. The team plans to begin pre-trial live subject testing in March, which represents an important precursor to further testing and development. Data from live subjects will provide valuable information to regulatory bodies.

Please follow the link to read the full article: http://www.cannabisfn.com/canadian-cannabis-task-force-cites-impaired-driving-as-a-serious-issue-demanding-immediate-attention/

Learn how to become a CFN Media featured company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/

Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from your smart phone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cannabisfn/id988009247?ls=1&mt=8

Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com

About CFN Media

CFN Media (CannabisFN) is the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis. We help marijuana businesses attract investors, customers (B2B, B2C), capital, and media visibility. Private and public marijuana companies and brands in the U.S. and Canada rely on CFN Media to grow and succeed.

Disclaimer:

Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CFN Media and CannabisFN.com, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. Emerging Growth LLC may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Emerging Growth LLC may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/.

CFN Media

Frank Lane

206-369-7050

flane@cannabisfn.com




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: WHY) announces that the Company will be exhibiting in Booth 2923, at this year's Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2017 Convention in Toronto, Ontario, March 5 - 8, 2017.

Magnesium Mine Development

The Company continues to pursue additional financing for completion of the environmental base line, environmental assessment study and mine plan development for its magnesium project.

In June 2016, the Company commenced work on the environmental study, stakeholder engagement, and mine plan development on the Company's Record Ridge South Magnesium Property as required by the Environmental Assessment Certification and Mine Permit application processes. The Company engaged SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. (Vancouver) and Greenwood Environmental Inc. (Vancouver) to work on these projects. The Company also engaged Drinkard Metalox, Inc. of Charlotte, North Carolina to perform a series of hydrometallurgical tests on the Company's magnesium ore to evaluate magnesium processing and recovery alternatives. The Company has incurred expenses of approximately $1.5 million on the above projects to date and looks forward to financing and continuation through 2017.

The Company issued its Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Record Ridge South Magnesium Property in South Eastern British Columbia on June 4, 2013, which is available under the Company's profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval and can be accessed through the internet at www.sedar.com.

Loan

On February 6, 2017, the Company received an additional loan of up to $200,000 from Big Mountain Development Corp. Ltd., a related party (the "Lender"). The loan bears interest at the rate of 8% per annum and is secured by a pledge to and in favour of the Lender of all of the Company's present and after acquired property.

Secured Additional Mineral Claims

On February 17, 2017, the Company secured an additional 402 hectares which is contiguous to the Company's existing mineral and crown granted claims in British Columbia bringing the Company's total mineral and crown grants claims to 8,314 hectares.

About West High Yield

West High Yield is a publicly traded junior mining exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral resource properties in Canada with a primary objective to locate and develop economic gold, nickel and magnesium properties.

Reader Advisory

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. More particularly and without limitation, this press release contains forward looking statements and information concerning its proposed business plans and operations. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements and information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Canada and globally; industry conditions, including governmental regulation; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; competition for, among other things, skilled personnel and supplies; changes in tax laws; and the other factors. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date hereof, and to not use such forward-looking information for anything other than its intended purpose. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Contacts:

West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd.

Frank Marasco

President and Chief Executive Officer

(403) 660-3488

(403) 206-7159 (FAX)

frank@whyresources.com



West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd.

Dwayne Vinck

Chief Financial Officer

(403) 257-2637

(403) 206-7159 (FAX)

vinck@shaw.ca




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A prominent non-profit advocacy group has criticized US President Donald Trump's statement calling for the United States' dominance among the world's nuclear powers. In a Reuters interview Thursday, Trump said 'It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, we're going to be at the top of the pack'. Trump's comments suggest, once again, that he is ill-informed about nuclear weapons and has a poor understanding of the unique dangers of nuclear weapons, the independent Arms Control Association said in a statement Thursday. The history of the Cold War shows us that no one comes out on 'top of the pack' of an arms race and nuclear brinksmanship, it noted. The Association urged President Trump to work with Russia's President Putin to build down, not build up their excessive nuclear arsenals and stop stirring up nuclear tensions. 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) - In stark contrast to the growing number of advocates in favor of universal basic income or UBI, business mogul Mark Cuban has said that adoption of such a policy would be the worst possible response to the impending job losses due to robots and artificial intelligence.



Cuban, a tech investor and owner of Dallas Mavericks, tweeted earlier this week that we need to prepare for the impending job losses as a result of robotic automation.



In response to his tweet, Scott Santens, an advocate of universal basic income, asked Cuban whether he agreed that UBI would be the best response. Cuban answered that it would be one of the 'worst possible responses' to the problem.



Universal Basic Income is a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country regularly receive an unconditional sum of money, either from a government or some other public institution, in addition to any income received from elsewhere. They will receive the money regardless of whether they are working or not.



UBI advocates say that giving cash to citizens is a better option than the current system of welfare programs in many countries and does not incentivize unemployment.



In response to Cuban's tweet, Santens tweeted with a picture of a fact sheet that showed entrepreneurship surging as a result of UBI.



According to Santens, Namibia saw self-employment rising 301 percent after the implementation of UBI, while a third of recipients in Liberia started their own business. Santens added that in India, recipients of basic income were three times as likely to start a business.



Cuban rejected the argument, saying he had spent a 'lot of time looking' at UBI and did not see these countries as 'being apples to apples'. This resulted in a back and forth exchange between the two.



Santens said that existing safety net programs create disincentives for people to work, to which Cuban replied that it can be fixed.



However, in stark contrast to Cuban, several others in the technology industry, such as Tesla founder Elon Musk and Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff, have voiced their opinion in favor of UBI.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - February 24, 2017) - Silicon Legal Strategy is pleased to announce that associates Stephanie Levin and Michael Young have joined the firm in its San Francisco office.

Stephanie specializes in the representation of emerging growth and development stage companies, venture capital funds and angel investors in a variety of matters including entity formation, private equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and general corporate governance issues.

Prior to joining Silicon Legal, Stephanie was an associate at King & Spalding LLP's Emerging Growth Companies and Corporate Practice groups in Silicon Valley, where she advised startups and investors in connection with entity formations, venture capital financings, M&A transactions, corporate governance and securities matters. Stephanie received her law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law, and her undergraduate degrees from Connecticut College.

Michael works with early-stage and emerging technology companies, as well as venture capital and angel investors on a variety of legal matters, including private equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, entity formations, corporate governance issues, and dispute resolution. With his prior experience as a litigation attorney, Michael has broad base of experience in assisting business clients at all stages in their company's lifecycle.

Before joining SLS, Michael was an associate with Perkins Coie LLP's Emerging Companies and Venture Capital group in San Francisco, where he advised startups and investors in connection with venture capital financings, M&A transactions, and corporate governance matters. He also worked as a commercial litigation attorney at Perkins Coie LLP, with experience in IP, trade secret, product liability, labor & employment, and contract disputes. Michael received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley and his undergraduate degree from the Indiana University.

"It's clear to me that Silicon Legal represents the future of legal services for the startup ecosystem," said Young. "They are shaking up a space that has needed it for a long time, offering high-touch, high caliber client service that rivals or bests what is offered by their big firm competitors. It's a win-win for clients and attorneys, and it's no surprise to me that the word-of-mouth on Silicon Legal from their clients is -- no hyperbole -- glowing. I couldn't be more excited to be a part of this mission." These sentiments are echoed by Stephanie, "The team and the clients are what drew me to SLS. Everyone here is skilled, dedicated, friendly and business savvy; I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with. SLS's clients are at the forefronts of their fields and I look forward to working with such creative and innovated people."

"We're elated to welcome Michael and Stephanie to Silicon Legal Strategy. Their top-notch experience and dedication to client service is a huge value add for our clients," said Andre Gharakhanian, partner at Silicon Legal Strategy. "Silicon Legal is proving its footing in the market by continuing to hire remarkable talent -- across the board -- in 2017."

About Silicon Legal Strategy

Silicon Legal Strategy is the premier boutique law firm providing targeted, bottom-line-oriented advice to technology startups, innovative entrepreneurs and seasoned investors. Trained at the top firms in Silicon Valley, our attorneys and staff are incredibly passionate about technology and have extensive experience representing early stage companies and investors. We are a known quantity in Silicon Valley, and work with or sit across the table from every major law firm in the area. Perhaps most importantly, we ourselves are entrepreneurs. We truly understand the challenges of a startup -- like building and motivating a team, creating repeatable processes to ensure continued customer satisfaction at scale and dealing with infrastructure issues. We face these challenges every day -- and as a result, are able to deliver more relevant, bottom-line-oriented advice. Put simply, we actually "get" what entrepreneurs are going through.

Contact:

Jaime Madden

Silicon Legal Strategy

info@siliconlegal.com

(415) 230-0870
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Laurentian Bank of Canada (TSX: LB) will publish its first quarter financial results on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. It will also hold a conference call for media representatives and the financial community at 3:30 p.m. (ET). To facilitate the presentation of financial results, a reference document as well as a press release will be available on the Bank's Web site.

CONFERENCE CALL Date: Tuesday, February 28, 2017 Time: 3:30 p.m. (ET) Call-in number: 1-800-263-0877 Access code: 3493742 Live webcast: www.laurentianbank.ca, under the Laurentian Bank tab, Investors section, Quarterly results, Audio webcast (listen only mode) PLAYBACK Availability: From 6:30 p.m. (ET) on February 28, 2017, until 6:30 p.m. (ET) on March 30, 2017 Playback link: Follow this link.

About Laurentian Bank

Laurentian Bank of Canada is a financial institution whose activities extend across Canada. Founded in 1846, its mission is to help customers improve their financial health and is guided by values of proximity, simplicity and honesty.

The Bank serves one and a half million clients throughout the country and employs more than 3,600 individuals, which makes it a major player in numerous market segments. The Bank caters to the needs of retail clients via its branch network based in Quebec. The Bank also stands out for its know-how among small and medium-sized enterprises and real estate developers owing to its specialized teams across Canada. Its subsidiary B2B Bank is, for its part, one of the major Canadian leaders in providing banking products and services and investment accounts through independent advisors and brokers. Laurentian Bank Securities offers integrated brokerage services to a clientele of institutional and retail investors.

The Bank has more than $43 billion in balance sheet assets and more than $43 billion in assets under administration.

Contacts:

Laurentian Bank of Canada

Helene Soulard

Assistant Vice President, Communications

514 284-4500 extension 8232

helene.soulard@laurentianbank.ca

www.laurentianbank.ca




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Theratechnologies Inc. (TSX: TH) (Theratechnologies) announced today that it will host an Investment Community Webcast on March 1, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time), and should conclude at approximately 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

The Webcast will be hosted by Luc Tanguay, President and Chief Executive Officer, and will also feature presentations by Philippe Dubuc, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Christian Marsolais, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, and Lyne Fortin, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. Theratechnologies intends to provide detailed information on its growth strategy, particularly regarding its ibalizumab commercial launch preparation, as well as provide updated 2017 financial guidance. The Webcast will provide an opportunity for both investors and analysts to ask questions about the company's activities.

The Webcast will be accessible at: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/9d7xx6dr. The replay of the event will be available shortly after the Webcast on this same link.

About Theratechnologies

Theratechnologies (TSX: TH) is a specialty pharmaceutical company addressing unmet medical needs to promote healthy living and an improved quality of life among HIV patients. Further information about Theratechnologies is available on the Company's website at www.theratech.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Contacts:

Theratechnologies Inc.

Chantal Placais

514.336.7800 ext. 233

www.theratech.com




[UK Disclose Only]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

MIAMI (February 24, 2017) - Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) announce that copies of the Carnival plc 2016 Strategic Report and IFRS Financial Statements (to which the Carnival Corporation & plc 2016 Annual Report is annexed) and the Carnival Corporation & plc Notice of Annual Meetings and Proxy Statement (which include the Carnival plc Directors' Report, Carnival plc Directors' Remuneration Report and Carnival plc Corporate Governance Report) have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.

These above documents are also available on our website at http://www.carnivalcorp.com/ or http://www.carnivalplc.com/.

#18832574v1 - 2016 Proxy Statement - UK Announcement - Annual Report and Proxy Statement
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Dundee Sustainable Technologies Inc. ("DST") (CSE: DST)(CSE: DST.CN) is pleased to announce that it has been selected as a DisruptMining semi-finalist. DST will be showcasing its environment-friendly technologies for the treatment of materials in the mining industry during the DisruptMining Innovation Expo which will take place on March 5, 2017 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (EST) at The Carlu in Toronto.

Goldcorp and Integra Gold have partnered up to sponsor the DisruptMining contest that aims to unveil innovative ways to introduce technologies that may completely transform the mining sector. DisruptMining will provide a once in a lifetime opportunity to present DST's technologies to an audience of mining executives, investors and financiers who collectively manage, invest in and finance exploration and mining entities worth tens of billions of dollars. DisruptMining wants to showcase individuals, groups and companies that are using exponential technology and disruptive concepts to tackle the vast challenges faced by the mining industry, from exploration and discovery to production and automation to financing, marketing and sustainability.

DST has been retained as one of the top concepts and asked to showcase its technology and business at the DisruptMining Expo on Sunday, March 5, 2017 during the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada ("PDAC") conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The expo will gather mining executives, investors, tech fans and the best entrepreneurs to discuss, evaluate and challenge traditional notions of mining, exploration, financing, investor relations, etc.

To register for the DisruptMining daytime expo click here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/disruptmining-day-expo-tickets-31528270907

About Dundee Sustainable Technologies, a company controlled by Dundee Corporation

The Corporation is engaged in the development and commercialization of environment-friendly technologies for the treatment of materials in the mining industry. Through the development of patented, proprietary processes, DST extracts precious and base metals from ores, concentrates and tailings, while stabilizing contaminants such as arsenic, which could not otherwise be extracted or stabilized with conventional processes because of metallurgical issues or environmental considerations.

DST has filed, published and was granted patents for these processes in several countries.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains forward-looking statements that address future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, some of which may be beyond the Corporation's control. These factors include: general market and industry conditions, risks related to continuous operations and to commercialization of new technologies and other risks disclosed in the Corporation's filings with Canadian Securities Regulators.

Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Corporation's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Corporation expressly 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 required by applicable law.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Dundee Sustainable Technologies Inc.

Brian Howlett

President and CEO

(514) 866-6001 # 239

Cell: (647) 227-3035

info@dundeetechnologies.com




A few days ago we looked at why South Carolina Congressman Mark Sanford has the political leeway to publicly denigrate Trump . For one thing, his coastal district is npt Trump territory. Rubio beat Trump in the primary there and Hillary won the largest county in the district (Charleston). Yesterday a poll of South Carolina voters showed that Trump's unpopularity nationally in mirrored in South Carolina . "Despite winning South Carolina by a double-digit margin in November's election, President Donald Trump is receiving the same lukewarm approval marks in the Palmetto State as the remainder of the country... A new Winthrop University poll released Thursday found that South Carolinians give Trump a 44 percent approval rating, nearly identical to his latest average of national polls compiled by Real Clear Politics.

One of the most widely discussed thought pieces in political circles this week has been Andrew Cockburn's controversial piece in Texas Is The Future-- Can Democrats Reconquer The Lone Star State? . Remember, statewide the Texas Democratic Party has been all but moribund for decades. The last Democratic governor was elected in 1990. And Lloyd Bentsen, he last Democratic senator, was first elected in 1970 (and reelected in through the 80's).

Yesterday a higher up at the DCCC asked me if I thought a Democrat could win Ted Poe's seat (TX-02) in 2018. It's a very white, very gerrymandered suburban district north of Houston, although it includes Rice University and Montrose, the center of Houston's LGBT community. Overall, though, the district is probably the reddest part of Harris County. Harris County went narrowly for Obama in 2012, but TX-02 was landslide territory for Romney. He took the district 62.9% to 35.6%. In November, Hillary's margin over Trump countywide was not narrow. She wiped him out in Texas' biggest county-- 707,914 to 545,955. TX-02, though, isn't quite there yet. True, Trump's number's cratered in comparison to Romney's (Romney's 62.9% turned into a 52.4% win for Trump), but he still beat Hillary in the district by nearly 9 points. So, 2018 is unlikely to be the end of Poe. What I suggested is a clear 2-cycle strategy to build a candidate this cycle and take out Poe in 2020. That kind of thinking has been anathema to the DCCC since Rahm was chairman. I doubt if Ben Ray Lujan has the vision to see it through.

Meanwhile, though, there were 3 Republican-held congressional districts where Hillary did win in November-- TX-07 (John Culberson's Harry County seat), TX-23 (Will Hurd's heavily Hispanic south Texas district where the DCCC blew an easy win by nominating a wretched corrupt conservative), TX-32 (Pete Sessions' uber-gerrymandered district from Highland Park and University Park in north Dallas, up through Richardson and Garland. And there are 5 other districts trending towards the Democrats: TX-24 (Kenny Marchant's in the suburbs north of Dallas/Ft. Worth), TX-22 (Pete Olson's Sugar Land and Pearland district south of Houston), TX-21 (Lamar Smith's Austin/San Antonio corridor district), TX-10 (Mike McCaul's Austin/Houston corridor district) and TX-03 (Sam Johnson's district in the suburbs north of Dallas up through Plano and McKinney). Trump won Texas. A new poll out this week, shows him struggling with voters statewide:

Cockburn kicked off his article on election night in the Heights neighborhood of Houston. "Unlike the rest of the country," he wrote, "Houston Democrats had a full-scale Republican rout to celebrate. The party had swept the polls in Harris County, the vast region encompassing Houston, arguably the nations most diverse city (as locals never tire of repeating). With 4.5 million inhabitants, the county is more populous than half the states in America. Now Harris voters had elected a Democratic district attorney-- a very powerful post in Texas law enforcement-- for the first time in thirty-six years. The Democrats had also captured almost every other slot on the ballot, including the tax assessors office, which oversees voter registration: a crucial win in an age of Republican voter suppression... Clinton trounced Donald Trump by more than 160,000 votes in a county that Barack Obama had carried by fewer than a thousand in 2012. While others in the defeated party were subsiding into melancholy, hand-wringing, and consolatory tales of Russian hackers, the countys newly elected sheriff, former Houston police sergeant Ed Gonzalez, was assuring supporters that he would defy any orders to round up undocumented immigrants. Across the street, the new D.A., Kim Ogg, promised her exuberant audience a progressive agenda: 'Were going to have a system that doesnt oppress the poor.' Voter endorsement of such progressive positions, well to the left of anything Clinton promoted during her message-lite campaign, was all the more dramatic in this reddest of red states."

Once upon a time, of course, Texas was a one-party Democratic state. It produced and consistently reelected such political giants as Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn, not to mention Wright Patman, the twenty-four-term populist congressman who once enquired of Federal Reserve chairman Arthur Burns at a hearing: Can you give me any reason why you should not be in the penitentiary? But those days are long gone, along with the rural and working-class white Democrats who could be relied on to pull the lever for the ruling party. The last governor the Democrats managed to elect, in 1990, was Ann Richards, given to such feisty pronouncements as her reference to the elder George Bush being born with a silver foot in his mouth. Richards eked out a slim victory among a coalition that included white suburban voters-- but lost her reelection bid to the younger George Bush in 1994, ushering in an age of darkness for Texas Democrats.





That pall has spread across the country at an accelerating rate, as more and more statehouses and governors mansions fall under Republican occupation. Yet Texas, after leading the country in a slide to the right, might now be showing us the way out.





Amid the happy lawyers, journalists, and other movers and shakers at the victory parties, one group of seventy-five men and women, who had arrived on a chartered bus, stood out. Most of them were Latinos, like Petra Vargas, a Mexican-born hotel worker who had spent the day walking her fellow immigrants to the polls. Others were African Americans, such as Rosie McCutcheon, who had campaigned relentlessly for the ticket while raising six grandchildren on a tiny income. All of them wore turquoise T-shirts bearing the logo top. Not only had they made a key contribution to the days results-- they represented a new and entirely promising way of doing politics in Texas.

The Texas Organizing Project was launched in 2009 by a small group of veteran community organizers. Michelle Tremillo, a fourth-generation Tejana (a Texan of Mexican descent), grew up in public housing in San Antonio, where her single mother worked as a janitor. Making it to Stanford on a scholarship, she was quickly drawn into politics, beginning with a student walkout in protest of Proposition 187, Californias infamous anti-immigrant ballot measure. By the time she graduated, the elite university had changed her view of the world. I always knew I was poor growing up, and I even understood that I was poorer than some of my peers that I went to school with, Tremillo told me. What she eventually came to understand was the sheer accumulation of wealth in America and its leveling effect on the rest of the population: We were all poor.





Both Tremillo and her TOP cofounder Ginny Goldman, a Long Island native, had worked for ACORN, the progressive national community organization that enjoyed considerable success-- registering, for example, half a million minority voters in 2008-- before becoming a target of calculated assaults by right-wing operatives. By 2009, the group was foundering, and it was dissolved a year later.





In response, the activists came up with TOP. Goldman, who was its first executive director, told me that TOP was designed to focus on specific Texan needs and realities and thereby avoid the national cookie-cutter approach. The organization would work on three levels: doorstep canvassing, intense research on policy and strategy, and mobilizing voter turnout among people customarily neglected by the powers that be.





Despite Houstons international cachet as the headquarters of the global oil industry, the Johnson Space Center, the Texas Medical Center (which employs more people than the entire United States coal industry), Rice University, and other dynamic manifestations of power and prosperity, many of its neighborhoods are more evocative of the Third World than the moon landings. Open ditches, often choked with garbage, line the streets of poor districts such as the Third Ward, Acres Homes, and Sunnyside. Thanks to Houstons zealous rejection of zoning in any shape or form, industrial sites, including the huge Valero refinery in the Manchester district and the abandoned CES Environmental Services plant in South Union, a cemetery of toxic chemicals, sit just across backyard fences. It was in these neighborhoods that TOP found its constituency, and its first campaign.





...The problem has been especially acute in Texas, which produced the lowest overall turnout of any state in the 2010 midterm elections. Three million registered African-American and Latino voters stayed home that year, not to mention the 2 million who were unregistered. The result was a state government subservient to the demands and prejudices of Republican primary voters, and unrepresentative of the majority in a state where almost one in four children lived in poverty, 60 percent of public-school students qualified for free or subsidized lunches, and the overall poverty rate was growing faster than the national average. Following the crushing Republican victory in 2010, TOP launched an ambitious project to discover, as Zermeno put it, who was not voting, and why.





Digging deep into voter files and other databases, Zermeno confirmed that Texas contained a wealth of non-voting people of color. Most of them were registered, but seldom (if ever) turned up at the polls. The problem, she noted, was especially acute with Latinos, only 15 percent of whom were regular voters. In her detailed report, she calculated precisely how many extra voters needed to turn out to elect someone who would represent the interests of all Texans: a minimum of 1.1 million. Fortuitously, these reluctant voters were concentrated in just nine big urban counties, led by Harris.





Ever since the era of Ann Richards, Democrats had been focusing their efforts (without success) on winning back white swing voters outside the big cities. But Zermeno realized that there was no reason to beat our heads against the wall for that group of people anymore, not when weve got a million-voter gap and as many as four million non-voting people of color in the big cities, who are likely Democrats. By relentlessly appealing to that shadow electorate, and gradually turning them into habitual voters, TOP could whittle down and eliminate the Republican advantage in elections for statewide offices such as governor and lieutenant governor, not to mention the states thirty-eight votes in the presidential Electoral College. In other words, since the existing Texas electorate was never going to generate a satisfactory result, TOP was going to have to grow a new one.





There was, however, still another question to answer. Why were those 4 million people declining to vote? TOP embarked on a series of intensive focus groups, which were largely financed by Amber and Steve Mostyn, a pair of progressive Houston claims attorneys... Year after year, the Mostyns had loyally stumped up hefty donations to middle-of-the-road Democrats who doggedly pursued existing voters while ignoring the multitude who sat out elections all or most of the time. When TOP asked these reluctant voters about their abstention, the answer was almost always the same: When I have voted for Democrats in the past, nothing has changed, so its not worth my time. There was one telling exception: in San Antonio, voters said that the only Texas Democrat they trusted was Julian Castro, who ran for mayor in 2009 on a platform of bringing universal pre-K to the city, and delivered on his promise when he won.





Theres this misunderstanding that people dont care, that people are apathetic, Goldman told me. Its so not true. People are mad and they want to do something about it. People want fighters that will deliver real change for them. Thats why year-round community organizing is so critical. People see that you can deliver real impact, and that you need the right candidates in office to do it, and connect it back to the importance of voting. Its the ongoing cycle. We see winning the election as only the first step toward the real win, which is changing the policies that are going to make peoples lives better.





Beginning with the 2012 election, TOP canvassers-- volunteers and paid employees working their own neighborhoods-- were trained to open a doorstep interview not with statements about a candidate but with a question: What issue do you care about? The answer, whether it was the minimum wage or schools or potholes, shaped the conversation as the canvasser explained that TOP had endorsed a particular candidate (after an intensive screening) because of his or her position on those very issues. These were not hit-and-run encounters. Potential voters were talked to pretty much nonstop for about eight to ten weeks leading to the election, according to Goldman. They got their doors knocked three to five times. They got called five to seven times. They signed a postcard saying, I pledge to vote. They circled which day they were going to vote on a little calendar on the postcard, and we mailed those postcards back to them. We offered them free rides to the polls. We answered all of their questions, gave them all the information they needed, until they cast a ballot. And what we saw was that the Latino vote grew by five percentage points in Harris County in 2012.





Two years later, Texas Democrats nominated Wendy Davis, a state senator, as their candidate for governor following her filibuster against further restrictions on abortion rights. Her stand brought her national attention, a flood of campaign money, and the arrival of out-of-state Obama operatives who vowed to boost minority registration. Yet she lost by 20 percent to Greg Abbott and scored comparatively poorly with Latinos. Meanwhile, in the same election cycle, TOP and its allies blocked a bid by business interests to privatize the public-school system in Dallas. A year later, the organization helped to elect Sylvester Turner, a black Democrat, as mayor of Houston.





...Harris County is by no means the only arena in which TOP and its allies scored convincingly in 2016. East Dallas County, a band of suburbs to the east and south of Dallas, comprises House District 107 in the state legislature. Despite a Latino and African-American majority, Republicans have been carrying the district for years, albeit with narrow margins. This time, however, thanks to an intense registration and organizing drive by TOP and other groups, including labor unions, Victoria Neave, the Democratic candidate, ousted her Republican opponent by 836 votes.





The interesting thing about that race, Amber Mostyn told me, is that the Republicans spent around a million dollars. There was no more than three hundred and fifty thousand dollars spent on our side, and no television-- the Republicans probably spent half a million dollars on TV. Our campaign was focused on getting folks to turn out, and we knew that a lot of them dont have time to watch a bunch of TV. Theyre working two jobs, theyre not engaged in the political process anyway, so if they see a commercial, it means nothing to them. But Victoria Neave was out talking to people, TOP was out talking to people, labor was out talking to people-- its the one-on-one engagement that makes the difference.





It seems fair to say that the strategy deployed in this race (and in others discussed in this article) is the precise opposite of that adopted by Hillary Clintons team in 2016. Rather than asking voters what they actually cared about, the Clinton campaign and its associated super PACs spent $1.2 billion, much of it on TV commercials, and relied on Ada, a computer program, for key decisions, while remaining ignorant of what was happening in the real world. For example, around ten days before the election, members of the service-employees union in Iowa, where Clinton was clearly a lost cause, set off in a convoy of buses to campaign in Michigan, where the Democratic candidates lead appeared to be ebbing. According to Politico, Clinton headquarters in Brooklyn ordered the Iowans to turn around and go home. Their model still showed Clinton winning Michigan by five points. They therefore insisted that the S.E.I.U. foot soldiers would be better employed in Iowa, where they might delude Donald Trump into thinking that he was in trouble and thus force him to divert resources from elsewhere. Yet Michigan was indeed slipping away, a fact that Clinton apparatchiks could easily have discovered had they taken the slightest interest in communicating with anyone who could tell them the truth.





In contrast, TOP devoted energy and resources to ensure immediate feedback from the streets. Senior campaign managers took time to accompany canvassers on their rounds, with the aim of hearing for themselves whether their tactics needed to be tweaked or replaced. Meanwhile, all canvassers carried iPods and instantly entered the data they gleaned from their doorstep interviews. Wed look at the numbers every evening, explained Zermeno, to see if there were any trends. Then, in the morning, when the canvassers all came in, wed ask the questions. Did we change the rap? Are you guys hearing something? Then we could tweak the message on the spot.





Demographics are not destiny, Craig Varoga remarked to me at the end of a long conversation. But demographics with hard work and smart decisions are destiny.





In a post-election memo, Zermeno discussed the various victories and near-victories scored around the state. In the deep red South, she wrote, this election demonstrated what weve believed about Texas for many years: Texas is the future. . . Si se puede. Yes we can.
FREEHOLD, NJ -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- MEDIFIRST SOLUTIONS, INC. (OTCQB: MFST) (the "Company" or "Medifirst") would like to update shareholders in order to follow up on its Time Machine Conference in Morocco, as well as to provide recent Company developments regarding its FDA cleared Infrared Time Machine TTML-8102000 Laser Thermal Therapeutic Device.

Medifirst is pleased to announce that it satisfied all the vendor registration requirements and has received a Client Approved status for the Mayo Clinic. Commented President Bruce J. Schoengood, "We are very pleased with being accepted as a vendor for such a prestigious and leading medical organization." Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit medical practice and medical research group based in Rochester, Minnesota. It employs more than 4,500 physicians and scientists and 57,100 allied health staff. The practice specializes in treating difficult cases through tertiary care. It spends over $660 million a year on research.

The Company anticipates announcing, in the upcoming days, the appointment of a New York City Medical Director for the Time Machine Laser. This doctor and his practice, located on Central Park South, will serve as a training facility and a conduit to the Tri-State medical community to introduce and offer further services regarding the laser technology. Additionally, the Company will be hosting a private event to introduce its lasers to New York City-based physicians and healthcare professionals. Medifirst anticipates further details to be announced in the upcoming days and weeks.

Medifirst recently returned from Morocco, Dubai and France where the Company presented its technology to distributors and medical professionals from several countries. Commented President Bruce J. Schoengood, "The response has been overwhelming and we are working diligently to complete our negotiations and additional demonstrations, which involve ongoing meetings in the Mid-East, Africa and Europe. Medifirst would like to thank all the medical professionals we met in Morocco, Dubai and France." A number of healthcare companies in different countries have requested to be distributors for the Company's laser technology. Upon completion of a successful negotiation, Medifirst hopes to enter into an exclusive distribution agreement for a Morocco-based medical and healthcare distributor in the upcoming days. Additionally, Medifirst is in final negotiations, which if successful, involve bulk sales, with a London-based entrepreneur for representation in 11 countries to distribute the Time Machine Laser and ongoing negotiating continues with a Saudi-based medical distributor. Medifirst will update shareholders as soon as all negotiations and agreements are completed as to the final results in terms of sales and distribution. Medifirst continues presenting and working with individual practitioners for individual sales overseas and in the US, which efforts are focused on generating short-term revenues and establishing Time Machine ambassadors for longer-term growth. Continued Schoengood, "We know everyone is anxious for sales and great success and we are working as expeditiously as possible to complete all the current deals and continue to expand our sales force and infrastructure for both US and international sales."

Medifirst anticipates a shift in its current strategy to increase its product portfolio through upcoming acquisitions. Exclusive licensing deals are very valuable but owning specific intellectual property which include trademarks, patents and all related IP, would provide more security as well as increased value to the Company. The company anticipates a rollout of additional products in 2017.

About Medifirst Solutions, Inc.

Medifirst Solutions, Inc., in response to its Premarket Notification 510(k) submission for "The Time Machine" Series Laser, received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") to market its infrared Time Machine TTML-8102000 Laser Thermal Therapeutic Device. The Time Machine Series Lasers Model TTML-8102000 - 810/830nm is intended for use in temporary relief of minor muscle and joint pain, stiffness, minor arthritis pain, muscle spasm, temporary increase in local blood circulation and temporary relaxation of muscles by means of topical elevated tissue temperature from infrared spectral emissions. Due to the decrease of inflammation, patients have seen immediate aesthetic improvements as well, such as in scar and incision healing. The hand-held laser device, with pinpoint accuracy, often gives patients immediate results with no redness, swelling or down-time. This unique laser device offers medical professionals an affordable and effective tool to enhance their treatment protocols for their patients and provide new revenue streams for their practice. The laser division will be operated out of Medifirst's wholly owned subsidiary, Medical Lasers Manufacturer. Visit www.medifirstsolutions.com for more information. Follow on Twitter @Medi_First and for Facebook visit Medifirst Solutions.

Forward-Looking Statements:

The statements in this press release that relate to the company's expectations with regard to the future impact on the company's results from new products in development are forward-looking statements, and may involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. Such risks and uncertainties are described in greater detail in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Since the information in this press release may contain statements that involve risk and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the company's actual results may differ materially from expected results. We make no commitment to disclose any subsequent revisions to forward-looking statements. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity.

Medifirst Solutions, Inc.

Investor Relations

Phone: (732) 786-8044

Email: admin@medifirstsolutions.com

Website: www.medifirstsolutions.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Department of Canadian Heritage

The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, today announced that ESPACE GO will receive $2,929,571 in funding for renovations.

This support, provided by the Government of Canada through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, will allow the organization to make major building repairs and upgrade its production spaces.

Quotes

"From the beginning, ESPACE GO has stood out for its innovation and for its drive to keep pushing its discipline to new heights, as well as for the emphasis it places on the contributions of women. The Government of Canada is proud to help this great creative organization acquire modern facilities and equipment that will allow its artists to create freely in a spirit of collaboration."

- The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage

"Through a combination of technology and artistry, the creative centre that ESPACE GO aims to be-where we hope to see artists from a wide range of theatrical disciplines-will be equipped with new production spaces that promote partnerships and the sharing of knowledge and resources."

- Ginette Noiseux, General Manager and Artistic Director of ESPACE GO

Quick Facts

-- ESPACE GO, a creation and performance venue, aims to develop new forms of contemporary theatrical creation with a particular focus on women's contributions. It has been in its current location on Montreal's Plateau-Mont-Royal since it was built in 1995. -- In addition to putting on three productions per season, ESPACE GO is a dynamic venue where different companies can present their theatrical works or other performance art. -- The upcoming renovations will include major building repairs, upgrades to production spaces and improvements to audience reception areas. -- The building's layout will also be reconfigured to accommodate a new company in residence, UBU compagnie de creation.

Associated Links

ESPACE GO (French only)

Canada Cultural Spaces Fund

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




Rooftop solar arrays are a common site across many advanced solar markets. In some parts of Australia - namely Queensland and South Australia - 30% of homes have solar panels on their rooftops. In the U.K., around 900,000 homes are rooftop solar-powered, while in the U.S., Germany and Italy they are a common sight. But solar panels on cars? These have to date generally been the preserve of eccentric eco-warriors or innovative university students competing in some worthy around-the-world cause. Mass market production of solar-powered vehicles has been slow to leave the pits, save for a drip-drip of concept cars spinning turning slowly on platforms at motor shows the world over. Now, solar-powered cars are no longer refined to the prototype, and this week perhaps the biggest name in hybrid vehicles - Toyota - unveiled its first solar-powered Prius. The rooftop solar panels recharge the 3.7-volt (24Ah) lithium-ion auxiliary battery while driving to raise hybrid fuel efficiency, but cannot charge the battery to full capacity. The PV panels also supply power to the traction battery while the vehicle is parked, providing enough of a charge to drive up to a maximum of 6.1 kilometres per day, or an average of 2.9 kilometres, Toyota said in an online statement. In addition, the solar panels provide electricity for the vehicle's lights, power windows and air conditioning systems. The PV-charging option has been in development since 2009, when Toyota enlisted Kyocera to provide 56W modules for its prototypes. Toyota first announced plans last summer to offer the vehicles in the Japanese and European markets. The Japanese automaker launched sales throughout Japan last week, with a monthly sales target of 2,500 vehicles Prices range from 3.3 million ($29,000) to 4.2 million. How high can you go? A couple of noteworthy cell efficiency records were achieved this week. Germany's Fraunhofer ISE has reclaimed the hotly contested multicrystalline PV efficiency record, recording a performance of 21.9%, while over in ...

Den vollstandigen Artikel lesen ...
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT INCLUDES INSIDE INFORMATION

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH ITS DISTRIBUTION MAY BE UNLAWFUL

BH Macro Limited

(an authorised closed-ended collective investment scheme authorised by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and established as a non-cellular company limited by shares under the laws of the Island of Guernsey with registration number 46235)

24 February 2017

Results of Tender Offer and Shareholder Meetings

BH Macro Limited (the "Company") today announces the results of its tender offer for up to 100 per cent. of each class of its issued share capital at a price equivalent to 96 per cent. of net asset value for the relevant class as at 31 March 2017 (the "Tender Offer") and the extraordinary general meeting of the Company ("EGM") and separate class meetings of the Company's shareholders (the "Class Meetings") regarding the Tender Offer and the changes to the Company's structure and management agreement (the "Structural Changes") proposed to apply following the Tender Offer as set out in the circular to shareholders dated 27 January 2017 (the "Tender Document").

Valid tenders have been received from shareholders under the Tender Offer as follows:

Class of shares Number of shares of relevant class validly tendered Tenders received as percentage of shares of class in issue on

22 February 2017

(excluding treasury shares) Sterling shares 9,283,211 41.4% Euro shares 624,103 42.3% US Dollar shares 6,932,474 69.7%

In aggregate, valid acceptances of the Tender Offer were received in respect of approximately 48 per cent of the Company's shares in issue on the basis of their prevailing net asset value, which is within the Tender Limit (as described in the Tender Document) of 66.667 per cent. of shares in issue on the basis of their prevailing net asset value.

Accordingly, subject to the effectiveness of the shareholder resolutions proposed at the EGM and the Class Meetings, the Tender Offer will proceed and the Company will continue for shareholders who have not chosen to tender all of their shares in the Tender Offer (holding approximately 52 per cent. of the Company's shares in issue on the basis of their prevailing net asset value), with the Structural Changes (including the lower management fee) described in the Tender Document applying from 1 April 2017.

The resolutions regarding the Tender Offer and the Structural Changes were passed unanimously by show of hands at the EGM and the Class Meeting of the Company's Sterling shares.

The following proxy appointments were validly made in respect of the resolutions proposed at the EGM and the Class Meeting of the Company's Sterling shares:

EGM - Resolution one (approval of share buy backs pursuant to Tender Offer)

Number of shares in respect of which proxy appointments were validly made: 18,137,011

Votes for: 24,546,455 (99.11%)

Votes against: 0 (0%)

Votes withheld: 220,143 (0.89%)

EGM - Resolution two (approval of amendments to articles of incorporation)

Number of shares in respect of which proxy appointments were validly made: 18,286,666

Votes for: 24,766,597 (100%)

Votes against: 0 (0%)

Votes withheld: 0 (0%)

Sterling Class Meeting - Approval of amendment to articles of incorporation

Number of shares in respect of which proxy appointments were validly made: 15,195,953

Votes for: 15,195,953 (100%)

Votes against: 0 (0%)

Votes withheld: 0 (0%)

A vote "withheld" is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of the proportion of the votes for and against a resolution.

The Class Meetings for the Company's Euro and US dollar shares were inquorate and accordingly have been adjourned until Friday 3 March 2017 starting at 11.15 a.m. at the offices of Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 3QL.

The quorum for each of the adjourned Class Meetings will be one holder of shares of the relevant class present in person or by proxy. All proxies received in respect of the Euro and US Dollar Class Meetings will be valid at the adjourned Class Meetings. All proxies received by the Company to date are in favour of the resolutions to be proposed at the Class Meetings. Proxies for the adjourned Class Meetings may be submitted on or before 11.15 a.m. on Wednesday 1 March 2017 to the address provided in the form of proxy.

The resolutions passed at the EGM and the Sterling Class Meeting will be effective if the resolutions to be proposed at the adjourned Euro and US Dollar Class Meetings are passed. Once all resolutions are passed and effective, the Tender Offer and the Structural Changes will proceed.

If the Tender Offer completes, it is probable that the net asset value of the Euro share class will fall below the equivalent of US$25 million following the redemption of the validly tendered Euro shares. In that event, as stated in the Tender Document, the Company will convert the remaining Euro shares into Sterling shares, most probably in June 2017 following publication of the final 31 May 2017 net asset values. The Company will continue its monthly class conversion facility in the meantime, so holders of Euro shares who wish to convert their shares into US dollar shares may do so by electing to convert their shares accordingly. Following conversion of the remaining Euro Shares, the Company will request the cancellation of the listing of the Euro shares and shareholders will no longer be able to request conversion of shares of other classes into that class.

On the basis that the relevant resolutions are approved at the adjourned Class Meetings, the expected timetable for implementation of the Tender Offer and the Structural Changes is set out below. Shareholders should refer to the Tender Document for the full terms of the Tender Offer and the Structural Changes.

Expected timetable

Adjourned Class Meetings 3 March 2017

Announcement of results of adjourned Class Meetings 3 March 2017

Assuming adjourned Class Meetings approve the relevant resolutions:

NAV determination date 31 March 2017

Effective date for Structural Changes 1 April 2017

Announcement of final tender price First week of May 2017

Announcement of repurchase date for successfully First week of May 2017

tendered shares

Settlement through CREST/ dispatch of cheques by 12 May 2017

in respect of consideration under the Tender Offer

Effective date for conversion of remaining Final week of June 2017

Euro shares into Sterling shares

Enquiries:

Brevan Howard :

Dan Riggs

020 7022 6236

J.P. Morgan Cazenove :

William Simmonds

020 7742 4000

Northern Trust :

Sharon Williams

01481 745436

Important notices

J.P. Morgan Securities plc, which conducts its UK investment banking activities as J.P. Morgan Cazenove ("J.P. Morgan Cazenove"), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, J.P. Morgan Cazenove is acting as corporate broker to the Company and has no liability or responsibility to any person or entity other than the Company in such capacity.

This announcement does not constitute an offer or solicitation to acquire or sell any securities in the Company.

Notwithstanding the proposals described in this announcement, there is no guarantee that, following the Tender Offer, the Company will make any purchases of its own shares or that any class discontinuation vote will be held. Accordingly, investors should not expect that they will necessarily be able to realise, within a period which they would otherwise regard as reasonable, their investment in the Company, nor can they be certain that they will be able to realise their investment on a basis that necessarily reflects the value of the Company's investment in Brevan Howard Master Fund Limited.

This announcement is not for distribution in or into the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan or any other jurisdiction in which its distribution may be unlawful. This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or elsewhere. The securities of the Company have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption from such registration. The Company has not been and will not be registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and investors are not entitled to the benefits of that Act. There has not been and there will be no public offering of the Company's securities in the United States.

END
The global night vision scope marketsize is projected to reach USD 1,045.33 million by 2021, growing at a CAGR of close to 11% 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/20170224005180/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the global night vision scope market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)

In this report, Technavio covers the market outlook and growth prospects of the global night vision scope market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the approximate number of shipments of night vision scopes to the military and civil end-user segments.

The military end-user segment is the leading revenue generator for the market, contributing over 86% of the overall shares (2016 figures). Night vision scopes are in high demand from special forces such as covert ops, counter terrorism, hostage rescues, high-value targets, and person hunting teams.

Technavio's research study segments the global night vision scope market into the following regions:

Americas

EMEA

APAC

Americas: largest night vision scope market segment

"The Americas is the largest night vision scope market segment, generating almost 55% of the overall revenue. The high amount of investments made by the US into the defense and military sector is mainly responsible for the dominance of the market segment," says Gaurav Mohindru, one of the lead analysts at Technavio for tools and components research.

Additionally, initiatives such as the Future Soldier 2030 initiative is increasing the adoption of night vision goggles in the military. Also, wildlife hunting is a prominent hobby in many countries of the region, which also significantly impacts the adoption of these devices.

Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=56651

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.

EMEA: fastest growing night vision scope market segment

EMEA is the fastest growing night vision scope market segment, showcasing a CAGR of almost 12% over the forecast period. This high growth rate is due to increased investments made into the defense sector to provide state-of-the-art facilities to soldiers from countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UK, Russia, Germany, France, and Italy. The demand for night vision goggles is further expected to increase, as governments tighten security to maintain law and order. Additionally, the increasing popularity of wildlife photography in Africa is creating demand for night vision scopes from the region.

APAC increased defense budgets to drive growth of market segment

"APAC is almost on par with EMEA in terms of the growth rate, with countries such as China, Japan, and India investing continually in the defense sector. China has announced to further increase its defense budget in order to ensure security, especially over the South China Sea," says Gaurav.

The defense budgets of India and Australia have also increased significantly to combat tensions around the South China Sea and ensure maritime security. The increasing budgets will drive the demand for night vision scopes, thereby driving market growth.

The top vendors in the global night vision scope market highlighted in the report are:

ATN

Newcon Optik

Night Optics

Bering Optics

Armasight

Browse Related Reports:

Global Night Vision Devices Market 2016-2020

Global Automotive Night Vision System Market 2016-2020

Global Safety Goggles and Glasses 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/20170224005180/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
REDWOOD CITY, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Lastline Inc., the leader in advanced malware protection, announced the honors it received at the recent 2017 Global Excellence Awards. The security industry celebrated the 13th Annual Global Excellence Awards in San Francisco by recognizing excellence in all facets of the industry. Lastline was awarded honors in every category in which it was considered.

"Info Security Products Guide's recognition validates our market leading advanced malware detection," said Bert Rankin, Lastline CMO. "Awards such as ISPG's 'Tomorrow's Technology Today' reflect our leading-edge innovation that enables enterprises to detect and defeat today's most damaging and costly threats, particularly those that usually remain undetected by other malware detection solutions. We are honored to receive these awards."

Lastline was awarded:

Companies with Tomorrow's Technology Today - Technologies and products suitable for EMEA (Europe, Middle-East and Africa) - Gold winner

Security Products and Solutions for Enterprise (Large) - 11 - 99 Employees - Silver winner

Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) Detection and Response - 11 - 99 Employees - Bronze Winner

Most Innovative Security (Software) of the Year - 11 - 99 Employees - Bronze winner

Security Products and Solutions for Enterprise (Large) - 11 - 99 Employees - Silver winner

The awards are the latest recognition that Lastline has received for its Lastline Enterprise malware detection solution. In addition to NSS Labs reporting the product's 100 percent effectiveness and zero false positives and Forrester's Wave Report identifying Lastline as the strongest solution on the market, the company has a history of industry awards, including:

The 2016 Golden Bridge Awards Grand Trophy Winner and Gold Winner for Security Solutions for Enterprise

Info Security Products Guide 2016 Grand Winner: Global Excellence Awards

The Cybersecurity 2016 Excellence Award for APTs

Also at the RSA 2017 conference, Lastline debuted its Spring 2017 Lastline Enterprise Release, which delivers best-in-class capabilities to detect and eliminate browser based-attacks, speed incident investigation for security professionals, and provide early warning of unusual or suspicious network activity.

More than 40 judges from a broad spectrum of industry voices from around the world participated and their average scores determined the 2017 Global Excellence Awards Finalists and Winners. Winners were announced during the awards dinner and presentation on February 13, 2017 in San Francisco attended by the finalists, judges and industry peers.

About Info Security Products Guide

Info Security Products Guide plays a vital role in keeping end-users informed of the choices they can make when it comes to protecting their digital resources. It is written expressly for those who are adamant on staying informed of security threats and the preventive measure they can take. You will discover a wealth of information in this guide including tomorrow's technology today, best deployment scenarios, people and technologies shaping info security and market research reports that facilitate in making the most pertinent security decisions. The Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Awards recognize and honor excellence in all areas of information security. To learn more, visit www.infosecurityproductsguide.com and stay secured.

About Lastline:

Lastline pioneers innovation and develops the market leading solutions that eliminate active breaches caused by advanced persistent threats, targeted attacks, and evasive malware. Headquartered in Redwood City, California with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia, Lastline's platform is used by global managed security service providers, Global 5000 enterprises and leading security vendors worldwide. To learn more, visit https://www.lastline.com

CONTACT

Lastline, Inc.

Email Contact



Media Contact:

Dan Chmielewski

Madison Alexander PR

714-832-8716

949-231-2965

Email Contact




PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- Western Economic Diversification Canada

Prince George's premier park will receive an important upgrade through a Government of Canada CIP 150 investment of $377,000.

With the funding, the City of Prince George will revitalize a well-used picnic shelter to become the Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park Pavilion. This project is being undertaken in partnership with the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation and is a key part of the city's commitment to reconciliation.

Formerly known as Fort George Park, the park was renamed in 2015 to recognize the Lheidli T'enneh village, which stood on the site prior to the arrival of the railroad and the establishment of the City. Also, in 2015, the Government of British Columbia announced $25,000 for a monument in the park; this is being incorporated into the new pavillon.

The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada, made the announcement today.

The Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program is part of Canada 150 Celebrates, the Government of Canada's celebration of our country's 150th anniversary of Confederation. Budget 2016 provided an additional $150 million over two years to Canada's Regional Development Agencies to deliver further community funding across the country starting in 2016-17. Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) is responsible for administering the program in Western Canada.

Through investments in community infrastructure, the Government of Canada will support projects that renovate, expand and improve existing community infrastructure, with a focus on recreational facilities, projects that advance a clean growth economy, and projects with a positive impact on Indigenous communities.

Quotes

"The Government of Canada is proud to support projects that help bring communities together. I commend the City of Prince George and the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation's efforts to improve community infrastructure, increase tourism, and most importantly, to recognize our shared cultural histories."

- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada

"This project is an excellent example of the positive working relationship between the City and the Lheidli T'enneh and our shared interests in moving forward in a positive direction. We are excited that the pavilion will tell the story of the Lheidli T'enneh in a way and in a place that will be accessible for everyone."

- Chief Dominic Frederick, Lheidli T'enneh

"We are extremely grateful to the Lheidli T'enneh for partnering with us on this project, and to the Government of Canada for matching the City's contribution to restoring this structure in the Park. I believe this new facility will be a showpiece for our community and greatly enhance the popularity of this area. I am excited to see it built and used by local families and visitors alike."

- Lyn Hall, Mayor of Prince George

Stay Connected

Twitter: @WD_Canada, @canada150th, @MinisterISED, @CityofPG

Hashtags: Canada150

Website: WD Homepage, Canada 150 Homepage, Prince George

Facebook: @canada150th

Instagram: @canada150

WD Toll-Free Number: 1-888-338-WEST (9378)

TTY (telecommunications device for the hearing impaired): 1-877-303-3388

Additional Links

Government of Canada Announces Support for Community Infrastructure in British Columbia

Backgrounder: The 150th Anniversary of Confederation in 2017

City of Prince George

Lheidli T'enneh First Nation

IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANY PRINTED VERSION AND THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWS RELEASE, THE ELECTRONIC VERSION WILL PREVAIL.

Contacts:

Ben Stanford

Regional Communications Manager

Western Economic Diversification Canada

604-666-7038

ben.stanford@canada.ca



Michael Kellett

Senior Communications Specialist

City of Prince George

250-613-9087




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 02/24/17 -- After going without a contract for four years, workers at 24 Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) offices across Ontario could be on strike on March 4. A spokesperson for Local 2073 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 2073) which represents counsellors, literacy instructors, audiologists, speech language pathologists, interpreters/interpreter trainers, clerical support, program coordinators, program assistants, information technology specialists and other staff at CHS offices believes that working conditions are being attacked as part of a shift in priorities at the organization.

Since 2015 many employees and people in the community feel the organization has moved from a service provider by and for Deaf, Oral Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people to a more business and profit-driven entity. It has been noted that during this time the vast majority of newly hired executives are not from the Deaf community.

"Our members provide vital services to the culturally Deaf, Oral Deaf, hard of hearing and deafened, such as interpretation, mental health and employment services," says CUPE National Staff Representative Barbara Wilker-Frey, "but now we are seeing a shift in the CHS from a focus on providing services to a more profit-seeking client relationship. This round of negotiations we are seeing an attack on workers' health benefits and working conditions instead of a partnership between members of the same community."

The current negotiations cover a time period that is already passed. "We can put these four years behind us with a contract that offers modest increases and language that has already been agreed to," says Wilker-Frey. "Once this is settled we can sit down in partnership and figure out how we move forward. We want to be seen as a partner in this organization, not an enemy."

The two sides will be in legal strike or lockout position as of Saturday, March 4. The two sides will meet with a provincially appointed mediator on Friday, March 3 in an attempt to reach an agreement. "Our members are prepared for a strike if it is the only way to get our message across," says Wilker-Frey. "We hope that CHS acts in the best interest of culturally Deaf, Oral Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing across Ontario and comes back to the table ready to negotiate a fair deal."

Contacts:

Barbara Wilker-Frey

CUPE National Representative

905-739-3999 x 241



Matthew Stella

CUPE Communications

613-252-4377




'He promised to come back and pick us up. But he never could.'

Nguyen Thi Xuan, 94, who married a Japanese soldier during World War II, poses with a portrait of him at her house in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham

"This is my husband," said 94-year-old Nguyen Thi Xuan, holding up a pillow wrapped in a Vietnamese flag, with a Japanese army shirt pushed inside. She sleeps with it every night.

Xuan is among the few surviving widows of Japanese soldiers who were shipped home in the aftermath of World War II, many never to see their Vietnamese families again.

Next week, Japan's 83-year-old Emperor Akihito will meet some of the widows and their descendants, during one of many trips he has made to soothe the wounds of the war.

The story of the Vietnamese-Japanese families charts the ups and downs of the countries' ties at a time they are being brought closer by shared concern over the rise of China.

While many Vietnamese resented Japan's occupation in 1940, less bloody than many of its other conquests, some also saw it as a step to ending French colonial rule in Indochina.

Of more than one million Vietnamese deaths during the occupation, most were due to famine blamed on French and Japanese administrators rather than violence.

Some, like Xuan, fell in love.

"He spoke really good Vietnamese and often whispered Vietnamese songs," Xuan says of her husband, eyes twinkling.

They married in 1945, after Japan's defeat, when about 100,000 Japanese soldiers were stationed in Indochina.

Rather than return home, he stayed among some 600 former soldiers recruited by liberation leader Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh to bring military expertise to fight the French.

About half the Japanese died in fighting or from disease, but when the Viet Minh beat the French in 1954, the Vietnamese government decided the survivors should be sent home.

Torn apart

Xuan's husband was in the first group of 71 soldiers to go home in 1954. They were not allowed to take families. Others left in 1961 and could take families, but by then some had had children with more than one wife. Some had to be left behind.

The final goodbye to her father is burned in the memory of 63-year-old Nguyen Thi Van.

"He promised to come back and pick us up. But he never could," she said. He died seven years after returning to Japan.

The separated families struggled.

Japanese blood was no asset when war broke out between North Vietnam and the U.S., now Japan's ally.

"They called me a Japanese fascist and then we fought," said Nguyen Xuan Phi, Xuan's oldest son, describing his school days.

The situation improved after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The end of the Cold War brought a rapid improvement in relations with Japan.

Japan has been Vietnam's biggest aid donor over four decades, Vietnam's investment promotion agency says. For private investment, it ranks second to South Korea.

Both Vietnam and Japan have maritime territorial disputes with China and fear its growing regional weight. Both also back the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, whose future is in doubt after U.S. withdrawal.

Although Akihito has no political power, his overseas trips often have diplomatic overtones.

His first visit to Vietnam follows one in January by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who promised Vietnam six new coastguard patrol vessels, among other things.

Akihito's visit will begin on Tuesday.

After Xuan's husband left, she never had another relationship, she said. In 2005, the two were briefly reunited when he and his Japanese family came to visit.

"I felt contented to see him again, though only once," Xuan said. "The past is past. Now is the time to move on."

Related news:

>Japan's Emperor, Empress to meet wives, children of Japanese WWII soldiers in Hanoi

>Japans Abe expected to promote free trade during Vietnam visit
Competition among organizations in the retail sector is increasing due to the complexities of global expansion, currency fluctuation, rapid product cycles, and changing customer preferences. This increased competition has businesses turning to retail analytics, looking to gain a competitive advantage and see where improvements are needed.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005772/en/

Quantzig helps companies achieve better ROI from spend on marketing activities. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The global retail analytics market has experienced tremendous growth in the last two years and is showing no signs of slowing down. Global analytics and advisory firm Quantzig expects the market to more than double between 2016 and 2020, surpassing USD 7 billion by the end of the forecast period. The market for retail analytics is growing for good reason as organizations continue to experience significant ROI using BI and analytics tools and services. These tools help them analyze data in order to improve business performance with a focus on reducing operating costs and enhancing customer experience. Analytics tools and services help improve marketing and merchandising effectiveness, while reducing operational time and cost by allocating resources more efficiently.

Have a question for Quantzig's analytics experts? Get in touch with us

Retail analytics tools and services are growing in every region across the globe; a CAGR of over 20% between 2015-2020 is expected for North America, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA according to Quantzig. In Europe, the UK, France, and Germany are the leading countries for retail analytics. Retail is a massive industry for the EU, contributing over 11% to its total GDP and representing nearly 15% of the region's total employment.

A large retail chain in Europe recently tasked Quantzig's analytics experts with developing new market segmentation strategies in order to yield higher returns and profits. The client was not achieving expected returns from their marketing investments using traditional segmentation strategies and although they had access to a vast amount of data, identifying critical parameters for classifying customers for targeted marketing strategies was challenging.

After analyzing the data, research analysts at Quantzig were able to assess the client's existing strategies to identify gaps and propose an improved scheme for better customer segmentation. Quantzig provided innovative solutions and developed a predictive model for assessment of profitability levels of customers and segmented them accordingly.

For more information on all of Quantzig's services and solutions, or information on recent successful projects helping Fortune 500 clients, please contact us

About Quantzig

Quantzig is a global analytics and advisory firm with offices in the US, UK, Canada, China, and India. For more than 12 years, we have assisted our clients across the globe with end-to-end data modeling capabilities to leverage analytics for prudent decision making. Today, our firm consists of about 120+ clients, including 45 Fortune 500 companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005772/en/

Contacts:

Jesse Maida

Quantzig

Media Marketing Executive

jesse@technavio.com
Surrey, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 24, 2017) - Desert Gold Ventures Inc. (TSXV: DAU) (FSE: QXR2) (OTC Pink: DAUGF) ("Desert Gold" or "the Company") announces that it has received consent from the Toronto Venture Stock Exchange ("TSXV") to extend the closing of its non-brokered private placement, initially announced November 22, 2016 to March 10, 2017. The financing consists of up to 4,000,000 units at a price of CAD$0.25 per unit (the "Unit") to raise up to an aggregate CAD$1,000,000 (the "Financing").

Each Unit will consist of one common share in the equity of the Company and one share purchase warrant (the "Warrant"). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of CAD$0.30 per share for a period of five (5) years from the closing of this Financing. Warrants will be subject to a thirty (30) day acceleration upon announcement by the Company that its shares have traded on a weighted average of $1.00 per common share, or more, for ten (10) consecutive trading days.

The proceeds of the Financing will be used for general working capital and development purposes. There may be a finder's fee payable for the Financing. Securities issued as a result of the Financing will be subject to a statutory hold period. The Financing is subject to the TSXV approval.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Jared Scharf"

___________________________

Jared Scharf

Director and President

(604) 245-6802

For further information please visit our website www.desertgold.ca or information available on www.SEDAR.com under the company's profile.

Certain statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward-looking information") as those terms are used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "anticipates" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company, the Property, financing and certain corporate changes. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the united states. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the united states securities act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the united states or to the account or benefit of a U.S. person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such act.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 24, 2017) - American CuMo Mining Corporation(TSXV: MLY) (OTC Pink: MLYCF) ("CuMoCo" or the "Company") announces that Platinum Resources International Limited ("PRI") did not contribute the sum of US$10,000,000 as required within 90 days of the effective date of the Limited Liability Agreement of Poly Resources LLC ("Poly") with the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Idaho CuMo Mining Corporation ("Idaho CuMo").

As such, Idaho CuMo has provided written notice to PRI of such failure to contribute the US$10,000,000, and as a result, PRI is deemed to have resigned as a member of Poly and has lost its right to earn an interest in Poly, which holds an option to purchase the Calida Mine gold property in Idaho and the right to purchase up to 20% of Idaho CuMo's shares (please refer to the Company's news release of November 21, 2016). Idaho CuMo remains the sole member of Poly.

PRI had requested an extension of the due date for the payment of the US$10,000,000 and had also proposed alternative financing terms, but CuMoCo's management and Board of Directors decided not to proceed further with the intended financing transaction with PRI. Instead, the Company has engaged in discussions and negotiations with another third party with a view to entering a strategic financial relationship with such third party. The Company expects to announce such alternative financing transaction shortly.

About CuMoCo

CuMoCo is focused on advancing its CuMo Project towards feasibility and establishing itself as one of the largest and lowest-cost molybdenum producers in the world as well as a significant producer of copper and silver. CuMoCo also intends to advance its newly-acquired Calida Gold Project. Management is continuing to build an even stronger foundation from which to move the Company and its projects forward. For more information, please visit www.cumoco.com , www.idahocumo.com and www.cumoproject.com.

For further information, please contact:

American CuMo Mining Corporation

Shaun Dykes, President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (604) 689-7902

Email: info@cumoco.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this new release.

Forward-looking information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation including, but not limited to, statements that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, such the Company's ability to move its CuMo Project to feasibility and production, and to become one of the largest and lowest-cost molybdenum producers in the world as well as a significant producer of copper and silver. Forward-looking information is based on a number of material factors and assumptions, including the result of exploration activities, the ability of the Company to raise the financing for a feasibility study and to put the CuMo project into production, that no labour shortages or delays are experienced, that plant and equipment function as specified that the Court will not intervene with the Company's proposed exploration activities at the CuMo Project, and the ability of the Company to obtain all requisite permits and licenses to advance the CuMo Project and eventually bring it into production. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, future events, conditions, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future prediction, projection or forecast expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of molybdenum, silver and copper; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents, including the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the period ended September 30, 2016. There may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.
Monzo, a London, UK-based mobile bank, raised 19.5m in new venture capital funding.

Backers included Thrive Capital, Passion Capital and Orange Digital Ventures. As part of this raise, Monzo has reserved a further 2.5m for its community on Crowdcube, who can invest at the same valuation as Thrive, Passion, and Orange, to take the total raise to 22m.

The company intends to use the funds to launch current accounts this summer and expand its team further.

Led by Tom Blomfield, CEO, Monzo was started Monzo in February 2015, was granted a UK banking licence with restrictions by the FCA and PRA in August 2016, and is now is in Beta offering contactless prepaid MasterCard, real-time spending notifications, zero fees, even abroad, free, instant transfers to other Monzo users, 24/7 world-class support, intelligent budgeting, insightful and caring community, an API to build with, and use of emoji, and working to roll out its free current account, direct debits and standing orders, account number and sort codes, FSCS protection and easy overdrafts.

FinSMEs

23/02/2017
POD Point, a London, UK-based UK electric vehicle charge point supplier, is raising 9m in funding.

The round saw Draper Esprit investing 3m for new shares 2m for secondaries alongside Barclays Capital, who is providing 2m of venture debt. In addition, 550k additional equity investment has been secured from angel investors. Finally, POD Point has made 2m worth shares available to the public through Equity Crowdfunding platform Crowdcube  of which over 1m has since been pledged.

Over the past two years, POD Point has already raised 3.3m in two crowdfunding rounds, through Seedrs and Crowdcube.

The new investment will be used to expand the charging infrastructure needed for widespread adoption of electric vehicles in the UK.

Started in 2009 and led by Erik Fairbairn, CEO, POD Point operates an electric vehicle charging network. The company has manufactured and sold over 27,000 electric vehicle charge points, connecting EV drivers with hundreds of charging bays nationwide at locations such as Sainsburys, Southern Rail. It installs products for customers of Renault Norway among many other brands and count high profile companies such as Lloyds Banking Group, Britvic and O2 Telefonica among their workplace customers.

FinSMEs

24/02/2017
Ghaziabad: Mohit Goel, the Director of Noida-based company Ringing Bells which had announced Freedom 251 smartphones at an astonishingly low price of Rs 251+ apiece, was detained in Ghaziabad on Thursday on allegations of fraud, police said.

Goel has been detained after owner of Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises filed an FIR on Wednesday alleging that Ringing Bells "defrauded" it of Rs 16 lakh.

Ghaziabad Deputy SP Manish Mishra said Goel has been detained for interrogation in the matter.

In the FIR, Ayam Enterprises has claimed it was persuaded by Goel and others from Ringing Bells to take up the distributorship of the Freedom 251 phones in November 2015.

"We paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. But it delivered us product worth Rs 13 lakh only. Upon follow-up, we could get products plus money totaling Rs 14 lakh," it claimed in the FIR.

The owners of Ayam Enterprises claim that they were threatened with life if they asked for the rest Rs 16 lakh "again and again".

Ringing Bells had begun the sale of Freedom 251 handsets, touted as the world's cheapest, via its website in February last year.

It landed in a controversy, however, with some alleging it was like ponzi scheme. The firm had claimed that around 30,000 customers had booked the phone despite some glitch and seven crore people registered for it.
By Brendan O'Brien and Aditya Kalra

| MILWAUKEE/NEW DELHI

MILWAUKEE/NEW DELHI A Kansas man has been charged with killing an Indian software engineer and wounding two other men when he opened fire in a bar in what federal authorities probed on Friday as a possible hate crime that shocked the victim's home country.The shooting led news bulletins in India and triggered outrage on social media, where people voiced concern that U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" position on immigration and jobs has fueled a climate of intolerance.Navy veteran Adam Purinton, 51, was charged on Thursday in Johnson County, Kansas, with one count of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder, District Attorney Stephen Howe told reporters.He declined to elaborate on the details of the incident or the motive for the shooting.The FBI was investigating whether it was a hate crime. Federal agents joined police to canvass the area on Thursday, FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said, and were continuing their investigation on Friday. Purinton is accused of shooting and killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, also 32, in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday evening, the city's police department said in a statement.At least one bystander told the Kansas City Star the man shouted "get out of my country" before shooting the Indian victims. He is also accused of wounding American Ian Grillot, 24, who was shot as he tried to intervene."People call me a hero," Grillot said in a video released by the hospital where he was undergoing treatment for gunshot wounds to the hand and chest. " ... I was just doing what anyone should have done for any other human being."

The suspect fled on foot and was arrested without incident five hours later at an Applebee's restaurant in Clinton, Missouri. He reportedly told an employee there that he needed a place to hide because he had killed two Middle Eastern men, the Star reported.Purinton was being held on a $2 million bond at the Henry County Jail.At Kuchibhotla's family home near the Indian tech hub of Hyderabad, relatives backed government calls to ensure the safety of Indians living in the United States. "The government should voice out this strongly because our brothers, sisters and our relatives are there," the victim's brother, Venu Madhav, told Reuters Television.

'BE ANGRY!'

Many Indians initially welcomed Trump's election, reading his calls to restrict Muslim immigration as signaling support for Hindu-majority India. The nation has been at odds for decades with Pakistan, its mainly Muslim neighbor.But the Trump administration may also have skilled Indian workers like Kuchibhotla in mind as it considers curbing the H-1B visa program, worrying both India's $150 billion IT services industry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government."Don't be shocked! Be angry!" Siddharth, a well-known South Indian actor who uses one name, tweeted to his 2.6 million followers in remarks echoed across social media. "Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla."

Kavipriya Muthuramalingam, a friend and former colleague of the victim, has raised more than $250,000 via a crowd-funding website to help with funeral and other expenses.He said his friend was one of the nicest, most gentle people one could hope to meet. "He was non-confrontational, non-controversial, easy-going, always smiling," Muthuramalingam said.Kuchibhotla received a master's in electronics from the University of Texas in El Paso in 2007, according to LinkedIn. He was married but had no children.His Facebook page, where he called himself "Srinu," said that in 2014 he joined the Kansas office of Switzerland-based navigation device maker Garmin from Rockwell Collins Inc.Flags at Garmin's offices flew at half-staff on Friday, Kansas City local TV news reported. Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she was "shocked" at the shooting. Two officials from the Indian consulate in Houston were going to Kansas to meet with the injured men and police, her ministry said.The U.S. embassy in New Delhi condemned the shooting, saying in a statement that the United States welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study and live. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Dave Kaup and Aditya Kalra

| KANSAS CITY/NEW DELHI

KANSAS CITY/NEW DELHI A 51-year-old man has been charged with killing an engineer from India and wounding two other men when he opened fire in a Kansas bar in what federal authorities were investigating on Friday as a possible bias-motivated crime that shocked the victim's home country. The shooting on Wednesday night led news bulletins in India and triggered outrage on social media, where people voiced concern that U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" position on immigration and jobs has fuelled a climate of intolerance. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Friday that any loss of life was tragic, but that it would be absurd to link the killing to Trump's rhetoric.Navy veteran Adam Purinton, who is white, was charged on Thursday in Johnson County, Kansas, with one count of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder, District Attorney Stephen Howe told reporters.He declined to elaborate on the details of the incident or the motive for the shooting.The Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking at whether it was a hate crime, the official term for crimes motivated by bias or prejudice. A FBI spokeswoman said agents and police canvassed the area on Thursday and the investigation continued on Friday. Purinton is accused of killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, also 32, in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday evening, police said.At least one bystander told the Kansas City Star the gunman shouted "get out of my country" before shooting the Indian victims.Purinton is also accused of wounding American Ian Grillot, 24, who was shot as he tried to intervene."People call me a hero," Grillot said in a video released by the hospital where he was undergoing treatment for gunshot wounds to the hand and chest. "I was just doing what anyone should have done for any other human being."

The suspect fled on foot and was arrested without incident five hours later at an Applebee's restaurant in Clinton, Missouri. He reportedly told an employee there he needed a place to hide because he had killed two Middle Eastern men, the Star reported.Purinton, a former Federal Aviation Administration employee, was transferred back to Kansas on Friday and was being held at the Johnson County jail with bond set at $2 million, according to jail records. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. It was not immediately known whether he had hired a lawyer. Police did not say whether Purinton has faced charges in the past. However, he was not generally known to police in Olathe, a city of 134,000 people about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Kansas City, Sergeant Logan Bonney said by phone on Friday.Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, a Republican, condemned the killing. "This sort of senseless violence is never acceptable," he said in a statement.

'BE ANGRY!'

At Kuchibhotla's family home near the Indian tech hub of Hyderabad, relatives backed government calls to ensure the safety of Indians living in the United States. "The government should voice out this strongly because our brothers, sisters and our relatives are there," the victim's brother, Venu Madhav, told Reuters Television outside their home. Through a window, relatives could be seen sitting quietly, one woman wiping away tears.Many Indians initially welcomed Trump's election, seeing his calls to restrict Muslim immigration as support for their Hindu-majority country. The nation has been at odds for decades with Pakistan, its mainly Muslim neighbour.

But the Trump administration may also have skilled Indian workers like Kuchibhotla in mind as it considers curbing the H-1B visa programme, worrying both India's $150 billion IT services industry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government."Don't be shocked! Be angry!" Siddharth, a well-known South Indian actor who uses one name, tweeted to his 2.6 million followers in remarks echoed across social media. "Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla."Kavipriya Muthuramalingam, a former colleague of the victim, said his friend was one of the nicest, most gentle people one could meet. "He was non-confrontational, non-controversial, easy-going, always smiling," Muthuramalingam said.A candle light vigil was planned for Friday evening at the First Baptist Church of Olathe, across the road from the bar. Kuchibhotla received a master's in electronics from the University of Texas in El Paso in 2007, according to LinkedIn. He was married but had no children.His Facebook page, where he called himself "Srinu," said that in 2014 he joined the Kansas office of Switzerland-based navigation device maker Garmin (GRMN.O) from Rockwell Collins Inc (COL.N). Flags at Garmin's offices flew at half-staff on Friday. The company said it was "devastated by the senseless tragedy.""Srinivas was a valued member of our engineering team and will be greatly missed," Garmin said on Facebook. (Reporting by Dave Kaup in Kansas City and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Additional reporting by David Ingram in New York, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Ayesha Rascoe in Washington; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Grant McCool)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Srinagar: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday called for resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the policy of "bullet for bullet" will only worsen the situation in the state.

"If you want to improve the situation in Kashmir, then the only way is to start a dialogue. The talk of bullet for bullet will only make the things worse," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Srinagar.

He said India and Pakistan need to come together and resume the stalled dialogue process to resolve the long standing Kashmir problem.

"Bullet cannot be an answer to a bullet. Bullet can be answered by patience, love and through dialogue. We should desist from that and hope India and Pakistan come to the dialogue table and a new phase of talks will resume so that this problem is resolved," the former chief minister said.

Abdullah, who was a union minister during the previous UPA government, said it was "imperative that an effort be made towards restoration of peace (in Kashmir). Both the countries should talk peace. There is no other option."

He said poor people in the state would be the worst affected by lack of tourism because of violence.

"Death and destruction should come to an end so that the people of Kashmir can live in peace. The tourism season is about to start and if this death and destruction continues, who will come here? Who is going to suffer because of that? It is the poor people here who depend on tourism," he said.

Abdullah also demanded constitution of a judicial commission to look into the reasons for youths joining militant ranks and people rushing towards encounter sites to save holed up militants during counter-insurgency operations.

"We have to take into account their (militants') sentiments. What is the reason for their taking up arms? A high-level judicial commission should be constituted to look into what is compelling the youth to take up arms," he said.

Referring to the warning of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to the youth against interfering in anti-insurgency operations, Abdullah said, "That is not right. That is unfortunate because if you have to address a problem, the solution does not lie in the gun but talks."

"Dialogue is the only way and we have to tread that path. There is some reason why people are doing this (protesting near encounter sites). We have to look into that reason and address that reason so that the guns stop and peace prevails in the state," he said.

The National Conference president said Peoples Democratic party (PDP's) coalition with BJP is one of the reasons for the latest tendency of people to rush towards encounter sites.

"The present government (during electioneering) had made a promise to the people that they won't align with communal parties. (Former Chief Minister) Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) entered into an agreement with them (BJP). The people will not accept this. And this is the one of the reason for it," he said.

Abdullah also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his claim about discrimination in power supply during Ramzan and Diwali in Uttar Pradesh.

"It is regretful. Prime Minister should talk in such a way that unites people rather than creating a division. I had not expected such statements from the Prime Minister," he said.

During his address to party workers on the occasion of the second death anniversary of former NC general secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmad, Abdullah said the youth of Kashmir were "sacrificing their lives for their rights and not for any political positions."

He said the people of Kashmir are not enemies of any nation.

"We are not anyone's enemy. Neither are we India's enemy nor Pakistan's enemy, but we ask them to do justice with us. You have not done justice with us," he said.

He said for peace in the region, India and Pakistan's friendship is vital.
Two workers on an electricity pole in Hanoi. Photo by Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam is emerging as a leader in the global race to switch to sustainable energy by 2030, the World Bank said.

Vietnam is one of the world's leading nations in sustainable energy, with robust policies to support energy access, renewables and energy efficiency, the World Bank said in a report.

The Southeast Asian country is ranked the 25th in the World Bank's scorecard on sustainable energy, compiled in January and which grades 111 countries in three areas of energy access, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

"About half the countries with more appropriate policy environments for sustainable energy are emerging economies, said the report released Wednesday. They include Mexico, China, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Brazil and South Africa.

Vietnam scores highest in energy efficiency among all developing countries, said the report.

The countrys policy progress was largely driven by an economy, which has had a steady average annual growth of above 5 percent since 1990, one of Asia's fastest rates, based on government statistics.

Vietnam's power demand grew at over 20 percent per year throughout the 1990s, and15-percent in the 2000s, the World Bank estimated.

Vietnam is trying to generate enough energy to facilitate its economic growth and connect millions of people who still lack access to electricity to the grid, while gradually shifting towards clean and low-carbon energy.

The government has projected electricity output to rise to 330362 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2020 and to 695834 billion kWh in 2030, from around 200 billion kWh in 2015, to meet a surging demand, which will also require a boost of renewable energy.

In comparison to other more traditional energy sources such as oil and coal, renewable energy is relatively new in Vietnam. Its presence is strongly driven by government policies, and is mostly positioned within sustainable development and greenhouse gas reduction frameworks.

The government has recently revised down the target for electricity output by coal-fired power plants to 53.2 percent of the total power generation by 2030, from 56.4 percent previously projected.

Vietnam now aims for 10.7 percent of the total electricity output by 2030 generated from renewable energy, mainly solar and wind energy, up from 6 percent previously planned.

By 2020 wind power would account for 0.8 percent of the country's total power output, while 0.5 percent would come from solar power.

The World Bank's report, entitled Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy, provides benchmarks to evaluate clean energy progress, using 27 indicators and 80 sub-indicators including legal frameworks, building codes, and government incentives and policies to calculate an overall score.

Related News:

> Vietnam's wind power target blown off course by low profitability

> Facing donors, Vietnam urged to rethink coal-fueled growth

> World Bank urges Vietnam to shun coal
Secretary of Maharashtra Congress Shehzad Poonawalla has alleged that Pakistan-born writer Tarek Fatah assaulted him during a television debate on CNN-News18 hosted by Bhupendra Chaubey.

Poonawalla posted a video on Twitter which was recorded from a mobile phone. In the video, the mobile phone which Poonawalla was holding seems to fall down. Poonawalla alleged that Fatah slapped his hand and abused him.

@JaskiratSB My hand was slapped by Tarek Fatah & called bastard fucker etc in front of cameras & @bhupendrachaube full video with @CNNnews18 pic.twitter.com/LYnWIpaRur  Shehzad Poonawalla (@Shehzad_Ind) February 21, 2017

However, when an angry Poonawalla expressed his shock over Fatah allegedly assaulting him, Fatah said, "I didn't even touch you."

Poonawalla and Fatah were discussing the latter's involvement in an altercation at an Urdu festival in New Delhi. Eventually, the debate between the two got so heated up that Chaubey had to intervene.

It was apparently after the cameras were turned off that Fatah allegedly assaulted Poonawalla.
Despite Delhi governments claims to have introduced revolutionary measures to uplift education sector, the capital city has seen a 5.31 percent jump in school dropout rate in fifth standard in last three years shows UDISE data.

The Unified District Information System data belongs to the 2015-16 financial year, in which the Delhi government increased its budget allocation in education sector by 106 percent.

While presenting the first budget of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the financial year 2015-16, the finance minister Manish Sisodiya announced that the largest chunk of the government fund was allocated to the education sector which was 9,836 crore. But the increase in budget was responded to by an increase in dropout rate in fifth standard by 2.93 percent in that year.

Prior to that financial year, drop out rate in fifth standard was as low as 2.38 percent, while the year before that, the capital city saw not a single child leaving school in the said level.

While the UDISE data shows that nearly 54,000 students dropped out during the last three years from various kinds of schools in Delhi, lowest rate of drop out was in sixth to seventh standard at 0.76 percent in the year 2015-16. Ashok Agarwal an activist and advocate told Firstpost that in 2015-16 the highest rate of dropout has been recorded in fifth standard at 5.31 percent, during the transition period of switching from Municipal Corporation of Delhi schools to Delhi government ones.

Explaining the reason behind this phenomenon he said that many student do not take admission for further studies after they pass out from MCD schools in fifth standard.

Earlier the problem was that the parents had to face various difficulties including administrative ones, in admitting their wards in Delhi government schools. Many of them ended up without taking admission in any school, he said.

So the High Court ordered, in the year 2002, the MCD schools to mention the name of the government school where the student has to take admission in the transfer certificate itself, he said.

To add further convenience to the process of transition it was ordered by the government that the MCD schools should send the names of the students, who passed fifth standard, directly to the government schools so that the student can start attending classes in the new school just by completing minimum formality related to admission.

The new system resulted in decrease in dropout rates in fifth standard. In the year 2013-14 it came down to zero percent. But sudden rise in number of children leaving school again in this level is alarming, he added.

Only recently Mukta Gupta, a High Court judge said quoting a government document that 33,744 students dropped out in the last two years from MCD schools.

Shashi Kant Singh, Principal of a government school in Dwarka told Firspost that many of the students do not take admission even if their names are sent by the MCD schools.

If a school sends names of 270 students normally 230 of them finally show up for admission, he said.

He also said that it was difficult to assess why some students never show up for admission, but he surmised that some among them take admission in the schools in the neighboring states.

Ashok Agarwal attributes the sudden rise in dropout rates to the neglect showed by the Delhi government towards the MCD schools.

The schemes introduced by the education department to decrease dropout rates are meant for the students studying in the schools run by the Delhi government, he said.

He also added that no scheme has been introduced to do the same in MCD schools. This is the prime reason why dropout rates have jumped to an alarming level in these schools.

He said that there is no scheme initiated by the education department even to bring these students back to school.
New Delhi: A youth died and his two friends were critically injured in a shootout among two groups near a wedding function site here, police said on Friday.

Police said the incident took place late on Thursday night when two groups indulged in a verbal duel that later turned into a clash between them. At one stage, one of them fired from a weapon at three others near the wedding venue in Dakshinpuri area of south Delhi.

"Police was informed by some local residents, who said three youths had sustained gun-shot injuries in a shootout between two groups," Deputy Commissioner of Police Romil Baaniya told IANS.

The youths, identified as Shekhar Yadav, Vikas Arya and Harneet Singh all 25-28 years of age  received two to three bullet injuries and were taken to the nearby Batra Hospital, Baaniya said.

"Harneet Singh was later referred to Safdarjung Hospital, while Shekhar Yadav succumbed to his injuries in the hospital" he said.

Police have booked six persons in this case, out of which one has been apprehended from Sangam Vihar and a country-made pistol and a small quantity of drugs recovered from his rented accommodation in Khanpur area, according to the DCP.

Yadav and Singh were working in a private finance company at Nehru Place, while Arya is pursuing post-graduation through correspondence from a private university, the officer said.

"Police have identified the accused persons and raids are being conducted to trace and arrest them," the DCP added.
Panaji: The federal home ministrys recent proclamation that Goa lawmaker Caetano Rosario Silva alias Caitu is an Indian national has opened the proverbial Pandoras box and given a glimpse of hope to thousands of Goans who had registered their births in Portugal.

According to estimates, about 27,000 Goans have registered Portugal as their place of birth since Portugal offered the option to Goans in 1974 of registering those born before Goas liberation from 451 year colonial Portuguese on 19 December, 1961 as Portuguese. Portugal treated Goa, Daman and Diu as its overseas territory, unlike the British who considered rest of India as its colony.

This enabled anyone born in pre-liberation Goa to register themselves as Portuguese along with their next two generations born in India. Caitu, who won South Goas Benaulim seat in the 2012 state legislative assembly election as a Goa Vikas Party candidate, was born in Portuguese Goa in 1959. He had registered his birth in Portugal and has been involved in a career-spoiling legal battle to prove his Indian nationality, claiming it was done without his knowledge by agents. The Goa bench of Bombay High Court had asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to clarify the mystery surrounding Caitus nationality. He contested the recently held Goa assembly elections from Benaulim as an independent, supported by the states ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Caitu was dragged to the court by Valanka Alemao, daughter of former Goa Chief Minister Churchill Alemao. Valanka, a Congress party nominee, was defeated by Caitu by some 2,000 votes in 2012. This time round, her father Churchill Alemao, decided to challenge Caitu as a nominee of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

MHA virtually made a U-turn over the issue as it overturned its earlier pronouncement of 20 November, 2013, in which it had termed Caitu as a Portuguese citizen, prompting Churchill Alemao to comment that it was done under pressure of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. Valanka had filed the petition soon after her defeat seeking disqualification of Caitu on the grounds that he being a foreign national was not entitled to function as elected representative in India.

Thousands of Goans, including politicians, policemen, bureaucrats and lawyers opted to register Portugal as their country of birth. This enabled their children and grandchildren to take the Portuguese passport and work anywhere in Europe. They were unable to find jobs here. They are helping India earn foreign exchange as they work in Europe and send money to their parents here back home, said Mario Ferreira, a Goan himself and a Congress party activist.

The MHA decision to accept that Caitu continues to be an Indian national is bound to give a new ray of hope to several others like him. Portugal allows dual citizenship. But India does not. Demand for allowing Goa-specific dual citizenship is gaining ground since there are between 27,000 and 30,000 Goans who registered themselves as Portugal born for their progeny without leaving the Indian soil, accepting Portuguese passport or citizenship.

Besides Caitu, Ticlo Glenn JVA Souza, BJP lawmaker from Aldona constituency, was also facing threat of disqualification over their alleged registration of Portugal born Indians.

Many Goans have registered their births in Portugal and their children have obtained citizenship or accepted a Bilhete de Identidade de Cidadao Nacional, which is supposed to be as good as getting a Portuguese citizenship. Many Goans use the Bilhete de Identidade to travel across Europe and work, as it makes the Schengen visa redundant. Many have sought employment in Europe on the basis of the Bilhete.

Since the nationality questions about Caitu and Glenn cropped up, the BJP government in Goa took a stand that the Bilhete alone is not a proof of Portuguese nationality and that such individuals continue to be Indian citizens. Parrikar, while he served as Goa chief minister between 2012 and 2014, was lobbying with the home ministry, while the Congress party was in power at the centre, for a one-time solution to this dual nationality issue of Goans. India had accorded citizenship to all residents of Goa, Daman and Diu after their liberation under the Citizenship Act 1955. However, those who in writing had declared then that they wanted to retain their Portuguese nationality were not declared as Indian citizens.

Caitu has said he is contemplating filing a suit for claiming damages from Valanka Alemao for mental harassment, malicious prosecution and wastage of time that prevented him from executing his role as MLA and working for his constituency all these last five years.

Incidentally, among those who have opted for Portuguese passport include Goas famous musician Remo Fernandes, recipient of Padma Shri award in 2007. Fernandes, who lived in his ancestral village Siolim in North Goa, moved to Europe a couple of years back and is said to be looking forward to India granting dual citizenship so that he can continue spreading his brand of music in India and Europe unhindered.
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Thursday rejected quota agitation leader Hardik Patel's plea that his bail conditions be relaxed.

Justice AJ Desai rejected the petition.

Hardik had said as per the conditions laid down by the high court while granting him bail in two sedition cases in July 2016, he has to appear before crime branch offices in Ahmedabad and Surat once a week.

Visiting two cities every week was inconvenient, said his lawyer IH Syed, who urged the court to relax the condition and require Hardik to appear only before Ahmedabad crime branch every week.

However, public prosecutor Mitesh Amin opposed the plea, saying it would be too early to modify the conditions. The court then rejected the petition.

As a part of the bail conditions, Hardik stayed outside Gujarat for six months after his release in July last year. He returned to his home state last month.
By Gangadhar S Patil

Bengaluru, Karnataka: India may have to import milk in four years, if it cannot increase fodder supply for its 299 million cattle, as rising pressure on land reduces pastures nationwide.

Spurred by rising incomes, a growing population and changing food preferences, the demand for milk and milk products will grow to at least 210 million tonnes by 202122, a rise of 36% over five years, according to government estimates. To meet this demand, production must grow by 5.5% per annum, according to the State of Indias Livelihood (SOIL) report. In 2014-15 and 2015-16, milk production grew at 6.2% and 6.3%, respectively.

Source: National Dairy Development Board

To boost milk yield, India would need to generate 1,764 million tonnes of fodder by 2020, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of government data. But existing sources can only manage about 900 million tonnes of foddera shortage of 49%.

Demand for private consumption has risen from 5% per annum in the period 1998-2005 to 8.5% per annum between 2005 and 2012, according to an Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, report.

This demand and supply gap has pushed up milk prices by an average of 16% per annum, according to the according to the 2015 SOIL report.

States with top milk yields have more pastures

In the decade to 2015, milk production went up 59% from 92 million tonnes to 146 million tonnes in 2015. But fodder shortages may knock India off its position as the worlds top milk producer (it contributes nearly 17% of global production).

The milk productivity of Indias livestock is less than half (48%) of the global average: 987 kg per lactation compared to the global average of 2,038 kg per lactation.

The availability and quality of fodder has a direct bearing on the quantity and quality of milk productivity, the data show. All the three states that topped milk productivity in terms of gram per dayRajasthan (704), Haryana (877) and Punjab (1,032)had earmarked more than 10% of their cultivable land for pastures, according to the 2015 SOIL report. The national average is 337.

Currently, all three types of fodder are in short supplygreen (63%), dry (24%) and concentrates (76%). Only 4% of total cultivable land in India is used for fodder production, a proportion that has remained stagnant for the last four decades.

Demand And Supply Of Fodder: An Estimate

Source: State of Indias Livelihood report 2015

Considering the demand for milk, land under fodder production needs to be doubled, according to this December 2016 report of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture.

Shortages are forcing states to now source fodder from elsewhere. The quality of fodder is a concern. We are now looking to source fodder from Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), said Sudhir Mishra, who runs a dairy farm in Ranchi (Jharkhand).

But major portions of grazing lands have either been degraded or encroached upon, according to the Parliamentary Committee report.

However, the availability of crop residues, the largest single source of fodder, has been impacted by increasing pressure on land and the replacement of traditional cereal crops, especially coarse ones. Crop residue includes coarse and fine straws, leguminous and pulses straws.

Given the importance of food and cash crops, it is very unlikely that the area under fodder cultivation will increase substantially, the parliamentary committee report said.

If India fails to achieve substantial production growth, the country would need to resort to significant imports from the world market which has the potential to cause prices to spurt since India is a large consumer, said 2015 SOIL report.

To cut costs, easy access to fodder is important for small farmers

Feed cost constitutes about 60-70% of operating expenses on dairy farms. Nearly 70% of Indias milk production comes from small and marginal farmers, who depend on homegrown fodder. Unlike big operators like Mishra, they cannot afford to buy fodder from other states.

Take the case of Dundappa Patil, a 10th-class pass from Belagavi in North Karnataka, who took a loan of Rs 35,000 for dairy farming eight years ago.

The process of applying and getting a loan for the enterprise was simple and quick because Patil was covered by a scheme for unemployed youth in Karnataka. He went through a crash course in dairy farming in Belagavi and in less than a month, set up business with four buffalo.

Patils target was to sell 20 litres of milk every day to a local co-operative society. But the yield per buffalo on Patils farm was less than 2 litres a day; his buffalo produced less than half the milk he hoped they would.

I realised that just buying a good buffalo was not enough, quality and quantity of fodder too had to be good, he said. You have to be ready to spend a lot of time and money on sourcing fodder.

Patil said he and other villagers were using a common pasture on a hill 5 km from the village. But that is seasonal and not enough for the all the village cattle, he said.

So, he tried buying the fodder, but then the business did not look viable.

The contribution of livestock to the incomes of landless and small farmers ranges between 20-50%, and the poorer the family, the greater the potential of dairy farmings contribution to livelihood, according to the SOIL report.

Unlike agriculture, which tends to be seasonal, dairy farming provides returns through the year. It can minimise the risks agricultural households face when they run short of cash.

In Belgavi, that scenario did not work for Patil because he could not overcome the fodder shortagean issue India must address if it is to be self-sufficient in milk and dairy farming is to succeed.

Eventually, after a year, Patil sold the buffalo and repaid half the loan. The bank waived the rest after failing to recover it. Today, he is a construction worker in Belagavi city.

(Patil is the founder of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
An Indian engineer was killed and two others were injured after an American man opened fire in a crowded suburban Kansas City bar. Allegedly, the man yelled: "get out of my country," before shooting. The local police called it a possible hate crime. Among the two injured are Alok Madasani and Ian Grillot; Grillot was shot after he intervened.

The accused has been identified as Adam Purinton, a 51-year-old US Navy veteran. According to the Kansas City Star, Purinton has been charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of Madasani and Grillot.

Bartender Garret Bohnen told the Kansas City Star that Kuchibhotla and Madasani stopped at Austins for a drink once or twice a week. "From what I understand when he was throwing racial slurs at the two gentlemen (Kuchibhotla and Madasani), Ian (Grillot) stood up for them," Bohnen said. "We're all proud of him."

According to LinkedIn profiles, Kuchibhotla completed a masters in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Texas and had completed his B Tech from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad.

According to a report in The Louisiana Weekly, FBI started tracking hate crimes against Hindus and Sikhs only in 2016, though the numbers appear to be low, it must be taken into account that FBI statistics rely on voluntary data and many victims, especially immigrants do not report hate crimes.

Adam Purinton: Troubled, typical neighbour

Purinton was on the run from Olathe authorities after committing the crime, another Kansas City Star report says that he was apprehended 80 miles away. He had told a bartender at Applebee's that he needed a place to hide. Purinton's neighbours have been quoted as saying that they never saw his temper. "He was usually pretty inebriated," says Bervery Morris in the report. "Neighbours never knew Purinton to talk about politics or race. He was known to keep a handgun hanging from a hook by the front window. But neighbors, including Shimeall, said they never felt threatened or saw any violent tendency," says the report.

'It wasn't right': Ian Grillot, the man who showed bravery in the face of hate

In a video released after Grillot came to, he said that he wasn't "really thinking" and that he felt that "it was just, it wasn't right." Grillot graduated High School in 2010 and goes to the bar where the shooting occurred regularly.

Employees at the bar told Kansas City Star that they were not surprised that Grillot defended the two men. He is quoted as saying in the report: "Im just very grateful that one of the gentlemen is fine and alive. Its terrible what happened to his friend. But I think he was watching over us last night...Its not about where hes from, or ethnicity. Were all humans."

Twitter reacts

RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla, another victim of a white supremacist terror attack, the kind Trump's Republicans never acknowledge or decry.  Anil Dash (@anildash) February 24, 2017

Don't be shocked! Be angry! Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla https://t.co/BHiSY7SiCH  Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) February 24, 2017

@POTUS @KellyannePolls @seanspicer There was a real domestic terrorist attack in Kansas last night. The victim was #SrinivasKuchibhotla.  LoverandDreamer (@LoverandDreamer) February 24, 2017
Srinagar: Suspected militants, on Friday night, hurled a grenade at a police post in Pulwama district of Kashmir but there was no damage caused by the explosion.

J&K: Grenade attack on police post at Kakapora area in Pulwama district.No causalities or injuries reported.  ANI (@ANI_news) February 24, 2017

The grenade was lobbed towards Kakapora police post at around 7.35 pm and it exploded inside the compound of the police installation, a police official said.

He said there was no damage to life or property in the explosion.
A 23-year-old man who was attacked and humiliated along with his female friend in Kerala on Valentine's Day was found hanging outside his home in Karara, Palakkad.

On 14 February, Aneesh and his friend were assaulted by five men near a beach in Kollam. They also filmed the couple and asked the woman humiliating and obscene questions, according to The Indian Express. Even though the police had arrested the miscreants, the video of the couple was later circulated on social media and WhatsApp groups, which according to Aneesh's friends, had caused him much distress, as reported in the news article.

On the day of the incident, Aneesh's friend had moved behind a heavy foliage to relieve herself, due to the lack of toilets in the area, when the couple was accosted by five men. The miscreants not only assaulted and shamed the couple but even videotaped the entire charade. Aneesh had filed a police complaint after which the accused were nabbed, but according a report in News 18 he was finding it hard to cope up with the public shaming. The news report states that Aneesh had refused to step out of his home ever since the incident.

Another report in NDTV states that a suicide note has also been recovered, which reportedly cites the Valentine's Day incident as the cause behind Aneesh taking the extreme step.

The report also added that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had taken exception to the incident and asked the police to take prompt action, but the social stigma associated with such incidents depresses the victims that often retributive action falls short of addressing.

Aneesh was the son of a daily wage labourer and used to work as a coordinator of an e-literacy programme in Attapady, Palakkad. His body was found by his mother on Thursday night after she returned from work, according to India Today.

It was not a one-off incident as moral policing is common in Kerala and elsewhere in the country and young couples are often a soft target. Another incident was reported just days ago from the state, when another couple were forced to call out the cops on social media who were harassing them in the name of moral policing.

According to NDTV, Vishnu and Arathi were at a public park in Thiruvananthapuram, when some women constables detained them on the allegations of indulging in vulgar behaviour in public places. But Vishnu argued with the police personnel, questioning what exactly did he do wrong in their opinion and live streamed the entire episode on Facebook, which drew much flak to the Kerala police.

"Tell us what vulgar activity have we committed? Did we kiss? There are cameras here. Did we hug each other? You can't harass us just because we have our arm on each other's shoulder," the NDTV report quoted Vishnu from the video as saying.
Auto refresh feeds

He said, "From Kashi to Coimbatore, Lord Shiva is everywhere. Like crores of Indians, I too am delighted to be part of Maha Shivratri. We are merely a drop in the ocean. Through centuries countless devotees have lived of every age and time. The divine is always the same. This longing throbs in the core of every human heart."

Modi talks about the benefits of yoga Modi said, "By practicing yoga a spirit of oneness is created -- oneness with family, fellow humans and nature."

In our culture the role of women is central. Our culture has many Goddesses who are worshipped. Many women have led social reforms and broken stereotypes.

Our mind should always be open to new thoughts. Unfortunately there are a select few who because of their own ignorance, ignore these ideas. It is essential that ancient ideas are taught to modern society. The progress of humanity is incomplete without the empowerment of women. The issue is no longer women development, but it is woman-led development.

India has given the gift of Yoga to the world, by practising Yoga a spirit of oneness is created:PM Modi pic.twitter.com/eml9K7N9VF

He said, "Today whole world wants peace, not only from wars and conflicts but peace from stress, and for that we have Yoga."

He added, "Yoga is about rog mukti and bhog mukti. Yoga makes an individual a better person. It will be unfair to see yoga as a set of exercises which makes a body fit. Yoga is far beyond physical exercises."

He said, "It gives me immense distress when I hear about people abusing substances. Today people of the world want peace of mind and the simplest way of combating stress is Yoga. If the body is the temple of the mind, yoga creates a beautiful temple. That is why I call yoga a passport to health assurance."

At 6 pm on Friday, on the occasion of Maha Shivratri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a 112-foot Lord Shiva statue in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The statue will be consecrated by Isha Foundation founder Jaggi Vasudev.

According to the Foundation, on Maha Shivratri, Modi will light the sacred fire to commence the 'Maha Yoga Yagna' across the world, when one million people will take an oath to teach a simple form of yoga to at least 100 persons in the coming year.

A five-tier security blanket has been put in place in and around the city, and along the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, in view of Modi's visit.

With the venue being on the Western Ghats and close to the mountain ranges in Kerala, additional police personnel would be deployed along the state borders to prevent possible infiltration of extremists and Naxalites, police said.

The tight security was also being put in place in view of planned protests by human rights organisations, various political parties, farmers and tribal bodies, alleging that Adiyogi's face was built on encroached land and that Modi's visit would only regularise it (land).

In Chennai, CPM and CPI pointed to various alleged violations in setting up of the statue and said the prime minister should not visit the venue.

Modi is scheduled to arrive by 5:30 pm at Sulur airport and then leave for the venue by a helicopter.

First of the four planned statues

This is not to be the only one of its kind; there are also plans to have 112-foot-tall faces of Shiva in three other parts of the country  one each in the North, the East and the West, in addition to the one at Coimbatore.

"We want to place these tall faces of 'Adiyogi' in four corners of the country. The first one is in Coimbatore. The eastern one will most likely be in Varanasi. For the North, it will be somewhere north of Delhi, and there will be one in Mumbai as well," Vasudev told IANS over email.

Particulars of the statue

The face of the idol will be made of steel. Vasudev said, "The face is not just for aesthetics, it has geometric significance. A unique way of crafting a metal statue. We have essentially taken small pieces of metal and put it together. This is a very hard way to do it, but the most inexpensive. This is also unique  it hasn't been used elsewhere," he said.

According to one official, the structure is estimated to weigh around 500 tonnes.

An incredible engineering feat

"We took about two and a half years to design the face, but our in-house team built it in eight months. It is an incredible feat of engineering and has been done in a very unique way," Vasudev said. "It is an incredible feat in terms of time and engineering. We have done it on a small budget, in quite an ingenious manner. Also, we have made 'Adiyogi' in such way that it needs least amount of maintenance, which is important in the long-term."

Why is the statue 112-foot?

Queried about the significance of the figure 112 feet, Vasudev said, "Symbolically, 112 is a significant number, because 'Adiyogi' opened up 112 possibilities for human beings to reach their ultimate potential. For the first time in the history of humanity, He introduced the idea that the simple laws of nature are not permanent restrictions. If one is willing to strive, one can go beyond all limitations and attain liberation."

Vasudev also said there is also a scientific significance  there are 112 chakras in the human system, with which you can work, to explore 112 dimensions of life. "This face is not a deity or temple, this is an iconic inspiration. In pursuit of the divine, you don't have to look up, because it not somewhere else. Each of the 112 possibilities is a method to experience the divine within you. You just have to pick one," Vasudev added.

Largest statue face on the planet

In a statement, the Isha Foundation said that the statue's face will be largest in the world. The idea is not to build one more monument but to use it as a galvanising force towards self-transformation, it said. "This iconic face symbolises liberation, representing the 112 ways in which one can attain the ultimate through the science of yoga," the statement said.

Significance of Adiyogi

According to Vasudev, Shiva is not known as God but as 'Adiyogi'  or the first yogi, the originator of yoga  in the yogic culture. He was the one who first put this seed in the human mind, that one can evolve if one is willing to strive.

"For the first time in the history of humanity, He introduced the idea that the simple laws of nature are not permanent restrictions. If one is willing to strive, one can go beyond all limitations and attain liberation, moving humanity from assumed stagnation to conscious evolution," Vasudev said in the statement.

Yoga went throughout the world, not as a religion or a belief system or philosophy but as methods. Over time, there have been distortions, but still, unknowingly, millions of people across the planet are doing some yogic practice. "This is the only thing in the history of humanity that has lived for so long without ever being forced upon people," Vasudev said.

Describing the significance of Adiyogi, Vasudev said, "It is essential that the coming generations are seekers, not believers. As philosophies, ideology and belief systems that don't stand the test of logic and scientific verification will naturally collapse in the coming decades, you will see the longing for liberation will rise. When that longing rises, 'Adiyogi' and the science of Yoga will become very important."
Polish man who died near Vietnam waterfall bought tour from illegal guide

Local authorities stretcher the bodies of Rafal Cwiakala and Nguyen Quoc Khanh from the scene. Photo by VnExpress/Quoc Dung

Police say the travel agency is not authorized to organize adventure tours for foreign tourists.

The Polish tourist who died near a waterfall in the popular resort town of Da Lat on Thursday, along with a local guide, had bought his tour from an unauthorized local tour company.

The Giac Mo Vang (Golden Dream) Limited Company does not have a license to organize adventure tours for tourists, according to local authorities.

Police have summoned the company's director, Do Tuan, and others to investigate the incident.

The deceased were named as Rafal Cwiakala, 33, from Poland, and Nguyen Quoc Khanh, 24, from Lam Dong Province.

Three other Polish tourists, along with two from the U.K. and two from the Netherlands, were also on the tour, Lam Dong police said.

The two dead victims appear to have fallen from a rope as they were climbing down the waterfall in Tho Xuan Commune.

Their bodies were found around 600 meters downstream from the waterfall and were taken to a local hospital.

The cave, about 50 meters high, is 3 kilometers from National Highway 20.

Related news:

> Foreign tourist, local tour guide fall to their deaths on Da Lat waterfall
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Saturday's rally in Imphal may be marred by fresh trouble and protest brewing in the poll-bound state.

Just a day before the rally, the police on Friday recovered a hand grenade and a bomb from two separate places in Manipur, including from outside a BJP candidate's house.

A China-made hand grenade was found near the gate of BJP candidate Soibam Subhachandra's residence at Ningombam Leikai in Imphal West district, 9 km away from the Achouba ground, while another bomb was found in front of another BJP worker O Sunil's residence in Thoubal district, 40 km away from the rally venue.

The recoveries come even as an apex body of six rebel groups in Manipur has given a call for a "complete shutdown" in the state on Saturday to protest Modi's visit, saying it was aimed at "hoodwinking the people of Manipur".

Late on Thursday night, the Coordinating Committee (Corcom) that constitutes six insurgent groups said in a communique that the blockade would start at 6 am on 25 February and would be in place till Modi leaves the state capital Imphal.

The police said that security measures were beefed up to ensure that there was no law and order problem during the one-hour visit of the prime minister.

The Corcom statement also levelled serious charges against the Centre, including accusing it of driving a wedge between communities who have lived in peace and harmony for generations.

Members of the public were asked not to venture out during the "curfew". However, media and other essential services were exempted.

The prime minister is scheduled to address a rally at Langjing Achouba ground in Imphal West district on Saturday in support of BJP candidates in the ensuing Assembly polls.

The established insurgent groups in Manipur have always boycotted visits of the central dignitaries, an official said.

Police said: "During such public curfew people usually stayed indoors and did not stick out their necks."

Attendance has always been thin during such public functions. There were also stray violent incidents to drive home the message that the "boycott call" should not be taken lightly, the official added.

The ruling Congress party has demanded that during his visit, Modi should spell out the details of the framework agreement that New Delhi had signed with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) in 2015.

Students and women activists also demanded the disclosure of details of the agreement.

Elections for the 60-seat assembly in the state will be held in two phases, on 4 and 8 March.

With inputs from agencies
This is the story of a village called Madhusudanpur, located 100 kilometres from Kolkata. Sitting on the fringe of the Sunderbans, Madhusudanpur is a small dot on the map of West Bengal but a huge black spot on the trafficking map of the state. A study by authors PM Nair and Sankar Sen (published in Trafficking in Women and Children in India) said that the village was home to about 450 families, where every second family depended on trafficking as a source of income even until 2002. But this village was declared 'trafficking-free' due to the concerted effort of the women here, who are still fighting evils like child-marriage and domestic violence.

Saktipada Mondal, a man of short stature but a magnanimous heart, first contacted Kolkata-based NGO, Sanlaap in 2003.

"Trafficking was so common in Madhusudanpur that it had become socially acceptable. Generations of women from the same families would be sold off to agents in return for payments ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 70,000. The women would land up in brothels across the country, but mostly in Kolkata's notorious red-light area called Sonagachi," Mondal said.

Unable to bear the situation in his neighbouring village, Mondal took help from Sanlaap to first set up camp here. What he discovered was forbidding.

"Traffickers operated through a tight nexus that started with the parents giving birth to girls to only sell them to agents operating from Sonagachi. The tradition in this village was to marry off the daughters before they were 18 and then bring them back to their maiden homes after a verbal separation. Following this, the families would build pressure on the daughters to make a living until they voluntarily agreed to go to Sonagachi. Some even went as far as Mumbai and Kashmir," Mondal explained.

Take, for example, Ashima (name changed) Mondal's family. Three generations of women from this family left this village to work at Sonagachi. However, this inimical trend stopped with her.

"My aunt in Sonagachi coaxes me till now to go there. She says that I will be able to afford a phone and new sarees if I worked with her. But now, I know better. I want to finish my studies and get a job here until I want to marry myself," the 14-year-old Ashima said.

Things in this village took a turn for the good in 2010 when Mondal and Sanlaap managed to trace 145 women back to Sonagachi. Though most of them flatly refused to return, it was clear to Mondal that the future generations needed to be saved. Mondal started sensitising the women in the village with the agenda of saving the younger generations. Following this, the women in the village themselves stood up for their own rights.

Sonali (name changed) Haldar, 37, resisted pressure from her family and refused to go to Sonagachi.

"I got raped for my refusal and then the perpetrator refused to marry me when I got pregnant. There was immense pressure from my family to go make a living at Sonagachi. But I refused. I took a job here and brought up my kid alone," Sonali said.

She earns a meagre Rs 4,000 and recently managed to complete her graduation. Her 21-year-old son is now following in his mother's footsteps and wants to get a job soon.

But things were not as simple as it sounds. To break what had become tradition, women had to break the three-pronged evil comprising child-marriage, trafficking and patriarchy.

"With the help of Sanlaap and Sakti da's Koikhali Somadaan Society, the women in this village were exposed to awareness, education and independence. Women were taught vocational courses and self-defence. We had seminars, we had camps set up in houses where some families were particularly difficult to convince," Sonali explained.

The 2,000-odd women managed to lend power to Mondal's solo voice and finally managed to declare Madhusudanpur 'trafficking-free' last year. "It is not true that we did not get any help from the police but initially, their inaction surprised me. Don't you think it's odd that at one time so many girls got trafficked from here and the cops did nothing?" Mondal questioned.

However, the fight does not stop here as according to Mondal, 146 minor girls were married off in 2016 and 7-8 have already been married off this year.

"The women of our organisation managed to save one girl recently who was severely injured while fighting with her brothers so that they did not get her married. She is 16. She now works with us to save more women like her," Sonali said.

While Mondal and his female brigade are proud of their endeavours that saved generations of women from meeting the same fate as their predecessors, they are acutely aware that the path ahead is long and winding. But despite the obstacles, their courage remains aplenty as Ashima said, "We have come so far with little help from the government. It's all been us. Our next agenda is to make Madhusudanpur child-marriage-free soon. And we will."
New Delhi: After Ramjas College witnessed large-scale violence over a seminar, SGTB Khalsa College has decided to postpone a street-play competition till peace and normalcy returned to North Campus of Delhi University.

The move came after the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU), led by RSS' student wing ABVP, told the college principal that the security for the event "cannot be guaranteed" if the scripts had "anti-national content".

Principal Jaswinder Singh has denied taking the decision under any pressure from anyone and said the college had simply "postponed" the event. "I have told the principal to go through the scripts before allowing them to be staged at the competition. I have said that any objectionable and anti-national content will create an alarming situation and the security for the event cannot be guaranteed," DUSU president and ABVP member Amit Tanwar said.

The principal said, "The situation was not conducive for the event in view of the recent violence so we had voluntarily decided to postpone it after discussions with all stakeholders." However, the theatre convener and assistant professor at the college, Saikat Ghosh, alleged that the event was scrapped after repeated threats from DUSU.

"There were repeated threats from DUSU and police had also appealed to us to call off the event in the interest of restoring peace and normalcy on the campus," Ghosh said.

Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP supporters. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on 'Culture of Protests' which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

Tension continued to simmer across Delhi University's North Campus yesterday with students' groups holding protests against police "high-handedness" during the violent clashes even as three policemen were suspended for "unprofessional" conduct.

Both Ramjas College and SGTB Khalsa College are on North Campus.

While the DU authorities maintained that the varsity proctor's office is looking into the issue, the HRD Ministry had yesterday sought a report from the university over the issue.
New Delhi: Two days after violent clashes were witnessed at Delhi University's Ramjas college, the students residing on North Campus are living in fear. While colleges were closed on Friday due to holiday on Maha Shivaratri, the students residing in hostels and PG accommodations in the areas said they felt "uneasy" to roam around the campus which had heavy police deployment. "We were there at the protest when the ABVP started attacking students.

I resisted but when I saw the intensity with which they were beating people, I stepped back to ensure my safety but kept on making a video using my phone.

But I have noticed from the window that few boys on motorcycles have been doing rounds of our PG and am not sure if the two are connected. I am too scared to step out," said a DU student on the condition of anonymity. Ritika Bhalla, a SGTB Khalsa student said, "There is still such heavy deployment of police and the moment you take out your phone to click or record something there are eyebrows raised. It feels so uneasy to even walk around".

"There is an atmosphere of fear in the entire DU community which is leading not just suspension of classes but cancelling of various cultural events that are to take place in different colleges.

"It was earlier today that a street play competition of Khalsa College was cancelled following the threat by the DUSU President that any objectionable stuffs might face consequences. This atmosphere of fear is destroying the environment of the entire university and is creating a fear in students," Aman Nawaz, Secretary of DU unit of Left-backed All India Students Association (AISA).

ABVP on its part maintained that they will not allow any "anti-national" activities on campus. "We did not pelt stones and did not initiate the clash. We do not want any kind of violence but we will not allow any anti-national activity on campus," Amit Tanwar, President of DU Students Union (DUSU) said. Ramjas principal Rajender Prasad said, "We have a called a staff council meeting tomorrow to assess the reasons behind the violence on campus and take further action."

Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP supporters. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid

and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on 'Culture of Protests' which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP. While the DU authorities maintained that the varsity proctor's office is looking into the issue, the HRD Ministry had yesterday sought a report from the university over the issue.
Srinagar: Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday called for coordinated efforts by security forces to effectively deal with the problem of stone pelting by civilians during counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir. The army chief discussed the issue with local army officers during security review meetings at headquarters of counterinsurgency units -- Kilo Force and Victor Force here, an army official said.

"Reinforcing the need to maintain high vigil, the army chief discussed the issue of stone pelting during operations and impressed upon all to synergise efforts with the other security agencies in dealing with such situations effectively," the official said. Rawat, who arrived here yesterday, was briefed on the prevailing security situation and recent operations conducted by the security forces. He also reviewed the collaborative measures of security forces towards ensuring peace and calm in the region.

The army chief interacted with local commanders and troops urging them to continue discharging their duty with utmost professionalism. Rawat, accompanied by Northern Command Chief Lt General D Anbu and Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen J S Sandhu, paid tributes to the three soldiers killed in a militant attack in Shopian district of Kashmir on Thursday. He laid floral wreaths on the coffins carrying the mortal remains of the three soldiers, one of whom hailed from Marhama area of Anantnag district.

"As the entire nation salutes the martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice in Thursday's terrorist attack in Shopian, the army gave a befitting farewell to its brav hearts on Friday in a solemn ceremony here," the official said. Rawat expressed grief and condolences to the families of Lance Naik Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din, Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejith M J. "He also conveyed his anguish at the unfortunate death of an elderly lady, Taja Begum, in this terrorist attack," the official added.

Wreaths were also laid on behalf of the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti by Minister of Rural development and Panchayati Raj Abdul Haq Khan, Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Nabi Lone and other officials from civil administration and security agencies. The army chief had on Thursday met the other injured soldiers at the Army Base Hospital here and wished them speedy recovery.

The General also appreciated the various humanitarian initiatives undertaken by the troops to bring succor to common people and exhorted them to sustain this positive engagement with the local populace.
New Delhi: China supports India on combating terrorism and a discussion to declare Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar a "global terrorist" is in progress, Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said on Friday.

"The discussion is going on. I am so happy to see your Foreign Secretary in Beijing two days ago... discussing everything... so, just wait," Luo said while talking to media persons on the sidelines of a Chinese Visa Application Service Centre inauguration ceremony in Delhi.

"China supports India and other countries on terrorism... The discussions are going on. It takes time," Luo said.

India on Wednesday again asked China to declare Jaish-e-Mohammad chief and Pathankot attack mastermind Masood Azhar an international terrorist.

China blocked a proposal by the US to add Azhar to the list of such terrorists, in addition to the three previous rejections in 2016 to the Indian proposal.

India's Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar was in Beijing on Wednesday to co-chair the China-India strategic dialogue with the neighbouring country's Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui and he raised the issue of Masood Azhar during discussions.

Speaking further on bilateral issues, Luo said: "Don't focus only on this issue. This is important but more important is bilateral cooperation."

He advised the media to focus more on the positive cooperation between India and China.

On the other controversial issue about Chinese opposition to India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG), he said: "It is the same."

On the rise of ISIS in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the Ambassador said: "The Chinese position is quite clear. We are against any form of terrorist activities. On this matter, China will always speak in the same language in the international community to take concrete measures."

On the recently-concluded talks on Afghanistan in Russia, Luo said Afghanistan is China's neighbour and is crucial for peace and stability in Central Asia.

"The countries concerned about Afghanistan are making joint efforts to bring peace and stability back to that country and the region," he added.

Earlier, Ambassador Zhaohui inaugurated Chinese Visa Application Service Centre at the Shivaji Stadium Metro Station here.

"With the inauguration of the new office in the new year, I hope that the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre could further expand and enhance its services in order to promote people-to-people exchanges between China and India," said Li Bijian, Minister Counsellor, Chinese Embassy in India.

The centre will be operated by the VFS Global Group, a visa service management firm.

"We are also honoured that the very first China in Luxury' outlet in the world located in this centre, will go a long way in driving luxury tourism to China," said Zubin Karkaria, Chief Executive Officer, VFS Global Group.

The firm is associated with the Government of China since 2008 and currently manages visa services for the government in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and India.
Tamil Nadu's political road-map changed drastically after the death of J Jayalalithaa. The man (O Panneerselvam) who was always seen prostrating before the mighty Amma, has transformed into a formidable antagonist, exhibiting lofty ambitions.

Not to be outdone, before leaving for prison, VK Sasikala changed the power dynamics within the party in such a way, leaving no one in doubt where the real power centre lies. The AIADMK is in the throes of a power struggle that might lead to an eventual split. Though the state is not unfamiliar with political turmoil, the drama that has unfolded in the past couple of months has been unprecedented.

And to add to this mix, Deepak Jayakumar, Jayalalithaa's nephew, pledged his support to Panneerselvam. Earlier, he was perceived to be supporting the Sasikala faction of AIADMK. Quoting Jayakumar, The Times of India reported, "Dinakaran is not fit to be the party deputy general secretary. My aunt was opposed to family politics. She got Dinakaran MP post (sic), and she threw him out of the party too." He also said that he was ready to pay the Rs 100 crore fine the SC had imposed on Jaya for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, adding that Sasikala is already there and that "OPS Anna" should be given Dinakaran's post.

Meanwhile, on Friday, MK Stalin requested President Pranab Mukherjee to annul the trust vote in Tamil Nadu Assembly in which E Palaniswami had emerged triumphant.

"After throwing all 89 DMK MLAs out, a confidence vote was held. We have apprised the President about it and the way in which Assembly Speaker conducted the proceedings in favour of the ruling party," said Stalin. He added,"We have asked the President to nullify the confidence vote and direct the Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to hold a fresh floor test through secret ballot. Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand have set an example in holding secret ballots."
Will Shiv Sena do the improbable, by forming a new alliance with the Congress party? Results of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, where the Sena and BJP ended up with near identical number of seats  84 and 82 respectively  have meant that this "improbable" scenario could soon become possible.

The problem is that both Shiv Sena and BJP wish to see their own representatives occupy the Mumbai mayor's chair. Given that neither party has enough corporators to reach the magic figure of 114 on its own, they would both need a party like Congress to lend them support. And considering Sena and Congress have joined hands in the past, nobody would really be surprised if they do so again now.

Of course, an easier solution  and a more stable option  is for BJP and Sena to come together. They have been allies since 1984, and have been together at both the Centre and state governments, and forming an alliance for the civic body would only be an extension of this. But it's easier said than done. They would need to forget the acrimonious campaign they had before the BMC election took place.

Moreover, the Shiv Sena is facing an existential crisis now, particularly if it insists on remaining the "big brother" in Maharashtra. The BJP is no longer prepared to accept Shiv Sena in this role, given its own growth in the state and its electoral successes since 2014.

The second arithmetic possibility is Sena's 84 legislators, with support from Congress' 31, crosses the magic figure of 114. But will the Congress react positively? And it's here that the Sena will cite history to point out why Congress should do so. In 2007, Shiv Sena, which was one of the oldest constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), broke ranks and supported Congress candidate for President of India, Pratibha Patil. Their logic was that nobody from Maharashtra had ever become President, and this was an opportunity. And it would also be the first time a woman would ascend to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Then Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had said, "To have a Marathi President was to pay tribute to the 105 martyrs who shed their blood for the formation of Maharashtra, which was founded 47 years ago. The state would be fortunate to have a Maharashtrian President. It would be unfortunate or unlucky to oppose her nomination."

However, even this logic didn't hold true in 2012. Shiv Sena again went against the NDA's Presidential candidate PA Sangma, to support Congress' Pranab Mukherjee for the top job. Moreover, it also rubbed salt into BJP's wounds by saying the country's prestige is at stake with Mukherjee's Presidential run. Thackeray had said, "No one should dare claim that we backstabbed or violated the trust, for we have taken this decision in the supreme interests of the country."

Interestingly, neither Sena nor Thackeray cared to explain how a vote for Sangma would have compromised "national interests". On the other hand, there were speculations that Sena's love for the Congress candidates, both in the 2007 and 2012 Presidential elections, was meant to obtain Congress' assurance that Narayan Rane, who had earlier defected from the Sena, must be held in check and kept miles away from the chief minister's seat in Maharashtra.

To go further back in history, in 1967, within just a year of its formation, the Shiv Sena openly supported the Congress candidate against former Defence Minister VK Krishna Menon, who left the party after the 1962 Chinese invasion. Similarly, in the 1980 general election, the Sena again supported Congress, and received the latter's support when municipal elections were held later. In fact, with Congress' support, Sena even sent two of its representatives to the Maharashtra legislative Council.

The two also came together to agitate in favour of inclusion of Marathi speaking areas of Karnataka with Maharashtra. In fact, such was the camaraderie between the then Congress leadership and Bal Thackeray that in 1981, many Congress cadre at the ground level openly resented the fact that the then Chief Minister AR Antulay was covertly supporting Shiv Sena and its interests.

Incidentally, it was during this period that the Sena, whose influence was hitherto confined primarily to Mumbai and its suburbs, made inroads into rural Maharashtra, particularly in the Konkan region.

If the Sena's growth as a political party is viewed dispassionately, it has always done things that defy consistency and logic. It has always been open to provide support to any party or formation that would serve its own interests better. It has championed, and even, protects the poor, unemployed and underemployed, but at the same time, it has also been in best of relationships with the mightiest and richest of Mumbai. It has meant different things to different interest groups, as a true "populist eruption" and has thrived parasitically on diffused and generalised discontent.

However, there are two features that have been consistent with the Sena: Marathi regionalism and Hindutva. In the initial years, it emphasised only on the first feature; it had a simple programme and limited constituency  reservation of jobs and economic opportunities for Maharashtrians, mainly in the lower echelons of the white-collar employment. Their targets here were the South Indians, particularly Tamilians, who were prominent in the city's intellectual spaces, including in media, education and the cultural spaces, and were also dominant in clerical and lower managements in the capitalist economy of the city because of their familiarity with English language).

Gradually, the party expanded its base as protector of the Mumbai in an era of underworld of extortion, smuggling, drug trafficking, contraband smuggling and bootlegging. Hindutva became a feature of the Sena only in early 80s, when it realised that it could not make inroads into other areas of Maharashtra. It was to gain support of the rural and non-Marathi youth of the state that it resorted to a cause that tided over caste and sub-regional barriers.

Accordingly, it made an alliance with BJP in 1984. And the two parties subsequently came to power in 1995 in the state. However, for quite some time after this, the Sena-BJP alliance has been an uneasy one. And that is precisely because the BJP has its own imperatives and cannot remain always a junior partner to Sena in state politics. But this is something Sena is not prepared to reconcile with. The alliance, even if there is to be one, will be stormy.

It is against this background that Congress, particularly when the party is on a decline, is not a bad option for the Sena. But even here, there are two problems: One, the Congress too is unlikely to consider Sena as the big brother in the state, and play second fiddle to it. And two, it will be a virtual suicide for the Congress if it tolerates the aggressive and infinitely more strident Hindutva causes of the Sena, compared to that of BJP.

Congress will have a terrible time explaining its silence or tolerance, not only in Maharashtra but also in the rest of the country. But then, reasons, patience or long-term considerations are no longer virtues in today's Congress. The party suffers from Modi-phobia so badly that it is prepared to join hands with anybody who hates the prime minister. And here, Shiv Sena chief Udhav Thackeray could turn out to be Rahul Gandhi's biggest ally. Who cares what will happen tomorrow?
Mumbai: The BJP's resounding victory in the civic polls in Maharashtra has further strengthened Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who led his party's campaign from the front after deciding to go alone without tying up with the Shiv Sena, according to political observers. The results, which saw the BJP making massive gains in city corporations and doubling its tally in BMC, also exposed the organisational failures of the Congress-NCP, which were routed even in their strongholds across the state.

Fadnavis, 46, who heads the first BJP-led government in the politically crucial state, single-handedly led the party's campaign criss-crossing the length and breadth of Maharashtra, aggressively projecting "transparency and development" as the central slogan. Significantly, the BJP's urban sweep came close on the heels of its sterling performance in municipal council elections in November-January, rubbishing the predictions that the party would do badly in the backdrop of the note ban.

In contrast to the well-crafted BJP campaign, the Congress leaders largely confined themselves to their respective districts during the run-up, failing to put up a spirited fight by overcoming organisational weaknesses and internal bickering, poll-watchers said. The immediate justification of the party for its poor performance, however, was lack of adequate funds. But some Congress leaders admitted that the party failed to match the high-octane campaign mounted by the saffron parties by bringing to the fore the real civic issues.

"The Sena and BJP adopted the Kalyan-Dombivali municipal Corporation (KDMC) formula where the two parties fought a bitter campaign against each other despite being in power together in the state and eventually sealed a post-poll alliance," they said, requesting anonymity. The BJP emerged as the largest party in eight of the 10 municipal corporations while finishing a close second to bellicose ally Shiv Sena in Mumbai.

Rattling the Sena citadel, BJP won 82 seats in BMC, just two less than the estranged saffron ally, but both ended up well short of the magic figure of 114 needed to control the civic body. Political observers said non-Maharashtrians, who formed the core base of the Congress in Mumbai for long, have switched sides to the BJP since 2014. "Even Muslims preferred to vote for Shiv Sena instead of the Congress due to the factional feud and infighting. The Congress did not present a picture of a fighting unit," said an observer.

The BJP also made inroads into the traditional Congress bastions like the Latur Zilla Parishad and Solapur municipal corporation, the home turf of late Vilasrao Deshmukh and party veteran Sushil Kumar Shinde. Until 2014, the BJP presence in the city was limited. It used to contest about 65 seats in alliance with the Sena. This time round, according to observers, it began the ground work for the polls more than a year back.

The party entrusted responsibilities to all the 15 legislators and three MPs to strengthen the organisation at the grassroot. Over the year, the party highlighted alleged corruption in the civic body in road contracts, which was followed by probe, and nexus between officials and contractors was revealed. The Congress got completely marginalised after the BJP took over the opposition space in the civic body. Fadnavis's stress on ushering in transparency and changing the way tenders are floated and awarding of work contracts, which struck a chord with voters, the civic body observers

said.

During the campaign, Fadnavis also spoke of how he expedited infrastructure projects like Metro, airport, coastal roads and bridges. The BJP also vigorously wooed the non-Marathi voters, who

constitute about 46 percent of the total electorate of the sprawling city which has people from across the country as residents, observers said. Congress leader from Nagpur, Nitin Raut blamed the party's debacle for lack of internal democracy. "Dictatorial attitude of certain leaders who are not interested in ensuring the party win was responsible," he said, adding the biggest threat for the Congress in the state is neither the BJP nor the Sena but few leaders within the party itself.

In a dig at the MPCC president Ashok Chavan, he said someone who had the experience of running the state failed to lead the party to success. "Instead of learning lessons from the 2014 assembly

defeat, congress entrusted the task of running the party to those who were responsible for the defeat and encouraging factional feud," he added.
Results to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election were announced on Thursday, and while Shiv Sena emerged the single largest party with 84 seats, it was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that surprised everybody, winning 82 seats, a 164 percent increase from its tally of 31 in the 2012 BMC election. And unsurprisingly, newspapers on Friday chose to focus on BJP's resurgence, paying glowing tributes to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, crediting him with the fine showing.

The Indian Express, in a report titled, 'Behind BJPs art of winning, theres craft too', wrote: "This election offered a perfect timing for the BJP to test its mettle in the megalopolis. The gamble worked to an extent that BJP has shown a nearly 300 percent growth. It had three distinct advantages over the Sena. One, the people of Mumbai were tired of the Senas childish politics; two, the city has witnessed a huge influx of north Indians which are not sympathetic to Sena and the last is chief ministers Devendra Fadnaviss own image."

The Times of India also paid glowing tributes to Fadnavis, calling him the "ringmaster" who tamed the tiger, referring to the Shiv Sena, the self-proclaimed Tiger. "He plunged into the campaign, and pegged it to transparency. In rally after rally, he explained to the people of Mumbai the corruption in BMC in allotment of contracts for roads, garbage transport, and de-silting. Fadnavis seemed to have succeeded in convincing the people of Mumbai that there was a lack of transparency in policy decisions taken by Shiv Sena and all decisions were taken only for the benefit of a few chosen contractors," the report said.

The Hindustan Times looked at what the future holds in store for the two big parties of Mumbai politics. In a report titled 'Will the Fadnavis-Thackeray friendship see achche din again?', the publication's senior editor Shailesh Gaikwad wrote: "They need each other. The Sena emerged as largest party in the BMC but is 30 short of a majority. Thackeray will need the BJP to rule the BMC  unless he teams up with the Congress, which is unlikely. Fadnavis too will need the Sena in some local bodies where the BJP has not got a clear majority. The two sides could work out a power-sharing formula in the next few days. For Thackeray, the best bet would be to stick with the BJP at a time when people across the state have favoured that party."

However, the most intriguing sidelight in the entire political over Uddhav Thackeray's future. The Indian Express carried a report analysing the Shiv Sena executive president's future in light of the recent setback. "While Uddhav left no stone unturned in terms of effort  having addressed over 30 rallies in a fortnight  questions have been raised about his political acumen. There had been rumblings in the party over the decision to snap the alliance with the BJP, and many agree that Uddhav has a lot of work to do before he joins the ranks of satraps who dominate in their states," it said.

Mumbai Mirror also chose to focus its article on Uddhav Thackeray's political graph. A report titled 'Clinging on to past did Uddhav no good' says the Shiv Sena chief's gamble to go it alone in the civic polls may become one of his bigger mistakes. "Uddhav was betting big on the 13 Gujarati candidates the Sena had fielded in Mumbai. A few of them were poached from the BJP. Not one of them managed to win, which only goes to show that Gujaratis in Mumbai voted for the BJP. The party even managed to rope in Patel community leader Hardik Patel, a BJP baiter, to campaign for one of its Gujarati candidates, but it made no difference in Mumbai," it said.

The election were also the latest in a long list of successive failures the Congress party has had across the country. In the BMC, it went from 52 to 31 seats, a drop of 21 constituencies, making it even more evident that things will only worsen before they get better for a party that ruled the state until two years ago.

A report in DNA analysed the Congress' downward spiral. "Congress problems in Mumbai are a perfect microcosm of the issues hampering the grand old party across the country. The truth is that no one is willing to seat down the top leadership and tell them theyve a problem, as they stumble from one loss to another. The ones that do, like Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, end up leaving and helping the enemy," it said, "It's sad when you consider the party's history but it seems till the time Congress is willing to do an honest introspection and re-haul, it is consigned to be a minor player in several upcoming elections."
#TGIF: Go out and unsuck your life this weekend

From music and art shows to an outdoor market; a weekend full of top events awaits.

|| Disco Time ||

Rockstore Hanoi, 61 Ma May Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi

9p.m., Friday, February 24, 2017

It's time to bring your fancy clothes and shagadelic bodies to RockStore for a special night on the dancefloor with Dj PACMAN and INCOGNEGRO.

Free entrance

|| Viva la Vida - A tribute to Coldplay ||

Hanoi Rock City, 27/52 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho District, Hanoi

8p.m. - 11p.m., Sunday, February 26, 2017

Top U.K. rock band Coldplay will be setting off on their Southeast Asia tour in April.

Inspired by this, Viva la Vida  a tribute night to Coldplay, will be rocking their best songs. Get to know each other and enjoy together.

Entrance fee:

Early bird ticket: VND100,000 ($4.38) (Limited)

On the door:VND130,000 ($5.69) (Includes 1 free beer/soft drink)

Contact: Vu  0979210184

|| Signal Flair: High Fidelity - Rec Room ||

Hanoi Creative City (Floor 20), 1 Luong Yen Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi

5p.m. - 12a.m., Saturday, February 25-26, 2017

From Bangkok, Signal Flair is a performing arts, events and media company that brings you a collaborative ensemble!

Signal Flair is back in Hanoi for its first event of 2017, bringing you top collaborative arts on the 20th floor of Hanoi Creative City!

Entrance fee: VND100,000 ($4.38) (Includes complimentary drink)

|| The Dark Side Episode V at The Lighthouse ||

The Lighthouse, 104 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St. Floor 6, Ben Nghe District, Ho Chi Minh City

9p.m., Friday, February 24, 2017

Expect an unique and exclusive sound set with DJ Undermount and amazing electronic cocktails from the world's top music labels, including Get Physical, Suara and Truesoul.

DJ Undermount will kick the night off at 9 p.m. to get the party started and set the mood, followed by The Dark Side resident DJs Mike Ruth and Tristyan Lebrun, who will carry the party on into the early hours.

Free entrance

|| Outcast Boho Market February 2017 ||

Saigon Outcast 188/1 Nguyen Van Huong, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City

2p.m., Saturday, February 25, 2017

Connect with your inner hippie while winding between the local stalls full of gorgeous items for you to treat yourself and your friends and family.

It's the perfect place to pick up a gift for that (nearly) forgotten birthday. There's something for every occasion at Outcasts Boho Market.

Entry fee: VND20,000 ($0.87) (1 bottle of water or beer included)

|| Artists in conversation with Curator ||

15 Nguyen U Di, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City

4p.m - 6p.m, Saturday, February 25, 2017

Curator Nguyen Nhu Huy presents the work of two emerging Vietnamese artists whose exploration of painting demonstrateans unique approach, propounding their art as paying homage to Vietnamese artistic traditions while also drawing inspiration from the 21st century at home and abroad.

Contact: ha.phan@factoryartscentre.com | +84 (0) 837442589

Free entrance
Results to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) were announced on Thursday, and gave the BJP and Shiv Sena, allies at the Centre and state governments, near identical seats tally  82 and 84 respectively. But with neither party in a position to cross the magic figure of 114, hectic negotiations to decide electoral tie-ups have begun in both camps. One of the possible solution is to join hands at the local level, the same way they have done at national and state levels.

BJP party president Raosaheb Danve certainly seemed to suggest just this, when he said there are no permanent enemies in politics. "Whether we go with Shiv Sena or not will be decided by our core group, not by one individual. Sena has been our natural ally for over two decades. We came together on the issue of Hindutva. We aren't against Shiv Sena. Whatever allegations and attacks took place during the election campaign are now over. The results are out, and BJP has won municipal corporations across the state. If we seek the help of independent legislators we can even become the No 1 party in BMC. We can still even the mayor's post," Danve said.

He was visiting IBN Lokmat for a newsroom debate on Friday, one day after watching his party storm to victories in eight municipal corporations across the state. The BJP did exceedingly well in both urban and rural areas. Danve thanked the voters of Maharashtra for reposing their faith in the BJP. "BJP campaigned under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' leadership. We planned ground level management, and our promise of corruption-free civic bodies, clean image and transparency, wooing the non-Marathi votebank, and using hi-tech social media campaigns have worked out for us," he said.

However, both Sena and BJP are claiming the support of independent candidates, and are both quoting the figure of 86. "Nobody is a big brother of small brother this time. We are both equally placed in the BMC. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray should realise this and start a dialogue with us," Danve said.

There were also speculations that the Sena might take Congress' support to cross over the 114 figure, but Danve said he finds it unlikely. "I don't think Sena will go with Congress. Sena is our natural friend and we're ready for an alliance with them. However, on transparency and development programmes, we aren't in any mood to compromise. A final decision will be taken by our core committee," he said.

The alliance had broken between BJP and Sena over this issue of transparency. "They had earlier offered us only 60 seats. After the results, we all saw which party has gained more. We jumped from 31 seats (in 2012) to 82 this time. It's a remarkable achievement," he said.

The first aim, however, will be to ensure a BJP candidate becomes mayor of Mumbai. "Mumbai will get its first ever BJP mayor soon. We will continue delivering transparent work and a corruption-free BMC," he said.
It is of note that the Shiv Sena did not take out impromptu victory rallies on Thursday, celebrating its 84 seats in the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. It is as if there is some prompt introspection about the decision, for they stand to lose control of the civic body, unless there is some post-poll tie-up with some other party.

It was the aggressive Sena leader, Uddhav Thackeray, who had announced during an end-January rally of his party that henceforth his party would not engage in any post-poll alliance. If some meaning was to be derived from the statement, it can be assumed that the the Sena would accept a tie-up if some party approached it.

It may be assumed that going solo, and suggesting that it was fighting an existential battle against forces that were non-Marathi galvanized the voters to rally around them, but that also helped the city divide itself between Marathi and non-Marathi voters, like never before. It however does not mean every Marathi 'manoos' voted for Sena.

But that emphasis on its 'Marathiness' did not catapult the party back into the drivers seat of the countrys richest but certainly poorly managed civic body. The belief that the inconvenience caused by demonetisation would overarch all considerations and push the voters into embracing the Sena did not happen either. Half the voters wanted transparency. The other half was willing to accept opacity for identity politics.

Now is the time to see if the Shiv Sena which prides itself for never backtracking on any issue, to prove that it can put the money where its mouth is. If it does not, the partys character could diminish for it has already backpedaled once. This started when it started fighting the BJP, choosing to be its opposition in the legislature, and then opting to join the government on unsatisfactory terms. It has been trying to mix oil and water: to be an opposition within the government.

If BJP which is not averse to the belief that politics is the art of the possible, decides to partner with the Sena for the corporations control, it too would lose its credibility. The kind of virulent campaign, unlike anything seen before in Maharashtra, cannot merely be buried and forgotten. Sena was the mafia and corrupt and non-transparent and sleeping with it would cause unease among the citizens.

The volte face in 2014 had confused the Sena cadre and when the party decided to plunge headlong into a campaign with no allies for the civic bodies, there was a wave of exhilaration among the cadre who were happy with an assertion of their identity. That got the party the seats it bagged, and any adjustment now would again blur the distinctions between the cadres of both parties at the street level.

Strategies for elections may be crafted in the backrooms of the offices of political parties, but are won by the cadre on the streets in every conceivable way apart from raising the funds. This is true for any party. This campaign has also shown than Senas constituency is limited in a manner of speaking, though it did manage to have two Muslim candidates elected. This blurring of the edges can trouble the cadre.

Shiv Sena has been using its partnership in the government led by Devendra Fadnavis as a means to trouble the BJP, and at one point of time, even announced that on the day the campaign ended, the ministers would submit their resignations to the party chief. That did not happen, and was apparently designed to uplift the cadres mood by reasserting the old identity of being a party that wanted no quarter from another.

Even when the Sena ministers called on Devendra Fadnavis at his home on 8 February a minister had waved a paper and said that he always carried his resignation letter in his pocket. That was both a threat to the BJP and a reassurance to its cadre. Now, if they did work out a patch up with their 'frenemy'  the BJP  the cadre may not be too pleased. There is a history to recall about this nuance even when they were in alliance since 1995.

Raj Thackeray, once when he was a part of the Sena, and a competitor in the race for eventual succession, took a tour of the partys shakhas in the city and heard the men and women. In Assembly constituencies where the BJP had the MLAs, the Sena shakhas felt redundant. The work they wanted done by the MLA was avoided even on petitions, and the shakha chiefs had become sahebs  meaning pompous but effete.

These chits they issued, took them nowhere where the BJP had its man, thus dividing the city into Sena and non-Sena areas. And the shakhas are known to deliver, by hook or crook, and that earned them both respect and votes. Again, since 2014, this has apparently reemerged to the discomfort of the cadre, who would rather wrest their due their way than be beholden to anyone else. Tie-ups at the top only dulled their edge.
On Thursday, the BJP put on a remarkable performance winning 82 seats in the BMC election. Aside from the fact that this marks a 164.5 percent increase in the number of seats the party holds in the country's wealthiest civic body, it also signifies a changing view of the BJP in Maharashtra over the past five years. Additionally Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged and been accepted as the face of the party in the state.

BMC Polls Seats won in 2017 Seats won in 2012 Difference Percentage change BJP 82 31 +51 +164.5% Shiv Sena 84 75 +9 +12% Congress 31 52 -21 -40.4% NCP 9 13 -4 -30.8% MNS 7 28 -21 -75% Others 14 13 +1 +7.7%

The party, particularly Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar and Fadnavis, wants development and a transparent common minimum programme with the Shiv Sena. And to secure his own government in the state, Fadnavis wants an alliance with the Sena in the BJP, however, it would have to be on the BJP's terms and conditions. Tasked with the job of planning the BJP's strategy are Fadnavis, Shelar, Vinod Tawde and Chandrakant Patil.

Meanwhile, the party's national president Amit Shah has sent messages to the state leaders saying that the party will not tie-up with the Sena in the BMC. Shah has suggested instead that the party attempt to seek the support of smaller parties and Independents and try to break up the Congress bloc (and lure rebels). But, he insisted, that another alliance with the Sena is to be avoided.

And the primary reason for this aversion to joining hands with Uddhav is the that the campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi (by the likes of Uddhav and other Sena members) has not gone down well with the BJP central leadership.

The message from the central leadership is that if a new solution cannot be worked out, then it's best to work for the city while sitting in the Opposition.

The mayoral election is set to be held before 8 March, by which point the party must decide on its future. With nearly two weeks in hand, it is believed that a final decision on post-poll alliances will be taken after a consultation with Shah during this period.

Will the BJP and Sena bury the hatchets? Only time will tell.
On Thursday, the Shiv Sena emerged as the Number One party in the city, albeit narrowly. The party picked up 84 seats, which is two more than the second largest party, the BJP, managed. However, to achieve the magic figure of 114 seats that is required for a majority in the BMC, the party needs 30 more seats.

BMC Polls Seats won in 2017 Seats won in 2012 Difference Percentage change BJP 82 31 +51 +164.5% Shiv Sena 84 75 +9 +12% Congress 31 52 -21 -40.4% NCP 9 13 -4 -30.8% MNS 7 28 -21 -75% Others 14 13 +1 +7.7%

Just like the Assembly and Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation elections, both parties came together to form post-poll alliances. The other option is to take the support of the Congress. Adding the Sena's 84 seats to the 31 won by the Congress takes the tally to 115, which is one seat more than Uddhav Thackeray's party needs to have a majority. As unimaginable as this scenario might seem in the present context, it wouldn't be the first time that the Sena reached out to India's Grand Old Party.

In the past, the Shiv Sena has taken support from the Muslim League and Congress. And when the late Congress leader Murli Deora won the mayoral post in Mumbai, he did so with the help of the Shiv Sena.

The Sena can also poach the elected corporators of the Samajwadi Party (six) and AIMIM (two). In addition, there are four Independent corporators, two of whom have already pledged support to the Sena. But it would be impossible to even make up the numbers with only the smaller parties and Independents. It would be logical to take Congress support and win the mayoral post.

No alliances or feuds are for life in politics, so it could be very interesting to see if the new Mumbai Congress president and Marathi face Bhai Jagtap can convince the party high command about a potential Shiv Sena-Congress alliance. It would be a massive gain for the Congress that has been out of power in the BMC for the past two decades. This is a golden opportunity to wrest power in the BMC.

Uddhav is reluctant to join hands with the BJP once again. In fact, on Thursday, the Sena supremo has hinted that the next mayor will be from the Shiv Sena, as will the next chief minister. There's a strong sense that Uddhav is unwilling to attempt a patch-up with the BJP. That said, the party's strategy will be worked out over the next two days after strategists Anil Desai, Sanjay Raut, Anil Parab and Milind Narvekar put together a plan. It is believed that they will also act as the party's negotiators when it comes to trying to forge alliances with other parties.

One school of thought is that given the fractured mandate given by Mumbaikars, joining forces with the BJP is the most obvious thing for the Shiv Sena to do. After all, the parties are allies in the state and at the Centre, so why not in the BMC?

Click here for the full results
Who is the real heir of Amma, has been the one question that has dominated the political discourse in Tamil Nadu since 5 December, when Jayalalithaa died.

From the slightest of hand gestures, to repeated visits to the Jaya memorial, to the sartorial sense of the contesting 'heirs' of Amma, everything that is done within the AIADMK factions is being perceived with undertones of the aforementioned question attached to it. The 'tactics' as we may call them could well be a genuine manifestation of affection of the Tamil Nadu politicians to their beloved Amma. But again, it can be argued that they are strategic moves to alter the public perception in favour of one or the other camp vying to stake claim at Jayalalithaa's legacy, and the immense power that comes along with it.

The latest in series were the events that unfolded on Friday, on what would have been Jayalalithaa's 69th birthday.

Sasikala, serving out her sentence in Bengaluru jail in connection with a Disproportionate Assets case, trumped the others by starting off the series of symbolic gestures yet again.

On Thursday, the eve of the late leader's birthday, Sasikala in an emotive message to her party workers said that she was feeling "lonely" in the absence of Jayalalithaa.

Recalling the gaiety and fervour that marked Jayalalithaa's preceding birthdays, Sasikala said "I never thought this year will turn out to be so challenging."

"That Amma is not with us makes me more sad. After having celebrated her birthday with her for the past 33 years, I feel lonely this year in her memories. My thoughts revolve around her," she said, according to PTI.

The late leader's close confidante and an aide of 33 years, Sasikala, urged the party workers to tirelessly serve the public and uphold Jayalalithaa's fame.

Invoking Jaya's struggle to unite a cleaving party when AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran passed away, Sasikala sought to compare the current crisis within the party and her own struggle. She recalled how Jaya never cowed down before challenges and resolved to follow her example and salvage the party from the current crisis.

"Let the events held to mark Amma's 69th birth anniversary be done with the intention of upholding her fame and with the wish that Amma's government should deliver more pro-people initiatives and serve them," she said.

Meanwhile, India Today reported that the OPS camp had another battery of gestures planned out in the race to claim Jayalalithaa's legacy. While the OPS camp hoisted the official party flag on the occasion at their office, Panneerselvam is scheduled to visit Jayalalithaa's former constituency, RK Nagar and address party workers there.

Chief Minister E Palaniswami planted a sapling at the Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital, one of Jayalalithaa's dream projects, initiating a programme of planting 69 lakh saplings across Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs 65.85 crore. At the AIADMK headquarters, party leaders paid floral tributes amid elaborate speeches to mark the late leader's birthday.

Planting of 69 lakh tree saplings to mark Amma's 69th Birthday.#AmmaBday pic.twitter.com/Qh5XVQNd1r  AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) February 24, 2017

The Sasikala camp, which is at the helm of the government, will also announce aids and welfare schemes for the poor.

Special medical camp organised at party HQ as part of welfare measures to mark Amma's 69th birthday. pic.twitter.com/0FjIeJJx5k  AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) February 24, 2017

Besides this, Deepa Jayakumar, niece of Jayalalithaa who recently announced her entry to politics, went to the Jayalalithaa memorial to pay her tributes.

Jayakumar had earlier caught attention for her similar appearance with the leader and her strikingly similar choice of attire with the late leader.

With inputs from agencies
Its quite amazing how things alter rapidly after one sweeping change. Notwithstanding the truism about public memory being short, its still incredible that just three years ago, the Maharashtra Assembly election was typically regarded as a four-cornered fight between the Congress, NCP, BJP, and the Shiv Sena.

Cut short to the massive stunner by the BJP which swept the elections to the Maharashtra civic corporations and district councils. A crowning glory of sorts was bagging 82 seats to the filthy rich BMC, just two short of the Shiv Sena. In one swoop, it appears that the BJP has reduced the four-cornered fight into a two-pronged one.

Indeed, things seem to only be getting increasingly better for the BJP in every state and every election: from giving nightmares to its opponents in the ongoing UP polls and sweeping the Odisha panchayat elections by improving its tally by an insane 850 percent to the BMC victory now.

As Firstpost columnist Sreemoy Talukdar sums it up, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has emerged as the "Man of this Match". But the roots lie elsewhere. To hazard an informed guess, one can trace them back to Amit Shahs decision to make Fadnavis the CM defying all caste and other calculations. This has proved to be both prescient and far-sighted: one, Fadnavis was a greenhorn catapulted directly to the Chief Ministers seat; two, he came with no baggage like say a Pankaja Munde, and three, hes revealed himself to be a quick learner, deftly manoeuvring his way in Maharashtras intrigue-filled, and highly inter-networked political system where purportedly everybody is related to everybody else.

The aforementioned columnist explains the astonishing success of Fadnavis thus:

Fadnavis has single-handedly made BJP a tour de force in the state by wiping out every other political force except the Shiv Sena. The Congress stands decimated, NCP is facing a wipe-out wile Raj Thackeray's MNS is facing an existential crisis.

Perhaps a singular political achievement of Fadnavis has been to almost neutralise the artful Sharad Pawar (indeed, theres no greater tribute to his artfulness than the fact that an opponents government bestowed upon him the Padma Vibhushan). An excellent Mint analysis provided the clues more than six months ago, and appears rather prophetic now when it said that the Devendra Fadnavis government is systemically taking apart Sharad Pawars empire built on sugar, APMCs, credit and irrigation.

The less that's said about the Congress the better, except for its BMC seat tally plummeting to 31, a fifty percent decrease. Indeed, ever since that fateful summer of 2014, it appears that voters are nonchalantly rejecting the party in state after state, poll after poll. Not that it means anything now, but when multiple rebellions broke out from Assam in the east to Maharashtra in the west as early as July 2014, the party has remained numb in denial, and at present has resigned itself to death.

The rampant and frequent desertions will only escalate in pace and numbers as it faces a very real prospect of a huge drubbing awaiting it in Uttar Pradesh. But its the Shiv Sena that truly stands humiliated in victory. Indeed, the BJPs tally of 82 seats in the BMC is a definitive case of rubbing it in your face. The party continues to flounder notwithstanding Uddhav Thackerays bravado resting entirely on the laurels of his fathers legacy. Theres really no plausible explanation for his repeated bouts of intransigence despite being a junior coalition partner in the Maharashtra Government. And this, after returning to power in 2014 after fifteen years of his partys political wilderness.

Indeed, in this context, we can recall how in the wake of the 2014 Maharashtra assembly electoral victory, the Shiv Sena almost immediately, began playing truant. But it was Amit Shah who refused to yield and eventually, the SS was forced to come around. Ever since, the Shiv Sena hasnt spared a single day without attacking its own ally.

Given all this, the Shiv Senas refusal to have seat-sharing with the BJP and even worse, breaking the twenty-five-year-long alliance ranks as foolhardiness. And if this wasnt enough, its foul-mouthed campaign against its own partner in Government damaged its credibility. One can reasonably speculate that had Bal Thackeray been alive, he wouldnt have abused the Shiv Senas natural ally, however grave the provocation. And now, Uddhav Thackeray comes across as power-hungry and now, perhaps as a sore loser.

And just like the Shiv Sena did in October 2014, it will now be forced to eat humble pie before the BJP if it wants to control the BMC. Indeed, as this Firstpost article puts it, Uddhav Thackerays swagger will further diminish Thackeray's standing.

Perhaps Uddhav Thackeray didnt take a lesson from Nitish Kumars book. Nitishs ambition-fuelled breakup of a long-standing alliance with the BJP in 2013 proved fatal:

"Its doubtless that [Prashant] Kishor ran a competent campaign for Nitish Kumar but the very fact that he didnt have the guts to go alone, and had to eat a humble pie by tying up with his sworn enemy Lalu Prasad Yadav is revealing in other words, Kishors strategy indirectly ensured a resounding comeback for the RJD."

Or to put it bluntly, Uddhav Thackeray needs to realise that his own party members dont exactly look up to him with reverence like they did to his father. Or the fact that hes perhaps less than vigilant as Devendra Fadnavis is systematically consolidating his power in the state and there may soon come a time when an alliance with the Shiv Sena may no longer be needed.

Click here for full results.
Rahul (Gandhi) needs more time to mature, says former Delhi chief minister leader Sheila Dikshit. How much more time? Every Congress member must ask.

"Please remember, Rahul is still not mature, his age does not allow him to be mature. He is what...in his forties. Please give him time...," she said in an interview with The Times of India.

From the way she approaches the question it appears the Congress has loads of time on its hands. It can wait for an indefinite period for the party vice-president to mature as a political leader. The only problem, however, is by the time he is ready the party would have disintegrated. In any case, Rahul is above 45 years of age by now. By this age most professionals are into leadership roles after proving themselves in different capacities down the rung.

As the Maharashtra civic body election results reveal, the party is on the sick bed in one more state. There's little hope of revival given the poor record of the Congress at springing back into reckoning after losing power in any part of the country. With only 44 seats in Lok Sabha, 19 percent of vote share across the country and no government in politically critical states, the party is sick indeed. In states like Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, it is reduced to playing second fiddle to regional satraps.

The decline of the party is not a recent development though. It began in the early 1990s when the twin issues of Mandal and Masjid reshaped the political landscape of the country. The developments in that period led to the emergence of powerful regional satraps at the cost of the Congress; and the BJP began its gradual ascent to power. The party was slow to read the writing on the wall and take corrective steps to check the slide. It was expected that after the shock of 2014, it would get seriously into damage control mode.

There's still no sign of that even as it keeps getting weaker in state after state. What's the party waiting for? For Rahul to mature? The fact is, even if Rahul is mature enough he cannot do much to halt the disintegration of the party at the ground level. The rot has gone too deep. The organisation has all but collapsed at the lowest rungs. There are just too many factions and too few leaders capable of connecting with the masses. Parties are destined to die when they lose touch with the masses. Even at the higher rungs there are too many leaders with little utility value but with a lot of nuisance potential, for the party that is.

Ever wondered why they cannot decide when to elevate the Congress vice-president as president? It cannot be a reason that he is immature. He is apparently taking all the major calls in his current position. But still the party won't give him full responsibility despite knowing that he is fait accompli; it has to sink or swim with him. It is said the old guard close to Sonia Gandhi doesn't want him to take over and deliver a shock. Some others say the elevation would happen after clear proof of leadership quality in him. He has to win some states first. It's funny indeed.

Now, how long can they wait? Any victory in any state would be a fluke, given its strength on the ground. By the time he matures, some other political party would have moved into the space left vacant by the Congress. The AAP has done it in Delhi and Punjab already. It might expand into new states soon. The BJP, of course, has moved into the pole position and the Congress is far less than its equal.

The Congress is living in a fool's paradise. Somebody must remind it.
Azamgarh: BJP president Amit Shah on Friday pilloried Congress leader Rahul Gandhi quoting former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's statement that he "is still not mature and needs some time".

"If he is not mature, then why has he been forced upon Uttar Pradesh? Is this a political laboratory or learning ground for someone?" Shah asked at an election rally.

Noting that the state faces a plethora of problems, he said "men of steel" are needed to solve them. "Problems of Uttar Pradesh can be solved only under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Shah said.

Citing BJP's election manifesto, which claims there has been significant decline in cattle count in UP under the SP rule, he said if his party forms government, it would shut all slaughter houses and ensure that instead of "streams of blood", those of milk and ghee flow.

Shah said the BJP tsunami would help the party get two-thirds majority in the 403-member Assembly and put an end to "misrule" of SP and BSP over the last 14 years when development "took a backseat" in the state.

"There is an acute shortage of electricity, medicines and the common citizens, especially women and traders are feeling very much unsafe," he claimed, adding farmers are yet to get their dues from the state government.

Mounting an attack on the SP-Congress alliance, he said, "It is quite amusing that one prince is giving tough times to his mother, the other to his father, and both are troubling UP."

Seeking a performance report from the Congress, Shah said, "Your (Rahul's) family has ruled the country for over 60 years. What has it done for the country? Rahul must answer this."

"Rahul asks what the Modi government has done for the country. Rahul baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a prime minister who speaks. You had given a prime minister ho did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard by you and your mother," he said.

The BJP president urged voters to uproot the current SP government from the state, and said 'acche din' (good days) would dawn upon the state on 11 March when the results are out.
Varanasi: Buoyed by the favourable outcomes in the Maharashtra and Odisha local body polls, Union minister Ananth Kumar on Friday said there is a pro-BJP wave in Uttar Pradesh also akin to the one in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He said SP-Congress alliance is a "life-taking" grouping while BJP is a "life-saving" party. He urged the people to oust the Samajwadi Party government and vote for BJP to "free the state from lawlessness and goondaism".

Addressing a press conference, the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers also took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi by referring to Congress leader Sheila Dikshit's remarks. The former Delhi CM in a recent interview said Rahul was "not yet mature and he needs some time". "I ask when will he mature if not at age of 45-46 years," Kumar said. He said the "overwhelming" support "from the people of Maharashtra and Odisha in civic polls has made it clear that there was a "strong wave" in favour of the BJP.

He accused the Akhilesh Yadav government of creating hindrance to the development works sponsored by the by the Centre. He alleged that the state government was not providing land for setting up Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology (CIPET) here despite several request letters sent to the chief minister. He said the Centre was making efforts to revive the three fertiliser units  Gorakhpur & Sindri units of FCIL (Fertilizer Corporation Of India Ltd) - and Baruni unit of HFCL (Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd).

BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupendra Yadav said that during 2012 Assembly elections, Akhilesh Yadav had promised that if SP comes to power, it will form a special committee to probe "corruption" during the Mayawati rule.

"But the SP government didn't form any committee to probe the corruption allegations despite the Lokayukta nod into the matter," he said. He alleged that there was a "secret pact" between SP and BSP.
By Steve Holland

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he likes the concept of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, expressing his preference on the issue for the first time since sparking international criticism for appearing to back away from the longstanding bedrock of Middle East policy.But in an interview with Reuters, Trump stopped short of reasserting a U.S. commitment to eventual Palestinian statehood and instead said again that he would be satisfied with whatever makes both parties happy.Trumps comments put a new twist on a statement he made at a Feb. 15 joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting that his administration would no longer insist on the creation of an independent Palestinian state as part of any future peace accord.It could also send a signal to both sides, as well as the international community, that the principle that has long underpinned U.S.-led peace diplomacy will not be discarded if the Trump administration moves forward, as he has promised, with an initiative to restart long-stalled peace efforts.No, I like the two-state solution, Trump said when asked whether he had backed away from the concept during his joint White House appearance with the right-wing Israeli leader. But I ultimately like what the both parties like.

People have been talking about it for so many years now. It so far hasnt worked, he added. But he then repeated his revised position, saying: I like this two-state solution, but I am satisfied with whatever both parties agree with.Trump's comments provided nuance to his earlier comments."I'm looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like," he said at last week's news conference. "I can live with either one."

Those words were welcomed at the time by the Israeli right but denounced by Palestinians, who seek a state of their own.A one-state solution would be deeply problematic for both sides. One concept would be two systems for two peoples, which many Palestinians would see as apartheid and endless occupation. A second version would mean equal rights for all, including for Palestinians in an annexed West Bank, but that would compromise Israels Jewish character.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned against abandoning the idea of a two-state solution, saying there was "no alternative," and Egyptian and Jordanian leaders also renewed their commitment to that goal.

Trumps revised language could soften such criticism, but still fails to meet demands that he explicitly re-commit to seeking a two-state solution.At the news conference, Trump pledged to work toward a peace deal but said it would require compromise on both sides. He also surprised Netanyahu by urging him to hold back on settlements for a little bit, a vague appeal to curb construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.But at the news conference he offered no new prescription for achieving an accord that has eluded so many of his predecessors, and Palestinian anger over his strongly pro-Israel stance could make it difficult to draw them back to the negotiating table. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Howard Goller)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Steve Holland

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is at the "top of the pack," saying the United States has fallen behind in its weapons capacity.In a Reuters interview, Trump also said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea "very easily if they want to," ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to exert more influence to rein in Pyongyang's increasingly bellicose actions.Trump also expressed support for the European Union as a governing body, saying "I'm totally in favour of it," and for the first time as president expressed a preference for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but said he would be satisfied with whatever makes the two sides happy.In his first comments about the U.S. nuclear arsenal since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump was asked about a December tweet in which he said the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capacity "until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."Trump said in the interview he would like to see a world with no nuclear weapons but expressed concern that the United States has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity."I am the first one that would like to see ... nobody have nukes, but were never going to fall behind any country even if its a friendly country, were never going to fall behind on nuclear power. "It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack," Trump said.Russia has 7,300 warheads and the United States, 6,970, according to the Ploughshares Fund, an anti-nuclear group."The history of the Cold War shows us that no one comes out 'on the top of the pack' of an arms race and nuclear brinkmanship," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the independent Arms Control Association non-profit group."Russia and the United States have far more weapons than is necessary to deter nuclear attack by the other or by another nuclear-armed country,' he said. The new strategic arms limitation treaty, known as New START, between the United States and Russia requires that by February 5, 2018, both countries must limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to equal levels for 10 years.

The treaty permits both countries to have no more than 800 deployed and non-deployed land-based intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and heavy bombers equipped to carry nuclear weapons, and contains equal limits on other nuclear weapons.Analysts have questioned whether Trump wants to abrogate New START or would begin deploying other warheads.In the interview, Trump called New START "a one-sided deal.""Just another bad deal that the country made, whether it's START, whether it's the Iran deal ... We're going to start making good deals," he said."WE'RE VERY ANGRY"

The United States is in the midst of a $1 trillion, 30-year modernization of its ageing ballistic missile submarines, bombers and land-based missiles, a price tag that most experts say the country cannot afford.Trump also complained that the Russian deployment of a ground-based cruise missile is in violation of a 1987 treaty that bans land-based American and Russian intermediate-range missiles."To me it's a big deal," Trump said. Asked if he would raise the issue with Putin, Trump said he would do so "if and when we meet." He said he had no meetings scheduled as of yet with Putin.Speaking from behind his desk in the Oval Office, Trump expressed concern about North Korea's ballistic missile tests and said accelerating a missile defence system for U.S. allies Japan and South Korea was among many options available."There's talks of a lot more than that," Trump said, when asked about the missile defence system. "We'll see what happens. But it's a very dangerous situation, and China can end it very quickly in my opinion."

China has made clear that it opposes North Koreas nuclear and missile programs and has repeatedly called for denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and a return to negotiations between Pyongyang and world powers.But efforts to change Pyongyang's behaviour through sanctions have historically failed, largely because of China's fear that severe measures could trigger a collapse of the North Korean state and send refugees streaming across their border.Trump's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month in Florida was interrupted by a ballistic missile launch by North Korea.Trump did not completely rule out possibly meeting Kim at some point in the future under certain circumstances but suggested it might be too late."It's very late. We're very angry at what he's done, and frankly this should have been taken care of during the Obama administration," he said.According to Japanese news reports, the Japanese government plans to start debate over the deployment of a U.S. missile defence system known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, and the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defence system to improve its capability to counter North Korean ballistic missiles.The strength of Trumps remarks in favour of the EU took some Brussels officials by surprise after his support for Britain's vote last summer to exit from the EU."I'm totally in favour of it," Trump said. "I think it's wonderful. If they're happy, I'm in favour of it."Statements by him and others in his administration have suggested to Europeans that he sees little value in the Union as such, which Trump last month called a vehicle for Germany." (Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Roberta Rampton, Emily Stephenson, John Walcott, Matt Spetalnick, Arshad Mohammed and David Brunnstrom in Washington and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; editing by Ross Colvin)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
BAGHDAD Iraqi warplanes have struck Islamic State targets inside Syria in retaliation for recent bomb attacks in Baghdad by the group, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Friday.It appeared to be the first time Iraqi jets have conducted such raids across the border. A Syrian source said the strikes had been coordinated with Damascus.Islamic State, which is now on the defensive after losing control of eastern Mosul in Iraq to a U.S.-backed Iraqi military offensive, has claimed responsibility for several car bombs in Baghdad in the capital in the past few weeks."We are determined to chase terrorism that tries to kill our sons and citizens, wherever it is found, so we gave orders to the air force command to strike Islamic State positions in (the Iraqi town of) Hosaiba and Albu Kamal inside Syrian territory as they were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad," Abadi said in a statement."The heroes of the sky executed the operation and responded to the terrorists with amazing success."

A military statement said the strikes had taken place on Friday morning using F16 fighter jets and had destroyed Islamic State headquarters in Albu Kamal. "The strikes targeted Islamic State's headquarters used for making car bombs in Albu Kamal... after Iraqi intelligence received tips from their sources inside Syria," a senior security official told Reuters.

A source close to Syria's foreign ministry said the operation had been carried out in "complete coordination" with the Damascus government.The United States said it had also helped the Iraqis by providing intelligence.

"Yes we were aware, yes we supported it as well with information," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. "It is a good strike, it is a valid strike, it was a strike against ISIS targets," he said, using an acronym for Islamic State.The jihadist group has separately come under attack in Syria by warplanes from Russia, Turkey and a U.S.-led coalition, all of which are supporting different offensives against it in the country. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Additional reporting by Kinda Makieh in Damascus, John Davison in Beirut; Writing By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Stephen Kalin and Isabel Coles

| SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq

SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq U.S.-backed Iraqi forces pushed into western Mosul on Friday after retaking the city's airport from Islamic State, as aid agencies warned the most dangerous phase of the offensive was about to begin for hundreds of thousands of civilians.Troops disarmed booby traps planted by retreating militant fighters in the airport, which the army plans to use as a base from which to drive Islamic State from Mosul's western districts and deal a decisive blow to the group.As they did, Iraqi fighter jets dropped bombs on Islamic State positions inside Syria on Friday. It was the first time the Iraqi government publicly acknowledged striking militant targets inside Syria.The new offensive comes after government forces and their allies finished clearing Islamic State from eastern Mosul last month, confining the insurgents to the western sector of the city, which is bisected by the Tigris river. Commanders expect the battle in western Mosul to be more difficult, in part because tanks and armoured vehicles cannot pass through the narrow alleyways that crisscross ancient districts there. The International Rescue Committee said the most dangerous phase of the battle was about to begin for the 750,000 civilians believed to be trapped inside Mosul."There is a real danger that the battle will be raging around them for weeks and possibly months to come," said acting country director Jason Kajer.The United Nations has warned up to 400,000 civilians could be displaced by the new offensive amid food and fuel shortages.

Iraqi forces launched attacks on several fronts. Counter-terrorism forces clashed with Islamic State inside the southwestern district of al-Mamoun and took full control of the Ghozlani military base on Friday, Major General Sami al-Aridi, a senior commander, told Reuters.Separately, federal police and an elite Interior Ministry unit known as Rapid Response advanced into the Hawi al-Josaq and al-Danadan districts after breaching a berm and a trench set up by Islamic State north of the airport, a spokesman said.AIR STRIKES

Early raids in the city's west have so far been restricted to thinly-populated areas. The government encouraged civilians to stay in their homes, but some were caught in the crossfire. Jamal Abdelnasser, 14, was shot in the leg by Islamic State when the militants stormed his home to take up sniper positions. After crossing the frontline, soldiers unwrapped the blood-soaked bandages around his leg and poured iodine on the bullet wound.In another incident, a Reuters correspondent saw a dozen civilians fleeing towards Iraqi security forces from the outskirts of Mamoun.Defeat in Mosul would likely deal a hammer blow to Islamic State's self-styled caliphate in areas it seized in 2014. But the group still controls swathes of territory in neighbouring Syria and patches in northern and western Iraq from where it could fight a guerrilla-style insurgency in Iraq, and plot attacks on the West.

Iraqi air strikes on Friday targeted Islamic State sites in Syria on Friday, including a factory for making car bombs, said a colonel in Iraq's military intelligence."We gave orders to the air force command to strike Islamic State positions in Hosaiba and Albu Kamal inside Syrian territory as they were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement.A source close to Syria's foreign ministry said the raid had been carried out in "complete coordination" with the Damascus government.On the ground in Mosul, Western advisors are increasingly present close to the frontline, helping coordinate air strikes and advising Iraqi forces as the battle unfolds.Islamic State fought back on Friday with suicide car bombs and drones carrying explosives. Aridi, the CTS commander, said the drones were "particularly annoying today".The campaign involves a 100,000-strong force of Iraqi troops, Shi'ite militias and Sunni tribal fighters. It is backed by an international coalition that provides vital air support as well as on-the-ground guidance and training. (Reporting by Stephen Kalin and Isabel Coles, Writing by Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Richard Lough)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New York: A Sikh civil rights group has urged members of the Sikh-American community to exercise caution and be extra vigilant in the wake of a possible hate crime in Kansas city that left one Indian engineer dead and another injured.

The Sikh Coalition said its prayers go out to the family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32 who was killed when 51-year-old Olathe man Adam Purinton shot him at a bar in the city on Wednesday.

Another Indian engineer Alok Madasani, 32 was injured in the incident and has now been released from hospital yesterday. Purinton has ben charged in Johnson County District Court with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Bond has been set at USD 2 million.

The advocacy group urged "every Sikh-American to exercise extra vigilance and caution during this period of heightened vulnerability." It urged members of the community to call law enforcement immediately if they have been a victim of hate violence or received threats of violence.

Kuchibhotla worked in aviation systems for Olathe-based Garmin Ltd. Madasani was his co-worker at Garmin.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke said in The Kansas City Star. Another individual Ian Grillot, 24 was reportedly shot while attempting to stop Purinton. Grillot said he was happy to see Madasani is recovering.

Following the shooting, Olathe residents went to the bar where the incident took place to lay flowers and offer condolences to the staff, patrons and victims' families.

"You just can't help but your heart goes out to them, and it's such a sad story for the community but I just wanted to support and of course honour the lives and everybody involved," nearby business owner Amber McCracken said in a report in KSHB Kansas City.

The shooting has shaken the tight-knit Indian community in Olathe, according to Shabina Kavimandan, who was among those laying flowers at the site.

"We take pride in the fact that we come and we become a part of this society and then when things like this happen you just stop in your tracks and you realize that yes you are a little different," said Kavimandan.

"When we pull back the layer then we realized, oh, gun violence was actually somebody killing people because they are different, that adds another layer to it. That's when it became really hard to really make sense of this."
Hyderabad: The families of an Indian engineer who was killed and another who was injured in the firing by an American in Kansas have blamed the policies of President Donald Trump for the incident.

While parents of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead, were too shocked to speak, his relatives said the action of the former Navy serviceman was a result of Trump's policies.

"It shows Trump is the prime reason," was how Srinivas' cousin R Sastry reacted while talking to reporters at the engineer's house at Bachupally on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

"The attacker made racist remark and asked them to get out of the country. It was clear that he wanted to target them," said Sastry.

He said though many of his relatives were living in the US for 10 to 20 years, they never encountered any such incident.

"We feel threatened," said another relative of Srinivas.

A pall of gloom descended on the house of Srinivas as grieving relatives pour in to console his parents.

His father K Madhusudhana Sastry, 70, who retired as scientist from Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL), and mother Parvata Vardhini, were in a state of shock.

One of the three sons of Madhusudhana, Srinivas was living in US for over a decade. He married in 2012 and his wife was also staying with him.

Srinivas, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani, hailing from Warangal town, was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on Wednesday night.

The two engineers were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country" and "terrorist" before shooting them.

Purinton, according to reports, provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they were better than him.

Alok's father Madasani Jaganmohan Reddy said though they told Purinton that they are legally staying and working in US, he continued to throw slurs and fired at them.

Alok is recovering and is out of danger but Reddy said he would ask his son to return home as the situation had turned bad after Trump became the President. "My son, like many other Indians in US are well qualified and can get better jobs in India," he said.
New Delhi: The US Embassy here on Friday strongly condemned the shooting incident in Kansas resulting in the death of an Indian techie and said American authorities will thoroughly investigate and bring the case to justice. In a statement, US Charge dAffaires MaryKay Carlson said, "We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families.

The US is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live. "US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief." Maintaining that the authorities have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims, she said, "We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime.

US Federal authorities are also investigating the case. "We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice." An Indian engineer was killed and two others were injured after an American navy veteran yelling "terrorist" and "get out of my country" opened fire on them in a crowded bar in Kansas City in an apparent racially motivated hate crime, according to the local police.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, died of bullet injuries in hospital while his Indian colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured when the 51-year-old shooter started yelling hurling racial slurs following an altercation on Wednesday night. The embassy also extended condolences to the family and friends of Kuchibhotla and wished a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured.
Pakistan is reeling under blast after blast. Now it is the Lahore twin blasts which have shaken the very core of the country. In the latest incarnation of bombing in Pakistan, 10 persons are reported as killed and over 30 as injured so far.

Pakistani media reports tell us that the fresh blasts occurred inside an under-construction building. But the Pakistani government officials and investigators are giving conflicting reports regarding the nature of the latest blasts. Apparently, they are confused over the target of the explosion, as this report in Pakistans Geo TV reveals.

Not only common masses in Pakistan but even the noted artists, filmmakers and writers are scared to freely live and do their jobs in the aftermath of the mindless violence wreaked against the peaceful symbols and spiritual places like dargahs and Sufi shrines. A regrettable instance is the postponing of the first of its kind I Am Karachi Film Festival. It was slated for 23 to 26 February in Karachi and was eagerly awaited by the film and art aficionados of both Pakistan and India. But after a series of suicide attacks and bomb blasts have put the Sufi shrines and all cultural heritage into jeopardy, the film industry in Pakistan, much like the rest of the country, is forced to live in fear. The I Am Karachi Film Festival was aimed at shedding light on the real picture of Karachi through showcasing films with innovative perspectives of the city. But, horrified by the continued blasts, the organisers of this first edition of the film festival dropped the idea as of now. Cancelling the festival, they wrote: "There have been 8 bomb attacks in Pakistan over the past 5 days and Thursdays attack on a beloved Sufis shrine took over 150 lives. The security situation in Karachi is unstable at the moment and our board of directors has taken a unanimous decision to postpone the film festival till after the city stabilizes. We cannot endanger our guests or audiences."

It is noteworthy that the postponed film festival is part of the Karachi Conference Foundation (KCF) which initiated a nationwide peace campaign under the banner of I Am Karachi. Several civil society groups and prominent people in Pakistan joined it in a bid to restore the countrys peace and stability through a variety of cultural activities, particularly pop-up cinema, film festivals, youth festivals, peace conferences and dialogue series. But the grim situation is that those who were sincerely endeavouring to contain the unrest in the country are themselves in a sorry state of affairs. It is indicative of a much deeper malaise in the country.

The fresh twin blasts in Lahore have rocked Pakistan when people have not even overcome the agony of the attack on the emblem of love, peace and societal harmony in Sindhthe Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. Inevitably, those who aspired to bring peace through cultural activities are miserably helpless. They can only howl in pain on the loss of lives and growing fear that has swept across the country. Everyone is afraid if such unpredicted tragedies could ensue again anywhere in the country, all of a sudden.

The suicide bombing at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was not first of its kind. In the previous years, similar sinister blasts targeted the two prime Sufi shrines in Pakistanthe dargah of Data Ganj Bakhs Hijweri and that of a Baluchistan-based mystic and philosopher, Hazrat Shah Noorani. Scores of innocent lives were lost in both the bombings. Only on Tuesday, three blasts rocked Pakhtunkhwas Charsadda district leaving 8 people dead and over 17 wounded, as Firstpost reported.

Notably, while the bombing of Pakistani Sufi shrines was perpetrated by the Islamic State which claimed the responsibility for the attack via its affiliated news agency Al-Amaq, the responsibility for Tuesday's attack was claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, the Pakistani Taliban breakaway which sent a text message to a reporter of Associated Press. Thus, it is reinforced that the terror atrocity and travesty of Sufi heritage, culture and arts in Pakistan are the handiworks of the religious fanatics inspired by Wahhabism which is known for its perennial war on culture. Clearly, it is an out-and-out ideological battle rather than just a law-and-order problem. Wahhabis theorise that the fundamental Islamic belief of tawhid (monotheism) cannot be strengthened without devastating all sites of shirk (polytheism) in the lands they inhabit. In their puritanical view, the veneration of Sufi shrines undermines Islam, as it amounts to equating Sufis with Allah, something which is tantamount to shirk. This is the puritan tawhid underpinned by Ibn Abdul Wahhab who emerged from the deserts of Najd in Arabia and brought out a puritanical Islam completely antithetical to the Prophet Muhammads mystical experience. In the 18th century, Wahhabism became the state religion of Saudi Arabia with the political alliance and massive funding of the Saudi family (Aal-e-Saud). Since its inception, Wahhabism continues to provide ideological stimulus for the destruction of cultural heritage and bombing of shrines and other historic sites. This is now on the rampage in Pakistan in the name of puritan Islamic monotheism (tawhid).

But most ironically, while the harshest condemnations against the blasts galore from all hues of Pakistani government and bureaucracy; there is no signal rebuttal to the ideology behind these massacres, which is a common knowledge now. Contrary to all substantial evidence, the Pakistani policymakers and government officials deliberately overlook the fact that the Wahhabi underpinning thriving in Pakistan has soaked the countrys atmosphere in such a brutal sectarianism that the bloody bombings have become the daily routine.

However, just as in the vicious blast on Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, similarly after the Lahore twin blasts, paradoxical reports and confusing views are emerging from Pakistan regarding the nature of the explosion. In the beginning, Punjab government authorities claimed that the blasts were the result of a generator explosion, but now the Punjab police states that the explosion was caused by a bomb. Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique told the media that people were killed today (on Thursday) as a result of the explosion in Lahores Defence area, adding that forensic teams were working on the case.

But an honest introspection on the ideological part is completely missing from the countrys political galleries and defence sectors. They still maintain a deafening silence on it even after Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, and Tahrik-e-Taliban  all ideologically inspired by Wahhabism  have claimed the responsibility of the recent suicide bombings across Pakistan.

More interestingly, the Lahore twin blasts occurred only a day after the Pakistani Army announced a nationwide crackdown against terrorism namely, Radd-ul-Fasaad (elimination of discord or violence). A news report in Dawn tells us that the operation Radd-ul-Fasaad is aimed at indiscriminately eliminating the "residual/latent threat of terrorism", consolidating the gains made in other military operations. It seeks to further ensure the security of Pakistan's borders. The report adds: Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Civil Armed Forces (CAF) and other security and law enforcing agencies (LEAs) will actively participate in and 'intimately support' the armed forces' efforts to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country."

But there are minimal chances that the war tactic of Radd-ul-Fasaad will stem the tide of ongoing violence in the country. Much in the same way, the operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched in June 2014 as a joint military operation against the growing militancy in Pakistan. But did that end the nefarious series of terror and violence in Pakistan?

Interestingly, both the military tactics  Radd-ul-Fasaad and Zarb-e-Azb  refer to an Islamic connotation to eradicate violence (fasaad) and consolidate the fight (Zarb) against terrorism. But one wonders if the Pakistani army can defeat the home-grown jihadist outfits  Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic State of Khorasan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jundallah and the likes  merely by the strongly-worded Islamic terms like Radd-ul-Fasaad and Zarb-e-Azb. In fact, somewhere along the line, Pakistan is replicating the path of its Islamist militants who extensively quote from Quran and Hadiththe two primary sources of the faithto launch their own attacks.

The newly launched operation Radd-ul-Fasaad has received huge support from the Pakistani politicians, defence and civil sectors. But this is not a new counter-terror strategy of the military leadership in Pakistan. Of course, it will fetch the temporary gains for the Pakistani army, navy, air and civil armed forces. But eventually, it is fated to miserably fail like the operation Zarb-e-Azb in the complete annihilation of terror ideology which cannot be fought militarily. It can be dismantled only inside the minds of the vulnerable members of Pakistani society.

The author is a scholar of classical Islamic studies, cultural analyst and researcher in Media and Communication Studies. He can be reached at grdehlavi@gmail.com
By James Pearson and Jack Kim

| SEOUL

SEOUL The bizarre assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother marks a departure from the isolated country's repertoire of overseas operations, according to experts on its opaque ruling structures.Kim Jong Nam died last week after being assaulted at the airport in the Malaysian capital with what police believe was a fast-acting poison. The two women who authorities say assaulted him, one Indonesian and the other who carried a Vietnamese passport, are both in custody. South Korea has said that it believes the assassination was coordinated by a shadowy North Korean agency called the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB).The RGB is North Korea's "premier intelligence organisation", according to the United Nations, which sanctioned it in March last year for its role in North Korea's arms trade. But given the high profile of Kim, who had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control, his murder could have been a joint operation between different agencies, said Michael Madden, an expert on the North Korean leadership."The RGB is just one of many possibilities. It will take another week at least to pinpoint the organisations involved," said Madden.On Wednesday, Malaysian police arrested 47-year-old Ri Jong Chol, a North Korean who had a Malaysian work visa for a small herbal medicine firm and lived in Kuala Lumpur with his wife and two children.The use of North Koreans based overseas like Ri has the hallmarks of an operation by elite spy training unit "Office 35", said Jang Jin-sung, a defector who had worked in the United Front Department of the Workers' Party, which along with Office 35, is an espionage unit within the ruling party."They produce people with real jobs and skills and send them abroad with family to live," said Jang. "When an urgent opportunity arises like this one on Kim Jong Nam, those people are tapped into operation, so they would be planted way before hand."Madden said some North Korean operatives were "free agents", used as the need arose.

North Korea also stations at least one member of its State Security Department or "bowibu" at its larger overseas missions, Thae Yong Ho, North Korea's former deputy ambassador to Britain, told Reuters this month.That security official usually has a direct line to Pyongyang, and takes orders from the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, as well as the bowibu.Malaysian police identified a senior official in the North Korean embassy on Wednesday as a suspect in the murder. CYANIDE CIGARETTE

If the Workers' Party is the brains behind North Korean assassinations, the muscle is the Reconnaissance General Bureau which formally falls under the military. North Korean intelligence agencies have a history of carrying out at times violent overseas operations, usually against South Korean targets.In 1968, commandos from Unit 124 of what was then just called the Reconnaissance Bureau got within several hundred metres of the South Korean presidential palace, with orders to kill the then president, Park Chung Hee. "There's a five decade history here and a lot of institutional and operational memory," said Madden. "These people learned under tough, hardened spymasters and operations chiefs". Today's North Korean spies are the "second and third generation of those founding fathers of the North Korean intelligence community", Madden said.

But the use of foreign proxies such as the Vietnamese and Indonesian women suspected of carrying out the assassination of Kim Jong Nam is a break from typical North Korean operations.In 1987, North Korean agent Kim Hyun Hee put a bomb on Korean Air Flight 858, killing all 115 people on board when it blew up over the Bay of Bengal.Kim, who was caught and extradited to South Korea, was later pardoned and divulged the details of her military spy training in her 1993 memoir "Tears of my Soul".Kim described being handed an ordinary-looking pack of Marlboro cigarettes when setting off on the mission. One cigarette was marked with a small black dab of ink which, if bitten, would kill her instantly, she wrote. Kim was caught, but when she bit into the cigarette the cyanide inside failed to kill her."The faithful daughter of Kim Il Sung, trained for years like some obedient dog, died at that moment," Kim wrote in her memoir, referring to North Korea's founding president, who she said had given her handwritten orders to blow up the plane.Kim Il Sung was the grandfather of the murdered Kim Jong Nam, and of current leader Kim Jong Un. (Editing by Robert Birsel)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Washington: The Donald Trump administration revealed for the first time that 746 individuals nationwide were held during the first weekend of the President's travel ban, a media report said.

The Justice Department on Thursday evening wrote a letter to court listing the names of those who were "encountered or undergoing processing" by US Customs and Border Patrol and "this list includes legal permanent residents" also, CNN reported.

On Tuesday, as requested by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), US District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon ordered the Trump administration to produce the names by Thursday.

Amon's order includes anyone who, at any time during the period from 9.37 pm on 28 January until 11.59 pm on 29 January, was being "held, including being processed" by the US Customs and Border Protection pursuant to the executive order.

Several days after the travel ban went into effect -- and began to face lawsuits in federal court -- the White House counsel's office clarified that legal permanent residents were not covered by the executive order.

"We are pleased to finally get the names, though it took more than three weeks from (Judge Donnelly's) court order," said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt in a statement to CNN.

"But we remain concerned that the list is incomplete and that it needs to be supplemented so we have information to find the affected individuals."

However, the Trump administration has not revealed how many people nationwide were deported after the ban went into effect.

Amon will hold a hearing on Friday to consider whether the government should be ordered to bring back to the US the individuals who were previously deported pursuant to the executive order.
On his first trip to Baghdad as defense secretary, Jim Mattis praised the Iraqi army for its resilience and noted the forces are now focused on liberating west Mosul.

The battle for the complete liberation of Mosul cannot come soon enough for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens who for more than two years have suffered under ISIS oppression and terror.

ISISs cruelty, brutality and reach show they are not just a threat in Iraq and Syria, but to the region and the entire world, said Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve.

The Iraqi army has the full support of the more than 60 members in the coalition fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Defense Secretary Mattis told reporters in the Iraqi capital.

He commended the accomplishments of the Iraqi army, saying the force has taken casualties, but has reconstituted itself both with equipment and personnel. After a months-long battle, east Mosul was cleared of ISIS. Now, the coalition-backed Iraqi forces have set their sights on freeing western Mosul.

In a written statement, Army Lieutenant General Townsend noted that the Iraqi forces have proved themselves to be an increasingly capable, formidable and professional force.

Mosul would be a tough fight for any army in the world, and the Iraqi forces have risen to the challenge, Townsend said. They have taken the fight to the enemy and sacrificed their blood for the people of Iraq and the rest of the world.

While ISIS indiscriminately targets civilians the Iraqi security forces continue to do everything in their power to protect the citizens of Mosul, of all sects and religions, said Townsend. They have shown all of Iraq how to be a unified nation.

To date, the coalition has conducted more than 10,000 airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq and trained and equipped more than 70,000 Iraqi forces to support Iraqi operations.

"There will be more fights ahead. We'll stick together," Defense Secretary Mattis said. "As we look at the future, we're going to continue to stand by the Iraqi army and the Iraqi people who are fighting this enemy."
By Rodrigo Campos

| UNITED NATIONS

UNITED NATIONS Russia is ready to veto a draft resolution calling for sanctions against Syria over the use of chemical weapons on civilians, a top Russian diplomat to the United Nations said on Friday, prompting a rebuke from the United States."There is an argument that the resolution itself contradicts the fundamental principle of presumption of innocence before the investigation is over," Vladimir Safronkov, Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, said after a Security Council meeting to discuss the text.There is "tremendous pressure" on the U.N.-Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) joint inquiry into the use of chemical weapons in Syria to produce a one-sided result, he told reporters.We will veto it, Safronkov said of the resolution if it was put to a vote.Russia is the largest international backer of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad."How much longer is Russia going to continue to babysit and make excuses for the Syrian regime?" U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said later.

She told reporters that after an "overwhelming" vote to investigate whether Syria was using chemical weapons, "the results have come out and people dont like what the results are. It is ridiculous."The draft resolution seeks to blacklist 11 Syrian military commanders and officials and 10 government and related entities involved in the development and production of chemical weapons.It calls for an asset freeze and travel ban for the individuals and entities across all U.N. member states.On Thursday, two diplomats told Reuters the resolution could be put up for a vote as early as next week.

UK Ambassador to the U.N. Peter Wilson said on Friday it would be put to a vote as soon as possible.Earlier, the head of the French mission to the U.N. said the credibility of the Security Council was at stake over the issue."What is at stake here frankly is the credibility of the Security Council," he told reporters.

The U.N.-OPCW inquiry found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used mustard gas, according to reports seen by Reuters last year.Assad's government has denied its forces have used chemical weapons.The discussions coincide with talks between representatives of Assad's government and his opponents with U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura which started on Thursday in Geneva.The nearly six-year-long conflict in Syria has killed at least 300,000 people and displaced millions, according to groups that monitor the war. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by James Dalgleish)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Wa Lone

| YANGON

YANGON Myanmar's police court has sentenced three senior officers to prison for negligence after Rohingya insurgents overran three border posts in October, killing nine policemen, a government official said on Friday.Several hundred Rohingya men, from a Muslim minority that many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar view as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, attacked the border guard posts on Oct. 9. Most were armed only with sticks.The attacks set off a crackdown on the minority, prompting more than 70,000 people to flee across the border to Bangladesh.Information Ministry director Ye Naing told Reuters an official investigation probed how the poorly trained and barely armed insurgents could successfully stage the attacks.

The government says the militants, who stole weapons and ammunition in the raids, have links to radical Islamists abroad.The court sentenced the three senior officers in the border town of Maungdaw to one to three years in prison, Ye Naing said. "They were jailed because they were guilty of negligence regarding security during the Oct. 9 attacks," he said.

Ye Naing could not specify the date of the sentencing or details of the investigation. Several other high-ranking police officers were still under investigation by the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs, he added.About 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims live in apartheid-like conditions in northwestern Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship.

The United Nations has documented mass killings and rapes committed during the crackdown by security forces that it says may amount to crimes against humanity. No senior police or army officers have been found accountable for these alleged crimes.The civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly denied almost all allegations against the country's still-powerful armed forces during what it has said was a lawful counterinsurgency campaign that began in October. (Writing by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
An Indian engineer was killed and two others injured when an American man opened fire on them after allegedly yelling "get out of my country", with the local police calling it as a "possible hate crime".

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting on Wednesday night, while another Indian and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured and is battling for life at a local hospital. One other identified as Ian Grillot was also injured in the shooting.

The accused, Adam Purinton, 51, was arrested on Thursday morning, five hours after the incident.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke told reporters. According to local media reports, he yelled "get out of my country" at the Indians.

Purinton, a navy veteran, later reportedly told a bartender in Clinton, Missouri, where he was hiding that he killed two Middle Eastern persons, the Kansas City Star said.

The Indian Embassy has swung into action and two senior officials of the Indian Consulate in Houston have been sent to Kansas to assist the victims' families. "Consul Ravindra Joshi and Vice Consul Harpal Singh rushed to Kansas to assist shooting victim. They are on their way and will reach by evening," the consulate said in a tweet.

Consul RD Joshi and VC H. Singh rushing to Kansas to assist shooting victim. @SushmaSwaraj @IndianEmbassyUS @NavtejSarna @IndianDiplomacy  India in Houston (@cgihou) February 23, 2017

The accused has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder and his bond has been set at USD 2 million. According to Garmin, Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked in the company's aviation systems. "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's (Wednesday night) incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counsellors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," Garmin said in a statement.

According to Garmin, Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked in the company's aviation systems. "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's (Wednesday night) incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counsellors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," Garmin said in a statement.

Kuchibhotla is survived by his wife, Sunayana Dumala, who is also working in a technology company in Kansas. The victim was an aviation engineer at Olathe-based technology company Garmin. He graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University with a bachelor of technology degree in electrical and electronics engineering in 2005, and did his masters from the University of Texas El Paso, The Indian Express reported. He took a job as a software engineer at Rockwell Collins shortly after graduating, according to his LinkedIn page, and worked there until 2014, when he moved to Kansas to start a job at Garmin International. Srinivas Kuchibhotla was the kind of job candidate that every hiring manager wanted on his team,

He took a job as a software engineer at Rockwell Collins shortly after graduating, according to his LinkedIn page, and worked there until 2014, when he moved to Kansas to start a job at Garmin International. Srinivas Kuchibhotla was the kind of job candidate that every hiring manager wanted on his team, The Kansas City Star reported quoting Rod Larson.

According to The Kansas City Star, Rod Larson said that Srinivas was the top pick in 2007 for a software engineer position at Rockwell Collins, an avionics and information technology systems company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

He was very sharp. A top-of-his-class kind of guy, Larson told The Kansas City Star. His personality was exceptional. He was the kind of employee every manager would want. I couldnt say anything slightly bad about Srinivas, Larson said. He was well-liked by anybody. He was excellent in all categories. He was a low-maintenance employee and did whatever was asked of him.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help raise funds for sending Kuchibhotla's remains to India. Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone, the site description read.

He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being.

The alleged hate crime has sent shocked waves among Indian-American and the Indian community across the United States.

Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister said that assistance will be provided to the victims.

Consul RD Joshi and VC H. Singh rushing to Kansas to assist shooting victim. @SushmaSwaraj @IndianEmbassyUS @NavtejSarna @IndianDiplomacy  India in Houston (@cgihou) February 23, 2017

Consul RD Joshi meeting with one of the victims of Kansas shooting. https://t.co/YRQmlvep22  India in Houston (@cgihou) February 24, 2017

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Srinivas Kuchibhotla," said Jay Kansara, director of Government Relations at Hindu American Foundation.

"We are also praying for a speedy recovery for the injured. We call upon the US Department of Justice and local law enforcement to investigate this murder as what it is, a hate crime. Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and their families," he said.

Kansara said that the HAF thanks those who put themselves at risk to stop this attack or to bring the perpetrator to justice.

"It is these acts of heroism in our communities that make America great," he said.

The shooting incident comes at a time when hate crimes and acts of bigotry have risen notably during the recent months in America. A Jewish cemetery was vandalised in St Louis, Missouri last week and the offices of Jewish civil society organisations have received bomb threats. A man was removed from a Chicago-Houston flight after levelling racist taunts at Pakistani and Indian passengers.

The US Embassy in New Delhi strongly condemned the tragic shooting in Olathe, Kansas resulting in the death of an Indian citizen and injury to an Indian and an American. "We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured," the site description read.

"We have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims. We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime. US Federal authorities are also investigating the case. We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice."

Charge dAffaires MaryKay Carlson said, We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families. The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live. U.S. authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognize that justice is small consolation to families in grief.

With inputs from agencies
A suicide bomber killed 29 people, most of them rebels, on Friday near the Syrian town of Al-Bab, which they had taken from the Islamic State group just hours earlier, a monitor said.

The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives in Susian, eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of the strategic town which the Turkish-backed rebels overran on Thursday after weeks of fighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The blast devastated two adjacent rebel command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Observatory said.

Al-Bab, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the last Islamic State stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

Rebels launched an offensive to capture the town last year with the support of Turkish ground troops, artillery and air strikes.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only Islamic State but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

The battle for Al-Bab has been the bloodiest of the campaign with at least 69 Turkish soldiers killed there.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday that its rebel allies had "near complete control" of the town.
By Tom Miles and John Irish

| GENEVA

GENEVA Opposing sides in the Syrian war came face-to-face in U.N. peace talks for the first time in three years on Thursday, to hear mediator Staffan de Mistura implore them to cooperate to find a way out of almost six years of war. "I ask you to work together. I know it's not going to be easy to end this horrible conflict and lay the foundation for a country at peace with itself, sovereign and unified," Mistura told the delegates sitting opposite each other on the stage of the U.N. assembly hall in Geneva. Mistura will hold meetings with the delegations on Friday to establish a procedure for the talks, he told reporters after the opening session, adding it would be his "dream" to bring them back together for direct talks, but there was work to be done before that could happen. At the last Geneva talks, 10 months ago, de Mistura had to shuttle between the parties who never met in the same room.De Mistura told the representatives of President Bashar al-Assad's government and his opponents that they had a joint responsibility to end a conflict that had killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions."The Syrian people desperately all want an end to this conflict and you all know it," he said. "You are the first ones to tell us it. They are waiting for a relief from their own suffering and dream of a new road out of this nightmare to a new and normal future in dignity." Describing the negotiations as an uphill task, he said they would centre on U.N. Security Council resolution 2254 which calls for a new constitution, U.N.-supervised elections and transparent and accountable governance.

He said a shaky ceasefire brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran had opened a window of opportunity. "The effort has jump-started the process ... to see if there is a political road forward and we don't want to miss this opportunity."TRANSITION

The ceasefire - which excludes hardline jihadists such as Islamic State - was implemented after separate talks in Kazakhstan's capital Astana, brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran. But fighting continued even as the peace talks resumed, with Syrian jets bombing rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Deraa and Hama provinces and insurgents firing rockets at government targets.The lead negotiator for the opposition - which is still fractured and does not have a completely unified delegation - said the Geneva talks should prioritise finding a political transition, something he said Assad's side did not want."If Staffan is serious he has to stick to the first subject in the agenda which is a political transition that is acceptable to the Syrian people," Nasr al-Hariri told reporters.

But Russia's envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, Alexei Borodavkin, said demands from rebels and their Western and Arab backers for Assad to step down were "absurd".Hariri criticised the role played by Iran and Iranian-backed militias, which - with Russia - are vital Assad allies."Iran is the main obstacle to any kind of political deal," Hariri said, accusing Tehran of being responsible for violations of the ceasefire.De Mistura said the biggest challenge was lack of trust."We do know what will happen if we fail once again - more deaths more suffering, more terrorism, more refugees." (Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Laila Bassam, Yara Abi Nader and Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Writing by Robin Pomeroy)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By John Walcott and Matt Spetalnick

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON A proposal the Trump administration is considering to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation has stalled over warnings from defence and intelligence officials that the move could backfire, according to officials familiar with the matter."If you do that, there is no way to escalate, and you would foreclose any possibility of talking to the Iranians about anything," one of the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.Momentum behind a possible presidential order has slowed amid an internal debate that has included concerns it could undermine the fight against Islamic State, draw opposition from key allies, torpedo any U.S.-Iran diplomatic prospects, and complicate enforcement of the Iran nuclear deal, U.S. and European sources said.The proposal - part of a broader effort to make good on President Donald Trump's vow to take a tougher line against Iran - would, if implemented, take the unprecedented step of blacklisting the entire IRGC as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization."That would go far beyond the targeted sanctions already imposed on individuals and entities linked to the IRGC, Iran's most powerful security force, which also controls large swathes of the Iranian economy and wields great political influence.The proposal has been in the works for weeks, and was originally expected to be rolled out this month. But while the idea remains under consideration, it is unclear when  or even if  an announcement might be forthcoming, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran denies any involvement in terrorism, though it is listed by the State Department along with Syria and Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.

A decision on the matter was complicated by the Feb. 13 resignation of Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, over disclosures that he discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador before taking office. Flynn was one of the Trump White House's leading Iran hawks, and was spearheading the crafting of a strategy for confronting Tehran.DEFENCE, INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS RAISE OBJECTIONS

Even before Flynn's departure, however, officials from the Pentagon and U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies had raised objections to naming the IRGC a terrorist group.

Such a move would be the first time the 1996 Foreign Terrorist Organizations law, which has been applied to militant groups such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State, has been wielded against an entire institution of a foreign government, potentially subjecting it to a wide range of U.S. sanctions.It likely would complicate the U.S. fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, defence and other officials said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity. Shi'ite militias backed by Iran and advised by IRGC fighters are battling Sunni jihadist groups there, putting them on the same side as American forces.It could encourage Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria to curtail action against Islamic State and possibly even sponsor actions against U.S.-backed or American forces in Iraq, one official said. The Revolutionary Guards answer to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Naming Iran's most influential military force a terrorist group also could further inflame proxy conflicts elsewhere, including in Yemen, that the United States and its regional allies say Iran is fuelling, the officials said. Iran denies those allegations.

"That move could potentially backfire" in Iran's domestic politics, too, said one of the officials. "The Iranians are a major source of trouble ... but those kind of moves would only help the hardliners" in Iran and undercut more moderate leaders such as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.In addition, said another of the officials, adding the IRGC to the terrorist list would cause friction with U.S. European allies, who in the wake of the 2015 nuclear agreement are trying to rebuild business ties to Iran, which often means contact with the Revolutionary Guard and the companies it controls.For now, the officials said, the discussion of naming the IRGC a terrorist organisation is still in play, but apparently on the back burner. A European security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. counterparts told him the order is on hold A failure to go forward with the IRGC terrorist designation, which also has gained some support among U.S. lawmakers, could disappoint those looking for a strong response to Iran's recent ballistic missile test.The new administration warned Tehran at the time that it was being put "on notice" and then imposed a series of new sanctions on Iranian individuals and companies, which a White House official said was just an "initial" step. (Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and Phil Stewart; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by John Walcott and James Dalgleish)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Rodrigo Campos

| UNITED NATIONS

UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Security Council will likely vote on a resolution to blacklist 11 Syrian military commanders and officials over chemical weapons attacks as early as next week, a diplomat said on Thursday.The draft resolution also seeks to ban the sale or supply of helicopters to the Syrian government and to blacklist 10 government and related entities involved in the development and production of chemical weapons and the missiles to deliver them.It calls for an asset freeze and travel ban for the individuals and entities across all U.N. member states.A joint inquiry by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used mustard gas, according to reports seen by Reuters in August and October.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government has denied its forces have used chemical weapons.

Chlorine's use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013. If inhaled, chlorine gas turns into hydrochloric acid in the lungs and can kill by burning lungs and drowning victims in the resulting body fluids.The U.N. vote could coincide with talks between representatives of Assad's government and his opponents with U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura, which started on Thursday in Geneva.The Security Council diplomat said the draft resolution would be brought to a vote next week unless a "really compelling argument" against it emerged from the talks.

The draft resolution, a French and British initiative, would also be supported by the United States, the diplomat said on condition of anonymity, and likely vetoed by Russia, the main foreign backer of Assad's government.The U.S. and Russian delegations to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.When a draft was discussed informally by the Security Council last December, Russia made clear it would not support the text. The schedule for the vote was not yet known.

Following the U.N.-OPCW investigation, the United States in January blacklisted 18 senior Syrian officials it said were connected to the country's weapons of mass destruction programme.At least nine of the 11 officials in the U.N. draft resolution were also blacklisted by the U.S. government.The nearly six-year-long conflict in Syria has killed at least 300,000 people and displaced millions, according to groups that monitor the war. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Rodrigo Campos

| UNITED NATIONS

UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Security Council will likely vote on a resolution to blacklist 11 Syrian military commanders and officials over chemical weapons attacks as early as next week, diplomats said on Thursday.The draft resolution also seeks to ban the sale or supply of helicopters to the Syrian government and to blacklist 10 government and related entities involved in the development and production of chemical weapons and the missiles to deliver them.It calls for an asset freeze and travel ban for the individuals and entities across all U.N. member states.A joint inquiry by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used mustard gas, according to reports seen by Reuters in August and October.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government has denied its forces have used chemical weapons.Chlorine's use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013. If inhaled, chlorine gas turns into hydrochloric acid in the lungs and can kill by burning lungs and drowning victims in the resulting body fluids.

The U.N. vote could coincide with talks between representatives of Assad's government and his opponents with U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura, which started on Thursday in Geneva.The Security Council diplomat said the draft resolution would be brought to a vote next week unless a "really compelling argument" against it emerged from the talks.A Western diplomat said the new U.S. administration was now co-sponsoring the resolution, and consultations on it could start on Friday at the Security Council.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration had handed over the drafting of the resolution to France and Britain as it had not wanted to complicate its talks with Russia over Syria.Both diplomats were speaking on condition of anonymity and said it would likely be vetoed by Russia, the main foreign backer of Assad's government."With Geneva on at the same time, we think this resolution sends a strong message," one diplomat said.

The U.S. and Russian delegations to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.When a draft was discussed informally by the Security Council last December, Russia made clear it would not support the text.Following the U.N.-OPCW investigation, the United States in January blacklisted 18 senior Syrian officials it said were connected to the country's weapons of mass destruction programme.At least nine of the 11 officials in the U.N. draft resolution were also blacklisted by the U.S. government. (Additional reporting by John Irish in Geneva; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
United Nations: The UN Security Council is likely to vote next week on a draft resolution that would slap sanctions on Syria over the use of chemical weapons, but Russia is almost certain to veto the measure, diplomats said on Thursday.

Britain, France and the United States are pushing for a ban on the sale of helicopters to Syria and sanctions on 11 Syrians and 10 entities linked to chemical attacks in the nearly six-year war.

The measure follows a joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which concluded in October that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chemical attacks in 2014 and 2015.

"This is the significant response that the Security Council committed to do in the event of proven use of CW in Syria," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The US, UK and France are very clear that this is an issue of principle," he said. Russia's ambassador said at a meeting last week that Moscow would block the measure, said the diplomat.

Russia has used its veto six times to shield its Damascus ally from any punitive action. China, another veto-wielding Security Council member, is expected to abstain in the vote.

France and Britain presented the first draft on imposing sanctions on Syria in December, but held off on action to give the new US administration time to study it.

Another Security Council diplomat said the trio was moving ahead now that US President Donald Trump's administration was fully on board with the push for sanctions against Syria.

The vote could take place as early as Monday or Tuesday. "We hope it will come to a vote as quickly as possible," a US official told AFP.

Blacklisting Syrian commanders

The draft resolution, seen by AFP, would impose a global travel ban and assets freeze on 11 Syrians, mostly military officials including the head of Syrian air force intelligence and the commander of air operations in areas where attacks occurred.

These commanders are said to have been involved in an assault by helicopters that dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin.

Among the entities that would be blacklisted is the CERS research center in Damascus, described as responsible for developing and producing chemical weapons, and five firms said to be front companies for CERS.

The draft resolution would also ban the sale, supply or transfer to the Syrian armed forces or to the government of helicopters or related materiel including spare parts.

The proposed measure would set up a sanctions committee that would report to the Security Council on designating individuals and entities to a new blacklist.

Syria has denied using chemical weapons while Russia has dismissed the investigative panel's findings as "inconclusive." The panel also found that the Islamic State group had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.

The Security Council is due to discuss chemical weapons use in Syria during a meeting on Friday.

The United States last month blacklisted 18 senior Syrian military officers and officials over the use of chemical weapons, but there have been no UN sanctions imposed on Syria due to Russia's opposition.
Washington: US President Donald Trump has assigned the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help build a legal case for its temporary travel ban on individuals from seven countries, a senior White House official said.

"The DHS and Justice Department are working on an intelligence report that will demonstrate that the security threat for these seven countries is substantial and that these seven countries have all been exporters of terrorism into the US," the official told CNN.

"The situation has gotten more dangerous in recent years, and more broadly, the refugee programme has been a major incubator for terrorism."

The report was requested in light of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' conclusion that the Trump administration "has pointed to no evidence that any alien from any of the countries named in the order has perpetrated a terrorist attack in the US".

The seven counties are Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The official said the desire to bolster the legal and public case that these seven countries pose a threat is a work in progress and, as of now, it is not clear if the DHS and Justice Department will offer separate reports or a joint report.

The official told CNN that one possible way the White House could justify the ban is to include a list of terrorism-related injuries, investigations and other actions in the report.

Trump's order, and a revised version are expected next week.
Its been more than three years since thousands of Ukrainians first came together in Kyivs central square - the Maidan - to protest the refusal of then-president Viktor Yanukovych to heed their desire for democratic reform, rule of law, and European integration. This gathering ended with Yanukovych fleeing Ukraine, after the failure of his governments attempts to suppress the will of the people by force.

In a statement marking the anniversary of Ukraines Revolution of Dignity, State Department Acting Spokesperson Mark Toner praised the remarkable progress Ukraine has made since that time to fulfill the promise of the Maidan.

He urged Ukraines leaders to strengthen efforts to fight corruption and continue the political and economic reforms that will honor those who gave their lives to secure a better, more democratic future for Ukraine, and he pledged that the United States will continue to be a partner in such efforts.

In an address at the United Nations Security Council, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley also spoke of the strength of the Ukrainian people, saying the demonstrators who urged an end to corruption and demanded freedom and democracy more than three years ago succeeded in creating a new Ukraine.

As she noted, since that time, Russia has tried to thwart the new direction of the Ukrainian people: by occupying and attempting to annex Crimea; and by arming, financing and organizing separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, leading to a devastating conflict that has cost more than 10,000 lives.

Ambassador Haley pointed to the pictures of destruction that have emerged recently from the town of Avdiviivka as clear evidence of the consequences of Russias ongoing interference in Ukraine.

The United States, said Ambassador Haley, thinks its possible to have a better relationship with Russia. After all, she noted, we confront many of the same threats. But greater cooperation with Russia cannot come at the expense of the security of our European friends and allies.

She urged Russia to show a commitment to peace  by fully implementing the commitments under the Minsk agreement and ending its occupation of Crimea. She said the United States and the EU will retain sanctions on Russia until those commitments are met, and that the separate Crimearelated sanctions imposed by the United States will remain until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine.

The United States, said Ambassador Haley, continues to stand with the Ukrainian people.
In a bid to protect the rights of citizens, the founders of the United States of America included in the Constitution, or the legal framework of the new government, ten Amendments: three to protect individual rights and seven to ensure justice. They are collectively named the Bill of Rights.

The Fourth Amendment deals with issues of privacy. It states that The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Search and seizure of private property by authorities was a major grievance with the framers of the Constitution. This is borne out in the writings of James Otis Jr., a colonial lawyer in Massachusetts who argued in court against Writs of Assistance, used instead of warrants by British officials to enter private homes and businesses to search for evidence of smuggling. Writs never expired and were transferrable from one official to another.

Arguing before a British court that writs should not be legal, Otis said that with a writ, Custom-house officers may enter our houses when they please; we are commanded to permit their entry. Their menial servants may enter, may break locks, bars, and everything in their way; and whether they break through malice or revenge, no man, no court can inquire. Bare suspicion without oath is sufficient.

Otis lost that case. But his arguments, as well as memory of the violations of privacy and unreasonable searches suffered by the colonists under the British government, influenced the framers of the Constitution. And thus, the first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to deal with justice, took aim at unreasonable search and seizure.

As a result, any search, seizure or arrest requires a judicially-sanctioned warrant which must be supported by probable cause. The warrant is limited in scope by specific information supplied to the issuing court. Evidence obtained without a warrant, and thus illegally, cannot be introduced into a criminal trial.

In the words of mid-20th century Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, At the very core [of the Fourth Amendment] stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion."
Mohit Goel, director of Freedom 251 maker Ringing Bells has been detained on fraud allegations by the Ghaziabad police. The Noida based company had launched Indias cheapest smartphone Freedom 251 for Rs. 251 in February last year.

Goel has been detained after owner of Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises filed an FIR on Wednesday alleging that Ringing Bells defrauded it of Rs 16 lakh. A PTI report cited the FIR, which says, We paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. But it delivered us product worth Rs 13 lakh only. Upon follow-up, we could get products plus money totaling Rs 14 lakh.

Since it came into the limelight, Ringing Bells has been falling in the pool of controversies. Soon after the launch of Freedom 251 smartphone, the company was accused of fraud and non-payment of dues and abrupt termination of contract by call center service provider Cyfuture. Department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) Secretary Amitabh Kant has also cleared that the Freedom 251 is not a part for Make in India or Digital India initiative. Adcom also wanted to take a legal action against Ringing Bells as it distributed prototypes to the media attendees that were actually Adcom handsets.

Ringing Bells had claimed that around 30,000 customers had booked the phone despite some glitch and seven crore people registered for it. It is unclear if the company was successful in delivering the Freedom 251 handsets to customers who had paid for them. In July last year, the company launched 31.5-inch HD TV, 6 new phones, including 4 feature phones and 2 smartphones, and 3 power banks.
Samsung has officially released Secure Folder that helps the user to save their personal data and information. Once an app or data moved into the secure folder, it becomes Sand box, which means more protective and encrypted adding an another layer to the security and privacy from malicious attack.

Moreover, user can access the Secure Folder by using authentication methods including PIN, Pattern, Pass code and Fingerprint scanning. They can also make copies of their favorite apps and easily access them via alternate profiles.

Any notes, photos, contacts or browsing history within the apps stored in Secure Folder will remain separate from the same apps outside Secure Folder. This feature is more or less similar to Dual Space in Xiaomi devices and Secure Zone in Lenovo devices.

In case of moving your sensitive data, you can select Move to Secure Folder from native apps such as Gallery, My files, or Contacts, or by tapping Add files inside Secure Folder. Additionally, the Secure Folder feature also supports cloud-based backup and restore to provide users with an easy way to migrate to a new device.

The backup in Secure Folder isolated when compared to general and backup data can only be restored through the Settings inside Secure Folder, and only by the original Samsung account user.

Secure Folder is available for download from Galaxy Apps, and is compatible with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge smartphones supporting Android OS 7.0 or later versions. Samsung plans to extend support to additional devices soon.

Source
An up-and-coming revolution in mobility is known as MaaS: Mobility as a Service. Building on existing transportation technologies, MaaS offers a real opportunity to make travel more efficient, user friendly, and tailored to what individual consumers want.

MaaS will rely on a digital platform that integrates all aspects of trip planningabooking, ticketing, and payingaacross all modes of transportation, whether public or private. No longer will a traveler have to research a train time, book a flight, and pay for a car ride separately to get somewhere; with MaaS, one single app will handle it all.

According to Deloitte, the goal is an integrated system of mobility so convenient athat [consumers] opt to give up their personal vehicles for city commuting, not because theyare forced to, but because the alternative is more appealing.a

Why MaaS?

Interest in MaaS has spread all over the world, as pilot programs have sprouted up in Helsinki, Paris, Eindhoven, Gothenburg, Montpellier, Vienna, Hanover, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, Singapore, and Barcelona. These various programs all incorporate different elements of transportationasome include public means of transportation, some private, some peer-to-peerabut all are new ways of tackling the age old problems of traffic and congestion.

MaaS would help fix congestion without adding more roads or transit routes, a problematic solution that is not only expensive and time-consuming, but could also actually lower quality of life if more land is turned into highways. MaaS would provide a cheaper, cleaner, and faster way of getting around, and would also provide flexibility for consumers.

With the rapid growth in bikeshare programs and ride-hailing services, consumers have shown an affinity for new mobility options and apps. There were only 11 total bikeshare programs in 2004 and now they exist in over 50 countries. Meanwhile, Uber has expanded to more than 500 cities in over 70 countries during their six year existence.

Deloitte reports that a natural next step would be to capitalize on the popularity of these programs and, combining with trip-planning apps, integrate them into one platform for customers to plan and pay for travel services.

Core Elements of MaaS

While the bells and whistles of a MaaS system will vary depending on the modes of transportation available in certain locations, there are a few core elements that most systems will likely incorporate.

aTo work effectively, MaaS would require the following conditions: widespread penetration of smartphones on 3G/4G/5G networks; high levels of connectivity; secure, dynamic, up-to-date information on travel options, schedules, and updates; and cashless payment systems.a Collaboration would be paramount between the transportation providers, local governing authorities, and payment processors, among others, who would all enable this to happen.

Physical infrastructure changes should be integrated, accounting for seamless connections between different services. Transit stations can be updated to allow passengers to transition from one medium to another: trains to bikeshare or subway to bus, etc.

Transportation operators will provide the actual services that MaaS is trying to arrange for, so their inclusion is a must. Without public transportation operators buying in, weall be left with smaller operations providing services with their own app and payment methods, making it impossible for a large-scale adoption of one unified MaaS system.

With regard to payment, there are two types in practice right now: monthly subscriptions or pay-as-you-go. An effective MaaS system will need to ensure that each transportation mode is properly compensated when a consumer books a trip that spans multiple providers, regardless of if they are a monthly member or go the a la carte route. Deloitte points out that thus far, this issue has been a stumbling block in many existing services.

The most essential element of all MaaS systems will be the platform it runs on, and the trusted mobility advisors that alink the services of the various private and public operators, arranging bookings, and facilitate payments through a single gateway.a Whether an app or webpage, this program will tie together all elements, providing options via a data provider that feeds real-time traffic and transit information, and enables ticketless travel so users can go from one leg of their trip to another with just their smartphone.

How to Make MaaS a Reality

City governments will play an essential role in a MaaS system, not just by unifying all the necessary partiesaand ensuring buy-in from the private sectorabut by setting safety regulations and security measures to protect the citizens it represents.

Adding more means of transportation to already crowded urban areas is not a viable solution. But changing the way the existing modes of transportation function to meet the needs of the consumer with a unified solution is beneficial to the city, the people who would use it, and the private sector companies looking to profit.

The mass transit options that already serve the public today should continue to do so, but the government should encourage partnership with the private sector; their innovation and capabilities are invaluable. By creating a system that the private sector can integrate with, city governments can set the essential ground rules, but leave the actual technology to the players who do it best.

As Deloitte points out, aFinding the regulatory sweet spot is key. Too much regulation and the private sector may find it difficult to innovate or participate; too little regulation and the public interest is not served.a

The technologies needed for MaaS already exist; they just need to be pulled together in the same direction. Combining real-time data, smartphone networks, consumer preferences, and maybe even autonomous driving is a reality that could be right around the corner. Bringing all the relevant players to the table is the next step in the future of mobility.
Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. FAQ - New Privacy Policy
Appliances and electronics retailer hhgregg Inc is preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as next month, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The retailer is still seeking an out-of-court solution that would help it prevent filing a Chapter 11, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. (http://bloom.bg/2kS4j3E)

Hhgregg's sales have fallen for 14 quarters in a row as it struggles to cope with intense competition.

The company said on Feb. 15 it was pursuing a range of strategic alternatives.

The Indianapolis, Indiana-based company's stock has lost more than three-fourth of its value in the last 12 months. (Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
On Friday, President Donald Trump spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), clarifying his Tweet about the fake news media, saying that fake news is the enemy of the people, but the media in general is not.

Former UKIP Leader Nigel Farage said he is pleased that President Trump is standing up to the media organizations that treat him unfairly, and that media bias isnt a phenomenon unique to the U.S. The 28 biggest broadcasters from all of the European Union member states and they are all behaving like many American broadcasters, theyre simply not prepared to accept that Brexit happened, that Trump happened, they kinda want to turn the clock back and what they dont realize is they are losing viewers, they are losing listeners, they are losing this battle big time, Farage told the FOX Business Networks Neil Cavuto. Farage said it is very important for both President Trump and the Brexit movement to succeed in order for this global political revolution to continue.

I think that 2016 was a global political revolution and it wasnt the end, its the beginning and that revolution will roll across Europe this year, he said.

France currently has a presidential candidate named Marine Le Pen who wants to pull France out the European Union.

Even if Le Pen doesnt win what she will do is shift the center of gravity in terms of the whole European debate and migration debate in France. This is not over by a long, long way. You are going to see many more big conservative victories over the next few years, Farage said.
U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the FBI on Friday for failing to stop leaks of national security information to the media and directed the agency to find those who pass on classified information.

Trump's comments, in a pair of Twitter posts, come amid media reports that the FBI has refused a White House request that it refutes recent stories saying members of Trump's team had been in frequent contact with Russian intelligence agents during the presidential campaign.

Reuters has not verified the reports. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the nation's top law enforcement agency, did not answer a request for comment on Trump's tweets.

"The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW,"Trump wrote.

The news reports by CNN and The Associated Press said White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked Andrew McCabe, the FBI deputy director, to deny media reports that said Trumpcampaign advisers had been in frequent contact with the Russians.

A senior administration official told reporters on Friday that an FBI official had told Priebus a recent New York Times story about Russian contacts was not accurate. Priebus asked if the FBIcould set the record straight.

The New York Times reported on Feb. 14 that members of Trump's presidential campaign and other associates had repeated contact with senior Russian intelligence officials, citing intercepted communications and other evidence.

Priebus' contact with the FBI came as the bureau conducts ongoing investigations relating to Russian interference in the Nov. 8 U.S. election.

FBI counterintelligence agents are also examining financial transactions by Russian individuals and companies who are believed to have links to Trump associates.

"There are investigations that are going on and those investigations must find out exactly what Russia was doing in the United States," Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN on Friday.

"We need a complete investigation and we certainly don't want the White House at all trying to influence that investigation."

U.S. Representative John Conyers said any White House attempt to influence the FBI was "deeply troubling."

"The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the President and his advisors," Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement late on Thursday. (Reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu and Emily Stephenson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum)
Former child star Daveigh Chase was arrested for a traffic-related violation on Feb. 22, the Los Angeles Police Department told Fox News Friday. She was also questioned in regards to an unidentified man's Feb. 15 overdose.

According to a police report obtained by Fox News, Chase was released the same day on $1,805 bail.

A rep for Chase told Fox News the actress was arrested on a warrant for failing to appear in court for a traffic violation. He would not comment further.

CHILD STARS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

The actress, 26, reportedly left an unidentified man outside of a Los Angeles hospital in the early morning hours of Feb. 15 and took off without reporting the incident, TMZ reported.

TMZ added the man was pronounced dead after he was discovered by hospital employees. Authorities believe the man overdosed and Chase was trying to get him to the hospital.

While her relationship to the deceased person is unknown, TMZ explained police were told she was "hanging out" with him in the hours leading up to his death.

FOLLOW UP ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Chase is best known for playing the creepy little girl Samara in 2002s The Ring. She also voiced Lilo in the 2002 animated Disney film Lilo and Stich. She recently appear in the 2016 film Jack Comes Home opposite Rory Culkin and Natasha Lyonne.
Shia LaBeouf has taken down his anti-Trump live stream project after gunshots were reportedly fired near the art exhibit in New Mexico.

We have taken the stream down after shots were reported in the area, tweeted the 30-year-old actor-turned-artist on Thursday morning. The safety of everybody participating in our project is paramount.

SHIA LABEOUF LEADS WITH 'WILL NOT DIVIDE US' ON INAUGURATION DAY

Albuquerque Police have not commented on the possible shooting incident.

LaBeoufs art project, He Will Not Divide Us, first launched on Inauguration Day at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, N.Y. It featured a camera placed on a wall outside of the museum with the phrase written in bold lettering, encouraging participants to recite the chant in protest against U.S. President Donald Trump. It was shut down on Feb. 10 after it became an ongoing public safety hazard.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

LaBeouf then relocated the exhibit to Albuquerques El Rey Theater on Saturday, where it lasted less than a week before it was vandalized with red spray paint.

"We are anti the normalization of division. That's it. The rest of the info is right there, chief, I got nothing else to say to you," said LaBeouf to the Albuquerque Journal. "We're just the anti normalization of division."

On Tuesday, the camera was still covered in paint for several hours before it was scraped off.
A new TV drama Blood and Whiskey will portray the life of American distilling icon Jack Daniel.

The series will be based off Peter Krass 2004 biography Blood and Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

So who will portray the man behind one of the country's best selling spirits?

Aaron Paul, best known for his role as Jesse Pinkman on the hit drama "Breaking Bad, has been confirmed to play the lauded spirit maker.

JACK DANIEL'S NOW SELLS COFFEE THAT TASTES LIKE WHISKEY

Other big names involved with the project include scriptwriter Andrew Colville, who worked on Mad Men.

Paul will not only be playing the lead but will also serve as the executive producer. But, perhaps even more notable, is the actor's well-known love affair with the spirit itself. Afterall, his Instagram handle is @glassofwhiskey.

I have always been amazed with the process of making whiskey. Put it in a barrel and wait. Let the barrel (and time) do its work. The patience. The ticking clock, Paul posted to his 3 million followers on Instagram Feb. 22.

We all know the name Jack Daniel but we don't know his story. It's a crazy one to say the least. Very happy to be part of the team to tell it.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

The series will focus on the life of Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel, the youngest of ten children and who became a moonshiner when he was just 15-years-old after becoming an orphan, according to the biography by Krass.

Daniels founded the whiskey brand in Lynchburg, Tenn. between 1866 and 1875, after the Civil War. Years later, in 1907, Daniel handed the distillery to his nephews. He died in 1911 from blood poisoning in Lynchburg.

Recently, the brand decided to embrace the true, yet complicated, history of how its whiskey came to be. According to historians, Daniel learned how to make whiskey from Nearis Green-- a slave owned by preacher Dan Call.

Jack Daniels is now owned by Brown-Forman and remains the best-selling American whiskey brand globally.

12.2 million 9-litre cases were exported in 2015, according to The Drinks Business.
Cathay Pacific Airways knows that passengers' senses of taste and smell are diminished at 35,000 feet-- and theyre reportedly compensating for it with beer.

On Tuesday, the Hong Kong-based airline announced a new in-flight innovation: Betsy Beer, a beverage specifically brewed with the ingredients, aroma and necessary carbonation to taste great both in the air and on the ground.

Named after the Cathay Pacifics first airplane, a Douglas DC-3 nicknamed Betsy, Betsy Beer claims to be the worlds first beer specifically designed to be enjoyed at high altitudes.

BALTIMORE BREWERS FIGHT BACK AS DIAGEO PREPARES TO OPEN US GUINNESS FACTORY

"We know that when you fly, your sense of taste changes, the airline wrote in a press release. Airlines address this for food in certain ways. But nobody has ever tried to improve the taste of beer at altitude.

According to the release, Betsy Beer is brewed with only Hong Kong- and U.K.-sourced ingredients, which include British hops called known as fuggle, honey sourced from the New Territories of Hong Kong, and dragon eye fruit, also known as longan.

The company also says that their signature Betsy Beer is brewed by the Hong Kong Beer Co., which worked with Cathay Pacific and an expert tasting panel  including Thomas Lau, the chairman of the Hong Kong Craft Beer Association, and May Chow, who was named Asias Best Female Chef at the 2017 Asias 50 Best Restaurants ceremony  to develop the flavor.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

While Betsy Beer may be the worlds first beer brewed specifically for airline passengers, preparing special altitude-optimal food has long been a concern for airlines.

In 2012, Surf Air CEO Simon Talling-Smith, then the executive vice president of Americas for British Airways, told Fox News that a passengers ability to taste food and wine decreases thirty-percent at altitude.

To compensate, airlines in-flight chefs have long been experimenting with aromatics, herbs and spices in an effort to enhance the flavor of their foods, added food and travel author Howard Hillman.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

But beer, it seems, was not given an altitude-friendly overhaul, at least according to Cathay Pacifics claims.

Cathay Pacific says Betsy Beer will be available for First and Business Class passengers on flights between Hong Kong and the U.K. starting on March 1, and through the end of its initial launch on April 31.

Betsy Beer will also be sold in airport lounges in Hong Kong and Heathrow airports, as well as in select restaurants in Hong Kong.
The James Beard Foundation has announced actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson as the host of its 27th annual award show, to be held this year in Chicago on May 1. Ferguson is best known for his role as Mitchell in the Emmy award-winning sitcom "Modern Family."

The theme of this years awards is Powered by Food, which focuses on the intersection of culinary innovation and technology.

Andrew Zimmern  host of Travel Channels "Bizarre Foods " will host the James Beard media awards, which highlights the best of the best in food writing and journalism, at Chelsea Piers in New York City.

Were delighted to have Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Andrew Zimmern as hosts for this year's awards," said Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation, in a statement.

"Just as technology is able to connect people through a shared love of food, Jesse and Andrew have combined their own personal passions for food with their unique talents, whether it be through television, in a blog post, on stage, or on the plate."

Ferguson may be best-known for playing one-half of one of the most popular married couples on TV, but hes also passionate about his food blog, where he posts recipes like gluten-free bacon cheddar scones, and about his Instagram, which features clickable food porn like an image of paleo Thai beef.

Here Are the 2017 James Beard Award Semi-Finalists
Pope Francis's chief alms-giver went on a shopping spree in quake-struck central Italy on Thursday, buying up prosciutto, cheese and local produce from struggling local businesses and donating the bounty to Roman soup kitchens.

The Vatican said Monsignor Konrad Krajewski's expedition was a concrete gesture of Francis' belief that "when you can't earn a living you lose your dignity."

The Vatican released photos of Krajewski visiting local prosciutto makers and purchasing rounds of cheese and other typical produce. The region is known for its lentils.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Central Italy has been rocked by a series of powerful earthquakes that have driven thousands of people from their homes and devastated the local economy. Italian farm association Coldiretti has estimated damage to the agricultural sector alone of at least 52 million euros ($55 million.)

Krajewski visited small-scale farmers and producers in the hard-hit towns of Ascoli Piceno and Camerino, filling up a van with their goods. The Vatican said the products were immediately distributed to Roman soup kitchens.

For some time now, the Vatican's tax-free supermarket has stocked produce from the quake zone to help the local economy. However, the tax-free market has a limited clientele: Only those with coveted Vatican ID cards can shop there.
All of us face the difficult prospect of a parent or loved one suffering from an illness that ultimately leads to death. When that time comes, we will want to ease their physical and emotional pain, respect their wishes, and allow them to die with dignity  the same things we will want for ourselves.

The way that Americans die has changed but, unfortunately, our medical system hasnt kept up. It was designed at a time when death was often sudden or declines in health were relatively rapid. These days it is much more common for people to live longer with multiple chronic conditions, and we have the technology to prolong life as death approaches. End-of-life care is fragmented, intensive, and costly  and patients wishes are often lost due to poor communication.

As baby boomers continue to age, swelling the ranks of the elderly and those near death, how seriously ill people approaching the end of life are cared for must be reformed. We had the honor of chairing the Aspen Health Strategy Group, composed of 23 experienced leaders in health care, technology, and the media, as it explored ways to improve care at the end of life. Here are five of the transformative ideas we included in the groups report, Improving Care at the End of Life.

Emphasize planning for the inevitable. Creating an advance directive and speaking to loved ones about end-of-life care wishes should be as natural and commonplace as financial planning. Far too many care decisions are made by family members who are only guessing at the wishes of their loved ones. Its awkward to talk about death and dying, but necessary. By integrating advanced care planning into things we already do in our daily lives like using smartphones or making employee benefit decisions, we can encourage these much-needed conversations.

Read more: A lesson on lifes end: How one college class is rethinking doctor training

Refine Medicare coverage. Two serious gaps in health insurance coverage threaten many people facing the end of life. Medicare does not provide coverage for social supports, like breaks for family caregivers, or for the coordination of care. Medicare policy should be changed to include benefits for those diagnosed with advanced illness that provide social supports and care coordination through a defined care team. This kind of coverage would encourage team-based organizations to meet the needs of patients. Medicare should test the integration of its hospice benefit into Medicare Advantage and other demonstrations. Improving efficiency and delivery will help those who are seriously ill get the care they need  and help their caregivers deliver it  without jumping through hurdles and battling a bureaucracy not designed with their circumstances in mind.

Measure the effectiveness of end-of-life care. Only by understanding how well health care and social services support individuals at the ends of their lives can we understand, demand, and reward good performance by their caregivers. So we need to develop metrics that can provide accountability and transparency. In addition to measuring the quality of care, these metrics must also measure patient preferences and families experience as they care for their loved ones.

Train more clinicians in palliative care. Graduate medical education includes little training on the needs of patients in the last years or days of their lives. We need to create financial and professional incentives to expand the number of doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, and other health care professionals who have the right training to effectively and compassionately provide end-of-life care.

Read more: My son had a devastating, mysterious illness. The conversation about palliative care knocked me flat

Get community input on better models of care. Addressing this urgent need will create disruptions in how health care is delivered. Leadership by policymakers and private sector leaders is required to improve end-of-life care, but so is a social consensus that such a change is needed. This can happen only at the local level. Some communities will rise to this challenge. Those that do so successfully should be held up as examples and the lessons they learn shared with others seeking to achieve the same ends.

We sincerely hope that health care policy leaders will take this problem head-on. Much more can be done to make sure that all Americans die according to their wishes and with dignity. By implementing the ideas outlined above, we can make important strides to that end.

Kathleen G. Sebelius was the secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 to 2014. Tommy G. Thompson was the secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005. They are co-chairs of the Aspen Health Strategy Group.
It seems the old saying my back is killing me may not be an exaggeration after all.

Older people who suffer back pain have a 13 percent increased risk of dying from any cause, new research suggests.

WHAT YOUR PAST HABITS MAY MEAN FOR YOUR FUTURE HEALTH

Scientists recorded death rates in 4,390 Danish twins ages over 70 to see if there was any link with back pain.

Dr Paulo Ferreira, from the University of Sydney in Australia, said: Our study found that compared to those without spinal pain (back and neck), a person with spinal pain has a 13 per cent higher chance of dying every year.

This is a significant finding as many people think that back pain is not life-threatening.

EAT THIS MANY FRUITS AND VEGGIES FOR A LONGER LIFE

Studying twins allowed the scientists to rule out shared genetic factors as a major influence on the result.

Click for more from The Sun.
When this couple started dating, they never dreamed that they would be parents to three children 14 months down the line.

Eliza Curby and partner Ben, 38, had a busy 2016  welcoming their first three kids into the world in just 11 months.

Eliza, who is from Northern Beaches, Australia, became pregnant with baby daughter Charlie just three months after she started dating Ben.

Then, just six weeks after the couple became first-time parents in January last year, the 27-year-old discovered that she was pregnant again  this time with identical twins.

Little Jack and Wolfe were born in December, on Christmas Eve, topping off an amazing year for the happy couple.

I still cant believe it, Eliza said. We fell pregnant with our first, Charlie, three months after we started dating!

Ben had always been super keen to become a father so we were over the moon at the thought of creating our own little family.

I say little as Bens idea of a family included two children  very nuclear indeed.

I, on the other hand have always been set on having as many children as I can  nothing excites me more than the thought of walking through our local streets of Mona Vale with my own little clan.

Needless to say the decision was taken out of his hands  I win.

Eliza says she expected the first six weeks after giving birth to be the hardest, but was surprised when she continued to feel super exhausted.

She added: My mum always said it takes six full weeks to come up for air!

I was exhausted trying to figure out the ins and outs of being a mum, but about a month after having Charlie though I felt really, super exhausted.

Everyone told me it was sleep deprivation catching up with me but I was not convinced  I remember looking at Ben and saying I think Im pregnant. He just laughed.

Click for more from The Sun.
The media laugh at any attempt to compare President Trump to former President Ronald Reagan, but there are many similarities, not the least of which are the withering attacks both men endured before and after they sought the presidency.

The extraordinary assaults by media, celebrities and jealous politicians against Trump have been unending. Their attacks include questioning his mental health, repeatedly comparing him to Hitler, declaring him a fascist, insisting hes a modern-day Manchurian candidate, that hes a traitor (because Russians!), and on and on.

The striking thing about the nature of the attacks is that theyre all personal. They are accusations meant to instill in the listener a sense of danger, provoking an existential fear of the president of the United States.

Now why would someone want to do that? And what could possibly be the result of creating that toxic environment?

Reagan withstood similar vitriol by the same and usual suspects. The Sun newspaper quoted author Steven Haywards recollection of the rhetoric against Reagan: Democratic Rep. William Clay of Missouri charged that Reagan was trying to replace the Bill of Rights with fascist precepts lifted verbatim from Mein Kampf.

Los Angeles Times cartoonist Paul Conrad drew a panel depicting Reagan plotting a fascist putsch in a darkened Munich beer hall. Harry Stein (later a conservative convert) wrote in Esquire that the voters who supported Reagan were like the good Germans in Hitlers Germany, The Sun reported.

After being attacked relentlessly by fellow Republicans during the campaign, Hollywood making their condemnation known, and the media working overtime to demonize Reagan, it shouldnt be surprising that, within 90 days of his taking the oath of office, the president was shot by a lunatic.

The now-freed John Hinckley believed murdering Reagan would impress actress Jodie Foster. I will admit to you that the reason Im going ahead with this attempt now is because I just cannot wait any longer to impress you, the attempted assassin wrote to Foster.

Ive got to do something now to make you understand in no uncertain terms that I am doing all of this for your sake . Jodie, Im asking you to please look into your heart and at least give me the chance with this historical deed to gain your respect and love, concluded the letter, written just hours before he went to the Washington Hilton, shooting the president and several others.

Theres nothing in Fosters history indicating she expressed a loathing for Reagan. At the time of the shooting, she was a 19-year-old student at Yale. But its arguable that the overall media environment had become so toxic, a man with an already tenuous relationship with reality thought shooting the president would be a good idea and appreciated. After all, the critics all agreed that Reagan was a doltish, unhinged fascist who would start World War III simply because he was dumb. And evil, of course.

Sound familiar?

So far, the drumbeat against Trump is virtually identical. In the middle of the campaign, The Washington Post delivered an editorial titled, Donald Trump is a unique threat to American democracy.

The usual Hitler-fascist accusations are a daily narrative. Within the last two weeks, Democratic legislators started openly suggesting the president is mentally ill. The Hill reports, A growing number of Democrats are openly questioning President Trumps mental health. . Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., during a weekend interview with CNNs State of the Union said that a few Republican colleagues have expressed concern to him about Trumps mental health.

NPR also decided to get into the act just a few days ago with an article that mused, At 70, Trump is the oldest American president to ever take office. Couple his age with a family history of dementia.  Yeah, subtle.

So on one hand, hes a Machiavellian traitor cohort of Russian President Vladimir Putin. On the other, hes a guy who is mentally ill. Oh, heck, lets make it both. The New Republic, a leftist rag, chimed in with its obscene suggestion that the president is possibly suffering from an undiagnosed case of syphilis. Because  why not?

On Twitter and in his column at the Daily Wire, John Nolte refers to this dangerous public rhetoric against the president as assassination dog whistles. Then almost as if on cue, NBC News tweeted on Feb. 20, President Trump reaches 32 days, wont be shortest U.S. president. So, they were expecting (hoping?) for him to not be president at this point in time?

As media rhetoric boils, last week a middle-schooler was arrested for throwing a 2x4 piece of wood at the presidential motorcade in Florida. He then implicated four other teenagers in what appears to be an attempted assault of the president. Charges are pending.

I do believe there are many similarities between Reagan and Trump. Now with the benefit of history, where are the responsible journalists and statesmen calling for the daily vitriolic personal attacks to stop? Where are the Bushes? The Cheneys? And even the Kennedys? They all know what its like when a president is murdered. The media should complain all they want about Trumps policies, but focusing on demonizing the president personally isnt politics, its a danger to us all.
Tammy Bruce, an Independent Conservative, has been a FOX News Contributor since 2005. She is also a radio talk show host, New York Times bestselling author, and columnist. A lifelong Democrat (until 2008 when she registered as unaffiliated), Ms. Bruce worked on a number of Democratic campaigns in the 1990s, and now works to make sure her experience as a liberal community organizer is used to expose and help defeat the leftist agenda. Read More

Ms. Bruces political history consists of supporting conservatives as well, including President Reagan, both Presidents Bush and, quite reluctantly, John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign. She also served on California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar's Transition Team after his election-by-recall in 2003. It was Donald Trump and his direct and transparent approach personally and on the issues, as well as his love for the country, that impressed her to become an active and vocal supporter, of which she remains.

Ms. Bruce is free-speech and Second Amendment advocate and her experience as a radio talk show host has informed her positions on those issues. The "Tammy Bruce Show" premiered in 1993 in Los Angeles and was nationally syndicated in 2005 enjoying over 200 terrestrial affiliates. In 2009 Ms. Bruce became the first nationally syndicated host to shift to online streaming exclusively delivering a popular and success live program and podcast on political and cultural issues. In 2005, she joined Fox News as a Political Contributor. She regularly guest-hosts for the network's primetime programming and hosts her own show, "Get Tammy Bruce," on the Fox Nation streaming platform.

Her weekly column on the nexus of politics, culture and business is published by the Association for Mature Americans (AMAC), accessible by the public-at-large in addition to providing special resources and commentary for their two-million plus membership. Additionally, Ms. Bruce has been profiled, and her editorials and commentaries on significant social issues have been published nationally and internationally, in a wide variety of magazines, newspapers including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the Washington Times, The Guardian, the San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, and The Advocate among others.

She also speaks to a variety of groups nationwide, including college, business and civic organizations about a variety of topics, including her most requested commentary, "Contrary to Popular Belief: How Conservative Ideals Empower Women, Gays and Blacks."

Ms. Bruce's first book, "The New Thought Police," was published by Forum, an imprint of Crown/Random House, in October 2001. An analysis of freedom of expression and the culture wars, it explores the importance of freedom of expression and personal liberty and how that liberty is under attack by the dangerous rise of Left-wing McCarthyism. Her second book, "The Death of Right and Wrong," also for Random House (April 2003), addresses the rise of moral relativism in society and quickly became a New York Times bestseller. Ms. Bruce's latest work, "The New American Revolution," was published by Harper Collins/Morrow and is now available in paperback. She is currently working on her fourth book exposing the political use of fear to control individuals and society at-large.

Drawn into feminist activism in the late 1980's, Ms. Bruce focused on women in the workplace, violence against women and ending international subjugation of women. Just two years after joining the National Organization for Women, with a brand of feminism that places her somewhere between Donna Reed and Thelma and Louise, Ms. Bruce was elected president of the Los Angeles chapter of NOW at the age of 27. Serving in that capacity as well as on their national board of directors exposed her to agendas spurring her to reject liberal and leftist politics. She observed activity and activism making it clear that the left's intentions were not in the best interest of Americans, and were in fact geared to damage the quality of people's lives by doing irreparable harm to the nation as a whole.

A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Bruce holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of Southern California, from which she graduated cum laude. Ms. Bruce notes her interest in politics and individual liberty was sparked during her childhood in part because of the work of authors Ray Bradbury and George Orwell, both of whom remain her favorite writers. Ms. Bruce lives in New York and is routinely bossed around by Ruby, her miniAustralian Shepherd.
Vice President Mike Pence sought to rally conservatives for the fight to repeal and replace ObamaCare Thursday, telling a fired-up CPAC audience that the health care law "has failed" and "must go."

"Let me assure you," Pence told the cheering crowd. "Americas ObamaCare nightmare is about to end."

"This failed law is crippling the American economy and crushing the American people," added Pence, who called promises made by liberals about former president Obama's health reform "fake news."

"Now we all know the truth," the vice president said. "Higher costs, fewer choices, worse care. That's ObamaCare."

CPAC LEADER BLASTS 'ALT-RIGHT' AS CONSERVATIVES DEFINE AGENDA UNDER TRUMP

Pence vowed that ObamaCare would be replaced with "something that actually works, something that's built on freedom and individual responsibility." He promised "an orderly transition to a better health care system" and repeated Trump's campaign vow that any new healthcare law would allow the purchase of insurance across state lines and ensure that customers with pre-existing conditions would be covered.

Pence did not offer a timetable for any new legislation. Another CPAC speaker, former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, called earlier Thursday for the immediate dismantling of the 2010 health care law, saying the argument that a replacement plan must also be in place is ludicrous.

Pence's speech capped the first day of the annual conference, during which President Donald Trump's top aides warned activists not to waste GOP control of the White House and both houses of Congress.

"We as conservatives have an opportunity that only comes around every few generations, or maybe just once in a lifetime," Pence said. "My friends, this is our time."

HALFTIME REPORT: WHAT TRUMP SHOULD SAY ON TUESDAY

Referencing the turbulent town halls that have greeted Republican lawmakers during the congressional recess, Pence urged CPAC attendees to "rise to the challenge before us."

"The other side is not sitting idle," the vice president warned before telling his audience to "mobilize" and "march foward" to defend Trump's agenda.

"Our fight didnt end on [Election Day]," Pence said. "We won the day, but make no mistake about it. The harder work, the most important work, now lies ahead."

FoxNews.com's Joseph Weber and the Associated Press contributed to this report.


U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said Wednesday on a visit to Guatemala that there won't be mass deportations by the Unites States, but he strongly discouraged any Guatemalans from considering the journey north.

The executive orders issued by President Donald Trump on border security and immigration enforcement will result in people trying to enter the U.S. illegally being caught at the border, where they will be "treated fairly and humanely and returned to their home countries," Kelly said.

"There will be no mass roundups," he said. But those caught "will be returned to their country much quicker than has been the case for the last decade or so."

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales said after President Jimmy Morales' meeting with Kelly that "the most important thing is that they have told us that there will not be mass deportations, and that they will be focused precisely on those people who represent a security threat or who have committed a crime."

Kelly focused on discouraging Guatemalans from making what he called the "very, very dangerous" trip through Mexico trying to reach the United States.

"My sincere advice to any citizen considering moving to the United States and crossing our boundaries in irregular migration, my best advice is to not do it," he said. "It's an extremely dangerous journey and the very, very considerable amount of money you have to pay the 'coyotes' will be lost because we are beefing up, that is to say reinforcing our turn-back efforts on the border."

Kelly did not address policies published Tuesday that suggest U.S. immigration agents could deport Central American migrants to Mexico if they entered from that country.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told "Special Report with Bret Baier" Thursday that "I think the odds are very good" that a second seat on the Supreme Court will fall vacant this year.

"If not this summer, next summer," Cruz told Bret Baier. "You know, judges dont like it when people kind of nudge them out, so theyll go when they decide to go."

Cruz stressed that he had "no inside information" about any possible vacancy, but noted that "that most of my professional career has been as a Supreme Court litigator and I know the Court well."

IN RARE CONCESSION, TOP DEM PREDICTS GORSUCH WILL BE CONFIRMED

President Trump has nominated Neil Gorsuch to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last year at the age of 79. Cruz did not specify which justice he believed would retire, but two of the remaining eight justices on the court  liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg and swing vote Anthony Kennedy  are in their 80s.

Cruz said the battle over whoever is appointed to fill the forthcoming vacancy would be "Armageddon."

"[This] is going to be the opportunity to shift the course of this court [and] put a five-justice majority of Constitutionalists on the court," Cruz said, adding that Republicans "need to be prepared to take the case to the American people."

Cruz, who has been put forward as a potential Supreme Court candidate, told Baier that he was "very happy in the Senate."

SURVEY: CONTROVERSIAL REP. KEITH ELLISON FRONTRUNNER FOR DNC CHAIR



The senator also had harsh words for Washington Democrats, saying that many are "out of their minds."

"Theyre really angry. Theyre angry not at Republicans, not even at Trump. Theyre angry at the American people. Theyre angry at the voters: How dare you elect a Republican president and Republican majorities in both houses?" Cruz said. "The Democrats are not in the mode of raising reasonable questions. Theyre in the mode of losing their minds, of screaming  its not showing respect for the democratic process, its not showing respect for the voters. I think thats unfortunate.
A state senator in Arkansas filed a bill Thursday calling for the renaming of an airport named after the Clintons.

You have a president who was impeached for having an affair with an intern in the Oval Office and then disbarred, the bill's author, Sen. Jason Rapert, told Reuters.

President Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998. The Senate acquitted him on the charges in 1999.

The bill--which does not name the Clintons by name-- would prohibit the naming of public buildings, structures, airports, or facilities after anyone living.

The legislation also calls for the ban of naming an airport after an elected official who served in the 10 years "preceding the construction" of the structure.

Reuters reported that Rapert claimed that several people in Arkansas shared their feelings on the airport being named after the Clintons.

The commercial Arkansas airport, just outside Little Rock, was renamed in 2012 to the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field.

"I happen to think that the naming of the airport as it is doesn't have any negative impact on our state or on our city," the Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola told ArkansasMatters.com. "As a matter of fact I think it is the opposite."

Alyssa Madruga is a news editor for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlyssaMadruga.
A battle this weekend for control of the Democratic National Committee is poised to pull the party further to the left  the question is how far.

After a bruising series of elections during which Democrats lost the House, the Senate and finally the White House, the DNC on Saturday will choose its new chairman. The vote could mark a turning point as the party seeks to rebuild and potentially rebrand. But based on the leading candidates for the post, some see the party moving further from the mainstream.

The two top contenders, Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, have both garnered high-profile endorsements. Ellison has picked up support from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. John Lewis, while former Attorney General Eric Holder and former Vice President Biden have backed Perez, who served in the Obama administration. Former President Obama also has sung the praises of Perez, without formally endorsing him.

Both candidates highlight their progressive records, careers spent advocating for civil rights and grassroots work. In the 2016 presidential primaries, Perez supported Hillary Clinton, while Ellison endorsed Sanders. The election of either contender, and especially Ellison, would signal a strong shift to the left.

As the first Muslim elected to Congress in 2006, Ellison used Thomas Jeffersons copy of the Quran for his swearing in. Though this stirred up controversy, his career spans far more provocative acts. In 1989, he defended Louis Farrakhan, the controversial leader of the National of Islam, in the University of Minnesota school paper. Fox News spoke with a fellow student who recalls confronting Ellison over his anti-Semitic remarks during his time on campus, saying that Ellison refused to engage in conversation over his remarks.

Accusations of anti-Semitism followed Ellison based on his association with Farrakhan. He asserts that he was never an official member of the Nation of Islam, but admits that he did spend 18 months organizing the Minnesota division of Farrakhans Million Man March in 1995.

It wasnt until he ran for Congress in 2006 that Ellison wrote a letter to the Jewish community, apologizing for his involvement with others who held anti-Semitic views. Nevertheless, the allegations havent disappeared and he has been criticized for his connection to both the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Muslim American Society, a U.S.-based organization with suspected ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Anti-Defamation League has called for Ellison to be disqualified based on deeply disturbing remarks he made about Israel in 2010.

In 2016, Ellison defended himself, claiming that in fighting for the African-American community, he shouldnt have neglected the hatred and division of certain people he was associated with, but asserted that he had long since disavowed them.

Ellison has been credited with being one of the few Democrats, or Republicans for that matter, who predicted Donald Trump could win the presidency. In July 2015, On This Week on ABC, Ellison predicted that Trump had enough momentum to actually win. The rest of the panelists erupted into laughter. He was unquestionably opposed to Trumps presidency, but Ellison was paying attention to the early signs that Trump could, and ultimately did, win. On Wednesday, Trump tweeted, One thing I will say about Rep. Keith Ellison, in his fight to lead the DNC, is that he was the one who predicted early that I would win!

Perez graduated from Harvard Law School in 1987 and later worked as a civil rights attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. He went on to serve as deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights under AG Janet Reno. Perez joined the Montgomery County Council in Maryland in 2002 as the first Latino to sit on the council and then became its president in 2004, serving until 2006. During the Obama administration, he returned to the Department of Justice as assistant attorney general for civil rights in 2009 and went on to serve as the Obama-appointed secretary of Labor from 2013 until 2017.

While Perez generally is seen as the more mainstream candidate, there are those who believe his politics are still fairly radical. J. Christian Adams, former attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, has a contentious history with Perez. Adams accused the Justice Department of racial bias in dropping a New Black Panthers voter intimidation case, and further alleged that Perez lied under oath in hearings before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Based on my firsthand experiences, I believe the dismissal of the Black Panther case was motivated by a lawless hostility toward equal enforcement of the law, he wrote.

When asked about Perezs capability to serve as the DNC chair, Adams told Fox News, "He testified falsely under oath about the New Black Panthers dismissal and told the DOJ inspector general he didn't think cases should be brought to protect white voters. He'll make a perfect chair for the modern Democratic Party."
Not Daesh. Not ISIL. Not IS.

The Pentagon has officially declared the name of the terror group the United States and its allies have been fighting for years is, in fact, ISIS.

We have officially switched to ISIS, Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a briefing with reporters Friday. They all mean the same thing. Davis said ISIS already had been used unofficially in the past inside the Pentagon because it was the easiest to understand.

While ISIS has been widely accepted for years as the common acronym for the Islamic State, then-Secretary of State John Kerry and others in the Obama administration insisted for years on using ISIL or Daesh, the acronym formed using Arabic letters to spell Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon released a memorandum Friday afternoon dated Feb. 13 outlining the official change.

We view ISIS, ISIL and Da'esh as interchangeable terms for the same thing. ISIS is the term most known and understood by the American public, and it is what our leadership uses. This memo simply aligns our terminology, Davis said in a statement attached to the memo.

In the months leading up to the election, then-candidate Donald Trump blasted then-President Barack Obama for not using the phrase radical Islamic terrorism.

He didn't use the phrase because he insisted, loose language that appears to pose a civilizational conflict between the West and Islam, or the modern world and Islam, then we make it harder, not easier, for our friends and allies and ordinary people to resist and push back against the worst impulses inside the Muslim world, Obama told The Atlantics Jeffrey Goldberg.

Obama also didnt want the fight against ISIS, Al Qaeda or the Taliban to appear to be a clash of civilizations a phrase made famous by the late academic Samuel Huntington in an article by the same name. Instead, Obama and his administration used the phrase violent extremism to describe the terror threat.

Trump and his top advisers on the campaign trail insisted the threat facing the United States was much greater than Obama presented to the American people.

On Thursday at a Washington think tank, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford, who served under Obama and now Trump, was asked why he continues to use the phrase violent extremism to describe terrorist groups.

If you talked about a specific group, I'd give you a more accurate descriptor, said Dunford. I was using the term violent extremism to refer to all of those groups  individuals who take up arms to advance political and/or religious objectives.
For a woman who has supposedly, allegedly and ostensibly been sidelined, Kellyanne Conway is suddenly about as high-profile as you can get.

In little more than 12 hours, she appeared on Hannity and Fox & Friends, gave a kickoff speech at CPAC and did a bunch more interviews at the conservative conference.

It says something about our modern media cultureand perhaps about backbiting among Trump advisersthat Conways absence from the airwaves for a single week could be construed as evidence of being in some imaginary doghouse. Kellyanne remains what she was during the campaign she managed, President Trumps most visible and effective spokeswoman.

Its a ridiculous story, said White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, referring to a CNN report citing unnamed sources as saying Conway had been yanked from the airwaves. She has several media appearances this week and has been focused on prep for the upcoming joint session speech to Congress. Kellyanne is a key member of the presidents staff, which is another reason this story is so absurd.

The White House counselor was equally dismissive with Sean Hannity, saying that somebodys trying to start up trouble and that folks are trying to use me as clickbait and a headline. TV appearances, Conway noted, are only 5 percent of her job. She has actually been trying to reduce her TV workload.

Then she pointed out the real reason she slipped a bit off the public radar: I'm out with four kids for three days looking at houses and schools. A lot of my colleagues aren't trying to figure out how to be a mother of four kids, I assure you.

In the blood sport of Washington, critics sometimes forget that political figures are real people with actual lives. Conway is in the process of arranging for her New Jersey-based family to join her here.

To be sure, Conway had a rough spell when she referred several times, most prominently on MSNBC, to a non-existent Bowling Green massacre. But she wasnt trying to convince people of something that didnt happen; she was referring to two Iraqi refugees in Bowling Green who were convicted of aiding Al Qaedas efforts to kill American soldiers. Conway, who told me that she misspoke, corrected the mistake as soon as it was called to her attention.

She also drew widespread criticism for urging people in a Fox interview to buy Ivanka Trumps clothing line after it was dropped by Nordstrom. The White House said she had been counseled about the matter. Detractors seized on the two incidents to question her credibility.

The CNN report pointed to Conway having said on MSNBC on Feb. 13 that Michael Flynn had the full confidence of the president, who fired him as national security adviser late that night. But anyone who thinks that Conway was going rogue doesnt understand how this White House works. She was offering the guidance she was given in a highly fluid situation in which Flynn had been hanging on during days of controversy. The next morning, Conway appeared on several morning shows to discuss the situation at Trumps request.

Have their ever been such harsh and sustained attacks on a White House official over the way that person defended the president? Conway, along with Sean Spicer, the press secretary, who is also on the front lines with the media, has been brutally mocked on Saturday Night Live. As a woman, even her fashion choices have drawn flak.

Unlike the president, who describes major news organizations as the enemy of the American people, Conway doesnt use harsh language against the press. But she is in some ways caught in a crossfire between journalists and a boss who thrives on attacking them.
President Trump's war with the press intensified Friday when several journalists perceived as critical of the administration charged they were barred from a press briefing with White House spokesman Sean Spicer and lodged a complaint.

Those claiming they were barred included The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, CNN and Politico. Fox News, which was not kept from covering the event, nonetheless joined a complaint by the chair of the five-network television pool.

The action, which came after Trump delivered a rousing speech to a friendly crowd at the Conservative Poitical Action Conference, also drew a rebuke from the White House Correspondents Association.

The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House, Jeff Mason, WHCA president said in a statement. We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not.

The move marked an escalation in the tumultuous relationship between the White House and some members of the media, although the White House denied it went out of its way to bar specific outlets. A spokeswoman said the event was a "pool" event, which by definition is limited.

We invited the pool so everyone was represented, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that.

Fridays briefing was indeed initially deemed a pool event. A press pool is a 13-member group that includes reporters who represent the five major networks, print organizations and the wire services. The pools duty is to attend the event and then distribute the information to other media outlets.

Once the pool was expanded, yet certain media outlets excluded, press representatives argued the effect was the same as a selective ban.

Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties, Dean Baquet, the Times' executive editor, said in a statement. We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."

CNN also weighed in, calling it an unacceptable development by the Trump White House.

Apparently this is how they retaliate when you report facts they dont like, the broadcasting organization said in a statement. Well keep reporting regardless.

The Associated Press chose not to participate in the White House media gaggle.

The AP believes the public should have as much access to the president as possible, Lauren Easton, APs director of media relations said in a statement.

The news organizations that were allowed to attend included Breitbart News, whose former chief exective, Steve Bannon, is Trumps chief strategist. Bannon has repeatedly described the press as "the opposition party."

At the CPAC speech, Trump railed against the media for relying on anonymous sources for stories that cast his month-old administration in a negative light.

He went so far as to say reporters shouldnt be allowed to use sources unless they use somebodys name, though some of his own administration officials recently held briefings with news media where they insisted no names be used.
President Trump made a historic return Friday to the Conservative Political Action Conference, telling the crowd, You finally have a president, and delivering a wide-ranging speech in which he took aim at ISIS, pushed his plans to combat illegal immigration and vowed to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

He started with a familiar attack on the news media and went so far as to say reporters shouldnt be allowed to use sources unless they use somebodys name.

"Let them say it to my face. Let there be no more sources," Trump said, though some of his administration officials recently have held briefings where they insisted no names be used.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

You finally have a president. It took you a long time. Its patriots like you that made it happen.  President Trump

"I'm not against the media," Trump said. "I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources."

Trump moved on to defend his agenda and vow major action ahead. On immigration, Trump touted plans for a southern border wall with Mexico and said it was way, way, way ahead of schedule.

The speech came as Republicans control Congress and the White House for the first time in a decade. Conservatives have been optimistic about the opportunity to enact big policy changes and looked to Trump to spell out his agenda.

You finally have a president, he told the packed room at the 44th annual conference, held this year at National Harbor, Md. It took you a long time. Its patriots like you that made it happen.

In addition to media bashing, Trump's characteristically muscular speech included a defense of his crackdown on illegal immigration.

"We're getting the bad ones out," he said, explaining that the Department of Homeland Security is prioritizing deportation of illegal immigrant criminals.

He repeated his pledge to repeal and replace ObamaCare, an effort that seems stalled in Congress, and touted his effort to get key oil pipelines back on track.

"We're checking off the promises we made to the people of the United States," Trump thundered.

Trump drew raucous applause when he vowed to rebuild the U.S. military and spoke of putting America first, a familiar theme from his campaign.

"I'm not representing the globe," Trump said. "I'm representing your country."

The speech ended with the campaign theme song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want," the Rolling Stones early 1970s hit played at Trump rallies.

The presidents speech at CPAC also served as a prelude to his first State of the Union-style speech to Congress Tuesday night.

On Thursday night, Vice President Mike Pence as well as key White House advisers spoke at the annual gathering.

We conservatives have an opportunity to that only comes around every few generations, Pence told a pumped-up crowd. My friends, this is our time.

White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus shared the CPAC stage in the afternoon. The two top White House aides praised one another, bashed the press and laid the groundwork for Trumps Friday speech.

Also making a CPAC appearance was White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway who teased Trumps appearance: Tomorrow it will be TPAC when (Trumps) here.

The conference, which is hosted by the American Conservative Union, began in 1974 and has since grown into a four-day- event. A closely watched straw poll will be conducted Saturday, the last day.

Trump's appearance Friday marks the fourth visit by a sitting president.

Trump made his first speech at CPAC in 2011. At the time, he floated the possibility of a 2012 presidential run  a nomination that was won by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

He returned in 2015 and was booed after telling the crowd he wanted to use U.S. ground troops to fight ISIS.

Last year, Trump was scheduled to speak at the conservative confab but cancelled at the last minute, saying he would campaign in Kansas and Florida instead.

At the time, the American Conservative Union criticized the move and said his decision sent a clear message to grassroots conservatives.
President Trump, after a brief hiatus, returned to throwing Twitter bombs Friday morning to accuse his own FBI of failing to crack down on leaks  on the heels of reports about a conversation his chief of staff had with the bureau about Russia-related allegations.

Reports surfaced overnight that Reince Priebus had asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that Trump's campaign advisers frequently were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election.

The White House pushed back, claiming in response that while Priebus did speak with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, McCabe initiated the contact to inform Priebus that The New York Times report about campaign contacts with Russia was incorrect.

Trump, who has been battling leaks in several federal agencies since his inauguration, on Friday blasted the bureau for apparently letting that conversation go public.

The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even......find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW, he wrote.

Priebus' reported discussion with McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said that the chief of staff was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

"The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," said Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

But Politico reported that, according to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Priebus had merely asked the FBI to inform journalists of the same point that they were making to us."

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. During that conversation, McCabe informed the chief of staff that the Times story was wrong.

Priebus wanted to know what he could do, but apparently was told later by McCabe that the FBI couldnt be calling balls and strikes on every news story. FBI Director James Comey later told Priebus he could go out and refute the story, which he did.

CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI to weigh in on the matter.

The report marked the latest damaging leaks out of the Trump administration.

Trump, meanwhile, has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. U.S. intelligence agencies earlier concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled Vice President Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including a discussion about U.S. sanctions policy.

Still, Trump and his advisers have denied having had contacts with Russian officials during the election. Last week, Trump said "nobody that I know of" spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.

Fox News John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
When President Trump takes the stage at CPAC on Friday at 10 a.m. ET, there will likely be as many optimistic conservatives inside the Maryland convention center as there are suspicious.

But no matter how you define Trump's conservative bonafides, it appears to be the first time in decades a Republican president -- whose party controls both chambers of Congress -- can implement a largely conservative agenda.

"We conservatives have an opportunity that only comes around every few generations, Vice President Pence told CPAC on Thursday. My friends, this is our time.

VIDEO: BANNON ATTACKS 'OPPOSITION PARTY' MEDIA AT CPAC

There are some conservatives who will never embrace the former Democrat who, according to The Associated Press, once elicited boos at the conference now held annually at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in suburban Maryland.

Trump addressed CPAC in 2011 and was booed when he said crowd-favorite Rep. Ron Paul cannot get elected. Paul and his son Sen. Rand Paul usually dominate the conferences straw poll. Sen. Ted Cruz won last years poll and Trump came in a modest third.

VIDEO: KRAUTHAMMER: BANNON SHOWS HE WAS THE BRAINS OF OPERATION

Trump skipped last years event during the presidential primary and the group, in response, said the decision sends a clear message to conservatives.

The Guardian newspaper wrote, As the real estate developer said of Ron Paul in 2011, I think hes a good guy but honestly he has zero chance of being elected. You have to win an election. Trump won that election, and this will be first time that the conservative movement under Trump will be on full display.

Kellyanne Conway, a senior advisor to Trump told CPAC that tomorrow it will be TPAC when hes here."

One of Trump's top issues is how he will approach his call to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Trump has recently said that his administration will release a plan in the upcoming weeks, but the issue has been a hot topic for conservatives who want to see the law repealed.

VIDEO: TED CRUZ ON HOW CONSERVATIVES VIEW TRUMP

Despite some differences, Trump appears to be gaining support from top conservative leaders.

Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Conservative Union, which holds the event, said Trump has been pitch-perfect with conservatives as he starts his administration. He complemented Trumps Cabinet selections and his choice to replace Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court.

Schlapp told NBC News that Trump managed to marry conservative instincts to a populist tone.

Grover Norquist, another CPAC faithful, mentioned Trumps tax plan and said, Damn near the entire conservative wish list on tax policy is in his tax reforms.

White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon told the CPAC crowd on Thursday that appreciation will largely be the theme for Trump during his speech.

LIST OF CPAC SPEAKERS

Bannon appeared on stage with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to, according to some reports, show a united front after speculation that Trumps inner circle is divided.

Trump may either accomplish more than Republican presidents did in terms of a conservative agenda, despite all the chaos and dramaor he will redefine conservatism, Rick Tyler, a GOP strategist and former spokesman for Cruzs presidential campaign, told NPR. The movement is at a crossroads, and it remains a known unknown where it is going.

Ben Howe, a contributing editor at Red State and critic of Trump, told NBC that the conservative wing of the party was divided last year, but this year it is going to be the Make America Great Again CPAC, which is going to be a very different makeup then what Im accustomed to.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Trump's campaign advisers were in frequent touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official told the Associated Press late Thursday.

The White House confirmed Thursday night that the conversation between Priebus and FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe occurred on Feb. 15, but said it was McCabe who initiated the contact to inform Priebus that a New York Times report was overstating the nature of their investigation, Politico reported.

"To be clear, it was the FBI that contacted the White House to rebut the New York Times' story," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday night. "We merely asked them to inform journalists of the same point that they were making to us."

Priebus' discussion with McCabe sparked outrage among Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

"The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," said Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, telling Fox News that "the top levels of the intelligence community" have assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were "not only grossly overstated, but also wrong."

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Priebus' comments opened the door for FBI Director James Comey to discuss the bureau's investigation publicly.

"If the White House chief of staff can make public claims about the supposed conclusions of an FBI investigation, then Director Comey can come clean with the American people," Wyden said.

A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations "only when it is important for the performance of the president's duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective."

When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus' communications with McCabe, the Associated Press reported. The official was not authorized to disclose the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.

The FBI would not say whether it had contacted the White House about the veracity of the Times report.

Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled Vice President Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including about U.S. sanctions policy.

Still, Trump and his advisers have denied contacts with Russian officials during the election. Last week, Trump said "nobody that I know of" spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
"I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation," the National Archives quote George Washington in a letter to his brother following the French and Indian War.

He wasn't kidding. In a piece written for Washington's birthday this week, the Washington Post reveals America's first president was nigh indestructible. In his lifetime, Washington bested smallpox, malaria, infections, abscesses, tuberculosis, dysentery, and a boil "the size of two fists." And that's not even mentioning the battles he survived.

Washington claimed that during the French and Indian War, four bullets ripped through his coat and two horses were shot while he rode them. He apparently had so many close calls he was rumored to be dead.

Yet somehow he managed to live to 67. Washington's resilience was all the more impressive as he was living at time with, as the New England Journal of Medicine puts it, "no well-defined concept of infection...no vaccines, almost no specific or effective treatments for infections diseases." As an illustration of this point, Washington finally died in 1799 when he came down with a sore throat and chills after riding around his property in the snow, according to the Washington Papers.

Doctors tried everything to cure himfrom molasses mixed with butter, to vinegar mixed with sage tea, to removing five pints of blood from the former president.

None of it worked. A friend described Washington's "dignified" final words, which werefranklya long time coming: "I am just going...Tis well." (Thomas Jefferson's home is getting a renovation with slave Sally Hemings in mind.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: George Washington Was Shockingly Hard to Kill
Sunscreen may be good for your skin, but some kinds are not necessarily the best for the environment

Last month, Will Espero, a Hawaiian state senator, proposed a bill that would ban the sale of chemical sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate across the islands. Prescriptions for the sunscreen would be allowed.

Why? A ton of sunscreen winds up in the global coral reef system every year  14,000 tons, to be exact  and research indicates that oxybenzone can lead to coral bleaching. Some studies suggest one drop is even enough to damage the reefs.

To those who know the underwater world well, this isnt new news. Many divers are warned to steer clear of chemical sunscreens  when we swim, after all, lotion can bleed off onto the reefs.

According to Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources, "researchers have found oxybenzone concentrations in some Hawaiian waters at more than 30 times the level considered safe for corals."

The beaches of Maui, specifically, have already suffered the consequences, reports Scientific American.

Of course, the bill isnt a suggestion to skip SPF on the sunny beaches of Hawaii. After all, there are two kinds of sunblock: Chemical blockers use ingredients like oxybenzone and octinoxate to absorb UV radiation from the sun, preventing it from causing damage. But physical (or mineral) sunscreens, with ingredients like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, block UVA and UVB rays from ever reaching your skin; and the National Park Service says these have not been found to harm the reefs.

Even better: Dermatologists agree that physical blocks are gentler on your skin. Good for you, good for the environment, and no painful sunburns in sight? Wed say thats a win-win(-win).

'Leisure Sickness' Is Real: How to Stay Healthy on Vacation
A man who was shooting people with a BB gun at an Orlando-area Walmart was shot after an officer arriving at the scene returned fire, officials said.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina said two people suffered minor injuries after the man opened fire at the Walmart on John Young Parkway.

Mina said a police officer who responded to the scene shot the man, not realized the gun he was holding was a BB gun, FOX 35 Orlando reported.

The suspect had a BB gun. He is an adult male and was shot by an OPD officer. He approached people at Walmart and was shooting randomly. pic.twitter.com/76N3Kqq6dg  Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) February 23, 2017

"Based on witness accounts, the suspect did point and shoot what we believe is a BB gun the officer," Mina said. "The officer returned fire, striking the suspect."

The BB gun did not have an orange tip and was black, according to Mina. The suspect was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center. His condition is unknown.

Orlando Police tweeted a picture of the gun, in which Mina was quoted saying, "I've looked at the gun myself. It looks real."

OPD @ChiefJohnMina "I've looked at the gun myself. It looks real ". The victims at the Walmart have minor injuries. pic.twitter.com/jS2boglAGA  Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) February 23, 2017

The shooting took place at the same Walmart store where Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton was shot and killed in January.

Read more at Fox35Orlando.com.
An off-duty NYPD sergeant shot himself in the head in his Bronx apartment  and was found dead when his girlfriend returned home Thursday, police sources said.

The motive for the shooting, which was reported to 911 shortly after 2 p.m., was unclear.

The dead cop, who hasnt been officially identified, joined the NYPD in 2010.

He was assigned to the NYPD Housing Bureaus Public Service Area 7, which patrols public housing projects in the South Bronx, sources said.

Those projects include the infamous Mott Haven Houses, where two cops were shot and wounded by a gunman inside a stairwell while Mayor Bill de Blasio was delivering his State of the City speech at the Bronxs Lehman College last year.

This story originally appeared on The New York Post.
Two police officer in Washington, D.C., were wounded Thursday night in a shooting that resulted in a suspect's death.

Few details about the shooting were immediately known. The incident occured at around 10:40 p.m. Sources told Fox 5 DC that the officers appeared to be making an arrest prior to the shooting.

In a seperate shooting, four were wounded in the southeastern part of the city. No arrests were made in that incident.

Click for more from Fox 5 DC.
Authorities say four people were injured when a private natural gas well exploded in eastern Oklahoma.

Wagoner County Emergency Manager Heath Underwood says the explosion happened Thursday night as contract workers were repairing a gas line near Wagoner, about 125 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

Underwood says three workers were critically injured and two of them were flown from the scene by air ambulance.

The Tulsa World reports that the gas line had been damaged by a truck earlier in the day.

Underwood says emergency responders cut off the gas line to the well and allowed the fire to burn out. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze despite high-risk wildfire conditions that sparked a grassfire in nearby Coweta.
A swastika made out of human feceses was discovered in a dormitory's gender-neutral bathroom at a top U.S. art school over the weekend.

The Rhode Island School of Design, known as RISD (RIZ'-dee), said in a statement that the level of "disrespect and vitriol is completely unacceptable." Public safety officials are investigating it as an act of vandalism and a hate crime.

It's not clear whether the anti-Semitic incident was also aimed at LGBT students, coming on the heels of a national debate over the right of transgender students to access bathrooms that correspondd with their gender identity.

To say we condemn the RISD graffiti is too mild and obvious a statement, said Rabbi Michelle T. Dardashti, an associate chaplain at the college, according to the Huffington Post.

Students of Jewish history understand that deadly anti-Semitism has been cyclical, thus current manifestations (in the forms of graffiti, bomb threats, cemetery vandalism and white-supremacist and alt right rhetoric) are hard to write off as trivial or innocuous, Dardashti said to HuffPost.

A strong message from @bernstein_evan, said during yesterday's @NYGovCuomo interfaith press conference pic.twitter.com/XB6ouoSKMq  ADL New York (@ADL_NY) February 24, 2017

The school said it has met with students on the dorm floor and has encouraged those with information to come forward.

"It's kind of disgusting, actually, and really sad that somebody would go to that length to kind of express their frustration or some kind of angst or mental disease," student Rory Hernandez told WJAR.

Hernandez said it was more disturbing considering the location where the swastika was found.

"That could be somebody's safe space," he told the station. "So I don't think that's right in any bathroom, especially a transgender bathroom."

The incident comes on the heels of several waves of bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers accross the United States and an incident of vandalism at a Jewish cemetary in Missouri. In total, there have been 69 against different JCCs over the last two months, according to the JCC Association of North America.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A dog in Florida was accused this week of accidentally shooting a sleeping woman in the leg.

The womans boyfriend fingered Diesel the dog after deputies went to a home in Jacksonville Tuesday night to investigate.

#Florida man claims DOG shot his girlfriend. DETAILS on how he says his dog named 'Diesel' made the gun go off HERE: https://t.co/6OK7I5nH1x pic.twitter.com/TWdWp7qwEZ  Tenikka Smith Hughes (@TenikkaANjax) February 22, 2017

Fox 30 Jacksonville reports that Brian Murphy told deputies his girlfriend was sleeping when he took Diesel for a late night walk. He said when they returned he saw a flash and heard a bang.

Murphy told deputies the gun accidentally went off when Diesel jumped on the nightstand where he had left the weapon.

The victim, who wasn't identified, was hurt slightly. She told deputies she woke up to throbbing pain and doesn't know what happened.

The station said Murphy and the girlfriend didnt want to talk.

The police report didnt state Diesels breed or his size.

A neighbor told the station that she was suspicious. A dog cant fire a gun, Dianna Fay said. Thats crazy.
TRUMP TO TAKE CENTER STAGE AT CPAC

President Trump may have a rocky past with the conservative conference, but when he takes the stage at 10 a.m. ET (LIVE ON FOX NEWS CHANNEL AND FOXNEWS.COM) he will represent the best chance that conservatives had in decades for a sitting president to employ a conservative agenda. Kellyanne Conway, a top Trump aide, joked Thursday that CPAC will be TPAC when Trump arrives.

WHAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED FROM CPAC

BANNON ATTACKS 'OPPOSITION PARTY' IN MEDIA

PENCE AT CPAC: OUR ANSWERS ARE RIGHT FOR THE US

BANNON PRIEBUS TALK MEDIA MISPERCEPTIONS

ALL OUT WAR

Senior Democrats have been debating internally about how to approach the Trump presidency, and new report indicates that they have figured it out: total war. These Democrats were reportedly inspired by the recent protests against the administration.

KUCINICH REACTS TO DEMOCRATS' EARLY TRUMP IMPEACHMENT TALK

TRUMP WANTS US NUKE ARSENAL TOP OF THE PACK

For the first time since taking office, President Trump touched on the U.S. need to make sure that its nuclear weapons arsenal are second to none. He said he dreams of a world without nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack.

ABSOLUTELY INSULTING

Motorists in North Carolina had to take a second look at a newly place billboard on the side of a highway. The message reads Real men provide, real women appreciate it. It turns out that a lot of women did not appreciate the sign and a protest has been scheduled.

COMING UP ON FNC, FOXNEWS.COM: CPAC

8:10 am ET: Former Navy SEAL Rob ONeill

10: 20 am ET: President Trump

11:55 am ET: Nigel Farage

12:55 pm ET: NRAs Wayne LaPierre
Mississippi lawmakers have shot down the firing squad as a means of execution for death row inmates.

The change, by a state Senate committee, came after the lower chamber passed a proposal Feb. 8 that would have allowed death by nitrogen gas chamber, firing squad and electrocution as alternatives to the current method of lethal injection. The state legislature proposed the other options in case others are deemed unconstitutional or become unavailable.

States have been having difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs within the United States primarily because the American pharmaceutical manufacturers have uniformly said they dont want their medicines used in killing prisoners, said Robert Dunham, Director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

The options do not permit condemned prisoners to choose their execution method. The alternative methods are available only if the lethal injection is not available with gas chamber being the second option and electrocution the last.

According to Dunham, other states have also turned to alternative ways to carry out death sentences. He notes Utah and Oklahoma have added death by firing squad as an alternate to lethal injection and Tennessee has authorized the use of the electric chair. Death by firing squad in Utah is only available to those sentenced to death prior to 2004. In all 31 states that allow the death penalty, the primary method for executions is lethal injection.

Dunham said he expects legal challenges to the most recent change in the proposed bill. The state currently faces legal challenges surrounding the drugs it uses for lethal injection executions. Opponents say the use of the drugs violate the U.S. Constitution.

The Magnolia State previously used the electric chair and gas chamber to execute violent criminals. Lethal injection became the states sole means of execution in March of 1998, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Mississippis most recent execution was carried out in 2012 and there are currently 47 people on death row in the state.

The bill will now move to the full state senate for consideration and will have to be sent back the house for approval of the amended changes before being passed on to the governor.
A Mexican who fled the U.S. a decade ago has been identified as the suspect in the 1997 cold case killing of a 26-year-old Southern Californian woman, police said.

Cops believe college student Sunny Sudweeks was raped and strangled to death when an intruder broke into her home in Costa Mesa home after midnight on February 23, 1997.

Costa Mesa Police named Felipe Vianney Hernandez Tellez as her killer at a press conference Thursday on the 20th anniversary of the murder. They had reopened the case in November.

Police said that Hernandez, 43, had lived in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana until he fled to Mexico in 2006.

Prosecutors will ask the Mexican government for help in extraditing Hernandez, Fox 11 Los Angeles reported.

They believe he is living in the resort town of Puerto Escondido in central Mexico, where he delivers take-out rotisserie chicken. They also believe he has a wife and three children.

COLD CASE MURDER OF RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS SINGER'S EX-WIFE SOLVED

Sunny was a beautiful young woman. She was just beginning to start her career, the victims father, Alan Sudweeks, said at the press conference, according to The Los Angeles Times. She had a bright future and that was all lost when she was attacked and killed by [Hernandez]. Im also angry that for 20 years he has been enjoying life, raising his own children, and yet he denied us the comfort and value of our daughter.

Police dont believe Sudweeks and Hernandez knew each other, the paper reported.

Her boyfriend found her body. At the time, he was a cabbie working overnights.

Police said they established that fingerprints found at the crime scene belonged to Hernandez, after running the prints through a national database when the case was reopened. His fingerprints were obtained after he was convicted in a 2000 domestic violence case.

Police said they also linked Hernandez to the crime through DNA evidence.

This was truly a horrific, tragic crime that weighed heavy on our shoulders and organization, not to mention the Sudweeks family, Costa Mesa Police Chief Robert Sharpnack said, according to The Orange County Register.
An overnight fire at a Tampa mosque has been ruled arson, leaving worshippers at the Islamic Society of New Tampa with no place to hold services while investigators search for clues.

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue responded the call at the Daarus Salaam Mosque, commonly referred as the New Tampa Mosque, at 2:09 a.m. Friday.

At a press conference this morning, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn confirmed that investigators believe the blaze was intentionally set.

The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations - Florida in Tampa, Hassan Shibly, is calling the fire an act of terrorism. Shibly also called upon President Trump to acknowledge the incident.

A representative for CAIR-Florida issued the following statement: "We congratulate the Hillsborough County first responders for their prompt response to this tragic situation. It is worrisome that our community have fallen victim of what appears to be another hate crime. This time another Florida mosque has been targeted in a crime that could have easily taken the life of any worshiper. Our prayers are with the New Tampa Mosque community; and we are grateful that nobody was physically hurt. CAIR-Florida urgently call all local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to be on top of the investigation of what appears to be a heinous act of terror against the Muslim community."

CAIR-FLORIDA AND MUSLIM LEADERS REACT TO NEW TAMPA MOSQUE POTENTIAL ARSON



(Tampa, FL, 2/24/2017) - The Council... https://t.co/8qo5ojN0rR  CAIR Florida (@CAIRFlorida) February 24, 2017

Sprinklers at the mosque turned on and caught the fire before it could spread. But despite minimal damage from the flames, it seems water damage to the building is extensive.

Click here for more from Fox 13.
President Trump called Chicagos violence totally out of control after a pregnant woman and six other people were shot and killed Wednesday  the citys deadliest day of the year so far.

Seven people shot and killed yesterday in Chicago. What is going on there  totally out of control. Chicago needs help! Trump tweeted Thursday night.

It is not the first time Trump has tweeted about the shootings in Chicago. Mayor Rahm Emanuel went to Washington in early February to discuss the help that the city might get from the Trump Administration in response to the prior tweets.

A month ago, Trump threatened on Twitter to send in the Feds if Chicago doesnt fix the horrible carnage going on. Two weeks later, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives dispatched 20 agents to Chicago, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

CHICAGO GANG MEMBERS SAY MORE POLICE WON'T STOP THE MURDERS

Five of the seven homicides Wednesday occurred within a two-hour period, the paper reported.

Ninety-eight homicides have been recorded in the city in the first eight weeks of the year, according to the Sun-Times. Thats one more than the number of people killed in the city during the same time last year  considered the most violent in Chicago in two decades.

The pregnant woman Wilteeah Jones, 20, and her boyfriend Malik Bingham, 20, were gunned down around 8:15 p.m. Wednesday on Chicagos South Side.

Cops found Bingham at the wheel of a parked car. Jones was lying on the sidewalk nearby, Fox 32 Chicago reported.

The station reported that Jones was nine months pregnant. The baby did not survive.

CHICAGO TODDLER SHOT AND KILLED; 11-YEAR-OLD WOUNDED IN WEEKEND SHOOTING DIES

A police source told the paper the shooting was considered gang-related. No one was in custody.

Jones mother told the Chicago Tribune that her daughter had already named the baby Mileah. It hurts so bad because I never got a chance to meet Mileah, Valerie Weaver told the paper. You know, for somebody to do a horrific crime like that they have no morals, principles about themselves. But I know that God gonna handle them.

Click for more from Fox 32 Chicago.
Dubai's government says an arbitration tribunal has cleared port operator DP World of allegations of wrongdoing over its operation of an East African port.

The government of Djibouti brought a legal challenge against Dubai's state-backed DP World in 2014 over its 50-year deal to operate the Doraleh Container Terminal, accusing it of bribing the head of Djibouti's port authority.

Dubai's government media office said Tuesday the panel operating under London Court of International Arbitration rules fully exonerated DP World, dismissing Djibouti's claims and ordering it to pay arbitration and other costs. A commercial court in London last year cleared port authority head Abdourahman Boreh of misconduct.

DP World is one of the world's biggest seaport operators. It launched the Doraleh project in 2009.
At least two attacks Friday near a Syrian town just captured by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from the Islamic State group killed more than 60, mostly civilians and including two Turkish soldiers, as the group retreats from one of its last remaining strongholds in northern Syria, Turkey's news agency and Syrian activists said.

In a hallmark IS attack, a suicide car bomb went off outside a security office operated by the Syrian opposition in a village eight kilometers (five miles) north of al-Bab, killing 60 people. Most of those killed in Sousian were civilians who had gathered seeking permits and escorts to return to al-Bab, a day after it was liberated from the extremist group, a Syrian military commander in the city told The Associated Press. At least six fighters were among those killed in the attack, according to Turkey's Prime Minister, who spoke in Ankara.

Hours later, another car bomb attack was reported in Sousian, claiming the lives of at least eight, according to activist groups. There were no further details on the attack, and the Aleppo Media Center later removed the report from its website.

TRUMP LOOKING TO RAMP UP FIGHT AGAINST ISIS

Despite the violence, Turkey's chief of military staff said his country had "achieved the goals" it had set for its military operation in northern Syria. The Turkish military earlier announced that its troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters are in full control of al-Bab but efforts to clear it of mines and explosive devices were still ongoing.

Gen. Hulusi Akar spoke during a visit to the border with Syria, a day after Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition forces captured the town.

He did not say, however, if Turkey would end its operations in northern Syria or move on to liberate other areas.

The Turkish military said that it currently controls 1,925 square kilometers (743 square miles) in northern Syria since its incursion there last August. The Turkey-backed operations have aimed to create a safe zone along the border, deterring from its borders Islamic State militants as well as Kurdish rebels it sees as an extension of its own insurgent group.

CAR BOMB ATTACK IN SYRIAN TOWN CAPTURED FROM ISIS KILLS 35

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials have spoken of plans to move the Turkish forces east toward the town of Manbij that is held by U.S.-backed forces that include Syrian Kurdish fighters in a bid to oust them from the area. Turkish leaders have also suggested that Turkish troops could take part in operations to liberate the Islamic State group's de facto capital, Raqqa.

Akar said that Turkey would provide "every kind of support" to help life in al-Bab return to normal and for the local population to return to their homes.

On Friday, civilians attempting to return to al-Bab were hardest hit.

According to Mohammed al-Tawil, a leading Syrian opposition fighter north of al-Bab, a suicide attacker blew up his small pick-up truck outside a security office in Sousian village, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north of al-Bab. He said the explosion went off as the opposition fighters were organizing the return of civilians from al-Bab who had been displaced by the fighting for their town.

"These people have suffered a lot," al-Tawil told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Sousian. "They have been waiting for this moment" to return home.

Al-Tawil, a member of the opposition al-Bab military council, said about four fighters manning the checkpoint had been killed in the attack. Al-Tawil, who was at the security office at the time of the explosion, said the rest of the casualties were civilians from al-Bab. Turkey's Anadolu news agency said at least 41 wounded were taken for treatment to the Turkish border town of Kilis.

Al-Bab had been controlled by IS since late 2013. The militants finally retreated Thursday after more than two months of intense fighting.

Al-Bab had a prewar population of about 60,000, many of whom were displaced to neighboring areas, including during the most recent clashes.

IS militants remain in control of areas around the town. The Sousian security office was supervising the issuing of permits and providing escorts for civilians wishing to return to al-Bab. Al-Tawil said at least two groups of about 150 civilians had already left early on Friday for al-Bab, accompanied by a mine sweeping unit run by Syrian opposition fighters.

Footage emerging from al-Bab revealed the severe damage to the town's streets and buildings. Mustafa Sultan, a resident of al-Bab and a media activist who was in the town Thursday and Friday, said it was laden with land mines and remains largely deserted.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least seven opposition fighters have been killed since Thursday in the town by land mines left behind by IS  a trademark of the retreating militants.

A second explosion was reported south of al-Bab, where two Turkish soldiers were killed, Turkey's military said. The soldiers were killed when an explosive device went off as they were removing land mines, the military said. The Observatory corroborated the report, saying the device went off near Tadif, an IS-controlled town south of al-Bab. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, however, called the explosion a "suicide attack." It was not immediately possible to reconcile the accounts.

The deaths Friday bring to 70 the total number of Turkish soldiers killed in Syria since August.

In Geneva, the U.N.'s Syria envoy, Staffan De Mistura, held his second day of meetings with government and opposition delegations in a bid to move closer to a political solution to end the war.

Nassr al-Hariri, the opposition's delegation head, told reporters he had insisted on a transitional government for Syria in line with earlier U.N. Security Council resolutions and said it was the opposition, not sitting President Bashar Assad, which was most fit to fight terrorism.

He said the government was attacking opposition-held territory in the country while rebels were fighting the Islamic State group in al-Bab.

"We are the ones who place the priority on countering terrorism," he said.
Turkey's news agency says a car bomb north of a town just captured by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from Islamic State militants has killed at least 35 people.

Anadolu news agency says the explosion on Friday killed civilians and Syrian opposition fighters in Sousian village, north of the town of al-Bab.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the bombing struck near a security post in the village. The Syrian opposition-run Qasioun news agency put the death toll at 45.

The report says the car bomb hit outside a security office where civilians had gathered seeking permission to return to al-Bab.

Al-Bab was captured on Thursday, after more than two months of fighting with ISIS militants who withdrew from the town but still control areas around it.
Guatemala's army on Thursday detained a Dutch boat that intended to help women in the Central American country gain acess to abortions.

Women on Waves, a non-profit, offers a way for woman living in countries where the procedure is illegal to get an abortion. Reuters reported the group takes woman up to 10-weeks pregnant into international waters for a free abortion.

The boat was in custody by the military after docking at the Port of San Jose, a spokeswoman told Reuters. Some members were on board.

The Guatemalan army said in a statement that the group would not be allowed to let women board and it will defend the preservation of human life and the laws in effect in our country."

Abortions in Guatemala are only allowed when the life of the mother is at risk.

"Guatemala has been chosen because the laws are very restrictive on the subject of abortion," the director of Women in Equity in Guatemala told Reuters.

Nearly 65,000 abortions illegally occur each year in the country, according to Reuters.

The World Health Organization reports that between the years 2010 and 2014 nearly 56 million safe and unsafe abortions occurred worldwide on average each year.

Alyssa Madruga is a news editor for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlyssaMadruga.
Guatemala authorities and a Dutch nonprofit organization are locked in a standoff over a sailboat that has docked off the coast of the Central American country offering to perform free abortions.

The government of President Jimmy Morales said Thursday it will not allow the group, Women on Waves, to pick up women in port for the procedure.

Abortion is illegal in Guatemala.

ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISTS, COUNTER-PROTESTERS RALLY AROUND US

The boat arrived in the Pacific port of Quetzal on Wednesday and planned to stay five days. Leticia Zenevich, a spokeswoman for the organization, said officials from the prosecutor's office for human rights were inspecting the boat.

She said the vessel has the right conditions to provide medical abortions to women who are up to 10 weeks pregnant.

Women on Waves selected Guatemala as the first Latin American country they visited because of the strength of its women's organizations, Zenevich said.

TRUMP EXPANDS ANTI-ABORTION BAN TO ALL US GLOBAL HEALTH AID

She explained the boat would sail 12 miles off the Guatemalan and only then would doctors start the procedures.

"Abortions would take place in international waters under the jurisdiction of international laws, the laws of the country will not be violated," Zenevich said.

Pro-abortion activists are calling for the protection of the boats crew, who remain under the armys watch since Thursday afternoon.

The AP contributed to this report.
Iraqi forces pushed into the first neighborhood in western Mosul on Friday and took full control of the international airport on the city's southwestern edge from the Islamic State group, according to Iraqi officials.

The gains mark the first key moves in the battle, now in its sixth day, to rout IS militants from the western half of the city of Mosul, the extremists' last urban stronghold in Iraq.

The push by Iraqi forces into Mosul's western Mamun neighborhood was followed by intense clashes with IS militants, according to an Iraqi special forces officer on the ground, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

An Associated Press team near the front line saw at least four wounded special forces' members and the bodies of three soldiers, suggesting more intense fighting than the previous day. Iraq's military does not release official casualty information.

Earlier on Friday, the spokesman of the Joint Military Operation Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, said Iraqi forces had also retaken a sprawling military base adjacent to the airport.

The advances come a day after special forces joined the fight. Both the sprawling Ghazlani military base and the airport will be key to the next steps in the daunting battle and will serve as a base of operations as Iraqi forces launch subsequent pushes into western Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River into two halves.

Iraqi authorities declared the city's eastern half "fully liberated" from the Sunni militants in January, three months after launching the operation to take back Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

On Thursday, Iraqi special forces joined federal police and rapid response units in the push while the Popular Mobilization Forces  an umbrella group of government-sanctioned Shiite militias  secured the main roads west of Mosul, largely cutting the city off from IS-held territory in Syria.

The United Nations estimated that about 750,000 civilians are trapped in western Mosul. The initial numbers of displaced from western Mosul have been low, but Iraqi forces are yet to punch into the city's dense urban neighborhoods.

The battle for western Mosul is expected to be the most trying yet. The western half of the city is denser with older neighborhoods and narrower streets that will likely complicate the already difficult urban combat ahead.
The embezzlement case against Anne Williams stalled Friday in circuit court after she abruptly fired her primary attorney and an associate lawyer quit the case that alleges the misuse of large sums of money intended for the care of animals through the defendants now nonexistent horse rescue effort.

Orange County Circuit Judge Daniel Bouton issued a stern warning to the 58-year-old Williams, though saying he was not accusing her of doing anything wrong.

I dont want you to think you can just go through attorney after attorney after attorney to try and delay, delay and delay the proceedings, the judge said of the three lawyers she went through in the last 16 months. There will come a time when we have to balance your rights with the need to move this case forward.

Associate attorney Michael Hu Young of Richmond appeared in court Friday ready to argue several defense motions he had drafted for Williams, but instead ended up filing a motion to withdraw as her counsel, which Bouton granted. Young said he rarely quits a case.

Im old schoolI stay on a case until the final decision, Young said.

In this case, he said his firm asked him to stop representing Williams because of its financial focus and the fact that he had not served as her primary counsel. Alexandria attorney John Zwerling was in that role until Williams dismissed him.

The problem that led to me firing Mr. Zwerling only occurred last night, Williams said Friday morning, pressed by the judge about why she didnt have an attorney.

Orange attorney Thomas Purcell acted as her original lawyer when she was arrested Oct. 26, 2015, in a separate but related case charging Williams with 27 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. Those charges came after the Orange County Sheriffs Office reported finding more than 100 horses, cats, dogs and other animals starving, dying, sick or dead at Williams Peaceable Farms in Somerset.

Purcell no longer represents Williams either; she is set to face the animal cruelty charges at trial March 31 in Orange County General District Court.

Williams was re-arrested March 28, 2016, on 13 felony counts of embezzlement carrying a maximum sentence of 260 years in the state penitentiary, according to court records. She remains free on $100,000 bond.

Bouton advised her Friday to get a new attorney quickly.

You are here in circuit court on some very serious charges without an attorney, the judge said, adding, You certainly have the means to afford counsel.

Bouton ordered her to be back in circuit court April 3 with her new attorney or a letter from the attorney indicating representation, and she agreed that she would.
Its not unusual for the McDowell County Rescue Squad in North Carolina to assist with animals stuck in a variety of strange places. So, when they got the call on Saturday to remove a tire rim from a dogs head, it was just another day on the job.

According to McDowell County Rescue Squad Public Information Officer Jennifer Wilson, 911 Communications contacted shift captain Jordan Harrell by telephone on Saturday shortly before 10:30 a.m., and gave him information about a dog that arrived at the Animal Hospital of Marion with its head stuck in a metal tire rim.

By the time we got there, the dog had been sedated by Animal Hospital staff, and at that point it was just a matter of a lot of teamwork between us and the Animal Hospital, said Wilson. We used hydraulic cutters as well as a couple of other power tools. It was a lot of trial and error.

The owners told rescuers they believe their pet, Sadie, had been chasing something when its head got lodged in the Ford F-350 tire rim.

It was very big, it was a tough metal, and not the text book type extrication, said Wilson.

During the course of the extrication, Animal Hospital staff evaluated the dog along the way, and the Rescue Squad had to work diligently not to injure the animal. Wilson said from their knowledge, the animal didnt sustain any injuries.

After an hour, the animal was freed from the rim. The McDowell News reached out to the Animal Hospital for comment and more information on the dog, but a phone call was not returned by deadline.

It was a great team effort on the part of the Rescue Squad and Animal Hospital staff to keep the dog safe and get it extricated. We appreciate their help, said Wilson.

She added the rescue squad does get calls for animals, and have assisted with pulling a camel out of a ditch, horses stuck on bridges and cats in wells.

Its not a typical call, but not out of the realm of possibility for the Rescue Squad, she said.
An associate pastor at Union Bell Baptist Church in southern Stafford County is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 28th District House of Delegates seat.

The Rev. Joshua Cole, 26, said in a press release Friday that, if elected, he will focus on major issues such as education, transportation, and health care. Hes no stranger to the General Assembly, having served as a House page and a staff assistant for the Senate.

This past year serving as a staff assistant to the Senate helped me see up close the secret voting and the battle of party politics, Cole said in a press release, which noted he would be the Fredericksburg areas first black delegate. Citizens of Virginia cannot afford to be stuck between battling parties. They deserve an open, transparent and accessible democracy.

Cole is the only Democrat to announce his candidacy for the seat. Earlier this week, Stafford Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Milde declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination.

House Speaker Bill Howell, R28th, announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in November. Howell has held the seat, which represents parts of Fredericksburg and Stafford, since 1988.

Cole has been a behavioral aid for Richmond Public Schools and a Boys and Girls Club volunteer, according to his press release.

He was also a personal page for then-Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, in 2005, and served as a House page after Howell appointed him to the position, the press release stated.
ELKO  Representatives from the Bureau of Land Management and concerned mine employees gathered at the convention center discuss the impact of a potential withdrawal of 10 million acres of land in order to protect the habitat of sage grouse.

The withdrawal would end all mining activity by any mine that wanted to stake a claim to land it had not yet explored, for a period of 20 years.

The BLM has five possible actions they are considering that would all remove a different number of acres from Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming Oregon, Utah and Montana.

Despite the number of people who came to the Convention Center opposed to the BLMs plan for withdrawal, BLM Public Affairs officer Greg Deimel said he wanted everyone to leave with the correct information.

Theyre coming here to talk to subject matter experts, the people who know whats in the proposal and they know it backwards and forwards, he said. So, when they leave here they should have a better idea of what is in the proposal than maybe what theyve read somewhere else.

BLM wildlife biologist Christine Fletcher said the withdrawal would help keep sage grouse numbers healthy.

The intent of a withdrawal is to minimize habitat fragmentation, reduce impacts to population numbers and things like that, she said.

Even though fires pose a greater threat to the sage grouse population the BLM believes the withdrawal could help keep numbers high enough to avoid further problems for the bird and the people who work in the sage grouses habitat.

BLM Nevada Program Lead Sandra Brewer said the bird being put on the endangered species list would create even more problems for the mines.

So far, the numbers have not dropped to a point where the bird needs to be put on the threatened or endangered species list, she said. Were hoping to avoid that in perpetuity with the actions that were taking now. It would be bad for everybody if the bird were to be listed.

Projecting the financial impact on the mines after the withdrawal is not easy but the BLM has an idea of how much money the area would lose over the next 20 years if the withdrawal occurred.

BLM socioeconomic specialist Julie Suhr Pierce worked on a projection that estimates mines and businesses that rely on the mining industry would see a strong negative impact on economic activity.

If everything that we think might occur would occur, we would expect that to generate just about $400 million of economic activity each year, she said. With the proposed action that would drop down to just about $133 million each year in economic activity within the project area.

Dave Pierce, who is the superintendent of water operations at Barrick Gold Corp., said it is impossible to project the financial impact because mines cannot tell what is in the ground until they start drilling. Pierce pointed out that Long Canyon was originally thought to have no gold, but after exploration the area became highly profitable in less than 20 years.

That deposit was not supposed to be there, for many years that was just an absolute, he said. By drilling and exploring they found it and developed a small independent company that walked away with a billion dollars  For people to assess and say its OK because theres nothing there, that is wrong.

Mines already in operation in the proposed withdrawal area would be grandfathered in and be allowed to continue their current business operations.

However, in a business that thrives off of the discovery of minerals, any mine that wanted to stake a claim to new land may be in trouble.

Mineral Specialist Kirk Rentmeister said companies that work on exploration will have a hard time selling projects to some of the bigger mines in the area.

If they have a project out there they want to sell to a major mine theyll say thanks but no thanks, were going to put our money elsewhere, he said. For the exploration guys its going to be a real killer, he said.

Joe Laravie is in the field of exploration and is already concerned that the possibility of the withdrawal will make it difficult for him to continue doing business.

Its really going to scare away investment money that small exploration companies need to finance their exploration, he said. Most of that money comes from overseas and Canada and this has already scared a lot of it away, and if it goes through it will scare more of it away.

Warren Thompson, who is also in the exploration field, echoed those sentiments and said this withdrawal has the potential to end the mining industry in northern Nevada.

Without that, Goldstrike would have never been discovered and all the big mines in production right now would never have the capital to go from discovery into development, he said. If were not allowed to discover all these things then were done.

While members of the mining industry remain concerned about the negative impact of the withdrawal, Deimel encouraged people to submit comments to the BLM so it can take the concerns into account when considering its next course of action.

Deimel said comments submitted to the BLM have already had an impact on its withdrawal plans.

The comments received in 2015 shaped the draft environmental impact statement with the five alternatives, he said. Our first opportunity to receive comments was in 2015 and those comments have shaped what the meetings have been for the last week and a half.
She didnt have a college degree. And she couldnt be found in the classroom, gymnasium or administrative offices of WalkerGrant High School in Fredericksburg. Miss Bernice Frenzley spent her days working in the cafeteria.

Although she never became famous or achieved great notoriety, Frenzley is one of the hidden figures in Xavier Richardsons life who gave him the desire to succeed and to serve the community.

While she had probably never been farther than the Falmouth Bridge herself, Frensly gave Richardson $25 to help him go to Brazil for a special project during his senior year of high school. She only made $15 dollars a day, but she gave up two days worth of earnings to make sure Richardson could succeed.

It was a hidden figure in the bowels of WalkerGrant High School that has had such a significant impact on me and my journey, he said.

Richardson went on to become executive vice president for corporate development and community affairs at Mary Washington Healthcare. He is also president of the Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital foundations, and serves as secretary to the University of Mary Washington board of visitors.

To Richardson, Frensly embodied Martin Luther King Jr.s quote, Everybody can be great because anyone can serve.

The Central Rappahannock Regional Library hosted a panel discussion on Thursday to highlight the stories of local hidden figures in the community who overcame seemingly insurmountable challenges during a tumultuous time for African-Americans in the United States.

The event complements a community book club reading of Margot Lee Shetterlys Hidden Figures, which outlines the stories of three African-American women who played an instrumental role in some of the countrys greatest achievements in space. A movie based on the book hit theaters in January.

These women worked at NASAs Langley Research Center in Hampton, and were considered trailblazers for the feminist and civil rights movements.

And they were not alone. African-American men and women in communities across the countryincluding here in Fredericksburgbecame everyday heroes as they worked to end racial segregation and discrimination against African-Americans.

Some of those local community members were panelists at the librarys event Thursday night, and they shared stories of hidden figures in their lives.

Daisy Howard-Douglasa Westmoreland County educator, author and storytellersaid the hidden figures in her life were everyday people, including her family, neighbors, teachers and pastor. She grew up in a small town in Louisiana, and recalled walking three and a half miles every day to a segregated school.

Despite the hardships she experienced during her childhood, she grew up feeling loved, which she credits to the community. They instilled in her a feeling that she was somebody and could achieve great things even though the whole world was telling her otherwise.

We saw them at school, at the mom-and-pop stores, at churchthey looked out for us, she said. These were our hidden figures. They loved us and cared for us.

Richardson said that in addition to Frenzley, his teachers were also instrumental hidden figures in his life.

Although his school had hand-me-down materials and a lackluster building, the spirt of the faculty and staff encouraged the students to think about the possibilities of what they could achieve outside of the school walls. The teachers made sure the students got what they needed, even creating a Latin or physics class for just one student.

When I attended first through fifth grade, I learned about my culture and heritagethings not portrayed in newspapers or history books, Richardson said. I gained a great sense of hope. I learned about the possibilities of what a poor boy from Fredericksburg could achieve.

Donald Manigault, an abstract artist and president of The Manigault Institute, said it is important to understand the totality of history. Unfortunately, the history books contain negligible information on African-American accomplishments. He remembers when his son was working on a paper on African-American scientists and couldnt find any information. They had to travel to Howard University to get material for his research.

My sons teacher indicated that he had no ideaand most of us dontof the major contributions handed down year after year by African-Americans. The complete history is hidden from us and we live in ignorance, he explained.

Cynthia D. Montague, a Stafford native who was instrumental in the integration of public schools, said she learned from her grandparents the importance of seeing people not as a color, but seeing as fellow humans. Their interactions with those of all colors were an example of how to treat other people.

They didnt see color, she said. They were instrumental in their subtle way.

Dorothy S. Hamn Jackson, a Stafford history expert, recalls the names she was called and the way she was treated on road trips through the South with her family. They couldnt find places to stay or eat because of the color their skin. While the world has made great progress since the 1930s, she said, racism is still alive and well today.

On a whole, we know that racism is alive as we read papers and magazines, she said. We need to learn to look past color. My mother taught her children to love all people.

The panelists agreed that it is important for African-Americans to take credit for their accomplishmentsotherwise, other people will.

The community also had a chance to reflect on local African-American history during an event at the Rowser Building in Stafford County on Thursday. Local historian Frank White discussed the significant contributions that African-Americans have made to the areas history, and led a tour of the building.

The Rowser Building, formerly known as the Stafford Training School, was the only place where African-American students could receive an education beyond the seventh grade during the segregation era. The building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a Virginia Landmark.

White brought the history behind the Rowser building to life as he told the stories contained within its walls. He was once a student at the school, and recalled how students and their parents approached the school board year after year with suggestions to improve education for Staffords African-American students.

In 1935, there were two high schools for white students and the only option for African-American students was an education up to seventh grade. Eventually, the African-American community secured seven acres for a school and the federal government built a facility.

But the school was lacking for their needs.

In the winter, bus drivers would drive the students around for hours while they waited for the heat to go back on. They also spent several years waiting for accreditationa prerequisite for college applicationsso many graduates were unable to continue their education after high school. Additionally, the same room was used for the gymnasium, cafeteria and auditorium, which created logistical issues.

Students attending the school championed civil rights, and the school eventually became one of the first in the area to desegregate. In 1962, the entire 11th- and 12th-grade classes enrolled in Stafford High School. Other schools in the area soon followed suit.

Stafford led the way, White said.
President Donald Trump has selected the best possible person to serve as his national security advisor. Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster epitomizes the warrior-scholar in the tradition of Carl von Clausewitz.

The U.S. Army was out of Vietnam for 11 years when, in 1984, McMaster took his oath as a second lieutenant at West Point. He was a cadet when Army Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr., a Korean War and two-tour Vietnam War combat veteran, published On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War. His controversial thesis was that the Army wasted time focusing on counter-insurgency  something he dubbed lunging at the toreadors cape in a guerrilla war. This weakened the Army and strained American will so much that by the early 1970s, when the conventionally arrayed Peoples Army of Vietnam assumed the major role in the war, broken American forces had mostly withdrawn. By 1974, a decade before McMaster, the Army entered recovery mode. Colonel Summers book legitimized criticism among military professionals of the Vietnam-era Army.

On the night and morning of February 27-28, 1991, Captain McMaster led Eagle Troop in the Battle of 73/74 Easting. His tank company  consisting of 120 troops manning nine M-1A1 Abrams tanks and a dozen M3 Bradley fighting vehicles  engaged and destroyed 28 Iraqi tanks, 16 armored personnel carriers, and 30 trucks in a half-hour. Shortly thereafter, his company encountered and destroyed another 20 Iraqi T-72 tanks.

Five years later, McMaster was completing his doctorate in history at the University of North Carolina under professor Richard H. Kohn. During the early 1980s, Dr. Kohn had been the civilian chief of the Office of Air Force History, where U.S. Air Force historians wrote a 14-volume official history of that services role in the Vietnam War. Kohn understood the services reluctance to critically examine a war that many of its top generals claimed to have won during the 11-day pounding of North Vietnam conducted largely by B-52s in December 1972. The Air Force had a much more difficult time accepting the Vietnam War as something other than an unbroken string of unmitigated air-power victories.

During the post-Cold War 1990s, the Army, having reorganized into the all-volunteer force and derived some honest lessons from Vietnam, looked to a future digitized battlefield where it would find, fix, and annihilate enemy forces. At Ft. Irwin, California, Major McMaster served as operations officer for the armored Opposition Force (OPFOR), a tank brigade structured and largely accoutered like foreign (primarily Russian) brigades, employing their tactics. McMaster, already a credentialed historian with his dissertation, Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam, published by Harper-Crown, was learning to think like the enemy.

In the 1990s, the Army War College and Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) devised the Army After Next (AAN) program to look 25 years into the future. Army Major General Robert Scales, Jr., a Duke University, Ph.D., controlled the project. Unfortunately, three events derailed the AAN:

The institutional U.S. Army missed the Soviet Army grounded in its blitzkrieg doctrine, rich with tanks, artillery, and air-mobile divisions. The U.S. Armys Crusader mobile gun system, upgraded M1A2 Abrams tanks, and a proposed stealth Comanche helicopter, were projected for the Army to serve on the digitized battlefields when the Russian Bear revived by the 2015-2020 timeframe. Russia revived but the U.S. Army got sidetracked.

Part of the sidetracking was opposition from the Armys Old Guard to which General Scales belonged. Their tunnel vision focused on traditional army missions and branches of armor, infantry, artillery, aviation, engineers, etc. When futurists at the Armys Strategic Studies Institute predicted a likely paradigm comprised of Islamic terrorists groups possibly armed with weapons of mass destruction, the traditionalists envisioned a rerun of counter-insurgency; special operations focused forces prompting neo-Vietnam nightmares.

September 11, 2001 ended the AAN. The all-volunteer Army, restructured to fight one war intensively for a short time  while revamped Reserve and National Guard components mobilized to finish off the enemy  found itself involved in Afghanistan and then in Iraq and mired in unconventional warfare. The Army, as McMaster testified, suffered. Another Vietnam-like quagmire seemed possible. He also headed the Armys next futures program.

The man and history converged. Knowing that history not only determines the eternal now but also provides the only substantial guide to the future, General McMaster has  and will continue  to embrace the strategic challenges facing the Army. As the presidents top advisor, McMasters challenges now operate on a global scale. He has the combat bona fides, the strategic intellectual acumen, and that essential attribute for leadership  personal integrity  to serve well the president and the nation. Gods speed, H.R.
Arlington County, Virginia, is one of the few places in the D.C. area where residents can raise monkeys, crocodiles or other unusual pets - but that cage window may be closing fast.

The County Board is considering whether to make it illegal to keep wild and exotic animals - including wolves, coyotes, panthers, bears, lynx, hedgehogs, tarantulas and any snake longer than four feet - within the 26-square-mile confines of the rapidly urbanizing Northern Virginia suburb.

Arlington residents who already own such critters, would be able to keep them, but would have to register them with the county government.

The idea for tightening the regulations came from animal rights advocates, said county spokesman Kurt Larrick, and from animal control officers who still remember a 2008 incident when exotic snakes got loose in North Arlington and caused a "standoff" with an emergency first responder.

There was also a 2010 incident involving animal control officers and a lemur, Larrick said. Since the 2008 standoff, the county code has barred poisonous reptiles and any type of pig.

Ownership of such creatures is apparently big business in the United States.

A 2014 National Geographic article said experts believe that more exotic pets live in American homes than are cared for in U.S. zoos.

The magazine cited numerous tragic incidents that have resulted from Americans keeping wild animals: a Texas four-year-old was mauled by his aunt's mountain lion; a 55-year-old woman in Connecticut had her face permanently disfigured by a friend's pet chimpanzee; and, in Ohio, an 80-year-old man was attacked by a 200-pound pet kangaroo.

Chelsea Lindsey, spokesperson for the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, said her organization supports the proposed pet ban because "We want to keep the county safe and there are certainly exotic animals that are not safe to own. Rather than retroactively bringing in a law after an incident happens, this is a good idea."

No wild exotic animals have been surrendered to the league's shelter in recent memory, she said, and it is not clear how many people in Arlington actually own pets that would be banned under the proposed rules.

On Saturday, the County Board will decide whether to set a March 18 public hearing on the code change. A staff report on the proposal notes that county laws regulate animal treatment in general, but has few prohibitions.

"Therefore, large reptiles and monkeys, for example, can now be kept in Arlington homes. These and other wild and exotic animals, along with snakes over four feet in length, can be difficult to handle and can exhibit unpredictable, aggressive behavior toward humans and other species," the report says.

Prohibiting them, the report adds, would protect both residents and animals from harm or mistreatment.

Adam Roberts, chief executive officer of Born Free, an organization which advocates for keeping wildlife in the wild, applauded Arlington's proposal.

"The exotic pets problem is pervasive from coast to coast," he said, adding that there are more tigers in American homes than in the wild around the world. "If animals escape or if animals attack or if animals are confiscated, it becomes a public problem to address."

Roberts pointed to Ohio, which cracked down on exotic pets after the release in 2011 of 56 animals from the private Muskingum County Animal Farm by their owner, who then killed himself. It took authorities days to find and kill the animals.

Larrick, the county government spokesman, noted that "traditional pets are still more than welcome and adored in Arlington." But for them, too, the rules must be followed.

The proposal before the county board would lower the age at which dogs have to be licensed with the county, from six months to four months. Cats and common aquarium and small-cage animals still would not need to be licensed.
SOME STAFFORD families are in a pickle. Their locality is growing faster than all the others in the Fredericksburg area, and county schools are starting to feel those effects.

Thats the case at Colonial Forge, the countys most in-demand high school. It will soon be nearly 20 percent over its capacity of 2,150 studentseven if a sixth high school is built by 2023, the earliest possible date, the school administrators say.

So, for at least the next six years, high school attendance zones must be changed and hundreds of students must be moved to different schools.

That inescapable fact is making a lot of parents unhappy. Several hundred have turned out to attend initial meetings on the issue. This coming Wednesday, the School Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing about redistricting at Colonial Forge. The board is set to vote on the final plan March 14.

Administrators four-year goals call for moving about 400 students out of Forge, shifting 275 students to North Stafford High and 125 students to Mountain View High. This fall, the changes would affect rising ninth-graders; all rising 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders would have the choice to stay put.

Trouble is, families dont want to budge.

Colonial Forge got top marks from U.S. News & World Report last year, ranking 30th out of the nearly 1,000 high schools in Virginia in criteria such as its students college readiness and graduation rates and how well it serves higher-need kids.

No wonder, then, that students, their siblings and their parents feel so strongly attached to Forge.

Something has to give, though, for Stafford to lessen crowding there and distribute the load to other existing schools. Traditionally, some students would be assigned to a newly constructed school in fast-growing Fredericksburg-area systems. That often lessened the blow of being placed in a different school.

So just try telling a family that their daughter or son has to move to a different school or that Johnny or Josephines younger sister or brother wont be able to attend the same school as their sibling did.

Every parent wants their child to have the best possible education. Theyre as protective of that prospect as the most devoted mother bear, and no one wants to cross a mama bear shielding her cubs.

Already, voices have been raised and accusations have been made at the meetings. Thats understandable, but unfortunate.

This problem, which has been years in the making, has to be fixed before it gets worse. Theres no time to waste. Under the best circumstances, it wont be easy to start building a sixth high school by 2020, finish it by 2023 and accomplish that without an increase in the real-estate tax rate. The new school is expected to cost at least $120 million.

Much of the recent hubbub over this proposed redistricting has focused on the southern end of Staffords Embrey Mill community, which is expected to inject hundreds of new students into the school district. But it took many years of developmentand decades more of rezoning decisions in different parts of the countyto create the forces now at work on Colonial Forge and its sister high schools.

Down the road, we hope it becomes more clear to parents how Stafford got into this situation. Colonial Forges predicamentand how the School Board and the Board of Supervisors resolve itmay hold valuable lessons for other jurisdictions in our region.

In the meantime, though, we suggest a few simple ideas:

That everyone involved in this conversation strive harder for polite, civil discourse. Take a deep breath. Attacking those you disagree with might make you feel better for a few minutes, but doesnt usually prove persuasive.

That parents consider it is themselves and teachers who make the biggest difference in their childs education.

After interviewing many parents in her coverage of the issue, Free LanceStar reporter Katrina Dix summed it up this way: [D]o the students make the school, or does the school make the students? Some parents feel their child will have the best chance at the strongest school. Others feel that their child can succeed anywhere that offers them strong support and a chance to challenge themselveseven if its not technically the best-ranked.

Individuals answers to that question will vary markedly, of course, but as believers in an old-fashioned American can-do spirit, we rather like the latter idea. Wherever their child might land, parents need to be involved with their school. Just as students education depends on the effort they give it, their success depends, too, on the time and energy that their parents devote to it.

If enough parents step up, good things can happen.
Debates had key role in American Revolution

On Feb. 19, Kim Wyman responded to the letter [Boycott those bent on dividing our nation, Feb. 14]. She contended, [O]ur country was not founded on unity and a higher power. Our country began with protests, which became a revolution because the king forgot that the Colonists were English citizens.

Indeed, there were plenty of protests in the Colonies against the British. But these protests did not exist without the founding debates that fueled themover representation, the authority granted to the federal government, and all men are created equal, as is evident in the Declaration of Independence and the HamiltonJefferson debates. These debates altered the ideals of the American people, which drove the protests against the British to which Wyman refers.

Moreover, these debates were the bedrock of the Revolution, not the protests themselves. Unless Wyman believes that current protests are fueled by such debates, then the two events are incomparable. She cannot look through the lens of the American Revolution to justify the womens protests occurring today. But if she takes a similar ideasuch as the debate over all men are created equal, in this case men and womenand uses that to justify the protests behind this issue, then using the Revolution as a political tool is possible because the two time periods would relate through these fundamental debates.

I encourage Wyman to look more closely to the debates that fueled the American Revolution and to analyze whether they continued in subsequent American history, rather than listing non-evidence-based claims.

In order to use history as a political tool, we must first confirm that the underlying issues of the Revolution still exist today.

Harold Pressley

Spotsylvania
School chorus, music programs deserve support

On Feb. 11, I attended the District XV All District Chorus Concert held at Stafford High School.

Students from the Fredericksburg area performed under the direction of guest conductors from area schools and universities. These students and their teachers are to be commended for their dedication to music and the arts.

A select few will go forward to perform in the All State Virginia Chorus to be held in late April.

Kudos to Spotsylvania County for its support and for keeping music in our schools.

Terrie Yates

Spotsylvania
MacGyver

8 p.m. (6) (CBS) (9) (CBS)

Ruler Bozers first overseas mission goes terribly wrong when Mac and the team are blamed for a terrorist bombing and the Phoenix Foundation is forced to disavow them. Using a ruler and coconut oil, the team must avoid the authorities and clear their names. (N) (HD)

Last Man Standing

8 p.m. (7) (ABC) (8) (ABC)

Take Me to Church Mike and Vanessa become increasingly worried that their daughters dont attend church anymore, so they decide to take it upon themselves to make church more interesting for everyone involved. (N) (HD)

Dr. Ken

8:30 p.m. (7) (ABC) (8) (ABC)

Allison Finds a Lump During a self-exam, Allison finds a suspicious lump in her breast, causing Ken and the HMO gang to rally around her for support while she anxiously waits for the doctors diagnosis. (N) (HD)

Hawaii Five-0

9 p.m. (6) (CBS) (9) (CBS)

E Malama Pono MacGarrett and Danny finally track down the missing uranium, which has been used to build a bomb located in the middle of the jungle. Now, they must carefully extract the unstable explosive through treacherous terrain before it detonates. (N) (HD)

Blue Bloods

10 p.m. (6) (CBS) (9) (CBS)

Good Cop Bad Cop Danny and Baez investigate the death of an elderly woman who was shot in her home by a stray bullet. Also, Frank faces ridicule from his department when he disciplines a disrespectful cop, and Erin steps in to help Anthony find a solution to a legal case. (HD)
8 pm.

(4) (NBC) (12) (NBC) Grimm Deadly attacks on a team of scientists lead Nick, Hank and Wu on an investigation unlike any they have had before. Meanwhile, research continues into the origins of the cloth, and Capt. Renard reaches out to an old friend for answers. (N) (HD)

(5) (FOX) (35) (FOX) Rosewood When a female astronaut is found dead, Rosie and Villa launch into an investigation of Americas space program. Rosie navigates new dynamics regarding his latest health issue, and Villas long-lost brother returns to Miami. (N) (HD)

(A&E) The First 48 When a young father is ambushed by a pack of brazen shooters, Atlanta Detective Summer Benton uncovers the shocking reason for his murder. (R) (HD)

(BRAVO) Married to Medicine The reunion continues as Andy welcomes the husbands to tell their side of the story. Jackie shocks everyone, dropping a bomb about her relationship with Curtis, Darren confronts the women on the vicious rumors he cant escape. (N)

(CNBC) Undercover Boss The president and CEO of Fastsigns International the worlds leading signage company goes undercover in the company. (R)

(DISC) Mighty Cruise Ships Royal Clipper is the largest sailing cruise ship in the world, with five masts soaring 58 metres high, supporting 42 sails carrying the ship to a speed of 17 knots. (R) (HD)

(DISN) Stuck in the Middle Harleys Slushy Shack faces new competition which escalates into a full-scale slushy war.

(HGTV) My Lottery Dream Home A retired couple that loves to spend holidays with family wins $1 million in the North Carolina Powerball and can finally buy the vacation home of their dreams. (R) (HD)

(OXY) Snapped The murder of a devoted family man leads investigators through a twisted tale of infidelity, betrayal and one womans deadly plan. (R)

9 pm.

(4) (NBC) (12) (NBC) Emerald City As the Wizard arrives in the Kingdom of Ev, an intense negotiation may lead to a standoff with Langwidere. Meanwhile, Jack makes a decision that may have deadly consequences, and Tip and West solidify their bond and mount a battle of their own. (N) (HD)

(5) (FOX) (35) (FOX) Sleepy Hollow When Internet sensation Logan Macdonald comes to town, a supernatural infection hits via a viral video. Meanwhile, Molly has a frightening vision that could predict a bleak future. (N) (HD)

(7) (ABC) (8) (ABC) Shark Tank In a special episode featuring millennial entrepreneurs, one makes the deal that takes the award-winning Shark Tank across the $100-million threshold of deals made in the Tank. (N) (HD)

(20) (MNT) American Ninja Warrior The top 30 competitors from the Denver qualifier tackle the Denver finals course including two new obstacles. (R) (HD)

(23) (PBS) (26) (PBS) Great Performances Enjoy two classic ballets by George Balanchine: Georges Bizets sparkling Symphony in C, and the rarely seen Sonatine to the music of Maurice Ravel, in performance in Paris. (N)

(DISC) Heavy Rescue: 401 During a spring store, Steve cleans up a fuel spill blocking the 400, while Sonny struggles to keep the alternate route moving; John Allen recovers a loaded semi that went for a wild airborne ride. (R) (HD)

(FOOD) Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Guy Fieris traveling the nation for a real-deal taste of home. Its a full hour of comfort classics, cooked up just like it was out of moms kitchenone hearty helping after another. (N) (HD)

(HALL) The Middle Mothers Day for Frankie is anything but serene when she finds herself doing more for Mike and the kids and less for herself. But she learns that the apple doesnt fall far from the tree when she escapes the family for a few hours to go to her moms. (R) (HD)

(WE) Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars Things ignite when the couples must forgive their own worst enemy, themselves! Inner demons are exposed; Buck unleashes his temper. Joe flirts with another woman and Renee goes ballistic! (N)

10 pm.

(23) (PBS) American Masters Journey through the prolific life of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings author Maya Angelou. The activist inspired generations with lyrical modern African-American thought. New interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Common, the Clintons and others are featured.

(26) (PBS) American Experience The Freedom Riders were a group of white and black college students who risked everything to demonstrate the unfairness of segregation laws in early 1960s America. The group traveled together through the deep south on a rented bus. (R)

(30) (MHz) Tatort: Cologne After a Miami drug bust goes sour, cop Max Ballauf is sent home to be Colognes homicide chief, and is immediately confronted with partner Freddy Schenks professional jealousyand the dead body of a former colleague. (R)

(32) (PBS) Sacred Earth Actress Linda Hunt delivers contemplative and moving spoken words along with the music of David Lanz in this one-of-a-kind journey by Emmy Award winning director Jan Nickman through sacred lands of the American Southwest.

(66) (ION) Law & Order: Special Victims Unit After a pregnant woman is viciously attacked and found unconscious with her unborn child missing, the detectives learn that she was having an affair. (R)

(BET) The 2017 American Black Film Festival Honors This years recipients are veteran actor and director Denzel Washington, filmmaker F. Gary Gray, and writer-actress Issa Rae, among others. (R) (HD)

(NGEO) The Whale That Ate Jaws Off the coast of San Francisco, whale-watchers witnessed a surprising act of nature as a killer whale was seen with a great white shark in its mouth. Underwater footage shows two whales feeding only on the liver and leaving the rest for the birds. (R) (HD)

(NICKJR) PAW Patrol The Paw Patrol come to the rescue when Jake gets his ankle stuck while exploring a cave. Adventure Bay Parade Day goes awry when Alex puts too many balloons on Katies bathtub float. (R)

(USA) Modern Family Claire does some spring cleaning while Phil struggles with not being a spring chicken when Luke starts outperforming him. Haley takes Alex to a music festival to take her mind off college. Gloria and Jay challenge one another to give up soaps and cigars. (R) (HD)
The glistening white salt of the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats is shrinking near the Utah-Nevada line. The prehistoric lakebed has long been a mecca for daredevil speed racers, as well as a backdrop for famous movie scenes and destination for selfie-seeking tourists. Concerns are mounting about the future of the treeless expanse of salt crystals and yet another study has been launched as researchers try to pinpoint the cause and solution. They know a century of mining a potassium-based salt called potash has played a role and are also trying to assess how racing, tourism and climate change factor in.
A grant at the perfect time

Unfortunately, Bielas still didnt have enough data to convince the NIH to fund the project. At least, he didnt until he got an unexpected email in May 2015 from the Washington Research Foundation, informing him hed been selected to receive the $100,000 grant.

We had a few pieces of preliminary data when the grant initially went in [to the NIH], he said. We pieced together some money here and there and got a little more preliminary data and we got a score, but not a fundable one. Then the Washington Research Foundation  in honor of Sally  granted us this money and we put it toward the project.

A year later, Bielas resubmitted a grant proposal to the NIH to test whether cancer therapies directed at mitochondrial DNA could shift the energy production back toward mitochondria and promote suicide in cancer cells.

Last month, Bielas received word that his proposal had finally been funded  to the tune of $2.2 million.

Part of their project aims to determine through a small biopsy who will respond to therapy  which is very, very important  and identify those who wont, Bielas said. Were focusing on breast cancer now but it should work across all cancer types.

Bielas said his newly funded study also has a targeted drug screen component to it.

We have a few clinically approved drugs that were going to test to see if they can re-sensitize the tumors to chemotherapy, he said. Theyre not currently used in cancer therapy, but according to our underlying hypothesis, we expect that a few of them can be repurposed. Since these drugs are already FDA approved for human use, that makes their potential use and approval for cancer therapy way faster.

WRFs Etscheid was delighted that their grant was able to fast forward Bielas work and applauded Narodick for her leap of faith.

It ended up being such a happy story, Etscheid said. He hadnt had a sizable grant for some time and needed to get just a little more data. And thats exactly what he did. We visited him a month or two after he received the $100,000 grant and even in that very short amount of time, hed already had a major breakthrough on something that had been put on hold because it was unfunded.

Groudine said the WRF gift was a crucial springboard for Bielas.

This gift in honor of Sally was a catalyst, he said. It permitted him to actually do the work and gain more preliminary data and start nailing this down. This is what you want from philanthropy.  Often the very innovative work isnt funded by conventional review because its considered too risky. This kind of catalytic philanthropic funding is essential for high-risk/high-reward research.

Bielas agreed that its a success story thats important for researchers  and the general public  to hear.

Its all about leveraging, he said. Funding goes in cycles and when its coming down, youre letting people go and your projects are slowing down. And then you get this money. Its a bridge period and we dont often get that. This just came at the perfect time.

But of course, Bielas motivation is larger than just keeping his laboratory funded.

We expect that our work will prevent unnecessary overtreatment  and revolutionize treatment regimens by replacing interventions that have life-threatening toxicities with ones that are safe and effective, he said, and ultimately improve cancer patients outcomes, quality of life and survival.

Diane Mapes is a staff writer at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She has written extensively about health issues for NBC News, TODAY, CNN, MSN, Seattle Magazine and other publications. A breast cancer survivor, she blogs at doublewhammied.com and tweets @double_whammied. Email her at dmapes@fredhutch.org.
Free Freightnet Membership

List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours.
Cristina, 40, spent months running from one medical appointment to the next; doctors gave her hormones, she had her ovaries punctured, and she took pills that triggered migraines, vomiting and emotional imbalance. She cried when they told her that, once again, none of it had worked: she still wasnt pregnant.

A surrogate mother undergoing a medical exam in India. Getty Images

The few facts Cristina knows about the woman who gave birth to her twins in January are the following: her name, her age, her nationality (Albanian) and that she is married with two children of her own. You really need courage to do that for another person. I dont know whether the compensation really covers it all Im sure there must be some element of goodwill, to put their bodies at risk like that, says Cristina.

Cristina chose to have limited contact with the surrogate mother. She only met her twice: once last February in the courthouse in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, where they initiated the legal process underpinning their joint pregnancy project. The second time was in the hospital, when the babies were born. The surrogate mother gave up all rights to the children that she carried. Their parents are Cristina and her husband, David.

Hopeful parents are forced to navigate a lucrative and opaque industry that often operates on the edge of legality and ethics

Hundreds of Spaniards undertake similar trips every year. Surrogacy is not legal in Spain, so those who want to work with a surrogate mother must go abroad. If everything goes well, they will work with agencies of varying trustworthiness. These, in exchange for money, will hire women who are willing to undergo hormonal treatment, carry another person's baby to term and promise to give it up after giving birth.

These women, most commonly, are from countries poorer than Spain. Throughout the process, the hopeful parents are forced to navigate a lucrative and opaque industry that often operates on the edge of legality and ethics. Its a global process which has, in turn, created a global debate over whether or not the practice should be regulated, and if so, how.

The Swiss-based International Social Security Association estimates that every year, surrogate mothers give birth to around 20,000 children worldwide. Agencies and parents estimate that between 800 and 1,000 go on to live with Spanish parents, but there are no official figures. There are numbers, however, for international adoptions undertaken by Spaniards, and these have fallen from 5,541 in 2004 to 799 in 2015. Several reasons explain this drop, says the Spanish Health Ministry, including better child protection in the countries of origin.

A woman at a surrogacy center in New Delhi. Sajjad Hussain (Afp)

Yet, if the estimates are correct, international surrogacy has overtaken international adoption in popularity. Instead of the international adoption process, which can take up to eight years, it seems that those wanting to be parents are more frequently opting for the quicker route, and paying between 45,000 and  60,000 in the Ukraine or Russia or up to 120,000 in California  one of 14 American states where the practice is legal.

Every country has different legislation. Ukraine, for example, only allows heterosexual couples to use surrogates. In Canada, the United Kingdom and Portugal, surrogacy is only allowed in the altruistic sense, meaning the surrogate mother receives no direct economic benefit. And the latter two countries only let nationals use surrogacy. India, a former worldwide power in surrogacy, has vetoed it for foreign couples, and is on the verge of making it illegal for economic profit. Mexico too, particularly the State of Tabasco, has recently restricted surrogacy laws.

Fears of exploitation also caused Thailand to restrict the practice. In 2015, the government limited it to Thai citizens after the Baby Gammy story hit headlines and scandalized the nation. An Australian couple hired a Thai woman to carry their twins. But when they discovered that one of the twins had Down syndrome, it was too late for an abortion. In any case, the surrogate mother didnt want one. When the Australian parents came to pick up their children, they only took the one without Down syndrome and left the other child behind. Months later it was revealed that the Australian father was a convicted child sex offender who had gone to prison in 1997.

Surrogacy laws in Greece

The Thai case is uniquely horrifying, but it is a good example of how the rights of the surrogate mothers and the children they carry can be left to the whims of the parents, as well as the clinics and agencies in the corrupt and poor countries where they often operate. This lack of protection provides arguments to those who think the practice should be regulated, as well as to those who want to prohibit it.

In Spain, surrogacy has become a hot topic again. Among political parties only Ciudadanos, the fourth largest presence in Congress, has committed to a position, which is to regulate altruistic surrogacy.

The best solution to avoid abuses is to legislate it. Its like organ transplants  regulating the legal practice gets rid of organ trafficking, says Pedro Fuentes, president of a pro-surrogacy parental association that brings together around 400 families, Son Nuestros Hijos. Fuentes is a gynecologist and alongside his husband, he is also the father of a six-year-old boy who was born in California to a surrogate mother. He gets emotional when he tells the story of how he met the surrogate mother and the warm relationship they developed. He said that her own ethics also guided the process, as she had decided to use her body as a surrogate to help a gay couple.

The association itself has a code of ethics and recommends not trusting agencies that dont let you meet the mother, which guarantee results, and which offer package deals saying you wont have to worry about anything. Also, they suggest that parents work with a woman who has already given birth. The association certainly makes the case for altruism but it is also open to economic compensation.

Surrogacy is illegal in Spain, so those who want to work with a surrogate mother must go abroad

Its necessary to recognize the effort that a pregnancy entails for the mother. They have to wear maternity clothing, lose the opportunities to do other things payment should be enough that its not an insult, but not 100,000 either to avoid a push effect it could be set by a national commission.

The association asks: When is a women being exploited? When you pay her or when you dont?

Alicia Miyares knows where she stands. She is a philosophy professor and a spokesperson for the feminist movement No Somos Vasijas, which in English means we are not vessels. It was created in 2015 when the debate entered the political realm. I think that one of the strongest desires that anyone can have is the desire to have children. There are some really dramatic situations out there: women without wombs, perhaps because theyve had cancer, and homosexual couples who cant have children. How could I not understand their frustration? But I dont think we should put desires over rights. Bodies are the limits of what can be bought and sold, she says.

Jose Borrallo with his son, who remains a Mexican national. Ana Nance

The line between altruism and capitalism can also be vague in surrogacy. We know that countries that allow it for altruistic purposes cannot stop reproductive tourism, and that its impossible to avoid under-the-table payments, she adds. For her, the best option is to streamline the adoption process, which allows people to verify the suitability of the guardians. In surrogacy, the parents dont have to pass through any filters.

Petra de Sutter, a member of parliament at the Council of Europe, is an expert in assisted reproduction. In October she wrote a report on surrogacy for the 47 countries on the Council, which ultimately voted against her recommendation to create international guidelines related to surrogate pregnancies. She argued that the practice should be restricted and only allowed in altruistic cases. In Belgium we have 20 years of experience with this. It isnt done for economic ends, foreigners arent allowed, there are ethics committees and it is necessary to comply with a number of criteria. Situations exist, for example, in which a woman wants to help her sister become a mother, she said.

Altruistic cases are rare however, and commercial surrogacy makes up about 98% of the cases worldwide. The United States is the most expensive country but it also offers the most guarantees. There, it is all regulated. Yet even in the United States, which is rich and backed by a solid legal system, feminist groups denounce the vulnerability of surrogate mothers. Kelly Martinez, a 32-year-old American baker, has had eight babies. Shes had three of her own and five for parents who hired her. I wanted to help others, knowing that this miracle happened thanks to me, she explains on the telephone. The first two times I worked with fantastic couples.

Her third and final surrogate pregnancy was with a Spanish couple. Her voice changes when she speaks about it. Everything was going well until they discovered that instead of having a boy and a girl like they wanted, I was going to have two boys, she says. They started to treat me differently, they stopped asking how everything was going and I started to get worried about the babies. It still breaks my heart. I still regret doing it, she said. She had pre-eclampsia, which can mean serious complications. The doctor said we had to get them out soon because if not, either the babies or I werent going to get out of this.

The parents, she said, accused her of wanting to give birth early so she could collect her money faster. When I saw the mans reaction when he found out they were two boys, I was afraid that they wouldnt want them and they wouldnt come collect them. It was really hard not to know if they babies were going to be OK. I dont know anything about them.

Surrogacy laws in Russia.

In the end, the Spanish couple did pick up the boys but they still owe $10,000, which debt collectors are now trying to get from Martinez. According to her, they are saying she violated the contract by getting an X-ray without their authorization  something which she denies  so they wont have to pay. Nearly a year later she suffers from diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder and doctors have recommended that she have her tubes tied due to the complicated delivery. I thought I was protected by the agencys lawyers, but no, she says.

Some contracts are very long-winded and brutally direct. One of the pages of a 2015 contract signed in California and released by an activist says the following regarding compensation [to the surrogate mother] for the loss of an organ as a direct consequence of the pregnancy: Removal of the Fallopian tubes or of ovaries, $2,500 each, Uterus removal, $5,000. The contract also stipulates that the parents, not the surrogate mother, are free to decide to terminate the pregnancy if something is going poorly. It also included that the mother cannot have sex during the pregnancy, that she must stay within state boundaries, cannot swim in the sea and cannot ingest saccharin.

Martinez got in touch with one of the best-known feminists who oppose the practice, Jennifer Lahl. She leads the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network in California, and is one of the founders of the international platform Stop Surrogacy Now. In October she was in Madrid for a bioethical conference, hosted by the Catholic Foundation Jerome Lejeune. The conference clearly proved that the subject of surrogacy is able to bring together diverse groups.

Lahl uses irony when she responds to the argument that regulation will stop abuse: We know that theres a black market for organs, human trafficking networks so lets regulate them to protect people. She also doesnt believe that altruism is an option: Think about how many women want to go through a pregnancy for a stranger. She uses the example of Canada, which follows the altruistic rule but allows the parents to compensate the woman for the costs of the pregnancy. There are a lot of loopholes, she says, adding if a woman does it for a relative, the situation can end up being a disaster.

The line between altruism and capitalism can also be vague in surrogacy

The parents budget is an important criteria when it comes time to choosing the country where they will find the surrogate mother, and agencies know this. Didac Sanchez, 24, leads Subrogalia, one of the most well-known agencies around. Its headquarters are in Barcelona but she says she is picking up our call in Kiev, the new surrogacy capital, where there are hardly any regulations.

Im going to recommend you the country that best adapts to your needs. If youre heterosexual, Ill tell you to go one place, if you have HIV, Ill recommend another, but Im going to make your dreams come true, she says. The agency has offices in several countries and theyve just opened a new one in Greece, an attractive country because it is in the European Union and a judge has to authorize the process, something which gives parents more security. She is convinced that this is Greeces year: It will be a real alternative to the United States. Why would I spend $120,000 if it could be $65,000?

Sanchez says her clientele is not only Spanish; she also works with Italian, Chinese, French and German parents. As for the surrogate mothers, she explains that we recruit them in Russia and Ukraine. In Ukraine you can advertise in the press. Instead of placing an ad about Coca Cola, you put one in for surrogate mothers. In Greece there are clinics that bring the women directly to you.

For Cristina and David, everything went well and they went through the entire process through Subrogalia. Even so, there are at least three families that have sued the company for breach of contract. Some of my clients have gone into debt until the year 2030 to pay for this process, says the lawyer Joana Marin. When they arrived in Mexico they discovered that the embryos hadnt even been sent over from Spain.

The best solution to avoid abuses is to legislate surrogacy

Pedro Fuentes, pro-surrogacy activist

Another risk that hopeful parents face is becoming entangled in the bureaucracy surrounding surrogacy. There is no international legal framework regarding surrogacy. In 2015, the European Parliament condemned the practice because it undermines the human dignity of the woman since her body and its reproductive functions are used as a commodity. For now, only The Hague Conference, the multinational organism for international law, has a group of experts analyzing the legal viability of establishing a common framework for surrogacy.

Jose Borrallo, a 43-year-old civil servant from Spain, is in an uncertain situation of his own. He has started a legal battle for his two-year-old son, born in the Mexican state of Tabasco, to be recognized as a Spanish citizen and as his legal son. Borrallo fears that his boy will get lost in the system if something happens to himself. Today, as far as the law is concerned, the boy is Mexican.

English version by Alyssa McMurtry.
The 65 former bank executives and board members at Caja Madrid and Bankia who were found guilty of embezzlement on Thursday in the black credit card case received varying sentences depending on whether they had previously returned the money or not. The ruling by the Audiencia Nacional, Spains central high court, considered this refund a mitigating circumstance, opening the door for some of these individuals to avoid prison.

Former director general of Caja Madrid, Ildefonso Sanchez Barcoj. Bernardo Perez

The 65 people involved in the case spent a collective 12.5 million between 2003 and 2012 on personal expenses ranging from holidays to jewelry, to expensive restaurants, all paid for with credit cards unofficially extended to them by the heads of the Caja Madrid savings bank, then later at Bankia, the entity that resulted from the merger of seven struggling regional lenders.

The top convictions were for former Caja Madrid chairman Miguel Blesa, who was sentenced to six years in prison, and for his successor Rodrigo Rato, a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief who was also deputy prime minister of Spain between 2003 and 2004. He received a four-and-a-half-year sentence, which he says he will appeal.

All 65 will have to return the money, with interest, to the Orderly Bank Restructuring Fund

Former Caja Madrid Director General Ildefonso Sanchez Barcoj received a two-and-a-half year sentence.

All 65 will have to return the money, with interest, to the Orderly Bank Restructuring Fund (FROB), a banking bailout program started by the government in 2009 to shore up Spains struggling savings banks. Despite a spate of mergers, Bankia had to be partly nationalized in 2012, when Spain requested an EU rescue package for its banking sector.

Execs and board members who had already returned the money to the FROB were treated with greater leniency than those who had deposited it in court, in the hopes of getting it back if they received a favorable sentence. But this mitigating circumstance was not applied to Rato or Blesa.

Miguel Blesa (l) and Rodrigo Rato were found guilty in the black credit card case. EFE

Among the board members who never returned the money are representatives of the United Left (IU), the Popular Party (PP), the Socialist Party (PSOE) and both major labor unions, Comisiones Obreras (CC OO) and UGT.

When the scandal broke, executives claimed that the credit cards were a bonus on top of their salaries, even though there was no written record of their existence on job contracts. Nor was that extra income reported to the tax authorities.

The story of lavish spending by bank officials appointed by unions and political parties was especially aggravating to Spaniards who were then struggling through the worst economic crisis in living memory.

English version by Susana Urra.
British Sugar managing director Paul Kenward is bullish on the beet industrys future outside the European Union because UK growers produce some of the worlds highest yields and the country has the globes most efficient processor.

Already the sugar beet crop area is set to rise by almost a third this spring as EU quotas are swept away, and Mr Kenward is looking to grow his sugar business when outside the 28-nation bloc.

The beet quota system is being abolished this year as part of EU reforms, and he sees this as a springboard to proving the UK beet industry can compete on the world stage.

See also: Beet industry launches two yield-raising initiatives

British Sugar at a glance Beet growers:  3,500

Processing plants:  4

Employment:  1,400

Beet area: more than 100,000ha

Share of UK sugar market:  60%

Mr Kenward believes a post-Brexit future is very positive for the industry, as long as the UK government helps to prevent big world producers dumping their sugar in a more free-trade orientated UK outside the EU.

If there is a level playing field, then the sugar beet industry should be one of the winners in a post-Brexit future, he tells Farmers Weekly.

Two concerns

His two concerns are: first, that if the EU introduces tariffs on UK sugar post-Brexit then there should be reciprocal tariffs on EU sugar coming into the UK; second, there should be measures to avoid heavily subsidised sugar hitting the UKs shores.

We dont see Brexit as a negative, quite the opposite. We are quite positive for the beet industry and its growers, he adds.

With the two-year process of leaving the EU about to be triggered, the UK could be quitting the EU as early as 2019  and then could be more exposed to the price fluctuations in the world sugar market.

British Sugar is the sole UK beet processor. It provides about 60% of domestic sugar needs  and this could rise to 75% as it cranks up its capacity at its four processing plants.

The group is part of the worlds biggest sugar company, Associated British Foods, which has sugar interests in Spain, China and Southern Africa. British Sugar is the lowest-cost sugar processor in the world.

Its 3,500 contracted growers have increased yields by 25% over the past 10 years, and they are now entering a more positive era, with the beet price up 8.4% for this season.

Price message

Mr Kenward, who was appointed managing director 12 months ago, wants the new price regime to send a message that British Sugar is a long-term player, and a bonus-price structure to forge a close relationship with growers.

Some of the sugar beet industrys problems have been mired in the EU quotas structure, as a record crop in 2014 of 1.45m tonnes of sugar was way over its quota of 1.056m tonnes.

Under the quota regime, this 400,000t-plus excess of sugar had to be stored, and so 2015 and 2016 were seasons of reduced areas and lower prices to cut these stocks.

Now, with these stocks sold off and quotas to be shaken off in October, the processor is in expansion mode, driven by its offer of higher prices and added bonuses.

It has signed up dozens of new growers from as far afield as Yorkshire, Shropshire and Oxfordshire, with the area set to be up 30% on last years 86,000ha  or well over 100,000ha.

All the new beet will be delivered to the groups four existing processing plants at Wissington and Cantley in Norfolk, Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk and Newark in Nottinghamshire.

We are still looking for extra area, and this will go on until the drills stop this spring, he adds.

Long-term aim

The long-term aim is for an annual area of 105,000-110,000ha to produce an average crop of 1.25m tonnes  in a high-yielding year it might hit 1.5m tonnes and in a poor one some 1.0m tonnes.

We would love to be able to produce 1.5m tonnes of sugar, Mr Kenward says.

The UK domestic annual sugar market has been static at 2m tonnes for the past 10 years, with the market being supplemented by imports, which are largely cane sugar from low-income countries such as Belize, Malawi, Cambodia and Fiji.

Mr Kenward says there are no plans for any new UK factories, which could cost as much as 400m each. However, the group has invested 250m in its plants over the past five years.

The new price structure gives growers a choice between one-year and new three-year deals  45% of the beet area this season is in three-year deals, which gives Mr Kenward confidence for the future.

The base beet price of 22/t can attract bonuses if the EU sugar price is more than 475 a tonne, up to maximum of 700, and this can add a further 2.99/t for one-year contracts and 7.47/t for three-year contracts.

EU white sugar prices are currently about 550-560/t. Prices at this level will trigger bonuses, which will be logged in the sugar beet year October 2017-September 2018 and will be paid in December 2018.

Bigger EU sugar crop

With prospects of a bigger EU sugar crop post-quota and good rain in many Asian producing countries, sugar prices have come off the highs of October 2016 but are expected to stabilise at current levels for the rest of the year.

Annual world sugar production is running at about 180m tonnes, with 40m of it traded on the world market and half of that coming from Brazil, alongside other big exporters such as Thailand and Australia.

As the world sugar market is distorted by most sugar-producing countries having subsidies or imposing tariffs, Mr Kenward is keen to create a level playing field for the UK industry after Brexit.

Its not just Mr Kenward who is positive about a post-Brexit future. William Martin, chairman of NFU Sugar, is also optimistic about the future and is looking forward to working closely with British Sugar.

The dismantling of the EU sugar regime and Brexit will present opportunities for arable farmers in the beet-growing areas of the UK.
The third and final tranche of nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ) notices for England are being sent to farmers this week.

Defra is sending the NVZ designation notices for 2017 to 2020 by post to farmers in Northumbria and Humber River Basin Districts.

Farmers in these regions will have until 20 March to appeal NVZ designation in these areas.

See also: Defra in nitrate zone letter shambles

The deadline for those farmers notified in the second tranche  Anglian, Thames, South East and South West  has already passed (20 February).

Farmers in the first and second tranches whose notices were sent to the wrong address should now have received a new notice with a new date. The appeals deadline in all cases is 28 days from the date on the notice.

NFU water quality adviser Nicola Dunn said: With the last notices sent out we are again reiterating to farmers the importance of checking whether they are in an NVZ.

Farmers only have 28 days to submit an appeal, which can be on one of two grounds: that their land doesnt drain to the area identified; or that the water is not polluted by agricultural nitrates.

Any area, whether previously designated or a new NVZ, can be appealed and support is available for NFU members through our Legal Assistance Scheme.

Farmers can check if their land is in an NVZ on the Environment Agencys website.
WHATS UP The Cherokee County Literacy Association is having a hot dog sale fundraiser on November 12 at 11:00 a.m.2:00 p.m. in the office parking lot at 409 Buford Street. Plates for...

Blacksburg town employees to get bonus of $175 Blacksburg town employees were rewarded for their work Tuesday with a little extra in their holiday bonuses. Blacksburg Town Council unanimously agreed to give most full-time and part-time employees an...

In this region, no one fights alone Traditional rivals Landrum and Liberty presented a $4,700 check at Fridays Blacksburg game from a competitive fundraiser to celebrate Pink Out Week. Students competed to see which school could raise...

Pet Obituary Cameo CamiWard 7/27/2004  10/29/2022

Cameo chose her forever family by walking into their yard June 2006. She loved her cat proof backyard, window and screen porch. Cameo for many years played hide and go...
Story Highlights 48% believe NAFTA has been good for U.S.; 46% say it's been bad

Democrats far outnumber Republicans in saying NAFTA has been good

Young adults overwhelmingly support NAFTA

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While President Donald Trump has called the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) the "worst trade deal in history," Americans are split on whether the deal has been good or bad for the U.S. Forty-eight percent say it has been good for the country, while 46% say it is has been bad.

NAFTA has been contentious since its inception in 1994. When Gallup first asked about its effects in 1997, 37% said it was good, 47% said it was bad and 16% had no opinion. The good and the bad figures essentially reversed in the next reading in 2000 and then flipped back again in 2004 -- the last measurement until this year.

The previous times Gallup has asked this question, more than one in 10 Americans has had "no opinion" about NAFTA. Americans may not have firsthand knowledge of how NAFTA has been performing and therefore might rely on news coverage or statements from political leaders to inform their opinions.

NAFTA's future is now uncertain, given Trump's intent to renegotiate its terms with Mexico and Canada.

Republican Support for NAFTA Plummets

Perhaps because of Trump's criticisms of NAFTA, fewer Republicans now than in the past say the agreement has been good for the U.S. Twenty-two percent of Republicans now hold this view, down from 40% in 2004 and 46% in 2000. In contrast, 67% of Democrats now say NAFTA has been good for the country, up from 39% in 2004 and 49% in 2000. While there was essentially no gap in Republicans' and Democrats' views of NAFTA from 1997 to 2004, a large partisan divide now exists.

The trajectory of independents' views has been similar to Democrats, with their support increasing from 37% in 2004 to 53% now. Republicans are the only party group in which support for NAFTA does not reach a majority level.

NAFTA Support Strong Among Young Adults

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders also criticized NAFTA on the campaign trail, but it may not have had much of an effect on his younger supporters. Of those aged 18 to 29, 73% say NAFTA has been good for the U.S., the highest of any age group. In contrast, less than half of those in all other age groups support NAFTA.

Young Adults Are Most Supportive of NAFTA % by age range NAFTA good for U.S. % 18 to 29 73 30 to 49 48 50 to 64 34 65+ 38 Gallup, Feb. 1-5, 2017

The same Gallup poll measures Americans' broader views on whether foreign trade is an opportunity for economic growth or a threat to the economy. Naturally, those who are pro-trade are more sympathetic to NAFTA than are those who see foreign trade as a threat.

More specifically, among those who believe foreign trade is an opportunity for growth, 57% believe NAFTA is good, while 37% consider it bad. Among those who think foreign trade is a threat to the economy, 23% consider NAFTA good, and 72% say it is bad.

While perceptions of NAFTA are strongly linked to how Americans view Mexico, they are unrelated to how Americans view Canada. Regardless of how Americans see NAFTA, about nine in 10 have a favorable view of Canada. But favorable ratings of Mexico are significantly lower among those who say NAFTA is bad for the U.S. (50%) than among those who say it is good (81%).

Opposition to NAFTA Linked to Less Positive Views of Mexico NAFTA good for U.S. NAFTA bad for U.S. % % Favorable toward Mexico 81 50 Favorable toward Canada 93 91 Gallup, Feb. 1-5, 2017

Bottom Line

NAFTA is a complex trade agreement that many Americans may not understand. Economists still disagree on whether it has been effective.

Trump has promised to forge bilateral trade agreements with nations across the globe, but it remains to be seen whether the president will establish separate agreements with both Canada and Mexico. At this point, Americans are divided along predictable partisan lines over NAFTA, though the partisan divide is a recent development. If NAFTA survives -- albeit with Trump's stamp on it -- it is likely that Republican support for the pact will increase. It will be more interesting to see whether Democratic and independent support for NAFTA will decline.

Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Story Highlights Current approval rating similar to 38% in 2016

60% say the international organization is doing a "poor job"

Widest partisan gap in views of the U.N. since 2001

Editor's Note: On March 11, 2020, two data points in the line graph by party were updated to reflect the correct data.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Thirty-seven percent of Americans say the United Nations is doing a "good job" of solving the problems it faces, similar to what Gallup has measured since 2013 but above the 2009 low of 26%. The latest figure comes as President Donald Trump considers a directive to significantly reduce U.S. contributions to international organizations, including the U.N.

These results come from Gallup's annual World Affairs poll, conducted Feb. 1-5. The poll finds that a majority of Americans (60%) say the international organization is doing a "poor job," an increase of six percentage points from 2016.

Gallup first asked about the U.N. in 1953, when most Americans expressed positive views of the organization. Since then, Americans have become less positive in their views of the U.N.

Despite generally low averages, the U.N. has received majority job approval on select occasions over the past several decades. In addition to the finding in 1953, when the organization was eight years old, the U.N. received majority approval in two polls bookending the Gulf War of the early 1990s and in three consecutive polls from 2000 to 2002. The highest rating the U.N. ever received was in February 2002, just months after the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

However, Americans' positive, post-9/11 views of the U.N. soon plummeted amid disagreements between U.S. leadership and the United Nations over the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Widest Partisan Divide in Views of the UN Since 2001

Trump has echoed congressional Republicans' critiques of the U.N. as being ineffectual and financially mismanaged. Some lawmakers have proposed legislation to cut off funding to the organization.

Since 2001, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have rated the U.N. more positively than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have, with Democrats' average approval rating (46%) nearly doubling that of Republicans (24%).

But the gap in party ratings has been growing and is now the largest Gallup has recorded since 2001. While a majority of Democrats (57%) currently say the U.N. is doing a good job of solving world problems, a paltry 16% of Republicans rate the institution's work positively.

Bottom Line

Americans' current approval of the U.N.'s work is similar to the levels seen over the past few years but is higher than the record lows of 2007-2009. The latest rating comes as Trump and the GOP threaten to withdraw U.S. financial support.

Trump's proposal to significantly reduce funding to the U.N. likely comes as no surprise to prominent congressional Republicans. Prior to his inauguration, Trump vowed that "things will be different" for the U.N. once he took office -- a pledge that could materialize if Trump follows through with this directive.

Given the president's recent critiques of the U.N. and Americans' long-standing low approval of the organization since the U.S. invaded Iraq, it is unlikely that views of the U.N. will improve much in the near future.

Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Antonio Ortiz, the pedophile who terrorized a Madrid neighborhood for a year between 2013 and 2014, has been found guilty on four counts of sexual assault, against four girls aged from five to nine years old and condemned by a Madrid court to 70 years and six months in jail. He was also found guilty on four counts of illegal detention, one count of attempted murder and of causing serious bodily injury.

The provincial court heard how between September 2014 and August 2015, Ortiz kidnapped the girls in Madrids northern Ciudad Lineal and Hortaleza districts, then took them to his apartment, where he drugged them and then sexually abused them before dropping them off at various locations.

During his last attack, however, he did not drug his victim.

After his arrest, his victims were also able to identify Ortiz

The police devoted significant resources to finding the attacker, launching Operation Candy, which became the only priority at all Madrid precincts. Officers pored over footage of surveillance cameras in all the areas where the suspect acted, including on public transport, and they also analyzed details of 78,000 small vehicles that fitted with the description offered by the first kidnapped child, who was nine at the time.

The 44-year-old, who has a history of sexual abuse, was finally arrested in late September 2014 at his uncle's house in the northern city of Santander following a long police investigation.

Ortiz had a criminal record that includes kidnappings, illegal detention, robberies and even a seven-year conviction for sexually abusing a six-year-old girl. He served prison time in the 1990s

A search of his home and DNA testing uncovered evidence that the victims had been inside.

After his arrest, his victims were also able to identify Ortiz.

It is not known whether Ortiz  who refused to give testimony in court and said only that he was innocent of the charges  will appeal the sentence in Spain's Supreme Court.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Kris Graft is editor-in-chief, Gamasutra (@krisgraft)

Ive been able to hang out with the Nintendo Switch for a few days to gather some pre-launch impressions. The timing was perfect: I was just about to leave for the DICE Summit in Las Vegas, followed by Game Developers Conference in San Francisco the next week. With the Switchs portability being a prime selling point, I figured Id take it along.

One thing that you cant truly appreciate in the Switch advertisements is the size. This is a small, unassuming console  a welcome contrast to the relatively hulking PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. More than one person I showed it to commented on its diminutiveness and asked is that it?!

That's a plain ol' iPhone 6

In portable mode, the unit is hefty when comparing it to the Vita or 3DS, but its easy to cut it some slack considering its also a home console. I didnt whip the portable Switch out in public much (I didnt feel like having random strangers in the airport ask me about it, sorry!), but I did use it on a plane, and it behaved in the same way as when I played it in a chair that wasnt 30,000 feet up in the sky. Battery life was on pace to run out in about 3 hours playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as advertised.

Of course, I was able to use the Switch in its dock and with a TV in my hotel room. Switching between portable and home console and back is fast and reliable, and Im able to pick up exactly where I left off no matter which configuration Im switching to. Its impressive.

The diminutive joy-cons that slide on and off the screen unit to become their own little independent controllers will probably make your hands crampy after a while (Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the only game I have right now, and doesnt make use of single-joy-con play). However, I didnt expect some people to have minor freakouts when you detach the joy-cons, and explain how theyre cute little controllers.

Because of the flexibility in their usage, the left joy-con does sacrifice a good d-pad when in grip mode, but if people are concerned about that, they have the option to shell out money for a Switch Pro Controller.

The Switch and the best handheld console ever made

While the joy-cons are unique and cool, the biggest issue with the Switch in these pre-launch days has to do with the left joy-con. It becomes intermittently unresponsive. For example, while playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild using the joy-con grip, the left stick would just go unresponsive. But it didnt seem to necessarily un-sync from the console. Control would return if I changed position of the controller. Other journalists who received early units have run into the same issue.

In my case, the fact that responsiveness would return when I would lift the controller up from my lap made me wonder if my iPhones Bluetooth was interfering from my front pocket. Turning off the phone didnt fix the issue. Itll be interesting to see if this is solvable via a patch or if its a hardware issue. I find it difficult to imagine Nintendo didnt know the issue exists, and hopefully the company has a solution its keeping quiet about for now. Its disappointing at this point nonetheless, but its possible the issue will be solved before the Switch even properly hits the market.

Build quality is on par with Nintendos other home and portable consoles, meaning its solid. My Switch has a bit of a gap between where the plastic panels are supposed to meet on top of the unit, but its nothing Im fussed about. I swear Im not fussed about the gap.

Ahem, anyway, Ive only been playing Zelda, which is a game with pretty standard controls. So far, I havent played anything that takes advantage of the Switchs new features like the HD rumble or any of the motion-based gameplay of 1-2-Switch, so Ive got nothing to report that front yet.

Using the Switch out in the wild has got me thinking about how this console will do in the market. Weve had discussions at Gamasutra about how itll sell, just based on what we knew about the console from what Nintendo has said itself. Predictions (i.e. COMPLETE guesses) range from itll only sell as much as Wii U to twice as much as Wii U to maybe higher than twice as much, but no way as much as Wii. This is Nintendo  things like that are exceedingly difficult to predict.

But when showing this thing to people, they all kind of flip out when you show them the magical gadgetry of the joy-cons and their various configurations, and how you can completely easily and seamlessly go from TV mode to portable mode with some satisfying slides and clicks of hardware. The hardware itself, with its transformations, encourages a level of showmanship, too: 'Look and see what I can do.' Will that excitement translate to word-of-mouth marketing and then to sales? Im more convinced of that possibility after showing it to people and using it in publicbut Nintendo must sort out that joy-con issue before it hits the market.
Inaki Urdangarin walks out of a Palma court on February 23. E. CALVO (REUTERS)

Inaki Urdangarin will not go to prison for now. That is logical, as the prosecutor had not requested this measure, nor were there any good reasons to deviate from the usual procedure in these cases: there is no prison until the verdict is final and beyond appeal.

What does seem more anomalous, however, is the fact that Urdangarin is being allowed to remain in Switzerland, authorized to present himself before the relevant authorities there once a month, while he is instructed to keep the court appraised of any movements he may make outside of the European Union.

Justice should express itself through solid proceedings and rulings, not through the media or personal opinions

But it just so happens that Switzerland is not part of the European Union. Inaki Urdangarin is a Spaniard living there not because of any special attachment to the country, but out of a personal and family decision made a few years ago in a bid to avoid the spotlight after legal proceedings were initiated against him. As such, the practical effect of this measure is to grant a hardly justifiable advantage to someone who has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison, no matter how appealable this ruling may be.

It is true that provisional detention is often abused in Spain, and the Palma de Mallorca judges did the right thing by not going down that road. They also refused to set the bail requested by the prosecutor in the case, Pedro Horrach, whose own hesitating attitude became patent through a string of media statements that he made in the days leading up to the hearing, when he should have displayed a more appropriate discretion following his controversial handling of the Noos case.

The background against which the Urdangarin decision was handed down makes the situation even more serious: 28 heads of key agencies within the public prosecution system have just been relieved of their duties, including the Chief Attorney of Murcia, Manuel Lopez Bernal, who had just taken legal action against the regional premier for alleged crimes in the construction of a local auditorium. Lopez Bernal is now going public with allegations of intimidation and pressure during investigations of corruption cases and complaining about the defenseless position he and other colleagues say they find themselves in.

The changes taking place at so many key attorneys offices, including Anti-corruption and at the Audiencia Nacional, Spains central high court, require an explanation. Attorney General Jose Manuel Maza must offer reasons for these changes that go beyond the formal argument that these individuals terms had expired and that he is empowered to appoint other people. The public prosecution service is a constitutional body that answers to the Attorney General who is appointed by the government, and it should act as a guarantor of justice for citizens. Far from it, however, it has become an object of mistrust, given the constant suspicions about government interference.

Justice should express itself through solid proceedings and rulings, not through the media or through the personal opinions of the people in charge of administering justice or triggering inquiries. Constant noise and political meddling do nothing to add prestige to the institution in the eyes of Spaniards.

English version by Susana Urra.
Readers, we need your help to prove a merry Christmas for victims of domestic violence.
This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department, the Benton County Sheriffs Office and Oregon State Police. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.
Oregon State University held its fourth housing fair Thursday at the Memorial Union Ballroom, where a steady stream of students wandered among tables manned by property managers, city officials and people offering information on OSU resources.

Alan Huston, a freshman geology major from Fairfield, California, is planning to move from a dorm into an apartment for the next school year along with three roommates.

Were looking at location, price, parking and utilities, rattled off Huston, naming the key factors that many students have high on their lists.

Being close to campus also was critical for Alec McBride, a junior from Brookings majoring in business administration.

McBride spent his first year in a dorm and the past two years at the Retreat, the large complex just west of campus that opened in the fall of 2015.

It was really nice, the Retreat has been great, said McBride, who likely will be downsizing from a five-bedroom unit to two bedrooms.

Now that I have turned 21, being closer to downtown and the bars is more important to me, said McBride, who also was working the fair in his role in sales with the Orange Media Network. He and his crew were responsible for doing the outreach to the property managers and landlords who signed up to participate.

The toughest housing challenge a reporter found was that of Taylor Kirkpatrick, a senior computer science major from Spokane, Washington. Once this school year ends, Kirkpatrick will leave town for a six-month internship, then return to OSU for a final term.

In other words, he is looking for housing a year out that has a three-month lease. He was asked if it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Actually, there arent any needles, he said. He figured his best bet was to do some networking with some of the larger complexes and get his name on a waiting list, hoping that, say, a four-roommate group might lose a tenant, giving him an opening.

The university has been working with property managers and landlords on a program of deposit discounts for tenants who pass a quiz on off-campus living.

We support the idea of training for tenants, said Lea Polito, owner and property manager of AG Campus Housing, which manages 170 bedrooms in Corvallis. In general, the more knowledge your tenants have about the process, the better off you are going to be. Most of our tenants have gone through the program or are at least aware of it.

Josh Tirado, leasing and marketing manager of the Retreat, said the program hasnt been in place long enough to gauge its impact, but he said he thinks it will empower tenants and prospective tenants about their rights.

Tirado also emphasized that its a relationship between the Retreat and its tenants.

The event was sponsored by OSU Community Relations, the Orange Media Network, University Housing and Dining Services and Associated Students of Oregon State University.
 ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.

 RASPBERRY (razbere) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.

We hereby deliver:

 ROSES to Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, for sending this message to President Donald Trump: If youre looking for evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 general election, youre wasting your time looking in Oregon.

"I'm pleased to report that in Oregon we have reviewed the processes and we are confident that voter fraud in last November's election did not occur in Oregon," Richardson wrote in a letter to Trump.

Trump repeatedly has said he would have won the popular vote in the 2016 election were it not for 3 million to 5 million immigrants in the country illegally who voted for Hillary Clinton. He has not offered any evidence that voter fraud occurred on anywhere near that scale, but he apparently is not willing to concede the point  and, apparently is unwilling to settle for the consolation prize of actually winning the presidency.

As far as voter fraud in Oregon goes, Richardson told The Oregonian newspaper this week that his election office is looking into two addresses that received a suspicious number of ballots. More than 6,500 addresses across Oregon receive more than 10 ballots, but they tend to be locations such as retirement homes or fraternities and sororities. Investigation into the two suspicious addresses is continuing, but Richardson cautioned that no actual voter fraud has yet been found.

We have worried that Trumps continued insistence about widespread voter fraud is an attempt to pave the way for tighter voter ID laws or other measures that could make it more difficult for certain segments of the population to cast ballots. But Oregon is rolling in the other direction  this state has aggressively removed barriers to voting. Its encouraging to see Richardson rolling with Oregon.

 ROSES to Donna Keim of the Corvallis School District and the army of volunteers who work to organize the annual career convention for Benton County high school students. This year's event, held Tuesday at the LaSells Stewart Center on the Oregon State University campus, attracted 900 high school juniors for mock interviews and other advice on how to land a job.

An improving economy means that there are more jobs available (at long last) for teenagers and young adults, and this event helps get those students get ready to enter the job market. And it's always great to see those students dressing up a bit for the interviews. Why, some of them actually wear neckties!

 ROSES to a pair of cross-country travelers who intend to use art and libraries to link communities across the entire length of Highway 20. The two, Sal Strom and Lynn Moyers, plan to travel the whole length of the highway, starting in Boston on May 1 and finishing in Newport on May 31, stopping at small-town libraries along the way. Their project, Connecting U.S. 20, is intended to honor Stroms late mother, Gracie Strom, who owned the Sea Hag Restaurant & Lounge in Depoe Bay.

As a prelude to their cross-country adventure, the two are holding participatory art events, including three in the mid-valley. The events are scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave.; 2 p.m. Sunday at the Albany Public Library, 2450 14th Ave. SE; and 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Philomath Community Library, 1050 Applegate St.

At a time when federal funding for the arts appears to be in jeopardy, this offbeat excursion could serve to underline how important the arts (and public libraries) are to their communities. (mm)
Costa Ricas President, Luis Guillermo Solis, has issued a timely musical invitation to Emma Stone, who is in the running to take a Best Actress Oscar on Sunday evening for her role in La La Land.

In a video posted online, Solis reminds Stone that in October she told the international media that she would like to visit the Central American nation. Speaking in English direct to camera, the president says: I take your word for it.

The center-left leader who took office in 2014 then tells Stone that she and her team are more than welcome to Costa Rica, famed as much for its political stability as its natural wonders: a small paradise, with lots of things to do and where visitors can enjoy an experience you will never forget, by walking barefoot on the sand of our beautiful beaches, or breathe in the pure air of the rainforest.

After singing his countrys praises, Solis then sits down at a piano and plays City of Stars, Justin Horowitzs theme tune to La La Land, which aside from Emma Stones Best Actress nomination, is up for another 13 Academy Awards.

English version by Nick Lyne.
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.
Summary of police activity in Bonn : Heavy police presence has good effect

Bonn Police cracked down yesterday during carnival celebrations and took 12 troublemakers into custody. For the emergency services the day was relatively quiet.

Teilen

Teilen Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Tweeten

Tweeten Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Drucken

Security and safety were the priorities for the carnival goers at the celebrations in Beuel yesterday. The police were present in large numbers. In many places, fire engines and police vans blocked access routes following the recent terror attack at the Christmas market in Berlin, where a lorry veered into the crowds.

The carnival procession and storming of the town hall in Beuel went off peacefully. Until 3.30pm everything was very quiet, just like in previous years. And then the fighting started, reported police spokesman Frank Piontek on Thursday evening. But as the parties had not yet finished, this could only be his preliminary assessment of the day.

As announced, the Bonn police force cracked down on trouble makers. Up to 8.15pm 51 reprimands was issued under their jurisdiction and 12 people were taken into custody. Whoever causes trouble was told to either go home, or come with us said Piontek. Bonn police had already prohibited 64 people from attending the festivities. One man did not keep to this order and was fined 500 Euro. Piontek explained that up until the evening two charges of bodily harm, two drug offences and five accounts of resisting arrest were also brought by police officials.

The weather was one reason for the quieter streets. They were literally empty. Rain and strong winds forced the carnival goers from the Beuel town hall into the pubs and function rooms. Accordingly, it was quiet for the Bonn fire brigade and rescue services. The control centre recorded a slight increase in the number of call outs for emergency doctors and paramedics.
Our spring travel plans are coming together! Well be in Europe for five weeks in total, with stops in London and Geneva for work/visiting with friends. I am most excited about visiting Lisbon, Portugal for a couple weeks in the middle. Have you been before? Any advice?

This will be our first long trip with baby Lucille! So excited to get to explore another new country with our darling girl!
clarajancita at 24-02-2017 10:34 AM (5 years ago) (f)

The general overseer and senior pastor of the Omega Fire Ministry International, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has been honoured by a group of Nigerian Bishops and youth association The servant of God bagged the double honours for demonstrating excellence in prophetic Gospel, social welfare and general caring. The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), the umbrella body of youths across Nigeria, Edo State Chapter, on Tuesday 21st February, 2017, presented Suleman with the first award during his visit to Benin City, Edo State capital in continuation of his ministrys 2017 worldwide crusade tagged Help From Above. The chapter chairman, who also doubles as the South South Coordinator of NYCN, Comrade Innocent Ajayi, said that the official conferment of the Patron of NYCN Edo chapter on the man of God was based on his qualities as friend of the youths, ambassador for peace and development of the state and role model to young people across the country.

The general overseer and senior pastor of the Omega Fire Ministry International, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has been honoured by a group of Nigerian Bishops and youth association The servant of God bagged the double honours for demonstrating excellence in prophetic Gospel, social welfare and general caring. The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), the umbrella body of youths across Nigeria, Edo State Chapter, on Tuesday 21st February, 2017, presented Suleman with the first award during his visit to Benin City, Edo State capital in continuation of his ministrys 2017 worldwide crusade tagged Help From Above. The chapter chairman, who also doubles as the South South Coordinator of NYCN, Comrade Innocent Ajayi, said that the official conferment of the Patron of NYCN Edo chapter on the man of God was based on his qualities as friend of the youths, ambassador for peace and development of the state and role model to young people across the country.

Quote I want to say that we the youths find ourselves privileged to be associated with this servant of God having knowledge of the respect he is accorded worldwide. We are proud of him and Edo State community is proud that he has brought pride and value to us, noted Ajayi.



Barely 24 hours after, another award and conferment as patron was also presented to Apostle Suleman by the Conference of Niger-Delta Bishops, a group of over 2,000 Bishops nationwide.

Archbishop Onourah, the president of all Bishops in Nigeria who led the delegation to the OFM international headquarters in Auchi, Edo State during the monthly deliverance and healing programme tagged I Must Get There, said the group made Apostle Suleman its patron, being first time any Nigerian would be so awarded in the whole of Africa, noted Ajayi.Barely 24 hours after, another award and conferment as patron was also presented to Apostle Suleman by the Conference of Niger-Delta Bishops, a group of over 2,000 Bishops nationwide.Archbishop Onourah, the president of all Bishops in Nigeria who led the delegation to the OFM international headquarters in Auchi, Edo State during the monthly deliverance and healing programme tagged I Must Get There, said the group made Apostle Suleman its patron, being first time any Nigerian would be so awarded in the whole of Africa, Quote because of his sterling leadership qualities, ministerial exploits, standing in the gap for the defenseless and voicing out against evil.

Bishops Onourah also mentioned several other reasons for the conferment, including Sulemans stand for the Gospel at all times.



Apostle Johnson Suleman has been consistent with his stand against attacks on the Church, particularly his recent outburst against attacks on innocent Nigerians in Northern Nigeria which became a major talking point throughout the world. Bishops Onourah also mentioned several other reasons for the conferment, including Sulemans stand for the Gospel at all times.Apostle Johnson Suleman has been consistent with his stand against attacks on the Church, particularly his recent outburst against attacks on innocent Nigerians in Northern Nigeria which became a major talking point throughout the world.

Post Reply I am a metro reporter on Gistmania, I have been publishing news materials for over 5 years Posted: at 24-02-2017 10:34 AM (5 years ago) | Hero
Prof. Issac Oyewole, Nigerias Minister of Health, has said Nigerians will continue to seek medical attention abroad, until the federal goverment is able to get $1billion annually.

Adewole was speaking at the commissioning of the permanent secretariat of West African College of Surgeons, Yaba, Lagos on Thursday.He said: In our 2017 budget proposal, we have committed N11.7 billion to upgrade at least seven tertiary health institutions, in which each one will receive N300 million and medical centres will receive N120 million. Fistula Centres will receive N50 million so that they can have water and electricity and function well.

Quote

Then the strategic intervention will be to provide equipment to render services for the three main reasons Nigerians travel abroad, such as cancer, renal disorders and cardiac cases.

Adewole also said the $500million received from the World Bank, has been used support to revitalize healthcare.

Quote

This will enable them to revitalize their primary and secondary healthcare. We are committed to this course simply because we believe it will help us to decongest our tertiary health institution.

Those who have fever, pain and diarrhoea have no business going to tertiary centres, it should be allowed to really commit themselves to the core business of socialized healthcare.

Maiduguri is also queuing to develop first class trauma centre but for no reason that facilities is at the art of Boko Haram and they have to deal with many cases of injuries across the country,

Adewole said.
Microsoft launches 'Made for India' Skype Lite app News oi -GizBot Bureau Microsoft has launched a 13MB Skype Lite, an exclusive "Made for India" app for Android devices especially designed to save data.

Microsoft has launched Skype Lite, an exclusive "Made for India" app to provide seamless experience in messaging, audio and video calling even at lower bandwidths.

"Packed in a 13MB file, the new app is available only for Android devices and is especially designed to save data," Satya Nadella, Indian-born CEO of Microsoft, told the media at the company's "Future Decoded" event in Mumbai.

The lightweight app supports Indian languages including Gujarati, Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

"Skype Lite" has data-friendly features such as "tracking data usage" which tells a user about how much data was used.

It also categorises the internet usage into two sections -- the amount of mobile data or Wifi used while using the app.

With these new features, the app lets a user to share multimedia files without downloading them to the device.

Microsoft also introduced a dark theme for the new app making it easy for users to work in the night without having much strain in the eyes.

"Skype Lite" is an all-in-one app and has functionalities such as integrated calling and SMS by which a user can make it the default calling and messaging app.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Book likely on the cards; Is it a rival to Microsoft Surface Book?

To make it easier for a user to differentiate between important and junk SMSs, Microsoft has used the artificial intelligence (AI) that segregates normal text messages, Skype messages and promotional texts under three different categories.

"Skype Lite" has an integrated camera app with it and added fun bots with a conversational interface that runs on Microsoft's AI technology.

The bots, for example, can recognise a selfie and tell about a person's age and his/her character using the algorithms and artificial learning.

"Future Decoded" -- Microsoft's two-day flagship technology and business conference -- is a platform that brings together 1,500 business and government decision-makers to engage in conversations on how technology will transform all aspects of our work and life.

IANS

Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
MWC 2017: Chinese smartphones most expected to launch: Probable specs round-up Features oi -Harish Kumar Here are some of the key Chinese smartphones which are expected to be showcased at this years MWC.

Today the demand for the smartphones have increased a lot. And in order to meet the demand different brands have had to always stay one step ahead in continuously supplying consumers with great smartphones that meet their needs. While big players like Samsung and Apple have been at the fore-front in delivering great smartphones, Chinese brands are also slowing picking up the pace.

In fact, the Chinese brands have been gaining a lot of popularity in markets globally. Further people are showing great interest in these brands as they are providing smartphones with great specifications at a much reasonable price range. The market surely seems to be changing.

Top 10 Most-awaited 6GB-8GB RAM Smartphones of 2017

Further, with this current samrtphone market scenario, this time we might just see more Chinese brands taking the spotlight at the world's biggest smartphone show, Mobile World Congress, also known as MWC 2017, which is starting on 26 February in Barcelona, Spain.

Besides, the Chinese phonemakers have already been dropping a lot of hints about their new phones through video teasers and photos. So if your are interested to know which Chinese brands will be launching what, here are some of the key Chinese smartphones which are expected to be showcased at this year's MWC.

Motorola Moto G5 Rumored Key Specifications

5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD display with Corning Gorilla glass 3 protection

1.4GHz Octa-Core 64-bit Snapdragon 430 (MSM8937) processor with Adreno 505 GPU

2GB RAM

32GB internal memory

expandable memory with microSD

Android 7.0 (Nougat)

Dual SIM (Optional)

13MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash

5MP front-facing camera

Water repellent nano-coating

Front-ported loudspeaker

4G VoLTE

2800mAh battery Lenovo K7 Note Rumored Key Specifications

5.5 inch full HD 2.5D curved IPS display (19201080 Pixel)

1.8Ghz Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 6520 Processor

3GB RAM with 32GB ROM

4GB RAM with 64GB inbuilt storage expandable up to 256GB

Android Nougat 7.0 with Vibe UI

16MP of Rear Camera

8MP of Front Camera

3G HSPA+/4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.5Ghz to 5Ghz)

Fingerprint Sensor,

4000mAh with quickcharge technology Battery Gionee A1 Rumored Key Specifications

5.5 inches Capacitive touchscreen

Android OS, v7.0 (Nougat)

Mediatek MT6755 Helio P10 Chipset

Octa-core (4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4x1.0 GHz Cortex-A53) CPU

64 GB Internal memory

4 GB RAM

13 MP Rear Camera

16 Mp front Camera

Non-removable Li-Ion 4000 mAh battery Motorola Moto G5 Plus Rumored Key Specifications

5.2 Inch FHD Display With Gorilla Glass 3

2.0GHz Snapdragon 625 Octa-Core Processor

2/3/4GB RAM With 64GB ROM

12 MP Rear Camera With LED Flash

5 MP Front Camera

VoLTE/WiFi

Fingerprint Sensor

Bluetooth 4.2

Water Repellent Coating

Turbo Charging

3000 MAh Battery Gionee A1 Plus Rumored Key Specifications

6 inch qHD IPS LCD Multi touch display

16 Rear Camera

16 MP Front Camera

1.8 GHz CPU

Octa Core Processor

4 And 6 GB RAM

128 GB Internal Memory Alcatel Idol 5 Rumored Key Specifications

5.5 inches IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen

Android OS, v7.0 (Nougat)

Octa-core (4x2.3 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4x1.7 GHz Cortex-A53)

32 GB, 3 2/GB RAM or 64 GB, 4 GB RAM

16 MP Rear Camera

8 MP Front Camera

Non-removable Li-Ion battery Huawei P10 Rumored Key Specifications

5.2-inch (2560 x 1440 pixels) Quad HD AMOLED 2.5d curved glass display

Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 960 processor with Mali G71 Octa-core GPU

4GB RAM with 64GB storage

6GB RAM with 128GB storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Android Nougat with Emotion UI 5.1

Hybird Dual SIM (nano SIM + nano SIM / microSD)

20MP (Monochrome) + 12MP (RGB) Dual rear cameras with Leica lenses

8MP front-facing camera

Fingerprint sensor

4G VoLTE

3,100 mAh battery with fast charging Huawei P10 Plus Rumored Key Specifications

5.5-inch (2560 x 1440 pixels) Quad HD AMOLED curved display

Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 960 processor with Mali G71 Octa-core GPU

6GB RAM with 128GB storage

8GB RAM with 256GB storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Android 7.0 (Nougat) with Emotion UI 5.0

Hybird Dual SIM (nano SIM + nano SIM / microSD)

20MP (Monochrome) + 12MP (RGB) Dual rear cameras with Leica lenses

8MP front-facing camera

Fingerprint sensor, Iris scanner

4G VoLTE

3,650mAh battery with fast charging

Best Mobiles in India
Apple will start manufacturing iPhone SE initially in India News oi -Samden Sherpa Apple was expected to initially assemble 300,000 to 400,000 iPhone SE handsets in India.

It was few days back when Priyank Kharge, IT minister of Karnataka, India, took to Twitter to announce that Apple would soon start manufacturing iPhones in India.

And while it looks like Apple Inc has got the green signal from the Indian government, various reports are now indicating that in the coming months Apple could start assembling its lower-priced iPhone SE models at a contract manufacturer's plant in Bengaluru. Moreover, it has been said that Apple's Taiwanese manufacturing partner Wistron Corp will be setting up a plant in Bengaluru to focus solely on assembling iPhones.

Apple iPhone 8 production to start early this year

As per Economic Times newspaper, Apple was expected to initially assemble 300,000 to 400,000 iPhone SE handsets in India. However, the numbers might differ and be lower than the said number reports Reuters.

However, analyzing Apple's move to start assembling iPhone SE initially it might be because the company aims to boost its share in the world's fastest growing major mobile market, where handsets far cheaper than Apple's iPhones dominate. It can also because Apple has seen smartphone sales growth coming down in Asia and most prominently in China.

Official: Apple to manufacture iPhones in Bengaluru, Karnataka

While we have heard about the iPhone SE, nothing more has been disclosed as to what other phone models would be assembled by Apple at the Bengaluru plant.

Besides, currently the entry level iPhone SE model sells on Amazon India for 28,433 rupees ($424).

Source

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
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

Google Ad

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

Google Ad

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
Mohit Goel, director of Freedom 251 maker Ringing Bells detained News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Freedom 251 is again in news.

Freedom 251, the cheapest smartphone promised to be launched early last year by Ringing Bells is back in the news. Mohit Goel, the director of the company has been detained by the Ghaziabad police on allegations of fraud.

Goel has been detained as the owner of Ayam Enterprises in Ghaziabad filed a FIR alleging that Ringing Bells defrauded the former of Rs. 16 lakh. The FIR states that the company paid Rs. 30 lakh to Ringing Bells via RTGS on various occasions, but received products worth just Rs. 13 lakh. After follow-up, they could get products and money for Rs. 14 lakh.

Ringing Bells is not new to controversies. Ever since its debut, the company has been falling into a lot of controversies. Once the Freedom 251 was launched, the company was accused of non-payment of dues as well as abrupt termination of the contract by Cyfuture, a call center service provider. Adcom wanted to subject Ringing Bells to legal action as the company distributed Adcom handsets to the media attendees instead of the Freedom 251.

Ringing Bells, the Cheapest Android Phone Maker Reportedly Shutdown

As per Ringing Bells, around 30,000 customers booked the Freedom 251 among the 7 crore people who had registered for it. It remains unclear if the company was ever successful in shipping the phones to the customers who had purchased the same. In addition to the Freedom 251, the company also announced four feature phones, two smartphones, three power banks, and a 31.5-inch HD TV in the last year.

Best Mobiles in India
Gboard for iPhone now supports voice-typing, emojis and 15 new languages News oi -Rohit Gboard for iPhone now supports voice-typing, 15 new languages, emojis and Google Doodles

Google has updated its popular Gboard for iPhone users. The new version of the keyboard- 1.3.0 now supports new emojis, voice-typing, 15 additional languages, and Google Doodles. The new languages include- Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Catalan, Hungarian, Malay, Russian, Latin American Spanish, and Turkish. To select the language of your preference; select Languages in Add Language section in Gborad settings.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft Skype Lite First impressions: Feature loaded light weight communication hub for Android

To use voice typing in Gboard, Just tap the mic button to dictate messages on the go. To check the day's Google Doodles, you just need to tap the 'G' button whenever it animates. The Google Doodle will offer fun updates showing Google logo celebrating special dates throughout the year, like holidays, events, and famous birthdays. As far as emojis goes, Gboard is now updated with the latest iOS 10 emoji pack.

Google G board was originally released in May 2016 for iPhone users. The keyboard lets users search and send information, GIFs, emojis and more- right from their keyboard. Moreover Gboard also supports Glide Typing, which allows users type words by sliding their finger from one key to other instead of tapping.

How to install Skype Lite and how is it different from the original Skype app

Another noted feature of the Gboard is its built-in search feature. Users can press the Google Search icon placed on the top left of the keyboard screen that to search for addresses, flights, and even YouTube videos.

Best Mobiles in India
HMD to announce Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, & Nokia 3310 at MWC; may skip Nokia 8 News oi -Sneha Nokia is going to announce a wide range of Android devices, may not unveil Nokia 8.

Mobile World Congress is almost there at the doorstep, and there's do doubt that most geeks are waiting for the Nokia event, scheduled for February 26. HMD is going to live stream the event on their YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Well, moving ahead, there have a number of speculations about the Finland-based announcing a wide range of smartphones at the MWC 2017 event. However, the latest reports suggest that the company is just going to official unveil four devices, which include - Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 global variant and the premium version of the Nokia 3310.

So, the question here arises, what will happen to the other rumored devices? Well, HMD may just reveal a few details about the high-end Nokia 8 and Nokia 9 devices. However, for now, this should be taken with a pinch of salt until Nokia's MWC press meet.

SEE ALSO: Nokia 6 officially listed outside China ahead of MWC

The next question that hits us now is that when will these devices hit the Indian shores? Well, other rumors suggest that these Nokia devices may first hit Taiwan and Russia, and will be later followed by India, Spain, France, Germany, U.K and the rest.

To recall, Nokia 3 is expected to sport either a 5.2-inch or 5.3-inch display along with Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box. The Android device might be powered by 1.4 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 425 Processor with 2GB of RAM coupled with a 16GB internal memory unit. For more details about Nokia 3, read here.

Moving ahead to Nokia 5, the device will feature a 5.2-inch Full HD display and is going to be a sub-ranged phone, probably a cheaper variant of the already announced Nokia 6. Under the hood, Nokia 5 will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430, clocked at 1.4 Ghz, and will be running on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat operating system.

Nokia 3310 key specs confirmed ahead of the launch: Everything you should know

Further talking about the storage capacity, the smartphone might feature a 2GB of RAM with 16GB internal storage capacity. On the camera front, Nokia 5 will feature a 12MP rear camera, while fitting a 7MP selfie shooter at the front. Well, if the rumors are to be believed, both cameras will support full HD video recording.

About Nokia 3310, the device is going to be a feature phone, and no Android OS expected. On the display front. For more details about the upcoming premium version Nokia 3310, read here. For more details, stay tuned to GizBot.

Best Mobiles in India
Xiaomi Mi 6 live photos with Mi Mix like display leaked! News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Xiaomi Mi 6 photos hits the web.

Xiaomi announced that it will skip the MWC 2017 debuting on February 27 in Barcelona. The company's flagship Mi 6 is rumored to be unveiled in March, but there are leaks and speculations revealing the looks and possible specs of this phone.

Xiaomi is trying its best to keep the Mi 6 its best-guarded secret, but there are times when gossip mongers have managed to get their hands on the device. Likewise, a couple of live photos of the alleged Xiaomi Mi 6 have hit the web, thanks to the tipster who have uploaded these on Weibo.

These photos of the Mi 6 show the gorgeous screen-to-body ratio of the smartphone. If these images are anything to go by, then we can expect a deviation from the usual design language that Xiaomi was following with its flagship phones so long. The talk is about the Mi 5, Mi 4, etc. Actually, this new screen-to-body ratio reminds us of the innovative Mi Mix.

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 with 6GB RAM and 5000mAh battery spotted

Apart from the display, these images show us that the company has ditched the physical home button at the front. With a screen size ranging from 5.2 to 5.5 inches, the Mi 6 seems to run the MIUI skin. The Mi logo at the front is also missing and the design looks pretty average except for the screen-to-body ratio. This makes us doubt if this phone is from the Xiaomi stable or not, so we need to take this leak with a grain of salt. An official confirmation from the Chinese manufacturer will shed light on the details.

Source

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
Xiaomi Mi Mix will now be available outside China News oi -Samden Sherpa Xiaomi has just announced the Mi Max for UAE.

Xiaomi Mi Mix was an experimental and a futuristic smartphone that was launched sometime last year. Surprisingly, Mi Mix which was a "concept phone" that actually went on sale for consumers. And just few days back the white variant of the smartphone went on sale which reportedly sold out in seconds.

However, the smartphone has been exclusive to Chinese market only till now. While this has been the case, the situation is changing as Xiaomi has made it clear that it will be making the smartphone available outside of China as well.

Xiaomi Mi MIX II to have higher screen-to-body ratio, confirms CEO

And as we say this, the company has in fact just announced the device for UAE and the smartphone is expected to go on sale sometime in March. Xiaomi has announced that the Mi Mix will be priced at AED 2,999 which translates roughly into 54,500 INR.

Now with this launch, we can only assume that other countries might be getting the device soon. As a matter of fact, while browsing through the company's official website the handset has been listed as "coming soon" for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. All these points towards the imminent launch of Mi Mix in other parts of the world apart from China.

Source

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 23, 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 of 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

Coalition military forces conducted 24 strikes consisting of 32 engagements against ISIS targets in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four oil refinement stills and a vehicle.

-- Near Bab, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb.

-- Near Shadaddi, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions and an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Raqqa, seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and an ISIS staging area and destroyed three pump jacks, a command-and-control node, a fighting position and a tactical vehicle.

-- Near Tanf, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two tactical vehicles.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed seven oil separation tanks, and oil wellhead, an oil tanker truck and an oil inlet manifold.

-- Near Palmyra, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four tactical vehicles.

-- Near Tamakh, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes consisting of 62 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Beiji, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed a tactical vehicle and a heavy machine gun; and suppressed a mortar team.

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed three mortar systems, two ISIS-held buildings, two vehicle-bomb factories, a supply cache, a fighting position, a front-end loader, an excavator, a dump truck, a generator trailer, a weapons cache and a vehicle; damaged 15 supply routes and three tunnels; and suppressed 17 mortar teams and an artillery team.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed a weapons cache.

-- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three ISIS-held building and a vehicle.

-- Near Tal Afar, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS staging area and destroyed two weapons caches, a vehicle-borne bomb, a front-end loader, an improvised-bomb factory and an ISIS-held building.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force 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 a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does 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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Colorado partners with Jordanian forces for chemical threat exercise

By Staff Sgt. Lally Laksbergs | Colorado Army National GuardFebruary 23, 2017

AMMAN, JORDAN -- Colorado National Guard Soldiers and the Jordan Armed Forces Royal Engineer Corps conducted an exercise at the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Training Center of Excellence Feb. 6 in Jordan.

The CBRN exercise, conducted by the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army Chemical Support Unit focused on practicing the technical skills required in a CBRN-related emergency.

The strong relationship with the CSU came about from the long-term efforts of the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency, part of the U.S.-Jordan Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction initiative.

"Colorado National Guard was the natural partner to conduct this training due to its existing partnership with Jordan," said Stacey Neal, the International Project Officer for DTRA.

The JAF and the CONG have conducted military-to-military exchanges through the National Guard State Partnership Program, or SPP, since 2004. SPP exchanges build capacity and interoperability of forces and improve regional security.

"With current threat levels where they are, it is not a matter of 'if,' but a matter of 'when' these skills will be needed and put into use," the Jordan Armed Forces Chemical Support Unit commander said. "We're very happy with the relationship with the Colorado National Guard and look forward for it to continue in the future."

The exercise consisted of a made-up threat scenario that included an unknown smell detected in a nuclear medicine wing at a hospital that was under construction. Prior to starting the exercise, JAF CSU team members received very few details about the "incident" in order to create a more realistic training environment.

Then, members of the JAF CSU conducted training on proper procedures for dealing with chemical agents in addition to a rescue and extraction of a fallen team member followed by decontamination of the victim and rescuers.

During the scenario, CONG team members observed and provided guidance, suggestions and documented the teams' overall operations and processes for assessment.

"This partnership is helping develop our capabilities," the JAF CSU technical staff officer said. "Our unit is transitioning from traditional chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear duties to a civil support team. We don't have a national guard in Jordan so we provide support to civil authorities. The army is a second line of defense."

"Jordan and the United States have a strong and enduring partnership spanning six decades--one of the most mature military-to-military relationships around the world. This is reflected in the high level of cooperation, as evident by this joint training exercise," said Lt. Col. Nicole David, CONG bilateral affairs officer.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Marines, Omani Soldiers begin Exercise Sea Soldier 17

US Marine Corps News

By 1st Lt. Adam Miller | February 23, 2017

Led by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and hosted by the Royal Army of Oman, the annual, two-weeklong bilateral exercise aims to enhance communication and coordination between U.S. and Omani forces, build mutual warfighting capability and support long-term regional cooperation.

"Bilateral exercises, like Sea Soldier, are great opportunities for MEUs because Marines can disembark ships and conduct combat sustainment training in new, unfamiliar environments," said Col. Clay C. Tipton, commanding officer, 11th MEU. "They have a chance to interact and learn from warriors of a different culture; and these exercises are conducted with key partners in the region to strengthen our collective ability to work together should we have to face emerging crises in the future."

The training includes: military operations on urban terrain, building clearing, checkpoint operations, command and control procedures, counter-IED training, live-fire ranges, squad to company tactics, mortar ranges, and a culminating final exercise, which will be a combined Omani-U.S. raid.

"Every opportunity we have to position and launch the landing forces embarked aboard the Somerset is also an opportunity for our Sailors to exercise their technical and tactical expertise," said U.S. Navy Capt. Darren Glaser, commanding officer, USS Somerset. "Coming together as a larger, blue-green team in support of an exercise or a real world operation is exactly what we train to do."

U.S. units participating in Sea Soldier are the 11th MEU's Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 4th Marines; Combat Logistics Battalion 11; the MEU's Command Element; and USS Somerset. The Marines and Sailors debarked from the USS Somerset, Feb. 15, to prepare for Exercise Sea Soldier.

Arriving in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations late November, the MKI ARG is comprised of USS Makin Island , the command ship for Amphibious Squadron 5 and 11th MEU, USS Somerset and amphibious dock landing ship USS Comstock.

While in the region, the Southern California-based Navy-Marine Corps team falls under Naval Amphibious Forces, Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, and will help ensure the free flow of commerce, provide crisis response and support ongoing missions in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






USS Donald Cook Arrives in Plymouth

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170223-08

Release Date: 2/23/2017 9:33:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alyssa Weeks, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

PLYMOUTH, United Kingdom (NNS) -- Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) arrived in Plymouth, United Kingdom, Feb. 22, for a scheduled port visit to complete the Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) certification.

FOST is an advanced warfare certification training event conducted with the British Royal navy.

The ship's presence in the north Atlantic is a demonstration of the U.S. Navy's continued commitment to and collective defense of the European region.

Quote:

"It's great to be in the waters of the southwest British Isles again for Flag Officer Sea Training. Our Sailors look forward to visiting the historic city of Plymouth as we prepare to conduct multi-warfare area training with our British hosts." - Cmdr. Timothy Moore, USS Donald Cook commanding officer

Quick Facts:

Donald Cook is working with allies and regional partners to help develop and improve maritime forces, maintain regional security, and work towards mutual goals in order to advance security and stability in Europe.

Donald Cook, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting a routine patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. The ship deployed from Naval Station Rota Dec. 3, 2016.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Trump Reverses Obama-Era Transgender Bathroom Guidance (video)

The U.S. federal government has rescinded guidelines allowing transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identities, rather than the gender listed for them at birth. The Department of Justice and Department of Education issued a joint letter Wednesday to the nation's schools saying a directive issued last year by President Barack Obama's administration has led to "significant litigation" on the issue. Those guidelines were based on law known as Title IX, arguing that its prohibitions against sex discrimination in education extend to gender identity. In reversing course, the letter Wednesday said it must be up to states and local education departments to make that type of decision, and not the federal government. "Congress, state legislatures and local governments are in a position to adopt appropriate policies or laws addressing this issue," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Both he and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said protections against "discrimination, bullying and harassment" remain important. And the letter says that schools must ensure that LGBT students can "learn and thrive in a safe environment." In response to a lawsuit from a group of states, a federal judge had already put on hold the Obama-era directive. Beyond objecting to the guidelines as a federal overreach, opponents also said they violated the safety and rights of other students. Transgender rights advocates have continued to fight, and cite the importance of the guidelines even if they are not currently in effect. "Transgender students thrive when treated equally, but too often they are not," said Mara Keisling, executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality. "With a pen stroke, the Trump administration effectively sanctions the bullying, ostracizing and isolation of these children, putting their very lives in danger." The issue will go before the U.S. Supreme Court next month with the case of a teenager whose school district in the state of Virginia adopted a policy that prohibited him from using the men's restroom. The American Civil Liberties Union brought the case on behalf of Gavin Grimm. James Esseks, the ACLU's LGBT project director, said Wednesday's move shows that promises from President Donald Trump to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights were "empty rhetoric." "But the bottom line is that this does not undo legal protections for trans students, and school districts can and must continue to protect them and all students from discrimination. School districts that recognize that should continue doing the right thing; for the rest, we'll see them in court," Esseks said. A month after the Obama administration issued its guidelines last year, Trump wrote on Twitter he would be a better protector of LGBT rights than his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. More details can be found here
Hundreds of protesters demand departure of Guinea-Bissau president

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 6:32PM

Hundreds of protesters have marched through the capital of Guinea-Bissau, demanding the departure of embattled President Jose Mario Vaz.

On Thursday, the crowd of angry demonstrators on the main avenues of the capital Bissau held anti-government placards and repeatedly chanted slogans such as "Jomav get out", using the president's local nickname.

They also called for fresh elections to end the political crisis gripping the African country.

The demonstration came a day after parliament rejected a program submitted by Prime Minister Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embalo.

Vaz appointed Sissoco in November after months of regional talks seeking an end to an 18-month political turmoil in the country.

The prime minister has already missed a 60-day deadline to present a government program and budget that have to be accepted by parliament.

"The party ... voted against the program of the PM because his government is illegitimate," said Seidy Ba Sane, a spokesman for the country's ruling PAIGC party.

Sissoco has stressed that he would continue ruling without the confidence of parliament.

People in the West African country say the failure to pass a budget has begun to affect their daily lives and caused delays in payment of salaries for civil servants.

In addition, the ongoing crisis has stoked fears that drug traffickers might profit from the power vacuum in the country.

Earlier this month, the United Nations expressed concern "over challenges posed by transnational organized crime and emerging threats, including drug trafficking, in the country."

The economy of Guinea Bissau, one of the world's poorest countries, is heavily reliant on cashew nut production.

Violence has rocked Guinea-Bissau since 1974 when it gained independence from Portugal.

Since its independence, the country has suffered from political turmoil, including a series of military coups largely due to the unprecedented expansion of the army.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Philippines to arrest ex-justice minister over drugs

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 2:9PM

A court in the Philippines has ordered the arrest of a former justice minister strongly opposed to President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drugs campaign.

The regional court in the Manila suburban city of Muntinlupa on Thursday ordered the arrest of Leila De Lima who is presently a senator.

She has been charged for three counts of involvement in illegal drug trade but she has rejected the charges, saying the cases against her are politically motivated.

"We are really disappointed by the issuance of the warrant," her lawyer, Alex Padilla, said. "The court made the decision based on nothing," he added.

Several senators have criticized the move, claiming De Lima was being punished for going against Duterte.

"It is an underhanded maneuver meant to go after critics," the senators said in a joint statement.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre denied such claims, saying the cases against De Lima were not politically motivated but based on evidence of her connections to illegal drugs.

The charges against De Lima were based on testimonies by prisoners who claimed they paid bribes to De Lima while she was still justice minister to allow them to continue trading drugs in prison.

Duterte came under global spotlight for allegedly giving permission to law enforcement agencies to fight drug dealers in any way they choose.

According to police figures, about 2,000 drug suspects have been killed in security operations. Media say nearly 4,000 others have also died in unexplained circumstances linked to the crackdown.

During his presidential election campaign in mid-2016, Duterte ran mainly on a platform of fighting drugs and crime. Many Filipinos support the campaign but Western-based rights groups use it to criticize Duterte whose anti-US rhetoric has riled Washington.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Three Indian soldiers, one civilian killed in Kashmir

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:17AM

Three Indian soldiers and a woman have been killed in a suspected militant attack on a military convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The troops were returning from a search operation on Thursday when unidentified armed men opened fire on their convoy in the region's Shopian district, wounding six soldiers and killing a woman on the spot, said a police spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Three of the wounded soldiers succumbed to their injuries later on "at the army hospital in Srinagar."

The spokesperson added that the woman, who lived near the area where the ambush occurred, had been hit by a stray bullet.

The Shopian district was where a popular pro-independence leader, Burhan Wani, was killed in a gun battle with Indian troops last July. The incident sparked months of anti-India unrest in the territory, which left nearly 90 civilians and several policemen dead and thousands of people injured. Sporadic clashes have continued since then.

The incident and the subsequent unrest have also strained the ties between Pakistan and India, both of which have been laying claims to the entire Kashmir but control parts of it since their partition and independence from Britain in 1947.

Human rights groups accuse India of using indiscriminate force against protesters in Kashmir.

India claims it has been fighting armed groups supported by Pakistan in the Himalayan region over the past decades. People there have been seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan. The fighting has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, mostly of civilians.

New Delhi blamed Pakistani-backed militants for a raid on an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir last September, which killed 19 soldiers. Islamabad denied any role in the attack.

In late October last year, New Delhi ordered one employee of the Pakistani High Commission out of the country, saying he was a suspected spy. Islamabad expelled an Indian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move. The development has further deteriorated the two countries' bilateral ties.

India has so far deployed tens of thousands of troops to Kashmir to curb the pro-independence bid and restore order and security to the region.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Key U.S. Senator Open To Subpoena Of Trump Records In Russia Probe

RFE/RL February 23, 2017

A Republican member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said she's open to using a subpoena to investigate President Donald Trump's tax returns for possible connections to Russia.

In an interview with Maine Public Radio on February 22, Susan Collins also said that many members of the committee, which is leading Congress's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, will formally request that ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn testify before the panel.

Collins was asked if the committee would subpoena Trump's tax records, which he has refused to release, prompting her to break ranks with the Republican president. She responded that she hopes for "voluntary cooperation" but is open to using a subpoena if necessary.

"If it's necessary to get to the answers, then I suspect we would," she said. "All of us are determined to get the answers... This is a counterintelligence operation in many ways. That's what our committee specializes in... We are used to probing in depth in this area."

Collins noted in the interview that Republicans hold only a one-seat majority on the committee. Her vote on the subpoena matter could prove crucial, as Democrats have been calling on Trump for months to release his tax records.

Break With Tradition

Trump's refusal to disclose his tax returns is a break with longstanding tradition among U.S. presidents. He has said he would be happy to release them after the completion of an Internal Revenue Service audit.

Using a subpoena to get access to the tax returns would be a more aggressive move than Republicans in Congress have been willing to take thus far in their investigations of alleged Russian meddling in the election. House and Senate GOP leaders have not yet shown any interest in taking such a step.

Last week, House Republicans blocked an attempt by Democrats to use an obscure law to obtain the tax returns from the U.S. Treasury. Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee had framed the issue as a matter of national security, questioning whether Trump has any investments in Russia.

In saying that the intelligence committee will seek Flynn's testimony, Collins did not indicate whether his appearance before the committee would be public or behind closed doors.

Flynn was ousted last week following reports that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about phone conversations he had before taking office discussing Russian sanctions with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak.

Collins said the committee is in the midst of a "broad investigation" about Russia's alleged influence in the election and it's too early to speculate about the results.

FBI Director James Comey on February 17 gave the committee a two-hour briefing on the agency's investigation of alleged Russian meddling, which reportedly started before the November election.

Collins touted the "bipartisan" nature of the committee's probe and pledged: "We will get to the bottom of this."

With reporting by AP, Washington Post, and Roll Call

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/key-republican-us-senator-collins- senate-intelligence-committee-open-subpoean-trump-tax-records-russian-election- interference-investigation/28326161.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Claims Beijing Installing Long-Range Missiles in South China Sea Islands

Sputnik News

22:18 23.02.2017(updated 02:38 24.02.2017)

US officials are reporting that China has almost completed constructing two dozen buildings on its artificial islands in the South China Sea. The structures, according to reports, are intended to contain long-range surface-to-air missiles.

Washington has vocally denounced China's island building, calling it illegal, and in January Rex Tillerson, then-nominee for Secretary of State, described the US position on Beijing by saying, "We're going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed."

The White House has subsequently softened its approach, with President Donald Trump pledging to maintain the 'One China' policy after riling Beijing by speaking with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in December 2016.

China lays claim to almost all of the South China Sea's islands and maritime; although Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, and Taiwan have claims as well. Beijing balked at a landmark July 2016 decision by an international tribunal in The Hague declaring that China had no historic right to the islands and had caused "irreparable harm" to the marine environment.

The concrete structures feature retractable roofs, and are found in the Spratly Island chain on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief reefs. American officials believe that the military-length airstrips already present on the islands signal a military escalation.

One unnamed official said, "It is not like the Chinese to build anything in the South China Sea just to build it, and these structures resemble others that house SAM [surface-to-air missile] batteries, so the logical conclusion is that's what they are for."

The official said that the installations pose no real threat to the US, believing that it was done to test the response of the Trump administration. "The logical response would also be political  something that should not lead to military escalation in a vital strategic area," they said.

The buildings are reportedly about 33 feet high and 66 feet long.

One Wednesday, Geng Shuang, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said he was aware of the rumblings but would not clarify whether Beijing was putting missiles on the reefs. "China carrying out normal construction activities on its own territory, including deploying necessary and appropriate territorial defense facilities, is a normal right under international law for sovereign nations," he remarked.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Beijing 'Opposes' US Nuclear-Powered Carrier in South China Sea

Sputnik News

22:01 23.02.2017(updated 01:26 24.02.2017)

On Thursday, Chinese defense officials announced that they are well aware of the recent deployment of the US Navy's nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson, to patrol the South China Sea in 'routine operations,' a move one Beijing official said that China opposes.

The deployment of the USS Carl Vinson spurred Chinese officials to denounce the "relevant countries" involved in the carrier's activities. Geng Shuang said Tuesday, "we oppose relevant countries threatening and undermining the sovereignty and security of coastal states under the pretext of such freedom."

Chinese officials have previously condemned 'freedom of navigation' patrols, arguing that they are cover for surveillance efforts, but defense ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang softened that stance on Thursday, telling reporters in Beijing that, "of course, we also respect freedom of navigation and overflight for all countries in the South China Sea."

According to Ren, the situation is stable in the South China Sea and defense officials have a "grasp" on US aircraft carrier activities in the region. The USS Carl Vinson has completed 16 patrol circuits through the South China Sea during its 35-year history, according to the US Navy.

In an appearance before the US Senate, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson took a hawkish stance on the Spratly islands, arguing that China had behaved illegally in the region. Tillerson also threatened to prevent Chinese ships from accessing the disputed South, comments that spurred backlash from Beijing officials. A Global Times op-ed called the Secretary of State's comments "unprofessional," explicating that US attempts to blockade Chinese access through the South China Sea would lead to a "military clash."

Meanwhile, Chinese lawmakers have announced revisions to a 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law that would give Chinese officials the authority to ban ships from entering what China considers to be its territorial waters. Under the proposed draft, non-Chinese military ships would be required to apply for pilotage if they desired to transit the South China Sea and ships that tried to avoid applying for a pilot's license would be slapped with a fine between 300-500 yuan ($43,706-72,844). The draft is slated to become law in 2020, but will likely be met with resistance by the US, Sputnik reported.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Security Council extends mandate of UN Guinea-Bissau peacebuilding office through 2018

23 February 2017  The United Nations Security Council today extended for another year the mandate of the UN Integrated Peace-Building Office in Guinea-Bissau, known as UNIOGBIS, and urged all political actors in the country to implement the provisions of the Conakry Agreement signed last October.

The Council endorsed the Conakry Agreement  which carries the name of the Guinean capital where it was signed in 2016 following talks between political leaders, civil society and religious leaders  saying that "it offers a historic opportunity for national authorities and political leaders, as well as civil society, to jointly ensure political stability and build sustainable peace."

The 15-members of the Council welcomed and supported a high-level mission to the country that is expected to be dispatched by the regional bloc Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) as part of a follow-up for implementation of the Agreement.

Under its renewed mandate, which will begin on 1 March 2017 and run through at least 28 February 2018, UNIOGBIS will also continue to work with ECOWAS, its mission in Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB) and other international partners to implement national security sector reform and strengthen the rule of law.

Among its primary responsibilities, the Council mandated the Office to focus its efforts on supporting an inclusive political dialogue and national reconciliation, and providing technical assistance to national authorities.

UNIOGBIS will also focus on supporting the Government of Guinea-Bissau in "mobilization, harmonization and coordination of international assistance," with UN partners, the African Union (AU), the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLC), ECOWAS, the European Union (EU).

In 2014, the West African nation concluded a second round of presidential elections, which are widely seen as essential to restoring constitutional order, economic growth and development following a 2012 military coup.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Calls on Beijing to Change South China Sea Approach

By VOA News February 23, 2017

The U.S. State Department is calling for China to alter its approach toward the South China Sea, a strategically important and resource-rich waterway that has long been claimed by several countries.

State Department spokeswoman Anna Richey-Allen said, "We call on China, as well as other claimants, to refrain from taking any steps towards the construction of new facilities, militarization of disputed features, and further land reclamation in the South China Sea, and to commit to resolving disputes peacefully with other claimants."

The statement comes as China nears completion of the construction of military structures on a group of islands in the South China Sea, Reuters reports.

Unnamed U.S. officials told the news service construction is almost complete on nearly two dozen structures with retractable roofs designed to house long-range surface-to-air missiles on the Spratly Island chain.

"Militarization of outposts raises tensions, and these recent reports have generated concern among countries in the region," Richey-Allen said.

Test for Trump administration

The development could be considered a military escalation by China, several experts told VOA, and could serve as an early test for President Donald Trump, who took a hard line against China throughout his campaign.

"This is part of their effort to eventually control that first island chain in the (South China Sea) and assert their claim, even though they have been completely repudiated by the International Court of Appeals, The Hague, based on the Law of the Sea Treaty, of which they are a member," Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council told VOA.

Brad Glosserman, executive director of the Hawaii-based security think tank Pacific Forum, told VOA this was another step in China's recent attempts to further militarize the islands.

"Clearly they are intending to build facilities that allow them to permanently store or deploy equipment of a military nature to these islands," he said.

A report released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) in December shows China has been building airstrips and anti-aircraft systems on the islands since at least June.

China's Defense Ministry issued a statement at the time, saying the construction was "mainly for civilian use."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Oil Executive Chosen as Somalia's New Prime Minister

By Harun Maruf February 23, 2017

Somalia's new president has picked an oil executive and former aid agency director to be the country's next prime minister.

Hassan Ali Khaire will face the task of strengthening Somalia's shaky central government and stabilizing a country struggling with severe drought and Islamist militancy.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo announced Khaire's nomination Thursday via Twitter.

Khaire spent the past two-and-a-half years as Africa director for the British energy company Soma Oil & Gas. From 2011 to 2014, he was the Horn of Africa director for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

In 2013, Soma was contracted by the Somali government to conduct oil and gas exploration off the coast of Somalia. Britain's Serious Fraud Office investigated the company after U.N. monitors accused it of bribery, but the fraud office cleared Soma, citing insufficient evidence.

New to politics

Khaire is said to be in his 40s and is new to Somali politics. But Farmajo said Thursday that he is well qualified for the position.

"He is someone who deserves the post, who has the experience and knowledge and most importantly, he is someone that I can work with," the president said.

Several previous Somali governments have collapsed because of power struggles between presidents and prime ministers.

Khaire will have to be approved by the parliament before he can form a Cabinet.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Mexico rejects Trump's 'unilateral' move on immigration

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:58AM

The government of Mexico rejects any "unilateral" measures by the administration of President Donald Trump on immigration.

Mexico's Wednesday reaction followed the US Homeland Security's unveiling of new details in the administration's crackdown on immigrants.

According to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, the new executive order emphasizes "the mission of intercepting irregular immigrants from many countries on our borders, treat them humanely and return them to their countries of origin as fast as possible."

But Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray asserted that guidelines issued by the department on Monday, as part of Trump's new order, are not acceptable.

"I want to say clearly and emphatically that the government of Mexico and the Mexican people do not have to accept provisions that one government unilaterally wants to impose on the other," Videgaray told reporters in Mexico City. "We also have control of our borders and we will exercise it fully."

Meanwhile, Kelly and the top American diplomat, Sate Secretary Rex Tillerson, went to the southern neighbor to discuss the situation.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he expected a "great discussion" with the Mexicans, describing ties with the country as "phenomenal."

"It's significant that the president is sending the secretaries to Mexico so early in the administration. It's symbolic of the meaningful relationship that our two nations have," Spicer told reporters on Wednesday. "These are important meetings regarding the president's agenda to improve the quality of lives for both people of Mexico and the United States by combating drug traffickers and finding ways to bolster both our economies through a broader relationship that promotes commerce and legal immigration."

Several US officials have so far rejected the idea that the guidelines, signed by Kelly, are tantamount to mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Since Trump's grip on power after the 2016 presidential vote, ties between US and Mexico have been centered on the new president's proposal to build a wall on the southern border and force Mexico to pay for it.

According to Spicer, Trump's new executive order will be issued "sometime next week."

Trump's first order for travel bans on seven Muslim-majority countries was suspended via a federal court ruling.

It aimed at imposing a 90-day entry ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia, block refugees from Syria indefinitely, and suspend all refugee admissions for 120 days.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Who 'has the say' in Tsarukyan alliance? (video)

The electoral alliance led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan awakens hopes [among people] to see changes in the country in a peaceful way. That is why voters should cast their ballots for this force, Tigran Urikhanyan, who is running in the April parliamentary elections on the list of the alliance, said on February 24. Many say that the bloc includes odious figures, who are not unanimously accepted by the society. There can be different people in the alliance but they are all guided by the simple rule  to ensure economic changes in the country, Mr Urikhanyan told journalists today. Campaigning for the elections officially starts on March 5. However, the alliance has not published its list of candidates for the April 2 elections yet. When asked to comment on this confidentiality Tigran Urikhanyan said, There is nothing confidential. The bloc will publish the list of election candidates in the near future. In reply to the next question whether the alliance would follow the example of Georgia and change the course of its foreign policy to guarantee economic development in Armenia, the lawmaker said, What does the foreign vector have to do with minerals, management of the countrys reserves or budget income? We should try to boost state budget efficiency and increase subsistence threshold. Recently, former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan announced that Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian is the only bloc that is not controlled by the government. Does it mean that the alliance led by Gagik Tsarukyan obeys the authorities? Our alliance is governed by Gagik Tsarukyan, and the parties it is made up of, Urikhanyan said in reply.
US Homeland Security: No Military Force Will Be Used in Immigration Operations

Sputnik News

22:11 23.02.2017(updated 23:10 23.02.2017)

John Kelly claims that the United States is not going to use military forces to round up and deport undocumented immigrants.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The United States is not going to use military forces to round up and deport undocumented immigrants despite President Donald Trump called the planned raids a "military operation," Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said in a joint press conference with Mexican counterparts on Thursday.

"No use of military force in immigration operations. None," Kelly stated. "We will approach this operation systematically, in an organized way, in a results-oriented way, in an operational way, in a human-dignity way. This is the way great militaries do business  the United States, Mexico, and many others."

Earlier in the day, Trump said in a meeting with a group of manufacturing CEOs at the White House that the removals would be a military operation, because most of the undocumented immigrants have criminal backgrounds.

In an executive action on January 27, Trump ordered the resumption of the 2008 Secure Communities program that relied on unprecedented information-sharing among local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to identify and deport immigrants with criminal records.

The Secure Communities program requires local and state police to hold detained individuals until federal officials can determine if they are in the United States illegally.

The Homeland Security Department ended the program in 2014 after a number of local and state agencies refused to comply with it, citing the high cost and detrimental impact it had on community relations.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






North Korean media break silence on Kim's death

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:50AM

North Korea has lambasted Malaysia for performing an "immoral and illegal" autopsy on the dead body of the North Korean leader's exiled half-brother, who was murdered in Kuala Lumpur last week.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday denounced Malaysian authorities for having a "sinister purpose" in handling the case and playing politics with the corpse of "a citizen of the DPRK [the Democratic People's Republic of Korea] bearing a diplomatic passport."

Malaysian police officials announced on February 14 that 46-year-old Kim Jong-nam had been attacked by two female assailants at the departure hall of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport a day earlier. The female attackers, who have been arrested, reportedly wiped some form of toxic agent over Kim's face. He died en route to the hospital.

Reports said Kim was traveling under an alias, and it was not clear what country had issued the "diplomatic passport" that the KCNA claimed he was carrying.

Apart from the two female assassins  an Indonesian and a Vietnamese  Malaysia has detained two men, one of them a North Korean national, in connection with the killing. Malaysia has also said that it "strongly" believes that four other suspects, who fled Malaysia the day of the killing, have arrived in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

North Korean media had largely been silent on the issue until Thursday. The KCNA said in its report that the Malaysian authorities were in collusion with South Korea, the North's neighbor and long-time adversary. It said Malaysia had initially confirmed that Kim "died of [a] heart stroke" but changed the account when South Korean media published "false" news that he had been "poisoned to death."

The KCNA also quoted a statement released by the North's Jurists Committee, a legal body affiliated with North Korea's parliament, as saying that, "Malaysia is obliged to hand his (Kim's) body to the DPRK side as it made an autopsy and forensic examination of it in an illegal and immoral manner."

The statement described Malaysia's handling of the autopsy as an "undisguised encroachment upon the sovereignty of the North."

It said the "biggest responsibility" regarding the case rested with Kuala Lumpur as Kim lost his life on Malaysian territory, adding that the Malaysian probe into the incident was full of "holes and contradictions."

The KCNA report, however, did not refer to the deceased by name.

Malaysia has refused to turn over Kim's body to North Korea and has sought to question a North Korean diplomat in connection with his killing. On Wednesday, Malaysian Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said that investigators were seeking to question the second secretary of the North's Embassy in Kuala Lumpur as well as an employee of the North's state airline Air Koryo.

Khalid said police had asked for access to the two and would "compel" them to appear before police if such access was denied.

South Korean police have claimed that Kim was killed by North Korean agents.

While the two Koreas have for long been involved in hostilities, Malaysia is seeing its diplomatic ties with Pyongyang sink for the first time.

Kim, who studied in Russia and Switzerland, was a computer enthusiast and fluent Japanese speaker. After completing his overseas studies, he oversaw North Korea's information technology policy. He fell from grace in 2001, however, and had been living in exile since 2003. He was reportedly an occasional critic of Pyongyang, advocating reform.

His death is the second most high-profile death during the reign of his younger brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, since the execution of Jang Song-thaek, the brothers' once powerful uncle, in December 2013.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Police Officials to Obtain DNA Sample From Son of Killed Kim Jong-nam

Sputnik News

07:10 23.02.2017(updated 08:38 23.02.2017)

Malaysian police officials plan to get a DNA sample from the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother Kim Jong-nam, killed earlier this month, media report.

TOKYO (Sputnik)  Three police officials left for Macau on Wednesday with the DNA sample of Kim Jong-nam that will be analyzed together with the sample that his son had agreed to provide, The Straits Times said on Thursday citing Chinese media reports.

According to the Sin Chew daily cited by the newspaper, Kim Jong-nam's son Kim Han Sol agreed to provide a DNA sample in an arrangement facilitated by Interpol.

Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of North Korea's late leader Kim Jong-il and older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was killed as he was preparing to board a flight to Macau on February 13.

On Sunday, Malaysian authorities confirmed that they were working with Interpol to apprehend alleged accomplices in the murder of Kim Jong-nam. A day later, ambassador of North Korea to Malaysia Kang Chol called for a joint Pyongyang-Kuala Lumpur investigation into the murder of Kim Jong-nam, however, on Wednesday, Malaysian police said Kuala Lumpur opposed a joint investigation and called on Pyongyang to transfer four suspects in Kim's killing.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Full US Review of Policy Toward North Korea Expected

By Nike Ching February 23, 2017

The Trump White House has ordered a review of U.S. policy toward North Korea, looking at all the options Washington has for its future dealings with Pyongyang and the Kim Jong Un regime, well-informed diplomatic sources told VOA this week.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addressed the threat posed by North Korea as recently as Tuesday in his conversation with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi.

Tillerson did not answer a question posed by VOA on the status of the policy review on Wednesday during his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

A nuclear-armed North Korea presents President Donald Trump's administration with one of its most urgent and potentially explosive problems, many experts argue.

"As the new president has heard directly from [former] President [Barack] Obama and in intelligence briefings, North Korea has nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems that already threaten South Korea and Japan, as well as U.S. bases in those countries and in the western Pacific," said Evans Revere, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies in Washington.

Some contend it is time for Washington to take a different approach in its dealings with Pyongyang, such as directly engaging with the reclusive and unpredictable regime. Others are calling for a harder line against Pyongyang's militaristic gestures, such as its ballistic-missile launch this month, timed to coincide with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's talks in the U.S. with Trump.

"The Trump administration needs to engage the North Koreans to determine how the two sides can avoid a possible confrontation that is in no one's interest," Asia-Pacific expert Donald Zagoria told VOA Wednesday.

Call for broader contacts

Zagoria, of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, is prominent among those who feel that broader contacts with North Korea are the best way to resolve differences.

He is senior vice president and director of a forum on Asia-Pacific security at NCAFP, which is based in New York. Founded more than 40 years ago, the nonprofit policy organization aims to resolve conflicts that threaten U.S. interests.

"The new administration needs to appoint a special representative who has the authority to deal with this issue and to coordinate policy across the bureaucracy," Zagoria said.

The NCAFP is trying to organize talks between North Korean representatives and former American officials in the hope that such talks, the so-called "Track 1.5" diplomacy, can contribute to the resolution of problems that governments are unwilling or unable to address officially.

No details of preparation

Zagoria, who was a consultant to the National Security Council and the State Department under former President Jimmy Carter, declined to comment on details of the preparations for such talks.

One potential stumbling block, however, already looms. The State Department has not yet approved visas for North Korean officials to travel to New York for such talks.

A spokesperson for the State Department's East Asia and Pacific Bureau, Anna Richey-Allen, told VOA, "An individual's eligibility for specific categories of visas is based on a number of factors, including the activities that he or she intends to undertake in the United States."

In contrast to the views of Zagoria and others who hope for greater engagement with North Korea under Trump, other experts argue that Washington "must apply immediate and unprecedented pressure" on the North Korean regime to compel Pyongyang to change its provocative behavior.

The United States should enhance "extended deterrence and measures to physically demonstrate U.S. determination to fulfill its commitments," Revere said at a recent discussion organized by NCAFP.

Increased military exercises

Revere added that the United States could "increase scope and frequency of military exercises to include participation by other members of the United Nations Command," including Britain and Australia.

If the planned Track 1.5 talks do take place, they would be the first such meetings in years.

"The substance will determine the significance," said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"It would provide an opportunity to hear if North Korea has anything new to say," Glaser said, adding, "other than its familiar demands that Washington must recognize Pyongyang as a nuclear weapons state."

Another factor could figure in U.S. diplomacy and the Trump administration's expected review of policy toward North Korea in the coming weeks, said former presidential adviser Dennis Wilder, who worked for former President George W. Bush and currently is a senior fellow at Georgetown University's U.S.-China Initiative.

"The policy review may not be completed quickly," Wilder said, "given the abrupt change of leadership at the National Security Council [after Michael Flynn's departure] and the absence of new, middle-level political appointees for East Asia and Pacific affairs at the departments of State and Defense."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Germany to Increase NATO Commitment, Up Troop Size to Almost 200,000

Sputnik News

04:15 23.02.2017

Germany will increase the size of its military by 10 percent over the next seven years the defense ministry announced Tuesday, just one day after US Vice President Mike Pence called on allies in Europe to increase their commitment to NATO.

Berlin previously announced in May 2016 that it would enhance its military by 14,300 troops, the first such increase since the end of the Cold War. But the number of additional soldiers was changed to 20,000 after revision, and under the new plan, the Bundeswehr is expected to grow to a total of 198,000 by 2024.

"The Bundeswehr is under demand like never before," Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday, specifically pointing out the role of the German unified armed forces in the stabilization of Mali, in combating Daesh in Iraq and Syria, and, as a NATO member, defending the Baltic from a so-called Russian Threat.

"In light of these increasing responsibilities, the Bundeswehr must be allowed to grow accordingly," she said.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has sharply criticized what it views as deficient European monetary investment in NATO. Although the bloc set member-nation defense-spending targets at 2 percent of GDP, Germany in recent years has spent less than 1.5 percent of its GDP on defense, according to the Economist.

In Brussels on Monday, Pence accentuated that the US had "unwavering support" for NATO, but cautioned that member countries must increase their monetary commitment to the organization, if they want Washington's support to continue.

"Europe's defense requires Europe's commitment as well as ours," the Vice President said. "The patience of the American people will not endure forever."

A few days earlier, at the Munich Security Conference, the German Defense Minister cautioned Washington against giving up the core Western values that all NATO members have signed on to, and seeking cooperation with Russia behind Europe's back.

"Our American friends know well that your tone on Europe and NATO has a direct impact on the cohesion of our continent," she said. "A stable European Union is also in America's interest, as is a strong and unified NATO."

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran possessing optimal security index: Armed Forces chief of staff

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Feb 23, IRNA -- Iran, as far as the indexes for national security and peace as well as readiness to address threats are concerned, is in the best condition, says Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.

"We are in best conditions, as far as the national security and peace indexes as well as our deterrence power and readiness to counter potential threats are concerned," General Baqeri told reporters in a ceremony on Thursday.

"We have no security concerns and the Iranian Armed Forces are vigilant and remain to monitor developments in the region," he said.

Answering a question regarding the anti-Iranian rhetoric used by some participants of the recent Munich Security Conference against the Iranian high-ranking officials, Baqeri said that what they said was indicative of a political backwardness.

"All the rhetoric they use and threats they make against the Iranian people in some global forums shows their political backwardness," he said.

9191**2044

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran's IRGC unveils new anti-helicopter mines during drills

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:48AM

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has unveiled a new model of anti-helicopter mines during its recent military drills that were held in the eastern and central parts of the country.

The mine named Sa'eqeh (thunderbolt) was successfully put to test during the Payambar-e-A'azam (Great Prophet) 11 drills in Taybad County of the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi.

Sa'eqeh has been designed and manufactured by Iranian experts with the aim of enhancing deterrence against potential airborne intrusion.

The remote-controlled anti-helicopter mine, which contains several explosive projectiles, is planted on the ground to target intruding flying objects up to an altitude of 500 meters.

Following the explosion of the mine's main part, the small projectile bombs will then fly and explode in a vertical line, enabling them to destroy the target or inflict serious damage on it.

The mine does not need separate radar systems to detect the intruding flying object.

This is the third generation of Iran's domestically-manufactured anti-chopper mines after J-AHM and Sayyad models.

Sa'eqeh was tested during the final stage of Payambar-e-A'azam 11 drills on Wednesday, when the IRGC's Saberin Special Forces Brigade struck mock enemy positions and vehicles.

The operation was being backed by the Corps' rocket fire units, which launched state-of-the-art and precision-guided projectiles at designated targets.

The IRGC's T-72 tank units, Boraq personnel carriers (the modified Iranian version of Russian BMP-1 fighting vehicles) and BMP-2 armored vehicles were also used in the maneuvers.

The first stage of the maneuvers similarly witnessed defensive operations using smart rockets and surgical attacks, while the Force practiced defending residential areas during simulated urban warfare in the second phase.

Iran says its military might is defensive in nature and poses no threat to any other country.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iraqi forces liberate Mosul airport from Daesh: Media reports

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:6AM

Iraqi ground troops, backed by the army's air force, have reportedly taken control of the Mosul air port amid a new offensive to liberate the Daesh-held western half of the city, which serves as the last urban stronghold of the terror group in the Arab state.

Iraqi media reported the full liberation of the Mosul airport on Thursday hours after army troops and allied fighters launched an operation to retake the facility, which lies on the west bank of Tigris River running through the city.

Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat announced the operation in a statement on Thursday, saying that members of the Iraqi federal police and rapid response forces were engaged in the multi-pronged offensive to liberate the airport, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported.

He said government troops were receiving support from Iraqi helicopter gunships and artillery units, stressing that the bulk of Daesh fortifications has been destroyed so far.

Major General Najim al-Jabouri, the head of the Operations Command in Nineveh Province, of which Mosul is the capital, also pointed out that Iraqi forces were advancing to establish control over Ghazlani airbase.

"Our forces will prevail and liberate the Mosul airport as soon as possible," Jabouri said. "Just like Qayyarah Airfield, we will take advantage of the Mosul airport to attack Daesh."

Since earlier this week, Iraqi forces, backed by fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, have been closing in on the Daesh-led western half of Mosul after dealing severe blows to the terror group on the eastern front.

The developments came a day after Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) stated that Iraqi F-16 fighter jets had carried out a string of airstrikes on the outskirts of Tal Afar city, located 63 kilometers west of Mosul.

Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said on Wednesday that the Iraqi military aircraft destroyed a car bomb workshop used by the terror group in Khuwainiyah village, and killed 20 extremists in the adjacent village of al-Alow.

Yarallah added that a Daesh car bomb workshop was also destroyed in Alow. Tens of Daesh Takfiris were killed and another workshop for manufacturing improvised explosive devices was destroyed as Iraqi warplanes bombarded al-Tawim village.

Meanwhile, a number of explosive-laden car were destroyed and six Daesh members killed when Iraqi jets struck al-Sahaji village west of Mosul.

Also on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Popular Mobilization Units -- commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi -- Ahmed al-Assadi, said the pro-government fighters have established control over the strategic road linking Tal Afar to Mosul.

Furthermore, the 26th Brigade of Hashd al-Sha'abi force shot down a Daesh drone as it flying in the skies over Tak Kisum village

Meanwhile, Hashd al-Sha'abi media bureau announced in a statement on Wednesday that Iraqi warplanes had targeted an area in Ayn Talawi village on the western outskirts of Mosul, killing a number of militants.

The statement added that self-proclaimed Daesh governor for Tal Afar, identified as Mostafa Yusef, was killed in the aerial attack.

Concerns over civilian lives

Meanwhile, international aid organizations have warned against the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of civilians from Mosul in the wake of the final stage of the battle to recapture the city from Daesh Takfiris.

Makeshift camps are being built up in nine cities near Mosul, and tents are being pitched in existing camps to accommodate up to 400,000 internally displaced people.

"The greatest concern is the fact that we might have a massive surge of civilians being displaced," Hala Jaber, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said.

The IOM press officer added, "We are preparing to expand the camps and build up emergency sites to be able to take the numbers."

More than 217,000 people have been displaced from eastern Mosul ever since a major operation was launched on October 17, 2016. Iraqi government forces and Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters regained control of the area last month.

Some 57,000 people are estimated to have already returned to their liberated neighborhoods.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iraqi Forces Reportedly Capture Mosul Airport

RFE/RL February 23, 2017

Iraqi forces pushing to capture the western part of Mosul from Islamic State (IS) militants have taken control of the city's disused airport, Iraqi state television is reporting.

State TV flashed that government forces "are fully in control of the airport of Mosul" on February 23, hours after Iraqi forces launched a concerted effort to capture it.

The troops came under heavy fire from IS militants barricaded inside airport buildings. Officials said forces from the U.S.-led international coalition were contributing to the assault.

Earlier, Lebanese television showed at least one Iraqi helicopter hovering over the airport and firing into the main airport building.

In separate fighting, officials said an elite counterterrorism force had reached the IS-held Ghazlani military base near the airport amid fierce fighting. It is reportedly the first time this unit has been used in the Mosul offensive.

Earlier this month, Iraqi forces, aided by the U.S.-led international coalition, launched the operation to capture the western part of Mosul.

Officials said the operation has captured 120 square kilometers of territory since February 19.

Iraqi officials also said troops could enter western Mosul in the next few days.

Mosul fell to IS fighters in the summer of 2014. The part of the city on the eastern side of the Tigris River was liberated one month ago.

U.S. officials said on February 20 that some 2,000 IS fighters were still entrenched in the city.

Some 750,000 civilians remain in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the last IS stronghold in the country.

Officials have said taking the western part of the city could be particularly difficult because it contains older neighborhoods with narrow, densely developed streets. Iraqi forces will have a much harder time using their armored vehicles there.

On the western side of the city, government-supported Shi'ite militias were also reportedly on the offensive, in a coordinated drive to capture villages on the outskirts of the city.

Capturing the airport and the Ghazlani military base would be significant milestones in the government's 4-month-old drive to push IS back.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/iraq-assault-mosul- airport/28326474.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Kurdistan Regional Government Could Support Autonomy for Iraq's Yazidis

Sputnik News

22:56 23.02.2017

The Kurdistan Regional Government Representative to the United States Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman said that KRG was not opposed to autonomous areas for Iraq's Yazidi and Christian minorities.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is not opposed to autonomous areas for Iraq's Yazidi and Christian minorities, KRG Representative to the United States Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman said on Thursday.

"We have no issue with autonomy for them," Abdul Rahman said during a talk at the Hudson Institute. "We should listen to them and we should give them what is necessary."

Abdul Rahman said Yazidis and Christians could inhabit one autonomous zone or both minorities could control their own separate areas.

KRG President Masoud Barzani has previously stressed that Sinjar, the northern Iraqi town mainly inhabited by Yazidis, is part of Kurdistan.

But Yazidi rights groups have alleged Erbil misled them about the threat Daesh posed in Sinjar and for delaying aid to Yazidi women who escaped the terror group.

Separately, Abdul Rahman noted the KRG was grateful for the Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) liberating the Yazdis after the Islamic State overran Sinjar, but said the terror group's presence there had since become problematic.

Iraq's Yazidis and Christians could gain autonomy through a referendum similar to the one Barzani has proposed for Kurdistan.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US-backed Iraqi Forces Take Control of Mosul Airport

By VOA News February 23, 2017

Iraq said Thursday that its U.S.-backed forces had retaken the airport in Mosul, which Islamic State extremists had controlled since 2014.

In a flash on its screen, state television declared, "The Rapid Response Forces and federal police are fully in control of the airport of Mosul."

Iraqi forces launched a new bid to retake the western areas of Iraq's second-largest city Sunday after saying in late January that they had liberated eastern parts of the city.

Iraqi Lieutenant General Raid Shakir Jaudat said Baghdad's forces, backed by drones and heavy artillery, had advanced on the airport from several positions. At first, accounts of the airport takeover said there was little Islamic State resistance, but later there were reports of Iraqi firefights with militants encamped in airport buildings.

One Iraqi special forces officer reported IS fighters had targeted Baghdad's fighters with a suicide car bomb and dozens of bombs dropped from drones. The officer said there were at least a dozen casualties, although many were light injuries.

"Daesh [IS] resistance is not inconsiderable, but they are trying to save their strength for inside the city," First Lieutenant Ahmed al-Ghalabi of the Rapid Response Forces said outside the airport's main entrance.

An Iraqi takeover of the airport would give its troops access to the city from the southwest and for the first time control of an area along the west bank of the Tigris River.

Another commander, Hisham Abdul Kadhem, said, "Right now, thank God, we're inside Mosul airport and in front of its terminal. Our troops are liberating it."

Little was left inside the airport, and what was once a runway was littered with dirt and debris. IS forces had leveled other buildings in the airport complex.

The Iraqi forces also seized an IS weapons storage warehouse, as well its onetime headquarters and barracks.

But the advance to retake the remainder of western Mosul may take some time. It took three months for Iraqi forces to seize control of the eastern part of the city.

U.S. forces have played a key role in the advance of Baghdad's troops, launching airstrikes and providing advisers on the ground. On Thursday, U.S. forces were seen on the front lines of the attack.

The American forces are not supposed to be engaged in the fighting under Washington's terms of the U.S. involvement in Iraq. But a coalition spokesman, Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, said Wednesday that in recent weeks they have gotten so close to the front that they have come under attack near Mosul and returned fire.

Thousands of Iraqi forces have been involved in the advance on Mosul, while U.S. officials say they think that only about 2,000 jihadists remain in the city. But the fight for control of densely populated western Mosul is likely to be fierce. It includes the Old City and its narrow streets, which are impassable for some military vehicles.

Residents of western Mosul report that food supplies are dwindling, but residents on the liberated eastern side of the city are expressing their support.

On Wednesday, an army plane dropped thousands of letters from residents of the retaken eastern side into the western area.

One letter said, "Be patient and help each other ... the end of injustice is near." It was signed "People from the east side."

Earlier this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited Iraq and vowed that the U.S. would support Iraq in its fight against IS jihadists.

When asked whether the United States would stay in Iraq after the battle for Mosul had ended, he said, "I imagine we'll be in this fight for a while and we'll stand by each other."

There are an estimated 750,000 civilians in western Mosul, essentially under siege by Iraqi forces, along with IS fighters.

Many of those civilians in western Mosul were forced out of the eastern part of the city during heavy fighting there last month.

Meanwhile, aid agencies are worried and preparing for the possibility that up to 250,000 people might flee Mosul in the coming days or weeks.

The U.N. refugee agency has said it is focusing its efforts on building new camps to house the displaced. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has completed eight camps and says it is planning to start work at another site south of Mosul.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Head of US Africa Command: Rival Libyan Factions Must Work Together

By Henry Ridgwell February 23, 2017

The commander of the United States Africa Command  which oversees military operations across Africa  has told VOA that the only way to peace in Libya is by bringing together rival governments. General Thomas Waldhauser made the remarks at the recent Munich Security Conference, ahead of Operation Flintlock, a joint military exercise being hosted by seven African nations.

Libya's political chaos remains entrenched. The internationally-backed Government of National Accord controls only part of Tripoli, while rival power bases vie for the capital and other cities. In the east, General Khalifa Haftar  head of the Libyan National Army  holds sway over the House of Representatives.

Speaking to VOA at the Munich Security Conference Sunday, General Thomas Waldhauser  commander of the United States Africa Command  said the U.S. is pushing for a unity deal.

"There's no doubt about the fact that Haftar and his influence, especially in the east, is something that has to be dealt with. And this is where we talk about a political solution that has to take place, this is where it all begins," he said.

Haftar's forces control most of Libya's oil fields. Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft signed a preliminary agreement with Libya's National Oil Company Tuesday to invest billions of dollars, the latest move by Moscow to reassert ties with Libya  and further evidence of its strong backing for Haftar. General Waldhauser acknowledged that Russia would likely play a role in any solution.

"We welcome anyone's the goal is to get those two together. The goal is to get those two to talk, and the goal is to make some accommodation in that regard."

The U.S. has conducted a sustained air campaign against Islamic State militants in Libya  and in January dispatched B-2 bombers on a 9,400-kilometer journey from a Missouri airbase to target training camps.

The U.S. military's Africa Command is building partnerships in the Sahel region aimed at tackling terrorists  staging an annual joint exercise known as Operation Flintlock.

Nigeria is a key regional partner, and the U.S. is providing intelligence support in the country's fight against Islamic State-affiliated terror group Boko Haram. At the Munich Security Conference, Nigerian Major General Babagana Monguno said the association of global terror groups means international cooperation is vital.

"The uprising in Libya and the eventual capitulation of the Gadhafi government resulted in a southward flow of arms and human beings. The most natural place in sub-Saharan Africa for this flow was Nigeria," he said.

Nigerian soldiers have been accused of abuses by human rights group Amnesty International in their fight against Boko Haram. General Waldhauser said the U.S. military takes such allegations seriously when working with partners.

"We understand the requirement for battlefield ethics. We make it part of our training, and we try to continue to emphasize that more than just those aspects but also in the legal system, and in our discussions with key leaders as well," he said.

Operation Flintlock 2017 is about to get under way. The three-week exercise will bring together 2,000 service personnel from more than 20 African, European and North American partner nations.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






No peace with Myanmar government in sight, powerful rebel group warns

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 3:46PM

The head of Myanmar's most powerful ethnic rebel group has threatened to derail the government's wobbling push for peace as fierce fighting in the country's restive borderlands has reached a critical point.

Bao Youxiang, chairman of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), also known as the Wa, told dozens of armed ethnic leaders in Pangkham, a town in far eastern Shan State of Myanmar, on Wednesday that they must forge a "new path to peace."

"The ethnic fighting happening today is heavier than ever," Bao told the leaders, adding, "The many conflicts along Myanmar's road to peace ... mean the dawn can't be seen."

Among the attendees of the USWA-led meeting in Pangkham, the de facto capital of the UWSA's territories, were members of the Northern Alliance, a collection of four ethnic armed groups that has been locked in bitter conflict with the army since November.

The remarks come as fighting in northern Kachin State and northern Shan State along the Myanmar-China border is getting worse day by day.

Violent clashes between the army and ethnic minorities along the China border have intensified, displacing an estimated 20,000 people.

The UN rights envoy Yanghee Lee warned last month that the humanitarian situation in Kachin state was "now worse than at any point in the past few years."

The ongoing fierce clashes have also threatened the second round of peace talks slated for next month.

The UWSA is the most powerful of the country's ethnic rebel factions with an estimated 25,000 heavily-armed troops.

The group is accused of establishing their own mini-state on the Chinese border, and buying weapons with the proceeds from drug trafficking and producing.

Last August, the group's delegates stormed out of the first round of peace talks with the country's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, over a spat about their accreditation.

The developments come as the government's efforts to expand a ceasefire signed with some ethnic rebel groups in 2015 have faltered.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Bomb blasts hit Pakistan's Lahore, leave casualties

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 11:8AM

Two bomb explosions have occurred in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, with authorities announcing a death toll of six from one of the blasts.

The first blast ripped through the building of an upscale shopping market on the outskirts of Pakistan's second largest city and the capital of Punjab province on Thursday, leaving six people dead and at least thirty others injured.

Initial reports had said a generator had exploded; however, sources in the Punjab police and the provincial government confirmed that the explosion had been caused by a bomb.

Cities across Pakistan had been put on high alert following a recent spate of deadly terrorist attacks in the South Asian country. The Pakistani military announced a day earlier that a massive counter-terrorism operation had been launched after a week of bombings in the country that claimed at least 100 lives.

Meanwhile, a second explosion rocked another market in Lahore's Gulberg area, with no immediate reports of casualties.

A Punjab government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the explosion had occurred on a main boulevard lined with shopping plazas and restaurants.

No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the two blasts.

"The enemy is taking advantage of the turmoil in Afghanistan to launch terrorist attacks on Pakistan's soil," a foreign office spokesman told reporters at a regular press briefing Thursday.

While the spokesman did not clarify who "the enemy" was, militants with the Pakistani Taliban have largely been to blame for violence in Pakistan. Recently, Daesh, too, has carried out bombings.

Daesh targeted a shrine in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh last Thursday, leaving about 90 people dead and over 350 others wounded.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In Face Of Threats And Attacks, Pakistani Media Establish 'Safety Hubs'

Frud Bezhan, Zaland Yousufzai February 23, 2017

In Pakistan, a country where journalists are often the targets of threats and deadly attacks and have little protection from authorities, many reporters are left to fend for themselves.

Now, Pakistani journalists are banding together and establishing so-called "safety hubs" where reporters can formally document cases of intimidation and physical abuse. The hubs, located in press clubs in all four provincial capitals, will then take up the cases with authorities.

The initiative is part of an effort to highlight attacks on the media in a bid to spur authorities to protect Pakistan's estimated 18,000 journalists, many of whom face threats and violence from militant groups, criminal gangs, and even the country's own military and intelligence agencies.

Gohar Ali, the head of the safety hub project in the volatile northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining lawless tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan, says they have reported more than a dozen cases of threats since the project was rolled out in January.

'Fear More Trouble'

A large banner is plastered on the Peshawar Press Club, a two-story brick building opposite the railway station in the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The sign urges journalists facing threats and violence to come forward.

But Ali says many journalists are still afraid to report threats and violence, fearing a backlash from militants, criminals, and intelligence agents in the region.

"The major problem is that many journalists do not mention the threat because they fear more trouble," Ali said. "This is especially the case with journalists from the tribal areas who are facing many threats."

Ali says there have been many cases where journalists have shared their concerns, but have refrained from formally documenting their complaints.

Dilawar Wazir, a BBC reporter in Peshawar, moved with his family from the Waziristan region in the tribal areas due to persistent threats.

The region, many parts of which are off-limits to reporters, is a hotbed for militant groups and the scene of sporadic military operations.

"The majority of journalists have moved with their families from Waziristan because of threats and fear," says Wazir. "The homes of many journalists have been attacked in the past. They were physically attacked or their family members were threatened."

Apart from recording cases, the safety hubs also offer legal advice for journalists facing prosecution for their reporting and even provide financial assistance to the families of reporters who have been killed in the line of duty.

The project is managed by International Media Support, a development organization that works with local media in conflict areas.

The project comes a year after journalists formed a group called Editors For Safety, vowing to report on and highlight attacks on the press in an attempt to spur the authorities and their own employers into action.

Culture Of Impunity

Pakistan has long been among the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, with 102 reporters and media workers having lost their lives since 2005, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The organization adds that, since 2010, 73 journalists and media workers in Pakistan have been killed: almost one journalist killed every month.

Most of those killed were local journalists reporting on war, politics, corruption, and human rights.

In a 2016 report on Pakistan, which ranks 147th out of 179 countries on Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index, the IFJ said that an "atmosphere of lawlessness" in the country, aided by "widespread impunity," has "not only contributed to more attacks on journalists but also forced the journalists to self-censor."

"In many of the cases, there were reports suspecting Pakistan's intelligence services' involvement but the government has failed to investigate these cases and punish the murderers. With only three verdicts and one case in the court in more than 100 killings since 2005, impunity in Pakistan is at its worst."

In August, DawnNews cameraman Mahmood Khan and Aaj TV cameraman Shehzad Ahmed died at Quetta Civil Hospital when a bomb killed at least 70 people -- many of them lawyers -- among a crowd that was grieving the assassination of the head of Balochistan's Bar Association.

There have been dozens of high-profile cases of journalists targeted in Pakistan in the past decade, including U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, who was slain after his abduction in the port city of Karachi in 2002; Salem Shahzad, who was found dead in the capital Islamabad in 2011 after reporting on the infiltration of militant groups in the army; and Hamid Mir, one of Pakistan's most prominent reporters, who survived an attack on his life in Karachi in 2014.

Written by Frud Bezhan, based on reporting by RFE/RL Radio Mashaal correspondent Zaland Yousufzai

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-journalists- threats-attacks-safety-hubs/28326875.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Putin: Russia aims to stabilize legitimate authority in Syria

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 5:53PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country has no plans to interfere in Syria's internal affairs and its aim is to stabilize the legitimate government in the Arab country which is battling terrorists.

"Our task is to stabilize the legitimate authority in the country and strike a decisive blow against international terrorism," Putin said at a Thursday meeting in Moscow with officers returning from combat in Syria.

The Russian leader further expressed hope for the success of a political settlement in Syria, saying it will help defeat the "terrorist malaise."

"The sooner the country reaches a political settlement, the better the chances for the international community to put an end to the terrorist plague on Syrian territory," he said.

Putin hailed the role played by the Russian naval forces in combating terrorism, singling out the Northern Fleet, which includes Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier group, and was deployed to the Mediterranean off the Syrian coast.

"You have fulfilled all the tasks that were given to you and inflicted significant damage to the international terrorist groups by hitting their bases, ammunition storages, equipment, and infrastructure," he said.

Moscow's military deployment to Syria has "contributed directly to Russia's security," Putin said, warning of an "enormous risk" posed to Russia by the foreign members of the Daesh terrorist group.

According to Russian intelligence services, some 4,000 Russian citizens and 5,000 citizens from the former Soviet Union are fighting within Daesh ranks in Syria, Putin said.

Moscow launched its campaign against Daesh and other terror outfits in Syria at the request of the government in Damascus.

In January, Moscow withdrew its naval force from Syrian waters, including the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, as part of a reduction of its military role in the Arab country.

Putin said the Russian military has "helped to create conditions for the peace talks between the Syrian government and the armed opposition."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Senator McCain secretly visited Syria last weekend

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 23, 2017 1:57AM

US Republican Senator John McCain secretly visited war-ravaged Syria last weekend.

A spokeswoman for McCain confirmed Wednesday earlier reports that the lawmaker, who c hairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, made a visit to the Syrian town of Kobani.

"Senator McCain traveled to northern Syria last week to visit U.S. forces deployed there and to discuss the counter-ISIL campaign and ongoing operations to retake Raqqah," said the spokeswoman.

The Republican senator has been one the most staunch critics of US policies towards the Syrian crisis, adopted under former President Barack Obama.

The visit to Kobani, located on the northern border with Turkey, was made as US military officials were evaluating ways to allegedly tackle the Daesh Takfiri group.

"Senator McCain's visit was a valuable opportunity to assess dynamic conditions on the ground in Syria and Iraq. President Trump has rightly ordered a review of the US strategy and plans to defeat ISIL," McCain's spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, the White House was awaiting a strategy by the Pentagon to defeat Daesh (ISIL).

"It will address ISIS globally, and it is not just a [Department of Defense] plan," said Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis. "We're charged with leading the development of the plan, but it absolutely calls upon the capabilities of other departments."

The US and its allies have been conducting air raids against what are said to be Daesh terrorists' positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. Analysts have assessed the strikes as unsuccessful as they have led to civilian deaths and failed to counter terrorism.

For nearly six years, Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy. According to a UN estimation in August last year, more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russia Open To U.S. Plan To Create Safe Zones, If Syria Is Involved

RFE/RL February 23, 2017

Russia is open to dialogue with the United States on creating safe zones in Syria, but believes that any such plan needs to be coordinated with the Syrian government, Moscow's top diplomat said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow on February 22 that he briefly discussed safe zones with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when they met in Germany last week, but Tillerson told him the concept was still being worked out.

U.S. President Donald Trump said last month that he wants to set up safe zones where Syrians escaping the war can safely live rather than flee the country to become refugees in the United States and Europe. Trump instructed the U.S. Defense and State Departments to work out details of the plan.

Lavrov said Russia will wait for the United States to spell out its proposal.

"We believe that any such initiatives concerning the territory of Syria need to be coordinated with the Syrian government; otherwise it would be hard to implement them," he said.

"Having described our understanding of what we can talk about, we are waiting for clarifications from Washington," Lavrov said. "We are also ready to discuss other proposals concerning our cooperation in Syria."

Lavrov appeared to be backing the line taken by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has said that any move by outside parties to set up safe zones would be a violation of Syria's sovereignty unless it is coordinated with his government.

One of the principal concerns critics of Syrian safe zones have raised is the possibility that any enforcement of such zones by Western forces could lead to clashes with Russian and Syrian forces operating nearby.

But Trump and the Kremlin have been holding out the possibility of greater cooperation in Syria, not only on creating safe zones but particularly on battling the Islamic State group.

Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said on February 22 that Putin and Trump discussed possible cooperation on fighting terrorism, along with economic issues, in a January 28 phone call. He called the conversation "quite substantive," but provided no details.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, Interfax, and TASS

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-open-us-plan- create-safe-zones-syria-bashar-assad-involved -lavrov-tillerson/28326280.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Daesh Announces Withdrawal From Syria's Al Bab

Sputnik News

22:00 23.02.2017(updated 22:04 23.02.2017)

The Daesh has announced the start of its withdrawal from northern Syrian town of Al Bab, which is currently under siege by Turkish and Syrian forces, according to local media.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  The Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh, outlawed in Russia) terrorist group has started to leave the besieged northern Syrian town of Al Bab, media reports said Thursday.

The Daesh has announced the start of its withdrawal from the town, which is currently under siege by Turkish and Syrian forces, the Al Mayadeen channel reported.

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters said that Al Bab was fully under their control earlier in the day. Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik later stated that most of the town was under Syrian opposition control after the fighters entered the town center.

Turkish-backed forces made advances into the town earlier this month. The town's remaining jihadist-held areas thus came under siege as the Syrian army had approached Al Bab from the south earlier on, cutting off militant retreat routes.

The Euphrates Shield operation by Turkey and Syrian opposition started on August 24 after Turkish troops crossed into Syria. The city of Jarabulus in northern Syria was captured before the offensive on Al Bab began. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the aim of the operation was to clear the region of terrorists and make it a safety zone for refugees.

The operation has been widely criticized both by the Syrian Kurds and Damascus, who have accused Ankara of violating Syria's territorial integrity.

The Daesh took over Al Bab in 2013 as it spread throughout Syria amid the country's ongoing civil war.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Syrian Army May Launch Offensive in Damascus Suburb Unless Militants Surrender

Sputnik News

12:26 23.02.2017

Syria's minister for reconciliation said Damascus hopes for a peaceful settlement in the neighbourhood of Qaboun but does not rule out a military action.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  The Syrian army command may take a decision to launch an offensive in Damascus' neighbourhood of Qaboun due to the presence of the militants from terrorist group al-Nusra Front (outlawed in Russia) undermining the reconciliation process, Syrian Minister for National Reconciliation Ali Haidar told Sputnik.

"The militants provoke and initiate clashes. The army takes measures to control the situation. We are moving at the two main and equally important directions. We are preparing for a military operation at the moment to be determined by the army's command, and we do not intervene into it, and are taking steps for reconciliation, which will hopefully outstrip the military scenario in Qaboun We need honest decisions of the militants and we are expecting them in the upcoming days," Haidar said.

Haidar noted that the situation in Qaboun remained tense, while in the Damascus suburb of Barzeh the ceasefire regime was observing.

"We have come a long way to reconciliation in Barzeh. The ceasefire is ongoing there, though periodic militants' actions like kidnapping, shelling and road blocking attempts take place. Nevertheless, we try to keep the ceasefire regime and make it constant and full," Haidar added.

On February 5, Syrian President Bashar Assad extended a decree on amnesty for militants who surrender and hand over their weapons until the end of June.

Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition and terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front and Daesh, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Damascus Hopes to Resolve Issue of Turkish Troops' Presence in Syria Politically

Sputnik News

12:11 23.02.2017(updated 12:32 23.02.2017)

Syria's Minister for National Reconciliation Ali Haidar told Sputnik that Damascus has not changed its stance on the presence of Turkish troops and considers it to be occupation of the country.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  The Syrian government hopes that the issue of Turkey's military presence in Syria will be handled by political means and will not result in direct confrontation, Syria's Minister for National Reconciliation Ali Haidar told Sputnik.

"It would be desirable to settle [the issue of Turkish military presence] in its early stage by political means, without letting it evolve into direct military confrontation," the minister said.

Haidar added that Ankara is creating preconditions for a conflict situation by its military presence in Syria.

"Our stance on the presence of Turkish military forces has not changed. This is the violation of the sovereignty and occupation of Syria," the minister said.

Haidar also posed the question whether it would be possible for Russia to prevent the situation from growing into military confrontation and persuade Turkey to give up the idea of continuing military presence in Syria for a long-term period.

On Friday, local media reported that the Syrian Foreign Ministry sent letters to UN secretary general and UN Security Council's chairman, urging to exert influence on Ankara to put an end to continued Turkish aggression against Syrian sovereignty and its territorial integrity.

On August 24, the Turkish army launched Operation Euphrates Shield against militants of the Daesh group, which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries. Since then the Turkish-led forces have driven Daesh from a number of settlements in northern Syria. The Turkish forces, with assistance from Syrian opposition fighters, occupied the city of Jarablus in northern Syria and are currently conducting its offensive on al-Bab.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the aim of the operation is to clear the territory of 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles) in Syria as part of the operation and create a safe zone for refugees. Al-Bab is located 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of the Turkish border.

The operation has been widely criticized both by the Syrian Kurds and Damascus, who have accused Ankara of violating Syria's territorial integrity.

On Friday, Chief of the Turkish General Staff Hulusi Akar called on the US-led international coalition to increase support of Ankara's Euphrates Shield Operation in northern Syria.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






No Breakthrough Expected as Syrian Peace Talks Resume

By Lisa Schlein, Wayne Lee February 23, 2017

The U.N.'s special envoy for Syria met Thursday with a Syrian government delegation and envoys for the opposition in Geneva, as he launched the latest effort to find an end to the country's nearly six-year civil war.

Staffan de Mistura told diplomats from regional and world powers, including the U.S. and Russia, "we are launching a window of opportunity" to determine if a political "road forward" can be found.

"The Syrian people all want an end to this conflict and you all know it," he added. "They are waiting for relief of their own suffering, and the dream of a new road out of this nightmare to a real and normal future in dignity."

De Mistura's comments come a day after he said he does not see any imminent breakthrough on the horizon, but that there was a "political momentum" to move forward on a peace plan.

Syria's warring parties last met in Geneva nearly nine months ago. That round of talks broke down because of repeated violations of a cease-fire agreement.

De Mistura acknowledged that the successful resumption of the failed negotiations hinged largely on the warring parties abiding by the current cease-fire.

He said Russia, which had worked out the agreement with Turkey in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, was using its influence to see that the fragile cease-fire held.

"Today, the Russian Federation after the cease-fire task force did announce to everyone and every country present and to myself that they have formally requested the government of Syria to silence their own skies in the areas attached by the cease-fire during the intra-Syrian talks," he said Wednesday.

De Mistura added that he has asked other countries with influence on the opposition parties to have them stick to the cease-fire and not provoke the other side.

"They do not have airplanes but they can do something similar in terms of reducing any type of provocation on any side to give a better chance to the intra-Syrian talks not to be affected by breakdowns."

The U.N. envoy warned that there were, what he called "spoilers," who would try to provoke one side or the other to walk out of the talks or to refuse to talk.

"We will try to control it," he said. "It is time to talk and fight on the table, through the table, but not in the field."

Since beginning in March 2011, Syria's civil war has killed around 400,000 people, displaced more than six million inside Syria, half of them children and prompted nearly five million to flee as refugees into neighboring countries. An estimated 13.5 million people need humanitarian assistance.

De Mistura said the more inclusive the talks, the better the chance of success. The envoy noted that he was unable to get the assent of the parties to include women, who make up 52 percent of the Syrian population, in the talks.

Therefore, he said, he has established a Syrian Women's Advisory Board to participate in the talks in a consultative capacity.

"The first meeting of today was with a group of seven women - Syrian women," he said. "All of them united by one fact - they're being either detainees or tortured or abducted. Or they have their mothers, daughters or wives of detainees or abducted people."

"Detainees are those by the government - thousands - and abducted are those by the opposition," he said. "We should never forget the suffering of so many Syrians on one side and the other too during this conflict."

De Mistura said he was not sure what role the United States would play in the negotiations, but understood that the new Trump administration needed time to devise a new strategy.

"They have announced that they want to revisit their strategy regarding the fight against Daesh, IS, and that by implication what they are doing in Iraq and in SyriaSo, I would say let us wait for that," said de Mistura, using acronyms for Islamic State.

He noted, however, that the U.S. official who had attended previous intra-Syrian talks also would be present at this round. "So, I am convinced that they will be very supportive with whatever we try to do."

The U.N. envoy said he would begin with a series of bilateral talks to discuss how to proceed with the negotiations.

In previous rounds, the parties held indirect talks, with de Mistura shuttling from one delegation to the other. It is not clear if this system will continue or if the delegations will agree to meet face-to-face.

De Mistura said the ag3enda will focus on three items: the establishment of a credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance, the drafting of a new constitution, and free and fair elections under U.N. supervision.

The envoy said he will not agree to any preconditions and fully expected the talks to be serious and substantive.

"Am I expecting a breakthrough? No, I'm not expecting a breakthrough. But, I am expecting and determined for keeping a very proactive momentum," he said.

"We have tooutpace those few but clear spoilers with the momentum on the political track, and I think we can aim at that."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Defense Ministry asked to conduct 'thorough checks' after drug find

ROC Central News Agency

2017/02/23 15:42:22

Taipei, Feb. 23 (CNA) Premier Lin Chuan () instructed the Ministry of National Defense Thursday to conduct "thorough checks" on the military as part of heightened anti-drug efforts, following a recent case in which drugs were found at an air force base in Taichung.

During a weekly Cabinet meeting, Lin said the military is an important pillar in maintaining national security and stability in society, and that military discipline should be reinforced. Drug abuse is absolutely not allowed in the military, he added.

He asked the Defense Ministry to carry out thorough checks on all military units and to investigate the case in which several small packages of drugs were discovered at Ching Chuan Kang air base in Taichung, central Taiwan on Monday.

The case has since been handed over to Taichung prosecutors for further investigation. Taichung prosecutors said Thursday that they found 51 small packages of white powder that was identified as amphetamine in an initial test.

There are about 3,000 military personnel at the air base and 87.1 percent of them had been tested as of Thursday morning, the Air Force said. Among them, 20 servicemen tested positive in initial testing, but their samples are undergoing further tests to determine whether they had taken drugs, it said.

During the Cabinet meeting, Lin also told the Ministry of Justice to review the existing anti-drug measures and to come up with a new anti-drug campaign by March 15, citing the drug find at the air force base and another incident in which a model died after taking drugs at a party in a Taipei hotel room last December.

Law enforcement agencies should also heighten their anti-drug efforts, Lin said.

He also issued a directive to the Ministry of Health and Welfare to strengthen its reporting mechanism of new types of narcotics.

The Ministry of Education should strengthen its anti-drug campaigns on campus, and all schools should hold sessions within a month to teach students about new forms of drugs and urge them to stay away from them, Lin said.

(By Yuris Ku and Elaine Hou)

ENDITEM/J

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Defense Ministry told to report to lawmakers on drug find

ROC Central News Agency

2017/02/23 13:34:21

Taipei, Feb. 23 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has been told to deliver a report to lawmakers on Taiwan's military policy and a recent incident in which drugs were found at an air base in Taichung earlier this week, a lawmaker on the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee said Thursday.

Personnel at Ching Chuan Kang air base in Taichung, central Taiwan, are being urine-tested after dozens of packages of drugs were discovered there Monday. The case has since been handed over to prosecutors for further investigation.

Taichung prosecutors said they found 51 small packages of white powder that was identified as amphetamine in an initial test.

There are about 3,000 military personnel at the air base and 87.1 percent of them had been tested as of Thursday morning, the Air Force said. Among those who had completed the test, 20 servicemen tested positive in initial testing, but their samples are undergoing further tests to determine whether they had taken drugs, it said.

Wang Ting-yu (), co-chair of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, claimed that if soldiers are drug addicts, they are likely to be controlled by someone outside the military and could leak confidential information, posing a national security threat.

He expressed hope that the Defense Ministry will give a report on the issue during a legislative committee hearing scheduled for next week.

During the hearing, the ministry will also need to present its latest Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) to the Legislature for approval, Wang said.

Under the National Defense Act, the ministry is required to submit a QDR outlining military policy, combat readiness and armament status to the Legislature within 10 months of a presidential inauguration.

Given that President Tsai Ing-wen () took office May 20, Wang said, the new administration will have to complete the QDR by March 19 and the Legislature will have to complete its review on the QDR by then.

Meanwhile, Wang said he is planning to organize a trip by the committee members to Luke Air Force Base in the United States, where Taiwanese jet pilots receive training on the F-16 fighter jet.

The trip will help the lawmakers to learn more about the training for Taiwanese pilots there and about a new contract with the U.S. to continue the military program.

Taiwan is undergoing a retrofit program for its F-16 fleet and has two F-16s posted at U.S. Air Force Base in Arizona for flight training, Wang said.

He also noted that Taiwan will need to move its training to another air base, in response to a local media report that the Luke Air Force Base will soon cease training with F-16s and shift to another type of aircraft.

(By Wang Chen-chung, Lu Hsin-hui, Chao Li-yen and Elaine Hou)

ENDITEM/J

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Turkish Army Will Allow Women to Wear Headscarves With Uniforms

Sputnik News

03:21 23.02.2017(updated 08:41 23.02.2017)

On Wednesday Turkish defense officials said the country's military will begin allowing women to wear headscarves with their uniforms, despite the country's armed forces historically viewing themselves as secular institutions.

Religion has been making its way back into Turkish life since 2002, when President Tayyip Erdogan founded the AK Party, thought to be a likely influence on the headscarf decision. The country is officially secular, although a majority of its citizens are Muslims, and for years headscarves were banned in universities and in civil service, but the bans were overturned by the AKP.

The scarves are to match the uniform, have no pattern, be worn under caps or berets, and cannot cover the face. Civilian personnel in the military were banned from wearing headscarves until November 2016.

While in power, Erdogan has rolled back much of the authority of a once-powerful Turkish military that helped to overthrow the militant government in 1997 and has carried out three coups in the country between 1960 and 1980.

A recent coup was attempted in July 2016, purportedly by a group of soldiers attempting to overthrow the government by commandeering helicopters, tanks and warplanes and attacking parliament. By the time the uprising was quelched, some 240 people were dead.

Reclusive Turkish-born cleric Fethullah Gulen was quickly blamed by Erdogan for inciting the coup. The US-based Gulen denies any involvement.

Islam was banned from Turkish public life after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the 1920s. The country's first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is considered to have established modern Turkey by ushering in secularism, promoted women's rights, replacing Arabic with Latin script and encouraging Western styles of dress.

In late April 2016 parliament speaker Ismail Kahraman caused controversy when he proposed that a new constitution be adopted to drop all references to secularism.

Turkish media published videos of Kahraman saying, "For one thing, the new constitution should not have secularism," and that, "It needs to discuss religion It should not be irreligious, this new constitution, it should be a religious constitution."

In April there will be a referendum on constitutional reform that, if passed, will expand presidential powers. The ruling AKP believes such a measure would maintain stability in the country, while opponents point out that it signals another step toward an authoritarian and theocratic regime.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Who Is Paul Manafort's Man In Kyiv? An Interview With Konstantin Kilimnik

Christopher Miller February 23, 2017

KYIV -- An elusive Ukrainian associate of Paul Manafort says he briefed the former campaign chairman for U.S. President Donald Trump on Ukraine during last year's presidential race.

The comments by Konstantin Kilimnik, in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL, add to the swirl of intrigue surrounding Manafort, a shadowy political operative who helped bring Viktor Yanukovych to the Ukrainian presidency and who is now under FBI investigation for allegedly communicating with Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 U.S. campaign.

Kilimnik, a dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen, himself studied at the Russian military's main university for languages, which has led to speculation that he has ties to Russian military intelligence.

In the February 22 interview, Kilimnik denied any ties to Russian intelligence. But he said that he and Manafort spoke during the 2016 election "every couple months."

"I was briefing him on Ukraine," he said.

Manafort was fired by the Trump campaign in August after news reports documented payments to him from Yanukovych's pro-Russian political party.

Last month, The New York Times and other media reported that U.S. authorities were investigating Manafort and other Trump aides for allegedly communicating with Russian intelligence during the campaign.

Manafort did not respond to e-mails and a voicemail seeking comment from RFE/RL after the interview concluded. But shortly after those inquiries, Kilimnik called RFE/RL back and said he had been contacted directly by Manafort.

Kilimnik said that while he was speaking to Manafort "every couple months" about Ukraine, he wanted to clarify that he had not been formally advising him during the U.S. election campaign.

Since leaving the Trump campaign, Manafort has remained largely out of sight. Kilimnik said the last time he spoke to Manafort was "in recent weeks."

Meeting Manafort

A short, camera-shy 46-year-old from Kriviy Rih with an affinity for metaphors, Kilimnik studied at Russia's Military University for Foreign Languages, known today as the Military University of the Ministry of Defense.

In the interview at an Italian restaurant in Kyiv, Kilimnik explained how he came to work for Manafort and gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the political operative's role in the most pivotal events in history of contemporary Ukraine.

In the early 2000s, Kilimnik worked in Moscow for the International Republican Institute, a Washington-based nongovernmental group that promotes democracy with funding from the U.S. State Department, as well as from European foundations and the United Nations.

In 2005, he began working for Manafort, following the 2004 Orange Revolution -- an earlier series of mass protests that resulted in Yanukovych losing the Ukrainian presidency.

"Manafort is a guy who can merge strategy and messages into something that will work for victory," Kilimnik said. "He is very skillful."

Yanukovych recovered from his loss and went on to win the presidency in 2010, a victory many observers credited to Manafort's counsel.

After Yanukovych's election, Kilimnik said he spent 90 percent of his time inside the presidential administration, where he assisted Manafort.

In November 2013, the Yanukovych government became the focus of a tug-of-war between the European Union and Russia over a trade deal that would have pulled Ukraine away from Moscow's orbit.

Kilimnik said Manafort told Yanukovych in his presence: "You have to trust the Europeans. Then down the road you will fix relations with Russia and you'll be fine."

Yanukovych spurned the EU deal, triggering months of street protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities that turned violent and ultimately prompted him to flee the country.

"Everyone was telling [Yanukovych], 'you should sign the deal. Just sign the f****** deal,'" Kilimnik said. "Yanukovych did not listen to [Manafort], which is why he got f*****."

Russia later carried out a covert military operation to take control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, which it subsequently annexed, and backed the armed separatists fighting Kyiv's forces in the east.

In July of last year, while Manafort was still working with Trump, the Trump campaign altered the Republican Party's official endorsement of providing Ukraine with lethal weapons, The Washington Post reported. Ukraine had been asking Washington to provide such weapons to bolster its fight against well-armed separatists.

The following month, amid the uproar that emerged after The New York Times detailed the alleged off-the-books payments from Yanukovych's former party to Manafort, the Trump campaign cut ties with Manafort.

Despite briefing Manafort during the U.S. election campaign, Kilimnik said he has not been on Manafort's payroll since 2014. He now says he advises members of the political party that used to be led by Yanukovych until his ouster.

The last time Manafort visited Ukraine was in autumn 2015, according to Kilimnik.

Manafort's former office near Kyiv's Independence Square is closed. Nobody answered there when RFE/RL knocked on the door of the office on February 22.

'He Will Be Back'

Kilimnik insists that the media has misread Manafort, and he claimed Manafort did not receive any of the funds he was alleged to have received from Yanukovych's former party.

Kilimnik also argued that Manafort has no ties to Russia and claimed Manafort has not spoken with a Russian aside from Kilimnik "since Deripaska."

hat's a reference to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who is considered a Kremlin insider and who has been barred from receiving a U.S. visa for years due to persistent allegations of organized crime links.

Deripaska has been locked in a legal battle with Manafort over investments in a private equity fund.

Kilimnik could not say when the last contact between Manafort and Deripaska occurred.

Manafort told The Wall Street Journal last month, "I have never had any relationship with the Russian [government] or any Russian officials."

Kilimnik also said that he had drafted a plan to bring peace to Ukraine in the nearly three-year-old conflict with Russia.

He referred to it as a "Mariupol plan," a reference to the southeastern port city that abuts the current line of conflict between government forces and Russia-backed separatist fighters.

It would bring Yanukovych back to Ukraine as a regional leader in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, where fighting has raged on and off for nearly three years, or possibly involve others such as the current separatist leaders there.

That plan, which Kilimnik said Manafort was not involved with, would face almost certain opposition in Kyiv since it calls for Yanukovych returning to Ukraine from Russia, where he fled in February 2014.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported February 19 that a peace plan drafted by a little-known Ukrainian lawmaker to end the conflict had made it into the hands of top White House officials.

That news sparked an angry uproar in Kyiv.

Kilimnik suggested Ukraine may not have seen the last of Manafort.

"If there's a serious project that is pro-Ukrainian and can bring peace to this country, then he will be back," he said.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/paul-manafort-konstantin-kilimnik- trump-campaign-ukraine/28326123.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Everyone Seems To Have A Peace Plan For Ukraine

Christopher Miller February 23, 2017

KYIV -- It seems that peace plans for Ukraine are everywhere these days.

Amid a recent surge in violence in eastern Ukraine and yet another failed cease-fire in the nearly 3-year-old conflict are a wave of new proposals to bring peace to the crisis-stricken nation -- and from some unexpected places.

The Ukrainian Army has battled against Russia-backed separatists in the eastern Donbas region since 2014, with more than 9,750 people killed and more than 1.8 million displaced in that time, according to the United Nations.

More than 40 Ukrainian soldiers, separatists, and civilians have been killed in an uptick in fighting just since January.

The hostilities have continued despite an official peace deal known collectively as the Minsk agreements, the first of which was agreed in September 2014, followed by the second -- a reaffirmation -- in February 2015 by Ukraine, Russia, as well as the Moscow-backed separatists.

But the Minsk agreements have become unpopular and seem impervious to being implemented, leading to frustration and perhaps the flurry of new peace proposals.

Each new plan -- made by a mix of known politicians and shadowy operatives -- has sparked fierce debate in Kyiv political circles and among the Ukrainian public.

And the suspected motivations behind the peace offerings run the gamut, from personal ambition to a Kremlin plot to destroy Ukraine.

Balazs Jarabik, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told RFE/RL that he thinks the main reason for the peace plans seems to be to weaken Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who remains in limbo between the increasingly disparaged Minsk agreements and "victory."

"Minsk is unpopular, peace is not. People are fed up with the war and the corruption [among government officials]," Jarabik said.

Some of the peace plans share similarities, while ideas in others seem to come from left field. Many of the news ones are far-fetched or wholly unacceptable to either Kyiv or Moscow.

In brief and collectively, they include:

-- Ukraine leasing the Russian-annexed Crimea to Moscow long-term, followed by a referendum to decide the Black Sea peninsula's fate once and for all; -- Temporarily setting aside the dispute over Crimea and Kyiv's continued integration with the European Union and flirtation with NATO membership to focus on stopping the conflict in the east; -- Reinstating elected officials from 2010 -- the last time nationwide elections included areas under the control of separatists -- and bringing in UN peacekeepers; -- Allowing separatist leaders from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to be included in Minsk negotiations with Ukrainian officials and reserving the option to hold a referendum on the status of the Donbas if Kyiv doesn't fulfill its part of the Minsk deal; -- Bringing back Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's ousted ex-president living in self-imposed exile in Russia since 2014, to head a pro-Russian eastern region with more autonomy.

Here's a closer look at each of the plans:

The Minsk Agreements

The Minsk agreements offer a detailed, 13-point road map for settling the conflict. It begins with a cease-fire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, which is currently monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

After that is an all-for-all prisoner exchange, followed by local elections and an amnesty for fighters who haven't committed heinous crimes. The sides are then to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and work toward the socioeconomic reintegration into Ukraine of the separatist-held territories.

Ukraine must also change its constitution to allow for the "decentralization" of its regions. In exchange, all "foreign-armed formations" -- for Ukraine, this means the Russian Army -- should leave and relinquish control of the border to Kyiv.

But these agreements were hashed out while Ukraine's military was on its heels, forcing Kyiv to make several concessions. The Minsk agreements have also become unpopular because they have so far failed to bring a lasting peace.

The Kilimnik Plan

The most recent of the new peace plans came from Ukrainian-Russian political operative Konstantin Kilimnik, the one-time assistant in Kyiv to U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.

Calling his plan the Mariupol Plan after the southeastern Ukrainian city that is the largest in the Donetsk region controlled by the government and which sits smack against the front line -- Kilimnik envisages it replacing the current Minsk agreements and Normandy format talks between Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France.

Despite his connection to Manafort, who lived in Ukraine and worked as an adviser to Yanukovych for years, Kilimnik emphasized that the American strategist has had no part in this plan, which he says remains fluid.

The plan, he said, was raised by "many people who are willing to start [a] dialogue" between eastern Ukraine and the rest of the country "and this should be one of the roles of the Opposition Bloc and other opposition parties, which understand the necessity of bringing Donbas back into Ukraine." The Opposition Bloc is the revamped, pro-Moscow political faction once called the Party of Regions and led by Yanukovych.

Right now, there is no dialogue between Ukraine and the leaders of the separatist-held areas, Aleksandr Zakharchenko and Ihor Plotnitsky. Kyiv considers them "terrorists" and Kilimnik said they "have blood on their hands, [so] it will be very difficult for Poroshenko and others to negotiate with them."

However, "in theory, a figure representing Donbas, such as Yanukovych or someone else who has at least not killed people and can stop the war and fix the local economy, might be an option," Kilimnik explained.

Many Ukrainians, though, believe the former president's hands are dripping with blood as they hold him responsible for the deaths of more than 100 protesters shot by riot police during the Euromaidan protests in Kyiv in 2014. Ukraine has charged Yanukovych with treason -- an allegation he denies.

Peace in Ukraine "is up for Ukrainians to figure out, and the only way to proceed is a national consensus and dialogue," Kilimnik said.

The Yanukovych Plan

Yanukovych, in an interview with a group of Western reporters on February 21, shared his own 10-page proposal, which he said he has sent to Trump and the leaders of Russia, Germany, France, and Poland, according to The Wall Street Journal and Der Spiegel.

Der Spiegel said the plan has six points leading to a resolution of the conflict.

"Four relate to the 'investigation into the crimes committed on the Maidan in February 2014,' for which he proposes a special commission to be established by the Council for Europe," the German news outlet reported.

Yanukovych also called for the separatist leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk to be included in negotiations with Ukrainian officials. The sixth point outlines a plan for a referendum to be held on the status of the Donbas if Kyiv doesn't fulfill its part of the Minsk deal.

The Artemenko Plan

Another peace plan has caused a scandal in Washington and Kyiv.

This one, proposed by Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Artemenko, is the most detailed and is believed to have landed on the desk of Michael Flynn, who resigned as U.S. national security adviser on February 13 after alleged misleading statements about conversations with the Russian ambassador in Washington in December.

The New York Times, which broke the story about the plan, cited Artemenko as saying it had been approved by top aides of Putin -- but the Kremlin on February 20 quickly denied any such tacit approval.

The plan calls for a "compromise," such as holding a national referendum on leasing Crimea to Russia. Artemenko told The New York Times the lease should be for a period of 50 to 100 years, but he told the Strana.com news site the plan suggests a lease for 30 to 50 years.

"At the expiration of this period, in Crimea, a referendum will then be held and monitored by international bodies, on which finally the question of the peninsula may be solved," Artemenko told Strana.

Artemnko's plan calls for the return of territories controlled by Russia-backed separatists to Ukraine and an amnesty to all involved on the separatist side "except those who have committed the most serious crimes."

He said control of the Ukrainian side of the border with Russia must be returned to Kyiv, but not before a safe corridor is provided for 72 hours for those who would prefer to live in Russia.

After that, Artemenko said, the plan calls for a nationwide referendum on whether to grant the eastern regions special autonomous status. If approved, the next step would be to begin revitalizing the regions with funds from the lease agreement with Russia.

Once all of that is done, he said, then sanctions against Russia could be lifted.

Both Ukraine and Russia rejected the conditions in this deal and Crimean prosecutors even opened a "treason" case against Artemenko over the issue.

Since the revelation and the inquiry, Artemenko has denied ever passing such a plan to Trump officials and threatened to sue The New York Times in New York for libel.

The Taruta Plan

Serhiy Taruta, the Ukrainian billionaire industrialist and former governor of Donetsk, proposed at the end of January his "three principles" plan to restore legitimacy, security, and trust.

It calls for reinstating the last legitimately elected Donbas officials from 2010 and appealing to the international community to recognize them. A UN peacekeeping contingent would keep the region secure while those officials work to reintegrate it with greater Ukraine.

The plan has largely been ignored by the greater Ukrainian public, but Taruta continued to push it during the Munich Security Conference last week.

The Pinchuk Plan

Billionaire oligarch Viktor Pinchuk caused a stir in Kyiv when he proposed a plan in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in late December.

Headlined Ukraine Must Make Painful Compromises For Peace With Russia, the plan laid out in the paper suggested that Kyiv set aside the issue of Crimea and hopes of European Union and perhaps even NATO membership in exchange for peace in the Donbas.

"We should also make clear that we are ready to accept an incremental rollback of sanctions on Russia as we move toward a solution for a free, united, peaceful, and secure Ukraine," Pinchuk wrote. "The Ukrainian lives that will be saved are worth the painful compromises I have proposed."

Mustafa Nayyem, a lawmaker and vocal critic of the proposal, said in doing this that "we will not save thousands of lives, but with our support and recognition, doom millions of people to legalized slavery."

Kyiv's Stance

Ukrainian President Poroshenko and top officials have thus far been resistant to or else have condemned each of the proposed plans, saying the Minsk agreements are the only pathway to peace for the country. Western leaders have thus far agreed.

Against this backdrop of confusion, analyst Jarabik suggested, Ukraine risks becoming even more unstable.

"All these internal struggles will weaken Ukrainian unity and may lead to [early] elections, but the fault lines will not go away," he said.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia -peace-plans-fighting-yanukovych- artemenko-kilimnik/28327624.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address








Endeavour extends Karma mine life to +10 years as North Kao infill drilling adds 262koz of reserves



View News Release in PDF Format

North Kao Highlights:

North Kao infill drilling confirms the continuity of the previous inferred resource and improves the grade profile 314koz of resources amenable to heap leach processing converted to indicated status Indicated resource grade up 53% over the previous inferred grade to 1.22 g/t Au

262koz were subsequently converted to reserves, extending Karma's mine life to beyond 10 years

The North Kao mineralized structure remains open to the north and the potential exists for additional sub-parallel zones

Following the success at North Kao, the 2017 exploration campaign will focus on other near-mill targets, such as Rambo West and Yabonsgo

Abidjan, February 23, 2017 - Endeavour Mining Corporation (TSX:EDV)(OTCQX:EDVMF) is pleased to announce that the infill drill program at its North Kao deposit, located at its Karma Gold Mine in Burkina Faso, has confirmed the continuity of the previous inferred resource, resulting in a maiden indicated resource of 314,000 ounces amenable to heap leaching and a subsequent conversion of 262,000 ounces to reserves.

Sebastien de Montessus, President & CEO, stated: "When we acquired Karma last year we were confident in its exploration potential and our ability to quickly extend its mine life. Following the conversion of resources at North Kao to reserves, Karma now meets our strategic portfolio criteria of having a minimum life of 10 years and ability to produce at an AISC below $850/oz. Looking ahead, our 2017 program will focus on the Rambo West and Yabonsgo near-mill targets, which we believe could further improve the mine's outlook."

The North Kao deposit is located within 10 kilometers of the current processing plant. Its main mineralized zone stretches over 1.4 kilometers along strike and remains open to the north. The evolution of its reserves and resources amenable to heap leaching (comprised of oxide and transition material), is summarized in the table below.







Table 1: North Kao Reserve and Resource (Heap Leaching)

On a 100% basis

Resources shown

inclusive of reserves

(only oxide and transition

material shown) December 31, 2015 December 31, 2016 Tonnage

(Mt) Grade

(Au g/t) Content

(Au koz) Tonnage

(Mt) Grade

(Au g/t) Content

(Au koz) Probable Reserves - - - 7.1 1.16 262 Indicated Resources

(including reserves) - - - 8.0 1.22 314 Inferred Resources 16.4 0.80 423 0.1 1.10 5

Notes provided in Section "About the Mineral Reserves and Resources" of this Press Release.



Infill Drilling Program

An infill drilling program was completed in 2016 with the objective of upgrading the existing inferred resources to the indicated category. The program comprised 68 core holes (7,571 meters) and 488 reverse circulation holes (39,554 meters). The sections were spaced by 50 meters, with 35 meters between holes.

As shown in Figure 1 below, the main mineralized zone at North Kao can be followed for up to 1.4 kilometers along strike, located structurally above the mineralized zone of Kao Main, whereas multiple (up to 7 subparallel) zones were crossed in the narrow portion of the intrusion to the north. The mineralized structure remains open to the north within the sediments with potential for additional subparallel zones within the Kao intrusion.

Figure 1: North Kao Infill Drilling Program

(Showing Mineralization is Open to the North)

Most of the mineralization occurs in the Kao Intrusion, a 2.5 kilometer long by 1.6 kilometer wide pluton of felsic composition with local porphyritic facies and centimetric aplitic veins. A minor portion occurs within clastic sediments (siltstones and argillites with andalousite porphyroblasts) close to the contact of the intrusion as it becomes narrower to the north. The mineralization is associated with northwest-trending, shallow to moderately east-dipping, anastomosed deformation and alteration zones. Alteration in the fresh rock consists of diffuse albite-carbonate-sericite-pyrite and more focused quartz-albite-carbonate veining with sericitic arsenopyrite-rich seams.

As shown in Figure 2 below, the infill drill holes targeted the base of the transition and/or the top of the bedrock, which ranges from approximately 60 meters below surface in the southern part of the grid to approximately 110 meters in the northern part.





Figure 2: North Kao Cross-Section









Upcoming Exploration Program: More Near-mill Targets

In 2017, a $4 million exploration program totaling approximately 30,000 meters has been planned to drill near-mill targets such as Rambo West and Yabonsgo, as shown in the map below.

Figure 3: Karma Near-mill Exploration Targets

About the Mineral Reserves and Resources

The mineral reserve and resource estimate for the North Kao deposit is reported in accordance with the National Instrument 43-101 and has been estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) "Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines". The mineral resource estimate is classified as "indicated" and "inferred" as defined by the CIM. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves did not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral reserve may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.

The effective date of this mineral reserve and resource estimate is December 31st, 2016, with a comparison over the previous estimate provided in the Table below.



Table 2: North Kao Reserve Evolution

On a 100% basis As at December 31, 2015 As at December 31, 2016 Tonnage

(Mt) Grade

(Au g/t) Content

(Au koz) Tonnage

(Mt) Grade

(Au g/t) Content

(Au koz) Oxide - - - 6.7 1.14 246 Transitional 0.4 1.38 16 Sulphide - - - - - - Total - - - 7.1 1.16 262

Table 3: North Kao Resource Evolution



On a 100% basis.

Resources shown inclusive of reserves As at December 31, 2015 As at December 31, 2016 Tonnage

(Mt) Grade

(Au g/t) Content

(Au koz) Tonnage

(Mt) Grade

(Au g/t) Content

(Au koz) Oxide Indicated Resources - - - 7.4 1.21 286 Inferred Resources 14.2 0.79 360 0.1 1.05 5 Transitional Indicated Resources 0.6 1.37 28 Inferred Resources 2.2 0.89 63 0.0 1.92 1 Sulphide Indicated Resources - - - 3.3 1.34 143 Inferred Resources 31.4 1.23 1,239 1.8 1.51 88 Total Indicated Resources - - - 11.3 1.26 456 Inferred Resources 47.8 1.08 1,662 2.0 1.48 93

Notes for the December 31, 2016 Reserve and Resource estimates provided in Section "About the Mineral Reserves and Resources" of this Press Release. Mineral Reserve estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definitions standards for mineral resources and reserves and have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Reported tonnage and grade figures have been rounded from raw estimates to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers. The December 31, 2015 Reserve and Resource estimates have been sourced from latest NI 43-101 TR titled Updated feasibility study (GGI, GGII, Kao, Rambo & Nami deposits) and a Preliminary Economic Assessment (North Kao Deposit) for The Karma Gold Project Burkina Faso, West Africa, available on Sedar.



The disclosure of a mineral reserve and resource statement for the North Kao deposit is not deemed material to Endeavour as a whole. Therefore, the Company will not be filing a technical report in respect of this mineral resource estimate.

North Kao Resource Modeling

The statistical analysis, geological modelling and resource estimation were prepared by Kevin Harris, CPG. Mr. Harris is Endeavour Mining's Group Resource Manager and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

The North Kao resource model was developed in the Geovia Surpac 3Dmodeling software using all the available geology information from 123 diamond drill holes totaling 18,445 meters, and 589 reverse circulation drill holes totalling 53,784 meters completed between 2007 and 2016. The geological model and assay data guided the mineralisation model. A total of 34 mineralized domains were interpreted and modeled into 3D wireframes within Geovia Surpac modeling software. The mineralized zones have an average strike of 345o azimuth dipping 30oNE. The drill holes gold assays were composited to 1.0 meter intervals within the mineralized wireframes and capped at 10 g/t Au. Spatial analysis of the gold mineralization using variograms indicated a good continuity of the grades along strike and down dip of the mineralised zones.

Gold grades were interpolated using inverse distance squared estimation methodology constrained by the mineralized domains. Density values of the oxidized material vary from 1.4 to 2.7 based on weathering material type while the fresh rocks density values vary from 1.6 to 2.9 based on rocktypes. The mineral resource was modelled using a 3D block model built in Geovia Surpac. Measures were conducted to validate the accuracy of the estimate, including swath plots comparison and visual review on sections.

In order to establish the reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, the Mineral Resources were constrained within a Whittle-optimized $1,500 pit shell, as is reported at a 0.20 g/t gold cutoff grade.

A large portion of the previously reported Sulphide inferred resource has been declassified as the Mineral Resources were constrained within a Whittle-optimized $1,500 pit shell in addition to the low confidence due to the wide drill spacing. No additional infill drilling is planned on the sulphide material as it is not considered economical with the current processing facility.

North Kao Reserve Estimation

The quantifying of modifying factors, Whittle optimization and pit design preparation was done by/under direct supervision of Michael Alyoshin, MEng, MAusIMM CP (Min), MIMMM, CEng, EUR ING. Mr. Alyoshin is Endeavour Mining's Corporate Chief Mining Eng., Strategic Projects and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

This estimation is of Pre-Feasibility Study level of accuracy and, therefore, satisfies CIM requirements to mineral reserve reporting.

The majority of the costs parameters used in Whittle optimization are based on actual, geotechnical/ recovery information used in optimization and subsequent mine design mostly sourced from latest NI 43-101 Technical Report titled "Updated feasibility study (GGI, GGII, Kao, Rambo & Nami deposits) and a Preliminary Economic Assessment (North Kao Deposit) for The Karma Gold Project Burkina Faso, West Africa" and operational experience. Mining dilution of 22% at 0g/t was estimated using 1 meter grade shells.

The parameters used for the Reserve and Resource estimation are described below:

Table 4: North Kao Reserve and Resource parameters

Reserves Resources Gold price $1,250/oz $1,500/oz Cut-off grade Oxide: 0.56g/t ; Transition: 0.68g/t ; Sulfide: 0.50g/t 0.20 g/t Recovery rate Oxide: 90%; Transition: 75%

Qualified Persons

This press release has been reviewed and approved by Adriaan "Attie" Roux, Pr.Sci.Nat, Endeavour's Chief Operating Officer, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

About Endeavour Mining Corporation

Endeavour Mining is a TSX-listed intermediate gold producer, focused on developing a portfolio of high quality mines in the prolific West-African region, where it has established a solid operational and construction track record.

Endeavour is ideally positioned as the major pure West-African multi-operation gold mining company, operating 5 mines in Cote d'Ivoire (Agbaou and Ity), Burkina Faso (Karma), Mali (Tabakoto), and Ghana (Nzema). In 2016, it expects to produce between 600koz and 640koz at an AISC of US$860 to US$905/oz. Endeavour is currently building its Hounde project in Burkina Faso, which is expected to commence production in Q4-2017 and to become its flagship low-cost mine with an average annual production of 190koz at an AISC of US$709/oz over an initial 10-year mine life based on reserves. The development of the Hounde project is expected to lift Endeavour's group production +900kozpa and decrease its average AISC to circa $800/oz by 2018, while exploration aims to extend all mine lives to +10 years.

Contact Information

Martino De Ciccio



VP - Strategy & Investor Relations

+33 (0)1 70 38 36 95

mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com DFH Public Affairs in Toronto



John Vincic

(416) 206-0118 x.224

jvincic@dfhpublicaffairs.com







Brunswick Group LLP in London



Carole Cable, Partner

+44 7974 982 458

ccable@brunswickgroup.com

Endeavour Mining | Executive Office | Bureau 76, 7 Boulevard des Moulins, Monaco 98000

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" including but not limited to, statements with respect to Endeavour's plans and operating performance, the mineral resource and reserve estimate, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of future production, future capital expenditures, and the success of exploration activities. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts", and "anticipates". Forward-looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Please refer to Endeavour's most recent Annual Information Form filed under its profile at www.sedar.com for further information respecting the risks affecting Endeavour and its business.
Candidatel We cannot get rid of dictator through elections (video)

Violinist Narek Sargsyan, a candidate on the joint ticket of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) and Peoples Party of Armenia (HZhK) returned to Armenia from Germany one year ago. Today, he has teamed up with Levon Ter-Petrosyans Armenian National Congress in an effort to get rid of Serzh Sagsyans administration. Dozens of families are on the verge of starvation. Even statistics shows that every fifth child in Armenia lives below the poverty line and goes to bed hungry, he said. He says people in Armenia live with a sense of impending doom. This does not promise anything good to the state. They are driving people to poverty and the reason is clear. Ask any terrorist why he kills people, he will tell you the same thing. Narek Sargsyan is sure that the entire nation wants to get rid of the Sargsyan administration. He has not seen such despair in any other country. Perhaps, bribery is thriving in our country for that reason. What do you want and expect from a person who has a problem with famine? Do you expect anger or outrage from him? Starting from 2008, we have been witnessing mockery and insult, he said. Anyway, Narek Sargsyan does not consider Armenians to be weak-willed people, instead of fighting against the government they are waiting for bribes. Terrorism is taking its course. People are intimidated and blackmailed. First, they say they will give money for votes, then they cheat saying the voting process is recorded. Sragsyan believes that people can topple the current regime. Serzh Sargsyan came to power by force but people cannot get rid of him through elections. People who come to power by force can be overthrown through peaceful demonstrations and public pressure," he stressed. The young candidate says political figures and journalists should instill hope in people instead of showing our citizens as weak-willed people who are unable to solve problems and rely on bribes.
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

Google Ad

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
The two residents facing robbery charges had their cases certified Thursday afternoon in Danville General District Court.

Jasmine Jackson, 18, and Jawantez Waddell, 18, are charged with robbery as the suspects in stealing from an elderly woman who they followed from Wal-Mart on Mount Cross Road to her home on Jan. 4.

There is a minor who also was arrested in connection with the robbery. His case is being heard in Danville Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Waddells defense attorney, Jason Eisner, Danville Commonwealths Attorney Michael Newman and Lee Smallwood, Waddells defense attorney, observed surveillance video footage of minutes before the incident on Courtland Street.

The victim testified in court she was in front of her home on Courtland Street when she was approached by a young man.

The young man wanted the pocketbook on her shoulder, and he grabbed it, she testified.

She was knocked to the ground so hard, she injured her shoulder.

Inside her pocketbook was money, a gift card and a debit card. Smallwood, Waddells defense attorney, asked her did she try and follow the suspect.

I couldnt chase, sir, when Im knocked down, she responded. He pulled my clothes and I went down.

The woman said she had seen Waddells photo in stories by local news outlets and also on video surveillance.

Smallwood asked her to clarify how she could view video surveillance from Wal-Mart.

The woman said when I see something wrong, I report it.

A Danville police news release stated Jackson, Waddell and the minor were arrested in a joint investigation by the Danville Police Department and the Caswell County, North Carolina, Sheriffs Office.

Danville Police Detective A.K. Hairston said he interviewed Jackson at the police department.

She said she had no knowledge of the robberies, and then her statement began to change, Hairston said.

She told Hairston she drove from the Wal-Mart to North Carolina and then back to Wal-Mart.

According to a Danville General District Court criminal complaint, Jackson dropped off the co-defendants and went down the street and parked her vehicle at an undisclosed location.

When the time came for closing arguments, Smallwood chose to save his for when the case goes to circuit court.

There were two other robberies the same evening involving suspects following victims from Wal-Mart to their homes.

Danville General District Judge Robert L. Adams Jr. certified the cases against Jackson and Waddell to the grand jury, which convenes Monday.
RIDGEWAY  Appalachian Power on Wednesday announced plans for a new transmission line project intended to help Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre attract industries.

The project involves adding about five miles of 138-kilovolt line south of Martinsville to connect with the electric utilitys existing Fieldale-Dan River transmission line west of Joseph Martin Road, said John Shepelwich, the companys corporate communications manager.

Shepelwich said the planned line will supply enough electricity to handle the needs of companies with advanced manufacturing processes.

Construction of the line is to start as soon as a company firmly commits to locating in Commonwealth Crossing and should take about 18 months to finish, he said.

Appalachian announced preliminary study segments of the project last September. A public meeting was held so landowners and other area residents could comment on the project. Company employees then worked with landowners to develop the planned lines exact route, according to Shepelwich.

Landowner interaction is extremely valuable in our process of establishing transmission line routes, Appalachian Project Manager Charity Kreher said. With the communitys help, we were able to choose a route that minimizes impact on the environment and the local area.

Commonwealth Crossings line results from 2012 legislation sponsored by state Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, that lets electric utilities work directly with communities to install 138-kilovolt lines without first obtaining the State Corporation Commissions approval, Shepelwich said.

Appalachian officials will discuss the project with the Henry County Board of Supervisors during its meeting Tuesday afternoon, he said.

Companies already are eyeing Commonwealth Crossing as a potential place to locate as the first phase of the industrial parks development nears completion.

The park has drawn significant interest for quite a while, and talks with some active prospects are continuing, said Henry County Administrator Tim Hall.

He and Lisa Lyle, recruiting and marketing director for the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. (EDC), declined to discuss the prospects because no agreements are finalized.

It would be hard to determine exactly how many companies have shown interest in Commonwealth Crossing, Lyle said, because local officials and EDC staff members might not be aware of every inquiry made to state officials and/or private consultants that help companies examine sites.

Eventually, a deal will be struck for a company to locate in the park, Lyle predicted.

Project moves forward

The park is being developed on about 720 acres off U.S. 220 south of Ridgeway at the Virginia/North Carolina line. The first phase involves preparing two lots for mega-projects in which companies agree to invest at least $250 million and create at least 400 jobs, according to Lyle.

Lot 1, with a 120-acre construction pad, is complete and ready to go while Lot 4, which will have a 55-acre pad, is about 95 percent finished, Hall said.

To make Lot 4 level, dirt must be hauled in from elsewhere on the property. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued the required permit, Hall said, adding he hopes the work is finished and the lot is ready for a company to acquire by the end of March.

In the meantime, were aggressively marketing Commonwealth Crossing, Lyle said.

However, marketing currently is being targeted to specific industries that meet objectives for the lots.

Because a railroad runs by Lot 1, it is being marketed to companies that need rail service for receiving materials and shipping products, Lyle said. Examples include plastic, wood and rubber products makers, she said.

The lot is large enough to accommodate automobile and automotive parts manufacturers, Hall said, indicating it also is being marketed to such companies.

The Smith Rivers presence means an ample water supply for the community, and the industrial park has connections to water/sewer service from the Henry County Public Service Authority (PSA).

Hall, who doubles as the PSAs general manager and is an EDC board member, said Lots 1 and 4 also are being marketed to companies needing lots of water, such as food processing firms.

Commonwealth Crossing also has connections to electric, natural gas and broadband utilities.

Companies in industries other than ones being targeted for the park, or which do not specifically need a 120-acre or 50-acre site, would not be turned away, Lyle and Hall emphasized. Instead, they would be shown undeveloped sites at Commonwealth Crossing or available sites elsewhere in the community, such as the Patriot Centre industrial park, which has lots of up to 25 acres.

We want to get good investments on the money that has been spent to develop Lots 1 and 4 for companies with specific needs such as rail service and lots of water, Lyle said.

Hall estimated that between $25 million and $30 million so far has been spent to develop the lots.

Funding contributions have come from the state, county, city of Martinsville, the EDC, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, the U.S. Economic Development Administration and The Harvest Foundation.

Commonwealth Crossing is being marketed by the VEDP as well as the EDC, Hall said.

The available lots are being marketed in various ways, including direct mailings, emails and phone calls to companies within targeted industries, as well as through site-selection consultants, Lyle said.

Advertisements also are being placed in economic development trade magazines, Hall said.

You just cant put up a sign (at the park) that says call us if youre interested in locating there, he said  its not that simple.

To generate interest in the two lots, marketing materials mention, for instance, that the park is only 34 miles from Interstate 40 in North Carolina and within 45-69 miles of three other interstates in that state as well as Virginia. Many companies prefer locating near interstates, according to economic developers, because it is more efficient for large trucks that deliver materials and ship products to travel along the four-lane, divided highways, which lack driveway connections that can slow traffic.

Marketing materials point out, too, that Commonwealth Crossing is within a fourth of a mile of U.S. 220 and six miles of U.S. 58, both of which have many portions much like interstates, and 33 miles from Piedmont Triad International Airport and Federal Express new regional hub in Greensboro, N.C.

The metropolitan Triad region has many types of companies not in Martinsville-Henry County, and subsidiaries, satellite operations or materials suppliers may be interested in locating in Commonwealth Crossing, Hall said.

Because the park is on the state line, it is likely that companies locating there will hire workers from both Virginia and North Carolina. Hall said that cannot be avoided.

I dont think you can legally restrict companies to hiring people from just Martinsville-Henry County, Hall said.

Even so, companies will not locate where such a restriction is attempted, he emphasized.

Companies should be allowed to hire the best fits for their needs, regardless of where the people live, he said.

Regardless of how many local residents someday work at Commonwealth Crossing, the localities  which have agreed to share revenues that the park generates  will benefit from significant amounts of taxes and utility fees that companies locating there will pay, Hall said.

Commonwealth Crossing has two other available industrial lots where site preparation work has not yet started. Hall is not sure when that work will begin.

Lets get Phase 1 done first and then well see about developing the rest of the park, he said.

Mickey Powell reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at .
Vancouver, February 24, 2017 - Deep-South Resources Inc. ("Deep-South" or "the Company") (TSX-V: DSM) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire from Teck Namibia Ltd. ("Teck"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Teck Resources Ltd. , the remaining 70% of Haib Minerals (Pty) Ltd. ("Haib Minerals") that it does not own in exchange for, among other things, 13.6 million common shares of Deep-South. Haib Minerals holds the Exclusive Prospecting Licence 3140 ("EPL 3140"), which hosts the Haib copper project ("Haib" or "the Property") situated in the south of Namibia. At closing, Deep-South will hold 100% of Haib Minerals. At closing, in addition to its current shareholding, Teck will hold 17,776,667 of the common shares of Deep-South, representing about 35% of the Company's share capital based on the common shares currently outstanding.

In addition to the Deep-South shares to be issued to Teck, Deep-South shall:

- pay $400,000 to Teck in accordance with the following schedule:

- First anniversary of the agreement: $200,000

- Second anniversary of the agreement: $200,000

--Teck shall hold a pre-emptive right to participate in any financing of Deep-South as long as Teck holds over 5% of Deep-South's outstanding common shares;

--Teck shall be granted a 1.5% NSR. Deep-South shall have the option to buy back 1/3 of the NSR in consideration for $ 2 million;

--If Deep-South sells or options the Property or a portion of the Property during the 36 months following closing, Teck shall receive 30% of the sale gross proceeds if the sales occurs during the first 24 months after the closing and shall receive 20% of the gross proceeds if the sale occurs between the 24th and 36th months after closing;

--Teck shall be entitled to a production bonus payment that will be declared at the time the company takes the decision to start mine development. Half of the bonus shall be paid upon the decision to start mine development and the second half shall be paid upon commencement ofcommercial production. The bonus value is scaled with the value of the Capital expenditures as follows:

(All amounts C$ millions)

Development Expenditures Cash Payment $0 - $500 $5.0 $501 - $600 $6.7 $601 - $700 $8.3 $701 - $800 $10.0 $801 - $900 $11.7 $901 - $1,000 $13.3 $1,001 and over $15.0

--Teck's shareholding will be topped-up post-closing (if necessary) so that Teck holds 35% of Deep-South's share capital based on the outstanding common shares as of the closing date.

The agreement and shares issuance are subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. This transaction constitute a fundamental change pursuing to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Mr. John Akwenye, Chairman of Deep-South stated, "We are delighted with this transaction. Haib is the largest known porphyry copper deposit in Africa and is situated in an ideal location adjacent to modern infrastructure and in one of the best mining countries in Africa. In becoming our largest shareholder, Teck is a strong shareholder to have in support of the Company. Haib has substantial exploration potential and is a quality asset that adds strong value for our shareholders."

About the Haib Copper Project:

The Haib project is a large copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit located in the Karas region of southern Namibia, 8 km from the Orange River and the South African border.

The deposit, discovered in the 1950's, has seen over 50,000 metres of drilling in the 1970's by companies such as Rio Tinto and Falconbridge Ltd.

Since 2010, Teck Namibia has completed over 14,000 metres of drilling with results such as: 121 m @ 0.5% Cu, 494 m @ 0.36% Cu and 30 m @ 0.81% Cu.

A report by Behre Dolbear, completed in 1996, has estimated a Historical Estimate at Haib in a range presented in the table below:

Haib Historical Estimate - Behre Dolbear / GSM Cut-off (%Cu) GFM Model Behre Dolbear's Model Kriging Inverse Distance Squared Nearest Neighbour Million Tonnes Grade % Cu Million Tonnes Grade % Cu Million Tonnes Grade % Cu Million Tonnes Grade % Cu 0.1 1350 0.23 1353 0.23 1331 0.23 1184 0.25 0.2 730 0.28 739 0.29 726 0.29 630 0.34 0.3 230 0.37 244 0.37 262 0.38 292 0.46

(GFM and Behre Dolbear models used the Kriging method as the basis for their estimate calculations. Kriging is a statistical estimation technique widely used for porphyry deposits. The Inverse Distance Squared and Nearest Neighbour methods, were used by Behre Dolbear for validation of the Kriging method estimates. Behre Dolbear report was produced from a geostatistical block model completed in 1996 by Great Fitzroy Mineral NL ("GFM")).

The Historical Estimate comprised principally the compilation and verification of all the drillhole data incorporating all available data to the end of the Rio Tinto Zinc programme completed in 1975 and comprising over 50,000 metres of drilling, assays and survey data.

The estimates of tonnages and grades quoted in this report were prepared prior to publication of National Instrument 43-101 in 2001 and are considered as Historical Estimates. The historical grades and resources terminology from the original historical reports are to be used only as a reference and should not be considered as a current mineral resource under NI 43-101 but are to be considered as Historical Estimates as per the NI 43-101 Rules and Policies.

P & E Walker Consultancy ("The consultant"), were engaged to prepare a technical review of all the historical data and reports and to act as Qualified Person. The Consultant did not have the mandate to classify the Historical Estimate as current mineral resource under NI 43-101. Deep-South is not treating the Historical Resource as a current mineral resource under NI 43-101.

P & E Walker Consultancy has prepared a technical review of all the historical data and reports. The NI 43-101 qualification report can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Peter Walker B.Sc. (Hons.) MBA Pr.Sci.Nat. is the author of the 43-101 qualifying report and is responsible for the technical part of this press release, and is the designated Qualified Person under the terms of National Instrument 43-101.

About Deep-South Resources Inc.

Deep-South Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company with a large Namibian shareholding, actively involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of major mineral properties in Namibia and Canada. Deep-South growth strategy is to focus on the exploration and development of quality assets, in significant mineralized trends, close to infrastructure, in stable countries.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements," as identified in Deep-South's periodic filings with Canadian Securities Regulators that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. 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.

More information is available by contacting Tim Fernback at 604.340.3774 or at info@deepsouthresources.com.

Copyright (c) 2017 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.


TSX.V: SCZ

FSE: 1SZ

VANCOUVER, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. (TSX.V:SCZ) ("Santacruz" or the "Company") announces that it has signed a binding agreement (the "Agreement") to transfer its interest in the El Gachi Property in Sonora State, Mexico to First Majestic Silver Corp. ("First Majestic") for total consideration of US$2.5 million plus applicable VAT.

The El Gachi Property comprises a 48,057 hectare land package located adjacent to First Majestic's Santa Elena Mine in Sonora State, Mexico.

"With our corporate strategic focus being concentrated on our two producing projects, Veta Grande and Rosario, the El Gachi Property became a non-core asset in our mineral property portfolio." stated Arturo Prestamo, President and CEO of Santacruz. "As such we are pleased to enter this transaction with First Majestic which allows us to monetize our investment, pay down debt, and provide additional working capital for our core operations."

Of the total proceeds received by the Company, approximately US$0.75 million will be paid to JMET, LLC as partial re-payment of its outstanding loan, and US$0.58 million will be paid to Minera Hochschild Mexico, S.A. de C.V.

Closing of the transaction is subject to satisfactory completion by First Majestic of its due diligence and to certain other conditions customary in similar transactions.

About Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd.

Santacruz is a Mexican focused silver company with two producing silver projects (Rosario, including the Cinco Estrellas property, and the right to operate the Veta Grande project and milling facility; an advanced-stage development project (San Felipe) and three exploration properties including the Gavilanes property, Minillas property and Zacatecas properties. The Company is managed by a technical team of professionals with proven track records in developing, operating and discovering silver mines in Mexico. Our corporate objective is to become a mid-tier silver producer.

'signed'

Arturo Prestamo Elizondo,

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

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.

Forward looking information

Certain statements contained in this news release, such as planned production and milling levels, costs, sales prices and efficiencies, constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is based on plans, expectations and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and is subject to certain factors and assumptions, including, that the Company's financial condition and development plans do not change as a result of unforeseen events, that third party ore to be milled by the Company has properties consistent with management's expectations, that the Company obtains all required regulatory approvals, and that future metal prices and the demand and market outlook for metals remains stable or improves. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions referred to prove not to be valid or reliable, which could result in lower revenue, higher cost, lower production levels, delays, and/or cessation in planned work, that the Company's financial condition and development plans change, delays in regulatory approval, risks associated with the interpretation of data (including in respect of the third party ore), the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, as well as the other risks and uncertainties applicable to mineral exploration and development activities and to the Company as set forth in the Company's continuous disclosure filings filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information or statements, other than as required by applicable law.

Financial outlook information contained herein about the Company's prospective costs of production and sales prices is based on assumptions about future events, as described above, based on management's assessment of the relevant information currently available. The purpose of such financial outlook is to provide information about management's current expectations as to the anticipated results of its proposed business activities for the coming quarters. Readers are cautioned that any such financial outlook information contained herein should not be used for purposes other than for which it is disclosed herein.

Rosario Project

The decision to commence production at the Rosario Project was not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, but rather on a more preliminary estimate of inferred mineral resources. Accordingly, there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks of failure associated with this production decision. Production and economic variables may vary considerably, due to the absence of a complete and detailed site analysis according to and in accordance with NI 43-101.

Veta Grande Project

The decision to commence production at the Veta Grande Project was not based on a feasibility study on mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. Accordingly, there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks of failure associated with this production decision. Production and economic variables may vary considerably due to the absence of a complete and detailed site analysis according to and in accordance with NI 43-101.

Cinco Estrellas Property

The decision to commence production at the Cinco Estrellas Property was not based on a feasibility study on mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. Accordingly, there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks of failure associated with this production decision. Production and economic variables may vary considerably due to the absence of a complete and detailed site analysis according to and in accordance with NI 43-101.

SOURCE Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd.
Can government employees be legally fired for criticizing the government?Its a question that many federal workers are asking as they look for ways to express opposition to their new boss but keep their jobs. During the presidential campaign last year, one survey found that 95 percent of federal workers donations went to Hillary Clinton. Now they find themselves working for President Donald Trump, the candidate they tried to beat.Some are attending workshops . Others are refusing to implement orders they dont agree with. Many are airing their grievances in public and on social media.This kind of uncertainty isnt limited to federal employees. People on state and local payrolls struggle with similar issues all the time. In fact, the dilemma is so complicated that the U.S. Supreme Court has revisited the debate several times -- most notably in 1968 and again in 2006.The first case, Pickering v. the Board of Education, involved a teacher who had been fired after writing a critical letter about school funding to the local newspaper. The justices sided with the teacher. Public servants, they ruled, may not "be compelled to relinquish the First Amendment rights they would otherwise enjoy as citizens to comment on matters of public interest."But nearly 40 years later, in Garcetti v. Ceballos, the court concluded that a government employee "must accept certain limitations on his or her freedom."Courts draw a clear distinction, however, between speech expressed on the job and speech that relates to the job but is made as a private citizen. When it comes to comments made on the clock, states and localities can set pretty much any restrictions they want. They can, for example, ban employees from revealing internal information about their employers and complaining about supervisors in a way that sheds negative light on their departments.Government agencies want to control employees speech. They dont want anything said to come back in a way that would embarrass the agency. And the courts have given governments some ability to do that, says David Cuillier, director of the school of journalism at the University of Arizona.Things get fuzzier, though, when it comes to off-the-clock conversations, especially on social media.Government personnel have the freedom to say what they want in their personal lives and on social media -- but only, according to Pickering and other court cases, if it doesnt hurt the governments performance or damage its public perception.Public employees also enjoy more protection when discussing topics that have little to do with their actual job duties, according to Esha Bhandari, a staff attorney who writes for the American Civil Liberties Union blog . If someone in the health department wants to disparage the corrections agency, their job is safer than a corrections officer doing the same thing.These are general rules, and there are exceptions, such as when an employees speech causes disruption to the workplace, wrote Bhandari. But properly construed, any exceptions should apply only in those cases where the governments interest in carrying out its duties is truly impaired by what an employee has said.One of the most recent court cases on this issue backs up Bhandaris assertion.In 2013, after a couple of police officers in Virginia complained on Facebook about having rookies in specialty units and as field training officers, they were penalized and held back from promotions. A lawsuit ensued, and the department prevailed at lower levels.But in December 2016, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals -- which covers Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia -- ended up largely favoring the officers and protecting their right to speak out against their department. The judges wrote that the Department fails to satisfy its burden of demonstrating actual disruption of the mission.  the speculative ills targeted by the social networking policy are not sufficient to justify such sweeping restrictions on officers freedom to debate matters of public concern.Ultimately, its an uncertain world for public-sector employees and employers. As Jill Gerdrum, an employment attorney with Axilon Law Group, says, Employers need to step back and view each case individually. Its time-consuming, but the way the law is, we have to evaluate what the speech is and balance whether or not it has an adverse effect on the workplace.
How much does higher education cost? Surprisingly, that's a question most states can't answer.Every state, of course, knows what it plans to spend on higher ed each year, which generally accounts for about 10 percent of a state's budget. But few places track what they give up in tax breaks to help defray the cost of college for taxpayers, according to a new Pew Charitable Trusts report . Since many states default to the federal government's qualifications for these tax breaks, most don't know how vulnerable they are to changes at the federal level.Phillip Oliff, one of the report's authors, says states should be regularly looking at both sides of the equation -- tax breaks and direct spending -- when considering how they pay for and promote education policy. "Then they can think about whether the full package of support is being used as effectively as possible to promote their policy goals," he says.In a review of the 41 states and the District of Columbia that tax personal income, just nine states and the district assess their higher education-related tax expenditures. These expenditures include special deductions, tax credits and exemptions that allow tax filers to reduce their declared taxable income. California, for instance, spent $10.8 billion on higher education in 2014, the year for which Pew has comprehensive data. But its estimated foregone revenue from higher education tax expenditures nudges the state's total cost up to $11.2 billion.The report comes at a time when state spending on higher education has decreased by a collective $10 billion since the Great Recession. That's had a direct impact on the cost of college as institutions have had to cover the shortfall. Tuition has increased on average by 33 percent over the past decade, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). In Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii and Louisiana, tuition has spiked more than 60 percent; in Arizona, it has nearly doubled.Meanwhile, Michael Mitchell, a CBPP senior policy analyst, has seen public institutions shift more toward merit-based scholarships and away from need-based simply because the former is likelier to attract students who can afford to pay more tuition.Decreased spending and this shift toward merit scholarships are having a disproportionate impact on lower-income students. And that's where knowing how much a state spends on higher ed and how much it gives away in tax breaks is important, says Oliff. Looking at which federal higher education tax breaks are automatically passed on to a state is a good place to start, as most of states' foregone revenue comes from these income credits and deductions. Lawmakers should ask themselves if the total spending package is achieving their policy goals, or whether credits or spending should be shifted.Simplifying a state's tax and deductions could also help make college more affordable for students. Given the current complexity in most states, it can be hard for students to accurately assess the indirect financial help they get from credits and deductions, Mitchell says. That makes it difficult for them to determine whether they can afford college. "There's research that shows students very much overestimate the final price they pay for college, and part of the reason is that it's such a labyrinth to navigate," he says. "The more simplicity policymakers can bring to the maze, the easier it is for students -- whose parents may not have gone to college themselves -- to navigate that."
Prosecutors wrapped up their part of John Swallow's public-corruption trial Thursday, but not before dropping three of the 13 charges the former Utah attorney general faced.The three felony counts eliminated were allegations of receiving or soliciting a bribe, money laundering and evidence tampering."Trials are fluid," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told The Salt Lake Tribune. "Sometimes, as the evidence or situation changes, so does what we can prosecute, and it's our obligation to do the right thing and make that correction to reflect the evidence."The dismissals, which 3rd District Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills accepted, were not necessarily unexpected.The three counts are tied partly to Jeremy Johnson, the imprisoned St. George businessman who repeatedly refused to testify, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.Johnson was convicted last year of federal charges for lying to a bank and is serving an 11-year prison term in California. Starting on Feb. 15, he took the witness stand and said that, on the advice of his attorneys, he wouldn't answer questions without an ironclad immunity agreement from the U.S. Justice Department.That assurance never came, and Johnson was ordered to serve a 30-day jail term for contempt.
The Washington State Patrol and other state agencies will not help enforce federal immigration laws by routinely checking a person's residency status, Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday.As part of an ongoing series of challenges to President Donald Trump and his administration, Inslee signed an executive order that bars state officials from asking for documents solely for determining whether a person is complying with civil immigration laws. It also bars spending state money to target or arrest people for possible violation of those laws.The executive order is not a declaration that Washington is a "sanctuary state," and while the Legislature could pass such a bill "I'm not sure I see the necessity... as long as the executive order is carried out," he said.State troopers and local law enforcement officials and other officials will not become arms of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Inslee said in announcing the order: "We respect their role, but those are their roles, not ours."If the federal government tries to cut federal money as a response to his executive order, the state would challenge it."If they think they're going to jerk the state's Medicaid money because we're not going to be mini ICE agents, they're wrong," he said. "The president is bound by the law. He chafes under that, but it is a fact."The order also covers all agencies as well as public universities.It comes in the wake of a controversy in Western Washington involving the arrest of an undocumented driver after a state trooper investigated an auto accident on Interstate 5. The driver was a convicted felon, ICE was notified and he was detained for deportation.A State Patrol review of the case prompted criticism from Republican Sen. Steve O'Ban and a letter to Inslee."I agree with President Obama, who said if you're a criminal, you should be deported," O'Ban said earlier this week at a Republican press conference.Inslee said Thursday, however, that O'Ban had some of the facts of the case wrong, because although the driver had been convicted of a felony in another state and served the sentence, there was no warrant out for him by ICE. The patrol review was routine to see if the trooper followed standard procedures, he added."If there's a federal criminal warrant, the state patrol will honor it," he said. By itself, a prior conviction would not be enough for a trooper to detain a person and notify federal authorities.O'Ban said later that while he did have some information in his initial letter, which he blamed on inaccurate news accounts, and sent a second letter that clarified that his concern was whether law enforcement was getting support needed to do their jobs."Law enforcement needs to be clear to do their job and keep the public, including immigrant communities, safe," he said.The governor said routine notification of immigration agents by state and local law enforcement would further stretch already scarce budgets. He added that it also could make some immigrants less likely to report crimes like domestic violence, or to provide information if they are witnesses to a crime if they thought their residency status would be questioned."That makes our communities less safe," Inslee said.The governor was asked if the order could result in instances where not reporting an undocumented immigrant to federal authorities would result in immigrants staying who might commit violent crime. Last year an undocumented immigrant who entered the country illegally murdered the mother of their child in a brutal slaying along Interstate 90.Manuel Argomaniz Camargo had been stopped three years earlier for driving erratically near Ephrata by a state trooper. He spoke almost no English, had no driver's license and refused to take a Breathalyzer test. He was eventually arrested, jailed and charged with driving under the influence. But there's no indication in the record that the trooper inquired about his status or contacted immigration authorities to check it, and state patrol officials said the trooper would not have been required to do that.Released the next day, Camargo eventually was found guilty, received a suspended sentence and required to attend a drug and alcohol information course. A short time later he met Ana Montelongo Garcia, a documented immigrant who lived with her mother in Moses Lake. They had a son, moved to Chicago for a few years, but with their relationship failing he was returning her and their 3-year-old son to Moses Lake when he killed her in a drug-induced rage. Her mother, Nicolasa Garcia, later said if Camargo had been deported after this or another contact with law enforcement that revealed he wasn't legally in the country, Ana would still be alive.Inslee said he wasn't familiar with the case, but added "all groups of people have some degree of criminal behavior." While there are tragedies involving undocumented residents, he estimated for every one of those, there are 100 cases where police officers responding to domestic violence or other calls will need to talk to victims who would be afraid to report the crime or witnesses who wouldn't talk for fear of being reported to federal immigration authorities.
Anyone who legally owns a gun can now carry it in a concealed fashion without a permit from their local police chief, thanks to Senate Bill 12, signed into law on Wednesday by Gov. Chris Sununu.The battle over constitutional carry, or concealed carry, has been waged in the State House on and off for the past three decades."It's been a long time coming," said Sununu, as he fulfilled a campaign promise before a crowd of supportive citizens and lawmakers gathered in Executive Council chambers."SB12 ensures New Hampshire citizens are guaranteed the fundamental right to carry a firearm in defense of themselves and their families, as prescribed by our state constitution," he said."This is about safety. This is about making sure that the laws on our books are keeping people safe while remaining true to the Live Free or Die spirit that makes New Hampshire the great state that it is."The bill passed the House by a wide, bipartisan margin, 200-97. The 13-10 vote in the Senate was along party lines, with Democrat opposed.Concealed carry was before the Legislature for the third time in three sessions. The past two attempts passed with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, but were vetoed by then-Gov. Maggie Hassan. And those were only the most recent attempts."We've been working on this for 28 years," said Republican Executive Councilor David Wheeler of Milford, who as a state representative sponsored some of the earliest versions of concealed-carry legislation.His son, an attorney, drafted much of the language in the bill that was signed into law on Wednesday.Gun rights advocates have been frustrated in their efforts to change New Hampshire law throughout the gubernatorial terms of Democrats John Lynch and Maggie Hassan. During the two-year term of Republican Gov. Craig Benson, from 2003-2005, they succeeded with three bills.One law eliminated manufacturer liability, protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits; another protected gun clubs and firing ranges from being shut down by neighborhood complaints if the range was there before the neighbors; and a third gave the state exclusive power to regulate firearms or ammunition, preempting any existing local ordinances or attempts to pass new ones.Michelle Levell, chair of the Women's Defense League of N.H., couldn't be on hand for Wednesday's bill signing, but members of the organization held up a picture of the gun-rights activist who worked for years on the legislation."She's worked so hard for this moment, we wanted her to be here today," said Susan Olsen, director of legislation for the organization.Sununu called the bill "common sense legislation" that aligns New Hampshire's concealed-carry laws with that of neighboring Vermont and Maine.New Hampshire now joins 11 other states that allow concealed carry without an additional permit: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Vermont, Wyoming and West Virginia.Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said the law will make it harder for law enforcement to "keep track of guns that fall into the wrong hands." The previous law gave police chiefs the power to deny a concealed-carry permit to anyone they deemed "unsuitable."That criteria gave local and state police too much freedom to act arbitrarily in denying someone their constitutional rights, according to the bill's supporters.SB 12 is the first bill signed into law by the newly elected governor. Opponents argued that the existing system had worked well for years, and there was no need for the change."New Hampshire has imminent issues that need the governor's attention, but further relaxing the state's notoriously lax gun laws is not one of them," said Buckley. "The vast majority of Granite Staters support common sense reforms like background checks and it is those reforms that will make us safer, not more accessibility."Republican Party Chairman Jeanie Forrester said Sununu made clear during the campaign that signing concealed carry would be one of his first acts upon taking office."He's holding true to that commitment," she said. "This new law secures our constitutional rights, catches us up with our neighbor states and makes it easier for people to defend their lives and property."
Roughly three months after it began, Gov. Terry McAuliffes Cyber Vets Virginia initiative to retrain veterans to work in the tech sector is expanding with the addition of two academies this spring, said state officials who hope the program will grow even further.Announced on Veterans Day 2016, the Virginia governors plan focuses on filling vacant cyber and tech jobs. As recently as November, the state was believed to have 17,000 vacant cyber-related positions. But Karen Jackson, the states secretary of technology, said the number of empty posts has now more than doubled to 36,000.Obviously, thats a real eye opener," Jackson told. "The world is your oyster right now if you happen to be a cyberprofessional. Part of that, we think, is a heightened awareness on the part of non-tech companies that they need cyberworkers  the hospitals, the manufacturing companies moving into the IT sector.According to a 2016 Business-Higher Education Forumprepared by Burning Glass Technologies, there were 348,975 postings for cybersecurity jobs nationwide from Oct. 1, 2016, through May 31, 2016.During this period, Virginia had the second highest posting count in the nation at 36,342 jobs, trailing only California.Currently, demand is so high that the state has zero unemployment in cyber-related jobs, Jackson said, adding, The problem is trying to push enough people into the pipeline to chink away at some of those openings.Maxwell Shuftan, director of SANS CyberTalent Solutions, which includes overseeing the academies, attributed the boom to breaches at major companies like Target and Home Depot, and to the rise of the Internet of Things.When you see a500 company experiencing that kind of breach, it sort of gets the attention of everybody, Shuftan said.Debbie Hughes, the Business-Higher Education Forum's vice president of higher education and workforce, also credited hypergrowth in the area of companies hiring for positions, all the investment that has been made, all the publicity around cyber.And despite warnings that degrees are required and no entry-level cyberjobs exist, she said veterans could be uniquely qualified to find work after training. With the veterans, its awesome  you can take this pool of folks who already have this work experience and then supplement them in and get them into the jobs that are hardest to fill, Hughes said.On March 20 and again on April 24, veterans will have their chance. Those are the start dates for the SANS Institutes two new entirely scholarship-based VetSuccess Immersion Academies Following a screening process to assess skills and aptitude, vets will have the chance to take as many as three SANS courses on topics including security essentials, hacker tools, incident handling, intrusion detection and network penetration testing. After finishing each, participants will take exams for Global Information Assurance Certification before beginning the next course  and, should they not pass, theyll get a second try.Established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization, SANS programs now reach more than 165,000 security professionals worldwide. In a statement made Jan. 30 when the academies were announced , Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs John Harvey Jr. called the states partnership with SANS a big win and said it will boost opportunities for veterans and service members.Enrollment for SANS first academy in McLean, Va., which will last four to five months, drew 82 applicants when organizers expected only 40 to 50. Enrollment for the second academy in Virginia Beach is open through March 17, and so far 35 people have applied for about the same number of spots.Joseph Robbins, a 2015 academy graduate whos working as a cybersecurity analyst for ISHPI Technologies, praised the academys training for getting him the job, in a statement. Without the academy, Id have finished my degree and would still be looking for a job, Robbins said.Moved by the overwhelming response from applicants, Shuftan said the institute may add seats to the first academy, and it's contemplating holding a third academy this fall.We know from a large perspective were making a small dent in a number thats hundreds of thousands [of empty positions] throughout the year, Shuftan said. Getting 100 people through in a year and placed isnt going to change that, but its still something that we think is impactful," Shuftan said, referencing a rough number of total academy graduates per year.After completion, Jackson said, veterans should find it increasingly easy to either enter the workforce or continue their education to a graduate or postgraduate degree. As long as they work in Virginia, she said jokingly. We want them to stay here.This highlights a longstanding issue for public agencies that find it difficult to hire and keep talent because they typically dont pay as much as the private sector. In Virginias case, Jackson said the state has set up a scholarship program, covering veterans education costs on a one-to-one ratio if they go to work for the state  paying one year of tuition in exchange for one year of service.But Hughes suggested compensation isnt the only reason employees may stay in the public sector.People who are going into the public sector, especially in cybersecurity, have already made a decision that its not about the money. Its about driving the mission and making folks feel connected to the work, feel important, and making them feel like theyre contributing to something important, she said.
F1 teams are reacting with positive surprise to news that Pirelli will drop the pressures of its tyres in 2017.

Last year, many teams and drivers complained about the very high minimum pressures mandated by Pirelli on safety grounds.

Now, the sport is switching to much bigger, wider, grippier and less degrading tyres for 2017, but some engineers were warning that if the pressures did not drop as well, they may not actually be much faster.

"If we have to go over 25 PSI, the laptimes won't be faster than last year," one engineer was quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

But the German publication says Pirelli will actually mandate 22 PSI for front tyres and 18 PSI for the rears starting with Barcelona testing next week.

An engineering source at Renault reacted: "That is very brave. With those tyres pressures, we will really be able to see what the new cars can do."

(GMM)
Mercedes is inching ever "closer" to the milestone mark of 1000 horse power with its field-leading V6 power unit.

That is the admission of engine boss Aldo Costa, amid reports that while Ferrari, Renault and even Honda are now closing up on Mercedes, the German marque has also made a significant step for 2017.

One year ago, F1 blogger Joe Saward scoffed at reports Mercedes had inched tantalisingly close to 1000hp in the new 'power unit' era, calling it "Fabulous sh***!"

But Cowell is quoted by the Spanish daily Marca: "We are getting closer and closer (to 1000hp) with every evolution, but we're not going to say exactly where we are.

"There are several improvements in reliability as well that will allow us to push harder than before and for a longer time," he added.

(GMM)
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.
Rep. Michael Speciale (R-Beaufort, Craven, Pamlico) says he just wants to clean up the state Constitution.

Along with Rep. Bert Jones (R-Rockingham, Caswell), Speciale has proposed a long list of amendments to the N.C. Constitution that, if approved by the General Assembly, will be on the ballot in November 2018 for voters to decide.

So whats all this stuff cluttering up the state Constitution? For starters, the requirement that its residents get a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

House Bill 145 would remove the states ability to regulate concealed weapons, so that anyone over 18 could pack heat without undergoing any training, having any prior experience handling firearms or having their records checked for criminal convictions, pending charges or mental health problems. State law now requires all these things before issuing a concealed carry permit.

All this process is doing is making it so that law-abiding citizens have to get a government permission slip to exercise their constitutional rights, Paul Valone, president and co-founder of the gun rights group Grassroots North Carolina, told N.C. Policy Watch.

That group  and the legislature  apparently has no problem with North Carolinians being required to have a government permission slip to drive a car, catch a fish, operate a business and vote, but finds the requirements governing ones right to carry a deadly weapon too limiting.

With HB 147, Jones and Speciale also want to rid the Constitution of its provision prohibiting secession  because seceding from the Union worked out so well the first time, in 1861.

The federal government is a creation of the states, not the other way around, Speciale told WBTV. Therefore we should always retain the right to leave the union if the federal government becomes so out of control as to be tyrannical.

If thats the case, Greensboro should look into seceding from North Carolina. If having a member of the General Assembly redrawing city council districts against the citys will isnt tyrannical, I dont know what is.

And loyalty to the United States of America? Its just too ... confining. House Bill 146 would require that North Carolinians owe allegiance only to the U.S. Constitution, not the government it created. In the parlance of Facebook, our status with our country would change from In a relationship to Its complicated.

A fourth bill, HB 148, would repeal the Constitutions literacy requirement for voting, which is proactive given the damage lawmakers are doing to North Carolina schools and universities. If the legislature continues draining resources from public schools to fund far-less-accountable charter schools, this will be a necessity in order to have a voting population in 10 years.

But Jones and Speciale arent the only ones looking to improve the states founding document.

HB 3, sponsored by Rep. Chuck McGrady (R-Henderson) is a proposed constitutional amendment that would limit the power of state and local governments to condemn private land through eminent domain. The bill passed the House, as it has three times previously, before dying in the Senate.

Senate Bill 75 would lower the constitutional cap on income taxes rates from 10 percent to 5.5 percent, essentially capping it at its current rate of 5.499 percent. That bill is cosponsored by three Republican lawmakers and endorsed by Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham). As critics have pointed out, capping the tax rate would leave future legislators little leeway in dealing with unforeseen expenses. The only options left would be to raise other taxes or cut spending, which could affect the states infrastructure as well as the health and well-being of its citizens.

By far the most alarming business before the General Assembly are resolutions in the House and Senate calling for a convention of the states to amend the U.S. Constitution. More than 38 states would have to sign on to such bills for a convention actually to take place, and many are considering similar resolutions. The right-leaning Convention of States favors amendments that would limit federal government spending and impose term limits on members of Congress.

But once convened, a convention could go much further. Senate Joint Resolution 40 calls for a countermand amendment, which would authorize the states, upon a vote of three-fifths of the state legislatures, to nullify and repeal a federal statute, executive order, judicial decision, regulatory decision by a federal government agency, or government mandate. In other words, the states could overturn federal law and Supreme Court rulings.

Michael Bitzer, a professor of history and political science at Catawba College, likened this push for a countermand amendment to the push for states rights in the battle over slavery during the Civil War (see HB 146 and HB 147, above).

Its not enough that the conservative leadership of the General Assembly has set the state back 50 years. Apparently, theyre going for 150.
Donald Trump is making America read again.

It started during the campaign, when J.D. Vances Hillbilly Elegy became the go-to text explaining Trumps appeal among low-income white voters. It continued last month, when a public spat between Trump and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) boosted sales of Lewis trilogy, March, and memoir, Walking With the Wind.

And then came the dystopian-fiction craze, when Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway immortalized herself in Americas political lexicon by describing White House falsehoods as alternative facts  and George Orwells 1984 shot to the top of Amazons sales ranking.

A president who rarely cracks books has unwittingly launched a book club for America. Every feud, every outrage, every did-he-really-just-do-that episode propels a new literary discussion. In the months since the election, Ive frequently been asked to suggest books explaining the convulsions of the Trump era. The question has even inspired me to start a book group of my own: The quest for insight is always better in good company.

As with any book club, national or personal, the key question is what book comes next  a more urgent matter now that those choices appear to reflect the political fears, grievances and aspirations of Americas citizen-readers.

Trump clearly grasps the cultural allure of books. He has authored more than a dozen of them (I hesitate to use the word written) and launched his campaign declaring that we need a leader that wrote The Art of the Deal.

That book is as much a part of his brand as The Apprentice or Trump Tower. Maybe more.

Yet, while critics gushed over his predecessors love of the written word, Trump doesnt mind being pegged as a literary lightweight  its just one more way to knock those coastal elites he supposedly disdains. Trump has freely admitted to not reading books, devoting instead endless hours to cable news. Im watching you all the time! he told Megyn Kelly in a May 2016 Fox News interview. Im watching OReilly all the time. Im watching Hannity. ... I would love to sit down and read a book, but I just dont have the time anymore. (Someone should introduce him to C-SPANs BookTV.)

The scoffing about Trumps literary indifference has been endless. Donald Trump Is Too Busy To Read Books, sniffed The Huffington Post on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Sad. And when Trump told the Hollywood Reporter that he was re-reading All Quiet on the Western Front, journalist Michael Wolff winked that it was probably a book Trump suddenly remembered from high school.

But of all the concerns I have about the new president  and the list is mighty  a sparse bookshelf is hardly foremost, and every earnest appeal for the one book Trump should read right now! makes me smile. Developing a personal or intellectual sensibility through books is the work of a lifetime, not something you pick up at age 70 when youve just plunged into the maelstrom of the presidency. And as The Washington Posts Marc Fisher has reported, There is no clear correlation between studious presidents and success in the office.

Sure, I wish Trump read more books. But at this point Id settle for him reading his briefing books. Or the Constitution.

We have often looked to the book choices of our political leaders as a window into their minds and policy preferences  and at times they have been, for better or worse. For instance, Jimmy Carters fascination with the ideas of Christopher Lasch, author of the 1979 best-seller The Culture of Narcissism, was part of the impetus behind Carters ill-fated crisis of confidence speech, forever linking the 39th president to the notion of American malaise. And The New Yorkers massive 1963 review of Michael Harringtons The Other America helped get President Kennedy focused on the poor, leading to President Lyndon B. Johnsons War on Poverty.

In his 2013 history of popular culture in the White House, Tevi Troy cited Abraham Lincoln as an example of a self-taught, bookish man whose ascent to the presidency made the office more relatable. The combination of humble origins and prodigious learning makes Lincoln an irresistibly appealing figure, Troy writes. If Lincoln can do it, politicians and citizens alike may think, so can I.

Trumps connection with voters is forged not through literature but on Twitter  thats the window into his thinking  so its intriguing that people are using books to grasp, interpret or game out the Trump phenomenon. During the campaign, the subject of rural white voters emerged as a publishing and journalistic obsession. Beyond Hillbilly Elegy, works such as Nancy Isenbergs White Trash and Arlie Russell Hochschilds Strangers in Their Own Land grappled with the history and attitudes of the white American underclass, while Carol Andersons White Rage argued that every era of black progress produced a backlash from entrenched white interests. All became bestsellers during Trumps ascent.

Now with the Trump administration underway, Orwells 1984 is but one of several dystopian classics to regain currency. Sinclair Lewis It Cant Happen Here, the tale of a bumbling, repressive and democratically elected American fascist, has reached Amazons top 20. Same for Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale, helped by the forthcoming Hulu adaptation of the book. Orwells Animal Farm is a Washington Post paperback best-seller.

The shift is telling. With 1984 surpassing Hillbilly Elegy on Amazon, it seems weve grown less interested in reflecting on how we got here and more in figuring out where were headed.

What genre might come next? I imagine many nonfiction book proposals are being shopped around, promising the inside story of the Trump presidency (working title: American Carnage). The resurgent far right may have its literary moment, too. But Id bet political satire will gain prominence, particularly with a vain, thin-skinned president as its target. Trumps sensitivity to Saturday Night Live skits shows that this is fertile territory and, as Hannah Arendt argued, ridicule weakens the aura surrounding strongmen, undercutting their pretensions of greatness and history.

Oh, and Arendts The Origins of Totalitarianism has been selling well.

Trump does read some books, or at least claims to. Last summer, for instance, he touted Edward Kleins Unlikeable: The Problem With Hillary. And in 2015 he raved over Ann Coulters subtly titled Adios, America: The Lefts Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole. In fact, Trumps initial campaign remarks about Mexican drug dealers and rapists were probably inspired by Coulters book, which he hailed as a great read just three weeks before announcing his candidacy.

Those are not exactly works that ease the minds of Trumps opponents. Its not enough that presidents read books, critics insist  they must read the right ones.

For instance, when Karl Rove disclosed President George W. Bushs reading habits in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen chided the president for turning to books that reaffirmed his worldview. Bush has always been the captive of fixed ideas, Cohen wrote.

The wisdom-of-crowds approach, reflected in best-seller lists, is one way to find books that give us perspective, strategy or comfort in uncertain times. But even then, its hard to break free of our political silos. After all, the readers gravitating toward 1984 are probably not the same ones ordering presale copies of Dangerous.

In the coming days Ill start gathering with a few journalists, academics and wonks to try to identify, read and discuss varied works that help us understand, as Trump might say, what the hell is going on.

So if youve rediscovered an old book that speaks to our new political realities, if youre a professor of U.S. government rethinking your assigned readings, if youre finding new books in other languages that imagine where the United States and the world are headed, please share your picks widely  and let me know. And, yes, if youre writing that one book that somehow explains it all, I want to be the first to hear about it.
WINSTON-SALEM  Gov. Roy Cooper made a stop Thursday at Reynolds High School to talk up his teacher pay plan.

Cooper announced on Monday a plan to raise teacher salaries to the national average over five years. The first two years of that plan  consecutive 5 percent increases  will be included in the governors budget proposal, due out next month.

Cooper said the state used to be at the national average for teacher pay, then fell during salary freezes enacted during the recession. Now, North Carolina is ranked 41st in the country for average teacher pay.

Thats unacceptable, he said.

In a sit-down with Reynolds teachers Thursday morning, the governor said his support goes beyond raising salaries.

We have to do what we must to attract and retain (teachers), he said. Part of that is compensation.

While the teachers said they would be grateful for a pay increase, they had other concerns, too: standardized testing, a lack of resources for low-income families whose children come to school behind in learning and the negative portrayal of public schools they see from some lawmakers.

I feel like were getting punched in the stomach all the time, said John Clevenger, a U.S. history teacher in his 13th year teaching. Its very disheartening.

Cooper said hell use his office to be a vocal advocate for public schools and teachers. Coopers mother was a teacher.

The newly minted governor took a quick tour of the countys flagship high school. At the arts magnet program, that means getting treated to a performance from Reynolds a cappella group.

Its a great experience, said Gary Whitt, a freshman in the singing group. Its fun to get to show off what we do here to someone whos in charge of all this.

Principal Leslie Alexander had fun showing off the school, too.

He got to see a little academics, a little art  so, he got a real taste of Reynolds, Alexander said. And hes very pro-teacher. Were excited to have him on campus.

Cooper said he has a plan that will make teacher pay in the state the highest in the Southeast in three years and back up to the national average in five years.

His two-year budget plan will include 5 percent pay raises for both years and bring average teacher pay in the state to $55,000.

This is realistic; its absolutely doable, Cooper said.

Republican leaders of the General Assembly have also said they are committed to improving teacher pay.

After he opposed recent Republican budgets that increased average teacher pay by 15.5 percent, we are pleased Roy Cooper has finally joined legislative efforts to undo the damage of years of Democratic teacher furloughs and teacher pay freezes, said Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. We look forward to reviewing his complete budget proposal.

Cooper said his plan will include raises for teachers at every experience level, contrasting it with GOP-led teacher pay raise plans of the last several years that focused raises on early and midcareer teachers but did little for veteran teachers.

Republican leaders have been moving toward differentiated pay plans and have piloted merit-based bonus systems. Cooper said he prefers plans that reward all teachers but could find common ground with Republicans on differentiated plans that reward teachers for such things as taking leadership positions in their buildings, mentoring colleagues or earning advanced degrees.

More details will be released with his budget. Cooper said the state will not need to raise taxes to pay for the two-year investment of $813 million as long as the General Assembly backs away from additional corporate tax breaks.

Cooper said his budget will also include a $150 stipend for teachers to help offset out-of-pocket costs for class supplies and an additional investment in early childhood education.

Ronda Mays, the president of the Forsyth County Association of Educators, said shes happy with what shes heard so far. Shes waiting, though, to see what is in store for school employees who arent teachers.

Cooper said his budget plan will includes raises for nonteaching employees as well.

By the time its adopted over the summer, its unlikely the states budget will look much like the one Cooper releases next week. The Democratic governor has already been at odds with the Republican-controlled General Assembly, which will have the largest hand in crafting the budget.

Cooper said that what he cant achieve through the budget process, hell try to manage through other avenues. Enrollment in teaching programs is already down, he said, and it will soon be a problem if the state cant improve the image of teaching as a profession.

Cooper told first-year teacher Richard Jackson to hang in there.

Stay, Cooper told him. You need to stay.
A North Carolina advocacy group argued before the N.C. Court of Appeals Thursday that it should be allowed to sell solar energy to a church in Greensboro.

The court allowed oral arguments to be offered after the N.C. Utilities Commission banned NC WARN, an advocacy group, from selling energy to Faith Community Church.

Duke Energy claims we knowingly violated the law, said Jim Warren, executive director of NC WARN. Were making a strong legal argument that the law does allow us to do what were doing.

In June 2015, NC WARN installed solar panels at Faith Community Church, located on Arlington Street, and sent the church bills for the energy produced.

The N.C. Utilities Commission ruled that NC WARN violated state law that reserves the right to sell electricity to Duke Energy and other regulatory agencies.

This is a case where NC WARN is basically trying to set themselves up as a utility to sell energy to the church using solar panels on the roof, said Randy Wheeless, spokesman for Duke Energy. The Utilities Commission felt that was NC WARN setting up as a public utility but not wanting to follow the rules and regulations of being a public utility.

Wheeless said the rules and regulations guide utility companies on how much they can charge customers, customers rights and to whom a person could complain if the utility company does something a customer feels is inappropriate.

The commission fined the advocacy group $200 per day that NC WARN provided energy to the church, which equaled $60,000. The fine is temporarily suspended, pending the appeals courts decision.

The commission ruled that if NC WARN were to donate the solar panel equipment to the church and give the church a refund with 10 percent interest for money the group charged, the fine would be lifted.

Before that ruling, NC WARN officials had told the church they would donate the equipment if the ruling did not come out in their favor.

Warren said his nonprofit was not trying to become a public utility but was trying to test whether other clean-energy organizations could come to North Carolina and do what NC WARN did.

NC WARN, the N.C. Utilities Commission, Duke Energy and other electric companies in North Carolina argued their sides before Appeals Judges Donna Stroud, Chris Dillon and Hunter Murphy.

Wheeless said attorneys for NC WARN were questioned by the judges on why the nonprofit did not go in another direction and set up the solar panels for the church and a payment plan for the church to pay back the nonprofit.

That would allow NC WARN to pay for the solar panels without billing the church for the energy they used.

Warren said the appeals court expects to publish its opinion within two months.

Both Warren and Wheeless said they felt strong arguments were offered for their sides.

Warren said if NC WARN were to lose this appeal, its arguments would be made to the N.C. Supreme Court.

Wheeless said Duke Energy believes the Court of Appeals will take the same position as the utilities commission but that the power company is taking each case a step at a time.
GREENSBORO  Once in forward. Once in reverse. Five minutes to complete both.

On Friday, Western Guilford High logistics teacher Art Close tested students on their skills driving a forklift. Each had to maneuver through an obstacle course in a space that seems large for a classroom but small for the simulated warehouse it has become.

Youll note we still have the ceiling, Close joked, pointing out that dealing with a powerful lifting machine means students must learn to carefully follow instructions.

This is the fourth year for Westerns logistics program, the only one of its kind in North Carolina.

Logistics centers on controlled movement of products from producers to consumers, Close said. Transportation, warehousing and supply chain management all fit in.

This program aims to help students get hands-on experience with some of the technology and procedures of a modern warehouse, while also understanding some of the concepts behind how businesses manage their logistics operations.

Guilford County Schools and the high schools staff have faced obstacles of their own in starting the program and keeping it on course. One of the biggest has been teacher turnover; Close is the third teacher in four years.

In 2015-16, the year Close started, the program had 14 students. The previous teachers did heavy lifting in inaugurating the program and curriculum, but changing hands meant a bit of a vacuum for course recruitment. Under Closes leadership  and with support from the school and others  it has grown dramatically since then. Sixty students are now enrolled.

Bob Gantt, the school systems director of career and technical education, said that since 2008 he has been hearing logistics mentioned in discussions with local business leaders about what sectors are growing and how the school systems career program could tie in.

Greensboro is at a relatively central point along the Eastern Seaboard and it has interstates, railways and an international airport. FedEx, XPO and Ralph Lauren are among the companies with major operations in the area, according to Close.

Western Guilford, Gantt said, seemed like a good fit for a logistics program because its close to the airport and certain businesses and distribution centers. The schools administrators were supportive. Also, he said, with a little shuffling, the school had the space for the program, whereas the school system would have had to drop another program entirely to make it fit at Weaver Academy, which houses many of the specialized technical education programs.

Future goals for the logistics program involve tracking students after they graduate, as well as setting up internship options for students while they are in school.

Closes starting-level classes study warehousing and distribution. That includes the basics of how warehouses function: how to use tools, how to do inventory and so forth. The advanced class, for students who have completed the starting class, covers supply chain management and goes into more depth on topics introduced in the first class.

Students at both levels are learning to drive the forklift. But just getting permission for students to use it was a major obstacle. Close discovered when he arrived at the school last year that the forklift had been used for teacher demonstrations but not for students to drive. That stemmed out of concern over federal laws prohibiting people under age 18 from driving forklifts. But Close, a former Air Force bomber pilot and thermonuclear weapons officer, wasnt satisfied for the lift to sit idle. He said he got the go-ahead after he wrote to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for permission to supervise students training with the lift and explained the unique situation at the school.

Theres no drivers license students can get from learning to drive the forklift at Western, but they do leave with a certificate that tells future employer they were able to drives a forklift with Guilford County Schools, Close said.

While at least one of his fellow students was visibly nervous for the test, Dylan Caraballo, the first to drive in his class period Friday, handled the forklift with calm and precision. He earned a perfect score  not easy.

To be able to drive it straight is difficult, to drive it with 2 inches clearance, very difficult, Close explained, over the roar of machinery.

Caraballo didnt pick the logistics class for his schedule. He was new to the school system this fall, he said, and someone assigned him to it. But he made a purposeful decision to stay in the course when he rearranged his schedule after seeing what it was like.

He appreciated that skills taught in the class, like driving a forklift, could be useful to him in the job market. And he liked the way Close taught the material, he said, and how he got along with the students.

His sense, he said, is the course probably could be shorter. While it does require some studying, he said the book-learning part of the class feels a bit stretched to fit the time frame of a full-year course. Not that he minds  some extra time to get work done is nice.

Caraballo is proud of what he has accomplished with the forklift, and a little competitive about his skills. Right now hes thinking hell move to Kentucky to be with his father and younger brother and sister after graduation, though hes sorry that could get in the way of making a connection with a local warehouse for a job through this program.

It kind of stinks, but at the same time, still having the certificate and stuff it also will travel along with me, he said. So theres always a good chance that wherever I go I can get into other warehousing businesses. To me its just another idea.
Conservatives are overjoyed that President Trump may issue an executive order exempting people of faith from complying with laws that violate their conscience.

To gauge public opinion, I posted on social media the account of a gay man in rural North Carolina who needed a liver transplant but was denied treatment because the doctor, citing the Bible, refused to treat him. In response to my post, commenters praised the doctor and suggested the patient go elsewhere.

But the doctors religious beliefs were not at stake. A physician does not participate in a patients alleged sins. Nor would treatment endorse a patients beliefs or lifestyle. And religious doctrine does not countenance a refusal to treat sinners, lest no one be treated.

North Carolina law does not recognize a religious freedom exemption for medical care. By oath, doctors promise to remain a member of society, with special obligations to ALL ... fellow human beings (caps added). And patients should not have to find a doctor with compatible religious views.

Finally, the executive order applies only to duties under federal law. The duty to treat the public fairly arises under state law, so it would not protect the doctor here.

Robert G. Lehouck II

Greensboro
The following are comments on Courtney McSwains article (Ideas, Feb. 5), Are Americans truly behaving as Christians?

I do not disagree with the general trend of thought in her article, but I feel she paints a rather narrow outlook of the full extent of our Christianity.

It seems to me she is saying that we are not acting like Christians unless we accept every refugee from everywhere without question, because they are in need.

I beg to differ with her in that respect.

I would ask her to look at what has happened in the past few years around the world when people from other countries were allowed to go indiscriminately to other countries because of their situations.

There are numerous instances where some of those who were allowed in were members of terrorist organizations and caused havoc and destruction in the host countries. That has happened more in countries other than our own, but we have had several instances also: bombings in Boston, shootings at Fort Hood, killings in California and other places.

She speaks as if we are refusing all refugees on a permanent basis. If I understand what has happened, it was a temporary stay to allow us to get a better system of vetting to help keep these incidents from happening in our country.

I remember that we declared war on the terrorists, and during a war, sometimes measures must be taken that harm and sometimes even kill innocents.

I am happy that at this point, only delays have occurred and not deaths.

I, as a retired military man, having served in two wars for our nation to keep our people from suffering the direct ravages of war in our homes, have seen instances where innocents suffered and even died due to the situation, and it was bad but a necessary thing to protect our own troops.

Those countries that were selected are those that have harbored and aided terrorists, so we are taking temporary measures to ensure the safety of our country.

Yes, let us abide by Gods word to the very best extent that we can, but also, let us continue to do that which is necessary to protect the freedoms that we have in our country.

I and many other have fought overseas to keep our country safe and free.

May we continue to enjoy these freedoms.
Joe John was a prosecutor in Guilford County, then a District Court judge, then chief District Court judge, then a Superior Court judge. He and his family moved to Raleigh after his election to the N.C. Court of Appeals in 1992, where he served an eight-year term.

In November, at age 77, he was elected as a Democratic state representative from Wake County. Wednesday, the freshman legislator stood for the first time on the House floor to debate a bill, one that would attach partisan labels to candidates running for District and Superior Court judicial seats.

For many years, he said, these candidates have not been required to engage in election campaigns which threaten to blur the line between the sacred independence of the judicial branch and the raw red meat of hostile partisan elections, a line which only seven states in our union have decided to cross. ...

Rank political partisanship, Mr. Speaker, is the very antithesis of what we all expect in a judge  fairness, impartiality and a dedicated and determined adherence to the law. Indeed, our North Carolina judges swear an oath to observe the laws and Constitution of the state of North Carolina, and that oath is not sworn upon a copy of the Democratic or Republican Party platform. It is a solemn obligation, solemnly fulfilled on a daily basis by hundreds of judges throughout our state.

Johns words were not heeded by the majority. Voting largely along party lines, the House approved the bill by a 65-51 margin. A handful of Republicans, including Rep. John Faircloth of High Point, joined nearly all Democrats in voting no.

Even many Republicans in Democratic counties, such as Reps. John Blust and Jon Hardister of Greensboro, voted yes. In doing so, they would make it hard for a Republican to ever be elected to the bench in Guilford County, which votes reliably Democratic.

Proponents of this change, which has yet to be considered in the Senate, say it gives voters information they want and need about judicial candidates. Yes, but not helpful information  unless there are Democratic or Republican positions about speeding tickets, divorce cases or child abuse. Voters should look instead for a candidates qualifications and experience and his or her dedication to the rule of law. Partisan labels only encourage voters to make partisan decisions.

They will choose poorly if they assume that affiliation with one party or the other informs them about a candidates fitness to carry out the duties of a judge.

Its unfortunately true that many voters know little about the men and women running for judicial offices. But its not difficult for them to learn.

The N.C. Bar Association surveys local lawyers about judges and candidates. Various organizations hold public forums for judicial candidates; others offer endorsements. Newspapers publish information about them. And anyone who wants can attend a session of court and see a judge in action.

Is there harm in affixing a D or R to a candidates name on the ballot?

There can be if judges start running for office as partisan politicians or, worse, making political decisions on the bench. They arent meant to do that. The founders of our nation established two branches of government, the executive and legislative, whose officers would be elected and whose positions would be inherently political. They set a standard for the third branch, the judicial, that was so distinct that its officers should be appointed for life, not elected.

North Carolina chooses to elect judges but still expects them to separate themselves from political influences. That is unrealistic when they are required to gain their offices in partisan elections.

For the good of our courts, the Senate should reject this change, or else the governor should veto the bill.
Since the election of Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers in at least 17 states have introduced or voted on legislation to curb mass protests in what civil liberties experts are calling "an attack on protest rights throughout the states."

From Virginia to Washington state, legislators have introduced bills that would increase punishments for blocking highways, ban the use of masks during protests, indemnify drivers who strike protesters with their cars, and in at least once case seize the assets of people involved in protests that later turn violent. They come after a string of mass protest movements in the past few years, covering everything from police shootings of unarmed black men to the Dakota Access Pipeline to the inauguration of Donald Trump.

Some are introducing bills because they say they're necessary to counter the actions of so-called "paid" or "professional" protesters who set out to intimidate or disrupt, a common accusation that experts agree is largely overstated. "You now have a situation where you have full-time, almost professional agent-provocateurs that attempt to create public disorder," said Republican state senator John Kavanagh of Arizona in support of a measure there that would bring racketeering charges against some protesters.

Others, like the sponsors of a bill in Minnesota, say the measures are necessary to protect public safety on highways. Still other bills, in states like Oklahoma and South Dakota, are intended to discourage protesting related to oil pipelines.

Democrats in many of these states are fighting the legislation. They cite existing laws that already make it a crime to block traffic, the possibility of a chilling effect on protests across the political spectrum, and concerns for protesters' safety in the face of aggressive motorists.

None of the proposed legislation has yet been passed into law, and several bills have already been shelved in committee.

Critics doubt whether many of the laws would pass Constitutional muster. "The Supreme Court has gone out of its way on multiple occasions to point out that streets, sidewalks and public parks are places where [First Amendment] protections are at their most robust," said Lee Rowland, a senior attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

This is by no means the first time in American history that widespread protests have inspired a legislative backlash, says Douglas McAdam, a Stanford sociology professor who studies protest movements. "For instance, southern legislatures - especially in the Deep South - responded to the Montgomery Bus Boycott (and the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board) with dozens and dozens of new bills outlawing civil rights groups, limiting the rights of assembly, etc. all in an effort to make civil rights organizing more difficult," he said via email.

"Similarly," he added, "laws designed to limit or outlaw labor organizing or limit labor rights were common in the late 19th/early 20th century."

The ACLU's Rowland says the new bills are not about "creating new rules that are necessary because of some gap in the law." She points out, for instance, that "every single city and county in the United States" already has laws on the books against obstructing traffic on busy roads.

Rather, Rowland says the laws' intent is "increasing the penalties for protest-related activity to the point that it results in self-censorship among protesters who have every intention to obey the law."

Even the accusations of "paid" or "professional" agitators, which President Trump has promoted, have been leveled at protesters before.

"This is standard operating procedure for movement opponents," Stanford's McAdam said. "Civil rights workers were said to be 'outside agitators,' and the Tea Party was dismissed as an 'astro turf' phenomenon - funded from on high by the Koch brothers and others - rather than a legitimate 'grass roots' movement. In all these cases, including the present, the charges are generally bogus, with the vast majority of protesters principled individuals motivated by the force of deeply held values and strong emotion."

But today, social media has made it possible to organize larger protests more rapidly than ever before. "The older laws are becoming less effectual in dealing with these kind of groups," said Michael Heaney of the University of Michigan, a political sociologist who studies protest movements. On top of that, "the courts have said, 'look, the people have a right to protest in this way.' " So on some level the new legislation represents an attempt by lawmakers to catch up with new realities of 21st-century protesting.

Here's a rundown of laws that have been introduced or voted on since the election of Donald Trump.

Arizona

Arizona's bill, introduced this week, would open up protests to anti-racketeering legislation, targeting protesters with the same laws used to combat organized crime syndicates. It would also allow police to seize the assets of anyone involved in a protest that at some point becomes violent. It recently passed the state Senate on a party-line vote and is now before the House.

Colorado

A bill under consideration in Colorado would strengthen penalties for "tampering" with oil and gas equipment. It's intended to prevent activists from shutting off pipelines, a tactic that's been used in other states.

Florida

A bill introduced by Republican George Gainer in the Florida Senate this month would provide criminal penalties for protesters obstructing traffic and exempt drivers from liability if they struck a protester under certain conditions. It was filed this week, and if enacted would take force on July 1.

Iowa

A bill supported by nine Republican sponsors would make protesters who intentionally block highways subject to felony charges and up to five years in prison. The bill's lead sponsor told the Des Moines Register it was introduced in response to a November incident in which a protest against Donald Trump shut down part of Interstate 80 in Iowa.

Indiana

An Indiana Senate committee recently toned down a bill that would have allowed police to shut down highway protests using "any means necessary." The current version allows police to issue fines for such behavior.

Michigan

A Michigan bill voted on late last year would have increased fines for certain "mass picketing" behavior, and made it easier for courts to shut down such demonstrations.

Minnesota

Bills currently under consideration in Minnesota would increase fines for protesters blocking highways and airports. A separate measure before the legislature would make it possible for jurisdictions to charge protesters for the costs of policing the protests.

Missouri

A Republican lawmaker has introduced legislation that would make it illegal for protesters to wear masks, robes or other disguises during protests deemed to be illegal.

Mississippi

A bill before the Mississippi legislature would make obstruction of traffic a felony punishable by a $10,000 fine and a five-year prison sentence.

North Carolina

A North Carolina Republican has pledged to introduce legislation making it a crime to "threaten, intimidate or retaliate against" current or former state officials, in response to an incident involving the heckling of Governor Pat McCrory. The Senator proposing the legislation, Dan Bishop, confirmed via email that he still intends to introduce the legislation, perhaps as early as next week, after consulting with potential co-sponsors.

North Dakota

A number of North Dakota bills have been introduced in response to the long-standing protests there against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The measure that drew the most attention was a bill that would have removed penalties for motorists who strike protesters with their car in some circumstances. That bill failed to make it out of the House, but a number of other measures increasing penalties for certain types of protest action are advancing through the legislature.

Oklahoma

Inspired by pipeline protests in North Dakota, the Oklahoma legislature is considering a bill that would increase penalties for trespassing on certain pieces of "critical infrastructure," like pipelines and railways.

Oregon

A novel piece of legislation in Oregon would require public community colleges and universities to expel any student convicted of participating in a violent riot.

South Dakota

A Senate panel in South Dakota recently approved a bill that would increase penalties for certain acts of trespassing and blocking highways. It's a response to pipeline protests in North Dakota, and to the potential for similar protests in South Dakota if the Keystone XL pipeline gets built.

Tennessee

A Tennessee Republican wants drivers to be protected from liability if they inadvertently strike a protester who is blocking a roadway.

Virginia

A Virginia bill that would have increased penalties for people who refused to leave the scene of a riot or unlawful protest died in the state Senate last month. The bill had been requested by law enforcement.

Washington state

Washington lawmakers are considering a bill to increase penalties for people blocking highways and railways, acts that the bill's sponsor has characterized as "economic terrorism."

Washington Post News Service (DC)
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

J.C. Penney will close 130 to 140 stores and become the latest major retailer to announce store closures in order to remain profitable and compete against the growing threat of online retailers, the companys CEO said Friday.

J.C. Penney said it would reveal which stores were closing in mid-March after affected employees were notified. The impacted stores are expected to close in the second quarter of 2017. It will also close two distribution facilities.

J.C. Penney has eight locations in Connecticut, including Danbury, Milford and Trumbull.

The money saved by the closures will be invested into locations that offer the greatest revenue potential, the company said in a release.

J.C. Penney CEO Marvin Ellison told investors the company turned a net profit in 2016 for the first time since 2010.

We believe we must take aggressive action to better align our retail operations for sustainable growth, Ellison said while reporting the companys fourth-quarter earnings. Our decision to close stores will allow us to raise the overall brand standard of the company and allocate capital more efficiently.

About 6,000 employees will be offered early retirement packages, Ellison said.

Last summer, J.C. Penney reintroduced appliances to its product offerings for the first time in 33 years in an attempt to spur store sales.

Ellison said maintaining brick-and-mortar stores is essential in helping to keep online sale strong.

We believe the future winners in retail will be the companies that can create a frictionless interaction between stores and e-commerce, while leveraging physical locations to minimize the growing operational costs of delivery, he said. In fact, in 2016 approximately 75 percent of all online orders touched a physical store.

The closures will represent about 14 percent of the companys stores, but less than 5 percent of annual sales. The company estimates an annual savings of $200 million.

Last year, Macys and Sears each announced it would be closing stores. Macys is in the process of closing 68 stores with more than 100 total scheduled to be closed. Sears will close 42 stores in addition to 108 of its Kmart locations this year.
STAMFORD  Royal Bank of Scotland continues to cut its local offices, with 10 employees set to lose their jobs in April.

Reported last week to the state Department of Labor, the new cuts at RBS Americas headquarters at 600 Washington Blvd. affect employees in operations, IT, legal, risk and analyst positions. The layoffs represent the latest round of a 2015 downsizing plan. Since the beginning of 2015, RBS has eliminated about 560 Stamford positions.

We anticipate additional terminations throughout 2017, RBS Americas human resources head Ronni Greenberg wrote in a letter last week to the state Labor Department.

RBS has declined to comment on its current number of employees in Stamford.

Despite the ongoing layoffs, RBS officials have said that they plan to maintain the Stamford offices. We remain committed to our U.S. markets business, which is based in Stamford, RBS officials said in a statement earlier this month. It is business as usual.

Known as one of the United Kingdoms big four banks, the Edinburgh-headquartered firm has struggled in recent years. Hit by billions in legal and conduct charges, it took a $8.7 billion loss in 2016.

Weve always been pretty upfront that we are in a sort of transitional period over 2015 and 2016, Ewen Stevenson, RBS chief finance officer, said in an interview last year with CNBC.

The British government became the majority shareholder of Edinburgh-based RBS in late 2008 after the global financial crisis broke out. It still owns almost three-quarters of the firm.

Another large European banking firm, UBS, has also reduced its presence in Stamford. Throughout last year, it moved its employees from an approximately 700,000-square-foot complex across the street on Washington Boulevard to offices within RBS building.

RBS owns the building at 600 Washington Blvd., while UBS leases its space there. About 900 UBS employees remain in Stamford, according to company officials.
GREENWICH  The fate of refugees from civil war-torn Syria will be the focus of a film screening and panel discussion at Greenwich Library Saturday.

Our Last Stand, which explores Christian communities in Syria and Iraq, begins at 5:30 p.m. A panel discussion featuring the filmmakers and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4th) will follow the screening, ending with a 7:30 p.m. cocktail reception.

First Presbyterian Church and the advocacy group In Defense of Christians are presenting the event.

People need to be more aware of the plight of Christians in the Middle East, said Julien Chemali, who along with his wife, Hagar Chemali, proposed the film screening. We not only want to build awareness in the congregation but in the community at large. Organizations like In Defense of Christians are trying to help and they need support.

The Chemalis, congregants of the church, said the film related to them personally. While Julien Chemali was born in Lebanon and Hagar Chemali was born in Greenwich, they are both the children of Lebanese Christians.

Julien Chemali is also chairman of the Connecticut/New York chapter of In Defense of Christians, which produced the film.

Hagar Chemali served as a spokesman for several U.S. government departments, including reporting to the White House from 2010 to 2012 on Syria and Lebanon for the National Security Council.

First Presbyterian Churchs Rev. Sean Miller said the church was happy to help screen the film.

We want to be able to give this film as wide an audience as possible and the story told in the film about the persecution of Christians is a very important one to tell, Miller said.

While the films focus is on the persecution of Christians, the civil war has threatened people of all religions, Miller said. The panel discussion should encompass everybody affected by the current situation, he said.

The admittance of Syrian refugees into America has become controversial, prompting a travel ban on Syrians and residents of specific Muslim-majority countries by presidential executive order. The initial order has been struck down by the courts but a ban still could be put in place.

The human toll that this war is taking is where we have to focus, Miller said. That cuts across the political divide and thats what we need to do, especially at a time like this.

Himes, a Greenwich resident who just began his fifth term in Congress, will join a panel of Miller, Jordan Allott and Helma Adde, whose visits to Syria and Iraq are the focus of the film. The film was produced by In Altum Productions and Allott. In Defense of Christians has been sponsoring screenings across the country.

While the film focuses on the plight of Christian communities in Syria, it helps illustrate two universal truths about the region, Himes said. The first is that the vast majority of people caught up in this conflict are innocents who want only safety. We have a moral obligation as a country to help these people who are the victims of terror like this. The second is the unescapable reality that peace will only come when the international community acts in a unified way for the benefit of all the victims of war regardless of religion.

Miller said the church is expecting more than 200 people to view the film and join in the panel discussion.

I think people will come away with a sense that there is a really important story to tell here, Miller said. There are so many stories to tell from all over the Middle East, and having the filmmakers there to talk about it and then hear about the policy perspective from Jim Himes will be so valuable. We want to get all the perspectives.

Julien Chemali said they want the screening and panel discussion to be a call to action.

We cant turn a blind eye to what is happening in the Middle East, right where the beginnings of Christianity happened, he said.

Hagar Chemali, who will serve as moderator for the panel, said she hoped the audience members are left with a real passion and desire to help, she said. There are so many ways to get involved from donating to relief efforts to calls to politicians.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
GREENWICH  The Board of Estimate and Taxations Budget Committee bumped up the proposed municipal budget for 2017-18 Thursday before signing off on it, setting aside money for soil remediation and teacher pension costs.

It also increased the amount to be spent on a townwide study of the Fire Department, and further reduced funding to the tax collectors office, the latest salvo in an ongoing battle with that department.

Overall the committee approved an approximately $421 million spending plan for next fiscal year, up from the $419 million that had been proposed by First Selectman Peter Tesei, but still a reduction from the current years $430 million budget.

The spending plan which will now go to the full BET for a vote next month, and then to the Representative Town Meeting for final approval in May.

The $421 million budget would require an increase to the mill rate of about 1.99 percent in the new fiscal year. The tax rate would go up despite spending going down because the town is expecting a drop in revenue of about $17.5 million, including a net loss in state and federal aid.

Among the additions made Thursday by the Budget Committee was $3 million to the towns capital tax levy, done as a preemptive move to set aside money for teachers pension costs. Gov. Dannel Malloy has said he wants municipalities to start picking up a portion of public school teachers pensions, a cost traditionally borne by the state.

It also added $2 million for soil remediation at Western Middle School, which has had portions of its fields fenced off since the beginning of the school year after contaminated soil was found there. A plan to address the contamination, which will need state and federal approvals, is not yet in place, but the Budget Committee decided to set money aside in anticipation of the work  an amount proposed at $5 million but reduced to $2 million.

It would provide the seed money to proceed with a plan, Budget Committee member Leslie Tarkington said. Weve had many delays to school projects and its very important, in my opinion, that we bring them back as quickly as possible.

The addition was made over the objections of both Budget Committee Chairman James Lash and BET Chairman Michael Mason. Lash said more time was needed to flesh out the proposal; Mason worried it would have an impact on BET efforts to keep the budget in order.

Money also was added to enhance a proposed study of the towns fire services, including staffing, response time and station location. Tesei had asked for $70,000 to do the study. The committee Thursday increased the amount to $100,000.

Were looking at a pretty comprehensive study, not just looking at answering a specific question, committee member Leslie Moriarty said. Were looking at our whole program of fire response and we want to get a study that looks at the standards and the alternatives. We want to hear the benefits at the cost. Its a complicated document were looking for and I want to give the first selectman the flexibility to select the right vendor.

Budget Committee member Jeff Ramer successfully introduced a $1 million increase in the budget for town road repaving, bringing it up to $5 million in total. Ramer, who has made similar proposals in past years, said the Highway Department needs more funding to maintain local roads.

This town ought to be funding maintenance of roads at least to keep roads so they are not deteriorating, Ramer said.

The additions to the budget were offset somewhat in several areas, including $2.5 million in savings from project expenses coming in less than expected, and anticipated employee costs being lower due to savings in health, retirement, unemployment and other expenses.

And the committee cut another $50,000 from the tax collectors budget, adding to a $50,000 cut from his offices salary line made last year.

Tax Collector Tod Laudonia was already set to meet with the BETs Human Resources Committee on March 9 to discuss a plan for how to address last years cut, which is expected to result in a layoff in his office. Now he will have to deal with the additional cut as well.

My view for a long time, going back to the end of the prior tax collectors term, has been that we are spending nearly twice as much to collect taxes as seems to be necessary, Lash said.

Elsewhere, the committee included $60,000 in the budget to fund YWCA Greenwichs domestic violence prevention programs in Greenwich Public Schools. The programs already exist, but would be fiunded by the town for the first time.

The committee also approved spending $30,000 as part of a $100,000 effort from local businesses and Realtors to market Greenwich to potential new businesses and new homeowners. The committee moved the money into the first selectmans account as a way to retain government control of it. Members said they want to know more about the groups goals and plans.

Lash expressed reservations about what he called a lack of strategy for the long term, which could allow relatively small allocations this year grow in the future.

I will support the things the first selectman put in the budget this year but with an admonitions that if we dont get a strategic discussion with the budget next year, I wont support any of these things, Lash said. Its not a criticism of the first selectman. Its a concern that these numbers are getting bigger and bigger and I dont see a strategy here.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

STAMFORD  Thousands of students at the citys three high schools participated in a coordinated walkout on Thursday to protest Betsy DeVos, the controversial new U.S. education secretary who has been criticized for her lack of public schooling.

Betsy DeVos has never worked in a public school, never attended a public school and never sent a child through the public school system, said Samantha Hamilton, who organized the rally at Westhill High School.

DeVos, the Michigan billionaire and Republican donor who spent years advocating for charter schools and voucher programs, faced fierce opposition from educators who fear that she would seek to defund traditional public schools .

At Westhill, the citys largest high school, the protest was peaceful and organized as students assembled on the field, where several teens gave passionate speeches.

This is not political, junior Marcos Pinto-Leite told the crowd. This is not a matter of left or right, Democrat or Republican, Trump or Hillary. This is about institutions that made us who we are today... Despite what Betsy DeVos thinks, our public education system is not a dead end.

A similar rally at Stamford High was mostly peaceful  one student holding pro-President Donald Trump signs had them ripped down by classmates.

Another student  wearing a red Make America Great Again hat  said DeVos, who started the job on Feb. 7, deserves a chance to prove herself.

Trying to get more kids into private schools, giving all kids a chance to get into private school - and better schools - is a good thing, said William Carello.

At AITE, a magnet school focused on information technology and engineering, students gathered in the cafeteria for a teach-in session with speeches and a presentation.

The rallies took place during the schools so-called connection time, a 24-minute period reserved for discussions between students and teachers, which Westhill Principal Camille Figluizzi said helped keep disruption to a minimum.

Its great that they want to stand up for what they believe, she said. Its certainly their right to speak out. Im happy that they organized it.

Dead end

Hamilton, a 16-year-old junior who runs Westhills feminist club, said DeVos belief that school choice will push public institutions to perform better should worry everyone in the community.

She believes the system weve learned so much from is useless and unfixable, Hamilton said. We can agree that the school system has flaws, but its not a dead end in any way.

DeVos in 2015 called the public school system in its current structure a dead end.

We love our public school, said another junior, Grace Savage. Were a diverse community here at Westhill and we should stand up for that, and we shouldnt let education become something only for the elite.

The outcry has been so widespread that the U.S. Marshals Service this month began providing security for DeVos, an unusual move for the Education Department, which usually has civil servants protecting the secretary, according to the Washington Post .

The protest comes a day after the Trump administration announced a rollback of public school bathroom requirements for transgender students. DeVos, who co-signed the new guidance, said the issue is best left for states to decide.

Schools, communities and families can find  and in many cases have found  solutions that protect all students, DeVos said in a statement. I consider protecting all students, including LGBTQ students, not only a key priority for the Department, but for every school in America.

Stamford Superintendent of Schools Earl Kim released a brief a statement about the demonstrations.

This optional expression of free speech was a student-led initiative that our administrators helped facilitate to ensure the safety of our students, allow the opinion of all students to be expressed and minimize any potential disruption to the school day, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

noliveira@stamfordadvocate.com
Getting American entrepreneurialism and job growth on track throughout the country is about eliminating the barriers to bringing an idea to life and having the skills to do it. The Gig Economy is an important lever in making that happen. But its full potential to create mass prosperity won't be realized until we make higher education a sure economic bet instead of an uncertain gamble that a lifetime of student loan debt will pay off. The Trump administration and the GOP-controlled Congress should focus on saving millions of American students and their families -- not to mention the larger US economy -- from this long-term financial black hole.

The case for becoming more educated starts with lifetime earnings. Those who have more of education tend to make more money while also filling the skills gap that undermines Americas ability to compete globally. According to a report from PwC, the number one concern of CEOs around the globe is finding enough skilled talent. We can't solve that talent shortage domestically when many 18-year-olds are discouraged by valid fears of long-term indebtedness from borrowing enough for the education employers want. Worries about debt cause untold numbers of students to pursue safer, but limited career paths, or even skip higher education entirely. One troubling sign pointing to slower long term economic growth: U.S. high school graduation rates are higher than ever but college enrollment rates continue to decrease.

The numbers suggest why. Forty four million Americans collectively owe $1.3 trillion in student loan debt. The average payment for borrowers 20 to 30 years old is $351. The number of borrowers over the age of 60 with student loan debt grew from 700,000 in 2005 to 2.8 million in 2015. Thats a 300 percent increase.

The Gig Economy could be a limitless source of economic opportunity for educated workers, if not for student debt. The inevitable highs and lows of freelancing become impossible when the monthly student loan payment comes due. Already indebted workers are reluctant to borrow more to finance the revamped skills that would otherwise grow their freelance business. Would-be entrepreneurs hamstrung by student debt are more likely to keep their current jobs and less likely to launch new businesses that could create new jobs. The fears we have individually of being swallowed by mounting student loan payments are swallowing the more prosperous future economy we could be building.

Related: How to Keep Student Loans From Idling Your Entrepreneurial Dreams

The new administration could do a lot to solve one of America's greatest economic problems.

Move forward with income-based repayment plans.

Debt relief, or income-based repayment plans, offer a safety net for individuals who want to start new companies, which sounds ideal for those coming out of school or those looking to turn over a new leaf later in life. Without this safety net, people are less likely to branch out on their own, in turn hurting entrepreneurship and small business creation. During the campaign, then-candidate Trump said he favored an income-based repayment plan. His plan would tie repayment of student loan debt to income, the same plan long championed by debt-relief advocates.

An analysis by CNBC shows Trump's plan is, at best, partial help for low-income earners. It requires borrowers to repay their loans at 12.5 percent of their income for 15 years. While not a perfect fix, and certainly an expensive one, it provides an opportunity for people daring enough to branch out from traditional work.

Related: Why Amazon Wants to Help You Save Money On Student Loans

Keep relief for those who have been duped.

Congress may dismantle Obama-led regulations that provided financial relief for students defrauded by for-profit institutions. This looks a lot like driving an agenda and playing politics with the lives of those less fortunate. Trump University does, of course, makes President Trump an interesting advocate for students suffering from predatory student loan practices.

If Trump makes good on his campaign promise to implement an income-based repayment plan, which he can do without the help of Congress, hell be helping the Gig Economy and those who rely on it. With walls and bans hogging most headlines, this is a looming issue that has the potential to create a foundation for long term change not just in Washington, but across the country.

Related:

How Student Loans Are Crushing Millennial Entrepreneurialism

Does a College Degree Still Matter?

Wells Fargo, Amazon End Deal to Offer Discounted Student Loans



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
To the editor,

Let me set this scenario for voting in Connecticut after Jean Koeppel of Democracy Awakens Connecticut gets the National Popular Vote bill through the state senate.

Lets assume at some point that every citizen of Connecticut votes for the Democratic candidate at the top of the ticket. And, yet, the Republican presidential candidate gets one more vote nationally in a country that could cast 120 million votes. In other words, the Republican gets 60,000,001 votes to the Democrats 59,999,999 votes. In that scenario the Connecticut electors are going to be forced to cast their votes for the Republican?

Gosh, that seems totally fair to the residents of Connecticut, doesnt it?

I have an alternative proposal, lets apportion the electoral votes in Connecticut based on how the votes are actually cast in Connecticut. If the Democrat presidential candidate gets 60 percent of the vote then he or she should get 60 percent of the electoral votes, and the Republican candidate should get 40 percent. Then, everyones vote in Connecticut really would count. Under the present rules, no Republican vote counts.

One final comment. The founders of the country intentionally gave small states power both in presidential elections and in the U.S. Senate. Does Democracy Awakens Connecticut also recommend apportioning Senate seats to achieve one person, one vote? If so, goodbye Richard Blumenthal or Chris Murphy.

Jan Rogers Kniffen

Greenwich
There they are! Photo: MenWhoDine/Instagram

If Barack Obamas New York meals during his presidency included cool-kids restaurants like Estela and the NoMad, you can only imagine how hell shake up his dining choices now. Last night, he emerged from post-vacation bliss to dine at Emilios Ballato with his daughter Malia, whos in town to intern with Harvey Weinstein and go clubbing. The red-sauce Italian restaurant  a favorite of Rihanna and Billy Joel  is known for its hip, in-the-know feel, making this an excellent choice for the father-daughter outing and his much-welcome return to the city.
Its a bit like an Indiana Jones movie. Photo: Paul Cheney/Bravo

We begin this week with Sheldon reflecting on his good fortune: I couldnt have asked for a better final three. On the one hand, Shirley is great! On the other hand, Brooke is great! And Sheldon, he is also great! Whoever goes home tonight, it will be devastating.

And since there is no better place to be devastated than a luxury adults-only resort, everyone heads to the Yucatan Peninsula for a stay at Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya! (Shhh.) We have arrived in paradise! marvels Sheldon, as they roll into paradise. Are we in a Jay Z video right now? Let me get my mink coat on and pop some bottles, because this place is on another level. Much like in a Jay Z video, everyone then goes snorkeling with sea turtles.

After a quick nights sleep in Paradise HQ, the chefs take off for Valladolid, in the heart of the Yucatan, which Padma promises is going to get hot, if you know what she means. (Brooke does not know what that means.) Luckily, Padma and distinguished Mexican chef and culinary anthropologist Ricardo Munoz Zurita are here to explain: The ingredient youre going to be working with is going to make you sweat, offers Padma, mysteriously. Its a habanero challenge! Everyone gets an hour to gather ingredients at the local market, and then must prepare a dish showcasing the iconic pepper of the Yucatan: the humble habanero.

Shirley, it turns out, knows exactly what shes doing  masa dumplings with tomato, onion, and habanero  because she used to work at Jose Andress Chinese-Mexican-fusion restaurant, so she knows all about peppers. Brooke, meanwhile, fondles a display of tiny pineapples, and Sheldon finds himself at a bit of an impasse, on account of how he speaks no Spanish. Queso fresco? he calls sadly, to no one. Queso fresco?

As everyone cooks, Sheldon is having trouble with his queso fresco  stuffed chayote squash  because his queso fresco is actually a tamal. Not to brag, but I totally knew that when the woman at the market pointed to it and said, tamal. No matter! Sheldon, visionary and gentleman, is going to use it anyway.

On the whole, kindly, Ricardo Munoz Zurita likes everything. He raves about Shirleys masa dumplings, which he says are very smart, but he also cant get enough of Brookes refreshing pork tenderloin with assorted hot-and-sour salsas. He even musters up some nice things to say about Sheldons pan-roasted squash, although it was too spicy, and bafflingly filled with tamal bits. After zero minutes of deliberation, Ricardo announces the winner: For a change of pace, it is Brooke! Brooke tries to contain her cackles of victory.

Jeremiah Tower, dropping knowledge. Photo: Paul Cheney/Bravo

Theres no time for gloating, though, because Padma says its time to dig deep into the local culture and cuisine. And who better to help than culinary legend, and apparent Yucatan resident, Jeremiah Tower! Im a little starstruck, Brooke confesses. I grew up idolizing him. Hes one of the founders of California cuisine.

After a quick lecture on the history of the Maya empire (old) and its influence on modern Mexican cooking (big), Padma announces the Elimination Challenge, which is to create a dish like the Maya used to do it, using only traditional Maya ingredients  such as chayote squash  and traditional Maya tools  such as flames. No tools? No blender? gasps Shirley. This sounds really crazy! They will, however, be allowed to keep their knives, because the Maya also cut things.

To teach them the ways of the Maya, Padma sends them off with Jeremiah and Ricardo, who introduce them to a host of pre-Colombian foods and techniques. Back in modernity, Shirley makes everyone drink pina coladas.

At last, the hour has come: Its cook time! Armed with nothing but their knives and their wits, the chefs steel themselves for battle amid the ruins of civilization past. Its a bit like an Indiana Jones movie, observes Brooke. Im kind of expecting to see a pile of skulls somewhere. Across an ancient sinkhole, Sheldon is tearing apart some crabs with his bare hands.

Cooking in the style of ancient reality-competition shows. Photo: Paul Cheney/Bravo

Oh, its a rough one! Brooke doesnt know what shes doing, so she focuses on figuring out if snapper sticks to the grill. Surprise! It does, so shes forced to wrap her fish nuggets in hoja santa leaf. Shirley is also wrapping fish fillets in hoja santa, but the difference is that shes doing it with aggressive enthusiasm. Undeterred by the fact that everyone else is leaf-wrapping their fish, Sheldon decides hes going to grill his yellow snapper directly, because that is his rustic vision  and to thine own self be true, or something. What could possibly go wrong? (It could stick to the grill.) This is not looking good, Sheldon groans, staring into the abyss.

And here comes our jolly binational judging panel! It is made up of everyone weve seen, and also some people we havent. Brookes hoja santa leaf-steamed snapper with bean and corn ragout, jicama-papaya relish, and avocado is up first, and there is a lot going on. Still, everyone agrees her fish was truly exquisite, even if the rest of the dish was confused and overwrought, but also bland somehow.

Thats basically the inverse of Sheldons whole grilled snapper with crab sauce, Yucatan vegetables, and habanero salsa, which has great flavor and terrible fish. Tom doesnt waste any time: You broke up the fish to mimic crab, or did you just mess up the grill? He did not, Sheldon says, and Tom is annoyed at his honesty. Top Chef Mexicos Guillermo Beristain tries to argue that Sheldon took bold chances, but Tom is not having it. Frankly, Tom seems a little grumpy tonight.

He cheers up a little bit for Shirleys leaf-grilled grouper with habanero-tomato sauce, though, which is a universal hit. That girl can cook! opines Jeremiah Tower.

Jeremiah then does the honors: The winner is Shirley. Are you serious? I made it! I made it! Oh my god! Shirley squeaks, weeping. I get to cook! Oh, I cant wait to show you! I am filled with a feeling I can only describe as love.

In a fitting twist, Padma explains that this weeks loser will also be sacrificed to the gods. Photo: Paul Cheney/Bravo

So heres the question: Is it worse to serve a messy pile of disintegrated fish flakes that tastes good, or a perfect fish fillet thats kind of boring? I dont know, muses Padma, toplessly. Its a tough one.

After some deliberation, everyone tries to brace for what is coming, and Padma reiterates that whatever is about to happen, it will be very sad, but also necessary  in a way. Yeah, someones going to go home tonight, Tom philosophizes, but were all very lucky, because we know what we want to do, and we get to do it every day.

With that, the sword of justice doth fall. Sheldon, whispers Padma, gently. Please pack your knives and go. Brooke weeps. Padma weeps. I weep. Shirley, she has been weeping for hours. The only one who does not weep is Sheldon, eliminated yet again one stop short of the end. Im so happy that I came back here on Top Chef, he smiles, bravely. I learned that I can touch peoples lives through food.
These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.




Haiti - Carnivals : Half of the country's police force mobilized...





Inspector Garry Desrosiers, deputy spokesperson for the National Police of Haiti (PNH) announced at a press conference that nearly 6,500 police officers will be deployed during the 3 fat days (26/27 and 28 February) to ensure security of Carnavaliers and the population during the National Carnival in Les Cayes (1,500 police officers + 1,500 young people of the city https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20139-haiti-national-carnival-2017-d-8-follow-up-of-preparations.html ) and that of Port-au-Prince (5,000 police oficers).



All police officers hired to secure the courses will be identified with vests, caps and bracelets, even those accompanying the VIPs will have to be identified according to these measures.



Several special forces including the Tourist Police (POLITOUR), the agents of the Operation and Intervention Departmental Brigade (BOID), the CIMO, the SWAT, the Motorized Intervention Brigade (BIM) will be available to reinforce the route of the two carnivals.



Note that this police force represents almost half of all the police forces available in Haiti...



According to Inspector Garry Desrosiers, all arrangements have been made at the level of the PNH, so that the carnavaliers can have fun in complete peace, adding that the General Inspectorate of the PNH will also make checks of the police officers, to ensure of their good behavior during the festivities.



Regarding the prohibition measures, merchants of all kinds of products will have to circulate in the course with their goods. The sale of alcohol and beverages in glass containers will be strictly forbidden on the site of the festivities and more particularly near the parade route. All weapons licenses are suspended (including for plainclothes police officers who are not in service), on carnival routes in all the departments of the country, in particular the West and the South. Possession of weapons and other sharp or blunt objects that may cause injury to others is prohibited in the areas where the festivities will be held, adding that body checks will be made on suspect individuals.



These measures come into force on Saturday 25 February 2017 at midnight until Wednesday 1 March 2017 at 6:00 a.m.



Moreover, Garry Desrosiers, in order to avoid cases of rape, suggests to the women participating to the carnivalto be always in group to return to their home. He pointed out that those who do not have this option can go to the nearest police station for get help.



Emergency numbers if needed: 3804 3333, 3805 3333, 3820 3377 and 4182 6161. If you are a victim of violence during Carnival 2017, call 100 or 114 for assistance.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





Case Jovenel Moise : Danton postpones his conclusions

Jean-Danton Leger, the Commissioner of the Government of Port-au-Prince, on Monday promised to produce this week his final conclusions in the case of Jovenel Moise https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20175-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html ,announces now that this will not be possible. He considers that the work of investigating judge Bredy Fabien is incomplete and asks Dean Bernard Saint-Vil that there is another complementary investigation. To be continued...



New PM no obstacles but...

Concerning the appointment of Dr. Jack Guy Lafontant as Prime Minister https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20176-haiti-flash-jovenel-moise-chosen-dr-jack-guy-lafontant-as-prime-minister.html , deputy Gary Bodeau said, "No barrier will be made to his appointment once he has met all the requirements that the law requires and that he willbe able to be convincing."



D-3, National Carnival ready at 90%

On Thursday, February 23, 2017, the Vice-president of the Carnival Committee said that preparations are ready to more than 90% in terms of infrastructure. By Saturday, February 25, he says he believes everything will be ready. Follow, as every year, the Carnival activities on HaitiLibre.com during the 3 fat days.



Youri Latortue reserved about the PM

"He's an unknown person https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20187-haiti-politics-pm-nominated-is-not-a-profane-in-politics.html I do not think it meets all the criteria we have defined with the President of the Republic," reacted Senator Latortue to the appointment of Dr. Jack Guy Lafontant as Prime Minister, specifying that it will be up to the Assembly to decide...



PAP Carnival budget greatly reduced

Preparations are well under way to ensure the smooth running of the Carnival of Port-au-Prince (26, 27 and 28 February). 7 musical groups have confirmed their participation in the parade (Baricad Crew, Nouvo, Chale, Vwadezil, RAM, Brothers Posse and Roudy Roodboy). The initial budget, which was 200 million gourdes, has been revised downwards to 80 million gourdes, explained Mayor Youry Chevry, what does not have allowed to respond favorably to the requests of other musical groups.



Publication of the decree appointing the PM

Thursday, February 23rd, the decree appointing Citizen Jack Guy Lafontant, as Prime Minister https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20176-haiti-flash-jovenel-moise-chosen-dr-jack-guy-lafontant-as-prime-minister.html was published in the Official Journal "Le Moniteur" N28.



Carnival : Consulate closures

The Consulate of the Republic of Haiti of Orlando and Miami inform the Haitian community that on the occasion of the festivities of the National Carnival of Haiti, the Consular offices will be closed on Monday 27 February 2017, from midday, on Tuesday, 28 February and Wednesday, 1 March 2017 in their entirety. Services will resume on Thursday, March 2, 2017.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2017/02/23 | Source

Here are some of the issues from the week.

Advertisement

- Yoo Seung-joon's dream of coming to Korea falls through as appeal to enter Korea is dismissed

Yoo Seung-joon lost his last chance to enter Korea. The Seoul High Court ruled out the appeal he sent to the consul general in LA, USA. The country's rejection of him in the country seems legit. Yoo Seung-joon gave up his citizenship as a Korean in 2002 over American citizenship and avoided National Service. He sure wishes he could turn back time.

- "On the Beach at Night Alone", still in affair even after winning the prize

Will the award be an excuse for the affair she's been having? Actress Kim Min-hee who won the Best Actress at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, is still on the hot seat of the argument of pros and cons of keeping a line between work and privacy. Hong Sang-soo's "On the Beach at Night Alone" was ruled rated R for too much adultery content.
SB1137 would restore control of HMSA to its members

by Larry Geller, Disappeared News, February 23, 2017

SB1137 is a deceptively simple yet powerful bill. It applies to any mutual benefit society in Hawaii. The kernel of it is this sentence:

notwithstanding anything in the constitution and bylaws to the contrary, the administrative board or body of the society shall permit a special meeting to be called upon the written request of not less than one thousand members of the society.

This bill would return control of HMSA to its members. Right now, it would take something over 17,000 members to call a special meeting, an impossibility.

The bill needs testimony. It will be heard on Monday, February 27, at 9:30 in room 229 before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health.

The bill is certain to meet opposition from HMSA because it is an existential threat to absolute management control

Please consider even the simplest testimony. Click here and then the blue Submit Testimony box.

Hawaii has lived with a chronic shortage of physicians for some time. It only gets worse, never better. While doing nothing has its consequences, it hasnt been clear what the legislature could do that would reverse this deadly spiral.

Perhaps there is a way: SB1137 gives power to the people to take actionspecifically, power to HMSA members themselves. The bill has one hearing in the Senate (and testimony is needed!) on Monday, February 27.

* * * * *

A potential fix for Hawaiis chronic physician shortage is in sight

by Larry Geller, Disappeared News, February 23, 2017

Hawaii has lived with a chronic shortage of physicians for some time. It only gets worse, never better. While doing nothing has its consequences, it hasnt been clear what the legislature could do that would reverse this deadly spiral.

Perhaps there is a way: SB1137 gives power to the people to take actionspecifically, power to HMSA members themselves. The bill has one hearing in the Senate (and testimony is needed!) on Monday, February 27.

First, some context. If HMSA members were able to influence the operation of what is supposed to be a mutual benefit society, they could require that several important changes be made. In addition to revising reimbursement rates, other worthy areas of scrutiny would be denials or delays of imaging requests, and a restricted formulary that can actually endanger lives.

The declining number of physicians has long been a major threat to healthcare

The continued attrition of doctors is a kind of "sword of Damocles," which, like climate change, brings with it a sense of impending doom. Nothing that the legislature, the medical school, or anyone else has done has reversed the downward trend that must lead one day to catastrophe.

The danger of a physician shortage surfaces periodically in the press. Here, as an example, are stories from 2005a dozen years ago:

Every private practitioner is a small business. HMSA is the near-monopoly insurer that is so powerful that doctors either sign up or they cant survive in the state. And HMSA sets the reimbursement rates for their services. Physicians cannot afford to practice in Hawaii largely due to low reimbursements that dont compensate them for the high cost of doing business here. The only way out of this situation is an airplane ticket to another state.

Starting this year fundamental changes to reimbursement have been made along with an increased paperwork load that promises to accelerate the attrition.

If Hawaiis physician shortage was a crisis in 2005, it remains a crisis today. I was recently told by my oncologist that four of his colleagues have just retired. When I visited a medical building in Wahiawa I found the number of empty office suites to be truly shocking. Physicians retired or shut down their practice and no one moved in to provide the community with care.

Restrictions on imaging can cost lives

Reimbursements are not the only issue that members can work on. Last year HMSAs denials of doctors imaging requests broke into the news.

As a cost-cutting measure, HMSA began requiring doctors to get pre-authorization from a mainland company before it would approve imaging tests starting December 1, 2015. But this is not the first time HMSA has attempted to put the brakes on imaging.

HMSA claimed that the restrictions were necessary, according to the newspaper article, since its imaging utilization costs were about nine percent higher than the national average. Whether or not that is accurate, a Star-Advertiser story revealed that at least for Medicare patients, who typically have a higher usage rate than the general population, Hawaiis imaging utilization rates are in fact lower than the national average. In 2014 the Medicare utilization rate was the lowest in the nation.

The effect of denying or delaying imaging would be a clear danger especially to patients wheeled into emergency rooms or for whom a delay could be life-threatening.

HMSAs imaging restrictions are not new

Digging deep into the archives turns up this Star-Bulletin story of HMSA imaging denials that nearly cost a patient his life. Fortunately, he could afford to fly to Texas and pay for the test himself. Although privacy restrictions were not in force at the time, Im redacting the names in this article since they are not important.

[Patient L], 49, had had surgery three times in his neck for what was believed to be recurrent parathyroid cancer. Five doctors agreed a magnetic resonant imaging study was needed to pinpoint the cancer. Despite doctors' requests, HMSA refused to cover an MRI because medical directors gave an opinion "that an MRI would not detect recurrence of metastatic parathyroid cancer . . ." [Patient Ls wife] said her husband's doctors ~ N.R., S.V., A.L, J.D. and J.A. ~ were flabbergasted.

HMSA was very wrong. The article continues with Patient L in Texas:

An MRI was done on [L] immediately after they went there in May last year, [wife] said. Two days later, surgery was done to remove a cancerous parathyroid gland from her husband's throat and a cancerous tumor from his chest, she said. "If they had done exploratory surgery in the neck (the only option without an MRI), they would never have found it in the chest."

Thanks to this next case, HMSA allows PET scans to detect colon cancer

In another denial that made the news, HMSA turned down a PET scan (Positron Emission Tomography) request that would have quickly, painlessly and in fact inexpensively ruled out colon cancer after a polyp was detected in [Patient E]. As the Star-Bulletin reported, the patient paid for the test himself (about $3,500) and learned that the polyp was definitively not cancerous. So he had it shaved off in a simple procedure.

The alternative was painful and far more risky abdominal surgery involving five or six days in the hospital with recovery of another five or six weeks, and, in fact, much higher expense.

Patient E brought his case as an appeal before the insurance commissioner and prevailed. As a result if the same thing happens to you or me, we can have our PET scan if we need it. That is if you or your attorney are able to cite this case if denied.

Epipen denied

I need to carry an Epipen these days. If I should go into shock and dont have it, I could die. The company that makes it was recently in the news for alleged price gouging, and as a result, a far cheaper competitive version came on the market. The cost to me was only $109.99 instead of over $600. I paid because HMSA refused to cover the pen.

Families across the country have to dig into their kids college funds or their retirement savings to provide allergic children (and adults) with their life-saving Epipens. Thats why the manufacturers price increases made the news.

Although the consequences of not having this device are dire, HMSA declined to pay for it. Now, $109.99 is less than the cost of many medications that they do cover, and far less than the cost of treating me if I didnt have my pen (and if I survived!).

Maybe Im better off dead to them.

But Im not dead, and will testify on Monday in favor of SB1137 so that HMSA members can change this and many other things we need to pay attention to.

A potential solution to Hawaiis physician shortage

This problem has eluded solution through legislation. But there is another approach that has promiseand it has to do with member control of HMSA, the near-monopoly insurer that effectively sets reimbursement rates for physicians in Hawaii.

HMSA is, at least in a technical sense, a mutual benefit society. But right now, according to HMSA bylaws, members cannot effectively call a special meeting to work on outstanding issuesand those issues are more than just reimbursements. The bylaws require something more than about 17,000 members to get together to request such a meeting. Here is the relevant paragraph:

VIII Membership Meetings 2. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the members of the Association shall be held at any time upon the call of the Chairperson, upon the written request of a majority of the Directors, or upon the written request of not less than three percent (3%) of the members.

Since the number of members needed to call a meeting is so high, it is in practice impossible for members to exercise any control whatsoever over the conduct of their own organization. Nor are there shareholders to whom management would be responsible since HMSA is not a for-profit company.

If members could dialogue with and control the conduct of their own mutual benefit society, issues such as inadequate reimbursements could be resolved.

Will you testify before Mondays hearing? Click the LINK. Its quick and easy. Tell your story if you have one.

---30---

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. NonCommercial-ShareAlike.
introduce legislation in parliament to protect penalty rates for retail, fast food, hospitality and pharmacy workers. - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/politics/federal/2017/02/23/greens-vow-to-protect-penalty-rates.html#sthash.NwTJyqWH.dpuf

introduce legislation in parliament to protect penalty rates for retail, fast food, hospitality and pharmacy workers. - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/politics/federal/2017/02/23/greens-vow-to-protect-penalty-rates.html#sthash.NwTJyqWH.dpuf

introduce legislation in parliament to protect penalty rates for retail, fast food, hospitality and pharmacy workers.



Among the changes were that hospitality workers on an award will have their Sunday penalty rate cut from 175% to 150%, retail workers rates will get cut from 200% to 150% and fast food workers will have their rate cut from 150% to 125%.



Opposition leader Bill Shorten said workers had been "kicked in the guts" and that Labor is going to do their best to convince the FWC not to implement this decision.



"If we are unsuccessful, we will also be changing the law in Parliament to change the rules that the Fair Work Commission operate under, he said.



"I have never seen an argument which would justify wholesale pay cuts for the lowest paid workers in Australia."



However, Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said the decision is a direct result of the review process put in place by Shorten.



Any suggestion by Bill Shorten and the Labor Party that they do not accept this decision is highly hypocritical. Bill Shorten needs to explain why he instigated a wide-ranging review of penalty rates if does not support a change in penalty rates, she said.



Bill Shorten is responsible for establishing the framework that has led to todays decision. He cannot now escape responsibility for the outcome of this process.



The Turnbull Governments position has been consistent and clear  the setting of penalty rates are a matter for the independent Fair Work Commission to determine, not Government. The Government has no plans to change the way penalty rates are set.



Meanwhile, the Australian Hotels Association said the FWCs decision to reform Sunday and Public holiday penalty rates is a first step towards a modern hospitality industry.



AHA and Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) led the submissions to the FWC on behalf of the hotel sector.



TAA is chaired by the Hon Martin Ferguson AM, a former ACTU President and Federal Tourism Minister, who said the FWC decision should be respected.



From the industry point of view we havent got everything we want. That is the nature of the Fair Work Commission, he said.



We respect their decision and we will try and make it work.



For us the objective was to modernise the award, not to abolish penalty rates, but to make it relevant to the 21st century as a means of employing more Australians.



We are currently experiencing the largest-ever expansion of accommodation hotels across the country, so it is imperative that workplace reforms support this growth phase.



Further, Steve Knott, CEO of the resource industry employer group AMMA, said their organisation welcomes the decision to reduce Sunday Penalty Rates from double-time (200%) to time-and-a-half (150%) for most industries.



While weekend penalty rates are not a big issue for resource employers, whose employees are typically on annualised salaries and are among the best remunerated in the country, we support any decision which moves our workplace relations system in a more competitive direction and provides employers with savings to invest into employing more staff, he said.



However, ACTU President Ged Kearney said the FWCs decision to radically cut Sunday and public holiday pay will give almost one million Australian workers a huge pay cut.



The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) calls on the Turnbull Government and all political parties to immediately act to protect working people from any cuts to their take home pay, as the cuts are due to come into effect on 1 July, 2017, she said.



This is a cut Australian workers cannot afford and do not deserve. The decision also comes a day after record low wage growth was reported for the second consecutive quarter. Australians deserve a pay rise, not a pay cut.



Moreover, acting General Secretary of the NSWNMA, Judith Kiejda, said the decision to modify penalty rates in the hospitality, fast food, retail and pharmacy sectors would impact the health sector.



Theres a real prospect that changes in one industry will have a ripple effect into others, this is a genuine threat to our nurses and midwives, and aged care workers who rely on penalty rates for 20 per cent of their income, Kiejda said.



Kiejda added that the decision had wound back decades of progression in workers rights and threatened the livelihoods of those who need it most.



Will the penalty rate changes come into effect on July 1, 2017? Keep reading HC to find out.






HC talks to Joe Murphy, Director at Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors, about the legalities surrounding restructures and redundancies.



Can you announce a restructure and implement redundancies on the same day?



There are a number of very good reasons as to why businesses like to announce restructures and implement the resulting redundancies as soon as they can. Some of those reasons include the desire to minimise the negative impact on culture, avoiding other legal liabilities (eg workers compensation claims) and to eliminate the risk of industrial sabotage.



While one can sympathise with an employers desire to move quickly (and in fact some employees welcome a speedy exit), an employers legal obligations will vary depending on whether an enterprise agreement or a Modern Award covers the affected employee(s).



Those legal obligations require employers to consult with the affected employees as provided for in a relevant enterprise agreement or Modern Award.



In some cases employers take the view that, as they believe they pay their employees over award then a Modern Award is not relevant. This is not so. For the purposes of redundancies, an employees rate of pay will not be relevant to the question of award coverage, which is determined according to the classifications and coverage provisions of the relevant Modern Award. Examples are: people in jobs that substantially involve duties that are contemplated in the Clerks-Private Sector Award 2010; professional engineers, professional scientists and information technology professionals who meet the relevant definitions of the Professional Employees Award 2010.



What process should businesses follow?



First consider whether affected employees could be covered by an Enterprise Agreement or a Modern Award. Seek advice from workplace professionals if you are unsure.



The first requirement is to inform affected employees as soon as a definite decision is made to implement a restructure.



The next requirement is usually to:



1. discuss the likely effects on affected employees

2. discuss measures to avert or mitigate adverse effects

3. give prompt consideration to matters raised during consultation



The discussion:



1. must commence as soon as practicable after a definite decision has been made

2. must include representatives of affected employees, e.g. unions

3. all relevant information about the changes must be provided to the employee(s) and their representatives



The above requirements may vary from instrument to instrument, particularly in an Enterprise Agreement, and accordingly an employer should always refer to and comply with the consultation terms of the relevant instrument.



What are the ramifications of failing to comply?



The first legal risk that comes to mind is that a failure to consult means an employer cannot rely on the unfair dismissal exemption relating to cases where an employee is dismissed for reasons of genuine redundancy given the relevant requirements place an obligation on the employer to have consulted with the affected employee in order to rely on the exemption. The second, and perhaps more problematic issue, is the risk of being prosecuted for civil penalties of up to $54,000 for companies and $10,800 for individual employers (or persons involved in a contravention).



Contact Joe Murphy for any questions or matters raised in this article on 1300 565 846 or at [email protected]


The decision, it reveals, will result in the closures of 11 reception centres  four of which are units for adults and families, and seven for unaccompanied minors  and in a decrease in the number of beds in an additional six reception centres.

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) has announced its decision to reduce the accommodation capacity of reception centres in Finland by approximately 1,100 beds by the end of August.

Migri says in a press release it has terminated its contracts with the operators of the centres facing closure, which will be responsible for conducting consultative negotiations and laying off personnel.

The accommodation capacity is being reduced due to the dwindling number of asylum seekers arriving in Finland. Migri reminds that the objective is to keep the number of beds as close to the demand as possible and to maintain an occupancy rate of 90 per cent at the reception centres.

It is expensive to maintain unnecessary accommodation capacity, it explains.

Finlands reception centres currently have a combined accommodation capacity of 16,000 beds. The Ministry of the Interior has estimated that roughly 10,000 people will seek asylum in Finland in 2017. The monthly number of applications peaked at almost 11,000 in September, 2015, according to statistics.

A list of the reception centres facing closure and reducing their accommodation capacity is provided in the press release.

Migri last year announced that the number of beds at reception centres will be reduced by a total of 22,000. The majority of the capacity reductions  15,800 beds  have already been implemented, while the remaining 6,400 beds will be reduced by the end of June.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Emmi Korhonen  Lehtikuva
A FARMER was forced to shoot a dog after it attacked and killed three of his ewes.

David Hicks, who owns Kingwood Farm in Wyfold, has urged owners to keep their animals under control.

Mr Hicks, 51, said the attacks happened at about 1.20pm on Thursday last week in a field near the Black Horse pub in Checkendon, where his sheep are kept.

He said: I was driving down the road to check the sheep and a lady in hysterics stopped me, saying there was a dog trying to attack the sheep. I jumped over the fence and it was tearing a sheep to pieces.

The sheep tried to get away and the dog grabbed it and was biting its face. It had torn the back legs to shreds.

Ive never shot a dog before but I had no option.

He said another of his sheep was so badly injured that it died soon afterwards while another died the next morning as a result of the shock and stress.

Five had bite marks and had to be treated with antibiotics, while another had to be stitched up. All three that died were carrying lambs.

Mr Hicks called the police and the owner of the springer spaniel, a man from Wallingford, appeared after an hour.

He asked the owner to cover his losses and vet bills, which he estimated would be about 1,000.

Were three weeks from lambing and the stress and worry could cause the other sheep to abort, he said,

I dont blame the dog, I blame the owner. Keep your animals on a lead or away from livestock, especially at this time of year.
A woman suing over injuries to her neck and back after a rear-ending incident has denied in the High Court that entries on her Facebook page meant she had worked out in the gym since the accident, despite testifying she had not.

Mother-of-two Lyndsey Gervin (33), from Coalisland, Co Tyrone, is one of nine people who sued for soft tissue injuries arising out of the 2008 accident, when a car allegedly collided with the minibus the group was in on the way to a night out at the dogs in Dundalk.

They claim the car left the scene immediately and no one got its registration.

The nine, including the driver, brought a claim for injuries against the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI), which denies their claims.

After seven of them were awarded compensation of between 3,000 and 8,500 in the Circuit Court, the MIBI appealed to the High Court. The two who were not successful cross-appealed.

On the first day of the appeal, Ms Gervin told her own counsel, Patrick McCann, she had to "do away" with going to the gym after the accident.

When the case resumed yesterday, Jonathan Kilfeather, for the MIBI, asked that Ms Gervin be recalled as certain information about her had been learned overnight from her Facebook page.

Excited

Mr Kilfeather put it to her that an entry she made in January 2014 stating "am actually too excited about going back to workout Defo Gona b good an stick at it this time..." meant she had been at the gym since the accident.

Ms Gervin, who was among the seven successful plaintiffs in the Circuit Court, said she was trying to advertise her partner's gym among her friends.

The case resumes next week.
John Cooney, charged with harrassment and sending offensive letters in the post

A prison officer sent "evil and sadistic" anonymous letters to the son of murdered Brian Stack, pretending to be an IRA member and telling him his father had deserved to suffer.

John Cooney (57) sent the sick mail as part of a poison pen campaign against members of the prison service after he became frustrated about his promotion prospects.

Austin Stack, now a prison governor, was among 13 people in the service - mostly superior in rank - who were targeted over several years by Cooney, a court heard.

Among the litany of abusive correspondence were:

- A letter to Mr Stack saying his father "deserved to be in pain" and it was a waste of State money investigating his killing;

- A rant where a female prison officer was sent abusive messages when she was ill;

- An obscene 40th birthday card sent to one prison officer;

- A letter sent to another prison officer branded him a "Finglas scummer" and a "dirt bird".

Most of the contents of the letters were not read out to the court as the judge deemed them too "vile and depraved".

Obscene

Brian Stack, who was chief prison officer at Portlaoise Jail, suffered brain damage when he was shot by the IRA in 1983 and died 18 months later.

Mr Stack said he felt "re-traumatised" by the three abusive letters sent by Cooney.

Judge Cormac Dunne said Cooney had shown "excessive cruelty" and jailed him for a year, with another eight months suspended. He was released on bail shortly after, pending an appeal of the sentence.

Cooney, of Colthurst Road, Huntington Glen, Lucan, pleaded guilty to nine charges of sending indecent, obscene, offensive or menacing letters and five of harassment between 2011 and 2015.

Mr Stack told Dublin District Court he started receiving letters around the time gardai began making headway in the investigation into his father's murder.

The first letter arrived at Wheatfield Prison, where he worked. The others followed months later.

The author pretended to be from the IRA and it became obvious he had worked with him in St Patrick's Institution.

The letters stated that Mr Stack's father "deserved to be in pain" for the 18 months before his death.

"It was vile stuff, like my father deserved to linger, he deserved what he got, he was a bad man," Mr Stack told the judge. "I didn't like thinking about those 18 months when my father was like that. When you get a letter like that it brings you straight back to that time.

"I was watching my back. I thought: 'Is this person working with me? Am I being followed home?'. I didn't know who I could trust in the prison service."

Mr Stack said he did not tell his mother the contents of the letter as it would have "completely destroyed her".

Mr William Canavan said he received a 40th birthday card with what the court heard was an "obscene, vile" message.

He said he was "disgusted" and could not figure out why he had received it.

"It made me quite paranoid amongst my colleagues. It was obviously someone I had worked with," he said.

When he found out who was responsible, it annoyed him because he had "never had a cross word" with Cooney.

Mr Anthony Redmond said he was assistant chief officer at St Patrick's before transferring to Mountjoy, where he received a letter calling him a "dirt bird", "worm or maggot", and a "Finglas scummer".

"You want to know who among the workforce would want to be so hurtful, malicious and damaging to you both professionally and personally," he said.

Defence barrister Paul Finnegan said Cooney accepted his behaviour was "an utterly unacceptable, unwarranted and inexcusable trespass on the lives of these people who were going about their work". He apologised to all concerned.

Judge Dunne said some letters stood out more in their "nastiness and harrowing personal persecution".

Sinister

The letters sent to Mr Stack were "sinister and anguishing" and concerned "one of the most horrible events in our recent history, which is the murder by the IRA of his father".

The letter to the female officer was "aggressively vile, obscene, lewd and crude", he added.

"To author such a document and to conceive the contents of such a document from the human mind is certainly depraved, evil, callous and hard-hearted," the judge said.

A probation report stated that Cooney's father had died, his mother was in a rest home and he was concerned about his sister's welfare at the time.

He was on bad terms with one of his brothers over a land dispute and he believed that promotion procedures in the prison service were flawed.

Cooney was under stress and the report inferred that sending the letters gave him "some sort of sadistic, cruel release or pleasure in the discomfort of others", Judge Dunne said.
Transport Minister Shane Ross has said he will not get involved in the Bus Eireann dispute - even if workers stage an all-out strike.

Mr Ross said calls from some of the parties involved were based on nothing other than an attempt to force him "to produce the chequebook".

"I've taken the position all along that it's not up to me. It would be wrong for a minister to become involved in an industrial dispute, and I intend to stay out of the industrial dispute," he said.

"What I'd like to see, and what I'm urging, is that the parties get together."

Earlier this week, the Independent Alliance minister was described by Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin as a "Pontius Pilate" character hiding from the looming chaos at Bus Eireann.

The company has said it could be insolvent by May if it does not reduce its pay bill by 12m.

Management wants to make savings on overtime, spare driver arrangements, hiring buses, bonuses, sick pay, expenses and flexibility.

Three routes - Dublin-Clonmel, Athlone-Westport and Dublin-Derry - may also be axed in a bid to save 1.1m.

Nonsense

Mr Ross said the Fianna Fail claims were "nonsense".

"It's not my business to be involved in an industrial dispute," he said.

"I've made that absolutely clear. After the industrial dispute is over, I'm very happy to talk to all parties about policy matters and will certainly do so."

The National Bus and Rail Union has written to the Department of Transport asking for intervention.

In the letter, NBRU general secretary Dermot O'Leary noted the calls for Mr Ross to get involved.

"The response, or lack of response, to date has been deafening," he said.

"However, it is the potential assistance of the department which particularly interests us at this juncture, bearing in mind the central role it has played in the lead-up to the current dispute."

Mr O'Leary said it would be reasonable for the department to become involved as it is the sole shareholder of CIE "and by extension Bus Eireann".

Asked why he would not intervene, Mr Ross replied: "All parties want me to be in the room because they want me to produce the cheque book. I'm not going to do that."

He added that he "very much" hoped a strike would be averted.
The parents of a nine-year-old girl are pleading with the public to help raise vital funds for their seriously ill child.

Megan Farrell, from Finglas, Co Dublin, is currently in Crumlin Hospital for the fourth time since November 2016.

Parents Ashling and Colm are pleading with the public to help raise vital funds for Megan, who was born with a condition known as Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome, which means the right side of her heart didn't develop properly.

Megan also has a tracheostomy tube to help her breathe and a peg feeding tube to help her eat. She can't speak and was diagnosed with scoliosis, meaning she is unable to walk.

But her parents say she can still light up a room with her smile.

The couple also have two younger girls - Emma (6) and Ellie May (11 months) - making it very difficult to care for Megan 24 hours a day.

"We found out she dislocated her hip, but because she has heart problems, doctors aren't sure if her heart could take the surgery to fix it," said Ashling.

"She's on pain relief, but any time we move her, she's crying in pain.

"It's so hard as a parent watching her scream in pain, especially when you're causing it by moving her."

Before Megan dislocated her hip, Ashling said she was a "happy child who was always smiling", but now she is in constant pain.

"It breaks my heart to see her like this," she said.

The family is pleading with the public to help raise funds to buy equipment for Megan to meet her basic needs.

Unavailable

Currently, Megan's wheelchair doesn't fit in the car, so the family is trying to raise funds for a wheelchair-accessible car.

As Megan sleeps in the sitting room downstairs, the family also needs money to make the home more accessible.

Megan needs 24-hour care, but often a nurse trained to care for her requirements isn't available and family members spend most nights caring for Megan themselves.

"Her homecare package allocates a night nurse, however, due to a severe lack of tracheostomy-trained nurses, they are often unavailable or simply don't turn up," the family said.

One of Megan's favourite things is going to school, but she often can't attend because a tracheostomy-trained nurse isn't available there, they added.

You can donate to help the family at gofundme.com/ supermegs.
Kym Owens is now recovering at home following the incident at the Moyglare Abbey Estate last November

An 18-year-old student who suffered horrific injuries in a mysterious incident last November has been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home with her parents.

Gardai say a full investigation is ongoing into how Maynooth University student Kym Owens suffered multiple injuries on the night of November 20.

There have been no arrests in the case despite officers interviewing almost 300 people.

It is understood that Kym has been recovering at her home in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, since earlier this month.

She had been in an induced coma at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown for a number of weeks after the incident.

Assault

Her injuries included broken eye sockets, a broken jaw and a broken nose. Kym also lost several teeth in the incident.

It is not known if the teenager has been able to help gardai with their enquiries but it had been thought she would have no memory of the incident because of her injuries.

Gardai have been investigating a number of theories, including whether she was the victim of a prolonged and vicious assault.

However, a more credible theory is that Kym may have suffered her injuries because of a heavy fall.

It is understood she was carrying a "very heavy bag" on her back and had shoes attached to her knapsack, hanging loose, which could have potentially caused a "terrible fall".

Another theory gardai have examined is whether Kym was struck by a vehicle.

The teenager had just got off a private bus service before the incident and was walking to her digs at the Moyglare Abbey Estate.

The investigation has been hampered by poor-quality CCTV because of heavy fog on the night. Gardai have not yet identified a potential suspect.

Collections have taken place both in Maynooth and Kym's home town of Castleblayney to raise cash for her family, with the total currently standing at almost 40,000.

Kym left her Co Monaghan home and boarded the A2B bus at around 6.15pm on November 20, arriving in Maynooth two hours later.

She walked 1km to the Moyglare Abbey Estate, where gardai initially believed she was attacked sometime between 8.15 and 8.40pm.

Officers said Kim, a first-year student of arts, suffered "extensive head injuries".

The bus had made stops at Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Ardee and Slane before reaching Maynooth.

Conscience

There were 53 people on board and gardai have interviewed all these passengers as part of their long-running probe.

Last month, Kym's uncle Thomas McNee appealed for information on RTE's Sean O'Rourke Show.

"Examine your conscience. It could be your daughter or sister in that hospital," he said. "So if you know anything, please take a leap of faith and go to the gardai and tell them what you know."
Ruth Negga will find out on Sunday if she has won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Loving

Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham has said he's praying his old friend Ruth Negga picks up the Oscar for Best Actress this Sunday.

The actor spoke in glowing terms at a Women Mean Business World Vision event about the Loving star, with whom he worked on 2014 movie Noble, which told the story of children's rights campaigner Christina Noble's life.

"I had the biggest smile on my face when I heard she got nominated. She's very deserving of it," he said.

"Ruth's the most gorgeous, easy-going, decent girl. I saw her at the Golden Globes, I went over and gave her a hug. She's just brilliant.

"I've known her 20 years; she's been at it a long time. She's done theatre, she's paid her dues.

Compliment

"The highest compliment I can pay Ruth is she's not a movie star, she's an actor, and that's what she is.

"She's a brilliant ambassador for this place and for diversity and is very clever.

"She's worked her way up slowly and she's the real deal. She hasn't just had it thrown at her. She just knows her stuff, she's a professional."

Liam said that he's looking forward to seeing her nominated movie Loving, which co-stars Joel Edgerton. "You don't get too many love stories in Hollywood any more. It's all bloody explosions now and car chases," he said.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones fans are in for a real treat when series seven finally debuts around the world this July.

The Dublin star, who plays Davos in HBO's hit fantasy series, said the premiere date has been pushed back several times.

He said: "I've been disappointing various people around the world because it was meant to come out in April. It's July now, I think.

"There's going to be a launch and something special happening this year for the premiere. The bad news is, there will only be seven episodes and the final season starts again as far as I know in September."

The star took the opportunity at the event at L'Ecrivain restaurant to hit out at the State for not doing enough to help the refugee crisis.

Liam travelled to Jordan last September with the charity World Vision and said the Government could be taking in more refugees.

"The wheels of government move so slowly. What we've got to do is speed them up. Also, we're in the middle of changes of leadership. They need to get down and work for the country," he said.

"They're inward-looking now because there's a little bit of a mini-crisis going on.

"They need to get all that s**te out of the way and do their job, which is representing the people who voted for them."

He added that he thought it was wonderful he could use his celebrity status to highlight issues close to his heart, like his work with World Vision.
Monday's Powerball prize is the biggest ever. Here's the top 10 jackpots

Should someone win Monday's Powerball jackpot of $1.9 billion it would go down as the world's largest lottery prize ever.
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Evangelicals, who have been advocating for Israel for years, have historically let the Jews take the lead.

Laurie Cardoza-Moore, for one, is excited that they are poised to take on a prominent role. An evangelical TV host and activist, Cardoza-Moore backs President Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, a supporter of the settlement movement who is deeply skeptical of the two-state solution.

And she is confident Trump will make good on his promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

"I am excited to see this development. It further illustrates the commitment of this [incoming] administration," she recently told a Christian news service. "And God willing, Friedman will be the one who helps orchestrate that transition."

Cardoza-Moore was in Israel last week filming a new episode of "Focus on Israel," which is widely syndicated on Christian television. In an interview at a Tel Aviv cafe last week, she said in over 15 years of pro-Israel work as the president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, she has seen evangelicals rally to the cause.

"After the 9/11 attacks, a lot of Christians were ready to hear our message," she said. "Having read the Bible, they felt we were under a curse and the way to change that curse was to make sure we supported Israel. I always knew if we could get the information to the Christians, they would respond and they would stand up."

But while that support is undeniable and certainly welcomed by a Jewish state that could use all the friends it can get, it still discomfits many in the pro-Israel camp, especially liberals. They worry evangelicals' Bible-based views are too right wing, both on social issues as well as Israel affairs.

"There's a real danger because most evangelicals are very hawkish and hard-line on Israel," said Dov Waxman, a political scientist at Northeastern University who studies American Jews and Israel. "The more they get involved, that risks alienating more liberal Jews from pro-Israel advocacy and from Israel."

Cardoza-Moore's commitment to Israel is unquestioned, and often indistinguishable from what mainstream Jewish groups might take on. In 2013, she gained national attention with a campaign against a geography textbook being used in her Tennessee school district that asked students to consider whether a Palestinian suicide bomber who kills "several dozen Israeli teenagers in a Jerusalem restaurant" is acting as a terrorist or as a soldier fighting a war.

Cardoza-Moore spoke at school board meetings, gathered hundreds of signatures and appeared on Fox News to advocate against using the book. The local Jewish federation took her side. In the end, the school board concluded the book was not biased, but the publisher removed the offending line from electronic and future print editions.

Perhaps Cardoza-Moore's biggest victory came in 2015, when at her urging, the Tennessee legislature passed a resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, the first of its kind in the nation. Although the resolution took no action against BDS, it labeled the movement "one of the main vehicles for spreading anti-Semitism and advocating the elimination of the Jewish state."

Since then, Cardoza-Moore has pushed for similar resolutions in other states. Ten states have now passed them, and three more are considering doing so. Governors in 15 states have signed laws that prevent the boycott of Israel.

It likely helps that the Republican Party in recent years has been dominant in state politics. The GOP has increasingly become the pro-Israel party. Evangelicals, who make up more than a quarter of the American population and overwhelmingly vote Republican, have shaped the party's identity on Israel in many ways.

"If we look at why the Republicans tend to take pro-Israel positions, I think a major reason for that is evangelical Christians," Waxman said. "In red-state America, it's the views of evangelicals that really matter when it comes to Israel."

And with Trump's victory, red-state America is in control of the executive branch. Christians United for Israel, or CUFI, has been ramping up its activities in Washington, D.C. The Israel lobby claims 3.3 million mostly evangelical members. By contrast, the mostly Jewish AIPAC has approximately 100,000, though it is more experienced and better funded.

After long deferring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, CUFI founder and board member David Brog said his group planned to get "a little more aggressive" in pushing its policies in the Trump era, when it has clout and connections, including to evangelical Vice President Mike Pence.

"At a time when we have a Republican in the White House and Republicans control the House and Senate, we see CUFI as able to play a leading role in speaking to governing majorities that know they owe their election in large part to our base," he said.

Brog described CUFI as "within the mainstream" and respectful of AIPAC's history of bipartisanship. But he acknowledged that CUFI's members tend to be "right of center" and "skeptical of the two-state solution." The group, he said, would not necessarily sit out debates or avoid criticizing ideological opponents in an effort to keep them in the pro-Israel camp.

"We need to draw clear lines and be clear about where we stand," he said. "That does not necessarily damage bipartisanship. Drawing clear lines may help define what it means to be pro-Israel."

As Bloomberg's Eli Lake pointed out, CUFI has not taken a position on the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which AIPAC officially supports, and has backed legislation to defund the Palestinian Authority, which AIPAC has not. CUFI has also thrown its weight behind Trump's pro-settlement pick for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.

Some Jewish observers have suggested that growing evangelical involvement in Israel advocacy could turn Israel into a right-wing Republican issue. Aside from concerns about the implications for Israel, they say, that could make it less attractive to more liberal Jews, who already are drifting away from the community and are increasingly critical of Israel's policies.

"It's like a brand. If Israel is associated with right wing and 'reactionary' forces, then it's going to be a turnoff to younger American Jews," Waxman said. "It may be superficial, but we're talking about public perceptions."

Brog, who is Jewish, argued Israel and its supporters could not afford to apply a "religious test" on the issue.

"I got involved in Christian advocacy because I can count," he said. "If the pro-Israel community is limited to the Jewish community, it's too small. The reason the American government is pro-Israel is because the American people are profoundly and overwhelmingly pro-Israel. But we can't take that for granted."

A senior official at a dovish Israel advocacy group said he thought American Jews and Israel would ultimately define their own relationship, regardless of who else was in the picture.

"I'd be foolish to say evangelical Christians don't have an effect. But I don't really care what they say," said the official, who asked to remain anonymous. "At the end of the day, it's a homeland for the Jewish people. So it's how we choose to express our love for Israel that really matters."
A capacity crowd of more than 460 women and men attended Choices 2017: Beautiful Inside and Out on Feb. 9 at Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland. It was one of the largest audiences in the 23-year history of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's women's philanthropy event.

Significantly, more than 150 people were first-time Choices attendees.

The evening kicked off with a cocktail hour and hors d'oeuvre buffet by Arthur's Creative Events & Catering. The "Choices Pinktini," this year's signature cocktail, was a popular selection among the ladies.

Choices co-chairs Heidi Zissman and Leigh Norber welcomed the crowd, and then introduced the main attraction for the evening-the Women of Choice awards presentation.

This year, Federation honored eight Women of Choice, each nominated by and representing Central Florida's Jewish agencies. The ladies were spotlighted in a 14-minute video tribute featuring the honorees, in their own words, talking about the values that drive them to work so hard on behalf of their agencies. The women received a standing ovation as the video concluded. Federation President Rhonda Forest then presented each honoree with her award.

"These women sacrifice their time and their treasures for the betterment of us all, and they do it with passion, with grace and with heart," Forest said in the video. "They share a deep-rooted love for the Orlando Jewish community, and tonight is about returning that love to them and saying 'thank you.' "

This year's Women of Choice are: Es Cohen (The Roth Family JCC), Wendi Harris (Rosen JCC), Eve Homburger (Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center), Nina Oppenheim (Central Florida Hillel), Ali Polejes (Kinneret Council on Aging), Elise Schilowitz (The Jewish Pavilion), Miriam Varnagy (Jewish Academy of Orlando), and Madeline Wolly (Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando).

The Federation has posted the full Women of Choice tribute video online at http://www.jfgo.org/choices.

Following the awards presentation, Federation's 2017 Annual Campaign co-chair, Danielle Krise, spoke passionately about the many ways the Federation has touched her life and transformed the lives of Jews in Israel and around the world. She reminded supporters that their gifts to Federation make this work possible.

"The Federation is the heart of our community, and you, our wonderful women, are the lifeblood of the Federation," Krise said. "Did you know that 57 percent of Federation's Annual Campaign comes from women's philanthropy? That's the power of women!"

This year's celebrity guest, makeup artist and entrepreneur Sonia Kashuk, along with her sister, Winter Park Realtor Sheryl Kashuk, engaged in a lively 'Choices Conversation," covering a wide range of topics, from Sonia's business ventures and early career challenges to both sisters' triumph over breast cancer and their philanthropic work to support breast cancer research.

The evening concluded, per tradition, with the Choices Raffle. Co-chairs Zissman and Norber, with the assistant of Federation RAISE employee Caitlyn Chambers, announced the lucky prize winners.

Sonia Kashuk (l) and Sheryl Kashuk.

"Choices was nothing short of exceptional this year," Forest said. "Heidi and Leigh were outstanding, raising more money than ever in corporate sponsorships and raffle prizes."

One of the personal highlights, Forest said, was the presence of more than 150 first-time attendees.

"It was heartening to see so many new faces at Choices," she said, "and we hope these women will return to future events and become part of our growing Federation family."

Choices was made possible in part due to the generosity of the Choices 2017: Diamond Sponsors Dottie and Dick Appelbaum, and Ruby Sponsors FastSigns of Orlando-Central, 5000 E. Colonial Drive, and Orlando Health.

You can read more about Choices and view more than 150 photos from the event at http://www.jfgo.org/choices.
WASHINGTONAmerican Jewish leaders are enthusiastically applauding President Donald Trumps call on the Palestinian Authority to remove anti-Jewish hate material from its school books.

At his press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Feb. 15, Trump said the Palestinians have to get rid of the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish material that appears in PA school texts. Theyre taught tremendous hate, he said. Ive seen what theyre taught... it starts at a very young age and it starts in the school room.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told JNS.org, The U.S. government should use all leverage at its disposal to do something about changing the Palestinian school books, especially when the U.S. provides the Palestinians with over $350 million in aid each year. Its an outrage that the incitement continues.

Speaking from Morocco, where he received an award for fostering friendly relations between American Jewry and the Moroccan people, Hoenlein emphasized that ending the incitement should not be a result of negotiations, but rather must be a prelude to negotiations.

The Anti-Defamation League and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee also applauded the presidents statement. ADL National Director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said the Palestinians need to reform their school curricula to remove the anti-Israel content. In addition, Greenblatt pointed out, some Palestinian textbooks contain anti-Semitism, incitement against Jews and stereotypes about Jews, and this content needs to be reformed as well. These kinds of actions certainly do not suggest that the Palestinians are preparing to make peace. Greenblatt told JNS.org that it is most important for the U.S. government to raise this issue in all meetings with the Palestinians.

AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittman said, We are pleased the President has publicly called attention to this ongoing problem...We believe the Palestinian Authority should take firm action to halt any incitement to violence. Incitement of terrorism has posed a serious impediment to peace.

The president is to be praised for speaking out so forcefully against the continuing drumbeat of hatred toward Israel which emanates from the Palestinian Authority, Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president emeritus of Conservative Judaisms Rabbinical Assembly, told JNS.org.

I am glad President Trump believes it is time for us to become more forceful in our efforts to force change, he added. The road to peace cannot be achieved by teaching hate to generation after generation in school curriculum or by publicly praising killers of Israelis.

Farley Weiss, president of the National Council of Young Israel, said Trumps remarks were a big step in the right direction and a welcome reversal of the previous administrations policy. Roger Jacobs, vice president of the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations, agreed that Trumps comments about Palestinian schools were very constructive. Jacobs, whose cousin, Boaz Aluf, was killed in a Palestinian bus bombing in Jerusalem in 2002, told JNS.org that there is no question that constant incitement does encourage people to commit violent acts.

Then-Secretary of State John Kerry said in 2014 that the attack on a synagogue in Jerusalems Har Nof neighborhood was a pure result of incitement by Palestinian leaders. The terrorists killed an Israeli police officer and five rabbis, four of them American citizens. The Obama administration also criticized the PAs incitement on several other occasions, but did not take any publicly known steps to curb it.

The key issue now is enforcement, according to Rabbi Dr. Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, who chaired the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council from 2000-2002. He noted that the U.S. in the past verbally urged the P.A. to stop incitement, but there was no enforcement. Greenberg said if this was enforced, it would push the Palestinians to shift from the victimhood mode and start acting like a peace partner. This would be good for them and could begin to rebuild some trust on Israels side.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told JNS.org it was extremely important that President Trumps immediate reaction was to recognize the problem for what it is. Cooper said, If you inculcate children with hate, you will lose another generationif you dont get rid of the mindset of glorifying terrorism and using anti-Semitism and denying Jewish history in the Holy Land, there is zero chance for peace.

Roz Rothstein, CEO of the pro-Israel education organization StandWithUs, told JNS.org that the problem of incitement did not begin with the creation of the PA in 1994, but rather has been an ongoing problem since before Israel became a state in 1948. She said that a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians will be impossible unless the U.S. takes steps to hold Palestinian leaders accountable on this issue.

One unresolved question is what mechanism could be used to verify claims by the PA that it has revised the books. Sarah Stern, president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), a pro-Israel think tank and policy center, pointed out that the Trilateral Committee to Monitor Incitement, which was established following the Oslo Accords, turned out to be a miserable failure, because you cant have the PA involved in the monitoring, when its the PA that is the problem. She urged the Trump administration to establish a U.S. commission to determine if the PA has changed the school books.

A respected figure with substantial knowledge of the Middle East, such as [former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations] John Bolton, should chair the commission, Stern said.

Conference of Presidents leader Hoenlein called the commission proposal a valid idea. He suggested that members of Congress and officials of the Department of Education be included in such a commission, so they can reach hard conclusions about what is happening and whether they have changed the textbooks. The Rabbinical Assemblys Meyers agreed that a monitoring committee to review the school curriculum could be a help in this direction.
NEW YORK (JTA)-Over 100 years ago, Barnett Levine was greeted by the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty as he arrived in the United States, having fled anti-Semitism and pogroms in his native Poland.

On Sunday, his grandson saw those very same sights when he joined about 700 others in this city's Battery Park downtown at a rally protesting President Donald Trump's executive order banning all refugees from the country for 120 days.

"I am the grandchild of four immigrants who came here when the gates of the United States were wide open and they made a life here," Harold Levine, a 60-year-old marketing consultant, told JTA. He added: "I think that it is the duty of the Jewish community to pay this forward to other immigrants who are trying to come to the United States."

The rally was organized by HIAS, formerly known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, part of an initiative by the immigrant resettlement group called the National Day of Jewish Action for Refugees.

The president issued his order last month, which also banned citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries for 90 days. On Thursday, a federal appeals court ruling upheld a stay on the ban, a move praised by Jewish groups, including HIAS.

Thousands attended rallies on Sunday as part of the HIAS initiative, including in Boston, Washington, D.C, and other major cities, a representative for the group told JTA. The demonstrations had more than 20 co-sponsors, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish World Service, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly.

Mark Hetfield, the CEO of HIAS, said the rallies were a rare moment of joining together in support of refugees.

"I haven't seen anything like this since I got my start [with HIAS] in 1989, which was at the height of the Soviet Jewry movement," he said. "This is a galvanizing moment like that, but the difference is that then we were standing up for Jews, and now we are standing up as Jews."

At the New York rally, participants braved icy wind, hail and rain to join in chants of "When refugees are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back" and "Never again means never again for everyone" between speeches by rabbis and clergy members, politicians and leaders of Jewish groups. Among the speakers were Mayor Bill de Blasio; Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the ADL, and Sana Mustafa, a Syrian refugee.

In Boston, speakers at a rally with several hundred participants included City Councilor Josh Zakim, whose father, the late Lenny Zakim, was the longtime director of the New England Anti-Defamation League; Imam Faisal Khan, director of religious affairs at the Islamic Center of Wayland, and Fred Manasse, a child Holocaust survivor who was brought to the U.S. by HIAS.

Speeches-even those given by non-Jewish speakers-were peppered with references to Jewish history and traditions.

"In this city we believe we can live in harmony," de Blasio said in New York." It's not perfect, but we believe we can do something that the whole world is struggling to do, that we can all be together ... people of all religions and backgrounds, that is what we're fighting for-doesn't that fit beautifully the profound Jewish concept of tikkun olam, of healing the world?"

Ellison, who told JTA that the rally was "one of the main reasons" for his visit to New York, talked in his speech about the MS St. Louis, a ship with 900 Jewish refugees from Germany that tried to enter the United States and other countries but was turned away. He called the incident "a shameful time in our country."

"All of our officials who worked with this stuff knew about it. We can't say we didn't know-we knew," said Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress and a front-runner to lead the Democratic National Committee. "We didn't want to get involved, we wanted to just mind our own business, we just kind of thought, 'Oh, this is not our issue.'"

Jewish ritual featured prominently. At one point during the New York rally, representatives of 10 of the co-sponsoring groups went on stage and tore pieces of cloth, mimicking a Jewish ritual in which mourners rend their clothing. The tearing was done to remind attendees of refugees who had died before being able to reach safety, as well as those who are now facing dangerous circumstances.

In addition to co-sponsoring the New York event, the ADL on Sunday also launched a campaign to rally opposition to Trump's executive order urging people to share on social media their family stories of coming to the U.S. and tagging posts with #ThisIsARefugee.

"We remember that we were once strangers, too, that Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and oppression during the Holocaust were often denied entry with claims eerily similar to some of the claims that are being made today to deny entrance to refugees, and we think that's wrong," Greenblatt told JTA on the phone before the rally.

Participants at the rally said they were compelled to attend for a variety of reasons, both personal and historical.

Lisa Davidson, a 41-year-old professor who attended the New York event, said she saw historic parallels between the Holocaust and the civil war in Syria.

"What's going on in Syria right now is criminal, and it is sort of reminiscent of what happened in the Holocaust in the '30s and '40s, and I think that we don't want to repeat that again, and we don't want to sit and say that we did nothing," Davidson said.

For some the motivation came from their family history. Levine, the marketing consultant whose grandfather immigrated to the U.S. over a century ago, brought with him a poster saying"This is personal" and showing a photograph of his grandfather and his immigration paperwork.

"I couldn't not come here. The minute I heard about it, I thought I had to come," he said.

Elianna Kan shared similar reasons for coming. The 28-year-old translator and journalist said her family came to the U.S. in the 1970s as refugees from the Soviet Union, receiving financial and logistical help from HIAS.

"I'm here and have the privilege of being born in a free country because people who were concerned with the plight of my family, whether or not they had a personal connection, were out there, and this seems like an even more extreme case," she said. "It's a different case, but the parallels are far too obvious to me."

JTA correspondent Penny Schwartz contributed reporting from Boston.
Many elder residents at the assisted-living, independent-living, Alzheimer and Rehab facilities in the Greater Orlando area have been treated to "tasty" Tu B'Shevat seders all throughout the month of February. Program directors of The Jewish Pavilion have been co-hosting with facilities and staff to bring celebrations to residents.

"Our programs have been warm, inviting and tasty with several foods and treats," said program director Judy Appleton. "We enjoyed fresh and dried fruits, nuts, candies and delicious baked goods such as banana nut bread and apple cake. We poured juices, raised our glasses high and said prayers welcoming the holiday. We shared stories and enjoyed each others' companies. We at The Jewish Pavilion appreciate your donations so that we may continue to serve the Elders in our community."
The Membership Committee of Temple Israel has planned a kosher-for-Passover wine tasting at Total Wine, 160 E. Altamonte Drive in Altamonte Springs on Saturday, March 4. Temple Israel members and prospective members are cordially invited to participate in this event planned for 6:30-8:30 p.m. Come enjoy a short, intimate Havdalah service, partake of light appetizers and sample numerous wines which you will be able to purchase for your own seder or use as a thoughtful host/hostess gift. In addition, the management personnel of Total Wine will be presenting a PowerPoint presentation about kosher-for-Passover wines.

RSVP is a must with payment (space is limited) by Wednesday, March 1, at tiflorida.org/Kosher ForPassoverWineTasting or you may call 407.647.3055.
NEW YORK-The Blue Card, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing ongoing, direct aid to Holocaust survivors in the United States, has been selected to receive a grant of $120,000 from the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). Overall, JFNA through its Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care will distribute $2.8 million in grants to 34 organizations in 18 states, which when combined with matching funds required by the grant, will result in over $4.6 million in funding for new programming.

The Jewish Federations of North America launched the Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care in the fall of 2015, following an award from the United States Department of Health and Human Services for up to $12 million over five years to advance innovations in Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed (PCTI) services for Holocaust survivors in the United States. PCTI care is a holistic approach that promotes the dignity, strength and empowerment of trauma victims by incorporating knowledge about the role of trauma in victims' lives into agency programs, policies and procedures.

The Blue Card program, "PCTI Training for Healthcare Professionals," will educate dental and medical providers on identifying and treating the unique needs of Holocaust survivors. Through face-to-face workshops, webinars and follow-up teleconferencing sessions, the organization will work with dentists who are part of Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity and physicians and nurses in New York City who serve large numbers of Holocaust survivors.

"The Blue Card is proud to be selected to receive a grant from the JFNA's Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care," said Masha Pearl, Executive Director of The Blue Card. "For many Holocaust survivors, the prospect of being institutionalized or facing an extended hospital stay means that even a routine visit to a dentist or doctor can cause the trauma they experienced in childhood to be relived. We hope this effort helps to educate healthcare providers to recognize the specialized needs of survivors, so they can help this dwindling population live their remaining years in dignity."

The Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care promotes innovative service delivery models together with the expertise of partner organizations including the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies and the Claims Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. The grant money is a combination of federal dollars and philanthropic dollars raised by Jewish Federations as part of JFNA's National Holocaust Survivor Initiative, which seeks to raise $45 million to support the Survivor community.

"Meeting the needs of Holocaust survivors is a critical mission, and we are excited to partner with the federal government for the second year of this project, which will help us improve the lives of this fragile community," said Mark Wilf, Chair of the JFNA Fund for Holocaust Survivors.

"(I) and my fellow Alpha Omegans are honored to participate with The Blue Card to provide needed dental services to our precious Holocaust survivors. To paraphrase the late Elie Wiesel 'for it only takes a moment to tell your fellow man that you love him and by doing so you have won a certain victory over destiny.' This victory is won each and every time we restore a Holocaust Survivor to function through oral health," said Allen Finkelstein, DDS.

"The Alpha Omega-Henry Schein Cares Holocaust Survivors Oral Health Program is heartened to hear that The Blue Card has received support for their efforts to train health professionals to provide the highest quality care to this most vulnerable population. Most critically, sensitizing health professionals to the importance of oral health for Holocaust survivors-who have suffered so much for so long-will exponentially enhance the overall care they are able to provide," said Steven Kess, President of Henry Schein Cares Foundation and Co-Chairman of AO-HSC Holocaust Survivors Oral Health Program. "The elimination of pain, socialization and the ability to eat nutritious foods are critical to an individual's health and self-esteem. Congratulations to The Blue Card for your exceptional work, and to JFNA and others who support vital efforts to improve the lives and well-being of Holocaust survivors."
WASHINGTON (JTA)-One state. Flexibility. Two states. Hold back on settlements. Stop Iran.

When President Donald Trump met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: What a press conference!

But wait.

In the Age of Trump, every post-event analysis requires a double take. Not so much "did he mean what he said?"-he appears to mean it, in real time-but "will he mean it next week? Tomorrow? In the wee hours, when he tweets?"

This is a president who, after all, speaks of a "ban" on travelers from Muslim-majority countries and then deploys his spokesmen to insist there is no ban, and by the way, don't mention Muslims either.

So what can we take away from Wednesday's Netanyahu-Trump summit?

A lot. Trump's interlocutor on Wednesday, Netanyahu, has a more evolved reputation for consistency-indeed, for coherence. And despite his renowned capacity for peregrinations of thought, Trump offered enough substance in his remarks-for instance, confirming a pivot in U.S. policy away from an emphasis on a two-state solution as an outcome to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

So, with considerable trepidation, we venture into Wednesday's summit.

One state, two states

At first blush, Trump appeared to headily embrace the prospect of one state-although it's not clear what kind of single state he meant. Would Palestinians in the West Bank be enfranchised?

Comb through what he said, and his departure from the policies of his three predecessors was indeed substantive, but not necessarily radical.

"So I'm looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like," he said, as Netanyahu chortled.

"I'm very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one," Trump said. "I thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two. But honestly, if Bibi and if the Palestinians-if Israel and the Palestinians are happy, I'm happy with the one they like the best."

Trump is not endorsing a single state-he's kicking it back to the parties: Figure it out, Trump says. Trump's three predecessors have also said that the final status must be determined by the Israelis and the Palestinians, but also have made clear that the only workable outcome is two states.

What's the difference? Netanyahu, in his remarks and briefing Israeli reporters after his three-hour summit with Trump, indicated that the difference is leverage for Israel: If the Palestinians want their own state, it must adhere to Israel's terms.

Netanyahu has always said that he believes a Palestinian state should recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and that it must be demilitarized and accept Israeli security control of the West Bank. Until now, those were his preferred outcomes. On Wednesday, he attached a new descriptor to those terms: "prerequisites." That leaves little wiggle room for the Palestinians.

The Israeli leader, notably, also did not use the term "two states" and refused to afterward in his briefing with reporters. Netanyahu said instead that others, including former Vice President Joe Biden, have cautioned him that a state deprived of security control is less than a state. Instead of pushing back against the argument, he said it was a legitimate interpretation, but not the only one.

That relieves pressure from Netanyahu's right flank in Israel, which has pressed him to seize the transition from the Obama administration-which insisted on two states and an end to settlement-to the Trump administration and expand settlement. Now he can go home and say, truthfully, that he has removed "two states" from the vocabulary.

The kid in the candy shop

Netanyahu was like the proverbial kid in the candy shop: He couldn't have made clearer his relief at the departure of President Barack Obama.

"I think that's a change that is clearly evident since President Trump took office," Netanyahu said at the joint press conference, referring to Trump's tough talk on Iran. "I welcome that. I think it's-let me say this very openly-I think it's long overdue."

And not just regarding Iran. Whereas with Obama, Netanyahu would insist peace talks must take place without preconditions, he was now talking about "prerequisites for peace" with the Palestinians.

Trump, to Netanyahu's evident pleasure, embraced one of the Israeli's favorite causes: Palestinian incitement. Obama had also routinely mentioned the issue, but Trump made ending incitement his front and center expectation of the Palestinians, and described it in the dark terms Netanyahu favors.

"I think the Palestinians have to get rid of some of that hate that they're taught from a very young age," he said. "They're taught tremendous hate."

Netanyahu told Israeli reporters that he also asked Trump to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, a request that would have been politely ignored had he raised it with any of Trump's predecessors. He was clearly hopeful about his prospects with Trump; the president was "not shocked" by the request, Netanyahu said.

Beware the candyman: What does Donald want in return?

"I'd like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit," Trump told Netanyahu. "We'll work something out."

Netanyahu appeared shocked. Trump asked Netanyahu for a temporary settlement freeze, the kind of request that when Obama made it sent Netanyahu and his government into paroxysms of resistance. (Netanyahu insisted to reporters later that his shocked reaction was a put-on-he said it was a page out of Trump's bible for realtors, "The Art of the Deal," but he did not explain how looking caught off guard helped him.)

Netanyahu did another double take when Trump said, referring to his hopes for a comprehensive peace with the Palestinians and with Israel's Arab neighbors, that "it might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand."

Netanyahu, notoriously cautious and small-bore in how he approaches diplomacy, did not seem enthusiastic.

"Let's try it," he muttered.

Trump noticed: "Doesn't sound too optimistic," he said to laughter.

Those snapshots of a nonplussed Netanyahu illustrated the Israeli leader's conundrum: He is throwing all-in with Trump.

"There is no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump," he said of a president who has never visited Israel. But that very closeness binds him: How can he reject the entreaties of "no greater supporter" of Israel?

The request to stay settlement building, to go for the big deal, one that Trump said would likely require Israel to "show more flexibility than they have in the past"-what could that mean further down the line? Trump's proven characteristics include a capacity for unpredictability, a demand for deference and a love of disruption.

Mix those qualities with talk of one state and "greater flexibility," and the prospects of what Trump demands from Israel are more open-ended than with any previous president-for better or worse.

Specifics?

Lots of tough talk at the press conference.

"I think, beyond that, President Trump has led a very important effort in the past few weeks, just coming into the presidency," Netanyahu said. "He pointed out there are violations, Iranian violations on ballistic missile tests."

So did Obama, when Iran tested missiles on his watch. What more could Trump do? No one offered specifics, and Netanyahu told reporters later the time was not ripe to offer specifics. How would they address the deal Obama reached, trading sanctions relief for Iran's nuclear rollback, that they both reviled? Amend it? Enforce it? Trash it? No specifics.

Same when it came to the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as ISIS.

"You call for the defeat of ISIS," Netanyahu said. (So did Obama.) "Under your leadership, I believe we can reverse the rising tide of radical Islam."

Specifics? None.

Love may drive us apart

An Israeli reporter asked Trump about a spike in anti-Semitic incidents since his election, and wondered what Trump had to say "to those among the Jewish community in the States, and in Israel, and maybe around the world who believe and feel that your administration is playing with xenophobia and maybe racist tones."

Trump, after yet another bizarre digression on the breadth of his electoral college win over Hillary Clinton, reminded everyone that he had Jewish friends and family and concluded that "you're going to see a lot of love."

And Netanyahu, who usually is not reluctant to emphasize the vulnerabilities of Diaspora Jews, backed up Trump.

"I've known the president and I've known his family and his team for a long time, and there is no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump," he said. "I think we should put that to rest."

That's hardly a salve to an American Jewish community dealing almost weekly with unsettling echoes of past slights and intolerance  most recently when the White House omitted any mention of Jews from a Holocaust commemorative statement.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti-Defamation League's national director, reacting to Trump's statement, did not mention Netanyahu, but was clearly not in a mood to put anything to rest. Trump "missed an opportunity to decry the rhetoric of hate that seems to be surging online and in the real world," he said. "Intentional or not, this emboldens anti-Semites."
Jewish journalist sticks up for Trump after being called a liar

(JTA)The Jewish reporter whom President Donald Trump interrupted and accused of lying at a news conference defended Trumps actions as owing to a misunderstanding.

Jake Turx, a reporter for Ami Magazine, told Fox News that he believed Trump acted defensively to his question about rising anti-Semitism in America because of the unfair treatment the president was receiving in the media and allegations connected to anti-Semitism.

Its very unfair whats been done to him and I understand why hes so defensive, Turx, who wears a large kippah and a beard, told Fox News Thursday, hours after the incident. And Im with him when it comes to being outraged about him being charged with this anti-Semitism.

Turx in a Twitter post said President Trump clearly misunderstood my question. This is highly regretful and Im going to seek clarification.

After a harsh-toned exchange with several reporterssome of whom Trump interrupted, told to sit down or be quietTrump said he wanted to take a question from a friendly reporter.

Turx said Im friendly, and began by saying that despite what some my colleagues have been reporting, I have not seen anyone in my community accuse either yourself or anyone of your staff of being anti-Semitic. He added: We understand that you have Jewish grandchildren, you are their zayde, Yiddish for grandfather.

Trumps eldest daughter, Ivanka, converted to Judaism several years ago prior to marrying Jared Kushner, who is also Jewish.

However, citing dozens of bomb threats against Jewish institutions in recent months, Turx said, What we havent really heard being addressed is an uptick in anti-Semitism and how the government is planning to take care of it.

Trump interrupted Turx, said his question was not fair and said: OK, sit down, I understand the rest of your question. Trump replied that he was the least anti-Semitic person that youve ever seen I your entire life. Trump then turned to the reporters, said quiet three times and added: 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.

He then said: I hate the charge because I find it repulsive. Trump referenced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus remark Wednesday during a joint news conference at the White House, where Netanyahu said, There is no greater supporter of Israel or the Jewish state than President Donald Trump to a reporter who asked about the rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States.

I think we can put that to rest, Netanyahu said.

During the Fox News interview, Turx said he believed Trumps emotional reaction to the subject is a hopeful sign because it shows a president who is so committed against this problem of anti-Semitism that it bothers him on a personal level, a deep personal level.

Bomb threat forces evacuation of Israeli consulate in Miami

(JTA)A bomb threat directed at the Israeli Consulate in Miami caused the evacuation of the building in which it is located.

Unidentified callers made the threat to managers of the New World Tower on Thursday, the Miami Herald reported. Workers were allowed to return to the building after a sweep by the bomb squad did not turn up any explosive devices.

Our station received a call in reference to a possible explosive device being planted in the Israeli consulate, Miami police officer Christopher Bess was quoted as telling the Herald, adding that the phone call came from the building.

On Jan. 18, the Alper JCC in Miami Beach was among some 30 Jewish institutions across the country to receive bomb threats. It was also targeted in a wave of bomb threats to Jewish community centers on Jan. 9.

Reform movement opposes David Friedman as US envoy to Israel

NEW YORK (JTA)The Reform movement became the largest Jewish body to oppose the nomination of David Friedman as United States ambassador to Israel.

In a statement released Friday, one day after the launch of Senate hearings to confirm Friedman, Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs released a statement saying Friedman is the wrong person for this essential job at this critical time.

The statement says President Donald Trumps longtime bankruptcy lawyer lacks the qualifications for the position, noting he has never been involved in professional foreign policy issues other than as a zealous partisan and financial supporter of settlement activity.

Friedman serves as president of American Friends of Bet El Institutions, which supports a large West Bank settlement. He has expressed skepticism about the two-state solution and harsh criticism of left-wing pro-Israel groups in a series of op-eds in Arutz Sheva, a news site serving Israels settlement movement.

Mr. Friedmans views on key issues suggest he will not be able to play a constructive role, said the URJ statement, which was signed by the leaders of its main clergy as well as congregational and membership bodies. The U.S. Ambassador to Israel has the important responsibility of advising, shaping, and helping implement the Presidents foreign policy goals. Indeed, it appears that Mr. Friedmans extreme views on key issues related to the two-state solution, Israels borders, settlements, and the location of the U.S. Embassy are already reflected in the White House. Such positions are detrimental to peace and a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

The statement also made note of Thursdays confirmation hearing, during which Friedman said there was no excuse for his past rhetoric targeting liberal Jews, and which was interrupted at least three times by protesters.

Just as we are critical of Mr. Friedmans lack of diplomatic temperament, we wish to distance ourselves from the protesters who repeatedly interrupted his hearing, the URJ statement said.

The Reform movement, representing the largest and most liberal of the major denominations, has long been a proponent of a two-state solution. It has never opposed a nomination for the ambassadorship.

Friedmans nomination has already divided Jewish groups along ideological lines, with centrist and left-leaning groups expressing concerns and right-leaning groups urging his confirmation.

On Friday, following the release of a letter from five former U.S. ambassadors to Israel urging the Senate to reject Friedmans nomination, the Zionist Organization of America released a long statement accusing the former envoys of being hostile to Israel.

The five signatoriesThomas Pickering, Daniel Kurtzer, Edward Walker, Jr., James Cunningham and William Harropdamaged U.S.-Israel relations and exacerbated the situation in the Middle East, the ZOA said in its statement.

Dutch Muslim who preached harmony unmasked as rabid anti-Semite

AMSTERDAM (JTA)A Muslim baker who moved many viewers in the Netherlands with his televised plea for coexistence and acceptance had called in the past for a genocide against Jews, Dutch papers revealed.

Rachid el Hajoui, an immigrant from Morocco who works at a pizza eatery in Tilburg, made his emotional appearance during an expose on the growing feeling of insecurity and estrangement in the Netherlands aired on the Feb. 14 evening news edition of the NOS public broadcaster, the countrys best-viewed station.

In the interview, el Hajoui confessed he feared going to mosque because some crazy person might attack there.

Intelligent people incite to the most stupid actions. And stupid people do it, he said.

El Hajoui complained about the hateful voices on Twitter and in the political establishment, ostensibly against Muslims.

I stand for democracy, and I want my family and everyone to live in harmony, he said.

But on Wednesday, the de Dagelijkse Standard conservative blog found some hateful statements by el Hajoui, whom they also discovered was once an activist for the Socialist Party and later with the progressive D66 party.

An English-language message posted on el Hajouis Twitter account in 2014 read: Hitler was nothing compared to the Israelis. Someone would had to finish his work 60jr ago. He also wrote in Dutch: Only answer to Israel is total extermination, annihilate the cockroaches #1945 #wehateisrael.

He also praised Recep Tayyip Erdoan, Turkeys authoritarian and Islamist leader, as the only real man among Muslim leaders.

The revelation exposed NOS to scathing criticism in other media for affording el Hajoui the opportunity to preach tolerance without addressing his past statements, which were revealed by Twitter users and bloggers who took an interest in him following the news broadcast.

The Center for Information and Documentation for Israel, the countrys main watchdog group on anti-Semitism, filed a complaint for incitement to hatred against el Hajoui.

But Esther Voet, the groups former director and currently the editor-in-chief of the Nieuw Israelitisch Weekblad, wrote in an op-ed in her weekly that while what she called el Hajouis hatred and hypocrisy are not surprising, what is big news is that NOS made a hero out of this rabid anti-Semite. She also called el Hajoui a pet Moroccan.

Separately, the Christian organizers of a festival for peace in the eastern city of Apeldoorn last week apologized for offering a podium to an anti-Israel activist whom they said had used anti-Semitic terminology in speaking about the Jewish state during the event last week.

Ending a protracted dispute, the Foundation Jewish Apeldoorn and the organizers from the Church Group Peace Week Apeldoorn signed a joint statement on Feb. 10 denouncing the remarks of the anti-Israel activist Cornelis Blok as anti-Semitic. The parties said that Blok, of the Sabeel group, used the term Jewish race during his speech and equated Palestinian jihadists with anti-Nazi resistance fighters.

Blok denied harboring any anti-Semitic intent.

The chief organizer, Eddy Anneveldt, also apologized for writing to Blok a friendly email stating: Because of you, my view of Jews has not particularly improved. In the statement, Anneveldt wrote this was a generalization.

Lithuanian nationalists celebrate Holocaust-era quisling, Pepe the Frog near execution site

(JTA)Lithuanian ultranationalists marched near execution sites of Jews with banners celebrating a pro-Nazi collaborationist who called for ethnic cleansing and a symbol popular with members of the U.S. alt-right movement.

Approximately 170 people attended Thursdays annual march in Kaunas, Lithuanias second city that is also known as Kovno, the website Defending History reported.

The main banner featured a picture of the collaborationist Kazys Skirpa modified to resemble Pepe the Frog, a cartoon figure that was used by hate groups in the United States during the 2016 presidential elections, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The banner also included a quote attributed to the Pepe-like portrait of Skirpa, an envoy of the pro-Nazi movement in Lithuania to Berlin, that read Lithuania will contribute to new and better European order.

Skirpa, who has a street named for him in Kaunas, elevated anti-Semitism to a political level that could have encouraged a portion of Lithuanias residents to get involved in the Holocaust, the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania asserted in 2015. But Skirpa proposed to solve the Jewish problem not by genocide but by the method of expulsion from Lithuania, the center said.

The procession passed near the Lietovus Garage, where in 1941 locals butchered dozens of Jews. Thousands more were killed in an around Kaunas by local collaborators of the Nazis and by German soldiers in the following months.

Kaunas is ground zero of the Lithuanian Holocaust, Dovid Katz, a U.S.-born scholar and the founder of Defending History, told JTA on Friday. He condemned local authorities for allowing the march by folks who glorify the very Holocaust-collaborators, theoreticians and perpetrators who unleashed the genocide locally. Katz was one of five people who attended the march to protest and document it.

Lithuania is the only country that officially defines its domination by the former Soviet Union as a form of genocide. The name of the state-funded entity that wrote about Skirpa in 2005 refers both to the Holocaust and the so-called Soviet occupation.

The Museum of Genocide Victims in Vilnius, which until 2011 did not mention the more than 200,000 Lithuanian Jews who died in the Nazi Holocaust, was established in 1992 to memorialize Lithuanians killed by the Nazi, but mostly Soviet, states.

Another placard seen at the march on Feb. 16, one of Lithuanias two independence days, featured a list of 33 names, supposedly of Jews who allegedly were involved in Soviet repression. Information on Jews and Vanagaite, the poster also read. In previous years, marchers also displayed Nazi swastikas.

Vanagaite referred to Ruta Vanagaite, a Lithuanian writer who last year co-authored an influential book about the Holocaust in Lithuania with Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The book triggered an acrimonious public debate about the longtime taboo issue of local complicity in the Holocaust.

Chabad House opens in Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia

(JTA)Chabad, the Hasidic movement that operates Jewish centers in more than 90 countries, has set up shop in the Pacific island archipelago of New Caledonia, which has 250,000 residents and 250 Jews.

The movements emissaries to the island, which is a French territory, are Rabbi Menachem and Bassie Sabbach.

The rabbi is a fluent French speaker; his parents were raised in France. He was raised in Melbourne, Australia, which is located 1,600 miles southwest of his new posting.

Bassie Sabbach is from Manchester, England, according to a report last month on Chabads website about the opening of a Chabad house there.

The couple, who have two sons younger than 4, will work with the local community, which on Rosh Hashanah has a festive dinner comprising 70 guests, and with Jewish tourists who come to Caledonia for its renowned beaches and natural beauty. The Le Monde newspaper in December described the archipelago as being a pristine natural paradise.

New Caledonia, which in 2014 received approximately 100,000 tourists, is the 91st country where Chabad maintains a center, according to the movement. The center there opened last month.

Separately, Chabad on Thursday published a book that the movement said is the culmination of 15 years of research on the life of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the third rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty who died 22 years ago in New York at 92.

Titled Early Years: The Formative Years of the Rebbe, the 550-page book written by Boruch Oberlander and Elkanah Shmotkin is based on primary sources and original documents, including some that for decades had been forgotten in state and other archives in the former Soviet Union, Chabad wrote in a statement about the book.

J Street Israel boss rejects David Friedmans remorse for kapos remark

(JTA)The Israel director of J Street rejected the expression of regret by David Friedman, President Donald Trumps pick for ambassador to the Jewish state, for calling her group kapos.

Yael Patir maintained during an interview Friday with Army Radio that the regret expressed Thursday by Friedman for applying the termthe Nazi designation for Jewish helpers in the oppression and annihilation of other Jewswas neither sincere nor worthy of being considered a real apology.

I provided some context for my remarks, but that was not in the nature of an excuse, Friedman said during a Senate confirmation hearing. These were hurtful words and I deeply regret them. Theyre not reflective of my nature and character.

Asked whether she accepted his apology, Patir said, He did not apologize. He said I used words I shouldnt have. Theres a difference. Theres nothing accept or not accept.

Pressed to acknowledge Friedmans apologetic tone, Patir repeated her position, adding: When he apologizes, Ill gladly accept his apology.

During the hearing, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., pressed Friedman also about past statements that appeared to oppose a two-state solution addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and noted his backing for settlements, including some deep inside the West Bank.

Friedman replied that he had been skeptical of a two-state solution, but would welcome any solution arrived at by the Israelis and Palestinians that ended suffering for both peoples.

On Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said her country absolutely supports a two-state solution, but we are thinking out of the box as well, which iswhat does it take to bring these two sides to the table, what do we need to have them agree on? she said.

The previous day, Trump at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu diverged with the official line of several previous presidents when he implied that he had no preference for that solution.

Im looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like, the president said.

Patir, who began running the Israel activities of the liberal Middle East policy group in 2012, doubted Friedmans sincerity, saying Hed say anything to receive the confirmation.

Her organization is among several left-of-center Jewish groups in the United States and in Israel fighting the nomination.

During the interview with Army Radio, Patir fielded critical questions about her organizations pro-Israel credentials but provided no answer beyond saying she was not familiar with the cases cited and that she would study them.

One question concerned J Street pulling out from a 2014 Boston rally in support of Israels retaliatory strikes on Hamas in Gaza, which Haaretz reported on.

In informing the Boston Jewish federation of J Streets decision to quit the rally, Northeast Regional Director Shaina Wasserman wrote: There was no voice for our concerns about the loss of human life on both sides.

Patir said reports about J Street are often shaped by the political tendency of the media doing the reporting and reaffirmed her organizations commitment to stand by Israel and stand up for its security.

She was also asked to explain J Streets stated objection to lobbying by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for U.S. support for Israel amid rebuke over the slaying by Israel troops of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists aboard a Gaza-bound ship. The troops opened fire after being attacked by the activists.

Patir said she was not familiar with J Streets response to the AIPAC push.

J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami wrote in 2010 that AIPACs move was primarily for domestic political consumption rather than to advance the U.S. interest.

January tally of terrorist attacks in Israel bloodiest in 6 months

(JTA)Five Israelis were killed in January by Palestinian terrorists, making the month the deadliest since June, according to Israels security service.

The Shin Bet recorded a total of 100 attacks in January, which left 16 wounded, according to its monthly report published earlier this week.

Four of the victims were killed in Jerusalem on Jan. 8 when the assailant drove his truck into a crowd of soldiers. One man was killed the previous week in Haifa.

Of the attacks documented last month, 81 involved the hurling of firebombs.

The previous month had seen 98 attacks.

January 2016 also had five fatalities.

Separately, on Thursday, Palestinians accused a driver they claim is an Israeli settler of deliberately hitting with his car a Palestinian man at the entrance to the West Bank town of Beit Ummar, near Hebron.

Rafat Muhammad Shihdeh Abu Arrar Masalmeh, 36, was hit while approaching the parked car of his brother on the shoulder of the road, according to a report by the Palestinian Maan news agency. The report did not specify his condition or name the driver.

The report quoted a man described as a local activist of saying the settler hit Masalmeh deliberately and then fled the scene.

According to the report, Israeli police later questioned the driver, who reportedly said he hit Masalmeh by accident.
In 1950, my family moved to Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. It was a lovely, leafy area with stately homes and a storied history. Once my parents bought their home we were shocked to find that just shortly before we moved, a law was struck down that prevented Jews from owning homes in that lovely, leafy suburb. They actually had a LAW that prevented Jews and African Americans from buying a home in their town.

Weve come a long way, baby. Restrictive covenants have practically disappeared in the United States. You have the wherewithal? You can buy a home, build one to standard, live in an apartmentdo anything that anyone else does, regardless of the color of your skin, the religion you follow, where you or your parents were born.

We also have laws covering Public Domain. Basically, if the city, the state or even the federal government decides that they need a particular piece of land, they may buy it from the owner at a price based on an appraisal from a non-partisan group familiar with property values. Usually this land is needed for a road expansion, a new municipal building or any project that does not have a commercial interest. If the home or business owner is not happy with the price they can appeal through the courts.

There have been exceptions of course. Politicians are politicians, after all. In most of these exceptional cases, old storied businesses are torn down to allow newer, larger, tax-paying businesses to take their place. This smells to high heaven. Let the new businesses buy the old ones, pay for tearing them down and building their own.

Which brings us to the new Settlement Law just passed by the government of Israel. I have not read the law. I only know what I read in the New York Times, a small snippit in our local paper and a lengthy article in the Jerusalem Post. From what I can gather, it allows the government of Israel, to confiscate privately owned Palestinian property for the building of housing for Israeli citizensJewish Israeli citizens.

Now, the ancient and holy land of Israel is the historical home of the Jewish People and the one place where Jews from all over the world are welcomed without quotas or restrictions. To repeat: The first Jewish Commonwealth was established when King David built the city of Jerusalem and King Solomon built the First Temple. The Babylonians destroyed the Temple. We came back and founded the second Jewish Commonwealth. As we know, the Romans put an end to that. The Muslim Caliphate put an end to the Romans. The wars that followed never identified a nation in the area where Israel was and is located. It was, from the seventh century on, Arabia.

In the area that became known as Palestinea linguistic take off on the ancient name for the tribal inhabitants of the area known as Philistines; the Turkish sultans ruled until the British aided by, yes, Lawrence of Arabia and a unified Arab army threw them out and created a British Mandate in the area.

When the Turks ruled the area, they sold portions of land to Turkish citizens, basically wealthy members of the landed gentry. In the late nineteenth century the Jewish National Fund began to buy land from the Turkish landowners. So, the Fund and therefore the Jews had property rights in what was to become the Third Jewish CommonwealthIsrael.

The trouble started when Jews showed up on the land they had legally purchased and told the residents, basically tenant farmers, that they, the Jews, now owned the land on which the farmers were living. And they were now going to farm and/or develop it themselves. Well, the law is the law and the Jews moved inthe Arabs decided to kill them and take the land back. They did not succeed.

A percentage of the land of Israel is still owned by the Jewish National Fund. A portion of the so-called West Bank is privately owned by Arabs. Most of these folks are farmers, usually of olive trees. Very few of them are politically active. Even fewer are inclined to violent acts of terror.

In some cases, specifically in the areas of the Negev adjacent to Jordan, Israeli and Arab farmers cooperate on soil and crop improvement. On the so-called West Bank, the attitude is different. The settlers there are much more militant and nationalistic. They are overwhelmingly Orthodox and take their mandate not from the courts or the Israeli Governmentbut directly from God.

Benjamin Netanyahus government just passed a law stating that Israelis may confiscate privately owned Arab land. The land would then probably become State Land. The big questions then become: Will the Arabs be adequately compensated for their land? Will private citizens own their own homes? From whom will they buy the home? Who profits? There are many questions to be answered as the law moves to the Supreme Court of Israel.
To hear the news media tell it, Israels Knesset has approved extreme right-wing legislation that will steal Palestinian land by legalizing illegal outposts and thereby demolish the last hopes for Middle East peace.

The truth, of course, is very different.

The Israeli government has not authorized the establishment of a new Jewish community in Judea and Samaria since 1992. That was the policy decreed by then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and followed by his successors, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But the 1993 Oslo Accords did not resolve the status of empty land in those territories. And there is a lot of empty land out thereas anybody who has ever traveled in the territories knows.

In 1998, then-Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon became concerned that a combination of Palestinian encroachment and international pressure would result in the Palestinian Authority (PA) taking de-facto control of those disputed regions. He was particularly worried about hilltops in the vicinity of existing communities, because if they fell into Palestinian hands, they would pose a grave strategic threat to the nearby Jewish residents.

Speaking on Israel Radio in November 1998, Sharon declared, Everybody has to move, run and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the [Jewish] settlements because everything we take now will stay ours... Everything we dont grab will go to them.

Over the course of the past 19 years, about 100 such hilltop outposts have been established. Many of them have just a handful of residents. A few of the outposts have been torn down by the government; a few were retroactively recognized as neighborhoods of existing communities.

In 2012, the government established a commission, headed by former Israeli Supreme Court justice Edmund Levy, to examine the status of the outposts. The commission recommended that the outposts be legalized. The new legislation follows from that recommendation.

Obviously, the legislation is a political hot potato. The Israeli left is vehemently against it. Various governments have denounced it. The world news media are portraying it in the gravest terms. But when one cuts through all the name-calling and media distortions, certain basic facts emerge.

First: The right of Jews to build throughout the land of Israel has always been a basic principle of the Zionist movement. The state of Israel would not exist if decisions had been made on the basis of Will it make the world angry? or Are there Arabs living in the general vicinity?

Second: The outposts have not displaced any Palestinians. They were set up on empty hilltops. Nobody has been harmed by the creation of the outposts.

Third: The land in question is not private Palestinian land, as Israels critics constantly claim. Prof. Eugene Kontorovich of the Northwestern University School of Law points out, In the overwhelming majority of cases, no individual Palestinians have come forward to claim the lands. Indeed, in most cases, no property claimants asserted their interests for decades after houses were built. In some cases, including the controversial Amona community, the lands claimed by the Palestinian petitioners only slightly overlap with those on which the Israeli homes stand, Kontorovich explains.

Fourth: The Jewish claim to the land in question is much stronger than the Arab claim. The Jews right is firmly anchored in the Bible, history (a Jewish presence dating back 3,000 years), and international law (the Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations mandate).

The Palestinians who have made claims, however, are basing their ownership on broad give-aways of state land by the King of Jordan during the Hashemite occupation (1949-1967).

That, of course, raises a fascinating question: Did the King of Jordan have a right to nullify the Jewish claim to the land of Israel?

For those who forget King Husseins record, I should mention that he was the king who decreed that all 57 synagogues in the Old City of Jerusalem should be destroyed; that Jewish gravestones from the Mount of Olives cemetery should be used for latrines in Jordanian army barracks; that all Jews should be barred from visiting the Western Wall during the years his regime occupied it.

So the dictator who desecrated Jewish holy sites, demolished synagogues, and banned Jews from their holy places decided to give away state land in Judea and Samaria to local Palestinian Arabs. Who gave him the right to do that? And why should his illegal dissection of the Jewish homeland be considered valid?

Israels leaders will have to decide how to address the political and diplomatic complications stemming from the new legislation. But lets be clear about the bottom line: King Hussein had no right to give away the Jewish homeland, and Jews have no obligation to consider his actions valid or binding in any way.

Stephen M. Flatow, a vice president of the Religious Zionists of America, is an attorney in New Jersey. He is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995.
Dear Editor:

I was delighted to learn that West Volusia County and the National Jewish Outreach Program rediscovered the fourth of the Ten Commandments. Now, let us remind the Jewish women who marched on Shabbat in Washington, D.C., holding up signs identifying them and their concern for justice. Were they concerned about the injustice experienced by our children and grandchildren through anti-Semitism and intimidation of their right to free speech in colleges all over this country?

Our pro-Israel Christian friends help us in recognizing the injustice (their word) of not moving our American Embassy to the capital of Israel in Jerusalem, while Jewish ex-State Department gangs undermine such a move.

Muslim students in many colleges provoke not only anti-Jewish and anti-Israel agitation, but use jihadi rhetoric for the establishment of sharia law and mass murder of infidels with impunity. Local mosques welcomed a Syrian Imam who called for martyrs to kill Jewish and gays.

We need to actively encourage the brave Muslim reformers of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and stop worrying about Islamophobia, which is directed only against the organized followers of the Muslim Brotherhood and their ilk.

Insulting our new president for alleged affinity for dictatorship is ludicrous. Perhaps few remember that our former president early in his tenure planned to establish his own national police force. He did not specify whether they would wear black or brown shirtsbut had this plan materialized, Mr. Obama would now be in his third term without the inconvenience of a democratic election.

What we need is more Jews for Judaism with love for the United States of America and devotion also for the Jewish democracy in the Middle East.

David Danziger

Winter Park
I love studies. Someone somewhere throws money at someone else to produce a study that tells us what we already know or contradicts conventional wisdom only to be challenged by a later study commissioned by someone else that may or may not tell us what we already knew in the first place.

Here are just a few recent study results in the news:

People dont want to know the future  USA Today reported on Feb. 22 that researchers found most people would rather not know whats going to happen next, no matter if it is good or bad.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the University of Granada  two institutions that will not play each other in the opening round of the upcoming NCAA tournament  studied 2,000 people, quizzing them on whether or not they would like to know the outcome of life events before they happen.

The studys lead author said people want to to avoid the suffering and regret that knowing the future may cause and also to maintain the enjoyment of suspense that pleasurable events provide.

I agree. If, for example I knew I was going to mistakenly get an extra sausage biscuit at the Hardees drive-thru on Saturday morning, it would negate the surprise and joy of coming back home and discovering an extra sausage biscuit.

In fact, if I knew in advance I was going to mistakenly get an extra sausage biscuit, I would feel an obligation to tell the person at the window, I have seen the future and you are mistakenly going to give me an extra sausage biscuit. Because I didnt pay for it and I know this in advance, I cannot on principle accept it, though this action could possibly alter the future and, if science fiction movies are to be believed, endanger all of mankind due to something called the butterfly effect, or now, the sausage biscuit effect.

Or, if I knew the future, I might learn that I will meet my demise at a crosswalk in Jacksonville, Fla. courtesy of the grill of a Buick Riviera, dreading it constantly until that fateful day when I am propelled into the parking lot of the Sip-n-Go, because

- Florida is the deadliest place to walk in America  News4Jax reported on Feb. 2 that a study by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition found that Florida is the leading state for pedestrian deaths and Jacksonville is among the most dangerous cities.

The TV station said safety experts believe the reasons may be that Florida is one of the fastest-growing states, a lot of people use cellphones when they should not and motorists tend to speed because they are trying to get out Jacksonville as quickly as they can. And yes, I made that last one up.

Another reason may be that both motorists and pedestrians are distracted by high levels of anxiety because

- Many Americans are stressed about the future of our nation  According to a Feb. 15 press release from the American Psychological Association, both Democrats and Republicans, have the jitters.

While Democrats were more likely than Republicans (72 percent vs. 26 percent) to report the outcome of the 2016 presidential election as a significant source of stress, a majority of Republicans (59 percent) said the future of the nation was a significant source of stress for them, compared with 76 percent of Democrats, according to the news release.

And its everywhere.

"We're surrounded by conversations, news and social media that constantly remind us of the issues that are stressing us the most," said Katherine C. Nordal, APA's executive director for professional practice.

How will it all turn out? We dont know. And studies tell us we dont want to know, especially not pedestrians in Jacksonville, Fla.

Scott Hollifield is editor/GM of The McDowell News in Marion and a humor columnist.
This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/
The Heritage Foundation and the Hudson Institute, two prestigious and conservative think-tanks in the United States, have just released a joint report entitled, A New US Approach to Pakistan: Enforcing Aid Conditions Without Cutting Ties. The group which put the report together includes well-known analysts like Bruce Riedel, Hussain Haqqani and Lisa Curtis. It merits attention as it seeks to recommend a fresh policy direction on Pakistan to the Trump administration. How should India view its policy prescriptions and are these really new?

The report suggests an approach which at first sight appears encouraging: The US should no longer sacrifice its anti-terrorism principles in the region for the sake of pursuing an even-handed South Asia policy, but rather should levy costs on Pakistan for policies that help perpetuate terrorism in the region. In particular, US officials must break the habit of trying to balance policies towards India and Pakistan and should instead pursue shared mutual interests with each. At the same time, the US should be modest about its ability to bridge what divides India and Pakistan.

Read | Two Islamic State militants killed in Pakistan, cop injured in crossfire

This is de-hyphenation which was already conceded when the Bush administration decided to conclude a landmark nuclear deal with India in 2005, while rejecting it for Pakistan. Furthermore, after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, in which US citizens too were killed, India-US counter-terrorism cooperation extended to cover Pakistan-based persons and activities. On the face of it the US has already given up on an even-handed approach and Pakistan complains about this incessantly.

India and the US have mutual interests that have brought the two countries into a strategic partnership. These include managing the emergence of China as a substantial economic and military power. There is a convergent interest in confronting international terrorism which threatens the security of both countries. There are expanding economic and commercial interests. But what are the shared mutual interests which the US still seeks to pursue with Pakistan?

Given Pakistans ever deeper alliance with China, clearly the country cannot be a part of managing the China challenge. China has overtaken the US as Pakistans main benefactor and any US attempt to impose economic costs on Pakistan is likely to be ineffective as long as China is ready to fill the breach unlike in the past when it could not be a substitute for the US.

Read | US should stop getting manipulated by Pak, cease all aid: Ex-Pentagon official

Is there a shared US-Pakistan interest on counter-terrorism? Clearly not since, as the report argues, Pakistans reliance on terrorist groups to advance its perceived interests, is what makes it necessary to impose costs on Pakistan, for example, by holding out the threat of declaring it a state sponsor of terrorism. Nor can one buy the reports argument that China and Russia would join hands with the US in trying to wean Pakistan away from the use of terrorism as an instrument of State policy. We have seen the Chinese brazenly preventing the listing of Masood Azhar, the Jaise-e-Mohammad chief in the U.N. list of terrorists.

Now even Russia believes that Pakistan could be part of the answer to regional terrorism and Islamic radicalisation, not just their principal breeding ground. China, Russia, US and other western countries display the same syndrome: As long as Pakistan selectively and intermittently continues to share scraps of intelligence and hands over occasional suspects to them, they are unwillingly to look at counter-terrorism in a larger strategic context. Therefore, India-specific terrorist groups such as JeM and LeT continue to flourish on Pakistan soil and cross-border terrorism against India and Afghanistan is pursued with impunity.

Read | We have a friend in PM Narendra Modi, says Baloch dissident leader Khan of Kalat

The report recommends imposition of clear benchmarks which Pakistan must achieve on issues such as terrorism or non-proliferation to qualify for US and western economic support. These have been imposed in the past but without changing Pakistani behaviour. It is also suggested that the option of continuing drone attacks against targets inside Pakistan should be retained. However, US drone attacks by themselves have achieved little so far.

Most importantly, the authors are categorical in their assertion that a complete breakdown of US-Pakistan relations must be avoided. This gives a signal to Pakistan that there is considerable space still available to persist with cross-border terrorism; at the most some tactical measures to deflect external pressures, such as the house arrest of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, may be temporarily adopted as has been witnessed in the past.

What may create an impact in Islamabad may in fact be the possibility of there being a complete breakdown in relations with the US if Pakistan continues to indulge in terrorism. But successive US administrations have considered this a step too far and this is unlikely to change.

Read | What PoK? Join China-Pak corridor for economic benefits, Chinese media to India

The depressing conclusion for India is that it will have to deal with the cross-border challenge mostly on its own. It is helpful to have the US and international pressure on Pakistan but this should be seen as a modest supplement to our own efforts.

The report recognises the limits of the prescriptions it advances: Convincing Pakistan to give up its terrorist proxies may require a basic change in Islamabads regional security calculus. This is indeed a tall order that may in the end fail. But given the stakes for the global fight against terrorism and regional conflict, it is a goal well worth the new administrations pursuing.

One may say with confidence that the new approach is unlikely to change what is an entrenched the security calculus in Islamabad which treats India as the existential threat to Pakistan.

Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary, is senior fellow at CPR, New Delhi

The views expressed are personal
To improve Indias standing with the World Bank which ranks countries on their Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), the government has appointed the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Productivity Council to brief relevant stakeholders about the reform initiatives taken to mend the business climate in the country.

India has a successful business environment, but with this prosperous institutionalisation comes an aversion to trying new things and innovating. While the business sector has moved by leaps and bounds where the whole country chants Digital India, there are still gaps  gaps in jobs, gaps in talent and gaps in services that lead to our nations most deprived still being mired in poverty. This is where social entrepreneurs, especially Indias youth, can play a big role.

Read: India has most innovative social entrepreneurs: Schwab

A social enterprise is privately owned, it addresses a social problem, in many cases in an innovative way, and operates in a reasonable profit format. Its success is judged in terms of a triple bottom line  fulfilment of social purpose, moderate profit and (environmental) sustainability. It is a disruption of the traditional status quo, which fosters innovation and develops sustainable business ideas to solve pressing societal issues. For social entrepreneurs, its not about the balance sheet alone, but its not charity either.

The concept has grown enormously in North America and Europe and is gaining momentum in Africa. Several European countries, e.g., UK, France, Italy and Finland have enacted legislation to promote and nurture social enterprises. The UK has designed financial instruments e.g., social impact bonds to provide support to the sector. In India, the Securities Exchange Board of India brought in the Alternative Investment Funds Regulation for supporting social ventures and defined a social venture as a trust, society or company or venture capital undertaking or limited liability partnership formed with the purpose of promoting social welfare or solving social problems or providing social benefits.

Read: IIT-Delhi to mentor, train 30 women entrepreneurs

To build a more conducive and inclusive ecosystem for social enterprises to flourish, government backing and support is vital. Social enterprises should, in fact, be natural allies for governments to partner with, as their primary goal is to improve the lives of the marginalised with minimum to no strain on available resources. But social enterprises being a rather nascent sector in the Indian economy, may not have the attention it needs and deserves from the Centre thats probably unaware of their potential, nor understands how their needs differ from private partnerships or NGOs.

The biggest challenge India is staring at today, is to define and provide a legal framework for social enterprises. Currently, considering the above method of operation in hybrid model we have organisations existing in both not-for-profit mode and for-profit mode. This form is referred to but not adequately examined. The current crop of social enterprises work in not-for-profit mode and can only access grants but cannot work with the aim to create marginal surplus/ profit since their core is to be non-profit. They are unable to access social venture funds which largely invest in social businesses for impact. Here, the scale and impact is compromised if the not-for-profit proves the model and creates a market.

Shalabh Mittal is CEO, School for Social Entrepreneurs India

The views expressed are personal
This weeks hate-based murder of Srinivas Kuchibhotla and the wounding of his colleague, Alok Madasani, in Kansas is the sort of crime that has seen an increase since the election of the Trump administration. The murderer, Adam Purinton, initially taunted the two with racial slurs and then reportedly yelled get out of my country before pulling a gun on them.

How much of this can be attributed to the election of Donald Trump to the Oval Office? The evidence is strong.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, the leading monitor of hate crime in the US, recorded a surge in hate crimes across the country in the 10 days after Trump was elected. Normally the daily hate crime tally is in single digits. It surged to over 200 the day after his election and a total of 867 occurred in the nine days that followed. Many of the attackers in these incidents actually invoked Trumps name. The New York Police Department also recorded a similar spike. Its Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said there was a 115% increase in bias crimes right after Trumps election victory.

Read: Andhra engineer killed by US navy veteran is first Indian hate crime victim in Trump era

Though that surge has since levelled off, it has done so at a higher level than where it was before. The SPLC latest annual report says the number of hate groups in the US rose in 2016 because, it wrote, the radical right was energised by the candidacy of Donald Trump. New York police said hate crimes were up over a third in 2016 compared to 2015.

Trump has denounced such attacks, calling for such attackers to stop it. But there is little doubt these are being given legitimacy thanks to a president who both during his campaign and in office has associated Muslim migration with terror attacks in the US, has railed against immigrants of all varieties and, worse, appointed people in his administration associated with white supremacist views. Mark Potok of the SPLCs Intelligence report recently said, In Steve Bannon [Trumps chief strategist], these extremists think they finally have an ally who has the presidents ear.

The primary target in all this has been Muslims. The SPLC has noted that anti-Muslim hate groups have tripled in number from 2015 to 2017. Even the more conservative figures of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation show hate crimes against Muslims rose 67% in 2015. While much of this is clearly linked to terror attacks on US soil, it is coincidence that 2015 is also the year Trump launched his election campaign.

Hate crime tends to feed on different strands  some of it is racist, some of its anti-immigrant and some of it about religious or cultural biases. But economics plays an important underlying cause. As Maimuna Majumder of the statistical website fivethirtyeight.com noted in a study last year on hate crimes, income inequality was the most significant determinant of population-adjusted hate crimes and hate incidents across the US  for both pre-election and post-election data.

The problem that faces the US today is that all these sociological feeders can be argued to be on the rise. Income inequality will continue to increase. Terrorist activity will remain a constant. All of this will feed into anti-immigrant sentiment in the US. A Vox-Morning Consult poll found that safety is now the overriding source of anti-immigrant sentiment. Normally, one of the countervailing factors is having political leadership seeking to calm such fears and prejudices. The SPLC showed that this is what happened when President George W. Bush was in power. He spoke repeatedly in favour of immigrants, Americas multicultural values and moderate Islam. Having a conservative president speak like this resulted in a sharp drop in white supremacist groups. Trump, unfortunately, has shown almost the exact opposite tendencies and aggravated an already tense situation.

Read: Indian-American engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla killed in Kansas: What we know so far

There is some silver lining in all this for Indian immigrants to the US. Asians are one of only two immigrant groups who receive strong approval ratings from Americans. US law-and-order agencies and judicial bodies have, if anything, become more active in prosecuting hate groups and crimes. The Kansas shootings were notable that one of the victims was a white American who tried to intervene and that private online donations have covered the medical costs of the wounded.

The lesson for Trump should be that prejudice can never be directed. His son-in-law and daughter are both Jewish and his administration pro-Israeli. But half of the post-election attacks in New York City were directed against Jews. And nearly 10% were directed against Trump supporters. Ultimately, as Coretta Scott King noted, hate injures the hater more than it injures the hated.
When we speak to Berlin-based Indian artist and illustrator Allen Shaw (43), he is sitting in a tent in a remote village in Goa. Shaw is a self-confessed nomad and travels extensively. And over the last two decades, he has maintained 250 sketchbooks.

Born in Munger, Bihar, he studied at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. In 2008, he moved to Germany and today, he roams the globe and maintains visual diaries.

This weekend, he is giving a talk and teaching participants the art of sketching as a means to record, places, people and their stories using ink and watercolour. He is also exhibiting sketches of his travels in Germany and Austria at Artisans (February 23 to 28) in Kala Ghoda.

A sketch of Finland by Shaw (Photo courtesy: Allen Shaw)

During the talk, he will be sharing anecdotes about his sketches. Shaw recalls how he once painted a girl singing at a railway station in Germany and forgot about it. Three years later, he saw her again and showed her the sketch. We ended up collaborating and I got to sketch her performing live at a concert, he says.

At a time when people can instantly upload photographs of places, why would one want to go the old-fashioned way? Painting your journey helps you invest in the experience. When you are sketching, you spend time with the subject. You chat with people and soak in the sights and sounds. Every time you see a painting, you recall the layers of information associated with it, he says.

A sketch of Finland by Shaw (Photo courtesy: Allen Shaw)

Watercolours are a good medium, Shaw feels, as they are easy to carry around (unlike oil colours) and reveal the beauty of a place. Watercolours can also be unpredictable, like a naughty child and misbehave. It mixes at various temperatures differently leading to different shades, he says.

Shaw draws an analogy equating painting with fishing: You have to keep doing it every day. Sometimes you will catch a big fish, or a small one or even come home empty-handed. But one day, you might land a prized catch.

Open Bracket presents Sketchbook stories with Allen Shaw will be held on February 25, 12.15pm onwards

At The Cuckoo Club, Pali Hill, Bandra (W)

Fees: Rs 750 (includes materials)

Tickets on insider.in and bookmyshow.in



I Am The Sketchbook, and You Are My Song - 20 Years of The Sketchbook by Allen Shaw will be held from February 23 to March 28

At Artisans, Dr VB Gandhi Road, Kala Ghoda.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Kabristan Hazrat Bale Mian is as silent as any graveyard can be. Spread over 33,000 square metres in Nauchandi of Meerut, the most-preferred final resting place for Muslims in the town in Uttar Pradesh betrays no signs of disquiet over Prime Minister Narandra Modis controversial kabristan-shamshan statement.

As the country debates Modis remark at a rally in Fatehpur on February 19, accusing the ruling Samajwadi Party of religious discrimination  spending crores on constructing boundary walls around cemeteries while neglecting Hindu crematoriums  those managing burial grounds and crematoriums in Meerut are mostly unperturbed.

The oldest and the biggest, Kabristan Hazrat Bale Mian, received a Rs20-lakh grant for constructing a 500-metre-long boundary wall. The 5-feet-high wall has been built and the graveyard has been secured from encroachers.

But those managing Meeruts Soorajkund cremation ground  the citys biggest about two kilometres away from the Nauchandi graveyard  are not complaining. We never felt short of money. We have enough philanthropists who are always ready to lend a helping hand, said Dinesh Chand Ram, secretary of Ganga Motor Committee that manages the crematorium.

We never applied for government assistance, he said. The municipal corporation, though, is working on laying tiles along the path leading to the premises.

Since 2013, when the Akhilesh Yadav government launched the boundary wall scheme, Rs35.5 crore has been spent on 374 big and small graveyards of Meerut district. In state capital Lucknow, 250 graveyards have got Rs21 crore.

No cremation ground of the city has, however, applied for government grant though money as been earmarked for it.

The state governments 2012 announcement to allocate Rs200 crore for constructing graveyard walls triggered a wave of criticism. Two years later, the chief minister sanctioned Rs100 crore to construct 775 new cremation grounds. Last year, the state also earmarked Rs270 crore to 170 urban local bodies for new cremation grounds, pointed out SP Singh, officer on special duty at the minority welfare and urban development.

The PMs remark on Muslim appeasement has blown into a political controversy. But on the ground, caretakers of graveyards still complain of neglect and apathy. The government allocates money, but it doesnt percolate down to those who need it, said Mufti M Ashraf, the caretaker of the graveyard in Nauchandi. Ashraf now wants the government to ensure boundary walls are built around three other graveyards of the town.

Locals say the parallel being sought to be drawn between cemeteries and crematoriums is misplaced.

According to Zainus Sajiddin, former dean of theology at Aligarh Muslim University, graveyards need to be protected. With time, as the cities shrunk, we need more space to bury the dead. This is not the case with crematoriums which dont have the space issue, he said. A majority in Meerut therefore is unmoved by Modis remark.

Many feel politicians should leave the dead in peace. A board at the gate of the dargah adjacent to Nauchandi graveyard put it succinctly: Yahan par siyaasi muddon par baat na karen (please do not discuss politics here).

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The BJP has fared well in civic body and panchayat elections in several states after demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, as he wooed voters in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the fifth phase of the assembly elections.

(The) BJP has fared well in all polls after demonetisation, be it civic polls in Odisha, Maharashtra and Chandigarh or panchayat polls, Modi said at a rally in Gonda, implying that people had backed the governments move which it said was a surgical strike on black money.

His comments are also aimed at the Congress-led oppositions charge that the ban on high-value banknotes led to hardships for the poor and that the people will let give their verdict during the polls in the state.

The poor can detect truth. Since I took stern steps against corruption and banned notes, big forces are out to mislead country, Modi added in another jibe at the opposition.

We will celebrate kesariya holi in UP and after forming the government the first decision will be loan waiver for farmers, the Prime Minister added.

Voting in the fifth phase will be held on February 27 and an estimated 1.84 crore voters, including 96 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their voting rights.
The 75-year-old Pancham has been seeing to it for long that the erstwhile royal family of Amethi always show up in clean, hot-pressed clothes. The dhobi or washerman of Bhupati Bhawan palace is privileged with a unique democratic reward for his regal laundry service.

Palace customs and conventions allow him to be the first person from the household to cast the vote in any election.

When Amethi votes in the fifth phase of the Uttar Pradesh polls on Monday, he will press the button on the electronic voting machine before his master  Congress Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, known as the rajah of Amethi.

But Pancham is in a dilemma, unable to make a choice: whether to vote for Amita Singh or Garima Singh  the two queens.

Sanjay Singhs wife Amita is the Congress candidate for the Amethi assembly seat. The BJP has fielded his estranged spouse, Garima, from the same constituency.

I am confused. I have to choose one rani. As the washerman of the royal house for 58 years, I find this task the most challenging in my life. If I am allowed to vote on the same booth, Raja Saheb will vote after me. I am not sure what to do, Pancham said.

Singh has been campaigning for Amita. That gives the loyal royal help the option of following his masters choice, whose prestige he feels is at stake.

Singh and Amita do not speak much about Garima on the campaign trail. But they speak against the BJP.

Singh has often blamed the BJP for creating a rift in his family. At a public meeting that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi addressed to seek votes for Amita on Thursday, Singh said the BJP had enacted a family drama in Amethi.

The woman who does not know the BJP and Amethi is now a BJP candidate, he said, referring to his first wife.

State transport minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, accused in a rape case, is the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from the seat. The Congress and SP are up against each other in some seats, despite their pre-poll alliance to fight the UP elections together.

The Congress is bound to gain if Prajapati becomes weak, said Hasan, an Amethi resident. But Garima Singh has the sympathy factor with her, said a youth beside him.

In nearby Tiloi, one of the five assembly constituencies within the Amethi Lok Sabha segment, another royal pride is at stake  not for the Congress, but for the BJP.

Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh, called the raja of Tiloi for his lineage, is the BJP candidate for the seat that he failed to win in 2012. He was with the Samajwadi Party then, and lost to Mohammad Muslim of the Congress.

Yes, people know the Tiloi royal house very well. It is always an advantage to be a candidate from a royal house. I have represented the constituency in the past, he said.

Singh joined the BJP a few days before the 2017 polls while Muslim, who has been expelled from the Congress, has fielded son Mohammad Saood as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.

This time, I am banking on the non-performance of MLA Mohammad Muslim. I have made development of the area an election issue. I am sure of winning the seat this time, said Singh, who is up against Vinod Kumar Mishra of the Congress.

The Congress is in a straight contest with the BJP on this seat. Muslim, the sitting MLA, may pose a problem to the Congress candidate by taking away some of the party votes, a political leader said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Every party seems to have a control room in this increasingly hard-to-predict election; each staffed with supposed geniuses, skilled in the dark arts of psephology.

But the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has something no one has  the boundless enthusiasm of Avadesh Kumar Verma and the wide network of the Arakshan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, an organisation to protect public sector reservations for scheduled castes.

Our people are everywhere, said Verma, the ABSS convener, Our teachers are on election duty, our policemen are on security duty. They secretly Whatsapp us  at such and such poll booth, Dalits are being intimidated; at this spot goons are standing near the poll booth.

Verma collates the information and then passes it on to his contacts on the ground.

Public sector employees have long played a crucial role in Dalit politics. Those with government jobs contribute generously to Dalit causes, and wield considerable influence within the community.

Prior to setting up the BSP, founder Kanshiram began the All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation, or BAMCEF  which, as its name suggests, agitated for the rights of government employees.

The ABSS is not formally allied with the BSP as government employees are not allowed to support any particular political party, Verma said, But we are free to oppose anyone.

In this election, the ABSS is opposed to everyone except for the BSP for reasons of existential importance to its members: promotions in reserved jobs.

In 2001, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government passed the 88th constitutional amendment that amended Article 16(4A) to allow states to create laws that allowed for reservations in the matter of promotion of government servants.

Our people would get entry into government jobs, but would be promoted much slower than others due to caste discrimination, Verma said.

The constitutional amendment aimed to fix that, but the amendment was challenged, and after a protracted legal tussle, the promotion laws in Uttar Pradesh, and several other states, were held to be ultra vires.

Other governments stalled, challenged the courts, and asked for more time, but in Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav demoted lakhs of government employees after they came to power in 2012, said Verma, Many Dalits didnt vote BSP in 2012, but after the promotion issue, they realized their mistake.

The official term for the process was reversion  in which almost 16,000 SC/ST government servants were demoted to lower posts, while about two lakh more were dropped down on their respective seniority lists  extending time it would take before they were eligible for promotions.

In September 2015, I received an order that I had been reverted to head constable from sub-inspector, said Hari Prasad Ahirwar. Ahirwars single epaulette star was taken, service revolver turned in, and he was discharged from his post at Hazartganj and told to report to police lines with immediate effect.

I felt humiliated. I was promoted through an open competitive exam, not reservation, Ahirwar said, But the government just assumed that every Dalit must have come through reservation.

At the police lines, Ahirwar and his fellow Dalits were constantly taunted by their upper caste colleagues. He challenged his reversion order, won, and was reinstated a year later.

But by then the damage was done. Ahirwar said, My colleagues look at me differently now.

In 2013, the ABSS launched its Mission 2017 outreach programme.

We focused on 35 districts where the Dalit vote is above 25%, and on the 85 reserved seats, said Dr Ram Shabdh Jaiswara, an ABSS member, Our members campaigned extensively: everywhere our message was the same: stay united and vote for a government that supports reservations.

Now as the election rolls on, the ABSS is monitoring it at every step.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Filmmaker Shyam Benegal, actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar and member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Ashoke Pandit have slammed CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani for refusing to certify Prakash Jhas upcoming film Lipstick Under My Burkha.

A still from Lipstick Under My Burkha.

Criticising the development, Shyam Benegal said, I am totally against any kind of censorship of movies. Government has formed a committee under my leadership, we have submitted opposing censorship. To stop any film from releasing is not justifiable.

The statement comes after CBFC has refused to certify Lipstick Under My Burkha, for its reported sexual scenes, abusive words and audio pornography. The movies trailer had garnered praises from film fraternity for depicting the secrets of small-town women.

Condemning the CBFC for refusing to clear the award-winning film Lipstick Under My Burkha, member of the film board Ashoke Pandit on Friday said that film industry is under threat from the attitude of Censor Board chairman Pahlaj Nihalani. I condemn the decision of the CBFC of not allowing Prakash Jhas lipstick under my burkha and very arrogantly refusing to give a certificate to a maker like Prakash Jha. You (Pahlaj Nihalani ) are breaking the confidence of the artist, a maker a creator. So I appeal on behalf of the Indian film and television directors association and other association that immediate action should be taken on that recommendation by the Shyam Benegal committee. Pandit said.

I condemn the denial of #CensorCertificate to @prakashjha27 's film #LipstickUndermyBurkha.Its an act of arrogance by Pahalaj Nihalani.  Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 24, 2017

Asserting that this onslaught on filmmakers is severely affecting their confidence, he added that the film industry is under threat thanks to the attitude of Nihalani. He further said he being in the Censor Board himself, objects to this kind of arrogance and behaviour. Being on the Censor Board team and as a board member, I feel sad that a maker like Prakash Jha who has got so many national awards, who is one of the iconic filmmakers of the country, who have made such potential films, has to suffer such doctorial decision, he added.

The Central Board of Film Certification has refused to clear Lipstick Under My Burkha, saying the story is lady oriented and their fantasy above life.

Lipstick Under My Burkha, which speaks about the aspirations of women, is directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and produced by director Prakash Jha. Shot in Bhopal, Lipstick Under My Burkha is about four women from different sections of society seeking freedom and to fulfill their desires.

Listing the reasons for denial of certificate, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in a letter, posted by Bollywood celebrities online, wrote, The story is lady oriented, their fantasy above life. There are continuous sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society, hence film refused under guidelines.

Bollywood celebrity, Farhan Akhtar also took to Twitter and expressed his disappointment over the decision.

Below is the reason CBFC listed for denying #LipstickUnderMyBurkha a release. Keep your barf bag ready.. pic.twitter.com/NFO42sRJIb  Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) February 23, 2017

The film won the Spirit of Asia Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality at the Mumbai Film Festival. It will be screened in Glasgow on Friday.

This is not the first time CBFC has refused to certify a film. Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Haraamkhor was refused certificate for depicting an illicit relationship between a school teacher and his teenage student. The film finally released after moving the Film and Certification Appelate Tribunal (FCAT).

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said the developments in the e-commerce sector in India is a part of churning in the global economic system and not peculiar to the country.

I believe that this is part of the churning which is happening in the economic system globally and this is not peculiar to India, she told reporters here.

She was replying to a question about the growth of e- commerce companies in India and cut in jobs by firms like Snapdeal.

Softbank-backed online merchant Snapdeal will lay off 500 -600 employees across verticals as co-founder Kunal Bahl admitted to making mistake in growing much before it could figure out right economic model.

Struggling to raise fresh capital, Snapdeal will stop all non-core activities, reduce costs drastically and handover pink slips to employees to turn profitable.
After a sharp drop in solar tariff to Rs 2.97 per unit, wind power tariff also dropped to a record low of Rs 3.46 per unit in an auction of 1,000 MW capacity conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

Mytrah Energy, Green Infra Wind Energy, Inox Wind Infrastructure Services, Ostro Kutch Wind and Adani Green Energy have emerged as lowest bidders. All these five firms have quoted Rs 3.46 per unit rate for the 1,000 MW capacities on block, a source said.

After solar cost reduction below Rs 3/unit, wind power cost down to Rs 3.46/ unit through transparent auction. A green future awaits India, Piyush Goyal, minister of power, coal and renewable energy tweeted.

The power from these 1,000 MW capacity will be supplied to states which do not have adequate wind resources.

SECI is the nodal agency for implementation of this scheme and is working on the e-bidding process followed by e-reverse auction for eligible bidders. Experts say that by the time the final winner is chosen from this bidding process, the tariff could be lower than Rs 3.46 per unit of wind energy.

To put this tariff in perspective, the lowest coal-based power tariff that India has seen in recent times was Rs 1.19 for Sasan ultra mega power project. The 4000 MW Sasan project was won by Anil Ambani owned Reliance Power in 2007. The project however has seen two tariff revisions in the last 10 years.

Later last year, SECI had floated this tenders for total wind power capacity of 1,000 MW. SECI will tie up long-term power purchase agreements of project developers with states to whom power will be supplied through the central transmission utility.

Under the scheme, the government will not acquire land or equipment as developers will have to do that on their own. They will also run and maintain their plants.

While solar in cheaper than wind energy, the advantage of wind is that the equipment for generating it is entirely made in India. To produce solar power, Indian companies still have to depend on Chinese imports for panels etc., said Soma Banerjee, principal, energy and infrastructure at CII.

The wind power deployment in the country started in early 1990s. The current wind power installed capacity is nearly 28.08 gigawatt, accounting for around 9% of the total installed capacity of 310 gigawatt. Globally, India is at the fourth position after China, the US and Germany, in terms of wind capacity installation.

The auction assumes significance because India has set an ambitious target of having 60 gigawatt of wind power capacity by 2022.

Indias renewable energy commitments have seen global investors, energy majors and pension funds make a beeline for the country. But experts and bankers have time and again warned against the aggressive bidding that the sector has been witnessing.

The tariffs quoted by bidders in reverse auctions are very aggressive and the viability of such competitively bid tariffs hinges on keeping the cost of modules and financing costs within budgeted levels, ratings firm ICRA Ltd wrote in a report in April 2016.

(With inputs from PTI)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A Bareilly-based Muslim organisation has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh to behead Islamic scholar Tarek Fatah for allegedly promoting un-Islamic views through his TV programme.

The All-India Faisan-e-Madina Council also demanded an immediate ban on Fateh ka Fatwa, a television programme hosted by Fatah on a private news channel.

Tarek Fatah is conspiring to disrupt harmony between Hindus and Muslims. He is as an agent of our enemies. He must be stopped at any cost and our organisation will pay Rs 10,00,786 to any person who will decapitate him, said Moeen Siddique, head of the council.

He and his programme are being funded by foreign enemies of our country and the government must initiate an inquiry against him, Siddique said.

Fateh, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is known for his secular views against Islamic fundamentalism.

In his programme, he claims that it is not required to wear a burqa and terms triple talaq as haram. Muslims must not listen to his advice and come forward against him, said Siddique.

Other Muslim social organisations too voiced their resentment against Fatah.

Jamat Raza-e-Mustafa, another social organisation that works under the aegis of Dargah-e Ala Hazrat, has written a letter to the President Pranab Mukherjee, demanding a ban on the television programme and expulsion of Fatah from the country.

Fatwa is a religious edict, which can only be issued by a recognised Muslim cleric. Fateh is neither a cleric nor he has any knowledge about Quran. His progarmme has hurt the sentiments of the followers of Islam, reads the letter sent to the President by Nasir Qureshi, the convenor of the Jamat Raza-e-Mustafa.

Both the organisations have also demanded immediate ban on the private news channel that airs the said programme.
Fired with idealism and passion, I had chanted Free Mandela, Nelson Mandela along with hundreds of other students. The Rev Jesse Jackson was leading the protest at the American university where I was then studying. We sang We shall overcome. Because, of course, we knew we would.

We are young  at an age that believed in possibility. On February 11, 1990, when Mandela walked free, after spending 9,377 days in jail, that belief was vindicated.

By some karmic quirk, I am in Cape Town nearly 27 years to that historic date. To not visit Robben Island where he spent 18 of those 27 incarcerated years seems like sacrilege. A triumph of the human spirit over adversity, you are reminded as you step off the ferry onto the island that once housed lepers, the insane and, later, political prisoners fighting apartheid; some now serve as guides to visitors.

Read | India donates about Rs 98 lakh to Mandela Foundation in South Africa

Its most famous prisoners cell is locked. Through the bars, you see a sleeping mat, a blanket and a red tin bucket  same as in the other cells. There is no photograph or plaque to indicate the presence of prisoner 466/64. Apparently, the cell was opened for Barack Obama who, during a 2005 visit, stepped inside to take a photograph. Would there have been an Obama if there hadnt been a Mandela? Hard to say, but Obama did make his first public speech at a 1979 anti-apartheid rally and would later say that Mandelas release gave him a sense of what human beings could do when theyre guided by their hopes and not by their fears.

Apartheid ended in 1994. But I am struck by the fact that the customers at every restaurant and every hotel I visit are nearly all white while those who serve and clean are nearly all black. There is no racism, an independent art consultant I meet at the Cape Town Art Fair tells me. But the economic disparities are huge. My taxi driver, Sean tells me that college education was beyond his familys means, and so now he drives.

To my first-time visitor eyes it seems that the black population still fuels the labour requirements of a white-controlled economy. I am surprised that such pervasive visual evidence of it seems to cause no discernible discomfort.

Read | Obama gone, his smiling face too removed from popular mural

Blacks make up 79.2% of this countrys 51.8 million people but earn one-sixth of what white households earn, found South Africas 2011 census.

Mandelas African National Congress is, today, in a shambles. Mired in corruption, it lost most the countrys biggest cities in elections in July. Within the party, there are calls for President Jacob Zuma to step down. Student agitation, which began in 2015 with the removal of a statue of British coloniser Cecil John Rhodes from the Cape Town university campus, continues with a demand for free higher education. Some see the #FeesMustFall movement as a precursor to an inevitable social revolution the country will face unless it fixes its social inequality problem.

This angry rise in black identity politics follows global trends of political binary extremism, us versus them, writes Suntosh Pillary in Mail & Guardian. Mandelas politics of hope is now firmly replaced with a politics of radical dissent and anger.

Read | The idea of Gandhi is universal and immortal

Does Mandela remain relevant to a changed South Africa, and a changed world?

Like Mahatma Gandhi, Mandela represented the best version of who we are as human beings: People who could be imprisoned but never diminished. People who never allowed themselves to become caricatures of how they were viewed by their oppressors. People who retained dignity despite systemic attempts to belittle them. But, perhaps, most important, unifiers who could bring their countrys diverse and fractious groups together.

Standing on Robben Island near the limestone quarry where Mandela did hard labour, I realise why this pilgrimage is significant. It is, in a sense, homage not just to youth gone by but also to a world gone by, to leaders who stood like giants but are no more to be found.

Namita Bhandare is gender editor, Mint

The views expressed are personal

@namitabhandare

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Like many people with misconceptions, mostly silly, about the north east, when I travelled to Kohima in Nagaland recently, I went expecting Naga men to be modern and egalitarian towards women. Because north eastern women look so modern, westernised and stylish, I assumed the men (yes, I know, as assumptions go this one was asinine) would be less patriarchal too.

That expectation was shattered when tribesmen told me that a womans place was in the kitchen. Men go to war. They make decisions. Women can take decisions but only kitchen ones. They cannot enter public life to participate in more important decision-making.

The Naga state assembly has never had a woman among its 60 members. With one exception in the 1970s, not a single woman has been sent to Parliament. Quite a track record.

I was visiting Kohima to cover the turmoil over tribesmen demanding that Chief Minister T. R. Zeliang withdraw his proposal to reserve 33 % of the seats in the urban civic polls for women that were scheduled for February 1.

They succeeded. Zeliang was forced to resign. In this deplorable episode, womens groups outside the state have been remarkably quiet. No protests in Delhi, no visits to Kohima, no petitions or conniptions, no rallies demanding that Naga women should be entitled to the same rights under the Constitution as all Indian women. A Google search for a comment by activists Kavita Krishnan or Brinda Karat yielded nothing. Women and child minister Maneka Gandhi too has not made any public pronouncement on this. Womens activists have maintained a puzzling silence.

Read: Nagaland blocks womens participation in local polls: Lack of outrage is outrageous

The tribal bodies invoke the states special status under Article 371 (A) to defend their opposition to 33 % reservations. This allows them to conduct their affairs as they wish in order to protect their culture and identity. No law passed by Parliament that changes Naga customs can apply unless it is approved by the state assembly. This, conveniently, is 100% male.

But are womens groups outside the state going to let this specious and self-serving argument fly? Culture is always the clarion call of men who want to keep women down.

Throughout India, feminists protest against customs that demean or disempower women so why are they not more vocal about Naga women being excluded from public life? Could it be that Naga women are regarded as somehow different, as belonging to a community which must be allowed to follow its own path and where women must consequently be left to the mercies of the men who rule them?

Read: Nagaland womens quota row fallout: MLAs want chief minister Zeliang out

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the demand by the Naga Mothers Association to have the 33% reservations policy introduced.

Even at the village level, women are kept out of the tribal councils. A tribesman told me: We let women air their opinion sometimes but only when invited. His friend offered another justification for keeping women out of elections. We are not like north India. We dont practise dowry or female foeticide. We value girls equally with boys. Our women are already equal. They dont need affirmative action.

Even if we were to concede that Naga traditions are kind to women, culture is not static and fixed for all time. Culture evolves and if Naga women now want to stand for election and play a role in public bodies, they have every right to do so.

They are already banned from owning land. Without resources and without political power, they are helpless.

Yet womens rights activists outside the state are not outraged, much as they were not outraged over Kashmiri fundamentalists and separatists vilifying and threatening the young Zaira Wasim for acting in Dangal and meeting Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. Thanks to selective outrage, Naga women have been hung out to dry.

Amrit Dhillon is a freelance journalist
DEHRADUN: Both India and Nepal can look forward to some progress in the ambitious Pancheswar multipurpose project  a joint project of the two neighbours envisaged two decades ago in 1996.

The project planned to produce 5,000 megawatts of hydro-power remained idle for several years.

But in the last two years, the project made some progress. In this continuation, a team of officials headed by central water resources, secretary, Amarjeet Singh will visit the site on the banks of Mahakali river in Uttarakhand on Saturday to review progress of the project.

Mahakali river flows from Nepal and enters into India in the bordering district of Pithoragarh. The river further flows down in Champawat and then enters inside Uttar Pradesh.

Surveys and inspections are going on by the agencies concerned . A detail project report has also been submitted before the empowered committee of ministers. On Nepal side, some work has already begun, Champawat district magistrate Ahmad Iqubal told HT, confirming about the visit of the officials.

Pancheswar Development Authority (PDA) and WAPCOS (a union water resources ministry) consultancy firm are handling the study and related works.

Villages on both sides are likely to be submerged in the project. More than 60% area of the affected area falls in Uttarakhand. Apart from rehabilitation, the whopping cost of the project pegged at over Rs 3,000 crore are to be discussed by the two neighbours.

As per main highlights of Mahakali Treaty signed in 1996, the project shall be implemented as an integrated project, including power stations of equal capacity on each side of the Mahakali River and the total energy generated shall be shared equally between the parties.

The project cost shall be borne by the parties in proportion to the benefits accruing to them. A portion of Nepals share of energy shall be sold to India. Moreover, the quantum of such energy and its price shall be mutually agreed upon between both the countries.

In 2008, a joint meeting held in Kathmandu decided to constitute Pancheswar Development Authority (PDA) and a notification was issued in 2014. In fact, Uttarakhand is hopeful of benefiting the most from the project. As a case, Uttarakhand would get 12 % of the power generated. Interestingly, Uttarakhand is perhaps the only state which has a separate ministry  Indo-Nepal joint water resources projects. However, the ministers who held the ministry over the years had nothing to do much.

Pancheswar project gathered momentum after Modi visited Nepal in 2014. Hopefully the next state government shall activate the ministry, said Prakash Pant, former minister, who held the portfolio during BJPs tenure in Uttarakhand.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Over 400 academicians from international varsities, including Harvard, Cambridge, London School of Economics, Yale and New York University, have written to JNU vice-chancellor Jagadesh Kumar voicing concerns over recent events unfolding at the university.

The scholars from across the globe have signed an open letter to Kumar saying that the academic culture and context that has formed basis of cooperation with international institutions is under serious threat.

We are deeply concerned and shocked at the events unfolding on your campus and we urge the responsible authorities to act decisively to protect the future of JNU as an internationally renowned university of academic excellence, which has produced generations of excellent researchers, scholars and other professionals, the letter said.

The letter said it was shocking that the university, known for its academic freedom and autonomy that fosters debate, discussion and dissent, was now being wilfully destroyed.

JNU has been hogging a negative limelight for over a year after its students were arrested in a sedition case last February in connection with an event during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

Since then, the students union and the teachers association have been at loggerheads with the administration over denial of permission to protest on campus, disappearance of a student after a brawl, deduction of salaries of teachers protesting and show-cause notices issued to them, and the latest confrontation on amendments in the admission policy leading to massive seat cuts in MPhil and PhD courses.

We also feel that such an attack on public education in universities like JNU disables opportunities for the historically marginalised communities of India. It is essential that an enabling admission policy, like the one in place in JNU must be retained, other than abiding by the constitutionally mandated policies for affirmative action, the letter said.

Now, however, the academic culture and context that has formed the very basis of our cooperation with JNU is under serious threat, we request you to restore the institutional autonomy and provide assurance to the international community that JNU will maintain its commitment to an academic and intellectual, vision of a university that champions academic freedoms, teaching and research, keeping social and gender justice, and civil liberties intact, it added.
Accusing him of exchanging five original Rs 2,000 currency notes with the Childrens Bank of India notes, Delhi Police has arrested a 27-year-old man who worked at an ATM cash loading company in connection with the fake notes that were dispensed by an SBI cash machine earlier this month.

The 27-year-old accused, Mohd Isha, had been employed with a logistics and cash management firm for over a year. He was the custodian of the cash deposited in the SBI ATM in Sangam Vihar on the day the bogus notes were dispensed.

Romil Baaniya, DCP (South-East), alleged that their investigation pointed towards Ishas role in replacing the notes. No one else had access to the notes that day. He removed five genuine notes and replaced them with the bogus notes which are easily available in the market and are used by children for playing purposes, Baaniya said.

Mohd Isha (face covered).

Sources said the vehicle carrying the vault containing the notes had been taken to Deoli area in south Delhi for replenishing an ATM there before heading to Sangam Vihar. He must have made the exchange in Deoli. He was the only person who could have meddled with the currency notes, said an investigator.

The police have not recovered the allegedly stolen notes by Isha, a resident of Sangam Vihar and a graduate from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh. We cant say with certainty that the Rs 2,000 notes currently in his possession are the ones stolen by him. Also, it has been a while since the crime happened, so he must have spent them, explained the investigator.

Police said their probe revealed that the fake notes were available in many markets in Delhi for Rs 40 for notes worth Rs 2 lakh. We need to ascertain from where he purchased the churan notes, the officer said.

The notes, dispensed on February 6 from a SBI ATM installed in Tigri in Sangam Vihar, read Children Bank of India in place of Reserve Bank of India and Guaranteed by the Childrens Government in place of Guaranteed by the Central Government.

Churan lable in place of the latent image and a fake PK logo instead of the banks seal, are among some of the other obvious deviations on the note. A policeman who visited the victim at the ATM used his own card to withdraw a Rs 2,000 note, but he was dished out a similar note after which a case was registered and the ATM temporarily sealed.

The matter had come to light on February 6 when Rohit, a call centre employee, visited the SBI ATM to withdraw Rs 8,000. When the notes were dispensed, Rohit noticed the deliberate mistakes on the notes like promise to pay the bearer two thousand coupons and Serial number 000000. With the bogus notes seized by police, Rohit was left with just a little over Rs 400 in his bank account.
A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by her 16-year-old neighbour in outer Delhis Narela on Thursday afternoon. The juvenile accused, police said, was allegedly planning to bury the girls body when another boy from the neighbourhood saw him and raised an alarm. The locals then caught the teenager, thrashed him and then handed him over to the police.

MN Tiwari, deputy commissioner of police (Rohini), said that a case of murder and rape under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) act was registered against the teenager at Narela police station. The boy was apprehended and produced before the juvenile justice board.

A senior police officer said that the girl lived with her parents and one-year-old brother in Narela. Her parents work as labourers at building construction sites in the area. On Thursday morning, the parents left for work at a nearby construction site, leaving both their children back at home.

Around noon, the girl went out to play with her friends. The 16-year-old boy then allegedly saw her playing and lured her to an under-construction building on the pretext of giving her a chocolate. The teenager then took the minor girl to a bathroom and raped her.

When the girl started crying, the teenager panicked and strangulated her to death. He then picked up a brick and smashed her face, to hide the girls identity and also to cover up his gruesome deed. Police sources said that the boy was planning to bury the girls body in the ground outside the under construction building.

However, a boy who was playing with the minor before she was kidnapped spotted the accused and raised an alarm. The boys alarms alerted locals who then caught hold of the boy. They then informed the girls parents who were already searching for her in the locality after they found her missing from home. A local, meanwhile, informed the police control room. A police team arrived and apprehended the boy.

The boy has been sent to a correction home. The investigation in the case is going on, said the officer. The girls body was handed over to her family after a post-mortem examination.
A 24-year-old man was killed and his two friends suffered gunshot wounds when two groups of men allegedly clashed with each other outside a wedding venue in south Delhis Dakshinpuri late Thursday night.

The groups that clashed following an argument over a man accidentally grazing his shoulder against another man resorted to firing and stone pelting.

RP Upadyhyay, joint commissioner of police (south), said three persons were detained in connection with the murder, firing and stone pelting incident.

A case in connection with the crime was registered at the Ambedkar Nagar police station.

We have identified some of the attackers. Rangeela, Ashish and their associate are in our custody. Rangeela was previously involved in a criminal case. We are questioning them to identify others who were involved in the clash. Arrests will follow soon, said Upadhyay.

As many as half-a-dozen bullets were fired allegedly by the group using countrymade weapons. A man from the other group died on the spot after he was shot at in the abdomen. The deceased was identified as Shekhar Yadav. Two others  Harmeet alias Montu and Vikas alias Vicky  were hit in their chest and leg, respectively. They were admitted to a nearby hospital. Vicky has been discharged after preliminary medical attention.

Police said Montu was previously involved in an attempt to murder case. They said some men from both the groups were injured in the stone pelting. One of the bullets pierced through the iron shutter of a mobile shop. The board of another mobile shop was damaged in the stone pelting.

The board of a mobile shop was damaged in the stone pelting. (HT Photo)

Yadav, who worked at a private finance office in Okhla, is survived by his parents, two brothers and a sister. His family members told HT that on Thursday evening, he along with his friends had gone to attend their neighbours wedding.

Around midnight, they were returning home when some people opened fire outside another wedding venue in D-block. We dont know who the attackers were and why did they fire on our boys. We suspect our boys became victims of a celebratory firing, said Sunil Kumar, Yadavs uncle.

The police, however, denied that there was any celebratory firing in the area. A senior police officer said that at the wedding venue where the victims were present, one of them entered into an argument after another man from a different group grazed his shoulder against his body.

One of the bullets pierced through the iron shutter of a mobile shop. (HT Photo)

The group led by Montu thrashed the other group members. The rival group informed his friends about the fight over mobile and asked them to reach the venue. As the rival group got stronger with additional strength, Montus group hid themselves at another wedding. Their opponents, however, decided to wait outside and leave only after taking revenge of the beating.

Around midnight, as Montu and his friends left for their homes, the rival group opened fire at them. They also pelted stones at each other. We are examining CCTV camera footage of the locality to establish the sequence of events and identify the absconding attackers, the officer said.
Two firemen from Delhi Fire Services (DFS) were killed while their two colleagues were critically injured in a cylinder blast at a restaurant in West Delhis Vikaspuri on Friday morning. A fire broke out due to the blast and other firemen took around an hour to douse the flames.

According to the fire control room, they received a call around 5.30 am about smoke coming out from Chatkora food and snacks corner in H Block, Lal Market in Vikaspuri. Three fire tenders along with around 10 firemen reached the restaurant.

Read: Ill-equipped and underpaid, Delhi firefighters dodge death every day

As the smoke was coming out from the locked restaurant, our firemen started breaking open the shutter. While they were trying to pull the shutter up, a gas cylinder inside the shop went off. Four of our firemen suffered serious injuries, said Atul Garg, chief fire officer.

While two of them died on the spot, the other two were rushed to BL Kapoor hospital for medical attention. Their condition was stated to be critical. The two firemen killed were identified as Hari Singh Meena and Hari Om. The injured were identified as Navin and Ravinder Singh.

The family members of the victims were informed about the tragedy. The bodies have been kept at Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital.

Two firemen lost their lives after a gas cylinder went off inside a restaurant in Vikaspuri.

According to Garg, there were four gas cylinders, two commercial and two domestic, at the restaurant. Prime facie one of them exploded due to gas leak. What actually triggered the blast is a matter of probe. We have formed a team to probe the incident, added the chief fire officer.

Read: Anybody can apply, but where are Delhis women firefighters?

A police officer said that the restaurant where the blast took place sold momos and other snacks. We will find out if the restaurant was running illegally and its owner had compromised with safety and security measures, said the officer.

Two firemen have lost their lives in the incident. We are registering a case of deaths due to negligence. A probe will be done to establish as to whose negligence resulted in the tragedy. More sections of IPC may be added as and when our probe progresses, said Vijay Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (west).
Shri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa (SGTB) College put its street play competition on hold on Friday fearing backlash from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which had problems with the content of some of the plays.

Officials of SGTB Khalsa College said the decision of putting off the competition was taken keeping in mind the safety of students.

These street plays used to be an integral part of the college fest. But this time, we are going to do without them. We did not want to risk the lives of our students, said Saikat Ghosh, staff advisor of Khalsa theatre society.

The members of theatre societies of different Delhi University colleges, in fact, said that surveillance on creative art had increased of late and they had to be careful when writing the script and deciding a venue to stage their plays.

Some of the plays which were scheduled to be staged on Thursday were Sare Jahan Se achha by Hindu College, Accidental Death of an anarchist by Kirori Mal College, Main Kashmir, aur aap? Main Manipur by Gargi College and Sawal toh Uthega by Shri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, among others. Students said most of the plays scheduled for Thursday were critical on the discourse of nationalism and were critical of the government and hence the ABVP had trained their lens on them.

One of the members of a theatre society of a popular college said, These days when we write and design our plays, we have to be extra careful. It feels like we are being constantly watched. A few people are trying to kill our creative freedom.

In 2015, the then Delhi University Students Union (DUSU)  headed by the ABVP  had demanded the banning of Khalsa College theatre group Ankur for staging a play, which they considered anti-Hindu. The same year, the screening of a film Muzaffarnagar Baki Hai at Kirori Mal College was disrupted.

Afreen Sen Chatterjee, president of The Players, Kirori Mal Colleges theatre society, said, It is not like plays with such content were not being staged earlier. But now, it is about the people who are viewing them. So the interference and protest against such plays has definitely increased.

Nimisha Rajendra, president of Kshitij, a street-play society of Gargi College, said so far they had not faced any problems. But that, she believes, is only because they are careful in choosing the place where they perform.

Our play talks about Irom Sharmila, Burhan Wani and different modes to azaadi. We will be targeted if we perform this in front of the public in todays time. It is a huge concern for us. Even the organisers at JNU told us to remove the mention of Burhan Wani because they did not want any trouble, said Rajendra.

ABVP members, on the other hand said, SGTB Khalsa College had sought the student groups opinion about their street play competition. I told them that if the content of the play has anything anti-national, we will not be able to promise their safety. And if we come to know about any anti-national activity in DU, we will protest and fight for our country, said Amit Tanwar, DUSU president.

Students, however, said that they will not staging such plays. We will fight back and continue to do what we are doing, said Afreen Sen Chatterjee of Kirori Mal College.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The February 21 stone pelting and protest at Ramjas College and the violence that followed the next day has left the teachers shell-shocked.

A number of teachers said they had never imagined a situation where they would see their own students attacking them and the incident has left them both shocked and terrorized.

Violence had erupted in Delhi Universitys Ramjas College on Wednesday when two student groups  one of which was led by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of RSS  clashed with each other during a protest over a literary event where JNU student Umar Khalid had been invited to speak.

One of the teachers, Prasanta Chakravarty, who teaches English at Ramjas, had been left battered and bloodied during the clash after being allegedly attacked by a group of students. Chakravarty had to be rushed to a hospital on Wednesday, from where he is expected to file a police complaint regarding the incident on Monday.

Chakravarty and a few other teachers on Friday said that there was an atmosphere of terror on campus after Wednesdays violence.

Now I doubt anyone in Delhi University will want to hold seminars or conferences. The fear that even students can attack us will remain, said Chakravarty.

Another teacher, who was also a student of Ramjas College, said it was shocking to see students going violent on teachers.

When we were involved in student politics, we often held protests. But we never went about disrespecting teachers, said another teacher of Rajdhani College.

Abha Dev Habib, who teaches physics at Miranda House, narrated how a student she had taught, hit her during the clash. It did not matter to the girl that I was her teacher. It is important to see that Wednesdays clash was not about ABVP or AISA. Everything cannot be reduced into this binary of Left and Right and nationalism, said Habib, who is also the secretary of Left-leaning Democratic Teachers Front (DTF).

The National Democratic Teachers Front, a Right-leaning teachers group, also condemned the attack on teachers, but said anti-national activities cannot be allowed on campus.

The Left wings attitude on violence is hypocritical and deceitful. Whereas it condemns any militant opposition to its anti-national activities as suppression of free speech, they stand solidly behind stone throwers of Kashmir, behind murderous terrorists and separatists, Naxals and Maoists, said AK Bhagi, president NDTF.

A group of teachers were also concerned about the threats to Vinita Chandra and Mukul Manglik, both Ramjas College professors, who the ABVP accused of raising anti-national slogans.

Students have been putting up solidarity messages for the teachers and have asked former students of Ramjas to send endorsement mails for Chandra and Manglik by Friday night. On Saturday, there is a staff council meeting at Ramjas College to determine if action needs to be taken in the matter.

Certain departments of the Delhi School of Economics are also planning to wear black badges and hold slam poetry events on Monday in solidarity with the Ramjas students.

We are yet to get permission from the head of department. This is our way to support the students of Ramjas and send a message to ABVP, said a student of MA sociology, Delhi School of Economics.

A student of Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) has started a social media campaign asking students from across the country to put up profile pictures in support of Ramjas College. The campaign is called #StudentsAgainstABVP.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
If this was meant to be defence of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhis track record, it seems to have backfired at least going by social media reactions. Congress leader Sheila Dikshits remark that Rahul Gandhi is still not mature, his age does not allow him to be mature. He is whatin his forties. Please give him time was in response to the Congress becoming marginalised in several states.

It is passing strange that someone who is 46 years old should be considered not mature enough when we have enough examples both in India and around the world of people much younger assuming enormous responsibilities. Let us look at India. Indira Gandhi was 48 when she became prime minister, Rahuls father was 40. John F Kennedy took over the most powerful office in the world at 43, and Barack Obama was 47. Justin Trudeau became prime minister of Canada at 43 and Benazir Bhutto took over a volatile Pakistan at 40.

Read | Rahul Gandhi sings from Bollywood classic to accuse Modi of hate politics

When retirement in the organised workforce is 60 in most professions, a person in his mid-forties can hardly be considered a stripling youth. At that age, a person is usually responsible not only for keeping down a job but also taking care of a family.

Politics in India does throw up some odd trends. For example, many people in the youth wings of political parties are in their late thirties to early forties. We have often argued that politics must reflect the aspirations of the people. India is overwhelmingly a young country so there is no reason for our political class not to reflect this. Yet a majority of our politicians are in their sixties and seventies, if not more.

Political acumen and wisdom are not necessarily predicated on age. In the case of both Rajiv Gandhi and Obama, to name just two, they came into office relatively inexperienced. They learnt on the job.

The Congress and other parties are doing a singular disservice to those in their ranks who are in their thirties and forties but who often do not get positions of responsibility on account of age. Since politics has no retirement age, the old guard is reluctant to make way for the young. But this does not mean that the younger generation, if people in their forties can be called that, is not ready to step up to the plate.

Read | Modi spreading hate politics as he fears losing UP elections: Rahul Gandhi

Whatever the merits of age in terms of experience and wisdom, there is no denying that age takes a toll on the ability to work long hours and come up with fresh ideas. The Congress, which has a very impressive second rung of leadership, should be showcasing them and pushing them to the forefront, led by Rahul Gandhi. To say that he needs to mature more is a disservice both to him and the party.


Six persons have been arrested by the Gurgaon police for running an online banking fraud racket. Five of the accused are women. They ran a call centre in Delhi from where they called bank customers and duped them into sharing their account details or debit or credit card information. They then used the information obtained to withdraw money from their accounts.

Police said the racket was busted after a complaint was lodged with the Gurgaon Cyber Crime Cell on August 30, 2016 by Pankaj Kumar, a resident of Sector 45 who was duped by the racket. Kumar hails from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.

In his statement to the police, Kumar said that his credit card was used for an online transaction worth Rs 45,000. He said he had been getting calls from people, who claimed to be bank employees and asked him to share his credit card for an enquiry, Sumit Kuhar, DCP (crime), Gurgaon.

The police launched an investigation and filed an FIR on Wednesday under relevant sections of the IT Act. They identified the mastermind as Amit Kumar (34), a resident of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh. The prime accused holds an undergraduate degree and worked at several call centres in Pune. He gathered the technical knowledge to pull off a fraud of this nature while working in these call centres, Kuhar said.

Police said the accused also had a history of online fraud in Pune. A total of 8 people were involved in the racket that was busted by the Gurgaon police. Two of them are on the run and raids are on to get them, Kuhar said.

Elaborating on their modus operandi, the police said two members of the racket visited several areas of the city to collect phone numbers of bank customers. They then called them up posing to be bank employees and tricked them into sharing their account, debit card or credit card details.

Read I 50 online banking fraud cases registered in Gurgaon after cyber crime cell nod

They used to operate out of a one room office at Delhis Dwarka Morh (crossing), equipped with six computers. They duped more than 100 people, Kuhar said.

The others arrested were Neha (21), Komal (21), Mamta (23), Puja (21) and Poonam (21). All of them are graduates and are residents of Delhi.

While the women are currently lodged in Bhondsi Jail, Amit has been taken into three-day police custody for further interrogation.

Cases of online fraud are on the rise across the city. According to police records, as many as 2,270 cyber crime cases were lodged in 2016. It marked a 15% increase from 1,923 cases registered in 2015. A total of 1,260 cyber crime cases have been filed so far this year. More than 55% of these related online fraud and cheating, the records say.

In 215, half of the cyber crime cases registered were related to debit/credit card fraud. With more and more people resorting to online banking in tune with the Centres pitch to go cashless, theres fear of a spurt in such cases, bank officials said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON


The Gurgaon police on Friday claimed to have arrested three accused involved in the murder of a cashier at a gas agency godown at Rajendra Park on Tuesday evening.

The accused were previously involved in murder and vehicle thefts, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, police searched a hideout in Rajendra Park area and arrested the three men identified as Ravinder alias Ravi of Rewari district, Vishnu of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Sandeep alias Sunny alias Maane of Rewari.

The victim, Raju alias Arvind, worked at the godown and collected the daily sale of around Rs 60,000 to 70,000 before leaving the premises, police said.

Read I Five booked for shooting, double murder at property dealers office near Gurgaon

The three accused had been planning the robbery for a week. They gathered information about the godown and the mastermind was Ravinder, police said.

Police said Rs 30,000 was robbed of Raju and he was shot in the leg. Raju later succumbed to injuries.

The godown is located in a secluded area near Daultabad flyover and Dwarka Expressway. The trio reached there around 5:30 pm on Tuesday when the gas agency shuts. They tried to snatch the cash of Raju, who resisted and tried to raise an alarm. However, the accused shot him and made off with the bag.

Sumit Kuhar, DCP (crime), Gurgaon, said Raju died on the spot because of excessive bleeding.

The white two-wheeler which was used for this robbery has been recovered. They had stolen it a few days prior to the crime, the DCP said.
SPLIT

Direction: M. Night Shyamalan

Actors: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy

Rating: ***

Of late, M Night ShyamaIan has been dismissed as a has-been auteur, no longer capable of such twisty delights as The Sixth Sense or Signs. The good news is that the micro-budgeted Split proves that the director can still whip up nail-biting tension despite the limited resources at his disposal.

Working within the trappings of the psychological horror genre, Shyamalan right away introduces us to three high-school girls (Hayley Ru Richardon, Jessica Sula and Taylor-Joy) who are abducted from a parking lot and confined to a secluded underground bunker.

Their captor (McAvoy) apparently suffers from dissociative identity disorder. A schizophrenic with as many as 23 distinct personalities, ranging from a nine-year-old child to a prim-and-proper English matriarch, he warns his terrified guests about the imminent emergence of personality number 24, whom he nicknames The Beast.

Despite the spirited response of their deceptively docile classmate (Taylor-Joy), the captive trios chances of survival are slim. Flashbacks to the braveheart girls traumatic childhood experiences are dexterously juxtaposed with her current dilemma.

Shyamalan charts the story of three high-school girls who are abducted from a parking lot and confined to a secluded underground bunker.

Recalling the work of such masters of the macabre as Alfred Hitchcock and Brian De Palma, Shyamalan devises a whopper of a climactic set piece which see-saws between camp and cool. An uncredited cameo from the star of a couple of his early films indicates the possibility of a sequel.

In the lead role(s), James McAvoy is simply astonishing. Old-timer Betty Buckley is credible as his/their clueless psychiatrist.

Read: Lion movie review: Dev Patel roars in this Oscar-worthy triumph. 5 stars

A stylish spine-chiller, Split marks a welcome return to form for the former wunderkind. Carry on spooking, Mr. Shyamalan.

Watch the trailer for Split here:
Dev Patel will receive an award for best supporting actor for his performance in the film Lion at LA Italia Festival.

The 26-year-old actor will be bestowed with the honour at the closing ceremony of the fest at the Graumans Chinese Theatre with its own awards show before the Oscars, confirmed The Hollywood Reporter.

At the opening event of the awards, director Garth Davis film bagged the honours for best film and best young actor for eight-year-old Sunny Pawar.

Patel and Pawar played the older and younger versions of Saroo Brierley, an Indian man who is separated from his family as a child and grows up with an adopted family in Australia, who finally traces his journey back to his roots.

The Graumans Chinese Theatre. (Shu8tterstock)

Follow @htshowbiz for more
With the Oscars right around the corner, a time when the world unites to celebrate the fantastic achievements in cinema over the last year, lets kick things off by taking the easy route and complaining about all the snubs.

First things first. A snub, it should be made clear, is not simply a film that has been ignored. To qualify as a snub, a film must be in serious contention to get nominated in at least one category. So, for the purposes of this list, we wont be looking at films that have been nominated - even once - at the 89th Academy Awards. Instead, we will focus on movies that were, at some point, up for consideration but were completely shut out. Which means that while it was largely ignored, Martin Scorseses masterpiece Silence will not be featured here thanks to its sole nod for best cinematography.

Sadly, with the Oscars being as political as they are - massive ad campaigns are curated to secure nods, with studios often aligning hefty budgets to woo voters - it becomes difficult for films released before awards season (roughly October-December) to gain any sort of attention.

But heres our opportunity to continue this celebration, and take a look at movies that could easily have been among La La Land and Moonlight had it not been for some arbitrary rules.

Paterson

Director Jim Jarmusch has been a critical darling for decades, and his latest film, starring Adam Driver as a bus driver named Paterson in Paterson, New Jersey, who also happens to be a closeted poet, was warmly received when it opened at the Cannes Film Festival. And Adam Driver is achingly good in it. On paper, it was tailor-made for the Oscars, but it wasnt to be.

Dont Think Twice

Comedies, like sci-fi or action movies, are rarely considered worthy by the Academy. Bridesmaids, Midnight in Paris, Arrival, Avatar, Inception and Mad Max: Fury Road were anomalies and a result of the recent change in voting rules which allowed a bigger pool of nominees. So it wasnt surprising when Dont Think Twice, with a handful of excellent performances, one of the most innovative screenplays of the year, and a rare 99% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, couldnt get a nod.

Sing Street

In a year when La La Land is expected to sweep the Oscars, another musical has shockingly gone under the radar. Directed by John Carney, whose Begin Again and Once were recognised by the Academy, Sing Street was curiously missing from even the music categories.

The Nice Guys

True, Ryan Gosling perhaps doesnt need more accolades this year, but an original screenplay nomination for Shane Blacks brilliant neo-noir The Nice Guys wouldve hurt no one.

Eye in the Sky

Out of this entire bunch of movies, Eye in the Sky easily has the best Oscar pedigree. Its directed by Oscar-winner Gavin Hood, stars Oscar-winner Helen Mirren, and features the last screen performance by the late Alan Rickman. What more does it have to do? Answer: Not be released in March.

The Edge of Seventeen

For a while there, it seemed like Edge of Seventeen had a real shot. It was being adored for its warm John Hughes vibes, its refreshing take on the coming of age genre, and a truly excellent central performance by Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld. But naturally, for a teen movie to get the Academys attention, it needs to be as grim as Moonlight.

Queen of Katwe

Normally, the Academy laps up inspirational tales about poor people. Just look at Lion. But Mira Nairs Queen of Katwe, despite being almost as good, and almost as inspiring as Dev Patels gritty drama - almost, because Lion is a masterpiece - vanished without a trace soon after its theatrical release.

Deadpool

Deadpools Oscar chances, while initially coming across as a joke, got a shot of validation when the Golden Globes gave it, and star Ryan Reynolds nods. But no such luck. The Academy mustve worn its brown pants.

So till Sunday (early Monday for us), read about the films that actually did get nominated. Theyre really quite terrific.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Villagers on either side of the India-Nepal border clashed over sand mining at Oriya Khola in Sikta police station area of Bihars West Champaran district on Friday. At least six persons were injured in the incident.

Villagers of Gadiyani on the Indian side claimed that a mob from Piraiguthi in Parsa district of the neighbouring country also opened fire in no-mans land as the clash turned violent.

As tensions ran high, officials from both sides intervened to hold peace, police said.

The incident happened when Nepal citizens stopped us from mining sand in the bed of Oriya river, which flows from the Himalayan nation, Indian villagers said.

The Nepal villagers attacked some 100 sand loaders and beat up drivers of trucks parked in the area. Many carried guns, which were used to threaten us, they said.

Parsa superintendent of police Gobind Sah told HT that the clash had left two Nepal citizens injured. He also confirmed that four rounds were fired during the clashes.

Instances of clashes between people on either side of the border have been many and officials of India and Nepal have been hard pressed to contain sudden flare-ups at times.

A similar incident was reported on September 13 last year at the same site after armed police force (APF) of Nepal, backed by people of the Himalayan nation stopped sand miners. A clash that ensued left about 10 people, including Nepal head constable Raj Kumar Manjhi, injured.

Arbind Mandal, subdivisional officer (SDO) of Narkatiaganj in West Champaran district, said normalcy was fast returning after officials on both the sides held a border meeting and acted to quell the trouble.

Nepal citizens claim right to mining in the river, which flows through their territory and allege that deep sand mining along the Indian border was changing the course of the river, affecting their habitations, he said.

Due to this border pillars had also been obliterated, thus presenting difficulty in ascertaining the boundaries between the two nations at this point, he added.
Government-run Air India has put into operation its newly-leased Airbus A320 Neo with its maiden flight arriving in Chennai from New Delhi.

The first A320 Neo aircraft with 161 passengers on board touched down at the Chennai International Airport from the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 8.30 pm on Thursday, the airline said in a release.

The national carrier had inducted the latest fuel-efficient aircraft from European aviation major Airbus in its fleet on February 16.

The A320 New Engine Option aircraft is configured with 162 seats, including 12 in the business class. Air India has plans to induct a total of 29 A320 Neos into its fleet by March 2019.

The fuel-efficient Airbus A320 Neo aircraft is highly environmental-friendly with reduced noise levels and 50% less carbon emissions, the airline said in the release.

The airline has already tied-up with three lessors -- ALAFCO, GECAPS and CIT -- for 22 planes, and the process to select a bidder for the remaining seven such planes is underway.

Air India has already announced that it will induct 13 more such planes in the fleet in this calendar year.

The flag carrier is the third domestic airline after IndiGo and GoAir with A320 Neo aircraft. Also, the national carrier is the first domestic operator of A320 Neo plane that is powered by CFM engine since the other two are using the aircraft having Pratt & Whitney engine.
Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh showered praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi comparing him with Lord Krishna and blamed the Opposition for creating hurdles in development works being carried out by the PM.

Singh was in Modis Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi where he offered prayers to Lord Shiva at Kashi Vishwanath temple on Friday.

Talking to media persons, Singh said Lord Krishna, who was born in Mathura, is worshipped as Dwarikadheesh by Gujarati brothers as he had migrated to Gujarat from UP.

Likewise, PM Modi, a native of Gujarat, preferred to contest general election from a UP constituency and won, said Singh, who was expelled from the Samajwadi Party (SP) in January.

Asked for his take on SP leaders comment that BJP president Amit Shah was a terrorist, Singh said those who called Shah a terrorist were themselves fostering terrorism.

He said action should be ensured against those who called Kashmiri Pandits outsiders. Aise logo ka desh me rahna dhikkar hai jo Kashmir ko Pakistan aur atankwad se jodkar dekhte hai.

Singh said Ramgopal Yadav threatened that he would not be safe if he visited UP. He must see that I am in Kashi and safe too. I dont take statements of such people seriously, he said.

On Akhilesh Yadavs donkey statement, Singh said, Instead of delivering illogical or unrestrained statements, there should be talk of development.

Singh later participated in a meeting on the topic Terrorism: A challenge before the nation.

He had earlier praised Modi for demonetisation of high-value banknotes and indicated he might join the BJP.

I have not yet decided about joining BJP, but I am also not saying that I dont have plans (to join BJP), he had told a TV channel earlier this month.
An Indian-American IT engineer employed by a US company was fatally shot and his Indian colleague wounded by a white man who thought they were Middle Easterners and who was heard telling them to get out of my country at the time of the shooting.

The alleged shooter Adam Purinton, 51, a US Navy veteran, was charged on Thursday with the fatal shooting of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the IT engineer from Hyderabad, and wounding Alok Madasani, also from same city.

Kuchibhotla, 32, died in hospital, while Madasani, 32, was released from hospital on Thursday.

The circumstances of Purintons capture were an eerie repeat of the killing of Balbir Singh Sandhu, the first victim of the backlash after the 9/11 terror attacks who too was mistaken for a Middle Easterner. Like Sandhus killer, Purinton was caught drinking at a bar several hours later.

I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

Purinton was also charged with shooting Ian Grillot, a white man who, according to witnesses, had tried to stop the shooting.

Kuchibhotla is possibly the first casualty of the religious, racial and ethnic divisiveness that has swept the US following the election of President Donald Trump, with minorities such as Jews and Muslims reporting a surge in attacks on them and their institutions.

Trump and his senior staff have railed against radical Islam, a loosely defined term used for Muslim terrorists, and have turned up the rhetoric in the context of the administrations attempt, blocked by courts, to temporarily ban visa-holders from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.

Wednesdays shooting at Olathe city received little media attention outside of Kansas state, even after authorities charged Purinton for the incident.

There was no response from the local FBI bureau and police to emails requesting confirmation and details, but GPS-maker Garmin, which employed Kuchibhotla and Madasani, referred to the assault in an internal email to employees that was cited by Kansas City Star, a local daily.

Unfortunately, two associates on our aviation systems engineering team, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, were shot. We are devastated to inform you that Srinivas passed away and Alok is currently recovering in the hospital, it said.

Garmin also said in a public statement that was cited by the publication, Were saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last nights incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow.

In a post on LinkedIn, Kuchibotla described himself as an Aviation Programs Engineer Manager at Garmin International, I manage helicopter OEM programs from both technical and project management standpoint.

He had earned a masters in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso during 2005-07, after coming to the US. His LinkedIn resume says he got his bachelors from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad in 2005.

Madasani too was with Garmins aviation program. He studied at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and at Vasavi College of Engineering in Hyderabad.

Police of Olathe city said in a statement that a police officer we dispatched to a local bar at 7:15 pm on Wednesday (5:45 am in India on Thursday) in response to reports of gunfire. The police statement added officers found three victims with bullet wounds.

The alleged shooter was found drinking at a nearby bar around five hours after, alerted by a staff member. The Kansas City Star reported, citing witnesses, that he had been drinking before the shooting in Austins Bar & Grill: Witnesses said the suspect was in Austins drinking and making racial slurs. At one point, they said, one of the regulars stood up to the man.

Kuchibhotla and Madasani had been at Austins for about 30 minutes. They worked at nearby Garmin Ltd and were regulars at Austins. Maybe once or twice a week, the co-workers could be found on the Austins patio in the early evening and each would order a Jameson whiskey.

We know them as the Jameson guys, said Garret Bohnen, who served the two. They are super nice guys. They would sit, have a cigarette, have a few drinks and pay their tab and leave.

Jay Kansara of the Hindu American Foundation said in a statement, We call upon the US Department of Justice and local law enforcement to investigate this murder as what it is, a hate crime. Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and their families.
Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday called for coordinated efforts by security forces to effectively deal with the problem of stone pelting by civilians during counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir.

The army chief discussed the issue with army officers during security review meetings at headquarters of counterinsurgency units -- Kilo Force and Victor Force in Srinagar, an official said.

Reinforcing the need to maintain high vigil, the army chief discussed the issue of stone-pelting during operations and impressed upon all to synergise efforts with the other security agencies in dealing with such situations effectively, the official said.

Rawat, who arrived in Srinagar on Thursday, was briefed on the prevailing security situation and recent operations conducted by the security forces.

He also reviewed the collaborative measures of security forces towards ensuring peace and calm in the region.

The army chief interacted with local commanders and troops and urged them to continue discharging their duty with utmost professionalism.

Rawat, accompanied by Northern Command chief Lt General D Anbu and Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen J S Sandhu, paid tributes to the three soldiers killed in a militant attack in Shopian district of Kashmir.

He laid floral wreaths on the coffins carrying the mortal remains of the three soldiers, one of whom hailed from Marhama area of Anantnag district.

As the entire nation salutes the martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice in yesterdays terrorist attack in Shopian, the army gave a befitting farewell to its brave hearts today in a solemn ceremony here, the official said.

Rawat expressed grief and condolences to the families of Lance Naik Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din, Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejith MJ.

He also conveyed his anguish at the unfortunate death of an elderly lady, Taja Begum, in this terrorist attack, the official added.

Wreaths were also laid on behalf of the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti by Minister of Rural development and Panchayati Raj Abdul Haq Khan, minister for agriculture Ghulam Nabi Lone and other officials from civil administration and security agencies.

The army chief had on Thursday met the other injured soldiers at the Army Base Hospital in Srinagar and wished them speedy recovery.

The General also appreciated the various humanitarian initiatives undertaken by the troops to bring succour to common people and exhorted them to sustain this positive engagement with the residents.
Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday paid tributes to three soldiers, including a Kashmiri jawan from Anantnag district, who were killed in a militant attack on their convoy in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.

General Rawat arrived in Srinagar on Friday morning and paid tributes to the soldiers -- Lance Naik Ghulam Mohi- Ud-Din Rather, Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejith MJ -- at the Badamibagh cantonment, an army spokesperson said.

General Rawat expressed grief and condolences to the bereaved families. He also conveyed his anguish at the unfortunate death of an elderly woman, Taja Begum, in the militant attack, the spokesperson said.

The army chief also met injured soldiers at the Army Base Hospital in Badamibagh cantonment and wished them speedy recovery.

The three army personnel -- (left to right) Sapper Sreejith MJ (Kerala), Sepoy Vikash Singh Gurjar (Rajasthan) and Lance Naik Gh Mohiuddin Rather(J&K) who were killed in a militant attack in Shopian. (PTI)

After paying homage to the martyrs, the chief, along with Northern army commander, Lt Gen D Anbu, and Chinar Corps Commander, Lt Gen JS Sandhu, visited the Victor and Kilo Force headquarters, where he was briefed on the prevailing security situation and on the recent operations conducted, the spokesperson added.

On Thursday, militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen ambushed an army convoy, killing three soldiers and wounding five others, including two officers, in south Kashmirs Shopian.

Army jawans fire in the air to pay tribute to Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Rather at his funeral ceremony in Panjpora village on Friday. (PTI)

Villagers pay rich tributes to Anantnag soldier

Meanwhile, people of Punchpora village in Anantnag bid an emotional adieu to Lance Naik Rather. Scores of people attended his last rites at the Rashtriya Rifles camp near the village. The funeral took place at his ancestral graveyard in his village.

Lance Naik Rather is survived by his wife Shahzada Akhter, their one-year-old son Ahil and his aged parents. He had joined the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2002.

Relatives mourn the death of Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Rather during his funeral in Panjpora village on Friday. (PTI)

According to Rathers relatives, his father was paralysed about 10 years back following an illness.

Mohammad Amin, a relative, said Rather was the only earning member of the family. His father has been physically challenged for the past 10 years and his mother also suffers from multiple illnesses. It will be difficult for them to meet the ends, he said.

An elderly woman, Taja Begum, was also killed when she was hit by a stray bullet in the militant attack. Locals alleged that soon after the attack, security personnel barged into their homes and ransacked their properties.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The BJP is planning to showcase Odisha and Maharashtra civic poll victories as the endorsement of Narendra Modi governments pro-poor policies and support for the governments demonetisation move.

The party plans to observe Vijay Diwas in each district headquarters across the country on Saturday (February 25). This comes at a time when Uttar Pradesh, Indias most populous state, is voting to elect a new government. The BJP is expecting to benefit from the positive sentiment playing out in Odisha and Maharashtra.It has been a great start to 2017! First the unprecedented support in Odisha & now the overwhelming blessings from people of Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

I thank each & every Indian for continuously placing their faith in the BJP. We are working determinately to create a strong & inclusive India, he said.

Meanwhile, at an election rally in Gonda, Modi said the Congress has been wiped out in Maharashtra and the BJP gained in Odisha, a state battling poverty, starvation and unemployment where the party did not have foothold. Be it civic body polls in Odisha, Maharashtra, Chandigarh or panchayat polls in Gujarat, in three months wherever there were polls, whether the BJP had any presence or not, people used their third eye and ensured its victory. This means that my responsibility has increased, he said.

The BJP saw many victories in 2017, including in Chandigarh civic polls, but the Odisha and Maharashtra are really special for the saffron party. It has been a distant third force in the eastern state, which has a large population of tribals and the under privileged. As many as 852 panchayat seats in Odisha went to polls this month, the results for which will be officially declared on Saturday. Unofficial figures though hint at a near 10 fold increase in the BJPs tally from 36 last time to over 300 in the just concluded elections.

After demonetisation there has been a change in the country. BJP has won all elections after November 8 (the day note ban was announced), Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has got all the reasons to smile. A Brahmin politician whose political obituary was written within months of taking over a state ruled by Maratha bigwigs in the past, Fadnavis has grown in stature within and outside the BJP. Under him, the Bharatiya Janata Party has acquired a position that unnerves ally Shiv Sena and pose a danger to rivals such as the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Here are some inferences that people can draw from the civic election results.

1. The result of Maharashtra civic polls will help him consolidate his hold over the BJP. His rivals, waiting for an opportunity to strike back in the event of a loss, are disappointed after Thursdays result. Fadnavis took much on himself and led the party from the front. He has earned the trust of the partys central leadership and emerged as undisputed leader of the BJP in the state.

2. Fadnavis enjoys the rare reputation of Mr Clean in Maharashtra politics. His government has largely been taint-free and his personal reputation intact. He is just 44 and has long innings to play, possibly even outside the state.

3. As BJP increases its footprint, Fadnavis has helped the party get uncomfortably close to the Shiv Sena in Mumbai. The BJP will attempt taking control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is crucial in the schemes of Senas things. Party president Amit Shah is understood to have asked leaders to explore possibilities for that. Any such move is bound to create more acrimony between the two long-time allies.

4. The outcome of civic elections and the turns politics will take over the next few weeks will also have a bearing on the state government and the Centre. The Sena has been miffed at not getting due representation in the Narendra Modi and Fadnavis governments. Having been able to retain its dominance in Mumbai, Sena could get more aggressive.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Border Security Force (BSF) shot dead a female Pakistani intruder and nabbed another in two separate incidents along the international border on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

The female intruder was killed in Paragwal sector of Jammu district while the other Pakistani national, who was moving in a suspicious manner near the border fence, was apprehended in Kathua district, said BSFs Jammu Frontier DIG D Pareekh.

He said the BSF personnel deployed on the IB challenged the intruder to stop, but when she ignored the warnings the troops opened fire, killing her on the spot.

In the dark it was not possible for the BSF troops to ascertain whether the intruder, who had wrapped a woollen blanket around her, was a male or a female.

A meeting was held with the Pakistan Rangers where they were shown pictures of the deceased woman and they agreed to accept the body, he said.

The body would be handed over to the Rangers on Friday evening.

The arrested Pakistani national has been identified as Azhar (21), son of Fouji Ashraf, a resident of Pakistans Punjab province. He appeared to be mentally ill.

Azhar was nabbed while trying to cross the international border in Paharpur border outpost at Hiranagar sector. The officer said his interrogation is on.

India shares 198 km international border with Pakistan along Jammu sector.

Read | Pakistani intruder shot dead by BSF in Pathankots Bamiyal sector

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Senior IAS officer and chairman of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission Sudhir Kumar, was arrested from his parents house in Hazaribagh town in neighbouring Jharkhand early Friday, in connection with the question paper leak case.

Patna zone IG of police NH Khan said, Kumar along with five others, including his brother Prof Avadhesh Kumar, sister in law Manju Devi, nephew Ashish Kumar, one Sajjad Ahmad and BSSC IT manager Niti Ranjan Pratap were arrested from Hazaribagh.

Many more arrests are likely, he added.

Kumar, who served as home secretary during the Jitan Ram Manjhi regime (Aug 2014-Feb 2015), was later brought to Patna and after interrogation, was put up on the veterinary college campus.

He and the five others were produced in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) in the afternoon.

Members of the Bihar IAS officers association later submitted a memorandum to chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and met chief minister Nitish Kumar in the evening to register their protest over arrest of the 1987-batch officer and to seek his release.

The memorandum described Kumar as one of the finest officers of the cadre and sought transfer of the BSSC question leak case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A senior officer said the timing of the arrest, with three days of holiday to follow, also raised question about the intent behind it.

Sudhir Kumar is the second IAS officer to be arrested on corruption charges within a year. Last year, 2013-batch IAS officer and former SDM of Mohania (Kaimur), Dr Jitendra Gupta, was arrested and promptly suspended, though he was later released on bail by the Patna high court. The government also revoked his suspension later. At that time also, the IAS body had vehemently opposed Guptas arrest.

Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said that the association members were of the opinion that the arrest was not warranted, as he was not running away and in fact, regularly attending his office and cooperating with the investigation. We will look into the matter, he added.

If the officer remains under arrest for more than 24 hours and is forwarded to jail, following production in court, there could be further complications for him. He would be put under suspension, as per the civil servants conduct rules.

Earlier, the special investigation team (SIT) probing the question leak case had picked up nearly 30 persons, including commission secretary Parmeshwar, Ram and a computer operator.

Patna SSP Manu Maharaj said there was concrete evidence against Kumar, as five of his kin, including two nephews, were also taking the inter-level examination, which was cancelled after question leak. We had procured arrest warrants for arrest of the chairman from the court before proceeding for Hazaribagh, he added.

Maharaj said, the arrest of chairmans nephew Ashish Kumar and his confession during interrogation corroborated the chairmans involvement. The police recovered question papers and answer keys from Ashish, who said that he got it from Manju Devi who had received it from the chairman. Once his relatives had question papers for February 5 examination on January 29 itself, it spread to other circles through professional brokers and BSSC IT manager, he added.

The police had earlier quizzed Kumar on February 13. Not satisfied with his response, the police had given him a written questionnaire the following day, for his reply.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday called for resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the policy of bullet for bullet will only worsen the situation in the state.

If you want to improve the situation in Kashmir, then the only way is to start a dialogue. The talk of bullet for bullet will only make the things worse, Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Srinagar.

He said India and Pakistan need to come together and resume the stalled dialogue process to resolve the long standing Kashmir problem.

Bullet cannot be an answer to a bullet. Bullet can be answered by patience, love and through dialogue. We should desist from that and hope India and Pakistan come to the dialogue table and a new phase of talks will resume so that this problem is resolved, the former chief minister said.

Abdullah, who was a union minister during the previous UPA government, said it was imperative that an effort be made towards restoration of peace (in Kashmir). Both the countries should talk peace. There is no other option.

He said the poor people in the state would be the worst affected by lack of tourism because of violence.

Death and destruction should come to an end so that the people of Kashmir can live in peace. The tourism season is about to start and if this death and destruction continues, who will come here? Who is going to suffer because of that? It is the poor people here who depend on tourism, he said.

Abdullah also demanded constitution of a judicial commission to look into the reasons for youngsters joining militant ranks and people rushing towards encounter sites to help militants during counter-insurgency operations.

We have to take into account their (militants) sentiments. What is the reason for their taking up arms? A high-level judicial commission should be constituted to look into what is compelling the youth to take up arms, he said.

Referring to the warning of army chief General Bipin Rawat to the youth against interfering in anti-insurgency operations, Abdullah said That is not right. That is unfortunate because if you have to address a problem, the solution does not lie in the gun but talks.

Dialogue is the only way and we have to tread that path. There is some reason why people are doing this (protesting near encounter sites). We have to look into that reason and address that reason so that the guns stop and peace prevails in the state, he said.
DMK working president MK Stalin will meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday, a week after AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala loyalist Edappadi K Palaniswami won the tumultuous trust vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly.

At the meetings, described as courtesy calls by Congress leaders, Stalin is expected to discuss with the Gandhis his strategy vis-a-vis the AIADMK and the new government in the state.

The Congress had stood solidly by the DMK in its decision to seek the vote of confidence through a secret ballot.

The DMK wanted secret voting as it expected some AIADMK legislators to jump ship and defeat Palaniswamis trust vote. Its strategy was driven by the hope that a split in the AIADMK would force the governor to impose Presidents Rule in the state, which would eventually go for fresh elections. That is the best case scenario for the DMK at a time when its rival AIADMK is deeply divided following the death of J Jayalalithaa in December last year.

From walking out of the Tamil Nadu assembly wearing a torn shirt to holding a protest on Marina beach and questioning the Palaniswami governments legitimacy, Stalin appears to be ensuring that it is the DMK and not former caretaker chief minister O Paneerselvam that is leading the charge against the Sasikala faction of the ruling AIADMK.

The Congress, which also favours fresh polls at this juncture, sided with the DMK as it would not take any step that could antagonise its trusted ally. The party, however, is divided on the AIADMK issue. While Tamil Nadu Congress chief S Thirunavukkarasar and his loyalists support the Sasikala faction, former finance minister P Chidambaram and many ex-state unit chiefs such as EVKS Elangovan and KV Thangkabalu want the Congress to keep away from the AIADMKs internal crisis. The worry for the Congress is the BJPs growing interest in Tamil Nadu politics.

Soon after his arrival in the national capital on Thursday, Stalin met President Pranab Mukherjee and urged him to annul the February 18 vote of confidence and direct governor C Vidyasagar Rao to order a fresh floor test through secret ballot. Palaniswami had won the trust vote 122-11 after eviction of DMK legislators.

After throwing all 89 DMK MLAs out, a confidence vote was held amid unprecedented violence. We have apprised the President about it and the way in which assembly speaker conducted the proceedings in favour of the ruling party, Stalin said after the meeting. As examples, he cited Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand where trust vote had been sought through secret ballot.

Attacking AIADMK general secretary Sasikala, he said: In Tamil Nadu, benami rule by criminal Sasikala has been established.

Stalin has requested assembly speaker P Dhanapal to provide him with unedited footage of the February 18 proceedings as he was asked by the Madras high court to submit recordings to substantiate his claim that the trust vote was held by contravening the rules of the assembly.

The DMK had filed a petition in the Madras high court seeking direction to the authorities to annul the speakers decision to accept the trust vote. It had sought a fresh secret ballot under a monitoring committee comprising the state chief secretary, principal secretary to the governor and an official from the election commission.
Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has called a meeting of state in charges on Saturday to discuss the partys national plan post-Punjab and Goa elections.

AAP will focus on the assembly elections in Gujarat later this year and Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh next year, party sources said.

The Aam Aadmi Party launched a multi-pronged attack against the BJP accusing it of engineering violence at Delhis Ramjas college to communally charge the Uttar Pradesh election and its governments in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh for unleashing police brutalities on farmers and tribals.

Read: Two years of AAP govt: Survey shows Delhis Kejriwal govt curbed corruption

On a day the partys highest decision making body  the political affairs committee met to firm up the plan, AAP leaders in Delhi also raked up the issue of an alleged spy racket in MP in which a local BJP leader was arrested.

Party leader Kumar Vishwas accused the BJP along with its affiliate, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad  Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sanghs student wing, of fomenting violence at Delhi University in the last two days.

ABVPs actions in Delhi University are triggered by the BJPs impending defeat in UP, Vishwas said. They are trying to communalise the election, he added.

Party leader Gopal Rai, who is in charge of Gujarat, MP and Chhattisgarh led a delegation of farmers from Gandhinagar and tribals in Bastar to the National Human Rights Commission against alleged police atrocities.

Rai alleged that farmers and their families from 32 villages were attacked by the police on their way to Gandhinagar on February 14.

Read: Arvind Kejriwals breakout moment in national politics

The victims were demanding water for their villages and marching to the state capital a few kilometres away.

These villages are left untouched by Modis Gujarat model. They do not have even drinking water, Rai said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Consultations to list Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar in the UN sanctions list are in progress, Chinese ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said on Friday.

The discussion is going on. I am so happy to see your foreign secretary in Beijing two days ago... discussing everything... so, just wait, Luo told reporters on the sidelines of a Chinese visa application service centre inauguration ceremony in New Delhi.

China supports India and other countries on terrorism... The discussions are going on. It takes time, Luo said.

India on Wednesday again asked China to declare Pathankot attack mastermind Masood Azhar an international terrorist.

China had blocked a proposal by the US to add Azhar to the list of such terrorists, in addition to the three previous rejections in 2016 to the Indian proposal.

Indias foreign secretary S Jaishankar was in Beijing on Wednesday to co-chair the China-India strategic dialogue with the neighbouring countrys vice foreign minister Zhang Yesui and he raised the issue of Azhar during discussions.

Luo advised the media to focus more on the positive cooperation between India and China.

On another controversial issue about Chinese opposition to Indias entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), he said: It is the same. (discussions going on)

On the rise of the Islamic State in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the ambassador said: The Chinese position is quite clear. We are against any form of terrorist activities. On this matter, China will always speak in the same language in the international community to take concrete measures.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A day after opposition DMK leader MK Stalin met President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a memorandum on the events that took place in Tamil Nadu assembly last week, he met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday and discussed the political situation in the state.

It was a courtesy call. He enquired about her (Sonia Gandhi) health and she enquired about party supremo Karunanidhis health condition. It was a formal discussion. They also discussed the political situation in Tamil Nadu, said a DMK leader, adding that the meeting lasted 25 minutes.

The leader said it was also a strategy call as Stalin came here for the first time after becoming the working president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The party is also an alliance partner of the Congress in the UPA.

Yesterday (Thursday), around 7pm, Stalin met the President and gave him a memorandum regarding what happened in the Tamil Nadu assembly (on February 18), the leader added.

Stalin, who is also leader of Opposition in the assembly, had filed a plea to seek annulment of the trust vote.

In his petition, the DMK leader also sought the courts directions to assembly Speaker P Dhanapal to conduct the trust vote with a secret ballot under a monitoring committee comprising the governors secretary, chief secretary and a senior official from the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, the Madras high court on Wednesday declined to pass any interim order to put on hold or annul the trust vote won by chief minister E Palaniswami and adjourned the case filed by Stalin for February 27.

The court also ordered submission of the video footage of the happenings in the Tamil Nadu assembly on February 18 -- the day Palaniswami sought and won the trust vote by securing 122 votes with only 11 against.

As a part of its multi-pronged attack on the Palaniswami government and to protest events inside Tamil Nadu assembly, the DMK, under the leadership of Stalin, also held a day-long hunger strike across the state.
DMK working president MK Stalin met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday, days after chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami won a turbulent trust vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly.

Described as a courtesy call by Congress leaders, Stalin discussed with the Gandhis his future strategy vis-a-vis the new government in the state under Palaniswami  a loyalist of jailed AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala.

DMK leaders Tiruchi Siva, TKS Elangovan, Durai Murugan, RS Bharathi apart from Tamil Nadu Congress chief S Thirunavukarasar and general secretary in-charge Mukul Wasnik were also present.

The meeting assumes significance in the wake of political turmoil in the state following the revolt in the ruling AIADMK after the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa last December.

The Congress had stood by the DMK in its decision to seek the vote of confidence through secret ballot.

The DMK sought voting in secrecy as it expected some AIADMK legislators to jump the ship and defeat the trust vote. In that event, former chief minister O Panneerselvam could have staked claim to form the government.

The DMK strategy was driven by its hope that a split in the AIADMK would force the governor to bring the state under Presidents rule for a few months and eventually lead to fresh elections.

The best scenario for the DMK is fresh polls at a juncture when the AIADMK is deeply divided.

The Congress sided with the DMK as it would not take any step to antagonise its trusted ally.

The party is split on the AIADMK issue. While Thirunavukkarasar and his loyalists support the Sasikala faction, former finance minister P Chidambaram and many ex-state unit chiefs such as EVKS Elangovan and KV Thangkabalu wanted the Congress to keep away from the AIADMKs internal crisis.

The worry for the Congress is the growing BJP interest in the state politics. It also favours fresh polls at this juncture.

Soon after his arrival in the national capital on Thursday, Stalin met President Pranab Mukherjee and urged him to annul the February 18 vote of confidence and direct governor C Vidyasagar Rao to order a fresh floor test through secret ballot.

Palaniswami won the trust vote by 122:11, after en masse eviction of DMK legislators.

After throwing all 89 DMK MLAs out, a confidence vote was held amid unprecedented violence. We have apprised the President about it and the way in which the assembly speaker conducted the proceedings in favour of the ruling party, Stalin said after the meeting.

In Tamil Nadu, benami rule by criminal Sasikala has been established.

As examples, he cited Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand where trust votes in the past had been sought through secret ballot.

Stalin had requested speaker P Dhanapal to provide him with the unedited footage of the February 18 proceedings to submit them before the Madras high court.

The court directed the DMK on Wednesday to produce video clippings or any other recordings to substantiate its claim that the trust vote held that day was by contravening the rules of the assembly.

The DMK had filed a petition in the court, seeking direction to the authorities to annul the speakers decision to accept the trust vote.

It had sought a fresh vote through secret ballot under a monitoring committee, comprising the state chief secretary, principal secretary to the governor and an official from the Election Commission.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
In a new twist, former driver of BJP candidate Vishwajit Krishnarao Rane has reportedly told the police that he did not see Rane shoot Shanu Gaonkar in 2006.

A video had gone viral on social media where the driver, Satish Ardalkar, claimed he was witness to the BJP leader shooting Gaonkar dead to avenge his brothers murder. Following this, the police started the investigation. Ardalkar had alleged that Gaonkar had killed Ranes brother during 2005 riots.

He (Ardalkar) had said in the video that he saw his employer shoot Gaonkar at Stefin bar in Honda. He had added that when he tried to run away, Rane caught him and tried to snatch his phone away and also threatened him with dire consequences. Therefore, he remained silent for all these years. But when his statement was recorded on Tuesday he said that he had not witnessed the murder, but was instrumental in disposing of the body of the deceased. An indica car was used by him to dispose of the body, a police official said on condition of anonymity.

The police has now found that Goankar was never an accused in the riot case. In fact, he was not even present in Saleli when the incident happened, said Valpoi police inspector Deepak Pedenkar in the investigation led by SP north Karthik Kashyap.

But as investigations are on, police department is apprehensive about reaching any conclusion in the case.

The fact that the case is a decade old leaves the police with very little forensic evidence. We will be recording the statements of all who have been named in the case and will ensure that an investigation is carried out without any bias in the case, said Karthik Kashyap, SP North Goa.

A team of police officers have also begun to comb through the valleys of Anmod Ghat, the place where Ardalkar claimed to have dumped the body. The help of forensic experts are being taken in the entire matter.

Meanwhile, the AICC secretary Girish Chodankar has demanded a CBI inquiry into the entire matter. It is quite evident that Rane has killed Gaonkar. The police will be under too much pressure to take a call in this matter and therefore we request the CBI to take an action, said Chodankar.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
M Natarajan, the husband of jailed AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala, said on Friday he would always remain a backroom man in the ruling party of Tamil Nadu.

Against the background of charges of Sasikalas family taking over the ruling party, he said, I will always remain behind in the AIADMK partys activities and will be silent... Nobody can destroy the party.

Presiding over a function to celebrate the birth centenary of party founder M G Ramachandran and 69th birth anniversary of J Jayalalithaa, he blamed opposition DMK for the ruckus in the Assembly on February 18 during the trust vote.

Natarjan also hit out at dissident leader O Panneerselvam while stating that no one can destroy the party.

Taking potshots at Panneerselvam, he narrated an anecdote of a dead elephant being swarmed by insects and asserted we will not allow bad elements in the party.

Earlier, he handed over an ambulance donated by a private foundation and Thanjai Tamil Sangam to the poor and inaugurated a blood donation camp and donated blood.

Last month, Natarajan had claimed that his family had protected Jayalalithaa after the death of former chief minister M G Ramachandran.

His family had made sacrifices for the late leader and stood by Jayalalithaa till her death, Natarajan had said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said Islamabad and New Delhi should maintain friendly and good relations, media reported on Friday.

We [Pakistan and India] should maintain good relations and avoid involving in conspiracies against each other, Dawn news quoted Sharif as saying.

Speaking to media during his Turkey visit, he said his party did not adopt a policy of India bashing.

He also expressed gratitude to Turkey for its support on the Kashmir issue and also for its stance on Pakistans inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the report added.

On the recent terror attacks in Pakistan, Sharif blamed elements upset with the progress of Pakistan and expressed his governments resolve to eliminate militants.

With our firm resolve, we will defeat those who are not digesting Pakistans success on different fronts, he was quoted as saying.

Sharif also said Afghanistans soil was being used against Pakistan, adding that he was in favour of stability in that country as it also in Pakistans own interest.
The Border Security Force (BSF) on Friday lodged a strong protest with Pakistan Rangers at a flag meeting on an array of issues including unprovoked firing at Indian troops by Pakistan, hunting by people in Pakistan close to the border and not responding to the BSFs requests to hold company commander-level meetings.

The two border guarding forces of India and Pakistan -- Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers held the flag meeting on the zero line near the Pansar border outpost in Hiranagar sector of Jammu and Kashmirs Kathua district.

The meeting lasted for over an hour and was held at border outpost No.15 on Indias request, said a BSF officer.

The Pakistani delegation was headed by Wing Commander Lt Col Asmat Ullah Khan and had three other officers, while the Indian delegation was led by Commandant Bhupinder Singh and also included K Ganesh and five other officers, he added.

BSF and Pakistan Rangers at the meeting at Kathua in Jammu on Friday. (PTI)

After welcoming the delegation, the BSF raised issues like unprovoked firing from the Pakistani side, objections by Pakistan Rangers to the BSFs maintenance work in the border area, hunting by people in Pakistan close to the border and not responding to the BSFs requests for holding company commander level border contacts.

We also strongly objected to the firing near the Bobiya border outpost in October last year when Pakistanis fired with rockets and automatic weapons, he added.

Pakistan Rangers assured that they want to maintain good relations with the BSF and such meetings should be arranged more frequently in the border areas, he said.

The Pakistani officials, however, raised objections to burning of sarkanda (elephantine grass), saying the fire spread to their territory and destroyed telephone wires and other things, said the officer.

Sources, however, said that Pakistan doesnt want to cut or burn the elephantine grass in the border areas as they block the BSF personnels vision and act as a camouflage for militants.

The official said the meeting was held in a cordial manner and ended with an exchange of sweets from both the sides.

The two forces also agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity on the international border.
An Indian engineer was killed in a shooting in a Kansas City bar on Wednesday, an attack that some eyewitnesses said could be racially motivated. Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died at a hospital and his colleague, also an Indian, sustained bullet injuries after a white man opened fire in the crowded suburban bar. Adam Purinton, 51, the alleged shooter, thought they were Middle Easterners and was heard telling them to get out of my country at the time of the shooting. He was charged with murder and attempted murder on Thursday.

Heres what we know about the incident:

The victims

Kuchibhotla is possibly the first casualty of the religious, racial and ethnic divisiveness that has swept the US following the election of President Donald Trump, with minorities such as Jews and Muslims reporting a surge in attacks on them and their institutions.

The murder of Kuchibhotla is the first reported bias-motivated fatality in the United States after the bitter Presidential election, according to the Hindu American Foundation.

Kuchibhotla was employed with the Garmin headquarters in Olathe. His colleague, Alok Madasani, was with him at the bar when they came under fire. Ian Grillot, a white man, was also injured in the shooting and reportedly put his life in risk to save the Indians.

Originally from Hyderabad, Kuchibhotla was a B. Tech in electrical and electronics engineering from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. He had a masters degree from the University of Texas, El Paso. Madasani graduated from Vasavi College of Engineering in 2006, and came to the US as a Masters student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Kuchibhotla is survived by his wife Sunayana, according to a GoFundMe page. The couple had no children.

The two Hyderabad men would visit the Kansas bar twice a week to have a smoke and a few Jameson whiskies, a server at the restaurant recalled. They were known as the Jameson guys at the bar where they were shot late on Wednesday.

The hero

Grillot, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital after sustaining bullet injuries, said in a video that he wasnt really thinking when he tried to save the two Indians from the bullets. It was just, it wasnt right, and I didnt want the gentleman to potentially go after somebody else, the Kansas City Star quoted him as saying.

I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him, Grillot said in a video from the University of Kansas Health System posted on the Star website. I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me.

Grillot said that the bullet went through his hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery.

The attacker

The alleged attacker, Purinton, shouted get out of my country before opening fire at the two Indian engineers. Then the navy veteran with an inactive pilot license and air traffic controller certificate fled the bar on foot . He was enjoying a drink at a pub in a neighbouring county hours later when he was picked up.

Purinton attracted the barmans attention in Applebee county when he said he needed to unwind because he had been involved in a shooting. He reportedly lived alone and had been residing at the same address for almost 20 years. According to Kansas City Star, the shooter worked as an air traffic controller in Olathe. He also worked at the Federal Aviation Administration, but left FAA in 2000.

Help pours in

A GoFundMe page set up for Kuchibhotlas family by his former colleague Kavipriya Muthuramalingam raised $227,401 from more than 6,100 people in about six hours. The original goal for the page was $150,000.

Another GoFundMe page - set up for Madasani and Kuchibhotla by Brian Ford, who said he lived about 15 minutes away from the site of the shooting in Olathe - received pledges for $32,660 against a goal of $50,000.

US Sen Jerry Moran of Kansas posted a statement on Facebook saying that he was very disturbed by the shooting. I strongly condemn violence of any kind, especially if it is motivated by prejudice and xenophobia, Moran said.

The US Embassy in New Delhi strongly condemned the shooting in Olathe. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured, it said.

Charge dAffaires MaryKay Carlson said, We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families. The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live. US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognize that justice is small consolation to families in grief.

Indias response

The government rushed two officials on Friday to Kansas City. We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj wrote on Twitter.

Her ministry said consul RD Joshi and vice-consul Harpal Singh were on their way to Kansas City from Houston and Dallas, respectively, to render all possible assistance.

We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderbad.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

Foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said: They will meet the injured, facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased and will be in touch with local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted: Saddened to learn about the death of Srinivas Kuchibotla and injuries to Alok Madasani in Kansas.

Shock in India

The killing led news bulletins in India and drew strong reactions on social media, amid growing concerns that US President Trumps America First rhetoric on immigration and jobs has fueled a climate of intolerance.

Dont be shocked! Be angry! Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla, Siddharth, a well known South Indian actor, tweeted to his 2.6 million followers.

Trumps election was welcomed at first by some sections in India who interpreted his calls to restrict immigration by Muslims. But the Trump administration also has skilled Indian workers like Kuchibhotla in mind as it considers curbing the H-1B visa program, worrying both Indias $150 billion IT services industry and Prime Minister Narendra Modis government.

Probe on

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined local police in the investigation.

The FBI is investigating to determine if the shooting of Kuchibhotla was a bias-motivated hate crime in violation of the victims civil rights, Eric Jackson, special agent in charge of the FBIs Kansas City office told reporters at a news conference.

The US attorney office in Kansas and the US Department of Justice will also evaluate the case as more evidence is gathered, Tom Beall, acting US attorney for the District of Kansas said, the Kansas City Star reported.

The United States saw a wave of hate crimes, including a spike in anti-immigrant incidents, during the first month after Trumps election in November, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported.

Alarm sounded

A Sikh civil rights group has urged members of the Sikh-American community to exercise caution and be extra vigilant in the wake of the killing.

The Sikh Coalition said its prayers go out to the family of Kuchibhotla. The advocacy group urged members of the community to call law enforcement immediately if they have been a victim of hate violence or received threats of violence.

(With agency inputs)
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the Indian IT engineer shot dead in an apparent hate crime in the US, has been described by a former boss as the kind of job candidate every hiring manager wanted on his team.

Rod Larson of Rockwell Collins, an avionics and IT systems company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, remembers the 32-year-old as his top pick in 2007 for the post of a software engineer.

Kuchibhotla died on Wednesday after being shot by US navy veteran Adam Purinton at a bar in Olathe city. He had worked for Rockwell Collins before taking up his current job with GPS-maker Garmin in Kansas.

He was very sharp. A top-of-his-class kind of guy, Larson told local daily Kansas City Star. His personality was exceptional. He was the kind of employee every manager would want.

He said Kuchibhotla was so exceptional that he ultimately couldnt keep the IT professional. Kuchibhotla was moved from his auto-flight department and became instrumental in helping Rockwell Collins develop its first fly-by-wire planes in which manual controls are entirely replaced by computers, he said.

Kuchibhotla moved to a senior systems engineer role before taking the job at Garmin International as an aviation programmes engineer in early 2014.

I couldnt say anything slightly bad about Srinivas, Larson said. He was well-liked by anybody. He was excellent in all categories. He was a low-maintenance employee and did whatever was asked of him.

Kuchibhotlas social media pages give a glimpse into the life of the man Larson described as consistently kind. According to Facebook, Kuchibhotla and his wife Sunayana Dumala are from Hyderabad. The two married in October 2012.

He studied electronics and power systems before graduating from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad in 2005. Kuchibhotla earned a masters degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, where he also worked as a teaching and research assistant before graduating in 2007.
Officials of the Indian Consulate General in Houston are in touch with the wife of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an Indian engineer who was killed in a shooting incident in Kansas state, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Friday.

I have received a report from Mr Anupam Ray CGI Houston, Sushma Swaraj tweeted late Friday evening.

Our mission staff hv met with Sunayna Kuchibhotla. Indian Government is with her in this hour of grief. We assure her of all our support, she said.

Our mission staff hv met with Sunayna Kuchibhotla. Indian Government is with her in this hour of grief. We assure her of all our support. /2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

Indian Ambassador in US Mr.Navtej Sarna has spoken to me and is keeping me informed. /3  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

The minister also said Indian ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna was also in touch with her and was keeping her updated.

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W Purinton, a white who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night.

Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled get out of my country, terrorist before shooting them.

Purinton, according to reports, provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they are better than him.

To avoid unwanted scuffle, the bar management asked him to leave the place, only to find him back at the bar later with gun when he fired at the Indians.

Ian Grillot, 24, an American who tried to save the Indians, was also shot at, media reports quoted police as saying. Grillot was recovering in a hospital while Madasani was discharged.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) called it a hate crime.

Police said Purinton, 51, fired multiple rounds and fled the bar. He was arrested on Thursday morning in Clinton city in neighbouring Missouri state when a bartender told police that he had bragged about killing two Middle Eastern men, The Kansas City Star reported.

The US strongly condemned the shooting and said it has reached out to Indian consular officials to offer support.

The US embassy in New Delhi expressed full faith in the US authorities investigating the matter. We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice, the statement said.

Purinton has been charged with first-degree murder.

It was a tragic and senseless act of violence, Olathe police chief Steven Menke said.

Kuchibhotla hailed from Hyderabad while Madasani is from Warangal town in Telangana. They were aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.
Irshad Alis problem was that he had the wrong film in his head. He thought he was Salman Khan of Ek Tha Tiger when he was not even Sarabjit Singh. And by the end of 2005, after four years of intelligence work, he was on his way to meet his handler, an Intelligence Bureau (IB) official, to pick up his last salary. He had already told him he wanted out.

Ali, 40, a Delhi slumboy who worked in a factory, had been a police informer since his 30s. In the food chain of security networks, a police informer is a small fry chasing other small fry. And small fry cannot claim loyalty in return. Or say they want to retire. When they do, there are consequences.

***

On December 12, 2005, a car pulled over on a road in front of one of Delhis poshest hotels. Ali, who had been waiting for the pick-up, got in. He greeted the IB officer he had been reporting to from early 2000s, and found he had to take the middle seat. Two people were already sitting on either side of the seat. For a second, he felt something amiss but told himself perhaps they wanted the window seat. A second later, a black mask was slipped over his head, and the car sped towards Red Fort.

A long road to Justice: the story of Irshad Ali

 Your brains turned. Weve fattened you enough! I heard the IB officer say, Ali says, recalling the incident as we meet in a coffee shop a few months after his acquittal. For two months after that, I was detained in houses in the city used by the IB and the Special Cell as interrogation rooms. The IB handed him over to the Special Cell, and on February 9, 2006, along with Qamran (another police informer who was Alis cousin), they were packaged before the media as Al-Badr terrorists caught in north Delhi.

Ali was in Tihar Jail from 2006 to 2009. He was acquitted in December 2016 of charges under the Explosive Substances Act and under Section 120B, 121 and 122 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 25 of the Arms Act. He and Qamran were out on bail in 2009 after the High Court heeded the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report that proved the terror allegations levelled against them by the Special Cell were false.

Irshad Ali and his wife Shabana at their home in a slum in northwest Delhi. Shabana was also detained for two days in illegal police custody, says Ali. (Photo: Athar Rather / HT)

An officer of the investigating team, who had questioned Alis handler, says on condition of anonymity, that he had admitted to Ali being his agent, but not that he had been framed.

Ali says both cannot be true - if he was a secret agent and it had been admitted as such by the police, he cannot have been a terrorist. So if I have been punished without a crime, then it should follow that those who put me behind bars, be deemed criminals.

Read: Are cops following procedure or giving painstaking probe the go-by?

Good cops investigating bad cops, or any other public servant, have to deal with a condition called The Consensus - so as to least disturb the status quo. Everyone realised at some point that Ali was innocent and should be discharged but the Special Cell, however, could not be indicted. The Polices Morale, Consensus, whatever you call it, says the cop to HT.

The selection of Irshad Ali

Why did Irshad Ali agree to become a secret agent in the first place?

From 2001 to 2006, Ali had been working for the IB and the Special Cell. A cab driver, he needed to supplement the family income. Residents of a slum near Rithala, the one-room shack in which he lives stands on uneven ground; garbage lies all around. His father when alive, worked in an attache factory.

I have six sisters. My brother who is serving a life sentence, worked for the cops from inside the jail, and I, from outside, he says. We felt the pressure to do it. My brother passed on letters of convicts, the police wanted to know more about, to me and I passed it on to the cops.

With a brother in jail on a murder charge, you have to be grateful if the police say they want you to work for them, says Ali. The IB, with whom he went to work first, is interested in your psyche, he says. They take time to figure out who you are. If the local police catch you for a wrongdoing they will go through your pockets. The IB will go through your diary. But they work together.

A lonely fight for justice. Ali was acquitted in December 2016 of charges under the Explosive Substances Act and under Section 120B, 121 and 122 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 25 of the Arms Act. (Photo: Athar Rather / HT)

There is danger in intelligence work. But because of the police association, Ali thought there was security. He also brought in a couple of his friends and some members of his family such as Qamran, and engaged them in intelligence work. Qamar did not want to speak to the media.

A free man now, Ali says he has no problem speaking out. Friends on Whatsapp afraid of his safety have been telling him not to make so much noise.

I have nothing to lose, says Ali. His voice is steady, his eyes are still. Once in a while he breaks his narrative to look around and says gesturing towards a man sitting in another corner of the coffee shop: I could go and chat with him and he will open up to me. I learnt how to do it. I was picked up because I had guts, they knew I was of their level.

Read: Kashmir alienated by Delhi police picking the wrong man

End of honeymoon

Alis case is ironic in more ways than one. This was not a case of the police picking up the wrong man. He was the IBs man. And the Special Cell who, alongwith some IB officers, fixed Ali knew that, says one of the cops who probed the frame-up. He had been refusing his assignments, he didnt want to cross the border and be trained as a militant so as to infiltrate their ranks. They just werent ready to let him go, he says.

I have worked for both the IB and the Special Cell, says Ali. I was being paid a monthly salary of Rs 7,000. But he began to be filled with a sense of wrong. Ali, who had half-completed a maulvis education in a madrassa, was being asked to indoctrinate people and then squeal about them to the police. Even if the police said that after laying the trap they would let me get away. I didnt want to be the hand that helped them get medals. In other words, he was developing a conscience. Or maybe he was just plain tired.

My wife Shabana didnt want me to cross the border. We had become parents, says the father of two. His daughter died when he was in jail.

Ali believes he was finally made the scapegoat for the Cells inability to catch the people behind the Delhi blasts of 2005. Besides, his days of being useful as an intelligence gatherer were also over. The intelligence officials he had worked with had told him often enough: If a lime dries up, make use of its peels. But he didnt believe they were talking about him.

Thoda dhamki, thoda maafi (a little bit of threatening and a little bit of cajoling), he says, had been part of his relationship with intelligence officials. Police informers like him were told they had saved these many lives, stopped this or that disaster with the news we got. I felt I was contributing. But they held him on a tight leash. It was classic carrot and stick. He had four years in jail to arrive at these conclusions.

Ali was out on bail in 2009 after the CBI filed a report recommending that he be discharged as the Special Cells charges against him were inconsistent with existing evidence. Due to Santosh Kumar, the investigating officer of the CBI, I am a free man today, says Ali. Kumar was part of an eight-member team investigating the Special Cells allegations.

Due to Santosh Kumar (above), investigating officer of the CBI, I am a free man, says Ali. The CBI team exposed that the charges levelled by the Special Cell against Ali were a sham. (Photo: Central Bureau of Investigation)

Fighting back

In January 2017, he filed a case in the Delhi High Court urging it to order the CBI to re-open their closure report in which they had recommended that police officers who had framed him be booked for criminal conspiracy. The hearing is due in March.

Its not personal, but about justice, says Ali. But is it surprising, if its a bit of both ?

Alis revelations give a glimpse into the smoke and mirrors that shroud intelligence operations, and the gross impunity with which men from the minority community can be first forced into becoming the agencies foot soldiers, and then disposed off when their use is over, says Manisha Sethi of the Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association (JTSA). The JTSA reports (in 2012 and 2015)  had, in fact, brought to the fore the methodical fabrication of evidence against Muslims, mainly Kashmiris, by the Special Cell in the name of fighting terror through the past two decades. It also points to how the media unquestioningly repeated the police versions as truth, until years later courts acquitted these unfortunate men, says Sethi.

A bomb blast ripped through a crowded Sarojini Nagar market in Delhi on October 29. (Photo: Ajay Aggarwal / HT)

Ali is no longer in shock but speaks with a quiet outrage. Did he ever speak out thus in court? In the eyes of the law, I was a criminal. If you tried to speak, it could be considered contempt of court, he says without any sense of irony. You could only speak through your lawyers. At a fast-track court, a sessions judge once told him:  Admit to your guilt and Ill free you now. In other words, end of case, end of police scrutiny.

***

So will Alis be a cautionary tale for cops not to force people to continue with intelligence gathering if they dont want to? I ask another cop following the case.

You cant use force thats for sure, he agrees. Otherwise, you will have a case like Alis in your hands.

So will there be outrage now that people know?

No. People will forget.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI/GONDA: Conspirators from across the border were responsible for a train derailment near Kanpur that killed 150 people and injured more than 200 last November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

His remarks follow the arrest of four men in Nepal and Bihar this January, who had allegedly told police that the Pakistani spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), was behind the Kanpur accident  the worst train tragedy in the country in six years.

It was a conspiracy and the conspirators carried it out sitting across the border, he said at a poll rally in Uttar Pradeshs Gonda, which votes on February 27 in the fifth round of the seven-phase assembly elections in the state.

If such people, who will help them (conspirators) got elected from here, will Gonda be safe then, will nation be safe then?: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/bVwciN4QVd  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 24, 2017

The Indore-Patna Express jumped rails near Kanpur Dehat in Pukhrayan on November 21.

The Modi government has asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the sabotage angle.

The agency has sought help from experts with IIT-Kanpur (IIT-K) to know the technical aspects of the accident. The IIT team, which visited the site on Wednesday, will submit its report after the results of the assembly polls in five states are declared on March 11.

We will take at least a month to submit our report to the NIA, said Sandeep Sangal, one of the experts.

A previous technical assessment available with the NIA shows the train was travelling at 106 kmph but came to a complete halt within 14 seconds. Of the 23 coaches, seven derailed after its S-6 and S-7 compartments separated.

There was a leakage of pressure vacuum because of the de-coupling, which triggered the brakes to clamp automatically. The train halted within 193 metres of the de-coupling in 14 seconds, and thats pretty quick, an NIA official said.

By comparison, the Ajmer-Sealdah Express, which derailed on December 28 just 30km from the Patna-Indore trains accident site, halted after travelling 550 metres.

The Centre has also asked the anti-terrorism agency to investigate the recovery of an unexploded bomb from railway tracks near Ghorasahan in Bihar last October, and the derailment of Hirakund Express in Andhra Pradesh this year.

Suspicion of a Pakistani hand in the tragedy gained ground after Nepalese police arrested in January a criminal, Brij Kishore Giri, for murdering two of his Indian associates. Giri told interrogators that he was contracted by Shamsul Hoda, a Pakistani operative, who had asked him to hire crooks to carry out subversive activities, including train derailments in India.

An alert from authorities in Kathmandu led Bihar Police to three of Giris alleged associates holed up in East Champaran district.

New Delhi has often accused Pakistani agencies of fomenting trouble in India through agents in Nepal, a charge denied by Islamabad.

The location of Gonda, along the India-Nepal border, probably prompted Prime Minister Modi to caution people about cross-border crime, underscoring the suspected foreign conspiracy in the Kanpur train tragedy.

Gonda is adjoining Nepal ... Gonda needs to elect only those who are full of patriotism, he said, asking people not to vote for those who help conspirators. There should be no mistake in elections, whether it is the SP or BSP, none of them should win.

He asked people to vote for the BJP, saying only a strong government at the Centre as well as the state could curb cross-border crime.

He also promised that a BJP government in Uttar Pradesh would initiate steps to overhaul the states education system and curb cheating in exams.

The BJP is out of power in the state since 2002, where the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have been in power almost alternately for the past 15 years. Modis party is competing with a SP-Congress alliance and the BSP this election.

The ruling SP has claimed to have improved the states education sector, especially highlighting the state governments scheme for free laptops to meritorious students and bicycle to girls.

In his response, the Prime Minister tried to corner chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, saying he received his education abroad and his children are studying in private schools, but an education mafia has ruined the future of poor students.

BJP parliamentarian for Kaiserganj, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was by Modis side, owns more than two dozen colleges in Gonda and nearby districts.

(With agency inputs)
The two Hyderabad boys shot in a Kansas bar by a white man were super nice guys who would visit twice a week to have a smoke and a few Jameson whiskies, a server at the restaurant has recalled.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani were shot late on Wednesday by Adam Purinton, a former US navy veteran, who wanted them to leave his country, in what is being seen as an apparent hate crime.

The 32-year-old Kuchibhotla died almost immediately, while Madasani, 32, was released from a hospital in Olathe on Thursday.

We know them as the Jameson guys, Garret Bohnen, who has served them, told The Kansas City Star, a local newspaper. They are super nice guys. They would sit, have a cigarette, have a few drinks and pay their tab and leave.

The 51-year-old alleged shooter was charged on Thursday. A third man, local Ian Grillot, who was injured as he tried to stop Purinton, is in hospital.

Bohnen, who was leaving the bar as Kuchibhotla and Madasani walked in, said all four were regulars at the Austins Bar and Grill.

Ians a really good guy, Bohnen told The Kansas City Star. Hes been going there forever. Weve always had a good time with him. Hes always one to diffuse stuff.

And thats exactly what Grillot, 24, did on Wednesday.

Local US media reports said Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims, questioning their presence and work in his country. He was then told to leave the bar, but he returned, shouted get out of my country and terrorist before shooting them.

Grillot ducked behind a table and when he thought the gunman was out of bullets, he lunged at him. But as the Kansas City Star reported, Purinton had still one round left and shot Grillot through the arm and chest.

From what I understand when he was throwing racial slurs at the two gentlemen (Kuchibhotla and Madasani), Ian stood up for them, Bohnen said. Were all proud of him.
An engineer from Hyderabad died and his colleague from Warangal were wounded in a possible racial attack at a suburban Kansas City bar on Wednesday. Police charged a 51-year-old former US Navy veteran for the crime.

Here are five things to know about the attacker, curated from the Kansas City Star and KCTV5 news.

1.The alleged attacker, Adam Purinton, shouted Get out of my country before opening fire at the two Indian engineers.

2.He fled the bar on foot after the shooting and was enjoying a drink at a pub in a neighbouring county hours later, when he was picked up

3.Purinton attracted the barmans attention in Applebee county when he said he needed to unwind because he had been involved in a shooting

4.Local residents told KCTV5 news Purinton lived alone and had been residing at the same address for almost 20 years.

5.His family members told KCTV5 news that Purinton was an alcoholic whose condition worsened when the navy veterans father died in October 2015.
Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Friday said new generation of militants in the state were fighting for freedom of this nation.

Addressing NC workers at the Nawa-e-Subh party headquarters in Srinagar, Abdullah said the youth were not sacrificing their lives to become an MLA, an MP or a minister.

Our youth are giving sacrifices. They dont want to become MLA, MP or minister. They are rendering sacrifices demanding their rights. This is our land and we are its owners, you are not. This should not be forgotten, he said at the gathering organised to commemorate the death anniversary of one of NCs founding leaders.

They have left (their homes). Everybody loves his life. Nobody wants to die. But they left (their homes) to fulfil their promise with God (and they say) we will give our lives to make this nation free, he said.

Referring to India and Pakistan, Abdullah said the two nations were unable to understand this. He said peace can only return to Kashmir when there was peace between Indian and Pakistan.

If you have to bring peace in Kashmir, then a way should be developed for dialogue and peace between India and Pakistan, he said.

This fight started in 1931. We are not enemies of anybody but we want both nations to do justice with us. You did not do justice to us. The promises you made to us in 1948, you forgot them. My nation does not fear guns, he said.

On the recent warning of Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat to the youth of Kashmir, Abdullah said, It is not right. This is unfortunate, because if you have to solve the problem, it cant be solved by a bullet or a gun, but by dialogue. And dialogue is the way we should adopt, he said.

On February 15, General Rawat had warned youth in Kashmir of harsh measures if they hampered counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley.

Abdullah said the reason people were going to encounter sites was that the present government had promised them that they will not shake hands with communal forces and Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) did it and that's the reason people are angry.

A trend has emerged lately in Kashmir wherein local youths flock encounter sites during raging gunfights to help militants flee. The army chiefs warning triggered outrage in the Valley, with opposition parties arguing that the statement will escalate tension in the state.

Abdullah said there was a need to understand the reasons why certain things were happening. Attempts should be made to solve those issues. There should be attempts that the gun stops in Kashmir and the situation improves, he said.

PM Modis kabristan comment unfortunate

Abdullah also said Prime Minister Narendra Modis kabristan-shamshaan comment in Uttar Pradesh was unfortunate.

It was very unfortunate. A Prime Ministers speech should join peoples hearts. It should not be such that it divides people. I was not expecting this from him, Abdullah said.
Activists have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to preside over the unveiling of the 112-foot tall statue of Shiva at Isha Centre in Coimbatore on Friday over alleged violation of environmental norms by the organisers, Isha Foundation of yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev, which has denied the accusations.

The unveiling ceremony is scheduled to be held at 5:30 pm to mark Maha Shivratri and Modi is expected to arrive at the Isha centre by helicopter after landing at Sulur Air Base.

With tribal associations and others in Coimbatore having planned demonstrations and protests in the city, security and traffic regulations have been beefed up.

On Wednesday, former Madras high court judge D Hariparanthaman had said that the Isha Foundation has over 13 lakh sqft of illegal constructions, and the visit by the Prime Minister may interfere with the administration of justice.

He also said the opposition was not because of the religious event, but due to the violation of the building norms and the apprehension that the Prime Ministers visit will legitimise the actions of the organisation, a fear endorsed by activists and tribal bodies.

Isha Foundation, however, said vested interests were trying to disrupt the event.

We have got all the necessary permissions from the authorised people. These are some vested interests who are trying to create a ruckus to disrupt a major event like this, said a public relations executive from Isha Foundation.

In a statement, it also said that a no objection certificate from the district collector, Coimbatore, for using wetlands for non-agricultural purposes has also been obtained, besides approvals from necessary authorities, including the Coimbatore district collector, the forest department and BSNL.

This is not the first time that the ruling Centre has been seen to support an event organised by a spiritual leader accused of environmental violations.

Last March, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar hosted a World Culture Festival on the banks of the Yamuna in New Delhi, which saw senior members of the BJP, including finance minister Arun Jaitley and party president Amit Shah, attending the final day.

The NGT subsequently declared that the event had completely destroyed the flood plains of the Yamuna, causing an irreversible loss of the local fauna and flora.

A recent blog by Isha Foundation has said that the accusations in petitions filed in the Madras High Court are frivolous and a compilation of twisted allegations.

The Foundation has been embroiled in a controversial legal battle over its compound in Coimbatore since 2012, and has even received demolition notices from the state government in the past.

While a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Madras HC was filed by the Velliangiri Hill Tribal Protection Society, seeking to demolish the unauthorised construction, another application before the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) claimed that it is located in Velliangiri foothills which is a man-animal conflict area.

In 2013, the Town and Country Planning department had specified that the extent of illegal construction is 13 lakh sq ft to the Madras high court. A stop-work notice was issued in November 2012, with a lock and seal and demolition notice being served shortly after in December 2012.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The insurgent groups in Manipur have called for a shutdown in the state on Saturday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigns here for the upcoming assembly election, a statement said.

Late on Thursday night, the Coordinating Committee (Corcom) that constitutes of six insurgent groups, in a communique said that the blockade would start at 6 a.m. on February 25 and would be in place till Modi leaves the state capital here.

The police said that security measures were beefed up to ensure that there was no law and order problem during the one-hour visit of the Prime Minister.

The Corcom statement also levelled serious charges against the Centre, including driving a wedge between the communities who have lived in peace and harmony for generations.

Members of public were asked not to venture out during the curfew. However media and those in essential services were exempted.

The established insurgent groups in Manipur have always boycotted visits of the central dignitaries, an official said.

Police said: During such public curfew people usually stayed indoors and did not stick out their necks.

There was always a thin attendance in such public functions. There were also stray violent incidents to drive home the message that the boycott call should not be taken lightly, the official added.

The ruling Congress party has demanded that during his visit, Modi should spell out the details of the framework agreement that New Delhi had signed with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) in 2015.

Students and women activists also demanded the disclosure of details of the agreement.

Elections for the 60-seat assembly in the state will be held in two phases on March 4 and 8.
Police traced Aquib Malik, a third semester LLB student at the Kashmir University, and handed him over to the university authorities on Friday, three days after his mysterious disappearance.

The police said Malik was traced at Habak in Nigeen area of Srinagar. The area is near to the university.

During interrogation Malik reportedly told the police that he was under stress for some unknown reasons and he spent last three nights in different places.

Malik, a native of Pinjoora in south Kashmirs Shopian district, had taken active part in protests on the university campus against the recent death of two civilians in an encounter in Kulgam.

Sources said he became paranoid about his safety after the news about him being at the forefront of the campus protests spread.

In a statement police said after Malik went missing, he had spent the first night at the SKIMS hospital in Soura and the second night at SMHS hospital.

The following day he visited a friends house in Baramulla in north Kashmir and spent the last night again at SMHS hospital, the police said.

Malik was last seen in the afternoon of February 21, his friends had told HT on Thursday.

After proper counseling the student was handed over to the chief proctor of the university in presence of his relatives and friends, the statement said.

The university, in a communique, appreciated the efforts of the police and the office of the chief proctor in tracing the missing student.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik sought to dismiss the BJPs spectacular show in the Odisha rural polls as a minor hiccup when he spoke to his legislators on Wednesday.

The BJP, a non-entity in this eastern state by the sea till a couple of years ago, has gained about 300 zilla parishad seats in the recent elections. The party won only 36 in 2012.

But the four-term chief minister and BJD leader put up a brave face in front of his MLAs.

We are still No 1 in Odisha and our MLAs should reconnect with people, Patnaik said.

The BJD won 460 seats, down by 190 from the previous tally. Official results of the polls are scheduled to be announced on Saturday.

The confidence in his comments hid a deep anxiety that the BJPs rise in the state has besieged 70-year-old Patnaik and his party managers.

BJD leaders are doubly worried as the regional party has faced near-total decimation in the tribal belts of Kalahandi, Malkangiri and Mayurbhanj.

Voters stand in queue during the last phase of polling for the panchayat election at Tangiapada village in Khurda district. (PTI)

In the Maoist hotbed of tribal-majority Malkangiri, the party was pushed to an ignominious third position behind runners-up Congress. The voters, who had backed the BJD in previous assembly and panchayat elections, were angry with the state governments response when hundreds of their children died in a mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis outbreak.

They were already seething over the government allegedly orchestrating mass surrender of tribals in the name of quelling Maoist violence over the past couple of years.

In Kalahandi, last years much-publicised image of a tribal farmer walking 10km carrying his wifes corpse with his daughter in tow was a reflection of the governments apathy towards the region. The woman died of tuberculosis, a curable disease but rampant in the poor countryside.

Just about two years ago, Kalahandi had elected a BJD MP from the royal family and the party won the five assembly seats in the district.

The punishment was swift. The BJP won 34 of the 36 zilla parishad zones in the district last week, thanks to a silent Modi wave.

It was all due to Modi, said Debendra Mohanty, BJPs state executive member from Kalahandi.

Demonetisation boosted the partys image among the poor, who thought Prime Minister Narendra Modis fight against corruption was better than Naveen Patnaiks rhetoric. More importantly, it has made Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan a credible alternative to Patnaik.

The poverty bowl of Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi (KBK), which Patnaik has been cultivating through a surfeit of schemes for tribals and Dalits over the past decade, deserted the BJD. The BJP cornered about 49% of the 187 zilla parishad seats, a rise of over 1,400% compared to its 2012 performance.

The ruling BJD managed to hold its fort only in Koraput.

The Congress has been wiped out almost everywhere, save for the western district of Jharsuguda.

We could not fight the combined money power of the BJD and BJP, said state PCC chief Prasad Harichandan, who has offered to resign.

The BJPs emphatic show is the result of the partys two years of groundwork, especially the Centres scheme of delivering cooking gas connection to more than 600,000 rural families in the state.

Unlike the urban areas, in rural Odisha, LPG connection is still a luxury. The scheme with a smiling picture of Modi made a positive impact on the panchayat voters, said Rabi Das, a political analyst.

Ahead of the 2019 assembly polls, the BJP is planning to give cooking gas to at least 2.4 million poor families in the state.

The BJD organisation has more or less remained static, but the BJP added 3 million new members.

Partys national joint organising secretary Soudan Singh changed at least 12 district presidents, bringing in new faces and the much-needed vitality to the organisation. Before and during the panchayat elections, the party held at least 50,000 roadside meetings, highlighting alleged failures of the Patnaik government in addressing basic needs such as drinking water, housing, healthcare, education, and employment.

The BJD depended more on the bureaucracy, even asking district collectors for feedback on the partys winning prospects in the panchayat polls. The district collectors are reported to have conveyed that the BJD would win 90% of the zilla parishad seats.
Police on Thursday booked a Jat leader and his associates for promoting enmity and public mischief.

The police said Rahul Dadu, who is leading a parallel protest under the banner of Jat Jagriti Sena (JJS) at Sector 6 here, was booked for spreading false rumours on social media and promoting caste-based enmity. However, his associates booked in the case were not named.

The police had on late Wednesday night picked up two out of five protesters sitting on hunger strike at the ongoing dharna of the JJS after their health deteriorated badly. Ram Singh, 65, and Raj Singh, 56, had been sitting on hunger strike since February 14, and had even stopped drinking water from February 20 to press for their demands, including withdrawal of cases against Jats registered during violent quota stir last year.

Rahul Dadu sitting on a hunger strike (centre) in Rohtak. He was booked by police on Thursday for promoting enmity and public mischief. (Manoj Dhaka/HT)

The two men had started vomiting blood but had refused to accept medical aid. Based on the doctors recommendations, we had peacefully picked them up from the spot and admitted them to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, where they are being given adequate medical treatment, a police spokesperson said.

However, soon after the incident, Jat protesters, including Dadu, sent audios and videos on WhatsApp claiming that the cops came in large number and manhandled them and vandalised their property. The police, denying claim that anyone was manhandled, booked Dadu under sections 153 A (promoting enmity), 505 (public mischief) and 188 (disobedience) of the Indian Penal Code.

The messages claiming police abused and manhandled them are totally false. They even tried to incite the public on their false claims, taking cognisance of which we have booked them, the police said.

Dadu, who has been sitting on hunger strike from January 31, on the other hand, maintained that he along with his partners was manhandled by cops. They abused us, pushed us, tore my clothes and even snatched mobile phones of our people who tried to record their actions. We did send videos on social media, but only asked for support of people. We have been holding peaceful dharnas, but made no inciting statements, Dadu maintained.

The JJS members said that on Friday, they will organise a big protest that would bring an earthquake.
The death of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, in what appears to be a racial attack in the United States has triggered shock and outrage across the country. His colleague Alok Madasani was injured in the shooting that took place at a bar in Kansas but is now out of danger. Adam Purinton, 51, the alleged shooter, thought the two were Middle Easterners and was heard calling them terrorists before telling them to get out of my country. The attack has left immigrants in the US worried and anxious.

This isnt, however, the first time that Indians have been targeted. Heres a look at attacks on Indian in the US and UK:

2016

November 20: Nicki Pancholy, a 41-year-old Indian- American, was attacked in California after her bandana was mistaken for a hijab. The Rajasthani woman has been battling Lupus, which causes hair loss, and wore the bandanna for protection from the sun.

May 30: Davinder Singh, 47, was shot dead at his gas station in Newark, New Jersey. His family described it as hate crime as many Sikhs are mistaken for people from the Middle East because of their turban. His son, Jatinder Singh, told a TV news network, There was no robbery, no struggle, no confrontation. I dont know what else it could be other than a hate crime.

2015

February 26: The Kent Hindu Temple in Washington state was vandalised with several windows broken and the word fear painted on its wall.

February 15: A similar incident had taken place a couple of weeks earlier, when unidentified miscreants sprayed swastika and painted Get Out on one of the walls of the Bothell Hindu Temple in the Seattle Metropolitan area.

2013

August 10: A 19-year-old British girl assaulted an elderly Sikh man in broad daylight in Coventry in the United Kingdom. The 80-year-old was punched, shoved to the ground and left with a bloodied nose and a black eye. The woman spat on him before walking off.

July 29: An unknown group of men vandalised a gurdwara in California and spray-painted the word terrorist on its walls.

June 23: Two men smashed glass and furniture at a Hindu temple in Canadas British Columbia.

June 11: A young Indian man, Himanshu Goyal, was thrashed and verbally abused by a group of men outside his Bridge Mall eatery in the Australian town of Ballarat.

May 5: An elderly Sikh man was brutally beaten up outside a gurdwara in Fresno, California.

February 26: A Sikh man was shot and injured while driving home from work with his son in Florida. The victim, 47-year-old Kanwaljit Singh recovered from a surgery while his 13-year-old son escaped unhurt.

2012

August 5: An army veteran killed six Sikh men after going on a shooting spree in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

2011

December 26: Anuj Bidve,a postgraduate student at Lancaster University, was shot in the head by a British man as he was walking down Salford in Great Manchester.

March 6: Two Sikh men were killed by gunmen in Californias Sacramento

2001

September 15: Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner in Messa, Arizona, was killed just days after 9/11 by a man who was looking for towel-heads to avenge the attacks.
The clashes that broke out at Delhi Universitys Ramjas College this week can be viewed as a spillover of the violence witnessed on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus last year.

However, there is a major political difference between the two institutions  while the Left has dominated student politics at JNU, Delhi University has been a bastion of the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for decades now.

Sources in the ABVP say they are concerned over JNU culture seeping into Delhi University, and the display of physical might witnessed over the last few days was the right-wing organisations way of stemming it. Even the RSS, which has been holding the reins to varsity politics for many decades now, does not wish to see it fall into the hands of Leftist groups such as the All India Students Federation (AISA).

The ABVP believes itself to be at the forefront of the battle against the JNUs resident anti-nationals.

Vijendra Gupta, a BJP MLA from Delhi who was once an ABVP member, articulates this sentiment in no uncertain terms. The nation comes first, and any attempt to destabilise it will not be tolerated, he thunders.

The students of Ramjas College had organised an event titled, The culture of protest. The ABVP was irked by the fact that Umar Khalid  a JNU student arrested for sedition last year  figured among the panelists. AISA is nowhere in Delhi University. As far as student politics is concerned, our fight is only with the Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI). AISA cant come here, ever. The students union of Ramjas College started this issue, not us. They approached us for help. If someone faces sedition charges, how can you turn him into a hero by giving him a platform to address students? We will never allow something like that, says Shreerang Kulkarni, national media head of the ABVP.

Kulkarni claims ABVP members never enter into violent confrontations with the NSUI because it has a different work culture, despite being their chief opponent. AISA comprises a bunch of liars who cant protest peacefully. They resort to cheap tricks. For instance, AISA women tear their own clothes and accuse us of molestation. This is how they function, he adds.

AISA members, on the other hand, believe that the ABVP is scared of them making in-roads into Delhi University. If we are no challenge to them, they should have simply ignored us. But they didnt. They are trying to identify members of our organisation and target them. But Delhi will soon free itself from their clutches, says AISA president Sucheta De.

De goes on to accuse ABVP of behaving like a terrorist organisation. The nation knows who resorts to violence and vandalism for silencing voices that dont belong to the RSS or ABVP. They are behaving like the Thakur Sena of Mumbai. We have footage of ABVP members assaulting people. There are medical reports too, she says.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The leopard has a rule, says Chhotelal Meena, sitting on his haunches beside a fire in his village house in Rajasthans Alwar district.

If you snatch its kill, it comes back to avenge it. This one will come back and kill one more, I tell you, adds the 40-year-old farmer, his eyes, yellowed by years of exposure to wood smoke, reflecting his conviction in the rustic wisdom he just pronounced.

Chhotelals argument has a reason. A leopard is suspected to have killed his father, 66-year-old Ram Kumar, on February 12 when the senior Meena went to relieve himself outside his home in Sili Baodi village.

The house, sitting on the edge of the village, is less than a kilometre from the Sariska Tiger Reserve, which has 14 tigers and more than 100 leopards.

But the big cat could not prey on its kill as villagers were alarmed by sounds of the man being brought down. The leopard fled when it saw humans.

One of us went to see where the sound had come from and on seeing the leopard on top of my uncle, he shouted. When others came running, the leopard fled, says Chhotelals cousin Ramavtar. But it came back fifteen minutes later. I saw it licking blood from the same spot. The cat has tasted human blood.

The leopard is believed to have killed four people in the village including Chhotelals father since February 5.

Since then people in about 40 villages in the area are living in a state of panic, shutting themselves up in their homes after sunset, the men taking turns to stand on guard throughout the nights.

The forest department has caught four leopards since then, one of them an old big cat which officials said was responsible for the human kills.

But the panic-stricken villagers are not convinced. Several cattle attacked and injured recently are also believed to be by the same leopard.

The leopard (scientific name Panthera pardus) is the most endemic member of the cat family in India and an estimated 12,000-14,000 are believed to be spread across the country.

But they have also become one of the biggest casualties of growing human population, their habitats destroyed and prey based diminished. Hundreds of leopards have been killed over the years in human-animal conflicts.

There have also been several instances of leopards attacking humans in Maharashtra and Uttarakhand.

And the terror of Sili Baodi village could be the story of any other village with a leopard nearby.

Chhotelal Meena, standing guard outside his house in Sili Baodi in Alwar. (HT Photo)

Long as a motorcycle

But people in this Rajasthan village say this is the first time they are facing a man-eater leopard though they are no strangers to animals straying out of Sariska.

Some say there are more than one leopard killing people, while one man, who claims to have seen the animal, says it is as long as a motorcycle and might as well be a tiger.

Earlier in September and October, a leopard had killed two people in two other villages.

Ramavtar claims the Alwar collector who visited the village with forest and police officials had seen the leopard.

However, collector Muktanand Agarwal denied seeing the leopard but added that forest officials had suggested a high probability of a leopards presence in the area at that time.

Balaji Kari, deputy field director of Sariska, said the last leopard trapped was the one attacking humans.

We have consistently tracked the animal, collected pugmarks and other case samples. We knew another incident will prove very costly for us and we worked very hard to catch this one, Kari adds.

We are certain that this leopard is the one behind killings. It is an old animal, over ten years of age, and must have been unable to hunt for itself. For the same reason it must have veered towards the villages and after killing the first victim, felt that humans were easy prey.

The longest night

But villagers have refused to let their guard down.

Around midnight, Chhotelal, armed with a stick and a torch, makes a round of the periphery of his house.

The dogs become dead silent when the leopard comes. They are damn scared of the leopard. A street dog went missing from the village some 5-6 days ago. The half-eaten body of the dog was found atop a tree in the fields, says Chhotelal, before flashing his torch all around, including the treetops.

A villager, Shivdan Meena, checking his torch. The men keep torches and sticks with them at night. (HT Photo )

When the night falls, the village streets become deserted and kids start fighting among themselves over who will sleep in the middle. People who have gated houses say that in another fifteen days summer will be here and sleeping inside will become unbearable.

There are no toilets in the houses and people make it a point to relieve themselves before dusk ever since the leopard struck. The kids are made to do it in corners of the room.

Chhotelals relatives, who live in the village, are staying at his house for extra security. Men take turns to sleep for few hours and then to guard the night. Circled around the fire in the evening, smoking hookah and chillum, they discuss the events of the day.

Some argue that conflict with big cats never used to happen before. Others say that the relocation of tigers in Sariska has shrunk the spaces for leopards and forcing them to move towards the villages.

As the night thickens, the gathering around the fire thins. At 12:30, its only Chhotelal who is awake, when power goes off.

He gets up and lights a gas lamp. The yellow light of the two bulbs that was barely enough has been replaced by a much dimmer and greenish light of the lamp.

You see the problem. Its even more difficult to spot the animal now. It might be hiding right in the bush behind me and I would never know, says Chhotelal.

As hours pass, the night becomes quieter, the barking of dogs grows clearer. A few houses away someone flashes his torch around from the roof of his house.

This hour is the most dangerous. The leopard keeps waiting in the bushes for hours, waiting for men to fall silent and get drowsy, he adds.

Chhotelal makes another chillum, picks an ember with his hand and places it on the pipe. As he takes a drag, he freezes. The skin on his forehead contracts and he trains his ears towards the bushes.

Suddenly, there is clanking of chains as the three buffaloes in his courtyard stand up. He flashes the torch at them and their wide-open eyes stare back at him. The buffaloes stand dead at their places. He quickly wakes up the two men sleeping on a cot beside him.

The men throw their blankets and spring into action. Picking up their sticks and torches they run in opposite directions, flashing torches and banging their sticks on the ground. Chhotelal rushes to the rooftop. The men stay put for a few minutes, before coming back. Must have been a mongoose, one of them says.

At 4 am the power supply comes back. At 4:30 am woman in the neighbourhood has started milking her buffalo. Few minutes later, the men in her house call Chhotelal for tea.

By 5 the village has come alive with people starting their day. Chhotelal goes over to the neighbour to have tea, but not before stopping on the way to answer natures call. He had been holding it since last evening.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A 15-member delegation of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) visited the headquarters of the Indian Armys Eastern Command in Kolkata, officials said.

The visit was intended to enhance the bilateral defence cooperation mechanism between the armed forces of India and China, said an official statement.

The delegation, which arrived in New Delhi on February 21, held meetings with Indian Army officials in the national capital. It also visited Agra before visiting the Eastern Command headquarters.

In Kolkata, the team interacted with Lt Gen Dushyant Singh, chief of staff, at the Eastern Command headquarters, followed by a meeting with the Eastern Command delegation.

The visit was in continuation of the enhanced engagements between the two armies, which also saw Western Theatre commander General Zhao Zongqi visiting India in December 2016.
Union minister Uma Bharti asserted her right to enter the sanctum sanctorum of famous Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain as a sadhvi on the occasion of Mahashivratri.

Bharti managed to secure entry to the temples sanctum on the basis of her status as sadhvi despite the fact that temple authorities had barred entry on the day owing to huge rush of the devotees to have darshan of Lord Mahakal.

Eye-witnesses said she was initially stopped by the officials as the administration had barred the entry into Garbh Grah (sanctum-sanctorum) in view of the rush during the Mahashivratri.

Ujjain Collector Sanket Bhondwe, who is the chairman of the temple committee, informed her about this rule, but the Minister was visibly annoyed, witnesses said.

Union water resources minister told the officials that she was a Sadhvi (spiritual leader) and therefore they cannot prevent her from entering the sanctum-sanctorum to offer jal (water) to the deity.

Bhondwe later told PTI that we allowed her only to offer water, and did not allow any other person (to enter).

The bar to entry in the sanctum sanctorum was meant to avoid inconvenience to the people, and because of this system, more than 2.5 lakh people could have darshan, he said.

Meanwhile, Bharti said in a statement later that she went to the temple only after getting a permission from Mahant of Udasin Akhara Prakash Puri, who looks after issues regarding the temples customs.

She only performed Jalabhishek as she had the due permission and it was also allowed to other mahants and priests of the temple, she said.

On Mahashivratri every sadhu has the right to perform Jalabhishek, she said, adding that she was a Dikshit Sanyasi (properly initiated spiritual leader). The senior BJP leader also praised Madhya Pradesh government for making arrangements during the Simhasth (Kumbh) mela last year.
Senior Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan had a narrow escape on Friday as his helicopter made an emergency landing in Karand village near Jahangirabad in Barabanki due to a technical snag, police said.

The helicopter carrying Khan on his way to Lucknow from Bahraich had to make the emergency landing due to some technical problem, said superintendent of police Raja Babu.

Everyone in the chopper was safe, he said adding Khan was later sent to Lucknow by road.
The US embassy in New Delhi strongly condemned on Friday the shooting incident in Kansas resulting in the death of an Indian techie and said American authorities will thoroughly investigate and bring the case to justice.

In a statement, US Charge de Affaires MaryKay Carlson said, We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families. The US is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live.

US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief.

Maintaining that the authorities have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims, she said, We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime. US Federal authorities are also investigating the case.

We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice.

An Indian engineer was killed and two others were injured after an American navy veteran yelling terrorist and get out of my country opened fire on them in a crowded bar in Kansas City in an apparent racially motivated hate crime, according to the local police.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, died of bullet injuries in hospital while his Indian colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured when the 51-year-old shooter started yelling hurling racial slurs following an altercation on Wednesday night.

The embassy also extended condolences to the family and friends of Kuchibhotla and wished a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured.
India has stepped up its lobbying effort against moves in the US Congress to impose curbs on visas for skilled workers that threaten the South Asian nations tech sector, which employs more than 3.5 million people.

Speaking to Reuters, trade minister Nirmala Sitharaman said New Delhi had reached out to the administration of President Donald Trump to stress the importance of Indias $150-billion IT services industry to US citizens.

Indias investments in the United States have provided jobs to US citizens, she said in an interview. That has to be brought to the notice of the US administration.

The comments come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Washington to keep an open mind on admitting skilled Indian workers.

Indian software companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd shot to prominence in the 1990s by helping Western firms stamp out the Y2K bug.

Trumps America First rhetoric on jobs, however, has put their biggest market under threat.

A bill was introduced in the US Congress last month to more than double the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders, which could significantly boost costs for IT companies, whose margins are already being squeezed.

New Delhi has backed a move by NASSCOM, Indias high-tech industry association, to lobby US lawmakers and companies to urge the administration not to crack down on allowing its skilled workers into the United States.

A NASSCOM delegation is now in the United States to make its case to officials on Capitol Hill and in the White House.

We will have to engage with the new administration, Sitharaman said. Our engagement at every level is intact and continuing.

The United States is Indias biggest trading partner, but trade in goods between the two countries has been stagnant, at around $67 billion, for the last three years. Indian software exports to the US rose more than 10 percent, to $37 billion, in the last fiscal year from a year earlier.

Indian nationals are by far the largest group of recipients of the 65,000 H-1B visas issued annually to new applicants under a cap mandated by Congress. More than 60% of the US employees of Infosys hold H-1B visas.

A global pact on services trade would go a long way towards settling disputes over professional visas, Sitharaman said.

If only there is a framework...you will know how movement can happen and how certain restrictions can or cannot come, she said. Its time for countries to sit together and look at it.
Seeking to scale up the demand for an independent Balochistan, Mir Suleiman Ahmedzai, who holds the title of Khan of Kalat, took his cause to Britains House of Lords and told the media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a friend of Balochistan.

Ahmedzai, who first told Hindustan Times in August last year of his hope that India will help the cause of the Baloch people, at least diplomatically, came equipped with colonial era documents to substantiate his claim that the resource-rich regions accession to Pakistan will not hold in an international court.

During a seminar at the House of Lords on Thursday which was attended by British MPs and others, and during a media interaction later in the day, Ahmedzai was trenchant in his criticism of Pakistan but left no doubt of his hope and desire for support from India.

He reiterated his appreciation of Modis mention of Balochistan during last years Independence Day address. Modi had referred to rights violations in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan, angering the government in Islamabad.

Ahmedzai said: We have passed on our message to Modi through the media and without the media. The only voice we heard in our support in so many years was Modis. I am confident that we will get support from the west, India and even from China.

Baloch leaders, he said, were in touch with most Western parliaments, including the US Congress, to explain the situation.

Read: Will go to India for help, says Baloch dissident leader Khan of Kalat

Balochistan is an occupied land. The Baloch are victims of geopolitics. Pakistan was allowed to occupy Kalat Balochistan and has created a false narrative. My appeal to the international community is to help us regain our dignity and independence from the cradle of terrorism: The Punjabi military state and establishment, he said.

Unlike Pakistani leaders, whom he alleged plundered Pakistan and brought the money to London to live a luxurious life, the 52-year-old Ahmedzai said he came to Britain in 2006 with nothing after being sent by his people to advance the cause of an independent Balochistan at the international level.

A significant aspect of Ahmedzais engagements was the support extended by another prominent Britain-based Baloch leader, Hyrbyair Marri, leader of the Free Baloch Movement. Ahmedzais aides rejected the allegation that Baloch leaders were not united in the cause for an independent Balochistan.

The Baloch, Ahmedzai said, will defend their land and push back the Chinese, who are partners in the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): The more China comes (to Balochistan), the more the Baloch issue will rise. According to him, the Baloch saw the CPEC as the China-Punjab Economic Corridor, since it will largely benefit the people of Punjab, Pakistans most populous and prosperous province.

The pushback against the Chinese, he said, was a matter of timing, but it will happen the same way the Afghans rebelled against the Russians. Ahmedzai went on to say that when many Baloch were being killed, no way of fighting for the Baloch cause was off the table.

They are killing us. Should we give them flowers, bouquets? We have got enough proof of human rights violations by the Pakistan state. Once we have proper support and means, we will approach international courts for justice, he said.

The Khan of Kalat, perceived as one of the most popular Baloch dissident leaders, ridiculed Pakistan for its alleged efforts since the last month to portray itself as a victim of terrorism, and regretted the situation in which the more nuisance you do, the more billions you get from the international community.

Ahmedzai has said in the past that the Khanate of Kalat, the largest princely state in the erstwhile Balochistan Agency, was acceded to Pakistan by his grandfather in March 1948 by the barrel of the gun. He has lived in Britain since he left Pakistan in 2006.
Three CID officers and Trinamool Congress leader Kaiser Ahmed entered Bhangar, where villagers are protesting a proposed power grid, in West Bengals South 24 Parganas district on Thursday to help a Class 12 student in getting bail.

This comes at a time when the agencys special task force is on a look out for Alik Chakraborty, a leader of a small Maoist outfit and the face of movement in the village against a power grid.

On January 17, police arrested Abdulla Bin Kasem a few hours before the area turned volatile following the death of two villagers who succumbed to injuries caused by bullets fired by people yet to be identified. A student of Polerhat high school, 18-year-old Kasem was charged with attacking the police and has been in jail since then.

Kasem is supposed to appear for his Class 12 board exams next month.

On Wednesday, his bail petition was rejected, as the FIR had him named as Abdulla Molla. We have to approach the court on Monday again, with evidence to prove the two are the same, Abul Kalam Mollah, his elder brother, told Hindustan Times.

While in most such cases it becomes the duty of the family of the arrested person to establish the identity before a court, in this case, CID officers paid a visit and took statements of witnesses certifying Abdulla Mollah and Abdulla Bin Kasem as the same person.

The three CID officers and Kaiser Ahmed, a Trinamool Congress member of South 24Parganas zila parishad, assured villagers that the police will also help eight other villagers in getting bail.

Please go through the FIR carefully and see if the arrested persons are properly named and prepare the bail application accordingly, with supporting documents, a CID officer advised the gathering of about 50 villagers.

The friendly approach of the CID officers stood in sharp contrast of the threats issued by Kolkata mayor and state environment minister Sovan Chatterjee a few days ago. Those who are sheltering the Naxalite be cautious. Do it at your own risk. We will not be able to save them, Chatterjee said.

By Naxalite, he was evidently referring to Chakraborty, a politburo member of CPI(ML)(Red Star) who is also the spokesperson of the Jiban, Jibika, Poribesh O Bastutantra Raksha Committee that is spearheading the movement.

While the CID arrested two other senior leaders of the Maoist outfit  Pradip Singh Thakur and Sharmistha Chowdhury  and booked them under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Chakraborty has been evading them over the past one month, even though he is believed to be hiding in Bhangar villages.

Talking to HT on Thursday, most of the residents of Khamar Ait, Machhibhanga, Notun Air, Padmapukur and Tona villages spoke highly of Chakraborty but maintained that they know nothing about his whereabouts.

At a time when Trinamool leaders, mostly the followers of former MLA Arabul Islam and current MLA Abdur Rejjak Mollah, are finding it difficult to enter the villages and the Trinamool Congress office at Dhibdhiba remains shut for more than a month, Ahmed is trying to score brownie points by opening direct channels of communication between the agitators and the government, minus the Maoist leaders.

Ive no idea whether the CID is trying to arrest Chakraborty. I accompanied them today because they came here to assist in bailing out a school student, Ahmed, the Trinamool leader entrusted with building rapport with the agitators, told HT.

Ahmed belongs to the group opposed to local Trinamool strongman Arabul Islam, whom most of the villagers hold responsible for the trouble. Villagers are agitating against the setting up of a power grid that they fear would harm the local environment.

We stick to our demand. The power grid has to be withdrawn. The chief minister said the project will be stalled if the villagers did not want it. We fail to understand why she is failing to get the message that we do not want it here? septuagenarian Sk Mansoor Alam of Khamar Ait asked.

The government wont able to crush the movement by arresting the Naxalite leaders, he added.

Over the past one month, several political organisations, including CPI(M), Congress, small Maoist outfits and human rights organisations have paid several visits to Bhangar to express solidarity with the villagers.

During one such event earlier this week, fugitive leader Chakraborty made a cameo appearance, gave a speech on the dais where CPI(M) MLA Sujan Chakraborty was present and disappeared.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Working, partying and travelling across the United States, Indian aviation engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was living his American dream in Kansas City.

That dream was shattered on Wednesday.

A local man shot dead Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani in a case US federal authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime.

Local media quoted eyewitnesses saying the attacker shouted get out of my country before opening fire as the colleagues shared an after-work drink in a local bar.

The shooting has sparked outrage in India, with criticism mounting that US President Donald Trumps America First rhetoric is fuelling intolerance towards immigrants.

The Indian government expressed its shock and condemned the incident, but Kuchibhotlas relatives called for more action.

The government should voice this out strongly, because our brothers, sisters and our relatives are there, Kuchibhotlas brother, Venu Madhav, told Reuters Television, standing outside his home in Hyderabad.

If you really look into this incident, this is not done by a teenager or a burglar, Madhav said, referring to the 51-year-old attacker.

Through a window, relatives could be seen sitting quietly, one woman wiping away tears.

Kuchibhotlas parents mourn his death in Hyderabad. (PTI Photo)

Kuchibhotla was one of many ambitious young Indians who go abroad each year in search of a better education and career prospects.

More than 3 million Indians live in the United States. As a community, they are twice as well off as other Americans, with an average household income of more than $100,000.

The Southern Poverty Law Center said the number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second year in a row in 2016, linking the increase to Trumps presidential candidacy, and this weeks incident has further heightened concerns among Indians about their treatment there.

Thank God my son survived the firing, Madasanis father, Jaganmohan Reddy, told The Hindu newspaper.

After the nightmarish incident, do we really need to go and work in (the) US?

The American dream

After obtaining a bachelors degree in technology in India, Kuchibhotla left his home town of Hyderabad for El Paso, Texas, to pursue a masters degree in electrical engineering, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He then worked as a software and systems engineer at Rockwell Collins, Iowa.

Married about four years ago, Kuchibhotla, who called himself Srinu on his Facebook page, and his wife spent their early years of marriage watching Bollywood movies, celebrating New Years eve by clicking selfies and travelling across the United States.

Four states, 1,500 miles, three days and finally at Dallas to end year 2013, his wife wrote on her Facebook page at the time.

Later, Kuchibhotla switched jobs to join Garmin International as an engineer, working on designs and flight test activities.

On Thursday, he and his colleague Madasani were at Austins Bar and Grill in Kansas when the shooting took place.

Kuchibhotlas former colleague, Kavipriya Muthuramalingam, fondly remembered him as a dear friend who would never be confrontational.

Its tragic, she told Reuters. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Partha De lived with his parents and sister for the better part of his 46 years, but loneliness remained the leitmotif of his life.

Though he was deeply attached to his parents and sister, he rarely spoke to them. After they died, De found silent camaraderie in the walls of his room and a few books collected through the years. Even two days after he decided to end his lonely life with the help of a bottle of petrol and a matchbox inside the toilet of a 11th floor city apartment, nobody cared enough to help him along on his last journey.

Des body lay unclaimed in the confines of a police morgue on Thursday, alone even in death.

The former Infosys employee had hit the headlines in June 2015, when he was found to be living at the familys Robinson Street residence with the skeletons of his sister, Debjani, and two dogs. While the incident gained him a certain degree of fame, it further alienated him from a populace that had never understood him to begin with.

Also read: In Kolkatas House of Horrors, De familys skeletons tumbled out of closet

Police said they were trying to contact Des relatives, but nobody seemed interested in taking the body for the last rites. We will wait for seven days before cremating the body, said Sudhir Sarkar, deputy commissioner (port division), Kolkata Police.

Even experienced investigators were unable to get a sneak peek into the world De seemed to be living in. A few police officers who came into contact with De described him as a sensitive soul who could sing Tagores songs. In the apartment where he set himself on fire, police found a copy of You Can, You Will  a book written by motivational speaker Joel Osteen  indicating that De was trying to regain confidence in himself.

Police were yet to get in touch with Missionaries of Charity, a charitable organisation that had sheltered De between 2015 and 2016. We cant contact them. They have to approach us, said Sarkar, quoting from the rule book.

Read: Kolkata man who lived with skeletons of sister and dogs found charred to death

Ironically, even as Des body lies unclaimed, people have already begun speculating on the fate of the property he left behind. The spacious house on Robinson Street  a posh area off Loudon Street  is worth several crores of rupees. There are rumours that De had sold it off to a real estate promoter for over Rs 40 crore, some of which was used to buy the Watgunge apartment where he killed himself on Tuesday. The rest of the cash, in all probability, still lies untouched in his bank accounts.

The house on 23 Kottah now stands lonely and forlorn, a poignant relic of what should have been the happy family of Arobindo De  a respected member of the society. After all, the man had everything one could wish for  a wife, a son, a daughter and a big house in a posh locality.

Also read: Now you can book your stay beside Kolkatas Skeleton House

However, the four members scripted a tale that the country will recall with dread for years to come. After Arobindos wife died in 2005, his daughter opted for the spiritual path and gradually renounced all earthly pleasures. Ten years later, she starved herself to death in front of her brother and father. They, in turn, took the equally macabre decision of living with her decomposing body for six long months.

In June 2015, Arobindo set himself on fire, probably because he was unable to come to terms with the past. Nearly two years later, De followed suit  snuffing out the last vestige of a troubled family.
At a time when communal strife tears the social fabric at many places in the country and the world, the prestigious Lucknow University stands out as an oasis of religious concord and peaceful coexistence, with six shrines or structures dedicated to different faiths on and around its premises.

The nearly century-old university has two Shiv temples, a mosque near the dilapidated Lal Baradari, two mazars (graves) and the grave of Sir Maharaj Singhson of Maharaja Kapoorthalawho converted to Christianity. After his death, he was buried at a spot which is close to the present day geology department.

Lord Shiv temple at Tilak hostel. (HT Photo)

Girl students perform daily rituals at the Shiv temple inside the Kailash hostel. On Mahashivratri , they decorate these temples and worship Shiv. Syed Baba Ki Mazar (grave) is also on Kailash hostel premises, where an urs (festival) is held in June every year, according to Prof Nishi Pandey, former chief provost of LU hostels.

Another Shiv temple is located on the premises of Tilak hostel.

The mazar near the social work department is often decorated by social work department students on special occasions.

The mosque near Lal Baradari was still in use and many Muslim teachers and staff offered prayers on campus, said Arup Chakravarty, professor in history department.

The university of Sir Maharaj Singh was also maintained by the institute, proctor Vinod Singh said.

Singh said that Lucknow University was a living example of peaceful coexistence and secularism, a place where followers of different faiths could learn much from each other.

We have places of worship for people of all religions. Very few educational institutions can boast of anything like this, vice chancellor SP Singh told HT.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Mr. Nguyen Van Hien speaking at the exchange (Photo: vov.vn)

The delegation was warmly welcomed by Mr. Nguyen Van Hien, Director of Dong Xuan Trade Centre.

Rotary is an organization of non-profit clubs, including members from different fields. It was founded in 1905 in Chicago, the US, with the goal of developing friendship and goodwill in the world, implementing social welfare projects in the locality and around the globe.

Currently, the world has 34,228 Rotary clubs in 215 countries with 1.2 million members. It shows that Rotary doesnt depend on gender, work, culture or religion.

Every week, clubs meet each other to exchange and discuss support projects. Funds for operation of clubs are admission fees of members, annual membership fees, income from philanthropy and voluntary donations.

The delegation of Wien-Stadtpark Rotary Club was taken to visit a delivery zone and a four-star hotel, including 85 rooms located on the campus of the centre. The hotel will be completed in a short time.

The delegation was impressed with the busy business in the centre, the scale of the hotel and the building project of a cultural house, which will be implemented shortly.

Speaking at the exchange, Mr. Nguyen Van Hien recounted the process of building the Dong Xuan Trade Centre in Leipzig in 1996 with only 4,000 square meters and building of the Dong Xuan Trade Centre in Berlin in 2003.

So far, the centre has built nine large blocks with an area of 50,000m2 for lease, but it hasnt met the needs of traders, therefore, the centre will build a new building block.

Mr. Hien stressed that, to be successful, Vietnamese people in Germany have to integrate well, must consider Germany as their second homeland and integration as the path to success.

He affirmed that Vietnamese people everywhere have the common features of hospitality and hard work, so he hoped to meet and contact with the Vietnamese people in Austria to contribute to developing the Vietnamese community in Austria.

Dr. Gerd Unterburg, representative of the delegation, said that Wien-Stadtpark Rotary Club is very interested in the theme "Integration and mutual understanding across borders". They were very happy to visit the centre and witness the integration and development of the immigrants there./.
Newly elected MNS corporator Sanjay Turde was attacked in Kurla on Thursday night, allegedly by a workers of a rival political party, said police.

The MNS alleged the mob of more than 50 people, which beat them up, was from the Bhartiya Janata Party.

The incident took place on MN road in Kurla West. Turde, who won from ward no 166, is said to have suffered an injury to his leg, while 10 other party workers, too, are hurt.

Paramjit Singh Dahiya, deputy commissioner of police, said, No life threatening injuries. All injured admitted to hospital .Situation at the spot is now peaceful.An FIR is being registered.

Read more: MNS bags just one-fourth of its 2012 tally, faces uncertain future

MNS should merge with Shiv Sena if it cares for Mumbai: Sena cadre on social media

Will restore Mumbai to its British-era glory if we win BMC polls, says MNS chief Raj Thackeray
After a close finish in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trailing by just two seats, the Shiv Sena on Friday indicated it will not tie-up with its friend-turned-foe for power, saying the fight will go on.

In an editorial in the partys mouthpiece publication, Saamana, the Shiv Sena categorically said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will only see a Shiv Sena mayor and the battle is not just about winning power, but about religion, thoughts and Maharashtras identity.

The Shiv Sena has decided to take the tough path. We dont bother about consequences. The fight will go on, the party said in the Saamana editorial.

This is the first BMC election in the past two decades the Shiv Sena and the BJP contested not as allies, but independently as rivals. While the Sena, which derives its political strength and relevance from Mumbai, was fighting to protect and retain its home turf, the BJP was looking to aggressively expand in the city.

The two parties ended up in a close contest with the Sena getting 84 seats in the 227-member corporation and the BJP not far behind with 82.

For either of the two parties to win power and seat a mayor, both will have to either come together or seek tacit support from other political parties and independents to reach the half-way mark of 114.

We will not deny that the BJP was close behind, but to defeat the Shiv Sena all of Maharashtras money, Delhis power and the benefits arising out of it were used in the race and it is important to note the Sena fought like a warrior, the Sena said, adding every party gets the benefit of being in power.

Earlier, the Congress got this warmth and now the BJP is, it said.

Shiv Sena has ruled Mumbai for the past 50 years and the BMC for the past 25 years. The kind of underhand ways deployed to dent this power and make Maharashtra unstable were probably never seen even during the Congress reign, the Sena said in the editorial.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Shiv Sena said that after all it was not Mann ki baat, but Kaam ki baat that worked and the Sena got the highest number of seats based on its development work.

Read more: BMC election results: Will the Fadnavis-Thackeray friendship see achche din again?

BMC elections: Five things the verdict tells us about Sena-BJPs power equation

Shiv Sena 84, BJP 82; Fadnavis is the winner

BMC election results: With huge gains in Mumbai, BJP proves it is here to stay

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Though the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has failed to secure a major victory in the civic polls held in Mumbai, it has made its presence felt in Pune and has bagged nine seats in Solapurs Muslim-dominated pockets.

The lone victorious AIMIM candidate in Pune is Daniel Landge, known for his social work in Yerwada.

However, locals said they chose him based on the work he has done, and not the party he belongs to.

The AIMIM had fielded 25 candidates in Pune and had campaigned vigorously, sensing an opportunity to make a big entry into the politics of western Maharashtra.

It wooed Dalit voters and Muslims. The Owaisi brothers addressed two rallies in Pune prior to the election.

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had both fielded strong Muslim candidates in certain areas, keeping in mind likely threats from the party.

The party, however, failed to impress voters in Muslim-dominated areas, with the Congress retaining its traditional vote bank.

The Congress victory is considered significant as the Owaisi brothers had severely criticised Congress leaders for neglecting Muslims.

Poll results indicate that Muslims voted either for the Congress or the NCP instead of the AIMIM.

The party made spectacular gains in Solapur, once a bastion of former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde. The AIMIM had four members in the dissolved houses. The Owaisi brother have been frequent visitors to Solapur, which has a large population of Muslims.

The party also benefitted from the regions geographical proximity to Andhra Pradesh, from where many Muslims migrate to the city.

The partys victory in Vidarbha and Marathwada during the municipal council elections held two months ago was remarkable.

READ

BMC polls: Muslim vote up for grabs as AIMIM enters fray

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said an alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena for controlling the countrys richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, was possible if the state party stopped criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The indications of a thaw in relations between the friends-turned-foe came a day after the BJP ended the Senas years of control over the BMC though no party was able to cross the halfway mark of 114 in the 227-member civic body.

The BJP improved its 2012 BMC poll performance by winning 82 seats, just two less than Sena.

Differences cropped up between the BJP and the Sena over Saamanas vitriolic writings against senior party leaders, particularly PM Modi despite an ideological bond between the two parties, the senior BJ leader said.

Gadkari said if Sena wants BJP as a friend, it should ensure that its mouthpiece writes responsibly.

Otherwise, continuing with objectionable writing in Saamana and wanting BJPs friendship isnt acceptable to the party. The writings in the Saamana are generally seen as the partys viewpoint.

Gadkari flew to Nagpur on Thursday night after the party won eight out of ten municipal corporations that went to polls in the state.

Nagpur is also the home town of Gadkari and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also arrived in Nagpur.

Fadnavis met Gadkari at the union ministers residence at Mahal, apparently to chalk out the future strategy, particularly what role the party would play for controlling the Mumbai civic body.

Earlier, senior cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil also said that the BJP and Sena should join hands to run the BMC.

Patil is a close confident of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leadership in Nagpur and was deputed to negotiate with the Sena for joining the government, immediately after 2014 state elections.

According to RSS insiders, the Hindutva fountainhead also wants a post-poll alliance with the Sena to control the BMC. A sizeable section of RSS activists feel that the Sena should not take any help from the Congress or NCP as the peoples mandate was against the two parties.
The battle for this SoBo was no less than a full-blown Bollywood potboiler.

Ward 220  Null Bazar, Kamathipura and Grant road  first went to the Shiv Senas Surendra Bagalkar, with a victory margin of three votes after counting was done. Soon, his rival, Atul Shah, demanded a recount.

The recounting was done thrice, and both candidates ended up in a tie all three times, with 5,946 votes each.

The seat finally went to the former MLA and BJP candidate Shah, but not before a rare lottery was conducted to pick the winner.

After holding a recount thrice in the presence of candidates  as is mandatory in the case of a tie  BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta rushed to the counting centre in Mumbai Central. As per procedure, chits with the two candidates names were thrown into a lucky draw of sorts, and a seven-year-old girl picked the winner. But until the recounting was done, senior party leaders joined the candidates at the counting centre. Shah was joined by BJPs education minister Vinod Tawde. Sena leaders Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant and Anil Desai were also present at the centre.

The Sena by then had won 84 seats in the city and were hoping to add one more to improve its tally, as none of the parties had reached the required 114-mark to control the civic body.

Bagalkar was a corporator and a standing committee member. Shah, after winning the lottery, said, I never anticipated such a thing (tie) in the ward. But I am happy and satisfied that I won the lottery, which I consider Gods gift. I am happy I was able to remove Sena from the ward, which it has governed for over two decades.

Read more: BMC election results: With huge gains in Mumbai, BJP proves it is here to stay

BMC election results: Will the Fadnavis-Thackeray friendship see achche din again?

BMC elections: Five things the verdict tells us about Sena-BJPs power equation

Shiv Sena 84, BJP 82; Fadnavis is the winner

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 82 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), just two short of its ally-turned-foe Shiv Senas tally of 84 seats in the 227-member house. This is the first time in three decades that any party has come so close to Senas tally challenging its hold over its citadel.

Heres a look at five strategic things BJP did that worked in its favour in Mumbai :

1. Ground-level management: The party started ground-level organisational work in the city one-and-a-half years before the 2017 civic polls. The BJPs presence in the city was very limited until the 2014 Assembly polls, in which the party got its 15 legislators elected. To prepare itself to contest all 227 wards in the civic polls (it had only contested 65 for the past three terms), it started building its base tasking all its legislators and three Mumbai Members of Parliament to strengthen locality level organisation. The party also appointed an organisational secretary, from the RSS, only for Mumbai.

A party worker celebrates the win. (HT)

Read more: BMC election results: With huge gains in Mumbai, BJP proves it is here to stay

BMC polls: BJP on top, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis becomes stronger

2. Corruption complaint as tool: A year before the polls, the BJP started making noise about corruption in the civic body in road contracts indirectly blaming Shiv Senas rule for the citys mess. The chief minister announced probes in road works, desilting works in Mumbai, which revealed a cosy nexus between the officials and contractors and massive corruption. The BJP started taking up the opposition space in the Mumbai civic body taking on the Sena over corruption in the civic body. During the campaign, Congress got completely marginalised while BJP took over the opposition mantle completely.

Read: There is corruption in BMC: Maharashtra CM jibe at ally Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena, BJP squabble over transparency

3. Clean image: The citys campaign was led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, whose clean image gave a fillip to the party. Fadnavis promise to usher in transparency in the civic body and change the way tenders, contracts were given out resonated with citizenry fed up with the citys abysmal state of civic amenities. The CMs performance in the state in the last two years where he had speeded up several infrastructure projects like Mumbai Metro, airport, sea bridges worked in the partys favour.

CM Devendra Fadnavis at a rally. (File)

Read: Fadnavis: Shiv Sena is a party of extortionists

BMC polls: Fadnavis to hold 50 rallies in Maharashtra, 10 in Mumbai

... And man of the match award goes to Devendra Fadnavis

4. Wooing non-Marathi vote bank: The BJP, recognising the citys demographic, wooed the non-Marathi vote bank, especially Gujaratis (their traditional base) and north Indians. This worked in their favour (46 per cent of the citys population). The party had given around 53 tickets to Gujaratis and North Indian candidates out of which around 30 + got elected. The polarised poll battle ensured that non Marathi voters voted in favour of BJP.

Parag Shah, one of the BJPs Gujarati candidate. (HT)

Read: BMC polls 2017: Bharatiya Janata Party fields most Marathi faces, gives precedence to women

Mumbai civic polls: Its all about the Gujarati vote as Shiv Sena walks into BJP turf

BMC polls: Gujarati heavyweights battle for votes in Mumbais Ghatkopar

5. Social media campaigns: The party poured its resources into a strong social media and an ad campaign that made it visible across the city. And, the party identified winnable candidates for majority of the wards through survey. This included poaching on winnable candidates across parties besides co-opting citizen candidates. Over 8 of such candidates won the seats. The party also worked hard to get the middle class voter living in housing societies and buildings to come down and vote for what has been so far seen as a `slum election.

Taking a cue from iconic Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayers mascot, Leo (the roaring lion that preceded several cartoons and films) and replacing it with a tiger, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its own Khau Sena cartoon shorts for the upcoming Mumbai civic polls. (HT)

Read: Cartoon shorts, comic strips to help BJP reach out to Mumbai voters on Facebook, Twitter

Mumbai civic polls: Social media is the new door-to-door

BMC polls: Aamir Khan ad promotion of BJP? Maharashtra Congress to approach election commission

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Mumbai belongs to the Shiv Sena, and Sena to Mumbai, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray thundered in the partys Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park last year.

But barely four months later, the party, which sowed its seeds in Mumbai and rose to national fame, got a huge jolt with the results of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on Thursday, with the realisation that Mumbai is not exclusively the Shiv Senas bastion anymore.

For the first time in 25 years, any party has come uncomfortably close to the Shiv Senas strength in Mumbai. It is also the first time in over two decades there is a possibility of the mayors office being occupied by a party other than the Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena ended up with a tally of 84 seats in the February 21 election to the BMC, with the BJP closely trailing with 82 seats. During the state Assembly elections too, the BJP and Shiv Sena, which contested independently, ended up neck-and-neck in Mumbai, with the former winning 15 Assembly seats and the latter 14.

Surendra Jondhale, head of Mumbai Universitys department of politics and civics, said, It is a significant political setback to the Shiv Sena. The BJPs electoral strategy, the chief ministers aggressive language gave political relevance to the BJP. Plus, there was some amount of anti-incumbency sentiment against the Shiv Sena. The close fight is the evidence of that. Undoubtedly, Mumbai is not a Sena bastion anymore and the bargaining power of the Shiv Sena has reduced in the city. The tiff with the BJP will continue and both political parties will try to carve their independent paths for 2019, he said.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, however, maintained he was happy with the partys victory and the BJPs success was nothing compared to the money and power they threw into this election. There was money and power on one side, and the Shiv Senas hard work and Mumbais blessings on the other side. For 25 years, the Sena worked with the BJP for it to grow. It will take some time for a complete defeat, the Sena chief said.

The Sena reclaimed its bastions of Dadar and Mahim from the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which won the seats in 2012, and posted a strong victory across the citys Marathi-dominated areas such as Parel, Lalbaug, Bhandup, Dahisar, Bandra East, Santacruz East, Khar and so on. The party also got its first Muslim corporator elected with Haji Mohammed Halim Khan, who defected to the Sena from the All India Majlis-eIttehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in search of candidature, winning from Bandras Behrampada.

However, the Shiv Sena managed a strike rate of just 37% this election, contesting all 227 seats, unlike in the earlier civic polls when it managed to win more than 50% of the seats, contesting in an alliance. It also ceded space to the BJP, with the latter whipping up erstwhile Sena strongholds such as Andheri East, Jogeshwari and Goregaon.

While senior Shiv Sena leaders such as Ashish Chemburkar, Mangesh Satamkar, sitting mayor Snehal Ambekar, and former mayors Shraddha Jadhav, Milind Vaidya and Vishakha Raut, posted victory, a number of the partys strong candidates also suffered a defeat. These include Devendra Amberkar, who jumped from the Congress to the Sena just before the elections, and standing committee chairman Yashodhar Phanse. Both candidates lost to the BJP.

In a setback to Sena Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Shewale, his wife Kamini lost to BJPs Anita Panchal. Panchal and her husband Dinesh Panchal were members of the Sena, who defected to the BJP before elections, after their parent party decided to field Rahul Shewales wife instead of Anita Panchal.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to identify within two weeks, a new, larger office for the state Human Rights Commission.

A bench of Justices VM Kanade and PR Bora also criticised the state government for prolonging the issue, and for compelling the human rights body to seek the courts intervention to secure its own basic rights.

The court was hearing a plea filed by the Commission seeking a direction to the state to allot it a new, spacious office to help accommodate its staff. The commission that is burdened with pendency has been battling shortages of funds and staff, and even the lack of a proper office for months, and have failed to get an adequate response from the state despite repeated representations and previous court orders.

The Commission currently operates from a small office near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station. It however, has said that it needs a new office space of around 800 to 1,000 square feet.

The state government meanwhile, told the court on Friday that in compliance with a previous order, the Principal Secretaries of departments of General Administration, finance, law, and Home, had conducted a joint meeting last month to address issues of paucity of staff and funds faced by the commission. However, it was proving difficult to allot a new office to the commission since there is no space.

We have failed to identify a suitable space for them. We are now looking at a 500 square feet open area near the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal office near Azad Maidan and are hoping to develop it into an office space for the commission. But this will require time. We have also asked the PWD to look for other suitable spaces, the state said.

At this, Justice Kanade reminded the state that it was obligated by the central Human Rights Commission Act to provide for adequate funds, office space, and staff for the commission.

If the state wants to do something, it can do so overnight. We have witnessed how the finance department is capable of prolonging things despite giving assurances to the court. Why dont you look at the Air India Building, or the MTNL building? the bench said.

Bombay high court refuses to let man born in Pak stay in India

Provoked in the name of religion: Bombay HC grants bail to 3 murder accused

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Around six months back, when the massive Maratha protests gripped the state, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis looked tense, even hinting his insecurity of completing the five-year term. On Thursday, when the civic body poll results were out, Fadnavis had consolidated his position.

The BJP emerged victorious not just in urban Maharashtra, it comfortably established leads in the villages too. In western Maharashtra, the region Marathas stormed by coming out on streets in large numbers, the BJPs performance has been stunning.

The party recorded unprecedented wins in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, unseating NCP which enjoys Maratha support, and in Solapur, ending Congresss 40-year rule.

The party also swept the countryside by winning almost half of the 25 Zilla Parishads that went to polls. The party won 398 seats against 187 it had bagged in the previous elections.

The outcome of the polls indicated unprecedented mobilisation of Marathas actually helping the BJP in dual ways in western Maharashtra and some other parts of the state.

While the community strongly backed BJP for the promises government made besides handling the emotional issue by laying the foundation stone of Chhatrapati Shivaji in Arabian sea, the OBCs and Dalits too were seen rallying behind the party, hoping Fadnavis will turn down two key demands of Marathasdilution of Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act and inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category.

According to political observers, the Maratha marches consolidated OBCs and Dalits who decided to back the Fadnavis government after it declined to dilute the POA Act, which provide shield to backward communities from any kind of atrocities by upper caste.

Prakash Pawar, professor, political science, Shivaji University, noted that both the Marathas and the OBCs and the Dalits were polarised towards the Fadnavis government.

The government also fast-tracked the trial in Kopardi case in which a minor girl from Maratha community was raped and murdered, triggering protests in the state. Fast-tracking of the case helped government assuage the sentiments among the community.

Meanwhile, the Maratha outfits who also fought the elections, failed to mark their presence.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Bharatiya Janata Party had started plotting its phenomenal show in the civic polls nearly two years ago. It chalked out a plan to strengthen its organisational set up in a city where for three decades, it has only played a side role.

From building its grassroots presence to borrowing outsiders and pouring resources into data crunching, the partys electoral success in Mumbai goes to, above all things, the powerful sync between the BJP-led government and its party organisation.

On Thursday, the BJP reaped these dividends.

It won 82 seats  up from the 31 seats it won in the 2012 polls  just two less than what ally-turned-foe Shiv Sena won.

In the last one-and-a-half years, we studied the city, our strengths and strategic tie-ups in every area with local groups and communities. Our primary focus was to increase memberships and our presence, and to build up from the Assembly seats that we won in 2014 polls. Every legislator and MP worked towards it, said BJPs organisational secretary for Mumbai, Sunil Karjatkar.

Beyond the backdoor organisational work, city party chief Ashish Shelars aggressive targeting of the Sena over corruption in the BMC helped the party project itself as the opposition, even while being a ruling partner with the Sena in the BMC.

Unlike any other Congress CM the state has had, Devendra Fadnavis over in the last 2.5 years, worked in complete coordination with the party organisation. This meant announcing probes into BMC-led works, clearing decisions when highlighted by party leaders like Shelar and taking the direct responsibility of the partys electoral wins and losses. This helped build an atmosphere for the polls, said a BJP minister.

From October 2016 to February 2017, the party, and the CM especially, also relied a lot on surveys  to understand the city, its different areas, the community make-up, and candidates popularity. Strategies were finalised on the basis of these surveys.

A result of one of these surveys was to focus on the non-Marathi speaking population  the north Indians who traditionally voted for the Congress and the Gujaratis, who usually go with the BJP .

Out of the 82 seats it won in Mumbai , 35 were won by its north Indian and Gujarati candidates. The party had fielded 53 such candidates. The sharply polarised battle between the Sena and BJP further accentuated this, with Gujaratis and North Indians coming to vote for BJP in large numbers. At the same time, the party also made a dent in the Marathi vote share, especially in the western suburbs in Andheri (East), Jogeshwari, Dahisar, apart from Girgaum in the island city.

The party also used all its resources to set up war rooms, fund aggressive social media and ad campaigns to get visibility and poach on winnable candidates where they had no presence. These candidates included corporators and senior leaders from other parties as well as citizen activists. At least three citizen activists co-opted within the BJP won tickets and so did five other rebel candidates.

Finally, using the chief minister as the face of the polls gave the party its much-needed strength to build on the anti-corruption and development planks.

Read: BMC elections: After close finish, Shiv Sena says fight with BJP will go on

Devendra Fadnavis: Maharashtra chief minister who tamed Sena tigers in Mumbai

Former allies race for Mumbai civic body mayors post

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Barely a day before campaign for the Pune civic elections ended, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, an otherwise composed leader, addressed a rally in Pimpri-Chinchwad and used an unseemly simile for chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The comparison was telling. It showed Sharad and his nephew Ajits anxiety over the imminent rout in their strongholds of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

On Thursday, their fears became true as the NCP lost ground to a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the industrial town of Pimpri-Chinchwad. The former was reduced to 36 from 84 in the 2012 elections to the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation while the latter bagged 78 of total 128 seats from its earlier tally of three.

On the back of some defectors, the saffron party saw an astronomical rise in Pune too, winning 98 seats in the house of 162 from 28 in 2012.

The NCPs decimation comes after its president recently completed 50 years in parliamentary politics.

But what changed the paradigm of the electoral politics in the cultural capital of the state and the twin cities?

The BJP attributed its grand showing in the two civic bodies to the Modi factor and Fadnavis development agenda while experts feel that strategic poaching of NCP and Congress leaders ensured partys success. Another factor that worked for the BJP, part leaders said, the foundation laying of Metro rail project, which had been in the pipeline for more than a decade.

In Pimpri-Chinchwad, the BJP first poached Laxman Jagtap, an MLA, and made him the city chief. Jagtap, working overtime, ensured that other associates of Ajit switched their loyalties. Month before the elections, Fadnavis dealt another blow to Ajit by bringing Mahesh Landge, an MLA, into the party fold. Landge and Jagtap then persuaded Azam Pansare, who had been NCPs face in Pimpri-Chinchwad for decades, to join the BJP.

Relying on the three defectors, the BJP distributed tickets mostly to imports from the NCP, which was until recently considered invincible. They, however, were modest in claiming the credit for partys resounding victory. The people voted for development, which was our main plank. They saw that Fadnavis is committed to the development of this town, said Landge.

On the other hand, the Pune civic polls showed that the BJP spread its influence across all social classes in the city. It had never crossed 30% of vote share in Pune till 2012. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Anil Shirole won the seat with a margin of more than 5 lakh. In the same year, the BJP romped home with all eight constituencies with a 62% vote share. In the civic elections, it has clocked 61% of vote share, retaining its voter base.

Party leaders attribute its phenomenal growth to Modi factor, coupled with Fadnavis leadership. The leadership in Delhi and Mumbai is incredible, which helps in wooing voters. In addition, organisational strength supports the leadership, said Pune party president Yogesh Gogawale.

Read

BJP makes history, wins absolute majority in Pune

Pune records highest voter turnout at 53.5%
jayprakash.naidu@hindustantimes.com

A 26-year-old man who worked as a driver for a businessman in Bandra was arrested for allegedly stealing Rs18 lakh from his employers car and make it appear as though someone had broken into the vehicle and stolen the money. However, the Bandra police caught his bluff and recovered the money, which he had kept at a friends house.

According to the police, the incident took place around 11pm on February 20, a day before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. The complainant Yakub Kapadia, 62, a resident of Vrindavan building at Mount Mary, has six shops selling beauty products across Mumbai. His manager is entrusted with the job of depositing their daily earnings in the bank. But that day Kapadia ran out of time and the next day owing to elections, he could not deposit the money in the bank.

Kapadia, after collecting money from his showrooms at Ghatkopar and Kandivli, returned home at 11pm in his i20 car driven by his driver Faimuddin Ansari, 26, who had been working with him for two and a half years.

The businessman had kept Rs18 lakh cash in two bags and forgot it in the car. Ansari took the money out without Kapadia noticing it and kept it on the floor. He returned the keys and left with the money. Ansari ensured none of what he did was captured on CCTV cameras.

The next day, he returned to work and removed some parts of the rubber strip on the car door to make it look like someone had broken into the car using a scale and stole the money. He raised an alarm and told Kapadia that someone stole the money. The same day Kapadia registered an FIR and Ansari was picked up for questioning.

The police suspected him as he was the only one who knew about the money and that the thief chose to target just one car out of the 20 cars parked in the compound.

On sustained interrogation, Ansari confessed to the crime and the entire cash was recovered from his friends place at Ghatkopar, who was unaware about the crime. Senior inspector Pandit Thakare of Bandra police confirmed the development.

The accused has been sent to judicial custody, said sub inspector Dhanaji Sathe.

READ MORE

With no cash to steal, thieves have taken hiatus

In Maharashtra:Thieves dig in wall, steal jewellery worth Rs9 crore
A day before results to Maharashtras civic and rural body polls were announced, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis completed 25 years in electoral politics.

Fadnavis was first elected as a corporator in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation as a 21-year-old, went on to complete two terms, then one term as the citys youngest mayor and subsequently three terms as legislator.

Thursdays poll results  billed as a referendum on his governments two-and-half years in Maharashtra -- came as a big win for Fadnavis, though the verdict for Mumbais civic body was split.

The elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), civic bodies of nine other cities and 25 district councils governing rural areas were dubbed as Maharashtras mini assembly polls, a high-stakes battle for the ruling BJP and the Shiv Sena.

It is anybodys guess whos the winner.

In the last three decades of Mumbai politics, ever since the Shiv Sena grabbed power in the BMC as the self-proclaimed messiah of the Marathi manoos, no chief minister directly took on Bal Thackerays tigers and won in the bargain.

But Fadnavis, 46, did just that, something even political veterans including former Congress chief ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and more recently Prithviraj Chavan had failed to do.

From a relative lightweight who had never worked in the government before his promotion as the chief minister after the 2014 polls, Fadnavis will now be seen as the BJP leader who managed to sideline the Congress in the city of its origin and the state which it had ruled since Independence.

Son of a BJP legislator Gangadharrao Fadnavis, rooted in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur, Fadnavis has a build a reputation of a clean, studied, educated and aggressive corporator and legislator.

Known for his knack of uncovering scams -- he put the now-famous CAG report on an irrigation scam in Maharashtra in public domain -- and analysing state budgets and public policy, he is now also seen as an astute electoral and political organiser.

In an aggressive political campaign in Mumbai, which he helmed single-handedly and micromanaged, Fadnavis not only took on the Thackerays and called the Sena a party of extortionists but also put up a score to match that of the sons of the soil party. This is the closest any party has come to Senas tally in the BMC since 1997.

Despite having no government experience when he took over as the chief minister, Fadnavis has proved he has electoral and organisational acumen. More importantly, because of his clean image and vision for development, he was projected as the partys face, said a senior party leader.

In these polls, he and the party also poured in resources with even ward level surveys being done to select candidates in Mumbai.

It is another matter that the opposition is now alleging massive use of money in the elections. The other allegation is that BJP poached on winnable candidates wherever the party had no presence or little scope of winning, even ignoring criminal antecedents of these borrowed candidates.

This is what Fadnavis did ahead of the polls: as the face of the party, he addressed 62 rallies in the state including 11 in Mumbai in the last 15 days of campaigning. The party poached on winnable candidates, conducted in-depth surveys to gauge the mood of the people, poured money in its ad and social media campaigns and, at Fadnavis insistence, made fight against corruption an important poll plank along with development. He also cleared every candidate the party had put up in these polls.

Not just Mumbai, under Fadnavis leadership, the BJP has managed to consolidate its wins in the 2014 assembly polls by spreading its foot print across all recently-held polls starting with municipal councils and now followed with big city corporations and the district councils.

In absolute numbers, the BJP upped its overall seat tally in the ten civic corporations from 205 to 629, in twenty five district councils from 165 to 400. The BJP now controls 8 of the states biggest cities, effectively more than 75 per cent of its urban mandate.

With the BJP in the midst of difficult assembly battles in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa, the victory in Maharashtra will help Fadnavis bolster his position in the party -- his position as the states supreme leader is now cemented.

The win will also help him gain more confidence of the BJPs top brass. It is clear that unless there is an unexpected disruption, Fadnavis will lead his party and call the shots in the 2019 assembly polls as well.

And the victory is also likely to rein in Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray who is now unlikely to threaten a pull-out from the government in the face of such a mandate favouring the BJP.

Also, it will also keep opponents opponents and ally-turned-rival Sena from constantly criticising the government and claiming that the BJP has lost confidence of the people.

You can take it in writing that there is no danger to my government. I will stay for five years, Fadnavis had told HT in an interview during the campaign.

And, off the cuff, he had also predicted his partys results and the numbers in the Mumbai civic polls. It would now seem that this self assuredness comes from some astute political arithmetic.

The big challenge for Fadnavis will now be to deliver on the high expectations of the people who reposed faith in him.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Contesting on more seats after their split before the BMC polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena witnessed a significant surge in the number of votes they won. While the Sena, which had the highest tally of 84 seats, got the largest share of total votes, BJP is the biggest gainer in terms of votes as well as strike rate. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was the worst affected and the Congress share, too, shrunk along with that of the smaller parties and independents.

According to preliminary figures released by the BMCs election department, the Shiv Sena, which contested all 227 seats and won 84, got 28.32% votes as against 21.86% in 2012, when the party contested 135 seats and won 75. With strong backing from the island city, where it won multiple seats in the Marathi heartland of Dadar, Mahim, Parel and Lalbaug, and a few Marathi-dominated wards in the eastern and western suburbs, Sena managed to get 14,43,969 votes of the 50.97 lakh votes cast.

On the other hand, the BJP, which contested 195 seats, more than three times the 63 seats it contested in 2012, witnessed a massive hike in the vote share. With 13,92,676 votes  largely from the Gujarati and North Indian-dominated areas and some from the Senas strongholds of Goregaon and Andheri East  the BJP ended up with a vote share of 27.32%. It was impressive hike as against the 8.54% in 2012, when the BJP contested 63 seats and won 31.

The Congress and MNS vote share plummeted, quite in line with the results. The parties, which had 51 seats and 28 seats in 2012, shrunk to 31 seats and 7 seats, respectively. While the Congress drop in the number of votes and vote share was tepid, it was the Raj Thackeray-led MNS that lost maximum ground.

The MNS could poll just 3,94,653 votes, which is 7.74% of the total votes cast, as compared to three times the number of votes last time. In 2012, the party which grabbed eyeballs by dislodging the Sena from its home turf of Dadar and Mahim, had 9,51,380 votes, which was 20.67% of the total votes cast, almost equal to the Senas vote share of 21.85%. The Congress votes, meanwhile, dipped to 8,13,177 from 9,77,512 with the percentage of votes polled sliding to 15.95% from 21.23 % in 2012.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which was wiped out of Mumbai in the 2014 Assembly elections, also lost a handful of votes as compared to 2012. The partys vote share shrunk to 4.85% (2,47,548 votes) from 6.56% in 2012. The independent candidates managed to get 3,07,465 votes, which are about 6.03% of the total votes.
A day after Sharad Pawar formally completed 50 years in Parliamentary politics, election results in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have come as shocker to his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Pawar was formally elected to the Maharashtra Assembly on February 22, 1967. His supporters ensured the day is aptly celebrated with the hope that the party will retain power in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. However, February 23 proved to be a day of disaster for the NCP, with the party facing defeat in both the cities, which played major role in Sharad Pawars 50-year political career.

Only solace for Pawar supporters is that Rohit Pawar, grandson of Appasaheb Pawar, elder brother of Sharad Pawar, won the zilla parishad election from Baramati tehsil. It is for the first time that somebody from the Pawar family contested a zilla parishad election.

Pawars mother Shardabai was member of a local board in the pre-independence era.

Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule began their political career by contesting the Assembly or Lok Sabha electiond.

Rohit Pawar, who is handling a private sugar mill, preferred to begin his political career by contesting grass root election. The NCP has managed to retain the Pune zilla parishad by begging 44 seats. However, the BJP has won seven seats for the first time, while the Congress and NCP have bagged nine seats each. The zilla parishad election indicates the BJP and Sena have made considerable inroads in Pawars bastion.

Setback to Pawar family is continuation of the 2014 Lok Saha elections, when the first serious signal of decline in Pawars hold over Pune city and district was experienced. Two months ago, anti-Pawar forces in Pune district had managed to win municipal council elections in Pune district, reducing NCP to Pawars home town of Baramati. Several NCP workers deserted party in the past two months, indicating Pawar has lost his grip over workers.

The NCP was controlling Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations almost for two decades. They are now captured by the BJP. Both cities will have BJP mayors without any help from other parties. The NCP will now be the opposition party in Pune, with the party strength coming down to 38 from 52. Several prominent NCP leaders in Pune had lost elections, forcing Pune unit president Vandana Chavan to resign from the post, hours after the results were announced.

Pimpri-Chinchwad has come as a big shocker for the NCP as former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar was single-handedly controlling civic affairs. It was part of Sharad Pawars Baramati Lok Sabha constituency before delimitation in 2009. The NCP will be the opposition party in PCMC, with party bagging only 36 seats. In the dissolved house, the NCP had a majority of 82 members. The NCP failed to win voters here despite several development works in industrial township.

NCP leaders admit it paid a heavy price for large scale defection in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The BJP managed to get three top NCP leaders in Pimpri-Chinchwad to win. Similar experiment was carried out in Pune in a few areas.

Growing feeling among NCP cadre is that the Pawar family has lost its influence over party workers. The outcome has made NCP workers anxious as Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar looked into tje Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad elections and addressed a number or public rallies.

The NCPs decline began in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when Sharad Pawars daughter Supriya Sule got elected with a small margin of 70,000 votes, against the huge difference of four lakh in 2009. Many believe Sule would have lost had Rashtriya Samaj Party president Mahadeo Jankar fought the election on BJP ticket.

Ajit Pawars victory margin in Baramati Assembly constituency was reduced by 2,000 votes, while the party lost several sets in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune district.

NCP leaders admit it would be tough time for the party because of series of serious setbacks in electoral politics after 2014.

Read more: NCP possibly the biggest loser in the local bodies elections

Party over for Sharad Pawar? Civic polls loss leaves NCP battling for survival

BMC polls: BJP wins over Congress-NCP ruled rural bodies

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Around six months ago, when Maharashtra was in the grip of large protests rallies by Maratha community, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis looked tense, even hinting he may not last for five years as a chief minister.

On Thursday, when the results for civic bodies were out, it became clear Fadnavis has consolidated his position.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victories not just in urban Maharashtra, it comfortably established lead in rural parts. In western Maharashtra, the region Marathas took by storm by coming out on streets in large numbers, the BJPs performance has been stunning.

The party recorded unprecedented win in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Solapur with a clear majority.

In Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the BJP unseated Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which enjoys the support of Maratha community, while in Solapur, the saffron outfit ended Congress 40-year rule by winning the civic body.

The party also swept the countryside by winning almost half of the total 25 zilla parishads that went to polls. The party won 398 seats against the 187, it had bagged in the previous elections.

The outcome of the polls indicated unprecedented mobilization of Marathas actually helping the BJP in dual ways in western Maharashtra and some other parts of the state.

While the community strongly backed BJP for the promises government made besides handling emotional issue by laying the foundation stone of Chhatrapati Shivaji in Arabian sea, the OBCs and dalits, too, were seen rallying behind the party hoping Fadnavis will turn down two key demands of Marathas  dilution of Atrocity Act and inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category.

According to political observers, the Maratha marches consolidated OBCs and dalits who decided to back Fadnavis government after it declined to dilute the Prevention of Atrocity Act, which provide shield to backward communities from any kind of atrocity by upper caste.

We saw two kinds of polarization happening in the state. On one hand Maratha community came together and supported BJP for initiatives such as freeship to students and foundation laying of Chhatrapati Shivaji statue in Arabian sea, the OBCs and dalits too were polarized in favour of BJP, said Prakash Pawar, professor, political science, Shivaji University.

The government also fast-tracked the trial in Kopardi case in which a minor girl from Maratha community was raped and murdered, triggering protests in the state.

Read: BMC election results: With huge gains in Mumbai, BJP proves it is here to stay

BMC election results: Will the Fadnavis-Thackeray friendship see achche din again?

Shiv Sena 84, BJP 82; Fadnavis is the winner

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Mumbai Central Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested a 26-year-old youth for allegedly molesting a 26-year-old woman while she was getting out of a slow local train at the Dadar railway station on Thursday evening.

According to the GRP, the victim works at Churchgate and stays in Dadar. She took a slow Virar bound local train from Churchgate and got down at Dadar railway platform number 1.

When the victim was in the train, a man was standing behind her and the arrested accused, Hafiz Shaikh, 26, a resident of Mira road, was standing behind him. Around 6.50 pm, as the train stopped at Dadar station, Shaikh allegedly pushed the man onto the victim, and then touched her inappropriately. The victim raised an alarm and an alert commuter, Sandip Bhurvane, 47, helped her nab Shaikh.

They took him to the GRP constable seated at the railway station, and who led them to the Mumbai Central GRP, where an FIR was registered under section 354 A of the Indian Penal Code for sexual harassment. If convicted, the accused can be sentenced to one year of life imprisonment.

READ MORE

20-year-old misuses POCSO Act, accuses uncle of molestation

Mumbai man gets life for raping daughter for seven years
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will question the family members of televangelist Zakir Naik against whom the agency has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) .

The agency has summoned Naiks elder brother Mohammed and sister Nailah Noorani. ED sources revealed that Naiks confidante Aamir Gazdar, who is under arrest, is a 10% shareholder in the Longlast Construction, a firm which was used to purchase properties in the country and 90% of its shares are owned by Noorani.

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.

ED has alleged that Gazdar handled cash transactions at the instructions of Naik. Gazdar is a close confidante of Naik and was in constant touch with him. He is involved in all of Naiks illegal activities and was his equivalent partner. He has not revealed the whereabouts of his associates, the roles of other accused and whereabouts of the main conspirator, alleged the remand report submitted by the agency while seeking judicial custody of Gazdar on Wednesday.

After a ban on the foundation, the NIA registered a case against Naik and the Islamic Research Foundation (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 had accused him of giving speeches that spread communal harmony. The agency also charged Naik with indulging in activities that are prejudicial to national integration.

Naik has been out of the country 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, saying it incited the attack on a Dhaka cafe in which 22 people were gunned down.

READ MORE

Hearing on ban of Zakir Naiks IRF to be held in-camera

Zakir Naik had dummy firms to divert funds, ED tells court

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A 34-year-old accountant has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife by smashing her head with an LPG cylinder in front of their two children in Mulund. The man allegedly doubted that his wife was being unfaithful to him.

The incident took place in the wee hours on Thursday after the accused identified as Siralan Mudliyar, 34, who lives in Indira Nagar, Mulund (West) killed his wife Priya, 30, in front of their children, Manisha, 10, and Ishwar, 7.

The police said the accused, after killing his wife, threatened the two children to keep mum. An officer from Mulund police station said, The four were living happily till the time Mudliyar started doubting his wifes character and inquired minute details of her day schedule which angered Priya.

Their argued throughout the night many times, said the police, while adding that on Wednesday night, the two fought following which everyone slept. But the accused again woke up at 4am and started arguing with his wife. When she asked him to sleep he didnt stop, following which the two fought rigorously and the accused got the LPG cylinder from the kitchen to the hall room. Mudliyar then started hitting her head with the cylinder and even after she started bleeding the accused didnt stop, added an officer.

After hitting Priya with the cylinder several times, the accused left the house at 4.30am and threatened his two children, to not disclose the incident to anyone.

While leaving the vicinity, the accused started banging and kicking neighbours doors and windows and he even bit a locals ears when he tried inquiring about the incident.

The officer said, The locals were scared that a thief had entered their area who then informed Mulund police station about the incident.

A police team was dispatched and they found Mudliyar loitering in the area. During the course of investigation, the police found that his shirt had blood strains on it and then he was taken to his residence, where his wifes dead body was found in a pool of blood.

Senior police inspector Rajaram Vanmane from Mulund police station confirming the case said the accused has confessed to the crime and revealed the facts of the incident. He further added, We have booked him under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. The accused was produced in court and has been remanded to judicial custody.

READ MORE

Mumbai man murders friend for not dancing at a birthday party

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
After the citys 227 corporators were elected yesterday, resident associations and citizen activists have fixed a mandate for them for the next five years  ensure transparency, increase meetings in the wards and provide better civic amenities.

With 82 BJP corporators having won on the plank of transparency and development promised by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, activists say that parties should work on systemic changes in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The newly-elected civic house also has policies that need to be cleared for the citys benefit. These include the crucial infrastructure blueprint  Development Plan (DP) 2034 and the open spaces policy, which will determine the citizens access to more than 200 open spaces and its maintenance.

According to the activists, the corporators also need to solve the problem of the constant fires in the Deonar dumping ground (its closure deadline is in June) and ensure pan-implementation of the parking policy, which regulates illegal parking on the city streets.

Milind Mhaske, project co-ordinator at Praja, an NGO working towards better governance said, The political parties must set up committees to bring systemic changes in the contract system, e-tendering, which has many flaws. Corporators must concentrate on better implementation of the citys development plan and make a list of long-term and short-term issues to be resolved in their wards.

The citys infrastructure blueprint  Development Plan (DP) 2034  is likely to be the first major decision passed by the new general body in March.

The citys DP has been delayed for over three years. The BMCs implementation record with previous DPs has also been low. BMC could implement only 18% of DP 1964 and 33% of DP 1991.

Thursdays results saw a mix of old faces, many youngsters and leaders who had left civic politics, back in the BMC headquarters.

Activists also said that corporators must increase interactions by meeting residents in their ward regularly. The area sabha concept of meeting every six months has to be implemented. The common complaint by citizens is that corporators meet them only once in five years, said James John, an activist from Andheri.

John also said that corporators must concentrate on basic amenities like good roads, less water leakages, improved drainage capacity and solve Mumbais waste management issues. All of this can be achieved by tackling corruption and improving transparency, he added.

The Hamara Shehar Mumbai Abhiyaan (HSMA) also included regular meetings of corproators with their electorate in their citizen charter. Sitaram Shelar, from HSMA said, Area sabhas are essential as it is the basic principle of democracy. Now that BJP has achieved so much, they must reduce the state governments interference in decisions by the urban local body.

Read

Citizen groups hand out strawberries and free rides to voters in Mumbai

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A 19-year-old girl from Marol has registered a complaint against a man she befriended on social media for allegedly threatening her and extorting Rs13,000 from her over the past seven months.

The case was registered with the Sahar police station and the police said the girl accepted the mans request to follow her profile on a photo-sharing app seven months ago.

An officer from Sahar police, requesting anonymity, said, The girl accepted his request in August 2016 and they began chatting regularly. The two then exchanged phone numbers and began chatting on WhatsApp too.

The girl, who is a Class 12 student, also had intimate chats with him, after which the accused asked her to send him intimate pictures of herself, the police said. But when she refused, he, who claimed to be from a different city, allegedly threatened to show their chats to her parents, the police said.

The officer added, Scared of the consequences, the girl took intimate pictures and sent it to the man. Later, the two began chatting again and in the first week of February, the accused called her and asked her if she wanted to meet him.

But then the accused asked her to give him some money to travel to Mumbai to meet her. She first refused to do this. The accused began threatening he would post her photographs on social media if she didnt, said an officer.

The girl then took a loan of Rs13,000 from her relatives and sent the amount through money transfer. When he demanded more money, the girl told a friend about the matter, following which they narrated the matter to her mother, who registered a case with the Sahar police.

When the police tried contacting the accused, he threatened the cops with their jobs if they chased him. Senior police inspector Baburao Mukhedkar from Sahar police station confirmed the case, which has been registered against the accused under sections 384 (punishment for extortion), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the IPC along with sections 66 (C) and (D) under Information Technology Act.

READ

Social media friend cheats 32-year-old woman of Rs 6.5 lakh

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Despite a complaint registered by an NGO and a report by the Hindustan Times about large tracts of mangroves being allegedly destroyed along the Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, almost 50 people, including the Navi Mumbai mayor, were spotted celebrating Mahashivratri at the cleared spot inside the mangroves on Friday in a violation of Bombay high court (HC) rules.

A private vehicle (MH 43 G 1000) with a red beacon, belonging to the Navi Mumbai Mayor Sudhakar Sonawane, was seen parked at the encroached land, where large banners were put up, showed photographs sent to the mangrove cell. Pictures also showed garbage strewn all over the place. We have sent pictures to Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), an NGO, showing the blatant disregard for our mangrove cover irrespective of having good intentions for celebrating a festival. The mangrove cell needs to act on this fast, said a resident from Palm Beach Road.

The state mangrove cell had earlier told HT that a private electricity distributor was permitted to set up high tension wires at the site and that mangroves had to be pruned. Despite alerting the mangrove cell on time, they could not stop such activity which is prohibited both by the HC and is a violation of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, said Pawan Sharma, president, RAWW. We have nothing against religious sentiments but no religion supports destruction of environment and such activities are not above the law. The mangrove cell must explain their actions to public.

Speaking to HT, Sonawane confirmed that he visited the spot on Friday. There is a road that passes through the mangrove cover leading up to Bamandev temple (a Shiva temple) where Koli community celebrates Mahashivratri. No mangroves were destroyed at the spot. The tents are temporary and will be removed. The forest department is aware that we celebrate the occasion every year, he said.

The structure could be seen in the picture submitted with the original complaint. (HT FILE)

Local residents, reached out to RAWW that had filed the original complaint and submitted pictures of the encroachment. Our team has received pictures of a private vehicle with a red beacon at the site and we will track it down and initiate action against violators, said Makarand Ghodke, assistant conservator of forest, Mumbai Mangrove Conservation Unit. When we had visited the site earlier, we did not find any encroachment. Now, a fresh investigation in the matter will be lodged from Saturday.

The people celebrating Mahashivratri inside the mangroves spread garbage all over the place, dirty it. (HT PHOTO)

According to state mangrove cell, 1,471 hectare of mangroves falls under government-owned land in Navi Mumbai, which are identified as protected forest areas. Noting the PIL filed by Bombay Environment Action Group  an NGO in Mumbai  in 2005, the HC had banned the destruction of state-wide mangroves and construction within 50m of them. After Vanashakti filed another PIL, the HC banned all reclamation and construction on wetlands in 2014.

READ MORE

Mangroves destroyed off Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, alleges NGO

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have decided to join hands to claim the chairmanships of at least ten out of 25 Zilla Parishads (ZP), or district councils, elections for which were held on Tuesday.

Both the parties had fought the polls independently in most of the corporations and district councils.

Although the BJP has bagged the most number of seats in 10 districts councils, it will need support from its ally-turned-rival Shiv Sena or other parties in a majority of councils. Similarly the Sena, which has come first in five bodies, will need support from other parties except in Ratnagiri. The Congress and NCP have registered its dominance in four and six bodies respectively  though they are short of the half way mark in most of them.

Hours after the results were announced for the ZPs on Thursday, the NCP extended the proposal to ally with the Congress, which needs the support of the NCP in Ahmednagar, Nanded and Amravati though it has a clear majority in Sindhudurg. The NCP has a majority in Pune and Satara, though it will need its old ally to support in Solapur, Beed, Parbhani and Osmanabad.

In our meeting held on Friday, we have decided to join hands with the NCP on the old formula of sharing the posts of chairman and deputy-chairman based on the number of seats won. We are also thinking of forming such alliance in a few other district councils such as Raigad, Gadchiroli, Beed and Hingoli with the help of smaller parties as both of us are falling short of the halfway mark, Congress state head Ashok Chavan told HT after the meeting.

Chavan, however, said they did not discuss about the partys poor show in the corporations and district councils.

The Congress has also proposed to forge alliance even in areas where both parties have a clear mandate. But the NCP is oppposed to it. We are not in favour of alliance where we can form the body on our own, said Sunil Tatkare, NCPs state unit head.

Read

Party over for Sharad Pawar? Civic polls loss leaves NCP battling for survival

Following drubbing in BMC polls, Mumbai Cong chief Sanjay Nirupam offers to resign
Students will not be required to use cursive handwriting in the Maharashtra state board exams (SSC and HSC) and schools must not force students into it, stated the board in a recent letter to schools. The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams begin on Tuesday.

The Mumbai (Brihanmumbai) Association of Heads of Secondary (Higher Secondary) Schools had written to the board last month complaining about English medium schools insistence on cursive writing. It wants the states education department and the board to come up with rules on whether cursive writing should be taught in schools.

According to principals, in the group, students find it tough to use cursive handwriting. They said that this style of writing is now redundant across the world, including countries like the United States and United Kingdom, but schools pressure students to learn it from nursery to class 3.

Educators said that stressing on cursive handwriting may create a fear of writing in the childs mind from a young age. Many schools put pressure on students to master this style of writing, said Prashant Redij, secretary of the association and headmaster, Hilda Castelino English High School, Kandivli. Students are given tonnes of practice sheets, and often schools even deduct marks if students dont write in this style.

There are no additional benefits to learning cursive writing, others said.

A childs handwriting can be good in other styles too. In fact, its good if children develop their own unique writing style instead of copying another, said Shahabuddin Waghwan, head of the association.

Waghwan added that rumours were circulating on social media that students must answer their HSC and SSC board exams in cursive writing.

This is adding to students anxieties, said Waghwan.

Responding to the concerns, Krishnakumar Patil, secretary of the board, issued a circular recently, stating that the board doesnt insist on cursive writing.

There are no rules in Maharashtra for secondary or higher secondary students to use cursive writing, said Patil. Schools must therefore not force students to learn it, he added.

Maharashtra state board to introduce OMR sheets in SSC/HSC exams

Schools in Mumbai put annual exams on hold for CBSE timetable

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
1. BMC elections: After close finish, Shiv Sena says fight with BJP will go on

After a close finish in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trailing by just two seats, the Shiv Sena on Friday indicated it will not tie-up with its friend-turned-foe for power, saying the fight will go on. Read

2. Maharashtra elections: Maratha protests helped Bharatiya Janata Party make a mark

Around six months ago, when Maharashtra was in the grip of large protests rallies by Maratha community, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis looked tense, even hinting he may not last for five years as a chief minister. Read

3. Maha election shocker for NCP came a day after Pawar completed 50 yrs in politics

A day after Sharad Pawar formally completed 50 years in Parliamentary politics, election results in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have come as shocker to his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Read

4. Sheena Bora murder trial: Cops sit between Indrani, Peter to stop them from fighting

Sessions court judge HS Mahajan asked two constables to sit between Indrani, her husband Peter Mukerjea and ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna, as the trial in the Sheena Bora murder case began before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Thursday. The measure was taken to ensure they do not get into a verbal altercation within the court, which reportedly has happened on some occasions. Read

5. BMC poll results: Five things that helped Bharatiya Janata Party win 82 seats in Mumbai

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 82 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), just two short of its ally-turned-foe Shiv Senas tally of 84 seats in the 227-member house. This is the first time in three decades that any party has come so close to Senas tally challenging its hold over its citadel. Read
Small-wired cages being used in poultry farms are killing hens in India, according to a five-month-long survey conducted by Pune-based NGO Animal Equality.

Taking note of the survey, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) plans to issue show-cause notices to poultry farms using such cages, known as battery cages..

Each cage has a 67-sq inch space, which is less than a single sheet of paper measuring 94 sq inches.

A survey of 20 poultry farms on the outskirts of Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Haryana by between August and December 2016 revealed confining hens in such cages not only leads to a number of deaths, but also leaves them bleeding, with sores, cracked and deformed feet owing to the wired floor of the cages. Some of them were also found to be missing feathers and suffering from abrasions and skin irritations.

In 2012, the AWBI issued an advisory and recommended the Union environment ministry adopt the draft Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (egg laying hen) Rules and phase out battery cages for egg-laying hens by January 2017. Section 11 (1) (e) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 prohibits confining birds in battery cages. However, the policy has not been adopted yet.

We found four to eight hens crammed in a cage which was no bigger than two A4 sheets of papers. Urine and faeces of overcrowded cages stacked on the top falls on the birds in cages below, said Amruta Ubale, executive director, Animal Equality. Even in 2017, there is no sign of phasing out these illegal battery cages. All countries in the European Union (EU) have banned the cages. But India is yet to make a policy decision on it.

Along with the survey, Ubale started an online petition on Thursday to free the birds from these cages, which garnered 500 signatures within a few hours. Battery cages are against our law and our values. The state governments must step in and implement the ban, she said.

According to a 2015 report by EU, Indian hens are third largest producer of eggs in the world, after China and USA. As per the 2012 Livestock Census (LC) by the department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries, total number of egg-laying hens in rural and urban India hatcheries (commercial farms) combined was over 200 million. We expect a 50% increase in this number in the next census which will be carried out this year, said Ubale.

Meanwhile, officials from the AWBI said show-cause notices will be issued to all poultry farms under the survey by Friday. It has been a long-standing issue that we had brought to the notice of the Centre many years ago. Allowing it to continue will spell disaster, said Dr Chinny Krishna, vice-chairman, AWBI.

We have decided to ask for explanations from these poultry farms for their cruelty towards these birds. Depending on their response, we will take further action and communicate our stand to the centre, said Krishna.

Officials from the department of animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries, which is under the aegis of the Ministry of agriculture and farmers, passed the buck onto the Union environment ministry. While jurisdiction in such matters falls under the domain of the environment ministry, we will examine the issue and give directions to state bodies, said OP Chaudhary, joint secretary to the department.

Officials from the Poultry Federation of India said that the survey was baseless as this was a ploy from international agencies to increase the import of eggs into the country. If battery cages are banned, there will be 40% drop in egg production in India. These cages allow about four hens to be constricted in one place with adequate supply of food and water in a hygienic environment. However, if these cages are removed, hens will be free-roaming and will not produce as many eggs, said Ramesh Khatri, president, Poultry Federation of India. Some of deaths in this regard have happened by chance or old-age of the poultry animals. Activists have dragged the issue till the Supreme Court but we will make sure that these cages are not removed.

WHAT THE ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY HAS TO SAY

We are aware of the issue and are in the process of making policy changes through a draft notification under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Rules 2016 for these birds. We will invite suggestions and objections from the public before finalising the document. We will be taking stock of the condition of the birds from state government bodies across the country, said a senior officer from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

HOW BAD IS THE SITUATION

Four to eight hens are crammed in a cage no bigger than two A4 sheets of papers.

Hens stepping on each other in an attempt to find space to move

It leads bleeding, and leaves hens with sores, cracked and deformed feet

Overcrowded cages are usually stacked one on top of another, causing urine and faeces to fall onto birds in cages kept below

Hens are missing their feathers and suffering from abrasions and skin irritations, probably due to the high concentration of ammonia in the litter

Litter is collected in huge piles underneath the stacked cages and is disposed of once every few weeks. This leads to diseases among consumers and mortality among birds

(Source: Survey by Animal Equality between August and December 2016)

Rise of egg production in India

According to the data published by the department of animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries in 2015, the total egg production in India increased from 60,267 million in 2009-10 to 74,752 million in 2013-14.

Read more: Supreme Court notice to govt over cruelty against egg-laying farm hens

It seems the chicken was first bred in the Indus Valley

Phase out battery cages for confining hens by 2017: Centre

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Ghaziabad police on late Thurday night arrested Noida-based entrepreneur Mohit Goel, former managing director of Ringing Bells, a company which shot into limelight after announcing Freedom 251 - the cheapest smartphones priced at Rs 251 - over an alleged payment dispute.

The charges against Goel, and four others, include those for forgery, criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

Read: Freedom 251 bookings closed, 7.35 cr phones to be delivered in 2016

The FIR by complainant Akshay Malhotra of Ayam Enterprises, a Ghaziabad resident and one of the distributors of the company, has named a total of five persons, including Mohit in his complaint. Malhotra said that a total of Rs 16 lakh payment was pending from the company as they could not deliver phones and accessories and kept on lingering the matter for nearly a year.

So, I had to file the FIR. We gave them a total of Rs 30 lakh for distributorship for phones and accessories in December, 2015 when Goel was the managing director. Then, the agreement was signed and the amount paid in advance. Later, they delivered some goods which were not of proper quality, Malhotra said.

However, due to delay in delivery, we asked them to return the amount. Nearly Rs 10 lakh was paid to us in two installments. They also gave us some goods which were valued around Rs 3-4 lakh. Finally, a total of Rs 16 lakh was pending which was never returned, he added.



Apart from Goel, the FIR also names present managing director and his brother, Anmol Goel, Mohit Goels wife Dharna Garg who resigned eight months back as CEO of Ringing Bells, companys general manager Sumit Kumar, and Mohits partner Ashok Chaddha. Chadha and Mohit are now officials of a new firm.

Mohit was arrested while a search is on for other persons named in the FIR. They too will be arrested soon. There were talks between the distributor and Mohit for paying back the amount but, somehow, things could not materialise, said Manish Mishra, circle officer (city), Ghaziabad.

Mohit, on the other hand, said that he was ready to pay back Rs 16 lakh and the distributor was also keen to take back his payments and withdraw the FIR.

The payments of several distributors were pending and we have promised to pay them by March 31. I still dont know what transpired. I was willing to pay back his payment and he was also ready. I dont know why police declined this. It is surprising that a couple of days back Noida crime branch gave us a clean chit and soon I am implicated in another case now, Mohit told HT.

He added that after an earlier FIR lodged in Noida by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya, his passport was seized and could not travel abroad for business dealings to deliver Rs 251 priced smartphones. Somaiya had also dubbed the smartphone venture as Ponzi scheme.

Mohit said that out of 110 distributors of the company, nearly 95 have received full payments and remaining 15 were also paid back nearly 60% of the amount. The balance payment of these distributors was to be paid by end of March, he said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Noida-based entrepreneur Mohit Goel, who was arrested by Ghaziabad police on Thursday night over alleged non-payment of Rs 16 lakh, claimed that he was time and again targeted by rival competitors and alleged that the motive behind his implication in this case was a conspiracy to throw him out of the smartphone business.

Read: Freedom 251: Rs 16 lakh payment lands Mohit Goel of Ringing Bells in custody

There is someone, who wants that I dont go back to my business... I cannot name the person. I was offered Rs 10-20 crore and asked to leave the business, but I did not accept this offer. Now, I am facing several obstacles, said Goel at Sihani Gate Police station before his arrest by the Ghaziabad police on Thursday night.

The FIR by complainant Akshay Malhotra of Ayam Enterprises, one of the distributors in Ghaziabad of Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd, states that Rs 16 lakh payment was pending from the company as it failed to deliver phones and accessories to him.

Goel will be produced before a magistrate in Ghaziabad district court on Friday afternoon.

Goel, a graduate of Amity University, shot into limelight in February 2016 when he announced worlds cheapest smartphone  Freedom 251 at the price of Rs 251 in a high-profile function attended by BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi.



The 3G phone with a 4-inch WVGA resolution display, features a 1.3 Ghz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB total storage space and a 3.2 megapixel camera on the back. It has a 0.3 MP selfie camera and a 1450 mAh battery.

In December 2016, Goel quit as managing director of Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd along with his wife Dharna Garg who was serving as the CEO of the company.

Read: Freedom 251 bookings closed, 7.35 cr phones to be delivered in 2016

He clarified his position saying he doesnt hold any position in the Ringing Bells company, but is supporting his brother Anmol Goel, who is the current managing director of the company, in running this company.

Mohit Goel and his partner Ashok Chaddha, who was working as the President of Ringing Bells, have formed a new company MDM Electronics Private Limited.

The former managing director of Ringing Bells said that he will deliver the Rs 251-priced smartphones at any cost and will also upgrade the smartphones technology from 3G to 4G.

We have plans to upgrade the previous 3G smartphones to 4G. This will increase our cost by Rs 100-125, but we will upgrade and deliver the phones at the promised price of Rs 251, he added.

Without naming anyone, he said, Someone wants the company to move out of business. He said about a year back they were also called by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation.

Read: BPO firm files cheating complaint against Freedom 251 manufacturer

Both ED and the CBI summoned us, but after we explained to them our business model, they did not call us again. It is because we did not take money from anyone. Our phone is delivered on cash on delivery (COD) basis, he said.

He said that Ringing Bells has received nearly 7.5 crore bookings for the smartphones out of which nearly 70,000 phones were delivered on COD basis.

We also have a dispute with a Delhi-based firm which is manufacturing and assembling phones for us. We have filed a case against them at the Patiala House courts. We will soon lodge an FIR as our business is stuck because of them, he said.

In March last year, after a complaint from BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, Noida police registered an FIR against Ringing Bells company under section 420 of IPC and the IT Act, following which his passport was seized.

This has restrained me from visiting foreign countries, where I was scheduled to finalise deals related to Freedom 251 phones. Due to seizure of passports, I have suffered for a year. I will ask Somaiya if he can compensate for our loss which we suffered for nearly a year? he said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Noida police have sent a team to Lucknow to get further leads to trace missing chartered accountancy student Shubham Maheshwari.

Twenty-three year-old Maheshwari went missing on February 18 after he boarded a bus from Anand Vihar, Delhi, for his home town Hathras. However, two men informed the police that they saw the missing student travelling in a bus till Lucknow.

Ajay Kumar Sharma, in charge of Jewar police station, told HT that a team of policemen left for Lucknow on Thursday evening.

Sharma said, A team from Noida has been sent to Lucknow. The police in Lucknow have also been informed about the missing student. Our team will monitor CCTV cameras at the Lucknow bus stand and surrounding areas to obtain further leads on Maheshwari.

Maheshwari went missing on February 18 from Jewar area along Yamuna Expressway, from where he last called his mother. He is said to have boarded a bus at 6:50am from the Anand Vihar bus stop in Delhi.

The police said after boarding the bus, he spoke to his mother several times. The last conversation took place at 9:40am, when Maheshwari told her that the bus had stopped for refreshments.

After preliminary inquiries, Jewar police found that the phone was switched off around 10.05am and the location was tracked to the Tappal area of Aligarh. Maheshwari was identified by two men, who informed police that he was found travelling to Lucknow in a bus.

Family members suspect that Shubham has been kidnapped, but are clueless about what actually happened.

Friends and family members of Shubham have started a campaign on various social media platforms with the hashtag - #findingShubham. Pictures of him are being circulated for information about his whereabouts, but he is still untraceable.
The shooting has come as a shock to all of us living here. Olathe city is a short drive from Overland Park, where I stay. We have all been there during the weekend.

Indians or South Asians, for that matter, have never been victims of any hate crime before. There might have been some stray cases of discrimination here and there but thats about it.

My Indian friends and I often hang out at pubs during weekends but have never felt threatened before.

Of late though, after the recent elections, there is a sense of anxiety among immigrants. Many of us have wondered what will happen to those who do not have citizenship.

Nobody has said anything, but there is a lot of apprehension. Many of my friends have applied for green cards in recent months. In fact the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has seen a jump in applications for green cards and citizenship in recent months.

Incidents like the one in Olathe are very disturbing. Though small, the Indian community in Kansas is close knit and has set up their associations. They come together to celebrate festivals like Durga Puja and Diwali. The Durga Puja organised by the Kansas Bengali Association has become very popular over the years, with people coming from adjoining states to participate in the festivities.

There is a thriving Indian community in the city, with a majority of them employed in the IT and retail sector. According to the 2010 census, of the 173,000 population of Overland Park, Indians constitute 5,521. The majority (84%) of the population are whites.

I have been living in Overland Park, the second-most populous city in Kansas, since May 2014. Most of us living here will like to believe that the shooting is an isolated incident. Kansas, especially our work places, is very multi-cultural. We visit the homes of our local colleagues and vice-versa. Many of my local friends have taken a liking for Indian food.

In fact, we often discuss that its the Second Amendment allowing citizens to possess guns that is more an issue of concern than anything else.

Such an incident will only add to our anxiety. I just hope its one of those stray incidents that will not get repeated.

(Anirban Dasgupta, works in an IT firm in Overland Park, Kansas)
The harassment of liberal and left wing students in India by the ABVP-RSS-BJP cohort continues. Last February, JNU student leaders were wrongfully arrested on charges of sedition. This time it is the forced shutdown of a seminar on cultures of protest on February 21 at Ramjas College where JNU student leaders Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid were to speak. An academic who was at Ramjas relates that members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, flooded the canteen area, shoved their way aggressively. Young men stood on the roof of the building, threw branches and dangled steel buckets in a threatening way at the dense crowd below. The next day ABVP targeted students protesting their violence and threw bricks and stones at them, thrashing many with total impunity caring little about watching Delhi Police or the cameras recording them. The videos that have emerged tell their own story.

The ABVP denies that it has been violent but it is unapologetic about opposing anti-nationals. It says it does not want DU to turn into JNU; one of its leaders has said that Even in the future, if anyone does any such thing, we will raise the issue and protest. Two conclusions can be drawn from this. The ABVP recognises that JNU student leaders like Kanhaiya Kumar, Khalid and Rashid have emerged as impressive public figures who can speak forcefully on a range of political issues  and thus it wants to oppose them in whatever way possible to limit their influence. These methods of intimidation are also designed to undermine liberal spaces and reshape the (political) imagination of students at colleges and universities across India.

Speaking to NDTV, Delhi university professor Apoorvanand mentioned some instances of ABVPs strong-arm tactics in universities. A lecture by JNU professor Nivedita Menon at a university in Jodhpur led to the suspension of the academic who invited Menon. Teachers who staged an adaptation of Mahasweta Devis short story at the Central University of Haryana were issued a show cause notice by administrators. An academic at Mohanlal Sukhadia University was attacked (for organising a lecture on Hindu deities). An associate professor at the Central University of Jharkhand was suspended last year for inviting a JNU professor for an event. Apoorvanand points that ABVP activism is common in such incidents and says that college administrators in Delhi University are now wary of giving permission for academic events that features those from JNU for fear of disturbances.

In effect ABVP has set about making any student, activist and academic with a connection to JNU as taboo in university campuses. Having tasted success, it is now in a position to declare any subject it does not like as anti-national. This is not only a grave threat to free speech but is a strategy that has the potential to transform the substance of political conversation in India. The ABVP is the student arm of the RSS and the latter is of course closely linked to the BJP. The ABVPs mode of altering the climate of universities in this manner works very well for the BJP and could constitute the next stage of its ambition to establish political dominance in India. Looking at the pattern of targeting universities it is possible to argue that the BJP is surging into newer frontiers of controlling political conversation in India, after it has conquered other realms in the public sphere.

ABVP activists beat up students of Ramjas college during clashes in Delhi University on Wednesday. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

To get a sense of this, look at how the political landscape looks from the BJPs vantage: The opposition is fragmented, the mainstream media is largely compliant, social media is vibrant but manageable because loyalist trolls relentlessly target opposing voices. The only space that the BJP does not yet control are universities, which it sees as the last bastion that stops its march to an ideological takeover. The Sangh Parivar sees universities in adversarial terms because they are spaces for free speech and inquiry, they allow for tradition and authority to be questioned; importantly they allow women to dress as they like, craft personal identities and make individual choices (a prospect that rattles Indian conservatives no end). Universities are incubators where Indias liberal democracy reproduces itself; think of the academics, journalists, lawyers, artists and social movement activists across the country that have sprung, for instance, from universities in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Madras. Universities are important because they raise awareness of important issues in ways mainstream political parties cannot do because the latter are wedded to the news cycle. For instance, students can organise discussions or rallies on deprivation of adivasis, dalits and other marginal groups in India at any point, without being beholden to topicality which politicians are wary of. In other words, student politics is a crucial point of continuity for transmitting political knowledge, advancing political agendas and socialising future generations of leaders and activists who often return to their states after stints at university.

It is this potential of universities as the vehicles of liberalism that right-wing activists want to undermine. Hence the use of force to break the morale of students. The violence at Ramjas is there for all to see. There have been death threats to JNU leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Khalid and Rashid over the last year. Hindustan Times reported recently that the JNU campus has changed in significant ways and that it falls silent after 11:30 pm, which will shock old-timers. One JNU student says There is panic among students as we are seeing things that we had never seen before. Late in the night at around 3 am we heard some people shouting slogans outside the hostel like, Desh ke gaddaron ko ek dhakka aur do, Afzal ki jo baat karega, woh Afzal ki maut marega and Jis ghar se Afzal niklega, us mein ghus kar marenge. In JNU one never had to look over your shoulder to speak your mind. Now you evidently are beginning to. What force by activists cannot achieve, the flouting of rules will. JNUs vice-chancellor, whose pro-establishment credentials are well-founded, has brazenly overruled the universitys academic council to make crucial policy changes, leading one academic to say that the JNU administration is now in an open war with teachers and students to destroy everything that the institution has been known for.

The silencing of campuses through steady punctuated tactics of intimidation and subterfuge is a grave moment for Indias democracy and its constitutional freedoms. Citizens and opposition parties must come to terms with what India will become if universities are repressed. As noted, free academic debate and student politics are nodes of continuity for democratic activism, universities are the repositories of political memory that compel change and produce future leaders. To realise their worth try imagining an India where the media is largely deferential, social science is starved of talent and resources and (liberal) student politics falls silent. That will be an India that sounds the death knell for other parties as they will have to contrive the energy and intellectual muscle mostly by themselves to challenge the BJP. Parties should note that a university system cleansed of social science mettle is the ground on which political competition is eliminated. A country in that state is poised for authoritarianism. It is imperative for that reason that every seminar, conference and student rally is protected.

(The views expressed are personal. Twitter: @SushilAaron)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Bhagalpur: The sharp decline in water level of Ganga could be an indication of impending water crisis in Bihars Bhagalpur district, 230km from Patna, even before the onset of summer.

The fall in the water level has already led to a drift of the river stream. Any further change in its course was likely to affect water supply to the intake well of Barari Water Works (BWW), which maintains the towns water distribution network.

A technical team of the Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCO) was here on Tuesday to assess the situation. Earlier, the Pan India Infraprojects Private Limited (PIIPL), had warned the BUIDCO of the problem. The PIIPL is partnering BUIDCO in executing the Asian Development Bank-funded water supply project here.

BUIDCO managing director Amrendra Prasad Singh told HT that the technical assessment report was awaited. Though there was no reason for concern at present, the BUIDCO wanted to have a contingency plan ready to meet any problem that could arise due to further reduction in Ganga water level, he said.

Referring to the special arrangement made last year to draw water from the river, Singh said the BUIDCO was contemplating steps to be taken in such situation.

PIIPL project manager Sashi Mohan said the water level was going down at the rate of 20-22 mm per week. At this rate, there could be serious problem in drawing water to the BWW intake well in another 10 days, Mohan added.

He said the normal supply of 12 MLD (million litre per day) to the BWW intake well was being maintained at present. Pumping water to the intake well from the place where water was available in the river was among other options under consideration, Mohan added.

The BWW, which has a capacity to supply 38 lakh gallons per day, distributes water to more than 80,000 households in Bhagalpur Municipal Corporation limits. The total water requirement to the town was around 180 lakh gallon per day.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A large number of farmers issued tubewell connections by the SAD-BJP government as a pre-poll bonanza are awaiting release by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The power corporation says it would release connections only after the model code of conduct gets over on March 14.

About 25,000 demand notices for tubewells were issued by PSPCL under the chairman quota in the run-up to the state assembly polls (on February 4) between September and December, but the release of about 10,000 tubewells was held up due to imposition of the model code on January 4.

Also read | Pre-poll bonanza: state cabinet creates over 3,300 posts

We would re-start release of connections only after the code is over, said a top PSPCL officer.

Also read | Now, pre-poll doles to police, Punjab govt slashes VAT by 9% on goods from police canteen

Following a complaint to the Election Commission (EC), the PSPCL had given an undertaking that it would not go ahead with the release of tubewell connections.

No new work during the poll code. Its very clear, so (agricultural) tubewells would also be installed after the poll code gets over on March 14, chief electoral officer Punjab VK Singh told HT.

Also read | Pre-poll bonanza: Badals hurry doles to vault polls

I have made so much effort to get a tubewell connection, but beyond getting a demand notice from the power corporation, the sub-divisional staff doesnt entertain my queries. I dont know whether I would ever get a tubewell, said Puran Singh, a farmer from Ropar.

Facing anti-incumbency after ten years of rule for two consecutive terms, the SAD-BJP combine rolled out the tubewell bonanza to woo the states peasantry, its major vote bank.

The demand notices were issued to the farmers for the connections on as is where basis on simple applications received from them, with the recommendations of halqa in-charges of the SAD-BJP alliance, and the only condition was that a farmer seeking a connection should own up to 2-acre agricultural land for one category and 2 to 5 acres holding for another category.

The demand notices have a validity of 90 days and as per reports gathered from PSPCL, most of such notices issued during October and November were no longer valid and will have to be re-issued.

Once we are out of the poll code, we would re-issue the demand notices again which have expired and also issue all the pending connections under the special scheme, said PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director KD Chaudhari while talking to HT.

Sources say the release of connections would depend on the new dispensation taking over after the poll results on March 11.

The release of 25,000 connections would add to the existing over 13.5 lakh agricultural tubewells.

LENGTHY PROCESS

The release of agricultural tubewell connection involves a lengthy process.

After an application is received from a farmer, a demand notice is issued. The farmer then deposits the required charges with the PSPCL and submits a test report from the chief electrical inspector ensuring that pumpset, wiring and store room has been built.

PSPCL then issues the installation orders and the entire machinery is put into working order with a power meter installed over it. With a final service order connection (SOC) issued by the PSPCL, the tubewell is put into a working order. Including all expenses, the cost of instaling a tubewell is Rs 1 lakh.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Director SS Rajamouli unveiled a brand new poster of his magnum opus, Baahubali 2, on the occasion of Mahashivratri. Featuring Prabhas, the poster is a sure-shot winner showing Amarendra Baahubali astride the head of an elephant.

Clad in a grey silk dhoti with silver adornment, wind-swept hair and a confident expression, Prabhas is seen with one leg on the trunk of the elephant while the other is on its head. The tusker itself wears a fair bit of adornment. Dark rain clouds in the horizon add to the mood of the poster, and somewhere below, we also see the town in hazy hues of brown, black and grey.

Baahubali: The Conclusion, the sequel to Rajamoulis 2015 blockbuster, will hit the screens in April 2017.

The first posters of Prabhas, Anushak Shetty and Rana Daggubati have already been revealed in the build up to its release.

The buzz around the action sequences in the film has been on an all-time high. Rana Daggubati, the films antagonist, had said in an earlier interview that the action scenes in Baahubali 2 will make the first film look small. He added, They have been amazingly shot and are mind blowing. We were left awestruck while filming them, so I can imagine how the audience will be blown away by them. The second film will bring a totality to the story. People will get to know why Kattapa killed Baahubali! And the other interesting aspect is the large scale, which is far bigger than the prequels.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop
From stories on results of BMC polls to blast in Lahore, heres a quick update of whats in the news.

1- BJP sees big gains in BMC polls as Shiv Sena cedes ground

Mumbai went saffron with the maximum city splitting its mandate nearly equally in favour of the Shiv Sena and the BJP. With the allies, however, fighting as main opponents, there was no clear winner for the countrys richest civic body. The Sena won 84 seats while the BJP put up a spectacular show by winning 80 seats, up from its earlier tally of 31 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). There are indications that now both parties will try to stake their claim over the mayors post.

Read the full story here.

2- BMC elections verdict may be split in Mumbai, but CM Fadnavis is a clear winner

In the past three decades of Mumbai politics no chief minister directly took on the Shiv Sena and won in the bargain. On Tuesday, Devendra Fadnavis did just that, something former Congress chief ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Prithviraj Chavan, failed to do.

Read the full story here.

3- Ten killed in bomb blast at Lahore

At least 10 people were killed and 30 others injured on Thursday when a powerful bomb ripped through a market in a posh locality in Lahore. The blast came a day after Pakistan Army launched a nationwide military operation Radd-ul-Fasaad to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of its counter-terrorism operations.

Read the full story here.

4- Rahul Gandhi accuses PM Modi of polarising voters in UP

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi again turned to Bollywood to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he accused of resorting to hate politics out of fear of losing the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Read the full story here.

5- Tax-free gratuity ceiling for private sector employees to be doubled to Rs 20 lakh

Private-sector employees will soon be able to withdraw up to Rs 20 lakh in tax-free gratuity after the Centre decided to amend a law and double the amount, bringing them at par with central government staff.

Read the full story here.

6- Trump again vows to bring back US jobs, but offers few details

President Donald Trump told about two dozen chief executives of major U.S. companies on Thursday he plans to bring millions of jobs back to the United States, but offered no specific plan on how to reverse a decades-long decline in jobs. In his first month in office, Trump has pressured a number of U.S. companies to hire in the United States but he has yet to publicly propose legislation tackling the big economic issues he campaigned on in 2016.

Read the full story here.

7- Wriddhiman Saha, the flying Superman, takes a stunning catch in Test match

Umesh Yadav got the ball to swing away from the batsman, and induced Steve OKeefe to edge. The ball was flying between keeper Wriddhiman Saha and captain Virat Kohli at first slip, but the wicketkeeper flung himself in Superman-esque fashion to his right and plucked the ball.

Read the story and see video here.

8- Mohit Goel, director of company that made Freedom 251 phones, detained for fraud

Mohit Goel, the director of Noida- based company Ringing Bells which had announced Freedom 251 smartphones at an astonishingly low price of Rs 251 apiece, was detained in Ghaziabad on allegations of fraud, police said on Thursday.

Read the full story here.

You may also want to read:

9- Rangoon movie review: Kangana Ranaut, Shahid Kapoors film is a misfire

It may be one of the most awaited films in recent times but Rangoon is a royal misfire. Within minutes of the movies beginning, you realise the promise of a heart-wrenching period drama was a farce.

Read the full review here.

10- In their animosity towards the media, Modi and Trump think alike

In both the United States and in India, its striking to see how political leaders are framing the independent media as an anti-national force of opposition. Donald Trump built his entire campaign on demonising the supposedly liberal and elitist media. The Indian prime minister has claimed that he lives in fear of the distortions of the press, the actions of his government and its allies in targeting certain journalists and networks suggest that the media has more to fear from him.

Read the full story here.
American legal drama television series Suits may be planning to bring back Jessica Pearsons character on-screen in a spin-off to the legal drama.

Gina Torres, 47, who played Pearson in the show for six seasons, would reprise her role in the other project that is in works at Universal Cable Productions, confirmed The Hollywood Reporter. Suits is set at a fictional law firm in New York City.



This development comes after Torres departure from Suits midway through season six, citing personal reasons.

However, sources say the deal is in its nascent stage and USA Network has not yet been pitched the potential offshoot. It is being said no deals are currently in place.

Both USA Network and UCP declined comment.

The popular TV series premiered on June 23, 2011, in the US. The focal point of the show follows talented college dropout Mike Ross (Patrick J Adams), who initially works as a law associate for Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), despite never actually attending law school. The show focuses on Harvey and Mike managing to close cases while maintaining Mikes secret.
The bodies of some 130 fighters shot execution-style or beheaded by rival jihadists have been found in mass graves in northwestern Syria, a monitoring group and rebel sources said Thursday.

The grim discovery comes nearly a week after clashes in Idlib province between the jihadist Jund al-Aqsa rebel group and al-Qaedas former Syrian affiliate and allied factions.

At least 131 bodies were found on Wednesday and Thursday in two separate mass graves near the town of Khan Sheikun, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Some had been shot and others beheaded.

Last week the bodies of 41 rebel fighters had been found near the same town, said the Britain-based monitoring group.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said Jund al-Aqsa had detained the fighters and then executed them.

Mohammad Rashid, a spokesman for the rebel Jaish al-Nasr group, also reported the deaths but put the number of bodies found at 128.

According to him, 71 of those killed were fighters from his group.

Three citizen journalists and 11 commanders were among them, said Rashid.

A source from the civil defence also reported that 128 bodies had been recovered from two graves inside a former army barracks that had been occupied by Jund al-Aqsa.

Jund al-Aqsa, which is considered close to the jihadist Islamic State group, is reviled by most rebels in the region and is designated a terrorist group by Washington.

Earlier this month, Jund al-Aqsa had been locked in clashes with Fateh al-Sham, the former Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, after tensions over influence in Idlib, a province held by rebels.

Fateh al-Sham was fighting alongside several allied groups in a coalition dubbed Tahrir al-Sham, and the battles spread beyond Idlib to neighbouring Hama province.

According to the Observatory, Jund al-Aqsa fighters have pulled back to Hama and to other areas.

More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

The war has become a complex multi-front conflict, drawing in jihadist groups and international armies.
Fifteen soldiers were killed and 19 wounded in an attack by terrorist elements in western Niger, authorities said on Friday.

A Niger army patrol was attacked by terrorist elements north of Tilwa (on Wednesday). We have 15 dead and 19 wounded in our ranks, said Colonel Toure Seydou Albdoula Aziz, the army spokesman.

Clean-up operations have been launched in the sector to neutralise the fleeing terrorists, he said, without divulging the number of attackers or their affiliation.

Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou extended his sincere condolences to the families of victims in a tweet.

The Nigeria-based Boko Haram Islamist group has waged a seven-year uprising that has claimed more than 20,000 lives, with the insurgency spilling over the West African nations borders into neighbouring states, including Niger.

The violence has left around 2.6 million people homeless, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations warning the affected region faces the largest crisis in Africa.

Three Niger soldiers were killed and seven wounded on the night of New Years Eve when Boko Haram fighters attacked their position at Baroua, in Nigers Diffa region, near the border with Nigeria.
Two days after the fatal shooting of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a bar in Olathe, the community of some 150,000 in the US state of Kansas is still trying to come to grips with the slaying that shocked many.

Kuchibothla, 32, an employee of GPS major Garmin, was shot and killed by a US Navy veteran who reportedly said get out of my country before he opened fire. His colleague, Alok Madasani, 32, was injured in the shooting along with Ian Grillot, a 24-year-old white man who tried to intervene.

Laura Bauer, a reporter with The Kansas City Star who lives in Olathe and covered the shooting, said a common refrain in the community was were not like this.

At my sons school this morning, thats all they were talking about. All the kids knew everything about the shooting, they even knew what the shooter had said, Bauer told Hindustan Times.

One of the ladies who works at the school said, Were just not like that in Olathe.

Bauer, who was at the Austins Bar & Grill shortly after the shooting, described the community as a diverse melting pot. It wasnt unusual, she said, for local residents to run into people of Indian-origin while they were out and about.

The two Indian men were regulars at the bar and were often spotted on its patio, she said. The bartender who served them remembered their partiality to Jameson whiskey, which resulted in them being known as the Jameson guys.

There is also a lot of interest in the alleged shooter, 51-year-old Adam Purinton, who was arrested in Missouri state hours after the assault. There has been speculation as to whether he was paranoid about his health and whether he had a drinking problem.

Katy Bergen, another reporter of The Kansas City Star who is part of the team responsible for the extensive coverage of the shooting, said eyewitness accounts of the racial slurs uttered by Purinton led the journalists to believe this was a hate crime at a time when the authorities werent saying much.

We took this very seriously and had about a dozen reporters covering the incident on Thursday. Thats why this was a big story for us, before other national and international news outlets picked it up. Theres an overall sense of dismay and confusion here, Bergen said.

Garmin is a popular employer in the area and thats why the death (of Kuchibhotla) hit folks hard. Shootings arent common in this community.

Bergen said she had received many emails about the Stars coverage of the shooting. Its very encouraging and some have read the story about Grillot or the story about the shooter. But now a lot of readers want to know more about the two Indians, she said.

While the official Twitter handle for Olathe city hasnt tweeted about the shooting, there has been quite a bit of discussion about the incident in the comments sections of the Stars reports. Readers debated whether the shooting was influenced by the anti-immigrant rhetoric of President Donald Trump and whether Purintons action should be described as an act of radical white supremacist terrorism.

Crap like this has increased significantly since Trump has spewed his hate, wrote reader Marc Taylor.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Turkish armed forces and allied Syrian rebels have completely taken the Islamic State bastion of Al-Bab in northern Syria from jihadists, the military said on Friday.

As of February 24, 2017, control of all neighbourhoods in Al-Bab have been secured by opposition fighters supported by Ankara against the Islamic State group, the army said in a statement.

Activities continue to clear areas under control of obstacles, mines and hand-made explosives, it said.

Al-Bab, which is 25 km south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists last stronghold in the northern province of Aleppo.

Turkey launched its unilateral military operation last August supporting Syrian opposition fighters, targeting the IS as well as Syrian Kurdish militia.

At the start of the operation dubbed Euphrates Shield, the rebels swiftly captured Jarabulus, Al-Rai and Dabiq in northern Syria from IS jihadists.

After the lightning advance, the operation became mired in a drawn-out conflict in Al-Bab lasting two months as jihadists put up a stronger fight to keep the town.

It proved to be the bloodiest battle in Turkeys campaign, where Ankara suffered most of its 71 losses so far, including two soldiers who were killed in a suicide attack today, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.
A car bomb in a village near al-Bab in Syria struck Syrian rebels fighting Islamic State early on Friday, killing 60 people and wounding dozens more.

The Turkey-backed rebels on Thursday drove Islamic State from al-Bab, the jihadist groups last significant stronghold in northwest Syria, along with two smaller neighbouring towns of Qabasin and al-Bezah, after weeks of street fighting.

The car bomb struck military and security offices in Sousian, which is behind the rebel lines about eight km northwest of al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said.

Turkeys state news agency Andadolu said the death toll was 60.

On Thursday, several Turkey-backed rebels were killed by a mine in al-Bab while clearing the town of unexploded ordnance after Islamic State retreated, the Observatory said.

Syrias main conflict pits President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shia militias, against rebels that include groups supported by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.

However, both those sides, as well as a group of militias led by Kurdish forces and supported by the US, are also fighting Islamic State, which holds large swathes of northern and eastern Syria.

Turkey directly intervened in Syria in August in support of a group of rebel factions fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner to drive Islamic State from its border. It also wants to stop Kurdish groups from gaining control of most of the frontier.

After taking al-Bab on Thursday, Turkish forces shelled Islamic State in the smaller neighbouring town of Tadef, the Observatory reported. The area immediately to the south of Tadef is held by the Syrian army and its allies.
If theres a breed of people that Pope Francis dislikes, its the two-faced kind.

Launching a scathing attack against hypocrites in his own 1.2-billion-member church, the religious head on Thursday suggested that it was better to be an atheist than one of the many Roman Catholics who lead a double life in defiance of God and basic morality.

It is a scandal to say one thing and do another. That is a double life, the Pope said in improvised comments made during a sermon at his private morning mass. There are those who say I am very Catholic, I always go to Mass, I belong to this and that association.

Also read: Protecting migrants a moral duty of all, says Pope

Some of these people should also admit that my life is not Christian, I dont pay my employees proper salaries, I exploit people, I do dirty business, I launder money, (I lead) a double life, the Vatican Radio transcript quoted him as saying. There are many Catholics who are like this, and they cause scandals. How many times have we all heard people say: If that person is a Catholic, it is better to be an atheist?

Since his election in 2013, Francis has often told Catholics  both priests and lay people  to practice what their religion preaches.

Also read: Corruption, sex abuse by clergy not making me take tranquilising pills: Pope

In his often-impromptu sermons, the Pope has condemned sexual abuse of children by priests as being tantamount to a satanic mass, said Catholics in the mafia excommunicate themselves, and told his own cardinals to refrain from acting like princes. Less than two months after his election, he said Christians should see atheists as good people if they do good.

Francis sermon was an extended riff on Thursdays mass readings, which included a passage quoting Jesus as saying that it was better to be drowned with a millstone tied around the neck than to cause others to sin.

(With Reuters inputs)
A right-wing extremist from London who described Adolf Hitler as his God has been jailed for five years for terrorism and hate crimes over his social media posts.

Sean Creighton was sentenced at a court in London on Thursday after using social media to call for Muslims and Jews to be killed.

An investigation was launched after a photograph was posted online of Creighton, 45, holding an assault rifle and standing in front of a Nazi flag.

The probe uncovered his wider hate campaign, including leaving offensive stickers in public and ownership of a White Resistance Manual 2.4 document with details of weapons and explosives.

Creighton was described as a committed racist by prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford.

He was enthralled by Nazism and Adolf Hitler, whom he told police in his interviews was his God, Sandiford told the court.

In addition to homophobic and racist social media posts, evidence against Creighton included an image of Hitler posted online alongside the message kill the Muslims.

Jews prepare to die he wrote in another social media post, published with an image of a gun and a Swastika.

Creighton told police he was a bit of a hater who hated for the people, the court heard.

Following the sentencing, Dean Haydon from the Counter Terrorism Command of Londons Metropolitan Police said the force would continue to tackle different forms of extremism.

We are as committed to apprehending and prosecuting far-right extremists who commit terrorist offences and promote hatred as we are those who support and promote ISIS (Islamic State group), he said in a statement.
President Donald Trump heaped criticism on what he called purveyors of fake news on Friday at a gathering of conservative activists that took him back to his roots as an anti-establishment candidate.

Speaking to a large group of conservatives who packed into a hotel ballroom outside Washington, Trump sought to clarify a recent tweet in which he said some in the US news media should be considered an enemy of the people.

Im against the people that make up stories and make up sources. They shouldnt be allowed to use sources unless they use somebodys name. Let their name be out there, Trump said. Let there be no more sources.

Trump has repeatedly chosen to make criticism of the news media a central focus of his public remarks since taking office on January 20 even as the courts blocked his order temporarily barring entry for people from seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees, he fired his national security adviser and he faces questions about Russian interference in the November 8 US election.

The speech allowed Trump to put his stamp firmly on the political movement even as some activists fret that his immigration and trade policies go too far.

Trump addressed the third day of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, which has focused on how to fulfil long-held Republican goals to revamp the US tax code, repeal federal regulations on industry and repeal former Democratic President Barack Obamas healthcare law.

With Trump in the White House and Republicans holding majorities in Congress, CPAC and the thousands of conservative activists who flock to the event each year from across the country are seeing their political influence rising.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump talked about imposing some form of a border tax to encourage more US manufacturing, called the Chinese grand champions of currency manipulation that hurts US exports and talked of expanding the US nuclear arsenal.

Read | China rejects Trumps champion of currency manipulation jibe

Several CPAC attendees voiced concerns about some of Trumps actions during his first month in office, and worried he might take the US economy in the wrong direction in months ahead.

Abby Oliver, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who interns for a local Republican Party organisation, said that while she wanted to see the United States gain better control of its borders, she had some concerns about the controversial travel ban executive order.

Oliver said the order, which caused protests and chaos at airports the weekend after its enactment, was rolled out a little bit haphazardly and she worried that Trump could go too far on immigration policy.

I dont want it to become people are being ripped apart from their families, Oliver said.

Veneta Gilchrist of West Palm Beach, Florida, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, called Trumps immigration actions extreme. She said she was hoping to hear the President talk about repealing Obamacare, a core campaign promise that has so far made little headway in Congress.

Right direction

David Burke of Dover, Delaware, who said he spent 30 years in the US Air Force, wanted to hear Trump talk on Friday about all the issues he promoted during the presidential campaign.

I think most everything hes been saying is going to put the country in the right direction, Burke said, adding he approved of Trumps immigration policies and his emphasis on keeping businesses in the United States.

During his run for the White House, Trump promised to rip up trade deals he said treated US companies and workers unfairly. He has already announced the United States will drop out of a vast Pacific Rim trade deal and renegotiate the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

In place of multilateral trade arrangements, Trump has promised to negotiate stronger bilateral trade pacts and impose tougher sanctions on countries deemed to be trading unfairly.

That troubles Tyler Wadsworth of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who turned 18 after last Novembers election, too late to vote.

I am not a big fan of (trade) tariffs. I feel like its a tax on people. I really want to hear what he has to say about that, Wadsworth said.

For Eric Golub, who described himself as a politically conservative Jewish comedian from Los Angeles, Trump must concentrate on making sure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

This (CPAC) is fun. This is Disneyland for conservatives, he said. I want him (Trump) to give the speech, go back to Washington and lets get back to work.
The FBI rejected a White House request to knock down media reports about communications between President Donald Trumps associates and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign, law enforcement officials told CNN.

White House officials had sought the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts, the officials said.

The reports of the contacts were first published by the New York Times and CNN on February 14.

The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts. Such a request from the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations.

Late Thursday night, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer objected to CNNs characterisation of the White House request to the FBI.

We didnt try to knock the story down. We asked them to tell the truth, Spicer said.

The discussions between the White House and the bureau began with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Trumps Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on the sidelines of a separate White House meeting a day after the stories were published, a law enforcement official told CNN.

The White House initially disputed that account, saying that McCabe called Priebus and said the New York Times story vastly overstated what the FBI knows about the contacts.

CNN had previously reported that there was constant communication between high-level advisers to then-candidate Trump, Russian officials and other Russians known to US intelligence during mid-2016.

Several members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have said that the congressional investigations are continuing into those alleged Russian contacts with the Trump campaign, despite Priebus assertion that there was nothing to those reports.
Nearly one million devotees from India and Nepal thronged the famous 5th century Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu on Friday on the occasion of Mahashivratri festival.

Security was beefed up with the deployment of 6,000 security personnel in the vicinity of the temple situated on the banks of the Bagmati river for the annual Mahashivratri festival to be observed on Saturday.

A sadhu smears his forehead with ash at the courtyard of the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu during Mahashivratri on Friday. (AP)

Police are keeping a close watch on illegal trade of marijuana, hashish and alcohol as possession, sale, distribution and smuggling of narcotics are punishable.

Over 6,000 policemen from Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department have been mobilised to maintain law and order, said superintendent of police Pradyumna Kumar Karki, chief of the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police.

A sadhu helps another smear his body with ash and vermilion powder at the courtyard of the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu during Mahashivratri on Friday. (AP)

A senior police officer said only seers and saints who have travelled to the temple -- one of the holiest Hindu sites -- from Nepal and India will be allowed to consume marijuana and hallucinating substances on religious grounds.

However, they will be strictly barred from selling marijuana and such substances to devotees.

A sadhu smokes marijuana at the courtyard of the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu during Mahashivratri on Friday. (AP)

All the four gates of the temple were open for devotees from 3am on Friday.

Emergency health care centres, security posts, information desks, first-aid treatment centres have been set up.

Around 4,000 seers were expected to visit the temple for the celebrations, Pashupati Area Development Trust said.

A sadhu applies vermillion on his forehead at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu during Mahashivratri on Friday. (REUTERS)

The Nepali Army organised a special function at the Army Pavilion, Tundikhel Open Ground in Kathmandu on the occasion of the Nepal Army Day coinciding with the festival.

A sadhu offers prayers on a human skull at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu during Mahashivratri on Friday. (REUTERS)

On the occasion, President Bidya Devi Bhandari, the supreme commander-in-chief of the Nepali Army, garlanded the Brave Soldier monument at Tudinkhel and received the guard of honour. Prime Minister Prachanda also attended the function.
The American state of Kansas  where 32-year-old Srinavas Kuchibhotla was shot to death in a bar Wednesday  is not particularly prone to hate crimes, nor is it home to a disproportionate amount of Indians. And Kansas is not an outlier. In general, Indians in the United States tend not to live in states where they are most vulnerable to hate crimes.

In North Dakota, which had the highest rate of crimes motivated by the victims race or religion in 2015, according to data from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Indians are just .28% of the population. And in Montana, which ranked fourth-highest in race- and religion-based hate crimes in 2015, Indians account for .05% of the population, the lowest of all US states.

Kansas, for its part, reported 54 hate crimes motivated by race or religion in 2015, ranking 15th in such crimes per population. Its population is made up of about about .52% Indians.

Some states, on the other hand, have both a relatively large proportion of Indians and a high hate crime rate. New Jersey, which has by far the highest proportion of Indians  3.80%  also ranks sixth in its rate of race- and religion-based hate crimes.

Kuchibotla, who was from Hyderabad and came to the US as a Masters student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, may be Americas first victim of a race-based hate crime since the election of Donald Trump, who won the presidency in part by tapping in to the racial anxieties of white Americans.

Yet the country is no stranger to hate crimes motivated by race and religion. In 2015, the most recent year for which data are available, the US saw 4,586 such crimes, a slight increase from 2014.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Iraqi air force struck militants of the Islamic State inside neighbouring Syria on Friday, officials said, adding that the targeted militants were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad.

The strike was announced by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a statement and is believed to be the first of its kind by Iraqi jets on Syrian territory.

We ordered the air force command to strike Daesh terrorist sites in Husseibeh and Albu Kamal, in Syrian territory, the premier said, using an Arabic acronym for the jihadist organisation.

We are determined to track down terrorists trying to kill our sons and citizens wherever they are, he said.

Both locations cited by Abadi are very close to the border and lie in the Euphrates Valley, facing the remote western Iraqi town of Al-Qaim.

Husseibeh is a town in Iraq but an area that lies on the Syrian side of the border has the same name.

Jihadists have lost most of their urban bastions in the vast western province of Anbar since Iraqi forces mounted a counter-offensive following the capture by IS of around a third of the country in 2014.

The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against IS in Iraq released its own statement stating that the strike took place on Friday and containing some video footage.

Baghdad witnessed terrorist attacks using car bombs in Bayaa and Habibiyah, the statement said, referring to bombings that killed dozens last week in the Iraqi capital.

The February 16 car bomb blast in Bayaa killed at least 52 people and was the deadliest such attack in Baghdad since a suicide truck bomb explosion in the Karrada neighbourhood set teeming shopping arcades ablaze and killed more than 320.

After a few days of investigation, (the security forces) reached them and found their location, the JOC said.

This morning (Friday), the heroes of the air force attacked enemy targets with F-16s inside Syria, in the Husseibeh and Albu Kamal areas, it said. Their hideouts were completely destroyed.

But they continue to move relatively easily in desert areas and have hideouts from which they harass the security forces.

A security official speaking on condition of anonymity said it was the first time Iraqi aircraft had hunted IS targets across the border in Syria.
Malaysia confirmed on Friday that North Koreas supreme leader Kim Jong Uns half-brother Kim Jong-nam was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur international airport with a chemical poison, commonly known as VX nerve agent.

Authorities have now announced they will sweep the airport to decontaminate the premises of the nerve gas, considered the deadliest poison in the world.

This is a remarkable move that comes 11 days after the attack attributed to officials from North Korea, said to have the worlds third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons.

Heres all you need to know about the VX nerve gas, curated from factsheets of the United States Centre for Disease Control and the US National Academy of Sciences website.

WHAT IS VX?

Considered the most lethal agent in the world, a 10-milligram dose of VX is enough to kill someone by paralyzing the nervous system. People can be exposed through skin, eye contact or by breathing the agent  which makes it so unusual that no one else has been reported killed in the airport over the past two weeks. In Jong-nams case, authorities say the agent was used on his eyes.

It is an odourless and tasteless oily liquid that is amber in color and very slow to evaporate. The V in VX stands for venom. The United Nations classifies it as a weapon of mass destruction.

WHO CREATED IT AND WHO HAS IT

VX was created as a chemical warfare agent in the early to mid-1950s by Ranaji Ghosh, a chemist working for Imperial Chemical Industries in Britain, the Guardian newspaper says.

VX isnt found naturally in the environment and its only known use is in chemical warfare. It is possible that VX was used during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the CDC says.

In the 1960s, the United States began production of VX. Only it and Russia admit to stockpiling the agent but many other countries  such as Iraq and Syria  are said to hold several tonnes of the chemical.

RISK OF CONTAMINATION

If VX is released into the air, people can be exposed through skin contact, eye contact, or inhalation (breathing in the VX mist).

If released in water, drinking contaminated water or getting contaminated water on their skin.

Following contamination of food with VX, people can be exposed by eating the contaminated food.

A persons clothing can release VX after contact with VX vapor, which can lead to exposure of other people through contaminated clothing.

The high possibility of exposure through air and clothes make airports -- where thousands of people are usually in close contact with each other -- particularly susceptible to the chemical agent.

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF VX

The CDC website says the extent of contamination depends on time and the quantity of exposure of the nerve agent.

Symptoms usually appear in a few seconds if exposed to the vapour form and upto 18 hours if exposed to the liquid form. Any visible liquid contact on skin is also lethal.

What it does, CDC says, is disable an enzyme that acts as the bodys off switch for muscles and glands. Without an off switch, the muscles and glands work constantly, tire out, and are unable to sustain even breathing function.

With low to moderate exposure, people can experience high blood pressure, coughing, diarrhea, excessive sweating, nausea. Even one drop on skin can cause twitching and abnormal heart rate.

High exposure can cause unconsciousness, paralysis and respiratory failure.

HOW CAN PEOPLE PROTECT THEMSELVES

Recovery is possible with low-moderate exposure but the antidote has to be administered immediately.

If exposed, the CDC asks people to get fresh air, remove clothing, rapidly wash entire body with soap and get medical care.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Israeli authorities have rejected a request from Human Rights Watch to grant a work permit to its regional director, accusing the group of engaging in Palestinian propaganda, the group said on Friday.

The decision was Israels latest step against human rights groups and other advocacy organizations that it accuses of bias against the Jewish state.

Israels Interior Ministry issued its ruling this week, some six months after Human Rights Watch asked for permission for its New York-based Israel and Palestine director, Omar Shakir, to be able to work in the country.

In a letter dated Monday, the ministry said the groups reports have engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of human rights. The decision, it said, was based on a recommendation from Israels Foreign Ministry.

Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon called Human Rights Watch a blatantly hostile anti-Israeli organization whose reports have the sole purpose of harming Israel with no consideration whatsoever for the truth or reality.

He said there is no reason to give a visa to a person or organization that wants to hurt the country. We are not masochists and there is no reason we should keep doing that, he said.

He said the decision was connected solely to the groups activities and had nothing to do with the ethnicity of Shakir, a US citizen of Iraqi descent.

Shakir, a Stanford-educated lawyer, has also done work on human rights in Egypt, Pakistan and at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, according to his biography.

The New York-based group monitors human rights in over 90 countries, including nations throughout the Middle East. It said it has direct access to most of these countries, but said a small number of them, including Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Uzbekistan and Venezuela, have blocked access to its staff.

The denial letter came as a shock, given that we have had regular access to Israel and the West Bank for nearly three decades and regularly engage Israeli authorities, Shakir said in an email. Branding us as propagandists and fake human rights advocates puts Israel in the company of heavily repressive states like North Korea, Iran and Sudan that have blocked access for Human Rights Watch staff members.(
From the Rocky theme to cash handouts and early Premium Friday finishes, a small but growing number of companies in workaholic Japan are getting creative with the ways theyre getting employees out the door early.

The government launched its Premium Friday campaign, encouraging firms to let workers out a few hours early on the last Friday of the month so they spend money on shopping and leisure to help boost the economy.

The initiative is also part of a broader push by Prime Minister Shinzo Abes administration to reduce working hours, after the suicide of an employee at ad agency Dentsu - ruled death by overwork - cast a harsh spotlight on Japan Incs deep-rooted problem of excessive overtime.

Excessive working hours have become a big problem, said Etsuko Tsugihara, chief executive of public relations firm Sunny Side Up Inc.

We were thinking of ways to improve our own working environment when the government came up with Premium Friday and we thought it was a good idea.

As an added incentive, she said Sunny Side Up would hand employees a one-time 3,200 yen ($28) cash payment as they headed out at around 3pm, while the firm stood to benefit from a productivity standpoint.

In creative industries like ours, inspiration wont come just from staying in the office for a long time. But take some time off, breathe new air and see new things and the ideas will come, and youll be refreshed when you come back on Monday.

Beyond easing the personal toll on workers, the government has the economy in mind.

As the labour pool shrinks along with the population, it wants firms to reduce hours to encourage more women to work and get fathers more involved in bringing up children. Increased leisure time should also mean more time between the sheets to boost the birth rate.

Gonna fly now

Some employers are already taking up the call.

Channelling their inner Rocky, workers at the headquarters of Mitsui Home Co hear the trumpets of Gonna Fly Now playing over office speakers every day at 6pm as a signal that they can leave.

Saint-Works Corporation, which specialises in IT system development for the nursing care industry, has a no-overtime day once a month. Violators must wear a purple cape of shame with gold stars.

Others, like the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, are simply turning off the lights by around 8pm to make people leave. Leasing company Orix Corp plans to offer up to 50,000 yen for employees who use at least five vacation days in a row.

Still, these examples are by far the exception in a culture where workers are judged by the amount of face time they put in, and feel pressure not to leave before the bosses.

SMBC Nikko Securities estimated that up to just 6.5% of Japanese workers would participate in Premium Friday.

A government white paper released in October showed that almost a quarter of companies had employees who had worked more than 80 hours of overtime in a month - its threshold for risk of karoshi, or death by overwork.

To plug loopholes in the labour laws, the government last week submitted to a work reform committee a proposal to limit overtime to 720 hours a year, or an average of 60 hours a month.

Drastic overhaul

Truly bidding sayonara to overtime in Japan requires a fairly drastic overhaul, said Yoko Ishikura, professor emeritus at Hitotsubashi University and an expert on workstyle reforms.

Japanese offices are still employing too many generalists with ill-defined roles making it hard to measure their work output and thus encouraging unproductive time sitting at desks, while an inflexible job market was exacerbating the problem, she said.

Were very efficient in factories but when it comes to white collar, productivity is very low, she said. What were interested in is productivity improvement and innovation, and long work hours do not help either.

Still, some are apprehensive about changing too much, too quickly.

At a meeting last week of the governments Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, Suntory Holdings chief executive Takeshi Niinami expressed concern that less overtime could hurt workers in the form of lower pay - and hurt consumer spending.

Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation corporate lobby, told reporters he was basically in favour of setting limits on work hours but the global competitiveness of Japanese firms could be at risk if limits were too strict.

However, Yoshie Komuro, founder and head of the consultancy Work-Life Balance Co, noted Japan Inc had already been losing its global edge recently and said it must change its mindset to improve performance and attract top talent.

Japan thinks long working hours are a tool that it can use to win, but the reality is theyre the reason its been losing.
India pledged on Friday to pay for the transport of the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the 32-year-old Indian-American engineer who was killed in an apparent race attack at a bar in suburban Kansas City.

The government also rushed two officials to meet the families of Kuchibhotla and his colleague and friend Alok Madasani, who was injured in the bar shooting but has been discharged from hospital.

I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family I have assured all help and assistance, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj wrote on Twitter.

Consul RD Joshi and vice-consul Harpal Singh arrived in Kansas City from Houston and Dallas, and met the families and other community members.

I have spoken to the father and Mr.K.K.Shastri brother of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Hyderabad and conveyed my condolences to the family, Swaraj said.

Many bar patrons told local newspapers that the alleged shooter shouted Get out of my country before opening fire at the two Indians, who hail from Hyderabad and Warangal. They were working at Garmin in Olathe.

Originally from Hyderabad, Kuchibhotla was a B. Tech in electrical and electronics engineering from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. He had a masters degree from the University of Texas, El Paso. Madasani graduated from Vasavi College of Engineering in 2006, and came to the US as a Masters student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Indian American community is reacting with outrage and sadness to the fatal shooting of Srinivasan Kuchibhotla, an IT engineer from Hyderabad, at a Kansas bar on Wednesday, and has blamed it on rising social tensions since the election of President Donald Trump.

This President now has blood on his hands, said Shekhar Narasimha, a businessman and Democratic strategist. He has incited and created the environment where hate crimes are emboldened. All those of colour have something to fear now for our children and theirs.

I pray we do not have a hot summer in the United States as we have no moral leadership left capable of quelling violence if it erupts.

The Hindu American Foundation, a bipartisan advocacy group, was equally clear in linking the shooting to the current atmosphere. The murder of Kuchibhotla is the first reported bias-motivated fatality in the United States after the bitter Presidential election, it said in a statement.

It went on to add: This tragic shooting occurs as hate crimes and acts of bigotry have risen notably in recent months. And listed the vandalising of a Jewish cemetery and offices of Jewish civil society organisations receiving bomb threats.

Though Republicans wouldnt go so far as to link the killing to the election or the rhetoric surrounding it, they felt outraged as well. Puneet Ahluwalia, a Republican strategist, said, It is tragic, upsetting and unacceptable. This kind of demented rage and their perpetrators have to be stopped and prosecuted. This is a threat to the greatness and hope which America is to so many.
North Korea may have found a new use for its large stockpile of chemical and biological weapons, which are meant to attack South Korean and US troops in case of another war.

Malaysian police said Friday that a chemical weapon  the toxic VX nerve agent  was used to kill the estranged half brother of Pyongyangs absolute leader at the Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13. If North Koreas involvement is confirmed, this would be an unusual and extremely high-profile use of its chemicals in an assassination.

Much like its secretive nuclear program, outsiders struggle to nail down exact details about the Norths chemical and biological weapons programs. Heres whats known about North Korean chemical and biological weapons:

One of worlds largest stockpiles

North Korea is not a signatory to the international Chemical Weapons Convention. It has been producing chemical weapons since the 1980s and is now estimated to have as many as 5,000 tons, according to a biennial South Korean defence white paper. Its stockpile, one of the worlds largest, reportedly has 25 types of agents, including sarin, mustard, tabun and hydrogen cyanide. It also is thought to have nerve agents, such as the VX allegedly used by two women  one Vietnamese and the other Indonesian  to kill the North Korean leaders half brother, Kim Jong Nam. North Korea also has 12-13 types of biological weapons, said Lee Illwoo, a Seoul-based commentator on military issues. It can likely produce anthrax, smallpox and plague, the South Korean defence paper said. If war breaks out, North Korea would likely target Seouls defences with chemical and biological weapons dropped from aircraft or delivered via missiles, artillery and grenades, experts say.

A North Korean man identified by Malaysian police as Ri Jong Chol is taken to a police station in Sepang, Malaysia. (Reuters File Photo)

New level of sophistication

VX, which Malaysian police said was detected on Kim Jong Nams eyes and face, was used by Saddam Husseins forces in a 1988 poison gas attack on the Kurdish city of Halabja in northern Iraq that killed thousands. If North Korea really did use VX to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, it would show a new level of sophistication in its handling and use of chemical weapons, said Kim Dae Young, a military expert at South Koreas Korea Defence and Security Forum. They probably conducted a lot of tests to come up with a perfect amount that would kill Kim Jong Nam, but not harm the assailants or anyone else nearby in a crowded airport, Kim said. Its still unclear how the suspects allegedly handled the VX, but analysts say that North Korea is probably capable of producing VX as a binary agent, where two chemicals that are separately harmless become a nerve agent when mixed together.

Heavy production

Making chemical weapons isnt extremely difficult, and the North likely uses chemical fertilizer plants to manufacture its weapons, according to South Korean experts. The military information website GlobalSecurity.org said that North Korea has at least eight industrial facilities that can produce chemical agents. The biggest weakness of chemical weapons is that their effectiveness expires soon and new supplies need to be made constantly, so North Korea maintaining a stockpile of up to 5,000 tons indicates a very strong production capability, said Kim, the analyst. Some defectors from the North have claimed that the authoritarian country tested chemical agents on political prisoners. The North is also thought to have some 17 microbiological labs and other places to nurture and produce germs to be used as weapons. The North can argue that such places are meant to study how to prevent epidemic diseases. But analyst Lee said the North has already placed those germs in storage facilities in military units, which means Pyongyang intends to use them as weapons.

A still image from a CCTV footage appears to show a woman in a white shirt (circled in red on right) walking away after accosting Kim Jong Nam (circled in red on left) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. (Reuters File Photo)

Past assassinations

Seoul has blamed Pyongyang for using poison in past assassinations or failed assassination attempts. When South Korean officials squashed what they said was a North Korean attempt to kill North Korean defector-turned-anti-Pyongyang activist Park Sang-hak in 2011, they unveiled a pen-liked weapon carried by the would-be assailant that hid a needle dipped in neostigmine bromide, a chemical that attacks the nervous system. South Korea also suspects the North was involved in the killing of Choi Duk-kun, a South Korean diplomat stationed in the Russian city of Vladivostok, who was found dead in front of his apartment in October 1996. Investigators later found neostigmine bromide in Chois body.
North Korea has up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons, South Korean experts said on Friday, including the toxin used to assassinate its leaders half-brother.

Traces of VX -- a nerve agent listed as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations -- were detected on swabs from the face and eyes of Kim Jong-Nam, who was poisoned at a Kuala Lumpur airport last week, Malaysian police said on Friday.

Malaysian detectives are holding three people -- women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man -- but want to speak to seven others, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.

South Koreas defence ministry said in its 2014 Defence White Paper that the North began producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and estimated that it has about 2,500 to 5,000 tonnes in stock.

North Korea has chemical weapons production facilities in eight locations including the northeastern port of Chongjin and the northwestern city of Sinuiju, it said in the 2012 edition of the document.

North Korea is believed to have a large stockpile of VX, which can easily be manufactured at low cost, defence analyst Lee Il-Woo at the private Korea Defence Network told AFP.

Developed some 100 years ago, VX can be produced at small laboratories or facilities producing pesticides, he said.

Chemical and biological weapons can be delivered through various means such as artillery, missiles and planes, he added.

If absorbed through the skin, eyes or nose, just a tiny drop of the colourless, odourless nerve agent is enough to fatally damage a victims central nervous system.

Military science professor Kim Jong-Ha at Hannam University said the North has 16 kinds of nerve agents including VX and sarin, used by a Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, in the 1995 attack at the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people.

It also possesses other lethal chemicals, including suffocating, blistering and blood agents, Kim said, as well as 13 types of biological weapons such as anthrax and bubonic plague.

North Korea has not signed a global chemical weapons convention that prohibits the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.

More than 160 countries signed the treaty, that went into force in 1997.
Nepal and China will hold their first joint military drill towards the end of March and a delegation from the Nepal Army is set to leave for Beijing next week to discuss the scale and modalities of the exercise.

Nepal Army chief Gen Rajendra Chhetri confirmed the exercise while delivering a speech on the eve of Nepal Army day on Friday.

Nepal Army is conducting various joint exercises with armies of friendly nationsfor the sake of strengthening professional ties and deepening relations with various military organizations, he said.

The Nepal Army recently conducted an exercise with the Sri Lankan Army for the first time and it will soon conduct a similar drill with the Bangladesh Army too.

Top military sources told Hindustan Times it was China which proposed the joint exercise, and the Nepal Army accepted the proposal because it had already conducted with many countries. Officials reasoned it would not be very significant to hold an exercise with China, the sources said.

The cool reaction from New Delhi led to concern within the Nepal Army but officials decided to go ahead with the plan, the sources added.

The drill will focus on counter-terrorism, jungle warfare, military diplomacy, disaster management and upgrading professional capabilities.

Nepal Army spokesperson Brig Gen Tara Bahadur Karki said a team from the training department will soon visit China to finalise the dates and modalities of the drill with China which will be held on a small scale.

A team from Chinas Peoples Liberation Army has visited Kathmandu to discuss the logistics for the drill. Sources in the Nepal Army said the drill will be held at the section level and last 10 days.

Nepal is also set to conduct a military drill with India, Surya Kiran, very soon. The exercise has been alternately held in India and Nepal ten times since it started in 2011.
China said on Friday said it will continue complying with UN Security Council sanctions against its ally North Korea but chose not to directly comment on a rare and bitter critique of its policy released by Pyongyangs official media.

In a commentary published by official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang sharply criticised Beijing for appearing to be friendly but dancing to the tune of the US.

The commentary didnt name China but it was a reaction to Beijing suspending coal imports from North Korea after it fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile earlier this month.

Coal is the dictatorial Communist regimes main export and the suspension is expected to deprive the country of crucial foreign exchange.

China is North Koreas key ally and economic benefactor.

This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the US, while defending its mean behaviour with such excuses that it wasnt meant to have a negative impact on the living standards of people in the DPRK but to check its nuclear programme, the KCNA commentary said.

The commentary sharply criticised the big power for unhesitatingly taking inhumane steps such as totally blocking foreign trade related to the improvement of peoples living standards. It added the nation had joined North Koreas enemies to bring down its social system.

Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Friday that the country would fully enforce UN Security Council resolutions.

"According to our statistics, China has already approached the upper limits of coal imports from North Korea. So because of this, we have stopped imports of coal from North Korea with a responsible attitude, Geng said without responding to a question whether Beijings decision could impact the lives of North Koreans.

On Thursday, Chinas defence ministry denied reports it had increased troops along the border with North Korea following the missile test and the mysterious murder of the Norths leader Kim Jong-uns half-brother in Malaysia.

As for the reports mentioned of the People's Liberation Army increasing troops on the Chinese-North Korean border, they are totally baseless and completely fabricated, defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a news briefing.

South Korean and US officials say the North Korean leader's half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, was killed by North Korean agents, a claim not acknowledged by Pyongyang.
Conducting targeted strikes across the Afghan border, Pakistan army has succeeded in killing two high-profile terrorists affiliated with terrorist group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, including the Lahore attack mastermind, media reports said.

According to security sources, those killed included Wajihullah alias Ahrar, who was the brain behind the recent suicide attack in Lahore and earlier incidents in Punjab, Geo TV reported.

Sources added that Wajihullah was sponsored by a hostile intelligence agency for terrorist activities in Pakistan.

On February 13, at least 16 people, including senior police officers, were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself near Lahores Charing Cross, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered for a protest.

Another terrorist killed by the army was Hikmat alias Qari Zubair, who was in-charge of terrorist transit camp in Afghanistan and coordinator for terrorist operations in Pakistan, sources said.
A Philippines senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs was arrested on Friday after charges were filed in court alleging she received money from drug dealers inside the countrys prisons.

Senator Leila de Lima, her former driver and bodyguard and a former national prison official were ordered to be arrested by a local court after a judge found merit in criminal charges filed by the department of justice last week.

The truth will come out and I will achieve justice. I am innocent, she told reporters shortly before law enforcers escorted her away from her office.

She is facing two more drug-related charges in the same court.

De Lima, a human rights lawyer before joining the government, said the charges are a vendetta against her after she last year led a senate probe into alleged extrajudicial killings during Dutertes anti-drugs crackdown.

On Tuesday, she described Duterte as a sociopathic serial killer and urged his cabinet to declare him unfit to rule because he had a criminal mind.

These are all lies, De Lima said, adding the charges will not silence her.

Philippine senator Leila de Lima. (Reuters Photo)

According to complaint filed at a regional trial court, De Lima received 5 million Philippine pesos ($99,850) delivered by the former prison official to her home when she was justice minister between 2010 and 2016.

The criminal cases filed against the senator and two others are non-bailable.

Dutertes chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo said in a statement on Thursday de Lima should welcome this development as she is now given the opportunity to refute any and all allegations and/or evidence to be presented by the prosecution against her.

About 7,700 people have died in the drug crackdown, with more than 2,500 people killed in operations when street-level drug peddlers resist arrest and fight back, according to police.

De Lima was removed by Dutertes allies as head of the investigation into extrajudicial killings and just days later came under investigation herself in a congressional inquiry in which witnesses testified to her having pivotal role in the narcotics trade.
The Nepal government should take all stakeholders into confidence before going ahead with polls to local bodies, Indias outgoing ambassador Ranjit Rae suggested on Friday.

Speaking at a farewell programme organised by the Reporters Club Nepal, Rae said, It is my request to the government of Nepal to take all the political parties into confidence before going for the polls which is going to take place on May 14.

He added, India, as the largest democracy in the world, supports every move and effort made for strengthening democracy in Nepal. It has been our policy continuously over a period of time.

India has consistently said since Nepals new Constitution was promulgated in 2015 that all sections and stakeholders should be on board in processes related to its implementation. Raes remarks were first reaction from an Indian official to the Nepal governments announcement regarding the polls to local bodies.

After a stint of three-and-half-years in Nepal, Rae is scheduled to leave Kathmandu on March 1. India has not yet named his successor.

The diplomatic assignment in Kathmandu is a prized positing for an Indian diplomat as the job is challenging, complex and sometimes frustrating, Rae said.

India-Nepal relations have always been positive and both sides should make efforts to strengthen ties in the fields of economics and social-cultural contacts.He stressed the need for more economic cooperation and people-to-people contacts.

An agreement of Rs 34 billion has been made for constructing the Mahakali bridge and 15 roads to develop people-to-people contacts. When the construction of the Mahakali bridge is completed, it will especially benefit people of the far western region in Nepal and Uttarakhand. This bridge will bring a positive change for the people of these areas, he added..

Another issue is rail connectivity. Minister for railways Suresh Prabhu recently announced he wants to build rail links connecting Kolkata and Delhi to Kathmandu, he said. A framework for executing India-backed projects in Nepal has been made and some progress will be seen soon, he added.
A Sikh civil rights group has urged members of the Sikh-American community to exercise caution and be extra vigilant in the wake of a possible hate crime in Kansas City that left one Indian engineer dead and another injured.

The Sikh Coalition said its prayers go out to the family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32 who was killed when 51-year-old Olathe man Adam Purinton shot him at a bar in the city on Wednesday.

Another Indian engineer Alok Madasani, 32 was injured in the incident and was released from the hospital. Purinton has ben charged in Johnson County District Court with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Bond has been set at USD 2 million.

The advocacy group urged every Sikh-American to exercise extra vigilance and caution during this period of heightened vulnerability.

It urged members of the community to call law enforcement immediately if they have been a victim of hate violence or received threats of violence.

Kuchibhotla worked in aviation systems for Olathe-based Garmin Ltd. Madasani was his co-worker at Garmin.

It was a tragic and senseless act of violence, Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke said in The Kansas City Star.

Another individual Ian Grillot, 24 was reportedly shot while attempting to stop Purinton.

Grillot said he was happy to see Madasani is recovering.

Following the shooting, Olathe residents went to the bar where the incident took place to lay flowers and offer condolences to the staff, patrons and victims families.

You just cant help but your heart goes out to them, and its such a sad story for the community but I just wanted to support and of course honor the lives and everybody involved, nearby business owner Amber McCracken said in a report in KSHB Kansas City.

The shooting has shaken the tight-knit Indian community in Olathe, according to Shabina Kavimandan, who was among those laying flowers at the site.

We take pride in the fact that we come and we become a part of this society and then when things like this happen you just stop in your tracks and you realize that yes you are a little different, said Kavimandan.

When we pull back the layer then we realized, oh, gun violence was actually somebody killing people because they are different, that adds another layer to it. Thats when it became really hard to really make sense of this.
A former British cabinet minister has raised serious doubts on whether the Theresa May government will be able to forge a free trade pact with India after Brexit, pointing to continuing intransigence in London over the key issue of visas.

Vince Cable, who was business secretary in the David Cameron government during 2010-15, was involved in EU-India free trade negotiations with two Indian commerce ministers  Anand Sharma and Nirmala Seetharaman. He told Hindustan Times the main reason the talks did not move forward was objections raised on mobility issues by then British home secretary Theresa May.

Launched in 2007, talks on the EU-India trade deal continue to be stalled, but there are indications from Brussels that there are better chances of the deal being struck after Britain leaves the European Union.

India, Cable said, now approaches any bilateral negotiation with Brexit-bound Britain from a position of strength. The sight of the former colonial master coming cap in hand will whet Indian appetites for a deal in Indias favour.

As prime minister, May has often mentioned India as a free trade partner, and had initial talks with Indian representatives during her visit to New Delhi in November, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi again raised the issue of mobility for students and professionals.

Read| Brexit-bound UK should focus on India, Commonwealth, say British MPs

Cable said: There is no sign of rethinking on the visa issue. I dont think it (UK-India free trade pact with India) will happen. Both Sharma and Seetharaman valued good relations, but there was quite a serious obstacle on the mobility issue in the trade talks.

Britains current crop of ministers seem not to have taken on board that the attempted EU-India agreement foundered not because of the rest of the EU but, in substantial part, because Britain rejected it.

Attempts to open the UK to more Indian IT specialists and other professionals (the so-called Mode 4) foundered on the objections of Theresa May. The main irritant in UK-India relations is visas. In the absence of creative ideas on freeing up immigration and visiting rights from India, ministers will continue to get a flea in their ear in Delhi.

Cable, who has long-standing family links in India, said Indias demand for easier visas for professionals was modest, but May came up with silly objections as the home secretary. It would have affected a small number of professionals, not large-scale immigration, he added.

And nothing is more irritating (and incomprehensible) to the Indians than Britains self-harming and very silly policy of counting overseas students against the immigration total; the services of our universities are amongst the few British products Indians actually want to buy. For these reasons, Theresa May appears to have come away empty handed, he said.

Failing agreement on these sensitive and difficult issues, the Indians will ask for something else. Weapons? Something else Britain is good at, but they affect the power balance in South Asia and relations with Pakistan. Taking Indias side on Jammu and Kashmir? Tricky.

Known to be staunchly pro-EU, Cable, one of the top leaders of the Liberal Democrats, said many British Indians were seriously misled by promises about immigration made by the Brexit camp during the EU referendum campaign.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
An Indian IT engineer employed with a US company in Kansas was fatally shot and a colleague, also from India, was wounded by a white man who allegedly thought they were from the Middle East and was heard telling them to get out of my country at the time of the shooting.

Adam Purinton, 51, the alleged shooter, was caught at a bar in adjoining Missouri several hours after the shooting on Wednesday. He was charged on Thursday with the fatal shooting of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani,32, from Hyderabad and Warangal. He was also charged with wounding Ian Grillot, who had tried to stop the shooter.

The FBI, which has joined local police in the investigation, has said it is working to establish Purintons motive and whether the incident was a hate crime.

Kuchibhotla is possibly the first casualty of the religious, racial and ethnic divisiveness sweeping the United States following the election of Donald Trump as president, with minorities reporting a marked surge in attacks on them and their institutions.

The Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy group, said in a statement, The murder of Kuchibhotla is the first reported bias-motivated fatality in the US after the bitter presidential election.

Kuchibhotla and Madasani, both employees of GPS-maker Garmin with its headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, were at Austins Bar & Grill in the suburbs of the city when the incident occurred at 7.15 pm on Wednesday.

Witnesses said Purinton was heard telling the two men to get out of my country. Grillot intervened. I opened the door and was like, Im going to have to ask you to leave, sir. Theres no reason to act like that around this bar. This is a family restaurant, he has said.

Purinton did leave, but returned shortly after and opened fire, killing Kuchibhotla and wounding Madasani. Grillot, who was also hit, tried to chase the shooter. I thought his magazine was empty. So I got up and started chasing him down. I tried to subdue him so that police could come in and do what they needed to do and I guess I miscounted with everything going on. I got behind him. And he turned around and fired a round at me.

Grillots bravery made him a hero in the community. We salute 24-year-old Ian Grillot, said Shekar Narasimhan, a Democratic strategist, who is a hero in the great American tradition but whose actions should not remain unsung. Thank you Ian and we know there are many more like you.

Purinton fled on foot and was apprehended at a bar in Missouri state several hours later, in an eerie repeat of the killing of Balbir Singh Sandhu, the first victim of the backlash after the 9 -11 terror attacks, who too was mistaken for being from the Middle East. Sandhus killer was apprehended at a bar later.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate crimes, has reported a three-fold increase in anti-Muslim hate groups in the US  from 34 in 2015 to 101 in 2016  and attributed it to anti-immigration and anti-Muslim rhetoric used by Trump, calling it incendiary.

The Indian American community reacted with a mix of outrage and sadness. Narasimhan said, This President now has blood on his hands. He has incited and created the environment where hate crimes are emboldened. All those of colour have something to fear now for our children and theirs. I pray we do not have a hot summer in the US as we have no moral leadership left capable of quelling violence if it erupts.

As friends and family of Kuchibhotla dealt with the grief, Kavipriya Muthuramalingam, a friend, started a crowd-funding effort to help with funeral expenses and other ongoing grief-recovery support costs on GoFundMe. More than $271,611 had been contributed on Friday.

Garmin, the company where the two men worked, said in a statement, Were saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last nights incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counsellors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow.

In a post on LinkedIn, Kuchibotla described himself as an Aviation Programs Engineer-Manager at Garmin International, I manage helicopter OEM programs from both technical and project management standpoint.

He had earned a masters in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso during 2005-07 after coming to the US. His LinkedIn resume said he got his bachelors from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad in 2005.

Madasani too was with Garmins aviation programme. He studied at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and at Vasavi College of Engineering in Hyderabad.

His father, Madasani Jaganmohan Reddy, who lives at Chaitanyapuri in Hyderabad, said he believes the US isnt a safe place after the election of Trump. He said he had urged his son to quit his job and return home. The situation seems to be pretty bad after Trump took over as the US President. I appeal to all the parents in India not to send their children to the US in the present circumstances, he said.

Kuchibhotlas 70-year-old father, K Madhusudhana Sastry, a retired scientist from Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited, was stunned into silence by the shooting.

Ever since we received the news last evening about the death of his son in the shooting in the US, he has been in a state of shock and is not speaking to anyone, said Rentachintala Sastry, a cousin of Kuchibhotla.

Jay Kansara, of the Hindu American Foundation, said in a statement, We call upon the US department of justice and local law enforcement to investigate this murder as what it is, a hate crime. Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and their families.
Britains Conservative Party achieved a major upset when it won the Copeland seat in a byelection on Friday, defeating Labour in its stronghold. The result revived demands that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn resign and strengthened the position of Prime Minister Theresa May.

Labour, however, managed to hold on to the Stoke-on-Trent seat.

Corbyn refused to resign, saying he was not to blame for the defeat in Copeland. According to him, Labours message was not enough to win through in Copeland. He hailed the partys victory in Stoke-on-Trent.

He said he was disappointed at the Copeland result, but added: Labour will go further to reconnect with voters and break with the failed political consensus.

Labour MP John Woodcock, a Corbyn critic, said as things stood the party was on course for a historic and catastrophic defeat at the next general election in 2020.

The byelections at Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent were triggered when sitting Labour MPs Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed stepped down to take up jobs outside politics amid ennui within sections of the Labour Party over Corbyns leadership.

Labour had held both seats since their creation. The constituency of Copeland, in Cumbria, northwest England, was created in 1983, and its predecessor constituency, Whitehaven, has returned Labour MPs since 1935.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
President Donald Trumps administration has reinstated the use of private prisons for federal inmates, saying commercial prison operators are needed for the correctional systems future needs.

Trumps new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, officially rescinded the Barack Obama administrations move last August to phase out the management of prisons by private companies, which Obamas justice department had said proved to be inadequate, more dangerous and not cheaper than government-run prisons.

Sessions said in an order on Thursday that the move last year had reversed a longstanding policy at the Federal Bureau of Prisons to have private companies involved, and impaired the bureaus ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system.

The Obama move had only affected a small portion of the US prison system: 13 privately run prisons housing just over 22,000 people, or about 11% of the federal prison population. Most are foreign nationals, mainly Mexicans incarcerated for immigration violations.

The Trump government has promised a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration, suggesting the prisons bureau could require greater holding capacity in a short time.

The 13 prisons are run by three companies: CoreCivic (known until recently as Corrections Corporation of America), GEO Group and Management and Training Corporation.

The announcement gave a strong after-hours boost to the stock of the two listed firms. Core Civic jumped 3.2 percent, while GEO Group added 1.0%.

The move was expected and both companies stocks had already risen sharply after Trumps election victory on November 8.
White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon told conservatives Thursday to expect a daily fight as President Donald Trump pushes through his agenda despite a US media in opposition to his every move.

Its not only not going to get better its going get worse, Bannon told thousands of grass roots activists attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) just outside Washington, referring to media organizations who he said were opposed to the economic nationalist agenda laid out by the new president.

If you think theyre going to give the country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken, Bannon said in one of his first public speeches since the January inauguration.

Every day, every day is going to be a fight.

Bannon, the former chief of Breitbart, a popular conservative website that has faced criticism for fuelling the so-called alt-right movement that includes racist, anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant elements, is among the most provocative members of Trumps inner circle.

He is seen as wielding immense power with the president, who has come to lean heavily on the former Goldman Sachs executive for the direction of his economic and foreign policy agenda.

In his attacks on the American press, Trump has an ally in Bannon, who described the media as the opposition party that betrayed the campaign, and is now betraying the administration.

Bannon was joined on stage by White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, who proclaimed Trump the uniter of the movement through his shock election victory in November.

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, right, and White House strategist Stephen Bannon, speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill on Feb. 23. (AP Photo)

The truth of the matter is ... Trump brought together the party and the conservative movement, Priebus said.

And Ive got to tell you, if the party and the conservative movement are together, similar to Steve and I, it cant be stopped.

Bannon and Priebus have reportedly been at odds, amid rumors of internal White House rivalries. But at CPAC, Priebus played down any discord between them.

The two share an office suite, and work together for some 17 hours a day, Priebus was quick to point out.

But even in the banter, Bannon appeared to inadvertently highlight their differences.

I have a little thing called the war room, he has a fireplace, nice sofas, Bannon said.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is at the top of the pack, saying the United States has fallen behind in its weapons capacity.

In a Reuters interview, Trump also said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea very easily if they want to, ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to exert more influence to rein in Pyongyangs increasingly bellicose actions.

Trump also expressed support for the European Union as a governing body, saying Im totally in favour of it, and for the first time as president expressed a preference for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but said he would be satisfied with whatever makes the two sides happy.

Trump also predicted his efforts to pressure NATO allies to pay more for their own defence and ease the burden on the U.S. budget would reap dividends. They owe a lot of money, he said.

In his first comments about the U.S. nuclear arsenal since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump was asked about a December tweet in which he said the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capacity until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.

Trump said in the interview he would like to see a world with no nuclear weapons but expressed concern that the United States has fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity.

I am the first one that would like to see ... nobody have nukes, but were never going to fall behind any country even if its a friendly country, were never going to fall behind on nuclear power.

It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack, Trump said.

Russia has 7,000 warheads and the United States, 6,800, according to the Ploughshares Fund, an anti-nuclear group.

Russia and the United States have far more weapons than is necessary to deter nuclear attack by the other or by another nuclear-armed country, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the independent Arms Control Association non-profit group.

The new strategic arms limitation treaty, known as New START, between the United States and Russia requires that by February 5, 2018, both countries must limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to equal levels for 10 years.

The treaty permits both countries to have no more than 800 deployed and non-deployed land-based intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and heavy bombers equipped to carry nuclear weapons, and contains equal limits on other nuclear weapons.

Analysts have questioned whether Trump wants to abrogate New START or would begin deploying other warheads.

In the interview, Trump called New START a one-sided deal.

Just another bad deal that the country made, whether its START, whether its the Iran deal ... Were going to start making good deals, he said.
The police in Pakistan killed two suspected Islamic State (IS) militants in a raid early on Friday here, the media reported.

The suspects opened fire at the police personnel during the raid in Manghopir, leaving one policeman injured, Geo News quoted a senior police official as saying.

In the retaliatory fire, both the suspects were killed while their accomplices managed to escape from the site, he said.

The militants, identified as Saifullah and Haneef, had laptops with them that indicated a hit list, including names of police officers and government officials, the report added.
Britains ruling Conservative Party won a parliamentary by-election in the Copeland seat on Friday defeating the Labour in a seat they have held power since 1935, and giving Conservatives the first gain for a ruling party at a by-election in 35 years.

The Conservatives, who had been bookmakers favourites ahead of the vote, won by a margin of more than 2,000 votes from Labour.

In another by-election, Britains opposition Labour Party won the Stoke Central seat, fending off a challenge from the anti-European Union UK Independence Party which had hoped to capitalise on the areas pro-Brexit stance.

Labour won by a comfortable margin over UKIP, with Prime Minister Theresa Mays Conservatives in third.

The former industrial city had been a safe Labour seat since 1950, but the partys support for staying in the EU put it at odds with 70 percent of Stoke voters who backed Brexit.

UKIPs failure to capitalise on that sentiment, despite pouring resources into the campaign and putting party leader Paul Nuttall forward as its candidate, is expected to raise questions about the partys ability to build its influence in parliament, where it currently has just one seat.

The damaging defeats of Labour Party and the populist UK Independence Party at separate by-elections has raised serious questions about the long-term electoral prospects of both parties.
Relatives of an unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer in Wisconsin will receive $ 3.35 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit, attorneys have announced.

Tony Robinson Jr, 19, was shot and killed by Madison police officer Matt Kenny, who is white, in 2015. The shooting sparked protests throughout the city and calls for an examination of police use of force.

Robinsons attorneys yesterday said the deal was the largest police shooting settlement in Wisconsin history. Attorney David Owens called it vindication for parents still grieving the loss of their oldest son.

If you could bring their son back, would they give all the money back? Absolutely, Owens said.

The settlement was reached by the city of Madisons insurance carrier and Robinsons family. Kennys attorney, Jim Palmer, said it was nothing more than a business decision to avoid the costs of trial.

The Robinson family has made a number of outrageous claims that will now never be resolved, Palmer said. The settlement serves to further cast a pall over Matts reputation and his service to the community.

Kenny shot and killed Robinson in an apartment house after Robinsons friend called police because Robinson was acting erratically. Kenny said he entered the house to investigate sounds of a disturbance, and Robinson started punching him.

Kennys attorney said Kenny suffered a concussion, but Owens disputes that. Owens said three of Kennys seven shots appeared to be fired from several feet away, contradicting Kennys account that Robinson was attacking him.

There is no way in the universe that this happened the way Matt said it did, Owens said. We did the investigation that the city of Madison refused to do. They wouldnt have paid a dime if they thought they were going to win a trial.

An autopsy showed Robinson had traces of drugs in his system, including hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Kenny was later cleared of criminal wrongdoing and an internal investigation found he acted within police policies. District attorney Ismael Ozanne declined to charge him with any crime.

The Police Department did change policy to give officers the option of using a Taser when alone in situations requiring the use of force.

Attorneys for Robinsons family, including Owens, appeared with Robinsons mother and other relatives at a press conference yesterday.

Owens said, despite the settlement, he plans to ask federal investigators, Ozanne and the Madison Police Department to review evidence gathered for the trial. He said the departments investigation failed to question Kennys account.
An intentionally set fire damaged a prayer hall at a Tampa-area mosque early Friday, investigators said.

The arson occurred at the Islamic Society of New Tampa, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said in a news release.

Fire investigators responded at around 2 a.m. After gathering evidence, they determined the fire was intentionally set. No one was at the mosque when the fire started.

It is worrisome that our community has fallen victim of what appears to be another hate crime, said Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Florida.

An alarm company notified a mosque board member early Friday, and he found first responders there when he arrived, CAIR said.

Investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives also responded, the group said. The ATF didnt immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

CAIR said the fire started at a door to the prayer hall. There was damage to the door and carpet inside from sprinkler water and smoke.

Authorities said there were holes found in the door, but determined they were not made by bullets, as some had initially feared.

Morning prayers were moved to another building. Afternoon prayers may be cancelled due to the damage to the hall, local news media reported.

Worshippers were directed to other mosques in the area until the building is repaired.

The blaze was at least the second intentionally set fire at a Florida mosque in the past year. Joseph Schreiber was sentenced to 30 years in prison earlier this month for setting fire to the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce on Sept. 11. It was the same mosque that the Orlando nightclub shooter attended occasionally.

Mustafa Ameen, the Islamic Society of New Tampas lawyer and spokesman, said this is the first time a fire has been intentionally set at the mosque. He said theyre awaiting the outcome of the investigation to better understand the motive, but have been boosted by community support.
The use of the banned nerve agent VX in the killing of the North Korean leaders half-brother in Malaysia was a blatant violation of an international treaty, the South said on Friday.

We are shocked by the latest revelation by the Malaysian authorities that VX... was used in the death of Kim Jong-Nam, Seouls foreign ministry said in a statement.

It called it a blatant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and other international norms.

The estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was killed in Kuala Lumpur international airport last week, in what South Korean and US officials say was an assassination carried out by North Korean agents.

Malaysia confirmed on Friday that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated at the airport with a chemical poison, commonly known as VX nerve agent.

Unlike Pyongyang, Seoul -- which first pointed the finger at the North over Kims death -- is a signatory to the Convention, which went into force in 1997.

The use of any chemical weapons is strictly banned for any reason and in any place, the foreign ministry statement said.

South Koreas defence ministry said in its 2014 Defence White Paper that the North began producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and estimated that it has about 2,500 to 5,000 tonnes in stock.

In a 2015 assessment, the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative wrote: North Korea claims that it does not possess chemical weapons.

While assessing stockpiles and capabilities are difficult, the DPRK is thought to be among the worlds largest possessors of chemical weapons, ranking third after the United States and Russia.
India should join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which goes through Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK), to reap economic benefits even if it means legitimising the disputed region, the Chinese state media said on Friday.

The advice from Chinese state media came close on the heels of foreign secretary S Jaishankar making it clear in the just-concluded strategic dialogue that India has sovereignty issues with the corridor (CPEC) passing through PoK.

The multi-billion dollar CPEC is the flagship project under President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive connectivity project over land and sea.

New Delhi fears that the CPEC, passing through the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, would serve the purpose of granting legitimacy to Pakistans control over the region, and by promoting the construction of the corridor, China intends to meddle in the Kashmir dispute. These concerns are unwarranted, the Global Times, a nationalistic, state-controlled tabloid, said on Friday.

Indias lukewarm response to the BRI is said to be primarily because of the CPEC passing through PoK, besides of course New Delhis unease with Chinas relentless pursuit of south Asian countries to join the initiative.

Fact is CPEC is part of this particular initiative and CPEC violates Indias sovereignty because it runs through PoK. Therefore, since they are a country very sensitive about sovereignty concerns, it was for them to see how a country whose sovereignty has been violated can come on (such) an invitation, Jaishankar told Indian media about an invite to take part in a BRI event in May in Beijing.

Read| The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is the Great Game of this century

We would like to see what proposals anybody has in that regard. We were very frank with them to share our concerns, he said.

For Chinese state media, as it turns out, thats hardly a concern.

China has no intention of interfering in the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. China has long believed that the two neighbours should solve their dispute through dialogue and consultations, and it has repeatedly emphasised that the construction of the CPEC would not affect its stance on the issue, the article by author, Yu Ning, said, avoiding the issue of sovereignty.

China, if the article is to be believed, respects Indias sovereignty concerns but, it added, New Delhi should take an objective view of the BRI.

China respects Indias sovereignty concerns. Taking a strong stand on territorial issues is important, but its hoped India could adopt an objective and more pragmatic attitude toward the One Belt, One Road proposal, it said.

In fact, it suggested, India, thanks to the BRI and CPEC, could resolve misunderstandings over disputed Kashmir with Pakistan through economic cooperation.

India should not view Pakistans development as a threat. As long as India is willing to, China, Pakistan and India could cooperate to tap the vast economic potential in the disputed Kashmir region, it said.

Its estimated that the CPEC could pave the way for about 1 million new jobs and could attract a strong influx of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the region. India should seize the opportunity to allay misunderstandings with Pakistan through economic cooperation, the write-up said.

Read| India blames China for lack of consensus on Masood Azhar, says burden of proof against Jaish chief not on New Delhi
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that US President Donald Trumps campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official said on Thursday.

The official said Priebus request came after the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was not accurate. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to.

The New York Times reported that US agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trumps 2016 campaign team.

Priebus discussion with FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers, said Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House judiciary xommittee.

A 2009 memo from then-attorney general Eric Holder said the justice department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations only when it is important for the performance of the presidents duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective. When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the justice department.

The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus communications with McCabe. The official was not authorised to disclose the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.

The FBI did not say whether it had contacted the White House about the veracity of the Times report.

CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI to weigh in on the matter.

Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. US intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled vice-president Mike Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US. Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including about US sanctions policy.

Still, Trump and his advisers have denied contacts with Russian officials during the election. Last week, Trump said nobody that I know of spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.

Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, telling Fox News that the top levels of the intelligence community have assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were not only grossly overstated, but also wrong.

Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Priebus comments opened the door for FBI director James Comey to discuss the bureaus investigation publicly.

If the White House chief of staff can make public claims about the supposed conclusions of an FBI investigation, then director Comey can come clean with the American people, Wyden said.

Justin Shur, a former justice department public corruption prosecutor, said it was imperative that investigations not be swayed by political considerations.

As a general matter, investigations and prosecutions should be about gathering the facts and the evidence and applying the law, Shur said.

During the campaign, Trump and other Republicans vigorously criticized a meeting between then-attorney general Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, husband of Trumps general election opponent. The meeting came as the FBI  which is overseen by the justice department  was investigating Hillary Clintons use of a private email address and personal internet server.
The Trump administration has dismissed as absurd any correlation between US President Donald Trumps controversial remarks on immigrants and the Kansas shooting incident that resulted in the tragic death of an Indian engineer.

Obviously, any loss of life is tragic, but Im not going to get into, like, to suggest that theres any correlation I think is a bit absurd. So Im not going to go any further than that, White House press secretary Sean Spicer, told reporters.

Spicer was responding to a question on the shooting incident in Kansas on Wednesday night in which 32-year-old Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed and another Indian man and an American were injured after an American Navy veteran yelling get out of my country and terrorist opened fire on them at a bar in an apparent racially motivated hate crime.

What the Presidents response to it was, but also if theres any concern that some of the rhetoric that the President or -- that generally has been out here recently could have contributed in any way to that or stepped up violence? he was asked.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in the US has issued a demarche to the State Department on the killing of an Indian engineer and called for a speedier investigation.

The Indian Embassy also asked that it be kept informed on the investigation.

Government of India has taken up the matter with the US authorities to express our deep concern and have asked for speedy investigation. US Government while condemning the attack, have assured us that they are conducting a thorough investigation into the matter, Indian Embassy spokesman Pratik Mathur said in a separate statement earlier in the day.

The Indian Consulate in Houston is also in close contact with the family of the deceased.

In their hour of grief, we are providing all help and assistance to the bereaved family. Arrangements are being made to transport his mortal remains to India, he said.

Government officials have also met with the injured victim- Alok Madasani and are ensuring his well-being, Mathur said in his statement.

The shooting incident comes at a time when hate crimes and acts of bigotry have risen notably in America after President Donald Trump came to power.

Trump had previously issued an executive order to suspend the arrival of all refugees for at least 120 days, Syrian refugees indefinitely, and barring citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

Spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters it was too early to guess at the motive for the incident, in which a man opened fire in a bar, prompting concern that Trumps America First stance on immigration and jobs has fuelled a climate of intolerance.
The US will hunt down and destroy the Islamic State terror group at its source so that it can no longer threaten the country and Americans, vice-President Mike Pence has said.

We will hunt down and destroy the ISIS at its source so it can no longer threaten our nation or our families, Pence said in his address at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) here on Thursday.

Were going to start off by rebuilding the American military. Well restore the arsenal of democracy. Well provide our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard with the resources and training they need to accomplish their mission and come home safe, he said.

Pence said the Trump Administration is going to get this economy moving again by cutting taxes for working families, small businesses, and family farms.

Were going to keep rolling back job-killing regulations and were going to rescind unconstitutional executive orders signed by Barack Obama, Pence said.

The signature affordable health care of the former US President Barack Obama would be replaced in an orderly manner so that the health care cost of common man comes down, he said.

Under President Donald Trumps leadership, were going to continue to rein in wasteful government spending and restore fiscal responsibility to Washington D C, the Vice President said.

Well enact real education reform that gives families more choices. It recognises that education is a state and local function, and under President Trump, no state will ever be forced to adopt the Common Core, he added.

Amidst applause from the audience, Pence said Trump is putting America first and putting Americans back to work already.

Hes rebuilding the military and putting our enemies on notice. Hes supporting law enforcement and ending illegal immigration once and for all, he said.

Hes rolling back big government and slashing through red tape. Hes upholding the Constitution, restoring the culture of life, and President Trump is leading the fight to repeal and replace Obamacare. Let me assure you, Americas Obamacare nightmare is about to end!, Pence said.

Pence said Trump is a man of his word.

We are keeping the promises he made to the American people. Over at the White House, I like to say were in the promise-keeping business these days. You know, when President Trump asked me to chair the transition, he looked at me and just said, Mike, just get me the best., he said.

He rued that the media, the elites, the insiders, everybody else who profits off preserving the status quo, they dismissed Trump every step of the way.

And in dismissing him, they also dismissed millions of the hard-working, forgotten men and women who make this country great. And worse yet, theyre still trying to dismiss him. Theyre still trying to dismiss all of us, he said.
Yemeni security officials say a suicide car bomber has struck a security camp in a southern Yemeni city, killing eight soldiers.

The officials say the bomber, who was disguised as a driver carrying a load of fire wood for cooking, failed to get inside the camp after soldiers stopped him. So he blew himself up at the gates instead.

The explosion took place on Friday in the city of Jaar, a militant hotbed.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to brief reporters. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

Southern Yemen has seen a spate of suicide bombings by extremist groups as the weak, internationally recognized government has failed to restore security after forcing Houthi Shiite militias and allied forces out of the south in 2015.
You pull open the door and walk into the movie theaters lobby, greeted with the familiar smell of buttery popcorn. But theres also something unfamiliar in the atmospherea feeling of dread. Maybe you havent read any reviews of 12 Years a Slave, but you probably know the story. A prosperous freeborn musician is lured to Washington, D.C., and sold into slavery. He ends up in Louisiana, moved from plantation to plantation, working cotton and sugar and playing violin at landowners parties, always desperate to find a way to prove hes actually a free man. He finally meets a man who will help him: a Canadian abolitionist who relays word to his family in New York. And then he waits. One day a friend from home appears, and this man who has been a slave for 12 years returns home. You know this storyunlike most stories of American slaveryhas a happy ending. But still theres a sense of dread as you wait for the film to begin.

You worry the film may be stilted, so obsessed with historical accuracy that it fails as a narrative of individual experience. Or that it will simply play on stereotypes of slaves, slave traders and slaveowners.

12 Years a Slave begins with an assertion of historical authenticity: This film is based on a true story, echoing the editors preface in Solomon Northups memoir, originally published in 1853, upon which the film is based: Many of the statements contained in the following pages, writes editor David Wilson, are corroborated by abundant evidence. Even the parts of Northups narrative that cannot be corroborated are truthful, Wilson claims. Northup has told his story over and over again without deviation, and the slaves and slaveholders he describes are men and women of humanity and as well as of cruelty. It is believed, Wilson writes, that the following account of his experience on Bayou Boeuf presents a correct picture of Slavery, in all of its lights and shadows, as it now exists in that locality.

Youve seen enough films to know its difficult to achieve both historical authenticityor even credibilityand a believable depiction of the lights and shadows of personal experience. You hope 12 Years a Slave can accomplish this, more than Lincoln or Django Unchained have.

The camera moves through a thicket of vivid green sugar cane, focusing on a group of slaves listening to a white overseer. One manplayed by Chiwetel Ejioforcuts some cane and then look at some blackberries on a plate. He squeezes their juice into a cup, shaves a piece of cane into a pen and tries unsuccessfully to write with it on a sheet of paper. Through these scenes, only the white overseer speaks. Then the film flashes back to Saratoga, N.Y., in 1841.

In historical films, flashbacks emphasize the contrast between present and past, and allow the director to create narrative suspense. In this case it allows the filmmaker to take liberties with Northups memoir. As you watch him with his wife and children in Saratoga, youre still mindful of Northups desperate attempt to write with blackberry juice. Your sense of dread focuses on Northup himself, and his future in the past.

Lured to Washington, D.C., and sold to a trader, Northup wakes up in a plain linen shift, his arms and feet chained to the floor of a slave pen. He tells everyone this is all a mistake, that his name is Solomon Northup and hes a free man. The trader responds that no, his name is Platt, and hes a runaway slave from Georgia. When Northup continues to protest, the trader beats him with a wooden paddle. This scene is filmed from below; youre looking up at the trader, and as the blows fall, arcing down toward you, you finch.

At this point you realize two things. First, 12 Years a Slave will depict the full range of brutal acts that enabled and were enabled by the slave system: Traders and owners kick and slap their slaves, rape them, string them up and whip them. Second, director Steve McQueen uses camera angles in inventive ways. In Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino used angles to create a stylized filmic world. McQueen uses them to help convey the intense experience of enslavement and violence Northup enduredand to place the viewer within that same experience.

Two subsequent scenes drive home McQueens intent. One occurs after Northup has done the unspeakable: Hes not only verbally undermined a white man but also raised his hand against him. Soon after hes taken to New Orleans and sold to plantation owner William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), Northup earns the ire of a carpenter, John Tibeats (Paul Dano). A dispute leads to a fistfight, during which Northup beats Tibeats with his own whipa scene reminiscent of Frederick Douglass epic battle with the slave breaker Covey in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In Douglass narrative, its a moment in which a slave was made a man.

Tibeats leaves and returns with two more men and a rope. They loop the rope around Northups neck and haul him up until the tips of his toes barely scrape the mud before the overseer stops thembut he doesnt release Northup. What follows is harrowing. The camera shows him hanging there, the tapping of his toes on the mud the only thing keeping him from asphyxiating. You want to look away from his agony, but you cannot. Finally, at dusk, Ford rides up and cuts Northup down.

The sustained focus on Northups hanging bodyand the almost total lack of noise except for the tap tap of his toes and humming of the cicadasand the variety of camera angles emphasize his agony. It also underlines the ways in which slavery engendered callousness in black and white communities. And it encapsulates the history of American slavery: the absolute power of whites within the system, the constant threat of violence and death for slaves, and the moments of survival and endurance that seem almost impossible.

Fords way of protecting Northup from Tibeats wrath is to send him to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), a cotton plantation proprietor so cruel he makes Harriet Beecher Stowes Simon Legree look like a saint. The other scene that calls attention to McQueens artistry occurs after Northup has been working cotton on Epps plantation for some time. After Mistress Epps (Sarah Paulson) sends him to town to purchase household goods, he takes a sheet or two of writing paper for himself. When Epps cotton crop falls victim to an infestation of worms, hes forced to hire out his slavesincluding Northupto a sugar plantation. Once again you follow the camera through the cane, watch the blackberry juice swirl in the plate and see Northup try to write a letter. Back at Epps plantation, he meets a white overseer whom he pays to deliver his missive to the post office. But when the overseer (Garret Dillahunt) betrays him, Epps pays Northup a visit, hugging him close and threatening him. Northup takes his remaining paper to the swamp and burns it. The camera focuses closely on the sheets as the edges turn black and disintegrate, a scene that conveys the desperation of slaves seeking freedomthen giving up hope. The fact that its a stunning scene makes Northups actions seem even more tragic.

There are many other compelling momentsthe landscape shots that make you feel the heat of Louisiana bayous in the summer; the sounds of Ford preaching a sermon while a slave, Eliza (Adepero Oduye), weeps for the children shes been forced to leave behind. Theres also a lingering shot of Northups face, as he looks into the distance after he finally manages to send word to his family.

Most of the time you have no idea where exactly Northup is, and this is intentional. The film recreates something similar to the disorientation all slaves must have felt as they were bought and sold, dragged across the South by their owners. In terms of violence, about two-thirds of the way through, when Northup is forced to whip Patsey (Lupita Nyongo), you think, Make it stop. But you dont walk out. And those conflicting impulsesthe desire to stop watching and the inability to do soprove this is a great film, that it does as brilliant a job as a movie could in bringing you into the world of antebellum slavery in America.

It isnt perfect. Its depiction of the North as a land of racial amity is a bit simplistic, and seems to suggest the Northern states had no history of racial inequity or collusion with the slave trade. But 12 Years a Slave does what other recent films about slavery and emancipationAmistad, Glory, Lincoln and Django Unchaineddont. It unflinchingly depicts the nature of American slavery, and does so through a rare combination: historical authenticity, compelling characterization and filmic artistry.

Walking out of the theater, youre no longer oppressed with that sense of dread, but theres also no sense of buoyancy or closure. This film doesnt allow you to be triumphant in the knowledge that some people act for the good of all, or glad to see the bad guys get it. Youre dazed and relieved and de pressed, all at the same time. You feel the heavy burden of American history, with all its lights and shadows.

Megan Kate Nelson teaches in the History and Literature program at Harvard University. Her most recent book is Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War.

Originally published in the April 2014 issue of Civil War Times. To subscribe, click here.
Mississippi attorney William Nugent is remembered as a brazen Southern radical thanks to one oft-quoted remark.

I feel that I would like to shoot a Yankee, drawled a Southern voice in the opening episode of Ken Burns The Civil War. Few viewers, unfortunately, would remember he also admitted this would not be in harmony with the Spirit of Christianity. From that moment on, William Nugent, a young Mississippi lawyer, became one of the most quoted examples of the brazen radicals on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line in 1861. The irony is that this wasnt William Nugent at all. A restrained Methodist who frowned on drinking and dancing, he was an early harbinger of the long struggle that lay ahead. Yes, his oft-quoted August 1861 letter was filled with Southern bravado. But it reflected a momentary high for a generally sober and deeply reflective man who has been largely misunderstood by the general public.

Born in Louisiana in 1832, William Nugent was an attorney practicing law with his wifes father in Greenville, Miss., when the war began. Abram Smith, Nugents father-in-law, was one of the wealthiest planters in Washington County. Nugent had married Eleanor Nellie Smith on November 6, 1860, the same day the nation voted in the election that would inspire the exodus of Mississippi and six other Deep South states.

Nellie and her family had just returned from a Grand Tour through the Upper South and as far north as Saratoga Springs, N.Y., but within months their ties with Yankees through marriage, education and vacation were shattered. William Nugent said goodbye to his bride and hurried off to his duties as an inspector general, responsible for organizing Mississippis defenses. The excerpts published here from Nugents wartime letters to his wife give readers a sense of the trajectory of experiences in his three years of fighting, ending in 1864. Note that all emphasisthe italicized portion of the excerptsis original to Nugents letters.

VICKSBURG, April 15, 1861

My dear WifeThe telegraph this evening brings a proclamation of war from the old rail splitter, with indications from different parts of the North of a warlike spirit. We are evidently in the midst of stirring times with the prospect of a long & bloody war ahead. The feeling for secession is, I think growing in the border states, and they will soon be with us.

VICKSBURG, July 19, 1861

My dear WifeFrom present appearances this war will continue for sometime and every man will have to take up arms in defense of his country. The North seems to be as united as we; and the struggle, unless we defeat the enemy at the Virginia battleground will be almost interminable.It will take two or three decided victories to put us in an attitude to demand recognition abroad, and we need expect no assistance outside ourselves for sometime. The sheet anchor of our hopes can only be the stalwart arms and brave hearts of our soldiers.

WASHINGTON HOTEL, August 19, 1861

My dear WifeI feel that I would like to shoot a Yankee, and yet I know that this would not be in harmony with the Spirit of Christianity.The North will yet suffer for this fratricidal war she has forced upon usHer fields will be desolated, her cities laid waste and the treasures of her citizens dissipated in the vain attempt to subjugate a free people.

ON BOARD OHIO BELLE, Tuesday, December 10, 1861

My dearest WifeThe people seem to be lulled into a fancied security about Washington County. Bolivar has responded nobly to the call for negroes and has done more than her share. We are yet holding back from pure unvarnished selfishness and may yet have to rue the day we were so backward in the discharge of our simple duty. My humble conviction is that we have not yet seen the beginning of the end of this war. Years will pass ere the smoking of the ruins will disappear.

By the spring of 1862, Nugent was a junior officer in Company D of the 28th Mississippi Cavalry, the Washington Cavalry. While anticipating the birth of their first child, Nugent kept Nellie updated on the Confederate losses at New Madrid and Island No. 10, and his fears that New Orleans would be attacked before long. Nugent made little mention of the Confederate defeat at Shiloh, focusing more on whether or not they could hold Corinth.Hope on, Hope ever must be our motto, and diligence our watchword, he wrote Nellie.

JACKSON, MISS., May 1862

Iconfidently expect that the last measure of the Lincoln dynasty,the abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbiawill open the eyes of the Western States to the real nature of the fight & disorganize the army North. Already, I am told, there are symptoms of disaffection existing among them; and if suffered to ferment in the minds of the Western troops for any length of time, they will produce a surrender of the whole army to Genl. Beauregard. The Tennessee River is falling rapidly and the Gunboats and Transports must soon be compelled to land. If this happens, the Federal Army, being without transportation, is bound to fall back; and my opinion is, when commenced it will be a second retreat from Moscow.

Our Regiment has nearly all gone to Vicksburg; four companies remain here waiting for some kind of arms to fight with. We have all been compelled to come down to shotguns, it being impossible to get pistols; and were compelled to go off with guns badly in need of repairs. If I had been let alone we would all have been splendidly rigged. Others thought they knew better and were finally compelled to give in to my arrangement at last. There are a great many wise men in the world, but I have discovered that ordinary men are always called upon when any particular service is needed.

JACKSON, MISS., May 29, 1862

Genl. Beauregard is preparing for an active campaign in the west; Johnston has taken his position for fight in Virginia. Stonewall Jackson is driving the enemy before him into Maryland; and the Yankees are checked at Vicksburg. A check to an invading army is tantamount to defeat.I feel very very hopeful now. The Yankees fondly imagine that we will be whipped as they get control of the Father of Waters. Cotton is what the Lincoln Dynasty wants. The distress & suffering in England and Ireland consequent upon the failure of the cotton supply is opening the eyes of England & France; and unless soon pacified, there will be some demonstration from across the water that will astound us all. The war must be ended soon.

HEADQUARTERS, 28th REGT., MISS. VOLUNTEERS, CAMP VAIDEN, November 24, 1862

My darling wifeI find everything here in abundance, and really think it criminal that the tremendous surplus of corn &c. has not been removed before. The R.Road is carrying it off every day in large quantities, but the Quarter Masters are dillydallying about Sacks.

Nugent remained hopeful throughout 1863. Astonishingly, the defeat at Vicksburg gave him only brief pause. He commented on operations in Virginia and Pennsylvania, but late in the year reported, We can hear nothing from Virginia our communication has been cut off entirely. His letters indicate a rich, complex sense of Confederate nationalism not simply tied to Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. In a rare admission that they could lose the war, he wrote, We must make our minds to become, like the scattered tribes of Israel, without a national existence but preserving our identity as a people as a whole.

HEADQUARTERS, 28th REGT., MISS. VOLUNTEERS, NEAR SPRING HILL, TENN., May 2, 1863

My Darling, cherished wifebroken & burnt fences, pillaged houses & untilled fields remind us of the presence of war in our midst; a war so devastating & dreadful. Horror of horrors is not a term expressive enough for war. I have given up all hopes of ever saving anything from the crash that will inevitably follow close upon the heels of the termination of the present contest.The only thing that can at all reconcile me to our war is the fact of its being for our homes & friends, our altars & our liberties.

CAMP NEAR MECHANICSBURG, June 24, 1863

My own darling wife, Again I have been exposed to the missiles of the enemy, and again by the blessing of God, have escaped.When Genl. Johnston will move it is impossible to tell. He is preparing to raise the siege of the Hill City [Vicksburg] as soon as possible and I have every reason to think he will accomplish his purpose. Genl. Lee is reported to be at or near the Capital of Pennsylvania with 90,000 men. Business is suspended in Philadelphia and the whole state is in an uproar. Genl. Bragg is near Nashville and Rosecrans is retreating; and now if we can only defeat Grant the Yankees will, I hope, let us alone for awhile. At least I earnestly hope so.

MRS. WILSONS NEAR MECHANICSBURG, June 28, 1863

My darling wifeOld Grant is moving all his heavy baggage across the River preparatory to a fight or a run I scarcely know which. The news now is that Gen. Lee is within ten miles of Harrisburg, the Capital of Pennsylvania, driving everything before him and making every Dutchman, woman & child take the oath of allegiance to the Southern Confederacy. This is done, I suppose, for the purpose of exchanging them for our Southern men who have been forced to take the Lincoln oath, and is a very felicitous idea. Our Virginia Army is now feasting on crackers and cheese, coffee, bacon & everything else that heart could wish. This dash will open old Abes eyes. He has left Washington and is removing the public records and archives. He will doubtless leave Washington to its fate and establish the capital at New York or Chicago. I dont think Grant will get more than 1/2 of his men back north from around Vicksburg, and what he does take away will be worthless as soldiers. The chills & fevers & mosquitoes will kill them off by the hundreds.

DEER CREEK, July 8, 1863

My darling NellieA carrier brings me [news] that Vicksburg has fallen; no particulars given. I am ordered to work my way out by the most practicable route. This sad catastrophe will have the effect to paralyze our army, and if Grant follows up his success vigorously there is no telling what the result will be. One thing is sure the River must be surrendered to the Yankees and our country now belongs to them by right of conquest. I presume you will be safe and secure where you are; and if not inconvenient the safer policy is for as many as possible to keep together. When you can remove with safety to yourself you had all better go to Texas where Brother Perry will give you a home & living is cheap. The war will soon be terminated one way or another this year, and we will either be defeated absolutely or some compromise made that will restore the old Union as it was. In any event, wherever you go, if advised, I shall follow you & your & my fortunes shall be identical. Do not be alarmed; as far as your personal safety is concerned you will be better off now than you were before the fall of V.Burg.

CAMP NEAR BRANDON, MISS., July 28, 1863

My own dear wifeRecently after the fall of V.Burg I entertained the most gloomy forebodings of the future; and indeed the great demoralization produced in our army thereby added to the submissive spirit of the people generally, was enough to make one dispirited. The enemy have, however, ceased pursuing Johnston and have withdrawn their army to the hills of Warren to recruit. This will afford us an opportunity to reorganize and rediscipline our army and to call out our reserve: thus bringing us somewhat upon an equality with General Grant, whom, I hope we may hereafter successfully encounter. If I am not greatly mistaken the possession of the River will prove a conquest barren of results. The west will soon discover that the trade upon which they heretofore throve has been ruined and that there are few or no customers for redundant supplies. The fertile valley of the Mississippi has been desolated and the millions of dollars once realized by Western men thru trade along the banks of our mighty River will be entirely lost. Our people have no money and no exchangeable commodity; and must be the recipients along of bounties if they consume Western produce. The consequence of this state of things will, I hope, produce a state of indifference to the further prosecution of the war. We are now driven to fight to the bitter end, if conquest itself be the result.

.From the policy pursued by Genl. Sherman around V.Burg I judge you will not be in any danger at home. They will compel you to [give] him your slaves, perhaps but [you] will compel them to obey & respect you.As long as you are quiet & the country is not invaded by either army you can get along well; and being now within the lines & power of the enemy you will have to be politic.

HEADQUARTERS, 28th REGT., MISS. VOLUNTEERS, NEAR BRANDON, August 7, 1863

My darling NellieSince the fall of Vicksburg I have reflected a great deal, and am now satisfied that the calamity will result in ultimate good & force us to the adoption of some more decided plans of action.The science of war is the science of numbers, andwe must rely upon our cavalry to protect our rear & keep down raids. This we can do if we only place active energetic officers in charge of this army.We must awake to the realities that are pressing upon us. The enemy cannot move without railroads & steamboats & we have learned to do so. And our men, too, must learn that battles are won oftener with a solders legs than his gun.

CAMP NEAR BRANDON, August 11, 1863

My darling NellieIt would be advisable for your Mother to follow her negroes if she can reconcile herself to the trip when you are in a condition to travel [Nellie was pregnant with their second child]. If not, when things quiet down along the River she may move to the plantation. There is a probability that the war will not be conducted altogether in a civilized way hereafter. Lincoln demands that we treat the negro soldier upon an equality with our whites & threatens retaliation if we do not. This will bring about some dire results & may provoke the abolitionists to a ferocity unparalleled. I would prefer to see you all removed beyond their reach.

HEADQUARTERS, CAVALRY BRIGADE, TUPELO, MISS., September 7, 1863

War is fast becoming the thing natural, tho abhorrent to my feelings. I go at it just as I used to go at lawsuits. Still I am not by any manner of means fond of the profession. The idea of being continually employed in the destruction of human life is revolting in the extreme. Necessity imperious and exacting, forces us along and we hurry through the dreadful task apparently unconscious of its demoralizing influences and disruptive effects both upon the nation & individuals. I wish Uncl. Saml. would recognize his nephew and give us peace. I do not desire a reconstruction & a hollow truce, a servile place in the family of nations and to eat the bread of dependence while I am denied all the privileges of a freeman. .I own no slaves and can freely express my notions, without being taxed with any motive of self interest. I know that this country without slave labor would be wholly worthless, a barren waste and desolate plain We can only live & exist by this species of labor; and hence I am willing to continue the fight to the last.

HEADQUARTERS BRIGADE, VERONA, MISS., December 15, 1863

My darling wifeBoth Congresses are now in session and what the result will be none of us can know. From all indications they will use all their exertions to increase their respective armies to the fullest extent, and to prepare for a protracted war. I am satisfied we have nothing to expect from foreign nations. Our peculiar institution places us in antagonism to the educated sentiments of the civilized world and we can expect no favors. If successful at all, it must result from our own persistent efforts with[out] an extraneous aid whatever. This may appear almost a hopeless job, but we can nevertheless accomplish it if we persevere to the end. The wide extend of our territory will prevent military occupation by the Yankees.

Nugents letters end in January 1865, while he was still hoping for Confederate victory. After surrendering with General Richard Taylors army in May 1865, Nugent returned to Greenville to find the town and Oakwood plantation destroyed and both his Nellies working in the fields. By the next year, he had buried his wife and seen her family lands foreclosed on.

Despite the wars tragic toll, Williams steady optimism carried him through the challenges of Reconstruction. He went on to have a thriving law practice. His daughter, Nellie Nugent Somerville, founded Mississippis Womens Suffrage Association, served as vice-president of the National Womens Suffrage Association and, in 1923, became the first woman elected to the state legislature. And her daughter, Lucy Somerville Howorth, became a lawyer, judge and state legislator. She served as an advocate for the civil rights of women and minorities in the Roosevelt and Kennedy administrations.

Susannah Ural is the Blount Professor in Military History at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her latest book, Dont Hurry Me Down to Hades: The Civil War in the Words of Those Who Lived It, highlights the experiences of families like the Nugents.

Originally published in the February 2014 issue of Civil War Times. To subscribe, click here.
SNAPSHOT:

Andrew Garfield gives a powerful and moving performance as army medic Desmond Doss in Hacksaw Ridge, a film that is brutally effective in its depictions of combat but nearly derailed by a single-minded, oversimplified message.

Desmond Doss was a remarkable figure in World War II historya calm, devout Seventh-Day Adventist who refused to handle weapons because of his beliefs, overcame his comrades skepticism and antagonism, and served with distinction and selfless courage with the 77th Infantry Division atop the Maeda Escarpment during the brutal Battle of Okinawa.

During three weeks of intense combat in April-May 1945, Doss relentlessly crawled among his fallen comrades, braving heavy fire to dress their wounds and drag them to the cliffs edge, where they could be lowered to safety. He eventually saved between 50-100 soldiers and was wounded four times, eventually evacuated off Okinawa. For his actions, he received the Medal of Honor.

ON TARGET:

For a film audience to truly appreciate Doss heroism, they must understand the risks. Japanese forces were entrenched across the island, utilizing an extensive network of tunnels and cavestactics previously used to devastating effect against American forces on Peleliu and Iwo Jima. The fighting along the heavily fortified escarpment, dubbed Hacksaw Ridge, often devolved into a horrific slugfest. Each American advance was met with vicious Japanese counterattacks; one such attack decimated a 30-man platoon from the 96th Infantry Division, leaving just nine soldiers standing. When the 77th Infantry Division relieved the 96th in late-April, it faced the same ferocious enemy resistance.

Director Mel Gibson and unsung second unit director and stunt coordinator Mic Rodgers recreated the brutal, violent combat across the burnt hellish landscape. Considering the entire Okinawa set was only about 100 square meters, the result is commendable. The first battle sequence is especially noteworthy it begins with an (appropriate) jump scare and instantly descends into a relentless, breath-taking, and stomach-churning sequence that continues nonstop for 10 minutes. Gibson doesnt allow the audience to take a breath. Details are important, and Gibson and Rodgers get them mostly right. Japanese shells explode through bodies, while enemy machine-gun fire tears and pierces. Dozens are struck down before they can even react. Thick smoke obscures everything, and not being able to see the source of the nightmare compounds the fear. The sequence establishes the stakes, which frame Doss heroism in the proper context.

The combat sequences are themselves framed by earlier scenes with Doss father, a veteran of the Great War and a violent alcoholic. New Zealand actor Hugo Weavingrecognizable to most audiences from his work in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Matrix filmsis immensely moving in his portrayal of a man shattered by post-traumatic stress. The elder Doss is a man wrestling with himself; the knot of grief and anger inside him emerges when he self-medicates by continuously drinking. Desmond has a combative relationship with his father, and one cannot help but wonder how their relationship might have changed after Desmond returned home, after having stared into the inferno with his own eyes.

MISFIRES:

For all that Hacksaw Ridge gets right, the film suffers from an insistence on presenting a single, unquestionable message. Desmond Doss was, without a doubt, a devout Christian who held firmly to his beliefs through the worst conditions of battle. However, inexplicably, the film gives no voice to other characters interpretations of their beliefs. This is understandable during the nostalgic, old-fashioned scenes in Doss small hometown in Virginia, but not so after Doss is in the army, as most American servicemen during the war identified as Christians. Certainly a few others wrestled with the Ten Commandments during war. This is a significant missed opportunity; a conversation between Doss and one of his comradesreligious or notcould have raised compelling questions for the characters and the audience. Instead, there is Doss and then everyone else, and the film gives the message that Doss belief is the right one, capped with a not-so-subtle final shot of his symbolic ascension into sunlit skies.

It is also worth pointing out that the Battle of Okinawa was not Doss first taste of combat. He had previously served in Guam and the Philippines, earning a Bronze Star for his actions. It is, of course, more effective for the film and the characters arc to focus squarely on his heroics in Okinawabut it is worth noting that the real Doss endured even more than the film shows.

BOTTOM LINE:

Doss is a fascinating figure in World War II history, and Hacksaw Ridge does him a great service. The film could have gone to greater heights with more nuance and subtlety, but it is effectiveand well worth watching. 

Film Recon is a new web series by Paraag Shukla, Senior Editor of World War II and Aviation History magazines at HistoryNet.



Hacksaw Ridge is now available on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand from Summit Entertainment, a Lionsgate Company.
A group of parliamentarians, including some members of coalition factions People's Front and Petro Poroshenko Bloc, have asked Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to urgently inspect the financial and economic operations of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy and its subsidiaries and suspend Board Chairman Andriy Kobolev from duty.

"Two weeks ago the prime minister held a meeting. The minutes of the meeting included the instruction to check Naftogaz, but unfortunately they disappeared," one of the initiators MP from People's Front faction Maskym Poliakov said at a briefing in the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday.

He said that at present the investigation into three criminal cases opened against operations of Naftogaz and Kobolev by law enforcement agencies is being blocked.

Among other accusations against Kobolev and Head of its subsidiary Ukrgazvydobuvannia Oleh Prokhorenko, which were also presented by independent MPs Vitaliy Kupriy, Mykhailo Holovko and the Deputy Control inter-factional group, high salaries with an exclusive social package, the alleged increase of gas tariffs and alleged secret talks with Gazprom.

Kobolev was accused of refusing from purchase of gas in Q2 2016 and then buying it at the price that was $30-40 higher. The loss is estimated at around UAH 3 billion.

The lawmakers accused Ukrgazvydobuvannia of avoiding inspections by the State Audit Service.
German troops in France in 1916 advance from support and communications trenches established just behind the front lines. Among the most enduring images of World War I are those vast expanses of mazelike trench linesmiles of zigzagging, sandbagged excavations fronted by complex barbed-wire entanglements and dotted by massive, artillery-proof command shelters. Over the intervening decades films such as Paths of Glory and All Quiet on the Western Front have accustomed audiences to scenes of soldiers mounting sturdy firing steps shoulder to shoulder before clambering over the top and charging off toward the enemy.

While such images are accurateearthworks on either side of the lines in Europe did ultimately become intricate and extensivethey do not present a full and faithful picture of how trenches originated in the early months of the war or of just how miserable life could be in even the best-engineered systems.

For such details we must turn to the accounts of those who were there.

Louis Barthas, a barrel maker from the small wine-making town of Peyriac-Minervois in the south of France, arrived in the trenches on the evening of Nov. 12, 1914. He had never seen combat and later recalled running in terror across several hundred yards of open ground exposed to German gunfire and tumbling into a frontline trench. It was, he recalled, a wide, shallow stream at the bottom. No protective barbed wire. No parapets, no loopholes. No trace of a shelter for us. And yet this trench, so poorly equipped, which would have made the Romans of Julius Caesar smile with pity, seemed to us a precious refuge.

Early in the war French trenches were indeed known to be poorly made and equipped, as the French high command remained confidentagainst all available evidence and reasontheir armies would soon gain ground and thus had no need for more permanent emplacements. British trenches were somewhat better constructed, but the stopgap ethos they brought to combat, the muddling through in which they took such unreasonable and inexplicable pride, meant their trenches also were less than ideal.

German trenches were the besta sentiment shared by their original occupants and those who captured them. The excavations were deeper, and their walls were reinforced with timber and sandbags to prevent collapse during bombardments or in heavy rains. At regular intervals the German built dugout rooms, some as deep as 30 feet underground, in which troops could shelter with little fear of harm from enemy artillery.

This trench, so poorly equipped, which would have made the Romans of Julius Caesar smile with pity, seemed to us a precious refuge.

The German systems also had better drainage, a critical attribute, given that water has always presented one of the great challenges of trench warfare. Where Barthas first fought, in Flanders, it was an especially difficult problem. Average annual precipitation was high, and the terrain largely flat, thus the water table was high, and mud a nightmare. Shelling only made it worse. Artillery fire stripped the landscape of whatever cover might have stabilized the ground, and the resulting craters inevitably gathered water. The water level often rose knee high, while the mud never seemed to dry out. Drowning was a real concern, particularly for wounded men.

Before the conflict erupted none of the future combatants had anticipated the sort of static warfare that made such earthworks necessary. Germanys Schlieffen Plan, for example, foresaw a rapid advance through Belgium into France, around the left flank of existing French fortifications, then on to Paris and victory in a single campaign lasting fewer than 40 days. Overwhelming force and speed of execution were the basis of German strategy, and it workedfor a little while. The invaders quickly took Liege, Brussels and Antwerp, then advanced into France, and they moved swiftlyso swiftly, in fact, that they outran their supply lines. At that critical juncture German Chief of Staff General Helmuth von Moltke decided to split his forces, sending some to the west of Paris, some east, as if encircling the capital were more important than taking it.

As the French regrouped and British reinforcements arrived in significant numbers, resistance stiffened. The overall German advance slowed, leaving the troops little choice but to settle into defensive positions. They bogged down in northern France along a line some 40 miles south of the Belgian border. There they began to dig trenches. Four years of stalemate and static warfare ensued, years when an advance of 50 yards was considered significant and might cost thousands of lives.

While most of us associate trench warfare with World War I, it was hardly new. Soldiers employed trenches during 18th-century wars on either side of the Atlantic, the 186165 American Civil War, the 190405 Russo-Japanese War and the 18991902 Second Boer War in South Africa. During the latter conflict the greatly outnumbered Boers utilized trenches to great effect, and neutral German observers came away deeply impressed by the defensive capabilities of such earthworks. In 1914, as the Western Front devolved into stasis and both sides took to burrowing into the earth, the Germans put their advanced concepts of trench warfare into practice.

In his 1920 memoir Storm of Steel veteran German infantryman Ernst Junger described the well-constructed wartime dugout he occupied:

I was master of an underground dwelling approached by 40 steps hewn in solid chalk, so that even the heaviest shells at this depth made no more than a pleasant rumble when we sat there over an interminable game of cards. In one wall I had a bed hewn out.At its head hung an electric light so that I could read in comfort till I was sleepy.

Some German dugouts had steel doors, water taps, doorbells and even wallpaper for a touch of home. No one would call them luxurious, but at least the accommodations were livable.

British trenches suffered mightily by comparison. Before hard combat experience taught them the value of deep entrenchments, the Britishlike the Frenchrelied largely on skimpy ditches. Military historian John Keegan noted that at the First Battle of Ypres in 1914 British trenches were at best hasty scratchings 3 feet deep. As the war dragged on, Commonwealth troops did make improvements, but their dugouts remained relatively shallow and thus vulnerable to plunging artillery fire. Early on British works tended to the haphazard, mirroring the French attitude that the troops werent going to be in them longa breakout was always just around the corner, and mobile warfare would surely return to the battlefield.

The result of such thinking, of course, was that conditions in the British trenches were generally squalid, and in Flanders, perpetually wet. In The Great War and Modern Memory historian Paul Fussell, an infantry veteran of World War II, quotes British poet Wilfrid Owen in a letter to his mother from the front: In 2 miles of trench which I waded yesterday, there was not one inch of dry ground. There is a mean depth of 2 feet of water. Fussell cites a similar, albeit snarky, observation from the diary of another British soldier: Water knee deep and up to the waist in places. Rumors of being relieved by the [Royal Navys] Grand Fleet.

Between the opposing entrenchments lay acres of seemingly endless barbed-wire entanglements. The American-invented hazard accumulated exponentially with each passing year, and the relentless artillery fire both sides used to disrupt the wire only served to entangle it more thoroughly. The wire demarcated the vast open space known as no-mans-land. It was aptly named, as those who ventured into it risked being mowed down by machine guns and/or registered artillery fire. Even men who dared peer into no-mans-land from the trenches were at risk, as snipers on either side became adept at putting a lethal round into any target that presented itself for even a moment.

Rather than expose themselves to such fire, troops on the lookout for enemy movement used periscopeswhich, oddly enough, were not government-issued but purchased in the trench requisites sections of fashionable London department stores. British officers with accounts in high-end establishments could even order picnic baskets filled with tinned food and other delicacies and have them shipped to the trenches in a day or two. Britain was just across the English Channel from Flanders, after all. Indeed, when the shelling in France was particularly heavy, residents of the Kentish coast could sometimes hear it.

Some German dugouts had steel doors, water taps, doorbells and even wallpaper for a touch of home. No one would call them luxurious, but at least the accommodations were livable

As the machine of war ground away, so many corpses accumulated in no-mans-land that the stench of rotting flesh became ubiquitous. The corpses in turn attracted fat brown Norway rats in extraordinary numbers. Soldiers killed the vermin whenever possible, but the rats were stealthy and persistent. They have eaten nearly everything in the mess, including the tablecloth and the operations orders! one British officer at Ypres noted. We borrowed a large cat and shut it up at night to exterminate them and found the place empty next morning. The rats must have eaten it up, bones, fur and all.

And then there were the body lice, which no one escaped. Delousing stations were available at the rear, but they provided only brief respite. In his poem Louse Hunting British war poet Isaac Rosenberg wrote of troops at the front stripping nude to hunt body lice, casting gibbering shadows on the dugout walls as they danced a demons pantomime around a comrades flaming shirt. Other tormented soldiers recalled lice growing thick on their bodies. Our primary occupation was hunting lice, wrote Frenchman Barthas. Each of us carried thousands of them.

The opposing trench systems grew in scope and size as time passed. The usual arrangement centered on frontline trenches that, depending on the terrain, might be as close as 100 yards or as distant as 1,000 from corresponding enemy earthworks. Behind those were support trenches, while farther back were reserve trenches, often the site of command bunkers. Between each of these lines snaked perpendicular trenches, used for communication and to move troops back and forth unexposed to enemy fire. Utility trenches known as saps jutted from the frontline earthworks and often delved below ground. The term derives from the French verb saper (to undermine), hence the term sappers for those who dug such trenches. Some saps served as forward listening posts or provided access to no-mans-land for such activities as wire repairs, recovery of the wounded or burial of the dead. Others extended far underground to terminate beneath enemy fortifications. By packing such tunnels with explosives, sappers could destroy the sturdiest of fortifications. None of the entrenchments ran straight, thus denying enemy troops direct lines of fire should any make it across no-mans-land and enter a trench.

Given the scope of the works, digging was a near constant activity, accomplished largely at night by either auxiliary work details or the soldiers themselves. When all is said and done, considered British officer and poet Siegfried Sassoon, the war was mainly a matter of holes and ditches. By wars end the ditches on the Western Front stretched 475 miles from the English Channel to the Swiss border, though historian Keegan estimated that if one takes into account all the reserve and support trenches, the actual mileage was closer to 1,300. Put another way, a soldier might well have been able to walk from the channel to Switzerland entirely belowground.

And that is a deeply depressing thought. To look out over the hellish landscape of no-mans-land was to risk a bullet to the forehead, while to charge across it in another futile attempt to gain ground usually meant death by artillery, poison gas or machine gun. The only alternative for the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on either side was to look up at the sky, or rather at the little bit they could see of it, to remind themselves they were indeed amid nature. What men mostly noticed at such times, wrote historian Fussell, were sunrises and sunsets, whose unexpected depth and beauty, so far removed from the squalor of the trenches and miserable drudgery of their lives, moved them. The sky, Sassoon reflected, was one of the redeeming features of the war.

Even the stupidest understood that we were going to our deaths, without the slightest hope of success

While soldiers in the trenches may have treasured glimpses of the sky, chances to do so were few and far between. Combat never ceased along the front lines, or never seemed to, thanks largely to the incessant barrages of shells each side lobbed at the other. Even in the quietest times, Fussell wrote, some 7,000 British men and officers were killed or wounded daily, just as a matter of course. Wastage, the staff called it. It is hard to say how seriously to take this figure, but artillery fire certainly accounted for vast numbers of casualties. The numbers of guns involved and shells expended are staggering. American troops, for example, were in combat in Europe only from June 1917 to November 1918, yet during that relatively brief period U.S. factories produced some 20 million rounds of artillery ammunition. German, French and British numbers are equally mind-boggling.

There is no mystery behind the vast numbers of shells fired during the conflict. The opposing armies preceded nearly every attempted advance into no-mans-land with an hours-long preparatory barrage against one anothers trenches and rear areas. Then, as troops struggled from the trenches, friendly artillery would pound no-mans-land with huge creeping barrages, hopefully keeping enemy troops in their bunkers and unable to repel the attack. The problem, of course, was that such barrages signaled an attack was imminent, and they often ended too soon, allowing defenders time to filter back into the trenches and engage the onrushing troops by then all too exposed in no-mans-land.

Frenchman Barthas recounted a vivid example. One morning his unit was tapped to attack the German line, the assault starting from a forward sap immediately following an ineffectual barrage by French 75 mm guns.

Even the stupidest understood that we were going to our deaths, without the slightest hope of success, Barthas wrote. As soon as each of us left the trench, we took off at full speed and flattened ourselves against the railway embankment. This slightly elevated slope protected us only imperfectly from the bullets.Just as I arrived at the slope, out of breath like after a long run, I saw one of those guys who had already taken cover there get hit in the back with a bullet. Ill never forget the sight of that hole, like it was made with a drilla little whiff of smoke from burnt cloth, the mans violent somersault, a groan and then the stillness of death.

The French attack quickly sputtered, soldiers seeking cover where they could. They had gained no ground. When darkness fell, they simply rose and walked back to their trench line, carrying the wounded on their backs.

Imagine such a scene repeated thousands of times on all fronts over four years, and you get some idea of what combat in the trenches was like. Winter often brought long periods of relative peace, but spring offensives always came, and the assaults continued through summer and well into fall. Three years into the war French soldiers in several sectors simply stopped fighting, refusing to make another senseless advance into certain death; it was months before commanders could coerce or coax them back into combat. The attrition rate was so high that every major country began to run out of men. Again and again troops in great waves were sent into ill-conceived and largely suicidal frontal assaults, the resultant casualties reaching into the thousands. On the first day of the 1916 Battle of the Somme alone the British army suffered 57,470 casualtiesthe worst single-day loss in its history.

It was the most senseless form of wastage.

The shadow of World War I has never left us. The mindless horror of the trenches epitomizes the mindless horror of the war itself, one that in retrospect might easily have been prevented. It was a war of monarchs and empires, of entangling alliances and failed diplomacy. It was also a war that spawned revolution and the rise of communism in Russia and the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany. World War I also laid the groundwork for many subsequent conflicts, including the current ones in the Middle East.

Nearly 10 million soldiers died in World War I, as did some 7 million civilians. Add the wounded, and the casualty total rises to 38 million. And unexploded ordnance from that long-ago conflict is still killing and maiming people. From time to time teams of archaeologists unearth frontline trenches in various states of preservation, seeking insight about the men who lived and died in them. Those abandoned in haste remain eerily intact, personal belongings seemingly waiting for the return of their owners.

Mostly what they find, though, are human bones. MH

A frequent contributor to Military History, Anthony Brandt is the author of The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage. For further reading he recommends The Great War and Modern Memory, by Paul Fussell; The First World War, by John Keegan; and Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 19141918.
Since the exponential development in the space science and technology from the early 1960s, one question is hovering in the mind of most of the people, 'are we alone in the universe?'. Well, in order to solve this one question NASA has launched several missions since the 1990s. Recently, NASA had launched a new mission to find exoplanets and it looks like NASA have found it. About 39 light years away NASA has found a habitable temperature zone where seven exoplanets are orbiting around one star.



According to researchers, there are about six planets in the sister solar system have the similar mass to the earth. At the same time, the researchers have also found that the surface temperature of those planets is close to 0C-100C which can be suitable to many from of life. Scientists are also expecting that there is a possibility to find warm water in these planets.



There was a huge hype when NASA announced about the mission regarding extraterrestrial life and today NASA have triggered that hype by announcing it as a great discovery beyond the solar system.



The exoplanets which were discovered is orbiting around an ultra cool smaller star called TRAPPIST-1. The location of this star is around 39 light-years away from our Sun.



Along with NASA, Belgium has also contributed fairly in this project. The team of the astronomers is led by Michael Gillon from the University of Belgium. Belgium has helped to find the first three exoplanets, therefore it can be said that it has helped the NASA a lot.



Though so far it seems like the exoplanets are much similar to our earth. But there are a lot of researchers to happen especially on the outermost seventh exoplanet. The system is really compact as the closest planet of the system takes 1.5 days to orbit around the star and the outermost planet takes just 13 days.

Therefore, there is a good chance that we will be able to research about all of these exoplanets and it won't take much time.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are leading separate lives after filing for divorce and recently the "Lara Croft" actress made her first public appearance with her six kids in Cambodia while promoting her movie "First They Killed My Father." However, she refrained from shading Brad Pitt in any way and handled personal questions in a formal way, giving the impression that she might reconcile with him in future.

Angelina Jolie and her six kids were in Cambodia recently during the promotion of her movie "First They Killed My Father". According to BBC, it was the first public appearance of the 41-years-old actress since she filed for divorce from Brad Pitt and though she talked about it, she chose to be defensive. There was no mudslinging or dissing on her part, unlike her PR stunt during the divorce battle that tried to paint Brad Pitt as a bad father.

All Angelina Jolie said about the separation was that it was very difficult. She stated that many people find themselves in this situation and her whole family has been through a difficult time. The most startling part was when she said that her focus is 'her' children and then added 'our' children. The once-furious and vengeful Jolie acknowledged Brad Pitt as the father of her children, E! News claimed.

What is more, when asked by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News if she still thought of Pitt as a good father, Angelina Jolie replied in affirmative. She said of course and then added that they will always be a family. Well, does this mean Jolie is trying to change her stance and looking to reconcile with her ex-husband? Well, only time will tell.

It is worth mentioning here that during the divorce battle, Angelina Jolie had insisted on sole custody of her six children. She fought tooth and nail to keep the kids with her and also leveled serious allegations against Brad Pitt to strengthen her case.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
From the BBC, a British journalist stands to face up to five years in jail in Thailand. The cause behind the sentence comes after a lawyer brought a criminal defamation case against him over an investigation into fraud on a popular tourist island.

Rights activists state that the case brings to light Thai's computer crime laws and defamation which evade investigative journalism and hence make it difficult to expose wrongdoing. It started back in 2015 when Jonathan Head, BBC's south-east Asia correspondent, reported on the scamming of two foreign retirees out of their properties in Phuket.

According to The Guardian, the prosecution was brought by a Phuket lawyer, Pratuan Thanarak, who was featured in Head's report. This Thursday, Head made an appearance in court in Phuket accompanied by Ian Rance, one of the retirees who is a British national. Rance is a joint defendant in the prosecution and both of them pleaded not guilty.

The two-year court battle will require them to give up their passports to the court. This will leave Head in the position of being unable to work across Asia during the duration of the case. In 2001, Rance retired to Phuket and wedded a local woman who bore him three children. She also purchased nearly 1m worth of properties.

According to Thai law, foreigners do not hold the right to own land. However, many manage to get around that by purchasing properties in the name of a trusted local or a company they own. In 2010, Rance came to know that his wife had forged his signature in an attempt to remove him as director of the properties.

She intended to sell the properties with the help and aid of a network of property agents and money lenders on the island. The scam resulted in her imprisonment for four years while Rance fought through courts for years in order to retrieve his the properties.

BBC's Head reported in regards to Pratuan stating his admissions to notarising Rance's signature in his absence. In response, Pratuan filed a defamation case in which he alleged that the report "defamed, insulted or hated" him and his reputation.

While the BBC intended to clear Head's name and stood by its journalism, Pratuan failed to honor requests for comment.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
One of the most visible spokespersons for the Trump administration, Kellyanne Conway, has been sidelined from television appearances for 7 days. The cause behind the act was due to the statements she made that were at odds with the administration's official stance, said White House sources.

As reported by CNN Money, Conway has not given an interview on television since last week. On Wednesday night, she is scheduled to appear on Fox News on Wednesday night. That Monday while speaking to MSNBC, she stated that Michael Flynn, former National Security Adviser, had the president's "full confidence." Awkwardly enough, Flynn resigned hours later.

The day after Conway claimed that Flynn had voluntarily offered to resign despite White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stating that Trump had asked Flynn to hand in his resignation.

Conway's statements led to public scrutiny over her credibility and eventually led the President as well as his top advisers to reach the decision that her appearances were harming the administration more than benefiting it. The White House source referred to her as being "off message".

Initially Conway did not respond to requests for comments but eventually emerged by declaring her upcoming Fox News appearance. She added that she had been invited every day on shows inclusive of two Sunday shows but that she is actually attempting to "focus on other pieces" of her portfolio. She also called Trump his own best "communicator and connector," saying that he did not require her constant presence on television. "None of us do it like he does," she said.

Sarah Sanders, a White House spokesperson, also dismissed any suggestions regarding the sidelining of Conway. Even prior to the Flynn remarks, Conway was under fire for publicly marketing Ivanka Trump's clothing products. This move was titled as "unacceptable" and "over the line" by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the House Oversight Committee Chairman.

Conway's media appearances have been limited to radio interviews as of last Wednesday. According to sources, the administration is basking in the reprieve from all the controversy sparked by just about every appearance by her.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Busfor Ukraine, the online bus ticket service intends to introduce some new products for bus passengers in 2017, Busfor Ukraine Head Oleksandr Pavlovich has said.

"Busfor focuses on improving the quality of the sector. We cannot influence on vehicles, but we can place efforts in other things. What are we doing? We actively take part in the e-ticket introduction project of the Infrastructure Ministry. We are introducing services which passengers can receive from us," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

He said that a problem when the trip is canceled due to technical or weather reasons and passengers are not insured against this.

"We are drawing up insurance policies against cancelation of trips of baggage loss jointly with insurance companies. No one has provided yet these services and we will be the first," Pavlovich said.

In addition, the company is designing a food delivery service before the trip to solve the problems with food with the help of partners. Food can be selected on the website in advance.

"Soon we plan to add photos of buses. Passengers would be able to assess them before the trip. This is important for the passengers We want to experiment with 3D photos of buses," he said.

Busfor in 2016 sold around 1 million of bus tickets. Its founders are Illia Yekushevsky and Artem Altukhov.
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
Britain's Crown Agents has agreed to publish information about its remuneration for procurement of medicines and medical products using 2016 national budget funds, about suppliers and the list of goods procured.

Crown Agents gave this information in a letter to the Health Ministry dated January 31, 2017, a copy of which has been sent to Interfax-Ukraine.

According to the letter, under the agreement signed by Crown Agents and the Health Ministry on October 27, 2016, the sides agree to publish information about the sum of budget funds provided to procure medicines for each program, the list of contracts with suppliers who won the procurement tenders indicating international nonproprietary names (INN), the total cost of the agreement and the name of the supplier.

Crown Agents said that the publication of any other information requires the written consent of the company and the Health Ministry to disclose the information.

Crown Agents said that Crown Agents does not mind to publish information about its remuneration (5%) and the list of goods to be procured to stop insinuations in media.

In turn, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the similar letter to the Health Ministry said that under the contracts signed between UNDP and the ministry, they can publish information about the sum of budget funds sent to the UNDP to procure medicines and medical products, including the sum for each program.

The UNDP and Health Ministry can publish the list of contracts signed with suppliers under INN, the number of goods under the contracts and the names of suppliers.

The UNDP said that the contracts with the Health Ministry contain sensitive and confidential information. The copies of the contracts cannot be handed to third parties.

The provision of information about the price of unit is banned, as this information is considered sensitive in line with the UN information disclosure policy, the UNDP said.

Earlier members of the parliamentary healthcare committee declared unsatisfactory the procurement of medicines and medical products using the 2015-2016 budget funds. They wanted to ask Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to publish contracts signed by the Health Ministry and specialized international organizations related to the procurement tenders and the conditions of these contracts.

One of the international organizations told Interfax-Ukraine that the texts of the contracts were handed to lawmakers, apart from confidential information about the parties signed the contracts, in particular, the account information. However, the lawmakers demanded the full information.
Hope College senior John Luke Hawkins of Tipton, Indiana, has been honored as a finalist in the inaugural Global Citizen of the Year Awards presented by IES Abroad.

The awards recognize students who studied on an IES Abroad program in 2016 for making an impact through academic, philanthropic or personal efforts during their experience studying or interning abroad. The program has honored six students: three finalists, including Hawkins; one overall winner; and three with honorable mention.

Hawkins, who is a communication major at Hope, spent the fall 2016 semester at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. It was a time of unrest, when students across the nation protested increases in tuitionand tuition fees in generalas putting a university education out of the reach of lower-income students, with a disproportionately high impact on blacks, whose average income is less than that of whites. Classes were even shut down for a month due to the protests.

IES Abroad praised Hawkins for how he learned from the unexpected experience, both while in South Africa and in examining his own priorities: As an ally and activist, John Luke remained educated during campus protests, allowing himself to be open-minded and self-aware during challenging times. Additionally, John Luke's continued work as an Interfaith Ambassador upon returning to Hope shows that his fight for inclusion did not just end in South Africa. We were truly impressed with John Luke's tenacity and his desire for social justice.

Reflecting on his time at the university, Hawkins noted, This was a movement of activism that I became swept into as an ally: a person whom knew my place as an American abroad student yet supported the fight for justice that was happening in my context.

This activism in South Africa wasnt just a one-and-done type of situation; when I say my abroad experience was life altering, it was just that, he continued. These new cultural and worldly perspectives gathered from my abroad experience will forever go forth with me in life.

IES Abroad is a global, not-for-profit academic consortium of more than 250 top-tier American colleges and universities, including Hope, that provides premier study-abroad and internship programs around the world. With more than 125 study-abroad programs in 35 locations worldwide, the organization creates authentic global education opportunities for more than 6,300 students annually. IES Abroad offers part-time and full-time internships around the globe across a range of placements. More information is available at iesabroad.org.
From a deep, long lasting recession, the hospitality industry jumped overnight, (about three years ago) into a period of enthusiastic and unbridled growth. Airports and industrial suburbs, where most of the "traveling salesman" types continue to stay, no longer appeal to the "hip" developer. Downtown and urban areas is where hotel development has been taking place. The younger clientele, including, at large, generations X, Y and Z, treat urban centers not only as work place during the week, but also as leisure getaways on weekends. Not unusual at all for a downtown or industrial location to run a higher occupancy on weekends than it does during the week.

Here is the issue, however: the construction/conversion pipeline continues to be chockablock, but demand has reached its peak. Demographics are such that Baby Boomers, once the Number One market for traditional luxury hotels, are getting old. Generally speaking, their successors are NOT into luxury.

But what I think we are to be most concerned with, however, is the new Administration's proposed immigration and international travel policy  even if it appears to be changing daily.

Hypothetically, if you were a wealthy Mexican citizen, residing in Mexico, you have been highly desirable to hotel operators in the United States since you, along with Brazilians and Russians, are known for spending the most money per occupied room. A Brazilian in Miami spends twice as much as an American. The travelers from Mexico are not far behind.

Suppose you are a legal Mexican immigrant in the United States  there are millions of them in our country, many of them successful, wealthy and independent. Would you not consider, for family reasons, leaving the US and going home to Mexico where you can very successfully invest the capital you earned in the United States? Back home, you will be "someone who made it" as opposed to an "illegal" here. Because it is not what immigration status you have, but who you look like that will attract attention. We say there are millions of illegal immigrants in the United States. Nobody, however, has been able to come up with a number for "legal" immigrants. They do not have to be US citizens, merely to have a Green Card or be in the process of obtaining one.

Suppose you are a rich Saudi, Qatari, Kuwaiti, Bahraini or Emirate dweller: chances are you took offense at President Trump's comments and actions against Muslims in general. Given the choice between Beverly Hills or Paris or the French Riviera, where will you be spending your millions next summer? Ask the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Beverly Wilshire what happens to their summer occupancy and rate when the Middle Eastern crowd does not show up.

Indeed, unless we become more friendly to foreigners in general, 2017 may end up being a VERY BAD YEAR for Hoteliers.

Benoit Gateau-Cumin

The Boutique Search Firm

View source
It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore).

Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net.

Go back to home
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has lifted claims against 15 importers of liquefied gas and their contractors. The Economic Development and Trade Ministry has annulled sanctions imposed on them.

Orders Nos. 261 and 262 dated February 24, 2017 were posted on the website of the ministry.

"On February 23, SBU told the ministry that primary information about infringements committed by importers and their contractors was partially proved. The implication of companies in causing damage to the interests of Ukraine was not proved. SBU proposed to the ministry to annul special sanctions imposed on 15 importers of fuel and their contractors," the ministry said.

In particular, the sanctions will be lifted from NP-Trading, Naftoproduct-Trading, Violana-Tek, Systems Logistics Management, Gallon-Group, SVG Plus, Eurostandard Avtogaz, Nadiya, Olan, Rod-Nik, West Trading & Marketing Oil, Restimpex System, Tarone Trade, Ameralda Trading Limited and Danier Holdings

As reported, the sanctions were imposed basing on SBU information that importers accumulated funds on offshore accounts and partially used them to finance militants in the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
After a couple months of heavy promotion, which included leaks like Things, Like Really, & NNGE (Never Not Getting Enough), DMVs Sudanese-American artist Oddisee decides to come through today & release his new album The Iceberg.

Laced with 12 tracks in total, the follow up to last years AlWasta EP features two appearances from Toine & Olivier St. Louis. Its Bandcamp page described the album as a distillation of stereotypical tropes in hip-hop and beyond, 12 tracks about money, sex, politics, race and religion that appear superficial until his multi-dimensional lyrics unfurl to expose the complexities of individuality and identity: how we see ourselves and how others see us. Deeply soulful, and shot through with jazz, Go-go, gospel, thick r&b and hard beats, the album is a timely, poetic statement.

Stream the album now via Apple Music, and look for Oddisee to hit the road next month for his worldwide tour (see dates here).
The '80s synth pop duo are hitting the road again to support their 17th studio album, World Be Gone.

The follow up to their last album, The Violet Flame, Erasure's new album comes after the band celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Their new album sees the award-winning songwriters in a more reflective mood, giving the world and recent political upheavals a thoughtful examination and, as highlighted on the painted artwork showing a ship's masthead rising up from being submerged in the stormy waters, looking forward to the future.

Keyboardist Vince Clarke comments: Obviously the current political climate lends itself to lots of ideas, Andy Bell continues, I think theres an underswell of opinion, and people are slowly waking up. Im hoping that people will take the album in a positive way, that theyll use it as optimistic rabble-rousing music.

Watch the trailer for the new album here:

Advertisement

Erasure have also been invited as special guests on Robbie Williams 2017 stadium tour taking place in the summer. Ahead of those dates, Erasure perform three headline shows: 27 May in Glasgow, 28 May in Manchester and 29 May at Londons historic Roundhouse.

The duo's full tour dates are listed below, including an appearance supporting Robbie Williams in Dublin on June 17.

ERASURE HEADLINE TOUR DATES

27 May  Glasgow, 02 Academy

28 May  Manchester Albert Hall

29 May  London Roundhouse

Tickets http://po.st/ErasureLiveonsale Friday 3 March from

Advertisement

ERASURE TOUR DATES WITH ROBBIE WILLIAMS - 2017

2 June  UK Manchester, Ethiad Stadium

6 June  UK Southampton, St Marys Stadium

9 June  UK Edinburgh, Murrayfield Stadium

13 June  UK Coventry, Ricoh Stadium

17 June  IRE Dublin, Aviva Stadium

21 June  UK Cardiff, Ethiad Stadium

Advertisement

23 June  UK London, Stadium (Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park)

28 June  DE Dusseldorf, Espirit Arena

1 July  FR Paris, AccorHotels Arena

4 July  NL Nijmegen, Goffertpark

8 July  BE Werchter, Festivalpark

11 July  DE Hannover, HDI Arena

14 July  IT Verona, Stadio Bentegodi

Advertisement

19 July  DE Frankfurt, Commerzbank Arena

22 July  DE Munich, Olympiastadion

25 July  DE Berlin, Waldbuhne

29 July  SE Stockholm, Tele2 Arena

4 Aug  NO Bergen, Bergenhus Fortress

7 Aug  DK Copenhagen, Telia Parken

10 Aug  FI Tampere, Ratina Stadium

Advertisement

13 Aug  PL Warsaw, PGE Narodowy

16 Aug  LT Vilnius, Vingis Park

19 Aug  CZ Prague, Airport Letnany

23 Aug  HU Budapest, Groupama Arena

26 Aug  AT Vienna, Ernst Happel Stadium

29 Aug  AT Klagenfurt, Worthersee Stadium

2 Sep  CH Zurich, Letzigrund Stadium

Advertisement

7 Sep  RU St Petersburg, Ledovi Dvorets Palace

10 Sep  RU Moscow, Olympiski

Tickets are RobbieWilliams.comonsale now from
Human, by Rag'n'Bone Man is still at number one this week.

On the album charts this week, Ryan Adams' new record Prisoner found itself at number three in its first week, right behind Ed Sheeran's X (currently celebrating its 140th week on the album charts, but who's counting). Rag'n'Bone Man's Human is still at number one, with Views by Drake coming in at number four after only being at number ten last week.

As both of Ed Sheeran's past albums are in the top ten this week, with + at number seven and X at number two, we can only assume his new album, , will be featured on this list next week, but who knows?

"Human" by Rag'n'Bone Man:



"Prisoner" by Ryan Adams:


Houston's Noble Energy and its Israeli partners said Thursday they will move forward with drilling one of the world's largest undeveloped natural gas fields off the coast of Israel, sanctioning the first phase at a cost of $3.75 billion.

The project, known as Leviathan, has been championed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but has faced numerous issues in political debates and within the Israeli Supreme Court before finally winning governmental approval last year. Noble, which discovered the field in 2010, said drilling will commence in the middle of this year, although it doesn't expect to start delivering natural gas to Israel until late 2019.

"The move would give Israel gas supply, and promote cooperation with the countries of the region," Netanyahu said Thursday in a statement translated from Hebrew.

Noble has a reputation for strong offshore exploration, and Leviathan is a substantial legacy discovery that will finally come to fruition, said Pearce Hammond, an analyst at the investment banking firm Piper Jaffray in Houston. In recent years, while waiting for approval by the Israeli government, Noble focused on areas like West Texas and Colorado. Noble recently closed on its $2.7 billion acquisition of Midland-based Clayton Williams Energy.

"It's very positive news for Noble," Hammond said. "It's been a long road, but now what's in front of them is the opportunity - all the lights are green - to move forward and start producing gas and generating cash flow."

Leviathan will help Israel develop greater energy self sufficiency and allow it to shift toward cleaner electricity generation from natural gas rather than coal. The plan also is to sell surplus gas supplies to nations with which Israel has relations, like Jordan, Egypt and Turkey.

The Leviathan field is located beneath the Levantine Sea in the Eastern Mediterranean and named for the Old Testament giant sea creature. Netanyahu and his allies touted the development as progress toward Israeli energy independence, while critics contended it gave too much of the profit to corporations.

Under an order from Israel's Supreme Court, the parties renegotiated the framework agreement to give future Israeli governments more flexibility to change drilling rules in later years. The original contract had required the government to lock in regulations for 10 years.

The $3.75 billion price tag is just for the first phase. Coupled with a planned second phase, the total project is expected to cost in excess of $5 billion.

Noble Energy said the field contains at least 22 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. Noble's chief executive, David Stover, said the authorization marks its third major natural gas development offshore of Israel, with total reserves of about 40 trillion cubic feet of gas. For comparison, North Texas' Barnett Shale, where modern hydraulic fracturing was pioneered, has more than 50 trillion cubic feet of gas.

"We can continue to grow our Eastern Mediterranean business for decades," Stover said.

"This includes material additional development beyond phase one at Leviathan."

Noble owns 40 percent of Leviathan with an Israeli conglomerate, the Delek Group, as its largest partner.

Noble is considering selling a portion of its Leviathan stake to help fund future growth, although it first plans to sell a portion of its stake in the nearby Tamar field.

Noble posted a loss of nearly $1 billion last year, an improvement from its $2.4 billion loss in 2015.

Leviathan's initial development will include four subsea wells, each capable of producing more than 300 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

The development plan allows for significant expansion from 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of capacity eventually up to 2.1 billion cubic feet a day.

Noble said it will fund much of its phase one costs with cash generated from Tamar.
Saudi Arabia has said oil giant Saudi Aramco is worth more than $2 trillion, enough to consume Apple twice, and still have room for Google parent Alphabet.

The kingdom may have to settle for less. A lot less.

Industry executives, analysts and investors told Bloomberg their analysis - based on oil reserves and cash flow projections under different tax scenarios - suggests Aramco is worth no more than half, and maybe as little as a fifth, of that amount.

This means Saudi Arabia would earn a fraction of the $100 billion implied by its valuation if it sells 5 percent to the public in 2018, as planned.

For example, Wood Mackenzie came up with a rough valuation of Aramco's core business of $400 billion, according to clients who attended a private meeting at the oil consultant's London office this month and asked not to be named.

The Edinburgh, Scotland-based company, popular for its analysis and valuation of energy companies and assets, declined to comment.

An Aramco spokesperson said the oil producer doesn't comment on rumors or speculation.

While there's a lot of guesswork involved in sizing up a company that's never divulged financial statements and may have its tax rate cut before the initial public offering, this valuation gap reveals the hurdles Saudi Arabia could face in preparing for the post-oil era.

A profitable IPO is meant to anchor a sovereign wealth fund that will, if things unfold as envisioned, generate enough investment income at home and abroad to dominate state revenue by 2030.

Demand for oil will peak just before then, according to Royal Dutch Shell projections, as alternative fuels and electric cars gain popularity, putting Middle East energy producers on shakier footing.

Even within the Saudi government, doubts are emerging.

A person familiar with the flotation, who asked not to be named, said last week Aramco in its current form would probably be worth about $500 billion because a lot of its cash goes toward taxes and future investors won't have a say on investments in noncore areas.

Another person familiar with IPO talks put the figure at a little less than $1 trillion if investors base the valuation on Aramco's ability to generate cash.

Selling a 5 percent stake would therefore raise at least $25 billion, still enough to match Alibaba Group Holding's unparalleled 2014 offering and dole out millions of dollars of fees to the advisers hired to manage the sale, namely JPMorgan Chase, Moelis & Co. and independent consultant Michael Klein.

The $2 trillion estimate was initially put forward by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last March.

While Saudi Arabia is relatively stable in the turbulent Middle East, it's not immune to concern that decisions on oil output will be guided more by geopolitics than what's best for minority shareholders.

The kingdom's oil wealth also enabled it to appease its 32 million people as unrest flared regionally during the so-called Arab Spring that swept the region.

At issue is whether Saudi royals can sustain this calm as the government slashes fuel subsidies and imposes value-added taxes.

In the end, Aramco's market size may struggle to equal two Apples and a Google in rankings of the world's biggest companies.
Indigo Resources and M5 Midstream will expand to three floors in JPMorgan Chase Tower. The deal, announced by the companies' real estate firm, was completed late last year and was one of the largest energy company lease deals of 2016.

The companies, which share common management, will occupy 67,710 square feet under a long-term lease extension and expansion to one additional floor, Savills Studley announced. The space is being renovated for move-in by the end of the first quarter.

"To have a company that is expanding is kind of unusual," said Mark Russell, executive vice president and co-branch manager of Savills Studley. "A lot of (energy) firms tend to be putting sublease space on the market or contracting."

An Indigo Resources executive cited favorable lease terms now available and said the expansion will help the company grow.

"This transaction will expand Indigo and M5's downtown Houston footprint and facilitate recruitment and retention of top talent within both companies," Bill Pritchard, executive chairman of Indigo Resources, said in an announcement.

As a bonus, Pritchard said, not having to move from the tower that has been home base for the past decade "is a major success."

Energy companies made up only 18 percent of leasing activity in 2016, according to CBRE. In recent years, the energy sector had made up just over half of leasing deals.

RELATED: Sublease glut shows signs of improvement

The companies will now occupy floors 55, 56 and 57 of the 75-story tower, Houston's tallest. As part of the deal, the companies' names will be added to monument signs around the building, Russell said.

Some of the space had previously been subleased from Breitburn Energy Partners, which rejected its lease in the tower at 600 Travis when it filed for bankruptcy protection last year, Russell said. Breitburn has since relocated to downtown's Heritage Plaza.

Russell said Indigo and M5 explored other options before signing what they consider "a fair and reasonable deal."

"The preference was to stay put," he said. "We were able to do that."

Indigo Resources is involved in oil and gas exploration and production, primarily in north Louisiana. M5 Midstream handled midstream projects for Indigo and other companies. The companies will have separate offices within the tower.

The Indigo Resources/M5 Midstream space is leased directly from the landlord.

Clark Thompson led the Colvill Office Properties team on the lease for the landlord. The building is managed by Hines.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has recalled that Governor of the NBU Valeriya Gontareva was appointed to the post under the legal rules. The central bank believes steps of MP Serhiy Taruta (independent) are politically motivated.

"The Verkhovna Rada conducts a check before the appointment and appoints the NBU head. Gontareva passed this check, including if she meets the conditions in the lustration law. The NBU executed parliamentary resolution No. 1530-VII dated June 19, 2014 on appointing Gontareva to the post of the NBU head," the press service of the central bank told Interfax-Ukraine.

The NBU believes that filing a claim to Ukraine's higher administrative court by Taruta seeking to annul the parliamentary resolution about the appointment of Gontareva to the post of the NBU head is a new attempt of political pressure and manipulations based on the lack of knowledge about the specifics of appointing the head of the central bank.

As reported, Taruta has appealed to the higher administrative court of Ukraine demanding that it void the resolution of parliament to appoint Gontareva as NBU head. Taruta together with the civil organization National Good of Ukraine, representing the rights of account holders of liquidated banks, say in the claim that Gontareva's appointment in June 2014 was illegal because parliament violated constitutional norms and three Ukrainian laws.
Vanessa Kockegei/MBR

Nordstrom on Thursday added to mounting evidence that it is an exceedingly challenging moment to be in the department store business.

The company reported that comparable sales at its namesake store sank 2.7 percent - a measure that includes sales online and at stores open more than a year. And yet its off-price business, Nordstrom Rack, picked up the slack. As the discount chain saw surging sales in its e-commerce division, it delivered a robust 10.7 percent increase in revenue and a 4.3 percent increase in comparable sales.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Rice University's new Moody Center for the Arts looks a bit like a gray spaceship that has landed on the verdant inner city campus. It's meant to project an experimental spirit, and yet it also complements the rest of the landscape, including the continuing education building across Stockton Street.

Architect Michael Maltzan suggested the two buildings now are like "parenthetical marks" at the entrance to what is essentially a new arts corridor for Houston and the university.

Most of the drama of Maltzan's elegant building happens on the exterior: Distinctive "lantern" structural elements bookmark the corners. The gray brick second story appears to change color with the weather, hovering over a ground floor that's almost all windows. At night, the building will glow from inside.

The completion of the $30 million building, which opens to the public Friday evening, checks off the first of three major building projects that will dramatically elevate the city's arts profile in the next five years. The Menil Drawing Institute is scheduled to open in October; while the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston expects to open its new Glassell School of Art building in early 2018 and its new Nancy and Rich Kinder Building in the fall of 2019.

All the new facilities will be within about a two-mile radius.

More Information Opening events When: 7-10 p.m. Friday, with music by the Tontons; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; then 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; Dusan Tynek Dance Theatre performs 5:30 p.m. Saturday-Monday at "Twilight Epiphany" skyspace Where: Rice University Entrance 8, near University Blvd. at Stockton Info: Free gallery admission; dance performance $20; 713-348-7442, moody.rice.edu See More Collapse

"This city is absolutely having a creative moment, with significant buildings coming left and right," Maltzan said Thursday.

He ran a finger across the metal railing of the central stairwell. "The paint's actually dry," he said, grinning quietly. "Down to the end."

Several dozen reporters, including representatives of national architecture and art magazines, were waiting downstairs for Maltzan and Moody director Alison Weaver to lead a tour.

Neither a typical museum nor classroom facility, the Moody is a radical experiment in cross-pollination between the arts, sciences and humanities, open to all departments but not housing any of them permanently.

Classes there must involve at least two disciplines and have a "making component." Which is why, aside from the equipment in the wood, metal, 3-D fabrication and digital design labs, much of the furniture is on casters, so it can be moved around.

Weaver describes the utilitarian building's function as equal parts "process and presentation."

Several galleries filled

The inaugural exhibitions fill several galleries: Images of flowers sprout, blossom and die continuously against the padded walls and floor of the Japanese design collective teamLab's installation. German photographer Thomas Struth's monumental photographs reflect the messy "sculpture" of human ingenuity in high-tech environments. Metal shelves hold boxes of materials that global refugees will use to create simple lamps for Danish artist Olafur Eliasson's "Green light" project.

Another internationally known artist, Mona Hatoum, arrives in March for a residency. And the acoustically perfect black-box theater will soon hold its first performances.

What will happen next in the rest of the 50,000-square foot building's light-filled rooms, however, is still pretty much anyone's guess.

"It's the kind of place you never quite know what you're going to get, but we promise it will be interesting," Weaver said.

Maltzan said one of his biggest challenges - aside from creating a building with its own personality on a campus beloved for its traditional, rectangular architecture - was balancing interior spaces of many sizes, some with very specific functions, and others completely unfettered. He called the building an "armature for ideas" and compared it to a microcosm of a city.

"It's about as rangy a set of programs in one building I can imagine," he said.

The interior spaces aren't fussy, including concrete floors and basic lighting that's hung inventively, to cool effect.

Weaver said the Moody will host 10 courses in its first semester.

Innovation encouraged

Professor Anthony Brandt, from the Shepherd School of Music, has been using the Moody since January for his new course "Creativity Up Close," which also involves professors from the history, engineering and visual art departments.

Brandt thinks demand for the center will be high, once faculty can wrap their heads around how to use the space. More than 60 students applied for his course; 16 got in, because classes need to stay small enough to be hands-on.

Universities across the U.S. want to encourage innovation, and cross-disciplinary collaboration makes it thrive.

With the Moody, Rice is positioning itself to lead that charge, Brandt said. "And the arts are finally aggregated at Rice like never before." He's happy even just to have a place where music students can work with dance and theater.

Weaver also intends to keep doors open and collaborate with other institutions.

Hatoum will be back in the fall to mount a show at the Menil Collection. Eliasson also has other Houston connections. Independently of Rice, he has been commissioned to create one of the tunnels for the MFAH's expanding campus.

MFAH director Gary Tinterow said he hopes internationally renowned artists visiting Rice and the Menil could also work with programs at the Glassell School of Art.

"We're all consumed with our construction projects, but at same time, we are looking for ways we can foment even more cross-pollination and creativity," he said.
A police officer turned filmmaker from Georgia wants to give the public some idea about the toll an officer-involved shooting takes on the person who pulls the trigger.

About three years ago, Patrick Shaver was working at a large police department in Georgia when a friend of his on the force was involved in a shooting incident. Another friend, who did not have a law enforcement background, wondered why officers resort to violence rather than non-lethal means, such as shooting out a tire.

Shaver searched for a film to answer that question and show his civilian friends what happens when a police officer uses deadly force.

"When I couldn't find one, I put my head together with my wife and said, 'Let's make it,' Shaver said. "And here we are, three years later."

A screening of his documentary, "Officer Involved," will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, at Spindletap Brewery, 10622 Hirsch.

During the time it took to complete, Shaver and his wife criss-crossed the country to conduct more than 70 interviews - both police officers who had used deadly force and experts in mental health and policing.

"We'd arrange our schedules at work so we could do this on our off time," said Shaver, adding his department bars employees from identifying themselves with the agency in unofficial activities.

His film doesn't delve into the particulars of each incident. Instead, Shaver said he wanted to explore the emotions that officers go through - regardless of the circumstances of the shooting.

"It can play on an officer's mind," he said.

Officer Jonathan Hirdes with the New Orleans Police Department is featured in the documentary. He fatally shot a man during a shoplifting incident in 2014 and was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.

He regularly met with counselors in the weeks following the shooting. In the film, Hirdes said it took him five weeks until he finally had a good night's sleep.

"That five weeks, I was on the front page of the paper the entire time. They kept it rolling. They kept talking about it," Hirdes said.

Shaver said some of the officers were conscience-stricken after taking a life - even when justified - while others said they were concerned because that wasn't their reaction.

"Some officers told us, 'I feel guilty because I didn't feel guilty,'" Shaver said. "Part of it is just how the individual officer processes the situation."

Shaver has a Bachelor's Degree in sociology and a graduate degree in conflict management. Even with a background that combines both law enforcement and academia, he had to research the subject.

"I read everything I could get my hands on about officer-involved shootings. I read a lot about (post traumatic stress disorder,)" he said. "I had to learn the language before I could even begin to formulate what we wanted to show with the documentary."

Police officers in a fatal shooting are most often subjects of both criminal and procedural investigations. When they return to duty - if cleared in the shooting - the situation can be tense, even when among other law enforcement officers.

"The coworkers may not know how to speak with him. Some coworkers have welcomed them back saying, 'Hey killer, what's going on?'" Shaver said. "There's going to be a different dynamic."

Shaver said his own background obviously helped gain the trust of the officers interviewed in the film.

"They are very particular when it comes to who they talk to and who they open up to," he said.

Interviews were conducted with officers from police departments of all sizes. "We've spoken with some people who were the first ones to be involved in a shooting in more than a decade," Shaver said.

In the end, Shaver - a completely self-taught filmmaker temporarily on leave from his department - had accumulated hundreds of hours of interviews with police officers. It was eventually edited down to just over 90 minutes.

"It's nothing short of miraculous that this project came together the way it did," Shaver said.

Tickets for Friday's screening are $15 at the door or $12 if purchased through the project's website www.OfficerInvolvedProject.com.
Julio Larraz's artwork may look simple at first, but there is something in it that invites curiosity.

It could be an apparent anachronism or a juxtaposed image, as in the piece "A Man and His Drink," where a distinguished male having a drink is contrasted by an almost indelible reflection of a surreal, long-billed bird in a suit overlooking him from a mirror.

Sometimes, the intriguing elements come from the combination of the visual piece and its title. For instance, a man in a suit next to a tent in a desert could pass just as a bucolic evocation, until the viewer reads the piece's title: "Bingham at Noon." It was the artist's interpretation of Julius Robert Oppenheimer looking at the New Mexico horizon where the world tested the first atomic bomb.

"Nothing is just what you see; nothing in life," Larraz said in a recent intereview. "There's a world behind everything."

Art of the World Gallery is offering a view into Larraz's world with a solo exhibition of his work. The exhibit, which opens Friday, presents a collection of over 30 pieces including paintings and sculptures.

Larraz, a resident of Miami who left Cuba as a teenager in 1961 to come to the U.S. with his parents, is known for his realistic and luminous paintings. He frequently depicts social sceneries of class, status and power with recurrent characters like clerical figures, dictators or powerful women.

More Information Solo exhibition of Julio Larraz When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Monday-Thursday; the Larraz exhibit runs through April 15 Where: Art of the World Gallery at 2201 Westheimer Rd. Houston 77098. Info: 713-526-1201, artoftheworldgallery.com See More Collapse

Larraz said he was always interested in drawing and painting since he was little but never pursued it as a career. "For my family, wanting to be a painter was like saying that I was going to be a florist," he said.

However, working as a caricaturist when he came to the U.S. allowed him to put his artistic abilities to the test for publications such as the Washington Post and Rolling Stone magazine.

He remembers now how, more than four decades ago, his life turned 360 degrees when the first two oil paintings he ever left on commission in a gallery in New York were sold during the time it took him to get back to his home.

In an interview with the Chronicle, he talked about the delight of his art appealing to people, and why he has no plan to exhibit his art in his native country.

Q: You said that there is a world behind everything. How would you describe the world behind your pieces?

A: I don't mean that I have an extravagant philosophy or a particular way of thinking that people should (decipher). Actually, I think when people see my pieces they immediately put them in a particular place in their mind. They recognize something. They know where the pieces belong.

That's why I never tell people what the piece is about because everybody has an entirely different idea of what the work is about. And when that happens, the piece belongs to them because they just finished the painting with their own interpretation.

Q: Your realism is not too detailed or filled with ornamentation. Why?

A: If you look at the paintings of (Diego) Velazquez, who is one of my heroes, he painted with an extraordinary economy. In his case, it was because he loved to sleep (and not to work), but it produced something wonderful! Then another person I admire, Hemingway, he used to say that in writing, what you throw away is almost as important as what your keep. To me, paintings should be succinct, sparing, concise. Something that you see and it's like if you are looking at a flag or the cover of a magazine. The eyes get tired when they see a painting full of things.

Q: Do you think that economy or simplicity of language play a role in your popularity and success in the market?

A: I feel blessed by being able to do something so important and fulfilling to me that, at the same time, provides people with something that they like, and gives pleasure to them. I always say that I am paid three times: when I am painting because I love doing it, when my work is bought, and when somebody comes and tell me that they loved a piece of my work that they saw or bought.

Q: There are some recurrent characters in your pieces. What role do they play in your work?

A: They serve me as pretexts for painting. They are characters that I pull out from a drawer and put them to work. I use them to make stories that come from everywhere. Things that I hear or see, or that I have lived. Stories that people tell me. I think I could have been a storyteller (laughs).

Q: Maybe you are?

A: Maybe. I create narratives.

Q: Are any of the narratives in your work about Cuban exile issues?

A: No. I have kept myself as far as possible from the issues of the Cuban exile because it leads to nothing. In art, I am not interested in becoming a pamphleteer. The characters I use in my works have a universal aspect to them, including dictators, who are detestable wherever they are.

Q: What do you think about the fact that your show will coincide with an extensive exhibition of Cuban artists from the island at the Museum of Fine Art Houston, which opens on March 5?

A: It gives me great pleasure. Before 1959, painters in Cuba were like the totem pole where dogs went to pee. They starved or became alcoholics. But today artists are respected in Cuba. I am moved by the fact that their image has been lifted from the bottom of the society.

I do not plan to go to exhibit in Cuba until things change significantly, but you cannot understand how happy I am to see Cuban artists finally having a brilliant era.
A wave of higher education legislation was moving in Austin this week.

State Sen. Kel Seligers bill that cuts the law requiring universities to set aside a portion of tuition for financial aid passed the higher education committee on Wednesday.

Supporters of cutting the so-called tuition set-asides think the bill would lower tuition bills for Texas families, with universities no longer having to subsidize scholarships with wealthier students tuition dollars. Opponents, however, worry that poor students wouldnt be able to complete college without the extra scholarship money.

A yes means yes legislation proposed by Sen. Kirk Watson law would require affirmative consent before sex on college campuses  hoping that the legislation would allow for tougher prosecution of those accused of sexual assault.

The bill is one of several Watson  a Baylor University alum  proposed connected to college sexual assault. He cited the ongoing sexual assault scandal at Baylor as a reason for the bill. (Of note: this story from the Dallas Morning News asks six Baylor students what its like to be a woman on campus.)

Finally, local professors from Houston Community College, University of Houston and University of Houston-Downtown protested the sanctuary city bill on Wednesday.

Weve been keeping track of reports of racist graffiti and vandalism on Texas campuses. The University of Texas at Austin was the latest school to find hateful posters on campus. Students pushed back on President Greg Fenvess intial response, which like that of other Texas leaders, focused on the institutions free speech policy and not the posters messages. This week Fenves held a town hall forum on campus racism, where for two hours students expressed their disappointment with administrators.

At the University of Houston Systems quarterly board meeting, the University of Houston-Downtown announced a $10 million gift, its biggest ever, to benefit its business school.

Regents tabled plans for a UH education and economics center in the Third Ward. Theyd planned to use a $1.3 million federal grant to construct the center on Leek Street, but Chancellor Renu Khator and Regent Gerald McElvy said the location was not central enough.

The UH system also approved a new program in data statistics and analysis through the University of Houston. Provost Paula Short said graduates from the program could be in high demand to work with the Texas Medical Center and oil and gas industries.

A UH graduate students finding rocked the English literature research world this week: he found previously undiscovered works by Walt Whitman.

On Thursday, there was a scare but fortunately there was no active shooter at the University of Texas at Tyler despite reports. The campus was briefly put on lockdown.

Say hello or send tips to Lindsay.Ellis@chron.com. And, to kick off your weekend, heres a pair of Rice students putting their brains to good use by using their Find My iPhone technology to retrieve their stolen goods from robbers.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

AUSTIN - Fed up with headlines about teachers having sex with students, Texas lawmakers plan to crack down on schools, districts and administrators who protect them.

Legislators' plans include building a $3 million registry of educators who are banned from employment, imposing stiff penalties for school and district leaders who hide teacher misconduct and mandatory training about what constitutes an improper student relationship.

"With these kinds of criminal penalties, I think everybody's going to volunteer themselves to actually get engaged and get these issues reported. We can't just keep covering this stuff up," said Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who is championing one of three bills introduced this session to address teacher misconduct.

Such legislation will "put everyone on notice that this behavior is no longer acceptable in the public school system," he said following a public hearing on two such bills Thursday. "We just can't look the other way anymore, and we're not."

The legislation comes as the number of educators accused of having sex or inappropriate relationships with students has increased by 42 percent over the last five years. Since the 2011-12 fiscal year, the Texas Education Agency has opened 908 cases of improper relationships between an educator and a student or minor. The TEA opened 222 investigations in the 2015-16 fiscal year, up from 156 investigations in 2011-12, according to TEA spokeswoman Lauren Callahan.

Through the end of January, the TEA has opened 97 new cases in the fiscal year that began last Sept. 1.

While not all cases result in a finding of guilt, some teachers with a history of improper relations with students have been found to have resigned from their positions and later hired elsewhere in the state, according to Bettencourt, citing a recent investigation by a Dallas television news program.

The growing number of cases led Gov. Greg Abbott to highlight teacher sex scandals in his State of the State address last month.

"Texas reportedly leads the nation in teacher-student sexual assaults. Some of those teachers are not prosecuted, and worse, some are shuffled off to other schools. We are the ones with the duty to do something about it," he said, adding he wants to see legislation impose "real consequences for those teachers" and "penalize administrators who turn a blind eye to such abuse."

It already is against the law for teachers to have sex or inappropriate relationships with students.

Subpoena power

Lawmakers' main approach this session is to crack down on schools and districts in a bid to reverse this trend.

In Senate Bill 7, Bettencourt wants principals and superintendents to report revelations about improper conduct within seven days after learning, or after they "should have known," about an incident or a history of improper behavior. Officials would face a Class A felony for filing such notice late, or face a state jail felony; a principal or superintendent who is found to have tried to conceal misconduct could face up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.

That proposal drew concern from Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who worried superintendents who accidentally file late could face harsh penalties.

Bettencourt also wants to give the state's education commissioner power to subpoena relevant witnesses, retrieve internal investigation documents for disciplinary proceedings from the district and launch a special accreditation investigation if a school system fails to produce requested evidence on an educator.

In a lengthy 43-page bill, Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano, is proposing many of the same changes in Senate Bill 653, but also wants the state to develop a registry of persons barred from employment. He said the state needs to track people with a history of inappropriate student relationships, regardless of whether they have an educators license or are non-certified staff.

The registry, which state officials estimated would cost $3 million, could be a tough sell this session as lawmakers are poised to cut spending among various agencies to make up for lower-than-expected tax growth, due in part to a lull in the oil industry.

"You can't just solve one piece and say we're done," Taylor said. He also wants to give the education department's investigative arm the authority to suspend teachers it believes could be dangerous and revoke pensions for educators convicted of having an improper relationship with a student.

Training needed

Several state organizations representing teachers say they support two bills heard in the Senate Education Committee Thursday, and say they look forward to requiring robust training on how to navigate student contact amid today's social media culture.

"Knowing that this makes up a very small portion of all teachers, one is certainly too many," said Kate Kuhlmann, a lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators. She said ATPE often talks to teacher-hopefuls in training programs and said many have had little instruction in how to maintain proper student relationships.

State District Judge Michael McSpadden echoed that concern in a letter to the Houston Independent School District this week. McSpadden, who sentenced teacher Alexandria Vera to 10 years in prison for her relationship with a 13-year-old student this year, sent a four-page transcript of suggestions from an expert on student-teacher relations to Superintendent Richard Carranza this week, calling for training teachers about setting boundaries with their students.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Towering pines, 100-year-old bald cypress trees and ancient magnolias mix with flowering plants and shrubs at Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center.

The 312-acre wilderness park, homesteaded in the early 1800s, stretches along the banks of Spring Creek in northeastern Harris County and protects a remnant of dense bottomland forest.

Hats off to Harris County Commissioners who have conserved this woodland park.

Now that spring is in the air, celebrate at Jones Park's annual "NatureFest" on March 4.

The festival offers a chance to wrap ourselves in natural heritage while witnessing spring's renewal of life. Eight miles of Americans with Disabilities Act accessible trails crisscross the dense forest, along with wide boardwalks over serene cypress swamps.

"NartureFest allows people to learn about our programs and the benefits of the park as a nature preserve, as a place for recreation and as a flood buffer," said horticulture coordinator Matthew Abernathy.

Jones Park includes a nature center, a re-creation of an early 1800 Redbud Hill homestead, a re-creation of an Akokisa-Ishak Indian village and a children's playground with fort-styled structures.

More Information NatureFest Where: Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center, 20634 Kenswick, Humble When: 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. March 4 Activities: Guided bird and nature walks, bird identification program, outdoor nature workshops, pontoon-boat rides on Spring Creek, educational booths, live-animal exhibits, fishing booth, nature crafts and exhibits from local conservation groups Fees: free and open to all ages See More Collapse

More than 160 birds occupy the park throughout the year, including resident songbirds like pine warblers and tufted titmice, plus all four of the Harris County's woodpeckers: downy, red-headed, red-bellied and pileated.

Northern songbirds spending the winter in the park and remaining through early spring include yellow-bellied sapsuckers, hermit thrushes, orange-crowned warblers, American goldfinches, and chipping sparrows.

Along the white sandy beaches of Spring Creek are great blue herons, great egrets and snowy egrets strutting the shallows or standing on the banks, ready to plunge their spearlike beaks into the water to snatch fish.

Meanwhile, a belted kingfisher suddenly takes off from the limb of a willow tree overhanging the creek and bolts downstream to seize a fish. The bird has an amazing ability to excavate a 3-6-foot long horizontal tunnel in the creek bank with a nest secluded at the end.

An osprey flies over the creek on crooked-back wings and spies a fish to grab in talons shaped like fish hooks, barbed on the bottom to hold fast to a slippery fish.

If you're lucky, a bald eagle may soar overhead looking for fish.

NatureFest is the best bet to see a variety of birds as well as butterflies and other critters during spring's burst of life.
Javier Flores died a hero, his friends and family said Thursday.

The 18-year-old Subway worker was killed Wednesday night in a burst of gunfire after he leapt in front of his mother when a pair of armed robbers targeted the southeast Houston store where the Chavez High School student and his mom both worked.

"He didn't deserve that, neither did his family," said 17-year-old Eduardo Guevara. "He was good people."

Just before 9 p.m., two gun-toting men burst in the sandwich shop on Broadway near Gulf Freeway.

Flores and his mother were the only employees in the store at that time, prepping for closing just an hour later.

THE CRIME: HPD releases video, composite photo in suspected robbery spree that left teen dead

The teen's mother was toward the front cleaning up when one of the assailants pointed a gun at her face.

Flores, who was behind the counter, tried to intervene and save his mother.

"When he confronted the guy with the gun, he was shot," Detective D. Crowder of the Houston Police Department said Wednesday.

The teen was rushed to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he later died.

Cash from the robbery was still out on the counter when police arrived.

Afterward, friends took to social media to mourn, and family launched a GoFundMe to cover funeral costs. The campaign raised more than $14,000 in just over 12 hours.

"All Javier ever wanted to do was to protect his mom and keep her safe," Francisco Campos wrote on the fundraising site. "In his last moments he did just that."

Silviano Rodriguez, 17, remembered his longtime friend as someone with a good sense of humor, who valued family and enjoyed playing video games.

"He was trying to help out his family financially," he said. "He loves his family so much."

The two boys became friends in sixth grade after they met at a party and hit it off.

Houston Police Department

"He was funny. He made jokes out of everything," Rodriguez said. "When I would be around him he would make everyone laugh."

But he took time for his family and took the sandwich shop job with his mom to help out at home.

Flores, a high school junior, lived in the neighborhood with his parents and 16-year-old brother.

Neighbors described him as a "really good kid, quiet" and said they sometimes saw him playing basketball outside.

When he wasn't working or at school, he'd hang out at home and watch movies with his family and friends, Rodriguez said.

He didn't shy away from family time like many teens.

"I would see him as a hero because he loved his mother," Rodriguez said. "He didn't want his mother to get hurt."

Flores' mother was not wounded in the shooting, and afterward the two robbers fled the scene in a tan or gold sedan.

They were last seen heading southbound on Gulf Freeway.

The day after the crime, police released a sketch of the man they believe was the shooter. He is described as 5-foot-10 with a slim build.

Both suspects are believed to be between 16 and 20 years old, and police later released footage of what they believe is the same pair robbing a Subway on San Jacinto just half an hour later.

With the help of a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers has announced a $30,000 reward for information leading to the killer's arrest.

The morning after the botched robbery, bloody footprints still lined the floor and blood could be seen on the restaurant door.

Sobbing women came and went, and a makeshift memorial of teddy bears and flowers sprouted up outside.

Alex Meyer contributed to this report.
Italy allocates EUR one mln humanitarian aid for victims of Donbas conflict

KYIV. Feb 24 (Interfax-Ukraine)  The government of Italy has provided EUR one million to support the people affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Italian ambassador to Ukraine Davide La Cecilia has said.

"The Italian government and the Cooperation Agency allocated EUR one million which will be provided to help the people affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Some EUR 700,000 from this sum will be transferred to the World Food Programme [UN World Food Programme, WFP] and EUR 300,000 - to the UNICEF, namely, for mine clearance and training programs for preschool and school-age children," the Italian ambassador said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Kimberly Shappley accepted that her son needed to be her daughter two years ago after she overheard the child praying and asking God to let him die and live as a girl with Jesus. She spoke to youth psychologists and other experts who convinced her that it was wrong to punish her son for proudly proclaiming that he was a girl.

But Shappley worries what could happen to her daughter, now a 6-year-old named Kai, after the Trump administration Wednesday reversed a directive issued under President Obama that told schools and districts that transgender students should be able to use the restroom of their gender identity, regardless of what gender they were born.

"Leaving transgender rights up to the discretion of states will lead to families like mine having to relocate," Shappley said. "Transgender youth are merely the latest minority under attack."

Under the Obama-era directive, schools and districts that failed to comply with the guidelines could have been subject to an Office of Civil Rights investigation.

The majority of Houston-area school districts said they did not change their policies or practices after the Obama administration in May 2016 issued its directive on transgender students. Spokespeople for 14 local districts - including Alief, Channelview, Clear Creek, Cypress-Fairbanks, Galena Park, Friendswood, Goose Creek, Huffman, Katy, Pasadena, Sheldon, Spring and Spring Branch ISDs, as well as Stafford MSD- said their schools handle transgender student restroom requests on a pupil-by-pupil case basis and have no plans to change that practice under the new federal guidelines.

In those districts, school administrators who receive such requests often take into account the student's history, privacy concerns, the location of facilities and other factors when determining which restroom a transgender student should be able to use.

Districts taking action

Maria Corrales DiPetta, a spokeswoman for Katy ISD, said her district will not make changes until the end of the current Texas legislative session.

That's because state lawmakers are debating SB 6, which would require students at public schools and universities and those in government buildings to use the bathroom of the gender reflected on their birth certificates. The bill has been lauded by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other conservatives as a common-sense approach to keep men from taking advantage of transgender protections to assault women and children in public restrooms.

If the bill passes, it would likely nullify any local policies for transgender students.

"We haven't jumped on making any formal, long-standing changes for district until this legislative session ends," Corrales DiPetta said.

Some districts, such as Houston and Pasadena ISDs, have non-discrimination policies that specifically protect students regardless of gender expression or gender identity.

At a press coference Thursday morning at the Montrose Counseling Center, Anna Eastman, a HISD Board of Education trustee, said its anti-discrimination policy updated to include gender identity in 2011 to ensure students, their families and employees in the district have a safe space in which to work and in which to learn. She said it's not a local issue but a human one.

"I know through evidence, knowing kids in our schools that are in safe learning environment who are going through something that is often difficult for them personally and for their families," Eastman said.

On Thursday evening at the counseling center, more than 100 people gathered in the parking lot to express their displeasure with the new administration's directive and to show support for transgender students.

Carlos Rodriguez Jr., a 25-year-old administrative clerk at Chavez High School within HISD, said he came to support his LGBTQ community and to show transgender students that they're loved. He said he was bullied in middle school, when students would make their wrists go limp and speak with lisps to imitate him. More recently, a student at Chavez spit on him.

"As much as people don't think there is harassment or bullying is happening, it is," Rodriguez said.

Phyllis Frye, the nation's first openly transgender judge, said those fears that a young prankster could go into the girls' room by wearing his mother's wig and dress are overblown. If the young troublemaker were to expose himself to the girls in the restroom or try to video-tape them, Frye said he would be breaking the law.

"Guess what, in Texas those students can be arrested for that just like adults," Frye said. But some other districts and school leaders have been vocally opposed to allowing transgender students to choose which restrooms to use.

After the Obama administrations directive on transgender students was released in 2016, Pearland ISD Superintendent John Kelly said his district requires students to use the restroom of the gender indicated on their birth certificate or use a private bathroom, such as one in the nurse's office.

Kai, Shappley's transgender daughter, uses her kindergarten class's private, single-stall bathroom during class and the nurse's restroom when she's at lunch or at the playground. Shappley said the school gave Kai the choice to use the nurse's restroom or the boy's room, so Kai reluctantly chose the nurse's bathroom.

Kelly called the 2016 directive unconstitutional interference and social engineering by the federal government.

"When the Supreme Court redefined marriage and invented new constitutional rights, the door was opened for redefining all social norms, now including Executive Branch dictates about bathroom and locker room rules in local schools," Kelly said at the time. "It is astonishing to watch the flip flop by leaders who 10 years ago strongly endorsed traditional marriage. A hostile vocal minority now rules in America aided by an apathetic, unengaged majority. What's next? Legalizing pedophilia and polygamy? "

'It's not her fault'

Kelly and Pearland ISD spokeswoman Kim Hocott did not return multiple calls and messages left by a Chronicle reporter Wednesday and Thursday.

But Shappley said her daughter has already suffered from having to use the nurse's restroom. On multiple occasions, the nurse was out of her office and the door was locked when Kai came to use the facility. In those instances, Kai wet herself.

"That doesn't seem like a big deal because kindergartners do have accidents," Shappley said. "But when you're conditioning this child to realize the adults in her life are not going to consistently be there for her, they're failing her, that she did her part, she went there and the door was locked, and she peed on the floor."

Shappley said she's especially worried about next year because first grade students do not have private restrooms attached to their classrooms. Kai will have another choice: Use the nurse's restroom every time she has to relieve herself or use the men's restroom. If she chooses the nurse's restroom and continues to have accidents, Shappley said she'll have to continue to have difficult conversations with Kai.

"I have to explain to her that it's not her fault," Shappley said. "I have to apologize that she was failed, and I have to remind her of who she is and that the Lord designed her and that she's beautiful."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Rose and Jose Escobar arrived early at the Houston immigration office for their annual appointment, bringing their toddler, Carmen.

They chatted about their plans for the weekend, probably a Chuck E. Cheese kind of night with the kids and a movie. Usually updating immigration agents about Jose's work status and address, as they have been required to do since 2012, goes quickly. Wednesday, the wait dragged on. They stepped out for lunch. The packed lobby emptied out.

Finally, around 5 p.m., immigration agents informed Jose they were revoking his temporary protection from deportation and returning him to El Salvador, a country he left 16 years ago, and hasn't seen since.

"We're just doing what President Trump wants us to do with the new rules," one of the agents told Rose, who is 30 and a receptionist at Texas Children's Hospital.

Under executive orders signed last month by President Donald Trump and implementation guidelines released this week, experts say that every immigrant here illegally is now a priority for deportation, no matter how long they have lived here or if they, like Jose, have committed no crimes beyond violating immigration laws.

RELATED: Trump administration releases 'mass deportation blueprint'

Rose was stunned. It seemed like a flashback to the seven darkest months of her life when immigration agents arrested her husband, who was in the country illegally, in 2011 after he missed a court appointment. Rose, an American citizen, went into overdrive then, rallying media and congressional attention, and immigration officials eventually agreed to release Jose, granting a provisional stay of deportation in a process known broadly as prosecutorial discretion.

It was part of a wave of reprieves announced that year by the administration of former President Barack Obama, who said he wanted to focus the government's limited resources on deporting violent criminals, rather than people with clean records who have been here for years and have American children.

But now such priorities have been rescinded. It's swept fear across the country that's been heightened by widespread raids and incidents like the arrest of a domestic violence victim who was detained as she sought a protective order in an El Paso courtroom because she had previously been deported and convicted of several minor crimes.

'Gives no right to anyone'

Lawyers and advocates across the nation say they are now struggling with how to advise their clients on whether they should attend scheduled appointments with immigration agents, or even show up to court.

"You have people who have no criminal history who have been complying with (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) check-ins and then once they go, they are getting scooped up," said Alyson Sincavage, a legislative associate at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

THE MILLION: Immigrants from around the world are transforming Houston

Trump's new guidelines don't dismantle the protections of young immigrants known as "dreamers" who qualified for temporary work permits under a program Obama began in 2012, but some legal experts say arrests like Escobar's call into question how long this population will stay safe.

That's because their temporary reprieves are also a form of prosecutorial discretion known as deferred action, a policy allowing the government to delay deportation if there's a compelling reason for the person to stay. Factors it weighs include whether the immigrant is very young or old, how long they have been here, if deporting them would harm their relatives in the U.S., and what contributions they have made to society. Though it comes with a work permit, the protection is simply temporary.

"This gives no right to anyone. They can revoke it at any time," said David Leopold, an Ohio attorney who is past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "Anyone who is granted prosecutorial discretion is now exposed to having that kind of discretion changed. This is targeting everybody."

The Escobars had just begun adjusting to a life without fear.

After Jose was released in 2012, he repaired the mini-blinds in the front window of their Pearland home. They were jagged and bent from his toddler, Walter, who tugged desperately on them waiting for his father to come home.

It took years before Rose relented and allowed them to buy new things. It was only in 2014 that she agreed to purchase an SUV to accommodate their growing family after Carmen was born.

"All that time I was so scared that something would happen to Jose and I wouldn't be able to make a payment," she said.

'He's not a criminal'

The two met in 2001 in a Houston middle school where it was enchantment from the beginning. Jose, who had just arrived from El Salvador, couldn't stop staring at Rose, a dark-haired beauty with a gentle smile.

"If you take a photo that will last you longer," she teased.

Soon they were inseparable, marrying the year after she graduated from high school.

"He's the only guy I've ever dated and the only one that can make me laugh as much," she said.

Then Jose realized his predicament. His mother had sent for him when he was 15 and he qualified for temporary protected status for people fleeing widespread disasters in certain countries. She assumed his permit would automatically renew when she reapplied for hers. But it didn't. Because they had moved, they didn't receive the paperwork informing him that he had missed the deadline.

When he finally figured out what had happened, he tried to reapply for the permit but it was too late. The government had already initiated deportation proceedings. Rose said their lawyer told him not to show up at the court hearing or he would be deported. In his absence, the judge ordered him removed in 2006.

READ MORE: Trump guidelines expand deportations of immigrants here illegally

But with no one trying hard to find him, the Escobars lived a normal life, moving to New Orleans where Jose worked on construction projects after Hurricane Katrina and then back to Houston to help care for an ill relative. Walter was born. They had good jobs. They were happy. Then came the morning of June 6, 2011, when immigration agents stopped Jose as he pulled out of his driveway to go to work. "I went into panic mode," Rose said.

She consulted with lawyers, created a petition on Change.org, and recruited the help of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat.

"We're doing this the right way," she kept telling her husband. "You didn't do anything wrong other than mess up your paperwork."

He was released in January 2012 and was required to check in with immigration agents once a year. Life settled back into a routine.

"We weren't living in fear anymore. We were actually happy," Rose said. "That's what you dream of, right? You go to work, you pay your bills, you have a family."

Then, on Wednesday, the immigration agent told her to say her goodbyes.

"But we haven't done anything wrong," she said. "He's not a criminal. I thought you were focusing on criminals."

'Is daddy coming home?

In a statement, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said Escobar was released on prosecutorial discretion more than five years ago "so he could get his affairs in order prior to his removal to El Salvador." The agency said he is being processed for deportation.

Rucks Russell, a spokesman for Jackson Lee, said her office is working with the agency to "come to some sort of resolution."

Leopold, the attorney, said the agency could easily reinstate Escobar's status if it wanted to.

"They don't have to deport him. This guy has no criminal history," he said. "If they're really going to prioritize public safety risks, there's no excuse holding him."

Rose hasn't yet told Walter about his dad.

"Is daddy coming home?" he asked her Wednesday night.

Of course, she tried to reassure.

"He just went somewhere boring," she said. "But I promise you he's coming back."
A gunman shot and killed a teenager Thursday evening as he was walking along the breezeway of an apartment building in southwest Houston, police say.

The victim, who is between the ages of 17 and 18 years old, was walking near the apartment's laundry room at 6111 Glenmont with some friends. That's when the gunman approached the victim around 6:50 p.m. and shot him.
AUSTIN - Texas again can enforce part of a sweeping 2015 state law that enhanced criminal liability for harboring immigrants in this country illegally and shielding them from police, after a federal appellate court Thursday overturned a preliminary injunction on the matter.

A three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the injunction and dismissed the case brought by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund on the behalf of two landlords who do not inquire about prospective tenants' immigration status and the executive director of a San Antonio-based nonprofit that offers shelter and legal aid to refugees and immigrants.

At issue was a provision in House Bill 11, approved by state lawmakers in the 2015 legislative session, that specifically outlaws "(encouraging or inducing) a person to enter or remain in this country in violation of federal law by concealing, harboring, or shielding that person from detection."

MALDEF attorneys said the immigrant-harboring provision could make the plaintiffs potential targets for prosecution in violation of their constitutional rights. They asked U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra to block the measure, which he did last April on the grounds that the Texas statute overrode the federal government's power to write and enforce immigration laws.

HB 11 for traffickers

The appellate court rejected Ezra's decision Thursday and ruled that, in its reading of the law, the plaintiffs did not show "some level of covertness" that goes beyond housing immigrants in the country illegally.

"In sum, plaintiffs cannot demonstrate a credible threat of prosecution," Judge Jerry Smith wrote for the court, adding that "there is no reasonable interpretation by which merely renting housing or providing social services to an illegal alien constitutes 'harboring  that person from detection.'"

Nina Perales, MALDEF's vice president of litigation, said the ruling, while a defeat, offered long-awaited clarity on how Texas law enforcement officials would enforce the harboring provision.

"It took the 5th Circuit to do Ken Paxton's job for him," she said. "Today the 5th Circuit stated firmly that ordinary landlords and humanitarian workers cannot be prosecuted under HB11. Our clients are happy to know they are safe from prosecution simply for living out their religious beliefs or conducting business with undocumented individuals."

Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said the law was meant to provide police and prosecutors with stiffer criminal penalties for those involved in human trafficking and smuggling.

"Today's ruling by the 5th Circuit will allow the state to fight the smuggling of humans and illegal contraband by transnational gangs and perpetrators of organized crime, not just on the border, but throughout Texas," Paxton said in a statement.

Unequivocal answer

At the preliminary hearinglast April, Ezra asked the attorney general for "an unequivocal answer" as to whether the men's conduct would be prosecutable offenses under HB 11. Paxton's office responded with a letter from Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, who said his deputies "would not investigate, file criminal charges, or otherwise engage in enforcement activity pursuant to the present version (of the law) against individuals engaged in such conduct."

That did not satisfy Ezra, who wanted a binding interpretation of the law that applied not only DPS officers but also to local law enforcement and county prosecutors. However, the 5th Circuit judges said McCraw's statement "carries some weight" since DPS has a major enforcement role in HB 11.
AUSTIN - A day after the Trump administration rescinded a federal policy on transgender access to restrooms in schools, supporters and opponents of the so-called Texas "bathroom bill" predicted the move would help their side win.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has championed the passage of Senate Bill 6, which he has dubbed the "Texas Privacy Act," said Trump's withdrawal of the U.S. Department of Education "letter of guidance" leaves the issue up to states to decide, a move that makes it more important to pass the bill that has provoked repeated protests and thousands of constituent emails, letters and telephone calls to state leaders.

The bill, Patrick said Thursday, "ensures that public schools continue to designate separate restrooms, locker rooms and showers for boys and girls, as well as allowing schools to continue to determine how they will accommodate students with individual needs, as they have always done.

"SB 6 also protects private businesses from being forced by a local government to adopt any kind of restroom, locker room or shower policy and requires government buildings to continue to designate separate restrooms, locker rooms and showers for men and women," he said, insisting the proposed law "does not discriminate against anyone."

Opponents said the Trump administration's move bolsters their arguments, noting that it was the issuance of the letter of guidance by the Obama administration last May that prompted Patrick to push the measure. The Obama policy directed school districts to allow transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to the gender with which they identify.

"There is no longer any rationale for SB 6, Texas' bathroom bill," said Legacy Community Health CEO Katy Caldwell, echoing other opponents who warned that withdrawal of the federal policy, "now an official government position of discrimination, won't help the extreme bullying these (transgender) kids face."

At the Texas Capitol, lawmakers' reaction to the Trump move was muted. Senators said that while the bill has 15 solid votes in favor, all Republicans, five other GOP senators remain publicly uncommitted. That leaves the bill four votes short of being able to come up for a vote by the full Senate.

Senate rules require at least 19 votes to bring a bill to the floor for debate and a vote by the full chamber.

Head count for bill

Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo, one of the Republicans who is publicly uncommitted on the bill, declined to say how he would vote on the measure, and said no one has asked him for a commitment. The other four could not be reached.

"I've been watching the development of the debate and I've been completely noncommittal so far," Seliger said. "It's not my bill, so.  "

Other senators said they expect Patrick will get the votes needed to get the measure passed out of the upper chamber. Patrick, as the Senate's presiding officer, has clout over which bills come up for consideration and passage by the Senate and which bills die in committee.

State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, the sponsor of SB 6, could not be reached for comment.

In the Texas House, several GOP members said Thursday the withdrawal of the federal policy likely will make it harder for Republican supporters there to justify its passage, through they expect conservative Republicans will try if it passes the Senate.

They asked not to be quoted by name, fearful of becoming targeted by supporters and opponents of the controversial measure.

Gov. Greg Abbott remained mum on where he stands. Two months ago, he said he would leave the issue for the Senate and House to decide before he announced his position. At the time, he questioned whether existing state laws were sufficient to cover crimes in restrooms that the new legislation is supposed to cure.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, has said only that it is not one of his priorities for the legislative session.

In an interview with a San Antonio radio station, Patrick several days ago said that all state officials except Straus supported the bill. Abbott's office did not respond to a question about whether he has changed his mind, and he has made no public statement of support on the bill.

No public hearing set

Kolkorst's bill has not been set for a public hearing in the Senate, though supporters said Patrick has pledged that it will get one soon and move quickly for approval by the entire chamber.

Thursday afternoon, several dozen protesters gathered outside the Capitol to oppose the bill, chanting "trans rights for civil rights" and other slogans.

More than 750 people have indicated they plan to attend a protest dance party to be held outside the governor's mansion Thursday night, according to a Facebook page for the event.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON - After a standing ovation Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz talked in triumphal tones about his recent visit to McAllen, on the Texas border with Mexico.

"Since Inauguration Day," the Texas Republican told the sympathetic audience, "illegal crossings have dropped 50 percent." His source: Unnamed Border Protection agents in the Rio Grande Valley.

Though large drops are not unusual in winter, Cruz's number could not be officially confirmed by the White House or the Department of Homeland Security. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official, who asked that his name not be used because the latest figures still are being tallied, said arrests are "markedly" down in the Rio Grande sector, but not to the extent suggested by Cruz.

"This is the time of year when they typically go down some, but this is a steeper decline than in recent history," he said.

Spencer kicked out One of America's 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." (In 2015 and 2016, Spencer's term "alt-right" became associated with a loose-knit movement of white nationalists, misogynists and anti-Semites who often harassed prominent liberals online. For the most part, the term is now embraced mostly by white nationalists.) After leaving the speech, Spencer was quickly surrounded by a crowd of journalists who quizzed him on his views as curious passers-by craned their necks to see who was causing such a scene. "The fact is, people want to talk to me, not these boring conservatives," Spencer said. "CPAC can't hold a speech denouncing the alt-right and expect me not to come." A security guard asked Spencer to leave, and Spencer left. Los Angeles Times White nationalist kicked out One of America's 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." (In 2015 and 2016, Spencer's term "alt-right" became associated with a loose-knit movement of white nationalists, misogynists and anti-Semites who often harassed prominent liberals online. For the most part, the term is now embraced mostly by white nationalists.) After leaving the speech, Spencer was surrounded by a crowd of journalists who quizzed him on his views as curious passers-by craned their necks to see who was causing such a scene. "The fact is, people want to talk to me, not these boring conservatives," Spencer said. "CPAC can't hold a speech denouncing the alt-right and expect me not to come." A security guard asked Spencer to leave, and Spencer left. Los Angeles Times See More Collapse

Cruz, making his first appearance before a national conservative audience since the Republican National Convention in July, said agents could not give him a reason why, but that they suspected it may have something to do with President Donald Trump, who has ordered expanded deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

"They assumed it was because, with the new administration, they understood we have an administration that will finally, finally, finally enforce the law," Cruz said.

He chided the media for not reporting the drop, saying viewers did not see it "on the 6 o'clock news." His office, however, cited as backing for his claim a recent CNN report on preliminary Customs and Border Protection numbers showing that total apprehensions along the southern border in January decreased by 27 percent, "in line with yearly seasonal trends."

Cruz was just one speaker in a powerhouse lineup that included White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, whose remarks drew the most attention when he said that atop the Trump administration agenda was the "deconstruction of the administrative state" - meaning a system of taxes, regulations and trade pacts that the president and his advisers believe stymie economic growth and infringe upon one's sovereignty.

"If you look at these Cabinet nominees, they were selected for a reason, and that is deconstruction," Bannon said. He called Trump's announcement withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership "one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history."

Priebus and Bannon also sought to discredit speculation in the media that the two frequently were at odds and their relationship filled with tension.

"Not only is it not going to get better, it's going to get worse every day," Bannon said of the media's treatment of Trump. "They're corporatist, globalist media. They're adamantly opposed to the economic nationalist agenda President Trump has."

The crowd cheered Bannon's assessment.

Vice President Mike Pence was slated to speak Thursday night. Trump is expected to address the event Friday.

For Cruz, his 23-minute appearance with nationally-syndicated radio talk show host Mark Levin was a homecoming of sorts, re-establishing him firmly in the constellation of leading national conservatives after the bitter divisions of his losing primary race against Trump.

Returning from the political wilderness, he proved he still could be controversial, pugnacious and armed with a quiver full of new arrows for his opponents.

Levin, in an interview after their joint appearance, billed as a "conversation about the Constitution," said Cruz has earned his position.

"We don't have roles in the conservative movement," he said. "You're a conservative if you're principled and you attract people to your arguments and your positions ... It's not something you run for and become."

For long-time Cruz partisans at the convention, the largest and most influential conservative gathering in the nation, it was a chance to display unity and commitment to a conservative agenda now being led by Trump, Cruz's erstwhile foe.

"I'm happy where we are now," said Houston businesswoman and tea party activist Deborah Kelting. "We've got cohesion, and we've got a great team."

Cruz lived up to the moment Thursday by praising Trump and his conservative cabinet, and taking shots at prominent Democrats, like former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. He also praised Trump's Supreme Court pick, Judge Neil Gorsuch, and predicted better days ahead for conservatives on the nation's high court.

"I think we'll have another Supreme Court vacancy this summer," he said, without specifying which of the current eight justices would have to make way, or by what means.

He predicted a tougher confirmation fight for the next vacancy Trump might fill.

"As much as the left is crazy now, they will go full Armageddon meltdown," he predicted.

Cruz, who faces reelection in 2018, also touted his proposal for congressional term limits, calling it "one of the first and biggest steps we can take to actually drain the swamp."

He rebuked Democrats for resisting Trump's moves to crack down on illegal immigration, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and ease environmental regulations, saying "they're now opposing everything," even minor procedural measures in the Senate.

Cruz's complaints echoed those of Senate Democrats when they were in the majority.

Invited by Levin to comment on Democratic chatter about impeaching Trump, Cruz responded that "Democrats right now are living in an alternative universe ... They're in denial and they're angry."

The Tribune News Service and Washington Post contributed to this story.
The National Bank of Ukraine has accepted a proposal of the Individuals Deposit Guarantee Fund to annul the banking license of Platinum Bank (Kyiv) and liquidate it.

According to a report of the central bank, decision No. 95-rsh was made on February 23.

As reported, the NBU decided to declare Platinum Bank insolvent due to the fact that as of January 1, 2017 the bank had not reached the positive value of capital.

As of January 10, 2017, the holders of large stakes in the banks were Borys Kaufman and Israeli citizen Gregory Gurtovoy.

The NBU said that 97% (197,000 people) of all the depositors of the Platinum Bank will get back their deposits in full, because their volume doesn't exceed UAH 200,000  the maximum amount of individual deposits guaranteed by the Individual Deposit Guarantee Fund. All in all, the fund will ensure payments of guaranteed amount of deposits to the tune of UAH 4.8 billion.
Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.
median monthly salary of fresh graduates from Singapores three oldest universities in 2016 rose to a new high of $3,360 from the previous years $3,300, a joint graduate employment survey revealed.The poll included 10,904 fresh graduates of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the National University of Singapore (NUS), and Singapore Management University (SMU).Nearly 9 in 10 graduates (89.75%) were able to find employment within six months of finishing their final examinations, similar to previous years,reported.Fewer fresh graduates (80.2%) secured permanent full-time jobs in 2016 compared to 2015 (83.1%). Contracting appears to have risen in popularity as a talent solution, according a survey by employment consultancy firm Michael Page . In Hong Kong and Singapore, more than half (60%) of companies surveyed currently use contractors, primarily to overcome challenges in permanent headcount approvals, the firm said.Currently, most contractors are in operations, technology, financial services (reflecting the tightening sector) and business support/administration positions, it added.SMU graduates fared best in the job hunt, as 93.8% of them were employed within six months of their final examinations. The figure was nearly 90% for NTU and NUSreported. The mean gross monthly salary among fresh graduates who have permanent full-time jobs was higher at $3,515, up from $3,468 in 2015, the report added.SMU graduates took home an average gross monthly salary of $3,722. Their peers from NUS and NTU received $3,541 and $3,424 respectively.Slightly more than a third (36%) of companies in Singapore are planning to increase headcount in 2017, the Michael Page survey said. Of the companies planning to increase headcount, 6 in 10 are looking to hire at middle-management level.
PM wants to retain Turboatom under state control, some shares could be sold

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman opposes the full privatization of public joint-stock company Turboatom (Kharkiv). He said that some shares from the state-owned 75.224% stake could be sold.

"There are important enterprises as, for example, Turboatom where we manufacture unique products. I think that it is inadmissible to completely sell these enterprises," he said at a briefing after the meeting devoted to aircraft building at public joint-stock company FED (Kharkiv) on Thursday.

"If we can attract global manufacturers of the same products during the public sale of some shares leaving the state control this is absolutely normal, I think," he said.

He said that in partnership with global leaders in the sector Turboatom would have a chance to enter the global market.

He said that Ukraine has 3,500 state-run enterprises and the state is a bad manager.

Head of the State Property Fund Ihor Bilous said in an interview with Business weekly earlier this week that an option to enlarge Turboatom via the transfer of the generator production complex of Electrotyazhmash plant (Kharkiv) is being considered. A new enterprise that would compete with global leaders as Alstom and Simens could be created.

"If Turboatom is sold as it is now, Alstom and Siemens would pay $500 million for it without batting [an eyelid] and actually stop the plant," Bilous said.

He said that first the plant should be expanded and its capitalization should be increased. Then 25% of its shares could be placed on an exchange, for example, the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).

"Finally the state could leave a blocking stake and the rest of the shares will be diluted among various holders," he said.

Turboatom is the sole producer of turbine equipment in Ukraine for hydro, heat and nuclear electricity stations. Turboatom specializes in manufacturing turbines for thermal and nuclear power plants, hydraulic turbines for hydroelectric power plants and pumped storage power plants, gas turbines for thermal power plants, steam and gas equipment, and other power equipment.
The Central/South America region reported a 5.2% occupancy decrease to 52.3%, a 6.9% ADR decline to $101.25 and an 11.8% RevPAR drop to $52.97 in January 2017.

Hotels in the Central/South America region reported negative performance results in January 2017, according to data from STR.

U.S. dollar constant currency, year-over-year comparisons:

Central/South America region

Occupancy: -5.2% to 52.3%

Average daily rate (ADR): -6.9% to US$101.25

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -11.8% to US$52.97

Local currency, year-over-year comparisons:

Chile

Occupancy: +10.3% to 72.9%

ADR: -6.4% to CLP81,846.24

RevPAR: +3.2% to CLP59,626.46

The month resulted in Chiles highest year-over-year occupancy increase since July 2015. Growth was driven primarily by Santiago, and in particular, the business district of Providenciawhere RevPAR increased 33.8%. According to Turismo Chile, international tourism arrivals to Chile increased 26% in 2016 and are projected to rise another 14% in 2017. ADR, on the other hand, has declined for eight consecutive months in the country. STR analysts believe that ADR performance has been mostly due the market absorbing new supply (+2.2 in 2016, +1.7% in January 2017) in an economic climate where exchange rates dropped.

Costa Rica

Occupancy: +0.5% to 73.6%

ADR: -8.4% to CRC78,613.64

RevPAR: -7.9% to CRC57,879.45

The first quarter is generally the high performance season for Costa Rica hotels. Januarys moderate occupancy growth was mainly driven by San Jose, which posted 3.7% growth in occupancy and a 7.6% rise in RevPAR. ADR was down across most of the rest of the country. Costa Rica currently has more than 2,200 hotel rooms in the pipeline, with a majority of those in development outside of San Jose.

Ecuador

Occupancy: +8.0% to 55.8%

ADR: -7.6% to US$94.00

RevPAR: -0.2% to US$52.44

Demand growth (+13.6%) more than doubled significant supply growth (+5.2%), resulting in Ecuadors highest year-over-year increase in occupancy for any month since September 2014. STR analysts note that Ecuador became expensive for interregional demand as the only U.S. dollar country in the region. As a result, hoteliers likely had to lower rates.

Download the Global Performance Review

STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com.

Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest all industry news and trends. Subscribe

 2022 Hospitality Trends
An average of at least 48 Canadian children are being held in immigration detention centres every year, harming their mental and physical health, according to a report from the University of Toronto's International Human Rights Program released Thursday.

The report, titled "Invisible Citizens: Canadian Children in Immigration Detention," called the detentions "serious human rights violations of some of the most vulnerable members of our society."

Advertisement

Although they are Canadian citizens, children are being taken into custody because one or more of their parents (either a foreign national or a permanent resident) is detained, making them "invisible in the law," the report reads.

Under Canada's immigration law, Canadian citizens can't be formally confined so the children are instead considered "guests," and aren't able to access legal procedures or detention review hearings.

Parents must choose detention for their children, or hand them over to child services.

Mother diagnosed with PTSD, depression during detention

One mother interviewed for the report, Abigail, was arrested while on her way to church with her baby, Daevon, in 2014. Abigail had fled Jamaica after she reportedly endured physical and sexual abuse from a former partner. The Refugee Board refused her claim for asylum.

Advertisement

She didn't return to Jamaica, because Daevon was born with severe health problems that required medical care not available in the country. Without treatment, her son, a Canadian citizen, could become permanently disabled.

While in detention, Daevon experienced frequent nosebleeds and his health was impacted from the poor quality of the food he received. The Canada Border Services Agency initially refused to let Abigail accompany her son to doctor's appointments, and pressured her to hand over the child to her former partner.

Abigail was diagnosed with depression and PTSD. The psychological assessment during her detention noted Abigail felt "like her life is not worth living and concern for her son's well-being is the only reason that she pushes herself to keep going." She was released after six months and granted permanent resident status, but still feels like she and her son were "robbed."

The report called the detentions "serious human rights violations of some of the most vulnerable members of our society."

The figure of 48 children may be significantly lower than the actual number of children apprehended, as the study obtained data from only the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre, which is only one of Canada's detention facilities. Between 2011 and 2015, at least 227 Canadian children were held in the facility  however, nearly 20 per cent of the daily logs from that time period were missing, and no figures were provided from other Canadian detention agencies.

Advertisement

During that period of time, one boy spent over two years in detention. The average child was detained for just over one month.

Since October 2016, over 50 Canadian medical, legal and human rights organizations signed a statement calling for the end of immigration detention of children.

Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Also on HuffPost
Have you ever grabbed a mirror, opened your legs and spent a few minutes or maybe even hours examining your vagina while wondering, "Does this look normal?" You're definitely not alone.

For some women, it's the length or thickness of their labia minoras that they're unsure about; for others, especially women of colour, there's this notion of the vulva being "too dark" or "discoloured," on top of a plethora of other concerns.

Advertisement

And while we could spend all day dissecting the insecurities women face when it comes to their lady bits, it's important to understand where the benchmark for the "perfect vagina" came from  however, the answer can vary.

Sexologist and YouTuber Shannon Boodram, along with two other Canadian women, talked to HuffPost Canada about the matter. (Note: The names of the two women have been changed for privacy.)

"I don't think there are ugly vulvas but I do think there are less exciting ones," Boodram said. "The ones that don't want to be seen in the light, the ones that don't want to be kissed in fear someone may look too closely, the ones that stay covered unless absolutely necessary."

"I think the hangups about appearance are more about a choice someone made one day that they don't measure up," she added.

Advertisement

A post shared by Shan Boodram (@shanboody) on Sep 8, 2016 at 4:27pm PDT

But for Sophie, she knows exactly when she began to feel bad about the look of her vagina.

"One of my ex-boyfriends once said to me, 'Your pussy looks like roadkill' during our breakup," she shared. "I can't put into words how much that hurt me, or why it hurt me so much, but I think it targeted a part of my ego that had never been adequately built up.

I even went as far as to look up surgeries like labiaplasty, thinking that would make my vagina beautiful."

For Kate, on the other hand, her sense of doubt came from external factors, and stemmed from lack of visibility.

"My major insecurity was always my labia," she said. "It's not like we are shown the diversity of this female body part in mainstream media, so I never really had much to go off of when it came to comparisons."

Advertisement

"People look at their vulvas like an attraction for the public, not a sacred, fundamentally perfect place."  Shannon Boodram

"I just knew that mine looked different from the images I had seen," she continued. "Vaginas were always depicted as compact flower buds while mine looked more like a blossomed flower. I always felt like my lips were too long and out there."

The 20-something even admitted to rejecting oral sex from partners in the past. But now, she confidently embraces her vagina's appearance.

"I feel like the insecurity left me as I matured. As with all body parts, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You should never be ashamed of the way you were made."

But although both of these women have previously struggled with loving their labias and letting partners fully embrace them down there, Boodram says in her experience, labia length or size is typically no big deal for the other party.

"[More labia] just seems like more grounds to play with," the sex expert said. "I have spoken to a lot of women who have sex with women and men who have sex with women and never before have I heard, 'I didn't enjoy the sex because their labia kept getting in the way.'"

She also added that while she's heard comments about the size, it was typically mentioned as an observation and not a critique.

Nonetheless, the obsession with our labias may be an increasing cause for concern.

Last year, Teen Vogue reported more and more teens are seeking labiaplasty, a procedure to reduce the size of the inner labia. And while the number of surgeries aren't tracked, medical professionals aren't even exactly sure why there has been an increase in the procedure.

Advertisement

However, the publication wrote that a new set of guidelines encourages doctors to advise teens to think carefully before going under the knife, unless the labia itself is causing discomfort.

But the labia isn't the only issue women have when it comes to ditching the critique of their lady parts.

For many women of colour, sometimes the hue of their vagina leaves them feeling less than desirable.

The reason for this could quite possibly stem from the low visibility online and in sex-ed curriculums for non-white women's anatomy. And a quick Google images search of the word "vagina" proves that notion to be totally valid.

"As a teenager, I would spend hours with my legs open in front of a mirror examining my vagina," Sophie revealed. "I thought it was too dark, too ugly, too everything but what I wanted it to be. I would look at porn to see what other women were working with and make comparisons."

"I figured if I waxed, that would solve all my problems... It got rid of the sense of 'darkness' because my pubic hair was dark, but I realized the skin was dark too, creating a subdivision of my initial issue," she added.

Advertisement

But according to Boodram, vaginal colouration is not only a problem for WoC, but for women across the board.

"I've heard a lot more criticism about too pink than too dark," she explained. "So I guess it depends on who you ask. My suggestion? Ask somebody who is into what you have; that's the kind of person you want to be sharing your glory with."

And Sophie agrees, explaining that by making herself vulnerable when she got into a loving relationship, she was able to feel more secure.

"When I opened up to my current partner about my insecurities, he made it a point to ensure that much of our sex started with me opening my legs to him and having him just stare directly at my vagina and then making love to me," she said. "I can't describe the level of discomfort and awkwardness the first couple times, but it's made me so open to him, so comfortable and so confident, even outside the realm of our relationship.

Advertisement

As time went on, I realized that my vagina wasn't ugly. No one's was. It's just different. Every vagina is different."

While you don't necessarily need a significant other to tell you that there is no such thing as an "ugly vagina," it's definitely helpful to get a boost of confidence from an external source. But Boodram still believes both education systems and women should work to be more proactive when it comes to vagina positivity.

"First of all, girls aren't even taught about their clitoris in the majority of the sex-ed programs offered at school," the Toronto native said. "Overall the system doesn't teach girls to honour and seek the best for their bodies. As a result, people look at their vulvas like an attraction for the public, not a sacred, fundamentally perfect place."

"I heard recently that people think about 70,000 thoughts per day and 70 per cent of those thoughts are negative," she continued. "You don't have to think negatively about your vulva  after all, it's you who has the problem, not it. Trust me, (s)he be chillin."

Advertisement

Also on HuffPost
A Calgary man is trying to find his brother  who he has never met before  with the help of social media.

Jay Haskin posted a photo on Facebook earlier this month in hopes of locating his older brother, who was given up for adoption at birth.

Advertisement

"So I have a brother I've never met," Haskin wrote in the post, which has been shared more than 28,000 times since Feb. 12.

Haskin explained that he has seen others reach out on social media for help in the past, and thought he would try it. He went on to write that his brother was born at Sturgeon General Hospital in St. Albert, Alta., on Nov. 30, 1978, and his birth name was Keith Darcy. That's about all the family knows.

Haskin first learned about his brother when he was 17 years old, but it wasn't until he became a father that he started thinking about finding him.

Advertisement

"I saw [my children] playing together and realized I'd never have memories like that with Keith, but I could still have memories if I actually found him," he told The Huffington Post Canada.

His entire family, including his parents and older brother Aaron, are supportive of his search. Aaron has his own search going, while his parents provide any information he needs.

Haskin says the idea that his search could be successful feels "kind of surreal," and he's not completely sure what to expect.

While the family hasn't gotten any new leads yet, many people have reached out with helpful tips. And Haskin says he's not losing hope yet.

Advertisement

"I'm remaining hopeful because 27K shares is enough to make a guy believe in miracles," Haskin wrote on Facebook Tuesday.

Also on HuffPost:
When Kayleen Gardiner answered her phone on Thursday morning, she was "pretty shocked" to hear the other voice on the line.

After all, it's not every day you get a phone call from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Gardiner, who lives in Cambridge, Ont., sent a letter to the prime minister's office a couple of weeks ago, sharing her opinions on immigration and Canada's acceptance of refugees.

Advertisement

She felt compelled to write the letter after watching what was happening south of Canada's border  specifically U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban on citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries.

"I was hearing in the news that people with visas and green cards were being denied entry (into the U.S.). All I could think was, how is it possible that we live in a country that took in 40,000 refugees, and we are neighbours with one that is keeping so many people out?" Gardiner told The Huffington Post Canada in an email.

Her letter detailed the heartbreak she felt last spring while travelling in eastern Europe, where she saw Syrian refugees camped out along the Serbia/Hungary border.

Advertisement

"They were distant, small figures, shuffling about in a bleak, gray tent city," she wrote to Trudeau.

"As a citizen from a Commonwealth country, my identification was stamped and I was allowed entry, but these people, fleeing from war, seeking a better life, were going nowhere. They would sit in their tents, soothe their crying children to sleep, and feel more anxiety and despair than you or I could ever put into words."

Her letter was read by Trudeau's office, and sent up the chain until it landed in front of the prime minister.

Making calls this week to people whove sent in letters  I really appreciate the discussions & hearing directly about what matters to you. pic.twitter.com/gUEcBIs7FB  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 24, 2017

Advertisement

Trudeau, it turns out, has been responding to people who have sent him correspondence, tweeting a photo of him making phone calls to Canadians.

"We discussed everything going on with the United States, and how Canada needs to be a leader in this," Gardiner told HuffPost Canada of her conversation with Trudeau.

He agreed that Canada must "handle our relationships with our allies diplomatically but we need to take a stand and show them that we will not budge," according to Gardiner.

This week, the PM has been calling people who have written into our office for a variety of reasons. Next to the boss is Jean-Luc Marion. JL heads our correspondence team and is one of the nicest humans you will ever meet. #cdngingersnaps #cdnpoli #ottawa A post shared by Adam Scotti (@adamscotti) on Feb 24, 2017 at 4:28am PST

After their conversation, Gardiner shared the details of the "pretty great call" with her Facebook friends.

Advertisement

"It gives me hope, and fills me with pride, to know that the leader of our country cares enough to personally read a letter I wrote to him, and then took the time to reach out to me to discuss it," she wrote.

While "it's hard to agree with every decision a politician makes," Gardiner said she's "always liked" Trudeau and called him a "positive change for Canada."

Also on HuffPost
Muhammad doesn't say a word. The little boy barely moves in his father's lap.

But his penetrating eyes burn with intensity from his gaunt face. His shirt droops as it hangs from his tiny shoulders. His arms protrude from his sleeves like two sticks.

The doctor at this World Vision mobile clinic in Puntland lifts Muhammad's shirt for examination. I can see every bone in the boy's sunken chest. Muhammad tries to shift in his father's lap, now fidgety and restless, like any other five-year-old. But even this effort quickly tires him out. He settles back into stillness.

Advertisement

It's as though Muhammad's body knows not to burn calories, unless absolutely necessary for survival. Every bit of energy must be saved.

One among thousands

I've come to Somalia with World Vision, to meet children living on the brink of famine. The United Nations issued the warning last week. If the rains fail again, and if international aid is not taken, Somalia could see a repeat of the 2011 famine which killed more than 250,000 people.

Those whom I meet here tell me they already knew this was happening. Even the elders say it's the worst drought they've ever seen.

Advertisement

"We're used to getting droughts every three or four years," says one 85-year-old elder. They normally last for a year, he says, "But this drought has lasted for three years. Crops keep failing and all the livestock are dying. All of our savings are gone. We have nothing left."

Memories are long here, and filled with joys and sorrows alike. Everyone remembers the droughts, and is able to compare. They're unanimous with fear about this one.

"In previous droughts we always lost a few animals," says Hawo, a grandmother of three small children. "But we were still able to find water and a bit of grass for our animals to graze. But this time there is nothing."

Desperate for water

Like many families, Hawo's has always been pastoralist, and rely on goats and camels for their living.Drought forced Hawo's family off their land, driving them under the sun for a full week before reaching a place with emergency water supplies. Only a few of the animals from her flock survived the journey.

Advertisement

It's a great relief, of course, that the children are alive, and Hawo is deeply grateful. But her assets -- their means of providing for those children -- lie in her dangerously depleted flocks. Hawo despairs for her family's future.

"Water is life," Hawo tells me now, at a World Vision emergency water centre. "Without water we have no animals. Without animals we have no life."

The same stories are being told again and again across Somalia. Entire areas that were once teeming with people and animals even a year ago are now completely devoid of life. The scattered carcasses of entire herds of livestock are all that remain.

Children in danger

Back at the mobile health clinic where Muhammad is being examined, the World Vision doctor has made a diagnosis. Muhammad is severely malnourished.

This isn't a surprise to his family. Muhammad weighs a fraction of what he should. The circumference of his upper arm is fearfully small. With both measurements in dangerous territory, the doctors prescribe an emergency nutrition program.

Advertisement

Treatment for a child who is severely malnourished is fairly simple -- yet highly effective. Muhammad will be given packets of peanuty paste, fortified with ingredients needed to restore his health. As Muhammad accepts the first packet, I watch to see how he'll respond. Ironically, malnutrition can often lead to appetite loss.

Muhammad tries the paste, tentative at first. But soon, he's eating it with relish. He grips the packet tightly, and it's clear that he won't let go for anything or anyone.

Despite their barren landscape and devastated herds, so many of the Somali parents I meet carry this hope for their children. Hope that their children will thrive, that their futures will be bright. And today, Muhammad is back on the path to this kind of future.

"Muhammad deserves a full life," says the doctor in charge of the mobile health unit. "He deserves to go to school, to have a future. That all starts with proper nutrition and health."

Advertisement

Growing numbers

At this clinic, Muhammad is receiving the care he needs. The doctor here tells me that there are around 400,000 such cases of malnutrition in Somalia today, as several countries in Africa teeter on the brink of famine. So far, he says, World Vision mobile units in Somalia are able to provide effective treatment in most of the areas they support.

But more and more new cases stream in. And the children who leave successfully treated, are nonetheless returning to families unable to provide for them.

"Without these interventions it would be very difficult for these children to survive," says the doctor. "These families don't even have one dollar to live on." And as patient numbers continue to rise, the resources needed for treatment become stretched. More support will be needed.

The registry of patients at this World Vision mobile health clinic in Puntland is growing by the day.

Advertisement

I won't forget

Tomorrow, I get on a plane back to Toronto, to see my own children again. It will be impossible to forget the children here in Somalia. My heart clenched with emotion from the first moment I saw them. You can tell instinctively that they are in danger. The way they're too thin, their sunken eyes, the way they sit too still for children.

As a father, I also felt very deeply for the parents who don't have a dollar to their names. No savings, no safety net, no way to pivot for a "second career." And nothing to provide for their children but love.

Many of the Somali people I met know all about Canada's generosity to them -- and they're so grateful. They talked about how our aid is making such a huge difference in their lives. Canadians need to know that we are delivering impact, even in a place as fragile as Somalia.

It's true that the situation in Somalia is dire. But it's also true that we can act, to stave of the threat of malnutrition. We see it coming. We can meet it head-on. Catastrophe can be prevented. And for the sake of Somalia's children -- it must be.

Help children in Somalia through World Vision Canada's 'Raw Hope' initiative

Advertisement

All photos: Brett Tarver

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this blog stated that Hawo's family were cattle farmers. They rely on goats and camels for their living.

Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook
In June 1930, the Congress of the United States passed the "Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act", named for its Republican sponsors, Utah Senator Reed Smoot and Oregon Representative Willis Hawley.

The original piece of legislation was designed to protect American agriculture but within days, other industries began storming Washington demanding similar protections.

The thinking was that tariffs would protect American industry, save jobs and allow producers to raise the price of their goods.

Advertisement

The effect was almost exactly the opposite. As the U.S. raised protective tariffs, other nations followed suit and international trade stagnated.

Between 1929 and 1932, U.S. exports to Europe fell by 66.5 per cent while imports fell 71 per cent. In the end, world trade had declined by approximately 66 per cent by 1933. The fallout from Smoot-Hawley's misguided folly spread as the Great Depression mushroomed. It was a "beggar thy neighbour" policy and it backfired.

Millions of Americans eventually lost everything after having been sucked in by their government's predictions of prosperity -- much in the same way as they are being sucked in today. That includes their evident support for President Donald Trump's push to renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which he calls fundamentally "unfair" to the U.S.

Advertisement

But what does "fair" mean? Only if Americans benefit? It's perfectly normal for a president to put American interests first. Prime Minister Trudeau was elected to do the same. But for any deal to ever get done, both sides have to think it's a good deal for them -- and that includes NAFTA.

If the U.S. introduces protective tariffs, other nations are guaranteed to do the same.

The latest report from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative included concerns about our supply management of dairy and poultry products, provincial alcohol marketing monopolies, taxes on liquor imports, aerospace subsidization, and telecom ownership restrictions. Surprisingly, we don't issue similar reports on our trading partners. God knows why not.

But in re-opening NAFTA, President Trump runs the risk of falling into the same kind of black hole created by Smoot-Hawley 87 years ago.

Then there's the law of unintended consequences. It's sure to kick in again if President Trump doesn't alter his approach. If the U.S. introduces protective tariffs, other nations are guaranteed to do the same.

When this happens, Americans will be forced to pay significantly more for a broad range of goods and services that were previously imported on the cheap.

Advertisement

The fallout north of the border will inevitably mean a reduced market for American exports. And a struggling Canadian economy will surely mean less Canadians indulging in a southern holiday next winter. I wonder how that would play with the Florida Chamber of Commerce, where President Trump has considerable business and personal interests.

Embracing a 'lobbyist approach' is the key to obtaining any sort of success in Washington. Because even if it turns out that Trudeau and Trump become the closest of friends, that won't do much for us at the bargaining table. A chorus of angry US voters in Florida worried about a sagging tourism industry will have a greater effect on U.S. representatives than anything that could come from our negotiators.

What counts in Congress is how American voters feel, not how friendly foreign allies feel. We can help ourselves most by persuading the 35 states that have Canada as their top export market, to tell Mr. Trump that a tariff war with Canada will hurt jobs in their home communities.

Canada does have some big cards to play if needed. We supply 16 per cent of electricity New York and New England need and 97 per cent of total U.S. natural gas imports. These two Canadian exports are a reliable source of energy and are crucial for an American market looking to diversify away from OPEC.

Advertisement

It looks like it is time for us to remind Mr. Trump of George Santayana's comment that "those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it."

Colin Kenny is a former member of the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade, and Commerce and also served as Chair of Internal Economy in the 90s.

Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook
We've all witnessed people wrongly stereotype others through a stinging rebuke.

They are easy to spot as they tend to be delivered by people who have very little respect for whatever demographic they use as their example. They go something like this...

"If that's the way you park, you might as well be a woman."

"If that's how you throw a punch, you might want to consider a gay lifestyle."

"Mel Gibson is a less of an asshole than you."

Suffice it to say, women, LGBTQ members and Mel Gibson would not be lining up to express their gratitude for being the working example of people just a tiny bit better than the supposedly weak, incompetent jerks on the receiving end of any one of those statements. A woman might rightfully tell you to get bent, a gay guy might deliver a stinging retort and Mel Gibson might tell you to smile and blow him.

Advertisement

So when Pope Francis tells the world that it is better to be an atheist than a hypocritical Catholic, why does the media fawn over his alleged warmth and generosity towards non-believers? After all, he is using the incredulous folks as the bar for what is usually seen as immoral or sinful.

But here we are, post-backhanded compliment, and the world seems to be rushing to add more progressive legitimacy to a pope who has better public relations than any other human in world history. No, seriously, I wish that were an understatement.

How Pope Francis, a man who leads an organization best known for the systemic sexual torture of countless children worldwide, can be heralded as anything other than a steward of hypocrisy is a testament to what people can get away with when they claim to be speaking for god. The insincerity one needs to promote progressive ideals while maintaining draconian status quos, like those embedded inside the Catholic Church, is incalculable.

Advertisement

But here we are, as we are a few times a year, singing the praises of Pope Francis, a.k.a. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as if he just performed an actual miracle such as bringing his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI to justice for enabling pedophilia. Instead, Jorge receives endless accolades for saying the right things, even as the Catholic Church continues to officially contradict many of his most progressive statements.

Jorge is widely praised by some gay activists for modernizing the church's position on issues like same-sex marriage, but he is still the leader of a religion whose views are precisely the same as the southern Republicans who are on the receiving end of biting criticism from those same activists. Typically, the Pope's actual views on homosexuality in the church have not changed. It's just the soundbites that are different.

One of the most condescending actions of this pope was when he gave priests the power to forgive women for having abortions. The mental and moral gymnastics this decree requires from freethinking, liberated followers of the rule of law is staggering, but Jorge was once again praised as a shining light of modernity.

Advertisement

This pope could do himself a favour if he opted for the types of reform most Catholics now support.

Sarcasm aside, I realize as a non-believer I have obvious motivations for criticizing the church, most notably my supposed place in the fiery pits of hell for not believing in the first place. But perhaps my heathenism serves as an advantage when spotting the sanctimony and double-speak of the spiritually endowed. As a recovering Catholic myself, I can recall several instances from my childhood when Jews were used as the example of those who had a first-class ticket to Abaddon. A contrarian at 10, I would raise my hand and ask the nuns as to the resting place of Jewish people, given the acrimonious tone of the New Testament.

"Unless they repent, Jews will be judged and sent to hell, Jamie."

I guess, in an ironic twist, atheists are the new Jews. Actually, what am I thinking -- atheists have always been the lowest life forms in the eyes of the church. But this is the first time I can recall being contrasted against another group of hell-bound infidels where atheists came out on top.

But make no mistake; this was not a compliment. Jorge was just using the most obvious example of who does not deserve everlasting life and threatening another group with being as wretched as them. That some media found a way to twist the context into something positive is a testament to how gutless they have become. Jorge has played them better than Trump, albeit from the opposite end of the spectrum, by shrouding the reality of the church in palatable, progressive quotes, while actually implementing none of the morals behind those quotes.

And let's be clear: regular, everyday Catholics are by and large good people, insofar as they have progressed much faster than the Vatican itself. This pope could do himself a favour if he opted for the types of reform most Catholics now support.

Because it would be a cold day in hell before the Vatican acts like the following jab at your neighbour is something even resembling a compliment:

Advertisement

"Even a priest would make a better babysitter than you."

Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook

Also on HuffPost:
GBlakeley via Getty Images Queen's Park is an urban park in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1860 by Edward, Prince of Wales, it was named in honour of Queen Victoria. The park is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building, which houses the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and the phrase 'Queen's Parka is regularly used as a metonym for the Government of Ontario.

Just the other day, my seven-year-old son piped up: "Mommy I wanna be a doctor when I grow up."

Immediately I thought, "No."

I've thought a lot about the reasons behind my knee-jerk response. After all, I love being a doctor. It's a privilege and it grounds me: the routine of walking from room to room, asking "How can I help you today?", hearing the stories, solving the riddle of disease. The constant drive to learn more about illness and the human body. The intense pressure, the fear, the fatigue, the responsibility. The unparalleled joy of service.

I love being a doctor, but I am burning out. It is demoralizing to watch this health-care system fail those it serves and those who work in it. Meanwhile those with the power to fix Ontario's health care crisis ignore the danger signs.

Advertisement

Last week, I wrote an op-ed about why front-line doctors across Ontario believe the health-care system is broken. I wrote about the reality for patients trapped on waitlists for everything -- from basic care to surgery to nursing homes to palliative care. I wrote about the province's absolute lack of physicians, nurses, home care and hospital beds -- the building blocks of health care. Most of all, I wrote about the desperate need to fix our broken health-care system.

That one article generated a ton of criticism. My motives were questioned; my knowledge, mocked.

The back-and-forth between physicians didn't really bother me. Some reporters have sensationalized it as "in-fighting." I disagree. With a complex topic like health-care reform, physicians will argue and debate and discuss idea after idea after idea. They will seek evidence, reach consensus, find a solution. That is what critical thinkers do. That is what scientists do. Debate is a healthy and necessary process to flesh out best practice.

No, what bothered me was the lack of balanced journalism. I wrote one article about a broken health-care system, and watched as two columns, one article, one op-ed and five letters to the editor were published in the same paper, questioning my character and integrity.

Sure, I want a fair contract as much as anyone out there. But the real conversation I am trying to have goes way beyond income and negotiations. It goes way beyond stop-gap bandaid investments. More than anything, I want this government to get real about managing health care. Media has a key role to play in that.

Advertisement

Like it or not, media informs our perception of reality. Media shapes how and what the public talk about. That influences government priority. And that is why balanced journalism must be protected.

This is what a broken health-care system looks like: patients wait hours to be seen in the emergency department... days lying on hard gurneys, waiting for hospital beds... weeks waiting for basic home care... weeks waiting for a cancer diagnosis... years waiting for necessary surgery... years waiting for a family doctor. Waitlists are simply too long. People get in line with treatable, even curable, medical illnesses; but by the time they get to the head of the line, they find out it's too late.

So I ask my critics: knowing this, do you still say our health-care system is working well? Because in my eyes, the health-care system is broken if people are dying because waitlists for treatment are too long; it's broken if dying patients cannot get the services they need because the waitlist is too long.

Just this week, Dr. Sohail Gandhi pointed out the media silence around what is becoming the quintessential story about Ontario's health care: the closing of a complex-care dementia ward from lack of funding, and the hiring of 84 new health care senior management. Government priorities that fund bureaucracy over care should openly questioned by the media -- and the public.

The day a person falls sick is the day they go from being a taxpayer and a voter to being a patient. That's the day they need the health-care system to work. And the reality they quickly discover is that the system is broken. The day we admit our health-care system is broken is the first day we feel compelled to try and fix it.

Advertisement

This is not just a funding issue. This is a management issue.

Elected governments prioritize where the money goes, but funding for health care comes from taxpayers. Yet these same taxpayers are being trained to accept less and less care in exchange for more and more bureaucracy. This is wrong.

Fixing health care cannot be just about popularity ratings and election cycles. When it comes to health care, our government must act in the best interest of patients -- not voters. We need a paradigm shift.

Like any doctor, I want my patients to get the right care right when they need it. Like any mom, I want my son to have a fulfilling, joyful profession -- especially if he chooses medicine. Like any woman, I want my career to hold equal measures of joy and hard work. For those reasons and more, our broken health-care system must be fixed. Until that happens, I will sing like a canary in a coal-mine.

So, to my respected critics: silence is simply not an option.
Groysman hopes FTA agreement with Israel will be signed in 2017

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman hopes a free trade area agreement (FTA) with Israel will be signed in 2017.

"We have a free trade area agreement with Canada, which opens the market. I think this year we will complete and sign a free trade area agreement with Israel," the prime minister said at a meeting of the National Tripartite Social and Economic Council in Kyiv.

As reported, in November 2016 Israeli Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein expressed hope a FTA agreement between Ukraine and Israel will be signed in 2017.
Quirky, colourful and downright strange - here are my top 10 eats and drinks in Japan!

Full to the brim with all things weird, wonderful and delicious, Japan is a culinary delight with everything from sugary delights to hearty soups and noodle dishes, here are my top 10 food and beverage choices in Japan!

Authors own

10. Fuji Apple Kit Kat

As odd as it sounds, it's a surprisingly delicious combo. This is the only place in the world you will be able to get your hands on apple flavored kit kat, released exclusivity for the Japanese market - get your hands on it, even if it's just to say you've tried it!

Advertisement

9. Green tea ice cream

It's as delicious and refreshing as the named suggests. Matcha or green tea ice cream originates from Japan and they have truly mastered it's production. If you're chasing a flavour that rings true to everything you'd expect from Japan, it's this. Found widely around the country, be sure to buy it fresh for the best chance of quality flavour.

Authors own

8. Vending machine coffee

The first step in trying vending machine coffee in Japan is to forget your preconceived notions of what a good coffee should taste like based on the Western world. In Australia we like our coffee strong and brewed to perfection, well this is nothing like that. The major novelty really is getting a warm can from a vending machine, it's pure magic. The coffee itself is delicious and sweet, with variations from black through to latte, again don't expect this to be comparable to the Western world, they do their own thing!

It's truly delicious, and frankly gives you plenty of kick, if anything give it a crack out of novelty.

Advertisement

Authors own

7. Okonomiyaki - savoury pancakes

Similarly to Takoyaki, this delicious savory pancake is also coated in gooey sweet black sauce and Kewpie mayo. Okonomi meaning 'how you like' and yaki meaning 'grill' this delicious treat literally brings together your favorite ingredients into a delicious pancake. Common ingredients are normally vegetables such as cabbage and bean sprouts, it's a prefect treat to snack on whilst strolling through inner city markets.

6. Sushi

Seems obvious, doesn't it? But this is sushi unlike you've ever tried it before! It's fresh, it's delicious, it's authentic and it's not westernised! Japanese sushi tends to vary from the nori wrapped teriyaki chicken commonly found in western countries... think more fresh butterflied prawns on delicious sticky rice, fresh salmon sashimi, blow torched raw kingfish and lightly battered tempura prawns, all served on, you guessed it, a train! Wasabi is a staple in Japanese sushi, so be wary before biting into your chosen dish as you may find it hidden with and can give you a shock if you're not a fan.

Authors own

5. Ramen

A staple in Japanese culture, you'll find a ramen restaurant (almost) on every corner. With literally hundreds of variations, this heart warm noodle soup is a popular dish for locals and tourists alike. Generally made with a fish broth, soya and your choice of chicken, meat or seafood. Ramen is the perfect dish to compliment the winter in Japan, particularly if you're going for winter!

Advertisement

Authors own

4. Pocky

No longer exclusive sold in Japan, if you've ever seen quintessential confectionery from Japan before, it's like to be Pocky! Delicious straw thin pretzel sticks coated in milk, strawberry or dark chocolate often sprinkled with nuts - once you start, you won't be able to stop!

Authors own

3. Beer

In my humble opinion, the crispest, tastiest super dry beers in the world. If there's anything the Japanese know how to do, other than draw really amazing anime, it's brew beer (sorry my German heritage!). But in all seriously, you can't go wrong all three of the major brands, Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo are delicious, even if you're not a beer drinker, my suggestion would be to start here, ease yourself into the wonderful world of beer through these crisp lagers - truly refreshing!

Advertisement

Authors own

2. Gyoza

Otherwise known to those of outside of Japan as steamed and then fried dumplings! Often stuffed with mince deliciously soaked in soya sauce coupled with cabbage and other diced vegetables, gyoza is a staple in Japanese cuisine and an absolutely delicious one at that!

1. Takoyaki - Octopus Balls

Arguably one of the tastiest and most authentic dishes in Japan. Takoyaki is a fusion of pancake and octopus - doesn't sound like it would work, right? WRONG this is so epic you will be salivating for more! A description probably isn't going to help it's case, but essentially it's pancake dough cooked into a little ball with a piece of Octopus tentacle in the middle. The ball is gooey and not cooked the whole way through. It's topped with delicious sticky-sweet black sauce and Kewpie mayonnaise with a garnish of fish flakes.

Don't knock it till you've tried it!
I often ask my patients where they are from or the origin of their name. The reasons include genuine curiosity, educating myself and breaking the ice with another human being. On the wards last week, I saw the facial expressions of two individuals, both UK residents for several years, change for the worse when I asked. A sadness kicked in that I haven't yet been able to shake, when I realised they thought I was deciding whether they should be charged for healthcare. Being an NHS doctor, despite many problems, is a privilege. As a cardiologist, I am able to provide care based on need, with humanity and without prejudice, regardless of an individual's demographics. When I studied for a Masters in Public Health in the United States thirteen years ago, and when I teach on similar courses today, the NHS remains a global paragon of equity and universal healthcare coverage. The reputation and the trust of patients in the NHS are totally undermined if clinicians become a vehicle for immigration data.

Three out of the eleven patients attending my clinic mentioned their disgust at delays in the system, resource shortages and NHS pressures, which they mostly attributed to immigrants. Since starting medical school 21 years ago, I am yet to hear anybody working in a hospital, whether doctor, nurse or manager say that the NHS is under pressure due to too many immigrants. The extra 350 million per week which would become available to the NHS if the UK left the European Union seems to have disappeared from the political landscape. An analysis of the UK's Office of National Statistics data confirmed 30 000 excess deaths in 2015, compared with 2014, citing a strong possibility that wholesale cuts to health and social care budgets had played a role. At best, inaccurate data, and at worst, lies, have led to wrong perceptions and wrongful blaming of immigrants for the under-resourcing of our health service. The actual cost of health tourism is far less than the hype, and efforts would be better focused on the real causes of healthcare deficits, such as austerity.

Advertisement

A few months ago in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, a Caucasian lady in her sixties asked if she could be seen by a British doctor in my cardiology clinic in central London. Only partly placated by my birth in East Yorkshire and my medical education at Oxford, she attributed the two-month delay in her heart surgery to too many immigrant NHS staff. Overseas doctors came to the UK because "life was easy" and "they were never as good at English or doctoring" in her view. The irony was not lost on the son of a GP who arrived from India in the early 1970s when the NHS was struggling to recruit doctors. My father worked across northern England for 35 years where local trainees could not be retained. Immigrants usually come to the UK for opportunity, but health professionals from abroad have been, and continue to be, actively pursued to fill gaps since the inception of the NHS. To blame them for the gaps is laughable. Moreover, these doctors have to meet stringent General Medical Council standards in order to practise in the UK. I have lost count of the foreign doctors and nurses (EU and non-EU) I have worked with over the years, who have had to live in poverty while waiting for exams or jobs in this country. Sometimes they have been forced to eat at soup kitchens or work in kebab vans to make ends meet. Hardly an easy life.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY via Getty Images

In so far as Milo Yiannopoulos is concerned, the common media consensus on February the 22nd is one of a fall from grace."Yesterday marked the moment when Milo Yiannopoulos ceased being an asset to the mainstream right, and became a liability"declares Helen Lewis in the New Statesman. The rise and fall of Milo Yiannopoulos" agrees Dorian Lynskey in The Guardian. My classmate, and the school's resident Yiannopoulos supporter, does not seem so sure, believing that Yiannopoulos will rise "Like a phoenix from the flames, with probably even more magnificent hair." Regarding the former part of that statement, I fear he may well be proved right.

Like most on the right, Yiannopoulos and his kind feed off agitation and fear, twisting reality in order to create delusional scapegoats on which to blame the problems of society. Milo Yiannopoulos stating that relationships between 'boys' and older men are beneficial will derail him no more than Donald Trump saying he can'grab women by the pussy' disrupted his presidential campaign. The fact that Yiannopoulos was slightly more offensive than usual will not cause this climate of imagined fears to dissipate. Indeed, it could have the opposite effect, furthering the paranoia of white men on both sides of the Atlantic who believe, falsely, that their rights to free speech are being corrupted by evil feminists and Black Lives Matter activists.

Advertisement

Yet even if Milo Yiannopoulos fades into oblivion to join Nick Griffin and Tommy Robinson in the graveyard of the far right, the damage has already have been done.

In November of 2016, Milo Yiannopoulos was invited to give a talk to students at my school. The talk was eventually called off due to advice given by the Department of Education's Counter Extremism Unit. The title of my article discussing the events sums up my view of free speech at the time - 'Denying Milo Yiannopoulos an Audience with My Denies Us the Chance to Challenge Him'. My views have since changed. The rallying cry of Free Speech is that words are words. They do not equal action. Nobody should be denied the right to verbally express their views, because verbally expressed these views are largely meaningless.

But words are not as unimportant and empty as we may be led to believe. Through his flamboyant style, crude put downs and controversial metaphors Yiannopolous relegates the seriousness of the issues he is discussing. Take transphobia as an example. "Never feel bad for mocking a transgender person" he announced to students at the University of Delware, to thunderous applause, after having described Trans people as 'gay men dressing up for attention,' trivializing issues affecting a group that, partly due to public venom, suffer disproportionally from mental stress, self-harm, and suicide. Despite our opposition to Yiannopolous's ideas, the mere fact that they are expressed in the public sphere effects our perception of serious issues, distorts truths, and creates confusion and fear instead of understanding and compassion.

Advertisement

The seriousness of allowing an open platform to people like Yiannopolous was brought to the fore by a talk given by one of my fellow students. 'Fascism' he said 'has been defined by its racism, its nationalism and its sexism. A culture that is anti-immigrant, anti-black, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, and anti-women engenders the rise of fascist politics.' Whilst Yiannopolous's words may not directly harm anyone, they create the above culture. And the existence of such a culture inevitably leads to violence and, as has recently been seen in the United States, fascism.

Because the truth of the matter is that we do live in a society that is anti - immigrant, seen in shocking black and white this week when Mrs May closed the borders of the sixth biggest economy in the world to two thousand refugee children. Statistics show that, despite not being involved in crime more so than any other ethnic group, black people represent ten percent of the prison population despite making up just 2.8% of the general population, indicative of a society where racial discrimination has not gone away. The number of Anti - Semitic attacks increased by 36% last year, and, perhaps most prominent of all, is the way that the Muslim community has been treated by both the media, political establishment and the electorate with suspicion, fear, and hatred. As for women, we live in a society that describes feminism as 'cancer'. And whilst Yiannopoulos's rhetoric may belong to the fringe, the generalizations and gross inaccuracies that define his style are not.

For when acts of terror are committed in the name of radical Islam, it's "Radical Muslim Extremists". When acts of terror are committed in the name of the far right, it's "Lone Wolves", allowing the public and government to devolve itself of responsibility in the second case and point the finger of accusation at a large and peaceful community in the first. Likewise, we are swayed to condone British 'Airstrikes' but condemn Russian 'Bombing', to ignore 'Collateral Damage' but to lament 'Innocent Civilians', the true differences being essentially non-existent. By this use of language we are swayed to support Western Imperialism without understanding the truths of the matter, swayed to believe that right wing lie that it is Muslims and Immigrants who create social misery, as oppose to the greed of the corporate elite and the mass inequality that is an unavoidable by product of economic capitalism.
These are MY favourite eats, I'm not claiming they're the best or that I've tried every single restaurant in the peninsula, just that these are meals or restaurants I've particularly enjoyed. If you get a chance, I highly recommend you try them but I don't pretend for one second that this is an exhaustive list of good restaurants in the area.

Merida: this is a real, big city with a multitude of choices. From the teeny tiny 'I serve tacos from my house on Fridays' to international fare, there is everything you could wish for.

My favourite brunch spot has to be Roses and Xocolate on Paseo Montejo. This small boutique hotel has an incredible egg menu that includes an amazing poached eggs with a pumpkin sauce that makes my taste buds tingle just thinking about it. Coffee is unlimited.

Advertisement

For a lighter breakfast or just to while away time with a coffee, I tend to head to either Pan Central on Calle 55 just down from Santa Lucia or Cafe Montejo on Calle 59, near Plaza Santiago. Pan Central is a small and unobtrusive coffee shop that sells good European cakes. Cafe Montejo is altogether a much more impressive affair. It has a large courtyard, beautiful art all around and a proper sit down menu. They also make the best coconut rolls I've ever tried and their coffee frappe is pretty damn special too. What makes this place really stand out though is the lovely and friendly owner who is always there for a chat.

If you fancy sushi then there really isn't any competition: Miyabi wins, hands down. We had an incredible meal for four (our small kids eat sushi as if it costs nothing, one of the 'downsides' to coming from London where decent sushi isn't expensive!). Our small son devoured an entire plate of salmon sashimi on his own while the small girl picked salmon off rice and ate the two separately.

Apaoloa on the beautiful Santa Lucia is the perfect restaurant to spend a long evening. The food is good, the ambiance is slow and kind and on Thursdays there is a show on the square too. We had a wonderful farewell to my parents dinner here before they left us. Also worth mentioning is Door 54, just off Paeseo Montejo, this place serves a phenomonal tuna steak and, even better, you can eat whilst relaxing and watching a movie in their small cinema. Well worth a visit.

In Tulum we fell in love with Pizza Manglar, an incredible restaurant just off the main road in town. Every pizza is 100 pesos and will feed two people. Try chaya and pineapple for a taste explosion. If you're nice to the staff then your meal may well end with a free tequilla shot!

Advertisement

Holbox gave us the perfect Raices where we were served the most perfect coconut fish ever made. We sat on the beach under palapas listening to average live music sipping our beers and watching the sea while our kids played in their hammock chairs. Just perfect.

In Chelem we loved Taco Maya, a small, Canadian run, enterprise that is only open until 2pm. Their portions are large and everything is fresh and delicious. Well worth the short drive from Progreso to sample their wares.

And finally, Mango Y Chile, a place that serves the best damn vegetarian burger you'll ever have. Bacalar is a teeny tiny town on Caribbean coast down towards Belize. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and these burgers fit perfectly. To be honest, the best burger wasn't mine but my husband's. He had a beetroot burger that was so full of flavour I almost grabbed it and ran. I would have had I not been so relaxed sitting on their beautiful decking area overlooking the laguna with a frappe in hand and my own pretty awesome burger in front of me too. And then there's their doughnuts. Yum.

This concludes my edible tour of the Yucatan Peninsula. I'm sure there are hundreds more amazing places to eat and I'd love to know what you think cuts the mustard.
fstop123 via Getty Images

For the first time ever, 2017 is set to see more elderly people requiring care and support, than there are families to provide it. This is topped by an ageing population and a rapidly rising life expectancy, placing greater demands on care services across the country.

Advertisement

At the end of last month, Care Minister David Mowat stated that there is an essential need to rethink how society can deal with the care of an increasingly ageing population. He suggested that the solution to the care gap could be answered if more people in Britain looked after their own elderly parents.

Speaking at the Commons Communities and Local Government Committee, Mr Mowat played on the fact that it is simply a given responsibility that parents care for their children, yet the same approach is not taken when it comes to the reverse - children caring for their parents.

The approach proposed by Mr Mowat does not account for the already 1 million people aged over 65 living in the UK who do not have adult children that could care for them. Nor does it account for the astonishing fact that 92% of informal care is already being provided by families.

Demand for social care is increasingly rising, which will inevitably require the UK to spend a higher proportion of its income on supporting elderly people. Care home providers, trade unions and charities have long been calling on the government to deal with the immense challenge of paying for health and social care and the rapidly escalating social care crisis.

Advertisement

Care homes across the country are subsequently struggling and an increasing amount of care home operators are collapsing. Cuts in costs are threatening to compromise the quality of care being delivered, as well as increasing the costs for private, fee-paying residents. Following budget cuts of up to 50%, reductions in the amount that councils pay towards residents' fees has been intensified by simultaneously rising industry costs.

The rise in National Minimum Wage, for example, led to increasing payroll costs of around 5% for businesses last year. Additionally, residents paying privately are experiencing increased fees or top-up payments to make up the shortfall in state funding, a gap which is calculated to be 1.9bn in 2017 alone, according to the Nuffield Trust. Age UK research also indicates that the number of residents paying their own costs, as a result of cuts, has risen 28.5% in the last decade.

Care homes provide residents with boundless opportunities and families with a much needed peace of mind so that they are able to focus on caring and supporting their loved ones in a way they know best, alongside the expert care delivered by staff members.

There is so much choice on offer when it comes to selecting care providers, care delivery options and invaluable specialist care approaches. Yet, social care continues to be at the tipping point of a crisis. The Local Government Association has stated that an extra 2.6 billion is needed by the end of the decade to avoid the devastating cuts.
I started my medical training in Germany more than 20 years ago and after a short placement in the UK I knew I wanted to work here permanently. As a GP working in the NHS, I thought that would always be the case, but the increasingly negative rhetoric surrounding Brexit has made me question my future here.

After moving to the UK in 1995, I met my husband, who is British, and have since made a career as a GP and a home here in Devon with our two sons. I've never felt like a 'foreigner' before but following the EU referendum, it feels like rather than being seen as a valued member of society, I'm considered a bargaining chip for the government's negotiations.

Advertisement

My husband is also a doctor, a haematologist treating illnesses such as leukaemia, and although we love what we do and where we live, when our sons - who are 15 and 17 - have finished school, we may regretfully have to look at leaving the UK.

Sadly, I'm not alone in this. A new survey by the British Medical Association, of 1,193 European doctors working in the UK, found that two fifths (42%) were considering leaving, and more than half (55%) of European doctors felt the UK government isn't doing enough for international doctors.

If those doctors who've been left to feel unappreciated by the government vote with their feet and leave the UK, the health service will not be able to cope.

In my own surgery near Torbay, we treat 18,000 patients with full and part-time GPs, some partners, others salaried doctors. It's been widely documented that there have been significant problems recruiting GPs in recent years - more than ten per cent of GP posts were vacant last year. It is increasingly difficult to recruit GP partners in particular.

Advertisement

Trainee doctors feel put off general practice by the volume of GP appointments which has doubled nationally in the last decade which means we can only see patients for ten minutes at a time - barely enough time to check for complex health concerns.

It can also be hard to attract thirty-something GP trainees to rural areas. The relaxed pace of life of rural Devon is very attractive to me but it isn't for everyone and some prefer the hustle and bustle of urban life.

If I go, my surgery will lose my multi-disciplinary experience of medicine and working within the NHS. Before returning to the South West to work as a GP, I trained as an anaesthetist and my training took me to Exeter, Leicester, Derby and Boston.

In Plymouth alone, four GP surgeries faced closure at the end of March, with around eight thousand patients being displaced after the service provider said maintaining the practices could 'risk the care' it could currently offer. NHS England have said they will save three of these from closure but the new contract holder would only commit to a year. In areas like this, losing an experienced GPs would be a disaster.

Recruiting from the EU has been vital in dealing with staff shortages across the NHS and it's dependent on EU workers to provide a high-quality, reliable and safe service to patients.

Advertisement

Staff shortages are worsening across the NHS, with almost three quarters of NHS Trusts concerned they don't have the right staff numbers and skill mix to deliver high quality care, and one in three GP practices have unfilled vacancies.

And it's not just about numbers. Mutual recognition across the EU of professional qualifications ensures those working here are fully qualified and highly skilled but, at the same time, a different skill mix and a wide range of expertise and experience from different healthcare systems. During my time working in Devon, I've gotten to know my patients and their families. I've been there to help them welcome a new life, care for them when they're often at their most vulnerable, and help them prepare for the loss of a loved one. I have enjoyed being a true family doctor caring for members of the same family and being able to use my knowledge of the whole family to provide holistic care.

To ensure the NHS can continue to provide a high-level of care to its patients, the government must act now, and end the uncertainty in the NHS by granting permanent residence to all doctors and NHS staff from the EU. Around 10,000 doctors who work in the NHS in the UK - 6.6 per cent of the UK medical workforce - qualified in the European Economic Area (EEA), no doubt, a significant number to lose.

The last thing I want to do is leave my patients, colleagues and friends who have been so supportive since the referendum result was announced.
The yearly Calabar Carnival is the biggest street party in West Africa and one of the biggest in Africa.

I started 2016 with a plan of visiting five countries, but a combination of time and currency fluctuations meant I had to slightly modify my travel goals. I ended up having some really special moments discovering Nigeria in fun and exciting ways.

Calabar is the capital of Cross River, a lush state in the South South region of Nigeria that gets its name from the Cross River, a river that passes through the state. It is a peaceful, pleasant and surprisingly organised city in the turbid Niger Delta

Advertisement

The Calabar Carnival was my final destination in a year where I visited four countries and over 15 states in Nigeria. A difficult task to manage with a full time job and diverse social engagements, but where there is a will, there is always a way. You may call me Ajala (Ajala is a word that describes someone with wanderlust in the Yourba language, the Yoruba language is the language spoken by identical named indigenes in the South Western part of Nigeria.).

After my first trip, I decided to start a Discover Nigeria movement (#DiscoverNigeria); a movement to change the negative perception of Nigeria and Nigerians through exposure of the diverse parts of the Nigerian culture and people using social media and public relations- articles, videos, etc. Home grown tour companies are doing a great job with their promotion of Nigerian destinations on Instagram and other social media platforms.

My first Discover Nigeria trip: The trip took me to Olumo Rock in Abeokuta. Picture credit: Author's own

Advertisement

Travelling to Calabar

The Margaret Ekpo International Airport is the only airport in Calabar and has an estimated 200,000 travelers annually according to Wikipedia. Most of these passengers come in for the Calabar Carnival which has over 60,000 visitors yearly.

I enjoy travelling alone because it provides an opportunity to explore wherever I go uninhibited. In 2016 however, I discovered the ease and convenience of travelling with tour companies and making new travel friends.

I set up to go for the carnival with a tour company and flights were booked for Tuesday Dec 27th so we could arrive early for the main carnival which began with the exotic processions early on the 28th of December

On the 26th of December, the skies in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria were shrouded with a thick harmattan fog that affected visibility and made flying almost impossible. Still optimistic, I arrived at the airport a few hours before my flight, to meet a drove of angry passengers who had been unable to fly for days. Troops of dancers, musicians and celebrities all potential revelers for the carnival were also stranded at the airport. I met up with some of the other travelers on my tour group and we waited for a few hours before the airline postponed our flights due to the bad weather conditions in Lagos and Calabar.

We spontaneously decided to embark on a road trip to Calabar, a trip that took us 17 hours and (we had to make a night stop in between) through eight Nigerian states; Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Akwa Ibom state.

Advertisement

Unfiltered picture 17 hours later in Calabar, Picture credit: Author's own

The Carnival

The Calabar Carnival was created in 2004 by the then governor, Mr Donald Duke who wanted to make Cross River the hub for tourism and hospitality in Nigeria and in Africa.

A picture of some of the dancers at the carnival. Picture credit: Author's own

We arrived exhausted in Calabar on the 27th of December but jumped right into the activities. We had missed the biker's carnival led by the visionary creator of the carnival and former governor of Cross River, Mr Donald Duke. He led bikers from all across Nigeria and other international guest bikers.

Advertisement

Former Governor Donald Duke, the founder of the Calabar Carnival. Picture credit: Author's own

The carnival takes over all major roads in Calabar. It stretches across an estimated 12 kilometres starting from UJ Esuene Stadium passing through Mary Slessor road to Ndidem Usang Iso and MCC Road before finally ending at the stadium.

Setting out with other tourists an hour after arriving. Picture credit: Author's own

Every year the carnival has a theme and the bands have to come up with costumes and routines around that theme. The 2016 carnival theme announced by the governor, Professor Ayade, an environmentalist was "Climate Change".

The four main bands- The Bayside Band, Master Blaster Band, Seagull and Passion 4 Band came up with some extremely creative costumes that depicted various aspects of climate change. Watching the parade was fascinating but equally it was equally interesting to watch the interpretation of the global phenomenon of climate change by the individual bands.

Other attractions at the carnival were musical performances, a special international display, late night dancing on the streets, 24 hour Christmas villages and a delectable array of tasty delicacies that not only show the complex if under represented flavor profile of Nigerian cuisine but also the hospitality of the Calabar people.

Advertisement

The beauty of the carnival goes beyond the story of picturesque costumes and diverse choreographed dances to tell a story of hope, progress and development despite such debilitating political and economic constraints.

Official emblem of the state. Picture credit: Author's own
Handout via Getty Images

NHS spending under the Conservative government is at its lowest since the 1950s, and the latest accounts reveal a funding shortfall of 900m for the 2016-17 financial year.

According to a recent study by researchers from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Oxford University and Blackburn with Darwen council, NHS cuts were likely responsible for 30,000 excess deaths in 2015 - an unprecedented rise in mortality - but the service has been asked to make another 22bn worth of cuts regardless.

Advertisement

Secretive sustainability and transformation plans (STPs), for which the Government admits it has allocated zero funds despite the British Medical Association calculating the proposals would cost 9.5bn upfront, will see thousands of NHS beds slashed across the country, cutting NHS capacity by more than 5 million patients every year. The plans will also ensure the closure of scores of A&E departments and the loss of vital maternity and stroke care services.

From closing A&E and maternity services in Milton Keynes to slashing beds on the Isle of Wight, from downgrading the Princess Royal Hospital in West Sussex to downgrading Horton Hospital in Oxford, these cuts will have real and significant impacts on people in my South East constituency and their access to healthcare.

Meanwhile, Theresa May has approved the renewal of Trident, cost 205bn; is pushing ahead with the Hinkley 'white elephant', cost 37bn, and is looking set to rescue the faltering Moorside and Wylfa nuclear projects, cost 7bn.

This situation is ridiculous; we have a Government more concerned with blowing 250bn on its nuclear follies rather than safeguarding the health of the British people.

Advertisement

We don't need Trident; we can't use it; we can't afford it. Is the Prime Minister really prepared to argue we need the capacity to murder millions more than we need a functioning healthcare system to look after our sick and vulnerable?

We don't need Hinkley either; costs are spiralling; offshore wind will be cheaper, and the risks don't bear thinking about. Nor do we need Moorside or Wylfa; developers have no confidence in the projects and nor should we; taxpayers will end up picking up the tab.

What we do need is a fully funded, truly public NHS. As the world's fifth largest economy, we can afford so much better. We must provide the British people with the social and hospital care services they deserve.

The Tories continue to demonstrate why they are the biggest threat to our beloved NHS. Brexiteer Ministers Liam Fox, Boris Johnson, and David Davis, who were promising an extra 350m a week for our health services should we vote to leave the EU, are now overseeing the cuts that are pushing our NHS into crisis.

The Conservative government's pursuit of an extreme Brexit and insistence on treating the lives of EU citizens as bargaining chips looks likely to drive 12,000 EEA-trained doctors out of our already understaffed and underfunded National Health Service.

Advertisement

With a demoralised, increasingly under-resourced workforce, a '7-day plan' exposed as a cynical ploy to open up services to further privatisation, and an incompetent Health Secretary in charge of bankrupting our proudest public service; it is clearer than ever that this government cannot be trusted with the NHS.
In a recent review of Dr Seamus O'Mahony's new book, The Way We Die Now, PD Smith, also a doctor, praised him for his searing honesty. Dr O'Mahony has apparently diagnosed all that is wrong with society's approach to death and dying. We are told death has replaced sex as the new taboo. The cause is evangelical atheism, which has left us unsure of how to behave when faced with the great events of our lives.

On closer inspection however, Dr O'Mahony's honesty itself is more revealing of the problem than the cure. It demonstrates the failure of some doctors to understand the progress society has made when it comes to thinking about death.

Coming under attack are Advance Decisions (also known as 'living wills'), a legal tool proven to improve care outcomes and patient satisfaction and reduce unwanted hospital admissions - they are dismissed as nothing more than 'a distraction'.

Advertisement

Lindsey Briggs, the widow of Paul Briggs, who was left minimally conscious following a motorbike accident, would disagree. She has said that because Paul did not have an Advance Decision their family were 'powerless'. As a result, Lindsey had to fight the hospital in charge of Paul's care for Paul's wishes to be respected. Lindsey won the ensuing legal case, which allowed Paul to die peacefully on 21 January.

Also in the firing line is public demand for an assisted dying law, apparently a misguided 'obsession', 'founded on a rather naive view of human nature'. Last month Noel Conway launched a judicial review of the law that prohibits assisted dying. Noel has Motor Neurone Disease and has been told he is expected to die in the next 12 months. He is not naive, he has confronted the reality of his situation and concluded that the options available to him are simply not acceptable.

What would Dr O'Mahony say to Lindsey and Noel? That their stances on these issues, informed by the cruel reality of the circumstances they have found themselves in, are not valid?

Advance Decisions and assisted dying both empower people to make decisions about how they are cared for. They are logical expansions of person-centred care. Person-centred is critical, because care should be centred around the person receiving it, not the doctor providing it.

Advertisement

This notion appears to be lost on Dr O'Mahony, it also seems to have been overlooked by many representatives of the end-of-life care sector, particularly in the debate around assisted dying. In 2015 the National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) issued a joint statement with the Association for Palliative Medicine (APM) arguing that when MPs consider assisted dying, they should not view it as compatible with end-of-life care. MPs listened to them and rejected the proposals.

In an undignified attempt to add extra weight to their view the NCPC and APM proclaimed that the voices of those working within end-of-life care 'must be given particular weight'. When discussing end-of-life choices, surely weight must be given to the views and experiences of dying people? Yet for some reason, neither dying people nor the public can be trusted.

Why not?

Polling from the Dying Matters coalition shows that two thirds of the country feel comfortable talking about dying with family and friends. Collective outpourings of social media grief for celebrities have become the norm. Barely a month goes by without a beloved soap character confronting their fictionalised mortality.

Death is not a taboo, it is all around us - on our televisions and Twitter feeds. The problem is not that the public is incapable of having a conversation about death, the problem is that decision-makers - doctors and MPs - are not listening to what they are saying.

In absence of a safeguarded assisted dying law dying people are carving out freedoms for themselves, either by travelling abroad to die or ending their own lives behind closed doors. Tragically the economic, logistical and emotional barriers to such acts mean many more people still suffer against their wishes in their final days, even when in receipt of high quality palliative care. Attempts to fix this situation, such as through Noel Conway's legal case, are not misplaced attempts to 'tame' death, as Dr O'Mahony concludes. Far from it, they are reasonable responses, put forward by the only experts that matter - dying people themselves.

Advertisement

Dr O'Mahony, the NCPC, the APM and indeed the British Medical Association would rather look away and pretend the current law works, hoping that dying people will give up their attempts at control and hand power back to the establishment. Unfortunately for them the era of paternalism is over. Doctors' views no longer trump the lived experience of the people they care for.
Diana Ross had her trusted Supremes and it looks like Donald Trump is going to get his too!

In the tumultuous first month of Donald Trump's presidency, amongst the immigration bans; the challenging Cabinet appointments; the fights with everyone from Nordstrom to the Australian Prime Minister; and the whole issue of Russia; he might well have made his most enduring decision.

President Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the US Supreme Court.

Arguably, one of the most important decisions a President gets to make is to appoint a Supreme Court justice. A President can only serve a maximum of eight years but a Supreme Court Justice can serve decades, limited only by impeachment, death or their decision to retire.

In February last year, the surprise death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia left a vacancy on the court, which it was assumed would give President Obama an opportunity to make his third appointment to the Court and help secure his legacy for many years to come. The significance of this cannot be underestimated. Scalia was appointed by President Reagan and had served on the Court for thirty years as its most conservative voice. Undoubtedly a brilliant legal mind, his views were consistent and often delivered in a forthright and belligerent way, especially when he was on the losing side.

Advertisement

The Court has been very evenly balanced for over a decade with many crucial decisions decided on the thinnest margin of 5-4. Scalia's death presented an opportunity to dramatically tilt the court by replacing the most conservative voice with a moderate or liberal one. President Obama played cautiously and nominated Justice Merrick Garland, an exceptionally well-regarded judge who was considered to be a safe choice who would not unduly provoke the Republicans.

Why did he care? Whilst the President gets to nominate judges, the Senate has to ratify those choices and the Senate was controlled by the Republicans. This is where things unraveled for Obama and Garland. Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell refused to allow Garland's nomination to be considered. He argued that it was too close to the election for the incumbent President to make such a significant choice and it should be up to the next President to make the selection.

McConnell's argument wasn't based on precedent and was really a political decision rather than a procedural one. President Obama protested, as did many of the Democrats, but to no avail. Justice Garland's nomination was becalmed and there was nothing that Obama could do about it. The election happened and Justice Garland's nomination fell with the end of Obama's presidency.

That left the new President with a glorious gift, a chance to nominate a Justice as one of his first acts. That hasn't happened since 1969, when Richard Nixon had not one but two vacancies to fill on his accession.

Advertisement

There is a strong element of luck about whether a President gets to have even one appointment never mind more. Jimmy Carter made no appointments, whereas his successor Ronald Reagan got to elevate William Rehnquist to Chief Justice and also appoint three other justices during his presidency, and as a result leave a huge legacy of moving the Court to the right.

There are no guarantees that a President's choices will turn out how they expected. Judges have a habit of evolving their views once they sit on the Court. John Kennedy's nominee, Byron White, turned out to be far more conservative than people expected. Conversely, President Eisenhower said "I made two mistakes and both of them are sitting on the Supreme Court." He was referring to Earl Warren and William Brennan who were to become the backbone of the great reforming liberal court of the 1960s.

Trump's choice of Gorsuch appears to be a very shrewd one. He is exceptionally conservative in the mould of Scalia, but is eminently qualified. He has been joyously received by the Republicans and leaves the Democrats with a significant problem in finding a way to oppose him and yet appear reasonable.

With a number of the liberal members of the Court ageing and in ill-health, it's possible that President Trump might get the opportunity to nominate at least two other Justices in the coming years. If he does, the balance of the Court could change for decades.

With everything else going in Washington, it's worth paying attention to the Court, it's where lasting and seismic change could take place.

Advertisement
SPF gets proposals from potential partners as for resumption of Odesa port-side plant's work

The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) has received proposals for the resumption of work of PJSC Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant from potential partners, the press service of the agency has said.

"The SPF is finishing accepting applications for the resumption of work of Odesa port-side plant. The fund received offers of cooperation from potential investors and partners," the report says.

According to SPF Head Ihor Bilous, the State Property Fund next week will consider the options that "will allow resuming the work of the plant in the short term."

As reported, the State Property Fund announced that until February 24 it would accept proposals for the launch of Odesa port-side plant. Among the potential areas of cooperation the SPF sees leasing the plant's property (including separate objects), loading the plant on a tolling scheme, the transfer of the enterprise for management to other entities, purchase of gas for the needs of the plant.

DCH Group of Oleksandr Yaroslavsky sent a formal proposal to rent PJSC Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant, however as of January 20 had received no reply.
It's happened! I've been recognised in the street by adoring fans! Well, not really fans, but people have been stopping me to ask if I'm the chap in the advert for the charity Guide Dogs. In my very first blog in October last year, I said there would be very little chance of finding me out in the street at all, because I never went anywhere on my own. I used to be one of the 180,000 people with sight loss in the UK who rarely or never leave their home on their own.

But now I've been partnered with my guide dog, Oscar, I've been able to go out without my wife Elaine for the first time since I went blind eight years ago. In the last few weeks, several people have stopped me to chat, including one man who runs a local glossy magazine and who'd like to write a piece about me. It's a huge contrast to before, when people would pretty much ignore me when I was out with Elaine and talk to her instead, like I didn't exist.

Advertisement

Elaine and I have taken Oscar to all sorts of places. We had our photo taken with the statue of Billy Fury at Albert Dock in Liverpool, and we've had a day out to Llandudno. One of Oscar's favourite places is Thurstaston Common, where I can let him off the lead for what we guide dog owners call a 'free run' - that's a walk to everyone else. I unhook his lead but he doesn't run straight off, he waits until I say 'run free, Oscar' before he gallops away. He's such a good boy! I say gallop because that's exactly what it sounds like. I can't see him running past but I can definitely hear him - he weighs 35 kilograms (that's five-and-half stone in old money)!

Oscar's also had his first visit to the vet. Like all guide dog owners, I groom my guide dog every day and check his paws, and one morning I noticed his claws felt like they needed a clip. He was so well behaved and the vet thought he was great - he called Oscar a very handsome dog.

Oscar made us chuckle on Valentine's Day. Our daughter Helen has a soft toy dog that's nearly as big as Oscar, so we sat them opposite each other at a low table and scattered some rose petals over it. As you'll (hopefully be able to) see, the resulting photo is very cute, with Oscar and his date staring into each other's eyes.

Advertisement

I've also taken Oscar to visit the statue of a guide dog in Wallasey, where the UK's first guide dogs were trained. This trip was especially poignant because it was at that spot in November 2015 where Elaine and I wondered if having a guide dog could help me. Little did I know then that the next time I was there, I'd have a guide dog of my very own!

In fact Guide Dogs is having an effect on my whole family. My son, Christian, has been so impressed by Oscar that he's decided to do the Great Manchester Run 10k for Guide Dogs. He's hoping to raise 150, and Elaine and I couldn't be more proud.
United Way office at library connects residents in crisis with resources

Goal of program to connect families in need with the resources and guide them through application processes.
Shebelynka gas refinery (Kharkiv region) in January 2017 increased crude oil processing by 5.1% (by 2,200 tonnes) compared to the same period of 2016, to 45,100 tonnes.

The Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry told Interfax-Ukraine the company in January 2017 reduced production of petrol by 47.2% compared with January 2016, to 11,200 tonnes, diesel fuel by 20.2%, to 8,300 tonnes, fuel oil by 46.4%, to 3,000 tonnes.

As reported, Ukrgazvydobuvannia, which operates Shebelynka gas refinery, in 2016 increased the volume of crude oil processing by 11.8% compared with 2015, to 515,400 tonnes.
What Do Don Henley, Deadmau5, The Beatles Have in Common w/ Hotel California? Facebook Is Selling Their Names As Keywords

Internet advertising companies selling keywords under suspicious circumstances is nothing new, and is a practice which landed Google in some serious hot water in the early '00s. The latest perpetrator seems to be Facebook, who has been selling actual artist names as keywords.

_________________________





Guest post by Chris Castle on Music Technology Policy

MTP readers will recall that there is a long history of Internet advertising companies selling keywords under dodgy circumstances. We have some documentation of this practicestarting in 2003ish an affidavit from the DownloadPlace litigation documents that Google suggested artist names as Google Adwords. In the Google drugs non prosecution agreement case, Google representatives sold drug-related keywords in an FBI sting operation that resulted in a multi-year grand jury investigation and Google paying a $500,000,000 forfeiture.

But theres a new bad boy on the blockFacebook. Not only has Facebook refused to get music licenses, Facebook is actually selling artist names as keywords. You can determine this yourself by boosting any post and setting the Create Audience filter to include artist names or song titles under Interests.

Heres a few examplesmy bet is that none of these are protected by any safe harbor (DMCA or CDA) as the selling of the artist names and song titles is likely not avoidable that way. Alsoits important to note that all these artists and songwriters no doubt have heavily negotiated restrictions on the use of their names for advertising purposes so its not like they didnt think about it.

Don Henley:

Glenn Frey:

Hotel California

Sam & Dave

Deadmau5

The Beatles

Share on:




iciHaiti - Petit-Goave : A demonstration goes wrong, 1 death





Tuesday the umpteenth day of demonstrations for the resumption of classes in the high schools goes wrong, while the police tried to disperse with tear gas the studentsof the Faustin Soulouque high school entrenched to the La Hatte avenue (nearby of the sea). In this climate of panic, a taxi-moto Lherisson Pierre, 42, father of two children would have thrown himself to the sea to escape the police who chased him, according to the testimonies of the relatives of the victim. The lifeless body of the victim was found in the sea, on Wednesday midday.



Justice of the Peace Petit-Goave, Me Roland Delva has drawn up the legal statement pointing out "I saw at the level of his body some lesions and sores. It is up to a forensic pathologist to determine the origin of these injuries [...]" The body was transported and dropped by an angry crowd in a private morgue in the city.



Spontaneously, people took the opportunity to demonstrate against the police officers, whom residents of La Hatte Avenue accuse of being responsible for the death of the victim. The agents of the Departmental Operations and Intervention Brigade (BOID) had to intervene to disperse the demonstrators and restore law and order.



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-20158-icihaiti-flash-blockage-of-petit-goave-truce-possible-under-condition.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-20119-icihaiti-petit-goave-teachers-on-strike-high-school-students-on-the-street-since-over-one-month.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19902-haiti-flash-second-day-of-violence-in-petit-goave.html



IH/ iciHaiti / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave)


















The Ukrainian side intends to hold negotiations with Western partners about the possible strengthening of sanctions against Russia in connection with the decree issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the recognition of ORDLO "documents", Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's Policy and Communication Department Director Oleksiy Makeyev has said.

"The president clearly stated that such destructive actions of the Kremlin should lead to a discussion in the EU with our main partners with the aim of not easing sanctions, but rather their gain for such an aggressive policy of the Kremlin. And we will be working with our main partners so that the sanction pressure on Russia, as the only instrument of political pressure, be maintained and applied," Makeyev told journalists in Kyiv on Thursday.

He noted that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on its part immediately responded to the decree of the Russian Federation, claiming the Kremlin violation of its obligations under the Minsk agreements.

"We will very closely monitor how other states will react. But the fact that the Kremlin's actions were condemned by the EU, the U.S., Germany, the OSCE, France and our main foreign partners, indicates that their assessment of the Kremlin's actions fully coincides with ours," the diplomat said.
Kyiv City Council deputies at a plenary session on Thursday cancelled the lease of a land parcel to the civil organization Yan Tabachnyk International Creative Center on the banks of the Dnipro river near Berkovshchyna bay.

According to the council's press service, the corresponding land 8.15 hectare land parcel in 2003 was leased to the Center for 25 years. The lease envisioned construction and maintenance of the "I Have the Honor" elite club (Chest' Imeyu).

"The decision did not take into account the conclusions of the state bureau of ecology and natural resources and did not comply with the norms of Water and Land Codes of Ukraine. Thus, the Kyiv City Council in 2005 rescinded permission and ordered the main bureau of land resources of Kyiv City State Administration to void the lease agreement of the land parcel  However, in 2008, according to another Council decision, the land was again leased to Tabachnyk's center.

Kyiv's City Council said the move impeded realization of plans by the territorial Darnytsky district community to create Berkovshchyna park, leading 79 Kyiv City Council deputies to again nullify the lease agreement.
Law enforcement officers of Odesa region prevented the abduction to inflict grievous bodily harm to deputy head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction Oleksiy Honcharenko and detained the organizers and perpetrators of this crime.

Odesa region prosecutor Oleh Zhuchenko and head of the SBU in the Odesa region Serhiy Batrakov said at an emergency press briefing in Odesa on Thursday that security forces have found a criminal group which was engaged in the manufacture and distribution of campaign materials of separatist slant.

"Now we are conducting six searches in Odesa. All members of this group have been identified," Batrakov said, adding that during the searches pamphlets of anti-Ukrainian content were seized aimed at promoting ethnic hatred.

Zhuchenko said that law enforcers have established and documented "involvement of this group to the fact of infringement on life and health of the people's deputy Oleksiy Honcharenko."

Batrakov said that the kidnapping of the people's deputy was planned with the aim of inflicting bodily harm, not to kill him.

According to Zhuchenko, criminals who organized and tried to carry out the kidnapping of Honcharenko, intended to cause him serious bodily injury, in particular, to blind him on February 23 because they thought such an act is symbolic on this date.

"The father of Kushnariov [who passed away on May 2, 2014 in Odesa] is a deputy of Lymansky Regional Council of Odesa region, and this is he, who is not only the paymaster of the MP's abduction, but he, with two his accomplices went to the scene and had to cause serious bodily injuries to the people's deputy, namely to apply acid to disfigure his face, blind him and break his kneecaps," the prosecutor of Odesa region said.

According to Batrakov, lawbreakers were able to implement this kidnapping, but they were detained during their arrival at the crime scene. "During the arrest evidence were seized, namely an acid bottle and a hammer. They personally came to the place designated for the victim's capture wearing balaclavas, so that it would be impossible to identify them," Batrakov said.
A suspect in the so-called "Gas case," ex limited liability company Nadra Geotsentr Director Serhiy Svychenko, who was sentenced to house arrest before trial, has vanished and has been placed on the wanted list, the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine's (NABU) press service says.

"The decision of Kyiv's Solomensky district court to sentence Svychenko to house arrest  allowed him to flee. On February 16, 2017 he was placed on the wanted list," NABU's press service said. Svychenko also worked as ex director of the limited liability company Karpatnadrainvest.

NABU's press release says Svychenko's disappearance again demonstrates the necessity to create a specialized anti-corruption court.

Svychenko was first apprehended on June 28, 2017 attempting to cross the border with Russia. He is suspected of committing crimes pursuant to Part 1 of Article 255, Part 4 of Article 28, Part 5 of Article 191, Part 4 of Article 28 and Part 5 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Kyiv's Solomenksky district court ruled pretrial confinement in the form of home arrest, posting UAH 5 million bail, ordered Svychenko to wear an electronic bracelet and not leave his residence.

NABU's press service said Svychenko did not post bail and a notice was sent to court ordering his arrest pending trial. However, the court ignored the notice.
The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers.

To unlock this article:
Hasbro in collaboration with Zynga, will bring some of the world's most popular digital game brands to life with a new line of games based on Zynga's Words With Friends, FarmVille, CityVille and Draw Something brands. The line will hit store shelves this month at most major U.S. retailers and will also be available globally this fall in the U.K., Australia and Canada. More details after the jump.

With the new games, fans can choose from FARMVILLE inspired characters in the HUNGRY HUNGRY HERD game to see who can gobble up the most apples, race to build their dream cities in the CITYVILLE MONOPOLY game, play their best word combinations in the WORDS WITH FRIENDS game, and showcase their artistic abilities in the DRAW SOMETHING game.

Each of Hasbro's Zynga games takes features and game play from Zynga's digital games and transforms them into an engaging experience for family and friends to share in person. Many of Hasbro's Zynga FARMVILLE, CITYVILLE, and WORDS WITH FRIENDS games also include digital values to help enhance players' online or mobile game play. With purchase of Hasbro's Zynga WORD WITH FRIENDS or WORD WITH FRIENDS LUXE games, players get access to a bundle of digital features, including Word-O-Meter, The Count and Tile Pile to boost their online or mobile Words With Friends experience. With purchase of Hasbro's FARMVILLE or CITYVILLE games, parents can redeem FARM CASH to keep their digital farms growing strong in Zynga's FarmVille game or CITY CASH to continue their building adventures in Zynga's CityVille game.

"We are thrilled to be working with Zynga to give their millions of fans an exciting experience with the Zynga games they love," said Eric Nyman, Senior Vice President, Global Brand Leader, Hasbro Gaming. "Gaming brings people together, especially during the holidays, and we can't wait to offer friends and families even more great options to play."

"We are proud to team up with Hasbro and excited for our players to experience their favorite Zynga games in a new way," said Barry Cottle, Executive Vice President, Corporate and Business Development, Zynga. "Our hope is to enhance relationships through play through our web and mobile social games and now with the new games from Hasbro, we can make those connections even stronger for our players."

"Hasbro's new games bring popular Zynga brands to life, offering fans a unique new gaming experience," said Laurie Schacht, Toy Insider Mom and contributing toy editor at Woman's Day. "The fun face to face game play and the digital features included with most of Hasbro's Zynga games will surely be a huge hit this holiday season!"

For more information, visit: www.hasbro.com/zynga.
Almost half of all phishing attacks (fraudulent email messages or copycat websites that appear legitimate) registered in 2016 by Kaspersky Labs heuristic detection technologies were aimed at stealing their victims money, according to an analysis of the financial threat landscape by the companys experts.

Compared to 2015, the amount of financial phishing attacks increased 13.14 percentage points in 2016 to comprise 47.48% of all phishing attacks blocked by heuristic detection technologies.

Heuristic analysis is a protection technology that allows detecting threats which cannot be detected using antivirus databases due to the lack of signatures. It allows detecting polymorphic viruses or mutating viruses that can modify the file with malicious code at every infection.

In 2016, Kaspersky Labs anti-phishing technologies detected almost 155 million user attempts to visit different kinds of phishing pages.

Of those, almost half of heuristic detections were attempts to visit a financial phishing page, i.e. where the aim was to obtain valuable personal information from users  such as their account numbers for banking, credit accounts, social security numbers, and the login and passwords they use to access online banking.

The cybercriminals intended to use this information to steal money from their victims. This is the highest share of financial phishing registered to date by Kaspersky Lab.

Banking phishing schemes are the absolute leaders among all types of financial phishing. Every fourth (25.76%) attack used fake online banking information, or other content related to banks  a result that is 8.31 percentage points up on 2015.

The share of phishing related to payment systems and e-shops accounted for 11.55% and 10.14% respectively, an increase of 3.75 p.p. and 1.09 p.p. compared to 2015. The share of financial phishing detected on MacOS computers was 31.38%.

The distribution of different types of financial phishing in 2016

Financial phishers are particularly keen to use data related to top multi-national banks, popular payment systems and Internet shops and auctions from the US, China and Brazil in their scams. The list of brands used stays the same from year to year, as their popularity remains high and they are therefore a lucrative target for cybercriminals.

Financial phishing has always been one of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to earn illegal money. You dont have to be a skilled programmer, and you dont have to invest lots of money into supporting infrastructure. Of course, most phishing schemes are easy to recognize and avoid, but judging by what we see in our statistics, lots of people are still not cautious enough when it comes to dealing with financial data online. Otherwise, we wouldnt have seen so many attacks in 2016, said Nadezhda Demidova, senior web content analyst at Kaspersky Lab.

In order to protect themselves from phishing, Kaspersky Lab experts advise users to take the following measures:






This Isnt Our Last Love Letter



Dear Don Don,

Way back in 92



I walked into the room and knew



Never felt this way before



I shook your hand while gazing into your eyes



And the feeling grew



As I took a seat I knew



A love that would have my heart



Forever



I knew



Way back in 92





They say love at first sight doesnt always last or isnt true



We were the exception to that rule



Our love had no where to hide



A spark set fire



As if this is how the universe started





I never doubted our love or what we could do



Together we grew



Forming a bond everlasting



That became our glue



My euphoria was YOU



Im eternally grateful for the love and life we shared



For how fortunate we were :



to have and to hold

through sickness and in health

Til death do us part



Until we are together again



This isnt our last love letter



I love you with all my heart and soul



Yours forever,



Deirdre (Mrs. Hank Snow)





Im fortunate to have fallen in love with, marry and make a life with the sharpest, coolest, funniest, most rare, bad ass, tender loving, loyal man on the planet, my husband Don Imus.









A True American Hero

I dont know why it has been so hard for me to write about my dear friend Don Imus.



I certainly know what he meant to me, my family, my charity, my hospital and the millions of fans that listened and loved him for so many years.



I keep reading all the beautiful condolences that people are writing about how much a part of their lives were effected by listening to him over the years.

But what most people dont talk enough about is what he did for all of us.

In every sense of the word, he was an American Hero. His work with children with so many different illnesses and his dedication to their future was unmatched by anyone I have ever known or heard about.



Besides raising over $100,000,000 for so many causes, he took care of young people for over 20 years in a state where he could not breathe. Along with his incredible wife Deirdre, he created a world where children were not defined by their disease. That was a miracle! He was a miracle.

I will miss him ever day for the rest of my life.

I was blessed to be a part of his and Deirdes life.

No one will ever do what he did.

I love you Don Imus - A TRUE AMERICAN HERO





David Jurist

IMUS IN THE MORNING

FIRST DAY BACK!
Justice minister: new structure for NACP operation could be introduced with political will

If there is a political will Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada could quickly amend the institutional work of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko has said.

"I think that with the political will of parliament this [the change of NACP operation] could be done via passing the relevant amendments to legislation and quickly introducing the new structure of NACP work," the minister told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.

Petrenko said that the main thing for NACP is to pass the second stage of declarations and then the issue of institutional changes should be raised. The mistakes made during the creation of the agency as a collegial body should be fixed.

The minister believes that the collegial body is inefficient.

"Millions of Ukrainians assess [the work of NACP]. They expected that this public agency that uses hundreds of millions of funds of taxpayers would work effectively and fight corruption, and not to hear permanent problems and complaints that we fail to do something," he said.

Petrenko said that the work of NACP in the past year is ineffective.
Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

When he was a high school student in Changsha, the capital of the Hunan province in south central China, Tan Hecheng accompanied an older cousin to meet some of his friends in the Dao County area, a long bus ride away. While his cousin caught up with his friends over stewed fish and rice wine, Hecheng went for a walk around the town of Daojiang, the first distant town in the open countryside of China he had ever been to. This was late in 1967, a year after the start of Chairman Maos Cultural Revolution which would last a decade and which would attempt to impose a pure Communist ideology across China, wiping out anything deemed capitalist, traditionalist, or bourgeois.

Hecheng was 20 at this point, and a student, and knew full well the impact the Cultural Revolution was beginning to have. But some aspects of it, especially here where he found himself in the more rural corners of the provinces, still had the capacity to surprise. Walking across a pontoon bridge and examining a city wall archway, Hecheng found a handwritten notice pasted to the granite wall, claiming to be news of an official investigation into several named reactionary landlords who were guilty of heinous crimes including persistent reactionary standpoints, score settling and resistance to remoulding and a poor work effort. The notice, signed by the Head Judge of the Supreme Peoples Court of the Poor and Lower-Middle Peasants, was dated some months before and concluded chillingly: Public wrath demands their execution they are sentenced to death, effective immediately.

Hecheng says the prospect hit him hard: My heart began thundering in spite of myself, my scrotum shrivelling into a tight little ball as my scalp tingled. He ran back to find his cousin and his friends, thinking, Although Id long become inured to the many fantastical oddities emerging from the Cultural Revolution, this notice and this court took me completely by surprise.

In the early days of the Cultural Revolution, not everything that went on in the battle to cleanse China of capitalist influences was widely known about. Property was seized, torture carried out, people imprisoned on the flimsiest of pretexts. Young people, like Hechengs cousin and his friends, had been sent what became known as down to the country, transplanted from their urban homes to rural areas for re-education and to instil a strong work ethic. These were the fantastical oddities of the Cultural Revolution.

Chinese youth and red guards study copies of Maos Little Red Book in a picture released in 1971 (Getty) (Getty Images)

However, when Hecheng got to his companions, they were nonplussed at his reaction. His cousin shrugged and told him: Lots worse things went on. But nobody could satisfactorily give Hecheng any explanation for the deaths; the young people like his cousin who had been sent to the countryside for re-education had gone back to the cities to continue the revolution by the time the worst of what would become known as the Daoxian massacre took place. And it would take Hecheng another two decades to properly get to the truth of the matter.

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

But that day in Daojiang he had stumbled on another facet of the Cultural Revolution that could not in any sense be dismissed as an oddity it was the systematic murder, over 66 days in 1967, of an astonishing 4,000 people, a kind of insanity that spread out to the surrounding districts and eventually resulted in the deaths of 9,000 men, women and children, who were considered enemies of the Maoist government. And it might have all been suppressed or forgotten, had Hecheng not become a journalist and taken an assignment in 1986, which gave him access to a large quantity of classified documents relating to the Daoxian massacre and which prodded the memories of the feelings of horror he had felt on that innocuous day trip 20 years earlier.

Hecheng had stumbled across journalistic dynamite. But even though the Cultural Revolution had come and gone, and ostensible reform had taken its place, China was still mired in bureaucracy and close scrutiny was given to anything that might be deemed damaging to the government. It was journalistic dynamite, that, were he not extremely careful, could quite easily blow up in his face.

Tan Hecheng, author of The Killing Wind (Sim Chi Yin/VII)

Chinese journalist Yang Jisheng, who wrote an extensive investigation into the 1959-1961 Great Famine, called Tombstone, says: I know very well what it is to undertake this kind of journalistic inquiry in mainland China and the risk and political pressure it entails. In compiling these records, Tan took a heavy cross upon himself, and his life entered a new trajectory. Most of the information currently circulating in China and abroad regarding this massacre is the result of Tans reporting and is only the tip of the iceberg.

Naturally, Hecheng was banned from publishing the results of his investigations into the classified documents, and his subsequent visits to the Daoxian region to find out precisely what had happened. But in 2010 he published, in Hong Kong, no longer under mainland control, a Chinese language edition of his findings, which was titled after the name rural peasants in Dao County gave to the period between 13 August and 17 October 1967, when the massacre took place: The Killing Wind.

But, aside from the rather abstract information that 4,000 people died in 66 days, what exactly was the Daoxian Massacre, the Killing Wind, and why did it happen?

Perhaps the most startling image from Hechengs book, now translated into English for a brand new edition on the 50th anniversary of the massacre, is the description of the Xiao river bloated with dead bodies; children dance on the banks of the vast river, counting the corpses which flow past a hundred an hour, until they become tangled and bottlenecked at the Shuangpai dam. It takes six months to clear the hydropower generators of bodies; it is two years before local people will eat fish from the cadaver-stuffed river again.

The propaganda was taken on board by rural people in Dao County with a passion bordering on frenzy. There were black elements everywhere your neighbour could be one. You could have them in your own family

The bodies that had been cast into the Xiao had been murdered with farming tools, spades, hoes, sticks. Others had been thrown into limestone pits sometimes without even being killed, suffocating in a rapidly filling mass grave. And when their killers were feeling particularly creative and had time on their hands, they would practise the Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers several people would be tied together and blown up with dynamite, flesh, bone and body parts scattering the surrounding area. Those killed were described by Maoist propaganda as black elements  capitalist, bourgeois, traditional.

They were said to be landlords  a heinous crime, profiting from the land others had to live on  or capitalists even a simple shopkeeper could be classed as a capitalist. Anyone who had voiced seditious sentiments a decade or more before the Cultural Revolution would be fingered as a black element, anyone who had a job that was part of the previous infrastructure. Homosexuals, of course, were black elements. The propaganda was taken on board by rural people in Dao County with a passion bordering on frenzy. There were black elements everywhere your neighbour could be one. You could have them in your own family.

Over August 1967, the fear of black elements within the province began to reach fever pitch. The atrocities of the Cultural Revolution are well-known. But most focus on what went on in the cities, with the Red Guard carrying out Maos orders against suspected insurrectionists. What happened in Daoxian was another level Chinese against Chinese, villager against villager, farmer against farmer, with enmities and suspicions breeding and spilling over into a two-month orgy of madness and murder.

Yang Jisheng says: Under this totalitarian system, a portion of the people, perhaps five per cent or more of Chinas population, were labelled as a political underclass. Year in and year out, day after day, the media tools of the state apparatus demonised this particular underclass until they were considered worthy of death.

The bible of Maoism shifted the focus of revolutionary struggle from the urban workers or proletariat to the countryside and the peasantry (Getty) (Getty Images)

Song Yongyi is a librarian and professor at the John F Kennedy Memorial Library of California State University. He was jailed twice during the Cultural Revolution for belonging to a counter-revolutionary clique. He says: Tan Hechengs investigation shows us that black elements and their off-spring were an underclass suffering horrendous and social bias who had become so disempowered under the long-term dictatorship of the proletariat that even as they faced their deaths, the didnt dare ask the simple question, Why do you want to kill me? There is no justification in international law, in Chinas own laws, or even in the superficial policies of the Chinese Communist Party for the killing of unarmed and peaceful citizens, not to mention women, the elderly and children.

Whether the Killing Wind was an infected madness that swept across Dao County, or the opportunity for old scores and enmities to be settled or acted upon, it resulted in a horrendous death toll with victims ranging, says Song Yongyi, from 78 years old to, heartbreakingly, just 10 days old. And without the bravery of Tan Hecheng, 30 years ago, acting to bring the facts he uncovered to world attention against the wishes of the Chinese censors, the Daoxian massacre might, like the thousands of innocent victims slaughtered and left in mass graves, have remained buried forever.

The Killing Wind by Tan Hecheng is published by the Oxford University Press
Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Jamie Foxx was subjected to racist abuse while he was shooting a movie in Croatia, it has been reported.

The actor posted video footage on his Instagram - which has since been deleted - showing two men being escorted out of a restaurant.

Foxx claimed that the men were "drunk" and had used racist and other abusive language towards him in Croatian.

BBC News reports that police have filed disorderly conduct charges against the individuals.

The men were described as having aimed "particularly arrogant and rude" insults at "one of the guests on racial grounds".

Foxx was not named directly in the statement.

The actor is currently in Dubrovnik shooting Robin Hood: Origins with Taron Egerton, Tim Minchin and Jamie Dornan. Foxx is starring as Little John in the film.

One day after the alleged incident, Foxx posted on Instagram that he had his "mind blown" by the beauty of the area.
Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

In the balloon-covered function room of a bar in Groningen, one of Portugals most exciting musical exports  The Gift  are explaining how they managed to get Brian Eno and Flood to work on their upcoming album Altar.

Keyboardist and backing vocalist Nuno Goncalves is warm and full of good humour, despite the snowstorm taking place outside, and cant wait for the year to begin.

Were living the best moment of our lives we needed to be in the band for 21 years to have this approach to the record and to have this producer, he says.

The band have been together since 1994 (Press image)

Sometimes you need the right momentum to work with certain people, and were not kids anymore, we know what we want. And this record basically expresses that us as an experimental band that, despite being of a certain age, is still fresh.

This album may appear like a debut to UK listeners, but in fact The Gift have released several over a career spanning more than two decades.

It sounds strange then that theyre only just beginning to introduce themselves to a bigger audience in Britain  and will see the alt-rock band go from performing at arenas in Portugal and Spain to much more intimate venues.

It depends how lazy you are, the attitude you have to performing, Goncalves says. If you are very lazy youll stay in your comfort zone and play to 35,000 people each weekend which is great. But sometimes you want more. And sometimes more means less.

In Portugal were used to playing for smaller audiences as well and its an opportunity to present our music in a different way, frontwoman Sonia Tavares adds. If it was 30 wed be able to do it as well and be very happy about it.

After seeing them perform live in Groningen theres no doubt that the band would give their all regardless of whether they were performing to 30 people or 30,000.

Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up

Onstage theyre a unit of talented musicians, constantly aware of what each person is doing. It helps that theyre a close-knit family (literally  Goncalves brother is bassist and keyboardist John Goncalves) and have been doing this for more than two decades.

We are a family, through the good and the bad, he says with a grin. Sometimes there are fights, but we stick together. Weve been playing with these guest musicians for six years, our average is 60 shows a year there are different environments, different stages. But at the end we give the same energy, the same effort, and Sonia is always amazing.

Tavares is an incredibly enigmatic presence both onstage and off; wearing fantastic, outlandish costumes in silks and velvets  a glorious hot pink coat with feathers at dinner, and a black silk pantsuit and boots to stomp around the stage for the bands Eurosonic performance.

Sonia Tavares is as outlandishly dressed offstage as she is on it

When youre on stage its a bit of an old-fashioned idea perhaps but its your song, your music, your glamour, your character, she says. And if youre professional with the songs you do, why not be professional with the way you look?

She sings mostly in English, as the band followed an unofficial pattern with each record that featured one Portuguese song (the new album is entirely in English).

We like to write like that sometimes, she says. It depends on the mood you have in that moment. If Im singing in Portuguese to Portuguese people its very different to singing to people who dont speak the language.

But I think the character is always the same  we always thought music is more than just a language barrier or an obstacle, its about communication and you can communicate just through a look in the eye, through a smile, and how you sing the song  the emotion you put into it. And people understand regardless of whether they speak the language or not.

This new album will feature an eclectic range of influences, sounds and themes; each song has its own feeling and a different story.

Eno, who produced and co-wrote the record, encouraged the band to rewrite tracks  a challenge, of course, but we loved it.

The result is a fantastic collection of songs that pull the listener into this vibrant, colourful world of different moods and interesting quirks; theatrical pop that brings in discordant synths and an intense, joyous expression of creative talent.

The Gifts new album, Altar, is released in May

Goncalves met Eno at a gallery in Brazil in 2011  according to him Eno fell in love with the band, we fell in love with him, Sonia asked him if he wanted to join us, and we spent the last four years working on this.

Were very proud of it, and we know he [Eno] is as well, which is important, he says. For us it was a pleasure to work with him, we had a lot of fun, it changed the way we looked at songs completely, and it was a very good journey  a hard job but now the job is done.

Flood was brought in on Enos suggestion, and the band are thrilled with what the legendary producer has done for the record.

You cant get any better than that, Tavares beams. It was funny because they got together for the first time in years, and it was like oh! Here we are again. And Flood is such an amazing person, an amazing artist. And more than just the technical side of things, we had a fantastic experience with these people.

I think we speak the same language. Every time we werent comfortable with something we discussed it and came up with a solution that worked for both sides. And one of the things that I felt was that Brian and Flood had this confidence in us. They wanted to know what we cared about, what we know as well.

When you have a problem, instead of being sad about it we were happy because it was the first step to the solution, Goncalves adds. We grew up listening to the records of both these artists. We are musicians in part because of them and the records he produced.

Flood on Songs of Faith and Devotion [Depeche Mode], Brian on How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and both on U2s Zooropa  those are some of the most classic records. There was no clash with either of them [Flood and Eno]  we dont have an ego that prevents us from trying new experiences, we were completely open to it. And that was the key to this work.

The Gift release their sixth album Altar on vinyl and CD on 5 May via their record label La Folie Records  a digital version will be available from 7 April  pre-order now. Their next single Big Fish is out on 10 March.

The band play SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, on 16 March
Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

24: Legacy producers have apologised after footage of a real terrorist attack was included in the show's latest episode, '3:00PM - 4:00PM'.

A scene of an intelligence briefing detailing a fictional attack on Alexandria, Egypt, included actual footage from the Westgate shopping mall terror attacks in Nairobi, Kenya. On Saturday, 21 September 2013, masked gunmen from the al-Shabaab terror group launched an attack within the mall which resulted in at least 67 deaths, with more than 175 people reportedly wounded.

The footage, unsurprisingly, caused huge amounts of anger on social media; with its use to portray a fictional Egyptian attack deemed highly disrespectful to the families of those who died in the Nairobi attack.

Recommended Why 24 is going on without Jack Bauer

Producers Evan Katz and Manny Coto have since apologised for use of the footage, and have pledged to remove the scenes from all future broadcasts of the episode (via Deadline).

"In Episode 4 of 24: Legacy, we regretfully included news footage of an attack in Nairobi," a statement from the pair reads. "It will be removed from all future broadcasts and versions of the show. We apologise for any pain caused to the victims and their families and are deeply sorry."

A Fox spokesman said, "I can confirm the footage was of the Nairobi attack and the producers very much regret using it to depict a fictional act of terror on the show."
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The south-western United States is almost certain to experience a megadrought lasting decades if global warming continues unchecked, researchers have warned.

The once-mighty Colorado river, which has regularly failed to reach the ocean since the 1960s, is already in the grip of the worst 15-year drought on record with the flow of water in the 21st century nearly a fifth lower than the 20th-century average, a new study found.

And scientists warned the river could be reduced by anything from 35 to 55 per cent by the end of this century if nothing is done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Rising temperatures cause increased evaporation from the river, but also prompt plants to use more water.

A paper about the study in the journal Water Resources Research said: With continued anthropogenic [human-caused] warming, the risk of multi-decadal megadrought in the Southwest increases to over 90 per cent over this century if there is no increase in mean precipitation.

Even if modest precipitation increases do occur, the risk will still exceed 70 per cent.

In the event of huge and unlikely increases in rainfall, there would still be a megadrought risk of just under 50 per cent.

Recommended Scott Pruitt does not mention climate change in first EPA speech

Some 40 million people in seven US states and more in Mexico rely on the Colorado river for water.

But the researchers found that the rivers flow between 2000 and 2014 was 19 per cent lower than the average from 1906 to 1999  equivalent to the amount of water used by two million people over a year.

One of the papers lead authors, Bradley Udall, of Colorado State University, said: The future of Colorado river is far less rosy than other recent assessments have portrayed.

Current planning understates the challenge that climate change poses to the water supplies in the American Southwest.

A clear message to water managers is that they need to plan for significantly lower river flows.

However he added that a prolonged drought  such as has occurred in the past  could make things substantially worse.

A megadrought in this century will throw all our operating rules out the window, Mr Udall said.

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke  filled with the carbon that is driving climate change  drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

The paper said the current rate of warming was faster than seen during previous megadroughts.

During the 12th century, flow reductions of approximately 16 per cent occurred during one 25-year period, it said.

Evidence indicates that hemispheric and Southwest temperature anomalies were significantly smaller during past megadroughts than the rapid ongoing current warming that could easily exceed 4C to 5C by the end of century under business-as-usual emissions.

The researchers said there was one way to stop the rapid reduction in the size of the river.

Temperature-driven threats to the flows of the Colorado are large and real, the paper said. The only way to curb substantial risk of long-term mean declines in Colorado river flow is thus to work towards aggressive reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The record warm nature of the ongoing Colorado River drought indicates that this drought is not just a natural drought, and our work demonstrates that flows are unlikely to return to the 20th-century averages if we only wait.

Unusually wet periods like the 1920s and 1990s will still continue to occur, but they will co-occur with higher temperatures that will increase water demand from plants, soil, snow and humans.
Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping experts Sign up for our free IndyBest email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

IndyBest email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Jewellery is a gift to be treasured, often bought as a token of love, so, its important that when we do make that investment  however big or small in monetary terms  it is a piece of integrity.

Its been about 14 years since Leonardo DiCaprios Blood Diamond shone the spotlight on the brutality behind the diamond industry, shattering any illusions about how so-called precious metals and stones are mined.

A lot has changed since that film. But not nearly enough.

Mining companies destroying sacred indigenous sites in western Australia hit the headlines this summer, and reports of gold linked to militias in Sudan were also recently released.

As one jeweller told us: If youre not asking where your jewellery originates from, theres a high chance youre funding weapons for terrorists in war-torn countries.

"Your money could be going to companies who force people to work in mines at gunpoint or knifepoint and abuse children, making them work 10-hour days.

Most of the jewellery companies you know are highly likely to be marketing beautiful items with no mention of the true origin of where their gold and gems come from.

Arguably even worse, some are hiding behind certifications that are nowhere near robust enough. Its a widely-held belief that The Kimberley Process (which claims to reduce the flow of conflict diamonds) is barely worth the paper it is written on. The Responsible Jewellery Council is better than nothing, but not good enough.

To be candid, its highly unlikely even the best jewellers will have 100 per cent traceability of their supply chains. Its just not possible  yet.

As such, genuinely ethical and sustainable jewellery is exceptionally hard to come by, but here is a guide that will help you buy in line with your values.

That said, there are some brilliant jewellers out there who are battling to change the system, working with trusted suppliers and operating to much higher standards.

The list below not only features them, but is dedicated to the extraordinary efforts they make.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Yala Jewellery Lela 3-way earrings Yala Jewellery offers the chance to own beautiful African-inspired modern jewellery that creates financial opportunities for artisans working in the informal sector in Kenya. As the name suggests, these Lela three-way earrings offer three earring styles in one  they can be worn as simple circle studs, as a stud and half-moon combo or you can wear the half-moon as ear jackets behind the earlobe with the circle stud in front. All Yalas materials are recycled, re-used or reclaimed. These earrings are recycled brass made by Yala Jewellerys brass artisan, George, and his team in their workshop just outside of Nairobi. Yala Jewellery was the first jewellery brand to be certified a B-Corp in the UK  a certification that measures a companys social and environmental purpose. The earrings are currently out of stock but you can sign up to be emailed when stocks are replenished. Buy now 55 Yala Jewellery {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Harriet Kelsall Jewellery fairtrade 18ct rose gold and chocolate diamond engagement ring Does anything sound more delicious than a chocolate diamond engagement ring? More specifically, a brilliant cut, natural chocolate 1.34 carat diamond ring, held in a statement double-talon claw setting and framed with a cluster of three diamonds in a Fairtrade 18 carat rose gold band? Harriet Kelsalls speciality is creating beautiful jewellery with meaning. Kelsall has been in the jewellery business for more than two decades and specialises in bespoke designs for everything from engagement and wedding rings to dress jewellery, made in its UK workshops. As a young woman starting out, she was laughed out of the room when she dared ask about traceability and was told: Youre in the wrong industry for this, love. That didnt stop her though, and now Kersall is also widely regarded as a pioneer of ethical jewellery, credited with being one of the founders of Fairtrade gold. She passionately believes the industry can do better and she uses her weight and experience to work towards improving supply chains in conflict countries. Her goals include ensuring a bigger share of profits goes back to the miners. Buy now 5,850 Harriet Kelsall Jewellery {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Kind Jewellery full moon disc necklace The intention behind Kind Jewellery is for its pieces to offer a reflection and a reminder of the beauty of the world that surrounds us. This full moon disc necklace is created in Kinds London studio from Fairmined gold. Its simple, organic form mirrors the fullness of the moon. It has a textured hammered side and a smooth side which has space for personal engraving on the back  in your own handwriting should you so wish. Kind work closely with its suppliers to ensure they offer the most transparent supply chains possible. Its sapphires, for example, come from Sri Lankan mines where they dig by hand and replace the gravel. The diamonds have the Canada Mark, meaning theyre traced from mine to maker through a transparent supply chain of approved cutters and dealers. All precious metal is Fairmined. Buy now 295 Kind Jewellery {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Ange B Designs bold geometric silver ring with turquoise gemstone This big, bold ring is made from a repurposed trapezoid shaped turquoise gemstone set in recycled sterling silver. The shape of the ring reflects the unique shape of the stone; it also satisfies designer and maker Ange Bs love of geometric design with its straight lines and odd angles. It is surprisingly lightweight and comfortable to wear  the band has been purposefully made to be adjusted to fit. Ange Bs jewellery are pieces of wearable art and are handmade in her garden studio in west London  from here she also offers workshops where you can make your own silver jewellery. Buy now 210 Ange B Designs {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

BAR Jewellery rivera earrings BAR jewellerys pure forms are inspired by modernist art, sculpture and architecture and crafted from recycled materials. These rivera earrings, for example, take influence from the sculptor Jose De Rivera. When Bar Jewellery was founded, its goal was to produce products that dont harm the environment or people. Every decision they make is informed by these principles and as such it has a strong relationships with its manufacturers in the UK and Bali. Founder Sophie McKay also offers her services as a mentor and says: As fashion can be perceived as elitist, I have always wanted to break through and show people that it is a vibrant industry full of opportunities. In addition to helping people succeed in the industry I want to instill a sense of self worth and confidence into people starting out. Buy now 190 BAR Jewellery {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Ingle & Rhode la mer Ingle & Rhode was launched in 2007 with the aim of offering an ethical alternative to traditional luxury jewellery brands. Its story began a year earlier when David Rhode was looking for an engagement ring but couldnt find a jeweller who could tell him where their diamonds had come from, or the conditions under which their jewellery was produced. He says: The more I looked into the industry, the more compromises I discovered I was being asked to make. From blood diamonds, to dirty gold, to sweatshops and child labour.Ingle & Rhode offers a range of classic, art deco and vintage styles, as well as a bespoke design service. It offers a choice of lab-grown or ethically-minded Canadian diamonds; recycled platinum and recycled gold from a refinery in the US and Fairtrade gold from cooperative producers in South America. The engagement ring pictured marries the beauty of an oval cut diamond with two brilliant cut Canadian diamonds. Buy now 1,495 Ingle & Rhode {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Anuka Jewellery Loka curve hoop earrings The Loka collection takes its inspiration from the forms created in nature and tidal patterns left in the sand. The chunky and unusual shape of these loka curve hoop earrings, gives them unique appeal. Anuka solely uses 100 per cent recycled silver and Fairmined gold, as do many of the brands in this list. Fairmined supports small scale artisanal miners and their communities; providing better chances of fairer pay, gender equality, no child labour, safe working conditions and clean water supplies. Anuka are also the first jewellery label to work with Provenance, incorporating their blockchain technology to enhance transparency in the supply chain. It believes that ensuring all its jewellery is made as ethically and sustainably as possible makes each piece much more meaningful  and we wholeheartedly agree. Buy now 85 Anuka Jewellery {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Project Cece votch black and pinatex with black moment Votch watches lay streamlined on the wrist, offering a simple, modern and comfortable watch. The interchangeable strap on this watch is Pinatex  a leather-like material made from pineapple leaf fibre as a by-product of the pineapple harvest  and the watch face is from recyclable stainless steel. Votch is a strident cruelty-free watch brand, launched after founder Laura Way suffered topical steroid withdrawal, a condition that saw her lose her skin. When sourcing a vegan-friendly replacement strap for her watch proved nigh-impossible, the idea for Votch was born. Ethics and sustainability go hand-in-hand for Votch. Laura personally visited the factories she had shortlisted to work with and delayed the launch of Votch by six months to ensure she chose the one with the highest standards for employees. Buy now 150 Project Cece {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Solitude the Label sun necklace You be the sun and Ill be the moon so the oft-quoted poem goes, which Solitude the Label took inspiration from for the design of this delicate silver necklace, which is handmade by two sisters at their atelier in Amsterdam. The sisters also custom-make jewellery. All jewellery is made from 14K recycled gold and recycled silver. The brands ultimate goal is to solely use old gold and silver jewellery sourced from their customers to make beautiful new pieces. Buy now 40.95 Solitude the Label {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}
Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

"Strippers are like modern day fairies, says photographer Rachel Lena Esterline. They dance into your life, make you feel really good, then take all of your money and float off.

Esterline, based in San Francisco, has been capturing women who work in strip clubs since March 2014. In those three years, she has photographed over 1,100 women at 12 different clubs. Her latest shoot was with dancer and comedian Chase Paradise.

There was this one night I was walking down Broadway in San Francisco and a bunch of girls from various clubs were screaming my name. They all wanted me to shoot them that night. I dont know if it gets better than that. But, then again Im constantly surprised every time I shoot. Theres rarely a dull moment, to be honest," she recalls.

The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures Show all 12 1 /12 The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures The photographer who documents strippers - In pictures

The project started off by accident. A friend called me up and asked me if I wanted to shoot. I was curious so I went, Esterline recalls to The Independent. Soon after I sort of just fell in love with the girls. Three years later they still keep me coming back for more.

During that time, Esterline has branched out from the underbelly of San Francisco to other spots in the US. While at in her home city of Portland, Oregon, she shot a clown stripper for feminist media group The Front.

I want to capture their beauty, says Esterline. I want the world to see them as I see them. Theyre my adult version of a Disney princess.

Recommended How laws are putting strippers in greater danger

On the one hand, the honest shots show the women as beautiful, ethereal creatures, and other the other as totally unglamorous, counting money and dealing with work tedious admin just like anyone else.

Because of the stigma attached to erotic dancing, the women were reluctant to welcome Esterline at first.

"In the beginning the girls were cautious," she admits, adding: "but they trust me. We trust each other. When youre in, youre in.

During her three years dipping in and out of the clubs, Esterline says she has noticed that they are filled with a new wave of feminists - something that those who argue stripping objectifies women and dancers are victims might find hard to belive.

Theyre proud, feminist sex workers and its so fun working with them, she says.

Recommended The morality of seeing strippers on a stag do has split the web

I want to lift the stigma around strippers and adult entertainers at large. I see empowered women and these images share and convey that dynamic exchange of power.

People tend to think there's an imbalance of power in favour of men," she says. "Think again. These women know exactly what they want, take it and can literally make anything happen. Strip clubs are where you pay to get played.
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

One of Germanys most senior central bankers has warned UK-based banks not to come up with schemes to get around regulations as they seek ways of preserving their access to the EU market after Brexit.

Speaking at a conference in London, Andreas Dombret, a Bundesbank executive board member, predicted London-based lenders would be deciding in the first half of this year whether to relocate some activities.

He warned financial institutions that they must set up genuine operations as opposed to empty shells in EU countries. Mr Dombret added that the the Bundesbank would be tough on enforcement for any lender that chose to relocate some or all of its operations to Germany.

Mr Dombret said: We will not accept any empty shells or letterbox companies where the business effectively continues to be done out of London.

I urge banks not to spend their time inventing strategies to circumvent these requirements. This includes seemingly creative solutions such as fly and drive banking, where bankers fly in daily from London, or dual hatting, where transactions are booked on the EU subsidiary but in fact executed in London.

Theresa Mays hard Brexit will almost certainly result in the loss of crucial passporting rights, which allow financial firms to sell their services freely across the rest of the EU.

Mr Dombret said banks chances to retain this access without moving some operations from London are dim and that lenders should not put great hope into an equivalence deal for the UK. Britains position as a gateway to Europe is likely to end, he said.

Financial firms are the biggest tax contributor of any sector to Government coffers.

Mr Dombrets remarks follow warnings from UBS and HSBC saying they could each move about 1,000 jobs out of London after Brexit.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned  forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA  because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

The Government has said that it plans to trigger Article 50, the EUs formal exit clause, by the end of next month. The House of Lords began debating the bill giving Ms May the authority to take that step earlier this week.

Mr Dombret, who was born in the US to German parents, is a former banker who held positions at Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Rothschild and the Bank of America before joining the Bundesbank in 2010.
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

More than 100,000 EU citizens left Britain in the three months after the EU referendum, new figures showed this week.

New worker registrations from Poland are down 16 per cent year on year, Hungary down 14 per cent, and Slovakia down 20 per cent.

After a Brexit vote in which a primary concern was too much immigration, some might be applauding the trend, but for important UK industries it is already creating a serious problem, and one that provides a preview of what may be to come for the wider economy.

While more people are still arriving than leaving, businesses worry the numbers will not be enough to fill vacancies.

The UKs growing hospitality sector should be a Brexit winner. A record 37 million tourists visited in 2016 as the pound plunged. But many hotels, restaurants and bars are already finding it tough to recruit the EU nationals that make up a large proportion of the industrys 4.9 million workers.

While the weakened pound means a juicy discount for wealthy American or Chinese visitors dining at the Ritz or stocking up on designer brands in West End boutiques, it also hands a 15 per cent pay cut to the largely foreign workers that tend to those tourists needs.

The Governments lack of clarity on the future of EU migrants in the UK is also damaging, says Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association.

People dont want to pack up their lives and move to the UK if they could end up having to go back again very soon. Ibrahim says. Its not only waiters and bartenders who are put off. Even top chefs are turning down jobs in London, Ibrahim says.

Then there is that sense of being unwelcom, something which has been fuelled by damaging statements from government ministers, she adds.

Millions of pound of taxpayers' money spent on efforts to encourage people to come to the UK through organisations like Visit Britain and the British Council will all be flushed away if ministers dont adopt a welcoming tone towards migrant workers, Ibrahim says.

Further down the food supply chain, agriculture has an even more acute problem. John Hardman runs Hops Labour Solutions, which recruits around 12,000 of the countrys 85,000 seasonal farm workers, almost all of whom are from Eastern Europe, primarily Romania and Bulgaria.

In 14 years in the business he says that he had never had a problem finding willing hands, but in the July to September following the referendum the flow of migrants from Eastern Europe into the fields of East Anglia, Kent and the Midlands slowed, leaving him with 400 positions left unfilled.

This was in the summer season and problems are worse in winter. The devalued pound has made the prospect of picking Brussels sprouts at minus 4 degrees in December with a sideways wind even less attractive than it was before, he says.

Theres only so sexy you can make that job. The same applies to hacking meat in an abattoir for 40 hours a week.

Hardman believes the shortfall is increasing. So far in 2017 he has seen a 30 per cent rise in farms needing his services, he says.

What this tells me is that those farms that were recruiting themselves are now struggling to find the workers. Its a big uplift year-on-year.

Problems had begun before the referendum. The first wave of migrants to fill Britains fruit-picking fields from the eight countries that joined the EU in 2004 moved on to other jobs once their aspirations rose and the same is now happening with the EUs latest additions from Romania and Bulgaria, Hardman says.

Brexit has significantly hastened the process after a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment left scars that have yet to heal.

The Romanian press love a story of a Romanian having a good thrashing in Birmingham, Hardman says. Such attacks are rare and the post-referendum spike has apparently ended, but peoples memories are long, he says.

Romanians and Bulgarians are still arriving, but not in great enough numbers to replace the previous wave of migrant farm workers who've moved on.

Beverly Dixon, head of human resources at Gs, one of the largest vegetable producers in the UK, says the company has had to work much harder this year to recruit the 2,500 temporary workers it needs.

Even though these guys are seasonal, theyve had guaranteed work year after year but now they think theyre not going to be able to come here in two years time so they are heading to Germany, Holland and even Norway instead, Dixon says.

G's operation also supports 1,600 permanent jobs here. "Those could all be in trouble if we cant get the temporary workers", she says.

In the three months after the referendum there was a sharp fall in migrants from the EU8, the countries that joined the EU in 2004 (ONS) (Office for National Statistics)

There is an apparently simple solution to this dilemma: hire more UK workers.

But that's not possible, Dixon says. Gs land in Cambridgeshire is in an area of almost full employment. No one locally is going to give up their full-time job for a seasonal one.

Hardman agrees. We pick strawberries in Kent where almost no one is unemployed. How do I get those on social welfare from Hull to work down there? And where do I house them?

 What does the falling pound mean for you?

The problem is the same in the hospitality industry, where many vacancies are in the South-east.

Any restriction on availability in an economy where we are nearing full employment is very, very concerning; its a high risk, Ibrahim says.

Nationally, despite concerns about migrants taking jobs, unemployment stands at just 4.8 per cent. It has only dipped lower for two brief periods in the past 40 years. The workforce participation rate is also at a record high.

Hospitality and agriculture, with their high dependence on migrant labour, are the canary in the coal mine. Fashion and textiles, retail and social care all rely on talent from overseas.

James Reed, chief executive of Reed, one of the UKs biggest recruitment agencies, says vacancies have hit record levels.

With high employment and such a large number of opportunities on offer, the UK jobs market has turned into a sellers market. If candidates from the EU are put off from applying for jobs in the UK due to Brexit, then the scales could tip even further, he said.

There are solutions to the looming labour shortage but none will plug the immediate gap caused by a sharp drop in inward migration.

The British Hospitality Association is working hard with Government to raise the profile and prestige of careers in hospitality so that they attract more British workers. It promotes the industry in schools and backs apprenticeships and training, with the aim of putting hospitality on a par with other professions, as it is in other European countries, but Ibrahim says this is at least a ten-year plan, requiring a significant cultural shift.

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

In a speech in Tallinn earlier this week, Brexit Secretary David Davis said it will be years and years before we get British citizens to do those jobs in sectors requiring low-skilled labour.

For farm work, both Hardman and Dixon are calling for a programme of temporary work visas for people from countries outside the EU, such as Ukraine and Turkey.

In the same speech David Davis seemed to back that idea, but it will be difficult to square with the desire for greatly reduced immigration that was one of the major factors behind the victory for the Leave campaign.

The alternatives to using migrant labour were rarely mentioned on the campaign trail  either British agriculture moves abroad or, somewhat ironically, more British workers will have to start picking Brussels sprouts at sub-zero temperatures in December.
Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko is looking forward to a successful transfer of 12 Ukrainians to Ukraine by the Russian side, who had been serving their sentences at prisons in the territory of Crimea and were illegally taken to the Russian Federation.

"I hope that Russia will fulfill the preliminary agreements and hand over the first part of Ukrainian citizens who are imprisoned in jails in the occupied Crimea. We are talking about 12, perhaps, 16 people," the minister told journalists in Kyiv on Thursday.

At the same time, he stressed that this can be called a victory only after Ukrainians cross the border into Ukraine.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Japans government is urging employees to leave the office early every last Friday of the month, hoping to crackdown on a culture of workaholics while providing a shot in the arm for the economy.

The Premium Friday campaign, which launched this week, is calling on workers to leave the office at 3pm once a month, and spend time with family, dine out or go shopping, according to Japan Times.

It is hoped that the initiative will encourage people to spend more money on food, in shops and on travel. All Nippon Airways, the countrys largest airline, is offering special discounts from Friday in a bid to entice people to take trips.

Recommended Japanese men are literally working themselves to death

We hope this will encourage people to rest and to leave the office earlier, an ANA spokeswoman told Japan Times. Participation by the government and companies is needed to push forward reforms (in the working culture), she added.

The campaign is part of a general push by the government to limit excessive working hours following the suicide of an employee at ad agency Dentsu that was reportedly ruled to be a death by overwork, and cast a harsh spotlight on Japans deeply entrenched problem of overtime and burnout. The president of Dentsu stepped down in the wake of the tragic incident and the company has since announced new measures such as switching off the office lights between 10pm and 5am.

The government hopes that one welcome side-effect of the push to promote free time will be stimulus to the economy.

According to Reuters, both the labour force and the population is shrinking in Japan. The country wants to reduce working hours to encourage women to work and get men more involved in raising and caring for children. Increased leisure time should also mean more time between the sheets to boost the birth rate, the agency reports.

Last month, Internet company Yahoo Japan Corp said that it was thinking about reducing the number of working days to four-a-week by 2020.

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.

By giving employees more freedom on how to work, were hoping that employees choose a style that lets them perform at their best, so that we boost productivity, a company spokeswoman told Bloomberg at the time.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

When it comes to being a refugee, your nationality really matters. Syrian asylum seekers are routinely prioritised over Afghan ones in what has become a deadly and dangerous hierarchy for Afghans seeking sanctuary in the West.

I have witnessed this at first hand in interviews for my ongoing research on asylum policy. An executive officer at the Swedish Board of Migration told me that Syrian asylum applications, unlike Afghan ones, are easier to process, which explains why the asylum process is much longer for Afghans than it is for Syrians. That same officer indicated that the Swedish government asked the Board of Migration to prioritise easy cases. A source familiar with American refugee policy also explained to me that the US chooses Syrians and Iraqis over Afghans.

In 2015, there were 2.7 million Afghan refugees, the worlds second largest group after Syrians. Numbering 62,100 in 2016 in Europe, Afghans were also the second largest group of asylum seekers.

European migration agencies produce legally authoritative country guidance reports that assess the level of violence in a country. For the past decade or so these reports have consistently portrayed either all or some provinces of Afghanistan as safe. That assessment justifies deportations of Afghans, since internal migration to these safe provinces removes the threat of violence or persecution.

The insidious implication here is that many Afghans are not forced to leave their homes but are rather voluntary migrants. Yet while migration agencies make these assessments, foreign ministries of countries such as Sweden and the US deem all provinces of Afghanistan to be unsafe. These travel warnings are meant to guide citizens of Sweden and the US who are considering travelling to Afghanistan.

With double standards such as these it is no wonder that Afghan asylum seekers are seeing low approval rates and increasing deportation rates. In Sweden, for example, only a quarter of adult Afghan asylum seekers, and half of unaccompanied minors, were granted asylum in the first seven months of 2016. From 2012 to 2014 the number of Afghans granted asylum in the US was below 500 a year.

What are Afghans fleeing from?

Since 1979, Afghanistan has ranked between four and five out of five on the political terror scale, a measurement developed by political scientist Mark Gibney. Level five is the highest, interpreted as a condition where: Terror has expanded to the whole population. The mass flight of Afghans from their homes has occurred in the context of human rights abuses on a massive scale.

We are a long way from the Cold War-era when Afghan asylum seekers in the West were welcomed as heroes of anti-communism. The prospects of Afghan asylum seekers have worsened since 9/11. Since then, the number of Afghan asylum seekers to the US has drastically dropped as a result of policies influenced by the War on Terror that mistrust refugees from many Muslim countries.

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

But just like their Cold War counterparts, national asylum policies today differentiate Afghans based on group preferences and political agendas. A state will give a national or subnational group preferential treatment if it serves the interests of its foreign policy. In the 1980s, Afghan asylum seekers in the US obtained asylum more easily than other groups facing comparable persecution because they discredited communism. Today, they have a harder time than other groups fleeing from similar circumstances because they are associated with Islamist terrorism.

Such treatment seriously undermines the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol on the status of refugees. But in the framework of the convention, individual states always have final say on refugee and asylum policy. Afghans have been downgraded from first-class asylum seekers during the Cold War to second-class ones during the War on Terror without breaking the convention.

But there is context here. It was Western powers led by the US and the UK who played a significant part in creating the conditions that forced Afghans to flee their country. The historian Robert D Crews writes that: It is an overstatement to conclude that American policies led to the rise of the Taliban, but it is fair to say that the Mujahideen party leaders and their families who received US backing during the anti-Soviet jihad continue to dominate Afghan politics to this very day.

In the aftermath of 9/11, he argues, the Americans bear considerable responsibility for the creation of the authoritarian and corrupt Afghan government, which is illegitimate in the eyes of many Afghans.

Afghanistan is ranked between four and five out of five on the political terror scale (EPA)

Yet, the US and other Western countries that sent troops to Afghanistan have placed the burden of responsibility for the mass exodus on internal Afghan affairs. Among the justifications invoked are pseudo-anthropological claims that Afghans are a tribal people prone to wage wars. By portraying Afghanistan as a war-torn country, Western states are evading welcoming its refugees.

The Afghan interpreters

The deprioritised status of Afghan asylum seekers is perhaps most glaring in the case of the Afghan interpreters who worked for Western governments. In 2009, the US created special immigrant visas for Afghans who were employed by or on behalf of the US government. Not a single visa was processed until 2011. A Human Rights First fact sheet states that the programme: Was designed to provide 7,500 visas over five years. Extensions were passed in 2014 and 2015 that made 7,000 more visas available. Many Afghan interpreters who worked for US forces remain in asylum limbo in Afghanistan.

Recommended Afghan woman soars from refugee to air force pilot

The hesitation to admit Afghans who were directly persecuted because they worked for foreign governments is also found in countries such as Sweden, Britain and Germany. It was recently revealed, for example, that a lawyer from the Swedish Board of Migration attempted to influence a migration court to deny asylum to three Afghan interpreters. It remains unclear why the attorney attempted to discredit the asylum seekers, but her actions were deemed highly inappropriate by the Board of Migration.

The plight of Afghans shows that both international human rights as well as national asylum law can be shaped around specific groups of refugees and asylum seekers. When that happens, we see how contradictory political agendas can determine who receives priority in being granted asylum. Seen in this light, Donald Trumps recent attempt to block all Syrian refugees from coming to the US may be extreme, but not surprising.

Admir Skodo, researcher in history, Lund University. This article first appeared on The Conversation (theconversation.com)
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

An important shipment has finally arrived at the International Space Station, after a series of errors, delays and challenges.

The SpaceX capsule smoothly arrived at the station the second time around as astronauts grabbed hold of the cargo ship, as the two of them floated somewhere over Australia.

The capsule had been scheduled to arrive on Wednesday. But a GPS error stopped it from getting too close and the move had to be aborted.

Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 1 /30 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013 Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa Celebrates 50 Years of Spacewalking For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Hubble Cosmic Couple The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427  more commonly known as WR 124  and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago Nasa's most stunning pictures of space The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launch The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. It also took caviar, ready for the satellite's inhabitants to celebrate the holidays Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth from the ISS From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Black Hole Friday Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead  sharing pictures of black holes Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space NuSTAR X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Cassiopeia A c A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Orion Capsule splashes down The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later  having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth Observations From Gemini IV in 1965 This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Frosty slopes of Mars This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Yellowstone from space NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Saturn This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Worlds Apart Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Mars Rover Spirit Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Morning Aurora From the Space Station Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station Nasa/Scott Kelly Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Launch of History - Making STS-41G Mission in 1984 The Space Shuttle Challenger launches from Florida at dawn. On this mission, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk and Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space. The crew of seven was the largest to fly on a spacecraft at that time, and STS-41G was the first flight to include two female astronauts Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Sees a Galactic Sunflower The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the Nasa Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Pluto image Four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with colour data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced colour global view of Pluto Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Fresh Crater Near Sirenum Fossae Region of Mars The HiRISE camera aboard Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a "fresh" (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Peers into the Most Crowded Place in the Milky Way This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way NASA & ESA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space An Astronaut's View from Space Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Giant Landform on Mars On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Expedition 39 Landing A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Chandra Observatory Sees a Heart in the Darkness This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region

The Dragon - loaded with 5,500lbs of supplies - lifted off on Sunday from Nasa's historic moon pad at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Now leased by SpaceX, the pad had been idle since the close of the shuttle programme almost six years ago.

The station's six crew members will accept another shipment on Friday, this one from the Russians.

Recommended SpaceX successfully launches and lands rocket after explosion

Given the Dragon's delayed arrival - lift-off also occurred a day late - the astronauts were under orders to open the capsule as soon as possible to retrieve sensitive science experiments.

"Sorry about the delays," Mission Control said. "Now the real work starts."

"Congratulations Dragon on a successful journey from Earth and now welcome on board," said French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who used the station's big robot arm to grab the capsule.

At the top of the crew's unloading list: 20 mice that are part of a wound-healing experiment. Another 20 mice are taking part in the study on the ground, as control subjects.

Other newly arrived research: highly infectious MRSA bacteria, triple-contained so it does not get loose; stem cells; and instruments for studying lightning and the Earth's ozone layer.

 Drone captures SpaceX rocket landing in Florida

The Dragon will remain at the space station for a month before it is cut loose to bring back science samples and other items.

It is the only supply ship capable of returning intact to Earth, as all the others burn up during re-entry.

SpaceX is one of two private companies flying up supplies for Nasa.

Besides the French astronaut, the space station is home to two Americans and three Russians.

Additional reporting by Press Association
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

What could be the oldest images in the world have been discovered in France.

And the engravings of mammoths and wild cows known as aurochs were made from individual pixels  essentially the same technique used to produce images on computers and televisions.

The pictures are also being compared to the pointillism technique supposedly pioneered in the 1880s by artists like Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat.

The 16 decorated stone blocks were discovered during an excavation of a now-collapsed rock overhang in Frances Vezere Valley, which was used as a shelter by the Aurignacian people, the earliest modern human culture in Europe.

They were radiocarbon dated to 38,000 years old, which could mean they are the oldest pictures ever created.

A painted hand silhouette found in Spain could be about 5,000 years older but its dating has been contested. An ivory sculpture of a female figure from about the same period as the French engravings was also found in southern Germany.

Professor Randall White, a New York University anthropologist, told The Independent the images were certainly among the very earliest images of things we can actually recognise in the entire archaeological record.

The pictures are fairly basic. But Professor White said it was, after all, 38,000 years old and the tools that are being used are rather robust.

Its not so much the final effect that we found interesting, its the conception of it  the use of individual points to form the body or the outline of a figure, he said.

If you look carefully at the aurochs, theres really a significant control of the line.

And this is very early when people are really just beginning to grapple with the production of images.

They have mastered some of the fundamental aspects of line and shape, but theres clearly a long way to go in terms of precise reproductions.

It is unclear why prehistoric artists decided to use a pointillist or pixel-based technique.

Its almost digital in its nature  why this fixation on dots, Ill admit its a puzzle, Professor White said.

Its not exactly pointillism but the principle is there, the construction of a form out of pixels.

Were quite familiar with the techniques of these modern artists. But now we can confirm this form of image-making was already being practiced by Europes earliest human culture, the Aurignacian.

He said they had been excavating the site for 18 months before they found the images.

The engraving was face down and we knew within these sites such things are possible, so we were taking great care, Professor White said.

After a year and a half of excavating, we finally extracted the object  it is one of the great moments of my career, thats for sure.

The discovery was reported in the journal Quarternary International.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A husband and wife who were thought to have been the first couple with Down's syndrome to get married in the UK, have celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary.

Maryanne and Tommy Pilling were greeted with wave of scepticism and some criticism when they tied the knot in an Essex church more than two decades ago.

The pair had been together for around a-year-and-a-half after meeting at a day centre, before Mr Pilling, now 59, proposed.

Now, 22 years on, they are still happily married, and the couple have racked up a strong following of supporters on social media.

"My wedding was the best day of my life," said Ms Pilling, now 45. "I was shocked when Tommy proposed but I didn't have to think twice about saying yes.

"Tommy and I never argue. I love my husband very much. He is my best friend."

A series of photos on their Facebook page, which is managed by Mrs Pillings sister Lindi Newman, shows the couple over the years spending quality time together, including visiting an Elvis Presley museum and visiting an aquarium.

The happy couple have proven wrong a number of people who had assumed allowing them to marry was a bad idea, telling Ms Pilling's mother it was wrong to let them wed.

Ms Pilling's sister, said their mother had "received a lot of flak at the time for letting them get married, but she insisted it was their decision."

Recommended High schooler with Down Syndrome scores touchdown for football team

She said: "Maryanne had dreamed about a big white wedding since she was a little girl and that's exactly what she had. It was a beautiful day."

Ms Newman added that while they are often viewed as an unusual couple, her sister and her husband offer a beacon of hope to parents of children with Down's Syndrome.

"When they walk down the street holding hands they make a statement but in a good way," she said.

"Some people stare, they assume people with Down's Syndrome and learning difficulties can't get married. But we also get so many lovely lovely messages from people who are inspired by their story.

In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-1.jpg EPA In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-2.jpg EPA In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-3.jpg EPA In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-4.jpg Reuters In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-5.jpg EPA In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-6.jpg Getty Images In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-7.jpg EPA In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-8.jpg EPA In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-9.jpg EPA In pictures: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability-10.jpg EPA

"People worried about their own children or grandchildren with Down's Syndrome get hope from Maryanne and Tommy's story, hope that their children can also fall in love and live happily ever after."

The couple live independently with family living in the house next door to help out when needed.

Their Facebook page, which has 7,300 followers, has been inundated with messages in recent days as people congratulate them on their anniversary and wish them more happiness in the future.

One Facebook user posted: Congratulations on your wedding anniversary. What a lovely and happy couple they look, they are blessed they found each other. Hope they have many more happy years together.

Another, writing from France, said: Congratulations for your 22nd anniversary from France! I wish you many happy returns!
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Sir Nicholas Wall, formerly Britains most senior family law judge, has killed himself after being diagnosed with a rare form of dementia, his family has said.

The judge had been appointed as President of the Family Division in 2010 but was forced to retire on health grounds two years later.

He was initially diagnosed with depression but this was recently changed to frontotemporal dementia which typically affects the ability to understand words.

His family placed a notice in The Times. It said he had died by his own hand" on 17 February.

After years of suffering, he was recently diagnosed with a rare dementia of the fronto-temporal lobe, it said.

The death notice quoted a verse from Alfred,Lord Tennysons poem Tithonus:

The woods decay, the woods decay and fall,

The vapours weep their burthen to the ground,

Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath,

And after many a summer dies the swan.

In a later statement, the family said: "We are sad to confirm the death of Nicholas Wall, who was not only a highly respected former president of the Family Division but also a much loved husband, father and grandfather.

"Sir Nicholas took his own life having suffered for several years from a rare neurological disease called fronto-temporal lobe dementia that had only recently been diagnosed.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images 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

"The family will make no further comment and asks to be left in privacy to grieve."

The Family Law Bar Association (FLBA) described Sir Nicholas as a compassionate judge who thought and cared deeply about the outcome of his cases.

Sir James Munby, his successor as President of the Family Division, said: "On and off the Bench and to the wide admiration of those who practise in family law, Sir Nicholas often spoke with passion, and in plain language, about the importance of family life, the good practice of family law, and the proper administration and resourcing of family justice.

Recommended Dementia sufferers can start losing memory years before it takes hold

He added: "He was appropriately outspoken about the plight of children caught up in the midst of parental conflict. He expressed his deep concern again and again about the impact of domestic abuse on children and on family life.

"Sir Nicholas' life was one of very great achievement and he has left us a formidable and enduring legacy."

A spokesman for Kent Police said: At 2.15am on Friday 17 February 2017 Kent Police received a report stating that a 71-year-old man had died suddenly at an address in Sevenoaks.

There are no suspicious circumstances and officers are preparing a report for the coroner.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The number of people applying for asylum in Britain in 2016 was just over 38,500, falling for the first time in six years, official data showed on Thursday.

But refugee advocates said the drop was no cause for celebration, with ever more people fleeing their homes in an increasingly dangerous world.

Britain received a total of 38,517 asylum applications last year, down from 39,968 in 2015, in the first year-on-year drop since 2010, before the Syria crisis triggered the biggest migration crisis since World War Two.

If the fall in the number of people seeking refuge in Britain was because the world had become a safer, more peaceful place then we'd have cause to celebrate, said Lisa Doyle, head of advocacy at the Refugee Council.

However this is plainly not true. The situation globally has become ever more dangerous and more and more people have been forced to flee from their homes, she said in a statement.

The greatest number of claims came from Iran (4,792), followed by Pakistan (3,717), Iraq (3,651), Afghanistan (3,094) and Bangladesh (2,234), according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Asylum claims made by Syrians, who chalked up the ninth highest application rate, dropped to 1,588 from 2,794 in 2015.

Unaccompanied child migrants seeking asylum in Britain - about one in ten claimants - also fell slightly to 3,175, according to new Home Office (interior ministry) data.

Recommended Child refugees in France record desparate plea to Theresa May

The figures were released amid growing pressure from campaigners for the government to ensure children's safe passage to Britain after it announced plans to end a scheme to take in lone child migrants stranded in Europe.

Shamefully, the UK government's response to this global refugee crisis has been to deliberately cut off refugees' escape routes and offer safe haven to fewer and fewer people, said Ms Doyle.

If Britain is truly a global leader, then the government must step forward and ensure we do our bit to help.

Britain had the sixth highest number of asylum claims in the European Union (EU) in 2016, the ONS said.

The three countries with the most applications, Germany (692,000), Italy (117,000) and France (83,000), accounted for about 75 per cent of all the EU claims, the Home Office said.

The number of asylum applications made in the EU also dropped in 2016, falling to 1,189,000 from 1,319,000 in 2015.

Reuters
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

As Winston Churchill, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, or any other of the illustrious names that proudly fill the success sections of famous quote websites will tell you, failure is a noble thing so long as you learn from it.

And so we must, on this historically bad day for Labour, be prepared to praise the sheer guts with which it has carried out its immediate and non squeamish post-mortem, and in the full glare of the public spotlight too.

For it has been historic. Indeed, when future historians come to write their many volumes on the mad times in which we now live, I for one hope that at least one in their number has the wisdom to begin their tale on February 23rd, 2017, the day when, as Jeremy Corbyn correctly diagnosed, the people finally rose up against the political establishment that has let them down so badly and voted for the Tories.

Only to the superficial does Labour losing a by-election whilst in opposition, in a seat it has not lost in 80 years, appear to be a disaster. In fact, this was the day that Corbyn and his bold new grassroots movement set themselves inexorably on the path to greatness, with such courage and ingenuity in the face of such a setback.

When the Labour leader was asked this morning, hours after losing a seat his party has held for 80 years, whether he ever wondered whether the problem might be me, his response was instructive. Lesser men might have reached for the simple answer, yes, but Corbyn is courageous enough to hold out and search for the deeper, truer lessons. He gave an equally simple reply: no.

Indeed the commendations must be shared around. Well done too to John McDonnell, who within hours of defeat, the wounds still raw, had the wisdom to tour the TV studios and wisely put the blame on Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson. Corbyn is an exceptional leader, but no party leader has won a by-election in the same week in which the last-but-three leader from a decade ago has given a speech containing a lone hostile sentence, and that is a rule to which there can be no exception. (Had, in 1996, Michael Foot spoken out against Blair, history might have been very different).

And Paul Mason, too, as awake as ever from the false consciousness that still blinds lesser minds and lesser voters, was absolutely correct in his analysis that Nobody can claim losing Copeland was Jeremy Corbyns fault. And indeed nobody has. The fault, as Mason correctly attests, lies with the careerist right-winger (Jamie Reed) who abandoned the seat in mid-session to take a better job.

And let us not overlook Emily Thornberry, for whom the blame quite rightly lays at the feet of the fake news media, for allowing it to somehow get out that a man who has campaigned against nuclear weapons and nuclear power for three decades might, in theory, be against the nuclear industry, on which virtually every single job in the Copeland constituency directly or indirectly lies.

When, after 10 to 20 times of asking, Corbyn did commit to new nuclear in late January, the fake news media must be held responsible for failing to dedicate the proper resources to ensuring that this single statement was sufficient to overturn with three weeks notice three decades of accumulated campaigning against the very thing that everyones livelihoods depend.

Ian Lavery MP, Corbyns new campaign chief, wisely deduced that, This wasnt in any way, shape or form an election on the leadership of the Labour Party and that power to supplant himself in the minds of thousands of Lake District voters and correctly conclude that as they made their choice between the two main parties, the leader of one was absolutely in no way a factor, will serve him well in his new job. Doubly so, as he didnt succumb to the temptation to imagine that the simultaneous result in Stoke-on-Central, in which Labour was not defeated but victorious by a near identical margin, was about anything other than the leadership of the Labour Party.

And there are others who deserve lesser congratulation. The MP Cat Smith should have been brave enough, like the rest, to see that it had even been a defeat, and not labour under the wrong but noble misapprehension that to be 15 to 18 per cent behind in the polls and lose by a mere 2,000 votes is an incredible achievement which ranks right up there with Michael Jacksons incredible achievement in not dropping that baby off that balcony in Hamburg and merely dangling him over for a laugh.

Alas we must wait for the insights of Owen Jones, who has promised he will write something this weekend but the early warning signs are there that he is set to miss the mark entirely. Unless something drastic happens, Labour are on course for their worst defeat since the 1930s with terrible consequences for this country, he said on Friday morning. Hes not actually going to blame Corbyn is he? Having campaigned so hard for the Corbyn leadership, and that leadership having varied not one nanodegree from the path of the entirely foreseeable, he cant surely have come to change his mind? Not when hes come this far, been defeated so utterly, and so stands so close to success.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Labour has suffered a historic defeat at a crucial by-election in a seat that has been red since it was created in 1982.

Trudy Harrison, the Conservative candidate, defeated Labours Gillian Troughton, a volunteer for St John Ambulance, by 2,147 votes.

The Cumbrian seat of Copeland  and its predecessor seat Whitehaven  has been represented by Labour since 1935.

The Conservative victory also marks the first time a rival party has been defeated by the party of government at a by-election in 35 years, when, in 1982, the Labour MP for Mitcham & Morden defected from the party to the SDP.

The constituency is heavily dependent economically on the Sellafield nuclear processing facility and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyns past opposition to nuclear power has not gone down well.

Labour sought to counter with a hard-hitting campaign focusing on possible cuts to maternity services at the West Cumberland Hospital, with a claim local midwives believed it would lead to mothers and babies dying.

In a sign of how confident the Conservatives were in the scenic constituency on the Cumbrian coast, Theresa May, the Prime Minister, visited the region just over a week ago to meet Ms Harrison.

The contest came after Jamie Reed, a persistent critic of the Labour leadership, stood down from his seat before Christmas triggering a three-way battle for his marginal northern seat. At the 2015 general election, Mr Reed secured 42 per cent of the vote compared to 35 per cent for the Conservatives.

As the results were counted in the early hours of Friday morning, senior Labour sources appeared to be conceding defeat, adding it was neck and neck and that rural constituencies still to come in likely to favour Tories.

On Thursday evening Mr Corbyn thanked those who campaigned for the party in the final hours and braved Storm Doris, which lashed parts of Britain with up to 94mph gusts.

He added: The political establishment has let down Copeland and Stoke, who have seen their industries gutted, living standards stagnate and hope for a better future for their children and grandchildren decline.

Whatever the results, the Labour Party - and our mass membership - must go further to break the failed political consensus, and win power to rebuild and transform Britain.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A backbench Conservative MP has been accused of trying to block a parliamentary bill that would force the Government to sign up to the international Istanbul Convention on preventing domestic violence.

Philip Davies, a veteran of long so-called filibusters, gave a 91-minute long speech, using up a large chunk of the time allocated to debate backbench laws on Friday.

Mr Davies and his allies on the Tory backbenches also tabled more than 50 wrecking amendments to the legislation, which was proposed by the SNP with cross-party support, with the aim of obliging the Government to tackle sexual violence and domestic abuse.

Weve actually got quite a large group of new clauses and amendments to go through this morning, the MP said, beginning his elongated speech.

The bill passed its third reading after MPs turned out en masse to force a vote on it, an unusual occurrence on a Friday because most work from their constituencies at the end of the week and are not available for votes.

The Commons rejected Mr Daviss amendments but accepted a number put forward by the Government; the bill was ultimately passed by 138 votes to 1. Mr Davies was the only MP present to ultimately vote against the bill.

The Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Bill is the latest bill apparently targeted by Mr Davies. He has previously made a name for himself blocking free hospital car parking for carers, a law to make homes fit for human habitation, mandatory first aid training in schools, and the use of wild animals in circuses.

The MP spoke from 9.42 am until 11.13am, after which the proposer of the bill SNP MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford gave her speech. She said that MPs from nine parties had backed the bill.

Grown-up politics is about compromise. Frankly, if there was less grandstanding on our hind legs in this place and more constructive discussion and real work I think wed all be much better off, she said.

Addressing Mr Davies directly she said the MP was letting down his own constituents who had experienced horrific domestic violence.

I do need to respond to some of what weve heard this morning. Im aware that the member opposite enjoys being the pantomime villain in this very public theatre and that he genuinely opposes the principles of the Bill, she said.

But I have to say that the way that hes gone about tabling wrecking amendments and talking about them at length this morning does nothing to enhance his reputation or the reputation of the democratic process.

Mr Davies said the proposals would not make a blind bit of difference and that they were discriminatory against men.

The bill was proposed by SNP MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford (House of Commons)

It seems to me that the last thing we need here is another group from a super-national body set up to make it look like they are doing something on issues but just becomes a talking shop when actually its not the implementation of the Istanbul Convention that will actually make any real difference to levels of violence generally, and certainly to levels of violence against women, he said

It's harsher sentencing of perpetrators that will make a big difference. The idea that having this group of experts pontificating about how well or badly something has been implemented will make any material difference to the levels of violence in the UK is for the birds.

In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters

The Government has previously signed the Istanbul Convention but has not ratified it, despite its adoption by the Council of Europe in 2011.

Home Office minister Sarah Newton said the Government supported the Bill, telling MPs: As the Prime Minister made absolutely clear at Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday, [Ms Whitefords] commitment to ensuring the UK ratifies the Istanbul Convention is one which this Government shares.
The situation in Donbas has a tendency towards de-escalation, OSCE SMM Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said.

The security situation improved in the past week and the OSCE SMM has registered a 20% decline in the number of ceasefire breaches, Hug told a Skype conference on Friday. The OSCE SMM registered 180 situations of the use of tanks, mortars and artillery in the past week, against 884 in the previous week, he said. That is, the number of such situations has declined by 80%, he said.

Hug characterized this situation as relatively calm. Monitors heard 86 explosions of an unknown origin, five shots fired with grenade launchers, and five explosions of mortar mines of 82 m caliber, he said.

A total of 298 explosions and situations of gunfire were registered in the DPR-controlled Debaltseve on Wednesday, he said. Three hundred such situations were registered in the Kyiv-controlled Svitlodarsk on Wednesday morning, he said. Obviously, the situation will not change for as long as there are weapons there and the sides are close to each other, he said.

Hug also said the conflict sides have still not withdrawn heavy weapons from the contact line.

OSCE SMM monitors have registered six howitzers on the territories controlled by the Ukrainian authorities and two tanks and two combat infantry vehicles with anti-tank systems installed on them on the territories uncontrolled by the Ukrainian authorities, he said. It follows from that that the sides have not withdrawn heavy weapons and are actively using them, he said, adding that the sides have not provided information on the location of the weapons withdrawn earlier.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A Labour MP has warned his party is on course for a "historic and catastrophic" defeat at the next general election under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

John Woodcock MP said he thought Mr Corbyn would remain as leader until the next election, and urged his party to "look with clear sight" at what it happening to Labour following its historic defeat in Copeland.

The words from the MP for Barrow and Furness, which neighbours Copeland, come as shadow chancellor John McDonnell tried to explain the defeat - the first time in decades that a governing party has snatched a seat from the opposition.

Mr Woodcock, a long-term critic of the party leader, said Labour is "in trouble as a party", adding the result in Copeland was a "disaster", and it would insult people's intelligence to suggest otherwise.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme he said: "The position that we're in at the moment, we are not on course to victory, we are actually on course to an historic and catastrophic defeat and that will have very serious consequences for the communities that we represent and the causes the Labour party stands for."

Mr Woodcock said it would be counter-productive for MPs to force an annual leadership contest against Mr Corbyn when he still enjoys strong support in the party membership, adding: "Rather than making it about the leadership, I think it's incumbent upon us who have expressed our views about Jeremy Corbyn in the past...to say how as a party are we falling short, how can we actually meet the needs of the country better than we have done in the last 18 months."

The increase in the Conservative vote in Copeland is the biggest increase enjoyed by a government party in any by-election since 1966, and the win is the first time a governing party have taken a seat from an opposition since 1982.

 Conservatives take Copeland in humiliating blow to Labour

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the defeat may have been down to Mr Corbyn's public opposition to nuclear power, in a seat where the industry is a major employer.

He told BBC1's Breakfast he was "really disappointed" by the Copeland result, but insisted it was not a judgement on Mr Corbyn's leadership. He said voters in Stoke, where Labour defeated a Ukip challenge, had done the nation a service by rejecting the "politics of dishonesty and division".

He said: "This isn't about Jeremy Corbyn. This is about the position of the Labour Party for the future. We are in a difficult period over these last 20 months because of these leadership challenges and the divisions that have been sown within our party. The vast majority of our members want us now to unite and to campaign and hold the Government to account, and that's what we will do.

"These by-elections were difficult ones. We knew that. We've lost Copeland and we will learn lessons from that, but we've won Stoke and we've defeated something which was really dangerous for politics in this country. We've turned back the politics of dishonesty and division. The people of Stoke, by supporting Labour, have done us all a service in that."
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Labour has suffered a historic defeat at a crucial by-election in one of its northern heartlands, raising fresh doubts over Jeremy Corbyns leadership of the party.

The Conservative victory in Copeland marks the first time an opposition party has been defeated by the Government at a British by-election in 35 years. The scenic Cumbrian seat  and its predecessor Whitehaven  has been represented by Labour since 1935.

Trudy Harrison, the Conservative candidate, defeated Labours Gillian Troughton, a volunteer for St John Ambulance, by 2,147 votes. Labour secured a 5,179 majority at the general election in 2015.

But Mr Corbyns party did manage to see of a threat from Ukip, securing an emphatic victory over the party in a second by-election on Thursday in the Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency.

Labours candidate Gareth Snell clearly defeated Paul Nuttall, the embattled Ukip leader, by 2,620 votes, calling into question the ability of the party to capitalise on the result of the Brexit referendum last year.

Shortly after the results were announced, the Labour leader said the victory in Stoke was a decisive rejection of Ukips politics of division and dishonesty. But, he added: Our message was not enough to win through in Copeland.

He said: In both campaigns, Labour listened to thousands of voters on the doorstep. Both constituencies, like so many in Britain, have been let down by the political establishment.

To win power to rebuild and transform Britain, Labour will go further to reconnect with voters, and break with the failed political consensus."

Downing Street will undoubtedly be jubilant at the historic result, especially after Theresa May decided to visit the partys candidate in the constituency just last week.

Trudy Harrison arrives with her husband Keith ahead of the announcement of the results of the Copeland by-election (Getty)

The last time a governing party took a seat from the opposition at a by-election was in 1982 when the Labour MP for Mitcham & Morden defected to the SDP.

The humiliating defeat in Copeland is likely to renew questions over Mr Corbyns leadership of Labour. With the party trailing in the nationwide opinion polls  the latest placed Labour 18 points behind Ms Mays Conservatives  the dismal result will be used by his critics to say Mr Corbyn has little chance of securing inroads at the next general election.

Copeland is heavily dependent economically on the Sellafield nuclear processing facility and Mr Corbyns past opposition to nuclear power has not gone down well. Labour sought to counter with a hard-hitting campaign focusing on possible cuts to maternity services at the West Cumberland Hospital, with a claim local midwives believed it would lead to mothers and babies dying.

Labour candidate Gareth Snell celebrates with his wife Sophia (PA)

Despite this, the Conservatives increased their vote share by more than eight per cent in Copeland, while Labour's was down by nearly five per cent. The Tory victory, Ms Harrison, said her victory showed, "the people are ready for change".

I think we ran an extremely positive campaign and it was a campaign that represented the needs of this area, she added. And I know this area because I have lived here all of my life.

I think that, and the combination of Jeremy Corbyn's views on nuclear in an area which is so dependent on Sellafield and on Moorside, contributed to my win tonight, she said.

The contests were triggered after the sitting Labour MPs Jamie Reed and Tristram Hunt  both persistent critics of the Labour leadership  quit. Mr Hunt, a former shadow Education Secretary, took up his role as the new director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London earlier this week.

Ukip candidate and party leader Paul Nuttall at the Stoke count (PA)

Questions over Mr Nuttalls future at the helm of Ukip are also likely to surface following his defeat in Stoke, where the party made a concerted effort to attract Labour voters. Just last week at the partys spring conference in Bolton, former leader Nigel Farage said the by-election would be fundamental to the partys future.

But Mr Nuttall struck a defiant tone after the results were announced, saying "Ukip's time will come", and adding that he planned to stand as an MP in the 2020 general election.

"I'm not going anywhere," he added.

It follows a series of setbacks for the party, with Liverpudlian Mr Nuttall being forced to apologise for a false claim on his website that he lost close friends in the Hillsborough disaster. Questions were also raised whether he in fact lived in his newly-registered constituency address given in electoral papers.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Labour has held Stoke Central after beating back a strong challenge from Ukip with a senior party MP calling for humility in victory.

MP Jack Dromey said: I think as we win we need necessary humility because there is a view that Labour is no longer listening in the way it should do.

I think what we have done in this community is precisely to do that.

Are we yet a credible alternative government? No we're not.

But tonight is a decisive moment.

Labour candidate Gareth Snell and wife Sophia arrive at Fenton Sports Centre as votes are counted (Getty)

Mr Dromey had been speaking as it became increasingly clear voters in Stoke-on-Trent Central had elected Labour's Gareth Snell following a tight-fought battle with Ukip, whose leader Paul Nuttall came second.

Mr Snell was elected with 7,853 of the votes.

The seat has been a Labour stronghold since it was created in 1950, but became a key battleground after Mr Nuttall's decision to personally contest the by-election for Ukip.

Ukip candidate and party leader Paul Nuttall (PA)

However, his campaign had been dogged by controversy in recent weeks after he said a claim he had lost close personal friends in the Hillsborough disaster on his official website was untrue.

A Ukip press officer said she was to blame for the error and offered to resign, while Mr Nuttall apologised for the mistake.

Two senior party officials in Liverpool resigned earlier this week, citing Ukip's crass and insensitive handling of the Hillsborough controversy.

Meanwhile, Mr Nuttall's opponent Mr Snell also had a controversial campaign, having to apologise for past tweets in which he said party leader Jeremy Corbyn was an IRA-supporting friend of Hamas and called Brexit a massive pile of shit.

During the EU referendum, Stoke voted by more than 69% in favour of a divorce with Brussels.

But in his victory speech at Fenton Manor Leisure Centre in the early hours, Mr Snell said the poll showed that the city would not be divided.

He said: We will move forward together to tackle the problems we face, and secure a brighter more prosperous future for everyone.

And turning his attention to Ukip, he added: So to those of you who came to Stoke-on-Trent to sow hatred and division and turn us away from our neighbours, I have one simple message: you have failed.

He said Stoke had chosen the politics of hope over the politics of fear.

Mr Snell added that his job would be to put this campaign behind us, and work together, pledging he would work for all his constituents and be a strong local voice our city needs.

Conceding defeat, Mr Nuttall said: There's going to be a lot more seats which could be more favourable in the future and we will go on and we will have success in the future.

Asked if Hillsborough had damaged his campaign, he said: Well actually, you know, the whole thing with Hillsborough wasn't an issue on the doorstep in Stoke-on-Trent.

Ukip's time will come.

Votes arrive to be counted at Fenton Sports Centre in the Stoke-On-Trent Central by-election (Getty)

Quizzed on whether he would stand again, he replied: I'll probably stand in the general election in 2020.

When asked what would happen to Mr Nuttall if Ukip failed to win, party chairman Paul Oakden said: He has a well-earned rest and then he comes back and leads our party, I suspect.

The whole narrative of Paul's leadership depends on winning in Stoke is a nonsense.

On the night Ukip beat the Conservatives into third by just 79 votes, polling 5,233 to 5,154.

Mr Nuttall was branded a carpet-bagger by Mr Dromey, MP for Erdington in Birmingham.

He added that while Labour was still the party of working people, it had more work to do if it wanted to win back public confidence and return to government.

But he said the party had showed in Stoke that it could listen to people's concerns, by selecting a local and proud candidate in Mr Snell.

He added there was a wider political debate to be had about broadening the pool of people we draw MPs from saying it should feature more factory workers and dare I say, chief executives.

In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A fallen tree brought down by high winds from Storm Doris lies across a main road in Isleworth in London, Britain Reuters In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Emergency personnel attend the scene in Cardinal Place, Victoria aftera man is thought to have been injured by a section of falling debris PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Commuters waiting at King's Cross Station in London, as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain. PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A bin blown onto the tracks at Waterloo station in London, as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A car damaged by a tree which left two men injured, on the A49 north of Church Stretton in Shropshire PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK The scene in Wolverhampton city center after a woman died when she was hit by a piece of roof the 'size of a coffee table' as Storm Doris has claimed its first victim PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A double decker bus blown onto its side by Storm Doris in Walton Highway near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A double decker bus blown onto its side by Storm Doris in Walton Highway near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Spikes protude from a colourful umbrella as a woman struggles against the elements on the seafront at Seaham, in County Durham, north east England EPA In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK ESB workers attend to power lines damaged by a fallen tree as allmost 46,000 Irish households woke up to no electricity after violent gusts battered large swathes of the country through the night PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A children's play area is crushed by fallen trees in Stoke-on Trent, as Storm Doris battered swathes of the country PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A plane comes in to land at Leeds Bradford Airport as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK People make their way across Westminster Bridge while gusts of winds sweep across the capital in London EPA In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Queues outside Peterborough railway station after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A tree which has fallen onto a van in St Anne's Road in Aigburth, Liverpool, as Storm Doris battered swathes of the country PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A rainbow over the Nottingham Wheel in the Old Market Square, as Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Waves crash over the lighthouse in Newhaven, East Sussex PA

Earlier in the evening while speaking on BBC Question Time, Ukip's only MP Douglas Carswell appeared to concede defeat to Labour in Stoke hours before the result.

The MP for Clacton said: I think the most likely outcome is that Labour will win.

Stoke is not even in our top 50 target seats.

Official turnout was 38.16%, with 21,200 votes cast.

PA
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Scottish government is seriously considering a second independence referendum next year, it has been claimed.

Nicola Sturgeons SNP is increasingly confident it would win a second vote, as the First Minister believes the circumstances around it would be different to the first poll because of Brexit.

Scots voted to remain a part of the UK by a wide margin in 2014.

Charles Grant, an adviser to the Scottish governments Standing Council on Europe, told Reuters: I believe the Scottish government is thinking very, very seriously about going for an independence referendum next year.

They feel they have enough emotion and momentum to overcome the economic downsides ... the harder the Brexit, the more likely they are to break away.

And one Scottish politician, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the agency: If you dont call [an independence vote] now, its off the cards for a generation. The economic fallout of Brexit would make future voters wary of more change, they said.

The Scottish government published a draft bill for a second referendum last autumn, but Ms Sturgeon has said a soft Brexit would take Scottish independence off the table for the foreseeable future.

She has previously said that being forced out of the single market would be one red line that might cause her to trigger a second independence referendum.

However, Scottish Secretary David Mundell has said there is no set of circumstances in which Scotland could stay in the European Union as the rest of the UK completes Brexit.

Last week, Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliaments chief Brexit negotiator, said Europe cannot afford to lose Scotland.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Ukips humiliating defeat in the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election has reopened divisions, after ex-leader Nigel Farage suggested the party had not focussed enough on immigration in its campaign.

Mr Farage said his successor Paul Nuttall had taken a risk in seeking to target Labour voters instead of Tory voters and that the strategy had not paid off.

The theme was echoed by Ukip MEP Bill Etheridge, who said Nuttall had been poorly advised in seeking to take Labour on their ideological territory and called for a more Farage-ist approach.

Ukip had seen Stoke, which voted overwhelmingly for Brexit in last year's referendum, as fertile ground for a challenge to Labour in a contest triggered by the resignation of former shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt.

But Mr Nuttalls gamble to stand himself failed to come off as Labour's Gareth Snell held the seat with a majority of 2,620  raising questions as to whether Ukip can defeat Labour in its traditional heartlands.

After last week warning that the contest was fundamental to the party's future prospects, Mr Farage said: I feel sorry for Paul Nuttall.

He fought a hard campaign. I think there are some lessons to learn from it in terms of how we campaign, in terms of how we target. There is a debate in Ukip as to how strong we should be on the immigration issue. I personally think we should own it.

So we will have to look at that and think, were we really tough enough, were we clear enough with the electorate? It has got to be looked at.

 Nigel Farage says 'our real friends speak English'

Ukip MEP for the West Midlands Mr Etheridge later said: Maybe some of Pauls advisers have led him down a dead end on this. We are all going to back Paul, but hopefully well win the argument for the party to get back to its real roots, of challenging authority and a sort of Farage-ist approach to the future.

Mr Nuttalls team in Stoke included Suzanne Evans, Ukips head of policy and MEP Patrick OFlynn, who both fell out with Mr Farage, and former leadership candidate Lisa Duffy, all of whom want a more modern outlook.

Party chairman Paul Oakden said it could be another two decades before the party can take another seat in a by-election.

"Politics is a long game. It took us 23-odd years to win a referendum to get Britain out of the European Union," he said.

"It may take that long for us to get a seat in Westminster via a by-election. But if that's how long it takes then that's what we will keep doing, because that's what we are here for."

Mr Oakden acknowledged Mr Nuttall had endured a difficult campaign, in which he had to apologise over a false claim that he lost close friends in the Hillsborough disaster, but said he had the full support of the party.

In Copeland, too, Ukips disaster was comparable with Labours shock defeat to the Tories. Cumbria is also the sort of area they want to be doing better in, but instead their vote shrivelled from a respectable 15.5 per cent to just 6.5 per cent.

Repeated council by-elections have also seen Ukip councillors defeated. In Brexit-supporting Gloucestershire earlier this month, the Green Party came from nowhere to take a Ukip council seat on the Forest of Dean local authority.

Since the EU referendum wind seems to have been taken out of the partys sails and polls show a good chunk of voters have turned to Theresa Mays Tories.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Voting has now closed in two crucial by-elections in Labours traditional heartlands, with Jeremy Corbyn awaiting the result of his toughest electoral test to date.

The Labour leader is fighting to hold Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent Central in the face of strong challenges from both the Conservatives and Ukip, with the party leader Paul Nuttall contesting the latter. Both sets of results are expected in the early hours of Friday morning.

Early indications suggest Labour is braced for defeat in Copeland, with senior sources saying it was neck and neck and that rural constituencies still come in likely to favour the Tories. They were, however, confident of holding onto Stoke where turnout was 38 per cent  down on the 2015 general election.

The contests were triggered after the sitting Labour MPs Jamie Reed and Tristram Hunt  both persistent critics the Labour leadership  quit. Mr Hunt, a former Shadow Education Secretary, took up his role as the new director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London earlier this week.

As the polls closed Mr Corbyn thanked those who campaigned for the party in the final hours and braved Storm Doris, which lashed parts of Britain with up to 94mph gusts. He added: The political establishment has let down Copeland and Stoke, who have seen their industries gutted, living standards stagnate and hope for a better future for their children and grandchildren decline.

Whatever the results, the Labour Party - and our mass membership - must go further to break the failed political consensus, and win power to rebuild and transform Britain.

With the party trailing in the nationwide opinion polls  the latest placing Labour behind Theresa Mays Conservatives by 18 points  the by-elections are also being viewed as a test of whether Mr Corbyn can reconnect with its traditional supporters in the wake of the Brexit referendum vote. It is likely Mr Corbyn will endure yet more questions regarding his leadership if the party fares badly.

Stoke voted overwhelmingly for Leave in the referendum  earning the nickname Brexit Central  and the Ukip believes it is potentially fertile ground for an electoral breakthrough.

However, Ukip has been hit by a series of setbacks, with Liverpudlian Mr Nuttall being forced to apologise for a false claim on his website that he lost close friends in the Hillsborough disaster. If the embattled party leader suffers a heavy loss in the constituency, it is likely his leadership will be called into question  just last week at Ukips spring conference in Bolton former leader Nigel Farage said the by-election was fundamental to the partys future.

In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A fallen tree brought down by high winds from Storm Doris lies across a main road in Isleworth in London, Britain Reuters In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Emergency personnel attend the scene in Cardinal Place, Victoria aftera man is thought to have been injured by a section of falling debris PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Commuters waiting at King's Cross Station in London, as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain. PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A bin blown onto the tracks at Waterloo station in London, as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A car damaged by a tree which left two men injured, on the A49 north of Church Stretton in Shropshire PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK The scene in Wolverhampton city center after a woman died when she was hit by a piece of roof the 'size of a coffee table' as Storm Doris has claimed its first victim PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A double decker bus blown onto its side by Storm Doris in Walton Highway near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A double decker bus blown onto its side by Storm Doris in Walton Highway near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Spikes protude from a colourful umbrella as a woman struggles against the elements on the seafront at Seaham, in County Durham, north east England EPA In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK ESB workers attend to power lines damaged by a fallen tree as allmost 46,000 Irish households woke up to no electricity after violent gusts battered large swathes of the country through the night PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A children's play area is crushed by fallen trees in Stoke-on Trent, as Storm Doris battered swathes of the country PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A plane comes in to land at Leeds Bradford Airport as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK People make their way across Westminster Bridge while gusts of winds sweep across the capital in London EPA In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Queues outside Peterborough railway station after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A tree which has fallen onto a van in St Anne's Road in Aigburth, Liverpool, as Storm Doris battered swathes of the country PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A rainbow over the Nottingham Wheel in the Old Market Square, as Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Waves crash over the lighthouse in Newhaven, East Sussex PA

There have been signs in recent days of growing confidence among Labour MPs that they will hang on in Stoke Central, which the party has held since it was created in 1950, despite a concerted challenge by Ukip. Momentum, the grassroots movement that grew out of Mr Corbyns leadership bid in the summer of 2015, has mobilised hundreds of activists in both constituencies and over 100 MPs are believed to have travelled to the constituencies on polling day alone.

But in the Cumbrian seat of Copeland, the bookies still make the Conservatives the narrow favourites to snatch victory. On Monday Mr Corbyn told the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) that the Copeland contest was on a knife edge. It came after the party suffered yet another dismal result in the poll, with researcher ICM placing Labour 18 points behind Theresa Mays Conservatives.

A victory for the Tories in Copeland would mark the first time a rival party has been defeated by the party of government at a by-election since 1982, when the Labour MP for Mitcham & Morden defected from the party to the SDP.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A group of senior lawyers who helped the Obama administration develop and stick to a code of ethics have formed a team that will attempt to force Donald Trump to abide by the rules.

By holding the president accountable, the new organisation hopes to protect against a gradual slide into authoritarian rule in the United States.

United to Protect Democracy, named after a line in Barack Obamas farewell address, has already raised a $1.5m (1.2m) operating budget and hired five staff. It plans to hire five more in the coming months.

The non-profit intends to explore issues that have not been exposed by the media yet, for instance the possibility that White House staff may have intervened in and intimidated regulatory agencies.

Ian Bassin, an associate White House counsel during the first three years of the Obama administration, is leading the group.

He told Politico that he feared that without actionm democracy in the United States could be gradually eroded by the Trump administration.

When people hear concerns about democracies declining into authoritarianism, they expect that moment to come in a singular thunderclap where everyone can see that this is the time, he said. In reality, often times, democracies decline over a period of years that happen through a series of much smaller steps.

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 group has submitted 50 Freedom of Information Act requests and intend to share their findings with reporters. Mr Bassin said it will also hire a campaigns director who will use the information gathered to support demands for greater congressional oversight. If necessary, it will file lawsuits too.

The organisation is also hoping to establish itself as a base for government employees worried about ethics violations, including those who might go on to become whistleblowers.

It is also hoping to produce a website that can be a resource for them.

Under the Obama administration, Mr Bassin spent much of his time working on ethics questions such as how best to prevent politics and favouritism from influencing independent agencies.

 Trump says he may use the military to deport undocumented immigrants

He aims to hire other lawyers with similar experience and has several on board already.

As people who had the privilege of serving at the highest level of our government, we understand those guardrails, where people might come up against them and what the tools are that we have as private citizens to hold our government accountable, he said.

While other organisations are challenging Mr Trump within the existing framework, Mr Bassin said he is focused on the potential constitutional crisis that would occur if, for example, the White House directly defies a judicial ruling.

We need an organisation that is specifically and holistically focused on that worst-case scenario, he added.

Asked about the group, White House press secretary Sean Spicer, insisted Mr Trump's administration had "raised the level of ethics training and oversight to a new level compared to the practices of the previous administration."
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has warned Republicans against skipping their town halls and said that they must "have the guts" to take tough questions.

"If you don't have the guts to face your constituents, then you shouldn't be in the United States Congress," the former presidential candidate told CNN.

More than 200 GOP lawmakers have skipped town halls in their home states during the first recess amid a wave of voter anger over healthcare, jobs and President Donald Trumps alleged ties to Russia and conflicts of interest.

"And if you need police at the meetings, that's fine, have police at the meetings, have security at the meetings," continued Mr Sanders.

"But don't use that as an excuse to run away from your constituents after you support repealing the Affordable Care Act, throwing 20 million people off of health insurance, doing away with preexisting conditions.

"If you are going to do all those things, answer the questions that your constituents have."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn and Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz were some of those who were booed, jeered and shouted down at their town halls.

They also faced hundreds if not thousands of protesters outside the venue who were not admitted into the events.

Mr Trump claimed the protests were being organised by "thugs" and "liberal activists".

His press secretary, Sean Spicer, acknowledged that some people were "clearly upset" but did not understand why, as he insisted Mr Trumps new healthcare plan should send a signal to voters that "help was on the way".

He added the protests had a "bit of professional, manufactured base in there".

For the first two months of the new Congress, only 88 in-person events with Republicans were organised. There are 292 Republicans in Congress.

 Mitch McConnell's face drops as voter confronts him about jobs and healthcare

The number of events this year was much lower than the same period in 2015, during which the party held 222 in-person town hall events, according to data from Legistorm and reported by Vice.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

In a what has been viewed as legal setback for Bill Cosby, a judge has ruled that an additional woman who says he sexually assaulted her will be permitted to testify at his trial later this year.

Prosecutors had wanted to call up to 12 other women who claim the 79-year-old comedian assaulted them as they try him over an allegation that he abused a member of staff at Temple University in Philadelphia in 2004. They wished to do so to try and prove, the actor had a history of similar bad acts.

But in what may be a pivotal ruling, a judge said prosecutors can only call one other woman.

Bill Cosby at a court appearance last year in Philadelphia (AP)

Mr Cosby is set to go on trial in June over a 2005 complaint by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, who is now a massage therapist in Toronto. Mr Cosby has denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors reopened the case in 2015 after newly released court documents showed Mr Cosby admitting he gave drugs and alcohol to young women before sex over a 50-year period, the Associated Press said.

 Bill Cosby appears in court

The prosecutors had chosen 13 women from around nearly 50 who have accused the celebrity of assaulting them and asked Judge Steven ONeill of the Court of Common Pleas, to admit their accounts as evidence. The prosecutors said the testimony was important in showing a pattern of conduct by Mr Cosby that bolstered the account of Ms Constand.

But the New York Times said that the judge only agreed to allow the testimony of one woman, identified simply as Prior Alleged Victim Six, in a one-page decision.

The judge said that he made his decision after a consideration of the evidence and legal arguments presented by both sides and following a careful balancing of the probative value of the other acts evidence and the prejudice to the defendant.

Ms Constand has said that Mr Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home near Philadelphia. The star of iconic shows such a the Cosby Show has claimed that the encounter was consensual.

Reports suggest that the defence team is likely to challenge Ms Constands credibility during the trial. However, that will become more difficult if the prosecution is able to present another woman with a similar account.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Audience members at the Conservative Political Action Conference have been pictured waving what appear to be Russian flags as they listened to Donald Trump's speech.

In photos that emerged from the crowded conference hall in Washington, people in the crowd can be seen waving the flags emblazoned with the word Trump, next to supporters wearing Make America Great Again hats.

According to one attendee, the flags were handed out to college students in the audience who may not have been aware of the fact they bore Russias national colours.

It was unclear who handed out the flags or whether they were distributed in protest or support of the Republican leader.

The mini flags were reportedly confiscated shortly after by White House officials working at the event.

Mr Trump renewed his attack on the press in his first speech as US President at the Conservative gathering, defending his decision to call "fake news" the enemy of the American people.

Im not against the media. Im not against the press, he said.

"I'm not against the press. I'm not against the bad stories...I'm only against the fake news media and press."

It came after he launched a further attack on the intelligence community earlier in the day, who he accused of leaking controversial information to the press, including news his senior campaign aides were being investigated for links to Russian intelligence.
The militants have fired the Ukrainian military positions 83 times in Donbas over the past day, the press center of the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation) said on its Facebook page on Friday morning.

"Two of our military have been wounded, one has been killed," a message says.

In the Donetsk sector militants' tank had been repeatedly shooting at Avdiyivka. Mortars of various calibres of the enemy were used to fire on Pisky, Zaitseve, Troyitske and Kamyanka. Rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and small arms were applied to attack Novhorodske, Pisky, Avdiyivka, Verkhniotoretske, Novoselivka, Luhanske and Zaitseve. A sniper fired at positions in the Novhorodske area.

In the Luhansk sector the militants fired, using mortars of various calibers, on Popasna and Novozvanivka. Rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns were used to shell Troyitske, Krymske and Novo-Oleksandrivka. Novozvanivka was shelled by the enemy's infantry combat vehicles, while Troyitske - by anti-aircraft guns.

In the Mariupol sector mortars of various calibres fired on Krasnohorivka, Novotroyitske, Taramchuk and rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and firearms on - Vodiane, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Shyrokyne and Novotroyitske. Shyrokyne was fired on by a sniper.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Donald Trump has declared that a Washington Post story with nine sources that got Michael Flynn fired was "made up".

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the President accused the media of "fake news", continuing a conspiracy theory he has pedalled for months when faced with negative headlines.

"I want you to know we are all fighting the fake news. Its fake, phony, fake," he said.

The Washington Post story in question cited nine sources, and exposed how the Presidents former national security adviser allegedly misled Vice President Mike Pence about his phone calls with Russian ambassador Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak.

"They have no sources, he added. They just make em up when there are none. I saw one story recently where they said nine people have confirmed [Michael Flynns phone calls]. There are no nine people. I dont believe there was one or two people. Nine people."

Despite Mr Trump knowing about the phone calls for three weeks and Mr Pence 11 days, Mr Flynn was forced to resign after the news leaked.

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

Mr Trump insisted that Mr Flynn was treated very unfairly by the media and was only fired due to an issue of trust. The President said he would have instructed Mr Flynn to phone Mr Kislyak himself and that he had done "nothing wrong".

At the CPAC conference, he called for media to only use sources if they are named.

 Nigel Farage's CPAC entrance

The President explained how he had recently declared that the media was the "enemy of the people", and then accused the media for misreporting his statement - he said he had only declared the "fake news" was the "enemy", not the media overall.

He recently said that negative polls were fake news, too.

"I dont mind bad stories if I deserve them," he said.

"I tell you, I love good stories. But I dont get too many of them. But I am only against the fake news, media."

The Republican-led committee on oversight and government reform, under chairman Jason Chaffetz, is currently investigating media leaks about alleged ties between the US and Russian governments, rather than the ties themselves.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The widely adopted anecdote about the most famous poem of the moment, that it was written by a woman who didnt want to write it, is not quite accurate.

Emma Lazaruss The New Colossus and its immortal lines - "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore" - have become symbolic of the plight and struggle of refugees to the United States, as well as a political hot potato since Donald Trump was elected President.

But reports that Lazarus grumbled that she did not write "to order" are disputed.

Lazarus friend, Constance Cary Harrison, claims that she asked her to write a poem about refugees to raise money for the base of the Statue of Liberty. She said that as she described the subject of the poem to Lazarus, the "shaft sped home - her dark eyes deepened - her cheek flushed".

What would Lazarus make in 2017 of how the poem is being cited in protest against the current waves of anti-immigrant rhetoric?

"Im only her biographer, but I get overwhelmed by it," said Esther Schor, professor of English at Princeton University and author of the 2006 biography Emma Lazarus. "I have a Google alert for every time her poem is cited, and Ive been following this for months and months. These phrases are in the Zeitgeist."

Lazarus' sonnet was auctioned off alongside writings by Walt Whitman and Mark Twain. By the time she wrote The New Colossus, more than 50 of her poems had been published in mainstream periodicals and she had written a novel and a drama. But for the New York socialite, writer and activist, true renown only came posthumously.

Emma Lazarus died at 18 West 10th Street. Her funeral was held in the townhouse the next day (Google Maps)

While Lazarus was writing the poem in 1883, the Statue of Liberty lay in pieces in Paris. It was shipped to New York. At the unveiling ceremony, her poem was not mentioned.

Lazarus was abroad at the time and very ill. She would die a year later, and the poem would not even be mentioned in her obituary. In fact, the poem almost was not re-discovered at all. Two decades after her death, a friend unearthed it in a New York bookstore and its words were inscribed onto a plaque on the base of the statue.

The poems subject, and the cause of most of her lifes work, most likely came naturally to her. She knew what it was like to be an outsider. Not only was she rather uncomfortable within her high society circles, who no doubt would have disapproved of her charitable activities and her writing, she was also ill at ease among the Sephardic Jewish community, from which her Jewish father sought to distance himself by cultivating other relationships among the wealthy Christian families.

"Lazarus understood nativism, racism, xenophobia, she understood complacency, and knew what it was like for people to not identify with those who are different to you," said Schor.

She was called "Jewess" and complained bitterly about racism in a letter to Philip Cowen in 1883, using words that many liberals might be familiar with today.

"I am perfectly conscious that this contempt and hatred underlies the general tone of the community towards us, and yet when I even remotely hint at the fact that we are not a favorite people I am accused of stirring up strife and setting barriers between the two sects [Jews and Christians]."

Schor described her as "astoundingly erudite". She was well-read, and unlike other authors of her era, such as Edith Wharton and Henry James, she lived most of her life in New York. While she didnt need the money, she wrote to "keep her mind alive".

Lazarus dedicated her short life to pursue feminism, Zionism and to fight anti-Semitism. She also founded several organisations to teach refugees and Jewish women to learn to type, sew - even to recite Shakespeare.

"She was very, very ambitious," said Schor. "But then most women didnt have a father who would publish their work when they were 16, or get [Ralph Waldo] Emerson to be their mentor."

Scandal was never too far away, not only regarding how she chose to spend her time, but also what she wrote about. One story, The Spagnoletto, suggested father-daughter incest. Pundits speculate whether her influence was her father, or her relationship with Emerson. She was also not religious and never married, having seen how one of her close friends abandoned her passion for painting after she had several children.

New York of the 19th century was run by male titans in the rail and shipping industries, and nativist gangs roamed the streets. The likes of Donald Trump would not have shocked her, claimed Schor.

Whether Lazarus truly was keen to write The New Colossus or not, it became an iconic symbol for millions of immigrants who came to the shores of New York City during the 19th and 20th centuries.

What was more certain, however, was how she regarded the work after it was completed.

"She thought it was her best poem," said Schor.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The rationale behind Donald Trump's travel ban was cast into even further doubt today after analysts at the US Homeland Security Department's intelligence arm found insufficient evidence to support claims that citizens of seven Muslim-majority pose a terror threat.

A draft document obtained by the Associated Press concluded that citizenship was an "unlikely indicator" of terrorism threats to America, and that few people from the countries Mr Trump listed in his travel ban have carried out attacks or been involved in terrorism-related activities in the US since Syria's civil war started in 2011.

The US President cited terrorism concerns as the primary reason he signed the sweeping temporary travel ban late last month, which also halted the US refugee scheme.

A federal judge in Washington state blocked the government from carrying out the order earlier this month. Mr Trump has since said a new edict would be rolled out soon.

The administration has been working on a new version that could withstand legal challenges.

Responding to the report, Homeland Security spokeswoman Gillian Christensen did not dispute its authenticity, but said it was not a final comprehensive review of the government's intelligence.

"While DHS was asked to draft a comprehensive report on this issue, the document you're referencing was commentary from a single intelligence source versus an official, robust document with thorough interagency sourcing," Ms Christensen said.

"The ... report does not include data from other intelligence community sources. It is incomplete."

The Homeland Security report is based on unclassified information from Justice Department press releases on terrorism-related convictions and attackers killed in the act, State Department visa statistics, the 2016 Worldwide Threat Assessment from the US intelligence community and the State Department Country Reports on Terrorism 2015.

 Trump considers "brand new" travel ban

The three-page report challenges Mr Trump's core claims. It said that of 82 people the government determined were inspired by a foreign terrorist group to carry out or try to carry out an attack in America, just over half were US citizens born in the country.

The others were from 26 countries, led by Pakistan, Somalia, Bangladesh, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iraq and Uzbekistan. Of these, only Somalia and Iraq were among the seven nations included in the ban.

Of the other five nations, one person each from Iran, Sudan and Yemen was also involved in those terrorism cases, but none from Syria. It did not say if any were Libyan.

The report also found that terrorist organisations in Iran, Libya, Somalia and Sudan are regionally focused, while groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen do pose a threat to the US.

The seven countries were included in a law President Barack Obama signed in 2015 that updated visa requirements for foreigners who had travelled to those countries.

The report was prepared as part of an internal review Mr Trump requested after his executive order was blocked by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. It was drafted by staff of the Homeland Security Department's Intelligence and Analysis branch at the direction of its acting leader, David Glawe.

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

White House spokesman Michael Short said this was not the full report that Trump had requested. He said he believes "the intel community is combining resources to put together a comprehensive report using all available sources, not just open sources, and which is driven by data, not politics".

The intelligence document was circulated beyond Homeland Security.

The draft document reflects the tensions between the President's political appointees and the civil servants tasked with carrying out his aggressive agenda.

Mr Trump has repeatedly complained about leaks meant to undercut his policies and suggested he does not trust holdovers from the Obama administration.

Mr Trump originally said the ban was necessary to overhaul the vetting system for both refugees and would-be foreign visitors, saying that terrorists may try to exploit weaknesses to gain access to the United States.

The order sparked chaos, outrage and widespread protests, with travellers detained at airports.

But several courts quickly intervened and the 9th Circuit ultimately upheld a ruling blocking the ban and challenged the administration's claim that it was motivated by terrorism fears.

Trump's ban temporarily barred citizens from the seven countries from coming to the United States for three months. The order also temporarily shut down the US refugee program for four months and indefinitely banned anyone from Syria.

A senior administration official told AP on Sunday that a draft of the revised order will target those same seven countries. The official would not be named discussing the document before it is made public.

In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee, Mr Trump reiterated his claims on terrorism.

"We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country," Mr Trump said.

He said he singled out the seven countries because they had already been deemed a security concern by the Obama administration.

AP
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Jeff Sessions on Thursday night reversed an Obama administration plan to phase out the governments contracts with private prisons.

In a brief memo, the new attorney general criticised his predecessor, Sally Yates, and her order that changed the long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureaus ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system, he wrote. Therefore, I direct the Bureau to return to its previous approach.

"This will restore BOP's flexibility to manage the federal prison inmate population based on capacity needs," a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement. The federal Bureau of Prisons currently holds 12 private prison contracts, housing nearly 21,000 inmates across the country.

The Justice Department began issuing contracts with private prisons when the prison population boosted up to 800 percent between 1980 and 2013.

Now, with President Trumps strict immigration policies on the horizon, private prisons could make major profits in the coming years. Earlier this week, the Trump administration ordered Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to quickly detain and deport undocumented immigrants living in the country.

Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Show all 18 1 /18 Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters gather outside the White House at the finish of the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds attended the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters hold up signage near the Washington Monument during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Drew Angerer/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters gather during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. The march is expected to draw thousands from across the country to protest newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters arrive at the Capital South Metro station for the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters arrive on the platform at the Capital South Metro station for the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators protest during the Women's March along Pennsylvania Avenue January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 21: Protesters attend the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A marcher holds a sign during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. The march is expected to draw thousands from across the country to protest newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A woman chants while attending the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters attend the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters march in Washington, DC, during the Women's March on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded US cities Saturday in a day of women's rights protests to mark President Donald Trump's first full day in office. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A protester gestures toward the White House on the Ellipse near the South Lawn of the White House during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Drew Angerer/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A protester, holding a Donald Trump doll wearing a pink cap, marches in Washington, DC, during the Womens March on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded US cities Saturday in a day of women's rights protests to mark President Donald Trump's first full day in office. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters take to the National Mall to demonstrate against the presidency of Donald Trump Washington, DC on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters march during the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators gather on The Ellipse during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators march down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protester's signs are left near the White House during the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Mario Tama/Getty

USA Today reports that GEO Group, one of the countrys largest for-profit prison companies donated $250,000 to support Trumps inaugural festivities. One of the companys subsidiaries also donated another $225,000 to a super PAC that spent $22 million to help Mr Trump win Novembers election. According to the report, CoreCivic, another prison operator, dropped another $250,000 to celebrate the former business moguls inauguration.

David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions National Prison Project, said the US may be headed for new private prison boom.

Handing control of prisons over to for-profit companies is a recipe for abuse and neglect. The memo from Attorney General Sessions ignores this fact. Additionally, this memo is a further sign that under President Trump and Attorney General Sessions, the United States may be headed for a new federal prison boom, fueled in part by criminal prosecutions of immigrants for entering the country," he said in a statement on Thursday.

"President Trump, whose super-PAC received hundreds of thousands of dollars from private prison companies, has issued executive orders calling for increasing criminal prosecutions of immigrants. He has repeatedly expressed support for new legislation to impose harsh, unnecessary new mandatory minimum sentences for these prosecutions.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A Kansas man has been charged with shooting dead an Indian man and wounding another Indian man and an American in a bar, in a suspected hate crime.

Adam Purinton, 51, was charged in Johnson County, Kansas, with one count of premeditated first degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first degree murder, Johnson County District Attorney Stephen Howe told a news conference.

Purinton is accused of shooting and killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, also 32, in the Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday evening, according to a statement from the Olathe Police Department.

At least one bystander told the Kansas City Star that the man shouted "get out of my country" before shooting the Indian men. He is also accused of wounding American Ian Grillot, 24, who was shot when he tried to intervene, the Kansas City Star reported.

 Man who tried to save victims of Kansas shooting says 'we're all humans'

Witnesses told the Kansas City Star and The Washington Post that Purinton was thought to have been kicked out the bar Wednesday night before the shooting took place. He seemed kind of distraught, Garret Bohnen, a regular at Austins who was there that night told The Washington Post in an interview. He started drinking pretty fast.

He reportedly came back into the bar and hurled racial slurs at the two Indian men, including comments that suggested he thought they were of Middle Eastern descent. When he started firing shots, Grillot, a regular at the bar whom Bohnen called everyones friend, intervened.

Two officials from the Indian consulate in Houston were going to Kansas to meet the injured men and police to "ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action," Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Vikas Swarup said in a statement.

Witnesses told The Washington Post that Purinton was thought to have been kicked out the bar Wednesday night before the shooting took place. He seemed kind of distraught, Garret Bohnen, a regular at Austins who was there that night told Post in an interview. He started drinking pretty fast.

He reportedly came back into the bar and hurled racial slurs at the two Indian men, including comments that suggested he thought they were of Middle Eastern descent. When he started firing shots, Grillot, a regular at the bar whom Bohnen called everyones friend, intervened.

"I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family," Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said in a Tweet.

The US embassy in New Delhi condemned the shooting.

"The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live," US Charge d'Affaires MaryKay Carlson said in a statement.

"US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief."

Howe would not elaborate on the details of the incident or the motive for the shooting.

"We want to be able to be sure about our facts versus speculation. So we are not prepared at this point to talk about the particular facts of the case because this is still very fresh," Howe said.

Kavipriya Muthuramalingam, a friend and former colleague of the shooting victim, has raised more than $250,000 via a crowd-funding website to help his family with funeral and other expenses.

"This came as an incredible shock - as he is one of the most gentle, nicest human beings you would meet," Muthuramalingam said. "He was non-confrontational, non-controversial, easy-going, always smiling."

Recommended Canada mosque shooting leaves six dead after gunmen open fire

The killing led news bulletins in India and drew strong reactions on social media, amid growing concerns that US President Donald Trump's "America First" rhetoric on immigration and jobs has fuelled a climate of intolerance.

"Don't be shocked! Be angry! Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla," Siddharth, a well known South Indian actor, tweeted to his 2.6 million followers.

Trump's election was welcomed at first by many in India who interpreted his calls to restrict immigration by Muslims as signalling support towards Hindu-majority India, which for decades has been at odds with Pakistan, its largely Muslim neighbour.

But the Trump administration also has skilled Indian workers like Kuchibhotla in mind as it considers curbing the H-1B visa program, worrying both India's $150 billion IT services industry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

Kuchibhotla's Facebook page, where he called himself "Srinu", said he joined Garmin in 2014 from Rockwell Collins. He took a master's in electronics from the University of Texas in El Paso from 2005-07, according to LinkedIn. He was married but had no children.

The FBI was investigating whether the incident was a hate crime.

"We are looking at whether the crime was committed via bias motivation. We are really at the preliminary stage at looking at every aspect," said Eric Jackson, special agent in charge of the FBI's Kansas City Field Office, during the news conference.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The US attorney office in Kansas and the US Department of Justice will also evaluate the case as more evidence is gathered, Tom Beall, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas said, the Kansas City Star reported.

The United States saw a wave of hate crimes, including a spike in anti-immigrant incidents, during the first month after Trump's election in November, the Southern Poverty Law Centre reported.

Kuchibhotla and Madasani were engineers who worked at Garmin as members of the Aviation Systems Engineering team, the Star reported.

"We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved," the company said in a statement, according to the newspaper.

The suspect fled from the bar on foot and was apprehended five hours later at an Applebeeas in Clinton, Missouri, where he reportedly told an employee that he needed a place to hide out because he had just killed two Middle Eastern men, the Star reported.

Purinton, who was not armed, was arrested without incident, the newspaper reported.

Purinton, a Navy veteran, was being held on a $2 million bond in the Henry County Jail, where he waived his right to fight extradition to Johnson County, the paper reported.

Additional reporting by agencies
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The White House reportedly banned counsellor Kellyanne Conway from television appearances for a week after the senior aide to the president made multiple statements live on air contradicting the Trump administrations official line.

Ms Conway appeared on Fox News on Wednesday night after a prolonged absence to deny claims that she had been disciplined for stating that disgraced national security adviser Michael Flynn had the full confidence of President Trump, just hours before he was forced to resign.

Mr Flynn left his post amid revelations that he misled vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador, in a scandal that shook Mr Trump's presidency. But Ms Conway claimed on NBC's Today programme that Mr Flynn had offered to step down.

Ms Conway was off message, a White House source reportedly told CNN. The network noted that for over a week after the incident the presidential adviser was completely absent from television news.

But Ms Conway told Fox New's Hannity show that speculation she had been barred from appearing was trying to start up trouble.

She said only about five percent of her advisory role to President Trump involved appearing on TV, and I think thats about right because hes the president now and hes his own best messenger.

She labelled claims she had been banned as "folks just trying to use me as clickbait in a headline" and said people were jealous of the air time she received.

If Im out with four kids for three days looking at houses and schools  a lot of my colleagues arent trying to figure out how to be a mother of four kids, I assure you, she said.

But Ms Conway's inaccurate remarks about Mr Flynn were not the first time she has caused trouble for the White House with comments she has made on air.

Ms Conway has sparked controversy after controversy in the past weeks by making up a terrorist attack in Bowling Green that never happened, illegally promoting the president's daughter Ivanka Trump's clothing line live on air, and coining the term "alternative facts" to excuse misleading statements made by press secretary Sean Spicer.

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

A source close to the White House reportedly told CNN that the Trump administration has seen fewer controversies in Conways absence.

Clearly they're having much more of a drama-free week, CNN quoted the source as saying. Having Kellyanne off television is helping them.

They're letting the heat cool off, another source reportedly said.

Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, however, denied claims that Conway had been sidelined from television, calling the accusations another wild goose chase.

Kellyanne has a number of media appearances this week and also has a large portfolio at the WH and is spending significant time focusing on it, she told CNN.

Reports that the White House is reluctant to have Ms Conway on air come after some shows banned the counsellor for being unreliable.

Mika Brzezinski, from MSNBC's Morning Joe breakfast news programme, has said she will no longer book Donald Trump's adviser  despite her repeated attempts to try and get herself on the show.

I know for a fact she tries to book herself on this show; I wont do it, Ms Brzezinski said.

Every time Ive ever seen her on television, somethings askew, off, or incorrect.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A group of law professors from around the country has filed a professional misconduct complaint against White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway, a graduate of George Washington University Law School who was admitted to the D.C. Bar in 1995.

The letter, filed with the office that handles misconduct by members of the D.C. Bar, said Conway should be sanctioned for violating government ethics rules and conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, the letter says.

The 15 professors, who specialise in legal ethics, cite several incidents, including a television interview in which Conway made the false statement that President Barack Obama had banned Iraqi refugees from coming into the United States for six months following the Bowling Green Massacre,  and the use of her position to endorse Ivanka Trump products.

We do not file this complaint lightly, the professors said in their filing. We believe that, at one time, Ms. Conway, understood her ethical responsibilities as a lawyer and abided by them. But she is currently acting in a way that brings shame upon the legal profession.

The professors teach at law schools such as Georgetown University Law Center, Yale Law School, Fordham University and Duke University.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The letter was sent to the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the chief prosecutor for disciplinary matters that involve active or inactive attorneys who are members of the D.C. Bar. Conway is listed as a D.C. Bar member under her maiden name, Kellyanne E. Fitzpatrick, but is a suspended member for not paying her dues, according to the disciplinary filing.

D.C. Disciplinary Counsel Wallace Gene Shipp Jr. said that his office receives about 1,500 complaints a year but investigates only between 400 to 500 of them. The actions that can be taken range from dismissal of the complaint to the prosecution of charges and possible disbarment, he said.

Since she has been serving as counsellor to President Trump, Conway has been caught up in several controversies. Last month, during an interview on NBCs Meet The Press, she said the White House had put forth alternative facts regarding the size of Trumps inauguration crowd.

Alternative facts are not facts at all; they are lies, the professors said in their filing.

Conway was also criticised for using her position during a February 9 interview on Fox News to endorse Ivanka Trumps fashion products.

Federal rules on conflicts of interest specifically prohibit using public office for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private gain of friends, relatives or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity, the complaint said.

Abbe Smith, a Georgetown Law Center professor and director of the Criminal Defense and Prisoner Advocacy Clinic, said she has never filed such a complaint before and generally does not believe that lawyers should routinely face discipline under the broad rule they cited, which includes conduct outside the practise of law.

But Ms. Conways conduct was so outside the norm for a member of the legal profession, Smith said. What prompted our complaint was a combination of the specific conduct that Ms. Conway engaged in plus the fact that she holds such a high public office.

The Washington Post
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Mexicos foreign minister has expressed "worry and irritation" about US policies to two of President Donald Trump's top envoys sent to cool tempers after weeks of tension between the countries.

After talks in the Mexican capital with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security chief John Kelly, Luis Videgaray told reporters: "There exists among Mexicans worry and irritation about what are perceived to be policies that could be harmful for the national interest and for Mexicans here and abroad.

Mr Videgaray said it was a "complex time" for US-Mexico relations, which have gone downhill quickly since Mr Trump was elected president last November.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Tillerson said he and Mexican officials had discussed deep differences between their countries.

He also vowed to continue a dialogue about their disputes, saying it was natural for "two strong, sovereign" countries to disagree at times.

Relations were put under further strain this week when the US said it would seek to deport many illegal immigrants to Mexico if they entered the country from the southern border, regardless of their nationality.

The immigration guidelines are the latest point of tension between neighbours that have also been at odds over Mr Trump's vow to build a wall on the border and his attempts to browbeat Mexico into giving concessions on trade.

Mr Videgaray and President Enrique Pena Nieto have been criticised at home for being too willing to engage with the former real-estate mogul, who has repeatedly cranked up tension with the country ahead of key meetings.

But both sides also pledged further dialogue on migration, trade and security issues facing both nations.

Mr Kelly and Mr Tillerson were much more measured in their words than either the Mexicans or Mr Trump, who earlier said a military operation was being carried out to clear "bad dudes" from the US.

Were getting drug lords out, Mr Trump said at a White House meeting with business executives. Were getting really bad dudes out of this country, at a rate that nobodys ever seen before.

However Mr Kelly said there would be "no use of military force in immigration operations," and "no, repeat, no" mass deportations.

None of the officials made direct references to the deportation of immigrants from third countries to Mexico, or to paying for the border wall planned by Mr Trump, a red-flag issue for Mexico.

Additional reporting by agencies
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said the UK's "real friends" speak English, in a remark seemingly aimed at the European Union.

Mr Farage addressed an enthusiastic audience at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, as right-wing Americans fully embraced the nationalism that characterises Trumpism and Brexit.

Our real friends in the world speak English, have common law, and stand by us in times of crisis, Mr Farage told the room of Trump supporters, in an apparent slight aimed at Britain's nearest neighbours on the continent.

President Donald Trump addressed the room earlier in the day. He issued yet another attack on the medias unflattering coverage, doubling down on his attack that the press is the enemy.

A few days ago, I called the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. They are the enemy of the people, the billionaire President said. Because they have no sources. They just make them up where there are none.

Mr Farage supported Mr Trumps criticism of the news media, and said that he related to it.

Youve only had a few months of being abused, Ive had 20 years of it, he said.

The former party leader had recently complained that he felt like a virtual prisoner in his home, frightened of the media.

It is because of these irrelevant people, who held no position, they happened to join an organisation, and because of these irrelevant people being demonised by liberal media, Ive had to live years, frankly, of being frightened of walking out into the street all because the media picked out these people, he told Piers Morgan.

And because of these people, attempted to demonise me and give me a bad name.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Donald Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official has said.

The official said Priebus' request came after the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was not accurate. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to.

The New York Times reported that US agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trump's 2016 campaign team.

Priebus' discussion with FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers, said Michigan Representative John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations only when it is important for the performance of the president's duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective. When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus' communications with McCabe. The official was not authorised to disclose the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.

The FBI would not say whether it had contacted the White House about the veracity of the Times report.

CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI to weigh in on the matter.

Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. US intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US. Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including about US sanctions policy.

Still, Trump and his advisers have denied contacts with Russian officials during the election. Last week, Trump said nobody that I know of spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.

Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, telling Fox News that the top levels of the intelligence community have assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were not only grossly overstated, but also wrong.

Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat-Oregon, said Priebus' comments opened the door for FBI Director James Comey to discuss the bureau's investigation publicly.

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

If the White House chief of staff can make public claims about the supposed conclusions of an FBI investigation, then Director Comey can come clean with the American people, Wyden said.

Justin Shur, a former Justice Department public corruption prosecutor, said it was imperative that Justice Department investigations not be swayed by political considerations.

As a general matter, investigations and prosecutions should be about gathering the facts and the evidence and applying the law, Shur said.

During the campaign, Trump and other Republicans vigorously criticised a meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, husband of Trump's general election opponent. The meeting came as the FBI - which is overseen by the Justice Department - was investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address and personal internet server.

AP
Ukrainian President's Envoy for the Crimean Tatar people and MP from Petro Poroshenko Bloc Mustafa Jemilev has called unpromising military scenario of the return of Crimea under the control of Ukraine since military actions could lead to ethnic cleansing.

"We very much hope that the sanctions will be strengthened with regard to the occupier and it will force him to leave the occupied territories. Another way out  a military one - seems hopeless for us. This may entail ethnic cleansing. And if military actions unfold there, Crimea may become a desert peninsula," Jemilev said on the 112.Ukraine TV channel on Thursday.

He also noted that the human rights situation is getting worse in the occupied Crimea. An atmosphere of fear is prevailing on the peninsula, and many Crimean Tatars want to leave the territory. "We hardly restrain people from leaving Crimea, because it is a strategy of invaders to make Crimean Tatars leave Crimea. This applies not only to the Crimean Tatars, but also to the pro-Ukrainian-minded people," he said.

In his turn, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, MP from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction Refat Chubarov hopes that President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on the anniversary of Crimea's annexation will initiate the creation of a working group of the Constitutional Commission to develop changes in the Constitution chapter of Ukraine on Crimea.

As reported, the Ukrainian authorities identified February 20, 2014 as the start date of Russia's temporary occupation of Crimea.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

One of the stars of US television programme The West Wing has fired a broadside at Ivanka Trump, accusing the Presidents daughter of enabling hatred after her call for religious tolerance.

Bradley Whitford, who played White House deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman in the political drama, responded to Ms Trumps message with a diatribe against her fathers policies, his attempt to dispute Barack Obamas place of birth, and also took aim at her husband Jared Kushner and the Presidents senior adviser Steve Bannon.

He also made reference to Ms Trumps womens clothing business, which was the subject of controversy after her father Donald Trump publicly attacked a retailer that said it was no longer stocking her products.

Whitford managed to fit all of his grievances into the 140 character limit of one tweet.

Ms Trumps original message on Twitter said: America is a nation built on the principle of religious tolerance. We must protect our houses of worship & religious centers.

Whitford responded with: Your father is a racist birther, Steve Bannon an anti-Semetic opportunist. You and your husband are enabling hatred. F*** your shoes.

Whitford is not the first West Wing star to attack the Trump administration. In January Whitfords former co-star Richard Schiff told TMZ that Mr Trump was dangerous, and said the President would do anything to delegitimise the press.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore has warned Americans that life under Donald Trump will be worse than they thought.

Insisting that the US President was honestly carrying out the agenda on which he campaigned, he urged voters to leave their bubble.

Anybody who's still in their bubble, thinking, you know, 'It won't be that bad,' trust me, it will be as bad as that and worse," he told CNNs Don Lemon. "They're just doing it because they're honest.

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's going to do everything he said he's going to do."

Moore added that the Trump administration would reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server in her New York home while she was secretary of state, between 2009 to 2013.

The FBI closed its investigation the Democratic nominee shortly before the presidential election, only to reopen it less than two weeks before voters went to polls - a move which some commentators claimed caused irreparable damage to her campaign.

Two days before the vote, FBI director James Comey said investigation had come to the conclusion that no prosecutable offence committed.

Moore claimed that the Trump administration was "going to go after the Hillary server thing, starting next week, again."

He said: "That whole 'lock her up' thing, they weren't done with that, and they're not done with anything they said they were going to do. I was one of the people that believed that whatever he was saying was true.

When he says that he's going to dismantle the [Environmental Protection Agency] and the Department of Education, he's actually going to, and has, put in people whose job."

Moore added that Mr Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon used the word "deconstruct, which is a nice way of saying 'demolish'. Demolition, that's what they're in for."

He added: When people say he lies, it's a different kind of lying. When he says he believes he can shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue and get away with it, he's proven that over and over again.

Administration members like Mr Bannon are very clear about their agenda, Moore said.

They are nationalists," he said. "They believe in economic nationalism, they believe in the deconstruction of our government, which is essentially saying they believe in anarchy. They consider the government the enemy.

But the Michigan native added that he was encouraged by what he called the resistance to Mr Trumps policies, including Womens Marches and footage of voters holding politicians to account at town hall meetings.

He said: All of this stuff is so powerful. It's so exhilarating to see so many people who've never gotten involved politically in their lives are now out there, at these meetings, in the streets.

Speaking about the upcoming election for chairman of the Democratic National Committee, he said the party must part ways with its old guard.

He said: They've got to go. We need fresh blood in there. What's the message to young people?

Mr Bannon told an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference that his boss is maniacally focused on implementing his campaign promises.

He derided the media as the opposition party and offered a counter-narrative to what has been largely reported as a tumultuous first month for the Trump administration.

He assured conservatives earlier this week that White House operations were running smoothly and more methodically than portrayed.

He said: All he's doing right now is he laid out the agenda with the promises that he made. He's maniacally focused on that.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Hillary Clintons campaign running mate has said he is nervous that Donald Trump could have a quick trigger finger that might plunge the US and the world into a nuclear catastrophe.

Tim Kaine, the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate during the US election, also said the Presidents team contained members of the club of the wacky and people who scare me to death.

Some actions of the Trump administration, he added, had been a national embarrassment.

The only thing that could stop Mr Trump serving a full four-year term, he argued, was if now unstoppable investigations into what happened during the election uncovered direct evidence of collusion between candidate Trump and Russia.

While addressing an audience at the Chatham House international affairs think tank in London, the Virginia Senator admitted: I am nervous about President Trump and could there be a quick trigger finger in a way where we overreact to something, and there could be something very dangerous. Absolutely.

His admission came in response to being challenged about whether he stood by comments made in the Vice-Presidential debate with Mike Pence, during which Mr Kaine had warned: Ronald Reagan said the problem with nuclear proliferation is that some fool or maniac could trigger a catastrophic event. And I think that's who Governor Pence's running mate is. Exactly who Ronald Reagan warned us of."

Senator Kaine also told the Chatham House audience: There are some really sharp global figures who are part of the Trump team. [But] There are some people who scare me to death.

Times right now make discussion of the US as the exemplary democracy a little bit challenging. Some of the events of the last months have even been a little bit embarrassing. I have been embarrassed by them.

Attempting to strike a note of optimism, however, Mr Kaine suggested that the club of the mature might prevail over the club of the wacky within the Trump administration.

Thats why I have been so quick to support some of the Trump cabinet nominations, he said. General [James] Mattis is going to be the right kind of person to be Secretary of Defence. General [John] Kelly is going to be the right kind of person to be head of Homeland Security.

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

And I can tell you I have got uninterrupted nights of sleep since [Mike] Flynn has gone [as National Security Advisor].

Trumps not going to change his personality, but he does have people around him that are smart folks. I voted against Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State for a variety of reasons, but I think hes going to join the club of the mature rather than the club of the wacky.

Speaking as Mr Trump used his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference to launch a fresh attack on the media, Senator Kaine said it was now impossible for the administration to dodge the questions about possible links between the Presidents associates and Russia.

Mr Kaine said: The resignation of General Flynn fundamentally changes it. This is now in the White House, that the National Security Advisor was having back channel discussions with Russians, in the lame duck sessions and after inauguration.

If people want to sweep it under the rug, they cant. This is now in the White House. And that really guarantees that - it will probably be slow and halting, there will probably be efforts by some of the Republican side to try and stop it - but its not going to be stopped.

We now have a momentum, together with a very engaged press. We will get to the last question: What was the level of collusion - if any - between the Trump campaign and the Russians in the effort to cyberhack the American Presidential election? We will get to the answer.

With President Trump having repeatedly denied any impropriety in relation to Russia, Mr Kaine added: The investigation of the Russia thing is the one serious question out there right now. The President is going to serve a full term, unless, in an investigation, there was some direct evidence of collusion with an adversary, if there was direct evidence of collusion between candidate Trump and Russia to cyberattack an American election.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A state governor has banned his employees from cooperating with Donald Trump's policies on immigration.

Jay Inslee signed an executive order that bars the state of Washington's agencies from denying services to people based on their citizenship or legal status and from helping detain immigrants for breaking civil rules.

It came after memos were released by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly showing his department planned to prioritise the removal of undocumented immigrants who "have been convicted of any criminal offence", following directives from the President.

This will include those who "have abused any programme related to receipt of public benefits".

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

Governor Inslee said: "Washington will not be a willing participant in promoting or carrying out mean-spirited policies that break up families and compromise our national security and community safety.

"Our officers are here to keep the public safe by enforcing the criminal laws, not to act as [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers or enforce civil violations."

He added that it reaffirmed "the state's commitment to tolerance, diversity, and inclusiveness" and the order was "designed to ensure that all state agencies under my executive authority carry out only those duties and responsibilities prescribed to them in state and federal law."

He said: "In Washington state we know this: we do not discriminate based on someone's race, religion, ethnicity or national origin. That remains true even as federal policies create such uncertain times."

Washington agencies must comply to the extent to which they are permitted under federal law, he said. The agencies are ordered not to collect any more information about people than is necessary to perform their basic duties.

Mr Inslee's office said immigrants make up 17 per cent of Washington's workforce and contribute some $2.4bn (1.9bn) in taxes.

Mr Kelly has insisted there will be "no mass deportations" during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

He told reporters in Mexico City there would be no use of military force for immigration operations and said enforcing new policies would be done legally and with respect for human rights.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Sweden is among the safest and wealthiest countries in the world, and has not experienced a terror attack since 2010, when two bombs exploded in Stockholm, killing the bomber and injuring two people.

Since then, the country has taken in far more refugees per capita than other EU member states.

Despite the significant addition to the countrys small population, crimes against life and health have actually dropped over this period.

So it remains a mystery as to why US President Donald Trump appears to believe Sweden is in the grip of some kind of crime or terror wave at the hands of immigrants.

Last weekend the President prompted international ridicule after he said: Look at whats happening last night in Sweden  Sweden! Who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They're having problems like they never thought possible.

Nothing had happened. The Swedish Embassy contacted to the White House to ask what the President thought had occurred.

Thousands of people signed up to a mock vigil at the embassy where the only victim was the Presidents pride.

Mr Trump later tweeted to say his remarks were in reference to a Fox News report on refugees in Sweden. The report has since been widely discredited, including by police officers interviewed for the film, who said the editing was shocking.

But Mr Trump repeated his bizarre claim on Friday, asking has anybody reported whats going on?

During his first address as President to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington DC, Mr Trump said: National security begins with border security. Foreign terrorists will not be able to strike America if they cannot get into our country.

And by the way, take a look at whats happening in Europe folks. Take a look at whats happening in Europe.

I took a lot of heat on Sweden. And then a day later I said has anybody reported whats going on? And it turned out not too many of them did.

Take a look at what happened in Sweden.

I love Sweden. Great country, great people, I love Sweden. But they understand Im right. The people over there understand Im right. Take a look at what is happening in Sweden.

Since Mr Trumps first remarks about what is happening in Sweden, one incident of civil unrest has been recorded in an area predominantly inhabited by refugees. Stones were thrown at policemen and cars set on fire in a Stockholm Suburb. No one was seriously injured and police had the situation in hand by midnight.

Mr Trumps remarks have prompted a detailed response from the Swedish government, which states that current crime levels are about the same now as they were in 2005, that the economy is strong and that law and order in the country is in a fit state of health.

The statement says: Swedish government agencies have nothing to gain from covering up statistics and facts; they seek an open and fact-based dialogue. Sweden is an open society governed by a principle of public access to official documents. This means that members of the public, e.g. private individuals and media representatives, have the right to insight into and access to information about the activities of central and local government.

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 is worth noting that the USs murder rate stood at 4.9 per 100,000 people in 2015, with 15,700 people killed, compared to Swedens 0.9 per 100,000, where about 100 people were killed.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Councillors in a California city have voted unanimously in favour of impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump.

Politicians in Richmond, near San Francisco, also called for Congress to investigate the President's business ties.

Gayle McLaughlin, who led the move, told ABC7: "This is our voice. This is our country. We have a right to speak up."

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 symbolic vote formed part of what activists hoped was a "grass roots" campaign against Mr Trump, one Richmond resident told the website.

But some experts believe the likelihood of impeachment is low.

Dr Jacob Parakilas, assistant head of the US and Americas Programme at Chatham House, previously told The Independent "there's no chance that he would be immediately impeached" because the Republicans who control the House and Senate would alienate "a huge number of their voters" by doing so.

And Rebecca Thorpe, a political scientist at the University of Washington, said although Mr Trump's apparent financial conflicts of interest open up the "legal possibility" of impeachment, it is "not question of law but of political will".

Even so, bookmakers recently slashed odds on the President resigning or being impeached before 2020.

When Mr Trump was named as President-elect in November, the odds of him not making it through the full four-year term were 3/1 with Ladbrokes. After his first three weeks, the odds shortened to just 11/10.

The Richmond vote was not the first local council motion to go against the billionaire.

In the UK, Gateshead councillors voted unanimously to withhold their authority's funds from being used for Mr Trump's state visit later this year, following the imposition of his travel ban.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Religious leaders in the US are forming an underground network of safe homes in an effort to provide shelter for families at risk of deportation under the Trump administration, according to reports.

The Rapid Response Team, a recently-formed network based in Los Angeles, is seeking to offer refuge to people who may be sought by US Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), by buying homes for them to live in, according to a report by CNN.

Ada Valiente, a pastor in Los Angeles, is overseeing the renovation of a house the network has bought, which she said could accomodate three immigrant families.

When asked by CNN whether the network was essentially trying to hide people, Ms Valiente said: Thats what we need to do as a community.

The network, formed by Los Angeles religious leaders across faiths in the wake of Mr Trump's election, intends to shelter hundreds, or possibly thousands, of undocumented people in safe houses across Southern California, according to CNN.

The move echoes the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s, when US congregations across faiths resisted federal law and provided shelter for Central Americans fleeing violence in their home countries.

But the latest effort goes one step further by also incorporating private homes.

Another member of the network, a Jewish man who chose not to be named, has decorated a spare room in his home for an immigrant family to move into.

Its hard as a Jew not to think about all the people who did open their doors and their homes and take risks to safeguard Jews in moments where they were really vulnerable, as well as those that didnt. Wed like to be the people who did," the man told CNN.

He added that while it was a risk, he was of the conviction that it was morally right, saying: Theres some element that were entering into uncertain territory and I dont know exactly what the consequences are, but I think I know what the moral consequences are for me if we dont act."

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 as the President threatened to deploy US military forces to remove undocumented immigrants from the country, claiming his administrations efforts to remove bad dudes was a military operation to reduce crime, despite little evidence indicating undocumented immigrants are disproportionately responsible.

However, Security chief John Kelly said that there would be no use of military force in immigration operations", and press secretary Sean Spicer issued a denial after the meeting, claiming Mr Trumps use of the word military was as an adjective to highlight the precision used in the deportation operations.

The President has promised to build a wall at the border between Mexico and the US and said he plans to deport two to three million undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A woman with a brain tumour was forced to leave a hospital in Texas by immigration officers and returned to a detention centre, her lawyers have said.

The 26-year-old from El Salvador, known as Sara, was reportedly in custody because she did not have the right to be in the US when she was diagnosed with cancer.

Melissa Zuniga, one of the womans lawyers, told The Hill the officers had tied up Saras hands and ankles as they removed her from the hospital against her will.

She's complaining of a lot of pain, said Ms Zuniga, adding that the woman had been prevented from communicating with her family and lawyers.

Sara began complaining of severe headaches while she was being held at the Prairieland Detention Center, near Dallas in Texas, where she is said to have collapsed on 10 February.

She was taken to Texas Health Huguley Hospital, where doctors were preparing to operate  but according to New York Daily News, she was discharged last night before surgery could take place.

Ms Zuniga said the situation had been a nightmare for the womans relatives, who have been frantically calling officials because they are afraid for her life.

 Sadiq Khan criticises Trump's 'cruel' immigration policies

A spokesperson for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the newspaper it takes seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care.

Like all detainees in our care, [Sara] will continue to have access to 24 hour emergency medical care and to any required specialized treatment at an outside facility, said the spokesperson in a statement.

Saras court testimony states she entered the US illegally in November 2015 and was arrested soon afterwards by border patrol agents, according to The Daily Beast.

A judge ordered her deportation after she missed a deadline to file an asylum claim, a decision which has been appealed by her lawyers.

The US Department of Homeland Security has released new guidelines regarding Donald Trumps promised crackdown on illegal immigration.

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

The President has said he will build a wall at the border between Mexico and the US and said he plans to deport two to three million undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

But John Kelly, Secretary of Homeland Security, said there will be no mass deportations when the new rules are introduced.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A nerve agent classed as a weapon of mass destruction has been identified as the chemical used to kill Kim Jong-nam.

Malaysian police said VX was wiped on the North Korean exiles face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport by two women as he prepared to board a flight to Macau.

Tasteless and odourless, the substance can be fatal in a dose of just 10mg through skin contact, making it deadlier than sarin.

After giddiness and nausea, exposure to VX quickly progresses to convulsions and respiratory failure before death, which can come within 15 minutes.

Its lethality has sparked strict controls under UN resolutions and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, with the US, Russia and Syria previously known to be among the countries possessing it.

Police are investigating whether it was brought into Malaysia or made there before allegedly being used by North Korean assassins.

Authorities intended to decontaminate the airport, along with other locations visited by suspects, amid concern VX could have evaporated into the air.

Kim Jong-nam went into hiding in Malaysia after the execution of his uncle Jang Sung-taek (Getty)

We will get the experts from the atomic energy department to go to the location and sweep it to see if radioactive (material) is still there, police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters.

It was unclear whether VX contains any radioactive elements.

Mr Kim, the half-brother of dictator Kim Jong-un, had been living in exile since 2003 after falling out of favour with his father, who he had been tipped to succeed as Supreme Leader.

Two women  one Vietnamese and the other Indonesian  are in custody along with a North Korean man.

Investigators are also seeking seven other North Koreans wanted in connection with the case, including a diplomat pleading immunity at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Interpol has put an alert out to apprehend four suspects who are believed to have fled Malaysia on the day of the attack and police are hunting two other North Koreans believed to remain in Malaysia, including an employee at the state-owned airline Air Koryo.

A chemical weapons analysis unit found VX, or S-2 Diisopropylaminoethyl methylphosphonothioate, present on swabs taken from Mr Kims eye and face.

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

Other exhibits are under analysis, Mr Khalid said, adding that the two women were paid to carry out the assault and washed their hands before fleeing from the airport.

But he said one of them had suffered from the effects of the chemical and had been vomiting.

Airport CCTV footage shows the moment of the assault, with Mr Kim later seen asking airport officials for medical help, and rubbing his eyes and stumbling as he entered a clinic.

Authorities said he complained of dizziness and died on the way to hospital.

VX is outlawed except for research, medical or pharmaceutical purposes and can be manufactured as a liquid, cream or aerosol, but has no commercial uses and would need to be made in a highly sophisticated laboratory.

North Korea is believed to have the worlds third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative project, while South Korean analysts have identified sarin and VX as the focus of Pyongyangs programme.

Additional reporting by Reuters
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A new report claiming European operations to combat people smuggling in the ongoing refugee crisis are a success has been lambasted by aid workers as more migrants die than ever before.

Almost 14,000 asylum seekers have arrived by boat in Europe in the first weeks of 2017, with at least 366 dying at sea and others freezing to death while stranded by border closures.

But a report by EU-wide security agency Europol claimed a year of efforts by the new European Migrant Smuggling Centre (EMSC) was seeing progress.

 Babies among more than 1,300 refugees rescued in one day

Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European Commissioner for migration, said the initiative was successfully fighting, disrupting and apprehending criminal migrant smuggling networks.

Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol said more than 90 per cent of migrants entering the EU have used smugglers.

These organised crime networks are taking mass profits from mass migration, and making migrant smuggling the fastest growing criminal sector, he added.

To tackle this, we have brought together some of the best investigators in Europe in the EMSC.

Almost 17,500 suspected migrant smugglers were identified in 2016 according to Europols report, which said that 1,150 social media accounts linked to the trade had been flagged alongside 12,000 operational messages, as well as 2,500 forged or stolen documents.

More than 500 vessels of interest are also being monitored at sea, although no mention was made of capture and destroy missions announced by the EU in 2015 taking place.

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.

Humanitarian organisations working on rescue operations in the increasingly deadly Mediterranean and providing aid at transit points across Europe say they have not seen any benefit from anti-smuggling operations.

Aurelie Ponthieu, a humanitarian specialist on displacement at Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), told The Independent that refugees were being driven into criminals hands by the lack of safe and legal routes to Europe.

Recommended More than 70 refugees wash up dead on Libyan beach

What are the indicators of success? she asked. Looking at the number of smugglers caught is not the indicator we would use when we continue to see people dying  there have never been so many.

One death is one too many and a policy that contributes to death and violence cannot be labelled as a success.

More than 5,000 refugees died crossing the Mediterranean in 2016 and the grim record is likely to be surpassed this year, with other migrants dying of hypothermia in extreme winter weather across Europe and being shot in the Balkans.

Ms Ponthieu said border closures along the land route from Greece to Hungary previously used by refugees to reach western Europe had forced asylum seekers to resort to smugglers when they had previously passed through openly.

The consequences of these journeys are dire and continue deteriorating, she said.

Refugees have died of hypothermia in European refugee camps (Getty) (AFP/Getty)

If one route closes, another one opens and usually its more dangerouspeople are escaping conditions that are so terrible they will do anything.

Research by Save the Children found that the EU-Turkey deal had dramatically reduced the number of refugees journeying over the Aegean Sea to Greece but had given people smugglers a firmer grip on a hugely profitable business.

Caroline Anning, a spokesperson for the charity, said Europes priority should be providing safe and legal routes such as the Dubs amendment to resettle child refugees, which has been scrapped by the UK.

Unless vulnerable refugees have safe and legal routes to access asylum, people smugglers will always be in business on the refugee route, she added.

Europols report alluded to the knock-on effect of the crackdowns, noting that boat crossings from North Africa to Europe increased after the EU-Turkey agreement.

Facilitation by train and by air was increasingly reported; this displacement is believed to be the consequence of the additional controls implemented on land and sea routes, the report said, adding that the supply of false documents was also rising.

Hungarys border closure has seen refugees beaten and tear gassed by police

A damning report by the Unravelling the Mediterranean Migration Crisis found European policy has so far been an absolute failure, with refugees continuing to use an array of the almost 100 different and constantly evolving routes to reach Europe.

Researchers found that smugglers efforts to evade detection by the EUs Operation Sophia was partly responsible for rocketing death rates worsened by a switch from wooden fishing boats and commercial vessels to unseaworthy dinghies that frequently sink and capsize.

Recommended The stories of the refugees rescued from the Mediterranean

British Government efforts have focused on funding increased provision for refugees in countries outside the EU, including Turkey and Libya, to discourage them risking sea journeys.

On Thursday, the Royal Navy ship HMS Echo was among the vessels rescuing more than 1,100 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea in one of the busiest days yet in 2017.

Conservative MP Peter Bone, the former chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking, argued that improved provision to keep asylum seekers in Italy and Greece would discourage treacherous crossings.

Its making these evil bastards [smugglers] a lot of money and killing people, he told The Independent.

What youve got to do is stop the crossings by reducing the demand and keep people closer to home. These are real people, this shouldnt be happening.
The Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters has dismissed a demand of the prosecutor's office of Vienna to put Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash in custody in the framework of the case for his extradition to the United States at the request of American authorities, a source familiar with the matter told Interfax-Ukraine.

"A petition of the prosecutor's office in Vienna for the extradition arrest has not been satisfied, because in 2014, EUR 125 million of bail were fully paid to the court, and the defendant undertook a commitment to regularly come to the court, not to leave the country and to surrender his foreign travel passport to the court, same as in the proceedings based on the Spanish warrant for his arrest," the Austrian newspaper Kurier quoted the court's ruling.

"This ruling and the release on bail are valid until the actual handover of Firtash to the U.S, authorities," the newspaper said.

The Austrian news agency APA said that the prosecutor's office has 14 days to appeal this ruling at the Higher Regional Court of Vienna.

As reported, after the court dismissed on February 23, 2017, Spain's request for Firtash's arrest, representative of the Vienna prosecutor's office demanded the businessman be detained under the existing criminal case on his extradition to the United States.

Meanwhile, Firtash's defense lawyers argue that the Spanish investigation is not only related to the same charges which were filed by the U.S. authorities in Illinois, but also were submitted to the Spanish authorities at the instructions of the prosecutor of Chicago. "It's all part of the same story  Firtash's political persecution," the lawyer said.

Chairman of Group DF Dmytro Firtash was arrested in Austria on March 12, 2014 at the request of U.S. authorities. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the accused attempted to pay a bribe worth $18.5 million to receive a permit for mining operations in India.

The Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters ruled on Firtash's extradition-related arrest but then decided to release him on EUR 125 million bail on condition he would not leave Austria. On April 30, 2015, the same court ruled not to extradite Firtash to the United States.

On, February 21, the Higher Regional Court in Vienna granted the prosecution's request to extradite Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash to the U.S. at the request of U.S. authorities.

According to the ruling, the Federal Minister of Justice takes the final decision on extradition.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Voters in France are vying for Barack Obama to become their next President, in a wild bid to bring about a sixth Republic in the French presidential elections this year.

A website and poster campaign launched on Monday, titled Obama17, calls on French people to make the "radical choice" of signing a petition asking that the former US President to run for the position of 25th head of state in the 2017 leadership race.

More than 30,000 people have so far signed the petition, and photos of posters mounted around Paris have been widely shared on social media.

The creators of the campaign, four Parisians in their thirties who have decided to remain anonymous, said the idea arose from growing discontentment with the choice of candidates, and a desire to "make people smile" amid "repeated scandals" coming out of the approaching election.

One of them, who simply called himself "Barack", told The Independent: "It arose from a conversation with friends. We decided that we didn't want to vote for any of the candidates in this election, and that it has been the same for the last few elections. We are fed up of voting against people rather than for someone we actually support every time.

"So we thought it would be ingenious to give the power to Obama, since he's now available."

Asked whether they were serious in their endeavour, Barack said: "It is ultimately a joke. We want people to wake up in the morning and, rather than have to see our usual candidates, rejoice in seeing Obama's face on the 500 posters we put up on the streets of Paris, and get away from the repeated scandals we are hearing about.

"The reaction from people has been brilliant. It's what they want. The funniest thing is when people first thing it's totally crazy, but then ask themselves: 'Actually, why not?'"

Barack said the group behind "Barack2017" did not express politcial views, but that it was "certain" that they wouldn't be voting for Marine Le Pen.

The approaching French election, for which the first round of voting begins in April, has caused concern among many French people due to a number of scandals that have emerged about candidates and the prominence in the polls of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

The "Obama2017" website's homepage cites the "inevitable failure of the next presidential election" and call on voters to sign the petition to "get France out of its lethargy".

The French are ready to make radical choices. That is good because we have a radical idea to propose to them," it states.

After a phantom five-year-term and faced with the announced failure of the next presidential election, we think it is time to move to the sixth Republic to get France out of its lethargy.

To launch this sixth Republic, we wish to strike a blow by electing a foreign president as the head of our beautiful country.

Barack Obama completed his second term as President of the United States on January 21, now why not hire him as President for France?

The site proceeds to list several reasons why people should sign the petition, including a claim that Mr Obama has the best CV for the job, and a rallying cry that voters must "teach the world a lesson in democracy [...] at a time when France is about to vote for the extreme right.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Swedens King has stressed the need for serious media and source checking in the era of Donald Trump.

King Carl XVI Gustaf emphasised the importance of sharing positive stories about Sweden after Donald Trump made comments about immigration in the country.

Mr Trump also appeared to refer to an attack that had not happened and then claimed Swedens generous immigration policies were not working.

During an interview with Sydsvenskan, King Gustaf said there were many positive developments in Sweden and it was important to challenge misconceptions.

"Without media that works seriously and carries out good criticism of its sources, that doesnt work," he said, according to the Local.

"It is important to present the good examples. There are so many positive developments, and good Swedish research that we dont even know about here in Sweden.

"In Malmo University, for example, a lot of good research is being conducted on integration issues.

It may take a bit of time. Its important not to give up. I've been doing it for more than forty years, he added.

Sweden responded with confusion after Mr Trumps initial comments during a rally in Florida.

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

Sweden. They took in large numbers. Theyre having problems like they never thought possible. You look at whats happening in Brussels, Mr Trump said.

"You look at whats happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice. Take a look at Paris."

Former Prime Minister Carl Bildt took to Twitter to express his confusion, saying: Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound."
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has refused to attend a summons for questioning by police over allegations that she made illegal EU payments to her staff, her lawyer has said.

Ms Le Pen, who heads the anti-immigrant and anti-European Union Front National (FN) and is a leading candidate in the presidential elections taking place in April and May, would comply with any summons after elections this year, her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, said.

Ms Le Pens chief of staff was put under formal investigation after a day of questioning over the alleged misuse of EU funds to pay parliamentary assistants.

Her bodyguard was also questioned but was later released without being placed under investigation.

Ms Le Pen, 48, who has denied any wrongdoing and says she is the victim of political dirty tricks, is expected to win in the first rounds of the presidential election on 23 April but lose in the 7 May runoff to either independent Emmanuel Macron or conservative Francois Fillon, according to opinion polls.

Mr Bosselut said Ms Le Pen had learned of the summons by police in Nanterre, west of Paris, on 21 February after returning from a trip to Lebanon. She believes that there is a risk that justice is being used as a tool in the election campaign, Mr Bosselut said.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

She will attend any summons after the elections, he said. He did not say whether this meant after the presidential elections in May or parliamentary elections in June.

Meanwhile, centrist presidential candidate Mr Macron has started revealing his campaign programme, saying he wants to slash 60bn in spending but invest 50bn in re-training and other stimulus programmes.

Countering those who say his popularity is based on image alone, Mr Macron insisted that if I were a bubble, I would have exploded already.

With less than two months before the first round of Frances election, polls suggest Mr Macron is a leading contender but many of his supporters remain uncertain of their choice.

The 39-year-old independent, who has never held elected office, pledged to tackle political corruption and ban lawmakers from hiring family members  a dig in part at rival conservative Mr Fillon, who is facing allegations of fake parliamentary jobs for his wife and two of his children. Mr Fillon denies wrongdoing.

In an interview published in Les Echos, Mr Macron promised 60bn in spending cuts over five years, notably in state health care and unemployment benefits. He also pledged to invest 50bn in public investments, such as retraining the jobless and cleaner energy.

Hes quoted as saying he would stick to Frances deficit target of 2.9 per cent this year, and reduce taxes by 10bn. A firm opponent of Ms Le Pens bid to leave the European Union, Mr Macron argued for a joint European budget and more ambitious cooperation across the Euro currency union.

With chronic unemployment being a major campaign issue, Mr Macron wants to make it easier to change jobs  but said his presidency could involve as many as 120,000 government job cuts. Thats less than the 500,000 promised by conservative Mr Fillon, but still a big number for a candidate hailing from a left-wing background.

Mr Macron distanced himself from Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, who promises a universal income for all citizens. Unlike Benoit Hamon, I dont accept defeat on the jobs front, Mr Macron told Les Echos.

Mr Macron argues that the left-right spectrum no longer applies to todays world amid mounting nationalism, but critics question whether Mr Macron could effectively govern without a party behind him.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

More than 60 people have been killed in an Isis suicide bombing near the Syrian city of al-Bab just a day after militants were driven from the area.

A pick-up truck loaded with explosives was detonated as it drove towards a security office where civilians were gathering to organise returning to their homes.

A small civilian pick-up truck reached the gathering and went off at the security checkpoint, said Mohammed al-Tawil, commander of a Turkish-backed rebel faction fighting in the area.

More than 40 victims were transferred over the Turkish border to be treated in a hospital in Kilis (AP)

Footage showed bodies and remains strewn across the ground, with shrapnel-ridden cars and motorbikes tossed on their side and set on fire by the blast.

Most of the victims were believed to be men, women and children seeking permits to return to their homes in al-Bab and the surrounding area, which is gradually being freed from more than three years of Isis control.

The security office in Susiyan is in charge of issuing documents and providing an escort for civilians wishing to return to al-Bab.

Mr Tawil said at least two groups of about 150 civilians had already left for the city earlier on Friday, accompanied by a minesweeping unit operated by the Syrian opposition fighters.

These people have suffered a lot...it was very difficult, and they have been waiting for this moment [to return home], he added.

More than 40 victims injured by the blast were transferred over the Turkish border to the city of Kilis to be treated in a state hospital.

A second car bombing in Susiyan was reported by activists hours later, leaving at least eight people dead.

 Donald Trump open to working with Moscow to fight Isis in Syria

Isis regularly uses car bombs in battle in Syria and Iraq, including one driven into government forces by a British militant in Mosul, but has used them less frequently against civilian targets.

The attacks struck about five miles from al-Bab, as opposition fighters continue battles to push jihadis back in northern Syria.

They are being reinforced by Turkish air strikes, weapons, tanks and troops sent over the border last year amid increasing concern in Ankara over territory gained by Kurdish group.

Binali Yildirim, the Prime Minister, said at least six Turkey-backed soldiers were killed in the Susiyan bombing before another explosion near al-Bab killed two Turkish soldiers on Friday.

The improvised explosive device went off as they patrolled on roads near Tadef, a town still controlled by Isis south of the city.

The deaths raise the known death toll of Turkish soldiers in northern Syria to 70 since they entered in August.

The so-called Islamic State withdrew from al-Bab following a two-month offensive on Thursday but remains in control of the surrounding area, with multiple front lines controlled by opposition rebels, the Syrian government and Kurdish forces.

At least seven opposition fighters have been killed in al-Bab by landmines left behind by Isis  a trademark of its bloody retreats in Syria and Iraq.

In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women and children celebrating after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man cuts the beard of a civilian who was freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women carry newborn babies while running after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman freed from Isis hugs an SDF fighter in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman adding her veil to a pile of niqabs burning in Manbij, Syria, after being freed from Isis on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Children celebrating on top of a lorry after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man and child freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman carrying her children walks towards SDF fighters after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman and child freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij An SDF fighter kisses a crying man who was freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Hundreds of civilians freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters

Before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, al-Bab had a population of approximately 60,000 people but many were displaced into neighbouring areas by fighting.

Footage from the city centre showed it completely deserted and badly damaged by intense battles, with at least one street levelled to the ground and others made impassable by trenches and earth mounds.

The offensive continued on Friday amid air strikes by the US-led coalition in the region, hitting Isis targets in al-Bab, Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, al-Shaddadi and near Palmyra.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces made crucial gains in Isiss Iraqi capital of Mosul, progressing through western districts after retaking the citys airport.

Haider al-Abadi, Iraqs Prime Minister, ordered his air force to carry out strikes over the border in Syria amid fears jihadis would flee the advance and consolidate their power elsewhere.

He described the operation as a great success, with Syrian foreign ministry sources saying the raid was carried out in coordination with Bashar al-Assads government.

A second day of peace talks were underway in Geneva, but hopes of a political solution are wearing thin after almost six years of brutal civil war.

Additional reporting by agencies
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Israel has denied a visa for a Human Rights Watch researcher while accusing the group of spreading Palestinian propaganda.

A work permit request was filed for Omar Shakir, the groups director for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in July but the refusal did not come for more than seven months.

A letter from Israels immigration authority said the application had been declined following a review, because of a recommendation by the countrys foreign ministry.

Israel has previously refused entry to pro-Palestinian activists and academics (Getty)

An English translation of the letter seen by The Independent said it noted that, for some time now, this organisations public activities and reports have engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of human rights.

Mr Shakir, an American citizen, said dismissing HRWs extensive research put Israel in a group with the most repressive states it covers, including North Korea, Sudan, North Korea and Cuba, who have all blocked access.

Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesperson for the Israeli foreign ministry, called HRW a blatantly hostile anti-Israeli organisation whose reports have the sole purpose of harming Israel with no consideration whatsoever for the truth or reality.

Why should we give working visas to people whose only purpose is to besmirch us and to attack us? he asked.

We are not masochists and there is no reason we should keep doing that.

But Mr Nahshon said the decision was connected solely to the groups activities and had nothing to do with the ethnicity of Mr Shakir, who is of Iraqi descent.

There were fears the move signalled a wider policy against HRW and other organisations like Amnesty International, who Mr Nahshon said would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Show all 10 1 /10 The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Medics evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem. A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop then got out and started stabbing people before he was shot dead AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Israeli ZAKA emergency response members carry the body of an Israeli at the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem. A pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus in Jerusalem and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus station before stabbing bystanders, in near-simultaneous attacks that escalated a month long wave of violence AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Getty Images The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians throw molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank. Recent days have seen a series of stabbing attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have wounded several Israelis AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Women cry during the funeral of Palestinian teenager Ahmad Sharaka, 13, who was shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes at a checkpoint near Ramallah, at the family house in the Palestinian West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, Ramallah AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A wounded Palestinian boy and his father hold hands at a hospital after their house was brought down by an Israeli air strike in Gaza Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians look on after a protester is shot by Israelis soldiers during clashes at the Howara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus EPA The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A lawyer wearing his official robes kicks a tear gas canister back toward Israeli soldiers during a demonstration by scores of Palestinian lawyers called for by the Palestinian Bar Association in solidarity with protesters at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, near Ramallah, West Bank AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Undercover Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian in Ramallah Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinian youth burn tyres during clashes with Israeli soldiers close to the Jewish settlement of Bet El, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, after Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child

Mr Shakir said the letter was a shock as HRW staff have been given regular access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories for almost three decades and frequently engage with Israeli authorities, including the military, police and foreign ministry.

The Stanford-educated lawyer has also done work on human rights in Egypt, Pakistan and at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, according to his biography.

Recommended Israel has refused entry to more than 100 British citizens this year

HRW condemned claims it was not a real human rights group, saying the permit denial was the latest move to constrain the work of local and international human rights groups in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

This decision and the spurious rationale should worry anyone concerned about Israels commitment to basic democratic values, said Iain Levine, the groups deputy executive director of programme.

It is disappointing that the Israeli government seems unable or unwilling to distinguish between justified criticisms of its actions and hostile political propaganda.

Mark Toner, a spokesperson for the US State Department, said American authorities did not agree with Israels assessment.

HRW is a credible human rights organisation and even though we do not agree with all of their assertions or conclusions, given the seriousness of their efforts, we support the importance of the work they do, he added.

Donald Trump has provoked controversy with his stance towards Israel, vowing to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital, and appointing a pro-settlement ambassador to Israel.

 Protesters disrupt hearings for Israeli ambassador nominee

The New York-based group monitors human rights in over 90 countries, including nations throughout the Middle East and vowed to continue its work in Israel.

It has published a series of critical reports on Benjamin Netanyahus government, which has swung dramatically to the right in recent years with the addition of ultra-nationalists from the pro-settlement Jewish Home party to cabinet.

HRWs world report accuses Israel of imposing severe and discriminatory restrictions on Palestinians human rights and facilitating the transfer of Israeli civilians to the occupied West Bank in a possible violation of international law.

It said the response to a wave of Palestinian stabbings, car rammings and shootings, as well as the killing of several demonstrators, constituted the excessive use of force and said Israel committed war crimes while bombing the Gaza Strip during the 2014 war.

But HRW also frequently highlights abuses by Palestinians, accusing internationally backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the rival Hamas militant group in Gaza of arbitrarily detaining journalists and activists and torturing detainees.

It has also criticised executions carried out by Hamas and rocket attacks on Israel by the group and other militant factions.

Israel has long accused the group, as well as other human rights organisations, of focusing excessively and unfairly on it and failing to adequately recognise terrorist threats.

Last year, the government passed a Transparency Law requiring groups that receive more than half their funding from abroad to declare it and Israeli authorities have been accused of doing little to help human rights researchers receiving death threats from nationalists.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A retired Navy Seal who planned and oversaw the operation that killed Osama Bin Laden has said Donald Trumps attacks on the media are the greatest threat to democracy he has ever seen.

William H McRaven, who was commander of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command, was delegated responsibility for the dangerous mission targeting the al-Qaeda leader by the CIA in 2011.

He left the military in 2014 after nearly four decades and later became chancellor of the University of Texas. During a recent address to journalism students at the university, the admiral, who has a bachelor's degree in journalism, slammed Mr Trump's characterisation of the press as the enemy of the American people, to a crowd gathered at the universitys Moody College of Communication.

We must challenge this statement and this sentiment that the news media is the enemy of the American people, Mr McRaven said, according to the Daily Texan. This sentiment may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.

To be a good leader, you have to be a good communicator, he added. As a leader, you have to communicate your intent every chance you get, and if you fail to do that, you will pay the consequences.

Mr McRaven, who has been described as one of the most experienced terrorist hunters in the US by journalists and biographers, spent years tracking Bin Laden.

Two months before the raid on the terrorist leader's hideout  a high-walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan  in May 2011, Mr McRaven personally selected a special unit of Navy SEALs to carry out the mission.

His recent remarks come amid a series of attacks on the media by the president, made mostly on Twitter where he has repeatedly denounced negative stories about his administration as "FAKE NEWS".

In a widely shared tweet last, Mr Trump called the media, naming the New York Times, NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN, the enemy of the American People!

Mr Trump repeatedly blasted the media in an aggressive and chaotic news conference last Thursday, where he accused reporters of being dishonest and fake.

He berated a Jewish reporter for asking a question about bomb threats to dozens of Jewish community centres and for expressing concerns that Mr Trump had yet to address anti-Semitic attacks. The president took the question as a personal affront, saying he was not anti-Semitic, even though the reporter never made such an accusation.

Senator John McCain, who served in the US military before moving into politics, has also criticised Mr Trump's stance on the media as dangerous.

In an interview on NBC News, he said attacking the press is how dictators get started.

In other words, [it is] a consolidation of power, Mr McCain told Meet the Press host Chuck Todd. When you look at history, the first thing that dictators do is shut down the press. And Im not saying that President Trump is trying to be a dictator. Im just saying we need to learn the lessons of history.

'I killed him': US Navy Seal who fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden breaks his silence Show all 4 1 /4 'I killed him': US Navy Seal who fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden breaks his silence 'I killed him': US Navy Seal who fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden breaks his silence bin-laden1.jpg Troops prepare for their mission in Kathryn Bigelows movie Zero Dark Thirty AP 'I killed him': US Navy Seal who fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden breaks his silence bin-laden2.jpg At The White House, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton watch the capture of Osama Bin Laden Getty Images 'I killed him': US Navy Seal who fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden breaks his silence bin-laden-ap.jpg Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces troops who raided his home in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad AP 'I killed him': US Navy Seal who fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden breaks his silence bin-laden3.jpg Controversial book by a former Navy Seal who was part of the Bin Laden raid Getty Images

The search for Bin Laden was led by the CIA. Leon Panetta, the agencys director at the time, delegated the mission to McRaven after then-President Barack Obama authorised him to do so.

In his book titled Spec Ops, Mr McRaven noted six key requirements for any successful mission: surprise, speed, security, simplicity, purpose and repetition.

Speaking in Texas, he referred to the press as the single most important institution in this republic and said: This may be the most important time for journalism that I have seen in decades. Probably we need you now more than ever before.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Its been a good week for new air routes to places youve never heard of. I had to resort to a European road atlas to locate Pardubice - a small city in the centre of the Czech Republic that is soon to find itself connected to London with a Ryanair link from Stansted.

Should your travel plans for the year still have some flexibility, I advise you to try it: the military airfield seeking a new role is on the right side of town for Kutna Hora, a city that grew rich on silver mining and splashed out on a ravishing architectural array of medieval masterpieces.

You will not find such gems if you fly west from Edinburgh this summer with the low-cost airline Norwegian. This week it revealed non-stop transatlantic services from the Scottish capital. From 15 June, you can choose from three possible destinations: Stewart International Airport in New York State, Bradley International Airport in Connecticut and TF Green airport outside Providence, Rhode Island.

Recommended US pilots want to block expansion of Norwegian transatlantic flights

Norwegian is building on a business model established by WestJet from Glasgow to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and from Gatwick to St Johns, Newfoundland: flying a Boeing 737 twin-jet across the worlds second-largest ocean. The difference is, according to the airline, is that the new transatlantic routes will be operated on brand new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

Norwegian is the European launch customer for this state-of-the-art new aircraft which offers a longer range and greater seat capacity than existing single-aisle aircraft.

The airline is selling a small number of seats at a loss: the 69 one-way fare that has caught so much attention is 6 less than the amount Norwegian must hand over to the Chancellor in Air Passenger Duty. But to get a better sense of prevailing fares, I priced up a trip leaving Edinburgh on Saturday 5 August, returning a week later.

 What does Brexit mean for Travel?

The outbound fare was 322 one way  not at all bad, but several times the headline figure. Coming back, the fare is 224. At 546 return (plus extra for luggage and meals on board), its still an excellent fare. Thats so long as you want to go to upstate New York, or take a 95-minute bus connection to Manhattan from Stewart.

Bradley airport serves Hartford  the insurance capital of the US, from which I suggest you draw your own conclusions about how exciting it might be. But Rhode Island is an adorable little state, and the city of Providence is a smaller, more manageable version of Boston. Before the low-cost giant Southwest started flying to Logan airport in the Massachusetts capital, TF Green airport was the budget gateway to Boston.

Is this a game-changer? I believe it is. Norwegians move may not initially worry United too much; the giant US carrier flies from Edinburgh to real New York, in the shape of Newark airport, and can also offer connections right across the US and deep into Latin America. But using cheap, efficient planes on 3,000-mile-plus sectors is potentially as much of a disruption to the established long-haul airlines as easyJet and Ryanair have been to European aviation.

You can be certain that efforts will continue by US airlines and unions to block the move by a Norwegian airline from a Scottish airport. But now the no-frills genie is out of the bottle, even a protectionist like Donald Trump will think twice before depriving Americans of cheap access to Scotland and the rest of Europe.

Now, wheres that Rand McNally US road map again?
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

I know the EU referendum is now history and Remoaners like me should pipe down and accept the result. Yet, its difficult when were told that Brexit means the most extreme assault on the Britain I grew up in and care about. I understand that we can no longer be a member of the European Union, but I dont want to sit back as the Tories dismantle the welfare state and turn Britain into Singapore but with more rain, worse public transport and a dreadful record on human rights. Ripping up our human rights could have a profound impact not just in the UK but across Europe. A populist wave is threatening to engulf our continent. We have to protect rights here at home, otherwise we set a precedent that could usher in the horrors of the past.

The Leavers want to fundamentally reshape Britain in their own image. The same men who stood with Donald Trump outside his gold lift, Aaron Banks and Nigel Farage, understand they can drag Britain to the hard-right by continuing their social media assault on common sense and whipping up the vocal minority of message board reactionaries. As they do so, they push the Tories further to the right. Now we see Prime Minister Theresa May continuing her illiberal mission to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights ECHR). The next Conservative manifesto is likely to include a pledge to rip up the most significant rights protection available to UK citizens. The only country ever to withdraw from the European Convention is Belarus, a country commonly known as Europes last dictatorship. Belarus withdrew so it could bring back the death penalty. Alongside Ukips call for a referendum on the death penalty sit a group of Tory backbenchers who are also keen to bring the gallows back.

 Second EU referendum must be held on final Brexit deal, says former head of British civil service

A Britain outside the ECHR could trade torture equipment to the US (Trump has said that torture absolutely works) or do trade deals in exchange for military intelligence with the worlds tyrants. We have to stop this from happening. We cant just sit back and accept the creeping Ukipification of Britain. Thats why Im behind a plan to stop Theresa May from scrapping our human rights.

OK, its a slightly madcap plan  but all the best plans are. Were crowd fundraising so we can take a battle bus of Britons  from human rights activists to lawyers to concerned citizens  to Brussels to lobby the EU not to give the UK a free trade deal unless it commits to guaranteeing human rights through the ECHR. Over 50 of Britains top legal minds including Baroness Kennedy QC, Lord Lester QC, Sir Geoffrey Bindman, Professor Francesca Klug and Sir Paul Jenkins agree with us. At this moment, the only thing our Government cares about is a free trade deal with the EU; if we can make human rights a condition, then we can save our rights.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the European Union made it clear that trade and human rights needed to go together. As new democracies emerged from the ashes of the Soviet Union, the UK led the way in promoting the possibility that these Eastern European countries could join the EU. Signing up to the human rights protections in the European Convention meant these countries were now eligible to join the EU. Joining the EU meant protecting human rights. But surely the reverse must be true also? If you want to leave the EU and want the benefits of free trade with the worlds largest market, then why shouldnt you also have to guarantee human rights?

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

In kicking off this plan, well be protecting the legacy of Winston Churchill. In 1951, when Churchill returned as Prime Minister, his government ratified the ECHR. The convention was the brainchild of Sir Winston himself, who proposed a Council of Europe guarded by freedom and sustained by law.

There is a certain irony in the current Prime Minister seeking to undo the legacy of one of her greatest predecessors, who brought peace in Europe and freedom back home, because she finds the enforcement of human rights a minor political nuisance. If Theresa May wont protect our rights, then we must. We cannot allow Brexit to be hijacked by fundamentalists.

You can donate to make the battle bus happen here. Mike Harris is chief executive of 89up and the publisher of Little Atoms
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Sometimes rules are there to be broken. We had an interesting article this week by an actor of Arab heritage about how he is usually offered roles as a terrorist. He didnt want La La Land to clean up at the Oscars, and wrote: Moonlight NEEDS to win Best Picture. Our style is not to use capitals for emphasis  too shouty  and to use italics instead. But with Moonlight already italicised as the title of a film that would have looked odd: Moonlight needs to win Best Picture looks as if the film is called Moonlight Needs. A little bit of shouty was the right way to do it.

Tallow, goodbye: We commented this week on the Bank of Englands refusal to recall and reissue the new 5 notes, which contain small amounts of animal fat. The Bank argues that it would cost 70m to reprint the notes. Thats on top of the 50,000 cost of destroying the tallow-contaminated ones, we wrote.

As Paul T Horgan wrote, contaminated was an odd word to use. It means made impure. If that had been the writers opinion, it would have been fine. It was an opinion article, after all. But in the rest of the article the author carefully avoided expressing a view about the use of animal products, focusing entirely on the balance of cost against certain objectives that are dear to the heart of some groups, who were listed as if at arms length as vegans, vegetarians, Hindus and Sikhs.

It is a good example of how value judgements creep in unintended by the choice of words.

If its a value judgement you want, I like the new 5 notes.

Prince among spellings: This week we reported the doings of the joint heads of a school in Australia and called them principles when we meant principals. The words come from the same source, the Latin for first, princeps. When it means chief in English the convention is to spell it principal, whether it is a noun, the head of a college, or the adjective, referring to the main thing. When it means a fundamental (first) truth or proposition it is spelt principle.

Recommended Top 10 fictional pubs

It shouldnt matter, but in the eyes of many readers it undermines our credibility if we appear not to know the convention.

Deadlocked: In the news in brief in the Daily Edition on Tuesday, we reported that the UK was the second most congested country in the world, behind China, with 11 of the 100 most gridlocked cities, according to a survey. Thanks to John Harrison for pointing out that British cities do not have grid layout streets. Gridlock has a specific meaning arising from the regular layout typical of American cities: if all four junctions at the corners of a block are jammed with traffic, nothing can move. The same kind of interlocking jam can happen in any dense street pattern, but ours arent grids.

We were presumably trying to avoid repeating the word congested, but it feels wrong when there are other ways round the duplication, such as cities with the worst traffic jams.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Stoke by-election may, thankfully, be over, but it will linger on in the memory for the bitterly unedifying spectacle of its two chief antagonists, Labours shiny new MP Gareth Snell and Paul Nuttall, doing their level best to outdo each other. Who could tell the biggest lie? Who would alienate the electorate more?

When it came down to it, clearly, the voters felt that Snells sin of being a sexist wasnt as big a deal as Nuttall making up Hillsborough victims. Then again, given Labours recent record on sexism, it probably wasnt considered an unusual stance for a prospective Labour MP to take. But something interesting did turn up on the morning of the election, when Guido Fawkes unearthed the website of Arizona governor hopeful Noah Dyer, running on a platform of, among other things, utter transparency.

On his website he lays bare all possible trespasses that may be used to beat him: his estranged wife, child support, his crippling university debt, his overreliance on credit cards, and his prolific sex life (though the last one sounded like a boast).

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images 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

Guido lamented that this might herald the coming of the age of transparency. Of course, honesty in a politician is always welcome, but with this new approach, one cant help feel a little apprehensive. Are we going to see many more candidates trying it?

Is this the end result of the post truth, fake news craze? Have we reached the threshold for how much rubbish we can take? We are still smarting from the deceit that poured forth during the EU referendum and US presidential election. It is understandable, then, that some might look at the wasteland of the political arena, and conclude that a bit of honesty would go down well.

All that will do is usher in a new culture. Between the Blair and Coalition years, MPs were robots with no personality. Recently, the spoils of war went to whoever could be more outlandish. Now we may face a new kind of politician: the over-sharer. Appropriate for the social media generation and tedious beyond measure.

Just imagine if wed known about Boris Johnsons past in the Bullingdon Club, smashed windows, debaggings and all, from his campaign leaflets? Or if hed relayed to us the intricacies of his multiple affairs in real time? Ahh, what ho chaps, just on my way to catch up with an old friend! Not a word to the wife, what? #awaydays.

 John McDonnell shifts blame on to Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson after Labour Copeland by-election defeat

Theresa May would raise eyebrows across the country if she put on her website that she was a big fan of leather pants. Tim Farrons account of his life, one suspects, would be painfully thin, but Clive Lewiss would be a glorious account, a boys own story of his time in the army, which would morph awkwardly into a diatribe against Seumas Milne. Angela Rayner and Rebecca Long-Bailey could summarise themselves with a simple over-ambitious and both angling for the Labour leadership.

Anna Soubrys profile might read Not really a Tory, just here for a laugh.

Of course wed never have had the expenses scandal, but would have known ahead of time that Jacqui Smiths husband was a pornography connoisseur, or that she saw nothing wrong with getting convicts to paint her house as part of their sentence. If sharing your secrets became a prerequisite, meanwhile, George Osborne would probably never have entered politics, so theres a positive.

I hope, however, that Noah Dyers gimmick is a one-off. Hilarious and scandalous stories come out in the wash anyway: why else would we assume politicians are swine? But MPs are people, and though held to a higher standard, dont forfeit their right to privacy. We all have pasts we would rather werent dragged up, for our own embarrassment and for our friends and families.

We must also be aware that some things must stay off-limits, and encouraging total transparency could endanger that. Could women who have had abortions be dissuaded from entering politics if compelled to share that information? Do former spouses or young children want or need their pasts dragged up for a political career?

What should be more important are politicians current views and intentions, not the mistakes of the past that have no bearing on their ability but for which they might be judged. If they were convicted of fraud? Fine, but politics is enough of a circus as it is. Total transparency is overkill.

If they had been honest, Paul Nuttalls campaign would have read: Lied about Hillsborough. Never lived in Stoke. Follically challenged. Gareth Snells? I tweet insults at women I disagree with. I have been parachuted into a safe seat, and disagree with the majority of constituents here on their most important issue.

We dont need to know about their past relationships or their time at university. Just what theyre up to now  and frankly, thats bad enough.
The Individuals' Deposit Guarantee Fund on February 24, 2017 began the liquidation of Platinum Bank (Kyiv).

According to the website of the fund, the liquidation procedure will last two years until February 23, 2019 inclusive.

Yuriy Irkliyenko has been appointed liquidator for the corresponding period.

As reported, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) by decision No. 95-RSh dated February 23 approved the fund's proposal to revoke the banking license and liquidate the bank.

The NBU board on January 10, 2017 declared Platinum Bank insolvent because as of January 1 the bank had not reached the positive value of capital.

According to the central bank, as of January 10, 2017 the owners of a substantial stake in Platinum Bank, irrespective of formal ownership, but taking into account significant impact on the management and activities of the bank, were Borys Kaufman and Israeli citizen Gregory Gurtovoy.
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Boris Yeltsin was making a presidential visit to Washington in 1995 when he was found one night outside the White House dressed only in his underpants. He explained in a slurred voice to US secret service agents that he was trying to hail a cab so he could go and buy a pizza. The following night he was discovered by a guard, who thought he was an intruder, wandering drunkenly around the basement of his official residence.

Drunk or sober, Yeltsin and his escapades became the living symbol for the world, not just of the collapse of the Soviet Union but of a dysfunctional administration in the Kremlin and the decline of Russia as a great power. It was impossible to take seriously a state whose leader was visibly inebriated much of the time and in which policy was determined by a coterie of corrupt family members and officials serving at Yeltsins whim.

Donald Trump is often compared to Vladimir Putin by the media which detects ominous parallels between the two men as populist nationalist leaders. The message is that Trump with his furious attacks on the media would like to emulate Putins authoritarianism. There is some truth in this, but when it comes to the effect on US status and power in the world, the similarities are greater between Trump and Yeltsin than between Trump and Putin.

 Trump attack on press is 'biggest threat to democracy' says man who brought down bin Laden

Trump does not drink alcohol, but his incoherent verbal onslaughts on Australia, Mexico and Sweden since he became President are strongly reminiscent of Yeltsins embarrassing antics. Both men won power as demagogic anti-establishment leaders who won elections by promising to reform and clear out corruption in the existing system. The result in Russia was calamitous national decline and the same thing could now happen in America.

It will be difficult for the US to remain a super-power under a leader who is an international figure of fun and is often visibly detached from reality. His battle cry of Fake News simply means an inability to cope with criticism or accept facts or views that contradict his own. World leaders who have met him say they are astonished by his ignorance of events at home and abroad.

This cannot go on very long without sizeably diminishing American global influence as its judgement and actions become so unpredictable. Over the last three quarters of a century, countries of all political hues  dictatorships and democracies, republics and monarchies  have wanted to be an ally of the US because it was the most powerful player in world affairs.

It will remain so but the degree and nature of its primacy is changing significantly for four reasons. The US has a leader who appears unhinged to an extent not true of any of his predecessors. Secondly, political combat in the US has reached an all-absorbing ferocity not seen since the 1850s. This does not mean that the last act of this crisis will be a civil war, but American society is more divided today than at any time since the conflict between North and South. From the moment Trump took office he has shown no inclination towards compromise and his divisiveness inevitably makes America becomes a lesser power than it was.

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 US is in a much stronger position today than the Soviet Union in 1991, but aspects of the two situations are the same. The Soviet Union was past its peak when it dissolved, but the US is weaker than it was fifteen years ago. Despite its vastly expensive armed forces, the US has failed to win wars in Afghanistan and Iraq or to obtain regime change in Syria. In all three wars, it made serious mistakes and suffered important setbacks. Barack Obama had an acute sense of just how far US military strength could be turned into political gains without stumbling into unwinnable wars in the Middle East and beyond. Contrary to Trumps jibes about Obama doing disastrous deals with Iran and others, the last president kept out of the Syrian civil war, which would have been as draining as Afghanistan or Iraq, and gave priority to the campaign to eliminate Isis.

As presidential candidate Trump presented himself as an isolationist, claiming to have opposed the wars in Iraq and Libya. He had taken on board, as Hillary Clinton had not, that the American public does not want to fight another ground war in the Middle East. But Trumps appointment of two senior generals  James Mattis as Defence Secretary and HR McMaster as National Security Adviser  tells a different and more belligerent story. Already, there are steps being taken to create a Sunni Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies and in cooperation with Israel, to confront Iran.

The Trump administration does not have a coherent foreign policy and will probably go along at first with many of the policies already in place. The dangerous moment will come later when it has to devise its own responses to new events, such as terrorist attacks by Isis, and its real capacity becomes apparent. It looks all too likely that a president who has such a ludicrously warped picture of life in Sweden will fail to grapple successfully with complex crises in Yemen, Syria or Iraq.

The election of Trump brings with it another negative but less tangible outcome that is already eating away at American primacy: the US will be not only divided but unable to focus on for the foreseeable future on anything other than the consequences of Trumpism. When US politicians, officials and media look at Russia, China, Ukraine, Iran, Israel or anywhere else in the world from Sweden to Australia, they will view them through a prism distorted by his preconceptions and fantasies.

The US is not alone in this. The debilitating result of a single factor marginalising other crucial issues has become all too clear in Britain since the Brexit vote. Tony Blair said in his recent speech that this is a government for Brexit, of Brexit and dominated by Brexit. It is a mono-purpose political entity. Aside from this single-minded focus, nothing else really matters, not the health service, the economy, technology, education, investment or crime. Governments priorities are not really defined by white papers or words, but by the intensity of focus, explained Blair. This government has bandwidth for only one thing: Brexit. It is the waking thought, the daily grind, the meditation before sleep and the stuff of its dreams; or nightmares.

In the US, Trump is a similarly obsessive concern. Once it was smaller European countries like Ireland and Poland that were derided for an exaggerated and unhealthy preoccupation with their own problems. A Polish joke from the 1920s relates how an Englishman, a Frenchman and a Pole competed to write the best essay on the elephant. The Englishman described elephant hunting in India, the French wrote about the elephant in love and the Pole produced a lengthy paper on the elephant and the Polish Question. These days the Englishman would undoubtedly write about the elephant and Brexit and an American, if he was allowed to enter the competition, would write interminably about the elephant and Donald Trump.
Bank of Ireland (BOI) has announced that it will not pay shareholders a dividend until 2018.

The bank said it had taken the decision to award dividend payments to shareholders at the end of the 2017 financial year.

BOI announced underlying profit of 1,071m for 2016 and said it has increased the size of its core loan book by 1.7bn.

New lending rose to 13bn, while the bank said it had reduced its non-performing loans by 40pc compared to 2015.

"Our business is performing in line with the strategic objectives we have set ourselves. All trading divisions are profitable and have contributed to our strong financial performance during the period, said Bank of Ireland ceo Richie Boucher.

Mr Boucher said political uncertainty- namely Brexit- could have an impact on the business in the coming years.

Political events, in particular the UK's decision to leave the European Union, may impact on our customers and our business growth in the coming years, Mr Boucher continued.

Nevertheless, we remain confident that the substantial progress the Group has made in recent years, he added.

Bank of ireland said it had apportioned some 25m to compensate tracker mortgage holders that were overcharged by the bank.
A European Commissioner has said London will continue to be important in terms of financial services after Brexit, but that Frankfurt and Paris will also take on enhanced roles.

Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue, was reportedly asked which city would be Europe's financial capital in 2022.

"I can imagine that London will still play an important role," he said. But he added that Frankfurt and Paris would take on a greater role, according to news service Bloomberg, with no mention of Dublin.

Dublin has been tipped as a possible contender to attract financial services jobs displaced as a result of the Brexit vote, vying with other European capitals including Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam and Luxembourg.

The Central Bank - which accepts licence applications from firms looking to establish here - said it was ready to engage with new business looking to shift operations to Ireland.

It comes as Morgan Stanley is said to be scouting for office space in Frankfurt and Dublin for an enlarged European Union hub following the UK's vote to leave.

The bank may initially move about 300 workers to one of the cities, Bloomberg reported.

"Our focus is on ensuring that we can continue to service our clients whatever the Brexit outcome," Hugh Fraser, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley, said by e-mail. "Our strong franchise and material presence in Europe gives us many options, and we will adapt as the details of Brexit become clear. Given all of this, no decisions have yet been made."

Global banks in London may have to shift 1.8 trillion of assets elsewhere after Brexit is completed, putting as many as 30,000 UK jobs at risk, according to Brussels-based research group Bruegel.

Competition has been growing among certain EU capitals looking to lure firms from London following the referendum result. The French government pledged within days of the Brexit result to make its tax regime for expatriates among the most favourable in Europe.

In November, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the process for banks to establish here and get a licence could take at least a year.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has insisted on a clause in the Brexit deal to allow Northern Ireland to rejoin the European Union as part of a united Ireland.

After a summit with European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker, the Taoiseach said the Good Friday Agreement must be stitched into the outcome of talks on Brexit.

Mr Kenny said a future Brexit treaty should contain cast-iron guarantees, lifted directly from the Good Friday Agreement, that would ensure Northern Ireland a seamless re-entry to the EU.

"We want that to remain in such a position that the language of what is contained in the Good Friday Agreement will also be contained in the negotiations' outcome," he said at a press conference in Brussels.

"In other words, if at some future time, whenever that might be if it were to occur, that Northern Ireland would have ease of access to join as a member of the EU again.

"We want that language inserted into the negotiated treaty or negotiated outcome whenever that might occur."

After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Germany swiftly reunited and East Germany was able to join the then-European Economic Community without signing a separate treaty.

It's not clear whether Mr Juncker and his Brexit pointman, Michel Barnier - who was also at yesterday's meeting - formally agreed to the request.

"The Good Friday Agreement is like a poem: it speaks for itself," Mr Juncker said when questioned.

Risks

But what did emerge from the meeting was the clearest indication yet that the EU will work for an invisible border on the island of Ireland in upcoming Brexit talks.

"We don't want to have hard borders between Northern Ireland and the Republic," Mr Juncker said. "We want to have the Good Friday Agreement not being put under risks, and we want land borders being as open as possible."

But there is no clarity yet on how such an open border could operate.

"This is a political challenge, as distinct from any technological issue," Mr Kenny said. "While the [UK] prime minister says 'we want the closest relationship with the European Union', we support that, but clearly there are political challenges, in the sense of Britain leaving the single market and having whatever kind of relationship in respect of the customs union," he said.

The UK has said it wants out of the EU's single market but was less clear on whether it would break all ties with the customs union.

British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to officially notify the EU of her intention to leave in early March, but Mr Kenny acknowledged that timetable "might be delayed a little".

Only after that will EU leaders agree on priorities for Mr Barnier to take into talks with the UK, but these will not go into detail on the Border.

"There should not be a return to a hard border of the past, and there won't be," Mr Kenny insisted.

He said he expected to remain as Taoiseach to kick off the Brexit talks, which are likely to take place in April, after the EU celebrates its 60th anniversary with a summit in Rome on March 25. He said Ireland would "sit on the European negotiating side of the table" during the talks, and "work assiduously with the Commission" to ensure Ireland's voice is heard.
A free-trade agreement between the EU and the UK that includes agriculture has to be the goal for Ireland in the upcoming Brexit negotiations.

This is the primary finding of a report on the impact of Brexit which was commissioned by the Agriculture and Food Committee of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce.

The report noted the integrated and all-island nature of both the beef, butter and cheddar cheese sectors, in particular, and warned that the imposition of tariffs would have "detrimental consequences".

Maree Gallagher, chair of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce Agriculture and Food Committee, pointed out that the agri-food sector was particularly exposed to Brexit. And she said Britain's decision to leave the EU required an all-island response.

"This is an integrated all-island sector that operates efficiently and seamlessly through the invisible border. Therefore, an all-island sector requires an all-island response, that is why we are specifically calling for an all-island strategy for the agri-food sector to address the consequences of Brexit," Ms Gallagher said.

"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," said John McGrane, director general of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce.

"The Irish Government and Minister (Michael) Creed must continue to press the Irish case in Brussels that a bad deal for the UK could have detrimental consequences for Ireland," he insisted.

The report, which is entitled 'The Impact of the UK Referendum on Membership of the European Union on the Irish Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Sectors', highlights the significant level of integration within agriculture between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

It finds that many sub-sectors operate on a de facto all-island market, with multiple aspects of production spread between the two jurisdictions.

The paper specifies that any restriction on current trade practices between Republic of Ireland and the UK will be particularly negative for the Irish beef sector as well as for cheddar cheese and butter exports.

The paper's recommendations include:

 To introduce a specific strategy to address the fallout from Brexit for integrated all-island agri-food businesses;

 Reduce employer PRSI to reduce costs for agri-food employers;

 Expand Bord Bia's Marketing Intensification Programme designed to support Irish agri-food exports to the UK;

 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.
The new owners of Bord Gais Energy are sitting on profits of 92.9m just two years after buying the business in a privatisation demanded by the Troika.

Profits at Bord Gais Energy rose 53pc to 54.4m last year, according to annual accounts filed by the company's UK parent, Centrica.

Centrica bought Bord Gais Energy in a deal agreed at the start of 2014 for a net consideration of just 150m, including the Whitegate gas-fired power station in Cork and the retail business with 650,000 customers. The power station had cost 400m to build back in 2010. The results show that Centrica has now recouped almost two-thirds of its investment in just two years.

The sale prompted anger in some quarters, with opposition parties and trade unions accusing the Government of selling the company "on the cheap".

Since the sale, Bord Gais Energy has outstripped expectations, with the company posting an unexpected profit of 38.5m for 2015.

Bord Gais declined to comment on the results.

Centrica said that the number of Bord Gais customer accounts rose by 4pc over the course of last year to 690,000. It also said that the number of customer complaints during the year had decreased by 35pc.

The company said the improving results were based on its competitive pricing arrangements. Bord Gais Energy had seen a reduction in both gas and electricity customers at the end of 2015. The improvement means that Bord Gais Energy is now the second-largest provider of electricity in the country.

Centrica,which is led by ceo Iain Conn, were part of a consortium of investors that bought State-owned Bord Gais in 2014.

Overall, Centrica posted a decline of 3pc last year, with revenues falling to 27.1bn. However, the company announced an adjusted operating profit of 1.45bn, which was up 4pc on the figure for 2015.

Centrica said it had boosted its operating cash flow by 14pc and said that an additional 2bn raised this year would go to servicing the company's net debt of 3.5bn. The company's debt fell by 27pc over the course of 2016.

Capital expenditure is to be limited to 1bn in 2017, the company said.

Centrica said the layoff of 3,400 employees across the business last year produced savings of 384m during 2016.

It said it anticipated saving an additional 250m in an "efficiency programme" to be rolled out this year.

"We delivered our key objectives including improved customer service and more innovative offerings and solutions," said Centrica ceo Iain Conn.

"Last year was a busy year for the team, but we have delivered a lot, and Centrica enters 2017 a stronger company with encouraging underlying momentum and positioned to deliver longer-term returns and growth," Mr Conn added.

Centrica, which also owns British Gas, said that it intended to focus on consumer facing operations in the year ahead. The company said enhancing consumer choice and ensuring customer loyalty would be priorities for 2017.

It was also announced that the company would divest its interest in a renewable site in Trinidad and Tobago.

Centrica also declared its intention to find a buyer for a Canadian exploration facility later this year

Shares in the company were down 3.7pc at the close of trading on Thursday.

The results show that Centrica has now recouped almost two-thirds of its investment in just two years.
Militants shelled the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone 47 times as of 18:00 on Friday, five Ukrainian soldiers were wounded, the ATO headquarters reported.

"In the Mariupol sector, Russian occupation forces fired at Vodiane using 82-millimeter mortars. They used grenade launcher and small arms to shell Novotroyitske, Pavlopil, Vodiane, Hnutove, and Shyrokyne. Shyrokyne was fired at from the enemy's infantry combat vehicles," the ATO headquarters reported on the official Facebook page on Friday evening.

In the Donetsk sector, militants repeatedly fired from mortars of various calibers at Troyitske, Dacha, Zaitseve, Avdiyivka. Rocket-propelled grenades were used to shell Avdiyivla, Mayorske, Zaitseve, Pisky and Luhansk.

In the Luhansk sector, militants fired using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at Novooleksandrivka, Troitskr and Novozvanivka, according to the ATO headquarters.

"All in all, 47 attacks have been registered. Five of our military have been wounded," the ATO headquarters said.
The Central Bank has said that the ability of the Irish credit union sector to absorb financial shocks is reasonably strong, according to a new report.

However, the Bank warned that there were considerable variations among the capital ratios of the credit unions.

The Central Bank published a report on Friday analysing the activity of the credit union sector between 2011 and 2016.

The report found that there had been considerable consolidation in the sector in recent years, with many local branches merging to form larger organisations.

Total assets in the sector now stand at 16bn, up by a total of 2bn over the period in question.

However, the research found that loan books were down by 28pc between 2011 and 2016. The value of loans held by credit unions across the country is now 4.1bn, down from 5.7bn in 2011.

Loan arrears have also fallen however, with just 10pc of accounts now found to be overdue for payment, compared to 18pc five years ago.

The average sector loan to asset ratio has decreased from 42pc to 27pc over the period.

We welcome the report and the acknowledgment of the resilience of the credit union sector during the Countrys financial crisis, said Kevin Johnson, ceo of the Credit Union Development Association (CUDA)

The sector is well capitalised and well positioned to develop broader range of products and services, but there are impediments, primarily legislative and regulatory, that need to be worked through, Mr Johnson added.
French carmaker PSA Group is planning an engineering blitz to redevelop Opel's core models with its own technology if it succeeds in buying General Motors' European arm, according to company sources and advisers.

The Peugeot maker, which is in talks with GM on an Opel deal, wants to build the next Corsa mini on the same architecture as its Peugeot 208 and Citroen C3 models, several sources said.

This presents a tough challenge as the new GM model is due for an update in two years, leaving little time for a major reworking of its design. PSA's alternative, however, would be to wait until around 2025 - the end of its next model cycle - to tap cost savings in the best-selling vehicle category.

Chief executive Carlos Tavares outlined the plan at a PSA board meeting on Wednesday, one source said. The aim would be to fuse the small car categories that PSA and GM failed to combine under a looser 2012 alliance that missed key targets.

Tavares yesterday refused to comment on the details of possible PSA-Opel vehicle programs as he presented record PSA earnings to reporters and analysts, stressing that the acquisition had yet to be agreed with GM. But he said the combined company would aim to sell more than five million vehicles annually within "a few years". PSA and GM Europe delivered 4.3 million vehicles between them last year.

"When you look at the product plan you see that you can, in a quite speedy way, implement significant synergies," Tavares said.

The next Corsa and related Mokka X mini-SUV are among a wave of small Opel cars already in development for launch in 2019. The two models represent 40pc of GM's European sales, according to LMC Automotive data.

PSA wants the Opel deal to yield cost synergies of between 1.5bn and 2bn, sources close to the talks have said.

PSA and GM have tried before to combine their small cars - the failed centrepiece of a "global strategic alliance" unveiled in 2012 and rapidly scaled back to three shared projects from 40 initially considered.

Gilles Le Borgne, the PSA engineering chief, said "it's completely different now", adding that engineering teams were ready to move fast.

"It would be stupid to miss another cycle," he said, adding that it normally takes more than three years to develop a new model.

A swift convergence of small car design and production may deepen concern over possible job losses, especially in Germany - home to about half the 38,000-strong GM Europe workforce.

The competing PSA and Opel small car and SUV line-ups are currently spread among no fewer than five European plants: Opel Eisenach, Germany, and Zaragoza, Spain; and PSA Poissy and Mulhouse, France, and Trnava, Slovakia.

Tavares has promised to honour existing GM plant and job guarantees, but many of those expire in 2018-2020 - around the time the first jointly-developed products would be arriving.
Jobs hunters who were keen to brush up on their searching skills were in attendance at an event hosted by jobs website Indeed on Thursday evening.

The Job Search Academy provided participants with tips to improve their online job search techniques and attracted 40 keen jobseekers.

This event is the perfect example of the positive impact a global company can have within the local community, said Indeed Vice President of Sales EMEA, Gerard Murnaghan.

Its fantastic to work directly with people helping to help improve their chances of landing their next job, Mr Murnaghan added.

Indeed has introduced a range of new products - such as the mobile app, company reviews and job alerts - to help jobseekers find the right position.

It's always a joy to help jobseekers understand how Indeed works and to support them in finding their dream job, said Indeed head ambassador and job search academy volunteer, Giulia Ojetti.
The Governor of the Central Bank, Philip Lane, is a very smart man. Before taking up the post he was Professor of International Macroeconomics and Director of the Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity College Dublin, no less.

So when he gives a speech telling the rest of us we're basically financially illiterate and innumerate, he probably has a point.

It's not very nice to hear however.

In yesterday's address at UCC he said we (and he included pretty much all of us, it has to be said) had a tendency to "make poor financial choices", "take on too much debt", "misunderstand risk" and buy the wrong financial products for the wrong reasons.

For anyone still reeling from the recession, in debt to the banks, and behind on our mortgage, it's a bit like telling us we should wear a warm hat the day after Storm Doris.

Economists (and Dr Lane is one of our most eminent) largely believe the wisdom that has been handed down from their idols over the centuries - the Adam Smiths and John Maynard Keynes - that people tend to act in their own self-interest.

They do what's good for them, and their families economically and logically, and not necessarily what's good for society.

That's why they need governments to sway monetary and fiscal policy so that the little people don't screw the whole system up.

Balderdash

That, as it turns out, is balderdash.

People make decisions about every little thing, every day, depending on mood, impulse, how happy or sad they feel, how wealthy they perceive they are, and what the neighbours are doing.

You might buy a chocolate bar in the supermarket for your three-year-old to stop a tantrum.

You are not, in that instant, thinking about Ireland's obesity crisis, or how much a Twix costs compared to the wholesale price of cocoa beans 10 years ago.

So yes, Dr Lane, you're right.

We're idiots.

But here's the thing: we were allowed to be idiots.

Government policy and lax banking controls positively encouraged us to be idiots.

So he is also right about us needing a Big Brother, preferably one wielding a big stick.

He's the current BB, so he has lots of plans about how he's going about it.

There are reports and commissions, committees and legislation, all to mind us in the future.

It would be great if the same foresight and attention was given to minding us now, from the same systems and policies that have us festering in a mire of debt - much of it, despite Dr Lane's premise, not of our making.

Over-borrowing is a terrible thing, and it is quite right that it is controlled, so people (the idiots) don't lose the run of themselves.

So it's curious that one of the key decisions Dr Lane recently took was to remove the cap on mortgage lending to first-time buyers.

Instead of compelling them to prudently save up 20pc of anything over the original 220,000 limit, they now just need 10pc of any old amount at all.

Coupled with some banks' generous 'cash back' mortgage payouts and the Budget decision (which he went along with) to subsidize first time buyers with taxpayer-funded grants to buy houses, it's put a gallop in the step of the very type of people that ended up in a hopeless property bubble 10 years ago.

Someone in a decade's time might even call them idiots.

Perish the thought.
Personal Finance expert Sinead Ryan answers your property questions.

Q. My girlfriend and I are anxious to buy a house and settle down. We have been saving for a deposit and want to avail of the new tax rebate. While her financial history is exemplary, I'm afraid mine is not. I had a court judgement issued against me a couple of years ago for an unpaid fine (600 plus costs) and I had my bank chase me over a car loan I couldn't pay because I lost my job. I'm in a good job now and only have a small credit card debt, which I pay every month. Should I just not say anything?

A. Avoiding your credit history won't be an option. When you apply for a mortgage, lenders generally check your credit rating through a pooled organisation which the banks fund called the Irish Credit Bureau. This tracks any past lending (and, more importantly, missed or defaulted payments) for individuals and it can date back a number of years.

Typically, they will ask for two years' worth of credit checks and this may be enough to pick up the issues you have mentioned. They can go further back if they wish, so my advice would be twofold. Firstly, get a sense of your own credit rating first - you are entitled to see what the banks know about you and it costs just 6 from icb.ie. You will get a quite lengthy form (it looks more complicated than it is with the jargon on it) and study it carefully.The website has an FAQ explaining the figures, but for loans three months or more in arrears, this will be flagged by a score of '50' (typical scores rate from 271-850 in different categories). If a loan has been written off, or is pending litigation, a 'W' or 'P' will be returned. If there's anything on it that is no longer true, the original creditor can apply to have it updated.

I would then be upfront with the bank, stressing your current good record. Better still, you might want to employ the services of a mortgage broker. It will cost around 500 but they know the lenders better disposed to poorer credit histories. There are quite a few, like Pepper for example, who are happy to lend to people like you.

Q. I'm renting a house with two friends. We're all in our 30s and we do like to spend money on ourselves, so we have really nice stuff which we share like laptops, designer clothes and some nice jewellery. We all work in good jobs and are out during the day. We had an attempted break-in last week, although nothing was taken as they were scared off by a neighbour. Our landlord tells us the insurance he has on the property is sufficient, but how do we know? Is it possible to get a policy ourselves?

A. Yes, it is. In fact, it's vital. Firstly, ask the landlord for a copy of the home contents policy, so you can see for yourselves. It's important that the rental is noted, as a claim may not be supported if the insurer thinks the landlord lives there themselves.

You have amassed lots of valuables so it is important to have them covered. Jonathan Hehir of insuremyhouse.ie says, "According to the latest Residential Tenancy Board (RTB) figures, there are over 700,000 people in private rented accommodation and, given the current property market, many of these are likely to be there for the foreseeable future.

"While previously, renting had been viewed as the preserve of students and younger workers, we are seeing a greater shift in the profile of people renting, but the proportion taking out home insurance doesn't appear to match the profile of those in rental accommodation.

"Less than 10pc of home insurance policies taken with us are to tenants. Those who have a greater exposure to content risk are leaving themselves open to a huge financial shock if they do not have the necessary cover in place."

You can expect to pay between 100 and 150 per annum for contents up to 15,000 but do shop around and get some quotes.

The Ryan Review

With a possible Fine Gael upheaval in the offing - or worse, a general election around the corner - we can expect all TDs to go into self-employed role for the next few weeks (months?).

And considering that the Minister for Housing, Simon Coveney, is one of the front-runners for leadership, what now for his progressive and somewhat brave policies regarding social housing, new constructions and homelessness?

Each time a change at the top happens, there follows an inevitable winding-down period followed by a learning-curve period, with the consequence of delays, obfuscations and possibly a radical change to policy as a new Minister tries to make their own mark rather than be hamstrung by someone else's decision.

There's no doubt that for a while housing was the new 'Angola' (to which Brian Cowan once so memorably compared the Department of Health) but things appear to be finally moving, albeit at snail's pace.

Would it be too much to ask that Fine Gael grassroots leave Simon where he is while they argue among themselves?
Enterprise Ireland is to provide a 1m investment fund for businesses in the early stages of development.

Around 20 applicants will receive funding of up to 50,000 each following the completion of two competitions that will assess the merits of fledgling companies.

Applicants must be recent graduates or international entrepreneurs to qualify for entry.

"The launch of the international and graduate entrepreneurship competitive start funds will provide valuable financial and business support to overseas entrepreneurs and recent graduates who have global ambition for their businesses," said Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor.

The funds are open to companies active in manufacturing and traded services including internet, games, apps, mobile, cloud computing, life-sciences, food, cleantech and industrial products.

"A key focus of Enterprise Ireland is to encourage more entrepreneurs to start up their businesses in Ireland," said Enterprise Ireland chief executive Julie Sinnamon.

Enterprise Ireland supported over 30 startups from overseas last year Ms Sinnamon added.
Alphabet Waymo self-driving car unit sued Uber Technologies and its autonomous trucking subsidiary Otto on Thursday over allegations of theft of its confidential and proprietary sensor technology.

Waymo accused Uber and Otto, acquired by the ride services company in August, with stealing confidential information on Waymo's Lidar sensor technology to help speed its own efforts in autonomous technology.

"Uber's LiDAR technology is actually Waymo's LiDAR technology," said Waymo's complaint in the Northern District of California.

Uber said it took "the allegations made against Otto and Uber employees seriously and we will review this matter carefully."

Lidar, which uses light pulses reflected off objects to gauge their position on or near the road, is a crucial component of autonomous driving systems. Previous systems have been prohibitively expensive and Waymo sought to design one over 90 percent cheaper, making its Lidar technology among the company's "most valuable assets," Waymo said.

Read More

Waymo is seeking an unspecified amount of damages and a court order preventing Uber from using its proprietary information.

Otto launched with much fanfare in May, due in part to the high profile of one of its co-founders, Anthony Levandowski, who had been an executive on Google's self-driving project. Uber acquired the company in August for what Waymo said in the lawsuit was $680 million.

Waymo said that before Levandowski's resignation in January 2016 from Google, whose self-driving unit was renamed Waymo in December, he downloaded over 14,000 confidential files, including Lidar circuit board designs, thereby allowing Uber and Otto to fast-track its self-driving technology.

Waymo accused Levandowski of attempting to "erase any forensic fingerprints" via a reformat of his laptop.

"While Waymo developed its custom LiDAR systems with sustained effort over many years, defendants leveraged stolen information to shortcut the process and purportedly build a comparable LiDAR system in only nine months," the complaint said.

Read More

Last month, Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) electric car company sued the former head of its Autopilot system. It said he tried to recruit Tesla engineers for his new venture with the former head of Google's self-driving program while still working there, and said he stole proprietary data belonging to Tesla.

Waymo's lawsuit said it learned of this use of trade secrets and patent infringement after it was inadvertently copied on an email from a component vendor that included a design of Uber's Lidar circuit board, which bore a "striking resemblance" to Waymo's design.

Waymo noted that Google devoted over seven years to self-driving cars and said Uber's forays into the technology through a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University had stalled by early 2016.
Choi Gee-sung, chief executive of South Korea's Samsung Electronics, speaks during an annual shareholders' meeting at the company headquarters in Seoul March 18, 2011. REUTERS/Truth Leem

Two senior Samsung executives have offered to resign to take responsibility for the conglomerate's involvement in the graft scandal involving South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Yonhap news agency said on Friday, without citing sources.

The report said Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung and President Chang Choong-gi have offered to resign. Both executives were identified as suspects by the South Korean special prosecution in a graft probe that led to Samsung leader Jay Y. Lee's arrest last week.

Yonhap did not say whether the executives have formally submitted their resignation or whether they will remain with the conglomerate in some other capacity. Samsung did not immediately comment on the report.
On Tuesday, February 28, at 10.30, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference by Ambassador of India to Ukraine Manoj Kumar Bharti and representatives of Indian business, entitled "Review of Business Relations between Ukraine and India in 2016 and Prospects for Cooperation in Agriculture, Pharmaceuticals, Tourism, Education in 2017 and Onwards." The press conference was also attended by President of the Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association in Ukraine (IPMA) Dr. Ramanan Menon, representatives of Indian companies operating in the field of tourism and culture Arnab Roychuramony and Nair Gopakumar (8/5a Reitarska Street). Admission requires press accreditation.
A church in Galway is revolutionising Ash Wednesday by operating a drive-through service.

St Patrick's Church in Glenamaddy, Co Galway will have a drive through service on 1 March so parishioners on-the-go can receive ashes, reports the Farmers Journal.

The service will allow busy church-goers to receive ashes without having to leave their cars.

Those attending will drive in one gate, receive ashes in their vehicle and drive out another gate.

It will run from 8am until 9:30am outside the church, meaning there's no excuse for not getting ashes on the day.

We wonder if this will catch on around the rest of Ireland...
Aer Lingus didn't hold back when they got into an epic Twitter war with Norwegian airlines over their low prices.

Following Norwegian Air's announcement on Thursday that they were launching new routes from Dublin, Cork and Shannon to the US with fares beginning at just 69, Aer Lingus were sure to get their say in on the matter.

Quoting a tweet from the Scandinavian airline, Aer Lingus quipped: "No free bag? No free seat assignment? No free meal? No preclearance? Cheers, you're grand."

One customer responded to Aer Lingus highlighting that it cuts out the three hour drive from Cork to Dublin, but the airline was having none of it.

"Maybe, but have you seen where you land?" they responded.

Norwegian Air took the opportunity as free advertising, saying: "Free advertising from Aer Lingus for Norwegians low-cost flights? Thats grand, thanks guys!" but Aer Lingus clapped back again.

Sharing a screenshot of Google Maps with the route from the destination airport of Stewart International to Times Square by train, to which the results were: "can't find a way there," Aer Lingus said: "About those routes..."
Today FM has announced that comedian and actor, Al Porter is to join the station as presenter of their lunchtime show (12-2.30pm). The new presenter was revealed on Dermot & Daves show on Today FM this morning. Als new show will air from Monday, 13th February. Picture:Brian McEvoy

Despite his comedic roots, Al Porter doesn't feel any pressure to be funny on his new radio show.

The Tallaght man (24) became a lunchtime presenter on Today FM last week and was told by producers he didn't need to play up to his stand-up persona.

"I was really nervous but they said they wanted me to do a show that was me being myself. They said, think you're with your mates - don't think stand-up," he said.

"We had some really interesting bits that were really serious. How do young people move out of their parents' home or how do they cope with being at home when they're 35?

Expand Close Today FM has announced that comedian and actor, Al Porter is to join the station as presenter of their lunchtime show (12-2.30pm). The new presenter was revealed on Dermot & Daves show on Today FM this morning. Als new show will air from Monday, 13th February. Picture:Brian McEvoy / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Today FM has announced that comedian and actor, Al Porter is to join the station as presenter of their lunchtime show (12-2.30pm). The new presenter was revealed on Dermot & Daves show on Today FM this morning. Als new show will air from Monday, 13th February. Picture:Brian McEvoy

"We had a thing with a texter talking about the loss of a sense of community and I read that out."

The radio host feels like he is starting from the bottom but hopes to be on the same level as Terry Wogan or Gerry Ryan in a few years.

"It's really good. It feels like a dream come true. It's something I've always wanted to do," he said.

"I've started off at the lowest possible level trying to learn my trade but I have aims to get to Terry Wogan or Gerry Ryan level. I'm learning from the bottom."

Al has turned to some of his Today FM co-workers and former co-host on 2FM Colm Hayes for advice.

"I'm asking everyone for advice. Ian Dempsey has given me advice, Colm Hayes is still giving me advice," he said.

"Ian said: 'Relax, breathe. You don't need to talk as fast as you do during stand-up. You're not talking at people, you're talking to people'.

"Dermot and Dave were saying: 'If you want to do something funny, run it by us to see if it works on radio'."

Video of the Day

The Dubliner believes that the station has struck the perfect balance between giving listeners the right amount of chat and music.

"What's nice about Today FM, I think it's a realistic snapshot of where people are with their radio listenership," he said.

"Today FM knows if you're listening to radio, you want a bit of chat. You don't mind a golden oldie being sprinkled in amongst your new hits."
Liam Cunningham says Loving is a welcome change from car chase films

Liam Cunningham arrives at the launch of the Game Of Thrones Exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art on June 30, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

There's further disappointment for Game of Thrones fan as star Liam Cunningham has revealed that the series won't return until July.

The Dublin star, who plays Davos in HBO's hit fantasy series, said the premiere date has been pushed back several times.

He said: "I've been disappointing various people around the world because it was meant to come out in April. It's July now, I think.

"There's going to be a launch and something special happening this year for the premiere. The bad news is, there will only be seven episodes and the final season starts again as far as I know in September."

Expand Close Liam Cunningham in Game Of Thrones / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Liam Cunningham in Game Of Thrones

The star took the opportunity at the event at L'Ecrivain restaurant to hit out at the State for not doing enough to help the refugee crisis.

Liam travelled to Jordan last September with the charity World Vision and said the Government could be taking in more refugees.

"The wheels of government move so slowly. What we've got to do is speed them up. Also, we're in the middle of changes of leadership. They need to get down and work for the country," he said.

"They're inward-looking now because there's a little bit of a mini-crisis going on.

"They need to get all that s**te out of the way and do their job, which is representing the people who voted for them."

He added that he thought it was wonderful he could use his celebrity status to highlight issues close to his heart, like his work with World Vision.

Meanwhile, the actor spoke in glowing terms about Limerick actress and Oscar nominee Ruth Negga at a Women Mean Business World Vision event.

Cunningham previously worked with Negga on 2014 movie Noble, which told the story of children's rights campaigner Christina Noble's life.

Expand Close Liam Cunningham says Loving is a welcome change from car chase films / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Liam Cunningham says Loving is a welcome change from car chase films

Video of the Day

"I had the biggest smile on my face when I heard she got nominated. She's very deserving of it," he said.

"Ruth's the most gorgeous, easy-going, decent girl. I saw her at the Golden Globes, I went over and gave her a hug. She's just brilliant.

"I've known her 20 years; she's been at it a long time. She's done theatre, she's paid her dues.

"The highest compliment I can pay Ruth is she's not a movie star, she's an actor, and that's what she is.

"She's a brilliant ambassador for this place and for diversity and is very clever.

"She's worked her way up slowly and she's the real deal. She hasn't just had it thrown at her. She just knows her stuff, she's a professional."

Liam said that he's looking forward to seeing her nominated movie Loving, which co-stars Joel Edgerton. "You don't get too many love stories in Hollywood any more. It's all bloody explosions now and car chases," he said.
A Dublin Bus driver, who claimed he was defamed by graffiti written on a toilet door at his workplace, has been awarded 12,500 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.

Judge James O'Donohoe said that although Dublin Bus, which had delivered a full defence, could not be held liable for the graffiti itself, it had been "dilatory" in removing it.

Paul Peppard told the court that on March 3, 2015, he noticed the graffiti at Dublin Bus Donnybrook Garage.

He said the words were written prominently and could be seen by persons using or having access to the toilets.

He told his barrister, Stephen J Byrne, a warning notice was "Sellotaped" on the offending words, but it wore out and they had still been visible more than a month later.

Mr Peppard, of Shanganagh Grove, Shanganagh, Shankill, said he then told a union representative that he wanted something done about the graffiti. It had been removed permanently later that day.

Barrister Jeri Ward, for Dublin Bus, said the graffiti had been removed as soon as the company had become aware of it. It denied it had placed a warning notice over the words or that the graffiti had been written by one of its employees.

Judge O'Donohoe said the evidence given by Dublin Bus employees had been too vague in relation to dates and he preferred that of Mr Peppard.

The judge said the "very offending" graffiti was on the door for some time. He accepted that Dublin Bus had done something about it but it had not been quick enough.
Nicole Ryan, sister of the late Alex Ryan, pictured at Cork Coroners Court. Photo: Daragh McSweeney/Cork Courts Limited

Cement, piano wire cleaner and rat poison are among the ingredients that are now being discovered in 'designer' drugs.

Cork coroner Philip Comyn has called for a radical overhaul of drug education in Irish schools, as it emerged one-in-three inquests in the city is connected to drugs or alcohol.

It comes as the sister of a teenager who died from a lethal synthetic party drug nicknamed 'NBomb' pleaded with youngsters to say no to drugs.

Nicole Ryan was speaking as an inquest returned a verdict of death by misadventure for her brother, Alex (18).

In evidence at Mr Ryan's inquest, gardai warned that youngsters have no idea of precisely what is contained in such drugs.

Det Sgt Jason Lynch said some synthetic drugs seized in recent years have included such trace ingredients as scouring powder, rat poison, cement and even piano wire cleaner.

Expand Close Alex Ryan / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Alex Ryan

"The (drugs) market now changes on a weekly basis," he said, in terms of specific designer drug demand.

The deadly psychedelic drug NBomb which claimed Mr Ryan's life was sourced via the 'Dark Web' from Thailand.

"Young people need to realise that they are playing Russian roulette with their lives when they take drugs," his sister said.

"It is not a question of 'if' someone else will die from drugs in Ireland, it is only a question of when."

Mr Ryan died after ingesting the lethal synthetic party drug on January 18, 2016.

Six people fell ill after the four-day Cork house party.

Gardai revealed that when they attended the Cork house involved, some party-goers were dancing naked covered in blood, their feet being sliced on a broken mirror.

The alarm was raised when one blood-soaked reveller ran naked out into the street.

Another naked party-goer was using their own blood to create images on the house walls.

Gardai said there was "a scene of total chaos".

Mr Ryan was found lying unconscious on the floor.

One reveller later described the party to gardai as "the best trip" she had ever had.

Ms Ryan said she found such comments to be "absolutely shocking" given her brother had lost his life.

Almost a year after Mr Ryan's death, in an unconnected tragedy, another Cork teen, Michael Cornacchia (16), died after the suspected ingestion of a different designer drug.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster admitted Irish doctors and lab technicians are now battling to keep up with the changes in such synthetic drugs. "Even a small amount of these drugs can kill you," she said.

Mr Comyn said if any good was to come from Mr Ryan's tragic death it had to be through better Irish drug education measures.

"The systems at the moment are rather ad hoc," he said.

"My recommendation today is that drugs awareness and education needs to be tackled in a much more structured way, particularly in schools."

Warnings

He revealed that 17 of 46 inquests staged in Cork this year (36.9pc) directly or indirectly involved drugs or alcohol.

Last year, 253 inquests were staged in Cork, with 10.6pc directly and 22.1pc indirectly involving drugs or alcohol.

Ms Ryan pleaded with youngsters to heed the stark warnings of her brother's tragic death.

"Alex made one very bad decision. That mistake cost him his life. He paid the ultimate price. We don't want any other Irish family to suffer our loss," she said.

Mr Ryan's organs were donated by his family and four Irish people had life-saving operations as a result.

Last November, three people were sentenced before Cork Circuit Criminal Court on charges arising from Mr Ryan's death.
A woman suing over injuries to her neck and back after a rear-ending incident has denied in the High Court that entries on her Facebook page meant she had done gym workouts since the accident.

Lyndsey Gervin (33), a mother of two from Coalisland, Co Tyrone, is one of nine people who sued for soft tissue injuries arising out of the August 2008 incident.

A car allegedly collided with the rear of the minibus the group were travelling in on their way to a night out at the dogs in Dundalk.

They claim the car left the scene immediately and no one got its registration.

The nine, including the driver, brought a claim against the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (Mibi), which compensates victims of uninsured drivers. The Mibi denies their claims.

After seven of them were awarded compensation of between 3,000 and 8,500 in the Circuit Court, the Mibi appealed to the High Court. The two who were not successful cross-appealed. A 10th man in the bus did not put in a claim.

On the first day of the appeal hearing, Lyndsey Gervin told her counsel she had to "do away" with going to the gym after the incident.

Jonathan Kilfeather SC, for the Mibi, asked that Ms Gervin be recalled as certain information about her had been learned overnight from her Facebook page.

Mr Kilfeather put it to her that an entry she made in January 2014 stating "am actually too excited about going back to workout Defo Gona b good and stick at it this time..." meant she had been at the gym since the accident. So did further entries.

Ms Gervin said it was part of her efforts to advertise her partner's gym among her friends. Those references were a joke among the Facebook friends, and it did not mean she had gone back to the gym, because she hadn't. "That is girly stuff, it would not interest you," she told Mr Kilfeather.

Ms Gervin told her counsel her Facebook page was supposed to be private. Mr Kilfeather said the material had been downloaded from a public page.

The driver, David Morgan (40), also from Coalisland, said he could not remember anything about the incident other than he saw no cars.

Mr Morgan and Ms Gervin were among the successful seven in the Circuit Court. The others were Deirdre Campbell (40), Joanne McGirr (35), her sister Fiona McGirr (38), Lyndsey's sister Amanda Gervin (44), all from Coalisland, and Bernadette McBride (58), mother of Ms Campbell, from Glasslough, Co Monaghan.

Paul Campbell (39), Deirdre Campbell's husband, and Kevin Kernaghan (43), also from Coalisland, lost in the Circuit Court and cross-appealed to the High Court. The case resumes next week.
Cookies used for analytics help us improve our website by collecting the information on how you use it. This information is collected in a way that doesn't allow to directly identify anyone. For more information on how these cookies work, please see our
A Dublin man will appear before judges in Italy today charged with murder, after his wife disappeared from a luxury cruise.

Daniel Belling (45) was boarding a flight back to Dublin with his young children when he was stopped at Rome's Ciampino Airport on Tuesday night.

He and his Chinese wife Xing Lei Li, together with their two children, were on an 11-day cruise around the Mediterranean when she disappeared.

Mr Belling is a German who has been living and working in Dublin as an IT consultant, with clients understood to include Apple.

The family's cruise began on February 9 in the port of Civitavecchia and took them to Malta, Greece and Cyprus.

When the luxury Magnifica cruise ship docked 10 days later, Mr Belling's wife was reported missing after crew members realised passenger details accounted for one less person.

Police stopped him from returning to Ireland and he was held for questioning in relation to her disappearance.

He had allegedly failed to tell the ship's crew that his wife was missing, a fact which aroused the suspicions of Italian police.

Cruise ship records show that Ms Li returned aboard the Magnifica after the outing in Genoa, meaning she disappeared between then and the end of the cruise. Her absence was only noticed when she failed to leave the ship at the end of the cruise on Monday this week.

The last reported time she was seen alive was in Genoa on February 10, just one day into the cruise, when the family went into a souvenir shop.

"I remember it well, we had just opened and it was 10am. First she entered with the two children, then he came in. He was agitated, he pulled out of a rucksack a pair of gym shoes and yelled at the woman," the owner told Italy's 'La Stampa' newspaper.

"He said 'Put these on instead of your sandals and shut up'."

Mr Belling's lawyer Luigi Conti told the Irish Independent that his client is completely denying he had anything to do with his wife's disappearance and said that there is a "perfectly good explanation" for what happened.

Ms Li previously appeared in court in Dublin, after having her front door broken down by gardai when she refused to leave an apartment.

Dublin District Court heard there had been a dispute with the landlord over unpaid rent and because she was keeping pets, which was against the rules.

The couple had fallen behind in their rent when they both lost their jobs. They had just got married at the time.

The incident happened on August 22, 2010. The court heard that Li and her husband, Mr Belling, had had several eviction notices served on them over rent arrears, the keeping of cats and sub-letting a room.

Ms Li was prosecuted on a charge of burglary with intent to cause criminal damage. But Judge Catherine Murphy dismissed the charge.

Ms Li, with an address at Clare Village, Coolock, denied burglary at the apartment at Hunter's Hall, Hunterswood, Ballycullen.
A court has heard that a man on trial for murder spoke to gardai in his boxer shorts with a pet snake in his hands a short time after the alleged attack.

Thomas OConnor (29) of Burnaby Court, Greystones is charged with murdering John OBrien, who was from Burnaby Lawns in Greystones on June 4, 2010.

The father-of-one has pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to the 22-year-olds manslaughter at Farrankelly Road, Delgany, Co Wicklow.

Today the court heard from a witness, who was drinking with the two men on the night.

Cian Wood testified that he was with a friend in Superquinn that night. They noticed John OBrien and Thomas OConnor at the car-park when they came out and began chatting to them.

He said that Mr OBrien was drunk; he couldnt walk straight, was falling around and mumbling his words.

He said that Mr OBrien gave them some wine, but that he also threw a punch at his friend, Jake Gorman. He said Mr O'Brien was calling on him to fight him, but that Mr Gorman had said no.

Mr Wood said that Mr OBrien started drinking again but that he then, out of nowhere, punched Mr Wood in the face for no reason. He said that Mr OConnor got annoyed with Mr OBrien and gave Mr Wood some wine to help heal the resulting cut to the inside of his cheek.

He agreed with the defence that he had been frightened by Mr OBrien and that he had heard the deceased make a threat that theyd be sliced up.

Mr Wood agreed that Mr OBrien had been staring at him, saying: I dont like him and that he had felt intimidated. He agreed that he hadnt defended himself because he was afraid of the deceased.

He recalled Thomas OConnor shouting at the deceased to leave them alone. However, he said that the deceased then ran at Mr OConnor, who pinned him down. The accused let him back up only when he had calmed down, he said.

He agreed that, but for Thomas OConnor sitting on Mr OBrien, it could have escalated.

Fergal Kavanagh SC, defending, asked if was fair to say that Mr OBrien had been aggressive with and wanted to fight everyone with whom he had come into contact.

Yes, he agreed.

The court heard that Mr Gorman and Mr Wood left and walked home to Greystones.

Mr OConnors partner at the time testified that she was wondering what was going on when the accused went outside to the speak to the gardai in his boxer shorts and with his pet snake in his hands.

Ellen Lyons said she had been annoyed with him for being out drinking that night and hadnt looked at him when he came into their bedroom after midnight.

She said he went downstairs after getting a phone call and she heard her front door open and close.

Then I looked out and saw a garda car parked outside the neighbours house, she said.

He had his snake in his hands and he was in his boxer shorts when he went out to the gaurds, she recalled. It was strange for him to be outside in his boxer shorts. That to me was something he wouldnt have done.

She said she was wondering what was going on.

Earlier, Mr OBriens family said they were worried that he might have been killed in a hit and run when they couldnt find him the next day. The court heard that a body had been found in the area.

The deceased mans brother, James OBrien, testified that he went around to Mr OConnors home the following morning.

The night before this, he was drinking with him, he explained. I said: Where did you leave him or when did you last see him?

He said the accused told him he had left him at the top of a lane near Mr OBriens aunts house.

He said that his father later asked him the same question.

Thomas OConnor said I left him with a person called Woods and Fat Jacob, he recalled. When I was listening, the story had changed to what he had told me five minutes previous. I started thinking, would that be my brother up there thats dead and did this lad do something.

He said the accused was making up loads of lies and that he started to assault Mr OConnor.

His father, James OBrien Snr, said that his own father arrived at the house around 7 that morning, asking if all the lads were in, because a young man had been found in Charlesland in a hit and run.

I thought of Johnny because he lived in Eden Gate with his girlfriend. I tried to ring, he said.

Two of his other sons told him they had seen their brother drinking with the accused in the Superquinn car park. He sent them to get him.

Thomas OConnors house is right behind me, he explained. We left since that. We moved out because its hard, very, very hard.

He added that his father had died soon afterwards..

The trial will continue on Tuesday before Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan and a jury of six women and six men.
An unlicensed driver who "ploughed into" a 62-year-old cyclist, killing him, then drove away has been given an extra nine months in jail following an appeal by prosecutors.

Christopher Coleman (27), of Reuben Street, Dublin, had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Eugene Maher at Clontarf Road, Dublin, on June 30, 2015.

Coleman also admitted leaving the scene of the crash and driving without insurance. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years imprisonment by Judge Melanie Greally on June 23 last year, and was disqualified from driving for 15 years.

The DPP sought a review of Coleman's sentence on grounds that it was "unduly lenient".

The Court of Appeal re-sentenced Coleman to six years imprisonment with the final two years and nine months suspended. The three-judge court effectively increased his jail time by nine months.

Outside court, Eugene Maher's daughter Lisa said: "It's not dangerous driving and it's not careless driving. The severity of these sentences needs to be changed. It needs to be vehicular manslaughter. My dad was killed by a car and it doesn't seem to be taken as seriously as we would like. So we will continue to lobby for what we believe is right.

"My dad was a very forgiving person. He always gave people a second chance. He would have been the type of man that would have given a person like Christopher Coleman a second chance at a new life. We hope he will turn his life around on the back of this. That lessons will be learned."

Counsel for the DPP, Eilis Brennan BL, said the incident occurred on "one of those all too rare sunny evenings in June". Mr Maher was "in the prime of his life", and on his daily cycle. While crossing the pedestrian lights, which were in his favour, a car came out of nowhere and "ploughed into him".

The car did not belong to Coleman. It had been driven by his friend to the beach and Coleman drove it back because he had not been drinking.

Ms Brennan said that as far back as the Yacht Bar and Restaurant, the car had been seen driving dangerously, at speed and on the wrong side of the road. Witnesses said people were hanging out of the window interacting with another car.

She said the car crashed into Mr Maher, somebody "popped out", took a look at the man on the ground, got back into the car and the car drove away. The car was found abandoned nearby in Marino. A bus driver encountered five men "very anxious" to get on the bus.

Coleman had 15 previous convictions including three driving bans. Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan said the headline sentence was too low given the aggravating factors: the speed, the breaking of the red light, driving while disqualified and leaving the scene.
A prison officer sent "evil and sadistic" anonymous letters to the son of murdered Brian Stack, pretending to be an IRA member and telling him his father deserved to suffer.

John Cooney (57) sent the sick mail as part of a poison pen campaign against members of the prison service after he became frustrated by promotion prospects.

Austin Stack, now a prison governor, was among 13 people in the service who were targeted over several years by Cooney, a court heard.

Mr Stack's father Brian, who was chief prison officer at Portlaoise Jail, was shot by the IRA in 1983, suffered brain damage, and died 18 months later.

Mr Stack said he felt "re-traumatised" by the three abusive letters Cooney sent.

Separately, a female prison worker was sent upsetting mail while suffering from a serious illness, while another officer was sent an obscene 40th birthday card.

Judge Cormac Dunne said Cooney had shown "excessive cruelty" and jailed him for a year, with another eight months suspended.

Cooney was released on bail shortly after, pending an appeal of the sentence.

Most of the content of the letters was not read out to the court as the judge deemed it too "vile and depraved".

Cooney, of Colthurst Road, Huntington Glen, Lucan, pleaded guilty to nine charges of sending indecent, obscene, offensive or menacing letters and five of harassment.

The offences happened between 2011 and 2015.

Mr Stack told Dublin District Court he began getting letters around the time gardai began making headway in the investigation into his father's murder.

The first letter arrived to his workplace in Wheatfield prison. The others followed months later.

The author pretended to be from the IRA.

The letters stated that Mr Stack's father "deserved to be in pain" for the 18 months before his death.

"It was vile stuff, like my father deserved to linger, he deserved what he got, he was a bad man," Mr Stack told the judge.

This was "traumatic" for Mr Stack, who had been 14 at the time of the killing.

"I didn't like thinking about those 18 months when my father was like that," he said.

Defence barrister Paul Finnegan said Cooney accepted his behaviour was "an utterly unacceptable, unwarranted and inexcusable trespass on the lives of these people who were going about their work".
Schools have considerable autonomy in relation to discipline under current legislation (Stock image)

More than 13,000 children were suspended by post-primary schools, and 145 were expelled during the academic year 2013-14, the Minister for Children has revealed.

And in 2014, a total of 280,000 was spent on 66 appeals processes in respect of decisions to expel or suspend pupils. These costs cover mediation fees, facilitators' fees, and travel costs

The most recent data was provided by Katherine Zappone this week in response to a parliamentary question in the Dail.

She revealed that 13,316 pupils were suspended for serious misbehaviour during the relevant period, and a further 145 were permanently expelled.

Schools have considerable autonomy in relation to discipline under current legislation. However, they are obliged to ensure that fair procedures are followed.

Pupils may be suspended in cases of serious misbehaviour. In such cases, parents are notified and may appeal the decision to the school's board of management and ultimately, to the Department of Education.

In cases where a school is considering the expulsion of a pupil, an education welfare officer must be notified and attempts must be made to find a solution.

The pupil may not be expelled for 20 days after the notification of an education welfare officer in order to allow time for the process to be exhausted.
CONSULTANTS at some public hospitals are paying nothing to use rooms for their private patient appointments.

Inconsistancies in the use of public facilities for private patients have emerged, as some hospitals confirmed they do charge for such use.

New figures have revealed how at least four hospitals in the Dublin and Mid Leinster region have not been charging a fee to the consultants for private outpatient appointments.

The information was contained in a response to a question posed by Cllr Thomas Redmond at a regional forum on hospitals.

Expand Close Cllr Thomas Redmond / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Cllr Thomas Redmond

Dublin Mid Leinster, The Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar, Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise, Naas General Hospital and St Lukes Hospital in Kilkenny all confirmed that there were no charges.

Cllr Redmond (SF), a member of Kildare County Council, said the arrangements "beggar belief".

"If a business such as private medicine is working from an address it beggars belief that it is not paying rents at the market rate," he told Independent.ie

According to the response Tallaght Hospital confirmed that there is a 90 charge per session at the hospital.

Expand Close The Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar

A total of 37 consultants use the rooms and the hospital responded that the total revenue received by the hospital was 7,830.

This works out at just over two sessions per consultant in the time period, which wasnt specified in the response, but believed to be last year.

Cllr Redmond said this needed to be examined further.

"Tallaght hospital a fine hospital has many business managers but only takes in 7,830.

"This is income from 37 consultants using private rooms. A cost of about 210 a year," he said.

"You wouldnt hire a room in a community centre for that," he added.

St Jamess Hospital in Dublins South Inner city confirmed that it charged a "sessional rate" to consultants who use the private clinic.

However it declined to elaborate further on this.

The Coombe Women's and Infant University Hospital said the rate was dependent on usage and it varied from 150 to 170 per outpatient session.

The nearby Our Ladys Childrens Hospital Crumlin said the private clinic on the grounds of its hospital was operated independently.

Figures are not currently available for the rates charged at other hospitals around the country.

Cllr Redmond criticised the disparity in charges and called for a review.

"These are bizarre practices and certainly not cost effective. Let there be a level playing pitch and end this two-tier health system," he said.

A statement from the HSE said private clinics in public hospitals were subject to the national consulants contract of 2008.

"The units are provided by the HSE and funded by the consultant." Independent.ie understands that this means that the consultant pays for staff but not for the use of the room

"As such, they are considered independent by hospital management and therefore no fee is charged for their use.

"This is the case for Naas General Hospital, Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore and Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise in the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group," it said.

Independent.ie contacted the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) for a comment.
There were 381 patients waiting for a bed across the country yesterday, with hospitals in Limerick, Kilkenny and Beaumont in Dublin under pressure (Stock photo)

Flu has claimed the lives of 75 people so far this season and has taken a severe toll on the elderly.

Although overall flu levels have now fallen, the strain of virus circulating in recent months has hit the over-65s hard, peaking in December and January.

Overcrowded hospitals were under particular strain and 39 flu patients had to be admitted to critical-care beds.

Health Minister Simon Harris said he intended to "maintain a tight focus" on the trolley crisis and had been meeting with the HSE on a weekly basis.

However, figures this week show little respite for emergency departments.

There were 381 patients waiting for a bed across the country yesterday, with hospitals in Limerick, Kilkenny and Beaumont in Dublin under pressure.

The impact of flu this winter comes as a new report warns of the serious threat posed to health in Ireland and other countries from antibiotic resistance in the treatment of bacterial infections, including superbugs.

Bacteria found in humans, animals and food continue to show resistance to widely used antibiotics, the report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said. Infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics lead to about 25,000 deaths in the EU every year.

"Antimicrobial resistance is an alarming threat putting human and animal health in danger," Vytenis Andriukaitis, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said.

"We have put substantial efforts in to stop its rise, but this is not enough. We must be quicker, stronger and act on several fronts.

"This is why the commission will launch a new action plan this summer that will give a new framework for future co-ordinated actions."

Bacteria

The report shows that in general multi-drug resistance in salmonella bacteria is high across the EU.

Salmonella is the second most commonly reported food-borne disease in the EU.

The report also highlights that antibiotic resistance levels in Europe continue to vary by geographical region.

Resistance to carbapenem antibiotics - these are drugs of last resort which should be used sparingly - has been detected for the first time as part of EU-wide annual monitoring in animals and food.

Carbapenems are usually the last remaining treatment option for patients infected with multidrug resistant bacteria to other available antibiotics.
An 18-year-old student who suffered horrific injuries in a mysterious incident last November has been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home with her parents.

Gardai say a full investigation is ongoing into how Maynooth University student Kym Owens suffered multiple injuries on the night of November 20.

There have been no arrests in the case despite officers interviewing almost 300 people.

It is understood that Kym has been recovering at her home in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, since earlier this month.

She had been in an induced coma at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown for a number of weeks after the incident.

Assault

Her injuries included broken eye sockets, a broken jaw and a broken nose. Kym also lost several teeth in the incident.

It is not known if the teenager has been able to help gardai with their enquiries but it had been thought she would have no memory of the incident because of her injuries.

Gardai have been investigating a number of theories, including whether she was the victim of a prolonged and vicious assault.

However, a more credible theory is that Kym may have suffered her injuries because of a heavy fall.

It is understood she was carrying a "very heavy bag" on her back and had shoes attached to her knapsack, hanging loose, which could have potentially caused a "terrible fall".

Another theory gardai have examined is whether Kym was struck by a vehicle.

The teenager had just got off a private bus service before the incident and was walking to her digs at the Moyglare Abbey Estate.

The investigation has been hampered by poor-quality CCTV because of heavy fog on the night. Gardai have not yet identified a potential suspect.

Collections have taken place both in Maynooth and Kym's home town of Castleblayney to raise cash for her family, with the total currently standing at almost 40,000.

Kym left her Co Monaghan home and boarded the A2B bus at around 6.15pm on November 20, arriving in Maynooth two hours later.

She walked 1km to the Moyglare Abbey Estate, where gardai initially believed she was attacked sometime between 8.15 and 8.40pm.

Officers said Kim, a first-year student of arts, suffered "extensive head injuries".

The bus had made stops at Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Ardee and Slane before reaching Maynooth.

Conscience

There were 53 people on board and gardai have interviewed all these passengers as part of their long-running probe.

Last month, Kym's uncle Thomas McNee appealed for information on RTE's Sean O'Rourke Show.

"Examine your conscience. It could be your daughter or sister in that hospital," he said. "So if you know anything, please take a leap of faith and go to the gardai and tell them what you know."
A teenager who suffered horrific injuries in a mysterious incident in November has been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home with her parents.

Gardai say a full investigation is ongoing into how Maynooth University student Kym Owens (18) suffered multiple injuries on the night of November 20.

There have been no arrests in the case despite officers interviewing almost 300 people.

It is understood that Ms Owens has been recovering at her home in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, since earlier this month. She had been in an induced coma at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown for a number of weeks.

It is not known if the teenager has been able to help gardai with their enquiries, but it had been thought she would have no memory of the incident because of her injuries.

Gardai have been investigating a number of theories, including whether she was the victim of a vicious assault.

However, a theory that has emerged is whether she suffered her injuries because of a heavy fall. Another which gardai have examined is whether Ms Owen was struck by a vehicle.
Chinese Gold Group (CGG) on Feb. 23 unveiled the foundation of a new energy automobile research and development institute in central Chinas Henan province, which marked a strategic cooperation project between CGG and Tsinghua University on new energy.

The institute was located in Tongxu county of Henan. Heads of the CGG, local authorities and the dean of the institute attended an unveiling ceremony on Feb. 23.

Chen Junyan, president of CGG, noted at the ceremony that new energy automobile is crucial for environment. It is an industry for the next generation, he said.

In 2016, Chinese Gold Group and Tsinghua university reached a strategic cooperation,starting a joint research and development of pure electric vehicles, whose cruising distance has reached 500 kilometers. The core technology has reached the leading level of the world.
The mother of a seriously ill eight-year-old boy received the devastating news that she may not be able to save her sick child.

Helen Lynch from Tullamore, Co Offaly, was planning to donate her liver to her son Charlie but she was told on Monday during her final assessment that her liver isnt big enough to use.

The mum-of-two was told that if she intends to go through with the operation, she is putting both her life and her child's life at risk.

Doctors have asked her to wait another three months in the hope that they will find a liver to save Charlies life.

Helen who is currently in King's Hospital in the UK told The Midlands 103 Today Show that Charlie desperately needs help.

"Unfortunately not good news. We had what we thought would be our last appointment before the kidney transplant but it didn't go so well.

"I was brought into a room and told that my liver was perfectly healthy but the part Charlie needs I'm lacking in size. There's not enough to split between two people.

"They're going to try and find a new donor but we're waiting a long time and it's not going to happen."

Helen said that at the moment, Charlie is stable, but he's deteriorating every day.

"At the moment he's stable but he's deteriorating on the inside. He has swelling, dizziness, headaches and everything.

"If he doesn't get another donor I'm going to give him a fighting chance and give him 20pc of my liver in hope it works.

"They've highlighted the risks to me and they've said the outcome wouldn't be good for Charlie. He would be better getting a donor but there's no guarantee."

Helen has another son, who she has to make arrangements for if she undergoes the surgery.

"I'll have to transfer my guardianship of my other son to another family to look after him in case the worst comes. Charlie can't wait anymore."

Helen pleading with the public to become organ donors in the event that anything happens as "children are dying waiting".

"It's heartbreaking to think that there just aren't enough organs going around. There was another poor little boy that died recently waiting on a heart transplant."

Helen said that eight-year-old Charlie "knows to an extent" what he is facing.

"I want him to live a normal life but for now it's not looking good.

"I would sell my soul for a donor. I would give my life for anyone to donate a liver for Charlie. It's heartbreaking. I can't sleep not knowing what's happening.

"The donor has to match Charlie. It can't just be anyone off the street unfortunately."

Helen said she agreed with doctors to wait three months in search for another donor before she undergoes the transplant surgery in the hope of giving Charlie some chance at life.

"It will be my decision to make and we'll have to make arrangements for an outcome we might not like.

"My life has been based on my kids. It's going to affect us so much over the next coming months watching him deteriorate, whether he makes it three months or not.

"Kids are dying every day waiting on organ donations. It's heartbreaking."
Dublin Fire Brigade were delayed in responding to an unconscious child by cars parked on both sides of the street.

Emergency services rushed to a call in the Booterstown area of south Dublin on Thursday evening.

However two response vehicles, including an ambulance was forced to reroute due to the manner in which the cars were parked.

DFB tweeted a picture of the scene and while there are no yellow lines or any other parking restrictions the service has urged people to be mindful when they are parking.

"Dublin Fire Brigade urge people to think about access for emergency service vehicles when parking in the street," a spokeswoman said in a statement to Independent.ie

Fianna Fail councillor Cormac Devlin, who is the Cathaoirleach of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown said he will ask the council to review parking in the estate in question.

"I'll raise the issue with the council, and in fact they are already looking at it, maybe some double yellow lines may be necessary," he said.

"When I attend residents meetings something that is always raised is the issue of emergency access and this just highlights that this can happen anywhere.

"If it had been a life or death situation there could have been serious issues with access," he added.
The head of the Policing Authority has expressed concern about the ability of Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan to carry out her role while the Charleton tribunal is under way.

The authoritys chairperson, Josephine Feehily, said there were concerns the commissioners focus on policing matters might be distracted by the tribunal.

She also said the authority was concerned the motivation, the morale, the energy of the organisation, might be distracted.

The public inquiry is set to investigate whether a smear campaign was orchestrated by senior gardai against whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

Expand Close Chairperson of the Policing Authority Josephine Feehily. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Chairperson of the Policing Authority Josephine Feehily.

Ms OSullivan faced down calls for her resignation in recent weeks and denied being aware of any such campaign. She has also rejected suggestions she should step aside while the tribunal is underway.

Read More

However, Ms Feehily stopped short of expressing full confidence that the commissioner could handle the twin challenges of running the force and dealing with the tribunal at the same time.

I would say we have a degree of confidence, but we are concerned, said Ms Feehily in an interview on RTEs Today with Sean ORourke programme.

I am not saying that is a deep concern at this point. The tribunal has not begun.

We have flagged that concern to the commissioner. We asked that question in public yesterday.

I think it remained to be seen whether the accelerator can be kept to the floor in policing and in modernising the organisation while servicing the tribunal.

Ms Feehily said she would have to see what happens if events at the tribunal increase those concerns.

She said the authority was confident in terms of the commissioner and her senior teams capacity to run the guards.

But the parallel running of a very complex organisation while servicing the tribunal was a different matter, she said.

Until that starts to play out, Im just saying we dont know, said Ms Feehily.

Ms OSullivan gave assurances to the Policing Authority on Thursday that she had put a team in place to meet the needs of the tribunal and she did not expect it to distract from a reform programme current underway in the force.

Ms Feehily said the authority did not support calls for the commissioner to step aside, saying she was entitled to fair procedure.

It is a matter of everybody, whether in this organisation or any organisation, being entitled to their good name and being entitled to have their side heard, she said.
At the end of January, it emerged that one person has been refused entry to the US at Dublin Airport as part of the travel ban (Stock picture)

Preclearance arrangements for US flights are set to remain after the Department of Transport told US officials that it was a valuable service to Ireland.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny asked for a complete review of US preclearance facilities in Ireland in the wake of US President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban.

At the end of January, it emerged that one person has been refused entry to the US at Dublin Airport as part of the travel ban.

Officials yesterday met with US counterparts to discuss operational matters regarding preclearance at Irish airports.

A statement said the review had been completed and that preclearance was "a valuable service for Ireland" and delivered "benefits for passengers, airlines, airports as well as the Irish economy".

It added: "There has been no breach of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU and (it)...does not give rise to any breach of obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. On that basis, the department's view was that US preclearance arrangements in Dublin and Shannon airports should remain in place."
A hero scout has been praised for saving his sisters life after her coat became snagged in the door of a moving bus.

Jake Duffy (12) and younger sister Katelyn, from Castaheany in West Dublin, were taking a private bus home from school last April 8 when the dramatic rescue took place.

After disembarking Jake heard the screams of parents and children who were at the West Dublin stop scream in horror. Katelyns coat had been snagged in the door mechanism unbeknownst to the driver.

Karl Lynch, Jakes leader in the 181st Castaheany/Ongar, said Jake disregarded his own safety and ran after the bus banging and shouting as loud as he could to get the drivers attention.

Expand Close Jake Duffy / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jake Duffy

He was that close to the bus that had he slipped, one could only imagine the outcome. Regardless, Jake continued to chase the bus endeavouring to get the drivers attention while all the time seeing his sister being dragged along the road.

Eventually, after several hundred metres, the driver noticed Jake and brought the vehicle to a stop.

Mr Lynch said: Had it not been for Jakes quick thinking, stamina and determination to keep up with the bus the outcome could have been so much worse. Katelyns hood had become snagged by the door and was only held onto the coat by a couple of threads by the time the bus stopped. Somehow even after being dragged by the bus she survived the ordeal without a scratch, not a mark.

Jake is one of a group of scouts who will be honored at a special Founders Day ceremony, organised by Scouting Ireland, in Dublin tomorrow.

Read More

Twins Peter and Rory OConnor, cubs with the 44th Mallow cub section, will also be awarded after saving their grandmother and older sister from a house fire.

Despite being the youngest people in the house at the time the pair took over and managed to get their grandmother out of the burning building.

The brothers had just completed their emergency adventure skills Level 1 which a spokesman claims gave them the confidence to do what needed to be done.

Scouting Ireland is Ireland's largest non-formal youth education movement in Ireland with over 50,000 members in communities across the island.
This is the moment a truck overturned in heavy winds during Storm Doris this week.

The video, shot on a dashcam, shows the articulated truck cross the Mary McAleese Boyne Valley in heavy winds and rain on Wednesday night.

Moments later the 40-tonne vehicle is blown over and lands on its side.

Incredibly, nobody was injured in the crash.

Despite the timestamp on the footage stating the year as 2000, it has been confirmed the dashcam footage is from Thursday.

It was shot on dash cam by Paschal Morgan who was driving a car transporter. He had slowed down due to the extremely high winds at the time.

Gardai confirmed emergency services attended the scene.

A spokesman said: "Gardai at Drogheda attended the scene of this incident when a truck coming across the Boyne Cable bridge, and the wind caught the trailer, flipping it onto its side.

"No other vehicles involved. Motorway closed for a number of hours in order to get the vehicle towed away. The driver suffered a minor injury. No serious injuries."

Thousands of homes throughout the country were left without electricity as Storm Doris passed through Ireland.

ESB reported that some 4,000 customers were left without power last night, particularly in the areas of Drogheda, Dundalk, Dublin, Meath, Cavan, Sligo, Roscommon, Longford and Mayo.

ESB crews are on the ground early this morning and power is expected to return to these areas today.

Met Eireann is reporting that there will be "very changeable and unsettled weather" continuing over the weekend and throughout next week.

Wrap up warm if you have outdoor plans this weekend as it's set to turn cooler.

Saturday night will be cold with temperatures of two to five degrees. There will be patchy frost in places, but freshening southerly winds and increasing cloud from the Atlantic, should bring a rise in temperatures later in the night.

On Sunday, temperatures will will reach sub zero, with frost and ice in places.

Met Office

A video has been released by the Met office with footage from Nasa which shows just how powerful the storm was.

Shot from space the vidoe shows a timelapse over two days. The storm can be seen gathering speed before striking the UK and Ireland on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Transport Minister Shane Ross has said he will not get involved in the Bus Eireann dispute even if workers stage an all-out strike.

Mr Ross said calls from some of the parties involved is based on nothing other than an attempt to force him "to produce the chequebook".

"I've taken the position all along that it's not up to me. It would be wrong for a minister to become involved in an industrial dispute and I intend to stay out of the industrial dispute as long as it goes on," Mr Ross told the Irish Independent.

"What I'd like to see and I'm urging is that both parties get together."

Asked why he won't intervene, Mr Ross said: "All parties want me to be in the room because they want me to produce the chequebook. I'm not going to do that. That's the only reason they want me there."

But Mr Ross said he "very much" hopes a strike will be averted.

"It would be awful for the taxpayer and for the travelling public, and indeed for the workforce as well. I'm very concerned that there shouldn't be one, of course I am."

Earlier this week the Independent Alliance minister was described by Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin as a "Pontius Pilate" character who is hiding from the looming chaos at Bus Eireann.

Mr Ross described the Fianna Fail attacks as "nonsense".

"It's not my business to be involved in an industrial dispute. I've made that absolutely clear. After the industrial dispute is over I'm very happy to talk to all parties about policy matters and will certainly do so," he said.

Trade unions have also called on the Department of Transport and the National Transport Authority (NTA) to intervene.

Mr Ross has been accused of not understanding the issues at hand for rural commuters by unions.

The letter sent to the NTA and the Department of Transport on behalf of the trade unions said: "We note that there have been several requests, from right across the political spectrum, for the minister to become involved in facilitating a route towards a potential solution to this crisis.

"The response, or lack of response to-date has been deafening."

The company has said it could be insolvent by May if it does not reduce its pay bill by 12m. Last year the company's financial losses were between 8m and 9m.

Management wants to make savings on overtime, spare driver arrangements, hiring buses, sick pay, bonuses, expenses and flexibility.

Read More

Workers have said they are set to lose up to 30pc of pay, while Bus Eireann says the average pay reduction will be closer to 10pc.

Three routes - Dublin-Clonmel; Athlone-Westport and Dublin-Derry - may also be axed in a bid to save 1.1m.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the NBRU have also warned Bus Eireann of potential court action if the terms and conditions of workers are breached.

"There are two issues, the contract of employment which is obviously very straight forward," Dermot O'Leary, of the National Bus and Rail Union, said.

"The other one is the 1986 Transport Act, which set up Bus Eireann, Irish Rail and Dublin Bus - that's primary legislation.

"There are issues in relation to conflict with that potentially."
Micheal Martin has complained that the new rent controls are based on incomplete data but nobody has followed it up Picture: Arthur Carron

There has been plenty of talk about the need for unity in Fine Gael over the past week. It's a natural reaction in a time of crisis to come together and stand firm against the threat.

And in the end Enda Kenny's beleaguered troops decided to put the party first rather than risk a divisive heave. Crisis averted for now.

But what about the real crises facing Irish society? Why can't politicians band together to tackle the hospital waiting lists, get homes built and remove the cloud of industrial strife?

The past week has seen Leinster House convulsed by internal Fine Gael fiddling.

Opposition parties have rightly hit out at the Government's main party's obsession with getting its own house in order.

Micheal Martin complained on Tuesday that the recently introduced rent controls were based on incomplete data but nobody had followed it up "because everybody was interested in the Simon-Leo show".

Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams argued ministers were bringing chaos to the country and the Fine Gael party.

"They obsess on who will lead Fine Gael and, by grace of Fianna Fail, who will lead the Government and when," he said. But at the same time TDs were openly laughing at the disharmony in Fine Gael ranks.

The hype around Mr Kenny's address to the parliamentary party infected all sides of the House even if the Opposition felt the need to fake outrage at the circus.

We in the media got very excited too at the prospect of a leadership battle.

Joe Duffy's 'Liveline' even got in on the act, suggesting the public was engaged.

So they should be. Despite what the people who moan about everything say, it actually matters. The next Taoiseach is being chosen and that's big news.

Read More

However, the race is now on ice for a few weeks and the two frontrunners could use that time to come up with answers to bigger questions.

How are they going to get the 381 people who spent yesterday on hospital trolleys a better service?

Will they force Transport Minister Shane Ross to sort out the looming bus strike?

Is it really tenable for the Garda Commissioner to remain in her position while facing accusations so serious the Government felt compelled to set up a tribunal of inquiry?

Does it really make sense to build a children's hospital at the St James's site and does it really need to be the most expensive in the world?

What more can be done to ensure people aren't paying 10 a night to sleep in internet cafes?

And do we play nice, tough or fast in the Brexit negotiations?

At the launch of a new bill aimed at keeping people in their homes yesterday, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran broke into an impromptu monologue that's hard to argue with.

"In recent months and particularly in recent days in the Dail it's all about scoring points. If you talk about what went on in the Dail all last week in relation to the Taoiseach, this is real work. This is what we were elected to do.

"This is delivering for the people who put us here. While the political parties want to score points, be it Fianna Fail, be it Sinn Fein, be it the smaller groupings, this is what we need to concentrate on," he said.

It was a rare example of a bill that has a chance of getting cross-party support.

Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and whoever else runs for the Fine Gael leadership must reset 'new politics' and try to build some political unity if the Dail is to achieve anything.
The main contenders to take over from Enda Kenny as Taoiseach are set to run "covert" campaigns over the next three weeks before launching into a full-blown leadership battle.

Supporters of Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney say the ministers will refrain from making public pitches for votes - but will use speaking engagements to set out their vision for Fine Gael and the country.

Other ministers are also set to ramp up their public appearances and policy announcements in a bid to "keep themselves relevant", sources say.

"You're going to see ministers try to justify their existence, particularly the ones who are worried about their jobs," a source said.

Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney are already working behind the scenes to secure the backing of TDs and senators who carry the largest weight in the contest.

It is understood that no jobs have been offered yet, but some junior ministers have intimated that their support will be conditional on retaining their positions.

"The contest for the top job is the one that everybody will be focused on, but there is a whole other contest behind the scene for jobs," one Fine Gael minister said.

Sources in both the Varadkar and Coveney camps described Michael Noonan, Charlie Flanagan, Frances Fitzgerald and Richard Bruton as the ministers most at risk of demotion.

Officially, Ms Fitzgerald and Mr Bruton are both still considering entering the leadership race, as is Health Minister Simon Harris. However, senior party sources believe Mr Bruton is the most likely to actually put his name forward.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe's name is also still being mentioned by other ministers as a potential candidate, even though he has categorically ruled himself out.

Despite their eagerness to get a proper election campaign under way, Mr Kenny's success in quelling disquiet within the party has come as a relief to Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney.

Sources close to both said Easter must now be a definitive deadline for change or a fresh feud will arise.

Countdown

"This was a false start but we're in the final countdown now. If he tries to push out the date again the whole thing will blow up again and the result will be different," a source said.

However, supporters of Mr Kenny say he should now be given "all the time and space he needs" to step down in an orderly fashion.

"His performance was tremendous at the meeting. He stared them down and showed them who's the boss," said one senator.

Fianna Fail TD Willie O'Dea last night described the anti-climatic showdown between Mr Kenny and his party as "the night of the rubber knives".

Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney are now understood to be planning a nationwide tour to meet members, and will also have to take part in public debates after St Patrick's Day.

"We'll be taking ye [the journalists] to parts of the country you've never seen," said one Coveney supporter.

Normal service was resumed in Fine Gael yesterday with Mr Coveney taking a series of questions on housing in the Dail.

Read More

Today he is attending a planning event at University College Cork, while Mr Varadkar is meeting entrepreneurs who set up their own businesses with help from the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance in Dublin.

Meanwhile, Independent Alliance ministers say they expect Mr Kenny's successor to honour all the arrangements made during the formation of government talks last year.

Transport Minister Shane Ross said the Programme for Government "stands" regardless of who is leader of Fine Gael.

Office of Public Works Minister Sean Canney told a press conference that people needed to move past the distraction of recent days.

"I remember, going back to the government negotiations, people were critical of how long it took to put a Programme for Government together. We spent time at that.

"Now we're being successful in delivering that. That's our focus," he said.

His colleague, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said: "Yes it's coming down the tracks, but we'll have to work with whoever he or she may be at that time."
The Tesco strike turned increasingly bitter as the company claimed that an "increasing number" of staff members were returning to work.

The industrial action is set to escalate after proposed talks fell apart on February 17 and the Mandate trade union says that it will continue to ballot more outlets this coming Monday and Tuesday. So far 18 out of 24 stores recently balloted have rejected strike action.

However 16 stores are currently on strike, and according to Mandate 1,600 employees in total are on the picket line.

Next week six more outlets will join them with over 600 more union members joining the strike.

Tesco has called the actions of Mandate "reckless", saying that an "increasing number" of staff members are going back to work despite the dispute.

The company stated: "Mandate should urgently reconsider its refusal to accept the Labour Court Recommendation and its undermining of the industrial relations processes at the company and of the State, including its use of a Labour Court intervention to try to strengthen its hand in ballots."

Damage

Mandate General Secretary John Douglas has denied the claim, saying "very few" workers have returned to work.

"Ultimately this dispute will have to be resolved, it's doing an awful lot of damage to the company. It's causing an awful lot of inconvenience to customers," Mr Douglas said.

"It's doing an awful lot of damage to small retailers in shopping centres and their suppliers," he added.

Four stores will be balloted on Monday and Tuesday, this includes two stores in Kilbarrick and Clarehall in Dublin.

Read More

The disputes centres on 250 staff who have contracts pre-1996. They believe Tesco are trying to cut their pay by up to 15pc in some cases and get rid of fixed hour contracts.

Tesco say they haven't changed the contracts.
BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to synergize development strategies with Italy to promote a balanced growth of trade and investment, Premier Li Keqiang said here Thursday.

Li's remarks came as he met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Li called on both countries to make mid- and long-term development plans, enhance exchanges of innovation policies as well as cooperation on research and development.

He also suggested both countries explore cooperation in third markets and expand the number of overseas students and interns.

China hopes Italy can be an active role in ensuring the EU fulfills its obligations under the Protocol on China's Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Li said.

Mattarella, who is on a state visit to China from Tuesday to Sunday, said Italy and China share a broad consensus and enjoy great potential for cooperation.

Italy is ready to work with China to enhance high-level exchanges, make new economic cooperation action plan and explore cooperation in areas of infrastructure construction, science and technology, environmental protection, innovation and increase bilateral trade and investment.

He said he hopes the bilateral ties can reach a new level around 2020 when Italy and China will celebrate 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

Italy is willing to play an active role in EU-China relations, he added.

During the talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mattarella on Wednesday, the two agreed to develop China-Italy ties from a strategic and long-term perspective and advance the relationship to a higher level.

The two also witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in culture, science, education, health, trade and innovation.

Also on Thursday, top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang met with Mattarella.

Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said the top priority for both countries' legislative bodies is to implement the consensus reached by the two presidents.

Mattarella said Italy supports cooperation between the two legislative bodies and would like to actively participate in the Belt and Road development.
Firefighters at the scene of a riot in which several cars were set on fire in the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, Sweden, an area with a large migrant population. Photo: Getty

There is absolutely no debate to speak of in this country about immigration. That is typical of us. No debate is permitted about many things.

In other countries, the debate about immigration is polarised between those who exaggerate the problems it brings, and those who say there is no problem at all.

Last Saturday night, US President Donald Trump made a fool of himself again when he told people to look at what had happened in Sweden the previous night. The implication was that there had been a terrorist incident. There hadn't been, of course.

Then he clarified what he meant by saying he was referring to a report on Fox News which said that Muslim immigration had caused an upsurge in violent crime in Sweden.

Again, he was told he was making it all up and various media, including RTE, rushed to assure us that there is no problem in Sweden at all. In actual fact, both Mr Trump and his critics are wrong. Mr Trump is exaggerating the scale of the problem and his critics are wrong in pretending there is no problem whatsoever.

Here are just some headlines from mainstream media outlets from the last couple of years. 'Riots erupt in Sweden's capital just days after Trump comments' ('Washington Post'). 'Protesters in Malmo chant "slaughter the Jews"' ('The Jerusalem Post'). '"Anti-Semitism in Malmo made me quit" says 'The Bridge' Actor' ('The Daily Telegraph'). 'Facing death chants and hate crimes, Sweden's Jews live in a climate of fear' ('Times of Israel'). 'Swedish police accused of covering up sex attacks by refugees at music festival' ('The Guardian'). 'Sweden's self-inflicted nightmare' ('The New York Times').

Obviously it is true that the vast majority of Muslim immigrants and refugees are perfectly law-abiding. But it is simply wrong to say that Muslim immigration is causing no problems.

'The Washington Post' article describes a riot in the predominantly immigrant neighbourhood of Rinkeby in Stockholm. Similar riots took place in 2010 and 2013.

The 'The New York Times' article, 'Sweden's self-inflicted nightmare', describes how Sweden took in more refugees than it was capable of absorbing and the attendant problems helped fuel the rise of the very thing the Swedish body politic dreads more than anything, namely the rise of anti-immigrant parties.

The very worst outcome isn't this, however. It is the rise of anti-Semitism in Sweden.

According to 'The Daily Telegraph', 43pc of people in Malmo, Sweden's third-largest city, "have a non-Swedish background, with Iraqis, Lebanese and stateless Palestinians some of the largest groups". The Jewish community centre in the city is now heavily fortified, with security doors and bollards on the outside pavement to prevent car bombs.

In late 2015, according to 'The Jerusalem Post', hundreds of protesters in Malmo were filmed chanting in Arabic about slaughtering Jews and stabbing soldiers.

Osnat Bachman, the wife of the Israeli ambassador to Sweden, said: "Swedish people: Is this what you believe in? Is this what you bargained for?"

"Right now a lot of Jews in Sweden are scared," Stockholm-based journalist Johanna Schreiber said.

This is very bad stuff. Europe should have a particular horror of anti-Semitism, but it appears that the left's hatred of Israel is so great it means anti-Semitism is sliding down its list of concerns. There is more outrage about the rise of anti-Muslim feeling than about anti-Semitism on the part of many Muslims now living in Europe.

Then we have 'The Guardian' report about Swedish police covering up sex attacks by refugees at a music festival.

'The Guardian' article said: "Groups of refugees molested concert-goers at [the] We are Stockholm [music festival]in the summer of 2014, according to internal police memos." The memos said the refugees were Afghan.

The article also reported that women were sexually assaulted in Malmo on New Year's Eve a little over a year ago, just like in Cologne.

A spokesman for the police said the incidents were not covered up. Rather there was "self-censorship" on the part of police officers.

"There are police officers that are afraid of talking about these things in the context of the immigration debate today," he said.

In other words, they are 'self-censoring' because they are terrified being called 'racist'. This undermines any confidence we might have in Swedish crime figures relating to immigrants.

This same kind of self-censorship is what led to the cover-up of sex crimes against hundreds of young girls by Muslim men in places like Rochdale in England, and voter fraud in Tower Hamlets in London. Officials with knowledge of these things didn't want to be called racist, so instead they let sex abuse and voter fraud continue.

Anti-Semitism, sex abuse, voter fraud, riots on the streets. This is without even mentioning terrorism. These are incredibly serious things and yet the mainstream political parties, aided for the most part by the mainstream media, refuse to permit an open and honest debate about what is happening. This is precisely what is driving voters into the arms of out-and-out anti-immigration parties in the likes of France and Sweden and Denmark and the Netherlands. The mainstream parties have only themselves to blame.
Opponents of US President Donald Trump's travel ban have one big advantage - the Trump White House. If not for the confusion - lack of staffing (nary a deputy, let alone an undersecretary or assistant secretary, has been named in national security-related departments), organisational disarray, policy differences or all of the above - the administration might have put together on its first try a legally enforceable executive order.

It might by now even have come up with a new executive order, thanks to a road map provided by the 9th Circuit. However, the rollout has been pushed back to next week.

Understand that if this is such a matter of urgent concern, the president would have had his advisers working around the clock on this (not transgender bathroom assignments, plans to deport non-criminal illegal immigrants or haggling with Mexican officials over a wall that Trump insists they pay for). In fact, since the point of the ban is to initiate a review of America's vetting procedures, you'd think that the Homeland Security Department would already have come up with its proposed "extreme vetting" recommendations.

Meanwhile, the US president and his staff continue to provide legal ammunition to opponents of the ban.

Last Tuesday, senior adviser, Stephen Miller, in a Fox News interview boldly declared: "Fundamentally, you're still going to have the same basic policy outcome for the country, but you're going to be responsive to a lot of very technical issues that were brought up by the court."

Just to remind the courts of the administration's arrogance, Mr Miller proclaimed that there was nothing wrong with the first order.

"By saying that the policy effects of the new travel ban will be essentially the same as those of the travel ban that so many federal judges found constitutionally suspect, Miller is effectively inviting federal courts to suspend the new one as well, given that the religiously discriminatory history of the ban can't be ignored, much less erased, simply by purporting to start over again," Supreme Court litigator and professor Larry Tribe said.

"If, as I am told, the new ban is a more artfully disguised version of [an] anti-Muslim measure, without explicit preferences for religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries (ie, for Christians) written into the very text of the ban, then some judges might be less inclined to issue a temporary restraining order, but most federal judges would be savvy enough to recognise that they are being treated to a masquerade."

Sean Spicer, at his press briefing on Wednesday, was drawn into a discussion of the ban.

"I think [Mr Trump has] made it very clear...from the beginning that this was a country-focused issue, a safety-focused issue, and that's why he issued it. I don't see anything other than that with reference to that."

Any sentient person paying the least bit of attention to the issue knows that Mr Trump introduced and continued to tout his plan as a "Muslim ban". His December 7, 2015, plan labelled "Donald J Trump Statement On Preventing Muslim Immigration" began as follows: "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." (Why hasn't he figured out what is going on by now?)

Is the court going to buy a thinly disguised but equally invidious order?

"Supreme Court precedent makes clear the history of religious motive lying behind a government action cannot be ignored in deciding whether that action violates the Religion Clauses," Prof Tribe said.

"For this reason, the Trump Muslim ban comments remain a very big deal indeed, and White House aides and others could certainly be deposed on matters bearing on [the president's] motives, especially because executive privilege clearly does not attach to conversations prior to the president's assumption of power."

He underscores, "Statements made during the campaign, for instance, would certainly be discoverable and admissible as non-privileged".

Maybe the new ban with "the same basic policy outcome" will be released next week; perhaps there will be another delay. This certainly undercuts the argument this is an urgent matter of life and death.

Maybe the new ban will eliminate green-card holders, who the courts said have due process rights.

It could knock out the ludicrous freeze on refugees (who are already vetted over months and years, in some cases) or rescind the indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees. That, of course, would suggest that all of Mr Trump's rhetoric about refugees posing a terrorist threat was rubbish, but we should not look for consistency. Mr Trump might even let in Iraqi translators and others who assisted US troops or drop the preference for Christians in majority-Muslim countries.

Whatever variations Mr Trump makes, the arbitrary ban on immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries that have not been the source of violent terrorist attacks in the United States will still raise the policy questions - incurring the wrath of US allies (especially Iraq), giving jihadists confirmation that America is at war with Islam and spending time and resources on the wrong thing (rather than, say, radicalisation within the United States or US citizens returning from overseas).

Whether it will survive legal challenge depends on how obviously deceptive the administration may be. Perhaps in the future Mr Miller should be kept under wraps.
A female fighter in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Deir al-Zor province, Syria, ahead of an offensive against Isil. Photo: Rodi Said/Reuters

Jamey Keaten's article 'UN dampens hopes ahead of Syrian talks' (Irish Independent, February 23), which discussed the fourth Syrian peace talks, which commenced yesterday in Geneva, was accompanied by a photo of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria.

The SDF, however, is notably absent from such talks, as is the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), politically aligned with the SDF, which has been prevented from attending. The inclusion of the US-backed SDF was supported by Russia, but both Turkey and the Saudi-backed Sunni Arab rebel opposition were against it.

Turkey considers the PYD to be the Syrian-affiliate of the PKK, which it has waged war against for almost 40 years.

The SDF was also not invited to the Astana talks, which have been ongoing since January 23.

Stephen Oliver Murray

Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

Beware of Enda finding his 'mojo'

Taoiseach Enda Kenny's 'mojo' has been subdued recently, and his party colleagues are now prepared to wait until he comes back from meeting US President Donald Trump on St Patrick's Day, for him to clarify the Fine Gael leadership issue.

My question is what will happen if he is all fired up, and has got his 'mojo' back, when he returns from the States?

Paul Doran

Clondalkin, Dublin 22

Better the devil you know

Enda Kenny first took his seat in 1975. He is the longest-serving TD in the Dail and the first Fine Gael leader to be elected Taoiseach for two terms.

I'm dismayed at the speculation surrounding him stepping down as leader of Fine Gael.

At times like these we need experience - this is not the time for the vitality of youth or for a new face. We need someone who is experienced at dealing in tough and extraordinary circumstances as he has repeatedly shown during his reign. We need someone who has the ability to speak to world leaders and hold his own while displaying decorum and strength.

Brexit will mean tough times for Ireland no matter which way it goes; Donald Trump has voiced his opinion regarding offering a lower tax to attract US businesses, which will surely affect Ireland.

These are not the times for testing the waters; America sought change and it has, I'm sure, begun to regret its choice. Mr Trump has already caused more chaos than any other sitting president. Yes Enda has made mistakes - but show me any man who has not made a mistake?

I hope whatever his decision after St Patrick's Day he acts on his own accord; I read an online poll that 60pc of the Irish public wish for him to remain as leader. That is something for him to consider.

After all, better the devil you know.

Julie Bennett

Mountrath, Co Laois

Invasion of the mumbling Nazis

Has anyone in these islands been able to make out what the actors were saying in the first episode of the much-hyped new BBC drama 'SS-GB'?

It's completely ludicrous. The BBC spends millions on a fictional drama set in an England that had been defeated and occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941, and then employs actors that can only mumble their way through the programme. Obviously, nobody in the BBC 'has ways of making them talk'...clearly.

Ivor Shorts

Rathfarnham, Dublin 16

How to beat Les Bleus

I read Neil Francis's long-winded article 'There are so many ways to beat this French side' (Irish Independent, February 23) previewing the Six Nations clash between Ireland and France tomorrow.

I, in my ignorance, thought that the only way to beat this French side would be to put more points than them on the scoreboard.

Mick Hannon

Clones, Co Monaghan

WWII meets 'Spinal Tap'

Last year saw numerous re-enactment events throughout Ireland to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising.

But, according to news reports, Russia will soon put us to shame when it comes to re-enacting past military events.

The Russian defence ministry intends to build a smaller-scale replica of the German Reichstag at a military theme park just outside Moscow.

The idea is to give patriotic Russian youngsters in the Youth Army - the organisation founded in 2015 to provide children and teens with basic military training and "patriotic education" - a chance to storm the new mini-Reichstag, thus re-enacting a key moment during the Soviet capture of Nazi Berlin in 1945 in the closing weeks of World War II.

Detailing the proposal in the Russian parliament this week, Sergei Shoigu, the country's defence minister, said: "We are constructing the Reichstag in Patriot Park. Not in full, but still. Now our Youth Army guys can storm not just any old thing but the actual building."

I'm all for re-enactments - correctly done, they can both entertain and spark the public's interest in key moments in our history, as we saw in Ireland in 2016.

But this Russian plan strikes me as a bridge too far - in fact, when I read the reports about it, the main image that sprang to mind was the tiny Stonehenge replica on the hapless metal band's stage set in the 1980s spoof 'rockumentary' 'Spinal Tap'.

Patrick V Walker

Blanchardstown, Dublin 15

Concerns over cyclist plan

I read with disbelief the proposal that legislation be introduced whereby motorists would be fined 80 and get three penalty points for not leaving a 1.5 metre distance when overtaking cyclists.

This is pure publicity opportunism as any such legislation would be impossible to prove beyond reasonable doubt in any criminal court. How could such a distance be verified? I am further concerned by the concept of 1.5 metres. Does this mean If I am overtaking a cyclist I have to leave clearance of 1.5 metres irrespective of the position of the cyclist on the road, even if cyclists are riding three abreast?

Lorcan O'Shea

Piercestown, Co Wexford
Coldplay have cleared up speculation of concerts in Israel and Palestine, telling fans they are just visiting to listen and learn.

Frontman Chris Martin shared a selfie of the group on their travels with a statement denying any plans to perform or sign a new contract.

The post, put up on the band's Twitter and Instagram accounts on Friday, read: "Hi everyone.

"We are in Israel and Palestine to listen and learn and that's all; there is no concert scheduled, we are just having an interesting and enlightening trip to learn about the area.

"The articles suggesting that we have a signed contract are incorrect.

"Thankyou so much, love, cm."

The trip comes barely two days after Coldplay delighted fans with a performance at Wednesday's Brit Awards in collaboration with The Chainsmokers.

Their Something Just Like This track was officially released on the same day.

Coldplay will take their A Head Full Of Dreams tour across the globe next month, starting with Singapore on March 31.
Oprah Winfrey said her weight had been her "shield and shame"

Oprah Winfrey says being overweight was her "shield and shame" which she used as an excuse not to have to attend parties.

Talk show veteran Winfrey, 63, told Good Housekeeping she used to hide behind her weight issues to get out of social events.

She said: "(My weight) has been the go-to comfort for me.

"You use it as your coat and your shield, and it keeps you from doing things.

"You don't have to go to that party because you don't have a dress to wear and nothing is going to fit you.

"But the wonderful thing for me is that I reached a point where I no longer wanted to hide.

"I know that sounds strange for somebody who is in the public eye, but it was my shield and my shame."

The TV star recently lost three stones in weight and is promoting her new recipe book Food, Health And Happiness: 115 On-Point Recipes For Great Meals And A Better Life.

She added: "Now I feel liberated. It's the thing I have been looking for my whole life - to feel a sense of freedom.

"The taste of freedom, there is nothing better than that."

Video of the Day

Winfrey also spoke about her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy For Girls, a female-only boarding school that she set up in South Africa which also gives opportunities to its students to go to the US.

She said: "I have 172 girls, and 20 are in college in the United States and use my home as their home base.

"It is more rewarding than I would ever have imagined.

"I was doing this to help them, but it has brought a light to my life that I can't explain.

"When people were pressuring me to get married and have children, I knew I was not going to be a person that ever regretted not having them, because I feel like I am a mother to the world's children.

"Love knows no boundaries.

"It doesn't matter if a child came from your womb or if you found that person at age two, 10 or 20.

"If the love is real, the caring is pure and it comes from a good space, it works."

She went on: "For me it was perfect, because I didn't want babies. I wouldn't have been a good mom for babies. I don't have the patience.

"I have the patience for puppies, but that's a quick stage.

"But this is so rewarding."

Read the full Winfrey interview in the April 2017 95th birthday issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale March 1 and also available as a digital edition.
Caitlyn Jenner criticised Donald Trump for his administration's reversal of a directive on transgender access to school toilets (Invision/AP)

Caitlyn Jenner has attacked US president Donald Trump over his administration's reversal of guidelines on transgender access to public school toilets.

The former Olympic gold-medal winning decathlete, then known as Bruce Jenner, who came out as a transgender woman in 2015, addressed Mr Trump in a video posted on Twitter, saying: "From one Republican to another, this is a disaster."

The Trump White House has ended a directive issued during Barack Obama's presidency that told state schools to let transgender pupils use toilets and locker rooms of their chosen gender.

Jenner is particularly critical of attorney general Jeff Sessions, saying: "Apparently even becoming attorney general isn't enough to cure some people of their insecurities."

Addressing Mr Trump, she says: "You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."

AP
BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's military on Thursday voiced strong objections to the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

The move by the United States and the ROK will gravely undermine the regional strategic balance and the strategic security interests of countries in the region, including China and Russia, said Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense at a routine press conference.

Ren said China hopes the ROK side will value the achievements in the military ties between the PLA and the ROK army, and cautiously handle issues that directly concern China's strategic security interests.

Chinese armed forces will make the necessary preparations and resolutely safeguard the nation's security.

The Nanhai fleet on Feb. 10 departed from a military port in south China's Sanya City for a high-seas training mission.

In addition to the South China Sea, the mission will pass through the east Indian Ocean for training to improve Chinese navy's ability in international escorting, anti-terror and anti-piracy, said Ren.

The spokesperson also answered questions about the U.S. aircraft carrier strike group patrolling the South China Sea. The group, including Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, began routine operations in the South China Sea on Feb. 19.

China hopes the United States would do what is good for peace and stability in the South China Sea, said Ren.

China always respects freedom of navigation and overflight of all countries in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, and hopes the United States will respect the sovereignty and security of concerned countries.

Ren said China wished enhanced communications between the two armies and to push forward bilateral ties.
Malaysia's police chief said yesterday that investigators want to question a North Korean embassy official about the death of the exiled half brother of Pyongyang's leader.

Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar said the North Korean official should cooperate with the investigation if he has nothing to hide, despite having diplomatic immunity.

Police have also asked Interpol to issue an alert for four North Korean men who left Malaysia the same day Kim Jong Nam was attacked by two women as he waited for a flight at the Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13.

The four men are believed to be back in North Korea, but police also want to question three other people still in Malaysia, including Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the North Korean Embassy.

"The foreign officer has got immunity so we have to follow protocol," Khalid told reporters. "If you have nothing to hide, you don't have to be afraid. You should cooperate."

Khalid acknowledged that Malaysia would not be able to question Hyon if the embassy exercised its immunity privileges.

North Korea's official and highly selective state-controlled media mentioned the case for the first time, saying Malaysia's investigation was full of "holes and contradictions" without acknowledging the victim was Kim Jong Nam.

The report from KCNA largely echoed past comments by North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia, but the publication of at least some news inside North Korea could be a sign of its concern over growing international speculation that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam.

According to the KCNA account, Malaysia initially said the man had a heart attack, but South Korea "kicked up a fuss" and plotted to have Pyongyang blamed for the killing.

The report said "the biggest responsibility for his death rests with the government of Malaysia."

Malaysia had said on Tuesday there was no evidence of a heart attack, but the autopsy results are not yet complete.

Police have said the two attackers rubbed a liquid on Kim Jong Nam's face before walking away and quickly washing their hands.

He sought help from airport staff but died before he reached the hospital.

The seeming contradiction of a poison that could kill him quickly but not sicken the attackers has stumped outside experts.

Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said some protective measures must have been in place if the women handled the substance without gloves.

"It's also possible that the toxin was encapsulated, then activated when applied to the skin," he said.

"As additional information is provided to the media by the police, it seems more likely that a new or modified chemical or biological agent was utilised in the attack."

The two suspected attackers are in custody, as is a North Korean, Ri Jong Chol (46), who police said works in the information technology department in Tombo Enterprise, a Malaysian drug company.
Attorney general Jeff Sessions has blocked a bid to phase out the use of private prisons (AP)

Attorney general Jeff Sessions is backing the government's use of private prisons such as the Idaho Correctional Centre, run by the Corrections Corporation of America (AP)

US attorney general Jeff Sessions has signalled his strong support for the government's continued use of private prisons, reversing an Obama administration directive to phase out their use.

Mr Sessions issued a memo replacing one issued last August by Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general at the time.

That memo, which followed a harshly critical government audit of privately-run jails, directed the Bureau of Prisons (BoP) to begin reducing and ultimately end its reliance on contract facilities.

In her announcement, Ms Yates said private prisons had more safety and security problems than government-run ones and were less necessary given declines in the overall federal jail population.

But in his memo, Mr Sessions said Ms Yates' directive went against long-standing Justice Department policy and practice and "impaired the bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system".

He said he was directing the BoP to "return to its previous approach".

The national prison population, now just under 190,000, has been dropping due in part to changes in federal sentencing policies over the last few years.

Private prisons now hold about 21,000 inmates in 12 facilities, a fraction of the total BoP population, the Justice Department said.

Yet the federal prison population may increase again, given Mr Sessions' commitment to aggressive enforcement of drug and immigration laws and his focus on combating violent crime.

The latest memo, issued just two weeks after Mr Sessions was sworn in as attorney general, could be part of a more expansive roll-back of criminal justice policies enacted by the Obama-era Justice Department, including directives against seeking mandatory minimum punishments for non-violent drug offenders.

The private prison industry has been a major contributor to Republican political campaigns, particularly in recent years.

As a candidate, US president Donald Trump said he supported the use of private prisons, and the shares of the major companies, including Geo Group and CoreCivic, formerly Corrections Corporation of America, jumped after the election amid anticipation that the incoming administration would again turn to them.

"I do think we can do a lot of privatisations and private prisons. It seems to work a lot better," Mr Trump told MSNBC in March.

The government started to rely on private prisons in the late 1990s because of overcrowding.

Many of the federal prison inmates in private facilities are foreign nationals being held on immigration offences.

The Yates policy did not extend to prisons used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which hold tens of thousands of immigrants awaiting deportation.

Immigration and human rights advocates have long complained about conditions in privately-run prisons.

An inspector general audit from last August said problems in recent years included property damage, injuries and the death of a corrections officer.

AP
Arachnophobes, look away now.

A wildlife park in Australia has claimed to have found the country's largest huntsman spider.

This giant spider was handed into The Australian Reptile Park in Somersby, New South Wales during a drive to find funnel web spiders.

In recent weeks, the award-winning wildlife sanctuary has pleaded for help from the public to help bring in the spider for their venom program Since then, the park has been inundated with all sorts of spiders, including the massive huntsman, which they have nicknamed Behemoth.

These species have a bad reputation, which they do not deserve, according to the park's General Manager Tim Faulkner.

"Huntsman spiders often get a bad rap. The species is not dangerous they just come across quite scary! Whilst they pose no real danger, a spider is sure to send shivers down arachnophobes spines," he said.

"Huntsman spiders tend to inhabit many places that humans do and will pop up when you least expect them. Such times are in your car when driving or in your room when watching TV, but they really are not a worry.

"We recommend catching them in a clean jar, using a ruler and releasing them in nearby bushland."

A few days after the arachnid was handed in, park officials decided to release him in a nearby bush land "so he could continue living his spider life."

The video was originally posted to the park's Facebook page, which has more than 118,000 like.
Motorcycles damaged after a suicide attacker blew up his pick-up truck outside a security office in Sousian, about five miles north of al-Bab (Thiqa News Agency, via AP)

More than 60 people have been killed in at least two attacks near a Syrian town just captured by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from Islamic State militants, Turkey's news agency said.

Most of those killed were civilians, though two Turkish soldiers also died in the attacks as IS members retreat from one of their last remaining strongholds in northern Syria.

In a hallmark IS attack, a suicide car bomb went off outside a security office operated by the Syrian opposition in a village five miles north of al-Bab, killing 60 people.

Most of those killed in Sousian were civilians who had gathered seeking permits and escorts to return to al-Bab, a day after it was liberated from the extremist group, a Syrian military commander in the city said.

At least six fighters were among those killed in the attack, according to Turkey's Prime Minister, who spoke in Ankara.

Hours later, another car bomb attack was reported in Sousian, claiming the lives of at least eight, according to activist groups.

Despite the violence, Turkey's chief of military staff said his country had "achieved the goals" it had set for its military operation in northern Syria.

The Turkish military earlier announced that its troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters are in full control of al-Bab but that efforts to clear it of mines and explosive devices are continuing.

General Hulusi Akar spoke during a visit to the border with Syria, a day after Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition forces captured the town.

He did not say, however, if Turkey would end its operations in northern Syria or if it would move on to liberate other areas.

The Turkish military said that it currently controls 743 square miles in northern Syria since its incursion there last August.

The Turkey-backed operations have aimed to create a safe zone along the border, deterring from its borders Islamic State militants as well as Kurdish rebels it sees as an extension of its own insurgent group.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials have spoken of plans to move the Turkish forces east towards the town of Manbij that is held by US-backed forces that include Syrian Kurdish fighters in a bid to oust them from the area.

Turkish leaders have also suggested that Turkish troops could take part in operations to liberate the Islamic State group's de facto capital, Raqqa.

Gen Akar said that Turkey would provide "every kind of support" to help life in al-Bab return to normal and for the local population to return to their homes.

On Friday, civilians attempting to return to al-Bab were hardest hit.

According to Mohammed al-Tawil, a leading Syrian opposition fighter north of al-Bab, a suicide attacker blew up his small pick-up truck outside a security office in Sousian village. He said the explosion went off as the opposition fighters were organising the return of civilians from al-Bab who had been displaced by the fighting for their town.

"These people have suffered a lot," Mr al-Tawil said. "They have been waiting for this moment to return home."

Mr al-Tawil, a member of the opposition al-Bab military council, said about four fighters manning the checkpoint had been killed in the attack. Mr al-Tawil, who was at the security office at the time of the explosion, said the rest of the casualties were civilians from al-Bab.

Turkey's Anadolu news agency said at least 41 wounded were taken for treatment in the Turkish border town of Kilis.

Al-Bab had been controlled by IS since late 2013. The militants finally retreated on Thursday after more than two months of intense fighting.

Al-Bab had a pre-war population of about 60,000, many of whom were displaced to neighbouring areas, including during the most recent clashes.

Footage emerging from al-Bab showed a deserted town, badly damaged by the war. At least one of the streets appeared completely wrecked, with buildings damaged or levelled on both sides.

AP
Francois Fillon is the centre-right candidate for the presidency

Conservative candidate Francois Fillon faces investigation by France's financial prosecutors over jobs he gave to his wife and two of his children, pushing the case to a higher and riskier level for the man hoping to become the next president of France.

The announcement came as Mr Fillon was holding a rally outside Paris.

The conservative candidate was once the frontrunner in polls, but his ratings slipped with the probe into payments to family members that totalled more than one million euro over many years.

After a preliminary investigation opened on January 25, the financial prosecutor's office decided to escalate and enlarge the case, turning it over to investigating judges who can bring charges or throw the case out.

Critically, however, no one was named in the judicial investigation on a list of charges, including misappropriation of public funds, abuse of public funds and influence trafficking.

It was a sign that the prosecutor's office intends to question others, enlarging the circle of those who risk being charged and adding new investigators, an official in the prosecutor's office said, refusing to state how many people are concerned.

Mr Fillon has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to carry on his campaign amid the probe.

He said at one point that he would end his presidential bid if charged.

France's already unpredictable presidential campaign plunged into uncertainty when the national financial prosecutor's office opened its preliminary investigation last month based on reports by the weekly Le Canard Enchaine about the parliamentary jobs.

The decision to move forward and expand the investigation risked casting new doubt on the viability of Mr Fillon's candidacy.

The investigation tarnished the clean-hands image of Mr Fillon, a former prime minister, and he has been greeted at some campaign stops with protesters clanging pots and pans.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has been topping polls, is embroiled in her own corruption scandals, including one involving parliamentary aides, but her candidacy has not suffered.

However, Mr Fillon's lawyers put an upbeat spin on the development.

They called the move "logical", saying in a statement that it shows that the financial prosecutor's office "was unable to show the reality of the infractions".

"We don't doubt that at the end of a calm procedure, with independent judges, the innocence of Francois and Penelope Fillon will at last be recognised," the statement said.

Mr Fillon's lawyers, Antonin Levy and Pierre Cornut Gentille, had argued from the start that the financial prosecutors had no legal competence in the case.

They now have access to the files.

Mr Fillon admits that he hired his wife and children as parliamentary aides, a practice that is legal in France.

However, there are suspicions that neither his wife Penelope, who is originally from Wales, nor a son and daughter actually worked for the pay.

The announcement came in the midst of a Fillon campaign rally Friday in Maisons-Alfort, outside Paris.

"If I am attacked, so relentlessly attacked, it is because I clash with the spineless consensus that only likes the right when it walks in the shadows," Mr Fillon told the crowd, suggesting that his legal troubles were part of a bid to bring him down.

The statement by prosecutors attributed the decision to open a judicial investigation in part to the long time period covered in the case.

Since the scandal erupted, centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and Ms Le Pen, the far-right leader, have moved ahead of Mr Fillon in the polls for France's two-round, April 23-May 7 presidential election.

Ms Le Pen is embroiled in two financial probes, one concerning a financing scheme for her National Front party and the other linked to aides in the European Parliament.

Her chief of staff, Catherine Grisset, was handed preliminary charges of breach of trust after being questioned on Wednesday.

Ms Le Pen refused to appear for questioning before an investigating judge, receiving reprimands from Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve and political opponents on the right.

Her bodyguard, who once served as her aide for several months, was questioned and released.

AP
China's top insurance regulator said on Wednesday that it keeps a positive yet prudent attitude toward its insurers overseas investment, though Chinas insurance premiums reached 3.1 trillion yuan ($450.8 billion) last year, which is likely to surpass Japan as the world's second largest insurance market.

Xiang Junbo, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), along with three CIRC vice-chairpersons, attended a press conference held by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China.

Great progress has been made in regulation and reform of the insurance sector last year, Xiang said. First, we have tightened the lawful supervision in an all-round manner; second, the last line of preventing risks was firmly held; and third, we have served the big picture of national development, Xiang said.

Chinas premium income reached 3.1 trillion yuan in 2016, showing a 27.5 percent year-on-year growth. The increase offers China a chance to replace Japan as the second-largest premium income country after the US.

Moreover, the volume of agricultural insurance has expanded from 5.18 billion yuan in 2007 to 41.71 billion yuan in 2016, ranking also second only to the US.

Xiang added that the commission would give higher priority to risk prevention this year so that the insurance business could better serve social and economic development.

Chen Wenhui, a vice-chairman of the CIRC, while answering a question raised by Reuters on overseas investment, said that as a regulatory department, the CIRC stays positive yet prudent toward this subject.

Speaking of the positive side, the amount of useable money in the insurance industry is quite huge and global resource allocation is becoming more important, said Chen.

In the meantime, Chen pointed out that Chinas overseas equity investment is still at the exploration stage. Different legal, political and cultural environment could all bring potential risks. The talent reserve for overseas investment is also insufficient. That is why China is also prudent in the matter, he explained.

By the end of December 2016, the balance of overseas investment of Chinas insurance industry was $49.21 billion, accounting for 2.33 percent of the total assets in the previous quarter, said Chen, adding that it still leaves great space to trigger the regulation limit, which is 15 percent.

The distribution of Chinas overseas assets also shows a prudent dynamic, the vice-chairman pointed out, adding that the market entities are mostly developed countries or regions such as the US, the UK, Australia and Hong Kong while bank deposit, bonds, stock share and funds in the open market are the main investment products.

Such investment accounts for 53.4 percent and investment in foreign stocks and immoveable property makes up 44.9 percent, he said.

In the next stage, the CIRC would continue the positive yet prudent attitude and encourage insurance agencies to carry out resource allocation on the global stage, said Chen. Insurance agencies first need to strengthen capacity-building for overseas investment and we will also step up the supervision and regulation, he noted.
Undated family handout file photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of the air rifle used to shoot Harry Studley in the head with an air rifle.

Undated handout photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of Jordan Walters, who has been jailed for two years after he shot a crying 18-month-old boy in the head with an air rifle.

Undated handout photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of 18-month-old Harry Studley, as Jordan Walters has been jailed for two years after he shot him in the head with an air rifle.

A man who shot a crying 18-month-old boy in the head with an air rifle has been jailed for two years.

Jordan Walters, 25, fired the weapon right into the head of Harry Studley, who was left fighting for life and with permanent disabilities.

The toddler underwent emergency surgery after suffering the serious head injury at Walters' flat in Hartcliffe, Bristol, on July 1.

He has been left with limited vision in both eyes, daily post-traumatic seizures and finds it difficult to recognise his parents.

Bristol Crown Court heard Walters dialled 999 after the incident and later pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Judge Julian Lambert jailed Walters for two years and described his actions as "grossly irresponsible".

Expand Close Undated family handout file photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of the air rifle used to shoot Harry Studley in the head with an air rifle. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Undated family handout file photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of the air rifle used to shoot Harry Studley in the head with an air rifle.

"You bear a very heavy burden of responsibility for a crime that left a little boy fighting for his life and which leaves him with serious permanent disability," the judge told Walters.

"Only the resolution of Harry in his fight for life and the brilliance of the surgical team saved him.

"But for your grossly irresponsible behaviour, Harry Studley would today be a bouncing little boy with unlimited expectations ahead of him in life."

The judge said Harry is showing symptoms of epilepsy and has badly impaired vision "and will so suffer for life".

Expand Close Undated handout photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of Jordan Walters, who has been jailed for two years after he shot a crying 18-month-old boy in the head with an air rifle. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Undated handout photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of Jordan Walters, who has been jailed for two years after he shot a crying 18-month-old boy in the head with an air rifle.

"Many recreations and pleasures will be denied to Harry both in his youth and his adult life," the judge added.

"The impaired vision is severely limiting as well. There is a probably personality change also."

The court heard Walters and his partner, Emma Horseman, 24, were good friends with Harry's parents, Amy Allen and Edward Studley.

Both couples lived at Oak House, a block of flats in Bishop Avenue in Bristol.

Miss Allen brought Harry to the couple's flat, where Miss Horseman and her children were, on July 1 last year.

Walters later arrived, removed his air rifle from the cupboard and started cleaning it in preparation for shooting rats the following day.

Harry began crying and climbed up the sofa so he was next to his mother.

Miss Allen heard Miss Horseman say to Walters: "Shoot Harry, just to frighten him, to shut him up, shoot it at Harry".

The court heard Miss Horseman denies saying this and was acquitted of aiding or abetting Walters to inflict GBH on Harry following a trial.

Walters aimed the gun at the toddler and fired it right into his head, causing a significant head injury.

Prosecuting, Andrew Macfarlane said: "Amy immediately picked Harry up into her arms.

"There was blood on the floor and on the sofa. Harry kept losing consciousness."

An air ambulance arrived a short time later and Harry was taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

"Harry's parents were initially told by the doctors to say their goodbyes to Harry," Mr Macfarlane said.

Harry underwent emergency surgery, saving his life, and remained in hospital for four months.

The pellet from the air rifle will remain in his head for the rest of his life. He has only 50% vision in his right eye and 25% vision in his left.

"The parents tell me this morning that unfortunately they have noticed a deterioration in his personality," the prosecutor added.

"He is finding it difficult to recognise anyone, including his parents."

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Miss Allen described what happened to her son as her "worst nightmare".

"The moment I heard the gun go off and realised Harry was bleeding my world collapsed," she said.

"I thought he was going to die. As I waited for the ambulance I was cradling Harry in my arms."

Miss Allen said she was shaking her son to keep him alive and hoped he would live long enough to get to hospital.

"Once at the hospital, Harry was examined by the doctor and Ed and I were told to say goodbye to Harry because they were 100% certain that he would die," she said.

"Harry didn't die because he fought for the next 16 weeks in hospital to get better."

Miss Allen and Mr Studley remained at his bedside for the 16 weeks, "praying that Harry would pull through".

Mr Studley was forced to give up work to help care for Harry, who requires constant supervision.

"I will always live that day in my mind," Miss Allen said.

"I feel hatred towards the people involved in what happened.

"The only good thing to come out of this incident is we still have Harry in our lives and we will continue to support and encourage him for the rest of his life."

Miss Allen handed her phone to the judge to show him a photograph of Harry following the shooting.

Representing Walters, Anjali Gohil told the court her client, of previous good character, was deeply remorseful for his actions.

"Mr Walters recognises the serious and lasting impact that his thoughtless, ill-conceived and reckless actions that day had upon Harry and upon his family and friends," she said.

"This has divided a community. These were his friends. He did something so stupid he can't forgive himself for that. He can't apologise enough to the family for his behaviour.

"Mr Walters has children of his own."

Miss Horseman and her children moved away from the area following the shooting, Miss Gohil said.
Human remains found in a well in Crete are those of a British holidaymaker who went missing more than a decade ago, police have confirmed.

Steven Cook, then 20, disappeared on a night out in Malia with friends in 2005 - the first holiday he had taken without his family.

Despite appeals on UK and Greek TV, Mr Cook - from Sandbach, Cheshire - was never found.

On Friday, Cheshire Police said human remains, which were discovered in a well in Malia earlier this month, had been tested and confirmed as Mr Cook's.

Detective Inspector Gary McIntyre said: "On Thursday 16th February Cheshire Constabulary was made aware of the discovery of human remains in a well in Malia, Crete.

"Since then, officers have been in close liaison with the Greek authorities and have been awaiting further information.

"The remains were removed from the site and taken to a nearby hospital for further forensic examination.

"Tests have been carried out and we have now received confirmation from the Greek authorities that the remains belong to Steven Cook, who went missing on 1st September 2005 during a holiday to the island.

"Steven's family have been kept fully updated on the developments and are currently being supported by Cheshire officers. They have been provided with support since Steven first went missing and this will continue over the coming weeks.

"This is understandably an extremely upsetting and distressing time for the Cook family. Steven's relatives are very appreciative of all the support the media and the public have given them over the years in their quest to find him but they have asked for their privacy to be respected at this time as they are trying to come to terms with the news.

"It is important to remember that the discovery of Steven's body is being managed by the Greek authorities, who have had primacy for this case since Steven was first reported missing, and they will continue to liaise with us moving forward."

Det Insp McIntyre said the force's priority was to ensure Mr Cook was flown home to the UK as soon as possible.

He added: "Steven was 20 at the time of his disappearance. Over the years Cheshire Constabulary has remained committed to finding him. A file on Steven's disappearance has been maintained by the force and we always said that it will not be closed until information is received which confirms what has happened to him.

"Officers involved in Steven's case will continue to liaise with the Greek authorities, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Steven's family moving forward."

In a post on the Find Steven Cook Facebook group, the family said they would be bringing Mr Cook home to say their "farewells".

They said: "Having a loved one go missing is a vacuum full of pain.

"If they are no longer with us then the idle mind imagines horrors of 'what ifs' in order to account for them being alive and not in touch.

"The 'not knowing' hurts but not as much as the thoughts that your imagination conjures in the dark hours whilst also having to try and quench the flames of 'what ifs', rumours and gossip that becomes accepted as fact.

"Knowing that Steve is now coming home is an end to all of that and the fog can lift at last.

"Our memories of him finally released without being accompanied by the horrific mental images, feelings and type of thoughts that can easily destroy you.

"In getting Steve home then we have truly found him again, and he will now continue to live through the shared memories of all that knew him."

The family thanked the police and several media outlets as well as friends and volunteers for their help in the search.
The scene in Wolverhampton city centre after a woman died when she was hit by a piece of roof. Photo: Matthew Cooper/PA

Storm Doris claimed its first victim after a woman died when she was hit by a piece of roof "the size of a coffee table".

The pedestrian was confirmed dead at the scene in Wolverhampton city centre in Britain after suffering "very serious head injuries".

Starbucks has since said in a statement that the company was "shocked and saddened by the terrible incident", which happened outside its store.

Rebecca Davis, a 40-year-old teacher from Wolverhampton, said she saw a woman aged "between 20 and 30" receiving CPR after the incident outside Starbucks.

She said the woman appeared to have been hit by something resembling a piece of roof which had fallen off a building nearby, but was unsure where it had come from.

"I don't think anyone else was hurt. It was a big piece, about the size of a coffee table, but I think it just hit her," Ms Davis said.

West Midlands Police said officers were called to a "serious incident" in Dudley Street at around 11.50am and that it was "believed to be related to Storm Doris".

Meanwhile, a man in central London was taken to hospital with "head injuries" after Scotland Yard said it was called over reports of "debris falling from the roof of a building". The force said it was called to the scene in Victoria Street at about 3pm where the injured pedestrian was found by officers.
German officials have criticised plans announced by the Russian military to build a replica of Berlin's parliament building as a target for teenagers to attack at a theme park near Moscow.

The Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday that the replica would give members of the Young Army, a programme to teach schoolchildren military skills and encourage patriotism, the opportunity "to storm a specific location, not something abstract".

German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said the plan was "surprising and speaks for itself".

"We wouldn't build something like that for the education of German youth," added foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer.

The Reichstag parliament building was the scene of bitter fighting in 1945 between the Red Army and Nazi troops.

There are famous images of Soviet soldiers hoisting their flag over the building.

AP
The poison used to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader at a crowded air terminal in Malaysia was the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent, police have said.

The announcement came as officers began a sweep of the airport for any traces of the deadly toxin.

The revelation that VX nerve agent was used in the February 13 attack boosted speculation that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam, the outcast older sibling of North Korea's ruler.

The case also raised questions about public safety, although there was no sign that any bystanders had fallen ill.

Police said one of the alleged attackers had been vomiting in the hours after the attack, but there were no reports that anyone else was sick.

Asked if people should avoid the airport because of fears of contamination, Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said: "No. No. No. But I don't know. I am not the expert."

He said experts would decontaminate the airport to ensure its safety.

VX nerve agent, deadly even in minute amounts, was detected on Mr Kim's eyes and face, Mr Khalid said earlier in a written statement, citing a preliminary analysis from the country's Chemistry Department.

"Our preliminary finding of the chemical that caused the death of Kim Chol was VX nerve," he said. Kim Chol is the name on the passport found on the victim, but a Malaysian official previously confirmed he is North Korea leader Kim Jong Un's older half-brother.

According to Malaysian investigators, two female suspects coated their hands with the liquid toxin and wiped it on Mr Kim's face as he waited for a flight home to Macau, where he lived with his family.

He sought help from airport staff but he fell into convulsions and died on the way to the hospital within two hours of the attack, police said.

Malaysian police say the women washed their hands immediately after the attack as they allegedly had been trained to do.

Malaysian police had initially said no one besides Mr Kim had been taken ill. But Mr Khalid told reporters that one of the two women accused of wiping the toxin on Mr Kim's face became sick later and suffered from vomiting. He declined to say which woman had been sick, the Indonesian woman or the Vietnamese woman in custody.

Mr Khalid said police were still investigating how the lethal nerve agent entered Malaysia.

Police previously said the airport had not been decontaminated but that passengers should be confident it was safe. Asked on Friday whether it had still not been decontaminated, Mr Khalid said: "We are doing it now."

VX nerve agent can take days or even weeks to evaporate. It could have contaminated anywhere Mr Kim was after the attack, including medical facilities and the ambulance he was transported in, experts said.

Mr Kim's very public assassination has unleashed a diplomatic crisis. North Korea has denounced Malaysia's investigation as full of "holes and contradictions" and manipulated by Pyongyang's enemies.

Dr Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said even a tiny amount of VX nerve agent can be fatal. An antidote can be administered by injection.

US medics and military personnel carried kits with them on the battlefield during the Iraq war in case they were exposed to the chemical weapon.

"It's a very toxic nerve agent. Very, very toxic," he said. "I'm intrigued that these two alleged assassins suffered no ill effect from exposure to VX. It is possible that both of these women were given the antidote."

He said symptoms from VX would generally occur within seconds or minutes and could last for hours, starting with confusion, possible drowsiness, headache, nausea, vomiting, runny nose and watery eyes. Prior to death, a victim would likely have convulsions, seizures, loss of consciousness and paralysis.

VX is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which North Korea never signed.

The country is believed by outside experts to have the capacity to produce up to 4,500 metric tons of chemical weapons during a typical year, which it could increase to 12,000 tons per year during a period of crisis. Its current inventory has been estimated at 2,500 to 5,000 tons.

Joseph Bermudez, a well-known North Korea analyst, wrote an article for the respected 38 North website in 2013 that said the North is capable of not only employing "significant quantities and varieties of chemical weapons" across the Korean Peninsula but also using those weapons worldwide "using unconventional methods of delivery".

He also said there is a "growing body of evidence" indicating the North has shared chemical weapons capabilities with Syria, Iran and others.

In addition to the suspected attackers, Malaysia has arrested a North Korean man said to be an information technology worker at a Malaysian herbal supplements company and is seeking at least seven people, including the second secretary of North Korea's embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

AP
The Mexican government has made clear to visiting US emissaries that it will not accept deportees from third countries under any circumstances, the interior secretary said.

Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said that US secretary of state Rex Tillerson and homeland security secretary John Kelly asked Mexican officials during their visit on Thursday if they would host deportees from other countries while their immigration cases are processed in the US.

"They can't leave them here on the border because we have to reject them. There is no chance they would be received by Mexico," he said.

"They asked us that while their legal process is happening there if they could be here," Mr Osorio Chong said. "And we told them that there's no way we can have them here during that process."

The visit by the US secretaries came at a tense moment in US-Mexico relations.

US President Donald Trump has carried his tough campaign talk about immigrants and factory jobs that moved to Mexico into the White House, ordering the building of a border wall, stepped up deportations and a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

A memo published by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this week suggested that US immigration officials could deport immigrants in the country illegally to the contiguous country they had entered from, which in the vast majority of cases would be Mexico.

Most of the immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border in recent years have been Central Americans.

Mr Osorio Chong also said that if the US government tries to pressure Mexico by threatening to withdraw funding from the nearly 2.5 billion US dollar (2 billion) Merida Initiative to fight organised crime, Mexico will let that money go.

The initiative that was started in 2008 is winding down with most remaining funding going to Mexican states implementing reforms to the justice system, Mr Osorio Chong said.

In its early years, Merida outfitted Mexico's military with helicopters and trained its security forces.

"If that resource could be an issue for pressure or if they want to pressure the government, honestly, we have no problem, none, if they withdraw it," he said.

AP
Smoke rises from sugar factory as Iraqi security forces sniper aims his weapon toward Mosul's airport during a battle with islamic state's militants south west Mosul

Iraqi security forces secured most of the Mosul airport in a rapid advance yesterday that positions them on the doorstep of Islamic State-held west Mosul.

Despite earlier predictions of a fierce battle, few Isil fighters remained to defend the airfield, leaving some Iraqi soldiers confused as to whether the speed of advance indicated a dramatic collapse of Isil defences, or whether the worst may be yet to come inside the western city limits.

The morning offensive launched with air and artillery strikes on Isil positions on the edge of the city.

As Emergency Response Division (ERD) police units advanced in a column of armoured vehicles, American special forces watched from a nearby hilltop. Helicopter gunships fired salvos of rocket and cannon fire and a sugar factory - said to have been an Isil base - caught fire, raining ash on the troops.

Fleeing civilians warned of recently planted roadside bombs, and at least one IED exploded near a Humvee. Soon, though, the armoured advance reached a cratered and rubble-strewn runway.

While Isil mortar rounds blasted occasional plumes of earth along the runway, there was little of the feared heavy resistance that commander had spoken of the day before.

"I've only seen four Isil patrols enter the airport from Mosul," said federal police sniper Akram Mahsen as he surveyed the runway through binoculars.

Retaking the airport would put Iraqi forces within striking distance of west Mosul.

"At the far end of the runway are the first neighourhoods," said Atheer Ibrahim, a swaggering lieutenant colonel whose own Humvee was adorned with "Bad Boys" daubed in red paint.

"Ahead is the mosque where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi preached from," he added, pointing into the distance.

The leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Bakr has appeared in public only once and that was to lead Friday prayers at Mosul's Grand Mosque in July 2015.

It was there that he announced the formation of the caliphate and anointed himself caliph.

The speed of the advance surprised some.

"So far taking the airport has been easier than the village before it," said ERD fighter Ghassan Hamid Salahuddin.

"Our intelligence tells us that Isil fled without fighting back into west Mosul. They will hole up in tight alleys where the fighting will be on foot."

Several kilometres to the west, the sound of fighting could be heard from the Ghazlani military base where Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) were advancing.

On a hilltop overlooking that battle, a group of federal policemen reclined on mats to smoke a water pipe and watch the battle from behind a berm.

"Isil have fled from here, but we hear resistance is heavy further up," said Ali Wayd Abdul Hussein.

A medic at a nearby clinic said they had received only a dozen lightly wounded military casualties.

Over a dozen wounded civilians - including many women and children - lay groaning in the dust, though - at least four dead among them.

Some of the civilians said they had been injured by either artillery or airstrikes, while others reported being targeted by Isil mortars as they attempted to flee.

Ahmed Abdullah sat next to the bodies of two of his younger brothers, tears cutting tracks down his dust-caked face.

"We were running towards the military humvees when mortars hit us," the 22-year-old said.

A younger sister lay listless next to him, a bandage wrapped around her head, while nearby other siblings sobbed disconsolately.

An Iraqi soldier tasked with receiving fleeing civilians estimated that up to 800 had arrived yesterday after walking six kilometres to safety through the desert from their homes on the outskirts of west Mosul.

By early afternoon, the airport offensive had paused.

"We're not advancing at full speed because we want to preserve civilian life and infrastructure," federal police spokesman Colonel Taha Hussein said.

Meanwhile his jubilant men - cheering and dancing nearby with a captured Isil flag - were eager to continue.

"We'll start advancing again shortly," predicted Salahuddin, the ERD fighter. "After we've eaten lunch."

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
GUANGZHOU, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,200 illegal immigrants have been captured by police in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province since the Spring Festival.

A total of 1,178 people, all nationals of Southeast Asian countries, were arrested for trying to enter Guangdong without legal permits, according to the provincial border police Thursday.

Another 48 were captured in Hong Kong, but police gave no details of their nationalities.

Most of the immigrants were apprehended at bus and railway stations, ports and work places such as construction sites or factories, police added.

Police in Guangdong and Hong Kong have strengthened cooperation at borders to curb illegal immigration.
Ivanka Trump attends a meeting held by US President Donald Trump with manufacturing CEOs at the White House in Washington yesterday

For the past eight years, thousands of conservative activists have descended on Washington each spring with dreams of putting a Republican in the White House.

They finally have one - only trouble is, they are not sure he's really conservative.

With Donald Trump's presidential victory, the future of the conservative movement has become entwined with an unconventional New York businessman better known for his deal-making than any ideological principles.

It's an uneasy marriage of political convenience at best. Some conservatives worry whether they can trust their new president to follow decades of orthodoxy on issues like international affairs, small government, abortion and opposition to expanded legal protections for LGBT Americans - and what it means for their movement if he doesn't.

"Donald Trump may have come to the Republican Party in an unconventional and circuitous route, but the fact is that we now need him to succeed lest the larger conservative project fails," said evangelical leader Ralph Reed, who mobilised his organisation to campaign for Trump during the campaign. "Our success is inextricably tied to his success."

Trump is to address the Conservative Political Action Conference tomorrow. Yesterday, White House spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway thanked the conservatives for helping elect Trump.

As conservatives met for their first big sessions yesterday at the gathering in the Maryland suburb of Oxon Hill, they heard a stream of familiar conservative rhetoric.

A panel of GOP governors urged Washington Republicans, who control the levers of power for the first time in a decade, to deliver the results that Republican governors have brought to their states.

"The victory is not on November 8. That is an assignment for change and real reform," said Arizona governor Doug Ducey, urging Trump and his allies in Congress to make good on promises to repeal "Obamacare," enact tax reform, and cut the federal budget.

"As governors, as activists, engaged citizens, we need to hold all elected leaders accountable for results in this cycle right now. We may not get this same opportunity again. We can't squander it."

Social conservatives were thrilled by a Wednesday night decision to reverse an Obama-era directive that said transgender students should be allowed to use public school bathrooms and locker rooms matching their chosen gender identity.

Trump has a somewhat tortured history with CPAC, an annual convention that's part ideological pep talk, part political boot camp for activists. Over the past six years, he's been both booed and cheered. He's rejected speaking slots and galvanized attendees with big promises of economic growth and electoral victory.

At times, he has seemed to delight in taunting them.

"I'm a conservative, but don't forget: This is called the Republican Party, not the Conservative Party," he said in a May interview on ABC's 'This Week.'

Read more:

The tensions between Trump's brand of populist politics and conservative ideology will be on full display at the three-day conference, which features panels like 'Conservatives: Where we come from, where we are and where we are going' and 'The Alt-Right Ain't Right At All'.

Along with Trump come his supporters, including the populists, party newcomers and nationalists that have long existed on the fringes of conservativism and have gotten new voice during the early days of his administration.

Pro-Brexit British politician Nigel Farage will speak a few hours after Trump.

Organizers invited provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos after protesters at the University of California at Berkeley succeeded in stopping his appearance on campus. But the former editor at Breitbart News, the website previously run by Bannon, was disinvited this week after video clips surfaced in which he appeared to defend sexual relationships between men and boys as young as 13.

Trump "is giving rise to a conservative voice that for the first time in a long time unabashedly, unapologetically puts America first," said Republican strategist Hogan Gidley. "That 'America First' moniker can very well shape this country, but also the electorate and the Republican Party and conservative movement for decades."

Trump's early moves - including a flurry of executive orders and his nomination of federal Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court - have cheered conservatives. They've also applauded his Cabinet picks, which include some of the most conservative members of Congress.

But key items on the conservative wish list remain shrouded in uncertainty. The effort to repeal Obamacare is not moving as quickly as many hoped, and Republicans also have yet to coalesce around revamping the nation's tax code.

No proposals have surfaced to pursue Trump's campaign promises to build a border wall with Mexico that could cost $15bn or to buttress the nation's infrastructure with a $1trn plan. Conservatives fear that those plans could result in massive amounts of new spending and that Trump's penchant for deal-making could leave them on the wrong side of the transaction.

"There is wariness," said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity.

But with a Republican-controlled Congress, others believe there's no way to lose.

"He sits in a room with Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. Is there a bad a deal to be made with those three in the room?" asked veteran anti-tax activist Grover Norquist. "A deal between those three will, I think, always make me happy."
Donald Trump made a border wall one of the key policies of his campaign

Contracts will be awarded by mid-April for President Donald Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico, the US Customs and Border Protection agency said.

The agency said on Friday on a website for US federal contractors that a request for bids would be published on or around March 6.

Companies would have to submit "concept papers" to design and build prototypes by March 10.

CBP will narrow the field by March 20 and require that finalists renew their offers by March 24, with a price attached.

The timetable shows that Mr Trump is aggressively pursuing plans to build what he calls "a great wall" on the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

Mr Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday that construction will start "very soon" and is ahead of schedule.
President Donald Trump yesterday celebrated what he called "a military operation" to round up and deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes or caused violence in the United States.

"We're getting gang members out, we're getting drug lords out, we're getting really bad dudes out of this country - and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before," Mr Trump told a group of several dozen manufacturing executives during a policy discussion at the White House.

Mr Trump talked about the trip Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly are making to Mexico this week.

Mr Trump said he told Tillerson, "That's going to be a tough trip because we have to be treated fairly by Mexico."

Trump congratulated Kelly for the work his department is doing to secure the border with Mexico and deport illegal immigrants.

"It's a military operation," Trump said, attributing gang violence and illegal drug trade to illegal immigrants.

Trump's reference to a military operation could raise eyebrows among immigrant rights advocates and even within the Department of Homeland Security.

Federal immigration policy is enforced by several divisions inside DHS, including Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the military has no role.

A leaked DHS proposal last week to deploy Army National Guard troops to help apprehend undocumented immigrants was quickly denied by DHS leadership and the White House as under consideration.

The unions representing border patrol agents and officers have regularly denounced the use of military personnel.

"I do not believe the National Guard to be a good idea," Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said in an interview.

"We're just setting ourselves up for too much liability with people who have not been trained to do the jobs."

Mr Trump was presumably referring to a series of enforcement actions carried out by ICE two weeks ago that rounded up 683 immigrants purportedly in the country illegally.

Similar raids were carried out during the Obama administration and the department downplayed the significance of the number earliler this month.

"ICE conducts these kind of targeted enforcement operations regularly and has for many years," DHS said.

But immigrant rights advocates have said the directives contained in a pair of memos from Kelly this week would dramatically expand the pool of immigrants who would be targeted for deportations, broadening it well beyond the hardened criminals and new arrivals that had been the priorities under the Obama administration.

Yesterday, Mr Trump portrayed the immigrants targeted as criminals.

"They're rough and they're tough, but they're not tough like our people, so we're getting them out," he said.

President Donald Trump told about two dozen chief executives of major US companies that he plans to bring millions of jobs back to the US, but offered no specific plan on how to reverse a decades-long decline in factory jobs.

In his first month in office, Mr Trump has pressured US companies to hire in the United States but he has yet to publicly propose legislation tackling the big economic issues he campaigned on in 2016, including a job-boosting tax or infrastructure programme.

In his meeting with the CEOs at the White House, Mr Trump said the US had lost one third of manufacturing jobs since it joined the NAFTA in 1994. He also claimed that about 70,000 factories had closed since China joined the World Trade Organisation 16 years ago.

Experts say lower wages, automation, foreign competition and other factors account for the steep decline in manufacturing jobs. ( Washington Post Syndication)
New York Times reporter, Glen Thrush works in the Brady Briefing Room after being excluded from a press gaggle by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The Brady Briefing Room is shown after reporters were excluded from a press gaggle by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

An empty podium is seen as an off camera briefing is held with a small group of reporters and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer instead of the normal on camera briefing in the White House. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan SmialowskiBRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

The White House has blocked several major news outlets from covering its press briefing.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Friday hand selected news outlets to participate in an off-camera gaggle with reporters inside his West Wing office instead of the James S Brady Press Briefing Room.

The news outlets blocked from the press briefing include organisations who President Trump has criticised by name. CNN, BBC, The New York Times, LA Times, New York Daily News, Daily Mail, were among the news outlets barred from the gathering.

Instead, the press secretary hand-picked news outlets including Breitbart News, One America News Network, The Washington Times, all news organisations with far-right leanings. Other major outlets approved for t group included ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, Reuters and Bloomberg.

Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties, Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said in a statement.

We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest.

Several media outlets including the Associated Press and TIME Magazine declined to attend the briefing to boycott the President's decision.

President Trump renewed his attacks on the media at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC. "I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources," he told his audience. "They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name. Let their name be put out there."

His comments come on the heel of reports that President Trumps Chief of Staff Reince Priebus privately asked the FBI to prevent news stories of the Trump campaigns communication with Russian intelligence.

Jeff Mason, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, said his organisation will protest strongly against the ban.

"The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House," he said in a statement. "We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff."
Jaganmohan Reddy, father of Alok Madasani, speaks to the media at his home in India (AP/Mahesh Kumar A)

The shooting of two Indian men in a crowded Kansas City bar has sparked outrage in their home country.

The Indian government has rushed diplomats to the US state to monitor the progress of the investigation.

Jaganmohan Reddy, father of Alok Madasani, an engineer who was injured in the shooting on Wednesday night, said he thought it was a hate crime.

He said such incidents have increased after the recent political changes in the United States.

The second man, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, also an engineer and a Hindu, was fatally shot. He came from Hyderabad, the capital of southern Telangana state, said Indian external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup.

Mourners poured into Mr Kuchibhotla's home in Hyderabad, with his shocked parents Madhusudhan Rao and Vardhini Rao unable to talk since they received the news of his death.

They have another son working in the United States and a third employed in India.

Mr Swarup said two Indian consulate officials from Houston and Dallas were sent to Kansas City to meet with Mr Madasani and facilitate the return of Mr Kuchibhotla's body to India.

The suspect, Adam Purinton, has been taken into custody and was charged on Thursday with murder and attempted murder.

Ian Grillot, a 24-year-old American who jumped to the defence of the Indians in the bar, was hailed as a hero by local media. He was also injured in the incident.

"Decency and humanity always triumph in the end, but not without struggle and sacrifice," said Jayaprakash Narayan, a Hyderabad-based activist who lauded Mr Grillot's bravery.

The US embassy in New Delhi strongly condemned the shooting in Olathe, Kansas.

"The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live. US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief," charge d'affaires MaryKay Carlson said.

Mr Reddy said he learned about the shooting from his eldest son, who lives in Dallas. His younger son moved to the US in 2008 for his master's degree.

Mr Reddy, who has spoken with his injured son over the phone, said he is worried about his safety and wants him to come back to India.

"I request other parents to think twice before sending their children to the United States," he said.

AP
Donald Trump tweeted that the "FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government" (AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked top FBI officials to dispute media reports that President Donald Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, according to three White House officials.

The officials said that Mr Priebus's February 15 request to FBI director James Comey and deputy director Andrew McCabe came as the White House sought to discredit a New York Times report about contacts between Russian intelligence officials and members of Mr Trump's 2016 campaign team.

The FBI has not commented publicly on the veracity of the report and there is no indication it plans to, despite the White House's request.

White House officials said it was the FBI that first raised concerns about the reporting, but told Mr Priebus the bureau could not weigh in publicly on the matter.

The officials said Mr McCabe and Mr Comey instead gave Mr Priebus the go-ahead to discredit the story publicly, something the FBI has not confirmed.

CNN first reported that Mr Priebus had asked the FBI for help and a White House official confirmed the matter to the Associated Press on Thursday night. On Friday morning, two other senior White House officials summoned reporters to a hastily arranged briefing to expand on the timeline of events.

The officials said Mr Priebus had a previously scheduled meeting with Mr McCabe the morning after the New York Times story was published. Mr Priebus and Mr Comey then spoke later in the day.

Mr Trump has complained that the "FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time".

"They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW," Mr Trump tweeted.

Mr Priebus's discussions sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said that the chief of staff was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

"The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," said Michigan representative John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

A 2009 memo from then-attorney general Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations "only when it is important for the performance of the president's duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective".

When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

Mr Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. US intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Mr Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Mr Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled vice president Mike Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US.

Mr Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including a discussion about US sanctions policy.

Still, Mr Trump and his advisers have denied having had contacts with Russian officials during the election. Last week, Mr Trump said "nobody that I know of" spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.

Mr Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, saying that "the top levels of the intelligence community" have assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were "not only grossly overstated, but also wrong".

Senator Ron Wyden said Mr Priebus's comments opened the door for Mr Comey to discuss the bureau's investigation publicly.

"If the White House chief of staff can make public claims about the supposed conclusions of an FBI investigation, then director Comey can come clean with the American people," Mr Wyden said.

AP
Rhode Island voters will head to the polls Tuesday to choose the first new face to represent the state's 2nd congressional district in 20 years as leading candidates Seth Magaziner and Allan Fung vie to replace the retiring James Langevin, who has served in the role since 2001. The tightly-contested congressional race is just one of a number of important contests taking place Tuesday as the state will also select its next Governor, voters will decide the fate of a number of high-priced ballot initiatives and towns up and down Rhode Island select their local officials in a number of highly-divisive and politicized town council and school committee races. Do you believe the results of this years election will make a positive or negative impact on your community? Let us know in this week's poll question below.

You voted:
Friday, Feb. 24

Women Conference 2017 will be held at Gilmore Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Maria Brewer will be the featured speaker. Pre-registration: $30 and $35 at the door. On Saturday, Feb. 25, doors will open at 8:25 a.m. Pastor of the church is Rev. J.C. White. The church is located at 762 Central Dr., Concord.

Sunday, Feb. 26

A Black History Observance will be held by the Christian Education Department at Rock Hill AME Zion Church, 3620 Rock Hill Church Road, Concord. A Soul Food Cafe and Black History Exhibit Hall Dinner will be at 1 p.m. and there will be a variety of soul food items. Dinner is $10. A Rhapsody in Black Gospel Worship Experience will be at 3 p.m. Evangelist Natalie Kirkpatrick will be mistress of ceremonies. You are invited to the morning worship service at 10 a.m. where we will represent our favorite era in clothing. Door prize will be given to the best dressed. For more info contact CED Directors for events.

Seven area churches are participating in the 20th Annual Crossover Kannapolis service at 6 p.m. at Centerview Baptist Church, 415 Walter St., Kannapolis. Rev. Willie Rash is the churchs pastor. The churches are predominantly African-American, Hispanic and White. Crossover Kannapolis seeks to crossover barriers that often divide communities and show that regardless of race, language and culture, unity can be found through Jesus Christ. Te other participating churches are Bethel A.M.E. Zion, Rev. Dr. Charles Wilson is pastor; First Evangelical Methodist, Rev. David Haynes is pastor; Iglesia Bautista Discipulos de Cristo, Pastor Barry Matos; Marable Memorial A.M.E. Zion, Rev. Dr. William McKenith is pastor; Sandy Ridge A.M.E. Zion, Rev. Clarence Shuford is pastor; and Trinity United Methodist, Pastor Kirk Tutterow. For more information, call 704-785-0549. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Wednesday, March 1

Ash Wednesday services will be held at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, 1260 N. College St., Mt. Pleasant, at 7 p.m. The preacher will be Rev. Todd Davis.

Ann Street United Methodist Church will have an Ash Wednesday Service on at 5 p.m. All are welcome to attend. The church is located at 335 Ann Street in Concord. Pastor of the church is the Rev. Randy L. Wall.

Saturday, March 4

A Gospel Extravaganza will be held at the Allen T. Small Family Life Center, 192 Spring St. SW, Concord, at 5 p.m. Featured will be the Gospel Traveleers of the Carolinas, Men Over 60, Voices of Morning Star, Heavenly Voices and Heirs of Salvation. This program is a kick-off to the 31st Annual Family and Friends Day Celebration and the public is welcome.

Sunday, March 5

St. James Reformed Church, 8350 Walnut St., Mount Pleasant, will be holding Lenten services at 6 p.m. The preacher will be Rev. Fred Guy.

Monday, March 6

Ann Street United Methodist Church will have a Lenten Bible study from noon to 1 p.m. Bring your own lunch and feast also on Gods word. The focus of the Bible study will be the book of Ephesians. All are welcome to attend. The church is located at 335 Ann St., Concord. Pastor of the church is the Rev. Randy L. Wall.

Sunday, March 12

Lenten services will be held at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 9400 Gold Hill Road, Mt. Pleasant beginning at 6 p.m. The preacher will be Rev. Patrick McCabe.

Monday, March 13

Ann Street United Methodist Church will have a Lenten Bible study from noon to 1 p.m. Bring your own lunch and feast also on Gods word. The focus of the Bible study will be the book of Ephesians. All are welcome to attend. The church is located at 335 Ann St., Concord. Pastor of the church is the Rev. Randy L. Wall.

Sunday, March 19

Bethel Bear Creek Reformed Church, 18937 Bear Church Road, Mt. Pleasant, will be holding Lenten services at 6 p.m. The preacher will be Rev. Dr. Steve Disher.

Monday, March 20

Ann Street United Methodist Church will have a Lenten Bible study from noon to 1 p.m. Bring your own lunch and feast also on Gods word. The focus of the Bible study will be the book of Ephesians. All are welcome to attend. The church is located at 335 Ann St., Concord. Pastor of the church is the Rev. Randy L. Wall.

Saturday, March 25

Get ready for the road this spring by joining us for a service of blessing for all motorcycle riders at Boger Reformed Church, 7313 Gold Hill Road Concord. Arrival in the church parking lot begins at 9 a.m. 'The Blessing of the Bikes will be at 9:30 a.m. The blessing will be followed by breakfast at Marvins Restaurant in Mt. Pleasant and a ride around the outskirts of Cabarrus and Stanley Counties. All area riders are cordially invited to participate and everyone from the community is welcome to attend.

Sunday, March 26

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1500 S Main St., Mt Pleasant, will be holding Lenten services at 6 p.m. The preacher will be Rev. Michael Johnson.

Monday, March 27

Ann Street United Methodist Church will have a Lenten Bible study from noon to 1 p.m. Bring your own lunch and feast also on Gods word. The focus of the Bible study will be the book of Ephesians. All are welcome to attend. The church is located at 335 Ann St., Concord. Pastor of the church is the Rev. Randy L. Wall.

Sunday, April 2

Lenten services will be held at 6 p.m. at Zion Wesley A.M.E. Zion Church, 9001 Reid St. Mt. Pleasant. The preacher will be Rev. Dr. Carolyn Buford.

Monday, April 3

Ann Street United Methodist Church will have a Lenten Bible study from noon to 1 p.m. Bring your own lunch and feast also on Gods word. The focus of the Bible study will be the book of Ephesians. All are welcome to attend. The church is located at 335 Ann St., Concord. Pastor of the church is the Rev. Randy L. Wall.

Sunday, April 9

Jesus Last Supper was actually a Jewish Passover. Robyn Wilk of Jews for Jesus will re-create the traditional Passover service and explain how it foreshadowed Jesus death and resurrection in a presentation called Christ in the Passover at Boger Reformed Church at 6 p.m. The church is located at 7313 Gold Hill Road, Concord.

Monday, April 10

Ann Street United Methodist Church will have a Lenten Bible study from noon to 1 p.m. Bring your own lunch and feast also on Gods word. The focus of the Bible study will be the book of Ephesians. All are welcome to attend. The church is located at 335 Ann St., Concord. Pastor of the church is the Rev. Randy L. Wall.

RECURRING

Blackwelder Park Baptist Church has launched a new church website. The new web address, www.blackwelderpark.org, replaces the old www.bpbc.cc site. The old site has been taken down and traffic routed to the new web address. For more information, call 704-932-4266.

Roberta United Methodist Churchhas a free Dressings and Blessings clothing ministry. It also accepts all types of clothing, shoes, belts, purses, linens, curtains and textile goods. Rugs cannot be accepted. Call the church office at 704-786-9215 for an appointment.

Monday

Bethel Baptist Church, 1209 Opal St., Kannapolis, clothing pantry will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Monday and Thursday. For information, call 704-933-2324.

GriefShare recovery seminar and support group meets at Central Baptist ChurchKannapolis each Monday from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 6th through May 1st. The church is located at 1810 Moose Road, Kannapolis. For more information, call Julia Pope at 704-467-2795.

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, 204 N. Little Texas Road, is offering free tutoring for any subject in grades K-12 every Monday and Wednesday from 4:30-6 p.m.

Petra House Worship Deliverance Ministries, 64 Lowe Ave., Concord, under the directions of Bishop Bobby Fisher, will be opening the doors of the church Monday through Friday from 4:30 -7:30 a.m. for morning prayer.

Roberta United Methodist Church, 3925 Cochran Road, Concord, gives free clothing with appointment on Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon, and Tuesdays from 6:30-8 p.m. For more information, call 704-786-9215.

Tuesday

Alzheimers Caregiver Support Meeting is held the second Tuesday of each month at noon at Kannapolis Church of Christ, 2315 Concord Lake Road, Kannapolis. Contact Pat for more info at 704-305-3073.

A nondenominational prayer breakfast is held on Tuesdays at 7 a.m. at Troutmans Barbecue, 362 Church St. N., Concord. There will be breakfast, Bible study, prayer and fellowship. For information, call Ed at 704-794-3100.

Wednesday

C.H.O.I.C.E.S. Outreach Ministries holds Bible Encounters through the study of Gods Word on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at 142 Maple St., Mooresville. Contact our church office if you have any questions or need directions at 704-662-8854.

Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, 301 Mount Olivet Road will have a Bible discussion round table on Wednesday mornings from 10 to 11 a.m. The study will be David Jeremiahs Facing the Giants in Your Life. Workbook is available. Come enjoy the lively discussions.

Tutoring sessions are back on Wednesday afternoons from 5-6:30 p.m. at Harmony United Methodist Church, 101 White St. NW, Concord. For more information, call Ms. Kaylene Thompson at 980-622-8171, or you may call the church at 704-782-8237 and leave a message to speak with Pastor Thad Brown.

Thursday

The food pantry at Blackwelder Park Baptist Church, 2204 Summit Ave., Kannapolis, will serve the community each Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon in the Educational Building classroom. For more information, call 704-932-4266.

Forest Hill United Methodist Church, 251 Union St. N., Concord, has a free clothing distribution every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. All sizes. For more information, call 704-782-1109 or visit www.foresthillumc.org.

The food pantry at Shady Brook Baptist Church, 1009 Oakwood Ave., Kannapolis, will serve the Kannapolis area each Thursday from 1:30-3 p.m.

The Spirit of Life Ministry, located at 1424 Tyler St., Kannapolis, will hold Street Meetings every Thursday from 6-8 p.m., and every Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Franklin Heights Baptist Church will have a GriefShare class on Thursdays from 10-11:30 a.m. beginning March 2. For more information, call 704-932-5013. The church is located at 2000 Lane St., Kannapolis.

Friday

First Friday for youth, focusing on fun, food and fellowship for youth in grades 6-12, will be held from 7-10 p.m. the first Friday of each month at Advent Lutheran Church, 8840 University City Blvd., Charlotte. All are welcome. For information, call 704-549-1555 or email tonih@adventlu.org.

Saturday

Carolina Deliverance Evangelistic Church, 618 Smith St., Kannapolis, will have Community Blessed Day  Free Clothes Giveaway from 1-3 p.m. every first Saturday of the month. Details: 704-605-3106.

Covenant Presbyterian Church USA, 5835 Charlie Walker Road, Kannapolis, will host a food pantry every second and fourth Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

The First Congregational United Church of Christ, 248 Tournament St. SW, Concord, has a free community breakfast from 7-10 a.m. the third Saturday of each month. The breakfast is a part of the outreach ministry and is open to all.

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, will have a Community Cafe, offering a free meal, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the third Saturday of each month. For details, call 704-932-2864.

Sunday

Faith, hope and well-being support group provides for anyone coping with cancer or long term illness. Families/caregivers are welcome to attend. Meetings at held the second Sunday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Taylor Youth Building at Bethel United Methodist Church, 12700 Idlebrook Road, Midland. For more information, call Kathy Kitts at 704-888-0524 or the church office at 704-888-2653.

Food Addicts in recovery anonymous meets at Mt. Hermon Lutheran Church Main Building, 3600 US Hwy. 601 S, Concord, on Sundays at 3:30 p.m. For more information, call Esther B. at 704-488-5931 or Linda P. 704-788-4879.
TEHRAN, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iran has, to a great extent, increased the precision of its long-range ballistic missiles, Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said here on Thursday.

"We have increased the range and precision of our long-range, ground-to-ground ballistic missiles," Dehqan was quoted as saying by Theran Times daily.

"We have achieved greater precision in longer ranges," he said, adding that the Iranian army has also managed to increase shelf life of its missiles up to 20 years.

The Iranian minister denied the reports that Tehran has halted its missile program after a recent missile launch that provoked threatening gestures from the United States.

The Iranian officials have unanimously called the development and test of ballistic missile as "inalienable right" of the country to boost deterrent power.
State Treasurer Dale Folwell isnt known to mince words and in a recent NC SPIN interview he reported North Carolina has made promises to present and retired state employees we are presently unable to pay. By the Treasurers calculations, and this CPA is pretty good with numbers, we owe $10-14 billion in underfunding to our Teachers and State Employee Retirement Systems and $32 billion to the State Health Plan.

To better understand the problem, some history is instructive. For many years there has been an implicit (and sometimes stated) understanding that the state would not pay its employees market wages. To compensate for this fact state employees were promised benefit plans better than most found in the private sector, benefits that included retirement and health insurance packages.

Retirement plans receive funding from three sources. State Employees contribute 6 percent of their earnings, the agencies they work for contribute an equal or greater percentage and the Treasurer invests those combined sums. The largest contributor to the underfunding is that instead of earning the 7.25 percent targeted rate of return on investments, the actual yield is about 6 percent over the past five years. The state has been increasing its contribution levels in recent years to help offset the projected investment shortfalls, however the retirement plans are only about 85 percent funded. Folwell is quick to add that our states retirement plans have been and remain among the soundest of any public retirement plans in the nation, but to reach 100 percent funding we must adjust investment goals to more realistic levels, improve investment results and need to further increase state contributions.

The $32 billion underfunding of the State Health Plan is more serious. Until 2006, state employees were promised that after completing 5 years of service their personal health insurance premiums would be fully paid by the state upon reaching age 65. Recognizing this was unrealistic the state altered the system so that those newly hired would receive a sliding scale of insurance premiums paid based on the employees number of years or service. Coupled with the tremendous escalation in health care costs, our pay-as-you-go method of funding health plans has incurred increasingly larger future liabilities.

You and I, as taxpayers, are ultimately responsible for these unfunded liabilities. Some have suggested that the beneficiaries (employees and retirees) should be responsible for making up the differences but this is patently unfair on several levels. For starters, public employees didnt create the benefits systems, our legislators did. We continue paying public employees below-market wages, even as health insurance deductibles and co-pays to them are raised and benefits adjusted. Making up the deficits on the backs of current and retired public employees is breaking our promises to them and is sure to spawn lawsuits and cause an exodus of experienced people we depend on to maintain our roads, guard our prisons, enforce our laws, teach our children and administer other programs.

These unfunded liabilities dwarf many other problems our state faces. We cannot continue neglecting them without finding solutions now. We must adopt an attitude of fairness and common sense, recognizing fixes wont occur overnight. Everyone must come to the table in changing systems for newly hired employees because, at the end of the day, one guiding principle remains: promises made, promises kept.

Tom Campbell is former assistant North Carolina State Treasurer and is creator/host of NC SPIN, a weekly statewide television discussion of NC issues. Show airs in Charlotte on WCCB Sundays at 6:30a.m.
Bali, Indonesia: Feb 24 (Just Earth News)a At the World Ocean Summit Friday, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund and the Indonesian government announced US$23 million in support for the Blue Abadi Fund, which is on track to be the worldas largest marine conservation trust.

The Fund is uniquely designed to support local community stewardship of the protected areas of the worlds most biodiverse reefs, Indonesias Birds Head Seascape.

The announcement comes just five months after the Fund initiative was announced. Once the Fund is fully capitalized, the Seascape will contain Indonesias first sustainably financed marine protected area network (MPAs).

Located in West Papua, the Bird's Head Seascape encompasses more than 2,500 islands and reefs and supports thousands of species -- including 70 that can be found nowhere else on Earth.

The Blue Abadi Fund will help secure the long-term financial sustainability of the Birds Head Seascape by providing grants to local communities and agencies so they can sustainably manage their marine resources into the future.

The Fund is a powerful example of how local leadership combined with coordinated global support can deliver sustained conservation goals. Founding supporters include: the Walton Family Foundation, USAID, MacArthur Foundation, Global Environment Facility and others.

These protected areas exist thanks to the support and involvement of local communities and fishermen, said Rob Walton of the Walton Family Foundation, which has been working in the Birds Head region for more than a decade.

Of course it is not enough to create marine protected areas, you have to have long-term management and enforcement. That is what the Blue Abadi fund is all about.

The Birds Head Seascape coalition was launched in 2004 by Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund and now includes 30 conservation partners, including local and national governments, international and local NGOs, and academic institutions. Its mission is to ensure sustainable management of the Birds Head Seascapes resources in a way that empowers local indigenous communities while enhancing their food security and livelihoods.

The future of our planet depends upon the wisdom of communities, said Peter Seligmann, chairman and CEO of Conservation International. Through the Blue Abadi Fund the global community joins with local communities to secure the long-term health of the Bird's Head seascape, arguably the most diverse marine region of Planet Earth.

Since the launch of the Coalition 12 years ago, the MPA Network in the Birds Head Seascape has grown include 3.6 million hectares of MPAs or approximately 20% of all MPAs in Indonesia. Locally managed by communities and government, the MPA Network prioritizes biodiversity conservation and sustainable local fisheries. Working together, they have reduced overfishing by outside poachers by 90 percent while enjoying growth in sustainable fisheries, food security and tourism.



Overall, the Coalition effort has engaged 30 partner organizations  including Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund  and 70 donors, both local and global. The governments of Indonesia and the West Papua Province, along with local communities, have played fundamental roles in managing the MPA network and local fisheries.



The Birds Head Seascape Coalition will complete a full transfer of MPA management responsibilities to local communities and the government by June 2017, who will then co-manage them into the future. Local funding sources will provide 70 percent of the financing needed for the seascape, with the Indonesian government being the largest source of funding, and the Blue Abadi Fund providing the remaining 30 percent.

In a demonstration of their commitment to the MPA network and as a match to the Blue Abadi Fund, the West Papuan government has committed to provide a minimum of Rp. 7.215.000.000 (US$555,000) per year to the management of the MPA network starting in 2018. Budget allocations from the National government as well as revenues generated from tourism user fees will also contribute to the MPA costs.

As a conservation province, our natural resources are of strategic value and importance for West Papua. To ensure that we continue to benefit from conservation, we need to work together to ensure that our MPAs are sufficiently and sustainably funded, said Drs. Nathaniel D. Mandacan, M.Si, the Secretary General of the West Papua Provincial Government.

Local communities and agencies will use the funds to implement comprehensive management plans for the 12 MPAs that support activities such as effective patrol systems, community outreach and development, and ecological and social monitoring so management activities can be adapted over time. Funds will also be available to Papuan civil society for innovative community conservation and fishing projects, and more.

Image: Conservation.org

http://www.justearthnews.com
Kolkata, Feb 23 (IBNS): Metro rail service in Kolkata was disrupted for nearly 15 minutes on Thursday morning as a 750 MW power station of Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) went out of order, reports said.

According to reports, three power units of CESC's Budge Budge power station, which supplies power to Kolkata mostly, had suddenly stopped working at around 9:53 am.

Due to the power-snap, supply of electricity was disrupted as several locations in north, south and central part of the city.

Power supply was also affected at a few hospitals in Kolkata due to the power glitch.

"Following a network disturbance, all the three power units of the 750 MW Budge Budge power station of CESC tripped this morning at 9:53 am," a senior CESC official said.

Later, CESC took power from West Bengal State Electricity Board and brought the situation under control soon.

"Restoration of emergency supply began immediately and key supplies were restored in stages in most places within 15 minutes. All supplies were restored by about 10:30 am," the official added.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Metro service was disrupted due to the power cut and thousands of passengers were stranded underground during peak office hour as metro rakes got stuck inside the tunnel and at several stations, according to reports.

CPRO of Kolkata Metro, Indrani Banerjee, told IBNS: "As power supply was stopped due to CESC's power cut, metro service was disrupted from 9:53 am. to 10:08 am."

"The incident was very unfortunate for Kolkata metro and CESC as well. We, however, run extra trains to normalize the metro service," Indrani Banerjee said.

However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called for a high-level meeting at the state secretariat at Nabanna to discuss the matter.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha, Image: Facebook)
New York, Feb 24 (Just Earth News): The United Nations Security Council on Thursday extended for another year the mandate of the UN Integrated Peace-Building Office in Guinea-Bissau, known as UNIOGBIS, and urged all political actors in the country to implement the provisions of the Conakry Agreement signed last October.

The Council endorsed the Conakry Agreement  which carries the name of the Guinean capital where it was signed in 2016 following talks between political leaders, civil society and religious leaders  saying that it offers a historic opportunity for national authorities and political leaders, as well as civil society, to jointly ensure political stability and build sustainable peace.

The 15-members of the Council welcomed and supported a high-level mission to the country that is expected to be dispatched by the regional bloc Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) as part of a follow-up for implementation of the Agreement.

Under its renewed mandate, which will begin on 1 March 2017 and run through at least 28 February 2018, UNIOGBIS will also continue to work with ECOWAS, its mission in Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB) and other international partners to implement national security sector reform and strengthen the rule of law.

Among its primary responsibilities, the Council mandated the Office to focus its efforts on supporting an inclusive political dialogue and national reconciliation, and providing technical assistance to national authorities.

UNIOGBIS will also focus on supporting the Government of Guinea-Bissau in mobilization, harmonization and coordination of international assistance, with UN partners, the African Union (AU), the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLC), ECOWAS, the European Union (EU).

In 2014, the West African nation concluded a second round of presidential elections, which are widely seen as essential to restoring constitutional order, economic growth and development following a 2012 military coup.

Photo: UNIOGBIS

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Kabul, Feb 24 (IBNS): At least one ISIS militant was killed before attacking the Afghani forces, local Khaama Press reported.

The incident took place in Achin district of Nangarhar province.

The slain militant tried to open fire but was shot dead by security forces, the agency quoted officials as saying.

The ISIS is yet to comment on the loss.




BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee on Thursday held a meeting of its chairman and vice chairpersons.

Attendees heard a report on preparations for the Fifth Session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee, an annual session scheduled for early March.

Presiding over the meeting, Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, urged political advisors to think and act in line with the requirements of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.

Yu also stressed the importance of implementing the CPC's anti-extravagance rules at the upcoming session.

The CPPCC is a mechanism of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC.

It consists of figures from Chinese society who are willing to serve in the think tank for the government, legislative and judicial organs.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Half of Americans now view China favorably, the highest rating since 1989, found a Gallup released Thursday.

This is up from 44 percent in 2016 and 41 percent in 2012, found the Feb. 1-5 Gallup poll.

China's favorable rating by Americans was only 38 in 1985 but registered 72 percent in Gallup's poll in February 1989, taken days after former U.S. President George H. W. Bush returned from a diplomatic visit to China. It had remained at the low 40s for most of the time since 1989, according to Gallup.

The six-percentage-point rise in China's overall favorability from last year is explained by increases among both Democrats and Republicans, Gallup said.

The poll found that 58 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of independents view China favorably. Though only 38 percent of Republicans view China favorably, it is still up by 10 percentage points from 2016.

The U.S.-China relations have never been entirely smooth in the past decades due to tensions over Taiwan, nuclear arms, human rights and other incidents, and the election of Republican candidate Donald Trump as president adds more complexity to the relations, Gallup noted.

Though the future of U.S.-China relations is unclear, "it may be helpful for the new administration to know that Americans are feeling relatively positively toward China right now, and thus may be less receptive to a hard-nosed approach to U.S.-China relations," Gallup said.
JMC Projects India secures new orders of Rs2,277 crore; Stock gains 2.6% JMC Projects (India) Limited (JMC), a leading Civil Engineering and EPC Company has secured new orders of Rs2,277 crores. The details are as follows: Water Projects in India of... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 2:08 pm

Lupin receives USFDA tentative approval for Drospirenone Tablets Global pharma major Lupin Limited (Lupin) has announced that it has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug ... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 1:26 pm

Bloomberg Report: Pegatron Corp starts production of iPhone 14 in India Pegatron Corp., a Taiwanese contract manufacturer for Apple Inc., has begun producing the most recent iPhone 14 model in India. Pegatron is now the second Apple supplier to manufacture th... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 12:48 pm

JMC Projects India allots NCDs for Rs100 crore; Stock rallies over 3.5% The Management Committee of the Board of Directors of JMC Projects (India) Limited at its meeting held on November 04, 2022 has allotted 1000 Repo Rate, Unsecured, Rated, Listed, Rede... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 12:34 pm

Nykaa receives shareholders' approval for bonus issue and ESOP; Stock down 1% The Board of the lifestyle retailer FSN E-Commerce Ventures Limited (Nykaa), on October 3, 2022, approved Bonus Issue of Equity Shares in the proportion of 5 (Five) fully paid-up Equity Sh... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 12:03 pm
(Global Times) 10:09, February 24, 2017

Workers make garments for export in a plant in a township near Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu Province on Thursday. Photo: CFP

Chinese market regulators are expected to announce what experts descried as landmark reforms this year to fend off systematic risks in the country's financial system, as regulatory agencies have been ramping up efforts to lay the groundwork for the reforms.

The reforms will likely focus on improving coordination among different market regulatory agencies and enhancing enforcement of financial laws to protect investors' interests, imperative measures that have been highlighted in the turmoil seen in the stock market and the foreign exchange market in the past year and a half, experts said on Thursday.

Market expectations for reforms have been building, and further accelerated this week as rumors of potential guidelines floated around domestic financial websites.

The rumors started after text and pictures of a set of financial reform guidelines were posted online. The guidelines were mainly aimed at creating a uniform regulatory system by combining existing regulations for different financial markets and tackling issues such as high leverage, according to a report on news portal jiemian.com on Thursday.

The recommendations were reportedly issued jointly by the four main financial regulatory agencies, led by the People's Bank of China (PBC), the central bank, as well as the China Securities Regulatory Committee, the China Banking Regulatory Committee (CBRC) and the China Insurance Regulatory Committee.

Though there have been no official comments on the reported reforms, the agencies have all stepped up talks concerning the implementation of regulatory reforms to fight systematic risks.

In a recent meeting, Pan Gongsheng, vice governor of the PBC, said China will continue to deepen financial reforms and "firmly hold the bottom line of preventing systematic risks" in the financial markets, according to a statement posted February 17.

The other three agencies all echoed that statement in separate meetings and have been issuing new guidelines for their respective markets, the latest example being the CBRC's set of guidelines for regulating online lending issued on Thursday.

Landmark reforms

The repeated statements and measures coming out of the regulatory agencies signal that significant reforms are highly likely this year, according to experts.

"2017 could be a year with landmark financial reforms," Cheng Shi, head of ICBC International Research Ltd, told the Global Times on Thursday, adding that the reforms will likely focus on two areas: regulatory structure and protection of investors.

The first core theme would be to change the current regulatory structure to a more consolidated structure under the leadership of the PBC where policies and regulatory actions would be closely coordinated, Cheng said.

He noted that turmoil in the stock market in the summer of 2015 and in the foreign exchange market in early 2016 revealed loopholes that exist mainly because the agencies are not closely coordinated.

"A single set of policies by a single agency does not have a complete impact on the market, that just doesn't work in China," even though the individual policy or the agency is very effective, Cheng said.

The reforms will also likely focus on better protecting investors' interest and cracking down on financial crimes by imposing harsher penalty on wrongdoings and improving enforcement of regulations, Cheng added.

To maintain stability in the financial market, it is key to protect the investors because they could be the victims as well as the "amplifier of market turbulence," Cheng said, noting that there have been some challenges in this regard due to the "very low cost" engaging in illegal activities and insufficient law enforcement power for regulators.

There would definitely be some "serious crackdown" on illegal activities in the market as part of the reform, Xu Guangfu, a senior analyst at Shanghai Yinji Asset Management Co, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"Though there have been a lot of crackdowns since the market crash in mid-2015, there will definitely be more," Xu said, adding that the ultimate goal of these reforms is to eliminate risks stemming from illegal activities.

He said that while the reforms could add some short-term turbulence to the market, in the long run they will be beneficial for the stability of the financial system.
China has made a "mistake of ignoring" science and technology experts from India, Chinese official media said, underlining that the Communist giant should attract high-tech Indian talent for maintaining its innovation ability.

BCCL/representational image

"China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe," an article in state-run Global Times said.

"China has perhaps not been working hard enough to attract science and technology talent from India to work in the country," the tabloid daily from the group of ruling Communist Party of China which has been carrying articles critical of India almost on daily basis in recent months said in a rare positive write-up.

BCCL/representational image

"Over the past few years, China witnessed an unprecedented boom in tech jobs as the country became an attractive destination for foreign research and development centres."

"However, now some high-tech firms are turning their attention from China to India due to the latter's relatively low labour costs. Attracting high-tech talent from India could be one of China's options for maintaining its innovation ability," it said.

Referring to reports that US-based software firm CA Technologies has disbanded its almost 300-person research and development team in China while setting up a team in India with some 2,000 scientific and technical professionals over the past few years, it said, "with a sufficient young talent pool, India is becoming increasingly attractive."

BCCL/representational image

"China cannot afford to risk a decline in its attractiveness for high-tech investors. The nation is among the third echelon in cutting-edge technology fields and is working to catch up with the US and the result of its efforts will decide whether China will maintain its status as an emerging global economic power," it said.

China in recent year boosted the budget for technological innovation by allocating billions of dollars of incentives for start-ups and research firms as it witnessed the decline of its labour force due to the rapid increase in old age population.

China has carried out a lot of measures, including increasing research spending and creating a favourable investment environment for high-tech firms, to enhance its innovation capability.

"In Silicon Valley, a considerable number of software developers working there are born outside the US. China should also strive to attract more foreign talent into the country as it aims to build itself into a world-class research hub," it said.

BCCL/representational image

"A total of 1,576 foreigners were granted Chinese permanent residence in 2016, registering an increase of 163 per cent from the previous year. It seems that China is aware of the importance of tapping into international talent," it said.

"Some reports claim that the cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker, which means Indians could see their revenue more than double if they came to work in China," it said.
Should you get your hand baggage stamped at airports? The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) feels there's no need but the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is in charge of airport security, passenger frisking and hand bag screening, says it will continue stamping tags for the time being.

BCCL/representational image

The BCAS issued an order on Thursday saying passengers flying out of India's seven biggest airports  Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kochi  will no longer need to get their handbag tags stamped.

The CISF said the move couldn't be implemented immediately.

Till late Thursday night, there was no clarity on whose writ would run as BCAS can prescribe measures but CISF has to implement them.

Several advanced countries, including the US and EU nations, have done away with the requirement of stamping hand bag tags or boarding cards but India is among the few still following the practice. In December last year, the CISF and BCAS had carried out weeklong pilot projects at 12 airports where hand bag tags of domestic flyers were not stamped.

BCCL/representational image

Explaining the move, BCAS chief Rajesh Kumar Chandra said,"We took this decision after doing a trial run and implemented it only at places where the system had stabilised. Thursday's order covers big airports that handle almost 80% of all air traffic in India.

The basic purpose is to save time and spare a person (who currently stamps bags) to devote more time towards profiling a person and if need be, to carry out physical security checks. Stamping does not add any value to security. If there is any lapse, that is due to problem with screening machine or lack of skill of screener or improper supervision. How does stamping handbag tags do away with these issues?"

Earlier in the day, CISF chief O P Singh said "no decision has been taken so far".

While CISF is in favour of adopting this move, it feels there isn't enough infrastructure at terminals as yet to roll it out immediately. Sources in the central paramilitary force say it initiated the pilot project for non-stamping of handbag tags. A senior officer said, "We are not against the move. We are against its immediate execution."

BCCL/representational image

While the trial runs were successful, CISF felt security gadgets and smart cameras had to be put in place before stamping was done away with. The force is set to write to BCAS, civil aviation and the home ministry for the move to be delayed.

BCAS feels airlines may do away with baggage tags after its Thursday order and if that happens, CISF will be left with nothing to stamp. "CISF gave us positive feedback on the trial runs which were conducted after putting in place surveillance systems. Our order says airport operators will have to ensure proper maintenance of systems based on which stamping is being done away with," said a BCAS official.

BCCL/representational image

While BCAS' Thursday order did away with the need for stamping for both domestic and international flyers, the next phase will involve replication of the measure at other airports, including Chennai, Guwahati, Patna, Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram. This will be done after intensifying CCTV coverage at security check areas there and carrying out some more changes.
In what appears to be an act of hate crime, an Indian engineer was killed and two others injured when an American man opened fire on them after allegedly yelling "get out of my country".

Srinivas Kuchibhotla/ Facebook

The victim, 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who worked as an aviation engineer at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, in US state of Kansas was shot at on Wednesday night. One of the injured has been identified as Alok Madasani was critically injured and is battling for life at a local hospital. The third victim, Ian Grillot, is said to be an American, a colleague of the two Indians who tried to stop the attacker.

The alleged perpetrator, Adam Purinton, was arrested by police on Thursday morning. According to local media reports, Srinivas and Alok were at a bar after work, when the accused started making racist comments at the duo calling the "middle easterners" and is said to have shouted, "get out of my country," before firing the shots.

AP

He fled the scene immediately after the incident and reportedly told the bartender that he had killed two Middle Eastern men.

Purinton with premeditated first-degree murder and premeditated attempted murder.

Srinivas, originally from Hyderabad had done B.Tech. in electrical and electronics engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. He had a masters degree from the University of Texas El Paso.

GoFundMe

He is survived by his wife Sunayana Dumala, who works in a technology company in Kansas.

The Indian Embassy has swung into action and two senior officials of the Indian Consulate in Houston have been sent to Kansas to assist the victims' families.

I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

Consul RD Joshi and VC H. Singh rushing to Kansas to assist shooting victim. @SushmaSwaraj @IndianEmbassyUS @NavtejSarna @IndianDiplomacy  India in Houston (@cgihou) February 23, 2017

The incident comes at a time when there is an increase in attacks and hate crimes against non-whites in the US following the rise of right-wing populism and the highly divisive election of Donald Trump.
The utterly complex local timetable which can take railway officials over a fortnight to chalk out won't rob them of sleep as often, thanks to the brainpower from IIT-Bombay.

A team of professors from the Indian Institute of Technology here collaborated with the Central Railway to write algorithms that have simplified the process of creating railway timetables to a degree that the suburban railway schedules can be created in as little as five minutes.

BCCL

With the software it has developed, the team created a periodic timetable that unifies the many processes rail staff would need to employ. The new system is not only a notch above the existing scheduling process, but it also sidesteps various bumps the railways faces, such as fluctuating number of rakes, availability of platforms at certain terminals, and various glitches and deficiencies the railways battle every day.

The professors predict that the software would in time be adopted by suburban rail networks across the country with small tweaks to suit each city's requirements.

BCCL

On Thursday, a team comprising Professors Narayan Rangaraj and Madhu Belur, M Tech scholar Soumya Dutta and Central Railway's deputy chief operations manager (goods) KN Singh gave a presentation on the software to the railway's operations department.

The authorities that sat in on the meet included chief operations manager RD Sharma and senior divisional operations manager Anil Patke.

Central Railway's chief public relations officer Narendra Patil told Mumbai Mirror that they had been working on this project with the IIT professors for the last two years. "This will not only help us in more efficient and easier planning but also give us a lot of options for adopting timetables for suburban operations according to our needs," added Patil.

BCCL

Professor Rangaraj, from IIT-B's Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, said he and his colleagues wanted to help the railway administration with planning things by employing updated planning tools. "With the help of this software, you can also easily find out how many trains you can ply on the given routes," he said.

The project has been chosen to be presented at a global seminar by the International Association of Railway Operations Research (IAROR) in France to be held in the first week of April. The organisation encourages academic and professional railway research and contributes to the development of new standards for railway traffic management by integrating various scientific disciplines.
The timely efforts of the Indian Army proved to be the difference-maker for a group of nine people who were stranded in an ambulance after the vehicle they were travelling was caught in an avalanche.

Northern Command/ Facebook

The incident happened in Nastachung Pass in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara District late on Tuesday evening after a landslide hit the area.

The ambulance was carrying nine people including two patients, a pregnant lady and a 15-year-old boy under postoperative recovery.

Northern Command/ Facebook

After being struck by the avalanche, the ambulance could not move ahead or return back as both sides of the road were covered in snow.

The dropping temperatures at an altitude of 10,000 feet made things worse for the two patients, especially for 24-year-old Mir Age, who was in her advance stage of pregnancy and was being treated for anaemia.

Northern Command/ Facebook

Moving swiftly into action, the Army rescue team made sure that the passengers were safe.

They not only cleared the way for the Ambulance to return to Tangdhar but also provided medical relief and care to the patients.
China urges countries outside of the South China Sea region to stop stirring threats of war and tension in the region, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Ren Guoqiang, who debuted as the ministry's spokesman at its first news conference of the year, said China was monitoring the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group, which entered the South China Sea on Saturday.

It was the first patrol by a US carrier in the region since US President Donald Trump took office.

"We hope the US can sincerely respect the sovereignty and security interests of countries in the region, as well as the efforts they have made toward regional peace and stability," Ren said. "We will also respect other nations' freedom of passage and flight through the region so long as they adhere to international law."

The situation in the South China Sea is becoming peaceful and stable, Ren said. "Countries outside of the region shouldn't purposefully stir threats of war or tension, but should inject positive energy into this good development."

As for China-US ties, "a healthy Sino-US military relation adheres to the basic interests of the two nations' people, as well as being beneficial for peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region and the world," he said. "It needs China and the US to jointly maintain it. We hope both sides can work together, strengthen communication, avoid misunderstandings and push forward military relations on the right track."

Liang Fang, a professor at National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, said China should "calmly observe and respond carefully" to the situation.

"The US is reinstating its military presence in the region as a bargaining chip with China," she said.

"The US will continue its Asian rebalancing effort, and China has to be ready for anything."

Teng Jianqun, a senior US studies researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said the US has to accept the fact that the balance of power is shifting in the region.

"The US flexing its muscles doesn't bring peace. It only makes the situation even more complicated, especially when China and ASEAN countries are on the verge of signing a code of conduct for the South China Sea," he said.

At Thursday's news conference, Ren also denied a media report that China had sent troops to the border area adjacent to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after the reported death of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of DPRK leader Kim Jong-un.

"The report is a complete fabrication," he said.
India is pushing for a better land connectivity with neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh for effective sub-regional cooperation despite the obstacles created by the absence of SAARC Motor Vehicles and Railways Agreements.

In what would be first of its kind, India has expressed interest to link Kathmandu with Delhi and Kolkata, using direct railway lines in a bid to strengthen cross-border connectivity and facilitate people movement between the two countries.

BCCL/representational image

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu announced this during a trip to Kathmandu last weekend. Besides, the Modi government ahead of PM Sheikh Hasinas proposed visit to India either March-end or early-April has asked the state-owned Container Corporation (Concor) to explore ways to run a cargo train to Bangladesh with an aim to enhance bilateral trade.

These two railway tracks (Delhi-Kathmandu & Kolkata-Kathmandu) must be built soon to increase Nepals connectivity with India, Prabhu said while delivering a keynote speech at the Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2017, which kicked off in Kathmandu last Sunday. I will give priority to build such networks soon, he said. Currently India and Nepal are connected by a directed bus service launched in 2014.

Stating that infrastructure was a prerequisite for higher economic growth, Prabhu urged Nepals government and private sector to ramp up investment in construction of physical infrastructure. Urging foreign investors to invest in Nepals infrastructure development, he said such investment will offer double benefit to them.

If you invest in infrastructure in a country with wide infrastructure gap, you will get a good return on investment. Also, economic growth triggered by infrastructural development will provide additional benefits to investors, Prabhu told the two-day summit organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries in association with the Prachanda government and Youth Community for Nepalese Contractors.

Nepal needs to invest up to $18 billion in infrastructure projects by 2020 to remove binding constraints to economic growth, said a World Bank report. Of the total amount, up to $7 billion should go to the energy sector, especially development of hydropower projects, and another $5.5 billion should go towards the transport sector, the multilateral lending agency has said.

Currently, our focus is on the development of infrastructure in energy and transport sectors, said Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda on that occasion. Nepal must increase its infrastructure investment from 4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the last 15 years to 8 to 12% of the GDP, according to officials here.

Reuters/representational image

By doing this, Nepal can accomplish key infrastructure milestone by 2030, such as generating 10,000 MW of electricity, connecting all cities and local bodies with blacktopped roads, completing construction of [Kathmandu-Tarai] Fast Track and other expressways, having modern international airports, providing quality basic services and expanding irrigation networks across the country.

But Nepal is not the only neighbour with which India is seeking to improve connectivity as part of Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal and BIMSTEC Initiatives with connectivity projects under SAARC not making headways due to Pakistans intransigence. BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement is already in place and BIMSTEC is also exploring better connectivity initiatives among seven member states.

Bangladesh has emerged as one of Indias closest neighbours after Bhutan and Concor are further exploring ways to run a cargo train to the eastern neighbour. There are currently three rail links to Bangladesh -- all through West Bengal and all of them remain under utilised.

Of the three, the Gede (India)-Darshana (Bangladesh) link, which opened in 2008 offers broad-gauge connectivity to the key consumption centre in Dhaka; it is used to run a passenger train four times a week. The Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh) rail link connects northern Bangladesh but not the South. A passenger train -- Maitree Express -- connects Kolkata with Dhaka.

BCCL/representational image

A BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) trade logistics study of 2010 pointed out that rail movement can be 30% cheaper than even sea freight (which is normally considered the cheapest) between the two nations.

Railways have had little relevance so far to Indo-Bangla trade, which moves mainly on non-containerised trucks. But this situation can be altered and the near-term solution may lie in shifting the cargo from road to rail, as was visualised by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government while connecting Petrapole land port by rail in 2001, according to persons familiar with the developments. Bangladesh is looking to create a dry port or an inter-modal transhipment facility in Bangladesh.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, said peace will remain elusive in the state unless Kashmiri Pandits feel safe living in the valley again.

Reuters/representational image

"Even after we hold talks (with Pakistan), reopen roads between two sides, Kashmir will remain incomplete and peace in Kashmir is incomplete, unless and until Kashmiri Pandits do not feel that they will able to live in Kashmir again," She said.

This, she said, is the real challenge.

"Please pray on holy night of Shivratri to God to create peace in Kashmir so that all migrants could return to their homes and hearths with respect and dignity.

"It is big need of the time that you return back to your roots with respect," she said.

AFP

"Kashmir has lagged behind due to your migration from the Valley. You were our assets. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs -- all are a big treasure of brotherhood and composite culture," the CM said.

Mehbooba also said that in Jammu people from diverse backgrounds are living together peacefully, but this "composite culture" has been lost in Kashmir.

"One of my KP brothers was saying that the government of India should be pressed to commence dialogue with Pakistan. Even after we hold talks with Pakistan, reopen roads between two sides, Kashmir will remain incomplete and peace in Kashmir is incomplete, unless and until KPs do not feel that he will be able to live in Kashmir again. That is the real test to us," she said.

Reuters/representational image

"You may have many [personal] problems," she said, but there is also a lot of stress in the community.

"You may be feeling the difficulty due to this barbed wire, but Kashmir is laid with such wires. It is we Kashmiris who are responsible for that. We are responsible for this.

"When we cross Jawahir tunnel towards Jammu, the mind opens and we become free but in Kashmir, people are under huge stress. We have created the situation ourselves," she said.
Every once in a while, we come across stories that teach us a thing or two about dedication, and this MLA from Mizoram is setting such an example. The Sahai civil hospital in Mizoram found itself in a bit of soup. A pregnant woman was rushed to the hospital, only to learn that surgeon was away on a training programme.

Facebook/Northeast Today

But that's when 52-year-old MLA from Mizoram, K Beichhua came to the rescue. An MBBS, Dr K Beichhua, left all his political duties mid-way and rushed to the hospital.

Dr Beichhua was visiting his constituency when he was told about a 35-year-old woman, who was suffering from severe abdominal pain and needed to be operated immediately.

The womans stomach had a large perforation (hole) and if the operation had not been performed, she may have died, Hindustan Times quoted him as saying.

Reports state that Dr Beichhua joined the Mizo National Front (MNF) in 2013 after spending 20 years as a general practitioner. His wife, who is also a doctor, has an avid interest in politics, she even contested in assembly elections in 2008 as an independent candidate.

Dr Beichhua is a true inspiration and the country needs more politicians like him!
Why has the Army re-thought its protocols when cornering terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir? The changing tactics of terrorists  seeking refuge in populated areas and getting a section of the local population to disrupt operations by stone-throwing  pose a difficult challenge.

BCCL

The new form of warfare offers terrorists better chances than being challenged  or surprised  by troops in the jungles of J&K. Earlier, it was easier, though still dangerous, for the Army to corner terrorists by cordoning off areas and neutralising them.

Now, it becomes difficult for the Army to engage terrorists as they seek cover in villages and towns. To avoid civilian casualties, soldiers fire cautiously. In fact, terrorists who hide in houses and use civilians as human shields ambush soldiers during combing operations, leading to higher casualties. The trend of stone-pelters disrupting operations adds to the terrorists' advantage.

To deal with stone-throwers , especially after the Handwara encounter this month that led to the death of four armymen, a fresh strategy was devised. A high-level review committee, during a meeting on February 15, laid down a four-step procedure to deal with stone-throwers.

ALSO READ: Despite Army And Government Warnings, ISIS, Pakistan Flags Are Back In Jammu & Kashmir

BCCL

The fresh set of rules has been circulated to Army, central paramilitary forces like the CRPF, the J&K government and police. First, a joint control room, located within an armoured vehicle, will be set up at an encounter site. The control room will ensure greater coordination among security groups involved in the operation. Then, deputy commissioners have been asked to impose prohibitory orders to prevent the assembly of people at the site. Police will identify persons acting as collaborators and lastly the police will also list stone-throwers and initiate legal action against them.

"Earlier, stone-pelters used to only hurl stones at forces on policing duties. Since last year, especially after the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani, these elements try to break the security cordon and attack personnel engaged in a gunbattle. The distraction gives terrorists a chance to attack and flee," a source said.

ALSO READ: All You Need To Know Gen Rawat's Warning To Kashmiris Pelting Stones, What Led To It And Who Said What

BCCL

"Since last year, over 25 terrorists have fled encounter sites with the help of stone-pelters, who are aided by separatist elements," the source said. "Unlike some countries, the Indian Army does not use heavy weapons in counter-insurgency operations so as to avoid collateral damage," the source added.

The J&K police does have a comprehensive list of stone throwers detained in the past and also identifies ring leaders. Their detention reduced the levels of street violence last year though it was felt the action was delayed.
This was one big feat by this small car  a road trip from New Delhi to Paris through some of the world's toughest terrains. And this grinding 19,000 km trip across 13 countries undertaken to prove a point  a 'Make in India' car can not only beat all odds but also put its mark on the world map.

renault.co.in

"It was a bit of a concern as the car we had chosen to do this trip was an entry-level hatchback, which is more suited for city commutes and that it was designed for Indian conditions and not for freezing cold weather," Rahul Kakkar, who led the five-member team in the driving campaign, told TOI. The road conditions in northeast India proved to be one of the toughest the team faced anywhere. But not only rough roads, the Kwid was put to a range of challenges, be it heavy rains and floods in Myanmar or snow in China.

renault.co.in

"We switched to winter tyres in Chengdu in China, anticipating snow in a few days. Our journey took us from China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and then into Europe. On the autobahns in Germany, it managed to attain a top speed of 174kmph," said Kakkar.

renault.co.in

The worst moment of the 45-day trip, which ended in Paris in December, was at Aralsk in Kazakhstan where the temperature dropped down to about -25 degree C and there was no fuel station on our route ahead.

renault.co.in

The team had to refuel the car with jerrycans at a local garage that they luckily found in the middle of nowhere, said Kakkar.

renault.co.in

The terrain varied in different countries from dry deserts to snowfall.

renault.co.in

The car finally reached Paris after 45 days.
In what appears to be an act of hate crime, an Indian engineer was killed and two others injured when an American man opened fire on them after allegedly yelling "get out of my country".

The victim, 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who worked as an aviation engineer at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, in US state of Kansas was shot at on Wednesday night. One of the injured has been identified as Alok Madasani was critically injured and is battling for life at a local hospital. Read more

1. Karnataka Man Burns 180-Year-Old Temple Chariot Because He Wanted To Get A New One

On Saturday, the historic 180-year-old chariot at Chamarajeshwara Temple in Chamaraja Nagar, went up in the fire, in what was seen as a deliberate attempt. The incident at the 200-year-old temple had flared up tensions, and almost triggered communal clashes in the city.

But what came as a shock to many, including the police, was the reason the 35-year-old gave for his action - In order to get the new chariot. Read more

2. After Ramjas College Violence, ABVP Forces Khalsa College To Postpone Street Play Competition

Even as Delhi University's Ramjas College continues to be tense after clashes between the ABVP and leftist student organisations over a seminar, SGTB Khalsa College has decided to postpone a street play competition till peace and normalcy returned to North Campus of Delhi University.

The move came after the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU), led by RSS' student wing ABVP, told the college principal that the security for the event "cannot be guaranteed" if the scripts had "anti-national content". Read more

3. China Admits Its Mistake Of Ignoring Indian Talent And Hiring Engineers From The West

China has made a "mistake of ignoring" science and technology experts from India, Chinese official media said, underlining that the Communist giant should attract high-tech Indian talent for maintaining its innovation ability.

"China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe," an article in state-run Global Times said. Read more

4. This High School Drop-Out From Tamil Nadu Has Designed A Paraglider For Rs 60,000, One-Tenth Of Its Market Price

A high school drop-out from a Dindigul village has designed a low-cost paraglider, realising his childhood dream of taking to the skies.

K A Raja Gnanaprakasam, a 35-year-old contract worker in Vayalur village in Palani, started working on the low-cost paraglider at the age of 23 and completed his work just recently. While similar devices are sold in the market for Rs 4 lakh or more, he has managed to design one at a cost of Rs 60,000. Read more

5. Shamed By 'Moral Police' For Sitting With His Girlfriend On Valentine's Day, Kerala Youth Commits Suicide

The days of harassment on Facebook and Whatsapp proved too much for 23-year-old Anish, a resident of Kerala's Palakkad district, forcing him to commit suicide.

He took the extreme step on Thursday evening, little over a week after he and his girlfriend were attacked by five men at Kollam beach on Valentine's Day. Read more
It's the day to survive!

After we told you about this Indian woman who survived what could have been a fatal train accident, here comes another duo who escaped getting charred to death after falling into an active volcano!

afp



A 60-year-old volcanologist from Argentina and his 25-year-old Nicaraguan guide, both of whom fell into the Nicaragua volcano, were found in "good health" on Wednesday after being rescued by firemen.

Rodolfo Alvarez and Adriac Valladares had slipped inside the crater of Masaya volcano on Tuesday. The incident happened when the rope holding them in place snapped.

afp

The men had been working just on the edge of the volcano when the accident occurred. Firemen were called to the scene who used ropes and harnesses to save the men.

Apart from being dehydrated, the two were found in "good condition".

All's well when you defy death, right?
While the International community sat for peace talks on Syria last night, the end of violence seems to be a distant dream for the people living in various Syrian cities. In the latest attack, reportedly carried out by Islamic State killed more than 40 people on Friday in a Syrian village held by rebels backed by Turkey.

Reuters

According to a report by Reuters, the blast hit a security checkpoint controlled by Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the village of Sousian. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 42 people were killed.

The Turkey-backed rebels had on Thursday drove Islamic State from al-Bab and two smaller towns nearby after weeks of street fighting, depriving the hardline militants of their last big possession in north-west Syria.

AP

A rebel fighter with the Sultan Murad Brigade near al Bab said: "It was done on a checkpoint but there were a lot of families there gathered and waiting to get back to al-Bab. Therefore we have many civilian casualties."

Fighting Continues

Islamic State said in a social media posting that it was behind the attack. On Thursday it acknowledged it had lost control of al-Bab.

AP

Also on Thursday, several Turkey-backed rebels were killed by a mine in al-Bab while clearing the town of unexploded ordnance after Islamic State retreated, the Observatory said.

Turkey directly intervened in Syria in August in support of a group of rebel factions fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner to drive Islamic State from its border. It also wants to stop Kurdish groups gaining control of most of the frontier.

Reuters

After taking al-Bab on Thursday, Turkish forces shelled Islamic State in the smaller neighboring town of Tadef, the Observatory reported.

The area immediately to the south of Tadef is held by the Syrian army and its allies, which have in recent weeks pushed into Islamic State territory in that area from Aleppo and advanced towards the Euphrates river.
YANGON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Myanmar has lodged solemn representations to the Myanmar authorities following an assault by striking workers on a Chinese-invested garment factory in Yangon.

The representations were made to Myanmar's Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Yangon regional government on Thursday night, demanding a prompt and effective action to punish the perpetrators, and ensure the safety of Chinese nationals and the properties of the Chinese enterprise, according to a statement released by the embassy.

Myanmar authorities said they will protect the safety and interests of Chinese entrepreneurs in accordance with law, promising to settle related issues as soon as possible.

On the same day, a working team of the embassy went to the factory and visited the staff there, urging Myanmar authorities to restore law and order in the factory.

Hundreds of striking workers and non-factory personnel attacked the Chinese-invested factory Thursday morning, destroying properties of the plant, taking away Chinese staff' belongings and restricting their personal freedom.

All Chinese staff were allowed to leave the factory after negotiations, but the compound is still being occupied by the striking workers.
Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets.

Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials.

If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details.
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Internet giant Baidu reported stable revenue growth in 2016, helped in part by artificial intelligence (AI) upgrades to its various products.

The largest Chinese search engine raked in about 70.5 billion yuan (10.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, up 11.9 percent year on year, according to a financial statement released Friday.

Baidu continued to see stable user growth for its search and map services, with its mobile payment business Baidu Wallet attracting 100 million users by the end of 2016, surging 88 percent compared with 2015.

The company's gross merchandise value for transaction services totalled 18.1 billion yuan last year, up 23 percent year on year.

The company's products, including search and newsfeed, have been upgraded by AI technology, according to Baidu board chairman and CEO Robin Li, who said AI will be an enormous opportunity to revolutionize the Internet and traditional sectors.

The AI pioneer is accelerating its pace in developing and investing in AI technologies, including investment in U.S. virtual reality firm 8i and the acquisition of Chinese smart home startup Raven Tech. It will also lead the development of a national engineering lab focused on research and application of deep learning-related technologies.

Baidu will continue to focus on improving user experience, particularly through investment in AI-enabled initiatives such as autonomous driving, financial services, and cloud-computing, according to Baidu chief financial officer Jennifer Li.

Baidu expects its revenue in the first quarter of 2017 to be between 16.5 and 17 billion yuan, up by 4.2 to 7.6 percent year on year.
Several new high-profile Android smartphones are expected to launch this weekend in advance of Mobile World Congress, which opens Monday in Barcelona.

Analysts and published reports have said these new Android smartphones will include the BlackBerry Dtek 70 (through a license with TCL), the LG G6, Lenovos Moto G5, Nokia 8/P1 (HMD holds the Nokia brand), the Sony Xperia X2, the Huawei P10, and at least one model from HTC.

By announcing new smartphones, Lenovo and Huawei will again demonstrate the growing influence of Chinese smartphone manufacturers, which now number in the dozens. Other Chinese smartphone makers, including Oppo and Gionee, are also expected to announce new smartphones.

HTC, based in Taiwan, competes with these Chinese firms and released the HTC 10 early last year.

Meanwhile, Samsung, the global smartphone leader, will not unveil the Galaxy S8 at MWC, but it will show new tablets and other devices, the company said last month. Samsung is still managing customer expectations after a disastrous problem with exploding batteries in its Note 7. The S8 is widely expected to be launched on March 29 in New York City.

Analysts tamped down expectations of any groundbreaking smartphone features at MWC. There will certainly be some new phones at MWC, but Im not really expecting anything dramatically different, said Bob ODonnell, an analyst at Technalysis Research.

I am not expecting anything amazingly new. Well see better cameras, [artificial intelligence] in some shape or form, and better screens, said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies. Still, everybody but Samsung, Apple, and Google will have new devices.

Ovum analyst Ronan de Renesse noted the comeback of older smartphone brands BlackBerry and Nokia, but also noted in the report, this will be nowhere near their former glory of ten years ago, but rather [they] will focus on specific niche products with limited market impact.

AI in smartphones

AI-powered digital assistants could be a differentiator for some of the new smartphones. De Renesse said Huaweinow the third-largest smartphone maker globallymay extend Amazons Alexa voice assistant to the P10 smartphone, after announcing it in the Mate 9 at CES in January.

He said HTCs Sense Companion AI appeared in the HTC U Play and Ultra smartphones in January and is likely to be extended to whatever new smartphones HTC announces at MWC.

Google Assistant is also reported to be available in the LG G6, de Renesse said. LG has also hinted the smartphone will be waterproof and come with an improved camera.

Smartphone app usage drops

Although new Android and iOS smartphone innovations continue to captivate many technophiles and visitors to MWC, there is a growing recognition that the U.S. smartphone market is saturated and basically flat. This trendnow several years in the makinghas led smartphone manufacturers to focus heavily on emerging markets such as China, India, and Brazil.

Even the use of smartphone apps in the U.S. is declining, some analysts said, which will push websites and developers to find ways to introduce software and services to keep interest in smartphones high. It doesnt surprise me that theres a decrease in smartphone usage of smartphone apps, said Technalysiss ODonnell.

Some analysts say that AI may help increase interest by providing users with a way to easily access apps and websites through their smartphones with simple voice commands.

Americans may be downloading fewer apps, but their spending on in-app purchases is growing, Creative Strategies Milanesi said. I do not foresee [U.S.] consumers using smartphones less.

This story, "A trove of new but unexciting Android smartphones to debut at MWC" was originally published by Computerworld .
Would Boeing continue to soar or crash? Trade Precise - 12 minutes ago Boeing (BA) price could attempt another rally to reach $160 in the near short term. However, the reaction at $160 is crucial. It may form a Wyckoff back up (BU) before charging ahead, or retrace back into... BA : 160.01 (+2.08%)

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%)
NANJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China Eagle, a Beijing-based unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) developer, will build the country's largest production base for industrial drones.

The production base in Jingjiang economic and technological development zone in east China's Jiangsu Province is expected to produce its first UAV in May.

Drones for industrial use have huge prospects in the civilian market. Their use ranges from mapping and aerial inspection to unmanned cargo transport.

With an investment of 510 million yuan (74 million U.S. dollars), China Eagle's new production base is designed with an annual production capacity of 5,000 units. Its total output value is estimated at 3 billion yuan a year.

China Eagle has independently developed a series of UAV products. The firm works with the State Oceanic Administration to produce drones for shore patrols.

The civil UAV industry is ready to take off in China. There is high demand and the general aviation sector is unable to meet the needs of all customers.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

Membership in the European Parliament does not give anyone the right to violate laws of another country, the rules and principles of international law, and does not give anyone immunity, said the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev.

Such persons, members of the European Parliament, as a citizen of Luxembourg Frank Engel, a citizen of the Republic of Cyprus Eleni Theocharous and a citizen of the Czech Republic Jaromir Stetina, call for violation of Azerbaijans internationally recognized integrity and are constantly working for these purposes, propagandizing the illegal regime created by Armenia as a result of aggression and occupation of Azerbaijans lands, reads the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys statement.

Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan put three members of the European Parliament - Frank Engel, Eleni Theocharous and Jaromir Stetina - on the international wanted list. They are suspected in repeated crossing of the guarded state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan beyond checkpoints in order to promote the unrecognized regime called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" at the international level.

"Despite the fact that all the international community, including the EU, recognizes the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, these persons, supporting Armenia and the fictional regime, are trying to nullify the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the peaceful settlement of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict, reads the statement.

They are trying to deliberately aggravate the situation in the region and carry out lobbying activities in favor of Armenia. Abusing the membership in the European Parliament, they undertake these illegal actions which contradict the universal values that form the basis of the EU and the European Parliament," the statement said.

These persons attempts to hide behind "democracy" and membership in the European Parliament, made after a criminal case was initiated against them, do not correspond to any moral, ethical and legal norms, Hajiyev said.

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.
Pink Self Storage has seen rapid growth in our first year of business with four new facility openings in the United Kingdom and month-over-month, double-digit revenue growth. One of the keys to our early success is a digital strategy that relies heavily on technology and data to drive growth. Our three key areas of focus are marketing, digital technologies and data.

Marketing

Every pound spent on marketing is tracked using digital platforms such as Google Ad Words and Facebook Ads with a key metric being cost per acquisition (CPA). Our ongoing work is fine-tuning this metric to acquire the most customers for the lowest amount of spend. With the price of storage being one of the highest factors in moving the needle to convert a customer, we have built an algorithm that adjusts the price based on occupancy, CPA, type of customer, location and other factors.

The algorithm has many self-learning parts that are working to lower the CPA, while raising the cost per square foot. In addition, were addressing other factors that affect the CPA through digital technologies.

Digital Technologies

Our digital strategy stretches across hardware and software and has a direct impact on our CPA. From day one, the goal has been to make the user experience as streamlined as possible. When a customer signs up he receives a text message with a pin code that will allow him to open the unit. In terms of hardware, we use license-plate recognition cameras which open the gates automatically when tenants approach. In addition, a virtual-office concept is also in the works, in which all our sites will be unmanned with a central base controlled with closed-circuit television and intercom. Both the website and hardware will work in conjunction with each other to deliver a highly automated procedure that provides tenants with a great user experience online as well as onsite.

Data Learning

With a data scientist within our ranks, we also continuously use data to drive the business forward. We examine customer data to better understand the audiences we need to target in the top end of our marketing funnel. We also know which types of tenants stay the longest and feed this data directly into our self-learning algorithm. We are constantly A-B testing different theories that all make the core algorithm convert customers at a lower CPA.

The Future

In addition to fortifying our use of technology and data, our ambitious plans in 2017 include deploying a new concept for container self-storage. The idea is to have a circular building with containers stacked 25 floors high. This would all be controlled by a central elevator, meaning all storage would be accessed on the ground floor. Though this will require outside investment, we have been in contact with HENN GmbH, the architectural firm that designed the two Autostadt towers in Wolfsburg, Germany. The 20-story Autostadt towers each hold 400 vehicles, which are stored and transported for delivery.

Were looking to build in urban areas where building up is the only option but still allow customers to have drive-through access.

By exploiting technology, putting data to use and steering clear of conventional thinking, we believe were forging a new path to success.

Scott Evans is managing director of Pink Self Storage, which operates one facility in England and three in Wales. Scott is a past recipient of Wales Young Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2008, he founded Wallpaperink, which sells wall murals worldwide. For more information, call 07976.510.237; e-mail [email protected].
Brazil self-storage operators Inbox Guarda Tudo and Pronto Espaco have merged to create SS Self Storage. The combined entity operates three facilities in Sao Paulo. The company intends to immediately expand its current properties, while looking to open new locations in cities with populations of more than 500,000 people, according to a press release.

Joining our forces makes sense, first because it involves two companies with plenty of experience in the management of self-storage, said Renato Daud, owner of Pronto Espaco. In addition, we were able to identify synergy points in several areas, such as sales, customer service and logistics.

The company principals intend to grow the presence of SS Self Storage by converting suitable properties, attracting other operators with vacant facilities and establishing partnerships with equity funds, the release stated. We will allow the entry of other self-storage operators seeking economies of scale and greater geographic coverage, noted Flavio Del Soldato Jr., director of Inbox Guarda Tudo.

The Brazil self-storage market has several competitors that rely on investment funds, the release stated. These are companies that have many units and a wide dissemination capacity, Del Soldato Jr. said.

The Brazil Self Storage Association estimates there are 216 facilities in Brazil comprising 390,000 square meters of rentable space. Sao Paulo dominates the market with 103 facilities, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 24 and Parana with 14, according to the release.
DAYTONA BEACH, FL  Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin won the Can-Am Duel races on Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway. But for Canadian racing fans, the big story was DJ Kennington. The St. Thomas, ON racer  a two-time champion on Canadas NASCAR Pintys Series  qualified for Sundays Daytona 500.

Kennington finished 15th in the second Duel to secure his starting spot in The Great American Race. After the event, Kennington chatted with the media, describing his outing and his feelings.

THE MODERATOR: I want to introduce DJ Kennington, driver of the No. 96 Lordco Castrol Toyota. Also I think maybe the happiest man in Daytona Beach right now after racing your way into The Great American Race. Can you describe the feeling coming here to Daytona and making the Daytona 500?

DJ KENNINGTON: No, I really cant. Clint said its a dream come true for him. Its everything he dreamed of. Well, Im not with Stewart Haas, but Im with a small team of Gaunt Brothers Racing that put a car together; TRD helped us. We went into the wind tunnel and actually tested at Talladega. With Lordco and Castrol behind me, Castrol has been my sponsor for 25 years now. Very fortunate to have them behind me.

I cant explain it really. Coming off of four, I wasnt in the race. When we crossed the line, I was, so just an unbelievable feeling for us. The small race team, like I say, with TRD helping us, all the information we gained, so on, it definitely helped us. I wish we could have practiced a little bit this morning. Never being in one of these cars, never drafting out here before, it was a pretty big deal for me, a lot of learning, I tell you. At the end we made it in. Thats huge for us. The hard part is over. Were going to have some fun now.

Q. DJ, I was wondering if you could talk about how long it took to put this program together. Can you talk about Robby Benettons involvement with the team.

DJ KENNINGTON: Absolutely. Robby and Marty have teamed up to put together a team that want to run all four restrictor plate races and possibly a couple road courses maybe. It was weird how it all started. I drove for Premium Motorsports in Phoenix last year. Got talking with Marty about an opportunity to run the 500 with Premium. I was actually talking to Triad about getting some engines to run Daytona.

It all kind of ended up falling together with Marty and myself making a deal to drive his own car. Lordco and Castrol came onboard, my sponsors from Canada, to help out. We put it together I would say within the last month.

A lot of my guys from my race team up in the Pintys Series came down. Weve been working 18, 20 hours a day at Robby Bentons shop to put this car together ourselves.

They actually flew back on Sunday. Four of them worked 24 hours to have the backup car here in case we needed. Just been a group effort. Robby Benton has helped Marty out with the shop. Amazing equipment to work with, pull downs, everything. A lot of work in a short period of time. It probably all came together in the last four weeks.

Q. Is Robby serving as crew chief?

DJ KENNINGTON: Actually, no. Robby is spotting. He came on the radio on the back straightaway. He says, You got to get in front of the 7. Do what you got to do. I knew what I had to do. I didnt know how to get there.

Really lucky off of four. I picked the right line. I didnt think the middle would work. The only spot I had to go was the middle. We shot up the middle. I think we got ahead of Elliott by half a car length. Thats huge for this race team. Marty has put a lot into it with TRD, done a lot of hard work. Im proud to be able to drive this thing. Heck, to be in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, thats a dream for me. From St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. Theres only been eight of us Canadians that have made the 500, so thats huge for us.

Q. We had it figured differently apparently. We thought when Timmy Hill went out, it put you and Elliott in the show no matter what. Brendan didnt need the fast qualifier clause.

DJ KENNINGTON: 83 made it in from the first race. Brendan was locked in. If we didnt beat the 7 car, Reed Sorenson would have been in on time. The last chance we had was to beat the 7 car. We knew exactly what we had to do. I just didnt know how to get there. Thankfully we got there.

Q. Castrol has been on your car forever. Can you explain how important it is to have that kind of a relationship.

DJ KENNINGTON: I dont know how many people in motorsport right now can say theyve had the same sponsor for 25 years. Very fortunate. Theyre like family to me. This deal all came together when I was trying to put some money together to come to Daytona. Quick story. I went to the Castrol Christmas party. I wasnt even going to go because I wasnt feeling the best. My wife actually told me, Here are a couple Advil. Get your butt to the party. Go see your friends.

I went to the party, started talking to people there. They were really excited about how we did at Phoenix, racing with Premium Motorsports. Congratulated me. I said, Hey, Im working on the next chapter now. I am trying to get to the Daytona 500. The owner of Wakefield, which is Castrol in Canada, he stuck his hand out right there and said, I got your back for that. Make it happen.

I never even asked him for it. Just tells you what kind of sponsor they are for me. Unbelievable what theyve done for me my whole racing career. Without what theyve done for me, I wouldnt even be here today. I cant explain to you how important they are to me.

THE MODERATOR: DJ, congratulations on making the Daytona 500. Good luck on Sunday.

DJ KENNINGTON: Thanks. We appreciate it. The hard part is done, now we can have some fun.
Ding Xuedong, chairman and CEO of Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. (CIC), has stepped down, according to Beijing-based Caixin Media Co., citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Executives at Chinas $810 billion sovereign wealth fund refused to confirm the February 24 report, but observers who closely follow Chinese media know that Caixin has contacts who are close to President Xi Jinpings inner circle. Although Dings future plans are unclear, sources say that he did such a good job restructuring CIC that he is probably in line for a promotion tied to government.

Dings resignation ahead of the National Peoples Congress, which is scheduled to start on March 5, is an indication that he is in line to be promoted to a more senior position, says a senior government adviser in Beijing, who asked not to be identified by name because he is not authorized to comment. Its not yet clear what position Ding will be promoted into, but his promotion is a sure thing, the adviser says, adding that Ding, who has had a high profile at CIC, may go into a more powerful position that is more behind the scenes but closer to the inner circle of President Xis advisers.

Born in 1960 in the eastern province of Jiangsu, Ding has spent most of his career as a senior official with the Ministry of Finance. He became a department director at the ministry in 1994 and was promoted to vice minister at 48. As the youngest vice minister of finance at the time, his duties included putting forward fiscal policy and overseeing the agricultural sector and the China Appraisal Society, an organization under the ministry. In 2010 he became the youngest-ever deputy secretary-general of the State Council, the superministry that runs the Chinese governments daily operations, a post he held until he was appointed CIC chairman in July 2013, succeeding Lou Jiwei, who was promoted to finance minister a few months earlier.

During Dings tenure at CIC, he oversaw an anticorruption campaign, and in January 2015 established CIC Capital, a subsidiary mandated to make foreign direct and private equity investments. He also oversaw the relocation of CICs North American offices from Toronto to New York in December 2015 and launched an in-house research department that advised on a wide range of offshore deals.

Ding obtained a masters degree in economics in 1985 from Zhongnan University of Finance and Economics, currently known as Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. In 1997 he earned a doctorate degree in economics from the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, a university affiliated with the Finance Ministry.

Since October 2014, Ding also concurrently served as chairman of China International Capital Corp., one of the countrys leading investment banks, which he helped succeed in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in late 2015. Dings promotion up the ranks would mean that CICC will have to scramble in the months ahead to find a replacement who has as much gravitas.
ASIC has permanently banned Anthony Doring from providing financial services.Based in Melbourne, Doring was a manager of Steadfast member Phil Doring Insurance Brokers (PDIB) between 2009 and 2015. The company had offices in Melbourne and Mackay.ASIC noted that Doring failed to obtain an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license for the PDIB business following his fathers death in 2013, with Doring holding a license in his personal capacity.In October 2015, Steadfast reported its concerns to ASIC regarding the conduct of Doring and the existence of an apparent shortfall in the trust account of the business of between $700,000 and $1.1 million.Following a hearing, ASIC found that Doring had failed to ensure that the business operated in accordance with Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensing when providing financial services and that Doring had deliberately engaged in dishonest conduct by misappropriating funds from the PDIB trust account and using these funds to ensure the business could keep trading.It was also found that Doring had cancelled client insurance policies without authorisation and failed to comply with requirements which say am AFS license holder should lodge an annual auditors report and financial statements with the regulator.ASIC deputy chairman, Peter Kell , said that the public needs to be able to trust those who provide financial services.ASIC will act to remove those who behave without regard to their obligations to their clients from the financial services industry, Kell said.PDIB was placed into liquidation in April 2016 and Doring was made bankrupt in July 2016.Doring has a right of appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Brokers need to continually up their game to stay relevant in the changing insurance market, an expert has said.With many disruptors looking at the insurance industry, and many specifically targeting intermediaries, Ravi Malhotra , managing director, insurance strategy lead - Asia Pacific of Accenture , said that there is significant potential for the broker to be disintermediated.In commodity lines in particular, there are models now that look to disintermediate and that is not even using new technology, that was the internet in personal lines in a lot of spaces, Malhotra told Insurance Business.There is, we believe, a value proposition and an important role that brokers play but they need to continually up their game.Malhotra noted that some brokers are countering these impacts by offering a full risk management solution as a way to sure up their businesses from future disruption.The best way to ensure a place in the changing market is to get as close to clients as possible. Using data and analytics, even analytics from brokerage websites, will help give brokers an insight into who they are dealing with and why.To offer the best objective, tailored and expert advice to clients, brokers need to have a better understanding of data.As technology reaches further into the industry, the relationship between broker, client and data will become all important, Malhotra noted.If you understand your clients supply chain, physical operations, their footprint, all of those things, that allows you to advise them more specifically. Then when you are looking to place their risk, youre doing more than just pulling something off the shelf; you are able to provide specifics for the underwriting company as well, Malhotra continued.Technology may sound like it is an expensive proposition for smaller brokers but Malhotra said that this need not be the case. Staying updated with changing trends in technology and in the industry will keep brokers informed of the changing attitudes of clients.Technology is moving faster but the availability is better than before, Malhotra said.
ClearView Wealth Limited has announced a 14% rise in Underlying Net Profit after Tax (NPAT) to $15.2 million for the six months to December 31, 2016.Simon Swanson, ClearView managing director, said the companys solid result was driven by a significant increase in sales of its flagship LifeSolutions product and positive net flows in wealth management and strong support from the Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) channel.Earnings in the life Insurance segment posted modest growth of 5% to $12.7 million, driven by statistical claims volatility that can be expected between periods due to the size and nature of a portfolio. Profit growth in this segment was driven by a 30% in-force book growth and a 31% increase in sales of the flagship LifeSolutions product.In the wealth management segment, the company has seen a 28% increase in Underlying NPAT to $1.6 million, following significant investment in the development of its contemporary platforms and products. In calendar year 2016, the number of dealer groups that recommended ClearView wealth management products tripled to 18.Meanwhile, the financial advice segment reported a 76% growth in Underlying NPAT to $1.2 million.ClearView continues to deliver strong, profitable and sustainable growth and remains on track to achieve its near and medium-term goals, said Swanson.The life insurance segment continues to be the key profit driver with the strong growth of our distribution footprint underpinning the companys profit profile and embedded value.
iSelect has announced that they have become members of the Insurance Brokers Network Australia (IBNA).The comparison service will join the largest network of independently-owned insurance brokers in the country. IBNA chairman, Gary Gribbin, welcomed the site to the fold.Although their business model is seen to be different to our other members, iSelect is equally as committed to the key principle of broking, which is to provide the very best solution for the customer, Gribbin said.As an industry we need to understand that a one size fits all approach is no longer appropriate and explore other ways of delivering our valued services to our customers.We hope our 93 members can learn a lot from iSelects experience and unique business model, Gribbin said.iSelect will look to utilise IBNAs partnerships, with major Australian insurers such as Allianz CGU and Vero , having announced a partnership with Zurich earlier this week.Managing director and CEO of iSelect, Scott Wilson, said that the firm is independently owned and is a strong supporter of the general insurance industry, which aligns well with IBNA.We understand the value of quality, independent financial advice but we also recognise that the industry must adapt to keep up with changing customer expectations, Wilson said.Like so many other industries, the general insurance industry is facing the challenges and opportunities that digitisation offers. As a digitally-enabled broker, we hope sharing our insights with IBNAs like-minded members will help us all to better serve our customers.iSelect holds an AFSL insurance broking licence and all brokers employed by the firm meet qualification standards under AFSL requirements set by ASIC , the business confirmed.
Leavitt Groups recreation and hospitality arm recently announced the addition of a new insurance agent to tap the campgrounds and parks market in areas of the south eastern US and neighboring locales.Kim Ayers will join Leavitt Recreation and Hospitality Insurance (LHRI) to facilitate the expansion of its commercial insurance offerings to RV parks, campgrounds, dude ranches, and resorts in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas.We are excited to have Kim join our team, Chris Hipple, LHRI managing general partner said in a company statement.Ayers is an alumna of the National School of RV Park and Campground Management and is an active member of the campground management community in her Augusta, Georgia, base.
If youre a broker with clients in southeastern Louisiana or Tornado Alley, then watch the weather network year-round and keep one hand on your client-alerting service.Thats the advice from Core Logics senior modeler and actuary, Howard Kunst, in retrospect to early Februarys six-tornado-disaster that saw the first EF3 tornado (maximum is EF5) in history rip through New Orleans.Despite both the magnitude and multitude of those Louisiana tornados, Kunst said the risk assessment hasnt changed but does remind everyone this kind of storm can happen anytime of the year.As they (insurers) write in these areas, they need to account for concentration of risk so they dont have a large amount in any one area, Kunst said.Hail events and tornadic events are very localized and insurance companies have in the past, where theyve had a large concentration in one area had massive losses.Building codes are one of the most notable defenses against tornadoes and Kunst made the point that New Orleans already has Hurricane-resistant codes.Tornados have a bit higher, especially an EF3, higher wind speeds than any standard hurricane, so there will be some building codes that need to be upgraded, Kunst said.What the insurers need to do is make sure all the building codes are being followed and theyre reviewing the underwriting of each account theyre adding to the books.Much like flooding, tornados have risk zones - from low to extreme - but unlike flooding these designations dont disqualify homeowners from private insurance, in part because of tornados infrequency.Excluding places like Moore, Oklahoma, where theyve been hit a couple times, the probability of any one location getting hit is still pretty small, Kunst said.Which is the reason why you need to make sure you are diversifying your risk within those locations, not just writing (policies) in one spot.Louisiana was designated a disaster zone following the devastating twisters that ripped through the state destroying homes and businesses in its wake.When an area is designated a disaster, federal money is more readily available to help people get back on their feet and get people going, Kunst said.It really speeds up the process of getting individuals rebuilding their homes and businesses.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

Trend:

Arizona State House of Representatives passed a proclamation on February 23, 2017 recognizing and condemning the Khojaly Genocide, which was committed by Armenias army against Azerbaijani civilians in 1992 fleeing the town of Khojaly in Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Read by the House Appropriation Committee Chairman Rep. Don Shooter on the House Floor, the proclamation was presented to Azerbaijans Consul General in Los Angeles Nasimi Aghayev. As a sign of respect for the innocent victims of the Khojaly Genocide, all legislators listened to the proclamation standing.

The proclamation says that on February 25 and 26, 1992, Armenian armed forces occupied the town of Khojaly in Azerbaijan and killed more than six hundred civilians, wounded more than one thousand civilians; and captured more than one thousand two hundred civilians.

The document further states: Documenting this mass killing the Human Rights Watch called it the largest massacre in the conflict; major United States and international news organizations reported about the killings with horror; and numerous governments around the world as well as State Legislatures and Governors of 20 U.S. States passed resolutions/proclamations condemning the attack.

The proclamation specifically mentions that the perpetrators of this genocide are still at large and have not been brought to justice yet.

Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan are still running high because Armenian army continues to occupy twenty percent of Azerbaijans internationally recognized territory, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the surrounding seven districts, the document continues.

It also mentions that resolutions condemning the occupation of Azerbaijans territory by Armenian forces have been passed by the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly.

The proclamation concludes by stating that the Arizona State House of Representatives honors the victims of the Khojaly tragedy, and recognizes February 26, 2017, as the 25th Anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy.

It should be noted that this is the second official document on Khojaly adopted by the Arizona State Legislature. The first document was passed by the upper chamber of the Legislature  the Arizona State Senate  on February 26, 2015.

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.

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 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.
The First Court of Appeals in Texas upheld a take-nothing jury ruling in a case filed by League City against insurer Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) in 2012.League City claimed that the firm did not pay for damages to its buildings sustained during Hurricane Ike in 2008.Hurricane Ike hit Texas as a Category 2 hurricane and caused billions of dollars in damage across the state and the Gulf Coast.According to an SE TexasRecord report, the jury ruled in favour of the city, saying TWIA violated policy provisions and failed to adhere to the Texas Insurance Code. However, it also found in favor of the company on the grounds that the city did not provide proper notice of damage or documentation of repair expenses. As a result, the $13 million suit ended up in a take-nothing decision.The report also said that TWIA did make a $750,000 payout for claims filed by League City in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. However, the city filed the suit almost four years later and without prior notice to settle allegedly unprocessed claims.
Eastern Insurance Group, a Natick, Mass.-headquartered subsidiary of Eastern Bank, has hired Mark J. Goyer as vice president and sales executive within Eastern Benefits Group, the insurance firms employee benefits division.

Goyer, who works out of the Norwell, Mass., office, brings nearly 20 years of experience in employee benefits and group insurance products to his new role. He is experienced in traditional, self and alternate funding of medical plan designs.

Prior to joining Eastern Benefits Group, Goyer worked as a group sales representative at Guardian Life in Phoenix, Ariz. After moving back to New England, he was in a similar role at Assurant Employee Benefits. Most recently, he has worked in new business development at Benemax Inc.

Source: Eastern Insurance Group

Topics Massachusetts
A man who spent more than three decades in prison for a crime he didnt commit could be getting $1.55 million from the state of Virginia.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a bill to provide compensation to 60-year-old Keith Allen Harward is awaiting Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffes signature.

Harward was released from prison in April 2016 after DNA evidence proved hes innocent of the 1982 killing of Jesse Perron and the rape of his wife in Newport News. Harward was a sailor on the USS Carl Vinson, which was stationed at the shipyard close to the victims home at the time.

The legislation providing Harward compensation passed the House and Senate without a single no vote. The governor has until March 27 to sign it into law.

Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Virginia
A breach that allowed 11 people to walk through an unattended security checkpoint lane at one of the nations busiest airports has some travelers scratching their heads about how this could happen even with the enhanced security measures put in place after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

The incident Monday at New Yorks Kennedy Airport is being investigated by the Transportation Security Administration, the agency that was created to protect the nations airports after the 2001 attacks. The TSA said three passengers did not receive required secondary screening after they set off the metal detector at the unmanned checkpoint lane.

At Bostons Logan International Airport  a staging point for two of the jetliners used in the 9/11 attacks  some travelers said they were surprised that a checkpoint lane could be left unattended at any airport.

Mistakes happen, but theyre (TSA workers) supposed to be there to protect our lives, said Kylie Welsh, who returned to Boston from a trip to Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

The TSA said in Mondays incident that all carry-on bags received required screening and that it was confident the incident presented minimal risk to the aviation transportation system.

Post-9/11 security procedures include body scans, pat-downs, fortified cockpit doors, screening of checked luggage for explosives and a ban on large containers of liquids to prevent anyone from making an improvised explosive device during flight.

This isnt the first time travelers who werent properly screened slipped through airport security.

In 2002, hundreds of passengers were evacuated at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida after a metal detector was found unplugged. About 300 passengers were rescreened and allowed back into the concourse.

In 2014, a woman who had been arrested multiple times for trying to sneak onto planes managed to slip onto a flight from San Jose to Los Angeles without a ticket.

In 2015, a Texas man walked through a security checkpoint without a ticket or identification at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and ran onto an American Airlines flight bound for Guatemala. He was arrested on a criminal trespassing charge.

Unfortunately, its not as rare as it sounds, said Jeffrey Price, a professor of aerospace management at Metropolitan State University in Denver and author of the 2008 book, Practical Aviation Security: Predicting and Preventing Future Threats.

The biggest thing I dont understand is why would everybody just walk away? What went wrong that that last person figured they could just wander off and leave the checkpoint abandoned? Price said. Im sure every TSA person there knows you just dont walk off and leave an access point open.

A TSA spokesman declined to say whether any employees have been disciplined, but said the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Bennet Waters, a former deputy assistant administrator of TSA, said the incident at JFK should not cause a crisis of confidence in airport security.

I think its fair for the flying public to be concerned any time a (security) layer is breached, but I think that concern has to be bound with the realization that there are multiple layers in the TSA security regime in use at all times, Waters said. In fact, the system is designed so that a failure in any one layer does not constitute a failure in the system at large.

Douglas Kidd, executive director of the National Association of Airline Passengers, said any kind of security breach at airports should not be tolerated.

A properly run organization would not have security breaches. Its as simple as that, Kidd said.

Colleen Furber, who was waiting in Boston to board a plane to Florida on Wednesday, said she gets concerned when she reads about people and items  including weapons  making it through airport security without being detected.

I think it happens more than you know. Obviously, a lot of things get through on a regular basis, she said. It creates anxiety for the traveling public.

But Furber said she said it wont stop her from flying.

I wouldnt put my life on hold, she said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics New York Aviation
British authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with a cyber attack that infected nearly 1 million routers used to access Deutsche Telekoms internet service, German federal police said on Thursday.

Britains National Crime Agency detained the 29-year-old Briton at one of Londons airports on Wednesday, the police said in a statement.

Deutsche Telekom welcomed the arrest and said it was considering bringing civil charges against the suspect.

The attack on Germanys largest telecom company took place in late November. Internet outages disrupted services to as many as 900,000 people, around 4.5 percent of its fixed-line customers.

It was part of a campaign targeting web-connected devices around the globe, the German government and security researchers said at the time.

The man is suspected of targeting Deutsche Telekoms routers to turn them into remotely controlled bots for mounting large-scale attacks that disrupt access to websites and computer systems, the German federal police said.

The police said the man, whom it did not name, tried to offer access to the network on the darknet, a part of the internet that cannot be accessed through normal browsers and is seen as harboring criminal activity.

Public prosecutors in the German city of Cologne have requested extradition for the man who faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Peter Maushagen; editing by Maria Sheahan and Keith Weir)

Related:

Topics Cyber
U.K.-regulated ship insurers are preparing plans to open new outposts in European Union jurisdictions such as Luxembourg and Cyprus, fearing that Brexit will hinder access to the EUs financial market, industry sources involved say.

Britain dominates the global marine insurance market and losing access to specialist protection and indemnity (P&I) clubs  marine insurers owned by shipping firms  could further weaken other parts of its multi-billion pound shipping services sector. Several Greek shipowners have already moved operations out of Britain anticipating changes that could remove their favorable non-domicile tax status.

Of the 13 major global P&I clubs, six are regulated in the United Kingdom and are estimated to account for over half the total market share of an industry that insures about 90 percent of the worlds ocean-going tonnage. Many of the clubs have been an integral part of the City of London for nearly two centuries.

Many sections of the financial industry have said they may need to relocate certain businesses after Brexit, but for P&I clubs the issue is particularly acute because a greater share of their earnings comes from elsewhere in Europe.

While negotiations between Britain and the EU have yet to start, the central concern is the loss of passporting rights that enable financial firms to operate across the bloc under the supervision of one member states regulator.

Anthony Jones, director with London Club, one of the six, said it was actively exploring our options for a post-hard Brexit operating scenario, referring to Britain making a clean break with the European Union.

We have prepared a shortlist of potential jurisdictions from which we could write EEA (European Economic Area) business, and our investigations are continuing as we attempt to identify which of these might best suit our requirements, Jones said, declining further comment.

Insurance and shipping sources say landlocked Luxembourg is among the top contenders. Two P&I clubs are already regulated there, it has a cluster of other maritime companies and businesses like its regulatory and tax regimes.

A spokeswoman for Luxembourg for Finance  the national financial development agency  said numerous U.K. companies including insurers were currently considering Luxembourg for their post-Brexit set-up. She declined further comment.

Claude Wirion, director of Luxembourgs insurance regulator CAA, said it had a long track record of supervising internationally active insurers including P&I clubs. He declined comment on whether there were discussions with other clubs.

Shipping sources said Cyprus was another possible destination, keen to boost its maritime industry and recently attracting more shipping companies, including Greek shipowners previously based in London.

A Cypriot official said there had been early communication over potential interest by clubs to establish a base there, declining further comment.

Andrew Bardot, executive officer of the International Group of P&I Clubs  the umbrella association for the 13 insurers  said other possible jurisdictions included Ireland, Germany and Greece.

Wait and see is not an option given the time that it will take (to set up) a regulated subsidiary within an EU member state, he said.

British Economy

Europe represents 30 to 50 percent of the clubs global business, partly due to the dominance of Greek shipping companies in the industry. In contrast Lloyds of London, the worlds leading specialty insurance market, gets around 11 percent of its business from countries outside Britain in the EUs shared market.

A study conducted by the City of London Corp. last year showed P&I clubs with a presence in the U.K. accounted for over 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion) of U.K. gross earned premiums, out of a total of 7.5 billion pounds for the marine insurance sector in 2014.

North Club, another British-regulated P&I insurer, said it was working on a range of contingency plans, which included a new EU outpost.

Britannia Club said it was considering its options, while Standard Club and UK Club declined to comment on their plans. Steamship Mutual Club did not have immediate comment.

Of the two regulated in Luxembourg, Shipowners Club declined to comment.

The other, West of England Club, said U.K. regulated clubs were likely to be getting on with some form of dialog with regulators like Luxembourg.

If you had to do it, you would want to be talking to at least a handful of regulators to get a dialog going with each to ensure not being at the back of the queue, said West of Englands CEO Peter Spendlove.

($1 = 0.7967 pounds)

(Additional reporting by Michele Kambas in Athens, Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels and Pamela Barbaglia in London; editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Topics Europe London
Minot officials have drafted a new governance structure for the city in hopes of giving momentum to its disaster resilience program.

City Manager Tom Barry outlined the plan to the Minot City Council earlier this month, the Minot Daily News reported. It calls for hiring a program manager and employing a former finance director to assist with the transition.

The city was awarded a $74 million National Disaster Resilience Grant a year ago. Barrys plan would hire a manager to oversee the six-year program using part of the $3.7 million included for administration. The new manager would work with Leslie Bean, lead for program consultant CDM Smith.

A city program team would also be formed with Cindy Hemphill, as interim program adviser, Derek Hackett, in public outreach and Chris Owen as compliance officer.

Hemphill, who retired as finance director this month, will continue part-time for six months to assist the resilience program.

We wanted to have continuity in the program, particularly in the buyout area and some of the other areas that she has institutional knowledge on that we want to retain, Barry said.

Barry says the proposed structure would create clear areas of communication and responsibility within the program.

Barrys plan also includes team leaders in the various project areas. In the category of flood risk and water management, team leads will exist for buyouts and ecological restoration. In the category of building a more resilient community, there will be team leads for building affordable housing, downtown gathering space and family shelter. The plan also has team leads for the center for technical education, economic development strategic plan, affordable housing master plan and funding and financing strategies for projects.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A Tulsa, Okla., jury has awarded an insurance company and its CEO $4.3 million in a defamation case.

The Oklahoman reports former state legislator and former First Trinity director Wayne Pettigrew left First Trinity Financial Corp. in 2013 and issued a news release calling for investigation of the company and its CEO related to stock purchases.

Last week a jury found Pettigrew defamed the company and its CEO, Gregg Zahn. The jury also found Pettigrew breached his fiduciary duties to the company.

First Trinity was awarded $800,000, and Zahn was awarded $3.5 million. The jury says Pettigrew intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon Zahn.

Pettigrew says his attorneys are preparing an appeal.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Carriers Oklahoma
A bill has been filed in the Texas Senate that seeks to curb what the authors of the legislation say is a skyrocketing number of lawsuits filed against insurers for bogus or inflated hailstorm claims.

Senate Bill 10, filed by Senate Business and Commerce Committee Chair Kelly Hancock, of North Richland Hills, is intended to combat this trend.

Supporters of the bill say increased litigation after hailstorms has led to insurers decreasing and even declining to insure homes against hailstorms in the areas with the most lawsuits.

At a legislative hearing in December 2016, Texas Department of Insurance Senior Actuary Brian Ryder summarized the preliminary findings of a TDI data call on post-storm litigation. Ryder said the data show that starting in 2012 the percentage of claims involving attorneys or public adjusters has increased in some areas. On average, that involvement has led to higher payments in such cases and longer settlement times.

However, at the same Dec. 1, 2016, hearing, opponents of legislation to limit policyholder lawsuits argued that while the data show there may be a problem in some areas of the state, the trend is by no means statewide.

Joe Matetich, with the Office of Public Insurance County (OPIC), told lawmakers that TDIs preliminary data shows that statewide hail litigation crisis does not currently exist in Texas, and that there does not appear to be an insurance market problem in the state.

Both Matetich and Bryan Blevins, with the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, asserted that if the experience of Hidalgo County in 2012 was removed from the analysis, the data would show that between 2012 and 2015 claims payouts actually came in below the 15-year average.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott weighed in on the subject in his 2017 state of the state address. Calling lawsuits against insurers following hailstorms the newest form of lawsuit abuse, Abbott said in his Jan. 31 speech that he would like to see on his desk legislation that limits abusive hailstorm litigation.

In announcing his bill, Hancock said that barratry, the practice of inciting clients to sue companies, is at the heart of the problem.

Essentially theyre stormchasers who partner with unethical roofers and public adjusters and recruit homeowners to file unnecessary lawsuits instead of moving through the standard insurance claims process, he said .

Another factor contributing to the surge in hailstorm litigation is that insurers can be sued separately under two different sections of state law, potentially doubling the number of suits and damages paid by a losing insurer, according to Hancock.

Hancocks bill would bar attorneys from collecting fees if an insurance company can prove barratry, and clarifies that a suit can only be filed through one of the two related sections of the state code.

It also gives an insurance company 60 days notice before a lawsuit progresses so that they can have a chance to remedy the issue with the home owner before they get to court and prohibits filing suit against a claims adjuster personally.

Hancock was joined at the press conference by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who directed the Business and Commerce Committee to study this issue last year. Patrick also assigned the bill one of his specially reserved low bill numbers to reflect the priority he places on the issue.

Related:

Topics Lawsuits Carriers Catastrophe Natural Disasters Legislation Texas
Women who have abortions in Florida would find it easier to sue the doctors who performed the procedure, under a contentious bill now moving through the state House.

But its unclear if the legislation  which has been opposed by some Republicans  will become law since theres no companion measure moving through the state Senate.

A House panel on Wednesday narrowly approved a bill that would give women more time to sue physicians for physical or emotional injuries stemming from abortions.

Most legal claims arising from medical procedures must be filed within four years, but the bill would allow lawsuits to be filed for up to 10 years following the abortion.

Rep. Erin Grall, a Vero Beach Republican sponsoring the legislation, says the change will help women who may not understand all the consequences of an abortion because they werent properly informed before they consented to the procedure.

But the legislation is opposed by those who support abortion rights as well as groups that represent Florida doctors.

Dr. Douglas Murphy, an Ocala-based obstetrician, called the measure punitive.

This bill seeks to intimidate physicians who perform abortions, said Murphy, who added that he doesnt perform them as part of his practice.

The bill was approved 9-7 in the House Health Care Quality subcommittee. Two Republicans voted with Democrats in opposition. House Speaker Richard Corcoran added House Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues to the panel shortly before the vote in order to ensure were enough votes to pass it. The legislation has one more stop before it reaches the full House.

A House analysis states that similar legislation was passed in the 1990s in South Dakota and Louisiana. The South Dakota law was struck down in a legal challenge, but the Louisiana version withstood several lawsuits.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Florida Legislation
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov says he intends to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement during an official visit to Moscow in March.

Mammadyarov made this announcement during a joint briefing with Djiboutis Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mahamoud Ali Youssouf in Baku Feb. 24.

Mammadyarov noted that he is not optimistic about the negotiations on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Armenian foreign minister hasnt left chances for us to positively assess the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, noted the Azerbaijani minister.

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.
Most careers in finance involve finding effective ways to manage an organization's money to create wealth and increase the organization's value. Finance majors prepare for this career by studying planning, raising funds, making wise investments, and controlling costs. This knowledge sets them up for a wide array of career paths in all areas of financial services, including corporate finance and investing.

Increasingly, however, finance students who are also skilled in select non-finance areas may have the upper hand regarding job opportunities.

Key Takeaways Finance majors and MBA students may want to consider taking courses outside of general finance curricula at school.

Companies often look to hire well-rounded employees, even for specialized jobs.

Advanced mathematics and economics can be useful areas of study for finance majors.

Some business schools offer courses on ethics.

After graduation, finance majors may find work in many industries like banking, investment, and accounting.



What Companies May Want to See in Finance Curricula

Executives in search of well-rounded finance students look for certain skills. Surveys have found that these executives want schools to place more emphasis on qualitative, strategic, critical decision-making, and communication skills, which are sometimes developed better in non-finance classes.

If you want to get the best possible preparation for the finance world from your undergraduate or even graduate education, think about classes that may fall outside of the finance curriculum.

1:27 7 Courses Finance Students Should Take

Non-Finance Courses for Finance Majors

As business schools continue to revamp MBA curricula away from solely traditional courses, here are some classes finance majors might want to consider to round out their degrees to make themselves not only more appealing to future employees but also MBA admissions teams.

1. Accounting

Financial and managerial accounting courses teach finance students how to understand, record, and report financial transactions, monitor the company's budgets, performance, and examine the costs of the organization's products and services.

2. Advanced Mathematics

Courses in college algebra and calculus will help students learn how to solve equations in complex financial markets. Statistics courses can help learn to make decisions based on the likelihood of various outcomes. They would teach finance students to reach conclusions about general differences between groups and large batches of information. Courses in statistics would also help to explain the movements of a company's stock.

3. Communications

A communications course, such as public speaking, helps finance students present financial reports and explain the meaning behind equations and numbers to colleagues in group settings.

Good communication also can help when managing people and organizations, such as delegating responsibilities to employees within a finance department. Business students also need courses in corporate communications, crisis communications, and public relations strategies.

4. Economics

Economics looks at how scarce resources are allocated to achieve needs and wants. A course in macroeconomics would teach finance students to understand the impact of financial market activities on the overall economy. Microeconomics would help them learn about the behaviors that occur within individual firms and among consumers and how various financial decisions can affect a firm's success.

5. Ethics

The incidence of corporate scandals has encouraged some business schools, such as the University of San Francisco and Loyola University Chicago, to add ethics courses to their finance curricula. These courses focus on moral development in an attempt to stem future misconduct in business environments.

6. Psychology

Financial professionals need to understand the behaviors and thought processes that help drive movements in financial markets. Behavioral psychology can show finance majors how to examine human behavior and its impact within a financial environment.

Behavioral finance can help students explore why and how the financial markets aren't working by examining how investors' behaviors are associated with market anomalies.

Psychology courses are not just for therapists. By examining the emotions and thoughts behind investors' actions, finance professionals can learn to pinpoint where investors make mistakes and how to correct them.

7. Writing

Finance curricula miss the boat by not including basic courses in writing and grammar, including technical writing. More often than not, students graduate with a master of business administration (MBA) degree but cannot form their thoughts cogently in writing. Writing courses teach students to craft strong, clear, and organized ideas for memos, reports, and letters.

The Bottom Line

Students studying finance will be tasked with big responsibilities in their careers, like managing the flow of money at their companies and identifying financial risks and returns to make effective business decisions.

Those finance majors who want to have an edge over their competition, both during the initial post-graduate job search and throughout their careers, should consider taking advanced mathematics, accounting, economics, psychology, communications, and writing courses to gain deeper insight into their jobs and a better ability to work effectively with people.

Should Finance Majors Consider Taking Writing Courses? Yes. Finance majors, along with most majors, can benefit from writing courses, as strong communication skills are an asset in most jobs.

What Does MBA Stand For? An MBA is a Master in Business Administration and many undergraduate finance students continue their studies to earn one.
Top News - Investor Idea

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.

Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea

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.

Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea

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.

Top Health and Wellness News - Investor Idea

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.

Check out our Podcasts for great investor ideas:

Get new posts by email: Subscribe Powered by

Investorideas.com Newswire:

Subscribe to Investor Ideas Newswire
Details added (first version posted on 18:20)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijan will once again raise in UNESCO the issue of violation of international law by foreign nationals engaged in illegal archaeological activity in Azerbaijans territories occupied by Armenia, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend.

He said Yolanda Fernandez Jalvo, a researcher at the Spanish National Museum of Natural Sciences, Tania King, director of Azokh Project of the Blandford Town Museum, UK, and Peter Andrews, a researcher at Londons Natural History Museum, have carried out excavations since 2002 in the Azykh cave located in Azerbaijans occupied territories.

These persons by illegally crossing Azerbaijans state border are engaged in archaeological activity in the countrys territory, transport archaeological artifacts found in this area without declaring them at customs, Hajiyev noted.

The illegal actions of these persons are the violation of the territorial integrity and laws of Azerbaijan.

By their illegal activities, they also violated international law, international humanitarian law, including the UNESCO Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, Hajiyev added.

He also noted with regret that Spains National Museum of Natural Sciences and Ministry of Science and Technology, the UKs NUI Galway University, and London Branch of Armenian General Benevolent Union didnt take the necessary measures to prevent the illegal activity of their staff in Azerbaijans territory.

He added that Armenia impedes UNESCO from holding monitoring of Azerbaijans cultural and historical monuments in the occupied territories.

Levon Yepiskoposyan, a research fellow at the Institute of Molecular Biology of Armenias National Academy of Sciences, is one of the leaders of the illegal research in the Azykh cave, Hajiyev said.

Azerbaijani Prosecutor Generals Office has initiated a criminal case against these persons, investigation is underway, he noted.

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: @Asebaa
Star Wars: The Force Awakens created quite a buzz on these shores with part of it being filmed on Skellig Michael in Co Kerry.

And it seems director JJ Abrams has nothing but fond memories of his time here.

Last night the Oscar Wilde Awards took place in the US, an event that celebrates Irish and Irish-American contributions to cinema.

Abrams was hosting the event and he spoke to 2fm's Stephen Byrne about his gra for working in Ireland and with Irish people.

"I'm thrilled to have people who have never been lucky enough to work there or travel through Ireland, get to experience at least a taste of what it's like and to see the benefit of working not just with people from Ireland but actually in Ireland itself.

"It was an incredible experience. And I look forward to doing it again."

Abrams also gave a moving tribute to the late Carrie Fisher saying her loss will be remembered forever.

"She'll be remembered for exactly who she was - one of the most brilliant minds."

You can check out the interview here:
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Relations between Azerbaijan and Djibouti have been in the process of development for many years, said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

Mammadyarov was addressing a briefing after his meeting with Djiboutian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mahamoud Ali Youssouf in Baku Feb. 24.

Djibouti has always supported Azerbaijans position in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Mammadyarov. It is important to note that the Djiboutian parliament adopted a declaration condemning the Khojaly genocide.

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.

Mammadyarov also noted that the two countries actively cooperate within international organizations.

He added that the two countries need to raise the level of economic relations to the level of political relations.

Mammadyarov said Djibouti plans to sign an agreement on freight traffic with Azerbaijan.

There are plans to cooperate within the free economic zone in Djibouti, he noted.

The two countries also intend to develop cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, particularly, the education of Djiboutian youth at Azerbaijani universities is being discussed, added Mammadyarov.

The Azerbaijani minister also said a memorandum of understanding on political consultations was signed today between the two countries foreign ministries.
Delays to the long-running inquest for missing Northern Ireland schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson are worthwhile, a coroner's court has been told.

The case, which opened almost exactly a year ago, has been stalled for months as efforts are made to obtain information from authorities in the Republic of Ireland.

Although some material has now been handed over, Judge Brian Sherrard told a preliminary hearing at Belfast's Laganside Court he wanted to retain momentum.

The coroner said: "This is a worthwhile exercise. It may ultimately come to a point when we are putting a line underneath all of this but we are not at that point yet."

Arlene, 15, from Castlederg in Co Tyrone, vanished after a night out across the Irish border in Co Donegal in August 1994.

She was last seen being driven down a country road by convicted paedophile and child killer Robert Howard.

Despite extensive searches, including a fresh dig late last year, the teenager's remains have never been found.

Judge Sherrard is seeking more information on three key areas including the lines of inquiry pursued by An Garda Siochana; searches carried out south of the border; and a purported meeting between Garda officers and Howard's former girlfriend Patricia Quinn and her daughter Donna Quinn in Letterkenny.

He added: "We are still seeking this information. It is a task that has not been entirely straightforward to date."

The coroner has previously spoken about the level of red tape hampering cross border co-operation, but a legislative change by Irish justice minister Frances Fitzgerald has authorised the sharing of information.

The disclosed material is due to be disseminated among legal teams for the Arkinson family and PSNI within a fortnight, the court was told.

Judge Sherrard noted that the PSNI may want to make "applications" in relation to some of the material.

"There are matters that will undoubtedly be of interest to the PSNI," he said.

Meanwhile, the Arkinson family, who have closely followed court proceedings, were not present for the brief hearing.

Judge Sherrard added: "I want to reassure them I am mindful as to the timescales involved and I will remain mindful as to the timescales."

Robert Howard was acquitted of Arlene's murder in 2005 by a jury not told of his lengthy criminal past which included the murder of South London teenager Hannah Williams several years earlier.

However he remained the prime suspect in the Arkinson case until his death in prison in 2015.The inquest has been adjourned until March.
Malaysian authorities are decontaminating the airport where the estranged half-brother of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un was killed with a deadly nerve agent 11 days ago.

Meanwhile police said one of the women suspected of attacking Kim Jong Nam had been ill since the attack.

Police did not initially decontaminate the Kuala Lumpur airport where Mr Kim was attacked on February 13, but in a text message to a reporter, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said: "We are doing it now."

The move came after authorities said banned chemical weapon VX was used to kill Mr Kim.

Mr Khalid said one of the two women accused of wiping the toxin on Mr Kim's face was later ill and suffered from vomiting.

He did not say which of the women - one Indonesian and one Vietnamese - had fallen ill.

VX was detected on Mr Kim's eyes and face, Mr Khalid said, citing a preliminary analysis from Malaysia's Chemistry Department.

The death of Mr Kim, whose daylight assassination in a crowded airport terminal seems straight out of a spy novel, has unleashed a diplomatic crisis that escalates by the day.

A Japanese religious cult that carried out the nerve gas attack on Tokyo's underground rail network in 1995 also used VX.

The Aum Shinrikyo cult, which killed about a dozen commuters and severely injured dozens more with sarin, another kind of nerve gas, tried VX out on at least three victims, killing one whom cult members believed was a police informant.

In their trial, the cultists said they practised using syringes to spray the deadly chemical on people's necks as they pretended to be out jogging.

The suspected informant spent 10 days in a coma before dying.

With each new twist in the Kim case, international speculation grows that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to Malaysia to kill Kim Jong Un's exiled older sibling while he was checking in for a flight to Macau, where he lived with his family.

North Korea has condemned Malaysia's investigation as full of "holes and contradictions" and accused authorities of being in league with Pyongyang's enemies.

After the attack, Mr Kim sought help from airport staff but fell into convulsions and died on the way to hospital within two hours, police said.

The case has perplexed toxicologists, who question how the women could have walked away unscathed after handling a powerful poison, even if, as Malaysian police say, the women were instructed to wash their hands right after the attack.

Dr Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said even a tiny amount of the nerve agent - equal to a few grains of salt - was capable of killing.

It can be administered through the skin and there is an antidote that can be administered by injection.

US medics and military personnel carried kits with them on the battlefield during the Iraq war in case they were exposed to the chemical weapon.

"It's a very toxic nerve agent. Very, very toxic," Dr Goldberger said.

He said symptoms from VX would generally occur within seconds or minutes and could last for hours starting with confusion, possible drowsiness, headache, nausea, vomiting, runny nose and watery eyes.

Before death, there would probably be convulsions, seizures, loss of consciousness and paralysis.

The case has marked a serious turnaround in relations between Malaysia and North Korea.

While Malaysia is not one of Pyongyang's key diplomatic partners, it is one of the few places in the world where North Koreans can travel without a visa.

As a result, for years, it has been a quiet destination for Northerners looking for jobs, schools and business deals.

Malaysia has three people in custody, including the two suspected attackers.

Authorities are also seeking several other people, including the second secretary of North Korea's embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo.
Update 5.35pm: The death toll from a car bomb at a marketplace in Somalia's capital Mogadishu has risen to 34 with 52 injured, said a police officer.

Many of the dead were carried away by their relatives soon after the blast, said Captain Mohamed Hussein.

"It was a horrific and barbaric attack only aimed at killings civilians," he said from the scene of the blast.

Sabriye Abdullahi, an ambulance driver said that some of the injured victims died on their way to the hospitals.

"Many of them suffered extensive third degree burns and others were burned beyond recognition," he said.

Earlier: A blast at a busy market in Somalia's capital has killed at least 15 people, police said.

Captain Mohamed Hussein said the powerful explosion, thought to be from a car bomb, tore through shops and food stands in Mogadishu's Madina district on Sunday.

He said the bomb also wounded more than 10 others and casualties may rise as many of the wounded suffered horrific wounds.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.

However, Somalia's homegrown Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, often carry out such attacks.

Despite being ousted from large parts of south and central Somalia, al-Shabab continues to carry out guerrilla attacks in this Horn of Africa nation.

AP
He said that the review of tracker mortgages involved two million accounts, and to ensure a fair outcome for consumers, the review had to be painstaking.

Following briefings at UCC and Cork Chamber, Mr Lane declined to comment on whether the number of customers put on the wrong tracker could be upwards of 20,000.
ADVERTISERS could yet prove to be a driving force in creating a sustainable online environment for quality investigative journalism, suggests a leading figure in Irish advertising.

Paul Moran, MD of marketing and advertising company Mediaworks, says companies are becoming increasingly conscious of not placing their online promotions alongside fake news. Many companies are also mindful not to have their brand associated with online publishers who carry content which is either racist or discriminatory against minority groups.

One standout global example was food producer Kellog Co's decision to stop advertising online with Breibart News. Kellog deemed the site, which is owned by Donald Trump's advisor Stephen Bannon, to be an unfit platform for its adverts due to its support of 'white nationalism' and 'alt right' groups.

The Co-op group in the UK decided to pull their advertising from certain media because they felt that their news content contradicted what the supermarket chain stood for, said Paul Moran. This raises important questions about the need for quality journalistic content going forward.

Advertisers want to be associated with content that is responsible, open and honest. What I can say about our clients is that I don't know of any company operating in Ireland which would be happy to be associated with content that would be viewed as offensive or hurtful towards minority groups. Our commercial clients certainly don't want to be associated with offensive content.

This view carries some weight. Mediaworks is one of nine agencies who come under the Core Media umbrella, along with Mediavest, Starcom, ZenithOptimedia, Core Knowledge, Engage Communications, Livewire, Ignite and Radical.

Core Media's recent 'Outlook 2017' report projects a 3.3% increase in an overall Irish advertising spend of 915m this year. TV is to rise 2.5% to 243m, radio to drop 3.5% to 123m, print to drop 9.5% to 138m, and online investment to rise 13.5% to 328m.

In a wide-ranging report, Core Media proposed that Irish news organisations could set a global example by gathering under a shared paywall, the proceeds of which would fund quality journalism. If 10% of Irish adults subscribed 5 per month or 50 per year, the fund could generate more than 17m in revenue.

Naturally enough, Paul Moran admits that the idea is intended more as a starter for a debate rather than a workable proposal. Nonetheless, he says the explosion of 'fake news' is fueling a growing need for a debate about credible news content.

Of course, this is not just about online content, he said. Radio music stations are devoting more time to celebrity gossip than real news. There's also a dumbing down across the print and broadcast media that people are consuming.

This starts with people making personal media choices; too many of us are choosing simplistic soundbites over quality content. Fake news has been a growing problem for the past decade, and quality journalism is being diluted as a direct consequence of the choices people make about what they want to consume.

In the past, people would come in and take turns sifting through a newspaper sitting on a coffee table. They shared quality content, managed and verified by quality journalists and editors.

Mr Moran paints a clear path linking the shift towards people making their own media choices, the general dumbing down of content, the dilution of investigative journalism and the demise of both public discourse and informed debate.

We see the product of this culture of simplistic soundbites in the US presidential elections and in the Brexit vote result, he said.

However, it remains to be seen how a shared paywall would work, and not just due to the challenge of bringing competing Irish media companies into one room. Irish print and broadcast media companies realise that their real competitors are global digital content producers rather than their neighbouring journalists.

Indeed, outside of conflict over who would manage the resulting fund, and how to split it, and any debate about what constitutes 'quality' journalism, the bigger problem is that the any advertising revenue aligned to digital content is currently being hoovered up by the likes of Facebook and Google.

That was the experience with an attempt by 'rear guard' traditional media producers in Slovenia to gather behind a shared paywall, managed by Piano Media. Despite the added language barrier against global media competition, Piano's paywall generated just 65,000 in 2012.

Poynter.org writer Rick Edmonds estimates that Facebook alone sucked around 1 billion out of US print advertising budgets in 2016. US newspapers that once generated 40bn a year are now down below 15bn and sliding.

The advertising budgets have migrated, a lot of it to online spend. For those fans of old style reliable content, there must at least be some encouragement in Paul Moran's informed industry view that many advertisers would be much happier aligning their brand to guaranteed real news outlets.

Of course, people will be able to pick holes in the paywall idea, but at least then they might push themselves to come up with a better idea, said Paul Moran. I do know that if 10% of people were to pay for that news service, then they'd most likely be educated, probably people with a good income.

They're the kind of people that our advertisers would be willing to pay a premium to access. Supermarkets sell to families. The actions taken by the Co-op group in the UK and Kellogs in the States also show that companies want to be aligned to trusted sites, with quality content.

Perhaps the shared paywall is not the whole answer, but it can feed the debate. As a small market, there is an opportunity here for Irish news organisations to set an example for other markets and demonstrate true innovation in their medium.
Our focus is on ensuring we can continue to service our clients whatever the Brexit outcome, Hugh Fraser, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley, said. Our strong franchise and material presence in Europe gives us options, and we will adapt as the details of Brexit become clear. Given all of this, no decisions have yet been made.

International banks have begun looking to move jobs out of the UK after prime minister Theresa May said she plans to pull Britain out of the single market. Global banks in London may have to shift 1.8 trillion of assets to the continent after Brexit is completed, putting as many as 30,000 UK jobs at risk, according to Brussels-based research group Bruegel. Before the vote, Bloomberg News reported that Morgan Stanley would likely move 1,000 of about 6,000 UK employees out of Britain in the event of Brexit.
Details added (first version posted on 14:09)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijan is making a huge contribution to Islamic solidarity, and declaration of 2017 as the Year of Islamic Solidarity in Azerbaijan is a vivid proof of that, Djiboutian Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said.

He made the remarks Feb. 24 at a joint briefing with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

Djibouti will continue support Azerbaijans position in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the four UN Security Council resolutions adopted during the presidency of Djibouti in the UN General Assembly, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said.

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.

The Djiboutian minister also said his country is interested in developing comprehensive cooperation with Azerbaijan, and the great distance between the two countries shouldnt be a problem for this.

Cooperation in cargo transportation is being discussed currently, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said.

Through cooperation with Djibouti, Azerbaijan can enter the African market, he noted.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Asebaa
Mr Kenny outlined the controversial position at a crunch meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels yesterday.

Speaking at a joint press conference which also heard Mr Juncker confirm he does not want a hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland and Mr Kenny say he will represent Ireland at EU leaders Brexit strategy talks in early April, the Taoiseach said a United Ireland clause must be included in any EU-UK deal.

Citing the reunification of east and west Germany in 1990 and the language of the 1998 Good Friday agreement allowing for a united Ireland vote should one be sought in the future, the Taoiseach said: If at some future time, whenever that might be, if it [a successful United Ireland vote] were to occur, that Northern Ireland would have ease of access to join as a member of the European Union again.

And we want that language inserted into the negotiated treaty or the negotiated outcome.

Mr Kenny said language can be copied from the Good Friday agreement and pasted into a future Brexit treaty to enable Northern Ireland to re-enter the bloc without signing a separate treaty.

We want that to remain in such a position that the language of whats contained in the Good Friday Agreement will also be contained in the negotiation outcome, he said.

While Mr Juncker declined to say if he supported the plan - simply saying the Good Friday agreement is like a poem and speaks for itself - Mr Kennys comment was welcomed by Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams last night.

However, it is likely to be heavily criticised by both the DUP and UUP and form a key part of the ongoing Stormont election campaign.

Meanwhile, during the same meeting the EU gave its clearest indication yet that it will work for an invisible Irish post-Brexit border.

Speaking to reporters Mr Juncker said he wants to keep the border as open as possible, adding: We dont want to have hard borders between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

However, in keeping with previous comments on the issued there is still no clarity on how a hard border can be avoided.

The Taoiseach will return to Brussels next week for further meetings, and says he hopes to stay on as leader when Brexit talks kick off, which is expected in early April.

He told reporters yesterday he intends to represent Ireland at planned EU leaders Brexit strategy talks at that time - giving a clear indication he will not immediately step down after returning from the White House.
Canvassing, money, stand-out policies, debates, campaign teams and of course the inevitable whiteboards will feature in the different leadership camps as candidates vie to win the title of Taoiseach.

Key supporters and campaigners for Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar and Housing Minister Simon Coveney, the two top contenders, have spoken to the Irish Examiner about initial plans.

Both teams have already done the numbers and have very different approaches in attempts to win a leadership vote when Mr Kenny formally outlines his resignation, as is now expected next month.

Sources close to Varadkar told the Irish Examiner to expect a campaign like one in a general election.

It is expected his team will move away from what has been considered a phoney war and now focus on winning regional support, policies, debates and speeches and on who comes into the inner circle.

Those close to Varadkar point to his differing views and priority issues to Coveney which will set him out as a stronger and more modern politician.

These include his position on abortion, the laws for which he previously said were far too restrictive. Coveney, on the other hand, has said politicians should not be pushed into expressing their views on this in public.

Those watching the Coveney camp are also conscious of the large amounts of money he spent during his campaign in the 2004 European elections and are not ruling out the Cork man doing the same this time when it comes to resourcing teams of campaigners, social media, transport or other spends during the inevitable hustings.

Both teams are clear about the Fine Gael numbers game  which is that 73 Fine Gael parliamentarians command 65% of a leadership vote, some 25,000 members will get a ballot paper which amounts to 25% of the total, while 234 party councillors then make up the remaining 10% of the tally.

In Varadkars camp, junior finance minister Eoghan Murphy is seen as a key strategist. For Coveney, junior housing minister Damien English is cited as his potential campaign manager.

On Coveneys team, there is a focus on gaining support of the membership, a quarter of the leadership vote. This could bring Coveney over the line, in what is now viewed as a close race between the two.

Members will be told they are essentially electing a Taoiseach. This will feel special, said a strong parliamentarian supporter of Coveney.

In the Coveney camp, the suggestion is Varadkar is good on message and soundbites but Coveney has done the work and has the record. This may be key during the leadership hustings.

Coveneys team point to his record as minister for agriculture, his ambition and initiative in his current housing portfolio, his success during the programme for government talks with the Independents and his more stable manner than Leo Varadkar during those negotiations.

The Coveney camp want to keep things more low key.

It will be a Seanad-style election race, hitting doorsteps for personal votes and a lot of tea but away from the media. It may be a media flop, especially if around Easter away from Dublin, said a Coveney supporter.

The extra few weeks before Enda Kenny comes back from the US and resigns, as is now expected, is also seen as a huge advantage for the Coveney camp, who admit they still have to play catch up and get their message out.

Sources on both sides also do not expect a serious challenge from any possible third or fourth candidate, such as Health Minister Simon Harris or Richard Bruton.

But their support could be instrumental in a final vote. We have a taoiseach but the race to succeed him is on.
All were at the same party and all had taken the synthetic and illegal N Bomb.

The real and varied dangers of taking synthetic drugs were outlined at yesterdays inquest into the death of Alex Ryan of Millstreet in Co Cork.

In all, six party-goers were rushed to hospital that January night last year after a house party in Greenmount on Corks southside.

Eighteen-year-old Alex did not survive. He took the drugs on January 19, 2016, and was put on a life-support machine at Cork University Hospital. He died four days later on January 23.

Cork city coroner Philip Comyn said the HSE, gardai and other authority figures who have personal experiences of the dangers of drug-taking need to work together to educate young people about the dangers of taking illegal substances.

Siobhan Talbot, 20, said she took the same drug Alex consumed: she was found dancing naked in the house by gardai and paramedics.

Mark Naundorf, 19, took two tabs of N Bomb: he was found dancing naked on the street by gardai  he was bleeding as he had smashed a mirror and was dancing on the broken glass.

Assistant state pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster, warned that taking drugs like 251 N Bomb or CP2, amounts to Russian roulette as there is no quality control on such street drugs.

Det Sgt Jason Lynch told the inquest that synthetic drugs are often bulked with other agents such as rat poison and Ajax cement cleaner.
Around 40 students are present for the international SMARTlab PhD conference, having come to Caherciveen, Co Kerry, from countries such as South Korea, Uganda, and Turkey, but also including four students based in the local area.

The conference has been organised with the support of NAISC, the Skellig Coast Diaspora Network.

Education and learning have always been respected and encouraged in the region, and the local community has warmly embraced the seminar which is based in Caherciveen library.

June OConnell, chair of the diaspora network, believes such events can lift muinin in a region that has been decimated by emigration.

Usually, doctoral research students are based within institutions, but the practice-led approach allows people continue with business, trade, and family, and stay within the locality.

We lost so many young people, we cant afford to lose those who want to stay here, says Ms OConnell.

Marine biologist Lucy Hunt, from Waterville, who set up a company called Sea Synergy, is one of the students taking part.

Its an amazing and unique opportunity as it allows me to continue to live, work, and study at home in south-west Kerry, a place I love, she said.

I established a marine awareness centre in 2014, Sea Synergy, in my home place of Waterville.

This PhD will now give me the platform, knowledge, and skills to raise awareness of how the marine environment can contribute to the wellbeing of our community.

Professor Lizbeth Goodman, of UCD and founder of SMARTlab, said: SMARTlab and the UCD Inclusive Design Research Centre of Ireland are delighted to return to Kerry for the sixth time in five years and to be bringing the plan for a vibrant research hub and creative technology innovation centre to fruition in Cahirciveen.

Our practice-based interdisciplinary Thematic PhD has graduated over 40 successful PhDs to date, from five universities over 25 years.

We currently supervise 24 PhDs, four of whom are local experts from south Kerry and we have a highly qualified cohort of additional PhD applicants from the region as well.

We are setting up a research and training centre for Virtual Reality and Creative Tech, including a Makerspace and community technology hub for use by locals and visitors to the area alike.

Prof Goodman said: We are also setting up visiting student and staff exchange programmes with top universities from the SMARTlab network worldwide, and hope that the arrival of new groups of experts in both scholarship and community engagement will add to the already diverse and exciting opportunities here in the Skellig region.

We are hugely grateful to the community here for the years of invitation and welcome, for support and encouragement, and for inspiration.

A special ceremony took place within the walls of Caher Gael ring fort, near Caherciveen, to mark the opening of the conference.

The LightTipi art installation is the work of artist and PhD candidate Cheryl LHirondelle, of the Cree indigenous peoples of North America. The artist recreated a traditional Cree tipi with high-resolution torches and used sage smoke to highlight the beams and shape of the tipi.

Each of the poles that would hold up a tipi represents a core value of the community. June OConnell said the symbolism has many similarities to the values that have been holding up communities on the Skellig coast for generations.

The 15 poles/light beams were held by people in the community  from Kells to Castlecove  who have been minding the essence of our own place for many years, and were very grateful for their heavy lifting, she said.

The conference concludes today.
Lyndsey Gervin, aged 33, from Coalisland, Co Tyrone, is one of nine people who sued for soft tissue injuries arising out of the August 2008 accident when a car allegedly collided with the rear of a mini-bus the group were in on their way to a night out at the dogs in Dundalk.

They claim the car left the scene immediately and no one got its registration.

The nine, including the driver, brought a claim for injuries, which they say left them in pain for some time, against the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) which compensates victims of uninsured drivers.

MIBI denies their claims.

After seven of them were awarded compensation of between 3,000 and 8,500 in the Circuit Court, MIBI appealed to the High Court. The two who were not successful cross-appealed. A tenth man in the bus did not put in a claim.

On the first day of the appeal, Ms Gervin told her counsel, Patrick McCann, she had to do away with going to the gym after the incident. She had gone regularly before then.

When the case resumed yesterday, Jonathan Kilfeather, for MIBI, asked that Ms Gervin be recalled as certain information about her had been learned overnight from her Facebook page.

Mr Kilfeather put it to her that an entry she made in January 2014, stating am actually too excited about going back to workout Defo Gona b good an stick at it this time... meant she had been at the gym since the incident.

So did further entries referring to another night of pain lol and about it being worth it, Mr Kilfeather suggested to her.

Ms Gervin said it was part of her efforts to advertise her partners gym among her friends.

Those references were a joke among the Facebook friends to get one of the girls in the group going because that girl was doing stuff outside the group, she said.

It did not mean she had gone back to the gym because she hadnt, she said.

That is girly stuff, it would not interest you, she told Mr Kilfeather.

Ms Gervin told her own counsel her Facebook page was supposed to be private. Mr Kilfeather said the material had been downloaded from a public page.

In her evidence about the incident itself, Ms Gervin said all she remembered about the car which hit them was the sound of tyres squealing as it sped off. She said she was completely shocked by the impact of the collision.

Five of the others who have given evidence so far also said they either did not see the car or all they knew was it might have been green and there might have been two people in it.

The case continues.
Bjorn Kjos, the head of Norwegian, made his comments at the launch of the long-awaited service from Cork Airport to TF Green Airport in Providence, south of Boston, with one-way fares starting from 69.

He also announced four weekly flights to the US from Shannon  two to Providence/Boston and two to Stewart Airport, New York  and 12 flights a week from Dublin  daily to Stewart New York and five to Providence/Boston.

While record-low one-way fares of 69 went on sale yesterday, the average return fare on the Cork route is expected to average around 300.

Norwegian boss Bjorn Kjos announces first direct transatlantic flights from #Cork Airport to US #CorkUS https://t.co/gLe9y5quuC  Eoin English (@EoinBearla) February 23, 2017

With the first ever transatlantic flights from Cork, we are shaking up trans- atlantic travel with ground-breaking fares and never before seen routes, Mr Kjos said.

The cost of transatlantic travel has been too high for too long so by connecting Irish cities with smaller US airports, we can offer some truly affordable fares, allowing as many people as possible to fly.

The flights from Cork will operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The flights will depart Cork at 4.20pm and arrive at TF Green Airport, Providence, at 7.05pm.

The flights from Shannon will fly to Boston/Providence on Monday and Friday, and to Stewart Airport in New York on Wednesday and Sunday. The flights will operate daily from Dublin to Stewart Airport, and five times a week  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday  to Providence/Boston.

Mr Kjos said he is still exploring the launch of a service to the greater New York area from Cork  with expectations that it will be launched next year.

However, there was some concern that after Cork Airports work to secure the licence for Norwegian, the airline also chose to launch flights from Dublin and Shannon.

The DAA said market forces were behind the airlines decision.

Norwegian, like any of our customers, decide where they want to place their aircraft, a spokesman said.

Cork Airport put in a huge amount of work to get these flights, and that was supported by the DAA all the way.

But it was always going to be the case that Norwegian would launch flights out of Dublin  the largest population base.

Despite the concerns, the announcement has been hailed as a game-changer for Cork Airport, which has finally landed the first direct transatlantic service in its 56-year history.

Norwegian will do for low-cost transatlantic services what Ryanair and others have done for low-cost European services, Airport managing director Niall MacCarthy said.

On that basis, we are really thrilled with the news. Cork Airport, already the Republic of Irelands second busiest airport, is now also Irelands newest transatlantic airport.

The routes will be operated using the new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

Mr Kjos dismissed concerns about the lack of pre-clearance by saying his passengers will be through the secondary airports quicker than the larger airports.

He said landing at these secondary airports, and using the super efficient MAX aircraft, has allowed the airline offer the ultra low-fares.

However, the aircrafts performance on the Cork-Providence route will be examined closely over the coming months amid concerns Cork Airports runway may not be long enough for a fully-laden aircraft flying to Stewart Airport.

Local Government Minister Simon Coveney praised airport management for delivering the first transatlantic flights.

This is a breakthrough of significant proportions, he said.

Conor Healy, CEO of Cork Chamber, described it as an historic day for Cork and the wider Munster region.

It is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the business, cultural, and tourism ties between Ireland and across the Atlantic, he said.

Seanad leader Jerry Buttimer, who has family in New England, booked seats on the new Cork service yesterday for 69 outbound, and just over 200 return. He said it was half what he paid for flights to the US last year.
Mr Hannon, from Mallow, Co Cork, has genetic emphysema, or Alpha-1, an inherited condition which can result in lung disease. He joined other patients receiving the life-changing therapy at a protest outside the HSEs offices in Dublin.

They want the HSE and Health Minister Simon Harris to commit to long-term funding of the drug, Respreeza.

Mr Hannon, 67, is one of 21 patients who has received the therapy for 10 years, initially as part of a clinical trial and more recently on compassionate grounds from the pharmaceutical company.

The patients put down their placards to discuss their concerns with HSE officials, who agreed to engage with the pharmaceutical company, CSL Behring, to see if a resolution could be reached.

Patients affected by Respreeza drug decision protest outside the HSE HQ in Dublin ahead of meeting pic.twitter.com/4ZWJJP7qhl  Fergal Bowers (@FergalBowers) February 23, 2017

CSL Behring also decided to continue to supply the drug to the 21 patients for a further two months.

Mr Hannon is in no doubt Respreeza works. I would not be here today without this treatment, he said.

HSE director general Tony OBrien told the Oireachtas joint health committee on Wednesday that the health authority would not make a decision that was at odds with the recommendation made by the National Drugs Committee.

Mr OBrien said the HSE would be open to further engagement with a pharmaceutical company beyond the end of an initial process. He stressed, however, that the decision was not just based on the cost of the drug.

There is always a consideration of the financial impact but, primarily, this has been made on the basis of clinical benefit, Mr OBrien told Labour TD Alan Kelly.

Mr Harris, who also attended the committee meeting, appealed to CSL Behring to continue providing the drugs to the patients who had been involved in the clinical trial.

Despite continued lobbying by patients, their families and their representative organisation Alpha One Foundation, the HSE has refused to fund Respreeza.

Alpha One Foundation chief executive Kitty OConnor urged the HSE to explore every avenue. She also called on CSL Behring to lift the two-month deadline on the supply of the drug to patients who continue to benefit from it.

Ms OConnor said Respreeza was the only therapy to have been shown to slow the progression of Alpha-1 and was already available to patients in Italy, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, and the US.

The European Medicines Agency and these other countries see the benefit, so why cant the minister, she asked.

Ireland has one of the highest prevalence of Alpha-1 in the world. More than 2,000 Irish people have severe Alpha-1, according to the Irish Thoracic Society.
Independent senator Billy Lawless has introduced a bill in the Seanad to allow bars sell alcohol on Good Friday.

It comes as publicans launched the #AboutTime campaign to put pressure on the Government to amend licensing laws to allow all licensed premises trade normally on Good Friday, which is on April 14.
Marije Nika, 49, a Kosovar refugee with an address at Cardy Rock Square, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, was prosecuted by the Department of Social Protection.

Nika, who fled her war-torn country and came to Ireland in 2000, pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to a charge under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act.

Prosecution solicitor, Joseph Maguire, said the woman failed to notify the social welfare office that she was living in Australia from 2012 until 2014.

During that time, she continued to claim the disability allowance and obtained 29,996, but has repaid 6,800. She claimed that she went there to look after her sick adult daughter.

She still gets the benefit, but 28 is deducted weekly, at which rate it will take 16 years to pay back the money. Her daughter contacted Balbriggan social welfare office, who then investigated the matter.

Nika confirmed to them that she had been living in Australia.

Defence counsel, Genevieve Coonan, told the court that Nika was from Kosovo and was forced to leave in 2000 with her husband, a vet. They stayed at the Mosney centre for asylum seekers. The couple were in straitened circumstances. After Mosney, they settled in Balbriggan. Nika suffered from depression and back problems and was entitled to the disability payment.

Counsel said the woman moved to Australia in 2012, because her daughter had been sick.

She is remorseful that during that time she took an allowance paid for by Irish taxpayers, the barrister said.

Judge John Brennan heard that she gets 300 a week, but was living at the edge.

Nika was reluctant to raise the repayments, but later the court was told she was agreeable to 60 a week.
THE announcement by Norwegian Air International that it is to operate three weekly flights to Providence, Rhode Island, in the US was  publically, at least  roundly celebrated by all who campaigned for years for transatlantic services in Cork. Their efforts were, indeed, worthy of a celebration.

On an isolated basis, its a great day for Cork. The airports first transatlantic services are on the way and they must be maximised for all their worth. But make no mistake about it, this is, regrettably again, Dublin Airports day and none of us should be fooled into thinking otherwise.

Even the most ardent of Cork campaigners who lobbied tirelessly and honourably for US regulatory change to achieve this breakthrough must be privately questioning have we become a Trojan Horse.

The truth will be hard to swallow as, instead of being a day for Cork, it was instead part of the DAAs relentless march to an all-out and wholly unhealthy monopoly of Irish aviation.

The backdrop to yesterdays announcement must be explored to fully understand the consequences of this bad good-news day for the regions. In short, Dublin Airport has, like an insatiable beast, been chomping up the Irish aviation market. Since 2012 it has gone from having 81% to almost 86% of the national aviation pie; over the same time Cork has dropped from 10% to just over 6.5%, Shannon from 5.9% to 5.5%, and Knock from 2.9% to just over 2%.

Add into the bargain that Dublin Airport, with the apparent imprimatur of Lord Ross, is on the cusp of having a third terminal and second runway developed. The monopoly is relentless, is at risk of choking our other airports and, based on the evidence of yesterdays announcement, is going utterly unchecked.

Given the inseparable links between economic development and airport growth in regions, if theres growth to be got in Ireland, Dublin is going to get it. By hook or by crook.

By dint of that, Simon Coveneys recent laudable attempts to follow through on the National Planning Framework, that I initiated and tried to introduce balanced regional development, are being utterly and disrespectfully ignored by his Cabinet colleague, whose sole interest is in all matters within The Pale.

Because thats what it has been. Dublin Airports monopolist (it was labelled as such openly at an aviation conference this week) ways have never been more evident than in yesterdays announcement. For 15 months, since the first Norwegian declaration was made about establishing transatlantic services at Cork, DAA chief executive Kevin Toland  in press releases and even an annual report  celebrated this Cork success and Cork success only.

Not even a hint about Dublin. This was to be Corks day in the sun and we all, including many at the southern end of my own county who rely on Cork as their premier airport, looked forward to it.

Earlier this week we got our first inkling of the thickening of the plot. Some 15 months after the DAAs first public utterance, the Irish Examiner broke the news on Monday that Dublin, too, was also in the mix. Little did we know they were stirring the pot all along. If they dare to argue otherwise, I will happily challenge them regarding when they first became aware that they were getting 12 or, indeed, any services.

But, lo and behold, a dirty dozen did land for Dublin, Cork getting just three, even lagging behind Shannon, which is to get four services, which makes it a good day for Shannon, too. The fact it gets two destinations as distinct from just one might surprise Cork interests. The promise is that Cork will get a second service, to the New York area, next year. But why not yesterday, particularly given that this was, after all, only ever about Cork.

Its not just the numbers that dont stack up in the way we were told. Back in 2015, in the inaugural DAA press release that got us all giggly in anticipation or Corks first service, Toland celebrated the upcoming Cork-Boston, Cork-New York, and Cork-Barcelona services that Norwegian would deliver. No mention of Cork-Providence; it was Cork-Boston. The Cork-Boston and New-York services set to be four to five flights per week.

But why the masquerade? Its quite simple. A groundswell of political backing had to roar from Ireland into the US for this to happen. Would that be generated for 12 more services to an already booming Dublin Airport? Not a chance. But would it for an inaugural service from Cork? Absolutely, particularly with the political powerbase in Irelands second city. It was an ingenious approach. The Trojan Horse.

Remarkably, it took 15 months  yesterday  for us to get the first official reference to Dublin in this mix. So somehow, it crept up on the blind side and swept away double what Cork and Shannon would jointly get.

Worse still, the region that could probably do with these services the most, the north-west, looks on empty handed. Its wrong-footed the Taoiseach, who gave his support to the campaign. Knock Airport even made a supporting submission. Mayo also has the Minister for Regional Economic Development, Michael Ring  a solid supporter of the regions  on its side and a man who will be equally aggrieved.

The north-west aside, it was most definitely Cork which did the running. But for what? Ultimately, to bring home admittedly some reward but much less than it deserves. But the big bounty for the efforts around Cork Airports transatlantic push was another pot of gold it landed for its greedy parent, Dublin Airport.

This announcement has added to Dublins currency and gave a scary forecast of whats ahead  a growing monopoly that has the potential to suffocate other airports and completely defy efforts to achieve balanced regional development.

The experience is redolent of that classic Father Ted scene when Bishop Brennan gets kicked in the derriere. So incredulous is he that he is left speechless as he is ushered out the door by his assailant.

Many who have really analysed this announcement have been left speechless but if only it were that funny. Someone needs to call out what is really happening here.

Alan Kelly TD is Labour Party spokesman on health, jobs, enterprise, and innovation and vice-chair of the Public Accounts Committee
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

A bill on the Khojaly genocide has been adopted at the spring plenary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Trends correspondent reported from the event.

The bill contains an appeal to the parliaments of foreign countries, international parliamentary organizations on assessing the massacre of Azerbaijanis on Feb. 25-26, 1992 in the Khojaly town of Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region as the crime of genocide.

The bill also recommends the relevant Azerbaijani governmental and non-governmental organizations to join efforts for the wide dissemination of the information about the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the exposure of deceitful Armenian propaganda.

It is recommended for the law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan to continue measures to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the genocide in the town of Khojaly.

The bill also states that during foreign visits, including participation in international events, Azerbaijani MPs are entrusted to spread the information about the acts of genocide carried out against the Azerbaijanis throughout more than the last 100 years, including the Khojaly tragedy.

On February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of the former 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. A total of 1,000 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.
Details added (first version posted on 10:44)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received a delegation led by Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Djibouti Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.

Hailing cooperation and partnership between Azerbaijan and Djibouti, the head of state expressed his gratitude for the Djibouti Parliaments decision to recognize the Khojaly genocide, and described it as an important sign of brotherly relations between the two countries and support for Azerbaijan.

Emphasizing that more than ten countries have already recognized the Khojaly genocide, President Ilham Aliyev said it is important in terms of spreading the historical truth and bringing the perpetrators of this terrible crime to justice.

The head of state said Azerbaijan and Djibouti successfully cooperate within the UN and other international organizations, adding the two countries have always supported each other in discussion of important issues.

Noting that strong political relations between the two countries pave the way for the development of economic cooperation, President Ilham Aliyev pointed out practical development of the bilateral cooperation.

The head of state underlined that there are very good prospects for cooperation between the two countries in the fields of transport and cargo shipment, and stressed the significance of reciprocal visits and contacts in this regard.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed hope that the visit of Mahamoud Ali Youssouf to Azerbaijan will be successful and fruitful and contribute to strengthening relations between the two countries even further.

Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf handed a letter of President of the Republic of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh to President Ilham Aliyev.

The minister noted that he is happy to receive brotherly welcome in a beautiful city as Baku. Saying that there are many similarities between Azerbaijan and Djibouti, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf noted that both countries are situated in volatile regions.

Noting that a part of Azerbaijans territory was occupied, the foreign minister said they closely follow the ongoing processes to find a peaceful solution to the conflict and stressed the importance of diplomatic achievements in this sphere gained at an international level.

Touching upon Djiboutis membership of the UN Security Council in 1993, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said his country then urged the international community to condemn the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and took a tough stance on this issue.

He also recalled that the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions condemning the occupation. Hailing Azerbaijans becoming a strong country, the Djiboutian minister said Azerbaijan took a fair position, and therefore is supported by the international community.

They exchanged views over the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Djibouti in various areas.
It is not surprising that the race to 5G is accelerating: A tremendous amount of money is on the table and very powerful and smart players are lining up to try to win it.

The latest sign that the progress is being made is the announcement this week that Verizon, in conjunction with Samsung and Ericsson, will begin 5G trials in 11 cities during the first half of this year. The carrier says that the tests will include several hundred cell sites and several thousand customer locations.

RCR Wireless says that the pilots will focus on customer experience and gaining insight into network and millimeter wave performance. The cities are Ann Arbor, Michigan; Atlanta; Bernardsville, NJ; Brockton, Mass.; Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, Sacramento, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Still Another Wi-Fi Spec Coming

Stop me if youve heard this one before: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is working on a new version of Wi-Fi that promises to be shockingly fast and offer vastly extended range. Its a blip on the horizon now, but it has begun the inexorable march toward becoming a commercialized standard.

The next super-fast nascent standard is 802.11ay. It is, according to Wi-Fi Now, a version of 802.11ad that enables bonding of as many as four 2.16 GHz WiGig channels and four-stream multiple in multiple out (MIMO) antennas. The result is a link rate of a staggering 176 gigabits per second (Gbps). The story suggests that 802.11ay is aimed at backhaul uses because [i]ts hard to imagine that a household or human being would ever consume that kind of bandwidth.

Mobile Video Increasingly Popular

The depth to which smartphone video has embedded itself with the public is evident in a research released this week by AOL Advertising. The firm found that 57 percent of consumers watch video on their phones daily, according to MediaPost. Sixty-seven percent of respondents use mobile video to some extent, which is only a touch behind the 70 percent who watch it on their desktops.

People like short videos: Fifty-nine percent of respondents watch videos that run less than 60 seconds daily, while only 31 percent watch videos of 20 minutes or more. The story said that advertisers use of mobile video is growing. The survey focused on seven markets.

Pole Attachment Rules Chill Competition

One of the low profile but significant obstacles to service providers moving into new territories is the difficulty of gaining access to the telephone poles to which their cables must be attached. It is, according to Light Readings Mari Silbey, a daunting task:

Heres how it works. In certain cities, new broadband entrants have to contact the owner of each utility pole as well as each telecom provider already using the pole in order to have existing equipment moved around to accommodate new broadband gear. In some cases those requests have to be made sequentially, and with each request, it can take up to several weeks or even months for an active response.

Silbey says that Google Fiber last year claimed that it had, after months of outreach, only gained access to 33 of 44,000 poles that it needed to set up shop in Nashville. The final arbiter may be the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has put pole attachment on the list of topics to be tackled by the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). BDAC members have not yet been named.

Columbus Drives for Smart Mobility Supremacy

The Columbus, Ohio area is trying to use an emerging technology to pull itself up. Computerworld reports that an 11-county region is focusing on smart mobility and autonomous vehicles. The key is the 540-arce Smart Mobility Advanced Research Test Center. The center, which is being built with $45 million in funding from the State of Ohio and Ohio State University, is an expansion of the 4,500-acre Transportation Research Center.

Last June, Columbus won a $40 million from the Department of Transportation in its Smart City Challenge. The grant was matched by $10 million from Vulcan Inc. and $90 from the private partners.

Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at [email protected] and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.
Google is giving a total of $11.5 million to charitable groups using data to focus on problems and find solutions for racial inequalities in the criminal justice system. The said amount is double than what Google has given to similar situations in the past years. In short, Google is doubling its efforts to support different organizations committed to fighting racial inequality this year, as a result of the tight national conversation regarding race and politics.

Google Gives Charitable Groups $11.5 Million

According to USA Today, Google is giving out $11.5 million in grants to groups and organizations fighting racial differences. To keep with a company built on information, the latest grants in million target organizations that test data to pinpoint problems as well as solutions. "There is significant ambiguity regarding the extent of racial bias in policing and criminal sentencing," Justin Steele, principal of Google.org, wrote in a blog post. "We must find ways to improve the accessibility and usefulness of information."

Steele also wrote in the blog post that the goal of these efforts is mainly for the society where everyone, regardless of their races, is guaranteed an equal outcome under the law. Google's announcement comes at the same time as the tech firms are under pressure to show commitment to growing diversity in their own ranks. Technology platforms such as Facebook Live and Twitter have already catalyzed the spread of viral videos of policeman shootings, protests and encouraged national debates over police use of force.

As the grandson of a police officer, the nephew of a trooper and the son of a detention chief, Steele found this critical issue very personal. He says he learned the importance of responsible policing from the black men in his family. While he is in a summer internship with the NAACP in Seattle, Steele's faith in the criminal justice system was shaken because of the shooting death of a black man by a white sheriff's deputy. Steele's experience diverted his career, away from chemical engineering and believe that race is no longer determine how someone is treated by the law.

Center For Policing Equity To Help Google Fight Racial Inequality

One of the many organizations who will definitely receive the funds from Google.org is the Center for Policing Equity, according to CNET. This organization is a national research center which cooperates with police departments as well as the communities to track statistics on law enforcement actions. In addition, to the present of $5 million, Google engineers will also put their time, effort and skills to work on enhancing the national database of the center. "It's hard to measure justice," Phillip Atiba Goff, co-founder and president of Center for Policing Equity, said in an interview.

Steele also said that engineering department of Google found themselves frustrated with the shortage of national data on police behavior as well as criminal sentencing. Therefore, that will be the big focus of the grants. Other organizations receiving funds include various groups which are working on criminal justice reform projects and the Measures for Justice. They are said to create a website to give all Californians information on how their justice system treats citizens based on demographics.
Samsung announced on Thursday, Feb. 23, its latest octa-Core Exynos 9 8895 chip for flagship smartphones. The chip combines an ARM Mali-G71 GPU, eight CPU cores, and a Samsung-designed gigabit LTE modem.

Samsung's New Octa-Core Exynos 9 8895 Chip

According to AnandTech, the new Samsung chip is manufactured on the latest 10 nm process that allows for using up to 40 percent less power, while archiving a performance increase of up to 27 percent compared to its 14 nm process. In the last few years, the South Korean company has cemented its position as a market leader at the mobile phones high-end spectrum. The latest generation Samsung high-end ARM SoC, the Exynos 8895, is expected to be used for at least some SKUs of the next Galaxy S phone.

Ars Technica reported that the incorporated CPU uses four "little" cores and four "big" ones. The large cores are based on the Samsung M2, the company's "second-generation custom CPU core." The small cores are based on the go-to choice for low-power 64-bit cores, ARM's Cortex A53 CPU architecture.

The South Korean giant Samsung did not disclose much about the new octa-Core Exynos 9 8895 chip, aside from the fact that it was "designed from scratch" and it's a 64-bit ARMv8 core. What we do know is that in terms of GPU, this is a major update. There are already more details about it, as ARM detailed the Mali-G71 last year.

Exynos 9 8895's GPU Specs

Exynos 9 8895's GPU uses ARM's new Bifrost GPU architecture that fully supports OpenCL and OpenGL ES, as well as the Vulkan graphics API. However, what's more significant is its support for HSA. This allows the GPU and CPU to access at the same time the same data in system memory. Since that data won't need to be sent back and forth between separate pools of memory used by the GPU and CPU, this feature is eliminating a part of overhead.

In comparison to a standalone LTE model such as Qualcomm's upcoming X20, Samsung's Exynos is still about a year behind Qualcomm's technology. However, in comparison strictly to modems that are integrated into SoCs alongside the GPU and CPU cores, the Exynos 9 draws just about even with the X16 modem that is present in Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835.

Both chips promise theoretical LTE download speeds of up to 1Gbps, by using MIMO antennas, 5x carrier aggregation on the downlink and unlicensed spectrum. However, upload speeds are limited to 150Mbps, like both the X16 and X20. At this point, faster uploads speeds are offered only by Intel's XMM 7560 gigabit LTE modem, which adds an extra stream to boost speeds to 225Mbps.

From Exynos 9 8895 chip's spec sheet it appears that it supports up to 28 MP rear and front cameras. The new chip can also support both a 28 MP and 16 MP camera setup if you want to use a "dual camera" system. It supports H.265/HEVC and VP6 recording and playback and it can record 4K video at up to 120 FPS. Resolutions up to 3840x2400 and 4096x2160 are supported on 4K displays, as well as LPDDR4x memory.
Google has extended another feature to its Chrome OS which brings it to the 58.0.3007.0 version. If you are one of the million of Chromebook owners, expect that later this year, you Chromebook will be able to unlock their laptops using their fingerprint. Recently, Chrome Story spotted a new feature in Chrome OS Canary that explains Quick Unlock (Fingerprint).

Google Adds 'Quick Unlock' Fingerprint Scanning On Chromebooks

Chromebooks will soon to have a new feature that will make it like an Apple iPhone. According to WCCFTech, this new feature to debut on Chrome OS desktop later this year has the ability to unlock the Chromebook with the user's fingerprint. This new innovation is named as the Quick Unlock feature.

All owners of Chromebook with the biometric hardware support can now activate and use the new feature. Just go to chrome://flags, by entering the desired option, the owner can set up his/her Chromebook and can register the maximum of 5 fingerprints. An alternative way is heading to the Settings menu, then choose Screen Lock to instantly enable fingerprint scanner for locked screen. Chrome Story also reported that the new feature is currently available on Chrome OS Canary build.

As of today, it is not yet clear if Google's Quick Unlock feature in Chromebooks would support third-party peripheral as well or users still have to wait for a new lineup that comes with a biometric scanner. As reported by PCWorld, it would be a good news if it will be supported both by the internal and external hardware. Note a few months ago, Google also introduced the PIN unlocking feature for the Chromebook.

This feature has not been celebrated by Google so far despite the fact that it already had its unofficial availability since February 14 of this year. However, as reported, the actual release of Chrome 58, which is the Quick Unlock feature, will be in April. Aside from the fingerprint scanner, Google will also provide better stability as well as more unionized release across all Chromebooks.

Quick Recall On Chromebook Features

Before the "Quick Unlock" feature, Google also introduced in 2015 the function of allowing the user to use Bluetooth authentication through a smartphone. This opens up the opportunity for Google ChromeOS fingerprint technology to provide for other security features. This includes the online payments through owner's fingerprint verification as well as multiple authentications, among other things.

Now that the operating system has gotten the ability to include Quick Unlock fingerprint scanning, it is difficult to say how the current Chromebooks will be able to support the new feature. Whether any compatible externals will be available or not has not been unveiled yet. Hopefully, Chromebook makers already have gotten their individual memo about this soon enough.

Chrome OS TO Take Down MacOS, iOS, And Windows

As Chrome OS already unleashed the new fingerprint scanner feature, reporters claimed that it is now definitely competing with its rivals which include the MacOS, iOS, Windows and others. Apple first introduced a similar feature for its MacBook Pro 2016 series with the so-called Touch ID authentication. Although Google did integrate fingerprint scanner in its smartphone devices, it never extended the similar feature to its Chromebook lineup. However, there are also reports about the upcoming successor of the Chromebook Pixel.
The final schedule of release for anime series adaptation, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations has just been announced. It has finally been revealed that the said next Naruto series will make its debut on April 5 this year. It will be aired on TV Tokyo and it has yet to be announced whether or not the said series will be simulcasted on streaming platforms for viewers outside of Japan.

Aside from announcing the official release date, a new visual for the upcoming anime series has been revealed. The new visuals included posters featuring the main characters, Boruto Uzumaki, Sarada Uchiha, and Mitsuki with their friends in supporting roles, Ino Yamanaka, Shikadai Nara, and Akimichi Choji. All these characters are children of the main characters in the original Naruto series. A glimpse of an older Gaara is also featured in the said visual.

Studio Pierrot will still be producing Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. The new anime series will have Noriyuki Abe, who worked on the Bleach series, as its chief director, and Hiroyuki Yamashita, who worked on the Boruto movie, as its director. Aside from series composition, most of the staff are ones who have already worked on the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden series, from character designing to music composition.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is a spinoff and somewhat a sequel to the Naruto series and it will mainly focus on the new characters, which are the children. The series is expected to be a full-length series just like the anime adaptation of Naruto, which has already reached a total of 716 episodes. Hiroyuki Yamashita has revealed that they are already preparing for the spring broadcast and they are keen on giving the new series its own identity.

Noriyuki Abe said that directing Boruto: Naruto Next Generations has awakened him to a new era and new story especially when he has inherited the story from the highly popular series, Naruto. He admitted that it was going to be difficult but he reassured himself that it was going to be worth all the effort. He further revealed that the entire production staff is working hard to make the new Boruto anime series interesting and fun and he would do everything so fans of the Naruto series will not be disappointed.
Due to the severe devastation caused by microplastics in the marine environment, the United Nations Environment Program has launched an unprecedented global campaign, urging everyone to eliminate the use of microplastics. Also criticized is the excessive, wasteful use of single-use plastics often found in households. The organization says that people must start to act now to save the worlds seas and oceans from irreversible damage before its too late.

Plastic pollution has become a critical issue as tons of it could be found surfing onto Indonesian beaches, settling onto the ocean floor at the North Pole, and appearing increasingly through the food chain onto our dinner tables. The Executive Director of UNEP, Erik Solheim, explained the gravity of the situation at the announcement of the campaign. He added that the problem has gone on for so long, and that it must stop.

The campaign, called the Clean Seas drive, hopes to eliminate microplastics in the marine environment by urging countries and businesses to take ambitious measures to eliminate these materials from cosmetic products. Also, it calls for the banning of single-use plastic bags, a move scientists say can dramatically reduce the amount of disposable plastic items by 2022. Another way that the campaign hopes governments will implement is putting a tax on all plastic products to dissuade consumers, the United Nations News Center reports.

Ten countries have already pledged support to the initiative with far-reaching promises. Indonesia, for example, has expressed their committment to slash its marine litter by 70 percent by 2025. Uruguay agrees to tax single-use plastic bags later this year, while Costa Rica promises to take measures to dramatically reduce single-use plastic through better waste management and education, the Sky News reports.

There are more than 8 million tons of microplastics leaking in the marine environment every year, the UN says. That is the same as a garbage truck loaded with plastic being dumped into the ocean every minute. The organization also warns that if plastics continue to spill in the oceans, by 2025, there will be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish.
South Korean company LG is expecting to make a major hit this year. In order to achieve its goal, it is willing to bet everything once again in budget smartphones which have been characterized as being one of the greatest products from the firm. Actually, its quality in this kind of mobile devices is so outstanding that it could even beat its competitor Samsung in this particular range.

LG Will Try To Conquer Budget Smartphones Market In India

Apparently, LG will re-enter the budget smartphones segment in India by July or August, given the fact that the company is aiming to get more market share by volume in this country. Although it might be a risky move, this is a really good strategy for the South Korean firm, considering that India is a big supporter of these kinds of mobile devices. This is the place where Chinese smartphones started conquering their global market.

LG Will Launch Six Or Seven New Budget Smartphones

In fact, LG will be betting so much in this country and it is expected that most of these budget smartphones will only be launched in India, instead of being released around the world. Naturally, making a major move in a specific market that has always shown a great acceptance to a specific product is always a guarantee of success, and LG is aiming to do whatever it takes to execute this strategy in the most efficient way.

Apparently, LG will launch six to seven new budget smartphones in the Indian market this year. Despite a ferocious competition, the company hopes that its sales could excel its expectations. To recall, the firm lags way behind the pack of smartphone brands in this nation with a 0.4 percent share. Nevertheless, these mobile devices are expected to come with such incredible specs and features that LG could become one of the top brands by the end of this year.
Entrepreneur Kim Dotcom just doubled its bet against the New Zealand government, given the fact that he explained through its Twitter that hes making a $2.4 billion lawsuit against it. This came just after the nations High Court accepted his extradition to the U.S., in which could face up to 13 charges. However, what seems to be one of the most particular details revealed on his tweets, is that he could actually donate the money to whistleblower organization WikiLeaks if the government pays him. If this turns up to be real, it clearly represents a strange situation which consequences seem unpredictable.

Helping Kim Dotcom Could Be Beneficial For WikiLeaks

With these statements, Kim Dotcom might be indirectly asking for help to WikiLeaks, and the pro-.transparency organization could be staring at a huge opportunity to make a major action with a billionaire reward. Despite the bizarreness that this move could be, the fact is that Megaupload founder is definitely a popular figure in the online community. Many people supports his position on his legal situation, claiming that banning his companys services clearly represent an incredible setback for millions of users that watch movies and series this way.

Given this particular situation, helping Kim Dotcom would definitely put WikiLeaks in a popular position once again, and it would definitely set a turning point in tech history. This is due to the fact that Dotcoms situation represents many people the way in which governments tend to put obstacles for streaming users around the world.

Also, WikiLeaks knows that this is something that would definitely restore its popularity among the online community. Its reputation was seriously damaged after the elections' hacks, since many believe that the organization played a major role in the victory of President Donald Trump. In fact, WikiLeaks was also blamed for collaborating with Russian hackers aligned to Vladimir Pwithins regime, which is something that harmed its image to the point in which theres a widespread lack of confidence in the organization.

WikiLeaks Popularity In Social Media Keeps Increasing

On his tweet, Kim Dotcom also said that the money could be donated to whistleblower legal fund, support EFF and help government abuse victims. This tweet was meant to make users vote, and the result was that the option "all of the above" was the most voted, with nearly 4,000 votes cast. However, supporting WikiLeaks was the second option, a proof that the non-profit organization still have a lot of popularity on the social media.

While Kim Dotcom is facing the possibility of an extradition to the U.S., Julian Assange is also in the same situation. On his part, Megaupload founder would be facing up to 13 different charges, including money laundering, allegations of conspiracy to commit racketeering, wire fraud and copyright breaches.

On the other hand, WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange is facing sexual assault accusations in Sweden, but is expected that if he gets to the U.S., he might get convicted because of the breach of classified material. Although it seems as an unexpected twist, Kim Dotcom and Julian Assanges fates might be the same.
Samsung is just more than a month away from unveiling its much-awaited Galaxy S8 flagship. The leaks around the launch are about to reach its peak. The latest reports give us a peek for the bigger-sized S8 Plus model as well as its specs and features.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Packs A 6.2-inch Display

The list, which was shared by reliable leaker Evan Blass, doesn't tell us much new, but it confirms a lot of rumors we'd already heard, starting with the presence of a 6.2-inch screen (or 6.1 inches if you check at the rounded corners rather than counting the full rectangle). As for the display, it will be a QHD+ Super AMOLED. You'll find an iris scanner and an 8MP front-facing camera that will act as another mode of biometric authentication. Around the back, you'll find a 12MP Dual Pixel camera but that's not the same as a dual-lens one. Dual Pixel refers to an improved form of phase detection autofocus, debuted by Samsung on its Galaxy S7 range. The cameras might make the new one even better than its predecessor in terms of autofocus, image, video stabilization and pixel density.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus RAM, Battery, And Features

The new report from a source said that Samsung has provided its battery suppliers with an updated roadmap which includes details of battery capacity. This has led to rumors that the Galaxy S8 Plus will use the 3,600 mAh found in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Furthermore, the upcoming Samsung flagship will offer the 4GB (not 6GB ) RAM. Other reports claimed it'll sport 64GB of built-in storage, along with a microSD card slot. The Samsung S8 Plus also supports wireless charging and Samsung Pay, and it's 4G LTE capable, as everyone is expecting. Furthermore, the Galaxy S8 Plus is also IP68 certified dust and water resistant, which is the same level of waterproofing as the Galaxy S7.
In just a few more days, the 2017 Mobile World Congress (MWC) is set to begin. So far, we've been hearing a lot of rumors, leaks and announces about the wonderful and amazing things to be showcased. So, what are those juicy details?

For Samsung

For Samsung, as sad as it may sound, recent rumors suggest that the South Korean tech company will only showcase a glimpse of the Galaxy S8's key features. However, what is really expected at MWC 2017 is the Galaxy Tab S3, which is reported to have an S Pen Stylus, a 9.6-inch screen with 2,048 x 1,536 pixels, Snapdragon 820 chipset, 4 GB of RAM, 12 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front camera. There were also recent leaks (specifically a manual and a photo) suggesting that it will have a keyboard case.

For Nokia/HMD Global

Under the Nokia brand name, recent reports suggest that HMD Global will be introducing the Nokia 8 (aka Nokia P1), Nokia 5, Nokia 3 and a modern version of the Nokia 3310. The Nokia 6, though launched back in January and was China-exclusive, will also likely have a global relaunch alongside the other new Nokia phones as well.

For LG

For LG, the long rumored LG G6 is expected to be at the event and come with an amazing rear camera module. According to the reports, its 13 MP dual rear camera will have a 125-degree field of view where one camera is used for taking regular shots and the other for wider shots.

Just today, LG has announced to launch a midrange phone called the LG GX Power 2. The phone itself was designed to offer massive battery life thanks to its 4500 mAh battery and will have its official unveiling at the 2017 MWC.

For Blackberry

Expected at the MWC2017 is Blackberry's new phone codenamed as "Mercury." According to reports, it will feature a rectangular touchscreen and the company's iconic QWERTY keyboard, a Full HD 4.5-inch screen, 32 GB with 3 GB of RAM, USB Type-C support and will be powered by a 3,400 mAh battery.

For Lenovo/Motorola

Likely to be unveiled at the said event also are the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus. For the Moto G5, it is reported to feature a Full HD 5.2-inch screen, Snapdragon 430 chipset and an internal memory capacity of 32 GB with 2 GB of RAM.

Meanwhile, the G5 Plus is expected to be packed with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 625 chipset and a built in internal memory of 64 GB with 2 GB of RAM. It is also rumored to sport the same biometric sensor touchpad seen on the OnePlus 3.

For Huawei

Huawei has confirmed that the Huawei P10 and Huawei Watch 2 will be unveiled at the upcoming Mobile World Congress. It is also worth mentioning that there are also reports claiming that a Huawei P10 Plus might also join in the party, but without any confirmation from Huawei, it is hard to tell if that rumor holds any truth.

For Sony

Apparently, Sony is expected to launch the Sony Xperia X2 (aka Sony Xperia X 2017) at MWC. Though the company has been quite skillful in keeping the phone's specs and features under wraps, a leaked image of what could be the Xperia X2's design has been found. Based on the image, it depicts the said smartphone with less bezels, power and volume keys located at the right side and a slight curvature to the display glass. However, if you ask me whether there will be a new Sony phone gracing the event, the chances are slim to none.

IoT, Chatbots And Digital Payments

As reported, there will be talks about IoT devices that leverage Lower Power Wide Area (LPWA) technologies. There will also be the questioning of the value of all the new data provided by the rollout of IoT technologies where discussions concerning innovative approaches to data usage, data storage, data ownership, data sharing, data lakes and open data that could have a direct impact for the evolution of IoT.

The article then also mentioned about Chatbots and Digital payments. For chatbots, the use of chat apps in content generation, digital media, commerce and customer engagement will be tapped into. In the case of digital payments, providers across the ecosystem will deepen their focus on how digital wallet solutions will enhance consumer purchasing journey, how to leverage customer preference and many more.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev congratulated prime minister of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah Feb. 24.

Your Highness, I extend my most sincere congratulations to you and your people on the occasion of the public holiday of the State of Kuwait, the president said in a congratulatory letter.

I believe that the development of friendly relations and cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kuwait will further serve the best interests of our nations, he said.

On this remarkable day, I extend my best regards to you, and wish the friendly people of Kuwait lasting peace and prosperity, the president said.
The global partnership announced Wednesday between Telefonica and IoT specialist Sigfox could ensure the latters long-term success while accelerating the overall growth of LPWANs (low-power, wide-area networks).

Telefonica said it will integrate Sigfoxs energy-sipping, low-data-rate radios into millions of devices used for things like smart metering and asset tracking. The Spain-based mobile carrier operates in 21 countries across Europe and Latin America, so the deal should significantly expand Sigfoxs footprint. Its talking with customers about possible large-scale rollouts across both regions, including Spain, Germany, Colombia, Argentina, and Brazil.

Wins like this one, announced a week before the wireless industry gathers at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, are important for emerging LPWANs that come from outside the traditional cellular industry built around 2G, 3G, and LTE. While there are now many low-power network choices for companies exploring IoT, not all will survive for the decade or more that IoT deployments are expected to last, Tolaga Research analyst Phil Marshall says.

International or global reach is a key factor for the viability of these fledgling networks. In recent weeks, Nokia, Inmarsat, and others have announced platforms to tie together LPWANs in different countries.

But rather than an exclusive win for Sigfox, this partnership is part of a broader LPWAN (low-power, wide-area network) initiative by Telefonica. The carrier plans to also deploy LTE-M and NB-IoT, two emerging networks based on LTE, and even integrate Sigfox with those other LPWANs in some devices.

Telefonica expects the technologies to complement one another for security, backup, troubleshooting, and prevention of jamming. It will be able to build its own services for Sigfox networks by integrating the Sigfox cloud into its managed connectivity platform.

Other carriers also are taking multipronged approaches to low-power networks. South Koreas SK Telecom plans to offer both LoRaWAN and LTE-M.

Just as theres a universe of different IoT devices, there is a range of LPWANs to serve different applications. Sigfox offers some of the lowest data rates, measured in hundreds of bits per second, but promises a longer life for tiny batteries. It usually sends occasional, brief messages that dont need to be acknowledged.

By contrast, LTE-M and NB-IoT have higher data rates and run over licensed spectrum, which can offer more protection from interference.
Google's Project Zero team has disclosed a potential arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Internet Explorer because Microsoft has not acted within Google's 90-day disclosure deadline.

This is the second flaw in Microsoft products made public by Google Project Zero since the Redmond giant decided to skip this month's Patch Tuesday and postpone its previously planned security fixes until March.

Microsoft blamed the unprecedented decision to push back scheduled security updates by a month on a "last minute issue" that could have had an impact on customers, but the company hasn't clarified the nature of the problem.

Some people have speculated that the problem might be related to the Windows Update infrastructure and not a particular fix, but the company pushed out a Flash Player security update on Tuesday, which suggests that if there was an infrastructure problem, it is now resolved.

The newly disclosed vulnerability is a so-called type confusion flaw that affects Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer and can potentially allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on the underlying system.

"No exploit is available, but a PoC [proof-of-concept] demonstrating a crash is," Carsten Eiram, chief research officer at vulnerability intelligence firm Risk Based Security, said via email. "This PoC may provide a good starting point for anyone who wants to develop a working exploit. Google [Project Zero] even includes some comments on how to possibly achieve code execution."

The Risk Based Security researchers have confirmed the potentially exploitable crash for IE11 on a fully patched Windows 10 system and have assigned a CVSS severity score of 6.8 to it, treating its impact as potential code execution.

On Feb. 14, after Microsoft announced its decision to postpone the February patches, Google Project Zero disclosed a memory disclosure vulnerability in Windows' GDI library.

Another vulnerability that has yet to be patched was publicly disclosed three weeks ago by an independent researcher. The flaw is located in Microsoft's implementation of the SMB network file-sharing protocol and can be exploited to crash Windows computers if attackers trick them into connecting to rogue SMB servers. The researcher who disclosed the vulnerability claimed Microsoft intended to patch it in February.

So, at the moment there are three zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft products that the company might have planned to patch on Feb. 14 but didn't. Some security researchers, including Eiram, believe Microsoft should release the patches it has now instead of waiting.

"Even if no exploits are currently available, Microsoft is gambling with their users' security," Eiram said. "If exploits do suddenly surface, Microsoft would likely have to release out-of-band security updates anyway, forcing customers to scramble to apply these fixes. It makes more sense to handle it in a proactive manner."

Software vendors' commitment to monthly patch cycles is understandable as it serves their customers' need to have some predictability about when security updates will need to be applied. However, Eiram believes that sticking to these cycles should never have a higher priority than getting security fixes out in a timely manner.

"Microsoft has always reserved the right to release out-of-band security updates when necessary, and even with no exploits available it is necessary now," he said. "There are three known, unpatched vulnerabilities and at least one of them has code execution potential."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev congratulated Emir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Feb. 24.

Your Highness, on my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and through you to all the people of your country on the occasion of the public holiday of the State of Kuwait, said the president in a congratulatory letter.

I am confident that friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Kuwait, our cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats will continue to develop and expand.

On this remarkable day, I wish you robust health and happiness, and the friendly people of Kuwait lasting peace and prosperity, added President Aliyev.
As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles.

Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services.

These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience  the local community.

It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.

Close




The move is partly the result of Isle of Wight Ambulance Service paramedics having to plug a gap at the Urgent Care Service  formerly the Beacon Centre  because there is a lack of GPs to staff it.





A shortage of GPs being able to visit patients at home has also been highlighted as putting extra pressure on the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service.



An Isle of Wight NHS Trust spokesperson said at times of pressure, ambulance resources from the British Red Cross, St John Ambulance, mainland services such as South Central Ambulance Service, and the private sector may be brought onto the Isle of Wight to assist.



Mainland ambulances have been used on the Isle of Wight before, an NHS spokesman said today (Friday).

Last summer a deal was agreed to base the Air Ambulance on the Isle of Wight more often to help relieve pressure on the service.

Depending on how busy the service expects to be there will, at any particular time, be between four and six 999 emergency ambulances and one or two rapid response vehicles available.

With one ambulance based in Ryde and the rest in Newport, an Isle of Wight councillor has raised concerns over the time taken to reach emergencies in the West Wight.

Speaking at this months Isle of Wight Council health scrutiny meeting Cllr John Howe, who represents Totland, said the community should have an ambulance based nearby like it had some years ago.



"We are relying on first responders  non-medical professionals  to save peoples' lives.



"It feels like we are going backwards, almost to the point where we will have a voluntary ambulance service like we did years ago," he said



Cllr Howe said paramedics were often stuck at St Mary's Hospital waiting with patients to be admitted, but the process was slowed down because of a lack of available beds  partly because some patients were unable to leave hospital because of a lack of appropriate care in the community.



That prevented paramedics from getting out to other patients who needed an ambulance.



Dr Mark Pugh, executive medical director at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, said: "Paramedics are waiting with patients because at times there is literally no room inside the hospital.



"We are trying to create capacity and it is safer for patients to have paramedics tending to them on a trolley than just being on a corridor.



"The place is so full it can be absolutely bursting at times."



Since April 2016, there have been more than 10,000 emergency admissions to St Marys Hospital, and more than 15,000 calls for an ambulance.
A video footage dedicated to the Khojaly genocide will be shown on the flights of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) on the day of the 25th anniversary of this bloody massacre on February 26.

The campaign will be implemented based on a joint project of AZAL and Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC).

The video footage will be shown in English language on all aircrafts of AZAL equipped with overhead monitors (located above the passenger seats).

The aim of the campaign is to provide foreign citizens using AZAL aircrafts with information about the Khojaly genocide.

It should be noted that the Armenian military forces committed genocide acts in Azerbaijan's Khojaly town with the population of 7,000 on February 26, 1992. 613 civilians were killed, 487 people became disabled and 1,275 people were taken hostage during the Khojaly genocide.
In an unfortunate turn of events, it appears that fans of several restaurants that Bloomin' Brands owns in certain locations will have to find somewhere else to dine. Bloomin' Brands said several of its restaurants under different brands will have to be shut down.

According to a report by Penn Live, 43 restaurants in the United States will be affected by the decision of Bloomin' Brands. The locations impacted are under the brands Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse. However, it is not clear how many locations belong to each of the brand.

All 43 restaurants that will be closed are apparently not performing well enough for Bloomin' Brands. Sales at Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse dropped year over year in the most recent quarter. It appears that poor sales have affected the overall performance of the locations.

In order to mitigate the impact of the underperforming locations to Bloomin' Brands, the parent company of Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse decided to close the locations. Bloomin' Brands did not provide any details about the impact of the decision to employees.

Restaurant closures usually lead to layoffs, but companies may choose to transfer the staff of the locations that will be shut down to a different location. Regular staff who might lose their jobs because of the decision may also get some separation package from the company.

Press of Atlantic City reported that Carrabba's Italian Grill at Harbor Square in Atlantic City is one of the locations that Bloomin' Brands decided to close. Bloomin' Brands did not disclose the exact locations of the restaurants that it will shutter.

A few days earlier, Jobs & Hire reported that Restaurant Brands International Inc. wants to acquire Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc.
Been out of the grid for quite a while and feeling rusty with your skills? No worries. You can re-learn or gain new skills to get back to the workforce by participating in a mid-career internship programs that some big companies are offering.

A return internship, also dubbed as "returnship," aims to help workers who have been out of the workforce for a period to get the skills they need to get back to the hiring door. On the companies' side, the internship programs help them evaluate their potential recruits through actual work that would aid them when deciding on whether to hire them permanently.

Per Business Insider, Goldman Sachs is one of the first companies to offer a mid-career internship program back in 2008. Since then, many other companies have followed suit, including Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, MetLife, IBM, and General Motors.

Women are mostly the ones affected by being out of the workforce for a spell, mainly due to childcare and other family responsibilities. Other reasons include health issues and pursuing personal interests. Because they were off the grid for a time, they are often penalized in terms of pay penalties or missed promotion opportunities, as reported by The Atlantic. But the programs are also open to men who had to take an extended time away from work.

With that, the return internship is a great help for both women and men to get back to full-time work. In addition, they also get to earn as these internships are paid. Goldman Sachs, for instance, offers a 10-week paid program while data company Return Path has a 20-week paid internship. IBM has a 12-week paid internship called "Tech Reentry" and General Motors also launched a 12-week program called "Take-2 Career." About 50 to 90% of those who participated in the mid-career internships from the financial sector were hired full time, according to International Business Times.
Liberal Arts majors will be in demand in the future, says Mark Cuban. Meanwhile, Software Development jobs will disappear due to automation.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Mark Cuban talked about the future of jobs being automation replacing automation, reported Inc. He said that although software development is a hot field to enter and get into at the moment, it won't be in the next ten years.

He said that there are no manufacturing jobs or coal mining jobs that are going to come back. Coding and software developing will be next too.

Cuban explained that technology will soon be able to do the jobs that software developers do. Seeing as it is "only math," human developers won't be needed, hence the prediction that computer-related jobs will be replaced by computers, per Inc.

Liberal arts, on the other hand, will be on the rise. Fields such as philosophy, English, and foreign languages were the examples that Cuban cited.

For now, Cuban said that Liberal Arts jobs are not needed. But it will be in greater demand.

According to Cuban, these professions will be in demand because there will be in a need for people to interpret the data that automation is yielding, interpret information from a different perspective. With technology killing technology, there will come a time wherein arts is going to be appreciated all the more.

There are already many jobs that are disappearing due to automation. For instance, there are robo-advisers, fewer travel agencies, 3-D printing threatening small component manufacturers, and more.

It has even come to a point where the jobs of teachers and actors will be threatened by robots. Robots are being used to teach kids with special needs and some films such as "Star Wars" and "Fast and the Furious" have managed to make characters appear even though the actors playing them have already died.
A commemoration meeting dedicated to 25th anniversary of the Khojaly massacre was held at Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS). At the beginning of the meeting, one minute's silence in remembrance of Khojaly tragedy victims and all Azerbaijani sons and daughters who sacrificed their lives for freedom and integrity of their homeland was observed.

Opening the ceremony, the BHOS rector Elmar Gasimov said that the Khojaly genocide would remain in Azerbaijani history as one of most cruel crimes against humanity in the twentieth century. He reminded that upon an initiative of the national leader Heydar Aliyev the Azerbaijan government and Parliament took all possible steps to convey the truth about the Khojaly genocide and brutal actions, which were perpetrated by Armenian nationalists, to the international community. The rector emphasized that the President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev continues to take efforts to restore justice for Khojaly genocide.

Associate professor of the BHOS English Language and Humanitarian Disciplines Centre Alemdar Shahverdiyev told about historical contest of the Khojaly tragedy and the special place it occupies in the Azerbaijani history. He spoke about the crime against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly committed at the night from 25th to 26th February of 1992 by the Armenian armed forces backed by the 366th moto-artillery regiment of the former Soviet army. The town was burnt to the ground. As a result of this act of genocide, 613 people out of 2,500 Khojaly residents were killed including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly. Eight families were completely annihilated, 130 children lost one parent, while 25 lost both parents; 487 people including 76 children became disabled, 1275 residents were taken hostage and 150 civilians went missing.

BHOS fourth-year Petroleum Engineering student Shamsi Musayev and fourth-year Chemical Engineering student Fuad Alizadeh made reports about history of Khojaly, the Khojaly massacres causes and its consequences. They called on all Azerbaijan youth to join efforts in order to bring those responsible for Khojaly tragedy to justice and disseminate truth about the genocide to international community. The second-year Chemical Engineering student Nazperi Isfandiyarova and second-year Petroleum Engineering student Gurban Hasanov recited poems dedicated to the one of the most tragic pages in the Azerbaijani history.

At the end, a video with BHOS students participation was demonstrated. It included their short, but emotional speeches in English language about the Khojaly genocide as well as photos and images of the tragic events in Khojaly at the night of 26 February 1992.
It was back in 2014 when the phrase on fleek was introduced to the world. At the time, Kayla Newman, also known as Peaches Monroee, didnt know that the phrase would become a major catchphrase among young people to describe clothes, makeup, and eyebrows.

Despite the phrase being used by Twitter users and celebrities such as Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, Newman did not earn a single penny for making the phrase famous. Now, the teenager is aiming to create her own hair and cosmetics line, and she took to GoFundMe to crowdfund the project.

Newman, who is currently enrolled as a nursing student, explained on her campaign page that after the six-second Eyebrows on Fleek Vine video went viral, she hasnt received any money behind it or recognition.

So it brings me to say that I want to start a cosmetic and hair extension line, but I dont have any money to do so, said the college student.

Newman detailed her plans to launch the business, saying that she plans to start a website, get the project on legal papers, get a good team of lawyers, and more with the money that will be raised by the campaign.

Back in 2015, The Fader reported that the original Vine post has been looped over 36 million times. The video, which was reposted on YouTube by someone named Kevin Gadsden, acquired over 3 million views.

Newman told the media outlet back then that she gave the world a word yet she hasnt gotten any endorsements or received any payment.

I feel that I should be compensated, she explained. But I also feel that good things happen to those who wait.

It appears that the 18-year-old has gotten tired of waiting and is ready to start making her fortune. About her campaign, Newman said that she feels like this is her second chance and vows not to mess it up.

Newmans campaign was created on Sunday, Feb. 19. Since then, it has earned more than $9,000. The teenager aims to earn $100,000 for her cosmetics and hair line.

For more, check out Jobs & Hires report on the professional mermaid who earns $6,000 per appearance.
Rubicon Project continues to show the door to its employees as it works on improving its business. The ad tech company is working on improving its operations to boost its financial results, and the initiative has led to the resignation of some of its executives.

The latest to leave the company is Greg Raifman, who has served as president, The Drum reported. Chief Executive Officer Frank Addante is claiming that the ad tech company needs to let go of several people in order to improve its business.

In resigning from his role as president of Rubicon Project, Raifman will cease to have any management duties at the ad tech firm. However, he will continue to be a member of the board of director of the company.

The ad tech company will also see six of its senior employees leave aside from Raifman. In addition, the ad tech company laid off 125 people in November. The staff layoff was related to the ad tech company's decision to shutter its Toronto office.

According to a report by Business Insider, Addante is trying to reassure investors and the remaining employees of Rubicon Project that business is stable despite the departures. The chief executive officer expressed confidence that the ad tech company will see strong results in 2017 as a result of the changes in its operations and management.

The division that has been largely affected by the layoffs is sales and marketing. There are speculations that Rubicon Project is trying to clean up its ranks because it is planning to sell itself.

Rubicon Project management refused to confirm the rumors. Addante's email about the changes did not hint about potential sales, but he promised to unveil the company's new management structure soon.

Jobs & Hire previously reported that Leonardo DiCaprio invested in Rubicon Global.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

Trend:

President of CJSC Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Jahangir Asgarov received the delegation headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Djibouti, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf on February 24.

At the meeting the sides discussed bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Djibouti, as well as prospects for trade relations between the two countries.

Following the meeting, Jahangir Asgarov and Mahmoud Ali Youssouf signed a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in civil aviation.

The signed agreement will allow regular passenger and cargo transportation between the two countries, which, in turn, will contribute to the economic and cultural development of international relations.

Regular cargo flights from Baku to Djibouti are scheduled to start in late March - early April.

Jahangir Asgarov said that according to the agreement reached earlier at the meeting with President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, up to 30 tons of Azerbaijani manufacturers' products under the "Made in Azerbaijan" brand will be transported on the first flight. Presentation of Azerbaijani products to the new market will be a great stimulus for the start of mutual trade relations and increase of trade turnover between the two countries.
Email

Links to our top local news stories of the day, Monday through Saturday.
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. has rejoined the trend of big-box department stores reducing their brick-and-mortar footprint.

The company announced Friday it would close between 130 and 140 stores this year, as well as distribution centers in Lakeland, Fla., and Buena Park, Calif.

Affected stores will be disclosed by mid-March and would close by June 30. They would represent between 13 percent and 14 percent of its portfolio.

The retailer closed 83 stores from 2013 to 2016, but had halted the strategy for about a year.

The company said the main criteria for stores to be closed are "either they require significant capital to achieve the companys new brand standard or are minimally cash flow positive today relative to the companys overall consolidated average."

JCPenney's Triad stores are in Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem, Four Seasons Town Center in Greensboro, Alamance Crossing in Burlington and Mayberry Mall in Mount Airy.

The retailer also said it has offered a voluntary early retirement program to 6,000 eligible employees in its home office, stores and supply chain divisions who met certain criteria related to age and years of service as of Jan. 31. They have until March 17 to accept the offer.

The company projects annual cost savings of $200 million. It projects taking a $225 million charge in the first half of fiscal 2017.

The goal is to boost the retailer's initiative to return to sustainable profitability.

The company reported Friday having $1 million in net income for fiscal 2016, compared with a $513 million loss in fiscal 2015. It was J.C. Penney's first fiscal profit since 2010.

Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the full year improved $294 million to $1 billion.

"These strategic decisions will help align the companys brick-and-mortar presence with its omni-channel network, thereby redirecting capital resources to invest in locations and initiatives that offer the greatest revenue potential," the company said.

We believe we must take aggressive action to better align our retail operations for sustainable growth," said Marvin Ellison, the company's chairman and chief executive.

Ellison said he believes JCPenney's store presence remains relevant as it relates to its focus on beauty, home refresh and special sizes products that "generated significantly higher sales, and a more vibrant in-store shopping environment.

"Our decision to close stores will allow us to raise the overall brand standard of the company and allocate capital more efficiently.

"By coordinating the timing of these two events, we can expect to see a net increase in hiring as the number of full-time associates expected to take advantage of the early retirement incentive will far exceed the number of full-time positions affected by the store closures."

Ellison said that 75 percent of its online orders "touched a physical store."

"Even with a reduced store count, JCPenney is competitively positioned to deliver a differentiated department store model that meets the expectations of a digital world with an inspiring, tangible shopping environment, Ellison added.

J.C. Penney is following a well-trod path for big-box department stores.

Macy's has announced closing of 168 stores nationwide in the past two years.

There's also the financial struggles of Sears that has led to store closings, along with Dillard's converting more mall stores into clearance centers, such as at Oak Hollow Mall in High Point, and the August 2015 sale of Belk to a private-equity group for $3 billion.

Charles Gwinn, manager of Hanes Mall, told the Winston-Salem Journal in January that the shopping center continues to adjust to consumer shopping patterns increasingly shifting to online.

All of those mall anchors own their stores at Hanes Mall, which could prove to be a major logistical and infrastructure challenge to fill if one decides to leave.

Yet, Gwinn views the lack of impact  so far  on Hanes Mall from those department store shakeouts as testament of its relevancy to those anchors, as well as its position as the mall of choice for not only Forsyth County but also much of the Triad and Northwest North Carolina west of the Guilford County line.
A rejected suitor for the assets of defunct Microfibres Inc. filed a motion Thursday to vacate the companys sale to a Turkish textile company and order a second auction.

Microfibres, based in Pawtucket, R.I., filed for Chapter 7 voluntary bankruptcy protection Jan. 27, 2016  the same day it closed its Pawtucket, Winston-Salem and Lee County, Miss., facilities and ceased production. A Chapter 7 filing signifies the company wants court permission to liquidate its assets.

The Winston-Salem plant had 125 employees when it closed. The local workforce was at 270 as recently as 2004. The Pawtucket facility had 58 employees, and the Mississippi facility had two.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved an asset purchase offer of $5.92 million from Tukek Holding Anonim Sikretiased on Feb. 8. Tukek was identified as owner of Flokser Inc., and a strategic buyer in the international textile sector.

The auction was held after trustee Joseph DiOrio accepted in July, then rejected in August, an offer of $5.98 million by Cram Holdings Group LLC of Charlotte.

DiOrio said in a filing he rejected Crams offer after determining the company did not provide satisfactory evidence of its ability to fund its obligations to complete the purchase.

Cram is joined by Grand Coast Capital Group LLC of Massachusetts in its motion.

Cram said it was the only other qualified bidder besides Tukek. Cram said it was prepared to bid $6.44 million for the assets, which it claimed would have produced $216,000 more to the bankruptcy estate than the Tukek offer.

Cram said that right before the auction, DiOrio disclosed information and a document to the court that Cram claimed allegedly impugned the character and veracity of the principal officer of Cram (Marcel Stark) and had a chilling effect upon the auction. Cram claimed the information alleged fraudulent activity by Cram.

Stark owns Starmarc Inc. According to previous filings, Starmarc co-owned Microfibres Mexico LLC with Microfibres before Microfibres abandoned its holdings in that company.

Cram said Grand Coast withdrew its co-bid Feb. 8 in part because it had no time to research and verify the allegations raised by DiOrio.

Cram said that if the sale is vacated and another auction held, it is prepared with Grand Coast to offer a higher bid than $6.44 million.

Tukek and Flokser officials have not responded to a request for comment on their plans for the Microfibres assets.

Microfibres said it ended its U.S. manufacturing presence in response to domestic and global textiles challenges. The company made high-performance, stain-resistant flocked fabrics for the upholstery, furniture and specialty-products markets.

Assets up for sale included 473,000 square feet of space in Winston-Salem that includes five buildings on 25 acres. The main manufacturing plant at 3821 Kimwell Drive is 219,500 square feet. The other local properties are at 3760, 3803 and 3811 Kimwell.

Tukek was given a $200,000 price reduction so that money could be spent on estimated remedial costs to the Winston-Salem properties.

DiOrio had valued the Microfibres assets at $7.46 million, of which $3.78 million is inventory, some of which could be sold in separate transactions. Also sold were 300,000 square feet of space on 10.2 acres in Pawtucket and a 31,000-square-foot warehouse in Lee County, Miss.

Equipment and machinery in the Winston-Salem plant were valued at $580,394, while equipment and machinery in Pawtucket were valued at $499,425. The land value for each plant was $1.2 million.
A former Mocksville police officer should get his job back more than five years after he and two other officers were wrongfully terminated for reporting allegations of corruption to state authorities, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder ruled that Lt. Rick Donathan, one of three former Mocksville police officers who won a $4.1 million jury verdict last year, should be reinstated to his position once it becomes available. He and two other officers, Maj. Ken Hunter and Detective Jerry Medlin, were all fired on Dec. 29, 2011, two weeks after they reported allegations of corruption to the N.C. Attorney Generals Office and the N.C. Office of the Governor. They wanted the state agencies to launch an investigation into the police department.

Many of the allegations centered on then-Police Chief Robert Cook, whom the officers accused of drinking excessively while on duty, ignoring officer misconduct and mismanaging the departments money. Cook and former Town Manager Christine Bralley said they fired the officers for poor performance. Cook retired in 2013.

After an eight-day trial in U.S. District Court in May 2016, a jury disagreed and sided with the Mocksville police officers. The jury awarded compensatory and punitive damages to each of the officers, including front pay, or future lost earnings. In August, Schroeder determined that the front pay for each of the officers was too high and lowered the total amount of damages to about $2.1 million.

In his ruling Tuesday, Schroeder reduced the amount of damages that the town of Mocksville is liable for to $1 million. There was a dispute between the towns attorneys and the attorneys for the officers about how much the towns insurance could cover  $1 million or $3 million. Schroeder determined that it was $1 million for all three officers.

Bralley and Cook are each liable for punitive damages of $30,000  $10,000 for each of the three officers. Michael Elliot, one of the attorneys for the officers, said Bralley and Cook are also liable for compensatory damages.

Elliot said he and his father, Robert Elliot, who also represented the officers, were disappointed in Schroeders ruling on the insurance policy. He said they had argued that even if the insurance policy was limited to $1 million, the officers were entitled to recover adequate damages from their constitutional claims to make them whole.

The constitutional rights of North Carolina residents should not be determined by how much insurance the town purchases, Michael Elliot said.

He said he and Robert Elliot plan to appeal Schroeders rulings on insurance and the officers constitutional claims to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Stephen Dunn, one of the attorneys for the town, declined to comment on Schroeders ruling.

Donathan, Hunter and Medlin testified that Cook and Bralley fired them on Dec. 29, 2011, because they called the governors office on Dec. 14, 2011.

They used disposable phones to make the calls.

The allegations were serious  that Cook drank on the job and pretended to be a certified law-enforcement officer when he wasnt. They also said Cook and then-deputy chief Daniel Matthews mismanaged the departments money.

And they said he ignored officer misconduct. According to testimony during the trial in U.S. District Court, several Mocksville police officers were accused of coming into work intoxicated, stealing property from a supply closet at the police department, pulling a gun outside the police department and pointing it at people and ramming a patrol car into another car. None of those officers were fired.

Instead, they resigned. Cook testified that he had never fired any officer during his time as chief of police, except for Hunter, Donathan and Medlin.

The officers also alleged racial discrimination. Hunter was one of two black officers at the Mocksville Police Department.

A psychologist testified that all three officers suffered from some degree of depression, and the officers testified that since their terminations, they had trouble getting other jobs in law enforcement.

One of the biggest sticking points between the town and the officers after the trial was whether any of the officers would get their jobs back. Town attorneys were opposed for two main reasons  no jobs were available and the lawsuit had created too much animosity for the officers to be able to work there.

The officers attorneys said Bralley would have to go as town manager before the officers could be reinstated. Bralley retired in November.

Soon after that, a job at the Mocksville Police Department came open. The vacancy happened when a lieutenant left, but that position was quickly filled internally, and the only vacant position currently open is entry-level.

Hunter is retired, but Medlin and Donathan were both interested in getting their jobs back. Schroeder determined that Donathan was in a better position to be reinstated. He is certified as a law-enforcement officer, has a good reputation and is a decorated officer. Donathan won a Silver Star in 2007 for his help in saving elderly residents from a fire at a nursing home.

Medlin, Schroeder said, isnt certified and wrote negative comments about the police department after the trial.

Schroeder ruled that the town will pay Donathan $9,405 a month in front pay for a 21-month period or until a lieutenant position becomes open at the Mocksville Police Department.

Elliott said its rare for a judge to order reinstatement.

Yesterday was truly a vindication for Rick Donathan and were really happy for him, he said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

Irans giant automaker Iran Khodro plans to open four more car plants in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said at the Azerbaijan-Iran Business Forum in Urmia.

In 2016, Azerbaijans AzEuroCar LLC and Iran Khodro signed an agreement to create a joint car plant in the Neftchala Industrial Quarter. The plant with a capacity of about 10,000 cars per year will produce four Iranian car brands  Dena, Runna, Soren and Samand. The project is estimated to cost $15 million. The plant will produce its first cars in May 2017.

A delegation headed by Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev visited Iran to discuss expansion of cooperation in various areas.

"Currently, 538 companies with Iranian share operate in Azerbaijan," Mustafayev said. "These companies have invested about $150 million in Azerbaijan."

Mustafayev also noted that Azerbaijan and Iran intend to increase the bilateral trade to $500 million.

Last year, Azerbaijans trade turnover with Iran amounted to $210.76 million, which is 70 percent more than in 2015, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijans economy minister further noted that the two countries also plan to increase the number of flights between Baku and the Iranian cities of Tehran, Tabriz and Mashhad.
Abundance appears in myriad forms.

Watching UNC School of the Arts Winter Dance on Thursday night, I was struck by the thought that we have more than 100 years of innovative dance virtually at our fingertips.

Before the 20th century, classical ballet was the only dance form considered art. It was born in the courts of Renaissance Italy, spread throughout Europe and reached its zenith in 19th-century France and Russia. So, European culture  on both sides of the Atlantic  had 400 years of ballet before Isadora Duncan took off her shoes and let down her hair in the 1890s.

Since then, the evolution in dance has been exponential, and five of the results of that explosion are laid out for our pleasure in Winter Dance.

Starting with the newest: Alrededor no hay nada (Around there is nothing), by Goyo Montero, a contemporary Spanish choreographer, opens with 12 couples standing upstage under tall cones of smoky light.

The dancers, in cabaret-style costumes  dark suits with T-shirt for the men, white crop tops and black shorts for the women, and bowler hats for all  perform to spoken word in Spanish.

The movement is fluid and staccato, unexpected, unromantic and enticing. Set to the poem/song El Dia de la Creacions (the day of creation) by Joaquin Sabina, a Spanish poet, and Vinicius de Morais, Brazilian poet/musician, the fierce movement is insistent and haunting. It has a determined quality.

When actual music is finally introduced toward the end of the piece, the simple bass fiddle and drum kit are enough to drive the dance into a frenzied party scene that is always in control.

Merce Cunninghams iconic Change of Address is presented using Marsha Skinners backdrop, costumes and lighting, re-created here by Christina Curtis, Sydney Yeoman, Lisa Weller and Marissa McCullough and Abby May.

The androgynous costuming in brown, rust and gold frames the dancers as they curl their bodies into shapes like old-fashion jacks toys, bend sideways, forward and backward, bounce and crawl, almost, but never quite, contorting; almost, but never quite, going out of balance.

The accompaniment, Walter Zimmermans Self Forgetting, which uses violin, harmonium, glass harmonica, cowbells and voice, is wonderful and bizarre, a perfect pairing for the dance.

It was thrilling to see two works by Paul Taylor choreographed nearly 40 years apart.

In his classic Esplanade (1975), staged by Ruth Andrien, student dancers walk, run, skip, fall and tumble to music by J.S. Bach. This dance is sheer joy and exuberance and shows that sometime dance can be just ordinary things done better.

Professional dancers from the Paul Taylor 2 company perform The Uncommitted (2011). In it, Taylor expresses his concern about relationships in the 21st century. The movement shows relationships as combative, misdirected or unresolved. It is set to music by Arvo Part, an Estonian composer.

The 1900s saw not only the creation of new dance forms but also the expansion of the art of ballet.

Serenade, the first ballet that George Balanchine made when he came to America, shows both his neoclassical bent and his movement into the new.

Staged by Zippora Karz, a former soloist with New York City Ballet, and set to Tchaikovskys lush and Serenade for Strings, the piece is a revelation of balletic art.

Costumed in unusually unconstructed bodices and flowing tulle skirts, all ice blue, 20 women and six men filled the stage with precise and sometimes-enigmatic dance, the final tableau suggesting spectres and sacrifice.
CLEMMONS  There may be no way to convince them otherwise.

Those who believe that the Annoor Islamic Center is a training ground for terrorists will probably continue to believe that. Or that its members are planning a takeover. Or that, like the nearly 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide who do not carry out attacks, they have nothing to do with terrorists who say they do such acts in the name of Allah.

But Hamdy Radwan, the chairman of the Islamic centers council, will try today.

And he will have the support of Jerry McLeese, a Christian who started Interfaith Winston-Salem about five years ago.

The Islamic center, located at 1435 Lake Cottage Road in Clemmons, will open its doors today as services start at 1:30 p.m. And there will be a town hall-style meeting afterward. Local law enforcement officials and FBI officials will be there, too.

The event comes a week after the Triad City Beat weekly newspaper reported that a group of residents, meeting at a restaurant in Kernersville, had a discussion about Muslim plots to take over. At one point, the Annoor Islamic Center was mentioned as having a madrassa  the Arabic word for school  that needed to be watched. At another point of the exchange, one attendee said he was ready to kill the hell out of Muslims.

There is a sense of urgency to do this because when things sit for a period of time, they become set in stone, McLeese said. This gives people a chance to say whats on their minds.  We felt it was important to go ahead to show support for Annoor.

The other two mosques in the area will open their doors, too.

Services at the Community Mosque, 1419 Waughtown St. in Winston-Salem, will begin at 1:30 p.m.

Services at the Masjid Al-Muminun mosque, at 1510 Harriet Tubman Drive in Winston-Salem will begin at 12:30 p.m.

The Kernersville discussion  captured in an audio recording  was referred to the FBI by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Mark Baker, the chairman of the Forsyth County Republican Party, distanced the organization from the group of conservatives who met in Kernersville, the Winston-Salem Journal has reported.

No party officers attended the meeting, said Baker, who was not at the meeting. And the Kernersville group is not affiliated with the party, he said. In addition, he said, the county GOP does not condone violence. That said, Bev Lung, one of the people at the Kernersville meeting, is an active volunteer for the county GOP but she is not currently a party officer, according to Baker.

Regardless of the party affiliation of those at the meeting, Radwan wants to reach out, he said Thursday. Efforts are being made to meet with them, he said.

We are willing to talk with them and say, This is who we are. Will that change their views? It might not, but we will make every effort to explain who we are, Radwan said. Were reaching out. We have an obligation to reach out. The Islamic center is open. We have nothing to hide.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

Kazakhstan imported 31.1 tons of jewelries worth $31.1 million in 2016, Energyprom.kz monitoring agency said in a report published Feb. 24. Import volume decreased by 68.3 percent, import in monetary terms decreased by 29. 3 percent in the reporting period compared to 2015.

Silver jewelry on Kazakhstans retail market rose in price by 6 percent over the year and hit 1,302 tenge (312.6 tenge = $1) per gram in January 2017.

The most high prices for silver jewelry were in the cities of Atyrau (1,734 tenge per gram, 10.2 percent up year over year), Almaty (1,724 tenge per gram, 4.2 percent up) and Kyzylorda (1,608 tenge per gram, 1.9 percent up).

Gold jewelry increased in price by 12.1 percent in 2016 and hit 14,100 tenge per gram in Jan. 2017.

The most expensive gold jewelry are in the cities of Astana (20,900 tenge per gram, 54 percent increase year over year), Ust-Kamenogorsk (17,900 tenge per gram, 3.1 percent up) and Aktau (17,000 tenge per gram, 2 percent up).

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
The News & Record of Greensboro published a longer version of this editorial Wednesday.

Gov. Roy Cooper has set a path to raise teacher pay in North Carolina to the national average in five years. The gap today is nearly $9,000, according to the National Education Association.

This is an ambitious plan that requires support from the legislature and relies on a number of variables.

Average pay for North Carolina teachers is $49,837. The national average is $58,743.

North Carolina fell far behind in the years after teacher pay reached the national average under former Gov. Jim Hunt, who left office in 2001. Since 2014, significant raises have been granted. They werent evenly distributed, however, favoring beginning and early career teachers. Cooper proposes 5-percent average salary increases next year and the year after.

Republican legislators and former Gov. Pat McCrory promised to lift the average salary to $50,000 this year but fell just short. Critics accused them of trickery because their calculations included local supplements, which are paid by counties out of property tax revenues.

Well, so does Coopers plan. To hit an average salary of $62,261 by 2021-22, Cooper assumes 2.68 percent annual growth in local salary supplements. Thats a big assumption, and many counties lack the capacity or political will to provide those increases. And for that $62,261 to meet the national average, another assumption is made: that the national average rises at only a 1.17 percent annual rate.

Its more certain that North Carolina has the money to get a good start on Coopers plan. Tax revenues are coming in at a pace that will provide a surplus of more than $500 million. Cooper says his proposal would cost $813 million over the first two years. To afford it without raising taxes, most of this years surplus and most of a similar surplus next year would have to be funneled to teacher salaries. Cooper also calls for halting future tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals.

The Democratic governor will have to reach an agreement with the Republican legislature to make that happen.
Today

Showers this morning becoming less numerous during the afternoon hours. High 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow

Partly cloudy. Near record high temperatures. High 79F. Winds light and variable.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

New hydro power plant with a capacity of 24.9 MW will be built on Turgusun river in the East Kazakhstan region, Development Bank of Kazakhstan said in a message.

Turgusun HPP-1 will produce up to 79.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

The Turgusun hydro power plant in Zyryanovsk district of East Kazakhstan region will produce 23 percent of the electricity demanded by the district and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 680 tons per year.

The project will cost 11.6 billion tenge (312.6 tenges $1), 5 billion tenge of this sum will be provided by the Development Bank of Kazakhstan.

The project is financed within the State Program on industrial-innovative development in 2015-2019. The loan term is 12 years.

To date, all the infrastructure required for the hydro power plant has been built - roads, power lines, bridges. Construction of the hydro power plant will start in 2017 and expected to be completed by 2018.

China International Water and Electric Corporation is a general contractor of the project. It also supplies equipment for the plant.

The demand for electricity in East Kazakhstan region is increasing. In 2015 electricity shortage in the region hit 2.2 billion kilowatt hours. It was covered by supplies from other regions of Kazakhstan and import from Russia.

Development Bank of Kazakhstan is state owned bank which promotes sustainable development of Kazakhstans national economy through investments to non-energy sector of the country.

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Reddit Email 0 Shares

IMEMC |  

A film depicting the torture, humiliation and violence experienced by Palestinians imprisoned by Israel won the first ever Silver Bear award at the Berlinale international film festival.

The film, Istiyad Ashbah (Ghost Hunting), was produced by Palestinian filmmaker Raed Andoni.

It was one of 18 finalists competing for the top honor at the Berlinale film festival this year. The Golden Bear award was won by Hungarian filmmaker Ildiko Enyedi for the film Testrol es lelekrol (On Body and Soul).

Andonis film Ghost Hunting involves a powerful re-enactment of interrogation rooms and prison facilities in the infamous Russian Compound prison run by Israel.

According to journalist Rene Windangel, who spoke with Andoni about the creation of the film, the director began by confronting his own ghosts, having been imprisoned during the first intifada in the late 1980s. He then turned to newspaper ads as he set out to find a group of former inmates able to work as set designers and craftsmen in recreating a prison on the film set. He also sought out ex-detainees willing to play the roles of prison wardens and prisoners. And so this group of people, who had themselves experienced imprisonment, began to meticulously build their own prison.

German commentator Rene Windangel wrote in the paper Qantara, in a review of the film, By giving the actors and crew room to express themselves, Andonis film manages to avoid cliches. In no way is the film limited to the observation of suffering or the re-enactment of victimisation. Raed Andonis film functions as both trauma therapy and as an opportunity to discuss the political problem of prisoners. First and foremost, though, the film works as an impressive piece of cinematography dealing with the basic questions of the human condition.

Currently there are around 7000 Palestinian men and women imprisoned by Israel. Over 750,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned since 1967 and the start of the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Most were sentenced by military courts, while others were held without any charges in so-called administrative detention. There are practically no Palestinian families that have been spared the experience of prison.

Via IMEMC



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Berlinale  Berlin International

67th Berlinale | Closing-Award Ceremony
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

Trend:

Officials from Azerbaijan and Iran reviewed the implementation of a project to construct the Khudaferin and Giz Galasi hydroelectric facilities on the Araz River on the Iranian side.

Azerbaijani delegation was headed by Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, who co-chairs the Azerbaijan-Iran State Commission for Economic, Trade and Humanitarian Cooperation, the Economy Ministry said Feb. 24.

Iranian delegation was headed by Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi, also a co-chair of the Commission.

In a meeting of the parties, Mustafayev reminded that during the visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Iran on Feb. 23, 2016, an agreement was signed for cooperation in the use of water resources and continuation of construction and operation of the Khudaferin and Giz Galasi hydroelectric facilities on the Araz River.

Mustafayev said the agreement proclaims the principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Iran, and equal rights for water and energy resources of Khudaferin and Giz Galasi hydroelectric facilities.

The agreement also highlights the need to restore the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with the UN resolutions, he added.

Mustafayev stressed that the agreement is a result of successful foreign policy of Azerbaijan and an indicator of the countrys high prestige on international arena.

The agreement also reflects rapidly developing Azerbaijan-Iran relations based on the principles of friendship and good neighborliness, he noted.

Construction of the Khudaferin dam is already completed, while the construction of power plants is nearing completion, Mustafayev said, adding that Azerbaijan and Iran will be operating and implementing the project together.

The profit from the sale of electricity will be equally divided between Azerbaijan and Iran, he noted.
Reddit Email 267 Shares

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

It is alleged that Adam W. Purinton, a regular at a bar and grill, went up to two Indian-American patrons on Wednesday night in Olathe, Kansas and screamed racial slurs at them. He was asked to leave by the bartender, but 15 minutes later came back, shouted get out of my country! and shot them. One victim, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, died of his injuries in a Kansas City hospital. He is said to have left behind a wife who is five months pregnant.

The other intended victim, 32-year-old Alok Madasani of Overland Park, is wounded and in hospital.

It is speculated that Purinton, who had served in the Navy and worked in internet technology, thought that the men were Middle Eastern Muslims rather than Indian Hindus.

Also shot and wounded in the hand, chest and neck is 24-year-old Ian Grillot, who just happened to be at the bar and grill, and who tried to stop Purinton as he fled. Grillot, from his hospital bed, told the story of how he was under a table and counted out nine shots then pursued the alleged assailant. But apparently he miscounted, and the gunman still had a shot to get off.

Grillot said: Its not about where he [victim] was from or his ethnicity. Were all humans, so I just did what was right to do.

Grillots injury is a badge of honor and courage, and he should be saluted by all right-thinking people. But it is a dark parable. White terrorism against people the white supremacists code as non-white or foreign will also victimize white people.

Purinton was picked up at another bar 80 miles away from the scene of the crime, where he allegedly confessed to having shot two Middle Eastern men. That kind of stupidity is an active danger to the survival of our species.

Remember, the shooter had been told by Trump-Bannon that Muslims hate America and should be excluded from the US.

Kuchibhotla was a star software engineer originally from Hyderabad, India (his wife is also from there). He had degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad and from the University of Texas. His co-workers say he was the nicest person. His bereaved wife and his family are trying to raise money to send his body back to India for his funeral.

He and Madasani worked at Garmin International.

The White House sets a tone in a country. Trumps assertion that Islam hates us and his project of a Muslim ban sent a signal permitting hate crimes to the millions of unbalanced people in the US into whose hands the National Rifle Association has insisted on putting firearms.

But ironically, Trump would approve of Kuchibhotla.

As Willa Frej tells the story, then Steve Bannon had a radio show on Sirius XM in 2015, he had Donald Trump on as a guest and complained about all the foreigners in the US. Trump pushed back, saying that a lot of bright people come to America and get Ivy League degrees, and we should try to keep them.

Bannon told Trump, When two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think A country is more than an economy. Were a civic society.

Needless to say, Bannons facts are fake. Asian-Americans actually account for 14 percent of CEOs in Silicon Valley. And, as we social scientists use the phrase civil society (non-governmental public organizations), there is no reason to exclude Asian-Americans. That is, there is no analytical reason, assuming youre not, like, a racist bigot.

Bannon speaks of a civilizational war with Muslims and through the executive orders he crafter for Tump he has laid the ground work for blood in the streets.

Bannon is not fit to shine the shoes of any of the three victims here, who actually contribute positively to our country rather than trying to Nazify it.

Two of my uncles fought the Nazis. I mind anyone trying to import racist thuggery into this country. Theres no difference between publishing a rag like Breitbart and going out to Arlington cemetery and spitting on the graves every day.

-

Related video:

KCTV5 News: Witnesses say Olathe bar shooting may have racial overtones
[JURIST] The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday ruled [opinion, PDF] that Fayetteville city ordinance 5781 broadening nondiscrimination laws to include sexual orientation or gender identity is invalid under  14-1-403 of the Interstate Commerce Improvement Act (Act 137) [text, PDF]. This state statute prohibited cities from adopting or enforcing an ordinance, resolution, rule, or policy that creates a protected classification or prohibits discrimination on a basis not contained in Arkansas law. Classes based on sexual orientation or gender identity are currently not protected in Arkansas. Ordinance 5781 aimed to provide just this protection. Noting that there is a direct inconsistency between state and municipal law, the court stated the ordinance violated the plain language of Act 137 and cannot be permitted to stand. The court refused to rule on the constitutionality of Act 137 stating that this was an issue not addressed by the circuit court and therefore not preserved for appeal.

Anti-discrimination laws based on sexual orientation and gender identity has created much controversy in the past several months. The Trump administration on Wednesday revoked [JURIST report] the Obama-era guidelines regarding transgender students. The previous guidelines were a joint effort by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Education [official websites] that required federally funded schools to treat gender identity as a students sex for purposes of Title IX [DOE materials]. In February the Washington Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that a florist that refused to sell flowers to a same-sex couple for their wedding violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). Also in February the DOJ withdrew its appeal [JURIST report] of an injunction preventing the Obama administrations guidance that schools should allow transgender students to use the restroom of their choosing. In December, a bipartisan agreement to repeal North Carolinas bathroom bill fell apart [JURIST report] after each party accused the other of reneging on promises. House Bill 2 (HB2) [text, PDF] is a state law requiring transgender people to use the public bathroom associated with the sex listed on their birth certificate.
The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) formally asked the International Court of Justice [official website] Thursday to review a 2007 ruling [text, PDF; JURIST report] clearing Serbia of genocide during their 1990 civil war. President Izetbegovic of the President of the Democratic Party of Action, engaged a lawyer to draft the request before the 10-year statute of limitations runs out on February 26. The request for review [RFE/FL report] has prompted anger from Bosnian Serbs and Serbia; Bosnian presidencys Serb chairman stated the appeal would violate the countrys constitution and threaten peace and stability in Bosnia, creating a further ethnic divide in the Balkans.

The appeal follows a trend of continued legal action against those accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity that left more than 100,000 people dead and millions displaced during the Balkan conflict of the 1990s. BiH vowed to file the appeal earlier this month, prompting many to many fear [JURIST report] that a political crisis may be brewing in the Balkans. In October a Croatian prosecutor charged eight ex-Yugoslav military officers [JURIST report], including commander Borislav Djukic, with war crimes perpetrated during the Croatian War of Independence. In July Brazilian authorities arrested a man charged with committing war crimes in 1992 [JURIST report] against the civilian population of former Yugoslavia. The search for wanted criminal Nikola Ceranic began in late June after Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities forwarded an extradition request to the Brazilian Justice Ministry and Supreme Court. In April a French court ruled to extradite Radomir Susnjar [JURIST report], who is suspected of war crimes committed during Balkan conflict of the 1990s, to Sarajevo where he will face charges concerning his involvement. The ICJ ruled in 2015 that Serbia and Croatia did not commit genocide against each others citizens during the 1990s conflict.
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website] on Wednesday dismissed [press release] charges against Im Chaem, a Buddhist nun suspected of playing a role in the Khmer Rouge regime. The judges in the case said they lacked jurisdiction to decide Im Chaems case as she was neither a senior leader nor  one of the  officials of the Khmer Rouge regime. The full reasons for dismissal will be filed at a later date.

Im Chaem was thought to have run a forced labor camp during the between 1975 and 1979 when the Khmer Rouge killed [BBC backgrounder] approximately 20 percent of the Cambodian population. Cambodia has struggled, at great expense, to bring former Khmer Rouge officials to justice. Last November the ECCC upheld [JURIST report] the life sentences of two key Khmer Rouge officials. However, the ECCC has been criticized [REUTERS report] for only convicting three Khmer Rouge officialsat a cost of USD $260 millionduring its 10-year existence.
Prosecutors in North Jutland, Denmark [official website], pressed blasphemy charges [press release, in Danish] against a man on Wednesday for posting a video in which he burned a Koran. On Thursday the Danish Prosecution Service issued a formal indictment [press release, in Danish] against the man. The prosecutor noted that, It is the prosecutions view that the circumstances of the burning of holy books like the Bible and the Quran implies that in some cases it may be a violation of blasphemy provision, which deals with public mockery or scorn against a religion. The charges have been issued under Penal Code  140, which forbids the public insulting of lawfully existing religions.

Bills limiting freedom of expression and punishing religious dissension have been widespread across the world and have led to international concern [JURIST report]. In August Maldives President Yameen Abdul Gayoom signed [JURIST report] into law a controversial bill criminalizing defamation with fines and jail terms despite widespread criticism. Earlier this year a sharia high court in Nigeria sentenced cleric Abdulaziz Dauda and nine others to death [JURIST report] by hanging for committing blasphemy against the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. In January UN human rights experts called for a review of the UKs draft Investigatory Powers bill fearing that the present draft of the bill could threaten freedom of expression and association [JURIST report]. In February a Pakistani man was executed for his part in murdering a politician [JURIST report] who had condemned the conviction of a Christian for blasphemy. Later that month Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Indonesian Parliament to reject proposed amendments to its law on the eradication of terrorism. HRW asserts that the proposed amendments are too vague [JURIST report] and would limit the exercise of free expression and directly conflict with Indonesias obligations to international human rights, leading to fundamental rights violations. And in 2010 HRW urged the repeal of all such laws [JURIST report].
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit [official website] on Thursday ruled [order, PDF] that Texas can enforce a 2015 state law that criminalizes the harboring of illegal immigrants. Texas officials had claimed the law, known as House Bill 11 [materials], was primarily aimed at human traffickers and smugglers, but its critics were concerned that it would also target legal aid organizations and homeless shelters that housed and helped undocumented immigrants. The US District Court for the Western District of Texas [official website] granted [order, PDF] a preliminary injunction in April, stopping the law from going into effect. The Fifth Circuit reversed the injunction and dismissed the challenge because the plaintiffstwo landlords and two social service providerslack standing:

In sum, plaintiffs cannot demonstrate a credible threat of prosecution. On the state of this record, they have not hampered authorities from finding any of the illegal aliens they rent to or serve, nor have they taken steps to help the aliens evade detection by the authorities. Because there is no reasonable interpretation by which merely renting housing or providing social services to an illegal alien constitutes harboring  that person from detection, we REVERSE the injunction and RENDER a judgment of dismissal for want of jurisdiction.

In the ruling, the court noted that the direct of the Texas Department of Public Safety testified that his agency would not investigate or enforce this law against social services agencies or landlords.

The reinstatement of this law comes during a large overhaul of the countrys approach to immigration. Earlier this week the Trump administration issued new guidance [JURIST report] informing immigration enforcement measures. In late January President Donald Trump signed an executive order [JURIST op-ed] to restrict travel to the US from certain countries and putting in place a temporary halt on refugees entering the US. Earlier this month the Ninth Circuit upheld [JURIST report] a district court decision to block enforcement of the executive order nationwide. The proceedings regarding the order have been temporarily stopped [JURIST report], as President Donald Trump has announced that he will sign a new order on the issue soon.
The Illinois State Board of Education [official website] voted on Thursday to approve a settlement [text, PDF] of a lawsuit claiming discriminatory school funding. The vote resolved litigation over the Chicago Urban Leagues (CUL) [advocacy website] 2008 lawsuit claiming [Daily Herald report] that the states funding model had a demonstrable, disparate and adverse impact on minorities. The settlement provides that the board will cap per-pupil cuts or use other distribution methods if appropriations are deemed inadequate. This will replace the old system of prorating state aid to schools when money is short. The CUL filed the lawsuit in 2008 challenging the constitutionality of the states funding system, but the state was dismissed as a party. CUL then challenged the boards use of proration where they would decrease school district payments by an equal across-the-board percentage. The board has continued to deny any allegations of wrongdoing [press release] and said they agreed to a settlement to avoid the burden, costs, and distraction of continued litigation.

Education funding has led to numerous legal challenges across the US. In September the Supreme Court of Nevada ruled [JURIST report] that the states school funding system was unconstitutional. Earlier that month the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that Governor Matt Bevin did not have the authority to unilaterally cut the budget [JURIST report] for state universities. In 2015 the Supreme Court of Washington ordered [JURIST report] the state to pay a fine of $100,000 per day for each day that it fails to comply with a previous court ruling mandating adequate funding of public schools. Also in August of that year the US Senate passed a bill [JURIST report] to revamp the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act.
[JURIST] North Carolina lawmakers filed a bipartisan bill [text, PDF] on Wednesday aimed at breaking the impasse over the states so-called bathroom bill (HB2) [text, PDF] that requires transgender people to use public bathrooms that correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificate. The bill (HB186) would repeal HB2 while also permitting cities to pass nondiscrimination ordinances with 30 days notice to the legislature. HB186 also bans discrimination in housing. Some LGBT advocates have criticized the measure as not doing enough to protect their rights, and it is unclear if the measure could pass both houses of the North Carolina General Assembly [official website]. Last week North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper [official website] proposed a compromise [JURIST report] to address the HB2 impasse, the details of which have been incorporated in this bill.

North Carolinas bathroom bill has generated significant controversy. Earlier this month, six Democrats in the North Carolina House of Representatives filed a bill [JURIST report] to repeal HB2. Last May former governor Pat McCrory filed a complaint for declaratory judgment asking the federal court to weigh in on the legality of the bill, but withdrew [JURIST reports] from the lawsuit in September. In March Cooper, then-North Carolina Attorney General, stated during a press conference that he would not defend [JURIST report] HB2, which he considered to be discriminatory against the LGBT community. Earlier that week North Carolina individuals and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against McCrory, claiming that the bill was unconstitutional and discriminatory. Earlier that month McCrory signed the bill into law [JURIST report], preventing local governments from enacting their own nondiscrimination ordinances and making them unable to pass laws allowing transgender people to use the public restroom or locker room that corresponds with their gender identity. In February of that year, McCrory issued an executive order [JURIST report] clarifying that the intention of the bill was to prevent crimes in bathrooms and similar places.
A Slovenian law allowing same-sex marriage took effect Friday, and the countrys first same-sex marriage will take place Saturday, according to an administrator in Maribor [official website, in Slovenian], the city where the wedding will take place. Ksenija Klampfer said a lesbian couple will be the first to get married under a law passed by the Slovenian government last year. The law was passed [Radio-Television Slovenia report, in Slovenian] in a 51-28 vote [JURIST report] months after a referendum to halt the legalization [text, PDF, in Slovenian] of same-sex marriages was voted on by the public. In allowing same-sex marriages, Slovenia joins other Eurpoean Union countries including Spain, France, and Britain. While the law does allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, it does not allow them to adopt children, other than those from a spouses previous marriage.

Rights for LGBT individuals continue to change. Last week, the Parliament of Finland voted 120-48 [JURIST report] to confirm a law allowing same-sex marriage. 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.
[JURIST] US Attorney General Jeff Sessions [official website] issued a memo [memo, PDF] made public Thursday that rescinds an Obama administration memo [text] calling for the phasing out of the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] use of private prisons. In the memo, Sessions states that the Obama-era memo changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureau (of Prisons) ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system. Currently, 13 of the 146 federal prisons [Reuters report] are privately run. As of 2015, these 13 prisons housed a total of 22,600 inmates, down from roughly 40,000 in 2014.

The treatment of prisoners and prison reform [JURIST podcast] has been a growing concern in the US for years. In January the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center filed a class action lawsuit [JURIST report] against four Wisconsin state officials alleging that solitary confinement and inhumane conditions are being unconstitutionally used against incarcerated youths in correctional facilities. In August the DOJ reached a settlement [JURIST report] with Los Angeles prisons on mentally ill inmate care. In May 2015 Human Rights Watch released [JURIST report] a report stating that mentally disabled prisoners experience unnecessary, excessive, and even malicious force at the hands of prison staff across the US. A federal court earlier that year approved [JURIST report] a settlement agreement between the Arizona Department of Corrections and the ACLU in a class action lawsuit over the health care system within Arizona prisons. Also in February 2015 the rights group Equal Justice Under Law filed suit [JURIST report] against the cities of Ferguson and Jennings, Missouri, for their practice of jailing citizens who fail to pay debts owed to the city for minor offenses and traffic tickets. The ACLU and the ACLU of Texas released a report in 2014 exposing [JURIST report] the results of a multi-year investigation into conditions at five Criminal Alien Requirement prisons in Texas.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project will significantly strengthen ties between Azerbaijan and Europe, Valeh Alasgarov, vice-speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, told Trend.

This project is very important both for Europe and Azerbaijan. This is a new source of gas for Europe and a new way both for Azerbaijani gas and gas of other Caspian countries, noted Alasgarov. Naturally, this project will significantly strengthen both economic and political relations of Azerbaijan with European countries.

The vice-speaker added that the project will also boost Azerbaijans significance as a transit country.

This project will allow transporting to Europe not only Azerbaijani gas, he noted adding that the SGC will also allow Azerbaijan to become a transit country for transportation of Turkmen and Iranian gas.

This will additionally increase the economic and political weight of Azerbaijan in the world, added Alasgarov.

Southern Gas Corridor envisages transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to Europe via Georgia and Turkey.

The gas will be exported through expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.
[JURIST] UN human rights experts are called [press release] on global leaders Friday to take urgent action on air pollution to ensure world citizens enjoy what the UN calls the human rights to life and health in environments free from contamination. The experts stated that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) [official website], approximately seven million deaths are linked to exposure to air pollution [WHO backgrounder] every year. According to UNICEF [official website], 300 million children, roughly one in seven, live in environments that have outdoor air pollution levels that are six or more times higher than international guidelines [UNICEF report, PDF]. The UN stated that such high levels of global air pollution are due to an international lack of corporate accountability. To curb the issue, the UN is asking global leaders to enact strong anti-air pollution legislation and to enforce corporate accountability.

Air pollution and climate change is an international concern. Last week the European Commission gave final warnings [JURIST report] to Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK for failing to address air pollution. In January UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes Baskut Tuncak said [JURIST report] that the UK must take steps to control exposure to pollution and toxic chemicals for all citizens but particularly children. In November a US judge ruled [JURIST report] that a lawsuit against the US government over failure to limit the emission of greenhouse gasses can proceed. That same month governments around the world agreed [JURIST report] to legally binding limits on global temperature rises as the Paris Agreement [text, PDF] on climate change became effective. One of the biggest hurdles to reaching an agreement was getting China and the US [JURIST report] to sign on, the two countries being the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses, collectively responsible for about 40 percent of all gasses emitted.
[JURIST] UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan Aristide Nononsi [official profile] on Wednesday called for [press release] the Sudanese government to protect civilian rights in Darfur [OSU backgrounder]. Since 2003 the region has faced civil unrest from conflict between the government and rebel groups. Thousands of people are currently in displacement camps as a result from the conflict. Nononsi spoke after a 12-day mission as a follow-up [press release] on UN recommendations to assess the efforts of the Sudanese government to follow international standards on human rights:

This community remains anxious about the security situation in the area. Its members want enhanced protection of civilians by the authorities as well as basic services, including access to water, education and health care. It is essential for the Government, with the support of its international partners, to effectively protect the rights of civilians in a sustainable manner.

Nononsi visited multiple villages and camps, and residents spoke of the fear of sexual violence, criminality and armed violence.

There has been significant criticism of the Sudanese government and the conflict in Darfur. In January the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and international sanctions Idriss Jazairy praised [JURIST report] former US president Barack Obamas recent decision to lift all US sanctions on Sudan. In September Amnesty International reported that the Sudanese government used [JURIST report] chemical weapons on civilians in a region of Darfur between January and September 9 2016.
The UN Special Rapporteur for North Korean human rights, Tomas Ojea Quintana [official website], is urging the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the UN member states to bring human rights violations committed by North Korea before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and address the grave human rights situation in the country. In a detailed report [text, DOC] prepared with the help of legal experts Sonja Biserko of Serbia and Sara Hossain of Bangladesh, Quintana made references to North Koreas repeated nuclear and missile tests, political prison camps, abductions and lack of reliable information on the same for concerned relatives, enforced disappearances, violations of international labor standards with respect to overseas workers in the country, and a general lack of access to information as particular concerns that needed immediate attention. Quintana intends to continue pursuing a two-track strategy to resolving these concerns, which involve engaging with the North Korea authorities to promote human rights compliance and bringing human rights violators to justice, particularly where crimes against humanity are involved. The report specifically urges the UNHRC to ensure that perpetrators of gross violations are held responsible and support all victims in their quest for truth and justice. Toward that end, the report also urges the international community to facilitate monitoring efforts  by providing information and access to victims of and witnesses to human rights violations in North Korea. The conclusions and recommendations contained in this report will be formally presented on March 13 in a regular session of the UNHRC.

North Korea is well known for human rights violations, which has led to frequent sanctions. Earlier this month Freedom House [advocacy website], an independent watchdog organization, released [JURIST report] its 2017 Freedom in the World report, listing North Korea as one of the least-free nations in the world. Last month the Obama administration expanded sanctions [JURIST report] against North Korea for alleged human rights violations, adding eight North Korean government officials to the Specially Designated Nationals List. Kim Jong-un and 10 other high ranking officials were placed on the list [JURIST report] in July after the release of the report detailing the human rights violations in the country. In December, the Institute for National Security Strategy released a report [JURIST report] asserting that Kim ordered the executions of 340 people in the five years that he has been in power.
The UN Security Council [official website] on Wednesday condemned [statement] the February 16 terrorist attack in Baghdad that left at least 55 people dead. A terrorist group linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack, which was reportedly a car bomb [Al Jazeera report] on a busy street in the Bayaa neighborhood. Current Council President Volodymyr Yelchenko [official profile] called the attacks cowardly and heinous, and reiterated the Councils position that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. He urged UN member states to cooperate with the government of Iraq [website] in its effort to counter the violence of IS and other terrorist organizations.

Notwithstanding the calls for support, the UN has criticized the Iraqi government for certain actions in its response to terrorism. In September the UN said [JURIST report] that civilians bear the brunt of the violence. In August Human Rights Watch reported that Iraqi militias are recruiting children [JURIST report] from at least one civilian camp of displaced persons in the region of Kurdistan. Earlier in August the UN issued a report detailing the terrible atrocities [JURIST report] committed by IS against the Yazidi people and other ethnic and religious groups in Iraq. Also in August the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein expressed concern [JURIST report] over efforts by the Iraqi government to expedite implementation of the death penalty.
[JURIST] The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances [official website] urged [press release] Bangladesh on Friday to end enforced disappearances. The Working Group says that the number of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh has risen from a few cases to around 40 in the past few years. Many of the cases involve political opponents, including three men who disappeared last August. The Working Group said, Enforced disappearance is a heinous crime and an offence to human dignity and no circumstances whatsoever may be invoked to justify it. The group wants Bangladesh to disclose immediately the whereabouts of the victims.

Bangladeshs criminal justice system has also faced criticism recently. In January a Bangladesh court sentenced [JURIST report] 26 individuals to death for murder. In August UN humans rights experts urged [JURIST report] the government of Bangladesh to repeal the death sentence imposed upon Mir Quasem Ali, an opposition member of the Jamaat-e-Islami party. Also in August the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICTB) sentenced [JURIST report] a former member of parliament to death and seven others to life in prison for crimes committed during the 1971 war for independence. In July a Bangladeshi court officially indicted [JURIST report] 41 people with murder stemming from a 2013 garment factory collapse that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 people. In June the ICTB sentenced [JURIST report] Mohibur Rahman to death for his part in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
NEWSLETTER

Sign up

Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive.

Just Drinks Daily News

The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday.

Just Drinks Weekly News

A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday.

Just Drinks Magazine

The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

The Southern Gas Corridor, which is to supply Azerbaijani gas to Europe, will in short term increase the energy security of Southeastern Europe, Marco Giuli, an energy issues analyst at the Brussels-based European Policy Center, believes.

In the short term, the Southern Gas Corridor will be limited to the early stage of the Trans Adriatic (TAP) and Trans Anatolian (TANAP) pipelines system, which is not expected to dramatically change the picture of gas supply to the EU. However, it is expected to increase the energy security of Southeastern Europe, especially in the light of uncertain developments regarding the Ukraine transit route, Giuli told Trend on Feb. 24.

The expert noted that Azerbaijan is so far the only gas contributor to the Southern Gas Corridor, but SGCs role can expand in the future as a certain amount of un-contracted Caspian gas may enter the picture and be transported through Azerbaijan.

He stressed that the longstanding EU ambition is to have multiple producers on board, including Turkmenistan, Iraq, Iran and the Eastern Mediterranean region.

However, each of them presents some distinctive challenges and risks, Giuli said.

On Feb. 23, Baku hosted the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Third Ministerial Meeting.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

On Feb. 23, Baku hosted the third ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council.

Not only countries directly related to the project, but also those that will potentially be able to take advantage of all its benefits, participated in the meeting. It was also attended by representatives of several financial institutions and companies.

The main outcome of the meeting was that all the participants unanimously acknowledged the fact that the project is proceeding extremely well.

This is probably quite natural because the Southern Gas Corridor project, initiated and being led by Azerbaijan, will provide a number of European countries with energy security.

The idea of creating the Southern Gas Corridor, proposed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, was supported by the EU at the highest level as the energy security issue in terms of the absolute dependence of the vast majority of European countries on Russian gas turned out to be an obsession for Brussels.

The diversification of routes, in particular, sources of supply, was the main way to implement this idea and it is noteworthy that Azerbaijan proposed EU a solution to this problem.

The European countries interest in the project is also important.

More countries were invited for the recent ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council than for the previous one and all agreed to participate.

The Southern Gas Corridor is a very large project. The projects cost reaches $40 billion, it has a complex technical plan, it unites several other projects, including the development of a giant gas field and passes through several countries. Under current economic and political conditions, the projects implementation requires coordinated actions and efforts of each country.

The results are also visible already. The work on all components of the project continues without apparent delays (some issues remain unsolved in Italy and the Italian Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda has promised to solve them), and following the meeting it was once again stated that the first gas from the Shah Deniz -2 will be delivered to Turkey in 2018 and to Europe  in 2020.

The Baku-initiated project has united the entire region of Southern Europe and the Balkans, and this became another major achievement of Azerbaijan.

Thanks to Baku, the countries of Southern Europe and the Balkans work and cooperate with each other despite specific historical background of their relations.

A kind of unique format of international collaboration has formed within the joint work on the project, and this format can serve as an example for other countries planning to carry out joint projects.

It is worth adding that the successful implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project is surely the most important factor of future relations between Azerbaijan and Europe, and these relations will be based on complete mutual trust, common interests and friendship.

---

Maksim Tsurkov is Trend Agencys staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.24



By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:



The implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project will increase Azerbaijans regional position, Cyril Widdershoven, a Middle East geopolitical specialist and energy analyst, a partner at Dutch risk consultancy VEROCY and SVP MEA-Risk, told Trend Feb.24.



Noting that the impact of the Southern Gas Corridor will be very positive, the expert said that without getting into place new routes such as the Southern Gas Corridor, European Unions energy security policy is a fallacy.



Additional supplies by Azerbaijan will contribute to increasing the energy security of the EU, said Widdershoven, adding that the country could be a major door to additional supplies from the Caspian Sea region.



Azerbaijan's position is crucial. Without the continuing support and supply coming from Azerbaijan, especially from the start, the project is not feasible, he said.



The Southern Gas Corridor project will increase options of further supplies from the region, according to the expert.



He pointed out that the project will also strengthen Azerbaijans regional position, as it will be a gateway, and hard-needed center of stability to bring more economic growth and geopolitical stability to the region.



Talking about the impact of the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project to the future cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU, Widdershoven said that for sure, Brussels will be very interested to further increase its overall cooperation with Azerbaijan, economically, politically and geostrategically.



On Feb. 23, Baku hosted the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Third Ministerial Meeting.



The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.



At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.



As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Baku hosted discussions on funding the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), Azerbaijans Energy Ministry said in a message Feb. 24.

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev, Director of Central and South Eastern Europe Department at the European Investment Bank (EIB) Flavia Palanza, Director General of Southern Gas Corridor CJSC Afgan Isayev, Head of the Energy Security Division at the EIB Rajan Sanjoy, his deputy Peter Jeffreys, as well as Senior Loan Officer at the EIB Tekin Cotuk took part in the discussions.

During the meeting, the Azerbaijani minister said that despite the economic difficulties in the world, there are no problems related to financing and attracting credit sources to the SGC project.

In one year, it was possible to get financial support for SGC from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as attract the attention of the EIB, he said.

In turn, Flavia Palanza said Azerbaijans priorities are also the goals for Europe.

She said the EIB plans to finance TANAP and TAP projects.

Sufficient awareness plays a special role when making financial decisions on any project, added Palanza.

She also inquired about gas reserves, export opportunities and domestic demand in Azerbaijan and noted that regular exchange of information will affect the banks involvement in the projects.

The sides also discussed the prospects for financing renewable energy projects.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.24

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

OPEC and non-OPEC producers have achieved a conformity level of 86 percent, according to the January report of the Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC).

The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee reported today that based on the Report of the Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Technical Committee (JTC), OPEC and non-OPEC countries are on the right track towards full conformity with their adjustments in production.

The JMMC expressed its satisfaction with the progress made towards full conformity with the production adjustments.

The JMMC noted that there is still room for improvement to reach 100 percent conformity, and, in this regard, urged all parties to press on towards full and timely conformity.

The second meeting of the JTC is scheduled to take place in Vienna in March 2017, which shall be followed by the next JMMC Meeting to be held in Kuwait on March 25-26, 2017.

During a meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 30, 2016, OPEC members decided to implement a new production target of 32.5 million barrels per day. Later, non-OPEC countries agreed to cut the output by 558,000 barrels per day during the meeting held Dec. 10, 2016.



Eleven non-OPEC countries  Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan  agreed to reduce the oil output.



OPEC and non-OPEC countries pledged to start implementing the deal from Jan. 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months.



It was also decided to establish a High-level Monitoring Committee, consisting of oil ministers, and assisted by the OPEC Secretariat, to monitor the implementation of the agreement.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.24

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The Southern Gas Corridor project will make Azerbaijan the energy security partner of Europe, Sijbren de Jong, analyst at The Hague Center for Strategic Studies and expert in energy security told Trend Feb.24.

This project is very significant, as it will bring additional supplies to a part of Europe where there is limited competition, he said, adding that it will strengthen economic ties between Europe and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan will have to work closely with Turkey to ensure that as many different sources of gas can tap into the Southern Gas Corridor, according to the expert.

On Feb. 23, Baku hosted the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Third Ministerial Meeting.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Details added (first version posted on 18:13)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

Trend:

Participants of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Councils Third Ministerial Meeting signed a joint declaration in Baku, the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry said in a message Feb. 24.

The declaration was signed by representatives of Azerbaijan, Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro, the UK, the US, and European Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic.

According to the declaration, the participants of the Southern Gas Corridor project support the beginning of negotiations on additional gas supply to Europe via the corridor.

The participants will assess the further development of the project, including new connecting gas pipelines and additional markets, the document says.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor project. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

As part of the Shah Deniz Stage 2, gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Feb. 24

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

There is positive dynamics in development and strengthening of the Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan strategic partnership, in trade and economy as well, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said as he received Kazakh First Deputy Prime Minister Askar Mamin.

Mamin arrived in Tashkent for a meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission on the Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan cooperation.

During the meeting, Mirziyoyev noted that a number of promising projects are being worked out jointly with Kazakhstan.

The Uzbek president noted the importance of building fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation, primarily through promotion and support of specific cooperation projects in trade, investment, technology, transportation and communication.

Askar Mamin, for his part, confirmed Kazakhstan's willingness to expand full-scale practical cooperation with Uzbekistan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 23

By Emil Ilgar  Trend:

Iran has completed construction of the F18 rig to be launched at the Foroozan field, jointly owned with Saudi Arabia, IRNA reported Feb. 23.

According to the report, the platform worth 26 million euro will drill eight wells initially to add 12,000 b/d to the fields output.

The 1,200-ton platform will be commenced in 2H17.

Managing Director of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) Saeid Hafezi announced Dec. 8, 2016 that the company's priorities are to sign an agreement with foreigners to develop the Salman and Foroozan fields as part of the newly designed agreement, called the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC).

Foroozan contains 3.432 billion barrels of in-situ oil reserves.

Iran has been producing oil from Foroozan for four decades already, and the total production has reached 770 million barrels so far.

Iran and Saudi Arabia jointly own the field and Iran's share in total reserves of the field is about 11 percent.

Though Iran hasn't specified the estimated final production level at this field in IPC documents, the country plans to extract more than 65,000 b/d from the field.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Emil Ilgar  Trend:

Iran increased gas deliveries to Turkey by 22 million cubic meters (mcm) during 2016.

During last year, Iran exported about 7.703 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Turkey, the statistics of Turkeys Energy Market Regulatory Authority indicate.

Turkeys total gas imports decreased by about 1.64 bcm to 47.218 bcm, of which about 15 percent was LNG.

Iran also exported 6,678,624 tons of oil to Turkey in 2016 compared to 5,587,624 tons in 2015.

As for electricity, Turkey stopped power imports from Iran in June 2016. Its total power intake from Iran during January-May reached 545.150 million kilowatts hour.

Turkey shared about 22 percent of Irans total electricity export during the last Iranian fiscal year (ended March 20, 2016), according to Irans Energy Ministry.

Iran exported 2,300 million kWh of electricity to Turkey during the last fiscal year.
Tehran, Iran, February 24

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:



Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has invited the governments of neighboring countries to join hands and fight the dust storms that has made life difficult for people in the region, including in southwestern Iran.



I invite the neighbors of the Islamic Republic of Iran to a joint program to fight the hazards that (were created by) former regimes, especially Saddam Hussein, and today by terrorists, especially the Islamic State (IS, SISL, ISIS, Daesh), Zarif said inaugurating an environmental exhibition in Tehran, Mehr news agency reported February 24.



This is necessary not only based on environmental grounds, but on security grounds as well, the Iranian diplomat said.



Eleven cities in Khuzestan province of Iran, which has a population largely composed of ethnic Arabs and Lurs, lost power last weekend after an intense dust storm, leading to water shortages when water and

wastewater treatment plants were knocked offline.



Due to its arid climate, Khuzestan has, for many years, been suffering from dust pollutions that made it very difficult for its citizens to breathe. The dust storms that frequently hit Khuzestan are said to originate mainly in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, making it hard for the Iranian government to handle them singlehandedly.
A Laredo firefighter was involved in a motorcycle accident last week.

Sources say Ricardo Castillo is still recovering from his injuries at the San Antonio Medical Center.

He is said to be resting and healin,g but still has a long road to recovery ahead of him.

Castillo was riding his motorcycle around 2:00 am last Friday when the accident happened.

The Laredo Fire Department says Castillo may have tried to avoid a car from hitting him and hit a curb. He sustained severe head trauma and internal injuries.

The Laredo Police Department's Crash Team is still investigating the accident.

Below is the original text from this story:

An off-duty Laredo firefighter is at a San Antonio hospital after crashing his motorcycle into a pole.

The crash was reported around 2:00 am Friday morning. This is when the Laredo Police Crash Team was called to the 7000 block of San Dario Avenue.

The driver was identified as Ricardo Castillo, 48.

"The Police Department is investigating the incident," says Laredo Fire Chief Steve Landin. "We have that he was possibly, he was trying to avoid a vehicle hitting him while he was on his motorcycle, and [he] hit a curb."

Police say Castillo was was taken to Doctors Hospital with head trauma and internal injuries. He was later flown to the San Antonio Military Medical Center in serious condition.

The LPD Crash Team is still investigating.
The ending of an Obama-era policy could bring negative consequences toward trans-gender students, according to one local organization.

PILLAR Senior Counselor Myrthala Alejo tells KGNS she thinks removing federal guidelines allowing students to use the bathroom best matching their chosen gender identity is an open-door for discrimination.

The Trump administration says it is now up to the state and school districts to decide if federal sex discrimination law applies to gender identity.

However, Alejo says the LGBT community might be feeling betrayed after President Trump promised them protection.

"I think that students are going to express that they now feel like they cant be their true self, and and that they now will not be treated with dignity while being at school," Alejo said.

Alejo adds trans-genders in the community were hopeful the new administration would have upheld the guidelines.
A man is behind bars after allegedly shooting and killing his landlord, who according to police came to collect rent money.

Police were called out to scene around 7:30 Wednesday evening at the 3200 block of Cortez Street.

When officers arrived, they found a man with a gunshot wound to the chest lying on the ground outside the mobile home near a driveway.

Investigators say the victim, 38-year-old Juan Antonio Gutierrez who was the landlord died at the scene.

According to the report the suspect, 29-year-old Nelson Anthony Jasso who was the tenant hid behind cars when police arrived and was taken into custody for questioning.

Jasso initially stated that his landlord came to collect money and stabbed him and in defense Jasso says he shot him.

However, later in the investigation, police learned that the statement was false.

According to police, eyewitnesses stated that after gun shots were heard they saw the suspect Jasso drag the victim's body out of the home right before police arrived.

Investigators say that there was no other relationship between the victim and the suspect and that Jasso lived at the mobile home for six months.

LPD says this is the 2nd homicide of the year and it is still under investigation.
The City of Laredo says they will need more time to assess the damages of last Sunday's thunderstorm.

The city's insurance company is still making the rounds to several offices, like the Public Works Building, to determine how much it will cost to fix them.

Other city-owned property like traffic signs are being evaluated for damages, as well.

They say additional damages are resurfacing in the damaged buildings.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

The West continues to ignore one of the heinous crimes of the twentieth century - the Khojaly genocide, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus tweeted Feb. 24.

He added that the international community must not remain indifferent to the inhuman crimes committed on the night of February 26, 1992 in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly.

Kurtulmus stressed that Armenia must withdraw its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

"Turkey and Azerbaijan will always support each other, he added.

On February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of the former 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. A total of 1,000 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.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade
Digitization of the Jupiter Column makes this cultural heritage perceptible by both archeologists and laymen. (Photo: KIT/IPEF)

Archeological artefacts, such as the Jupiter Column of Ladenburg, a town with an impressive Roman history, hold many as yet undiscovered secrets. Discovered in 1973, the history of the monument that is more than 1800 years old is still unclear. The HEiKA MUSIEKE project is aimed at uncovering some of these secrets and making the cultural heritage of Ladenburg visible and perceptible. For this purpose, modern digitization techniques of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are used.





Contact-free digitization of objects opens up new approaches to research, Dr. Thomas Vogtle of KITs Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing says. The Jupiter Column is about four meters high and combines Roman and Germanic symbols and conceptions. The figures on the column represent the battle between the Roman god Jupiter and a giant. The texture of the column and the equestrian figure, however, appear to follow Celtic tradition. The digital model makes archeologists and laymen experience the artefact in an entirely new way.





To model the three-dimensional structure of the column on the computer, the KIT team uses a professional, commercially available digital single-lens reflex camera of 36 megapixels resolution with conventional illumination technology. Our hardware is robust and mobile so that we can collect our data easily, rapidly, and at low costs at any place, Vogtle explains. On a single working day, the team took about 800 photos of the column from all perspectives. On the computer, characteristic features of the column were identified and interlinked in the different images. Information of the two-dimensional photos was processed to yield a photorealistic, three-dimensional model. Using this model, hardly visible structures can be seen with the bare eye. The computer model then is the basis for further work of archeologists. See also the video of the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3-4Rzye22U&feature=youtu.be (in German only).

Video einbetten:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s3-4Rzye22U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Digital objects may also provide laymen with a new experience of cultural heritage, Dr. Ralf Schneider of ZAK I Center for Cultural and General Studies of KIT says. He coordinates the HEiKA-MUSIEKE  Multidimensional Perceptibility of Cultural Heritage project. Large parts of our cultural heritage have long been lost from our world of interest. With the help of digital methods, cultural heritage can be acquired, analyzed, and presented to a broader public in a new way, in a context that is also understandable by laymen. The MUSIEKE project combines archeology, remote sensing, forensic computer science, geoinformatics, and applied cultural science to make cultural heritage perceptible. Apart from the digitization of artefacts, it also covers the generation of databases with geoinformation or production of digital maps of various historic stages of settlements and cities.

The Jupiter Column from Ladenburg. (Photo: KIT/IPF)





Vogtle normally uses photogrammetry and digitization methods for technical purposes. Based on aerial photos, he determines the orientation of roofs in cities for finding out whether they are suited for the installation of solar facilities. In industrial production, camera photos are used to find out whether the product was produced with the required accuracy and can be used in the next production stage or needs to be adjusted. Or the progress of construction of an underground station can be compared with the planned target. In production or in the construction sector in particular, objects have to be measured in a contact-free, automatic, and rapid way. Cameras and digitization are very valuable tools for this purpose, Vogtle says.



About HEiKA  Heidelberg Karlsruhe Research Partnership



The largely complementary setup and longstanding cooperation of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) with Heidelberg University offers optimal conditions for a strategic partnership. In HEiKA both partners are bundling their competences in specific research areas in order to raise synergies in research as well as in infrastructure.



Website of the MUSIEKE project:

http://www.zak.kit.edu/english/heika_musieke.php

Video on the project (15 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3-4Rzye22U&feature=youtu.be (in German only)

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.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to build up the U.S. nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the "top of the pack," saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity, Reuters reported.

Trump also said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea "very easily if they want to," ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to exert more influence to rein in Pyongyang's increasingly bellicose actions.

In his first comments about the U.S. nuclear arsenal since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump said the United States has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity."

I am the first one that would like to see everybody - nobody have nukes, but were never going to fall behind any country even if its a friendly country, were never going to fall behind on nuclear power.

"It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack," Trump said.

The new strategic arms limitation treaty, known as New START, between the U.S. and Russia requires that by February 5, 2018, both countries must limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to equal levels for 10 years.

The treaty permits both countries to have no more than 800 deployed and non-deployed land-based intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and heavy bombers equipped to carry nuclear weapons, and contains equal limits on other nuclear weapons.

Analysts have questioned whether Trump wants to abrogate New START or would begin deploying other warheads.

In the interview, Trump called New START "a one-sided deal.

"Just another bad deal that the country made, whether it's START, whether it's the Iran deal ... We're going to start making good deals," he said.

The United States is in the midst of a $1 trillion, 30-year modernization of its aging ballistic missile submarines, bombers and land-based missiles, a price tag that most experts say the country cannot afford.

Trump also complained that the Russian deployment of a ground-based cruise missile is in violation of a 1987 treaty that bans land-based American and Russian intermediate-range missiles.

"To me it's a big deal," Trump said.

Asked if he would raise the issue with Putin, Trump said he would do so "if and when we meet." He said he had no meetings scheduled as of yet with Putin.

Speaking from behind his desk in the Oval Office, Trump declared that "we're very angry" at North Korea's ballistic missile tests and said accelerating a missile defense system for U.S. allies Japan and South Korea was among many options available.

"There's talks of a lot more than that," Trump said, when asked about the missile defense system. "We'll see what happens. But it's a very dangerous situation, and China can end it very quickly in my opinion."
In March 1933, The Enabling Act was passed by the Reichstag in Germany. Its purpose was to provide Chancellor Adolf Hitler with the ability to bypass the Reichstag. It allowed him (amongst other measures) emergency powers to legally wage pre-emptive war without any further parliamentary approval, or even discussion.

In January 2017, H.J. Res 10 was introduced to the US House of Representatives. Its intent was simple and straightforward:

This joint resolution authorizes the President to use the U.S. Armed Forces as necessary in order to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The bill has a whatever it takes tone to it. It was introduced by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D- FL), and seeks to create unilateral presidential authority to legally wage pre-emptive war without any further Congressional approval, or even discussion.

So, is it possible that the US is following a similar path to that of 1930s Germany? Well, lets look a bit closer and see.

During his campaign, Mister Trump was very vocal with regard to his sentiments toward Iran and, since his inauguration, has famously put Iran on notice.

He has the full support of his chief advisors on this issue. His first National Security Advisor, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and Defense Secretary, General James Mattis have both recently accused Iran of state-sponsored terrorism. New Head of the CIA, Mike Pompeo also favours invading Iran.

On the other side of the fence, Ayatollah Khamenei has behaved with traditional Iranian braggadocio, saying of Mister Trump, "We are thankful to this newcomer. He has proven what we have been saying for more than 30 years. We would always speak about the political, economic, moral, and social corruption in the US administration. This man revealed it during the election campaign, and since then.

With each side goading the other, both sides seem to be as eager to get into the ring as Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were in 1971s Fight of the Century.

So, will the match take place? Well, it appears that the sabre-rattling has become more serious of late and, unless one side chooses to back down, war could occur early in the Trump presidency. Ironically, for Mister Trump, this could be beneficial, as the US has never been more divided with regard to its support of its president. However, in times of war, party rhetoric tends to dies down considerably and nations rally round their leader.

Ive previously described Mister Trump with the medical term, productive narcissist, as I believe hes a textbook example. Were I an American citizen, any criticism of Mister Trump would likely label me as a liberal, which I am not. But, at the present time, Americans are so divided that theyre expected by their peers to be pro-Trump conservatives or anti-Trump liberals, with little allowance for independent observation.

If my psychological assessment is correct, Mister Trump could be predicted to not only pursue conflict with Iran, but revel in it. Certainly, the conflict would result in his becoming the most focused-on man on earth. An EU breakup, collapsing economies, failing currencies and bank confiscations would all take a back seat to the main event  the Fight of the Century, as Mister Trump and the Ayatollah step into the ring.

Unfortunately, war, as attractive as it often is to political leaders, tends not to work out as well as expected. It tends to be more prolonged and more devastating than any leader ever anticipates.

First, each protagonist tends to underestimate the ability of the other to wage war successfully. Second, he tends not to take into account who his opposite number can count on for support. This is especially significant with regard to the upcoming contest, as both Russia and China have declared their support for Iran. Its unlikely that the US, even if they were to gain the support of the EU, could take on both these nuclear powers. In addition, the EU may well be on the verge of collapse. Individual European countries have sought to increase their trade with the Russians even as the US has sought to impose sanctions against Russia.

Further, as Ive often stated, Any country that is considering waging war against another country should first consider that the loser is almost always the country that runs out of money first.

The US is at present more greatly in debt than ever before in its history and can ill afford to dive into a war thats almost certain to become a world war.

The last time the world was this close to a world war was in 1962, when US President John Kennedy wrestled with the Cuban missile crisis. At that time, the military Joint Chiefs of Staff advised an all-out attack. Mister Kennedy, thankfully, took a backward step and appealed to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to do the same. Mister Khrushchev agreed and the world was saved from nuclear war by two men who had the sense to calm down and back off.

So, some fifty-odd years later, will we be so fortunate? Unlike Mister Kennedy, Mister Trump appears to approach aggression with gusto. A lover of challenges, he appears quite willing to put on the gloves and to do so soon.

Another difference between 1962 and 2017 is that, back then, most Americans wanted no part of warfare, having lived through World War II. Today, with the help of the media, the average American not only believes in American exceptionalism, but has been programmed to believe that Russian President Putin is a highly aggressive leader who needs to have his wings clipped. If anything, Mister Putin is, in fact, more the diplomat than his predecessor, Mister Khrushchev, and has exhibited a desire to tone down the ongoing vitriol from the West.

Effectively, the US media and many Americans are already filling up the grandstands before the Fight of the Century has even been announced. At present, only two small acts remain necessary to bring about the match.

The first would be the passage of H.J. Res 10, which, as it has been proposed by a Democrat, is likely to gain support by the left as well as the right. After that, all that would be necessary would be a decision from a President who, if appearances are correct, may be seeking his place in history as the Great Man.

Hopefully, sanity will prevail, but the odds dont seem to support that possibility.

Indeed, the U.K., U.S., and allied military forces are about to undertake operation Unified Trident, a joint exercise in the Persian Gulf, intended to simulate a military confrontation with Iran. (Iran most certainly will not look upon this as mere games.)

Its always wise to hope for the best, but to assume the worst. If H.J. Res 10 does pass, the reader would be advised to begin his plan as to where he wants to be if a world war erupts. (He should bear in mind that, in the two previous world wars, many countries did not participate and relative calm existed in many places in the world. The same promises to hold true this time around.)
PRAGUE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Friday.

ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 1 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA==========================

Real-time economic data releases.................... Summary of economic data and forecasts........... Recently released economic data.................. Previous stories on Czech data............. **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: ==========================NEWS==================================

FOOD: Leaders of four central European countries will meet next week to urge the EU to act against food companies which put inferior ingredients in branded products destined for sale in poorer member states.

Story: Related stories: GOVERNMENT: Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on Thursday he would be in charge of the Industry Ministry until a new minister is chosen in several weeks.

Story: Related stories: BONDS: Czech crown-denominated government bonds will fall out of JPMorgan's indexes for developed market debt at the end of April and join its GBI-EM emerging markets benchmark, in a move the bank said was likely to boost demand.

Story: Related stories: PRIBOR: The Czech Financial Markets Association will hand over administration of the key interbank reference rates PRIBOR to a local unit of international benchmark services provider Global Rate Set Systems (GRSS), it said on Thursday.

Story: Related stories: INTERVENTIONS: The Czech central bank's receivables from abroad grew by 40.2 billion crowns, or 1.49 billion euros, between Feb. 11-20, balance sheet data showed on Thursday.

Story: Related stories: CEE MARKETS: Budapest stocks retreated from record highs on Thursday, driven by Magyar Telekom MTEL.BU which opted against raising its dividend guidance while Central European stock indices mostly rose.

Story: Related stories: For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX For updates on CEE currencies TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477

E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com

(Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
Editor's Note: We hope you enjoy Kitco News' new look, launched today! Don't forget to try out our newest feature: Kitco Chat! You will now be able to easily share and comment on all our articles. You can do so with or without signing up, but why not join Kitco's online community? In just a few easy steps, you will be able to create your unique username and password. Make sure to do so quickly, before someone else snags your username!

(Kitco News) -Weaker-than-expected U.S. home sales data is expected to support gold as prices remain near 3.5-month highs.

Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department said that sales of new homes in January rose less than expected to a seasonally adjusted rate of 555,000 units, up 3.7% from Decembers revised rate of 535,000. Economists were expecting to see a sales rate of 575,000.

Januarys disappointing numbers come after Decembers more than 10% drop in sales. Last months sales rate was 5.5% up from 2016.

Gold futures, have seen significant momentum early in the session as prices have been propelled to new highs for the year. April gold futures last traded at $1,256.30 an ounce, up 0.39% on the day.

Not only were sales down last month but so were prices the department said the median sales price of new houses sold last month was $312,900, down from Decembers median price of $322,500; the average sales price was $360,900 down from $384,000, recorded in the previous month.

The inventory of new homes for sales at the end of the month was 265,000 units, representing a 5.7-month supply.

Royce Mendes, senior economist at CIBC World Markets said that the two-month decline in home sales does not boded well for the U.S. construction sector.

a slowdown in new home sales over the past two months could be an indicator that single starts will decelerate in the months ahead, making residential investment less of a contributor to GDP, he said.
HANOI, Feb 24 (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 0524 GMT.

Feb 24 Feb 23 USD/VND mid-point 22,228 22,231 USD/VND interbank 22,815/22,820 22,830/22,835 USD/VND unofficial 22,820/22,840 22,835/22,850 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.72/37.02 36.63/36.92

Interbank offered rates Overnight 2.7-3.2 3.0-3.8

1 week 2.9-3.5 3.3-3.8

1 month 3.9-4.3 4.0-4.3

3 months 4.5-5.0 4.5-5.0

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)
* Two-year German bond yield at new record low

* Set for biggest weekly drop since July 2012

* ECB QE, flight-to-quality pin yields lower

* French yields set for biggest weekly fall in 7 months

* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields (Updates throughout)

By Dhara Ranasinghe

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - German short-dated government bond yields fell to fresh record lows on Friday and were set to post their biggest weekly drop since the euro debt crisis in 2012.

The European Central Bank's bond-buying programme and speculation that it will buy more shorter-dated debt for the scheme have helped drive two-year German bond yields down.

That trend has gathered pace as concern over the French far right's strong polling ahead of presidential elections gave investors another incentive to snap up top-rated German paper.

Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, is the bloc's benchmark bond issuer and its government debt is widely regarded as among the safest assets in the world.

"It's very hard to decompose all the elements behind the fall in two-year German bond yields," said Martin van Vliet, a senior rates strategist at ING.

"A flight-to-safety is one theme, but there is also the impact of ECB buying and speculation that it will have to buy more bonds below the deposit rate."

To free up more bonds for its massive bond-buying stimulus, the ECB in December scrapped a rule that prevented it from buying bonds yielding below the minus 0.40 percent deposit rate.

German yields fell 2-3 basis points on Friday, as doubt about the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's economic policies pushed U.S. bond yields lower. The two-year Schatz yield fell 5 bps to a record low of minus 0.95 percent . It is set to end the week 13 basis points lower -- more than in any single week since July 2012.

ECB stimulus has also contributed to an acute shortage of high-quality bonds for repos, or repurchase agreements.

Banks and big business rely on repo markets to raise cash against collateral, and the ECB is facing pressure to address a squeeze in short-term funding markets. "There may be an element of the market testing the ECB's nerve," said Richard McGuire, head of rates strategy at Rabobank, referring to the fall in two-year bond yields.

German bond auctions next week could be the next barometer of appetite for German paper, analysts said.

FRENCH RALLY

German bonds were not the only market poised to end Friday on a strong note.

A new centrist pact in France's presidential election race that has eased worries about far-rightist Marine Le Pen gaining ground has helped battered French debt recover ground.

France's 10-year bond yield hit a one-month low at 0.94 percent and was set to end the week with a fall of about 9 bps - its biggest weekly fall since July.

In contrast, Italian bonds were a relative underperformer.

As 10-year Bund yields hit a near two-month low at 0.20 percent , the gap with Italian peers widened back near three-year highs above 200 basis points.

UniCredit strategist Chiara Cremonesi said that in addition to the strength in German bonds, upcoming supply from Italy was pressuring Italian yields.

"The rally in German bonds and heavy supply from Italy on Monday is why we're seeing the spread widen again," she said.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Decision Europe: Full election coverage cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=72745

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Editing by Toby Chopra and Hugh Lawson)
* Two-year German bond yield at new low

* ECB QE, flight-to-quality pin yields lower

* French yields set for biggest weekly fall in 7 months

* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields (Adds new milestone, updates prices)

By Dhara Ranasinghe

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - German short-dated government bond yields fell to record lows on Friday, recording their biggest weekly drop since 2011.

The European Central Bank's bond-buying programme and speculation that it will buy more shorter-dated debt for the scheme have helped drive two-year German bond yields down.

That trend has gathered pace along with concern over the French far right's strong polling ahead of presidential elections in April and May. Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, is the bloc's benchmark bond issuer and its government debt is widely regarded as among the safest assets in the world.

"It's very hard to decompose all the elements behind the fall in two-year German bond yields," said Martin van Vliet, a senior rates strategist at ING.

"A flight to safety is one theme, but there is also the impact of ECB (asset) buying and speculation that it will have to buy more bonds below the deposit rate."

To free up more bonds for its massive stimulus programme, the ECB in December scrapped a rule that prevented it from buying bonds yielding below its -0.40 percent deposit rate.

German yields fell across the curve on Friday, as doubt about the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's economic policies pushed U.S. bond yields lower. The two-year Schatz yield fell 5 bps to a record low of minus 0.95 percent . It is set to end the week around 15 basis points lower - a steeper drop than in any single week since December 2011.

ECB stimulus has also contributed to an acute shortage of high-quality bonds for repos, or repurchase agreements.

Banks and big business rely on repo markets to raise cash against collateral, and the ECB is facing pressure to address a squeeze in short-term funding markets. "There may be an element of the market testing the ECB's nerve," said Richard McGuire, head of rates strategy at Rabobank, referring to the fall in two-year bond yields.

German bond auctions next week could be the next barometer of appetite for its paper, analysts said.

FRENCH RALLY

German bonds were not the only market poised to end Friday on a strong note.

A new centrist pact in France's presidential election race that has eased worries about far-rightist Marine Le Pen gaining ground has helped battered French debt recover.

France's 10-year bond yield hit a one-month low at 0.92 percent and was set to end the week with a fall of about 11 bps - its biggest weekly fall since July.

Italian bonds were a relative underperformer.

As 10-year Bund yields hit a near two-month low at 0.18 percent , the gap with Italian peers widened back near three-year highs above 200 basis points.

UniCredit strategist Chiara Cremonesi said that in addition to the strength in German bonds, upcoming supply from Italy was pressuring Italian yields.

"The rally in German bonds and heavy supply from Italy on Monday is why we're seeing the spread widen again," she said.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Decision Europe: Full election coverage cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=72745

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Editing by Hugh Lawson and John Stonestreet)
(Adds Ferreira's comments in paragraphs 7-10, adds analyst comments in final two paragraphs)

By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Tatiana Bautzer

SAO PAULO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Vale SA has stepped up the search for a new chief executive officer as Murilo Ferreira announced his departure, signaling efforts by some top shareholders to shield the world's No. 1 iron producer from political interference, three people with direct knowledge of the situation said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Rio de Janeiro-based Vale said Ferreira will step down as CEO when his term expires on May 26. In a securities filing, Vale did not name a potential replacement for Ferreira or detail how a transition will happen.

Some of Vale's controlling shareholders lean towards picking one of Ferreira's lieutenants to spearhead Vale's transition into a company with dispersed share ownership, the people said. External candidates with previous experience at Vale are also under consideration, the people added.

Potential candidates include Chief Financial Officer Luciano Siani; ferrous metals director Peter Poppinga; and Clovis Torres, Ferreira's right hand man and currently Vale's executive vice president for human resources.

Nelson Silva, a former Vale executive who is now chief strategy officer at state-controlled oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA is on the list, the people said. Other outsiders include former Vale executives Jose Carlos Martins and Tito Martins, one of the people added.

The choice of Vale's top commander is crucial to ensuring the success of a plan that will phase out a 20-year controlling shareholder pact and merge Vale's different classes of stock into a single one.

During a conference call to discuss the announcement, Ferreira gave no hint about who would succeed him.

"As far as I am concerned, I have no successor, I haven't been informed who that person will be, and, to be sincere, I have no idea who it might be," Ferreira said.

Some top shareholders had proposed that Ferreira stay in the job for another year, Reuters had reported in January. The initiative was scrapped by Ferreira, who might have asked to step aside as his age was getting closer to the company's limit, one of the people said. "We have a vision that we must have an age limit of 65 years, and that for us is very important," Ferreira said on the call. "The queue has to go on."

INTERFERENCE

Losses in Vale's preferred shares were wiped out as the list of candidates eased concern that Ferreira's seat may be filled by a government crony. Common shares were sliding 0.9 percent to 32.39 reais.

A more dispersed shareholder structure is key to enhancing transparency and stifling interference from politicians, who for years have pressed Vale to invest in non-core projects.

State pension funds led by Previ Caixa de Previdencia , Bradespar SA, Mitsui & Co and an investment arm of state development lender BNDES are all members of Valepar SA, the investment holding company that controls Vale. Neither Vale nor any of the shareholders had a comment on the situation.

Vale was partly privatized in 1997, although the government continues to wield influence over it through BNDES's investment arm and the pension funds.

Still, an unnamed government official familiar with President Michel Temer's thinking said Vale will look for a "top-notch, non-political manager," in a process similar to the recruitment of Pedro Parente as CEO of the oil giant known as Petrobras .

The presidential palace's media office did not comment.

VALEPAR

Bradespar would agree to a change of leadership outside Vale's current management only if potential picks go through a selection process conducted by an executive recruitment firm, one of the people added.

That came after media reports earlier this month suggested members of Temer's PMDB party and Senator Aecio Neves of the PSDB party from the mineral-rich Minas Gerais state, where Vale is based, were vying to influence the selection of the new chief executive. In the filing, Vale thanked Ferreira for his achievement, listing his efforts to focus on core activities, undertaking the company's biggest investment project ever and reducing debt.

"With his experience, dedication and respect ... Murilo leaves a legacy for all future generations of executives and employees at Vale," it said.

Ferreira took the reins at Vale in 2011, in the midst of a high profile political clash between the company and the leftist government of Dilma Rousseff.

Rousseff pressed for the ouster of Roger Agnelli, Ferreira's predecessor, after accusing Vale of not doing enough, in terms of local investment or job creation, to help Brazil's economy battle the global financial crisis.

Ferreira tried to steer the company clear of government interference or scandal as Vale battled to complete a new mega mine in the Amazon known as S11D just as iron ore prices collapsed. That combination led Vale to report a record net loss of $12.13 billion in 2015.

However, last year, Vale's fortunes improved sharply as the new mine began to ramp up and iron ore prices rose.

Had Ferreira stayed, investors would have known that the next two years would have meant continuity of his strategy, said Rodolfo de Angele, a senior analyst with JPMorgan Securities.

"One comfort investors have is that current shareholders seem to be pretty much aligned with the idea of a company with lower growth rates but with more discipline and sizable dividends," de Angele said.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer and Alonso Soto in Braslia; Editing by W Simon and Bernadette Baum)
You can now donate to Kiwiblog
Fifteen servicemen died and 19 others were injured in an attack in the west of Niger, Sputnik reported.

The attack took place on Thursday evening at a military post in Tillaberi regions Ouallam department close to the Malian border, Radio France Internationale (RFI) said citing a public radio statement from army spokesman Col. Toure Seydou Albdoula Aziz.

According to RFI, "several dozen" attackers stole seven pickup trucks and set fire to four other vehicles. They then fled northeast, towards the border with Mali.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday that the EU should make it easier for some member states to deepen their integration in some areas without the whole bloc following suit, Reuters reported.

The European Union executive will make proposals in a high-profile policy White Paper it will publish next week, Juncker said in a speech to Belgian students at Louvain-la-Neuve.

The idea of a Europe of "multiple speeds" has long made for heated debate. After Britain's shock vote to leave the bloc, some governments want to deepen shared sovereignty in the hope of making the EU more effective while others say Brexit and the rise of nationalist parties shows Europeans dislike the idea.

Juncker, a former premier of founder member Luxembourg, made clear he favored the former: "This is no longer a time when we can imagine everyone doing the same thing together," he said.

"Should it not be that those who want to go forward more rapidly can do so without bothering the others by putting in place a more structured framework that is open to everyone?

"I will argue for this in the coming days."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom Juncker met on Wednesday, forecast "an EU at different speeds" three weeks ago, echoing other founding states including France and delighting the Italian organizers of a summit in Rome on March 25 intended to launch a reform debate in the Union.

But other governments, notably among the poorer, former Communist states in the east, are concerned that the idea is divisive and could risk halting their post-Cold War progress toward Western levels of prosperity. Some argue that current EU rules already allow for "enhanced cooperation" by some states.

The most obvious example is the euro zone, which comprises 19 of the 28 current members. But there are others. Juncker noted that defense was an area where some member states were keen to advance faster in cooperation than others.
News Story not available

This story has been published on: 2022-11-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

This story is no longer available on our site.
President Obama awards Presidential Medal to Bill Gates and Melinda Gates (Photo : Youtube/Michael McIntee)

How to deal with the challenge of robots and automation that will impromptu lead to loss of jobs for many people? The answer is quite straightforward from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates: tax the robots.



In an interview with Quartz, Gates contends that taxing worker robots would equalize job losses by funding training for placements where manpower is still needed such as in child care and senior care. Most likely, it could even quiet automation to a manageable level, if required.



Advertisement

Gates is very well informed of inherent pitfalls - Gates understands that taxation could finally idle innovation by making worker robots remarkably expensive, Engadget reported. However, Gates is convinced that governments should be "figuring [policy] out" so that its ready when there's a rushing glut of unemployed workers.



Gates can't expect enough support from Europe for own ideas, yet. The European Parliament has rejected a proposed robot tax, and rather interested in crafting regulation that pioneers ethics behind creating and deploying robots, including liability if something goes out of order. Officials don't want to let go these guidelines to "third countries," according to a statement. Robot manufacturers will un-hesitatingly be happy (as more particular that tax would hamper growth), still the move would not please those who wish to have a safe shelter in place when the machines arrive in force.



Acceding to a recent report, tech advancement confers that as many as half of jobs could be missing to artificial intelligence in the next 25 years, Inc. reported. If it turns out to be correct, which means most check-out clerks and truck drivers, warehouse staff and even lawyers are most likely to go the way of travel agents. Robots are truly approaching to take human jobs.



What to do about all the people who are forbidden from own livelihoods? It's a heating topic, with plenty start-up celebrities, including Elon Musk, emphasizing governments are going to have to begin giving a universal basic income to every citizen.



Rationalists might debate that such a policy would make businesses less attractive to invest in productive progressing technology, lessening innovation. Gates, it appears, can reside with that possibility if it cushions some of the human cost of the transition to an AI-occupied era.






Louisiana National Guard helps in $2 million drug bust

By Army Sgt. Noshoba Davis, Louisiana National Guard

FEBRUARY 23, 2017 at 8:30 p.m.





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.



PINEVILLE, LA  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.



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. Published February 23, 2017
Mattel toys in China (Photo : Getty Images)

Global toy maker Mattel has formed an alliance with Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant, in a bid to gain entry into the country's toy market, estimated to be worth $7 billion, according to an article by Fortune.



Advertisement

The move came as toy spending in China show signs of growth, although it is lower than in the U.S. and in Japan.



Alibaba's partnership would allow Mattel to leverage on Alibaba's familiarity with Chinese consumers to present its popular brands that include Hot Wheels, Barbie and Fisher-Price.



Margo Georgiadis, Mattel's new CEO, that both companies will benefit by combining Mattel's "unmatched expertise in childhood learning and development with Alibaba's immense reach and unique consumer insights."



Georgiadis said that because of the fragmented Chinese toy market, the company sees potential growth, adding that in "working with Alibaba, we see a terrific opportunity to develop and lead the category."



According to research, parents with more disposable income tend to buy their children educational products. Mattel said they want to create toys that are not only enjoyable but can also become learning tools for children.



"Toys and play are an important part of a child's early development, helping to drive IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence) development," Patty Wu, Mattel's Vice President of China Growth, said.



In her blog, she also said that Chinese parents bought fewer toys than parents in other countries because they are concerned that playing would hurt their children's academic performance.



Wu said this explains why baby formula has a Chinese market three times larger than the U.S. while the toy industry is only 30 percent of the size.



Under the deal, Mattel and Alibaba will work together to develop toy products specifically for Chinese consumers, although Mattel has already the Fisher-Price brand in the market.



The deal with Alibaba pact is the next phase in Madel's push into China. It is continuing its efforts through deals with physical distributors, including an online push through a partnership with Alibaba's Tmall.com shopping website since 2011.


By Yoon Ja-young



The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) will hold onto its chairman for another two years to continue leading the chaebol lobby group which is facing its worst crisis in its 56-year history.



The lobby group's board held a meeting at its headquarters on Yeouido, southern Seoul, Friday, where they chose to renew Chairman Huh Chang-soo for another term.



Huh Chang-soo, also chairman of GS, has served as FKI chairman for three consecutive terms. He had made it clear he wanted to quit, but the FKI, which failed to find a successor, concluded that Huh is the best person to get the FKI out of trouble.



At his inauguration speech, Huh, who is nicknamed the "gentleman of Korea Inc.," said he will focus on renovating the FKI.



The lobby group had its reputation tarnished in the political corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, as it turned out the FKI had worked as Cheong Wa Dae's channel to force conglomerates to donate money for two foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil. FKI Vice Chairman Lee Seung-chul, who resigned Friday, turned out to have played a major role in the fundraising for the Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation.



Amid criticisms that conglomerates donated money to get unjust favors from Cheong Wa Dae, its key members including the country's top four conglomerates - Samsung Group, Hyundai Motor Group, SK Group and LG Group - have withdrawn from the business lobby group. As the four have been paying nearly 80 percent of the total membership fees, the FKI is seeing its survival threatened.



There has also been growing demand among the National Assembly and NGOs for the FKI to disband. The FKI also had stirred controversy by supporting far-right NGOs which were supportive of President Park Geun-hye.



For survival, the chaebol lobby group is preparing an overhaul of its system. The FKI board announced earlier that it will cut this year's budget by 40 percent.



Huh suggested three areas of focus in innovation - rooting out of collusive links between politics and businesses, enhancing transparency and strengthening its role as a think tank.



"The FKI will stand firmly against unjust pressures from outside. We will also prepare a system to prevent any corrupt collusion," Huh said.



"All activities of the FKI including its businesses and accounting will be made public, in more detail, to enhance transparency. We will also strengthen our role as a think tank, suggesting diverse measures for economic development."



The FKI plans to set up an innovation committee to come up with concrete innovation plans, where Chairman Huh, Kolon Group Chairman Lee Woong-yeul, Samyang Holdings Chairman Kim Yoon, and Eagon Chairman Park Young-ju will participate along with those from outside of FKI.



It also designated Kwon Tae-shin, president of the Korea Economic Research Institute, as its vice chairman. Kwon, a former finance vice minister, has a wide social network and extensive knowledge in economic policies.




North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare, Malaysian police said Friday.

Releasing a preliminary toxicology report on Kim's murder at a Kuala Lumpur airport, police said the poison used by the assassins was the odourless, tasteless and highly toxic nerve agent VX. Traces of VX were detected on swabs of the dead man's face and eyes.

The only known use of VX is as a chemical warfare agent and the U.S. government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as the "most potent" of all nerve agents.

"It is possible that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, would be lethal," the CDC said on its website.

All nerve agents cause their toxic effects by preventing the proper operation of an enzyme that acts as the body's "off switch" for glands and muscles.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he is "very angry" at North Korea's latest missile launch, and it's too late to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to an interview.

Trump also said in the interview with Reuters that talks are under way about "a lot more" options than beefing up missile defenses to cope with the North's threats. He called the situation "very dangerous" but said China can solve the problem "very easily if they want to."

He welcomed Beijing's suspension of North Korean coal imports but said it should put more pressure on Pyongyang.

Trump didn't completely rule out possibly meeting the North's leader at some point in the future under certain circumstances but suggested it might be too late, Reuters said.

"It's very late. We're very angry at what he's done," Trump was quoted as saying of the North's Feb. 12 missile launch. "Frankly, this should have been taken care of during the Obama administration."

These remarks show Trump takes the North's nuclear and missile threats seriously, and a main point of his policy on the North would be to pressure Beijing to use enough of its leverage as the North's main food and energy provider to resolve the threats.

Accelerating a missile defense system for U.S. allies Japan and South Korea was among many options available, Trump was quoted as saying, and added, "There's talks of a lot more than that.

"We'll see what happens," he said. "But it's a very dangerous situation, and China can end it very quickly in my opinion."












By Choi Ha-young





Kim Young-woo

National Assembly Committee on National Defense Chairman Rep. Kim Young-woo has asked the U.S. Congress to re-designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.



"It appears certain that the North Korean embassy was involved in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia. This crime was orchestrated by the Kim Jong-un regime," Kim of the Bareun Party said in a meeting.



"I earnestly request the Senate committee to work harder towards relisting North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism," Kim said in a letter to Sen. John McCain, chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.



"The U.S. is no safe haven from North Korea's potential terrorist attacks as the country is now home to many North Korean refugees and human rights activists."



Following the assassination on Feb. 13, Seoul has beefed up security for anti-Pyongyang activists and defectors, including Thae Yong-ho, North Korea's former deputy ambassador to Britain.













If relisted, trade conditions for North Korea will become much tougher, in addition to the international sanctions imposed on the country for its nuclear and missile developments.



"Through relisting, the U.S. can keep a close eye on international aid provided to North Korea and monitor its overseas activities in cooperation with Interpol," Kim told The Korea Times.



North Korea was labeled a state sponsor of terrorism in 1988 after its agents bombed a South Korean aircraft a year before. Under former President George W. Bush, the U.S. lifted the designation in 2008, in response to Pyongyang's pledge to allow the international community to verify its nuclear facilities.



Calls are also mounting in the U.S. to put the totalitarian nation back on the list, after the assassination of the half-brother of its leader Kim Jong-un at an airport in Kuala Lumpur.



On Thursday, Sen. Cory Gardner moved to relist North Korea, criticizing its "brutality," as seen by the assassination.



"I formally asked the Treasury Department to work with the State Department to investigate whether North Korea meets the criteria for re-designation," Sen. Gardner told Yonhap.



Following the attack to remove the young leader's potential rival, North Korea faced trade retaliation from China, which suspended North Korean coal imports.



Further, diplomatic ties between Malaysia and North Korea are likely to fall apart. Regarding North Korea's continuous buck-passing, a Malaysian government minister called North Korea a "rogue state."
Kim Han-sol

By Rachel Lee

Speculation is rampant over the whereabouts of Kim Jong-nam's son, Kim Han-sol, and other family members, with the Malaysian police waiting for their assistance for a DNA test.

Media reports say they could be under China's protection in Macau. No family members have come forward since the assassination of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Malaysia last week. China is also keeping mum about whether it is protecting them.

Earlier this week, the 21-year-old son, Han-sol, was said to have arrived in Kuala Lumpur, but Malaysian authorities said any of family members have yet to visit the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, where Kim Jong-nam's body is being kept.

There is speculation that the Chinese government or Macau authorities could have helped Kim Han-sol to depart from Macau in secret. Kim Han-sol was believed to be living in an apartment in Macau with his mother Ri Hye-kyong and his 19-year-old sister Kim Sol-hui under China's protection.

It is also possible that Kim Han-sol has already arrived in Malaysia through a VIP passage at the airport with his diplomatic passport like his father.

Observers say, however, that Kim Han-sol would not visit Malaysia due to fear of himself as well as other family members becoming Kim Jong-un's next targets. Kim Han-sol is believed to be the last surviving male of the "Baekdu" descent flowing from North Korean state founder Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Jong-nam.

Some watchers say Pyongyang could have already sent a warning message to the Ri family threatening to execute them, if any of them were found to have provided a DNA sample, which would have made it difficult for Kim Han-sol to cooperate with Kuala Lumpur.

"Once Malaysia obtains a DNA sample, North Korea will start pressuring Kim Han-sol's mother Ri Hye-kyong in any possible way," a North Korea defector said.

Born in Pyongyang in 1995, Kim Han-sol moved to Macau after his father reportedly fell out of favor with his grandfather Kim Jong-il in the early 2000s.

Kim Jong-nam was killed after being poisoned by two women as he was preparing to board a flight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Feb. 13. At least eight North Korean nationals were involved in the assassination, according to Malaysian police.

The North, however, has called the case the death of "a citizen of the DPRK bearing a diplomatic passport" through its Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), referring to the dead man as "Kim Chol," the name on the passport found with Kim Jong-nam. It said the person "fell into a state of shock before boarding an airliner and died on the way to a hospital in Malaysia."

The Malaysian media reported Wednesday that police officials flew to Macau to meet Kim Han-sol, who had agreed to provide a DNA sample. But the police chief denied the reports the next day.

His sister Sol-hui may visit Malaysia on Sunday and provide DNA samples for the identification process, The Telegraph reported Thursday quoting a Malaysian security source.
NASA reveals seven exoplanets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1 (Photo : Scientific American/Youtube)

NASA announced the findings on a discovery of the new exoplanets. These planets orbit around a red dwarf star named TRAPPIST-1. The seven planets are 40 light years away, which found in the approximate in terms of heft or mass and size or diameter similar to planet Earth.



Among of the seven, three of the planets are located in the "habitable zone" around TRAPPIST-1 star. Scientists believed that their calculations express the conditions might be right for liquid water to exist on the planets' surfaces. NASA will have follow-up investigations on this.



Advertisement

According to Vox, the seven new exoplanets are the new target for life searching. The system of these exoplanets might 235 trillion miles away from Earth but NASA thinks that these newly found planets potentially support water.



NASA offers possible scenarios on the positive side of the exoplanets habitability equation. Tom Barclay of NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California said that maybe the atmosphere could recover just fine and certainly scientist might see life on those planets in a capable of hibernating for extended periods of time, as per Digital Spy.



The space agency unleashed those future telescopes, like NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be launched in 2018 to solve the mystery by carefully analyzing the atmospheric gasses of the TRAPPIST-1 planets. Scientists are looking to discover water vapor and elements like the combination of oxygen and methane, which will bring the conclusion to the possible life-bearing world.



Victoria Meadows of the University of Washington said that there might be dense hydrogen envelopes to blast off on the seven exoplanets. Meadows added that cosmic radiation would potentially remove the hydrogen and make the seven planets to be potentially habitable.



Meadows mentioned that planets might form farther away from the star where there is more water or cooler temperatures and then move closer over time. The NASA astrobiologist said that majority of life could be more likely to be a single cell, which is relatively primitive life.






By Yi Whan-woo

Criticism is mounting against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following media reports that it asked officials in Busan last week to remove a statue symbolizing Japan's wartime sex slavery installed just outside the Japanese consulate there.

Foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck confirmed Thursday that the ministry requested cooperation to relocate a statue of a girl symbolizing comfort women in letters it sent on Feb. 14 to Busan Metropolitan Government, Busan Metropolitan Council and Dong-gu Office.

He said the installment of a sculpture near a foreign diplomatic mission is not appropriate considering international customs and practices. He also said the ministry's logic can be applied to the other controversial comfort woman statue set up outside the Japanese Embassy in central Seoul.

However, municipal officials and civic activists in Busan denounced the move, saying the ministry is repeating Japan's demands.

They also criticized the ministry for being "pro-Japanese," arguing it turned pessimistic on the statue amid deteriorated ties between Seoul and Tokyo and growing anti-Japan sentiment.

"We still suffer from trauma after facing criticism across the country when we first attempted to remove the statue," a Dong-gu Office official said.

The official cited that the district office removed the statue for a couple of days and restored it there in December after civic activists erected it in Dong-gu.












Appointment of new chief justice won't slow down process

By Jung Min-ho

The Constitutional Court reaffirmed Friday that it will hold its final hearing for the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye on Feb. 27 regardless of plans to appoint a new chief justice.

The statement comes after Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae announced the highest court would appoint a new chief justice for the Constitutional Court as early as next week. The court will only have seven justices out of the nine-member bench after acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi retires on March 13.

Asked about the possibility of the final hearing being delayed, a court official said at a press briefing, "There will be no change in the schedule. The final hearing will be held on Feb. 27 as we've announced earlier."

It is seen as an ultimatum to the President's lawyers who have asked the court to put off the final hearing.

Security beefed up

Meanwhile, tensions are mounting ahead of a court decision on the fate of President Park, who was impeached by the National Assembly in December.

Over security concerns, private security guards and police officers have been deployed to protect Moon Jae-in, the most popular candidate for the forthcoming presidential election, as well as the Constitutional Court's eight justices.

When Moon visited Yeongcheon Market in western Seoul, Thursday, he was accompanied by four private security guards.
Lawmakers stage a protest in the National Assembly building on Yeouido, Seoul, Friday, demanding the extension of the independent counsel team's investigation of the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil. / Yonhap



By Chung Hyun-chae



The prosecution is set to take over the independent counsel team's investigation of the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil, if the team's investigation is not extended.



The mandate for the independent counsel team led by special prosecutor Park Young-soo which began Dec. 21 will expire on Feb. 28.



Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has remained quiet since the team asked him for an extension, Feb. 16.



The opposition parties at the National Assembly attempted to press Hwang to approve the request, but failed to table a bill in a plenary session, Thursday.



"We expect the prosecution to investigate the remaining allegations," Lee Kyu-chul, spokesman for Prosecutor Park, said during a press briefing, Thursday.



The change will not affect the fate of President Park whose impeachment is currently being weighed in the Constitutional Court.













Whoever investigates her must wait for the Constitutional Court's decision. By law, she may not be criminally charged for her role in the scandal while still holding office.



The prosecution will have to summon Park, but all attempts by the special prosecutor's team have failed so far. The team said they will keep trying until Feb. 28.



One good thing with the handover is that there will be no deadline for the prosecutors' investigation.



Speaking with the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, an anonymous prosecutor vowed to be thorough.



"We'll inherit a relentless spirit from the special counsel team which successfully made the President a suspect," he said. "Some worry it will be difficult to be tough on the President because she is the ultimate boss. But that's an old story. We are confident and independent enough to look into her corruption case fairly and objectively."



Besides the President, ongoing investigations are looking into suspects at Samsung and other conglomerates, as well as former presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo. The prosecution also hopes to question Chung Yoo-ra, Choi's daughter who is in the custody of Danish authorities. The prosecution can also pick up the investigation of President Park's whereabouts on the day of the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014.



The prosecution doesn't have to start off the investigation right away. Some even project that the prosecution will delay the investigation after the impeachment decision which is expected on March 12 or 13.



The counsel team is expected to announce the results of its 70-day investigation early next month, probably on March 3 or 6.



"We'll reveal how Choi Soon-sil accumulated her wealth over decades and how to return it to the government," Lee said on Friday during a press conference.
Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn attends a meeting at a welfare center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Friday. Hwang is expected to announce whether he will extend the mandate of the independent counsel investigating the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil, on Saturday or Sunday. If extended, the counsel team is likely to question Park as a civilian on the assumption that the Constitutional Court upholds the National Assembly's impeachment in March as predicted. If Hwang rejects the call, the team's probe will end on Feb. 28. / Yonhap
By Kim Rahn



President Park Geun-hye has not decided whether to attend the Constitutional Court's final hearing to defend herself.

She may be hesitant because her appearance can no longer be used as a tactic to delay proceedings, with the court determined to close the trial this month. Facing the National Assembly panel's questions, she may also have to expose her difficulty speaking publicly without a script.

Park's attorneys said Park had not yet decided whether to attend the last hearing. The court delayed the final hearing from Friday to Monday and told Park's lawyers to notify it of her decision by Sunday.

If Park attends, she will be the first head of state to testify at the Constitutional Court.












By Kim Se-jeong





One of the wild wolves at the Wildlife Conservatory

A zoo at the Korea National Arboretum in Gyeonggi Province will shut down in spring and some animals could be released into the wild.

The Wildlife Conservatory in Pocheon is ending 26 years of operation dedicated to conserving endangered animals native to the Korean Peninsula.

Twenty-five animals are awaiting adoption, but if they are not, they will be released into the wild, an unusual move for a zoo. They include one Asiatic black bear, three wild wolves, three boars, four raccoons, two badgers, two Korean water deer, seven eagles, one eagle-owl and two Korean buzzards.

The Wildlife Conservatory opened in 1991 and focused on rare species indigenous to the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.

A Siberian tiger couple, donated by China, made the place popular for years.

One tiger died several years ago, and the other was taken in January to a new zoo in Bongwha, North Gyeongsang Province, which will open later this year.

Speaking with the Joongang Ilbo, a Korean-language daily based in Seoul, Lee You-mi, the arboretum's director general, said the tiger's absence was critical to the decision to close the zoo.

The conservatory sent adoption requests to other zoos in the country and is waiting to hear from them.

"All the animals are up for adoption at the moment," a conservatory official said. "Those which are not wanted will be released into the wild. We'll see." That will happen in April. "We believe doing so completely fits the spirit of conservation," the official said.

The National Park Service has taken over the work of the conservatory, caring for rare animal species.
Foreign countries' missions should be shown due respect



An internal conflict is escalating over the comfort woman statue set up by a civic group in front of the Japanese Consulate General building in Busan.



The statue was established in memory of the Korean women who were forced to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese Army before and during World War II. It is the second such statue to be built in front of a Japanese diplomatic mission, after a similar one was built in front of the Japanese Embassy in central Seoul.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent an official letter to the Busan city government earlier this month, urging the transfer of the statue. In the letter, the ministry encouraged the local government and civic groups to come up with a more appropriate location. The letter was sent ahead of the Feb. 17 meeting in Germany between Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.



The ministry's position over the statue was seen by the public as bowing to pressure from Japan, which recalled on Jan. 9 two of its top envoys _ Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine and Yasuhiro Morimoto, consul general in Busan _ over the second statue. The absence of the Japanese ambassador is not desirable for Korea's diplomacy, as Japan is one of our closest economic and cultural partners. Such a long absence of Japan's top envoy is unprecedented and there is still no definite word from Tokyo about when it will direct its ambassador to resume his duties in Korea in the near future. Under the circumstances, it is understandable that the ministry chose to urge Busan to transfer the statue.



The ministry's letter has inflamed public opinion and was heavily criticized by opposition parties. In diplomacy, however, it is necessary to show respect toward foreign countries while pursuing national interests. Koreans should think about how they would feel if their overseas missions became the location of fixtures that upset them.



The statues were erected with honorable intentions, but they should not infringe upon the dignity of a foreign country's diplomatic mission. It was unwise to erect a second statue in Busan when controversy over the one in front of the Japanese Embassy has not been resolved.



It is time to consider what needs to be done to mend Korea-Japan relations, which have worsened due to the two countries' differences over the 2015 comfort women deal. Busan has refused to accommodate the ministry's request, but it should start thinking about the need to find a less controversial location and convince the civic groups to move the statue.



In response to Seoul's gesture to improve bilateral ties, Tokyo, for its part, should urgently return its ambassador to Seoul.






By Oh Young-jin

Is the United States pulling Dean Acheson on Korea again?

Acheson is a terrible name to Koreans as the former U.S. secretary of state under President Truman excluded Korea from the U.S. line of defense against the Soviets at the start of the Cold War. The Acheson line included Japan and invited North Korea to attack the South in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Now, the latest version of the Acheson initiative would be more subtle and nuanced than the original. Again it is about a weaker U.S. commitment to defending Korea than to Japan.

The difference was manifest in recent statements regarding the two allies.

After the recent U.S.-Japan summit, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued a statement, saying, "The U.S. commitment to defend Japan through the full range of U.S. military capabilities, both nuclear and conventional, is unwavering."

It was the first reference to the nuclear option by the U.S. for its defense of Japan since 1975.

In contrast, the United States made an elaborate effort to avoid using the n-word about its commitment on Seoul's defense.

During his recent visit to Seoul, James Mattis, U.S. secretary of defense, talked about the provision of "extended deterrence," according to a statement issued by national security advisor Kim Kwan-jin.

Extended deterrence is widely believe to be a replacement term for nuclear umbrella, the cold-war era security guarantee by the U.S. for nonnuclear allies like South Korea.

Then, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander, Gen. Vince Brooks, recently told a U.S. media, "If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, it will be met with an effective and overwhelming response."

So why did U.S. use the word nuclear for Japan, not for Korea?

Abe's cleverness may explain it. The Japanese premier may have cajoled Trump into using it to show their ties belong to a different, higher league than the ROK-U.S. alliance. Abe used it as a major feat domestically as well, considering Trump told Japan and Korea to develop nuclear weapons and stop relying on the U.S. for their defense. Or it couldn't be ruled out that the U.S. didn't want to get into a nuclear war of words with the North.

For Korea, the question goes beyond the puerile level of which Washington likes more between Japan and Korea. Rather, it would entail strategic consequences in U.S. policy on Korea and Japan and responses to crisis there. That is also the basis to believe that the U.S. may repeat an Acheson-like approach in Asia.

This seed of doubt could be given a fertile ground, when it meets the ambiguity of the sterile word  extended deterrence.

The phrase only came into vogue in Korea at the height of the growing crisis fueled by the North's nuclear and missile tests last year. Its usage was owed to the fact the nuclear umbrella has outlived its usefulness.

The cold-war concept was based on the U.S.-Soviet Union rivalry when the two had respective nuclear arsenals large enough to destroy the world many times over. In that era of mutually assured destruction or the balance of terror, U.S. vowed to take an attack by the North as one against it and defend its ally with nuclear weapons. So did the Soviets for the North.

Now, the Soviets are gone but the North is emerging to be a nuclear weapon state.

The big question is whether the U.S. feels a need to defend Seoul by going to the extent of using nuclear weapons.

The answer appears to be short of a resounding yes, if not an outright no.

The U.S. believes that it can overwhelm the North with its conventional weapons alone without resorting to its much larger nuclear arsenal than the North's.

But it has a couple of big holes. The first is about the apparent U.S. adherence to conventional wisdom  North would take nuclear weapons as a means of last resort.

What if it doesn't and would use them as first-strike weapons? Wouldn't it mean the U.S. extended deterrence said collapses?

Then, there is the possibility that the extended deterrence can be applied in a selective manner, if China, the North's benefactor and nuclear power on its own right, is involved in any conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

Finally, there would be a case that sits on the borderline between the extended deterrence offered by the U.S. and its own self-defense in the event that the North attacks the U.S. mainland with its nuclear-tipped long-range missiles to destroy West Coast population centers like L.A. or San Francisco.

Acheson made his National Press Club speech about the defense perimeter of the U.S. on Jan. 12, 1950 and the communist North, backed by the Soviets and Chinese invaded the South, five months later on June 25. Millions of people died. U.S. "lost" China to the communists as well and fought them in the Korean conflict. We know the rest of history.

If it was Acheson's lapse in judgment, unfortunately, a repeat can't be ruled out. The situation has some frighteningly similar elements to those then  a changing world order, clashes of big powers and dictators.

As an aside, we appreciate Gen. Brooks' show of combat readiness to defend Korea so he would be the right person to explain whether the extended deterrence for Korea indeed wouldn't cover nuclear weapons. .

Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.coim.
Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo, third from left, poses with Pham Huu Chi, center, Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea, and Vietnamese students studying at local universities, after a scholarship award ceremony at the group headquarters in downtown Seoul, Thursday. Kumho Asiana gave 4 million won each to five students. / Courtesy of Kumho Asiana Group
Park Yong-maan, center, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), speaks during a meeting with heads of 10 regional chambers at the KCCI headquarters in downtown Seoul, Friday. Park and other participants pledged to abide by a set of newly-unveiled ethics codes and remain politically neutral ahead of the upcoming Presidential election. / Courtesy of KCCI
"Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi" has been quite a tiring endeavor to its production crew logistics wise as it was shot on different locations other than the confines of Pinewood Studios. However, a spy shot of one of its on-location shoots hinted some juicy details yet again about the film.



Advertisement

The well-preserved city Dubrovnik in Southern Croatia has been talked about by the "Star Wars" fandom as it is believed to be the location where Han Solo's (Harrison Ford) funeral scene was shot. A leaked photo that allegedly came from one of the locals shows two men in black robes that seem to be waiting for their cue.



Some fans, however, are still skeptical about it though the probability of fans seeing Han Solo being laid to rest in the next film is pretty high. Moreover, if such would come to fruition in "Episode 8," this will be a fitting conclusion in the life of the iconic space smuggler turned hero as well as his relation to General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and the scavenger from Jakku - Rey (Daisy Ridley).



A new planet is rumored to be featured in the upcoming film and the shoot in that Croatian city may be connected to that yet to be revealed world, according to Collider. The publication also hinted that the funeral for the fallen rebel could be a watery one as they claimed to have seen leaked photos of people in costume on board a boat in the middle of the ocean.



Meanwhile, the current word on the street is that reshoots will be underway for "The Last Jedi." If rumors are anything to go by, the film retouch could happen this March as Universal Casting made it known that they are in need of walk-on roles and extras for the rumored reshoot.



"Star Wars" pundits are now speculating that scenes featuring General Leia in "The Last Jedi" might be removed from the said film installment. It was revealed that Fisher has a couple of scenes in both "The Last Jedi" and in "Episode IX" which are her reunion with her twin brother Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and an encounter with Han Solo's killer - his son Ben Solo who is preferred to be called Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), MovieWeb reported.



"The Last Jedi" will be released on Dec. 15, 2017, while "Episode IX" now has an initial release date of May 23, 2019. Watch a clip of Han Solo's rumored funeral scene here:






By Lee Min-hyung



Heads of the nation's three mobile carriers  SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus  will fly to Barcelona to join the world's largest mobile trade show, the key themes of which include the fifth-generation (5G) network and artificial intelligence (AI).



The Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 opens next week in the Spanish city and the top-three telecom operators here will unveil their latest achievements in the two core tech areas.



SK Telecom, the largest among them in terms of profit, will showcase what it calls "telepresence technology," enabling people in different locations to gather at a virtual place by using holograms and augmented reality (AR).



"The VR technology creates an avatar, allowing participants for the telepresence communication to feel like they are in the same venue," an SK Telecom spokesman said.



Despite its infancy, the company hyped up the massive growth potential for the emerging technology in areas such as medical diagnosis and maintenance for manufacturing facilities.



"By using the tech, a group of doctors from different areas can join hands to analyze data from patients about complicated body organs," the official said. "The same goes for manufacturing industry players, as they can conduct a real-time discussion by using three-dimensional (3D) structural images of machines."



KT, the second-largest carrier here, is set to promote its achievements for the coming 5G era.



In particular, KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu on Monday will deliver an opening keynote address. Details have not been unveiled, but expectations are he will discuss how so-called "intelligent networks" will transform people's lives in the 5G era, which is expected to begin in 2020.



He has been a strong supporter of the emerging network concept: the convergence of people and internet of things (IoT) devices. Under the same theme, he gave a speech to Harvard University students last September. He said then that the intelligent network will offer infinite opportunities and change the world, as it can connect billions of devices and people more conveniently.



Hwang is also expected to explain the firm's aggressive investment and achievements in the 5G network. The company plans to showcase a series of 5G trial services at next year's PyeongChang Winter Olympics, including AR-converged location guide services and live broadcasts using 360-degree virtual reality (VR).



LG Uplus Vice Chairman and CEO Kwon Young-soo will be in Barcelona for closed-door meetings with his counterparts from around the world. Last month, he attended the world's most influential tech fair, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), in a bid to expand his company's global business by forging partnerships with overseas counterparts including Verizon in the U.S.




By Jhoo Dong-chan



Union workers at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) are under fire for staging a series of general strikes since May while the shipyard has suffered operating losses of several trillions of won over the past several years due to declining global demand.



The order backlog of HHI's Gunsan shipyard in North Jeolla Province is expected to be completely emptied after it delivers its last ship at the end of June. A number of subcontractors near the Gunsan shipyard have reportedly been closing their doors one after another since October. Of the 86 HHI subcontractors, 27 have so far gone out of business.



"If the Gunsan shipyard fails to revive its shipbuilding operation soon enough, not only Gunsan but also North Jeolla Province will face industrial collapse along with a massive unemployment crisis," Gunsan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Kim Dong-soo said.



Despite the nation's largest shipbuilder's struggles along with its subcontractors, around 800 union workers at HHI staged a general walkout for eight hours in front of the company's headquarters in Ulsan, Thursday. And some 600 workers held a sit-in for another eight hours Friday. It has been 23 years since the union staged its last general walkout in 1994.



"I do not understand. Union workers in the Ulsan shipyard also saw one of our docks has halted its shipbuilding operation since July due to the order cliff. Two more docks are likely to do the same by the end of July if the trend continues," an HHI official said.



It was the first time for HHI to halt shipbuilding operations at its docks since its founding in 1972.



Since July, HHI has been carrying out a restructuring process that includes asset sales and layoffs. Nearly 2,000 workers left the company under a voluntary retirement program while the company's non-shipbuilding affiliates, including Hyundai Electric & Energy System and Hyundai Robotics, are expected to be spun off to maximize the shipyard's business competitiveness.



During recent labor-management negotiations, the company promised to halt the voluntary retirement program for the rest of the year while proposing a 20 percent cut to this year's base salaries for everyone on the payroll.



HHI union leaders said, however, they cannot accept such wage terms because it will weaken union workers' rights. During the first meeting with the management in July, they demanded a 7.2 percent pay raise along with paying 30 percent of last year's net profit as incentives as well as reinstatement of fired workers.








The past four years have seen the number of Chinese visitors double to an estimated 230,000 in 2016, according to the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. (Photo : YouTube/ Tcostello105)

China overthrew the United Kingdom last year as the number one source of overseas tourists Boston welcomed last year, according to Boston Globe. As a result, Bostons visitors bureau will fly to China in March for their first ever sales mission in the country.



Advertisement

Although Canada sent 700,000 tourists to Boston last year, local tourism officials are keen on attracting more Chinese visitors to the city.



The main goal is to double or even triple the number of Chinese tourists in Boston this year, and for the years to come.



The past four years has seen the number of Chinese visitors double to an estimated 230,000 in 2016, according to the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. The increase is mainly attributed to new direct flights several airlines have added, allowing Chinese tourists to travel to Boston from several Chinese cities.



In addition, new visa policies have recently been introduced, making travel to the United States much easier for Chinese visitors.



By 2021, Bostons visitors bureau aims to increase the number of Chinese tourists to 500,000.



This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our visitor industry to take advantage of the incredible growth in China in their interest in visiting America, Patrick Moscaritolo, chief executive of the visitors bureau, told Boston Globe. Two of Moscaritolos staff members will join the tourism delegation flying to China next month.



If we are ever going to dive into this market and make a full court press, the time is now.



There is another underlying reason why Bostonians are taking advantage of the situation.



Recent events have placed the Trump administrations travel ban under scrutiny, and has sent an image to travelers abroad that the United States is not welcoming towards foreigners. Since President Trump announced the ban, online booking websites have noted a decline in flight searches from foreign cities to the United States.


Qi Jiguang. (Photo : PLAN)

The Qi Jiguang (83), China's first new training ship since 1997, was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) on Feb. 21. She is only one of three training ships in the PLAN.



The commissioning and naming ceremony was held at a naval port Dalian in northeast Liaoning province and was attended by Vice Admiral Tian Zhong, PLAN deputy commander of. He presented the ensigns of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the PLAN and the naming certificate to the new training ship.



Advertisement

Qi Jiguang, which has been assigned to the Dalian Naval Academy, is the PLAN's third operational ocean going training ship. At the commissioning ceremony, Rear Admiral Yan Zhengming, superintendent of the Dalian Naval Academy, announced the order of conferring the name of Qi jiguang and the pennant number "83" to the ship.



Designed and built by China, Qi Jiguang is the largest and the most advanced training ship in the PLAN. She is 163 meters long and 22 meters wide, with a full loaded displacement of 9,000 tons and maximum speed of 22 knots. PLAN said she can resist hurricanes.



Qi Jiguang will allow 400-plus midshipmen (officer candidates) and sailors are able to conduct offshore and open sea internship practice on nautical service, ship navigating and handing, as well as other naval training items. Midshipmen can conduct virtual maritime exercises using the network-based facilities on the ship.



Besides the Qi Jiguang, the only other PLAN training ships are the Type 679 training ship Zheng He (81) commissioned 1986, and the Type 0891A training ship Shichang (82) commissioned 1997.



Qi Jiguang was named after an ancient Chinese national hero, Qi Jiguang (born 1528), who led the navy of the Ming Dynasty in defending China's eastern and southeastern coastal regions against raids by Japanese pirates.



The Shichang is China's first aviation ship, and primarily serves as a training ship, helicopter launch vehicle and medical treatment facility.


Ever since DPP party member Tsai Ing-wen, who currently acts as Taiwans president, refused to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus, relations between China and Taiwan have been far from warm. (Photo : Getty Images)

As the 70th anniversary of the February 28 Massacre draws near, China reiterates that the Taiwanese uprising that happened on February 28, 1947, was based on separatist elements that provoked just action, according to an article by StraitsTimes.com.



Advertisement

The statements were uttered by An Fengshan, a Chinese official from the Taiwan Affairs Office, at a press conference held on Wednesday, Feb. 22, days before the anniversary.



According to An, the Feb. 28, 1947, uprising was an anti-government movement. The decision to send out Kuomintang troops to deal with the mayhem was just action against tyranny.



Also known as the 228 Incident in Taiwan, the February 28 Massacre heralds the start of a four-decade period of martial law in Taiwan. Over the years, it has become a focal point for the Taiwanese independence movement.



The Taiwanese government has declared February 28 an official public holiday. Several memorial events are to be held all over Taiwan to commemorate the event, one of which is a ceremony to be hosted by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government held at 228 Peace Memorial Park.



In addition to clearing out that the 228 Incident was called for, An also criticized the Taiwanese independence movement of using the occasion as a means to further their agenda of separating from China.



For a long time, this incident has been used by certain Taiwan independence forces for ulterior motives, An said at the press conference, as reported by StraitsTimes.com. They have distorted historical fact, instigated contradictions based on provincial origin, tearing at Taiwans ethnic groups, creating antagonism in society.



At the press conference, An also connected the decline of tourists from the mainland with the current political climate in Taiwan.



Ever since DPP party member Tsai Ing-wen, who currently acts as Taiwans President, refused to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus, relations between China and Taiwan have been far from warm.



Changes in the Taiwanese authorities policy towards China have led to the deterioration of the environment and atmosphere of cross-strait relations, and affected the enthusiasms and willingness of mainland tourists to visit Taiwan, An said.


The Chinese Communist Party is successful in running the country. (Photo : Getty Images)

The president of the Mercator Institute for Chinese Studies, Sebastian Heilmann, was recently interviewed and discussed the current state of Chinese politics and government.



He said that over his extensive study of China's political system, there are many issues that seem to be misunderstood. Many of China's methods are successful but "underappreciated."



Advertisement

He also said that President Xi Jinping's success of ruling the communist party of China is mainly because of his fight against corruption.



The expert explained that the dynamics of China's politics is different from the West. The system should is run by cadres through a top to bottom approach.



"In China, policy implementation depends on cadres," he said.



He added, "They are given clear metrics and goals for achieving things and then told to go do them. Major policy shifts and top-down initiatives are managed through this cadre system, not by making laws."



The anti-corruption campaign of President Xi "has expanded and mobilized a parallel disciplinary bureaucracy with great powers to step in and investigate."



Heilmann explained that the policies have "no clearly defined legal basis" and the Communist Party's "operations are directed by party documents and internal directives."



He noted that the success of the Party is because of the flexibility of the bureaucracy even if there is a strong grip on power. The government's ability to experiment with pilot projects shows that they are willing to learn new methods.



"This flexibility has been demonstrated in the ability to set up pilot projects in special economic zones, in local tests--such as for housing reform or bankruptcy in state enterprises. Very difficult measures were regularly tested in pilot projects for several years before national laws were enacted," Heilmann explained.



As good as the government system is working now, the German political scientist said that a crisis would eventually happen if Xi has to give up his post.



He said, "If Xi Jinping became seriously ill, what would happen to the political system? The system has been tailored to him."


The great hero 'One Punch Man' Saitama positions his fist as he prepares to release a powerful punch. (Photo : YouTube/ AnimeLab)

With "One Punch Man' Season 2 release date swiftly approaching, debates and commentaries on Saitama's strength have once more surfaced online. Above anime fans' discussion and analyses, the voice of science tries to offers a more plausible explanation concerning Saitama's ability and limitation.



Advertisement

There have been many attempts to measure the strength of Saitama since he was first introduced in the anime world. However, such task has proven to be quite difficult, for many have tried to analyze Saitama's strength mistaking energy for force and the other way around, according to the Nerdist. However, Kyle Hill of Because Science YouTube channel managed to simplify things on his video presentation.



Hill, on his presentation, opined that he knows how strong Saitama is. He also suggested he probably knows how strong Saitama could be or his limitation. Rather than using only the anime intro as the sole basis for explaining Saitama's strength as it is commonly done, Hill departed from it and instead examine what viewers can actually see in the anime.



In terms of direct speed comparison, he used the fight of Saitama and Boros to calculate Saitama's speed. Hill then suggested that Saitama's speed is within 14 percent of the speed of light, or roughly around 43,000 kilometers per second.



Furthermore, the presentation also examined the strength of Saitama by examining the scene where Saitama stopped a meteor by just a single punch. After the mind-numbing calculation, Hill explained that Saitama's one punch could be three quintillion Newtons or even more.



Such force may be easily understood as something comparable to 305,914,863 megatons of force, which means that air blast alone could kill anyone within a 1,727.45 km radius, according to Comic Vine. Thus, suggesting that his basic punch could already be a continent buster. With the help of Hill's analogy, such punch may be viewed as though "90 billion Saturn V rockets" simultaneously taking off from your face.



However, despite having such computations, the limitation of Saitama's ability is yet to be revealed. Hill suggested that Saitama may still have a punch that so severe it could reset the universe.



Watch here below "One Punch Man" inspired video presentation:






US Commission Rejects Tariffs on Anti-dumping and Countervailing of Chinese Tires

The U.S. removed anti-dumping tariffs on China's tire manufacturers. (Photo : Getty Images)

In a 3-2 vote in favor of China, the U.S. International Trade Council said that Chinese tires should not be imposed anti-dumping and countervailing taxes.



The decision means that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will not collect anti-dumping and countervailing duties from Chinese truck and bus tire manufacturers and importers.



Advertisement

A petition was filed by the United Steelworkers (USW) union last year to protect American tire manufacturers from losing out in the competition.



Upon the filing of the petition, duties rose from 9 percent to 22.57 percent. Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd. had to pay an increase to 63.34 percent from 65.46 percent.



Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., a tire manufacturer in China, welcomed the decision. They said that they "supports free and fair trade, and we are pleased with the ITC's determination."



However, the USW released a statement that expressed their disappointment. Union President Leo W. Gerard said, "The ITC commissioners made a huge mistake."



He added, "Anybody considering all the facts, including the record profits for American manufacturers and their inability to even come close to satisfying domestic truck and bus tire demand, would have to conclude that this was the right thing to do."



"That simply ignores the facts and the harm that Chinese unfairly traded exports have caused the workers," the union leader said.



China's Ministry of Commerce, on the other hand, said that the decision was logical. The head of the ministry described the decision as "objective and fair."



He added, "We hope the two countries' tire industries strengthen dialogue and communication, effectively manage and control trade disputes, and maintain an open and fair trade environment for the good of the people of China and the U.S."



The Union's petition affected U.S.-China trade. In 2015, the sale of truck tires fell to $1 billion from $1.5 million in 2014.



China supplies 55 percent of America's truck tires.


Gabriel Macht and Sarah Rafferty of Suits attend USA Network and Mr Porter.com Present 'A Suits Story' on June 12, 2012 in New York, United States. (Photo : Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for NBCUniversal/USA Network)

Harvey and Donna have never been physical or touchy feely with each other until "Suits" Season 5 fall finale. Sarah Rafferty, who plays Donna, talked about Darvey's dynamics in the current season.



Warning: This article contains spoilers from "Suits" Season 6 episodes. Read if you want to know more.



Advertisement

Rafferty spoke with TVLine and revealed that Harvey and Donna never touched each other, but later they held hands during the fall finale of Season 6. The actress shared that she loves that scene as "it just speaks to their partnership and the depth of that."



She added she could only remember two instances when Harvey and Donna touched. "When we shot [the flashback of] Donna telling Harvey that his father had passed, at one point, there was a wide shot from behind, and I remember I put my hand on his shoulder," the actress said. She mentioned that they did take the cut.



The other one was Louis comes to know about Mike being a fraud and he blasts Donna in Harvey's office.



Later "she tells Harvey that she had failed him, basically. Gabriel [Macht], I believe, was directing that episode. He said, 'Hey,' and took Donna by the chin and made me make eye contact with him and held my face. That was not in the cut, either."



The actress if Donna and Harvey's relationship is shifting in the current season.



"I think it's constantly shifting. That's what's dynamic about playing it and, in some ways, why I'm not necessarily seeking resolution in that relationship at all as an actor. Because I think what's most interesting about it is what a moving target it seems to be. It's always shifting. Whatever they feel for each other, they're not equipped to deal with it," Rafferty said.



Stay tuned for more "Suits" Season 6 spoilers, news and updates. Share your views in the section below.


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 15 features an unexpected wedding. The upcoming segment is titled "We're Planning a June Wedding" and happens to be the penultimate segment. Here are a few spoilers for the next chapter of the series. Read on to find out what happens next.



[Spoiler alert! This article contains spoilers for "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 15 "We're Planning a June Wedding." Do not read further if you don't wish to know more about it.]



Advertisement

Expect the unexpected as "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 moves towards its finale. Episode 15 is expected to reveals more surprises and twists.



According to the Spoilers Guide's description of the penultimate segment, a wedding is planned. The press release does not specify which couple will walk down the aisle.



Meanwhile, Melty is speculating that wedding is planned for Stefan and Caroline. However, it is uncertain if the wedding goes through. A synopsis for "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 15 reveals it's a trap set by Damon and Stefan. In an attempt to lure their enemy for a confrontation. It is not confirmed whether the plan involves Cade or someone else.



Their plan puts Mystic Falls and its future in danger. The Salvatore brothers must do everything to destroy their enemy in order to protect others.



In addition, the publication has revealed photos from "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 15 teasing the return of Matt's mother, who will be interrupting Caroline and Stefan's wedding.



A promo video for "We're Planning a June Wedding" is highly anticipated and it is expected to be out after broadcast of episode 14 airing on Feb. 24. Stay tuned, it will be updated here.



"The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 15 airs March 3 at 9:00 pm on CW. More spoilers and updates are expected soon.



UPDATE



A promo video for "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 15 is out. Scroll down to watch it.










Both of Brookwood School Districts referenda were approved with overwhelming support from voters in the village of Genoa City and in the town of Bloomfield.

Village of Bloomfield voters were not so approving, but that didnt matter.

The district was granted permission to go ahead with a $6.1 million tear down and rebuild of the 1908 section of Brookwood School.

And the district will get a $255,000 boost in taxpayer income, as well.

Its an exciting time, said Kellie Bohn, superintendent of the Brookwood District.

She said the school board will set up a meeting this week with the districts contractor, J.P. Cullen.

The construction project plan is to be ready as soon as school lets out, she said.

Referendum 1, the $6.1 million modernization of Brookwood School, was approved overall by 257 to 137, a margin of about 65 percent.

Referendum 2, the $255,000 boost in tax levy, was approved 255 to 140, or by about 64 percent.

Genoa City voters approved the first referendum 190 to 83 and the second referendum 185 to 88.

Town of Bloomfield voters approved the first referendum 33 to 7 and the second by 31 to 9.

Village of Bloomfield voters rejected the first referendum 34 to 47 and the second by 39 to 43.

The results did not come as a complete surprise, Bohn said.

She said she was cautiously optimistic from what she heard around the district.

But referendum votes are so unpredictable, she added.

You just never know, she said. Its a little bit unnerving.

Voter turnout was low this election, and thats always trouble.

But in this case, even with low voter turnout, each of the referenda won more than 60 percent of the vote.

Were fortunate to be in a district where the schools are strongly supported, Bohn said.

The school board has said it does not expect the districts property tax rate to increase, because the Brookwood Middle School construction bond will be paid off this year.
Historic ties of north Meck span throughout region Though the north Mecklenburg area didnt see significant population growth until a few decades ago, its rich history dates back to the Revolutionary War. That was the basis of...

An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE  Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at...
An attendee uses an Apple Inc. iPhone, not the iPhone 8, before the start of an event in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016. (Photo : Getty Images/ David Paul Morris)

After previous rumors that Apple Inc. will be applying high-end facial recognition in its upcoming flagship phones, a new report suggests the clear possibility of unlocking future iPhone through selfies after recent acquisition of the AI-based facial recognition company RealFace.



According to Hebrew-language site Calcalist, the Cupertino-based tech giant has bought the Israeli startup company Real Face, which specializes in extensive learning for face authentication technology.



Advertisement

The Real Face company, formed in 2014, was recently acquired for $2 million, or "around a couple of million dollars," as noted by the Calcalist. However, no further details on the terms of the deal were revealed by Apple Inc.



The future features for this hardware will provide iPhones frictionless face recognition. The "Real Face" company aims to replace passwords or logins using facial recognition, while keeping its mission to "offer customers a smart biometric log-in solution" for mobile consumption.



As of press time, the RealFace's website is down, which could be by demand or intentional removal by the company itself or Apple. Before the acquisition, the company had previously raised $1 million in start-up funds, which was used by 5 to 10 employees.



The company's first app Pickeez choose the best photos in the user's photo gallery for smarter categorization. Now, both the company's ties may include facial recognition in Apple's upcoming iPhone lineup. According to Apple Insider, the iPhone 8 and other future iPhone models may be armed with a face scanning feature powered by a laser 3D scanner.



The facial recognition software produced by RealFace can also tap other user experience actions and functionality features, such as the technology in augmented reality and virtual reality headsets, clothing sizing, accurate distance measurements for home improvement, scanning for 3D printing, appliance and HomeKit integration.



Apple appears to continue gearing up its future iPhone hardware and software features, as Real Face turned to be the third facial recognition-related company the Cupertino-based tech giant has acquired in the last two years.



According to NDTV, Apple purchased the AI-based startup Emotient earlier this year. Based on the report, this technology "uses software to read the expressions of individuals and crowds to gain insights that can be used by advertisers to assess viewer reaction or a medical practitioner to better understand signs of pain in patients."






This article appears in the February 24, 2017 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

Th e Spac e Progra m I s Ke y t o Organizing

the Best Talents of Our Nation

by Kesha Rogers

[Print version of this article]

We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.  President John F. Kennedy

Feb. 21Monday, February 20 marked the 55th Anniversary of the day that the first American orbited the Earth. On February 20, 1962, John Glenn rocketed into space aboard the Project Mercury capsule, Friendship 7. Glenn circled the globe three times in four hours and fifty-six minutes.

Now we reflect on the importance of that day in history, and on John Glenns contribution to implementing the vision and challenge to the nation put forth by President John F. Kennedy, to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth before that decade, the 1960s, was out. His challenge to the nation came only a few weeks after the famous flight of astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to make a suborbital flight into space, a flight of less than 16 minutes on May 5, 1961. These missions were televised. The accomplishments of our nations space program inspired our entire nation and the world, and inspired a determination in President Kennedy to commit the nation to the greater mission. We would be first to the Moon, but our mission would not stop there.

NASA

The success of John Glenns flight 55 years ago, and the achievements of other American astronauts and Soviet cosmonautssuch as Yuri Gagarin, the first person to orbit the Earthproved that there are no limits to what mankind can accomplish, that there is nothing that can hold us back, including the ostensibly budget-driven policies that we are seeing today. And so the nation was determined that Kennedy had laid out a mission and that, despite all odds, it was one we would accomplish. On July 20, 1969, Americans would be the first human beings to set foot on the Moon and come in peace for all mankind. The goal was only met by doing as President Kennedy would declare, by organizing the best energies and skills of our nation.

That is the outlook and understanding required today, to restore a national mission and once again inspire great optimism in the people of this nation and the world. We need strong determination to continue to reach for new frontiers in the exploration and development of space. We need a vision for the nation, for our young people, not the endless funding of imperial wars and bailing out of Wall Street speculators. As astronaut John Glenn once said,

The most important thing we can do is inspire young minds and to advance the kind of science, math, and technology education that will help youngsters take us to the next phase of space travel.

Fight Wall Street, Defend the Mind

President Trump has promised to establish a national mission to relaunch our space program. That requires us to unify the nation and the world around the kind of win-win cooperation that has been offered by China. We must commit to working with China and Russia, to continue the mapping of the lunar surface, and to work on constructing stations there: The lunar surface continues to be the gateway to the Solar System, the gateway to Mars.

We must put an end to the hypocrisy, the sabotage, the destructive policies that are coming from the Wall Street apparatus in the U.S. Congress that says we cannot work with China.

We must also stop the sabotage coming from the Wall Street apparatus of former President Barack Obama, who is actually putting in place more policies to create division and destruction in the nation, as he did when, as President, he cancelled the Constellation program for manned spaceflight to the Moon by 2020 and then to Mars. His efforts to set our space program back have continued since his departure from the Presidency.

Even in a Feb. 16 Congressional hearing of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, titled, NASA: Past Present and Future, certain members continued to push insane, monetarist ideas that continue to sabotage our nations commitment to space exploration. There were questions such as,

How do we stop the increase in the budget of our space program?

How do you establish responsible stewardship of the American taxpayers dollar?

Dont we need public/private partnerships to augment taxpayers investments?

Congress should be more concerned about, How do we stop the continuing wars, costing billions and trillions of dollars, to support terrorism, to defend ISIS? and How do we stop the trillion-dollar bailouts on behalf of Wall Street derivatives? These have to be stopped! There is no excuse whatsoever for taking the future away from our young people. The space program and NASA are key to the scientific and economic progress of the nation. They develop the talents and skills of our nation!

Its Not the Money, Stupid!

China has lifted more than 700 million people out of the most dire poverty. How did it do that? Chinas leadership had a vision for their nation, for their future, for their young people. They have committed their nation to being the first to land on the far side of the Moon. They are organizing nations around the world to cooperate in establishing a permanent presence on the Moon. The United States must join in such a mission. We must inspire a new generation of young scientists, astronauts, and engineers. During the Feb. 16 Congressional hearing, former astronaut Harrison Schmitt stated that our space program needs a generation of leaders with an average age of 30 or less, because young people are not afraid of risk, theyre not afraid of taking on new challenges and responsibilities.

People are now too concerned about my money. We need to be concerned about the future and the development of our people. We must be concerned about inspiring every person in our society to be creative and productive. It was not the money that launched our nation to the Moon. It was vision and creativity. Today Margot Shetterlys book, Hidden Figures, and the movie based on it, remind us of that (see review part 1 and part 2).

Some of the greatest, little known pioneers in the space program were engineers and mathematicians behind the scenes, including a very brilliant, creative group of African American women who were computers, mathematicians, and engineers. Katherine Johnson was a member of that talented African American group, and John Glenn made sure that she checked the calculations of the machine before he would travel into space.

He was not concerned about whether a machine could do the job; he trusted the power of the human mind. If John Glenn had not made that trip, would we have landed on the Moon? Would we have accomplished the goal that President Kennedy set out? Was it the machine or the mind that got us there?

Its time to rid the nation of our commitment to monetarism. It should never have been allowed to dominate this country. We must go back to the understanding that economic value is based on the creative powers of the human mind. Our space program is the key to advancing the economy of our nation and of the world. Cooperation is key.

Many members of Congress in office today were inspired by the space program under President Kennedy. Now, they sit there and say, Well, we cant do it, because we cant afford it. Thats insanity, that is sabotage, and it has to be stopped.

We must put our space program, NASA, and cooperation with many nations around the world back at the top of our nations agenda.
This editorial appears in the February 24, 2017 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

Jail Obama for Treason!

[Print version of this editorial]

Feb. 20Barack Obama, after eight years of mass killing with drones and genocidal regime change wars, has refused to retire from his treasonous role, but is now leading an insurrection against the democratically elected President who solidly defeated his clone, Hillary Clinton, in the November election.

Obama is actually highly vulnerable, Lyndon LaRouche noted today. He has exposed himself as a traitor to the United States.

Obama proudly met with his CIA chief John Brennan every Tuesday afternoon during his reign to draw up the kill list for the weekthose whom King Obama chose to assassinate on his own volitionsans court order, sans due processalong with whoever happened to be with his target when the drone struck.

LaRouche noted that the New York Times long ago revealed the story of Obamas Tuesday kill-list sessions, not because they wanted to expose his killer character, but to drive the U.S. population to accept itto belittle themselves by tolerating a mass killer as their president, without protest.

EIR is releasing a dossier this week entitled Obama and SorosNazis in Ukraine 2014U.S. in 2017? Feb. 21-22 is the third anniversary of Obamas overthrow of the democratically elected government of Ukraine in 2014, in a violent mob action directly funded and directed by Obama and his personal agent to the region, Victoria Nuland. The riots, centered in the Maidan central square, featured molotov-cocktail attacks on police and government buildings, led by organizations openly promoting Stepan Bandera, Adolph Hitlers Ukrainian nazi partner.

The EIR dossier demonstrates that Barack Obama, with his sponsor George Soros and other British and U.S. project democracy agents, are now turning their color revolution fire on the United States itselfand for the same reason: the British Empire refused to allow Western Europe and Russia to work together for peace and development, and therefore ran an anti-Russia coup by old-line nazis in Ukraine, to refuel the old nazi hatred of Russia.

So also in the Uunited States: the Obama gang is making the incredibly pathetic effort to convince Americans that President Trump has committed a crime by wanting to prevent a war with Russia, and to instead work with Russiaand China and India and Japanto bring peace and development to the world, including to the United States.

While there are dupes in the United States who will swallow such garbage, the majority of the population is in a state of revolt against such psychotic nonsense, be it from the politicians or from the media.

Obama and Hillary Clinton had brought the world to the very edge of thermonuclear war with Russia. That danger has been dramatically curtailed by Hillarys defeat. And yet, the Obama/Soros gang is calling for the impeachment or criminal prosecution of Trump, who is making peace with Russia. The Obama/Soros gang claims instead that it is dangerous for Trump to have his finger on the nuclear button!

To bring this ugly irony to an end, requires that Obama be brought to justice. His multiple crimes as president are now compounded by his overt campaign to overthrow the government of the United States of Americaan overt act of treason.

Obama so loved the British Queen and the British system, that he served as its loyal asset in restoring the subservience of the former British colony to the British Systemby monetarism and colonial wars. Today, the Financial Times, the voice of the London and Wall Street financial oligarchy, calls openly for a violent insurrection against the upstart President, who is threatening to end the British Empires divide and conquer division of the world. The FT bureau chief in Washington, Edward Luce, warns that if Trump is not taken down, he will take down the system.

Indeed he might, and so be it. Trump has argued that the United States accept the proposals from Putinthat we work hand in hand to defeat terrorismand from Xi Jinping to join the New Silk Road process for global development. For Trump to live up to that commitment would mean the end of Empire. It is the responsibility of an inspired population to bring about that beautiful result, and that inspiration is best expressed by the fifty years of leadership from Lyndon LaRouche. This is our moment, if we take it, to bring about what Helga Zepp-LaRouche has called the adulthood of humanity.
PRESS RELEASE

Dutch Parliament Discards Populations No Vote against EU Deal with Ukraine

Feb. 23, 2017 (EIRNS)By a great majority, the members of the Netherlands national parliament on Feb. 21 gave the scandalous go-ahead for the governments signature on the European Union-Ukraine association agreement. The two government parties, VVD and PvdA, voted for the resolution, as did the two opposition parties, D66 and Green List. The majority of the parliament thereby ignored the result of the national referendum in April 2016, in which 61% voted against the Ukraine deal, and only 38% for it. The Parliament has now authorized government to ratify the deal as the last EU member-state holding out.

The referendum was non-binding, but the parliament and government would have done better to respect it, because the country will hold national elections on March 15. The views of 2.5 million Dutch voters were ignored by this parliamentary vote, which may lead to unpleasant surprises at the polls in less than three weeks.
PRESS RELEASE

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Identifies Maidan Snipers

Feb. 23, 2017 (EIRNS)Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, who served from March 2010 until he resigned on Jan. 28, 2014, at the height of the violent Maidan protests, unleashed a bombshell on his facebook page on Feb. 21, a bombshell that was reported by Sputnik the following day.

"Today we, and investigators in Kiev as well, have reliable information about the fact that the murders on the Maidan were carried out by special groups of snipers from Georgia, the Baltic countries, and Poland, under the guidance of instructors from France and Germany,"

Azarov write. These groups, Azarov said, "were provided with cover and diversionary actions by shooters from the Maidan Self-Defense group under the direction of [Andriy] Parubiy and [Serhiy] Pashinsky," the former now serving as speaker of Ukraines parliament, and the latter an MP and former interim head of the presidential administration. In total, more than 130 people, including 18 police officers, were killed.

Azarov explained, reports Sputnik, that

"the Georgian group, consisting of 10 people, was placed in the Conservatory building [which overlooks Maidan Square]. The identities of three of them have been confirmed by photographs taken by Ukrainian Security Forces staff, and it has been established that they are Georgian nationals. On February 20, [2014] this group divided into two. One of them fired from the Conservatory Building, the other from the Hotel Ukraine Building."

Azarov reports that the presence of a third group of shooters is assumed. This group reportedly killed 50 people in the space of 30 minutes from a third building overlooking the square and were immediately moved out of the area.

Azarov notes that the coup plotters, Parubiy, Pashinskiy, Secretary of the National Defense Council Oleksander Turchynov, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, and former prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, all of whom were appointed to their positions after the coup,

"have done everything they could to destroy evidence and peoples testimony. An attempt was made to place the blame for the massacre squarely on Yanukovych and the Berkut riot police."

Avakovs facebook posting includes numerous photographs and video documenting the violence on the Maidan in February 2014. The evidence exists, he says, that helps
PRESS RELEASE

Intra-Syrian Peace Talks Open in Geneva

Feb. 23, 2017 (EIRNS)The intra-Syrian peace talks opened today, with a welcoming ceremony in the UN assembly hall in Geneva. Both sides were seated opposite each other, according to news reports, but did not speak.

"I ask you to work together," said UN Special Envoy Staffan De Mistura.

"I know its not going to be easy to end this horrible conflict and lay the foundation for a country at peace with itself, sovereign and unified. It is your opportunity and solemn responsibility ... not to condemn future generations of Syrian children to long years of bitter and bloody conflict."

De Mistura warned against failure of the talks, saying that the cost would be "more deaths, more atrocities." He added, "We can do a lot of good work while we hope the ceasefire holds."

In a press conference yesterday, de Mistura said that he is not expecting any breakthroughs, but he intends to maintain momentum towards a settlement. He warned that progress wont always be apparent.

"Dont be surprised, if there will be rhetoric[al] statements, and even dismissive statements among them, aggressive ones. They are part of what we should expect,"

he said, while asking the media not to jump to conclusions and resort to insulting the talks participants. "We will be aiming at substance," he stressed.

When the Syrian opposition delegation, led by the High Negotiations Commission, arrived, yesterday, it declared its readiness for face-to-face talks with the government negotiators.

"We hope and we want the talks to be direct," HNC representative Munzar Mahus told TASS. "Negotiations should take place in the presence of an international mediator, that is the UN," Mahus noted. "However, the problem is that the agenda of the talks is unclear at the moment." And the first topic on the agenda should be? "We should discuss the transition of power process in the first place." For the Syrian opposition, "transition of power" means the removal from power of Syrian President Bashar al Assad at the beginning of the process, but this is not allowed for in UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which is what governs de Misturas mediation effort.

"We will be very reluctant," de Mistura said, "to engage in pre-conditions, and in fact I will be refusing them."
PRESS RELEASE

Xi Jinping Makes Italy an Offer You Cannot Refuse as Italian President Visits Beijing

Feb. 23, 2017 (EIRNS)Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Italy to attend the May 14-15 international forum on "Belt and Road: Cooperation for Common Prosperity" in Beijing, directly extending the invitation to President Sergio Mattarella, who is leading a political and business delegation visiting China. The two countries signed deals for $5 billion, including one that involves Moon-mapping.

Italy "offers incomparable advantages as a door between East and West," Xi told Mattarella. Such advantages are given by Italys geographical position and by its political role in Europe. "There is a pioneering spirit in our two countries," Xi said. The Chinese President cited Italian missionary Prospero Intorcetta, who first translated Confucius in Europe in the 17th Century, and who, like Mattarella, hailed from Sicily. Intorcetta is buried in Hangzhou.

The Italian delegation participated in the fourth Italy-China Business Forum and in the first Italy-China Cultural Forum.

In his speech given at the conclusion of the two forums, Mattarella said that

"Italy can offer experiences and knowledge in sectors of great interest for China, such as food security, health, environmental technologies, sustainable urbanization, logistics and transports, aerospace."

The deals signed by the two delegations include Italian participation in a joint mapping of the Moon and joint experiments in human flight on the Chinese space station in 2022, as well as Italian technology and interiors for two large cruise ships to be assembled in Shanghai, custom agreements between the ports of Genoa and Ningbo, and supply of Italian gas turbines.

The deals, however, show that Italy is unprepared to fully join the Belt and Road paradigm. In fact, Mattarella did express "utmost interest for the One Belt, One Road initiative" and said that "the Italian system of ports and logistics offers China the possibility to complete most efficiently and conveniently the last precious track of the New Silk Road down to the heart of Europe" and towards Central and Eastern Europe, but the strategic importance of Southern Italy was entirely neglected. Upgrading northern Italian ports such as Genoa is important, but more important would be to build a Southern Italian platform, with the Gioia Tauro port, the Messina Bridge, and the rail and roadway modernization of south-north transport infrastructure.
Chinese weapons for sale at IDEX 2017. (Photo : IDEX 2017)

China has sought to keep its defense spending to about 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) but might have difficulty keeping to this voluntary ceiling because of continuing military provocations by the United States such as the arming of its Asian allies and the continuing "Pivot to Asia."



Advertisement

An op-ed in the website of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) claims despite its military advances in recent years, China remains committed to the three principles enshrined in its arms exports policy.



The first is China's arms exports should be conducive to the self-defense capability of the recipient country. The second is these exports should not damage regional and global peace, security, and stability. The third is there should be no interference in the internal affairs of the recipient country.



China became the third-largest supplier of arms between 2010 and 2014, according to a 2014 report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). China's arms exports jumped 74 percent from 2012-2016 compared with the 2007 to 2011.



What's noteworthy about this data is that only a few countries patronize Chinese weapons, limiting these weapons' worldwide use unlike the United States, which remains the world's largest weapons' proliferator. Over 68 percent of China's arms exports went to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.



In contrast, Saudi Arabia was the top recipient of American-made arms from 2011-2015, said SIPRI. Next in line were the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, India, Singapore, Iraq and Egypt. Five of these countries are in Asia, and all these five countries are strategic foes of China.



The United States remained the world's top arms exporter from 2012-2016, accounting for nearly one-third of all exports. She was followed by Russia (23 percent) and China (6.2 percent).



SIPRI also reported that global transfers of arms increased by 8.4 percent between 2012 and 2016 compared with the previous five years, the highest of any five-year period since the end of Cold War in the early 1991.



The op-ed noted China it's "impossible (for China) to turn a blind eye to Washington's role as an enabler in this. Apart from offering traditional military aid to its Asian allies ... the U.S. under the watch of Barack Obama vigorously pushed forward a rebalancing to Asia-Pacific strategy at the risk of provoking China."



The story also said this confrontational approach has also involved "closer defense cooperation with its ... and freer exchanges of intelligence to exports of cutting-edge arms equipment."



The rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula have also prompted China, Japan, Taiwan and India to enhance their military buildup and boost their defense spending.


Walt Disney Co. is laying off about 80 employees in its digital media unit that includes Maker Studios, according to a person at the company not authorized to comment publicly.

The layoffs affect people in various roles at Maker, the Culver City-based digital studio, including some in support positions. The staff reductions follow the December integration of Maker into Disneys consumer products and interactive media unit, a move that created staffing redundancies.

Burbank-based Disney bought Maker in 2014, spending more than $500 million to acquire the company behind YouTube successes such as Epic Rap Battles of History and creators such as the Swedish comic personality PewDiePie.

Advertisement

In addition to the layoffs, Maker also is undertaking a significant streamlining of its network of creators, whose content the company helps produce and promote in exchange for a cut of advertising revenue.

Maker currently has relationships with about 60,000 creators, but in the coming days the company will sever ties with all but 1,000 or so of those people, according to the person at Disney.

Makers aim is to retain relationships with creators whose content aligns with the Disney brand. The recalibration comes in the aftermath of the companys loss of key employees and an ongoing effort to find synergies within the wider Disney ecosystem.

The layoffs and the streamlining of the creators network were being planned before last weeks controversy related to PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg.

On Feb. 14, Maker severed ties with Kjellberg after a Wall Street Journal story detailed several videos made by the creator that included anti-Semitic references. YouTube, which aired Kjellbergs reality show, Scare PewDiePie, also has cancelled the second season of that program.

Kjellberg has nearly 54 million subscribers to his PewDiePew channel, more than any other individual.

daniel.miller@latimes.com

@DanielNMiller
Installers maneuver a carpet roll in front of the Dolby Theatre. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

In Aeschylus play Agamemnon, the titular kings homecoming from the Trojan War is marked by his vengeful wife Clytemnestra, who offers him a red carpet on which to walk.

Now my beloved, step down from your chariot, and let not your foot, my lord, touch the Earth, she says.

But Agamemnon is dubious, noting that only gods are permitted to walk on such a "crimson pathway. (The king was right to be concerned: his wife soon murders him in a bathtub.)

The Greek tragedy was written in 458 BC and marks the first historical reference to a red carpet. Roughly 2,500 years later, gods of a different sort  Hollywood idols  seem to have little issue with treading on the carpets.

And there is perhaps no more famous a red carpet in show business  and the world  than the one unfurled in front of the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the Academy Awards.

Signature Systems Group, a flooring company with offices in Santa Fe Springs, is responsible for making sure that the 50,000-square-foot carpet not only shines, but also doesnt trip up any starlets during Sundays awards show. The company has handled the painstaking task of installing the Oscars carpet since 2008, when it acquired American Turf & Carpet, a local outfit and longtime show vendor.

The Texas company is a key cog among dozens of businesses (think: florists, chauffeurs and caterers) who work behind the scenes in Los Angeles County's multimillion-dollar Oscar economy.

We are dealing with a lot of different events, but there is none other like this one, said Moises Arteaga, national distribution manager of Signature Systems.

Installers from Signature Systems Group talk about what it takes to lay down the red carpet at the Academy Awards.

The unique nature of the Academy Awards extends to its carpet: It isnt even a traditional red.

Instead, the carpet is closer to burgundy and has been for the last 15 years. The exclusive shade  called Academy Red  is supposed to flatter the A-list actors who are photographed and filmed walking on it. Its a secret color, one whose precise specifications the shows organizers wont reveal for fear of copycats.

Listen, there is only one Academy Awards, said Joe Lewis , an associate producer of the arrivals and pre-show portion of the Oscars. Some things that make the Academy Awards the Academy Awards should be proprietary.

The secrecy surrounding the carpet illustrates the exacting nature of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the annual awards show. And its just one quirk of the custom carpet.

A crew of about 18 workers began installing the red carpet along Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Dolby on Feb. 21. It will take them nearly 900 man-hours to install the carpet, and the work wont be finished until just before the stars begin arriving Sunday afternoon  as throngs of foreign tourists, street performers in superhero costumes and edgy security guards look on.

There are road closures, there is heavy security  there is definitely a buzz in the air, said Lynn Nichols, West Coast regional sales manager for Signature Systems. We just block everything out  just do our job.

Installers carry the red carpet down Hollywood Boulevard. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) The rolls of the red carpet are unloaded in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) The red carpets arrive by truck on Hollywood Boulevard on Tuesday. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Installers unload rolls of red carpets and carry them down Hollywood Boulevard. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Signature Systems wont say how much its making on the Academy Awards job or discuss its finances, but executives say business is growing and that the company sold more than 15 million square feet of carpet and turf in 2016.

The Oscars job isnt the companys biggest  a recent Super Bowl assignment called for about 650,000 square feet of carpet. Signature Systems has also worked on the Golden Globe Awards and the Grammy Awards, but the Oscars are special.

This is a highlight for us, Nichols said.

Hollywood can trace its red carpet history back to theater impresario Sid Grauman. He first deployed one for the 1922 premiere of Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

The reasons for the carpets use are manifold, said Hollywood historian Marc Wanamaker.

The first purpose is that it would be an obvious guideline of where people would walk, he said. The other reason is that they didnt want anyone slipping or falling going into the theater. The third reason is that it is glamorous.

A carpet installer at Signature Systems Group walks across the red carpet in Santa Fe Springs. (Christina House / For The Times) (Christina House / For The Times)

A red carpet made its debut at the Oscars in 1961 and has since become an integral part of the spectacle, whose pre-show extravaganza is widely viewed by fans tuning in to check out stars fashion hits and misses.

Red carpets, of course, were used long before Grauman popularized them and the Oscars made them a cultural focal point. Over the last several centuries, theyve become popular extravagances for monarchs, religious leaders and other dignitaries. Apparently, Agamemnons gruesome fate  foreshadowed by his wifes red carpet  has scared no one away.

Even if the race for Oscar gold can seem like it verges on bloodsport  or a Greek tragedy, depending on your perspective  the Academy Awards red carpet has far more benign origins.

It is fabricated from nylon at a mill in Dalton, Ga., known as the Carpet Capital of the World. (The name of the mill, like the color specifications, is a secret.)

Earlier this month, Signature Systems took delivery of the carpet at its Santa Fe Springs offices. On Feb. 13, workers in the facilitys cavernous warehouse unrolled a 12-foot-by-150-foot portion of the carpet, straining as they kicked and pushed the 630-pound roll down a wide walkway.

A warehouse worker dropped to his knees and began trimming the edge with a carpet knife. He and four others spent several days making precision cuts, using paper templates placed on top of the carpet to guide their incisions. This prepared the carpet for the zigs and zags it must make as it inches down Hollywood Boulevard and up into the forecourt of the Dolby at the Hollywood & Highland complex.

Moises Arteaga and Lynn Nichols of Signature Systems Group at the companys Santa Fe Springs warehouse. (Christina House / For The Times) (Christina House / For The Times)

Eyeing the unrolled swath, warehouse associate Angel Luis said he was a little nervous  it was his first time working on the Academy Awards red carpet. He doesnt typically watch the Oscars, but this year, he plans to tune in.

This type of stuff just takes so much time, Arteaga said. We try to get a head start on this type of work that is intricate and detailed.

The carpet was trucked to Hollywood on Tuesday afternoon as an off-and-on rainstorm pelted L.A. Upon arrival, a worker with tattooed knuckles used a forklift to pull roughly 30 carpet rolls from the truck, which was parked in a closed section of Hollywood Boulevard in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. As he worked under a sky thick with the threat of rain, a few tourists watched the spectacle from behind a chain-link fence.

Thats the official red carpet from the swap meet! joked a man working for another vendor.

A cameraman films workers rolling out the red carpet. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) A worker unrolls the red carpet. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Installation will take nearly 900 man-hours, and the work wont be finished until just before the pre-show arrivals begin on Sunday afternoon. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) A cameraman films workers rolling out the red carpet, which will take nearly 900 man-hours to install. The work won't be finished until just before the pre-show arrivals on Sunday afternoon. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Four workers loaded the rolls onto a wooden dolly and pushed them down Hollywood Boulevard toward the Dolby. An installer hopped onto one of the rolls and straddled it like a cowboy atop a wild stallion.

They lugged a roll inside the Dolbys busy forecourt, which is lined with shops including a Louis Vuitton outpost. As workers unrolled the carpet and affixed it to the floor with double-sided tape, shoppers stopped to gawk. A uniformed security guard eyed tourists and shouted keep off the carpet.

Lewis, who is contracted by the academy to arrange the pre-show portion of the Oscars, said that security is in place to deter people from snatching a swatch of the carpet, which could be used to fabricate a copy or even be sold as a collectors item.

I know that people have taken hunks out of the carpet in the past, Lewis said. You could put it on EBay.

Alvarado Contreras, from left, Rene Palma and Edgar Ochoa cut into place a roll of red carpet in the Dolby Theatres forecourt. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

But of greater concern than thieves is the weather. Rain, of course, is the scourge of Oscars red carpet professionals. In 2014, Jennifer Lawrence took an apparently rain-assisted spill on the shows carpet.

To make certain that everything goes smoothly Sunday, Signature Systems employees will be on hand to ensure any weather-related issue is resolved quickly. A tuxedoed installer will be prepared to vacuum the carpet as needed. (The carpet is only used once and destroyed, in an undisclosed manner, after the show.)

Perhaps surprisingly, none of the professionals responsible for the red carpet who were interviewed by The Times had heard of the tale of Agamemnon  an origins story of sorts for their line of work.

Still, that doesnt mean they arent grateful.

We can thank King Agamemnon for the volume of work he provides us, Lewis said.

Lead photo: Installers maneuver a carpet roll in front of the Dolby Theatre. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

daniel.miller@latimes.com

@DanielNMiller
The Writers Guild of America said it would begin formal contract negotiations next month, as writers look to sit down with studios, networks and independent producers to discuss TV and film compensation for the guilds members.

The union, whose east and west coast guilds have about 13,000 members, said it would begin formal contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on March 13. The talks, which will take place at the Alliances headquarters in Sherman Oaks, will focus on a new contract to replace the current three-year agreement that was reached in 2014 and that expires May 1.

Talks come at a sensitive time for Hollywood labor relations. Talent unions are seeking a bigger share of burgeoning streaming revenues, while major film and TV studios are grappling with changing consumer behavior that has undermined traditional business models.

Advertisement

SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors and other performers, is also expected to begin contract negotiations with studios this spring for its contract set to expire June 30. SAG-AFTRA is currently in the midst of a strike against video game companies over compensation and safety for voice and motion-capture actors. The strike began in October and has seen little in the way of compromise from either side.

In January, the Directors Guild of America ratified a new contract that included a boost in residuals for streaming media and a wage increase.

The WGAs last major strike in 2007 became a major disruption for film and TV production. The dispute lasted 100 days before an agreement was reached in early 2008 that established a framework for compensating writers for work distributed online.

david.ng@latimes.com

@DavidNgLAT
A towering 1,024-room hotel will rise next to the Los Angeles Convention Center a few years from now if developer TriCal Construction Inc. gets its way.

TriCal filed a development application with city officials Thursday to build a 53-story skyscraper across Figueroa Street from the convention centers South Hall. The site is now occupied by a five-story apartment complex called City Lights on Fig that TriCal built there just 12 years ago.

The time seems right to reimagine our property into the kind of hotel facility that will continue the growth of the convention center, South Park and Los Angeles, TriCal President Paul Plotkin said in a statement.

Advertisement

As designed by architecture firm Gensler, the tower would have a ground-floor restaurant, a rooftop bar and rooms for meeting and banquets. Like the nearby conjoined JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton at L.A. Live, it would be operated as two different hotels.

Plans call for a podium-like structure between floors one and 10 that would house the meeting rooms and 277 parking places. The main hotel lobby would be on the 10th floor along with a swimming pool, another restaurant and a publicly accessible deck and bar. Floors 11 through 53 would contain guest rooms.

Massive electronic screens displaying advertising and art would face Figueroa Street and Pico Boulevard.

The hotel operators have yet to be selected, and Marina del Rey-based TriCal declined to say how much the development might cost. The 54-story JW Marriott-Ritz Carlton complex, which includes 1,000 hotel rooms and 224 condominiums, cost about $900 million and was completed in 2010.

At the time, it was considered financially risky to build that many guest rooms. But the hotel quickly proved to be a success, and downtown has since been transformed into a popular destination for residents and tourists. Downtown is considered to have a shortage of hotels by hospitality industry analysts and civic leaders.

City officials set the goal of having 8,000 hotel rooms within walking distance of the convention center by 2020. As of September, there were 3,172 such rooms, and another 2,000 were under construction.

Bud Ovrom, executive director of the Los Angeles Convention and Tourism Development Department, applauded the proposal, saying the convention center is losing business because it doesnt have adequate hotel support.

We desperately need more hotel rooms here to make our facility competitive with other convention centers on the West Coast, Ovrum said.

In San Diego, there are three hotels attached to the convention center with a combined total of 4,000 rooms, hospitality industry analyst Bruce Baltin of PKF Consulting said. Substantially more rooms are within two blocks. San Francisco has more than 10,000 hotel rooms serving its convention center, and Anaheim has nearly that many.

Los Angeles County is one of the top hotel markets in the country yet has fewer rooms, Baltin noted, and downtown L.A. has emerged as a hot spot in recent years. Downtown hotel rooms were occupied 78% of the time last year, which is considered robust, Baltin said. Occupancy was typically under 70% before L.A. Live and its hotels arrived.

It may take two or three years to secure city approval for TriCals hotel at 1300 S. Figueroa St. and another two years to build it, the company said. The 100 apartments in City Lights on Fig are to remain occupied by renters until construction begins.

Tearing down such a relatively new building is unusual, downtown real estate consultant Hal Bastian said, but probably makes economic sense because of the propertys location near the convention center.

Since City Lights on Fig was completed in 2004, many similar apartment buildings of five stories or less with wooden frames have been built downtown. That has prompted criticism from some urban planners complaining that downtown buildings should be taller to accommodate more growth. However, taller buildings typically require steel frames, which make construction more expensive.

Because of the Great Recession, we had to build a lot of things we otherwise shouldnt have built including stick buildings, Bastian said. They were the only things that penciled out.

Its unlikely that other recently built wood-frame buildings downtown will be torn down and replaced with bigger ones anytime soon, but eventually it will begin to happen, he predicted.

This is not a trend yet, he said of the demolition proposal, but it foreshadows what will happen down the road as we continue to grow.

TriCals proposed hotel would join others in the pipeline downtown, where billions of dollars worth of construction is underway and further large-scale development is planned. Among the largest projects is the nearly 900-room Intercontinental being built at the intersection of Figueroa and Wilshire Boulevard that is set to open this year.

Also close to completion is the 350-room Indigo hotel that is part of the Metropolis condominium and retail complex two blocks north of L.A. Live. Oceanwide Plaza, set for completion on Figueroa in 2019, will have a 184-room Park Hyatt.

A 250-room W Hotel is planned for the intersection of Figueroa and 11th streets, and three boutique hotels are under construction in historic former downtown office buildings.

roger.vincent@latimes.com

Twitter: @rogervincent

UPDATES:

2:53 p.m.: This article was updated with more details on the project and competing hotel developments, and comments from industry analyst Bruce Baltin and real estate consultant Hal Bastian.

This article was originally published at 5:55 p.m. on Feb. 23.
Eve Hars, undergoing chemotherapy for Stage 3 breast cancer, was facing eviction.

A developer had purchased her rent-controlled Echo Park bungalow to level it and build new housing.

Hars recounted her story in a recent campaign ad paid for by supporters of Measure S, the March 7 ballot measure that would put a two-year moratorium on developments that need certain exemptions from city planning rules.

Advertisement

I had to hire a lawyer just to stay through my treatment, Hars said in the video. Everyone else has been evicted.

In campaign ads and news releases, backers of Measure S, also known as the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, describe real estate development in Los Angeles as out of control  a wave of large, luxury housing projects that not only gridlocks traffic, but leads to the demolition of thousands of rent-controlled units and eviction of their tenants.

But a Los Angeles Times review of city records found that only a small fraction of such evictions in recent years was caused by the types of projects Measure S would bar: those requiring zone changes, height district changes or General Plan amendments, a practice often labeled as spot zoning.

In fact, if the measure had been in place, it wouldnt have stopped the development set to replace Hars apartment.

Thats because in the vast majority of cases in which developers demolish rent-controlled units, they are building new houses, subdivisions and midsize residential complexes that dont need the planning exemptions targeted by Measure S.

The Times reviewed city records from 2011 to 2015, a period that includes the most recent development boom, and found that fewer than 200 rent-controlled apartments were removed from the market by developers who requested or received spot-zoning approvals.

That accounts for less than 10% of the 3,000-plus rent-controlled apartments that private owners removed during that time period from the citys housing stock under the Ellis Act, a state law that regulates evictions from rent-controlled homes.

Los Angeles rent-control law applies primarily to units built before fall 1978 and caps annual rent increases for existing tenants, currently to 3%.

The Ellis act allows evictions from those units if they are taken off the market and no longer offered for rent. Typically, landlords and developers invoke the act to replace the units with new construction, or they might convert them into condominiums. Oftentimes such projects can proceed under existing zoning regulations.

Measure S is not going to protect tenants from displacement. It doesnt protect affordable housing. It doesnt stop evictions. Its false promises, said Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, who pushed for the passage of Los Angeles rent-control ordinance in the 1970s and assists tenants facing eviction.

Proponents of the initiative, principally backed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, paint a different picture.

One news release reads: The citys Wild West approach to development has created a massive luxury housing glut, displaced more than 60,000 people and wiped out 22,000 affordable housing units since 2000.

A campaign Facebook post says, We need to protect L.A.s affordable housing units, not demolish them to make way for luxury housing mega-projects that break zoning rules.

And in a recent op-ed, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein wrote that the citys inaction over the loss of 22,000 rent-controlled homes is one of the issues at the center of Yes on Measure S.

Angelenos even received a mailer mimicking an eviction notice from the Sheriffs Department, warning that they could be the next victim of a cozy relationship between greedy developers and City Hall.

In an interview, a representative of the campaign acknowledged that the 22,000 figure represents all the rent-controlled units taken off the market through the Ellis Act since 2000, not just those demolished to make way for projects that required spot zoning.

Measure S proponents say the figure is relevant because many spot-zoned residential projects are anchors for gentrification, prompting the construction of other nearby luxury developments that cause evictions but dont need exemptions.

It has an enormous ripple effect, said Miki Jackson, a consultant for the Yes on S campaign.

But opponents take issue with the 22,000 figure and argue that Measure S would have the unintended consequence of causing evictions to skyrocket.

The Times analysis found that the vast majority of projects that receive exemptions tend to be proposed for property where little or no housing currently exists, such as parking lots or manufacturing areas.

A prime example being fought by Measure S supporters is the Martin Expo Town Center, which would replace a Cadillac dealership. The mixed-use community in Sawtelle would add 516 housing units, about 100 of them reserved for those of lower and moderate incomes.

If developers are restricted from building on such sites, opponents say builders instead will target areas where no special exemptions are needed  often neighborhoods populated with older, rent-controlled buildings.

Measure S will intensify Ellis Act evictions, said Josh Kamensky, spokesman for the anti-Measure S campaign. The measure will leave in place the options that removed the most housing.

Developers and other opponents argue that Los Angeles is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis and say the measure would slash housing construction of all types  market rate and income-restricted  and cause rents and home prices to climb further out of reach for ordinary Angelenos.

Business groups and some economists say the root cause of the affordability problem isnt luxury projects in certain neighborhoods, but a housing shortage across Los Angeles thats priced out even well-off individuals from their neighborhoods, pushing them to look for housing in traditionally working-class communities.

The idea that if people are hungry, you make it harder to grow food doesnt make a lot of sense to me, said Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. Every unit that is built helps the city a little bit.

In 2015 alone, developers sought permission to build more than 8,000 homes through exemptions targeted by Measure S, city records show. If approved, those projects would result in the demolitions of fewer than 150 rent-controlled units, The Times found.

Builders say they need the exemptions because previous slow-growth initiatives reduced the number of homes that can be built throughout Los Angeles, and the city has failed to update its general and community plans to reflect current development patterns that favor denser projects near transit lines.

But Measure S proponents say the outdated plans have led to a planning process through which out-of-scale projects often are approved for wealthy developers who make campaign contributors.

Last year, a Times investigation found that donors with direct and indirect ties to developer Samuel Leung, who was seeking approval of a 352-unit apartment complex in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood, gave more than $600,000 to support L.A.-area politicians as the project was being reviewed.

Measure S aims to address the need for exemptions through its two-year moratorium, during which Los Angeles officials are required to review the outdated general and community plans. Proponents say they then will seek to craft policies to stem the loss of rent-controlled homes.

We are forcing the City Council to update the General Plan, Yes on S spokeswoman Ileana Wachtel said in an email. One of the key discussions, clearly, will become: How do we save our precious [rent-controlled] housing from a municipal system of planning that treats it like an endless and easily lost resource, by utterly ignoring its ongoing loss?

After the moratorium, developers still could seek zone changes and height district changes, but General Plan amendments  typically required for land-use changes such as building homes in a manufacturing district  no longer could occur for individual projects.

Such projects sometimes require evictions, but a far more typical case is that of Hars, who was pushed out to make way for a development that can be built under existing zoning rules and would require no exemptions.

In 2015, a developer purchased her rent-controlled bungalow and six adjacent units. Less than three months later, residents received eviction notices, stating that the developer no longer would be offering their units for rent.

Instead, he wanted to level the buildings to build 18 new housing units, records show.

David Lara, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, said the project doesnt require a zone change, height district change or General Plan amendment.

This is a by-right project, he said last month, shortly before he retired.

Hars, who appeared in the Measure S ad, said she did not expect the measure to have saved her home. But she thinks that the initiative would minimize gentrification and force the city to develop plans sensitive to the needs of existing renters rather than developers who know their way around City Hall.

To me, its all connected, said Hars, who since has moved to Florida after failing to find a place in pricey Los Angeles.

Times staff writer Thomas Suh Lauder contributed to this report.

andrew.khouri@latimes.com

Twitter: @khouriandrew

ben.poston@latimes.com

Twitter: @bposton
By 2012, Nasty Gal was a fashion world success story, growing from an Ebay store to nearly $100 million in sales in just six years.

Founder and Chief Executive Sophia Amoruso was Nasty Gals best model, embodying the Los Angeles companys edgy-and-feminine aesthetic and attracting flurries of laudatory coverage with her rags-to-riches story.

But now Amoruso is gone and Nasty Gal is days away from a $20-million sale to British online retailer Boohoo.com. The transaction, which comes after a November filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, is expected to close Feb. 28.

Advertisement

Boohoo will acquire Nasty Gals intellectual property and says it plans to operate Nasty Gal as a standalone website. In a statement, it lauded Nasty Gals extremely distinctive style and loyal customer base  which will both complement Boohoo and expand global opportunities for growth.

So what went wrong at Nasty Gal?

Wasnt the company growing rapidly?

Nasty Gal enjoyed tremendous growth in its early years, but at a heavy cost.

By 2011, its annual sales hit $24 million, an 11,200% jump from three years earlier, the company said publicly. Sales leap-frogged again in 2012 to nearly $100 million.

But it wasnt long before sales started dropping  to $85 million in 2014, and then $77 million in 2015, according to bankruptcy documents. (In a stark example of appearance versus reality, Forbes magazine predicted that its 2015 sales would top $300 million).

Why did sales start to drop?

Analysts said that Nasty Gals rapid growth was fueled by heavy spending in advertising and marketing. Its a strategy that many start-ups use, but one that only pays off in the long-run if one-time buyers become loyal shoppers.

You end up spending money via marketing online like banner ads [or paying] influencers, said Ari Bloom, chief executive of Avametric, a fashion software company in San Francisco, and an investor in fashion start-ups. If you spend $50 on marketing to get a customer to buy something and they only buy once from you, you are probably not making money.

In Nasty Gals case, the inability to hold on to customers led to whats called a leaky bucket situation, analysts said. Once the company burned through its fundraising capital and slowed down on marketing, sales began falling in 2014 and continued to drop.

When they turned that spending off, the growth vastly declined and revenue went down, said Richie Siegel, founder of Loose Threads, a media company focused on fashion and technology. I can spend $200 million to make $100 million in revenue, but that doesnt make for a sustainable business.

Why couldnt they the company hold on to shoppers?

Some customers found the product quality to be lacking. Many others were simply more enticed by fast-fashion retailers such as Zara and H&M, which both delivery a wider array of trendy clothes to online and bricks-and-mortar stores with military precision.

There was also a ceiling to the number of women Nasty Gal appealed to; the specificity of its brand helped the company grow  but only to a point.

Nasty Gal is a California cool, young girl thing, Siegel said, and it was very unclear how much it was attractive around the country and around the world.

Sophia Amoruso founded Nasty Gal as an EBay store before starting its own website. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Any other growing pains?

Nasty Gal wasted money on things that didnt warrant big expenditures.

Nasty Gal quintupled the size of its headquarters by moving into a 50,300-square-foot location in downtown Los Angeles in 2013. The offices  while a gorgeous showstopper visually  were far more space than the company needed, industry experts said.

The company also opened a 500,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Kentucky to handle its own distribution and logistics. And the once online-only retailer opened two bricks-and-mortar stores, in Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

In the ultra-competitive trendy fashion business, companies have to be operationally savvy to move products at a scale big enough to make a profit. Nasty Gals mostly young staff focused heavily on the creative side instead of the business side, Siegel said.

Those moves placed financial strain on the company without contributing much to its bottom line, industry watchers said (Boohoo did not buy the two stores, which are expected to close soon). Nasty Gal also informed the state of Kentucky that it planned to close the fulfillment center and lay off its 70 employees there by April 10.

It sounds like it burned through a lot of cash

In its bankruptcy filing, Nasty said it is facing significant liquidity issues, along with strained relationships with its vendors that have hampered the flow of merchandise.

In the last couple of years, the company has taken on several loans, including a $15-million loan in November 2015 and a $5-million convertible note last year. Although the company said it was current on its debts, those interest payments probably ate heavily into its available cash.

Nasty Gal said it had tried to raise additional capital but was unsuccessful, according to bankruptcy documents.

What about Amoruso?

Amoruso has proven both an asset and liability to the company she founded, analysts said.

As Nasty Gal expanded, Amorusos own fame grew  and with it, her attention to other projects. She penned two books  her first, #Girlboss, which delved into the founding of Nasty Gal and her business philosophy, has been adapted by Netflix into a show that launches this year. Amoruso served as executive producer.

Amoruso went on tour to promote the release of both of her books, and again when the paperback version of #Girlboss came out in 2015. Employees have complained about her management style and lack of focus, with workers rating Nasty Gal 2.7 out of five stars on employment site Glassdoor.

In 2015, Amoruso stepped down as chief executive, although she remained on as executive chairwoman (a role she resigned from last year when Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy). In her wake, high-profile executives have come and gone, and the company has gone through several rounds of layoffs.

Nasty Gal is a prime example of how a company so intimately linked to its founder can often flail when that founder leaves  or when her attention splinters to other ventures. Amorusos backing away from Nasty Gal as its fortunes slid also sent the wrong signal to investors or potential investors, experts said.

It was a big captain abandoning the ship as its sinking, Siegel said. She seemed to have prioritized her own brand over the company she helped build.

In the end, analysts said Nasty Gal was killed by many of the same factors that has caused other start-ups to falter, including Birchbox and Gilt Groupe.

Its very hard to scale an e-commerce brand, Bloom said. The problems that Nasty Gal had were not unique to them in this space.

shan.li@latimes.com

Follow Shan on Twitter @ByShanLi

ALSO

Factory CEOs tell Trump: Jobs exist, skilled applicants dont

Google spinoff Waymo accuses Uber of self-driving car theft

Disney cuts about 80 jobs in digital media unit that includes Maker Studios
Verizon Communications and Yahoo have come to terms on the telecom giants takeover of the seen-better-days Internet company. Now, millions of Yahoo users have something else to consider: Verizons aggressive use of customer information.

Put simply, if you think Yahoo played fast and loose with peoples privacy, wait until you see whats in store from the new owner.

Verizon and Yahoo announced this week that theyd agreed to shave $350 million off Yahoos $4.8 billion asking price to reflect huge security breaches that affected the accounts of more than 1 billion Yahoo users. Verizon said that, despite Yahoos seeming inability to safeguard customer data, this acquisition makes strategic sense.

Advertisement

Heres why: The more information Verizon can amass about peoples online behavior and activities, the more it can compete with the likes of Google and Facebook in leveraging that info with marketers.

For Yahoo users, thats a polite way of saying the company looks forward to selling you out.

Its pretty much the fox taking over the henhouse, said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Verizon has always been sneaky about its privacy practices, and Yahoo is the poster child for security breaches.

The upshot of the merger, he said, is an opportunity for greater profiling and tracking of Internet users.

There are some people who will yawn and shrug their shoulders. We inhabit a sharing economy, theyll say, so whats the harm in businesses looking over your online shoulder?

The harm is that the more we accept corporate oversight of our digital doings, the more we condone a world in which our personal information no longer belongs to us. It becomes theirs, to do with as they please.

Moreover, as weve seen again and again, businesses are manifestly unworthy of our trust when it comes to safeguarding that information. Yahoos breaches may represent extreme negligence, but theyre little different from the more than 7,000 other known database hacks since 2005.

The number of U.S. victims of fraud and ID theft topped 13 million last year, representing $15 billion in losses, according to Javelin Strategy & Research. Over the last six years, ID thieves have made off with $112 billion, or $35,600 every single minute.

Fraud is evolving at a frantic pace, said Al Pascual, Javelins head of fraud and security. He said that every time businesses crack down on one type of cyberscam, criminals quickly shift their attack vector and area of operation.

As if that wasnt troubling enough for consumers, theres also the ongoing challenge of knowing what businesses are legally doing with our data. They all say they respect and diligently protect customers privacy. The reality, however, is that peoples data has become a commodity that can (and will) be used to increase revenue.

Verizon hasnt been shy about using what it knows about customers online activities as a profit center.

In 2014, I reported that Verizon was enhancing its mobile ads by monitoring peoples online activities even when they werent connected to Verizons wireless network. The company was sneakily downloading code into customers computers that allowed it to continue tracking websites visited regardless of who provided the Internet access.

In 2015, I reported that Verizon was using so-called super cookies to more closely track customers online. Unlike normal cookies  code that monitors the sites you visit  Verizons super cookies couldnt be easily detected or deleted, meaning that Verizon was keeping customers on electronic leashes, regardless of whether they approved.

The company was fined $1.35 million by the Federal Communications Commission last year and agreed to give customers the ability to opt out of such tracking.

Verizon says in its privacy policy that information shared with advertisers does not identify Verizon customers individually. But Rotenberg, for one, called this a dubious claim.

Almost no words in that sentence are true, he told me.

Many consumer advocates believe that so much customer information is now available, its virtually impossible to keep someone anonymous. Moreover, the notion of online anonymity is belied by the fact that advertisers are obsessed with targeting specific people with specific ads, which means they have to know who theyre going after.

Chris McCann, a Verizon spokesman, declined to directly address that issue. He said the company notifies customers about how we use their information and give our customers choices about how their data may be used for advertising purposes and we respect the choices our customers make.

Or not. Verizon and other Internet service providers are lobbying to roll back privacy rules adopted by the FCC in October. Among other requirements, service providers now must seek customers permission  an opt-in  before sharing data with others. Verizon prefers an opt-out system because it knows that few people will go to the trouble.

We believe this approach meets our customers privacy expectations, the company said in a statement last month.

Chris Hoofnagle, a UC Berkeley law professor who specializes in privacy issues, said the Verizon-Yahoo deal is part of a larger trend of merging to create mega data brokers to compete with Google.

The edge Verizon is trying to bring to the equation is helping marketers find people no matter where they lurk, he said.

As the owner of both Yahoo and AOL, which it acquired last year, Verizon will have access to the online interests of millions of Americans. As one of the countrys biggest wireless and Internet service providers, it knows who you are, where you are and, often, what youre doing.

My advice? Take the time to opt out of as much data sharing as possible.

Go to the privacy policies of every telecom company you deal with  the cable company, the phone company, Internet companies  and do a search for privacy preferences or opt out. This should bring you to a page where you can uncheck all the data-sharing boxes that the company so helpfully checked on your behalf.

This will be time consuming, and thats deliberate. Youll likely need your account number handy. And it may not make a whole lot of difference in the grand scheme of things.

But if we dont fight for every scrap of privacy, were tacitly telling businesses that we dont care.

Its your information. Treat it as such.

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.

ALSO

Writers Guild of America prepares for potentially tense contract negotiations with major studios

Disney cuts about 80 jobs in digital media unit that includes Maker Studios

Big new convention center hotel proposed for downtown L.A.
Fading memories might be all that remain of a 1939 Toluca Lake estate that Bob and Dolores Hope owned for six decades.

That would suit the late couple just fine, according to daughter Linda Hope.

In a familiar fight between property owners and preservationists, Linda Hope is pitched against Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu, who in September introduced emergency legislation to declare the property a historic-cultural monument  after a buyer in escrow obtained a demolition inspection permit for the propertys outlying buildings.

Advertisement

Ryu argues that the estate  which lies within his District 4 and is owned by the Dolores Hope Trust  harbors deep cultural import, given that the Hope name is synonymous with the area: He was pretty much known as the unofficial mayor of Toluca Lake.

Hope, however, contends that her parents wanted the five-acre property to be sold expediently, with proceeds going to the Bob and Dolores Hope Foundation. It was to be their living legacy, the producer and writer said.

Residential monuments are largely bought and sold like other homes but require review for proposed alterations, which Hope said is a headache and narrows the field of buyers who desire to make more unrestrained decisions. Even monuments can be razed, but its difficult because the city can initiate an up to 360-day review stay on issued demolition permits.

The L.A. City Council is scheduled to vote on monument status Feb. 28, although the vote has previously been delayed.

The ensuing historic review of the 14,876-square foot property has tanked one sale and scared off potential buyers, Hope said. The house and nearly 3 acres are listed for $12 million, with the remaining 2 acres priced at $10 million. The estate was put on the market in 2013 for an original asking price of $27.5 million.

In a setback to Ryu, the citys Cultural Heritage Commission voted against granting monument status in November, after Hope stated her parents desire to use estate proceeds to fund the foundation, which serves the underprivileged and veterans. The decision reverted back to the City Council.

Ryu said he was dumbfounded by the decision, noting that the citys Office of Historic Resources said the property meets a high bar for landmark status.

He has since offered a compromise, proposing that only the exterior of the main house and two of surrounding 5 acres be deemed a landmark, which the City Council will also consider on Feb. 28. The Greater Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council also voted against the historic designation Feb. 21.

Hopes response: Why does he want to preserve the house when his own commission felt its not worthy to be preserved? Is it fair for the city to do as they see fit with my familys property, and disregard my dads wishes?

All parties seem to agree that the English traditional-style home has limited architectural significance, despite being designed by Robert Finkelhor, with a 1950s remodel mastered by John Elgin Woolf. Decades of design changes have largely erased the native look.

My mom would tear down this wall or the other, add a room here or there, Hope said. My dad used to joke that when he would go away, he needed a road map when he returned, just to find the bedroom.

Over the years, the Hope home hosted Hollywood luminaries and at least one president: Richard Nixon, who landed Marine One on the back lawn. The only public view of the estate is of an 8-foot fence fronted by bushes, Hope said.

Hope said she believes the numerous places and programs named for her father in the region are sufficient to preserving his memory.

Bob Hopes lengthy career in theater, radio and film produced scores of films and television specials; he also entertained military troops via hundreds of USO shows. Hope died in 2003 at 100, and his wife, Dolores, died in six years ago at 102.

hotproperty@latimes.com

MORE FROM HOT PROPERTY

Golfer Fred Couples takes another swing at selling La Quinta home

Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen finds a new place to park it in Woodland Hills

Former boxing champ Oscar De La Hoya lands a condo in Pasadena for $2.65 million
Five years ago when Facebook went public, employees of the social network were glued to office televisions airing CNBC, waiting for the companys trading price.

Everyone was hoping for a pop, said Dan Fletcher, a former Facebook employee, referring to the spike in stock price that some companies experience after an initial public offering.

Facebook debuted at $38 a share. When the first trade of the day came back at $42.05  a gain of nearly 10%  everyone erupted in cheers.

Advertisement

Then, a moment of quiet.

You could see everyones eyes sit back in their heads as they did the mental math, said Fletcher. How much are my shares worth?

Tech IPOs have minted millionaires, with stories of even janitors who worked at Google striking it rich after the company went public in 2004. As Snap Inc. hurtles towards its own IPO, which is expected to be one of the biggest in Los Angeles history, many await a life-changing payday.

By the end of 2016, the Venice company had issued $679 million in stock options that had vested or were expected to vest. These allowed early employees to buy shares that had vested well ahead of the IPO. It had also issued $2.7 billion worth of restricted stock units  shares typically offered to later hires that only become liquid after a certain date is reached or certain personal or corporate performance benchmarks have been met.

This means that of Snaps 2,000 employees, hundreds could potentially become on-paper millionaires if the company goes public at its ambitious $22.2-billion valuation. But many also stand to come away with much less, or nothing at all.

People assume that everyone who works at a company that has just gone public is instantly, phenomenally wealthy, said Lise Buyer, an IPO consultant at Class V Group. It doesnt work that way.

Many factors determine how much money an employee makes from an IPO, including when a person joined a company, how many stock options or restricted stock units they received, and when they decide to sell. An early employee might be able to exercise stock options at, say, 50 cents a share, while a later employee might pay $30.

Timing is everything, Buyer said.

Yet, despite the precarious nature of stock-based compensation, it remains a deeply ingrained tech industry tradition. Employees routinely forfeit higher salaries for more stock. A startups likelihood of going public is often a determining factor in joining a company. And even though the entire premise is a gamble  one that can breed anxiety, envy and resentment  many tech workers cross their fingers and place enormous hope in their bet.

You drink the Kool-Aid, said Joseph Lee, a former Solar City employee who joined the company as an analyst 11 months before it went public  awarding him stock that matched a years salary when he sold. The company keeps pitching you that were growing, were doing well, and once you get into it, people tend to get a little greedy. I know I did.

For many workers, being at a company as it goes public can be an emotional roller coaster, and one that is rarely acknowledged because of the taboo of discussing personal wealth. According to former employees of companies that have gone public, workers often grapple with their own anxieties about when to sell stock, while also dealing with feelings of envy upon learning that colleagues may have made more from an IPO.

Its a natural human emotion, said Mike Vorhaus, president of Magid Advisors, who has advised technology companies for more than 20 years. You hear people say things like, I got 50,000 shares vesting over four years, and I heard that Bob, who does what I do, got 100,000 shares, and the only difference is we started a week apart. People get disgruntled about it.

Employees at Snap who received stock options were offered the opportunity to buy at different strike prices pegged to the companys private-market valuation when they joined. Restricted stock units, meanwhile, are outright given to employees and are pegged to the companys valuation at the time they vest. Different amounts are typically awarded to employees based on seniority, start date and performance.

When it comes time to cash out, though, the two kinds of stock receive different tax treatments: Stocks may be treated as long-term capital gains, which are generally taxed at 15%, whereas restricted stock units may be taxed at ordinary income rates, which can exceed 39% at the federal level, not to mention applicable state taxes.

These complexities are rarely discussed, often leading outsiders to assume a person who was part of an IPO has suddenly come into enormous wealth. Employees who have been at companies that went public speak of financial managers circling them on professional networks such as LinkedIn with the hope of managing their new-found, on-paper wealth. There are the awkward conversations with family and friends, who assume theyve become millionaires. And theres also the so-called Google premium  the markup on homes and cars when sellers learn that the buyer was part of an IPO.

And those are just the external pressures. Many employees who have been through IPOs say nervousness spikes during the lockup period  the 90 to 180 days immediately following a public offering in which employees cant sell their stock. Then theres the internal pressure to sell at the right time once that period is over. Snaps lockup period for employees is 150 days.

Fletcher, who was a managing editor on Facebooks communications team, joined the company in 2012, months before it went public. By the time Facebooks lockup period was over, its stock had fallen below $20. Fletcher was only at the company for a year and sold all his vested stock when it was valued at $18, grazing the companys all-time low of $17.55. Facebooks stock today trades at $133.

It was painful, said Fletcher, who sold on the advice of his accountant father. He put some of the $40,000 he made toward his own startup, and the rest in a mutual fund. It was tough at the time to say Facebook would be the money-making machine it is now, he said. I elected to diversify my risk, which is safe, but I definitely wish Id held onto half of it.

Facebook, for its part, went to great lengths to remind its workers that the IPO was not the end of the road for the company, telling employees that going public meant different things to different people.

A growing number of companies are doing the same, according to Buyer, who said managing employee expectations is a big part of going public.

Whether an employee is worth $100,000 or $1 million, they need to keep their heads down or none of it will be worth that much, Buyer said.

Young tech companies such as Snap are typically valued on their growth potential, rather than how much money theyre making today. Which means the $22.2 billion valuation Snap is seeking could easily fall short if the company fails to meet its growth and revenue goals. Just ask Twitter.

And tech workers, hopeful as they may be, are increasingly managing their own expectations, too. A former employee of Twilio, who declined to be named because he didnt feel comfortable discussing his personal wealth, said he and his peers downplayed their potential windfall from the companys IPO last year by joking about whether theyd be able to afford a Honda Civic after the company went public.

The running joke after Twilio stock popped was maybe I can get leather seats on my Civic, he said. It was a defense mechanism, to keep a reality check on the situation.

The Twilio employee held onto his stock after the company went public. If he sold all of it today, he could probably buy a dozen Honda Civics.

Companies sometimes allow employees to sell a portion of their equity on a secondary market prior to going public. Snap did not allow this, although some employees reportedly found workarounds. And while this is arguably a safer bet than waiting for a company to go public, it can also sting if a firms stock soars post-IPO.

One Twilio employee sold the bulk of his stock on the secondary market when the companys stock was privately valued at $10 a share. The company went public at $15 a share, and its stock price today hovers above $30.

Its human nature to second-guess ourselves. When Buyer advises executives and employees who are about to go through an IPO, she reminds them that if they made some money from it  even if its less than the person next to them or what they could have made if theyd sold earlier or later  then it was still a profit.

And thats the attitude Fletcher maintains. Its been four years since he sold his Facebook stock. He still checks the stock price every few weeks to figure out how much his dads advice cost him.

Its a difference of a few hundred thousand dollars now  not huge by Facebook standards, but better than my mutual fund, he said. To his credit, though, my dad admits that was a lousy call.

Los Angeles Times reporter Paresh Dave contributed to this report.

tracey.lien@latimes.com

Twitter: @traceylien

ALSO

Tech workers arent known for political activism. But that may be changing

Google spinoff Waymo accuses Uber of self-driving car theft

Two new venture capital funds in L.A.: One for gaming. One for business software

Qualcomm, Microsoft and Airbus invest in Santa Monica drone software start-up AirMap
The visit is aimed to set the ground for next month's visit by President El-Sisi

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will head to Washington DC on Sunday in preparation for a visit by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in March, the ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

Shoukry will meet with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to discuss bilateral ties and the Trump administration's vision for the Arab region, spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in remarks to a local TV programme.

The spokesman said the visit will also tackle the agenda of El-Sisi's anticipated visit to Washington in March, the first by an Egyptian president in decades.

The last such visit was by Hosni Mubarak in 2004.

Trump and El-Sisi have already shown a certain rapport. Both leaders exchanged phone calls in recent months, with El-Sisi being the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump on his election victory.

Trump said there was "good chemistry" when the two leaders met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

This is the second visit by Shoukry to Washington since Trump was elected president in November. His first trip was in December when he held a series of meetings with members of Congress and senators.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A musical with all the dramatic richness of a memorable play opened at the Ahmanson Theatre on Wednesday  a rare sighting that could induce a theater critic to genuflect if not erupt in a chorus of hallelujahs.

Fun Home, the Tony Award-winning show based on Alison Bechdels graphic memoir, combines textured character psychology and nuanced storytelling with the enchantment of a score that can go from melancholy to zany in a heartbeat. Fun but never frivolous, this musical by Jeanine Tesori (who composed the music) and Lisa Kron (who wrote the book and lyrics) balances music and drama so perfectly that at times they are as indistinguishable as the sea and sky of a distant horizon.

Shimmering with a Proustian glow, Fun Home is an investigation into the history of a fascinatingly eccentric and profoundly troubled family. The Bechdels are unhappy in their own unique way, but its an unhappiness that even happy families will be able to recognize. Picture perfect on the outside, they are partly shattered within.

Advertisement

SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter 

Alison (Kate Shindle), a lesbian cartoonist, stands at her desk, making cartoon sketches of scenes from her childhood in small-town Pennsylvania. Its her way of digging deep into the mystery of her fathers suicide, of understanding from her vantage as an adult gay daughter the reasons her gay father opted for a closeted life that was so destructive not only to himself but to everyone in the household.

And what a household Bruce (Robert Petkoff), an aesthete with dangerous secrets, has created. A popular English teacher with a passion for restoring old houses, he also runs the Bechdel Funeral Home, lavishing on corpses the same attention to detail he pays to his wallpaper and mouldings. Bruce takes enormous pride in the way he has marshaled his wife and children into an army of dusters and polishers. But his tyrannical perfectionism, a vain attempt at keeping his own internal chaos at bay, confounds his daughter, who so badly wants his approval, even if the girly dresses that he demands she wear on special occasions violate her more boyish self-image.

The musical triples the role of Alison, so that the adult character can gaze upon herself at various points in the past. The emotion driving her quest to understand her history is gorgeously captured in an autumnal musical leitmotif of reeds and strings. We watch Shindles Alison peering into her own scattered trove of memories as she re-creates her autobiography in the graphic novel form that allows her to process, in the intuitive manner of a psychological detective, what happened to her family. (Shindle, though a bit stiff when singing, vividly anchors the production with her searching presence.)

The delightful Alessandra Baldacchino portrays Small Alison, a fun-seeking girl who enjoys playing airplane with her dad, hoisting herself into flight on his legs in a rare moment of physical closeness. (Carly Gold takes over the role at select performances.) Young but precocious enough to sense that somethings amiss at home, Small Alison tries to lose herself in childhood antics. She romps around the fun home, the familys nickname for the funeral parlor, hiding in the coffins with her brothers, Christian (Pierson Salvador) and John (Lennon Nate Hammond), and composing with them a jumpy Jackson 5-inspired jingle to advertise the macabre family trade.

The Bechdel kids (Alessandra Baldacchino, Lennon Nate Hammond, center, and Pierson Salvador) practice a jingle for the family funeral parlor. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Abby Corrigan is perfectly cast as Medium Alison, the college student who tentatively comes to terms with her sexual identity at Oberlin College, where she meets the friendly and forthright Joan (Karen Eilbacher), promptly falls in love and starts singing, in the shows most wonderfully giddy number, that shes changing her major to Joan. Alisons awakening to her true nature tenderly reveals the fear, shame, guilt, hope and desire that intermingle as a young gay person moves hesitantly toward self-acceptance.

The production, directed by Tony winner Sam Gold, preserves the haunting human complexity that made Fun Home such an artistic breakthrough on Broadway. There have been plenty of successful dark and bittersweet musicals before, but not since Sondheim have tragedy and comedy been so illuminatingly entwined.

The show, which began off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2013, also pushes the envelope in terms of content, but the emotional honesty of the show gives it a universal accessibility. This is a proud lesbian musical that also happens to be one of the best new musicals of our era.

Petkoff, rising to the challenge of the shows most difficult role, bravely doesnt try to sweeten Bruces volatile temperament. As a father, Bruce means well, but hed rather be upstairs making love to Roy (Robert Hager), whom hes hired to do odd jobs around the house. Repression, even more than the sexual misdeeds that inevitably get him into trouble, corrodes his soul. Petkoff traces the deterioration in Bruce so convincingly that we cant help maintaining some sympathy for a man whose life is like a crumbling house quickly falling beyond repair.

Susan Monizs Helen, Bruces neglected wife and Alisons jangled mother, is stern, a bit aloof and palpably sad over the state of her marriage. She might seem oblivious to her husbands proclivities, but she knows as much as she wants to know. Tesori and Kron give the character a song toward the end of the show that explains the way life can become unrecognizable after days and days and days of compromises and domestic routines. Moniz powerfully delivers this anthem to all women who have felt complicit in their own erasure.

David Zinns scenic design for the touring production cant match what Zinn accomplished on Broadway for the shows in-the-round staging at Circle in the Square Theatre. But the quaint charm of the Bechdel home luminously comes through. And the visible presence of the orchestra on a raised platform at the back of the stage that is also used by the actors further integrates the music into the drama  which is only fitting for a musical that (with the exception of a few splashy pastiche numbers) treats the songs as just another form of character expression.

Performed on the Tony Awards telecast the year that Fun Home won for best musical, Ring of Keys is perhaps the most famous song in a show that, in keeping with its seamless vision, doesnt even provide a list of titles in the program. Sung with adorable fervor by Baldacchino, the number is about Small Alisons identification with a butch delivery woman whose difference thrills her and reminds her of her own. By the time this song arrives, we already know so much about Alison, having seen her at various stages of her life. But still we listen and eagerly learn more about her story, which will grow large enough to encompass her fathers tragedy and her own brilliant survival.

Spun from a graphic memoir of literary genius, Fun Home clears a path of originality for the American musical. This is the third time Ive seen the show, and my admiration keeps growing.

         

Fun Home

Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays; ends April 1 (call for exceptions)

Tickets: $25-$125 (subject to change)

Information: (213) 972-4400 or www.centertheatregroup.org

Running time: 1 hour and 40 minutes, no intermission

charles.mcnulty@latimes.com

Follow me @charlesmcnulty

ALSO

Fun Home composer Jeanine Tesori hears the music in everyday life

The Humans and David Henry Hwang musical to lead Ahmansons 2017-18 season

Geffen Playhouse announces 2017-18 season with Neil LaBute and Tyne Daly

Come From Away, Amelie and the long road from West Coast to Broadway
Paul Schimmel, the longtime Los Angeles curator best known for his defining tenure as the former chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, has departed Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, the downtown gallery he helped establish in spring 2016. The gallery functioned as the Los Angeles outpost of the European gallery Hauser & Wirth, which has locations in London and New York.

Iwan Wirth and Manuela Wirth, co-founders and co-presidents of Hauser & Wirth, announced today that Paul Schimmel will no longer serve as director, partner, and vice president of the gallery, said a short statement issued Friday morning.

No further reason was given for Schimmels departure. Asked to elaborate, a representative for the gallery stated via email: The gallery has no further comment at this time.

Advertisement

In the statement, Iwan Wirth is quoted as saying: Going forward, Hauser & Wirth will continue building upon its longstanding, passionate commitment to Los Angeles with expanded programs, including an increasingly robust campaign of public events and community outreach activities, and an ever more dynamic schedule of exhibitions that celebrate our artists, and connections between California and the international scene.

Schimmel joined Hauser & Wirth in May 2013  a departure from the extensive museum curatorial work he had done in the past, both at MOCA, and prior to that, at the Newport Harbor Art Museum (now the Orange County Museum of Art).

I think its going to be quite different in the respect that it will be done on a larger scale, have fewer exhibitions and a combination of selling and non-selling exhibitions, Schimmel told The Times of the venture when it was first announced in 2013.

The gallery  a hybrid mega-gallery and curated kunsthalle-style exhibition space  launched to much international fanfare with a critically acclaimed exhibition of abstract women sculptors. Other exhibitions have followed since without incident. And late last week, Schimmel could be seen at the gallery, busily unveiling a new exhibition of works by L.A. installation artist Jason Rhoades.

Schimmel could not be reached for comment.

Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletter 

carolina.miranda@latimes.com

@cmonstah

ALSO

L.A.'s Hauser Wirth & Schimmel is out to upend the definition of a gallery

Paul Schimmel joins gallery world, creating Hauser Wirth & Schimmel

Review: The radical and politically potent opening show at DTLAs new Hauser Wirth & Schimmel
Nick Cannon out at Americas Got Talent after dispute with NBC execs

Nick Cannon has announced he will not be returning to Americas Got Talent as host. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Actor and comedian Nick Cannon is leaving his longtime gig as host of the NBC reality show Americas Got Talent after allegedly being threatened with termination by network executives.

Cannon announced his departure via a 700-word Facebook post Monday morning, explaining how his decision comes after a dispute with NBC head honchos over jokes in his recent Showtime comedy special.

Nick Cannon: Stand Up, Dont Shoot aired Friday night on the premium cable channel and featured a different Cannon than AGT audiences might be used to, with frequent uses of the N-word. The word even makes an appearance in a joke about how that evening NBC stood for N Better Cmon.

TMZ reported Friday that NBC executives learned about the content via Cannons appearance on The Howard Stern Show and stated that Cannon was nearly fired over the incident before the network decided against it.

With the new week, it appears that Cannon himself has had second thoughts. His statement in its entirety follows. (Statement formatting has been edited for clarity.)

I write this from a deeply saddened and dolorous mindset. After days of deliberating over some extremely disappointing news that I was being threatened with termination by Executives because of a comedy special that was only intended to bring communities closer together, I was to be punished for a joke. This has weighed heavy on my spirit.

It was brought to my attention by my team that NBC believed that I was in breach of contract because I had disparaged their brand. In my defense, I would ask how so? Or is this just another way to silence and control an outspoken voice who often battles the establishment.

Recently many of my mentors have cautioned me that soon The System would come down on me because I was speaking too many truths and being [too] loud about it. I had no idea that it all would hit so close to home.

I find myself in a dark place having to make a decision that I wish I didnt have to, but as a man, an artist, and a voice for my community I will not be silenced, controlled or treated like a piece of property. There is no amount of money worth my dignity or my integrity.

I have loved hosting Americas Got Talent for the last 8 seasons, watching talented, brave, and courageous Americans accomplish their dreams in front of millions has been nothing but a joy, and everyone has been a pleasure to work with but my soul wont allow me to be in business with corporations that attempt to frown on freedom of speech, censor artists, and question cultural choices.

Not to get too detailed but this isnt the first time executives have attempted to put me in my place for so called unruly actions. I will not stand for it. My moral principles will easily walk away from the millions of dollars they hang over my head. Its never been about the money for me, what is difficult to walk away from is the fans, the people who love me on the show. This hurts tremendously.

I felt like I was apart of the fabric of our great nation every summer, representing every culture, age, gender, and demographic. Now for the rug to be pulled from underneath me and to be publicly reprimanded and ridiculed over a joke about my own race is completely wrong and I have to do something about it. I have fought many battles in my career and have never been afraid to go up against the system.

I have mulled over my process for days and felt it was best to once again speak my mind about an unjust infrastructure that treat talent like they own them. Maybe it was my mistake for signing the contract in the first place, in which I will take full responsibility and have already taken action to restructure my own team of advisors.

I now have to set out on a journey of freedom as an artist. As I was quoted in a recent interview, You cant fire a Boss! and that is the essence that I possess. So I wish AGT and NBC the best in its upcoming season but I can not see myself returning.

As of lately I have even questioned if I want to even be apart of an industry who ultimately treats artists in this manner. Most of us dont realize that there are 6 major corporations that control 90 percent of media in America and the amount of minority executives is dismal.

With this being the case, true equality in our industry is impossible. There will always be a do as I say mentality that mirrors societys perception of women and minorities, and only a few will stand up against it. I proudly stand as one of those few, and will gladly take on whatever repercussions that come with it. I love art and entertainment too much to watch it be ruined by controlling corporations and big business.

I believe its our duty as artists to make a difference and create change even if its one act at a time. Dr. King said it best, Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.

Americas Got Talent is scheduled to begin filming Season 12 next month.

Representatives for NBC and Nick Cannon did not immediately respond to The Times request for comment.
If he wins the Oscar for adapted screenplay for Fences, the late playwright August Wilson will join an impressive group of posthumous winners and nominees.

Wilson won a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize for his 1983 play, which he later adapted into a screenplay. But it took more than 20 years for the movie version of Fences to come out; Wilsons death at age 60 in October 2005 was well before the films 2016 release. The play  one of the 10 works in the African American playwrights famed Pittsburgh cycle  revolves around an embittered garbage man in the 1950s struggling to support his family.

Now, the acclaimed film version of his play has Oscar nominations for picture, lead actor for Denzel Washington (who also directed), supporting actress for Viola Davis and adapted screenplay for Wilson.

Advertisement

Full coverage of the 2017 Academy Awards 

If Wilson wins the award  he has strong competition from, among others, Barry Jenkins for Moonlight  he will be only the second posthumous screenplay winner.

There have been posthumous nominees since the first Academy Awards in 1929. And though the higher profile nominees and winners have been in the acting categories  including lead actor winner Peter Finch for 1976s Network and supporting actor winner Heath Ledger for 2008s The Dark Knight  posthumous winners and nominees have also come from such categories best film, music, art director, editing, documentary, sound, short film and cinematographer.

Gary Oldman accepts Heath Ledgers Actor award for a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in The Dark Knight at the 15th Screen Actors Guild Award. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Heres a look at some of the posthumous winners and nominees over the years.

The first

Gerald C. Duffy received a nomination for title writing for the first Academy Awards in 1929 for the 1927 silent drama The Private Life of Helen of Troy. Duffy was a well-known short story writer and editor of Redbook magazine who became a scenario and title writer in 1919. He was only 32 when he died suddenly while dictating a script on June 25, 1928.

The Limelight-ers

A Wilson win would come 11-plus years after his death. But it wouldnt come close to shattering this record: Larry Russell won an Academy Award nearly two decades after his death, for original dramatic score for Limelight, in 1973. A win he shared with Ray Rasch and Charlie Chaplin.

The film was actually released in 1952. But when Chaplin went to England for the premiere, his re-entry permit was revoked amid questions about his politics and his private life. Though the film did open in New York and San Francisco, rabid anti-Chaplin sentiment caused those engagements to be curtailed. Because the movie was not released in Los Angeles until 1972  the same year Chaplin returned to the U.S. to receive an honorary Academy Award  it was not eligible for Oscar consideration until then.

Russell was only 40 when he died Feb. 14, 1954. Rasch died at age 47 on Dec. 23, 1964.

The writers

Sidney Howard was the first posthumous screenplay winner, for his adaptation of the 1940 best picture winner Gone With the Wind. He died on Aug. 23, 1939, at age 48  four months before the epic opened  when he was crushed by a tractor on his farm.

Other notable posthumous writing nominees include Robert Alan Aurthur, who also got a nod as producer of 1979s All That Jazz. He died of lung cancer at age 56 on Nov. 20, 1978.

Actor-writer Massimo Troisi was nominated for lead actor and for his screenplay for Il Postino, which had been released in the U.S. in 1995. Just 12 hours after completing the film, he died of a heart attack at age 41 on June 4, 1994. And one of the best picture nominees producers, Mario Cecchi Gori, died Nov. 5, 1993, at age 73.

Producers

Sam Zimbalist, who won an Oscar for producing the 1960 best picture winner Ben-Hur, died of a heart attack on Nov. 4, 1958, at age 54 while he was in Rome during the films production. He is the only person to win a posthumous best picture Oscar.

Walt Disney, who died of cancer on Dec. 15, 1966, at age 65, won his 22nd competitive Oscar for the 1968 animated short Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.

Composers

Lyricist Howard Ashman (Nancy Kaye / Associated Press)

Lyricist Howard Ashman, who died on March 14, 1991, of AIDS-related complications at age 40, earned four posthumous nominations, sharing the original song Oscar with composer Alan Menken in 1992 for the title tune from Beauty and the Beast. That year, the duo was also nominated for original songs for Be Our Guest and Belle from the animated classic. The next year, the two were nominated for original song for Friend Like Me from Aladdin.

Composer Victor Young won an Oscar for his score for 1956s Around the World in 80 Days and was nominated for song for the title tune from 1956s Written on the Wind. Ironically, he was nominated for Academy Awards 22 times and didnt win until Around the World in 80 Days. He died on Nov. 10, 1956, at age 56, a few months before the Oscar ceremony.

Documentarian

Albert Lamorisse, who won an Oscar for his original screenplay of the enchanting 1956 film The Red Balloon, died in a helicopter crash in Iran on June 2, 1970, at age 48 while making The Lovers Wind. His wife and son completed the film based on his production notes and released it in 1978. It earned an Oscar nod for documentary feature.

Other posthumous winners:

Gil Friesen, producer of the 2013 documentary feature 20 Feet From Stardom. He died Dec. 13, 2012.

Thomas C. Goodwin, producer of the 1992 documentary short subject Educating Peter. He died Dec. 11, 1992.

Conrad L. Hall, won for cinematography for 2002s Road to Perdition. He died Jan. 4, 2003.

William H. Horning won art direction Oscars for 1958s Gigi and 1959s Ben-Hur and was nominated for 1959s North by Northwest. He died March 2, 1959.

Eric Orbom won for art direction for 1960s Spartacus. He died May 23, 1959.

Geoffrey Unsworth won for cinematography for 1979s Tess. He died Oct. 28, 1978.

calendar@latimes.com
The idea of a polarized country watching the Oscars is not new. For nearly half a century, there have been regular occurrences of the show dropping into the middle of serious national strife.

Every year, come hell or high water, the Oscars arrive at a late-winter-early-spring moment. And in some of those years  as in this one of actual Hell or High Water  the country is fiercely divided on big social and political questions.

That would seem to make for beneficial timing. What better way to defuse, or at least momentarily set aside, explosive ideological tensions than by debating the merits of Natalie Portmans performance or Dev Patels get-up, by marveling at a red-carpet faux pas or wondering why Emma Stone always seems to find her way into best-picture nominees? The Oscars, as ABC constantly reminds us, are the second-most watched television event after the Super Bowl, and they in a sense serve a similar purpose  to temporarily freeze-dry our problems by investing us in the sagas of people with lives very different from our own.

Advertisement

But that timing can also work the other way. The Oscars regularity of schedule means they can come when were not in the mood for them. Or worse, allow for disagreements to be filtered through the prism of the show. Rather than simply create hope in a dark time, the telecast reinforces what already troubles us about it  more an unsightly flashbulb than a ray of light.

The Oscars feel like theyre headed there this year, a diversion, but also an intrusion, the lighter side of news suddenly if briefly making a play for our attention.

And yet this years Academy Awards might not seem all that light, what with the politics that potentially await at the show  and, inevitably, from the commander in chiefs reaction to it.

Such combustibility continues a tradition that has roots in other equally turbulent eras yet, in critical ways, also deviates from them.

In 1968, the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led to the postponement of the Oscars by several days and the initial withdrawal, later revoked, of a quartet of African American stars including Sidney Poitier and Louis Armstrong. When race-themed films such as In the Heat of the Night and Guess Whos Coming to Dinner won top Oscars (best picture and lead actress, respectively), it both underscored racial progress and revealed that far too many Americans were still uncomfortable with it. (This followed by only about a decade, by the way, a Hollywood blacklist that saw writers such as Dalton Trumbo and Nedrick Young forced to win Oscars under pseudonyms.)

In 1979, the social battle spilled into the awards race. Among the best picture favorites just a few years after the end of Vietnam were two films about that war, Coming Home and The Deer Hunter. Though frequently canonized decades later as similar works  emotional responses to a quagmire that claimed the lives of nearly 60,000 U.S. military personnel  the two movies played very differently. Coming Home was viewed as the progressive effort, featuring noted war opponent Jane Fonda, the piece critical of U.S. foreign policy and questioning what the war was all for. The Deer Hunter was the film of the establishment, the picture that draped itself in the flag, a movie that may have regretted some of the consequences of the war but not the decision to fight it in the first place. (Irony of Meryl Streeps presence noted.)

So raw was the wound that a group of Los Angeles veterans greeted the Deer Hunter nominees at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, then-home of the Oscars, with signs and protests; after a clash, 13 arrests were made. When Deer Hunter won, it only reinforced objectors distaste for the film and its fans. Fonda later called the movie racist.

In 2003, the Oscars, then held in late March, arrived just days after the start of the Iraq war. The red carpet was drastically scaled back, Peter Jennings provided war updates during commercial breaks, and Will Smith and Cate Blanchett canceled their appearances. Michael Moore, meanwhile, gave his well-known  and well-polarizing  speech decrying a fictitious president starting a war for fictitious reasons. Its hard to imagine a more surreal or provocative show moment.

This year, there is not the same full-blown U.S. war, so when the Academy Awards gets under way Sunday, the ceremony wont exist under that particular cloud. But a storm is brewing just the same. Already Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian director of a foreign-language nominee, has said he is not coming, in protest of President Trumps proposed ban on some travelers from his home country.

I cant not make a comment. What am I, just going to get up there and say, Thank you?  Oscar nominee Selim Azzazi

Asked last week in an interview with The Times how he might address the new presidents policies, nominee Selim Azzazi  whose live-action short goes to the heart of the immigration and religious-tolerance debate  said he would definitely talk about the political situation if he wins. I cant not make a comment. What am I, just going to get up there and say, Thank you? 

The odds of multiple celebrity speeches following in the path of Streeps Golden Globes political plea are high, whether its actress frontrunner Viola Davis, likely presenter Leonardo DiCaprio or other activist stars not yet revealed. The documentary winner  which will come from a pool that includes O.J.: Made in America director Ezra Edelman and 13th filmmaker Ava DuVernay  is almost certain to address race in the Trump era.

In some ways, this is to the good. Certainly, the Democrat-skewing room at the Dolby Theatre will feel that way, but its also true in the culture at large. With so much of consequence happening in the country, this is a moment that feels urgently in need of substance. Why not fortify the frivolous with seriousness? Those who feel angered by the presidents policies would certainly be justified in making use of their unique platform. As tens of millions of Americans fixate on their every word, no moment is more opportune to address injustice.

Will those addresses have the desired effect? Thats a different and far thornier question. Evidence, at least, is scarce. Racial tension was not fundamentally eased by the Academy Awards statements of the 1960s, and the wounds of Vietnam and Iraq were not meaningfully salved by their Oscar dressings.

The effectiveness is even more questionable this season. One way this years strife-ridden show will depart from those of previous eras is, of course, the presence of social media  moments of protest will be scrutinized and argued over more closely, or at least more loudly, than at any time in the past. But perhaps an even bigger distinction involves the people doing the protesting in the first place. When actors stood up at past Oscars to question Vietnam and presidential policies, they were largely seen as the upstarts, an artistic grassroots firing back at a too-powerful establishment.

When celebrities make their presence felt at the 2017 Oscars, they will in many precincts be viewed in another way: as the establishment itself. Due to increased salaries and privilege  but also a fundamental cultural shift in how the avatars of liberal politics are perceived  the actors are no longer the outsiders.

In fact, in the wake of an election cycle animated by a resentment on the part of working-class middle Americans toward coastal elites, theyre very much the opposite now. Once a certain kind of workaday American would have sided with the actors offering White House protests at an awards show. Now, theyre more likely to side with the president.

(A recent poll by the Hollywood Reporter and the National Research Group found that two-thirds of Trump supporters turned off the television when awards speeches got too political.)

If theres any doubt about that reaction, one need look no further than the Golden Globes. When Streep gave her speech six weeks ago, the reaction from some quarters was one of deep objection, the essence of which boiled down to, Why does a Hollywood award recipient get to tell us what to think about current events?

Actress Vanessa Redgrave, holding the Oscar she won for best supporting actress, delivers a fiery acceptance speech at the 50th Oscar Awards. (Joe Kennedy / Los Angeles Times)

Incidentally, this debate over how much to use an awards show podium for political statements goes back a long way too. In 1978, supporting actress winner Vanessa Redgrave gave a speech decrying a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums who were protesting her attendance. It was a highly controversial statement, both outside and inside the room. Just a few hours later, Paddy Chayefsky, presenting screenwriting prizes, took the podium and said, Im sick and tired of people exploiting the occasion of the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own personal political propaganda. I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation, and a simple thank you would have sufficed.

It is encouraging to be reminded that awards shows in a time of national division  and, indeed, questions about the propriety of using the former to address the latter  are far from new.

And disheartening, in equal measure, to realize that so many years after we started arguing about these issues, we seem to be no closer to solving them.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

steve.zeitchik@latimes.com

Twitter: @ZeitchikLAT

ALSO

How the race to the Oscars brought more diverse stars and style to this seasons red carpets

What time are the Oscars? And other important questions answered

George Clooney: If you think about it, Trump is a Hollywood elitist

If theres a Meryl Streep kind of moment at the Oscars, will President Trump be too busy to respond?
Four of cinemas best faces share the screen in the international action picture Collide. Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones star as Americans enjoying a torrid love affair in Germany, while Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley play rival European crime bosses. Thats a lot of acting talent  all wasting their time.

Hoult is Casey, who gives up the criminal life at the behest of his girlfriend, Juliette (Jones). When she gets sick and needs an expensive operation, he returns to his old gang lord, Geran (Kingsley), and agrees to hijack a shipment of drugs belonging to shady industrialist Hagen Kahl (Hopkins).

Director Eran Creevy and his co-writer F. Scott Frazier essentially structure Collide as one long chase, with Casey zipping down the autobahn to escape Hagens goons. The action sequences are strong, with spectacular crashes and explosions, dynamic camera moves and tight cuts that at times give the film an appealing breathlessness. But the cast takes a too-lax approach to this material.

Advertisement

A flatly earnest Hoult and Jones are hamstrung by drippy dialogue, while Kingsley and Hopkins overplay their more colorful parts  with the former doing a cartoonish Turkish accent and the latter delivering lines with strange emphasis. Its as though they all assumed the movie would stink, and reduced their effort accordingly. The dopey plot doesnt help matters. Still, this could have been a respectable little car-crash picture, with star power. Instead, its distractingly clumsy, and sputters whenever the hero isnt behind the wheel.

Shot in 2014, Collide was originally to be released by Relativity Media before it filed for bankruptcy. Open Road Films acquired the film, but delayed the release several times.

-------------

Collide

Rating: PG-13, for violence, frenetic action, some sexuality, language, and drug material

Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Playing: In general release

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

Movie Trailers

calendar@latimes.com
Januarys Screen Actors Guild Awards turned out to be one of the most politically charged in memory, with multiple winners taking the opportunity to challenge President Trumps policies. Since then, the atmosphere has become even more politically charged, and Hollywood is unlikely to stay out of the fray on Oscar night this year. But if things get political, it certainly wont be the first time the event has been used as an amplifier for activism.

Here are 11 of Oscars most notable political moments:

Advertisement

1972

In the 1970s, the Vietnam War, Watergate and the increasing visibility of various rights movements ushered in a new politically outspoken attitude among stars. Jane Fonda, frequently derided as Hanoi Jane by some for her visit to North Vietnam and outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War, was one such Hollywood fixture known for speaking her mind when given the opportunity. On Oscar night in 1972, after thanking the Academy for her lead actress win for Klute  itself a political statement  Fonda kept it brief and simply asked viewers to read between the lines by saying, Theres a great deal to say and Im not going to say it tonight. I would just like to really thank you very much.

1973

When Marlon Brando won the lead actor award for his role in The Godfather, the audience was surprised when a woman in Native American dress, who identified herself as Sacheen Littlefeather (Marie Louise Cruz), took the stage and informed the crowd that Brando was declining the honor in protest of the treatment of the American Indian in motion pictures and on TV, and because of the recent events at Wounded Knee, where federal agents clashed with hundreds of Native American protesters between February and May of 1973.

1978

Prior to Oscar night, Vanessa Redgrave had already raised the ire of the Jewish Defense League after she produced the pro-Palestine TV documentary The Palestinian. Upon winning the supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of an anti-Nazi activist in Julia, Redgrave doubled-down with an impassioned speech that drew audible boos.

Referring to people protesting The Palestinian, Redgrave labeled them a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression, before also condemning President Nixon and Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Later in the show, Paddy Chayefsky (the writer of Network and Hospital) countered with, Im sick and tired of people exploiting the occasion of the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own personal political propaganda. That push and pull has continued ever since.

1993

Like many in the audience, the famously politically active couple Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins wore red ribbons to the ceremony, which they used as a way to call attention to HIV-positive Haitians who were being held at Guantanamo. Sarandon addressed Washington politicians, asking them to admit that HIV is not a crime and to admit these people into the United States.

1993

Richard Gere took a moment from introducing the nominees in the art direction category to bring up the still-unresolved issue of Tibetan independence, asking Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to take his troops and take the Chinese away from Tibet and allow these people to live as free, independent people again.

1999

Lifetime achievement awards are rarely controversial, but when Hollywood legend Elia Kazan was given the honor in 1999, the audience was visibly divided because of Kazans 1952 testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He informed on old friends who had been members of the Communist Party and later refused to apologize. While such A-listers as Warren Beatty, Kathy Bates, Kurt Russell and Meryl Streep rose to applaud, others including Nick Nolte, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan glowered at the stage with their arms crossed.

2002

In 2002, Halle Berry became the first black actress to win an Oscar in the lead actress category for her role in Monsters Ball. She took her moment on the stage to highlight the past, present and future of African American actresses. This moment is so much bigger than me, she explained. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. Its for the women that stand beside me: Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox. And its for every nameless faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.

2003

Documentarian Michael Moore made his career on political cage rattling, but he brought his beliefs to the Oscar stage in 2003, when his film Bowling for Columbine won in the feature documentary category. Wagging his finger, Moore chastised then-President George W. Bush for the Iraq War, which had started just days prior, calling him a fictitious president and saying Shame on you!

2009

In November 2008, California voters approved the controversial Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage to a massive outcry from the bills opponents. Just a few months later, Sean Penn picked up an Oscar for portraying slain gay rights icon Harvey Milk and he took the time to confront the issue head-on. I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildrens eyes if they continue that way of support, he said. Weve got to have equal rights for everyone. Likewise, Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black spoke passionately about the issue.

2010

When The Cove was named best documentary in 2010, the filmmakers extended its animal rights themes to Oscar night, when one of the films subjects, Flipper trainer-turned-activist Ric OBarry, prominently displayed a phone number for more information about dolphin activism.

Presenter Natalie Portman at the 84th Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2012. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

2012

As Oscar winner Natalie Portman announced the years leading actor hopefuls, she described nominee Demian Bichirs A Better Life character as an undocumented immigrant, eschewing the then-more prominent term illegal immigrant, and added, you gave a voice to the voiceless. Even more surprising was the fact that the term was used in what appeared to be a scripted speech, and not during the often-times off-the-cuff speeches given by winners.

ALSO:

Some Oscar speeches truly stand out  for better or worse

Some tips for getting that Oscar speech just right  first, start writing it now

What this years Oscar-nominated producers say theyre doing to close Hollywoods gender gap
Kiki, a new documentary in the spirit of the seminal 1990 film Paris Is Burning, takes its audience into New York Citys underground ballroom scene. But your grannys waltz or cousins Argentine tango wont be found here.

This is a space for butch queens, femme queens and sex sirens, primarily black and Latino LGBTQ people who use ballroom and the dance floor as a form of expression, an outlet for gender interrogation and therapy.

Voguing, the now-almost-mainstream dance form, hails from this community. Many recall Madonnas single from the 90s, but before her, Malcolm McLaren paid homage to the ball scene with his song Deep in Vogue featuring Willi Ninja, the godfather of voguing. Contemporary artists such as Beyonce, Rihanna, Azealia Banks and Willow Smith also feature elements of voguing in their music and videos.

Advertisement

But most people dont realize that these dance images can have a deeper meaning.

The visibility of LGBTQ-plus folks in the media is not often . . . who we really are, how we really grow up.  Twiggy Pucci Garcon

If youre black or brown and queer, trying to imagine a future for yourself, authentic glimpses of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other non-heterosexual folks can have an outsized impact, especially when so many popular-culture depictions of queer life are one-dimensional, lacking nuance or compassion.

Thats why Twiggy Pucci Garcon, one of the films co-writers and stars, says Kiki is important.

Growing up, I didnt see a lot of accurate portrayals of the varied identities that I hold, Garcon says. I think that even now, the visibility of LGBTQ-plus folks in the media is not often accurately represented  not who we really are, how we really grow up and what we really experience. This film is a great depiction of whats real for black queer people, particularly those in city and urban environments.

Kiki is a political statement.  Gia Marie Love

Garcon acknowledges the importance of Paris Is Burning, but has set out to go further politically with Kiki.

Like Tina Turner is Tina Turner and Beyonce is Beyonce, Paris Is Burning is Paris Is Burning and were Kiki, Garcon says.

The key to the Kiki scene, a subculture of the citys larger ball scene, is activism.

The Kiki ballroom scene was created to address very specific issues among youth in New York City, and thats a narrative difference between the two [films], says Gia Marie Love, one of Kikis stars. Paris Is Burning is more about the performative aspect. Kiki is a political statement, because kids ages 13 to 24 are among the highest at-risk groups in our country. The Kiki scene was created to provide education to that at-risk group through many different outlets.

Those outlets go beyond dance.

Theres a different sense of agency and political activism that you see and a relationship between the people in this film and how we are in society, not just in ballroom, Love says. We use ballroom as a platform to be in the world.

In addition to Garcon, a senior program officer at Cyndi Laupers nonprofit True Colors Fund, and Love, a community activist around HIV and STI prevention, also in the film is Chi Chi Mizrahi, a program coordinator for Mount Sinai Beth Israels Peter Krueger Clinic. All three are noted leaders in the ballroom community. They are joined by Kenneth Symba McQueen Soler-Rios, Christopher Waldorf, Izana Zaryia Mizrahi Vidal and Divo Pink Lady in an effort to  in a post-Moonlight world  further complicate perceptions of blackness and queerness. Its one of the films through-lines, says director Sara Jordeno.

One of the things that Divo says in the film is, People feel that were all the same, just like a mass of LGBTQ youth of color, she says. Kiki is character driven, following these people in what I feel is a nuanced way.

Jordeno, a New York- and Gothenburg-based Swedish visual artist, stumbled on the Kiki scene while conducting interviews for another project at a Harlem community organization where Garcon and Chi Chi worked. (I dont know, theyre magical, and their friendship and mentorship and the way they were talking and the openness and honesty and everything  I was just really, really attracted to that, she says.) One day, the pair approached Jordeno to do a project on the community. She obliged, but the initial idea was not a documentary. Along the way however, she says, it so quickly became a very important project for me.

Director Sara Jordeno. left, with Gia Marie Love and Twiggy Pucci Garcon of the documentary Kiki. (Michael Nagle / Los Angeles Times)

Why I dropped everything else and just wanted to do nothing but spend time and learn from this community is that I feel like theyre so important, says Jordeno, who is a white cisgender, lesbian woman. Its just a space where its the absolute opposite of toxic masculinity. Its a matriarchy.

We were not creating a documentary, Love says of the projects early days. It was just like talking in front of the camera, talking about how I am in the Kiki scene and in the world.

But over the four years she was filmed, what started off as telling my story through words and sharing my experiences through visuals, Love says, became a diary of sorts chronicling her gender transition, which is just one of the many topics highlighted in Kiki.

You dont see a lot of representations of the beauty of the transition, she says, outlining what she hopes trans people take from seeing her experience on film. A lot of people focus on where they cap, where they transition to, not the process of getting there. Its important to describe where Im at today, but the journey of me getting here, I think amplifies [my] story.

Because, as Love continues, Youre not going to always have the most affirming experience. Youre not going to even know sometimes how you feel about yourself. Be proud of where you are, but be proud of your trans experience [as well], cause its a hard, very courageous experience that requires a lot of fighting, a lot of perseverance. So why just focus on where you are today?

The film, which premiered at Sundance and like Paris Is Burning, won the Berlin International Film Festivals Teddy for documentary, also touches on the acceptance of male femininity, survival sex work and how ballroom can be, for some, church and ministry when formal places of worship close their doors. But through all of the socio-political concepts made real through the casts lives, the persisting message is hope and the ability to dream up a future far better than the present.

It really digs down deep into the fact that we really truly have the power to create our own reality and that happens through living our truth, Garcon says. That happens through making our way out of no way. It happens by shifting our mind-sets from surviving to thriving. And I think that the film is a very beautiful portrayal that all of those things are possible.

And despite a broader political atmosphere that might tell many that they are not welcome and their lives matter less than others, Kiki says that theres a space for people to really come and enjoy themselves and really express themselves and where they can be political, Love says.

Because even when theres no light on our politics and were completely erased from the conversation, were still having it.

Get your life! Follow me on Twitter (@TrevellAnderson) or email me: trevell.anderson@latimes.com.

ALSO

Meet Moonlights Joi McMillon, the first black woman editor to receive an Oscar nomination

Q&A: Marlee Matlin remains a champion for disabled actors, 30 years after winning her Oscar

With A United Kingdom, David Oyelowo shows the Africa I know and why Hollywood needs more female directors
When Marlee Matlin was a teenager, she didnt care about the Academy Awards. She never watched the ceremony, opting for Miss America or reading Tiger Beat magazine.

But after being cast in a stage production of Children of a Lesser God at 19 and winning the lead actress Oscar for that same role in 1987, her eyes were opened to a new world of trade magazines, film criticism and Hollywood hobnobbing. The deaf actress history-making win, as the first  and still only  disabled actor to be recognized, catapulted her into notoriety and fame.



For the record: An earlier version of the story stated that Marlee Matlin was the first disabled actor to win an Academy Award. In 1946, Harold Russell, a World War II veteran who lost his hands due to a training accident, won the supporting-actor Oscar and a special award for his role in The Best Years of Our Lives.

Thirty years later, however, as Hollywood continues to grapple with diversity and inclusion on the heels of #OscarsSoWhite, industry opportunity for disabled actors is still too far and in between.

Advertisement

Diversity is a beautiful, absolutely wonderful thing, but I dont think they consider people with disabilities and deaf and hard of hearing people as part of the diversity mandate, said Matlin, 51. We have people of all diverse backgrounds in incredible work this year with mind-blowing performances, but we actors who are deaf  and Im not complaining [because] we should write ourselves and act ourselves and create ourselves. But it doesnt seem that the mainstream is still willing to accept it.

Full coverage of the 2017 Academy Awards 

Matlin has spent the last three decades beating the drum for disabled actors. Through her example  with notable roles on Reasonable Doubts, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Switched at Birth  she has shown that having different abilities doesnt automatically preclude someone from working in the industry. She even has a voice-over agent, prompted by a recurring role on Family Guy. (Isnt that cool? I have a voice-over agent, she said.) The Ruderman Family Foundation, an internationally recognized organization that advocates for people with disabilities, honored her with its Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion this year.

On the anniversary of her win, The Times spoke with Matlin, and her longtime interpreter Jack Jason, about receiving the Oscar 30 years ago, its impact on her career and the state of opportunity for other differently-abled actors.

How did you get the chance to audition for the lead in Children of a Lesser God?

I was doing a local production in Chicago of the play [that the movie is based on]. I was the supporting role of Lydia. The opening night, there was a casting director from Paramount in the audience. They had been looking for the lead of the film for three or four years and hadnt been able to find anybody. She met all of us, and then the next day we were asked to videotape ourselves in our roles [as an audition]. According to Randa Haines, who was the director of the movie, she saw me in the background and said, Who is that? Let me see her in the lead role. It was a very intense process of auditioning for this, because I was only 19 and I had no experience in television or film, or anything having to do with Hollywood. I was very, very naive and an outsider.

Do you remember the call saying you got the job?

I was at my moms house and a call came in from my agent, through what we called Teletypes. It was 11 in the morning and my agent had a question: Would you be willing to do a nude scene? [I said, Yes.] Three minutes later, she called back and she said, Congratulations. I just sat there and thought, Oh my goodness. Then my mother was standing in the doorway, crying, with her phone book ready in hand to call everybody that she knew.

Describe for me the emotions you had once your role began garnering critical attention and eventually the Oscar nomination?

There was no social media at that time so all of it came through the telephone or telegrams or snail mail or word-of-mouth. It was overwhelming for me because [of] the love, the support and even the hating on the part of some people who felt I hadnt paid my dues. I was just a young girl from Northbrook, Ill., and I was thrust into the spotlight of Hollywood. So much was going on that I had to grow up very, very fast, which was good and bad.

You won your first time out of the gate.

I had no prepared speech. No one told me you could do a prepared speech. But it was a very proud moment for me [because of] the accolades and support that I received, particularly from deaf people.

On the next day, I got reviewed. Most of them [were] positive until one particular column by Rex Reed said that my win the night before was probably the result of a pity vote and that he thought that I wasnt necessarily the one who deserved the Oscar because I was a person who was deaf, playing a person who was deaf. And how was that acting? [Rolls her eyes.] Before I could even react, there was an article that said I was great but Ill never work again because I was deaf and I dont speak. So they defined who I was. That was disappointing to me, but I put that all aside and I continued to celebrate my uniqueness and looked forward to whatever was next.

[Editors note: Though no disabled actor has won an Academy Award since Matlin in 1986, in 1946 Harold Russell, a World War II veteran who lost both hands due to a training accident, earned two Oscars for his role in The Best Years of Our Lives.]

Did the Oscar make you a bona fide, working actress?

It wasnt as if it was happening as quickly as I would have thought. There might be something, and then thered be a wait, then somebody might do something and then theyd wait another while. It happened slowly but surely. We decided, if were going to have to wait, to do television. I did not have really an option of choosing work or what path I would take, theater or film or television. I realized that very quickly. When I asked people why it was this way, they said it was because I was deaf. I said: Thats bull  .

Thirty years later, youre still the only winner with a disability. What is the state of opportunities out there for actors who happen to be deaf?

There are an amazing number of disabled actors out there, and not only in the United States. Even though 20% of the population has a disability, 2% of roles [in Hollywood are for disabled characters] and of that 2%, only 5% are played by people with disabilities. The rest are played [by actors without disabilities]. Casting directors, I wish they would really understand the importance of acknowledging real diversity. Even though people know who I am, it doesnt mean that I get scripts every day. And the answers always been, We dont know how to write for you. We dont want to see subtitles if you happen to be signing. We dont want the audience to be uncomfortable with the voice. They find reasons not to [hire me].

10 leading performances and 10 key scenes that could help these nominees take home the Oscar 

Is there anyone doing diversity properly in your eyes?

Switched at Birth did it so well. They included all kinds of deaf actors in the show, and thats what diversity is about. We did an episode where it was all done in American Sign Language. It had never been done in the history of television. [Creator] Lizzy Weiss really was fearless in going forward as was the rest of the production team. We told 103 stories and it was amazing ... I want to see more. Its an honor to get an award, but its a greater honor to keep on working. There are some people who get it, like Aaron Sorkin or Ilene Chaiken or David Kelley.

Were not going to sit and wait. We have to develop ourselves, and if it means on Seeso or Hulu or Amazon, why not?

Im not trying to put these people down who dont get it. Its just ... if you want authenticity, and you want authentic stories, and it happens to have deaf people in it, hire deaf people and youll have a story to tell.

Get your life! Follow me on Twitter (@TrevellAnderson) or email me: trevell.anderson@latimes.com.
Who will win? Who should win? I feign no expertise when it comes to the former, but if I had a ballot in this years Oscar race, heres how I would fill out the following categories. (There are 24 categories total, but interest and laziness compel me to focus on just 11.)

BEST PICTURE: Moonlight

 WATCH: Kenneth Turan reviews 'Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins and starring Trevante Rhodes, Andre Holland, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monae, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, Jharrel Jerome and Jaden Piner. Video by Jason H. Neubert

No shortage of excellent choices here: In a year without La La Lands hard-to-resist charm offensive, more voters might have been inclined to consider the richly layered genre exercises of Arrival and Hell or High Water, or the beautiful bummer that is Manchester by the Sea. But the academy has never given its top prize to a movie quite like Moonlight, which is to say a movie that shows us, simply and persuasively, a characters inner life in all its beautifully unvarnished human complexity.

Advertisement

Also: Why Moonlight deserves to win the best picture Oscar

BEST DIRECTOR: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

 WATCH: When Barry Jenkins directed Naomie Harris in Moonlight, he realized that following his emotional response to serendipitous moments in front of the camera was sometimes more important than strictly following the script.

Low-key indie realism is often considered the product of close observation, but what Jenkins pulls off in his remarkable second feature is better understood as a seamless act of creative synthesis. Three actors (Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes) miraculously become one, and a rich array of world-cinema influences, from Claire Denis to Wong Kar-wai, merge assuredly into an authorial voice that is entirely Jenkins own.

Also: To give birth to Moonlight, writer-director Barry Jenkins dug deep into his past

BEST ACTOR: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

 WATCH: Casey Affleck talks about the way Kenneth Lonergan uses everyday language to convey deep emotion in Manchester by the Sea.

It would be hard to think of two men more different than Lee Chandler, the grief-stricken Boston handyman Affleck plays in Manchester by the Sea, and Troy Maxson, the madly loquacious Pittsburgh patriarch essayed by Denzel Washington in Fences. Impressed as I am by Washingtons back-of-the-house virtuosity, Afflecks performance hits quieter but more resonant notes: Its a shattering portrait of grief and the difficulty of living with the scars that grief leaves behind.

Also: Plumbing the depths of sorrow with Casey Affleck and Kenneth Lonergan of Manchester By the Sea

BEST ACTRESS: Isabelle Huppert, Elle

 WATCH: Justin Chang reviews 'Elle directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, and Anne Consigny. Video by Jason H. Neubert.

As Michele Leblanc, a mother, lover and businesswoman whose life is (and isnt) upended after a brutal sexual assault, Huppert makes an impossible role look astonishingly easy. She commands every scene of Elle with an elegance and sangfroid that leaves even her worthiest competitors in this category  Natalie Portman in Jackie and the likely winner, Emma Stone in La La Land  trailing at a respectful distance.

Also: Isabelle Huppert breaks through with the fearless audacity of Elle

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

 WATCH: Supporting actor Oscar nominee Mahershala Ali talks about his surprise and delight in recognizing traits of people hes known in the script for Moonlight.

You feel his absence deeply in the second and third acts of Moonlight, which testifies to just how startling an impression Ali makes in his exquisitely matter-of-fact performance as a drug dealer who becomes the father figure a lost boy needs. Hes more than just a friendly face; he becomes that foundation of intimacy and compassion that we all need, wherever we can get it.

Also: Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monae on the Oscars rarity of appearing together in two best-picture contenders

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

 Michelle Williams watched and listened to locals to authenticate her performance in Manchester by the Sea.

Viola Davis is tremendous in Fences, but Rose Maxson is supportive, not supporting; Davis was more of a supporting actress in The Help (for which she was nominated, curiously enough, for lead actress). In light of that category confusion, my vote goes to the peerless Williams: Amid a symphony of angry, clashing voices, her performance rises above the fray like a piercing aria of loss and heartache.

Also: What can this woman not do?: Director Kenneth Lonergan on Manchester By The Sea actress Michelle Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea

 WATCH: Director Kenneth Longergan discusses Manchester By The Sea with L.A. Times film critic Justin Chang.

If the category were called most original screenplay, The Lobster would be a worthy winner for its diabolically clever vision of a romantic-fascist dystopia. But the best script here is Manchester by the Sea, an extraordinarily layered swirl of rage, grief, confusion and rueful humor that confirms Lonergans reputation (after You Can Count on Me and Margaret) as one of the most distinctive voices on the American independent scene.

Also: 'Manchester By the Seas director chronicles what the film world has forsaken: humanism

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

 Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney discusses Moonlights screen adaptation

Its a measure of how thoroughly Jenkins has transformed Tarell Alvin McCraneys stage piece In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue that Moonlight was deemed an original work by the Writers Guild of America (and went on to win that organizations original screenplay prize). However you classify it, the result is an adaptation as notable for its evanescence as for its concrete reality.

Also: ''Moonlight changed me, says director Barry Jenkins of his emotional story of acceptance

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: Toni Erdmann

 WATCH: Justin Chang reviews "Toni Erdmann, the film starring Peter Simonischek, Sandra Huller, Michael Wittenborn and Thomas Loibl.

If the academy took non-English-language films seriously, Maren Ades pointillist masterpiece would also be nominated for best picture, director, actress (Sandra Huller) and original screenplay. The foreign-language film Oscar would be a worthy consolation prize for a film that, within the context of a bittersweet relationship comedy, says more about the state of the modern world than any other movie this year.

Also: The long, strange odyssey of bringing Oscar fave Toni Erdmann to the screen

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: I Am Not Your Negro

I wouldnt mind in the slightest if the prize went to O.J.: Made in America, Ezra Edelmans monumental 7-hour consideration of the trial of the century and the racial, political and cultural tinderbox that it ignited. But whats stayed with me most in this category is the intricate, allusive poetry of I Am Not Your Negro, in which Raoul Peck, working with Samuel L. Jackson, resurrects the magnificent voice of the writer-activist James Baldwin  a voice that could hardly speak more clearly or forcefully to our present moment.

Also: Review  James Baldwin is illuminated, with dizzying multimedia savvy, in I Am Not Your Negro

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: The Red Turtle

 Kenneth Turan reviews 'The Red Turtle directed by Michael Dudok de Wit. Video by Jason H. Neubert.

Its been a fine year for feature animation, particularly on the studio front: A win for Laikas wondrous Kubo and the Two Strings or Disneys wickedly clever Zootopia would feel entirely deserved. But it was Michael Dudok de Wits hand-drawn fable of solitude and recurrence that made the most expressive use of its medium; its gorgeous and stirring beyond words.

Also: Going under the shell of Cannes animated sensation The Red Turtle

justin.chang@latimes.com

ALSO

Review: Jordan Peeles clever horror-satire Get Out is an overdue Hollywood response to our racial anxiety

Review: Melanie Lynskey raises hell in the bloody dark comedy I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore

Review: Kiki is an energetic, affectionate portrait of New Yorks LGBT ballroom scene
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will arrive in Cairo on Friday for his first visit to the country since assuming office last year, Egypt state news agency MENA reported.

Johnson is expected to hold talks with top Egyptian government officials in Cairo, including his counterpart Sameh Shoukry

A press conference is due to be held following the talks.

Johnson was appointed foreign secretary in July 2016.

The UK was among several western countries, including Russia, which banned flights to the Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm El-Sheikh after a Russian airliner crashed on 31 October 2015, killing all 224 people on board.

There have since been talks between government officials of both countries to return air traffic to the popular beach resort.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The executive producers of the new Fox television series 24: Legacy apologized Thursday for using video of a terror attack at a Kenya mall that killed 67 people.

The video of the September 2013 attack on Westgate mall in Kenyas capital was used to depict a fictional terror attack in Egypt in the shows fourth episode, which aired Monday.

We regretfully included news footage of an attack in Nairobi. It will be removed from all future broadcasts and versions of the show, producers Evan Katz and Manny Coto said in a statement.

Advertisement

Their statement said they apologized for any pain caused to the victims and their families and are deeply sorry.

It was not immediately clear how the video of the Kenya attack was obtained.

The series debuted earlier this month.

Some Kenyans had reacted angrily on social media under the hashtag #SomeoneTellFox.

The Al Qaeda-linked Somali group Shabab claimed responsibility for the Sept. 21, 2013, attack at the upscale mall to punish Kenya for contributing troops to an African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. The group has carried out other fatal attacks in Kenya.

ALSO:

Review: 24: Legacy brings fresh faces to old formula

Jordan Peeles clever horror-satire Get Out is an overdue Hollywood response to our racial anxiety

You might see more women and minorities on TV, but Hollywood has a ways to go when it comes to diversity, report says
Stylist Jeanne Yang is responsible for making sure that some of Hollywoods most recognizable men  that would be George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Dornan, Terrence Howard and Diego Luna, among others  look like the stars that they are.

The Los Angeles native has become known for mixing equal parts modernity and old-world flair for the red carpet. But Yang, whos in her late 40s, got her start about 20 years ago, doing styling for music videos for bands such as Blink-182 and 311 and helping Weezers Rivers Cuomo cement his signature geek chic look. Basically, any band that had a number in [its name], I did the music video, she jokes.

It was on the set of The Matrix that Yang met Keanu Reeves, whose interest in tailoring dovetailed with her own work, and the actor taught her about suiting from revered Italian brands such as Kiton, Borrelli and Isaia. That was a type of boot camp  going from skater culture all the way across the world to proper tailoring, she says. Those two extremes helped forge her signature look of elevated classics. Shes known for making suits look laid-back and cool and turning up the volume on more casual sartorial fare.

Advertisement

With awards season underway, Yang is at her busiest, but there are some trade secrets shes willing to share so regular guys can get a touch of A-list in their lives too.

Celebrity stylist Jeanne Yang is shown at her studio in Beverly Hills. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Tailored clothes matter

Yangs biggest piece of advice is simple: Have your clothes tailored to fit you.

Every piece that youre wearing was made for at least 1,000 to 10,000 people. So the fit is probably not going to look perfect, Yang says of buying off the rack. She recommends buying the nicest pieces you can afford and then taking them to a tailor to have them made to fit you specifically. It can take off pounds, she says. It can take off years of age. It can literally add two inches of height. It can do everything.

She recommends Wild Lotus on Sunset Boulevard and Crown Cleaners on Fairfax Avenue for alterations.

The perfect-fitting jacket

It may sound obvious, but Yang notes that most men wear their jackets too big, meaning the shoulders tend to drape, and their pants are too long, meaning they pool. It just makes you look shorter, she says.

Speaking of proportion, Yang prefers a shorter suit jacket. For an average height guy, the jacket shouldnt go too much farther past your hips. If its too long, youre two-thirds jacket and one-third leg. It just looks like youre wearing a zoot suit, she says. The ideal proportion to be is a little less than one-half should be your jacket and then the rest should be your pant. It never hurts to look like your have longer legs.

Although a trip to the tailor might seem like an extra stop between the store and your closet, its crucial. You can make a $190 Topshop jacket look like a $3,000 Saint Laurent jacket by tailoring it properly, she says.

Jeanne Yang has worked a roster of talent including George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Jamie Dornan, Terrence Howard and Diego Luna. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Be comfortable with being uncomfortable

Yang also has a bit of tough love when it comes to formal clothing. It shouldnt be comfortable, she says. Sweats are comfortable. Suits shouldnt be comfortable.

Thats why your suit jacket should hug your shoulders. If you have a rope shoulder, it should drop straight down, she says. It shouldnt sag. It should sit right on your shoulder and drop straight down.

Try something new

Once guys have mastered the basics of fit, Yang encourages them to move a little out of their comfort zone and experiment: Go to a store and try on something unexpected. Try a different silhouette, like a double-breasted jacket. Or just baby steps, like a fun tie or a pocket square, she says. Throw on a turtleneck with a suit instead of a [collared] shirt.

The easiest thing to do, she says, is to go to the store and try on some pieces and take pictures. You know, its free to try things on. Go into the store and try something crazy on, she says. Dont buy it; just try it on. Take a picture. Everybody takes a picture nowadays and everybody has a camera on them. Look at the look and think about it. If it looks good in the picture, itll probably be great on. People feel so self-conscious taking a picture of themselves, like its so narcissistic, but its not.

Mix things up

For guys looking to add some excitement to their more casual outfits, Yang stresses the important of mixing things up. I like to juxtapose things. If youre going to wear a T-shirt, wear a nice pair of trousers. Then go with a sneaker, she says.

She doesnt like guys to look too done up in a suit, button-up shirt, tie and pocket square. Yang prefers having a casual piece such as a crewneck sweater or turtleneck instead a collared shirt with a suit or adding a more formal fashion element to a casual look. I think its good to kind of screw it up, she says.

After all, just because youre not actually walking a red carpet doesnt mean nobodys watching you. Or, as Yang says, That first impression is usually based on how you dress.

To read this article in Spanish, click here.

image@latimes.com

@latimesimage

ALSO

Last chance to see Daft Punks West Hollywood pop-up shop

5 major fashion trends you should know about for fall and winter

Tom Ford, Jason Derulo, Isla Fisher, Chris Martin and others gather for An Unforgettable Evening
Maria Cornejo named her label Zero + Maria Cornejo because it was indicative of starting from scratch. The Chilean-born, British-trained, New York-based designer, whose fans include former First Lady Michelle Obama, Christy Turlington Burns and Tilda Swinton, was the mother of a 6-year-old and a newborn in 1998 when she set out to create clothes that would suit her new lifestyle, flatter her changing body and still be sophisticated and stylish.

Zero is an infinite shape that keeps going around, she said. We wanted to have no preconceived ideas.

A couple of decades later, Cornejo has flagship stores in Los Angeles and New York, and sells at top-tier stores in the U.S. and worldwide, including Barneys New York, Stanley Korshak in Dallas and Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong and Dubai.

Advertisement

Her aesthetic has remained unchanged: She makes architecturally spare clothes in premium fabrics that can be slipped into and worn all day  even the size 0s are constructed in a relaxed silhouette. Prices are in the affordable luxury sector, with pants, shoes and dresses generally ranging from $650 to $795 and gowns and coats $1,295 to $1,395.

Cornejos streamlined approach to fashion helped her win the fashion prize at the 2006 National Design Awards. Recently, the designer was visiting her Melrose Place store and sat down to chat about dressing Obama and being inspired by the film Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Did you always want to become a fashion designer?

It sounds so cliched, but I used to make clothes with my grandmother. I wanted to be a marine biologist like Jacques Cousteau. But I couldnt swim very well and I hated the water.

Why did you decide to start your own line?

I started with the simple principle of finding a new way of cutting for myself. I worked with basic geometric shapes. It became about the womans body. Id had two children and I wanted things to be wearable every day, not to just be photographed.

What sort of woman do you think of when you design?

My clothes are intelligent, so intelligent women wear them. The clothes have interesting lives. I wish they could talk, because they go to cool places and do amazing things.

Speaking of fashionable women, how did Michelle Obama find you?

During [her husbands] first presidential election, she shopped at Ikram in Chicago, which carries my line. She would wear things that were a lot more daring than now. She had to tone it down for the White House. Ive been to the White House to do workshops with kids about designing, talking to inner city kids who have very little hope. A lot of them said to me, How do you get rich and famous? I said, Its not about that. Its about doing something you love. Theres so much focus on celebrity right now, which is crazy.

Whats new for spring/summer 2017?

The inspiration started with [the resort collection], which was based on New Orleans, and that carried over into summer. I was moved by movies like Pretty Baby and Beasts of the Southern Wild. The culture in New Orleans is amazing, the mix of French, Spanish, Creole, African American, so many layers, so much soul  and a little black magic.

image@latimes.com

@latimesimage
The fashion focus of the Academy Awards has always been  and always will be  on what the women who attend wear. This reality has nothing to do with sexism and everything to with the dictates of formalwear. Here the fairer sex has a leg up (Angelina Jolie meme-worthy) on the menfolk, hitting the carpet wearing elegant gowns in every fabric known to man, rendered in every color under the sun and covered in acres of exquisite embroidery and bushels of glittering crystals.

And for the lucky women who end up taking home lead-actress Oscar gold, a statement-making red carpet ensemble has the potential to be fixed forever in the collective consciousness, the details of their dresses imprinted forever in our memory even while the specifics of their award-winning performances grow cloudy.

The pink taffeta Ralph Lauren gown Gwyneth Paltrow wore to the 1999 ceremony is one such dress; another is Halle Berrys burgundy Elie Saab gown with its strategic floral embroidery at the 2002 Academy Awards. And even if youve never seen the film for which she earned it, youve more than likely seen a photo of a 1988-era Cher brandishing her Oscar and thanking the Academy in a sheer, sequin-covered Bob Mackie creation. (The wins, for those of you playing along, were for Shakespeare in Love, Monsters Ball and Moonstruck, respectively.)

Advertisement

1 / 10 Oscar winning tuxedos (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times (left); Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times (center); Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times (right)) 2 / 10 Leonardo DiCaprio wears a Giorgio Armani made-to-measure black, textured-fabric, peak-lapel tuxedo at the 2016 Ascademy Awards, which puts him in good company; since 1996, 13 other lead actor winners have taken home Oscar gold in while wearing Armani. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times (left and right); Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times (center)) 3 / 10 Eddie Redmayne and Hannah Bagshawe arrive at the 2015 Academy Awards. Redmayne, who won a lead actor Oscar for The Theory of Everything, is wearing a navy-blue Alexander McQueen peak-lapel tuxedo, making him one of just five best actor winners to wear a blue hue to the winners circle since 1996. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 10 Matthew McConaughey with wife Camila Alves at the 2014 Academy Awards. His white, peak lapel Dolce & Gabbaba tuxedo jacket made him a serious sartorial standout  the only best actor winner in the last two decades to take top honors in a white tux jacket. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 10 Daniel Day-Lewis was wearing a blue, shawl-collar tuxedo by Domenico Vacca when he took home an Oscar for Lincoln. It was the second trip to the winners circle for a Domenico Vacca tuxedo, Forest Whitaker was clad in the designers wares when he won in 2007 for The Last King of Scotland. (Jason Merritt / Getty Images) 6 / 10 Jean Dujardin in Lanvin at the 2012 Academy Awards. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times; Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times (right)) 7 / 10 Colin Firth wore a black, shawl collar Tom Ford tuxedo to the 2011 Academy Awards, the year he won an Oscar for The Kings Speech.



( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Aneles Times (left); Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles (center); Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times (righ); ) 8 / 10 Billy Crystal, shown here hosting the Academy Awards for the ninth time in 2012, wore multiple made-to-measure Giorgio Armani suits over the years. Here hes wearing white tie and tails in wool and cashmere. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 10 Russell Crowe, who won the 2011 lead actor Oscar for Gladiator, collaborated with Giorgio Armani on the design of his knee-length, Edwardian-style made-to-measure tuxedo that included ornate black-on-black braiding on the cuffs and button closures. (From left, Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times, Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times, Timothy A. Clary/AFP) 10 / 10 Sean Penn was wearing Giorgio Armani for both his best actor Oscar wins, first in 2004 (for Mystic River), right, and again in 2009 (for Milk). (Mark Boster (L) and Lawrence K. Ho (R)/Los Angeles Times)

On the mens side? Not so much. Compared with the couture-level confections worn by the ladies, what the guys wear comes across as a parade of penguin-suit sameness, with differences measured in millimeters and lapel shapes and a color palette that rarely strays from the darkest shades of blue or black. Dont believe us? Try to remember what Leonardo DiCaprio was wearing when he took the stage to accept his Academy Award for The Revenant less than 365 days ago. Can you recall the color or cut of his jacket? Can you remember if he was sporting a traditional formal bow tie or a long, four-in-hand necktie? Or was he even wearing formalwear at all?

Consider it an achievement if you knew, with any reasonable degree of certainty, that DiCaprio wore a classic black tuxedo. But its highly unlikely youd remember, specifically, that it was a made-to-measure black, textured-fabric, peak-lapel tuxedo by Giorgio Armani. Now try the same thing with 2015s lead actor winner. Even if you managed to come up with the name  Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything  chances are nearly nil you remembered (without an Internet assist, anyway) that he won wearing a navy-blue Alexander McQueen tuxedo with a contrasting black peak lapel and a black bow tie.

Dial it back one more year and even if we threatened you with an endless loop of his Lincoln commercials, youd probably still be hard-pressed to form a mental image of Matthew McConaughey accepting his 2014 Academy Award for Dallas Buyers Club, much less recall the fact that he did so wearing a white Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo jacket, black waistcoat, black tuxedo trousers, white dress shirt and black bow tie.

Matthew McConaughey, in Dolce & Gabbana at the 2014 Academy Awards, is the only lead actor winner in two decades who attended the Oscars in a white tuxedo jacket. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

On the other hand, McConaugheys wardrobe choice might very well have caught your attention, especially because hes the only leading actor winner since 1996 to win while wearing a white tuxedo jacket. Thats just one of the things that came to light after taking a look back at the winners-circle wardrobe, specifically the men who took home leading actor Academy Awards between 1996 and 2016, to see what might have been missed while spilling ink and slinging pixels on the womens gowns.

And, as it turns out, the winners have a good deal more in common than winning hardware. For starters, 67% of those lead actor winners (14 in all) showed up in a classic black tuxedo the year they took home Oscar gold. Five went with shades of blue  joining Redmayne in the blue-man group were Daniel Day-Lewis (in Domenico Vacca in 2013), Jamie Foxx (wearing Ozwald Boateng in 2005), Adrien Brody (in Ermenegildo Zegna in 2003) and Denzel Washington (in Giorgio Armani in 2002). One (Day-Lewis in Paul Smith in 2008) wore a brown suit.

Over those same two decades, the black bow tie was the overwhelming (and wholly unsurprising) neckwear of choice, accessorizing 57% of lead actor winners, with just over half (52%) favoring tuxedo jackets with peak lapels (as opposed to notch lapel or shawl collar styles). And the tux shirt preferences are pretty black-and-white, as in, a whopping 85% of winners opted for a traditional white shirt, and just two shirting mavericks (Sean Penn in 2008 and Philip Seymour Hoffman in 2006) bet on black.

Eddie Redmayne in Alexander McQueen, from left, Daniel Day-Lewis in Domenico Vacca and Colin Firth in Tom Ford. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times, Jason Merritt / Getty Images, Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

And, while the provenance of the tuxedos was truly varied (Cerruti, Valentino, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Lanvin, Hugo Boss and Tom Ford were all in the mix as well as the aforementioned labels; the only tux we couldnt identify with any degree of certainty was the one worn by Hoffman in 2006), one name appeared most frequently: Giorgio Armani.

The 42-year-old Italian luxury label ended up being the tuxedo of choice for an impressive 38% of the lead actor Oscar winners since 1996. Tied for second, with two tuxes each were Cerruti (Jack Nicholson in 1998 and Anthony Hopkins in 1992) and Domenico Vacca (who, in addition to Day-Lewis threads in 2013, also provided the tuxedo Forest Whitaker wore in 2007).

In addition to DiCaprio last year, the Armani wearers include Sean Penn (who wore the label when he won in 2004 and again in 2009), Denzel Washington (2002), Russell Crowe (2001), Kevin Spacey (2000), Roberto Benigni (1999) and Geoffrey Rush (in 1997).

Additionally, in that same period, 33% of the supporting actor winners took home trophies while wearing Armani tuxedos: George Clooney (in 2006), Chris Cooper (2003), Benicio Del Toro (2001), James Coburn (1999), Robin Williams (1998), Cuba Gooding Jr. (1997) and Spacey (1996). (And dont even get us started with Billy Crystal and the multiple made-to-measure Armani outfits he wore during his nine times hosting the ceremony.)

For the superstitious sort, those crunched numbers might push a classic black Giorgio Armani tuxedo (peak lapels, worn with a white dress shirt and black bow tie) into lucky tux territory  the kind of thing future nominees should keep in mind when suiting up for the big day. The reality, of course, is much more mundane. Much like leaving a Bond film determined to order all future martinis shaken not stirred, when a guy chooses to shrug into an Armani tuxedo hes seen worn by so many winners, its building self-confidence. And that will put an actor in the wardrobe winners circle every time.

No acceptance speech necessary.

adam.tschorn@latimes.com

For more musings on all things fashion and style, follow me at @ARTschorn.

ALSO:

Glint, glimmer, green  and Kerry Washington  rule the Oscars red carpet

Uncork the burgundy! Five Fall/Winter trends straight from the NYFW runways

Political statements are on-trend on the runways of New York Fashion Week
When you hit Irenia at the right time in the afternoon, maybe late on a Saturday when the lunch rush has faded away, you may run into a couple of old guys who look as if theyve never left their table in the bar, nursing bottles of San Miguel and idly crunching their way through a bowl of dilis, tiny dried anchovies, toasty and warm from the pan. Sometimes theyll dip the fish in a bit of chile-infused vinegar; sometimes theyll pop them into their mouths unadorned.

The protocol apparently is to eat the anchovies one by one instead of tossing them back like popcorn, so that each individual fish can be savored on its own  one particularly salty, the next crunchy, the third fragile as glass. It is a way of celebrating the anchovies as once-living creatures, each with characteristics and a tiny soul of its own.

Dilis is a powerful food, both metaphorically and in its unmistakable pungency, which can water your eyes from across the room. It is by no means a rarity  dilis is among the most common Filipino snacks  but it takes on a special resonance in this Santa Ana dining room, even when you give up and dump them all onto a bowl of rice. Irenia is a modern restaurant, part of the new Filipino food movement flashing through Southern California, but I suspect that the kitchen cares as much about feeding the appetites of its grandmothers and uncles as it does about making the scene. It is not an accident that Irenia is named for the chefs grandmother.

Advertisement

Downtown Santa Ana has become one of the most unlikely culinary neighborhoods in the state, dotted with cocktail bars, tapas joints and the sprawling 4th Street Market, which includes spaces for food-business start-ups; Electric City, a butcher shop that draws some of its customers from 50 miles away; and Alta Baja, a store devoted to artisanal Mexican foods. Playground is a mainstay of The Times 101 Best Restaurants list. You are rarely more than a few steps away from a taco, a quinceanera dress or shade-grown coffee.

Irenia, tucked next to a Starbucks, is the project of Ryan Garlitos, a young chef who first made his name working alongside Carlos Salgado at the wonderful Taco Maria. It is Garlitos aim, one suspects, to do for Filipino cooking what Salgado did for Mexican food, to take apart the iconic dishes of his childhood, reconstruct them with farmers market ingredients and Western technique, and serve them within the context of a New American meal. His food isnt influenced by the Filipino palate  it is Filipino, reinterpreted and presented in a new way. In this, Garlitos shares the vision of Lasas Chad Valencia and Rice Bars Charles Olalia. If your knowledge of Filipino cooking comes from only church-carnival adobo and cheap steam-table joints, Irenia will change the way you look at the cuisine.

So sinigang, the tamarind-soured broth usually used to moisten great handfuls of rice, becomes denser and milkier when Garlitos makes it, more about the broth and the seared cubes of daikon in it than about the jolt of pure acidity. Ginataan tends to be a thick coconut-milk stew; Garlitos uses it to accent a dish of romanesco. His pancit, chewy house-made noodles garnished with citrus and snips of fried chicken skin, is served like a plate of Italian pasta, but its sour-savory flavor is straight out of Manila.

Kare kare at Irenia. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Kare kare, oxtail stewed with peanuts, is made with charred bits of cauliflower instead of the meat; broccolini is served with a squirt of pureed egg yolk, a dribble of caramel enhanced with toasted shrimp paste and a sprinkling of shaved dried bonito; and youre probably going to swish bits of the big, deep-fried turkey leg through a sweetish chicken-liver sauce that tastes a little like Filipino-style giblet gravy.

You are never far from a drop of the fish sauce patis, a smear of the fermented shrimp paste bagoong, or a squirt of calamansi lime, but there is an almost unexpected suavity here, even when charred heads of little gem lettuce are smeared with a paste made with bangus, Filipino milkfish, sweet segments of Cara Cara orange and what looks like a streusel but tastes like pure anchovy.

Dinuguan, a stew of pig innards in a super-pungent sauce made with pork blood and ground liver, is usually one of the most fearsome dishes in the Filipino arsenal, but Garlitos lightens the cocoa-dark sauce  the liver becomes no more than a fleeting hint of bitterness  and replaces the intestines and such with crisp-edged slices of roast pork shoulder. It was the most popular dish at the table.

Are the main dishes more conventional? The main dishes are always more conventional: braised beef shank with charred shishito peppers; crisp-skinned chicken thighs in a gingery sauce; or ridgeback prawns in a coconut-milk sauce that tastes almost Thai. (It is nearly impossible to pry the little prawns out of their shells  I tend to regard them as I do the shrimp in a gumbo, there more for flavor than for actual sustenance.) You would expect an adobo at a Filipino restaurant, and there it is sweet, soft pork belly braised with soy, vinegar and lots of garlic, served over what in an Indian restaurant you would call a mung bean daal.

For coffee, youre going to have to go to nearby Portola or Hopper & Burr. But you are going to want at least a slice of Irenias lovely ube brown sugar pie, which tastes a little like a Southern chess pie after a long Filipino vacation. And while youre at it, you may as well get the bouncy rice cake called bibingka, sweetened with coconut and sprinkled with deeply roasted peanuts. The coffee shops are a couple of blocks away. You need to sustain yourself for the stroll.

Irenia

LOCATION

400 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, (657) 245-3466, www.ireniarestaurant.com.

PRICES

Snacks $6-$7; small plates $10-$17; entrees $16-$19; desserts $7-$9.

DETAILS

Lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; dinner 5:30 to 10 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.; 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Credit cards accepted. Full bar. Street and nearby city lot parking.

RECOMMENDED DISHES

Dilis; charred little gem salad; dinuguan; chicken inasal; ube brown sugar pie.

jonathan.gold@latimes.com

@thejgold

MORE FROM JONATHAN GOLD

At 71Above, the view of L.A. is even prettier than the food

First Impression: China Taste, maybe the San Gabriel Valleys first Anhui-style restaurant

Jonathan Gold reviews Kobee Factory & Syrian Kitchen in Van Nuys
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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy L
The housekeeper panicked when she heard about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descending on Santa Paula.

The 40-year-old, a Mexican immigrant in the U.S. illegally, called her boss and asked for that Friday off.

When she returned Monday, another housekeeper had already taken her place.

Advertisement

The raid left the woman  who asked not to be named out of fear of being targeted  and other immigrants in the U.S. illegally struggling to separate fact from fiction in the President Trump era.

How do we know the right information? she asked. All the fear that I feel and then I find out that this is not true. We need to have the truth.

Santa Paula offers a window into the fear, uncertainty and confusion that have gripped heavily Latino immigrant communities since Trump took office. The president has vowed a big increase in deportations of those in the country illegally, but his administration has yet to provide firm details of his plan.

That has created a vacuum where rumors, social media hoaxes and neighborhood gossip can pass for facts and stir panic.

Word of the sweeps had come from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, or CHIRLA, a Los Angeles-based immigrant rights organization that said Santa Paula was one of several locations being targeted by ICE.

But Santa Paulas police chief, Steven McLean, said there were no ICE arrests in his town and criticized activists for heightening fears during anxious times.

What it did was unnecessarily cause fear in my community when they could have simply picked up the phone, he said, and called the chief of police  who happens to be Latino  and hear it from me instead of just putting out that press release that just caused all kinds of fear in the Hispanic community.

Fields stretch back in tidy rows in a town self-proclaimed as the Citrus Capital of the World. Workers, concealed among the trees, fill collection bags with lemons before dumping them into crates, their hands moving faster than the beat of the Spanish music that serves as their soundtrack.

In the town, nestled in the rich, agricultural Santa Clara River Valley, more than one mural  and a town monument  feature farmworkers. Along Main Street, Spanish and English intermingle, with business marquees.

Santa Paula is about 80% Latino and although it is unclear how many of them are immigrants without legal status, an estimated 31% of the citys population is foreign born.

Mayor Jenny Crosswhite said the city has maintained its charm and small-town feel, a place where everyone is looking out for each other.

When the CHIRLA alert began to circulate, Crosswhite fielded phone calls, emails and texts from community members questioning whether it was true.

The night after the release went out, a mother called the Santa Paula Police Department saying she had seen on social media that immigration officers were at the Boys & Girls Club.

The following week, a college student told the police chief he had heard that ICE was at the Department of Motor Vehicles. (It turned out they were local police officers).

Javier Herrera picks lemons in the orchards of Santa Paula. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

People were definitely at a level of heightened anxiety, Crosswhite said. But it feels like everything is at a certain level of heightened anxiety  not just around this particular issue.

Inside Melissas Beauty Salon, customers and staff were well aware of rumored ICE sweeps. Fear had settled in the area when Trump came into office, they said, and word of raids only increased it.

People dont want to come out anymore, said Bertha Cortes, the salon owner. The weekend after the CHIRLA alert circulated, the normally full laundromat nearby was empty, Cortes said.

Vanessa Bugarin, a beneficiary of the Obama administrations immigration relief program  Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, better known as DACA  said her parents are in the country illegally. The 18-year-old said that after the alert went out, her family had a conversation about what to do if immigration officers came to the door.

This is a community of people who are immigrant workers, Bugarin said from her seat in the salon. Its logical with the president that we have and the circumstances that were going through that people fall into that category of fear when you hear those kinds of things circulating. Its kind of a self-protection kind of thing.

Some community organizers have taken upon themselves to fact-check the rumors.

Laura Espinosa, one of the founding members of the citys Latino Town Hall and the Ventura County district director for the League of United Latin American Citizens, said that when the ICE rumors started, she talked to McLean, the police chief. He told her that local police had not been notified of any ICE sweep.

In normal times, law enforcement would be notified. These are not normal times in our minds, Espinosa added. Were not taking everything at face value. We really want to substantiate reports  official and nonofficial.

Espinosa gathered with a handful of Latino organizers in the community on a recent weekday outside Casa del Mexicano, which was established years ago with the intention of providing a safe haven for newly arrived immigrants.

Groups within the county are in contact and holding know-your-rights workshops, as well as considering creating a text based messaging system that could get out information on resources and that could possibly dispel false rumors.

For advocates at CHIRLA, any mistake made in putting out the alert  which went viral  had to be weighed against what they called a dramatically heightened risk of mass deportations because of Trump administration policies.

We trust our attorneys, we trust their information and had we been advised by ICE early on of where exactly they were conducting their operations, I dont think that we would have had to do any type of guesswork, said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for the organization. I think we are quite responsible and I stand by what we wrote originally. Whether or not we were off by a few cities, Im not apologizing about that at all.

Although there was a five-day enforcement operation that occurred the week that CHIRLA put out its alert, spanning Feb. 6-10, arrests were made in Oxnard, Ventura and Camarillo  not Santa Paula, according to federal immigration officials.

This week, the White House lifted nearly all restrictions on removing 11 million people in the U.S. illegally, marking a vast expansion of the federal governments deportation priorities.

That has given an added layer of credibility to fast-spreading digital messages about deportations, sweeps and checkpoints  whether they turn out to be true or not.

You can tell them that you need better mechanisms to pay attention to fear and not panic, said Manuel Pastor, director of USCs Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. But theres every reason  if 8 of 11 million people are threatened by new enforcement priorities  to think thats a threat.

Jesus Rodriguez, right, joins friends in Veterans Memorial Park in Santa Paula on Feb. 14. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

On Valentines Day, six men gathered at Veterans Memorial Park, where the retired Santa Paula residents typically meet each day.

They shared what they had heard about ICE, including a rumor about arrests in a restaurant in nearby Fillmore.

I heard they took 17 people, one man said to the others, one of whom had Mexican and American flags attached to the back of his motorized wheelchair.

I dont think thats true, Jesus Rodriguez, 73, responded from his perch on a bench.

Restaurant staff told The Times that ICE did not make any arrests there.

But with all the things going on in the country, Rodriguez said, its hard to tell what is fact or fiction  or something in between.

You only hear things, he said. But you never know if theyre telling the truth or theyre telling lies.

Times staff writer Sandra Poindexter contributed to this report.

For more California news, follow @brittny_mejia

ALSO

More than 50 detained in immigration raids at Asian restaurants in Mississippi

One comment from Trump shows his administrations message on immigration has been muddled

Federal agents in Texas move hospitalized Salvadoran woman awaiting emergency surgery to a detention facility
A state Parole Board on Thursday recommended release from prison for Jesus Cecena, who was convicted of murdering San Diego Police Officer Archie Buggs during a traffic stop more than three decades ago.

The decision marks the third time since 2014 that a Parole Board has cleared the way for Cecena to be released. Twice before, in 2014 and 2015, that decision was subsequently overturned by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Now Brown will have to again decide if it is time for Cecena, who was 17 at the time of the shooting and is now a graying 55-year-old man with bad knees, should get out of prison.

Advertisement

The decision came after a four-hour hearing in a windowless room inside the Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, where Cecena is an inmate. It is also likely to spur an outcry from law enforcement organizations  just as it did in 2014 and 2015 when the board acted similarly, and those groups called on Brown to overturn the decision.

ALSO

Brown denies parole for killer of San Diego police officer in 1978

L.A. police, investigating child sexual abuse case going back to 1998, ask victims to step forward

How an off-duty cop telling teens to stay out of his yard escalated to gunfire, protests and outrage
Al-Azhar and the Vatican have agreed to work together to combat terrorism and extremism after a two-day seminar on the topic in Cairo.

The gathering, which concluded on Thursday, came up with a number of recommendations, including fostering dialogue between the two institutions and tackling causes of extremism and violence which include poverty, illiteracy and misinterpretation of religious discourse, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported.

The meeting also urged concerted cooperation from the international community to "counter violent and extremist groupseliminate hatred and hostility towards religions and the denigrating of religious figuresused as a false excuse for violent acts."

The talks, held at Al-Azhar headquarters, were attended by a number of Al-Azhar scholars including the head of Al-Azhar's Dialogue Centre, Mahmoud Hamdy Zakzouk. The Vatican was represented by the head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran.

Dialogue between the 1,000-year-old Islamic institution and the Vatican was frozen six years ago when Al-Azhar cut contacts over what it said were insults of Islam. This came after a denunciation by former Pope Benedict of a bomb attack outside a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria on 2011 New Year's Eve, which killed 23 worshippers.

In May 2016, relations between the top religious institutes began to improve when Pope Francis met with the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The man who smashed President Trumps Hollywood Walk of Fame star with a sledgehammer and pickax last year wont be auctioning off the brass pieces as he had hoped. Instead, hes returned the metal bits to police, his attorney said.

After destroying the star, James Otis took the TV emblem at its center, as well as some of the letters in Trumps name and a small piece of the star. Otis said he planned to auction the pieces off to raise cash for women who had accused Trump of assault, as well as a college organization that works to end sexual violence on campuses.

Earlier this week, however, attorney Mieke ter Poorten told The Times that her 53-year-old client had returned the bronze medallions to authorities because auctioning them would be against the law.

Advertisement

On Tuesday, the Beverly Hills resident pleaded no contest to one count of felony vandalism following the Oct. 26, 2016, incident.

In a hearing in Los Angeles, Otis was sentenced to three years formal probation and 20 days of work with the California Department of Transportation, according to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.

He also was ordered to pay $3,700 to the Hollywood Historic Trust and $700 to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for the damage.

He regrets the destruction of private property, ter Poorten said.

However the attorney said Otis still disdains Trump and wonders Why cant he take responsibility for the consequences for his actions?

Otis attack on Trumps star was caught on video and showed him hacking away at the pavement.

Otis, who talked to The Times about his actions, said he spent weeks planning the nonviolent action.

He said he was stunned by Trumps attitude toward women.

I just sort of had enough with Mr. Trumps aggressive language toward women and his behavior, his sexual violence with women and against women, Otis said. Ive had personally in my own family four people who have been assaulted or have had sexual violence happen to them. It all became very personal.

Trump has called such accusations false.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA
Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz has lodged a complaint with state regulators accusing his opponent of violating a state law that prohibits candidates from working with campaign groups that can take in unlimited campaign contributions.

Koretz called this week for the states Fair Political Practices Commission to shut down the Committee To Protect Our Neighborhoods, which has been sending mailers hitting him over traffic congestion and campaign donations.

Under state law, the Committee To Protect Our Neighborhoods must be run separately from the campaign of attorney Jesse Creed, who is looking to unseat Koretz in the March 7 election. But Koretz contends that the committee is not truly independent because Creeds aunt is one of its biggest financial backers.

Advertisement

Its troubling because shes clearly very close to the family, and it certainly raises the prospect, and the likelihood, of coordination with Creeds council campaign, said Koretz, who represents neighborhoods stretching from the Westside to Encino.

Creeds aunt, Donna Optican, did not respond to a call seeking comment. But Creed said he has not been involved with the committee and learned of it, and his aunts involvement, only after its activities were revealed on the Ethics Commission website.

In an interview, he accused Koretz of attempting to distract voters from his criticism of a different independent expenditure group, the Progressive Growth PAC, which has spent nearly $23,000 promoting Koretz.

Progressive Growth PAC is heavily funded by companies affiliated with the developer of the Reef, a $1.2-billion high-rise complex approved by Koretz and his colleagues in November. That project, planned in South L.A, was opposed by residents who fear it will gentrify the neighborhood and result in displacement of low-income renters.

One principal in the Progressive Growth PAC is City Hall lobbyist John Ek, who received an $11,000 fine from the Ethics Commission this week. Ek was penalized for inviting council members and others to a lavish rooftop birthday party, in violation of gift rules.

These are the people that Koretz deals with, Creed said. These are the insiders.

Koretz did not attend the Ek birthday party. He said he knew little about the Reef, since it is in a district represented by Councilman Curren Price.

Im told that the Reef was controversial to some degree, but I dont know these guys, Koretz said in an interview. I wouldnt know them if I saw them on the street. I couldnt be less connected or knowledgeable about their project.

L.A.s contribution limits prohibit donors from giving more than $700 to each council candidate during an election cycle. Independent expenditure committees, like the ones being debated by Creed and Koretz, can receive contributions of any size as long as they do not coordinate their activities with a particular candidate.

FPPC spokesman Jay Wierenga confirmed that his office has received a complaint about the anti-Koretz group.

Agency regulations state that a candidate is presumed to be illegally coordinating with an independent expenditure group if that group is principally funded by an immediate family member. However, the states Political Reform Act defines an immediate family member as a spouse, domestic partner or child.

Wierenga declined to discuss the specifics of the complaint filed by Koretz. But he told The Times that in general, if an extended family member of a candidate donates heavily to an independent expenditure committee that favors that candidate, the FPPC might open an investigation.

Chris Chaffee, who identified himself as an officer with the Committee to Protect Our Neighborhoods, said Creeds aunt lives in Koretzs district and is not the biggest donor to the group.

The Committee To Protect Our Neighborhoods has many donors who want to move the city in a new direction, Chaffee wrote in an email. One of those donors happens to be an aunt of another candidate in this race.

Times staff writers Dakota Smith and Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

Twitter: @DavidZahniser
Los Angeles top elected officials are urging federal authorities to stop the practice of immigration officers identifying themselves as police in their search for people living in the country illegally.

Citing a practice disclosed this week in The Times, Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Atty. Mike Feuer and City Council President Herb Wesson cosigned a letter to the directors of the immigration services to urge in the strongest possible terms that ICE immediately cease this practice in our city.

The letter said the practice undermines decades of work by the Los Angeles Police Department to build trust within the citys large immigrant community so that those in the country illegally can report crimes and offer information to police without fear of deportation.

Advertisement

Since the late 1970s, the LAPD has followed a policy prohibiting officers from initiating contact with anyone for the purpose of learning that persons immigration status.

In response to a Times inquiry about the letter, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice issued a statement saying ICE agents can, as a standard practice  initially identify themselves as police during an encounter because it is the universally recognized term for law enforcement and our personnel routinely interact with individuals from around the world.

In the often dangerous law enforcement arena, agents identifying themselves as law enforcement could be a life-or-death issue, the statement added.

However, Kice said, ICE-issued uniforms and jackets also display the word ICE to indicate the specific law enforcement agency.

The letter was sent to the directors of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Enforcement and Removal Operations division of ICE and copied to Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly.

The Times story, which was published online Tuesday, described a video showing an ICE officer knocking on a door and identifying himself as a police officer conducting an investigation.

The video has reignited long-simmering objections from immigrant rights attorneys and advocates who say the scene illustrates ruses ICE agents have used for years, portraying themselves as officers from local police departments to ensnare people or fool them into revealing the whereabouts of family members.

There is nothing illegal about ICE agents simply identifying themselves as police officers while standing outside someones front door. However, without a warrant, they cannot force their way into someones home; instead, they must receive consent from an adult to enter.

Feuer said the letter did not argue that the practice is illegal.

At this point, this is a request grounded on the public safety implications of misrepresentation as police, Feuer said.

There is no question that in the city of Los Angeles, the word police means LAPD, he said.

doug.smith@latimes.com

@LATDoug

ALSO

U.S. Border Patrol accuses detained L.A. DACA recipient of immigrant smuggling

Gov. Jerry Brown on Measure S: It goes too far

How did officials so badly miscalculate the flooding that ravaged San Jose?
An employee fatally shot a man early Friday morning around 2:50 a.m. at Sugary Donuts in Lancaster, authorities said.

Two people were being detained but no one had been arrested as of about 7:30 a.m., said Lt. Harold Morrow of the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department Lancaster station. They are both employees at the doughnut shop, he said.

The victim has not been identified further, Morrow said. The departments homicide bureau is investigating the incident.

Advertisement

Investigators are unsure whether the man who was shot was a customer, or whether there was a crime in progress, Morrow said.
A Northern California raid ostensibly targeting violent gang members triggered a dispute Thursday, with Santa Cruzs police chief angrily accusing the Homeland Security Department of turning it into a secret immigration sweep.

Chief Kevin Vogel accused Homeland Security officials of lying about the scope of the raids conducted jointly between his department and federal agents this month aimed at apprehending MS-13 gang members.

The Department of Homeland Security, unbeknownst to us at the Santa Cruz Police Department, had acted outside the scope of this operation and had detained and removed a number of individuals from locations based upon their immigration status, Vogel said at a news conference. The community has an absolute right to be angry over this. This has violated the trust of the community, and we cannot tell you how disappointed we are by the betrayal of the Department of Homeland Security.

Advertisement

Federal officials denied that they acted to deceive local authorities, and said police knew others besides the gang members would be held briefly to ascertain their identities and histories. The department said it detained 10 gang members and 11 others for immigration violations. All but one of those detained for the immigration violations were released, federal officials said.

The controversy comes as tensions over immigration policy under the Trump administration have increased, with many civil rights advocates asserting that federal agents are more emboldened in their actions.

In a statement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman James Schwab said that a multiagency operation conducted on Feb. 13 served warrants at 11 locations in Santa Cruz, Daly City and Watsonville as part of an operation to arrest members of the MS-13 criminal organization.

In addition, Schwab said, 11 people in the U.S. illegally were detained for immigration violations because of their association with the suspected gang members. Schwab said the one person still being held had a criminal history and possible ties to the ongoing criminal investigation.

We worked closely with the Santa Cruz Police Department over the last five years on this case, Schwab said. Allegations that the agency secretly planned an immigration enforcement action in hopes there would be new political leadership that would allow for an alleged secret operation to take place are completely false, reckless and disturbing.

Schwab said the special agent in charge of the operation notified the police chief that any non-targeted foreign nationals at the raid locations would be held briefly to determine their identities and histories, and it was agreed none would be brought to the police facility or placed in police cars.

Ryan L. Spradlin, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent in charge in San Francisco, added in a statement: Its unfortunate when politics get intertwined with a well planned and executed public safety operation. When politics undermine law and order, the only winners are the criminals.

The 10 suspected MS-13 gang members detained were responsible for at least four murders, authorities said.

At his news conference, Vogel said he had been repeatedly assured the raids would target only violent gang members under indictment after a five-year investigation.

Santa Cruz designated itself a sanctuary city more than three decades ago, initially as a refuge for undocumented people fleeing violence in Central America. Under the designation, city officials dont use immigration status for law enforcement actions.

Vogel said the department first learned of a possible immigration sweep on Feb. 14 from residents at a City Council meeting. He said immigration officials eventually admitted that some detentions were made based on immigration status.

Santa Cruz Mayor Cynthia Chase said the action by federal authorities was disturbing and a violation of the citys sanctuary status.

We understand and recognize the anger and fear that are circulating throughout the community, Chase said.

Jennie Pasquarella, a senior staff attorney and director of the immigrants rights project at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the complaints levied by Santa Cruz police were emblematic of the increasingly aggressive stance taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since President Trumps most recent executive orders.

ICE is completely unhinged from any of the prior policies that governed their enforcement actions, Pasquarella said. Theyre going after everybody that they find including collateral arrests. It signals a dramatic shift in the way that ICE is doing their work.

richard.winton@latimes.com | Twitter: @lacrimes

james.queally@latimes.com | Twitter: @jamesqueallyLAT

ALSO

U.S. Border Patrol accuses detained L.A. DACA recipient of immigrant smuggling

More than 50 detained in immigration raids at Asian restaurants in Mississippi

This is how Trumps expanded deportation policy is being felt across the U.S.
University of California regents unanimously approved a new chancellor for UC Davis on Thursday, tapping a Georgia Tech dean who is widely praised for his engineering brilliance, administrative skills and effective advocacy for underrepresented minority students.

Gary May, a UC Berkeley alumnus who heads Georgia Techs College of Engineering, will be the 10-campus UC systems only African American chancellor.

May replaces Linda Katehi, who resigned last year after a UC investigation into allegations of conflicts of interest found that she violated multiple university policies and misled her superiors, the public and the media.

Advertisement

UC President Janet Napolitano told regents that May is dynamic and accomplished  with an out-of-this world quality: Hes a Trekkie who wrote that his leadership style is inspired by Star Trek Commander James T. Kirks ability to be both decisive and collaborative in leading his crew to go where no one has gone before.

Gary May is the right person to lead UC Davis into the next galaxy, Napolitano said at the meeting at UCLA.

In remarks after the vote, May said he was excited by UC Davis focus on sustainability, diversity, upward mobility and social good.

These are all concepts and attributes that really spoke to my own spirit, he said.

May, who was selected from an initial pool of more than 500 potential candidates, offers the campus of 35,000 students outside Sacramento a fresh start after the long-running Katehi turmoil. Search committee members said Mays warm personality and ability to connect with people would help the community move forward.

Weve had some rough times in the last year, and many people on campus will look very much forward to seeing Gary May move to campus, said Rachael Goodhue, a search committee member and chair of the agricultural and resource economics department.

May, 52, is a St. Louis native and son of a postal clerk and public school teacher who always emphasized education  his father gave him $1 for each A, he said.

His early interest in science, technology, engineering and math was sparked by Star Trek, Lego and Erector sets, comic books and science fiction. He received his bachelors in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1985 and his masters and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley in 1988 and 1991, respectively.

He often found, however, that he was one of just a handful of African Americans in his college STEM classes.

It was very jarring to me, he said in remarks after the meeting. I always wondered why that was true. As time went on, I became interested in what I could do to make a difference there and to increase the number.

May, who has spent three decades at Georgia Tech, leads more than 400 faculty members and 13,000 students in that universitys College of Engineering  which graduates more engineers than any other college in the United States.

He has paid special attention to boosting the number of underrepresented minorities in the STEM fields. With National Science Foundation grants, May created research programs that increased the number of underrepresented minorities pursuing masters and doctorates in science and engineering. The efforts prompted President Obama to award May the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2015.

Those diversity efforts were a key attraction for UC, as more than 40% of its students today are low income and the first in their families to attend college.

May will take the helm on Aug. 1 from interim Chancellor Ralph Hexter.

The new chancellor will earn a base salary of $420,000  $4,000 less than Katehis current pay  and another $75,000 annually from a privately funded endowed chair.

May is married to LeShelle R. May, a CNN senior manager of software development whom he met while both tutored inner-city high school students in Atlanta. They have two daughters, Simone and Jordan.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

Twitter: @teresawatanabe
Fritz Koenig, a German sculptor whose work The Sphere became a symbol of resilience after the 9/11 attacks in New York, has died. He was 92.

Koenig, a well-known artist thanks to his distinctive large statues and sculptures, created the ball-shaped bronze over a four-year period starting in 1967.

Originally called Grosse Kugelkaryatide N.Y., the 25-foot-high sculpture stood at the foot of the World Trade Center from 1971 until Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda hijackers flew airliners into the twin towers.

Advertisement

It was recovered from the rubble  heavily dented but structurally intact  and was moved to Battery Park, where it now stands alongside an eternal flame dedicated to the people who died in the attack. A plaque notes that the sculpture was conceived as a symbol of world peace.

The Sphere days after the terror attacks at the World Trade Center. (Ted Warren / AP)

Koenig said it was a miracle that The Sphere had survived, noting at the time: It was a sculpture; now its a memorial.

The artist was born in the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg in 1924. After serving in the German army during World War II, Koenig studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Art. He participated in the 1958 Venice Biennale and had his first show in the United States at New Yorks Staempfli Gallery in 1961.

After the 1972 attack on the Munich Olympics, Koenig created a granite beam to commemorate the 11 Israeli team members and a German police officer who were killed. Another of his works stands prominently as a memorial to the people murdered by the Nazis at the former Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria.

Many of his pieces can be found at the Sculpture Museum in Landsberg .

The dpa news agency reported that Koenig died late Wednesday at his home in Altdorf, northeast of Munich. His death was confirmed Thursday by Bavaria states Ministry of Culture.
When Herbert Fink set up shop on Rodeo Drive, it was an unremarkable side street dotted with filling stations, a hardware shop, a few old bungalows and an aging Brown Derby restaurant.

He stocked his tables with labels that were foreign to many in the city  Dolce & Gabbana, Issey Miyake, Sonia Rykiel  and piled vibrant T-shirts, scarves and tops on the shelves until they spilled out like candy.

His retail neighbors were Fred Hayman, Dick Caroll and Jerry Magnin, and together their impossibly hip boutiques formed the bedrock of what would become one of Americas great fashion destinations.

Advertisement

Fink, whose family closed the last of his Theodore boutiques two years ago, died Feb. 18 at his home in Bel-Air. He was 93.

By 1990, there were nine Theodore boutiques in Southern California, stretching from Woodland Hills to Newport Beach. But the shop on Rodeo remained the flagship until Fink  just like the other independent boutique owners before him  realized he had helped make the street so desirable that only retailers with the deepest corporate pockets could afford the sky-high rents.

So in 2008, Fink packed up and moved the boutique a few blocks south.

Its all Pucci-Gucci. It got too expensive, he told The Times in 2008. Its too corporate.

Born April 21, 1923, in Los Angeles, Fink grew up in the Crenshaw district. His father ran a string of shops that sold low-cost womens clothing and by the time he was 13, Fink went to work at one of the stores, though his adolescent career fizzled quickly when he tried to help form a union to push for higher pay.

My father picked me up by the seat of my pants and threw me out in the alley and told me never to come back again, Fink recalled during a 2004 interview with Los Angeles Magazine.

In 2008, Herbie Finks Theodore became the last independent boutique to leave Rodeo Drive. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Finks fashion epiphany didnt arrive until years later when he was in Saint-Tropez on a buying mission for a shop he ran in Reseda, Country Club Fashions. Sitting at a cafe, he watched as people lounged on a yacht moored offshore and then followed some of them when they came ashore, wandering in and out of the boutiques.

They threw T-shirts over their arms, boom, boom, boom, he said of one group of women he had tailed. I thought, Im going into the T-shirt business. 

With his wife, Norma, he opened Theodore in 1969, doing his utmost to make the shop resemble the yacht hed seen off the French Riviera, light and airy with canvas trimmings over the changing rooms. He brought in French labels  leaning toward designers comfortably under the age of 30  and offered what he considered an elite casual look, something that a woman who hung out at the beach yet drove a Maserati might wear.

In his view the boutique was not just a place for shopping, it was a scene, it was an environment to inhabit.

Shopping is a private thing, he explained to The Times in 1990. Its like going to your psychiatrist.

He had a fondness for T-shirts, an unappreciated commodity he thought could be elevated into a fashion piece worthy of a resort. When a young designer showed him a T-shirt shed studded with rhinestones and embroidered with flowers, Fink bought 50 and sold them in a weekend. He ordered 500 more and when those sold quickly, he asked for an exclusive contract. She balked, so he placed an order so large she couldnt possibly work for anyone else.

The best way to prevent her from selling to anyone else was to make her too busy, he explained.

On another buying mission to Saint-Tropez, Fink said he saw a man relaxing in a hammock, wearing an oddly patterned pair of pants. He introduced himself and went back to the mans shop, where he showed Fink how he twisted and knotted up clothing and soaked them in tubs in dye. Whether true or not, Fink boasted that the chance meeting was the beginning of the tie-dye T-shirt craze.

All three of his children worked in the business, running shops or acting as buyers. It was a memorable time, his daughter Leslie Le Tellier recalled in 2008.

My parents were so avant-garde it was embarrassing, she said. My mom wore Rudi Gernreich clashing dresses and skin-tight stretch jeans before they existed, with huge bouffant hair. Dad wore Nehru jackets and blow-dried his hair, for Gods sake.

Fink was a character who had a practiced shtick, a Jewish guy who told colorful stories and delivered his lines with deadpan humor and a certain bluntness, his granddaughter Alexandra Le Tellier said. He had his favorite tables at his favorite restaurants and always ordered the same dish so that he didnt have to waste time prowling over the menu.

In 1972, Fink and other retailers on the street formed the Rodeo Drive Committee to help draw attention  and to preserve  the independent boutiques on the rapidly gentrifying three-block stretch of Rodeo. The committee helped make Rodeo a center of the fashion universe, a street that drew both celebrities and fashionistas. Success, though, came with a price.

I joined so that Rodeo wouldnt become what it became, Fink said. I wanted it to remain special.

When he closed shop and moved in 2008, he was neither melancholy nor angry, simply resigned to the fact that the chains had become an occupying force on Rodeo that left little oxygen for merchants like him. Im sure the time will come when I miss it, he said before leaving.

Fink remained involved with Theodore well into his 80s, dropping by to check up on business, look over merchandise, visit with employees.

What am I going to do? he said, shrugging, when asked in 2004 if hed ever retire. Go fishing?

Fink is survived by his wife; daughters Leslie Le Tellier, Tracy Fink and Lisa Davis; and four grandchildren.

steve.marble@latimes.com

twitter.com/stephenmarble
The first call came Wednesday morning: Federal agents were raiding a Chinese buffet in the city of Pearl. Before long, word spread across Mississippi immigrant communities that agents were targeting a Hibachi grill in nearby Flowood and a sushi restaurant nearly 100 miles away in Meridian.

We told people we dont know whats going on, said Bill Chandler, executive director of the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance in Jackson. The best thing to do is to go home.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 55 people Wednesday on what were described as immigration-related charges as they executed criminal search warrants at a string of Asian restaurants in central Mississippi.

Advertisement

As the news rippled across close-knit immigrant communities, activists said that owners of restaurants and stores hurriedly closed their doors and workers left construction sites.

Right now, the paranoia and sense of fear is overwhelming, said Ramiro Orozco, an immigration attorney based in Jackson. All the raids and the rhetoric coming from the new administration have created so much anxiety. Were getting to the point that people are pulling their children out of school, theyre not going to work.

This weeks searches at eight restaurants were the result of a multi-year criminal investigation by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, according to ICE spokesman Thomas Byrd. He declined to provide any details on the warrants, saying the agency was still in the process of investigation.

Any potential charges against the restaurant owners would be brought by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Mississippi in Jackson, Byrd said. A spokesman for that office declined to comment.

Even if the detentions were the result of an investigation that predated the Trump administration, immigrant advocates questioned the timing and the nature of ICEs searches, saying they had exacerbated fear across the community and raised concerns about lack of due process.

Last week, ICE agents in Mississippi detained an Argentine father and son outside their Jackson home as they left for work. Another family member, Daniela Vargas, 21, who moved to the U.S. when she was 7 and has been protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, barricaded herself in a closet as agents broke into the house.

Shes now in hiding, Chandler said. Theres fear all across the country, but in Mississippi, its more acute because of the states long history of racism.

Already, Orozco said, his firm had received a call from a womens shelter about a domestic-violence victim who was too afraid to press charges because she feared she would be taken into custody for overstaying her visa.

The lack of information coming out of federal agencies is really feeding the fear and feeling of xenophobia, Orozco said. Everyone, even immigration attorneys, is trying to determine what the presidential policy is going to be.

Jarvie is a special correspondent.

ALSO

Los Angeles officials urge ICE agents to stop identifying themselves as police

As Trump immigration crackdown comes into focus, anxiety grows along with anger

U.S. Border Patrol accuses detained L.A. DACA recipient of immigrant smuggling
It was standing room only at the First Unitarian Church.

The choir belted out the African American spiritual Down by the Riverside, and Dee Galloway, a local poet, took the floor.



For the record: An earlier version of this article referred to the American Unitarian Assn. as the American Unitarian Society.

Are you a social justice warrior? she shouted.

Yes! came the response.

Then stand up! You cant be a warrior sitting down!

The audience rose to its feet and began clapping.

Outside, volunteers kept watch on the building and the front door. The police had been by earlier to offer security tips.

This was no ordinary Sunday. For the second time in almost three years, First Unitarian found itself in the national spotlight for offering sanctuary to an undocumented immigrant facing deportation.

Advertisement

The church has been a bastion of liberal thinking since its founding in 1871, opening its doors to the homeless, working for racial equality and caring for destitute families. Members sometimes call themselves aggressive progressives, eager to put their faith into action.

They got that chance in 2014 when Arturo Hernandez Garcia spent nine months in the church basement to avoid deportation to Mexico. He left after receiving a letter from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement saying his case was not a priority.

Last week, Jeanette Vizguerra, 45, a mother of four, skipped an appointment with an immigration officer and sought sanctuary at First Unitarian. Within hours she and the church were the subject of worldwide media attention.

Her case has taken on a new urgency following plans announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to dramatically increase deportations of unauthorized immigrants, focusing on those with criminal records of any sort. The Obama administration had focused primarily on felons who posed a threat to public safety.

This month, a Phoenix woman with a felony charge for using fake papers to get a job was deported after meeting with federal officers for a scheduled check-in.

Vizguerra has two misdemeanors: one for presenting false documents to police after a traffic stop for expired tags, and another for entering the country illegally after returning from her mothers funeral in Mexico.

In a country that respects the rule of law, the punishment should fit the crime, said the pastor, Michael Morran. A misdemeanor is community service or probation, but their punishment is to rip her away from her children and community, which is morally obscene.

When First Unitarian began exploring the idea of protecting undocumented immigrants three years ago, debates erupted among the 430 members. There were questions of legal responsibility, zoning, building codes and security.

Legal experts were called in. Finally, the church decided to let each side argue its case and then hold a vote.

We didnt realize how many supporters we had until we saw them all lining up to speak, said Kat Parker, a member of the church sanctuary committee. We ended up with more than 70% of the votes.

After taking in Garcia, the congregation discovered how fiendishly complex the immigration system could be.

Arturo living here profoundly changed us, Morran said. We were appalled by what we learned. We have created an impossible immigration system that puts people in impossible situations, and then we berate them for being in that impossible situation.

Since First Unitarian began sheltering Vizguerra, it has received $9,000 in donations, and the Metro Denver Sanctuary Coalition, which works with the church, took in $4,000.

Robert Raak, 55, came through the front door the other day and handed a church member $50.

All this talk about mass deportations is pretty scary. But if we dont take action, who will?  Robert Raak

This is the first time I have ever done this, he said. All this talk about mass deportations is pretty scary. But if we dont take action, who will?

Fear of President Trumps policies and a desire to resist them has sparked a surge of interest in progressive congregations.

The Rev. Wayne Laws, social justice minister for Mountain View United Church of Christ in the Denver suburb of Aurora, said his quarterly vigils outside a federal immigration detention center usually drew 20 or 30 people but recently had 150.

First Unitarian saw 45 people join the church in the last six weeks, a significant jump from the usual handful each month.

Meanwhile, 33-year-old Ingrid Encalada Latorre of Peru, who is also facing deportation, has been in sanctuary at the Mountain View Friends Meeting House, a Quaker church in Denver, since November.

There have always been people who were sympathetic to our cause, but now they are actually doing something, said Dan Moen, a Unitarian sanctuary coordinator.

The Unitarians have a long history of activism. They fought slavery, and several members were killed during civil rights protests in the 1960s. In 1971, Beacon Press, founded by the American Unitarian Assn., published the Pentagon Papers  detailing deceptions over the U.S. role in the Vietnam War  in book form.

People associate us with causes that protect the most vulnerable, said the Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Unitarian Universalist Assn., which is headquartered in Boston and doesnt adhere to a specific belief system but rather core principles of justice, equity and compassion.

He said church attendance had increased since Trumps election, and he was getting calls every day from congregations looking to offer sanctuary.

If that makes him or his church a political target, so be it, he said: If the most reactionary, hateful elements of our society see me as an enemy, I consider that an honor.

Back at First Unitarian, Vizguerra spends her days padding around and taking calls from journalists and activists from around the world.

She left Mexico with her husband in 1997, found work as a janitor and later opened a cleaning business. Three of her children were born in the U.S. and the fourth, who was born in Mexico and crossed the border with his parents, is in the country legally under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

As the years went by, Vizguerra began organizing and helping other immigrants. In 2012, she and a Quaker group co-founded the Denver Sanctuary Coalition.

But she never thought shed need it herself.

I want to confront this openly where everyone knows what is happening, she said in Spanish. I dont want to leave here and go into hiding.

Critics have attacked her poor English and say falsifying a Social Security card makes her a criminal. Threats have been made against the church, causing it to increase security.

I paid my taxes for 20 years, unlike Trump, she said. Look at his character. He insults women, he insults Mexicans, he insults everyone. Who has the better moral character?

A few hours later, about 200 demonstrators appeared outside the church and began chanting.

Jeanette belongs here! Jeanette belongs here!

Vizguerra came out. Someone draped an American flag over her shoulder. She hugged her 12-year-old daughter, Luna.

Kelly is a special correspondent.

ALSO

Did a Mexican migrant leap to his death at the border minutes after deportation?

As Trump immigration crackdown comes into focus, anxiety grows along with anger

Escondido family is separated after mother deported to Mexico

Dreamer in Washington state still faces deportation as attorneys accuse immigration agents of deception
Egypt is increasing fees for entry visas from $25 to $60 for incoming tourists starting 1 March, an airport official told Ahram Online on Friday.

The foreign ministry informed airport security officials about the fee increase earlier this week, the official, who requested not to be named, added.

Egypt last pushed up the fee for its visa in April 2014, when it was increased from $15 to $25.

Several tour operators have said that the decision would cause problems for tourists who booked trips based on the old rate.

Some in the tourism sector say the decision should have been announced several months beforehand, expressing fears that the move might affect the country's efforts to revive tourism, a pillar of the economy and a key source of foreign currency.

Egypt has struggled to attract tourists pushed away by the political turmoil that followed the 2011 uprising.

The countrys revenues from tourism dropped to $3.4 billion in 2016, a 44.3 percent decline from the previous year, the Central Bank of Egypt said in January. The figure is a far cry from the $11 billion in revenues generated by the sector in 2010, when 14.7 million tourists visited the country.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Lawyers for the government and a U.S. Border Patrol officer urged the Supreme Court this week to rule that the family of an unarmed Mexican teenager who was shot to death by the officer cant seek damages in a U.S. court because the boy was on the Mexican side of the border.

The court must reject that argument. It can do so without making the provisions of the U.S. Constitution applicable to non-citizens worldwide, a scenario that seemed to worry some of the justices at oral argument in the case on Tuesday.

The facts of the case are horrifying. In June 2010, Sergio Hernandez, 15, was playing with three friends in the concrete culvert between El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico. At least some of the boys ran up the culvert and touched a fence on the U.S. side. They turned to run back to Mexican soil when Officer Jesus Mesa Jr. approached the area on a bicycle. Mesa fired three shots at Sergio, who was hiding behind a pillar on Mexican territory, and killed him.

Advertisement

U.S. officials declined to prosecute Mesa and refused to extradite him for prosecution in Mexico. Seeking at least some form of redress for what they saw as an unprovoked shooting, the boys family filed a civil damages suit in federal court, alleging violations of the 4th Amendment, which bans unreasonable seizures and the use of excessive force as well the 5th Amendment, which says no person shall be deprived of life or liberty ... without due process of law.

The key issue for the Supreme Court this week was whether a constitutional claim could even be made on behalf of a non-U.S. citizen who died outside this country. One precedent suggests that it cannot: In 1990 the court held that the 4th Amendments ban on unreasonable searches and seizures didnt apply to the search of a Mexican drug suspects residence in Mexico.

If Sergios family could argue that his killing violated the Constitution, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wondered, why couldnt a similar claim be made by the victim of a drone strike guided from Nevada? But Robert Hilliard, the lawyer for Sergios family, contended that the court could decide this case using a much narrower test: that the Constitution applies when the action of a border control officer took place on U.S. soil and the resulting injury occurred in close proximity.

Hilliard also cited a case in which the court did apply the provisions of the U.S. Constitution outside the borders of the U.S.: a 2008 decision in which it said that non-U.S. citizen prisoners at Guantanamo could challenge the constitutionality of their confinement. In that case, the court employed a functional approach rather than fixating on national borders. The court should adopt a similar approach in this case, and give Sergios family the day in court they deserve.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
Liberals arent welcoming enough to Trump voters, or so the headlines say. Every week theres another batch of think pieces scolding Democrats and leftists for being mean to folks who cast their ballot for the former reality television star. The New York Times quotes a small-business owner complaining that liberals tell him, Youre an idiot if you support any part of Trump. Protests against Trump, were told, push Trump voters to double down on love of Trump. The left must assure Trump voters that they are awesome and lovely and wonderful people. Or else.

Isnt there something backward about all of this? Trump won. Republicans won the White House and both houses of Congress; they have the ability to choose a Supreme Court justice. Trump voters are in power; they are going to get the policies they desire, more or less. If anyone has a right to be bitter and resentful, isnt it the left? Why are Trump voters nursing a sense of grievance? They got what they wanted.

In the usual course of things, its the winners who are supposed to reach out to the losers, not the other way around. Generally, the new president takes steps to assure the losing party that hes planning on governing for all Americans. Shortly before his inauguration in 2009, Barack Obama held a dinner honoring his defeated Republican opponent, John McCain. Obama also kept Republican Robert Gates, Bushs defense secretary, at his post.

Advertisement

Such bipartisan gestures are typical for a new president  and youd think Trump would be more eager to make them than most. Despite the pundits warnings that leftists will never be popular again if they do not make nice with Trump voters, the truth is that millions more people voted against Trump than voted for him. He is a deeply divisive figure even within his own party.

Trump is the one in power; Trump voters are the ones who put him there. Why exactly is it up to the left to reassure them?

As an unorthodox candidate with few long-term ties to the GOP, it would make sense for him to try to find common ground with Democrats. Trump could have appointed compromise picks to his Cabinet, for example. He could have kicked off his legislative agenda with an infrastructure project, which many Democrats signaled they would support.

Instead, Trump has appointed hard-right ideologues to his Cabinet, relied on right-wing, white-nationalist-affiliated gutter journalists like Stephen Bannon for his advisors and pushed the most polarizing aspects of his agenda, such as banning travelers from majority-Muslim countries. Hes even been weirdly reluctant to condemn anti-Semitic bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers  a gimme bipartisan gesture if ever there was one.

In speeches, he returns obsessively to the November election, insisting his electoral victory was historically large, even though it was one of the narrower ones in recent history, and claiming that people who voted against him did so illegally. Rather than assuring those of us in the opposition that he is our president too, he has gone out of his way to say that our dissent is illegitimate, and that he despises us.

This is the message from others on the right as well. Congressmen faced with angry town hall meetings blame paid protesters, refusing to acknowledge their own constituents. And pundits write incessantly about how the left needs to embrace Trump supporters, presenting those voters as the real Americans with real grievances, whose egos must be eternally salved, even in victory.

People on the left arent focused mainly on being mean to Trump voters. On the contrary, people on the left are scared of Trump voters and what they have wrought, and with good reason. Trump and the Republicans have promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, but have not said how they would replace it; people fear what will happen to them if they have no access to healthcare. Trump has made frightening comments about sending troops into cities like Chicago. Immigration agents are arresting people leaving church shelters. The list could go on. Many people are genuinely, and justifiably, afraid of what is happening, and what will happen, under a Trump administration.

Trump is the one in power; Trump voters are the ones who put him there. Why exactly is it up to the left to reassure them?

Trump voters are upset, were told, because theyre being called bigots or racists. I cant speak for the left as a whole, obviously, but I know that I, personally, would love to be convinced that Trump supporters dont approve of bomb threats against synagogues, and dont want people with cancer to die without care. I would love Trump voters to demonstrate that they are better than the presidents worst rhetoric.

I dont have any particular desire to yell at or insult Trump supporters. But I would say to them: You won. Your candidate is in power. If you think the people who voted against you are human, this is your chance to show it. And if you dont, then yes, the people youre kicking are going to judge you.

Noah Berlatsky is the author most recently of Corruption: American Political Films.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
To the editor: The president responded to the reports of anti-Semitic incidents with the same zeal as he voiced the need to bring us together in his inauguration speech: practically none. He read somebody elses words in a flat and emotionless manner. (Trump denounces anti-Semitism after Jewish community centers receive 68 bomb threats in six weeks, Feb. 21)

President Trumps attacks on his political opponents and the media dont require a teleprompter, and he speaks with enormous emotion, though not always factually. The increase in racist incidents demand that our leader respond with the same amount of conviction. His remarks are insulting for their low-key tenor.

Most of the presidents appointments send the clear message that bringing us together is not his priority. His condemnation of anti-Semitic actions was so muted and long overdue, one must wonder if it was crafted so as to not offend his advisor Steve Bannon and his adherents on the alt-right.

Advertisement

Stu Olster, Laguna HIlls

..

To the editor: I was the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in San Francisco some years ago and dealt with anti-Semites and other hate groups.

The current resurgence of anti-Jewish bigotry is no mystery. A child should be able to connect the dots between having Bannon, the biggest enabler of the alt-right, sharing the Oval Office and the empowerment of the far right fringe.

Trump finally made a statement, but with Bannon directing policy, I suspect the president had his fingers crossed behind his back.

Barbara H. Bergen, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Republican members of Congress will be happy to return to the serenity and safety of Washington after spending a week back in their home districts either hiding from Trump-troubled constituents or braving a gantlet of angry protesters at raucous town hall meetings.

Democratic-leaning citizens are riled up. Even in small towns in the reddest of the red states, people of all ages are marching, picketing and shouting down politicians who are used to carrying on without ever having to deal with voters who disagree with what they are doing. The question is, will it make a difference?

The answer is, probably not right away. Yes, some GOP senators and representatives may pause to think before they carry out their promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. They may now have a better sense that even many of their Republican constituents have benefited from the healthcare law. But, knowing they have a man in the White House who will sign just about anything they pass, they will feel an overriding compulsion to push through sweeping changes in everything from banking regulation and environmental protection to rules about who can use which public bathroom.

Advertisement

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)

The big buzzword on the left is resistance. Liberals are so freaked out by the election of Donald Trump and the right-wing policies he is trying to enforce with the support of the Republican-controlled House and Senate that they have mobilized to push back on every front. One model for their resistance is the populist-conservative tea party that sprang up in reaction to the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Tea partiers screaming about death panels hounded Democratic politicians running for reelection and helped switch control of Congress from the Democrats to the Republicans.

In 2018, Democrats will try to surf the rolling wave of protest to win back majorities on Capitol Hill. However, that wave will need to be gargantuan to override the stark numbers that shore up the Republican stronghold.

In the Senate, Democrats will be defending 25 seats (including two held by Independents who caucus with them) while Republicans need to protect just nine (counting the special election in Alabama to fill the seat left open by the new attorney general, Jeff Sessions). Most of the GOP senators hail from solidly red states; only one, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, appears to be at all vulnerable. On the other hand, nine Democratic senators are holding precarious perches in states won by Trump. The way it looks now, Democrats will have to fight hard just to hold the seats they have and keep the GOP from winning a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority.

Despite the decades of gerrymandering that have produced safe districts for incumbents almost everywhere, Democratic prospects for taking back power in the House are actually brighter than in the Senate. They need to pick up 24 seats to win a House majority. According to a statistical analysis by Harry Enten on the FiveThirtyEight blog, that could happen if nearly every person who dislikes the president votes for the Democratic candidate in their House election. Enten notes there has been an increasingly strong relationship between how people feel about the president and how they vote for Congress.

The Democratic Partys weakness has been in recruiting good candidates in tough races. Reportedly, the upsurge in anti-Trump activism may be fixing that problem. Two early tests will come in the next few months as special elections are held in Georgia and Montana to replace Tom Price and Ryan Zinke, Republican members of Congress who have been appointed to the Trump Cabinet. Democrats have a decent shot at winning both seats if they find strong contenders and, just as important, if Democrats show up in big numbers to vote for them.

One of the barbed chants of the resisters is we are the majority! That is not an idle boast. As we all know (well, all of us who do not believe the fairy tale about millions of phantom illegal voters), Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 3 million votes in 2016. Year after year, in total ballots cast, Democratic candidates for the Senate and the House rack up far more votes than do Republicans. But, thanks to the way district lines are drawn and the tilt toward small states that is embedded in the Constitution, the Republican Party enjoys a structural advantage that negates those numbers. It does not help, either, that young people and minorities have a tendency to skip voting in nonpresidential elections. So, 2018 will have to break the pattern and beat the system.

The resistance is loud and big and disruptive, but will it translate into victories? You say you want a revolution? The ballot box is where it will, or will not, happen.

david.horsey@latimes.com

Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter
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.
Kathy Watson was anxious about her health coverage even before she woke up gasping for breath last month and drove herself to the emergency room with a flare-up in her heart condition.

After struggling for years without insurance, the 55-year-old former small-business owner  who has battled diabetes, high blood pressure and two cancers  credits Obamacare with saving her life.

Watson also voted for Donald Trump, believing the businessman would bring change. She dismissed his campaign pledges to scrap the Affordable Care Act as bluster.

Advertisement

Now, as she watches the new president push to kill the law that provided her with a critical lifeline, Watson finds herself among many Trump supporters who must reconcile their votes with worries about the future of their healthcare.

Watson, a proud, salty woman who was uninsurable a few years ago, isnt ready to renounce Trump. But shes increasingly frustrated by his vague promises to replace Obamacare with something better.

Ive been through enough, Watson said recently, sitting on the patio outside her mobile home, down a sandy road in a rural corner of northern Florida. I dont want to go back.

As one of millions of Americans who depend on the healthcare laws protections, Watson embodies the political challenge Republicans face as they scramble to fulfill their pledge to repeal Obamacare without harming people like Watson, who helped fuel Trumps unexpected victory.

Her story is also a cautionary tale for GOP leaders, whose promise to cut healthcare costs by scaling back insurance rules threatens to reopen the gaps that once left nearly 50 million Americans without coverage.

Watson knows those gaps better than anyone.

Like some 150 million Americans, she for years had a health plan offered by an employer, in her case, a mobile home manufacturer where her husband worked.

But in 2001, Watsons husband had to quit after he was injured. The law office where she worked as a paralegal, like many small businesses, didnt offer a health plan.

Thats when my nightmare began, she said.

For a while, the couple scraped together the money to keep his plan, an option known as COBRA coverage. After 18 months, the plan offered under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act expired.

Watson tried to buy a health plan on her own. But before Obamacare, insurers routinely screened out sick and potentially costly customers. Trump has voiced support for keeping that protection, but other Republican plans would allow insurers in some cases to charge sick patients more.

Watson had unusually high white blood cell counts and years earlier had part of her colon removed. Nobody was going to go near me with a 10-foot pole, she said.

Watson next tried to get a health plan by starting her own business. Insurers were sometimes willing to cover a group of employees, which are a better risk than a single person.

In 2003, Watson opened a debt-collection service for small companies. Business was good, she said, and she hired three employees. But she still couldnt convince an insurer to sell her a plan.

By then, Watson and her husband were getting increasingly desperate. He still had high medical bills from his injury. Watson was feeling increasingly ill herself, with periodic fevers and swollen glands that made it hard to work.

A local doctor helped with basic medical care in exchange for her help collecting his bills.

But Watson couldnt afford more extensive medical tests to find out what was making her sick until 2009, when she was diagnosed with a non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.

We went through everything we had, Watson said, including selling off her retirement accounts and mortgaging their home. Friends helped her navigate hospitals where one noted that Watson often was treated like a second-class citizen because she lacked insurance. Watsons aging parents helped with many medical bills.

For a short time, Watson thought shed found relief when an insurance company agreed to provide coverage. But when she tried to use the plan, she discovered it didnt cover major medical costs, a trap many consumers fell into when insurers were subject to less oversight. Insurers now must cover a basic set of benefits, though GOP leaders are calling for such mandates to be scaled back.

Watson estimates she and her husband ultimately ran up more than $100,000 in medical debt.

Kathy is a smart person, but she sure didnt have the luck of the Irish, said Anne Lebrecht, Watsons 74-year-old mother.

Passage of the Affordable Care Act finally offered some relief, thanks to a small temporary program created in 2011 for people like Watson who had been denied coverage.

She was able to get on a plan that ultimately cost $363 a month and is now cancer free.

I would have lost everything without that, Watson said.

Before Obamacare, many states ran similar programs, known as high-risk pools. Republicans are now exploring ways to reopen them.

But many of these state plans ended up being very expensive because they covered only sick patients. Many had to cap enrollment.

The Obamacare plan that helped Watson stopped enrolling people because of costs in early 2013.

By then, Watson was well enough to get a job at a company that trained customer support staff for DirecTV. It offered a health plan for $123.50 a month.

It was good coverage, Watson said.

She quit the job at the end of last year after hurting herself working in her yard. This time, thanks to Obamacare, there was no gap for her to fall into.

After seeing a television ad by Florida Blue, the states largest insurer, Watson called the company, and in less than half an hour, she enrolled in an HMO plan, despite her long medical history.

The plan normally cost $664 a month. But because Obamacare offers subsidies to help low- and moderate-income Americans afford premiums and deductibles, Watson pays nothing.

I still cant believe I can get this coverage, she said.

Today, Watson is upbeat, despite dealing with two failing valves in her heart as well as chronic arthritis and diabetes. Shes taking classes to get a real estate license so she can go back to work and get off government-subsidized insurance.

But Watson is getting irritated by what she hears from the new president. Ill give it a little more time, she said. But Im not really sure about Trump anymore.

She said shes ready to go to Washington to tell lawmakers not to roll back Obamacare.

Walk a mile in my shoes, Watson said. I never thought Id have to go through all of this. I was working for an attorney. I was making good money.  Im not here to get something for nothing. I just want to be healthy, pay my bills and go about my life.

noam.levey@latimes.com

@noamlevey

ALSO

Trump administration signals a possible crackdown on states over marijuana

Trumps popularity at CPAC gathering, which he shunned a year ago, shows how hes conquered conservatives

Trump administration rescinds guidelines on protections for transgender students
A year ago, Donald Trump skipped the nations preeminent conference of conservatives, underscoring the friction between the populist candidate and many of the warring factions in his party during a heated presidential primary season.

Friday, Trump returned to the Conservative Political Action Conference with the blunt force of a conqueror, planting his brand of nationalist, anti-globalist populism like a flag.

His speech, with rhetoric that even Trump said would have been too controversial at the event even a year ago, marked his takeover of the conservative movement, one of several signs of his dominance throughout the conference, which also featured a rare and well-received speech from his chief intellectual influence and advisor, Stephen K. Bannon.

Advertisement

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 Paris and other great cities of Europe have been ruined by mass immigration, criticizing Democratic and Republican presidents for their interventions in the Middle East.

Although many of the words were familiar, the venue and the passion made Fridays speech remarkable.

Trump spoke directly of his ambition to turn the GOP into the party of the American worker.

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.

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. Theyre largely  many of them are the side that lost, he said.

The visuals around the waterfront conference outside Washington were just as striking: the red Make America Great Again caps, the throngs of college Republicans surrounding Trumps aides and allies, the giant Trump-decorated pickup truck at the convention center entrance.

As he has repeatedly done in the last couple of weeks, Trump attacked the media for what he sees as unfair coverage. He also showed how much he remembers the details of how his campaign was described in the press, at one point praising The Times for its election tracking poll that consistently showed him leading.

I must say Los Angeles Times did a great job  shocking, he said. A couple polls got it right.

In reality, the USC Dornsife/L.A. Times Daybreak tracking poll overstated Trumps support, although it did correctly pick up the backing he was getting from disaffected white voters, many of whom had sat out the 2012 election.

Bannon, Trumps chief strategist and the former executive chairman of Breitbart News, an outlet that has presented itself as a voice of the white nationalist alt-right movement, joked a day earlier as he sat down for a marquee event about how far he had come.

He used to hold a competing event called Uninvited for conservatives whose philosophies were considered too radical for the conference, Bannon said at a panel featuring him and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Bannon reveled in his newfound influence as the conference organizer interviewed him in front of thousands of people.

He praised Priebus, the former GOP chairman, another indication of how the mainstream of the party has come into Trumps fold. But both men made clear that Bannon was the dominant force in shaping Trumps vision.

Bannon spoke about defending his notion of American culture and lashed out against the corporatist, globalist media standing in the way of Trumps economic nationalist agenda.

If you think theyre going to give you your country back without a fight, he said. You are sadly mistaken.

Were at the top of the first inning of this, Bannon said near the end of his remarks. We want you to have our back.

Conference organizers seemed to have gotten the message.

Breitbart News owns the first booth by the entrance of the convention hall, hawking Border Wall Construction Company T-shirts.

One of Bannons former editors at Breitbart, Milo Yiannopoulos, a prominent voice for the so-called alt-right, a loosely connected network of white nationalists, misogynists and anti-Semites, had been invited to speak until a recording emerged in which he made comments many perceived as endorsing pedophilia.

Even those who do not agree with all of Trumps ideas seemed pleased with the excitement in the halls of the waterfront convention center. And they believed he was winning over the conservative movement, even if Trump has historically low popularity ratings with the wider public.

Those here who disagree with Trump on trade, a border wall or other populist policies were generally pleased with his Cabinet choices and extremely happy with his nominee for the Supreme Court, federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch.

A year ago, a lot of them were for Cruz, said Ron Fodor, the mayor of Slippery Rock, Pa., referring to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, another event speaker who was competing with Trump in 2016 for the Republican presidential nomination.

Now, Fodor said, its kind of like a victory party.

For most of the last two decades, CPAC has served as a cattle call for aspiring presidential candidates. Cruz and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who also ran in the 2016 GOP primary, showed up this year. But with Trumps victory, the party will not be seeking a new standard-bearer for some time.

In recent years, Cruz and libertarian Republican Sen. Rand Paul have won straw polls at the conference, owing to its libertarian streak. But before Trump snubbed last years event, he had been a fairly popular draw, mostly because of his willingness to attack liberals in blunt terms.

Many who attend the conference are college students, still sorting out their ideologies but eager to engage in politics.

Dakota Workman, a 22-year-old college senior at West Virginia University, had been a big Cruz backer a year ago. Thursday, he was holding a new Make America Great Again hat.

Hes kept all his promises, Workman said, pointing to Trumps orders deregulating coal, his nomination of Gorsuch and his immigration actions.

Workman said he does not agree with Trump on trade and some other policies. Hell stick with him when he can. But he still sees Trump as a different breed of Republican.

He has his own brand, Workman said.

Trump is in a honeymoon phase with conservatives who once held him at arms length, even if he is not getting the same benefit from the public at large, said Henry Olsen, a conservative political analyst and author of a forthcoming book on working-class Republicans.

But Olsen said he expects more tension once Trump has to weigh in with specific policy on healthcare and issues that affect the budget, where his priorities clash with some in the GOP.

Trump is very popular among the conservative base right now in part because he has all the right enemies, Olsen said.

Are his policies becoming more popular, those that disagree with mainstream conservatism? Yeah, theres some evidence of that, but I dont think its a done deal that the Republican Party is the party of protectionism.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman

ALSO:

What you need to know about the Trump administrations new immigration rules

Trump administration signals a possible crackdown on states over marijuana

One comment from Trump shows his administrations message on immigration has been muddled

UPDATES:

1:30 p.m.: This article was updated with details from President Trumps speech.

The article was originally published at 3 a.m.
When President Trump boasts of progress hes made on his biggest campaign promise  to build a wall and stem the flow of illegal immigration across the southern border  he speaks in terms of unadulterated success.

But few others in the administration go so far. And with White House spokespeople, Cabinet secretaries and immigration officials more willing than the president to acknowledge the far more complicated state of immigration in the U.S., a muddled picture has emerged on where the Trump administration is headed.

Thursday offered a clear example of the problems that arise when Trump and his top aides send different messages.

Advertisement

Discussing recent immigration raids around the country, the president touted an unprecedented military operation targeting criminals that resulted in 680 arrests.

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.

But just last week, the Department of Homeland Security cast the operation as routine.

And in Mexico City hours after Trump spoke, Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly pushed back on accusations that he had embarked on a mass deportation of people living in the U.S. illegally.

Well approach this operation systematically, in an organized way, in a results-oriented way, in an operation and in a human-dignity way, he said while on a diplomatic mission with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tried to reconcile one apparent contradiction between Trumps and Kellys comments, saying the president meant only that the operation was military-like in its efficiency.

The president was using that as an adjective, Spicer said of Trumps word choice.

The back-and-forth underscored the communications confusion that has quickly become a signature of the Trump administration. It is an outgrowth of the presidents salesman-like tendency toward exaggerated terms, aides repeated false assertions and strategists goal of quickly upending bureaucracy and steering it away from Obama administration policy.

Some immigration experts say the conflicting messages serve their own purpose.

The only thing to me that is clear coming from the chaos of the administration is the priority is fear  instilling fear, said Marshall Fitz, an immigration expert at the Emerson Collective, a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Palo Alto.

It is too early to say whether Trumps orders boosted deportations. Figures for February, Trumps first full month in office, wont be available for weeks.

Deportations in January were down slightly from the same month in 2016. Immigration officers removed 16,643 people in January across both administrations, down 22% from the month before, and slightly fewer than 17,649 people deported in January of last year, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In an address to conservative activists outside Washington, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Trumps chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, both listed the administrations early approach to immigration as among the most crucial steps Trump has taken.

Protecting the sovereignty of the United States, putting a wall on the southern border, making sure that criminals are not part of our process  these are all things that 80% of Americans agree with and these are all things that President Trump is doing, Priebus said.

In a host of areas, the president and aides are keen to demonstrate a break from Obama-era policy.

Trump campaigned on what he characterized as a threat to national security posed by criminals illegally crossing the border, especially while President Obama was in office, and his remarks Thursday in the White Houses State Dining Room echoed that.

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.

But with his harsh rhetoric, Trump has mostly ignored that Obama also sought stronger border security and immigration enforcement. Obama was in part trying to create space for a bipartisan legislative effort to enact more comprehensive reform.

Deportations under Obama 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.

It could take months before deportation levels increase, as immigration officials have limited staff and detention space to hold people. Also, immigration courts are severely backlogged, leading to long delays before a judge officially authorizes someone to be removed.

In the meantime, immigrants in the U.S. illegally can find themselves plumbing any utterance from the administration for signs of whats to come.

It is attrition through terror or creating so much chaos that people throw up their hands and leave, Fitz said of the administrations strategy so far. It is certainly not a plan that has a carefully delineated set of priorities based on certain judgments on who presents a threat and who doesnt.

Times staff writer Brian Bennett contributed to this report.

michael.memoli@latimes.com

Twitter: @mikememoli

ALSO

What you need to know about the Trump administrations new immigration rules

Trump administration clears the way for far more deportations

How Trumps expanded deportation policy is being felt across the U.S.
German chancellor Angela Merkel is set to arrive in Egypt on 2 March for her first official visit to the country, where she will meet with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert announced on Friday in a press conference in Berlin.

Merkel, who will be accompanied by a high-level economic delegation, will discuss with El-Sisi economic ties, counterterrorism efforts, security in the region, irregular migration, and the Libyan civil conflict, according to Egyptian state news agency MENA.

The German chancellor is also expected to meet with Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb, and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, before heading to Tunisia on Friday to meet the Tunisian president and prime minister.

In January, Merkel and El-Sisi discussed in a phone call cooperation in counterterrorism efforts as well as recent regional and international developments.

Egypt and Germany have strengthened relations over the past few years.

Earlier this year, Germany removed restrictions on flights to South Sinai implemented in 2015 after a Russian passenger jet crashed shortly after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport.

Germans accounted for the greatest number of tourists to visit Egypt in 2016, at 655,000 people, according to a foreign ministry statement.

President El-Sisi met with the German chancellor in May 2015 during his first official visit to Europe.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


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 Friday morning at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual gathering of conservative activists.

But did the poll get it right?

In the simplest terms, no, and after considerable analysis, the pollsters at USC have a good sense of why.

Advertisement

The Daybreak poll, like any other survey, tries to forecast the actual vote. Its final national forecast had Trump winning 47% to 44%. In reality, he lost the nationwide vote, 48% to 46%. So instead of winning by 3 percentage points, he lost by 2, which made the poll less accurate than a number of other surveys.

And yet, the poll correctly forecast who would win the presidency, and it had the correct reason. As we wrote in late August, the poll was picking up a crucial signal: Trump had great appeal to disaffected white voters, many of whom sat out the 2012 election.

As it turned out, those white voters were just numerous enough to swing a few critical states -- Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan -- which nearly all surveys forecast Hillary Clinton winning.

So why did the USC/L.A. Times poll pick up that signal, but get the ultimate vote wrong?

The polling experts at USC who directed the survey have been studying that question since the election, and their analysis strongly suggests an answer: The poll sample had too high a share of rural voters.

That was an error, but in some ways a fortuitous one because it amplified the impact of precisely the voters who ended up delivering Trumps victory in the key states.

When the pollsters initially put together the sample of voters they surveyed, they got a random sample of voters spread equally among the countrys ZIP Codes.

Thats a standard approach, but it has a potential flaw: ZIP Codes dont all have the same population. More people crowd into the average urban ZIP Code than the average rural one. So if you draw equally from all ZIP Codes, you end up with too many rural residents represented.

Usually, thats not a major problem. Polls are adjusted to make sure they have the right percentages of people of different ages, ethnicities, genders and so on, matching data from the census. That normally would erase any bias caused by having too many rural residents.

But 2016 wasnt a typical year. Rural voters were distinctively more pro-Trump than those in cities and suburbs. Even the standard adjustments did not make up for the difference. Having the right share of 30- to 40-year-old white women, for example, isnt enough if the voting preferences of rural white women differ significantly from those of urban white women, which was the case this time around.

When the pollsters looked back at their data and adjusted it to have the proper shares of urban and rural Americans, the data showed Clinton narrowly winning the popular vote, as she, in fact, did. Rather than a consistent Trump lead, the adjusted data showed Clinton leading most of fall, but the race closing to a dead heat in the final two weeks.

David.Lauter@latimes.com

For more on Politics and Policy, follow me @DavidLauter

ALSO

One comment from Trump shows his administrations message on immigration has been muddled

Trump reverts to campaigning a month into his term. This time, his opponent is the media

This Trump voter is torn between support for the president and an Obamacare plan that saved her life
The White House on Thursday put states that have legalized recreational-use marijuana on notice that federal law enforcement agents could be targeting them soon.

It was the clearest warning yet that the Trump administration may move to disrupt the marijuana trade in the eight states, including California, that have legalized the recreational use of pot.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the administration had no plans to continue the permissive approach of the Obama administration and that it viewed recreational marijuana use as a flagrant violation of federal law.

Advertisement

Spicers statement that the Department of Justice could initiate enforcement actions in states that have legalized recreational pot alarmed the multibillion-dollar marijuana industry and set up the administration for yet another confrontation with liberal states.

Spicer said recreational marijuana was a scourge, likening its widespread use to the opioid addiction epidemic  an incendiary charge that many medical experts would dispute. But the comments intensified concerns that the robust recreational marijuana trade that has been brought out into the open in recent years  generating hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue  could soon be disrupted by federal agents.

When you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming around so many states  the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people, Spicer told reporters. There is still a federal law we need to abide by in terms of when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature.

Asked whether states that have legalized recreational use could be targeted by federal actions, Spicer said, I do believe that youll see greater enforcement. He said that while federal law prohibits raids of medical marijuana operations, thats very different than the recreational use, which is something the Department of Justice, I think, will be further looking into.

It has been years since the Drug Enforcement Administration sent agents on busts of pot businesses operating legally under state laws. The Obama administration issued an administrative policy putting a stop to such federal raids, even as it continued to classify the drug as more dangerous than cocaine. Congress further reassured marijuana users in 2014 by banning the DEA from using federal funds to go after medical marijuana operations operating legally under state laws.

To many, the legal recreational pot trade in America has grown so large, routine and socially acceptable that it has become too big to jail.

But the marijuana industry has been on edge since Trumps election. While the presidents position on the drug has been murky, his appointment of former Sen. Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general rattled dispensary owners and growers. Sessions is a longtime crusader in the war on drugs, as is Vice President Mike Pence.

It looks like the first shoe is dropping as expected, said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. Trump was never all that reassuring on the issue of marijuana legalization.

How far the administration would go in provoking states that have legalized pot is unclear. The options range from largely symbolic gestures such as cracking down on the illegal transportation of marijuana between states or initiating a few seizures from dispensaries, to filing injunctions seeking to nullify state legalization laws.

Any such enforcement brings political risk, and could undermine Trumps positioning as a champion of states rights. Spicers announcement comes only days after the formation in the House of the first Cannabis Caucus. The founding members are two Democrats and two Republicans, a reminder of the bipartisan appeal of the issue.

The federal government should stay out of this. Period, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), one of the caucus founders, said as it was launched last week. I am happy to say that we will butt heads with the attorney general when we have to. We will do our job. Alaska, a deeply Republican state, is among those that have recently legalized recreational use.

The Trump administration positioned itself to go after recreational pot on the same day a new Quinnipiac poll showed 71% of Americans surveyed are opposed to the kind of enforcement action Spicer suggested is coming. The same poll found 59% of Americans support full legalization of marijuana.

We have hoped and still hope that the federal government will respect states rights in the same manner they have on several other issues, said Derek Peterson, chief executive of the Irvine-based marijuana firm Terra Tech. The economic impact, job creation and tax collection associated with both medical and recreational legalization have been tremendous throughout the country.

But he said states should start preparing to fight the administration in court.

We hope that the states make a point of defending their independence in regards to this and protect their constituents, he said.

I took an oath to enforce the laws that California has passed, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said in a statement Thursday. If there is action from the federal government on this subject, I will respond in an appropriate way to protect the interests of California.

Some, however, take a different view.

The current situation is unsustainable, said Kevin Sabet, the president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group opposed to legalization. This isnt an issue about states rights. Its an issue of public health and safety for communities.

Halper reported from Washington and McGreevy reported from Sacramento.

evan.halper@latimes.com

Follow me: @evanhalper

ALSO

Obamacare 101: Are health insurance marketplaces in a death spiral?

Can California go its own way on federal environmental protections? These lawmakers want to try

One comment from Trump shows his administrations message on immigration has been muddled

UPDATES:

6:05 p.m.: Updated with a statement from California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra.

This article was originally published at 4:20 p.m.
Pentagon strategists are putting final touches on a stepped-up battle plan against Islamic State and are due to offer President Trump options as early as Monday to accelerate the war against the militants in Iraq and Syria, officials said.

The month-long strategic review, which Trump requested Jan. 28, is expected to include proposals to send more U.S. troops to both countries, deploy more U.S. forces near the front lines, give greater authority to ground commanders, and possibly provide weapons to Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria.

Trump has vowed repeatedly to defeat Islamic State but has never spelled out what that means in a conflict with multiple countries backing competing factions in two separate wars  or how to ultimately stabilize the turbulent region.

Advertisement

Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned Thursday that battlefield victories wont be enough to end the threat of Islamic State and other extremist groups, especially in the multisided civil war in Syria.

Anything we do on the ground has to be in the context of political objectives or its not going to be successful, Dunford said at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington.

We need to think about how do the facts on the ground address the political process in Geneva, where the United Nations backs peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition forces, he added.

Dunford suggested the Pentagon-led plan will also look at options to increase pressure on the Al Qaeda network and possibly the Haqqani group in Pakistan, which is aligned with the Taliban.

This is not about Syria and Iraq, he said. This is about a trans-regional threat.

While Defense Secretary James N. Mattis will present the review to the White House. It involved dialogue with key allies, coalition commanders and input from the departments of State, Treasury and Justice, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies.

The Pentagon has about 5,200 troops in Iraq, and the new plan assumes that Iraqi security forces and Kurdish militias will continue to take the lead in the fighting while the U.S.-led coalition coordinates airstrikes, fires artillery and collects intelligence to support the ground attack.

As we look at the future, were going to continue to stand by the Iraqi army, the Iraqi people, who are fighting this enemy, Mattis said Monday in Baghdad.

But it almost certainly involves sending more U.S. troops to speed military operations aimed at retaking western Mosul in Iraq and ultimately to pressing an offensive against Raqqah, the groups self-declared capital in Syria.

It could be that we take on a larger burden ourselves, Gen. Joseph L. Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, told reporters in the region. Thats an option.

The U.S. role has expanded steadily since August 2014, when President Obama first approved airstrikes on Islamic State positions and sent troops back to Iraq, but vowed not to put boots on the ground in combat operations.

In December, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, ordered 450 U.S. military advisors to move closer to the front lines in eastern Mosul to help Iraqi forces that had bogged down, and had suffered heavy casualties, during two months of bitter urban fighting.

The U.S.-backed forces captured the area several weeks later and this month crossed the Tigris River and launched an assault on the citys western half, where the militants are believed to be entrenched in a warren of narrow streets.

In a two-pronged strategy, coalition-backed Iraqi forces have steadily pushed Islamic State out of the cities, towns and oil fields they seized in 2014, while a separate array of military forces in Syria  including Russian-backed Syrian troops  have squeezed the group there as well.

U.S. analysts said they dont expect the new plan to differ dramatically from the Obama administrations approach, at least in Iraq.

The existing strategy is working slowly but surely, said Christopher Harmer, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, a nonpartisan public policy group.

Islamic State is losing territory bit by bit so you might see changes around the edges, but its hard to imagine the administration will want to completely deviate from the current plan, he added.

The challenge is tougher in Syria, where the Pentagon has about 500 troops and has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of rebel groups that operates chiefly in northern Syria.

Kurdish militias known as the YPG are the most capable part of the coalition. But Turkey, a U.S. ally, has angrily protested any U.S. attempts to arm the YPG, which it considers a terrorist force that seeks to carve out an independent Kurdish state in southern Turkey.

The Obama administration declined to arm the YPG, but Trump may decide to provide artillery, armored vehicles, machine guns and other weapons to help its fighters close in on Raqqah, Islamic States largest and most important stronghold in Syria.

Trump has also called for declaring and enforcing so-called safe zones for refugees in northern Syria. The Pentagon has opposed that strategy in the past because of the high expense of defending and supporting the areas, and the need for additional troops to secure them.

But establishing no-fly zones may give Trump credibility with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has long urged the international community to create a buffer zone in Syria to help stem the flow of refugees into his country.

In his comments Thursday, Dunford said the plan being refined for Trump will be mindful of the internecine politics in the region and the complex war in Syria, which includes Iranian and Russian forces.

Everything we do or fail to do will have second and third effects, he said.

At the end of the day, we cannot be paralyzed by tough choices, Dunford said. We have to frame those choices to the president and articulate the consequences of those choices and give him the chance to select one of those.

william.hennigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @wjhenn

ALSO:

Climate change is real: Just ask the Pentagon

Overweight, tattooed, stoned? The Pentagon may still want you

Captured battlefield cellphones, computers are helping the U.S. target and kill Islamic States leaders
I am standing here with my poison in my pocket, the lyricist sings into the phone as he taps on a piano. One eye on the target, one eye on the clock. It better happen soon before I lose my nerve and run. If I had a knife, I could have grabbed him and discreetly knocked him on the head and stabbed him. Not to mention what I would have done if I had had a gun.

Cut!

Now, doesnt that just sparkle and shine? he quips.

He is Steven Lutvak, the award-winning composer, lyricist and arranger best known for creating the original songs for the musical comedy A Gentlemans Guide to Love & Murder. And that verse, appearing in one of the musicals many numbers, took him and his writing partner, Robert L. Freedman, six hours to conjure up and write, Lutvak said.

Just the verse, mind you.

It wasnt easy to write, Lutvak said by phone recently from New York, referring to the entire show, but I think we forgot that it was that challenging. It was great fun, and we just laughed our heads off working on it.

What started as fragments of ideas eventually sprouted into a blockbuster show that won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical. The Broadway hit is now on its first national tour and will be making its Orange County debut at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts for six days starting Feb. 28.

A Gentlemans Guide is the story of Monty Navarro, an heir to a family fortune who lusts for revenge  his mother had been banished because she married a man beneath her social class  and knocks off the eight relatives who stand between him and the title of Earl of Highhurst.

The musical is based on the Edwardian novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal, written by Roy Horniman in 1907. Its humor-laced story of murderous intrigue involving the British upper class received 10 Tony Award nominations in 2014 and won four, including Best Costume Design and Best Book of a Musical.

And yet the show almost never happened.

Lutvak and book writer and co-lyricist Freedman, both Broadway newcomers, spent about 10 years working to get A Gentlemans Guide to the stage, most of that time in legal entanglements.

In 2010, the world premiere was delayed because of a lawsuit brought by the rights holders to the 1949 movie Kind Hearts and Coronets, who claimed the show was based on the film. A judge eventually ruled in favor of the live show.

Lutvak and Freedman, who graduated from Los Alamitos High School, met in a theater course at New York University. The two hadnt collaborated much on projects but always admired each others work. When Lutvak suggested they write a musical based on the novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal, Freedman jumped at the chance.

I just loved the story and thought it was perfect, said Freedman, a screenwriter and dramatist best known for his teleplays for Rodgers & Hammersteins Cinderella and the Emmy-winning miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.

The humor comes in because Monte is never less than a perfect gentleman, and each one he kills is odious, so youre happy to see them bumped off, but in no way does the show advocate killing people to ascend the ladder, Freedman, who is based in Sherman Oaks, said by a phone. Its the fantasy we all have of rising above our circumstances and getting revenge on the people whove made it impossible.

To make the touring production jibe with a story about Edwardian aristocrats, Freedman said he researched Edwardian language and style so as to make the dialogue authentic and historical, and he also suggested the orchestra play acoustic-style so the sounds are reminiscent of the particular era.

Whats thrilling is being in the back of the theater hearing people laugh, Freedman said. But the best compliment is when Brits cant believe two Americans wrote it.

*

IF YOU GO

What: A Gentlemans Guide to Love and Murder

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday from Feb. 28 to March 5

Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

Cost: Tickets start at $29

Information: (714) 556-2787 or visit scfta.org.

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi
On an overcast December day, Kimberly Bryner was taking a walk down the Huntington Beach shoreline with her daughter when she stumbled upon small, gelatinous masses being picked apart by swarms of strafing seagulls.

They were like little glass balls all up and down the beach, Bryner said. My daughter and I thought they may be a type of jellyfish but could tell they held some sort of embryo inside.

The bloated creatures lay limp and unmoving on the sand. Bryner picked one up and held it in the palm of her hand.

They were like a very firm gelatin in feel and texture, Bryner said.

After a day or two, the tide came in and pulled what remained of the gulls feast back into the sea.

The creatures were sea sweet potatoes, or Molpadia arenicola, as scientists call them. They are a type of sea cucumber fairly common off the coast of the western United States. Being burrowing creatures, though, they are seldom seen by humans unless harsh conditions force them from where they dwell beneath the sand.

After storms swept Southern California from late November through December, Molpadia arenicola wriggled free of their lodgings in the ocean floor and cast themselves into the sea currents in search of waters more agreeable to their delicate bodies, only to wash up on beaches along the coast of Southern California as far south as San Diego.

The invasion was a reminder that for all the surfers, swimmers, joggers and sunbathers who use Orange Countys beaches, that they are far from alone. The sea sweet potatoes mark the latest in a dance along the coast between humans and sealife, some of it decidely weird.

Though Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis hasnt seen sea cucumbers like these wash up in the city before, he said he has seen a similar invasion of displaced marine animals.

Last year, Huntington Beach was carpeted in tiny red tuna crabs, each 1 to 3 inches long.

We had thousands of them washing up, Panis said. Alive.

Many Southern Californian beaches had so many of the crabs that the sand nearest to the water was completely covered in squirming red carapaces.

In 2015, a more unsettling creature started washing up on California shores, though not in similar numbers: the yellow-bellied sea snake, which usually inhabits more tropical waters along the Mexican coast. On beaches across Southern California, the venomous snakes were found on the sand, dead or barely alive.

All of these creatures  sea sweet potatoes, tuna crabs and yellow-bellied sea snakes  are understood in marine biology. They are not rare or previously unknown species, as many beachgoers have speculated. Why, though, have they all ventured so far from their original habitats only to die on the shore?

Each case is the result of significant environmental shifts in the ocean. The tuna crabs and yellow-bellied sea snakes probably made their way to Californian shores because of warm water currents brought on by El Nino. The sea snakes and the crabs are typically found off the northwest coast of Mexico, and strong currents from the south during El Nino would have pushed them northward in an aquatic pell-mell.

The sea cucumbers, however, had different reasons for leaving their dwellings at the bottom of the sea. According to Matthew Bracken, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Irvine, the sea cucumbers were probably disturbed by the rain and stormy weather that hit Huntington and the surrounding waters a few days before the creatures demise.

They dont have excretory systems to osmoregulate, said Bracken, so they are stressed when a big rain flushes a lot of fresh water into the near-shore ocean.

It was a flight from inhospitable waters, not an Atlantean colonization of earth, that caused the sea sweet potatoes to wash up on Huntington Beach. And though they were an unfamiliar sight for beachgoers like Bryner, they were not the first and they will not be the last.
Orange Coast College is investigating after Black History Month student artwork was torn down in the campus Art Center on Tuesday.

The art project includes 18 names of people killed by police listed on nine black vinyl banners with the words Promise that you will sing about me at the top, referring to a Kendrick Lamar track. A multicolored flag signifying the LGBT community adorns the bottom, along with "#SayTheirName and BlackLivesMatter.

The incident was reported at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday by a professor who found that the banners had been torn down and shoved under a bench inside the Art Center, which houses the Costa Mesa colleges visual arts departments.

The posters were salvaged and are back on display in a glass case in the Art Center.

The schools Campus Safety Department is still in search mode to see who did this and what evidence we have that we can piece together, OCC spokesman Juan Gutierrez said Thursday. Were hoping to get answers and relay some information to everyone.

Paxton Leland, an OCC professor who helped install the exhibit, was notified of the incident and contacted student Karina Mendoza, who designed the banners.

Mendozas project was among many art pieces submitted by students and community members to commemorate Black History Month. Mendoza collaborated on the exhibit with other students and OCCs Student Equity Program, which says it seeks to guarantee fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement for all students ... regardless of background.

Its really upsetting and it bothers me that people cant be respectful, Mendoza said. Obviously my artwork still needs to be up.

Leland said he didnt think Mendozas art was that provocative, compared with other political works on display at the Art Center, such as one that illustrates an African American man choking the Statue of Liberty.

Mendoza, a student ambassador for the Student Equity Program, said she believes the incident was a byproduct of tensions that have been high on campus lately.

She referred to an incident in which a student video-recorded a faculty member making controversial comments in class about President Trump, including calling his election victory an act of terrorism. The video garnered national media attention and led to demonstrations at OCC for and against the instructor.

priscella.vega@latimes.com

Twitter: @VegaPriscella
The Coast Community College District board of trustees has directed Orange Coast College to revoke its suspension of a student who secretly video-recorded his human-sexuality professor calling President Trumps election victory an act of terrorism.

The student, Caleb ONeil, will continue to attend classes without interruption, according to a statement released Thursday by Orange Coast College.

The professor, Olga Perez Stable Cox, will not face any discipline and will teach classes this semester, according to the statement.

The statement said the decision was reached Wednesday at a special board meeting where trustees agreed to bring closure to a chain of events that has led to the distress for many, most especially, an OCC teacher and student.

ONeils Nov. 15 recording of Cox was prohibited by the districts Student Code of Conduct and the California Education Code because he didnt have Coxs permission.

But, the OCC statement said, without condoning the unlawful recording of a lecture, the students desire to voice his displeasure is understandable.

The student in this case felt he could not freely share his political views in a classroom, which is why he felt his only recourse was to record a lecture he felt was unfair, according to the statement.

The teacher in this case felt she was sharing her views and responding to a student who voiced concerns about the political climate, the statement added. Without condoning what was said, the angst and distress she has felt, as hundreds of hateful and threatening messages were directed at her, is understandable.

Its time to move forward with increased empathy and understanding of the differences that have and will exist on a campus filled with individuals from an array of backgrounds who bring them a wide range of political views, religious affiliations and ideals, according to the statement.

ONeil, a 19-year-old freshman business student and registered Republican, appealed his suspension last week. He was quoted by the college Thursday as saying: Im so happy. This is what I wanted  to continue in school and row for the crew team. I love OCC.

Joshua Recalde-Martinez, the former president of the Orange Coast College Republicans club who posted the video online, declined to comment Thursday. He said he and ONeil were waiting to hear from their attorney.

In a letter Feb. 9, Victoria Lugo, interim dean of students at OCC, informed ONeil of his suspension for one primary (fall/spring) semester in addition to the summer and other disciplinary actions, including that he submit a written apology to Cox and write a three-page essay on why he recorded Coxs class, how he feels about his footage going viral online and his reaction to its causing damage to Orange Coast College students, faculty and staff.

OCC spokesman Juan Gutierrez said Thursday that all the sanctions are lifted.

The student has been in class during this process and continues to be in class with no interruptions, he added.

ONeil and attorney William Becker of Freedom X, a Los Angeles-based law firm dedicated to protecting conservative and religious freedom of expression, held a news conference Feb. 15 outside the colleges administration building to discuss the incident.

ONeil called Cox a good teacher but said she directly attacked conservative students like him.

I was scared Id have repercussions on my grades because she knew I was a Trump supporter, said ONeil, who later added that he received an A in the class.

In his notice of appeal, ONeil, a Newport Harbor High School alumnus, detailed his account of what happened in class Nov. 15, a week after Trumps election: She ... went into how terrible the election was and how our nation had just been attacked. After two minutes of this, I pulled my phone out and started recording because I was terrified that my grade would drop to a B because I had missed the last Tuesday class for the election. ... She then said that we are back to being in a civil war. I felt as if all the eyes in the room were on me because in the past I have worn Trump gear and my signed Trump hat that I had gotten at the Anaheim rally.

In ONeils two-minute video, Cox spoke to her class about Trump and now-Vice President Mike Pence, saying: Our nation is divided. We have been assaulted. Its an act of terrorism.

Cox, who is gay, referred to Trump as a white supremacist and to Pence as one of the most anti-gay humans in this country.

The incident attracted national media attention after ONeil shared his video with the Orange Coast College Republicans.

It created a nationwide debate between those who said Cox had academic freedom to express her views in a private setting and those who argued that her statements went too far.

priscella.vega@latimes.com

Twitter: @VegaPriscella
A two-day search for a Huntington Beach boater in San Diegos Mission Bay ended this week after a hospital nurse saw news reports about the missing man and realized he was a patient.

San Diego lifeguards and the U.S. Coast Guard began looking for Garrett Ferguson, 36, on Tuesday morning after an unoccupied dinghy was found about a half-mile west of the Mission Bay channel jetty. The 9-foot inflatable boat held swim fins, a diving buoy, clothes and Fergusons ID card.

Coast Guard crews were searching for Ferguson when a nurse at Scripps Mercy Hospital called San Diego police about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Petty Officer Robert Simpson, a spokesman for the Coast Guard. Police officers went to the hospital and helped the Coast Guard verify that the patient was Ferguson.

Soon after, the search was called off and Fergusons family was notified.

Simpson did not have details about Fergusons health, except that he was not in critical condition.
Kate Leigh was on the roof of Huntington Beachs Shorebreak Hotel when she caught a glimpse of what she could only describe as a ghost.

Then just like that, it disappeared into the night, sucked into an air conditioning unit, she said.

These are the kinds of ghost stories that dozens of guests got to hear while gathered in the supposedly numinous halls of the International Surfing Museum at 411 Olive Ave. on Wednesday night. The event was part of Night at the Surfing Museum, hosted by former FBI special agent turned SyFy channel host Ben Hansen.

Haunted OC, an organization that puts on tours of places in Orange County that have been identified as haunted, teamed up with Hansen on the museum program.

In what was more lecture than scary tour of darkened rooms  though an overnight paranormal investigation might be conducted there eventually  Hansen took visitors through the history of Huntington Beach, and special guests told stories about local haunts.

Brett Barnes, owner of Dukes at 317 Pacific Coast Hwy., told of the ghostly appearance of Duke Kahanamoku, the legendary surfer who inspired the restaurants name.

Barnes said that in September 1998, before the restaurant opened, he gathered his new crew of employees for their first staff meeting. Despite the surf being big and sloppy that day, somebody in the group suddenly saw a lone bodyboarder in the water, Barnes said.

The entire crew looked and saw what Barnes believes to be the ghost of Kahanamoku, who died in 1968, based on the distinct bodyboarding style of the figure. Barnes said it mirrored Kahanamokus unmistakable technique.

We knew right then that building was blessed, Barnes said.

Diana Dehm, executive director of the museum, had her own stories about the mysteries within the walls of the great ode to surfing founded decades ago by Natalie Kotsch, who reportedly had never surfed.

Dehm, who started working at the museum about a year ago, said shes noticed pictures repeatedly falling off walls and lights mysteriously turning on.

She shared security camera footage from Tuesday night showing a picture falling from a frame while nobody was near it.

Hansen said he would need to investigate the footage further to see if the incident was an example of what paranormal experts call object manipulation, when spirits move objects.

Hansen, 39, who has called Huntington Beach home the past 10 years, is a former FBI agent who now sees himself as a paranormal investigator. He once hosted a show called Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, which ran from 2010 to 2013 on SyFy.

Hansen said in an earlier interview that hes experienced a variety of frights while on the job, including hearing traceless voices and seeing objects thrown.

Hansen said he believes that spirits roam the world, perhaps in another dimension that once in a while aligns with ours so people can feel or hear them.

At the museum event, he played recordings and showed footage of what he called possible supernatural events.

While investigating the Queen Mary in Long Beach in 2009, he caught several ghostly sounds on a recorder, including whispers along the lines of He walked in or I locked it after Hansen had gone through an area typically off limits.

Later in the investigation, he stuck his recorder in a closet. The words Got ya can be heard on the recording.

The eeriest recordinghe shared that night was a whispering of his name while he investigated Cincinnatis Sedamsville Rectory, which is famous for alleged hauntings.

Hansen also came prepared Wednesday night with video footage, and one in particular held the crowds attention.

While Hansen was exploring the USS North Carolina for his television show, crew members found one of the cameras heavily damaged on the floor. They later realized it had been in the equipment bag feet away from where they found it.

Hansen said he believed a spirit had responded to a flippant remark he made about how someone died on the ship. Unfortunately, he said, the footage did not catch what happened to the camera.

Laura Bentz, 31, of Santa Ana attended Wednesdays event because shes a fan of Hansens show and a believer in supernatural events.

Bentz said that when she was a child, she felt a tug on her hair but when she turned around, she couldnt see anyone. Bentz said she believes it was her deceased grandmother, who used to pull on her hair.

Hansens presentation may have swayed some non-believers.

Richie Kong, 31, of Norwalk said he wasnt really open to ghosts before the event but now has an open mind.

Hansen said in the earlier interview that he was happy to finally do an event that celebrates the citys surfing culture, and he hopes to team up with the museum in the next few months to do an overnight paranormal investigation. It would be open to the public.

Hansen and friend Ernie Alonzo, director of Haunted OC , plan to collaborate on haunted walking tours in Huntington Beach during the summer.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter: @benbrazilpilot
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church issued a statement on Friday condemning "the repeated terrorist attacks targeting Egyptian Christians in North Sinai," which the Church says are aimed at harming national unity and the united front against terrorism.

On Thursday, Ahram Arabic news website reported the killing of a Christian Egyptian by unknown gunmen on the roof of his house in North Sinai's El-Arish, the eighth report attack on Copts in two weeks.

The Church has expressed its condolences over the attacks, stressing that it is in continuous contact with local officials as well as the bishop of North Sinai in order to provide support and contain the consequences of the attacks.

In the past few days, churches in Ismailia city have received Coptic families who escaped El-Arish for fear of being targeted.

On Monday the Islamic State (IS) militant group released a video vowing to carry out attacks against the Christian community in Egypt, where the group vowed to "liberate Cairo," even though over the past few years its activity has been centered in North Sinai.

The 20-minute video titled "Fight All Idolaters'' also purpotedly shows the last statements made by the suicide bomber who blew himself up in Cairo's St. Peter and St. Pauls Church on 11 December 2016, killing 29 Coptic Christian worshippers, mostly women and children.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the latest attacks against Christians.

The Egyptian army, which has been waging a war against the North Sinai Islamist insurgency -- led mostly by Islamic State affiliate Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis -- has killed hundreds of militants in intensified comprehensive military campaigns in the governorate.

In July 2016, Father Rafael Moussa of the Mar Girgis Church in El-Arish was gunned down by Islamic State militants.

The group has also killed civilians in North Sinai for allegedly cooperating with security forces.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Dozens of residents from Huntington Beachs Oak View community voiced concerns at a town hall meeting Wednesday about reports of increased national deportations following an executive order calling for a more aggressive approach to finding and arresting people who are in the country illegally.

Since President Trump signed the order Jan. 25, reports detailing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, deportation raids on undocumented immigrants have spread online, causing panic among immigrant populations.

Victor Valladares, a cofounder of ComUNIDAD, said in a phone interview that the group organized the town hall after receiving calls from fearful residents of the Oak View neighborhood, which has a high concentration of Latinos.

People were scared to go out, Valladares said.

He said residents worried that if they contacted police about a crime, they could be arrested and deported.

We want the community to be reassured that its OK to contact the police, Valladares said. They are not immigration officers.

Police Chief Robert Handy echoed that sentiment at the meeting, held at the Oak View Family Resource Center on Oak Lane. He told the 100 or so in the packed gymnasium that his department does not work for the federal government but rather it enforces state laws and local ordinances.

Handy said the department has plenty of other worries in the area than to focus on immigration.

As residents continued to question Handy about how closely his department works with the federal government, the police chief made it clear that it only works with federal agencies like ICE when serious crimes are involved.

Members of the audience showed that they were not all of one mind.

Raymond Herrera, an activist who supports strict immigration enforcement, told Handy that federal law trumps state law so the department should be imposing Trumps new action.

What gives you the power to be in denial of federal law? Herrera said. What authorizes you to subvert the laws to protect the people?

Handy responded, The state of California and the law of Huntington Beach.

The crowd applauded.

Maintaining a close relationship with the residents of the Oak View community, historically one of the more crime-plagued areas in the city, has been important to Handy since he was named chief in December 2013.

In November 2014, Handy introduced a new policing program to reduce juvenile- and gang-related crime in Oak View. Eight officers were assigned to the community to act as liaisons between the department and the residents.

The close ties with the community seem to have worked, according to Handy, since crime there had dropped 20% by 2016.

On Thursday, Valladares said residents were feeling relieved following the town hall.

It calmed a lot of nerves, he said. "[Handy] reassured us that [his officers] are not federal government workers, and if people are going to call police, they are not going to be questioned about their immigrant status.

This is the second town hall that ComuUNIDAD has organized in about a year with Handy.

Handy addressed public concerns in the Oak View community early last year after ICE made an appearance in the area while searching for shooting suspects. Valladares said Handy assuaged the fears of the community then.

Valladares said Oak View residents are very appreciative of the close relationship with the department.

We welcome the police with open arms, Valladares said.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter: @benbrazilpilot
About 50 demonstrators gathered outside the Eastside Costa Mesa home of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher on Thursday night, demanding that the longtime Republican congressman fulfill their requests for a town hall meeting.

The demonstration, organized by Courage Campaign, a progressive activist group, and the Service Employees International Union, also advocated against repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act  commonly known as Obamacare  and against President Trump in general, calling him the countrys liar in chief.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

The group first congregated around 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Mariners library branch in Newport Beach before crossing Irvine Avenue into Costa Mesa and marching to Rohrabachers house carrying signs, electric candles and small American flags.

Leaders said they have been routinely rallying around the congressmans Huntington Beach office seeking a meeting but have not been successful, so they decided to protest Thursday in front of his home.

Rohrabacher was inside having a barbecue dinner with friends.

Two demonstrators knocked on the door to ask Rohrabacher to come outside. He did not answer, and other people inside asked the group to stay off his property, organizers said.

Were basically asking him to do part of his job, which is to meet with his constituents, even if he doesnt agree with us, said Darcie Olson, a Costa Mesa resident and one of the demonstration organizers.

Rohrabacher spokesman Ken Grubbs called the protest another among recent Alinskyite disruptions  a reference to community organizer Saul Alinsky, author of the 1971 book Rules for Radicals.

These are not Norman Rockwell town halls, Grubbs added in an email.

Grubbs also referenced the nationwide Indivisible movement that is protesting Trumps policies.

When people show up at [Rohrabachers] door with signs and bullhorns, he is perfectly aware that the incivility springs from Indivisible guidelines to disrupt rather than engage in dialogue, Grubbs said. He chooses not to take their disingenuous bait. He reaches vastly more constituents and hears their concerns by far more productive means.

On Sunday, Sue Dvorak, spokeswoman for Indivisible OC 48, a group focused on Rohrabachers 48th Congressional District, issued a statement saying, For the record, the Indivisible movement (including Indivisible OC 48) did not participate in or condone [Thursdays] action in any way.

Before the demonstrators arrival Thursday, several cars were parked within inches of one another along the curb in front of Rohrabachers yard. The cars created a barrier that largely kept the demonstrators off his lawn. The yards sprinkler system was running, which also deterred many from going on the grass.

Grubbs said Rohrabacher, like many other Southern Californians, turned on his sprinkers because a watering restriction had been lifted. It happened before he saw any demonstrators coming, Grubbs said.

If any protesters thought he turned the sprinklers on them, it would be in keeping with their self-conception of the world revolving around nobody else but them, Grubbs said.

Organizers initially described the demonstration as a candlelight vigil  part of seven happening simultaneously around the state that targeted Republican Congress members.

At first, members of the group spoke through a megaphone outside the library. Within about 15 minutes, they headed into Eastside Costa Mesa, where about five police officers were waiting.

Soon they were walking onto Costa Mesa Street, where Rohrabacher bought a home in 2012.

While some officers followed the group, others closed Costa Mesa Street at Irvine Avenue.

After stopping in front of Rohrabachers house, the protesters chanted phrases such as This is what democracy looks like, Do your job and Wheres Dana?

Some labeled Rohrabacher a coward and a chicken for not answering the door. Others shouted for him to turn off the sprinklers.

After standing outside the house for about 20 minutes, the demonstrators left at the behest of the police. On their way out, they sang This Land Is Your Land.

According to Rohrabachers Facebook page, he spoke earlier that day during a Newport Harbor Republican Women luncheon at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach.

He also spent time with constituents at his Huntington Beach office, covering issues from healthcare to energy technology to water, according to the Facebook page.

Thursdays protest was preceded by one on Monday by different activist groups who expressed disdain for Rohrabachers political alignment with Trump. One of the groups, Indivisible OC 48, said it will visit Rohrabachers office every Tuesday.

On Feb. 14, in what Rohrabacher later characterized as political thuggery, activists were in the hallway outside his office when a scuffle occurred. A 2-year-old girl was hit on the head by a door that opened as she was placing an envelope under it. Aside from a small red mark on her cheek, she was uninjured.

The woman who opened the door, a 71-year-old Rohrabacher staff member, fell after an activist tugged at the door to keep it open.

The woman was later taken to a hospital, Grubbs said.

bradley.zint@latimes.com

Twitter: @BradleyZint
Its been 20 years since the body of Sunny Adrienne Sudweeks, a 26-year-old photography student, was found on her bed inside her Costa Mesa apartment. She had been raped and strangled.

Sudweeks family says the Orange Coast College students personality shined as brightly as her name. She was happy, artistic and made friends with ease.

For two decades, her family and Costa Mesa police detectives have been baffled as they try to comprehend who could carry out the brutal killing.

Police officials announced Thursday that they have identified a suspect in the case.

Felipe Vianney Hernandez Tellez, 43, is believed to be living in Oaxaca, Mexico, possibly near the resort town of Puerto Escondido with his wife and children. He previously worked as a painter and currently delivers rotisserie chickens, according to police.

Detectives plan to pursue charges with the Orange County district attorneys office and seek Hernandez Tellezs extradition to the United States.

Its unclear how long it could take before he is in custody, police Lt. Paul Beckman said.

During a news conference Thursday, Sudweeks parents, Sandy and Alan, expressed their gratitude to the Police Department for its persistence in the case. As they spoke, a large screen displayed family photos.

In one picture of Sudweeks as a child, her small hands cradled her face as she smirked toward the camera. Her hair was a tangle of blond curls.

Alan Sudweeks said he is still angered by his daughters slaying.

Sunny was a beautiful young woman. She was just beginning to start her career, he said. She had a bright future, and that was all lost when she was attacked and killed. ... Im also angry that for 20 years he [Hernandez Tellez] has been enjoying life, raising his own children, and yet he denied us the comfort and value of our daughter.

Sandy Sudweeks appealed to the Mexican government to turn over Hernandez Tellez to American authorities.

My only prayer over the years has been that the man who killed her could not hurt anyone else, she said.

In 1997, Hernandez Tellez was 23 and living in Santa Ana. Police do not believe that he and Sunny Sudweeks knew each other.

The night of Feb. 22, 1997, Sudweeks was chatting on the phone in her upstairs apartment in the 1000 block of Mission Drive in Costa Mesa, police said. She made her last call to a girlfriend around 11 p.m. and went to bed.

The three-bedroom apartment, which she shared with her boyfriend and another roommate, was full of boxes. The group had planned to move three days later. The door was unlocked and a window left open, her family said.

Police said that between midnight and 4 a.m. Feb. 23, a man entered the apartment, raped and strangled Sudweeks and fled. A possible motive for the killing isnt clear.

Sudweeks boyfriend returned that morning from his night shift as a cabdriver and found her body in her bed, police said.

Detectives scoured the scene, collecting more than 130 DNA samples and 265 pieces of evidence. They canvassed the neighborhood conducting interviews and passed out fliers hoping to find witnesses. Fingerprints from the crime scene were put in a database but didnt return a match.

With no leads to pursue, the case grew cold. But even years later it weighed on the minds of authorities.

Its one of those cases you just never forget, Beckman said.

Detectives reviewed the case several times through the years, without success. Last November, with the 20th anniversary of the killing rapidly approaching, detectives decided to reopen the case.

Then they got their first break.

Using DNA evidence collected from the scene, Parabon NanoLabs, a medical laboratory based in Virginia, provided police with a snapshot profile of a possible suspect. The process uses DNA to formulate a facial composite, skin, eye and hair color, freckles, gender and ancestry.

Shortly after, detectives ran fingerprints collected at the scene in the national database. The prints matched those collected from Hernandez Tellez during an arrest in a domestic violence case in 2000. He was later convicted, Costa Mesa police said Thursday.

The resemblance between the composite snapshot and Hernandez Tellezs booking photo was uncanny, Beckman said.

During the past two months, detectives have interviewed family members of Hernandez Tellez and tested DNA from one of his relatives against DNA collected from Sudweeks apartment. Police say the results show a high likelihood that the relative is related to whoever killed Sudweeks.

The Sudweeks family has had to bear an enormous weight over the last 20 years, said Costa Mesa Police Chief Rob Sharpnack. We are pleased with where were at today, but thats nothing close to what were going to feel when this individual, this heinous criminal, is brought before justice. We will not stop, we will not rest, until this individual is in custody.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
Last March, the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers sent a letter to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District claiming 16 instances of untruths and inaccuracies in the schools application for Gold Ribbon status from the California Department of Education.

According to the letter, the alleged untruths and inaccuracies were so egregious that the teachers at the school " felt that it would be unethical for them to participate in focus groups during the Gold Ribbon visit knowing the embarrassing truth that the schools programs do not match the assertions set forth in the application nor wish to engage in deception to cover up the truth.

The district promised an investigation, the results of which have recently been delivered to the district. In an unsigned e-mail sent by the district only to Mariners parents, district officials stated that, they are not at liberty to discuss or disclose information related to personnel matters, however, in my view, that argument may not survive a request for disclosure through the California Public Records Act.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

It is not and has never been necessary to produce the specifics of the report. All that is needed is the appropriate discipline for the person or people responsible for any untruths and inaccuracies.

But there is one more consideration. If there were untruths and inaccuracies in the Gold Ribbon application, even just one, the district has a duty to return the award to the Department of Education.

Returning the award is necessary to teaching everyone, particularly our students, that that allegations surrounding this incident, if accurate, have consequences. Keeping the award under potentially false pretenses sends the wrong message to all residents of Newport-Mesa.

The district should not be embarrassed to return the award, in fact, history is full of major awards that have been returned or revoked.

Now its time for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to do the right thing and return the award before it is revoked. This is the best lesson we can teach our children in this situation.

--

Former Daily Pilot columnist STEVE SMITH lives in Costa Mesa.
The USS Glendale, funded with help from bond-buying Glendale students, was launched in a Wilmington shipyard as a convoy escort that also served as an anti-submarine and anti-aircraft vessel.

Christened in 1943 and commissioned in October of that same year, the ship sailed from San Diego in January 1944. She reached Australia in mid-February and continued on to New Guinea, where she was given the mission of escorting and protecting merchant ships.

According to a 1965 Glendale News-Press story by John Millrany, The frigate first saw combat in the Admiralties, and then kept in step with American invasion forces in Western New Guinea, Western Carolines and the Philippines.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

In December 1944, the ship was escorting a convoy to Leyte Island when Japanese aircraft attacked and sank the SS Antoine Saugrain, a cargo ship laden with valuable radar material, and severely damaged the SS Marcus Daly, according to a Wikipedia site dedicated to the USS Glendale. Wanting to find out more, I went to Wikipedias Battle of Leyte site and there I found a bigger story.

Japan had taken the Philippines in 1942 and needed to retain the islands to protect its rubber and petroleum sources. The United States wanted to retake the Philippines to isolate Japans holdings.

But it was more personal for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who had been ordered to leave the Philippines in 1942  by President Franklin D. Roosevelt  to avoid being captured by the invading Japanese. The general was evacuated to Australia, where he famously declared, I came through and I shall return.

MacArthur repeatedly stated that it was the United States moral obligation to liberate the Philippines as soon as possible. In early 1944, he was ordered to plan an attack.

Leyte, one of the larger islands, had deep-water approaches and sandy beaches for amphibious assaults and fast resupply. It became the focus of the planned battle.

After heavy fire in mid-October, Sixth Army forces landed on the beaches. They found as much resistance from swampy terrain as from Japanese fire, Wikipedia noted, but within an hour of landing, units in most sectors had secured beachheads deep enough to receive heavy vehicles and large amounts of supplies.

Later that day, MacArthur made a dramatic entrance, wading through the surf to announce, People of the Philippines, I have returned! By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil, as described on the Wikipedia site.

As the land forces pushed, the Japanese struck back in the air and at sea. The fighting continued and, in early December, the ships escorted by the USS Glendale came under attack as described above. She brought the rest of the convoy safely into Leyte the next day.

After leaving the combat zone, the Glendale sailed for Boston and an overhaul. She was awarded five Battle Stars for her Asian Pacific service.

In June 1945, this hard-working ship was decommissioned, transferred to the Soviet Navy and disappeared from view for several years. More on this later.

Readers Write:

Carl Held, who first worked with Gloria Talbott in the Perry Mason episode The Case of The Angry Dead Man, emailed his thanks for the Feb. 10 column on Talbott, who was born into an illustrious Glendale family.

My career in front of the camera was just starting at the time while she was already a seasoned veteran. I remember her giving me camera tips which were most helpful. She was kind and generous to me and seemed to have no professional ego problems, unlike some actors I have worked with over the years, Held wrote.

Her help was part of the reason I was written into the series, of which I eventually did 10 or so episodes. I was saddened to hear of her early death in the year 2000  coincidentally on my 69th birthday, he added.

Held also worked with another Glendale actor, John Wayne, in Brannigan.

He, too, was most kind and generous, certainly not a snob, and he genuinely enjoyed chatting with cast, crew or visitors on the set, Held wrote.

Held  who has lived in Glendale for three years, since the death of his wife, actress Sarah Marshall  added that he enjoyed the News-Press and its many columnists. Thanks again for your lovely column on Gloria, he wrote.



John Hammell Jr. emailed: Just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed your column on the Patterson family and Gloria Talbott. I did not realize that Benjamin Patterson was so much a part of early Glendale history.

--

KATHERINE YAMADA can be reached at katherineyamada@gmail.com. or by mail at Verdugo Views, c/o News-Press, 202 W. First St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Please include your name, address and phone number.
I am very concerned about the undocumented workers in Glendale. I dont believe they are totally at fault for their situation. If U.S. employers didnt hire the undocumented they wouldnt be drawn into the country. Americans who demand goods and services at the lowest possible cost and are perfectly happy ignoring the immigration status of those who provide them have some responsibility. There is also a moral component. Many undocumented workers are exploited by employers who fail to pay a living wage or even minimum wage.

If U.S. policy on drug abuse didnt criminalize addiction there wouldnt be so much profit in providing the substances being abused and the economies of nations to our south wouldnt be compromised. Americans who buy from the underground economy have some responsibility.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

Human overpopulation is a fundamental problem for the planet. Earth cannot sustain 7 billion people, and tens of thousands die every day around the world from preventable diseases and starvation. Americans who support a prohibition on family planning aid have some responsibility.

Another troubling aspect is the for-profit prison industry eager to siphon off tax money for detention centers that would be better spent on infrastructure improvements.

Mass deportation is not a viable answer. That would devastate our economy. I urge California and federal elected officials to cooperate with the rest of the worlds nations to solve the underlying problems. They should craft a path to legalization for those already here. We should not cause further misery to ordinary working people trying to live a decent life.

Sharon Weisman

Glendale

..

Support for healthcare bill

I support SB 562 for single payer healthcare in California. I have two daughters that were dropped from health insurance because the insurance company got tired of paying for the same treatment. As my wife and I get older it seems we may suffer the same fate. Healthcare is a human right, not a privilege. California has always led the way forward for this country. Lets lead on this issue, too.

Ali Awan

Glendale

..

Ralphs manager exceeds expectations

Last week I needed to make sure that money I had wired via Western Union to someone out of the country would get to that person. Though I had sent it the week before, my friend was still unable to receive the money.

I went to Ralphs supermarket in La Canada, the Western Union option nearest me. The store manager, James Flanagan, was responsible for making W.U. transactions. Though he was clearly super busy when I arrived, after a brief time, he made time to work on the problem with my wire. It seemed straightforward, but it turned out to take nearly an hour of Flanagans time.

The manager stayed on the phone and talked with one after the other at the company while I tried to match his seemingly unending patience. Two days later  after we corrected first one omitted last name and then, one letter of one name  W.U. delivered and we were done.

I am writing to commend the patience of this busy store manager who apparently has made it his aim to serve his customers  and suppliers, no matter what, which was very much appreciated.

Betty Cooney

Glendale

..

Crime appears to be on the rise

In the past two to three months there has been a rise in crime in east Glendale (the area close to Eagle Rock Plaza), with residents reporting vagrants walking around with flashlights at night, breaking into unattended cars and peering into apartment windows. Several calls to 911 have resulted in one arrest but no noticeable effect on the problem.

Complicating the issue is the fact that this area borders the city of Los Angeles. It is possible that this may be related to a recent increase in the number of homeless people sheltering under the Wilson Boulevard freeway overpass, right on the border with Los Angeles.

My friends who live in the area have written to Mayor Paula Devine. It is hoped that, with her intervention, the problem can be mitigated.

Ara Kassabian

Glendale

..

Join this Arbor Day celebration

I am writing to invite the community to Glendales Arbor Day observances on Tuesday, March 7, beginning at 10 a.m. for light refreshments, with program at 10:30 a.m., at the Casa Adobe de San Rafael, 1330 Dorothy Drive, Glendale 91202. This free event is sponsored by Glendale Beautiful, in cooperation with Glendales Community Services and Parks Department.

Arbor Day is also an opportunity to participate in beautifying the city by donating a tree to be planted in a Glendale park or library area. Trees of standard size are $45 again this year, and the donation deadline is Feb. 28, in order to receive a certificate at Arbor Day.

Go to GlendaleBeautiful.org to download the donation form to mail with a check or to donate online for a small fee with a credit card. I am happy to answer questions at (818) 248-8151, as is Sharon Weisman at (818) 248-4967.

Roberta Medford

Montrose
Stephen Ball was vacationing with wife Dale in Tanzania in 2003 when he met a group of men in the airport whod just descended from the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Something about their adventure at 19,341 feet instantly captured his imagination and wouldnt let go.

I kind of fell in love with Africa on that trip and thought, Ive got to get back, the La Canada resident recalled in a recent interview. I looked at these knuckleheads in the airport and thought, if they can do it, so can I.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

The following year, Ball made plans for his own ascent to the top. He enlisted the services of Kiliwarrior Expeditions, a company owned and run by Wilbert Mollel, a young native of the Maasai tribe and a mountain devotee determined to set himself apart from other outfits.

The nine-day journey Mollel had crafted was designed to improve hikers success rate as they moved through below-freezing temperatures and multiple terrains and altitude levels.

Experienced and well-compensated porters, along with Mollels unparalleled expertise, made the trip an experience of a lifetime  one Ball was eager to share with and recommend to other adventurers, including fellow La Canadan Leonard Gomez.

Gomez and wife Denise had experience training at 14,000 feet, but the behemoth Kilimanjaro held special appeal. Like Ball, they booked a trip through Kiliwarrior with a small group of friends and had the same unforgettable experience, which they credit to Mollels considerate planning and personal touch.

I dont think Ive met anyone as successful and humble as Wilbert. He treats people as hed like to be treated, Gomez said in an interview at his home. Hes just a great guy.

Now, when the 40-year-old Mollel comes to the U.S. on a rare trip, he is sure to make a special stop in La Canada Flintridge. There, the Ball and Gomez families gladly open up their homes and invite others in the area whove climbed Kilimanjaro with Mollel to celebrate his arrival.

Last Tuesday found Mollel staying with the Gomez family as part of his own two-week expedition through Southern California. A large group of hikers celebrated his arrival with a festive dinner, inviting him to hike up the San Gabriel Mountains, join them on a trip to Baja or take an airplane tour of the coast.

This is how the friendships get when they put their lives in my hands, Mollel reasoned. They say, come and see my family, so thats what I do.

The expedition leader explains Kilimanjaros allure to those with bucket list aspirations, or those who are simply ambitious or curious in nature. For him, the relationship is a kind of love affair.

Climbing the mountain is part of my job, and its part of my heritage, he said. I have a passion for the mountain, and Im happy to share it with other people.

Gomez  like Mollel, a lifelong mountain worshipper always up for an adventure  can attest to the special bond formed between people who share a journey together.

Something happens on that mountain, he said of his experience with Mollel on Kilimanjaros snowy slopes.

I dont know if it would have been the same with anyone else, agreed Ball.

--

Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
24 / 33

Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump was elected president, ending one of the most divisive general elections in U.S. history, thousands of people took to the streets in major cities across the country to protest a man they felt was uniquely unqualified to represent them. In New York, Portland, Chicago and Los Angeles, surging throngs of men and women from myriad backgrounds all united in one chant  Not my President! In Los Angeles, a city where activists and minorities have a frought relationship with police, tensions at protests grew as each night wore on. Demonstrations that were largely peaceful at first saw pockets of chaos, as small numbers within each crowd began to set off fireworks, vandalize buildings and block traffic. Over the course of five nights, chants denouncing Trump echoed throughout downtown Los Angeles, traffic was frozen on the 101 Freeway, and police in riot-gear arrested hundreds. Anti-Trump protesters torch a giant Trump head in effigy, which sends ashes raining, outside City Hall in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2016. Thousands are taking to the street to protest the election of Donald J. Trump in subsequent nights. In the loud and aggressive demonstration, many chanted, Not my president. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
South African authorities are under fire for allowing an anti-immigrant march of hatred to go ahead in Pretoria Friday, just days after a series of violent attacks against Somalis, Nigerians and other foreigners.

The results were predictable: Police arrested 136 people, many of them protesters and looters armed with clubs, sticks, pipes and rocks. Migrants, terrified of being attacked, armed themselves with sticks and clubs too.

Police averted a violent confrontation between the two groups at a Pretoria intersection, dispersing both sides using rubber bullets. At another location, tear gas and water cannons were also used.

Advertisement

South Africa, where 35% of people are unemployed or have given up searching for work, has experienced successive surges of xenophobic violence, often targeting Somali and Pakistani people who operate small shops in townships and shanty towns.

During the latest attacks this week  in Rosettenville, near the city of Johannesburg, and in Atteridgeville and Pretoria West, near the capital, Pretoria  houses were set on fire and shops looted.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, which carries on the conciliatory legacy of the countrys late first black president, expressed dismay that authorities had allowed Fridays march of hatred to go ahead.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation strongly condemns attacks on those perceived to be foreigners in South Africa, the group said in a statement. This is the latest manifestation of a phenomenon which has been troubling our democracy for a long time.

South African protesters shout anti-immigrant slogans during a march in Pretoria on Feb. 24, 2017, (Phill Magakoe / AFP/Getty Images)

Some of the worst mob violence against foreigners in recent years swept across the nation in 2008, when at least 60 people were killed, many of them dragged from their homes or attacked in their shops. Some people were burned alive.

Similar attacks took place two years ago in Durban, killing at least six people. But smaller incidents occur frequently in South African townships.

Those at the center of this weeks attacks accused migrants of drug dealing, pimping and stealing South African jobs.

A three-page petition by the protesters, delivered to the Home Affairs Department in Pretoria on Friday, said foreigners were arrogant and they dont know how to talk to people, the Associated Press reported. The petition called on the government to prevent foreigners from establishing shops and transport businesses and charging unfair prices.

The acting police commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane, said the protesters had a constitutional right to air their views, adding that the march was not only about immigrants but the involvement of some foreigners in crime.

Our constitution provides for people to express their views, he told reporters. Equally so, the law provides for people to apply for a march or a protest to take place.

But he said the protesters had ignored government appeals to march peacefully and had thrown rocks, burned tires, looted and damaged property.

They also, without authority to do so, marched on the central business district, where they were dispersed after there was a confrontation with another group apparently consisting of non-South Africans, he said.

Somali migrants, fearing attack, march in the South African capital, Pretoria, on Feb. 24, 2017, armed with rocks and sticks. (MARCO LONGARI / AFP/Getty Images)

Police were criticized for allowing the armed protesters to move into central Pretoria where a violent showdown was narrowly avoided. But Phahlane said police had to be careful not to be too heavy handed.

We are happy the situation did not get out of hand, he said.

Phahlane said some people had been circulating a fake video on social media to incite violence. The video depicted people sharpening weapons, but was actually filmed two years ago during the Durban violence.

South African President Jacob Zuma said concern about crime and drugs was widespread.

Ive been told people leading the march are saying its not an anti-foreigners march, it is anti-crime, Zuma told journalists Friday. Those involved in crime happen to be amongst them, those who come from other countries.

His office later issued a statement calling on South Africans not to blame all foreigners for crime. Although the president noted in the statement that many foreigners living in South Africa were law abiding and contributed to the economy, he appeared to endorse the view that illegal immigration threatens South African jobs.

The president said government has also noted the complaints of South Africans about companies that employ illegal immigrants, the statement said. He reiterated that the Department of Home Affairs will be cracking down on all employers who continue with this practice, which is dangerous as it pits locals against non-nationals.

The latest bout of violence has raised tensions between the continents two major economic powers, South Africa and Nigeria.

The Nigerian government summoned South Africas ambassador this week to demand an explanation of the handling of the bloodshed after Nigerian citizens were attacked.

On Thursday, protesters broke into the office of the South African cellphone company MTN in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and damaged equipment in apparent retaliation for the attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

Twitter: @RobynDixon_LAT
The shooting death of an Indian man in a possible hate crime in suburban Kansas City has shocked his family and his hometown of Hyderabad, which sends thousands of students and professionals to the United States every year.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was shot along with an Indian co-worker Wednesday night at a bar in Olathe, Kan., by a man who reportedly said, Get out of my country, before opening fire. Kuchibhotlas friend and a local man were wounded.

Kuchibhotla was remembered Friday as a devoted son who loved life in the United States and took frequent trips with his wife to visit Indian friends living in other cities.

Advertisement

His brother-in-law, Venumadhav Gajula, and others in Hyderabad  a booming tech hub in southern India that has earned the moniker Cyberabad  blamed the killing on a growing climate of racial intolerance in the United States, which many said had worsened since President Trump came into office.

They cited Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric, his effort to bar citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, support within his administration for curtailing a visa program for skilled workers and anecdotal accounts that ethnic minority travelers were being subjected to increased questioning at airports.

Kuchibhotla had moved from Hyderabad a decade ago, one of thousands of educated young Indians who moved  and continue to move  to the U.S. to pursue middle-class dreams. He earned a masters degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, and for the last several years had worked in aviation systems at Olathe-based Garmin Ltd.

He had a lot of hopes, Gajula said. Hes a role model for our younger generation. He is very talented. Its a big loss for us.

The shooting suspect, 51-year-old Navy veteran Adam Purinton, was charged Thursday with premeditated first-degree murder.

Witnesses at the bar on Wednesday night told the Kansas City Star that Purinton was drinking and spouting racial slurs at Kuchibhotla and his friends. At one point, according to the newspaper, Purinton was kicked out of the bar before he entered again and began shooting.

Federal authorities are investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime. Purintons bond was set at $2 million.

Gajula said his own son, a college student, had obtained admission at two universities in the United States but the family was considering keeping him in India.

We are having second thoughts after what has happened, and because of the way things are changing over there after Trump, said Gajula, 48. It is very scary and people are panicking. My advice would be to think twice about going to the U.S.

Those would have been unthinkable words just months ago. With its rapid growth and large population of English-speaking graduates in engineering and other skilled fields, Hyderabad, population 10 million, has zoomed past other Indian cities as a source of students and professionals for U.S. universities and companies.

The U.S. consulate in the city issued the fifth-highest number of student visas of any U.S. mission in the world in 2015. Alok Madasani, Kuchibhotlas co-worker who was injured in the shooting, hailed from Warangal, 90 miles northeast of Hyderabad.

Every other house has someone in the U.S., said Seema Vindu, acting president of a Hyderabad association for parents of Indians living overseas. It has more than 200 members, the vast majority of whose children are in America, she said.

Sreemala Pakhal, a physician, said her 25-year-old daughter, working as a business analyst in St. Louis, has described increased harassment over the last few months. After one of her friends was questioned at an airport for five hours despite having a valid work visa to be in the United States, Pakhals daughter has stopped the sightseeing trips she used to take on weekends.

She and her friends are getting very scared to move to one place or another, Pakhal said. As a parent you feel extremely worried and tense. Ive visited the U.S. so many times and I never felt like this.

Pakhal said that her daughter was considering moving back to India, even though that would mean foregoing a chance at a green card, or permanent residency in the United States, where salaries for engineers and business analysts are several times higher than in India.

On Friday, as the news of the killing led Indian newscasts, Pakhal paid a visit to Kuchibhotlas family and described them as being in shock, his mother crying at the entrance to their house on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

U.S. officials said the body would be brought to Hyderabad within several days. Funeral services were expected to be held next week.

Kuchibhotla was the second of three sons born to his mother and father, a retired pharmaceutical employee. In 2013 he married his wife, who also hails from Hyderabad. They had what in India is known as a love marriage  one not arranged by the couples parents  though in this case both families were pleased with the union.

We were all so happy for them, said Gajula, who attended their wedding along with more than 1,000 guests, not uncommonly large by Indian standards. They were so happy with the way their lives were going.

Kuchibhotla encouraged his younger brother, Sai, to follow him to America, where he works in the Dallas area. On Thursday, Sai traveled to Kansas to help collect his brothers body.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia

ALSO

Nerve agent was used to kill North Korean leaders half brother, police say

U.S.-backed forces recapture Mosul airport and military base

U.S. diplomatic foray into Mexico unlikely to quell tensions or clear confusion over Trump plans

UPDATES:

2 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the shooting.

This article was originally published at 8:15 a.m.
South African police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse rival marches by hundreds of citizens and non-nationals in the capital on Friday, following looting this week of stores believed to belong to immigrants.

Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa against a background of near-record unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs from citizens and involvement in crime.

Armed police had formed a barrier between citizens and non-nationals marching in Pretoria, but the crowd became unruly with both sides shouting at one another prompting police to disperse the angry mobs.

Many shops were shuttered in Marabastad, an area situated in the west of capital, where many foreign nationals have their stores, and roads were blocked as the marchers gathered.

Some of the foreigners carried rocks and sticks, saying they were ready to protect their stores.

The marches follow the looting this week of at least 20 small businesses believed to belong to Nigerian and Pakistani immigrants in an area in west Pretoria.

Residents said they had attacked the shops because they were dens of prostitution and drug dealing.

President Jacob Zuma condemned acts of violence between citizens and non-nationals, his office said on Friday.

"It is wrong to brandish (sic) all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers," Zuma said in a statement.

In retaliation, Nigerian protesters vandalised the head office of South African mobile phone giant MTN in Abuja.

Nigeria and South Africa, the continent's two largest economies and pre-eminent diplomatic and military powers, have a volatile relationship.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The apparent assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns half brother this month is a bizarre, unfolding story that has sparked media frenzies and diplomatic tensions across Asia.

The saga began two weeks ago with a brazen public attack, caught on closed-circuit television, inside a major international airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Police said Friday that VX nerve agent, a chemical classified as a weapon of mass destruction, was found on the face of the dead man, Kim Jong Nam.

Two women, apparently aided by North Korean agents, are the suspected assassins, according to Malaysian police. Some of the suspects are hiding behind diplomatic immunity to avoid investigators.

Advertisement

In another development, someone this week apparently tried to burglarize the hospital mortuary where Kims body is awaiting positive identification.

Each day brings new revelations  and new questions. Heres what we know so far:

Who is Kim Jong Nam?

Kim, 45 or 46, is the half brother of Kim Jong Un, the current North Korean leader and grandson of Kim Il Sung, the patriarch of communist North Korea.

Kim Jong Nam was believed to be the first son of Kim Jong Il  the former North Korean dictator who died in December 2011  which he had with one of his mistresses, the late North Korean actress Song Hye Rim.

In recent years he lived in the Chinese region of Macau. He has children there and in Beijing. Its unclear whether he had ever even met his younger half brother, now a ruthless dictator who has purged dozens of officials while angering the international community by pursuing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.

Why is Kim important?

The Western-educated Kim was once seen as a dynastic successor for Kim Jong Il, but he fell out of favor in 2001 after being detained trying to enter Japan with falsified travel documents. He said he wanted to take his 4-year-old son, Kim Han Sol, to Tokyo Disneyland.

Kim Jong Nams death, which intelligence officials in South Korea have blamed on their enemies in the North, eliminates any future dynastic claim to the leadership role now held by Kim Jong Un.

There are few if any indicators that, at the time of his death, Kim Jong Nam was a threat to the North Korean government  or that he had any future ambitions about ascending to leadership. He was known to travel often, frequenting casinos.

According to some intelligence reports, North Koreas leader had a standing order for years to assassinate his half brother, who once wrote to Kim Jong Un asking that his life be spared.

But the brutal government has a history of purging potential rivals. And historically Korean royals have purged generations of their rivals families to prevent challenges.

How sure are we that North Korea ordered the hit?

Its still not completely clear this was an assassination, or that it was ordered by the North Korean leadership. But Malaysian police are seeking four North Korean men who entered the country last year as tourists. They apparently flew back to Pyongyang after the incident.

The police have arrested four people. The two women were carrying Vietnamese and Indonesian travel documents. A third suspect, the local boyfriend of one of the women, was also held but released this week. A North Korean scientist working in Malaysia was also taken into custody.

Malaysian police also released names and pictures of three other North Korean men who remain in the country. One works for North Koreas state-run Air Koryo. Another is apparently a high-ranking diplomat in the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian police still hope to learn more from the North Korean suspects.

We hope that the [North] Korean Embassy will cooperate with us, Malaysian Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said this week. Those who are involved are the North Koreans.

Malaysian police have few tools to compel the men to talk because of diplomatic protocol. Until the incident, Malaysia and North Korea maintained a relatively healthy relationship. That seems to be fraying in recent days, however.

The South Korean Unification Ministry called the killing a reckless and brutal case  and an act of terror.

What does China think of all this?

North Korea shares its northern border with China, an ally on many issues even before its military assistance during the Korean War. The two countries are historically as close  and as different  as lips and teeth, John Delury, a professor in South Korea, has said.

China has said it is monitoring the case closely. But officials there cant be pleased with North Koreas potential involvement in such a brazen, public act against a man who essentially had asylum in its country.

Pyongyang in recent years also hasnt heeded Beijings warnings about the rapid advancement of its nuclear program and ballistic missile systems. The incident is likely to increase the diplomatic tension between the countries.

Who were those women?

Police are holding two women: Doan Thi Huong, 28, who had Vietnamese travel documents, and Siti Aishah, 25, whose papers listed her as Indonesian. Police asked a court this week to hold them at least an additional week.

Police said that both women touched Kim Jong Nam in the terminal  first the Indonesian, then the Vietnamese. Police said that they have evidence that the women practiced their approach in other crowded spaces beforehand and that the four North Korean suspects in Pyongyang gave them the liquid, now identified as a deadly nerve agent.

Abu Bakar rejected media reports that the women were duped in what they thought was a reality television show or prank. He raised his arms to demonstrate how the women carefully walked away from the scene.

She knew, very well, that it is toxic, and that she needs to watch her hands, he said of one of the women. We strongly believe it is a planned thing, and that they are being trained to do that. This is not something, just shooting movies or a play thing. No.

Whats the status of the investigation?

Basic details about incident remain unclear  including whether the victim was really Kim. He was said to be traveling with official North Korean documents naming him as Kim Chol, a identity akin to John Smith in the West.

None of his family members have arrived to identify him, and the North Koreans havent released a DNA sample from a family member  perhaps the half brother himself  to prove a relationship.

Police also wont say much about the apparent break-in attempt at the building housing Kims body.

Abu Bakar told a reporter that the investigation could last years.

Wait until the trial  then you listen, he said.

Stiles is a special correspondent.

ALSO

Nerve agent was used to kill North Korean leaders half brother, police say

Irans president tries to defuse anger in an oil-rich province hit by dust storms, blackouts and protests

U.S. diplomatic foray to Mexico unlikely to quell tensions or clear confusion over Trump plans
Malaysian police announced Friday that Kim Jong Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns half brother, could have been killed by VX nerve agent, a highly toxic chemical compound banned by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction.

The announcement that police found traces of the nerve agent on Kims face has raised the stakes in a political murder mystery that has implicated several suspects  at least eight North Koreans and two Southeast Asian women  and raised tensions between North Korea and some of its Asian neighbors.

Kim Jong Nam, 46, was once considered a potential successor to his father, Kim Jong Il, and South Korean officials have accused Pyongyang of ordering his assassination. On Feb. 13, as Kim Jong Nam waited at the Kuala Lumpur airport, two women approached and apparently spread poison on his face, Malaysian police suspect.

Advertisement

He complained to airport staff that he felt dizzy, then died en route to a hospital.

The two women  one from Vietnam and one from Indonesia  are in custody, and at least one suffered the chemicals effects. She was vomiting, Malaysias inspector general, Khalid Abu Bakar, told reporters.

Authorities were still trying to determine how VX entered Malaysia, the police official said. Leaked airport surveillance video shows the female suspects going to wash their hands after the attack, suggesting that they were trained to deal with the poison. Police said they practiced their assault at other Malaysian locations.

VX, first developed in Britain in the 1950s, is odorless and tasteless. Its an oily liquid, amber in color, that evaporates slowly  about as fast as motor oil, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nerve agents typically act rapidly, within seconds of exposure. They may be absorbed through the skin or through the respiratory tract. Exposure to a lethal dose may cause death in less than 15 minutes, according to a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency report on the chemical.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Assn. in Washington, said experts have long suspected North Korea of developing a chemical weapons program. He called it highly unlikely that the poison came from any other country. VX nerve agent is banned by an international chemical weapons convention, but North Korea was not a signatory.

If, as is widely suspected, Kim Jong Nam was assassinated  murdered under the direction of the North Korean government  and this is in fact VX nerve agent, this would confirm that North Korea has that type of chemical agent, he said.

So this has sort of a double meaning, Kimball continued. Whoever used this, first of all, had access to a very specialized, difficult-to-produce chemical. And they were probably not just trying to assassinate this person, but trying to send a message that they have VX nerve agent.

North Korea at one time was thought to have at least eight chemical research locations, according to a 2005 report by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a nonprofit think tank in Washington. Several of those were thought to be near the border with its rival, South Korea.

North Korea has refused to acknowledge that the man killed in Malaysia is Kim Jong Nam, who had been living in exile in China. Instead, the government-controlled media has referred to him as a citizen of the DPRK.

Earlier this week, Malaysian police reported an attempted break-in at the morgue where Kim Jong Nams body was being held. They did not give further details.

On Thursday, the North Korean state news agency KCNA denied that he was poisoned to death, insisting that he died of a heart stroke. Malaysian police recklessly made [the poisoning] an established fact, only to make matters complicated, it said.

The report accused Malaysia of carrying out the autopsy in disregard of the DPRKs just demand and international law.

Four North Korean suspects left Malaysia on Feb 13  the same day the incident happened  according to police. At least three others have been implicated by police, including one high-ranking diplomat in North Koreas embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Another North Korean, a scientist working in Malaysia, has been detained.

Raymond Zilinskas, who directs the chemical and biological nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and has worked as a consultant on biological weapons for the television spy drama The Americans, said that when he first heard the news about Kim Jong Nams death, I thought for sure it was going to be chemical.

Zilinskas, who initially suspected cyanide, said VX destroys an enzyme that regulates the twitching of muscles. Anyone exposed to sizable amounts would almost immediately lose control of their tear ducts, nasal passages and urinary functions, among other things, he said.

When that happens, the muscles go crazy, he said. If youre being exposed to a fair amount, youre going to die very quickly, sometimes in five minutes.

Zilinskas is still somewhat skeptical about the VX determination by Malaysian authorities, because VX in liquid form can soak into the skin. Its puzzling that you have these assassins being able to reach Kim and smear his face with what the Malaysians say is VX, he said. How did the assassins survive?

Hypothetically, he said, its possible the assassins used a binary mixture that relies on two less toxic substances. The United States has in the past developed this split mixture.

When combined, the two chemicals form the more deadly VX. It might be possible, for example, that each woman carried a single chemical component of the deadly agent and mixed them on Kim Jong Nams face. That might explain how the assassins walked away, he said, stressing that the discussion was hypothetical.

Kaiman reported from Beijing. Stiles, a special correspondent, reported from Seoul.

ALSO

This is how Trumps expanded deportation policy is being felt across the U.S.

Immigration not the top concern for Latinos, according to Pew survey taken before Trumps inauguration

As Trump immigration crackdown comes into focus, anxiety grows along with anger

UPDATES:

11:35 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting

This article was originally published at 5:20 p.m.
Seldom has the seemingly routine visit of a pair of U.S. Cabinet secretaries generated so much anguish and disquiet to the host country, in this case, Mexico.

And rarely has the reaction been so uncertain that the scripted finale  a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday  was thrown into doubt.

Mexicos economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, suggested publicly that the session with the president was contingent on the tenor of talks between the U.S. visitors and their Mexican counterparts. Some opposition lawmakers called for the envoys to be snubbed.

Advertisement

Ultimately, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly did meet this week with high-ranking Mexican authorities, including Pena Nieto, whose office issued a statement lauding the professionalism and constructive will of the two U.S Cabinet members.

Even that compliment appeared to be a bit of a backhanded swipe at the U.S. envoys boss, President Trump, whose presence seemed to hover over the two-day visit.

At the moment, professional and constructive are not the words that emerge when officials here talk about Trump, who has enraged Mexicans across the political and economic spectrum with his incendiary broadsides on trade, immigration and other issues.

But the visit by the Cabinet secretaries appeared to have given Mexicos beleaguered leadership some reason to believe that less-hostile days may be ahead in relations with the giant and sometimes capricious neighbor to the north.

In little more than a month since Trump was inaugurated, the long-stable relationship between two neighboring nations that share multiple security, economic and other interests  along with a 2,000-mile-long border  has been thrown into disarray. Mexicos leadership is deeply perturbed and doesnt quite know how to react to what appear to be new rules from Washington on how to get along.

Even as the two envoys sought to calm Mexicos collectively bruised psyche, Trump was in the news from the White House, describing an ongoing immigration crackdown as a military operation and telling a group of business executives: Were getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobodys ever seen before.

The comments recalled Trumps reported reference in a telephone call with the Mexican president to bad hombres a phrase that has become a dark-humor meme here, a distillation of the current dismal state of U.S.-Mexico relations.

At a joint news conference Thursday with Tillerson and Mexican officials, Kelly  a retired Marine general  quickly shot down Trumps martial allusion.

We seek no use of military force in immigration operations, declared Kelly, who also said there would be no mass deportations. Well approach this operation systematically, in a results-oriented way, in an operational way, and in a human-dignity way.

In stark contrast to Trump, Kelly and Tillerson clearly endeavored in public comments not to offend Mexican authorities.

Privately, Mexican officials, executives and others have been voicing the hope that binational talks on a range of issues such as trade could produce outcomes less harsh for Mexico than Trumps rhetoric suggests. The measured and bombast-free remarks of the two U.S. officials seem likely to bolster that expectation.

The U.S. approach is a kind of diplomatic twist of the old good-cop, bad-cop technique. But the mixed messages may leave foreign leaders in Mexico and elsewhere wondering: Is it Trump or his subordinates orchestrating the new relationship?

Mexican leaders have come under withering criticism at home for not taking a stronger stance against what are widely viewed in the country as Trumps bullying tactics and scapegoating of Mexico and Mexicans. In fact, Mexico has considerable leverage in terms of cross-border commerce and cooperation with Washington on security, immigration and other matters.

Pena Nieto, who is approaching the last year of his six-year term with near-record low approval ratings, is feeling the pressure. His only recent bounce in the polls came when he scrapped a scheduled meeting with Trump in Washington amid Trumps insistence that Mexico pay for a border wall.

The U.S. emissaries had clearly been briefed on the sensitivity of the moment. They appeared to go out of their way to be unlike Trump.

In his statement, Tillerson even reached for a feel-good narrative, describing a relationship filled with vibrant colors that from time to time will have differences. The understatement escaped no one.

Not even mentioned at the concluding joint news conference  which did not allow for questions from assembled journalists  were the two most provocative issues: the border wall and Trumps call for tariffs of 20% or more on goods imported from Mexico. Both sides seemed more than content not to wander down those treacherous roads.

Ultimately, little concrete was accomplished  as is often the case during such diplomatic jaunts  beyond vague promises to continue cooperation and dialogue on a host of issues. Mexican officials seemed to take some solace in the fact that the events came off in an amicable fashion, with a sense of normalcy and predictability gradually easing the overriding tension and uncertainty.

Nevertheless, Mexicos foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, was stern-faced as he spoke of the two countries like they were a quarrelsome couple trying to cobble back together a broken marriage.

It will be a long road  but today we have made a step in the right direction, said Videgaray, who had earlier reportedly said in private that Mexico was engaged in a long-term battle and had identified retaliatory measures against the United States should a trade war erupt.

To overcome the grievances, to overcome the negative feelings that undoubtedly are prevalent today, we will need deeds more than words  and today we have begun, he said.

Cecilia Sanchez of the Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.
Lt. Col. Riyadh Atshaan, his ginger mustache glinting in the afternoon sun, adopted an avuncular tone as he relayed his orders into the walkie-talkie.

Dont clump together in groups. Wear your helmets and bulletproof vests. Keep your head down, he said.

His men began to unload their rifles and blankets, settling in for their night-long vigil near the northern rim of this sprawling military base.

Advertisement

And remember, do not shoot indiscriminately. For the battle is long, and the ammunition is little.

Atshaan had reason to worry. Less than half a mile away were Islamic State extremists taking cover in the industrial buildings that line the southern edge of Mosuls west bank, the groups last major bastion in the country.

Iraqi security forces backed by a U.S.-led international coalition had ramped up the pressure in the citys south and southwestern areas Friday, the sixth day in a rebooted campaign to push the militants out of Mosul.

Friday marked the first time the Iraqi military had entered western Mosul since mid-2014, when Islamic State blitzed through the city even as tens of thousands of troops threw down their weapons and ran for their lives.

Units from the Emergency Response Division, an elite branch of Iraqs federal police force, moved out of Mosuls airport, which had been captured a day earlier, and entered the citys Jawsaq and Tayaraan neighborhoods, according to a statement on Thursday to Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah, the operations commander.

 Times special correspondent Nabih Bulos reports from Ghazlani military base south of Mosul where troops are poised to breach the city.

From the southwest, a second prong composed of U.S.-trained troops from the Counter-Terrorist Service overran the suburb of Tal Al-Rumman, wresting control of more than half of the Maamoun neighborhood, Yar Allah said.

Iraqi helicopters joined the attack as well, opening with heavy machine guns and rockets while artillery and high-explosive missiles by coalition warplanes kicked up blooms of explosions that could be seen for miles.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi congratulated troops in a statement for their dazzling victories, but insisted they exert maximum effort to save civilians and protect them and provide safe corridors for their exit.

Western Mosul, a densely populated part of the city, is estimated to have from 750,000-800,000 people.

In October, the government, in cooperation with the coalition, launched a large-scale campaign to claw back Mosul from Islamic State. Officials in January said troops had secured control over the eastern half of the city but halted their offensive at the banks of the Tigris River, which bisects the city. They restarted their offensive for the western bank more than three weeks later.

Mosul, once Iraqs second largest city, in 2014 became the de facto capital of Islamic States rapidly expanding caliphate. At its height it comprised more than 30,000 square miles of territory, according to a report by IHS Conflict Monitor, and had a population of some 10 million.

Over the last year, the Iraqi government has reversed most of Islamic States territorial gains in the country. Despite the setbacks, the group has nevertheless continued its long-standing car bomb campaign against Shiite-dominated areas, especially in the capital, Baghdad.

Islamic State espouses a harsh interpretation of Sunni Islam that counts Shiites as infidels who must be killed.

Many fear that even if the group is ousted from major urban centers, it could melt into the countryside or cross the border into Syria, where the government is fighting its own battle against opposition rebels as well as Islamic State.

There it can take advantage of the chaos to regroup and strike again, much as it did in 2014.

On Friday, Iraqi F-16 airplanes conducted airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria for the first time.

In his statement, Abadi said, We are determined to pursue terrorism  in any land where it is found.

The heroes of the sky conducted the operation to respond to the terrorists with dazzling success, he said.

Islamic State has carried out devastating attacks in Syria, where on Friday more than 60 people were reported killed in at least one car bombing in the village of Sousian, near the city of Al Bab. The attack came a day after officials said control of the city had been taken from the extremist group by Turkish and Syrian opposition forces.

In the Ghazlani base, a military complex that had been pummeled by fighting and airstrikes into a jumble of jagged concrete and the mangled remains of Hesco barriers, Atshaan directed a Humvee to deploy near a berm facing Mosuls Wadi Hajar neighborhood.

Theres a sniper there, sir. Hell shoot anything that moves, warned one soldier. As if on cue, bullets whined overhead. The gunner on top of a nearby Humvee responded with a volley of fire aimed at the crumbling husk of a three-story building.

Atshaans second in command, Capt. Ali Assadi, consulted a GPS map of the Ghazlani base on his tablet as he assigned a place for his cadres.

Daesh has set up defensive trenches in this area here, he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State as he pointed to an area just beyond Ghazlanis perimeter. Look how close they are.

Islamic State is thought to have set up a network of tunnels and barriers in an effort to both avoid detection and frustrate security forces attempts to flush them out of their enclave.

From the battles in the open desert and rural villages of the past week to the bare-knuckled urban warfare of western Mosul, the jihadists have put up a fierce resistance. Yar Allah said more than 20 car bombs left behind by extremist fighters had been destroyed on Friday by security forces.

Not far from where a mortar shell had fallen, a trio of policemen sat behind a toppled concrete slab, cracking jokes as they ate lunch out of foam containers full of rice and a stew called marag. A fearsome pack of flies buzzed nearby.

Were fighting two wars here: One against Daesh, one against the flies, said Adnan Muhsen, a young policeman with a ready grin.

He pointed to his lunch companions, police officers Ali Karim Shannon and Ali Taee.

Look at us here, he said, his voice turning earnest for a moment. Were Sunnis, Shiites, it doesnt matter. Were all here to fight Daesh.

A small distance back from where the police had bunkered, the CTS battalions that would storm Wadi Hajar in the next hours seemed almost bored as they waited for night to fall.

Some slept in the shadow of their Humvees; others hunted for unused power outlets to charge their smartphones; one even took out a small arghileh, a water pipe, to relax.

To the side, overlooking a verdant valley full of burnt carcasses of tanks and armored vehicles, a CTS medic, Sayf Kuhn, sat in the cab of his ambulance in an attempt to avoid the flies.

Why do these people come over here? What do they want? he asked after recounting a story about a Russian Islamic State fighter his friend had encountered. Man, Im from Baghdad, and even I get bored of this country.

Bulos is a special correspondent.

ALSO

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces recapture Mosul airport and military base

Kansas shooting shocks an Indian city where every other house has someone in America

Police say Kim Jong Uns half brother was killed with a nerve agent. What are the clues to this bizarre international mystery?
All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced.  19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc.
The global positioning system prevented Space X's Dragon supply ship from docking with the international Space Station. The Space X and NASA attribute the aborted docking to an error in the navigation system which they can be easily corrected.

According to Los Angeles Times, the Dragon, which is carrying a host of supplies and experiments for the ISS will attempt to try again on Thursday. This also marks the first time that Space X had to abort a mission in the 5 odd years it's been making deliveries to the ISS.

The Space X capsule is carrying more than 5,000 pounds of research materials and supplies to the international space center. A recent statement is released by the NASA that assures the public that the spacecraft is in excellent shape.

The crew and the other research materials are in safe. NASA's spokesman Rob Nivas says," There is no threat to any of the science or cargo abroad".

The NASA report has stated that the docking failures of Space X's ship to the ISS occurred when Dragon was only seventh-tenth of the miles away from the space station. The GPS error was detected that time.

NASA's representatives did not provide any additional information about the source of that incorrect value. The space agency said it was "an easily correctable issue". So, another attempt will be made to reach the space station on Thursday morning.

The Elon Musk, founder of Space X, whose full name is Space Exploration Technologies Corp. He said on Twitter that the Dragon was in good health and would try again Thursday morning.

The Space X mission to ISS experienced its first small delay on Saturday due to the potential issue with the Falcon 9 rocket used to propel the Dragon ship into space. However, the Dragon Cargo Ship has successfully launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


An Islamic State car bomb killed more than 50 people on Friday in a Syrian village held by rebels, a war monitor said, a day after the jihadist group was driven from its last stronghold in the area.

The blast in the village of Sousian hit a security checkpoint controlled by rebels fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring organisation based in Britain, said more than 50 people died including over 30 civilians. Two rebels contacted by Reuters put the total death toll at at least 40.

One of the two, a fighter with the Sultan Murad Brigade near al-Bab, said: "It was done on a checkpoint but there were a lot of families there gathered and waiting to get back to al-Bab. Therefore we have many civilian casualties."

The Turkish-backed rebels drove Islamic State from the town of al-Bab on Thursday, following weeks of street battles near an area where Ankara wants to establish a safe zone for civilians.

Turkey's military said on Friday that Syrian rebels had taken full control of all of al-Bab, and that work to clear mines and unexploded ordnance was under way.

"With al-Bab under control, the planned targets ... have been achieved. In the aftermath, support will be provided to normalise life and for the local people to quickly return to their homes," said Turkish military chief of staff Hulusi Akar.

Sousian is behind rebel lines about 8 km (5 miles) northwest of al-Bab, around which Ankara has long supported the formation of a security zone it says would help to stem a wave of migration via Turkey into Europe.

A second blast took place 2 km south of Sousian later on Friday, but it was unclear whether it was from a vehicle bomb or a planted device such as a mine. There were reports of casualties but no immediate details, the Observatory said.

Islamic State said in a social media posting that it was behind the Sousian attack, having acknowledged on Thursday it had lost control of al-Bab.

Syria's main conflict pits President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shi'ite militias, against rebels that include groups supported by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.

However, both those sides, as well as a group of militias led by Kurdish forces and supported by the United States, are also fighting Islamic State, which holds large parts of northern and eastern Syria.

MINES AND CELLS

As mines laid in and around al-Bab claimed lives for a second day, the Sultan Murad Brigade fighter said many IS cells were still operating there.

"It is very dangerous. Our search and clear operation is still under way," he said.

Two Turkish soldiers were killed on Friday while clearing mines in the town of Tadef south of al-Bab, the military said. On Thursday, several Turkish-backed rebels were killed by a mine in al-Bab, the Observatory said.

Turkey directly intervened in Syria in August in support of rebel factions under the FSA banner to drive Islamic State from its border. It also wants to stop Kurdish groups gaining control of the region.

After taking al-Bab on Thursday, Turkish forces shelled Islamic State in Tadef, the Observatory reported.

The area immediately to the south of Tadef is held by the Syrian army and its allies, which have in recent weeks pushed into Islamic State territory in that area from Aleppo and advanced towards the Euphrates river.

Further east, the Syrian Democratic Forces, Kurdish-led militias backed by the United States, have in recent weeks taken dozens of villages from Islamic State as they close in on the group's Syrian capital of Raqqa.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi said on Friday he had ordered the Iraqi air force to strike Islamic State positions inside Syria in retaliation for recent bomb attacks in Baghdad.

A source close to Syria's foreign ministry said the Iraqi air raid had been carried out in coordination with the Syrian government.

Islamic State, which is on the defensive after losing control of eastern Mosul to a U.S.-backed Iraqi military offensive, has claimed responsibility for several car bombs in Baghdad in the past few weeks.

"We are determined to chase terrorism that tries to kill our sons and citizens wherever it is found, so we gave orders to the air force command to strike Islamic State positions in (Iraqi town) Hosaiba and Albu Kamal inside Syrian territory as they were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad," Abbadi said in a statement.

"The heroes of the sky executed the operation and responded to the terrorists with amazing success."

The source close to the Syrian foreign ministry said there had been "complete coordination" with the Damascus government, but did not elaborate.

A separate statement by the Joint Operations Command said that the strikes had taken place on Friday morning using F16 fighter jets and had destroyed Islamic State headquarters in Albu Kamal.

"The strikes targeted Islamic State's headquarters used for making car bombs in Albu Kamal... after Iraqi intelligence received tips from their sources inside Syria," a senior security official told Reuters.

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have dislodged Islamic State from most of the cities it captured in 2014 and 2015. The militants also control parts of Syria.

Iraqi government forces last month captured eastern Mosul and have now launched an offensive on the western side. The city is divided in two halves by the Tigris river.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Mercedes-Benz reconsidering X-Class pickup for US market?

Feb 24, 2017, 9:59am ET

The German automaker will be closely following an apparent resurgence in the US midsize pickup segment.

Mercedes-Benz Vans may not have completely shut the door on a possible US launch for its X-Class pickup.

The German automaker last year appeared to dismiss the idea in the near term, arguing that it is an "attractive, huge segment" but not the right time for Mercedes to enter. The comments left open the possibility that the X could arrive in a few years, however.

Mercedes-Benz Vans head Volker Mornhinweg now suggests the company is beginning to see a possible business case. The change of heart is apparently inspired by increasing interest in the segment from established US automakers, including Ford's promise to bring the Ranger back home as a midsize offering.

"In the past year the mid-sized truck market has come back a bit," Mornhinweg told Reuters. "We are watching developments very closely, and we will take a decision at the appropriate time."

Notably, Mornhinweg also suggested the company will likely consider building the X-Class in the US if it will be sold there.
Feb 24, 2017, 1:38pm ET

Tesla fires back at UAW with detailed rebuttal of allegations

The company claims its workers receive at least $70,000 in extra compensation compared to Ford, GM and FCA over a four-year period.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has fired back at the United Auto Workers' apparent unionization push, sending employees a letter with a detailed rebuttal of a worker's recent allegations.

"The tactics [the UAW has] resorted to are disingenuous or outright false," Musk wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Electrek.

The disgruntled worker claimed three-quarters of his team was out with work-related injuries recently and he 'heard' that the problems were even worse in other areas of the factory.

"After looking into this claim, not only was it untrue for this individual's team, it was untrue for any of the hundreds of teams in the factory," Musk wrote, claiming that Tesla's total recordable incident rate (TRIR) is less than half the industry average.

Regarding compensation, a chart included in the letter appears to confirm that Tesla's cash pay is less than workers receive at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford and GM. When factoring in new hire equity, performance equity and an employee stock purchase program, however, Tesla claims its "total wealth delivered" over four years is more than $70,000 higher than GM and Ford.

Musk also admits that the Model X required workers to put in significant overtime hours. The company claims to have since slashed its overtime hours by nearly 50 percent and the production team now averages around 43 hours per week.

"We should never forget the history of car startups originating in the United States: dozens have gone bankrupt and only two, Tesla and Ford, have not," Musk added. "That's why I was so distraught when I read the recent blog post promoting the UAW, which does not share our mission and whose true allegiance is to the giant car companies, where the money they take from employees in dues is vastly more than they could ever make from Tesla."

The executive also suggests Tesla workers should expect more 'fun' as the company approaches profitability, including a "really amazing party" once the Model 3 reaches volume production and an "electric pod car roller coaster" connecting parts of the Fremont campus.
Iraqi forces on Friday entered a west Mosul neighbourhood for the first time since the October launch of a massive offensive to retake the city from the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

The push on Al-Maamun, a small neighbourhood on the southwestern edge of Mosul, came after government troops retook the airport, which commands access to the city from the south, and a nearby military base.

The IS militants have been on the back foot in both Iraq and neighbouring Syria, the twin pivots of the "caliphate" they declared in July 2014.

Turkish-backed rebels ousted IS from the strategic Syrian town of Al-Bab on Thursday, although they suffered twin reverses on Friday with suicide bombers killing 42 people just outside the town and two Turkish soldiers inside it.

"We have attacked and fully control Ghazlani base, we have also taken Tal al-Rayyan... and we're attacking Al-Maamun neighbourhood," said Sami al-Aridhi, a lieutenant general in Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service.

He told AFP near the front line that IS attacked his forces with a suicide car bomb in Tal al-Rayyan, a village just outside Mosul, and that three other car bombs were found there.

Aridhi said the CTS, the most-seasoned force in Iraq, had suffered no losses since the renewed push on west Mosul was launched on Sunday.

He said some fighters had been wounded, however, including by the weaponised drones IS has increasingly resorted to in recent weeks.

AFP reporters south of Mosul said heavy artillery and mortar fire could be heard coming from the southern edge of the city while jets also conducted strikes.

While it was not immediately clear whether CTS forces would seek to push deep into the city, the move marks another landmark in the protracted Mosul operation.

The CTS spearheaded the weeks-long effort to retake areas of the city on the east bank of the Tigris River, only fully liberating it last month.

They met fierce resistance from Islamist militants defending their last major stronghold in Iraq and commanders have warned that the west bank, where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed his caliphate, would be even tougher.

After weeks spent redeploying across the vast theatre of operations, Iraqi forces rekindled the offensive on Sunday, with the airport the initial target.

"I can confirm that the airport is fully liberated," said Brigadier General Abbas al-Juburi, of the interior ministry's elite Rapid Response units that led the assault.

IS offered limited resistance at the airport and the nearby Ghazlani base, open and uninhabited areas that are difficult for them to defend in the face of the huge firepower deployed by Baghdad and its allies.

But the west bank of Mosul includes the Old City, whose narrow streets will be impassable for some military vehicles and oblige Iraqi forces to stage perilous dismounted raids.

The Islamist militants are completely surrounded in west Mosul and have little choice but to fight to the death.

Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) units that have been in charge of a front in desert areas west of Mosul said Friday they were attacked by IS fighters coming from Syria.

IS militants have continued to harass Iraqi forces in areas that were retaken from them over the past two years.

On Friday, they attacked a border guard position near the Trebil crossing with Jordan, which lies about 500 kilometres (310 miles) west of the capital Baghdad.

"Daesh launched an attack with a suicide car bomb and gunmen on the 2nd border guard regiment near Trebil," an officer in the border guard told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

"The attack came from several directions and killed 15 border guards, including two officers," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi aircraft carried out what were believed to be Iraq's first strikes on IS inside Syria Friday targeting militants responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad.

Over the border, IS is under attack on three fronts.

A US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters has been pushing south towards the Islamist militants' main stronghold of Raqa.

Syrian government forces have been pushing east from Aleppo after regaining full control of the second city in December.

And a Turkish-backed rebel alliance has been pushing south from the Turkish border, ousting IS from Al-Bab after weeks of deadly fighting.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that after Friday's twin attacks troops were carrying out "the most rigorous cleaning operations" in Al-Bab which he said was "full of bombs and hand-made explosives".

After a lightning advance, the rebels became mired in a drawn-out conflict in Al-Bab which proved to be the bloodiest fight in Turkey's campaign, where Ankara suffered most of its 71 losses thus far.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The tradition of students pledging for fraternities appears to have spiraled out of control at several frat houses on Lehigh University's campus in Bethlehem.

Four Lehigh University Greek organizations have been named in alleged conduct violations including hazing, lying to administrators and, in one case, allowing a partygoer to become so drunk that he needed to be hospitalized for severe alcohol poisoning.

The latest fraternity accused of conduct violations is Delta Upsilon. On Thursday, the university issued a statement on its Lehigh Greek Community blog that Delta Upsilon has been charged with hazing, giving false statements to Lehigh officials and improperly using the university's computer network.

The circumstances behind the charges are not being made public but the statement refers to a Feb. 11 incident involving the fraternity.

A Lehigh University spokeswoman declined to comment on the Delta Upsilon charges and other recent issues at fraternities on campus. She cited "confidentiality and privacy reasons."

A spokeswoman at the Delta Upsilon national headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, did not immediately respond to a media inquiry about the matter.

The announcement of the charges comes just two days after Provost Patrick V. Farrell and Interim Vice Provost Ian Birky co-signed a letter to the Lehigh student body acknowledging recent reports of hazing and seeking to clarify what they called inaccurate accounts of the university unfairly targeting Greek organizations.

"There has been a great deal of misinformation circulating through social media, some of which implies that there is a focused effort to undermine the Greek system at Lehigh," the letter states. "This is false. Reports that Greek chapters are being 'raided,' or that students are being 'lined up and forced to submit to breathalyzer tests' are also not true."

Lehigh Police Chief Edward Shupp on Thursday said there have been no arrests at any of the frat houses since an incident shortly before midnight on Feb. 2 in which police broke up a rowdy party at the Delta Chi house and found a severely intoxicated partygoer vomiting and unresponsive.

The 19-year-old was hospitalized, and two frat brothers were later criminally charged with recklessly endangering another person for knowing the 19-year-old's condition and not seeking medical treatment for him, court records filed by police say.

The letter from Farrell and Birky points to an incident in which students failed "to seek immediate help for others whose health or safety is at risk due to excessive alcohol consumption," but does not specifically identify that incident as the one that occurred on Feb. 2 at the Delta Chi house.

The administrators say in the letter that there is no reason for any student to not seek help for another who is intoxicated, citing the university has a medical amnesty policy for such cases.

Addressing the hazing reports, the letter states the university will always intervene when a student's health and safety are put at risk.

"When we become aware of circumstances where health and safety are compromised, we have a moral obligation and a legal responsibility to examine these circumstances more closely," Farrell and Birky say. "Hazing is a not only a violation of state law and university policy, it is also antithetical to our community's most basic values."

Like Delta Upsilon, Delta Chi is also accused of violating the university's code of conduct.

The fraternity is charged with irresponsible distribution of alcohol, hosting an unregistered party and related violations. Delta Chi is currently suspended from conducting all new member activities.

The two other Greek organizations facing sanctions are Chi Phi and Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Both were suspended from conducting any activities with new members, effective Feb. 16.

The Lehigh Greek Community blog says Sigma Phi Epsilon is being investigated for alleged hazing. The blog says Chi Phi sanctions are based on alleged "potential risk management violations," but doesn't explain what those violations entail.

Shupp, the university's police chief, noted the charges against the organizations are not criminal charges, so his department is not involved. They are instead charges the university levies and resolves internally, he said.

They are not subject to the same scrutiny as criminal charges, which would have to be filed in a court and would therefore become a matter of public record.

The chief said it's not unusual for his department to field complaints about hazing this time of year. In the past two weeks, police have received nine such complaints. The problem, he said, is that they are anonymous and generally don't offer the level of detail needed for the department to take immediate action.

"They're very hard to substantiate," Shupp said of the complaints. "When we get them, we have a legal obligation to check them out."

But that doesn't mean police are going to bust down the doors of every fraternity.

Even though the fraternity houses are owned by the university, police still need probable cause to enter, the chief said.

The Brown and White, Lehigh University's student newspaper and the first to report the hazing complaints, says the university's Interfraternity Council has met with Lehigh administrators regarding conduct issues and the possibility of suspending all Lehigh fraternities.

"So what's most important to us right now is that we address the current problems that we're facing and that's clearly right now new member education, hazing and conduct with our new members," Mark DiMaggio, a Lehigh senior and vice president of the Interfraternity Council, told The Brown and White.

There are 17 fraternities on Lehigh's campus. About a third of the student body is involved in either a fraternity or sorority, according to U.S. News & World Report's most recent college guide.

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
UPDATE: Easton man named as gunman in Palmer Twp. killing

Police arrested the suspected gunman in a homicide Thursday night outside Auto Zone in Palmer Township, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said.

"We do have a suspect in custody and I'm confident that we are going to be able to solve this matter based on the information that is being developed," Morganelli said at the scene along 25th Street.

The male victim was in a sedan that was pursued by the gunman into the parking lot shortly after 7 p.m., Morganelli confirmed.

A woman who was at Retro Fitness across the street from the auto parts store said she heard six to seven shots through the open door to the gym.

The victim, whose identity was not immediately made public, appeared to have suffered multiple gunshot wounds while in the car, Morganelli said.

"It seems to me that these actors these people that were involved in this matter were people that knew each other," the district attorney said, "and it may be in the nature of a dispute over a girlfriend or a domestic-type matter."

The girlfriend was in the victim's car when the gunfire broke out, said the woman from the gym, who said she is familiar with the people involved.

Moments after the shooting was reported, Wilson Borough and Easton police secured a second crime scene Thursday night in the 1400 block of Lehigh Street in the city, near the municipalities' border. They had a car with front passenger side damage, and were deferring comment to Palmer police.

Morganelli said he could not immediately confirm the car in Easton was related to the homicide investigation.

Easton and Wilson Borough police have a car secured the night of Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, in the 1400 block of Lehigh Street, moments after a male victim was apparently shot to death outside Auto Zone in Palmer Township. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com)

The victim pulled into a parking space outside Auto Zone, and his driver's side sideswiped another vehicle parked there. The victim's car had damage to its rear passenger side bumper.

Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek confirmed the homicide as well and will rule on the cause of death.

This would be the second shooting death investigated by Palmer and county authorities since fall. The murder of 25-year-old Michael Davis last Nov. 21 outside his Eldridge Avenue home in the township remains unsolved.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Serenity Supplement

David Winston's Serenity Compound from Herbalist & Alchemist in Washingon, N.J. was named the best stress reliever this year in Delicious Living's Supplement Awards.

(Courtesy photo)

Turns out there's more than one herb people use to relieve stress.

Herbalist & Alchemist, an "herbal therapeutics" company based in Washington, N.J., just won a national honor for "best stress relief" for its product David Winston's Serenity Compound from Delicious Living's sixth annual Supplement Awards.

The Serenity Compound was evaluated against more than 250 other natural supplements from across the country, and was picked as first in its category. Delicious Living, a health lifestyle magazine, is carried in more than 1,300 natural products stores reaches more than a million readers monthly.

The stress-relieving formula combines chamomile flowers, eleuthero root, linden flower, oat milky seed, and skullcap flowering tops to ease anxiety. Delicious Living said that with three to four dropperfuls a day, Serenity Compound manages to relieve stress without causing depression or drowsiness.

David Winston's Serenity Compound was named the best herb formula for stress relief.

Herbalist & Alchemist sells two-ounce bottles of the formula for $24.15 on its website. It notes that the FDA has not evaluated the product to verify its effects.

Delicious Living named the winners for its awards after judging the entrants on transparency, ingredients, and scientific support for their efficacy. Nominees were submitted by industry experts and the magazine's readers. One winner was chosen for each of the 24 categories, which also include "best pet supplement," "best brain health," "best kids supplement," "best bitters" and more. The Boulder, Colo., magazine said it hopes the awards help customers choose the best and safest products when navigating the growing market of supplements.

Herbalist & Alchemist was founded 35 years ago by David Winston, who formulates the company's products.

In a statement, Herbalist & Alchemist CEO Beth Lambert said the company was honored that Winston's work was being recognized.

Andrew Doerfler may be reached at adoerfler@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @adoerfler or on Facebook.
Nazareth drug bust: Cops not duped by false-bottom cans

Pennsylvania State Police said they seized cocaine and crystal methamphetamine while executing a search warrant Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, at this home in Nazareth. Jeffrey J. Farnack, 54, who lives in the apartment at 215 N. Main St., was taken into custody and sent to Northampton County Prison on felony and related charges. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Pennsylvania State Police said they seized cocaine and crystal methamphetamine, including some found in false-bottom cans, while executing a search warrant Thursday evening at a home in Nazareth.

Jeffrey J. Farnack (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Jeffrey J. Farnack, 54, who lives in the apartment at 215 N. Main St., was taken into custody and sent to Northampton County Prison on felony and related charges.

Troopers and members of the state police Troop M vice unit entered Farnack's home about 6 p.m. and found him standing in the kitchen with a second man, who was not arrested despite a bag of crystal meth found in his rear pocket, court records say. Farnack was the target of the search, for allegedly selling crystal meth.

Farnack was found to have a bag of meth in his right front pocket, along with a bag of crack cocaine, according to police.

During the search of the home that followed, police found in Farnack's bedroom two false-bottom spray cans -- "Liquid Wrench" and "Tite-Seal" -- containing crack, crack cocaine and crystal meth, court records say. A digital scale lay atop a dresser, and inside the top drawer were several empty bags commonly used for packaging drugs for sale, police said.

Investigators said they also found a false-top "Coca-Cola" can in the kitchen refrigerator, a plastic bag of marijuana in the kitchen closet, an additional bag of meth, a bag of crack under a lava lamp atop a stove and, in Farnack's wallet, $1,028.

The drugs totaled 75 grams of meth, 10 grams of crack and 3 grams of powder cocaine, police said.

Farnack was arraigned before District Judge Patricia Broscius on two felony counts of drug possession with intent to deliver plus misdemeanor drug possession, possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was sent to the prison in lieu of $75,000 bail and faces a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled March 7 before District Judge John Capobianco in Nazareth.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
TRENTON -- States that allow the sale of recreational marijuana should expect "a greater enforcement" of the federal law against pot, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday, offering the the Trump administration's first comments on the contentious issue.

New Jersey operates a medical marijuana program serving nearly 11,000 people. State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) says he intends to introduce a bill soon that would create a legal recreational market for adults 21 and older.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) has said he would push to pass the law in 2018, after marijuana-foe Gov. Chris Christie finishes his term.

Spicer's comments suggest President Trump will let medical marijuana programs continue, because he believes they aid patients' suffering.

"There's a big difference between (medical marijuana) and recreational marijuana," Spicer said during Thursday's daily press briefing.

"And I think that when you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this country, the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people. There's still a federal law that we need to abide by when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature."

"I do believe that you'll see greater enforcement of it," Spicer said, referring to the federal law that says marijuana is an illegal and dangerous drug.

Spicer's comments come after voters in 2016 approved the United States' first recreational marijuana sales east of the Mississippi River, in Maine and Massachusetts.

Pro-marijuana organizations responded quickly to remind Spicer his boss expressed no interest in going after states where voters had legalized recreational marijuana. They also shot down the connection between marijuana leading to more opioid drugs.

In 2014, a study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found a 25 percent decrease in prescription drug overdoses in states with medical marijuana laws that allowed patients with chronic pain to participate in the program.

"It was especially disappointing to hear Press Secretary Spicer refer to the opioid crisis in relation to marijuana," National Cannabis Industry Association Executive Director Aaron Smith said in a statement. "Science has discredited the idea that marijuana serves as any kind of gateway drug, and the addiction and death rates associated with opioids simply do not occur in any way with cannabis."

During the campaign, Trump said he would not interfere with state laws that have allowed recreational marijuana, Smith added.

Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project pointed to a national poll released earlier in the day that said 71 percent of voters want the federal government to steer clear of state recreational marijuana programs.

"This administration is claiming that it values states' rights, so we hope they will respect the rights of states to determine their own marijuana policies," Tvert said.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
Northampton County's district attorney is dead set against a plan to force his employees to clock in each day for work with a fingerprint scanner.

County maintenance workers on Feb. 17 installed a wire outside the entrance to the district attorney's office and plan to mount a clock there that will require employees to punch in and out with a fingerprint scanner each day to prove they worked a full shift.

But District Attorney John Morganelli said he'll instruct his staff not to use the clock unless he's forced to use it by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

"This time clock thing, all it does is it gets people upset," he said.

Employees often have legitimate reasons for being a few minutes late, he said. Maybe it's an icy day. Maybe they have to drive around looking for a parking spot since they're not lucky enough to have a reserved one like many of the county's top administrators.

Northampton County Director of Administration Cathy Allen had no comment on the time clock controversy. She said County Executive John Brown and Human Resources Director Amy Trapp wouldn't comment either.

Morganelli said he was told by Trapp that the time clock would apply just to clerks, not the assistant district attorneys. The clocks apparently will be installed in all county offices, he said.

Many of Morganelli's clerks have to work second jobs because the pay in his office is so poor, he said. Brown slashed their benefits after taking office.

Forcing them to punch in and worry about whether they're a few minutes late will only make them resentful and will decrease morale, he said.

"I don't want them under stress when they come in here. I want them to come in ready to go to work, which they do," he said.

If employees are regularly 20 minutes late or an hour late, that's a different story. When employees have had problems with tardiness in the past, Morganelli said he has addressed the problems. But it's not a chronic issue, he said.

"I just think this is unnecessary because I don't have a problem to fix," he said.

He said the county's Home Rule Charter gives him the authority to direct, supervise, dismiss and discipline his staff. He has fought efforts by past county executives to manage his office and won.

"Even if they have a time clock upstairs and they find out Susie Smith comes in 10 minutes late every day, what are they going to do about it? I'm not firing Susie Smith if I think she's doing a great job," Morganelli said.

He rebuffed a request from Trapp on Tuesday to discuss the matter.

"I don't have time to waste," Morganellli said. "I don't sit around talking about things that I don't want to do. There's nothing they can say to convince me this is good for my office. I don't have a problem to fix."

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that a referendum on whether to bring back the death penalty was possible.

His remarks came just weeks before the country votes on constitutional changes that would expand the powers of the presidency.

"If necessary, let me say one more thing now, we can open a route for a referendum on this (capital punishment)," Erdogan said during a rally in the western city of Manisa.

Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004 as it made moves to join the European Union -- any reimposition would likely spell the end of an already embattled bid.

Erdogan has repeatedly said he would sign a law bringing back the death penalty if it was approved by parliament, but has not previously mentioned a public vote.

After the July 15, 2016 failed coup which tried to oust Erdogan from power, members of the public have frequently called for the return of capital punishment.

On April 16, the Turkish public will vote on whether to change the current parliamentary system into an executive presidency.

The president was delivering a speech as part of his tour of the country seeking a "Yes" vote to such changes. He is expected to visit 30 cities ahead of the referendum.

The government argues the system would be like that of France or the United States, and bring stability to the country but critics argue it will lead to one-man rule.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

Subscribe today to get the latest headlines straight to your inbox with our free email updates

The closing night film of the first Leicester Asian Film Festival has been refused certification by India's film certification board.

Hindi film Lipstick Under My Burkha tells the story of a group of women who seek freedom from their monotonous lives, and has already won The Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality.

But the Indian Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFB) decided that the film is too 'lady oriented', and contains too many sexual scenes and swear words.

Bollywood director Farhan Akhtar shared the CBFC's reasons for refusing the film's certification.

It's not the first time the film's producer Prakash Jha has had a run-in with the CBFC, with his refusal to cut swear words from his 2016 cop drama Jai Gangaajal leading to an ongoing battle over its certification.

Discussing the decision, academic within the Leicester Media School at De Montfort University, and Associate Director of Leicester Asian Film Festival Dr Monia Acciari said:

'The film industry in India is a large machine, and an ensemble of human efforts and emotions that strongly affects the process of doing cinema, from production to reception. Yet the gender inequality that affects the industry is still a vivid scar and quite tangible in so many different ways'.

'Although emancipation of women is beginning to happen on the screens in South Asia, compartmentalization of genders is still a norm. Cinema documents such struggles with unique perspectives and addresses the cogent issues in Indian society today. New wave Indian cinema enables such diverse and alternative voices of a changing nation to be heard and embraced'.

See the controversial film for yourself at 2pm on Sunday 19 March.

Leicester Asian Film Festival will run at Phoenix Cinema from the 16-19 March 2017.
Crime correspondent Paul Williams will lead the Woodenbridge Community Alert Blueway Walk in March to help raise funds for a new CCTV system to keep thieves out of the Laois community.

Taking place on Sunday March 19, the walk starts at 2pm from the Woodenbridge with registration from 1.15pm. This 7km trail follows the Erkina River for 3km traversing the scenic Curragh Wetlands where many species of migrant Birds make their home for the Winter before turning right into the beautiful Alluvial Woodlands to follow the forest path of Bishopswood leading to the public road.

From here the trail continues by Dereen to the finish at Newtown Mill where refreshments will be held.On the evening a monster raffle will also be held with numerous prizes on offer tickets are currently available from organising committee.

All are invited to be part of this event which will support the Woodenbridge Community Alert CCTV Project. The group have plans for installing a CCTV system at six locations in the area.

Paul Williams, a Leitrim native, in one of Ireland's leading crime journalists. In recent years he has championed the cause of rural communities faced with roaming gangs of thieves. He works with Independent Newspapers and Newstalk Radio. He has written a number of crime books and was a friend of the late Veronica Guerin.

The day will also prove a unique occasion as this trail has never been walked in its entirety before.

For information contact 0872395357
The District Court judge has ordered the destruction of a Pit Bull Terrier which attacked and injured a youth in Portlaoise.

Judge Catherine Staines described it as a very dangerous dog which was bred for fighting, and ordered the State to destroy the dog, which belongs to a foreign national couple residing at Rathevan Close, Portlaoise.

Yesterdays court (Thursday, February 23), heard evidence from Inspector Ollie Baker, that on July 19, 2016, at Kilminchy, Portlaoise, a 16-year-old boy was bitten by the Pit Bull, which was not restrained and not wearing a muzzle.

The youth had to be taken to hospital with two puncture wounds on his inner leg. The wounds had to be cleaned and sutured, said Insp Baker.

Arising from the incident, Aleksandras Semionovas (37) was charged with having no dog licence, and his wife, Egidija Semionovas (36) was charged with having no control over the dog, and no muzzle on it.

Only Egidija Semionovas attended in court to meet the charges, saying that her husband was working.

Through an interpreter, the accused said that on the day, she had the lead in her hand and she let the dog go.

She said that the dog had been lying down in the house for two days with an injury to its paws and as it was feeling a bit better on the day she let it outside.

Asked by Judge Staines why the dog wasnt wearing a muzzle, the accused replied that she didnt expect anything like this could happen.

We have kids and there was never a problem, he was never aggressive, she said, telling the court that the dog was still at home.

The court heard that the couple went to hospital with the injured youth, and the accused claimed she had subsequently tried to contact the injured party and his family, but had only received a letter from the injured partys solicitor.

Describing the animal as a very dangerous dog bred for fighting, Judge Staines said that the legislation required the animal to have a lead and muzzle.

It cannot be allowed to wander the streets, said Judge Staines, ordering the destruction of the dog.

Both accused were convicted and fined 100.
Engineers Ireland are calling on primary and secondary school teachers in Laois to take the Engineers Week Challenge and bring the world of engineering alive in their classroom during Engineers Week.

Taking place from 4th  10th March, the annual event is coordinated by Engineers Ireland's STEPS programme - funded as a strategic partner of Science Foundation Irelands (SFI) Smart Futures Programme.

As well as events organised by Dunamaise Arts and Theatre and Mountmellick Library for students in Laois, primary and secondary school teachers are also encouraged to run their own classroom-based activities, quizzes and competitions.

By taking part, teachers will receive an Engineers Week participation certificate and will also have the opportunity to win a fun, engaging STEM show or workshop for their school. Secondary School students will also have the opportunity to win a Samsung Tablet by entering the Engineering in your Locality photo competition, details of which can be found in their teachers challenge pack.

Commenting in advance of Engineers Week, Caroline Spillane, Director General of Engineers Ireland, said: Engineers Week is a chance for teachers and young people to find out more about the many career opportunities available within the engineering sector and encourage more students to pursue engineering at third level because Ireland and the world needs more engineers.

To find out more about events taking place in Laois or to submit the details of any activities you and your class plan to complete, visit: www.engineersweek.ie
There are some things in life a parent should never have to endure.

Filming their daughter whimpering and keening in pain is one of them.

This was the heartbreaking video that Naas mum Tina OKelly shared via social media last weekend.

The short clip, filmed on a camera phone, shows Tinas 21-year-old daughter Colleen, who has significant special needs, howling in pain.

The pain is caused by her scoliosis. Her spine is at a 97% angle.

Colleen is a well-known figure around Naas as her mum is a leading light in the local musical society, and she celebrated her 21st birthday with a big celebration in the Town House Hotel last year.

Those who know her well will undoubtedly be hurt and shocked, even more than the casual observer, by the sight of this young woman in abject misery.

Colleen, who has Joubert Syndrome and whose family have battled all her life to give her a decent quality of life, has the mental development level of a three-year-old. Imagine causing such distress and suffering to someone who cannot rationalise it or understand it?

Yet that is what the HSE and the Irish State is doing. Because  fortunately  a surgical fix is possible for scoliosis. A solution that will ease Colleens suffering, and the suffering of thousands of other young girls and boys across the country.

Tina OKelly stated that she really agonised about putting up the clip of her daughter in pain. As one would. Why should it be

necessary to expose the suffering of a loved one to the gaze of the general public?

Yet as Tina explained: This is the reality of living with this condition. Its getting worse and compromising her health that we have fought so hard for all her life.

There is a growing trend that families have to go public with their heartrending stories to gain attention, in the hope that public indignation will either rouse the powers that be into helping them, or will raise the cash so that they can fund private treatment. The story of Shan Tynan, the young Carlow girl suffering from a rare cancer who is fundraising for a shot at lifesaving treatment in the US, (and whose mum Leona hails from Newbridge), is a case in point.

Is this the way we must do things now? Its a thundering disgrace.

Colleens pain can be addressed, with a little will and proper direction of health service resources.

As can the pain of the other Kildare youngsters on the scoliosis surgery waiting list, with some proper

Department of Health management.

But what have been the big headlines over the past week? Enda Kennys resignation date. Political infighting and points scoring.

Its plights like Colleens that really matter.

The 1916 Proclamation, whose centenary every politician in this country celebrated last year, promises to cherish all the children of the nation equally.

What about children like Tinas daughter?

Shouldnt they be concerned about cherishing her?
Its week 8 of Dancing with the Stars and the remaining seven couples will take to the floor this Sunday. For the first time in the series the celebrities will face the dreaded dance off. The two couples with the lowest scores will dance again for the judges, and their fate remains wholly in the hands of Brian, Loraine and Darren.

Live music will come from Roisin O performing her hit single 'Give it Up'

Mohill's Katherine Lynch & Kai Widderington will take on the Charleston to 'Life is a Cabaret' by Liza Minelli. Katherine will need to use her legs and her arms in this 1920s era dance.

Dayl Cronin has been on a high since Sunday with his perfect score of 30 points. The first perfect score so far this series. He is back with his usual partner Ksenia who will be feeling the pressure to help deliver another perfect score. They will be dancing Contemporary Ballroom to 'Hall of Fame' by The Script.

Teresa Mannion is back with her partner John Nolan taking on the paso doble to 'Habanera' by Charlotte Church

Denise McCormack & Ryan McShane will be dancing Salsa to 'Vivir Mi Vida' by Marc Anthony

Des Cahill was back at the knee specialist earlier this week and he is definitely on the mend, hopefully partner Karen Byrne can help him with the most elegant of dances  the Viennese Waltz. They will dance to 'The Marino Waltz' by The Dubliners

Aidan OMahony found himself at the bottom of the judges leaderboard last week with a very disappointing 15 points. Back with his partner Valeria this week, he is determined to do better and will be waltzing to 'Fly Me to the Moon' by Buddy Greco

The final paso doble of the night comes from Aoibhin Garrihy & Vitali Kozmin.

And prepare to be dazzled by the professional dancers doing the Samba to 'Brazil' by Johnny Mathis.

For all the behind the scenes action, tune in to RTE One every Friday night at 8.30pm for preview show Cant Stop Dancing with host Blathnaid Treacy. Every week on Cant Stop Dancing Blathnaid gets the low down on all things glitter from the judges, the professional dancers and the stars. Its a one-stop shop for getting all your Dancing with the Stars gossip!
Cathaoirleach of Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Finola Armstrong-McGuire said business costs have escalated and for small businesses in towns to survive, they need a reduction in their rates.

At the February meeting of the municipal district, Cllr Armstrong-McGuire tabled a motion that stated, Recent valuations of business properties have been done as an overall exercise of our county. I would ask that this local authority look carefully for additional means of raising monies for revenue," she said.

Businesses costs have escalated in all areas and acknowledgement must be given to small town businesses in reducing costs such as rates.

Small businesses fund communities beyond measure. If our small towns are without businesses, community life will suffer.

A reply by the Head of Finance stated, The revaluation process, administered by the Valuations Office, provides a forty day window for rate payers to make written representations to address concerns surrounding the indicative valuations proposed.

Leitrim County Council would urge all rate payers who have a concern to make appropriate written representations within the timeframe allowed.

The effective collection of commercial rates is critical to the financial management and control of local government generally, within the current funding model.

The Cathaoirleach said she very much feared for the future of towns and villages

She said the whole idea of rates as a funding source had to be changed.

Cllr Armstrong-McGuire said there are shops in Carrick-on-Shannon such as Trinity Rare Books and Jewel, specialised shops, that shouldn't be treated as if they are chain stores.

We need to look at other sources of funding other than rates. Small town shops haven't the strength to carry this. Every business needs to be given help to keep their doors open, she said, adding that they need good free parking in the town.

Cllr Seadhna Logan said in his area a lot of businesses saw reductions in their rates and he didn't think people were as badly hit as they initially thought.

Cllr Sean McGowan said he knows of a business whose rates have gone up by 100%.

Joseph Gilhooley, Director of Service, said the valuations are not the responsibility of Leitrim County Council and reminded businesses of the 40 day window for observations from the date of issue.
Russia said Friday it will use its veto to block a proposed UN resolution drafted by the United States, France and Britain that would impose sanctions on Syria for the use of chemical weapons.

"I just explained our position very clearly to our partners. If it is tabled we will veto it," Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told reporters following a closed-door meeting of the Security Council.

The United States, France and Britain are pushing for a vote early next week on the proposed resolution that would slap sanctions on Syrians deemed responsible for chemical attacks in the nearly six-year war.

Safronkov rejected the measure as "one-sided," saying it was based on "insufficient proof" and contradicted "the fundamental principle of presumption of innocence until the investigation is over."

Russia has used its veto six times to shield its Damascus ally from any punitive action by the Security Council.

The draft resolution follows a UN-led investigation which concluded in October that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chlorine attacks on opposition-held villages in 2014 and 2015.

The joint panel of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) also found that Islamic State (IS) militant group had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said she was not swayed by the Russian arguments.

"How much longer is Russia going to continue to babysit and make excuses for the Syrian regime?" she said.

"People have died by being suffocated to death. That's barbaric."

"You are either for chemical weapons or you are against it," she added.

The draft resolution, seen by AFP, would impose a global travel ban and assets freeze on 11 Syrians, mostly military officials, and 10 entities linked to chemical weapons development.

It would also ban the sale, supply or transfer of helicopters and related materiel, including spare parts, to the Syrian armed forces or the government.

The UN-OPCW panel found that Syrian air force helicopters dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin in 2014 and 2015.

Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013 under pressure from Russia.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons in the war that has killed 310,000 people since March 2011.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A Free information afternoon is planned for this Sunday, February 26 in the Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon aimed at anyone in the community who use ostomy appliances.



More and more people, for a variety of different reasons, now have stomas. Often times, people can be shy or reserved when talking about their stomas and the problems they might encounter.



Next Sunday poses an ideal opportunity to meet and talk with like-minded people in a relaxed and friendly environment.

Frank Geelan from the Boyle area will welcome everyone at 2pm and speakers will include Joey Smith from Ballinamore, Mary Gilhooly from Drumshanbo and Julie McGetterick from Ballinacarrow - all ostomists for many years.



The founding member of the Sligo Stoma Support Group, the very popular Mary McLoughlin, will attend and give an outline on the present support group which meets in Sligo on a monthly basis.

The Guest Speaker will be the Stoma Care Nurse Specialist, Susan Moore, who is attached to Sligo University Hospital.

A skin care specialist Selene Daly will also be in attendance. The information afternoon is aimed at making patients and their families aware of the products and support that are available to them.



Supply companies will also have stands with their ostomy related products on display.

Should you need to contact someone in advance of the information day, feel free to call Joey Smith on (087) 2525200 or Mary McLoughlin on (086)3608798.
A man who was convicted and sentenced to two and half years in prison with one year suspended for possession of child pornography at Carrick-on-Shannon Circuit Court last week was told by the judge everyone will know what you are doing post custody.



50-year-old Peter Findlay, Kilclare Beg, Kilclare, Carrick-on-Shannon pleaded guilty to the offence which related to 464 images classified as child pornography found at his home on August 24, 2012.

The photos were found on CDs, on his computer and in hard copy files in his house at Kilclare in 2012 after a Garda search under warrant.



The state was represented by Solicitor Noel Farrell and Barrister Donal Keane, while the defence was represented by Solicitor John McNulty and Barrister Michael Bowman SC.

Detective David Donnelly outlined that Gardai first received a complaint in August 2011 about the defendants suspicious approach of two 12-year-old girls at an outdoor market in Carrick-on-Shannon.



Mr Findlay had operated a stall at the market and entered conversation with the two girls about music and TV,. It was alleged he photographed and videoed them.

When Gardai searched Mr Findlays house on August 24, 2012 they found 80,000 images - 464 of which were classified as child pornography.



Detective Donnelly explained the photos showed girls from age 6-14 years naked and semi-naked.

On the hard drive, Detective Donnelly said the most serious images and video were found which showed young females engaged in sexual intercourse with men.



Detective Donnelly told the court Mr Findlay had lived at various addresses throughout his life, but he lived mostly in Wicklow.

The court heard Mr Findlay had been adopted as a baby to wealthy people who gave him the opportunity of good education, but Mr Findlay never completed any of his courses.



Mr Findlay had one previous conviction for possession of child pornography in Arklow, Co Wicklow in 2001 where he received a six month suspended sentence and had been entered onto the Child Sex Offenders' Register in 2001.

Defence Barrister Michael Bowman SC said of the 464 images, 37 are explicit.



He said while Mr Findlays adopted parents provided him with opportunities, emotionally it was a different matter. He connected with his maternal mother in the 1990s. He went on to say following the conviction in 2001, Mr Findlay lived in his car as he could not get employment or accommodation. He finally found a house to rent with his mother in Leitrim and they settled here.



Mr Bowman said his client and his mother live almost in isolation and their living conditions are appalling. They have 27 cats and he referred to the physical and mental complications of his client.

Mr Bowman said his clients mother is 66-years-old and is dependent upon him as she doesnt drive and is reliant upon him for everything.

Detective Donnelly said he didnt know of any people the mother and son associate with. He understands they rely solely on social welfare.



Mr Bowman said there was no evidence that Mr Findlay took any of the photos himself. He also said there was no suggestion he bought, paid or distributed the photos to others. Mr Bowman said the photos did not show violence or beastiality.

He said there was no proof he was involved in a wider network.

Mr Bowman also said there was no indication of locals or anyone identifiable in the photos.



Detective Donnelly did say Mr Findlay had an interest in photography in the 1990s and had taken professional photos.

The detective stressed that Gardai would like to monitor the defendants movements for the rest of his life in Leitrim or elsewhere.



In mitigation, Mr Bowman said his client is taking a number of medications for physical and psychiatric issues.

He is currently engaged with Safer Lives, a programme for sex offenders in Dublin.

Mr Bowman said his client had a complex and disturbing history.



Judge Martin Norris placed this offence as middle range. He said he took into consideration all parts of the crime, his background, his current situation and mitigating circumstances.

He stated, I have to impose a custodial sentence.

He imposed a prison sentence of two and a half years with the last year suspended on condition he be of good behaviour during custody and engage with the Probation Service after custody.

A note of the new offence will be placed on the Child Sex Offenders' Register.

Judge Nolan further ordered Mr Findlay to stay away from schools and playgrounds for the next 15 years.

The court ordered the destruction of the all the images collated.

Judge Nolan told Mr Findlay in a place like Leitrim, everyone will know what you are doing.

He warned him, you will be watched.

Judge Nolan paid tribute to hard work of the local Gardai in bringing this case to court.
Sinn Feins Agriculture Spokesman, Martin Kenny TD, has introduced a piece of legislation aimed at eliminating discrimination against rural areas by public bodies in respect of measures likely to have a significant socio-economic effect.

Deputy Kenny told the Dail yesterday: The issue of inequality that exists in this country is really an issue of ensuring people can live in rural Ireland. To have people living in rural Ireland, we have to have infrastructure in rural Ireland and a development of jobs and opportunity.

Opportunity can only come if a person is on a platform where they can reach that opportunity. It is true to say that everyone has access to education but for many people living in rural areas across the length and breadth of Ireland, they are not in a position to reach the opportunity that may exist.

If one looks at the map of the road network, it does not go near the north west at all. It is similar with the rail network - it blocks out huge areas of the country.

If we are going to invest in the regions and ensure there is opportunity for people living in the regions, we have to make sure we do it everywhere. We have to invest in places where there are low populations at present. If we do not do that, there will never be people living in these areas.
The Western Alliance is in disarray.

Americans are sick of picking up the tab for protecting a rich Europe from a communist threat which no longer exists. Europe is terrified at being abruptly left in the lurch facing a corrupt, authoritarian Russian threat which has replaced the communist one.

In the meantime, Britain, the traditional number two in the Western Alliance, voted Brexit and pulled the rug out from under the EUthe political and economic arm of the alliances European end.

It is time for a refresher course in the Western, or Transatlantic, Alliance. It is time for a re-examination of the purpose of the alliance. So here goes, Alliance 101.

Franklin Roosevelt had a vision of a post-war world run through a United Nations headed by World War Two alliesAmerica, Britain, China and Russia. France was a reluctant afterthought.

Each of the great powers was given a permanent seat in the newly-formed UN Security Council. With the seat came implied responsibility for a slice of the worldAmerica was the Western Hemisphere; Britain (with French help) Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East; Russia Eastern Europe and Central Asia and China the Far East.

Unfortunately the dream was nothing more than that. A Britain prostate from two world wars still had to organise a peaceful retreat from empire. The French were in a mess. The Chinese were in a bigger mess and faced a civil war. Only the Russians and Americans emerged better off.

Wartime Britain pawned everything but the crown jewels to the US. America was amazingly generous with its repayment scheme but still ended the war with half of the worlds GDP and the only nuclear arsenal. The war cost Russia 20 million lives, but it was in control of Eastern Europe and a huge army poised to roll into a defenceless Western Europe.

Britain did its best to hold back the ideologically-driven Kremlin. It intervened in the Greek civil war and stopped Russian incursions into Turkey and Iran. But it needed help and turned to the wealthiest country in the world. America responded first with the Marshall Plan and then agreed to join in the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Four months later, in September 1949, the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb. They were quickly followed by the British in 1952 and the French in 1960. But as far as nuclear weapons were concerned, it quickly became apparent that that the only member of the Alliance that could compete with the Russian-controlled Soviet Union was the United States. And that applied to conventional forces as well.

So why did Washington abandon 150 years of isolationism to march to Europes rescue. There is the kith and kin argument. Most Americans came from somewhere in Europe and there is much talk about cultural, social, historical and philosophical links. There has also beenuntil recentlya perceived common liberal global goal of encouraging representative democracy, international cooperation through multinational organisations, free trade and the rule of law.

Of course there are other reasons. America needs European markets for its goodsworth $270.3 billion in 2016. And lastbut certainly not least it has been painfully proven that wars in Europe quickly escalate to a global dimension which cost American money and lives.

So, since 1947 America has extended its conventional and nuclear umbrella to Europe; encouraged European unity and worked with Europe at the United Nations and its international agencies. At the same time, both sides of the Atlantic have coordinated their policies to insure the biggest possible positive impact in every corner of the globe.

Overall, the result has been good. The Soviet Union collapsed and the world as a whole has seen the longest period of peace and prosperity since modern man emerged 35,000 years agoespecially in Europe. Things are so good that people have dared to forget history and dream of a post-conflict Europe. Such dreams are more dangerous than the Soviet threat.

* Tom Arms is foreign editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and the author of The Encyclopedia of the Cold War and the recently published America Made in Britain that has sold out in the US after six weeks but is still available in the UK.
Congratulations to Rebecca Hanson and the team for an excellent showing at the Copeland by-election, caused by the resignation of Labours Jamie Reed. Our vote share more than doubled from 3.5% at the 2015 general election to 7.25%. We moved up from fourth place to third  beating UKIP.

Dramatically, the Tories won the by-election in this normally rock-solid Labour seat. Psephologist John Curtice told the BBC that this was the biggest gain, in share of the vote, by a governing party in a byelection since the Hull North byelection in 1966.

Here is the result in full, plus some bar charts from the Press Associations Ian Jones:

Trudy Harrison (C) 13,748 (44.25%, +8.46%)

Gillian Troughton (Lab) 11,601 (37.34%, -4.92%)

Rebecca Hanson (LD) 2,252 (7.25%, +3.80%)

Fiona Mills (UKIP) 2,025 (6.52%, -9.00%)

Michael Guest (Ind) 811 (2.61%)

Jack Lenox (Green) 515 (1.66%, -1.32%)

Roy Ivinson (Ind) 116 (0.37%)

C maj 2,147 (6.91%)

6.69% swing Lab to C

Electorate 60,602; Turnout 31,068 (51.27%, -12.53%)

A reminder of the result in Copeland in 2015. pic.twitter.com/7LLVJCPjvi  Ian Jones (@ian_a_jones) February 24, 2017

And how that changed at the by-election. pic.twitter.com/2KC7NNseXt  Ian Jones (@ian_a_jones) February 24, 2017

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
If the Stoke and Copeland by-elections had happened at any point in the last Parliament, the Liberal Democrats would have been squeezed until our pips squeaked. Wed certainly have lost our deposit as we did in both seats in the 2015 General Election in both seats.

The results showed how far we have come. Our vote more than doubled in both seats and we did well to avoid a squeeze into oblivion. In Copeland we pushed UKIP into fourth as that partys voters clearly felt comfortable enough voting for Theresa Mays Brexit Britain Party.

In Stoke, you have to wonder how much of Labours vote was actually people who wanted to vote Lib Dem holding their nose and voting Labour to keep the even nastier prospect of the torture-supporting, ultra right Paul Nuttall winning. For us to get almost 10% in those circumstances was a very healthy result indeed.

In both campaigns we had outstanding candidates in Rebecca Hanson and Dr Zulfiqar Ali. They would both enhance our parliamentary team and we need to make sure that we get them into Westminster one day.

Theres no denying that the results are depressing in some ways, though. Both contests were won by pro Drive-Us-Of-The-Edge-Of-The-Cliff Brexit parties. Even after a torrid campaign in which there was controversy about his address, he was found to have made false claims on his website and which was basically a disaster for UKIP, they still attracted 24% of the vote. That their vote swapped so easily to the Conservatives in Copeland also shows how interchangeable the two have become.

These were always going to be challenging seats for us but we embraced the challenge, ran positive campaigns and can be very proud of what we achieved.

Party President Sal Brinton spent the night in Stoke and had this to say:

The Potteries decided there was no need to have UKIPs official leader in parliament when UKIPs unofficial leader is already in Number 10, pursuing a hard Brexit. We would have done even better but for many voters, drawn to the Lib Dems, who felt they just couldnt risk being represented by a UKIP MP, so reluctantly backed Labour. Paul Nuttall called this seat Brexit Central but it turned out to be the end of the line for UKIP. There is also little comfort for Labour, whose vote share has more than halved here in less than two decades. This is on top of an incredibly tough night for them in Copeland. It shows that if we are to turn out this divided and uncaring Conservative Brexit government, the Liberal Democrats will be the ones making the progressive case to keep Britain open, tolerant and united. Since May the Liberal Democrats have made 30 council gains across the country, ten times more than any other party. They have won a famous parliamentary by-election in Richmond Park and their membership has almost doubled since the general election. Recently the party has won council by elections in Leave areas such as Sunderland and Rotherham, and two more tonight. We started from a low base here but our vote is picking up and this is yet another sign that the Lib Dem fight-back is on.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Congratulations to Zulfiqar Ali and the team at Stoke-on-Trent for more than doubling our share of the vote at the by-election caused by Tristram Hunts resignation.

Labour held the seat.

After the result was announced, Liberal Democrat president Sal Brinton said from Stoke:

The Potteries decided there was no need to have UKIPs official leader in parliament when UKIPs unofficial leader is already in Number 10, pursuing a hard Brexit. We would have done even better but for many voters, drawn to the Lib Dems, who felt they just couldnt risk being represented by a UKIP MP, so reluctantly backed Labour. Paul Nuttall called this seat Brexit Central but it turned out to be the end of the line for UKIP. There is also little comfort for Labour, whose vote share has more than halved here in less than two decades. This is on top of an incredibly tough night for them in Copeland. It shows that if we are to turn out this divided and uncaring Conservative Brexit government, the Liberal Democrats will be the ones making the progressive case to keep Britain open, tolerant and united. We started from a low base here but our vote is picking up and this is yet another sign that the Lib Dem fight-back is on.

Here is the result in full plus some sexy bar charts tweeted by the Press Associations Ian Jones:

Gareth Snell (Lab) 7,853 (37.09%, -2.22%)

Paul Nuttall (Ukip) 5,233 (24.72%, +2.07%)

Jack Brereton (C) 5,154 (24.35%, +1.80%)

Zulfiqar Ali (LD) 2,083 (9.84%, +5.67%)

Adam Colclough (Green) 294 (1.39%, -2.22%)

Barbara Fielding (Ind) 137 (0.65%)

The Incredible Flying Brick (Loony) 127 (0.60%)

David Furness (BNP) 124 (0.59%)

Godfrey Davies (CPA) 109 (0.51%)

Mohammed Akram (Ind) 56 (0.26%)

Lab maj 2,620 (12.38%)

2.14% swing Lab to Ukip

Electorate 57,701; Turnout 21,170 (36.69%, -13.24%)

Here's a reminder of the result in Stoke-on-Trent at the last election. pic.twitter.com/Og5PwmbxA2  Ian Jones (@ian_a_jones) February 24, 2017

And here's the result of the by-election. pic.twitter.com/VVilDlAkKL  Ian Jones (@ian_a_jones) February 24, 2017

How the share of the vote in Stoke-on-Trent Central changed from the general election to the by-election. pic.twitter.com/AWk6Av6tb4  Ian Jones (@ian_a_jones) February 24, 2017

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
Ahram Online talks with Ahmed Sabry about his journey through the world of fashion design and the brand he established with Daki Marouf

Joining the London International Fashion Week (IFS), which took place between 17 and 21 February, Sabry Marouf displays the brand's work in Egypt's booth, the only Arab display to participate in this years event, which involved many international designers.

The Egyptian display was curated by Susan Sabet, who contributed to the IFS's 2017 theme local/global with '100% Egyptian Cotton'.

Aside from Sabry Marouf, the display also included works by Norine Farah (womenswear), Reem Jano (jewellery), Marsuma by Nour Omar (textile painting), Okhtein (handbags) and Maram Paris (womenswear).

The Sabry Marouf brand was established by creative director Ahmed Sabry, who also works on all the designs, and business partner Daki Marouf.

Sabry displayed two minaudiere bags and a cocktail ring, all insired by his profound research into Egyptian culture, philosophy and art, while giving it a contemporary edge.

Ahram Online talks with Ahmed Sabry about his designs, his move from Egypt to the UK, his inspirations and his learning experiences.

Ahram Online (AO): Your brand's name is Sabry Marouf. What does this name combination stand for?

Ahmed Sabry (AS): My name is Ahmed Sabry, although here [in UK], I just go by Sabry, because its sometimes tricky for foreigners to pronounce my first name (laughs). I am the creative director of Sabry Marouf.

In 2010, I met my business partner Daki Marouf. He saw my exhibition, and saw potential in my designs, so we began talking about creating a brand. He suggested creating a website and taking the necessary steps towards creating a brand. I did not know about any of those things. All I had were my pens, sketchbook and my inspiration, so I am thankful that Marouf came into the picture: he has an eye for business. This is what allowed us to create the UK-registered brand that Sabry Marouf is today.

AO: What are you displaying in the London Fahion Weeks Egyptian section?

AS: I designed two minaudieres [small handbags] and one cocktail ring. They are all inspired by the initial stage of the budding of the cotton flower, as well as the Egyptian sculptor Mahmoud Mukhtar's work and Egyptian painter Abdel Aal Hassan's portraits of the 'Falaha' [Egyptian Farming woman].

I wanted to do something that felt organic, so the designs are entirely handmade. The bags were manually shaped, stitched, the leather hand-dyed, and the metal work was also done by hand in our workshops here in London.

AO: Are you based in London, then?

AS: We moved the brand from Cairo to London a year ago. Prior to that, Daki and I did our masters here in London. I specialised in fashion artefacts, while Daki specialised in fashion entrepreneurship and innovation at the same university.

We decided to stay here and the University of the Arts London helped us to obtain a business visa.

We thought that jumpstarting the company here in the United Kingdom would be a great opportunity because it gives access to the international fashion scene and the international market, it is a creative hub. Working here is quite expensive, but we only do our prototyping in London and the production happens elsewhere.

AO: Prior to your move to London, you already worked in fashion in Cairo. Can you tell us more about your background?

AS: I was always very fond of the arts, of culture, and of fashion, but at the time, in the 1990s, our view of fashion was limited to the big brand names. I was also very interested in pop culture, and I knew I wanted to work in an artistic field.

In Cairo, I studied advertising because I felt that it was the closest thing to art, and I could not get enrolled at the art schools in Egypt, as they required very high grades in the Thanaweya Ama (National High School Diploma).

After my studies I worked in advertising for one year, and focused mainly on digital media, which allowed me to begin creating my own artwork digitally.

One thing led to another and I ended up creating my own jewellery capsule collection and exhibition, believing that jewellery would be easier to produce than garments, since the latter requires many details, themes and patterns. Jewellery, on the other hand, is more straight-forward, you can create a very simple piece that has a meaning to it, and people will get it.

AO: A lot of changes took place in Egypt in 2011. How did these events affect your business?

AS: In 2011, we were still working on a collection. The revolution created this sense of urgency, that we had to do it immediately, because no one knew what the future held, so we thought lets launch it, and we did. We received amazing reviews from Egyptian society and in Dubai, where we went on to exhibit the collection.

We began to feel that, in Egypt, our production was stifled, especially in the couple of years following the revolution. So Marouf suggested that we move the brand in order to grow it further.

AO: The move must have been a big challenge. How did it go in the beginning?

AS: Honestly, as I was leaving Egypt, I thought I was a great designer (laughs). I lived in an illusion: people bought my work in Egypt, I had thousands of likes on social media Unfortunately, nowadays in Egypt, social media is giving a sort of fake, temporary power to designers, power on which they cannot survive without actual strategies, sales, business and quality. But it takes more than hype to have a real sustainable brand.

So when I began the course, my course leaders and peers really opened my eyes to the fact that this a very tough business. Statistically speaking, 98% of fashion start-ups fail within the first five years because of miss management in general.

Therefore, I am very thankful that Marouf and I came here, because he now also has a very down-to-earth understanding of how this business needs to operate: where we need to be, what we need to do to survive and to develop. And while he manages the business side, the innovative aspect is where I come in.

It is here [in the UK] that I learned the importance of education. I had an advertising background, Marouf was an architect, we had to be exposed to the real industry. London is a tough place, and it is also very avant-garde. Fashion here is known to be daring and in-your-face. We have really grown since we arrived here, but I think it is important to stay humble and know your size.

AO: Do you feel that your Egyptian background and knowledge of Egyptian art gives a sort of edge to your designs?

AS: I believe it does. Egyptian culture is quite universal, a lot of people connect with it and relate to it, because it is among the earliest civilizations and it is visually very recognisable.

In my work, I didnt want to copy Egyptian art, but rather innovate on it, speak about it from my own perspective as a young, emerging designer.

Ancient Egyptians were very philosophical, extremely in tune with nature and the universe they lived in. They did not believe that there was any waste, everything was regenerating, the earth and the universe were regenerating. It was very intriguing for me to try and communicate that through my designs.

So I think that this gives us an edge, because other brands can reproduce the culture at face value, they can use a certain motif or artwork for example. I wanted to dig deeper into the underlying philosophy, translate ideas into actual pieces.

AO: So what will we see next from Sabry Marouf?



AS: We are launching a handbag collection this spring in London. We will launch it on our website and focus heavily on our online sales besides retail because this is the future [of this business].

I would also like to collaborate with filmmakers. We are currently in talks to create a video blog about the Ancient Egyptian philosophy and how it inspires us. I want it to be very intimate, just me speaking in front of the camera.

We are also working on a cocktail ring jewellery collection, which will be followed by a bigger jewellery collection, because we took a bit of a hiatus from jewellery-making while we were doing our masters and introduced the handbags.

So we would like to make a bit of a comeback in the jewellery field, and do it like never before. The ring I have displayed this year is a bit of teaser of whats to come.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A YOUNG man who was arrested following the discovery of a homemade bomb in the car park of a Limerick garda station has been released without charge.

The 25-year-old had been in custody for almost 36 hours before being released this Thursday evening pending further directions from the DPP.

The alarm was raised shortly after 1am on Wednesday as a car, which had been stopped earlier in the night, was being searched in a secure compound at the rear of Henry Street garda station.

The vehicle had been seized by members of the divisional drugs unit elsewhere in the city and was driven to the garda station to facilitate the carrying out of a detailed search.

After the bomb was discovered the immediate area was sealed off and the assistance of the Defence Forces requested.

A bomb disposal team from Collins Barracks in Cork was dispatched to the scene and the improvised device, which was viable, was removed to a secure military installation for further examination.

After being safe the device was handed over to gardai.
IN a real life Bambi-style adventure a young injured deer who lost her mother has been befriended by a county Limerick family who have restored her to good health.

The young deer was found lying by her dead mother at the side of the road near Cahir, county Tipperary by passers-by.

Animal Magic Wildlife Rescue based in Kilmallock were called in to rescue the animal who had a bump on her head and was bleeding behind one eye.

She was very lethargic and confused. After a bit of pain relief and getting her settled in a warm dark bed she took a bottle for us, explained Rosie Campbell of Animal Magic who has been nursing the deer named Freya over the past five weeks.

It is understood that Freyas mother was hit by a car and killed.

What we think happened is that the foal wasnt hit by the car but we think she was hit by her mum because she had trauma on her head - she had a swollen head and one eye was bleeding and we had to treat that until it got better, said Rosie.

Once the young deer began to feel a little better, Rosie and her family had to be very careful not to cause her any stress.

Fallow deer are even more highly strung than Sika deer, Rosie explained.

Because they are highly strung and quite scared little animals who are quite secretive, we wanted to get her out and back in the wild as quickly as we possibly could.

As soon as we had her weaned and had her eating well and her injuries were fully healed we were able to release her into a beautiful woodland where we know there is a fallow herd for her to join.

Rosie recalled the moment Freya was released this week.

It was lovely. She stood for a couple of seconds and had a look around and then she just popped into the trees. We never say exactly where we release. We released her into a lovely wooded area - its actually quite hilly. Theres a herd of fallow deer there and because shes a young female there wont be a problem with her being accepted into the herd. It would be different if she was a young stag.

Looking at her teeth and everything else we reckon that when she first came in she was about five months old. She was still suckling on her mum but we had to wean her off fairly rapidly so that she could survive on her own.
A NORTHSIDE primary school has received a major boost after it secured 1m in funding for a major school extension.

The new Thomond Primary School at the Ballynanty Road has secured the injection from the Department of Education.

The project will see a major school extension, with four classrooms and one resource room.

The school only opened in September 2015, after the merger of three other national schools: St Munchins Boys and Girls schools and St Lelias Infant School.

The new school is based at the old St Munchins girls school, and caters for 250 students.

It is as a result of such huge demand that the works are necessary.

Senator Kieran ODonnell, who was informed of the funding by his party colleague, Fine Gaels Education Minister Richard Bruton, welcomed the news.

This 1m will be used to construct the urgently required four new classrooms and one resource room to cater for the increased pupil numbers at the now single school location. "From working with Thomond Primary school to advance this grant application, I know the accommodation pressures they have with the existing size of the school building. These new classrooms will make a great difference for both the pupils and staff in the school.

He said construction should get under way quickly, due to the fact planning permission is already in place.

The news was also welcomed by Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan, a former student of St Munchins boys school.

He said the move will ensure that no students are taught in prefabricated units.

The merger of the schools has been a great success, he added.
A MOTHER of two young children who was left on a trolley in A&E at University Hospital Limerick for 54 hours has described the facility as a complete joke.

Having been discharged from the hospital last Friday, after spending 12 days there - 10 of which were in the High Dependency Unit - Christina Finnerty, 31, from Foynes, was taken back in by ambulance on Saturday morning.

She was, she said, in intense pain, so much so the paramedics had to give me 10mg of morphine.

Things in UHL have not improved at all. I've just spent the last 30 hours in A&E and still waiting, said Christina in an email she sent to the Leader from her hospital trolley on Sunday afternoon.

I've had not one drop of blood taken, she continued.

I have had two surgeons come to literally just look at me - one trying to tell me Ive a pulled muscle, another telling me Id a chest infection but not one of them even put a stethoscope on me.

Ive been just left here sitting in pain. I have to go hunt them down to get some pain relief and no one will get in contact with one of my medical team for me.

Christina said she had been asking since Saturday morning about getting up to a ward to which Im being told Im on the list yet Im still here. Im also waiting to go for a CT scan which they have told me they wont do until tomorrow.

This place is a complete joke and its totally unfair that Im just being left here in pain to suffer on a trolley for this long.

When she was admitted initially to the hospital in early February, she says the high dependency unit staff were brilliant.

I had come in via A&E on Sunday, February 5, explained Christina who underwent surgery at that stage.

She says on that occasion she was in A&E for only four or five hours  and experienced much less frustration than she did last weekend.

I dont blame the nurses - its not their fault at all. There are just too many people there.

When the Leader contacted Christina on Monday morning last she explained that she was moved on Sunday evening to the hall of ward IC, where she remained on a trolley.

Im still awaiting my team to come see me, she said.

Im still getting pain, short stabbing pain. I havent seen the team yet. Im still waiting to go for the CT.

I slept here on the corridor last night. Its clean but I am on the same bed sheet since Saturday morning, added the mother who has a 10-month-old baby along with a five-year-old child.

Finally, at 1pm on Monday, Christina says she got a bed.

The team came to see me around 11.30am and they quickly took over my care from the team on call for the weekend. They got me sorted with bloods taken and my CT scan and a bed and apologised for the treatment over the last few days in A&E, she added.
A FEMALE teacher in a Limerick primary school has reported to gardai that one of her young pupils assaulted her, the Limerick Leader has learned.

It has alleged that a 12-year-old boy pushed the woman against a wall in a hallway of Scoil Iosagain CBS, formerly CBS Sexton Street. It is understood the teacher complained of a sore arm but has not taken any sick leave.

Principal of Scoil Iosagain CBS, Patrick Hanley confirmed an incident did take place on Friday, February 10.

A garda spokesperson said: Gardai in Roxboro are investigating an incident which occurred at a premises on Sexton Street, Limerick on February 10 at 10.40am. Investigations are ongoing.

Mr Hanley said that a fifth class pupil has been suspended. The matter is being handled by the schools board of management, gardai and Education Welfare Services.

This is very unusual in a primary school, in particular, it is a very rare thing. It is very upsetting and shocking for the rest of the boys in the school. None of the other children would ever dream of copying it or thinking it was acceptable. They were absolutely shocked, as much as the teacher was, said Mr Hanley.

Three years ago the east Limerick branch of the INTO sent a motion to congress saying, Noting the number of teachers who have been assaulted by pupils in the course of their teaching work, demands that the CEC enter into negotiations with the Department of Education to establish a separate system of work-related assault leave that does not impinge on existing sick leave arrangements

Following a query from the Limerick Leader, an INTO spokesperson confirmed that assaults are on the rise.

The INTO has on a number of occasions in recent years raised the matter of assault leave with the Department of Education. A teacher who is injured as a result of an incident is clearly not ill in the normal course. The sick leave recording mechanism should immediately be recalibrated to record occupational injury which would have no impact on sick leave. This work is on-going, they said.

More and more research shows that verbal and physical attacks on teachers are on the increase, said the INTO spokesperson.

When they occur, the impact on the individual teacher can be profound. Most physical assaults were by pupils, and most verbal assaults were carried out by adults. The consequences of violence at work include physical harm, stress, emotional trauma, feelings of powerlessness and demotivation for the individual while for the employer consequences include staff turnover, absenteeism and sickness absence and higher insurance costs, said the spokesperson.

The union has produced guidelines for schools on preventing and responding to assaults and violence against staff in primary and special schools.

Assaults and violence are categorised as risks to occupational health and safety, so in this context, school boards of management are required to assess the risk of assaults and violence against staff occurring and put measures in place to ensure that such risks are minimised.
A LIMERICK vet has issued a warning to dog owners after seeing three pets die from poison in the last eight weeks.

In January, the Limerick Leader reported on another canine killed from consuming strychnine which brings the number to four, that are known of.

In a Facebook post, John ODwyer said: Just be careful if walking your dog in the Clonlara / Castleconnell area. There is still someone putting poison down on the public walks there. They are using a mixture of strychnine and rat poison in a very concentrated form and it has been impossible to save any that have come in to us. If anyone has any suspicion as to who is doing this please contact your local garda. This person needs to be caught.

Mr ODwyer, whose small animal hospital is based in Henry Street in Limerick city, says it is a horrible death.

People dont even see the poison. Two of the dogs were on leads. One dog was just walking along, sniffing around, the next thing the dog had a fit on the ground and then it was dead, said Mr ODwyer, who thinks the poison must be soaked in a biscuit or something similar.

They arent eating a big pile of bones or anything like that. We had two of them tested and they came back positive from the laboratory for strychnine and rat poison, said Mr ODwyer.

He stresses that these are not people walking their dogs through farmers fields but on public walkways.

Anybody with any information on who is putting down the poison is asked to contact their local garda station.
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.
A PLAY produced by transition year students from across Limerick, Clare and Tipperary in association with Limerick Youth Theatre will get its premiere this weekend.

Frank Pig Says Hello, written by Patrick McCabe and directed by Naomi OKelly, sees Limerick Youth Theatre (LYT)  marking its 20th anniversary this year - work with the Transition Year Company to produce the show, running in the Belltable this Friday and Saturday.

Set in a small rural town in 1960s Ireland, the play is about a boy who goes wrong after neglect and loneliness drive him into a dark place. Naomi OKelly  a proud ex-member of LYT who now lives in Glasgow  said one of the reasons she chose the play was for its unique style.

It is likely to be different from anything that the young cast have done before, requiring a larger-than-life performance style, and a playful approach to staging.

24 transition year students are involved, following an open call for the transition year project by LYT. Artistic director Angie Smalis said the youth theatre was overwhelmed by the response.

It is wonderful to see so many young adults considering theatre as a potential career and making the decision to take part in the creative process of theatre-making, she said.

This year, LYT celebrates its 20th birthday and we are proud and privileged to have Naomi direct Frank Pig Says Hello. She is supported by a full team of professionals assisting this emerging ensemble take some of their first steps into the art of theatre making and performance. I am looking forward to seeing all three shows and witness everyones achievement.

See www.limetreetheatre.ie.
Apr 29, 2021, 11 PM

British Gen. John Burgoyne surrenders his sword to American Gen. Horatio Gates on this 13 stamp from 1977.

By Michael Baadke

British military leader Gen. John Burgoyne, whose initial successes against colonial forces in America led to his later defeat in 1777, was born Feb. 24, 1722.

Writing for the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, Nicholas C. Holy of George Washington University noted that during his youth, Burgoyne developed a love of wine, a keen eye for fashion, the boldness of a gambler, an insatiable quest for fame, and the reputation of a ladies man.

Burgoyne left a military career behind in 1751 and moved with his wife to France, but joined the 11th Dragoons in 1754 following the outbreak of the Seven Years War.

During the American Revolution, Burgoyne successfully drove the Continental Army from Quebec. He commanded forces that occupied Fort Ticonderoga in 1777, but his army was defeated at Saratoga in New York by Continental Army forces led by Gen. Horatio Gates and Gen. Benedict Arnold. The American victory is considered an important turning point in the war for independence.

In his later years, Burgoyne found some success as a writer of light comedic plays, including The Heiress in 1786. He died Aug. 4, 1792.

Details of John Trumbulls painting Surrender of General Burgoyne, which hangs in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, have been featured on multiple U.S. stamps, beginning with a 2 carmine-rose commemorative issued Aug. 3, 1927 (Scott 644). The painting is shown in full color on a 13 stamp issued Oct. 7, 1977 (1728), and engraved in blue on a $1 stamp issued May 5, 1994 (2590). In the painting, Burgoyne is a central figure, shown surrendering his sword to Gates.
Feb 24, 2017, 8 AM

Linns has identified at least seven characteristics that can be used to identify a counterfeit 2014 Flag and Fireworks coil stamp, left. A genuine example of the stamp, Scott 4868, is shown at right.

This strip of three counterfeit Flag and Fireworks coil stamp is still attached to the leader strip that was wound around the original roll of 100 stamps to keep it secure.

By Charles Snee

On March 3, 2014, the United States Postal Service issued a coil stamp depicting the Fort McHenry flag and a pair of bursting fireworks in the background.

It didnt take counterfeiters long to start cranking out realistic fakes of this lithographed stamp printed by Banknote Corporation for Sennett Security Products (Scott 4868).

Counterfeits are a special type of forgery, which is a completely fraudulent reproduction of a postage stamp.

Connect with Linns Stamp News:

Sign up for our newsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Forgeries are of two types: counterfeits, which are intended to defraud postal authorities of revenue; and bogus issues, which are intended to fool collectors. Here, the terms counterfeit and bogus are used interchangeably.

Robert Thompson, a specialist in U.S. plate-number coils and president of the Plate Number Coil Collectors Club, told Linns in mid-February that he found an intact roll of 100 counterfeit Flag and Fireworks coil stamps in late July 2016.

To Linns knowledge, this is the earliest reported discovery of this modern U.S. counterfeit.

Illustrated nearby are enlarged images of a counterfeit Flag and Fireworks coil, left, and a genuine example, right.

Like their genuine counterparts, the bogus stamps were printed using offset lithography, an indirect printing method easily susceptible to counterfeiting because the technology is readily available and affordable.

That yet another counterfeit of a U.S. stamp came to light should not come as a surprise. An active supply chain, operating out of China or Taiwan (or both, perhaps), has been funneling bogus U.S. stamps into the country for at least the past decade or so.

At first glance, the bogus Flag and Fireworks coil looks almost identical to its genuine counterpart.

For example, the shape of the serpentine die cuts of the counterfeit closely mimics those of the real stamp. The die-cut peaks are a bit shorter on the bogus stamp.

Closer scrutiny, however, reveals key characteristics that allow the observant collector to distinguish the fake from the real.

1. Counterfeit is printed on paper without tagging that exhibits a bluish glow (seen most easily in the white flag stripes and the USA and FOREVER inscriptions) under shortwave ultraviolet light. Genuine is printed on tagged paper that shows the signature yellow-green glow under shortwave UV light.

2. Counterfeit shows indistinct microprinted USPS in fireworks above the flagpole. USPS is clear on genuine.

3. Counterfeit die cuts are gauge 11.2. Genuine die cuts measure 11.

4. Stripes of flag on counterfeit not of uniform thickness. Genuine has stripes of even thickness.

5. Inscriptions on counterfeit have thick letters or numbers. Genuine stamps have thin lettering.

6. The O of FOREVER on counterfeit is wide. On genuine stamps the O is narrow.

7. Counterfeit shows large lithographed dot structure in the printing; most noticeable in the flag stripes and the bursting firework in the foreground. Dot structure of genuine printing is much finer, yielding clear, crisp design elements.

Despite these identifying features, the counterfeit Flag and Fireworks coil is a dangerous knock-off because it can easily fool the noncollecting public, who use large quantities of definitive postage on their mail.

Rolls of the counterfeit Flag and Fireworks coil are convincing, as well. Pictured here is a strip of three bogus stamps with the intact leader strip still attached at right.

Some unsuspecting postal customers, trying to save some money, seek out quantities of current forever stamps offered at discounts below face value.

Such bargains are readily found on eBay and Amazon.com, where numerous sellers offer bulk lots of stamps. These outlets, as it turns out, are being used to sell large numbers of bogus stamps.

There is a big market for current forever stamps, stamp dealer Henry Gitner told Linns. I and maybe two other dealers in the U.S. are at the forefront of this.

Gitner, a longtime advertiser in Linns who operates Henry Gitner Philatelists in Middletown, N.Y., pays close attention to modern U.S. issues, and he can spot a counterfeit issue with laser precision.

Whenever a new fake comes out, we figure it out pretty quickly, he said.

According to Gitner, the easiest way to spot counterfeits is to look at the lithographed dot pattern using a magnifying glass.

All the counterfeits Ive seen are a screened printing of the original, Gitner stated.

A dealer in U.S. and worldwide stamps, who provided the photos of the counterfeit and genuine Flag and Firework stamps shown with this story, told Linns that one of his customers bought a roll of fake stamps on eBay in late January.

The stamps were provided to me by a friend who had purchased them for use but became suspicious so I would prefer not to take credit for anything, the dealer said. Im not sure of the eBay sellers name, but I believe they bought them from a seller based in California.

The dealer began tracking eBay sales of modern U.S. counterfeits last October, and he was surprised by what he found.

I got heavily invested in researching the sellers of [counterfeits] on eBay and put together a large list of sellers to forward to the [U.S. Postal Inspection Service].

I actually found over $500,000 in sales from suspicious sellers of these issues (almost all California-based) by using the Sold Items search.

My local inspector was interested in the matter, but after he referred it out to the California group for further action, it appears nothing ever came of it. Some of the same sellers I reported then were still active last I checked.

Gitner echoed the dealers comments regarding the likely U.S. origins of recent counterfeits. A lot of these fakes come out of California, he said.

Linns ongoing investigation into the murky origins of these counterfeits suggests that the problem is large than initially thought.

However, the powers that be in the Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service seemingly dont have the time or inclination to dig more deeply. This, in turn, puts the onus on collectors and dealers to make the discoveries and get the word out.

The dealer Linns contacted lamented that more hasnt been done, but he remains optimistic.

I personally have moved on and given up on waiting for the USPS to do anything, but I do applaud Linns efforts to bring some change to the situation, he stated. I hope eventually something comes of this.
We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.
The zoo in the farmhouse There is a growing tribe of collectors looking for rare fauna from all corners of the world, and there is no law to stop them /news/talking-point/the-zoo-in-the-farmhouse-111646899615384.html 111646899615384 story

One afternoon in the summer of 2000, we spotted a caracal, one of Indias rarest wild cats, in the Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan. It was just a glimpse, the animal crossed our path in a flash.

Caracals are more elusive than tigers and leopards; very few can claim to have seen one in the wild. So we wondered if we had actually spotted one. As if on cue, the animal turned its head towards us before disappearing into the tall grass of the jungle. The long, pointed ears with hairy tufts were unmistakable. Our caracal sighting was over in 20 seconds and I havent seen one since, despite numerous trips to the same forest.

In January, the Uttar Pradesh police seized five caracals and an African serval cat from wildlife traders. The Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation, or Vindhya Bachao, a non-governmental organization working in Mirzapur, helped identify the animals; the serval cat was initially mistaken for a leopard. Around the same time, the state police and wildlife authorities confiscated 6,000 live Indian flapshell turtles near Amethi. Wildlife authorities describe it as the largest such seizure in the country. Turtles are most vulnerable during the winter months when food is scarce, and this is when poachers and trappers are most active. On 5 February, a notorious wildlife trafficker from Kanpur was caught in Guna, Madhya Pradesh.

The seizures prompted me to tap some old contactspeople tracking the wildlife trade, breeders and collectors of exotic fauna. It turns out that the illegal trade (mainly body parts of endangered species) is catering not just to the demands of traditional Chinese medicine in East and South-East Asia, but to a rising demand from private zoos in India.

A growing tribe of collectors is looking for rare faunamammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insectsand there is no law to stop them. There is no law for breeding or trade in exotic species, while native Indian species are protected by law. The trade in non-native species is mostly clandestine and illegal. None of the prerequisite certification is obtained and we hardly know the source of the specieswild or captive-bred," says Shubhobroto Ghosh, author of Indian Zoo Inquiry", a report.

The information that we collect from seizures is just the tip of the iceberg. A close network of breeders and collectors connect through social media groups and meet in private at feline or avian/aviculture conventions," says Abrar Ahmed, a former TRAFFIC official who has tracked the wildlife trade for over two decades. TRAFFIC is a wildlife trade monitoring network.

According to sources tracking the live mammal trade, the confiscated caracals and serval cat may have been bred on private farms in Africa. The consignment was reportedly meant for a private collector. Says an expert, You name the species, it will be home-deliveredfrom wild cats to apes! Chimpanzees, orangutans, species of gibbon, capuchins, Phayre or squirrel monkeys, slow lorises, marmosets, lemurs, wallabies, bearded dragons and species of python are much in demand."

Caracals are more elusive than tigers and leopards; very few can claim to have seen one in the wild.

The rarer a species, the greater the demand. The trade is fuelled by rivalry between collectors, traders and breeders. Since it involves huge amounts of money, the animals are transported with extreme care, secrecy and security." A cursory Google search for caracal for sale" produced 3,260,000 results in 0.47 seconds.

The demand for apes is particularly worrying. An International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report says 63% of primate species in the wild are threatened, with the Hainan gibbon, a species native to China, on the verge of extinction. Experts estimate that fewer than 30 of these animals are left in the wild. According to a study published last month in the journal Science Advances, 60% of primate species are now threatened with extinction.

In December, the IUCN also highlighted the plight of the worlds most popular cage birds, with species now being trapped and traded into near-extinction in the wild. The status of the African Grey Parrot, a popular bird in the exotic pet trade, in the wild has changed from vulnerable" to endangered", though bird breeders say they, in fact, avoid wild birds as these tend to be temperamental and may carry diseases; they also fetch less money than farm-bred birds. Experienced collectors, too, know that captive birds are disease-free, mate more readily and are easier to handle.

There is also the issue of hybridization in cage birds (and in smaller wild cats), with cage birds interbred for new colourations or patterns on feathers. The price goes up with every new feather colour or pattern. Albino, lutino and cremino birds are much sought after too.

Private menageries are not new. But while breeders may argue that they are, in fact, preserving the gene pools of endangered species, the volume of breeding, hybridization and trade would appear to be unsustainable.

Out In The Wild is a column on the good, bad and ugly of nature conservation.

Also Read: Anandas Mint Lounge columns
Brave new words in 1845? What could possibly have prompted Kylas Chunder Dutt to write, in 1835, a novella titled 'A Journal Of Forty-Eight Hours of The Year 1945?', an imaginary armed uprising against the British /news/talking-point/brave-new-words-in-1845-111646899596089.html 111646899596089 story

Over the past couple of weeks, George Orwells 1984 has suddenly become required reading, and has even reached No.1 among fiction in the Washington area, according to The Washington Times. No points for guessing why. But what could possibly have prompted Kylas Chunder Dutt to write, in 1835, a novella titled A Journal Of Forty-Eight Hours Of The Year 1945? Not even two decades had passed after Mary Shelley had written Frankenstein, arguably the first-ever proper science fiction novel. What odds that a work belonging to the same genre would appear in distant Calcutta (now Kolkata) within the lifetime of Mary Shelley?

Kylas Chunder was a student in Calcuttas famed Hindoo College, and belonged to the storied Dutt family of Rambagan. The novellaor rather short story, since it ran to just over 5,000 wordsappeared in the June 1835 issue of the English-language periodical Calcutta Literary Gazette and described an imaginary armed uprising against the British in 1945, opening with the following stirring lines:

The people of India and particularly those of the metropolis had been subject for the last 50 years to every species of subaltern oppression. The dagger and the bowl were dealt out with a merciless hand, and neither age, sex, nor condition could repress the rage of the British barbarians. These events, together with the recollection of the grievances suffered by their ancestors, roused the dormant spirit of the generally considered timid Indian."

Within the first few lines appears the viceroy of India, glorying in the name of Lord Fell Butcher, whose refined cruelties" are expatiated upon by one Bhoobun Mohun, a youth of twenty-five splendidly attired in kincaub and gold". Bhoobun Mohun gives a rousing speech on the inordinate rapacity of our present odious government" but this is soon followed by a bayonet charge by a squadron of the British army, leading to the following scene of battle:

The clashing of swords, the discharge of guns, the shrieks of the wounded and the groans of the dying made a fearful noise. During this bloody transaction our hero was not a silent spectator of the scene. He ordered his attendant to bring his proud war horse, and having adjusted his clothes with military nicety, he buckled his pistols round his waist, waved his sword and mounted his charger. Receiving the benediction of the venerable priest who stood trembling a few paces distant, and whispering a prayer to Heaven to strengthen his arm, he darted himself into the midst of the fray. Lieutenant Martin, mad with rage, confronted him and aimed a furious blow at him which he eluded with great dexterity. Escaping the blow, he in his turn gave a smart rap on the head of his antagonist, which made him reel in his saddle for a minute or two."

Theres more of this, though it all ends rather badly for Bhoobun Mohun. There is enough evidence in the story to suggest that the writer was probably channelling scenes from the French Revolution, down to the guillotining. But why Kylas Chunder chose to write such a story in 1835the year in which governor general Lord Bentinck demitted officeremains unclear.

Illustration by Jayachandran/Mint

A decade later, another member of the Dutt family, Shoshee Chunder Dutt, wrote a similarly futuristic work titled The Republic Of Orissa; A Page From The Annals Of The Twentieth Century, which came out in the Saturday Evening Hurkaru of 25 October 1845. When the work was later anthologized in an 1870 collection of Shoshee Dutts other works, the author felt it necessary to enter the following disclaimer: That the object of this paper may not be misunderstood, it is perhaps necessary to state that it was writtenlong before the days of mutiny and disloyalty. It has been included in the present collection because the author believes the harmlessness of the squib to be too apparent to give rise to any misconception."

Though not as rousingly told as Kylas Chunders alternate history, Shoshee Chunder too shows the British under the generalship of Sir G. Proudfoot marching into Orissa (now Odisha) in the year 1919, and crushing an insurrection with great cruelty. But the tables are swiftly turned at the Battle of Jumna in 1921 and the British army is routed, leading to the independence of the republic of Orissa, and the subsequent waning of the British raj in India: We regret for its fallen grandeur;we regret to see an imperial bird, shorn of its wings and plumage of pride, coming down precipitately from its aery height."

Brave new words in 1845? A century would pass before Shoshee Chunders prophecy would come true.

Endpapers is a monthly column on obscure books and forgotten writers. Abhijit Gupta teaches English at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and is director, Jadavpur University Press
Lounge Loves: When Godard was a novice The online surfacing of his little-seen second film is a Holy Grail-level sighting /relationships/it-s-complicated/lounge-loves-when-godard-was-a-novice-111646896035715.html 111646896035715 story

A new Godard title is cause enough for excitement, so you can imagine the seismic force with which the news of a new old Godard hit cinephiles across the globe last week. In 1955, a 24-year-old Jean-Luc Godard directed his second short and his first stab at fiction, Une Femme Coquette. The 9-minute film, never distributed and screened only a handful of times, turned up on Australian critic and director David Heslins YouTube channel on 15 February.

Une Femme Coquette had earlier been the subject of a 2014 AV Club piece by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, which disclosed that a 16mm printpossibly the only onewas being stored in an unspecified national film archive in Europe. Whether this is the source for the uploaded film isnt known; Vishnevetsky had written that the owner of the print would only loan it out with Godards permission.

For this 9-minute filmmade five years before he burst on to the scene with BreathlessGodard adapted Guy Maupassants short story Le Signe (The Signal). A woman named Agnes writes a letter to a friend about her brush with infidelity, which we then see play out. On her way home, she notices a prostitute looking down from her window and enticing passers-by with her gaze. She decides to test the power of her own flirtatiousness on a stranger, with unexpected consequences.

Une Femme Coquette is the work of a beginnera promising one. You can see the future Godard in the unadorned location shooting (the setting is Ile Rousseau, Geneva), in the beautiful tracking shot on the bridge, in the unexpected poetry of the line, They were lost in my soul like clouds drifting apart by the wind on a greyish background where the sun was heading", and, more than anything, in the playfulness of it all. You can also literally see Godard around the 2-minute mark, wearing his trademark shades.

In his 2008 book Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life Of Jean-Luc Godard, Richard Brody praised the films theme of imitation becoming reality, of trying to live what one has watched". Godards first fictional film is about the perilous path that he was taking as he sought to enter the cinema," he wrote, and it anticipates the moral dangers that awaited him there." Now, at least until the film remains online, you can see Godards first steps down this path whose trajectory he would soon be shaping.
Bhagwan Das Garga: A treasure trove of Indian cinemas bygone years Some exhibits at 'A Story Called Cinema: The BD Garga Archives' were reminders that the more things change, the more they remain the same /how-to-lounge/movies-tv/bhagwan-das-garga-a-treasure-trove-of-indian-cinema-s-bygone-years-111646899848907.html 111646899848907 story

During a 1957 trip to Moscow, the film critic and historian Bhagwan Das Garga experienced something very special: a clandestine screening of Sergei Eisensteins Ivan the Terrible, Part II, made more than a decade earlier but banned by Joseph Stalin. In an essay about the film for Sight and Sound magazine months later, Garga wrote of the exigencies of scribbling notes with an interpreters help:

Eyes glued to the screen and hand scratching away frantically in the darkpossibly it was not the best way to watch a film for which I had waited all these years. But I was anxious to conserve as much of the experience as I could."

The mental picture this conjures fits the man well. Garga was only in his 30s then, but by the time he died in 2011, aged 86, he had dedicated a lifetime to the delicate art of recording and conserving that which is in danger of being lost; keeping cultural artefacts from slipping out of our hands and memories. To this end, he made dozens of documentariesAmrita Sher-Gil and Satyajit Ray were among his more notable subjectsand he continued publishing books about cinema and gathering memorabilia into his 80s.

To experience his writing is to find oneself wading into history, surrounded by ghostly voices, and to be reminded that film is so fragile and ephemeralthe word film" here applying not just to neglected old movies, but to the stock on which they were recorded. One of Gargas most poignant experiences as a young man, mentioned in his book The Art Of Cinema, was a meeting in the 1940s with the son of the film-making pioneer Dadasaheb Phalke, and learning that a trunk full of Phalkes films needed to be salvaged since the material was inflammable nitrate stock. No one they contacted was willing to help; in fact, some distributors suggested they should try to melt the reels down to retrieve a few rupees worth of silver.

I thought of that story and others when I attended the exhibition A Story Called Cinema: The BD Garga Archives, held earlier this month in Delhis Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. In one of the exhibits, a tent made up to resemble the travelling shows of the past, scenes from Phalkes 1919 film Kaliya Mardan were being shown. The child-god Krishnawearing what looked like a striped pajama top!was in battle underwater against the giant snake Kaliya; it was thrilling to watch, but also a reminder, as the same few minutes of film played over and over, that this is one of the very few Phalke works still extant.

Though some of Gargas own documentaries were being screened too, and lobby cards and posters from his personal collection were on display (as was a letter written to him by an ailing Satyajit Ray), the exhibition wasnt so much about him as about Indian cinemas bygone yearswhich is exactly as he would have wanted it. There, in one room, was a brightly coloured bioscope, its many viewing portals offering austere black and white imagesand there, by way of contrast, was a DVD player showing scenes from newer films, complete with sound and colour. There were photos from the 1920s and 1930s, of actors and directors who are barely known today as well as more familiar personalities in unrecognizable avatars (the very young and lean Prithviraj Kapoor in a 1934 film; a vampish Lalita Pawar in a slit dress)but there were also life-sized cardboard cutouts of contemporary actors: Amitabh Bachchan in Mard, Dimple Kapadia in Saagar. And, from the early years of sound cinema, there were elegies for the orchestra pits of silent movies, lost in the age of the all-talking, all-singing picture".

Looking at exact replicas of the clothes worn by Raj Kapoor as the tramp in Shree 420 (1955), or Balraj Sahni as the farmer in Do Bigha Zamin (1953), I experienced the mixed emotions I had felt in Paris Cinematheque Francaise on seeing gowns from Jean Cocteaus 1946 Beauty And The Beast or Louise Brooks dress from Pandoras Box (1929). For the film buff, it can be spooky and melancholia-inducing to encounter such iconic costumes now made banal: in faded colours, hung up for display, even posed to mimic a gesture or action.

These exhibits might seem misty and distant to our modern eyes, but there were also reminders that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Gargas own writing often demonstrates this. Here he is on censorship, in a 1968 essay: Our censors eulogize the Middle Ages and Victorian virtues, ignoring the mainstream of modern thought [] Little do they realize that traditions cannot be dug up and revived. They can no more be willed or argued into existence than the drainage system of Mohenjodaro be made to work [] These are the zealots who held up a film, Temples Of Tomorrow, on the plea that its title, which referred to our new projects, dams, etc., violated Hindu sentiments."

Similarly, the old films he wrote about may look and sound creaky, but the content is often still fresh, easy to relate toand in some cases, more wicked and hard-hitting than what we have today, as I discovered when I recently watched Mehboob Khans 1942 Roti. My appetite for the film had been whetted by clips shown at one of the talks at the exhibition, but I was scarcely prepared for the off-kilter force of its opening sequence, a caustic exercise in social propaganda. A sutradhaar (storyteller) like figure mocks the hungry poor. Bhookh lagi hai? Bhookh lagi hai? (Are you hungry?)" he leersand then, when an old man is hit by a car as he struggles to retrieve a piece of bread, come the words: Mar ja mar ja mar ja! Bojh zameen ka halka kar ja." (Die! Die! Die! Make the earths burden lighter.")

It is all heavily stylized, with echoes of German expressionism, theatre and Russian montage, but the premisethat the world isnt for the poor, that they will be redundant no matter who is in poweris as topical as ever. It struck me that if such a scene were to be attempted in a current-day satirewith a character singing a tuneful but sadistic song telling poor people to Die!"its unlikely that our censors would recognize the narrative context; they would probably cut the scene because it offends sentiments". And I can picture the ever-vigilant Garga rolling his eyes at that, and opening a new page of his notepad.

Above The Line is a fortnightly column on Hindi cinema and how it presents the world.
Transwoman, trailblazer The biography of India's first transgender principal is an eye-opener on queer Indian history /news/talking-point/transwoman-trailblazer-111646899484225.html 111646899484225 story

In June 2015, Manobi Bandyopadhyay hit the headlines for becoming the first transgender principal of any educational institution in the country. In Nadia district, about 100km north of Kolkata, Bandyopadhyay, then 50, took charge of the government-aided Krishnagar Womens College. The state was lauded for its progressiveness. After all, Bandyopadhyay was also the first transgender person to become a professorshe underwent her transition while still teachingand the first to receive her doctorate.

A year before she became principal, the Supreme Court had delivered a landmark verdict that granted transgender persons third-gender status, if they wished to adopt it, and directed governments to ensure that the community was given equal opportunities after centuries of neglect and discrimination. Bandyopadhyay is now on the Transgender Development Board of West Bengal.

The news certainly catapulted Bandyopadhyayborn Somnath, the youngest of three siblings, in 1964to national fame. However, as this biography, narrated by Bandyopadhyay to journalist Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey, reveals, Bandyopadhyay was already a trailblazer, and very much in the public eye. Its hard not to be when one is transgender.

The overthrowing of gender norms never goes unnoticed, and Bandyopadhyays socially anomalous position was only cemented by her excellence in academics. She chose not to join any hijra gharana, lived with her family, despite their inability to actively support her, and survived exploitative relationships and social censure from colleagues.

Bandyopadhyays biography offers a complicated story on many levels. It is an eye-opener about queer Indian historyfrom the mid-1990s onwards, Bandyopadhyay published a magazine titled Abomanob (sub-human), which addressed transgender issues. These magazines were in Bengali, but the fact that there were already conversations taking place about transgenderism puts paid to a commonly encountered notion that millennials are the first to break gender and sexuality norms. We learn that sections of Bihars society are more relaxed towards homosexuality through the story of Jagadish, Bandyopadhyays friend, who makes an empowered choice to earn a living through sex work. The sections of the biography that describe Jagadish bring out the nuances in Bandyopadhyays heteronormative outlook towards sex and marriage.

The biography is also a compendium of the harassment and discrimination that shape a transgender persons life. For instance, she talks about her fight with the states higher education department, which withheld her promotion because the name on her academic certificates (this was pre-transition) didnt match with the name on her PhD certificate. She also refers to the number of homes she had to shift owing to trouble with neighbours, or the community. Bandyopadhyay also encountered taunts in liberal spaces, such as Jadavpur University (JU), where she studied in the 1980s. The fact that the JU community was a little more polished did not mean that it was not divided into just two sexes, as was the case elsewhere in the world," she writes.

At the same time, it is also necessary to critically examine the narrators own prejudices and assumptions. For example, while describing one of her more serious relationships, she extols the domestic gender role women must perform. Though I was not yet married to him, I had already started looking after his general well-being, and asked him to stop cooking," she writes. This may well be what she wanted, but it is equally the propagation of a stereotype that continues to oppress women globally.

In December, Bandyopadhyay was in the news again. She had resigned from the college citing non-cooperation from the staff and a section of students. This biography puts her claim in context.
Theatre of the absurd A new photo book by Roger Ballen delves into our uneasy desires /how-to-lounge/movies-tv/theatre-of-the-absurd-111646899497264.html 111646899497264 story

A corpse keeps growing alongside large mushrooms, which eventually take over the stage even as a seemingly dehumanized couple converses amidst the chaos. In playwright Eugene Ionescos Amedee Or How To Get Rid Of It, the world is embodied in the grotesque; its ordinariness is what is absurd. It is in line with this thought, that Roger Ballen, an American photographer who has lived and worked for most of his life in South Africa, engaged with outcasts in a Johannesburg suburb, making them actors in the house they inhabited. Alongside dead and living animals, graffiti and found objects became the props and background for his photographs. Asylum Of The Birds is Ballens theatre of the absurd, with a disturbingly thin line between reality and performance.

Undeniably Hitchcockian in tenor, Ballens work isnt just eerie or graphic, but also a telescopic peek into the human minds darkest, most secret desires and fears. The house or the asylum, whose location remains a secret, is the grand set in which the inhabitants perform for Ballen as he directs his psychological masterpiece. In a new book, Nothing Is More Real Than Nothing, Asylum Of The Birds and Ballens new work, The Theatre Of Apparitions, come together.

This book is not for the faint-hearted.

In The Theatre Of Apparitions, Ballen takes his quest to unravel the desires of the human mind a step further. Taking a cue from prehistoric cave paintings and his own experience of having visited an abandoned womens prison, where inmates had drawn on blackened-out windows, Ballen experimented with spray paint to first darken the glass and then carved on it with a sharp object, letting light in. Each drawing was then photographed in black and white (a form Ballen is loyal to), resulting in a starkness that reinforced the ghost-like nature of his creation.

Nothing is More Real than Nothing: By Roger Ballen, Photoink and Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts, 80 pages,  1,500.

Writer and photographer Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi asks in his essay in the book, The characters in the Asylum Of The Birds (a fine photo novel of sorts) are independentbut are they in frank ownership of their fractured life?" Shanghvis query is an extension of an existing dialogue on the alleged exploitative nature of the photographs, since people living on the margins of society continue to remain there despite being at the centre of Ballens epic. Does Ballen need to rescue them from himself?

When one looks carefully at the images from the Asylum series, there is an affiliation that is hard to miss. No matter how absurd it might seem to see a pigeon perched on a headless person wearing an overcoat or an Edvard Munch painting-like scene where a scream is not just a pictorial trope but also a real condition of decay, Ballens visual depictions (his style fondly termed Ballenesque by peers) are almost shamanistic, rooted in the viewers subconscious as much as his own. The work is not complete unless it sinks into the uncharted realm of the mind.

Undeniably Hitchcockian in tenor, Ballens work isnt just eerie or graphic, but also a telescopic peek into the human minds darkest, most-secret desires and fears-

Seven acts make The Theatre Of Apparitions an organized indulgence in a range of human emotions. From burlesque" to ethereal", he exposes repressed urges, forcing us to confront whats inside during our interaction with his subconscious. Theres a discomfort in his conjuring, theatre and technique, especially in the act Eros", where the visuals are sexually bold and at great distance from the societal construct of accepted morality. Act 5, Melancholy", is most reminiscent of Munchs sketches, which were like psychological talismans, those that aggravated the viewers responses to his work. In fact, the pages of photographs that comprise all seven acts, when turned like those in a flip book, summon a spectacle of unspoken desires just on the edge of being discovered. Ballens conjuring of images and wiping the glass clean to create a new set of drawings is incredible and as ephemeral as the minds hidden pursuits.

This is photography put to an almost immortal taskthat of documenting the deepest urge before it is replaced by the next. This is Ballens telepathic whisper to his subconscious, unafraid of its public appearance in the photographs of a book.
Spirited away A surge in micro-distilleries and craft spirit making is giving tipplers a new reason to travel /news/talking-point/spirited-away-111646899835157.html 111646899835157 story

Move over, craft beer. The next time you travel, instead of a vineyard tour or a beer crawl, you will more likely be sipping on a small-batch gin or an experimental liqueur at a regional micro-distillery. The hipsters have moved on to producing high-quality spirits from locally sourced ingredients, and botanicals" is the new buzzword everywhere, from small-town Nevada to the heart of Amsterdam. We have rounded up destinations that are guaranteed to give your vacation a happy high.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

In the bustling Dam Square area, in an alley behind the National Monument, the Wynand Fockink Proeflokaal (tasting tavern) has been around since 1679. The distillery makes more than 70 products (gins, brandies, bitters and liqueurs) using the same craft distilling methods as it did in the 17th century. They make five genevers or Dutch gins, including the strong and earthy Spelt Genever. Every evening on weekends, Wynand Fockink offers a distillery tour followed by a tasting in its atmospheric tasting tavern. For details, visit Wynand-fockink.nl.

Local tip: Skip the tourist traps and head to the archipelago of Amsterdams Western Islands (just off the Central Station), a sleepy district dotted with little wooden bridges, charming old buildings, and artists studios.

Cork, Ireland

Unlike other gins that are made using barley or wheat grain spirit, the two-year-old Berthas Revenge Small Batch Irish Milk Gin uses whey alcohol from local dairy farms. The gin is made at the family run Ballyvolane House in an idyllic rural setting about 35km north of Cork City. The gin is complex with spicy (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves) and citrus (bitter orange, sweet orange, grapefruit, lemon) notes. It makes a good digestif if you add a splash of water, and also works wonderfully in a classic martini. Farm and distillery visits are possible with prior appointment. Ballyvolane House also offers luxury accommodation coupled with warm Irish country hospitality. For details, visit Ballyvolanespirits.ie.

Local tip: Dont miss visiting the English Market in Cork City, one of the oldest covered markets in Ireland, dating back to the 18th century. You can sample traditional Irish food such as corned beef and black pudding.

Nevada, US

This is as local as it getsat Frey Ranch, the gin is made in their custom-built distillery using grain from the estates own farm. Driving on Route 50, the loneliest road in America, stop by at the Frey Ranch Estate Distillery in Fallon, one of the oldest ranches in Nevada. Here Colby Frey, a fifth-generation farmer, is now distilling a variety of spirits, from gin to bourbon. The Frey Ranch Gin uses seven different botanicals, of which the juniper berries and sagebrush are sourced from the ranch itself. The distillery is open for tours and tastings every Saturday, from noon-4pm. For details, visit Freyranch.com.

Local tip: Every September, Fallon hosts the Tractors & Truffles event, showcasing local produce, and holding cooking demonstrations, concerts, and a farm-to-table dinner to end the revelry.

Tasmania, Australia

After successfully overturning a 150-year-old distilling ban in 1992, Lark Distillery began as a family affair. Today, it is one of Australias leading distilleries, producing award-winning whiskies, and other spirits. Their Forty Spotted Gin is made using the steeping method of gin production, and is hand-distilled in small copper stills. Apart from traditional botanicals, it is flavoured with a rare Tasmanian pepperberry, which gives it its distinctively aromatic notes of freshly grated pepper. They offer tours and tastings through the week. For details, visit Larkdistillery.com.

Local tip: Explore the picturesque cobblestoned Salamanca Place in Hobart, lined with historic Georgian buildings housing boutiques, cafes, theatres and galleries. On Saturday, the square comes alive with the lively Salamanca Market.

Veneto, Italy

The family run Poli Distillery in the heart of north Italys Veneto region has been distilling grappa and other spirits since 1898. They use traditional bain-marie stills for high-quality grappas, as well as the artisanal Marconi 46 gin. This floral gin is a unique infusion of juniper berries, Muscat grapes, mountain pine, and local herbs. It has a silky smooth mouthfeel from the grapes and intense herby notes. The Poli Distillery and Poli Grappa Museum offers guided tours in Schiavon. For details, visit Poligrappa.com.

Local tip: Head to neighbouring Vicenza (20km from Schiavon) to admire Andrea Palladios grand architecture, from the stunning Teatro Olimpico (the oldest surviving indoor theatre in the world) to several private villas designed by the great Renaissance architect.

Weimar, Germany

Wiegand Manufactur is an organic craft distillery in the historically important town of Weimar in central Germanys Thuringia region. Its the regions only gin manufacturer and produces the Lyonel Dry Gin with intense notes of juniper and citrus, a mild background of lavender, and a soft mouthfeel. Wiegands special edition Lyonel Barrel Aged Gin is also worth a try for its smooth, refined finish. Tastings are available on prior appointment.For details, visit Wiegandweimar-shop.de.

Local tip: Visit the Unesco World Heritage library, Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, to ogle at ancient books displayed in an ornate Rococo hall which was painstakingly reconstructed after a devastating fire in 2004.
NEW DELHI :

The railway signal lantern outside the first-floor office of economist Bibek Debroy at Niti Aayog, which has replaced the Planning Commission, captures his nostalgia for the national carrier, articulated in his new bookIndian Railways: The Weaving Of A National Tapestry.

Interestingly, it was a committee headed by Debroy (in 2014-15) that recommended phasing out the colonial legacy of a separate railway budget, recommended by British politician William Ackworth in 1924. Ahead of the release of his book, co-authored by Sanjay Chadha and Vidya Krishnamurthi, Debroy talks about 19th century issues still holding relevance today, his fascination with British engineer Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton, and the benefits of inland waterways vis-a-vis the railways. Edited excerpts:

What was the thought process behind this book?

When you publish a book, people think there is a very coherent process behind it. But a lot of books get written on almost spur-of-the-moment decisions and then (are about) finding a publisher. I was the chairman of a committee that was set up to recommend structural reforms of Indian Railways. In the process, I got interested in the railways and their history.

If you talk to people in India, the one section of the economy that everyone identifies with is the railways, in one manner or another. So when I was looking up the history of the railways, I found broadly two types of books. There were purely academic books, mostly about the guarantee system and its problems, focusing primarily on the economics. The railways officially celebrated 150 years not very long ago. So whenever these celebrations were held, they brought out coffee-table books. So you had the coffee-table books and the academic ones and then nothing in between.

For an exclusive excerpt from the book, click here.

Debroy also created a railway trivia challenge for Lounge. See the quiz here

I decided to do a popular retelling of the history of Indian Railways using anecdotes. In the process, we were able to discover a few things which are not in any history book.

Indian Railways The Weaving Of A National Tapestry: By Bibek Debroy, Penguin Books, 264 pages, Rs299.

So the committee was the trigger?

The trigger was getting interested in the railways. You cant delink the present from the past. Some of the issues discussed at the time of the railways being introduced into India still hold relevance today.

There are a few points that I want to make in response to your question. Firstly, this debate about whether the railways are going to be driven by commercial considerations or do they have social costs. It figures in all the debates, in the minutes (of meetings) and the writings of the 19th century. In that sense, what we are talking about today is not new at all.

Secondly, who is going to build the railways? You find that debate also recurring throughout the 19th century. It began with the private (investments), it ended with the public/government (investments). In 1905, the railway board was established, and there is an extensive note on the history of the railways in a book written in the same year. If you read that, you will find that everything that any railway minister is talking about today is there.

There is a preponderance of emphasis on passenger traffic at the expense of freight. And passenger traffic generally is not remunerative. So as long as you have this very rare composition among the larger railways in the world, you are absolutely right. All these issues are old issues, including the issue of the regulator.

Everyone talks about the Ackworth committee now because one of the recommendations of the committee, and mind you, only one, was the separate railway budget. What several people forget, including people from the railways, is the way the Ackworth committee started. It was because the lease of the East Indian Railway Company was going to end.

Among Dwarkanath Tagore, Arthur Thomas Cotton and Macdonald Stephenson, who is your favourite character in the book?

I think the answer will be only one and that is Arthur Cotton, because I did not know about the Red Hill Railroad (in Chennai). Because like everyone else, I had been brought up on 1853 being the (year of the) first one (railway). Ever since my undergraduate days, I had been given this Karl Marx quote (the railway system will therefore become, in India, truly the forerunner of modern industry), but until I wrote this book, the two pieces (the first railway and the quote) had never fit together. Thats why Marx wrote that in 1853. Once you think about it, obviously because of Bombay-Thane (rail route).

You have written about the debate of railways versus waterways in the book. What led you to focus on it?

This is an old debate in Indian economic history. So you cant avoid it. The Indian nationalist school felt that to the extent that there was a trade-off between irrigation and railways, irrigation was a better option because it would also help agriculture and rural poverty. And there was a valid perception that the railways were built not with Indian economic interests in mind but with a view to exporting Indian products and importing products from England.

Were the railways a vehicle for the British to further their interests or did they help India in any way?

One way to answer that question is to presume that there was a grand plan and everything fitted according to that grand plan. But a lot that happened was ad hoc. Little pieces of the jigsaw coming together here and there.

The fact of the matter is, and we have listed this out, that by the turn of the 20th century, there were at least 10 railway systems in parallel existence.

The princely states, while they constructed those railways, were in no position to operate them. And the operations were always given to the likes of the EIRC (East Indian Railway Company) and GIPR (Great Indian Peninsula Railway). Even when the government nationalized them, they were often handed over to these organizations for management purposes.

There must be anecdotes that you wanted to include in the book but couldnt, such as the one about Partition, when few railway stations came to India and the towns went to Pakistan.

Yes, look, the book really ends with 1947. There are some things that continued till 1948-49 and thats because we discovered this loan agreement with the World Bank, which has not figured in any of the books that I know of, signed by (diplomat) Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit. We wanted to put that in. So, yes, there ought to be a book which is post 1947. For example, I am prepared to bet that not too many people know that around the time of the 1971 war, Pakistan captured one of our locomotives. So, the last I know, it used to run on the Pakistan railways, and used to be called Indira. In retaliation, we captured one of the locomotives from the East Pakistan side which we have donated to Bangladesh. Dont ask me about this because I havent written that book yet (laughs).
The women of the world On the untapped promise of women in corridors of international powerto talk, to participate, and to lead /news/talking-point/the-women-of-the-world-111646899531577.html 111646899531577 story

I spent last weekend in Germany, surveying some hugely interesting people. I ran into a beaming David Miliband in the elevator, and relished Boris Johnson being told off for saying, predictably, something silly. While John McCain rushed past, there was at least one distressed Royal Highness looking for a seat. President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine delivered a deliciously devastating punch on his counterpart in Russia, while US vice-president Mike Pence reassured his nervous European allies that America will not seek a divorce from their doddering transatlantic unionunconvincing, of course, given the drivel that pours out from @realDonaldTrump battering this marriage. When the Chinese foreign minister championed renewed commitment in the globalized world order, irony retreated behind those protectionist walls that architects of this very order now chaotically scramble to build.

The scene was the Munich Security Conference, where droves of powerful men in dull suits have gathered for 53 years to protect, essentially, Western pre-eminence in the worlda pre-eminence sliding slowly down the wrong side. Nowadays, refreshing numbers of powerful women also come, ranging from Anne Applebaum, who brought with her Pulitzer-quality Twitter commentary, to, of course, German chancellor Angela Merkel, who delivered an unglamorous, sensible speech. There were, however, four women whom I met with a small cohort, all of them remarkable not only because of their mandates, but also because of what they representif only there are more women doing the talking, the world might come up with those urgent innovations of thought and method that it so desperately needs.

There are in Europe today over half-a-dozen female defence ministers. I met the charismatic Ursula von der Leyen of Germany, a slight figure surrounded by uniformed generals with formidable noses. Chatham House rules preclude recording what we discussed, but I think I will be excused for repeating her advice for women in international relationsbe a woman, think like a woman, and dont turn into a man. Von der Leyen knows what shes talking about, because she inhabits a critical ministry in a country that is central to Europes destiny, a country that has painfully reconciled to its own dark history, and is uniquely poised to remind us of what is at stake if the world excuses the aggressive hyper-masculine rhetoric erupting everywhere. She is a senior political leader in the worldand her experience as a woman is central to her vision.

Female political perspectives differ from those of their male interlocutors, who, broadly speaking, rarely see things except from one privileged side. This is not to say that the male view lacks value or is unlayeredit is, however, so pervasive that it can suffocate with tedium and homogeneity. Men, if they can look past their noses, will agree that women bring much needed originality to the way things are doneperhaps men should sometimes think like women. There was in Von der Leyens style, for instance, something visibly easy and direct in comparison with the intelligent but stiffly starched men sitting by her. Not only was there palpable admiration for her mind, there was also respect for her refusal to be a man" in the way she discharges her duties. Her femininity informs her work, and in a stagnating male-dominated universe, this is energizing.

Norway too, with its celebrated model that combines welfare with wealth creation and human rights, has a woman at the helm of its defence. Ine Marie Sreide is just on the other side of 40 and came without generalsI imagine demonstration of power through retinue is an affliction she has escaped, and she discarded protocol and got straight to business. After discussing Nato, security strategy and the future of the European Union, I saw her afterwards, sipping coffee in the lobby, giggling with some other women. Stiffly starched men could also learn to giggle now and then. So too came the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court focused on her mission, and who brings to her office not only education, ability and legal brilliance, but also her experience as a black woman in a society designed for (white) men. If a new world order is to be built, people like her must be among its architects.

Just before our meeting with the chairwoman of the Chinese foreign affairs committee, my own prejudice made an appearance, mixing mulishness with other embarrassing predispositions. China, after all, is not a country India is comfortable with. I had, at some level, decided that the engagement would be boring, and that this lady would parrot something un-enlightening. When Madame Fu Ying began to speak, however, it was to me the first time that Chinese foreign policy was articulated with large doses of what can (somewhat problematically) be called graceand it was articulated strikingly well. I didnt buy the substance of many answers, but we wanted to listen to this spokesperson for the Peoples Republic. And that is the mark of any spokespersons success in presenting her countrys position to the world. It was a sentiment shared by others around that table, like me reinvigorated by this leader who came with no chips on her shoulder.

I encountered very many interesting people in Munich over the weekend but left with my mind fixated on the untapped promise of women in corridors of international powerto talk, to participate, and to lead. Powerful men in dull suits must urgently make room. For it is already too late and we have many crises to deal with, including one called Donald.

Medium Rare is a weekly column on society, politics and history. Manu S. Pillai is the author of The Ivory Throne: Chronicles Of The House Of Travancore.
The New Revolution Galactic Attack at Six Flags will combine the roller-coaster ride with virtual reality for a "mixed reality experience."

If the swoops and swerves of a regular roller coaster aren't exhilarating enough for you, Six Flags is giving one of its thrill rides a digital twist, offering theme park visitors a new "mixed-reality" experience.

The amusement park has renewed its partnership with Samsung to launch The New Revolution Galactic Attack, a virtual-reality (VR) roller-coaster experience during which riders don Samsung Gear VR headsets (powered by Oculus) for an immersive, "mixed- reality" ride.

The VR roller coasters are debuting this month at Six Flags Magic Mountain, near Los Angeles, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, near San Francisco. [Beyond Gaming: 10 Other Fascinating Uses for Virtual-Reality Tech]

While on the ride, users battle an alien drone invasion, and the experience combines the physical ride with an interactive virtual world. Users are then scored based on their gameplay, according to Six Flags.

"As riders drop at high speeds, the mixed reality view changes to a completely immersive, virtual reality environment and a fighter spaceship cockpit materializes and envelops the riders into a tunnel of light," Six Flags officials said in a statement. "After swinging through tight channels, narrowly dodging drones and artillery fire, riders are brought into one of three drone bays, each of which offer a completely different gaming experience and three different endings."

The Galactic Attack gameplay will be experienced via VR headsets on existing coasters at the Six Flags parks  The New Revolution at Magic Mountain and Kong at Discovery Kingdom.

Six Flags and Samsung first joined forces to bring virtual reality to 12 roller coasters in 2016. For these VR-enhanced coasters, riders experienced either a "Superman virtual reality" or a "New Revolution virtual reality." The new Galactic Attack VR is an evolution of the New Revolution experience first introduced last year, Six Flags officials said.

Original article on Live Science.
Europeans who came to the Americas inadvertently introduced germs  including smallpox and measles  that killed upward of 90 percent of the native people. But now a new study finds that these now-infamous germs weren't the only ones the Europeans were carrying.

The Europeans (and their African slaves) also brought new strains of bacteria called Helicobacter pylori, known to cause gastric ulcers and stomach cancer, according to an international team of researchers.

The twist is that these "foreign" H. pylori strains didn't kill the local people quickly, like the smallpox virus did. Instead, the strains supplanted the local strain of H. pylori already present in the Americas, and eventually, led to a near extinction of the local strains. [27 Devastating Infectious Diseases]

The effects of this may be seen today. These Old World strains of H. pylori now infecting the multiethnic populations of the Americas may be one reason why South America, in particular, currently has some of the world's highest rates of ulcers and stomach cancer, the researchers said.

The provocative new study  a mix of anthropology, genetics and public health  appears today (Feb. 23) in the journal PLOS Genetics.

H. pylori is a bacterium found in the stomach, transmitted from person to person most commonly through exchange of saliva (oral-oral route) or poor hygiene in food preparation (oral-fecal route). More than half of the world's population is infected with the bacteria, although, globally, fewer than 20 percent of people will develop ulcers and fewer than 2 percent will develop stomach cancer as a result of the infection, according to the World Health Organization.

The rates of disease resulting fromH. pylori infection tend to be lower in the wealthier countries of North America, Europe and East Asia, but the rates remain high in South America and Central Asia. People can be treated with a regimen of antibiotics if they are diagnosed with a gastric ulcer caused by H. pylori.

In the new study, led by research fellows Kaisa Thorell of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Koji Yahara of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan, scientists analyzed more than 400 H. pylori genome sequences from strains collected in North, Central and South America. They found that European and African strains were mixed together across the Americas, with little sign of the original American strains, suggesting that after the arrival of the newcomers, the foreign bacterial populations spread rapidly to people of different ethnicities, wiping out the local H. pylori strains.

"The pre-Columbian Americans had strains of East Asian ancestry [from their migration from Asia millennia ago], of which we nowadays only see traces of in remote communities," said Daniel Falush of the University of Bath in the U.K., the senior author on the study. "However, the reasons for the replacement will require more detailed investigation," he told Live Science. [Body Bugs: 5 Surprising Facts About Your Microbiome]

But one reason why some populations living in the Americas today have high rates of ulcers and stomach cancer once infected may have to do with a "mismatch" between the ethnicity of the patient and the origin of the H. pylori strain they carry, Falush said. Studies have found a link between having such a mismatch and an increased risk of disease.

For example, in 2014, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville reported that the African H. pylori strain was relatively benign in people of African ancestry yet far more disease-causing in people of mixed Amerindian ancestry. A similar study of this same group found that the European H. pylori strain was more likely to cause precancerous lesions in populations with native American ancestry than in European populations.

Falush said the new findings may be useful for future research on the connection between individual bacterial strains and their associated risk of causing gastric ulcers and stomach cancer in different human populations.

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.
An unobstructed view of the Caspian Sea taken in early June 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on June 4, 2010.

The Caspian Sea is the Earth's largest inland body of water, when measured by surface area. It lies at the junction of Europe and Asia, with the Caucasus Mountains to the west and the steppes of Central Asia to the east. It is bordered by Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the south, Turkmenistan to the southeast and Kazakhstan to the northeast.

Ownership of the sea's resources is a contentious issue among its surrounding countries. The Caspian Sea is rich with oil and natural gas, making access to it a high-stakes proposition. These complicated socio-cultural and political aspects, as well as the geographic and environmental features, make the Caspian Sea an interesting subject for researchers.

"In some ways, it connects several countries that share no land border and in other ways it serves as buffer between states of different politics and ideologies," said Michael Kukral, author and professor of geography at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Ohio.

Facts and figures

Surface area: 143,244 square miles (371,000 square kilometers)

Maximum depth: 3,363 feet (1,025 meters)

Average depth: 692 feet (211 m)

Length: 640 miles (1,030 km)

Maximum width: 270 miles (435 km)

Minimum width: 124 miles (200 km)

Coastline area: 4,237 miles (6,820 km)

Water volume: 18,761 cubic miles (78,200 cubic km)

Altitude: 72 feet below sea level (22 m below sea level). The Caspian Depression, a flat, lowland region encompassing the northern area of the Caspian Sea, is one of the lowest points on Earth.

Baku, Azerbaijan, is the largest city on the Caspian Sea. (Image credit: Elena Mirage/Shutterstock)

Climate

"The Caspian Sea is located in a dry region of the world," Kukral told Live Science. Nevertheless, during harsh winters its entire northern half can freeze.

There are three distinct regions of the Caspian Sea. "In the north is a low-lying coastal plain, sandy, hot and humid," Kukral said. This area has the shallowest water in the Caspian, about 20 feet (4 to 5 m).

The Middle Caspian plunges in depth to about 620 feet (190 m). The western seabed slopes swiftly while the eastern gradates gently, according to New World Encyclopedia. The shores are hilly.

The Southern Caspian reaches depths of more than 3,300 feet (1,000 m) and holds most of the water. Kukral described the southern shores as lined with "cliffs and outcroppings overlooking the water where Persian elites often built homes."

The Caspian Sea is endorheic, meaning it has no natural outlets. More than 130 rivers flow into the Caspian Sea, according to Natural History Magazine, none of which are in the east. The primary tributary is the Volga River in the north, which provides about 80 percent of the inflowing water. The Ural River, also in the north, and the Kura River in the west, are also significant tributaries. The inflowing fresh water from these rivers dilute the water. Salinity changes from north to south, from 1.0 to 13.5 parts per thousand (ppt), according to Casp Info, a data-management project about the Caspian Sea funded by the European Union. By contrast, the North Atlantic Ocean has a salinity of 37 ppt, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

Because it has no outflow, the amount of rainfall in the regions of the rivers can greatly impact the water level of the Caspian Sea, according to GRID-Arendal, an environmental information center. Human-constructed dams built during the last two centuries have also changed water levels. Scientists theorize that tectonic movement and sedimentation changes could be other factors. In recent years, climate change has played a major role. More extreme weather patterns have increased rainfall in Russia, which brings more water into the Volga River and Caspian Sea. But scientists have also seen evidence that overall warmer temperatures could cause the Caspian Sea to dry up.

Scientists estimate that human-caused factors, including oil spills, which limit evaporation by covering the water with a thin film, account for 3 to 5 percent of water level variation, according to Natural History Magazine.

There are approximately 50 small, mostly uninhabited islands in the Caspian Sea, according to New World Encyclopedia. Most are in the north, but the largest island, Ogurja Ada, is in the south.

The Caspian Sea is next to the world's largest lagoon, according to Lakepedia. The 6,949-square-mile (18,000 square km) Kara-Bogaz Gol lagoon is on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea and is separated from it by sand bars. A dam was built between the Caspian Sea and Kara-Bogaz Gol in 1980 but it was removed in 1992 because of the changes it caused to water levels.

Iran is on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. (Image credit: Artography/Shutterstock )

A lake or a sea?

Despite its name, the Caspian Sea can be called either a lake or a sea. Kukral refers to it as a lake, as do many scholars. It has historically been considered a sea because of its size and its saline water, but it embodies many characteristics of lakes. Much of the confusion comes because there are no internationally agreed-upon definitions for seas or lakes.

Seas are often defined by connection to the ocean or another sea via salt water, which the Caspian Sea is not. Seas are usually partially enclosed by land, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but the Caspian Sea is entirely enclosed by land. Seas are typically salt water. While the Caspian Sea is not fresh water, its salty water is diluted by the inflow of fresh water, especially in the north.

The question of whether it is a lake or a sea has political and economic ramifications, wrote Hanna Zimnitskaya in a 2011 Journal of Eurasian Studies article. If the Caspian Sea is a lake, then the United Nations and international law have no control over its waters, she wrote. If it is a sea, international organizations can have input on its use.

This is especially important because its energy resources. "Petroleum resources around and under the Caspian Sea make it an economic natural resource and a political issue of access and ownership," Kukral said.

If the Caspian Sea is a lake, it contains 40 percent of all lake water in the world. "It is the world's largest lake," Kukral said.

History

The Caspian Sea is a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea, part of the Tethys Ocean that existed 50 million to 60 million years ago. At that time, the Tethys Ocean was connected to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, according to WorldLakes.org. Over millennia, continental platforms shifted, and the Tethys Ocean lost its connections to other oceans. Much of it evaporated during hot and dry periods, and eventually the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea and the Aral Sea formed. The Caspian Sea is estimated to be about 30 million years old. The salt water from the Tethys Sea remained and accounts for the Caspian Sea's salinity.

According to the New World Encyclopedia, archaeologists estimate that humans inhabited the area around 75,000 years ago. It is named after the Caspi Tribe, which settled on its southwestern shore. By the 10th century, small oil wells dotted the shores of the Caspian Sea, according to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). Europeans learned of the resource-rich area and began traveling to the Caspian Sea to investigate in the 16th century. The first offshore oil well was drilled in 1820. Today, the oil and gas industry is prominent in the area. Other businesses include salt extraction, fishing and tourism along the coasts.

The water level of the Caspian Sea has fluctuated throughout history, according to GRID-Arendal. From the mid-19th to late 20th century, the water level varied by more than 12 feet (3.6 m). In 1977, the Caspian Sea flooded and caused widespread destruction. Since then, several more floods have occurred. Since 1978, the water level has risen almost 7.4 feet (2.2 m), according to the Pars Times.

The eggs of beluga sturgeons, the largest freshwater fish, are the source of beluga caviar. The majority of the world's beluga caviar comes from the Caspian Sea. (Image credit: Mick Rush/Shutterstock)

Ecosystem

The Caspian Sea is known for its biodiversity, Kukral said. It is considered an independent zoogeographical region because of its unique qualities, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

In many areas, the shores are dotted with shallow saline pools in which birds, small fish, crustaceans and invertebrates thrive. Birds are present throughout the year, and many species use the Caspian Sea as a migratory refuge. Nearly 2,000 species and subspecies of animals live in and around the Caspian Sea, according to Casp Info. About 400 of them are endemic to the area, including the Caspian gull, Caspian turn, spur-thighed tortoise, Horsfield's tortoise, Caspian white fish, Caspian salmon and Caspian seal, the only aquatic mammal in the area. Nearby petroglyphs suggest that dolphins and porpoises may have once lived in the Caspian Sea, according to the Smithsonian Institution.

The most famous and financially valuable animal in the region is the beluga sturgeon, sometimes called the European or Caspian sturgeon. The world's largest freshwater fish, the beluga sturgeon is known for its eggs, which are processed into caviar. The majority of the world's beluga caviar comes from the Caspian Sea. This has caused problems with overfishing. Dams have also destroyed much of their spawning grounds, and pesticides used in land agriculture have limited their fertility. The beluga sturgeon is now critically endangered, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

The Volga River Delta in the North Caspian is home to a wide range of endemic or rare aquatic plants, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The vegetation in the Turkmenistan portion of the Caspian shores is considered impoverished. Nevertheless, there are some specialized salt-resistant plants like shrubs and sagebrush.

Threats

The Caspian Sea faces many ecological threats that have ramifications on human residents of the area, flora and fauna, the economy and the overall ecosystem. "Like all international inland bodies of water the questions today are about access, usage, pollutants/water quality and resources," Kukral said.

The intensive oil and gas development in the Caspian region has caused serious water, air and land pollution problems, natural resources depletion, harm to wildlife and plant life, ecosystem disturbance, desertification and loss of biological and landscape diversity, according to Casp Info. Oil spills, waste from onshore industrial and municipal sites and chemicals, untreated sewage and trash carried in from rivers are major causes of land and water pollution. About 1 million cubic meters (264 million gallons) of untreated industrial wastewater is dumped into the Caspian each year, according to the Pars Times.

The rising sea levels have caused flooding, and as the water washes over shoreline oil wells, it carries oil and other pollutants inland. Scientists estimate that the on- and off-shore drilling operations in the Caspian area emit 15 to 20 million tons of CO2-equivalent each year, according to GRID-Arendal. This has led to serious air pollution problems in the area.

The environmental damage has led to serious health problems for residents of the five countries around the Caspian Sea, who ingest pollutants through air, drinking water, food and swimming. According to the Pars Times, Caspian-area Kazakhstan sees four times the rate of blood diseases, tuberculosis and intestinal infections than other parts of the country. Rates of cancer around the Caspian Sea are also higher than average in all five countries. During the Soviet era, the cities of Sumgayit and Baku were heavily industrialized. Today, the sea around these cities is an ecological dead zone. Human stillbirths and miscarriages happen at higher levels than in inland areas.

Addressing any of these problems is extremely difficult because of ownership disputes between the five countries. "Who is responsible to manage the water quality? Five countries share the Caspian Sea but who benefits from the oil? Where are the boundaries or jurisdiction within the lake?" Kukral said. These persistent questions are hard to answer and often undermine efforts at cooperation.

Additional resources
Amongst the Crystals

(Image credit: Mike Spilde/University of New Mexico)

Penelope Boston, then a professor at New Mexico Tech, sits on a giant selenite crystal in the Naica Mine in Chihuahua, Mexico, with colleague Danielle Winget. In 2009, Boston and her team used sterile tools to drill into fluid pockets inside the giant crystals, from which they cultured organisms that may have been dormant for between 10,000 and 50,000 years. The scientists described their research on Feb. 17, 2017, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

[Read the full story on the revived microbes from the crystal cave]

Suited Up

(Image credit: Tom Kieft/New Mexico Tech)

Penelope Boston, who now heads up NASA's Astrobiology Institute, wears protective equipment for exploring the crystal cavern in the Naica mine. Temperatures in the mine can reach nearly 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees C) and the humidity is between 90 percent and 100 percent, so anyone who enters must bring an oxygen supply and wear special clothing, including vests stashed with ice packs. Researchers could only stay in the crystal cavern for about 30 minutes at a time.

Mini-Crystals

(Image credit: Tom Kieft/New Mexico Tech)

Penelope Boston with a sample of small selenite crystals. These crystals are a form of gypsum that develop over tens of thousands of years in geothermal, mineral-rich groundwater. In the Naica Mine's Cave of the Crystals, selenite crystals have grown as long as 36 meters (11 feet).

Underground Recovery

(Image credit: Mike Spilde/University of New Mexico)

After thirty minutes in the Cave of Crystals, researchers had to chug electrolyte beverages and recover in an air-conditioned tent in a nearby cavern. Portable air conditioners kept the temperature in the tent down to about 100 degrees F (38 degrees C).

[Read the full story on the revived microbes from the crystal cave]

Humid Science

(Image credit: Mike Spilde/University of New Mexico)

Nearly 100 percent humidity makes for a steamy work environment in the Cave of Crystals. The cavern was submerged in groundwater for millennia before the company operated the Naica Mine pumped the groundwater out and accidentally discovered the chamber during mining activities. As of 2015, the mine had shut down and the crystal cave was again flooded.

Amazing Underworld

(Image credit: Penelope Boston / New Mexico Tech)

Mike Spilde, a professor at the University of New Mexico, gazes at giant selenite crystals in a chamber in the Naica Mine. Boston, Spilde and their colleagues sampled for microbes within the cave environment, including within the crystals themselves.

"The amount of work that it's going to take to really characterize that environment and its inhabitants is stupefying," Boston said.

Mineral Maze

(Image credit: Tom Kieft/New Mexico Tech)

Researcher Danielle Winget peers around a crystal in the Naica Mine's Cave of Crystals. Microbes found dormant in fluid pockets in these crystals grew in the lab, apparently "waking up" for the first time in 10,000 to 50,000 years.

Naica, Mexico

(Image credit: Mike Spilde/University of New Mexico)

The town of Naica, Mexico, sits approximately 1,000 feet (300 meters) above the hidden crystal cave below. The cave was unknown until 2000, when miners inadvertently discovered it. The Naica Mine itself was the largest lead producer in Mexico, but shut down indefinitely in 2015.

[Read the full story on the revived microbes from the crystal cave]

Cramped Quarters

(Image credit: Mike Spilde/University of New Mexico)

Researchers work in cramped, overheated quarters in the Naica Mine's Cave of Crystals. The team took two trips to the cavern, a preliminary visit in 2008 and a visit to collect final samples in 2009.

Surrounded by Crystals

(Image credit: Mike Spilde/University of New Mexico)

Dr. Penelope Boston peers into a crystalline world in the Naica Mine's crystal cavern. The microbes the team found in the cavern are unknown to science and genetically distant from any known microbes on Earth. Their nearest relatives are other organisms that live in extreme environments, Boston told Live Science.

Tight Fit

(Image credit: Penelope Boston/New Mexico Tech)

Researcher Mike Spilde squeezes past giant crystals in the Naica Mine. Extreme heat and humidity limit the time that humans can spend in the crystal-studded cavern within the mine.
Mike Spilde, a professor at the University of New Mexico, gazes at giant selenite crystals in a chamber in the Naica Mine.

Microbes that may be between 10,000 and 50,000 years old have been revived from the inside of enormous, glittering crystals from a Mexican cave.

The microbes come from the Cave of the Crystals within Chihuahua state's Naica Mine. This chamber is filled with selenite crystals many meters long that formed over hundreds of thousands of years in magma-heated, mineral-rich groundwater. Inside these crystals are small, fluid-filled pockets, from which researchers cultured organisms that have never been seen before. [See Photos of the Cave of the Crystals]

"What we have been finding are organisms whose closest relatives are also from extreme environments around the world," said study leader Penelope Boston, director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute. (Astrobiologists study extreme life on Earth to understand the sort of environments that might be amenable to life on other planets.)

Crystal cave

The Naica crystals were discovered by accident in 2000, according to The Naica Project, an organization dedicated to researching and preserving the cave. The formations were accessible only after the company that operated the Naica Mine pumped the groundwater out of the chamber. Even so, reaching the beauty of the Cave of the Crystals was a challenge: The 90 to 100 percent humidity and temperatures ranging from 113 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (45 to 50 degrees Celsius) mean that humans must wear protective clothing packed with ice bags and leave the cave quickly. The recommendation, Boston told Live Science, is to stay no more than 30 minutes.

Wearing an ice-pack vest, Mario Corsalini stands by a giant rosette of gypsum in the Naica Mine's crystal cavern. (Image credit: Mike Spilde/University of New Mexico)

"I stayed in once for 55 minutes, which was a giant mistake," said Boston, who described the results as "life-threatening." After a half-hour in the hot crystal cave, researchers had to chug electrolyte drinks in a nearby cavern that was cooled to a refreshing 100 degrees F (38 degrees C) in order to recover. [The 7 Harshest Environments on Earth]

Today, the Naica Mine is no longer active, and water has again filled the crystal cavern. Boston and her colleagues took two trips to the mine, in 2008 and 2009, before the cave was flooded.

Microbe revival

The idea to search for microbes in the crystals arose shortly after the cave was discovered in 2000, Boston said. Paolo Forti, an emeritus professor at the University of Bologna, in Italy, alerted Boston (who was then at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology) to what appeared to be microbe fossils in samples from the caves. [The 10 Strangest Places to Find Life on Earth]

When drilling into the crystals in 2009, the researchers took multiple precautions to avoid contaminating the ancient microbes. They used a sterile drill and drill bits, wore sterile gloves, and disinfected the surface of the crystals with hydrogen peroxide. They extracted fluid with sterile micropipettes. Later, the researchers created potential growth media, the nutrient gels on which bacteria grow in labs, based on their best guesses of what microbes in that environment might use for survival.

Then, the researchers put portions of the fluid from the crystal in each of the various media, to see if any of the microbes might start metabolizing. Some did.

The microbes that ended up growing were genetically distant from any known living microbes, Boston said. Based on the growth rate of the crystals, they were probably isolated in the fluid pockets for between 10,000 and 50,000 years, the researchers reported Feb. 17 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are now preparing their results for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

The results will certainly undergo scrutiny by fellow scientists, as claims for ancient microbe revivals are always controversial. However, 10,000 to 50,000 years of dormancy is a relatively conservative claim in the world of ancient microbes. In 2000, researchers claimed in the journal Nature (opens in new tab) to have grown 250-million-year-old bacteria from a salt crystal found in Carlsbad, New Mexico. There have also been claims of ancient life dating back tens or hundreds of thousands of years from salt in Death Valley, California, and from under glaciers and permafrost in the Arctic and Antarctic.

These claims are often controversial, both because of the potential for modern contamination and because salt and ice flow (very, very slowly) over geologic time, Boston said. It can be difficult, she said, to prove that the samples weren't exposed to the outside world between the time the salt and ice formed and the modern day. The Naica crystals have the advantage of being static, Boston said; they don't flow, so they're easy to date.

There is always the chance that the bacteria entered the crystals through microfractures, Boston said, which is why the team was meticulous in disinfecting the crystal surfaces and genetically analyzing the microbes that did grow. For that reason, Boston is optimistic that the microbes from the crystals will prove to be truly ancient.

"We have been pretty excruciatingly careful trying to test our ideas and look at the organisms, and then try to see if we ourselves believe what we are claiming," she said.

The nine years it has taken to get from sampling the crystals to announcing the first results is only the beginning, though, Boston said.

"The amount of work that it's going to take to really characterize that environment and its inhabitants is stupefying," she said.

Original article on Live Science.
This Sunday (Feb. 26) brings the first solar eclipse of 2017. Unlike the total solar eclipse that will cross the continental United States in August, Sunday's spectacle is an annular eclipse, which means a sliver of the sun's surface will still be visible around the moon.

The moon will appear to block varying amounts of the sun depending on where you are located within the eclipse visibility zone. For those who are properly positioned along a narrow path some 8,500 miles (13,700 kilometers) long and averaging roughly 45 miles (72 km) wide, the dark disk of the moon will briefly be surrounded by a dazzling "ring of fire" as the lunar disk passes squarely in front of the sun.

Skywatchers positioned outside this path can still enjoy a partial solar eclipse. This spectacle will be visible to more than half a billion people living across the lower two-thirds of South America as well as the western and southern portions of Africa, as well as the sparse population in about half of Antarctica. If you won't be in the area where the eclipse is visible, you can watch the Slooh Community Observatory's live webcast of the eclipse here on Space.com. [Solar Eclipses: When Is the Next One?]

From all of these regions, skywatchers who scrutinize the sun, either by safely projecting its disk through a pinhole camera or with solar viewing glasses, will be able to see the dark silhouette of the new moon passing across some portion of the sun's face.

A map of the path of the Feb. 26, 2017, annular solar eclipse. The purple line shows the region where the "ring of fire" eclipse will be visible. A partial solar eclipse will be visible over a wider area. (Image credit: Map data 2017 Google)

Penny-on-nickel effect

Because the moon orbits Earth in an elliptical orbit, its distance from our planet can vary by as much as 31,000 miles (50,000 km). It is from within its dark, conical shadow (the umbra) that a total eclipse can be observed. But on Sunday, the moon will be 235,009 miles (378,210 km) from Earth  about 568 miles (914 km) too far for the tip of the umbra to reach Earth. So instead, it's the extension of this shadow tip  the so-called "negative shadow," or antumbra  that sweeps across the Earth. Because the apparent diameter of the moon under this shadow will appear ever-so-slightly smaller (less than 1 percent) compared to that of the sun, it will be unable to completely cover the sun, hence the ring of light that remains visible around the moon.

As an analogy, think of placing a penny on top of a nickel, with the penny representing the moon and the nickel representing the sun. No matter how you try, the outer edge of the nickel will always remain uncovered. The same holds true in this upcoming case involving the moon and the sun; even at the moment of greatest eclipse, a thin ring of sunlight will still remain in view. The Latin word for a ring-shaped object is "annulus," which is why the upcoming event is referred to as an "annular," or ring, eclipse of the sun.

Zones of visibility

How Solar Eclipses Work: When the moon covers up the sun, skywatchers delight in the opportunity to see a rare spectacle. See how solar eclipses occur in this Space.com infographic (Image credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor)

The path of the annular eclipse will cross the South Pacific Ocean, South America, the South Atlantic Ocean and Africa. Nations that will be within the path include Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In South America, the first landfall of the moon's antumbra will occur along the southern shore of the Gulf of Corcovado. Moving inland, the track crosses the Chilean village of Puerto Aisen and the larger town of Coyhaique before moving into Argentina. The so-called ring of fire will be visible from the towns of Malaspina and Camarones, which are situated along the coastal highway that runs from Comodoro Rivadavia and Rawson. Then, the shadow will head out over the open ocean waters of the South Atlantic, with its next landfall coming about 160 minutes later in Africa.

The moment of greatest eclipse will occur midway between the continents at 1452 GMT, when the moon will cover 99.2 percent of the sun's diameter. The width of the antumbra at this spot on Earth will have shrunk to just 19 miles (31 km), and the annular, or ring, phase will last just 44 seconds.

When the shadow arrives at the west coast of Africa at Lucira, Angola, its width will have increased to 44 miles (70 km), and the duration of the ring phase will have increased to just over a minute. But at this point, the sun will be low in the western sky as the eclipse track nears its end. Continuing east, the moon's shadow will pass over the village of Cuima, south of Huambo, and then race into northwest Zambia just prior to leaving the Earth just to the west of Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, producing a fantastically unusual sunset; instead of a reddened ball, the sun will resemble a fiery hoop.

Coming soon: the "big" event

As spectacular and unusual as an annular solar eclipse is, it falls far short of the magnificence of a total solar eclipse. Indeed, even just a narrow ring of sunlight remaining will be more than enough to kill off the effect of a sudden darkening of the sky that takes place during a total solar eclipse, allowing the brighter stars and planets to pop into view. And even with more than 99 percent of the sun obscured, the remaining sunlight will be more than enough to squelch the faint light of the sun's outer atmosphere  the glorious corona  which comes into view only during a total eclipse.

But now, the good news: After Sunday, the very next solar eclipse will be less than six months away, on Aug. 21. A total solar eclipse will be visible only in the continental U.S., while a partial eclipse will be visible throughout North America. It is the first total solar eclipse to be visible from the contiguous (48) United States since 1979, and the first total eclipse in 99 years that will sweep from coast to coast across the United States. It is certain to be one of the big news stories of 2017 and will be witnessed by many millions of people.

Indeed, that midsummer eclipse will take center stage, but not until after the sun and moon put on their "one ring" performance this coming Sunday.

Editor's note: If you have an amazing photo of the eclipse you'd like to share with Space.com and our news partners for a possible story or image gallery, please send your photos to our staff at spacephotos@space.com

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for Fios1 News in Rye Brook, New York.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Welcome to Svalbard

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago located about 746 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the North Pole. The island, known for its frozen tundra, snowy landscapes and dramatic glaciers, is also home to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. [Read more about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault]

Vault entrance

(Image credit: Heiko Junge/NTB scanpix/Zuma)

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located underground, is the world's largest security storage for seeds.

Loading zone

(Image credit: Heiko Junge/NTB scanpix/Zuma)

The vault was designed to protect all of the world's important crop seeds in case of a man-made or natural disaster. Here, Aasmund Asdal, coordinator of the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre, carries crates of seeds from Japan and the United States into the seed vault in Svalbard.

Down the tunnel

(Image credit: CPC Collection/Alamy)

To access the seed vault, visitors must pass through four locked doors: the heavy steel entrance doors, a second door approximately 380 feet (115 meters) down the tunnel and finally the two keyed air-locked doors. Here's a view down the entrance tunnel toward the offices and storage chambers in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

In the tundra

(Image credit: Newscom)

The secure vault has a capacity to hold 4.5 million grains. It currently stores seeds from cultures all over the world in an effort to preserve genetic diversity and defend against major food crises. The seed vault is housed about 430 feet (130 meters) below sea level, which guarantees that the seeds will remain dry even in the face of rising sea levels and melting glaciers.

Vault entrance

(Image credit: National Geographic Creative/Alamy)

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is carved into the Arctic permafrost. Here, a researcher is seen accessing the vault's entrance. [Read more about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault]

Nice and cold

(Image credit: National Geographic Creative/Alamy)

In the vault's main storage room, seeds are kept at minus 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius).

Seed stocks

(Image credit: Heiko Junge/NTB scanpix/Zuma)

Boxes with seeds from around the world are saved for posterity in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The vault can hold 4.5 million seed samples  and since each sample contains about 500 seeds, a maximum of 2.25 billion seeds will fit into the vault.

Seed preservation

(Image credit: Anna Filipova/Reuters/ Newscom)

The seeds are kept in bags inside the vault. The arctic permafrost offers natural freezing for the seeds, but the vault also has additional cooling to keep temperatures at minus 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius).

Seed bank

(Image credit: National Geographic Creative/Alamy)

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was officially opened on Feb. 26, 2008, and functions as a giant icebox of sorts for the world's important crop seeds. [Read more about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault]
Currently Reading

How to celebrate Mardi Gras in San Francisco
Local News, Crime, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 24 2017

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced new actions to combat hate crimes and anti-Semitism across New York State.

Albany, NY - February 23, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced new actions to combat hate crimes and anti-Semitism across New York State. The measures include a $25 million grant program to boost safety and security at New Yorks schools and day care centers at risk of hate crimes or attacks because of their ideology, beliefs or mission. The grant program will provide funding for additional security training needs, cameras and state-of-the-art technology, door-hardening, improved lighting and other related security upgrades. The Governor made the announcement following a roundtable with over 50 religious leaders from across the state, including members representing the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths.

At the Governors direction, the state will also expand its toll-free hotline to include text message capability to report incidents of bias and discrimination. A $5,000 reward is also being made available for any information leading to an arrest and conviction for a hate crime.



"New York must always be the beacon of tolerance and hope for all, and with the recent explosion of anti-Semitism and hate crimes, it is more important than ever before that we do everything in our power to ensure the safety and equal treatment of all New Yorkers," Governor Cuomo said. "Any acts of bias or discrimination will be met with the full force of the law. New York is and always has been a place that celebrates diversity and religious tolerance, and we say to all New Yorkers who feel unsafe  we will always protect you."

The Jewish community has been increasingly targeted by bomb threats and hate crimes in recent months. According to the JCC Association of North America, there have been 69 incidents of bias and discrimination at 54 JCCs in 27 states since January 2017. Yesterday, there was a bomb threat targeting the Anti-Defamation Leagues national headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. In addition, across New York State, there was a 31 percent increase in reported hate crimes targeting Muslims in 2016 across New York State compared to 2015 and an 18 percent increase in reported hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

$25 Million Grant Program For Schools, Community Centers and Day Care Facilities

To combat the surge of incidents of hate and intolerance, the state is launching a $25 million grant program to boost safety and security at New Yorks schools and day care centers at risk of hate crimes or attacks because of their ideology, beliefs or mission. The grant program will provide funding for additional security training needs, cameras and state-of-the-art technology, door-hardening, improved lighting and other related security upgrades. The new grant program will be administered by the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.



Text HATE to 81336

In November 2016, Governor Cuomo launched a toll-free hotline to report incidents of bias or discrimination. To date, the hotline has received more than 3,175 calls. Building on its success, New York will expand the Division of Human Rights (DHR) statewide hotline to include text messaging capability.



Today, Governor Cuomo will launch the Hate Crimes Text Line to enable any New Yorker to easily report incidents in their community. Those who have experienced or witnessed bias or discrimination are encouraged to text HATE to 81336 with details of the incident, including photo or video documentation. Texts will be monitored by the State Police, who will handle any potential criminal matters. Additionally, cases of discrimination that are covered by the New York State Human Rights Law may be further investigated by DHR. In case of emergency or if you are a victim of a crime, always dial 911. A $5,000 reward is also being made available for any information leading to an arrest and conviction for a hate crime.



The launch of the Hate Crimes Text Line is designed to make it as easy as possible to report incidents across the state and gather critical information to inform statewide response efforts. With aggregate data on the frequency and location of incidents, officials can better map activity, target response efforts and deploy resources effectively.



The launch of the Hate Crimes Text Line marks New Yorks latest text campaign designed to deliver critical services and immediate information to New Yorkers. In April 2016, Governor Cuomo launched the Get Screened Breast Cancer Text Line, providing New Yorkers with information on the nearest location for breast cancer screenings in their community.

Protecting Civil Rights and Combatting Hate Crimes

Today's announcement builds on Governor Cuomos recent actions to combat bias and discrimination. In November, Governor Cuomo directed the State Police to create a new Hate Crimes Unit to investigate and offer assistance to other law enforcement agencies investigating potential hate crimes. The Governor will also advance legislation to expand the state Human Rights Law to protect all students and establish the nations first public/private legal defense fund to ensure all immigrants, regardless of status, have access to representation



If you have been the victim of a crime, you may contact the New York State Office of Victim Services, which funds 223 programs statewide, providing direct services, such as crisis intervention and counseling, to victims of crime, including hate crimes. Those programs also can help any crime victim apply for compensation and other assistance from the agency, which is a safety net for individuals who have no other resources. Individuals seeking help from OVS also can search for a service provider online. For more information, please visit: www.ovs.ny.gov.



Under state law, a person commits a hate crime when one of a specified set of offenses is committed targeting a victim because of a perception or belief about their race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation, or when such an act is committed as a result of that type of perception or belief. Hate crimes can be perpetrated against an individual, a group of individuals or against public or private property. Also under state law it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, religion, ethnicity and many other protected classifications.



New York has the proud distinction of being the first state in the nation to enact a Human Rights Law, affording every citizen "an equal opportunity to enjoy a full and productive life." The New York State Division of Human Rights is the agency in charge of enforcing this law, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, and other jurisdictions, based on age, race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, military status, and other specified classes. For more information about the Human Rights Law and the work of the agency, please visit the Division of Human Rights website at www.dhr.ny.gov.
Local News, Business & Finance, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 24 2017

Governor Cuomo announced that the State Division of Human Rights last year secured more than $5 million in compensation for victims of discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation.

Albany, NY - February 23, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced today that the State Division of Human Rights last year secured more than $5 million in compensation for victims of discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation. As the result of DHR investigations, 923 victims were awarded a total of $5.2 million. In addition, DHR assessed $273,000 in penalties against employers.



"New York's diversity is its strength and this administration has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind, period," Governor Cuomo said. "We will take every necessary step to ensure New Yorkers are being treated fairly under the law, that landlords, employers and businesses know their obligations, and that those who disregard them will be held accountable."



The largest compensation outcomes were seen in employment cases, including:

Following a public hearing, an electrical technician for a utility company was found to have been discriminated against and terminated due to his disability, despite being able to effectively perform his job. DHR ordered the technician to be reinstated, awarded him $375,000 in lost wages and emotional suffering damages, and fined the respondent $50,000 as a civil penalty payable to the State of New York.

An elementary school teacher in New York City alleged she was denied a reasonable accommodation and prohibited from returning to work after suffering an on-the-job injury. The complaint was settled for $164,000 in back wages.

A woman working as a sales manager at a direct-mail company alleged she faced gender discrimination in the form of unequal pay. The complaint was settled for $160,000.

Following a public hearing, a female administrative assistant at a collection agency in Amherst was found to have faced sexual harassment and verbal abuse on a daily basis. She was awarded $70,000. DHR fined the respondent $15,000, payable to the State of New York, as a civil penalty.

Notable housing cases include:

An African-American man in Brooklyn filed a complaint alleging predatory lending practices by a major bank and other firms. He alleged he was misled about the terms of a loan, charged unexplained fees, and that this was part of a broader pattern of targeting borrowers in minority neighborhoods in NYC. The complaint was settled for $35,000.

A married Long Island couple alleged they were denied the opportunity to rent a three-bedroom apartment in Southampton , N.Y., because they had two minor children. They also alleged that two real estate agencies steered them to other properties and that the respondents placed discriminatory advertisements for the apartment. They filed complaints against the owners and both real estate agencies, who settled for a total of $29,000.

An African-American woman was forced out of her Brooklyn apartment because the landlord sought tenants of a different race and national origin. The Division found that the Human Rights Law had been violated and awarded the complainant $16,620 in damages. The landlord was also ordered to pay $10,000 to the State of New York in civil fines and penalties.

A breakdown of all DHR cases resolved in 2016 by region and compensation:



Region

Number of Victims Compensation Capital Region 39 $210,165 Central NY 77 $588,113 Finger Lakes 107 $615,433 Hudson Valley 78 $367,506 Long Island 167 $780,400 Mohawk Valley 24 $85,281 New York City 276 $1,800,291 North Country 10 $44,033 Southern Tier 26 $89,250 Western NY 119 $587,178

In addition, DHR assessed $273,000 in penalties against employers, including: A $60,000 fine against an Oneonta car dealership in a case based on disability discrimination in employment; a $55,000 fine against a Staten Island restaurant for sex/age discrimination in employment; and a $50,000 fine against Con Ed in a disability/employment case.



The Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination in housing, employment, credit, and places of public accommodation, among other areas of jurisdiction, based upon age, race, creed, color, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, disability, pregnancy-related condition, domestic violence victim status, familial status, or other characteristic of any individual.



New York has the proud distinction of being the first state in the nation to enact a Human Rights Law, which affords every citizen "an equal opportunity to enjoy a full and productive life." The New York State Division of Human Rights is the agency in charge of enforcing this law. For more information about the law and the work of the agency, please visit the Division of Human Rights website at www.dhr.ny.gov or call 1-888-392-3644.
Members of Make the Road New York Gather at Detention Center: No More Tearing Families Apart, No More ICE Raids

Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 24 2017

Hundreds of members from all four Make the Roads gathered at the Elizabeth Detention Center to say: No more tearing families apart! No more ICE raids!

Protest against Trump's deportation machine and demanding an end to the #ICERaids. #NoBanNoWallNoRaids

Elizabeth, NJ - February 23, 2017 - Hundreds of members from all four Make the Roads -- from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut  gathered at the Elizabeth Detention Center to say: No more tearing families apart! No more ICE raids!

They were joined by members of Aliadxs, Make the Roads allies group, and friends from 32BJ SEIU, among many others. ( You can sign up for the next Aliadxs meeting here .)



Photo by Make the Road New York.



This detention center, run by the Corrections Corporation of America, stands to profit from more aggressive immigration enforcement. Immigrants from across the Northeast  including those arrested in recent raids -- are detained there.

Just a week ago, Make the Road New Jersey verified an ICE raid at a local business. Since then, MRNJ has been leading the charge to resist ICE's attempts to collaborate with local law enforcement and tear apart families.

After the protest, members of Make the Road New Jersey visited the office of their congressional representative Leonard Lance to educate him about the needs of his constituents and demand that he work to rein in out-of-control immigration enforcement.

This is one step in a long journey. We are going strong, but well need your help to keep up the momentum. You can help by:

1) Donating to support this work  monthly sustainers in particular provide a steady income that fuels our work over the long haul.
Nature & Weather, Local News, Business & Finance, Home & Garden, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 24 2017

Leg. Rhoads and others call upon Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York Rising to extend the deadline for Sandy-victim applicants to submit changes to the scope of project elevations.

Freeport, NY - February 23, 2017 - Nassau County Legislator Steve Rhoads and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joe Saladino were joined by architects, engineers, homeowners, house-lifters, civic leaders, construction workers, and more to call upon Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York Rising to extend the deadline for Sandy-victim applicants to submit changes to the scope of project elevations.



Without warning, NY Rising imposed a new deadline of March 1, 2017, for applicants to submit elevation changes to NY Rising for reimbursement. More than 4 years after Superstorm Sandy, homeowners are still struggling to return to their homes due to construction and funding delays, and missing this deadline could mean that homeowners will lose their opportunity for reimbursement of unexpected costs related to elevation.



Legislator Rhoads has written to Governor Cuomo and New York Rising to request an extension of the deadline for the benefit of approximately 6,100 homeowners expected to submit elevation change application documents.



Legislator Rhoads: While I appreciate the daunting task that the Governors Office of Storm Recovery and New York Rising has undertaken in assisting affected residents along this journey, the imposition of the upcoming March 1st deadline threatens to derail the recovery process at a time when participants are most vulnerable. I ask that the Governor postpone the deadline for the sake of our residents.



New York State Assemblyman Brian Curran, 21st AD: "Elected Officials were NOT notified of this "new" imposed deadline and quite frankly this is just plain wrong. I will work with our partners in government to call on Governor Cuomo to resolve this issue and help our Sandy

families rebuild and recover."



Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford: There are still so many families in various phases of

the recovery process. The March 1st deadline is an onerous burden on many residents, and I ask that Governor Cuomo push it back.



Nassau County Legislator James Kennedy: There are so many variables when raising a home, many of which cannot be planned for ahead of time. Residents should be provided with the time to file the necessary paperwork and not be left out of pocket for critical repairs.



Town of Hempstead Supervisor Anthony Santino: South shore homeowners in Hempstead Town were slammed by Hurricane Sandy, and neighbors continue to rebuild their homes and

their lives more than four years after the Superstorm. The need to extend the deadline for our affected residents to submit their Scope of Work Change Requests and the 6100 form

associated with home elevations is apparent. Thousands upon thousands of Hempstead Town property owners were victimized by Sandy, and our state government should not make them victims again. We are appealing to the Governor to extend the March 1st filing deadline that threatens to slam hard hit homeowners with tens of thousands of dollars in additional costs. Its time to stand up for Sandy Victims.



Town of Hempstead Councilwoman Erin King Sweeny: I thank Legislator Rhoads for his leadership and common sense ideas for South Shore families who still struggle after Sandy. The state shouldnt impose arbitrary deadlines to cut off funding. Lets make sure they all get home!
School & Education, Local News, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 24 2017

Prominent labor leader, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO will be honored by The Suffolk Community College Foundation at its annual Salute to Excellence Gala.

Selden, NY - February 23, 2017 - Prominent labor leader, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO will be honored by The Suffolk Community College Foundation at its annual Salute to Excellence Gala whose proceeds will be used to fund need and merit-based scholarships, emergency student loans and quality academic enrichment programs. The Foundation distributed more than $650,000 in scholarships and aid last year.



The Salute to Excellence Gala celebrating Weingarten and the college will be held on May 4 at the Hilton Long Island in Huntington.

We will celebrate and recognize a great labor leader whose advocacy for education and the middle class has helped advanced the most important engine in creating the American Dream and a better life for each generation, said Suffolk County Community College President Dr. Shaun L. McKay.



The mission of the Foundation is to reduce the economic barriers to higher education and foster student success. The Salute to Excellence Gala is the Colleges single largest event held annually to generate financial support, community awareness and most importantly make a difference in the lives of our students, said Executive Director of the Suffolk Community College Foundation Dr. Sylvia A Diaz. The celebration will begin at 7 pm.



Gala sponsorships, tickets and journal advertisements are available now through the Suffolk Community College Foundation website.
Local News, National & World News, Community, Charity & Cause

By Chris Boyle Published: February 24 2017

Hundreds and hundreds of local residents attend event addressing multiple hot-button topics concerning the Trump and Obama Administrations.

The Mid-Island Y JCC on Manetto Hill Road in Plainview was recently host to a passionate town hall-style meeting put on by Democratic Congressman of New York's 3rd District and former Nassau County Executive, Tom Suozzi, currently the only elected official on Long Island to do so in the wake of other such meetings being held nationwide between lawmakers and their constituents.



Suozzi noted that there are 20 million people who currently receive health insurance through the Affordable Care Act that didn't receive it before. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle.

Gaining widespread coverage on cable television news, Republican congressmen and senators have been besieged by angry members of the public at town hall meetings over grievances in regards to the controversial policies of President Donald J. Trump and his administration, such as his promises to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and to come down hard on illegal immigration, among others. White House spokesmen have blamed part of the unrest at these meetings on alleged paid protestors and political activists, whereas others dispute those claims, maintaining that grassroots movement is taking place amongst the public to make their voices heard.



Suozzi said that he appreciated the steadfast commitment of those who attended the town hall meeting to making their country a better place. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle

The tone at Suozzis town hall, held at 7pm on Feb. 23 to an auditorium so packed with hundreds and hundreds attendees that they overflowed out into the hall, was noticeably more amicable, due to Suozzi and the crowd being essentially on the same page regarding their mutual concerns in Washington, albeit with a few notable exceptions as the evening wore on. However, the passion of the public was still very much on display, proving that despite how one may or may not feel about Donald Trump, the 45th President absolutely has been responsible for more people getting politically active than many figures in recent history; such engagement, Suozzi noted, is vital in making the country work.



The Mid-Island Y JCC in Plainview was recently host to a town hall-style meeting put on by District 3 Congressman Tom Suozzi. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle

Thank you so much for being hereas a candidate for the U.S. Congress, I held 25 town hall meetings, but they were never attended like this one, he said. This, to me, is so inspiring because this is what our country is all about. Out of everything that's going on in this country, the blessing is that so many people are actively engaged and this country needs this kind of engagement.



Suozzi: This, to me, is so inspiring because this is what our country is all about...the blessing is that so many people are actively engaged and this country needs this kind of engagement. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle

Suozzi said that the main rule for his town hall meeting was that everyone had to be respectful towards everyone's comments and concerns; despite the heavy democratic leanings of the audience, Suozzi invited any Trump supporters present to speak and be heard as well, although none took him up on his offer.



The first - and most popular - subject covered at Suozzi's town hall meeting concerned the Affordable Care Act. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle

There are five major issues that have been coming to me the most, Suozzi said, outlining the rules for the evenings public discussion and Q&A session. I'm going to speak about those five issues, and we're going to go through each subject, and whoever wants to talk about those subjects, we'll talk about them one at a time and then move on to the next.

The first subject people bring up to me over and over is saving the Affordable Care Act, Suozzi continued. I recently held a rally with Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, and we had about 1,500 people attend. I had people getting up telling very personal stories about how the repeal of the Affordable Care Act would affect them personally. It really is a matter of life and death for a lot of families in America.



The first - and most popular - subject covered at Suozzi's town hall meeting concerned the Affordable Care Act. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle

Suozzi noted that there are 20 million people who currently receive health insurance that didn't receive it before, as well as another group of people who have pre-existing medical conditions who may have had health insurance previously, but under the old law would be denied coverage if they moved to another job. Suozzi also stated that the country needs laws that allow parents to cover their adult children and that protect women from being charged more for medical services based solely on their gender.



Gaining widespread coverage on cable television news, congressmen and senators have been besieged by angry members of the public at town hall meetings nationwide. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle

Oceanside resident Gary Kay, a member of the audience, relayed the troubles he and his family have experienced with the Affordable Care Act  otherwise known as Obamacare  but also expressed fear that, if replaced, its successor may be even worse.

My wife has had colon cancer since 2015, and shes living proof of dealing with Obamacare, he said. We went to the best cancer hospital in the city, and we've been dealing with this Affordable Care Act for the past two years and it needs to be changed. We keep dealing with insurance companies that are folding up or leaving New York, and eventually we had so much trouble with Obamacare that my wife had to leave the hospital. There's a lot wrong with this system, but I'm also concerned about whatever bill may be passed to replace Obamacare and whether or not it will take my wife's pre-existing condition into account.



Suozzi said that the main rule for his town hall meeting was that everyone had to be respectful towards everyone's comments and concerns. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle

I dont think the Affordable Care Act is problem-free by any stretch, Suozzi replied. However, I advocate a mend it, don't end it approach as opposed to doing away with it all together. We need to fix things, not repeal and replace.

Another issue Suozzi spoke on was has to do with the alleged unusual relationship between the President of the United States Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

It seems to be some very unusual events going on, he said. From the Russian hacking of the presidential election, which we know for a fact happened, to the president refusing to divest himself of his interests and place his assets into a Blind Trust.



The passion of the public was very much on display at Congressman Tom Suozzi's town hall meeting. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle

In an exchange with an audience member, Suozzi talked about a Republican senator attempting to get a subpoena for President Trump to make his tax records public, stating that the country would know once and for all if he had any financial ties to or conflicts of interest with Russia. However, current laws do not require a President to either place their financial assets into Blind Trusts, nor do they require the public release of tax records.

Suozzi also spoke about the Presidents controversial travel ban, which targets seven Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East  a plan Suozzi called discriminatory  as well as new Federal immigration and deportation measures. Suozzi also spent time that evening talking about the environment and concerns that he and some attendees of the town hall meeting had about the Trump Administration's commitment to protecting it from harm.

While Suozzi and his audience appeared to be mostly on the same page for the vast majority of the evening, at one point an argument broke out between the congressman and some of his constituents regarding his unwillingness to talk about who should be the new Democratic National Convention chair; the closest Suozzi would come to expressing an opinion on the subject was that he was opposed to Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison serving in that position. Otherwise, Suozzi essentially dodged questions on the subject, leading to a heated exchange at one point with some audience members.



The passion of the public was very much on display at Congressman Tom Suozzi's town hall meeting. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle

Overall, however, Suozzi said that he appreciated the steadfast commitment of those who attended the town hall meeting to making their country a better place, and urged everyone to keep up the work and not let their passion be rudderless; establish goals and pursue them, he said, and keep the free-flowing exchange of information and ideas flowing in order to make this country the best it can be.

What's so important is that we have to organize...we have to take this energy and use it in an organized direction to address concerns like the pre-existing condition clause and healthcare, he said. And the best thing you can do is to stay active, especially with your local media. Write your local newspapers, your local websites, use Facebook, attend town hall meetings and rallies, get information out there and make your voice heard. That's what America is all about, each and every one of us having a voice to make change, no matter which side of the political fence youre on.
The Afghan Taliban claimed it shot down an Afghan military helicopter in Kunduz yesterday as it was returning from an operation in the neighboring province of Takhar. Afghan officials later claimed that the helicopter made an emergency landing after encountering mechanical problems. In the past, Afghan officials have been less than forthcoming about the loss of aircraft as a result of enemy fire.

The Taliban reported yesterday on Voice of Jihad, its official propaganda outlet, that Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate shot down an enemy attack helicopter Thursday in Dashti Archi district of Kunduz as two of the enemy helicopter gunships were en route back to Kunduz from Takhar. The Taliban also claimed it seized two DShK machine guns from the wreckage.

Today, the Afghan Ministry of Defense confirmed that an American-made MD-530 light attack helicopter made [an] emergency landing due to technical issues and the crew of the helicopter were rescued by the other helicopter, according to Khaama Press. The helicopter landed in Dasht-i-Archi district.

The Khaama Press report had one other interesting detail: [Ministry of Defense Spokesman] Waziri further added that the helicopter was destroyed in the area as it was not repairable.

This is a strong indication that Dasht-i-Archi district is outside of the governments control, as the Afghan military wouldnt destroy the helicopter if it was able to recover it. [Note, FDDs Long War Journal assesses that the district is at least contested by the Taliban. See map.]

While it is difficult to assess if the Taliban or the Afghan Ministry of Defenses version of the story is correct, the Taliban have proven credible in reports such as these in the past. The Afghan military, on the other hand, has been less than forthcoming about attacks on its aviation assets and has even attempted to cover up the loss of its helicopters.

In one instance, in March 2016, Afghan officials claimed a helicopter in Kunar province made a hard landing, while the Taliban claimed it destroyed it as it landed at a remote base. The Taliban later issued video footage of the helicopter exploding in a massive IED attack as it landed. [See Taliban destroys Afghan army helicopter in IED attack at military base.]

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
The US Treasury Department and the United Nations have designated two senior jihadists in Syria as terrorists. Both of them were leaders in Al Nusrah Front, al Qaedas official arm in Syria.

In July 2016, Al Nusrah was rebranded as Jabhat Fath al Sham (JFS). Then, in Jan. 2017, JFS and several other groups merged to form Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), or the Assembly for the Liberation of Syria.

Treasurys announcement refers to both of the newly designated terrorists as leaders in Al Nusrah and does not mention HTS. It is possible that one of them is still a significant figure in HTS, while the other has actually separated and may have joined a different al Qaeda arm in Syria.*

From overseeing militant operations to developing Al Nusrah Fronts strategy, these senior Al Nusrah Front leaders and al Qaeda terrorists are responsible for providing key support to the violent terrorist group, John E. Smith, the acting director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), said in a statement. Today, the Treasury Department, in line with actions just taken by the United Nations, is cutting off their access to the international financial system to further disrupt Al Nusrah Fronts ability to plan and execute terrorist attacks.

The new designations add to the publics knowledge of senior personnel in the al Qaedas Syrian branch. Both of the jihadists have led Al Nusrah in Daraa, which is in southern Syria.

Treasury describes one of the two, Iyad Nazmi Salih Khalil, as the third-highest-ranking official in Al Nusrah Front as of early 2016. In this capacity, Khalil took part in discussions among the groups senior leadership regarding [Al Nusrahs] overall strategy and the feasibility of establishing an emirate in Idlib, Syria.

Al Qaeda has been working to build an Islamic emirate, or nation, in Syria for several years. However, unlike Abu Bakr al Baghdadis Islamic State, al Qaeda views state-building as a long-term project. Al Qaedas leaders concluded years ago that prematurely declaring an Islamic emirate in Syria or elsewhere could be problematic for the jihadists cause. Al Qaedas strategists concluded that a jihadist nation lacking popular support could easily fall when confronted by multiple adversaries.

However, the temptation to declare an Islamic emirate in northwestern Syria has been strong. During a fiery speech that was leaked online in July 2014, Al Nusrah emir Abu Muhammad al Julani told his followers that the time had come to declare an Islamic emirate in northern Syria. Other Al Nusrah officials quickly walked back this claim.

Still, the Treasury Department has now recognized that this is al Qaedas goal at least twice. In Nov. 2016, Treasury designated Dr. Abdullah al Muhaysini and three other Al Nusrah officials. Treasury noted at the time that Muhaysini is helping to form a new Al Nusrah Front state in northern Syria and had raised millions of dollars to support [Al Nusrah Fronts] governance efforts in Idlib Province, which was overrun by al Qaeda and its allies in early 2015.

Khalil previously served as Al Nusrahs emir in Daraa for at least two years. While in that role, Khalil empowered Al Nusrahs security and intelligence operatives responsible for assassinations, ran prisons notorious for torture, and encouraged the looting of vehicles and possessions of Free Syrian Army members.

The revelation of Khalils involvement in torturing prisoners is significant, because al Qaeda has attempted to portray itself as a populist force in Syria. Unlike their rivals in the Islamic State, al Qaedas men do not promote their implementation of strict draconian laws, or the torture and executions of individuals opposed to their agenda. Those measures could alienate the broader Muslim population.

Treasurys description of Khalil also further underscores al Qaedas opportunistic relationship with groups operating as part of the Free Syrian Armys (FSA) loosely affiliated coalition. These FSA groups often fight alongside al Qaedas jihadists in Syria, but al Qaeda also has no problem looting their arms, vehicles and other possessions when it is deemed necessary.

Earlier this month, Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which includes the al Qaeda arm formerly known as Al Nusrah, launched operations in Daraa alongside other organizations opposed to Bashar al Assads regime. HTS is fighting under the banner of Al Bunyan al Marsous, a military operations room in the area. Thus, al Qaedas men continue to cooperate with FSA-branded units in Daraa. [See FDDs Long War Journal report, Jihadists and other rebels assault Syrian regime positions in southern city.]

After serving as Al Nusrahs leader in Daraa, Khalil was appointed as the groups emir for Syrias coastal area. He presumably still serves in that role.

According to Treasury, Khalil is a veteran of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which he joined in the mid-2000s. Khalil was close to AQI chief Abu Musab al Zarqawi until he met his demise in 2006.

Khalils aliases include Iyad al Tubasi and Abu Julaybib. Although Treasury doesnt say it, these are the same aliases used by Zarqawis brother-in-law, meaning the two were not just close, but actually family.

The London-based Al Quds al Arabi reported in January that Khalil (also known as Iyad al Tubasi and Abu Julaybib) was removed from his post in Daraa after he was accused of arresting and killing prominent Jordanian jihadis. Khalil accused them of serving Baghdadis Islamic State. One of those killed, Sheikh Abu Yusuf al Ubaydi, was a well-liked commander. Khalil was accused of killing al Ubaydi without proper cause and, according to Al Quds al Arabi, the matter was submitted to a sharia court in Jordan headed by the pro-al Qaeda ideologue known as Abu Qatada. Furthermore, Julani (Khalils boss) reportedly agreed to pay about $50,000 in compensation for al Ubaydis wrongful death. FDDs Long War Journal cannot independently verify this press report.

The SITE Intelligence Group reported in Aug. 2016 that Khalil, writing under one of his aliases, issued a series of tweets rejecting Al Nusrahs relaunch as JFS. Khalil (Iyad al Tubasi) announced his complete separation and disconnection of all organizational and membership ties with JFS. Khalil mentioned that his jihad journey lasted more than 16 years from the mountains of Afghanistan, to prisons of Iran, to prisons of Jordan, to Iraq, to the blessed land of Syria, according to SITE. Khalil added that, after Zarqawi announced the formation of AQI in 2004, I was working under the umbrella of the global al Qaeda organization.

In his tweets at the time, Khalil added that he didnt want to leave Al Nusrah/JFS. But he disapproved of its purported disassociation from al Qaeda and added, somewhat cryptically, that the emergence of the new projects and acceleration of them made him announce his resignation in a clear and obvious way.

Khalil then renewed his bayat (oath of allegiance) to al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri. Also, I renew my pledge of allegiance here to the Doctor, the Patient, he who hopes to get his reward, and the wise man of words and actions [Zawahiri], he wrote, according to SITE. A small group of other al Qaeda commanders in Syria issued similar statements.

Khalils separation from Al Nusrah/JFS was an interesting turn of events. He was one of Al Nusrahs co-founders. In 2011, according to Treasury, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi sent Khalil to Syria along with six other individualsto establish what would eventually become Al Nusrah Front. Several jihadist groups operating in Syria today  including Al Nusrah, Ahrar al Sham and the Islamic State  have roots in AQI and its political front, the Islamic State of Iraq. But AQIs heirs ended up fighting one another for control of the jihad in Syria.

Abu Muhammad al Julani, Al Nusrahs emir and Khalils boss, was once one of Baghdadis lieutenants. Like Khalil, Julani was sent to Syria to build AQIs operational arm in the country early on in the revolution.

However, Julani and his comrades disapproved of Baghdadis strategy for Syria, established their own line of communication with al Qaedas senior leadership, and ultimately broke away from Baghdadis operation. This jockeying for power in Syria led to the greatest rivalry in the history of modern jihadism, with the Islamic State challenging al Qaeda around the globe. While the Islamic State has grown significantly since 2013, when the infighting in Syria first broke out into the open, al Qaeda survived Baghdadis challenge and has expanded its own footprint in Syria and elsewhere.

In 2012, Al Jazeera reported that Khalil (Iyad al Tubasi) was killed while leading Al Nusrahs forces in Daraa. However, that report proved to be inaccurate.

The second newly designated Al Nusrah official is Bassam Ahmad al Hasri.

In Dec. 2015, al Hasri succeeded Khalil as Al Nusrahs emir in Daraa and he held that position as of June 2016. Al Hasri previously served as a religious advisor for Al Nusrah and has longstanding ties to al Qaeda. Treasury did not elaborate on these ties.

Al Hasri was among the jihadists, Islamists and others released from Bashar al Assads jails in 2011, after spending six years in prison for his association with al Qaeda.

The designations by Treasury and the UN come just a few weeks after al Qaedas men launched a new offensive in Daraa alongside others in Al Bunyan al Marsous. It is not known if the timing of the designations was influenced by this offensive, but it is possible. The designations are intended, in part, to draw a dividing line between al Qaedas operatives in Syria and other rebels opposed to Bashar al Assads regime. In practice, that has often been difficult to do.

Note: The spellings of Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda, and related words were changed to be consistent throughout this article, including in quotes from others. *This piece was also updated shortly after publication with additional information on Iyad Nazmi Salih Khalil from Al Quds al Arabi and the SITE Intelligence Group.

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Lifestyle / Gastronomy

Chef Gaggan Anand eponymously named Indian restaurant in Bangkok has retained its crown as the best restaurant in Asia for a third year in a row. Anand cemented the reputation of his progressive Indian restaurant Gaggan in a three-peat performance at the 2017 edition of Asias 50 Best Restaurants awards  an impressive feat given that the []

Feb 24, 2017 | By AFP Relaxnews

Chef Gaggan Anand eponymously named Indian restaurant in Bangkok has retained its crown as the best restaurant in Asia for a third year in a row. Anand cemented the reputation of his progressive Indian restaurant Gaggan in a three-peat performance at the 2017 edition of Asias 50 Best Restaurants awards  an impressive feat given that the restaurant opened in 2010.

It was a gathering of some of the most high-profile, Michelin-starredl and avant-garde chefs across Asia Tuesday, who traveled to Bangkok to hear the countdown that ranks restaurants against one another. So what is a dining experience at the best restaurant in Asia like?

According to editors of Asias 50 Best, an offshoot of the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants awards, Gaggan balances the soulfulness of Indian street food with hyper-modern cooking techniques to unrivalled effect. In edible terms, that means spherified Yoghurt Explosion with red matcha and charcoal  the restaurants standout dish  Indian sushi, and uni ice cream served in a miniature cone.

In line with the menus playfulness and the chefs effervescent personality, the 25-course menu is likewise written entirely in emojis. Meanwhile, China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand landed the most spots on the top 50 list, counting nine restaurants each.

Rounding out the top three spots are Restaurant Andre in Singapore and Amber in Hong Kong. Other big winners include Japans Kazutoshi Narita, who was named Asias best pastry chef; Odette in Singapore, which won the highest new entry award; Locavore, the highest climber; Den in Tokyo for the art of hospitality and chef Dave Pynt of Burnt Ends in Singapore, who won the Chefs Choice Award.
The Whole US Economy Hangs In The Balance

I have talked with many of the actors in the tax reform processboth in Congress and in think tanks. These discussions have served as the basis for my recent writing in Thoughts From the Frontline (subscribe here for free).

Ive seen one point of agreementthe tax system must be massively reformed. That point, sadly, is where agreement ends.

Tax reform ideas usually fail because the status quo gives everybody some kind of perceived benefit. In reality, the benefit may be worth less than people think. But its preferable to the uncertainty of a new system.

We must remember that the "Better Way" is simply a set of proposals at this time. President Trump announced on Feb. 9th that his economic team is drawing up its own phenomenal business tax reform proposal.

Im not enthusiastic about the border adjusted tax (BAT) idea either, to say the least. I fear it would come with serious macroeconomic side effects, and not just for the US.

The BAT Aims to Increase Exports

Here is how the Tax Foundation calculates the plans impact, under both static conditions and a dynamic model that tries to assess economic changes.

Under static conditions, the plan would reduce tax revenue by some $2.4 trillion over 10 years. A dynamic scoring reduces that amount to $191 billion. The reality is likely somewhere in between, but no one really knows.

Here is how it works: Businesses that import goods from outside the US would not be able to deduct the cost of those goods from their corporate tax returns. But companies that export products to other countries would not count the revenue received from the exports as income.

The hopeful effect of this measure is to encourage exports and discourage imports. This is in keeping with President Trumps objectives.

Our Whole Economy Depends on Imports

Most Americans may not realize how different our tax system is from those of every other country in the world. Almost every other nation has some variation of a value-added tax (VAT), a form of sales tax added at every level of production.

The House GOP plan (the red, dotted Blueprint line at the far right in the chart above) brings our corporate tax rates much closer to the average. Other countries make up the revenue gap with a VAT. The Better Way plan does this with border adjustment, which is sort of a halfway VAT.

The problem is that the US runs an enormous trade deficit because our whole economy depends on imports. We do not presently have the capacity to replace those imports with domestic goods.

What Are the Republicans Thinking?

This is obviously not good for job creation if you are an importer. So what are the Republicans thinking? Why propose something that seems so daft?

Well, in theory the BAT will bring in a lot of revenue, something like $1 trillion over 10 years if their assumptions are correct. This revenue is necessary to keep the Better Way plans other tax cuts from adding to the debt. And it will also theoretically increase jobs tied to exports.

The Republicans also pitch the BAT as simple fairness. Other countries apply their VAT taxes to goods shipped to the US, so the US should do likewise. The problem here is that the US doesnt have a VAT, so were adjusting for something that doesnt exist. That makes this idea look less like an adjustment and more like an outright import tariff.

In discussing this whole border adjustment concept with other economists, I find general agreement that my description of the BAT as a half-assed VAT is generally correct.

Get a Birds-Eye View of the Economy with John Mauldins Thoughts from the Frontline

This wildly popular newsletter by celebrated economic commentator, John Mauldin, is a must-read for informed investors who want to go beyond the mainstream media hype and find out about the trends and traps to watch out for. Join hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide, as John uncovers macroeconomic truths in Thoughts from the Frontline. Get it free in your inbox every Monday.

John Mauldin Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




MARTINSVILLE  City Council members went back to school to learn on Thursday.

They didnt learn any reading, writing or arithmetic, though.

While touring the citys four public schools and the Clearview Early Childhood Center, they observed students and teachers during lessons and talked with administrators to learn how the schools operate and find out what the schools desire to have to better educate students.

Although the Martinsville School Board oversees the schools, the council provides them millions of dollars each year to complement state and federal funding they receive toward their operations.

Monday night, the school board will receive a budget proposal for the new fiscal year that will start July 1. The spending plan will specify how much local funding will be sought from the council.

Schools officials have said they will seek whatever they think is necessary to ensure that students are taught well. However, council members have indicated that because of financial constraints, the schools will be lucky to receive as much as the $6,437,654 they initially got for the current fiscal year. That sum was a decrease of more than $300,000 from the previous year.

In January, though, the council gave back to the schools $614,509 in funds allocated to them in the past year and which were not spent.

There was no discussion during the tour of how much the schools actually might receive for the next fiscal year.

Clearview offers preschool programs to help make three- and four-year-olds ready for kindergarten. It is funded entirely with local dollars and grants because the state does not force local school divisions to provide such programs.

So basically all of our teachers are also grant writers who constantly seek supplemental funds, said Principal Sheilah Williams,

Many students at Clearview are impoverished.

These are the neediest kids in the city, said school board Chairwoman Joan Montgomery, a retired principal and administrator within the schools. At Clearview, you can see what the neediest kids can achieve with the right instruction.

About 20 students are on a waiting list to attend Clearview, Williams said.

The early childhood center needs more teachers, but it does not have enough funding to hire them, she said.

We (schools officials) like to continually say  to yall (council members) that more money is needed, Montgomery chuckled.

Principals and other administrators told council members that their schools could use funds to hire more reading specialists as well as to keep up-to-date with educational technology.

Students must be good readers to do well in most school subjects, said Albert Harris Elementary School Assistant Principal Renee Brown.

They must be reading at least at grade-level expectations in order to do well in high school and graduate, said Martinsville Middle School Principal Cynthia Tarpley.

At the middle school, Tarpley said, if they come to us from elementary school struggling (in reading), it makes it harder to teach them.

Albert Harris instructional coordinator, Violet Nelson, noted than educational curriculums are incorporating technology more and more, hence the need to have the latest technology.

Volunteers needed

Patrick Henry Elementary School Interim Principal Felicia Preston mentioned that parent volunteers are needed to help teachers in the classroom.

Council members were impressed by the technology they saw. They commented about how learning has changed dramatically since they were in school decades ago.

At Clearview, teachers were using Smartboards  large electronic screens hooked into computers and which have replaced chalkboards  to help students learn new words. Students touched the screens to select words to answer teachers questions. The computers then made sounds letting students know whether their choices were right.

Students in a class at Patrick Henry were writing their answers to teachers questions on their desks using colored markers.

That was a punishable offense when I was in school, Councilwoman Sharon Brooks Hodge recalled.

But the modern desks were designed so the writing can easily be erased with a tissue or even a swipe of the hand.

In another classroom there, students were learning how to count coin values.

City schools Superintendent Zeb Talley commented that state education officials seem to be realizing that learning is not just all about (standardized) test scores. It also is about students learning life skills, such as how to use money, as well as matters such as self-discipline and citizenship, he said.

At Martinsville High School, Principal Aji Dixon showed council members a greenhouse in which students learn about plants. Yet they seemed more interested in a large tank in the corner in which tilapia, a fish that is becoming more common on restaurant menus, were growing.

Mayor Gene Teague said he overall was impressed at how dedicated city teachers are to helping students learn and how lessons now involve more personal interaction instead of lecturing.

We dont want teachers just lecturing, Talley emphasized.

But in college, students probably will have to sit through many lectures, and they certainly will have to endure many more exams. For those reasons, the schools are teaching students note-taking and test-taking skills.

Teague said he never learned such things when he was in school.

I just want students to be successful when they get to college, Talley added.
COLLINSVILLE  While it doesnt take a rocket scientist to talk to the kids at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School, they had the unique opportunity to flashchat with one on Thursday.

Several weeks ago, representatives at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, contacted the local middle school and two other schools  Tazewell Middle and Grenada High in California  and asked teachers if theyd like to be part of a webcast.

I jumped on it, eighth grade physical science teacher Crystal Jackson said.

While part of a program called Introduce a Girl to Engineering, Jill Marlowe, deputy director of Langleys Engineering Directorate, spoke to boys and girls about her background and skill set at NASA.

For many kids at FCMS, it was the first interaction with a rocket scientist theyd ever had.

Many of them had never talked to an engineer, period, Jackson said. This allows them to see there are careers out there in science.

While many people think of engineering as a historically male career, people like Marlowe prove daily that girls can do the job, too.

As a young child, Marlowes father encouraged her to blaze her own trail.

You can do anything to want, be anything you want, Marlowe recalled her fathers words. And you have to figure out what that is.

When she started college at Virginia Tech, she knew she wanted to pursue engineering, but wasnt sure which avenue she wanted to explore.

She looked at several different options and quickly weeded out the ones that didnt align with her personal interests.

Marlowe decided to earn her aerospace and ocean engineering degree, which took her from jobs in underwater submarine design to positions in outer space rocket design.

While in college, the space shuttle, Challenger, exploded. The mishap that affected the nation also impacted the students in Marlowes aerospace classes.

If we dont do our job right, people could die, Marlowe said, referencing the way she felt after the tragedy. It became very serious for us at that point.

Hard at work at NASA 17 years later, Marlowe and associates couldve never predicted the Columbia space shuttle disaster. She did, however, later explore the possibilities that led to the fiery reentry.

I was part of the team that figured out what happened, Marlowe said.

She first looked at the materials that couldve caused issues in the space shuttle. Then, using geometry, she created models to better understand what couldve gone wrong.

In 2008, Marlowe started building rockets. She worked with hundreds of people across the county to create dimension-specific parts for the space exploration vehicle.

All of these things had to come together, Marlowe said.

However, the people she worked with made the mission possible.

One of the best things about working at NASA is theres all kinds of really smart and dedicated people, Marlowe said.

Now, as research director, Marlowe asks questions engineers dont know.

Some projects aim to improve aircraft design while others tackle deep space systems. Whatever the need, Marlowe connects scientists with whatever resources they require to get the job done.

What groups of people need to come together to solve the problems? What do they need? Marlowe ponders on the job. We solve hard problems that make the world a better place when theyre solved.

The engineers camaraderie with her coworkers impressed eighth grader and future culinary artist Autumn Wingfield.

I like how she appreciated the people she worked with, Wingfield said. Sometimes, people appreciate their jobs more than people.

An exemplary model of a successful engineer, Jackson enjoyed meeting with Marlowe via flashchat.

Before, engineering was just a word to them, Jackson said about her students. Now, theyve got a face they can put to it.
COLLINSVILLE-At a joint budget work session of the Henry County Board of Supervisors and the Henry County School Board, schools superintendent Dr. Jared Cotton told the supervisors that he anticipates a school budget shortfall of $422,000.

That number is based on estimated revenues of $79.54 million and estimated expenses of $79.96 million, Cotton said, adding that the shortfall accounts for just 0.5 percent of the school systems overall budget.

The problem, Cotton explained, is that the district has seen an influx of students transferring in from other schools in the area. Martinsville is one of those where students have transferred from. The city district has 1,920 students, down from 2,040 at this time last year. Thats 120 less than expected. More than 60 percent of those crossed over to the county. Currently, Henry County has an estimated 7,100 students enrolled.

Were basing our budget on 7,100 students, Cotton said. We have gained a lot of students from surrounding school divisions over the last two years. The increase was unexpected and it happened as a result of students leaving nearby school divisions to come to Henry County.

While its a positive that families want to send their kids to the district, Cotton explained that the extra students werent planned for. He also told supervisors that the 7,100 could increase by next year.

On the one hand, the additional students will bring in about $2 million in additional state funding. Because of changes in the Virginia Retirement System, however, the majority of those extra dollars will go toward retirement expenses and the districts share of any potential salary increases for teachers. The amount the district has to pay into VRS for employees will rise this fiscal year by 1.66 percent.

Cotton said that the school system would ideally like to offer two step raises to educators, as county schools are behind in step raises and the raises are necessary to recruit and, importantly, retain educators. Two step increases would total roughly $310,000, he said, which is the lions share of the anticipated $422,000 budget shortfall.

Steps refer to how long a certain teacher has been in the classroom. As teachers gain experience, theyre supposed to see a pay increase as well. For example, a 20-year teacher is on a different pay level than one just out of college. The problem for Henry County and other Virginia districts is that since the recession, teachers havent received that increase as they grow in experience.

Expenses rise for Meadow View

Dr. Cotton also presented information suggesting that Meadow View Elementary School, currently under construction in the Collinsville District, will likely cost a total of $22 million. Henry County Administrator Tim Hall reminded the board that it had borrowed $20 million for the schools construction, and the additional $2 million will need to be found within the upcoming budget.

I would like to avoid going to a third borrowing if at all possible, Hall said. The lawyers and the financial advisors get paid the same regardless of the amount borrowed, so that would be a repetitive cost that we need to avoid. Clearly, we need to come up with the balance, be it $2 million, be it slightly over $2 million, whatever it happens to be.

Hall added that county staff has a few ideas regarding how to address that amount in the upcoming budget, but nothing is yet set in stone.

In his presentation, Cotton outlined several line items that the upcoming school budget will need to cover, including the hiring of at least seven additional teachers and/or paraprofessionals; the 1.66 percent VRS rate increase; a possible health insurance rate increase; and an increase in funding for school resource officers, among other items.

Cotton also outlined many of the school systems achievements. For example, he said, in 2016, 524 students graduated from Henry County high schools, and of that number, 515 took at least one career technical education (CTE) course; 297 completed a CTE program; 86.5 percent of participating students earned National Career Readiness certificates; 244 received advanced studies diplomas; and 78 graduated with an Associates Degree from Patrick Henry Community College.

Additionally, he said, Bassett High School was named to U.S. News Best High Schools list, earning a silver rating, and Warrior Tech and Bengal Tech are the first two New Tech schools in Virginia.

School Board Chairman Curtis Millner said that Henry County has one of the finest school systems in the state.

We have people coming from all over to see what were doing, so were doing something right, he said. But were not satisfied; we want to do better. In order to do better, were going to need everyones help.
We need jobs

Although population seems to be growing elsewhere, here in Henry County and Martinsville, it continues to decline. Why is this so? I believe that the reason our population continues to decline is the loss of many businesses. When businesses close, the number of jobs greatly declines. Since I moved to this area from Spain in 2004, we have lost JC Penny, Sears, a toy store, Bassett Furniture store, many factories, Sonic and Kmart, just to mention a few.

Another reason I believe our population continues to decline is that there are very limited job opportunities here in Henry County and Martinsville. People have to move to larger cities to find a good paying job in their field of study. When I drive around and think about jobs that can be performed here, the diversity of these is very limited. One can work for fast food restaurants, the school systems, stores or the health department. I am left wondering what we can do to improve job opportunities. What can we do so that businesses feel the desire to come to Henry County and Martinsville?

I am not an expert, but I believe that Martinsville and Henry County should advertise the amount of open land there is available for businesses to buy or rent. There should also be a higher push for education. Martinsville and Henry County are in need of qualified people for many different jobs. If the amount of qualified people increases, then the job diversity will increase as well. A push for education will also yield higher paying jobs and in return, a better quality of life for their residents. I think it would also be beneficial for the city and the county to come together and brainstorm different ideas to come up with solutions to attract businesses and ensure that they stay successful. We can be a prosperous community, but first we need to fix the job problem and the quality of life issues that there are in our community.

Nisamar Barrera

Collinsville

Things need to change

An article in the Martinsville Bulletin on Feb. 4, Population declines in Henry County, Martinsville, caught my eye. What does Henry County expect? What, do they want the younger people to live here where there is nothing to do, and where the work is underpaid?

Younger people choose to move on to the bigger and better things. The young people cannot afford to raise a family and have a nice house on the minimum wage of $7.25 all their life. The Henry County area is behind on their salaries. People are not getting paid enough for what their job entitles. They go to other places to live out their dreams. Younger people with families move to other areas in search of better incomes and places that they can live life successfully. The Henry County area is seen as a retirement home by the younger people. You have to go to Danville, Greensboro or Roanoke to do something exciting because you sure cannot find it in Henry County. Some of the younger people in Henry County live with their parents or split the utility bills and housing with other friends or family. They do this because they cannot afford to live on their own and manage everything that comes with being independent. Parents who have adult children living with them tend to foot their bills and help them out. As a younger person, they need the best and need more versus the older people who live off the smaller things and what they already have.

It used to be that the older people back when could quit one factory and go right next door and have another job. Henry County used to be a booming textile industry and there was so much more here to do and there were more jobs than now. Older people did not have to commute like some young people do for work from Martinsville to Danville or Roanoke. Older people already have a home, land and family, so they do not want to have to start over and move away. The older generation has settled down in Henry County. So why would they pick up and leave in their older age and have to completely start over in life? They are not going to pick up and move, they are staying right where they are.

As a younger person, would you want to live and have a family in a dead area like this or move on to the bigger and better things in life? If Henry County wants to increase its population numbers, then it needs to figure out something else besides what they are doing and ask the people what they want for the area. Until then, the population will steadily decline over time, leaving the area a dead place.

Taylor Walker

Axton
TODAYS WORD is shambolic (sham-bol-ik). Example: Even after hours of cleaning, the little boys room was still in a shambolic state.

THURSDAYS WORD was stoic. It means free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief. Example: His features remained stoic, but inside, he was a roiling sea of emotion.

Learning to crochet

Are you interested in crochet? Theres a beginners class led by Janie Turner Monday over at the HJDB Center (formerly John D. Bassett High School). Itll start at 10 a.m. in room four, with supplies available. The cost is just $1 per person.

Weather warnings

Mr. William Blackburn called up the Stroller Thursday morning, with another weather prediction to add to the pile. Well, my smoke came down from the chimney, he said, so you know what that means. A storms coming. Thats been a predictor the Strollers heard a few times over the years, saying that when smoke falls to the ground, its a sign you can expect rain. Now why is that? Well some local meteorologists say its because of a number of reasons. First, the main reason smoke falls is that water vapor, in the air from a coming storm, mixed with it and weighed it down. The second reason is that theres been a temperature switch ahead of the storm. Basically, the air just above the ground is slightly warmer, due to a stormy warm front.

TODAY IS: National Tortilla Chip Day

Although we think of tortilla chips as a Mexican food, they were first mass-produced in Los Angeles in the late 1940s. They were created by Rebecca Webb Carranza, who owned a deli and tortilla factory with her husband. Carranza took the misshapen tortillas that were rejected from the factorys tortilla machine, cut them into triangle-shapes and fried them. The chips proved popular, and in 1994, Carranza received the Golden Tortilla Award for her contribution to the Mexican food industry  and, indeed, to humanity.

Spring Muster

The Colonel George Waller chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, will hold its spring muster at the Dutch Inn on March 4 at 9 a.m.

TRIVIA QUESTION: What famous spokesdog was really named Honey Tree Evil Eye?

WEDNESDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: In what year did the last known Civil War widow pass away? The answer is 2008. Maudie Hopkins  born Maudie Cecilia Acklin in Baxter County, Arkansas in 1914  married Civil War veteran William M. Cantrell in 1934. She was 19 at the time, while Cantrell was 86. Hopkins died Aug. 17, 2008 at the age of 93.
The First World War was becoming a catastrophe for Russia. From the front line there was news of defeat after defeat. The breakdown of the economy produced a shortage of bread. Crowds of half-starved and desperate women queued outside shops for bread that never arrived. But at the top of Russian society things were very different.

A degenerate and absolutist clique ruled the land with an iron hand. Wealthy aristocrats and bankers held parties where the champagne flowed like water. Serving officers who should have been at the front line, where their men were suffering unspeakable horrors, were regular guests at these haunts where high-class prostitutes rubbed shoulders with millionaires and courtiers.

The whiff of scandal spread its intolerable stench out from the tsars court to every corner of society, every factory and every filthy waterlogged trench. The attempt to forestall revolution by a palace coup through the assassination of the degenerate monk Rasputin ended in failure. The liberal bourgeois opposition in the Duma begged the tsar to introduce change from the top, to win the peoples confidence in order to prevent revolution from below  to no avail. Nicholas replied disdainfully: What is all this talk about the peoples confidence? Let the people merit my confidence.

The uprising

But beneath the surface of apparent tranquility the molecular process of revolution was proceeding apace. The year 1917 was ushered in by a strike wave in Petrograd, after a short lull in November-December 1916. In January alone, 270,000 were on strike, 177,000 in Petrograd. The strike was accompanied by mass meetings and demonstrations. This was the beginning of a general movement of the masses.

The tipping point was reached on 23rd February  the date of International Womens Day under the old Julian calendar used by Russia up to 1918 and which is used for all dates in this article.

That morning a 25-year old sailor, Fyodr Raskolnikov looked out of the window and thought, Today is Womens Day. Will something happen in the streets today? Something did happen. Mass meetings protested against the war, the high cost of living and the bad conditions of women workers. Women marched on the factories, calling the workers out. The whole city of Petrograd was seething with life. The lightning speed with which the women and young people moved caught even the activists by surprise.

The next day, 200,000 workersmore than half of the Petrograd working classwere on strike. There were massive factory meetings and demonstrations. Crowds of people swept past the police and troops to reach the city centre shouting Bread! Peace! and Down with the Autocracy! The revolution had begun and immediately acquired a tremendous impetus, sweeping all before it.

The tsar had personally signed the order to fire on demonstrators to put an end to the disorder in the capital tomorrow without fail. On 25th February, some troops were ordered to open fire on unarmed demonstrators. At first the soldiers fired in the air. The Pavlovsk regiment was then ordered to fire on workers but instead opened fire on the police. This was a decisive turning point. The powerful forces the state thought were at its disposal melted away like the snow in spring.

On paper, the regime had ample forces at its disposal but, at the moment of truth, the regime found itself suspended in mid-air. Once the proletariat began to move, there was nothing to stop it. The February revolution (as it is known, although, under the post-1918 calendar, it actually took place in March) was relatively peaceful because no serious force was prepared to defend the old regime. There was widespread fraternisation between troops and strikers. Workers went to the barracks to appeal to their brothers in uniform.

Even the Cossacks, a special elite force used to repress protests, proved to be unreliable. The mounted Cossacks remained passive as the workers pressed forward, even passing beneath the bellies of the horses. One demonstrator noted that as he passed under a horse, the Cossack looked at him and winked. That small incident tells us everything we need to know.

[Watch Alan Woods speak on the history of the history of the Russian Revolution here: part 1 - part 2]

Dual power

After 27th February, most of the capital was in the hands of the workers and soldiers, including bridges, arsenals, railway stations, the telegraph and the post office. Basing themselves on the experience of 1905, the workers set up soviets (workers councils) to take over the running of society. By March, the now-powerless Tsar Nicholas had abdicated and the Romanov dynasty had passed into history. Power was in the hands of the working class and soldiers but, lacking the necessary leadership, they did not carry the revolution through to the end. This was the central paradox of the February revolution.

The reformist leaders (the SRs and Mensheviks) who made up the bulk of the Soviet Executive Committee, had no perspective of taking power but instead fell over themselves in their haste to hand over power to the bourgeoisie, although the latter had played no role in the revolution and were terrified by it. Profoundly convinced that the bourgeoisie was the only class qualified to rule, they were anxious to give the power conquered by the workers and soldiers to the enlightened section of the bourgeoisie at the earliest opportunity.

[Follow our 1917 live tweet campaign, following the Russian Revolution day by day as it happened]

However, these liberals had no real mass base of support in society. These representatives of big business already knew that they could only hold the line by leaning on the support of the Soviet leaders. The old order expected that this would be just a temporary arrangement. The masses would soon tire of this madness. The movement would die down and then they could simply give the socialists a kick in the teeth and restore order. But for the time being, they were a necessary evil to be put up with, for fear of something worse.

The bourgeois liberals hastily moved to take control. A committee, headed by Mikhail Rodzianko, the former Speaker of the Duma, proclaimed itself the Provisional Government of Russia. Another prominent member of this committee, Shulgin accidentally let slip the real reasons for the formation of the Provisional Government, when he remarked: if we do not take power, others will take it for us, those scoundrels who have already elected all sorts of scoundrels in the factories. The scoundrels he referred to were the members of the workers councils (soviets), those broadly-based committees of struggle, democratically elected in the workplaces, which immediately made their appearance.

Provisional Government

On 2nd March, the Provisional Government was formally constituted. It was mainly made up of big landlords and industrialists. Prince Lvov was designated as chairman of the council of ministers. The Foreign Minister was the chief of the Cadet party, Milyukov. The Finance Minister was the wealthy sugar manufacturer and landowner Tereshchenko. Trade and Industry was in the hands of the textile manufacturer Konovalov. War and Navy went to the Octobrist Guchkov. Agriculture was given to the Cadet Shingarev.

To this reactionary gang of rogues, the Soviet handed the government of Russia! The aim of the liberals was to halt the revolution by making cosmetic changes from the top which would preserve as much of the old regime as possible. In this grotesque comedy of errors, the workers, who had shed their blood to overthrow the Romanovs, handed power to their leaders, who, in turn, handed it to the bourgeois liberals, who, in turn, offered it back to the Romanovs.

All this was not lost on the workers and soldiers, especially the activists, whose attitude to the bourgeois politicians in the Provisional Government was characterised by a growing feeling of distrust. But they trusted their leaders, the Mensheviks and SRs, the moderate socialists who made up the majority of the Soviet Executive Committee and who were constantly telling them that they must be patient, that the first task was to consolidate democracy, prepare to convene the Constituent Assembly and so on.

The Menshevik and SR leaders who dominated the Soviet initially had a number of advantages over the Bolsheviks. They had the big names from the Duma (parliamentary) group, people known to the masses through the legal press during the war years. They also offered what appeared to be an easy way out to the mass of politically untutored workers and peasants who now flooded onto the scene, intoxicated with democratic illusions.

The Mensheviks and SRs clung to the bourgeois liberals. The latter clung to what remained of the old order. The workers and peasants, only recently awakened to political life, were striving to find their way and as yet lacked the experience and self-confidence to rely on their own strength. The Menshevik orators and big names overawed them and silenced their doubts.

In the name of unity and defence of democracy, unity of all progressive forces, etc., they used the argument that the working class could not transform society on its own and echoed the dismal litany traditionally rattled off by the reformist leaders then as now to convince the workers that they are powerless to change society and must forever put up with the rule of Capital. They argued the Soviet would put pressure on the bourgeois liberals to act in the workers interests. In this way was born the abortion of dual power.

The Bolsheviks in February

The growth of the Bolshevik Party in 1917 must represent the most spectacular transformation in the entire history of political parties. In February the Party represented a very small number  probably no more than 8,000, in a huge country with a population in the region of 150 million. Yet, by October the Bolsheviks were strong enough to lead millions of workers and peasants to the seizure of power.

The rank and file Bolshevik workers in the factories displayed a healthy skepticism and distrust of the Provisional Government from the outset. But the arrival of the exiles Kamenev and Stalin from Siberia instantly imparted a sharp rightward slant to the political positions taken by the Bolshevik leadership in Petrograd. This was immediately reflected in the pages of their paper. In Pravda on March 14, two days after his return, Kamenev wrote an editorial in which he asked: What purpose would it serve to speed things up, when things were already taking place at such a rapid pace? Stalin held the same position as Kamenev, only more cautiously.

Stalin and Kamenev had capitulated to the enormous pressure of public opinion. The position they advocated effectively eradicated the lines of demarcation between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. So much so, that the Bolshevik March Conference actually considered the question of fusion. Indeed, if the Stalin-Kamenev line had been accepted, there would have been no serious reason to maintain the existence of two separate parties.

Stalin had once described the differences between Bolshevism and Menshevism as a storm in a tea-cup. In the minutes of the March Party Conference we read the following: Stalin: There is no use running ahead and anticipating disagreements. There is no party life without disagreements. We will live down trivial disagreements within the party. But there is one questionit is impossible to unite what cannot be united. We will have a single party with those who agree on Zimmerwald and Kienthal

If this opportunist line had not been corrected it would have dealt a death blow to the revolution. In order to convince the party to change course, Lenin had to wage a ferocious struggle that was continued throughout 1917 and finally ended in victory.

But this was not achieved immediately or easily. From far-off Switzerland Lenin watched with growing anxiety the evolution of the line pursued by the Bolshevik leaders in Petrograd.

Lenin

Immediately on hearing the news of the tsars overthrow he telegraphed Petrograd on March 6: Our tactic: no trust in and no support of the new government; Kerensky is particularly suspect; arming of the proletariat is the only guarantee; immediate elections to the Petrograd City Council; no rapprochement with other parties. Lenin bombarded Pravda with letters and articles demanding that the workers break with the bourgeois liberals and take power into their own hands.

As soon as Pravda had recommenced publication, Lenin started to send his famous Letters from Afar. Reading these articles and comparing them to the speeches at the March conference, we seem to be in two different worlds. When Lenins letters reached the Bolshevik leaders in Petrograd, they were aghast. A bitter conflict now opened up between Lenin and his closest comrades.

The Bolshevik leaders were so embarrassed by Lenins letters that they hesitated for several days before publishing. Even then, they printed only one of the two, which was censored to cut out all those passages where Lenin opposed any agreement with the Mensheviks. The same fate awaited the remainder of Lenins articles. They were just not published or issued in a mutilated form.

In Pravda No. 27, Kamenev wrote: As for Comrade Lenins general scheme, it appears to us to be unacceptable, inasmuch as it proceeds from the assumption that the bourgeois-democratic revolution is completed, and builds on the immediate transformation of this revolution into a socialist revolution. This accurately conveys the opinions of Kamenev, Stalin and most of the other Old Bolsheviks in the spring of 1917.

Trotsky

Out of all the leaders of the Social Democracy at that time, only one held a position that completely matched that defended by Lenin. That man was Leon Trotsky, with whom Lenin had clashed so frequently in the past. When Trotsky first heard of the February revolution, he was still in exile in New York. Immediately he wrote a series of articles in the paper Novy Mir.

The logic of events had pushed Lenin and Trotsky together. Independently, and starting from different directions, they came to the same conclusion: the bourgeoisie cannot solve the problems of Russia. The workers must take power.

At a time when the Old Bolsheviks, against Lenins explicit advice, were moving closer to the Mensheviks, Lenins ideas seemed to them to be pure Trotskyism, and in a way they were not wrong.

All Power to the Soviets"

The line usually put by bourgeois historians is that the October revolution was a mere coup carried out by a conspiratorial minority led by Lenin, whereas the February Revolution was an elemental, spontaneous movement of the masses. The implied conclusion is that the later revolution was a bad thing, leading inexorably to dictatorship, while the first was a revolution for democracy a movement of the whole of society. Both these versions are false.

Those historians who specialize in being wise after the event now claim that if the February revolution had not been ruined by the Bolsheviks in Russia it would have blossomed into a democratic paradise and all the subsequent problems would have been avoided. This is entirely false. The Kornilov episode later that year showed exactly where the abortion of dual power was leading. The Provisional Government was merely a facade behind which the forces of reaction were gathering. The choice before the Russian people was not democracy or dictatorship but one where either the workers or the Russian reactionaries would take power.

The truth is that the Russian workers and peasants already had power in their hands in February. Had the soviet leadership acted decisively, the revolution would have taken place peacefully, without civil war, because they had the support of the overwhelming majority of society. The only reason why a peaceful revolution was not immediately achieved in Russia was because of the cowardice and treachery of the reformist leaders in the soviets.

The Bolsheviks were in a minority in the soviets, which were dominated by the reformist parties, the SRs and Mensheviks. That is why Lenin put forward the slogan All power to the soviets. The central task was not the seizure of power but the winning over of the majority who had illusions in the reformists.

Take power!

From March right up to the eve of the October insurrection, Lenin insistently demanded that the reformist leaders of the soviets should take power into their own hands, arguing that this would guarantee a peaceful transformation of society. He guaranteed that, if the reformist leaders were to take power, the Bolsheviks would limit themselves to the peaceful struggle for a majority inside the soviets.

The Mensheviks and SRs refused to take power because they firmly believed that the bourgeoisie must rule. As a result, the initiative inevitably passed over to the forces of reaction. Behind the shirt-tails of the Russian popular front (the Provisional Government) the ruling class was regrouping and preparing its revenge. The result was the reaction of the "July Days." The workers suffered a defeat, the Bolsheviks were suppressed and Lenin was forced to go into hiding in Finland.

This prepared the ground for counter-revolution. General Kornilov marched on Petrograd to crush the revolution. The Bolsheviks advanced the slogan of the united front to defeat Kornilov. This was the turning point of the Russian revolution. Through the use of timely transitional demands (peace, bread and land, all power to the soviets) and flexible tactics (the united front) the Bolsheviks won over the majority of the workers and soldiers in the soviets. Only then did Lenin advance the slogan of the seizure of power, which led to the victory of the Bolsheviks in October, on 7 November 1917 in the modern calendar.

The October revolution, far from being a coup, was the most popular and democratic revolution in history. If the Bolsheviks had not taken power when they did the Russian revolution would have gone down to defeat like the Paris Commune. Russian fascism would have come to power five years before Mussolini. Instead, the Russian workers and peasants took power into their hands through the Soviets and opened up a new and inspiring vista before the human race. Rosa Luxemburgs final judgement on the Bolshevik Party can stand as the last word of the history of the greatest revolutionary party in history:
"After that I will go to school to learn German," he said. "Now I am here, it is safe and there is no war. But I worry about my mother and father still in Syria."

Speaking to VOA at his refugee shelter on the outskirts of Dresden in eastern Germany, Al Nasir said he he has seen a doctor and needs to undergo surgery for the wound in his head.

Among them was Syrian national Bilal Al Nasir, who was 17 years old when he fled Damascus after his home was bombed. His face is scarred from the explosion; shrapnel is still embedded in his head.

In Germany, just more than half supported curbs on Muslim immigration. More than 1.1 million asylum seekers entered Germany in 2015, about 40 percent from Syria, according to German authorities.

The survey of 10,000 people found that support for ending Muslim immigration averaged 55 percent across 10 European countries, ranging from 71 percent in Poland to 41 percent in Spain.

The furor in Europe over U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban on citizens from seven majority Muslim states has overshadowed what the London policy institute Chatham House calls a "reservoir of public support" on the continent for such measures, based on the findings of its latest poll.

 Integrating migrants

While he waits for the operation, Al Nasir is receiving help in trying to find a job from a charitable network called KS24. Founder Ronny Frenzel says employment is vital if Germany is to successfully integrate the migrants.

"The federal and state governments have put in place programs to look at how Germany can benefit from the refugees, Frenzel said. "They're serving the primary needs: language classes, a roof over their heads, and food on the table. Now they need to enable engagement with the local society."

On the surface, Al Nasir's new hometown of Dresden doesn't appear to welcome such engagement. It is the birthplace of the PEGIDA movement, the Patriotic Europeans Against Islamization of the West. Every Monday supporters march through the city. The guest speaker this week was Renate Sandvoss of 'Journalist Watch,' which claims German media is covering up immigration problems.

"'Muslim culture,' and I say it in quote marks because to me it is not culture, is totally different than the German culture and simply does not fit in here," she told VOA after the rally.

 Election impact

When the PEGIDA movement was born more than two years ago in Dresden, the organizers hoped that it would spread across Germany and beyond to the rest of Europe. But that hasn't materialized, and there's a reason why, says Dresden University's Professor Werner Patzelt.

"To put it quite clearly, PEGIDA is more successful than it has ever been, only under a different label. Because AfD is PEGIDA. AfD is PEGIDA as a political party," he said.

AfD, Alternative for Germany, could become the third-largest party in elections scheduled for September. It has previously denied links with the PEGIDA movement, but Patzelt says it is one of several far right parties in Europe feeding off concerns over immigration.

"We won't be able to stop immigration, we won't be able to make sure that there is something like a fair distribution of migrants throughout Europe, Patzelt said. "So this is really a problem at the heart of the European integration process."

But the latest polls show support for the AfD party is falling. Global uncertainty will likely lead German voters to put economic stability ahead of immigration, analysts say, and Germany's challenge will be to make the migrants part of that economic future.


The UN's special envoy for Syria met Thursday with a Syrian government delegation and envoys for the opposition in Geneva, as he launched the latest effort to find an end to the country's nearly six-year civil war.

Staffan de Mistura told diplomats from regional and world powers, including the U.S. and Russia, "we are launching a window of opportunity" to determine if a political "road forward" can be found.

"The Syrian people all want an end to this conflict and you all know it," he added. "They are waiting for relief of their own suffering, and the dream of a new road out of this nightmare to a real and normal future in dignity."

De Mistura's comments come a day after he said he does not see any imminent breakthrough on the horizon, but that there was a "political momentum" to move forward on a peace plan.

Syria's warring parties last met in Geneva nearly nine months ago. That round of talks broke down because of repeated violations of a cease-fire agreement.

De Mistura acknowledged that the successful resumption of the failed negotiations hinged largely on the warring parties abiding by the current cease-fire.

He said Russia, which had worked out the agreement with Turkey in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, was using its influence to see that the fragile cease-fire held.

"Today, the Russian Federation after the cease-fire task force did announce to everyone and every country present and to myself that they have formally requested the government of Syria to silence their own skies in the areas attached by the cease-fire during the intra-Syrian talks," he said Wednesday.

De Mistura added that he has asked other countries with influence on the opposition parties to have them stick to the cease-fire and not provoke the other side.
The first self-funded woman to visit the International Space Station and the first Muslim woman to travel to space, Anousheh Ansari was the keynote speaker for the 14th annual Women in Engineering Dinner, put on by MSUs College of Engineering, which this year featured 674 enrolled female students, 17 percent of the schools total enrollment.

By Whitney Bermes Chronicle Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana_state_university/dreams-into-reality-entrepreneur-space-traveler-encourages-female-students-at/article_26e6debb-9555-5200-ac59-c535c387044c.html
Academic studies have found that broadband access led to more new businesses in rural areas, and that high levels of broadband adoption were associated with increased median household incomes and lower unemployment levels.

by Brian Whitacre, Oklahoma State University

Full Story: http://www.govtech.com/opinion/Broadband-Internet-Can-Help-Rural-communities-connect.html
In alignment with the companys core pillar of empowerment and equality, Canon unveils its Women in Sales initiative to offer yearlong internship and mentorship opportunities to women; the Women in Sales opportunity is an exclusive offering for women residing in Central and North Africa, Middle-East and Turkey regions.

Canon Central and North Africa announced, today, the launch of its Women in Sales program that further fortifies the companys commitment, dedication and support towards gender equality and empowerment of women, in celebration of Womens Month 2022. Centered on the companys core philosophy of Kyosei, the initiative will invite women from Central and North Africa, Middle-East and Turkey to advance their careers in sales by participating in a yearlong internship program with the company. Furthermore, fifty percent of the participants will also be given an opportunity to become full-time employees with the company, thus paving the path for their professional careers.

Women Empowerment  Key Ingredient for Economic and Social Growth

Our constant endeavor at Canon has always been to educate and empower the communities we operate in, we achieve this through different initiatives and programs that are rolled out on a consistent basis, thus contributing towards our end goal of advancing the world we live in. Gender equality and empowerment of women are key ingredients to create an inclusive society as well as to attain economic growth. The contribution of women towards Canons growth has been immense and this is evident in the 25% female representation in Sales in our CCNA region. The Women in Sales initiative is a brilliant platform for women who want to kick-start their careers in sales, receive invaluable mentorship from industry experts along with the possibility of becoming a full-time employee with Canon. Similar to our other empowerment initiatives, the Women in Sales program aims to create an enabling working environment for women by providing them the right set of tools required for professional success and satisfaction, commented Veronica Juul-Nyholm, the human resource director at the company.

Holistic Development and Growth

The women-only initiative is being rolled out in different locations simultaneously across Central and North Africa, Middle-East, Turkey and has specifically created, developed and implemented for this region. The program will offer several modules including blended learnings to participants to enhance their skill set and knowledge in sales. Additionally, the yearlong internship will be dissected into two parts namely the training program along with on-the-job experience. Each participant will also be assigned a mentor thus ensuring support and guidance for every woman participating in the program. The company envisions raising female representation in Sales Management roles to a minimum of 35% and is optimistic that the Women in Sales endeavor will sustain this vision.

The program kick-stared in February 2022 with ten women participants being selected from the different parts of the region namely Rahaf Alharbi, Ruba Moafa and Fatima Alamer from Riyadh  Saudi Arabia, Sila Ucar, Billur Konukcu and Senab Bayram from Istanbul  Turkey, Ajuma Gabriel from Lagos  Nigeria, Hind Abdoudaime from Casablanca  Morocco, Scholarstica Ochieng from Nairobi  Kenya and Shahnaz Bhandari from Dubai  UAE. The first phase of the program will focus on education, the second phase will involve execution and the third phase will include certification and on-boarding of successful participants into full-time Canon employees.

Partager et informez vous aussi......

0 shares Share

Tweet

LinkedIn

Articles similaires
Malaysian police have flown to Macau to take DNA samples from the son of Kim Jong-nam, who was assassinated last week in Kuala Lumpur, press reports said.

Local media said three Malaysian police officers flew to Macau carrying a DNA sample from Kim Jong-nam to compare it with a sample provided by his son Han-sol, who fears for his safety if he flies to Malaysia instead.

But Malaysia's police chief Khalid Abu Bakar dismissed the reports. "We have not sent any team to retrieve any DNA samples. We have not received any samples as well," he told reporters.

Deputy police chief Noor Rashid Ibrahim met with reporters on Thursday and said Kim Jong-nam's family could arrive in Malaysia "within one to two days," according to the New Straits Times.

He said the "family members of the deceased are living not far from Malaysia." If Kim Han-sol comes to Malaysia, the three officers may have been sent to Macau to escort him safely.




Genres : Sci-Fi and Thriller



: Sci-Fi and Thriller Running Time : 101 min.



: 101 min. Directed by : Hong Yong-su



: Hong Yong-su Starring : Ko Soo, Sol Kyung-gu

Synopsis : Dae-ho is in agony as his only son got kidnapped at a theme park. He gives up his career as a journalist in search of his son but to no avail. Psychiatrist So-hyun suggests lucid dream, a new psychiatry healing method, to treat traumatic experiences.
Emotions are running high among protesters as the date of the Constitutional Court's ruling on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment approaches. Park's opponents are threatening a "revolution" if the court rules against removing the tainted president, while die-hard supporters are warning of "civil war" if the judges consider otherwise. Politicians and Constitutional Court judges have been getting death threats.

Protesters rally against President Park Geun-hye in Gwanghwamun, Seoul on Thursday. /Newsis

Meanwhile rumors are spreading that Park is trying to wrangle a deal whereby she steps down in return for escaping prosecution. Cheong Wa Dae has categorically denied the rumors, and Park remains holed up at her residence. The Constitutional Court on Thursday requested 24-hour police protection for the eight judges, and police have bolstered patrols around their homes. Minjoo Party presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in's aides said they have hired private security. One of Moon's aides said, "We've received several death threats and learned through our channels that they should be taken seriously." Politicians are fanning uncertainties by spreading and exaggerating rumors of Park's resignation. People's Party leader Park Jie-won told reporters Thursday there is a "possibility" of the president offering to step down on condition that she stays out of jail.

President Park Geun-hye's supporters demonstrate in Haeundae, Busan on Thursday. /Yonhap

Cheong Wa Dae called the claim "ridiculous" and added they were "politically motivated attempts to influence the Constitutional Court's ruling." The rumors were fanned by remarks from Chung Woo-taik, the floor leader of Park's sinking ruling party, who last Monday called for a "political solution." And seven pro-Park lawmakers with legal backgrounds on Thursday demanded a halt to the impeachment trial, claiming there were problems in the process. A group of former lawmakers and the Korean Bar Association have issued statements urging politicians to accept the court's ruling.
To keep patients  and visitors  safe from the flu, Carolinas HealthCare System Blue Ridge is restricting hospital access for visitors 12 and under at the Morganton and Valdese hospitals, effective at 7 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 24.

Tighter restrictions are in place at Carolinas HealthCare System Blue Ridge long-term care facilities  Grace Heights and College Pines Health and Rehabilitation Centers. Visitation is restricted to immediate family only and no children under age 18. Visitors are asked to clean hands before and after visiting and to wear a mask while in the facility. Masks and hand sanitizers are available inside the front entrances.

The restrictions are a result of the growing prevalence of flu cases in Burke, Caldwell and McDowell counties.

Carolinas HealthCare System Blue Ridge is also asking individuals of all ages who are experiencing flu-like symptoms to help control the spread of the illness by not visiting patients in the hospital. Symptoms include: fever, headaches/body aches/pain, cough or sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, chills, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea.

If extraordinary circumstances require an individual with flu-like symptoms to visit a hospital patient, the visitor will be asked to wear a surgical mask to protect themselves and others.

To reduce the odds of getting the flu, Carolinas HealthCare System Blue Ridge recommends frequent hand washing with soap or use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, not touching eyes, nose or mouth with hands, and getting a flu shot.

Most people with the flu have mild illness and do not need medical care, said Joseph Mazzola, DO, Chief Medical Officer at Carolinas HealthCare System Blue Ridge. If you have flu symptoms, in most cases you should stay home and avoid contact with other people.

Flu sufferers should rest, drink fluids and take ibuprofen or acetaminophen to reduce minor pain or fever.

If symptoms are severe enough to require a visit to a health care provider, a physicians office or urgent care center may be the best option to minimize wait times in emergency rooms. Emergency rooms should only be used for people who are very sick such as those with difficulty breathing, chest pain, confusion, severe vomiting or signs of dehydration. Wait times for Carolinas HealthCare System Blue Ridge urgent care centers and emergency departments are available at www.carolinashealthcare.org/wait-times.
North Korea in its first statement on the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of leader Kim Jong-un, alleged a conspiracy orchestrated by South Korea.

Without naming Kim Jong-nam, whom it merely described as "a citizen" of North Korea, the official KCNA news agency accused Malaysian authorities of conspiring with South Korea to sabotage the North.

"What merits more serious attention is the fact that the unjust acts of the Malaysian side are timed to coincide with the anti-[North Korean] conspiratorial racket launched by the South Korean authorities," it said.

In prose that sounded less like a bad translation and more like a Martian's attempt at human speech, it accused Malaysia's investigation of being riddled with "faults and contradiction."

"This proves that the Malaysian side is going to politicize the transfer of the body in utter disregard of international law and morality and thus attain a sinister purpose," it added.

A Unification Ministry official here said the comments are "unworthy of a response."

North Korean Embassy officials in Malaysia have variously claimed the dead man is not Kim Jong-nam, was not assassinated, and was not killed by North Korea. They have demanded that the body be cremated without an autopsy or handed over, and apparently tried to break into the morgue.

But North Korea still seems wary of publicizing the killing. The statement was not repeated in the official newspapers, and there are signs that border security has been reinforced to prevent the news from seeping into the country.

One defector who used to be a high-ranking official in the North said, "North Koreans have been brainwashed to believe that Kim Jong-un is the legitimate successor of former leader Kim Jong-il. If they find out about Kim Jong-nam, the very foundation of the hereditary transfer of power could be shaken."
Doan Thi Huong's Facebook page also had a photo of her wearing the same T-shirt she wore on the day of the hit, and 27 of her 65 online friends seem to be South Korean.

A Vietnamese woman identified as one of the two suspects in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam had a Facebook account full of photos of Korean food and Korean words, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Huong, who has told investigators she thought she was taking part in a reality TV prank, also appeared on a talent show on Vietnamese TV last year, using an alias.

A 30-second YouTube clip shows her singing a song on the program.

Japan's Asahi Shimbun quoted a friend Thursday saying Huong "dated several South Korean men." The friend, who claimed to have been her roommate until recently, said Huong told her she was going to Jeju Island with a man about a week before the assassination.

South Korean investigators have found that Huong went to Jeju Island last November and a South Korean man in his 20s vouched for her visa.
The poison that killed Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport last week was a nerve agent classified as a weapon of mass destruction, Malaysian police said Friday.

Preliminary analysis found traces of VX nerve agent on Kim's eyes and face.

At least 100 times more toxic than Sarin, VX can cause death within minutes if even a small drop is inhaled, ingested or absorbed through the skin, unless it is immediately washed off.


by Sara Guaglione , February 23, 2017

Twenty Financial Times editorial employees are leaving -- a 3% cut in the companys 600-person global headcount.

There are no layoffs, FT spokesperson Christopher Chafin told Publishers Daily.

Instead, he said this reduction in headcount is part of natural attrition, which includes a handful of voluntary redundancies, combined with redeployments into new digital jobs as reader habits change.

Chafin said more than a dozen editorial jobs were added at Financial Times in 2016. Our growth strategy is focused on developing new editorial products and further investing in the deep, data-rich, original reporting and commentary that is driving subscriptions and reader engagement, he said.

According to Bloomberg, Financial Times is trying to reduce its dependence on ads and focus on growing subscription revenues. Around 60% of FTs revenue is now derived from subscriptions and 40% from advertising.

Since Japans Nikkei Inc. bought the paper in 2015 from Pearson PLC for $1.3 billion, digital subscribers have increased by 17%.

The financial news publisher aims to reach 1 million print and digital readers by 2020, up from about 850,000 today, 625,000 of which are digital subscribers.

In November, CEO John Ridding told Bloomberg the London-based publisher is interested in acquiring companies to support and accelerate its digital subscription, as well as business technology firms with data analytics capabilities to help target readers with advertising and subscription offers.

Ridding told Bloomberg the FT has a number of opportunities in the acquisition zone on the radar."

FT's staff reduction is unlike the sweeping cuts that hit the North Jersey Media Group in January and Univision in November, for example, as well as an impending round of layoffs at The New York Times.
The body that runs America's SAT college-entrance exam has drastically tightened security, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Under the new policy, the College Board will provide government agencies with the names of test prep businesses and students involved in cheating and prohibit them from taking any future tests it administers.

The College Board has been plagued for several years by cheating, including smuggling out of test questions by people who sit for money in Korea, China, and elsewhere abroad, taking advantage of a test method where questions are randomly pulled from a pool.

In September last year the College Board said it would cut the number of test administrations overseas from six a year to four, and cancel a test scheduled overseas in June.


Moving ahead with its aggressive video monetization strategy, Facebook plans to begin inserting ads into publisher partners fare.

The move is a win for everyone, according to Facebooks Brian Boland and Maria Angelidou-Smith.

We want to help our partners monetize their premium video content, both on Facebook and on their own Web sites and apps, the companys VP of publisher solutions and product manager note in a new blog post.

Going forward, all eligible publishers will be invited to share in the profits from in-stream video ads on their own sites, and apps through Facebooks Audience Network.

On Facebooks flagship property, the social giant is expanding the beta test of its ad breaks in Facebook Live to additional profiles and Pages.

On the topic of content, word is that Facebook has recently been de-emphasizing live video in its ongoing discussions with publishers. In its place, the company appears to be pushing publishers to create longer, professionally produced video content.

Facebook has also been reaching out to TV studios and other media companies about licensing its own shows, according to multiple reports. The discussions are being spearheaded by Ricky Van Veen, the co-founder of College Humor, who joined Facebooks executive ranks in early 2016.

There is no underestimating Facebooks video ambitions. As CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a recent earnings call: I see video as a megatrend, on the same order as mobile.

To be sure, Facebook doesnt need Apple or other set-top-box makers to begin exploring new video monetization opportunities.

For publishers providing the content, Facebook is expected to give them 55% of the mid-roll ad revenue -- the same share presently offered by Googles YouTube unit. That share, however, has yet to be confirmed by Facebook.
by Tanya Gazdik , February 24, 2017

This Sunday is the day racing fans look forward to all year. If they arent lucky enough to be in Daytona, Florida, they will be glued to their TV sets watching the iconic race on Fox. Last years broadcast garnered 11.4 million viewers.

Brands are taking advantage of the likely huge Daytona 500 audience with a number of marketing activations. A slew of NASCAR Official Partners have TV spots planned.

The broadcast is a natural for automotive ads. Chevrolet and Ford will be running brand spots. Chevy will also be running lower-third graphics during the broadcast. Toyota is running new creative intended to convey the heat, intensity and energy of NASCAR while introducing the new 2018 Camry.

Ford has made a large social buy on Twitter to rally support around their drivers leading into the Daytona 500. The campaign will focus on 1-to-1 engagement with fans and build on the enthusiasm and excitement of Stewart-Haas Racings first D500 in Fords, as well as a NASCAR.com home page takeover today along with custom editorial.

advertisement advertisement

Toyota also will execute a large social buy with special components. As in 2016, Toyota will launch a #ToyotaNation emoji running through March 5 as well as a promoted trend. Toyota will have ownership of the 1st position on Twitters promoted trends, #Toyota Nation will appear in trends/search topics. The automaker will offer pizza to fans during the Daytona 500 for fans using #ToyotaNation + pizza emoji.

Coca-Cola will launch a new NASCAR-themed spot that features the Coca-Cola Racing Family while Nationwide is debuting new creative featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr that will create a season long platform for content on their diverse insurance offerings.

Sunoco and Goodyear are running NASCAR-themed spots. Sunocos spot is built around their new campaign If it has an engine that highlights their role in NASCAR and other motorsports. Goodyear is running its 2016 spot featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr.s journey called Made.

Social and digital activations also figure prominently. Allegiant launched a sweepstakes titled Get away your way on NASCAR.com this week to create brand awareness among NASCAR fans and reward them with Allegiant flights and Champions Week package.

DraftKings is running an enter for free contest on their Web site for the first time, giving fans the chance to win $10,000. The brand also will be featured in-broadcast with a Fox read and video package.

Nationwide developed a six-part video series titled The Road to Daytona launching this month featuring content around the #88 team and Dale Jr as they prepare for the upcoming season.

Several brands are sponsoring racers including 5-Hour Energy, which is behind Erik Jones and the #77 Furniture Row Racing car. Both Hooters and NAPA Auto Parts are aligned with Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports.
As mindfulness practices rise in popularity and evidence of their worth continues to accumulate, those who work with aging populations are looking to use the techniques to boost cognitive, emotional and physiological health.

But studies so far have shown mixed results in the elderly, and more investigation is needed to determine exactly how best to apply mindfulness in that population, a new review of the research to date has found.

A majority of the 27 studies in the review suggest that the focused attention at the core of mindfulness benefits older people, but others don't point to improvements. And that should prompt more rigorous investigations in search of interventions likely to do the most good, researchers from The Ohio State University found. Their analysis appears in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.

"Mindfulness is a practice that really serves as a way to foster a greater quality of life and there's been some thought that it could help with cognitive decline as we age," said Stephanie Fountain-Zaragoza, lead author of the study and a graduate student in psychology.

"Given the growing interest in mindfulness in general, we wanted to determine what we know right now so that researchers can think about where we go from here," she said.

The good news so far: The evidence from a variety of studies points to some benefits for older adults, suggesting that mindfulness training might be integrated into senior centers and group homes, the researchers found.

Older people are an especially important population to study given diminished social support, physical limitations and changes in cognitive health, the researchers point out.

Studies of mindfulness meditation usually involve three types of practices. The first, focused attention, involves sustained attention to a single thing (such as the breath) and an effort to disengage from other distractions.

Open monitoring meditation, often seen as the next step up in mindfulness, includes acknowledging the details of multiple phenomena (sensations, sounds, etc.) without selectively focusing on one of them.

"This includes being open to experiencing thoughts and sensations and emotions and taking them as they come and letting them go," Fountain-Zaragoza said.

Loving-kindness meditation encourages a universal state of love and compassion toward oneself and others.

"The goal with this is to foster compassionate acceptance," said senior author Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, director of Ohio State's clinical neuroscience laboratory and an expert in mindfulness.

In addition to looking at how mindfulness contributed - or did not - to behavioral and cognitive functioning and to psychological wellbeing, some of the research also looked at its potential role in inflammation, which contributes to a variety of diseases.

In all categories of study, including inflammatory processes, Prakash and Fountain-Zaragoza found mixed results.

The hope is that mindfulness could help the elderly preserve attention and capitalize on emotional regulation strategies that naturally improve as we age, Prakash said.

"Around 50 percent of our lives, our minds are wandering and research from Harvard University has shown that the more your mind wanders, the less happy you are," she said.

"Mindfulness allows you to become aware of that chaotic mind-wandering and provides a safe space to just breathe."

In older people, mindfulness ideally has the potential to help with cognition, emotion and inflammation, but little research has been done so far and those studies that have been done have had mixed results and scientific limitations.

While most of the studies in the review showed positive results, the field is limited and would benefit greatly from larger randomized controlled trials, Fountain-Zaragoza said.

"We want to really be able to say that we have strong evidence that mindfulness is driving the changes we see," she said.

Article: Mindfulness Training for Healthy Aging: Impact on Attention, Well-Being, and Inflammation, Stephanie Fountain-Zaragoza and Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00011, published 3 February 2017.
Despite living in strong and supportive families for over 20 years, children exposed to early deprivation in Romanian institutions aged 0-3 experience a range of mental health problems in early adulthood.

Experiencing severe deprivation and neglect in childhood can have a lasting psychological impact into early adulthood, according to a unique study which has followed the mental health of a group of children adopted from Romanian institutions to UK families in the 1990s.

Published in The Lancet, this is the first large-scale study to follow a group of children who were subjected to extreme deprivation into adulthood, tracking how their mental health and cognition has developed as a result.

The English and Romanian Adoptees study began shortly after the fall of the communist regime in Romania. Children living in institutions were subjected to extremely poor hygiene, insufficient food, little personalised care and no social or cognitive stimulation. The study, running since 1990, analyses the mental health of 165 children who spent time in Romanian institutions and who were adopted by families in the UK between the ages of two weeks and 43 months. In the UK, they joined socioeconomically advantaged, stable, caring and supportive families.

Comparing against 52 children adopted within the UK, the study has followed them throughout their childhood using questionnaires, IQ tests and interviews with the children and their parents to analyse social, emotional and cognitive outcomes at ages 6, 11 and 15.

The latest part of the study followed the adoptees to ages 22 to 25 years old. It includes around three-quarters of the original adoptees - 39 UK adoptees, 50 Romanian adoptees who had spent less than six months in an institution as children and 72 who had spent over six months.

The researchers found that the amount of time spent in a Romanian institution was an important marker of children's future mental health. Romanian adoptees who had spent less than six months had similar rates of mental health symptoms as UK adoptees. However, adoptees who had spent more time in the institutions had higher rates of social, emotional and cognitive problems throughout their lives.

People who had lived in Romanian institutions for more than six months as children had higher rates of social problems including autistic features, difficulties engaging with others, inattention and overactivity which persisted from childhood into adulthood. They were also three to four times more likely to experience emotional problems as adults, and had lower educational attainment and employment rates than the other UK and Romanian adoptees. This all despite living in strong and supportive families for over 20 years.

As children, more adoptees who lived in Romanian institutions for over six months had an IQ of less than 80, but this recovered within normal levels (an IQ of 90 or above) by early adulthood, suggesting developmental delays but no permanent impact on general cognitive abilities.

Additionally, one in five (21%, 15 children) adoptees who spent over six months in Romanian institutions did not experience any mental health problems throughout their lives. The next steps of the research will involve an in-depth genetic analysis of the most exposed adoptees who did not develop mental health problems to distinguish whether genetic and epigenetic differences contribute to resilience.

"Being exposed to very severe conditions in childhood can be associated with lasting and deep-seated social, emotional and cognitive problems, which are complex and vary over time," said lead author Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke, King's College London, UK, who conducted the follow-up study while at the University of Southampton. "This highlights the importance of assessing patients from deprived backgrounds when providing mental health support and carefully planning care when these patients transfer from child to adult mental health care. Although focussed on children adopted from Romanian institutions in the early 1990s, our findings may also be relevant to large numbers of children who are still exposed to abusive or neglectful conditions around the world."1

Because the children were different ages when they entered institutions and lived there for different amounts of time, the study could not determine whether there is a window during childhood development when children may be more or less likely to be affected by deprivation. In addition, it cannot control for other early risk factors affecting the child's mental health, such as maternal smoking or substance abuse during pregnancy, but the authors argue that there are unlikely to be significant differences among the two groups of Romanian adoptees.

Writing in a linked Comment, Professor Frank Verhulst, Erasmus University Medical Centre, The Netherlands, said: "Whatever the underlying mechanisms, the findings of Sonuga-Barke and colleagues' study elegantly support the rule of the earlier the better for improving the caregiving environment for young children whose basic needs are profoundly violated. This finding is true for millions of children around the world who are exposed to war, terrorism, violence, or mass migration. As a consequence, many young children face trauma, displacement, homelessness, or family disruption."

From its beginning the study was funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, the UK Medical Research Council, the UK Department of Health, the Jacobs Foundation and the Nuffield Foundation. It was conducted by scientists from the University of Southampton, King's College London, Ruhr University Bochum, The Amy Winehouse Foundation and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics.
Mothers contribute a lot of defining traits to their offspring, from eye color to toe length. But pregnant mothers with health complications, such as diabetes or hypertension, also can pass these symptoms to their children.

What if we could prevent that?

In a new study, researchers at the University of Iowa have shown they can reverse high blood pressure in offspring born to hypertensive rats. The results, though preliminary, may offer a promising avenue toward addressing "fetal programming," or the in utero transfer of certain health risks from mothers to children.

The findings were published online in the journal Hypertension.

In humans, gestational hypertension affects up to 15 percent of pregnancies. That percentage may rise because high blood pressure generally increases as we age, and American women are waiting longer to have children. Moreover, multiple studies have documented that offspring born to hypertensive mothers have higher blood pressure in childhood and are at higher risk of being hypertensive and contracting heart disease as adults.

UI professor Alan Kim Johnson and his colleagues wanted to understand if gestational hypertension would affect blood pressure in baby rats and, if so, how the rats' brains might be involved. The group induced hypertension in mother rats during the perinatal period (three weeks before and after birth) and measured the blood pressure response in the offspring at 10 weeks, the rat equivalent of adulthood. The offspring were then given a hormone that elevates blood pressure to determine how they would respond.

"What you see is enhanced, that is, a sensitized hypertensive response in animals where mothers had been hypertensive during pregnancy," says Johnson, F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Professor in the UI's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

The researchers then administered a drug called Captopril, which is commonly used to treat high blood pressure in human adults, to the rats born to hypertensive mothers and that had also been given the blood-pressure hormone. The rats that received Captopril from three to nine weeks of age were then tested for hypertension at 10 weeks and showed no signs of enhanced high blood pressure.

"That means we can, in effect, deprogram them," Johnson says.

Whether this would translate to humans is far from clear. But it opens a path for further study of the neural and chemical changes that occur in the brains of offspring born to hypertensive mothers - or mothers with other health issues - and how those conditions ultimately are passed on.

Johnson's team has begun to document that transfer by tracking how the brain and central nervous system react to high blood pressure stressors. One, caused by a hormone called angiotensin II, appears to activate pathways from the brain that trigger a "sympathetic" response from the central nervous system. In other words, the central nervous system becomes more prone to elevate blood pressure when it senses the hormone. Researchers hypothesize the sympathetic response may become more conditioned, or overly responsive, in humans due to natural causes, such as with the children of mothers who had high blood pressure during their pregnancy.

Johnson compares the process to a memory being made. In this case, the brain is establishing a "memory" of high blood pressure that's passed on to the offspring. But, importantly, researchers showed in the rat experiments that the memory can be altered, even erased.

"We've changed the information that was laid down in the brain," Johnson says.

"This study on rats sheds some light on how maternal health during pregnancy impacts long-term cardiovascular health of the offspring, says Christine Maric-Bilkan, program officer of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). "These findings suggest a potential therapeutic strategy for prevention of elevated blood pressure in adults who were born to mothers that themselves had elevated blood pressure during pregnancy."

Baojian Xue, in the UI Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the UI, is the first author. Contributing authors, also with the psychological and brain sciences department, are Fang Guo, Terry Beltz, and Robert Thunhorst. Haifeng Yin, a visiting professor now at Hebei North University in China, also contributed to the research. Johnson also is affiliated with the UI's pharmacology program and the Francois Abboud Cardiovascular Research Center.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, funded the research through grants to Johnson.
BANFF, AB

Feb. 24, 2017

Canada's

Bruce Linton

Bruce Linton

Ontario

Canada

/CNW/ - Tweed Inc. (Tweed or the Company), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX: WEED) has been named an Emerging Cult Brand of the Year at The Gathering, a one-of-a-kind festival that connects like-minded marketers and entrepreneurs and celebrates "the world's bravest brands" who have developed cult-like followings.Tweed largest marijuana producer  is being recognized amongst established brands including Canada Goose, Levi's, and Fender.Focusing on a delicate balance of charitable, compassionate and fun partnerships, the award acknowledges Tweed's strong brand presence, voice and credibility that have been built over a short period of time."We are humbled to be recognized at The Gathering," says, co-founder of Tweed and CEO of Canopy Growth. "To be surrounded by such established companies is an honour. With massive expansion and exciting new products in the works this award is motivation to continue doing what we do best: innovating and building our voice."was also given the opportunity to present the Tweed story, from its origin as a medical cannabis brand in small town,to the forward-looking lifestyle approach it looks to pursue in the context of a possible legal recreational cannabis market.Tweed is a globally recognized cannabis production brand. It has built a large and loyal following by focusing on quality products and meaningful customer relationships. Tweed doesn't just sell cannabis, it facilitates a conversation about a product we've all heard about but haven't met intimately yet. As cannabis laws liberalize around the world, Tweed will expand its leading Canadian position around the globe. Learn more at www.tweed.com.The Gathering is an annual coming together of the world's most coveted brands to share secrets and learn from the courageous leaders and trailblazers who are reaping the benefits of unbreakable brand affinity and loyalty. The Gathering is for those who know they don't know it all. It is for those who understand we all stand on the threshold of an entirely new marketing universe. Learn more at www.cultgathering.comCanopy Growth is a world-leading diversified cannabis company, offering diverse brands and curated cannabis strain varieties in dried and oil extract forms. Through its wholly?owned subsidiaries, Canopy Growth operates numerous state-of-the-art production facilities with over half a million square feet of indoor and greenhouse production capacity. Canopy Growth has established partnerships with leading sector names inand abroad. For more information visit www.canopygrowth.com.This news release contains forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Canopy Growth Corporation, Tweed Inc., Tweed Farms Inc., Mettrum Health Corp., or Bedrocan Canada Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include future operational and production capacity, the impact of enhanced infrastructure and production capabilities, and forecasted available product selection. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and Canopy Growth Corp. does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.Neither the TSX Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE Canopy Growth Corporation
Validation Studies

The tumor shrunk in two xenograft mice models

The tumor remained stable in the third model

There was reduced growth of tumor in the fourth model

Advertisement

New Generation mTOR Inhibitors

Uterine Carcinomas

In the U.S, uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer for women.

Around 60,050 women in the United States are diagnosed with uterine cancer every year.

An estimated 10,470 women die due to the disease every year.

Uterine cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer related death among women.

The 5 year survival rate for uterine cancer is 82%.

Leiomyosarcomas constitute 30% of all uterine sarcomas (National Cancer Institute).

The 5 year survival rate for women with leiomyosarcomas is 50%.

Human tumor fragments were implanted into mice by the research team to get five leiomyosarcoma patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. These mice were then treated with PI3K/mTOR inhibitors and it was found thatThe xenograft model that did not respond to the treatment with PI3K/mTOR inhibitor did not contain the activated S6 protein, as evidenced by the negative result in the test. All other xenograft models of mice responded positively to the S6 protein. The scientists who were involved in the study, thus stated that theThisPrevious versions of mTOR inhibitors that were used in the treatment of uterine leiomyosarcoma targeted only certain active mTOR complexes with minimal response and were associated with increased toxicity. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), therefore, did not approve these drugs. The scientists involved in the study used new-generation dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitors [BEZ235; dactolisib], which were found to have better efficacies when compared to the earlier ones. Dr. Amant added that the strong response obtained on using PI3K/mTOR inhibitors was rare for leiomyosarcomas. Research into development of drugs that had an acceptable level of toxicity was important to ensure safety.There are very few studies that are conducted on uterine sarcomas, as the disease is very rare. However, the disease grows rapidly and is difficult to treat, which makes it imperative to identify a method of treatment. Leiomyosarcomas occur less significantly, but the findings from the current study warrant further research into the use of PI3K/mTOR inhibitors against this disease.The xenograft mice that were used in the study did not have a good immune system; therefore, immune responses to the treatment and toxicities could not be ascertained as a part of the study.The identification of a protein biomarker that serves as a method of determining treatment choice as well as a prognostic marker for patients with leiomyosarcomas will aid in better treatment and care for such patients.About 95% of the cancers that occur in the uterus originate in the endometrium, called endometrial cancer . Uterine sarcomas constitute 2 to 5 % of all uterine carcinomas and originate from other tissues, like the muscles and tissues of the uterus that begin to grow at an abnormal rate. Other forms of uterine carcinomas include clear cell carcinoma, uterine papillary serous carcinoma and carcinosarcoma.Dr. Amant stated thatThe team further analyzed if the new targets identified could be used as biomarkers for determining the prognosis of the condition. The need to identify biomarkers is important as newer therapies for cancer are very expensive; also, particular treatment methods could be validated based on these biomarkers.Source: Medindia
Advertisement

Relieves symptoms of gastro-esophageal reflux disease

Treats peptic ulcers

Helps to treat the damage caused by acid reflux

Headache

Diarrhea

Itching

Constipation

Nausea

Yan Xie, Benjamin Bowe, Tingting Li, Hong Xian, Yan Yan, Ziyad Al-Aly. Long-term kidney outcomes among users of proton pump inhibitors without intervening acute kidney injury. Kidney International, February (2017); DOI: 10.1016/j.kint.2016.12.021 Proton pump inhibitors - (https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000381.htm)

Around 15 million Americans who suffer from heartburn, ulcers and acid reflux are prescribed with proton-pump inhibitors that bring relief by reducing gastric acid.Most of the people take this as an over-the-counter drug without the doctor's notice. Lansoprazole (Prevacid), Omeprazole (Prilosec), Esomeprazole (Nexium) and Pantoprazole (Protonix) are some of the proton pump inhibitors that are being sold commonly for treatment.More than half of the 125,000 patients who developed chronic kidney damage by taking heartburn drugs did not have any acute kidney problems before. This means that they were not aware of any decline in their kidney function.Doctors and patients who take PPIs should be aware of the consequences. However, Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, the study's senior author and assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, said that the onset of acute kidney problems might not be reliable to detect a decline in kidney function among patients who take PPIs.The author also suggests that kidney problems may develop gradually and silently thereby affecting the kidney function and may lead to long-term kidney damage. Patients may be cautioned to tell their doctors about taking Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).The research study may include first author Yan Xie, a biostatistician at the St.Louis, analyzed data from the Department of Veteran Affairs database on 125,596 cases as new users of Proton pump inhibitors. And 18,436 heartburn drugs which were referred to as H2 blockers. These people were less likely to cause kidney problems and were ineffective.After five years of follow-up, the research team found that around 80% of PPI users did not have any acute kidney problems. These problems are characterized by too little urine in the body, swelling in the legs and ankles and tiredness.People with chronic kidney damage and end-stage renal disease associated with PPI use were found to occur in people without acute kidney problems.While, in H2 blockers, 7.67% of people developed chronic kidney disease in the absence of acute kidney problems and 1.27% people were found to develop end-stage renal disease where they can no longer remove the waste products from the body. These patients may require either a dialysis or end-stage renal disease.Al-Aly, Va's associate chief of staff for research and education, VA's Clinical Epidemiology Center, said, "Doctors must pay careful attention to kidney function in their patients who use PPIs, even when there are no signs of problems.""In general, we always advise clinicians to evaluate whether PPI use is medically necessary in the first place because the drugs carry significant risks, including a deterioration of kidney function."Proton-pump inhibitors are drugs that act by reducing the amount of stomach acid that is produced by the glands in the lining of the stomach.Source: Medindia
Advertisement

"This study looks at cognitive and motor function, dementia and Alzheimer's disease risks in the Latino population in the Chicago area," said Dr. David X. Marquez, lead investigator of the study at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center.Marquez said, "Also, past surveys indicate that Latinos are less likely to see doctors because of financial and language barriers, often mistaking dementia symptoms for normal aging, thus delaying diagnosis." "Further, while we talk about Latinos as a group, they are a very heterogeneous group. Many prior studies are Latinos from the Caribbean islands. The Chicago area is comprised primarily of Latinos of Mexican heritage."The Latino Core study at Rush is part of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Core Center, which was refunded in July 2016 for $14.3 million grant by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. The Rush Alzheimer's Disease Core Center is a long-term, 30-year program.A unique aspect of the Latino Core is that the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Core Center includes the African American Core and the Religious Orders Study Core. The greater Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center also includes the Rush Memory and Aging Project and the Minority Aging Research Study, which annually recruit and collect data from black and Latino participants without dementia, some of whom also agree to donate their brains upon death. All five cohort studies are conducted by the same investigative team with the same data allowing comparison across race and ethnicity among more than 4,500 persons."We know so much about white people and we don't know much about pathology in Latinos and African Americans, and it may be different," said Dr. David Bennett, director of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center.The Latino Core study will enroll more than 300 older Latinos without dementia. Participants will receive yearly visits at their home at no cost which are conducted in Spanish or English. This will include taking memory exams, a blood draw and answering questions about health and lifestyle.They will be asked to consider brain donation at the time of death as brain autopsy allows researchers to correlate physical changes in the brain with observed and reported memory and related problems while living."Alzheimer's disease is a major cause of death, it's a major cause of disability, it's a major cause of economic hardship, family hardship," Bennett says. "For most people, their thinking and their memories are among the most precious things they have."The Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center research focuses on disease prevention, hoping someday to spare the living from Alzheimer's disease. Without such advances, the number of people with Alzheimer's in the U.S. is expected to increase to 13.8 million by 2050, the Alzheimer's Association estimates."Individuals who join the Latino Core study will be making an important contribution to our knowledge about Alzheimer's disease and the aging process of older Latino adults," said Marquez."Further, brain donation is a gift for our children and grandchildren who we hope will live full and long lives without Alzheimer's disease," added Dr. Marquez.Source: Eurekalert
China strongly opposes ROK's deployment of THAAD

From:Xinhua | 2017-02-24 10:24

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's military on Thursday voiced strong objections to the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

The move by the United States and the ROK will gravely undermine the regional strategic balance and the strategic security interests of countries in the region, including China and Russia, said Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense at a routine press conference.

Ren said China hopes the ROK side will value the achievements in the military ties between the PLA and the ROK army, and cautiously handle issues that directly concern China's strategic security interests.

Chinese armed forces will make the necessary preparations and resolutely safeguard the nation's security.

The Nanhai fleet on Feb. 10 departed from a military port in south China's Sanya City for a high-seas training mission.

In addition to the South China Sea, the mission will pass through the east Indian Ocean for training to improve Chinese navy's ability in international escorting, anti-terror and anti-piracy, said Ren.

The spokesperson also answered questions about the U.S. aircraft carrier strike group patrolling the South China Sea. The group, including Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, began routine operations in the South China Sea on Feb. 19.

China hopes the United States would do what is good for peace and stability in the South China Sea, said Ren.

China always respects freedom of navigation and overflight of all countries in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, and hopes the United States will respect the sovereignty and security of concerned countries.

Ren said China wished enhanced communications between the two armies and to push forward bilateral ties.
Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain.

Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred.

For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here.
UNESCO proceeded, through a relevant letter, to mark the entry into force of the agreement on the operation of a UNESCO Category II Centre on Integrated and Multidisciplinary Water Resources Management at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.



This development is the culmination of the signing of the Final Agreement on the establishment a UNESCO Category II Centre on Water Resources Management, which was signed last September, at the Foreign Ministry, in the presence of UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for the Natural Sciences, Flavia Schlegel, and Deputy Foreign Minister Ioannis Amanatidis.

Mr. Amanatidis was briefed today, Thursday, 23 February, on the content of the letter -- which marks the official entry into operation of the Centre -- by the President of the Centre on Integrated Water Resources Management (CIWRM) at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Elpida Kolokytha.

Mr. Amanatidis congratulated all of the involved entities on this successful outcome, which strengthens the international agency of the country and of the city of Thessaloniki, as the site of the Centre's activities.
SEBEWAING  The Sebewaing Downtown Redevelopment group reviewed accomplishments and developed plans for this year during its last meeting.

We received some very good news, said Sebewaing Chamber of Commerce member Chris Deming. The contamination on LMS (Lapeer Metal Stamping) property has not traveled; which is good, and the MDEQ (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality) has some Brownfield funds to help pay for the cleanup of contamination that is there.

A phase I environmental study was done, then followed up with a more extensive phase II study, which showed the contamination had not leached further.

A Brownfield is abandoned property that has contamination; which if the contamination is removed, could be used for further development. There are some state funds available to help cover the cost of cleanups.

The approximate seven-acre LMS site at 249 N. Center St., between Union Street and Sharpsteen Street, was used for decades by various manufacturing concerns until it closed in 2008. Some of the solvents from the businesses there leaked into the soil causing contamination. The hot spots are in the garage area of the building that still remains and to the west of the entrance, said Sebewaing Light and Water Superintendent Melanie McCoy.

There were fears the contamination might drift toward the Sebewaing River, but further testing showed it has not.

Plus, no contamination was found on the west side of that property so that area can be used without issue, McCoy said. Because the village owns the land, they will have the say on what can be done there.

It might be a good area for a farmers market  is an idea.

Besides hopes to use part of the LMS site, the possibility of developing an urban beach in the village was proposed during the meeting as well as some LED decorative lighting for the Center Street bridge.

An urban beach is just an area where sand is brought in along a waterfront to create a small beach area.

An urban beach does not have access to the water. Its just a sandy area to sit and enjoy looking at the water, McCoy explained. Its just a proposal we are looking at.

Some suggestions for a proposed urban beach is behind the old fire hall on Union Street, or part of the parking lot along East Sebewaing Street off of Center Street, which Sebewaing Light and Water owns.

Those were just ideas that were talked about. Just some simple low-cost things we can do to spark use and interest in the downtown, McCoy said.

The grassroots effort by community members to revitalize the downtown has generated a lot of excitement and some results.

Over the last year, six long-time vacant buildings in the downtown have been bought, and a seventh businessman is in the process developing a rum micro-distillery, according to Deming, who bought one of the buildings along Center Street with her husband, Doug.

Because the lawn-chair film festival was well attended and the response to the fire on the river during moonlight sales last year was good, those two events will continue this year.

The lawn-chair film festival will continue at Muellerweis Park at the intersection of Center Street and East Sebewaing Street.

We might not have as many movies as we did last year. It ran kind of long  especially movies had to be rescheduled because of weather, Deming noted.

The fire on the river had bonfires in 55-gallon drums anchored in the Sebewaing River.

That was very well received. It will need a little fine tuning because the firewood burnt too fast, Deming said.

Volunteers are needed to help with events. To volunteer, call 989-551-2739.

About 30 people attended the meeting of the Sebewaing Downtown Redevelopment group at the Sebewaing Township Library.
The U.S. Army is working to provide more soldiers with civilian credentials so they can find jobs after they leave service in their fields, from truck driving to information technology, an official said.

Acting Army Secretary Robert Speer is poised to issue a directive to expand the service's "Soldier for Life" transition program and improve coordination between the active and reserve components on the process, according to Maj. Gen. Hugh Van Roosen, the service's deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel plans, programs and policies.

"What we've found is that our efforts are very stovepiped and we have way too many of them," he said Thursday during an event in Washington, D.C., organized by the American Legion.

Van Roosen referenced the case of soldier truck drivers. The Army every year trains thousands of motor transport operators, designated by the military occupational specialty 88M, who drive such vehicles as the Heavy Equipment Transport System, or HETS.

"Is there any reason why we couldn't -- without a whole lot of effort -- include a commercial driver's license in the program?" Van Roosen asked. "We're always struggling with hours in the training day. However, we have to balance that against whatever we can do to ensure a soldier who's leaving has as soft a landing as possible."

Other fields that may lend themselves to civilian credentialing include logistics, mechanics and communications, the general said.

"We're already doing credentialing in our medical fields ... [but] there's a lot of areas, particularly in our IT fields, that we don't do anything like that, and there's not any particularly good reason for it," he said.

Speer, the acting secretary, plans to issue the directive by late March and service officials expect to provide additional guidance to the force by early summer, Van Roosen said. The issue is of interest to Sgt. Major of the Army Daniel Dailey, who recently talked about plans to attract soldiers with college credits and cash incentives, in addition to credentials.

The Legion event coincided with a release of a report funded by Military.com and prepared by Solid LLC, entitled, "The State of Credentialing of Service Members and Veterans: Challenges, Successes and Opportunities."

The document notes the growing awareness among U.S. lawmakers of the need to provide troops with civilian licenses and certifications required for employment.

"America spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to train service members to do highly skilled jobs ... they should be ready to move into civilian life with [the help of] certifications," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said earlier this month during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee's Personnel Subcommittee.

The Senate "wants to work on making it easier for our service members when they leave the service to have that credential in hand and recognized in all 54 jurisdictions of the United States," she added.

The Legion report identified eight opportunities for action: Improve the Post 9/11 GI Bill Licensing and Certification Benefit (to pro-rate the amount charged to the cost of the exam); ensure quality of certification programs; ensure quality of the non-traditional credential preparation programs; better identify labor market demand for credentials; track credential attainment outcomes; reduce state licensure barriers; develop best practices for credentialing service members and vets; and ensure military and veteran interests are represented in civilian workforce credentialing initiatives.

Like others in attendance at the Legion event, Van Roosen noted that only a small fraction of troops -- roughly 15 percent -- retire from the military after 20 years of service.

For the Army, that breaks down to about 10 percent of enlisted soldiers and 30 percent of Army officers, he said. The vast majority of soldiers leave around the five-year mark -- which translates into 135,000 soldiers transitioning out every year, he said.

In addition, most soldiers, about 60 percent, who leave active duty return to their home state, Van Roosen said. Twenty percent relocate to another state and another 20 percent actually stay near the base where they last served, he said.

"It's great to focus at posts, but [with existing transition efforts] we're only touching a small percentage -- the 20 percent who stay there," he said. "That's not enough. We need to go where the soldiers are going."

-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go.

Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune...
The Pentagon should consider more discussions with Russia as the battlespace continues to grow more complex in Iraq and Syria in the fight against the Islamic State, a top U.S. Air Force general said Friday.

"There is room to elevate [talks with Russia]," Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, told reporters during a breakfast in Washington, D.C. "We have constant communication with the Russians and, when we do, the deconfliction is incredibly valuable."

The Washington Post reported senior U.S. military officials are considering more talks, even if it could be construed as increased cooperation with Moscow. Carlisle, who will retire next month after leading the command since 2014 and having almost 40 years in service, said while he has not been intimately involved in the ongoing discussions, it's an obvious choice.

"Increased dialogue has got to happen because it's going to become more and more complex as time goes on. And as we continue to squeeze ISIS and continue to take more territory away from them, it becomes more complex," he said. "I think we have to continue to work that avenue because in the defeat of ISIS, everything we do ... as we work together with the Russians [is] incredibly important in the deconfliction -- to [avoid] any miscalculations, any mistakes, any unintended consequences."

Carlisle continued, "To me, it makes sense. The more you can build an understanding between those flying in the same  airspace, the better off you're going to be."

The U.S. is operating under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2015, which established a phone "hotline" the militaries could use to alert one another of actions they're taking in Syria.

Officials including the Air Force's top general in the Middle East, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian; U.S. Central Command commander Gen. Joseph Votel; and Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, are weighing new options with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Carlisle said.

The reasons to do so are mounting, he added.

"It's a dense surface-to-air threat in portions of Syria," Carlisle said. Aircraft must be ready at all times to act, he said, because "the [surface-to-air missile] systems the Russians and Syrians have over there are active systems."

He clarified that while the SAM systems are operative, they're not necessarily painting U.S. aircraft with target tracking radars "to any great extent that I know of."

Mattis, during his trip last week to Europe to reassure NATO allies on emerging Russian threats, assured them that Russia's actions within Syria and in Ukraine and the Baltic states are not looked on favorably by the U.S.

"Russia's aggressive actions have violated international law and are destabilizing," he said during a speech to NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

Mattis said of further military cooperation, "Russia is going to have to prove itself first."

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Related Video:
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Bank of America will become the anchor tenant in the newly renovated Calder Plaza Building at 250 Monroe Avenue NW.

The bank, which leases offices on the fourth floor of the Waters Building and in suburban locations, will take up 40,000 square feet on the first, fifth and sixth floors of the 10-story building, which is undergoing a facelift and remodeling project.

Renee Tabben, President of the bank's Grand Rapids operations, said Bank of America has about 250 employees in its four-county Grand Rapids market. Bank of America is the state's fourth largest bank with 127 offices in Michigan and total deposits of $16.5 billion.

Tabben said they have not yet determined which employees will be transferred to the new offices. Bank of America operations include Merrilll Lynch, global commercial banking, business banking and consumer teams, she said.

Bank of America, which closed its downtown retail branch office in the Trust Building several years ago, will have a retail branch in the new location, Tabben said. The branch will not have traditional tellers but automatic teller machines, she said.

"We are pleased to be the anchor tenant in the building, giving us the opportunity to co-locate so they can have stronger collaboration in better serving our clients, while ensuring responsible growth to our company," Tabben said in a statement.

Building owner CWD Real Estate Investments is completing a facelifts on the 35-year-old Calder Plaza Building after purchasing it in late 2014. The building has been mostly vacant as construction workers installed a new atrium lobby and glass on the building's southwest corner.

"Bank of America's commitment to Grand Rapids and to this property, in particular, underscore why we're bullish on our downtown core," said CWD Real Estate Investment managing partner Sam Cummings in a statement.

CWD, the largest commercial property owner in West Michigan, acquired the red brick and glass building in 2014 after most of its major tenants had left or announced they were leaving.

Since purchasing the Calder Plaza Building, CWD has purchased Fifth Third Center, a group of buildings and parking facilities next door that serve as the downtown campus and West Michigan headquarters for Fifth Third Bank.

One block to the east, CWD also has updated the entrances and common areas for its office buildings 200 and 300 Ottawa Avenue. Last summer, CWD brought back a sculpture that had been moved to Woodland Mall more than 40 years ago.

CWD owns all of the non-government structures on Vandenberg Center, the development created by the urban renewal movement in the 1960s and home to Grand Rapids City Hall, the Kent County Administration building, the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building, Calder Plaza, Kent County's courthouse and the State of Michigan office building.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Family Christian Stores' decision to close all of its 240 stores left a host of unanswered questions for the company's 1,300 employees and customers after the announcement was made on Thursday, Feb. 24.

The Grand Rapids-based retail chain - which bills itself as the nation's largest retailer of Christian books and merchandise -- abruptly announced it would close all of its stores in 36 states because of declining sales in the wake of a bankruptcy two years ago.

No details of the plans to close the stores were included in the four-paragraph announcement. Twenty hours after the announcement, the company's website still made no reference to the announcement.

RELATED: Family Christian Stores closing all 240 locations

At the company's flagship store at 3120 28th Street SE, none of the displays or signs indicated the store was closing. An employee said they were forbidden to talk to media and offered a copy of the news release.

"We just lost our jobs right now and we can't talk," said one employee who fought back tears.

Customers also were left guessing. Travis Wohlford, a Middleville resident who stopped by the store to pick up a Christian movie he had ordered, said he recently began shopping at Family Christian after becoming more devoted in his faith.

Wohlford said he did not know where he would shop for Christian merchandise in the future.

Meanwhile, one door down and across 28th Street from the Family Christian outlet, store closing sales were in full swing at MC Sports, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, and at Sears, which is closing its store at Woodland Mall.

In the announcement, Family Christian CEO Chuck Bengochea said the decision to close came after two years of declining sales after the company went through a bankruptcy court-supervised reorganization two years ago.

In that case, Family Christian shed about $127 million worth of debt to its suppliers, creditors and consignment vendors and was sold for about $55 million to a group that pledged to continue to operate the chain as a non-profit.

"Despite improvements in product assortment and the store experience, sales continued to decline. In addition, we were not able to get the pricing and terms we needed from our vendors to successfully compete in the market," Bengochea said in the news release.

"We have prayerfully looked at all possible options, trusting God's plan for our organization, and the difficult decision to liquidate is our only recourse."

Based in Cascade Township, Family Christian converted from a for-profit business model to a non-profit company in 2012 after a group headed by Richard Jackson, a wealthy Atlanta businessman, formed a group to buy the chain.

Family Christian's roots go back to 1931, when brothers Pat and Bernie Zondervan began a publishing house in their family's Grandville farmhouse. Zondervan Corp. grew to become the nation's largest Christian publishing house.

Zondervan's bookstores were spun off in 1990s into Family Christian Stores after Harper Collins purchased the publishing house, which has since been merged with Nashville-based Thomas Nelson.
Chris Clark | MLive

BY AMY SHERMAN | asherma2@mlive.com

This year marks the 12th annual Michigan Brewer's Guild Winter Beer Fest held at Fifth Third Ball Park in Grand Rapids. About 9,000 craft beer fans are expected to attend over the two day festival, February 24 and 25 2017.

Here are super heroes Beer Boy and Hop Man at the Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival at Fifth Third Park Saturday, February 22, 2014.

Don't Edit

Nick Gonzalez | Mlive.com

With over 900 beers, you've got to narrow that list down somehow

Check out the full list of all 969 beers you can try at the beer fest this weekend. Then get ready to figure out what your top picks are this year. There are many ways to approach this festival, here are a few different ways to go. Speaking from experience, you can go in with all of the best intentions to try your beer picks, but the key at any beer festival is to also just relax, have fun, and go where the beer (or your friends) takes you.

Don't Edit

Nick Gonzales | MLive

Try a new brewery

This is your chance to check out one of the many new breweries that have opened over the last 3 years here in Michigan. I love being able to taste a few beers from some of the places I haven't yet been able to visit, and who might not distribute. Top picks:

Ascension Brewing Company, Novi-Juicy I'm Home, American IPA. This is a place I have yet to visit, but any IPA that's labeled juicy is a must try in my book.

Drafting Table Brewing Company,Wixom-Tequila Barrel Aged Resolute IPA. We visited DT on our Michigan's Best new brewery in 2016 and the beers here really impressed. I love brewers that are starting to explore other barrels to age in, and I think tequila and the hoppy profile of an IPA will be stellar.

Ozone's Brewhouse, Lansing-Roller Kolscher, cucumber kolsch. Honestly, I'm ashamed to say, I've never even heard of these guys. This one sounds like a palate cleanser, refreshing, and crisp. Look out boys, I'll be stopping by.

Open Road Brewery, Wayland-Citradisiac, American Pale Ale. Again, another brewery that I have missed during my travels. Anything with Citra hops wets my whistle, so I'll be sure to give this a try.

Harsens Island Brewery,Marysville-Isla Margarita, Sour Beer. We tried to visit this brewery while on a search last year, but ran out of time. Sours, when done well, are some of my new favorite beers. Here's hoping that this one matches up to my pick for beer of the year, the Marta Rita from Batch Brewing in Detroit.

Don't Edit

John Gonzalez

Or one of our top ten new breweries

We searched for Michigan's Best new brewery in 2016, and many of our finalists will be at the festival.

1. Stormcloud Brewing Co., Frankfort- 31 Planes, Double IPA

2. Transient Artisan Ales, Bridgman-unfortunately, not attending, go visit and drink everything they have.

3. Batch Brewing Co., Detroit- Fruited Braggot * Batchmens (Collab. w/ Cellarmens), notes of currant , plus a hint of sour, fresh and fruity.

4. Hop Lot Brewing Co., Suttons Bay-Red Over Red  Double IPA. This will warm the cockles of your cold, cold heart.

5. Cedar Springs Brewing Co., Cedar Springs-Kusterer Original Weibier  Hefe-Weizen. I just love how solid this traditional German beer is from CSBC.

6. Grand River Brewing Co., Jackson-Conrad Vernon  Gingerbread Cookie IPA. This just sounds weirdly good to me. Hoping the spice compliments the hops instead of causing a big fight in my glass.

7. Tapistry Brewing Co., Bridgman-Peck

s Porter Rum Barrel Aged. I normally gravitate to their many, many hop bombs here, so this will be something a bit different.

8. Cognition Brewing Co., Ishpeming-(Fri. only) Swamp Monster Stout, (Sat. only) Night Child Imperial Stout. Try these special, one day only releases from our friends from the UP.

9. Territorial Brewing Co., Springfield- Unfortunately they will not be there this year.

10. One Well Brewing Co., Kalamazoo-Fruit Infused Kettle Sour. I tried this right out of the barrel when it was still fermenting, it should be reaching it's peak now. Please say hello to Samsquatch and The Wizard when you stop by.

Don't Edit

Live from Stormcloud Brewing Company in Frankfort, MI, in Benzie County. A beautiful sunset and a special presentation for Michigan's Best New Brewery. With Amy Sherman. Posted by MLive.com on Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Check out our visit to our number one pick, Stormcloud Brewing in Frankfort

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Nick Gonzales

Visit an old favorite

In 2013, Michigan's Best searched for Best New Brewery. They all have great offerings this festival, plus some of the best displays around. This ain't their first rodeo, folks.

1. Short's Brewing Company, Bellaire. Be sure to at least come gaze at the greatness that is the Short's booth. Then try Tequila Sauna  Sour Beer, Uncle Steves Irish Stout or one of their ciders from their sister brand, Starcut Cider.

2. Greenbush Brewing Co., Sawyer. Hard to pick from the 24 beers they'll be pouring here. I'm going to pick from the many imperial stouts they are going to have on tap.

3. Dark Horse Brewing Co., Marshall. These guys always bring some hard to find, super stellar brews to festivals. The TOOnilla Coffee Vanilla Cream Stout, sounds too good to pass up. See what I did there?

4. Kuhnhenn Brewing Co., Warren. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder, and since I don't get to drink Kuhnhenn very often, I tend to spend a lot of time at their booth. I've been dying to try their Samoa Nut Brown, which is supposed to taste just like the Girl Scout cookie.

5. Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids. It's all about trying this years batch of KBS. I like to try it fresh, and then again in a few months to see how it's aging. You may have to wait in line for a minute, but think of it as a chance to make new friends.

6. Bell's Brewery, Inc., Kalamazoo. On my list is the 2015 Cherry Stout, a beer that was one of the first I tried to replicate when I was home brewing. It's a Bell's classic.

7. Arbor Brewing Company, Ann Arbor. Arbor was the first brewery in Michigan to experiment with sours, and they are owner Matt Greff's favorite. I'm gunning for the Fickle Brett with grapefruit and peppercorns.

8. Arcadia Brewing Company, Battle Creek. I have never had the Mango Suprise  American IPA from these guys, and mango kind of makes my mouth water, so this sounds good.

9. Right Brain Brewery, Traverse City. I have no idea what Lips Like Sugar  Experimental Beer, is but it's experimental, and it's named after an Echo and the Bunnymen song, so it has to be good, right?

10. Cranker's Brewery, Big Rapids. Their Aphrodisiac Chocolate Pomegranate  Imperial Stout sounds interesting.

One to Watch Award: BAD Brewing Company, Mason. I haven't gotten to visit BAD in a long time, and they were brewing some very solid beers on their tiny system. The Tequila Barrel Aged Gose sounds like a crazy melting of three awesome beer things: booze, wood, and sour.

Don't Edit

(Justine McGuire | MLive.com)

Go big and bold, but sip slowly please

One of the greatest things about Winter Beer Fest are the number of barrel aged beauties that the brewers have been aging for you. From bourbon barrel bombs, to lighter sour offerings, wood is your friend here. But remember, most of these are going to come in at high ABV's (alcohol by volume), and can be deceptively smooth. Sip slowly, or split your sample with a friend. One year, I only sampled barrel aged beers. I cannot recommend this approach.

Wolverine State Brewing Company-Mexican Hot Chocolate 2016 Barrel Aged Massacre. Lagers are the name of the game at Wolverine State, and this brew sounds mighty tasty.

Witch's Hat Brewing Company-Vanilla Bean Night Fury  Bourbon Barrel Stout w/ Vanilla Beans. Real beans elevate this brew to a whole new level. This is one beer I try every single winter beer fest, I love it.

Unruly Brewing Company-BA Tropic Thunder  Barrel-Aged Imperial IPA. The Tropic Thunder is a great IPA, can't wait to see what happens to it after time in a barrel.

Trail Point Brewing Company Drunken Hank  Bourbon Barrel-Aged Old Ale (Fri. @7pm / Sat. @3pm). I've been impressed with the beers at Trail Point, and I think this one will be on point as well.

Check out the time we tried all 17 varieties of New Holland Brewing Company's Dragon's Milk.

Don't Edit

Taylor Ballek | MLive

Expand your comfort zone

One of the most fun things to do at a beer fest is to throw all your "plans" out the window, and just get in the shortest line and try something new. Usually drink a mass market beer? Here's your chance to go crazy, and try something that's light, but brewed in Michigan. Normally all about IPA's? Head to the dark side, and try some porters. I love walking up and asking the pourer to just "beer me" with their favorite style. You never know what you'll get. On my list of just random beers I'd like to taste:

Gravel Bottom Brewing and Supply-Next UP Lemondrop  American IPA. I love that this beer is a collaboration between head brewer Nick Roelofs, and home brewer Bob Rowley. They told me to expect bright citrus, with lemon hoppy-ness.

BlackRocks Brewery-these guys have different beers each day, so I'll have to stop by both Friday and Saturday. Hopefully, they'll save me a pour of The Murray Project on Saturday, it's a delish double IPA.

Greyline Brewing-these guys have recently undergone a few changes, so I'll stop by to see what they're offering from their solid portfolio.

Don't Edit

Chris Clark

First timers, listen up

First time at the beer fest? Be sure to check out these great tips on how to survive before you head out to Fifth Third Ball Park.

Don't Edit

Mischa Lopiano | MLive.com

Be prepared for anything weather wise

This could get kind of sketchy this weekend during the Winter Beer Fest, which, like all Brewer's Guild events, is held rain or shine (or snow, as the case may be). Years past have seen below zero temps, heavy snow, to mud bogs, and sunny days. It's Michigan, people. Just wait five minutes and the weather will change.

Check out Mark Torregrossa's forecast for the weekend.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Tornadoes to thundersnow, Michigan could have it all today https://t.co/e61iQGfoUy  MLive (@MLive) February 24, 2017

Don't Edit

Amy Sherman | MLive

Enjoy the festival responsibly, please

Tickets are still available for Friday, and are $50 at the gate. Don't forget your ID, you won't be let in without one.

Friday, February 24, 2017 (5pm to 9pm) Enthusiast Hour begins at 4pm

Saturday, February 25, 2017 (1pm to 6pm) Enthusiast Hour begins at noon

The Winter Beer Fest is a fantastic opportunity to taste a lot of different beers, meet the brewers, and hang out with friends. Please don't wreck anyone else's good time by over indulging, enjoy responsibly.

AND DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE.

Download the Uber app and get a ride. Or call one of Grand Rapids cab companies.

Yellow Cab (616) 459-4646

Great Lakes Taxi (616) 241-5150

Metro Cab (616) 827-6500

Boss Taxi (616) 303-0141

Don't Edit

For more adventures, check out the Michigan's Best series on MLive

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman explore the state to bring you the best of Michigan.
univofmichigan.jpg

The University of Michigan Library has partnered with UM's College of Literature, Science and the Arts to create the one-credit class, "Fake News, Lies, and Propaganda: How to Sort Fact from Fiction," which is available starting in the fall of 2017.

(The Ann Arbor News file photo)

ANN ARBOR, MI - At a time when "fake news" and "alternative facts" have become buzz terms in the news media landscape and popular culture, the University of Michigan will soon offer a course intended to help students develop better critical evaluation skills of news items.

The University of Michigan Library has partnered with UM's College of Literature, Science and the Arts to create the one-credit class, "Fake News, Lies, and Propaganda: How to Sort Fact from Fiction," which is available starting in the fall of 2017.

Course designer Doreen Bradley said the class is intended to help students be more critical of the sources their news come from in an age of instant access to articles from across the political spectrum.

"We've seen that it's a topic students are struggling with," said Bradley, a librarian and adjunct lecturer in curriculum support. "Students are fairly good at finding scholarly info, but when you ask them to scan general information like the news through what they find on Twitter or Facebook, they have a much more difficult time determining what is accurate and what they can trust."

The news media continues to be a source of contention for President Donald Trump, who held a recent campaign rally in Florida and continued his attacks on the "dishonest media."

Insisting he was the victim of false reporting, Trump said his White House was running "so smoothly" and that he "inherited one big mess," according to The Associated Press. On numerous occasions, Trump has taken to social media to call out specific news outlets.

Social media, Bradley said, is a major focus of the course, in terms of how news is delivered to its consumers.

The course will aim to help students assess how their social media feeds influence their views, and make a plan to adjust those feeds to improve their understanding of the world around them.

Other objectives of the class are to teach students how to learn how to find trusted sources of statistics; be challenged to confront their own biases; and consider how their opinions, and the opinions of others, can affect their interpretation of the news.

"We want them to understand that whether they realize it or not, we see things a certain way," Bradley said. "I think social media and being on Facebook is a good example of that in that you are shown more of the types of articles you read the most. We want them to be aware that you almost create an information bubble for yourself that way."

The course won't attempt to endorse specific types of news outlets, Bradley said, but instead teach students about the political leanings of some outlets and where they exist on the "spectrum of left to right."

The course takes a granular approach to a topic that has always been layered into the larger curriculum at UM, LSA Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Angela Dillard said.

"Teaching students to be critical consumers of news and information is part of a good liberal arts education," Dillard said in a news release. "Students are learning this skill in all their classes. But today there is so much information that learning how to assess its validity is more challenging than ever. This course addresses that need."
ANN ARBOR, MI - At first, Cathy Peterffy brushed aside her concerns that her daughter Johanna, who has autism and is nonverbal, wasn't making much progress at Ann Arbor's Burns Park Elementary School.

She met with school officials to discuss her daughter's education, but after several meetings, Peterffy grew frustrated. Eventually, she filed a formal complaint with the Michigan Department of Education's Office of Special Education.

Peterffy alleged that Johanna's teacher had not properly covered the special education curriculum or allowed Johanna to spend enough time in general education classes. She also argued that the school did not provide her with Johanna's special education services notes when asked and Johanna had not received the time she needed with a school social worker.

Three other families also filed complaints with the MDE about the special education services at Burns Park Elementary in the 2015-16 school year. Their concerns were similar to Peterffy's.

The state investigated and concluded Ann Arbor Public Schools violated some special education regulations in Johanna's case. The other families resolved their concerns through mediation with the district.

In Peterffy's case, the state found:

The school district violated part of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that says parents should be able to obtain educational records within 45 days.

The teacher did not adequately document special education curriculum covered or sufficiently document that Johanna had spent the proper amount of time in general education classrooms.

Johanna did not receive the time with the school worker her education plan said she needed.

The state subsequently issued a "corrective action" order to the district. The district made changes to satisfy the order and the parents' wishes, including moving the teacher involved and providing a full-time social worker at Burns Park. The corrective action said Johanna needed to receive individual instruction and extra time with a school social worker for make up for the time she missed last school year.

"It's extremely rare in the Ann Arbor Public Schools for us to resolve an issue through that venue (of state intervention)," Superintendent Jeanice Swift said. "When that occurs, we absolutely do work through that process."

The MDE Office of Special Education also found one case of non-compliance with special education requirements in Ann Arbor Public Schools among 120 statewide in the 2014-15 school year, the most recent data available.

Peterffy says she's still angry about the decision in her case - even though it validated her concerns - because she doesn't think the state's corrective action order fully compensates Johanna for the learning she missed out on last school year.

'She doesn't appear to be learning anything'

Peterffy's daughter Johanna is now in fourth grade at Burns Park. She had the same teacher - who has now been transferred to another school - from kindergarten through third grade, Peterffy said.

Johanna started having more behavioral issues at school last school year, Peterffy said.

"It started with, 'Well, she doesn't appear to be learning anything, but as long as she's happy,'" Peterffy said. "Last year, things just became unmanageable. ... My gut kicked in and said I need her out of here until I know what's going on."

The Student Intervention and Support Services department oversees Ann Arbor Public School's special education services. It suggests parents with concerns raise the issue with their child's teacher or case manager, then the school principal, an SISS administrator, the SISS executive director, the district's assistant superintendent and finally the superintendent.

Peterffy says she communicated with all of those people except the superintendent, in addition to seeking advice from parents involved in the Ann Arbor Parent Advisory Committee for Special Education and other parent advocates.

She didn't feel her concerns were addressed, so in June 2016, she filed a formal complaint with the MDE's Office of Special Education.

"I want accountability for SSIS to own up to what they do and what they don't do," Peterffy said. "What is the point of safeguards and procedures if they don't work?"

In their complaints, the four families asked that Burns Park have its own full-time social worker. Three of the families - whose children were in the Autism Spectrum Disorder classroom - also asked the district to hire a new ASD teacher for Burns Park.

The school district has now met those requests, Swift said, even though the MDE order did not require those steps. The school social worker involved declined to comment on a situation involving specific families, and Burns Park's former ASD teacher could not be reached for comment.

The teacher is now a teacher consultant at another Ann Arbor elementary school. Peterffy says that upsets her.

"I'm very disappointed that (the teacher) still be allowed to continue providing services to children of special needs," Peterffy said.

The teacher's personnel file does not reference any disciplinary action, the MDE's findings or any concerns about her job performance.

Swift declined to comment specifically on the teacher involved. But she said there are many people involved other than the teacher when it comes to managing educational plans for special-needs students, and they hold each other accountable.

Swift said providing special education services for one student can include a dozen people. Special education encompasses a spectrum of services, and it can be a complex process to determine how best to meet each student's needs, she added.

Since the Department of Education's findings, the district is dealing with new problems associated with special education at Burns Park.

A new ASD teacher hired for the 2016-17 school year was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 13 pending investigation into an alleged incident that occurred that day, according to a letter from the district obtained by The Ann Arbor News. A teacher assistant in the classroom also was placed on administrative pending investigation of an incident on Oct. 11.

The district does not comment on internal personnel matters, school officials said in response to inquiries about the new Burns Park ASD teacher's employment status or what may have happened.

State demands changes

The three Burns Park families who resolved their complaints through mediation have confidential agreements with AAPS and cannot discuss their cases.

Peterffy sought a state investigation rather than mediation, which led to the MDE's finding of several violations of state and federal special education regulations, which are outlined in a decision issued July 26, 2016:

In November 2015, Peterffy requested records of her daughter's school attendance and time with the social worker and other service providers. At the end of March 2016, Peterffy finally got a response saying the records would be available.

That delay violated the part of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that says parents should be able to obtain educational records within 45 days, according to the MDE.

The teacher could not provide sufficient documentation of special education curriculum covered in the 2015-16 school year nor sufficient documentation that Johanna had spent the proper amount of time in general education classrooms.

"The district was able to substantiate the presence of the student in the special education program from September 2015 through June 2016; however, no documentation was submitted relating to delivery of academic content from September 2015 through May 5, 2016," the MDE's report states.

That violated the requirements of IDEA and Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education.

Johanna did not receive the time with the school worker her education plan said she needed, which violates MARSE. A district administrator told the MDE there were too many demands on the school social worker's time, as the social worker served two high-needs schools last school year.

The MDE report noted that Johanna's absences from school added to the difficulty of scheduling time with the social worker and in general education classes. She was absent 125 half days over the course of the school year.

Peterffy said she took Johanna out of school to attend Applied Behavior Analysis therapy every other day at the start of the 2015-16 school year. By the end of school year, Peterffy said Johanna was attending therapy every afternoon because Peterffy was concerned about the lack of services being provided in her Burns Park classroom. Johanna's older brother's death in June also contributed to her missing some days of school.

The MDE ordered AAPS to take corrective action, which included providing 16 hours of individualized instruction for Johanna. A social worker also will provide 332 minutes of service for Johanna to make up for what she missed out on this past school year.

Also, AAPS is required to develop, review and/or revise its procedures for following special education regulations, with input from the Washtenaw Intermediate School District.

Today, Peterffy continues to watch over her daughter's progress at school. Swift said the district is working internally to make adjustments to serve students and meet their needs.
Girl Scouts1.JPG

Ann Arbor City Administrator Howard Lazarus listens to a presentation on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, from ninth-grader Elizabeth Blackwell, who shared the findings of her Girl Scout troop's pedestrian safety study for Slauson Middle School.

(Lauren Slagter | The Ann Arbor News)

ANN ARBOR, MI - When a group of Girl Scouts felt traffic was a safety issue for students arriving and leaving Slauson Middle School, they began a project to study the issue.

Almost three years later, the members of Troop No. 40466 are now in ninth grade and are presenting the findings of their pedestrian safety study to the city of Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor Public Schools officials.

Their work comes at a time when the city and school district are working to improve pedestrian safety near schools following the death of 16-year-old Qi-Xuan "Justin" Tang in October 2016, who was hit by a car crossing Fuller Road near Huron High School.

"The majority of us did go to Slauson, and being driven there every day, we were very aware that there was no real safe drop-off or pick-up area and other pedestrian safety issues," said Elizabeth Blackwell, a student at Washtenaw International High School who took the lead on the Girl Scouts' presentation.

On Wednesday, Feb. 22, six of the nine troop members met with City Administrator Howard Lazarus to share the results of their study. The girls said they previously presented the information at a Transportation Safety Committee, which involves city and school staff, and to staff in the school district's transportation department.

"You've taken a giant step in being engaged in your local government," Lazarus told the girls, adding that he's designated pedestrian safety as the city's No. 1 priority for the new fiscal year. "It also means that you don't get to stop being engaged until the work is finished. At times that will mean keeping up on us to make sure we live up to what we say we're going to do and not letting us take the easy way out. The only way your city government gets better is if you insist on it getting better."

Blackwell was joined by AJ Warrick, Sofia Shearing, Samantha Marchand, Maggie Packard and Tasha Loomis at the meeting with Lazarus. Other members of Troop No. 40466 include Lexi Miller, Jane Vaillant and Eliza Shearing.

To assess the routes of vehicles and pedestrians around Slauson - located at 1019 W. Washington St. - the Girl Scouts spent a morning in December 2015 observing the drop-off time with the help of city traffic engineer Cynthia Redinger. The troop also developed an online survey, which the Slauson principal emailed to parents multiple times in the spring of 2016, and they went door-to-door in the neighborhoods surrounding the school the summer of 2016 asking people what they thought of the traffic flow.

Of the 84 people who responded to the survey, 76 percent of Slauson parents said they had witnessed a dangerous traffic situation near the school, and 85 percent of Slauson parents and neighbors believe there is a traffic problem and want to see safety improvements.

The girls observed students walking between buses to get to school, cars making U-turns in the roads and buses parked in crosswalks to drop off students.

"The congestion was so heavy on this street that a fire truck with its sirens blaring actually had to slow down considerably to the point of almost stopping just to get through safely," Blackwell said.

Lazarus asked the Girl Scouts why so many parents drive their children to school rather than having them walk and if they had any ideas for encouraging more students to walk to school. The girls pointed out the school district doesn't offer busing for students who live within 1.5 miles of the schools, which is still a long way to walk, especially in the winter.

Going forward, the Girl Scouts proposed adding "no parking" signs on Washington Street near the school that would be enforced during arrival and dismissal times. They also suggested moving the bus drop-off from Eighth Street to Crest Street, leaving Washington and Eighth streets as the primary drop-off areas for students whose parents drive them to school. The girls said the Slauson principal and school transportation department are looking into whether Crest Street can accommodate the buses.

They also recommended adding a pedestrian crosswalk on Eighth Street, and Blackwell said Mayor Christopher Taylor said that would be a top priority in improving pedestrian safety by Slauson.

Lazarus thanked the girls for their insights before presenting each of them with a "Bravo" chocolate bar - a gesture to recognize city staff for their work - and a City of Ann Arbor "challenge coin" to remind the recipients of their role in public service excellence.

"I want you to carry those and use them as a reminder not to let us be less than we can be, make us better than we might otherwise be if you weren't engaged, to hold us accountable and make sure we do what we need to do," Lazarus said. "Don't give up because you're so close to making life better and safer for not only yourselves but all those other parents and students at Slauson."

The girls said they plan to follow-up with city and school officials to see if their recommendations are implemented.

"I think it's been a great experience so far just to see the amount of interest in this and the passion toward making schools safer," Blackwell said. "It's been really great to see that we do have power in this community with how many people are listening and responding."
ANN ARBOR, MI - A Livingston County woman is charged with embezzling thousands of dollars from an 89-year-old Ann Arbor women whom she worked for as a caregiver.

Cheryl Elaine Smith, of Hamburg Township, was arraigned Feb. 18 in Washtenaw County 15th District Court on charges of embezzlement of a vulnerable adult $50,000 or more but less than $100,000 and larceny over $20,000.

Both charges are felonies, and carry punishments of up to 15 years in prison and up to 10 years in prison, respectively.

The Ann Arbor Police Department started investigating in December after the 89-year-old woman's family noticed significant withdraws from bank accounts, dating back several years.

Smith was a caregiver in the victim's home and had access to bank accounts, police say.

Ann Arbor Police detectives say Smith opened credit cards and other accounts in the victim's name with Smith listed as a user.

She used the money to make personal purchases, said Detective Lt. Matthew Lige.

"It is frustrating that Ms. Smith took advantage of an elderly woman who was trusted to provide her care. The charges authorized are entirely appropriate for the crimes alleged to have occurred over the course of several years," Lige said in a statement.

Smith is scheduled for a probable cause conference March 2.
FRANKENLUST TOWNSHIP, MI -- It was the first state of the community address for a newly elected county executive and likely the last for a city manager on his way out.

But the theme of both talks were the same: Building an extraordinary quality of life in our community.

More than 300 people attended the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce's State of the Community event Thursday, Feb. 23, to hear the annual update on business throughout Bay City and the county.

Bay County Executive Jim Barcia, the former U.S. Congressman who was elected in November and is approaching his 50th day on the job, used his time to reemphasize his campaign message that his administration's top priority is creating good paying jobs to grow the local economy.

Bay City Manager Rick Finn's address was more of a farewell address used to highlight his past three years with the city. The Bay City Commission is ready to part ways with Finn at the end of the budget year, June 30. He told Thursday's crowd he would leave Bay City at that point and seek employment in another community to "finish up some time." He later told The Bay City Times/MLive that he's looking in New York and Illinois, two communities where he has previous municipal work experience.

Finn has balanced three consecutive budgets in his tenure with the city. This past year ended with $450,000 in additional dollars above expenditures.

He then touted the nearly $50 million in investment at the Uptown Bay City development, although much of that planning was completed prior to his hiring in March 2014.

He did break down some of his administration's key wins from the past three years, including:

* A $1 million deal with the Bay City Downtown Development Authority to split the cost of milling and resurfacing all downtown streets before the 2016 Tall Ship Celebration.

* Securing tax breaks to assist developers of the new Comfort Inn hotel at the entrance into downtown off Veterans Memorial Bridge and The Times Lofts, a massive redevelopment project to transform the old Bay City Times building into luxury apartment rentals.

* The removal of 45 blighted structures throughout the city, including the old Fletcher Oil building, which crews are currently demolishing.

* Launching a 15-year, comprehensive plan to address the city's housing crisis.

* The allocation of Community Development Block Grant dollars for a new Imagination Station playground at Bigelow Park on Middlegrounds Island, a project that was recently approved by the City Commission. One of Finn's first tasks as city manager was recommending the removal of the old Imagination Station after it was discovered its pressure-treated wood was leaching arsenic into the ground.

Finn also used his time to again support a controversial pavilion project proposed for Wenonah Park.

"I look at it as an economic development stimulation for the entire downtown area," he said. "I can't look at it in any other way."

Barcia highlights

In his first two months on the job, Barcia received approval from the Bay County Board of Commissioners to create a stand-alone Department on Aging, which was formerly a division of the Bay County Health Department. The department, with a $3.3 million annual budget, has more than 60 employees to serve Bay County's high population of senior citizens. Bay County ranks No. 1 in Michigan for most seniors per capita.

Barcia also said he plans to work with economic development officials to see more dredging on the Saginaw River to increase the county's agribusiness economy.

"We need to do all we can to expand agribusiness exporting and getting access into European markets," he said.

Upcoming projects

At an event where speakers spend a majority of their time applauding collaboration between government and business organizations, there was also a bit of news:

* Barcia said one of his priorities is to make the Bay County Animal Shelter a no-kill shelter, an issue that has previously been proposed.

* A new boardwalk at the Bay City State Park and Recreation Area that was held up due to a beach grooming violation last year could be installed as early as this spring, Barcia said.

* A Midland Street reconstruction project is slated to begin after the Fourth of July. The road is going to be entirely rebuilt, Finn said. "It's going to be a very nice project for that business district," he said.

* Trumbull Street is also scheduled for reconstruction from Center Avenue to Independence Bridge. The city resurfaced a portion of the road in 2014.

* Sidewalk repairs begin this year. After the City Commission approved a 1 percent fee on tax bills to raise an estimated $300,000 per year, the city is ready to tackle sidewalk projects , specifically in areas that haven't seen repairs in more than a decade. Finn has said over the next 10 years, he'd like to see the city spend $6.5 million on the sidewalk program.

Both Finn and Barcia also highlighted the importance of restoring the beach at the state park. Ryan Carley, chief executive officer of the chamber, said he plans to unveil site plans and renderings of what the beach could look like at the organization's annual meeting March 22.
The Thiruvananthapuram Mayor has also maintained that she does not suspect anyone in her office to be behind the 'fake letter'.
KALAMAZOO, MI - The friends and family of victims and survivors of last year's mass shooting in Kalamazoo are about to get more help to recover from the trauma of that night of Feb. 20, 2016.

The Office of Crime Victim Services in Lansing, with the Help Now! Fund partners, is interviewing finalists this month for the new position.

The Victim/Survivor Navigator, to be employed and based in Kalamazoo for the next two years, will be paid for by the $500,000 Kalamazoo Antiterrorism Emergency Project grant through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said Annette Chapman, vice president of grant making and scholarships for the Battle Creek Community Foundation.

The hope is to identify and support the needs of the people most affected by the violence of that night, Chapman said.

The Battle Creek Community Foundation, the Kalamazoo Foundation and the United Way are partners of HelpNow!, a collaborative fundraising effort. In addition to the grant it secured, HelpNow! has raised more than $245,000 for the families of the victims and survivors.

Four women with ties to Battle Creek were killed in the shooting rampage around Kalamazoo that also killed a father and son from Mattawan, and wounded a Battle Creek teen and a Kalamazoo woman.Nearly $250K donated to victims, families since Kalamazoo mass shooting

Chapman said the new grant-funded position was borne out of a visit to Kalamazoo and Battle Creek last summer by Dr. Jennie Barr, a specialist in trauma and victims, who conducted a needs assessment in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.

Barr's recommendation--that a victim survivor "navigator" would be needed to help advocates in the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor's Office who have been working with families of victims and survivors.

The new hire will have an office at the Kalamazoo United Way, and will connect people who need services to the resources that are available, Chapman said.

The help is aimed at the Kalamazoo mass shooting aftermath, and the three-year grant started the day after the shooting. People who qualify for help could be witnesses, first responders, or others whose lives were changed by the shooting that night, Chapman said.

The six finalists all come from the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek areas, with backgrounds in social work or criminal justice.
Kalamazoo and Saginaw lawsuit against School Reform Office

A photo of a lawsuit filed by Kalamazoo and Saginaw schools and parents from both districts was taken on Feb. 23, 2017. (Malachi Barrett | MLive.com)

A joint lawsuit filed by Kalamazoo Public Schools, Saginaw Public Schools and 13 parents says the state acted illegally in threatening to close four of their schools.

The Kalamazoo and Saginaw school boards voted last week to authorize the lawsuit to prevent the possible closure of the schools. The complaint was filed in the Michigan Court of Claims on Feb. 22.

According to court files, plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit include: the two school districts and their boards of education, Kalamazoo parents Briana Wolverton, Aleena Evans, Gary and Tammy Hudson, Tammy Pawloski, Christopher and Latoya Elliott, and James and Daria Seaman; and Saginaw parents Detrianna Barnes, Tabatha Hunt-Dixon, Stacey Marshall and Ericka Taylor.

Defendants listed include Natasha Baker as state school reform officer, the School Reform Office, School Reform District, the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, the Michigan Department of Education, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Whiston.

In summary, the plaintiffs, represented by Grand Rapids law firm Clark Hill PLC, request the following:

A judgment declaring an order to reorganize the School Reform Office under the Department of Technology, Management and Budget is illegal;

A judgment declaring all actions of the School Reform Office since being reorganized are void because they are illegal;

A judgment declaring that the School Reform Office has no power to close the schools;

An injunction preventing the defendants from making public announcements that they have the power to close schools;

A judgment declaring that the defendants failed to create objective criteria evaluating school achievement.

"The School Reform Officer did not provide any statutory authority supporting the planned actions against the Threatened Schools," the complaint states. "The School Reform Officer continues to take action against the (Kalamazoo and Saginaw Schools) even though (it has no) such authority."

The case will appear before District IV Judge Stephen L. Borrello, who presides over cases in the Michigan Court of Claims' Grand Rapids office.

After three years of being ranked among the lowest-achieving Michigan institutions, 38 schools, including four schools in Saginaw and Kalamazoo, are at risk of being shut down by the office.

Saginaw High School, along with Loomis Academy were also placed on the list due to low test scores for three or more consecutive years. In Kalamazoo, Washington Writers' Academy and Woodward School for Research and Technology are also placed on the state list.

The same day KPS voted to authorize its board to take legal action if necessary, the Saginaw Board of Education gave its superintendent authority to do the same.

Meanwhile, a news release from Gov. Rick Snyder's office said the decision of whether to close 38 schools would be postponed until as late as May.

Snyder said in the release that closures "may not be the right option for serving students and their families due to the hardship it would create, there still must be some action taken to fix a failing school."

In 2009, former-President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allocated approximately $5 billion for a competitive grant program.

To qualify for the grant funding, states were evaluated in four core education areas, including the improvement of a state's "lowest achieving schools." A few months later, laws were passed instructing the state superintendent to publish a yearly list identifying the lowest achieving 5 percent of schools and to place those schools under supervision of a School Reform Office.

Schools on the "priority school" list were required to submit a plan to implement one of four models meant to improve school performance. If the plan is not approved or fails to achieve satisfactory results, the school is placed under the authority of a School Reform Officer.

This has not happened to any of the four schools. Each of the at-risk schools in Kalamazoo and Saginaw have also implemented redesign plans.

"Without placing the Threatened Schools in the School Reform District, the School Reform Officer is without any authority or power to order the closure of any of the Threatened Schools," the complaint states.

Either way, the lawsuit states it is illegal for the state to require a new activity or service of a school district, such as a redesign plan, if it fails to provide funding for the requirements.

The School Reform Office remained under the Department of Education until 2015, when the office was reorganized under the Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit also say this is illegal -- the powers should stay with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and MDE.

On Jan. 20, Baker sent a letter to parents of children at the four schools in Kalamazoo and Saginaw informing them that the schools were at risk of closure.

The lawsuit states that the letter has caused "irreparable injury to KPS and SPS."

"Parents and teachers have expressed that many students feel insecure, scared and frustrated about the possibility that their school may be closed," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also states the office does not provide fair notice of the criteria used to determine how schools are performing, and gives the office "unstructured and unlimited discretion in determining whether a public school has achieved satisfactory results."

For decades, the Michigan Educational Assessment Program was used as the statewide standardized test. Starting with the 2014-15 academic year, Michigan began using Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress as the statewide test given to students to assess achievement and progress.

The lawsuit alleges state agencies have consistently said the M-STEP is unsuitable to determine academic performance and progress.

"The M-STEP is not standardized because, among other things, it has not used standardized testing protocols and procedures in the administration of the test," the complaint states.

According to the letter sent to parents, the closure notice will be rescinded by Feb. 28 if the School Reform Office determines closure would cause unreasonable hardship to the children.

Options include naming a CEO, changing the redesign plan or placing the school into the State School Reform District.

On Feb. 14, the Michigan Board of Education issued a statement advising the School Reform Officer to rescind school closures.

It argued that no clear definition for "unreasonable hardship" exists and closing schools creates a potential to cause disruption and harm to students, as school closure is a state-created form of student mobility and a large body of research finds that student mobility can have harmful effects on student performance.

"This includes a greater likelihood of increased drop-out rates, lowered achievement, increased chance of substance abuse, lower levels of occupational prestige, increased symptoms of depression, and greater likelihood to be arrested as adults," the statement reads.
OSHTEMO TOWNSHIP, MI-- A 13-year-old who was seriously injured while skateboarding Wednesday night was not struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run incident after all, investigators have concluded.

Further investigation by the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office has determined the Feb. 22 incident to be a false report, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office.

"While the 13-year-old youth suffered injuries, the circumstances as to how the injuries occurred were deemed false," authorities said.

Undersheriff Pali Matyas said Friday morning that "basically the kid was horsing around and got hurt and the story was concocted" to prevent friends from getting into trouble.

The Sheriff's Office was originally dispatched to Bronson Methodist Hospital where the mother had taken the boy for treatment of his injuries. They told doctors the boy had been struck by a vehicle, Matyas said.

"We talked to the mom and the kid and they gave us the hit and run story," Matyas said.

The boy and his mother told deputies that the boy was skateboarding on Colonial Trail Drive around 6:30 p.m. when an older small grey or silver sedan with the driver's side rear taillight not functioning was traveling south, and hit the boy then sped away without stopping.

But the boy's father learned the truth about the injuries, and of the story, and refused to go along with the false story, Matyas said.

"Dad called us and said 'no, here's what happened,' " Matyas said.

The Sheriff's Office is continuing the investigation to determine if charges of making a false police report will be sought.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoo Public Schools is calling in sick Friday.

The school district says that on Thursday approximately 1,900 children were absent, were sent home sick, or were complaining of ill health.

Many complained of stomach illnesses or flu-like symptoms.

"After discussions with Kalamazoo County Health and Human Services," the district has decided that it will be closed on Friday, Feb. 24.

According to a Thursday afternoon press release issued by KPS Director of Communications Alex Lee, "The closure will allow Friday, Saturday and Sunday for those that are sick to recover and will give KPS the opportunity to clean and disinfect buildings.

The district has approximately 13,000 students. They attend 17 elementary schools, four middle schools, an alternative learning program, and three high schools (Kalamazoo Central, Loy Norrix and Phoenix).

The Comstock Public Schools District was closed Thursday because of a "significant" level of students and staff sick with a Norovirus or Influenza-Like-Illness. That district as well as Portage Public Schools were to be closed Friday to start their mid-winter break.

Climax-Scotts Community Schools will also be closed "due to student and staff illness," according to its website. Gull Lake Community Schools will also be closed.

The Kalamazoo County Health Department has been reporting an increase in viruses at schools, hospitals and daycare centers.
The following people were sentenced Feb. 6-14 in Muskegon County's 14th Circuit Court:

John Thomas Johnson, 59, of Muskegon, to one day in jail for operating under the influence of liquor, attempted delivery/manufacture of a controlled substance, $1,598 court costs/fees.

Kerri Ann Sittser, 41, of Muskegon, to 43 days in jail for first-degree retail fraud, $1,158 court costs/fees.

Michael Anthony Kelsey, 38, of Muskegon, to 60 days in jail for marijuana possession second or subsequent offense, operating with a high blood alcohol content, $1,348 court costs/fees.

Darnail Edwards, 30, of Muskegon Heights, to 65 days in jail for carrying a concealed weapon, $863 court costs/fees.

Amondo Lashawn Dooley, 45, of Muskegon, to 12 months in jail for attempted breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, habitual offender third, $198 court costs/fees.

Willieshia Jatisha Lee, 31, of Muskegon Heights, to 12 months of probation and 90 days electronic tether for food stamp fraud, $8,844 in restitution and $1,318 court costs/fees.

Robert Raymond Beckley, 54, of Muskegon, to continued probation for operating under the influence of liquor, operating with a suspended license, habitual offender fourth, $2,904 court costs/fees.

Calsey Deshun Webb, 25, of Muskegon, to the KPEP program for assault/resist/obstruction of a police officer, habitual offender second, $1,317 court costs/fees.

Daultanian Lee Atkinson, Jr., 27, of Muskegon, to 12 months in jail, 24 months' probation on the swift and sure sanctions program for fleeing and eluding police, assault/resist/obstruction of a police officer, habitual offender fourth, $1,166 court costs/fees.

Anthony Todd Taylor, 38, of Muskegon Heights, to 12 months in jail for failing to register as a violent sex offender, habitual offender third, $1,098 court costs/fees.

Alyjuuan Paris-Ellis, 31, of Muskegon, to 12 months for possession of a non-narcotic controlled substance in jail, third conviction, $648 court costs/fees.

Jerry Mitchell, Jr., 32, of Muskegon Heights, to the KPEP and EXIT programs, continuing probation for owning a short-barreled shotgun or rifle, domestic violence, $909 court costs/fees.

Adam Joseph Gullett, 25, of Livonia, to 30 days in jail for failing to return rented property between $200 and $1,000, $625 court costs/fees.

Elizabeth Rae Boone, 32, of Spring Lake, to five months in jail for embezzling more than $2,000, $102,736 in restitution, $252 court costs/fees.

Demario Marcellis Buchanan, 32, of Manistee, to 18-35 years for homicide murder second degree, a consecutive sentence of 2 years for using a firearm to commit a felony, with concurrent sentences for lying to a police officer, lying to a police officer, habitual offender fourth, $402 court costs/fees.

Kendall Rogers, 42, of Muskegon, to six months in jail for possession of a controlled substance less than 25 grams, $648 court costs/fees.

Jacquelinn Jean Bliss, 38, of Whitehall, to 45 days in jail for embezzling between $1,000 and $20,000, $708 court costs/fees.

Christopher Alan Maycroft, 53, of North Muskegon, to 90 days in jail for operating under the influence of liquor, $1,158 court costs/fees.
Job Application

This file photo shows an employment application form on a table during a job fair. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

(Mike Groll)

MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI -- Community members are invited to the first Muskegon Heights job fair.

The fair will be Wednesday, March 1 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Muskegon Heights City Hall, 2724 Peck St.

Muskegon Heights City Manager Jake Eckholm said the event is more than just a job fair, it is a workforce development fair.

In addition to staffing agencies and direct hire employers, educational institutions such as Muskegon Community College and READ Muskegon, will also attend.

"We see this as taking action to address one of our foundation issues in the city, which is workforce development and unemployment," Eckholm said.

There will be 20 "vendors" from various companies and organizations.

Volunteers will also be at the event to help people create or update their resume at a "Resume Generation Station."

Michigan Works donated 100 flash drives so people can have electronic copies of their newly created or updated resume for future use.

The Muskegon Heights Academy senior class will attend the event during the day. Community members from other cities are also welcome to attend.

"We're really trying to drive participation ... our goal is to really build (the event) into an annual thing," Eckholm said.
MUSKEGON, MI - Moon Elementary School received a huge investment in the future of its students on Friday: delivery of nearly 5,000 new books for its kindergarten through third-grade classrooms.

Students helped Muskegon Public Schools Superintendent Justin Jennings and Muskegon Area Intermediate School District Superindent John Severson unload two vehicles filled with books to their classrooms.

Many of the classrooms lacked enough books for children to expand their literary skills or read books of interest to them.

"This is awesome for our school," Principal Okeelah McBride said. "We started working with Reading Now last spring, and to see all the hard work and the planning pay off like this is unrealistic. It's so exciting."

Boxes were filled with books that covered various topics at different reading levels for students to explore their interests while building skills and a love for reading. Some classrooms had as few as 100 books in them, many of which were in poor condition or purchased by the teachers.

Reading Now Network research shows that every classroom should have at least 1,500 books in each room.

"We spent a Friday night going through every classroom counting and documenting all the books at what level we had," McBride said. "Even with some of the books they had, they weren't at the correct reading levels or interests of our students so that's what determined the need."

The books were purchased by Herman Miller Cares as part of the Reading Now Network, which is a collective effort of 70 school districts across 13 counties in West Michigan to improve early literacy and student achievement across all grade levels.

As part of an effort to bring literacy practices used at high-achieving schools into those who need improvement, Reading Now Network selected four schools who volunteered to be lab schools.

Lab schools worked with the program to institute five principles of reading success based from research performed in schools with high reading scores.

"We have a staff here that recognized the need for classroom libraries and books and this was the perfect opportunity to make this happen for our students," McBride said. "We were willing to do whatever it takes."

The five principles include a focus on reading, using relevant data, shared leadership and sustained commitment, learning-focused classrooms and a responsibility for every student's success.

Herman Miller and Huntington donated a combined $30,000 to the Reading Now Network, part of which benefited Moon Elementary School through the purchase of books.

"As a major employer in the area, we recognize that it's important for us to step up and help out to provide some resources knowing that it's going to help out down the line," said Alison Freas, Herman Miller Academy program manager and Education chair for Herman Miller Cares.

"Ultimately, this is the future of our region. These students are the future talent down the line and we need to make an investment in them at a young age and we're happy to do that."

McBride hopes to get grades four through six involved in a classroom library project similar to this one in the future, but said she is happy to get a start on early literacy with the lower grades for now.
Justine McGuire

Dancing with the Local Stars 2017

Reading about dance isn't the same as watching it.

That's the case for Dancing with the Local Stars 2017 as much as any other competition or performance.

The fundraiser put on by the Women's Division Chamber of Commerce to benefit local food programs and pantries kicked off on Thursday, Feb. 23, to a sold out crowd.

Throughout the evening, 12 couples took the floor.

Scroll to see sneak peeks of each performance.

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Susan Halter and David Armbrecht

The couple danced a combination of Latin hustle and freestyle to "The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga. It included leopard costumes and overhead lifts.

Judge's comment: "It was a great way to start the show."

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Bob Gezon and Carly Switzer

Belly/Arabic dance got the crowd going as Gezon and Switzer worked their hips throughout their performance to "Modern Darbuka Mix Instrumental."

Judge's comment: "You had great precision with your belly dancing. Very charming and flirty."

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Lynnette Bloomberg and Dave Kennedy

Lynette Bloomberg and Dave Kennedy told the story of Bloomberg selling Noble Company in Norton Shores during 2016. She remains COO. They danced a jazzy foxtrot to "Feeling Good" by Michael Buble.

Judge's comment: "You were very classy. The number was very uplifting and very creative."

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Becky Kuznar and Patrick Johnson

Becky Kuznar and Patrick Johnson captured the audience with a contemporary adiago to "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion.

Judge's comment: "You guys had great lines, very strong. Very fun to watch as well as entrancing."

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Tim Lopez and Brenda Sprader

Tim Lopez and Brenda Sprader faked out the audience when they started a slow, sad dance to "Fragile" by Kygo, but the music soon turned to "Labrinth/Fireball" by Pitbull for an exciting performance.

Judge's comment: "You guys really owned the stage tonight. It was lots of fun, very energetic and playful."

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Paul Price and Lisa Jirikovic

Paul Price and Lisa Jirikovic took home "People's Choice" and "Best in Show" awards on opening night of Dancing with the Stars 2017 for their inspiring performance of blended dance styles to "You're Still You" by Josh Groban and "Try Everything" by Shakira.

Judge's comment: "Paul, you are an inspiration. Dance has no limits, no boundaries."

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Tabitha Johnson and Steve Zaagman

Tabitha Johnson and Steve Zaagman had the crowd in awe as Zaagman lifted and flipped Johnson multiple times throughout their upbeat East Coast swing dance to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by Bette Midler.

Judge's comment: "You guys had perfect timing, and all of your lifts and steps were brilliant."

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Jennie Naffie and Sean France

Jennie Naffie and Sean France performed a freestyle dance to "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman.

Judge's comment: "Very eloquent number. Very pleasant and enjoyable."

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Karissa Tryska and Michael Page Jr.

Karissa Tryska and Michael Page Jr. inserted some salsa into the evening with their salsa/hip-hop dance to "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey and "24K Magic" by Bruno Mars.

Judge's comment: "Thank you for you salsa action. Thank you for all the other action that went on in that number."

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Chris Kuhn and Francine Kilcrease

Chris Kuhn and Francine Kilcrease won "Critic's Choice" on the opening night of Dancing with the Local Stars 2017 for their freestyle to "Can't Stop the Feeling!" by Justin Timberlake. The performance included a drum set, and light up shoes and hats.

Judge's comment: "Very exhilarating. Pure entertainment."

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Bill Uetricht and Mary Switzer

Bill Uetricht and Mary Switzer performed a fun freestyle dance to "Waka Waka" by Shakira.

Judge's comment: "Perfect musicality. On every beat. I loved it."

Don't Edit

Justine McGuire

Matt Kaley and Andrea VanBeek

Matt Kaley and Andrea VanBeek performed a freestyle dance to "I Hope You Dance Mix" by Ronan Keating and Mandisa. The number featured a costume change that changed the feel of the dance.

Judge's comment: "This was a very passionate number. I loved it."
BAY CITY, MI -- Old Town Saginaw's Omoni Boutique will soon have a second location in Bay City.

Owner Jessica Hill opened her first boutique at 108 N. Michigan, near Pasong's Cafe, Cebula Fine Jewelry and Rock Your Locks Salon, in October. She also has an online store at www.omoniboutique.com.

Now, Hill plans to open a second location at the Uptown Bay City development in June. Her second store is currently under construction.

The new mixed-use development south of downtown Bay City on the east bank of the Saginaw River also is home to Real Seafood Co., Don Angelos Aveda Lifestyle Salon, Uptown Grill, The Fix coffee shop, Michigan Sugar, Chemical Bank, Dow Corning Corp., McLaren Bay Region, condos and more.

"The opportunity was perfect because that area is beautiful," Hill said.

Hill said she wanted to secure a space at Uptown while space was still available.

"It's really filling up," she said. "I know it's kind of a risk (to open a second store), but, at the same time, it's a great opportunity."

Omoni Boutique offers women's clothing and accessories at a "moderate, upscale price point."

Hill said her second store is expected to be similar to the Saginaw location but will likely carry different lines and brands. All products for sale at the two boutiques are sold online.

She said Uptown appeals to her because it's walkable, it's close to downtown Bay City retail and restaurants and it's convenient for shoppers coming from Midland.

"I love Uptown," she said. "They're really trying to make that place into a destination spot."

Hill hopes to open her new store by June. As she did when she opened her Saginaw store, she plans to donate 5 percent of sales from her grand opening to an area charity.

"I'm really excited to join that community," she said.
SAGINAW, MI -- A Special Weather Statement issued by the National Weather Service says a strong storm was bearing down on Mid-Michigan mid-morning on Friday, Feb. 24.

The storm system could bring pea-sized hail and heavy downpours.

A storm system could bring pea-sized hail and heavy downpours to parts of mid Michigan Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, according to the National Weather Service.

MLive Chief Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa reports parts of the state are at risk for severe wind gusts, large hail, snow and even tornadoes.

Following is an alert from the NWS:

National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac MI

930 AM EST FRI FEB 24 2017

MIZ047-048-053-054-060-241530-

Bay MI-Shiawassee MI-Tuscola MI-Saginaw MI-Midland MI-

930 AM EST FRI FEB 24 2017

...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...

At 929 AM EST, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms along a line

extending from near Rosebush to near Dewitt. Movement was northeast

at 65 mph.

Pea size hail and heavy downpours will be possible with these storms.

Strong thunderstorms will be near...

Coleman around 940 AM EST.

Owosso around 945 AM EST.

Edenville, Oakley and Henderson around 950 AM EST.

Chesaning around 955 AM EST.

Bentley around 1005 AM EST.

Frankenmuth around 1015 AM EST.

Reese around 1020 AM EST.

Akron and Fairgrove around 1030 AM EST.

Other locations impacted by these storms include Carrollton,

Garfield, Arthur, Colling, Wisner, Fenmore, Crump, Buena Vista

Township, Gera and Gilford.

LAT...LON 4381 8461 4383 8417 4400 8417 4400 8405

4391 8404 4392 8387 4369 8388 4363 8370

4375 8351 4389 8347 4379 8342 4367 8347

4367 8337 4363 8335 4322 8387 4322 8393

4283 8436 4347 8437 4347 8461

TIME...MOT...LOC 1429Z 228DEG 57KT 4366 8482 4285 8446

$$

Mann

Here's an always-updating radar:
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had a clear message for conservative students in college across the United States who may feel threatened to share their ideas.

"Don't shut up. Keep talking. Keep making your arguments," DeVos said. "You can do so respectfully and with civility, but I think you need to do so with confidence. We need to have opposing viewpoints and differing ideas in an academic environment and any environment where ideas are necessary to be exchanged."

That statement came during an interview at the at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Thursday following a brief speech DeVos gave on her role as Education Secretary.

While speaking with DeVos, CNN contributor Kayleigh McEnany asked the Edcucation Secretary for any advice she had for young conservatives on college campuses receive backlash for expressing their conservative viewpoints.

During her question, McEnany said conservatives students are often bullied by their peers and in some cases their professors on college campuses across the country.

Along with encouraging students to keep talking, DeVos said the best way for people to learn and get along is to share differing ideas.

The message followed one of the talking points of her speech where DeVos said the idea that voting for President Trump made you a threat to the university community.

"The real threat is silencing the First Amendment rights of people with whom you disagree," DeVos said.

DeVos said she wants to return the power of school oversight to the state's, parents and communities and not federal government. She then called on conservatives to reach out to politicians who oppose that idea.

"We need you to engage, to be loud and to never stop fighting for what we believe," DeVos said.

The sit-down interview with McEnany also touched on the issue of transgender students in schools and the Trump administration removal of federal guidelines to protect those students which were issued by former President Barack Obama.

Reports surfaced earlier in the week that DeVos was not completely on board with rescinding the guidelines and battled Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the issue.

However, on Thursday, DeVos showed no signs of disagreeing with the decision.

"This issue was a very huge example of the Obama administration's overreach to suggest a one-size-fits-all, federal government approach, top-down approach to issues best dealt with at a personal level and a local level," DeVos said.

"I have made clear from the moment I've been in this job, that it's our job to protect students and to do that to the fullest extent that we can and also to provide students, parents and teachers with more flexibility about how education is delivered and how education is experienced and to protect and preserve personal freedoms."
Protesters who had spent the better part of the year camped out at the Dakota Access oil pipeline camp were cleared in about 3 1/2 hours by authorities.

The Associated Press reports 220 officers in full riot gear and 18 National Guardsmen searched tents and huts, which resulted in the arrest of 36 people who ignored orders to leave the grounds. One protester avoided arrest for more than an hour by climbing to the top of a building.

WATCH: "We are being forced out of our home;" police arrest Dakota Pipeline protesters after deadline passes: https://t.co/7XAvVXQlHc pic.twitter.com/UaHXBFBkeY  Good Morning America (@GMA) February 23, 2017

"The Army Corps of Engineers said it needed to clear the camp ahead of spring flooding, and had ordered everyone to leave by 2 p.m. Wednesday," the A.P. report reads. The protest camp was stationed on federal land in North Dakota between the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and the pipeline's expected route.

"The agency said it was concerned about protesters' safety and about the environmental effects of tents, cars, garbage and other items in the camp being washed into nearby rivers."

A.P. adds most protesters left without incident Wednesday, which was in compliance with the deadline set by authorities.

The scene Thursday, Feb. 23 comes a day after opponents of the Dakota Access oil pipeline set fire to some of the few remaining remnants of camps. On Feb. 1, the Army Corps of Engineers was ordered to allow construction of the $3.8 billion pipeline project to resume.

Secretary of the Army Robert Speer gave the order to proceed after President Donald Trump signed an executive order Jan. 24 in support of the billion dollar oil project.

Those in opposition to the $3.8 billion pipeline set up the Oceti Sakowin camp near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in April of 2016.

The camp was set up by Native Americans to draw attention to the project that they claim will damage the environment and sacred sites.

Thousands of protesters gathered at the site to join the opposition, but numbers dropped as winter set in and the battle moved to the courts, A.P. reports. Before the National Guard joined officers in clearing the site, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum told A.P. that the state sent a bus to pick up those still on the site for a chance to leave without police intervention and charges.

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, who has maintained the pipeline will be safe, started work on the pipeline earlier in February when the U.S. Army gave it permission to lay pipe on the Missouri River. A.P. adds that when complete, the Dakota Access Pipeline will move oil from Iowa, and North and South Dakota to Illinois.
PARIS -- A petition being circulated is calling for former President of the United States to for office once again.

In France.

Thousands of signatures have been gathered through an online petition calling for Obama to run the presidential election in France this May. The petition aims to collect one million signatures by March 15 in order to "convince Barack Obama to run for the presidential election of May 2017."

The petition says Obama has the "best resume in the world for the job," and cites the idea that it is still possible to vote for a president and not against a particular candidate.

The petiton also says that the French people are preparing to vote for extreme right-wing candidates, making Obama a perfect counter to that movement.

"Because at a time when France is about to vote massively for the extreme right, we can still give a lesson of democracy to the planet by electing a French President, a foreigner," the petition reads.

According to a report from NPR, the petition started after a group of friends went out for a drink and began talking about the idea. The people behind the petition have not shared their names with media, citing fear of potential legal ramifications that could impact his career.

Legally speaking, Obama could not run for president in France because he is not naturalized as a French citizen. The creators of the petition acknowledge that it is a joke, but also say that it could send a message to politicians in France.
WASHINGTON -- At least four national news outlets were denied entry into a press briefing Friday held in the West Wing of the White House according to several reports.

A story published by The New York Times says correspondents from the Times along with White House correspondents from CNN and Politico were denied entry into the briefing with White Hosue press secretary Sean Spicer.

"Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties," said Dean Baquet, executive editor of The Times in a statement. "We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."

The Los Angeles Times was also excluded from the briefing.

In protest of the denials, correspondents from Time magazine and The Associated Press decided not attend the briefing according to the New York Times.

CNN reports that media members from Breitbart News, The Washington Times and One America News Network were granted access. The White House has not responded to requests for comment according to CNN.

The White House Correspondents' Association is protesting the actions of the White House and is asking outlets that were allowed in the briefing to share the materials discussed at the briefing with reporters who were denied access.

The denial of access comes just hours after President Donald Trump once again attacked the media calling "fake news" the enemy of the people of the United States.

That attack came during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday morning.

Trump clarified his statements to say he doesn't mean all media outlets are "fake." However, in the past he has tweeted that outlets such as ABC, CBS, The New York Times, CNN and NBC are fake news.

"I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources," Trump said. "They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name."
The rather unique weather conditions this February have led to a variety of fishing in Michigan.

Fishermen are out in boats or casting from piers and the shore in the southern half of Michigan. Based on the Department of Natural Resources weekly fishing report, those anglers are finding some success fishing for everything from walleye and perch to steelhead and coho salmon.

In parts of Northern Michigan, some fishermen have been able to get out on some ice, although extreme caution is recommended as the rather warm temperatures have caused it to deteriorate and become slushy. The Upper Peninsula, based on the report, is in a similar situation with the prospects for it to improve with the return of colder temperatures in the forecast.

Here's a regional breakdown of fishing reports compiled by the DNR:

Southeast Lower Peninsula

Lake Erie: Boat anglers are heading out. Most walleye were caught in Ohio waters.

Detroit River: Has had a lot of boat anglers. No word on walleye yet but perch anglers were taking fish at the Cross Dyke near Sugar Island, in Airport Bay and in the canals around Grosse Ile.

Lake St. Clair: The Michigan side is all open water. A few boats have been launching and fishing, but no catches to report.

St. Clair River: No ice is flowing and Lake Huron looks to be almost completely ice free. Anglers have been out trolling, whipping and jigging with the warm weather.

Saginaw Bay: Stay off the ice! There is no safe ice or even remotely walkable ice anywhere on the bay!! Most of the cuts and rivers around the bay are wide open and can provide some shore fishing for perch. Boat anglers were fishing the lower Quanicassee River.

Saginaw River: Had lots of fishing activity with all the boat launches from Saginaw to Bay City open and useable. There are lots of undersize walleye in the river as many reported catching 50 to 75 short ones in order to get five or six fish over 13 inches. Most are using bright colored jig heads with shiners or plastic scented tails but some were jigging rapalas. The best fishing seemed to be in the middle of the shipping channel in the deepest water. Most were vertical jigging but some would anchor and cast.

Tittabawassee River: Had lots of boat anglers. All of the boat ramps were open including Imerman Park. A lot of shore anglers were also out but the walleye fishing was very slow. Most anglers caught none but a couple boat anglers up near the Dow Dam did manage to get a couple. The water is really cold yet, and it does not appear that the spring walleye run from the bay into the rivers has gotten underway yet.

Southwest Lower Peninsula

Overall: Ice fishing is done for now. Most lakes are open water or nearly ice free. Boat anglers were out in good numbers. Stay off any remaining ice, it is not safe!

St. Joseph: Pier anglers have caught Chinook, coho and brown trout.

St. Joseph River: Steelhead fishing was very good. The fish are starting to move upstream and were moving through the fish ladder at the Berrien Springs Dam.

Black River: Still had some steelhead being caught.

Saugatuck: Boat anglers were still heading out and catching coho, brown trout and steelhead.

Kalamazoo River: Also had very good steelhead fishing. Fish were caught both below Calkins Dam and throughout the river.

Grand Haven: Boat anglers trolling close to shore have caught coho, steelhead and the occasional brown trout.

Grand River at Grand Rapids: Has had very good steelhead fishing with limit catches reported. Boat and shore anglers are using fresh skein, spawn bags, wax worms and wigglers. A fair to good number of walleye were also caught.

Muskegon River: Had a good number of boat anglers over the last week. Most have caught steelhead and a few hooked into and lost walleye below Croton Dam.

Northeast Lower Peninsula

Burt Lake: On the good days, anglers were taking near limit catches of walleye in front of Hopper's Tavern and off Greenman's Point. A good number of jumbo perch were caught in Maple Bay.

Mullett Lake: The ice was holding so far with the warm up though the area near the outlet of the Pigeon River was not safe. Slush could be an issue until colder weather returns. Fishing has been slow and catch rates were low. The best spots for perch were in Scotts Bay off the Blue Water Shores area in 30 feet, in the "Humps" off Dodge Point in 25 feet or in front of Topinabee in 20 to 35 feet. Catches of 10 to 15 fish was considered a good day for perch. A few walleye were also caught in the same areas. The pike action slowed with only a couple fish caught.

Oscoda: Pier anglers reported good brown trout and lake trout fishing.

Higgins Lake: Is losing some ice with the warm weather however anglers were still out fishing. Lake trout were still hitting in deeper water. Smelt are still being caught but not in big numbers. Fish were found in 40 to 60 feet off the North State Park and off the west side launch.

Houghton Lake: The ice was holding however the lake has loss some shoreline ice and anglers should stay away from the large pressure crack which has opened up more with warm spell. Bluegill fishing was good but anglers will have to find them. The bigger fish were caught in 12 to 14 feet. Crappie were caught in eight to 10 feet. Pike and walleye fishing were slow however bass were starting to hit.

Tawas: Stay off the ice! There is no safe ice or even remotely walkable ice anywhere on the bay.

Au Gres: Rivers in the area are open. The Rifle River in particular was fairly low and clear and well suited for steelhead fishing right now. No signs of suckers running yet; it is too early and the water is still too cold.

Au Gres River: There was a lot of fishing activity up at the Singing Bridge access site. Steelhead were caught on spawn by those surfcasting or fishing the lower river.

Northwest Lower Peninsula

Overall: Anglers were still ice fishing in this area of the state however caution should still be used during the warm weather. Check the ice as you go and avoid areas near natural springs as well as inlets and outlets where water is constantly flowing.

Lake Charlevoix: Still had ice but the lake was sloppy with slush and water on top.

Green Lake: Had good fishing for smelt on the southwest side. Anglers were fishing about 40 feet straight off the launch where it gets deep fast. There were quite a few people out there so look for the cluster of ice shanties. The depth varies as the fish rise in the water column to feed on zooplankton. Start near the bottom as it is getting dark and gradually work up. The ice was holding but who knows for how long.

Lake Cadillac: Still had ice however anglers should watch for quickly changing ice conditions. The recent bite was hit-or-miss. Anglers did manage to get some bluegills and crappie.

Lake Mitchell: Anglers were still ice fishing for panfish and pike.

Lake Missaukee: Anglers are still ice fishing and taking pike and panfish. The walleye bite slowed.

Upper Peninsula

Overall: Inland lakes in the western end were ice covered with heavy slush on the surface. The return of much cooler temperatures should lock the ice back up and ice fishing will continue. Anglers will be able to try Lake Gogebic for walleye and the Lac Vieux Desert Flowage for bluegills and crappie.

Keweenaw Bay: The ice blew out and the bay was open for trolling. Boat anglers have opportunities for brown trout, splake, and lake trout off the Sand Point Lighthouse on the west side and the Falls River off the village of L'Anse. A few coho were caught casting spoons from shore near the Sand Point Lighthouse in Baraga. Anglers putting in small boats at the Sand Point beach had limited success for coho and lake trout.

Menominee River: Was producing a few brown trout and steelhead up near the Hattie Street Dam. Anglers were using small spoons, stick baits, streamers or nymphs.

Little Bay De Noc: Unseasonably warm weather has impacted ice conditions. Areas around Escanaba and Saunders Point in Gladstone had open water. The area near the Escanaba River was considered dangerous and should be avoided. Anglers were still fishing the north end of the bay however watch for changing conditions with the warm weather. Walleye anglers reported a few nice catches in deep water off the Second Reef when jigging rapalas with minnows or using tip-ups with minnows in 32 to 35 feet. Perch anglers did best near Kipling with minnows or wigglers in 17 to 30 feet and off the Day's River in 14 to 26 feet. Those looking to travel to the area might want to call the local bait shops for updates on ice conditions.

Munising: Ice conditions have deteriorated and were NOT safe at the Grand Island Ferry Access and the Munising Public Launch. The city docks, Sand Point, and Christmas access areas were holding somewhat fishable ice but anglers need to use caution. Soft ice and slushy conditions will only get worse before it turns cold again. Whitefish anglers had poor success. For splake, those using cut bait or minnows with jigs or tip-ups did better. It appears the splake are eating good numbers of smelt. Small perch were caught near Sand Point. Smelt catches in the same area were fair. A few coho and the occasional brown trout were caught recently. The Anna River dock is open enough from the mouth to the river where anglers can fish from the dock but the water clarity was somewhat muddy and they had no luck. The mouth of Furnace Creek is open approximately 50 to 100 feet along the shoreline.

Grand Marais: Had no fishable ice. No anglers were steelhead fishing off the pier or the Sucker River. Action on the area inland lakes has been good.
170219_MackinacBridge_09ERB

Crumpled pieces of ice are seen floating in the Straits of Mackinac with the Mackinac Bridge standing tall in the background during sunset. (Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com)

MACKINAW CITY, MI

-- Officials are warning travelers of high winds on the Mackinac Bridge Friday, Feb. 24.

According to the Mackinac Bridge Authority, Those crossing the bridge should take extra precautions due to current wind conditions along the Straits of Mackinac.

All motorists crossing the bridge are asked to reduce speeds to 20 miles per hour, turn on hazard lights and use the outside lane.

Certain vehicles, such as pickup trucks, campers, motor homes, cars with trailers and tractor-trailers, are especially vulnerable to the high winds.

The Authority websites states officials will monitor conditions and give updates as needed.

Tornadoes to thundersnow, Michigan could have it all todayIn addition to wind, the Mackinac Bridge is also seeing snowfall today, as are other areas of the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula.

Those who are approaching the bridge are asked to tune their radios to 530 AM or 1610 AM for updates on bridge conditions.
Mark Torregrossa | mtorregr@mlive.com

By Mark Torregrossa

The latest update from the Storm Prediction Center at 3 p.m. continues the enhanced chance of severe storms in southeast Michigan. The first clump of severe storms has developed in Lenawee County and is moving east into far southeast Lower Michigan. Another round of severe storms is possible between now and 9 p.m. tonight. This would mainly be straight-line winds in the southeast quarter of Lower Michigan.

Don't Edit

Mark Torregrossa | mtorregr@mlive.com

Tornado risk still exists

The tornado risk area, updated at 3 p.m. Friday, February 24, 2017 hasn't changed. However, any tornado is most likely between now at 6 p.m., then straight-line winds should be more likely.

Don't Edit

Mark Torregrossa | mtorregr@mlive.com

Another round of storms this evening

Radar forecast at 8 p.m. shows another large area of storms moving through southern and southeast Michigan. If this round of storms has severe weather, it will probably be large hail and isolated high wind gusts. Notice the snow falling in the U.P. and the freezing rain in northern Lower Michigan.

Don't Edit

Mark Torregrossa | mtorregr@mlive.com

Severe Thunderstorm Watch in effect

A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for much of southern and southeastern Lower until 10 p.m. this evening.

Don't Edit

Mark Torregrossa | mtorregr@mlive.com

Severe storm complex in southeast Michigan

A clump of severe thunderstorms developed in Lenawee County and moved across the Ann Arbor area. No damage has been reported as of 3:39 p.m., but three-quarter inch hail has been reported.

Don't Edit
[February 24, 2017] Accenture Helps Avianca Design and Launch a Travel-Experience Chatbot for Its 28 Million Customers

Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE:ACN) has helped Avianca Holdings SA (NYSE:AVH), the national airline for Colombia, develop a chatbot to enhance the airline's digital customer experience by providing travelers with a range of helpful travel-related services and real-time information. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005062/en/ Avianca's Carla chatbot is one of the first in Colombia. (Graphic: Business Wire) The Facebook (News - Alert) Messenger chatbot - named Carla and based on an existing prototype from Accenture Interactive - opens an intuitive new channel for customers to interact with Avianca. Carla enables Avianca's customers to confirm itineraries and flight status, locate luggage and for domestic flights in Colombia travelers can actually check-in through Carla all using a mobile device. Customers can also consult Carla regarding ticket refunds and use it to provide real-time feedback to Avianca's customer service. Carla supports several travel-related queries beyond those provided by single-purpose industry chatbots. For example, Carla can also show customers weather forecasts for their destinations, and alerts can easily be set to remind travelers to pack their passports or pick up clothes at the dry cleaners before heading to the airport. In the future, Carla will be able to translate words and basic phrases, such as "I'm allergic to peanuts" from Spanish to six languages, including English, Japanese and Chinese. "Carla enables us to connect with our more than 28 million customers in a simple, intuitive way, offering helpful services on a platform they use daily and is one of the first virtual assistants to be launched in Colombia," said Rodrigo Trevizan, digital experience director at Avianca Holdings S.A. "Carla marks Avianca as an innovator in the airline market, as we continue to take advantage of the newest digital technologies to meet the individual needs of our travelers." Accenture and Avianca developed and launched Carla in just six weeks, leveraging the existing prototype and collaborating with Accentre Interactive customer experience specialists as well as mobility and industry experts from across Accenture at the Accenture Mobile Apps Studio in Madrid.



"Chatbots open up a new way for people to plan and manage travel," said Jonathan Keane (News - Alert), managing director of Accenture's Aviation practice, "Carla offers Avianca's customers a fast, easy way to interact, helping them build stronger customer relationships and improve service." Anatoly Roytman, head of Accenture Interactive in Europe and Latin America, said: "The time of lengthy development cycles is over. Brands wanting to stay ahead of customers' increasingly liquid expectations need to rapidly ideate, test and deploy new digital experiences as customer experiences are evolving as we speak. This offers tremendous opportunities to companies such as Avianca that are eager to try something new, fast."

Co-located, Agile (News - Alert) Collaboration in Accenture Mobile Apps Studio The Accenture Mobile Apps Studios are part of the Accenture Innovation Architecture, which helps clients develop and deliver disruptive innovations, and to scale them faster. In a co-located studio environment, clients have access to the latest technologies and can use the established processes, tools and infrastructure needed to rapidly ideate, design and prototype solutions ready for deployment. Carla, Avianca's chatbot, will be available to view by appointment at the Accenture booth at Mobile World Congress as part of the Accenture Innovation Architecture showcase. To schedule a demo, please contact Joanna Vos. About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions - underpinned by the world's largest delivery network - Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 394,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. Accenture Interactive, part of Accenture Digital, helps the world's leading brands drive superior marketing performance across the full multichannel customer experience. Accenture Interactive offers integrated, industrialized and industry-driven digital transformation and marketing solutions. It was named the world's largest and fastest-growing digital agency in the latest Ad Age Agency Report. To learn more follow us @accenturesocial and visit www.accenture.com/interactive. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170224005062/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
you are here:
The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana.
Having gone off the rails offensively, reality has bitten into the Phillies magical playoff ride. The streakiness that mostly defined the 2022 Phillies under Joe Girardi and occasionally reared its ugly head after Rob Thomson took over as manager has...
Sailor Moon has been a constant delight with so many empowering messages at its core. Liz has made a list of the life lessons its taught her.



It was 1998 and I was sitting in Algebra class, counting the seconds as they ticked by on the clock. I was thirteen, and all I wanted was to get home and watch Sailor Moon. I doodled the moon stick on my notebook, fervently wishing it were real and I too could be a magical moon princess. I wasnt listening to my teacher as he lectured, I wasnt taking notes. At that precise moment in my life, Sailor Moon was the centre of my universe.

Fast forward 19 years and shes still a surprisingly omnipresent force in my life. Chibiusa swings from my rearview mirror in my car, Princess Serenity and Black Lady are perched on my desk at work, and the moon stick I so desperately wanted as a teen rests against my vanity. Slightly more permanent is the ginzuishou  or silver crystal  tattooed on the inside of my wrist.

This is me cosplaying as Princess Serenity.

Read about the time I went to my first big anime con!

Though I certainly dont obsess over the show and manga like I did in my youth, its only now that I feel I can truly appreciate the beautiful life lessons I learned from Sailor Moon.

Women Are Capable of Doing Any Job

When it comes to women in cartoons aimed at kids, you dont see a varied career set. In fact, most of the time, the only woman you see is the main characters mother, and shes usually portrayed as a housewife. While theres absolutely nothing wrong with being a housewife, its important for young girls to see women in a range of different occupations  especially since women make up nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce.

In Sailor Moon, both main and secondary female characters are portrayed as having some amazing careers. Rei (Sailor Mars) is a shinto priestess, Makoto (Sailor Jupiter) dreams of owning a flower-and-cake shop, Haruka (Sailor Uranus) is a competitive race car driver, Michiru (Sailor Neptune) is a professional violinist, and Setsuna (Sailor Pluto) is majoring in physics at university.

Supporting characters also have impressive jobs  Saeko Mizuno is a doctor, Natsuna Sakurada is the Superintendent-General of the Metropolitan Police Board, and Himeko Nayotake is a freaking astronaut.

Self Acceptance is Key

Thanks to ridiculous western beauty ideals, unethical uses of Photoshop, and rigid gender stereotypes, modern society makes it incredibly difficult for people to love themselves as they are. As such, many are left struggling with low self-esteem. They might attempt to make up for perceived shortcomings by subjecting themselves to horrors such as skin bleaching, plastic surgery, and more. Women apologize for faults such as not being feminine enough, behaving in an un-ladylike manner, and being over-emotional or bossy.

Recognizing and accepting both your strengths and weaknesses is a big theme in Sailor Moon. Usagi (AKA Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity) freely admits that shes lazy, clumsy, cries too much, and doesnt do well in school. However, as the series progresses, she also acknowledges that shes caring, optimistic, and has the ability to unite others simply through the strength of her love.

Other characters  notably Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Chibiusa  also learn to accept themselves for who they are, discovering that what they initially perceived to be faults were actually their greatest strengths.

Feminine does not mean weak

Have you ever noticed how strong female characters are often portrayed as tomboys whose strength and charisma come from outwardly detesting everything considered traditionally feminine? Usually, in those same stories, overtly feminine women are painted as weak, petty, shallow, and manipulative.

This is, of course, a symptom of societal bias  the idea that men are inherently good, women are inherently bad. If you want a woman to be seen as the hero of a story, she has to possess conventionally masculine traits.

You ________ like a girl! You can fill in the blank with just about anything. Whichever way you hash it, its meant to be an insult. This way of thinking has become so deep-rooted in our culture that even women can have difficulty perceiving it. But femininity is not intrinsically weak. Sailor Moon shows us this by demonstrating that the sailor soldiers power is a direct result of their femininity.

When they transform from ordinary school girls into planetary guardians, their transformation sequences include manicures, lip gloss, high heels, jewelry, and an abundance of ribbons and bows. The more feminine they become, the more power they have.

Even the ginzuishou, the greatest source of power in the universe, is housed in a jeweled brooch pinned to Usagis school uniform. As far as Sailor Moon is concerned, femininity equals power.

Queer is Beautiful

The queer representation in Sailor Moon made it an incredibly progressive series for its time. The most notable example of this would be the romance between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Not only was it not remarked upon negatively by any of the characters, it was also a fantastic model for a healthy and stable relationship.

There was also a romantic relationship between the villainous characters Zoisite and Kunzite  although this only existed in the 90s anime. Zoisite and Kunzite are not a couple in either the manga nor Sailor Moon Crystal.

Queer characters span the entire Sailor Moon metaseries, from the manga to Sailor Moon Crystal.

Although the term hadnt yet been coined at the time of her conception, Haruka (Sailor Uranus) has since been labelled genderfluid. Her gender presentation changes depending entirely upon her mood.

In the manga, Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten (the Sailor Starlights) are women who crossdress as men. However, in the 90s anime, they physically change bodies while in civilian form, and change back when they transform into their Senshi forms.

In the 90s anime, the gay villain Fisheye frequently crossdressed to attract male victims. Unfortunately, Sailor Moon stumbles, here. Fisheyes characterization was problematic because although he wasnt transgender, his portrayal supported harmful transmisogynistic tropes.

Though it had its faults, Sailor Moon opened up conversations and possibilities by having such a varied set of characters and romantic relationships. It showed us that it was okay to be different  in fact, it was just one of the things that made you unique.

You Can Do Anything With the Right Set of Friends

Time and again, women are given the message that they should view other women as nothing more than competition; be it love or career, other women are meant to be the enemy.

Thats why its so important that Sailor Moon exposed young girls to the idea that a large group of women can have a bond so strong that its enough to defeat evil. Though the plot of the Sailor Moon metaseries varies between incarnations, the friendship between the sailor soldiers still remains the focal point.

Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon, explained how she she saved all of her love for the girls (rarely expanding male characters) because she wanted to show that it was their friendship that mattered most.

The cast demonstrated that smart, strong, independent women can form deep, loyal friendships  and they can kick ass whether they have boyfriends or not.

Girls Save the World

Though Usagi definitely has moments when she needs support, shes not the damsel. Instead, its Usagi who continually has to save her boyfriend Mamoru (Tuxedo Mask) after hes been kidnapped or brainwashed by the enemy. Despite being Earths prince, Mamoru is comparatively weak next to the sailor soldiers.

And that leads me to my last point  the one that still resonates with me to this day. Besides the amazing representations of women in general, Sailor Moon is also unique in that only women and non-binary folk can be sailor soldiers. The guardians of love and justice  the protectors of the universe  are non-binary people and women.

We have the power needed to save the world!

Save

Save

Save
One of the comments I received in response to my column regarding the Womens January March in Washington (and around the world) was from a man who asked, Why are women so angry these days?

Ive been tossing that question around in my head for a couple of weeks, trying to figure out how to respond. Its a tough question with no easy answer that will fit in a small column.

But lo and behold, a few days ago, I read an article in The Washington Post that added another snowflake, or more realistically an immense snowpack, to the avalanche of why women are so angry today. The article was titled, Utah Republican argues against equal pay for women: Its bad for families and society.

The Post quoted a letter published in two Utah local newspapers sent in by state Senator James Green that criticized a state bill addressing a pay gap in the workforce. Green wrote that men have traditionally earned more than women and, citing simple economics, argued that things should stay that way.

Huh? Did I read that right?

Green went on to say that men make more than women because theyre the primary breadwinners of their families, and paying women equally would somehow ruin the makeup of a traditional family where the Mother remains at home raising children. He added, If businesses are forced to pay women the same as male earnings, that means they will have to reduce the pay for the men they employ, simple economics. If that happens, then men will have an even more difficult time earning enough to support their families, which will mean more Mothers will be forced to leave the home (where they may prefer to be) to join the workforce to make up the difference.

I was wondering how many mothers Green had interviewed before he decided that women would prefer to remain in the home, but read on.

Green said that having more women in the workforce would create competition for jobs, even mens jobs, and that will, in turn, lower the pay for all jobs and force more and more Mothers into the workforce.

Green summarized his point of view with, Thats bad for families and thus for all of society. Its a vicious cycle that only gets worse the more equality of pay is forced upon us. Its a situation of well-meaning intentions, but negative unintended consequences.

Greens letter to the editor immediately prompted such outrage that within two days, he had written an apology and resigned from his post as vice chair of the Wasatch County Republican Party.

Thats fine and good, but too late because a seed, even in distant Utah, had already been planted. Once again, women cringed because they thought such asinine opinions had long been buried along with June Cleaver raising the Beaver.

The bill he was talking about would commission a study on whether theres a pay gap between male and female workers in the state and would require certain employers to adopt uniform criteria that will be used to determine whether someone should get a raise based on performance. It would create a pay index that states the average pay range for each occupation based on years of experience.

The bill sounds reasonable to me, although I question the need for another study that no doubt will continue to show that women are still paid less than men for doing exactly, or most often, more of the same work.

Apparently, the Utah Womens Coalition, which supports the bill, agreed and immediately took to social media with its criticism of Greens comments and they did it simply with a Facebook post: Are we really having this conversation in 2017?

I guess we are, so lets use statistics in Greens home state to see where women stand in his states workforce. Women in Utah make 71 cents for every dollar paid to men for the same occupation, according to the National Womens Law Center, which is lower than the national average of 80 cents for every dollar paid to men.

Black and Latina women in the state make 56 cents and 47 cents for every dollar paid to white men, respectively, according to the center, and both numbers are below the national averages: 63 cents for black women and 54 cents for Latina women.

Green didnt return a call from The Washington Post as I write this column, but he told a local radio station that hes been in hot water since his letter was published. You wouldnt believe the hateful, vile comments and messages Ive received.

Sen. Green, look at your own states statistics to figure out why.

Peg DeMarco can be reached at pegdemarco@earthlink.net.
It is clear that addiction touches many lives.

The News Herald published a story Wednesday about Morganton Doctor Carrol Wendell Ellison who had his ability to prescribe controlled medicines stripped by the North Carolina Medical Board. A consent order says he has to stop by Feb. 28 and was ordered to surrender his Drug Enforcement Administration registration and provide proof of surrender to the medical boards compliance coordinator by March 10.

The story has generated a conversation about addiction on the newspapers Facebook page and website. As of Thursday afternoon, the Facebook post had reached more than 72,000 people and had more than 1,000 shares. Comments on the post were numerous, with some people defending Ellison and talking about how much they like him, while others talked negatively about their experiences with the doctor.

The News Herald also heard directly from numerous people about how their lives have been impacted by addiction.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the number of overdose deaths involving opioids, including heroin, quadrupled since 1999 and that 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.

Tristan Lorenzo knows first-hand the devastation that addiction can have on a family.

She says the collateral damage from drug addiction is tremendous and prescription drugs are just as addictive and dangerous as any street drug.

Lorenzos father was a patient of Ellison, she said. Her father, Ted Whitesides, was prescribed methadone and Xanax. He was prescribed enough that he was selling some of his pills, Lorenzo said. On top of the drugs, her father was an alcoholic.

Lorenzo said he overdosed and died on Feb. 10, 2016 at (51) years old. Even though she knew about her fathers addictions, she didnt think it would ever end up killing him.

He will miss seeing his grandchildren grow and the opportunity to possibly repair his relationship with Lorenzo.

The two didnt have the greatest relationship because of his addictions. She didnt condone what he was doing, Lorenzo said.

While his death was a terrible loss for her, it was her mothers death that sent Lorenzo into a tailspin.

Lorenzos mother, Robynn Whitesides, was 32 years old when she died from a drug overdose. Lorenzo was 14 years old. Her youngest sister  she has two  was a year old.

The damage that is done, its forever life-altering, Lorenzo said.

Part of the tailspin from her mothers death included her own battles with addiction.

At 19, Lorenzo got heavily involved with drugs. She ended up doing four years in federal prisons in Florida and Illinois.

To this day, I tell people I wouldnt change that experience, Lorenzo said.

Turns out, it was the best thing that ever happened to her, she said.

While she was in prison, Lorenzo went through drug rehabilitation and counseling. She was released from prison in 2010, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

After being around addiction most of her life, she learned a new and normal way to live her life, Lorenzo said. She called and thanked the officer who arrested her.

The loss of her parents, whom she loved dearly, has been motivation for her to live a different life, she said.

Lorenzo and her husband, Nelson, have a daughter, Gabryella, who will turn 3 soon. In addition to being a wife and mother, Lorenzo has a full-time job and is working on a bachelors degree in human resources.

Lorenzo said she tries to share her experiences every chance she gets. If it helps one person turn away from living in addiction, it is worth it.

Im not ashamed of the past Ive lived, because that makes me who I am today, Lorenzo said.

The CDC has a guideline and a checklist for prescribing opioids for chronic pain outside of cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care.

In January, the North Carolina Medical Board adopted the CDC guideline for prescribing opioids for chronic pain.

The medical board had an opioid investigations program called the Safe Opioid Prescribing Initiative and it voted in January to refine the selection criteria that determines who will be investigated, according to information with the state medical board.

The proposed rule changes says the Department of Health and Human Services can report to the medical board information about prescribing practices of doctors or physician assistants whose prescribing falls within the top 2 percent prescribing 100 morphine milligrams of morphine equivalents per patient per day. Or those who fall in the top 2 percent prescribing 100 morphine milligrams of morphine equivalents per patient per day in combination with benzodiazepine and who are within the top 1 percent of all controlled substance prescribers by volume, according to the proposed changes.

The DHHS can report to the medical board information about prescribers who have had two or more patient deaths in the preceding year due to opioid poisoning where the prescribers authorized more than 30 tablets of an opioid to the patient who died and the prescriptions were written within 60 days of the patient deaths.

The reports and communications between the department and the board remain confidential, according to the proposed changes.

The medical board is accepting comments through May 1 on the proposed rule changes.

Comments can be emailed to rules@ncmedboard.org. The medical board plans to hold a public hearing on the rule changes at 10 a.m. on May 1, according to information with the board.

The North Carolina Medical Board is located at 1203 Front St., Raleigh.

Sharon McBrayer is a staff writer and can be reached at smcbrayer@morganton.com or at 828-432-8946.
February has seen flurry of new fund launches, as the investment industry gears up for what it hopes will be a better ISA season than 2016, when inflows stood at record lows. The biggest launch is expected to be from Woodford Investment Management, which is launching a new Income Focus fund before the end of the tax year.

Elsewhere there have been a number of high profile fund manager changes.

Woodford Investment Management confirmed it will offer a new Income Focus fund on March 20, targeting a higher yield that its current Equity Income fund.

This new fund will also be managed by star fund manager Neil Woodford, who set up the company in 2014.

New Role For City Superwoman

Helena Morrissey, formerly chief executive of Newton Investment Management, will join L&G Investment Management as head of personal investing in May. She will also join L&Gs board of directors. Morrissesy is a high-profile campaigner for gender equality, and set up campaign group the 30% Group which aims to get more women on the boards of FTSE 100 companies.

She left Newton in August last year after more than 20 years with the company. Until recently she chaired the Investment Association, the trade body for investment managers. She was replaced this month by Peter Harrison, Group Chief Executive of Schroders.

It is thought that L&G hopes this appointment will help it appeal to a wider demographic, including women, who traditionally buy fewer investment products than men.

Talking about her new role she said: I wanted a role where I could make a real different to how the industry engages with its customers. I looking forward to building a savings business with strong and direct connections with customers, including those who never really thought about investment before or find existing offering off-putting.

Manager Changes at Jupiter

Alistair Gunn has taken up the reins of the 83 million Jupiter Growth & Income fund, after interim manager Steve Davis stood down.

Gunn currently runs the equity portion of the Distribution fund, but this is his first stand-alone fund.

Davis had been running the fund since Chris Watt left in a year ago. But the performance has been hit following the Brexit vote. The fund lost 7% last year, making it one of the worst-performing funds in its sector.

Stephen Pearson, chief investment officer at Jupiter said that Gunn had built a strong track record on the multi-asset funds he co-manages.

He said Davies had run this fund on an interim basis so had not made significant changes to its portfolio. This is expected to change under Gunn.

Davies will continue to run the Jupiter UK Growth fund, and the Jupiter UK Growth (JUKG) investment trust.

PIMCO Launches Absolute Return Fund

PIMCO, the global bond investor, has launched a new absolute return fund, but one that claims ti offer a different strategy to most of its peers. Rather than invest in equities this fund will invest in the global mortgage-backed securities market  worth an estimated $11 trillion worldwide.

But like all absolute return funds, this GIS Mortgage Opportunities fund aims to generate consistent positive returns through the market cycle.

This will be a global fund, investing in securitised assets from a number of different regions. It will be managed by Daniel Hyman, Alfred Murate and Josh Anderson, who say they will aim to actively manage exposure to a number of risk factors, including interest-rate risk and credit risk.

Hyman says: Given the historically low yields on core bonds, and the correlation of corporate credit to equities, a dedicated allocation to securitised assets can help investors improve the overall diversification of their portfolios, while also potentially enhancing returns.

The charges on the fund will be 1.59%.

Two New Bond Funds

Brexit has created an opportunity for Franklin Templeton has launch two new fixed income funds: one focused UK corporate bonds and one on UK gilts. These funds will be run by David Zahn, head of European fixed income, and manager Roderick MacPhee. They will be sub-funds in Franklin Templetons OEIC range and have annual charges of 0.35% for the UK fund and 0.25% for the gilts fund.

These new offerings aim to build on the success Franklin Templeton has had with its range of European fixed income funds.

Zahn said the UK economy had proven resilient in the past few months. Despite warnings of a slowdown fundamentals have strengthened since the decision to leave the EU, providing attractive investment opportunities.
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.
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...
ExxonMobil Corp. is betting almost $7 billion on the Permian Basin, acquiring the companies owned by the Bass family, holdings predominantly in the New Mexico portion of the Permian.

Though its one of the globes largest oil and gas companies, ExxonMobil has not been immune to the fiscal pain caused by low oil prices over the last two years. And like other oil producers, the multinational company is focusing on efficiency and economics. To that end, ExxonMobil is utilizing technology to meet its goals.

The company recently set a record in high performance oil and gas reservoir computing in a project conducted with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, according to a press release. ExxonMobil calls it a major breakthrough with proprietary software using more than four times the previous number of processors used on complex oil and gas reservoir simulation models designed to improve exploration and production results.

John D. Kuzan, manager, Reservoir Function for ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co., told the Reporter-Telegram by email that This technology is applicable to most of ExxonMobils reserve base and we will use it in those areas where we see that it adds value  and that value most likely comes in the form of optimizing well parameters, such as spacing and length, and the depletion plan.

This technology can help to quantify subsurface uncertainty in reservoirs where the subsurface is complicated, although experience would say there are few reservoirs that are not complicated, he wrote.

Company geoscientists and engineers can make better investment decisions by more efficiently predicting reservoir performance under geological uncertainty and assess a higher volume of alternative development plans in less time, according to the announcement.

The breakthrough in parallel simulation used 716,800 processors, the equivalent of harnessing the power of 22,400 computers with 32 processors per computer, according to the release. The record run resulted in data output thousands of times faster than typical oil and gas industry reservoir simulation. It was the largest number of processor counts reported by the oil and gas industry, and one of the largest simulations reported by industry in engineering disciplines such as aerospace and manufacturing.

ExxonMobils scientists worked closely with the NCSA to benchmark a series of multi-million to billion cell models on NCSAs Blue Waters Super Computer, the company said.
A Midland County jury sentenced an admitted drunken driver two years in prison for crashing his car into a police officers vehicle, according to the press release from the Midland County District Attorneys Office.

Jose Luis Garcia pleaded guilty to intoxication assault on a peace officer. Garcia was traveling at 93 mph just seconds before hitting the vehicle of a Midland Police Department officer at the intersection of Midland Drive and Anetta Drive, according to evidence presented to a jury, which was asked to assess the defendants punishment. The press release also states that Garcias blood alcohol content was 0.175 two hours after the incident, which occurred on April 23. The legal limit is 0.08.
William McRaven, a retired four-star admiral and former Navy SEAL, defended journalists this week, calling President Donald Trumps denunciation of the media as the enemy of the American people the greatest threat to democracy hes seen in his lifetime.

Thats coming from a man whos seen major threats to democracy.

McRaven, who was commander of the secretive Joint Special Operations before he retired from the military, is the man who organized and oversaw the highly risky operation that killed Osama bin Laden almost six years ago. The admiral from Texas had tapped a special unit of Navy SEALs to carry out the May 2011 raid of the elusive terrorists hideout, a high-walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, The Washington Post reported shortly after bin Ladens death.

McRaven left the military in 2014 after nearly four decades and now is chancellor of the University of Texas System. The UT-Austin alumnus, who has a bachelors degree in journalism, addressed a crowd at the universitys college of communication on Tuesday.

We must challenge this statement and this sentiment that the news media is the enemy of the American people, McRaven said, according to the Daily Texan. This sentiment may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.

To be a good leader you have to be a good communicator, he said. As a leader you have to communicate your intent every chance you get, and if you fail to do that, you will pay the consequences.

McRavens remarks come amid Twitter attacks on the media by the president, whos hollered FAKE NEWS at several negative stories about his administration. In a widely shared tweet Friday, Trump called the media, naming The New York Times, NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN, the enemy of the American People!

In another tweet the same day, Trump quoted conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who praised the presidents news conference the day before during which he confronted the media.

One of the most effective press conferences Ive ever seen! says Rush Limbaugh. Many agree. Yet FAKE MEDIA calls it differently! Dishonest, Trump tweeted.

Trump repeatedly blasted the media in a combative, more-than-an-hour-long news conference last Thursday, repeating descriptions of the press as dishonest and fake.

He berated a Jewish reporter for asking a question about bomb threats to dozens of Jewish community centers and for expressing concerns that Trump had yet to address anti-Semitic attacks. The president took the question as a personal affront, saying he was not anti-Semitic, even though the reporter never made such an accusation.

At the news conference, the president also criticized the intelligence community, asserted that his young administration is running smoothly and said that hed inherited a mess.

Trump has lashed out at the media a couple more times on Twitter over the past few days.

McRaven is not the only retired military man who has criticized the presidents remarks.

In an interview Saturday on NBC News, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a vocal Trump critic, said such criticisms of the media is how dictators get started.

In other words, a consolidation of power, McCain told Meet the Press host Chuck Todd from Munich. When you look at history, the first thing that dictators do is shut down the press. And Im not saying that President Trump is trying to be a dictator. Im just saying we need to learn the lessons of history.

McCain was specifically responding to Trumps condemnation of the news media as the enemy of the people, a phrase typically used by leaders to refer to hostile foreign governments or subversive organization and echoed the language of autocrats who seek minimize dissent, the New York Times wrote.

This is not the only time McRaven has spoken out since leaving the military.

In a seething column published last year in the Tampa Tribune, he blasted Congress, specifically the Senate, for a disturbing trend in how politicians abuse and denigrate military leadership, particularly the officer corps, to advance their political agendas.

McRaven was particularly angry at the Senates treatment of Rear Adm. Brian Losey, who was forced to retire after several Democratic and Republican senators pressured the Navy to hold him accountable for retaliating against multiple whistleblowers, The Posts Craig Whitlock wrote in 2016.

A series of DOD inspector general investigations were reviewed by the Navy leadership and, once again, Adm. Losey was found not to have violated the law, rule or policy. In fact, it was clear to the Navy that the personnel action taken by Losey against the complainants was not reprisal, McRaven wrote, adding later: Despite the Navys multiple endorsements, certain members of Congress chose to use Loseys case to pursue their own political agenda. They held hostage other Navy nominations until Loseys promotion recommendation was rescinded. The ransom for their congressional support was Brian Loseys career and, more importantly, his stellar reputation.

Losey, who was commander in charge of the Navys elite SEAL teams, served under McRaven.

McRaven, one of the most experienced terrorist hunters in the U.S. government, had spent years tracking bin Laden and recruited the Navy SEALs who carried out the raid two months before the terrorist was killed, Whitlock wrote.

The search for bin Laden was led by the CIA. Leon Panetta, the agencys director at the time, delegated the mission to McRaven after then-President Barack Obama gave the authorization.

In his book titled Spec Ops, McRaven noted six key requirements for any successful mission: surprise, speed, security, simplicity, purpose and repetition.
Drought Monitor Map, Feb 23, 2017 View Photos

Sonora, CA  In many parts of the state, and certainly here in the Mother Lode, the latest incoming weather data confirms that this winter is setting up to become a record-breaker.

This week, weather and water officials, with an eye on drought conditions, continue to emphasize that wells on fractured rock systems will require more recharge time to recover  as they note current flood impacts from recent storms  as well as the potential for more incoming heavy precipitation to further swell our sizable snowpack.

On Tuesday the daily Sierra Nevada snowpack measured 186 percent of average for this time of year and 151 percent of what it generally comes in at on April 1st, usually considered the peak date for measuring purposes. Both the North Sierra 8-Station and Central Sierra San Joaquin 5-Station indices hit a record-breaking 230 percent of average for this weeks Feb. 21 measurement date, exceeding previously recorded benchmark numbers set back during the 1982-1983 water-year, considered to be the wettest in recorded history.

Recent Rains Saturate Drought Monitor Map

The latest precipitation across California was enough to, literally, wash any indication of the Extreme Drought condition category off the drought monitor map. (To view the latest version, click into the left image box). The last time this happened was nearly three and a half years ago on Aug. 6, 2013.

While on the map both Tuolumne and Calaveras counties are now depicted as being out of the drought, nearby portions of the San Joaquin Valley still show up as Abnormally Dry, current flooding conditions nonwithstanding. A range of Abnormally Dry to Moderate or Severe Drought conditions remain along the Central Coast and in southern California.

At the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in Sacramento, spokesperson Doug Carlson shares, It has been pretty clear to us here at DWR headquartersfor the last month of morejust how remarkable this winter has been as far as precipitation and snowfall. It is far outstripping the pace of our wettest year on record, 1982-83  and people who have been around here for awhile know what kind of a year that was.

Last Benchmark Year Also Wreaked Heartache

According to the Western Region Climate Center the 1982-83 water-year  classified as an El Nino one  led the states Top Weather Events of the 1900s. Marked by multiple strong storms that brought high winds, heavy rains and snowfall, flooding that year also hit coastal and valley locations hard; too, record snowfall in the Sierra Mountains caused a spring snowmelt deluge and other weather impacts that rendered disaster declarations in 46 counties. This years January storms and Lake Oroville spillway failure have already triggered local and state disaster declarations that last week generated a FEMA disaster proclamation response from President Donald Trump.

Demurring any opportunity to debate whether or not when the drought might now officially be declared over Carlson explains, Our state climatologist has been telling us for a few years, that instead of looking at averages so much as we used to in the 20th century, we need to be mindful of the extremes that California weather experiences. I mean, we just finished five years of really, really dry weather, and now that is followed immediately by this very, very wet winter  and we could go back to dryness again at the end of this rainy season.

While weather patterns remain in flux and climate change is a fact, Carlson maintains the experts are still trying to study  and get a handle on  what these are going to mean for the states weather, going forward. He wryly adds, But there is no uncertainty in the fact that we have had a remarkably wet winter that may, in the end be a record setter. However, Carlson readily admits that accurate forecasting is not much good more than ten or 15 days into the future. Even your best meteorologists will say that it is a crapshoot after that, he chuckles. But we do know that we are only three weeks into February and we have all of March to go before we get to the point of the winter season when we normally get the highest snowpackso we still have five weeks to go, at least, of potentially very wet weather.

Some Local Findings Already Record-breaking

The Mother Lode region, Carlson says, is now trending about a month  or about 17 inches  ahead of the 1982-83 water-year, during which over 77 inches of rainfall was recorded. Given an average rainfall of about 40 inches from Oct. 1 until Sept. 30 in any given water-year, we are already averaging 60 inches  roughly 50 percent more than normal.

A few local rainfall figures to date are already record breakers: at Yosemite National Park Headquarters nearly 42 inches has so far been recorded for this water-year, which is 228 percent of average for now  and 166 percent for the water year. Too, in Calaveras County, Camp Pardee reports 27 inches of precipitation to date this water-year, which comes in at 230 percent of average for this time of year  and 116 percent for the water-year.

Already having achieved rainfall roughly equaling 99 percent of its water-year is Calaveras Big Trees, which has recorded over 56 inches of rainfall to date and now sits at 190 percent of its historic average for this time of year. At 96 percent, New Melones Dam Headquarters, with almost 29 inches of rainfall, measures 184 percent of its average for now. At 95 percent stands Hetch Hetchy with nearly 36 inches of rainfall to date; 189 percent of its seasonal average. Relatively speaking, Sonora, which has so far collected 86 percent of its average water-year rainfall, comes up a bit short; measuring in at 30 inches it now sits at 168 of its seasonal average.

Don Pedro, Oroville Vs. New Melones

For the record, Lake Don Pedro today is being measured at 99 percent of its capacity and 141 of its historic average for this time of year  even while spillway operations are underway.

Over at Lake Oroville, where spilling and other management efforts are being directed to bring down and maintain lower levels while emergency repairs continue, the reservoir is reportedly measuring 79 percent of its total storage and 115 percent of its average for this time of year.

New Melones reservoir, as full as it has been in quite awhile, currently quietly sits at 63 percent of its capacity and 103 percent of what is now considered as its seasonal average. (To see current photos of New Melones, click into the slideshow in the upper left image box.)
The Florida Department of Law enforcement awarded $10,000 to the person who tipped off authorities to the location of fugitives William Boyette and Mary Rice.

FDLE awards tipster $10,000 for info on murder spree suspects

Boyette, Rice accused of killing spree across Alabama, Florida

RELATED: Murder spree across Florida panhandle ends with suspect's suicide

Boyette and Rice are accused of going on a killing spree across Alabama and Florida and ending up in Georgia, officials said.

The tipster saw a Facebook post with the couple's pictures and the tag number of the vehicle they were driving, when he spotted the car and Rice at a convenience store.

The tip was called into law enforcement describing the location where the fugitives had been spotted.

Authorities located and surrounded the two at a motel in West Point, Georgia on Feb. 7. Boyette committed suicide in the motel room, and Rice was taken into custody.

FDLE said it has been working since then to get the person their reward.

It was very important to FDLE that this tipster receive the reward we had contributed. It certainly is well-deserved, because I firmly believe more lives could have been lost if these fugitives remained on the run, said Jack Massey, Special Agent in Charge at FDLEs Pensacola Regional Operations Center. Due to the awareness and dedication of this citizen, who spotted them and took immediate action to report it, a murderous threat to the community was removed. Awarding this individual is the right thing to do.

Four people were killed  3 in Florida and 1 in Alabama  over seven days, starting Jan. 31.
Angry anglers are causing concern at one popular southern Brevard County park.

Angry anglers causing concern at Sebastian Inlet State Park

One complaint: someone spread feces on rail to mark territory

Park officials have drafted resolution to fix problem



Officials at Sebastian Inlet State Park have received numerous complaints about bad behavior on the fishing jetty. They are now seeking help from Tallahassee.

We have a folder full of these complaints, said Martin Smithson, Sebastian Inlet district administrator.

Some of the complaints include anglers hurling lures at boaters and verbal and physical fights between fishermen over claimed spots. In one instance, someone spread feces on a rail to mark their area.

There was even one report of someone pulling a knife on another person.

At 530, angry anglers causing issues at busy #Brevard based state park. Hear why officials are hoping to reel in the bad behavior @MyNews13 pic.twitter.com/1x20ncawEd  Greg Pallone (@gpallone13) February 23, 2017

Smithson says an estimated 80,000 people visit the jetty each year. The crowd has led to some bad blood.

"We are on a mission to get it resolved, because it's too great of a spot to let it go," Smithson said.



However, Florida Fish and Wildlife doesnt have the manpower to monitor the park 24-7. Cameras are in place, but they dont seem to be curbing the bad behavior.

Inlet officials want to meet with officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the state park system to figure out how to reduce the ongoing conflicts.

They drafted a resolution and sent it to Tallahassee three weeks ago but have not received a response.
Orlando Police have identified the man they say shot a person with a BB gun in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart store where an officer was shot dead last month.

Police ID man they say shot at people at Wal-Mart with BB gun

Patron shot with 'gun-like object' called 911



Alexander Proctor was shot by responding officer, taken to ORMC

Proctor in critical but stable condition at hospital



Alexander Marcel Proctor, 26, was in critical but stable condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center after an Orlando Police officer shot him on John Young Parkway on Thursday afternoon.

According to an arrest affidavit, a man at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on West Princeton Street called 911 at about 4 p.m., saying a man shot him with "a gun-like object" in the chest and arm. After he was shot, he realized that the weapon appeared to be a BB gun.

Responding police officers found Proctor on the 2300 block of North John Young Parkway. Witnesses and police said that when one of the officers arrived and got out of his car, Proctor pointed what appeared to be a black-colored firearm at the officer and began shooting. The officer shot back.



Police Chief John Mina, in a news conference Thursday, said two people were shot by the BB gun and had minor injuries.

Proctor has been charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.



The Wal-Mart store is the same store where Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton was shot last month.
AMARILLO  Ongoing water legal battles around the state and nation could set precedents that affect all landowners, so they bear watching, according to Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agricultural law specialist in Amarillo.

Dowell Lashmet, speaking at the recent High Plains Irrigation Conference, outlined several legal actions concerning the Clean Water Act and corresponding definitions of Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS.

The Clean Water Act is a federal law that gives the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers jurisdiction over the waters of the U.S. But there is no definition in the Clean Water Act of what constitutes a WOTUS, she said.

A new rule passed by EPA and the Corps of Engineers attempted to clarify the definition of WOTUS, but numerous lawsuits were filed alleging the new definition actually broadened, rather than clarified, the term.

Currently, there is a nationwide stay on the rule pending litigation, Dowell Lashmet said. Now, the case will be going before the U.S. Supreme Court for a jurisdictional challenge to decide which court will hear arguments, and then the legal battle likely will proceed to federal court at some level.

However, she said, something that could render all of the court proceedings unnecessary is what is going on in Washington  the Trump administration has indicated it will work to eliminate the new WOTUS rule.

But we still have to worry about the Clean Water Act and the interpretation of waters of the United States, Dowell Lashmet said.

Currently, a Clean Water Act case in California causing concern for agricultural producers involves a farmer who purchased grassland and plowed it up to plant wheat. The Corps of Engineers took the position that because the field had vernal swells, or low spots that fill with water when it rains and these were hydrologically connected to a river 8 miles away, they were a WOTUS. The farmer was told a federal permit was needed to plow his property.

The trial court sided with the government, finding the field did contain waters of the U.S., and an ongoing farming exemption from the Clean Water Act did not apply, so the landowner was required to obtain a federal permit. The case is now on appeal at the 9th Circuit Court.

A lot of attorneys are concerned about the precedent this could set, Dowell Lashmet said. It is this type of broad interpretation of what constitutes a WOTUS and narrow construction of statutory exemptions from the rule that cause landowners concern over the EPAs new definition.

In Texas, the ongoing Bragg vs. Edwards Aquifer Authority resulted in the first-ever takings verdict when a permit to pump groundwater was denied, she said.

Dowell Lashmet provided a brief background: A farmer planted pecan orchards on a property overlaying the Edwards Aquifer before there was an entity to monitor groundwater pumping. One orchard was irrigated with water from the Edwards Aquifer and the rest another shallower aquifer.

Then the Edwards Aquifer Authority, created in 1993, began requiring landowners to obtain a permit in order to pump water from the aquifer.

Bragg filed the permit application for both of his orchards, but the Edwards Aquifer Authority denied his request in part for one orchard and entirely for the other. So Bragg filed a lawsuit, saying the denial was a taking of his private property because landowners own the water beneath their land.

When the government takes your private property, they have to pay you just compensation  that was his premise, Dowell Lashmet said. The trial court and the San Antonio Court of Appeals sided with Bragg. The case was appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, but they denied hearing it. That meant the Court of Appeals ruling stood  there was a taking and he was due just compensation, which the jury found to be $2.5 million.

She said the Edwards Aquifer Authority has announced it will not appeal this decision.

Although in this case, the landowner successfully challenged the denial of a permit to pump groundwater and a taking did occur, Dowell Lashmet warned that these cases are extremely fact-specific and difficult to win.

Certainly, not every denial by an entity of a groundwater pumping permit will constitute a taking, she said. But this case shows that, under the right facts and with the right jury, a taking can occur and a landowner can be owed just compensation.

Another case, the City of Lubbock vs. Coyote Lake Ranch near Muleshoe, involves groundwater rights sold in 1953 to Lubbock. The city owned the right to come onto the land to search and drill for water, and in 2012, they proposed drilling 60 wells on the property..

The new landowner argued that although Lubbock owned the groundwater and had the right to drill wells, he was protected by the accommodation doctrine and should have some say in where those wells could be drilled and how other items like power lines needed for water well use would be constructed.

This doctrine had only been applied with regard to mineral rights where the mineral estate is considered dominant, Dowell Lashmet said. The mineral owner has the right to use as much of the surface as is reasonably necessary to produce the minerals.

But, the accommodation doctrine requires them to do what they can to accommodate existing surface uses if the landowner can prove three factors: substantial impact on surface use, the mineral can be produced another way and the surface use cannot be made another way.

The Coyote Lake landowner argued that Lubbock could still drill their water wells, but should do so in a way that accommodates the existing surface use of the ranch  running cattle  in doing so.

The Amarillo Court of Appeals said there was no accommodation doctrine for groundwater rights. The landowner appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, which issued an important ruling. First, they found the groundwater estate is dominant, like a mineral estate. Second, they found the accommodation doctrine can apply to a groundwater owner, if the three accommodation factors can be proven by the landowner.

Now the case will go back to the trial court to determine if the landowner can meet these three required factors in order for the doctrine to apply in this case and offer some protection to the landowners.

Thats important to keep in mind if you are buying property that has groundwater rights severed, Dowell Lashmet said.

This is a big deal for property owners, she said. Groundwater owners have the implied right to use the surface of the land as much as is reasonably necessary to produce groundwater now.
After six intense weeks roaming the halls of Congress as freshman congressman from the 19th Congressional District of Texas, Republican Jodey Arrington was able to come home this week for a brief visit with friends, family and constituents.

Thursday morning in Plainview was just as intense and hectic as his recent days have been in D.C., with meetings at Happy State Bank, Plainview City Hall, Plainview County Club, White Energys ethanol plant, a grain elevator and elsewhere. He took time briefly Thursday to sit down with the media and reflect on the six weeks in Washington.

I was able to breathe a great sigh of relief and shout for joy when the assignments were announced for the House Agriculture Committee, Arrington admitted Thursday.

Thats because the freshman congressman received that key assignment which puts him in position to have a major role in crafting the next farm bill.

But thats not all.

Arrington was also named to the House Budget Committee as well as the House Committee on Veterans Affairs where he will serve as chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. Hes one of a select group of freshmen to chair a subcommittee.

The assignments on the Agriculture and Budget committees allow me to be a strong advocate for agriculture and rural West Texas, he explains. You could say that we got to have two bites out of the apple, which is simply awesome and a very pleasant surprise. He also asked for and received a waiver to serve on a third committee  Veterans Affairs  from Committee Chairman Jeff Miller of Tennessee. During the general election, Arrington was able to bring Miller to Lubbock where he introduced the future committee chairman to the areas veteran community as well as Texas Tech University and Veterans Administration medical facilities in the area. Not only did he approve the waiver for me to serve on his committee, he handed me a gavel to chair the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.

As subcommittee chairman, Arrington plans to work hard on promoting the Transition from Deployment to Employment program as well as fixing a broken and dysfunctional Department of Veterans Affairs. We want to empower the employees of the VA to improve the services now provided to the nations military veterans. They are serving some of our most valiant citizens, and as a result should be held to a much higher standard.

Arringtons subcommittee assignments on the House Agriculture Committee include the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management subcommittee, the Nutrition subcommittee, and the Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research subcommittee.

"I dont have to tell anyone in West Texas how important agriculture is to our national security and our ability to feed and clothe our own people, Arrington said after the assignments were announced. Led by Chairman Mike Conaway, my colleagues and I will work daily to champion for the good Americans who earn their living by working the ground and stewarding God's green, gold, and even white (with cotton) earth!

On Thursday, Arrington added that he will be working closely with Chairman Conaway to develop a new farm bill that includes a fix for cotton, before the current farm bill expires. Something that should simplify the process of bringing back a safety net for cotton producers is the selection of Sonny Perdue as next secretary of agriculture. Perdue is the former governor of Georgia, which is a major cotton producing state.

We have already had a couple of hearings on the new Farm Bill, in the context that considers the state of Rural America. That includes a point I stressed during the election campaign, that if Rural America doesnt survive, then who will we get to feed and clothe America?

While Arrington said cotton producers will have a seat at the table during the formulation of the next Farm Bill, he anticipates that once Perdue is confirmed he will use his authority as USDA secretary to either make cotton a covered commodity once again, or formally designate cotton seed as an other oil seed crop.

A fellow West Texas from Midland, Ag Committee Chairman Mike Conaway has a goal of having a new Farm Bill in place by the time the current legislation expires in September 2018. We usually have to extend the current Farm Bill, but he wants to break from that.

Two more factors working in favor of the agriculture community are that President Donald Trump wants to put American manufacturing and production first, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarty is from cotton country in California. He is the second highest ranking member of the House, and we had him in Lubbock and West Texas during the campaign. McCarty also has voiced support for a new Farm Bill that is more beneficial to producers.

All the stars are finally aligned to have a meaningful outcome for our producers, Arrington said. The biggest challenge, he admits, is the budget. Until the economy starts to grow, and we stop bleeding in those areas that are driving the debt.

Those challenges include the growth in mandatory spending, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other unfunded liabilities. In 1965, mandatory spending accounted for 13 percent of the federal budget. Today, its 70 percent. Looming ahead is the nations largest generation going into retirement. Over the next 10-year period, deficits are projected to grow from a half-trillion dollars to $1.5 trillion, and federal debt will grow to $30 trillion.

Thats what keeps me up at night, Arrington says. Its the budget, and the long-term impact on the nation we leave for our children.
LUBBOCK  Jerry Ba Nguyen, 24, of Las Vegas, appeared in federal court Friday and pleaded guilty, before U.S. Magistrate Judge D. Gordon Bryant Jr., to interference with flight crew members and attendants, announced U.S Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Nguyen, who has been in custody since his arrest in September 2016, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing will be set at a later date by U.S. Senior District Judge Sam R. Cummings.

According to plea documents filed in the case, on Sept. 22, 2016, Nguyen was a passenger on American Airlines flight 2542 in route from Ontario, California, to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, which was diverted to Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, after Nguyen knowingly interfered and attempted to interfere with the performance of the duties of a flight crew member and flight attendant, lessening their ability to perform their duties, by assaulting and intimidating the flight attendant and flight crew member by refusing to comply with instructions from flight attendants.

Nguyen came to the attention of the flight attendants as the plane was leaving the gate in Ontario, appearing agitated and walking toward the front of the aircraft as it prepared to take off. Flight attendants were able to calm him down, and the plane departed. After takeoff, however, Nguyens erratic behavior continued; he mumbled that the SIM card had been stolen from his phone and he made suicidal statements. He also stated that the police were not his friends, and the U.S. government was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Nguyen was asked to remain in his seat by the flight crew on multiple occasions, but refused. Flight attendants were so concerned about his behavior that they recruited several passengers to assist with physically restraining Nguyen if it became necessary.

Upon final approach, Nguyen walked to the front of the aircraft and was near the cockpit door. Flight attendants instructed Nguyen numerous times that he needed to be seated for landing, but Nguyen refused to take his seat. Due to Nguyens proximity to the cockpit door, the lead flight attendant signaled other passengers to subdue Nguyen.

The captain declared an emergency and diverted the flight to Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, where it landed safely. Nguyen was removed from the plane and taken into custody

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Transportation Security Administration, the Lubbock Police Department and the Lubbock International Airport Police Department are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Haag is in charge of the prosecution.
HARTFORD  House Democrats pushed two key parts of their economic agenda Thursday, advocating for increased access to state-offered investments and the creation of a hotline to help small business owners.



Democrats said the two bills, which were before a public hearing by the Commerce Committee, will bolster small businesses and produce more jobs.



Weve sat with the businesses in our state, talked about what we could do to be helpful to them and their businesses, and then came out with initiatives to do so, said House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin.



The expansion of access to investments comes at the same time that Republicans are calling for more oversight and scrutiny of loans doled out by the Department of Economic Development and Community Development and other agencies. Republicans sponsored three bills seeking oversight over programs offering state aid to businesses, including one from Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, for a study of Connecticut Innovations, Inc.



I think there needs to be a great level of oversight over the use of tax funds to invest in businesses, Fishbein said.



Fishbein is raising questions about how thoroughly CT Innovations, a quasi-public agency, is researching funding recipients, saying some firms arent producing the jobs or results promised in their applications.



Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, raised similar concerns while testifying in support of two of his bills seeking more legislative oversight of Gov. Dannel P. Malloys First Five Plus, a program giving aid to larger employers, and the Urban and Industrial Site Reinvestment Program, a tax credit initiative administered by the Department of Economic Development.



We are the investors ... and I think we have an obligation, in real time, to know what the return is on that investment, said Fasano, who also represents Wallingford.



Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, and Commerce Committee co-chair, referenced a report from the Auditors of Public Accounts last week that said DECD failed to properly monitor the Small Business Express program. The program is currently open to some businesses, but the House Democrats bill would open access to all small businesses.



The audit found that requirements and expenditures for Small Business Express are not being properly applied and monitored. This has resulted in potential overpayments, penalties, or loan forgiveness credits related to employment obligations not being applied properly or in a timely manner, and overstatements of interest accruals.



The report said that, in some instances, audits and other information were not submitted to DECD until months after they were due. In others, the agency failed to complete its own reviews in a timely manner, resulting in penalties being imposed or credits rewarded well after the fact. Small Business Express, funded by $200 million in bonding since its creation in 2012, gives grants of between $10,000 and $30,000, and forgivable or deferrable loans of up to $300,000.



Lawmakers last year approved a proposal from Comptroller Kevin Lembo that allowed for the examination of certain tax credit or incentive programs, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed the bill.



Democrats insisted they are willing to push for more accountability, but said they wanted to talk with DECD  a meeting is scheduled for Friday  before determining if a similar bill is still needed this year. They also said those concerns shouldnt be grounds for ending a program that was started to help businesses secure funding after lenders began offering fewer loans after the 2008 economic crash.



It would be punishing the people who rely on the program that allows them to grow their businesses simply because one of the state agencies, or quasi in this particular case, isnt doing its job, Aresimowicz said.



The second bill from Democrats Thursday would create a hotline to help small business owners get information about state programs aimed at helping them. Rep. Liz Linehan, D-Cheshire, said shes excited about the proposal after hearing from small business owners who were frustrated about the lack of help available to navigate state programs. Its a direct answer to what we heard from businesses that they need, she said.



msavino@record-journal.com 203-317-2266 Twitter: @reporter_savino






WALLINGFORD  An East Hartford man faces charges after police say he forged and cashed checks from a town business.



Michael Holcomb, 43, of 370 Goodwin Ave., East Hartford, was arrested by warrant Wednesday and charged with third-degree larceny and two counts of second-degree forgery.



In May 2016, police received a report from a local business that counterfeit checks totaling almost $4,000 had been cashed against the companys account.



The chief financial officer told police the two checks, cashed in April, were made out to Holcomb and appeared to be remakes of original company checks, according to Holcombs arrest warrant. One check was written for $1,983 and cashed in Plainville and the second for $1,957 was cashed in Wallingford.



Holcomb was arraigned in Meriden Superior Court on Thursday. A judge set bond at $1,000 and continued the case to March 23.










As our country struggles with the scourge of opioid abuse, it is important to shine a light on this deadly epidemic. Pretending it doesnt exist is not the answer.



So we applaud the Wheeler Clinic in Plainville, which will host a Gone, But Not Forgotten quilting event Saturday.



At Wheeler that day, people who have died from drug addiction will be remembered through personalized quilt squares made by their loved ones and others.



Similar quilting events are taking place throughout Connecticut.



The small quilt squares will be added to a piece made up of 36 squares and the larger quilts will be assembled by community quilting groups.



The completed quilts will be part of a display which will travel the state starting in the spring.



It gives people an opportunity to remember and honor loved ones who may have died, and more importantly it raises that awareness, said Judith Stonger, vice president of prevention, wellness and recovery at the Wheeler Clinics Connecticut Clearinghouse program based in Plainville.



The quilting project is intended to memorialize all who have died from substance abuse, but the focus is on heroin and opioid addiction.



In Connecticut in 2015, 723 people died from accidental drug overdoses, and more than 60 percent of those involved opioids.



According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, over 400 people died of accidental overdoses during the first half of 2016.



The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that, since 1999, deaths from prescription opioids  drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone  have quadrupled.



Each day 44 people in the United States die from overdose of prescription drugs, with opioid painkillers topping the list.



Meanwhile, the department says the use of heroin  another opioid  is on the rise, as are heroin-related overdose deaths, which more than tripled between 2010 and 2014.



Theres a clear and troubling connection between painkillers and heroin.



The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration points out that as people use opioids repeatedly, their tolerance increases and they may not be able to maintain the source for the drugs.



This can cause them to turn to the black market for these drugs and even switch from prescription drugs to cheaper and more risky substitutes like heroin.



The Gone, But Not Forgotten quilting effort is part of an initiative launched last month by the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.



Its about creating something to represent how opioid abuse impacts people, said Mary Kate Mason, spokeswoman for DMHAS. Its about wrapping people in love.



Wheelers quilting event will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at 334 Farmington Ave. All supplies to make a quilt square will be provided.



Addiction is a disease, and together we can treat and prevent it, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement. I commend all those who have channeled their grief into action to raise awareness throughout this project.



We agree.






Concord Police Department

A Concord man was arrested for child molestation after fathering a baby with a young girl he began seeing when she was 12 years old, police said.

The girls parents allegedly knew about the relationship, and the Contra Costa County district attorneys office filed felony charges against them for failing to protect their child, according to police.
Rallies, protests and town hall events are a part of political life in the Bay Area. Heres a roundup of whats happening in the next few weeks.

Saturday

Health care town hall: Hosted by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena. Starts at 9 a.m. at Piner High School, 1700 Fulton Road, Santa Rosa.

Town hall: A Conversation About America hosted by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Cabrillo Unified School District, 530 Kelly Ave., Half Moon Bay.

Environmental protest: Meeting in front of the Environmental Protection Agencys regional offices in San Francisco to protest the new head of the EPA and fight for environmental justice, from 1 to 3 p.m., 75 Hawthorne St.

Sunday

Empty chair town hall: Hosted by anti-Trump groups in the Bay Area to discuss concerns with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who will not be attending. Statements will be sent to Feinsteins office. The town hall is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Elmhurst Community Prep, 1800 98th Ave., Oakland. Tickets are available online.

New women activist brunch: Meet and greet for women and members of womens organizations working to elect progressive, pro-abortion-rights women to office. Hosted by Democratic Activists for Women Now, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 2302 Zanker Road, San Jose.

Anti-Trump planning meeting: Activists organizing to resist the Trump administration will hold a general meeting from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Finnish Hall, 1970 Chestnut St., Berkeley.

Tuesday

San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting: Residents are planning to attend the meeting to speak out against a Muslim registry and calling for the board to pass an ordinance divesting city funds from the Dakota Access Pipeline. The meeting is from 2 to 4 p.m. at San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place.

Wednesday

Action meeting: Hosted by San Francisco Berniecrats, featuring a guest speech by Supervisor Jane Kim, to discuss how the grassroots organization can fight for issues they care about. The event is from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Public Library Park Branch, 1833 Page St.

March 5

Volunteer workshop: Hosted by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, on how to shape the 2018 election, from 2 to 4 p.m. Crowne Plaza Cabana, 4290 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. RSVP: (650) 328-3700.

March 8

Day Without Women strike: The organizers behind the Womens March on Washington are calling for a general strike to show what a day without women would look like.

March 10

Standing Rock march: A march and rally calling for President Trump to meet with tribal leaders before continuing work on the Dakota Access Pipeline. The event is from 5 to 9 p.m. outside the San Francisco Federal Building, 90 Seventh St.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The cannabis industry was rattled Thursday after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he expects the Department of Justice to increase enforcement of federal laws prohibiting recreational pot, even in states where it's already legal.

Along with the District of Columbia, eight states have legalized recreational use among adults, including California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada just this past November. That means one in five American adults can smoke, vape, drink, or eat cannabis as they please under state law. Meanwhile, more than half of the nation's states have legalized medical marijuana despite federal laws prohibiting its sale. The industry is estimated to be worth north of $6 billion and will hit $50 billion by 2026, according to Cowen & Co.

"Today's news coming out of the administration regarding the adult use of cannabis is, of course, disappointing," Derek Peterson, CEO of marijuana cultivator Terra Tech Corp., said yesterday in a statement. "We have hoped and still hope that the federal government will respect states' rights in the same manner they have on several other issues."

Spicer sought to distinguish the prospect of federal enforcement for medical, vs. recreational, cannabis use, saying "there's still a federal law that we need to abide by when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature."

Spicer's statements reanimated industry concern that first arose when Republican President Donald Trump's short list of potential attorney general nominees emerged. The final pick, former U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a Republican, has long opposed cannabis use, but is a major proponent of states' rights. In his mid-January confirmation hearing, Sessions said he wouldn't "commit to never enforcing federal law" but added that "absolutely it's a problem of resources for the federal government." He said that if Congress felt marijuana possession should no longer be illegal, it "should pass a law." Trump has similarly gone back and forth on the issue of legalization.

The Bloomberg Intelligence Global Cannabis Index fell as much as 3.7 percent after Spicer's press briefing.

A crackdown on the industry would reverse existing federal policy and go against public opinion. The Obama administration largely deferred to the states, instead focusing on preventing distribution to minors, blocking sales across state lines, and keeping it out of the hands of gangs and criminals. A recent poll from Quinnipiac University found 71 percent of voters think "the government should not enforce federal laws against marijuana in states that have legalized medical or recreational use."

The Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for drug policy reform, cited the poll on Twitter in a reaction to Spicer's statement. Of the more than 1,300 voters polled, 59 percent said marijuana should be legal in the U.S. Notably, Republicans opposed widespread legalization 61 percent to 35 percent.

Some in the cannabis industry see the federal reversal as a contradiction of the administration's stated positions on states' rights and job creation.

"To have Mr. Spicer say in one sentence that they're a states' rights administration and in the very next sentence say they're going to crack down ... it just defies logic," said Robert Capecchi, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that lobbies for pot-friendly changes to drug-related legislation.

The industry is also an abundant source of revenue, according to Patrece Bryan, president of Cannabrand, a pot-focused marketing company. New Frontier Data says the cannabis industry will create more than 283,000 jobs by 2020.

"This is absurd. For a president who ran under the banner of job creation, he actually needs to start looking at where the jobs are being created," she said. "With Colorado generating $1.8 billion over a 10-month period, this is America's new agriculture. Why would we take this revenue away from our country?"

The Drug Policy Alliance echoed Bryan's point, noting that eliminating part of the legal cannabis market would mean "wiping out tax-paying jobs and eliminating billions of dollars in taxes."

Still, not everyone was frantic about Spicer's comments. The tacit endorsement of medical pot use was comforting, said Allen St. Pierre, a partner at Strategic Alternative Investments, which focuses on marijuana. Ian Eisenberg, founder of Seattle-based pot retailer Uncle Ike's, was also sanguine.

"After the feds learn how well regulated Washington's adult use and medical cannabis markets are, they will leave it status quo," he said. From July 2014 to April 2016, the state reportedly collected close to $200 million in tax revenue on cannabis.

Republican U.S. Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, where pot is legal, said he was assured before Sessions's confirmation that there would be no drastic changes to federal policy. "That was the take-away from my conversation with Jeff," Gardner said. "It's not a priority of the Trump administration."

Other politicians in states where recreational use is allowed said they will act to protect the industry. "These comments leave doubt and uncertainty for the marijuana industry, stifling job growth in our state," said Democratic Representative Jared Polis of Colorado.

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, a Democrat, said his state's attorney general "must make it immediately clear that he will vigorously defend Nevada's recreational marijuana laws from federal overreach."

Given the size and growth trajectory of the industry, entrepreneurs are not going to shut their doors without a fight, warns Troy Dayton, CEO of Arcview, a cannabis market research company.

"People don't respond well to having freedom taken away," Dayton said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

President Trump signed an executive order Friday that aims to curb excessive regulations that he says are driving businesses and jobs out of the country.

This order will direct each federal agency to establish a regulatory reform task force, which will recommend which regulations can be simplified or eliminated. The text of the order was not immediately released.

While he was signing the order, the president was flanked by multiple corporate CEOs, including Marillyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin, Gregory Hayesof United Technologies, and Mario Longhi of United States Steel, according to Bloomberg.

Every regulation should have to pass a simple test: Does it make life better or safer for American workers or consumers? If the answer is no, we will be getting rid of it, Trump said at an Oval Office signing ceremony Friday.

Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland Friday morning that he wants regulations that protect our environment and safety, but vowed to chop those that are repetitive.

More for you Economic outlook split along partisan divide

We don't need 75 percent of the repetitive regulations that hurt companies, hurt jobs, make us noncompetitive overseas with other companies from other countries, he said.

This order builds upon a Jan. 30 executive order, in which he mandated federal agencies to identify two regulations to eliminate for every new one created.

While some traditional industries agree that government regulations make doing business more difficult, some new innovations  particularly those in Silicon Valley  actually require new federal regulations to grow.

One example is autonomous cars, which currently face a patchwork of state rules but would welcome consistent, light-touch federal regulations.

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
Ron Chapple/Getty Image

Two men were shot and injured in San Franciscos Bayview neighborhood Friday morning, police said.

A caller reported about 6:15 a.m. that shots were fired on the 1500 block of Bancroft Avenue. The victims  only identified as two adult males  were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, said Officer Giselle Talkoff, a San Francisco Police Department spokeswoman.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

At a time when unrest, fear and protest are once again prevalent in this country, Dustin Lance Black, one of San Antonios few claims to Oscar fame, urges everyone, especially younger viewers, to watch When We Rise.

The sprawling TV epic, created by Black and executive produced by him and Gus Van Sant, focuses on a tenacious group of diverse men and women who, over four trying decades, joined hands and fought for many of the precious rights enjoyed today.

Airing across four nights, Rise chronicles the personal and political struggles, setbacks and triumphs of three LGBT pioneers who helped spearhead one of the last battles of the U.S. Civil Rights movement from its turbulent infancy in the 1970s to that exuberant day in 2015 when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

I would give anything in the world for it to be less topical right now, Black, who won an Oscar for writing Milk, said of his newest labor of love at a January press session.

I never could have imagined that it would land in this moment. Im not entirely surprised because we know that history is not a straight line. We know that history is a pendulum, and I knew this kind of moment might happen.

Black, who spent his elementary and middle school years in San Antonio, said he is grateful to ABC for airing the miniseries.

Im grateful (to) all of the artists who helped make this, because I do think its a necessary conversation to have right now  a conversation about what its like to be a minority in this world and how important it is for us to work together so that we can live lives that are more equal and that are safer, he said.

When We Rise kicks off with a two-hour episode at 8 p.m. Monday on ABC and continues at the same time Wednesday through Friday. The interruption Tuesday is to accommodate President Trumps televised address to a joint session of Congress.

Over the course of any social justice movement, there is backlash, Black said. You see that several times in this series. And there are ways to confront backlash for a young generation  ways to keep the pendulum from swinging back too far.

We is the most important word in the title, because the way to push back and to succeed is to do it together and to understand interconnectedness of social justice movements. I need a young generation to see that and understand that.

When We Rise stars Guy Pearce, Mary-Louise Parker, Rachel Griffiths, Michael Kenneth Williams and a bevy of incredible fresh faces, including transgender actress Ivory Aquino, all of whom vividly portray these real-life courageous souls. Popping up in supporting roles are the outspoken Rosie ODonnell and Whoopi Goldberg.

The miniseries covers much ground  heartbreaking family rejection; harassment and violence by both police and anti-gay bullies; the AIDS crisis; transgender recognition; children of gay couples; and, in an exuberant finale, same-sex marriage. It accents not just the LGBT fight, but the womens movement and other civil rights struggle, and the conflicts that sometimes arose between activists.

Its primary focus is on three figures who persevered during horrific downs and exuberant ups to make the world a better place for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Cleve Jones (Pearce), a Quaker from Arizona who was spurned by his conservative father (David Hyde Pierce), struck out on his own at an early age and eventually helped lead the gay liberation movement and founded the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Pearce is wonderful in the part, but just as effective is the curly haired newcomer who plays the fiercely optimistic young Jones. Austin McKenzie is nothing short of captivating in the role.

Also engaging is Emily Skeggs, who plays reticient-turned-fiery lesbian activist Roma Guy. Shes played in her more mature years by Parker. Griffiths plays the older version of Guys lover and partner Diane, who defied convention to fulfill her longing to become a mother.

Equally dynamic are Williams and Jonathan Majors as the older and younger versions of gay community organizer Ken Jones, a Vietnam veteran who braved military condemnation, not to mention racism, during his fight for equality.

Williams indicated the miniseries couldnt be timed better.

From my perspective, he said, I see a very divided country, a country in pain, a nation in pain. And we need to be reminded that theres a lot of stories of triumph, of courage that this country was built on.

Parker stressed how youths today, who may have no experience with homophobia, should watch and learn.

It may not hold much currency to a young person  what it is to stand up in church and to say, Im gay, but at the time, when you watch it, it puts ice in your veins. Its really sobering, she said. Her kids and others, who enjoy so many freedoms today, should know its a result of the work that these people did, she added.

Black couldnt agree more.

One of the many reasons that a new generation ought to see When We Rise is for inspiration and to understand that they have forefathers and foremothers who have been fighting for them for some time, he said. For some young people, they need to know that because theyre living in areas where they dont find a lot of acceptance.

Back when he lived in San Antonio in the 1970s and 80s, attending Live Oak Elementary and Kitty Hawk Middle School, Black was one of those young people.

In the past, hes indicated  in interviews and during his moving 2009 Oscar acceptance speech  that it wasnt easy growing up gay in a conservative and religious family in military San Antonio.

Back then, as well as today, however, hes never stopped crediting his mom for always believing in him.

I love San Antonio, he said after the ABC press session. I dont disparage the way I grew up. There, I was taught the importance of family; that it comes first. Theres a reason Im in pursuit of children and marriage right now. I learned that from my mom and the South.

Theres a lot of misinformation out there, which breeds a lot of fear and creates a lot of walls. What I hope to do with this show is to build some bridges that say, guys, you can be gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender in San Antonio.

Jeanne Jakles column appears Wednesdays and Sundays in mySA.

jjakle@express-news.net
Battalion, the new Italian restaurant from the team behind Feast and Rebelle, will open Tuesday in the renovated Fire Station No. 7 on South Alamo Street.

Tuesday's hours will be 5-11 p.m., then Battalion will start its regular schedule of 5-11 p.m. Monday-Saturday. It's located at 604 S. Alamo St, 210-816-0088, battalionsa.com.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Unclean equipment and food-contact surfaces were at the forefront of this weeks dirty list as roaches and white residue raised red flags for food inspectors.

A total of 35 restaurants, food marts and bars across the San Antonio area received enough demerits to land a spot on the dirtiest restaurants list.

A South Side staple, Bud Jones at 1440 S.W. Military Drive, was caught with a roach in a microwave while the Whataburger at 8002 Fredericksburg Road, in the Medical Center, received demerits when the wisk holder was not clean and had white residue.

Contamination was also an issue at Medina Base Quick Mart, where employees were seen cleaning painting equipment in the hand washing sink, according to its report.

To make the Express-News' list of dirtiest restaurants, an establishment must earn a score of 89 or below  or anything less than an "A"  during a random city health inspection.

More wild violations include packages of food eaten by rodents at 7-Eleven at 11390 Interstate 35 South, grey water dripping in the kitchen at Teka Molino at 1007 Rittiman Road and black buildup in the ice machine at Little Sams at 6801 New U.S. 90 West.

Get all the highlights from this week's dirtiest restaurant list in the slideshow above.

RELATED: San Antonio restaurant inspections: February 17, 2017

The San Antonio Express-News examines hundreds of restaurant inspections each week conducted by the San Antonio Food and Environmental Health Services division to bring you the eateries with scores of 89 or below.

Restaurants are graded on a 100-point system, where "100" is a perfect score, and demerits are based upon the number of violations found during a regular food establishment inspection. There are three categories of demerits and each are assigned a demerit score of 3, 2 or 1 points, according to the health division.

Scores and demerits listed are only representative of the state of the restaurant at the time of inspection and are surveyed at random.

rsalinas@mysa.com

Twitter: @RebeccaLSalinas
Contributed Photo

DANBURY  State Rep. Michael Ferguson urged residents Friday to attend a Monday public hearing in Hartford about legislation that would put tolls on state highways.

Ferguson (R-138) would like Danbury-region residents to oppose all of the five bills submitted to the General Assembly Transportation Committee which institute tolling in Connecticut, according to a news release.
Albany

A lobbyist allegedly struck a 71-year-old columnist and activist Saturday evening in a downtown hotel room, according to a complaint she filed the next day with Albany police.

The complaint identifies Robert Scott Gaddy, 47, as the alleged assailant. He faces a potential charge of second-degree harassment, a violation.

Gloria Winston Al-Sarag filed a complaint Sunday morning with the Albany Police Department accusing Gaddy of angrily confronting her Saturday night in Albany, "stating that he was going to kill her" before hitting her in the left side of her jaw with a closed fist, according to an incident report.

Gaddy "was then removed from the room by friends of (Al-Sarag) and fled the area," according to the police report. Al-Sarag, whose name was redacted in the police report, did not seek medical treatment.

In a phone interview Thursday, Gaddy said he planned to release a statement on the matter on Friday. He added that his lawyers would not allow him to comment until it was clear what the columnist, Al-Sarag, was alleging. Gaddy did say he might sue her.

The incident allegedly happened in a suite at the Hilton Albany hotel, the site of last weekend's annual conference of the Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators.

In a January column, Al-Sarag had suggested that Gaddy could find himself in legal trouble for his ties to Rochester-area Republican Assemblyman Bill Nojay, who committed suicide last September as he faced a tangle of federal charges and civil complaints brought by business associates. Al-Sarag wrote the column in The Minority Reporter, a weekly Rochester newspaper.

Al-Sarag told the USA Today Network's Albany bureau the incident happened in a suite rented by Rochester Assemblyman David Gantt, who she said tried to intervene in the dispute. Asked about the incident, Gantt reportedly told the same reporter, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Gaddy, a former aide to Gantt, is president of the Albany-based lobbying firm Excelsior Advocates. The question of whether the case will proceed is in the hands of a city court judge, who could decide to issue a criminal summons.

cbragg@timesunion.com  518-454-5303  @chrisbragg1
On this date in ...

1917: More than 2,000 residents of Delmar, Elsmere and Slingerlands were affected by a "water famine" as air pressure in the pipes supplying water clogged distribution. The Suburban Water Co. supplied the villages with water from the mountains near New Salem through gravity. Workmen were placed along the system to try to alleviate the stoppage.

1967: Lazlo Talas, 34, a Hungarian-born Canadian, was arraigned before U.S. Commissioner Bender Solomon on a charge of smuggling $10,000 worth of Cuban cigars into the country. He was arrested by State Place at Rouses Point in Clinton County, where he crossed the border from his hometown of Montreal in a rented car. Talas smoked only cigarettes.

1992: Gov. Mario M. Cuomo said he expected Medicaid and education funding to be issues remaining on the table when state budget negotiations resumed. State leaders were to continue talks on the governor's proposed $56.5 billion budget after a week of no session for the Legislature. Cuomo said he would ask Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin and Senate Majority Leader Ralph Marino where remaining points of disagreement were on state spending.

Want to read more about the Capital Region's past? Have any memories or thoughts about how our history relates to today's events? See http://blog.timesunion.com/history/
Albany

The state Department of Health has asked five companies that previously sought medical marijuana licenses to submit updated application materials by March 1 in order to be considered for entrance to the tightly regulated state-run program.

The DOH said Thursday it expects to issue five additional licenses before July.

DOH's outreach, though not a shock given the department's public comments that it would seek further program expansion, is a concrete move toward expanding the program's footprint. Currently, five "registered organizations" grow and produce non-smokeable marijuana products for sale at 20 dispensaries statewide.

Should five more companies enter the program under the same rules, the number of dispensaries would eventually double to 40.

The new timeline also gives a better sense of how quickly the department wants to license more companies after it has swiftly implemented other program expansions aimed at improving patient access.

DOH has confirmed on its website that it has contacted companies that finished sixth through 10th at the end of the initial application process in 2015. They are New York Canna, Inc.; Fiorello Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Valley Agriceuticals, LLC; Citiva Medical LLC; and PalliaTech NY, LLC.

No other companies (43 total applied initially) are under consideration, according to DOH. On its website, the department states it is taking "a phased-in approach to ensure their smooth integration into the industry," which includes verifying the companies' financial stability and ensuring they still are suitable to participate in the program.

DOH is seeking updated ownership and operating materials, including financial statements, according to a spokeswoman.

"Ensuring patients are able to get the relief they need is our top priority," DOH spokeswoman Jill Montag said in a statement.

Currently licensed companies, DOH and patient advocates are in general agreement that the program needs to be expanded to reach more patients. There are just over 14,000 patients registered to buy.

But there are sharply differing opinions on the best methods to go about it.

The state has moved to allow more medical professionals (nurse practitioners and physician assistants) to certify patients to take part in the program and to expand the short list of ailments medical marijuana products can be used to treat to include chronic pain. Home delivery of products is now an option as well.

But while those steps have been seen as positives, the current crop of registered organizations have been fiercely opposed to allowing new businesses to enter the marketplace.

Those companies have initially struggled to flourish since the program went live in January 2016. In response, some have instituted discount programs in an attempt to attract repeat buyers. Data shows that only roughly half of the patient base returns to buy more products.

PharmaCann General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer Jeremy Unruh told the Times Union Thursday that his company has an acre of empty greenhouse space after scaling back its grow operation. The company has a metric ton of cannabis locked up in a vault that has not yet been processed into state-sanctioned finished products, he said.

Another company, Bloomfield Industries, has languished more than others and has been acquired by a California firm, Politico New York reported last month.

"While perhaps well-intentioned, the state's plan to double manufacturing capacity when significant excess capacity exists will do nothing to address the true patient access barriers like the extraordinarily low numbers of physicians registered with the medical marijuana program," Vireo Health of New York CEO Ari Hoffnung said in a statement.

"It doesn't matter how many new licenses the States issues  so long that qualifying New Yorkers can't find a doctor to recommend medical marijuana, patient access to New York's program will be minimal and we will continue to lag behind other states," Hoffnung said.

At a joint legislative budget hearing last week, state Sen. Diane Savino, a champion of the Compassionate Care Act that established the program in 2014, similarly cautioned state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker against expanding the number of registered organizations.

"Right now we have five registered organizations who are struggling financially because the entire burden is upon them, and we would not want to see them go under," the Staten Island Democrat said. "The reality is they have excess product; we don't have excess patients."

Savino suggested the creation of limited licenses that would allow for only dispensary expansion.

Unruh said it would be "a great step forward" if more registered organizations were licensed to open dispensaries only. He pointed to the medical marijuana program in Illinois  where PharmaCann also operates  that allows cultivators to sell wholesale to unaffiliated retailers.

Still, for companies next up on the list, an opportunity to jump into the marketplace with the same capabilities as the first five registered organizations is tantalizing.

"Notwithstanding the assertions of the current medical cannabis licensees, the New York market currently is far from saturated," Valley Agriceuticals Director of Patient Services Eileen Konieczny wrote in the Poughkeepsie Journal last week. "In fact, the ratio of medical cannabis dispensaries to New York residents is about one per million. DOH has it right: the way to strengthen care and lower costs for New Yorkers is to expand access to helpful medicines and medicine providers, not to limit access from a small number of providers."

A Valley Agriceuticals spokesman declined additional comment Thursday.

mhamilton@timesunion.com  518-454-5449  @matt_hamilton10
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Troy

Federal lawmakers shouldn't hide from their constituents who are protesting and demanding town hall meetings after President Donald Trump's first weeks in office, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Thursday.

Schumer, the Senate Democratic minority leader, expressed disappointment with the president's slow response to condemn incidents of anti-Semitism across the country and the retreat on LGBT rights this week. He said he's worried about the direction Trump is going.

"It's a job of a senator or a congressman to be available. Those who stay in Washington can't do their jobs well," Schumer said. "They should be available especially during difficult times."

"I think the protests on the Affordable Care Act will produce results. My guess is it will not be repealed. It may be modified after the president gives up on appeal," he said.

Schumer spoke to the news media after presenting Troy police Officer Joshua Comitale with the Congressional Badge of Bravery at Hudson Valley Community College.

Schumer did not see the president's rescinding of federal protections for transgender students in public schools that let them use bathrooms and facilities corresponding with their gender identity as in step with American history.

"America's always had a move to equality. What the president did last night shouldn't have been done," the senator said.

An outbreak of anti-Semitism across the nation including bomb threats last month and again this week to Jewish community centers. The Sidney Albert Albany Jewish Community Center received two threats in January. Over the weekend, a Jewish cemetery in a St. Louis suburb was desecrated.

"I was glad he denounced it. But he ought not wait so long next time it happens. He ought to denounce it immediately," said Schumer, who is Jewish.

He said the nation needs a Supreme Court that will provide checks and balances to Trump and stressed that his nominee, Neil Gorsuch, must show his independence from the president.

"That's what worries me most when you have a president who overreaches," Schumer said. "I would not vote for Judge Gorsuch unless I am completely convinced he would be independent."

Schumer called for investment in the nation's crumbling infrastructure, citing problems in the Capital Region and elsewhere in New York.

He said the president must move away from tax credits that benefit investment companies and realize new money needs to be put into infrastructure.

kcrowe@timesunion.com  518-454-5084  @KennethCrowe
Excessive violence typically leads to more time in prison, not less.

But the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court just shaved four years off the 11-year prison sentence of Antonio Lopez-Bautista, a sexual predator who ambushed a 67-year-old woman on Congress Street in Saratoga Springs, dragged her from her car, beat her and sexually abused her.

Lopez-Bautista's brutal attack on May 22, 2012, was so all-encompassing, the midlevel court ruled that the crimes of attempted second-degree kidnapping, second-degree assault and first-degree sexual abuse all legally merged to be one act.

A merger doctrine bars convictions for kidnapping when the kidnapping is so much a part of another substantive crime that it could not have been committed without the other crime, according to the ruling rendered Thursday.

"Here, the victim's testimony, as well as the surveillance footage, established that defendant immediately began punching the victim upon opening the door to her vehicle and that after dragging her roughly 58 feet, he continued to punch the victim while forcibly subjecting her to sexual contact," stated the ruling written by Appellate Justice Christine Clark.

Presiding Justice Karen Peters and Justices Michael Lynch, Eugene "Gus" Devine and Sharon Aaron concurred.

"This brutal encounter lasted between three and four minutes," the ruling stated. "Under these circumstances, because the conduct underlying the charge of attempted kidnapping in the second degree was simultaneous to, and inseparable from, the conduct underlying the charges of sexual abuse in the first degree and assault in the second degree we must apply the doctrine of merger, reverse defendant's conviction of attempted kidnapping in the second degree and dismiss that count of the indictment."

More Information Contact Robert Gavin at 518-454- 2403 or email rgavin@timesunion.com. On Twitter: @Robert GavinTU See More Collapse

Lopez-Bautista's 11-year sentence for the attempted kidnapping was running concurrently with his seven-year sentences for first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of second-degree assault. Jurors found him guilty of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation. They acquitted him of attempted rape and robbery,

With the attempted kidnapping conviction now tossed, Lopez-Bautista is just serving the concurrent seven-year terms.

The decision said Lopez-Bautista failed to preserve his argument that the crimes merged, which means the justices could have, had they wished, kept the attempted kidnapping conviction intact.

Instead, they stated: "We will invoke our interest of justice jurisdiction to take corrective action."

The "interest of justice" must be a bitter pill for Saratoga County prosecutors, whom the justices criticized repeatedly, at one point saying that their case was "imperfect" and a prosecutor tended to lead witnesses and repeat questions.

That was despite the court making it clear that the convictions were not against the weight of the evidence, which included surveillance footage of the attack and Lopez-Bautista on top of the victim.

Contacted by Law Beat, Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen, who was not district attorney at the time of the case, said of the decision: "It does present some unique determinations and we are reviewing it to decide what action we will be taking."

Translation: She's not happy with the decision and will look to appeal.

Lopez-Bautista, whose appeal was handled by Lake George attorney Robert Gregor and himself, has been serving his time at medium-security Washington County Correctional Facility in Comstock.

At his sentencing, Lopez-Bautista argued to since-retired Judge Jerry Scarano that, at the time of the crime, he was drunk and he somehow believed his victim was a corrupt female politician in his hometown in southern Mexico.

"I never thought of causing you harm and wanting to kidnap you, much less rape you," Lopez-Bautista told the victim. "I was drunk, and I wasn't in control. I recognize my error and I am guilty of the aggression."

An aggression that no longer includes attempted kidnapping.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

JM: Im 94, Ill be 95 in April.

JT: Did you grow up in this area?

JM: No, I grew up in Pennsylvania. A little town called Brownsville. A little town in a mining area. If you bat your eyes you could pass through and you wont even see it.

JT: What was it like growing up? What were your hobbies?

JM: Well, I went to school there, and at 18 I went to New York and met my husband. We got married and we moved to Greenwich, raised two daughters. One went to Ohio, and the other went to school here, went to college, came back and taught in Greenwich. I was married 58 years to my husband. Ive been a widow now for 17 years. I volunteered here in the senior center in the 80s. Now Ive been retired for years and still volunteer here on Mondays and Fridays. I cant say a quiet life because that wouldnt be right, but thats about it.

JT: How did you meet your husband?

JM: I met him in New York one night. My sister and I were at the Elks, and we were visiting there, and he and his cousin came. I looked at him and said, Oh, thats a nice-looking gentleman. You know, 6 foot 3, very stately. And he was with his cousin who was short and nubby, haha! And I say, Hey, he looks good. He looks at me and says, I like that one. And that was that. His name was Titus Monroe.

JT: You met him when you got to New York?

JM: Not long after. We were married at 20. Well, I was 20 and he was 23. He went into the service, we got married in 1942, and my daughter was born in September 43, and the other was born in August 47.

JT: So your husband served in the war?

JM: Yes, he served in World War II.

JT: Where did he go?

JM: He went to Massachusetts ...and then he worked in Texas, and then he went to Okinawa for overseas service. He was in Okinawa in the Second World War. He was the republican leader in District 6 for many years and was very well known here in the town of Greenwich.

JT: And you retired how long ago?

JM: Oh, I retired in 1980.

JT: And what were you doing?

JM: I worked with a firm out of Philadelphia, Smith Kline, and I retired from there. I stayed there until they sold that department. I did some odds and ends after that, and I went in with the AARP and here.

JT: When you say youre 95, I have a hard time believing that!

JM: No kidding! Im a great-grandmother. Ive got five great-grandkids. I dont see them because they are not in the neighborhood, but theyre here. As a matter of fact, two great-grand are in college.

JT: I feel like for someone like me, its hard to wrap my head around what was life like before?

JM: I remember in 1927 when they had the Great Depression. You probably heard of it. I was 5 years old then. See, I was born in 1922. Things like that, even children remember. I remember how even the men, when that depression hit and they couldnt take care of their families, grown men would cry because they had large families then and couldnt handle the problems that were then. I remember those days.

JT: Wow, how did your parents handle it?

JM: Well, I was brought up by the minister and his wife. They took me in so I could finish school. After I finished school, I came to New York, to work and to go to night school to get more educated. My mothers desire was that I get an education and I promised her that I would. And I tried very hard to get that education, and I worked on it, and thank God I felt the same way about my daughters. Most important  get an education.

JT: So its something you carried with you from your mother to your daughters.

JM: When my husband came back from the service, he was a technical engineer. He worked. A very strong family man, that was important to him. They said  do you miss him? I said yeah. They said would you ever marry again? I said hell no. Id never find another man like that.

JT: What do you notice about the way things are now versus the way they were growing up?

JM: Oh, theyve changed a lot. Some things have bettered themselves, others they call it progress but us old folks call it retrogress. Its not like (it) used to be, although nothing stays the same. I feel that all people are created equal and that God put us all here for a reason and that is to live and let live.

JT: How do you keep those things so close to your heart when theres so much negative around you?

JM: Ill help anyone that I can because I have been helped. You give and you reciprocate.

JT: what are your biggest interests now?

JM: There are limitations to age. There was a time I used to swim with the group here, travel with them. I used to be a tour director here for the AARP. Fifteen years. I was on the board for many years. In fact, this is my first year not being on the board. I was on the board since the 80s. Now I get to sit back and let the young people do it. I enjoy this life, Ill be honest with you. They say the world is wiser and weaker, I can see that. Prayers are strong. And I enjoy people.

JT: There you go. Well thank you so much.
An accident around 9:30 p.m. Thursday near Cleveland claimed the life of a 67-year-old woman, Arthola Toran, of Cleveland, according to a report from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Toran was traveling eastbound on FM 787 in a Toyota Camry when she struck a westbound Volvo TT and towed trailer as they were pulling out of a private driveway.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The city of Patton Village was named the temporary manager of the Peach Creek Dam and Lake Club water system in an emergency ruling by the Public Utility Commission signed Feb. 9.

Peach Creek Dam and Lake Club serves residents west of Peach Creek Lake on North Lakeview Drive, Lakeview Drive, South Lakeview Drive and Park Lane, and the Peach Creek water system is one of the three water systems the city has been trying to gain ownership of within Patton Village. The city aims to install a city-wide water system with meters, eight-inch main water lines and fire hydrants across the city.

The Peach Creek water system was previously owned by Harold Bradham, who filed for the transfer of ownership of Peach Creek utility and the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN), the authority to provide water and wastewater services, to the city of Patton Village in September 2014.

The city assumed operation of Peach Creek, hired an operator and received a permit from the Lone Star Groundwater District for the Peach Creek well.

Finalization of the sale of Peach Creek to the city was contingent upon a federal Housing and Urban Development grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture. However, in 2016 the city found out the Peach Creek water system is in a floodway and HUD forbids the use of its funds on projects within a floodway. Patton Village withdrew its application to get the water system in March 2016.

Bradham died while the application for the transfer of Peach Creek was still pending, and the Bradham estate still owns the Peach Creek water system.

The city continued employing an operator for the Peach Creek water system until September 2016 when the PUC appointed John Davis of Benry Utilities to assume the responsibilities of temporary manager.

Patton Village has also been working to install its sewer system across the city.

The city began construction on the Patton Village Wastewater Treatment Plant project in March 2016. Now, Patton Village Mayor Leah Tarrant said the plant is set to come online within the next week.

Persons Service Company, which constructed the wastewater collection system, will be connecting homes to the city's sewer system over the next few weeks. Tarrant estimates the entire system may be completed in March.

The Peach Creek water system lines were not clearly marked, so as Persons worked to install the sewer collection lines in the Peach Creek area, the water system lines were often hit and broken.

Also, the aged Peach Creek water system overpumped for the years 2015 and 2016, and Patton Village incurred a penalty of approximately $35,000 from the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District. However, the city has worked with Lone Star on a settlement, which included the deferment of the $35,000 for overproduction in exchange for paying $.06 per 1,000 gallons overpumped and replacing approximately 7,000 feet of water lines and adding water meters in Peach Creek.

The city invested $25,000 for Davis to update the Peach Creek system. Around the end of January, Davis reported that the $25,000 was almost exhausted.

Davis agreed to be replaced as temporary manager of the Peach Creek water system on Feb. 8, as he would most likely not be able to regain any money he might invest into the water system during his term as temporary manager. The PUC appointed Patton Village as the new substitute temporary manager of Peach Creek as the city had already invested in repairing the water system.

Patton Village has also applied for a $280,000 Emergency Community Water Assistance Grant through the USDA to fund the installation of eight-inch water lines and meters to replace the Peach Creek water system.

"We're going to upgrade the lines and water meters," Tarrant said. "The (Peach Creek) well is a smaller well, and it's in a floodway. So, right now we're seeking the emergency funds just to put in the bigger, eight-inch line and water meters so that we can regulate water use and not overpump on the well."

The Patton Lake Club water system, serving approximately 25 residences in the Roping Pen Road area of Patton Village is another smaller water system within the city. According to Tarrant, Patton Village is drawing up an agreement with the residents currently served by the Patton Lake Club water system to acquire that system as well.

The Patton Village Water System, owned by Martin Water, is the city's largest water system.

"Ultimately, our goal is that once we get the Patton Village Water System from the Martins. We will connect the (Peach Creek) system at Lakeview Drive and decommission the Peach Creek well," Tarrant said. "We won't use that well because it's in a floodway. Once we get Peach Creek connected to our new system, then we'll go in and put fire hydrants."

According to Tarrant, Patton Village already has a memorandum of understanding signed by Martin Water agreeing to sell the system to the city of Patton Village for $900,000.

The city hired Kelly Environmental to conduct an environmental study and AEI Engineering to conduct a preliminary engineering report required in order to file an application for funding for the project from the USDA.

"Once the USDA gives us a letter of condition, I will file for interim financing through CoBank so that construction can start because with the USDA, even though they approve financing a job, it still takes time," Tarrant said. "So, once we get a letter of conditions, CoBank would finance our job, so we could pay for the Patton Village Water System and start construction."

Tarrant said the city is pushing to get financing for the new water system project by the end of June, after which the project would go out for bid.

The sewer project cost totaled approximately $10 million, and approximately 60 percent was funded by USDA grants according to Tarrant. She estimated the new water system may be another $10 million project.

"We don't know how much will be grants or loans (in terms of what the USDA may finance)," Tarrant said. "We were very fortunate on sewer, and we hope to be as fortunate on water, too."

Tarrant said according to the engineers, April 2018 is a realistic estimate of when the city's new water system may be installed and online.

During the Patton Village council meeting Feb. 16, the city hired Rod Hainey as a consultant for the wastewater and the water systems. Hainey is currently the city of Cleveland's director of public works.

"The scope of his job will be to make sure we have all of the service manuals, operating manuals, required paperwork, report logs and everything required for us to remain TCEQ compliant," Tarrant said. "He's basically overseeing the water and wastewater to make sure that the actual operator is doing what is required."

However, Patton Village council postponed an agenda item to hire an operator or operating company to manage the sewer and water plants. Tarrant said an appointment may occur during the next city council meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 2.

"That will be on the next agenda for sure because I need one now," Tarrant said. "Hopefully within a week, we'll have an operator."
The exterior of Elementary 28 is a very similar to the blueprint for Atascocita Springs, but Principal Brian Peters has big plans for the interior.

The new school will have a capacity of 950 kids.

"I didn't have total influence on the physical structure," Peters said. "If you're from Atascocita Springs, our floor plan, or blueprint is almost exactly like Atascocita Springs, there are some minor changes."

Peters spoke about his love for sports, reading and how old-school he is about keeping his loyalties to Pittsburg teams, but when it comes to education he's got a different plan.

"My vision is not necessarily changing what we learn, there are still some valuable things that we all need to learn how to do, but how do we teach it," Peters said.

With kids growing more dependent on technology, Peters plans to use that to the school's advantage.

"It's more of how do we go about teaching, appealing to the needs of kids, teaching in a way that's meaningful and relevant to them, in one way that's technology," Peters said.

Recognizing that students don't all work the same is what is important, Peters said, and is why the school's interior will be different.

"We aren't going to suit up the classrooms the way they have always been suited up," Peters said. "Yes, we will have desks, we will have tables, we will have chairs, but we are also looking to have it to be an environment that is conducive to risk taking, creativity."

Peters said an important theme he plans to have for the kids, is creating a mural on a large wall within the school that has the world map and reads, "How will we change the world?"

"What can they do now, today, that will have an impact on their community and around the world? Kids can do amazing things," he said. "We just need to give them some of the leeway some of the guidance to be able to do that."

Peters said a Spanish immersion program will be offered to first graders only at first, but he hopes to have a five-year plan to add a class each year as the school grows.

A flex zone plan attendance plan recently approved by the district was a surprise to parents as much as it was to Peters.

"When I agreed to do this last summer, I didn't think we'd be doing this whole flex zone thing, but as I've said to people, I've got over the shock and surprise about it. Let's run with it," Peters said.

As most parents that were in attendance, Juan Gomez, lives within the flex zone and was first against the idea of moving, but that changed once he met Peters.

"I'm walking away from this being more toward than against moving over to the new school. After meeting him, I'm excited," Gomez said.

The methods discussed are what really impressed Gomez.

"A lot of my questions were around are we going to take advantage of the fact that it is a new school technology-wise, philosophy-wise, and it sounds like he's on that path," Gomez said.
Dr. Cordell Nwokeji has partnered with Lone Star College-Academy for Lifelong Learning to conduct a health seminar about the latest advanced treatment options for conditions that affect many men and their partners: prostate cancer, benign prostate hyperplasia (also known as enlarged prostate) and erectile dysfunction.

The most serious urological issue Houston Premier Urology and Nwokeji (pronounced "wo-kedge") treat is prostate cancer, the second-leading killer of men.

One in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer over their lifetime. About 230,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and over 26,000 men will die from prostate cancer this year. Hyperplasia, a natural, non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate, impacts more than half of all men over the age of 60. Erectile dysfunction, the inability to maintain an erection firm enough to have sexual intercourse, affects more than 30 million men in the U.S. today.

Nwokeji will address these and other issues and the current treatments available to millions of men (and women) in the United States. He serves on the board of Kingwood Medical Center and specializes in general urology with an emphasis in minimally invasive prostate cancer therapy such as high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and cryoblation therapy.

Nwokeji was the first physician in Texas to be credentialed in the HIFU procedure, having trained in 2007. He was also one of three urologists who gave a testimonial to the FDA panel about his experience with Sonablate HIFU prior to approval. Outside of prostate cancer, Nwokeji also manages kidney stones, prostate disease, female and male voiding dysfunction, oncology and vasectomies.

He received his bachelor's degree at Colgate University. He earned his medical degree at Howard University College of Medicine in 2000. He did his general surgery residency at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey and Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He completed his urology residency at Southern Illinois University in Springfield in 2005.

Nwokeji resides in the community with his wife, Aimee, an urgent care family physician, and three children.

Nwokeji will present his talk, "It Matters Below the Belt" at Lone Star College  Academy for Lifelong Learning, on March 2, from 3:304:30p.m.

For more information, call 281-312-1750.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

NORWALK  A Norwalk-based social services agency that deals with issues of sexual abuse among children is being hailed as a model for childrens advocacy centers across the country.

Childrens Connection, a childrens advocacy center run by the Human Services Council in Norwalk, received its reaccreditation from the National Childrens Alliance, earning praise as an example for Childrens Advocacy Centers throughout the country. Childrens Connection is one of only eight such centers in Connecticut.

The heart of this team amazes me, said Childrens Connection director Kari Pesavento. I think cops get a bad rap, (Department of Children and Families) workers get a bad rap, but these guys go so far above and beyond for these kids and families. Its just amazing.

Understanding CACs

CACs exist across the country as a way to bring multiple agencies together to investigate and prosecute allegations of sexual abuse against children.

The model was created by the National Childrens Alliance and has been replicated in 800 CACs across the country, including Childrens Connection.

Without a CAC, a child may end up having to tell the story of an abusive situation over and over again as they speak to doctors, cops, lawyers, therapists, investigators, judges and others. The model brings all of these agencies together, allowing a child to only have to tell the story once to a forensic interviewer.

More Information Statistics courtesy of the Children's Connection 2016 End of Year Report 93 - The number of children who received an immediate multidisciplinary response to allegations of sexual and/or physical abuse 55 - forensic interviews of children who had been abused 28 - the number of clear disclosures of abuse 18 - the number of offenders arrested Of the 93 cases receiving services through the Multidisciplinary Team: 68 were females and 25 were males. Cases by town 80% occurred in Norwalk 3% occurred in Westport 4% occurred in Weston 1% occurred in Wilton 8% occurred in New Canaan 3% of cases were handled from other jurisdictions See More Collapse

In Norwalk, these interviews take place in a kid-friendly interview room complete with props and other items to help children of all ages tell their story. The interviews are videotaped as police and other investigators watch on a live feed in the next room, able to ask additional questions if necessary.

A team including medical professionals, law enforcement, mental health workers, prosecution, child protective services, victim advocates, and other professionals together decide how to help the child based on the interview. CACs offer therapy and medical exams, plus courtroom preparation, victim advocacy, case management and other services. This multidisciplinary team response is a core part of the work of centers.

Part of the CAC mission is to reduce trauma to victims under 18 and coordinate an investigation to reduce trauma and have better prosecution success, Pesavento said. Its a one-stop shop, and it makes the process so much more successful by bringing everyone together so that a child only needs to be interviewed one time.

During the 2015-16 fiscal year, Childrens Connection provided support services to 3,593 children and families in Fairield County. Of those, 3,000 children received holiday gifts and necessities through the Childrens Connection Childrens Bank, 500 individuals received education through Stop Child Abuse and Neglect educational programs and 93 children received forensic interviews, specialized medical exams, support and counseling services through the Multidisciplinary Team of Greater Norwalk under the Childrens Connection umbrella.

A big year for Childrens Connection

In addition to its reaccreditation and high praise from the National Childrens Alliance, the Childrens Connection team made significant strides in 2016, changes Pesavento said will have a big impact on the program.

In the past year, the program announced a partnership with the Norwalk Community Health Center to provide child-friendly forensic medical exams to children who have been abused; received a new colposcope device to provide medical examinations of victims at NCHC; obtained enough additional state funding to hire a part-time family liaison and full-time childrens and family therapist to serve victims of sexual abuse, and is renovating the Childrens Connection space to include more private family and childrens counseling rooms.

The work that we do in the greater Norwalk area is only possible because of the strong community partners we have supporting us, said Anthony DiLauro, executive director of the Human Services Council. Thank you to the Norwalk Community Health Center, Dr. Janet Karpiak, States Attorney Rich Colangelo, the Norwalk Exchange Club and the entire MDT team for everything you do. Your dedication, care and advocacy for child victims of abuse is amazing and so very appreciated.

The new partnership with NCHC enables the Childrens Connection multidisciplinary team to provide specialized medical exams at the health center instead of at Norwalk Hospital, which they said makes the service more accessible and comfortable for families and children. The move was made in part as a response to the teams medical provider moving from the hospital to the clinic.

The program also received a much-needed upgrade to the medical instrument used for forensic exams of child victims of sexual abuse. The colposcope device does not make contact with the childs body during the physical exam, but takes highly detailed and magnified photos of the area. Pesavento said the instrument helps child victims of sexual abuse get examined in the least invasive way possible to avoid further trauma and Insure specialized care.

The device has been funded by the Norwalk Exchange Club for more than a decade, but was outdated and in serious need of an upgrade. The Exchange Club agreed to fund the upgrade, which Pesavento said has been an incredible addition to the investigative process.

The quality of the photos far surpasses what we had before, and it can detect even the most minor injuries, Pesavento said. It can also take video, so for some of the younger children who have a hard time holding still, we dont have to hold down children whove already been traumatized. We can take a video and still have really high quality photos.

The Young Womens League of New Canaan is funding a renovation of the Childrens Connection space in Norwalk, allowing the center to add private counseling rooms so that children do not have to receive support services in the same place the investigative interview took place. The renovation will also provide space for the new counselor and other services.

kkrasselt@scni.com; 203-354-1021; @kaitlynkrasselt
After turning to an Ohio native to lead its organization only to have him resign after two years on the job, Bay Future, Inc. may have a long-term answer in homegrown product Trevor Keyes.

The countywide economic development agency announced that Keyes, of Bay City, has been named its interim president and CEO following Januarys departure of Mark Litten.

Keyes, said Bay Future officials, assumes the post with full support of the agencys executive committee and board of directors. It marks the second time Keyes has been appointed to the top post, having served an 18-month stint from July 2013 to December 2014.

We are proud of the things Trevor has done here at Bay Future and are excited for the things he will accomplish in the future, said Mitzi Dimitroff, chair of Bay Futures board of directors. He holds the passion, skills and the knowledge our organization needs to move forward in a positive and impactful way.

Keyes, who has climbed the company ladder since starting at Bay Future in 2011, said he is poised to lead the organization on a permanent basis should he be given the opportunity.

I am throwing my hat in the ring and cant wait to have the opportunity to drive real, positive changes in our community using the network and connections I have established over my six years with the organization and more than 30 years in Bay County, he said.

During Keyes tenure with Bay Future the organization has announced 48 projects totaling more than $820 million in capital investment for Bay County while helping to create or retain 2,000 jobs.

My goal since my hire in 2011 has been, and continues to be, to exponentially grow the number of jobs and investments in our community, he said. We are focused on our three-year strategic action plan and producing results for our investors, for our companies, and for our community.

He added: I thank the board for the faith they have in my abilities to lead and look forward to aggressively affecting lasting, positive and successful economic development growth strategies that will pay dividends for years to come.

Keyes is a member of the Michigan Economic Developers Association, International Economic Development Council, Steering Committee of the Bay Area Energize Young Professionals Network, and serves as an ambassador for the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. He also is a Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance Ambassador and Bay City Noon Rotary member. In addition, Keyes is a 2013 Leadership Bay County graduate, a 2014 graduate of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Institute for Leaders, and last year was named a recipient of 1st State Banks RUBY (Recognizing the Upward, Bright and Young) Award.

Trevor is an accomplished young man who is a tremendous asset to this region, said Paul Wasek, Williams Township supervisor. He clearly is invested in this community and has our regions best interests at heart.

Keyes, a Bay City Central graduate, holds a bachelor of arts degree from Michigan State University. He said he loves the community that has been so good to him.

I give back in every way possible, he said.

Keyes is engaged to be married to his fiancee, Rachel, in September of 2017.
On a typically busy morning at the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke at least twice on Thursday in ways that recognized the values of other religious outlooks while he promoted the faithful practice of Catholicism.

The subject of Francis's homily at the daily Mass was hypocrisy. He criticized the "scandal" of "saying one thing and doing another."

Many of these hypocrites, Francis implied, according to the Vatican's text of his homily, are Catholics who act rigorously in their ritual observance but don't apply the religion's values to their lives. "A totally double life: 'I am very Catholic, I always go to Mass, I belong to this association and that one; but my life is not Christian, I don't pay my workers a just wage, I exploit people, I am dirty in my business, I launder money . . .' A double life. And so many Christians are like this, and these people scandalize others."

He then quoted a sentiment that he said he has heard expressed repeatedly: "But to be a Catholic like that, it's better to be an atheist."

Andrew Medichini/Associated Press

Francis has surprised Catholics before with his warmth toward atheists. He remarked soon after becoming pope that even atheists can go to heaven thanks to the redemption of Jesus. He granted an interview to an atheist journalist, and told the reporter that efforts to convert people to Christianity are "solemn nonsense" and each person "must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them."

He has also been friendly toward Jews, particularly through his longtime friend, Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka. On Thursday, Skorka led a group of rabbis to the Vatican, where they gave Francis a new edition of the Torah.

Looking at the text of the five books of Moses, the most holy books for Jews as well as a key part of the Christian Old Testament, Francis called the Torah "the Lord's gift, his revelation, his word," according to the Vatican's text of his remarks.

He said that the Torah "manifests the paternal and visceral love of God, a love shown in words and concrete gestures, a love that becomes covenant."

The Vatican has been open about trying to move beyond its anti-Semitic past for many years; Pope John Paul II spoke in a synagogue, visited concentration camps and officially apologized for the church's lack of action during the Holocaust. On Thursday, Francis described dialogue between Christians and Jews today as "ongoing and collaborative."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

NORWALK  A 25-year-old Norwalk man was arrested Friday morning for his alleged role in a series of convenience store robberies last month.

Anthony Thompkins, of Sheridan Street, was arrested on warrants at state Superior Court in Norwalk and charged with three counts each of first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery along with larceny charges. His bond was set at $75,000.

We are expecting to make more arrests, Norwalk police Lt. Thomas Mattera, commander of the departments Detective Bureau, said. The investigation into the robberies in continuing.

Thompkins is a suspect in the January armed robberies of Shorehaven Mobil, J & M Grocery, and Rainbow News and Variety.

Thompkins is currently being held on $100,000 bond on prior charges of stealing a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, weapons in a motor vehicle, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance.

Police had released surveillance photos of two armed men who were wearing ski masks and who entered the Shorehaven Mobil/Dunkin Donuts at 219 East Ave. around 11:50 p.m. on Jan. 6.

Both men displayed and pointed what appeared to be semiautomatic pistols at the employees and ordered them to the ground during the robbery, police said.

One suspect was wearing a blue hooded jacket carrying a black bag and the other suspect was wearing a black hooded jacket carrying a pink bag. Their faces were partially covered.

On Jan. 11, J&M Brothers Grocery at 9 Bouton St. in South Norwalk was robbed around 9:45 p.m. The clerk said two men wearing ski masks and dark clothing displayed handguns. They fled after receiving cash.

On Jan. 14, two men entered the Rainbow News & Variety at 205 Main Ave. Both were armed and at least one of them had a Spanish accent, police said. Both were wearing hooded sweatshirts, one with a Cookie Monster logo, as well as masks and gloves.

One was armed with a large silver colored revolver and the other appeared to be a black semi-automatic pistol. Both suspects pointed their guns at the owner and demanded he open the registers for the business and the lottery or they would shoot him. The suspects then ran off.

Shortly before its midnight closing on Jan. 17, two males wearing ski masks and armed with handguns entered the Cumberland Farms at 136 Main St. and pistol-whipped a clerk before running off with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

The clerk, who suffered non-life threatening head injuries in the attack, was transported to Norwalk Hospital.

Current charges for Thompkins do not include the Cumberland Farms robbery.

Thompkins has a criminal conviction history dating back to 2011, which includes a two-year jail sentence in 2015 on violation of probation stemming from a burglary conviction out of Stamford.

Mattera said that the investigating officers in the case were Detectives John Sura, Daniel Fitzmaurice, and John Taranto.

llake@hearstmediact.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

State District Judge Michael McSpadden - who handled the case of teacher Alexandria Vera and her relationship with a 13-year-old student - sent a letter this week to area school superintendents urging them to install safeguards recommended by an expert in court.

McSpadden, who sentenced Vera to 10 years in prison after hearing from experts on teacher-student relationships, sent the letter to the superintendent in the Aldine ISD, where Vera had worked, and other superintendents in the Houston area, including HISD.

The letter included a four-page transcript from the court hearing outlining several suggestions from a psychologist.

"There has been a dramatic increase in these teacher/student cases in Texas in the past few years," McSpadden wrote. "If you haven't already installed safeguards to protect our children and our teachers, we hope you consider these options."

The suggestions, from Dr. Karen A. Lawson, include continuing education for teachers on boundaries, guarding cell phone numbers to prevent any socializing and avoiding one-on-one meetings with students. Lawson gave her opinions after the judge asked her questions during Vera's sentencing.

Read a transcript of the court proceedings. Story continues below.

"Teachers have told me the students have taken their cell phones off their desk in order to get their cell phone number," Lawson testified. "It needs to be guarded like money in Fort Knox."

She said students tend to idolize their teachers and teachers can enjoy the attention.

"The youngsters, they look up to their teacher. They love to be around them," she said. "If they can, in fact, get more contact with their teachers, they love that."

That adoration leads students to tell their teachers about their problems, instead of telling someone more appropriate, such as a school counselor. In turn, the teachers can grow to like the attention.

In Vera's case, she became deeply involved in other students' lives and relationships, including letting two eighth graders have sex at her home, prosecutors said in court. She was a teacher in the Aldine Independent School District.

"Those are the factors that are insidious and start to happen with people, where there is a predisposition of wanting to be looked up to and engaging in that more," said Lawson, who is a licensed psychologist and a licensed sex offender treatment provider.

At Vera's sentencing earlier this year, McSpadden said he does not believe Vera is a danger to other children, specifically not a classic pedophile, but that he needed to send a message to the community.

The former teacher was facing the possibility of life in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child.

The sentencing was complicated because the boy's family knew about the relationship and approved, the judge said. Vera pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child, with a possible punishment capped at 30 years. She was also eligible for probation, which her lawyer argued was appropriate.

Vera had faced a punishment range of 25 years to life in prison if convicted of continuous sexual assault of a child, a felony with a heightened punishment, even for first offenders.

Before the hearing, McSpadden read a pre-sentence investigation prepared by court officials and several letters from supporters, including the victim's mother.

Vera was arrested after officials with Child Protective Services were notified about a possible sexual relationship and found out during their investigation that Vera had gotten pregnant and had an abortion.

Vera and the underage student apparently met when he was a student of hers in summer school at Stovall Middle School in Aldine ISD, according to court records. She aborted their child after the relationship was found out.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A fourth person accused in the death of 23-year-old Martin Chubbs Gonzales, whose body was found wrapped up in a trunk on Feb. 7, allegedly gave the order to shoot him, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Universal City polices Detective Sgt. Tina Vitacco confirmed that Bryan Miller, 34, was apprehended Thursday after a widespread search for him in the area.

Miller joins Garick Clayton, 31; Meagan Ashley Cantu, 30; and Ashton Lucas Lomas, 23, who were all arrested on capital murder charges for their alleged roles in Gonzales death, according to previous reports.

RELATED: Affidavits show how group allegedly planned attack on S.A. man whose body was later found in trunk

Lomas told police Miller was with him and Clayton when Gonzales was brought to a residence in the 10000 block of Ware Seguin Road.

During an interview with police, Miller said he did not know Gonzales, but knew they were planning to rob him.

Lomas said he and the other male suspects beat Gonzales and stole his watch, a gold chain, two guns, $40 and a little bit of marijuana, investigators said in the affidavit.

RELATED: Police say man revealed chilling details in killing of S.A. father, whose body was found in trunk

Cantu had given Gonzales the watch in exchange for money she owed him, but was mad because he refused to give it back, according to police.

After robbing Gonzales, Lomas said he was given the order by Miller to shoot him, according to court records.

RELATED: Body found in trunk in Universal City identified as 23-year-old father

Having shot Gonzales to death with a revolver, Lomas said Miller told him to get rid of the body and the vehicle, according to the affidavit.

The vehicle containing Gonzales body was taken to a parking lot in the 500 block of Duke Way in Universal City where it was later discovered, according to police

If convicted, the suspects face life in prison or the death penalty, according to the Texas Penal Code.

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerwhite

jbeltran@express-news.net

Twitter: @JBfromSA
Texas legislators on Thursday opened the first discussion on bills that would crackdown on improper relationships between students and teachers after multiple reports showing a rise in investigations across the state.

This is not just simply an urban versus rural issue, said Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, author of Senate Bill 7, one of several bills that seeks to address the growing problem. This is an everybody has a problem issue.

Bettencourts bill would attempt to stop passing the trash, as he put it, by revoking the certificate of any administrator found to have helped a person who was engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor find another job in education. It also would impose criminal penalties on superintendents or principals if they knowingly fail to report improper relationships, would give the Texas Education Agency subpoena authority to compel witnesses to testify, and would automatically revoke a teachers license if the educator commits any offense that requires him or her to register as sex offenders.

State records show the number of educators accused of having sex or inappropriate relationships with students has increased by 42 percent over the last five years. Since the 2011-12 fiscal year, the Texas Education Agency has opened 908 cases of alleged improper relationships between an educator and a student or minor. The TEA opened 222 investigations in the 2015-16 fiscal year, up from 156 investigations in 2011-12, according to TEA spokeswoman Lauren Callahan.

Through the end of January, the TEA has opened 97 new cases in the fiscal year that began last Sept. 1.

In the San Antonio area, 63 educators lost their teaching certificate after investigations were opened for alleged involvement with a student over a six-year period; only 24 were charged with a crime.

The bill says that a superintendent or director must file a report to the State Board for Educator Certification within seven days of learning or after they should have known about the incident, even if the educator resigns during an investigation. If the report is made late, superintendents or principals would face a Class A misdemeanor. If the principal or superintendent is found to have intentionally conceal an educators criminal record or alleged incident of misconduct, it would be a state jail felony.

The wording of Bettencourts bill, however, sparked discussion among lawmakers at Thursdays hearing since SB 7 says the bill would punish superintendents who knew or should have known about a teachers criminal record.

Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, said terms are not specific enough and he wants to have a clearer definition of what principals and superintendents need to report to the TEA. West was concerned that administrators who accidentally filed late could face harsh penalties. The definition of should have known also raised concerns. The bill was left pending in committee; more discussion will be scheduled.

Teachers who assault children should lose their license, and they should go to jail, Gov. Greg Abbott said in his State of the State address. I want legislation that puts real consequences for those teachers, and we must also penalize the administrators who turn a blind eye to such abuse and pass these teachers along to other schools.

Another bill tackling the problem, SB 653, authored by Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano, would create a registry of people who are barred from employment in an educational facility. The bill also would prohibit any school employee, not just teachers and administrators, from working in a school if they are found to have been in an improper relationship with a student.

We have to cast a wider net, Taylor said. This is a big problem; this is a broken system.

Kate Kuhlmann, a lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators, said many would-be teachers have little instruction in how to maintain proper student relationships during training. Taylors bill would call for more training in that area.

Knowing that this makes up a very small portion of all teachers, one is certainly too many, Kuhlmann said.

Austin Bureau Staff Writer Andrea Zelinski contributed to this report.

elutz@express-news.net

@elenamejialutz
Courtesy of the City of Seguin.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A man who police said was fatally shot by his girlfriend during a Monday night argument on the Southeast Side has been identified by the Bexar County Medical Examiner.

Ryan Matthew Perez, 30, was pronounced dead at 8:41 p.m. at San Antonio Military Medical Center, according to authorities.

San Antonio Police Department investigators said he had been shot at about 6:30 p.m. at an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Southeast Military Drive.

Shortly after his death, officers arrested Jamie Lynn McCord, 28. She was charged with murder and possession of a controlled substance. Her bail totaled $160,00.

Detectives noted in a police report that McCords recollection of the events kept changing.

She initially told them they were checking a gun they had painted earlier when it went off, striking Perez in the chest, police said.

McCord and Perez then drove to Mission Trail Baptist Hospital. There, hospital staff called police because of the injury, and Perez was sent to SAMMC to undergo surgery, police said.

As police were investigating the apartment where the shooting occurred, a witness told police Perez and McCord could be heard arguing.

At one point, Perez could be heard saying just do it, followed by the sound of a gunshot, investigators said.

Authorities said McCord was still in jail as of Thursday afternoon.

jbeltran@express-news.net
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Bradley AHearn II, 22, cried as his mother testified about her inability to control him, taking the stand in an unsuccessful attempt to convince a judge to release him on bond to her custody or to a halfway house.

After hearing testimony from federal agents who believe AHearn robbed and shot a mail carrier Feb. 11 and then shot at law officers in two wild car chases in the days that followed, U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth S. Betsy Chestney denied bail.

Federal agents at the hearing painted the most detailed picture yet of the running gunbattles Feb. 13 and 14, describing how stray bullets hit passing cars and a restaurant TV.

The U.S. Postal Service mail carrier was shot in the legs in the Comal County community of Spring Branch on Feb. 11 during a robbery and carjacking.

On Feb. 13 at about 9:15 a.m., a postal inspector in an unmarked police vehicle saw a Toyota Venza similar to one that had been involved in the Spring Branch robbery, and chased it as it sped the wrong way in the northbound lanes of U.S. 281, according to testimony.

The Venzas male driver fired at his pursuer and other officers who joined the chase, which went on for 10 to 15 miles, and officers shot back  with more than 15 shots fired. Two civilian vehicles were hit, one in the roof and the other in a tire, and the chase was called off because it was becoming unsafe for the public, postal inspector Robert Strande testified.

The hearing revealed other new details about AHearns four days on the run with first one and then two alleged accomplices, including that the gun believed to have been used in all the shootings was given to a man known as Hot Wheels Mike a day after the three suspects slipped out of North Star Mall a step ahead of police.

Read the full story at ExpressNews.com or in Fridays Express-News.

gcontreras@express-news.net
SAN ANTONIO  A man was shot multiple times Friday morning in a business parking lot on the West Side, according to police.

A witness said the victim got into an altercation with a suspect inside the location at about 3:12 a.m. Friday in the 2400 block of Zarzamora Street.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

As passionate crowds across the country are heading to town halls to speak with their representatives, some South Texas lawmakers have no events in the works, while others are conducting sessions by telephone, mySA.com found.

In South Texas, two congressmen are hosting in-person town halls, two are conducting telephone-town-halls, three do not have any scheduled for the near future and one did not return requests for information made by mySA.com.

RELATED: Constituents host 'Texas Town Hall without Ted Cruz'

Texas' U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz do not currently have town halls scheduled, according to their websites. Both made visits to Texas earlier this week to visit the border and meet with constituents.

A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, said the congressman would not be hosting a town hall "this week." When asked if Smith plans to host any town hall events in March, April or May, his spokesperson did not respond.

RELATED: President Trump's approval ratings grow in Texas

A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, said the congressman typically holds a town hall in August, but due to recent requests, his office is looking into the possibility of having one sooner.

The officer of U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, said the congressman did not know if he would have time to host a town hall, but that he did make a visit to his district this past week and met with constituents then.

As the GOP plans an Obamacare repeal, Republican lawmakers have been hit with angry crowds at town halls worried about the state of their healthcare, and other issues. President Trump has also called the audiences "paid protesters," which some Texas lawmakers have used as a partial reason why they are foregoing hosting an event.

RELATED: Joaquin Castro-filed resolution could lead to Trump impeachment: 'No president is above the law'

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, said Tuesday he wouldn't be hosting a town hall due to the angry crowds.

"Unfortunately, at this time there are groups from the more violent strains of the leftist ideology, some even being paid, who are preying on public town halls to wreak havoc and threaten public safety. Threats are nothing new to me and I have gotten my share as a felony judge," he said in letter to his constituents.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5
Much to the surprise of some students and parents, the decriminalization of truancy does not include a free pass to skip class.

While truants no longer face criminal charges, they are being held accountable for chronic absenteeism.

Three unexcused absences prompt administrative intervention measures on local school campuses. After 10 unexcused absences, students and their parents are summoned before a judge for mediation.

After each round of summonses, there are calls from parents and students who thought decriminalization meant there would be no court appearances, said Irene Gamble, Judson ISD attendance coordinator.

Changes in state truancy laws allow for the filing of a criminal case against the parent and a civil case against the student only as a last resort. Before then, multiple attempts at intervention are made at the campus level and even during home visits, Gamble said.

On Wednesday, 75 cases were on the mediation docket at the Eastside Education Training Center.

With just over three months left until the end of the school year, Municipal Court Administrative Judge John Bull, who presided over the docket, warned students they will have to hustle if they want to graduate or get promoted to the next grade.

In the 2014-15 school year  before the law changed  there were 37,284 criminal truancy cases filed in Bexar County. That number is now down to 44 for the 2015-16 school year, according to court officials.

Last school year, 4,600 truancy cases were adjudicated through campus-based contracts, pre-court diversion and mediation. The number of cases on the meditation docket remains in the thousands this year.

The problems that students on the mediation docket are facing are complex and usually dont have anything to do with academics, Bull said.

There is the sophomore who has impregnated three girls, the teenage girl who escaped her home because she was being sexually abused by her biological father, and the mother who withdrew her daughter from school because the mother was embarrassed by the daughters pregnancy.

There are no quick fixes. Many of the cases require intervention that extends far beyond the classroom, and the court is working on that.

The city of San Antonio has 19 case managers to work with truants and their families to get them back on track and to assist with referrals to the social services they might need. But it is not enough.

Bull is asking the state for $2 million in grant funding to hire 20 more case managers. While some schools do well sharing a case manager, some problem schools require multiple case managers, Bull said.

Attendance is a big factor in the states new public school A-to-F grading system. It is forcing schools to come up with innovative ways to reduce truancy. This year, school districts started holding forums to meet with parents of students with attendance problems to explain the truancy regulations and what must be done to keep their students on track.

Judson ISD began holding forums in the fall and has done very well with them, Bull said. Unfortunately, some schools waited until now, with only a few months left until the end of school year, to begin forums. Still, there is optimism some students can be steered back on course.

On March 4, municipal court officials are hosting what Bull is referring to as an intervention at Lanier High School, which is deep in the heart of one of the truancy-prone areas in Bexar County. Court records show Lanier and the schools that feed into it have more than 2,000 meditations pending.

The municipal court judge plans to have all case managers on-site, along with representatives from dozens of nonprofit social service agencies.

The goal is to triage as many cases as possible.

Its a lifeline that the seriously at-risk students in the Lanier community must embrace if they want to complete their education.

Gloria Padilla may be reached at 210-250-3166 or gpadilla@express-news.net
Well, I preach the Church without Christ, says a vivid Flannery OConnor character named Hazel Motes. Im member and preacher to that church where the blind dont see and the lame dont walk and whats dead stays that way.

At the heart of Donald Trumps public rhetoric is a similar emptiness. He is a president who preaches America without exceptionalism. He is the leader of the free world who seldom mentions freedom. He belongs to a political faith in which Americas political miracle is only for us, and dissidents and democratic activists are on their own, and those who are oppressed stay that way.

Trumps inaugural address was intended to signal the end of exceptionalism, at least in its international expression. In the speech, the American way of life is depicted as one among many  a homegrown product that is not for export. Two academics (perhaps with too much time on their hands) have calculated the frequency with which Trump uses freedom and liberty in speeches. Both words appear far less often than in other recent presidencies.

Trumps rhetorical rejection of internationalism is an aberration from Americas bipartisan, post-World War II foreign policy consensus. It is also a culmination of recent trends.

During the Barack Obama years, America retreated from internationalism in practice. At first, this may have been a reaction against George W. Bushs foreign policy. But Obamas tendency became a habit, and the habit hardened into a conviction. He put consistent emphasis on the risks of action and the limits of American power. In the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, following the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, as Russian influence returned to the Middle East, America inaction was taken as accommodation.

This geostrategic retreat is consistent with a broader political trend. Summarizing recent survey data, researchers Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk conclude: Citizens in a number of supposedly consolidated democracies in North America and Western Europe have not only grown more critical of their political leaders. Rather, they have also become more cynical about the value of democracy as a political system, less hopeful that anything they do might influence public policy, and more willing to express support for authoritarian alternatives.

This is a sobering development  the deconsolidation of support for liberal democracy itself. Trumps version of strongman democracy and his abandonment of the language of liberal democracy are only imaginable in this environment.

This shift has outward-facing consequences. Dissidents and democratic activists are not going to give up because America loses its ideological nerve. But regimes tempted to crack down on them have greater confidence in impunity. America is now less likely to criticize their way of life, even when these regimes evangelize with the gallows.

A nation that ceases to speak for human rights may become less confident in civil rights. This type of relativism  this neutrality between freedom and authoritarianism  is easily imported across the border.

But we are not there yet. And the Trump administration itself is divided on these matters. Stephen Bannon certainly has the presidents ear and control of the speechwriting shop  which is strategic high ground. But the Defense and State Departments are headed by committed internationalists who understand that the growth of freedom and the spread of prosperity are essential to long-term global stability and American security.

In assuming this calling of leadership, it is not ethnicity that grips the American imagination and justifies sacrifice; it is the animating ideals of the country. And it is a national advantage that our deepest beliefs are in accord with the durable hopes of humanity.

We will not find security, only darkness, by dousing Americas sacred fire.

michaelgerson@washpost.com
Why would Mike Flynn discuss sanctions with the Russians if he knew there was an ongoing investigation by the CIA, FBI, etc?

Assuming he knew, how could he not recall his now-disclosed discussions?

Jorge de la Garza

Those other lies

Re: Trumps lies will flow until backers feel their impact, Richard Cherwitz, Other Views, Feb. 6:

Professor Cherwitz expressed outrage about President Donald Trumps continued lying about the size of the inauguration crowd.

I wonder where his outrage was for the last eight years when President Barack Obama spun his whoppers. Remember shovel-ready jobs, you can keep your plan, you can keep your doctor, premiums will go down, the red line for chemical weapons in Syria? Maybe it is his evil twin setting the red line.

Was Professor Cherwitz sleeping the year and a half Secretary Hillary Clinton continually lied, often changing her story, about receiving and sending classified information on an unsecure system? Who thinks the secretary of state can conduct our countrys highest diplomacy on an unsecured system?

Did Professor Cherwitz not observe the sleaze in the Democratic campaign when the DNC chairwoman was forced to resign because she favored Clinton in the primary process and her replacement was fired from CNN for giving debate questions to the Clinton campaign?

I did not vote for Trump or Clinton; clarity is the only dog I have in the fight.

Ed Pickrel, Universal City

Read my hands

Re: Trumps signals, Your Turn, Monday:

I thank the letter writer for this astute definition of Donald Trumps hand signals. I cut out the letter and will keep it handy. Since I always hit the Trump/mute button when El Trumpo is speaking and see only the moving, flailing hands, I will now have a pretty good idea of the size of the lie. Takes the guesswork out of my viewing experience.

Rachel V. Diaz-Kennon

Alamo experience

Before I take anyone to the Alamo, I highly recommend they see the movie The Price of Freedom, which plays next door to the Alamo at Rivercenter mall.

The movie gives a wonderful perspective of the Alamo experience.

Ellen Ott
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SACRAMENTO  Concerned about threats by the Trump administration to weaken environmental and whistle-blower protection laws, California lawmakers introduced three bills Thursday to try to keep federal standards as they are  at least in this state.

Senate Democrats unveiled the bills a week after Scott Pruitt  a climate change skeptic  was sworn in to run the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

While Californias policies on the environment typically go beyond what federal regulations require, state lawmakers said there are areas in which California policies rely on the federal groundwork.

For example, the state uses the federal Endangered Species Act to protect orcas, humpback whales, California red-legged frogs and certain other endangered or threatened animals. California also uses federal standards to measure the amount of lead in drinking water.

Under SB49, the state would adopt those currently strong federal regulations as state law. Another bill, SB50, would make it difficult for the Trump administration to sell or transfer any of the nearly 46 million acres of federal lands within California to private developers. A third, SB51, would extend whistle-blower protections.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, said the bills would help protect California from Trumps alarming words and actions. Californias Legislature, led by a Democratic supermajority, has positioned itself at the front of the Trump resistance, particularly on threats to the states immigration and climate-change policies.

He denies climate change, de Leon said Thursday at a news conference in the park outside the state Capitol. He wants to dismantle core environmental protections, weaken the EPA and fast-track new fossil-fuel developments on public lands. Congress is racing to roll back landmark protections like the Endangered Species Act. ... We arent going to let this administration or any other undermine our progress.

Republicans were not uniformly opposed to the effort. Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine (San Diego County), said he supports SB50 and believes other Republicans would be eager to vote for it because its about states rights. He said he may even ask to be a co-author.

I dont think the federal government should hold all this land, he said, and states should have first dibs.

But he said the other two bills follow this years theme in the Legislature of picking a fight with Trump.

And we're going to lose, Anderson said. Our state cant go it alone.

Here are details from the three bills introduced Thursday:

 SB49, by de Leon and Sen. Henry Stern, D-Canoga Park (Los Angeles County), would make current federal air, climate, water, worker safety and endangered species standards part of state law.

 SB50 by Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, would give the State Lands Commission the right of first refusal if any federal lands in the state are proposed for sale or transfer. Allen said the bill would prohibit county recorders from recording a deed of transfer unless the State Lands Commission verified that the state was first offered the land or allowed to find its own buyer.

I know people in this state care a great deal about the preservation and protection of public lands, Allen said.

 SB51 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, would extend whistle-blower protections to federal lawyers, engineers and scientists who are working in California. The bill would also direct state environmental and public health agencies to preserve information or data, even if federal authorities order it to be censored or destroyed.

It is shocking to me that we need to pass legislation to protect science, Jackson said. Science is there to provide us with facts and realities from which we make policies, not the other way around.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
GrayStreet Partners has sold the Olmos Park Village shopping center on the near North Side to a partnership from Austin, property records show.

Olmos Park Village Shopping Center LP, which is led by executives from Austin-based Ironwood Real Estate bought the shopping center last week, property records show. GrayStreet bought the center, at the corner of McCullough and Hildebrand avenues, in 2013 and recruited local chef Andrew Weissman to open Moshes Golden Falafel there two years later.
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....
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has expressed his shock over the judgement issued on Thursday by a High Court judgement declaring the contract between Wicknell Chivayos Intratrek Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Power Company valid.

There is a person who was given a contract to come and erect a solar plant here in Matabeleland South. The person came and erected some shacks and left. I was shocked to read in the papers that the same person has won a court case. I dont understand how our courts work to permit the granting of an order of $25 million in favour of a person who received $5 million advance payment and did nothing.

The High Court declared the contract signed between the parties for the Gwanda solar project valid.

ZPC was ordered to engage Intratrek and discuss progress on the Gwanda solar project in the next 60 days or alternatively pay $25 million damages to Intratrek.

Chivayo had been hauled before a magistrate to answer charges of fraud on the way he handled the 100 megawatt (MW) Gwanda Solar Project contracted by ZPC.

The States case was that Chivayo received $5 million advance payment for the project from ZPC without a bank guarantee, but ZPC stated on court record that they were not a complainant in the matter.

Chivayo and Intratrek then turned the heat on ZPC and told the court that the power utility was in fact, in breach of contract by wantonly causing delays and impediments to the implementation of the solar project.

But in an opposing affidavit to Intratreks High Court application, ZPC denied causing Chivayos arrest, technically meaning there was no complainant in the Gwanda Solar Project case.

In his judgment, Justice Tawanda Chitapi said ZPC had acted unlawfully and in bad faith, possibly under external influence from parties who were not part of the contract.

 Bulawayo24
MONTPELIER, Vt.  Vermont and Florida join a growing number of states considering implementation of a higher tobacco buying age. Vermont lawmakers have debated the issue many times prior to this year, but advocates think they have the momentum to pass such a bill this year, WCAX.com reports.

Vermont Sen. Alison Clarkson, who sponsored the proposal, said, The big thing for me is to not establish patterns. The later we can get people starting to smoke, the less likely they will be addicted to it. Her bill would raise the smoking age on July 1.

Farther along the East Coast, Florida is also considering the legal age for tobacco to be 21, WTLV-TV reports. A state senator has introduced a bill that would increase the tobacco buying age from 18 to 21.

Currently, only California and Hawaii have statewide restrictions on being 21 to buy tobacco, although around 200 other localities have also raised the minimum tobacco purchase age above 18. Already this year, Arizona and Oregon are considering similar bills, and this month, Nebraska and Connecticut had proposals introduced in their legislatures. For more, read Must Be 21 to Buy in NACS Magazine.
Dear readers,

We promised more meetups, and now that Trump madness is settling down to a dull roar, it appears to be the time to start scheduling them.

So you humble blogger is coming to Chicago on Friday March 24, arriving early PM. A Chicago buddy has recommended a hotel in the Loop, so Id welcome venue recommendations near there. Weve gotten 30+ people in Washington and Dallas, so Id assume 20-35 for Chicago. So we need a spot where a group that large could mix reasonably well.

I prefer starting early, 5:00 PM, so as to spread the crowd out and also give the bar/restaurant more patrons at pre-peak hours.

So I hope to see you Windy City residents soon, and do please pipe up with suggestions in comments.
Jerri-Lynn here: The appointment of Scott Pruitt, former Oklahoma attorney general, as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has elicited much sturm und drang, due to his longstanding close collaboration with fossil fuel interests to thwart policies to address climate change. In fact, just an hour ago, I crossposted a piece from DeSmogBlog tracing such close connections.

Yet while its no doubt true that Pruitt and other Trump appointees are poised to gut the EPA, this timely Real News Network interview reminds us that to date, the agency and other federal and state regulators have far from a sterling record in dealing with toxic chemicals and other hazardous wastes, in water supplies and elsewhere. The interview focuses on an underreported issue, the failure of these regulators to keep waste water out of the backyards of rural America. Catherine Coleman Flowers, the founder of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise (ACRE) and subject of the interview, claims that the failure to protect citizens from this and similar hazards is not just confined to Alabama, but extends throughout the country. The common factor linking what she describes as sacrificed communities that are exposed to waste water, or to other hazards in their water supply, is that they are overwhelmingly poor.

Raw sewage, tropical parasites: is it still surprising that many of the the rural poor are outraged?

KIM BROWN: Welcome to The Real News Network in Baltimore. Im Kim Brown.

Climate change denier Scott Pruitt is now at the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency with many speculating that he and President Trump are poised to gut federal environmental protection regulations for clean air and clean water. But what about those across the country who are already living with the health hazards of toxic chemicals and waste in their own backyards?

With us to discuss this very under-reported issue affecting rural America is Catherine Coleman Flowers. She is a native of Lowndes County, Alabama. Shes also the founder of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise, otherwise known as ACRE, and she works for the Equal Justice Initiative. Her focus is rural poverty. Recently she was a featured speaker at the Climate and Health Meeting presented by former Vice President Al Gores organization, the Climate Reality Project in partnership with the American Public Health Association and the Harvard Global Health Institute.

Catherine, thank you so much for joining us here on The Real News.

CATHERINE FLOWERS: Thank you for inviting me.

KIM BROWN: Your group, ACRE, is in Lowndes County, Alabama, which is one of the poorest areas in the nation, but is also an historic region because its located between Selma and Montgomery, 47 of the 54 miles of historic 1965 voting rights march led by Dr. Martin Luther King runs through Lowndes County.

Right now, lets take a look at a video clip of what residents have had to deal with now for decades.

WOMAN: Its really the waste that comes out of the septic tank. Thats what it is. Its like the raw sewage that comes out of your body. Its the odor, its the smell, its the raw sewage that comes out of a persons body. Thats what it is. Theres no other way to explain it. Thats what it is.

MAN: And that is all over your yard.

WOMAN: Yes.

WOMAN: This is an area close to the lagoons and the resident says when the red light goes off at the lagoon, look for her yard to fill up with raw sewage the next day. And she said out of all the years that she has lived here, which is, like, 28 years, her children or her grandchildren has never been able to play in the yard during spring break because its always wet or flooded out with raw sewage.

KIM BROWN: You know, that clip was published on May 20th, 2016. Have the conditions changed since them with residents complaining of raw sewage filling up their yards when it rains?

CATHERINE FLOWERS: No, it hasnt changed. That particular clip dealt with the community that has waste water treatment and theres a lagoon there, and whenever it rains with these deluges that were getting now that climate change is more common, it overflows, and it overflows into their yards. Actually, there is a street that runs in the area where that lagoon is located, and there are houses on both sides of the street, and the home that was featured, the homeowner that was talking, lives across on the other side of the street, the opposite side of the street where the lagoon is. But we also have issues where people cannot afford waste water sanitation and in rural communities they generally require onsite waste water sanitation or septic tanks, and because of our soil conditions, the high-water tables, the soil holds water, and, as a result, the systems that people are required to have are very expensive, and in some cases more expensive than the income that that family may have coming into that household for one year. So, as a result, there are people that, when they flush their toilets, the raw sewage is just running out onto the ground, usually in their backyards, sometimes front yards, sometimes next door.

So we have found that its a major problem. Those people that have septic systems that can afford them, because of the ground holds water, again with these frequent rain storms that we have or more volume of rain coming down, it usually forces the sewage for those that have a septic system back into the houses, and it can come in through the bathtub, come in through the sink, so those are the kinds of issues that theyre experiencing. And its symbolic because its Lowndes County, because of its location, because every sitting president has  living president  has come through there going to Selma, but as we memorialize the history and what happened in Selma, raw sewage is still on the ground, and its been there for centuries. Unlike Flint, where there was failed infrastructure, mostly what were dealing with is no infrastructure and no public investment in dealing with that or taking care of that problem.

KIM BROWN: Catherine, talk about how these rural residents got caught in between the cracks, and how and why government agencies such as the EPA didnt deal with this decades-long issue?

CATHERINE FLOWERS: Thats a good question. I think that primarily its because rural communities across this country have been ignored. You know, when youre in a major media market, then it doesnt get reported. And, you know, we know about Flint probably because Flint was a major city, but if Flint had been in Lowndes County or in any other rural community across this country, I doubt if we wouldve known about this.

So that is the reason why I think the government did not take an effort, and its not just the EPA, its also the USDA because rural communities, these kinds of problems, should be funded by USDA funds and I was told more than ten years ago that the USDA in Alabama was sending money back to Washington. So, the federal agencies had not made this a priority. Lately, because of our testimony before the Inner American Commission on Human Rights, theres been a human rights violation.

The EPAs Environmental Justice Office has been working with us to try to solve this problem, but now Im starting to lose hope because if there is a move to eliminate the EPA then were going to continue to have these kinds of what has been termed as third world conditions right here in the United States. And thats a very real concern of ours because with the recent study, we did in partnership with Baylors National School of Tropical Medicine, the study has been has not been published yet, but will be published soon, we have found evidence of tropical parasites in Lowndes County, and thats the perfect marriage of climate change and environmental injustice as I call it where this problem has been ignored to benign(?) neglect for years, over a hundred years, and now were starting to see things that we shouldnt see in the richest nation in the world.

KIM BROWN: What has been the cost to human health? What has that been from this toxic exposure to residents? I mean, as we saw in the clip, there were three generations, the grandmother, children, grandchildren, and the woman was saying that her children and grandchildren have never been able to play in her yard during spring break because of the amount of raw sewage. So what types of health problems have residents been complaining about as a result?

CATHERINE FLOWERS: Well, a lot of people have asthma, even in that household. She joked that theres probably an asthma pot(?) in every room in her house. There are a lot of illnesses that people have had that they dont understand the cause of them, primarily because the doctors in this country dont look for tropical illnesses, because its not expected to exist in the United States.

KIM BROWN: Catherine, when you say tropical illnesses, what illnesses are you speaking of specifically?

CATHERINE FLOWERS: Well, hookworm was supposed to be wiped out in the first half of the last century. That was actually the Rockefeller Foundation was established it evolved from the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission which was put in place to eliminate hookworm, because at that time there was no public health institutions in the South and it gave rise to public health in the South, and a lot of people were treated for hookworm because it was the whole image of the slow Southerner. A lot of that was because of hookworm that caused anemia, and it also could limit the growth of children, and has impact on cognitive development, as well.

So thats one of the illnesses that you generally dont find here, but youre finding anywhere else in the country I mean, anywhere else in the world, where you find poverty. And thats what we have in common.

There were other illnesses, as well, all of them Im not going to reveal, but there were at least five other tropical parasites that you generally find in tropical areas, where theyre very common there, because they have raw sewage on the ground. But here, thats not generally the case.

So the health problems that people see that are quite common I think were at the tip of the iceberg in terms of this trying to determine whether or not these illnesses are connected to raw sewage being on the ground. And were going to, after the study is released, were going to call for additional study, because Im sure that some of the thing that doctors havent been able to figure out may see a link there with the raw sewage being on the ground.

KIM BROWN: How widespread is this issue both across Alabama and also across rural America at large?

CATHERINE FLOWERS: Thats a good question. Across rural America I think its more apparent, more its happening more than people realize. I addressed the National Onsite Waste Water Recyclers Association, a conference, back in October, and it was clear people would say that its in all 50 states. There was another conference that I addressed and there were people there representing 12 different states, and one was Alaska, and the person from Alaska said they have the same problem there because of permafrost. There was an attorney there from Illinois who said that its outside of Chicago.

It used to be when I would do I would take young people there that were interested in environmental issues and I would ask the question: have any of you ever seen this before? More and more people are raising their hands. So this is a problem thats quite common in rural communities across the United States, because theres been a lack of investment in infrastructure to deal with this, and the assumption is that this particular type of infrastructure has already been addressed, and it has not been addressed.

KIM BROWN: So, is this toxic exposure that affects a greater number of those who are low income and in community of color, in your opinion, Catherine, is this a form of environmental racism and classism?

CATHERINE FLOWERS: Oh, definitely, a form of environmental racism, and also I think a form of environmental classism because the inequalities that this represents, the one common denominator if its not race, its poverty. So poor communities, even poor people in Lowndes County, poor white people in Lowndes County, in poor communities, poor indigenous people in parts of California that Ive met and people that are in Arizona that have the same problem, the one commonality is the fact that theyre low income. And thats a very, very I think thats the common denominator that we see in all of this whether its in a black community or a white community, indigenous community, or it could be a Latino community, is the fact that theyre all poor.

KIM BROWN: Recently, weve seen Congress kill protections from dumping coal waste into rivers and streams, so what do you think about the possible gutting of clean air and clean water protections, and the kinds of fallout that we could see from those gutting of regulations in terms of affecting public health?

CATHERINE FLOWERS: Well, I think were going to see it on the front lines first, or those so-called sacrificed communities that are poor. I remember when I testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights we shared the platform with some people that were from Arizona and New Mexico whose water being poisoned by uranium. People from California who lived in farming communities and their water being poisoned by pesticide, you know, the people. And  Alabama whose water, they actually there was money that was put in place for waste-water treatment and it was a failed system, and the onus was on the city who had no money in the first place. And the engineers designed something that obviously was flawed because I personally witnessed raw sewage  So, that is the kind of problem that we find across this country in poor rural communities where when we talk about infrastructure the assumption is that the homeowners themselves have to be responsible for it instead of the kinds of public investment that has gone into every major waste water and water treatment facility across this country in urban communities.

KIM BROWN: Given that climate change is disrupting weather patterns and scientists dont know what the effects on toxic chemicals in the environment can be, what do you think that the public should do in order to respond to these issues, and what should government agencies also be doing?

CATHERINE FLOWERS: Well, first of all, the public needs to learn as much as they can about these issues so that they can lift their voices and talk about the solution.

First of all, people dont even realize the extent of the problem that theyre dealing with, and they need to make sure that their elected officials are aware of these problems and work on the solutions, the policies, that will address these in Lowndes County. For example, when I got involved, it was a negative policy, which was  and still is  in place, that if a person is reported to the public health department, then theyre arrested. Thats not a solution. Thats only going to force people deeper and deeper underground instead of having to find the solutions to these potential health hazards.

In addition to that, there need to be policies in place to make sure that when we deal with infrastructure, infrastructure problems shouldnt be just roads and bridges, it should also be infrastructure to deal with waste water treatment because we cannot have clean water without adequate waste water treatment. And I would think that the foundations we found the foundations that deal with waste water issues dont deal with them in the United States because the presumption is that this is not a problem in the United States. It is a problem in the United States, and the more we have these rain events, the warmer it gets, the more you have standing water on the ground, and even with my own environment, I got involved and came up with the theory that there could be possibilities of tropical illnesses because I was bitten by mosquitoes. Ive seen mosquitoes actually sitting on top of raw sewage, and thats a problem. And the potential for the kinds of health problems that can extend not just in Lowndes County, but throughout the United States, are tremendous and they need to be addressed with positive public policy.

And also the type of investment that should happen, foundations need to start funding these kinds of infrastructure projects here in the United States and find the technologies that are sustainable and resilient that can address it because with climate change what worked 20 years ago is not going to work now. If youre having more rain and these systems hold water, we need to find a better way to deal with that.

So we have issued a challenge  like Bill Gates issued the Toilet Challenge  weve issued a waste water challenge to find something that will work, and if itll work in Lowndes County, as I was just told by the engineer at Duke a few weeks ago, that if itll work in Lowndes County, well solve the problems of a third of the world that has this same issue.

KIM BROWN: And, Catherine, last question. You said that you were awaiting the results of an environmental study in your community. When do you expect those results to be in?

CATHERINE FLOWERS: The results are in. Were waiting for it to be published, and once its published, and we can talk about it a little more, we anticipate in the next few months that we will be able to see the study being published and there will be lots more discussion around it, including identifying the parasites that were found in this study.

KIM BROWN: Indeed, well, we hope that you will share those results with us when they are published, and we appreciate you making time to speak with us. Weve been joined today by Catherine Coleman Flowers. She is from Lowndes County, Alabama. Shes also the founder of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise, and weve been discussing the types of injustices and challenges and environmental issues that rural America oftentimes faces and many times those issues are overlooked.

Catherine, we appreciate your time today. Thank you so much.

CATHERINE FLOWERS: Thank you. Bye bye.

KIM BROWN: And thank you for watching The Real News Network.
By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, who has worked as a securities lawyer and a derivatives trader. She now spends most of her time in Asia researching a book about textile artisans. She also writes regularly about legal, political economy, and regulatory topics for various consulting clients and publications, as well as scribbles occasional travel pieces for The National.

Trump is maniacally focused on fulfilling his campaign pledges, chief strategist Steve Bannon told The Guardian in a piece published yesterday. This has resulted in a flurry of executive orders and a plethora of tweets, the latter often emanating in the wee hours of the Washington morn.

Yet as Yves has written, the legal force of some of these measures no matter how couched in legalese they may appear has no greater weight than would mere issuance of a press release. During the campaign, Trump promised to roll back the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory edifice, and on February 3, he issued an executive order purporting to be the first step in doing just that. But the president cannot just undo existing law, by by fiat, whether covered by the fig leaf of an executive order or not.

On the same day, Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum on Fiduciary Duty Rule, in which he directed the Department of Labor (DoL) to conduct an examination of the a new fiduciary rule, due to come into effect on April 10. This rule would impose a basic fiduciary duty standard on investment advisors, requiring them to act in a clients best interest. The fiduciary rule replaces the previous suitability standard, which consumer advocates have criticised for allowing investment advisors to provide conflicted advice, motivated by fees. This suitability standard imposes costs estimated at $17 billion annually on investors and depresses investment returns on retirement savings by a percentage point. Brokerages and insurance companies rely heavily on commission-based compensation.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal in an article entitled Brokers Spared From Fiduciary Rule:

Repealing the rule frees up brokers and insurance agents to go back to recommending whats most profitable for them rather than whats best for their customers, said Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America. And it frees up firms to keep the toxic financial incentives in place that encourage and reward advice that is not in customers best interests.

Yet as spelled out in a National Law Review article, Status of the Fiduciary Rule:

Contrary to popular perception, the Memorandum did not direct the Department of Labor (DOL) to delay the applicability date of the Fiduciary Rules. However, shortly after the Memorandum was signed by the president, the acting secretary of the DOL released a statement saying the DOL would be reviewing its legal options for delaying the applicability date.

While the DoL might in the long run not rescind the rule after all, in the short term, its widely expected that the agency will delay the rules April 10 compliance deadline. The situation has been further complicated by the withdrawal of Andrew Puzders nomination as Labor Secretary. Trump moved quickly to nominate Alexander Acosta, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board, who also served as a US Attorney for the southern district of Florida during the administration of President George W. Bush. Yet that nomination has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, and in the interim, business at the DoL will likely stall.

Congress might step in at any time and pass legislation to rescind the rule. Trump would almost certainly sign such a bill. Whether this would happen depends on what interim steps the DoL takes and the outcome of pending legal challenges, as well as whether opponents muster sufficient lobbying muscle to force such an outcome. This latter point may be less certain than it first appears. As I elaborate further below, some firms have already taken steps to comply with the framework that it was believed would apply from April 10 onward and they might not necessarily wish to unwind such arrangements now.

Legal Challenges

Meanwhile, at least four legal challenges have been filed concerning the fiduciary rule. If challenges were to succeed, and a court had overturned the rule as federal courts have done with some Dodd-Frank provisions, for example any DoL review of the rule could be rendered moot. The legal situation is a bit unusual in that since the Trump administrations position on the rule is opposite to that of its predecessor which promulgated this rule. So if the government were to lose one of these challenges, Im guessing it would opt not to appeal any decision to vacate the rule. (My explanation might appear confusing unless one recognizes that these cases were pending before Trump became president, so that the governments position in these actions thus far has been to argue in favor of the new fiduciary rule.)

So far, however, no federal district court judge has ridden to the Trump administrations rescue, and in fact, the three federal district courts that have ruled sitting in Washington DC, the northern district of Texas, and Kansas, respectively have each granted the governments motion for summary judgment, thus upholding the rule. Judges Randolph Moss (DC) and Daniel Crabtree (Kansas) are Obama appointees, while chief judge Barbara Lynn (Texas) is a Clinton appointee. Various appeals remain pending and I decline to speculate on these at this time.

On Wednesday, February 22, federal district court Judge Susan Richard Nelson (of the district of Minnesota), rejected the Department of Justices (DoJ), request for a stay of the rule, pending the outcome of the DoL review. Judge Nelson is due to rule on a summary judgment motion on March 3. If I were to hazard a guess, it would be that Judge Nelson also an Obama appointee is likely to rule consistently with the other three decisions, and uphold the rule.

Chief Judge Barbara Lynns ruling in Chamber of Commerce v. DOL is the most comprehensive treatment of the issue handed down to date. This 81 page opinion suggests that the DOL will find it difficult to find grounds for rescinding the new fiduciary rule outright although as I mentioned above, the DoL will likely seek to delay implementation beyond the April 10 implementation date. Losing counsel in this case, Eugene Scalia son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has a a strong track record for winning legal challenges to kill off unwanted Wall Street regulations, according to Reuters, and these  include some Dodd-Frank provisions.

What Happens Next?

With the legal status of the new rule remains uncertain, where does that leave investment advisers? Procedures for complying with such a complicated framework are not developed overnight, and many investment advisers had already taken steps to conform theirs to the new framework that was slated to come into effect in April. The WSJ article quoted above suggested that some brokerages would proceed with at least some their plans to institute new procedures or retain those already in place. In particular:

Merrill Lynch, which has more than $2 trillion in client assets, has said it would stick with its plan, announced in October, to end commission-based retirement accounts even if the rule gets killed. The Bank of America Corp.-owned brokerage will instead charge a fee based on a percentage of assets. Morgan Stanley recently told its brokers it would move ahead in any political scenario with changes to product pricing, such as lowering the price of commissions tied to stocks and exchange-traded funds.

How long these and other firms would retain such resolve, however, is an open question, in the event that the DoL finds sound legal grounds to rescind or alter the fiduciary rule. I should point out as well that despite the sound and fury occasioned by Trumps February 3 memorandum on the new rule, actual financial sector practices depend not only on the letter of the law, but also are shaped by the enforcement climate. That has been notoriously lax since the financial crisis despite rhetoric to the contrary. Where the Trump administration will come down on this crucial issue remains unresolved.
By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, who has worked as a securities lawyer and a derivatives trader. She now spends most of her time in Asia researching a book about textile artisans. She also writes regularly about legal, political economy, and regulatory topics for various consulting clients and publications, as well as scribbles occasional travel pieces for The National.

Earlier this week, the FTs Martin Wolf wrote about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetization policy in his article Indias bold experiment with cash. Regular readers will recall that on November 8, Modi announced the decision to cancel existing Indian rupee 500 (about $7.50) and 1000 ($15) notes 86% of cash in circulation, with immediate effect. Holders of the old currency had until December 30 to exchange old notes for new, legal tender currency. (Iv written about the Modi action and the widespread chaos and suffering it has caused, in previous posts, on November 10, November 16, November 18, and December 31.)

Wolf writes,In its boldness, this move by the democratically elected leader of so vast a country makes everything that US President Donald Trump has done so far look trivial. On that much, I concur. Unfortunately, we part company on just about everything else. In order to keep this post to a manageable length, Ill only address five problems with Wolfs article.

Government Objectives: Is the Cure the Right One for the Disease?

Wolf writes:

According to the finance ministrys Economic Survey 2016-17, the policys aim was fourfold: To curb corruption, counterfeiting, the use of high denomination notes for terrorist activities, and especially the accumulation of black money, generated by income that has not been declared to the tax authorities. These goals are popular with many Indians, who have tolerated the upheaval surprisingly calmly, in the hope that crooks would get their deserts. These are also reasonable objectives. Few would deny India suffers from corruption and tax avoidance on a large scale. Yet the action might also sow permanent distrust of government promises. The disease might be bad, yet the cure is costly. How costly might it be and how beneficial?

Wolf assumes the Indian governments policy effectively addressed the stated objectives. I beg to differ. And why is that? As Ive written previously in my December 31 post:

The basic problem stems from a failure to distinguish between black money money on which tax due has not been paid and the legitimate informal sector the cash-based economy. Estimates of the size of that sector range from about 50% to around 90% (depending on how its measured, e.g., as a percentage of GDP, or in terms of the percentage of wages paid in cash and not paid into a bank account). Many people working in the informal sector dont pay any income tax not because theyre corrupt or tax evaders, but because their income falls below the threshold upon which tax is due. No one denies that India has a serious corruption problem. But most experts agree that demonetization especially as implemented since November 8 is not an effective way of addressing this problem. Far more difficult to achieve but considerably more effective would have been measures directed at illicit real estate transactions, tightened tax enforcement, or political and administrative corruption.

And allow me to make another point, again from my December 31 post:

Its a staple scene in many Bollywood films to see stacks of illicit cash secreted somewhere in the villains lair. Demonetization was designed to flush out just such cash. Yet, unfortunately, mundane reality doesnt conform to these Bollywood cliches. As I first pointed out in this November 16 post: black assets are typically not held in the form of Indian bank notes but are either held off-shore, or if kept in India, are invested in real estate, gold, jewellery, art, antiques, or securities.

Suman Bery, most recently Shells chief economist, makes the same point in this January 31 post:

[I]it has been widely, and correctly, noted that currency forms only one part and perhaps not the most important part, of untaxed wealth, with gold, jewellery and real property (in India and abroad) held by nominees being other popular assets for holding such wealth. Untaxed wealth can be generated by both legal and illegal activities, and there is (so far) no legal restriction on maintaining large cash balances provided their origin is not illegal activity. Attacking personal holdings of currency is a blunt, broad-spectrum intervention, but as noted below one with considerable symbolic significance.

Returning to my December 31 post:

The latest figures show that much of the outstanding currency has been redeposited into bank accounts. The possibility that there would be a big demonetization windfall and an increase in income tax collected has not materialized.

Well, Bery addresses the efficacy of the policy in ferreting out black money and notes that nearly all of the old notes were successfully exchanged for new, legal tender notes:

The second factor, of greater political significance than the first, has been the almost complete surrender of the specified notes into new notes. Evidence is anecdotal and may be revised as the authorities release more confirmed data. Press commentary at the time of the announcement suggested that many of those with large hoards not willing to accept this additional scrutiny would prefer to destroy their holdings of currency and thereby suffer a one-time loss in wealth, in the process possibly conferring a windfall gain on the government. Popular expectations were that a low surrender ratio would represent losses imposed on high net worth holders of cash; by implication a high surrender ratio implies that holders of illegally generated cash suffered only partial losses on these holdings.

Does this mean that all money so exchanged was legitimate? Not so fast. Bery provides a plausible explanation of how old notes whether legitimate or not were swapped into new:

It is widely believed that holders of large currency hoards turned quickly to Indias financial underworld for help. Those intermediaries in turn moved immediately to create trains of human mules to break large cash holdings into smaller, less conspicuous amounts to be tendered into their own personal accounts. This process was sufficiently smooth and efficient that the initially large discount on accepting old notes through unofficial channels (around 40% on some accounts) declined substantially as the deadline for official exchange approached.

I want to close this part of my discussion by emphasizing Berys conclusion:

The near total exchange of specified notes is seen as partially undermining the black money goals of the initiative. It has also been interpreted by some in the press as a possible sign of corruption in the banks, both state-owned and private, with stray reports of bank officials diverting large volumes of new notes to preferred customers.

The bottom line: Demonetization at best partially addressed the ills it was aimed to remedy. And as articles like this one in The Wire Three Months On, Indias Economy Remains Crippled By Demonetisation spell out, the policy imposed crippling costs.

Who Suffers Most? Answer: Indias Poor

More now on those costs. Wolf writes:

The short-run costs are evident. As the Economic Survey puts it laconically, these costs have taken the form of inconvenience and hardship, especially for those in the informal and cash-intensive sectors of the economy. Since hundreds of millions of Indians are very poor, this is not to be trivialised.

Ill say. Both the governments Economic Survey 2016-17 and Wolf gloss over the tremendous hardship that demonetization imposed. To be sure, India is a country with a rapidly growing middle class. But I should remind readers that its also a place where a chunk of the population goes to bed hungry every night. Each year, the International Food Policy Research Institute calculates the Global Hunger Index (GHI). In October, the Times of India reported that Indias position on the GHI slipped to 97 out of 118 countries. Although the absolute level has decreased, Indias relative ranking has declined, down from 76 (out of 96 countries), as other countries have made greater stride in reducing hunger:

the 2016 GHI for India was derived from the fact that an estimated 15% population is undernourished -lacking in adequate food intake, both in quantity and quality. The share of under-5 children who are `wasted is about 15% while the share of children who are `stunted is a staggering 39%. This reflects widespread and chronic lack of balanced food. The under-5 mortality rate is 4.8% in India, partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.

The poor were the ones for whom the inconvenience and hardship was most severe, as they participate almost exclusively in Indias cash economy.

How Temporary Is the Effect?

Wolf writes:

Overall, [the Economic Survey] concludes, demonetisation might have lowered gross domestic product, temporarily, via its effect on the money supply, by between a quarter and a half a percentage point, relative to a baseline of about 7 per cent annual growth.

The jury I believe is still out on how temporary this self-induced deflation will prove to be, as numerous anecdotal newspaper accounts suggest that the policy is still having considerable knock-on effects in employment in several sectors.

And I want to throw out one other point and suggest albeit briefly that this ill-considered policy could hamper efforts to attract foreign investment. Any outsider considering a substantial investment in India would certainly pause after reviewing Indias demonetization debacle and surely wonder whether investing in the country would expose such an investor so some similar future policy misstep. The best that perhaps can be said is that the flaws in the policy have been so well-explored that no future Indian government would dare put forward something so ill-considered (however much issues of party loyalty might prevent the present government and its supporters from publicly acknowledging this criticism).

Wolf notes:

Yet even in the short run, there will also be benefits. The analysis suggests that as much as 2 per cent of GDP was held in notes reflecting black economic activities. Some of this ill-gotten wealth will have vanished and some will have been taxed. This is so because holders had to declare unaccounted wealth and pay penal taxes, lose it, or launder it. Overall, the policy allowed the government to tax black money, at least as a one-off and possibly permanently, given the enhanced risks of holding cash. Overall, there is a transfer of wealth from criminals to the government. It is hard to be sorry for these victims.

Im going to give short shrift to this paragraph, except to say, first, according to my December 31 analysis quoted above and Berys post, most old money was successfully swapped for new, and the 2% of GDP mentioned by Wolf falls far short of touted benefits of demonetization. And second, for reasons of space, Im not going to delve into the taxation point, except to mention that Indias tax collection system remains sorely deficient. If this were not the case, people would not risk flouting existing law and holding black assets in the first instance.

Digitalization of Finance

Wolf writes:

A significant result might be increased digitalisation of finance, though this would require complementary reforms, notably ones that make it easy for Indians without smartphones to make digital payments. Another would be more effective taxation. Against all this must be set the recklessness of the action. What might a government that dares to do this not dare?

There are multiple problems with even this short paragraph. Ill focus only on the first claim. Assume for the moment that increased digitalization of finance to put it in simpler terms, the war on cash is a war worth waging. I recognize that many Naked Capitalism readers reject this assumption (as do I, for the record; see more in the excellent December 22 post by Clive, Naked Capitalisms authority on cash, payments systems, and the practical aspects of payments transactions).

Yet proceeding for the moment with the assumption that the increased digitalization of finance is a worthy objective, Wolf clearly has little experience with the considerable obstacle Indias existing deficient digital infrastructure presents. The problem is far greater than merely insuring that those Indians who lack smartphones can make digital payments although that is certainly not a trivial concern. As I wrote in a December 20 post, India is now the worlds second largest smartphone market, with more than 220 million users, second only to China but thats still only about one-third of Indians with mobile phones.

India is a crowded country, where formidable queues often materialize, even when things work more or less normally. Some obvious advantages of using cash for transactions are ease, simplicity, reliability, and speed not inconsequential factors considered against such a backdrop. This cannot be said to be the case for any transaction that must rely on Indias highly deficient digital infrastructure. As Clive emphasized to me via email:

A digitised payment system also requires additional infrastructure to support it  a reliable power supply, telecoms backhaul to name the most important ones. Expecting to transition to a digitised payment system without these pre-requisites being in place is impractical.

I happen to be writing this post while visiting Kolkata. Fortunately, a reliable power supply is now in place for most of this city. Yet the same cannot be said for the telecoms system. During the course of today, Ive either made or received 14 mobile calls, about a third of which were dropped. As for the telecoms services that provide internet coverage, dont get me started. Most Indians use mobile wifi to connect to the internet, and for those for whom reliability is important, its necessary to have at least one back-up system, says art dealer Anirudh Chari with whom I was speaking to earlier today (three calls, two dropped). Today, my primary system failed as it does at least at least three or four times a week, and in order to get any work done, and meet some deadlines, I had to rely on my back-up system.

And thats sitting in Kolkata, which has both a reliable power supply, as well as at least in theory complete digital coverage. The situation is far worse for much of the Indian countryside significant portions of which lack a 24/7 electricity supply, not to mention that in many places digital coverage is either nonexistent or erratic. Thus, necessary conditions are far from in place to allow most rural transactions to shift away from cash, and the barriers are both far more formidable as well as costly to address than the smartphone issue, which appears relatively trivial in comparison. (Not to mention that Ive neglected another serious obstacle to digitilization banking coverage. Many Indians lack bank accounts, a point I addressed in my November 16 post, and many rural areas are not served by banks, nor ATMs, as discussed in The Wire article quoted above and linked to here.)

Assume a Policy Framework

Wolf writes, government must provide the policy framework and support needed to secure financial inclusion of the population, including epayments. In the words of Clive, this qualifies as amazingly naive hand waving. And let me turn to him to explain at length exactly why:

Policy framework implies that all a government has to do is to make appropriate legislative changes and all will be fine. But epayments or the digitisation of finance (by which the author means the payment system) is not a merely substitution for one sort of payment method  cash  with another, equivalent one  electronic settlement. Cash has unique properties which are simply not replicable with electronic payment systems. With cash, settlement is final and irrevocable. When you hand over cash to a merchant, and the merchant accepts your cash, there is no going back in terms of having made the payment. Cash always does this. But with any electronic payment, there is always the possibility of the payment being revoked for certain specified reasons (disputes, fraud, lack of funds held by the payer, mistakes by either the person making the payment of the merchant, technical issues and so on). The lack of irrevocability gives rise to the need to a disputes resolution system which is inherent to the provision of an epayments system. In a cash transaction, the payer can get into a dispute with the merchant over the supply, quality or performance of the service which the customer has paid for. But there can be no dispute about payment having been made  or not. With an epayment, however, the payment itself can be disputed. A policy framework might put in place rules to govern how such disputes are handled, but they cannot prevent such disputes from arising in the first place. A dispute resolution system is essential to an electronic payment system but these dispute resolution processes rely on often complex rules and a court or tribunal system to arbitrate them. For a society which has widespread access to legal representation  and the wealth, if needed, to utilise it  or a regulatory body with the scale and sophistication to handle free dispute cases combined with high levels of literacy, this isnt so important. But in a society with lower levels of literacy, access to and the ability to use a legal or procedural fall-back is lessened. In short, just having a regulatory and/or a legislative framework is completely inadequate if the population is not able to avail themselves of it due to lack of a basic education.

What Comes Next?

Finally, Wolf concludes:

It is often hard to draw the line between decisive leaders who take unpopular decisions for the benefit of their country and those who make arbitrary decisions for the benefit of themselves. Historians may judge the shock of demonetisation as an example of the former. That is still uncertain. Let us see what Mr Modi dares to do next.

I say, given demonetisations huge costs, weighed against its modest benefits: Dont encourage him.
@nascarcasm: Why each driver will or won't win 2022 title It seems way harder to pick a winner out of this year's Championship 4. To help you, here are a few reasons why each of them may ... or may not ... win the 2022 Cup Series championship.
The National Bus and Rail Union is organising a public meeting next Thursday to raise public awareness of the impact the loss of Bus Eireann's Clonmel to Dublin Expressway service will have on the town of Clonmel if it's axed.

The public meeting on the threatened loss of the X7 Dublin to Clonmel Bus Eireann route that operates eight services daily, will take place in the Clonmel Park Hotel in Clonmel on March 2 at 8pm.

The NBRU has warned the loss of this bus service will lead to job losses at Bus Eireann's Clonmel bus depot and will ultimately lead to a rise in bus fares between Clonmel and Dublin due to the loss of competition on the route.

The X7 Dublin to Clonmel bus route is one of three routes Bus Eireann has earmarked for closure in cost cutting measures to make immediate savings of 1.1m.

The other two routes facing closure are the 021 Athlone to Westport route and 833 Dublin to Derry route.

The Chief Executive of the National Transport Authority Anne Graham yesterday (Thursday) told an Oireachtas committee that the NTA will provide replacement services on routes that face being scrapped. However, she could not promise that bus passengers will get the same level of service will be provided on the route.
My name is Sarah Ryan and Im 20 years old. Im a student from Donohill near Tipperary Town, doing a Bachelor of Arts in English and New Media in UL. I will be teaching English abroad in Spain until the end of June and writing about my adventures for The Nationalist.

Hello World, Its Nice to Meet You

Leaving home for the first time is terrifying. Not only are you leaving your most secure safe haven, you are also on your own for the first time. Youre one hundred percent responsible for you and you alone. Theres no Mammy and Daddy to get you out of the bed in the morning, to make you dinner, clean up after you or take care of you.

Ive never lived away from home before. Im in college, but as Im only a forty-minute drive away and have my own car, I commute. I always wanted to move out once I got into college, but spending four grand a year to shorten the distance by forty-minutes was madness.

That is why when the chance to head to Spain to work as part of my college course arose I couldnt apply fast enough. Honestly, who wouldnt want to be paid to move to Spain to the sun and the beach. And get free room and board. I mean, youd be a fool not too.

Ill be heading to one of two camps outside of Barcelona with fifty other UL students. Once there, well also be assigned apartments to live in where well be staying for four months. For those four months, well be in charge of up to ten kids for five days a week constantly engaging with them and talking trying to make them feel at ease all the while freaking out a little inside.

Every time I tell someone about my journey to Spain, they instantly tell me how much Im going to love it, how Im going to enjoy it and how much fun Im going to have. Not to mention the countless comments I get about the sun and lovely weather Ill get to enjoy.

And every single one of those people, including those reading this, must think Im bouncing off walls with excitement, right? Wrong. Im completely and utterly terrified. Ive never been away from home for more than three weeks at a time, let alone stay in another country for four months.

Im heading away now in a few weeks and the realisation of what Im about to do is starting to sink in. A couple of weeks back I misplaced my passport and in a moment of blind panic I began to take it as a sign that I shouldnt go. I did eventually find it, or more so my mother did (only after telling my how ridiculous I was being).

Of course I wasnt always this apprehensive about Spain. When the opportunity first arrived I couldnt grab it fast enough. My enthusiasm only grew after I applied for the job, again when I got an interview and then skyrocketed when I was told Id gotten the job.

But that was back in September and the thought of heading to Spain in February was so far away it was easy to romanticise it. Its now February. The romance has left and Im suddenly left with the reality of booking flights, applying for insurance, bringing suitcases down from the attic and trying to organising endless amount of clothes.

I know Im stressing over nothing and building the whole thing up in my head. Im sure Ill have a great time meeting new people, visiting new places and trying new things. Its just Im on an official count now and Im starting to feel more apprehensive about the situation. Im not exactly sure what Ill be heading into and its the not knowing which scares me the most. They say you should do the thing that scares you the most as it gives you the most satisfaction.

I suppose Ill just have to wait and see.

Read the next chapter in Sarah's adventures!
In 1836 aged just twenty, Charlotte Bronte sent a sample of her poetry to the Poet Laureate, Robert Southey, who was far from encouraging: "Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be."

Undeterred by this misogynist response and several rejections from publishers, her novel, "Jane Eyre, An Autobiography", edited by Currer Bell was published in October 1847.

Believed to be a true memoir revealing radical, feminist opinions on women in society, love, marriage and freedom, it was an instant success.

Now see the story on stage at The Source, Thurles on Saturday, March 4 at 8pm

'Jane Eyre - An Autobiography' is written and directed by Elton Townend-Jones and stars Rebecca Vaughan, a writer and performer who repeatedly shines at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and around the UK and Ireland. Her solo shows are regularly acclaimed, often involving characters from literature and history.

With just a simple, well-lit couch at her disposal, Rebecca Vaughan manages to capture the essence of the novel and brings all the key moments of the book vividly to life opening with Jane hiding from her violent cousin in the window seat, her challenging time at Lowood Institution, her arrival at Thornfield and subsequent relationship with the brusque Mr. Rochester.

'Jane Eyre - An Autobiography' is a fantastic introduction to Bronte's masterpiece, for those who know and love the novel, it is a show not to be missed. The performance is powerful, polished and absolutely unique, a cast of ten actors could not have created a more powerful or emotional production than this. Highly recommended.
Karen Pring/Karen Pring

CALIFORNIA

SANTA ANA

Stearns Lending said that Dennis Waxman has joined the company as regional vice president and sales leader for Stearns Wholesale, with responsibilities that encompass all wholesale lending sales management and related activities in the Southeast region.

He previously served as TPO divisional manager with FBC Mortgage, formerly Sterne Agee Mortgage.

Earlier in his career, Waxman held wholesale channel sales management leadership positions at SunTrust Wholesale, Plaza Home Mortgage, Washington Mutual, Countrywide and Chase Wholesale.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

WASHINGTON

The Mortgage Bankers Association, parent corporation of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, has appointed Pete Carroll, executive vice president at Quicken Loans, and Andy Crisenbery, senior vice president, managing director of e-lending solutions at Black Knight Financial Services, to the MISMO Board of Directors.

Kyung Cho-Miller, Linglong He and Eddy Wetsel will be stepping down from the MISMO Board of Directors.

New board members serving in an ex-officio capacity are new MISMO Committee chairs Charlie Epperson, chief technology officer of SigniaDocs, chair of the MISMO Education Committee; Randy Poirier, vice president of data solutions at Black Knight Financial Services, chair of the Residential Standards Governance Committee; and Matt Seu, partner, Actualize Consulting, chair of the MISMO Strategic Planning Committee.

NEVADA

LAS VEGAS

Primary Residential Mortgage Inc. has opened a new Las Vegas branch that will be managed by Bo Crawford and Diana Dikes.

Crawford is responsible for pipeline management, talent acquisition and development, branch loan production and overall operations of the new branch.

Dikes has joined the new branch as the production manager and is responsible for recruiting and building the branch.

Crawford and Dikes both previously served with Security National Mortgage, respectively, as a loan originator and branch manager.

NEW JERSEY

MOUNT LAUREL

PHH Corp. said that Stephen Staid has joined the company as senior vice president, servicing.

Staid succeeds Marty Foster, who is retiring from the company after 20 years of service.

Foster is expected to remain with PHH until the second quarter of 2017 to assist with the transition.

Staid has 25 years of experience leading loan servicing and customer service operations at a number of financial services firms, including SEMS, Bank of America, Nationstar Mortgage and Saxon Mortgage Services.

NEW YORK

NEW YORK

Greystone said that Jerry Muir has joined the firm as a managing director working with the agency lending team.

A 25-year veteran of Fannie Mae, Muir will focus on building out Greystone's manufactured housing lending platform.

He most recently served as director of multifamily credit/underwriting at Fannie Mae, responsible for a 12-state Southeast region, with a dual role in having developed and managed the manufactured housing community lending platform at the GSE.

Scott Thurman has also joined Greystone as senior managing director and chief underwriter within the FHA lending team.

A 25-year FHA industry veteran, Thurman most recently served as senior managing director and chief underwriter at ACRE Capital.

He began his career at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he served as multifamily housing representative and information specialist.

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.
The first time I heard about the Wagah Border ceremony was when one of my mother's friends had witnessed this spectacle. It was a display of one's patriotism towards the nation. After hearing the stories from her, I did not believe most of what she narrated to us.

After she left, I found my solitude in the great Google. I began my research work on what exactly happens at this border! And why is it so hyped?

Another question that struck me was, India shares its borders not only with Pakistan but also with Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Afghanistan. But why only this particular border is much spoken about?

PC: Daniel Hauptstein

I began my search on YouTube to see what exactly happens at the gates. Bringing down the tricolour at dusk and raising it at dawn is something which one can see even at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, but without all the action, that takes place at the border.

Getting To Delhi

The videos to an extent pleased me I must say, but I wanted to get a hands-on experience of the ceremony. So I began my research work on how to get there and I booked tickets from Bengaluru to Delhi and from there by road to Wagah border via Amritsar.

PC: Shreshth91

After getting off at Delhi, we had coordinated with one of our family friends who lives in Delhi to take us to the Wagah border. As this person holds a respectable position in the Central Government we could get hold of the VIP passes to witness the ceremony.

After spending the night in Delhi, we started our journey early morning the next day, to reach Amritsar. Yes, The Golden Temple, it sure is something which you cannot describe with words.

The Filling Lunch

We paid our respects at the temple and decided to have lunch at the langar which is served to all the people who visit the golden temple, irrespective of their caste, creed, religion etc.

PC: Ken Wieland

After the lunch, we started our journey to our destination - the Wagah Border, which is around 30 km from Amritsar.

Along with hundreds of other people, we walked from where the vehicle dropped us into the main area. It is an oval area with concrete steps for people to sit and a huge gate cutting through the middle. The gate is the border of India and Pakistan.

Long Wait...

We find our place marked out for the holders of the VIP pass, and amongst others we sat and wait for the ceremony to begin. We could see people holding the tricolour amongst the crowd and some had painted the tricolour on their cheeks to show patriotism.

PC: Ken Wieland

The wait was like hours before something could happen, and taking all of us by surprise, the action began. The crowd appeared to be lacking energy and looked dead, but when the 'bhangra' music began, the dead crowd turned alive.

A few of them alighted the steps and gathered at the centre of the arena dancing, hollering and radiating the pride of the country. The BSF Jawans handed over giant flags to a few people and conducted a race from the centre of the arena to the border gates and back again. One can see people of all age groups taking part in the race.

Read More : The Land Of Golden Temple - Amritsar

Next, the army officials came out on both sides of the border, what I can only describe as a shouting match.

But it just seemed the people with the microphones simply shouted the names of their own countries or regions, seeing who would hold it up for the longest duration and who would be the loudest.

PC: Peter van Aller

The Fiery Patriots!

After which the army officials proceed into a marching formation across the middle arena, in their grand uniforms, complete with red turbans, and not the camouflage ones.

Among the six soldiers, one gave the command to his men and stomped his foot hard on the ground. I have never seen a man kicking one foot up quite as high as him, and I feel pretty confident that I would never see anyone who can beat him.

During this, the gates between the two countries are opened, and both armies continue their marching towards each other and their rituals become something comparable to a war cry as the two groups direct their patriotism at each other.

PC: Stefan Krasowski

The End

After all that build up, the second where the two head officers from each country shake hands (which could easily be missed in the blink of an eye), the gates are closed, flags lowered, and the ceremonies are over.

Without a doubt it is wonderful; there is no chance that you won't enjoy the Wagah Border Ceremony. It is an incredible piece of cultural curiosity that should not be missed. One thing is for certain, you will leave asking yourself this question - 'Did all of this actually just happen?!'
NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will meet with the President of the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Mr. Serzh Sargsyan at NATO Headquarters on Monday, 27 February 2017.

Media Advisory

16:45 Secretary Generals joint press point with the President of the Republic of Armenia  Main entrance

The press point will be available live on the NATO website and in broadcast quality on satellite.

Still and video imagery of the meeting will be available after the event on the NATO website.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg).
(NaturalHealth365) It seems that there is yet another thing that we can  COVID-19 pandemic triggers SURPRISING changes in personality, new study suggests
Thursday, February 23, 2017 by: Vicki Batts Tags: FDA , homemade products , natural health This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) When most people imagine their golden years, they dont envision spending the last decades of their life in a federal prison, but for 56-year-old Samuel Girod, that threat is very real  thanks to the FDA. Girod is facing 68 years in jail for the simple crime of creating his own all-natural homemade products. Father to 12 and grandfather to 25, Girod has been facing a 12-count indictment since 2015.

Trouble first arose for the Amish farmer back in 2013, when someone reported his homemade products to the state health department of Missouri. An injunction was put in place by a federal judge in the state, banning Girod from making some of his products until specific conditions were met. One of those conditions was an inspection of the property where Girods products were made  prompting the state of Kentucky to become involved. Production of these homemade, natural products reportedly took place at Girods family home, somewhere along Satterfield Lane in Bath County.

Bath County residents were seemingly appalled when they learned of their neighbors fate. I cant even figure out what he has done wrong. They live at the foot of the cross and the thought of one of them intentionally doing something wrong is outrageous, Suza Moody, a fellow Bath County resident commented.

Family friend Sally Oh said, They are just devastated. I mean when they brought him out in handcuffs. It was awful. Oh went on to say that the FDA had taken issue with the way some of Girods products were labeled. Girods Chickweed Salve was a particular point of contention. According to Oh, the salves ingredients include rosemary, beeswax, olive oil.

It said Chickweed Salve up top, then on down said Cures Cancer. Which for some people it did, but he cant say that. So he changed it to say Healing Chickweed, but they said no you cant say healing. So now it just says Original Chickweed,' she explained.

Moody questioned whether or not the proposed punishment really fit the crime. I mean do you go to jail because youve messed up a label on a product?

I thought you went to jail because you did something bad. I mean he mislabeled something? I doubt he knew any better, she added.

According to the FDA, Girod is also guilty of handing out pamphlets that advertised his products efficacy in the treatment of a variety of conditions. Because of those claims, the FDA says the products are defined as drugs, under the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act  even though multiple tests have shown no drugs are used in the products.

Defined drugs are also required to have their place of production registered with the FDA. Unsurprisingly, the Girod farm is not registered  and they likely did not know the salves they were making could be construed as drugs.

Another one of Girods products, TO-MOR-GONE, has also come under fire. The product is said to be very good at removing tumors, and also contains bloodroot  which can be caustic and cause scarring. This, the FDA alleges, makes for much more than a simple labeling mistake. Along with all of this, the FDA claims that Girod prevented their agents from entering the family home to inspect the conditions, and allege that he continued to sell his products after the injunction was placed.

Since 2015, Girod has fired his appointed attorney and has chosen to represent himself. WKYT reports, The Amish farmer filed a motion to dismiss his case, citing a lack of due process, lack of standing, and lack of jurisdiction. A judge denied the motion and set a status conference back in August.

Girod missed the status hearing, Ms. Oh believes that he simply did not understand he had to be there. A warrant was then issued for his arrest.

Due to the increasingly volatile nature of the situation, the Bath County Sheriff reportedly wrote a letter to the authorities involved, citing his concerns about the ongoing ruthless and relentless attack against one of his constituents. The letter also noted that Girod had been placed in the protective custody of his office.

For about five months, Girod was considered a fugitive and was arrested at the family farm in Janurary. He now waits in jail without bail until his trial date arrives, which is scheduled for late February.

The real issue here is the fact that the FDA is persecuting a man with no ill intent: the so-called crimes he committed with no malicious intent, and his products have reportedly never harmed anyone. And yet, the FDA approves drugs that dont work and come with horrible side effects, as long they are listed on the label. The agency has even banned intravenous vitamin C, so its not that surprising that theyre throwing the book at Girod.

The extreme punishment being proposed for Girod is far and away from fitting the crime he committed  not that you can really call it a crime; a mistake perhaps. His failure to understand the inner-workings of the corrupt FDA system does not warrant 68 years of imprisonment.

Child rapists go free while an Amish man will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for making salves. And this is what were supposed to believe justice looks like?

Sources:

FreedomOutpost.com

Kentucky.com

WKYT.com
(Natural News) It is no longer a secret that antibiotic-resistant bacteria, commonly known as superbugs, are on the rise. This has many in the medical community gravely concerned. One of the greatest causes fueling this epidemic is the indiscriminate overuse of antibiotics.

In 2015, in an attempt to address the problem, the White House released a plan to half inappropriate outpatient use of antibiotics by 2020. This is an ambitious and laudable goal, but with 2020 just around the corner, one that is not likely to come to fruition.

The problem of antibiotic overuse is incredibly widespread. In fact, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and partner organizations, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), recently confirmed that as many as 30 percent of all antibiotics prescribed in the U.S. are totally unnecessary. In analyzing data from doctors rooms and emergency facilities around the country, the researchers determined that about 47 million excess prescriptions are written every year for conditions that are totally unaffected by antibiotics, most especially viral respiratory tract infections. In an effort to placate patients who feel they need to be given something for their symptoms, when in fact the only treatment is time and their bodys own immune system, doctors put patients at risk of potentially dangerous allergic reactions and the sometimes fatal pathogen, Clostridium difficile.

But there is a natural solution to the problem that Stavros Saripanidis, consultant in obstetrics and gynecology in Thessaloniki, Greece, wants to remind colleagues of: oil of oregano. Saripanidis calls oil of oregano an extremely powerful broad spectrum fungicidal and bactericidal that has no side effects. And best of all, unlike antibiotics, it has never caused bacterial resistance. Of course, as is only to be expected, the mainstream media has done nothing to promote this natural antibiotic.

So, what makes oil of oregano so powerful? Its active ingredient, carvacrol.

In 2012, researchers out of Utrecht University in the Netherlands published a study in the journal PLoS One, in which they examined the antimicrobial properties of carvacrol against the most common foodborne pathogen, Campylobacter jejuni. They concluded that carvacrol effectively blocked the damaging effects of eukaryotic cells without interfering with healthy cell function. They noted: These results broaden the spectrum of antimicrobial activity of carvacrol and support the potential of the compound for use in novel infection prevention strategies.

Another 2012 study, this time by researchers from the University of Connecticut and published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology, looked at the effects of three plant-based antimicrobials, one of which was carvacrol, against another foodborne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes (LM). All three were found to be effective in vitro, and their results suggested that these antimicrobials could potentially be used to control LM infection, though they noted that in vivo studies were needed to validate the results.

A third study, conducted by the University of Arizona in 2010, and published in the Journal of Food Protection, examined the effects of carvacrol and another natural antimicrobial against antibiotic-resistant Salmonella. Their study found that both antimicrobials inactivated all pathogens.

In addition to being a natural antibiotic, carvacrol has also been proven to protect the liver and is a powerful antioxidant. (RELATED: Find out how one woman cured her psoriasis with wild oregano oil at NaturalNews.com)

Other health benefits of carvacrol include reducing pain and inflammation. It is also a very effective natural treatment for respiratory treatments and asthma.

Those suffering from yeast infections, or Candida albicans, will find it to be a very effective natural remedy.

Another problem that haunts millions is cholesterol. It is the oxidation of LDL cholesterol that causes a build-up and the narrowing of arteries. Oil of oregano prevents this process, thereby contributing to normal cholesterol levels.

And finally, a study conducted in Georgia and published in the journal Georgian Medical News, found that carvacrol effectively lowers blood sugar for those suffering from diabetes, without any damaging side effects.

There are clearly plenty of sound reasons to always keep oil of oregano in your arsenal of natural medications.

Sources:

BMJ.com

CDC.gov

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

Natural.news
Friday, February 24, 2017 by: David Gutierrez Tags: Biosludge , Biosolids , David Lewis , sewage sludge This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) For years, the Environmental Protection Agency has relied on fake science and suppression of criticism to enable the wastewater industry to profit by spreading nominally treated sewage sludge over parks, playgrounds, farms and forests  and calling it organic fertilizer!

The fertilizer in question is formally known as biosolids. It starts out as sewage sludge, the semi-solid mix of animal fat and human feces that settles to the bottom at wastewater treatment plants. When this sludge has been chemically or biologically treated to reduce its levels of odor and indicator pathogens (that is, not all pathogens), it becomes known as biosolids.

Biosolids contain more than just human fecal bacteria. They also contain 27 separate heavy metals, and a slew of toxic organic chemicals at concentrations as much as 1,000 times higher than those at which they have been shown to cause health effects including birth defects, cancer, immune dysfunction and neurological disorders including autism, ALS, Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease. Many of the chemicals found in biosolids are persistent organic pollutants, meaning that they resist decomposition and concentrate in human and animal tissue. These chemicals include endocrine disruptors, pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, and plastics.

EPAs endorsement of biosolids has produced manifest absurdities, such as the city of San Francisco offering organic biosolids compost that independent tests later revealed to be filled with endocrine disruptors including flame retardants and triclosan.

How does the EPA get away with pushing an environmental calamity of this scale on the US public? The answer is the EPAs 503 rule, which regulates biosolids.

This rule is a giveaway to industry, regulating only nine heavy metals and not a single toxic organic chemical.

The agency justifies this by claiming that there are no studies showing illness or death caused by biosolids or the biosolid dust that drifts from treated fields  even though endless studies have demonstrated serious harm from the very same metals and chemicals from other sources.

Dont worry, says Dr. Alan Rubin of the EPAs Office of Water, the man primarily responsible for drafting the 503 rule. Biosolids may contain a slew of dangerous components at high concentrations, but unique properties in the biosolids matrix  sequester metals [and] organics [and] significantly reduce, if not eliminate, movement of pollutants from the biosolids out to the environment. Yet after 30 years or working on the biosolids program, Rubin admits that he does not know how this supposed effect works and cannot cite a single study backing it up. He simply calls it sludge magic.

To recap: head of an EPA office says that barely treated fecal sludge dense with toxins wont hurt you  because magic.

David Lewis is a former EPA scientist who was fired from the agency after publishing two articles in the journal Nature highlighting the risks of biosolids, and actually testifying against his employer in lawsuits related to the fatal poisoning of people and animals by biosolids.

In interviews, and in his book Science for Sale, Lewis has chronicled the way the EPA fabricated science to support the biosolids program. He notes that the EPA created a cooperative agreement with a wastewater industry trade association to fund USDA-supported agricultural colleges to produce research giving biosolids a clean bill of health. At the same time, scientists critiquing biosolids were blacklisted, intimidated and even threatened.

In one such study, designed to show that biosolids played no role in poisoning cows in the city of Augusta, Georgia, the data was later shown to have been completely invented by the city. Rufus Chaney, the USDA scientist managing the biosolids program, later testified under oath that he supported such tactics.

Of course, suppression of science that threatens industrial interests is not limited to the EPA. In Science for Sale, Lewis attributes this chronic problem to the revolving door between industry, government and academia.

Government hires scientists to support its policies, industry hires them to support its business, and universities hire them to bring in grants that are handed out to support government policies and industry practices, he writes.

Sources:

MotherEarthNews.com

Truth-Out.org

NaturalNews.com

Naturalnews.com
Friday, February 24, 2017 by: Vicki Batts Tags: Fukushima , government , Japan , nuclear accidents This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) Would you want to return home if it meant living in radioactive conditions similar to Chernobyl? Some 6,000 Japanese citizens are being urged by the government to return to their homes in the nuclear wasteland created by the Fukushima disaster. Greenpeace reports that radiation levels in the area are still similar to that of Chernobyl, which to most people, would indicate the area is not ready for human inhabitants.

Government officials are reportedly planning on slashing housing support for the thousands of people that had been evacuated from the village of Iitate on March 31, on which date the evacuation order will end. It will have been just a short six years since the nuclear disaster occurred.

The village is located just 24 miles away from the power plant. According to Fox News, the Japanese government has told the former Iitate inhabitants that they have finished cleaning up the area and have decreased the average radiation level in the air to a mere 0.8 microsieverts per hour  a level that international organizations have recognized as safe for human life. The government announced that it would be discontinuing housing assistance to the affected residents one year after they have returned to their homes in Iitate.

Unsurprisingly, the governments announcement has been met with skepticism from the locals, and a hefty amount of criticism from environmental groups and radiation experts from around the world. They say that the Japanese government is merely trying to save face  and money  by forcing the residents of Iitate to return to an unsafe environment.

Jans Vande Putte, a radiation specialist with environmental group Greenpeace and one of the authors of a report on the cleanup efforts in Iitate, told Fox News, The Japanese government just wants to say that we can overcome. Its like theyre running a PR campaign to say that everything is okay and we can now go back to normal.

The Fukushima nuclear accident is considered to be the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl meltdown happened in 1986. After a 9.0 earthquake rocked Japan, the tsunami that followed destroyed the backup generators at the Fukushima plant. Without the emergency generators, proper cooling could not take place  and three nuclear meltdowns ensued, along with explosions of hydrogen-air chemicals and the release of radioactive materials into the surrounding environment.

Even though the Japanese government insists that the radiation in and around the homes of Iitate, many experts disagree with their assertion.

Energy campaigner Ai Kashiwagi commented, The relatively high radiation values, both inside and outside houses, show an unacceptable radiation risk for citizens if they were to return to Iitate. Kashiwagi likened the exposure levels to getting a chest x-ray once a week, and noted that the level of exposure was not normal or acceptable.

Greenpeace has also said that a survey team they sent into the village found the levels of radiation dose rates at the homes were well above long-term radiation goals. According to them, the average radiation level exceeded the yearly 1 millisievert maximum recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.

At one mans home, radiation levels outside the home reached values equivalent to 2.5 millisieverts per year. Inside the home, radiation was much higher  reaching equivalents of 5.1 to 10.4 millisieverts per year.

This is not just a little bit over; it is many times more than what is deemed acceptable by international organizations.

Experts agree that radiation levels outside the village and the supposedly-decontaminated area are even more dangerous. Some 75 percent of the 77-square mile area is heavily forested and mountainous, and Greenpeace contends much of the areas radiation levels are comparable to the exclusion zone around Chernobyl. Even taking a walk through the woods, or eating food grown from the decontaminated soil puts people at a greater risk of high amounts of radiation exposure.

It is still relatively unsafe to live there, Vande Putte said. If thousands of people go back it will be a bad situation and its just not wise to go back.

Sources:

Mirror.co.uk

FoxNews.com
An attorney for the family of 86 year-old Eugene Craig says sheriffs deputies violated their own department policy when they kicked in the doors and confronted Craig in his living room during what was supposed to be a wellness or welfare check.

The attorney, Dennis Luca, a long-time retired San Jose Police officer, turned civil attorney, was originally hired by Craigs 90 year-old widow after the shooting last fall.

Simply put, they did not follow established policy and procedure that virtually all police departments, sheriff's office follow regarding the escalation of force, said Luca.

The widow wanted Luca to look into the September 12, 2016, shooting death of her husband, a Navy Veteran, described by friends who knew him for decades as a war hero. Close family friends describe the 86 year-old Eugene Craig as a Navy aviator war hero who helped land airplanes on carriers in the middle of the night during the Korean War.

If you're there at someone's house to check on their welfare, why do you kick two doors down at night time when my client is 86 years old, his wife is 90, and they live alone at that house and they have for years? asked Luca.

A family friend who says hes known the Craigs for decades and was outside the home at the time of the shooting raises similar questions about whether the deputies followed proper procedure and their own policies.

Gene died because of it, said Ron Ronnie Roberts. And there was no reason for it.

Though the Craig family hired another law firm to represent their interests in February, 2017, before he was replaced Luca interviewed the widow and those who were at the home at the time of the shooting. Luca and his firm also collected evidence that he says shows the retired Navy veteran did not have to die standing in his own home with his wife by his side.

Sheriffs records show this wasnt the first time deputies had gone to the Craigs home on Titus Avenue in Saratoga.

Since 2011 theyd been there six times beforetwice for medical calls and suspicious circumstances and once each for vandalism and an abandoned vehicle call.

Friends, family and a source within the Santa Clara Sheriffs office all say that because of that history deputies who worked that area were familiar with the elderly couple living there.

On September 12, 2016, deputies went to Craigs home for a wellness or welfare check after someone from outside the home called requesting it.

That wellness check was not because of any reported crime and it ended up in the shooting death of Craig as he stood inside his own home.

The official press release from that incident released by the Santa Clara County Sheriffs office right after the shooting says the deputies went to the 1200 block of Titus Avenue around dusk on September 12, 2016, believing an elderly person inside had medical issues.

The Sheriffs official news release says that after calling out for about fifty minutes, deputies tried to force their way through the front door.

Because the door was steel encased the deputies couldnt force entry and so the news release says they tried another location and went through a side door.

There they found Eugene Craig who, according to the official news release displayed a .38 caliber revolver, prompting Sergeant Douglas Ulrich to shoot Craig where he stood in his own home.

The deputies gave him several verbal commands to drop the firearm and a deputy shot the individual, said Lt. James Jensen, a spokesman for the Santa Clara Sheriffs office on the day after the shooting.

NBC4 Sports

Pictures obtained by NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit and never before shown publicly show both the backdoor into the garage and the side door into the home forced open.

The Investigative Unit took another picture showing a bullet hole in the side door frame leading into the house. It was a shot that missed.

Another picture appears another shot through the side door which apparently missed the Craigs, who were standing a few feet inside the door according to what Eugene Craigs widow told attorney Luca.

In that picture a bullet hole is visible high in the wall behind where the couple had been standing.

From the information we have, they turned a welfare check, meaning is everybody OK, into a deadly force situation, said attorney Luca. A situation that resulted in an 86 year-old man being shot multiple times and killed in his own house.

They went from window to window shining lights in, Ronnie Roberts said describing what he saw when he arrived at the Craigs home.

Roberts said he saw several deputies milling about the house with flashlights around the windows when he got to there. He estimates he arrived 15 to 20 minutes before the shooting.

Roberts went to the house at the request of another friend, Jim Marshall.

Marshall told NBC Bay Area that he got a call from Eugene Craig that night asking for him to come over.

The retired navy man whom both Marshall and Roberts said was hard of hearing, told Marshall he thought someone was outside his house trying to break in.

Every Wednesday night, we have dinner with them for the past couple of years, Marshall told NBC Bay Area. Its the only outing that they usually take. this particular Wednesday, happened to be their last Wednesday at hometown buffet which is where we always met.

Gene had no thoughts about this in the first place. That this would ever happen, said Marshall

That night both Ron Roberts and Marshall say Roberts was closer to the home than Marshall and so he got there first.

When he arrived, he says he says volunteered to go up to the house and make contact with Eugene Craig whom he told deputies he knew. But Roberts says he was told to stand back by deputies.

All they had to do was let me go in the house, said Roberts. I could have got in to the door, I couldve called him, I couldve done anything, but they wouldnt let me do anything. Just stay there, stay back out of the way.

Only later did it become apparent that Craig mistook the deputies with flashlights walking around the house for burglars. He never called 9-1-1. Instead he called his friend.

I heard a bam, b-b-b-b-bam, said Roberts There was at least six shots.

Roberts says he was standing on the driveway when he saw four officers try to break down the front door. Fail. Then run around back and Roberts said he heard them kick in the back door to the garage.

And then a few minutes later, I heard them kicking the next door. And I heard a single shot and then just as soon as that shot, there was five or six other shots. And real fast. B-b-b-b-bam, Roberts said. I heard the screaming, you know. Oh! Oh! and then the back up, I heard them holler, gun! before the first shot.

According to the official autopsy report, Craig was hit by four bullets to the chest and pelvis. The reports said the 86 year-old was grazed once.

Add in the two bullet holes in the door frame and wall, and it matches the number of shots Ron Roberts says he heard.

They (deputies) didn't progress through the steps necessary, and that's why I say they created the deadly force event. Not Mr. Craig, who has a right to be in his house. He hadn't committed a crime, said attorney Luca. He has a right to be safe in his house like all of us do. The police just can't kick doors, come into the house and start shooting.

According to Santa Clara County Sheriffs written policy, the use of force entering buildings will be practiced with the utmost restraint and only after all reasonable alternatives have been exhausted.

The policy on potential hostage or barricaded subject situation also says officers on such scenes should request the field supervisor.

Ronnie Roberts and Jim Marshall want to know why those procedures were, in their view, not followed.

Why they didnt have supervisors there, why they didnt try to negotiate, why they didnt break a window and put a phone in the house, asked Roberts.

A sheriffs department source in a position to know told NBC Bay Area that neither a Lieutenant nor a Captain were called to the scene until after the shooting.

The source says the swat team wasnt called either nor was a negotiator no tear gas no intercom no loudspeaker.

The Sheriffs Department source worries about the legal justificationwhats called exigent circumstancesthat would have made it allowable for deputies to force their way into the home.

Sergeant Ray Kelly is a spokesman for Alameda County Sheriffs office who would not speak to the specific circumstances about Eugene Craigs home.

But Kelly did discuss, in general, how law enforcement is typically trained when called to a welfare check.

Welfare calls can run the gamut of interest for people and people have different motives and reasons to do it, said Kelly. So we don't put a lot of credibility in anonymouswelfare checks.

Its a situation Kelly says law enforcement officers around the state encounter all the time.

Those calls are very common and we do go to several of those type of calls every day, throughout the year all the time, Sergeant Kelly said.

There are certain things that allow us to immediately violate the Fourth Amendment and go into a location. That's exigency, which is basically a fancy word for emergency, said Kelly. In some of those cases its better to kind of just walk away and come back and then keep reassessing. Use alternative means to maybe find (information.)

Go talk to the neighbors have you seen this person? Look to see are there newspapers piled up at the door? Is there mail piled up in the mailbox? Are there any notices on the doors? Is there any running water? Things like that. Sergeant Kelly said.

So those are things you balance and so it's up to you at that point as an officer to maybe notify your supervisor, have your supervisor or other officers kind of come together and make a reasonable conclusion as to what you should do, said Sgt. Kelly. And sometimes the most reasonable thing to do is to just walk away.

Attorney Dennis Luca and Ronnie Roberts said deputies at the Craig home didnt do any of that.

Those (exigent) circumstances can't be created by the police, Luca said. They (deputies) are either objectively there or not. If the police had shown up and they had heard a gunshot, they'd heard screaming, they would have had to make a split second decision. Do we go in to protect our lives or the lives of somebody else? That is not the situation they were confronted with objectively when they arrived.

It didn't have to happen. It shouldn't have happened, said Luca. And now I have a 90 year-old woman who is alone, who was married for many years to a war veteran, a pilot, and now she has no one. That's not a tragedy. That is horrific.

We asked the sheriffs department numerous times to answer questions about this shooting or to explain their policies and procedures and why they apparently werent followed.

But the sheriffs department refused comment citing what they say is still an active investigation.

They also would not let us speak with Sergeant Douglas Ulrich whom they identified as firing the fatal shots.

We contacted the new attorney representing the Craig family. He had no further comment.

If you have a tip for Stephen Stock you can reach him via email at Stephen.Stock@nbcuni.com or online @stephenstocktv facebook.com/StephenStockTV/

Investigative Unit, you can reach us at 1-888-996-TIPS, or by email at theunit@nbcbayarea.com
Students and activists protested in San Francisco after the Trump administration withdrew guidance surrounding protections for transgender students and access to bathrooms and lockers that correspond to their gender identity.

Bay Area school districts like San Francisco adopted protections ahead of the state and the previous administration. But activists feel a new urgency to stand up for those outside of California.

"We need to mobilize the trans community nationwide," said Theresa Sparks, the mayor's senior adviser on transgender initiatives in San Francisco. "In California, in San Francisco, we can rest assured that we're protected."

In light of the Trump administration revoking federal guidance directing schools to allowing transgender students to use a bathroom in line with their gender identity, Sparks is concerned with the bigger picture.

"He seems to be being guided by people who are against LGBT rights and who clearly don't understand what a trans person is," Sparks said of the president.

Mayor Ed Lee released a statement with city schools calling the administration's rescinded guidelines -- a misguided act.

"We have a local policy with our school district that will remain, but we don't have a federal partnership to rely on anymore," Lee said. "I think they want every state to do it. I think that is a horrible example.

Meanwhile, a national virtual town hall was held at the Transgender Law Center in Oakland to share information with groups across the country.
A veteran Alameda County sheriff's deputy died on Thursday afternoon after being struck by a jail transport bus at Dublin's Santa Rita Jail one day prior, sheriff's officials said.

Sheriff's officials took to Twitter around 3:15 p.m. to express "great sadness" about Michael Foley's death.

The incident happened at about 6:15 a.m. Wednesday at the transportation yard behind the jail near the 4900 block of Broder Boulevard, Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

Foley, 60, was walking behind a bus when the driver accidentally backed up and hit him. Foley suffered traumatic brain injuries in the crash and was in critical condition on life support at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. He succumbed to his wounds at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Sheriff Gregory Ahern said recent weather condition and subsequent visibility issues may have have contributed to the accident, which has shaken the entire department.

"It's tragic, terrible, just an awful experience," Ahern said, noting that Foley set an "example for our younger deputies."

Foley had been with the sheriff's office since 2006, working in the transportation unit, Kelly said.
Students from the Westlake School for the Performing Arts in Daly City claimed top ranking spots at one of Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) regional competitions, a high-stakes ballet competition with regional events in six countries and 14 cities nationwide.

"I dance around 20 hours a week," Juliana Bellissimo, 14, said at a practice with instructor Viktor Kabaniaev Wednesday. "It's something I don't think a lot of people understand, to devote a lot of time and sacrifice for it, but it's something I love doing."

The aspiring dancer commutes two hours to the studio five days a week for her routine, a skill that earned her the title of a Youth Grand Prix regional winner.

"I would really like to be a professional dancer," Bellissimo said, adding that while she decided she won't travel to New York City for YAGP finals this year, she'd like to be picked up by a professional company in the next three to four years.

She wasnt the only one from Westlake School for the Performing Arts to be given a prestigious honor by the organization.

Daly City Student Wins Ballet Competition Semi-Finals

Fellow dancer, Michelle Lin, 11, also claimed the 'Hope Award,' a high honor for those too young to officially compete in the finals.

Dancers age 9 to 19 from around the region came to compete in San Francisco's multi-day regional competition with several winners coming from the Westlake School for the Performing Arts, one of three schools awarded the "Outstanding School Award."

Alyssa Viray, Baylie Ruiz Elizabeth Nip, Emily Moeller, Ethan Rualo, Hailey Rozzano-KeefeKiera Dorman, Jonacy Montero, Mahalaya Tintiangco-Cubales, Mia Hall, Parker Rozzano-Keefe, Sabrina Yap, Summer Brown also receiving ranks.

"It's really inspiring to be in a group like that because we all want the best for each other," Bellissimo said. "We all work super hard so it's a good environment."[[414635593, C]]
The MacArthur BART Station was temporarily closed Tuesday morning due to a major medical emergency, BART spokesman Jim Allison said.

An operator of a BART train traveling from Richmond to Fremont around 10:30 a.m. reported that a person was on the tracks under the train, Allison said.

Police and fire officials were able to the rescue the man and transport him to Highland Hospital, according to Allison.

San Francisco and Fremont-bound trains were not impacted by the emergency. Pittsburg/Bay Point and Richmond-bound trains were not allowed to stop at the MacArthur Station.
Santa Cruz police and city leaders lambasted the Department of Homeland Security at a news conference Thursday, accusing them of conducting secret immigration raids earlier this month and lying to the police department while doing so.

However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials hit back within hours, deeming the allegations completely false, reckless, and disturbing.

Under question is an early morning raid on Feb. 13 that was the culmination of a five-year investigation and drew on more than 200 local police officers and federal agents.

Ten members of a "notorious transnational gang" were arrested across 11 locations in Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Daly City on a host of charges, including drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit extortion by force, according to ICE spokesman James Schwab.

The suspects belonged to the Santa Cruz Salvatrucha Locos 13, a subset of the Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) gang, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. They were believed to be planning assassinations, which determined the timing of the raids, Deputy Police Chief Dan Flippo said during Thursday's news conference.

But police Chief Kevin Vogel said that federal officials have also admitted to detained some Santa Cruz residents who did not have a criminal history or any ties to gangs. They were singled out based on their immigration status, according to NBC-affiliate KSBW.

Schwab explained on Thursday that "authorities encountered 11 illegal aliens" at places where they served search and arrest warrants. Those people were "detained initially on administrative immigration violations due to their association with suspected members of a transnational street gang," he said.

Ten of them have been released, but one person is still in custody "due to his criminal history and possible ties to the ongoing investigation," Schwab continued.

Meanwhile, Flippo elaborated at the news conference that six people were taken to a Homeland Security facility. Five of them were released on GPS monitoring, while one was released with a USCIS interview notice, known as a G-56 form. Four others were detained and issued the G-56 form at their residences.

"I am outraged," Flippo said. "I am disgusted."

Vogel echoed the same sentiment.

"This flies in the face of the values that our community holds very deeply. The community has an absolute right to be angry over this," he said.

Santa Cruz is a "sanctuary city," which bars police from cooperating with federal authorities investigating immigration violations. It remains unclear whether detentions were also carried out in Daly City and Watsonville.

For his part, Schwab countered Vogel's and Flippo's claims by saying that a special agent notified the police chief several days before the raid that "any non-targeted foreign nationals encountered during the enforcement actions ... would be held briefly until determinations could be made about their identities and case histories."

Vogel "acknowledged this possibility," Schwab said, and both groups "agreed that no foreign nationals would enter the Santa Cruz Police Departments facility or their police vehicles."

Schwab also rejected the Vogel's claims that ICE "secretly planned an immigration enforcement action in hopes there would be new political leadership that would allow for an alleged 'secret' operation."

He further warded off the police department's claims by saying that law enforcement is "fluid" and officers are often forced to react to situations they were unprepared for.

"All of the arrests were conducted in accordance with agency policies and consistent with the special agents authorities under federal law," Schwab emphasized.

However, Vogel insisted that he only agreed to work with federal officials because they repeatedly assured him that immigration detentions were not part of their plan. Had he known Santa Cruz police officers were helping with an immigration raid, they never would have participated, he said, issuing an apology to the community at large.

The pre-dawn raid raised the hackles of Santa Cruz's immigrant community because the arrests followed ICE raids around the United States.

At the time, Santa Cruz police responded to the concerns by releasing a statement assuaging people's fears.

It read in part: "This operation was not associated with enforcement of federal immigration nor deportation investigations. The City of Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Police Department does not and will not participate in immigration enforcement or arrests."

It continued: "The men arrested during today's operation were all members of a violent criminal organization that has preyed upon and threatened the community."

However, on Feb. 14, more than 100 people showed up at a City Council meeting to voice their fears, KSBW reported, accusing ICE of uprooting families based on people's immigration statuses.

Vogel and Flippo, who had also assured the Santa Cruz community that the raids were not led by ICE, were in attendance and grew worried.

"The information provided from our community sounded credible," Vogel said at the news conference.

Flippo walked out of the City Council meeting to call high-ranking Homeland Security officials to dig for answers, according to KSBW. No one has taken personal responsibility for the immigration detentions, but federal officials have acknowledged that they did, in fact, happen. But officials have denied the police department's request for the names of the immigrants who were taken into custody.

"I am very angry this occurred and I'm disgusted this was withheld from me," Flippo said.

Vogel added: "This has violated the trust of our community, and we cannot tell you how disappointed we are by the betrayal of the Department of Homeland Security." He also apologized to the immigrant community that calls Santa Cruz home.

Meanwhile, Santa Cruz Mayor Cynthia Mathews said she was "heartbroken" that families have been "torn apart," and demanded an investigation into the raids.

Special Agent-in-Charge Ryan Spradlin retaliated by saying, "Its unfortunate when politics get intertwined with a well planned and executed public safety operation. When politics undermine law and order, the only winners are the criminals."

Separately, Vogel stressed that the 10 gang members who were arrested, posed a genuine threat to the safety of Santa Cruz residents.

A federal grand jury has indicted seven of the men for conspiring to extort drug dealers and three for conspiring to traffic methamphetamine. The raid has led to the MS-13 gang's dismantlement, Vogel said on Thursday.

Velarmino "Meduza" Escobar Ayala, Tomas "Profugo" or "Caballo" Rivera, Ismael "Casper" Alvarenga Rivera, Willfredo "Chino" Edgardo Ayala, Jose David "Largo" Abrego Galdamez, Melvin "Sharky" Lopez and Alexander "Pocar" Martinez Flores are facing extortion charges, prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, the seven men had conspired to threaten Santa Cruz drug dealers and those close to them with violence in order to take their property. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Meanwhile, Gerber "Choco" Morales, Emilio "Diablo" Escobar Abarnga and Josue Alcedis "Penguino" Escobar Cerritos allegedly conspired to engage in drug trafficking, prosecutors said. Since March 2015, the three men conspired to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a substance containing a detectable amount of meth.

If convicted, the defendants accusing of conspiring to commit extortion face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Those convicted of conspiracy to possess 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it face a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine, prosecutors said.
An undocumented woman in need of surgery to remove a brain tumor is being held at a North Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, Attorney Chris Hamilton said.

Sara Beltran Hernandez has been held at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado since November 2015.

She collapsed at the detention center this month after complaining of headaches, nosebleeds and memory loss, according to Hamilton. He went on to say she was then transported to Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Burleson, where she was diagnosed with a brain tumor that requires surgery.

Hamilton claims his client was denied access to her other attorney and to vital medical attention while in ICE custody.

Paralegal Melissa Zuniga says Beltran Hernandez has waited 13 days to have surgery and the lawyers in her asylum case are asking for a humane release to receive that care, The Associated Press reported.

According to AP, Zuniga says the woman's condition is worsening with nosebleeds, loss of memory and other symptoms increasing.

The 26-year-old fled her native El Salvador because of the violence there, Hamilton said. She came to the United States illegally but immediately sought asylum and surrendered to authorities.

Hamilton believes Beltran Hernandez was detained for not having proper documentation when she tried to go to New York City to be with family. Family members have also reportedly been trying to petition for her asylum.

A spokesperson for ICE said Beltran Hernandez was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday and was returned to the detention center.

In a statement to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth the agency said:

"ICE takes very seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care ... During [Beltran Hernandez's] stay at the hospital, ICE ensured that she was able to speak to her family and to her attorney by phone. Like all detainees in our care, Ms. Beltran will continue to have access to 24-hour emergency medical care and to any required specialized treatment at an outside facility."

Hamilton claims Beltran Hernandez was forcibly removed from the hospital and that she was bound somehow.

"She's in a lot of pain," Hamilton told NBCDFW.

He also said a brain surgeon offered Wednesday night to help care for the woman.

Check back and refresh this page for the latest update. As this story is developing, elements may change.
News organizations including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN and Politico were blocked from joining an informal, on-the-record White House press briefing Friday.

The Associated Press chose not to participate in the briefing after White House press secretary Sean Spicer restricted the number of journalists included. Typically, the daily briefing is televised and open to all news organizations credentialed to cover the White House.

"The AP believes the public should have as much access to the president as possible," Lauren Easton, the AP's director of media relations, said in a statement.

President Donald Trump thanked his supporters during a speech at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference and promised a "roaring" comeback of an America that is "bigger, and better, and stronger than ever before."

On Friday, hours after President Donald Trump delivered a speech blasting the media, Spicer invited only a pool of news organizations that represents and shares reporting with the larger press corps. He also invited several other major news outlets, as well as smaller organizations including the conservative Washington Times, One America News Network and Breitbart News, whose former executive chairman, Steve Bannon, is Trump's chief strategist. When the additional news organizations attempted to gain access, they weren't allowed to enter.

The White House said it felt "everyone was represented" by those in the pool and the invited organizations.

"We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.

When asked by a reporter attending whether he was playing favorites, Spicer said the White House had "shown an abundance of accessibility," according to an audio recording of the briefing later circulated by the pool.

The pool included Reuters, Bloomberg, CBS, Hearst Newspapers and CBS Radio. Others in the briefing were Fox, NBC and ABC. Bloomberg reported that its reporter was unaware of the exclusions until after the briefing.

Late Friday, the president continued his attacks on the media, tweeting that "FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesn't tell the truth."

FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesn't tell the truth. A great danger to our country. The failing @nytimes has become a joke. Likewise @CNN. Sad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017

John Roberts, Fox's chief White House correspondent, told anchor Shepard Smith on the air Friday that Fox supports complaints being filed by the White House Correspondents Association and pool TV networks.

"You can speculate, Shep, that there might be some extenuating circumstances as to why those people were not invited, we're going to look into that further...." Roberts said.

In a statement, the correspondent association's president, Jeff Mason, said the group was "protesting strongly" against how the briefing was handled by the White House.

CBS News said in a statement that it was the pool's radio and TV outlet Friday.

"We recorded audio of this event and quickly shared it out of an obligation to protect the interests of all pool members," the news division said.

When Spicer was asked by a reporter at the briefing whether he was playing favorites, he said he "disagreed with the premise of the question," according to the audio.

President Donald Trump opened his 2017 CPAC speech with more attacks on the media Friday, calling fake news "the enemy of the people" and criticizing the media's use of anonymous sources.

"We've brought more reporters into this process. And the idea that every time that every single person can't get their question answered or fit in a room that we're excluding people. We've actually gone above and beyond with making ourselves, our team, and our briefing room more accessible than probably any prior administration. And so I think you can take that to the bank.

"We do what we can to accommodate the press. I think we've gone above and beyond when it comes to accessibility, and openness and getting folks  our officials, our team."

During a panel discussion last December, Spicer said that open access for the media is "what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship."

Reaction to Friday's events from the barred outlets and others was swift.

Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, called the newspaper's exclusion "unfortunate."

"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 in a statement. "Regardless of access, the Times will continue to report on the Trump administration without fear or favor."

Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said that "nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties. We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."

CNN's Jake Tapper took aim at the White House as he kicked off "The Lead with Jake Tapper" hours after the briefing.

"A White House that has had some difficulty telling the truth and that has seemed to have trouble getting up to speed on the basic competent functioning of government, and a president who seems particularly averse to any criticism and has called the press the enemies of the American people  they're taking the next step in attempting to avoid checks and balances and accountability.

"It's not acceptable. In fact, it's petulant, and indicative of a lack of basic understanding of how an adult White House functions," Tapper said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists also condemned the move by the White House.

"We are concerned by the decision to bar reporters from a press secretary briefing," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement. "The U.S. should be promoting press freedom and access to information."

Hours earlier, Trump used his first presidential appearance at CPAC to sharply criticize the news media and take direct aim at the use of anonymous sources. Reporters "shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name," he declared, just hours after members of his own staff held a press briefing and refused to allow their names to be used.

"A source says that Donald Trump is a horrible, horrible human being, let them say it to my face," Trump told the Conservative Political Action Committee. "Let there be no more sources."

Members of Trump's White House team regularly demand anonymity when talking to reporters.

Long before he ran for president, Trump cited his own anonymous sources when tweeting about former President Barack Obama. In 2012 he cited an "extremely credible source" as telling him that Obama's birth certificate was a fraud and also cited an anonymous source in claiming that Obama applied to Occidental college as a foreign student.

Trump finally acknowledged in September that Obama was born in the country after having touted the conspiracy theory for five years.

On Friday, Trump said he wasn't against all the press, just "the fake news media or press."

"I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources," he said. "They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name."

The president has chafed at a number of anonymously sourced stories, including numerous reports describing contacts between his campaign officials and the Russians, which the White House has sharply disputed.

"The fake news doesn't tell the truth," Trump insisted. "It doesn't represent the people. It will never represent the people and we're going to do something about it."
Massachusetts State Police say the second suspect in a gruesome double murder in Peabody, Massachusetts last weekend was arrested in South Carolina on Friday after six days on the run.

Wes Doughty, 39, had last been seen in Boston on Wednesday night. He was reportedly caught by the Spartanburg Sheriff's Department at 3:30 p.m. Friday after being questioned as a panhandler outside of a McDonald's.

After police ran his name, they discovered he had a warrant out for his arrest and took him into custody.

Doughty is one of two suspects charged in the double murder of 37-year-old Mark Greenlaw and 39-year-old Jennifer O'Connor at 19 Farm Ave. in Peabody on Saturday.

Peabody Double Murder Investigation

Authorities say Doughty will be arraigned Monday in South Carolina and could be back in Massachusetts sometime next week to face charges.

Michael Hebb, 45, of Peabody, was arraigned on Tuesday after being taken into custody without incident at the Maple Village Condos on Monday.

Police had warned that Doughty was considered armed and dangerous after he carjacked a vehicle outside of Hailey's Restaurant in Middleton, Massachusetts on Wednesday night. He was found with the stolen vehicle in South Carolina on Friday.

The carjacking victim, Ken Metz, was tied up with a seatbelt while being threatened with a knife while Doughty drove for three hours toward Boston. Metz was unharmed and said that Doughty told him "I cant kill you" after Metz told Doughty about his family.

Metz was able to escape when the suspect pulled into a parking lot behind Hollywood Liquors, which is when he was able to untie himself and run into Good Eats on Tremont Street for help.

Metz said Doughty told him that he killed the couple because they had given heroin to his godfather.

A statement from O'Connor family from Julie Trueira, sister of Jennifer O'Connor, reads, "My family and I are feeling a sense of relief tonight knowing that Wes has been caught. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the law enforcement officers who have spent countless hours trying to find him. We now have some closure."

The witnesses who saw the the end of a carjacking by an alleged double murder suspect discuss how they helped the victim.

Also on Friday, Massachusetts State Police searched a marsh in Peabody for evidence related to last Saturday's double murder. The search took place Friday afternoon near Interstate 95 in Peabody, not far from the murder scene.

Aerial footage showed a number of police cruisers parked along the wooded, swampy area, and four officers could be seen trudging through the marshy area as part of the search.

Police wouldn't say what they found, only that they accomplished what they set out to do with the search.
Authorities are investigating the death of a 1-year-old boy in Nashua, New Hampshire, at a home authorities are calling an unlicensed day care center.

Police responded Wednesday afternoon to a home on Ash Street after a report of a child who was unconscious and not breathing. Responding crews performed CPR on the boy, who was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Several other children were at the home at the time. Their parents were notified, and the children were evaluated as a precaution, but all were medically cleared.

Neighbors are deeply saddened, but not completely surprised. Wayne Andrews says he and his wife reported the home to the state after witnessing a woman apparently neglecting children on the property.

"In the backyard there was a wading pool, and there were five or six toddlers," said Andrews. "She was the only one back there with them, sitting in a chair falling asleep. My wife saw that and said, 'That's it, we need to do something about this.'"

"I came home to six cop cars all up and down my street," said neighbor Pat Newman. "We knew it was an illegal day care center going on there for many, many years."

The death is not considered suspicious, according to police.

Three people left the house in a hurry Thursday evening, declining to answer questions.

On a Facebook page affiliated with the home, a woman calls it a day care for newborns to first grade. Neighbors say conditions on the property were deplorable.

"We did everything we were supposed to do," said Newman. "It was reported to state investigators."

State officials have not responded to a request for comment about any investigation at the home. They say the facility did not have a license. But child care centers in New Hampshire do not need to have a license if three or fewer children are being cared for at the facility.

It's unclear how many children were in the residents' care.

The child's family is not associated with the Ash Street home, police say.

An autopsy has been conducted, but its results are still pending.
Two police officers were wounded and a suspect was killed in a shooting in Northeast Washington Thursday night.

Speaking at a press conference close to midnight, Interim Police Chief Peter Newsham said both officers were shot in the lower part of their bodies.

One officer's injuries were serious; he underwent surgery late Thursday. The other was being treated in the hospital, police sources told News4. One had been released by Friday afternoon.

D.C. Police Union Treasurer Gregg Pemberton tweeted Friday morning that the officers were in stable condition and in good spirits. He said Mayor Muriel Bowser and Newsham spent time with the officers at the hospital.

The uniformed officers -- who are with MPD's 5th District -- were shot about 10:40 p.m. near the intersection of Holbrooke and Morse streets NE, Newsham said. They had been in the area because there had been sounds of gunfire earlier in the evening.

The officers attempted to stop a suspect who then tried to run from them; after they stopped him, a struggle ensued, Newsham said Friday afternoon. During that struggle, shots were fired, he said. It appears that only one of the two officers fired, and that the suspect's gun was also discharged, he said.

Newsham he said he didn't know why the officers had tried to stop the suspect.

Police identified the suspect Friday as Timothy Lionel Williams, 47, of no fixed address. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police have recovered a semi-automatic handgun from the scene that they believe was his.

Newsham said both officers had activated their body-worn cameras before the pursuit began.

"That footage is currently under review," he said Friday afternoon.

Before Bowser can consider releasing the body cam footage to the public, she will have to consult with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Office of the Attorney General, Newsham said. That consultation is underway, he said.

Newsham was named the District's new police chief hours before the incident. He has been the interim police chief for nearly five months. The D.C. Council is expected to approve his appointment in the coming weeks.

Earlier in the night, four men were shot in three different shootings on Wheeler Road SE, police said. They have non-life threatening injuries.

In addition to the suspect's weapon, officers recovered seven other firearms throughout the District Thursday night, Newsham said.

"...We had two of our officers that were out here. We tasked them with getting illegal firearms out of our community," Newsham said. "As a result of them being involved in that task, both of them ended up in the hospital with gunshot wounds. Our police officers should never have to experience that."
A day after declaring "Chicago needs help!" on Twitter, President Donald Trump referenced Chicago's violence Friday in an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference.



"I'm also working with the Department of Justice to being reducing violent crime," Trump told the group.



"I mean, can you believe what's happening in Chicago as an example?" he said. "Two days ago, seven people were shot and I believe killed. Seven people, seven people, Chicago, a great American city, seven people shot and killed."



Seven people, including a pregnant woman, were fatally shot in Chicago Wednesday. The next day Trump tweeted what is going on there?



"We will support the incredible men and women of law enforcement," he said to much applause.

Seven people shot and killed yesterday in Chicago. What is going on there - totally out of control. Chicago needs help!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

Trump's tweet was sent almost one month after the president announced he would send in the Feds! if Chicago did not fix the unyielding violence it has grappled with for so long.

Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson called the bloodshed "unacceptable" in a statement Thursday night and noted the city's request for federal help has so far gone unanswered.

"We have challenges with gun violence in several neighborhoods on the South and West sides of the city. It's unacceptable to me, to the Mayor and to everyone who lives in Chicago," Johnson said. "We've made requests to the White House and the Justice Department for them to support our work - from increasing federal gun prosecution to more FBI, DEA and ATF agents to more funding for mentoring, job training and more. We are still waiting for the administration's response to our request."

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said at the beginning of February the president should just send them.

"Send more FBI, DEA, ATF agents," Emanuel said at the time. "We don't have to talk about it anymore. Just send them."

Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin also solicited Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking for more federal money and boots on the ground to combat violence in Chicago earlier this month.

We must send a signal to these gang members and we must dismantle the gangsbottom line, Boykin said. We must dismantle them. But we also must bring resources in terms of job training and jobs.

The president Thursday followed up his Chicago tweet shortly after saying he was looking forward to a "big interview" with businessman Henry Kravis at the Business Council of Washington.
After seven people, including a pregnant woman, were fatally shot in Chicago Wednesday, President Donald Trump demanded to know what is going on there? and insisted Chicago needs help! on Twitter.

Seven people shot and killed yesterday in Chicago. What is going on there - totally out of control. Chicago needs help!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

The tweet was sent Thursday evening, almost one month after the president announced he would send in the Feds! if Chicago did not fix the unyielding violence it has grappled with for so long.

Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson called the bloodshed "unacceptable" in a statement Thursday night and noted the city's request for federal help has gone unanswered so far.

"We have challenges with gun violence in several neighborhoods on the South and West sides of the city. It's unacceptable to me, to the Mayor and to everyone who lives in Chicago," Johnson said. "We've made requests to the White House and the Justice Department for them to support our work - from increasing federal gun prosecution to more FBI, DEA and ATF agents to more funding for mentoring, job training and more. We are still waiting for the administration's response to our request."

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said at the beginning of February the president should just send them.

"Send more FBI, DEA, ATF agents," Emanuel said at the time. "We don't have to talk about it anymore. Just send them."

Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin also solicited Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking for more federal money and boots on the ground to combat violence in Chicago earlier this month.

We must send a signal to these gang members and we must dismantle the gangsbottom line, Boykin said. We must dismantle them. But we also must bring resources in terms of job training and jobs.

The president Thursday followed up his Chicago tweet shortly after saying he was looking forward to a "big interview" with businessman Henry Kravis at the Business Council of Washington.
Chicago Police arrested 81 people in overnight raids, the department's spokesman said Friday.



Of those arrested, 62 were convicted felons and 14 of them were on parole for selling drugs, department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. In addition, 19 of them were arrested before for guns offenses.

One of the guns that we took off the street last night on the West Side is actually a machine gun capable of firing 40 to 50 rounds in just a matter of seconds, said Anthony Riccio, chief of organized crime for Chicago police.

The fact that we took that gun off the street alone is going to be a big impact, he added.

The raid comes less announcement comes less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump tweeted that Chicago needs help dealing with its crime and violence troubles.

A day after declaring "Chicago needs help!" on Twitter, President Donald Trump referenced Chicago's violence Friday in an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Reloadable debit cards can be handy if you need to pay bills, but dont have a bank account. Theyre also a hit with consumers who choose not to carry around cash. But a couple in Chicago said they were surprised by a key security feature that kept one of them from accessing their money.

As a result, Debora Zonca and her boyfriend, who asked to be identified as Marco, had to put their plans of exploring Chicago on hold while dealing with a customer service issue.

Ive never had such a hard time here in America with customer service, Zonca said.

Marco is originally from Italy and arrived in Chicago in 2016, where he began dating Zonca. Together the new couple explored the city, its restaurants and its nightlife. And rather than carry cash, Marco purchased three Green Dot bank cards and loaded each card with $500.

But he was unable to use the cards to pay for purchases.

It was a surprise for me, Marco said.

Marco learned that he needed a social security number to activate the Green Dot cards. The couple said that security feature was not mentioned on the package or by the store where the cards were purchased.

Thats when Zonca, who is also from Italy and now a permanent resident of the United States, tried to help her boyfriend get a refund.

They kept asking for documentation of the purchase of the cards, the receipt, a picture of his ID, which we sent multiple times, Zonca said.

Zonca said she also offered her social security number to try to speed up a resolution. Green Dot, however, sent Marco a letter explaining the refund request was inconsistent with average customer behavior.

They had doubts on the fact that we actually loaded some money on these cards, Zonca said.

A Green Dot spokesperson told NBC 5 Responds this was an odd situation. Still, the spokesperson explained that Green Dot cards are indeed US bank accounts, in which identity verification definitely comes into play. Green Dots website also said federal law requires them to verify information like date of birth, address and social security number.

But several days after NBC 5 Responds got involved, Marco received three $500 refund checks totaling $1,500.

Im so happy, for sure, Marco said.

The couple is now catching up on all the city has to offer before Marco heads back to Italy.
Sen. Dick Durbin slammed President Donald Trump Friday following the president's latest tweet about Chicago violence, urging him to step away from the keyboard and provide federal resources to aid the city.

Yet again, I urge the Pres to stop tweeting & provide critical [federal] resources for [economic] development, mentoring & jobs to address Chicago violence, Durbin said in his own tweet.

Yet again, I urge the Pres to stop tweeting&provide critical fed resources for econ development, mentoring&jobs to address Chicago violence https://t.co/YivjoX2Yjk  Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) February 24, 2017

After seven people, including a pregnant woman, were fatally shot Wednesday in Chicago, Trump tweeted what is going on there and insisted Chicago needs help!

Seven people shot and killed yesterday in Chicago, Trump tweeted. What is going on there - totally out of control. Chicago needs Help!

Seven people shot and killed yesterday in Chicago. What is going on there - totally out of control. Chicago needs help!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

As Durbin noted, this isnt the first time he pushed Trump for additional resources for Chicago. Earlier this month, Durbin and Sen. Tammy Duckworth penned a letter to the president, insisting that tweeting does not save lives.

We urge you instead to provide a surge in federal support and resources for Chicago to reduce violence and expand economic opportunities for neglected communities, the senators wrote.

Last week, Durbin spoke on the Senate floor, urging Trump to stop tweeting and focus on federal funding to address to crisis in Chicago.

President Trump sends out a lot of tweets, Durbin said. He like to tweet about Chicago, and Im not quite sure why. Tweeting doesnt save lives. Saying that youre going to send in the feds, well, that may be one of those short tweets thats catchy, but it doesnt mean a damned thing to the people who are being shot and dying in Chicago.

I urge the President and his Administration to re-prioritize federal resources to reduce gun violence in Chicago and around the nation, he added. Its going to save a lot more lives than tweeting.

Durbin also met in December with Trumps nominee for attorney general, former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, who was later confirmed by the Senate in February. During their meeting, Durbin and Sessions discussed Chicago's gun violence and Department of Justice funding in the city.

Durbin also supplied Sessions with a series of questions in the lead-up to his Senate nomination hearing but wasnt satisfied with the Republicans written responses about Chicago.

I remain concerned about Senator Sessions commitment as U.S. Attorney General - if he is confirmed - to helping the City of Chicago address its severe gun violence crisis, Durbin said in a statement. I have pushed for answers in our personal meeting and in writing from Senator Sessions and continue to receive the same non-answer.

This is in complete contradiction with President Trumps recent tweets on the issue, Durbin added.

The Illinois senator didnt vote to confirm Sessions in February, noting that he did not have confidence he could serve as the independent Attorney General our nation needs.

Trumps latest tweet, sent Thursday evening, came almost a month after Trump threatened to send in the Feds! if Chicago officials cant quell the citys surging violence.

At the beginning of February, Mayor Rahm Emanuel told Trump to just send them.

Send more FBI, DEA, ATF agents, Emanuel said at the time. we dont have to talk about it anymore.

The mayor took a trip earlier this month to Washington, D.C. to discuss Chicagos violent crime with members of Trumps senior staff and Attorney General Sessions. Despite the effort, Trumps tweets have continued.

Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson called the bloodshed unacceptable in a statement Thursday night, noting that the citys requests for federal help have gone unanswered.

We have challenges with gun violence in several neighborhoods on the South and West sides of the city, Johnson said. Its unacceptable to me, to the Mayor and to everyone who lives in Chicago. Weve made out requests to the White House and the Justice Department for them to support our work - from increasing federal gun prosecution to more FBI, DEA and ATF agents to more funding for mentoring and job training and more. We are still waiting for the administration's response to our request.
The FBI, Illinois State Police and crime scene investigators returned Friday to a home in Joliet in a renewed search for a woman who went missing almost three decades ago.

New leads in the case of Robin Abrams, a former Will County Sheriffs officer reported missing on Oct. 4, 1990, led authorities this week to the home where her family said a cadaver dog caught a scent.



"I'm nervous but I'm not giving up hope," Abrams' sister, Jody Abrams Walsh, said. "I'm really proud of the FBI and the Illinois State Police that are finally getting in and getting to do a real job on the house."

Crews began digging again at 9 a.m. Friday under a portion of concrete slab floor in the home's basement in the 100 block of South Margaret Street.

Abrams was 28 years old when she was last seen driving her red 1989 Dodge Daytona hatchback near Goodenow Road in suburban Beecher, where she is from. Her car was later recovered in Harvey, but she was never found. [[414655693, C]]

Before Abrams disappeared, she had been dating a married man who worked in law enforcement, her family said, and had filed a civil rights lawsuit accusing him of getting her fired.



Abrams sister said the man's stepbrother did construction at the home, though her family said a previous search of the home came up negative.

They are taking all the cement out and they are going over it with new, modern techniques...going to go through it with new, modern forensics and technology that, hopefully, we can find some remains.

"They are taking all the cement out and they are going over it with new, modern techniques," Abrams Walsh said, "going to go through it with new, modern forensics and technology that, hopefully, we can find some remains."



The residents who currently live in the home are not involved in the case, according to police, who said the new lead did not come from them.

"This is a quiet neighborhood," said Jazmin Sanchez, who lives nearby. "None of that stuff happens here, never."

The family who lives in the home are being fully cooperative, police said, and have been relocated as the search takes place.

"The house was there when we moved in, but it had just been built," said Sue Sullivan, who moved to the area in late 1990.

"That's amazing, it's absolutely amazing," Sanchez added of the search, thinking of Abrams' family. "It's good for them to get closure."

Authorities have been at the house on and off since Monday, police said, and had no estimate as to how long the dig may take.
A fraternity has been suspended at Loyola University after allegations of hazing, university officials confirmed Thursday.

The university received credible information alleging the Alpha Omega Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon engaged in some kind of hazing activity, the school said in a statement.

Acts of hazing are strictly prohibited by University policy and Illinois law, the statement read. Hazing is directly in opposition to the mission and values of Loyola, and it will not be tolerated. All Loyola students are expected to uphold the Universitys values, and they are also expected to know and follow our Community Standards and Student Promise.

Loyola says it is investigating the allegations and taking the matter seriously.

The chapters privileges as a recognized student organization at Loyola are temporarily revoked until further notice, school said.

It is the second chapter to be shut down in the Chicago area in a month. In January Northwestern University suspended the fraternity after allegations that four female students were given date rape drugs at a frat party. Two say they may have been sexually assaulted.

Loyola says their chapter will remain suspended until the conclusion of its investigation.
A Granger, Indiana family said their lives were turned upside down last September, days after Empire Today installed vinyl flooring in their home and left thousands of dollars of damage covered up underneath. Problems started, they say, with clicking sounds coming from under the flooring, on the very first day they were allowed to walk on it. Homeowner Gwen Luzzi and her sister, Paula Dunn, said it was just the beginning of what turned into months of frustration.

"We knew in three days there was a problem with the vinyl," Dunn recalled.

That problem, according to the sisters, was caused by uneven floors and staples underneath that had come loose. Dunn said she called Northlake-based Empire Today and asked them to come back and take a look. Its what the customers saw when the installer pulled up the new flooring that they say left them stunned.

"That is when we found the damage. The first installer had cut into Gwen's woodwork, trim and her door jambs," Dunn told NBC 5 Responds.

Jagged cuts in the woodwork, ruined trim and baseboards, and uneven plywood floors  extensive damage covered up during the first installation that left half of the first floor living space unlivable, according to Dunn and Luzzi.

"We thought ohhhhh this is not good. This is not good," Dunn said.

The uneven floors left behind were also a problem for Luzzis husband, Sam, a disabled Vietnam veteran, who could not use his walker. Confined to his room , Luzzi said he was unable to do physical therapy.

"I see this and I'm like why?" Luzzi said. "This flooring. Sam can't use a walker."

When an Empire inspector came out and agreed there was a problem, the sisters said they were optimistic.

"So I thought we have it made, sister! They're going to fix it," Dunn said.

Empire asked the family to get two repair estimates, which they got and submitted. The lowest bid for fixing the woodwork was just over $7,400, an amount they say Empire deemed excessive.

"That's when the nightmare began," Dunn told NBC 5 Responds.

Starting with Empires counter proposal to have its own carpenter do the work instead, which did not still well with the family.

"You have damaged my sister's home enough. Why do you think we would trust you to come in her home and do it again? Dunn explained.

Empire did agree to cover other costs, including temporary lodging and cleaning. But the carpenter was the sticking point: Empire wanted its own guy, and the sisters wanted theirs. And thats when the family said negotiations broke down.

That's when he said to me we will only pay $4,200 towards your contractor if you don't allow us to use our contractor," Dunn said.

It was an offer Dunn said would have left Luzzi in the hole for thousands of dollars.

"Let my house go back to the way it was, Luzzi said. Thats all I asked."

At that standstill for almost two months, the sisters reached out to NBC 5 Responds.

"I had to do something. And I knew about NBC 5 Responds, and I thought I have to try," Dunn recalled.

When we asked Empire Today about the Luzzis complaint, the company agreed to pay for the cost of the familys carpenter, as well as reimbursing them a number of other job-related costs.

In a statement, the company said: Empire Todays mission is to 'make beautiful flooring easy' for all of our customers, and we have worked with the Luzzis to make them happy. We appreciate NBC 5s efforts to help us reopen the lines of communication. Were confident that the Luzzis will be delighted with their new floors.

Earlier this week, crews arrived at the Luzzis house and started the job. The family said getting the flooring back in and the woodwork repaired is expected to take about three weeks.
A pregnant woman was among two people fatally shot Wednesday night in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side, according to Chicago Police.

About 8:15 p.m., officers responded to a shooting in the 7600 block of South Champlain, and found Malik K. Bingham, 20, at the wheel of a parked car, and a woman in her 20s lying on a sidewalk nearby, police and the Cook County medical examiners office said.

Bingham, of the Morgan Park neighborhood, was shot in the neck, while and the woman, who was pregnant, suffered gunshot wounds to the abdomen and side, police said. It was not known how far along she was in her pregnancy. She had not been identified as of Thursday afternoon.

Both were taken to Stroger Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, authorities said.

A police source said the shooting was considered gang-related. No one was in custody.
Many people in the Chicago area woke up to hail coating their cars and yards Friday morning.

Overnight storms began late Thursday and continued through the early morning hours, bringing heavy downpours, hail, and lightning in many areas.

One resident in Chicagos Ravenswood neighborhood told NBC 5 they believe it was a strike of lightning that may have sparked a fire that began in the attic of home near Sunnyside and Richmond during the night.

There were no reports of injuries in the fire, but it was a startling wake-up call for neighbors, who told NBC 5 they woke up to the commotion around 1:30 a.m.

The storms had subsided by 7 a.m. Friday, but another system is expected to return hours later.

Friday will have periodic showers and thunderstorms  a few that may become severe  with dry hours in between.

This is what @AndyAvalosNBC5 & I are discussing on @nbcchicago this AM. Join us for the changes in the forecast. pic.twitter.com/HgtVSWVHXR  Kalee Dionne (@KaleeDionne) February 24, 2017

Temperatures across the area Friday will tell a tale of two forecasts, seeing dramatically differences depending on the area.

Highs will range from the mid to upper in 30s in far northern counties, but warm to the mid and upper 40s in central sections, and reach the mid to upper 60s in areas south of I-80 and northwest Indiana.
Wade Davis was a promising starting pitcher when he made his major league debut for Joe Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays almost eight years ago. Then he was a reliever, and then a starter again and then a reliever.

Now he gets the ball from Maddon once again  only this time as the closer for the Chicago Cubs.

Much has changed for Davis over the years, and not much at the same time.

"The only way he's changed is he is a relief pitcher," a chuckling Maddon said. "He was a starter when I first met him. He's the same cat. He's very deliberate in his methods and even conversationally."

That's just fine with Maddon, who is hoping for more of the same from Davis after a dominant run with Kansas City. While the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees spent big money on closers over the winter, the World Series champions acquired Davis in a trade with the Royals for outfielder Jorge Soler.

So far, the transition looks like one of Davis' relief appearances: smooth and efficient.

"It's been pretty easy," said Davis, who will make $10 million this season in the final year of his contract. "Everybody's been really easy to get along with and get to know and the staff has been really good, so it's been easy to get acclimated to all the stuff."

Davis, a third-round pick in the 2004 draft, was a starter for his first three seasons in Tampa Bay. The Rays used him as a reliever in 2012, and he went 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA in 54 appearances.

But that was his final year with the Rays, who traded the 6-foot-5 right-hander to Kansas City. The Royals put Davis back in the rotation before returning him to the bullpen late in the 2013 season.

Smart move.

Davis, Kelvin Herrera and Greg Holland combined for an overwhelming relief presence as Kansas City made consecutive World Series appearances, winning it all with Davis on the mound in 2015. Davis went 19-4 with 47 saves and 1.18 ERA over his final three seasons with the Royals.

"He's got about three plus-plus pitches in his fastball, his cutter and his curveball," Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis said. "He's that guy. And it's a down angle because he's coming from a tall slot. He's a competitor. It's weird. He's a great mix between never giving in and coming straight at you. He's not gonna walk you. ... His ability to literally live on the outer black of the plate makes it very hard to get any good swings off him."

Davis uses his starter's repertoire to his advantage in the bullpen. His experience in multiple roles also plays a role in his relief work today.

"I think it helps your mind, knowing that no matter what the situation is, you know, if that's what you're asked to do, that's what you've got to do and you've done it before," he said. "So it's not new to you."

The 31-year-old Davis went 2-1 with a 1.87 ERA and 27 saves last season, but he was limited to 43 1/3 innings because of a forearm injury. The Cubs sent one of their trainers to examine him before the trade with the Royals was completed in December. They also signed Koji Uehara to a $6 million, one-year contract.

With Hector Rondon also in the fold, the Cubs have some options should Davis experience any health issues. But Davis said he feels good.

"Everything has gone really smoothly @ spring training," he said. "Bullpens been really good, progressing well, so I think those are all good things."

Davis came back to pitch for Kansas City in September, going 1-0 with six saves and a 1.04 ERA in his final nine appearances. The Royals also missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013, giving Davis more time to train.

"I think you make adjustments every year," he said. "Your body changes every year just in general. ... Took advantage of the extra month that I had this winter and got back to where I wanted to be strength-wise and confidence-wise physically, so that's a big deal."
President Trump's press secretary had some strong words for Gov. Dannel Malloy and the governor's guidance to Connecticut law enforcement about the president's immigration executive order.

Malloy issued the guidance on Wednesday, telling police chiefs across they state that their departments should not take action that is solely to enforce federal immigration law.

During a media briefing Thursday, Sean Spicer was asked about Malloy's recommendation that Connecticut law enforcement officials not take action solely to enforce federal immigration law. The advice was in response Trump's crackdown on immigrants living illegally in the U.S.

"The idea that Governor Malloy would not want to follow the law as enacted by Congress or by the Connecticut legislature, in any fashion, seems to be concerning," Spicer said during his daily briefing. "Whether you're a governor or a mayor or the president, laws are passed in this country and we expect people and our law enforcement agencies to follow and adhere to the laws passed by the appropriate level of government."

Malloy's spokeswoman Kelly Donnelly said Spicer and the administration "would benefit from a Civics 101 refresher," noting the U.S. Constitution provides "clear guidance on the rights of states."

The statement, in part, said: We agree with one thing Mr. Spicer said - it is important to adhere to the laws passed by the appropriate level of government. However, it would seem that Mr. Spicer and the administration would benefit from a Civics 101 refresher. Not only does the U.S. Constitution provide explicit protections for both individual rights, but it also provides clear guidance on the rights of statesspecifically in the tenth amendment," Malloy's statement said.

Gov. Malloy is in Washington, D.C. for the Governors Association Conference where he will attend a dinner with President Trump and Vice President Pence.
A Connecticut mom is asking Gov. Dannel Malloy to enforce the immigration laws after the state released guidance to law enforcement and school superintendents this week.

A Haitian national stabbed Wendy Hartlings daughter, Casey Chadwick, to death in Chadwicks Norwich apartment on June 15, 2015.

Convicted killer, Jean Jacques, was sentenced to 60 years for Chadwicks death, but months before the stabbing, he was released from serving a 17 year prison sentence for attempted murder.

The U.S. government tried to deport Jacques, but Haiti would not take him back.

In a response to President Donald Trumps stance on immigration, Malloy released a set of directives on immigration this week, one being: "Local law enforcement should not take action that is solely to enforce federal immigration law.

I dont understand his thought process, Hartling said about the governor.

The laws that are already out there. Theyre already there. Theyre here. Theyre in cement. I dont understand why (Malloy) thinks that Connecticut should be exempt, Hartling said.

Hartling added that she thinks local police are the best enforcers because they know the people in their community.

Malloy told Tucker Carlson on Fox News Channel Thursday night that the federal government needs to enforce federal law and not rely on local police.

The federal government has its obligations. We should not be expending local dollars, state dollars, to do the governments job, Malloy said to Carlson.

Hartling agreed the federal government needs to also step up.

This is a very serious problem and they need to buckle down, hire more people if thats whats necessary to go over all the caseloads that they have.

Hartling said she also wants to hear from Connecticuts U.S. senators and congressmen on what they think of this.
Rent-to-own is a common practice when it comes to cars and big ticket items for your home. But before you sign a contract, take a closer look.

Bill Waskiewicz reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds for help making sense of his agreement with AcceptanceNOW.

Waskiewicz purchased a couch, loveseat, ottoman and twin mattress from Bobs Discount Furniture in October. Instead of paying up front, he signed a contract with AcceptanceNOW, which is set up inside the furniture store, but operates independently from Bob's.

"At first when we did it, I didn't really know that it was like a rental. I just figured somewhere along, it was just kind of financing," Waskiewicz said.

It was actually a rent-to-own agreement, which allowed him to return the furniture at any time without penalty. That worked out to his advantage when he decided to send back everything except the mattress.

AcceptanceNOW drew up a new payment contract, which Waskiewicz found confusing. The new price included a $159 delivery fee. Since the mattress was already in his house, Waskiewicz asked AcceptanceNOW to refund that charge.

Waskiewicz made multiple calls to customer service, all with the same answer. His wife suggested calling NBC Connecticut Responds.

Our consumer team asked the company why Waskiewicz was charged twice for delivery.

A spokesperson told us, "While the delivery in question was provided by the host retailer, AcceptanceNOW has agreed to incur the delivery charge on Mr. Waskiewicz's behalf and refund the full amount to him."

AcceptanceNOW actually wiped out his remaining balance of $230.

A spokesman for Bob's Discount Furniture said the company wasn't aware of this situation but is pleased it was resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
Connecticut lawmakers heard from those in favor of and against opening a third casino in the state.

During that forum, representatives from the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot Tribes said they could make public very soon their preferred location for the state's first casino off of tribal land. Windsor Locks and East Windsor are the two finalists selected by the tribes.

Were days, were not weeks or months, were days from announcing a decision about the ultimate location of this third casino," said Kevin Brown, Mohegan Tribal Chairman.

Brown said he believes the state has had a transparent process going back two years when they initially announced their plan to jointly run a casino in order to compete against MGM as it opens a casino in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Brown and casino allies have said the issue is all about economic growth, and maintaining critical employment in the state, along with crucial state tax dollars that come from the casinos.

He said the state sat back for too long as New York and Rhode Island legalized commercial gambling, and that led to serious losses on the Southeast Connecticut facilities.

When we stood still last time, each of our facilities lost upwards of 2,000 jobs each. If we stand still this time, the same thing will happen.

For its part, MGM provided testimony against opening a commercial casino in the proposed locations, and argued the process was closed from the start.

Uri Clinton with MGM Internation told lawmakers, "the residents of Connecticut deserve an open and transparent process." Clinton argued that the very fact that no other gaming operator was allowed to compete for a casino license made the process an opaque one from the beginning.

Richard Velky, the Chief of the Schagticoke Tribal Nation, which has not been recognized by the federal government, said he's bothered by the same fact. He says the tribes' compact with the state could and should be in jeopardy if they open a casino off either reservation.

Look, if they were to do something on their reservation Im in full support of it. They have that right. Theyre a sovereign nation, but once they leave the reservation that should be open for anybody and everybody who can show that they can start and finish the project.

Lawmakers would have to approve a third casino, and the governor would have to sign off on any bill that made it to his desk.

Sen. Tony Hwang, a long time gambling opponent, said he thinks lawmakers may change their minds once more pitfalls of gambling come to light, as a result of the casino process currently underway.

Let us not dismiss that these are lives affected by gambling addiction that are not being addressed. When its a public forum and its a stacked deck against the people that are going to be impacted, I dont think its fair," Hwang said.
Dallas Independent School District Trustees unanimously approved a $50 million contract Thursday with school bus provider Dallas County Schools.

The embattled school bus agency is facing a budget crises that threatens to shut it down. Now it will have 17 months to prove that it can still transport thousands of kids to school on time and improve driver performance.

The 17-month contract gives Dallas ISD more control over decisions impacting the transportation of its students. New language was also added to hold the agency more accountable.

For the first time, Dallas County Schools will be required to have a 95 percent on-time success rate each month. The district could also impose a $30 late bus penalty each time a driver does not show up on time.

Dallas ISD Chief Operations Officer Scott Layne said trustees really had not other option but to approve the contract.

"This is our only choice. It's too late in the year to look at another provider, but we do have some concerns with Dallas County [Schools] based on their performance this past year," he said. "Rather than go with a multi-year agreement we felt like it was in our best interest to go for one-year."

The district also wants DCS to use its GPS system to track arrival times and access to the agency's system.
The woman who used to manage the finances at Dallas County Schools is speaking out, saying she's not responsible for the financial crisis at the school bus agency.

Denise Hickman, who spoke exclusively to NBC 5 Investigates, was pushed out of DCS in November after she was accused of misusing taxpayer money to pay traffic tickets for school bus drivers who ran red lights.

She says she's not to blame for the ticket mess or budget crisis that now threatens to shut down the agency whose leaders admitted at a board meeting this week is in danger of running out of money.

Instead, Hickman points to DCS Superintendent Rick Sorrells, who she says kept spending millions, against her advice and in the face of mounting debt.

"No, I am not to blame for the financial problems at Dallas County Schools," said Hickman.

Hickman had a front-row seat to the early stages of the crisis that could bring down DCS, which serves as the bus contractor for the Aledo, Carrollton/Farmers Branch, Cedar Hill, Coppell, DeSoto, Dallas, Highland Park, Irving, Lancaster, Richardson, Weatherford and White Settlement independent school districts.

It's a situation Hickman never imagined when she arrived in 2007 to work in accounting.

Back then, she says the agency had millions in the bank and few financial worries.

"We had no debt. There was no debt in the 150 years that Dallas County Schools had been around, until the camera program," said Hickman.

In 2012, DCS began putting cameras on the buses in Dallas County to ticket drivers who run past the school bus stop arms.

But money from tickets did not come in as fast as expected. Drivers often didn't pay the citations, and some cities refused to pass local laws allowing DCS to write tickets.

Still, DCS bought cameras for each of the nearly 2,000 buses in the fleet.

"If Dallas County Schools had not done this camera program, Dallas County Schools would be fine financially," said Hickman.

Hickman says the problems intensified when Sorrells and the agency's board expanded the camera program outside Dallas County.

DCS would buy cameras and give them to school districts statewide for free in exchange for ticket revenue.

In 2015, Hickman was promoted to lead the business office and says she began asking more questions.

She made a visit to a warehouse at the DCS Kleberg Service Center where she says she became more concerned.

"I was amazed to see a room stacked to the ceiling full of cameras and I'm signing checks for new cameras," said Hickman.

Hickman says by October 2015, she warned Sorrells the agency was running out of money.

DCS was already transferring money from the agency's general fund to cover losses on the camera program.

"The stop-arm camera program is not supporting itself. It's being supported by taxpayer money," said Hickman.

But Hickman says Sorrells continued to push forward on more spending, including a $30 million order for new buses.

This week, DCS board members questioned Sorrells about why they were not given more information on the agency's debt before making that multimillion-dollar bus deal.

"In your opinion did we have enough information presented to us to make an informed decision?" asked DCS board member Gloria Levario.

"Looking back, no," Sorrells responded.

Sorrells said DCS could not cancel the bus contract or they might have faced a lawsuit from the bus vendor. As for why the board did not get more information on financial problems sooner, Sorrells implied Hickman kept information from him.

"We have determined that that person who did the budget previously held everything very tightly and closely to herself," Sorrells said during Tuesday's DCS board meeting.

Hickman denies that charge.

In November 2016, Hickman was demoted and later fired from the agency after NBC 5 Investigates reported DCS used more than $80,000 of taxpayer money to pay for traffic tickets for bus drivers who ran red lights.

Hickman says she only paid the tickets to avoid DCS having to pay late fees. She says it was the job of others to track down the drivers, discipline them and collect the money to repay DCS.

"I had nothing to do with the drivers not paying their tickets. I was not their supervisor," said Hickman.

Hickman hired attorney Steve Kardell who says DCS has already settled what he calls a whistleblower claim.

He says DCS reinstated Hickman and allowed her to retire.

"She is not a disgruntled ex-employee. In fact, all of her issues have been resolved satisfactorily," said Kardell.

Hickman says she's speaking out because DCS has continued to suggest she's responsible for the financial crisis.

She argues she was only paying the bills at the direction of the man in charge and was not the one who approved the deals.

"Dr. Sorrells is making those agreements. Dr. Sorrells is signing off on all of those contracts," said Hickman. "He would have to say why he decided to get into that debt knowing the amount of money the cameras were generating and knowing the amount of money the cameras weren't generating."

Sorrells did not respond to detailed questions NBC 5 Investigates sent him about Hickman's claims. Instead, a public relations firm hired by DCS sent a statement, saying, "Due to a non-disparagement agreement that binds both parties, as much as we would like to discuss the facts and questions in this situation, we just can't."

For months, Sorrells has declined to speak to NBC 5 Investigates on camera.

DCS released a copy of Hickmans termination letter Thursday evening.

It says, Hickman "failed to perform her job duties," and there were "significant issues with her management of personnel and operations."

Hickman's attorney says he and his client believe those issues were manufactured to support a strategy to pin the problems on her.
Police said they detained a man who crashed a vehicle into a fire truck in Dallas Thursday night. [[414696283,C]]

Authorities said police and firefighters responded to a call about a vehicle crash on northbound Interstate 35E near Beckley Avenue at 10 p.m.

While responders worked at the crash scene, police said a driver crashed into a Dallas Fire-Rescue truck that was being used to block traffic.

Police said they detained the male driver and performed a field sobriety test. No further details have been released.

No major injuries were reported.
Additional testing has found high levels of copper and lead in the water in five more Dallas Independent School District buildings.

That brings the total number of schools with elevated metal levels in the water to 12 out of 228 tested, according to Christopher Gray, the district's director of environmental health and safety.

"The majority of them were marginal," Gray said, adding that he does and will drink the water in the schools. Gray said the majority of the water with elevated levels came from drinking fountains.

Gray said 11 of the 12 schools have already had the issue resolved, either by replacing water filters or by removing and replacing entire water fountains.

Crews are in the process of remedying the issue at Wilmer-Hutchins Elementary School, Gray added.

The five additional schools with elevated copper levels are: The Harllee Early Childhood Center, IDEA at Fannin, STEAM Middle School at D.A. Hulcy, Young Women's STEAM Academy at Balch Springs and Lincoln High School.

D.A. Hulcy Middle School also had elevated lead levels.

Roshekia Christian's 13-year-old daughter attends D.A. Hulcy. She said she feels safe in knowing the district is being proactive and taking action.

"We had a written letter sent home. They let us know students weren't drinking the water, the water was off-limits to the kids. So it's really not something to be worried because there is bottled water in place for the kids," Christian said.

There is no federal, state or local mandate requiring that schools test their drinking water.

Gray said that they are coming up with a plan to continue to monitor the schools. Testing still needs to be completed on administrative and maintenance buildings.

Dallas ISD began testing the water at all of its campuses last fall after several schools in Fort Worth were found to contain lead.
Houston police said an 18-year-old sandwich shop employee was fatally shot as he tried to protect his mother during an attempted robbery at the store.

Police said Javier Flores and his mother were the only people working in the southeast Houston Subway restaurant near closing time Wednesday night when two people rushed in and pointed a gun at the woman.

Det. David Crowder said Flores "attempted to push [his mother] out of the way as the suspect was firing, and he was hit." The mother was not struck.

The high school junior was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The robbers fled empty-handed.

Crowder said authorities hope Flores' distraught mother can help them with information about the attackers.
An Orange, Texas man is in custody after allegedly shooting his mother in the head and striking his stepfather.

At 8:19 a.m. on Feb. 24, a 57-year-old woman called Cleburne Police Department to report she had been shot in the head by her son, Shawn Michael Huffaker. She also informed police her husband had been struck in the head with a gun.

After the incident, Huffaker left in a car. Police gave a description of Huffaker and his car to surrounding agencies. About an hour and a half after the original police call, he was located and arrested on Beltline Road in Grand Prairie.

Huffaker's mother was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and her husband was treated at the scene and later released.

Police do not know the motive of the shooting yet.
Authorities say a man suspected of killing his uncle during a land dispute in Texas was arrested after coming to Florida to attend NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports 50-year-old Joe Earl Smith told police who arrested him Thursday that he was in town "for the races."

Daytona Beach Shores police spokesman Lt. Mike Fowler says Smith's family had informed investigators he was likely heading to Florida for the Daytona 500.

Officers spotted his SUV parked in a lot next to City Hall.

Fowler says Smith told investigators he shot 68-year-old Jack Smith over a land dispute in Marion County, Texas. Joe Smith told authorities his family had been evicted.

He's being held without bond. Records don't say whether he has a lawyer.
What to Know Police responded to a home on Greenwood Street in Bridgeport Friday morning to investigate a stabbing and found one woman dead and one hurt.

The woman's 6-year-old daughter, Aylin Sofia Hernandez, and the little girl's father were missing so police issued an Amber Alert.

Police found the father and daughter in Pennsylvania hours later and took him into custody. Police say he tried to flee from troopers.

A 6-year-old Bridgeport, Connecticut, girl who was the subject of a multistate Amber Alert was found in Pennsylvania after a high-speed chase and crash involving a car driven by her father, the fugitive suspect in double stabbing, according to police.

Pennsylvania State Police say Aylin Sofia Hernandez suffered minor injuries in the crash at about 11 a.m. Friday on Interstate 99 in Benner Township. Her father, 39-year-old Oscar Hernandez, was taken into custody and brought to a hospital for treatment of injuries. Two state troopers suffered minor injuries.

Oscar Hernandez, an El Salvador national, is a convicted felon who was deported from the U.S. in 2013, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials tell NBC Connecticut.

The amber alert was issued around 2:45 a.m. Friday after officers responded to the girl's Greenwood Street home and found her mother dead in a grisly, blood-covered scene that police called "horrendous."

PHOTOS: Girl Reported Missing from Bridgeport Found in Pennsylvania

Aylins mother, 26-year-old Nidia Gonzalez, had been stabbed and was pronounced dead at the scene. Gonzalez's friend, who police have not identified, had been stabbed about 14 times. She was taken to St. Vincent Medical Center and is listed in critical but stable condition. Police said they believe she will survive her injuries.

Oscar Hernandez was named a suspect.

Police received a tip that the father and daughter were in New York, and expanded the Amber Alert.

Around 11:15 a.m., a Pennsylvania State trooper spotted the car on I-99 and tried to pull it over, police said. Oscar Hernandez led officers on a chase before crashing into a tractor-trailer, causing a pursuing trooper's vehicle to crash into his car, police said.

Police said the girl and the state trooper sustained minor injuries to her head and leg. The trooper was transported to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Police are now working with the state Department of Children and Families to reunite the girl with other family members.

"Our hearts go out to the family of the deceased and the other young woman that was assaulted. We are concerned for the little girl, and frankly we're also concerned for the father of the little girl," Bridgeport Police Chief Armando J. Perez, said during a news conference Friday morning.

"This is the ugly, ugly side of domestic violence," Perez added, noting that he has "full confidence" in the Bridgeport Police Department and detective bureau to find Hernandez.

Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim also spoke during the news conference, calling the incident a "terrible tragedy."

The Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence also issued a statement.

"We are saddened that another life has been taken because of domestic violence, but are grateful that the victim's daughter has been found," Karen Jarmoc, chief executive officer of CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said in a statement. "We urge everyone to be vigilant of the signs that abusive behaviors may be escalating towards fatal violence. We want the public to know that our 18 member organizations are here to help by providing safe, confidential and free services across the state, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week."

The investigation is in the early stages, but police believe the two victims had gone out, arrived home late and an argument ensued.

Police said they had not responded to the home for domestic incidents in the past, but a protective order had been issued against Oscar Hernandez, who was accused of assaulting another female.

Oscar Hernandez's cousin said through tears that he does not know why his cousin did what he's accused of.

He said he's glad that police found Aylin safe and described Oscar as a great dad who has other children, a "great person" and a great cook.
This week's warmer weather has been picnic-perfect across much of the East Coast, the Midwest and the South.

But, experts point out, an unseasonably temperate February does not necessarily lead to an exceptionally smoldering summer.

Theres no strong statistical link between a warm February and what the summer will be like, said Jon Nese, associate head of Pennsylvania State Universitys undergraduate program in meteorology and host of the school's "Weather World" broadcast.

The U.S. has seen 3,146 record high temperatures in February as of Thursday, according to nonprofit climate news organization Climate Central. With only 27 record lows, that makes it the most lopsided monthly ratio in recorded history, the site said.

[NATL] Extreme Weather Photos: Record Heat Threatens Europe

American cities that are typically snow-dusted in mid-February felt mild on Thursday and Friday. The sun is shining and spring has seemingly arrived early in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York. In Boston, thermometers recorded 71 degrees Friday, making it the city's warmest documented February day ever.

El gobernador de Virginia perdono la infraccion de transito de la mujer aunque reconocio que eso seguramente no la salve de la deportacion

Chicago hit the upper 60s for most of this week, and residents played volleyball on North Avenue Beach Wednesday. The Windy City doesnt usually warm up this much until mid-May, according to WGNs weather blog.

Tennis champ is pregnant with her and Alexis Ohanian's first child

But there's a good reason for all the nice weather: storms on the west coast, not a larger trend, according to Nese and other meteorologists.

You do not want to draw a line between the unusual warmth that were seeing this week and climate change. Instead, you need to take a much broader look at trends over a period of years and decades, Nese said.

The south also got some heat. Dallas and Houston enjoyed steamy temperatures in the 80s, and Austin and San Antonio were a smoldering 90 degrees long before university kids head to nearby beaches for spring break.

NBC Dallas-Fort Worth meteorologist Brian James crunched the numbers on what a warm winter means when summer comes around  plenty of people have been asking him if "we'll be baking our butts off in the summer," he said.

Turns out there's not much of a correlation at all.

This is North Texas's warmest average winter so far. But the next warmest winter only led to the area's 14th warmest summer, back in 1999-2000, James found. The third warmest winter was 100 years ago, and that turned into the 86th warmest summer on record.

"You don't even correlate a top eight, or even a top 10 for that matter," James said.

Me enjoying this weather but knowing our Earth is danger pic.twitter.com/Jy6bINvZ6C  bre (@bre_lliant) February 19, 2017

Thomas E. Downs, a meteorologist for WeatherBELL Analytics, said that drawing correlations between seasonal weather patterns can prove misleading.

Winter weather is mostly influenced by El Nino and La Nina cycles in the Pacific Ocean that cause movements in the jet stream, he said, whereas high pressure and warm, calm winds are more of a factor in summertime.

This temperate spell on the East Coast has been a product of an extreme storm thats now bombarding the West, not evidence of global warming, he explained.

This is really just a sign of one storm, Downs said.

In the past few years, people have mistakenly associated radical but temporary temperature shifts with climate change. Those have instead been due to dramatic El Nino and La Nina cycles, Downs added, while climate change tracks persisting trends over longer chunks of time. These small but significant alterations are much subtler and more difficult to perceive and conceptualize.

In the short-term, its hard for people to relate to things that happen over the course of their lifetimes, Downs said.

Does the warm winter we're having in N & C TX mean we'll have a warmer summer? History suggests "yes" but it's not a guarantee #dfwwx #ctxwx pic.twitter.com/zU3eMm6kyS  NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) February 22, 2017

Meteorologists sometimes use analogue forecasts, which compare current weather to similar situations in the past, to predict future months. Nese said that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt, and he and his colleagues have other tools in their toolkit.

Thats not to say that it wont be hot in a few months  WeatherBELL is predicting an early warm summer that may taper into cooler days after July. But that depends on El Nino, not the storm passing through this week.

Neverthelss, given recent events, it may be time to fire furry favorite Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog that predicted another six weeks of winter earlier this month. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center forecasts above-average temperatures for the bottom of half of the Lower 48 through March.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz will hold a series of public events across North Texas Friday, but has chosen not to attend a town hall organized for him in Dallas Friday.

Ive spent the last several weeks writing and calling my representatives, and showing up to their offices, said Jennifer McCown, who is helping to organize the town hall.

The Senator needs to feel the pressure of the people who are very concerned and upset about everything ranging from the 'Muslim ban,' to the potential dismantling of the EPA, to the deportation efforts, and President Trumps ties to Russia. I would like the Senator to not just say, but to demonstrate that he will put country before party, she said.

Most of the town hall will be dedicated to questions from the audience.

Though Mr. Cruz has declined to attend our town hall, we will be forwarding notes and recording of the event to his offices, she said.

Cruz will, however, make an appearance at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth. He also plans to attend a round table discussion with business owners in Dallas County.

Earlier this week, constituents held up signs and marched outside of Senator Cruzs Houston office. Constituents spent months reaching out to Cruz but did not hear anything back until he personally declined their invitation.

Throughout the country, GOP lawmakers have been declining town hall invitation, apprehensive about the possibility of a contentious outcome.

The Dallas Town Hall will be held at UNT at Dallas from 6 p.m. ti 8 p.m. at Founders Hall.
Diesel the dog did it.

That's the claim a 25-year-old Jacksonville man made after his girlfriend was shot in the leg while she was sleeping.

Brian Murphy's girlfriend, Summer Miracle, was taken to the hospital late Tuesday with non-life threatening injuries.

Murphy told police he was sleeping next to Miracle when his dog Diesel woke him up. He went outside with the dog and then came back into the home.

According to an incident report, Murphy said it was really dark inside the home and could not see anything. That's when he said he saw a flash and heard a bang.

Murphy said he believes Diesel jumped on the nightstand where his gun was sitting and it went off, shooting Miracle.

The boyfriend called 911 and got a towel to put on Miracle's leg, according to Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The girlfriend told police she was sleeping and was not sure how she got shot.

No charges were filed.
What to Know The officer, a member of the Los Angeles Police Department, discharged one round during the scuffle

An attorney for an off-duty officer who drew and fired his gun into the ground during a scuffle with a boy in his front yard in Anaheim said the Los Angeles Police Department officer had to fire a warning shot because he "feared for his life."

In the incident, which was caught on camera and posted online, shows an off-duty policeman scuffle in his front yard with a boy, draw a weapon and fire a shot into the ground after another teen pushed him over a hedge and others surrounded him.

No one was hurt in the scuffle on a residential street that started Tuesday after the Los Angeles officer took action in an ongoing dispute with students continuing to walk across his lawn. The officer had reported the problem in the past to local police, said Anaheim Sgt. Daron Wyatt.

In Tuesday's incident, the officer was trying to defend himself and his father, who is "severly disabled," said Larry Hanna, his attorney.

"He couldn't get out of the way, he couldn't retreat," Hanna said. "He couldn't do anthing because his father was there and would not have been able to get out of the path of any type of bullets."

Videos shot from different angles and posted on YouTube show the officer clenching the boy's sweatshirt and pulling him across the lawn as they argued about what precipitated the incident.



The 13-year-old believed the officer, who was not named, had cursed at a teenage girl who had walked across his lawn in the area of single-family homes, many with tidy flower beds and well-pruned trees, about 2 miles west of Disneyland.



Michael Carrillo, an attorney representing a teenage girl, said she had "grazed" the officer's lawn when he began shouting expletives at her. Carrillo said the altercation turned physical after the boy stepped in and told the officer he shouldn't curse at a child.



In the video, the officer said he had heard the boy say he was going to "shoot" him, but the teen insists he said he was going to "sue" him.



At one point, the teen said, "Let me go. ... I'm only 13."



Another youth rushed the officer, who stumbled back through a low hedge, still holding the 13-year-old.



A teen then took a swing at the officer. Other kids approached, and the man  still gripping the 13-year-old with one hand  pulled a gun from his waistband, crouched and fired a shot.



Teens shooting video began running down the street and cursing.

Hanna said the officer fired a "warning shot" because he felt threatened and thought the boy may have had a weapon.

"The officer got the person to finally get his hands out of his pocket -- that's when he thought he should rush him try and just pat him down, make sure there's no gun," Hanna said. "He felt something as he put a bear hug on him. That concerned him greatly and then the tussle started."

The officer intended to deescalate the situation by firing a warning shot, Hanna said.

According to his attorney, the officer has been with the LAPD for the past five years.

Anaheim officials pressed for calm Thursday after a night of raucous protests.

Mayor Tom Tait said he was "deeply disturbed" and angered by what he saw on video of the incident, but he also denounced violence and damage caused by demonstrators.

"The video shows an adult wrestling with a 13-year-old kid, and ultimately firing a gun," Tait said. "This has been a blow to our community."

Police Chief Raul Quezada defended his department's decision to arrest two teens, but not the officer, who detained the 13-year-old boy after believing the boy threatened him. The investigation continues and the chief wouldn't rule out charges against anyone involved.



The 13-year-old, who is the stepson of an Anaheim police officer, was booked on suspicion of making a criminal threat and battery. A 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery.



Both boys, who weren't named because they're juveniles, were later released, Quezada said.



The union representing Los Angeles police officers said the officer had a right to self-defense after being physically assaulted.



If he mistakenly thought the boy said "shoot" instead of "sue," he had a reasonable basis to fear for his safety, said Jon Shane, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.



"You can always be mistaken about the facts, but you must be right about the law," Shane said. "Shooting and suing are two different things and they clearly have two different outcomes. ... Shooting would provide a reasonable basis for imminent fear of bodily harm. The other not so much."



Carillo has filed a claim against the cities of Anaheim and Los Angeles, the precursor to a civil lawsuit, alleging the incident shows the Los Angeles Police Department was deficient in training officers.



Attorney Carl Douglas, who is not involved in the case, called it an outrageous use of force and intimidation and questioned the officer's qualifications.



"Anyone present could have been killed because of this reckless use of force," Douglas said. "Because someone was walking on his grass, this officer thought the circumstances justified his walking out of his house with his gun in his waistband to confront some teenager."



The LAPD is also investigating the incident.



Hundreds of people marched through suburban Anaheim streets late Wednesday, some blocking traffic and carrying signs that said "no shooting zone." Police arrested two dozen people, including children, after the crowd ignored orders to disperse.



The city 24 miles southeast of Los Angeles was roiled in 2012 by demonstrations following the fatal police shootings of two unarmed Latino men. The deaths sparked four days of violent protests resulting in smashed shop windows and dozens of arrests.



Neighbor Joe Gulrich, 76, said his house was spray-painted during the protest on Wednesday and police told him he should leave for his own safety. When he returned late at night, he found a rock had been thrown through his front window.



"He did the right thing," Gulrich said. "If he hadn't done that they would have ganged up on him."



Mike Gutierrez, 35, said he was concerned by the officer's handling of the incident.



"What kind of officer goes against a child?" asked Gutierrez, who lives a few blocks away.

NBC4's Hetty Chang, and the Associated Press' Amy Taxin and Brian Melley contributed to this report.
The Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942 from Rob Frenay on Vimeo.

Seventy-five years ago, a mystery unfolded in the skies over Los Angeles that led some to believe the city was under attack.

The LA Times' Feb. 26, 1942 banner headline read, "ARMY SAYS ALARM REAL: Roaring Guns Mark Blackout." Some reported seeing planes and balloons. Others thought the object above LA on the night and early morning of Feb. 24 and 25 was a blimp.

In 1942, an attack by the Japanese on the West Coast of the United States wasn't out of the question. Pearl Harbor had been attacked just a few months before and a Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast to shell an oil refinery in Goleta Feb. 23, 1942.

Whatever it was in the sky over Southern California, it caught the military's attention. Air raid sirens blared, a blackout ensued and a barrage of anti-aircraft fire was unleashed from Southern California defense installations.

One of the more frightening nights in Los Angeles' history is re-enacted each year at The Fort MacArthur Museum in San Pedro. This year's "Great Los Angeles Air Raid" event took place Saturday, and video of the re-enactment is available above.

The museum's website also features video of the re-enactment and the following CBS Radio war bulletin: "Anti-aircraft guns went into action against unidentified aircraft in the Los Angeles area, shortly after 3 a.m. Pacific War Time... The unidentified object, which some thought might be a blimp, moved slowly down the Pacific Coast from Santa Monica and disappeared south of Long Beach."

According to the LA Times' Feb. 26, 1942 issue, the Army's Western Defense Command chalked the whole thing up to "jittery nerves." The newspaper also reported that five people were killed, including three in car crashes during the blackout. Two others died of heart attacks, the newspaper reported.

The Times ran a note to subscribers at the bottom of the right front-page column, adjacent to news of a War Production Board decision to prohibit the use of rubber in corsets: "Attention Subscribers! Because of the blackout yesterday between 2:25 a.m. and 7:21 a.m., delivery of The Times to many subscribers was delayed."

The newspaper's delivery trucks were not allowed to move during the blackout, and "Further delay was caused by the fact many delivery boys had departed for school by the time the newspapers reached the dealers."
One of the biggest home appliance recalls in recent history isn't over just yet.

A Corona family is fed up with their Samsung washer, which is supposedly affected by the exploding lid issue.

Denise Berlino is not a happy mom.

She had no problems with her Samsung washer for a year. Then she heard about an exploding lid issue affecting 2.8 million Samsung washers.

"This is like a nightmare," she said.

The company jumped to get them all fixed, including Berlino's. But ever since the repair man updated the software, she says the washer has trouble finishing a cycle. It just fills up with water over and over again.

"You look at the clock and you'll be like, 'Hey, that load has been going on for at least three hours,'" Berlino said.

She says Samsung keep promising to have someone call her back but that isn't happening.

We asked Samsung how it's handling similar complaints after the recall repairs. Samsung wouldn't tell us anything. But according to the company, "any consumer with questions or concerns following the repair, should contact us."

Randy Responds Randy Responds reports solve consumer problems  and have recovered millions for consumers across SoCal. Read up on scams to avoid and submit consumer complaints. CalFresh Recipients Say EBT and Cards Hacked by Scammers

Attorney Brian Kabateck says he's heard from Samsung customers, too. He says by law every repair is supposed to come with a one-year warranty, but he's got an easier solution.

"Just give them their money back," Kabateck said.

After the I-Team got involved, that's what Samsung did. Berlino got a full refund of her washer on one condition: she sends this photo proving she cut off the power cord so it's unusable.

"I'm going to throw it out on the street," she said. "I think this household is done with that product."

Samsung told us it appreciates consumers' patience.

They also told us "our priority is to reduce any safety risks in the home and provide safe choices to consumers impacted by the recall."
The plea from the family and girlfriend of 22-year-old Jesus Alonso Arreola Robles paints a picture of a young man who came to the United States from Mexico with his parents when he was just 18 months old.

He graduated high school, applied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program initiated by the Obama Administration and was granted temporary legal status. He worked in a North Hollywood hotel with his dad and allegedly as a driver for either Lyft or Uber.

But NBC4 Southern California has learned that Robles is under investigation by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol for allegedly smuggling into the country another man who didn't have the legal right to be here.

Border Patrol says they arrested Robles on Feb. 12 on State Route 94 near Campo, California. In a statement to NBC4 radio partner KPCC, Robles' attorney, Joseph Porta, falsely claimed local police had arrested his client for a minor traffic violation and handed him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"I'm a little at odds as to why he's actually being detained right now," Porta said in a Thursday morning news conference at the headquarters of CHIRLA, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles. Porta claims ICE had since moved his client from San Diego to Arizona and ultimately to Georgia where is currently being detained.

"It's very troublesome because it's prevented me from speaking to my client, having access to my client and mounting a defense," he said.

ICE says detainees are often moved around when there's an overcrowding issue and San Diego is a location that often sees cases like that. But they add that Robles has access to a phone 24/7 even though Porta claims he has yet to speak with his client.

In Thursday's public news conference, Porta claimed he didn't know why Robles was arrested and Robles' mother also denied know the details. But NBC4 has learned that in an interview with KMEX in Los Angeles, Rosa Robles admitted that her son had unknowingly picked up a passenger near the U.S.-Mexico border that night. Neither she nor the family attorney have responded to requests for comment.

Meantime, a spokesman for CHILRA says Robles was near the border because he was working at the time as a driver for a ride share app, claiming it was either Lyft or Uber. NBC4 and our partners at Telemundo 52 have confirmed that is also false, with both companies denying Robles was a registered driver at the time of the arrest.



But the fact remains that Robles is in federal immigration custody and faces deportation to a country he's never been to since he left at such a young age, and he faces losing his DACA status. ICE says that since DACA went into effect in 2012, they have deported 1,500 recipients who "pose a threat" to national security.

In a statement to NBC4, ICE says undocumented immigrants granted deferred action from deportation who are subsequently found to pose a threat to national security or public safety may have their deferred action terminated at any time. According to the statement, "this includes those who have been arrested or convicted of certain crimes, or those who are associated with criminal gangs."

Border Patrol would not go into specifics into Robles' arrest but say he was subsequently transferred to ICE custody on Feb. 15 pending a hearing before an immigration judge. It will be up to the judge to determine if he has a legal basis to remain in the U.S.

The question as to his defense lies with his attorney, who says he's not sure about why his client was arrested in the first place.

"I haven't been able to verify that with my client and I need to maintain that silence until I know what's going on," Porta said.
The search for a missing 14-year-old boy, who vanished while walking home from school during one of the worst storms to hit Southern California in years, continued Saturday with help from the LAPD Underwater Dive Unit and about 100 volunteers.

Elias Rodriguez, of San Fernando, was last seen at around 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, in the 1000 block of Arroyo Street. The dive team is searching the wash because because it borders his grandmother's house.

The FBI announced Thursday that they were assisting local police in the search.

Since then, his family and the community have banded together in trying to find him.

"At times you just want to scream out his name and hope that he can hear you," said his aunt, Jessenia Vega.

On the day he went missing, Rodriguez borrowed a friend's cell phone to call his mother and to ask if she could pick him up. His mother did not recognize the caller ID, so she did not answer the call, police said.

Rodriguez's family said he has not run away before, and it is not in his character to take off. His aunt said said he is a quiet boy who goes home to play his X-Box.

The LAPD Mission Area announced the FBI was assisting in Rodriguez's search. Spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told NBC4 the LAPD is leading the case, and that it is "not uncommon" for the FBI to join local police in "all sorts of cases with resources, manpower, technical or otherwise."

Officers planned to walk the area that Elias usually took home from school.

"We're going to be going door to door, business to business along his route," said LAPD Lt. Katie Burns. "We believe this case is unusual because Elias is not known to run away."

Neighbors organized their own community search for Saturday at 7 a.m. People who were mostly strangers gathered from all over to go from door to door and hand out flyers, splitting up to cover several square miles of San Fernando.

The FBI knocked on doors Saturday, searching homes and the trunks of cars for any sign of the missing teen. The LAPD Underwater Dive Unit also joined the efforts by searching an unspecified area of the Pacoima Wash.

"We miss him, we need him home, and that if you know anything or have any information about him, no one is going to get in trouble," Vega said. "We just want to make sure he is safe, and we just need you home, Elias."

Rodriguez was described as a 5-feet 4-inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes, weighing approximately 100 pounds.

Detectives from the LAPD's Mission Station asked anyone with information regarding the boy's whereabouts to call them at 818-838-9800.

Marin Austin contributed to this report.
Venture into the heart of Hollywood over the last weekend of February 2017, and you'll come across a spectacle of red-carpet'd, giant-statue-y proportions.

For the 89th Annual Academy Awards will soon unfold at the Dolby Theatre.

But there's no fretting if you don't have a seat on the inside of the venue on Sunday, Feb. 26, or in the bleacher stands, or you're not interviewing the celebrities walking the world's best-known asphalt covering; there are ways around the show's larger hometown of Los Angeles to watch the spectacle, see an actual movie exterior, view some real costumes from nominated films, or raise a glass to your favorite nominee.

As is tony, swanky, dress-yourself-up tradition, a number of bars, restaurants, and private locales around Southern California will host before- and during-parties (for the predicting and watching) and after-parties (for the recapping). Some bashes are for Oscar guests only, or industry invitees, but some shiny soirees around town have tickets for the public.

Tres by Jose Andres at SLS Hotel is hosting a Sparkle Like Starlets viewing party, while Caulfield's in Beverly Hills will once again throw its Oscar-shimmery to-do. A sold-out shindig at The Art Theatre in Long Beach will also center around the awards, as will several smaller gatherings at bars, eateries, and any place with a television around SoCal. Is your neighborhood tavern watching on Feb. 26? Give them a ring.

For non-party ways to get into Oscar mode, look to downtown, and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, which is currently the place to see dozens of costumes from films nominated in the Best Costume category. Do note two things: It's free to see but you'll want to visit on Saturday, Feb. 25, and not Oscar Sunday, as the exhibition is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

But, the positive news, if your weekend is just too jam-packed: The costumes are on display through April 22, 2017.

And if you hop on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, you can view a recreated exterior from the multi-nominated "La La Land"  the coffeehouse where Mia, the character played by Emma Stone, works. But see it soon, prior to March 6, before the backlot building transforms into another business for another movie.

Such is the way of filmdom: Always onward to the future, the next scene, the next flick, the next Oscars, down the road. In fact, (Oscar) food for thought: Which of next year's nominees are already filming or in the can, as they say?
Costa Mesa police Thursday identified a suspect in the 1997 rape and murder of a 26-year-old photography student whose strangled body was found by her boyfriend on the bed of her apartment.

Sunny Sudweeks was found dead Feb. 23, 1997, in her second-floor apartment in the 1000 block of Mission Street, but the investigation quickly went cold -- and stayed that way for two decades. But police today named a suspect in the case: 43-year-old Felipe Hernandez Tellez, who is believed to be living in Mexico.

Orange County prosecutors said they plan to file charges and an arrest warrant this afternoon, and Sudweeks' parents made a public appeal to Mexican authorities to help track the suspect down. Police said they used familial DNA to link Tellez to the crime, meaning DNA taken from a relative helped identify him as a suspect.

Sudweeks, a student at Orange Coast College, lived with her boyfriend and another roommate, but both were at work the night she died. Her boyfriend discovered her body when he returned.

Detectives reopened the case last April, and by November, "There was a big push to look at this case with a whole new approach," Costa Mesa police Lt. Paul Beckman said.

For two weeks, every investigator in the department swarmed on the case, he added. Fingerprints lifted from the crime scene provided a big break when they matched prints taken from the suspect following an arrest on domestic violence allegations in Santa Ana in 2000, Beckman said.

With Tellez as a suspect investigators obtained DNA from a relative and then asked a laboratory to use a computer that would generate a composite sketch based on suspect DNA and other information, Beckman said. Matching the DNA-generated image with a mugshot gave investigators confidence they had the right suspect, Beckman said.

DNA was collected at the crime scene, but investigators never got a match because the suspect's genetic material was never entered into any databases that were checked, Beckman said. This case is a reminder of how law enforcement won't give up an investigation, Beckman said.

"Nearly everyone who worked on it was here 20 years ago," Beckman said. "It's one of these cases you never forget."

Tellez lived in Santa Ana at the time of the killing, police said. He had previously resided in Costa Mesa from about 1991 to 1993, police said. On Dec. 4, 1995, Newport Beach police arrested the suspect on suspicion of residential burglary, police said.

Tellez left the United States in 2006 for Mexico, Beckman said. Investigators suspect he now lives in the state of Oaxaca with his wife and three children near the resort town of Puerto Escondido, police said. He cooks and delivers chickens, Beckman said.

"For 20 years he has been enjoying life living with his family, raising his own children and yet he denied us our ... daughter," the victim's father, Alan, said.

"Our family has struggled for years with the pain and loss and grief. We want justices for our daughter."

Alan Sudweeks also said he wanted the residents of the suspect's home "to know about this monster... We want this monster put away where he cannot harm anyone else."

The victim's mother, Sandy, also appealed to the authorities in Mexico

"to stop him from hurting anyone else'' and extradite him. Beckman said one of the main obstacles to extradition is typically fear from Mexican authorities that a suspect will face the death penalty in the United States.

That discussion will likely take place as Costa Mesa investigators negotiate the suspect's extradition, Beckman said.
One person was rushed to the hospital Thursday evening after a shooting at the popular Coco Walk in Coconut Grove.

Miami Police said a male was struck possibly two times. Officers said the victim was found at a separate location. He was struck in the leg.

Several casings were found in front of the outdoor mall.

Detectives said two suspects are at large.

No other information was released.
A group of South Florida voters are furious after Senator Marco Rubio turned down an invitation to a town hall meeting Thursday. The Republican was in town but skipped the meeting.

However, Rubio was confronted by constituents who questioned why he declined the invitations.

The encounters were captured on camera. He was approached at Jackson Memorial Hospital and at the campus of Florida International University. Rubio walked away from the cameras and doesnt say much as hes questioned.

Later in the evening, dozens of people showed up to the town hall meeting Rubio opted out of. The event was organized by Indivisible Miami and held at the Universalist Unitarian Church in Southwest Miami-Dade.

Voters were visibly upset about the Senators absence. A spokesman for Rubio said in a statement that events like that are falsely advertised as being connected with the Senator.

Town halls are being held across the country where taxpayers have grilled lawmakers on topics like the Affordable Care Act and the Trump Administration.
A Florida state senator has introduced a bill that would make it illegal to block traffic during a protest or demonstration.

Senate Bill 1096 was filed earlier this week by Republican Sen. George Gainer, whose District 2 covers parts of six counties in the Florida Panhandle.

"A person may not obstruct or interfere with the regular flow of vehicular traffic on a public road, street, or highway during a protest or demonstration for which a public assembly permit or other applicable special event permit has not been issued by a county or municipality," the bill reads.

It also says that a motorist who unintentionally causes injury or death to a person who obstructs traffic would not be liable.

The bill says any violation would be a second-degree misdemeanor.
We've seen so much passion and anger in the past few months over issues surrounding immigration, but if there's one sure-fire way to make all sides feel good about immigration, it's by watching 123 immigrants become citizens of the United States of America.

They come from more than 20 countries, pledging loyalty to the United States, to the constitution, and among them, Anibal Sanchez from Venezuela. Some might remember him as a Miami Marlins pitcher, but on Friday he led the group in the pledge of allegiance at the ceremony in Oakland Park.

Sanchez said it's a huge honor to become a citizen.

"I feel great, I feel great, it's another goal in my life, it's another dream come true," Sanchez said.

But what about those struggling to get to America?

"Yeah, it's really rough, people trying to get legal status here in this country," said Libia Comas, a new citizen.

As for the celebrity in the room, Sanchez said he's looking forward to voting, and no matter what happens in Washington, America will always be a magnet.

"The people they want to come here and they want to make a great future and have the opportunity, the American dream so the people have to do it, no matter what," Sanchez said.

Unlike most immigrants, Sanchez is already a millionaire. His first priority at the moment is making the starting rotation of the Detroit Tigers!
A man who killed his wife and son and shot an attorney at a Kendall law office before he was shot by officers during a standoff in southwest Miami-Dade will be spending the rest of his life in prison after he pleaded guilty Friday.

Fadel Jabado, 55, was in court Friday as guilty pleas were entered on five murder and attempted murder charges.

Jabado's family cried in the courtroom as a judge sentenced him to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Jabado asked the judge for compassion, hoping for a shorter sentence.

"I would like for you to consider my history as a US citizen, and the sacrifices I made for my family who have in the future as a Muslim requires in our lifetime to go to Mecca Pilgrimage," he said.

Judge Stephen Millan said Jabado could apply for clemency from the governor's office, but explained that the minimum sentence for the charges was life in prison.

"You're not getting out, it's life," Millan said.

Jabado's attorney said he took a plea deal to avoid putting his family through a trial.

"One of his chief motivations for doing this plea today, as hard as it is for him knowing he's going to prison for life, because he wants to close the chapter on this case so that his children can begin to rebuild their lives and move on," defense attorney Manny Alvarez said.

Miami-Dade Police said Jabado shot attorney Larry Harshman at Harshman's office at at 11420 N. Kendall Drive on Nov. 2. Police later found Jabado's wife and adult son shot to death at their home off Southwest 192nd Street in southwest Miami-Dade. They were identified as 43-year-old Bassima Jabado and 26-year-old Ahmed Jabado.

Jabado shot his wife because he was angry that she wanted a divorce, police said. He also thought his wife and son were going to take their house from him and leave him homeless and without money, police said.

Officials said Jabado was angry at Harshman for assisting with a transaction regarding the home. Harshman spent months in the hospital but survived.

Jabado was shot by officers after an hours-long standoff. Police said he had barricaded himself inside a vehicle and was armed. He pointed his firearm at officers and fired at them, and they shot him several times.

Jabado had five children, three of whom are underage.
The son of a former United Nations Ambassador who was tortured and murdered by guerrilla fighters in Colombia marked a major victory in his search for justice, recovering nearly $1 million from the drug cartel that executed his father.

The attorneys representing Antonio Caballero announced Thursday the recovery of the money from the Mexican Norte de Valle Cartel, which allegedly has ties to the narco-terrorist groups FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN), for the murder of Carlos Caballero.

The bloody tragedy struck a nerve during the height of the drug trade war in Colombia during the 90s.

In 1999, Caballero, a senator and president of Colombia's Liberal Party, was kidnapped and held captive for six months before being murdered by leftist guerrillas. His family paid millions in ransom, but Caballero was executed anyway. His bullet-riddled body was found on a dirt road.

Since the politician's death and his family's exile, his son, Antonio, had been on a journey to recover assets lost.

Caballero owned land in the Magdalena River Valley, which was an area heavily used by drug smugglers. The younger Caballero, who now lives in South Florida, said his family was targeted because of his land. The 76-year-old businessman was also known to be a vocal critic of the rebel groups.

In 2014, the Miami-Dade Circuit Court awarded Caballero's son $191.4 million and ruled that FARC and ELN were working with the Norte de Valle Cartel.

After the ruling, Caballero's son filed another lawsuit to seize assets of the groups. Many experts said the feat would be challenging.

In an historic victory, Caballero's son collected nearly $1 million from the Mexican cartel. Even though Caballero has claimed victory, the family is still haunted by the savage murder.
A 24-year-old U.S. Navy sailor who had a baby in August was arrested and remains on a military hold after being accused of deserting her post, court records show.

Ana Lucia Gnecco was arrested Wednesday at her parents' home in Hollywood, Florida, after failing to report on Jan. 14 to her base in Portsmouth, Virginia, where she is a seaman quartermaster and worked in the reception and medical support at the Naval Medical Center.

Her father, Armando Rodriguez, told the SunSentinel he didn't know she left the Navy earlier than she should have.

"She basically went AWOL; that's what the Navy is claiming," he told the newspaper.

The arrest was the last resort, said Christina Johnson, a Navy public affairs officer for the medical center. "She was in contact with her command and with the Navy's arm that would bring her back to duty. All efforts were made to get her back to work, but she chose to stay there."

When someone misses a return day by 30 days, "it's considered desertion," Johnson said.

She said she couldn't comment further and didn't know what discipline Gnecco might face.

Gnecco's father said the baby could be a reason his daughter didn't return to the post. "We could assume that having a baby might not go well with serving in the military."

Rodriguez is hoping the Navy will discharge her.

"I hope that she goes back up there and they have a hearing and she is released," he said. "There is no point in keeping her."

Rodriguez said that he and the rest of the family - including sisters and her mother - have helped with the baby. The child's father also lives in Broward County.

Gnecco had a more immediate problem on Thursday when she appeared before Broward County Judge Michael Davis for a bond hearing. She said she's breastfeeding her daughter and needed a breast pump.

She said she had spoken with a doctor at the jail and was told there was nothing they could do. Later, the judge told the newspaper his assistant bought a breast pump for $42.39 and gave it to Gnecco.
A security guard at Collins Park & the Bass Museum in Miami Beach was beaten and robbed by three armed thieves Wednesday.

The attack has the neighborhood on edge.

The President of the Collins Park Neighborhood Association Ray Breslin spoke exclusively to NBC 6 about his frustration over the violence.

"This is the art and cultural epicenter of Miami Beach and we have to make sure it's safe for everyone," said Breslin.

According to Miami Beach Police, three men approached the security guard identified as Lazaro Perea and one pointed a gun at his neck, demanding money.

Perea spoke to NBC 6 in Spanish about the scary encounter. He said the one of the robbers tried to punch him in the face, but he blocked it and knocked the gun out of his hands.

After giving them his cell phone, the report says one of the robbers struck Perea in the face. The victim also hurt his left hand during the struggle.

"No lighting. They can't be seen. They rob. They do whatever they need to do," said Breslin.

Breslin says for about six years he's expressed concern to city officials that Collins Park is not properly lit.

"The city finally last year allocated $296,000 to re-do the lighting and electric in the park. All of their estimates came in higher than that, so instead of going to like phase 1, phase 2, they sent it out for re-bidding. And then an incident like this happens," said Breslin.

Thursday morning, Breslin proposed a temporary solution to the lighting issue.

"You have these generators with lights you stick out on the beach for special events. Ii want one in the park," suggested Breslin.

Thursday evening, the Miami Beach City Manager responded to the community's complain and generator lights were placed at Collins Park.

As for the robbery, police believe the men may have been targeting some rims the security guard had in the back seat of his car.

The crooks took off in a white sedan.
Mayor de Blasio met with federal prosecutors Friday in connection with their investigation into whether the mayor and his aides traded government favors for donations.

NBC 4 New York first reported earlier this month that U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office had asked the mayor to come in and answer questions, and that de Blasio agreed, according to sources. The mayor acknowledged in a testy news conference that not only is he now raising money for re-election, he'd need to raise money to pay his legal fees.

The four-hour meeting with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Public Corruption Unit took place at the law offices of Kramer Levin.

All discussed whether the mayor or his team broke any laws when raising funds back in 2013, and whether donors like Harendra Singh - the proprietors of Queens restaurant the Water's Edge - got any special benefit from the administration.

De Blasio has long insisted that his fundraising followed the law.

"We remain confident that at all times the Mayor and his staff acted appropriately and well within law. We hope our continued cooperation will help bring a swift conclusion to the U.S. Attorney's review," City Hall Spokesman Eric Phillips said in a statement. "In the interest of protecting the integrity of this process, we will refrain from any further comment at this time."

The U.S. attorney's office also declined to comment.

De Blasio's criminal defense lawyer, Barry Berke, already had at least one meeting of his own with prosecutors in an attempt to convince them not to press charges, sources told NBC 4.

"We are very careful about doing things in a legal and appropriate manner," the mayor previously told NBC 4 New York. "We're very careful about disclosing the support we get."

The meeting with federal prosecutors comes after the mayor met with the Manhattan district attorney's office. Prosecutors there are apparently wrapping up a separate criminal investigation into whether anyone at City Hall crossed any lines in helping raise money to try to help Democrats take control of the state Senate.

De Blasio said he hasn't been informed that he's the target of an investigation in that case.

However, the federal probe could be winding down. Former federal prosecutor Brad Simon told News 4 the mayor likely signed what's called a proffer agreement today, and that the questions were likely part of a courteous interview to gain information from what could be the last person interviewed.

"He's not gonna be the first stop, he's gonna be the last stop," Simon said. "They sign a piece of paper. Nothing can be used against him. Like any interview, if he lies, he can be charged. Even if he's under oath."
What to Know Millions of people have been watching the stream in anticipation of the birth of "April" the giraffe's fourth calf

Her story was vaulted into global headlines after activists complaining of "nudity" got the livestream yanked from YouTube

The livestream was back online about an hour and a half after the brouhaha started

STATUS CHECK: You Can See the Kicks in April's Belly!



The 15-year-old giraffe named "April," who has captivated millions of people across the world as they watch a live stream in anxious anticipation of the birth of her fourth calf at an upstate New York zoo, is still pregnant and doing well.



Veterinarians with the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, outside Binghamton, said April's progression continues, but giraffes tend to hide signs of labor as a natural instinct, so they can't confirm active labor.



That said, vets checked in on her twice overnight and "physical posturing and other activity observed would suggest we are close," the group wrote on Facebook Friday morning. Around 8:30 a.m., the live stream actually showed significant movement in April's belly as the long-necked beauty began to walk outside.

Not much changed the day started coming to a close: April alternated between standing still, swinging her tail, and slowly circling her pen.



April's pregnancy was catapulted into global headlines earlier Thursday after YouTube briefly yanked the zoo's live stream following complaints by animal activists that it violated the site's policies concerning "nudity and sexual content." Thousands upon thousands of commenters voiced their frustration on Facebook and YouTube, and the stream was restored within an hour or so.



More than 30 million people across the globe have tuned in over the last few days to watch it. You can check out the live stream above.



April was seen slinking gracefully around her hay-laden home Friday morning in no apparent distress. Once she goes into active labor, zoo officials say the keepers will go in to help her but first-time dad, 5-year-old Oliver, will be held out of the pen. The dad-to-be will get to go outside with his mate for some exercise Friday, zoo officials said, but they have to be kept apart.



"Her and Oliver will both enjoy yard time today, but are kept separate due to April's condition," the group wrote on Facebook. "His rambunctious play for an extended period could have negative effects. Boys will be boys."

Giraffe pregnancies last for 15 months. Labor lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The calf will be about 150 pounds and 6 feet tall at birth and up and walking in about an hour. The zoo says it will hold a contest to name it.
What to Know President Trump will speak to the nation's top conservatives at the CPAC conference today

Celebrities joined other advocates for trans rights in condemning a decision by the White House to roll back bathroom protections

A banned chemical weapon killed the estranged half brother of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un, officials said

Get the top headlines of the day in your morning briefing from NBC 4 New York, Monday through Friday. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Trump Splits GOP and Dems, Poll Shows

Fifty-four percent of Americans somewhat or strongly disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling the presidency after a month in office, while 43 percent approve somewhat or strongly, according to the latest NBC News|SurveyMonkey poll. NBC News reported that Trump enjoys broad support from within his party, but few outside of it, with evident divisions along gender and racial lines as well. Nine of 10 Republicans or people who lean Republican approve of Trump's performance as president.

Trump to Address Top Conservatives

Trump's upcoming speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference is designed to be one of appreciation, White House senior strategist Steve Bannon said Thursday. "He understands, at CPAC there are many, many, many voices," he said. "This is the room where he got his launch." Bannon said Breitbart News, which he led before joining Trump's team last summer, and other conservative outlets first took note of the brash billionaire at his CPAC debut. And that's where Trump first began understanding the conservatives who years later would help him win the presidency. On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence and top aides delivered one overriding message to the thousands of conservative activists gathered for their annual conference outside of Washington: Don't blow it.

Celebs Blast Rollback of Trans Rights

Caitlyn Jenner late Thursday joined a chorus of celebrities criticizing President Trump's decision to roll back a federal rule saying public schools had to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their chosen gender identity. The rule had already been blocked from enforcement, but transgender advocates view the Trump administration action as a step back for transgender rights. Meanwhile, New Yorkers rallied in support of transgender students at the famed Stonewall Inn Thursday as Gov. Cuomo issued a directive urging the state Department of Education to make clear to all school districts that transgender students be shielded from discrimination and harassment.

White House: Crackdown on Legal Weed Likely

The Justice Department will step up enforcement of federal law against recreational marijuana, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday, offering the Trump administration's strongest indication to date of a looming crackdown on the drug, even as a solid majority of Americans believe it should be legal. "I do believe you'll see greater enforcement of it," Spicer said in response to a question during a news conference. But he offered no details about what such enforcement would entail.

Nerve Agent Killed Kim Jong Nam: Officials

The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was attacked by two women who rubbed the substance on his face at the airport in Malaysia's capital last week, police said Friday. Authorities were checking the Kuala Lumpur airport for traces of the toxin, 11 days after the attack. But news that a powerful nerve agent was used to kill someone in a crowded airport raised serious questions about public safety.

Stream of Pregnant Giraffe Causes Stir

YouTube apparently restored an upstate New York zoo's livestream of a giraffe preparing to give birth that had been abruptly suspended Thursday after animal activists complained about "nudity and sexual content" in violation of the site's policy. More than 20 million had been viewing the cam, placed in the stall of April the giraffe at the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, in anticipation of the birth of her fourth calf. Then suddenly, the stream stopped.

Beyonce Backs out of Coachella

Beyonce, who is pregnant with twins, will not perform at Coachella this year, but will headline the festival in 2018. In a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday, Beyonce's Parkwood Entertainment and festival producer Goldenvoice said the pop star had to pull out of the famed festival under doctor's orders. It was not clear who will perform in her absence. Radiohead and Kendrick Lamar will also headline the two-weekend festival in Indio, California.
Former President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance in New York City Friday afternoon, where he was spotted and greeted by adoring fans before going on to catch a Broadway show with daughter Malia later that night.

Obama was first seen leaving an office building at 160 Fifth Avenue, near the Flatiron Building, around 12 p.m.

There was a strong security presence around the entrance to the building prior to Obama's exit, and by the time he made his departure the street was thronged the people waiting to catch a glimpse of the former president.

Video posted on Instagram showed a relaxed Obama walk out of the building with a coffee cup in hand, smiling and waving to the crowd.

The crowds can be heard screaming "I love you" as he makes his way to a waiting car.

Later, Obama and daughter Malia attended a performance of "The Price" at the American Airlines Theatre, a spokesman for the Roundabout Theatre Company confirmed. The Broadway play, penned by Arthur Miller, stars Marc Ruffalo, Jessica Hecht, Tony Shalhoub and Danny DeVito.

In "The Price," a police officer feels that life has passed him by while he took care of his now-dead father. He and his estranged brother must reunite to sell off dad's possessions.

The Obamas were big boosters of Broadway during his presidency, especially "Hamilton," ''A Raisin in the Sun" and "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." Members of the Obama family also attended "Memphis," ''Kinky Boots," ''Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," ''Sister Act," ''The Trip to Bountiful," ''Motown the Musical" and "The Addams Family."
As Iraqi ground troops pushed into western Mosul on Friday, the country's air force struck Islamic State group targets inside Syria for the first time in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by the militants.

Meanwhile, at least 60 people were killed in IS attacks near a key northern Syrian town captured only a day earlier from the extremists by Turkish forces and their Syrian opposition allies.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the Iraqi airstrikes in Syria in a statement, saying the border towns of Boukamal and Husseibah were targeted in response to recent bombings in Baghdad linked to Islamic State group operations there.

Iraqi forces closely supported by the U.S.-led international coalition pushed into the first neighborhood of western Mosul and took full control of the city's international airport and a sprawling military base on the southwestern edge of the city, according to Iraqi officials.

The territorial gains were the most significant yet in the battle, now in its sixth day, to rout IS militants from the western half of Iraq's second-largest city.

As Iraqi warplanes struck IS targets across the border, militants in northern Syria staged a suicide car bomb attack outside a security office operated by the Syrian opposition in a village five miles (eight kilometers) north of al-Bab, killing at least 60 people. The town had been controlled by IS since late 2013, but the militants finally retreated Thursday after more than two months of intense fighting.

Most of those killed in the village of Sousian were civilians awaiting permits and an escort to return to al-Bab, a Syrian military commander in the city told The Associated Press. At least six fighters were among those killed in the attack, according to Turkey's prime minister, who spoke in Ankara.

Hours after the first explosion in Sousian, another car bomb attack was reported in the village, killing at least eight people, according to activist groups. There were no further details on the attack, and the Aleppo Media Center later took down the report.

An additional explosion was reported south of al-Bab, where two Turkish soldiers were killed when an explosive device went off as they were removing land mines, Turkey's military said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights corroborated the report, saying the explosives detonated near Tadif, an IS-controlled town south of al-Bab. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, however, called the explosion a "suicide attack." It was not immediately possible to reconcile the accounts.

In Mosul, meanwhile, Iraqi forces pushed into the Mamun neighborhood and engaged in intense clashes with IS militants, according to an Iraqi special forces officer on the ground, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Federal police Maj. Gen. Haider al-Maturi said his forces pushed through concrete roadblocks and earthen berms set up by the Islamic State group, and succeeded in capturing around 30 percent of the Aviation District, the first district entering Mosul's western perimeter from the south.

"There were fierce clashes. We faced car bombs, suicide attackers and mortar shelling," al-Maturi said. "The battle ahead will be difficult and complicated because of the civilians around. It'll be street fights."

Al-Maturi said six Iraqi troops were wounded, including two officers. However, an AP team near the front line saw at least four wounded special forces' members and the bodies of three soldiers, suggesting more intense fighting than the previous day. A Canadian medic volunteering at a front-line clinic said he had treated at least 10 wounded federal policemen. Iraq's military does not release official casualty figures.

Earlier on Friday, the spokesman of the Joint Military Operation Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, said Iraqi forces had also retaken the military base adjacent to the airport.

The advances came a day after special forces joined the fight for western Mosul.

Both the Ghazlani military base and the airport will be key to the next steps in the daunting battle and will serve as a base of operations as Iraqi forces launch subsequent pushes into western Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River into two halves.

Iraqi authorities declared the city's eastern half "fully liberated" from the Sunni militants in January, three months after launching the operation to take back Mosul.

The United Nations estimates about 750,000 civilians are trapped in western Mosul. The initial numbers of displaced have been low, but Iraqi forces have yet to punch into the sector's dense urban neighborhoods, an operation that is expected to be the most difficult yet. The western half of the city is denser, with older neighborhoods and narrower streets that will likely complicate the already difficult urban combat ahead.
Hollywood will honor the best in the business Sunday night at the Oscars, and one of the nominees in the Best Picture category has a distinct Texas connection.

The movie "Hell or High Water" is based on McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara. The movie is about a Texas Ranger looking for one last triumph before his retirement.

McNamara was a member of the U.S. Marshals Service before he was forced into retirement at 57 due to federal age restrictions. McNamara discovered he wasn't ready to leave law enforcement, so in 2012, he ran for McLennan County Sheriff and won.

Now, the sheriff's story could win a coveted Oscar for his screenplay-writing cousin, Taylor Sheridan.

Millions of people will tune in to watch the Oscars this weekend. While the stars may be dressed to the nines in expensive outfits, we found some of the hottest looks in Dallas that don't cost a fortune.

Sheridan wrote the screenplay for "Hell or High Water" after growing up in Bosque County and idolizing McNamara. It's his second movie penned, with the first being the Writer's Guild of America-nominated "Sicario."

Sheridan consulted the sheriff as he developed the script and worked hand in hand with lead actor Jeff Bridges. McNamara told NBC 5 he also worked very closely with Bridges as he prepared for the role.

McNamara says Bridges looked for advice on everything from clothes to line reading as the mentor/mentee relationship grew. When the crew was ready to film, Bridges nailed down McNamara's Texas look, making them look like twins.

Now, McNamara is in need of advice as he makes plans to head to L.A. on Sunday to walk the red carpet. His trademark Texas threads won't work among the glitzy and glamorous.

"Cowboy boots and a hat aren't allowed, so I'll be wearing a tux," he said.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story said McNamara was a Texas Ranger. That was an error and the story has been corrected.
Police executing a drug raid have recovered a stolen piece of pop art depicting Bruce Springsteen.

NJ.com reports officers found the metal cutout of Springsteen after searching an apartment in Asbury Park on Feb. 17.



Police say they found two guns, various drugs and drug packaging equipment, and personal electronics. Police charged tenant, Quaddeer Omar Fitzpatrick, with drug, weapons and stolen property charges. [[414710873, C]]

Officials say the Springsteen portrait belongs to a local store owner who specializes in repurposed home decor pieces. The green and white image cut into metal by a torch was stolen in November.

Springsteen's career began in the New Jersey shore city, where he frequently returns to perform. [[238904721, C]]
What to Know An Amber Alert was issued for 6-year-old Aylin Sofia Hernandez

Her father is a suspect in a deadly stabbing in Bridgeport, Connecticut

The daughter was recovered in Pennsylvania and the father was in custody

The missing 6-year-old girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert Friday morning was safely located after an eight-hour multi-state manhunt, Pennsylvania police said.

Police had been looking for Aylin Sofia Hernandez and her father Oscar Hernandez since the 39-year-old Hernandez fled his Bridgeport home after allegedly stabbing her mother, 26-year-old Nidia Gonzalez, to death.

A neighbor placed a 911 call to police around 2:45 a.m. Friday about a disturbance at 69 Greenwood St., Bridgeport Police Captain Brian Fitzgerald said at a press conference.

When officers arrived, they found a small, cramped one-story basement apartment that was described by police earlier as a blood-soaked, gruesome scene that characterized the "ugly side of domestic violence."

Authorities weren't sure if Gonzalez and Hernandez were still together at the time of her attack.

Law enforcement officials also found evidence of people drinking in the apartment.

Another woman, possibly the mother's friend, was stabbed 14 times but survived. She underwent surgery at St. Vincent Medical Center and is in critical, but stable condition, Fitzgerald said. She is expected to survive.

The hunt for Oscar Hernandez -- an El Salvador national who had previously been deported -- led police from Connecticut to New York City, where he had been spotted at some point in the Bronx, to Pennsylvania, where a Pennsylvania state trooper spotted his vehicle at around 11:15 a.m.

Hernandez led police on a pursuit on Interstate 99 until he hit multiple cars and crashed his vehicle with his daughter inside. He was taken into custody and brought to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. Two state troopers sustained minor injuries.

Little Aylin suffered minor head and leg injuries from the crash. Authorities say she's fine and will be returned to her family.

"It's all good," said Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim. "Because of the efforts of so many, the fact that she's going to be safe and returned... it's a great moment."

"This doesn't just happen by accident, they delivered this little girl home," said Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez. "She lost her mom and her father, her life has changed forever. We will embrace her and do whatever we have to do to take care of her."

Neighbors and family members were in disbelief.

"He should not have done this, any woman don't deserve this," his cousin said. "If you're not happy with your wife, just go away. But no heart, you leave a child with no father and no mother, that's sad."

"I really don't understand how a man just look at a woman and stabs her," said Delores Witter.

Hernandez was deported from Hartford, Connecticut in the fall of 2013, according to Shawn Neudauer, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He has prior felony convctions from 2002 for assault and threatening, as well as several misdemeanor convictions.

Hernandez had not been encountered by ICE since he was deported, and authorities had no information about him being back in the U.S. since then.

ICE has placed an immigration detainer with the Bridgeport Police Department, which means if Hernandez is released for any reason -- including on bond -- he will be released to ICE, said Neudauer.
The opening date has been set for the upcoming Legoland Discover Center in Plymouth Meeting and the children's toy brand's recent success could give a boost to the Philadelphia region's tourism.

The Plymouth Meeting site last week offered a sneak peek of what's in store in the new location: a Lego version of Boathouse Row.

Now there's an opening date: April 6.

Unveiling the first piece in Legos MINILAND Philadelphia display, a model of Liberty Place made of 17,760 @LEGO_Group bricks! pic.twitter.com/6QHkpfQBYV  Jim Kenney (@PhillyMayor) February 23, 2017

Mayor Jim Kenney made the announcement on Thursday while unveiling the first Philadelphia landmark to be completed for the Miniland Philadelphia area: A 9-foot model of One Liberty Place made of more than 17,000 Lego bricks, which required about nine builders and took more than 930 hours to complete.

To read full article, click here.

For more business news, visit Philadelphia Business Journal.
The owners of a beloved Jersey shore pizza restaurant chain were sentenced in their federal tax evasion case Friday.

Manco & Manco owner Charles Bangle was sentenced to 15 months in prison for tax evasion. His wife Mary Bangle was sentenced to three years probation and fined $3,000.

The couple pleaded guilty to tax evasion crimes in 2015. They were accused of stealing thousands of dollars between 2007 and 2011 by under reporting taxable income.[[414750783, C]]

Charles Bangle pleaded guilty to evading taxes and his wife admitted to knowingly making materially false statements to the IRS. George faces up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines while Mary faces five years and a $250,000 fine.

Manco & Manco Pizza opened on the Ocean City Boardwalk (918 Boardwalk) in 1956. There are currently three locations on the boardwalk and a fourth location in nearby Somers Point. [[414500383, C]]
Philadelphia police are searching for a driver who struck a man in a crosswalk in Kensington and never stopped.

Surveillance video obtained exclusively by NBC10 showed the man crossing Clearfield Street in Kensington when a silver sedan with a sunroof flies through the crosswalk.

The car struck the 43-year-old man, who was walking home from the store and kept going.

Police said the man was thrown 50 feet, suffered severe head trauma and broke both of his legs. He was rushed to Hahnemann Hospital in critical condition.

Police continued to search for a silver 4-door sedan with a sunroof that has front-end damage and a broken windshield.
A controversial petition calling for Philadelphia to create safe injection clinics has been making the rounds online in hopes of eventually landing on Mayor Jim Kenneys desk.



Created by Dan Martino and fellow activists at the Philadelphia Overdose Prevention Initiative (POPI), the idea is to build a site where drug users can self-inject in a safe and sterile environment. They would also have access to clean needles, sanitary facilities and, most importantly, access to medical professionals who can connect them with rehabilitation and other health resources.



I hear people complaining that this is enabling, Martino said. Doing nothing is enabling. Weve already tried policing, and its not working.



More than 900 people died from heroin or opioid overdoses in Philadelphia last year compared to 277 homicide deaths, according to police records.

Several of the people who signed Martino's petition knew at least one person included in that tally.



I'm signing because my best friend's fiance was 1 of the 900," wrote Katie Koplitz on the petitions website.



I'm signing because at the young ages of 18 & 19 I lost both of my parents to overdoses," wrote Erin Hetrick. "It has affected me in many ways and I pray that this helps fight the opioid epidemic."



The comments go on and on, tallying up to more than 600 at the time this article was published.

Nationally, drug overdose deaths involving heroin increased from 8 percent in 2010 to 25 percent in 2015, according to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Similarly, overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids increased from 8 percent in 2010 to 18 percent in 2015.

In Philadelphia, more than 55,000 residents are thought to be misusing or abusing opioids, city officials said.

Often users will quickly move from powerful painkillers to heroin when they can no longer afford the legal drugs. NBC10 recently explored this transition and how the crisis is claiming an increasing number of lives in a special, six-month long investigation, Generation Addicted.

Like many people who live near the epicenter of this growing epidemic, Martino is not exempt from tragedy. His sisters fiance overdosed on fentanyl in a friends basement three years ago. Martino had to keep her from jumping into her partners casket at the funeral, he said. Meanwhile, Martinos cousin continues to struggle with addiction. He travels to the Kensington section of North Philadelphia to get high, and often returns home without shoes or his wallet.



When you pass out, you get robbed, Martino said.



I meet people every day who deal with this. When you have 900 deaths, you know at least one person who has been affected by this.



Safe injection clinics are not necessarily new, though there are no such programs currently operating in the area. They first popped up in Europe in the 1980s, and have since spread to Australia, Canada and now to the United States.



Seattle approved the nations first injection clinic last month. Opponents countered these sites would only serve to promote drug use, but the citys mayor considered it a public health solution.



These sites save lives and that is our goal in Seattle/King County, Democratic Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said in a statement.



Boston, New York City and Ithaca, New York are also considering similar programs.



It's time to embrace options that embrace harm reduction, said Paul Cherashore, POPI co-founder and co-creator of the petition.



This is already in peoples backyards and frontyards and front steps. Its time to put it into a contained site.



Martino, who doubles as the Olde Richmond Civic Association secretary, lives close to the heart of Philadelphias opioid crisis. The intersection of Kensington and Allegheny is just one mile away from his home, and the infamous "El Campamento" is not much further. There, an ocean of dirty needles litter an already squalid scene filled with trash, clothes and drug users seeking any semblance of privacy, Martino said.



While the 'The Tracks,' as they're known -- located in the Fairhill area of North Philadelphia -- provides some cover from the casual observer, it also prevents neighbors and first responders from accessing people in need. Frequently, only other users are present when someone overdoses.



Its like a third world country, he said. There are no nurses standing by under a bridge. There is no connection to rehab in a playground.



Last year, Martino participated in a neighborhood clean-up along Aramingo Street just outside the quickly gentrifying Fishtown area. At a local Wawa, Martino discovered 11 used needles.



The last thing I want to see is a toddler putting a dirty in his mouth, he said.

Even if you dont care about an addict or you dont care if an addict gets clean, you at least care if there are dirty needles. Injection sites can help prevent that.



In response to the ongoing crisis, Kenney formed The Mayors Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic last year. The task force was given 90 days to review five areas of concern, including prevention strategies, law enforcement and public education.



A spokesman for Kenneys office declined to comment on Martinos petition, but said the mayor will weigh all options when the task force presents its recommendations at the end of those 90 days.
Over a dozen San Francisco firefighters on Wednesday rushed to save a dog that plunged over a cliff at Fort Funston.

It took a crew of 16 people roughly one hour to pull the dog to safety. But it remains unclear what led to the fall.

San Francisco fire Capt. Jonathan Baxter said that it is important that a dog respond to verbal commands when in a park that doesn't require the canines stay on a leash. Fort Funston is dotted with cliffs, which can be very dangerous for animals that get too close to the edge, he said.

On Wednesday, the dog's caretaker acted appropriately by reaching out to the San Francisco Fire Department, instead of trying to save the animal himself, according to Baxter.
Kids can now learn about science and math by making cool projects, like drones and LED holiday cards, at a new Innovators Lab.

The permanent exhibit recently opened at the New Children's Museum in downtown San Diego. NBC 7 is a proud part of making the lab possible, by awarding the musuem a $25,000 grant through the 21st Century Grant program.

The Innovators Lab is a collaborative makerspace experiment. The museum works with local artists and experts from various fields to create open ended design challenges to nurture creativity, problem solving, skill building, and learning.

[GALLERY] Innovators Lab is Helping Kids Learn Science Using Art

"When you demystify science for them and you turn it into an art and creative and play environment, all of a suddent things that seems impossible beccome possible for them," said Judy Forrester, the museum's Chief Executive Officer.

"What sets this apart from other makerspaces is the collaboration with external professionals," said Tomoko Kuta, director of education and exhibitions.

The current Spinning Tops Workshop teaches kids about balance and gravity. Kids don safety masks then use a lathe to create their own tops from wax.

"I think with Innovators lLab we're able to empower kids to think about using real tools and it builds confidence and creativity," said Lani Bautisa Cabanilla, the manager of Visitor Programs.

The workshops will change four times a year. Up next: workshops in collaboration with an architect and an engineer.

During the lab's first project, children created their own drones to explore the concept of buoyancy.

The second project taught children about electricity and currency by building LED lit holiday cards.

"When you think about workforce development, and you think about, what are those 21st century skills our students are going to need to be in the workforce, things like an Innovators Lab really give kids a leg up for that," Forrester told NBC7.

The lab is designed for kids who are in the 7 to 13-year-old age range.

"It's a really good way to work with our families as they age up with our museum," said Kuta.

The lab is included with the museum admission. The museum says 30 percent of children visit at no cost, thanks to fundraising that helps reach community centers, military families and foster children.

"For us, it's really enriching because we get to each out to the broad community and bring resources here and then just share it with the families who come," Kuta said.

For more information about the new Innovators Lab, click here.

To learn more about NBC 7's 21st Century Grant program, click here.
In Clairemont, a sister is desperate to find her brother, who went missing nearly six weeks ago.

Jake Roberson, 30, is considered bipolar and doesn't have access to his medication, his family said.

Ruth Roberson describes her brother as an old spirit, kind, and a loving uncle to her 4-month-old daughter.

Roberson's car sits in her driveway. It was found in Los Angeles County near Pyramid Lake on the Interstate-5.

A note on the car said he was out of gas.

Just 10 days ago, another piece of evidence was discovered--a maintenance worker from Pyramid Lake found his jeans and car keys, but still no sign of Roberson.

"It's actually been kind of a struggle because as family members, we know that there are certain circumstances--that we think a search party should have been sent out earlier," Ruth said. "But dealing with just two jurisdictions, dealing with circumstances around his case, it's neccessarily considered serious."

A search operation is schedule for Friday morning in Los Angeles County. Due to weather, dive teams will not be able to search the lake.
A state parole board has granted parole to a prison inmate convicted of murdering a San Diego police officer.

The shooting happened nearly four decades ago.

Jesus Cecena was 17 when he gunned down 30-year-old patrol officer Archie Buggs during a traffic stop in the Skyline area in November, 1978.

Since then he's been recommended for parole from Valley State prison twice -- but Gov. Jerry Brown later overturned those decisions.

On Thursday, he was again granted parole suitability and the decision will now stand up to Gov. Brown for review. If approved, Cecena will be given parole.

NBC 7 spoke to Jesse Navarro, the former partner of Officer Buggs.

"I am a believer of somebody have a second opportunity. Somebody who makes a mistake, I do believe in that, and I've supported that," Navarro said. "But when somebody plans and premeditates and executes an officer, a good officer, a good person. That person, whether it's a police officer or whether its another innocent person, they do not belong in the streets committing crimes.

Navarro said he talked to Buggs' family Thursday and they are heartbroken over the decision.

San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman also released the following statement:

"We are incredibly disappointed by the poor decision of the parole board to free Cop Killer Jesus Cecena. He is a threat to public safety and deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars. We will petition Governor Brown to reverse this decision and send the right message to those who commit such despicable crimes."

We're hoping this message gets to Governor Brown and once he will understand our plea and not release a cop killer, Navarro said.

Buggs was wounded in a hail of pistol bullets, then killed with a shot to the temple while he lay on the ground.

His partner, Jesse Navarro, is now a top executive in the San Diego District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors are at the maximum security lockup to make their case for keeping Cecena under a life sentence.

He was turned down after parole hearings 13 times until 2014 and '15.

The San Diego Police Department and San Diego Police Officers Assn. strongly objected to Cecena's release, prompting the governor to reverse those recent parole decisions.

Prison administrators have cited Cecena for 10 conduct violations over the years.

Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs told NBC 7 that parole officials who approved Cecenas release insisted on evidence that Buggs was, in effect, "executed" at close range.

The DA's office has since submitted blood spatter material from beneath the patrol car Buggs was lying next to.

Buggs was the first of nine San Diego police officers to be killed in the line of duty over a seven-year period  the most of any department in the nation.
San Diego is now a Coast Guard City - an honor bestowed to only 20 other cities.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer was all smiles as he accepted the presentation from U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Paul Zukunft.

The mayor in turn handed a key to the city to the admiral.

Faulconer said this designation has been a "long time coming" and reinforces how important the U.S. military is to our city. He also said it was the city's chance to thank the Coast Guard for many years of service.

San Diego earned the title after proving the city offered support to the Coast Guard including their welfare and recreational initiatives.

Moving forward, the mayor said he wants to continue strengthening the region's bond with San Diego-based Coast Guard crews.

The designation was done with the approval of the U.S. Congress. U.S. Rep. Scott Peters was on hand for the ceremony.

The Coast Guard plays an integral role in defending the nation but also helping law enforcement locally with all sorts of issues around the bay and around the region, Peters said.

San Diego is the third California city to receive the honor following Eureka (2000) and Alameda (2006).
Investigators have released the mugshot of the man accused of killing a young woman found dead last month on the side of a road in San Diego's North County.

Suspect Paul Castro, 27, a resident of Las Vegas, was taken into custody by homicide detectives with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Hes a documented gang member, authorities said.

Castro was an acquaintance of Antonia Herrera, 23, according to San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) Lt. Kenn Nelson.

Nelson said they met through mutual friends in Las Vegas.

Herrera's body was found on Jan. 12 on Champagne Boulevard in unincorporated Escondido, near Interstate 15.

Her manner of death was ruled a homicide, but her autopsy was sealed.

Nelson said Wednesday that investigators believe Herrera was shot to death inside a friends car as she was traveling back to San Diego from Las Vegas on Jan. 12. Castro was in that car, too.

We do have that vehicle in our possession, and we will be processing it, based on search warrants that we have obtained for that, Nelson said.

The lieutenant said investigators have not yet determined a motive for the murder.

Castro is believed to be the only suspect in the killing. Other people were in the car, but Nelson said they are not suspected in the shooting of Herrera.

"We believe Mr. Castro is solely responsible for her death," Nelson added.
The chances you live within walking distance to a spy site are 100 percent for those living in the D.C. area, according to a former CIA official.

Robert Wallace, who spent 40 years in the CIA, wrote the book Spy Sites of Washington, D.C., A Guide to the Capital Region's Secret History, which details hundreds of locations in D.C., Maryland and Virginia with connections to espionage.

Walking the streets of D.C., Wallace said locations where spies lived, worked, held secret meetings and conducted dead drops are all around.

I think it's about 100 percent certain that there is a spy site in your neighborhood, somewhere in your neighborhood, he said. I assure you, you can walk to it.

According to former CIA official Robert Wallace's new book, a former CIA employee from Bethesda tried to sell secrets to the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Mark Segraves reports.

In December 1976, retired CIA employee Edwin Moore lived in a home on Fort Sumner Drive in Bethesda, Maryland.

He decided to go to the other side, Wallace said.

Moore stole enough classified documents to fill several boxes and tried to sell them to the Soviet Union. He wrapped up a sample of the secret documents with a note and threw the bundle over the fence of the Soviet Embassy, which is now the Russian ambassadors home. A security guard at the embassy found the package and called D.C. police, fearing it was a bomb.

They come, retrieve the package, determine it isn't a bomb, Wallace said. They open the package, and some very alert police officer in Washington says, Hmm, I think the FBI might be interested in this, and in fact, they were.

Moores note instructed the Soviets to deliver $3,000 in cash to a dead drop location by a fire hydrant right across the street from his house, which undercover FBI agents did.

A rising KGB official who defected to the United States in the 1980s soon returned to the Soviet Union after disappearing from Georgetown. Mark Segraves reports.

He's arrested, he's tried, he's convicted, he's sentenced to 15 years in prison and then subsequently paroled after about three years, Wallace said.

From the Soviet Union to the United States and Back

The security guard who found the package at the embassy was KGB.

Eight years after turning over Moores package of secrets to police, Vitaly Yurchenko returned to the Soviet Union.

He was a fast-rising officer of the KGB, Wallace said.

In 1985 after being diagnosed with cancer Yurchenko returned to the United States as a defector.

He had knowledge of a lot of KGB operations in the United States, so of course we were interested, from a counterintelligence perspective, to debrief him thoroughly, and we did, Wallace said.

Yurchenkos defection didnt last long. One night while having dinner at a Georgetown restaurant that is now the location of an &pizza restaurant, Yurchenko told his CIA security officer he was stepping outside for some fresh air.

When he walked down the street maybe a block or so he was likely picked up by the KGB at that point, Wallace said. We saw him a day or so later on TV announcing that he had been drugged by the CIA for the last three months and he was very happy to be back in friendly hands.

Spy Tactics Used for a Political Purpose

In his book, Wallace recounts hundreds of spy stories from locations across the area, including the famous garage in Rosslyn where Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward held secret meetings with his Watergate source Deep Throat.

The Watergate story is in fact an adaptation of espionage techniques for a political purpose, Wallace said.

Spy Sites includes maps of neighborhoods in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
A father was sentenced to 50 years in prison Thursday for his 10-week-old baby's death.

On June 23, 2015, Robert Alan Davidson called 911 to report his daughter, Aleah, was not breathing. She died in the hospital three days later.

Davidson, 26, confessed to sexually abusing, shaking and dropping Baby Aleah -- and said he did not seek medical care for her after the abuse.

Davidson pleaded guilty to child abuse leading to death, child sex abuse and other sex offenses.

Lorena Thompson, the babys mother, said she had seen bruises and other injuries on Aleah after she had been in her fathers care. But she also did not seek medical treatment for the infant, according to police.

Thompson pleaded guilty to neglect and was sentenced to probation.

"50 years in prison gives Mr. Davidson time to think about the pain, suffering and hurt he inflicted on a 10-week-old child," said a statement from Ramon Korionoff, public affairs director for the Office of the State's Attorney in Montgomery County.

"Holding perpetrators accountable for shaking children to death is a necessary deterrent to those who might think there are no consequences to child abuse," Korionoff said. "It will not be tolerated."
Pet lions and crocodiles could soon become illegal in Arlington, Virginia.

Surprised they aren't already? Turns out, many D.C.-area jurisdictions ban exotic or wild animals as pets -- but Arlington isn't one of them. Yet.

Now the Arlington County Board is considering whether to hold a public hearing on whether to ban keeping these animals as pets.

"Under current County Code, Arlington bars the keeping of pigs, fowl and poisonous reptiles. But there's nothing now on the books to prevent residents from raising a lion, monkey or even a crocodile," Arlington officials said in a press release Friday.

The change would also prohibit the keeping of wolves, raccoons, lynxes, alligators, tarantulas, hedgehogs and sugar gliders. Non-poisonous snakes or other reptiles longer than four feet would also be banned.

However, there would be an exception for some exotic pets already owned by residents. Those pet owners would be able to keep their animals if they register them with animal control, officials said.

Officials said the ban would aim to prevent humans from getting hurt and animals from being mistreated.

Arlington officials said in their release that D.C., Fairfax, Prince William and Montgomery counties all already have similar laws on the books.

During a board meeting Saturday, Arlington County Board members will consider a request to advertise a March 18 public hearing on the issue.

Arlington residents will also be able to comment several other ways:
NEC launches compact converged packet optical transport system for constructing metro networks

Tokyo, February 24, 2017 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced the addition of a compact model to its SpectralWave DW7000 series of converged packet optical transport systems for ultra-high-speed optical transmission that can be used to construct urban high-capacity networks (metro networks).

This new model makes it possible for the basic functions necessary for the ring-type connection configuration widely used in metro networks to be mounted on a 6U shelf, which is less than half the size of that conventionally used for mounting (*1). It is also possible to mount individual functions on a 3U shelf. An ODU-AGR card equipped with GbE, SDH, SAN, and other (*2) interfaces used for 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE), 10GbE, and existing network services will also be offered as an option. By utilizing this card, users will be able to construct new metro networks and accommodate existing services such as enterprise network services, thereby contributing to improved operational efficiency of network infrastructure and reductions in capital investment.

Furthermore, thanks to integration using the latest digital signal processor (DSP) (*3), NEC was able to reduce the size of the transponder for sending and receiving optical signals to one-fourth that of conventional transponders, as well as decrease power consumption by approximately 38%, achieve approximately 1.4 times the transmission distance, and deliver a maximum transmission capacity of 25.6 Tbps per fiber.

"Network infrastructure supporting 5G, the next generation of wireless communications networks, needs to be capable of accommodating high-capacity, advanced services and existing network services, as well as reducing capital investment," said Takehiko Toyohara, General Manager, Converged Network Division, NEC Corporation. "Since this new product comes equipped with a variety of interfaces enabling the construction of metro networks and the accommodation of existing network services with a compact device, users can boost the operational efficiency of their network infrastructure and bring down capital investment."

NEC plans to showcase this compact converged packet optical transport system at Mobile World Congress (MWC), which is scheduled to be held in Barcelona, Spain from February 27 to March 2, 2017.

***
Twelve people have been displaced following a 2-alarm fire on 178 Concord St. in Lowell, Massachusetts on Friday morning.

Firefighters battled the blaze from outside the multi-unit home.

Eyewitness Erika Abendano said, "It woke me up. My mom said call 911 and I went outside people were running out the house."

All twelve residents escaped safely and no injuries were reported.

Fire officials credited working smoke detectors in helping to get everyone out of the building.

"The smoke detectors made a huge difference. Working smoke detectors. Everyone got out," said Chief Jeff Winward

The street is full of tightly packed homes. Firefighters managed to keep the flames from spreading. Still, buildings on either side saw some heat damage - siding melting right off of one home.

Just last week, around the same time, firefighters battled another large fire in which a toddler lost his life.

The cause of the fire is still officially under investigation. The owner of the property said it was electrical and began in the front of the second floor.
President Trump's recent rollback on federal guidance for transgender students in school bathrooms has created some confusion, and fear, in Maine.

"I've spoken to a number of trans students, and there is a lot of fear about what this means," said Quinn Gormley, president of the Maine Trans Net.

The Trump administration's move leaves it up to states and schools to make policies for transgender students, deciding between using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, or the gender they were born with.

It's an issue the Maine Supreme Court has already tackled.

IIn 2007, Nicole Maines sued her school in Orono, Maine, to use the bathroom of her gender identity, and in 2014, the Maine Supreme Court ruled in her favor

That ruling upheld changes to the Maine Human Rights Act.

Several superintendents in the state said the 2014 case settled the bathroom issue for their schools, and the Trump administration's moves won't impact Maine students.

But transgender activists say some of Gov. Paul LePage's actions have given them reason to be concerned, because they could create confusion.

In the spring, Gov. LePage signed his name on a lawsuit to void Obama's directive on bathrooms in schools. Last February, the governor refused to allow the Maine Human Rights Commission to create rules for Maine schools for transgender students.

While the MHRC drafted guidelines to help public schools comply with the 2014 Maine Supreme Court case, without the governor's approval, they are suggestions for schools rather than enforceable rules.

Gormley worries public schools are getting mixed messages at both the federal and state level.

"I think it's going to give a lot of schools who don't want to follow the law  it's going to make them feel like they have permission not to," Gormley said.

Amy Sneirson, executive director of the Maine Human Rights Commission, stressed that Maine law is clear.

"The people of Maine adopted protections for LGBTQ rights over 10 years ago," she said. "The Maine Human Rights Act applies to ensure their civil rights in schools no matter what the federal government does regarding transgender rights."

A spokesperson for Gov. LePage did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
A New Hampshire hunter serving a two-to-four-year prison sentence for mistakenly shooting a Massachusetts man to death is settling a wrongful death lawsuit with the victim's family.

Wade Holmes was convicted of negligent homicide in the November 2011 death of 31-year-old Kenneth Brunelle.

The Caledonian Record reported Thursday that Holmes and Brunelle's partner will file settlement documents once a Massachusetts court determines whether Brunelle's adopted son can inherit from his father's estate.

Details of the settlement weren't filed.

Brunelle, of Marlborough, Massachusetts, had been walking with his family behind Holmes' home in Lisbon, New Hampshire on the first day of deer hunting season when he was shot in the neck. He was unarmed and wearing camouflage.

Prosecutors said Holmes thought Brunelle was a deer.
Five people have been arrested following a shooting Thursday afternoon in St. Albans, Vermont.

According to necn affiliate NBC 5, investigators said a man was shot in the head near Holy Angels Church on Lake Street around 2:15 p.m.

Police say the victim was sitting in his car at the time. The car started to roll away after the shooting and a witness stopped it.

The victim was taken to UVM Medical Center in critical condition.

The suspects and victim have not been identified.
Ten Massachusetts state police K9s will be outfitted with body armor vests, thanks to a local non-profit.

State police say the donations from East Taunton-based Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. totals over $10,000.

Each of the vests is sponsored by an anonymous donor. The donation to provide one vest is $1,050.

The vests, which are protective against stabs and bullets, will go to Kato, Cairo, Luca, Bruno, Echo, Fathom, Felix, Vlk, Bolo, and Klaas, and will be embroidered with the sentiment "In honor of Olivia, Nala and Ella."

State police say they are thankful for the donations.
An unlicensed child care facility at a New Hampshire home where a 1-year-old died earlier this week was not in compliance with state laws and had received previous complaints, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Nashua police responded Wednesday afternoon to a home on Ash Street in for a report of a child who was unconscious and not breathing. Responding crews performed CPR on the boy, who was transported to a local hospital and later pronounced dead.

The death is not considered suspicious, according to police.

Police notified the Child Care Licensing Unit on Wednesday that the facility had five children in its care, in addition to the provider's children. By New Hampshire law, providers caring for more than three children in addition to their own are required to be licensed by DHHS.

DHHS said it sent the facility a letter this week requiring it to cease operations and come into compliance with the law.

Following the facility's receipt of the letter, DHHS investigators will make an unannounced follow up visit. If the facility is still found to be in violation, DHHS said it will consider "any and all legal recourse," including referring the matter to the attorney general or county attorney for criminal prosecution.

DHHS says the facility has received previous complaints.

"In 2013, DHHS received an anonymous complaint that the facility was caring for more than three children in addition to the owners children. DHHS investigators made unannounced visits during regular business hours to investigate the complaint on three separate occasions over four weeks. At each visit, there were no adults or children present at the facility and no evidence of child care being provided. DHHS investigators took every action available to them within the law. Due to the anonymous nature of the complaint, DHHS was unable to conduct further follow up on the allegation."

DHHS has a record of a founded complaint in 2008. Electronic records are not available for periods prior to 2009; paper records are kept for four years by statute. However, when a complaint is founded, meaning there was evidence of unlawful behavior, DHHS policy is to issue a letter requiring ceasing of operations and conduct an unannounced follow up investigation. That is likely what occurred in 2008."

DHHS is closely following the Nashua Police Departments investigation and will take additional action as appropriate.

Several other children ranging from 7 months to 14-years-old were at the home at the time of the 1-year-old's death. Their parents were notified, and the children were evaluated as a precaution, but all were medically cleared.

Neighbors are deeply saddened, but not completely surprised.

Wayne Andrews said he and his wife reported the home to the state after witnessing a woman apparently neglecting children on the property.

An autopsy of the 1-year-old has been conducted, but its results are still pending.
An alleged lie and a body camera recording cost a Burlington, Vermont, police officer his job.

The Chittenden County States Attorneys office said Christopher Lopez made up a story about smelling marijuana on a suspect, perhaps to strengthen a case.

In the officers official report for an October 2016 case involving a traffic stop, Lopez claimed he smelled the odor of fresh marijuana emitting from the vehicle.

However, a body camera documented Lopez admitting to a colleague he did not actually smell pot on the man.

According to prosecutors, Lopez said on the recording that despite not smelling marijuana, he could if he needs to, saying, I dont like going that way if I cant back it up.

Chittenden County States Attorney Sarah George said she believes the information about the odor of marijuana was patently false.

As Lopez was under investigation for perjury, he quit his job this week, according to the Burlington Police Department.

It does call into question the integrity of the Burlington Police; it does give license to our critics and skeptics, and we wont tolerate that, Chief Brandon del Pozo of the Burlington Police Department told reporters Thursday. Were a good police force that does lawful work and doesnt tolerate people who cross that line

A Chittenden County prosecutor has been poring through more than 30 other drug arrests involving Lopez, according to States Attorney Sarah George.

George said Lopez was so badly tainted by this accusation, that he wouldnt be a credible witness at trial. So she was forced to throw out 14 pending charges against various suspects, she said.

Other charges will stand, George explained, because she and her deputies believe they can prove the charges without the testimony of Lopez.

George said she absolutely believes guilty people will be getting away with crimes because those 14 charges will be dismissed.

I think Ms. George absolutely did the right thing, said defense attorney Leroy Yoder, who represented the drug suspect the former officer is accused of lying about.

Yoder had raised concerns in court filings about the body camera recording.

Its disappointing, Yoder said of the accusations against the former officer in response to a question from necn. Nobody likes to think that this stuff happens in Vermont, but obviously, it does.

Investigations by outside agencies are now underway into the officers behavior, George and del Pozo said, and those probes could result in criminal charges for Lopez.

The other officer involved in the conversation recorded on the body camera is not suspected of inappropriate behavior, del Pozo said.

Christopher Lopez served the Burlington Police for nearly 2.5 years, according to the department. Previously, he worked as a police officer in Baltimore, Maryland.

Chief del Pozo said he is not aware of any disciplinary actions against Lopez in his previous job.

As of Thursday, Lopez has not been charged with any crimes associated with this investigation, and the allegations of wrongdoing against him have not been proven.

An attorney for Christopher Lopez was unable to respond to necns request for comment before our Thursday deadline.

However, Lisa Shelkrot responded Friday morning, and declined to comment on the allegations against her client. Lisa Shelkrot wrote in an email, I don't believe it is appropriate for anyone to comment on a pending investigation.
I interviewed then candidate Donald Trump in advance of the New Hampshire primary in 2016.

People who knew Trump advised me that he was a "people pleaser," and if I revealed myself to him, he might reveal a little bit of himself to me.

I'm a show host, not a journalist, so I have quite a bit of leeway in the way I interview people. I had recently had the opporutnity to interview the late Joan Rivers, who told me a lot about the type of man she thought Donald Trump was.

Joan Rivers, who expressed support for Trump, told me, "He has a big heart. Hes a good man. And he's got a big mouth."

I told this to Trump, then asked, "When are we going to see more of your heart out on the campaign trail?"

"Well, I think heart's very important. And it was very nice of Joan Rivers to say that," he replied.

I decided to declare my sexual orientation to Trump when I asked the next question:

"When President Trump is in office, can we look for more forward motion on equality for gays and lesbians?"

"Well, you can," Trump answered. "And look, again, we're going to bring people together, and that's your thing, and other people have their thing. We have to bring all people together, and if we don't, we're not going to have a country anymore."

The Trump admnistration's resciding of protections for transgender students is not "forward motion." Some catergorize the Obama administration's position and issuance of guidance that allowed trans students to use the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity as overreach. Others would point out that trans students are some of the most vulenrable in the public school system.

Did President Trump lie to me? I think I caught him telling the truth. Remember, this man came of age in New York City, was mentored by Roy Cohn, who was not openly, but clearly was, gay.

Trump said on the campaign trail that people in North Carolina, ground zero for the "bathroom war," said that NC should allow people to "use the bathroom they feel is appropriate."

Trump also said Caitlyn Jenner could use any bathroom she wanted to in Trump Tower.

So why is Jenner enjoying more protection and more rights in a private property than pubic school students?

That's my next question for President Trump.
Ransomware criminals chatting up victims, offering to delay deadlines, showing how to obtain Bitcoin, dispensing the kind of customer support that consumers lust for from their cable and mobile plan providers, PC and software makers?

What's not to love?

Finnish security vendor F-Secure yesterday released 34 pages of transcripts from the group chat used by the crafters of the Spora ransomware family. The back-and-forth not only put a spotlight on the gang's customer support chops, but, said a company security advisor, illustrated the intertwining of Bitcoin and extortion malware.

"We should be thankful that there are at least some practical barriers to purchase Bitcoins," wrote Sean Sullivan of F-Secure in a Wednesday post to the firm's blog. "If it were any easier to do so, very little else would check the growth of crypto-ransomware's business model."

Sullivan originally penned that conclusion last month, in a short section of the "State of Cyber Security" report that F-Secure published then. Yesterday, F-Secure posted the transcripts, 20,000 words or more, and dubbed the collection a "new supplemental appendix" to the original report.

"[A] fascinating read," Sullivan said.

He wasn't kidding.

In one exchange, a Spora victim said he or she had paid the extortion fee, but had gotten nothing in return. "I already sent you 98USD worth of bitcoin," the victim reported.

In response, the "customer support rep" blamed the victim for entering an incorrect Bitcoin destination address. "But do you agree, that it is you mistake, that you entered incorrect address?" asked the Spora rep.

"I literally copied the address that was given at the refill page. How could I be mistaken?" the victim replied.

In one of many similar threads -- the transcripts identified each victim by the first character of the ID created by the ransomware -- someone pleaded for mercy.

"Hello crooks. I agree to pay," said "0" in a lead-off message. "But 570 dollars for a lot of photos of my grandmother. Can I expect a discount if I leave good feedback on the forum about you?"

No go. "We do not provide any discount. Also, we cannot be sure, that you have only photos," retorted "support."

At times, the messages were pitiful. "Hello, I am 82 and my family pikture [sic] go away -- bad, very bad," reported another victim identified as "0."

"Is anyone there?" asked another during a stretch when Spora's support didn't respond to scores of messages, apparently borrowing another tactic from legitimate technical support desks.

Others played the anger card, the profanity card, the sympathy card. "Am I the one you should hack? No. I am just a salary man who tries to make ends meet and bring foods to his kids," said "E," who also identified himself as "Mustapha from Morocco."

But as F-Secure's Sullivan noted, many the questions posed to the hackers involved Bitcoin. "Hello, I am from Greece and we have capitol [sic] controls, is there any chance of a discount? Am having trouble buy bitcoins from here," remarked one.

"I'm going to pay for bitcoin. But I'm not sure that it works in weekend. Can you remove deadline please? If not works I will pay it on Monday," pleaded another.

The answer from Spora was always the same: No discount. The "rep" often extended deadlines, however, sometimes in response to victims pleading poverty, telling them that when they had the full amount, come back and pay.

"The malware technology to encrypt data has been possible for many, many years; the bigger challenge has always been getting paid," Sullivan pointed out. "In the past, cyber-crime schemes (such as scareware) have been killed off by disrupting the money supply. The same may well be true of cyber extortion; to kill the business model, it may be necessary to ban Bitcoin."

The complete Spora transcripts can be found here.

This story, "Ransomware 'customer support' chat reveals criminals' ruthlessness" was originally published by Computerworld .
The eighth instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise, The Fate of the Furious, is coming to Irish cinemas April 14th.

The latest international trailer depicts Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) having the time of their life in Cuba, where theyre celebrating their honeymoon. But the harmony breaks when Dominic is visited by Therons character Cipher. After their meeting, Letty can be heard saying that the big guy is no longer himself, plus we see him feuding more with Luke Hobbs (played by Dwayne Johnson).

According to the synopsis, "[Cipher] seduces Dom into the world of crime he cant seem to escape and a betrayal of those closest to him." The old gang, and some new allies, will unite to bring him back.

Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, and Jason Statham will all reprise their roles from the previous films. Helen Mirren also joins the cast. Its directed by F. Gary Gray, who most recently helmed Straight Outta Compton.

Check it out:
Charity fund and environmental concerns awareness raiser

AN EAST Woodhay woman is to row around Great Britain to raise money for charity and mark her 60th birthday this summer.

Lesley Foden will set off on Saturday, June 3, to embark on an eight-week, 1,800-mile journey, pushing off from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, aboard the rowing boat, Liberty.

I had this mad idea to challenge myself to row around Great Britain because I will be 60 this year  and because I want an adventure, said Mrs Foden.

The crew of five will see three people rowing continuously over 24 hours.

The aim is for two hours on and two hours off around the clock, said Mrs Foden.

Should the weather turn bad, in high seas the crew will retreat to tiny cabins

We just seal everything in and let the boat roll and it self-rights, Mrs Foden added.

During two-hour breaks, crew then snatch some sleep, a drink or freeze-dried food.

Mrs Foden said: It wont be comfortable or luxurious and as regards facilities  there arent any, just a plastic bucket on deck at the back.

I want to inspire older people to exercise and to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the seas.

Married to Mark for 30 years, Mrs Foden also has an astounded and proud 19-year-old daughter, Poppy.

Mrs Foden chairs the East Woodhay and Highclere Neighbourcare volunteer driving group and is a member of St Martins church choir and bell-ringing team.

She needs to raise 20,000 to take part, plus a further 20,000 for the two charities supported by her venture  Sea Changers and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

A still-life painter, sales of her paintings have raised 9,000 towards the 40,000 total.

To make a donation visit http:row.lesleyfoden.com.

For an in-depth article and interview with Lesley Foden pick up a copy of the May Out & About magazine, issued free with the Newbury Weekly News on April 27.
Regina Gurung By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Iris Debieve, a 24-year-old French girl lives between India and France. Courtesy, her French mother and her Indian step-dad.

Between the juggle and fear of being identified as the French girl, she took up Bharatnatyam. I felt less and less different, she writes on her blog. I might be from France, but today I feel Indian at heart.

It has been seven years since Iris started her Bharatnatyam journey. She received her diploma in Bharatnatyam from Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai and is currently training in Bharata Kalanjali there.

Learning Bharatnatyam was a time pass thing initially, but her family suggested that she should take it up full time since she is not that bad.

It is Personal



For her, Bharatnatyam is more than just movements. It is a personal experience, she says of the dance and adds that she attains a higher level of consciousness through Bharatnatyam.

Today at 7 pm in Iskon Temple, Iris will be presenting a Bharatnatyam performance along with Yahui Chan from Taiwan and Lerissa Ekambaram from Cape Town, who will perform theirs.

African Experiments

Lerissa Ekambaram started dancing Bharatnatyam at the age of five.

Today she is twenty and is in India from four months to train herself in the art form and learn under Dhananjayans, the dancing couples.

I grew up in a culturally rich family. My mother plays many instruments and dancing came along with music. That is how I was introduced to it, says Lerissa.

However, in South Africa despite people loving the art form, Lerissa felt there was not much scope. She ventured out of the country for the first time last November.

I am a psychology student, but then I want dance to be my primary career, so I decided to come here, Lerissa shares.

The main challenge she faced in South Africa was of not being able to understand the context of the art piece she was working with. Bharatnatyam is about communication and it is difficult to communicate when there is little understanding, she says.

Fascinated by Philosophy

According to her it is easier in India as people understand the dance but here the challenge is about integrating with a different culture and adapting to it.

I am fascinated by the philosophy of this art form. On the surface it is about stories, but underneath is the philosophy of the dance, says Lerissa.

For example, for me Krishna represents the illusions and the attachments of the materialistic world, she explains.

She will be performing a eight-minute solo dance depicting Krishna and love.

In Love

Yahui Chan came to Bengaluru last December to learn Bharatnatyam. She is currently a disciple of Guru Sathyanarayan Raju.

Yahui says she fell in love with the art when she was majoring in Performing Arts in Paris. The dance is very spiritual and I find it similar to Chinese Classical dance, Yahui says.

Maybe because there is a bit of theatre involved in it, she adds. Besides Bharatnatyam she is a Chinese classical and modern dancer.

BENGALURU: Iris Debieve, a 24-year-old French girl lives between India and France. Courtesy, her French mother and her Indian step-dad. Between the juggle and fear of being identified as the French girl, she took up Bharatnatyam. I felt less and less different, she writes on her blog. I might be from France, but today I feel Indian at heart. It has been seven years since Iris started her Bharatnatyam journey. She received her diploma in Bharatnatyam from Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai and is currently training in Bharata Kalanjali there. Learning Bharatnatyam was a time pass thing initially, but her family suggested that she should take it up full time since she is not that bad. It is Personal For her, Bharatnatyam is more than just movements. It is a personal experience, she says of the dance and adds that she attains a higher level of consciousness through Bharatnatyam. Today at 7 pm in Iskon Temple, Iris will be presenting a Bharatnatyam performance along with Yahui Chan from Taiwan and Lerissa Ekambaram from Cape Town, who will perform theirs. African Experiments Lerissa Ekambaram started dancing Bharatnatyam at the age of five. Today she is twenty and is in India from four months to train herself in the art form and learn under Dhananjayans, the dancing couples. I grew up in a culturally rich family. My mother plays many instruments and dancing came along with music. That is how I was introduced to it, says Lerissa. However, in South Africa despite people loving the art form, Lerissa felt there was not much scope. She ventured out of the country for the first time last November. I am a psychology student, but then I want dance to be my primary career, so I decided to come here, Lerissa shares. The main challenge she faced in South Africa was of not being able to understand the context of the art piece she was working with. Bharatnatyam is about communication and it is difficult to communicate when there is little understanding, she says. Fascinated by Philosophy According to her it is easier in India as people understand the dance but here the challenge is about integrating with a different culture and adapting to it. I am fascinated by the philosophy of this art form. On the surface it is about stories, but underneath is the philosophy of the dance, says Lerissa. For example, for me Krishna represents the illusions and the attachments of the materialistic world, she explains. She will be performing a eight-minute solo dance depicting Krishna and love. In Love Yahui Chan came to Bengaluru last December to learn Bharatnatyam. She is currently a disciple of Guru Sathyanarayan Raju. Yahui says she fell in love with the art when she was majoring in Performing Arts in Paris. The dance is very spiritual and I find it similar to Chinese Classical dance, Yahui says. Maybe because there is a bit of theatre involved in it, she adds. Besides Bharatnatyam she is a Chinese classical and modern dancer.
Navamy Sudhish By

Express News Service

If treason ever had a face, it would be his. But Chandu was redeemed all his infamy by a strong and sensitive portrayal by Mammootty in 1989, the role that won him a national award. Now, stepping into the shoes of the warlord is Kunal Kapoor, the Bollywood star who plays the lead in Veeram, Jayarajs multilingual that hits the screens today. Veeram has been an amazing journey and Chandu is a dream role for any actor, says Kunal.

A fusion of folktale and Shakespeare, the film depicts Chandu as the arch-villain from Vadakkan Pattu, who, just like Macbeth, is consumed by ambition. Kunal says its not fair to sum up a character as intricate as Chandu in one single word - traitor. He is a cheater, but he was also cheated by. Its a character with so many layers and shades, he is both an honourable warrior and a ruthless tyrant.

From Kurosawa to Vishal Bhardwaj, Macbeth was adapted on screen by a bevy of filmmakers, but Kunals Chandu is more of an alloy of two complex characters. The most fascinating aspect of Veeram is the way it weaves two most-riveting stories together, one from Malabar and the other from Scotland. Its definitely not anything that you have seen before, he says.

With his crimson face-paint and warriors garb, Kunal agrees Chandu is a break from his suave, metrosexual roles. I was more than excited to play an anti-hero. Usually I get to play the good guys and I was really thrilled to do something I have never tried before. Transforming into a chekavar was no ordinary task either, obviously the film involved a lot of preparations. I was very lean and had to put on a lot of muscles. Then I had to learn the postures and technique of kalaripayatttu and there were the weapons - swords, daggers and the formidable urumi.

Kunal says Chandu left him physically and emotionally exhausted, physically because sometimes we were shooting twenty three hours a day and emotionally because he was so intense. But when you are enjoying the process nothing seems like a problem, it all becomes one big hearty experience. Another challenge was shooting in three languages, Malayalam first and then Hindi and Tamil. Usually when you shoot a scene you are over and done with it. But here I had to do it three times with subtle variations for each language. It was an enormous challenge while doing emotionally-charged scenes.

With Bollywood biggies like Amitabh Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan endorsing Veeram, Kunal says he is overwhelmed by the way industry is looking forward to the film. They have never seen me like this, he laughs. He adds it was a great experience collaborating with Jayaraj and his team. I am huge fan of Jayaraj sir and I have enjoyed all his previous works. Then, Veeram has crew members from across the globe and its our creative synergy that made the film possible.

As Veeram hits the marquee today, Kunal says he is finally ready to watch Mammoottys Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha, the film that made a hero out of a traitor. 

I intentionally avoided watching that film. When you watch such a terrific, national-award-winning performance you subconsciously tend to make it a reference point. I wanted to approach Veeram in a fresh, impartial way. But now I am going to watch Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha for sure, he says.

If treason ever had a face, it would be his. But Chandu was redeemed all his infamy by a strong and sensitive portrayal by Mammootty in 1989, the role that won him a national award. Now, stepping into the shoes of the warlord is Kunal Kapoor, the Bollywood star who plays the lead in Veeram, Jayarajs multilingual that hits the screens today. Veeram has been an amazing journey and Chandu is a dream role for any actor, says Kunal. A fusion of folktale and Shakespeare, the film depicts Chandu as the arch-villain from Vadakkan Pattu, who, just like Macbeth, is consumed by ambition. Kunal says its not fair to sum up a character as intricate as Chandu in one single word - traitor. He is a cheater, but he was also cheated by. Its a character with so many layers and shades, he is both an honourable warrior and a ruthless tyrant. From Kurosawa to Vishal Bhardwaj, Macbeth was adapted on screen by a bevy of filmmakers, but Kunals Chandu is more of an alloy of two complex characters. The most fascinating aspect of Veeram is the way it weaves two most-riveting stories together, one from Malabar and the other from Scotland. Its definitely not anything that you have seen before, he says. With his crimson face-paint and warriors garb, Kunal agrees Chandu is a break from his suave, metrosexual roles. I was more than excited to play an anti-hero. Usually I get to play the good guys and I was really thrilled to do something I have never tried before. Transforming into a chekavar was no ordinary task either, obviously the film involved a lot of preparations. I was very lean and had to put on a lot of muscles. Then I had to learn the postures and technique of kalaripayatttu and there were the weapons - swords, daggers and the formidable urumi. Kunal says Chandu left him physically and emotionally exhausted, physically because sometimes we were shooting twenty three hours a day and emotionally because he was so intense. But when you are enjoying the process nothing seems like a problem, it all becomes one big hearty experience. Another challenge was shooting in three languages, Malayalam first and then Hindi and Tamil. Usually when you shoot a scene you are over and done with it. But here I had to do it three times with subtle variations for each language. It was an enormous challenge while doing emotionally-charged scenes. With Bollywood biggies like Amitabh Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan endorsing Veeram, Kunal says he is overwhelmed by the way industry is looking forward to the film. They have never seen me like this, he laughs. He adds it was a great experience collaborating with Jayaraj and his team. I am huge fan of Jayaraj sir and I have enjoyed all his previous works. Then, Veeram has crew members from across the globe and its our creative synergy that made the film possible. As Veeram hits the marquee today, Kunal says he is finally ready to watch Mammoottys Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha, the film that made a hero out of a traitor.  I intentionally avoided watching that film. When you watch such a terrific, national-award-winning performance you subconsciously tend to make it a reference point. I wanted to approach Veeram in a fresh, impartial way. But now I am going to watch Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha for sure, he says.
Suhas Yellapantula By

Express News Service

Film: Winner

Cast: Sai Dharam Tej, Rakul Preet

Director: Gopichand Malineni

Rating: 1/5

In a film that is supposed to be about horse-racing, the only ones taken for a ride in Gopichand Malinenis Winner, is the audience. How often have we come out of the theaters wondering why theres so much predictability in mainstream Tollywood. Those familiar with commercial Telugu films know exactly when a song would appear, or a fight would take place  and even the outcome of the fight. But predictability is the least of the problems with Winner. Shoddy filmmaking and a purposeless, disjointed script made sure you have your head in your hands right till the end of the film (if you manage to stay until the end, that is).

Mahender Reddy (Jagapathi Babu) is the son of a business tycoon Dharmender Reddy (Mukesh Rishi), who makes his money through horse-betting (yes, thats his profession). Mahender marries against his fathers wishes and leaves his lavish bungalow and family business to go away on his own when his father doesnt approve of their marriage. With his wife passing away, Mahender raises his child Siddharth (Sai Dharam Tej) on his own. To save his business, Dharmendra apologizes to his son and brings him back home. But the conniving businessman, quite bizarrely, plots to separate Mahender from his child, so that he can focus only on his business. He succeeds, with the son running away from home, filled with rage and contempt for his father.

Its laughable how easily the father-son duo is separated, especially considering the trouble the filmmaker went to show us how close they were in the first place. The writing is absolutely cringe-worthy and lacks even a shred of creativity. And then there is the love story. Siddharth is now a grown man working as the creative head of a newspaper. He hates the mention of race, horses or father in any context.

Siddharth runs into Sitara (Rakul Preet) at a party and falls for her straight away. He first clicks her photos without her permission (creepy and offensive). Then he stalks her (if youre familiar with Telugu cinema, this shouldnt surprise you). It turns out shes an athlete, who wants to win the gold medal. Considering she races for a living, Sitara doesnt exactly fit the bill as an ideal girl for Siddarth. But the poor guy cannot resist. He makes it a point to stalk her, invades her privacy, says the most despicable things about her to her own father, and yet somehow manages to win over her love.

To make things worse, this doesnt even scratch the surface when it comes to the ludicrous showing on offer. In all formulaic films, even bad ones, there is something enjoyable on offer for the viewers, even if its just a few scenes. Sadly, even that isnt there in Winner, which goes from bad to worse as the film progresses. Be it the cringe-worthy comic scenes involving Prudhviraj as Sujatha Singham (a poor imitation of the half-lion, half-man character) or Ali as Peter Heinze. Even the normally reliable Vennela Kishore struggles to make you laugh.

Sai Dharam does what is expected of a mainstream commercial hero but puts in an unconvincing performance. Rakul is there only to add glamour to the film. It seems shes an athlete only so that the filmmaker can show her running on the track in skimpily-clad attire. Not to mention how she nearly gets married to someone (before staging a bizarre wedding drama), gets kidnapped by the hero and brought to the venue on the day of the race (apparently to show how much he loves her), and still manages to win the gold medal with effortless ease.

For sheer unintentional humour, Winner might be worth a watch. But even if you go with that intention, by the end of 2 hours and 35 minutes, a headache is inevitable.

Film: Winner Cast: Sai Dharam Tej, Rakul Preet Director: Gopichand Malineni Rating: 1/5 In a film that is supposed to be about horse-racing, the only ones taken for a ride in Gopichand Malinenis Winner, is the audience. How often have we come out of the theaters wondering why theres so much predictability in mainstream Tollywood. Those familiar with commercial Telugu films know exactly when a song would appear, or a fight would take place  and even the outcome of the fight. But predictability is the least of the problems with Winner. Shoddy filmmaking and a purposeless, disjointed script made sure you have your head in your hands right till the end of the film (if you manage to stay until the end, that is). Mahender Reddy (Jagapathi Babu) is the son of a business tycoon Dharmender Reddy (Mukesh Rishi), who makes his money through horse-betting (yes, thats his profession). Mahender marries against his fathers wishes and leaves his lavish bungalow and family business to go away on his own when his father doesnt approve of their marriage. With his wife passing away, Mahender raises his child Siddharth (Sai Dharam Tej) on his own. To save his business, Dharmendra apologizes to his son and brings him back home. But the conniving businessman, quite bizarrely, plots to separate Mahender from his child, so that he can focus only on his business. He succeeds, with the son running away from home, filled with rage and contempt for his father. Its laughable how easily the father-son duo is separated, especially considering the trouble the filmmaker went to show us how close they were in the first place. The writing is absolutely cringe-worthy and lacks even a shred of creativity. And then there is the love story. Siddharth is now a grown man working as the creative head of a newspaper. He hates the mention of race, horses or father in any context. Siddharth runs into Sitara (Rakul Preet) at a party and falls for her straight away. He first clicks her photos without her permission (creepy and offensive). Then he stalks her (if youre familiar with Telugu cinema, this shouldnt surprise you). It turns out shes an athlete, who wants to win the gold medal. Considering she races for a living, Sitara doesnt exactly fit the bill as an ideal girl for Siddarth. But the poor guy cannot resist. He makes it a point to stalk her, invades her privacy, says the most despicable things about her to her own father, and yet somehow manages to win over her love. To make things worse, this doesnt even scratch the surface when it comes to the ludicrous showing on offer. In all formulaic films, even bad ones, there is something enjoyable on offer for the viewers, even if its just a few scenes. Sadly, even that isnt there in Winner, which goes from bad to worse as the film progresses. Be it the cringe-worthy comic scenes involving Prudhviraj as Sujatha Singham (a poor imitation of the half-lion, half-man character) or Ali as Peter Heinze. Even the normally reliable Vennela Kishore struggles to make you laugh. Sai Dharam does what is expected of a mainstream commercial hero but puts in an unconvincing performance. Rakul is there only to add glamour to the film. It seems shes an athlete only so that the filmmaker can show her running on the track in skimpily-clad attire. Not to mention how she nearly gets married to someone (before staging a bizarre wedding drama), gets kidnapped by the hero and brought to the venue on the day of the race (apparently to show how much he loves her), and still manages to win the gold medal with effortless ease. For sheer unintentional humour, Winner might be worth a watch. But even if you go with that intention, by the end of 2 hours and 35 minutes, a headache is inevitable.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: China on Friday said that it supports India and other countries on the issue of terrorism but sees bilateral between the two nations more important.

Im happy to see the Indian Foreign Secretary in Beijing, discussions are still on. China supports India and others countries over terrorism. These issues are important, but bilateral cooperation are more important, Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui told ANI with regard to Chinas stand on Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar.

He said China is against any form of terror activities and stands with the international community in taking concrete counter-measures to neutralize the threat.

The Chinese envoy also requested the media to cover matters the two countries positively.

India on Wednesday told China that the onus of imposing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 Committee sanctions on Jaish-e-Mohammad leader and terrorist Masood Azhar is not only New Delhi's alone but is supported by several countries around the world.

Speaking to media after discussions with the Chinese leadership, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said, " On the issue of the 1267 Committee sanctions on Masood Azhar, we again explained to them the rationale for that application and pointed out today that this was really being pursued by other countries, not by India alone."

"The fact that other countries were pressing this application showed that there was broad international support for this and concerns about Masood Azhar's activities," he added.

Foreign Secretary Jaishankar said the Masood Azhar issue was raised during his restructured strategic dialogue with Executive Vice Minister in the Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhang Yesui as also with State Counsellor Yang Jiechi.

"Masood Azhar's actions are "well documented" and "burden of proof" is not on India," Jaishankar said with regard to the Chinese government's repeated demand for "solid evidence" to declare the latter a global terrorist.

In effect, India dismissed China's contention that it has not furnished enough evidence against Pakistan-based Azhar.

China's efforts to block moves to sanction Azhar at the UN, despite its "principled" stand on counter-terrorism, was a political decision, the Indian Foreign Secretary said.

Jaishankar made it clear to senior Chinese officials that the international community is convinced of Azhar's culpability and it was the United States, the United Kingdom, and France which had moved the latest proposal at the UN?Security Council to get the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief proscribed.

"Correct. There isn't a consensus because China hasn't joined it," Jaishankar had said earlier at a briefing for Beijing-based Indian media when asked about the issue. India's understanding is that there is "overwhelming support" in the world community for its position.

Jaishankar said China's principles on counter-terrorism, otherwise "unexceptionable", were weighed down by procedural requirements, the political context in which it has taken place and the surety of the matter in the context of Azhar.

"We pointed out that this time around, it's not India but other countries (which mooted the proposal). So, there is a body of world opinion out there (against Azhar)," Jaishankar said.

NEW DELHI: China on Friday said that it supports India and other countries on the issue of terrorism but sees bilateral between the two nations more important. Im happy to see the Indian Foreign Secretary in Beijing, discussions are still on. China supports India and others countries over terrorism. These issues are important, but bilateral cooperation are more important, Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui told ANI with regard to Chinas stand on Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar. He said China is against any form of terror activities and stands with the international community in taking concrete counter-measures to neutralize the threat. The Chinese envoy also requested the media to cover matters the two countries positively. India on Wednesday told China that the onus of imposing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 Committee sanctions on Jaish-e-Mohammad leader and terrorist Masood Azhar is not only New Delhi's alone but is supported by several countries around the world. Speaking to media after discussions with the Chinese leadership, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said, " On the issue of the 1267 Committee sanctions on Masood Azhar, we again explained to them the rationale for that application and pointed out today that this was really being pursued by other countries, not by India alone." "The fact that other countries were pressing this application showed that there was broad international support for this and concerns about Masood Azhar's activities," he added. Foreign Secretary Jaishankar said the Masood Azhar issue was raised during his restructured strategic dialogue with Executive Vice Minister in the Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhang Yesui as also with State Counsellor Yang Jiechi. "Masood Azhar's actions are "well documented" and "burden of proof" is not on India," Jaishankar said with regard to the Chinese government's repeated demand for "solid evidence" to declare the latter a global terrorist. In effect, India dismissed China's contention that it has not furnished enough evidence against Pakistan-based Azhar. China's efforts to block moves to sanction Azhar at the UN, despite its "principled" stand on counter-terrorism, was a political decision, the Indian Foreign Secretary said. Jaishankar made it clear to senior Chinese officials that the international community is convinced of Azhar's culpability and it was the United States, the United Kingdom, and France which had moved the latest proposal at the UN?Security Council to get the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief proscribed. "Correct. There isn't a consensus because China hasn't joined it," Jaishankar had said earlier at a briefing for Beijing-based Indian media when asked about the issue. India's understanding is that there is "overwhelming support" in the world community for its position. Jaishankar said China's principles on counter-terrorism, otherwise "unexceptionable", were weighed down by procedural requirements, the political context in which it has taken place and the surety of the matter in the context of Azhar. "We pointed out that this time around, it's not India but other countries (which mooted the proposal). So, there is a body of world opinion out there (against Azhar)," Jaishankar said.
Abhijit Mulye By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: With both the major saffron allies voted in equally by the city voter, the Mathematics for the Mayoral election of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has got more complex.

BJP candidates celebrate their victory in the

polls at Nagpur on Thursday | PTI

The Shiv Sena has 84 and the BJP has 82. Though both of them had claimed support of four independents, the BJP is likely to gain the support of at least three of them barring one, who is actually a Shiv Sena rebel. But, even after doing so, the magic figure of 115 still remains a distant reality for any of them to achieve, without each other's support.

MNS, who has got seven seats and had been saying during the campaign that they would emerge as the kingmaker, too stands little chance to play the role. Since Shiv Sena had rejected MNS's proposal for alliance before the election, they are likely to support the BJP, may be just by abstaining during the Mayor's election, a BJP leader said.

Another possibility, which the Shiv Sena is said to be testing the waters with, is that it would ally with the Congress, which has 31 corporators.

However, any open equation between the two parties would confirm BJP's allegations of their tacit understanding and would be politically counter productive for both of them. This makes the possibility less practicable.

The NCP, SP, MIM with nine, seven and three seats respectively, have too small numbers to be able to influence the election.

Another remote possibility is BJP getting support from the Congress along with the independents.

However, as Uddhav mentioned on Thursday, there would be no haste in pursuing any of these equations over the weekend.

The new mayor will have to be elected before March 8. Hence, the political drama of tall claims of support is likely to continue throughout the entire next week.

MUMBAI: With both the major saffron allies voted in equally by the city voter, the Mathematics for the Mayoral election of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has got more complex. BJP candidates celebrate their victory in the polls at Nagpur on Thursday | PTI The Shiv Sena has 84 and the BJP has 82. Though both of them had claimed support of four independents, the BJP is likely to gain the support of at least three of them barring one, who is actually a Shiv Sena rebel. But, even after doing so, the magic figure of 115 still remains a distant reality for any of them to achieve, without each other's support. MNS, who has got seven seats and had been saying during the campaign that they would emerge as the kingmaker, too stands little chance to play the role. Since Shiv Sena had rejected MNS's proposal for alliance before the election, they are likely to support the BJP, may be just by abstaining during the Mayor's election, a BJP leader said. Another possibility, which the Shiv Sena is said to be testing the waters with, is that it would ally with the Congress, which has 31 corporators. However, any open equation between the two parties would confirm BJP's allegations of their tacit understanding and would be politically counter productive for both of them. This makes the possibility less practicable. The NCP, SP, MIM with nine, seven and three seats respectively, have too small numbers to be able to influence the election. Another remote possibility is BJP getting support from the Congress along with the independents. However, as Uddhav mentioned on Thursday, there would be no haste in pursuing any of these equations over the weekend. The new mayor will have to be elected before March 8. Hence, the political drama of tall claims of support is likely to continue throughout the entire next week.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: Even as the Coordinating Committee (Corcom)--the apex body of six insurgent outfits in Manipur imposed a curfew from 6 AM on Saturday in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Imphal, two bombs were found outside the residences of two BJP candidates in Imphal West district on Friday.

One of the bombs was found at a distance of nine km from CRPF Grounds --Modis proposed rally venue, where he is scheduled to address the public on Saturday. Another was found in Thoubal, about 40 km away.

The CorCom appealed people to boycott PMs visit to give out a message that alien rule is not welcome in the region.

Under Indian colonial rule, the people of Manipur have been suffering untold miseries for the past 67 years. And thats the reason why people are waging a war for liberation, the CorCom said in a statement.



The Manipur government appeared not bothered. It (bandh) is quite normal. Every time a VVIP comes to Manipur, the insurgents call a bandh. So, this is not new. The programme of the Prime Minister will continue without any problem, chief secretary O Nabakishor told Express.



They call such bandhs and curfews even on January 26 and August 15. But people go out to take part in the celebrations, he added.



The BJP has shifted the PMs rally from historic Kangla Fort to CRPF Grounds at Lamsing on the outskirts of Imphal. The party took the decision after activist Irom Sharmilas Peoples Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) had moved the Election Commission raising objections to the venue. The Meiteis (Manipuris) view the fort as a sacred site and the PRJA insisted that places of worship should not be allowed to be used as a forum for election propaganda.



Meanwhile, as PM Modi is unlikely to be able to reach out to a larger audience in view of the curfew, it will benefit the ruling Congress which is eyeing a fourth term on the trot. The party is aggressively campaigning against BJP on issues particularly the economic blockade, enforced by the United Naga Council (UNC), and the Centres signing of the Framework Agreement with Isak-Muivah faction of Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM).



The grand old party has been blaming BJP for having colluded with UNC and NSCN-IM in enforcing the blockade to try and impose Presidents rule.

They allege that the BJP-led Central government had already compromised on Manipurs territorial integrity by signing the Framework Agreement.

One of the most contentious demands of NSCN-IM is the creation of Greater Nagaland by slicing off the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur, besides Assam and Arunachal.

GUWAHATI: Even as the Coordinating Committee (Corcom)--the apex body of six insurgent outfits in Manipur imposed a curfew from 6 AM on Saturday in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Imphal, two bombs were found outside the residences of two BJP candidates in Imphal West district on Friday. One of the bombs was found at a distance of nine km from CRPF Grounds --Modis proposed rally venue, where he is scheduled to address the public on Saturday. Another was found in Thoubal, about 40 km away. The CorCom appealed people to boycott PMs visit to give out a message that alien rule is not welcome in the region. Under Indian colonial rule, the people of Manipur have been suffering untold miseries for the past 67 years. And thats the reason why people are waging a war for liberation, the CorCom said in a statement. The Manipur government appeared not bothered. It (bandh) is quite normal. Every time a VVIP comes to Manipur, the insurgents call a bandh. So, this is not new. The programme of the Prime Minister will continue without any problem, chief secretary O Nabakishor told Express. They call such bandhs and curfews even on January 26 and August 15. But people go out to take part in the celebrations, he added. The BJP has shifted the PMs rally from historic Kangla Fort to CRPF Grounds at Lamsing on the outskirts of Imphal. The party took the decision after activist Irom Sharmilas Peoples Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) had moved the Election Commission raising objections to the venue. The Meiteis (Manipuris) view the fort as a sacred site and the PRJA insisted that places of worship should not be allowed to be used as a forum for election propaganda. Meanwhile, as PM Modi is unlikely to be able to reach out to a larger audience in view of the curfew, it will benefit the ruling Congress which is eyeing a fourth term on the trot. The party is aggressively campaigning against BJP on issues particularly the economic blockade, enforced by the United Naga Council (UNC), and the Centres signing of the Framework Agreement with Isak-Muivah faction of Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). The grand old party has been blaming BJP for having colluded with UNC and NSCN-IM in enforcing the blockade to try and impose Presidents rule. They allege that the BJP-led Central government had already compromised on Manipurs territorial integrity by signing the Framework Agreement. One of the most contentious demands of NSCN-IM is the creation of Greater Nagaland by slicing off the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur, besides Assam and Arunachal.
By IANS

NEW DELHI: Two firefighters were killed and two injured when a cooking gas cylinder exploded while they were extinguishing a blaze in a snack shop here on Friday morning.



Five firetenders were rushed when a fire broke out at a food and snacks shop in west Delhi around 5.35 a.m. on Friday.



"There was a minor fire in the shop. But an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder exploded when our men were busy dousing the flames," a Delhi Fire Service official told IANS.



Hari Singh Meena, 55, died on the spot and his colleague Hariom, 56, later succumbed to his injuries.



Firemen Naveen and Ravinder received minor injuries and were being treated at B.L. Kapur Memorial Hospital here.



Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who visited the hospital to meet the injured, said there were "no procedural lapses".



"There was a blast just when the firemen lifted the shutter of the shop. No one could have known there were leaking cylinders inside," Jain said.



"At first glance, there doesn't seem to be any lapse related to following of protocol. However, the real reason would be known only after the inquiry."



Jain urged Delhi residents to take fire safety measures seriously.



"There were four cylinders inside such a small shop. People in Delhi are not scared of fire hazards. There is a need to create awareness on fire safety measures," he said.



NEW DELHI: Two firefighters were killed and two injured when a cooking gas cylinder exploded while they were extinguishing a blaze in a snack shop here on Friday morning. Five firetenders were rushed when a fire broke out at a food and snacks shop in west Delhi around 5.35 a.m. on Friday. "There was a minor fire in the shop. But an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder exploded when our men were busy dousing the flames," a Delhi Fire Service official told IANS. Hari Singh Meena, 55, died on the spot and his colleague Hariom, 56, later succumbed to his injuries. Firemen Naveen and Ravinder received minor injuries and were being treated at B.L. Kapur Memorial Hospital here. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who visited the hospital to meet the injured, said there were "no procedural lapses". "There was a blast just when the firemen lifted the shutter of the shop. No one could have known there were leaking cylinders inside," Jain said. "At first glance, there doesn't seem to be any lapse related to following of protocol. However, the real reason would be known only after the inquiry." Jain urged Delhi residents to take fire safety measures seriously. "There were four cylinders inside such a small shop. People in Delhi are not scared of fire hazards. There is a need to create awareness on fire safety measures," he said.
By IANS

GONDA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday termed last November's train accident in Kanpur a "conspiracy" and urged people not to vote for those "who help conspirators".



Speaking at an election rally here, Modi also slammed the Akhilesh Yadav government for "protecting and patronising" the "copying mafia" that harmed the future of the youth.



Modi said: "Gonda shares its border with Nepal... Few days back there was a train accident... Some people were caught and the police found out that it was a conspiracy... the conspirators are on the other side of the border."



He said people should not vote for anyone who would "help conspirators from across the border".



"If the enemies want to run their business from the other side of the border, people in Gonda need to be cautious. If such people are elected who help the conspirators, will Gonda be safe? If Gonda is not safe will the nation be safe?" Modi said.



"The people of Gonda are patriots, they should be in power. There should be no mistake in elections, whether it is the SP or the BSP, none of them should win. Vote for BJP and make it victorious."



In January, the Bihar Police arrested three persons who claimed that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was behind the November 2016 train accident in Kanpur that left over 100 dead and many more injured.



There was also another incident of a bomb that failed to explode on a railway track in Ghorasahan in Bihar's East Champaran.



Modi also accused the Akhilesh Yadav-led-SP government of protecting and patronizing the "copying mafia" in the state which was harming the future of the youth.



The Prime Minister said the mafia was not only out to loot the poor but was also engaged in jeopardising the future of the youth.



Modi said: "When I was thinking about speaking on the issue, I must honestly admit I was slightly scared as this topic heard on television... could give ideas to anti-social elements in other parts of the nation to replicate the SP modus operandi."



Inspired by the public applause, Modi said the "copying mafia" business has to end.



He also slammed the law and order situation in the state. Modi said: "No justice can be expected from the police stations (in Uttar Prades) as they are helpless. They await nod from SP bosses."



Urging the people to uproot the corrupt government in the state, Modi asked them to "end" the rule of SP and warned them against the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).



Modi also claimed that the BJP had got huge support from the people in the first four phases of polling and that the writing on the wall was evident from the despondent face of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.



"You have given a stable government at the Centre... and now you have to strengthen our hands further...," he urged.

GONDA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday termed last November's train accident in Kanpur a "conspiracy" and urged people not to vote for those "who help conspirators". Speaking at an election rally here, Modi also slammed the Akhilesh Yadav government for "protecting and patronising" the "copying mafia" that harmed the future of the youth. Modi said: "Gonda shares its border with Nepal... Few days back there was a train accident... Some people were caught and the police found out that it was a conspiracy... the conspirators are on the other side of the border." He said people should not vote for anyone who would "help conspirators from across the border". "If the enemies want to run their business from the other side of the border, people in Gonda need to be cautious. If such people are elected who help the conspirators, will Gonda be safe? If Gonda is not safe will the nation be safe?" Modi said. "The people of Gonda are patriots, they should be in power. There should be no mistake in elections, whether it is the SP or the BSP, none of them should win. Vote for BJP and make it victorious." In January, the Bihar Police arrested three persons who claimed that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was behind the November 2016 train accident in Kanpur that left over 100 dead and many more injured. There was also another incident of a bomb that failed to explode on a railway track in Ghorasahan in Bihar's East Champaran. Modi also accused the Akhilesh Yadav-led-SP government of protecting and patronizing the "copying mafia" in the state which was harming the future of the youth. The Prime Minister said the mafia was not only out to loot the poor but was also engaged in jeopardising the future of the youth. Modi said: "When I was thinking about speaking on the issue, I must honestly admit I was slightly scared as this topic heard on television... could give ideas to anti-social elements in other parts of the nation to replicate the SP modus operandi." Inspired by the public applause, Modi said the "copying mafia" business has to end. He also slammed the law and order situation in the state. Modi said: "No justice can be expected from the police stations (in Uttar Prades) as they are helpless. They await nod from SP bosses." Urging the people to uproot the corrupt government in the state, Modi asked them to "end" the rule of SP and warned them against the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Modi also claimed that the BJP had got huge support from the people in the first four phases of polling and that the writing on the wall was evident from the despondent face of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. "You have given a stable government at the Centre... and now you have to strengthen our hands further...," he urged.
By PTI

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government today directed the Punjab Agro and Markfed to effectively intervene in the market on 'no profit no loss' basis to bail out potato growers from the current low pricing crisis and help them realise better rates to them.



Chairing an emergency meeting to take stock of the prevailing situation here, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal decided to reduce the Market Fee and Rural Development Fee (RDF) on potatoes from 2 per cent each to 0.25 per cent.



In addition, Badal also decided to slash the rates of commission charged by the commission Agents from 5 per cent to one per cent with immediate effect.



The Chief Minister also asked the Punjab Agro and Markfed to explore the feasibility of export potential of potatoes to Russia, Dubai, Iran, Sri Lanka and other countries for which the state government would subsidise the freight.



Besides, the agriculture department had also been directed to undertake distant marketing of potatoes in other parts of the country to ensure better prices to the growers.



The Chief Minister also asked the agriculture department to ensure rational utilisation of storage capacity of cold stores across the state to curb the malpractices of hoarding in cold storage space.



It was also decided in the meeting to issue an advisory to the department of education and jails beside for other government institutions for optimum utilisation of potato in the mid-day meal scheme and for the consumption of jail inmates for rich nourishment, which would also boost the sale of potato in the state, an official spokesman said

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government today directed the Punjab Agro and Markfed to effectively intervene in the market on 'no profit no loss' basis to bail out potato growers from the current low pricing crisis and help them realise better rates to them. Chairing an emergency meeting to take stock of the prevailing situation here, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal decided to reduce the Market Fee and Rural Development Fee (RDF) on potatoes from 2 per cent each to 0.25 per cent. In addition, Badal also decided to slash the rates of commission charged by the commission Agents from 5 per cent to one per cent with immediate effect. The Chief Minister also asked the Punjab Agro and Markfed to explore the feasibility of export potential of potatoes to Russia, Dubai, Iran, Sri Lanka and other countries for which the state government would subsidise the freight. Besides, the agriculture department had also been directed to undertake distant marketing of potatoes in other parts of the country to ensure better prices to the growers. The Chief Minister also asked the agriculture department to ensure rational utilisation of storage capacity of cold stores across the state to curb the malpractices of hoarding in cold storage space. It was also decided in the meeting to issue an advisory to the department of education and jails beside for other government institutions for optimum utilisation of potato in the mid-day meal scheme and for the consumption of jail inmates for rich nourishment, which would also boost the sale of potato in the state, an official spokesman said
By PTI

BARABANKI: Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan today had a narrow escape today as his helicopter had to make an emergency landing in Karand village near Jahangirabad here due to some technical snag, police said.



The helicopter carrying Khan on his way to Lucknow from Bahraich had to make the emergency landing in a filed due to some technical problem, said Superintendent of Police Raja Babu.



Everyone in the chopper was safe, he said adding Khan was later sent to Lucknow by road.

BARABANKI: Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan today had a narrow escape today as his helicopter had to make an emergency landing in Karand village near Jahangirabad here due to some technical snag, police said. The helicopter carrying Khan on his way to Lucknow from Bahraich had to make the emergency landing in a filed due to some technical problem, said Superintendent of Police Raja Babu. Everyone in the chopper was safe, he said adding Khan was later sent to Lucknow by road.
Tom Arms By

Two of the greatest symbols of the most powerful country in the world are destroyed on a beautiful late summers day by hijacked airliners piloted by Islamic terrorists.



The next fifteen years see long, vengeful, expensive and inconclusive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; the rise of a so-called Islamic State; the greed-based collapse of the Western banking system; the loss of manufacturing business to authoritarian China; a stagnant wage economy and a growing evangelical movement which calls on its followers to reject science and return to the illogical faith-based logic.



Then along comes a spray-tanned, billionaire reality TV star with a long list of easily identifiable scapegoats and simplistic solutions to what every other politician warns are difficult and complex problems. Drain the swamp. Ban the Muslims. Deport rapist Hispanics. Build a wall. Cozy up to the Russians. Raise tariff barriers against the Chinese. Force American companies to manufacture in the US. Destroy Islamic fundamentalists. Rein in the dishonest media. Reject the scientifically-proven dangers of climate change and spend billions more on defence and infrastructure while cutting taxes and backing away from established alliances. All he asks in return is that voters have blind faith in him.



There is only one thing standing between Donald J Trump and the imposition of his frighteningly simplistic solutionsthe law. In particular the US constitution. The law and the constitution exist to protect all sections of society, not just the majority of the Electoral College that voted for a specific candidate.



On past and present form, President Trump, does not appear to have any great respect for the constitution or the rule of law. It is alleged that he has several times, sexually assaulted women. His company has been twice sued by the Justice Department for failing to rent properties to African-Americans. Trump has avoided paying taxes for many years. He may have accepted help from a foreign powerthe Russians during his presidential campaign. And, finally, it appears he knew that National Security Minister Mike Flynn discussed sanctions with the Russians weeks before Flynn was forced to resign over the issue.



None of this is fake news.



The number of possible crimes that Trump has committed are mountingalmost daily. And you may rest assured that thousands of intelligence officials, State Department employees, FBI agents, liberal-minded Republicans, Democrats and, of course, journalists from the dishonest media, are compiling evidence with the express purpose of starting impeachment proceedings.



Trump has every right to be paranoid. They hate him. They hate the narrow-minded anti-intellectual bigotry he represents, and they are worried he is a danger to the stability of the world.



So what are the procedures for impeaching an American president? Founding father Benjamin Franklin insisted at the 1787 constitutional convention that there was a legal procedure for the peaceful removal of obnoxious executives. He successfully argued that the historical alternativeassassinationwas unacceptable. So Article Two, Section Four of the US constitution says that the President, Vice-President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.



To date, no president or vice-president has suffered this fate. Richard Nixon quit before he could be tried. So did his Vice-President Spiro Agnew. Andrew Johnson was acquitted by the Senate as was Bill Clinton. However, 15 federal judges, 13 district judges, one judge from the court of appeals and one Supreme Court Associate Justice have suffered the ignominy of impeachment and removal from office. Actually that is not a bad record for 230 years.



So how do you impeach the president? For a start, you gather the evidence which is usually done by a special prosecutor appointed by Congress, a special congressional committee or by private citizens who petition the Congress.

The evidence is then heard by the appropriate committee of the lower houseusually the Judiciary Committee. Committee hearings are the first step in determining whether or not there is a case to answer. Ifby a simple majority votethey determine that there is a case then proceedings are referred to a full meeting of the House of Representatives. Two Congressmen called house managers are appointed to take on the defence and prosecution roles. If, after listening to the evidence a simple majority think the president is guilty then they vote to impeach.



However, a vote to impeach, does not mean the president is immediately thrown out of office. When the House votes to impeach it is saying that the president should be committed for a proper trial. The Senate still has its say. It is in the Senate where the proper trial takes place. The House of Representatives appoints the prosecutor and the president is allowed to appoint his own legal representative.



If the president is found guilty by a simple majority of the Senate then he is immediately removed from office and the vice-president assumes control. At the moment the impeachment lobby is faced with the fact that Republicans control both Houses of Congress, although a growing number of Republican congressmen and Senators are becoming rapidly disillusioned with Trump.



However, there is a deeper problem. The frustration and anger that started on 9/11 is still there. Trump is the symptom, not the disease. But his impeachment could be the start of a cure.

Two of the greatest symbols of the most powerful country in the world are destroyed on a beautiful late summers day by hijacked airliners piloted by Islamic terrorists. The next fifteen years see long, vengeful, expensive and inconclusive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; the rise of a so-called Islamic State; the greed-based collapse of the Western banking system; the loss of manufacturing business to authoritarian China; a stagnant wage economy and a growing evangelical movement which calls on its followers to reject science and return to the illogical faith-based logic. Then along comes a spray-tanned, billionaire reality TV star with a long list of easily identifiable scapegoats and simplistic solutions to what every other politician warns are difficult and complex problems. Drain the swamp. Ban the Muslims. Deport rapist Hispanics. Build a wall. Cozy up to the Russians. Raise tariff barriers against the Chinese. Force American companies to manufacture in the US. Destroy Islamic fundamentalists. Rein in the dishonest media. Reject the scientifically-proven dangers of climate change and spend billions more on defence and infrastructure while cutting taxes and backing away from established alliances. All he asks in return is that voters have blind faith in him. There is only one thing standing between Donald J Trump and the imposition of his frighteningly simplistic solutionsthe law. In particular the US constitution. The law and the constitution exist to protect all sections of society, not just the majority of the Electoral College that voted for a specific candidate. On past and present form, President Trump, does not appear to have any great respect for the constitution or the rule of law. It is alleged that he has several times, sexually assaulted women. His company has been twice sued by the Justice Department for failing to rent properties to African-Americans. Trump has avoided paying taxes for many years. He may have accepted help from a foreign powerthe Russians during his presidential campaign. And, finally, it appears he knew that National Security Minister Mike Flynn discussed sanctions with the Russians weeks before Flynn was forced to resign over the issue. None of this is fake news. The number of possible crimes that Trump has committed are mountingalmost daily. And you may rest assured that thousands of intelligence officials, State Department employees, FBI agents, liberal-minded Republicans, Democrats and, of course, journalists from the dishonest media, are compiling evidence with the express purpose of starting impeachment proceedings. Trump has every right to be paranoid. They hate him. They hate the narrow-minded anti-intellectual bigotry he represents, and they are worried he is a danger to the stability of the world. So what are the procedures for impeaching an American president? Founding father Benjamin Franklin insisted at the 1787 constitutional convention that there was a legal procedure for the peaceful removal of obnoxious executives. He successfully argued that the historical alternativeassassinationwas unacceptable. So Article Two, Section Four of the US constitution says that the President, Vice-President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. To date, no president or vice-president has suffered this fate. Richard Nixon quit before he could be tried. So did his Vice-President Spiro Agnew. Andrew Johnson was acquitted by the Senate as was Bill Clinton. However, 15 federal judges, 13 district judges, one judge from the court of appeals and one Supreme Court Associate Justice have suffered the ignominy of impeachment and removal from office. Actually that is not a bad record for 230 years. So how do you impeach the president? For a start, you gather the evidence which is usually done by a special prosecutor appointed by Congress, a special congressional committee or by private citizens who petition the Congress. The evidence is then heard by the appropriate committee of the lower houseusually the Judiciary Committee. Committee hearings are the first step in determining whether or not there is a case to answer. Ifby a simple majority votethey determine that there is a case then proceedings are referred to a full meeting of the House of Representatives. Two Congressmen called house managers are appointed to take on the defence and prosecution roles. If, after listening to the evidence a simple majority think the president is guilty then they vote to impeach. However, a vote to impeach, does not mean the president is immediately thrown out of office. When the House votes to impeach it is saying that the president should be committed for a proper trial. The Senate still has its say. It is in the Senate where the proper trial takes place. The House of Representatives appoints the prosecutor and the president is allowed to appoint his own legal representative. If the president is found guilty by a simple majority of the Senate then he is immediately removed from office and the vice-president assumes control. At the moment the impeachment lobby is faced with the fact that Republicans control both Houses of Congress, although a growing number of Republican congressmen and Senators are becoming rapidly disillusioned with Trump. However, there is a deeper problem. The frustration and anger that started on 9/11 is still there. Trump is the symptom, not the disease. But his impeachment could be the start of a cure.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: The police have seized a Pulsar motorcycle, suspected to be used by Suni, who was taken into custody from the Judicial Magistrate Court on Thursday.

The bike was found abandoned on the Ernakulathappan ground, adjacent to the court complex.



It was said Suni entered the court premises through the Ernakulathappan ground. The bike had a Tamil Nadu registration number(TN-04 R1496). According to the police, Suni arrived at the court after travelling on bike from Coimbatore, where he was allegedly hiding.



We have taken the vehicle into custody as it is suspected to be used by the accused. We have contacted the Tamil Nadu Police for the registration details of the bike, said a police officer.

KOCHI: The police have seized a Pulsar motorcycle, suspected to be used by Suni, who was taken into custody from the Judicial Magistrate Court on Thursday. The bike was found abandoned on the Ernakulathappan ground, adjacent to the court complex. It was said Suni entered the court premises through the Ernakulathappan ground. The bike had a Tamil Nadu registration number(TN-04 R1496). According to the police, Suni arrived at the court after travelling on bike from Coimbatore, where he was allegedly hiding. We have taken the vehicle into custody as it is suspected to be used by the accused. We have contacted the Tamil Nadu Police for the registration details of the bike, said a police officer.
By PTI

KOCHI: Police will seek custody of the two key accused in the abduction and assault of a noted Malayalam actress for detailed interrogation after conflicting details emerged from their initial quizzing on the matter.

'Pulsar' Suni, the prime accused in the February 17 incident, and his accomplice V P Vijeesh would be produced before the magistrate court in Aluva today.

Police are planning to seek their custody after going through all necessary procedures, including the identification parade of the accused during their judicial remand period. "Certainly we will seek their custody," Additional Director General of Kerala Police B Sandhya told reporters here.

"We are carrying out a detailed interrogation of the arrested persons. They will be produced before the court today after gathering clear information about the incident from them," she said.

Meanwhile, police last night took the accused through the route they had travelled with the actress in a car after abducting her. On information provided by the accused, police also conducted searches for the mobile phone they allegedly used to click photographs of the actress in the car.

Police carried out searches in a drainage after they were informed by the two that they had dumped the phone in it. However, nothing could be traced, police said. The duo was arrested yesterday as they entered a local court complex to surrender, six days after the incident which caused nationwide outrage.

The Court premises witnessed high drama as police forcefully took into custody the duo who entered the court complex wearing a helmet. The actress, who has also starred in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17 and later escaped in a busy area in Kochi.

KOCHI: Police will seek custody of the two key accused in the abduction and assault of a noted Malayalam actress for detailed interrogation after conflicting details emerged from their initial quizzing on the matter. 'Pulsar' Suni, the prime accused in the February 17 incident, and his accomplice V P Vijeesh would be produced before the magistrate court in Aluva today. Police are planning to seek their custody after going through all necessary procedures, including the identification parade of the accused during their judicial remand period. "Certainly we will seek their custody," Additional Director General of Kerala Police B Sandhya told reporters here. "We are carrying out a detailed interrogation of the arrested persons. They will be produced before the court today after gathering clear information about the incident from them," she said. Meanwhile, police last night took the accused through the route they had travelled with the actress in a car after abducting her. On information provided by the accused, police also conducted searches for the mobile phone they allegedly used to click photographs of the actress in the car. Police carried out searches in a drainage after they were informed by the two that they had dumped the phone in it. However, nothing could be traced, police said. The duo was arrested yesterday as they entered a local court complex to surrender, six days after the incident which caused nationwide outrage. The Court premises witnessed high drama as police forcefully took into custody the duo who entered the court complex wearing a helmet. The actress, who has also starred in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17 and later escaped in a busy area in Kochi.
By Express News Service

MALKANGIRI : Two women Maoist operatives, who carried `four lakh reward each on their heads, surrendered before the police in Malkangiri district on Thursday.



The two, identified as Sumitra Madhi alias Manila (35) and Jagi Madhi(33), were allegedly involved in over a dozen offences including killings and blasts, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra told reporters after the duo surrendered before him.



Sumitra had joined the rebel cadre in 2001 and was active in Kalilmela Area Committee of Malkangiri division under Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist), he said.

She was allegedly involved in the Rajulkonda attack on police, Podia Panchayat office landmine explosion and Penta Madhi murder, besides Damanjodi attack in 2009, the police said. Sumitra is a native of Simirkhal village under Dhanara police limits in Gadhchiroli of Maharashtra.



Similarly, Jagi of Sana Tekguda village in Kalimela block, joined the Maoist outfit in 2008. She was allegedly involved in Penta Madhi murder case in 2011 and conspiring in the Podia block office landmine explosion in 2013. Odisha Government had announced a reward of `four lakh each on their heads, the SP said, adding the two women would be provided facilities as per government rules.



The duo decided to give up arms and return to the mainstream as they were disillusioned with the activities of the Maoists, the police said.

MALKANGIRI : Two women Maoist operatives, who carried `four lakh reward each on their heads, surrendered before the police in Malkangiri district on Thursday. The two, identified as Sumitra Madhi alias Manila (35) and Jagi Madhi(33), were allegedly involved in over a dozen offences including killings and blasts, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra told reporters after the duo surrendered before him. Sumitra had joined the rebel cadre in 2001 and was active in Kalilmela Area Committee of Malkangiri division under Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist), he said. She was allegedly involved in the Rajulkonda attack on police, Podia Panchayat office landmine explosion and Penta Madhi murder, besides Damanjodi attack in 2009, the police said. Sumitra is a native of Simirkhal village under Dhanara police limits in Gadhchiroli of Maharashtra. Similarly, Jagi of Sana Tekguda village in Kalimela block, joined the Maoist outfit in 2008. She was allegedly involved in Penta Madhi murder case in 2011 and conspiring in the Podia block office landmine explosion in 2013. Odisha Government had announced a reward of `four lakh each on their heads, the SP said, adding the two women would be provided facilities as per government rules. The duo decided to give up arms and return to the mainstream as they were disillusioned with the activities of the Maoists, the police said.
By PTI

COIMBATORE: Extolling the ancient Indian discipline of Yoga, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for efforts to protect nature and mould human activities to bring them in sync with ecological surroundings.



He also termed unity in diversity as the speciality and strength of the Indian culture.



"This (Maha Shivaratri celebrations) symbolises a spirit of vigilance, that we have to protect nature and mould our activities in sync with our ecological surroundings," he said addressing a gathering after unveiling a mammoth 112 feet bust of 'Adiyogi" Lord Shiva at Isha Yoga Foundation here.



Underlining the need for peaceful coexistence, Modi said, "Lord Shiva is everywhere" and referred to the bull, peacock and mouse that were the vehicles of the Lord and his sons -- Ganapathy and Karthik. He also talked about the venomous snake Vasuki curled around Shiva's neck to emphasise the importance of peaceful coexistence.

View Pics: Maha Shivratri: Festivities and fervour mark the night of Shiva's cosmic dance



He asked people to remain united, insisting unity in diversity was special to Indian culture.



Praising the ancient practice of Yoga, whose goal is to bring the practitioner's body, mind and spirit in tune with each other, Modi told the gathering that by "practising Yoga, a spirit of oneness is created. Oneness of mind, body and the intellect, oneness with our families and with the society we live in, with fellow humans and with birds, animals and trees."



"This is Yoga, Yoga is a journey from me to we," he said, emphasising India's biggest strength was its diversity.



Modi began his speech by greeting people in Tamil "Ungal Ellorukkum En Anbana Vanakkam," (My loving greetings to all).

Also Read: Stray dogs being locked up ahead of PM Modis visit



Founder of Isha Foundation, Jaggi Vasudev, said the bust of 'Adiyogi' was built in eight months. He also lauded Modi for practising Yoga.



Before unveiling the giant 'Adiyogi' bust, Modi lighted the "Maha Yoga Yagna" and released the book 'Adiyoga: The source of Yoga', which deals with yogic sciences.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Yoga Foundation ((Raja Chidambaram | EPS)

Modi was shown around various places in the Isha Yoga complex, including the Dhyana Linga, Surya Kund, Nandi statue and the inner and outer corridors (prakaras) by Sadhguru

Vasudev.



The Prime Minister offered aarti and showered flower petals over the Dhyana Linga.



He later sat in the Dhyana Linga mandapam, where a yogic dance was performed by a group of youngsters to the accompaniment of traditional music and Sanskrit shlokas.

View Pics: Maha Shivaratri: How the country celebrates 'the Great Night of Shiva'



Modi briefly sat alongside Vasudev in a meditative posture.



The city and the venue of the event was placed under a multi-tier security cover by police and the Special Protection Group, which guards the Prime Minister.



Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami received Modi on his arrival here.



Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi also attended the event.



The statue and the foundation are located in the foothills of Velliangiri mountains in the Western Ghats.



The bust was unveiled to coincide with Maha Shivaratri celebrations.

Equating nature with God, Modi said, "This has been firmly established by our ancestors who showed their foresight."



The Prime Minister said though there were various schools of Yoga and ways of practising it, there was beauty in both the ancient and modern techniques.



"It is constant yet evolving, the essence of Yoga has not changed and it is of utmost mportance to preserve this essence, otherwise we may just have to discover a new Yoga to

rediscover the soul and essence of Yoga."



Modi said no idea should be followed only because it was ancient as "it is essential to analyse it, understand it and try to take it to the new generation in a manner which they

understand best".



Modi said lifestyle and stress related diseases were becoming more and more common. "Communicable ailments can be controlled. What about non-communicable ones?" he said, noting he was saddened by people taking to substance and alcohol abuse because they are not at peace with themselves.



"Today the whole world wants peace...not only from war and conflict but peace of mind," he said, adding Yoga was the "sharpest weapon" to beat stress.



"There is ample evidence that practising Yoga helps combat stress and chronic conditions. If body is the temple of mind, Yoga creates a beautiful temple and that is why I call

Yoga the passport to health assurance not insurance," he said.



He said Yoga was about "rog mukthi" (freedom from diseases) as well as "bhog mukthi" (freedom from worldly greed).



Yoga made an individual a better person "in thought, action, knowledge and devotion", he said.



Noting that Yoga was not only about a set of exercises which keeps the body fit, he said it went beyond physical exercises. "Through Yoga, we will create a new yug (era), a

yug of togetherness and harmony."



He said when India mooted the idea of International Yoga Day at the United Nations, it was received with open arms and world celebrated it in 2015 and 2016 with great fervour.



"The coming together of so many nations to mark the Yoga Day shows the real essence of Yoga which is togetherness."



He said Yoga has the potential to hearld a "new era of peace, brotherhood and all-round progress of human race."



Lauding Isha Foundation founder Vasudev, he said the guru was making "Yogis out of ordinary people".

COIMBATORE: Extolling the ancient Indian discipline of Yoga, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for efforts to protect nature and mould human activities to bring them in sync with ecological surroundings. He also termed unity in diversity as the speciality and strength of the Indian culture. "This (Maha Shivaratri celebrations) symbolises a spirit of vigilance, that we have to protect nature and mould our activities in sync with our ecological surroundings," he said addressing a gathering after unveiling a mammoth 112 feet bust of 'Adiyogi" Lord Shiva at Isha Yoga Foundation here. Underlining the need for peaceful coexistence, Modi said, "Lord Shiva is everywhere" and referred to the bull, peacock and mouse that were the vehicles of the Lord and his sons -- Ganapathy and Karthik. He also talked about the venomous snake Vasuki curled around Shiva's neck to emphasise the importance of peaceful coexistence. View Pics: Maha Shivratri: Festivities and fervour mark the night of Shiva's cosmic dance He asked people to remain united, insisting unity in diversity was special to Indian culture. Praising the ancient practice of Yoga, whose goal is to bring the practitioner's body, mind and spirit in tune with each other, Modi told the gathering that by "practising Yoga, a spirit of oneness is created. Oneness of mind, body and the intellect, oneness with our families and with the society we live in, with fellow humans and with birds, animals and trees." "This is Yoga, Yoga is a journey from me to we," he said, emphasising India's biggest strength was its diversity. Modi began his speech by greeting people in Tamil "Ungal Ellorukkum En Anbana Vanakkam," (My loving greetings to all). Also Read: Stray dogs being locked up ahead of PM Modis visit Founder of Isha Foundation, Jaggi Vasudev, said the bust of 'Adiyogi' was built in eight months. He also lauded Modi for practising Yoga. Before unveiling the giant 'Adiyogi' bust, Modi lighted the "Maha Yoga Yagna" and released the book 'Adiyoga: The source of Yoga', which deals with yogic sciences. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Yoga Foundation ((Raja Chidambaram | EPS)Modi was shown around various places in the Isha Yoga complex, including the Dhyana Linga, Surya Kund, Nandi statue and the inner and outer corridors (prakaras) by Sadhguru Vasudev. The Prime Minister offered aarti and showered flower petals over the Dhyana Linga. He later sat in the Dhyana Linga mandapam, where a yogic dance was performed by a group of youngsters to the accompaniment of traditional music and Sanskrit shlokas. View Pics: Maha Shivaratri: How the country celebrates 'the Great Night of Shiva' Modi briefly sat alongside Vasudev in a meditative posture. The city and the venue of the event was placed under a multi-tier security cover by police and the Special Protection Group, which guards the Prime Minister. Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami received Modi on his arrival here. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi also attended the event. The statue and the foundation are located in the foothills of Velliangiri mountains in the Western Ghats. The bust was unveiled to coincide with Maha Shivaratri celebrations. Equating nature with God, Modi said, "This has been firmly established by our ancestors who showed their foresight." The Prime Minister said though there were various schools of Yoga and ways of practising it, there was beauty in both the ancient and modern techniques. "It is constant yet evolving, the essence of Yoga has not changed and it is of utmost mportance to preserve this essence, otherwise we may just have to discover a new Yoga to rediscover the soul and essence of Yoga." Modi said no idea should be followed only because it was ancient as "it is essential to analyse it, understand it and try to take it to the new generation in a manner which they understand best". Modi said lifestyle and stress related diseases were becoming more and more common. "Communicable ailments can be controlled. What about non-communicable ones?" he said, noting he was saddened by people taking to substance and alcohol abuse because they are not at peace with themselves. "Today the whole world wants peace...not only from war and conflict but peace of mind," he said, adding Yoga was the "sharpest weapon" to beat stress. "There is ample evidence that practising Yoga helps combat stress and chronic conditions. If body is the temple of mind, Yoga creates a beautiful temple and that is why I call Yoga the passport to health assurance not insurance," he said. He said Yoga was about "rog mukthi" (freedom from diseases) as well as "bhog mukthi" (freedom from worldly greed). Yoga made an individual a better person "in thought, action, knowledge and devotion", he said. Noting that Yoga was not only about a set of exercises which keeps the body fit, he said it went beyond physical exercises. "Through Yoga, we will create a new yug (era), a yug of togetherness and harmony." He said when India mooted the idea of International Yoga Day at the United Nations, it was received with open arms and world celebrated it in 2015 and 2016 with great fervour. "The coming together of so many nations to mark the Yoga Day shows the real essence of Yoga which is togetherness." He said Yoga has the potential to hearld a "new era of peace, brotherhood and all-round progress of human race." Lauding Isha Foundation founder Vasudev, he said the guru was making "Yogis out of ordinary people".
Sruthi R Mallya By

Express News Service

COIMBATORE:There is a flurry of activity with the district administration engaged in preparing for Prime Minister Narendra Modis two-hour visit to Coimbatore to unveil the 112-feet bust ofAdiyogi at the Isha Yoga Centre on Maha Shivaratri on Friday.

Apart from arranging tight security and keeping ready facilities for any medical need, an unusual preparation is also taking place. All street dogs are being caught along the route to the Isha Yoga Centre, in case the Prime Ministers goes there by road.

Our four dog catchers are working from morning to evening to catch the dogs and keep them safe at the Corporations dog shelter in Ukkadam, said District Animal Welfare Officer Kalpana Vasudevan. This is being done, as requested by the district administration, to prevent them from coming in the way of the entourage and also to keep the dogs safe, she added.

The dog catching began on Wednesday evening and 24 were caught by Thursday evening and locked up. They are being caught from the Airport Road and the surrounding areas and from Avinashi Road, as directed by the administration.

Kalpana Vasudevan, who also heads the NGO - People for Animals Coimbatore Unit 2 - said they using the NGOs vehicle for the operation as the Corporation vehicle was unavailable.

We will be given the corporation vehicle also on Friday before the Prime Ministers arrival. Both the vehicles will be on standby till he leaves, she said.

The dogs will not returned to their territory immediately after the Prime Minister leaves. They can be sent back only on Monday as drivers and workers do not work on weekends.

We will be feeding them for three-four days. We have two cooks and cleaners, two para-veterinary workers and two veterinary doctors to look after the dogs at the shelter during these days, added Kalpana.

COIMBATORE:There is a flurry of activity with the district administration engaged in preparing for Prime Minister Narendra Modis two-hour visit to Coimbatore to unveil the 112-feet bust ofAdiyogi at the Isha Yoga Centre on Maha Shivaratri on Friday. Apart from arranging tight security and keeping ready facilities for any medical need, an unusual preparation is also taking place. All street dogs are being caught along the route to the Isha Yoga Centre, in case the Prime Ministers goes there by road. Our four dog catchers are working from morning to evening to catch the dogs and keep them safe at the Corporations dog shelter in Ukkadam, said District Animal Welfare Officer Kalpana Vasudevan. This is being done, as requested by the district administration, to prevent them from coming in the way of the entourage and also to keep the dogs safe, she added. The dog catching began on Wednesday evening and 24 were caught by Thursday evening and locked up. They are being caught from the Airport Road and the surrounding areas and from Avinashi Road, as directed by the administration. Kalpana Vasudevan, who also heads the NGO - People for Animals Coimbatore Unit 2 - said they using the NGOs vehicle for the operation as the Corporation vehicle was unavailable. We will be given the corporation vehicle also on Friday before the Prime Ministers arrival. Both the vehicles will be on standby till he leaves, she said. The dogs will not returned to their territory immediately after the Prime Minister leaves. They can be sent back only on Monday as drivers and workers do not work on weekends. We will be feeding them for three-four days. We have two cooks and cleaners, two para-veterinary workers and two veterinary doctors to look after the dogs at the shelter during these days, added Kalpana.
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON: Caitlyn Jenner is taking President Donald Trump to task for his administration's reversal of a directive on transgender access to public school bathrooms.

Jenner addresses Trump in a video posted on Thursday night on Twitter. She says, "From one Republican to another, this is a disaster."

The Trump White House has ended a directive issued during Barack Obama's presidency that told public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms of their chosen gender.

Jenner is particularly critical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying, "Apparently even becoming attorney general isn't enough to cure some people of their insecurities."

Addressing Trump, the former Olympic champion says: "You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."

Jenner came out as a transgender woman in 2015.

WASHINGTON: Caitlyn Jenner is taking President Donald Trump to task for his administration's reversal of a directive on transgender access to public school bathrooms. Jenner addresses Trump in a video posted on Thursday night on Twitter. She says, "From one Republican to another, this is a disaster." The Trump White House has ended a directive issued during Barack Obama's presidency that told public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms of their chosen gender. Jenner is particularly critical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying, "Apparently even becoming attorney general isn't enough to cure some people of their insecurities." Addressing Trump, the former Olympic champion says: "You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me." Jenner came out as a transgender woman in 2015.
By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES: A California substance-abuse counsellor who hit a man with her car and drove two miles with his body embedded in her windshield was sentenced on Thursday to 25 years to life in prison.

Sherri Lynn Wilkins had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and two drunken driving counts.

Wilkins, 55, had been found guilty at a 2014 trial on similar charges but an appeals court last year threw out the conviction because her entire criminal history had been admitted at trial and could have prejudiced the jury.

She had received the stiffer sentence of 55 years to life before her appeal.

Prosecutors then refiled charges and Wilkins pleaded no contest.

In 2012, Wilkins was a substance abuse-counsellor and was driving home through Torrance when she hit and killed 31-year-old Phillip Moreno.

She drove more than two miles with his half-naked body embedded in the windshield and his upper body face down on the hood before other drivers confronted her at a stoplight, according to court records.

Wilkins told them that Moreno seemed to jump in front of the car. He died at a hospital.

Wilkins drank three shots of vodka and a beer in her car before driving but the defence argued there hadn't been enough time for her blood-alcohol level to exceed the legal limit of .08.

Investigators said Wilkins' blood-alcohol level was about twice that limit 1  hours after the crash.

LOS ANGELES: A California substance-abuse counsellor who hit a man with her car and drove two miles with his body embedded in her windshield was sentenced on Thursday to 25 years to life in prison. Sherri Lynn Wilkins had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and two drunken driving counts. Wilkins, 55, had been found guilty at a 2014 trial on similar charges but an appeals court last year threw out the conviction because her entire criminal history had been admitted at trial and could have prejudiced the jury. She had received the stiffer sentence of 55 years to life before her appeal. Prosecutors then refiled charges and Wilkins pleaded no contest. In 2012, Wilkins was a substance abuse-counsellor and was driving home through Torrance when she hit and killed 31-year-old Phillip Moreno. She drove more than two miles with his half-naked body embedded in the windshield and his upper body face down on the hood before other drivers confronted her at a stoplight, according to court records. Wilkins told them that Moreno seemed to jump in front of the car. He died at a hospital. Wilkins drank three shots of vodka and a beer in her car before driving but the defence argued there hadn't been enough time for her blood-alcohol level to exceed the legal limit of .08. Investigators said Wilkins' blood-alcohol level was about twice that limit 1  hours after the crash.
China will have many more museums in coming years.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage said on Tuesday that it expects one museum to be available for every 250,000 people in the country by 2020.

The plan is part of a comprehensive blueprint to nurture China's protection of cultural heritage and improve public participation in the process.

Chinese museums are also likely to see the total annual visitor number rise to 800 million from the current 700 million by that year.

The administration also said that the first national survey of movable cultural relics would be completed by 2020, and a database containing identity tags for State-owned artifacts, would be established.

According to the blueprint, cultural products worth at least 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) will likely be sold in the future.

Related:

British Museum collections bring history of the world to China

Shanxi releases new creative cultural products
By Associated Press

KABUL: An Afghan official says a suicide car bomb has killed at least two soldiers and wounded three others in southern Helmand province.

Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the attack took place Friday morning when a suicide car bomb exploded at an army post in the district of Girishk.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban insurgents are active in southern provinces.

KABUL: An Afghan official says a suicide car bomb has killed at least two soldiers and wounded three others in southern Helmand province. Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the attack took place Friday morning when a suicide car bomb exploded at an army post in the district of Girishk. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban insurgents are active in southern provinces.
By Associated Press

BEIRUT: A car bombing north of a Syrian town just captured by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from the Islamic State group killed at least 60 people on Friday, mostly civilians who had gathered trying to go back home, Turkey's news agency and Syrian activists said.

According to Mohammed al-Tawil, a leading Syrian opposition fighter in the area, a suicide attacker blew his small pick-up truck outside a security office in Sousian village, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north of al-Bab.

The explosion went off as the opposition fighters were organizing the return of civilians from al-Bab who had been displaced by the fighting for their town, he said.

Al-Bab, which had been controlled by IS since late 2013, was captured on Thursday, after more than two months of fighting led by Turkish troops supporting Syrian opposition fighters.

IS militants who withdrew from the town still control areas around it.

"A small civilian pick-up truck reached the gathering and went off at the security checkpoint," al-Tawil said over the telephone from Sousian.

Al-Tawil, a member of the opposition al-Bab military council, said about four fighters manning the checkpoint were killed in the attack. Al-Tawil, who was at the security office at the time of the explosion, said the rest of the casualties were civilians from al-Bab.

The Syrian opposition-run Qasioun news agency put the death toll at 45 while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 42 were killed.

Anadolu news agency said at least 41 of those wounded in the attack were taken to the Turkish border town of Kilis, where they are being treated in a state hospital. Some of the wounded were in serious condition, the agency said.

The Sousian security office was in charge of issuing permits and providing an escort for civilians wishing to return to al-Bab. Al-Tawil said at least two groups of about 150 civilians had already left early on Friday for al-Bab, accompanied by a mine sweeping unit operated by the Syrian opposition fighters.

"These people have suffered a lot ... it was very difficult, and they have been waiting for this moment" to return home, al-Tawil said.

The Observatory said at least seven opposition fighters were killed in the town from land mines left behind by IS  a trademark of retreating militants.

Al-Bab had a prewar population of about 60,000, many of whom were displaced in neighboring areas, including during the most recent clashes.

Footage emerging from al-Bab showed a deserted town, badly damaged by the war. At least one of the streets appears completely destroyed, with buildings crumbling or leveled on both sides. Trenches and earth berms have made other streets impassable, and nearly every building shows some signs of artillery shelling or heavy machine-gun fire.

BEIRUT: A car bombing north of a Syrian town just captured by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters from the Islamic State group killed at least 60 people on Friday, mostly civilians who had gathered trying to go back home, Turkey's news agency and Syrian activists said. According to Mohammed al-Tawil, a leading Syrian opposition fighter in the area, a suicide attacker blew his small pick-up truck outside a security office in Sousian village, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north of al-Bab. The explosion went off as the opposition fighters were organizing the return of civilians from al-Bab who had been displaced by the fighting for their town, he said. Al-Bab, which had been controlled by IS since late 2013, was captured on Thursday, after more than two months of fighting led by Turkish troops supporting Syrian opposition fighters. IS militants who withdrew from the town still control areas around it. "A small civilian pick-up truck reached the gathering and went off at the security checkpoint," al-Tawil said over the telephone from Sousian. Al-Tawil, a member of the opposition al-Bab military council, said about four fighters manning the checkpoint were killed in the attack. Al-Tawil, who was at the security office at the time of the explosion, said the rest of the casualties were civilians from al-Bab. The Syrian opposition-run Qasioun news agency put the death toll at 45 while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 42 were killed. Anadolu news agency said at least 41 of those wounded in the attack were taken to the Turkish border town of Kilis, where they are being treated in a state hospital. Some of the wounded were in serious condition, the agency said. The Sousian security office was in charge of issuing permits and providing an escort for civilians wishing to return to al-Bab. Al-Tawil said at least two groups of about 150 civilians had already left early on Friday for al-Bab, accompanied by a mine sweeping unit operated by the Syrian opposition fighters. "These people have suffered a lot ... it was very difficult, and they have been waiting for this moment" to return home, al-Tawil said. The Observatory said at least seven opposition fighters were killed in the town from land mines left behind by IS  a trademark of retreating militants. Al-Bab had a prewar population of about 60,000, many of whom were displaced in neighboring areas, including during the most recent clashes. Footage emerging from al-Bab showed a deserted town, badly damaged by the war. At least one of the streets appears completely destroyed, with buildings crumbling or leveled on both sides. Trenches and earth berms have made other streets impassable, and nearly every building shows some signs of artillery shelling or heavy machine-gun fire.
By ANI

NEW YORK: As uncertainty looms regarding the latest developments on approval of the H-1B visa, Indian students in the United States have expressed their concern about non-approval of a work permit, stating that the lack of clarity is only increasing their anxiety.

Under U.S. President Donald Trumps administration, there was a motion passed for more stringent laws to be implemented with regards to issuing H-1B visas to foreign nationals, which permit them to take up job in the States.



Earlier this year, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India's concerns about the US' H-1B visa policy under the new administration have been conveyed to the US.

Swarup's comments came in the wake of the legislation mandating that the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders be increased to $130,000 from $60,000, was introduced in the US House of Representatives by Congressman Zoe Lofgren.

According to an Indian student pursuing Masters at the New York University (NYU), one of the biggest concerns is the proposed hike in minimum salary required to apply for an H-1B visa.



Rumours have surfaced of an increase in minimum salary to be around USD 1, 30, 000. Most companies do not offer such a huge amount when its your first job, whichever industry it may be. Filing visa applications during this financial year does not seem possible at the minute. Students and tourists will have to think twice before coming here, the student told ANI here.



Echoing a similar opinion, another Indian student pursuing her Masters at Parsons School of Design claimed that with the current political situation, students are not likely to consider moving to the States to pursue their education or career.



At this point in time, students are feeling more welcomed in countries like Japan, Australia and Canada. The stability being offered in these countries is being considered by students looking to study or work abroad, she stated.



Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security released memos regarding the implementation of two of the President's executive orders, designed to protect the homeland.

These two memos provide explicit guidance to DHS staff on how to carry out two executive orders signed by the President on January 25th -- one dealing with interior enforcement and one with border security.

Trump had taken a hard line against illegal immigration during his campaign, at times suggesting he would seek to create a nationwide deportation force to expel as many of the nation's estimated 11 million unauthorised immigrants as possible.

The new guidelines, intended as a road map toward implementing a pair of executive actions Trump signed last month, call for the hiring of thousands of additional enforcement agents, expanding the pool of immigrants who are prioritised for removal, speeding up deportation hearings and enlisting local law enforcement to help make arrests.

Experts say that if passed, the new visa legislation will make it very difficult for American companies to use H-1B visas to hire foreign workers, including IT professionals from India.

NEW YORK: As uncertainty looms regarding the latest developments on approval of the H-1B visa, Indian students in the United States have expressed their concern about non-approval of a work permit, stating that the lack of clarity is only increasing their anxiety. Under U.S. President Donald Trumps administration, there was a motion passed for more stringent laws to be implemented with regards to issuing H-1B visas to foreign nationals, which permit them to take up job in the States. Earlier this year, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India's concerns about the US' H-1B visa policy under the new administration have been conveyed to the US. Swarup's comments came in the wake of the legislation mandating that the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders be increased to $130,000 from $60,000, was introduced in the US House of Representatives by Congressman Zoe Lofgren. According to an Indian student pursuing Masters at the New York University (NYU), one of the biggest concerns is the proposed hike in minimum salary required to apply for an H-1B visa. Rumours have surfaced of an increase in minimum salary to be around USD 1, 30, 000. Most companies do not offer such a huge amount when its your first job, whichever industry it may be. Filing visa applications during this financial year does not seem possible at the minute. Students and tourists will have to think twice before coming here, the student told ANI here. Echoing a similar opinion, another Indian student pursuing her Masters at Parsons School of Design claimed that with the current political situation, students are not likely to consider moving to the States to pursue their education or career. At this point in time, students are feeling more welcomed in countries like Japan, Australia and Canada. The stability being offered in these countries is being considered by students looking to study or work abroad, she stated. Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security released memos regarding the implementation of two of the President's executive orders, designed to protect the homeland. These two memos provide explicit guidance to DHS staff on how to carry out two executive orders signed by the President on January 25th -- one dealing with interior enforcement and one with border security. Trump had taken a hard line against illegal immigration during his campaign, at times suggesting he would seek to create a nationwide deportation force to expel as many of the nation's estimated 11 million unauthorised immigrants as possible. The new guidelines, intended as a road map toward implementing a pair of executive actions Trump signed last month, call for the hiring of thousands of additional enforcement agents, expanding the pool of immigrants who are prioritised for removal, speeding up deportation hearings and enlisting local law enforcement to help make arrests. Experts say that if passed, the new visa legislation will make it very difficult for American companies to use H-1B visas to hire foreign workers, including IT professionals from India.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: An Indian engineer was killed and two others were injured after an American man yelling "get out of my country" opened fire on them in a crowded bar in Kansas City in an apparent hate crime incident. The story was first broken by the Kansas City Star website.

UPDATES:

We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderbad.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

Indian Ambassador has also informed me that Alok Madasani who was injured in the incident has been discharged from the hospital.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that Indian Ambassador in US Navtej Sarna has stated that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to Kansas to look into the matter.

I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

---

Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed while another Indian man and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured after a 51-year-old Navy veteran started shooting hurling racial slurs following an altercation on Wednesday night.

Also read: Will bring back body of killed Indian engineer to Hyderabad, assures Swaraj

A third person, an American man identified as Ian Grillot who tried to intervene also received injuries in the firing in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe. The shooter, Adam Purinton, reportedly got into an argument with the victims in the terms of racism, and shouted "get out of my country", "terrorist" before shooting them.

The shooter reportedly provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they are better than him. According to police, Purinton left the bar after the argument and then returned with a gun and shot the three men while patrons were watching the University of Kansas-TCU basketball game on television in the bar.

Alok Madasani (Source: Facebook)

The shooter was arrested on Thursday morning, five hours after the incident and charged with murder and attempted murder. Authorities declined at a news conference to say whether the shooting was a hate crime although local police said they were working with the FBI to investigate the case. "It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke told reporters.

In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed shock over the incident and said two Indian Embassy officials have been rushed to Kansas to render all possible assistance. "I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family," she tweeted.

"I have spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Mr Navtej Sarna. He informed me that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to Kansas," she said. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Kuchibhotla and Madasani hailed from Hyderabad and Warangal, and were working at Garmin in Olathe (Kansas).

"The Indian Embassy officials will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased and will be in touch with local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow-up action. They will also meet the community members in Kansas," Swarup said.

According to Garmin, Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked in the company's aviation systems. "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's (Wednesday night) incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counsellors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," Garmin said in a statement. The FBI has joined local police authorities in the investigation.

"The FBI is investigating to determine if the shooting of Kuchibhotla, was a bias-motivated hate crime in violation of the victims' civil rights," Eric Jackson, special agent in charge of the FBIs Kansas City office told reporters at a news conference. The shooter, a navy veteran with inactive pilot license and air traffic controller certificate, told a bartender in Clinton, Missouri, where he was hiding after the shooting that he killed two Middle Eastern persons, local media reported.

Adam Purinton, a US Navy veteran, key accused in the Kansas shooting (Kansas City Star website video screengrab)

He has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder and his bond has been set at USD 2 million. According to Kansas City Star, the shooter worked as an air traffic controller in Olathe. He also worked at the Federal Aviation Administration, but left FAA in 2000.

Friends of Kuchibhotla have set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for sending his remains to India. "Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone. He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being," the fund raising page said.

Also Read: Kin allege killing of Warangal boy in US a hate crime

"His wife Sunayana and his family are now faced with incredible grief and a multitude of expenses," it said. The shooting incident comes at a time when hate crimes and acts of bigotry have risen notably during the recent months in America. It has sent shocked waves among Indian-American and the Indian community across the United States.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Kuchibhotla," said Jay Kansara, director of Government Relations at Hindu American Foundation. "We are also praying for a speedy recovery for the injured. We call upon the US Department of Justice and local law enforcement to investigate this murder as what it is, a hate crime. Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and their families," he said. A report in The Kansas City Star said 24-year-old Grillot hid behind a table when Purinton opened fire. He counted the gunshots and when he thought the gunman was out of bullets, he jumped up to stop him but Purinton still had one round left, and he used it to shoot Grillot.

The bullet went through the 24-year-old Olathe man's hand and into his chest. "Im just very grateful that one of the gentlemen is fine and alive. Its terrible what happened to his friend. But I think he was watching over us last night," he said. Grillot said that he learned Madasanis wife is five months pregnant and that he considers the engineer his new best friend.

The sports bar where the shooting took place has been closed with a sign on the door that said it would remain closed indefinitely.

WASHINGTON: An Indian engineer was killed and two others were injured after an American man yelling "get out of my country" opened fire on them in a crowded bar in Kansas City in an apparent hate crime incident. The story was first broken by the Kansas City Star website. UPDATES: We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderbad.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017 Indian Ambassador has also informed me that Alok Madasani who was injured in the incident has been discharged from the hospital.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017 External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that Indian Ambassador in US Navtej Sarna has stated that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to Kansas to look into the matter. I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017 --- Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed while another Indian man and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured after a 51-year-old Navy veteran started shooting hurling racial slurs following an altercation on Wednesday night. Also read: Will bring back body of killed Indian engineer to Hyderabad, assures Swaraj A third person, an American man identified as Ian Grillot who tried to intervene also received injuries in the firing in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe. The shooter, Adam Purinton, reportedly got into an argument with the victims in the terms of racism, and shouted "get out of my country", "terrorist" before shooting them. The shooter reportedly provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they are better than him. According to police, Purinton left the bar after the argument and then returned with a gun and shot the three men while patrons were watching the University of Kansas-TCU basketball game on television in the bar. Alok Madasani (Source: Facebook)The shooter was arrested on Thursday morning, five hours after the incident and charged with murder and attempted murder. Authorities declined at a news conference to say whether the shooting was a hate crime although local police said they were working with the FBI to investigate the case. "It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke told reporters. In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed shock over the incident and said two Indian Embassy officials have been rushed to Kansas to render all possible assistance. "I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family," she tweeted. "I have spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Mr Navtej Sarna. He informed me that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to Kansas," she said. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Kuchibhotla and Madasani hailed from Hyderabad and Warangal, and were working at Garmin in Olathe (Kansas). "The Indian Embassy officials will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased and will be in touch with local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow-up action. They will also meet the community members in Kansas," Swarup said. According to Garmin, Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked in the company's aviation systems. "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's (Wednesday night) incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counsellors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow," Garmin said in a statement. The FBI has joined local police authorities in the investigation. "The FBI is investigating to determine if the shooting of Kuchibhotla, was a bias-motivated hate crime in violation of the victims' civil rights," Eric Jackson, special agent in charge of the FBIs Kansas City office told reporters at a news conference. The shooter, a navy veteran with inactive pilot license and air traffic controller certificate, told a bartender in Clinton, Missouri, where he was hiding after the shooting that he killed two Middle Eastern persons, local media reported. Adam Purinton, a US Navy veteran, key accused in the Kansas shooting (Kansas City Star website video screengrab) He has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder and his bond has been set at USD 2 million. According to Kansas City Star, the shooter worked as an air traffic controller in Olathe. He also worked at the Federal Aviation Administration, but left FAA in 2000. Friends of Kuchibhotla have set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for sending his remains to India. "Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone. He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being," the fund raising page said. Also Read: Kin allege killing of Warangal boy in US a hate crime "His wife Sunayana and his family are now faced with incredible grief and a multitude of expenses," it said. The shooting incident comes at a time when hate crimes and acts of bigotry have risen notably during the recent months in America. It has sent shocked waves among Indian-American and the Indian community across the United States. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Kuchibhotla," said Jay Kansara, director of Government Relations at Hindu American Foundation. "We are also praying for a speedy recovery for the injured. We call upon the US Department of Justice and local law enforcement to investigate this murder as what it is, a hate crime. Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and their families," he said. A report in The Kansas City Star said 24-year-old Grillot hid behind a table when Purinton opened fire. He counted the gunshots and when he thought the gunman was out of bullets, he jumped up to stop him but Purinton still had one round left, and he used it to shoot Grillot. The bullet went through the 24-year-old Olathe man's hand and into his chest. "Im just very grateful that one of the gentlemen is fine and alive. Its terrible what happened to his friend. But I think he was watching over us last night," he said. Grillot said that he learned Madasanis wife is five months pregnant and that he considers the engineer his new best friend. The sports bar where the shooting took place has been closed with a sign on the door that said it would remain closed indefinitely.
By AFP

IRAQ: The Islamic State group carried out an attack on an Iraqi border guard position near Jordan today, killing at least 15 guards, officials said.



"Daesh launched an attack with a suicide car bomb and gunmen on the 2nd border guard regiment near Trebil," an officer in the border guard told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for IS.



"The attack came from several directions and killed 15 border guards, including two officers," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



The border with Jordan lies in Anbar, a vast western province where IS fighters have lost most of their urban strongholds but continue to harass government forces.



Border guards deployed near Jordan and Syria have been repeatedly attacked by the jihadists but today's attack was among the deadliest.



An official in Rutba, the nearest town, confirmed the attack and the death toll.



On the back foot in the northern city of Mosul, their last major stronghold in Iraq, IS jihadists have carried out a series of diversionary attacks elsewhere in the country.



Since the launch of a massive offensive against Mosul on October 17 last year, they have staged deadly attacks on Kirkuk, in the Sinjar area, in Rutba as well as continued car bombings in Baghdad.

IRAQ: The Islamic State group carried out an attack on an Iraqi border guard position near Jordan today, killing at least 15 guards, officials said. "Daesh launched an attack with a suicide car bomb and gunmen on the 2nd border guard regiment near Trebil," an officer in the border guard told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for IS. "The attack came from several directions and killed 15 border guards, including two officers," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The border with Jordan lies in Anbar, a vast western province where IS fighters have lost most of their urban strongholds but continue to harass government forces. Border guards deployed near Jordan and Syria have been repeatedly attacked by the jihadists but today's attack was among the deadliest. An official in Rutba, the nearest town, confirmed the attack and the death toll. On the back foot in the northern city of Mosul, their last major stronghold in Iraq, IS jihadists have carried out a series of diversionary attacks elsewhere in the country. Since the launch of a massive offensive against Mosul on October 17 last year, they have staged deadly attacks on Kirkuk, in the Sinjar area, in Rutba as well as continued car bombings in Baghdad.
By AFP

JERUSALEM: A report expected to criticise Israel's prime minister and the armed forces command over their conduct in the runup to the 2014 Gaza war is to be released next week, officials said today.



State comptroller Yossef Shapira's report, the result of a two-year inquiry, will be published on Tuesday, a spokesman for his office said.



Shapira, who is in charge of assessing state policies and use of public funds, opened his investigation soon after the July-August 2014 conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group which controls the Gaza Strip.



A draft released to senior officials reportedly condemns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon for failing to prepare for the threat posed by Hamas tunnels from Gaza, despite alerts from the intelligence services.



Hamas and its allies used the tunnels to carry out cross-border attacks on Israeli territory.



The report also examines "the way in which decisions were made within the (security) cabinet before and at the start of Operation Protective Edge", Shapira's spokesman said, using Israel's codename for the assault.



The draft, released to ministers and military officials in November, says Netanyahu and Yaalon only partially informed the Jewish state's inner cabinet of the threat posed by the tunnels, according to leaks to local media.



A source close to Netanyahu has rejected the charge.



Destroying the tunnels and stopping Gaza-based Palestinian militants launching rockets into Israel were the key declared goals of Israel's third offensive in the coastal territory in six years.



The tunnels were among the Palestinians' most effective weapons during the 50-day conflict.



Israel's military found 32 tunnels, including 14 from the Gaza Strip into Israel, according to a UN inquiry on the conflict. Hamas says it has continued to dig new ones.



The war killed 2,251 Palestinians and left 100,000 homeless, according to the UN. On the Israeli side, 74 people were killed, all but six of them soldiers

JERUSALEM: A report expected to criticise Israel's prime minister and the armed forces command over their conduct in the runup to the 2014 Gaza war is to be released next week, officials said today. State comptroller Yossef Shapira's report, the result of a two-year inquiry, will be published on Tuesday, a spokesman for his office said. Shapira, who is in charge of assessing state policies and use of public funds, opened his investigation soon after the July-August 2014 conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group which controls the Gaza Strip. A draft released to senior officials reportedly condemns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon for failing to prepare for the threat posed by Hamas tunnels from Gaza, despite alerts from the intelligence services. Hamas and its allies used the tunnels to carry out cross-border attacks on Israeli territory. The report also examines "the way in which decisions were made within the (security) cabinet before and at the start of Operation Protective Edge", Shapira's spokesman said, using Israel's codename for the assault. The draft, released to ministers and military officials in November, says Netanyahu and Yaalon only partially informed the Jewish state's inner cabinet of the threat posed by the tunnels, according to leaks to local media. A source close to Netanyahu has rejected the charge. Destroying the tunnels and stopping Gaza-based Palestinian militants launching rockets into Israel were the key declared goals of Israel's third offensive in the coastal territory in six years. The tunnels were among the Palestinians' most effective weapons during the 50-day conflict. Israel's military found 32 tunnels, including 14 from the Gaza Strip into Israel, according to a UN inquiry on the conflict. Hamas says it has continued to dig new ones. The war killed 2,251 Palestinians and left 100,000 homeless, according to the UN. On the Israeli side, 74 people were killed, all but six of them soldiers
By Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR: The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. The announcement raised serious questions about public safety in a building that authorities went 11 days without decontaminating.

The substance, deadly even in minute amounts, was detected on Kim's eyes and face, Malaysia's inspector general of police said in a written statement, citing a preliminary analysis from the country's Chemistry Department.

"Our preliminary finding of the chemical that caused the death of Kim Chol was VX nerve," said Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar. Kim Chol is the name on the passport found on the victim, but a Malaysian official previously confirmed he is North Korea leader Kim Jong Un's older half brother.

Khalid told reporters that one of the two women accused of wiping the toxin on Kim's face was later sickened and suffered from vomiting. He declined to say which of the women  one Indonesian and one Vietnamese  had gotten sick.

Khalid said police were still investigating how the lethal agent entered Malaysia.

Police previously said the airport had not been decontaminated. Asked Friday in a text message whether that was still the case, Khalid said, "We are doing it now." Details were not immediately clear.

Malaysian police also previously no one besides Kim Jong Nam had been sickened.

If VX was used, it could have contaminated not only the airport but anyplace else Kim had been, including medical facilities and the ambulance he was transported in. The nerve agent, which has the consistency of motor oil, can take days or even weeks to evaporate.

The death of Kim Jong Nam, whose daylight assassination in a crowded airport terminal seems straight out of a spy novel, has unleashed a diplomatic crisis that escalates by the day. With each new twist in the case, international speculation has grown that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to Malaysia to kill the exiled older sibling of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea has denounced Malaysia's investigation as full of "holes and contradictions" and accused the authorities here of being in cahoots with Pyongyang's enemies.

According to Malaysian investigators, the two female suspects coated their hands with chemicals and wiped them on Kim's face on Feb. 13 as he waited for a flight home to Macau, where he lived with his family.

He sought help from airport staff but he fell into convulsions and died on the way to the hospital within two hours of the attack, police said.

The case has perplexed toxicologists, who question how the two women could have walked away unscathed after handling a powerful poison, even if  as Malaysian police say  the women were instructed to wash their hands right after the attack.

Dr. Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said even a tiny amount of VX nerve agent  equal to a few grains of salt  is capable of killing. It can be administered through the skin, and there is an antidote that can be administered by injection. U.S. medics and military personnel carried kits with them on the battlefield during the Iraq war in case they were exposed to the chemical weapon.

"It's a very toxic nerve agent. Very, very toxic," he said. "I'm intrigued that these two alleged assassins suffered no ill effect from exposure to VX. It is possible that both of these women were given the antidote."

He said symptoms from VX would generally occur within seconds or minutes and could last for hours starting with confusion, possible drowsiness, headache, nausea, vomiting, runny nose and watery eyes. Prior to death, there would likely be convulsions, seizures, loss of consciousness and paralysis.

VX is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which North Korea never signed. The country is believed by outside experts to have the capacity to produce up to 4,500 metric tons of chemical weapons during a typical year, which it could increase to 12,000 tons per year during a period of crisis. Its current inventory has been estimated at 2,500 to 5,000 tons.

It is suspected of being particularly focused on mustard, phosgene, sarin and V-type chemical agents  substances including VX that are designed to poison through contact and remain lethal for long periods of time. The North's development of such agents has been of special concern because of fears it might try to put them in artillery shells for an attack on South Korea's capital, potentially threatening the lives of millions.

Joseph Bermudez, a well-known North Korea analyst, wrote an article for the respected 38 North website in 2013 that said the North is capable of not only employing "significant quantities and varieties of chemical weapons" across the Korean Peninsula but also using those weapons worldwide "using unconventional methods of delivery."

He also said there is a "growing body of evidence" indicating the North has shared chemical weapons capabilities with Syria, Iran and others.

Malaysia has three people in custody in connection with Kim Jong Nam's death, including the two suspected attackers. Authorities are also seeking several other people, including the second secretary of North Korea's embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo.

The case has marked a serious turnaround in relations between Malaysia and North Korea. While Malaysia isn't one of Pyongyang's key diplomatic partners, it is one of the few places in the world where North Koreans can travel without a visa. As a result, for years, it's been a quiet destination for Northerners looking for jobs, schools and business deals.

KUALA LUMPUR: The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. The announcement raised serious questions about public safety in a building that authorities went 11 days without decontaminating. The substance, deadly even in minute amounts, was detected on Kim's eyes and face, Malaysia's inspector general of police said in a written statement, citing a preliminary analysis from the country's Chemistry Department. "Our preliminary finding of the chemical that caused the death of Kim Chol was VX nerve," said Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar. Kim Chol is the name on the passport found on the victim, but a Malaysian official previously confirmed he is North Korea leader Kim Jong Un's older half brother. Khalid told reporters that one of the two women accused of wiping the toxin on Kim's face was later sickened and suffered from vomiting. He declined to say which of the women  one Indonesian and one Vietnamese  had gotten sick. window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[]; window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'ODk3NTIwfHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'}); Khalid said police were still investigating how the lethal agent entered Malaysia. Police previously said the airport had not been decontaminated. Asked Friday in a text message whether that was still the case, Khalid said, "We are doing it now." Details were not immediately clear. Malaysian police also previously no one besides Kim Jong Nam had been sickened. If VX was used, it could have contaminated not only the airport but anyplace else Kim had been, including medical facilities and the ambulance he was transported in. The nerve agent, which has the consistency of motor oil, can take days or even weeks to evaporate. The death of Kim Jong Nam, whose daylight assassination in a crowded airport terminal seems straight out of a spy novel, has unleashed a diplomatic crisis that escalates by the day. With each new twist in the case, international speculation has grown that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to Malaysia to kill the exiled older sibling of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea has denounced Malaysia's investigation as full of "holes and contradictions" and accused the authorities here of being in cahoots with Pyongyang's enemies. According to Malaysian investigators, the two female suspects coated their hands with chemicals and wiped them on Kim's face on Feb. 13 as he waited for a flight home to Macau, where he lived with his family. He sought help from airport staff but he fell into convulsions and died on the way to the hospital within two hours of the attack, police said. The case has perplexed toxicologists, who question how the two women could have walked away unscathed after handling a powerful poison, even if  as Malaysian police say  the women were instructed to wash their hands right after the attack. Dr. Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said even a tiny amount of VX nerve agent  equal to a few grains of salt  is capable of killing. It can be administered through the skin, and there is an antidote that can be administered by injection. U.S. medics and military personnel carried kits with them on the battlefield during the Iraq war in case they were exposed to the chemical weapon. "It's a very toxic nerve agent. Very, very toxic," he said. "I'm intrigued that these two alleged assassins suffered no ill effect from exposure to VX. It is possible that both of these women were given the antidote." He said symptoms from VX would generally occur within seconds or minutes and could last for hours starting with confusion, possible drowsiness, headache, nausea, vomiting, runny nose and watery eyes. Prior to death, there would likely be convulsions, seizures, loss of consciousness and paralysis. VX is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which North Korea never signed. The country is believed by outside experts to have the capacity to produce up to 4,500 metric tons of chemical weapons during a typical year, which it could increase to 12,000 tons per year during a period of crisis. Its current inventory has been estimated at 2,500 to 5,000 tons. It is suspected of being particularly focused on mustard, phosgene, sarin and V-type chemical agents  substances including VX that are designed to poison through contact and remain lethal for long periods of time. The North's development of such agents has been of special concern because of fears it might try to put them in artillery shells for an attack on South Korea's capital, potentially threatening the lives of millions. Joseph Bermudez, a well-known North Korea analyst, wrote an article for the respected 38 North website in 2013 that said the North is capable of not only employing "significant quantities and varieties of chemical weapons" across the Korean Peninsula but also using those weapons worldwide "using unconventional methods of delivery." He also said there is a "growing body of evidence" indicating the North has shared chemical weapons capabilities with Syria, Iran and others. Malaysia has three people in custody in connection with Kim Jong Nam's death, including the two suspected attackers. Authorities are also seeking several other people, including the second secretary of North Korea's embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo. The case has marked a serious turnaround in relations between Malaysia and North Korea. While Malaysia isn't one of Pyongyang's key diplomatic partners, it is one of the few places in the world where North Koreans can travel without a visa. As a result, for years, it's been a quiet destination for Northerners looking for jobs, schools and business deals.
By Associated Press

BENGHAZI: The military governor of eastern Libyan cities has imposed a ban on all travelers under 45 years old without a security clearance.

The decision was issued Thursday by Libyan Chief of Staff Abdel-Razek al-Nadhouri, citing security concerns of "outside dangers." He was appointed by army chief Khalifa Hifter to govern eastern cities from Darna to Bani Jawad.

Hifter is allied with the internationally recognized parliament which is based in eastern Libya.

It was a revised decree of an earlier one that imposed a ban on women without male guardians that drew public criticism.

Libyans are already facing movement restrictions across the country, which is divided between rival governments, each back by heavily armed militias and tribes. Libya's two main airports in Benghazi and Tripoli were destroyed during years of fighting.

BENGHAZI: The military governor of eastern Libyan cities has imposed a ban on all travelers under 45 years old without a security clearance. The decision was issued Thursday by Libyan Chief of Staff Abdel-Razek al-Nadhouri, citing security concerns of "outside dangers." He was appointed by army chief Khalifa Hifter to govern eastern cities from Darna to Bani Jawad. Hifter is allied with the internationally recognized parliament which is based in eastern Libya. It was a revised decree of an earlier one that imposed a ban on women without male guardians that drew public criticism. Libyans are already facing movement restrictions across the country, which is divided between rival governments, each back by heavily armed militias and tribes. Libya's two main airports in Benghazi and Tripoli were destroyed during years of fighting.
By Associated Press

PRETORIA: Police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets, and water cannon Friday as the latest wave of anti-immigrant protests broke out in South Africa's capital, while President Jacob Zuma condemned anti-foreigner violence and appealed for calm.

"We don't have hate! We don't have hate!" one foreign man shouted in a video posted by local broadcaster eNCA. Police tried to keep protesters apart from foreigners who gathered to express alarm about recent attacks.

Resentment against foreigners has sometimes turned deadly in South Africa amid accusations that they take jobs from locals in a country where unemployment is above 25 percent. Others are blamed for drug-dealing and other crimes. In 2015, anti-immigrant riots in and around the city of Durban killed at least six people. In 2008, similar violence killed about 60 people.

Local media showed protesters in the capital, Pretoria, marching Friday morning toward the foreign ministry, with some carrying sticks or pipes. The Nelson Mandela Foundation in a statement criticized authorities for "giving permission for a march of hatred."

South Africans should not blame all crime on non-South Africans, the statement from Zuma's office said. It cited recent reports of violence in Pretoria and hate speech on social media.

"Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively," Zuma said. "It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers."

The president also said South Africans are not xenophobic, and he called on everyone, citizens, and non-citizens, to work together to combat the country's high crime rate.

Despite South Africa's high unemployment, the country is one of Africa's largest economies and remains a draw for people from far more impoverished nations across the continent. Businesses run by Somalis, Ethiopians and others are often targeted in anti-foreigner protests.

Amid the anti-immigrant sentiment, government data show the number of foreign-born people in South Africa has declined. A report last year said the 1.6 million foreign-born people was down from 2.2 million in 2011  in a country of more than 55 million people.

Zuma's statement acknowledged complaints about companies that hire illegal immigrants and said the foreign affairs office "will be cracking down on all employers who continue with this practice, which is dangerous as it pits locals against non-nationals."

PRETORIA: Police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets, and water cannon Friday as the latest wave of anti-immigrant protests broke out in South Africa's capital, while President Jacob Zuma condemned anti-foreigner violence and appealed for calm. "We don't have hate! We don't have hate!" one foreign man shouted in a video posted by local broadcaster eNCA. Police tried to keep protesters apart from foreigners who gathered to express alarm about recent attacks. Resentment against foreigners has sometimes turned deadly in South Africa amid accusations that they take jobs from locals in a country where unemployment is above 25 percent. Others are blamed for drug-dealing and other crimes. In 2015, anti-immigrant riots in and around the city of Durban killed at least six people. In 2008, similar violence killed about 60 people. Local media showed protesters in the capital, Pretoria, marching Friday morning toward the foreign ministry, with some carrying sticks or pipes. The Nelson Mandela Foundation in a statement criticized authorities for "giving permission for a march of hatred." South Africans should not blame all crime on non-South Africans, the statement from Zuma's office said. It cited recent reports of violence in Pretoria and hate speech on social media. "Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively," Zuma said. "It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers." The president also said South Africans are not xenophobic, and he called on everyone, citizens, and non-citizens, to work together to combat the country's high crime rate. Despite South Africa's high unemployment, the country is one of Africa's largest economies and remains a draw for people from far more impoverished nations across the continent. Businesses run by Somalis, Ethiopians and others are often targeted in anti-foreigner protests. Amid the anti-immigrant sentiment, government data show the number of foreign-born people in South Africa has declined. A report last year said the 1.6 million foreign-born people was down from 2.2 million in 2011  in a country of more than 55 million people. Zuma's statement acknowledged complaints about companies that hire illegal immigrants and said the foreign affairs office "will be cracking down on all employers who continue with this practice, which is dangerous as it pits locals against non-nationals."
British experts help boost medical service as opportunity for mutual cooperation

The United Kingdom aims to forge healthy ties with China - literally - by frequently sending high-level medical delegations eastward for collaboration.

The most recent group traveled to Guangzhou, Beijing and Fujian from Feb 13 to Feb 17, led by Alok Sharma, the minister in charge of the Asia and Pacific department at the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The UK is said to be in a golden era of cooperation with China, and collaboration in the healthcare sector is important to further expanding the depth and the breadth of the relationship, Sharma says.

Medical students of an exchange seminar from University of Glasgow visit First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University's ICU in Guangzhou. Provided to China Daily

The trip began with a visit to the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The top-notch hospital in South China impressed the UK delegates with the scale of its 5 million outpatient and emergency visits a year and its long list of first-time achievements in clinical practice.

It was the first in the world to successfully treat a patient with 100 percent burns and the first in Asia to complete a liver-kidney transplant.

The hospital may have the most cooperative programs with British universities, research institutes and medical organizations, according to the hospital's president, Xiao Haipeng, focusing on clinical trials and talent training.

For example, the hospital established a joint clinical trials center with the University of Birmingham last year, with the aim of carrying out research together on areas such as precision medicine and cancer.

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, another affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, also signed a memorandum of understanding with Cardiff University during the UK medical delegation's visit to Guangzhou, which aims to expand their current cooperation in breast cancer to cover gynecology and reproductive medicine as well.

"China has got good research in medical science as well as good doctors. But it is still relatively weak in translating research into new drugs and new therapies that can actually benefit patients," says Vivian Zheng, China director of operations for the University of Birmingham.

"We will help the hospital to improve its clinical trials management in line with international standards and hopefully speed up the process of translational medicine," she says.

The UK is advanced in medicine but it has a population of only 64 million, so what British companies and clinicians can do with their medicine in terms of learning and treating people is "much smaller" than what they can do by bringing new therapies to China, which has a population of nearly 1.4 billion, according to Kevin Holland.

British pharmaceuticals still face challenges from the speed of adoption of new medicines in China, says the minister-counselor and director of life sciences, healthcare and social care for China at the British embassy in Beijing.

"It still takes maybe seven years to start on Chinese patients for a new drug, even when it's been proved to work in other countries," Holland says.

But he told China Daily that he is optimistic that the two countries will cooperate to accelerate the process, perhaps by recognizing each other's clinical research results.

"China will want that to happen if it keeps the tide of innovation," says Holland. "The more you innovate, the more you want translational medicine to work quickly."

Although it may still take some time for China to figure out a way to accelerate foreign drugs' entry into the market, it has already vowed to remove restrictions on foreign investment in medical services.

Gao Hucheng, minister of commerce, said during the 4th China (Beijing) International Fair for Trade in Services held in May last year that China will remove the restrictions on foreign investment in child and elderly care.

China's aging population is expected to grow to 260 million in 2020, and this group's consumption will surge to take about one third of the GDP in 2050, a report released by an organization under the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2014 estimated.

The prospect of a huge market has tempted many foreign healthcare companies, including British ones.

Bupa, a UK-based health insurance company, announced in December a plan to open two wholly-owned medical centers in Guangzhou this year, targeting the high-income group, especially the elderly.

Annie Barr International, an accredited provider of healthcare training and consultancy services in the UK, has worked with hospitals in Hangzhou, Beijing and Shenzhen to train staff in elderly care.

Annie Barr, founder and director of ABI, was a member of the recent British medical delegation to China. Visiting China every three weeks, Barr says she sees a "massive market" for her company in China and that she plans to expand her training services in the country to primary care, precision medicine and genetics soon.

During President Xi Jinping's visit to the UK in 2015, more than 2 billion ($2.5 billion; 2.4 billion euros) in healthcare trade deals between China and UK companies, universities and organizations were signed.

"This is a sign that China is open for collaboration with the UK in the healthcare and life sciences sector, which has encouraged British companies, universities and hospitals to come to China," says Holland.

xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 02/24/2017 page28)
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON: Attorney General Jeff Sessions signalled on Thursday his strong support for the federal government's continued use of private prisons, reversing an Obama administration directive to phase out their use. Stock prices of major private prison companies rose at the news.

Sessions issued a memo replacing one issued last August by Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general at the time.

That memo, which followed a harshly critical government audit of privately run prisons, directed the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin reducing and ultimately end its reliance on contract facilities. Yates, in her announcement, said private facilities have more safety and security problems than government-run ones and were less necessary given declines in the overall federal prison population.

But Sessions, in his memo, said Yates' directive went against longstanding Justice Department policy and practice and "impaired the Bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system." He said he was directing the BOP to "return to its previous approach."

The federal prison population  now just under 190,000  has been dropping due in part to changes in federal sentencing policies over the last few years. Private prisons now hold about 21,000 inmates in 12 facilities, a fraction of the total BOP population, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Yet the federal prison population may increase again given Sessions' commitment to aggressive enforcement of drug and immigration laws, and his focus on combating violent crime.

The latest memo  issued just two weeks after Sessions was sworn in as attorney general  could be part of a more expansive rollback of criminal justice policies enacted by the Obama administration Justice Department, including directives against seeking mandatory minimum punishments for nonviolent drug offenders.

The private prison industry has been a major contributor to Republican political campaigns, particularly in recent years.

As a candidate, President Donald Trump said he supported the use of private prisons, and the shares of the major companies  including Geo Group and CoreCivic Co., formerly Corrections Corporation of America  jumped after the election amid anticipation that the incoming administration would again turn to them.

"I do think we can do a lot of privatisations and private prisons. It seems to work a lot better," Trump told MSNBC in March.

The federal government started to rely on private prisons in the late 1990s because of overcrowding. Many of the federal prison inmates in private facilities are foreign nationals who are being held on immigration offences. The Yates policy did not extend to prisons used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which hold tens of thousands of immigrants awaiting deportation.

Immigration and human rights advocates have long complained about conditions in privately run prisons. An inspector general audit from last August said problems at private prisons in recent years included property damage, injuries and the death of a corrections officer.

WASHINGTON: Attorney General Jeff Sessions signalled on Thursday his strong support for the federal government's continued use of private prisons, reversing an Obama administration directive to phase out their use. Stock prices of major private prison companies rose at the news. Sessions issued a memo replacing one issued last August by Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general at the time. That memo, which followed a harshly critical government audit of privately run prisons, directed the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin reducing and ultimately end its reliance on contract facilities. Yates, in her announcement, said private facilities have more safety and security problems than government-run ones and were less necessary given declines in the overall federal prison population. But Sessions, in his memo, said Yates' directive went against longstanding Justice Department policy and practice and "impaired the Bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system." He said he was directing the BOP to "return to its previous approach." The federal prison population  now just under 190,000  has been dropping due in part to changes in federal sentencing policies over the last few years. Private prisons now hold about 21,000 inmates in 12 facilities, a fraction of the total BOP population, the Justice Department said Thursday. Yet the federal prison population may increase again given Sessions' commitment to aggressive enforcement of drug and immigration laws, and his focus on combating violent crime. The latest memo  issued just two weeks after Sessions was sworn in as attorney general  could be part of a more expansive rollback of criminal justice policies enacted by the Obama administration Justice Department, including directives against seeking mandatory minimum punishments for nonviolent drug offenders. The private prison industry has been a major contributor to Republican political campaigns, particularly in recent years. As a candidate, President Donald Trump said he supported the use of private prisons, and the shares of the major companies  including Geo Group and CoreCivic Co., formerly Corrections Corporation of America  jumped after the election amid anticipation that the incoming administration would again turn to them. "I do think we can do a lot of privatisations and private prisons. It seems to work a lot better," Trump told MSNBC in March. The federal government started to rely on private prisons in the late 1990s because of overcrowding. Many of the federal prison inmates in private facilities are foreign nationals who are being held on immigration offences. The Yates policy did not extend to prisons used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which hold tens of thousands of immigrants awaiting deportation. Immigration and human rights advocates have long complained about conditions in privately run prisons. An inspector general audit from last August said problems at private prisons in recent years included property damage, injuries and the death of a corrections officer.
By PTI

MEXICO: US officials promised Mexico no "mass deportations" or use of military force to expel immigrants, moving to calm tensions over President Donald Trump's vow to crack down on "bad dudes" illegally residing in his country.

US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Mexican ministers who expressed "concern and irritation" over Trump's combative stance on trade and migration ties with Mexico.

Trump has outraged the United States' southern neighbor by vowing to build a wall along the border to keep out migrants from Latin America, whom he branded rapists and criminals during his presidential campaign.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday issued new orders to step up the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants, many of them Mexicans.

But Kelly promised at a news conference in Mexico City yesterday "there will be no, repeat no mass deportations. Everything we do in the DHS will be done legally."

He added: "There will be no use of military force for immigration operations."

Earlier at the White House, Trump had described the stepped-up deportation drive as "a military operation." But his spokesman Sean Spicer later told a news conference that Trump was using the term "military" simply "as an adjective" to mean "efficient."

Or as Trump himself put it earlier: "We're getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before."

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was also in Mexico City where he met with his Mexican counterpart, Luis Videgaray. The Mexican minister repeated his vow not to let the United States impose migration reforms on it "unilaterally."

"There is concern and irritation among Mexicans about what are seen as policies that could be detrimental for Mexicans in Mexico and abroad," he said.

"There are well-known differences and the best way to resolve them is through frank, clear dialogue." Tillerson said the two sides "reiterated our joint commitment to maintaining law and order along our shared border by stopping potential terrorists and dismantling the transnational criminal networks moving drugs and people into the United States."

But he agreed that cooperation on border security had to work both ways.

"We underscored the importance of stopping the illegal firearms and bulk cash that is originating in the United States and flowing into Mexico," he said.

"There's no mistaking that the rule of law matters along both sides of the border."

Kelly said the two countries were also cooperating on ways to stop US-bound migrants traveling up through Mexico from the impoverished and violent nations of Central America.

MEXICO: US officials promised Mexico no "mass deportations" or use of military force to expel immigrants, moving to calm tensions over President Donald Trump's vow to crack down on "bad dudes" illegally residing in his country. US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Mexican ministers who expressed "concern and irritation" over Trump's combative stance on trade and migration ties with Mexico. Trump has outraged the United States' southern neighbor by vowing to build a wall along the border to keep out migrants from Latin America, whom he branded rapists and criminals during his presidential campaign. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday issued new orders to step up the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants, many of them Mexicans. But Kelly promised at a news conference in Mexico City yesterday "there will be no, repeat no mass deportations. Everything we do in the DHS will be done legally." He added: "There will be no use of military force for immigration operations." Earlier at the White House, Trump had described the stepped-up deportation drive as "a military operation." But his spokesman Sean Spicer later told a news conference that Trump was using the term "military" simply "as an adjective" to mean "efficient." Or as Trump himself put it earlier: "We're getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before." US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was also in Mexico City where he met with his Mexican counterpart, Luis Videgaray. The Mexican minister repeated his vow not to let the United States impose migration reforms on it "unilaterally." "There is concern and irritation among Mexicans about what are seen as policies that could be detrimental for Mexicans in Mexico and abroad," he said. "There are well-known differences and the best way to resolve them is through frank, clear dialogue." Tillerson said the two sides "reiterated our joint commitment to maintaining law and order along our shared border by stopping potential terrorists and dismantling the transnational criminal networks moving drugs and people into the United States." But he agreed that cooperation on border security had to work both ways. "We underscored the importance of stopping the illegal firearms and bulk cash that is originating in the United States and flowing into Mexico," he said. "There's no mistaking that the rule of law matters along both sides of the border." Kelly said the two countries were also cooperating on ways to stop US-bound migrants traveling up through Mexico from the impoverished and violent nations of Central America.
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON: The Justice Department will step up enforcement of federal law against recreational marijuana, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday, offering the Trump administration's strongest indication to date of a looming crackdown on the drug, even as a solid majority of Americans believe it should be legal.

"I do believe you'll see greater enforcement of it," Spicer said in response to a question during a news conference. But he offered no details about what such enforcement would entail. President Donald Trump does not oppose medical marijuana, he added, but "that's very different than recreational use, which is something the Department of Justice will be further looking into."

A renewed focus on recreational marijuana in states that have legalised pot would present a departure from the Trump administration's statements in favour of states' rights. A day earlier, the administration announced that the issue of transgender student bathroom access was best left to states and local communities to decide.

Enforcement would also shift away from marijuana policy under the Obama administration, which said in a 2013 memo that it would not intervene in state's marijuana laws as long as they keep the drug from crossing state lines and away from children and drug cartels.

But the memo carried no force of law and could be rewritten by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has consistently said he opposes legal marijuana but has not indicated what he might do.

Eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalised marijuana for recreational use. The Justice Department has several options available should it decide to enforce the law, including filing lawsuits on the grounds that state laws regulating pot are unconstitutional because they are pre-empted by federal law. Enforcement could also be as simple as directing U.S. attorneys to send letters to recreational marijuana businesses letting them know they are breaking the law.

Washington's attorney general, Bob Ferguson, said he and Gov. Jay Inslee, both Democrats, requested a meeting with Sessions about his approach to legal, regulated marijuana. Ferguson led the states in fighting off Trump's executive order on immigration in court and said Thursday he's prepared to lead the way in defending legal marijuana, too.

"We will resist any efforts to thwart the will of the voters in Washington," Ferguson said.

Kevin Sabet, head of the anti-marijuana group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said pot enforcement is a matter of public safety.

"The current situation is unsustainable," Sabet said in a statement. "This isn't an issue about states' rights, it's an issue of public health and safety for communities."

Spicer's comments came the same day as a Quinnipiac poll said 59 percent of Americans think marijuana should be legal and 71 percent would oppose a federal crackdown.

Pot advocates said they hoped Spicer's prediction would not come to pass.

"It is hard to imagine why anyone would want marijuana to be produced and sold by cartels and criminals rather than tightly regulated, taxpaying businesses," said Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project.

States have been flouting the U.S. Controlled Substances Act since at least 1996, when California voters approved marijuana for sick people, a direct conflict with federal guidelines barring the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

And presidents since Bill Clinton have said the federal government unequivocally rejects a state's ability to modify federal drug law.

However, three presidents over the last 20 years have each concluded that the limited resources of the U.S. Department of Justice are best spent pursuing large drug cartels, not individual users of marijuana.

Nevada state Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford said in a statement Thursday that meddling in recreational pot laws would be federal overreach and harm state coffers that fund education.

In Washington state, sales at licensed pot shops now average nearly $4.4 million per day  with little evidence of any negative societal effects. That's close to $1 billion in sales so far for the fiscal year that began last July, some $184 million of which is state tax revenue.

WASHINGTON: The Justice Department will step up enforcement of federal law against recreational marijuana, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday, offering the Trump administration's strongest indication to date of a looming crackdown on the drug, even as a solid majority of Americans believe it should be legal. "I do believe you'll see greater enforcement of it," Spicer said in response to a question during a news conference. But he offered no details about what such enforcement would entail. President Donald Trump does not oppose medical marijuana, he added, but "that's very different than recreational use, which is something the Department of Justice will be further looking into." A renewed focus on recreational marijuana in states that have legalised pot would present a departure from the Trump administration's statements in favour of states' rights. A day earlier, the administration announced that the issue of transgender student bathroom access was best left to states and local communities to decide. Enforcement would also shift away from marijuana policy under the Obama administration, which said in a 2013 memo that it would not intervene in state's marijuana laws as long as they keep the drug from crossing state lines and away from children and drug cartels. But the memo carried no force of law and could be rewritten by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has consistently said he opposes legal marijuana but has not indicated what he might do. Eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalised marijuana for recreational use. The Justice Department has several options available should it decide to enforce the law, including filing lawsuits on the grounds that state laws regulating pot are unconstitutional because they are pre-empted by federal law. Enforcement could also be as simple as directing U.S. attorneys to send letters to recreational marijuana businesses letting them know they are breaking the law. Washington's attorney general, Bob Ferguson, said he and Gov. Jay Inslee, both Democrats, requested a meeting with Sessions about his approach to legal, regulated marijuana. Ferguson led the states in fighting off Trump's executive order on immigration in court and said Thursday he's prepared to lead the way in defending legal marijuana, too. "We will resist any efforts to thwart the will of the voters in Washington," Ferguson said. Kevin Sabet, head of the anti-marijuana group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said pot enforcement is a matter of public safety. "The current situation is unsustainable," Sabet said in a statement. "This isn't an issue about states' rights, it's an issue of public health and safety for communities." Spicer's comments came the same day as a Quinnipiac poll said 59 percent of Americans think marijuana should be legal and 71 percent would oppose a federal crackdown. Pot advocates said they hoped Spicer's prediction would not come to pass. "It is hard to imagine why anyone would want marijuana to be produced and sold by cartels and criminals rather than tightly regulated, taxpaying businesses," said Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. States have been flouting the U.S. Controlled Substances Act since at least 1996, when California voters approved marijuana for sick people, a direct conflict with federal guidelines barring the use of marijuana for medical purposes. And presidents since Bill Clinton have said the federal government unequivocally rejects a state's ability to modify federal drug law. However, three presidents over the last 20 years have each concluded that the limited resources of the U.S. Department of Justice are best spent pursuing large drug cartels, not individual users of marijuana. Nevada state Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford said in a statement Thursday that meddling in recreational pot laws would be federal overreach and harm state coffers that fund education. In Washington state, sales at licensed pot shops now average nearly $4.4 million per day  with little evidence of any negative societal effects. That's close to $1 billion in sales so far for the fiscal year that began last July, some $184 million of which is state tax revenue.
By PTI

UNITED NATIONS: Russia vowed today to use its veto to block a proposed UN resolution drafted by the United States, France and Britain that would impose sanctions on Syria for the use of chemical weapons. The trio are pushing for a vote early next week on the measure that would slap sanctions on 11 Syrians and 10 entities linked to chemical attacks in the nearly six-year war.

"I just explained our position very clearly to our partners. If it is tabled, we will veto it," Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told reporters following a closed-door meeting of the Security Council. Safronkov rejected the measure as "one-sided", saying it was based on "insufficient proof" and contradicted "the fundamental principle of presumption of innocence until the investigation is over".

Russia has used its veto six times to shield its Damascus ally from any punitive action by the Security Council.

The draft resolution follows a UN-led investigation which concluded in October that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chlorine attacks on opposition-held villages in 2014 and 2015.

The joint panel of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) also found that Islamic State jihadists had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015. US Ambassador Nikki Haley said she was not swayed by the Russian arguments. "How much longer is Russia going to continue to babysit and make excuses for the Syrian regime?" she said.

"People have died by being suffocated to death. That's barbaric." "You are either for chemical weapons or you are against it," she added.

The fresh clash with Russia came as a new round of peace talks in Geneva struggled to get off the ground, with Syrian government and opposition delegations haggling over the format of meetings.

The vote expected Monday or Tuesday would mark the first major council action by the new US administration of President Donald Trump, who took office on January 20 seeking warmer ties with Russia. Britain and France had circulated the draft text weeks ago, but held off on action to give the Trump administration time to study it.

The vote would see the Trump administration joining old allies France and Britain to confront Russia over its support for Syria.

UNITED NATIONS: Russia vowed today to use its veto to block a proposed UN resolution drafted by the United States, France and Britain that would impose sanctions on Syria for the use of chemical weapons. The trio are pushing for a vote early next week on the measure that would slap sanctions on 11 Syrians and 10 entities linked to chemical attacks in the nearly six-year war. "I just explained our position very clearly to our partners. If it is tabled, we will veto it," Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told reporters following a closed-door meeting of the Security Council. Safronkov rejected the measure as "one-sided", saying it was based on "insufficient proof" and contradicted "the fundamental principle of presumption of innocence until the investigation is over". Russia has used its veto six times to shield its Damascus ally from any punitive action by the Security Council. The draft resolution follows a UN-led investigation which concluded in October that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chlorine attacks on opposition-held villages in 2014 and 2015. The joint panel of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) also found that Islamic State jihadists had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015. US Ambassador Nikki Haley said she was not swayed by the Russian arguments. "How much longer is Russia going to continue to babysit and make excuses for the Syrian regime?" she said. "People have died by being suffocated to death. That's barbaric." "You are either for chemical weapons or you are against it," she added. The fresh clash with Russia came as a new round of peace talks in Geneva struggled to get off the ground, with Syrian government and opposition delegations haggling over the format of meetings. The vote expected Monday or Tuesday would mark the first major council action by the new US administration of President Donald Trump, who took office on January 20 seeking warmer ties with Russia. Britain and France had circulated the draft text weeks ago, but held off on action to give the Trump administration time to study it. The vote would see the Trump administration joining old allies France and Britain to confront Russia over its support for Syria.
By AFP

PRETORIA: South African police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up clashes between local protesters and immigrants in Pretoria on Friday at a march against foreigners.

Shops and homes owned by migrants have been looted and torched over the last two weeks, with some South Africans alleging that the properties were brothels and drug dens.

Attacks against foreigners in the country have erupted regularly in recent years, fuelled by high unemployment and dire poverty.

Riot police in Pretoria formed lines to keep apart about 1,000 protesters.

Tensions have been rising over migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere.

"We support the police," South African marcher Aysha Ali, 25, told AFP.

"Nigerians are very bad, they are bringing drugs into our community. I support the protest."

As police struggled to impose control, Mohammed Abdi, 31, from Somalia, told AFP: "We are looking for peace. People say we foreigners are here to sell drugs? They can search our shops."

Some officers shot rubber rounds at close range at protesters lying on the ground, and police used water cannon against demonstrators who wielded rocks and machetes.

- 'We are not xenophobic' -

President Jacob Zuma condemned the latest wave of xenophobic unrest and called for calm and restraint saying that there had been "destruction of property directed at non-nationals."

"Residents in some communities blame non-nationals for the escalating crimes especially drug trafficking," the presidency said in a statement.

Zuma called for South Africans not to use migrants as a scapegoat for the country's widespread crime, but said the government would crack down on drug-dealing and illegal immigrants.

But he said the fight against crime should not be labelled xenophobic.

"We are not a xenophobic country and we would not have such a number of immigrants within our country and at our borders, many of whom have genuine reasons of fleeing their countries including economic and education opportunities, if we were a xenophobic country," he said in a separate statement.

- 'We are scared' -

In the last week, more than 20 shops have been targeted in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, while residents in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, attacked at least 12 houses.

"We have decided to not leave the house (during the march)," Alain Bome, a 47-year-old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who has been in South Africa for 14 years, told AFP.

"We know very well there have been attacks. We are scared."

Police said at least 136 people had been arrested over the last 24 hours in relation to the march.

The Nigerian government this week called for the African Union to step in to stop "xenophobic attacks" on its citizens in South Africa, claiming 20 Nigerians were killed last year.

South African authorities dismiss such numbers, saying many violent deaths in the country are due to criminal activity rather than anti-immigrant sentiment.

In 2008, South Africa experienced its worst bout of xenophobic violence, which left 62 people dead.

In 2015, at least seven people died in similar unrest in Johannesburg and the Indian Ocean city of Durban as African immigrants were hunted down and attacked by gangs.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said this week that 35 percent of the labour force was unemployed or has given up looking for work.

PRETORIA: South African police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up clashes between local protesters and immigrants in Pretoria on Friday at a march against foreigners. Shops and homes owned by migrants have been looted and torched over the last two weeks, with some South Africans alleging that the properties were brothels and drug dens. Attacks against foreigners in the country have erupted regularly in recent years, fuelled by high unemployment and dire poverty. Riot police in Pretoria formed lines to keep apart about 1,000 protesters. Tensions have been rising over migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere. "We support the police," South African marcher Aysha Ali, 25, told AFP. "Nigerians are very bad, they are bringing drugs into our community. I support the protest." As police struggled to impose control, Mohammed Abdi, 31, from Somalia, told AFP: "We are looking for peace. People say we foreigners are here to sell drugs? They can search our shops." Some officers shot rubber rounds at close range at protesters lying on the ground, and police used water cannon against demonstrators who wielded rocks and machetes. - 'We are not xenophobic' - President Jacob Zuma condemned the latest wave of xenophobic unrest and called for calm and restraint saying that there had been "destruction of property directed at non-nationals." "Residents in some communities blame non-nationals for the escalating crimes especially drug trafficking," the presidency said in a statement. Zuma called for South Africans not to use migrants as a scapegoat for the country's widespread crime, but said the government would crack down on drug-dealing and illegal immigrants. But he said the fight against crime should not be labelled xenophobic. "We are not a xenophobic country and we would not have such a number of immigrants within our country and at our borders, many of whom have genuine reasons of fleeing their countries including economic and education opportunities, if we were a xenophobic country," he said in a separate statement. - 'We are scared' - In the last week, more than 20 shops have been targeted in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, while residents in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, attacked at least 12 houses. "We have decided to not leave the house (during the march)," Alain Bome, a 47-year-old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who has been in South Africa for 14 years, told AFP. "We know very well there have been attacks. We are scared." Police said at least 136 people had been arrested over the last 24 hours in relation to the march. The Nigerian government this week called for the African Union to step in to stop "xenophobic attacks" on its citizens in South Africa, claiming 20 Nigerians were killed last year. South African authorities dismiss such numbers, saying many violent deaths in the country are due to criminal activity rather than anti-immigrant sentiment. In 2008, South Africa experienced its worst bout of xenophobic violence, which left 62 people dead. In 2015, at least seven people died in similar unrest in Johannesburg and the Indian Ocean city of Durban as African immigrants were hunted down and attacked by gangs. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said this week that 35 percent of the labour force was unemployed or has given up looking for work.
Recent threat of protectionism adds new urgency to agreements in a region that has always thrived on cross-border commerce

Despite the rise of protectionist sentiment in some Western countries, Asia continues to push for lower barriers and easier and cheaper cross-border trade.

After all, most Asian economies were built on trade and depend on it for growth.

In the 1960s and 70s, Japan grew rich by manufacturing and exporting high-quality, high-value-added goods - from electronics to cars. South Korea followed suit some time later, as did Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, collectively known as the four Asian tigers.

CONTAINERS AND CRANES in Hong Kong. The city's massive port operations act as an important conduit for trade with the Chinese mainland. Provided to China Daily

The Chinese mainland used trade to build its massive manufacturing capacity and emerge as the factory of the world. Hong Kong developed into a financial hub but also focused on its massive port, through which much of the mainland trade flows. Singapore operates as a similar gateway for Southeast Asia.

Now, Vietnam and Cambodia are emerging as lower-cost manufacturing hubs. Indonesia depends in large part on commodity exports to support its economy. India exports manpower, inexpensive drugs and services.

Trade is built into the fabric of Asia, a region that has grown rapidly thanks to the push for greater globalization over the last two decades.

"ASEAN has done well," says Jayant Menon, chief economist at the Asian Development Bank, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. "Countries like India are still growing very strongly. It's not a huge trading country but it's strong domestically. China is still growing strongly.

"ASEAN is still doing well in the region. Trade is an important factor."

But it's "not the only factor", he said.

As trade with Europe and North America sags due to slower growth and protectionism, Asian economies are looking to boost regional trade. This gives urgency to the development of regional trade agreements, the largest and most comprehensive of which is the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP.

The RCEP covers ASEAN as well as China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand - the group generally known as ASEAN+6.

"RCEP is more traditional in terms of its content," Menon saw. "The fact that it has been delayed is a good sign. They are trying to come up with something that contains real reforms. They are working hard on trying to create regulatory convergence - harmonization of rules across countries.

"This is going to be the key contribution in terms of making it easier for the regional bloc."

Markets in North America and Europe are likely to remain attractive and the source of much demand for Asian-made products for the foreseeable future. But Asian countries are increasingly looking to boost domestic consumption through manufacturing.

China, for example, has been aiming for years to increase the proportion of GDP that domestic consumption accounts for. In 2015, domestic consumption made up around 37 percent of GDP, according to the World Bank, compared with 57 percent in Japan and 68 percent in the United States. In Indonesia, domestic consumers account for 55 percent of the economy, but they make up just 36 percent in Singapore.

Most countries are trying to boost their reliance on domestic industries and domestic consumption for growth, with some success.

In 2016, domestic consumption accounted for two-thirds of China's GDP growth. Less than a year earlier it was the single largest contributor to the country's economic expansion. From 2012 to 2014, consumption accounted for just half of growth.

As domestic consumption grows throughout the region, trading among RCEP countries is likely to expand. The 16 countries in the group account for about a quarter of global GDP, more than $22 trillion in economic activity, as well as housing almost half the world's population.

RCEP has taken on added urgency since United States President Donald Trump unceremoniously announced that the US was withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement it had proposed and fought for.

"The stalling of the TPP has led many Asian signatories to shift their focus toward RCEP in an effort to continue toward their trade integration goals," says Chia Shuhui, an Asia analyst at BMI Research.

"RCEP was launched in November 2012 with the aim of establishing deeper economic cooperation among the 10 ASEAN members and its six dialogue partners by streamlining existing trade agreements.

"Despite its differences with the TPP, we believe that the successful negotiation of RCEP will be positive for trade integration in Asia," Chia says, adding that because trade negotiations are generally kept confidential, "it is difficult to fully determine what the final agreement will look like".

Chia says that although the RCEP aims to streamline existing trade agreements, it is likely to lead to a considerable lowering of tariff barriers, as well as the simplification of rules of origin.

"Given the sheer size of the agreement and heavy participation of developing countries, we do not expect it to significantly lower nontariff barriers or impose strong environmental standards like the TPP," Chia says.

The RCEP has emerged as the best candidate to facilitate large-scale trade liberalization in the region and, perhaps, give global trade something of a boost. It covers goods, services and investment across its participating economies.

In a note, HSBC suggested the RCEP is a good complement to the China-led Belt and Road Initiative, with a significant amount of overlap between the two. The Belt and Road aims to improve connectivity through large-scale trade and infrastructure projects in countries along the ancient Silk Road routes.

Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre, a Singapore-based consultancy, notes that the RCEP's progress has been slow.

"The problem is we have 16 different countries trying to get an agreement that has dozens of chapters in it. It's complicated."

When negotiations are finalized, the RCEP should go a long way toward eliminating some of the trade frictions that exist in the region, such as disagreements between China and India. At the same time, it should further lubricate the mechanics of trade between China and ASEAN, which seem to get smoother with every passing year.

"When you open up, you are opening up dialogues. That is not easy to do," Elms says. "Even though countries did open markets in the ASEAN framework, what they gave each other in ASEAN is not what the 16 countries want to give each other."

Despite its size, the RCEP includes a set of achievable goals that "will deliver benefits across the region", Elms says.

"For example, there will be tariff cuts in the RCEP. If you're lucky enough to have your product sold in 16 countries, tariff cuts are enormous. They make a huge difference. They make things easier for consumers and companies."

For China Daily

(China Daily European Weekly 02/24/2017 page29)
Malloch-Brown praises country for support of global free trade at a time of increasing political uncertainty

China's leadership in free trade, sustainable growth and the international rule of law comes at an important moment, with the struggle between globalization and protectionism, says Lord Malloch-Brown, former deputy secretary-general of the United Nations.

He says President Xi Jinping's speech defending the benefits of free trade at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January was an important milestone in China's global role and expressed admiration for Xi's strong leadership in driving forward China's complex economy in a coherent way.

"I think China left Davos as the default champion of economic integration, free trade and the international systems," he says, adding that the commitment to ensuring that global trade remains open is particularly important at a time when US President Donald Trump is taking a more protectionist stance.

In Malloch-Brown's view, China's leadership on globalization comes at a crucial time, as protectionist pressure arises across the Western world and with the struggle between globalization and protectionism likely to continue for decades.

"In my own view, throughout the rest of our lives politics is going to be a competition between those who believe global integration brings great benefits and those who oppose it on behalf of groups losing out," he says. "It's a mistake to see Trump as a one-off case, as it reflects certain emerging opinions in the United States and Europe."

Other examples Malloch-Brown cites include French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen's campaign promising to save jobs through protectionist measures and the UK's decision to leave the European Union.

Having previously served in a range of political roles in the UK and with international organizations, Malloch-Brown has witnessed the way in which China has increasingly exercised its global leadership. He cites China's commitment to UN peacekeeping and combating climate change as key examples.

Under the framework of the UN's COP 21 conference on climate change in Paris, China announced it aims to hit its CO2 emissions peak by around 2030 and slash CO2 emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 60 to 65 percent from the 2005 level.

In the area of peacekeeping, China committed a standby military force of 8,000 when Xi addressed the 2015 Leaders' Summit on UN Peacekeeping.

Meanwhile, China is taking concrete steps to promote global trade, particularly through its Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative has received support from more than 100 economies and international organizations. More than 40 have signed cooperative agreements with China.

He adds that the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is playing an important role in funding projects in Belt and Road areas and in championing a new model for multinational development bank operations.

"What's striking about the AIIB is its ability to deploy lots of capital, especially by pulling capital from the private sector. On scale and ambition, many older generation multinational development banks can learn from it," Malloch-Brown says.

The AIIB generally invests in the initial stages of big infrastructure projects, allowing the private sector to carry less risk.

Malloch-Brown says the AIIB's capital commitment is able to attract private sector money because its agenda is closely aligned with the Chinese government's emphasis on China becoming an important trading nation.

"It offers the private sector long-term consistency and profitability," he says.

Malloch-Brown says that while China has historically focused more on its own economic development as a developing nation, its increasing investment and trading relations have helped it step into a more rounded international leadership role.

"Inevitably, while trade may lead the way, China is finding its engagement in more parts of the world. It is drawn into an ever-wider web of alliances, relationships and commitments, which may have begun as buttressing trade engagements. But now it has outgrown that as a more fully fledged global power."

In such a context, it is more important for China and the US to maintain a good relationship, Malloch-Brown says, adding that it is an issue "everyone is watching with great concern" because potential political conflict or a potential trade war between the world's two largest economies is "not just a problem for the US and China, but for the rest of the world".

Malloch-Brown says the tension so far has mainly been created by the US, and that Trump's view that China is undermining the US' manufacturing sector is a key factor.

"One has to hope calmer heads prevail in Washington. There are plenty of flash points that could escalate to confrontation of some kind, given the poorly disciplined communication of this new administration," he says.

To avoid such dangerous confrontation, it would be helpful for China to "find as many channels and ways as possible" to communicate and avoid misunderstanding because limited diplomatic contact could lead to problems. He mentioned the 1972 visit to China made by US president Richard Nixon, who met with Chairman Mao Zedong, as an important example of the significance of open communication.

Nixon's trip played a significant role in normalizing relations between the US and China, marking the end of 25 years of separation.

Meanwhile, Malloch-Brown stresses that business contacts and cooperation are important to cement bilateral relations, in addition to diplomatic communications. He cites the meeting between Trump and Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, as an encouraging example. When Ma met Trump in January, he pledged to create a million jobs in the US.

"Jack Ma was an early visitor to Trump tower. That's a good thing. The more business and government contact the better. The more people contact the better," Malloch-Brown says.

He says Trump's view that China is merely an exporter of low-cost goods to the US is an "incredibly dated view", because examples such as Alibaba's investment in the US market show that China is an investor in the US private-sector economy and that it plays an important role as a part of the supply chain to help US firms, including Apple and many US automotive manufacturers.

In addition to trade and economic growth, a constructive relationship between China and the US is important for global security, especially in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa. It is encouraging to see that China has dealt with the Trump administration through "calm and measured response", showing it is not easily provoked, Malloch-Brown says.

"There will be an education process in Washington for the new president to understand the new complexity of US-China relations - and the cost to the US of abruptly breaking them - and the challenges of trying to keep the relationship, because of the benefits it brings," he says.

cecily.liu@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily European Weekly 02/24/2017 page32)
Who are Newport's top taxpayers? Take a look at the top 50.
Reporter

Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
A new study shows that patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), even without evidence of brain lesions, may exhibit changes in brain connectivity detectable at the time of the injury that can aid in diagnosis and predicting the effects on cognitive and behavioral performance at 6 months. Brain connectivity maps showed differences between patients with mTBI and healthy controls, including different patterns depending on the presence of brain lesions, as reported in an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Neurotrauma website until March 23, 2017.

The article entitled "Resting-State Functional Connectivity Alterations Associated with Six-Month Outcomes in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury" describes the prospective multicenter TRACK-TBI pilot study. Eva Palacios and coauthors from University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, University of Texas, Austin, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (PA), Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York, NY), and Antwerp University Hospital (Edegem, Belgium) concluded that resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess brain connectivity and compare spatial maps of resting state brain networks can serve as a sensitive biomarker for early diagnosis of mTBI and later patient performance.

"While, as the authors acknowledge, they are not the first group to explore the utility of resting state functional MRI in probing the morbidity associated with mild traumatic brain injury, they do elegantly capitalize on the TRACK-TBI study population to critically evaluate functional connectivity in a patient population that is well characterized and followed by traditional imaging approaches," says John T. Povlishock, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Neurotrauma and Professor, Medical College of Virginia Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond. "Their finding of altered patterns of functional connectivity even in that mild TBI patient population, revealing no CT/MRI abnormalities, is an extremely important observation, as is the fact that these same changes in functional connectivity portend the development of a persistent post-concussive syndrome."
An eight-week mindfulness-based meditation program led to improved quality of life and psychological well-being in clinical trial of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

In the randomised, open-label and controlled clinical trial that included 100 patients, participants who underwent meditation training scored higher on a questionnaire specifically developed to assess quality of life in people with ALS. They also reported lower levels of anxiety and depression. These results remained stable, when not further improved, over a 12-month follow-up.

"There has been very limited investigation on psychological interventions that can promote quality of life in people with ALS. I found that very strange, as we are not able to cure the disease, but we all agree that the promotion of quality of life is the current main goal in ALS cases," said Dr. Francesco Pagnini, lead author of the European Journal of Neurology study. "This is the first controlled trial in this field, suggesting that a mindfulness-based intervention can be a very important tool to increase the well-being of people with ALS."
A potentially life-saving treatment for sepsis has been under our noses for decades in the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) most people have in their medicine cabinets, a new University of Colorado Boulder study suggests.

Each year more than 1 million people in the United States contract sepsis, an overwhelming immune response to infection. It kills as many as half of those who contract it, sometimes within days, according to the National Institutes of Health. As the number of cases rises, particularly in intensive care units, pharmaceutical companies have been scrambling to develop a drug to combat the condition.

"NSAIDS like ibuprofen and aspirin are among the most prevalent pharmaceuticals worldwide, with over 30 billion doses taken annually in the United States alone. But their precise mechanisms of action are not entirely understood," said Hang Hubert Yin, a biochemistry professor at CU Boulder's BioFrontiers Institute and lead author of the new paper, published today in Cell Chemical Biology. "We provide the first evidence for a novel mechanism of action for NSAIDS, one we believe could have a direct impact on people's lives."

Researchers have long known that NSAIDs work in part by inhibiting an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX). They've also known that these NSAIDs can come with serious side effects. Some NSAIDs have been removed from the market after showing they boosted risk of heart attack and stroke.

But Yin's research found that a subgroup of NSAIDs also act strongly and independently on another family of enzymes, caspases, which reside deep within the cell and have recently been found to play a key role in aggressive immune responses, like sepsis.

"For instance, some chemicals derived from bacteria actually penetrate the cell and trigger the caspase response, prompting the cell to commit suicide. This also is known as apoptosis," said Yin. "Such activation, in turn, potentially causes inflammation."

After the disappointing failure of late-stage clinical trials of anti-sepsis drugs targeting an immune receptor called toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), located on the surface of cells, Yin and other scientists began to wonder if the key to halting the disease was to develop an antiseptic therapy that simultaneously targets caspases.

As a first step, his team screened 1,280 existing FDA-approved drugs for caspase-inhibiting activity. Of the 27 that lit up, half were NSAIDs. NSAIDs also comprised eight of the top 10 most potent caspase inhibitors.

"It was a complete surprise," said Yin.

He and study co-author Ding Xue, a professor in the department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, then used biochemical and biophysical assays in the lab, as well as experiments with roundworms to test the theory further.

"We showed that NSAIDs were effective in delaying cell death in worms, presumably by blocking caspase activity."

It remains questionable whether existing NSAIDs, perhaps in higher doses, could be used to treat sepsis. The risk of side effects may be too great, said Yin. But he is already working on follow-up studies looking at whether new sepsis drugs could be developed combining caspase-inhibiting NSAIDS and TLR4 inhibitors.

NSAIDs could also potentially be repurposed to address other conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis and neuro-degenerative diseases.

"To think about the wide potential applications of these NSAID drugs is very exciting," Yin said.

He hopes the research will also help scientists better understand why NSAIDs cause serious side effects like liver, kidney and cardiovascular problems, so they can develop safer next-generations versions.

An estimated 16,500 people die annually from NSAID complications.
Professor Robert Sinclair at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Professor Dennis Bamford and Dr. Janne Ravantti from the University of Helsinki have found new evidence to support a classification system for viruses based on viral structure.

The team developed a new highly-sensitive computational prototype tool, and used it to detect similarities in the genetic code of viruses with similar outer structures, that conventional tools have failed to detect, suggesting that they share a common ancestor. This is not what would have been expected if similarities in the structure of viruses were due to similar environmental pressures - a phenomenon known as convergence.

The results, published in the Journal of Virology, suggest that viral structure could provide a means of categorizing viruses with their close relatives - a potentially superior approach to current classification systems. Application of this new structure-based classification system could make it easier to identify and treat newly emerging viruses that cannot easily be classified with existing classification systems.

Viruses are notoriously difficult to classify due to their enormous diversity, high rates of change and tendency to exchange genetic material. They challenge the very concept of a clear distinction between the living and the dead, with many characteristics resembling those of living things, but lacking the ability to reproduce themselves, without the help of a host cell. As such, they do not fit neatly into the established biological classification system for cellular organisms.

Existing classification systems are imperfect and often lead to very similar viruses being categorized as entirely different entities. These systems are also unable to account for the fact that viruses are constantly changing.

If scientists could identify something that viruses are unable to change, it could provide a basis for a more meaningful approach to classification and enable the scientific community to tackle emerging viruses, such as HIV, SARS coronavirus and Zika virus, more easily.

Previously observed similarities between the protein shell, or 'capsid', of viruses - that encloses and protects the genetic material - provide a basis for a classification system based on capsid structure, as previously proposed by Prof. Bamford. The few ways in which viruses package themselves are very similar, even between viruses that are likely to have had their common relative more than a billion years ago. Whether this conservation is due to convergence or common descent has been disputed.

For a classification system based on virus capsid structure to be meaningful, the amino acids that provide the building blocks of the capsid proteins should be similar in related viruses. A seeming lack of sufficient amino acid sequence similarity picked up by conventional sequence analysis tools previously undermined capsid structure as a viable way to classify viruses.

Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

Using ideas from mathematics and computer science, Professor Sinclair from OIST's Mathematical Biology Unit worked with scientists at the University of Helsinki to reinvestigate whether the structure-based classification for viral capsids is in fact supported by previously undetected sequence similarity.

"The conventional tools for detecting sequence similarity are very fast but they can miss things," says Professor Sinclair. "We used a more classical approach that takes longer but is much more sensitive."

The team developed a computational prototype tool called the 'Helsinki Okinawa Sequence Similarity' or HOSS for short, to detect amino acid sequence similarity in viral coat proteins of icosahedral virus capsids - polyhedral capsids with 20 faces. The team also looked at nucleotide sequence similarity.

"By randomly reshuffling the order of amino acids and nucleotides in pairs or triplets of viral sequences, we used statistics to find previously undetected similarities below 17% protein sequence identity, well below what conventional tools are capable of detecting," says Professor Dennis Bamford.

The detection of extremely weak similarities in protein and coding sequences by HOSS suggests that viral capsid similarities are due to common descent, not convergence as previously suspected. This may reflect an aspect of viruses that is extremely difficult to change, and hence provide both a viable approach to classification and a potential therapeutic target.

"Our work is the first to tie structural lineages to sequences so comprehensively," says Professor Sinclair.

The team also demonstrated the power of their method by identifying a candidate capsid gene in the Pandoravirus salinus genome, something which no other team had been able to do.

Now that the researchers have shown that there are similarities between viruses that were previously undetected, further work will focus on finding more efficient methods of data extraction, beyond the HOSS prototype.

"We have also begun shifting our focus to RNA viruses, of which Zika virus and Ebola virus are examples. The genomes of RNA viruses tend to be more highly variable than DNA viruses, and are therefore even more challenging," says Professor Sinclair. "But with a refined method, it could well be possible."
Despite living in strong and supportive families for over 20 years, children exposed to early deprivation in Romanian institutions aged 0-3 experience a range of mental health problems in early adulthood.

Experiencing severe deprivation and neglect in childhood can have a lasting psychological impact into early adulthood, according to a unique study which has followed the mental health of a group of children adopted from Romanian institutions to UK families in the 1990s.

Published in The Lancet, this is the first large-scale study to follow a group of children who were subjected to extreme deprivation into adulthood, tracking how their mental health and cognition has developed as a result.

The English and Romanian Adoptees study began shortly after the fall of the communist regime in Romania. Children living in institutions were subjected to extremely poor hygiene, insufficient food, little personalised care and no social or cognitive stimulation. The study, running since 1990, analyses the mental health of 165 children who spent time in Romanian institutions and who were adopted by families in the UK between the ages of two weeks and 43 months. In the UK, they joined socioeconomically advantaged, stable, caring and supportive families.

Comparing against 52 children adopted within the UK, the study has followed them throughout their childhood using questionnaires, IQ tests and interviews with the children and their parents to analyse social, emotional and cognitive outcomes at ages 6, 11 and 15.

The latest part of the study followed the adoptees to ages 22 to 25 years old. It includes around three-quarters of the original adoptees  39 UK adoptees, 50 Romanian adoptees who had spent less than six months in an institution as children and 72 who had spent over six months.

The researchers found that the amount of time spent in a Romanian institution was an important marker of childrens future mental health. Romanian adoptees who had spent less than six months had similar rates of mental health symptoms as UK adoptees. However, adoptees who had spent more time in the institutions had higher rates of social, emotional and cognitive problems throughout their lives.

People who had lived in Romanian institutions for more than six months as children had higher rates of social problems including autistic features, difficulties engaging with others, inattention and overactivity which persisted from childhood into adulthood. They were also three to four times more likely to experience emotional problems as adults, and had lower educational attainment and employment rates than the other UK and Romanian adoptees. This all despite living in strong and supportive families for over 20 years.

Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

As children, more adoptees who lived in Romanian institutions for over six months had an IQ of less than 80, but this recovered within normal levels (an IQ of 90 or above) by early adulthood, suggesting developmental delays but no permanent impact on general cognitive abilities.

Additionally, one in five (21%, 15 children) adoptees who spent over six months in Romanian institutions did not experience any mental health problems throughout their lives. The next steps of the research will involve an in-depth genetic analysis of the most exposed adoptees who did not develop mental health problems to distinguish whether genetic and epigenetic differences contribute to resilience.

Being exposed to very severe conditions in childhood can be associated with lasting and deep-seated social, emotional and cognitive problems, which are complex and vary over time, said lead author Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke, Kings College London, UK, who conducted the follow-up study while at the University of Southampton. This highlights the importance of assessing patients from deprived backgrounds when providing mental health support and carefully planning care when these patients transfer from child to adult mental health care. Although focussed on children adopted from Romanian institutions in the early 1990s, our findings may also be relevant to large numbers of children who are still exposed to abusive or neglectful conditions around the world.

Because the children were different ages when they entered institutions and lived there for different amounts of time, the study could not determine whether there is a window during childhood development when children may be more or less likely to be affected by deprivation. In addition, it cannot control for other early risk factors affecting the childs mental health, such as maternal smoking or substance abuse during pregnancy, but the authors argue that there are unlikely to be significant differences among the two groups of Romanian adoptees.

Writing in a linked Comment, Professor Frank Verhulst, Erasmus University Medical Centre, The Netherlands, said:
Fathers who use cocaine at the time of conceiving a child may be putting their sons at risk of learning disabilities and memory loss. The findings of the animal study were published online in Molecular Psychiatry by a team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The researchers say the findings reveal that drug abuse by fathers--separate from the well-established effects of cocaine use in mothers-- may negatively impact cognitive development in their male offspring.

The study, which was led by Mathieu Wimmer, PhD, a post-doctoral researcher in the laboratory of R. Christopher Pierce, PhD, a professor of Neuroscience in Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, found evidence that the sons of fathers that ingested cocaine prior to conception struggle to make new memories. Their findings demonstrated that the sons -- but not the daughters -- of male rats that consumed cocaine for an extended period of time could not remember the location of items in their surroundings and had impaired synaptic plasticity in hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and spatial navigation in humans and rodents.

"These results suggest that the sons of male cocaine addicts may be at risk for learning deficits," said senior author, R. Christopher Pierce, PhD, a professor of Neuroscience in Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Pierce and his colleagues propose that epigenetic mechanisms are at the root of the problem. Epigenetics refers to heritable traits that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence, as is the case with genetic inheritance. DNA is tightly wound around proteins called histones, like thread around a spool, and chemical changes to histones influence the expression of genes, which is an epigenetic process.

Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

Their research showed that cocaine use in dads caused epigenetic changes in the brain of their sons, thereby changing the expression of genes important for memory formation. D-serine, a molecule essential for memory, was depleted in male rats whose father took cocaine and replenishing the levels of D-serine in the sons' hippocampus improved learning in these animals.

In collaboration with Benjamin Garcia, PhD, presidential professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Epigenetics Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine, the authors showed that cocaine abuse in dads broadly altered the chemical marks on histones in the brain of their sons, even though the offspring were never exposed to cocaine. Chemical modifications on the histones were changed to favor active transcription of genes in the hippocampus of male rats with a paternal history of cocaine taking, allowing more production of the enzyme D-amino acid oxidase, which degrades D-serine. The authors propose that increased expression of the enzyme, driven by changes in the epigenetic landscape, cause the memory problems in the sons of addicted rats.

"There is substantial interest in the development of D-serine and related compounds, which are well tolerated by humans, as drug therapies," Pierce said. "The ability of D-serine to reverse the adverse effects of paternal cocaine taking on learning adds potential clinical relevance to our research."

Source: https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/february/penn-study-finds-sons-of-cocaine-using-fathers-have-profound-memory-impairments
The 600,000 older Australians who suffer from back pain have a 13 per cent increased risk of dying from any cause, University of Sydney research has found.

Published in the European Journal of Pain, the study of 4390 Danish twins aged more than 70 years investigated whether spinal pain increased the rate of all-cause and disease-specific cardiovascular mortality.

Low back pain is a major problem, ranked as the highest contributor to disability in the world. Nearly four million people in Australia suffer from low back pain and the total cost of treatment exceeds $1 billion a year.

"Our study found that compared to those without spinal pain (back and neck), a person with spinal pain has a 13 per cent higher chance of dying every year. This is a significant finding as many people think that back pain is not life-threatening," said senior author Associate Professor Paulo Ferreira, physiotherapy researcher from the University's Faculty of Health Sciences.

"As this study was done in twins, the influence of shared genetic factors is unlikely because it was controlled for in our analysis.

"These findings warrant further investigation because while there is a clear link between back pain and mortality we don't know yet why this is so. Spinal pain may be part of a pattern of poor health and poor functional ability, which increases mortality risk in the older population," he said.

Lead author Dr Matthew Fernandez from the Faculty of Health Sciences, said: "With a rapidly growing ageing population, spinal health is critical in maintaining older age independence, highlighting the importance of spinal pain in primary health care as a presenting symptom."

Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

"Back pain should be recognised as an important co-morbidity that is likely to impact people's longevity and quality of life."

Associate Professor Ferreira added: "Policy makers should be aware that back pain is a serious issue - it is an indicator of people's poor health and should be screened for, particularly in the elderly."

Recent research has also found that commonly prescribed medications for back pain such as paracetamol and anti-inflammatory drugs are ineffective in treating pain and have side effects.

"Medications are mostly ineffective, surgery usually does not offer a good outcome - the best treatment for low back is a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity. People need to get moving," Associate Professor Ferreira said.

Few studies have examined the potential reduced life expectancy associated with spinal pain in an ageing population, particularly after controlling for familial factors, including genetics.

This study follows previous research which found that people with depression are 60 per cent more likely to develop low back pain in their lifetime.

Fast facts:

* Back pain effects approximately 700 million people worldwide

* Back pain is the leading cause of disability globally

* Back pain affects 4 million people in Australia

* Total cost of treatment of back pain exceeds $1 billion a year in Australia

* The lifetime prevalence of back pain is around 84 per cent.
A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is often a death sentence because current chemotherapies have little impact on the disease.

But research led by the University of Melbourne reported in the International Journal of Cancer, could eventually improve treatments with the identification of a protein that appears to help tumour cells become more aggressive.

In Australia this year, some 3,200 new cases of Pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed, and 2,900 patients will die of the disease.

University of Melbourne pancreatic surgeon Mehrdad Nikfarjam, and research associates, have identified a protein called p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1), in specific tumour cells called stellate cells.

Researchers were able to slow down growth and spread of tumors by targeting this protein in stellate cells in animal models, in combination with current chemotherapies.

Stellate cells are responsible for the fibrosis or scarring that surrounds pancreatic tumour cells, reducing the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

The study investigated the role of PAK1 in these stellate cells and how they communicate with the tumour cells.

PAK1 was found to be involved in the fibrotic production, proliferation and death of these cells, and could assist tumour cells to become more aggressive.

Targeting PAK1 resulted in decreased scar tissue formation, reduced tumour growth, increased tumour sensitivity to chemotherapy and increased survival of mice.

Associate Professor Mehrdad Nikfarjam said that although further testing is needed, an inhibitor could potentially increase survival of patients with pancreatic cancer.

"Targeting PAK1 could reduce the fibrosis surrounding pancreatic tumours and allow conventional chemotherapies to have a greater effect on the tumours.

"PAK1's role as an important signalling protein in both the tumour and tumour environment is an important finding in unravelling the puzzle that is pancreatic cancer," Associate Professor Nikfarjam said.
People with epilepsy want their health care providers to tell them about a rare risk of death associated with the disorder, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 69th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 22 to 28, 2017.

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is an uncommon but fatal complication of epilepsy, affecting 1 in 1,000 adults with the disorder every year. Many people who are diagnosed with epilepsy are unaware that there's a possibility of unexpectedly dying from the disorder.

Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

"Many physicians are hesitant to discuss this rare risk of death because they don't want to terrify their patients," said study author Lucretia Long, CNP, at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

For the study, 44 people with epilepsy and/or caregivers were given an information sheet about the rare risk of death. Participants were then given a questionnaire assessing their perception of the information.

Of the 42 participants who completed the survey, 100 percent felt that adult patients with epilepsy had a right to be informed about SUDEP, and 92 percent agreed that health care professionals should be required to share that information with them.

Additionally, 81 percent said that knowing about the rare risk of death motivated them to take their medication and 85 percent said the information encouraged them to better manage their seizure triggers.

While 30 percent of participants said that SUDEP awareness prompted increased fear, most agreed that it motivated them to take better care of themselves.

"Talking about this rare risk of death is frightening and difficult," said Long. "But this study indicates people with epilepsy would prefer to be armed with information, despite how tough the discussion might be. In fact, knowing about the risk could help save lives if it motivates patients to adhere to their medication and manage additional factors that may lower seizure threshold."
Bengaluru: Infosys has sought shareholders' approval to change the company's Articles of Association, which includes a provision for buyback.



"Power to purchase its own equity shares or other securities by way of a buy-back arrangement has been included and provisions relating to nomination facility for shares by a shareholder have been inserted," the Infosys postal ballot notice, uploaded on the company's website, said.



The notice also stated that as per article 13, the power of the board to issue shares at a discount has been deleted in line with the Companies Act, 2013.



"The board has recommended the adoption of new Articles of Association of the company in conformity with the Companies Act, 2013 to the shareholders for approval," Infosys had said earlier in a BSE filing.



The notice also stated, "No director, key managerial personnel or their relatives are interested in or concerned with the resolution. The Board recommends the resolution set forth in item no. 3 (Share Capital Category) for approval of the members.



Earlier in the day, ETNow had reported that the widening differences between its promoters and board on a number of issues, had in all likelihood reached a truce on the crucial aspect of capital allocation.



Infosys, which had liquid assets, including cash and cash equivalents and investments worth Rs 35,697 crore (about USD 5.25 billion) on its books at the end of December 2016, has been under pressure from investors to utilise the amount either through share buyback or generous dividend.



There were reports that Infosys may consider a Rs 12,000 crore share buyback, but the company has maintained that it "periodically" reviews the capital allocation policy.



It had added that the management will take a decision on share buyback at an "appropriate time".



Two of Infosys former CFOs -- T V Mohandas Pai and V Balakrishnan -- recently exhorted institutional investors to raise questions about the huge cash pile on the company's books, saying investors have an obligation to protect their investment.



The pressure has grown further after Infosys industry peers Cognizant and Tata Consultancy Services announced their buyback offers worth USD 3.4 billion and Rs 16,000 crore, respectively.



Besides, the Infosys board on Thursday also approved the recommendations of the Nominations and Remuneration Committee for revising the remuneration to COO and Whole-time Director, U B Pravin Rao.



It also sought shareholders approval to appoint D N Prahlad as an Independent Director.
New Delhi: After Ramjas College witnessed large-scale violence over a seminar, SGTB Khalsa College has decided to postpone a street-play competition till peace and normalcy returned to North Campus of Delhi University.



The move came after the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU), led by RSS' student wing ABVP, told the college principal that the security for the event "cannot be guaranteed" if the scripts had "anti-national content".



Principal Jaswinder Singh has denied taking the decision under any pressure from anyone and said the college had simply "postponed" the event.



"I have told the principal to go through the scripts before allowing them to be staged at the competition. I have said that any objectionable and anti-national content will create an alarming situation and the security for the event cannot be guaranteed," DUSU President and ABVP member Amit Tanwar said.



The principal said, "The situation was not conducive for the event in view of the recent violence so we had voluntarily decided to postpone it after discussions with all stakeholders."



However, the theatre convener and assistant professor at the college, Saikat Ghosh, alleged that the event was scrapped after repeated threats from DUSU.



"There were repeated threats from DUSU and police had also appealed to us to call off the event in the interest of restoring peace and normalcy on the campus," Ghosh said.



Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP supporters. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on 'Culture of Protests' which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.



Tension continued to simmer across Delhi University's North Campus yesterday with students' groups holding protests against police "high-handedness" during the violent clashes even as three policemen were suspended for "unprofessional" conduct.



Both Ramjas College and SGTB Khalsa College are on North Campus.



While the DU authorities maintained that the varsity proctor's office is looking into the issue, the HRD Ministry had yesterday sought a report from the university over the issue.
As the staff prevented the Minister from entering, the Minister was infuriated and said: "Let me see who prevents me from entering garbh griha (sanctum sanctorum)."

: Staffers bore the wrath of firebrand Union Minister Uma Bharti as they prevented her from entering the sanctum sanctorum at the Mahakaal temple in the city on the occasion of Mahashivratri on Friday.A jittery senior officer tried to pacify the infuriated minister who sat on dharna for a while.The Union Minister had reached the temple for paying obeisance. The temple administration, as a prior arrangement, had restricted entry inside the sanctum sanctorum, for one and all, to keep a check on the huge crowd that is usually seen at the temple during the festival.She also sat on dharna on a wooden cot placed nearby.As senior officers got the news, they rushed to placate the anguished Minister and ensured hassle-free darshan for her."Being a saint, Uma Bharti can't be prevented from entering garbh griha. Some kind of confusion led to the situation," said Ujjain collector Sanket Bhondwe.An upset Bharti responding to media queries on the incident and came down heavily on the police-administration."Police-administration can't regulate entry inside the garbh griha, it's upto the temple administration," she said.She had sought permission for jalabhishek from the head of Mahanirvani Akhara, Bharti claimed.
The clamour over General Bipin Rawats statement has finally calmed down. To me, there were two disappointments. The first was natural  avoidable politicisation would take place and the media would take it up with fervour, some questioning the statement and some vociferous in their support. This would also die a news death as other stories took centre-stage.



The second disappointment was more worrisome in its long-term implications. Both security experts and amateurs, who know little about the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir, called for a review of the Army strategy. I saw constant chatter in the social media about the velvet glove now being off the iron fist, the outdated hearts and mind approach of the Indian Army  the Americans simply devastate nations and bomb terrorists, and other hard steps. I know the intention of those who aired their views was not to target the innocent population and was focused on the instigators, but in a situation where sentiments run high, the messaging was unhelpful.



In the outpouring of our sentiment, we forget some basic, hard facts. America has bombed Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, but lost each of these wars. By the time the last helicopter flew out of Saigon, 50,000 soldiers had been martyred. The Soviets had lost 30,000 soldiers in a brutal, no-holds-barred campaign in Afghanistan as they limped back across the Afghan-Uzbek Bridge. There are numerous other examples  the British in Palestine and Kenya, Belgium in Congo, and the French in Algeria.



In the modern history of counter-insurgency, if there is one success story, it is that of the Indian Army. Insurgencies in Mizoram, Tripura, Assam, Punjab and Nagaland are now largely behind us. Manipur and J&K still persist but are way below their peak levels. All this has happened because the Army has had a consistent military strategy centred on a people-centric approach and a strong hearts and minds campaign. This has never wavered. I remember, 35 years ago as a young Captain, attending every Sunday church in a small Naga village, just to show that I was a part of their community. It was embarrassing to sneak in and sit on the last aisle, and understand little of the language, but I persisted because it was the right thing to do.



There are thousands of soldiers on ground in J&K doing a very difficult and somewhat thankless assignment. While they need our support, it must also be clearly understood that they are experts in their field and know what to do. The situation is complicated but crowd interference is not a brand new phenomena. Last year, procedures had been put in place for a dedicated law and order component to accompany Army teams for dealing with crowds. This is now being further refined and I am sure that our military leadership in Kashmir will find an appropriate solution. There is no need to change our basic approach to counter-insurgency.



There are shortfalls which need to be addressed to minimise casualties. Better individual protective gear is essential, though, to be fair, new bulletproof jackets and ballistic helmets are now making an appearance. There is no immediate replacement for mine-protected and light bullet-proof vehicles, both key to operating in the urban terrain of Kashmir. The CRPF and police also need better protective and state-of-the-art riot control equipment. They have suffered too many injuries in stone pelting.



Today, voices have grown louder, and Twitter and WhatsApp provide instant gratification by the number of likes. Let us all raise the flag, clap our hands, raise the morale of soldiers, but let them do the battle as they know best.



(Editors Note: The author recently retired as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, which had launched the surgical strikes against terror camps in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Views are personal)




Twitter Users are Flocking to Mastodon After Elon Musk Takeover, Here's Why
Dinesh Kanabar, a tax expert and the CEO of Dhruva Advisors, told News18 that the proposal "is not a far-fetched dream" and the Finance Ministry should broadly identify 10 or 12 areas where the apex court would have to deliver verdicts.

Senior advocate Dinesh Vyas told News18 that this move will "in one stroke strike at the root cause of pending tax litigation across the country."

However, Shiv Kant Jha, Former Commissioner of Income Tax and a tax expert, raised doubts on the practicality of the proposed move citing the number of factors and parties often involved in each case.

: Soon after Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar sought details from the Ministry of Finance regarding major tax cases pending with the Supreme Court so that it could decide on the important ones, experts lauded CJI's proposal and said that it would lead to a 'major reduction in pendency of tax related litigation'.CJI Khehar, while addressing a book release event at Rashtrapati Bhavan, said, "So far initiatives that we have taken, we have tried to collect data even from the Finance Ministry relating to cases, on tax issues, where there could be a cascading effect. So I wrote to the Secretary of the department asking him whether he can point out the cases where there is a cascading effect so that we decide one and lot of other cases of different levels can be disposed off.""It is not about adjudicating only one case at hand. There are about 2000 cases relating to this issue and if the apex court deals with one such case and sets a precedent then it becomes the law of the land and hence has to be followed by the other courts," said Kanabar.An estimated 390,000 direct tax cases are pending across various appeal forums including commissioner (appeals), income tax appellate tribunals (ITAT), high court and Supreme Court."The process is a little daunting but not impossible. Certain areas need to be identified regarding which multiple litigations are pending across several forums. Like the Supreme Court verdict in the case of Disallowance of interest under Section 14A of the Income Tax Act is awaited and hence the lower courts are now collecting all cases which deal with 14A so that they can be disposed off once the apex court delivers the judgment," said Vyas.There also have been suggestions from the industry to make this move a reality.Sharad Kohli, Chairman of the KCC Group and a tax expert, told News18 that identifying the cases on the basis of a monetary threshold will help in avoiding the stink of bias."There need to be a clear bifurcation of cases while the list is being prepared by the Finance Ministry for the CJI. They should stick to the concept of monetary threshold so that cases are demarcated, like below 5 crores, above 20 crores, etc so that it would not look like a case of bias and won't seem picky," said Kohli."Any step taken to address the issue of pending cases is a good one, but it has to be seen how such a move can be implemented. There are always several parties and factors involved in a case and this becomes an impediment in solving only the cases which have a cascading effect. This move cannot succeed without social consciousness at the grass root level where there is a general tendency to delay the cases on part of the lawyers, litigants and even the judges. So if one gentleman (CJI) thinks that this problem can be solved in this way, it would not be possible unless a reform comes from below and all factors are weighed in," Jha told News18.
The murder of Hyderabadi engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in the United States has left parents of NRIs in Telangana worried.Kuchibhotla was killed while two others including an Indian were seriously injured by US Navy veteran in a crowded Austin's Bar and Grill in Olathe of Kansas.Parents have been advising their children in US "Not to get into quarrel or fights with people there".Dr Rajkumar, president of the Telangana NRI Parents Association, told CNN-News18, "It is a very serious issue. It is a racial attack. After Donald Trump government has come to power, such incidents have increased. There is jealousy. The person who killed said go back from country."He added, "We will immediately take up this issue with state government and Ministry of external affairs."The parent community from the two Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had also raised concerns after Trump administration's proposed visa reforms. However, with racial attack and hate crimes against Indians, the parents are in fear now.""The situation is bad and parents are worried about sending children to US. Many are even asking their children to come back. There is no guarantee for life," Rajkumar said.
I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

Consul RD Joshi and VC H. Singh rushing to Kansas to assist shooting victim. @SushmaSwaraj @IndianEmbassyUS @NavtejSarna @IndianDiplomacy  India in Houston (@cgihou) February 23, 2017

Srinivas was reportedly declared dead in a nearby hospital. Two other injured men were identified as Alok Madasani (Indian) and Ian Grillot (who tried to intervene).

One of the witness said Purinton shouted at Srinivas "get out of my country" and claimed he heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire.

In a shocking racial attack, an Indian immigrant engineer was shot dead while two of his friends (one Indian) were seriously injured by a US Navy veteran who mistook them as 'Middle Eastern' in a crowded Austin's Bar and Grill in Olathe of Kansas in the United States on Wednesday night.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, "I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family."Indian Consul RD Joshi and VC H. Singh rushed to Kansas to assist shooting victims.Preliminary investigation revealed that the victims were employees of the Aviation Systems Engineering team at Garmin, headquartered in Olathe. Garmin officials identified the fatal victim as Srinivas Kuchibhotla.A US Navy veteran Adam Purinton, 51, has been arrested from another bar in an Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri. After committing crime he reportedly called up one of his friends and told him that he had just shot 'Middle Eastern' men and needed a place to hide.The investigators while probing intercepted his calls and successfully managed to arrest him from Applebees bar."After killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla he wounded his colleague Alok Madasani. He then fired at a third man, identified as Ian Grillot, who had tried to intervene," police sources said."The accused had an altercation with Srinivas and his friends inside the bars lounge around 7.15 pm which later spilled out into the parking lot. Situation worsened after he pulled out his gun and killed him and left two others seriously injured," he added.The accused apparently thought Srinivas and Madasani were Middle Eastern.The incident came a week after the US government issued a sweeping set of orders that implements President Donald Trump's plan to increase immigration enforcement, placing the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation."The Department no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. The department personnel have full authority to arrest or apprehend an alien whom an immigration officer has probable cause to believe is in violation of the immigration laws," the Department of Homeland Security had said in an enforcement memo."It is a very troublesome situation. It has become a big question whether we should send our children to US or not. We want our government to raise this issue in the international platform. It is unfortunate that the US government is not serious about taking care of these issues. Also, our government also has not taken any steps to stop such situations," Telangana NRI Parents Association, Dr Rajkumar.Meanwhile, the FBI has joined local police authorities in the investigation."The FBI is investigating to determine if the shooting of Kuchibhotla, was a bias-motivated hate crime in violation of the victims' civil rights," Eric Jackson, special agent in charge of the FBIs Kansas City office told reporters at a news conference.Jon Cassat, vice president of communications for Garmin, expressed condolences to the family members of Srinivas - who used to work for Garmin.Later, the company issued a public statement: "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow."(With input from agencies)
: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at an election rally in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday hinted at a possible Pakistan hand in the Kanpur train derailment "A rail accident happened in Kanpur, culprits and conspirators behind the tragedy have been nabbed by the police. Many people died in that incident. Police have found a huge conspiracy which was hatched by people sitting on the other side of the border, said Modi."If the cross-border foes want to carry out their work, is it not necessary that more vigil is maintained in Gonda," Modi asked people as he exhorted them to vote for the BJP."Gonda needs to elect only those who are full of patriotism, only then we can do anything good for Gonda," he said."There should not be any mistake in this election... be it the SP or the BSP, not a single seat should go to them...100 per cent seats should be won by the BJP," the Prime Minister said.The NIA investigators have maintained that they are yet to get evidence to establish if Kanpur train derailment was an accident or sabotage.Bihar police have arrested three people including Moti Paswan in the Ghorasan case and it is alleged that Paswan had also planted bombs to derail train in Kanpur.UP police have maintained there was no sabotage in Kanpur as no craters, or explosives were found on the track where the Indore- Patna express derailed.In this November 20, 2016 file photo, rescue workers search for survivors at the Indore-Patna express derailment site in Pukhrayan, south of Kanpur city . (UP police also expressed surprise at the revelation made by Prime Minister Modi. DGP Javeed Ahmad told CNN-News18, "NIA has so far not shared any information with us on what evidence they have found in the Kanpur case. We also heard about this in the PM's rally. We will check up with NIA."The PM, taking a dig at the UP administration, asked in the rally, "If such people, who will help them (conspirators) get elected from here, will Gonda be safe then, will nation be safe then?"Samajwadi Party's spokesperson CP Rai questioned Prime Minister's motive: "If indeed evidence has been found, is a rally the right platform? Has the PM or the external affairs ministry summoned the High Commissioner of Pakistan and put the evidence of their involvement before them?"The Indore-Patna Express was derailed in Kanpur Dehat's Pukhrayan on November 21, killing 148 and injuring more than 200.Allegations of sabotage were levelled after Moti Paswan told Bihar police that an alleged ISI operative based in Nepal, Shamshul Huda had paid him to carry out these train attacks.Huda had recently been arrested by Nepal police. Nepal police officers claim that Huda has not confessed to his role in the Kanpur case. NIA officers say their Kanpur investigation is at a very nascent stage and they are waiting to get custody of Huda.
"I have spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Mr. Navtej Sarna. He informed me that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to Kansas," she said while adding that, "Indian Ambassador has also informed me that Alok Madasani who was injured in the incident has been discharged from the hospital."

I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

RD Joshi Consulate General of India, Houston meets Kansas victim; He is safe,assured all support-Anupam Ray,Consul General of India, Houston pic.twitter.com/jNy3TqtPor  ANI (@ANI_news) February 24, 2017

Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday condemned the killing of Indian immigrant engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a crowded Austin's Bar and Grill in Olathe of Kansas in the United States on Wednesday night.Two others identified as Alok Madasani (Indian) and Ian Grillot (who tried to intervene) was also injured in the shooting. Preliminary investigation revealed that Srinivas was hired by Aviation Systems Engineering team at Garmin, headquartered in Olathe. He was declared dead in a nearby hospital.Taking a serious note of the incident, Swaraj tweeted, "I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members. We will provide all help and assistance to the family members of Srinivas."Indian Consul RD Joshi reached Kansas from Houston to assist the shooting victims. Vice Consul, Harpal Singh also joined Joshi from Dallas to Kansas.MEA Spokesperson, Vikas Swarup, said, "We are aware of the tragic incident in Kansas. Two Indians - Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, were shot at a bar in Olathe, Kansas. Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed and Alok Madasani is injured. During the incident a third person, an American, who tried to intervene also received injuries.""The deceased and the injured persons are from Hyderabad and Warangal, and have been working at Garmin in Olathe (Kansas). Consul Mr. R. D Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. They will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased and will be in touch with local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action. They will also meet the community members in Kansas," Swarup said.A US Navy veteran Adam Purinton, 51, has been arrested from a bar in an Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri. After committing the crime he reportedly called up one of his friends and told him that he had just shot 'Middle Eastern' men and needed a place to hide.The accused had an altercation with Srinivas and his friends inside the bars lounge which later spilled out into the parking lot. Situation turned worsens after he pulled out his gun and killed him and left two others seriously injured.One of the witness said Purinton shouted at Srinivas get out of my country and claimed he heard him screaming racial slurs before opening fire. The accused apparently thought Srinivas and Madasani were Middle Eastern.
Some of them, whove been identified and arrested in this case, were card-carrying members of BJP and RSS affiliates like the Bajrang Dal. Many others didnt hold official memberships but were closely associated with mainstream and fringe Hindu groups.



After four months of investigation, weve found this new working model of Pakistani spies. Officially, of course, were not mentioning ISIs name because we have no evidence to connect ISI directly to the case. But an intelligent guess has led us to believe that no other agency in Pakistan, and weve traced several hundred Pakistani phone numbers, would be interested in designing and executing something like this.



Their family has just a few acres of land, from which they sold bits and pieces to meet their financial needs. He came from a troubled family. His sister and two sisters-in-law had committed suicide. They had cases against them and barely enough to eat. But suddenly in the last two years, they got themselves a couple of SUVs, a motorcycle, and CCTV cameras installed around their home.



Though MP ATS may pat its back for cracking this case, but boys like Balram Singh, Rajeev Tiwari, Dhruv and Jitendra, though located in different parts of Madhya Pradesh, were part of just one module. By the polices own admission, more than 100 such modules are operating in the country today.

: On November 12 last year, Jammu and Kashmir police nabbed two people  Dadu and Satvinder Singh  in RS Pura for allegedly spying on military installations. There seemed to be nothing extraordinary about it. After all, 22 other Pakistani spies had been caught in 2016.But as intelligence agencies began looking at the source of their funds, they stumbled upon a unique, self-sustaining model of finance, based on a telecom fraud, the likes of which they had not encountered in any spy case earlier.The extent of the fraud that fuelled ISIs spy network, and possibly its terror cells in India, has been calculated to be over Rs 30,000 crore.This model, unlike direct hawala routes that spies and terrorist organisations were known to thrive on earlier, generates money from Indian victims who are conned by ISIs Indian recruits, using Indian telecom services and Indian banks.Investigators looking into the Pakistani spy ring case have unearthed the involvement of people with remarkably different backgrounds.From Gulshan Kumar, who worked with the NATO on complex military technology in Afghanistan, to Balram Singh, a young boy from a far flung village in Madhya Pradesh who flaunted his association with the Bajrang Dal did not even complete his matriculation.But there is one thing that has surprised intelligence officers.Though the involvement of Hindus working for Pakistani spies or working as their facilitators has been established before, intelligence officers have never found a network of financers to foreign intelligence comprising almost exclusively of Hindus.These were the people who worked directly with Pakistani handlers to fund ISI spies and possibly sleeper cells of terror groups.And that is not all. Anti-terrorist squads of more than one state are also probing links of the arrested people to Naxals extremists from Bihar and Chhattisgarh. A secret note prepared exclusively by the ATS for the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh has highlighted the background of Manoj Mandal, the latest one arrest in the case from the Naxal-affected region of Jamui in Bihar.A senior ATS officer in Madhya Pradesh, who was part of the team that monitored and carried out most of the arrests made in this case, says investigations have unearthed a network which is way greater than anything theyve ever seen or handled.They have so far obtained over 100 Pakistani numbers whom the local Indian recruits in various states were in touch with.Weve found that there is almost no state in India where such financial models have not sprung up. According to our investigations, such models are present in more than 100 locations across the country. We have shared intelligence with central agencies and with ATS of these states.Another senior ATS officer, investigating this case, said that though the agency hadnt been taking ISIs name officially, since there was little evidence to prove it, there was no doubt about who was pulling the strings.According to Delhi Polices Special Cell and Madhya Pradesh ATS, two key people who are believed to have been instrumental in setting up this model of business in the country are Gulshan Kumar and Abdul Jabbar.Gulshan Kumar, who was arrested last month from New Delhi, is understood to have set up several such SIM boxes and parallel phone exchanges throughout the country. He had the means and the knowhow to do it based on his five-year experience of setting up such exchanges for the American military in Afghanistan, as a contractor appointed by NATO.The other, Abdul Jabbar, who was arrested on February 17, is believed to be the crucial link of ISI who helped route the lottery and online fraud money parked in banks of Satna and Rewa district of MP to operatives in Jammu and Kashmir via his couriers and hawala.The key to understanding ISIs recently devised working model in India, which one Intelligence Bureau official claimed had confounded them, may be through the profile of ground workers that the Pakistani intelligence agency managed to cultivate in India.Most of these people, who kept books for their Pakistani handlers and maintained illegal parallel exchanges have one thing in common  they were boys from small towns, quite ambitious, coming from very poor families, almost never educated beyond Class 10, with strong Hindu affiliations.MP ATS believes Balram Singh, 26, to be the key member in the recently created financial wing of the ISI. Singh, who comes from a family that is barely able to make ends meet, was just a few years ago found stealing power cables. In a very short span since then, he went on to acquire very expensive taste, in motorcycles, luxury cars and clothes.Though Singh was not an official member of any political outfit, locals say he was regularly seen in Bajrang Dal rallies held in Satna.He needed a lot of clout to get away with what he was doing; to make influential people not notice and question his abrupt financial growth. This is why he hung around with local police and Bajrang Dal regularly, said Ramashankar Singh, a local in Satna.Police officials believe Balram Singh and his friends were able to influence bank officials to a great extent, who helped them deposit and withdraw huge amounts on a daily basis, without asking a question.The bank officials may not have felt it necessary to put these questions to Balram, considering the business they gave him. But they ignored several flags . Balram and his associates used to regularly deposit amounts just below Rs 50,000 to avoid being detected by agencies monitoring PAN cards. This should have been brought to our notice. We are investigating their roles as well, said an officer, who is part of MPs ATS team probing this case.Singh hails from a village called Suhas, about 30 km from Satna. The village is underdeveloped with very few toilets, almost no regular water supply and irregular power.The only remarkable thing about the village is that around 250 boys from it have gone on to join the Army. Most of the villagers, including Balrams parents, work as farmers.Balram also tried to join the Army and police but failed. Then someone told him about a job in Dubai. We arranged around Rs 2 lakh for him. He gave the money to his agent and flew to Dubai only to be told that there was no job. All of us were quite distressed, his father Shivkumar Singh said.Desperate to make quick money, Balram Singh through a friend, Rajeev Tiwari, got in touch with a person from Pakistan, who eventually became his handler. Balram Singhs job was to create hundreds of accounts and transfer money that came through the SIM box businesses to other accounts. Singh got a commission in turn.The amounts were small and the commission was huge initially, around 40 per cent. They wanted to lure him in while testing his loyalty. Singh proved his loyalty and was awarded with bigger amounts later on. He used to make about Rs 4 lakh every month through his handlers, a senior officer privy to the investigation said.Singh did not share his bounty with his family  his brother continued to run an upholstery shop in Satna (and is now on the run), and did not contribute towards the wedding of his sister (the wedding is now in doubt after charges of treason were levelled against her brother). But he lived a lavish life.Singhs parents now live alone, having been ostracised by their relatives and other villagers.About 50 km from Suhas is village Podhi, where Balram Singhs mentor Rajeev Tiwari and his family lived till recently. In terms of amenities, Podhi is no better than Suhas.The village sarpanch and once a friend of Tiwari, Pradeep Kumar Jaiswal, described Tiwari family's rags-to-riches story.He added, As a young boy, Rajjan used to tell me that he wouldnt stay in Podhi for long. That he would find a way to live comfortably. But at that age, we all dream of it and forget about whats beyond our means. Rajjan never stopped speaking about his dreams.Today, nobody goes to or talks to the Tiwaris anymore. Deshdroh hai to hai.The profiles of Balram Singh and Rajeev Tiwari are quite similar to other boys of their milieu who were arrested, are on the run or whose involvement is being investigated by the states ATS  Sanyog, KP Yadav, Dhruv Saxena, Jitendra, Ashish Singh Rathore, Raj Bahadur Singh among others.Dhruv Saxena was found to be working in the BJPs IT cell, Jitendra was related to a BJP councillor from Gwalior, and both Ashish Singh Rathore and Raj Bahadur Singh were official members of the Bajrang Dal.In case of Ashish Singh, the Bajrang Dal even issued a formal note expelling him from their outfit.The ATS has so far remained mum about how the ISI zeroed-in on these recruits.But a state IB official who has investigated espionage cases before said: Their recruiters are the people employed on a very short-term basis. The moment recruiters put Pakistani handlers in touch with potential recruits, theyre either asked to move to different locations or are shunted. But in this case, they clearly seemed to have got hold of very good head-hunters whove done their homework really well.Even officers working on this case arent sure about their achievement.Meat exporter Moin Qureshi could be nabbed because agencies were monitoring his business for several months. Thats not the case with Jabbar. Proving hawala links are very tough. Similarly, boys like Balram and Rajeev have spoken to Pakistani handlers, but well have a tough time establishing their role in a conspiracy against the nation. Even if we succeed, there are 100 other modules in the country at work right now. How much can we achieve? said an officer in the MP ATS team.The task at hand is much beyond anything that a single agency may have ever handled in the country. And the job is more complex than what anti-terror agencies in the country have ever handled.Multiple agencies, including the IB, military intelligence and ATSs of various states are working on this case. How far will they allow themselves to be stretched? How big a nexus will this eventually turn out to be? How deep has the ISI been able to penetrate are questions that nobody in this country may have an immediate answer to.Meanwhile, average boys like Balram will continue dreaming big and answering calls theyre not supposed to.
Karachi: Two suspected Islamic State militants were on Friday gunned down by Pakistani security forces in a raid in Manghopir area.



During the raid, the militants opened fire at the security personnel, leaving one policeman injured, SSP West Nasir Aftab said.



In the retaliatory fire, both the suspects were killed while their accomplices managed to escape the site.



Weapons and laptops were found from on them, the GEO News reported.



The SSP said a hit list was found on the laptop, that included names of police officers and other government officials.



The suspected militants have been identified as Saifullah and Haneef.


The US Embassy on Friday strongly condemned the killing of Indian immigrant engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was shot dead while two others were seriously injured in a crowded Austin's Bar and Grill in Olathe of Kansas in the United States on Wednesday night."We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured," US Embassy press release reads."We have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims. We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime. US Federal authorities are also investigating the case. We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice," it reads.Charge dAffaires MaryKay Carlson said, "We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families. The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live. US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognize that justice is small consolation to families in grief."
New Delhi: The Centre has extended the duration of its largest vaccination drive  against Measles and Congenital Rubella  due to low coverage, days after reports emerged that anti-vaxxers were using a recent statement by Union Minister of State Kiran Rijiju to further their propaganda against the very idea of vaccination.



There was a lot of misinformation floating on WhatsApp groups, that the vaccine causes impotencythat it causes autismthat it is an imported untried vaccine, Dr. Pradeep Haldar, Deputy Commissioner (Immunisation), Union Ministry of Health, told News18.



The first phase of the MR immunisation drive currently afoot in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Puducherry and Lakshadweep was initially slated from February 5-28. However, it would now be extended by two to three weeks to reach all the 3.6 crore targeted children.



Reports have come from Bhatkal, Karnataka, in particular, of parents protesting the vaccination drive in schools. One report said that of the 7,198 students at Urdu medium schools in Bhatkal taluk under 15 years of age, only 1,287 have been vaccinated.



Paranoia about vaccines has been a long-standing problem in India, as was seen during the pulse polio campaign. However, this particular round of WhatsApp rumour mongering coincided with remarks tweeted by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on February 13. The Hindu population is reducing in India because Hindus never convert people. Minorities in India are flourishing unlike some countries around, he had said.



The ramifications of Rijijus tweet werent confined to social media alone.



The message seems to have added fire to the anti-vaccination propaganda  about an insidious government campaign to stymie Muslim population growth  that can take a severe toll on the state of health, especially that of children, in several pockets of the country at risk for Measles-Rubella.



The states where the first phase of the MR campaign is ongoing have sizeable Muslim populations, and fringe elements here have been opposed to the vaccination program for long accusing it to be un-Islamic and harmful. Several activists and doctors on ground in such places have been fighting age-old prejudices in their campaign to make immunisation successful.



But sentiments by influential people like those that Rijiju echoed ten days ago, have proved to be a setback to such health programs aimed at curbing child mortality.



The Union Minister refused to comment for this story.



Sayed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari, chairman of education society called Madin Academy based in Kerala, said that the ministers statement has now become a potent weapon for the anti-vaxxers.



Yes, this new rumour has been doing rounds, which just reinforces old lies about a certain systematic and deceptive program aimed at birth-control of Muslims. A lot of children have died due to these lies. People refrained from getting their babies vaccinated because the government never really tried to battle this misinformation with information, he told News18.



He added that all Muslim organisations in the state have joined hands in actively battling such propaganda, telling people that immunisation programs are neither un-Islamic nor avoidable.



Dr. Haldar said that none of these rumours had any basis. The vaccine does not cause autism or impotency, which seems to be the biggest fear, and it has been in use for 40 years in India with many parents getting their children vaccinated in private hospitals.



Whatsapp is such a private way of communication, he said talking about the difficulty in controlling these rumours. People dont know the facts about Rubella, what it does to the human body. So they dont know the importance of the vaccine unlike polio where anyone can picture the effects of the disease, he said.



Rubella results in a mild rash on the face, swelling of glands behind the ears and low-grade fever. However, rubella infection during the first trimester of pregnancy can lead to Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) - birth defects include blindness, deafness and mental retardation. It can even cause stillbirth or fetal death. Globally, over 100,000 children are born with CRS each year.



In 2015, measles killed and estimated 134,200 children globally, mostly under the age of five. In India, it killed 49,200 children in the same period.



Some of the children who died from such easily preventable diseases in India, in 2015, were from Malappuram, Keralas only Muslim-majority district. The cause was their parents and communitys resistance to vaccination.



A doctor and a vaccination activist described the extent of harm that statements made by politicians have caused in his area.



In 2015 several children died due to Diphtheria, a tragedy that could easily have been avoided through preventive medication. More deaths followed in 2016. All because of rumours like this. Quacks calling themselves naturopaths and acupuncture doctors to create markets for themselves, further fuelled prejudices towards drugs, said Dr K Binub, convenor of Mission Mukthi, a pro-vaccination campaign, that focuses on Malappuram.



He added that he and his team had to take help of people like Bukhari and go deep inside pockets of society that resisted vaccination attempts.



We had to work really hard, ask our under-graduate students to work with us. We even took the help of magicians to bust myths propagated by quacks. We also got active support from district health officers, writers and journalists. And since then things have started to change for the better, he said.



Activists and doctors have also taken to broadcasting radio programs about the benefits of immunisation.



The silver lining is that the reach of vaccines improved from 65% to 92% in a period of two years, for children under the age of five.

The Union health ministry too has understood the need to spread awareness. It has now put out messages on WhatsApp and are currently looking for public personalities to lead to their campaign.



Doctors working on ground spoke to News 18 about how after campaigning and succeeding in their battle against anti-immunisation camp, they keep suffering setbacks in the form of rumours spread on basis of statements such as those made by Rijiju.



While Karnataka has managed to vaccinate 1.2 crore of their targeted 1.75 crore children, things are slower in Tamil Nash, where only 68 lakh of the 1.75 have been reached.



Dr KK Joshi, former president, Indian Association of Paediatrics, Malapuram, is one such doctor, who has spent considerable time and energy on immunising children in his state.



On October 1 last year two children died in an orphanage due to Diphtheria. The anti-drug prejudice, due to rumours that it would cause sterility, was so strong that we had to give it in writing on official letterheads that our drugs wouldnt cause impotency. We also got religious leaders involved in our campaign and slowly started making progress against anti-immunisation camp again, he said.



Physicians, and social and religious activists on ground battling infant mortality havent lost hope despite the apparent damage that Rijijus statements have caused. They are counting on their sustained pro-immunisation campaigns, and their success in the past, to see them through this crisis.




Its Mahashivratri, and who better than author Amish himself to talk about Shiva and his significance in the present times. Amish, who shot to fame for his human take on Shiva and Satis story through his books The Shiva Trilogy, speaks exclusively to News18 on his book and what fascinated him to write on Shiva.

As it happened.

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
"The story is lady oriented, their fantasy above life. There are contanious sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society, hence film refused under guidelines."

"There was a committee that the government had set to look into the way certification is done. Films need to be classified not censored. There's no question of censoring. We are talking of classification according to suitability of age and maturity. No idea if the said the suggestions have been implemented by CBFC."

The 'Sanskari' Censor Board is back in news. This time for refusing to certify a film called Lipstick Under My Burkha, terming it to be 'lady oriented'.Listing the number of problems with the film, a letter drafted by the board has gone viral online. And apart from the erroneous spellings, the letter states bizarre reasons for not passing the film.Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and produced by Prakash Jha, the film has four female leads with the story set in Lucknow.Despite a committee headed by Shyam Benegal which suggested changes in the way Board gives certifications, the film has faced objections. Speaking to CNN News18, filmmaker Shyam Benegal stated that while he hasn't seen the film and doesn't know what the film is about but no film can be denied a certification by the board.Benegal stated that the report was submitted in April and October 2016. The committee was set up after the film industry appealed for correction in which the CBFC certifies films. Abhishek Chaubeys Udta Punjab, in June, had faced major roadblocks prior to its release as CBFC had demanded more than 90 cuts. The film was later released after the Bombay High Court intervened.Ashok Pandit, a member of the CBFC, called the censoring of Lipstick Under My Burkha, unnecessary. "I am myself quite shocked to see these kind of words been used in the letter. Tragedy is that a filmmaker like Prakash Jha, who has won so many award, his intelligence is being questioned. This films is not going to create riot in any case."Central Board of Film Certification, CEO, Anurag Srivastava, said, "If a film maker don't agree to what we say they can go to the tribunal."Criticizing CBFC's decision, director of 'Lipstick Under My Burkha', Alankrita Shrivastava said, "It is unfair that women are not given space in society."Having made rounds of various festivals, Lipstick Under My Burkha was set to release in India this month. The film stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah and others.
Lucknow: Almost a month-long polling schedule, voting in seven phases, diverse socio-political and demographic realities, and more than 14 crore voters. Elections in UP have always been with a difference. But it is this difference that also brings out the war of perception. Perceptions of 'losing steam' and 'gaining momentum' of a party with each passing phase.



Starting from western UP, moving through Rohelkhand, central UP and then Bundelkhand; as elections move east with three phases of voting still to take place, perceptions are being constantly made and broken. And in a scenario of a clear triangular fight between the BJP, BSP, and SP-Congress alliance, it's this perception that can make a crucial difference.



Leaders, therefore, get more aggressive, and more desperate in their statements. Strategies are being revisited, reinvented or discarded to keep perception in their favour. As a senior BJP leader says, "Election is also about perception and mind games. And we address it quiet seriously." In an election where there is no clear favourite and most of the 403 seats are seeing a triangular fight, it's the perception which can get the crucial swing.



This is how the parties are stacked in this war of perception:



BJP



1. House in Order: Even before the elections were announced, the Bharatiya Janata Party had successfully put its house in order. Organisational changes and leadership projections were done keeping the caste calculations in mind. A broad strategy basically targeting the non-Yadav OBC, non-Jatav Dalits and upper caste vote banks was rolled out and implemented well. Riding high on its spectacular success in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the party was successful in projecting itself as the strong claiment for political power in UP. The strong narrative of the 'BJP vs Others' was built.



2. Brand Modi Well Entrenched: After elections were notified, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not have bombarded the state with rallies like he did in Bihar. While the PM is addressing just two rallies in each phase, the Modi connect was already made with 12 big rallies across Uttar Pradesh in 2016 itself. These rallies started with Saharanpur and concluded with a massive parivartan rally in Lucknow on January 2, just before the poll dates were announced. The strategy has worked well.



3. Ticket Trouble: It was the ticket distribution which raised concerns about BJP' s poll prospects. Tickets to many outsiders triggered a lot of resentment and a series of protests. The party tried hard to control the damage. However, as elections gained pace, the issue was adequately dealt with by the BJP leadership.



4. Jat Equation: The biggest challenge came to the BJP with the Jat equation being disturbed before the first phase of polls in western UP. Party chief Amit Shah had to step in, but the damage was done. The perception created was that the 'BJP suffers losses in western UP because of Jat anger'. A senior leader of the BJP accepts it was a "big challenge". "After phase 1, perception was built against the BJP. The concern to firefight was evident with Amit Shah himself rushing to Lucknow, addressing a press conference and claiming 50 plus seats for the party in the first phase."



5. Different Targets: The BJP was quick to revisit its strategy after phase 1. The strategy adopted was to divide non-BJP votebank and galvanise party support. So, while the BJP claimed the fight was against the BSP in phase 2, it was Samajwadi Party-Congress in phase 3 and BSP again in phase 4. The strategy was to weaken the real challenger by pitting one against the other. The strategy paid off.



SAMAJWADI PARTY



1. Alliance Masterstroke: From being simply written-off following its internal bickering and power struggle, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party bounced back with a last-minute alliance with the Congress. As a senior SP leader says, "In politics, 2+2 is not always 4. It can also be 22." The alliance built an instant perception for both the SP and the Congress. It emerged as a strong contender for the minority votebank.



2. Target Modi: While on ground it might have been SP vs BSP on several seats, the alliance leader continued to have a larger focus on Modi. The strategy was to pit the alliance as the biggest opponent to the BJP and Modi, and thereby attract the minority voter. As the election progresses, this is only intensifying, even stooping down to levels of 'donkey jibes'. The SP-Congress alliance was thus creating a strong perception in its favour, especially in phases 2 and 3.



3. Seat-sharing Disputes Play Spoilsport: The alliance did lose some sheen thanks to seat-sharing disputes. The fact that four seats in Congress bastions of Amethi-Raibareli had both Samajwadi Party and Congress candidates raised doubts about the longetivity of the alliance



4. Priyanka Gandhi's absence from campaigning, Sonia Gandhi's appeal to vote for the Congress without mentioning the alliance, questions being raised by leader Raghuraj Pratap aka Raja Bhaiya built a negitive perception around the alliance. The parties are still battling this perception with just three phases left to go.



BSP



1. The Dalit-Muslim Outreach: For the BSP, the build-up to elections started on a high note with an ambitious Dalit-Muslim outreach. With 100 of the 403 tickets to Muslims, the party seemed to be the strongest claimant to the power seat in UP. However the SP-Congress alliance came as a setback. The perception created was that the BSP's core strategy this time had been disturbed. After four phases, the party has been unable to fight off this perception entirely.



2. Law and Order: One advantage the BSP still has is Mayawati's better track record of governance and maintaining law and order. Though this advantage was slightly endangered by the induction of jailed politician Mukhtar Ansari, the BSP had been successful in keeping up its USP.



3. Dalit Votes Intact: Despite all challenges, the perception holds that Mayawati has a strong control over her core Dalit votebank. This perception has helped her ward off the exodus of minority support in favour of the SP-Congress alliance. The BSP still continues to be a strong attraction for minority voters.



4. Lone Leader Challenge: This is the BSP's biggest drawback. As the election progresses, the BJP has bombarded the state with rallies by several big leaders. Attacks on rivals have intensified and are being unleashed simultaneously from different areas. While the SP-Congress alliance has tried to match up with the BJP's fire power through Akhilesh, Rahul and other senior leaders, for the BSP it's Mayawati, the lone general out in the field.



It, however, is still not the end of the road for building and demolishing perceptions around these three competitors. At the end of phase 4, however, it's the BJP which leads the ground with the stronger ones. It remains a triangular fight where many seats are too close to call. Will perceptions work? We'll know on March 11.


Rahul has the sensitivity and concern of a mature leader. His words are those of a young, courageous and restless man. #DontTwistMyWords  Sheila Dikshit (@SheilaDikshit) February 24, 2017

The statement has certainly come at a wrong time for the party. Coming just after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election results which saw a near wipe out for the Congress, it once again has raised questions over Rahul's leadership ability.

Trouble is brewing within the Congress following former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit saying that Rahul Gandhi was not mature yet and needed more time.Dikshit made the comments in an interview to the Times of India.While Dikshit has since clarified, saying that her words were twisted, sources told CNN-News18 that Rahul's strategy makers are now in a tizzy over it.The statement comes at a rather inopportune time as the party is engaged in a bitter battle with BJP and BSP to win in UP. Also, this gives ammunition for the BJP which spares no chance of attacking Rahul, calling him 'Pappu'.BJP national president Amit Shah has already latched on to the statement, referring to it at a rally.This forced the party into a huddle and they issued a clarification denying the comments.A young party leader told CNN-News18 on condition of anonymity, "The decision to make him president is taking too long. The complete surgery needs to happen soon. I fear time has already run out. BJP has begun preparing for next Lok Sabha polls and here we are still trying to deal with the last one."Dikshit may have clarified her comment but the fact remains many within party, especially seniors, are now wondering whether Rahul can even do a Sonia Gandhi and keep the Congress' fire going.Rahul's reluctance to crack the whip and go in for a full surgery is hurting the party and slowing it down.In the case of Mumbai, many were shocked at the open rebellion and infighting through Twitter between Sanjay Nirupam and Gurudas Kamath. To make matters worse, former Haryana chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was sent to settle matters. The questions that party insiders are now asking is why couldn't Rahul crack the whip earlier? Why was Kamath not pulled up for tweeting publicly?The problem for the party is that Dikshit's comments have not come in a vacuum. Leaders like Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who switched over to BJP, have publicly blamed Rahul for the mess. Apart from this, Jayanthi Natarajan and other seniors who feel left out occasionally attack Rahul as well.This is not a happy situation for someone who has been groomed to take over the party and Rahul's managers know it.
Mumbai: Two Independent corporators on Friday joined the Shiv Sena at party president Uddhav Thackeray's residence 'Matoshree', thereby taking its total tally to 86.



Thackeray, told reporters after the induction of Snehal More from Vikhroli and Tulsiram Shinde from Dindoshi wards, that he has not thought about an alliance with any party to wrest power in the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as yet, but maintained that the coveted Mayor's post will be held by Sena only.



In the fiercely contested BMC polls, the ruling BJP finished close second to Shiv Sena, while it pulled off a stellar performance in other civic and local bodies polls winning in eight out of the 10 municipal corporations. According to sources in the Sena, Thackeray will hold a meeting of all senior party leaders and newly elected corporators at the Shiv Sena Bhavan on Saturday to decide on the future course of action.



Meanwhile, senior leaders from both parties claimed the support of the remaining three independent corporators.



"BJP has got support of Rahbar Khan. Two more independent corporators are willing to give support to BJP in the coming days," a senior party leader said.



BJP's core committee meeting is expected to be held in two to three days, where the party's future course of action will be charted out.



Senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi has already said that his party is not considering an alliance with BJP and that the final call will be taken by Thackeray.



In the counting of votes held yesterday for the BMC polls, Shiv Sena won 84 seats, BJP secured 82, Congress was relegated to the third position with 31 seats, whereas the NCP and Raj Thackeray-led MNS got 9 and 7 seats, respectively.


Imphal: As in many other states, Manipur too has its Muslim vote bank to sway fortunes of the political parties in an election, constituting nearly nine per cent of the electorate.



In more than a dozen Assembly constituencies, the Muslim community, locally known as 'Pangal' or 'Meitei Pangal', can swing results.



The direct clout of the Muslim vote bank in more than 3-4 seats and ability to become a deciding factor in 7-8 more help them hog the attention of all political parties.



The community has produced prominent leaders, including a chief minister back in the 70s.



Muslims have traditionally sided with either the Congress or the Manipur People's Party. But with the MPP just fielding three candidates, the Congress is looking to win over Muslim votes, especially in the valley where it is in a direct contest with the BJP.



"The Muslims have always voted for us. Last time, three of our Muslim candidates won the elections. The state government has taken various steps for the development of Muslims in the state," State Congress president T N Haokip said.



The Congress government had announced a four per cent reservation for the Muslim community in the state in government jobs in 2006. It had also taken several steps to promote higher education among the community members.



"We are not a communal and divisive force like the BJP which preaches the ideology of Hindutva," a senior Congress leader said.



But with the Modi government coming to power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP's Manipur unit hoped to reap electoral benefits riding on the Modi wave and anti-incumbency against the Congress government.



But the BJP during its ticket distribution had disappointed Muslim aspirants with only one candidate from the community.



The Congress had three in its list.



Md Anwar Hussain, the sole Muslim candidate of BJP, is contesting from the Lilong constituency which has the largest Muslim population in the state.



Out of 17 aspirants who had sought party tickets to contest five Assembly seats, only Anwar Hussain was lucky.



In three other constituencies -- Keirao, Wabgai and Wangkhem, where there is a sizeable Muslim population, the BJP has decided to go with candidates from the majority Meitei community.



Those left out have accused the party of being anti-Muslim and some of them even joined other parties and are contesting against BJP candidates in various seats.



The BJP state leadership, however, denied the charge that it had deprived the Muslim aspirants.



"The tickets were distributed on the basis of winnability of the candidates. We believe in 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'.



If you go through our manifesto, you will see what the BJP wants to do for Muslims in Manipur," BJP state president K Bhabananda Singh said.



Among various projects for the development of minorities, the BJP in its manifesto has promised to implement a special mission to strengthen status of livelihood of the religious minorities in Manipur.



The first ever Muslim woman to fight Assembly election in the state, Najima Bibi, is a candidate of the Peoples' Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) of Irom Sharmila from Wabgai constituency.



She is in the fray despite a fatwa against her.



Her decision to join politics and contest election has kicked off a storm in her home constituency with religious leaders in Santhel Mamang Leikai publicly announcing that she will not be given a space to be buried after her death.



However, an unfazed Najima Bibi had told PTI, "I am not bothered about my life, but as long as live I will continue my fight against domestic violence and in favour of social uplift of the Muslim women in the society. My life has been a struggle since childhood, I am not afraid of any threat."


Washington: Five Indian nationals have been arrested for trying to enter the United States illegally near Molson in Washington.



A Canadian who helped them to crossover was also arrested along with the Indians on February 8, the US Customs and Border Police (CBP) said in a statement.



The five Indians were ordered to appear before an immigration judge who will determine whether they may lawfully remain in the United States and the Canadian suspect will be prosecuted for alien smuggling and processed for deportation proceedings, it said.



"Once inside the United States, the group of five Indian nationals were picked up by the Canadian citizen smuggler driving a rental vehicle. They were apprehended by Border Patrol agents," the statement said.



"The driver and suspected smuggler had no known relationship with the five illegal Indians who he had picked up and who had entered the United States a day earlier under false pretences," it added.



The success of our mission relies on the dedication and vigilance of our Border Patrol agents, Spokane Sector Chief Patrol Agent Henry Rolon said.



"This is another example of the excellent law enforcement work that our agents do in the field every day protecting our nation's borders and communities," he said.



According to a recent Pew report, the number of unauthorised Indian immigrants in America grew by about 130,000 from 2009 to 2014, to an estimated 500,000.



Indians are ranked fourth in illegal immigrants in the US after Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Yangon: Around 100 Buddhist monks and nationalists in Myanmar staged a protest against Thailand on Friday, denouncing the government of the neighbouring country for its actions against a temple that has defied orders to hand over a wanted monk.



For the past week, Thai police and soldiers have surrounded the Dhammakaya temple outside the capital, Bangkok, to try to bring in the former head abbot who is wanted on money-laundering charges, but their efforts have been frustrated by devotees.



The challenge from the temple is one of the biggest to Thailand's military rulers since a 2014 coup. Dhammakaya has been trying to encourage supporters abroad to protest against the government's actions and use of an emergency law.



Demonstrators gathered outside the Thai embassy in Myanmar's commercial hub of Yangon included activists and monks associated with nationalist political groups.



"We suffered because our neighboring Buddhist people were undermined, so we cannot stay silent," said protest leader Tin Htut Zaw.



The protesters had delivered a letter to the embassy calling on Thailand to stop its "insulting" actions against the Buddhist temple, he said.



A spokesman for Thailand's Department for Special Investigations said the law and order operation was being carried out in a manner respectful to Buddhism.



U Thuseikta, secretary of the Patriotic Monks Union, said the United Nations, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and human rights groups should help protect Thai Buddhists from their government.



Many of the same demonstrators, including U Thuseikta, staged a small protest against a Malaysian ship delivering aid for Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority on Feb. 9.



Buddhist nationalists in Myanmar reject the label Rohingya, referring instead to the more than 1 million people living in Rakhine state as "Bengalis", to suggest they are interlopers from Bangladesh.



U Wirathu, a prominent member of a nationwide nationalist network known as Ma Ba Tha, also led a demonstration on Thursday in Myanmar's central city of Mandalay over the Thai government crackdown, his Facebook page showed.
A Sikh civil rights group has urged members of the Sikh-American community to exercise caution and be extra vigilant in the wake of a possible hate crime in Kansas city that left one Indian engineer dead and another injured.The Sikh Coalition said its prayers go out to the family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32 who was killed when 51-year-old Olathe man Adam Purinton shot him at a bar in the city on Wednesday.Another Indian engineer Alok Madasani, 32 was injured in the incident and has now been released from hospital yesterday. Purinton has ben charged in Johnson County District Court with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Bond has been set at USD 2 million.The advocacy group urged every Sikh-American to exercise extra vigilance and caution during this period of heightened vulnerability.It urged members of the community to call law enforcement immediately if they have been a victim of hate violence or received threats of violence.Kuchibhotla worked in aviation systems for Olathe-based Garmin Ltd. Madasani was his co-worker at Garmin.It was a tragic and senseless act of violence, Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke said in The Kansas City Star.Another individual Ian Grillot, 24 was reportedly shot while attempting to stop Purinton.Grillot said he was happy to see Madasani is recovering.Following the shooting, Olathe residents went to the bar where the incident took place to lay flowers and offer condolences to the staff, patrons and victims families.You just cant help but your heart goes out to them, and its such a sad story for the community but I just wanted to support and of course honor the lives and everybody involved, nearby business owner Amber McCracken said in a report in KSHB Kansas City.The shooting has shaken the tight-knit Indian community in Olathe, according to Shabina Kavimandan, who was among those laying flowers at the site.We take pride in the fact that we come and we become a part of this society and then when things like this happen you just stop in your tracks and you realize that yes you are a little different, said Kavimandan.When we pull back the layer then we realized, oh, gun violence was actually somebody killing people because they are different, that adds another layer to it. Thats when it became really hard to really make sense of this.
Soon after Donald Trump's presidential election victory, the number of hate crime incidents in US has increased, as per a report released recently by a civil rights advocacy group - Southern Poverty Law Center.As per news report published in Reuters on November 29, 2016, "The number of hate and bias incidents reported across the United States spiked in the 10 days following Donald Trump's presidential election victory.""Nearly 867 incidents ranging from assaults to threatening graffiti messages reported in US. That is a major increase from the normal rate of hate incidents reported in the United States," Richard Cohen, the group's president, has said as quoted by Reuters."What we're seeing is something quite unusual. People are reporting seeing swastikas painted in neighborhoods that they've lived in for 20 years. We've never seen anything like it," said Cohen, who has tracked hate groups for three decades.The incidents included numerous cases of people threatening apparent immigrants with deportation and vandalism deriding black Americans, many of which cited Trump's victory.They followed an historic presidential campaign in which the New York real estate developer vowed to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, promised to deport millions of unregistered immigrants and mulled restricting Muslim immigration.Since his victory, Trump had said he rejects acts of violence or harassment, and disavowed the so-called "alt-right" white nationalist movement, which has been a vocal supporter of the president-elect.Cohen called on the Republican to do more."What we'd like to see Mr. Trump do is acknowledge that his own words have fueled the outbreak of hate that we're seeing. He needs to take responsibility and stop pretending he's surprised," Cohen said in a phone interview as published in Reuters. "He needs to speak forcefully and repeatedly against bigotry."Trump campaigned on a populist platform summed up in his "Make America Great Again" slogan and has vowed to be a more forceful advocate for the U.S. middle class in his negotiations on trade, security and other international issues than his predecessors.The report found that close to one-third of the incidents that followed the Nov. 8 election represented anti-immigrant sentiments while about one in five were anti-black. Others targeted included lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, Muslims, Jews and women, while 23 incidents reflected anti-Trump feelings.Data released in January by the FBI show there were 5,850 hate crime incidents nationally in 2015, up 6.8 percent from 5,479 in 2014.(Report published in Reuters on Nov 29, 2016)
When Jeannine Golden travels Timberlake Road at certain times of the day, she plans her route and decides which lane to take to reduce her time sitting in traffic.

If I get in the wrong lane, I feel like Im back in Northern Virginia, Golden said.

Seeking to reduce congestion in the vicinity of Heritage High School, the city is set to undertake road improvements at Logans Lane and Wards Ferry Road.

An open house was held Thursday at Heritage High School to provide the public an opportunity to learn about the upcoming improvements.

According to city Transportation Engineer Maggie Cossman, the purpose of the two projects is to improve safety in the area and to relieve congestion.

A major feature of the dual project is the widening of Wards Ferry Road, beginning in the area of Water Gate Drive. When the project is completed, motorists traveling along Wards Ferry Road toward Timberlake Road will encounter a dedicated left-turn lane, a shared through/left lane and a dedicated right-turn lane. Other features of the road improvements include: the construction of a roundabout that connects the Lynchburg Expressway ramp to a widened Logans Lane; the removal of an existing traffic light thats currently located at the intersection of the Lynchburg Expressway ramp and Timberlake Road; and a left-turn lane on Timberlake Road that will be extended in length.

Overall, the off-ramp from the Lynchburg Expressway will be realigned from its current position so the ramp connects with the intersection of Timberlake and Wards Ferry roads. The city anticipates this realignment will alleviate congestion.

During the construction period, the existing off-ramp from the expressway will be closed, and a detour will be in place.

To make way for the project, Lynchburg City Council in January 2016 authorized the purchase of 7001 Timberlake Road, the site of Hill City House Grille, for the propertys assessed value of $1.57 million.

The reconfigured Logans Lane will be located in the area of the restaurant, which will be demolished.

According to a post on Hill City House Grilles Facebook page, the restaurant will close March 31.

Construction of the Wards Ferry Road and Timberlake Road projects are projected to begin in late spring. The city will begin accepting bids on the work in the next couple of weeks, and once a contractor is selected, well be able to nail down what the schedule looks like, Cossman said.

Although the Logans Lane and Wards Ferry Road improvements are two projects, the selected contractor will be expected to perform each.

The total cost for the Logans Lane project is $6.9 million. The total cost for the Wards Ferry Road project is $5.6 million.

The construction period is expected to last two years.

Speaking of the citys plans, Golden said aligning the intersection of Logans Lane and Timberlake and Wards Ferry roads should ease a lot of the congestion.

Youre still going to have congestion from volume  as in if you build it they will come  but it should flow better, she said.

Among the members of the public that attended the open house was Thomas George, who called current traffic conditions in the corridor an absolute nightmare.

In contrast, the citys plans for the road improvements look good, George said.

But of course, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, he said. Were going to wait a couple of years to see how it helps with the flow of the traffic.
RICHMOND  A boost for schools with declining enrollment and a study to keep one more training center open are among provisions relating to the Lynchburg area in the reworked state budget that may be approved by the General Assembly as early as this evening.

The legislature, which is scheduled to adjourn Saturday, cannot vote on the $107 billion 2017-18 spending plan until after 7 p.m. because of a House of Delegates transparency rule requiring 48 hours for review after the budget is publicly available.

The budget bill will not be final until signed by Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who may amend it before the reconvened session in April.

Although the long session in 2016 was scheduled as the official budget session, legislators  facing a $1.26 billion spending shortfall  renegotiated this year.

A handful of schools, including several in the Lynchburg area, will receive additional money in 2016-17 to help them cope with declining enrollment, which has left some divisions operating with the same expenses but lower state contributions because of the per-pupil funding formula.

The plan  $7.3 million in this fiscal year  compromised between a Senate proposal addressing sudden drops in the past year and a House plan aggregating 10-year declines. The plan provides additional money for schools that experienced a 5 percent population decline or greater over five years. Three Lynchburg-area school divisions will receive additional money under this plan: Amherst County, $207,863; Bedford County, $411,294; and Campbell County, $356,831.

Central Virginia Training Center, scheduled to close in 2020, would receive consideration to stay open under a plan to study whether to keep the Madison Heights facility or Southwestern Virginia Training Center open despite opposition from advocates for people with disabilities.

As part of the plan to fulfill a Department of Justice settlement agreement stemming from an investigation at CVTC, the state planned to close four of five training centers statewide.

Two already have closed, with SWVTC in Hillsville slated to shutter in 2018 followed in 2020 by CVTC, which closed its skilled nursing last month after moving out the handful of residents remaining there. Only the Southeastern Virginia Training Center is Chesapeake is scheduled to remain open.

The budget calls for the Joint Subcommittee to Consult on the Plan to Close State Training Centers  a group of legislators  and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to examine the practicality and cost of operating a second state training center, serving people with intellectual and development disabilities. Neither facility is mentioned by name.

The budget language, which does not include any money allocation, directs a report be returned to the General Assembly by Nov. 30.

We can be agnostic to the location, but whats the cost, whats the advantages for the health of the individual, and whats the cost, whats the business case for having a two-training center solution? said Steve Newman, R-Bedford County.

The budget amendment turned into the study would have required keeping a skilled nursing facility open at CVTC until 2025.

I do believe that a regional facility that is far away from eastern Virginia makes sense for parents as well," Newman said.

Newman had sponsored legislation that would have required General Assembly approval to close CVTC. It died Tuesday after it did not receive a vote by the House Appropriations Committee before a deadline for bills to pass out of committee.

Thursday afternoon, Newman issued a prepared statement voicing his disappointment in that outcome.

I am also very disappointed in the total lack of understanding on the part of some here at the Capitol, the statement said. When the Governor ran for office [he] said he would respect the wishes of the parents and/or guardians of the residents, now they are forcing their removal, and accelerating the closure which was not to be until 2020.

A letter from 10 groups advocating for people with disabilities, including Virginia Association of Community Services Boards and Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, to budget conferees Sunday opposed proposals that could keep SWVTC and CVTC open.

These proposals represent a retreat from the Commonwealths stated commitment to community-based services, and would cause harm to Virginians with developmental disabilities and their families, the letter said, urging conferees to proceed with the closure plan.

The letter says Virginia is behind most other states regarding community integration for people with disabilities who can be served at least as well, if not better, in a community setting at less expensive costs, the letter says.

Virginia needs to catch up with the rest of the country when it comes to community-based care. We were on the right path, Arc of Virginia Executive Director Jamie Liban said. The organization is an advocate for people with disabilities and also has chapters that provide services.

While the state studies keeping a training center open, the Department of General Services will receive $260,000, along with directions to perform an environmental study on CVTC grounds.

The study, which came at the request of Amherst County, will assess costs for cleaning up the 391-acre property, which has many dilapidated buildings. County supervisors have said they want to prepare for economic development after CVTC closes.

Among money allocated for temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) is $7.5 million in fiscal year 2018 toward competitive grants for programs intended to break the cycle of poverty. Lynchburg is one locality in a position to compete statewide for grants requiring a 25 percent local match.

A House plan called for $10 million for the program out of TANF surplus, coming from a pool of federal and state money. The surplus, which can be used for a variety of programs, rises and falls depending on how many people request welfare. The budget does not include any of the $6 million for a long-acting birth control pilot program pushed by Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam.

The budget also allocates $300,000 of money dedicated for "Remedial Summer School" for two pilot programs involving collaborations between school divisions and two YMCAs. The pilots will be conducted among Lynchburg and Amherst school districts and the YMCA of Central Virginia, as well as the city of Richmond.
Through the poetry of late Lynchburg writer Anne Spencer to the fast-paced dance moves on display from Step Afrika, students at P.L. Dunbar Middle School for Innovation learned about black history and culture from both near and far in an assembly that celebrated Black History Month on Thursday.

Step Afrika, a Washington, D.C.-based dance group that tours internationally, dances to their own tune  literally. The percussive dance group performed without music, following their own rhythms created through clapping, stepping and chanting as they performed their high energy routines.

Dancer Shannan Johnson explained the group performed in the stepping dance style, which originated with African-American college students beginning in the early 1900s.

Johnson described stepping as a highly energetic, polyrhythmic, percussive dance form.

The seven-member group performed for about an hour, wowing spectators with their creative routines and encouraging the audience to join in by clapping and dancing along to the performance.

Step Afrika also performed a South African gum boots dance, in which they donned rubber boots and danced in a style developed by South African miners to communicate with one another.

Shaun Spencer-Hester, granddaughter of Anne Spencer, shared the accomplishments of her poet grandmothers life and literary accomplishments and reminded students she once worked at Dunbar.

She also discussed the life of Paul Laurence Dunbar, the African-American poet, novelist and playwright for whom the middle school is named. Dunbar published until his death in 1906.

Spencer-Hester closed with a recitation of her grandmothers poem Dunbar:" Ah, how poets sing and die! Make one song and Heaven takes it; Have one heart and Beauty breaks it; Chatterton, Shelley, Keats and IAh, how poets sing and die!

Thursdays celebration comes a year after a Dunbar incident in which a white teacher walked out of a Black History Month assembly because of gospel music performed by the Liberty University praise choir.

The teacher, Jason Tyree, later resigned from his position at Dunbar. Tyree reportedly took exception to the religious nature of the program and encouraged anyone who was offended to leave.

I think the incident at Dunbar was a real learning experience for Lynchburg City Schools, Superintendent Scott Brabrand said in a Wednesday interview. It made us reflect on how we do things.

In the wake of the incident, LCS launched a series of listening tours to seek community input.

People need to feel that theyre being listened to, Brabrand said

He added LCS had a mixed record there, and the division still is working on communication.

Brabrand said to prevent a similar situation from occurring, the division has increased communication between individual schools and the central office about activities taking place.

Brabrand noted this incident was particularly distressing because it poured salt in the wounds of the Dunbar community, which was a segregated, all-black high school until 1962.

Brabrand said he believes the fallout from last years walkout allowed the school division a chance to reflect on how to be inclusive in a multicultural, multiethnic, religiously diverse environment.

Brabrand noted creating a sense of inclusion for all is something LCS still is working on.

We need to strive to get it right, and then we need to have the grace to accept when we get it wrong and the humility to accept weve gotten it wrong and move on, Brabrand said.

Thursdays event included an emphasis on higher education, as performers briefly shared their own educational experiences with students and encouraged them to go to college after high school.

When you go to college, you not only have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, but you have the opportunity to study whatever you want to study, Johnson told students.
Meet with your constituents, sir

I am concerned about Rep. Bob Goodlattes position regarding the temporary travel ban from seven majority Muslim countries despite evidence that significant vetting does occur and that vetted refugees are denied due process.

Further, I am concerned with Goodlattes not-yet stated positions dealing with both a potentially devastating move to Medicaid block grants to states and with President Trumps call to repeal the Johnson Amendment.

Finally, why is Goodlatte calling for investigating leaks in the wake of the firing of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn while leaving out any investigation of possible Trump administration connections to Russia?

I made three recent calls to Goodlattes Lynchburg office and have yet to speak to anyone. Upon calling his Washington office on three occasions, I have spoken only to aides who politely refuse to give Goodlattes stance on any issue, instead taking my name and address for a potential mail response at a later time.

Both offices are busy, I am sure, yet there must be a way to provide important information from the congressmans office rather than to receive form position letters. An in-person town hall meeting seems to be the appropriate and best venue for Goodlatte to provide answers to many constituent questions. The give and take would be refreshing.

I am disinterested in ambushing or vilifying Goodlatte. In fact, I would like to support him if at all possible. Yet, it is difficult to have a personal connection with the congressman as he does not schedule in-person town hall-type settings. Telephone town halls are less than satisfying as the calls are tightly controlled. What has changed since 2013, the year of Goodlattes last town hall meeting?

I urge Goodlatte to schedule in-person town hall meetings in his district, a critically important gesture of good will in this time of U.S. national political chaos.

JEFFREY SMITH

Lynchburg

Respect us, Rep. Goodlatte

For much of his long tenure, Rep. Bob Goodlatte seemed to be nothing more than a rather stolid, predictable Republican vote. But no more!

Now, as the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and apparently emboldened by the Trump phenomenon, he has burst out of relative obscurity into the nations headlines. In just a matter of days, he launched an ill-fated and embarrassing proposal to gut the House ethics watch dog panel and applauded the destruction of Virginias environment by supporting the rollback of a regulation preventing the dumping of debris from mountain top removal into the commonwealths waterways.

Now it has been revealed that his staff assisted the Trump administration with the drafting of the apparently unconstitutional, and also short-lived, travel ban. All this without giving his constituents a chance to weigh in by agreeing to schedule town hall meetings in his district.

What next, Rep. Goodlatte?

VICTORIA YOUNG

Lynchburg

Goodlatte and immigration

I am writing to voice my deep concerns over Rep. Bob Goodlattes recent unethical behavior.

Last week, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus scheduled a meeting with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to discuss policies. Rep. Goodlatte silenced them. He asked them to leave the meeting they had called, rescheduled that meeting, and turned it into a Republican-led meeting run by Goodlatte himself and open by invitation-only.

I am shocked that this is even possible.

On Feb. 21, ICE announced that it is expanding deportation raids.

Representational democracy involves a variety of viewpoints. I expect representatives to seek compromise and to encourage and participate in open dialogue. Especially on an issue like this new policy on deportation, which affects all of us  not just those who are here without prior authorization  our representatives need to listen to and respect each other.

By excluding an entire group of elected representatives from that table, Rep. Goodlatte has committed a grave offense to our democratic system and the expectations of his constituents. I look forward to bringing this concern to our congressman when he finally agrees to meet with his constituents at an in-person town hall.

JANE HAXBY

Amherst
GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us.
Revisit the founding of the JSA and foreshadow its future in The New Golden Age #1 preview

And see what lies ahead in the future of the DC Universe
French envoy celebrates Rose

In his address, Picquart who described Rose as a true ambassador of TT , and of Caribbean music said: It has been two years that we have been following very closely the development of this musical adventure that is the Calypso Rose story, from Bethel in Tobago to the concert halls of Paris. And what a beautiful story, this Queen of Calypso who had long been winning the big competitions of TT , as well as the adulation of people here, and who today is conquering the imagination and hearts of the people of France. Speaking directly to Rose he said: Your success at the awards ceremony of les Victoires de la Musique has made you indeed, as you yourself put it, a Queen of France! The ambassador then acknowledged the support of Roses team and her managers Jean-Michel Gibert and Lorraine OConnor.

Rose then thanked Picquart and expressed her happiness at being present to be received by him. As a descendent of the French territory of French Guinea, she said her grandmother who passed away when she was just five-years-old always told her: No man knows his burial ground. She said she only understood what it meant much later and then wrote a calypso, then she broke out in song: Sitting on another man land, yuh only suffering, toiling on another man land, yuh getting nothing.

But I want to go the land is too far, I want go, I am begging Jah, over yonder where there is many moons yonder, I want to go back to Africa. She then said: When we did the video The Lioness of the Jungle, I knew I was back in Africa. And then now with this new album, Far From Home, in French, you know when my name call and I went up on stage you know what I sang? Amazing Grace, and I know I was home. She spoke about her trials and tribulations she went through as a young woman singing calypso and urged that artistes need to stand together as one.

She then hinted that given the upcoming French elections, she intends to sing a calypso on that.

Rose called on THA Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles, who she said was her cousin, to join her at the microphone.

She thanked all who supported her efforts over the years
FATCA passed

At 7.48 pm, the Bill was read a third time and during division, all 39 MPs present voted aye. Debate ended earlier than speculated and with a more consensual result than opening speeches had initially suggested.

After 20 minutes tidying up the bill in committee stage, Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George had to twice prod Finance Minister Colm Imbert to propose the bills third reading, leading Moonilal to quip that he (the minister) wasnt prepared for the support. I finally beg to move, said a clearly relieved Imbert.

After postponing the vote for ten days since the previous sitting, a hint at an early conclusion yesterday was seen when the big guns on both sides dominated the debate from early on.

Those speaking were Finance Minister Imbert, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General Faris Al Rawi, Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Caroni Central MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie and Imbert wrapping up.

The result came even amidst Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene Mc Donalds cross floor banter to the Opposition inviting them to go to watch last nights Extemporama Competition and amid House Leader Camille Robinson-Regis later on asking Persad-Bissessar, if you really want to come here on Carnival Friday (today) for Februarys Private Members Day. At about 6.15 pm, Moonilal saw no compromise between each side and urged the Government to take the vote.

However, Rowley, Tewarie and Imbert gave speeches to work towards consensus.

Rowley refuted Opposition talk about US dominance over TT as hooey, declaring, Its now 6.45 (pm). The time has come. Ill take my seat Tewarie signalled consensus by saying Imbert had acceded to Persad- Bissessars amendment, for the line minister to make regulations subject to Parliaments negative resolution.

He declared, The bill we have before us today is very much a UNC version of this FATCA Bill. The House resumes on March 3 at 1.30 pm to do the controversial Marriage (Amendment) Bill and Procurement Bill.
Twenty-two vie for Soca supremacy at the ISM finals

This is the competitions 25th year and it promises to be a grand show, with many first-time finalists.

One artiste, Asten Isaac said he and his team would put on a very tight and very well rounded performance of his song, Rum Friend.

He added that it was a fantastic opportunity to showcase his talent as a performer.

People know about my writing skills over the years and my efforts in the Calypso fraternity and the success that Ive achieved there. I think in the soca platform there is additional room to expand beyond the shores so, Im looking forward to the opportunity and grasping it with both arms, Isaac told Newsday.

Another first timer, Nailah Blackman, granddaughter of the late great Ras Shorty I, will be performing her song, Workout. She said it was a lot of preparation in a short space of time for the finals but she feels confident she will put on a great show. Im just excited to perform and be part of the whole experience that is Soca Monarch. Some of the Soca Monarch veterans competing tonight include Iwer George, Darryl Farmer Nappy Henry, Dexter Blaxx Stewart, Patrice Roberts and Ravi B.

Regional artistes are also in the line-up including St Lucias Teddyson John, Antiguas Tanzania Tizzy Sebastian , Damian Marvay and Peter Ram out of Barbados and Jamaicas Linky First (Jason Henriques).

The winner will receive $500,000; 50 percent less than the 2016 winner received because of a sharp cut in Governments allocation to the event.

Similarly, the second place prize is $250,000 compared to last years $750,000 while the third place prize is $150,000 compared to $500,000 in 2016.

Those who place fourth to 22nd will receive $50,000 as compared to last years $100,000. There has also been a reduction in the prize money for the Carib Breakout artiste from $100,000 to $50,000.

ISM organiser, Caribbean Prestige Foundation (CPF), said in an effort to ensure the maximum prize earnings for all finalists, it acquired additional funding to enhance the 2017 prize disbursements.

CPF Chairman and CEO, Peter Scoon, told Newsday they were able to acquire additional money through a corporate sponsor. When asked to name the sponsor, he said they wanted to remain anonymous.

At the end of the day, the cultural product of Carnival, soca and calypso is important and it needs to be preserved and it needs to be invested in. Its one of the true tourism products that we have and it can help pull us out of a recession, he said.

About the show tonight, Scoon said he expects the artistes to do their best as always. The competition is expected to begin at 10 pm.
Duane OConnor files pre-action protocol

OConnor said yesterday if TUCO does not respond he will have no choice but to file an injunction against it. The calypsonian said TUCO was initially asked to respond by 3 pm yesterday, but its attorney requested additional time.

OConnor, who did not qualify for Sundays final of the Calypso Monarch competition, complained of bias in the judging process.

Saying he placed 21st in the semis, with a score of 379 pts, OConnor questioned the scores given by two particular judges.

One of the judges, he claims, gave him a score of 66 out of a possible total of 100. She said my diction was clear and crisp but only gave me 66 points. The other judge said I had a harmonious blend of music and lyrics, but gave me 64 points, OConnor said. He said the scores do not reflect the praises he got from the the judges. As such, I am requesting an explanation on account of the scores. OConnor said his grouse is not placing in the finals but what he sees as a lack of fairness in the judging system.
It May Not Be the Time

You Think It Is
You know all the photos couples take of themselves looking bright and shiny and happy? Well at the end of last year, about a year after breaking up with his girlfriend, a 22-year-old bio-medical sciences major at Western Michigan University decided it would be sort of funny and ironic to take breakup pics instead, reports Cosmopolitan. Harrison Bach and his ex, Jackie, who were high school sweethearts in Michigan and whose parents are still "besties," broke up after they had to physically split for college (she went to California), and things are still "intense" when they see each other back in Michigan, so he thought, let's document it.

Bach set up a tripod and took a few photos, recalling that while they were sort of "faking" their emotions at first, they settled into things and "it ended up being really real emotions and we got kind of sad," reports Mashable. He posted them on Facebook, and then his friend almost immediately reposted them to Twitter, and now he and Jackie are finding themselves at the center of a new memeor, as he puts it, "S--- started getting really weird." As for their current emotions, Bach says, "We're on pretty OK terms right now, or at least maybe. I don't know how she feels about this thing blowing up." (One couple seems to have broken up on a Burger King comment page.)
Spending too much time at work and not enough time with your partner? A Swedish politician has a solution: Employees should be paid to go home and have sex. Per-Erik Muskos, a council member in the small town of Overtornea, argues that couples aren't spending enough time together and that a one-hour "sex break" per week for the municipality's 550 employees would improve relationships. But that's just one benefit. Muskos says that replacing a one-hour weekly break already designated for physical fitness with one specifically for sex would also provide "positive effects on well-being," stimulate the local birth rate, and boost morale, reports the New York Times. A sociology professor adds that it may also boost productivity.

While Muskos, 42, is only one council member in a town of 4,500, his idea doesn't seem too far-fetched, observes Quartz, considering that Swedes have already experimented with six-hour workdays, and enjoy multiple "fika" or coffee breaks per day in addition to 480 days of parental leave. But while some on Twitter say it's "time to move to Sweden," some are concerned about how the rule would be enforced and what it would mean for single employees. Overtornea's 31-member council will vote on the proposal this spring. Muskos tells the Local he sees no reason why it would fail. (Read more Sweden stories.)
Kick off the Sunday shoes: Dancing in public is now legal throughout Henryetta, Okla., the AP reports. City leaders voted Tuesday to abolish an ordinance on dancing, the Tulsa World reported. The dance ordinance, with a penalty of $25, prohibited dance halls within 500 feet of a church or public school. In February, resident Joni Insabella decided to host a dance above her store, which is within 500 feet of a church. The city's Chamber of Commerce posted about the event and called Insabella a rule breaker on Facebook and accused her of getting special treatment, because of her husband, who's the city's attorney. "We wanted just a good, clean, fun event. As I said, we know we're in the Bible Belt. We weren't having alcohol or anything. We just wanted it to be fun for the community," Insabella said. After the event was canceled, Mayor Jennifer Clason decided to look over the ordinance.

Clason, the city's first female mayor, said when the dance ban resurfaced it received national attention for its similarity to the 1980s film Footloose, which tells the story of a small town banning dancing and rock music. She said prior to the cancelled event, she'd never heard of the ordinance preventing dancing. Previously, dances were held at the city's churches and schools without repercussions, said Clason. More on the ban and the canceled dance here. (Read more Oklahoma stories.)
John Boehner could only laugh when he heard Republicans talking about quickly repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Republicans never ever agree on health care," Politico quotes the former house speaker as saying Thursday. Despite President Trump saying to expect a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare by mid-March, Boehner says an ACA repeal is only "happy talk" and definitely "not going to happen." He says Republicans will eventually settle on only slight changes to ObamaCare and that "most of the framework" will remain in place.

Republican lawmakers are currently being beset at town halls with constituents worried about losing their health insurance. CNBC reports a new poll found an even 45% split between voters who approve of ObamaCare and those who oppose it. That's a 4-point increase for the approve side and a 7-point decrease for the oppose side just since early January. The poll found only 24% of voters want the ACA completely repealed; 26% want to see it expanded. Republicans in Congress are now turning to a handful of Republican governorsJohn Kasich and Scott Walker, among othersto help them figure this mess out, sources tell CNN. Lawmakers apparently want the governors to figure out what to do about the millions of people who received coverage with the expansion of Medicaid under ObamaCare. (Read more Affordable Care Act stories.)
Eleven years after a high-school teacher and former beauty queen went missing in rural Georgia, an arrest has been made, CBS News reports. Ryan Duke, 33, was charged with murder Thursday in connection with the disappearance of Tara Grinstead in October 2005. According to WSB-TV, someone came into the sheriff's office a few days ago with a tip that led to new interviews in the case, which then led to probable cause to arrest Duke. Grinstead, who was 30 when she went missing, was last seen helping Miss Sweet Potato pageant contestants, then going to a cookout with a friend. After she was reported missing two days later, authorities found her house locked up, her pets and car at home, and no signs of foul play.

Despite interviewing more than 200 people after Grinstead's disappearance, authorities never came up with a suspect or person of interest, 11Alive reports. Investigators say Duke was never even "on our radar." Duke was a student at the high school where Grinstead taught history; he graduated three years before she disappeared. Prosecutors say Duke killed Grinstead with his hands in her home, then removed her body, which has never been found. Officials aren't giving a motive or saying how or if Grinstead and Duke knew each other. Duke is also facing charges for burglary, assault, and concealing a death. Grinstead's family says his arrest has brought them some amount of closure. (A woman's fatal shooting in 2001 continues to perplex: Was it an accident or murder?)
Kim Jong Nam's assassins killed him with a banned chemical weapon, Malaysian police revealed Friday. The country's police chief said toxicology reports on swabs from the face and eyes of the exiled North Korean found VX nerve agent, which the BBC notes is classed as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations. He said that one of two women believed to have rubbed the extremely toxic substance on Kim's face with their hands suffered from vomiting after the attack. The New York Times reports that VX agent can be created by mixing two compoundsand police suspect the two women put the substances on Kim's face, one after the other, to create a deadly dose.

The police chief said the airport where Kim was attacked is now being decontaminated. North Koreawhich is widely suspected to have been behind the killing of leader Kim Jong Un's half brothernever signed the Chemical Weapons Convention that banned VX, the AP notes. Pyongyang denies involvement and says Malaysia's investigation is full of "holes and contradictions." The father of one of the two women being held, Vietnamese citizen Doan Thi Huong, tells the Times his daughter trained as a pharmacist and he has seen little of her in recent years. (Police say that after Malaysia refused to give Kim's body to North Korean diplomats, somebody tried to break into the morgue.)
This is why shares in private prisons soared after President Trump's election win: His administration, in a widely expected move, has scrapped the Obama administration's plan to phase out the federal government's use of private prisons, reports Reuters. In a memo from Attorney General Jeff Sessions released Thursday, the Aug. 16 order for the Bureau of Prisons to scale back or not renew contracts with privately operated prisons was rescinded, the Hill reports. Sessions said the previous order "impaired the Bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system."

Bernie Sanders slammed the move as a "reward" for prison contractors that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump's campaign, Politico reports. "At a time when we already have more people behind bars than any other country, Trump just opened the floodgates for private prisons to make huge profits by building more prisons and keeping even more Americans in jail," he said in a statement. The Justice Department says the Bureau of Prisons, which began using private companies in 1997, currently has contracts with 12 privately run prisons housing around 22,000 inmates. (Read more private prisons stories.)
Houston police say an 18-year-old sandwich shop employee was fatally shot as he tried to protect his mother during an attempted robbery at the store. Police say Javier Flores and his mother were the only people working in the southeast Houston Subway restaurant near closing time Wednesday night when two assailants rushed in and pointed a gun at the woman, the AP reports. Detective David Crowder says Flores "attempted to push [her] out of the way as the suspect was firing, and he was hit and the mother was not." The high school junior was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Crowder says authorities hope Flores' distraught mother can help them with information about the attackers, but it's "very hard for her to talk about this." Police believe the two suspects, who left empty-handed, may have robbed a second Subway in the area after the fatal shooting, the Houston Chronicle reports. Police say the suspects, described as black males between 16 and 20 years old, fled the scene in a four-door, gold-colored sedan, KHOU reports. A Crime Stoppers reward of $5,000 was bumped up to $30,000 Thursday when a private citizen donated $25,000. (Read more armed robbery stories.)
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official told the AP late Thursday. The official said Priebus' request came after the FBI told the White House it didn't believe a New York Times report last week describing those contacts. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to. The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus' communications with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Priebus' discussion with McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations. "The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," says Michigan Rep. John Conyers. CNN reports that after it first reported the discussion, White House press secretary Sean Spicer disputed their account. "We didn't try to knock the story down," he said. "We asked them to tell the truth." The FBI declined to comment. (Read more FBI stories.)
A Philippine opposition senator and leading critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly anti-drug crackdown was arrested Friday on drug charges but professed her innocence and vowed she would not be intimidated by a leader she called a "serial killer." Sen. Leila de Lima's arrest came a day after a court issued the warrant for her arrest, along with other officials who've been charged by state prosecutors for allegedly receiving bribes from detained drug lords, the AP reports. De Lima has denied the charges, which she said were part of an attempt by Duterte to muzzle critics of his crackdown, which has left more than 7,000 drug suspects dead.

"If they think they can silence me, if they think I will no longer fight for my advocacies, [especially] on the truth on the daily killings and other intimidations of this Duterte regime, it's my honor to be jailed for what I've been fighting for," she said before policemen took her into custody at the Senate. In one of her strongest statements against the president this week, de Lima called Duterte a "sociopathic serial killer." Duterte has lashed out at de Lima with foul language, calling her a sex-crazed immoral woman whose election opened "the portals of the national government ... to narco politics." (Duterte claims that as mayor of Davao City, he hunted down criminals and threw one from a helicopter.)
Five hours after allegedly shooting two Kansas bar patrons from India, Adam Purinton walked into an Applebee's in Missouri and told a bartender he'd just killed two Middle Eastern men and needed a place to hide out, the Kansas City Star reports, based on witness accounts. That bartender called police, who arrested Purinton, 51, shortly after midnight Thursday and charged him with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Police say Purinton opened fire on Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, both 32, at a bar in Olathe, Kan., on Wednesday, killing Kuchibhotla. He allegedly yelled, "Get out of my country." A third man, 24-year-old Ian Grillot, says he was shot in the chest and hand as he tried to subdue the shooter.

Purintondescribed by neighbors as a recluse and alcoholic, per KSHBhad earlier been kicked out of the bar in Olathe for shouting racial slurs at Kuchibhotla and Madasani, both Garmin engineers, but returned with a gun and opened fire, witnesses say. In a video released by a hospital, Grillot says he initially hid under a table but tried to subdue the shooter after nine shots were fired. "I didn't want the gentleman to potentially go after somebody else," he says. "I was told I was incredibly lucky" to have survived. He adds it was "the greatest thing" when Madasani, released from a hospital on Thursday, came to visit him. Purinton, meanwhile, awaits extradition to Kansas. Police say he could face additional charges as they investigate whether the shooting constitutes a hate crime. (Read more shooting stories.)
Theories surrounding the 2001 death of Kathleen Peterson range from the accidental (a fall down the stairs) to the horrifying (killed by home intruders) to the bizarre (an owl attack). But the one that took center stage Friday in Durham, NC, focused on her husband, novelist Mike Peterson, who filed what's called an Alford plea on a voluntary manslaughter charge, more than 15 years after his wife's body was found at the bottom of the stairs in their home, the News & Observer reports. The case, which became the subject of a lengthy documentary, features intriguing details, including family members who've switched sides and even a family friend in Germany who, like Kathleen, was found dead at the bottom of the stairs a few years before Kathleen (and whose daughters Mike Peterson ended up raising).

Peterson, 73, was originally convicted in 2003 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole, but he was released in 2011 after the judge who'd presided over the original case ruled that a main prosecution witness had lied, WRAL and the AP report. A new trial was ordered. The Alford plea entered by Peterson Friday allows him to still claim innocence while conceding the prosecution has enough evidence to get a guilty verdict. He walked out free afterward, though his wife's sister declared in court, "You will be a convicted felon forever." Peterson had said earlier he didn't want to take the plea, but he didn't think he'd ever get a fair second trial by prosecutors. "I am not going to put my life and my freedom in their hands." (Prison inmates say a fellow inmate was thrown down the stairs and killed by the "Beat Up Squad.")
JCPenney says it will be closing 130 to 140 stores over the next several months as it aims to improve online sales, reports the AP. Locations will be announced next month. CEO Marvin Ellison says the company also is offering an early retirement program to 6,000 employees, per the Dallas News. The closures represent about 13% of the chain's stores and less than 5% of total annual sales. The news came as the Texas-based chain posted a profit in the fourth-quarter compared to a loss a year ago. But total sales were down slightly, and a key revenue metric declined slightly as well.

JCPenney has been recovering from a catastrophic reinvention plan under former CEO Ron Johnson that sent sales and profits into a free-fall in 2012 and 2013. Business stabilized under Mike Ullman, who took the helm in 2013 after Johnson was pushed out. Under Ellison, who has been CEO since 2015, Penney is looking for new ways to increase sales while improving its e-commerce. But while annual sales were down, what's encouraging is JCPenney's profit picture. It was able to pull in a $1 million profit for the full fiscal year, the first time it earned an annual profit since 2010. JCPenney is joining other department stores like Macy's that are shrinking their footprints amid challenges in the industry. (Read more shopping stories.)
Oil could be flowing through the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline in less than two weeks, according to court documents filed by the developer just before police and soldiers started clearing a protest camp in North Dakota. Energy Transfer Partners has finished drilling under Lake Oahe and will soon be laying pipe under the Missouri River reservoir, the Dallas-based company said, per the AP. "Dakota Access estimates and targets that the pipeline will be complete and ready to flow oil anywhere between the week of March 6, 2017, and April 1, 2017," a company attorney said in the documents filed in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. The work under the Missouri River reservoir is the last stretch of the 1,200-mile pipeline that will move oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois.

ETP got permission for the lake work last month from the Trump administration, though American Indian tribes continue fighting the project in court. The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes say the pipeline threatens their drinking water, cultural sites, and ability to practice their religion, which depends on pure water. ETP rejects those claims and says the pipeline is safe. The tribes have been fighting the construction since last summer, when an initial lawsuit was filed. They've also asked US District Judge James Boasberg to overturn permission for the river crossing: The Standing Rock Sioux filed a motion earlier this month, and the Cheyenne River tribe filed a similar request on Wednesday. Boasberg has scheduled a hearing Tuesday on a Cheyenne River tribe request to temporarily halt the lake work until the full legal battle is resolved. (Read more Dakota Access Pipeline stories.)
A judge will let only one other accuser testify at Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial to bolster charges that the actor drugged and molested a woman at his estate near Philadelphia. The pivotal ruling Friday by a Pennsylvania judge means prosecutors cannot call 12 other women to try to show that the 79-year-old comedian has a history of similar "bad acts." Cosby is set to go on trial in June over the 2005 complaint by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, who told police Cosby gave her three unmarked pills and then molested her as she drifted in and out of consciousness in early 2004. Prosecutors reopened the case in 2015 after newly released court documents showed Cosby admitting he gave drugs and alcohol to young women before sex over a 50-year period, reports the AP.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to let 13 other women testify, a list they developed after reviewing claims by nearly 50 of the accusers. The defense objected, saying the string of old "casting couch" claims are not unique to Cosby and therefore not part of "signature" behavior. Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill said he carefully weighed the witnesses' value in providing relevant testimony versus the potential prejudice to Cosby. The one witness who can testify worked for one of Cosby's agents and says she had known the entertainer for six years when he invited her to lunch at his bungalow at the Bel Air Hotel in 1966. She said he was in a robe when she arrived and offered her wine and a pill that she consumed after he reassured her it was safe. She said she then recalls him sexually assaulting her on his bed. Cosby has pleaded not guilty. (Read more Bill Cosby stories.)
Ellen DeGeneres gave what the show says is her single biggest gift ever on her show Thursday: She told an entire class of high-school seniors they'd be going to college for free. At the beginning of February, DeGeneres had two teachers from Brooklyn's Summit Academy Charter School on the show, and they talked about how their school is in one of Brooklyn's most under-served areas, where just 4% of the adults in the community have gone to college. The school's goal is for all of its graduates to attend college, and last year's graduating class, the school's first, saw 93% of graduating seniors go on to college. This year, DeGeneres made sure the number would be 100%.

On Thursday, after a follow-up interview with the teachers and some of Summit's students, DeGeneres gave the big news to the seniorsall 41 of whom were in attendance at the show, USA Today reports. With the help of Walmart, each senior will get a full four-year scholarship to any state university in New York. The result: tears, screams, gasps, and hugs in what Mashable calls a scene of "pure, unfettered joy." The gift is worth $1.6 million in total. DeGeneres first learned about the school when its founder wrote and told her its story earlier this month in a letter, NBC New York reports. Watch the video here. (Read more uplifting news stories.)
Daniel Belling, his wife, and their two children set off on an 11-day Mediterranean cruise on Feb. 9. Only three of them boarded a flight back to Dublinor tried to. The 45-year-old German native was stopped for questioning at Rome's Ciampino Airport on Tuesday in connection with the apparent disappearance of his wife, Li Yinglei, and taken into custody. He has not been charged, but a judge ruled Friday that he must remain in jail until prosecutors make a decision, reports the Irish Times. The Irish Independent reports the family boarded the luxury Magnifica cruise ship in Civitavecchia, Italy, and records show Li reboarded the ship on the 10th after it docked in Genoa. After that, there's no record of the 36-year-oldnor any record of Belling alerting anyone to the fact that his wife had seemingly vanished.

The crew's count of passengers exiting the ship at the cruise's culmination returned one person less than expected, and Li, who the Telegraph reports went by the name Angie, was ultimately determined to be missing. Luigi Conti, a lawyer for Belling, says Li stayed aboard the ship at a stop in Greece and was gone when the rest of her family returned. Belling, he says, wasn't alarmed because she has previously left family vacations. He adds that Belling's "behavior after disembarking was not that of a person who was trying to flee. He simply headed to Ciampino airport with his children [ages 4 and 6] to catch the flight that he had booked." A report in Italy's La Stampa picked up by the media quotes a Genoa shopowner who recalled seeing the couple on the 10th, and describes Belling as handing his wife sneakers and saying "put these on instead of your sandals and shut up." (Eleven years after a teacher's disappearance, there's a murder charge.)
"Nothing like this has ever happened," the executive editor of the New York Times said in a statement. On Friday, the White House barred the NYT, BuzzFeed, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, and Politico from attending a closed-door press briefing with Sean Spicer. The Hill reports it was also on the list of barred organizations, along with the Daily Mail, BBC, and New York Daily News. The news organizations picked by aides to attend the briefing were Breitbart, the One America News Network, the Washington Times, ABC, CBS, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Fox News, NBC, and Reuters. Time and the AP were also allowed in but boycotted over the exclusion of the other organizations. The Journal says it would have joined the boycott if it had realized what was going on, the Washington Post reports.

An LA Times reporter notes that a number of the outlets allowed into the camera-free briefing were smaller, "Trump-friendly" organizations. The White House tried to downplay the incident, and Spicer said it was his idea to only allow in certain reporters, NBC reports. CNN states it was clearly being punished by the White House for reporting "facts they don't like." Fox News anchor Bret Baier was critical of Spicer's decision, saying press briefings "should be opened to all" credentialed news organizations. He notes that other organizations had stood in protest when the Obama administration tried to exclude Fox News from interviews with its "pay czar" in 2009. Other outlets refused to participate in interviews until Fox was allowed to take part. (Read more Sean Spicer stories.)
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574.
Mexico:

Thousands of Mexicans linked arms to form a human wall on their countrys border with the United States, protesting President Donald Trumps plan to build a massive barrier between the countries.

The protest on Friday, organised by local authorities and Mexican advocacy groups, brought together people armed with flowers, including politicians, social leaders and crowds of students to the border town Ciudad Juarezwhich already is separated by extensive fencing from its American neighbor city El Paso.

The Protestors hurled slogans at Trump, whose plans to build the wall to keep undocumented immigrants out of the USand make Mexico foot the billhas enraged many people.

The wall is one of the worst ideas, said Carolina Solis, a 31-year-old student. It wont stop anythingnot drugs or migrants.

Its just a symbol of Donald Trumps hatred, the presidents racism.

Under the watchful eye of US Border Patrol officers, protestorsamong them El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeserformed a human barrier of nearly 1.5-kilometers (0.9 miles).

Many people on both sides of the border cross it daily, calling one country home while going to work in the other. Ciudad Juarez and El Paso are one citywe will never be apart, said Leeser, who was born on the Mexican side of the border.

His Ciudad Juarez counterpart Mayor Armando Cabada vowed to help resettle migrants deported from the US. Trump only generates fear in our US compatriots. We must show solidarity with them and tell them that they have our support, he said.

If they are deported, we will welcome them with open arms.

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. A similar protest was planned on Mexicos Pacific coast, at the border between the city of Tijuana and its US neighbor San Diego.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Bahraich:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed a rally in BastiA ahead of the polling inA fifthA phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. PM Modi launched a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party government, saying because of the worse law and order situation in the state, the women do not feel safe to step out of their houses after dusk.

Earlier on Thursday, PM Modi addressed a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich. Hitting back at Akhilesh Yadav over his donkey remarks, PM Modi said that donkeys are loyal to their masters.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had on Wednesday addressed a rally in Bahraich, where he had targetted PM Modi, saying the latter will come here to make false promises.

Here are the highlights of PM Modi's speech in Basti:

#I will keep fighting for the rights of the poor



#We want the poor to have access to affordable medication & treatment. We have reduced stent prices to benefit the poo



#Mulayam Singh had promised to start sugar mill in Basti, but he failed to do so



#Crime graph is high in Uttar Pradesh. Women do not feel safe moving out of houses after dusk. Honest citizens are harassed



#Uttar Pradesh doesn't deserve a government that is anti-farmer



#For the first time after India's independence, we have brought the most comprehensive Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana



#Why does the UP government not speak about protecting interests of sugarcane farmers in the state? Why farmers face so much trouble



#UP government must answer what they did for welfare of the state in last five years. People have the right to know

#PM Modi addresses Vijay Shankhnad Rally in Uttar Pradesh's Basti

Here are the highlights of PM Modi's speech in Bahraich:

#Our aim is - Irrigation for farmers, education for children, earning for youths and medicine for old-aged people



#Our fight is against corruption and holders of black money. Protection of the rights of small and medium traders is our responsibility



#The youth of the state are migrating because their is no employment opportunities for them here



#They don't have the right to form government in Uttar Pradesh



#They chant slogans of Gayatri Prajapati, who is facing serious allegations, during election campaigns



#The Saryu project will be completed after BJP forms govt in the state. This will benefit the farmers of Bahraich



#MLAs of your party are accused in heinous crimes & Akhilesh ji you are asking for votes in their names! UP doesn't deserve such a govt



#People do not trust the law and order in Uttar Pradesh, women feel unsafe while stepping out of their homes even in broad daylight



#UP will celebrate the victorious Holi this year

#Akhilesh was afraid of donkeys of Gujarat; donkeys are loyal to their masters

#Congress had issued stamps in the name of donkeys when they were in power, and you have joined hands with them



#Akhilesh ji you hate donkeys of Gujarat, which is known for Lord Krishna, Dayanand and Sardar Patel



#Why is it that sugarcane farmers in UP face so many troubles? Why their dues aren't settled



#Now Akhilesh is seeing casteism in animals too, I wonder their mindset



#Donkeys are loyal to their masters



#UP govt had pressed govt machineries to find out buffaloes



#Congress who used to chant '27 saal UP behaal' has now joined hands with those who have ruined the state



#Akhilesh says the alliance with Congress was a big-hearted decision, but it was a hard-hearted one



#The Akhilesh Yadav govt has failed to fulfil its promises



#People have voted in favour of BJP in third phase of UP polls



#Congress has been completely sidelined by the people. From nowhere news about their win comes



#I didn't get a chance to visit Bahraich last time, but this time it is wave, the 'wave of BJP'



#Today, entire Uttar Pradesh is united to make BJP win



#1:50 PM: PM Modi begins his speech in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Bahraich (UP):

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday responded to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavs donkey remark while addressing a rally in Bahraich. He was he was amused that Akhilesh was afraid of the donkeys of Gujarat but said he takes inspiration from the loyal and hard working animal.

PM Modi went on to add that by criticising donkeys, AKhilesh has shown his casteist mentality and the feeling of hatred does not suit him.

In elections, opponents criticise each other... Akhileshji I can understand if you attack Modi and BJP but I am amused that you have attacked donkeys...are you afraid of donkeys, that too these are thousands of kilometres away? Modi said.

Addressing BJPs Vijay Shanknaad rally here, he said, The people of this country are my master, I take inspiration from the donkey because I work for people day and night...donkeys are loyal to their master, said.

ALSO READ | PM Modi in Basti: 'Women in UP do not feel safe stepping out of houses after dusk'



I am amused that your casteist mentality is also having a reflection on animals too...you found donkeys so bad...it is natural as your govenment is so efficient that the entire government goes about looking for buffaloes when they go missing, he said.



His reference was to the buffaloes of SP minister Azam Khan which had gone missing in Rampur and police tracked them down.



This is the pehchaan (identity) of your government but you are not aware that donkeys too give us inspiration if heart and mind is clear...we can also take that inspiration, it is loyal to the master and works as much as the master asks for and is very economical, he said.



It works even if it is ill, hungry or tired and completes the work...Akhileshji these 125 crore countrymen are my masters...I do all the work they ask me to do as I take inspiration from donkeys and take it with full pride, Modi said.

ALSO READ | Akhilesh Yadav should learn from donkeys to stay loyal to his father, says Gujarat BJP

At a rally in Raebareli, Akhilesh had said, TV pe ekvigyapan aata hai jisme ek gadha aata hai. Hum sadi ke mahanayak se kahenge ki Gujarat ke gadhon ka prachar band kariye.



(There comes an advertisement on Television which features a donkey. I will ask the megastar of this century to stop campaigning for donkeys), he said.



Gujarat ke gadhon ka prachar karate hain. Shamshan aur kabristan ki baat karte hain, na jaane kaun unko ye sab btata hai. Ab ad gadhe ke bhi hone lage, desh kahan jaata hai, he had said.

Video | Akhilesh Yadav takes controversial jibe at BJP: 'Don't promote donkeys of Gujarat'



His comments were on a tourism advertisement for Gujarat featuring Amitabh Bachchan which promoted wild ass.

(With inputs from PTI)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
San Francisco:

A self-driving car company founded by Google is colliding with ride-haling service Uber in a court battle revolving around allegations of betrayal, high-tech espionage and greed.

The brewing showdown emerged late on Thursday in a lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court by Waymo, a once-secretive self-driving company hatched by Google eight years ago.

The 28-page complaint accuses Anthony Levandowski, a former top manager for Googles self-driving car project, of stealing pivotal technology now propelling Ubers effort to assemble a fleet of autonomous vehicles for its ride-hailing service.

The alleged chicanery occurred in late 2015, before Levandowski left to found a startup called Otto that is building big-rig trucks that navigate highways without a human behind the wheel.

Uber bought Otto for USD 680 million last year, and Levandowski is now overseeing Ubers effort to develop and dispatch cars driven by robots.

Uber and Levandowski didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

The dispute highlights the high stakes in the race to build self-driving cars that promise not only to revolutionize the way people get around but also the automobile industry. Waymo and Uber are two of the early leaders, while long-established car companies such as Ford, Toyota and General Motors are scrambling to catch up.

Waymos lawsuit also will escalate the tensions between Google and Uber, two one-time allies that are morphing into rivals. Google invested USD 258 million in Uber, but its mapping subsidiary Waze is now expanding a carpooling service that could lure riders away from Uber.

The budding rivalry prompted a top Google executive, David Drummond, to resign from Ubers board of directors six months ago.

Waymo now operates as a subsidiary of Googles corporate parent, Alphabet Inc, but its roots are in Google, where Levandowski worked for years.

The complaint cites evidence Levandowski loaded 14,000 confidential files on a laptop before leaving to Otto. The alleged theft included the designs for circuit boards needed for LiDAR, an array of sensors that enable self-driving cars to see whats around them so they can safely navigate roads.

Waymo contends other former Google employees also stole trade secrets before leaving to join Otto. Without the alleged skullduggery, Waymo alleges that Levandowski and the other former Google employees wouldnt have been able to build the Otto technology that generated the windfall from the Uber sale.

Although it has been around for less than a decade, Uber already has a reputation for testing legal boundaries.

The San Francisco company has tangled with authorities in California and around the world about how much of its drivers histories should be covered in background checks and whether those drivers should be treated as contractors ineligible for employee benefits.
New Delhi:

Four members of a gang that allegedly robbed motorists after waylaying them by waving and greeting them, were arrested from west Delhi after a chase, said police on Thursday.

The four alleged members of the Namaste gang, identified as Nasimuddin, Sakawat, Guljar and Naim, were caught by a police team acting on a specific input near Ranibag underpass last evening, DCP (West) Vijay Kumar said.

The gang used to target motorists wearing jewellery and appearing rich and follow them on scooters. They would wave, make Namaste gesture and smile at them to make them stop their vehicles and then overpowered them and robbed on gun point, he said.

More than 50 gun-point robberies in different parts of Delhi have been solved with their arrest, he said.

They had tried to escape by firing on the policemen but were chased and arrested, Singh said.

Three firearms, two used and three live cartridges, and one button-operated knife was recovered from their possession.

Naim has no previous criminal involvement while other three have criminal cases against them. Efforts are on to nab their remaining associates, the officer added.
Gurugram:

Two men were killed while another was injured seriously when three to four unidentified assailants fired at them in Farrukh Nagar town in the district, police said.

The incident occurred in the afternoon when Sandeep and his two friends who worked as financiers were sitting in his office at Fazalpur area in Farrukh Nagar.

"When Sandeep and his friends were busy in talking with each other outside the office, three to four unidentified persons came and opened multiple rounds at them," ACP, in the Pataudi, Tanya Singh told PTI.

The attackers, who arrived in a Scorpio, also fin the air to threaten locals before escaping from the spot, he said. "Some locals who informed the police have taken them to a nearby hospital where Sandeep and his one friend succumbed to his injuries, while another friend is critically injured," the ACP said.

The attack could be a fall out of personal animosity, police said adding further investigations are on. "We are trying to identify the accused persons with the help of CCTV cameras of nearby shops," the officer added.
Los Angeles:

Dev Patel will receive award for best supporting actor for his performance in the film "Lion" at L A Italia Festival.

The 26-year-old actor will be bestowed with the honour on the closing ceremony of the fest at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre with its own awards show before the Oscars, confirmed The Hollywood Reporter.

At the opening event of the awards, the Garth Davis-directed film bagged the honours for best film and best young actor for the eight-year-old, Sunny Pawar.

Patel and Pawar played the elder and younger version of Saroo Brierley, an Indian man who is separated from his family in childhood and grows up in an adopted family in Australia, finally traces his journey back to find his roots.

The British-Indian actor is also nominated for best actor in a supporting role category at the Oscars, scheduled on February 26.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Mumbai:

With Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections throwing no clear winner as BJP has won 82 seats and Shiv Sena 84, a senior BJP leader on Thursday said both the parties should join hands in Mumbai.

"Enough of bitterness. Now, it's time to come together again," Chandrakant Patil, a minister in Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry said, indicating that the bickering allies in the state government could come together after today's fractured verdict.

"Is there any other option than the two parties coming together, given the number of seats each one has bagged? Will they (Shiv Sena) take the support of Congress?" said Patil, known to have an excellent rapport with the central BJP leadership.

Also Read: BMC polls: Shiv Sena will retain Mayors post, says Uddhav Thackeray

"Instead of indulging in unscientific things, like taking Congress along, both the parties should do things which are scientific and come together to govern Mumbai," Patil said.

"Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray should decide the power-sharing formula. Both are good friends," the minister said. Patil's remarks came even as BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said the party will "introspect" reasons for its performance, which he said was "not as per the expectations".

Also Read: Maharashtra civic polls 2017: BJP wins 8 of 10 municipal corporations

"We will introspect and find out reasons for our performance in Mumbai, which was not as per expectations," Bhandari said. BJP leader Vinod Tawde said his party has emerged as the overall leader in elections to 10 municipal corporations and 25 zilla Parishad's held recently.

"The BJP is the number one party in Maharashtra," Tawde, who is also the state's Education minister, told reporters. "This result is a befitting reply to Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut, who had said the BJP did not have the 'aukat' (ability) to win even 40 seats in the BMC," Tawde said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Buoyed by the BJPs impressive show in Maharashtra civic polls, VHP on Friday said Congress has become an Indian version of Muslim League and warned that parties which do not follow Hindutva line will get finished.



Interacting with media persons in New Delhi, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) joint general secretary Surendra Jain also stressed that construction of Ram temple remains a core issue for the BJP and will be resolved by 2019.



These so-called secular parties raised questions over armys surgical strike, raised question over institutions of RBI and EC. But people have (by reposing faith in BJP in the polls) shown that those who are Hindutvavadi are nationalist, Jain told reporters.



I think Congress is playing Muslim Leagues role now. They are donning that role of the League by making uncalled for allegations against a nationalist party favoured by people as it is seen in the polls. BJP is numero uno in Maharashtra, he added.



While the BJP has become number one party in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, which fought the elections against it, is positioned second, he added.



A Hindutvavadi party is number one in Maharashtra. Which is the second party there now? One which claims to be Hindutvavadi, Congress and NCP are decimated. This shows parties championing Hindutva will only survive, others will get finished or isolated, he said.



Noting that the BJP should get majority in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Jain said Ram temple is the partys core issue and will be resolved by 2019.



We believe that their (BJPs) intention is to construct the temple because it is their core agenda and even a student knows that until he does not resolve his core issues he cannot pass the exam, Jain said.



He was responding to a series of questions on Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and BJP leader Vinay Katiyars remarks that the party is unable to construct the temple as it does not have a majority in the upper house.



They (BJP) have intentions to construct Ram Temple and once they get majority in Rajya Sabha they will be free to take action. We want such outfits to be in power in Uttar Pradesh, Jain added.



Replying to another question on whether the temple will be constructed by 2019, Jain said that either the saffron party will construct the temple by 2019 or will find out the way to do so.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Ahmedabad:

The Gujarat High Court on Friday rejected quota agitation leader Hardik Patel's plea that his bail conditions be relaxed.

Justice A J Desai rejected the petition. Hardik had said as per the conditions laid down by the high court while granting him bail in two sedition cases in July 2016, he has to appear before crime branch offices in Ahmedabad and Surat once a week.

Visiting two cities every week was inconvenient, said his lawyer I H Syed, who urged the court to relax the condition and require Hardik to appear only before Ahmedabad crime branch every week.

However, public prosecutor Mitesh Amin opposed the plea, saying it would be too early to modify the conditions. The court then rejected the petition.

As a part of the bail conditions, Hardik stayed outside Gujarat for six months after his release in July last year. He returned to his home state last month.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Parleys are on between India and China over the issue of a ban on Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar by the UN and such discussions take time, Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui said on Friday.



He, however, asserted that China was against terror outfits and any form of terrorism.



Earlier this week, Indias Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had held strategic dialogue with his Chinese counterpart during which issues ranging from Beijings opposition to designation of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN and Indias bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) were discussed.



Discussions are going on. (Indias) Foreign Secretary (Jaishankar) was in Beijing two days ago. The discussions were very good and covered everything, Luo said.



But he declined to comment on what were the aspects on which China was opposing a ban on Azhar.



Just wait (for the outcome of the discussions). Chinas support to India and every country on matters related to terrorism will always be there. Some discussions are going on. It takes time.



China is against any form of terrorist activity and organisation. So, on this matter, China will always be in same line with the international community and take concrete measures, Luo said after inaugurating Chinese visa application service centre in New Delhi.



Asked about Chinas aversion to support Indias bid for entry into the NSG club, the envoy said, It is the same (discussions are on).



After his talks, Jaishankar, during his media interaction in Beijing, had hit out at China for demanding solid evidence for getting Azhar banned by the UN, saying the extent of his actions were well-documented and the burden of proof was not on New Delhi.



China has blocked Indias efforts to get Azhar declared as a global terrorist by the UN.



Commenting on the emergence of ISIS in the Af-Pak region and the six-party talks on Afghanistan held early this month in Russia, Luo said peace in the war-torn country is paramount for stability within that nation as well as in the region.



Asserting that Afghanistan was a neighbour of several central Asian countries, he said therefore, peace in Afghanistan is not only important for that country, but also for the region.



So all countries concerned are making joint efforts to help Afghanistan and the region to maintain peace. That is good, he said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Imphal:

Police on Friday recovered grenade and a bomb in Manipur's Imphal West district where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address an election rally on Saturday. The recovery comes even as an apex body of six rebelgroups in Manipur has given a call for a "complete shutdown" in the state tomorrow to protest against Modi's visit, saying it was aimed at "hoodwinking the people of Manipur".

The Prime Minister will address a rally at Langjing Achouba ground in Imphal West district in support of BJP candidates in the ensuing Assembly polls.

A Chinese-made hand grenade was found near the gate of BJP candidate Soibam Subhas Chandra's residence at NingombamLeikai, 9 km away from the Achouba ground, while another bomb was found in front of another BJP worker O Sunil's residence in Thoubal district, 40 km away from the rally venue.

The shutdown called by the Coordination Committee (Corcom) will begin at 6 AM and continue till the Prime Minister leaves the state, a Corcom press release said.

"Narendra Modi's visit to Imphal on February 25 is another trip aimed at hoodwinking the people of Manipur," the release said.

Essential services like medical, media, water supply, electricity and fire services would be outside the purview of the shutdown, the statement said.

Police have intensified frisking all over the state capital to ensure that there was no loophole in the security arrangements for the Prime Minister's visit.

State police commandos under the supervision of Additional SP S Ibomcha and led by DSP Thankhochon and OC Thaingampou carried out search operations and house-to-house verification at Taobungkhok Awang Leikai.

Polling for the 60-seat Manipur Assembly will take place in two phases on March 4 and March 8.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Coimbatore:

Nearly 500 members of various outfits were arrested in New Delhi on Friday when they attempted to stage a demonstration against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to unveil 112-foot Adiyogi face at the Isha Yoga centre.

Some black balloons were also released into the air by a section of the protesters as Modi was travelling to the venue near here by a helicopter, police said.

The protesters raised slogans against Modi for his alleged failure in protecting farmers interests and for not taking action against the Isha Yoga for alleged encroachment of tribal land for construction of the face, police said.

During the protest held in front of a tehsildar office in New Delhi, they also sought the Centres intervene to prevent the construction of check dams across river Bhavani by Kerala.

Around 500 workers of outfits including Dravidar Kazhagam, Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, TMC, MDMK, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Revolutionary Youth Front, SDPI, and Federation of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, participated in the demonstration, police said adding all were arrested.

Police also arrested 17 workers of a fringe outfit when they attempted to stage a demonstration against Modis visit near the airport.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Congress party's poor show in the recently concluded municipal elections in Maharashtra has set off a fresh round of introspection within the party. Former Delhi chief minister and a leader close to the Gandhi family, Sheila Dikshit, remarks on Congress vice-president has raised eyebrows.

In an interview to The Times of India she has kicked up a controversy by saying that Rahul needs a few years more to mature in politics. "Rahul is still not mature, his age does not allow him to be mature. He is what... in his forties. Please give him time," she said in her Interview.

With every Congress defeat Rahul's leadership comes under scanner even as there are fresh demands to get Priyanka play a more active role within the party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also mocked Rahul several times during the on-going campaign for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. At a rally in Bijnore recently, Modi while launching a broadside against Rahul, lampooned him no end. "There is this Congress leader known for his childish acts. If you google, you will see the number of jokes on him. No other leader is the target of as many jokes as this Congress leader," the Prime Minister said.

Though Sheila Dikshit still believes Rahul has the potential to take the party to new heights, adding that Rahul's time to take over as party president is round the corner and this may happen sooner than later.

"I believe it should happen this year. The party needs changes in leadership on posts that have been occupied for decades," Sheila said.

Talking about Priyanka Gandhi, Sheila said, "I must say she is very sensitive and intelligent. She is a fantastic listener. She has played a very important role in the shaping of the Congress-SP alliance in UP."

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Regulator NPPA on Friday said it has received complaints against two hospitals in Haryana and Uttarakhand for overcharging on prices of stents.

In a tweet, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said its helpline has received complaint against Oxygen Hospital in Rohtak, Haryana and Bharat Heart Institute, Deharadun, Uttarakhand for overcharging.

In another tweet, the drug price regulator said the cap of the 8 per cent margin in trade channel of #CoronaryStents is meant to stop unethical marketing practices which lead to poor quality of stents.

On Thursday, the NPPA said it had issued show-cause notices to some hospitals over pricing of stents.

The regulator had also said it was investigating over-pricing complaints against hospitals, including Lilavati Hospital (Mumbai), Max Saket (New Delhi), Metro Hospital (Faridabad), PGI Chandigarh, Ram Murti Hospital (Bareilly), and has alerted the concerned State Drug Controllers.

Max Healthcare and Lilavati Hospital, however, on Friday denied overcharging patients for stents and insisted they were complying with the NPPA guidelines on pricing of the medical device.

The NPPA had on Thursday warned hospitals, stent manufacturers and importers of legal action in case they are found spreading misinformation about shortage of the medical device in the wake of price cap.

It had earlier said in a memorandum that as trade margin of 8 per cent is included in the ceiling price of stents, no additional charge except local sales taxes and VAT can be demanded from patients.

The 8 per cent margin also adequately covers hospital handling charges, if any, the regulator had said.

In a major relief to patients, the NPPA last week slashed prices of coronary stents by up to 85 per cent, capping them at Rs 7,260 for bare metal ones and Rs 29,600 for the drug eluting variety.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Azamgarh (UP):

BJP president Amit Shah on Friday pilloried Congress leader Rahul Gandhi quoting former Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshits statement that he is still not mature and needs some time.



If he is not mature, then why has he been enforced upon Uttar Pradesh? Is this a political laboratory or learning ground for someone? Shah asked at an election rally in Azamgarh.



Noting that the state faces a plethora of problems, he said men of steel are needed to solve them.



Problems of Uttar Pradesh can be solved only under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah said.Citing BJPs election manifesto, which claims there has been significant decline in cattle count in UP under the SP rule, he said if his party forms government, it would shut all slaughter houses and ensure that instead of streams of blood, those of milk and ghee flow.



Shah said the BJP tsunami would help the party get two-thirds majority in the 403-member Assembly and put an end to misrule of SP and BSP over the last 14 years when development took a backseat in the state.



There is an acute shortage of electricity, medicines and the common citizens, especially women and traders are feeling very much unsafe, he claimed, adding farmers are yet to get their dues from the state government.



Mounting an attack on the SP-Congress alliance, he said, It is quite amusing that one prince is giving tough times to his mother, the other to his father, and both are troubling UP.



Seeking a performance report from the Congress, Shah said, Your (Rahuls) family has ruled the country for over 60 years. What has it done for the country? Rahul must answer this.



Rahul asks what the Modi government has done for the country. Rahul Baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a PM who speaks. You had given a PM who did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard by you and your mother, he said.



The BJP president urged voters to uproot the current SP government from the state, and said achchey din (good days) would dawn upon the state on March 11 when the results are out.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Barabanki (UP):

Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan on Friday had a narrow escape as his helicopter had to make an emergency landing in Karand village near Jahangirabad due to some technical snag, police said.



The helicopter carrying Khan on his way to Lucknow from Bahraich had to make the emergency landing in a filed due to some technical problem, said Superintendent of Police Raja Babu.



Everyone in the chopper was safe, he said adding Khan was later sent to Lucknow by road.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday unveiled an 112 feet tall lord Shiva idol or Adiyogi at Isha Foundation in Coimbatore on Mahashivaratri.

The statue was consecrated by Isha Foundation founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

PM Modi lit the sacred fire to commence the 'Maha Yoga Yagna' across the world, while one million people took an oath to teach a simple form of yoga to at least 100 persons in the coming year, Isha Foundation told media.

Here are five interesting facts about the statue:

1) The Face of Lord Shiva statue is made of steel

2) It took 8 months to build the statue, in addition to 2.5 years of planning and designingA

3) It weighs 500 tonnesA

4) Idol weighs 112 feet because Adiyogi opened up 112 possibilities for human beings to reach their ultimate potential

5) The face of Adiyogi will be the largest face of its kind on the planetA

Here are excerpts from his speech:A

#Today whole world wants peace, not only from wars and conflicts but peace from stress, and for that we have Yoga

#Rejecting an idea just because its ancient, can be potentially harmful: PM Modi in Coimbatore

#India has given the gift of Yoga to the world, by practising Yoga a spirit of oneness is created: PM Modi

PM Modi unveils 112 foot tall Shiva statue in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. pic.twitter.com/u8j7a7Qhp9 a ANI (@ANI_news) February 24, 2017

A

PM Modi and Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev to unveil 112 foot tall Shiva statue in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu pic.twitter.com/6Q8LT6ZSUl a ANI (@ANI_news) February 24, 2017

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Ian Grillot, a 'Good Samaritan', who was shot by Kansas shooter while helping Indian victims has become a hero in America. He is being treated in a hospital in Kansas city and recovering well after he was shot at Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe.

Grillot intervened after a man was yelling racial slurs at two men he reportedly thought were Middle Eastern but were actually Indians.Talking to media he said, "I am no hero. I did what any human being would have done for another human."

Giving details about the incident he said, "When he opened fire, I sat down hiding under a table, I thought I heard 9 shots and his (Shooter's) magazine would be empty so I came out and tried to chase him down but misscounted the shots as he turned towards me and fired."

"I was praying for them (victims) to be okay, one of them has a 5 months pragnant wife," said an emotional Ian.

Meanwhile, family of the victim who was killed in shooting has accused American president Donald Trump's anti immigration stand.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

An Indian engineer was killed and two others injured on Thursday when an American man opened fire on them after allegedly yelling "get out of my country", at a bar In Kansas state of US.

The local police has called it a possible hate crime.

The name of deceased is Srinivas Kunchubhotla who was 32 years old and worked at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe.

Another India Alok Madasani was critically injured during the incident and is battling for life at a local hospital.

One other person identified as Ian Grillot was also injured in the shooting.

The accused, Adam Purinton, 51, was arrested on Thursday morning, five hours after the incident.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke told reporters.

In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed shock over the incident and said two Indian Embassy officials have been rushed to Kansas to render all possible assistance.

I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family. a Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Kuala Lumpur:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half brother was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare, Malaysian police said on Thursday.

Releasing a preliminary toxicology report on Kim Jong Nam's murder at a Kuala Lumpur airport, police said the poison used by the assassins was the odourless, tasteless and highly toxic nerve agent VX.Traces of VX were detected on swabs of the dead man's face and eyes.

Leaked CCTV footage from the brazen attack on February 13 shows the portly Kim being approached by two women who appear to put something in his face.

Moments later he is seen asking for help from airport staff, who direct him to a clinic.Malaysian police said he suffered a seizure and died before he reached hospital.

More Read: North Korea lashes out at Malaysia over immoral handling of Kim Jong-Nam murder case



Malaysia wants to interrogate North Korean diplomat over Kim killing



An autopsy ruled out heart failure, and investigators had focused on the theory that a toxin was applied to his face, in what South Korea has insisted was a targeted assassination.Malaysian detectives are holding three people -- women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man -- but want to speak to seven others.

North Korea's state media broke a 10-day silence Thursday on the murder launching a ferocious assault on Malaysia for "immoral" handling of the case and for playing politics with the corpse.

North Korea has never acknowledged the victim as the estranged brother of leader Kim Jong-Un and the lengthy KCNA dispatch avoided any reference to the dead man's identity, calling him only "a citizen" of North Korea "bearing a diplomatic passport".

What is VX nerve agent?

VX nerve gas was first developed in the UK in the 1950s as a deadly chemical warfare agent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).VX is believed by the CDC to have been used for chemical warfare during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.Like all nerve agents, VX stops a vital enzyme from working -- which eventually leads to the body tiring, and no longer being able to breathe. Large doses of the nerve gas can cause convulsions, loss of consciousness, paralysis and death, because of respiratory failure.

The only known use of VX is as a chemical warfare agent and the US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as the "most potent" of all nerve agents."It is possible that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, would be lethal," the CDC said on its website.

(with inputs from Agencies)

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Peshawar:

Security was on Friday stepped up at a Hindu temple in Peshawar in view of the Maha Shivratri festival observed by the minority community in Pakistan.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Sajjad Khan paid a surprise visit to the temple in Jhanda Bazar to review the security arrangements for the festival.

The officer said that providing protection to worship places of minorities is our prime responsibility. A large number of policemen have been deployed in the premises to maintain law and order.

Performing the ritual on the midnight of Shivratri is considered auspicious by the devotees. Cultural programmes would also be organised in many temples to mark the festival.

Several Hindu pilgrims from India visit Lahore every year to participate in the Maha Shivratri festivities.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

President Donald Trump's administration has reinstated the use of private prisons for federal inmates, saying commercial prison operators are needed for the correctional system's "future needs."

Trump's new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, officially rescinded the Barack Obama administration's move last August to phase out the management of prisons by private companies, which Obama's justice department had said proved to be inadequate, more dangerous and not cheaper than government-run prisons.

Sessions said in an order on Thursday that the move last year had reversed a longstanding policy at the Federal Bureau of Prisons to have private companies involved, "and impaired the bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system."

The Obama move had only affected a small portion of the USprison system: 13 privately run prisons housing just over22,000 people, or about 11 percent of the federal prison population. Most are foreign nationals, mainly Mexicans incarcerated for immigration violations. The Trump government has promised a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration, suggesting the prisons bureau could require greater holding capacity in a short time.

The 13 prisons are run by three companies: CoreCivic (known until recently as Corrections Corporation of America), GEO Group and Management and Training Corporation. The announcement gave a strong after-hours boost to the stock of the two listed firms.

Core Civic jumped 3.2 percent, while GEO Group added 1.0 percent. The move was expected and both companies' stocks had already risen sharply after Trump's election victory onNovember 8.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Marine La Pen refuses headscarf, cancels meeting with top cleric for Sunni Muslims

Nationalist French presidential contender Marine Le Pen continues to gain popularity, as evidenced by her rising poll numbers because she refuses to prostrate herself at the altar of political correctness.

In recent days, as Reuters reported, she even canceled a meeting with a Lebanese Islamic figure because she wasnt about to don a headscarf, as he demands of all women, because shes French and, well, French women who are Muslims dont do that.

Le Pen used a two-day visit to Lebanon, a former French colony, this week to shore up her foreign policy credentials a little more than two months before the April 23 first round of presidential voting. The visit was also viewed by some political commentators and observers as a way for Le Pen to bolster her approval among Franco-Lebanese voters. (RELATED: Fascist Google begins PURGE of pro-Trump websites as prelude to massive false flag or coup attempt)

Scores of Lebanese fled their country to France, where many became citizens, during the Middle Eastern nations civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 1990 and destroyed much of the country. Since then much of Lebanon has been restored.

Le Pen first met with Christian President Michel Aoun, her first public meeting with a foreign head of state, and Sunni Prime Minster Saad al-Hariri, and was scheduled to meet Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, head of the Dar al-Fatwa, the chief religious authority for Sunni Muslims in multi-religious Lebanon.

But she backed out of the meeting with Derian after he insisted she don a headscarf.

I met the grand mufti of Al-Azhar, she said in an ad hoc presser with reporters, a reference to her 2015 visit to the 1,000-year-old center of Islamic teaching in Cairo, Egypt. The highest Sunni authority didnt make me have this requirement, but it doesnt matter. You can pass on my respects to the grand mufti, but I will not cover myself up.

Derians press office said Le Pens aides were told before the meeting she would have to wear a headscarf and were surprised by her refusal to do so, Reuters reported.

Reuters further noted:

French law bans headscarves in the public service and for high school pupils, in the name of church-state separation and equal rights for women. Le Pen wants to extend this ban to all public places, a measure that would affect Muslims most of all.

So they shouldnt have been surprised by her refusal to comply with the grand muftis demand. Anyone who is familiar with Le Pen and her rise to prominence in France knows that shes not someone who will be cowed into compliance to a foreign religious doctrine, especially after her country has been rocked by a series of Islamic terrorist attacks.

Le Pens rise has mirrored that of President Donald J. Trumps in the United States. Both are unabashed supporters of their own countries interests first and foremost, and both have a populist message that is resonating with tens of millions of voters who are fed up with the globalist status quo.

In fact, the globalist view of migration and refugee resettlement  which is to say, there ought to be no limits to either  wore thin on Americans and it is wearing thin on French citizens as well. Like Trump, Le Pen has advocated aggressively taking on Islamic extremism no matter where it exists, because both understand the existential threat it, particularly for the West, which is seen as decadent and offensive in the Muslim world. (RELATED: ISIS Operatives Infiltrated Europe As Early As 2014: Report)

Le Pen also believes, in disagreement with virtually every other country in the globalist EU, that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a much better choice to keep in power than allowing the Islamic State to take power from him (though there is little left of Syria to actually govern after years of internal conflict).

Naturally, Le Pen was heavily criticized for her refusal to comply. And of course, the same labels were applied to her as have been applied to Trump.

I hope France will make a better choice than this fascist right, Walid Jumblatt, the main political leader of the minority Druze community in Lebanon, told Reuters. We cannot ask the Lebanese people to forget the crimes of the Syrian regime against it and we cannot return en masse (Syrians) while there is the Syrian regime. Its a double insult.

Right; forcing a Western woman to comply with someone elses religious requirements when she is not a follower of that religion isnt insulting  to Le Pen and her millions of French supporters.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

Reuters.com

NaturalNews.com

Submit a correction >>
As an HR executive, Sarah realizes her company must review and identify opportunities to ensure the leadership development programs in place address the needs of her company today and tomorrow.

Ensuring that current and emerging leaders are engaged, have the right skills and their development aligns with company strategy and objectives, have become Sarahs most important HR goals. That's no surprise considering a November 2016 Society for Human Resource Management survey found that most HR professionals and employees feel leadership development has a large impact on individual performance but not on organizational performance.

But the efficacy of leadership development programs must be measured on both individual success and the impact to division and organizational goals. Whether the leadership development program is already in place or in the process of being created, heres how to ensure the program meets everyones goals:

Related: How Businesses Need to Change Their Leadership Style in a Tumultuous World

Identify the program objectives.

The first step in creating a leadership development program that achieves both individual and company-wide goals is identifying the reason behind the program. To do that, answer the following questions:

What is driving this investment? Maybe its new organizational goals, increasing retention or improving succession planning. Whatever the case, identifying the reason for the program is the first step in achieving that vision.

Maybe its new organizational goals, increasing retention or improving succession planning. Whatever the case, identifying the reason for the program is the first step in achieving that vision. How is success being identified? In most cases, success is measured, not assumed. Set measurable goals to determine whether the leadership development program is truly successful.

In most cases, success is measured, not assumed. Set measurable goals to determine whether the leadership development program is truly successful. What is the scope of the program (e.g. VP and C-level, manager and up, etc.)? In other words, who the program is targeting and why?

In other words, who the program is targeting and why? What type of development (e.g. classroom, coaching, hybrid programs, etc.) should we use? Last, but certainly not least, identify what program structure is going to best achieve these goals.

Align division goals with company objectives.

Effective leadership programs must be directly aligned with business strategy and goals. Start by identifying existing leadership abilities, the potential for employees to rise into leadership positions, company goals and the gaps that exist between current skills and those needed to succeed.

For example, if a company goal is to increase annual revenue by 15 percent, different divisions can identify how they contribute to this objective. For the sales team, it may be a matter of challenging employees to increase their individual sales quotas. For the product development team, this may involve re-engaging engineers with the bigger picture in order to inspire innovation.

Related: 4 Ways Your Leadership Development is Failing Managers

Start with the larger goal, determine the appropriate metrics for division leaders, and identify the new behaviors and skills that need to be developed.

Make company goals personal.

Make sure leaders are not only frequently communicating personal goals and expectations, but also having the same type of conversations regarding organizational goals.

Remember, people want to have a conversation with their managers and understand how their hard work results in company success. When it comes to both male and female leaders, my company, Skyline Group International, recently found found employees want someone with poise and authenticity. The conversations that managers have with their people create connection and authentic relationships.

Encourage feedback and open conversations with employees around organizational goals. Not only does this put the big picture front and center, but also it helps them better identify how to align their skills and development goals with the overall company objective.

Guide managers to incorporate organizational goals into every update disseminated, whether in monthly emails or weekly wrap-up meetings.

Reinforce leadership development.

Making leadership development stick requires reinforcing what has been learned in daily operations. Guide managers to use one-on-one meetings to further leadership development and help managers put their newly-learned skills to work.

Related: If Your Potential Managers Don't Have These 7 Skills, Don't Promote Them

Start planning meetings the day following leadership development sessions. Ask employees to discuss what theyve learned and how everyone can work on implementing those strategies to hit organizational goals.

Sometimes, leadership programs are held outside of the office. While the information is still fresh in their mind, provide opportunities to apply the learning immediately to the work environment.

Related:

It's Time to Evaluate Your Leadership Development Program

Want a More Creative Team? Start by Taming Your Own Ego.

How to Keep Younger Team Members on Task Instead of Snapchat



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
QUEBEC, Feb. 23 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - On the occasion on its 95th Annual General Meeting, La Coop federee announced to its members consolidated revenue of nearly $ 6.3 billion and earnings before dividends and taxes of $275 million for the fiscal year ended October 29, 2016. This represents a 188% increase of profits in comparison to consolidated revenue of close to $6.0 billion and earnings before dividends and taxes of $96 million for the previous fiscal year. Considering these excellent results, La Coop federee declares a $55 million dividend in 2016 representing a $20 million increase in comparison to 2015. Additionally, at a meeting held in January 2017, the Board of Directors of La Coop federee declared a $10,768,000 dividend payable to the cooperative members of its pork operations.

An organization definetely looking ahead

 This year again, our agricultural cooperative clearly demonstrates its role as a pillar of the Quebec and Canadian economies. For the fifth consecutive year, we are posting strong results; the best ever considering our 95 years of history. We must continue playing our cards right while we continue to grow in the best interest of our members, the agricultural producers  declared Mr. Ghislain Gervais, President of La Coop federee.

La Coop federee is the sole agricultural cooperative that spans coast-to-coast in Canada

 La Coop federee is brillantly executing as a Canadian leader that spans its operations from coast-to-coast. We have many reasons to be very proud of what we've achieved. La Coop federee is today in an ideal position to engage into its next leg of growth despite the everyday challenges which are part of the commody-related markets, including the impact of international trade agreements. The cooperative model remains a credible and relevant option. Accordingly, we must remain proactive and vigilant as we are confronted to the reality of an agricultural world in the midst of major technological changes and where large-size business combinations are becoming widespread. We will have to take full advantage of our diversified and balanced portfolio of assets which results from past insightful investment decisions and our efforts to change and adapt , added M. Gaetan Desroches, Chief Executive Officer.

Outlook

La Coop federee and its network of affiliates have an ambitious five-year plan that will allow pursuing the development of their agricultural and agri-food activities across Canada with an increased level of integration in the agricultural supplies and meat processing sectors. At the same time, La Coop federee intends expanding its retail sales operations in Eastern Canada. La Coop federee also has international ambitions, an unavoidable path. The cooperation model, with private and cooperative players, may it be in Canada or abroad, will remain at the heart of La Coop federee's business model.

About La Coop federee

Founded in 1922, La Coop federee is the largest agri-food enterprise in Quebec and it is the 24th largest agri-food cooperative in the world. It represents more than 90,000 members grouped into nearly 70 cooperatives with operations spread out in many Canadian provinces. More than 12,000 people are employed at La Coop which has annual revenues of $6.3 billion. Including its affiliated network, La Coop federee has nearly 18,000 employees and consolidated revenue of $9.2 billion. Its activities are separated into three Divisions: Olymel S.E.C (under the Olymel, Flamingo and Lafleur banners), the Agri-business division (under the La Coop and Elite banners), and Groupe BMR under the BMR, Unimat, Agrizone and Potvin & Bouchard banners). For further information, visit www.lacoop.coop. Twitter account : twitter.com/LaCoop_federee.

Sector review in appendix

Availibility of additional information

Financial information along with a complete operational review of the fiscal year ended October 29, 2016 is available on La Coop federee's website at: www.lacoop.coop



SECTOR REVIEW

The best performance ever for Olymel s.e.c.

Through its affiliate, Olymel, La Coop's network is present from one end of the value chain to the other. More than 10,000 employees work every day so that consumers can enjoy high quality pork and poultry meat products. To this effect, all Olymel plants are HACCP certified.

For the fiscal year ending October 29, 2016, the meat division (Olymel s.e.c.), which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, demonstrated exceptional growth with a surplus reaching unmatched levels. This historical performance is explained for the most part by overall excellent market conditions for both the Easterm and Western pork products which benefited from the double impact of strong demand coming from the Chinese market and substantial price increases in North-America. In addition, business acquisitions completed with respect to pork slaughtering and processing activities as well as those completed in the sales and distribution of processed pork products explain a substantial portion of the division's growth in surplus.

Finally, the meat division did not stand idle with respect to partnerships. It completed during the fiscal year, the acquisition announced last year with the ATRAHAN Transformation Inc. slaughterhouse and completed a partnership with le Groupe Robitaille.

A stronger than ever Agri-business division which is reaping the fruits of past initiatives

La Coop federee's Agri-business division takes advantage of the synergies between three core sectors; livestock, crops and grains. It also benefits from partnerships in various joint-ventures in Quebec and Canada, allowing to consolidate its presence from coast-to-coast.

For the fiscal year ended October 29, 2016, the surplus is lower when compared to the previous fiscal year considering that the 2015 fiscal year figures included a gain on disposal of assets following the sale of some investments and poultry quotas. Excluding the impact of the disposal of these assets, the surplus of the Agri-business division would have evolved positively. The crops division realized performances which contributed increasing the surplus in comparison to the previous fiscal year. The increase in volumes and margins, the royalties derived from sales and the growth stemming from the Ontario subsidiaries also contributed to this increase. All things considered, sales of the Agri-business division post a $181 million increase and are explained for the most part by new sales driven by the acquisition of the agricultural assets of an Eastern Canadian cooperative and the newly-recorded sales of two distribution and marketing farm input businesses acquired in Western Canada.

Additionally, sales of the grains and mill-supply sector demonstrated strong growth as a result of an important increase in volumes.

Strategic acquisitions were also carried-out during the fiscal year by the crops division in Western Canada.

In accordance with the objectives set forth in its development plan, La Coop federee acquired during the fiscal year, the majority of the farm input assets of la Coop Atlantique. By doing so, La Coop federee ensures itself that it will follow the tradition of agricultural collaboration in the provinces of the Atlantic while consolidating the presence of its Agri-business division from coast-to-coast.

Groupe BMR : a year of consolidation and repositioning

With the acquisition of Groupe BMR in 2015, La Coop federee now holds the position of the most significant Quebec-owned group of hardware stores in the province. Groupe BMR encompasses nearly 325 stores of which 306 are located in Quebec.

For the 2015-2016 fiscal year, Groupe BMR achived a negative contribution mostly driven by the very challenging business environment prevailing in the retail sector.

However, despite these conjoncture-driven events, sales of the Groupe BMR increased by $65.0 million in comparison to last year. This increase is explained amongst others, by sales which were recognized for a twelve-month period this year in comparison to a ten-month period last year considering the acquisition of Groupe BMR as at January 1, 2015.

A promising partnership in the Energy sector

As for the Results of the Sonic Energy Sector, they contributed to results for the first eight months of the fiscal year, or up until June 30, 2016. Afterwards, on July 1, 2016, La Coop federee and the cooperatives of its network implicated in energy-related activities entered into a business combination agreement covering their assets and energy-related activities with a partner already presnt in the same business sector (Groupe Filgo inc.). As a result, the new entity has diversified energy activities across Quebec. The combination of the strengths of these two specialized businesses in the distribution of energy-related products and their significant regional implication are assets on which the new entity, Energies Songo inc., will be able to count to sustain its growth.

This new entity will be in a more favourable position to face the major challenges the sector is confronting. As an example, it is becoming more and more challenging to distribute energy products reflecting amongst others, lower volumes, increasing environmental management and operational costs.

SOURCE La Coop federee

For further information: Source: Ben Marc Diendere, Senior Vice President, Communications, Public Affairs and Brand Management, @Marc_Ben; Media inquiries : Pamela Champagne-Cote, E [email protected], T +1-418-476-1674 | M +1-418-906-2160

Related Links

http://web.lacoop.coop/fr/


CAMBRIDGE, ON, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - exactEarth Ltd. ("the Company") (TSX: XCT) announces that the Government of Canada ("GoC") did not select the Company's Space Based AIS Data Services contract proposal to provide monitoring of Canadian and global maritime traffic. exactEarth is the incumbent provider of these services, under the GoC's current AIS Data Service contract, which runs through March 31, 2017. The current AIS Data Services contract generates approximately $10,000 per month in revenue for the Company.

"While the loss of revenue from the current contract with the GoC is not significant, we are disappointed with this outcome and are reviewing this decision," said Peter Mabson, CEO of exactEarth. "The GoC remains a customer of ours and we will continue to explore ways to work with them, such as we are doing on the Polar Epsilon 2 project, which we announced late last year. In our view, this development today does not impact what we believe is a significant long-term growth opportunity for exactEarth in the Maritime Information Services market."

About exactEarth Ltd.

exactEarth is a leading provider of global maritime vessel data for ship tracking and maritime situational awareness solutions. Since its establishment in 2009, exactEarth has pioneered a powerful new method of maritime surveillance called Satellite AIS ("S-AIS") and has delivered to its clients a view of maritime behaviours across all regions of the world's oceans unrestricted by terrestrial limitations. exactEarth has deployed an operational data processing supply chain involving a constellation of satellites, receiving ground stations, patented decoding algorithms and advanced "big data" processing and distribution facilities. This ground-breaking system provides a comprehensive picture of the location of AIS equipped maritime vessels throughout the world and allows exactEarth to deliver data and information services characterized by high performance, reliability, security and simplicity to large international markets. For more information, visit exactearth.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that, to the extent they are not recitations of historical fact, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include financial and other projections, as well as statements regarding exactEarth's future plans, objectives or economic performance, or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing, including statements regarding, among other things, the intentions of the GoC and the Company, the potential for additional work with the GoC, growth opportunities for the Company in the maritime information services market and the impact of the loss of revenue. exactEarth uses words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "plan", "forecast", "project", "estimate" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by exactEarth in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors exactEarth believes are appropriate under the relevant circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to exactEarth's expectations and predictions is subject to any number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties. Many factors could cause exactEarth's actual results, historical financial statements, or future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. These factors include, without limitation: uncertainty in the global economic environment; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; delays in the purchasing decisions of exactEarth's customers; the competition exactEarth faces in its industry and/or marketplace; the further delayed launch of satellites; the reduced scope of significant existing contracts; and the possibility of technical, logistical or planning issues in connection with the deployment of exactEarth's products or services.

SOURCE exactEarth Ltd.

For further information: INVESTORS: Dave Mason, Investor Relations, Tel: +1 416-247-9652, [email protected]; MEDIA: Nicole Schill, Marketing Communications Manager, Tel: +1 519-620-5890, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.exactearth.com/


TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The Law Society of Upper Canada expresses deep concern about the travel ban against lawyer Malek Adly in Egypt.

Malek Adly is a prominent human rights lawyer and director of Lawyers Network at the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights ("ECESR"). The ECESR seeks to promote and mobilize social movements to spread awareness for human rights. He is also one the founders of the Front for Defending Egypt's Protesters, a group comprising of 34 human rights organizations and several lawyers which documents illegal practices carried out by state police forces against peaceful protesters.

According to reports, as he was preparing to board a flight to Paris at the Cairo International Airport on November 2, 2016, Malek Adly was accosted by a member of the Egyptian National Security, interrogated about the purpose of his travel and informed that he was under a travel ban. No reasons or explanations were given with respect to the travel ban.

This is not the first time that Malek Adly was targeted for his peaceful human rights activities. Sources indicate that he has been the target of judicial harassment and physical attacks by the Egyptian authorities since early March 2015, when he and approximately 100 other lawyers participated in an anti-torture protest in Cairo. Most recently, he was arrested and detained in solitary confinement from May 5 to August 25, 2016, after calling for a protest against Egyptian authorities on April 25, 2016. In relation to the April 25 protest he was charged with "Attempting to overthrow the regime by force" and "Spreading false news and rumours which disturb the public order". It should be noted that although the charges remain pending notwithstanding his release, no restrictions on travel were imposed as a condition of his release.

The Law Society is deeply concerned about the travel ban imposed against Malek Adly and urges the Government of Egypt to comply with Egypt's obligations under international human rights laws, including the United Nations' Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Article 16 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers states:

Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economics or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.

Article 17 states:

Where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities.

Article 18 states:

Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions.

Moreover, Article 23 states:

Lawyers like other citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly. In particular, they shall have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human rights and to join or form local, national or international organizations and attend their meetings, without suffering professional restrictions by reason of their lawful action or their membership in a lawful organization.

The Law Society urges the Government of Egypt to:

immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on Malek Adly's freedom of movement;



put an end to all acts of harassment against Malek Adly and all other human rights lawyers and defenders in Egypt ;



ensure that any proceedings against Malek Adly are carried out in full compliance with their right to a fair trial, as protected under international law;



guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Malek Adly ; and



ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments.

The Law Society of Upper Canada is the governing body for more than 50,000 lawyers and 8,000 paralegals in the province of Ontario, Canada. The Treasurer is the head of the Law Society. The mandate of the Law Society is to govern the legal profession in the public interest by upholding the independence, integrity and honour of the legal profession for the purpose of advancing the cause of justice and the rule of law.

The Law Society of Upper Canada

Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West

Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N6

www.lsuc.on.ca

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE The Law Society of Upper Canada

For further information: please contact Susan Tonkin, Communications Advisor - Media Relations, at 416-947-7605 or [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.lsuc.on.ca


TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The Law Society of Upper Canada* expresses grave concern about the arrest and detention of lawyer Felix Agbor Balla in Cameroon.

Felix Agbor Balla is a human rights lawyer with a long history of international and domestic human rights work, including service with both the United Nations and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He is the president of the recently banned Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium ("CACSC"), an organization which works to promote anglophone rights in primarily French-speaking Cameroon.

Since Cameroon's independence, many anglophone Cameroonians have felt marginalized in a country where the majority of the population reads, writes and speaks French. Late last year, protests erupted against the use of French in courts, schools and universities. In Bamenda, the country's largest anglophone city, at least four people were killed this past December when security forces fired live ammunition into the air and launched tear gas into a market despite there being no evidence that a protest was taking place.

It has been brought to the Law Society's attention that on January 17, 2017, Felix Agbor Balla and CACSC Secretary General Fontem Neba were arrested after organizing "ghost towns"  stay-at-home protests against "oppression, marginalization, and deprivation". Earlier that day, the Minister of Territorial Administration banned the activities of the CACSC. On January 24, 2017, the two men were officially charged with terrorism, rebellion against the state, incitement of civil unrest and breach of the constitution. Their trial, which was initially scheduled to begin on February 1, 2017, officially commenced before a military court in Yaounde, Cameroon on February 13, 2017. At the hearing, Felix Agbor Balla and his colleague pleaded not guilty to the various charges brought against them. The trial was then adjourned to March 23, 2017, and it is expected that witnesses and evidence will be called at that time. If convicted, the two men could face the death penalty. Felix Agbor Balla and his colleague have remained in detention since their arrests.

The Law Society of Upper Canada is deeply concerned about Felix Agbor Balla's situation and urges the government of Cameroon to comply with Cameroon's obligations under international human rights laws, including the United Nations' Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Article 16 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers states:

Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economics or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.

Article 17 states:

Where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities.

Article 18 states:

Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions.

Moreover, Article 23 states:

Lawyers like other citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly. In particular, they shall have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human rights and to join or form local, national or international organizations and attend their meetings, without suffering professional restrictions by reason of their lawful action or their membership in a lawful organization.

The Law Society urges the government of Cameroon to:

immediately and unconditionally release Felix Agbor Balla ;



guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Felix Agbor Balla ;



ensure that any proceedings against Felix Agbor Balla are carried out in full compliance with his right to a fair trial, as protected under international law;



put an end to all acts of harassment against Felix Agbor Balla and all other human rights lawyers and defenders in Cameroon ; and



ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments.

*The Law Society of Upper Canada is the governing body for more than 50,000 lawyers and 8,000 paralegals in the province of Ontario, Canada. The Treasurer is the head of the Law Society. The mandate of the Law Society is to govern the legal profession in the public interest by upholding the independence, integrity and honour of the legal profession for the purpose of advancing the cause of justice and the rule of law.

The Law Society of Upper Canada

Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West

Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N6

www.lsuc.on.ca

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE The Law Society of Upper Canada

For further information: please contact Susan Tonkin, Communications Advisor - Media Relations, at 416-947-7605 or [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.lsuc.on.ca


TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The Law Society of Upper Canada expresses grave concern about the harassment of lawyer Eric Iga Iga in Gabon.

Eric Iga Iga is one of two lawyers who represented opposition leader Jean Ping before the Constitutional Court in September 2016 when Mr. Ping sought to challenge the re-election of President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

According to reports, Eric Iga Iga vanished without explanation on December 8, 2016. Immediately prior to his disappearance, he reportedly told a colleague over that a suspicious car was waiting at his house and that he was trying to find out more. Late that evening, men identifying themselves as members of the military police executed a search of his home in the presence of his children.

For several days thereafter, his family and colleagues remained without news from or of him. Then, on December 13, 2016, it was revealed that Eric Iga Iga had sought and found refuge with a foreign embassy in Libreville, Gabon.

Based on the above, it would appear that Eric Iga Iga has been harassed as a result of his legal work. His safety and security continue to be at risk.

The Law Society is deeply concerned about Eric Iga Iga's situation and urges the Government of Gabon to comply with Gabon's obligations under international human rights laws, including the United Nations' Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Article 16 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers states:

Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economics or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.

Article 17 states:

Where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities.

Article 18 states:

Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions.

The Law Society urges the Government of Gabon to:

a. put an end to all acts of harassment against Eric Iga Iga;



b. guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Eric Iga Iga; and



c. ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments.

The Law Society of Upper Canada is the governing body for more than 50,000 lawyers and 8,000 paralegals in the province of Ontario, Canada. The Treasurer is the head of the Law Society. The mandate of the Law Society is to govern the legal profession in the public interest by upholding the independence, integrity and honour of the legal profession for the purpose of advancing the cause of justice and the rule of law.

The Law Society of Upper Canada

Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West

Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N6

www.lsuc.on.ca

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE The Law Society of Upper Canada

For further information: Please contact Susan Tonkin, Communications Advisor - Media Relations, at 416-947-7605 or [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.lsuc.on.ca


TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The Law Society of Upper Canada expresses grave concern about the harassment of lawyer Noemi Mendez in the Dominican Republic.

Noemi Mendez is a prominent human rights lawyer known for her advocacy on behalf of migrant workers and Dominicans of Haitian descent. She has represented several individuals affected by the September 2013 judgment of the Constitutional Court which arbitrarily and retroactively deprived generations of people born and raised in the Dominican Republic of their Dominican nationality.

Upon the release of the aforementioned judgment, a number of human rights lawyers who criticized the decision were subjected to threats and other acts of intimidation. The situation has not improved since  human rights lawyers working to overturn the ruling are regularly targeted through smear campaigns, harassment on social media, criminalisation and violent attacks.

According to reports, on December 12, 2016, Noemi Mendez arrived at work to find that the glass entrance door of her office in San Pedro de Macoris had been broken. No valuables appeared to have been taken and nothing seemed to be missing. That said, this damage to her property does not appear to be an isolated incident, as her car had been vandalized just a month prior.

The Law Society is deeply concerned about the harassment of Noemi Mendez and urges the Government of the Dominican Republic to comply with the Dominican Republic's obligations under international human rights laws, including the United Nations' Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Article 16 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers states:

Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economics or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.

Article 17 states:

Where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities.

Article 18 states:

Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions.

The Law Society urges the Government of the Dominican Republic to:

a. put an end to all acts of harassment against Noemi Mendez and all other human rights lawyers and defenders in the Dominican Republic;



b. ensure that a thorough, impartial, independent and fair investigation is conducted into the acts of intimidation against Noemi Mendez;



c. guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Noemi Mendez; and



d. ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments.

The Law Society of Upper Canada is the governing body for more than 50,000 lawyers and 8,000 paralegals in the province of Ontario, Canada. The Treasurer is the head of the Law Society. The mandate of the Law Society is to govern the legal profession in the public interest by upholding the independence, integrity and honour of the legal profession for the purpose of advancing the cause of justice and the rule of law.

The Law Society of Upper Canada

Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West

Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N6

www.lsuc.on.ca

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE The Law Society of Upper Canada

For further information: Susan Tonkin, Communications Advisor - Media Relations, at 416-947-7605 or [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.lsuc.on.ca


TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The Law Society of Upper Canada expresses grave concern about the murder of lawyer Arlan Castaneda in the Philippines.

Arlan Castaneda was a Filipino lawyer and former town councillor. According to reports, on December 20, 2016, he and his security aide Melito Binag attended dawn mass at a local church in San Pablo, Isabela. As they were leaving the church, the two men were shot by gunmen on motorcycles. Arlan Castaneda died on the way to the hospital, while his aide died immediately.

Police believe that the shooting may have been related to Arlan Castaneda's legal work, as he had been handling controversial land dispute cases at the time of his death.

The Law Society is deeply troubled by Arlan Castaneda's assassination. We strongly believe that lawyers should be able to carry out their duties without fear for their lives, liberty and security.

The Law Society of Upper Canada urges the Government of the Philippines to comply with the Philippines' obligations under international human rights laws, including the United Nations' Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Article 16 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers states:

Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economics or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.

Article 17 states:

Where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities.

Article 18 states:

Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions.

The Law Society urges the Government of the Philippines to:

ensure that a thorough, impartial, independent and fair investigation is conducted into the murder of Arlan Castaneda;



ensure that all lawyers can carry out their peaceful and legitimate activities without fear of physical violence or other human rights violations; and



ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments.

The Law Society of Upper Canada is the governing body for more than 50,000 lawyers and 8,000 paralegals in the province of Ontario, Canada. The Treasurer is the head of the Law Society. The mandate of the Law Society is to govern the legal profession in the public interest by upholding the independence, integrity and honour of the legal profession for the purpose of advancing the cause of justice and the rule of law.

The Law Society of Upper Canada

Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West

Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N6

www.lsuc.on.ca

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE The Law Society of Upper Canada

For further information: please contact Susan Tonkin, Communications Advisor - Media Relations, at 416-947-7605 or [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.lsuc.on.ca


TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The Law Society of Upper Canada expresses grave concern about the murder of lawyer U Ko Ni in Myanmar.

U Ko Ni was a prominent human rights lawyer and legal adviser to the National League for Democracy, the ruling party in Myanmar. One of the most prominent Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, he was known for promoting religious harmony and supporting constitutional reform. He authored six books on human rights issues and democratic elections, and was also a founding senior member of the Independent Lawyers' Association of Myanmar.

The Law Society recently learned that on January 29, 2017, U Ko Ni was shot at close range in the head by a gunman as he was preparing to leave Yangon International Airport. He had just returned from a government-organized visit to Indonesia where he and approximately 20 other Burmese government officials and civic leaders discussed democracy and conflict resolution. A taxi driver who tried to apprehend the gunman as he attempted to flee the scene was also shot and later died in hospital. A number of other taxi drivers were successful in stopping and detaining the gunman until the police arrived.

The shooter has been identified as 53-year-old Kyi Lin, a professional hitman. Another man, Myint Swe, has also been arrested. According to leaked police documents, Myint Swe allegedly hired Kyi Lin back in December 2016 to assassinate U Ko Ni. The two men had reportedly known each other since a September 2016 meeting in Mae Sot, Thailand.

The motive behind the murder is currently unknown. That being said, according to his daughter, U Ko Ni was "often threatened" because he had spoken out against the continuing influence of the military on politics. In fact, according to one of U Ko Ni's colleagues, U Ko Ni had been working on a new draft of Myanmar's Constitution, one that would strip the military of its extraordinary political powers, and had hoped to promote it at a conference this month.

That the Burmese military may have had a hand in orchestrating the assassination is further supported by the fact that the murder weapon was a Myanmar Army-manufactured pistol that was somehow acquired by the gunman notwithstanding that civilian firearm sales have been prohibited for decades in Myanmar. Additionally, some have wondered as to how the attacker could have carried out the killing in a public place that is among the country's most secure.

U Ko Ni's daughter also stated that his religion may have been a contributing factor. Last year, U Ko Ni helped found the Myanmar Muslim Lawyers' Association and spoke of the need to stand up for the rights of Muslim citizens. These actions may have made him some powerful enemies, especially in light of the fact that anti-Muslim sentiment is high in Myanmar and there is significant public support for a military operation in Rakhine State, which is home to thousands of Rohingya Muslims.

The Law Society is deeply troubled by U Ko Ni's assassination. It strongly believes that lawyers should be able to carry out their duties without fear for their lives, liberty and security.

The Law Society of Upper Canada urges the government of Myanmar to comply with Myanmar's obligations under international human rights laws, including the United Nations' Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Article 16 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers states:

Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economics or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.

Article 17 states:

Where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities.

Article 18 states:

Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions.

The Law Society urges the government of Myanmar to:

a. ensure that a thorough, impartial, independent and fair investigation is conducted into the murder of U Ko Ni;



b. ensure that all lawyers can carry out their peaceful and legitimate activities without fear of physical violence or other human rights violations; and



c. ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments.

The Law Society of Upper Canada is the governing body for more than 50,000 lawyers and 8,000 paralegals in the province of Ontario, Canada. The Treasurer is the head of the Law Society. The mandate of the Law Society is to govern the legal profession in the public interest by upholding the independence, integrity and honour of the legal profession for the purpose of advancing the cause of justice and the rule of law.

The Law Society of Upper Canada

Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West

Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N6

www.lsuc.on.ca

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE The Law Society of Upper Canada

For further information: Susan Tonkin, Communications Advisor - Media Relations, at 416-947-7605 or [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.lsuc.on.ca


TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The Law Society of Upper Canada expresses grave concern about the ongoing harassment of lawyer Bakhrom Khamroev in Russia.

Bakhrom Khamroev is a human rights lawyer and the head of Erdam, an organization that works to protect Central Asian migrant workers in Russia. He is known for representing persecuted Uzbekistani political refugees.

It has recently come to the Law Society's attention that on September 29, 2016, 20 armed officers from the Federal Security Service ("FSB") conducted an eight-hour raid on Bakhrom Khamroev's home in Moscow, confiscating various documents and technical equipment. He was detained and taken to FSB headquarters where he was questioned about his political viewpoints and his knowledge of two Uzbekistanis who had been charged with terrorism for their alleged involvement in the Islamic political organization "Hizb ut-Tahrir". He was told he was now a witness in the case against the two Uzbekistanis. Bakhrom Khamroev had previously represented these two individuals on a separate matter. He was later released, but warned that he would be summoned for further questioning.

According to reports, Bakhrom Khamroev has been targeted in the past for his human rights work. Prior to the abovementioned incident, he had been convicted and sentenced to 1.5 years imprisonment on fabricated drug possession charges. He was later released on parole. Additionally, Bakhrom Khamroev has been attacked by both unknown assailants and FSB officers on five separate occasions. While criminal investigations were opened by the Russian authorities for some of the attacks, no suspects were ever identified or brought to justice.

The Law Society is concerned that the raid, the seizure of Bakhrom Khamroev's property and his detention and questioning are an attempt to intimidate him and prevent him from continuing to represent migrant workers and Uzbekistan citizens living in the Russian Federation.

The Law Society of Upper Canada urges the Government of Russia to comply with Russia's obligations under international human rights laws, including the United Nations' Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Article 16 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers states:

Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economics or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.

Article 17 states:

Where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities.

Article 18 states:

Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions.

The Law Society urges the Government of Russia to:

a. put an end to all acts of harassment against Bakhrom Khamroev;



b. to return to Bakhrom Khamroev the property confiscated from his residence by the Federal Security Service;



c. guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Bakhrom Khamroev; and



d. ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments.

The Law Society of Upper Canada is the governing body for more than 50,000 lawyers and 8,000 paralegals in the province of Ontario, Canada. The Treasurer is the head of the Law Society. The mandate of the Law Society is to govern the legal profession in the public interest by upholding the independence, integrity and honour of the legal profession for the purpose of advancing the cause of justice and the rule of law.

The Law Society of Upper Canada

Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West

Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N6

www.lsuc.on.ca

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE The Law Society of Upper Canada

For further information: Susan Tonkin, Communications Advisor - Media Relations, at 416-947-7605 or [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.lsuc.on.ca


TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - Restaurants Canada is marking Canada 150 with RC Nation's Feast, a tribute to Canada's rich culinary heritage on Feb. 27, 2017 at Toronto's historic Casa Loma.

An all-star line-up of Canadian chefs -- from Todd Perrin of Mallard Cottage in Qidi Vidi, NL to Andrew Seymour of Wayfarer Oyster Bar in Whitehorse, YK -- will put Canadian ingredients in the spotlight with a four-course dinner and grazing menu for more than 200 guests. Chef Charlotte Langley is curating the event.

The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Federal Minister of Small Business and Tourism and the Honourable Eleanor McMahon, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport are joining the celebration to recognize the restaurant and foodservice industry's significant role in Canada's economy and culture.

"Canada's vibrant culinary scene offers food from tables around the world, paired with seasonal, sustainable, and flavours from coast to coast to coast. From local favourites to internationally renowned dishes, Restaurants Canada's members in towns and cities across the nation welcome guests from all over the world. Culinary experiences are part of our government's vision for tourism, an industry that supports small businesses and jobs for middle class Canadians."

- The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of

Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

"Ontario's world-class restaurant scene entices visitors from North America and beyond, and culinary tourism is a growing sector of Ontario's $29.8 billion tourism industry. Restaurants Canada's celebration of Canadian cuisine for our 150th anniversary is a wonderful way to reflect on the diversity that makes our province so special."

- The Honourable Eleanor McMahon, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Ontario

"The very idea of Canada was born over food, drink and hospitality at the Charlottetown Conference. Canada 150 is the perfect time to honour the rich culinary heritage that has helped define us as a nation, and to celebrate the people who are blazing the trail forward  from farmers to chefs to entrepreneurs."

- Shanna Munro, President and CEO, Restaurants Canada

RC Nation's Feast is a feature of Restaurants Canada's RC Show, an annual event that brings together 14,000 people who embody Canadian hospitality and cuisine, including food producers, manufacturers, distributors, chefs, managers, owners, students and educators and more. The RC Show runs from Feb. 26 to 28 at the Enercare Centre in Toronto.

Restaurants Canada is a growing community of 30,000 foodservice businesses, including restaurants, bars, caterers, institutions and suppliers. We connect our members from coast to coast, through services, research and advocacy for a strong and vibrant restaurant industry. Canada's restaurant industry directly employs 1.2 million Canadians, is the number one source of first jobs, and serves 18 million customers every day.

SOURCE Restaurants Canada

For further information: Media Contact: Prasanthi Vasanthakumar, Restaurants Canada, 416-649-4254 or [email protected]

Related Links

https://www.restaurantscanada.org/


CALGARY, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed two appeals from Alberta defendants seeking a right to trial by jury for Securities Act offences. This decision upholds the December 2015 ruling by the Alberta Court of Appeal in the same matters.

The appellants, Ronald Aitkens and Jeremy (Jay) Peers, are each facing charges under the Securities Act in two unrelated cases. They claimed that the maximum penalty under Alberta securities laws of five years less a day in prison, or a $5 million fine, or both, triggers the right to a jury trial under section 11(f) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That section provides a right to a trial by jury for any person charged with an offence where the maximum punishment is imprisonment for five years or a more severe punishment.

The appeal was heard before all nine Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada on February 14, 2017. In their unanimous ruling, the Court dismissed the appeal "substantially for reasons of the majority of the Court of Appeal, 2015 ABCA 407, 609 A.R. 352."

"This decision reinforces that securities offences will be tried in Provincial Court through the summary conviction process, as they always have been," said Stan Magidson, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the ASC. "The Alberta Securities Commission will continue to prosecute serious breaches of the Securities Act (Alberta) in Provincial Court in trials before a judge alone."

Copies of the decisions are available on the Supreme Court of Canada website.

Aitkens' trial has been scheduled for April 2018. Jeremy Peers pled guilty in February 2016; a sentencing date has not yet been set and a court appearance is scheduled for later today.

The ASC is the regulatory agency responsible for administering the province's securities laws. It is entrusted with fostering a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and with protecting investors. As a member of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the ASC works to improve, coordinate and harmonize the regulation of Canada's capital markets.

SOURCE Alberta Securities Commission

For further information: For Media Inquiries: Alison Trollope, Director, Communications and Investor Education, 403.297.2664, For Investor Inquiries: ASC Public Inquiries, Toll Free 1.877.355.4488

Related Links

http://www.albertasecurities.com


BECANCOUR, QC, Feb. 24, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, Airex Energy officially inaugurated its biomass torrefaction plant, located in the La Prade industrial park in Becancour, Quebec. The industrial size demonstration plant, which required around 10 million dollars in public and private investments for its design, construction, and start-up, showcases the latest biomass torrefaction technology, called CarbonFX. This unique, revolutionary technology, designed by Airex Energy, significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions for many industries still using coal or coal by-products.

Airex Energy's torrefaction process transforms biomass residues into biocoal pellets, a clean and renewable fuel that can replace coal and oil. Biocoal's unique properties allows it to easily disintegrate, so it can be ground up and combined with bituminous coal in thermal power stations producing electricity, without major changes to existing systems for handling, storing, and grinding coal.

"Airex Energy's green innovation is helping Canada prosper by creating products with high value and enormous export potential," said the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development."What's more, it is helping us to reduce our carbon footprint. The Government of Canada is proud to be a partner in the development of this innovative clean technology project that is creating valuable middle-class jobs for Quebecers and Canadians."

The CarbonFX system also produces biochar, a product with a high carbon content used for soil remediation, liquid filtration and metal reduction. Biochar, when mixed with compost or peat moss, promotes plant growth. Biochar also helps reduce metals and enables rehabilitation of former mining sites.

"Our government is proud to support projects such as the one that Airex Energy is proposing, an innovative process in the emerging energy source sector that will reduce GHG emissions and use forest by-products, a local, renewable resource. The attainment of the objectives set in the 2030 Energy Policy hinges on the use of energies that are less damaging to the environment and on energy efficiency. The commitment of Quebec business executives such as those at Airex Energy will enable us to genuinely modernize our economy, in particular by means of the energy transition", added the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Plan Nord, Mr. Pierre Arcand.

Airex Energy's business model is to export its CarbonFX systems worldwide. The entire forest industry, including sawmills, pulp and paper, and wood pellet producers, is Airex's primary market for the CarbonFX systems. The processing of wood residues into value-added products can allow companies in the sector to increase their profitability while diversifying their sources of income. And because of its simple design and small footprint, the CarbonFX technology is cost-competitive.

"We believe our technology will provide new ways for forestry companies to increase profitability while diversifying their sources of revenue. With this in mind, we have started marketing our CarbonFX systems in Canada and the United States, in order to roll out this technology in all markets generating substantial amounts of residual biomass," said Mr. Sylvain Bertrand, CEO of Airex Energy.

Technology that opens the door to a greener future

Climate change and greenhouse gas reduction are major concerns and 38% of electricity produced on the planet still comes from coal, a polluting energy source that is responsible for the emission of large amounts of greenhouse gases. Biocoal is a step in a greener direction for the planet.

"With Canada's commitment to a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, we are confident that our unique torrefaction process can replace coal used in thermal power plants for electricity production, without requiring changes or major investments to existing systems and equipment. We firmly believe that biocoal will also allow Quebec to completely eliminate the use of thermal coal as an energy source by 2030, as set out in Quebec's recent energy policy," Bertrand adds.

Since December 2015, Airex Energy has conducted a gradual commissioning of the plant's equipment and performed several tests to optimize the process. The company started commercial biocoal and biochar production, with the goal of producing 15,000 tonnes annually from residual biomass such as forest residues, sawdust, bark, and recycled wood for current and future clients in Canada and the United States.

About Airex Energy

Airex Energy is a spin-off from Airex Industries, which specializes in the manufacture of industrial air-treatment systems and has been established in Laval and Drummondville for over 30 years. Airex Energy is a technology company that develops and markets biomass torrefaction systems. CarbonFX patented technology converts any type of biomass into biocoal, a clean and renewable alternative to coal and oil.

SOURCE Airex Energy

For further information: or to confirm an interview with Sylvain Bertrand: Patricia Archambault, Ascendis Consulting, Tel.: 514 710-1044, [email protected]; Diane Jeannotte, Ascendis Consulting, Tel.: 514 772-8019, [email protected]
China is close to completing and launching its second aircraft carrier. It will begin service by 2020.

China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Navys Type 001A class aircraft carriers scaffold has been removed and red undercoat has been painted below the ships waterline in Dalian, northeastern Liaoning Province, and that a launching ceremony will soon be Held.

Unlike the Liaoning (Type 001), Chinas first aircraft carrier, a refitted ship built by Ukraine (under the former former Union Union), the 001A is China-built, and its design, combat capability and technologies will be much much advanced, Song Zhongping, a military expert, told the Global Times.

One key difference is the design will be more humanized, which means all personnel on the carrier will enjoy a more comfortable and modern environment, Song said.

However, theres still a long way to go from its launch to enlistment, which normally takes two years, Yin Zhuo, a senior researcher at the PLA Navy Equipment Research Center,

Song said its status can be compared to a house terms paint job has been long but requires decorating, which, in military terms, is called the outfitting stage.

It means all weapons and equipment, including the radar system, air defense system and communications system will be outfitted on the carrier. After this, the carrier and aircraft on will will be tested, and then the carrier will be ready to serve, Song said The

Construction of the aircraft carrier is on schedule. Most of its construction and design work has been long. Its hull has already been assembled at the shipyard. The ship will soon be equipped with radar and other facilities, said Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Wu Qian in October 2016, in response to media inquiries on share aircraft carrier images online

A large amount of work remains to be done on the carriers outfitting stage after its launched, presumably sometime this year, Li Jie, a naval military expert, said. It will take about one to two years to carry out functional debugging of its devices , Weapons and equipment. The new aircraft carrier can begin sea trials by early 2019. 

Catapult technology

On December 31, 2015 the Chinese defense ministry formal announced the construction of the 001A, and another spokesperson Yang Yujun said, This carrier, with a displacement of 50,000 tons, will be the base for J-15 fighters and other types of aircraft. 

The design and construction of the second aircraft carrier is based on experience, research and training from the first carrier, the Liaoning, Yang added.

Based on information released by the Chinese defense ministry, 001As aircraft will still use the ski-jump method of taking off from a ski ramp on the front of the carrier just like its sister, the Liaoning, rather than more advanced catapult technology used By US aircraft carriers

China is looking into catapult technology, Li said, and the technology will be based on the 002, Chinas third aircraft carrier, which is being built in Shanghai.

In other words, 002 is next different from the Liaoning (001) and 001A, and it will look like US aircraft carrier than than a Russian one, Li said.

More modern carriers use the Electromagnetic Catapult System, or Electromagnetic launcher (EML), to launch carrier-based jets, but China is still testing steam catapults, Li said. The main difference is that EMLs are more flexible and the systems speed can Be controlled, so it can launch aircraft of different sizes.

Yin said in order to protect Chinas territories and overseas interests, China needs two carrier strike groups in the West Pacific Ocean and two in the Indian Ocean. So we need at least five to six aircraft carriers.
On 10 February 2017, the London-based charity Cancer Research UK announced that a team of molecular biologists, astronomers and game designers would receive up to 20 million (US$25 million) over the next five years to develop its interactive virtual-reality map of breast cancers. Currently there are animations for tumor that allow virtual flew throughs. However, they are mock-up. The real models will include data on the expression of thousands of genes and dozens of proteins in each cell of a tumor. The hope is that this spatial and functional detail could reveal more about the factors that influence a tumors response to treatment.

The project is just one of a string that aims to build a new generation of cell atlases: maps of organs or tumors that describe location and make-up of each cell in painstaking detail.

Cancer Research UK awarded another team up to 16 million to make a similar tumor map that will focus on metabolites and proteins. Later this year, the US National Institute of Mental Health will announce the winners of grants to map mouse brains in extraordinary molecular detail. And on 2324 February, researchers will gather at Stanford University in California to continue planning the Human Cell Atlas, an as-yet-unfunded effort to map every cell in the human body.

Cell by cell

This is a very hot topic, says Ido Amit, who studies the genomics of the immune system at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Its all location, location, location. The community knows this has to be the next step.

Over the past few years, researchers have flocked to techniques that allow them to sequence the full complement of RNAs  tens of thousands of them  in individual cells. These RNAs can reveal which genes are expressed, and provide clues as to a cells unique function within an organ or tumor.

But sequencing methods typically require that the cells first be plucked from the tissue in which they live. That destroys valuable information about where the cells were and what neighbors they interacted with  information that could hold new clues to a cells function and how it can go awry in diseased tissue.

There is a lot of excitement and promise with single-cell sequencing technologies, says Nicola Crosetto, a molecular biologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. But when we think of cancer and complex physiological tissues, we need to be able to put that information into spatial context.

Techniques are emerging to do so. On 6 February, Amit and Shalev Itzkovitz, also at the Weizmann Institute, and their colleagues reported that they had created a cell-by-cell map of mouse liver lobules, complete with RNA sequences from each cell1. The lobules of the liver are conventionally divided into concentric layers; the team found unique gene-expression patterns in cells lying at the interface between two layers. This region of the tissue is not just a transition zone, says Itzkovitz. Its a new zone with a specified function.

Peering at proteins

Meanwhile, Hannon has teamed up with biophysicist Xiaowei Zhuang at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who has developed a method that encodes RNAs with binary barcodes that can be read within cells using imaging techniques. The technique detects thousands of RNAs in a single cell simultaneously, without dissociating it from its neighbors. Every time I look at the images with the barcodes sticking out, it reminds me of the movie The Matrix, Zhuang says.

The molecular cartography of RNA is simple in comparison to working with proteins and other molecules. Josephine Bunch of the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, UK, and her colleagues are developing tumour atlases with detailed information about small molecules, such as lipids, drugs and metabolites, as well as large molecules such as proteins. The methods will allow her team to assess about 50 proteins per sample.

That may sound less impressive than the thousands of RNAs measured by other techniques, but information about 50 proteins  which can be selected to suit specific tissues  present in different combinations is enough to identify major cell types and gauge key molecular pathways operating in them, says Garry Nolan, a molecular biologist at Stanford University. Proteins offer a more direct view into the function of a cell than does RNA, he notes, and can better allow researchers to link their data to previously published cell atlases dating back decades.

Whatever the methods that make it to the top, researchers will also need to develop new ways of displaying the data, says Hannon. Virtual reality is very powerful, he says. But the amount of information is going to be so vast, were going to need new ways of interacting with information.
President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly spoken to Katsina state governor, Aminu Bello Masari on phone.





President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly spoken to Katsina state governor, Aminu Bello Masari on phone.The Governor made the disclosure during an interview with VOA Hausa. He said, ''On Saturday I spoke with the president on phone, he is hale and hearty. All those castigating rumours on the health condition of the president should think twice and change their mindset.''The president is on vacation for medical check-up which is in line with the Nigerian constitution where he assigned all the responsibility to his vice at full autonomy pending when he comes back.''Therefore, the president did not break any law by leaving for medical vacation. Last Wednesday I called the Emir of Daura and that of Katsina directing them to engage in special prayers for the president, which they did during Friday session prayers.''We will not stop praying for the president, we shall keep praying till Almighty Allah answers our prayers. Praying for a leader is a mandate to every Nigerian irrespective of religion. Both scriptures direct us to pray for our leaders.
Cameroon has forcibly repatriated more than 500 Nigerians who had fled into the country due to the Boko Haram insurgency, according to the...

Cameroon has forcibly repatriated more than 500 Nigerians who had fled into the country due to the Boko Haram insurgency, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).A total of 517 Nigerians were sent back to their home country, including 313 who had applied for asylum, according to a UNHCR statement.UNHCR Cameroon tweeted that it was very concerned by these repatriations and continues to advocate for access to asylum and the principle of non-refoulement.Non-refoulement refers to the practice of not returning refugees to a country where they could face persecution.UNHCR said it planned to sign an agreement with Nigeria and Cameroon on March 2 that would see 85,000 Nigerian refugees voluntarily resettled in their home country.More than 61,000 refugees are currently living at the Minawao camp and a further 20,000 at the Logone-et-Chari camp in Cameroons far north region.Nigeria and its neighbours have cooperated closely in fighting Boko Haram, which split into a faction aligned with the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) and another loyal to long time leader Abubakar Shekau in 2016.Five countriesNigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Benincontribute troops to a regional taskforce aimed at routing the militants.Cameroonian troops have also conducted cross-border operations against Boko Haram.The military has succeeded in preventing the sect from carrying out organised attacks, but it still retains the capacity to carry out suicide and car bombings.Seven suicide bombers blew themselves up last week on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital in north-east Nigeria.
A fresh application filed by Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA) on Friday stalled commencement of his trial at a high co...

A fresh application filed by Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA) on Friday stalled commencement of his trial at a high court in Abuja.Ahmed Raji, his counsel, told the court that Dasuki was not ready for the commencement of trial because he has an application for consolidation, pending before the court.It will amount to a waste of time if the issue of the application is not resolved because it has a connection with the sister case, he saidResponding, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), the prosecuting counsel, decried delay in commencing trial, adding that after arraignment in 2015, trial was yet to commence.Your lordship gave a sufficient time since the last sitting on January 24 in which the 2nd defendant (Dasuki) could have filed any motion, but he filed it only yesterday, and the sister case has commenced already.He just wanted to try his luck, this should not be a legal gambling, he said.Other defendants in the suit are: BashirYuguda, Shuaibu Salisu, a former director of finance, office of the national security adviser, Dalhatu Investment Ltd, Sagir Attahiru and Attahiru Bafarawa, former governor of Sokoto state.They were arraigned on a 22- count charge bordering on diversion, conspiracy, bribery, abuse of office and criminal breach of trust of about N19.4 billion.In the sister case Dasuki was arraigned on a 19-count charge bordering on diversion of funds.Other defendant are: Shuaibu Salisu, a former director of finance, office of the national security adviser, Aminu Baba-Kusa ,a former NNPC Executive Director, among others.All the cases are now pending before Husseni Baba-Yusuf, a justice.Baba-Yusuf after listening to the submissions from parties adjourned the case till March 2 for hearing of Dasukis motion.
Former Chairman, Board of Trustees of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Tony Anenih, has recalled how God saved him after six overseas ...

Former Chairman, Board of Trustees of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Tony Anenih, has recalled how God saved him after six overseas doctors told him that his illness was incurable.Speaking at the 52nd birthday celebration of former member of House of Representatives, Hon. Nduli Elumelu in Abuja, Anenih said God proved doctors reports wrong and saved his life.He explained that if he had accepted the report of the medical doctors, by now, he would have been a forgotten issue.He said: Life belongs to God and it is only God that has the power to take another mans life. What happened to me in the hospital is enough proof. Imagine being declared impossible to live by six different medical doctors and surviving such reports.The truth is that no one has the power to take another mans life unless God wills it. It is my pleasure to witness this life celebration because its a worthy celebration.It has been a long time I attended a public event and I had my personal reasons for taking that decision. But I am happy to be here as it has given me the opportunity to see people I have not seen for a very long time.The elder statesman also expressed his concern for the peaceful co-existence of the Nigerians and urged the government not to sacrifice anything for peace and security of live of the citizens.
Isaac Adewole, minister of health, has set up a team to probe the deaths of two students of Queens College, Yaba, Lagos.

Isaac Adewole, minister of health, has set up a team to probe the deaths of two students of Queens College, Yaba, Lagos.One of the students was said to have died in her house during the ongoing mid-term holiday.There are reports that they died following an outbreak of diarrhea, but the school authorities have denied the news.According to a statement by the ministry, Adewoles investigative team comprises members of staff the department of medicine at the University of Lagos and the epidemiology unit of the Lagos state ministry of health.The statement said Adewole was in Lagos to witness the commissioning of the secretariat of the West African College of Surgeons when he was informed of the situation in the school.He was said to have diverted his convoy to the school, where he met Lami Amodu, the principal, some staff, and health officials.He was told the school is on mid-term break but there were two reported deaths of students at home. One due to febrile illness and cause of the second is unknown, the statement read.Following his interaction, the minister has directed the officials of the ministry of health, community health, and LUTH to ascertain the cause of death of the students, inspect the school environment including the kitchen, examine the source of water supply and test its suitability for human consumption and also visit the bereaved families.Adewole, who said the report of investigation will be forwarded to the minister of education, called for calm, saying government is on top of the situation.According to New Telegraph, the principal blamed rumor mongers for the reports on diarrhea.She reportedly said the only death case known to the school was that of one Vivian Osuyi, a junior secondary school 2 pupil, whom she noted was taken home by her parents after the school called their attention to her health situation about two weeks ago.I am still at a loss about this development. We had our inter-house-sport on Wednesday and the students immediately left for home for midterm break, she said.As Im speaking to you, there is no student in school, so where is the rumour of the epidemic coming from? Who is behind this new round of rumour?
The Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Mr Agyole Abeh on Friday said the crisis in Southern Kaduna was largely exaggerated and used as ...

The Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Mr Agyole Abeh on Friday said the crisis in Southern Kaduna was largely exaggerated and used as propaganda by those benefitting from it.Abeh said in Kafanchan while giving update on the security situation in the area, that some community leaders in the area were compounding the issues due to selfish interest. He, however, said the police and other security agencies were on top of the situation, and doing everything to calm it.The issue of people being killed and houses burnt are all exaggerated. The crisis in southern Kaduna is about attacks and reprisal attacks, but the security is on top of the situation.We are not taking sides in our operation; we are paid by the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are committed to sustaining peace in the communities. We will always respond if there is breakdown of law and order. We will do everything possible to ensure that peace is restored in this part of the state. We have enough security force on ground to curtail the situation, he said.The commissioner said some arrests had been made since the crisis started and appealed to the communities on the need to accept peace as the only way to end the crisis. He said that the residents must embrace peace, forgive each other and build a new foundation for mutual coexistence.The CP and the Garrison Commander of 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Brig.-Gen. Ismaila Isa had visited Bakin Kogi and Dangoma in Jemaa Local Government Area, where attacks were recorded during the week. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the attacks occurred on Feb. 19 in Bakin Kogi and on Feb. 20 in Dangoma. Representatives of the communities told the security chiefs that they were ready to dialogue and called for adequate protection by security agencies.
Newly sworn-in Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, on Friday disclosed the role President Muhammadu Buhari played in his emergence a...

Newly sworn-in Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, on Friday disclosed the role President Muhammadu Buhari played in his emergence as governor.Delivering his inaugural speech, Akeredolu disclosed that his emergence was based on the steely disposition of the President to always stand against all acts not in consonance with decency, probity and justice.Recall that the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, was earlier sworn-in as the sixth governor of the state.In the speech, Akeredolu said, Humbled by the uncommon kindness of the Almighty God and an unequivocal expression of preference by the good people of Ondo State, exemplified by the victory of our great party at the last gubernatorial election, I am extremely delighted to share with you all the joy of this day of glory.We are grateful to Almighty God for granting this state such a beautiful day and a beautiful moment like this.I thank the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and leader of our great party, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, for his leadership and unwavering stance to support what is just and noble.Todays celebration would, perhaps, have been impossible without his steely disposition to always stand against all acts not in consonance with decency, probity and justice.The governor also commended the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, John Oyegun for his lofty principles and doggedness which also contributed to his victory.And special reverence must be reserved for our indefatigable party chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, whose strict adherence to lofty principles and doggedness laid the foundation for our resounding victory at the polls.This exemplary leader behaved like a true elder, whose sagely presence in the village square not only professed rectitude but acted it, resolutely, affirming nobility of the human spirit.Our party benefitted, tremendously, from his vast experience in public service. We are eternally grateful. The verdict of history shall be kind to him, Akeredolu said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will hold the Anambra governorship election on November 18, 2017.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will hold the Anambra governorship election on November 18, 2017.Solomon Soyebi, a national commissioner INEC, announced this at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday.He said the 1999 constitution as amended, and the electoral act, had stipulated that the earliest day for the conduct of the election shall be October 18, while latest date for the election shall be February 14, 2018.According to INEC timetable for the election, campaigns by political parties will start on August 18 and close by November 16, while primaries will be held between July 22 and September 2.No political party has nominated a candidate for the election yet.Although, some politicians from the state have tacitly expressed interest in giving a shot.On Tuesday, Andy Uba, who represents Anambra south in the senate, formally announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).There are feelers that he may run for the office on the platform of his new party.Willie Obiano, governor of the state, may also be seeking a second term.
The killers of a Bayelsa government employee, Edi Kolu, who was on an official duty when he was attacked, have been sentenced to death by ...

The killers of a Bayelsa government employee, Edi Kolu, who was on an official duty when he was attacked, have been sentenced to death by hanging.Justice Nayai Aganaba, who presided over the case which was first brought before the court two years ago, yesterday upheld the prayer of the prosecution and ordered that the duo should die by hanging.At the Bayelsa state High Court 4 in Charge No. YHC/83C/2015 between the State and the convicts, the court said it was convinced beyond all reasonable doubts that Izibefien Tamuno and Izibekuma George, were responsible for the death of the victim, Edi Kolu.The prosecution led by officials from the office of the Special Prosecutor on Violent Crime and Other Related Offenses in the state, told the court that the two convicts killed the victim while he was on official duty with other staff from the office of the Surveyor-General of Bayelsa.They maintained that Kolu who until his death was a staff of the office of the Surveyor General of Bayelsa, was killed when he and other government officials had gone to demarcate a boundary between Opolo community and Okutukutu in Yenagoa.The prosecution stated that the deceased was carrying out his mandate in accordance with a judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in favour of Opolo community on the 21st day of May, 2015.Messrs Tamuno and George of Okutukutu and Etegwe towns respectively, were subsequently sentenced for the murder of the surveyor by Justice Aganaba.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has dismissed the thoughts that the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari could create a vacuum...

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has dismissed the thoughts that the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari could create a vacuum, saying Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is up to the task.Samson Ayokunle, president of the association, said this in Abuja on Thursday while reacting to the statement issued by the presidency on the period of rest needed by Buhari.On Tuesday, Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, said the results of the presidents medical tests showed that he needed a longer period of rest.This had attracted comments from Nigerians, with some lamenting the effect of the absence of Buhari.But Ayokunle asked people to pray for Buhari until he returns to the country hale and hearty.There is no need for any hue and cry being made by some people that his [Buhari] unprecedented absence could create a vacuum in the presidency since President Buhari has done what is needful by transferring power to the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo who is up to the task, he said in a statement.I call on all well meaning Nigerians, especially Christians not to cease praying for President Muhammadu Buhari as he takes further rest as advised by his doctors until he returns back to the country hale and hearty to continue his good works.It is needless reminding you that as Christians, our responsibilities include but not limited to making supplications, prayers, and intercessions, and giving thanks for our leaders and for all that are in the position of authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour (1 Timothy 2:1-2).Buhari left the country for UK on January 19, and was due to return on February 6, but extended his vacation indefinitely, citing medical reasons.Ayokunle also called on the security agencies to rise up to flush out the hoodlums who are still killing innocent people in southern Kaduna despite the presence of policemen and soldiers.We call on the security agencies in the country to stop the killings in Kafanchan despite their presence in the area, we heard of recent attacks in Atakar and Kaninkon villages of Kaura and Jemaa local government areas in the state, he said.All hands should be on deck to flush out those criminals from their hideouts in order to restore a permanent peace to the Southern Kaduna communities once and for all.
Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday evening met principal officers of the National Assembly for about an hour to disc...

Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday evening met principal officers of the National Assembly for about an hour to discuss the 2017 budget so that it can be speedily passed.Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara were present along with members of President Muhammadu Buharis Economic Management Team.The meeting discussed issues and developments around the 2017 budget, while both sides also exchanged ideas and compared notes in order to ensure that this years budget passage process is better and faster than previous times.During the meeting, held in a convivial atmosphere, there were also discussions on the need to ensure that key projects of the Federal Government aimed at enhancing the speedy recovery of the Nigerian economy are well taken care-of in the appropriations that will now emerge from the legislative arm of government to the Presidency.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday summoned the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, over the kidnap of two German archaeo...

A source told the News Agency of Nigeria that the police chief briefed the Acting President on efforts so far made by police to rescue the victims unhurt and apprehend the kidnappers.While the Germans were kidnapped, two Nigerians who tried to rescue them were killed in the process.Usman Kagarko, a witness who joined many others in going after the assailants, said their effort ended when the kidnappers turned back and opened fire.We had to scamper for our safety when they opened fire, shooting sporadically at us, killing two local hunters who were in our lead as we chased them on our motorcycles and on foot, , he told newsmen. If only we are armed or in company of armed security, we would have stopped them because they are on foot.He gave the names of the two victims as Anas Ibrahim and Adamu Abdulrahim.He said many locals were familiar with the Germans who for many years frequently travelled from Abuja to Kaduna for their work.So we felt personally concerned that this very friendly foreigners are innocently abducted by criminals under our nose, he said.The police have since dispatched a team of special forces and to work in synergy with the police command in Kaduna State and indigenes of towns and surrounding villages where the archaeologists were kidnapped.The special force deployed comprise the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), the Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU), the Anti Kidnapping Unit, the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), the Police Mobile Force and Police Surveillance Helicopters.The Special Investigation Team on Kidnapping and Terrorism Cases under the Command of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Department of Operations, is also participating in the rescue operation.The kidnapped archaeologists, working in collaboration with National Commission for Museum and Monument on the relics of NOK Culture in Nigeria, were kidnapped on Wednesday morning at an excavation site in Kadarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The Nigerian Police has dropped charges filed against Chocolate City boss Audu Maikori.

The Nigerian Police has dropped charges filed against Chocolate City boss Audu Maikori.Audu's lawyer, Mr Mark Jacob was quoted saying, ''It is important that Nigerians begin to give due credit to the Nigerian police for the thankless work they do. The case that was brought against my client was duly investigated by the Nigerian Police and when they found out from the drivers confession that he was simply trying to defraud his employer, they promptly dropped the charges levelled against Audu.Audus arrest, detention and subsequent release shows me as a legal practitioner and a Nigerian citizen that there is hope for the country if we all continue to stick to democratic ideals. It is important that we do not allow justice to be hijacked by individuals who have it in their interest to abuse citizens who carry out their constitutional rights to free speech.
Many furious youths demonstrated yesterday in Abuja against attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

Many furious youths demonstrated yesterday in Abuja against attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.Their protest raised the tension between the two countries over xenophobic attacks on Nigerians.Many Nigerians have lost properties and others have been killed in the past.The protesters stormed the office of mobile giant MTN.MTN is the biggest South African company in Nigeria. They stole customers phones, vandalised equipment and attacked customers, a spokesman for MTN said.Security officers cordoned off the buildings entrance.They forcibly entered the MTN office. Security men were around but unable to curtail the protesters, who forced the gates open and entered the office, a witness said.Some protesters were touts. Some were students. In their midst were some criminals that took away some customers phones and other things, he added, asking not to be named.A South African government source described the attack as serious. This wasnt just some people on the street throwing stones. They broke into the building and stole things and broke things, the source said.The incident coincided with a visit by MTN chairman Phuthuma Nhleko to Abuja to see acting President Yemi Osinbajo.This week, at least 20 shops believed to belong to immigrants were looted in South Africas capital. Police refused to say if the attackers were specifically targeting foreigners.Currently, in 2017, there are renewed incidents of violence against foreign national in Rosettenville and Pretoria West, Gigaba told a media briefing.Unfortunately, xenophobic violence is not new in South Africa, he said, recounting similar incidents in the past.The minister said some residents in Pretoria have planned a march on Friday against immigrants, citing competition for jobs and allegations of criminal activity, such as prostitution and drug dealing in the poor township west of Pretoria.The South African government is also driving against illegal foreign workers.South African officials will inspect workplaces to see if firms are employing undocumented foreigners, the home affairs minister says.A official, Malusi Gigaba, said more than 60 employees of retail chain Spar without documentation had been arrested.Mr Gigaba warned that firms would be penalised if they breached the law, and said they should not fuel tensions by playing locals against foreigners.Many unemployed South Africans accuse foreigners of taking their jobs.South Africas foreign affairs department dismissed claims that Nigerian nationals were targets of xenophobic violence.Spokesperson Clayson Monyela said the attacks were nothing more than sporadic criminal incidents. The government also said inflammatory social media statements by South Africans and foreign nationals against each other were unnecessary.In his budget speech on Wednesday, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said that 35% of the labour force was unemployed or had given up looking for work.The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has given 48 hours ultimatum to all South African companies in Nigeria to relocate over the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.The students gave the ultimatum at a peaceful demonstration at some South African companies in Abuja yesterday.During the march the students carried a banner, which read: NANS Against Xenophobic Attacks on Nigerians.While the students marched, security men stood and watched to ensure law and order.The President of NANS, Mr Kadiri Aruna, said in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at DSTV office, a South African company, in Wuse 2, Abuja, that Nigerian students had resolved to condemn the attacks.We are saying that enough is enough as South Africans have openly attacked and bullied Nigerians.Aruna said that the protest would also serve as a warning to other countries trying to underrate Nigerians.He stressed that the poor treatment being meted out to Nigerians was particularly insulting, given the role Nigeria played in ending the apartheid regime in South Africa.Nigeria contributed 80 per cent of the freedom the South Africans are enjoying today because we saved them from the jaws of apartheid.Who is South Africa to humiliate Nigeria? So they forget things so soon, let them go back to history and records to see how much financial assistance and what the country did to save them, he said.The union president said that the situation was inhuman and for this reason all reasonable Nigerians must react.In science they say you use malaria to cure malaria, now you use madness to cure their madness, and that is why we are advising them to leave Nigerian soil before 48 hours.He said that the Federal Government should not wait till the dying minute before evacuating Nigerians from South Africa.Aruna said it was time for government not to only condemn the attacks but take a firm stand by summoning South Africas high commissioner and if possible cut diplomatic ties with that country.Government should take extra-diplomatic measures in dealing with the latest deadly assaults because if nothing drastic is done it will become a regular occurrence.This is the time to place South Africa where it belongs, he said.He said that the last time the xenophobic attack happened nothing was done, no action was taken and no arrest was made and that was why South Africans repeated the attacks.Aruna said it was so unfortunate that during the attacks the South African Government refused to take up its responsibility of securing Nigerians and their properties.The government of South Africa is criminally quiet and they say silence is consent, and their police are folding their hands while they are killing Nigerians, this is conspiracy, enough is enough, he said.He said the peaceful rally would continue and spread across the country.
An ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday summoned the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele,...

An ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday summoned the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it within seven days or risk being arrested.He was also directed to produce all documents linked to the $17bn worth of Nigerias crude oil and gas said to have been stolen from undeclared exports between 2011 and 2014.The committee, which is chaired by a member of the All Progressives Congress from Adamawa State, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, is investigating the controversial transactions.The committee had said that major government agencies, including the Department of Petroleum Resources, colluded with International Oil Companies to short-change Nigeria in the deals.Namdas, who spoke at the National Assembly in Abuja, said the committee had scheduled a meeting with Emefiele on Thursday only for the CBN governor to shun the lawmakers.He said, We are here today and the CBN governor is not here. This is most unfortunate. It is unfortunate that agencies of government will want to frustrate an investigation under this administration that is out to fight all forms of corruption.Let Emefiele be aware that under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, the National Assembly is empowered to conduct investigations, expose corruption. In doing so, nobody is above the law.We shall not hesitate to invoke these powers if the governor fails within one week to respond to our enquiries. He should also be mindful of the fact that he has to appear before this committee to answer questions.Namdas recalled how the committee earlier wrote the CBN, requesting information on the crude and gas sales, but received two conflicting replies.He stated that in the first reply, the apex bank asked for time to generate the information on the crude transactions, which it said was voluminous.But, in another reply, the bank made a U-turn, telling the committee that it had no information to offer on the controversial deals.We are surprised by these conflicting responses. However, we have resolved as a committee to give Emefiele one more opportunity to appear within one week before we invoke our powers under the law.
South African government has said that there is need to collaborate with major stakeholders in Nigeria to find lasting solution to the xen...

South African government has said that there is need to collaborate with major stakeholders in Nigeria to find lasting solution to the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.This is coming as Nigerian protesters on Thursday attacked and vandalised the head office of Africa's biggest mobile firm in Abuja in apparent retaliation for anti-Nigerian violence in South Africa.The retaliation also coincided with the visit of South Africa's mobile operator MTN Group, who paid Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo a visit in Abuja.The South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Mnguni, on Thursday stressed the need for the South African Government to collaborate with major stakeholders in Nigeria to find lasting solution to the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.The Commissioner stated this while receiving the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Shehu Sani, in Abuja.While condemning the recent attacks on foreigners, particularly Nigerians, Mnguni said there was need for the two countries to work together to bring an end to the problem. He said that it was important for Nigeria and South Africa to bring strategists together to discuss the issues at stake in order to find lasting solution to the problem.We will look for ways to contain the tension and come up with ways to encourage interaction between the two countries and other African countries.South Africa cannot see itself as an island. Instead, it will continue to work towards peace building and integration, he said.The High Commissioner further said the South African Government had always advocated for respect for human rights, stressing that there was no justification for the attacks. However, he called on foreigners to always abide by the laws of the countries where they live.He pointed out that there were concerns among South Africans that a few foreigners, including Nigerians were involved in drug peddling.Earlier, Sani expressed concern over the recurrent nature of xenophobic attacks on foreigners, including Nigerians, saying that if allowed to continue, it would portray the continent in bad light, adding that it was time for major stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the problem. Nigerias relationship with South Africa dates back to the time of Apartheid.Meanwhile, South Africa's Arts and Culture Minister, Nathi Mthethwa also condemned strongly any attempts to mobilise communities against African brothers and sisters."This is totally unacceptableHe said: "African neighbours are our brothers & sisters. We are all Nigerians, we are all Zimbabweans, we're all South Africans".
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, has told a Federal High Court in Lagos that he received N75 million from the Ekiti State Gov...

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, has told a Federal High Court in Lagos that he received N75 million from the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, as legal fees.Mr. Ozekhome stated this in a suit filed before the court seeking to unfreeze his account, that was frozen by the anti-graft EFCC based on a court order.The Federal High Court on Thursday fixed March 2 for the hearing of the lawyers suit.Mr. Ozekhome said the N75 million contained in the account is the legal fees he received from the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose.Justice Abdulazeez Anka ordered that a hearing notice be issued on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.The court had on February 7 ordered a temporary forfeiture of N75 million found in the applicants Guaranty Trust Bank account following an application by the EFCC.When the case was called on Thursday, the EFCC was not represented in court.Addressing the court, Mr. Ozekhome said his suit was filed on February 14 and that EFCC was served on February 20 according to a proof of service.Justice Anka noted that the commission was still within time to respond.He said the commission was entitled to seven days which, he said, had not lapsed, adding that the commission should be allowed their clear seven days.In his response, Mr. Ozekhome asked for the earliest possible date for hearing of his application, insisting that the suit was urgent.Mr. Ozekhome, who is seeking the immediate vacation of the interim forfeiture order, argued that the EFCCs application for the interim order was done in bad faith.The commission, he said, did not comply with the statutory and judicial authorities in obtaining an interim order through a motion ex-parte.According to him, the respondent suppressed material facts in obtaining the order and as such, the action is unconstitutional as same offends constitutional provisions.He said the EFCC did not disclose to the court that Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti, had unfrozen Governor Ayodele Fayoses accounts forthwith.Mr. Fayoses account was initially frozen by the EFCC for his alleged role in the misappropriation of billions of Naira from the office of the National Security Adviser.Mr. Ozekhome said the unfreezing order allowed the governor to operate his account before transferring the sum of N75 million to his chambers account.He further argued that the EFCCs application and the subsequent order were based on non-compliance with court rules and judicial authorities regulating the granting of ex-parte application.The entire gamut of the application leading to the granting of the interim order ex-parte amounts to forum shopping and a calculated attempt to over-reach me.He submitted that the issue, whether the said sum formed proceeds of a crime, was currently on appeal.Justice Anka adjourned the suit to March 2.
Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has warned South Africans against further attacks on Nigerians.

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has warned South Africans against further attacks on Nigerians.The former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential campaign spokesperson who took to his twitter handle @realFFK, said Nigerians may attack South African companies in Nigeria should the xenophobic attack continues.He wrote: The South Africans must be careful. Any more attacks on Nigerians may be met with retaliation and reprisals against their companies here.Recall that there have been renewed xenophobic attacks against Nigerians and other foreigners in Sternkopf, Namakwa Municipality, Northern Cape Province of South Africa.The President of Nigerian Union in South Africa, Ikechukwu Anyene, on Tuesday disclosed that the Northern Cape Province Chapter Chairman of the Union reported the incident to its National Secretariat.Anyene had said, The National Secretariat of Nigeria Union has received report of xenophobic attacks from Mr Kennedy Osagie, the Northern Cape Province chapter chairman of the union.The report indicated that South Africans attacked Nigerians.Two cars belonging to Nigerians have been reportedly burnt and they have been going from house to house looting and destroying their property.Six Nigerians have taken refuge with their families in nearby SpringBok community and they do not know the whereabouts of the other Nigerians, he said.
The federal government plans to pour $125 million into the fight against a mysterious disease that has ravaged corals in Florida and much of the Caribbean, and now poses a dire threat to the treasured reefs off the Louisiana and Texas coasts.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
Welcome to non league daily news now - your number one spot for all things relating to the National League System. Our dedicated reporters have come straight from the sidelines to bring you news fresh from the dugout - but not before theyve stopped off at the burger van first!

We know that non league football fans are full of heart, passion, and belief. You trust the manager, you believe in the team, and, for some strange reason, you trust those rickety stands, too! Here at Non League Daily, we hope we can become your trusted non league news resource - a platform thats just as passionate about non league daily news now as you.

Come rain or shine, well be out reporting on the latest non league fixtures. Well also be scouring the news, refreshing social media, and sourcing information from team websites in the hopes of finding the latest breaking non league daily news for our readers.

As youll soon see, weve got exclusive match reports on the Vanarama National League, weve got transfer speculation thatll affect the National League South, weve found great stories thatll spice up the National League North, and weve even got news on the latest giant killers of the FA Cup.

We may not be able to agree on who is going up this year, but we can all agree that any news on the NLS worth knowing will be published here, at Non League Daily.
In the 1970s, John Paul sported a then-popular Afro, complete with the neatly trimmed beard and mustache of those who hoped to be seen as hip.

But, over the years, popular notions about appropriate business appearance and the combined efforts of Father Time and his barber moved Paul toward a more traditional, business-like cut.

Now Paul, president and treasurer of Western Iowa Mutual Insurance in Council Bluffs, has agreed to a next step, to go bald  well, at least temporarily  to help fund juvenile cancer research.

Paul, with the blessing of his wife, Cathy, has volunteered to have his head shaved at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies CEO Roundtable on April 4. His goal is to raised $20,000 or more for a relatively new organization, the St. Baldricks Foundation, focused on raising money for juvenile cancer research.

Without my NAMIC family, I would not have been educated about St. Baldricks, Paul said. Our CEO, Chuck Chamness, has openly shared the story about his son, Joey, and his battle with cancer 12 years ago, and this is the cause I will support for the rest of my life.

Chamness, reached at his office in Indianapolis, said his son, now 20 and a sophomore at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, was diagnosed at the age of 8 with bone cancer. Some of the children Chamness met while Joey was being treated were not as fortunate in finding a cure as his son.

The first St. Baldricks event took place at a bar in New York City on March 17, 2000, the result of a challenge between three friends, all insurance industry executives, looking for a way to give back for their own good fortune in business.

One of the three, Enda McDonnell, sported a thick head of hair. His friend John Bender saw that hair as an opportunity and suggested they shave their heads for donations to raise funds for kids with cancer.

That initial event, with a goal of shaving 17 heads and raising $17,000, raised $104,000; a second event in 2001 upped the collection to $140,000. By 2002, the ongoing effort had raised more than $1 million.

This is an effort that has deep roots in the insurance industry, said Chamness, who will also go under the clipper at an event in Indianapolis next month. People like John Paul are what makes this effort so successful.

Those early efforts grew into the founding, in 2004, of the St. Baldricks Foundation, a combination of the words bald and St. Patricks, since the first event was held in 2000 on St. Patricks Day. Now, a little more than a decade later, the St. Baldricks Foundation funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government.

According to the foundations website, St. Baldricks awarded more than $22 million in 2016 to fund pediatric oncology researchers for a variety of grant categories.

Since 2005, St. Baldricks has awarded more than $200 million to support lifesaving research, making the St. Baldricks Foundation the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants.

In the last 20 years, only three new drugs were approved to specifically target cancer in children, Paul said. Keep in mind, over a dozen types of childhood cancer exist, each requiring unique research for development to maximize the best treatment for each child.

Referring to his wife and children, Paul said, Weve been so blessed as a family. Weve had no immediate family members with cancer.

This is not about me but about research toward a cure for childhood cancer through St. Baldricks, he said of his goal to raise $20,000 for the foundation. Lets work together to ensure that no child will ever be defeated by cancer. Any donations to this worthy cause are very much appreciated.

Those wishing to make a donation can go to stbaldricks.org/donate/event/12855/2017. Those wishing to make a donation by check can pick up a donation form at Western Iowa Mutual Insurance, 127 Pearl St., in Council Bluffs and mail the completed form with their check to St. Baldricks Foundation, 1333 S. Mayflower Avenue, Suite 400, Monrovia, CA 91016.
Some Iowa farmers considered silos indispensable to profitable livestock raising and dairying. Not only were they practical, but the structures were considered an ornament to any farm. The conical silo roof, with its curved walls, was said to add a very pleasing enhancement to any farmstead.

Five years ago, I was one of a half dozen farmers in this neighborhood who built silos. Now there are as many put up each year, which I consider good evidence that the silo is practical and has come to stay, an Iowa farmer remarked in 1908.

Typically, a team of five men worked to fill a silo. Two men were in the field cutting corn and piling it in bunches. Two others loaded the corn and fodder into horse-drawn wagons. One man kept the silage level as it was loaded into the silo.

A survey was conducted of farmers to get an idea of how many and what type of silos were around the state. There were 161 accounted for, 135 located outside barns and 26 inside. Most farmers thought it was a waste of indoor space to build a silo inside. Plus they were unhandy to fill, and they released objectionable odors.

The value of silos was becoming widely appreciated in 1908.

For the dairy herd, it is difficult to find its equal, a farmer said about silage.

He said he had needed to transfer his cows to a barn away from a silo when he was having some work done on the barn where he usually housed his cows. He claimed that during the time when his cows received no silage, their milk production decreased by a third.

Silage was being used more generally as steer feed.

Experts at the Iowa Agricultural College in Ames offered guidelines for feeding silage to livestock: Beef cattle  wintering calves, 8 months old, 15-25 pounds per day; sheep  fattening lambs, 2-3 pounds per day; dairy cattle, 30-50 pounds per day

The college had been experimenting with what they called the Iowa Silo. Thirteen were being used in various parts of the state. The average cost of a 16-by-35-foot silo with a concrete roof was between $300 and $350.

The foundations extended three to four feet below the frost line. Hard clay or a layer of cement was used for the floor. Reinforced concrete roofs were popular, but wooden ones were cheaper and effective in keeping the silage from freezing. Door frames were concrete, and doors were wood.

The walls of the Iowa Silo were specially designed hollow, hard-burned tiles, furnished by several Iowa manufacturers. The blocks were laid horizontally around the silo, and the joints were laid in cement mortar. Steel wire was laid between the courses of tiles for reinforcement.

Developers of the Iowa Silo claimed it would last for generations with few repairs. They said it was indestructible.
A video of a bear urinating while performing at a circus in Council Bluffs on Saturday has led animal activists to call for the company to be investigated.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals hosted the video of the bear, taken during a performance by the Tangier Shrine Circus at the Mid-America Center, peeing while walking on its front legs on a balancing beam.

Based on eyewitness video footage of a bear urinating in apparent distress when pulled by a leash and forced to walk on his or her front legs, the organization called for action.

The organization said the U.S. Department of Agriculture should investigate the act, known as Castles Bears, for perceived violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

In the video, the bear walks across the balance beam while being led by a circus performer, then down some steps before switching to its hind legs to sit in a chair.

In another video, a bear is led up the balance beam as the performer pulls on a chain connected to a muzzle.

The Tangier Shrine, based in Omaha, released a statement in the wake of the PETA video.

Tangier Shrine has been presenting a circus in the Omaha area for approximately 80 years, they said. We do our best to contract with a reputable circus promoter. Our current promoter has been with us for over 25 years. We are very concerned with the humane treatment of any animals involved with the circus. The Nonpareil was advised to direct any inquires to the promoter company, James Cristy Cole Circus. Requests for comment from the company were not immediately returned.

PETA offered to arrange for the transfer of the bears to a sanctuary and asked the Mid-America Center not to host exotic animal acts in the future and for Cristy Cole not to use exotic animal acts again.

Dragging sensitive bears from town to town and yanking them around for a circus show should have ended in the Dark Ages, said Brittany Peet, PETA Foundation director of captive animal law enforcement.
A bill lawmakers are expected to introduce soon could expand school choice options to families through a taxpayer-funded system known as Educational Savings Accounts, or ESAs.

While the controversial bill hasnt been introduced onto the House or Senate floor yet, area pundits and educators have mixed emotions on implementing an ESA program in Iowa.

Terms like ESAs and vouchers are commonly used interchangeably. While they both seek to achieve the same goal  to give families a choice when it comes to their childs education  the way the money is given is different.

A voucher is given directly to a school, while an ESA is more like a grant that is given directly to a parent or family. Through both programs, the state would estimate the cost per pupil, like it does with public schools now, and give that amount of money to each student. A family could then take that money and choose a public, private, parochial or home school.

When asked about the bill, Democratic Rep. Charles McConkey, who represents Carter Lake and western Council Bluffs, said he couldnt provide a timeline on when the bill would be introduced. But he said he had seen the bill and was concerned about the effect it could have on Iowas public education system.

I have a big problem with using taxpayer money for private schools because they can turn students down for any reason, McConkey said. They dont have some of the same criteria under the same restrictions that the public schools have.

Earlier this month, Republican lawmakers, who now control both houses of the Legislature after Novembers elections, increased supplemental state aid by 1.1 percent for the next fiscal year, adding an additional $40 million in spending to the states K-12 public schools.

While many public educators called the increase disappointing, lawmakers said the increase is all the state can responsibly spend amid a $110 million shortfall for the budget year that goes into effect in July.

This leaves many wondering where the funds for an ESA program would come from.

Were in a budget crisis shortfall, McConkey said. Weve historically underfunded public education for years, and now were going to take money away from them. We cant afford it  theres no money.

Rep. Mary Ann Hanusa, a Republican who represents central Council Bluffs, said a bill hadnt been introduced into the House regarding ESAs yet, but, if one should be, it would take time to work through.

This is a huge concept that represents a shift in thinking about how we spend education dollars, Hanusa said. A lot of details would have to be nailed down before something like this became a law. Its complex and big, and it would need to be given a lot of careful thought and consideration.

While Hanusa said she couldnt provide a yes or no when it came to supporting the bill since she hadnt seen it yet, she called ESAs a financial commitment.

We are in a very tight budget year, Hanusa said. We can look at the concept of the bill, but theres not money to fund something like that right now.

Even though a voucher or ESA program in Iowa doesnt currently exist, the state still funds more $40 million in private education through things like textbooks, supplies and transportation, McConkey said.

Council Bluffs Community School District Superintendent Martha Bruckner called ESAs dangerous, saying the program would siphon funds from public education.

The state of Iowa wants to give $6,500 to anyone who wants to homeschool and to anyone going to private school, Bruckner said. If the legislation is saying to us in public school we cant afford to give you more than $40 million this year, then where are they getting the money to give $6,500 to every child to go to private school or every child homeschooled? Because theyre saying they dont have it.

According to McConkey, the bill estimates that the ESA program could cost $185 million each year. Bruckner said while she isnt against private education, being a byproduct of private education herself, she is against funneling taxpayer money to unregulated private and parochial schools.

They can discriminate against educating children based on characteristics, Bruckner said. We dont feel like public dollars should go to organizations that do that. We are required not to discriminate.

David Schweitzer, president of St. Albert Catholic Schools in Council Bluffs, said he is in support of ESAs.

ESAs level the playing field for all Iowa families by removing barriers such as address and income level which can prevent some families from making their ideal school choice, Schweitzer.

While opponents of ESAs claim state tax dollars would go unregulated, Schweitzer said non-public schools, like St. Albert, face accreditation and achievement requirements from the state  and are therefore regulated by the state of Iowa.

Any public dollars spent on education are regulated by the state whether they are used in a public or non-public school setting, Schweitzer said. All public education funding is closely regulated in all schools, including parochial and non-public schools. ESA funds would also be regulated by the state.

Having worked as an educator for many years in both public and non-public schools, Schweitzer said hes seen students thrive in both settings.

When parents can choose the most fitting school for their children, students are more successful, parents are more satisfied, and the community benefits, Schweitzer said.

Heartland Christian School Executive Director Larry Gray said hes also in support of school choice. The all-Christian private school receives no state or federal funds and has survived on tuition and fundraising alone for many years, he said.

As a board and school and staff, weve prayed that God would open doors for us on vouchers, Gray said. Its important families afford Christian education, if thats what they desire, I do understand the fear, but we have great relationships with the public schools around us.
Nguyen Thi Xuan, 94, the Vietnamese wife of a former Japanese soldier, holds a framed portrait of her husband Shimizu at her home on the outskirts of Hanoi (AFP Photo/HOANG DINH NAM)

It's been more than sixty years since Nguyen Thi Xuan's husband, a Japanese soldier, left her in Vietnam, but the 94-year-old still sleeps with a body pillow she fashioned from his military uniform.

She is one of scores of Vietnamese women who fell in love with soldiers from Japan's occupying force, going on to carve a life with them at the end of the war.

But within a decade many of the men had abandoned them, often leaving their families in penury and facing accusations of treachery for setting up home with the enemy.

But Xuan has no axe to grind against the former occupiers -- least of all her husband.

"I miss him a lot. I can never forget my husband, because he was so nice," Xuan told AFP in her farming Vinh Thanh village on the outskirts of Hanoi.

Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will meet with families -- including Xuan's -- next week on a historic trip to Vietnam, a landmark visit for the former foes that have become cosy allies since diplomatic relations were established in 1973.

Xuan was pregnant with her fourth child when her husband Shimizu left in 1954 and says she received no support from either government despite his service.

"We suffered a lot" since he left, Xuan said, clutching a photo of her husband, who adopted the Vietnamese name Nguyen Van Duc while living in the country.

"I don't know how we overcame that period. I still feel scared thinking of that difficult past," she added.

She met Shimizu in 1943 during the 1940-1945 Japanese occupation of Vietnam, which had previously been under French colonial rule.

They married soon after. The young couple could only afford to serve biscuits and sweets to guests at their small wedding.

After Japan's defeat in World War II, around 700 of its soldiers stayed on, many of them joining forces with Vietnam's revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in his fight to secure independence from the French.

After France was defeated in 1954, Shimizu was among the first wave ordered to return home by Japanese authorities, who refused to accept their Vietnamese wives or children.

Story continues

- Bullying -

But Xuan remembers her husband as a "very nice man".

"I made a pillow from a military jacket he left behind for me, covering it with a (Vietnamese) flag. I imagined my husband was the star," she said, smiling while referring to the red and gold cascade.

"It means he is with me all the time, in my sleep."

She lost track of him after he left in 1954, until the couple was reunited by Japanese journalists in 2006, 52 years after they bid a sad farewell.

He had remarried, but she remained single, working as a nurse, a nanny and a farmhand to raise their children.

Life wasn't easy for her half Japanese children in their small village.

"There was discrimination. I fought with local residents who bullied us, saying we were children of Japanese fascists," said her youngest son Binh, 62.

Today, Japan is a leading investor in Vietnam and the country's top aid donor. Thousands of Vietnamese students travel to Japan to study every year, many coming home speaking fluent Japanese.

The royal couple's five-day trip from Tuesday follows a visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month.

Although none of Xuan's family has ever travelled there, Japan has shaped their lives.

Now in her twilight years, she still sings Japanese ballads she learned by heart and says she is eager to meet the emperor next week, offering no notes of bitterness.
DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / February 24, 2017 / AmeriCann, Inc. (ACAN), an Ag-Tech company that is developing sustainable, state-of-the-art medical cannabis cultivation properties discussed Thursday's White House regular news briefing.

AmeriCann has reviewed the Press Secretary's comments, in response to a reporter's question, related to the enforcement of federal regulations and the cannabis industry. Management is encouraged that the White House has acknowledged its support for state regulated medical marijuana programs.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer affirmed the President's support for medical cannabis and noted that states are entitled to regulate medical marijuana in accordance with state law.

Since inception, AmeriCann has been focused on serving the regulated medical marijuana industry.

AmeriCann, an Ag-Tech company, is developing a 53-acre property in Massachusetts as the Massachusetts Medical Cannabis Center (the "MMCC"). The MMCC is approved for 1 million square feet and is expected to be one of the most technologically advanced cultivation facilities in the nation.

The Massachusetts Medical Cannabis Center in Freetown, Massachusetts was designed and is being developed to support the medical cannabis industry. AmeriCann does not expect any impact to the development schedule of MMCC and to have the infrastructure open by the end of 2017.

Given that our current plans are exclusively for serving the medical market, a change in federal policy regarding the non-medical market, as Press Secretary Spicer suggested, would have no impact on our project or company.

With the passage of the Adult Use ballot initiative in November, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is not expecting regulations, licensing and commencement of Adult-Use cannabis sales to commence until the middle of 2018. There is not an existing regulated Adult-Use market in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker stated in the Boston Globe on Thursday that, "The voters of Massachusetts have spoken on this issue," when they approved recreational use in November, and emphasized the Baker administration will continue to work to "move forward" with the new law.

Story continues

Medical cannabis sales made up $437 million dollars in total sales during 2016 in Colorado. It is a significant segment of the overall cannabis industry. Massachusetts's medical cannabis market is just starting to develop and is expected to be comparable in size to Colorado when mature.

A Quinnipiac University Poll released on February 23rd, 2017 shows that 93% of Americans support medical marijuana. With the results of the November 2016 election results, over 60% of the US Population now live in states where medical cannabis is now legal. Of the 28 states that have implemented legal cannabis programs, only 8 have approved Adult-Use.

About AmeriCann

AmeriCann is a publicly traded Ag-Tech company that plans to develop sustainable, state-of-the-art medical cannabis cultivation properties throughout the country. The Company has over 1,000,000 square feet of facilities in the planning and design stages of development. The Company has designed a proprietary line of cannabis infused products which will be branded and licensed to companies in regulated markets.

AmeriCann, Inc. is a Certified B Corp, an acknowledgment of the company's commitment to social and environmental ethics, transparency and accountability. AmeriCann became the first public cannabis company to earn this respected accreditation. More information about the Company is available at: www.americann.co or follow AmeriCann on Twitter @ACANinfo

About Massachusetts Medical Cannabis Center

The Massachusetts Medical Cannabis Center is approved for nearly 1,000,000 square feet of medical cannabis cultivation and processing in Freetown, Massachusetts. The state-of-the-art, sustainable, greenhouse project will consist of multiple planned phases for licensed businesses in the Massachusetts medical marijuana market. AmeriCann's Cannopy System uniquely combines expertise from traditional horticulture, lean manufacturing, regulatory compliance and cannabis cultivation to create superior facilities and procedures.

The first phase of the project consists of 130,000 sq. ft. of cultivation and processing infrastructure. AmeriCann can expand the first phase to approximately 600,000 sq. ft., based on patient demand.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "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 (the "Exchange Act") (which Sections were adopted as part of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "prospects," "outlook," and similar words or expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "may," and "could" are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated results, performance or achievements. The Company disclaims any intention to, and undertakes no obligation to, revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, a future event, or otherwise. For additional uncertainties that could impact the Company's forward-looking statements, please see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2016, which the Company has filed with the SEC and which may be viewed at http://www.sec.gov.

Contact Information:

Corporate:

AmeriCann, Inc.

3200 Brighton Blvd. Unit 114

Denver, CO 80216

(303) 862-9000

info@americann.co

www.americann.co

@ACANinfo on Twitter

Investors:

Hayden IR

hart@haydenir.com

(917) 658-7878

SOURCE: AmeriCann, Inc.
Barely a month into the new Trump era, Americans are beginning to sour on President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress as the wheels begin to come off the GOP drive to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Voter displeasure with some GOP policies, particularly the effort to dismantle Obamacare instead of finding ways to improve it, have been welling up during town hall meetings held by Republican House and Senate members during a week-long congressional recess. And there are indications that the White House may renege on Trumps repeated pledge to unveil a comprehensive new health insurance plan sometime in the next few weeks.

Related: Why the GOP Plan for Medicaid Could Be a Bad Deal for the States

New surveys suggest that Trumps approval rating, historically low at the start of his first term in office, continues to plummet while voters fear the country is on the wrong track. They are questioning whether congressional leaders including House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) can make good on their partys top promises, including replacing Obamacare with a new conservative approach, overhauling the federal tax code, and bringing more jobs back from overseas.

Although most surveys show Trump in the low to mid 40s, a Quinnipiac University survey released on Wednesday found that 55 percent of Americans disapprove of Trumps job performance compared with only 38 percent who approve of it. This 17-point gap in public approval of Trump is the widest since he took office in mid-January. Several other new polls find a smaller disparity, ranging from five points to 10 points.

President Trumps popularity is sinking like a rock," Tim Malloy, the assistant director of the poll, said in a statement releasing the findings. He gets slammed on honesty, empathy, level headedness and the ability to unite. And two of his strong points, leadership and intelligence, are sinking to new lows. This is a terrible survey one month in.

Story continues

A new YouGov/ Economist poll found that 56 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing, compared to 19 percent who approve of whats going on in Washington, while 53 percent say the country is going in the wrong direction.

Related: Are Republicans Losing Momentum on Obamacare Repeal?

At the same time, voter sentiment about the long-troubled Obamacare program continues to improve  with many more interested in seeing Congress fix the problems that are driving up premiums and driving insurers out of the market instead of dismantling a program that has insured more than 20 million Americans.

A new Morning Consult/Politico poll found that 51 percent of voters still support repealing Obamacare  with far more Republicans than Democrats taking that stand. But that is down from 58 percent at the beginning of the year, before it became painfully obvious that Trump and the congressional Republicans have been unable to agree on a replacement plan that could pass muster with a majority of lawmakers and key health care interests and consumers.

A total of 32 percent of American voters are very concerned or somewhat concerned that they will lose their current health insurance if the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, is repealed, according to another Quinnipiac University survey. A total of 68 percent are not so concerned or not concerned at all.

Armed by their leaders with only vague talking points of what a GOP replacement plan might look like, GOP lawmakers are being hammered by constituents from both parties at recent town hall meetings across the country. The latest victim was Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a rising star in his party, who was grilled for nearly two hours last night by many of the 2,000 angry constituents who packed an auditorium in Springdale, Ark.

Related: The GOPs Big Tax Dilemma: Repealing Obamacare Taxes

Some told Cotton that they were alive today thanks to their Obamacare coverage and demanded to know what he and the Republicans intended to go to continue providing coverage to millions of Americans, especially those with serious pre-existing health problems. One woman said her husband is dying and challenged Cotton to sit down with her and her family to learn about their experiences, according to the Huffington Post.

You want to stand there . . . and expect us to be calm, cool and collected, she said. Well, what kind of insurance do you have?

Trump and other GOP leaders have been pooh-poohing the large turnout of protesters at recent town hall events, suggesting that they were mostly paid agitators put up by the Democrats and liberal political action groups. But its likely that the protests that have been garnering widespread media attention have Republican leaders rattled.

Trump has long promised to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a plan that would provide better and less expensive health insurance and repeatedly promised last month to unveil a fabulous plan shortly after his new health and human services secretary, Tom Price, was confirmed by the Senate.

Source: RealClearPolitics

Just on Wednesday, Trump boasted during a meeting with his economic and budget advisers that planning for a replacement health care plan is moving along nicely, and that within the next few weeks he would submit something that people will be very impressed by.

But whether Trump has been simply lying until now or is beginning to get cold feet amid signs the repeal and replace movement is imploding, the administration just sent a message that Trump may be pulling back and leaving the heavy political lift to Ryan, McConnell and other Republican congressional leaders.

According to a report by John Harwood of CNBC, Price, a former Georgia congressman, has told House Republicans that the administration wouldnt be sending lawmakers a specific bill. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), a veteran lawmaker closely allied with the leadership, told CNBC that Price and the administration will cooperate and provide input into what we do but that it wouldnt be sending us a bill.

Related: The Potential Cost of Obamacare Repeal: 32 Million Without Insurance

In fairness, former President Barack Obama encouraged Democratic leaders, including then-Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus, to take the lead in drafting the Affordable Care Act legislation in 2009. But Trump has led everyone to expect that his new administration would provide a solid framework for the scores of ideas that have been circulated by House and Senate lawmakers for months.

Without Trump getting behind a plan and vigorously pushing for its passage, the GOP drive to complete action on a budget reconciliation package to repeal and replace Obamacare this spring could collapse of its own weight.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
March and April will bring a clash of flagships as LG and Samsung square off. It's LG's G6 against Samsung's Galaxy S8, two of this year's anticipated high-end smartphones.

4 Reviews

After months of hearsay, we're finally getting unambiguous answers about two powerful flagships of 2017: Samsung's Galaxy S8 (along with the S8+) and LG's G6. These smartphones are mentioned in the same breath as they are both Korean, both have similar release dates and both of these phones are targeted at high-end consumers.

LG is on a clock to get the G6 out the door before the S8 hits the market, so they're going to begin releasing the G6 in South Korea on March 10, not long after its announcement at Mobile World Congress. The G6 will be available for pre-order on March 2.

Samsung will officially announce the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in New York on March 29 with a worldwide release date of April 21. This runs counter to previous rumors that Samsung would first begin selling its two flagships in South Korea a week prior to its international release. Instead, they are opting to launch the S8 and S8+ everywhere at the same time, which they said was to help better manage the supply of the phones.

Samsung has yet to announce a pre-order date, but based on past evidence, Samsung tends to start taking pre-orders around a week before its intended release date.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb 24, 2017) -

Highlights:

Measured and Indicated Resources of 7.34 million ounces at 1.44 g/t Au and Inferred Resources of 1.43 million ounces at 1.43 g/t Au, as at December 31, 2016

Mineral Resource Estimate includes updated constraining parameters, in line with best practice

Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 4.82 million ounces at 1.57 g/t Au, post Nkran mining depletion of 270,471 ounces, representing no material change to the global reserve inventory.

Increased exploration program in highly prospective belt expected to add additional ounces in 2017

Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (AKG)(NYSE MKT:AKG) today publishes updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates, as at 31 December 2016, for the Asanko Gold Mine ("AGM"), located in Ghana, West Africa, as part of its annual filings. A technical presentation is also available on the Asanko website at: www.asanko.com.

The updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates reflect depletion from the first two years of mining, the application of updated constraining parameters for resource modelling, and includes the three deposits discovered in 2016; Akwasiso, Nkran Extension and Adubiaso Extension, two additional pits at Esaase, as well as an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Nkran pit, which has been prepared by a second independent expert CSA Global ("CSA"), a leading mineral consulting group.

Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Resource Estimate (Measured & Indicated) Tonnes

(Mt) Grade

(g/t Au) Ounces

(Moz) Nov 2014 DPP Resource (unconstrained pit shell) 144.26 1.71 7.94 Depleted Dec 2016 DPP (with constraining parameters) 143.46 1.61 7.42 Updated Dec 2016 MRE (with constraining parameters) 158.27 1.44 7.34 Variance between Depleted Dec 2016 DPP and Updated Dec 2016 MRE +10% -10% -1%

Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Reserve Estimate (Proven & Probable) Tonnes

(Mt) Grade

(g/t Au) Ounces

(Moz) Nov 2014 DPP Reserve 97.10 1.68 5.24 Dec 2016 DPP Reserves based on Depleted Resources 91.48 1.68 4.94 Dec 2016 Reserves based on Updated Resources 95.41 1.57 4.82 Variance between Dec 2016 DPP Reserves (Depleted Resources) and Dec 2016 Reserves (Updated Resources) +4% -6% -2%

Commenting on the announcement, Peter Breese, President and CEO, said, "Our global gold reserves have remained largely unchanged at 5 million ounces, supported by the successful 2016 near mine exploration program which added over 300,000 low cost ounces to the mineral inventory, offsetting mining depletion. We are very excited by the exploration potential that the AGM complex holds and anticipate adding more ounces to our resource base during 2017 from a considerable list of near mine high priority targets.

Story continues

Our understanding of the complex Nkran mineralization continues to evolve as we mine deeper into the main ore zones. Although two respected independent experts have reached different conclusions regarding grades and tonnes of this complex ore body, the contained ounce profile remains very similar at a 0.5 g/t cut off. However, to be prudent, we have elected to use the more conservative CSA resource model for our corporate reporting, life of mine planning and future capital expenditure projects. As we start to develop and open up more pits, commencing with Dynamite Hill in H2 2017, the multi-pit nature of the AGM complex offers considerable flexibility and optionality through the life of the asset.

We are advancing with the Project 5M expansion, which will be funded from internal cash flows at current gold prices. Detailed engineering is progressing on schedule and all long lead items have been ordered. We expect to have the plant upgrade complete during H2 2017.

The updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate will now form the basis for a revised life of mine plan and multi-pit schedule, which is the final component of the Expansion DFS. Due to the complexity in planning a schedule for 11 different pits and the detailed design process, we now anticipate publishing the expansion feasibility study in Q2 2017. This will coincide with the completion of detailed engineering for the plant upgrade and the overland conveyor and an updated Control Budget Estimate for all our growth projects."

CSA Global Review

The new Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for Nkran is the outcome of a third party external audit carried out by CSA, which was commissioned by the Company in mid-2016. The scope of the review was for CSA to verify the modelling techniques applied by CJM Consulting ("CJM") to the original November 2014 Definitive Project Plan ("DPP) MRE (see press release dated November 13, 2014) and to verify the Company's grade control, mining, reconciliation methodology and the mine to metal accounting. The audit concluded that the MRE modelling methodology was appropriate for the style of mineralization at Nkran and that the grade control, mining, reconciliation methodology and the mine to metal accounting that was implemented at the mine was excellent.

As part of the audit, CSA also reviewed the geological modelling of Nkran, given the complex nature of the structural controls associated with the Nkran mineralization. The Nkran pit gold mineralization is controlled by a combination of sandstone rock units enclosed by steep shear structures and a later cross cutting and shallow dipping vein style of mineralization. The challenge for mineral resource estimation is the integration of the gold mineralization associated with both of these structures. CSA concurred with the Company's geological interpretation and acknowledge the existence of the flat structures but downplay the contribution of gold from them into the block model.

CSA compiled the MRE for Nkran and Dynamite Hill, and reviewed the Esaase Main pit MRE and concurred with the CJM estimate. CJM compiled the MRE for all the other deposits.

Mineral Resource Estimate

The MRE has been updated as at December 31, 2016 following two years of mining operations at the Nkran pit, infill drilling at the Dynamite Hill deposit, and the discovery and evaluation of the Akwasiso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension deposits.

In line with best practice, the AGM MRE has also been updated from previous Mineral Resources (using a 0.3 g/t Au waste determination and a 0.8 g/t Au cut-off) to Mineral Resources above a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au within a US$2,000 per ounce gold pit shell. The resultant resource estimate is fully compliant with the intent of the CIM 2014 Code (Canada) with respect to stating mineral resources that have a reasonable prospect of eventual economic extraction.

With regards to Nkran, the reserve has been depleted by 270,471 ounces during 2015 and 2016 due to mining operations through to the end of December 2016. In addition, the application of the constraining parameters has resulted in a further 352,000 ounce reduction when compared to the original unconstrained November 2014 DPP MRE. The MRE includes the grade control drilling data on a 10m x 5m grid below the December 31, 2016 pit floor.

Analysis was conducted using uniform conditioning, indicated kriging and ordinary kriging to align the mineral resource estimate methodology to reflect the reconciliation of production during 2016. The sensitivity of the indicated kriging method for ore zone delineation was analyzed in detail and the method confirmed to be appropriate for the Nkran style of mineralization.

During Q4 2016, additional infill drilling was completed at Dynamite Hill, which increased the resource estimate from 110,000 ounces to 180,000 ounces.

The Phase 1 drilling program at the Akwasiso deposit has provided the basis for an initial MRE. The Company is currently completing a second phase of drilling (4,800 metres) which aims to upgrade the considerable inferred resource at this pit to an Indicated classification. The results are expected in H2 2017.

There have been other incremental increases in the satellite pits due to an adjustment of Whittle input parameters such as an improved fuel price, mining and processing costs, process plant throughput and gold recovery rates.

Table 1: Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Resource Estimate (as at December 31, 2016)

Deposit Measured Indicated Total (M&I) Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Esaase Main 26.64 1.37 1.17 65.50 1.37 2.89 92.14 1.37 4.06 Nkran 5.58 1.67 0.30 34.71 1.68 1.87 40.29 1.68 2.17 Abore 2.30 1.39 0.10 4.68 1.33 0.20 6.98 1.35 0.30 Dynamite Hill - - - 3.80 1.45 0.18 3.80 1.45 0.18 Akwasiso - - - 4.61 1.20 0.18 4.61 1.20 0.18 Adubiaso 0.83 2.35 0.06 1.57 1.89 0.10 2.40 2.05 0.16 Esaase D 0.97 1.09 0.03 1.35 1.39 0.06 2.33 1.26 0.09 Esaase B 0.87 0.99 0.03 2.21 0.76 0.05 3.08 0.82 0.08 Asuadai - - - 1.97 1.21 0.08 1.97 1.21 0.08 Adubiaso Ext. 0.16 1.94 0.01 0.31 1.59 0.02 0.47 1.71 0.03 Nkran Ext. - - - 0.20 2.61 0.02 0.20 2.61 0.02 Total 37.36 1.42 1.71 120.91 1.45 5.63 158.27 1.44 7.34

Notes: All pits are at a cut-off of 0.5g/t Au within a US$2,000 per ounce of gold pit shell. Nkran includes depletion of 5.08Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 270,471 ounces. All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding. CSA Global undertook the MRE for Nkran and Dynamite Hill and reviewed the Esaase Main pit. CJM undertook and completed updates to the MRE on Abore, Asuadai, Esaase B and D zones, Akwasiso, Adubiaso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension.

Table 2: Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Resource Estimate (as at December 31, 2016)

Deposit Inferred Mt g/t Au Moz Esaase Main 0.95 1.37 0.04 Nkran 1.69 1.77 0.10 Abore 5.37 1.44 0.25 Dynamite Hill 1.19 1.43 0.05 Akwasiso 3.85 1.56 0.19 Adubiaso 0.30 1.98 0.02 Esaase D 1.17 1.24 0.05 Esaase B 2.46 0.84 0.07 Asuadai 0.92 1.61 0.05 Adubiaso Ext. 0.24 2.55 0.02 Nkran Ext. 0.02 1.12 0.00 Total 18.17 1.43 0.83

Notes: All pits are at a cut-off of 0.5g/t Au within a US$2,000 per ounce of gold pit shell. Nkran includes mining depletion 5.08Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 270,471 ounces. All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding. CSA Global undertook the MRE for Nkran and Dynamite Hill and reviewed the Esaase Main pit. CJM undertook and completed updates to the MRE on Abore, Asuadai, Esaase B and D zones, Akwasiso, Adubiaso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension.

Mineral Reserve Estimate

The Mineral Reserve Estimate ("MRev") update process commenced with the depletion of the 2014 November DPP MRev to the Nkran pit bottom, as at December 31, 2016. Since the re-commencement of mining operations at the Nkran pit in 2015, 5.08 million tonnes ("Mt") of ore have been mined at a grade average of 1.66 g/t Au for a total of 270,471 ounces of gold.

The mining depletion of the 2014 November DPP MRev reduced the reserve ounces in Nkran from 2.2Moz to 1.9Moz over the last two years, resulting in a 14% reduction in the Nkran reserve base, although this translated to only a 6% reduction in global DPP reserves.

The reserves for Nkran have been updated based on the more conservative CSA resource model, which has impacted the size and strip ratio of the final Nkran pit. This updated MRev reduced the Nkran ounces from 1.9Moz to 1.47Moz, a reduction of 23%. However, with the addition of new reserves for Akwasiso, Adubiaso Extension and Nkran Extension, as well as the reserves for Dynamite Hill, Abore and Asuadai, the global Mineral Reserves for the AGM complex have only been reduced by 2%.

Table 3: Asanko Gold Mine Global Mineral Reserve Estimate (as at December 31, 2016)

Deposit Proven Probable Total Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Mt g/t Au Moz Esaase Main 22.8 1.40 1.03 36.5 1.38 1.62 59.39 1.39 2.65 Nkran 3.96 1.98 0.25 18.57 2.04 1.22 22.53 2.03 1.47 Abore 1.35 1.62 0.07 1.77 1.70 0.01 3.12 1.66 0.17 Adubiaso 0.96 2.19 0.07 1.23 1.92 0.08 2.19 2.04 0.14 Dynamite Hill 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.62 1.60 0.13 2.62 1.60 0.13 Akwasiso 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.03 1.38 0.13 3.03 1.38 0.13 Asuadai 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.08 1.23 0.04 1.08 1.23 0.04 Nkran Ext. 0.24 1.98 0.02 0.26 1.79 0.01 0.50 1.88 0.03 Esaase D 0.20 1.05 0.01 0.40 1.70 0.02 0.62 1.50 0.03 Adubiaso Ext. 0.11 2.26 0.01 0.10 1.68 0.01 0.22 1.98 0.01 Esaase B 0.10 0.83 0.00 0.00 0.92 0.00 0.13 0.85 0.00 Total 29.8 1.52 1.45 65.6 1.60 3.37 95.41 1.57 4.82

Notes: Nkran includes depletion since February 2015 of 5.08Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 270,471 ounces. Reserves excludes the ROM stockpile of 1.52Mt at 1.36 g/t Au for 66,669 ounces and the marginal stockpile of 0.43Mt at 0.67 g/t Au for 9,121 ounces. All pits are at a cut-off of 0.8g/t Au, except Esaase Main, Esaase B and D zones, which are at a cut-off of 0.6g/t Au. Reserves estimated at a US$1,300/oz gold price. All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding. Only Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources were converted to Mineral Reserves.

Expansion DFS Update

The updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate will now form the basis for a revised life of mine plan and multi-pit schedule, which is the final component of the Expansion Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS"). The detailed designs on all the AGM pits are being updated using current actual mining costs, improved diesel prices and improved gold recovery rates. Integral to the redesign and multi-pit schedule is a cut-off grade optimization that is also being run to confirm the best NPV outcomes for each pit.Due to the complexity in planning and scheduling 11 different pits and the associated optimization processes, the Company now expects to publish the Expansion DFS in Q2 2017.

Front End Engineering and Design ("FEED") for the plant upgrade and the overland conveyor from Esaase is progressing well and on schedule for completion in Q2 2017. Orders have been placed on all long lead items and the plant upgrade to increase throughput to 5Mtpa is anticipated to be installed and completed in H2 2017. The Company is well positioned to finance Project 5M from internal cash flow at US$1,250/oz gold price.

Qualified Person Statements

Malcolm Titley (CSA Global Principal Geologist; AIG), is the Qualified Person for the sign off of the Nkran and Dynamite Hill MRE. Charles J. Muller, (B.Sc. Geology (Hons), PR.Sci.Nat., MGSSA, a Director of CJM Consulting Pty Ltd. ("CJM") of Johannesburg, South Africa) is the Qualified Person for the sign off of the Esaase Main, Esaase B and D zones, Abore, Adubiaso, Adubiaso Extension, Asuadai, Akwasiso and Nkran Extension MRE. The MREv are reported in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 requirements and the South African Code of Reporting of Exploration Results (SAMREC), which is consistent with the CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines in Canada. Mr Titley and Mr. Muller have reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release. Phil Bentley, Asanko Executive: Geology and Resources (Pr.Sci.Nat.) is the Asanko Qualified Person under NI 43-101 guidelines who assumes technical responsibility for Mineral Resource contents of this news release.

The Reserve Statements were all prepared by Thomas Obiri-Yeboah, B.Sc. Mining Engineering (Hons), PR.Eng, a Senior Mining Engineer of DRA Mining (Pty) Ltd. ("DRA") of Johannesburg, South Africa. The reserve is reported in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 requirements, which is consistent with the CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines in Canada. Frederik Fourie, Asanko Senior Mine Engineer (Pr.Eng.) is the Asanko Qualified Person under NI 43-101 who assumes responsibility for the Mineral Reserve contents of this news release. Mr. Obiri-Yeboah has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

About Asanko Gold Inc.

Asanko's vision is to become a mid-tier gold mining company that maximizes value for all its stakeholders. The Company's flagship project is the multi-million ounce Asanko Gold Mine located in Ghana, West Africa. Asanko is managed by highly skilled and successful technical, operational and financial professionals. The Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighboring communities.

Forward-Looking and other Cautionary Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address estimated resource quantities, grades and contained metals, possible future mining, exploration and development activities, are forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes the forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices for metals, the conclusions of detailed feasibility and technical analyses, the timely renewal of key permits, lower than expected grades and quantities of resources, mining rates and recovery rates and the lack of availability of necessary capital, which may not be available to the Company on terms acceptable to it or at all. The Company is subject to the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and business conditions. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's annual Form 20-F filing with the United States Securities Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

Neither Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note to US Investors Regarding Mineral Reporting Standards:

Asanko has prepared its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Terms relating to Mineral Resources in this press release are defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects under the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. The Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. Asanko uses certain terms, such as, "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources", "Inferred Mineral Resources" and "Probable Mineral Reserves", that the SEC does not recognize (these terms may be used in this press release and are included in the public filings of Asanko which have been filed with securities commissions or similar authorities in Canada).
By Rajendra Jadhav, Mai Nguyen and Panarat Thepgumpanat

HANOI/BANGKOK/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian rice prices fell as overseas demand waned while prices in Vietnam rose with some traders speeding up purchases to complete their signed February export orders amid thin supplies.

India's 5-percent broken parboiled rice prices edged down by $3 per tonne this week to $373 to $378 per tonne as exports slowed down after weeks of strong demand.

"African buyers are reducing purchases after buying actively in the last few weeks. Prices rose sharply in the last one month compared to prices in Thailand and Vietnam," said an exporter based at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

India, the world's biggest rice exporter, is likely to produce a record high 108.86 million tonnes of rice in the 2016/2017 crop year, its farm ministry said on Wednesday.

The country's 2016 exports of the grain fell 10 percent annually to 10.1 million tonnes, according to a December U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization report. India mainly exports non-basmati rice to African countries and premier basmati rice to the Middle East.

"The downside in Indian export prices is limited. Rupee has been appreciating consistently in last few weeks and slashing exporters' margin," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.

In Vietnam, the world's third largest rice exporter, the 5-percent broken rice prices rose to $350-$355 a tonne, from $345-$350 a tonne a week earlier, traders said. Local prices have risen even stronger, they added.

"Harvest has started but has been only a little, while some traders are willing to pay a higher price to complete their previously signed Philippine contracts," said a Ho Chi Minh City-based trader.

Prices rose on expectations of potential orders from the Philippines, but could fall in the next two weeks when Vietnam fully enters the main harvest season which lasts until end-March, said another Vietnamese trader.

Meanwhile, prices in Thailand were stable at around $350-$355 a tonne for the 5-percent broken rice, free-on-board Bangkok, and the best offer could reach $355-$360, traders said.

Story continues

"As for overseas orders, they are still small, nothing big. As for next week's prices, it should remain steady and around the current range which is normal for the market at around this time of year," a Bangkok-based trader said.

"New crops will come into play around March and the government has closed bidding on rice in its stockpile," the trader added.

Thailand's Ministry of Commerce has set a target to offload its 8-million tonnes of stockpile by the end of the year. The country exported 1.6 million tonnes of rice during Jan. 1- Feb. 14, up 9.9 percent annually, the ministry said.

(Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi, Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by Vyas Mohan)
Piano lessons and violin lessons were a major part of my early life.

My parents started me on piano when I was just 4  years old. At the age of 8, Dad loved the sound of a violin and started me in violin lessons.

For years I took lessons on both instruments, and my parents made sure I spent at least a half hour a day practicing on each. Charles DeHeart was my piano teacher, and Mr. Hardwick, I forget his first name, taught me violin.

The gift of music was certainly God-given, but talent alone is not enough. Practice is what refined the talent and made it something special for me and for those who listened to me.

Mom and Dad sacrificed a lot to make sure I had the best teachers. They also expected a lot from me, and I did my best to honor them by sticking with my lessons.

Dad had a particularly fine ear for music. When I would be practicing, he would listen even as he worked in the yard or in the house.

Whenever I would make a mistake, he never missed it. I would hear his voice from the backyard, That was wrong, play it again.

Many times I was frustrated with him, but obediently I played it again and again until I got it right. Through that process, I believe I learned how to persevere and work through the lessons of life as well, although I still havent matured in some areas.

Mom sometimes worked two jobs, while Dad worked as much overtime as he could so they could pay for those lessons. The priority was to help me to establish a foundation for a possible future career in music.

Having started so young, there were times I took music for granted. I always enjoyed practicing and performing, but I dont know if I ever took it that seriously.

I was more interested in having fun than growing up and when I became old enough to be out on my own, I suffered through many setbacks due to a lack of discipline in some areas of life.

When I reached high school, my parents thought I needed a violin suitable for my talent. They talked with my teacher and decided to buy an instrument that would grow with me.

It was suggested that they purchase a beautiful violin crafted by William Wilkanowski, a Polish-American violinmaker, who was born in 1886. The body was the most beautiful wood with a soft caramel color, and the grain of the wood swirled artistically.

At the time, I was about 14 or 15 years old and the cost of the violin was $350. The bow was somewhere in the neighborhood of $100. Of course, that was a lot of money for my parents to come up with, but they did it anyway.

Dad made me work extra hard to help pay for it. He was a bricklayer and had a side business building fences and small buildings. I worked for him as a helper and mixed cement and lugged cement blocks and bricks up and down scaffolding.

When we would get home from a job, whether I was tired or not, I would take a bath and practice my piano and violin.

After I left home for college and subsequently took a left turn into the dark world of drugs and alcohol, I had trouble finding my way.

My cousin Charlie and I formed a duo and began playing nightclubs across the central states. The beautiful violin went with me, and although I didnt play it all that much, I still loved it.

We got a nice gig in Butte, Montana, and realized when we got there our equipment was less than adequate for the job. We went to a music store in downtown Butte and found what we needed.

One problem, we didnt have any money. I decided to see what I could get for my violin from the store.

Ill never forget the look in the store owners eyes when he saw it. It was clear he knew I had a valuable instrument.

I, on the other hand, did not appreciate its value, not only monetarily, but emotionally. I traded it away for a few thousand dollars worth of music equipment and walked away, leaving my dads heart on the shelf.

Today my heart is still broken over that decision. Tears fill my eyes as I wonder where that instrument now lives.

Certainly we make wrong choices many times in our lives, but that is one that is difficult to digest even these many years later. God has granted me peace about it, but those emotions still come up from time to time.

I am grateful I can share the gift of music with you all from time to time, even if it is not on the instrument of my dads dreams.
A McCook Community College history and government instructor is sharing his passion for travel and photography  specifically two African trips featuring a wide variety of wildlife photographs.

Dr. Doug Clouatres African photography is open at the Wrightstone Fine Art Gallery on the MCC campus through March 3.

Clouatre has traveled extensively, visiting 90 different countries. Following his second trip last summer to Madagascar, Rwanda and Kenya, he showed MCC Art Instructor Rick Johnson some of his shots: silverback gorillas in Rwanda, cheetahs in Kenya and a baby cobra in Botswana.

I took one look at his shots and told him we needed to display them at the gallery as part of a show, Johnson said.

With photos from so many countries to choose from, Clouatre decided to display the most recent photos from his trip last summer and combined them with his 2001 African trip to the Serengeti.

If you like looking at animals, this will probably be interesting to you, he said.

Narrowing down photos from the 17 African countries hes visited may have been the most difficult task in preparation for this show.

One of his favorite shots exhibited is from a camping trip in Botswana where nine lions are gathered after taking down an elephant. But he also likes the ringtail lemurs he encountered in the rainforest, the whale he photographed breaching off the coast or the black mamba.

Clouatre is a 1998 graduate of the University of Tennessee with a Ph.D in political science. He teaches history and American government at MCC.

He has published two books, Presidents and their Justices in 2010 and Presidential Upsets in 2013.

My goal is to travel to 100 countries before I turn 50, he said. This summer he plans to see Asia and if all goes well, hell top the 100 mark next summer.

Photography was a natural extension to his passion for traveling and documenting those travels, so almost all of his photographs are from a Canon 35 mm with a 300 mm telephoto lens.

The Wrightstone Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Monday through Friday and until 9:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Routes, drop-off, pick-up may change but the safety of students comes first

The days of walking uphill both ways to school and back are long gone. Because of open enrollment, many schools have dozens of students riding buses from towns miles away.

For safety, many schools dont just expect parents to meet their students at the bus stop  students wont be dropped off until their designated contact arrives.

Regional schools bus procedures differ, but administrators all say student safety comes first.

Many schools that provide busing designate a public business, subdivision or park as a bus stop.

Maywood Public Schools has offered busing for two or three years, and Interim Superintendent Cynthia Huff says there are still some glitches in procedure. On a recent early-out day, volunteers offered to wait with students left at a designated stop until parents arrived.

I think the parent forgot were going to be out early, Huff said. Before the next early dismissal, the school plans to call parents the day before, she added.

Typically, a bus driver will wait five to 10 minutes for the last parent to arrive before contacting parents to ask them to meet at the school, Huff said.

Bus drivers for Hershey Public Schools follow similar rules after school, often calling Jeremy Thomas, transportation director, when a parent doesnt arrive on time. Sometimes the bus cant wait.

Weve had times when we had to keep the bus route going, said Thomas, who added that the driver will often take the student back to school or the designated drop-off when the route is complete.

At the beginning of the year, Hershey bus drivers get to know parents, practice routes and learn which students take the bus and when  many only take the bus on certain days or only after school. Twenty to 40 kids take the bus home from Hershey, including two buses carrying 20 to 25 option-enrolled students, Thomas said.

Students have two or three minutes to meet the bus in the morning. After school, bus riders head to the school gym, where they meet their drivers and walk to the bus.

Really all our drivers do a great job, Thomas said.

New bus riders and their guardians meet with Thomas to learn the process. If someone different from usual will pick up a student, Thomas said, the family just has to leave a note with the school secretary. This procedure is standard across area schools.

Hershey also buses students in its district outside town, as well as those who live north of U.S. Highway 30 in Hershey. When those students are dropped off at home, a parent or adult must be present, unless an older student has permission to be home alone, Thomas said.

Bus drivers for Wallace Public Schools pick up students from their homes, even those who are option-enrolled, said Superintendent Thomas Sandberg. Many of those students come from Perkins County, Sandberg said. Some students meet at a centrally located home. Wallace has a designated stop off U.S. Highway 83 for North Platte students. Wallace has 57 option-enrolled students from North Platte, Elsie and elsewhere in Perkins County, Sutherland, Hershey and Hayes Center. One family that lives quite a ways away qualifies for mileage reimbursement because of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program requirements, Sandberg said.

As in Hershey, a parent must be present for Wallace bus drivers to drop a student off at home. If no one is home, bus drivers will call the parents directly, Sandberg said.

Not all students who live far from school need to take a bus. Some can drive themselves. In Nebraska, students can earn a school permit at age 14 if they live more than a mile and a half from school and live or attend school outside a town with more than 5,000 people.

McPherson County Schools and Stapleton Public Schools have one primary bus stop for option-enrolled students, located in North Platte. Stapleton Superintendent Clayton Waddle added that bus drivers in Stapleton also stop at one designated area and neighborhood north of North Platte between Stapleton Public Schools and the primary stop.

McPherson County doesnt offer busing to its students inside the district. Most of its students either live in North Platte or near enough not to need a bus, said Superintendent Lorrie Miller. Students living in Ringgold used to be bused to school in Tryon, Miller said. Should there ever be a surplus of students in that area, the school would resume the route, he said.

Most of the 55 option-enrolled students in Stapleton come from North Platte. Some come from Arnold and McPherson County, but drive themselves or siblings to school, or have a parent who is employed by the school. Though McPherson County and Stapleton share a bus stop, Waddle said he cannot remember a case of a student boarding the wrong bus. Drivers meet the students at the bus and help them load their backpacks in the storage space underneath, giving students and drivers plenty of contact, he said.

Sutherland and North Platte do not provide buses to their option-enrolled students. Tami Eshleman, associate superintendent at North Platte Public Schools, said there are too few option-in students in North Platte  less than 35  and they come from a number of area towns. Sutherland Superintendent Dan Keyser noted that Nebraska law does not require a school to provide transportation to students unless they meet SNAP requirements. Sutherland currently has 20 students who option in.

All schools said bus routes are re-evaluated yearly.

Every year it changes, Thomas said.
Plight of company towns: Finding a new identity

PEORIA, Ill. (AP)  Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis planned to open this years State of the City speech by thanking Caterpillar Inc. for its longtime commitment to the central Illinois town, declaring, We wouldnt be Peoria without Caterpillar.

Its been that way for decades in Peoria and in other company towns across the United States. A major employer provided generations of locals with jobs and gave the cities a central identity, while executives helped keep cultural institutions, Rotary clubs and higher-end housing markets healthy.

Now many of those midsize communities are looking for a new identity as more companies trade their longtime hometowns for major cities with easier access to global markets and to the lifestyle talented young workers want, with public transit, nightlife and trendy restaurants.

Caterpillars recent decision to move 300 top headquarters jobs to the Chicago area made Peoria the latest city with a vacuum to fill. In 2014, Decatur, Illinois, lost Archer Daniels Midlands headquarters to Chicago after 40 years in the town. ConAgra Foods moved 1,000 jobs last year from Omaha to Chicago.

Some companies also are leaving suburban areas for downtowns, though the suburbs are still a popular choice. General Electric is moving its executives from a suburban campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, to downtown Boston, and McDonalds said last year it will relocate to downtown Chicago from a sprawling headquarters in suburban Oak Brook.

A study by the virtual think tank CityObservatory.org found the number of jobs located within three miles of the city center grew by nearly 2 percent between 2011 and 2014, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Center city jobs grew slightly faster than those in the periphery in one recent seven-year period, a reversal from much of the past several decades.

I dont know that Id call it a trend yet but it certainly is becoming one, said Tom Murphy, a former Pittsburgh mayor and senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute. Maybe for the first time in history, rather than having people follow where jobs are ... were beginning to see jobs following people instead.

By a 2-to-1 margin, young college graduates are now choosing a place to live first, then finding a job, said Joe Cortright, director of CityObservatory.org.

For companies recruiting top talent, the biggest competitive advantage is to be in the city, Cortright said.

The change is adding to the divide between urban and smaller communities in the U.S., especially in the Midwest, which is beset with sagging manufacturing industries.

We joke about that theres the great state of Chicago, and then theres the rest of Illinois, said Bishop Harold Dawson Jr., a lifelong Peoria resident and pastor of New Life Christian Church.

Like many locals, Dawson can rattle off a list of relatives whose livelihoods in Peoria have depended on Caterpillar. The company known as CAT for short established its first plant in Peoria in 1909 and employs more than 12,000 workers in the area, even after several layoffs.

The city of about 110,000 has been trying to breathe more life into its downtown and a scenic stretch along the Illinois River. But while new restaurants, coffee shops and apartments are opening, Ardis acknowledged few people would call the area dynamic. And parts of the citys core are seeing growing poverty.

The headquarters move has been a blow to the citys collective morale.

There is emotion around the decision, said Jeff Griffin, president of the Peoria Area Chamber. Peoria is not unique in that tragedy across the country.

Griffin said he and his counterpart in Omaha talked recently about the importance of diversifying the local economy  relying on small business rather than large corporations.

Part of the big challenge is leadership needs to recognize the rules have changed, Murphy said. They need to think about how they build their cities and the amenities they offer, and be really clear about what their competitive advantages are today, not what they were 100 years ago.
Ukrainian oligarch Dymitro Firtash is checked as he arrives for the start of his trial at the courts of justice in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. Firtash was arrested in Vienna in March 2014 on an American warrant charging him with bribery and other offenses. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

VIENNA (AP)  An Austrian court has ordered that Ukrainian oligarch Dymitro Firtash be released from custody pending decisions on separate U.S. and Spanish extradition requests for him.

Firtash already posted 125 million euros ($132 million) bail and surrendered his passport three years ago when the U.S. extradition request was first made. The court on Friday cited these measures in reaching its decision.

Firtash was indicted by a U.S. grand jury in 2012 for allegedly paying off officials through U.S. banks in a failed attempt to secure titanium mining rights in India worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

He was taken into custody Tuesday shortly after another court approved the U.S. request and legal authorities received a separate application from Spain.

The Austrian Justice Ministry will make the final ruling on the extradition requests.
Aldi is having a job fair Tuesday for positions that pay up to $22.75 at its Schererville supermarket.

The Germany-based discount grocery chain welcomes job candidates from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday, at 795 Deer Creek Drive. It's hiring for its stores in Schererville, St. John, Portage, Merrillville, Hammond, Gary, Lowell, Crown Point.

Available jobs include store associate positions that pay $12 to $13.50 per hour, shift manager positions that pay $16.50 to $18 per hour, and manager trainee positions that pay $22.25 to $22.75 an hour. Manager trainees can make $54,900 to $56,190 per year, and can earn up to $94,000 a year as a store manager, according to the company.

The company also has a 401(k) retirement program, and offers full health insurance benefits to employees who average more than 25 hours per week.

Aldi wants job applicants with a high school diploma who can work between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. Monday through Sunday and lift 45 pounds. The supermarket chain prefers retail experience and management experience for managerial positions.
CROWN POINT  A 21-year-old Gary man who has beaten two prior murder charges is now accused of attempted murder in a woman's shooting.

Devonte D. Hodge was charged Feb. 2 in Lake Criminal Court with attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery by means of a deadly weapon.

The charges were sealed until Hodge's arrest Thursday, according to court records.

Hodge was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force after crashing a vehicle in the area of Grant Street and Interstate 80/94, authorities said. The Marshals Service has been conducting surveillance on a residence when officers saw Hodge get into a vehicle and attempted to stop it, said Shannon Robinson, spokeswoman for the task force. Hodge, who was driving, evaded police but later crashed on an interstate ramp, she said.

Indiana State Police arrived at the crash scene first, she said. Task force officers arrived shortly afterward and arrested Hodge, who refused medical treatment, she said.

The attempted murder charges stems from a shooting Dec. 8, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Gary police were dispatched about 11:45 p.m. to the 400 block of Matthews Street after receiving reports of shots fired, the affidavit says.

Police found Andrew Ford, 24, of Gary, dead near a running vehicle at the scene. A woman was also found bleeding from six gunshot wounds.

The woman was transported to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus before being airlifted to a Chicago hospital.

Police found 9-millimeter ammunition and a jar containing a green, leafy substance in Ford's pockets. Nine-millimeter shell casings were also recovered at the scene, the affidavit states.

A witness told police he had driven the woman to meet D, whom he identified in a photo lineup as Hodge, at the location where the shooting occurred, according to the affidavit.

He said the woman argued with Hodge, and Ford then approached the witness' vehicle and shot him in the leg, the affidavit states.

The witness returned fire and was shot in the arm before killing Ford, according to the affidavit.

He then fled the scene and called 911, the affidavit states.

The woman told police Jan. 23 Hodge shot her, according to the affidavit.

Hodge was previously charged with murder in perpetration of a robbery in the shooting death of Deshelon Hicks Jr. on Sept. 27, 2014, at Hicks' residence in Gary.

That case was dismissed after prosecutors said a witness against Hodge was shot to death before he could provide a deposition.

Hodge was also charged with murder in the shooting death of 32-year-old Laroi Griffith on Feb. 9, 2013, in the 1110 block of West 21st Avenue in Gary.

That charge was dismissed after a witness recanted his statement identifying Hodge as Griffith's shooter.

Hodge's bond on the new charges is $100,000.

Times staff writer Sarah Reese contributed to this report.
CROWN POINT  A 28-year-old Hammond man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Joshua Herman was arrested May 4 after Hammond police were dispatched to a report of shots fired in the 1500 block of 178th Street in Hammond, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Police located three individuals, including Herman, outside a suspect vehicle parked near the scene, the affidavit states.

Police saw Herman drop an object in the grass near the vehicle, which was discovered to be a .380-caliber handgun, the affidavit states.

Herman was previously convicted in Cook County Circuit Court of armed robbery, according to the release.

Herman will serve two years of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence, the release states.
Three people have now died from suspected heroin overdoses in LaPorte County in the last week, and 15 others have suffered non-fatal overdoses  an "upsetting" statistic for county sheriff officials.

"We need help. We need the community talking to us. We need people calling in tips," LaPorte County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Kellems said Thursday. "We're pulling all of our resources together to bring a stop to this."

In all, emergency medical crews have responded to 18 overdose cases since Feb. 16, Kellems said. Fifteen involved suspected heroin and three involved synthetic marijuana, according to police. Of the 18 overdose patients, 11 were treated with Narcan, a name-brand nasal spray of naxolone that can reverse the effects of an overdose, according to a news release. Six patients received multiple doses of Narcan.

The first reported overdose in the past seven days came at 4:47 p.m. Feb. 16 and the most recent was at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, according to police.

Kellems said police suspect the deadly heroin batches have been cut with fentanyl, a lethally potent heroin substitute.

To date, however, only an extremely small amount of the suspected narcotic has been recovered. Evidence will be sent to a laboratory for analysis, Kellems said.

The three deaths occurred in the cities of LaPorte and Michigan City and in rural LaPorte County. A 19-year-old man died Saturday after being discovered on Montrose Street in LaPorte, and a 58-year-old woman died overnight Feb. 17 after she was found on the 7800 West block of U.S. 6 in LaPorte County.

Police learned early Thursday of a third death  a 24-year-old man in LaPorte who suffered an overdose Feb. 17 subsequently died.

"Obviously, it's very upsetting because it's occurring here in my community. But it's happening all over," Kellems said. "Muncie was in the barrel (earlier this month). Louisville, Kentucky, had a record number of overdoses."

LaPorte County's death toll may have been starkly different without the availability of Narcan, he said.

"If not for first responders' quick response, and if not for this wonder drug, Narcan, those deaths may have been much higher," Kellems said.

The Sheriffs Office is working with LaPorte County Emergency Medical Services and the LaPorte County Drug Task Force.

The LaPorte County Drug Task Force continues to investigate these cases as they are notified.

LaPorte County Drug Task Force Sgt. Andy Hynek said in a news release the investigations are complicated.

We have been finding that, in a few cases, the scenes are cleaned up before emergency responders arrive, which makes this even more difficult," Hynek said. "Complicating matters, we are also learning that some people are treating the overdose on their own without ever calling for medical assistance.

LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd reiterated the call for families and friends of those involved with the heroin drug trade to be watchful of their loved ones.

Obviously this information is unsettling and we take this matter very seriously. It is shocking to see the numbers and see so many affected. We continue to aggressively investigate the overdose cases," Boyd said.
GARY  Police secured charges Thursday against three people in connection with this week's home invasion and subsequent shooting of a retired Gary police captain.

Kevon Dixon, 19, Fo'Tre White, 20, and Cameron Briscoe, 19  all of Gary  face charges of aggravated battery, battery by means of a deadly weapon, battery resulting in serious bodily injury and residential entry, according to a Gary Police Department news release.

Dixon remains at large while Briscoe and White are in custody, according to police.

The three are accused of forcing entry into retired Capt. Charles Austin's residence at about 11:40 p.m. Tuesday in the 4100 block of Jackson Street, police said. Once inside, the three came in contact with Austin, who was subsequently shot.
HQ-9 Chinese Rocket System

New satellite photography from the South China Sea confirms a nightmare for the US and champions of free navigation everywhere  Beijing has reinforced surface-to-air missiles sites in the Spratly Islands.

For years now, China has been building artificial islands in the South China Sea and militarizing them with radar outposts and missiles.

The latest move seems to have been months in the making, so it's not in response to any particular US provocation, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

China previously deployed close-in weapons systems, which often serve on ships as a last line of defense against incoming missiles, and have toggled on and off between positioning surface-to-air missiles on Woody island in the Paracel Islands chain. But this time it's different, according to CSIS' Bonnie Glasser, director of the China Power Project.

China has not yet deployed the actual launchers, but Satellite imagery shows the new surface-to-air missile sites are buildings with retractable roofs, meaning Beijing can hide launchers, and that they'll be protected from small arms fire.

"This will provide them with more capability to defend the island itself and the installations on them," said Glaser.

Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy patrol near a sign in the Spratly Islands, known in China as the Nansha Islands, February 9, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

Nations in the region have taken notice. Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay told reporters that foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) unanimously expressed concern over China's land grab in a resource-rich shipping lane that sees $5 trillion in commerce annually.

The move is "very unsettlingly, that China has installed weapons systems in these facilities that they have established, and they have expressed strong concern about this, Yasay said, according to the South China Morning Post.

Story continues

But Chinese media and officials disputed the consensus at ASEAN that their militarization had raised alarm, and according to Glaser, without a clear policy position from the Trump administration, nobody will stand up to China.

Currently, the US has an aircraft carrier strike group patrolling the South China Sea, but that clearly hasn't stopped or slowed Beijing's militarization of the region, nor has it meaningfully emboldened US allies to speak out against China.

china navy

"Most countries do not want to be confrontational towards China ... they don't want an adversarial relationship," said Glaser, citing the economic benefits countries like Laos and Cambodia get from cooperating with Beijing, the world's third largest economy and a growing regional power.

Instead, US allies in the Pacific are taking a "wait and see" approach to dealing with the South China Sea as Beijing continues to cement its dominance in the region and establish "facts in the water" that even the US's most advanced ships and planes would struggle to overcome.

The HQ-9 missile systems placed in the South China Sea resemble Russia's S-300 missile defense system, which can heavily contest airspace for about 100 miles.

Scarborough Shoal

According to Glaser, China has everything it needs to declare an air defense and identification zone  essentially dictate who gets to fly and sail in the South China Sea  except for the Scarborough Shoal.

"I think from a military perspective, now because they have radars in the Paracels and the Spartlys," China has radar coverage "so they can see whats going on in the South China Sea with the exception of the northeastern quarter," said Glaser. "The reason many have posited that the Chinese would dredge" the Scarborough Shoal "is because they need radar coverage there."

The Scarborough Shoal remains untouched by Chinese dredging vessels, but developing it would put them a mere 160 miles from a major US Navy base at the Subic Bay in the Phillippines.

Installing similar air defenses there, or even radar sites, could effectively lock out the US or anyone else pursuing free navigation in open seas and skies.

While US President Donald Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of being tougher on China, a lack of clear policy has allowed Beijing to continue on its path of militarizing the region where six nations claim territory.

"For the most part, we are improving our relationships. All but one," Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, the commander of US 7th Fleet, said at a military conference on Tuesday.

NOW WATCH: Top foreign policy expert: Here's why China isn't more outspoken about North Korea's nuclear ambitions





More From Business Insider


INDIANAPOLIS  Hoosier lawmakers are nearing the midpoint of the 2017 legislative session.

Monday is the deadline for proposals filed by state representatives to advance out of the House for consideration by the Senate.

Senators have until Tuesday to win chamber approval for their legislation, or else it effectively is dead for the year absent some clever parliamentary maneuvering.

Starting in March, measures approved by the Republican-controlled House will be considered by the Republican-controlled Senate, and vice versa.

Lawmakers will take about five weeks to decide whether to send legislation that already has passed either the House or Senate on to the governor for his signature or veto.

However, if the second chamber revises a proposal, it then returns to its original chamber for lawmakers there either to consent to the change, or forward the issue to a House-Senate conference committee.

The committee brings together two representatives and two senators to develop a compromise proposal that must be re-approved by both the House and Senate to go to the governor.

Typically, about 250 of the 1,249 new laws proposed for 2017 will make it through the legislative process and become state statutes.

The General Assembly is required to adjourn for the year on or before April 29.

This year, lawmakers are likely to end their annual session around April 21, due to an April 24-29 national firefighting convention taking over all the hotel rooms in the state's capital city.
HAMMOND  A Lake Station police officer has settled his political firing suit with the city.

Attorneys for Sgt. William Bill Taylor and the city filed an agreement, made public Friday, in U.S. District Court to end the litigation. Ivan E. Bodensteiner, who represents Taylor, declined to comment on the amount of the settlement Taylor received.

Mayor Christopher Anderson couldn't be reached for comment.

The suit stems from the citys Board of Works and Safety firing Taylor in 2014 over allegations Taylor failed to seek medical attention for Walter C. Evans, 19, an inmate at the city jail who fell ill under Taylors watch and died, four years earlier.

Lake Superior Court Judge John Sedia reinstated Taylor in July 2015 with back pay after ruling the Board of Works and Safety didn't have the legal authority to fire Taylor.

Taylor sued in 2016 to recover lost compensation including interest on the lost wages and benefits, and other damages arising from his termination, which he claimed was an act of retaliation by former Mayor Keith Soderquist.

Taylor said he appeared in a 2014 photo posted to Facebook that claimed he and others were celebrating Soderquist's indictment that year on federal corruption charges.

Soderquist, 47, of Lake Station, is serving a four-year sentence at a federal prison camp in Thomson, Illinois, for misusing tens of thousands of dollars from his re-election campaign fund and the citys food pantry account to gamble at nearby casinos.
HOBART  Meranda Bailey joined the Lake Station Boys & Clubs Club 10 years ago to make a difference in the lives of those around her, and the experience has made major differences in her own life.

On Thursday, Bailey, 18, took another positive step into her future as winner of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana Youth of the Year Award during festivities at Avalon Manor.

A national Boys & Girls Clubs program, the Youth of the Year Award recognizes teens for making outstanding contributions to their family, school, community and club as well as for overcoming personal challenges and obstacles.

Bailey was selected by four judges from a field of six candidates nominated by the directors of the areas Boys & Girls Clubs located in Cedar Lake, East Chicago, Gary, Hammond, Lake Station and Merrillville. She will receive a $5,000 higher education scholarship while each runner-up receives a $2,500 scholarship.

Community Healthcare Systems was the presenting sponsor for Thursdays celebration. The Success Sponsor was The Boeing Co. while the Inspire Sponsors were Centier Bank and Ameristar Casino & Hotel. The Times Media Co. was the Media Sponsor. John and Marge Owens, of Crown Point, also sponsored the scholarship program.

In addition to the scholarships, each candidate will be selected throughout the year to participate in agencywide speaking engagements and events, said Lisa Patrick, vice president of operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs.

Currently a senior at River Forest High School, Bailey will graduate in June and plans to pursue a teaching career while enrolled at Indiana University Northwest.

For the last four years she has served as the Keystone Leadership Club president and she participates in the clubs Junior Environmentalist program.

"My purpose in life is to help others have a better chance at life than I had. Though I have had amazing support from the Boys & Girls Club, I want to make sure I can help as many kids as I can, Bailey said.

Eric Evans said one of the best parts of being a judge was meeting each of the candidates, and the worst part was having to choose just one.

Participants are chosen on local, state and regional levels  with five regional winners meeting each September in Washington, D.C., to compete for the National Youth of the Year title. At the national level, five judges individually interview each candidate and select the winner on the basis of scholastic achievement, community service, leadership ability and consideration of any physical, social or emotional obstacles overcome.

Since 1976, Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana has honored 41 Youth of the Year winners.
The Indiana Finance Authority on Thursday launched a program to provide free drinking water testing to all of the state's public schools.

Districts wanting to participate in the voluntary program will need to complete a questionnaire that the authority will use to prioritize the extent of sampling needed in each school district, according to a news release.

The program has been planned for several months and was addressed last fall during an Indiana Finance Authority board meeting, said Jim McGoff, the authority's director of environmental programs.

"The launch of this program is separate from the East Chicago situation," he said.

East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland said in December sequential drinking water testing performed by the Environmental Protection Agency found elevated lead levels in 18 homes within the USS Lead Superfund site. Sequential testing is more rigorous than testing required under the federal Lead and Copper Rule.

EPA conducted the pilot water study to determine if excavation activities might cause lead in pipes to become dislodged and enter the water supply. However, the high lead levels were found before excavation began.

EPA said lead in drinking water comes from lead in plumbing materials or insufficient use of corrosion control chemicals. The city began adjusting corrosion control chemical levels before EPA tested drinking water, officials have said.

EPA has said the study's results are representative of the entire water system, and all customers should use a certified water filter.

The lead in East Chicago's water is unrelated to lead and arsenic in the soil of the USS Lead Superfund site. Residents in the Superfund site face a greater health risk, because lead exposure is cumulative.

As of Feb. 17, Indiana State Department of Health labs had tested the blood of 2,106 people for lead, including 396 children younger than 7, department spokesman Matthew Scotten said.

A total of 18 children younger than 7 have confirmed blood lead levels of 5 micrograms per deciliter, the action level set by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No children have confirmed blood lead levels of more than 10 micrograms per deciliter, he said.

McGoff said East Chicago has applied for a $14 million loan from the authority's State Revolving Fund to address its aging water infrastructure.

The city also has requested an additional $3 million that, if approved, would not be repaid. The additional money would be part of a funding package applied to a lead-line replacement initiative, he said.

The Indiana Finance Authority has not yet received a preliminary engineering report from the East Chicago Water Department describing the project, McGoff said.

School districts that opt to participate in the water testing program can have drinking water fountains, ice machines, food-preparation sinks and other fixtures that provide water for consumption tested, the release said.

"While satisfactory samples are expected at schools around the state, officials have a plan to assist in cases where lead levels are elevated," the release said.

If elevated levels are found, the authority and IDEM will begin working with the school district on next steps. Districts will have access to State Revolving Fund loan programs to address immediate needs.

The authority plans to offer information sessions for school districts in coming months. Districts interested in the program can visit www.in.gov/ifa/2958.htm.
HARRISBURG, Pa.  A Democratic candidate's run for the Pennsylvania Legislature is down the drain  partly because he used too little water at the house he claimed as his residence.

A state judge on Thursday threw Frederick Ramirez off the ballot in the race for an open House seat in Philadelphia.

The judge found that low water and electric use at the house Ramirez claimed as his residence showed he really didn't live in the district. From March through January he was billed for 95 gallons of water  which is less than two toilet flushes a month. His lawyer said the low numbers, showing zero use in some months, are misleading because of how bills are calculated.

Neighbors testified they never saw Ramirez on their block, the bedroom light was always on and the home never seemed to put out trash for curbside pickup.

"The fact that there are no photographs or pictures on the walls, combined with the fact that his daughter's room is still decorated for an infant, more strongly reveals that (the) candidate is not domiciled at (the house), but merely uses that location as a convenient place to stay" when he is working at a nearby clinic he owns, wrote Commonwealth Court Judge Anne Covey.

The seat became vacant with the Jan. 3 resignation of Democratic Rep. Leslie Acosta. She had been re-elected in November, about two months after her secret guilty plea of conspiracy to commit money laundering to a federal judge became public.

Ramirez's lawyer, Adam Bonin, said the property is indeed Ramirez's home. Bonin said he is considering his options, including a potential appeal.

"Obviously, and especially given when this decision was handed down, time is of the essence," Bonin said.

The judge's ruling leaves just one candidate on the ballot for the March 21 special election, Republican Lucinda Little, in what is an overwhelmingly Democratic district.

"I feel that justice has prevailed," Little said Friday. "We need a representative that actually lives in the district, that actually cares about the district."

A spokeswoman for the Department of State, which oversees elections, said the agency's lawyers were examining whether Democrats are legally allowed to pick a new candidate.

The head of the state Democrats said he expects his party to take some sort of action in the coming days.

"If he's not the candidate, we need to find somebody, even if it's for a write-in," said Marcel Groen, the party chairman. "That said, it's certainly preferable to have someone on the ballot."

The race will not affect partisan control of the state House, where Republicans hold a 121-82 majority.
By Eric Auchard and Sophie Sassard

FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - Seeking to escape a cycle of falling prices and tight regulation, big telecom operators from Vimpelcom (VIP.O) to Telefonica (TEF.MC) are set to reinvent themselves as internet players to escape the industry's straight-jacket of low growth.

Next week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will feature phone companies in various stages of acceptance that the industry's predictable, decades-old business model based on selling data packages by the millions is running out of steam.

Beneath the facade of shiny new phones and dusty debates over network technical implementations, Europe's largest annual technology fair will see top phone companies parading far-reaching business makeovers.

Spain's Telefonica (TEF.MC) is set to introduce a broad plan it calls the "4th Platform" to help both consumer and business customers keep greater control over their data rather than giving it away to web giants Google, Facebook and Amazon.

Russian and emerging markets operator Vimpelcom (VIP.O) is tearing up many parts of the telecom rule book to remake itself as a tech player in the fast-growing world of messaging apps.

U.S. telecom giant AT&T (T.N) has inked a series of huge deals to diversify by acquiring Direct TV for $67 billion and is awaiting approval to buy Time Warner for another $110 billion.

"Regulatory and pricing pressure on telecom operators forces them to look to adjacent areas for new sources of revenue and margins," said attorney Tom Levine, head of Allen & Overy's global telecoms practice.

"There isn't a consensus on how to do this."

It's also an open question whether the industry is structurally capable of big change. Telcos have dreamed for decades of breaking free of the shackles of consumer regulation and branching out into Internet services in their local markets, only to be consistently beaten by newer, global upstarts.

RUSSIAN LABORATORY

These dramatic changes come as telcos brace to offer new networks ready to handle not just spiralling data use on phones but in cars, in factories and offices and even crop fields. The new generation of 5G networks will provide them new business options but also spells mounting competition from computer, internet and industrial players with digital plans of their own.

Story continues

Russia has emerged as the world's most advanced laboratory for telecom companies seeking to reinvent themselves as Internet players, as classic telecom business pressures, Western economic sanctions and government rules that reduce Silicon Valley giants to small local players create space to combine forces.

Vimpelcom, Russia's No.3 operator, has undertaken a top-to-bottom overhaul of its business while gearing up for deeper Internet partnerships with the likes of streaming music and online taxi services. The company also focuses on emerging markets from Bangladesh to Algeria and is the world's sixth largest operator in terms of number of mobile customers served.

Megafon, the No.2 network provider, has acquired control of sister company Mail.ru, a major Russian Internet player - the Russian equivalent of Verizon buying Facebook - and plans to offer a new mobile version of social media site VKontakte.

Top Russian telecoms player MTS (MTSS.MM) is so far sitting on the sidelines, but its executives have signaled they too believe their long-run future lies in Internet services.

Meanwhile, Telefonica sees its "4th Platform" strategy as a way to stoke faster growth and compete aggressively with globally dominant internet players while being a logical evolution of existing businesses, a senior company source said.

The strategy builds on its long-standing investments in communications services, its broad geographic reach across Europe and Latin America and efforts to offer advanced money-making services on top of basic communication connections, but does not require making huge new investments, the source said.

"Now is the turn of the fourth platform: the data. That is Telefonica's (new) equity story," the source said of its bid to boost margins by, for example, enabling customers to analyze mountains of data to make their own businesses run smarter.

Other phone companies are taking more modest steps.

Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL), another emerging markets operator, has pushed into data analytics, while Vodafone (VOD.L) is making inroads in new industrial internet and connected car applications, through its 2014 acquisition of Cobra Automotive.

DO THEY HAVE THE DNA?

Still, many telecom operators take a dim view of some of the aggressive moves being made by these peers, especially when it comes to business models based on commercializing customer data.

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Europe's largest telecom operator by revenue, sees this as no-go territory in privacy-conscious Germany. Instead, it is focused on making strides into new connected industrial arenas and cloud computing.

Telekom's main growth story is likely to remain the United States where it revolutionized the mobile industry by offering unlimited data plans and international roaming packages. Using aggressive marketing, T-Mobile has gained at the expense of rivals, making it nearly as big Telekom's core German business.

France's Vivendi (VIV.PA), which embarked on a grand misadventure last decade to combine telecom and media assets, offers a cautionary tale for investors betting on these new reinvention stories.

For telecom operators used to predictable cash flows and firm regulatory boundaries, the main issue may be cultural: Most just don't have the stomach for such drastic transformation.

"Working out how to bring in that entrepreneurial DNA, without disappointing users' expectations of reliability, and recognizing the financial expectations of institutional shareholders, is not easy," Levine said of healthy dividend payouts which remain the industry's main draw to investors.

(Additional reporting by Andres Gonzalez in Madrid; Sinead Carew in New York and Harro ten Wolde and Peter Maushagen in Frankfurt; Editing by Keith Weir)
It earned a Pants on fire: The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim rating from Politifacts Truth-O-Meter, but state Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, has stuck to his guns.

California legalized child prostitution when it decriminalized child prostitution, he said in December, vowing to repeal a new law that treats kids ensnared in the sex trade as victims rather than as criminals.

To that end, Allen has introduced Assembly Bill 1402, to the horror of many victims advocates. It would re-criminalize prostitution for those under age 18, meaning kids who are trafficked by pimps and sexually assaulted by johns could again be arrested and swept into the criminal justice system.

It would obliterate a new law by Sen. Holly J. Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, that assigns underage victims of commercial sexual exploitation to the care of Californias Department of Social Services, rather than to Juvenile Hall. Allen argued that legislation ties law enforcements hands and leaves authorities nearly powerless.

Allen says lawmakers may have meant well, but are misguided.

If a 16-year-old prostitutes himself or herself on a street corner, Allen maintains, police cant act unless theres immediate physical danger. Police can take the minor to a child welfare agency, but he or she is free to walk out the door and return to the streets the next day.

If the intent is to stop the human traffickers, then lets increase their penalties, Allen told Southern California News Group last month. Give law enforcement more tools to work with, not less. We must repeal this law.

Allens bill may be heard in committee next month. It is sure to be contentious.

ALL WRONG

The law is clear, supporters of Mitchells safe harbor approach say: A person under age 18 cannot consent to sexual intercourse in California. The criminals are not the children, but the pimps trafficking the children and the johns who pay to sexually assault them.

When a child is sexually molested by her father, uncle, brother or moms boyfriend, we have no difficulty seeing her as a sexual assault victim, says an impassioned response to Allen by Maria D. Hernandez, presiding judge of Orange County Juvenile Court, and fellow judge Douglas Hatchimonji, who work with these kids every day.

And when the high school teacher has sex with his 15 year-old student we have no difficulty seeing her as a victim. But when that same teacher has sex with a 15 year-old that he finds on Backpage and other social media commonly used by exploiters, or on Harbor Boulevard, why do some advocate for treating her as a criminal?

The truth is no child who is sold is doing so voluntarily or consensually or with a grasp of the consequences, they wrote. This is why we say that no child can be a prostitute.

Thirty-five states have enacted safe harbor laws similar to Californias.

When it comes to obtaining convictions of pimps, the experience in Orange County is that treating these children as victims and not criminals is what results in the childs voluntary cooperation and the traffickers conviction, the judges wrote.

Arresting minors and taking them to juvenile hall only validates the pimps world-view: that law enforcement cant be trusted; that nobody else cares for them; that only the pimp can protect them; and that law enforcement is trying to destroy the family, they argued.

As one survivor, Wendy Barnes, tells it, her pimp drummed into her and the other girls that The police are the enemy, they think youre scum, and theyll treat you far worse than I ever will, the judges wrote.

These children are HARD, they wrote. These children are some of the most courageous, strong and complex survivors we work with. Their stories are of deprivation and alienation, they have been beaten and branded, sexually assaulted again and again day after day, whose understanding of caring, support and love is as twisted as the minds of the pimp who owns them.

At Juvenile Court, we begin by keeping in mind this self-evident proposition that is far too often forgotten  that these are children, they wrote.

Contact the writer: tsforza@scng.com
As an African-American Democrat, I share the core values of my political party. Like me, most African-American Democrats do not want to see the mass deportation of undocumented citizens and families broken up. That said, we would be completely within our right to give the side eye to political leaders who are falling over themselves to get on the sanctuary state PR bandwagon.

When thousands of blacks left Los Angeles County as a part of the black flight into San Bernardino County and other places in search of more affordable housing and better schools for their children, there was no campaign urging us to stay.

When the number of blacks in California dipped below 10 percent, there were no emergency meetings to confer on how cities could better meet the needs of their black residents and provide sanctuary.

Most African Americans abhor President Trump and the Republican Party but privately agree with Trumps assertion that illegal immigration has harmed the black community economically. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that at the end of 2016, 7.8 percent of African Americans were unemployed, compared to 5.9 percent of Hispanics, 4.3 percent of whites and 2.6 percent of Asians.

With blacks making up a disproportionate number of low-skilled workers, they find themselves more likely than any other group to be competing with undocumented workers for work in the construction, service and hospitality industries  areas where blacks have traditionally been able to find work.

When push came to shove, African Americans still werent willing to let the possible security of their own economic welfare take precedence over everything else thats wrong with Trump and the Republican Party.

Too often, when it comes to the Democratic Party as a whole, we hand-pick our battles based on which way the wind of popularity is blowing on an issue.

When Democrats fight for a higher minimum wage, paid sick leave, childcare, paid family and medical leave, it means nothing if you cant get the job to begin with. Now is that all the fault of undocumented workers? Absolutely not. But you have a recipe for disaster when you factor in a job market that demands more and more bilingual employees, employers who want to hire cheap labor, a workforce with generations of blacks who are not prepared to meet the demands of 21st century employers, a lack of real educational opportunities, and the highly exploitable position of the undocumented.

Rebuilding the Democratic Party to meet the needs of everyone and not just some means acknowledging and addressing the unequal economic impact that exploiting the undocumented has had on African Americans in the workforce  and not just the impact on the undocumented worker. It also means being honest about the situation and not simply labeling those who dare to talk about it as racist.

It is not racist to want to figure out how all workers can work together to further everyones cause. On the other hand, acting like what is happening to blacks is not happening, and hushing the voices of those who try to talk about it, could be considered as such.

In 2017, the Democratic Party stands at a crossroads. We win elections by bringing people together and working together, not by taking each others support and votes for granted. As a party, we can do better.

Our core values demand it, and the future success of the Democratic Party requires it.

Jasmyne A. Cannick is a writer and TV and radio commentator on politics, race and LGBT issues. Twitter: @Jasmyne.
BERLIN  Just hours after the German Cabinet approved tapping cellphones and attaching electronic bracelets to unauthorized migrants who might be deemed a threat, a group of Afghan men were put on a plane at a Munich airport Wednesday night and deported.

The deportation was only the third such mass expulsion to Afghanistan since fall, but in combination with new antiterrorism measures, it was a clear sign of the stiffening political headwinds that have made Europe, like the United States, a less welcoming place for immigrants after several years when it accepted record numbers.

When it comes to deporting immigrants who are deemed illegal, no European government has adopted the aggressive stance of President Donald Trump. But fears of terrorism, crime and hardship mean that almost everybody in Europe is caught up in the 21st century debate about mass migration.

Many governments are restricting their welcome to strangers. Sweden tightened immigration rules last year. Britain is leaving the European Union in large part to stem the flow of foreigners. Italy has embarked on a plan to train Libyans to scoop up migrant boats off their shore. Hungary sees the shift against migration as affirming the correctness of its decision to build its own wall to seal its border.

Then there are some states, like Germany, that are taking more assertive steps to ensure that those who have been denied asylum actually leave, like the 18 Afghans deported Wednesday. That has not always been the case.

Chancellor Angela Merkels government, facing a tough election challenge this year, is taking steps to speed deportations after some terrorism suspects were found to be immigrants who had been designated to be sent home.

Nobody is sent back to their country of origin, said French nationalist Marine Le Pen, who has set herself up as an advocate for deportation as she enters the homestretch of Frances presidential race as a leading contender.

Everybody stays. Everybody settles down, she said last week on French television. Seven million unemployed, 9 million poor, our health system is saturated, and we continue to accept those who arrive.

Figures from countries across Europe suggest that, while governments are scrambling to restrict arrivals, there is still a steady flow of newcomers.

The French government body that handles asylum requests, for example, reported 85,244 requests in 2016, up 6.5 percent from the previous year. More than 40 percent were granted.

At the same time, Frances highest administrative court ruled against a request from human rights groups to remove Albania, Armenia, Kosovo and Senegal from a list of safe countries to which unsuccessful asylum seekers may be deported.

The deportation debate has burned brightly in Germany since December when Anis Amri, a young Tunisian asylum seeker, drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 50. He had been expelled from Italy, had registered under at least 14 aliases for welfare and other benefits, and had been listed as a terrorist threat who should be deported.

Yet he could not be deported because his native Tunisia failed to provide identity papers. After his attack, he fled first to western Germany, then to the Netherlands and finally to Italy before being killed in a shootout with police.

Controversy also envelops the question of how many people in Britain should be deported.

In Italy, Marco Minniti, a security expert, became interior minister in December and has pushed through long-awaited measures aimed at curbing immigration by processing asylum applications faster. Asylum requests totaled 123,000 last year  a steep rise from 26,000 in 2013, when Italy was seen more as a transit country for migrants heading north to Central Europe.

The new decree eliminates the right to appeal an asylum rejection and adds staff to process requests faster  something Germany is also grappling with after Merkel threw open her countrys borders in fall 2015.

For migrants who are denied asylum or other forms of international protection, Italy will create centers for repatriation in all of its 20 regions. Similar centers were closed a few years ago after complaints about conditions, but the government now says these will be closely monitored.

Shortly after Amri was killed outside Milan, Italys police chief, Franco Gabrielli, ordered all police stations to check the status of migrants in their areas.

In Central and Eastern Europe, European Union countries have fiercely resisted taking in migrants, particularly Muslims, arguing that they are ill equipped culturally and economically to shelter many strangers.

In 2015, Hungarys prime minister, Viktor Orban, was the first European Union leader to resist mass migration. He built a fence along his countrys borders with Serbia and Croatia to block refugees fleeing the war-afflicted Middle East via a Balkan route; that route largely shut down last spring after the union persuaded Turkey to stanch the flow, and governments along the way shut their borders for the most part.

But Orban apparently still sees political capital in taking a hard line on migration. He takes a broad view of what he sees as its inherent perils  and is one of the few leaders actively aligning with Trump.

We believe a change in perspective in the U.S. helped others to respect the Hungarian position, Orbans spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, said in London this month.

Hungarys defense minister, Istvan Simicsko, said, The goals of the new government of the United States confirm the correctness of Hungarian security policy thinking. He was referring to a speech made by Vice President Mike Pence at last weekends annual security conference in Munich.

The U.S. and Hungary also have very similar views with regard to reinforcing NATO and the fight against radical Islamism, Simicsko said.
Reducing harmful regulations and bringing back blue-collar jobs were major themes of Donald Trumps presidential campaign. Now he is following through on those pledges.

President Trump signed legislation repealing an Interior Department rule finalized in the waning days of the Obama administration that restricted the amount of coal mining debris that may be dumped into nearby streams, and required greater remediation of such areas. The regulation was only finalized in December, though it had been in development for seven years.

The coal industry claimed that the rule was superfluous and would cost thousands of jobs in an industry already decimated by both government regulation and market forces, including the rise of cheap natural gas and declining demand from China. And Trump had previously argued that the stream rule duplicates existing protections in the Clean Water Act and is unnecessary given the other federal and state regulations already in place.

In eliminating this rule, I am continuing to keep my promise to the American people to get rid of wasteful regulations that do nothing  absolutely nothing  but slow down the economy, hamstring companies [and] push jobs to other countries, Trump said during last Thursdays White House signing ceremony. Compliance with the rule would have cost the coal industry more than $50 million a year, he added.

Trumps actions mark a significant departure from the administration of Barack Obama, which seemed to make good on a very different kind of promise regarding the coal industry. So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; its just that it will bankrupt them, because theyre going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas thats being emitted, Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2008. An estimated 83,000 coal jobs were lost and hundreds of coal mines were shuttered during his administration, which often imposed costly regulations through the Environmental Protection Agency and others that hurt the industry.

Such issues have now put many red-state Democrats in awkward positions. Ten Democratic senators will face re-election fights next year in states where Trump won; of those, five hail from states where he won by double digits, a recent RealClearPolitics article noted. But with their party base screaming for blood, those incumbents could find themselves swimming against the partisan tide in both directions, torn between working with Trump or denouncing him.

Joe Manchin, the Democratic senator, and former governor, from coal-rich West Virginia, was at the signing ceremony for the annulling of the so-called Stream Protection Rule. Manchin has chosen to eschew the uncompromising resistance strategy favored by many on the progressive wing of his party in favor of seeking areas of agreement and working with the Trump administration. Ive got more agreement from [Trump] than I got from any other administration in a month, he told RCP.

As the Republican Party continues to make good on promises to roll back Obama-era regulations, especially those concerning core Democratic issues like the environment and Obamacare, it will be interesting to see if the progressive resistance movement will strengthen or wither away like the Occupy movement.
LAKE FOREST  A five-story Marriott Hotel could become the next addition to the newly renovated Gateway Center, off Lake Forest Drive and Rockfield Boulevard.

After a two-hour public hearing, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to give preliminary approval to a 102-room Springhill Suites Marriott hotel that would add 154 parking spaces to the center.

Some tenants at the center provided the City Council with a petition that 26 of the 29 businesses in the center signed in support of the project, including Buffalo Wild Wings, Hard Core Fitness Studio, Starbucks and Peppinos.

I think its going to be a great project, Councilman Andrew Hamilton said. I think the demand is there. Its going to increase the economic engine here in the city.

Proposed for the south side of the center, adjacent to the northbound I-5 on-ramp from Lake Forest Drive, the hotel would replace a previously approved but never constructed 13,000-square-foot retail building.

The hotel would have a buffet area and 1,700-square-foot lounge, but no restaurants or large conference rooms, said Don Cape of Tharaldson Hospitality Group, the applicant for the project.

It would employ about 10 people, Cape said.

Mayor Pro Tem Leah Basile and Councilman Jim Gardner asked for a council review after the Planning Commission unanimously approved the hotel Feb. 12.

The council will take a final vote on the project at its March 7 meeting.

The hotel project  situated next to Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant at the center  would include an 85-stall underground parking garage, the staff report said.

That area would also be available for employees of the center, leaving more outdoor parking spaces for patrons. The project would also add 69 ground-level spaces, the report said.

City Council members had some concerns about the project, generally centered around parking and traffic issues.

Gardner also questioned whether the project would lead to an oversaturation of hotels in the city.

Lake Forest in 2016 experienced significant business growth, with more than 150 new businesses and 800 new jobs added to the city, increasing its overall daytime population, according to the citys staff report.

Several of Lake Forests largest companies have executives who travel to the city, resulting in an increased demand for hotels and restaurants, the report said.

Heiko Peschel, a Foothill Ranch resident, said he recently had trouble finding a nearby hotel room for some visitors because nothing was available.

The people in this city are not the ones who fill the hotel rooms, Peschel said. Theyre visitors, businessmen, theyre people who cant afford Irvine or Newport Beach or Newport Coast and want to be close.

Larissa Fellick Clark, a Lake Forest resident, complained about parking and traffic problems at Gateway Center and asked the council to get it in writing that the centers employees can utilize the underground parking.

I want these businesses to be successful, but when I go into that center, its a mess, she said. Now we avoid it.

The city will work with the centers owner, Patrick Cox of Value Rock Realty, to improve the traffic flow into the center through customized signal timing, a staff report said.

Those changes should reduce wait times and allow more vehicles through on Rockfield during the left-turn signal, Mayor Scott Voigts said.

The Gateway Center, constructed in the 1970s, has experienced several changes in recent years.

In 2014, the Planning Commission approved a complete remodel of the center, including the demolition and construction of five buildings, four of which have been built. The hotel would replace one of the five buildings.

Contact the writer: npercy@scng.com
Bravos Season 14 of Top Chef started off as a rookies vs. veterans match up.

But in the end, its been a tale of redemption for past contestants who came close to the coveted prize. The rookies never stood chance. As expected, most were axed early on. The three chefs left standing Thursday night  Brooke Williamson, Sheldon Simeon and Shirley Chung  have been the most motivated of the returning chefs.

Chung, who moved to Orange County after her first tour of duty on Top Chef, calls herself the underdog because Williamson and Simeon bonded after competing together in Season 10. Going into Thursday nights penultimate episode, Williamson is on a hot streak. She won Last Chance Kitchen, and handily beat everyone last week.

Will she stay on a roll?

Lets find out.

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs travel to the Yucatan Peninsula and go snorkeling at a posh resort. Later, they learn this weeks Quickfire prize is a stay at the Riviera Maya hotel. To win, you have to dazzle local chef Roberto Munoz Zurita with a dish featuring the regions most famous ingredient: habanero.

They have one hour to shop and cook. No more Whole Foods Market. They shop at a local outdoor market where their Spanish skills are put to the test. Williamson and Chung fare well. Chung worked for China Poblano, by Jose Andres, so shes very comfortable working with Latin flavors.

She grabs masa and eggs, while Williamson settles for pork and fresh fruits and vegetables. Simeon is scrambling. He has trouble finding cheese, even though hes asking every vendor for queso fresco.

He finally buys something that he thinks is cheese, but it turns out to be a tamale. Dont they have tamales in Hawaii?

He doesnt let it go to waste. He stuffs pieces of the tamale into a pan roasted chayote with charred habanero salsa.

The judges enjoy Chungs masa dumpling with poached egg and habanero salsa but the flavors are not as complex as Williamsons pork and fruit and vegetable salsa. The Quickfire Queen wins again. Simeon and Chung are scratching their heads wondering how they can stop her.

Elimination Challenge: Culinary legend Jeremiah Tower, who lives nearby, gives the chefs a tutorial on Yucatan food history. He tasks them to cook a traditional Mayan meal using only local ingredients and ancient Mayan tools.

They must also cook over an open fire. No electricity.

Since Mayans used obsidian tools, Host Padma Lakshmi gives them a free pass to use their own knives. The chefs let out a big a sigh of relief.

Still, Chung questions the absurdity of the primitive challenge.

We agree. Is this Top Chef or Cutthroat Kitchen?

Im surprised at this stage of the competition we have this out of box challenge. No tools. No blender. This sounds really crazy, she says.

They cook in a sinkhole, a giant cave-style pit decorated with Mayan sculptures. Its hot, and slightly creepy. Williamson notes it reminds her of scene out of an Indiana Jones movie. She expects skeletons to come flying at her.

Besides their knives, the only tools they can use are wooden spoons, molcajetes and clay vessel pots for cooking over a coal-fueled fire.

As the chefs scan the ingredients before them, they immediately notice the absence of several key staples: garlic, onions, salt and limes.

Im blindsided, Williamson said.

Now, if they paid attention during their Mayan food lesson, Tower hinted that Mayan cooks used natural ingredients to develop acid flavors.

Did any of the chefs pay attention? I did. (Hint: Use tomatillos.)

Chung is the only chef who doesnt get unhinged. Im not letting this get to me.

In fact, she cleverly decides to make her own salt by roasting and crushing the outer shells of shrimp. If the Mayans can do it, I hope I can do it better.

You go girl!

One of Chungs best skills, outside of cooking, is her mental toughness. Those traits, along with her speed in the kitchen, have gotten her this far.

Shes bringing all three to the table now.

She decides to serve grouper because the fatty fish will add flavor to her dish. She wraps the filets in a Hoja Santa leaves to cook.

Williamson leaf-steams her fish, as well. Trying to be different, Simeon decides to cook a whole yellow snapper directly on the grill.

Judges table: As the chefs finish cooking, the judges enter the cooking pit and sit at a communal table nearby.

Williamson goes up first, and she admits how tough the challenge was. Im cooking with ingredients I cant pronounce. She serves her snapper with bean and corn ragout and papaya relish. They describe her dish as timid, though the fish is cooked perfectly.

Simeon is up next. Colicchio immediately spots his blunder when he sees lumps of fish on his plate. Colicchio says its looks like crab meat.

Chung goes last serving her grouper with dragon fruit corn salad and a habanero tomato sauce seasoned with her homemade crustacean salt.

Tower is in awe of her skills: That girl can cook.

Colicchio said she was clever to edit down the pantry of goods  only using the items she was most familiar with.

The clear winner is Chung. She jumps up and down in disbelief: Oh my God. Oh my God. Serious?

Redemption has arrived.

She advances to the final battle. Tears well up. I made it. I made it. I get to cook. I get to cook. I cant wait to show you. Im so excited. Thank you so much.

Packing Knives: Two great chefs are left  and one has to go. Lakshmi, who seems genuinely crushed, sends Simeon packing. The fish massacre was just too big of mistake. Colicchio attempts to lesson the pain: I really think you are going to take your place among some of the greats in the country.

Next: Will Top Chef finally crown a champion from Orange County or will Los Angeles get another win with Williamson. Find out next week.

Contact the writer: nluna@scng.com
SANTA ANA  Citing recent actions by the city to decrease the number of beds at Santa Ana Jail to house immigration detainees, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday sent written notification to city officials to terminate its detention contract, the Register has learned.

The termination will be effective in 90 days. Per the existing contract  which was set to expire June 30, 2020  Santa Ana or ICE could give a 90-day notification to cancel at any time.

http://launch.newsinc.com/js/embed.js

_informq.push([embed]);

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) values its longstanding relationship with the City of Santa Ana, but recent actions by the city to drastically curtail the number of beds available at the citys jail to house immigration detainees meant the existing detention contract was no longer viable or cost effective, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said in a statement.

On Dec. 6, following a historic decision making Santa Ana the first Orange County municipality to adopt a sanctuary city resolution, council members voted 5-0 to put ICE on notice that the number of detainees would be reduced to a maximum of 128, resulting in the closure of one jail module.

The original contract allowed for up to 200 ICE detainees at the jail, according to Santa Ana Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. In May 2016, Santa Ana Jail had 182 ICE detainees, including 26 identifying as gay or bisexual and 31 in the nations first dedicated module for transgender people detained by ICE.

The action was a first step toward fulfilling the councils unanimous vote in May to phase out the ICE contract.

Santa Ana Jail is by far the smallest contract detention facility in the Los Angeles area, Kice said.

As of Thursday, the jail housed 74 immigration detainees and as the contract end date approaches, those remaining will be transferred to appropriate housing within ICEs detention system, according to Kice.

When weighing its detention options, ICEs foremost considerations are the welfare of those in our custody and ensuring the agency is being a responsible steward of taxpayers money, Kice said.

Santa Anas decision in December to close one jail module results in a $663,743 annual net revenue loss and a full contract termination would create a $2 million hole annually, then-City Manager David Cavazos reported at the time. The city faces repaying about $24 million plus interest through 2024 for building the jail that it opened in 1997.

The jail receives about $340,000 in revenue from the ICE contract per month, according to the city.

The councils vote in May was to phase out the ICE contract but not immediately, in order to come up with a sustainable financial plan.

When Police Chief Carlos Rojas received the letter from ICE Thursday morning, reaction among city officials was mixed.

I get the sense some people were surprised, Acting City Manager Gerardo Mouet said. Some people feel they arent surprised.

Mouet said he coincidentally had made phone calls on the ICE contract on Wednesday and that it is a very high priority to come up with options for council members to consider.

We didnt send this letter to ourselves. This letter was sent by someone and it was ICE. And do we have to figure something out? Yeah, absolutely, Mouet said.

Mayor Pro Tem Michele Martinez, who has advocated for termination of the contract since 2011 on the grounds it is not a sustainable funding source for the jail, was optimistic about the financial outlook.

At this time we have one-time funds to cover the gap if we need to and also currently the police department has $58 million left in (its) budget and fiscal year ends in July, Martinez said Thursday in a text. I am certain they will not be able to spend all that money by July so we just need to reallocate.

Meanwhile, Councilman Jose Solorio said there are pros and cons to the city having the ICE contract and that the current City Council hasnt discussed it yet.

In many ways, Im more concerned with the financial and time hardships that will be created for local residents and their attorneys to visit family members or friends in ICE detention centers that will now be many hours away or in another state, Solorio said in a text message.

The city is in the process of interviewing finalists in a request for qualifications for a jail reuse study and will be recommending a consultant soon, Mouet said.

Carlos Perea, 25, policy and programs director for the immigrants rights group Resilience OC, rejoiced in the news of ICEs pullout notice.

Now you have ICE canceling the contract, which is what the community wanted and something weve been fighting for, he said. The city had a lot of missed opportunities to do so.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7762 or jkwong@ocregister.com or on Twitter: @JessicaGKwong
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES--(Marketwired - Feb 23, 2017) - Global Equity International, Inc. (OTCQB: GEQU) and its fully-owned subsidiaries GEP Equity Holdings Limited and Global Equity Partners Plc. ("GEP" - www.gepartnersplc.com), a specialist consultancy firm with offices located in Dubai and London, are extremely excited to announce a newly signed consultancy agreement with Blackstone Natural Resources SA ("Blackstone").

Blackstone Natural Resources SA, through its subsidiary Blackstone Energy (BVI), is an upstream Exploration and Production (E&P) company focused on acquiring and developing distressed Oil and Gas assets in the Americas. The company's initial efforts are located in Colombia, Argentina and the Gulf of Mexico region. Currently, Blackstone has 18 blocks in three countries on contract or under evaluation covering 1.5 million acres of land with proven and probable reserves of 340+ million barrels of oil and original oil in place of 3.5+ billion barrels. The current cumulative production is circa 23,000 barrels per day, expanding to more than 50,000 barrels per day over 5 years. Blackstone's financial forecasts depict a 5 year cumulative of US$4.4 billion in revenues and US$1.7 billion EBITDA.

GEP have been mandated to assist with raising up to, but not limited to, US$151,500,000 for growth, expansion and acquisition. GEP have agreed a monthly cash retainer and also cash and equity success fees. Finally, GEP have been granted the right of first refusal to assist with a public IPO of Blackstone when the time it right.

Blackstone's management team will be joining GEP, in particular Mr. Patrick Dolan - Director of Global Equity International Inc., at the MEPEX Forum (in the Kingdom of Bahrain) on March 6th to March 9th where they will have the opportunity to present their E&P project to 25+ Oil and Gas investors and institutions that have confirmed their attendance.

Patrick Dolan, Director of Global Equity International Inc. said, "We are delighted to have secured Blackstone Natural Resources (BNR) as our client given the current considerable uplift in investor sentiment for the Resource Sector in general which shows no sign of abating. This is reflected in the significant interest already being shown in BNR by Oil & Gas investors who will be attending the MEOS 2017 Oil & Gas conference in Bahrain from March 6th to March 9th. MEPEX, one of our close partners and organisers of MEOS 201, have already secured direct meetings for BNR with their Oil & Gas investment partners for the 5th March in advance of the conference and BNR's group presentation to the investor forum on Monday, March 6th. The pre-conference presentations with investors will take place at MEPEX's offices in Bahrain. Following the conference in Bahrain, BNR will then present to additional investors from the UAE in GEP's offices in Dubai. BNR will be presenting to more than 30 Middle East investors in Bahrain and Dubai between the March 6th and March 13th. All the presentations will be to investors whose focus and appetite is mainly Oil & Gas."

Story continues

Demetrius Maxey, CEO of Blackstone Natural Resources SA said, "Blackstone is truly pleased to announce our engagement with Global Equity Partners to assist us in raising capital for our Exploration and Production efforts in the Americas. They have a fantastic team of professionals and a vast global network. We also look forward to joining the Global Equity Team at the MEPEX Forum in Bahrain next month. Now is the time when savvy investors re-enter the market and create great value for themselves and their shareholders."

About Global Equity International Inc. and Subsidiaries

Global Equity International Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiaries GEP Equity Holdings Limited and Global Equity Partners Plc., advises worldwide business leaders with their most critical decisions and opportunities pertaining to growth, capital needs, structure and the development of a global presence. With offices in Dubai and London, Global Equity has developed significant relationships in the US, UK, Central Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia to assist clients in realising their full value and potential by bringing them to external capital and resources that place an emphasis on collaborative thinking. Furthermore, because Global Equity has offices in key financial centres of the world, they are able to introduce their clients to a unique opportunity of listing their shares on any one of the many stock exchanges worldwide.

Safe Harbour Statement

This press release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to anticipated revenues, expenses, earnings, operating cash flows, the outlook for markets and the demand for products. Forward-looking statements are no guarantees of future performance and are inherently subject to uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon, among other things, assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management, including management's own knowledge and assessment of the Company's industry and competition. The Company refers interested persons to its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and its other SEC filings for a description of additional uncertainties and factors, which may affect forward-looking statements. The company assumes no duty to update its forward-looking statements.
The incendiary debate over whether California has legalized child prostitution has driven outrage on all sides of the issue.

Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, introduced Assembly Bill 1402 last week, which would re-criminalize prostitution for those under age 18. That means kids who are trafficked by pimps and sexually assaulted by johns could be arrested and swept into the criminal justice system again, too.

You can read more about that in our story here. What follows is the full text of the impassioned essay written by two front-line juvenile court judges  complete with footnotes!  who feel that Allen is terribly off the mark.

* * *

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

The Perspective of the Orange County Juvenile Court

Hon. Maria D. Hernandez

Presiding Judge of Juvenile Court

Hon. Douglas Hatchimonji

Juvenile Court

Working on three floors of the Lamoreaux Justice Center, with Juvenile Hall and the Orangewood Children and Family Center as neighbors, eleven judicial officers, working with specially trained attorneys, probation officers, social workers and a remarkably dedicated staff, work to achieve our statutory mandate: to provide for the protection and safety of the public and each minor under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.i We work with children who have been abused and neglected and children who have committed criminal offenses, ranging from truancy to murder. It is a unique job  some would say calling  that requires us to improve and protect our communities by improving and changing the lives of at-risk children.

Among the toughest challenges we face is working to alter the life trajectory of the lives of children who are victims of sexual exploitation. How and why we see and treat these children as victims of sexual assault, and how that perspective informs our thinking about the decriminalization of child prostitution, provides a unique insight into the overall role of the Orange County Juvenile Court in the fabric of our community.

At Juvenile Court, we begin by keeping in mind this self-evident proposition that is far too often forgotten  that these are children. As a matter longstanding public policy, minors in our country cannot legally consent. Minors cannot enter into contractually binding agreements, minors cannot consent to most medical procedures, and minors cannot consent to having sex. Adults who have sex with a minor cannot avoid prosecution for lewd and lascivious conduct by saying that the minor consented.

From the standpoint of the minors legal capacity to consent, there is no difference between the high school teacher that seduces his 15 year-old student to have sex and the 15 year-old who exchanges sex for money with that same teacher.

The legal age of consent in our country is not merely a legal fiction. Peer reviewed scientific studies have established that the adolescent brain is underdeveloped in comparison to adults and that this results in developmental and functional immaturity impacting a minors decision making capacity. Studies by developmental psychologists, like Dr. Laurence Steinberg and Dr. Elizabeth Cauffman, and functional MRI imagining studies, demonstrate that the emotional development of adolescents lags significantly behind their intellectual development. A 2016 study noted: Scientific research has demonstrated that adolescents show heightened sensitivity to motivational and socioemotional information, which potentially renders them more vulnerable to poor decision making in these situations.ii Adolescent brains simply do not work like adult brains.

The importance of recognizing a minors lack of capacity to consent is seen in our human trafficking laws themselves. In the case oftan adult victim, prosecuting human trafficking requires proof of coercion, proof that the victim was involuntarily compelled to engage in the sex trade. Except that in the case of a child who has been exploited, federal and state trafficking laws do not require proof of coercion. This is because the law recognizes that a minor cannot enter into a consensual relationship with a pimp.

Science and legalities aside, the reality is that no child who is prostituted does so free of compulsion. Statistically, the average age that a child is first trafficked in this country is twelve years of age. Ten, eleven and twelve year-old girls (and boys for that matter) do not grow up dreaming of being sexually exploited. A history of abuse (sexual or otherwise), neglect, abandonment, substance abuse, mental illness and alienation are the ingredients found in the lives of virtually all these children. These ingredients are also those used by the pimp to bind the child to him or her, mixing them together to form a twisted sense of love and family. Rachel Lloyd, one of the earliest and strongest voices against CSEC, in her book, Girls Like Us, describes how breaking a victims bond to her pimp is to break down a relationship of love  twisted to be sure.

She explains that if: youve never seen a cow, never even see a picture of one or had one described to you, and someone tells you that a horse is a cow, [then] of course you believe them. If you havent had proper love and care, then a substitute will feel like the real thing, because youve got nothing to compare it to.iii Convincing a sexually exploited child that her pimp does not love her, or that what she feels for her pimp is not love, is a challenge to her fundamental reality. The truth is no child who is sold is doing so voluntarily or consensually or with a grasp of the consequences. This is why we say that no child can be a prostitute.

When a child is sexually molested by her father, uncle, brother or moms boyfriend, we have no difficulty seeing her as a sexual assault victim. When mom refuses to believe the childs story and takes the side of dad, uncle, brother or boyfriend (those of us who work in juvenile court see this happen more often than most will believe), we understand the childs sense of alienation and still have no difficulty seeing her as a victim. And when the high school teacher has sex with his 15 year-old student we have no difficulty seeing her as a victim. But when that same teacher has sex with a 15 year-old that he finds on Backpage and other social media commonly used by exploiters, or on Harbor Boulevard, why do some advocate for treating her as a criminal?

This is a current controversy recently fanned by the enactment of SB 1322, decriminalizing prostitution for minors under age eighteen. This bill is not about legalizing child prostitution. Pimping a child, putting him or her out on a track, an area well known for acquiring prostitutes, and forcing them to sell their bodies is illegal.

Buying a child for sex is illegal. It is important to recognize that children forced to sell themselves for sex are victims of sexual assault, by the sex purchaser and the pimps. Furthermore, these children are not somehow co-conspirators or aiders and abettors to these criminals, and should not be treated as such.

CSEC  the commercial sexual exploitation of children  will not be halted by arresting and incarcerating the child victims of this crime. Locking up these children will not prevent them from engaging in prostitution at the behest of their pimps, and it will not prevent pimps from exploiting them. This is why 35 states have enacted safe harbor laws, similar to SB 1322, providing protection from prosecution for children forced to engage in prostitution, and why the American Bar Association and the Uniform Law Commission have taken action to recommend that state legislatures provide immunity to these child victims.

Some suggest that refusing to prosecute children for prostitution makes it easier for pimps to exploit children. The argument goes that if the pimps product  in this case an actual living and breathing child  is not taken off the street, it will make his business life easier. So it may appear logical that that arresting and prosecuting children is a method for combatting trafficking. But consider that sentence very carefully. If you see the child as somehow complicit in the crime, like arresting a lower level drug dealer to get the wholesaler, arresting the child to get to the trafficker makes perfect sense. But if you see the child for who she or he is, a victim of a crime, arresting the victim seems perfectly preposterous. Domestic violence cases provide a good illustration. It is a fact that many victims of domestic violence recant and refuse to testify against their abuser, again and again. Many abusers fail to be convicted because of this reality. It is undoubtedly true that if a domestic violence victim could be incarcerated for refusing to testify  as a contempt of court  there would be more domestic violence convictions.

But we dont do that. We cannot do that. There are specific laws that prohibit putting a domestic violence victim in jail for refusing to testify, because we understand the person is indeed a victim. When the victim returns again and again to the home of the abuser, we still dont see the domestic violence victim as anything other than a victim, because we understand the dynamics of domestic violence that causes this to happen. But then why do some see the child in the clutches of a pimp differently? Why are we willing to use the child victim as a tool to get the trafficker, but would not tolerate that methodology in the case of the domestic violence victim?

Twenty-five years ago we tended to blame the domestic violence victim, not understanding the psychological and emotional dynamics at play in the abused spouses life that caused him or her to return to the control of the abuser. Thankfully, today we do understand and treat the abused spouse as a victim. Today it is the child that is being sexually exploited who some argue must be treated as a criminal and incarcerated, justifying such action as necessary to rehabilitate them and convict traffickers. What we must recognize is that there is no difference between the dynamics of power and control in domestic violence cases and the relationship between the sexually exploited child and the pimp, except even more powerfully because its a child not an adult who is the victim.

By refusing to prosecute children for prostitution arent we encouraging pimps to use legal children who cannot be arrested? No. Whether the child may or may not be arrested is meaningless to the pimp when it comes to putting a child out on the street. The pimp doesnt care at all about the child. The deterrent for the pimp is the significant state prison time he faces for trafficking the child. If the pimp was willing to face criminal prosecution for human trafficking before decriminalization, they still must be willing to face the exact same criminal prosecution now. What about the sex purchasers, aka johns? Arent we encouraging them to purchase legal children? No. If the sex purchaser was willing to have sex with a child before the law changed, he or she must still be willing to face incarceration for purchasing the same child, even though the child is immune from prosecution.

When it comes to obtaining convictions of pimps, the experience in Orange County is that treating these children as victims and not criminals is what results in the childs voluntary cooperation and the traffickers conviction. The practice of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF), when a child is located on the street, they are brought in and immediately matched with a CSEC victim advocate, given warm clothes, support and understanding. The child may find herself or himself in Juvenile Court as a dependent or as a delinquent for other pending offenses, but even so, is supported by an attorney, social worker, victim advocate, probation officer, a deputy district attorney, and a juvenile court judge. All members of the OCHTTF/CSEC teams are trauma and CSEC trained, who see, and are committed to, treating the child as a victim. One of our children bravely endured two days of grueling cross-examination by her pimps attorney, not because she was threatened with prosecution as a prostitute, there was no pending charge, but because of how she was treated by the CSEC team.

Orange Countys experience of the efficacy of convicting traffickers by treating these children as victims and not criminals is seen in other states. Minnesota is regarded to have one of the best model safe harbor law in the country. Their law was passed in 2011. In 2010, the year before the law was passed, Minnesota convicted 14 sex traffickers. In 2013, after the immunization of children for prostitution, the state convicted 63 sex traffickers. Minnesota Representative, Erik Paulsen, was quoted as stating that safe harbor laws: helps law enforcement because when you remove the fear of criminalization, they share more about the bad guys. Its worked very effectively in Minnesota.iv

The job of the CSEC team is not an easy one. These children are HARD. These children are some of the most courageous, strong and complex survivors we work with.

Their stories are of deprivation and alienation, they have been beaten and branded, sexually assaulted again and again day after day, whose understanding of caring, support and love is as twisted as the minds of the pimp who owns them. These stories result in children whose sense of survival demands that they view everyone with distrust, suspicion and defensiveness. Supporting them means getting past the aggression and anger, not hearing, or at a minimum not being personally offended, by the F-bombs, and to see the child for who she or he is, a child who has survived unimaginable trauma.

The problem with permitting police officers to arrest minors for prostitution and take them to juvenile hall is that it makes it harder to ultimately free the child from the pimp, because such treatment validates everything the pimp has been telling her or him; that law enforcement and other agencies are not to be trusted; that nobody but the pimp cares for her; that only the pimp can protect her; and that law enforcement is only trying to destroy the family. As one survivor, Wendy Barnes, tells it, her pimp drummed into her and the other girls that: The police are the enemy, they think youre scum, and theyll treat you far worse than I ever will.v

Our experience working with child victims has taught us that no amount of incarceration can break the chains of compulsion binding the child to her or his pimp, which is why there is no merit to the argument that we must keep child prostitution laws on the books in order to rehabilitate child victims. True, when a child is incarcerated in juvenile hall we are in control of their bodies, but simply controlling their bodies cannot reframe their hearts and minds. It takes months and years of trauma-informed services and support to begin to break the chains that bind the child to her or his pimp.

This is not to say that juvenile court judges dont commit CSEC victims to juvenile hall. We do, because much more often than not, they have committed other criminal offenses  drugs, theft, vandalism and violence. But the decision to commit them is made judiciously, carefully, weighing the input from the team to inform the decision making process. It is a decision made with the recognition that validated scientific study after study has demonstrated that in many instances incarceration of juveniles is detrimental for both short term and long term outcomes. Further, that some of the most current studies are demonstrating the efficacy of diversion and lower intensity interventions for youth that commit crimes that can be processed formally versus informally in the juvenile justice system.vi

After seeing these child victims in our courtrooms, listening to their stories and the evidence presented  and after worrying about them, celebrating their successes and regrouping when they return to the clutches of their exploiters  we know that they are victims of abuse that are best served by the justice system and the community by treating them as victims and survivors and not criminals.vii

Endnotes:

i California Welfare and Institutions Code, section 202(a).

ii Alexandra O. Cohen, Kaitlyn Breiner, Laurence Steinberg, et.al.; When Is an

Adolescent an Adult? Assessing Cognitive Control in Emotional and Nonemotional

Contexts; Psychological Science,2016, Vol. 27(4) 549562.

iii Lloyd, Rachel; Girls Like Us; Harper Collins.

iv Wasch, Sarah; Wolfe, Debra Schilling; Levitan, Elizabeth; Finck, Kara; An

Analysis of Safe Harbor Laws for Minor Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation:

Implications for Pennsylvania and Other States; The Field Center for Childrens Policy,

Practice & Research; University of Pennsylvania; March 11, 2016; pgs. 8  9.

v As reported: Teri Sforza; Girls in sex trade need help, not prison, former victims

say; Orange County Register; January 19, 2017.

vi See e.g.: The Crossroads Study  http://crossroads.soceco.uci.edu/home.asp.

vii The authors wish to thank our judicial colleagues in the Juvenile Courts throughout California for their thoughts and contributions to this article. You are outstanding public servants.
MISSION VIEJO  A massage therapist from Laguna Hills was behind bars Thursday following his arrest for allegedly sexually assaulting one of his clients, according to the Orange County Sheriffs Department.

The victim, a 32-year-old woman, said she was assaulted on Feb. 17 while receiving services at Massage Heights, located at 26032 Marguerite Parkway in Mission Viejo.

The suspect, Ryan Daniel Bishop, 32, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of sexual battery after authorities wrapped up a five-day investigation of the incident.

He was being held at the Central Mens Jail in Santa Ana in lieu of $500 bail and is expected to appear in court Friday, according to the sheriffs department.

Bishop has worked as a massage therapist at several places in Orange County, police said. One of the businesses was Main Place Chiropractic in Orange, according to police.

Anyone who has additional information about Bishop or believes they have been victimized by him is urged to call the sheriffs departments Special Victims Detail at 714-647-7419 or 714-647-7000; or 855-TIP-OCCS.
Editors note: Second in an occasional series. Read the first story.



There isnt room for secrets aboard a fast attack nuclear submarine. But there is just enough wiggle room for an innocent lie.

Marshall Morgan  now Marsha Morgan  is deep below the ocean surface with 129 other men aboard a steel tube 362 feet long and 33 feet wide.

Morgan is the subs sonar tech and detects a footprint that exactly matches a torpedo. Without wasting a split-second, Morgan sends out an alert.

The torpedo turns out to be a small personal watercraft smack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Still, captain and crew are pleased. It was the right call on the wrong craft. Better alive than on the bottom of the ocean.

But when slinky lingerie is found, Morgan freezes and fibs. Rather than admitting that its his, the 29-year-old virgin spins tales of womanizing and collecting trophies.

Fight to live another day.

Two decades later, Morgan walks into a Navy reunion as Marsha. Nearly a head taller than other submariners, shes in a dress, make-up and heels. This time she wears the truth.

She looks around, holds her breath. But the crew doesnt care. Morgan is welcome.

For the former Navy man, now a female 54-year-old school bus driver weeks away from a gender-changing operation, it was a long and deeply painful journey to find honesty and acceptance.

MARRIED TO THE WRONG SEX

After graduating San Clemente High School, Morgan worked for his father who owned a local asphalt business. When his divorced father died, Morgan sold the business and went through a variety of jobs.

Welcome to the Jungle Cruise, Morgan bellows in a shockingly deep baritone, switching from her now-regular feminine voice. With machine gun precision, she rattles off a stream of jokes that make you smile and groan.

The one about being short-handed after a crocodile attack kills.

Adrift and wanting to give back to his country, Morgan enlisted in the Navy at age 28. His first deployment: Desert Storm, Persian Gulf.

Morgan proudly points out a UCLA study that found transgender people are roughly twice as likely to join the military as the rest of the population. But disarmingly honest and self-examining, she cant resist wondering if part of her motivation for joining the Navy was need for family.

Regardless, Morgan was honorably discharged in 1996 and through friends started dating a woman who, with an ice cube, made it more than clear she was falling for the 6-foot-2 former sailor.

She was the first female, Morgan says, to ever show an interest in me.

A year later, they married. With a 13-year-old step-daughter, Morgan put Marsha away. Forever. He thought.

A year later, Morgans wife discovered his feminine side. His wife agreed to stay married, but only if her husband vowed to banish Marsha.

Again, Marsha went into seclusion. But by 2010, she was screaming out.

Morgan told friends, family, even the Capistrano Unified School District that had named Morgan employee of the year that their employee was transgender.

Two years later, Morgans wife filed for divorce. Feeling life was ripping apart, Morgan begged for another chance. His wife agreed.

Biggest mistake, Morgan recalls, of my life.

FACING FACTS

Two years ago, Morgan released Marsha. This time, truly forever.

She filed for divorce, covered the entire left side of her head with an exquisitely detailed rose tattoo, started hormone therapy and initiated legal proceedings for name and gender changes.

With new insurance, Morgan also signed up for Kaiser Permanentes first Southern California gender reassignment surgery.

Thats right, some insurance companies now pay for transgender surgery. Morgans is in two months.

Somebody, she smiles, has to the be the first.

I confess I have never been comfortable with transgender surgery. I have no problem with dresses, make-up or hormones. If thats your thing, go for it.

But I failed to understood why anyone would get such an excruciating operation  until I spent time with Morgan.

She refers to testosterone as poison. She calls her genitals cancers. She quietly confesses, I have twice lain in bed with a knife.

She is well aware that the operation will be long, complex and painful. Already, she regularly undergoes difficult electrolysis.

She has scheduled the surgery so she can mend over the summer and be back at work for the fall semester.

She also is transparent about the future she hopes for. In jest, she jokes, Im going to have the proper equipment and I want to take it out for a test drive.

But in truth, Morgan wants so much more. She wants a long-term committed relationship with a man. She wants to fall in love and wants someone to love her.

She wants what we all want.

LONELY JOURNEY

I ask Morgan if she will tell the men in her life that shes transgender.

Morgan frowns. She acknowledges that she looks transgender now, but expects to look like a woman in the months to come.

Still, she demurs, Ill tell them Im transgender.

Morgan admits to not being upfront about her gender once before. Never again. That person felt they had been lied to.

Yet she also is quick to report shes never been harassed. Of Orange County, Morgan says, There is such variety here that you could be a green Martian and you wouldnt stand out.

She says shes a proud activist, took part in the Womens March last month wearing a black dress and matching heels and applauds Kaitlyn Jenner for going public. Anything that brings attention is a good thing.

A few months ago, Morgan was invited to Long Beach Veterans Hospital to talk about transgender issues during transgender month. The response, she says, was terrific.

Still, being transgender remains a lonely path.

Over Christmas, Morgan had the flu and couldnt join her regular weekly rehearsals with the transgender choir, Trans Chorus Los Angeles. So the choir came together and on the phone sang to Morgan, You Have More Friends Than You Know.

Morgan cried for two hours.

For a relationship to endure, Morgan confides she believes three things are absolute musts: trust, respect, compassion.

They are the same ingredients for tolerance in our LGBTQI  and H  world.

Part I: Transgender school bus driver, Navy veteran embraces life she knew was hers

Contact the writer: dwhiting@scng.com
Community engagement was at the heart of the Obama administrations Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program, which aimed to combat terrorism by building bridges.

But the initiative, which began in 2015 with pilot programs in Boston, Minneapolis and Los Angeles, now appears to be hanging by a thread with several participants rejecting grants handed out through the program following reports that the Trump administration would tighten the focus specifically on radical Islamic extremism.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security, which administers the CVE grants, declined comment Friday.

Earlier this month, a private Islamic graduate school in Claremont rejected $800,000 in funding from the Department of Homeland Security. In a couple of weeks, Bayan Claremont has gone from having more than half of its annual budgetary goal met to starting a GoFundMe account and other fundraising efforts, said president Jihad Turk. As of Friday, the account had about $18,600 out of the $800,000 that was needed.

The colleges board members had to make the tough decision because of pressure from the community, he said.

Now, with Trump becoming president and creating a much more hostile environment for Muslims, the well has been poisoned, Turk said. Taking this money will damage our standing in the community. If we took it, wed come across as working with the government to surveil the Muslim community. Obviously, thats not our intent.

Bayan Claremont had received the second-largest grant, among the first 31 federal grants for CVE awarded to organizations, schools and municipalities in the final days of the Obama administration.

Turk said the school had hoped to use the money to help create a new generation of Muslim community leaders, with $250,000 earmarked for about 20 local nonprofits doing social justice work.

Building resilient communities is our goal, he said. Were going to continue the work. We dont need government money to do it. Its not fruitful to work with a government that is hostile in its rhetoric to Islam and Muslims.

Even under Obama, the CVE program created controversy and division within Muslim communities in Southern California and nationwide.

While officials said the initiative is a tool to reach out to Muslim groups through community events, mentoring and youth programs, its broader goal was to prevent radicalization and identify potential extremists.

Some groups, such as the Muslim Public Affairs Council, became partners in the initiative but others, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, backed away, suspecting the effort was just another way Muslims would be targeted and vilified.

The Associated Press reported that three other groups also rejected CVE funds.

Unity Products Foundations in Potomac Falls, Va., has declined a $396,585 grant to produce educational films challenging narratives supporting extremist ideologies.

In Dearborn, Mich., Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities said it is turning down $500,000 for youth development and public health programs. Also, Ka Joog, a leading Somali nonprofit organization in Minneapolis, rejected a $500,000 grant that would have benefited its youth programs.

All of the groups cited the current political climate and Trumps approach to countering violent extremism for their decision.

Work done by these community organizations in terms of countering violent extremism is valuable, said the Los Angeles Police Departments Deputy Chief Michael Downing, who also heads the citys Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau.

The work that law enforcement can do in this area is quite limited, he said. When you have stakeholders like Bayan Claremont who are invested in mitigating the risks, it has huge positive consequences. Its a shame that these groups have pulled out.

LAPD will continue with its outreach and intervention efforts, said Downing, who is set to retire at the end of February.

Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council has not yet declined the $393,800 it was awarded to create community resource teams with spiritual leaders, youth counselors and mental health specialists, and to build a website to counter Islamophobia, said Omar Noureldin, vice president of strategy and operations.

He said theyve still not heard anything clear-cut regarding the programs future from Trump administration officials.

Were flying in the dark, he said. And were supportive of other Muslim organizations that have turned down the funds because we see how this proposed change could be detrimental to the process of building strong communities.

But the bigger problem, Noureldin said, is that targeting Muslim communities in the guise of a counter-extremism program is un-American and unconstitutional. If the Trump administration goes through with its plan for the CVE program by targeting Muslims and ignoring other extremist groups, his group will take the lead in mounting a legal challenge, he said.

Our focus is to build healthy communities, Noureldin said. And the way to do that is to move away from the securitization of our communities.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@scng.com
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  Malaysian police said Friday that the half brother of North Koreas leader who was killed in a Kuala Lumpur airport more than a week ago had a nerve agent on his eye and his face.

A statement Friday from the inspector general of police said that a preliminary analysis from the Chemistry Department of Malaysia identified the agent at VX NERVE AGENT.

Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, died Feb. 13 shortly after two women put a substance on his face while he was checking in for a flight.

Police have not said how the women were able to apply the nerve agent to Kims face and also avoid becoming ill themselves. It is not known if they were wearing some sort of thin gloves or if washing their hands quickly removed the danger.

Police had said earlier that the two attackers rubbed a liquid on Kim Jong Nams face before walking away and quickly washing their hands. He sought help from airport staff but died before he reached the hospital.

The seeming contradiction of a poison that could kill him quickly but not sicken the attackers has stumped outside experts.

Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said some protective measures must have been in place if the women handled the substance without gloves.

Its also possible that the toxin was encapsulated, then activated when applied to the skin, he said before the latest police statement. As additional information is provided to the media by the police, it seems more likely that a new or modified chemical or biological agent was utilized in the attack.

Malaysias police chief said Thursday that investigators want to question a North Korean embassy official about Kim Jong Nams death, saying he should cooperate if he has nothing to hide despite having diplomatic immunity.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said police have also asked Interpol to issue an alert for four North Korean men who left Malaysia the same day Kim Jong Nam was attacked by the two women.

The four men are believed to be back in North Korea, but police also want to question three other people still in Malaysia, including Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the North Korean Embassy.

The foreign officer has got immunity so we have to follow protocol, Khalid told reporters. If you have nothing to hide, you dont have to be afraid. You should cooperate.

Khalid acknowledged that Malaysia would not be able to question Hyon if the embassy exercises its immunity privileges.

North Koreas official, state-controlled media mentioned the case for the first time Thursday, saying Malaysias investigation was full of holes and contradictions without acknowledging the victim was Kim Jong Nam.

The report from KCNA largely echoed past comments by North Koreas ambassador to Malaysia, but the publication of at least some news inside North Korea could be a sign of its concern over growing international speculation that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam.

Long estranged from North Koreas leadership, Kim Jong Nam had lived outside the country for years, staying in Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.

The two suspected attackers, and Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese woman, are in custody.
The detention and cross-country transfer of a 22-year-old North Hollywood man is prompting questions from immigrant rights advocates who believe the Trump administration might be violating its recently stated policy of not deporting young immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA.

The case of Jesus Alonso Arreola Robles is complicated by a 10-day silence on the part of immigration authorities, followed by their disclosure Thursday that they believe Robles was trying to smuggle someone into the country.

Robles and a 17-year-old companion were taken into custody on on Feb. 12, while driving on State Route 94 in Campo, California, about a mile from the U.S.-Mexico border.

Since then, according to officials, Arreola Robles was processed for deportation. He currently is being held in a detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, and waiting for his case to be heard before an immigration judge.

But in a press conference Thursday, Arreola Robles attorney, Joseph Porta, said he had not been allowed to speak to his client, and he got no response from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when he sought to locate his clients name in the agencys database of immigrant detainees.

Im an attorney. Hes in the United States. He has due process rights. He has a right to counsel. He has a right to be represented. I have a right to have access to my client, Porta said. I havent been able to get a live person on the phone that can actually tell me exactly where he is.

Thats something I havent seen in my entire career.

In a statement issued after the press conference, immigration officials confirmed that Arreola Robles was transferred to ICE on Feb. 15. The officials did not explain why he was moved to Georgia, but said that ICE routinely transfers detainees to other detention facilities based on available resources and the needs of the agency.

Immigrant advocates criticized the delayed response.

ICE once again dragged its feet, and kept Jesus from speaking with his attorney until pressured by the family and the media to do so, said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles.

According to Porta, Arreola Robles was among the first recipients of DACA, a program created under the Obama administration to provide deportation relief and work permits to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Portas added that his client has no criminal history, which is a requirement for recipients of the program.

Arreola Robless mother, Rosa Robles, said Thursday that she brought her son to the United States illegally when he was 18 months old, and that the family has been living in Los Angeles ever since.

She added that she is desperate to see him.

More than 750,000 immigrants have received protection under the program, about a third of whom live in California. According to federal officials, about 1,500 DACA recipients have had their status terminated as a result of a criminal conviction or gang affiliation.

The news of Arreola Robles detention comes amid heightened fears of the Trump administrations plans to expand the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants, including those who had been considered low priorities under the Trump administration.

Earlier this month, immigration agents in Seattle arrested another dreamer, 23-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina, whom they accused of being a threat to public safety based on a gang affiliation. His lawyers have contested the accusation, and have filed a lawsuit to challenge his detention.

Memos released by the Department of Homeland Security this week, which detail how the administration plans to execute its crackdown on immigration enforcement, leave DACA protections in place. Trump himself has taken a softer tone toward the program since taking office, saying in a news conference earlier this month that he would treat dreamers with heart.

But immigrant rights advocates say that the recent arrests of dreamers Seattle and Los Angeles have raised new questions about the Trump administrations commitment to protecting DACA.

Because the administrations positions have been so scattered, Im not sure anything Trump says alleviates the fear, said Sylvia Juarez, who runs the DREAMER Resource Center at San Bernardino Valley College. And we cant give them reassurances that the policies wont change.

On Thursday, Porta said hell ask for Arreola Robles to be released on bond until his hearing. An immigration judge will decide whether he is allowed to remain in the U.S.
It didnt take long for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher to attract a challenger to his 2018 reelection bid.

But whether Democrat Boyd Roberts can mount a competitive bid against the veteran Republican is another question altogether.

Last year, Rohrabacher won reelection by 16-percentage points over poorly funded Democrat Suzanne Savary and Republicans have an 11-point advantage in voter registration. Roberts has taken out candidacy papers twice before, finishing last in a field of five for Hemet school board in 2012 and then abandoning a campaign against Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, before qualifying for the ballot in 2014.

On the other hand, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in Rohrabachers coastal Orange County district, by 1.7 points. A Pew Research poll found just 38 percent of white voters with a college degree view Trump favorably.

Richer, more establishment and better educated Republicans fear and reject this bully, Roberts said in a campaign video reference to the districts voters. Unsurprisingly, Trump is an integral part of challengers nascent campaign, launched just six weeks after Rohrabacher was sworn in Jan. 3 for his 15th term.

Roberts, a real estate broker who moved to Laguna Beach from the Inland Empire a year ago, is emphasizing Trumps and Rohrabachers statements seeking friendlier relations with Russia. That seems to fly in the face of U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia after its 2014 military intervention in the Ukraine. Additionally, U.S. intelligence agencies have said Russia tried to help Trump in the presidential election.

I think its a crossover issue, Roberts, 57, said of the Russia issues bipartisan appeal. Among other things, he points to at least two interviews Rohrabacher has given to the Russian governments TV station.

Roberts also emphasizes Rohrabachers lack of accessibility to voters in his district, dozens of whom have been parading around his Huntington Beach office weekly calling for a town hall meeting.

Hes more interested in appearing on Russian television than meeting with constituents, Roberts told me.

If thats not enough to get your attention, try this:

I am running to impeach our president, Roberts said. Indeed, besides candidacy paperwork, hes also filed to open the Impeach Trump Leadership PAC, which he says will raise money to support 2018 congressional candidates who want to impeach Trump.

Additionally, hes drafted language for a ballot measure that would make all University of California classes available online  and available for free to anybody who wanted to take them non-credit.

Raising the money for his own congressional campaign  he estimates hell need at least $1 million  will be a challenge enough. Rohrabachers opponent last year brought in just $68,000.

Asked where he was going to get the cabbage not only for his own campaign but for other candidates, Roberts said, Theres a lot of passion all across the country for this. However, he declined to discuss his fundraising strategy.

Roberts joins film director Michael Moore in floating the prospect of impeachment based on treason. Some experts have said theres insufficient evidence to support that claim  that few have ever been convicted of treason, let alone a president.

That has never happened in American history, and its unlikely to happen to Trump, said Thomas DiBacco, professor emeritus of history at American University, in an essay for the Orlando Sentinel.

REELECTION QUESTION

Amid rumors the 69-year-old Rohrabacher is considering retiring, the congressman told me in December that hell probably run for reelection.

Scott Baugh, a former Assemblyman and county GOP leader, said early last year that he opened an account to run for Rohrabachers seat because the congressman told him he intended to step down. Rohrabacher responded that he intended to run for reelection unless he took a job in the new administration.

Baugh has $550,000 in his account, Rohrabacher has $240,000 and Roberts has just begun raising money. Its unclear whether Baugh would run against Rohrabacher.

Id prefer to go against Rohrabacher rather than Baugh, Roberts said. Baugh would be more difficult to beat.

If Rohrabacher doesnt run, another possible candidate is Republican county Supervisor Michelle Steel, a longtime friend of the congressman.

PEARLMAN ON ROHRABACHER

Rohrabacher has also caught the attention of sportswriter Jeff Pearlman, whose books on Brett Favre, Walter Payton, the 1990s Dallas Cowboys and the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers have all made the New York Times bestseller list.

Pearlman moved into Rohrabachers district two years ago and recently decided to create a website, crazydana.com, to share his distaste for the congressman.

The site offers Pearlmans commentary and a call for those reading to press him to meet with constituents, as well as links to the anti-Trump Indivisible OC and to Rohrabachers voting record.

Activists have been pressing Orange Countys four GOP members of Congress to hold town hall meetings during their Feb. 18-26 recess. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, held an impromptu event with demonstrators at his district office Tuesday. As of press time Friday, the other three had not held any such public events.
ANAHEIM  Within 90 days, a California Court of Appeals will decide whether an overhaul can be forced to turn Palm Lane Elementary School into a charter school.

Attorneys for the Anaheim Elementary School District and for parents of students met once again in court over the question whether parents did enough to invoke the Parent Empowerment Act, also known as the Parent Trigger Law. The law allows parents in a low-performing public school to change the administration, typically by converting the campus into a charter school, if they gather signatures from at least half of the schools parents.

David Mishook, the attorney representing the school district, asked the three-judge panel to disregard the parents petition, reiterating earlier trial arguments that the January 2015 petition lacked the required number of valid signatures. Also, he said, at that time there were no academic evaluations available by which to measure the schools academic performance, as required by the Parent Empowerment Act.

Daniel Bress, of Kirkland & Ellis, representing pro-bono Cecilia Ochoa and other Palm Lane parents, asked the judges to uphold Orange County Superior Court Judge Andrew Banks 2015 ruling that the districts rejection of the parents petition was procedurally unfair, unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious.

These are low-income parents who wanted to do something about a chronically failing school, Bress said.

Instead, they found a hostile school district trying to find every way to stop them, Bress said.

If they had followed procedures, we would not be here today, Mishook said after the Feb. 23 appeals hearing.

The attempt to convert Palm Lane into a charter school is believed to be the first use in Orange County of the 2010 Parent Trigger Law.

If the parents win, Bress said they would start the process of selecting and installing a charter school operator.

We would hope that the district would work cooperatively with the parents to get a charter school in place as quickly as possible, he said. After two years of litigation, we are hopeful this process can come to a close and that we can soon begin the important task of transitioning to charter school management.

Ochoa, who has led the parents charge, has two children enrolled at Palm Lane.

This has been an important fight, she said through a translator. Elementary school is the foundation. If the kids dont do well right now, theyll struggle in middle school and maybe high school and not go to a university.

The Anaheim Elementary School District has so far spent $778,176 on the case, according to a district spokesman.

We have believed from the very beginning in the dedicated staff at Palm Lane and wanted to work directly with our families and students to achieve success, spokesman Keith Sterling said in an e-mail Friday.

Palm Lane Elementary is home to about 700 students  most are Latino and more than half are classified as English learners.

The panels decision could be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
COSTA MESA The OC Fair & Event Center will close the weekend of March 25-26, canceling several events, over concerns about a planned pro-President Donald Trump rally and counter protest near the property, fair officials said Thursday.

The Make America Great Again Nationwide March is scheduled for noon to 3 p.m. March 25 near Fair Drive and Fairview Road, according to a Southern California MAGA March Facebook page.

We are marching for our President, Vice President, Military, and First Responders, the MAGA March Facebook page states. We are the silent majority and we are ready for a real change.

Event Center officials said they had safety concerns about the march, especially in the wake of an pro-Trump campaign rally at the Pacific Amphitheatre in April that turned violent after Trump supporters and anti-Trump protestors scuffled outside following the event.

Safety is our utmost concern, said OC Fair CEO Kathy Kramer. We will work with promoters and organizers to make every effort to reschedule the canceled events. Orange County Market Place will resume its schedule the following week.

Events canceled include the Orange County Wine Societys Wine Extraordinaire, Crossroads of the West Gun Show and the weekly Orange County Market Place. The Heroes Hall veterans museum, Centennial Farm and the equestrian center will be closed and the farms food preservation class is also canceled.

Rally organizers declined to comment Friday.

At the April 28 rally, several heated confrontations between pro-Trump groups and protesters ensued as the rally let out, and 17 people were arrested. Demonstrators blocked traffic and damaged several police cars, jumping on top of them and smashing windows.

In July, the Costa Mesa Police Department received a $15,655 payment from the Trump campaign to cover the costs for police services at the event.

The city spent another $47,000, but didnt bill the campaign for outside police agencies and several damaged police cars since the chaos occurred after the rally.

The Orange County Sheriffs Department sought a nearly $130,000 payment from the Fair & Event Center for its services related to the April rally.

The department submitted an invoice to the fairgrounds in June. In October, the ageny decided to not pursue the payment.

The Event Center has repeatedly sought payment from the Trump administration, but has not received a response, officials said.

Information on rescheduled events is available at ocfair.com.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2478 or lcasiano@scng.com
SANTA ANA  A crowd of nearly 700  predominantly Latino parents  filled the Santa Ana High School auditorium Thursday evening to get the details of President Donald Trumps new immigration policy and learn what to do if they are arrested.

The town hall, hosted by Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, was a sharp contrast to Republican congressional districts in the county, where anti-Trump activists have clamored largely in vain for their representatives to hold town hall meetings so they can air their grievances.

The Santa Ana event featured few complaints, the atmosphere heavy with concern about the possibility of deportation in central Orange County, which has one of the nations densest concentrations of Latino immigrants.

Some say you can hide or you can run, immigration attorney Lisa Ramirez told the crowd. I say, Have a plan.

Many Trump supporters have cheered the presidents promise to increase the number of deportations. But that same promise brought fear and alarm to many at the Thursday meeting.

Ramirez explained how Trumps executive order issued Jan. 25 expanded the pool of unauthorized immigrants targeted for deportation.

Previously, those convicted of felonies were the most vulnerable but Trumps order has expanded that pool to include those charged with crimes and those who have received deportation notices in the past, among others, she said.

Have emergency phone numbers of someone who can get your kids from school, she said. Give someone you trust power of attorney, someone who can sell your car and take care of your kids.

She also told those at risk of deportation to get a reputable lawyer or at least establish a good contact with an organization that helps immigrants.

She warned against volunteering ones immigration status to officials, as well as telling the audience not to give false information to officials or carry phony documents.

Its important to know your rights and responsibilities, especially in this very stressful time, she said.

Also speaking at the event were Correa, Orange County Mexican Consul Mario Antonio Fraire, attorney Alfredo Amezcua, Catholic Charities Susan Kadota and Hermandad Mexicanas Sergio Trujillo. The bilingual meeting was roughly two-thirds in Spanish.

Luis Gonzalez of the Corbin Family Resource Center in Santa Ana said he attended so he could better help his clients.

We have kids as young as 7 or 8 asking if their parents are going to be going back to their home countries, he said. Theyre asking if they are going to be safe in school.

He said such questions never arose until about a month ago.

Correa held a similar immigration town hall on Tuesday and will hold another one at 5 p.m. Friday at the Rancho Santiago Community College District Building.

Contact the writer: mwisckol@ocregister.com
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb 24, 2017) - Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Canada and the United States have the most successful economic relationship in the world, supporting millions of middle class jobs on both sides of the border.

The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board, and the Honourable Andrew Leslie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations), are continuing Canada's outreach in Washington, D.C., today and tomorrow, where they will meet with key U.S. officials including state governors.

The Washington meeting between Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump on February 13, 2017, affirmed Canada's longstanding commitment to close cooperation between our two countries. The National Governors Association Winter Meeting provides another important platform to engage key U.S stakeholders.

Minister Brison will also take this opportunity to meet with Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to discuss regulatory efficiency and cooperation.

During their visit, which includes a luncheon round table hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Minister Brison and Parliamentary Secretary Leslie will discuss the importance of the bilateral relationship, and how to deepen cooperation given that millions of good, well-paying jobs on both sides of the border depend on that relationship.

Quotes

"As we continue to build on Canada's deep relationship with the United States, I look forward to meeting my counterpart, Mr. Mulvaney, and members of the National Governors Association. Our Government is committed to helping businesses thrive, promoting job growth and strengthening Canada's middle class. By collaborating closely on regulatory cooperation, our two countries can reduce the cost of doing business for employers, and the cost of products for consumers, while maintaining high standards when it comes to health, safety and the environment."

Story continues

- The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board

"Canada and the United States enjoy a strong and mutually beneficial economic relationship. I look forward to meeting with several State governors to strengthen our two countries' highly integrated economies and to discuss new opportunities for collaboration."

- The Honourable Andrew Leslie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)

Quick Facts

The National Governors Association is the bipartisan organization of governors from the United States. Through this association, governors share best practices, speak with a collective voice on national policy and develop innovative solutions that improve state government and support the principles of federalism. Its members are the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths.

In 2015, bilateral trade reached CAD$885 billion, representing almost CAD$2.5 billion worth of goods and services crossing the border every day.

Canada is the largest single export market for the U.S. In 2015, Canada imported CAD$423 billion in goods and services from the U.S.

Canada buys more from the United States than any other nation, including all members of the European Union combined.

Nearly nine million U.S. jobs depend on trade and investment with Canada.

Since 2011, the Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council has worked to align independent regulatory systems and remove unnecessary and duplicative requirements and costs between the U.S. and Canada. The Council currently involves 16 Canadian and U.S. departments with health, safety, and environmental protection mandates, largely as they affect production, manufacturing, and bringing goods to market.

Associated Links

Canada-U.S. relations

Canada and the United States

Canadian Trade Commissioner Service - U.S.A.

Follow us on Twitter: @TBS_Canada.

Follow us on Twitter: @CanadaFP

Like us on Facebook: Canada's foreign policy - Global Affairs Canada
IRVINE  Attendees of an anti-Donald Trump town hall meeting are upset that a staffer for their congresswoman, Rep. Mimi Walters, called them paid activists.

Organizer Deborah Newquist, a 66-year-old gerontologist who used to run an elder care consulting firm, said she wasnt paid to host the Feb. 22 meeting. The majority of the attendees were her fellow residents in University Hills, a housing development for UC Irvine faculty and staff and their families, she said.

About 120 people packed the University Hills community center for the town hall, demanding that Walters take a stand against the new presidential administration.

They voiced concerns about health care and environmental and immigration issues, but were united in their frustration with Trump. Because Walters was absent, they took straw polls and wrote down questions for her to be delivered to her office.

Walters didnt attend the event, and her spokeswoman, Abigail Sigler, emailed the following statement to the Register six hours before the meeting to explain why Walters declined the invitation:

Congresswoman Walters is in Orange County this week meeting with the people she represents. She firmly believes that meeting and listening to her constituents is the best (way to) represent them and advocate for them in Washington.

She will not allow a small, vocal group of paid activists distract her from this fundamental responsibility. As she always has, she welcomes anyone with comments or concerns to contact her office.

Sigler didnt return the Registers phone calls requesting evidence that attendees at Wednesdays meeting were paid.

Instead, she stated in an email Thursday that protesters werent organizing organically and were following the online Indivisible Guide, which is put together by progressive former congressional staffers and analyzes the tea partys successes against Barack Obama and details how to use those lessons against Trump.

She said well-funded national activist groups  such as MoveOn.org, Working Families Party and American Civil Liberties Union  are collaborating with Indivisible supporters to protest, though she didnt say how they were involved in Wednesdays meeting other than to cite the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees announcement to hire full-time local organizers.

Newquist said Siglers statements are insulting.

(Walters) is the one whos being paid and with our tax dollars, Newquist said. And she should be doing her job, which means talking to a range of constituents.

She said she decided to host the event after being alarmed by Trumps presidency so far and his proposals such as repealing the Affordable Care Act  and from encouragement from her son. She invited University Hills residents through an email list and people she met from participating in the Womens March on Washington, D.C. in January.

Newquiest couldnt publicize the event until Tuesday because she had to wait to confirm if the community center was available for gathering, she said. Democrats of Orange County Political Action Committee and a political organization called California 45th also helped spread the word, she said.

Newquist, who moderated the meeting, gave representatives from the two groups time to introduce themselves to the attendees.

She said she has downloaded the Indivisible Guide but hasnt had time to read it.

What does it matter if weve read the Indivisible Guide; we dont do this for living, she said. They are just trying to discredit us and say we are not legitimate constituents.

This is rising up from the ground level, she said. People are looking for ways to organize because they are concerned, and she (Walters) should be talking to a wide range of constituents not just people who agree with her.

UC Irvine sociologist David Meyer, author of The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America, said politicians often label protests as paid activism to discredit people they dont like. (Meyer didnt attend Wednesdays meeting.)

People said that the tea partiers were paid, and it wasnt true, Meyer said. Even if you can find one or two odd people  and you can always find one or two odd people among 120 people  the mass people are what they claim to be.

While there are professional organizers and special interests involved, Meyer said, grassroots activists are fueling the nationwide effort. He said the Indivisible Guide is available for anyone to read and theres nothing secret or nefarious about it.

Its understandable that (Walters) would take cue from the president and throw those charges around, but she needs to do a better job substantiating such claims, Meyer said.

Many at Wednesdays event said they were energized after watching and hearing about others protesting against the Trump administration.

Shira Liu, a 33-year-old civil attorney who lives in University Hills, came late to the meeting, she said, because she had been putting her young daughter to bed. Liu said she wants Walters to attend a town hall meeting and stand up against Trump.

Although she hadnt been politically active, Liu said, she visited Walters office to raise her concerns after hearing Trump had chosen Steve Bannon as his White House chief strategist.

If a different Republican had been elected (as president), I dont think Id be spending my little time on political activism, Liu said. But I see the Trump administration as a real threat to American democracy.  I cant imagine who would be paying us to do this.

Fellow attendee Michele Musacchio said she would be upset if there had been paid activists at the meeting to roil things up.

A molecular genetics scientist, Musacchio learned about the meeting through the University Hills email list and decided to attend so she could have her voice heard.

I feel strongly that our democracy is being threatened by a different style of government now, Musacchio said. Our congressional representative is pretty much the only person who can keep the democracy first and foremost.

In her email to the Register on Thursday, Sigler wrote she would hope UC Irvine faculty and University Hills residents were not attending this overtly political event in their official capacity.

Congresswoman Walters will continue to engage in thoughtful, productive discussions with her constituents to ensure she represents them, as she always has, Sigler stated, adding Walters victory in November by 17 percentage points is a sign that her constituents are pleased with her work.

Orange County has become a key battleground of a national resistance movement against the Trump administration. Dozens of grassroots activists are parading to GOP congressional offices each week demanding town hall meetings to address their Congress members.

All four  Walters, Reps. Ed Royce, Dana Rohrabacher and Darrell Issa  were reelected in November, but their districts all favored Hillary Clinton for president.

Staff Writer Martin Wisckol contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: tshimura@scng.com
Top ranked firms specializing in financial PR and investor relations (by worldwide fees)

Top ranked firms specializing in financial PR and investor relations (by worldwide fees)









PR has moved mostly to the agency side where extensive special practice areas have built up over the past 20 years. Only O'Dwyer's ranks PR firms by 19 specialties. The firms below have broken out their net fees for accounts classified as financial PR and investor relations.

Top PR Firms - See 2022 Rankings (Worldwide fees)

PR Firms by Specialty

PR Firms by City/Region

Past Rankings

The firms ranked above have satisfied the O'Dwyer ranking rules  supporting fee and employee totals with income tax and W-3 forms and providing a current account list. O'Dwyer's rankings should be regarded as an expression of our judgment of a firm's standing within the industry, and are not warranted to comply with any specific objective standards.

Become an O'Dwyer's Ranked PR Firm

Complete list of firms specializing in financial PR and investor relations, both ranked and un-ranked, which you can research on odwyerpr.com


GOP Should Back Away From Trump in 2024 Wed., Jul. 6, 2022 Trump has allegedly told his inner circle hes considering officially announcing his second run for the White House as early as this month. Heres why it would be a bad idea for the GOP to get behind him.
The Colaiste Choilm Trad Group will launch their recently recorded CD by holding a concert in the school hall on March 8 at 7:30pm.

The organisers commented, "The painstaking process, which started last September, of selecting tunes and many hours of hard graft perfecting arrangements culminated with the recording of the CD this January. The CD was recorded in Joe Egans recording studio at The Nutshed Studio in Clara.

"The concept of the CD is Cairde Cheolmhara Colaiste Choilm (The Musical Friends of Colaiste Choilm). Having a particular strong cohort of traditional musicians this year, we felt it was the perfect opportunity to record the schools second Trad Group CD."

The current group is made up of Fintan Hughes, Stephen Coleman, Daire McDaid, Darragh Ryan, Sean Brady and Brian Whittaker (First Year), Diarmuid Brady (Second Year) and Ciaran Whelan, Ciaran Brennan and Cathal Brady (Fifth Year). Additional artists who perform on the CD are all friends of the schools music community including, current staff, past pupils and traditional music legends, Dermot Byrne and Steve Cooney, who have been very generous in giving their time to visit Colaiste Choilm on occasion over the last few years.

Performers on the night of the launch concert will include the Colaiste Choilm Trad Group, James Hogan and friends, Dermot Byrne, Steve Cooney and a few surprise guests along the way.

A family friendly evening jam packed with the best of traditional Irish music, singing and dancing is guaranteed!

Dermot Byrne and Steve Cooney will perform a Tunes and Arrangement Workshop before the concert. The workshop is open to the general public and traditional musicians. Participants will work with both Dermot and Steve and get to perform the arrangement learned with them at the CD Launch Concert later that night.

Admission on the night is 10 for Adults, 5 for Children and OAPs with family tickets costing 20.

Please see the school Facebook page www.facebook.com/colaistechoilmtullamore for more details.
President Donald Trump 's actions are sending shock waves through the business community, but will CEOs have the courage to challenge him?

Publicly, most CEOs are declaring how pleased they are with the President's attention, which has been greater in the past three months from President Trump than it was in eight years under President Obama. Trump is promising them lower corporate taxes, fewer regulations on financial services, health care and energy, and improved infrastructure, while acknowledging business as the driver of economic growth. Every week the President is meeting with CEOs from major industries. Last week it was retailers; before that, airlines and automobiles.

Beneath these rosy promises, Trump's policies are setting off alarm bells in C-suites. Even before his inauguration, he shook business leaders with a series of tweets attacking such great American stalwarts as Ford, General Motors, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and United Technologies, criticizing their global manufacturing plans, while threatening them with large tariffs for imported products.

Ford (NYSE:F) and United Technologies' Carrier division immediately offered compromises to avoid Trump's wrath. Concerned their companies might be the next recipient of a Trump tweet, the CEOs of Amazon (AMZN), Fiat/Chrysler, and Sprint (NYSE:S) rushed to Trump Tower with offers to employ more Americans. In reality, they were just re-announcing previously published expansion plans. CEO Brian Krzanich told the President that Intel was restarting a $7 billion facility in Arizona, which was originally launched in 2011 under President Obama, and then postponed in 2014 due to lack of demand.

In a recent interview with Harvard Business Review, former U.S. treasury secretary Larry Summers called on business leaders to stand up to the Trump administration, asking, "If CEOs who employ hundreds of thousands of people are not in a position to speak truth to power, who is going to do so?" Rather than trying to curry favor with President Trump, business leaders need to advocate for their long-term needs, and challenge him when his actions will harm their long-term futures.

Story continues

Since his January 20th inauguration, President Trump has signed more than 20 executive actions on issues including jobs, trade, immigration, national security, health care, and financial regulations. Most controversial to date was the 120-day travel ban, a move the State of Washington challenged as unconstitutional. The Washington court temporarily lifted the ban, which the Trump administration challenged in the Court of Appeals.

This represented a seminal challenge to technology companies that rely heavily on immigrants. With more than 5.5 million jobs going unfilled for lack of qualified applicants, they cannot afford to hire only American-born citizens. Thus, 97 technology companies including Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOGL), Facebook (FB), Microsoft, eBay, and Intel, stepped up by taking the unprecedented step of filing a joint amicus brief challenging the order, claiming it "threatens companies' ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States." They were joined by Coca-Cola, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Starbucks  more than 140 companies in all  marking the first time CEOs had actively challenged Trump. On February 8, the President had his most significant defeat when the Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the travel ban.

In addition to the travel ban, Trump's actions are shaking up leaders in other sectors. His proposed border adjustment tax on imports would adversely impact major apparel and electronics retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Nike, and Under Armour that rely on overseas production. A 20 percent border tax would lead to a 20 percent price increase for consumers, creating more strain on their wallets and threatening the jobs of 15 million retail employees. Trump's egregious tweet against Nordstrom accused the company of treating his daughter Ivanka unfairly for discontinuing her branded products.

Nordstrom defended its decision, citing declining sales of Ivanka's products.

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank tried to curry Trump's favor, calling him "a great asset to America." He was forced to recant when Steph Curry, his firm's top sponsored athlete, responded he would agree if Plank removed the letters "et" from his praise. Plank acknowledged the border tax would hurt his firm's sales since "there are no apparel makers or textile companies left in America."

Trump's numerous executive orders are easy to issue but often vague or unclear about details, making their implementation complex and confusing. As Trump tries to repeal Obamacare, he is learning how hard it is to design a reasonable replacement. The same is true for reducing financial regulations by gutting the 2010 Dodd-Frank bill, since no one wants to risk a 2008-style collapse.

Given the chaos in Washington, how should business executives lead in the Trump era? Will they have the courage to step up to these new challenges? My advice is to stay focused on their business, while not letting the president's machinations throw them off course and speaking out whenever required.

Here are five recommendations for business leaders:

Focus on True North. Stay focused on realizing your mission despite the uncertainty. Do not deviate from the core principles that define your company for fear of retaliation from the Trump administration. Staying on track will deepen the loyalty of customers and employees  the people who matter most. Build on your strengths. Develop a clear vision of how your company will win by strengthening unique differentiators setting you apart from competitors, and leveraging these strengths to gain competitive advantage. Adapt your tactics, not your strategy. Continue with strategies established before Trump took office, but rapidly adapt tactics to this era of extreme volatility. Encourage employees to stay agile and think creatively about different ways of achieving their goals, despite roadblocks they face. You may be forced to make tactical adjustments, but pursue your strategy with laser-like focus. Don't abandon globalization. Globalization is a reality that will continue despite the administration's recent efforts to halt it. An "America First" mentality limits your growth potential, so continue to build your global business without backing away from expanding overseas. Embrace globalization by targeting new foreign markets, hiring diverse employees, and building overseas operations. At Medtronic we hired three Americans for every job created overseas as the company expanded from 4,000 employees in 1989 to 85,000 today. Prepare for the jobs of the future. Speak out publicly to encourage Trump to address the real jobs issue: the skills gap created by the lack of lifelong training and education. Prepare your workforce for jobs of the future instead of protecting antiquated jobs as Carrier agreed to do. Take a cue from Amazon, General Electric, and SAS, whose programs enable employees to develop skills required for tomorrow's world.

Business leaders have a responsibility to step up to the challenges presented by Trump's administration and lend their voices to shape a better country. By building their businesses for the long-term, they will strengthen the economy and the nation.

Commentary by Bill George, a senior fellow at Harvard Business, former Chairman & CEO of Medtronic, and the author of "Discover Your True North." Follow him on Twitter @Bill_George.







More From CNBC


Dear Amy: My husband and I have two boys, ages 7 and 4.

The 7-year-old is a great traveler, but the last time we flew on a plane, when he was 5, our older son completely freaked out. I think the sound of the engine and the motion of the takeoff and landing scared him.

He was fine once we were in the air, but to this day he says that he never wants to fly on a plane. He also had a big fear of bounce houses, also because of the sound of the air being blown into them, but after a couple years of avoiding bounce houses he actually had a lot of fun on one. It was a small miracle.

My question is about travel. We have been avoiding trips that would involve flying, but we would like to try to take a nice family vacation somewhere farther away again.

Do we just plan something and hope he wont freak out again? Do we try to prepare him for it, or just dont mention anything ahead of time to avoid anxiety about the plane ride? I was thinking of buying noise-cancelling headphones. Please let me know what you would do.

Ready to Travel Again

Dear Ready to Travel: I am a former freak-out flier. And I cured myself using controlled exposure, which is basically the commonsense experience of tackling a fear in stages, while learning about the source of what was causing it. This could work for your son. My fear was triggered by noises (engines accelerating, flaps moving up and down), as well as bumps and shimmying. This is a common experience for less-seasoned fliers.

On one particularly bumpy flight  panicked, I sought out a flight attendant. He described how the bumps on a plane are like driving down a bumpy road. The vehicle is made for it, and it is nothing to worry about. Reassurance! That helped a lot.

Your son might be particularly sensitive to loud noises (it might be good to have him assessed for a mild sensory disorder), but his experience conquering the bouncy house shows that he can bravely face and tolerate some discomfort. Good for him.

Now that he is older, you can show him how planes work, preparing him for some of the sensations of being onboard an aircraft.

The actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton has a wonderful short film (available on YouTube), where he takes a fearful boy about your sons age on an airplane flight (A Childs First Time Flying Story). Watch this with your son. There are also flight-simulation games designed for children. Check them out.

The message to your son should be, In order to go to fun and faraway places, were going to fly in a plane. This was scary when you were younger and didnt understand how planes work. But we know you can do this, and well help you because well be with you the whole time.

Noise-cancelling headphones, deep-breathing techniques and a reassuring adult hand holding onto his will also help.

*****

Dear Amy: My husband posts photos of our children on social media, but he never posts pictures of me. He doesnt even say that he is married to me on social media.

What do you think about this?

Worried

Dear Worried: I think its time for you two to have a conversation.

Many people choose to leave their relationship status vague on social media. There can be legitimate reasons to do this, but your husband is including some immediate family members and excluding you.

His behavior on social media is a denial of a pretty basic fact about his life, and you should challenge him to explain it.

If there arent any recent pictures of the two of you that he likes (he may use this as an excuse), dig into the archives and find a fun one from the early days.

*****

Dear Amy: Responding to the letter from Mom, whose manipulative and chronically underachieving daughter was miraculously admitted to her expensive dream college:

That mom has an amazing kid? I teach high school. I know plenty of amazing kids, and Im not just talking grades. Community service. Outside work programs. Music and acting talents.

The problem is not just the kid here. Bravo for your answer.

Steve

Dear Steve: And bravo to you. Amazing kids get that way through the efforts of good parents and great teachers.
SAN FRANCISCO  In a few years, if you enter all available facts into a supercomputer and ask it how to make the Internet secure, information security expert Adi Shamir predicts that this is how the computer will respond:

Kill the Internet. Start over again.

The Internet, as we know it, is beyond salvaging, said Shamir, an Israeli who won the prestigious Japan Prize this month, worth about $442,000. The prize, established by the Japanese government, honors advances in life sciences, electronics and communications.

Alarms over the state of the Internet appear with greater frequency as malicious code runs rampant, criminal hackers sweep up passwords of hundreds of millions of users, and nations skirmish with digital weapons. Once a platform for enlightenment, the Internet flirts with a dark age, industry leaders warn, and global action must be taken.

Chief among them is Microsoft President Brad Smith, who called Feb. 14 for a Digital Geneva Convention, an international agreement to protect civilians from the destructive uses by states of the digital sphere.

The time has arrived to call on the worlds governments to implement international rules to protect the civilian use of the Internet, Smith said in a keynote address last week to a gathering of cybersecurity professionals at the RSA Conference, a five-day annual meeting.

He drew a comparison to how war-weary nations in 1949 came together to draw up the Geneva Conventions, which now bind 196 nations and commit them to offer humanitarian treatment to civilians in times of war.

Smith said that cybercrime is taking an increasing global toll and that 74 percent of the worlds businesses expect to be attacked each year. Economic losses due to cybercrime may hit $3 trillion by 2020, he added.

But more alarming, he said, is that nations have unleashed their digital arsenals.

We suddenly find ourselves living in a world where nothing seems off-limits to nation-state attacks, Smith said. Cyberspace has become a potential new and global battleground.

Smith referred to the 2014 North Korea hack of Sony Pictures, and said it culminated last year in hacking incidents connected to the democratic process itself, a reference to U.S. assertions that Russian state hackers influenced the U.S. election.

Civilian users around the world pay a price as the battle intensifies, experts said.

The online environment is increasingly noxious. Every year, the level of risk, crime and threat goes up, said Philip Reitinger, a lawyer who is president of the Global Cyber Alliance, a nonprofit group seeking to end systemic threats on the Internet.

The situation is going to continue to get worse for the next 10 years, added Reitinger, who formerly fought cybercrime from senior posts in the Homeland Security and Justice Departments.

That assessment was echoed by Mike Rogers, a Republican and former Michigan congressman who once chaired the House intelligence committee.

The United States is in a cyberwar, and most Americans dont know it, Rogers said.

But whether an international treaty could slow the destructive currents that make the Internet increasingly hazardous is a subject of intense debate.

Smith called for a global pact that would commit governments to avoiding cyberattacks that target the private sector or critical infrastructure or the use of hacking to steal intellectual property.

In effect, he called for a global cybersheriff, ensuring that nations live up to agreed-upon rules but also codifying that their territory not be used by others for digital mayhem.

J. Michael Daniel, who spent more than four years as cybersecurity czar in the Obama administration, said he worries that some authoritarian nations would distort such an accord.

They dont even use the term cybersecurity. They use the term information security,  he said after a forum at the conference. What they really mean is content control. Their goal in such a treaty would be trying to say that they could say what goes on the Internet.

A better first step, Daniel suggested, would be further agreements of the sort that former President Barack Obama reached with Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2015, which barred purely commercial hacking between the two nations, but not digital espionage.

It was a very critical step forward in achieving modification in Chinese behavior, Daniel said. It helped change their decision calculus on what they were doing.
Few things have mattered more to markets this year than the daily headlines (and tweets) streaming out of Washington. On Saturday, though, lots of investors are likely to shift their attention to the U.S. heartland, when billionaire Warren Buffett releases his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders.

Here are some of the topics the 86-year-old Sage of Omaha may discuss:

Airlines, Apple: Investors will be eager to learn more about some big and surprising additions to Berkshire's stock portfolio last year. As of Dec. 31, the company held $6.6 billion of shares in Apple Inc. and $9.3 billion in the four largest U.S. airlines: American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., Southwest Airlines Co. and United Continental Holdings Inc.

The bets seem to go against some of Buffett's long-held ideas. He's generally avoided investing in technology companies, because he finds it harder to predict whether they'll be around for the long haul. He's also spent years criticizing airlines as terrible businesses.

Berkshire investment manager Ted Weschler could have helped spur the shift in thinking. He explained to a German magazine last year how cloud computing and apps had made customers more loyal to the iPhone maker. People familiar with the matter have said that Weschler studied up on the airline industry last year after seeing a presentation from American Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker.

Wall Street analysts have speculated that Berkshire could eventually buy one of the airlines. Buffett previously acquired railroad BNSF after taking a minority stake in the company and two of its competitors.

Trump? Buffett was an outspoken supporter of Hillary Clinton in last year's election, so Donald Trump's victory in November will be a delicate subject. Since then, the Berkshire chairman has called for unity and said he "overwhelmingly" supported the president's choices as he picked a cabinet. Buffett also reiterated that the U.S. economy will do fine over the long run, regardless of who's in the Oval Office.

That tone is almost certain to carry over to Saturday's letter. While Buffett may not mention Trump by name, it's possible he could comment on some of the business before the new administration and the Republican-led Congress, like an overhaul of the corporate tax code. The letter could also strike a different note than Trump on immigration.

Earnings power: Beyond stock bets and politics, Buffett always uses his letter to update shareholders on the sprawling, $418 billion conglomerate he's run for more than five decades. While Berkshire's share price surged 23 percent last year, earnings through the first nine months showed more muted gains.

The addition of two manufacturing businesses, Precision Castparts and Duracell, helped lift operating profit at Berkshire by 4 percent to $13.2 billion through Sept. 30, even as income dropped at its railroad, BNSF.

The long-term earnings power of Berkshire's 80-odd subsidiaries are of deep importance to Berkshire shareholders. As Buffett has shifted his focus from picking stocks to buying companies outright, more of the company's value is tied to he fortunes of these businesses. Expect Buffett to devote a lot of attention to how they fared last year and what they're doing to advance their competitive positions.

The deal hunt: Cash has been piling up at Berkshire, so investors are going to want an update on Buffett's hunt for acquisitions. One possible target -- Unilever -- just came and went. That proposed transaction would have been done with 3G Capital, a buyout firm that Buffett has teamed up with on profitable takeovers in the food industry.

The billionaire also knows how to go it alone. He's purchased insurers, retailers, the railroad, manufacturers, newspapers, electric utilities and a network of auto dealerships. That range of interests will keep spectators guessing on what he might do next. With almost $85 billion on hand at the end of September, there are many options.

Value-destroying fees: Buffett usually includes a passage on a general investing topic in his letter. This year, he's suggested it'll be about the fees that investment managers and consultants charge. (Hint: He thinks they're excessive.) It's part of why he's become a booster of low-cost funds that passively track stock market indexes like the S&P 500.

For some of his disciplined followers, the message has been jarring. After all, Buffett became one of the wealthiest people on the planet by refusing to settle for average returns. His example inspired legions of people to try to beat the market. Those investment pros will be eager to read his latest thoughts on the matter.
LINCOLN  Private wind and solar developers breathed easier after Nebraska legislators last year amended a decades-old statute that limited the authority of public power entities to commandeer privately owned renewable energy generation.

Before that, the states publicly owned electricity generators could seize via eminent domain those assets and use them as they saw fit.

A proposal debated by Nebraska legislators on Thursday would go one step further and remove that authority completely, effectively clearing the way for private construction and operation of conventional generation powered by fuels like coal and natural gas, in addition to transmission lines.

Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse brought LB 547 before the Natural Resources Committee, he said, to update an industry in which much has changed since the original rules were written.

It seems wrong the threat of eminent domain should force private capital to look outside of our state, Watermeier said.

With heaps of new electric generation in the pipeline of the Southwest Power Pool, which operates the power grid for a 14-state region including Nebraska, Watermeier said, the economic development opportunities of landing some of those assets here are too lucrative to ignore.

The states largest electric utilities lined up Thursday to oppose the bill.

Opponents argued against taking away the Nebraska Power Review Boards authority to approve or deny new power plants in the state, as the bill proposes. They also asserted that allowing more power plants to be built in Nebraska would put their existing plants at a competitive disadvantage.

NPPD Vice President and General Counsel John McClure said enough plants are already running in the state to meet demand for 20 years.

LB 547, he said, opens the door for unneeded generation and transmission that could strand public power (plants and transmission) already built to serve electric consumers in this state.

Tom Richards, manager of governmental and community affairs at OPPD, said public utility ratepayers would bear the costs of lower revenues when newer and more efficient plants produce power at a lower price than existing plants.

Arguably, thats already happening.

Preliminary financial results show that revenues from surplus power sales in 2016 declined significantly at both OPPD and NPPD from 2015. That would mark the second consecutive year in which those sales have declined.

Low natural gas prices and sustained additions of new, extremely cheap wind power promise to continue pressuring revenues at electric utilities in the Southwest Power Pool.

Shelley Sahling-Zart, vice president and general counsel of the Lincoln Electric System, said a provision in the bill opens the door for retail electricity providers to do business here. Lincoln Electric ratepayers are not asking for retail choice, she said.

Its not lost on me that the three proponents of LB 547 were also proponents on bills we heard ... dealing with unbundled billing and retail choice (last week), Sahling-Zart said.

Both those bills and the Watermeier proposal are supported by a Lincoln-based political action committee called Americans for Electricity Choice, which has backed efforts to break up electricity monopolies in Nevada and Kansas.

Gary Aksamit, the PACs founder and chairman, said Nebraska ratepayers deserve the chance to control their fate when it comes to buying electricity, and if the states existing plants cant compete, then so be it.

Nebraskas underperforming power plants are becoming an extreme financial burden to Nebraska ratepayers, Aksamit said.

Michael Matheson, president of the Lincoln-based energy consulting firm Grain Belt Energy, is another supporter of LB 547. He argued that Nebraska utilities are seeking special protection in a marketplace that does not recognize public powers primacy in the state.

When in-state generators chose to enter the power pool in 2009, they surrendered their ability to serve their ratepayers with Nebraska-based generation, Matheson argued.

The power pool collects all the generation in its 14 states, and the lowest-priced energy, typically wind, is the first to be dispatched. That means a utility like NPPD, which has a relatively small portion of its generation coming from wind, is more likely to struggle when competing against generators that have more renewable generation.

If they wanted to keep their monopoly protection, they should have considered that before joining the SPP and entering an electric market with no boundaries, Matheson said.
A man who attempted to rob a barbershop on Friday morning near 29th and Q Streets was shot by an employee and critically injured, Omaha police said.

Authorities say Lucas Ortiz, 23, tried to rob the Fade Kings Barber Shop at 2907 Q St. just before 9:50 a.m. Friday. Ortiz had a shotgun, shop employees said. He and one of the employees shot at each other. Ortiz was hit, reportedly in the leg. No one else was injured.

Ortiz was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment and was under police guard. Hospital officials said Friday afternoon that they could not release his condition.

A person who lives above the shop heard shots and called it in, according to reports to Douglas County 911 dispatchers.

People with information about the incident can call the Omaha Police Department at 402-444-5656 or Crime Stoppers at 402-444-STOP.
Two agencies that are quite familiar with Nebraskas roadways are joining forces to keep those roads safe.

The safety campaign by the Nebraska State Patrol and the Nebraska Trucking Association will be called Trooper in a Truck.

The statewide effort is designed to identify and address unsafe driving behaviors among large, commercial motor vehicles, the patrol said.

Troopers will ride in the cabs of commercial motor vehicles, watching for unsafe driving behaviors such as driving while texting, following too closely, speeding and aggressive driving.

When violations are observed, they will be reported to a nearby trooper in a marked patrol cruiser, who will stop the violator and issue a citation or warning, the patrol said.
LINCOLN  A group of lawyers tried to make the case Thursday that lawmakers should make no changes to Nebraskas system of appointing, disciplining and distributing judges.

The Legislatures Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee has proposed changing the commissions that nominate candidates for judicial vacancies and investigate ethical complaints against sitting judges. The committee also has proposed abolishing a third commission that decides where to add and subtract judgeships across the state.

No one testified in support of the changes contained within Legislative Bill 644 during a public hearing Thursday, but nine lawyers spoke in defense of the judicial commissions.

Elizabeth Neeley, executive director of the Nebraska State Bar Association, said the changes would inject partisan politics into the independent judiciary. The public expects judges to be impartial and as free from political influence as possible, she added.

Nebraskas merit system for the selection of judges has no peers; it is the best there is, said Ted Kessner, past president of the bar association.

Judicial nominating commissions include four laypersons appointed by the governor and four lawyers elected by the bar association. No more than four members may share the same political affiliation.

Under current practice the governor typically appoints two members from his political party and two from another party. The bill would allow the governor to appoint members of his party, which would limit the bar associations selections to lawyers affiliated with other political parties.

Bob Wickersham told the committee that when he was a state senator 25 years ago, he advocated for the commission that recommends to the Legislature where to add judgeships. Before that, if the state lacked the funds to create a new spot on the bench, lawmakers would scheme to steal judges by altering judicial districts.

The current system does a better job of making sure judicial resources are fairly distributed in the best interests of Nebraska citizens, not politicians, Wickersham said.

Sen. John Murante of Gretna, chairman of the committee, said he proposed the changes because the judiciary refused to answer a survey sent out last year to all of the nearly 200 boards and commissions in the state. The law requires the Legislature to review the commissions every four years.

State Court Administrator Corey Steel sent letters to the committee saying that because the judiciary is a separate branch of government under the Nebraska Constitution, it was under no obligation to respond to the Legislatures survey.

Steel listened to Thursdays hearing but did not testify.

Afterward, Murante said it now will be up to the committee to decide what, if any, of the proposed changes should remain before the bill is advanced to the floor. The committee will discuss the bill in coming weeks.
HASTINGS, Neb.  People will eventually replace pigeons as residents of the old Hastings Brewery and bottling works.

A Kansas developer just began an $8 million project to transform the 110-year-old brick structures into 35 affordable, loft apartments.

Its the latest effort by a downtown Hastings group to creatively address a critical shortage of housing that afflicts rural communities across the state.

Officials here, and the developer of the project, say such renovations of historic structures would not be possible without a state tax credit passed by lawmakers in 2014, a tax credit that is providing about $1 million for the brewery project.

But now, facing budget problems and complaints about the complexity of the application process, the state tax credit for renovating historic structures is being targeted for the scrap heap.

Four bills proposed in the Nebraska Legislature this year would either end or suspend the Nebraska Job Creation and Mainstreet Revitalization Act, which provides up to $15 million a year in tax credits for historic renovation projects.

While critics of the program question whether state tax dollars should be used for such projects, proponents say that restoring an iconic, historic structure in the middle of a downtown area can spark a renaissance and millions of dollars in investment in other nearby structures.

Many of these buildings have good bones, said Tim Quigley, director of the Hastings Brewery project. Its the green thing to do  instead of tearing down a building and putting all that refuse in the landfill, youre reusing a building that has a lot of sentimental value and is located in the heart of their community.

It very much revitalizes a community, said Quigley, of Cohen-Esrey Development Group of Overland Park, Kansas. Plus, how cool would it be to live in a loft apartment in a brewery?

Critics of the tax credit, meanwhile, say that the application process is so complicated that it scares off small-town projects and all but the largest developers.

State Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus, a sponsor of legislation to do away with the credits, said that one of his constituents, seeking funds to help create a museum of historic fire engines, gave up after looking at the lengthy application process.

They said it was such a nightmare that it was just easier to raise the money, said Schumacher, who is a member of the Revenue Committee, which will decide whether the proposals advance for debate by the full Legislature.

Another member of that committee, North Platte Sen. Mike Groene, said the state is providing too many special tax breaks when, instead, it should be cutting taxes for everyone.

The reason were a high-tax state is that we have too many people in the lifeboat and not enough people rowing, Groene said.

The Revenue Committee is holding a public hearing March 3 on two of the historic tax credit proposals, Legislative Bills 272 and 475. A hearing was held Feb. 9 on LB 126, which would end the credit program in 2020, two years earlier than intended. A hearing date for a fourth bill, LB 467, which would suspend the historic tax credits for two years, has not yet been set.

The issue comes up as state lawmakers are trying to close a $760 million gap between projected tax revenue and expected state spending, so ending a $15 million-a-year tax break, though small in comparison, could contribute to that. The gap had been $900 million until changes were approved recently for the current fiscal year budget, which ends June 30.

There has also been a push in the Legislature in recent years to review state tax incentives overall, to better determine whether the forgiven tax revenue really translates into job creation and long-term economic benefits for the state.

Such historic tax credit programs exist in 38 states, including neighboring Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. And advocates say they pay dividends.

On Wednesday, the Nebraska State Historical Society released an updated report of the economic impact of the tax credits done by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bureau of Business Research.

The updated report estimated that more than 1,600 jobs, $53 million in wages and $121 million in economic impact was created by the projects authorized under the historic tax credit program in 2015. It also generated $5.1 million in state and local taxes, the report said.

This program has proven to work, said David Levy, an Omaha lobbyist who represents developers.

The credits have helped some high-visibility projects, including the renovation of Omahas Burlington Station into the new home of television station KETV and restoration of the once-dilapidated Travers Row Houses on the southwest edge of downtown Omaha.

Norfolks McMill Building was put back in use with the help of the tax credits, and credits also funded the restoration of an ornate plaster ceiling in the Hall County Courthouse in Grand Island.

The historic tax credit law authorizes up to $15 million a year in tax credits, with a maximum of $1 million per project. It was passed with the understanding that it would end in 2022, a sunset provision designed to force a review before a program is extended.

The bills being considered by the Legislature would either end the program immediately or a few years earlier than planned, or suspend it for two years.

While applications for credits flooded in during the first year of the program, demand was lighter in 2016, when only $8.9 million in credits was allocated.

Ryan Reed, coordinator of the state historic tax credit program, said Wednesday that he fields an inquiry every day about the program and believes that interest is still strong.

While most of the first-year projects were in Omaha, Reed said that subsequent projects have spread the benefits across the state and include smaller communities such as Chadron, Red Cloud and Pender.

Schumacher said his major beef with the tax credit program is that the Historical Society took a simple bill and then adopted 21 pages of rules so complicated that smaller projects, which lack professional developers, gave up trying to qualify.

Are you the guy who cooked up that 21-page barrier? asked Schumacher recently when the new director of the Nebraska State Historical Society, Trevor Jones, came to the Legislature to testify in support of keeping the tax credit program.

Jones agreed that the application process could be simplified.

Another supporter of the tax credit program, Deborah Ebke of Fairbury (whose husband is related to the husband of Crete Sen. Laura Ebke), testified that the application process was intense but not intimidating.

Deborah Ebke said that without such programs, the renovation of Fairburys historic Bonham Theater would not have been possible.

In Hastings, renovation of the old brewery would not only clean up a run-down corner of the downtown area, but also would chip away at the shortage of housing in the college town of 25,000, according to Randy Chick, head of Downtown Hastings, a group dedicated to improving the citys central business district.

In recent years, that group has spurred renovation of 50 loft apartments in the upper stories of businesses in the downtown area. With its brick streets, downtown Hastings is similar to Omahas Old Market or Lincolns Haymarket area. Theres a mix of restaurants, a wine bar, a brew pub, coffee shops, boutiques and bakeries.

When the Hastings Brewery was built in 1907, it was the states second-largest.

Brews like Prairie Pride catered to the tastes of this German community. Another beer, Personal Liberty Brew, might have been named in honor of efforts to fend off the drum beat of the temperance movement.

But prohibition eventually won out. In 1916, Nebraskans voted to ban the sale and production of alcohol. The brewery in Hastings was closed in 1917.

After ill-fated attempts to produce pop and ice cream there, the brewery eventually became a food distribution warehouse, and later a cold-storage facility.

Broken windows and frayed chicken wire now provide easy access for pigeons, which scattered when Chick showed the building, with its tall brick smokestack, to a reporter recently.

Its such a monster, he said of the building. Someone obviously needs to spend a lot of money on it.
LINCOLN  Rachel Pointer was 6 years old when a neighbors boyfriend sold her for sex.

The exploitation began in her Omaha neighborhood and lasted a decade as she was victimized across the city.

For years, Pointer didnt understand what was happening. She turned to drugs and alcohol and on three occasions tried to end her life.

Pointer said the people who sold and purchased her for sex as a child never faced charges of any kind. If they had, she told a legislative committee Thursday, they would have spent little to no time behind bars.

Thats why she supports a proposal that would raise the penalties for sex traffickers and buyers of trafficking victims.

We owe it to the little child who is being exploited right now in our great state of Nebraska to raise the bar, said Pointer, who today is a case manager at a residential program for teenage boys in Omaha.

Legislative Bill 289 aims to send a strong message to those forcing people into prostitution that Nebraska will no longer tolerate such actions, and criminal punishments will reflect that, said the bills sponsor, State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln.

The result would mean convicted traffickers could be sentenced to at least a year in prison, and in cases where a minor younger than 16 is trafficked or a minor is trafficked with the use of force, up to life in prison.

People convicted of that crime now face no minimum penalty and a maximum of 20 years in prison. Under the bill, the minimum sentence would be 20 years in prison.

Crimes of enticing someone, trafficking an adult and soliciting a trafficked adult also have no minimum penalty now. LB 289 would require those crimes to carry a minimum of a year and a maximum of 50 years in prison.

Sex trafficking a minor would have a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 50 years in prison. Meanwhile, trafficking an adult with threat or force would carry a minimum of three years and maximum of 50 years in prison.

Pansing Brooks said the changes are necessary because most people convicted of trafficking a person currently receive light sentences, including probation for people guilty of trafficking minors.

When you consider the horrors of this crime, probation is nothing more than a slap on the wrist, she said.

Pansing Brooks emphasized that sex trafficking is thriving in Nebraska.

Each month, 900 people are sold for sex, often more than once, in Nebraska via Backpage, a classified advertising website that features ads for escorts, according to a new report by the Human Trafficking Initiative, which is supported by the Womens Fund of Omaha and funded by the Sherwood Foundation.

The states market for commercial sex is skewed toward children and minorities, said Crysta Price, a researcher at Creighton University and co-director of the Human Trafficking Initiative.

One in five people are advertised for sex online with phrases like just hit 18 and fresh meat, she said. And while African-Americans represent only 5 percent of the states population, they make up half of all individuals sold for sex in the state.

The bill builds upon legislation passed last year that granted victims of sex trafficking legal immunity from prostitution charges. That bill also was sponsored by Pansing Brooks.

About 20 people on Thursday voiced their support for the measure before the Nebraska Legislatures Judiciary Committee. They included victims of sex trafficking, victim advocates, religious organizations, representatives from the medical and law enforcement communities, and the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office.

The Nebraska Criminal Defense Attorneys Association was the lone opponent. While increasing penalties sends a message, it does not necessarily address the problem or help detect crimes and apprehend offenders, said Spike Eickholt, who represents the association.

He noted that one of the proposed penalty increases for sex trafficking carries a tougher sentence than that faced by people convicted of manslaughter and vehicular homicide. For example, someone convicted of manslaughter faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and no minimum sentence.

We would argue that raising that proportional bar is bad policy, Eickholt said.

Dave LeMoine, a retired FBI agent who investigated sex trafficking crimes in Montana, said such crimes virtually stopped after state lawmakers substantially increased penalties there.

LeMoine, who has lived in Nebraska for about a decade, said the state needs to follow suit in protecting people who are victims in the truest sense of the word. Out of 70 sex trafficking victims LeMoine interviewed, just two were not victims of sex abuse as children, he said.

They desensitize from sex, and they run away from home when theyre 14 to get away from it, he said. They run into the arms of these pimps, who are very skillful at convincing them that they love them and theyre going to be just like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and live happily ever after. Nothing could be further from the truth.
After a week of springlike weather that broke high-temperature records, the Omaha area got a snowy reminder of winter on Friday.

Freezing drizzle turned to flakes in the late morning and the storm continued into the evening, bringing between 2 and 3 inches of snow to the metro area. Classes were called off Friday at Omaha-area schools.

Falling temperatures helped create slick spots throughout the day, especially in residential areas. High winds gusting to more than 35 mph created low visibility. About 1:30 p.m. the Nebraska State Patrol closed Interstate 80 westbound from just west of Lincoln to Waco. It reopened after 4:30 p.m.

The storm began as a thunderstorm Thursday night and brought a variety of precipitation, said Cathy Zapotocny, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Valley.

This was kind of a mixture of a spring storm with rain and a winter storm with snow, she said. Anyone whos lived in Nebraska for a while knows just how variable our winter can be.

This winter has been a mild one for the Omaha area so far, with higher-than-normal temperatures and more than 10 inches less snow than normal.

That cant be said for other parts of the state, especially after the latest storm dumped more than a foot of snow in areas of north-central Nebraska. Valentine reported 12.2 inches, and Crookston, about 12 miles northwest of Valentine, reported 13.8 inches. To the west, Scotts Bluff National Monument near Gering reported 17.5 inches and Alliance reported 22 inches.

Other areas in Nebraska definitely got it worse than Omaha, said Byron Miller, a meteorologist with the weather services Valley office.

Crews in Alliance were working all night to clear the main roads, said Annora Bentley, a city spokeswoman. A storm in December brought about 18 inches to Alliance.

I think people here are used to digging out, she said. Most people stayed home on Thursday and Friday, but we know what to do.

Plowing in Omaha began Thursday night, but the city was unable to pretreat the streets with brine because the overnight rain would have washed it away.

Major and secondary streets had been plowed and treated with rock salt by noon Friday. Because residential streets didnt get much accumulation of snow, the city didnt need to use contract vehicles to plow, instead using 110 of its own trucks primarily to spread salt, said Austin Rowser, Omahas street maintenance engineer.

High winds made plowing a longer process on Friday, as trucks had to make return trips to plow areas that had drifted over. Trucks were to continue to plow overnight and apply salt to combat drifting and refreezing.

We stayed ahead of the game, Rowser said, attributing that to warm pavement that kept surface temperatures above freezing. That was a big bonus, he said. The streets were wet (Friday) but stayed mostly clear all day.

Though the storm will have moved out of the area by this morning, Zapotocny said that overnight temperatures in the teens could cause some slick spots to linger through today.

People should still be aware for those areas. Melted snow can always refreeze, she said.

Though it doesnt look like the area is in for another week of record-breaking highs, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday may bring temperatures in the 40s.

That should melt what we got (Friday), Zapotocny said. This snow wont be on the ground for too long.
WASHINGTON  Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts on Friday touted his efforts to cut taxes back home when he appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference just outside the nations capital.

Ricketts said the state will find a way to reduce taxes while providing essential services, including funding K-12 education, by taking a businesslike approach to matters.

Our mission statement is to create opportunities through more effective, more efficient and more customer-focused government, Ricketts told conference attendees.

Ricketts walked onstage to the Guns N Roses song Welcome to the Jungle, taking the same stage occupied just hours earlier by President Donald Trump.

Ricketts praised Trumps selection of governors for his team, citing Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who has been picked to be the ambassador to China.

He also pointed to the pick of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency, and noted that Nebraska had worked with Pruitt on suing various federal agencies, including the Education Department, Labor Department and EPA.

Im so pleased with this administration so far, Ricketts said.

Ricketts said that as he travels Nebraska he hears frustration that government isnt working.

They see it in the mounting federal debt, the overregulation, the thousands of pages of rules, agencies that dont work, veterans that cant access services, Ricketts said. People want government to work. Thats all they want. And too often it doesnt.

He drew parallels between his familys management of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs and efforts to improve operations of Nebraskas state government, such as faster processing of forms and helping the unemployed find new jobs.

In addition to his appearance at CPAC, Ricketts is meeting with fellow governors in town this weekend. One hot topic is the future of health care changes, where Ricketts said he will be looking for more state-level flexibility.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb issued a statement that criticized Ricketts and his tax plan. She said the governors tax proposal does not meet the needs of our students in public school and property owners.

In an interview, Ricketts defended his main tax proposals: changing the way farmland is valued to reduce property taxes and trimming income taxes. He said his proposals include provisions to avoid the kind of budget woes that Kansas state government has encountered in the wake of its own tax cutting.

Ricketts stood by his praise of the new administration, saying that it seems willing to give responsibility back to the states in areas such as health care.

As a governor I welcome that, he told The World-Herald, because I think that the states will, with the flexibility, be able to design better systems for their people than the federal government will.

Asked about the Trump administrations rocky implementation of a travel ban or the drumbeat of stories about ties between the Trump team and Russia, Ricketts predicted that Trumps business background will lead him to learn from mistakes and improve.

Any organization is going to have growing pains, Ricketts said.
Nebraska state senators would do well to bottle the positive qualities they demonstrated this week in debating a school- and religion-related measure they wound up approving in first-round debate.

The thoughtfulness and strong intellectual engagement they displayed in examining Legislative Bill 62 set the proper standard the lawmakers should aspire to this session.

The high quality of the give-and-take on LB 62, sponsored by Speaker Jim Scheer, was a welcome break from the protracted, partisan-fixated bickering that marked the sessions opening weeks.

Debate on Scheers bill  which would repeal a 1919 bill prohibiting public school teachers from wearing religious garb, with penalties for violations  kept the focus on the central issues. Lawmakers drew on their professional experiences and knowledge  as lawyers, a school administrator, a teacher  to advance senators understanding.

Notable, too, was how so many liberal and conservative senators looked at the bill and lined up on the same side of the issue.

Nebraska lawmakers will have strong need of those positive qualities when they tackle other bills this session.

Theres almost certain to be sharp, legitimate disagreement in the weeks ahead. But the Legislature should strive to keep debate at the productive, serious-minded level that was on display this week in examining LB 62.

At one time, 36 states had a law on their books similar to Nebraskas 1919 law. The measures were openly discriminatory toward Catholics and were intended to promote Protestant dominance of public education.

The only states that still have such a law on the books are Nebraska and Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, several Nebraska lawmakers expressed concern that repealing the 1919 law might raise concerns that public schools were stepping away from neutrality on religion.

In the end, lawmakers voted 36-1 in favor of the bill. That was a sound decision.

Allowing public school teachers to wear religious garb isnt an automatic violation of the Constitution. School districts in Nebraska have robust authority to take action against any instances of religious proselytizing by teachers.

And experience in other states shows no evidence that doing away with this odious 1919 law would open Nebraska to successful lawsuits.

The responsible-minded debate on this bill set the right example for the 2017 session. Lawmakers should hold on to the high standard theyve set.
Morfelds bill is about fairness

The Catholic Church has mastered the art of hypocrisy. It preaches the biblical precept, Welcome the Stranger, just so long as the stranger is not gay and looking for a job.

Lincoln State Sen. Adam Morfelds Legislative Bill 173 gives the Legislature the opportunity to say all who wish to work and contribute to our state are welcome (Bills sponsor: No one should be fired for who they are,  Feb. 23 World-Herald). The near hysteria of the opposition seems to reek of bigotry, given that Morfeld seems more than willing to allow some level of religious accommodation.

Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, the Catholic Church will practice what it preaches and work to provide equal protection under employment law for all.

James McCarthy, Omaha

Keeping young people on the farm

As a young ag producer, I think agricultural property tax reform is important. Creating more predictability in valuations will help ensure that young Nebraskans like myself are able to successfully farm for years to come.

In the last couple years, a combination of land prices, high taxes and low commodity prices have created barriers to young Nebraskans looking to start their own farming or ranching operation.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts Agricultural Valuation Fairness Act would help limit increases in future ag land valuations, creating greater predictability for ag producers and for local governments dependent on land values.

If we want agriculture to be accessible to young Nebraskans looking to farm and ranch, we need to address our high property tax problem  something Legislative Bill 338 would help to accomplish.

I hope that other young producers will join me in urging our senators to adopt this new method for valuing ag land. I urge the Legislature to support LB 338.

Shane Greckel, Bloomfield, Neb.

Fischer puts constituents on hold

Im very disappointed that Sen. Deb. Fischer ducked out the back door of a Lincoln meeting hall Tuesday to avoid several hundred of her constituents trying to talk with her. Iowas U.S. senators made themselves available to their constituents.

Fischer will talk to us in August? She hopes by then that we will have cooled off?

Apparently, if you want to talk with the senator, get ready for a six-month wait.

Gordon Scott, Omaha

Rowdy behavior hurts protesters cause

I attended the Lincoln Independent Business Organization luncheon that was disrupted by protesters Tuesday. I was seated right next to the window that they were pounding on.

Sen. Deb. Fischer covered many topics and was giving thoughtful answers to questions from the audience. I enjoyed her insider descriptions of her day-to-day experience.

The senator introduced herself to me prior to the meeting, and I asked her if she was being treated rudely by some groups. She said that Nebraskans are a polite group of people willing to talk about their differences.

The screaming and pounding angry hordes on the other side of the window were in sharp contrast to the members inside the room.

I just want to say the protesters accomplished nothing. They disrupted a business meeting of private citizens, and that is not OK. If they had a point to make, they did not make it. They were screaming at the wrong crowd.

Sue Greenwald, Kearney, Neb.

Bacon needs to reach out

Rep. Don Bacon, who was elected by a very narrow margin of only 1.2 percent last November, has said he will not hold public meetings with his constituents. This is a dereliction of his duties as an elected official. He cannot adequately do the job of representing all Nebraskans in his district without being available to meet with them.

Angela Eikenberry, Omaha

What is Bacon afraid of?

As someone who has been part of a military family my whole life, I know honor, courage and integrity are words to describe most soldiers. Those are words I will not use for retired Brig. Gen. Don Bacon, who refuses to meet with the constituents who elected him to the U.S. House of Representatives. Shame on him.

Janice Mohs, Omaha

Read the Constitution

Feb. 22 Public Pulse writer Kerry Hanson suggested that it might be a good idea to round up protesters and demonstrators not in favor of our newly elected president and send them to another country since just because their party doesnt win, they have to go out, protest and hold Not My President signs.

So much for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

As I recall, the previous occupant of the Oval Office also was the subject of opposing viewpoints and Not My President claims.

Dennis Friend, Omaha

Put your money where your candles are

I am sure that those waving candles on Dodge Street in support of refugees (Omahans bear symbols of welcome for refugees, Feb. 21 World-Herald) will be glad to give their personal financial support to those refugees until they are financially independent (Nebraska takes in more refugees per capita than any state in the union).

Arch Oetek, Omaha

A cruel blow to transgender teens

The Trump administrations withdrawal of guidelines protecting transgender students rights to use public school restrooms that align with their gender identity is deeply disturbing to me as a person of faith (Feb. 23 World-Herald).

Christianity teaches that we should work for justice and inclusion of those who are often the outcasts. Christianity compels us to show compassion for those who are hurting and in need.

Given the high rates of bullying and suicide among transgender teens, our society ought to be doing everything it can to ensure that they are able to thrive.

Instead, this administrations actions will now bring harm upon a small minority that is already often the victim of injustice and oppression.

This action reveals a small-minded meanness that should illicit our moral disgust.

Rev. Dr. Scott Jones, Omaha

Trump finds the presidency is a tough job

So Donald Trump says he inherited a mess. Welcome to the presidency.

President Barack Obama was once asked what was the most difficult problem to cross his desk. His reply? When problems finally reached his desk, they were all difficult.

I would feel more confident about the future of our country if I didnt believe that our new president is flying by the seat of his pants. Maybe the presidency is not a good place for a political neophyte.

Birte Gerlings, Omaha

Were reaping what we sowed

President Donald Trumps attempted immigration ban involving seven countries raises interesting points. Amazingly, six of the seven have been bombed repeatedly by the U.S., while the seventh (Iran) was the target of an American-sponsored coup that overthrew the duly elected democratic government in 1953. That coup certainly contributed to the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

In Yemen, we continue to sponsor Saudi Arabias bombing there that has been described as war crimes. We hear of the bombing of hospitals, schools and other mistakes that kill many in a country that ranks as the poorest in the world.

The thread here is that we have contributed hugely to the refugee crisis around the world. Similarly, we have sponsored wars in South and Central America that contributed to the need for those peoples to flee northward seeking a normal life.

Do we think this is the way to win the hearts and minds of the people?

Stephen P. Horn, Blair, Neb.

Envious of the Lincoln life

I read religiously the column Breaking Brad and find Brad Dickson incredibly clever and amusing.

As a Lincoln resident, chairman of the Lincoln Childrens Zoo Board of Trustees and an elected member of the Lincoln Airport Authority, I especially appreciate his obviously tongue-in-check reference to the small and intimate nature of the Lincoln Childrens Zoo and the user-friendly nature of the Lincoln Airport.

I can only believe that he wishes he could bring his children to a zoo that was as child-friendly and offered an educational experience instead of an all-day trek up and down the hills.

He must wish he could fly out of an airport where parking is close and inexpensive, lines are short and there are no grouchy police officers guarding the curb for travelers who make the mistake of actually stopping their cars in front of the terminal to get out.

Keep up the great work, Brad. I love your support of Lincolns superior quality of life.

Nick Cusick, Lincoln
Clearing snow from Omaha metro streets today  expected to be difficult because of the timing of the storm and strong winds  was made easier after metro-area schools canceled classes.

Tens of thousands of Omaha-area youths learned Thursday night that today would be a snow day. Also, the University of Nebraska at Omaha announced a delayed start: Classes will begin at 10 a.m.

Rain was forecast to change to snow by the morning commute, and conditions were expected to deteriorate throughout the day. The decision by area school districts keeps parents and an armada of buses off roads.

The storm moving across the central U.S. today was forecast to bring blizzard conditions to northern Nebraska and Iowa and significant snow as far south as Omaha and Lincoln.

Omaha could receive 4 to 6 inches of snow and Lincoln 2 to 3 inches. Farther north, a foot or more of snow is possible.

No matter how much or how little snow falls, stiff winds are expected to cause blowing and drifting snow that makes driving difficult.

Given that snow was expected to intensify during the morning commute and continue through a blustery day, traveling to work was expected to be a challenge.

Mayor Jean Stothert asked for drivers patience and caution.

When snow occurs during rush hour it is an especially tough time to plow, said street maintenance engineer Austin Rowser.

Its just a different situation because of the volume of drivers, he said.

The city was unable to pre-treat the streets with brine in advance of todays snow because overnight rain would have washed it off. However, the pavement in Omaha is warm enough that the snow likely wont stick, Rowser said.

Once the rain shifts to snow the city will spread rock salt and send plows to major streets. Contractors will be dispatched to neighborhoods once the accumulation reaches 2 inches.

In all, about 300 trucks will be plowing the streets.

Rowser said high winds could mean that plowing takes longer, because plows have to go over the same area multiple times when wind blows snow back into the streets.

After today, the forecast is in the regions favor.

The good news is this system moves out pretty quickly, said Van DeWald, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Sunshine and highs in the mid-30s to mid-40s return Saturday through Monday in the Omaha area. Late Monday brings a slight chance of rain or snow.
Seven men drown, three missing in Telangana

Hyderabad

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Hyderabad, Feb 24: Seven men were drowned and three went missing in three different incidents in Telangana on Friday, police said. Four men were drowned while swimming in Godavari river in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

The police recovered the bodies of Prem Kumar, Nagender and Murali, all aged 22, and Pawan. In another incident, two students drowned in a lake at Shameerpet in Medchal district near here. The bodies of Vishnu and Sairam, both 18, were recovered.

In yet another incident, Srikant, 25, was drowned and three went missing in Godavari near Mulakalla in Mancherial district.

Srikant's body was recovered while the police were searching for the missing persons.

IANS
Army chief lays wreaths on soldiers killed in an ambush by militants in Shopian district

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Srinagar, Feb 24: Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday paid tributes to the three soldiers killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. The solemn function took place at the Badami Bagh cantonment headquarters of the 15th Corps here.

J&K: Wreath-laying ceremony of Lance Naik, Ghulam Mohideen Rather, (who lost his life in Shopian terror attack) in Anantnag. pic.twitter.com/F9vH2eyO0k  ANI (@ANI_news) February 24, 2017

Militants ambushed and killed on Thursday three soldiers in Shopian district. A Defence Ministry statement said the army chief paid laid wreaths on the bodies of the soldiers and paid rich tributes to them.

Senior civilian, police and paramilitary officers also paid tributes to the soldiers. Gen Rawat flew to Srinagar for the event. Those killed include Sepoy Ghulam Mohiuddin Rather, Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejit M.J.

"The mortal remains of Sapper Sreejit will be flown to Coimbatore (in Tamil Nadu) and of Sepoy Gurjar to Rajasthan (on Friday)," an official said. The body of Sepoy Rather will be taken to his home in Bijbehara town in Anantnag district in the Kashmir Valley, the official added.

IANS
Sibal who filed nomination with SP backing was lawyer who secured Azam Khan bail

For his 2019 hate speech, Azam Khan gets 3 years in jail; may lose power too!

Azam Khan disqualified as UP MLA after conviction in hate speech

Azam Khan's chopper makes emergency landing after technical snag

India

pti-PTI

Barabanki (UP), Feb 24: Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan on Friday had a narrow escape as his helicopter had to make an emergency landing in Karand village near Jahangirabad here due to some technical snag, police said.

The helicopter carrying Khan on his way to Lucknow from Bahraich had to make the emergency landing in a filed due to some technical problem, said Superintendent of Police Raja Babu.

Everyone in the chopper was safe, he said adding Khan was later sent to Lucknow by road.

PTI
BJP puns on Congress' Satyameva Jayate after diary expose

India

oi-Anusha

On the day Karnataka Congress kickstarted its 'Satyameva Jayate' rally in Bengaluru to 'counter BJP's false propaganda', a diary revealing details of money allegedly paid to Congress High command was leaked to the media. It was more of an irony than coincidence that on the day Karnataka Congress attempted to dispel charges of corruption, this diary, allegedly belonging to a Congress MLC made it to the headlines.

The diary that was allegedly seized by taxmen after a raid at the Congress MLC's residence in 2016, had details of money paid to the office of RG, SG, AICC, DGVS etc. It also used other initials like DKS, KJG and the BJP claims the initials to be names of Congress leaders, both in the state and centre. Not the one to miss the opportunity, minutes after media reported on the diary expose, the state BJP took to its Twitter to post a single line Tweet loaded with puns and sarcasm.

   BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) February 23, 2017

This one tweet conveyed many a things in a far more impactful way. The Congress however, believes that there is a systematic attempt to dent the image of the party in Karnataka and the BJP is using all the tricks in the book to achieve its agenda of a Congress mukth Bharat, "It is no coincidence that the supposed diary was leaked on the day Congress began the Satyameva Jayate campaign in Bengaluru. It is obvious even to a layman that raids are being conducted on Congress leaders with an agenda. Misuse of agencies is evident to destabilise the Congress not just in Karnataka but also in Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. They are attempting to create a sense of uncertainty. While agencies carry out raids on many people, why is there selective leaks on raids carried out on Congress leaders? When we ask them details, we are told that it is confidential but the media is able to access details. B S Yeddyurappa claims to know what has been seized and who has been raided," said KPCC working president and AICC Spokesperson Dinesh Gundu Rao.

The diary expose comes as a massive setback to the Congress that had only begun its campaign against the corruptions charges levelled against it by the BJP. It may be recalled that corruption and infighting ultimately led to BJP falling from grace during the 2013 assembly elections and the Congress has been fighting hard to avoid a similar situation.

The Congress had been crying foul about its leaders being targetted by Income Tax departments and this diary expose comes as ammunition to the BJP to attack the Congress ahead of assembly polls in 2018.

OneIndia News
Gap between rich and poor has widened, needs to be bridged: Gadkari

BJP retains Nagpur Municipal Corporation for the third time

India

oi-PTI

Nagpur, Feb 23: BJP today swept to power in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation for a straight third term, winning 108 of the total 151 seats.

Being the hometown of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the election in the city was prestigious for the ruling BJP in Maharashtra. Congress won 29 seats, BSP 10, Shiv Sena 2 , NCP 1 and an independent candidate won one seat.

Some tension prevailed in ward 21 due to delay in announcement of results there and police resorted to lathicharge. The city Congress chief Vikas Thakre lost his seat in the election. In the last NMC elections, BJP had secured 62 seats and Congress had won 41.

Total 1135 candidates were in the fray for 151 seats in 38 Prabhags' this time. The new Mayor is expected to be elected on March 5.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 9:45 [IST]
BJP wins Pune Municipal Corporation for the first time

India

oi-PTI

Pune, Feb 23: BJP today captured NCP's Pune bastion, winning a comfortable majority and coming to power in the city for the first time.

The saffron party won 98 out of 162 seats in the Pune Municipal Corporation, dislodging NCP which was in power in the city since 2007. The Sharad Pawar-led party could win 38 seats this time. Seats won by other parties were as follows: Shiv Sena - 10, Congress - 9, MNS - 2, MIM - 1 and independents - 4.

BJP delivered a similar blow to NCP in neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation too, by capturing the power. In the 2012 civic elections, BJP had won only 26 seats in Pune and was at number four. Before elections, several sitting corporators from other parties, mainly from Congress and NCP, had switched their loyalty to BJP.

BJP was targeted by its detractors for admitting some criminal elements' into party fold, and also faced disgruntlement within its ranks for the same reason. The party's campaign was spearheaded by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Fadnavis had to suffer opposition's barbs during the last phase of campaign when his rally in the city drew no crowd and was cancelled.

However, going by today's results, the CM seemed to have the last laugh. District Guardian Minister and BJP MLA from the city Girish Bapat credited the victory to the efforts of party workers. NCP city unit president Vandana Chavan accepted the defeat and said her party would play the role of a strong opposition in the civic body.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 9:57 [IST]
BMC elections 2017: How BJP tamed the tiger in Maharashtra for the 3rd time

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The BJP came out of the shadow of being the 'younger brother' in Maharashtra for the third time since 2014. In the 2014 assembly elections, the saffron party had bagged 122 seats while the Shiv Sena which considered itself the 'big brother' in the state won just 63. In the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the BJP won 23 while the SS bagged 18.

The Maharashtra civic polls once again reiterated that the BJP had grown up in the state to being the 'big brother'. The party won 471 seats in the all the 10 municipal corporations. It has a majority in 8 out 10 corporations. The numbers show that this a major improvement since 2012 when the party won 205 seats.

Even in the BMC elections the BJP put up a solid show winning 82 seats just two behind the Shiv Sena.

[Who will rule BMC: Here is how the numbers are adding up]

The Sena has a lot to learn from this BJP surge. It clearly missed the point for the second time since 2014. In 2014, the Sena had split from the BJP, but walked back into the alliance once the polls were over. For the BMC elections, the Sena had cited the 2012 result and was not ready to give the BJP 114 seats which it had demanded.

Parties BMC election result 2017 2012 Shiv Sena 84 75 Bharatiya Janata Party 82 31 Congress 31 52 NCP 09 13 MNS 07 28 Others 14 28 Total won 227/227 227/227

The Sena pointed out that the BJP had won only 31 seats in 2012 and hence the demand could not be met. The BJP even told the Sena that it was not ready to go down below 105, but it did not relent. In 2012, the Sena had won 75 while the BJP had bagged 31 seats. That year the BJP had contested on 63 seats.

The BJP says that the Shiv Sena's logic of quoting the 2012 BMC results was completely misplaced. It had been beaten by the BJP twice in 2014 -- in the assembly and Lok Sabha polls. In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 23 seats out of 48 with a 27 per cent vote share. The Sena on the other hand won 18 with a 21 per cent vote share.

After the win in the assembly elections, the BJP went ahead and formed the government in Maharashtra despite being 23 seats short of the majority mark. The NCP came forward and offered outside support. However the Sena after losing face, came back into the alliance and helped the BJP form the government. The Sena's Udhav Thackerey claimed on Wednesday that not just the next Mayor of Mumbai, but even the next chief minister of the state will be from his party. Well, for now let us that this is just wishful thinking from a junior partner in Maharashtra.

OneIndia News
BMC polls 2017 spell disaster for the NCP

India

oi-Shubir

By Shubir Rishi

Despite having a strong rural base, the results of the 25 zilla parishads (district council) and 10 municipal corporation polls have jolted the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party making it one of the biggest losers in the recently-held polls in Maharashtra.

This has now raised questions for a party which was at the helm of the state for 15 years. Pawar's daughter and NCP leader Supriya Sule said the results were a 'setback', since it lost three municipal corporations and a zilla parishad to the BJP.

The NCP lost Amrawati and Solapur - municipal corporations which were being ruled in alliance with the Congress. It was also routed from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad -- its traditional strongholds, as well as in Ulhasnagar civic body to the BJP. Ajit Pawar, the face of the Maharashtra irrigation scam, is left standing alone with his loyalists joining hands with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Fun fact 1: Back in Mumbai, party chief Sharad Pawar exercised his vote in ward no 214, where there was no NCP candidate contesting!

Fadnavis brought in those who had been associated with the Shiv Sena in Pune and the NCP in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The party managed to get only 38 seats in Pune and 36 in Pimpri-Chinchwad, suffering a loss of 60 seats.Both these cities will now have BJP mayors. Hours after the results were announced, Pune unit president Vandana Chavan resigned from her post. So now, the NCP would be the opposition party in Pune.

BMC elections 2017: How BJP tamed the tiger in Maharashtra for the 3rd time

In the previous election in 2012, the NCP had won 266 seats - but this time, it has lost 129 seats --the number is now down to 137. Again, in the same elections, the party had won 511 seats, but this time around, it has come down to 336 seats - a loss of 175 seats. To add to the injury, the NCP got just 14 of 40 seats in Sangli - the district where they had gained 33 seats in 2012.

Fun fact 2: The shocker for the NCP came a day after Sharad Pawar completed 50 years in politics

Political analysts say that one reason for the political drubbing could be the social unrest that took place in the last few months against the backdrop of the Maratha agitation.

The signs that the NCP's hold was diminishing over Pune was witnessed during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Several NCP workers have also deserted the party over the last few months.

Ironically, Sharad Pawar had asserted that his party would not bail out the BJP government in Maharashtra if it is reduced to minority and had dared the Shiv Sena to withdraw support to it, on February 18. The Maratha strongman had claimed that the BJP would not have an upper hand in the civic polls and had alleged that the central leadership of the party was 'plotting' to weaken the Shiv Sena.

OneIndia News
BJP is single largest party in Jammu, NC gets 25 of 140

Farooq Abdullah slams PDP for allying with 'communal' BJP

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Days after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat warned the stone pelters against interfering with army operations in Kashmir, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday said that people of the valley are disgruntled with state government allying with 'communal forces'.

Clearly aiming at the PDP-BJP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah told ANI that people would not tolerate this as late chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had promised that they would not side with 'communal forces'.

Speaking on India-Pakistan relations, the NC patriarch reiterated his stand that dialogue was the only solution.

Earlier, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had backed Rawat's comments that those obstructing anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir will face tough actions.

Rawat's comments had triggered a political stir with some parties saying that an Army Chief should not be making sensitive statements.

"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 Islamic State and Pakistan flags , 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 Rawat had said earlier this month.

His statements came after civilians had hurled stones at the armed forces while they were conducting search operations in Pulwama district.

National Conference spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu had termed Rawat's remarks as 'tragic' and said the government should instead approach and engage with the youth of the militancy-hit Kashmir Valley.

JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik said General Rawat's statement was a case of 'political immaturity'.

OneIndia News
Comedian Atul Khatri's joke on seatbelt becomes one on him as Mumbai Police responds

'Two-finger test' should be banned in matrimonial dispute cases too, says Maharashtra doctor

BMC polls: How the BJP burrowed into Gujarati-dominated suburbs

India

oi-Shubir

By Shubir Rishi

Days before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, the Shiv Sena ended its 20-year-old alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the battleground was set. Both parties were banking on the nearly 20 lakh-strong Gujarati community in the electorate.

The Shiv Sena has ruled the BMC, which has a budget of over Rs 37,000 crore, for the last 20 years.

Election department data has shown that areas with greater Gujarati population saw a significant increase in voter turnout.

Unsurprisingly, the Sena retained its hold on the in the Marathi heartlands of Mumbai, such as Dadar and Parel and some other suburbs. But that is not the interesting part: the western suburbs of the city were won by the Bharatiya Janata party, which most people have attributed to Gujarati and north-Indian communities extending their support to the saffron party.

For example, in Mulund, which has a strong Gujarati-Kutchi presence, the BJP won all six wards - 103-108 - quelling speculation that there could be some disillusionment because of demonetisation. In 2012, the party had won four seats in Mulund, the other two seats went to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.

It also managed to gain in some Marathi pockets such as Andheri and Jogeshwari east.

In north Mumbai, between Dahisar and Goregaon, more than 50 per cent of BJP candidates were successful securing 32 seats out of 58.

In Borivli, BJP candidate Pravin Shah won by a massive margin of 19, 580 votes. Shah had earlier showed assets worth Rs 690 crore in his affidavit.

Fun fact: 26 of BJP's 82 winning candidates are Gujarati

In areas such as Borivli, Malad-west, and Goregaon (which comprise Gujarati, Marwari, Jain and north Indian population -- most of them in the middle and upper class), the party had impressive wins. In doing so, the Gujarati community has once again shown that it stands strongly behind the BJP. Clearly, they didn't care much for Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's attacks on their 'beloved leader' and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

So, there is no surprise that not a single Gujarati Shiv Sena candidate won the elections. Even Sena parachuting Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel to woo Gujaratis didn't work for the Sena.

The Congress was decimated -winning only 31 seats (from 51) - prompting the party's city chief to resign from his post. The MNS reduced to just 7 from 28, and NCP, 9.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, while congratulating workers for the BJP's performance in Mumbai, said that his party's win in the state was a result of people's acceptance of 'our agenda of transparency'.

Naturally, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was all praises for the Marathi manoos, "I thank my Marathi sisters, brothers and mothers for voting for the Shiv Sena. I can't thank them enough. They have put their faith in the Sena for the fifth consecutive term. This is a record of sorts."

OneIndia News
Hyd engineer shot in Kansas was top of his class kind of guy, say friends

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Srinivasa Kuchibhotla was shot dead in Kansas after he was told, "Get out of my country," on Wednesday. Originally from Hyderabad, Srinivasa was an aviation engineer at the Olathe-based technology company Garmin.

The 32-year-old had married in October 2012. His wife Sunayana Dumala has listed Intouch Solutions as her employer. He studied electronics and power systems and in 2005, he graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad. He earned a Master's degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, where he also worked as a teaching and research assistant before graduating in 2007.

Kansas Star claims that it tried reaching out to the family and friends. However, friends said that they were waiting for permission from the family before speaking to the media. Srinivasa has been described as a top-of-his class kind of guy. He was the top pick in 2007 for a software engineer's post at Rockwell Collins. He moved up to a senior systems engineer before taking up a job with Garmin in 2014". He was a low maintenance employee," his former manager Rod Larson told the Star.

A GoFundMe account has been set up by a family member to help the family transport the body back to India. His friends say that he was the kindest man and never would have uttered a word of hatred. According to his Facebook page, he and his wife hail from Hyderabad.

Srinivasa's colleague Alok Madasani, who was also shot at has now been discharged by the hospital. Madasani studied at the Vasavi engineering college in Hyderabad. The Indian embassy has sent two officials of the Indian Consulate in Houston to Kansas to help the victims' families.

"Consul Ravindra Joshi and Vice Consul Harpal Singh rushed to Kansas to assist shooting victim," the consulate said in a tweet.

OneIndia News
I put board game currency in the SBI ATM, says accused

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

New Delhi, Feb 24: On Thursday, the police arrested one Mohammad Isha after he put fake notes in an SBI ATM in Delhi. The police learnt during his questioning that he worked at a security firm and had mapped the route taken by the cash van.

He told the police that he had set out to buy a board game for his nephew. A part of this game were fake notes, similar to the Rs 2,000 note. He decided that he would replace them at the ATM with original notes. He said after doing so, he wanted to buy another board game and replace a few more notes, but before he could do that, he was arrested.

He told the police that he had spent some of the currency he had taken out from the ATM. The police is now trying to find out if Isha had carried out this incident on his own. The police are in touch with the bank for more details.

On Wednesday, a State Bank of India ATM in South Delhi dispensed fake Rs 2,000 notes with 'Children Bank of India' written on them instead of Reserve Bank of India. The notes, which were replete with errors, had serial number of '000000'.

Other glaring deviations from the original note include PK logo instead of RBI seal and missing Rupee symbol. On the leaf markings on the lower left side of the original notes, the text was replaced by the Churan Label. Even the Ashok emblem was replaced by 'CHURAN LABEL'. The RBI governor's signature was also missing and the text above it said, 'I promise to pay the bearer two thousands coupons' (SIC).

OneIndia News
No comment on Pranab Mukherjee book before reading it: Former Union Minister

International conference on Idea of Bharat inaugurated

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Feb 24: President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday inaugurated an international conference on "Bharat Bodh" (Idea of Bharat), organised by the Indira Gandhi National Open University and Bhartiya Shikshan Mandal.

According to a Rashtriya Bhavan communique, he complimented IGNOU and the Mandal for organising the conference that brought together intellectuals, academicians and researchers to unravel various aspects of the "Bharat Bodh".

Mukherjee also expressed happiness that these two collaborators have brought their respective areas of expertise and scholarship to this important three day conference.

"The synergy and dynamism of these institutions should channelise the exploration of thousands of years of our journey as a civilisation and people," the communique quoted Mukherjee as saying.

"Deep insights would be gained into the idea of statecraft, governance, individual-society relations, structures, purposes and methodology of education, organic relationships with nature, and correlation between spiritual and material life," he said.

He added that Bharat has always been recognised "as the storehouse of knowledge and discovery - knowledge which liberates, and discovery which fathoms the deepest thoughts of humanity and co-existence. As the origin and repository of philosophical and spiritual values, rivers of wisdom flow through the collective consciousness of our great people".

Quoting American author Mark Twain, the President said: "India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only."

Calling the quote indeed true, Mukherjee said: "India is a land of great traditions, history and discoveries. Its people have lived in this great civilisation giving rise to a unique trait of oneness overcoming the apparent contradictions, thriving on a composite culture and yet alive to the identities of its sub-parts."

Noting that India is a land of huge diversity, he said: "Yet all its people are living under one system, one flag and one Constitution. All of us are proud to be Indians and we celebrate this diversity."

He hoped that the deliberations at the conference would enrich perceptions regarding the country.

IANS

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 8:55 [IST]
Jaya's niece announces new platform: MGR-Amma Deepa Federation

India

oi-Anusha

The fight for Jayalalithaa's legacy took centre stage on her birth anniversary on Friday as a divided AIADMK and as well as estranged family members took to celebrating her birth anniversary independently. Tributes were paid to the former chief minister at her memorial in Marina Beach, AIADMK party headquarters as well as her constituency in R K Nagar.

Deepa Jayakumar's 'MGR Amma Deepa Peravai'

Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar announced the launch of her political vehicle, 'MGR Amma Deepa Peravai' and stated that the tagline of the forum is 'revive two leave symbol'. She had earlier stated that she would make her official entry into politics on Jayalalithaa's birth anniversary. The forum's flag was also unveiled on Friday. The red and black flag with Jayalalithaa and MGR's picture in the centre.

A day after her brother Deepak claimed that the siblings were entitled to Jayalalithaa's properties and criticised Sasikala's family for taking over the party, Deepa refused to trust him. The siblings have been loggerheads in public ever since Deepak was seen alongside Sasikala in Apollo hospital, during Jayalalithaa's funeral and more recently at the resort where AIADMK legislators were herded. His sudden shift of base came as a surprise to many. "I wonder if my brother was even stating the truth. I was surprised when I heard his interview. I will fight to revive the symbol of two leaves and will contest from RK Nagar constituency," she told the media on Friday.

O Panneerselvam at R K Nagar

O Panneerselvam took the celebrations to Jayalalithaa's home turf R K Nagar constituency. Speaking to the media after paying tributes to Jayalalithaa, he reiterated his continued efforts to redeem the AIADMK. "Amma was clear that no single family should hijack the party and she did not allow members of a family near her or the party till her death. but now the party, as well as the government, has gone into the hands of the same family. Amma made this a people and cadre party but now a single family controls it.

The truth will prevail," he said. He also said that an inquiry into Jayalalithaa's death that he had ordered while he was chief minister was turned upside down. He urged the central government to probe her death. Panneerselvam refused to comment on Jayalalithaa's nephew Deepak lauding him and claimed that they were Deepak's personal opinions. Panneerselvam maintained that Deepa would be welcomed into the 'true AIADMK' if she were willing to join.

Palanisamy's welfare schemes

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisami took the appeasement route to mark Jayalalithaa's birthday. He announced compensation of Rs 15 crore to close to 30,000 fishermen families that were affected by the Oil spill in Chennai coast. TTV Dinakaran, the party's deputy general secretary was also present in the party headquarters.

"Famers affected by drought will be compensated within five days. The issue of NEET will be taken up before the prime minister on February 27 when we meet him," Palanisami said. He rubbished Panneerslvam's allegations of a probe into Jayalalithaa's death being suppressed and claimed that there was no mystery in her death and that the issue was being raked up unnecessarily by people.

OneIndia News
Kalhiko Pul suicide: The high voltage argument in the Supreme Court

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

There was high drama in the court hall of the Supreme Court presided by Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit which was hearing the Kalhiko Pul case. The 60-page suicide note written by Pul, former chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, made some sensational disclosures.

Pul's wife, Dangwimsai had written to the Chief Justice of India seeking a CBI probe. A bench was constituted to hear the matter. However her counsel Dushyant Dave made some sensational allegations in the court following which they withdrew the petition. Dave said that since the note makes allegations against the judiciary, it cannot be heard by the SC.

Dave said in court that the note states that a former judge had approached Pul on behalf of the CJI, J S Khehar. He asked why the letter written by Dangwimsai had been converted into a writ petition.

He then went on to cite a Supreme Court judgment which said the SC and HC judges could be probed for corruption with prior permission from the CJI. "If the CJI himself is the person against allegations are made, then the government shall consult any judge of the SC," he said.

Dave sought to know why the letter was converted into a writ petition. The CJI was expected to take a decision on the administrative side. Dave questioned if the CJI is precluded from taking a decision on the letter as the allegations in the suicide note concerned the CJI's son?

"There was a development on Monday," Dave said. "A former judge of the SC had met me on behalf of the CJI. I do not want say anymore and I beg your lordships to stay away from the case," Dave also said.

Dave sought to know why this matter was assigned to the junior judge and not to the number three or four. When Justice Goel went ahead to hear the matter, Dave reminded him that he was a colleague of the CJI in Punjab and Haryana. "You must recuse yourself," Dave said before withdrawing the letter. "We will now approach the vice-president since the note has made allegations against the President's son as well," he said.

OneIndia News
Kanpur train tragedy a conspiracy says PM Modi

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Speaking at an election rally in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Kanpur train accident was a conspiracy. Modi said that the conspiracy was hatched from across the border.

"A rail accident happened in Kanpur and a few people were caught after that. The police found that it was a conspiracy from across the border, the prime minister said without naming Pakistan.

"If people who will help the conspirators are elected from here, will Gonda be safe, will the nation be safe," the PM also said. In December, the Kanpur Express derailment caused the death of nearly 150 people. The Bihar police had arrested three persons who had revealed during their interrogation that it was the ISI which instructed them to carry out the train derailment.

The accused also said that they got orders from an ISI operative in Nepal called Shamshul Huda. They spoke about a failed plot when a pressure cooker bomb planted on the train track was discovered by alert villagers. The accused said that they then plotted the Kanpur derailment. They told the police they had cut the track which caused the train accident.

OneIndia News
Madras HC rejects plea challenging Devanagari script on Rs 2,000

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Madras High Court has rejected a petition that sought to declare the Rs 2,000 note as it the Devanagiri script on it. The plea was rejected the Madurai Bench of the Madras high Court.

The Bench was hearing a petition filed by a Madurai resident K P T Ganesh. The petitioner sought that the new Rs 2,000 note be declared invalid since the use of Devanagari numerals is in violation of the Indian Constitution.

The petitioner argued that Article 343 of the Indian Constitution prescribes that for official purposes of the union the international form of Indian numerals must be used. There is no provision under the Official Languages Act enacted in 1963 to use Devanagari numerals. Hence, the Rs 2,000 note should be declared invalid, the petitioner further contended.

OneIndia News
Mangaluru bandh on Feb 25 to protest Kerala CM's communal harmony rally

India

oi-Anusha

Hindu organisations have called for a Mangaluru bandh on February 25 ahead of the visit by Pinarayi Vijayan. Mangaluru witnessed massive protests by pro-Hindu organisations on Friday ahead of the visit. BJP along with Sangh Parivar organisations including Hindu Jagarana Vedike, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Sri Rama Sene organised a protest rally from Jyothi Circle to Central Maidan. Protests were held against the participation of Kerala Chief Minister in a communal harmony rally scheduled to take place on Saturday.

Leaders like Krishna J Palemar, Shobha Karandlaje and members of pro-hindu organisations like Ratnakar Hegde, Sharan Pumpwell, Jagadish Shenava were present in the rally that held CPI(M) led Kerala government responsible for political murders in the state. Protesters alleged that the communal harmony rally that is scheduled to take place on Saturday and organised by the CPI(M) was a farce considering the political killings in Kerala.

"After Pinarayi Vijayan took over CM, Kerala has witnessed serial murders in Kannur, Thrissur and in other parts. 95% of the victims are Hindus in all political murders," said M B Puranik, a pro-Hindu activist. Close to a thousand people took part in the protests asking Vijayan to go back. The Mangaluru police have tightened security in the city ahead of CPI(M)'s rally.

Security stepped up:

2,000 police personnel, 600 CCTVs, six drone cameras

2,000 police personnel would include six superintendents of police, 10 ASPs, 20 police sub-inspectors, 20 KSRP platoons.

Across the district, 2 SPs, 2 additionals SPs, 4 DySPs, 6 KSRP platoons, 20 DAR squads, 2 teams of rapid action force will be deployed.

We can allow the peaceful protest, but stringent action will be taken against those who disrupt the law, police said.

They also warned against spreading rumours on social media like WhatsApp and Facebook, and said that those who do so will be dealt with strictly.

Police commissioner said that notices have been issued to 41 persons for declaring the bandh illegally.

Notices have been issued to persons belonging to right-wing outfits like VHP, Hindu Jagarana Vedike, Bajrang Dal and others.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 17:55 [IST]
BERLIN, Feb 24 (Reuters) - German exports to Russia will probably rise at least 5 percent this year, their first increase in years, Germany's Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations said on Friday.

The business lobby group said gradually ending Western sanctions against Russia, imposed after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea, was the right approach as progress is made on implementing the Minsk peace agreement.

(Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Larry King)
Mission staff in touch with wife of Indian killed in US: Sushma Swaraj

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Feb 25: Officials of the Indian Consulate General in Houston are in touch with the wife of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an Indian engineer who was killed in a shooting incident in US' Kansas state, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Friday.

"I have received a report from Mr.Anupam Ray CGI Houston," Sushma Swaraj tweeted late on Friday evening. "Our mission staff have met with Sunayna Kuchibhotla. Indian Government is with her in this hour of grief. We assure her of all our support," she said.

Our mission staff hv met with Sunayna Kuchibhotla. Indian Government is with her in this hour of grief. We assure her of all our support. /2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

Indian Ambassador in US Mr.Navtej Sarna has spoken to me and is keeping me informed. /3  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

The Minister also said that Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna was also in touch with her and was her keeping her updated. Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night.

Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country", "terrorist" before shooting them. Purinton, according to reports, provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they are better than him. To avoid unwanted scuffle, the bar management asked him to leave the place, only to find him back at the bar later with gun when he fired at the Indians.

Ian Grillot, 24, an American who tried to save the Indians, was also shot at, media reports quoted police as saying. Grillot was recovering in a hospital while Madasani was discharged. The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) called it a hate crime.

Police said Purinton, 51, fired multiple rounds and fled the bar. He was arrested on Thursday morning in Clinton city in neighbouring Missouri state when a bartender told police that he had bragged about killing "two Middle Eastern men", The Kansas City Star reported.

The US "strongly" condemned the shooting and said it has reached out to Indian consular officials to offer support. The US Embassy in New Delhi expressed full faith in the US authorities investigating the matter. "We have full faith that US legal authorities will bring the case to justice," the statement said.

Purinton has been charged with first-degree murder. "It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke said.

Kuchibhotla hailed from Hyderabad while Madasani is from Warangal town in Telangana. They were aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

IANS
Comedian Atul Khatri's joke on seatbelt becomes one on him as Mumbai Police responds

'Two-finger test' should be banned in matrimonial dispute cases too, says Maharashtra doctor

Mumbai: Unknown persons attack MNS leaders, 8 injured

India

pti-PTI

Mumbai, Feb 24: An MNS leader celebrating victory in the civic poll and eight other party workers were injured when they were allegedly attacked by a mob in suburban Kurla, police said on Friday.

MNS candidate Sanjay Turde was returning home after celebrating his victory in the recently held BMC polls when a mob of around 100 people armed with rods and sticks arrived at his office in Kurla at around 10.30 pm on Thursday.

The mob, apparently comprising of persons from rival parties, allegedly attacked MNS activists present on the spot, a police official said.

Turde and eight other party workers were injured in the incident and were rushed to hospital, he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone V, Parmimder Singh Dahiya said the situation in the area is peaceful. The victims are undergoing treatment in hospital and their injuries are not life-threatening, he said. A case under IPC sections 141 (unlawful assembly) 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (hurt cause by dangerous weapon), 504 (breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and relevant sections of Arms Act has been registered against unknown persons at VB Nagar police station in Kurla, the DCP said.

PTI
Naval war room leak: Dismissal of two officer upheld by SC

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

New Delhi, Feb 24: The decision to sack two naval officers in connection with the Naval war room leak case was upheld by the Supreme Court of India. A board of inquiry had found Commander Vijendra Rana and Commander V K Jha guilty of giving out information regarding defence forces to outside agencies.

The 2005 case involved the leak of 7,000 pages of sensitive defence information from the Navy War Room. The case came to light after one officer was found in possession of a pen drive containing secret information. The BOI had found them guilty following which the centre dismissed two officers on October 26 2005.

The two then approached the SC challenging their dismissal. The court however found no merit in their argument and rejected their case. Before the SC, the Centre argued that the two officers would provide sensitive information to unauthorised agencies which in turn threatened national security.

OneIndia News
How the numbers add up in UP: This is what BJP's win percentage was

PM in UP: BJP will waive off loans of small farmers

India

oi-Lisa

Gonda, Feb 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public rally in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh on Friday. Three phases still to go for Uttar Pradesh assembly election BJP is trying hard to woo urban voters who were its main vote base during 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The PM attacked UP CM Akhilesh Yadav by saying that his region had progressed so well that he could go and study in Australia but he never bothered with the poor of Gonda. Modi also talked about how BSP and SP both had sought a week's time before implementing demonetisation.

The PM talked about various benefits of insurance scheme for farmers and said that it is saddening that farmers of UP are not able to avail benefits of the scheme as it is not properly implemented in the state. He indicated that they were not keen on strengthening the economy but protecting their own wealth.

After our decision of demonetisation, a few people are continuously spreading lies. They fear as all their wrong doings are now exposed: PM  narendramodi_in (@narendramodi_in) February 24, 2017

On the recent wins of BJP in various states, the PM said that the faith that people across the nation are putting on his party only increases his responsibilities to deliver more benefits to the people.

He added that since the state has elected him as an MP, it is his responsibility to ensure that UP develops at faster rate. He also talked about need to work towards making science along with soldiers and farmers the strength of India. He said that it was matter of shame that leaders from opposition parties asked him proof about the surgical strike conducted by Indian Army. He said even Pakistan did not ask for the proof.

Congress party, whom SP has allied with, never respected armed forces. They did not even take note of troubles our ex-servicemen faced: PM  narendramodi_in (@narendramodi_in) February 24, 2017

He thanked the armed forces for standing by him on One Rank One Pension and said that he has already deposited around Rs 7,000 crore in army men's accounts and more will be reaching them in the 2017-18 budget.

We would waive off loans of small farmers, if we come to power in Uttar Pradesh: PM  narendramodi_in (@narendramodi_in) February 24, 2017

He concluded his speech by attacking SP over law and order situation in the state and said that police stations have become offices of SP.

Discrimination between rich & poor must end. We opened up bank accounts for the poor & empowered them financially: PM @narendramodi  narendramodi_in (@narendramodi_in) February 24, 2017

OneIndia News
Rahul Gandhi lacks political maturity, Amit Shah agrees with Sheila Dikshit

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Lucknow, Feb 24: It's a bizarre situation, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, who has been constantly criticising the Congress in every election rally in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, has strangely decided to agree to a comment made by a senior leader of the opposition party.

In an interview to The Times of India, former chief minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, has apparently said that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi 'lacks political maturity'. Sensing opportunity in the statement made by Diskhit, BJP president told voters at a rally in Azamgarh, UP, on Friday, that everyone in India agrees with Sheila Ji's statement on Rahul.

"Sheila Ji everyone in India agrees with you. Rahul Gandhi is still not mature. But, why have you brought him to UP?" Shah asked.

Sheilaji,aapki baat pura desh maan raha hai ki Rahulji abhi mature nhi hue hain,par unko UP par kyun thop rahein hain?-Amit Shah in Azamgarh pic.twitter.com/eTdArwOSh0  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 24, 2017

Shah also said that Rahul should not ask questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the Congress did not do anything for the country in the last 60 years.

In an interview to The Times of India, the former Delhi CM said, "And please remember Rahul is still not mature, his age does not allow him to be mature. He is what... in his forties. Please give him time. Having said all this, Congress believes in development of the weak and marginalised. Rahul is the only one who has spoken about farmers."

However, as her statement created a lot of noise in the political circle of Delhi, Dikshit said that her words had been 'twisted'. Responding to media reports, Dikshit tweeted: ''Rahul has the sensitivity and concern of a mature leader. His words are those of a young, courageous and restless man.''

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 15:44 [IST]
How the numbers add up in UP: This is what BJP's win percentage was

Rahul Gandhi takes on Modi, says his voice feeble than that of a mouse

India

pti-PTI

Bahraich (UP), Feb 24: Stung by repeated barbs by BJP leaders at former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the voice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "feebler even than that of a mouse".

"The voice of PM, who has given the clarion call of Make in India, is not of a roaring lion, but even feebler than that of a mouse," Rahul told an election meeting in Mahsi assembly constituency here that goes to polls on February 27.

His retort came hours after BJP president Amit Shah at a rally in Azamgarh, nearly 300 km away, mocked Rahul for "often asking" as to what the Modi government has done for the country.

"Rahul Baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a PM who speaks. You had given a PM who did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard by you and your mother (Congress president Sonia Gandhi)," Shah had said. Peeved over the remark, Rahul questioned, "What is the utility of these punchlines?"

Ridiculing Modi's 'Make in India' campaign, he said almost everywhere items 'Made in China' are readily available. "Even my phone is made in China," he said. The Congress leader accused the PM of spitting communal venom and spreading hatred since the SP-Congress alliance was forged.

Rahul said, "PM Modi has been benevolent towards the rich and has waived their loans, but not the loans of farmers." In an apparent reference to the PM's "adopted son of UP" remark, Rahul said Modi might claim relationships wherever he wants "but relationships should not be confined to lip service."

"PM Modi made a film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge (promising achchhe din), but it later became Sholay (of Gabbar Singh fear) when notes were banned," he said. "Not a single person accused of keeping black money has been jailed and 94 per cent of black money is still stashed away in foreign countries," he added.

PTI
Remove AFSPA from Manipur, Irom Sharmilas objective remains the same

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Imphal, Feb 24: Last year, Irom Chanu Sharmila broke her 16 years fast and joined mainstream politics. As a politician also the Iron Lady of Manipur (as she is popularly known) kept her 'core issue' same--to repeal the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act--from the northeastern state.

While releasing her party's election manifesto for the upcoming state assembly elections on Thursday, Irom promised that she and her party will work for the revocation of the AFSPA and will redraft the Inner Line Permit system.

Irom, who has founded the People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance party last year, filed her nomination papers from Thoubal constituency of the state recently. Irom is contesting the election against Congress leader and three-time chief minister of Manipur, Okram Ibobi Singh.

She told local reporters that the very idea of joining politics is to remove the AFSPA from the state. She said, "I have not given up on my campaign against the AFSPA. I have merely changed the strategy."

The peace activist-turned-politician was on a fast-unto-death since November 4, 2000, demanding the repeal of the AFSPA which gives carte blanche to the security forces while combating the insurgents. According to reports, because of the AFSPA more than 1,500 alleged extra-judicial killings were reported in the state in the last three decades.

Manipur is scheduled to go to polls in two phases on March 4 and 8. As a part of the election campaign, Irom is regularly seen campaigning on her bicycle wearing a cap to protect her from the sun and dust.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 10:46 [IST]
Sushma Swaraj expresses shock over shooting incident in Kansas

India

oi-Madhuri

By Madhuri

New Delhi, Feb 24: The Minister of External Affairs of India Sushma Swaraj on Friday expressed shock over unfortunate killing of Indian national identified as Srinivas Kuchibhotla during a shootout in Kansas.

[Also read: A Indian shot dead in Kansas, shooter yelled 'get out of my country']

Swaraj took on to the micro-blogging site Twitter to express condolences to the bereaved family of Kuchibhotla who was killed during the shootout. Upon hearing hearing the news, Swaraj immediately contacted the Indian Ambassador in the US, Navtej Sarna who confirmed that two Indian officials have rushed to Kansas.

Indian Ambassador has also informed me that Alok Madasani who was injured in the incident has been discharged from the hospital.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017

"Indian Ambassador has also informed me that Alok Madasani who was injured in the incident has been discharged from the hospital," she also tweeted.

An Indian-origin man was killed and another injured by a former Navy serviceman who mistook them for "Middle Easterners". The man also shot and injured a non-Indian American who is hailed as a hero as he tried to protect the two during the attack on Wednesday night in Olathe, Kansas State.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla died and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton shot them at a bar after telling them "get out of my country".

According to his profile on LinkedIn, Kuchibhotla, 32, graduated from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad in 2005 with an electrical engineering degree. He received a master's degree from the University of Texas in El Paso and was working as an aviation programmes manager with Garmin, an electronics manufacturer best known for its consumer navigation systems.

OneIndia News (with inputs from agencies)
Who will rule BMC: Here is how the numbers are adding up

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

It is clear that no party in Maharashtra is in a position to rule the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in Mumbai. Both the BJP and the Shiv Sena have fallen short of the 114 mark in the 227 member BMC.

[A victory of transparency, Fadnavis says after big BJP win in Maharashtra]

The BJP won 82 while its former ally, the Shiv Sena bagged 84 seats. The Congress was at 31 while the NCP and MNS were reduced to 9 and 7 seats respectively. The Sena has said that the next mayor would be from its party, while the BJP on the other hand appeared confident of ruling the BMC.

Parties BMC election result 2017 2012 Shiv Sena 84 75 Bharatiya Janata Party 82 31 Congress 31 52 NCP 09 13 MNS 07 28 Others 14 28 Total won 227/227 227/227

The big question is whether the BJP and SS will come together and rule the BMC. If the two parties do patch up, then can comfortably rule the BMC. The BJP's Chandrakant Patil said that it was time to reunite and the fight with the Sena must stop.

If the Sena seeks the support of the Congress which has bagged 31 seats, then it can comfortably rule the BMC. However there is a question mark on that alliance as the two parties have always battled against each other in the state. The BJP on the other hand would require the support of the NCP, MNS and others if it has to reach closer to the magic mark.

Although a very distant possibility, if the BJP manages to bag the support of the NCP, others and the MNS, then it would be able to reach 113 which is still one below the magic mark.

[Narendra Modi delighted by BJP's performance in BMC polls]

Whether or not patch up with the Sena is a decision which will be taken by the central leadership of the BJP. Patil said that he is hopeful of a patch up and also added that there is no other way in which the BMC can be ruled. However both Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Sena chief Udhav Thackerey were no-committal on an alliance.

Any post poll alliance between the BJP and Sena will be based on a common minimum agenda. The top brass of the BJP feels that transparency in the functioning of the BMC would be their condition. The BJP may be ready to give up the post of Mayor, but would want to keep with it the post of standing committee chairman. The other option that would be discussed will be to divide all the posts for two-and-a-half-years.

OneIndia News
Who will win UP for BJP? Is it One Man Army PM Modi?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, Feb 24: In the high-voltage Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2017, one thing is pretty clear--the Bharatiya Janata Party has once again fallen back to its star campaigner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to win votes.

We saw how brilliantly PM Modi captured the imagination of one and sundry during the Lok Sabha polls of 2014. It was 'Modi Wave' that helped the BJP to win the elections with a thumping majority and formed government at the Centre.

On Thursday, when the election results of the local body polls of Maharashtra were announced, once again the PM was credited for the BJP's win. Most of the state and the central leaders praised PM Modi for the party's victory after the 'controversial' implementation of demonetisation of high-value currency notes last year.

Thus every victory of the BJP--no matter where--be it in Assam assembly elections last year or recent Odisha local body polls-it's the 'Modi factor' that garner votes for the BJP. Or, that is what the party seems to believe.

Once again, PM Modi has been entrusted to win votes for the BJP in UP. In the last few days, PM Modi has been vigorously campaigning across the state, taking on directly the might of local parties--the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

What if BJP has no chief ministerial face, it has PM Modi

The saffron party did not care to announce its chief ministerial candidate before the start of polling process in the state. The BJP in UP has several local powerful leaders who aspire to become the CM, if the party comes to power. Political pundits say the party did not want to upset one leader by favouring another in the state. The BJP played it safe, as experts indicate. Or, they don't need any local leader to approach the voters.

"We have Modi, we don't need anyone," as a local BJP worker says. Even in most television interviews, the voters who admitted that they would vote for the BJP or have already voted for the BJP in UP, they have one reason to do so: PM Modi.

When asked why they support the BJP, the voters have one simple reason--'We want UP to be under the care of Modi ji'.

One man party: Is it a dangerous sign?

After the demise of former CM of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa, we witnessed how a bitter war of succession within the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam brought political stalemate in the state. It happened as Amma was in total control of the party with nobody 'as powerful as her' to replace her 'vacant seat'.

The BJP has several well-known faces, like Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley, to name a few. But, are they as powerful and popular like Modi? It is a question the answer of which the BJP has to find out soon, in order to avoid any sort of power struggle within its rank and file.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 9:14 [IST]
LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Germany's two-year government bond yield extended recent declines on Friday and again reached record lows.

The European Central Bank's bond-buying programme and upcoming regulatory changes have helped push short-dated German yields down, a trend exacerbated by investor concern over France's presidential race.

The two-year German Schatz yield fell as low as minus 0.931 percent in early Friday trade as an overnight decline in U.S. Treasury yields spilled over into German bond markets. It is on track to end the week 12 basis points lower -- more than in any single week since July 2012.

(Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe, editing by Larry King)
Noida: Two held for cheating people of lakhs using 'magic ink' on cheques

World's cheapest smarphone fraud: Police hunt for other directors

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Ghaziabad, Feb 24: After arresting Mohit Goel, director of Noida-based Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd, police said they were searching for four more directors of the company that launched the world's cheapest smartphone.

Goel was detained late on Thursday after an FIR was filed by Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises, alleging that Ringing Bells defrauded it of Rs 16 lakh.

"We are trying to arrest four other directors -- Anmol Goel, Dharna Garg (Mohil Goel's wife), Ashok Chadha and Sumit Kumar -- named in the FIR," Superintendent of Police Salman Taj Patil told IANS.

As news of Goel's arrest emerged, several other distributors reached the police station, describing their suffering at the hands of the company, the official said.

In the FIR, Ayam Enterprises claimed it was persuaded by Goel and other company officials to take up the distributorship of 'Freedom 251' smartphones in November 2015. Each phone was to cost Rs 250.

"We paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. But it delivered us product worth Rs 13 lakh only. Upon follow-up, we could get products plus money totalling Rs 14 lakh," the company said.

According to Akshay Malhotra, one of the distributors of Ayam Enterprises, Goel contacted him two years ago to become the clearing and forwarding agent for his products.

Malhotra paid Rs 30 lakh to Goel in four instalments but Goel did not supply the consignment even after the promised delivery time lapsed.

After much persuasion, Goel supplied the first consignment of mobile phones, called 'Freedom 251', worth Rs 8 lakh. After finding them substandard in quality, Ayam Enterprises returned them to Ringing Bells.

Ayam Enterprises was later forced to accept power banks and LFD bulbs from Goel in place of mobile phones, Malhotra claimed.

After registering the FIR under sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471 and 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code, police arrested Goel from his residence at ATS Towers at Indirapuram on Thursday.

A report in TeleAnalysis, a leading news portal on the telecommunication and technology industry, claimed in December that Ringing Bells owners had shut down the company and opened a new firm, MDM Electronics Private Ltd.

Ringing Bells later refuted these charges.

After announcing that it had delivered 5,000 'Freedom 251' smartphones to customers in July last year, Ringing Bells said it would deliver 65,000 more to those who had booked the device in cash on delivery mode.

After that, no new numbers were shared. The company has since forayed into making TVs and other smartphones, burying the Freedom 251 dream.

The company in mid-February last year had planned to deliver 2.5 million handsets before June 30. Ringing Bells received mammoth -- over 70 million -- registrations before its payment gateway crashed.

The world's cheapest phone made a splash across the globe, with almost every big media house writing about the 'miracle device'.

Doubts were initially raised over Ringing Bells' handset after some experts said no smartphone could be manufactured for less than Rs 2,000.

IANS
1st victim of Trumps ban on immigrants, its not an Arab, but an Indian

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New York, Feb 24: On social media, the unfortunate death of an Indian-origin man after an American went on a shooting spree at a bar in Olathe, Kansas State, US, on Wednesday night, has been described as 'hate crime' and 'homegrown terror attack'.

In the same incident, another Indian and an American sustained bullet injuries. They are said to be 'out of danger' after they were admitted in a hospital. Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32) died and Alok Madasani (32) was injured when Adam W Purinton shot them. While Ian Grillot, 24, was injured when he tried to intervene to save the Indians, stated media reports.

Both Srinivas and Alok worked as engineers at an American company. The shooting episode is not a 'regular' attack by a gunman in America. Adam (51), an US Navy veteran, opened fire as he mistook both the Indians as 'Arabs or Middle Easterners'. Before shooting, Adam apparently yelled, "Get out of my country."

Adam made a 'strong statement' before committing the crime. His remark echoes in what the American administration has been repeatedly saying, 'banning Muslims immigrants entering the country' in recent times. While the ban has not come into effect, after the intervention of judiciary in the US, however, President Donald Trump administration is adamant to bring strict laws to restrict entry of immigrants into American soil.

In this context, if on one hand the State is planning of punitive actions against immigrants and few US nationals like Adam are ready to kill immigrants, neither Arabs nor Indians are safe in the country.

The Hindu American Foundation has called the attack a hate crime. But officials had not classified it a hate crime, saying they were investigating the angle. "It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police chief Steven Menke said.

Back in India, the family of Kuchibhotla in Hyderabad, Telangana, was shocked over the incident and has sought help from the state and central governments in bringing his body back home.

On Friday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed shock over the shooting incident. Expressing her 'heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family', the minister tweeted that she has spoken to Indian Ambassador in the US Navtej Sarna and that 'two Indian embassy officials have rushed to Kansas'. "Consul RD Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. Vice Consul Harpal Singh is also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas," she said.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 13:14 [IST]
US aims to withdraw all forces 'within 14 months': US-Afghan sign agreement for bringing peace

No Afghan national will be asked to leave India without MHA's approval: Officials

Afghan army helicopter makes emergency landing, crew rescued

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Kabul, Feb 24: An Afghan army helicopter made a crash landing in Kunduz province, a spokesman of the Defence ministry said, adding the crew members were rescued after the landing.

"A MD 530 helicopter, which was en route for a combat task to northern Takhar province, made emergency landing in Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province. All crew members were rescued safely by another helicopter," Gen. Dawlat Waziri said in a statement on Thursday.

The official added that as the crashed helicopter was not in a state to be repaired, the wreckage was destroyed by army personnel at the site, Xinhua news agency reported .

Waziri ruled out the involvement of militants in the incident saying the crash was caused by a technical failure in the aircraft. However, Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, has claimed responsibility for the crash in the restive province.

Mujahid told local media that the helicopter was shot down by Taliban and all the people aboard died following the crash. The Kunduz province, together with neighboring Baghlan and Takhar provinces, has been the scene of heavy clashes over the past months as Taliban has been trying to challenge the security forces in the once relatively peaceful region.

On November 30, an Afghan army general and an Afghan air force pilot were killed and 10 others injured after a helicopter crashed in western Badghis province.

IANS


Are you awake?: EAM Jaishankar recalls when he got a call from PM Modi at midnight

Afghanistan to Pakistan: Will respond to any attack on sovereignty

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Kabul, Feb 24: Afghanistan's government warned Pakistan that it would respond to any attack on its sovereignty, with the warning coming amid rising bilateral tensions over border skirmishes last week.

Afghan security forces will take action if Pakistan violates international law and threatens national sovereignty, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Shakaib Mustaghni said in a press conference on Thursday.

Bilateral tensions rose last week following several attacks on Pakistani soil, including a suicide bombing that killed 88 people at a religious shrine, leading Islamabad to accuse Kabul of harbouring terrorists, Efe news reported.

Pakistani authorities also closed the border with Afghanistan and, according to Kabul, fired more than 450 mortar rounds in the region, killing at least two Afghans and displacing hundreds of families.

While the border remains closed, Mustaghni said the Afghan government always sought to resolve disputes via diplomatic channels, but he warned that tensions were not good for either party since Afghanistan stood ready to defend its territorial integrity.

IANS

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 11:09 [IST]
Hafiz Saeed's house arrest is 'Pak sponsored vacation'

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Hafiz Saeed the chief of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba was placed under house arrest. He was placed under the terrorism watch list by Pakistan. India was however not convinced and says that such acts will remain an eye-wash until Pakistan prosecutes him for the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.

India doubts Pakistan's actions as it has seen a similar set of events unfurl after the 26/11 attacks. "It is nothing but a state-sponsored holiday for Saeed," says an Indian official in Delhi. The point that must be noted here is that while Saeed is under house arrest, the activities of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba continue unabated.

The network of the outfit continues to be strong and there is no crackdown by Pakistan on the same. The house arrest and so-called action comes just ahead of a crucial United Nations debate on terrorism and finance. Pakistan fears being blacklisted and hence this action against Saeed was taken.

Saeed's detention can be termed as a hogwash for several reasons. One, it is only a house arrest. Secondly he is not being tried for the 26/11 attack. Three, his terror and financial networks continue unabated. The camps at Murdike where the Lashkar-e-Tayiba trains and launches its men into India is very much functional according to the Intelligence Bureau.

Officials say that Pakistan will continue to play the "good terrorist, bad terrorist," game. It still considers the LeT to be the good terrorist and the Tehri-e-Taliban to be the bad one. Pakistan fears that the LeT may spin out of control. The LeT is the only outfit in Pakistan which has not resulted against the system. Pakistan would not want that to happen since the outfit continues to be its favourite proxy which pushes its anti-India agenda especially in Kashmir.

OneIndia News
Indian shot dead in Kansas, shooter yelled 'get out of my country'

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

An Indian was shot dead in Kansas, United States after being mistaken for an Arab. Another Indian was also injured in the shootout. The shooter had yelled, "Get out of my country," the Kansas Star reported. The deceased has been identified as Srinivas Kuchibhotla while the injured as Alok Madasani. Both worked as aviation system engineers at Garmin International. Madasani has now been discharged from the hospital.

The incident took place at the Austins Bar and Grill located in South Olathe, Kansas on Wednesday. According to reports, the shooter became disgruntled and yelled racial slurs at the two Indians. He then pulled out a gun and fired on them. He has been identified as Adam Purinton who lives in Austin.

Eye witnesses said that he had hurled racial slurs at the two men. When another person identified as Ian Grillot stood up for them, he was also shot. Both Madasani and Ian were hospitalised.

After fleeing from the scene, Purinton headed to another bar at Clinton where he was having a drink. He had told the bartender that he needed a place to hide as he had just killed two Middle-Eastern men. The bartender however called the police.

This is 1st time it happened to family; Trump is only the primary reason as of now: Kansas shooting victim Srinivas Kuchibhotla's relative pic.twitter.com/gxlv7Lxfzw  ANI (@ANI_news) February 24, 2017

In run-up to election, passions have been whipped up against immigrants and foreigners; Now it's become white vs non-white: Naresh Chandra pic.twitter.com/dsEBgpA9HX  ANI (@ANI_news) February 24, 2017

OneIndia News
Kansas shooting: Sikh group asks community to be 'extra vigilant'

International

oi-PTI

New York, Feb 24: A Sikh civil rights group has urged members of the Sikh-American community to exercise caution and be extra vigilant in the wake of a possible hate crime in Kansas city that left one Indian engineer dead and another injured.

The Sikh Coalition said its prayers go out to the family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, who was killed when 51-year-old Olathe man, Adam Purinton, shot him at a bar in the city on Wednesday.

Another Indian engineer Alok Madasani, 32, was injured in the incident and has been released from hospital. Purinton has ben charged in Johnson County District Court with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Bond has been set at USD 2 million.

The advocacy group urged 'every Sikh-American to exercise extra vigilance and caution during this period of heightened vulnerability.' It urged members of the community to call law enforcement immediately if they have been a victim of hate violence or received threats of violence.

Kuchibhotla worked in aviation systems for Olathe-based Garmin Ltd. Madasani was his co-worker at Garmin.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police chief Steven Menke said in The Kansas City Star.

Another individual Ian Grillot, 24, was reportedly shot while attempting to stop Purinton. Grillot said he was happy to see Madasani is recovering. Following the shooting, Olathe residents went to the bar where the incident took place to lay flowers and offer condolences to the staff, patrons and victims' families.

"You just can't help but your heart goes out to them, and it's such a sad story for the community but I just wanted to support and of course honor the lives and everybody involved," nearby business owner Amber McCracken said in a report in KSHB Kansas City.

The shooting has shaken the tight-knit Indian community in Olathe, according to Shabina Kavimandan, who was among those laying flowers at the site.

"We take pride in the fact that we come and we become a part of this society and then when things like this happen you just stop in your tracks and you realize that yes you are a little different," said Kavimandan.

"When we pull back the layer then we realized, oh, gun violence was actually somebody killing people because they are different, that adds another layer to it. That's when it became really hard to really make sense of this," she added.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 11:28 [IST]
Are you awake?: EAM Jaishankar recalls when he got a call from PM Modi at midnight

Several Afghans on Germany's evacuation list have died

13th batch of medical assistance to Afghanistan delivered by India

Pakistan claims it has killed Lahore attack mastermind

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Rawalpindi, Feb 24: Conducting targeted strikes across the Afghan border, Pakistan army has succeeded in killing two high-profile terrorists affiliated with terrorist group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, including the Lahore attack mastermind, media reports said.

According to security sources, those killed included Wajihullah alias Ahrar, who was the brain behind the recent suicide attack in Lahore and earlier incidents in Punjab, Geo TV reported.

Sources added that Wajihullah was sponsored by a hostile intelligence agency for terrorist activities in Pakistan.

On February 13, at least 14 people, including senior police officers, were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself near Lahore's Charing Cross, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered for a protest.

Another terrorist killed by the army was Hikmat alias Qari Zubair, who was in-charge of terrorist transit camp in Afghanistan and coordinator for terrorist operations in Pakistan, sources said.

IANS

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 11:24 [IST]
Shooting spree in US: Meet the American HERO who took a bullet to save Indians

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New York, Feb 24: Amid all the negativity surrounding the shooting episode in Kansas, US, on Wednesday night, hope is not at all lost. Yes, not all Americans hate immigrants, in fact, few like Ian Grillot, 24, are ready to take bullet to save people from far-off land.

Ian, who is currently recovering in a hospital, came to the rescue of two Indian-origin men from Telangana-- Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and Alok Madasani, 32,-at a bar when they were fired bullets by an US Navy veteran, Adam W Purinton, 51. Unfortunately, a severely injured Srinivas died, while Alok is undergoing treatment in a hospital. However, in the rescue process, Ian also took a bullet shot by the gunman, who has been arrested by the police later.

Recalling the incident from his hospital bed, the 24-year-old said he went after the attacker after he thought he had heard nine shots, which meant the magazine was empty. However, it was not the case and he was shot at in the process.

"I'm incredibly grateful that one of the gentlemen was saved," Ian said in a video recorded at his hospital bed. "It's terrible what happened to his friend but I think he was watching over us last night. I was told I was incredibly lucky."

Watch the full video of Ian speaking about the entire horrible episode below:

Both Srinivas and Alok worked as engineers at an American company. The shooting episode is not a 'regular' attack by a gunman in America. Adam opened fire as he mistook both the Indians as 'Arabs or Middle Easterners'. Before shooting, Adam apparently yelled, "Get out of my country."

On social media, the unfortunate attack has been described as 'hate crime' and 'homegrown terror attack'.

OneIndia News
What does the US actually want in Syria?

Syria: At least 42 killed in suicide blast

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Damascus, Feb 24: At least 42 persons were killed in a suicide bombing in Syria's Susian town on Friday, a monitor group reported.

The bombing targeted Turkey-backed rebels who along with Turkish forces captured nearby Al Bab city a day earlier after dislodging the Islamic State militant group out of that key area near the Turkish border, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the casualties were rebels. Other activists placed the number of deaths at 50.

A day earlier, the IS announced its withdrawal from Al Bab, which has been taken by the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels on Thursday.

The withdrawal of the IS from Al Bab, its largest stronghold in northern Syria near the Turkish borders, came after 100 days of battles against the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels fighting in an operation called the Euphrates Shield.

The IS claimed it had killed 400 Turkish soldiers and rebel fighters.

For the Turks, capturing the northern part of the city will help reduce the growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria, a red line drawn by Turkey.

The Syrian Army has succeeded in besieging Al Bab from its southern edge, a move to prevent IS fighters from withdrawing toward other strongholds in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, or the northern city of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror group.

Observers said the attacks on Al Bab were coordinated between the Russians and the Turks.

IANS
US assures against use of military to expel immigrants

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Mexico City, Feb 24: US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has pledged that the military would not be used to expel undocumented immigrants from America, a media report said.

Speaking in Mexico City on Thursday, Kelly pledged that the Department of Homeland Security's sweeping new immigration enforcement rules would not result in "mass deportations", The Hill magazine reported

"Let me be very, very clear... there will be no, repeat no, mass deportations," he said.

"Everything we do in DHS will be done legally and according to human rights and the legal justice system of the US."

The comments came just hours after President Donald Trump called the new deportation push a military operation, which threatened to heighten the concerns of immigrant-rights groups and the Mexican government.

"There will be no use of military force in immigration," Kelly added.

Earlier on Thursday, Trump sowed confusion over the military's role with his remarks earlier at the White House, the magazine said.

"We're getting really bad dudes out of this country," he said at a meeting with manufacturing CEOs. "And at a rate nobody has ever seen before. And they're the bad ones. And it's a military operation."

Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday met top Mexican officials in order to smooth over tensions that were exacerbated by the new immigration policies.

IANS

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, February 24, 2017, 15:37 [IST]
 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd.

All rights reserved.

One News is a registered trademark

of One News Page Ltd.
HONG KONG, CHINA--(Marketwired - Feb 24, 2017) - Hong Kong Airlines has been committed to supporting the young generation to realise their dream of flying high, encouraging them to learn outside the classroom to broaden horizons and stick to their dreams. During February 10 to 17, Hong Kong Airlines had the full support from Tourism and Events Queensland and Wing On Travel to organize a study tour to Australia, bringing nine outstanding students who exceled from "Embrace the World" Student Sponsorship Programme (the "Programme") to Gold Coast and Cairns to learn about environmental conservation, local history and culture, and aviation knowledge.

Ms Ming Chan, General Manager of Corporate Communications of Hong Kong Airlines, said, "Gold Coast/Cairns of Australia is our first long-haul route launched in 2016 -- the tenth anniversary since the company's establishment. It signifies the first step of the airline on its way from regional to international. While growing fast over the past decade, Hong Kong Airlines hopes to support the students in pursuing their dreams with continuous investment in resources to education, helping the youth to reach farther, fly higher."

The students spent eight days and seven nights packed with excitement in Australia. After landing at Gold Coast airport, the group visited Gold Coast Airport where they met the Gold Coast Airport Ambassador. It was followed by a visit to the pilot training center -- Air Gold Coast, where pilots start their career with a series of strict training. Students are also encouraged to learn continuously beyond aviation knowledge. They toured Gold Coast City Council as part of the agenda, and had a good chat with the oversea students from China at the Griffith University.

Environmental conservation is one of the key themes of the trip. Australia is famous for its high conservation value. During the tour, students had close encounters with koalas and kangaroos at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. They also got on the Tweed Endeavour Cruises to observe a variety of marine animals. The group had great fun discovering night adventures at Tamborine National Park, excited to find the glow worms deep in the jungle. At the gold beaches and into the ocean, the students completed their first try of surfing and kayaking, also indoor sky diving, all of which are boasted as "must-try" activities in Gold Coast.

The group stopped at Cairns for three days before flying back to Hong Kong. Unforgettable experience into beautiful nature and the exchange of culture was acquired in the rainforest and at Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park respectively.

Keung Kwan Shun from Yan Chai Hospital Lan Chi Pat Memorial Secondary School was one of the nine students. He has a passion for aviation education and has been studying courses in tourism and hospitality. The trip was indeed eye-opening to him and he looks forward to sharing the invaluable experiences of this trip to his students in the future.

Hong Kong Airlines' "Embrace the World" Student Sponsorship Programme was firstly launched in 2014. So far, the airline has sponsored over 2,100 complimentary air tickets to students who outstand in different areas, offering them an opportunity to travel the world and broaden their horizons. Students participating in the Australia tour were from different schools in Hong Kong. All of them had joined the 2016/17 Programme and shared the most exciting stories travelling with Hong Kong Airlines by submitting travel journals. Hong Kong Airlines shortlisted up to 10 outstanding journals and awarded the student writers with an invitation to join the Australia tour. Last year, Hong Kong Airlines also sponsored 10 outstanding students who joined the Programme to visit the Airbus Final Assembly Line in Tianjin, Airbus Beijing Campus and Training Centre, which was the first-ever Hong Kong student tour to Airbus' aircraft manufacturing base in Asia.

About Hong Kong Airlines

Established in 2006, Hong Kong Airlines is a full-service airline firmly rooted in Hong Kong. It has grown remarkably in just ten years with a wide destination network covering 36 major cities across the Asia Pacific region, including Gold Coast, Auckland, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Sapporo, Seoul, Bangkok, Bali and Okinawa. The Company has also signed codeshare agreements with 13 airlines and 70 interline partners. The current operating fleet is made up of 34 Airbus aircraft, consisting of 29 passenger aircraft and 5 freighters. With an average age of around 4.6 years, Hong Kong Airlines operates one of the youngest fleets in the world. Hong Kong Airlines has been awarded the internationally acclaimed four-star rating from Skytrax since 2011. It was also the winner for Asia's Leading Inflight Service in World Travel Awards 2015.

For more information, please visit:

Official website: www.hkairlines.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hkairlines

Sina Weibo: weibo.com/hongkongairlines

WeChat and Instagram ID: hkairlines

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-airlines
WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will only consider a financial contribution to the bailout program for Greece after there has been full discussion on economic reforms and debt restructuring, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday.

"Before the IMF would be able to make a commitment on our participation in the program, we would need to have the discussion of both policies and debt relief, and beyond the discussion credible commitments in which we have confidence," Rice said in response to a question at a regular news briefing.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
Rumble 03 Nov 2022

Jennas thoughts on Elons New Twitter landscape so far, legal issues, and the $8 subscription idea from a capitalist..
JAKARTA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara (AMNT), a unit of Medco Energi Internasional has obtained permit to export 675,000 tonnes of copper concentrates, the company said in a statement on Friday, referring to a recommendation issued by the government last week.

"AMNT will immediately resume export activities and continue our mining operations at Batu Hijau as normal," Amman President Director Rachmat Makkasau said in the statement.

Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry issued a recommendation on Feb. 17 for Amman and fellow copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc to export copper concentrates up to February 16, 2018.

(Reporting by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
autoevolution 12 Feb 2022

We're no stranger to the George Washington Bridge between New York City and Fort Lee, New Jersey, here at autoevolution. So when we..
Wibbitz Top Stories 18 Oct 2022

China's XI Jinping Is Poised For, Unprecedented Third Term , as President.

President Xi Jinping will be granted the third term..
The father of a parsons kansas shooting victim has a message for anyone who might consider committing the same crime that sent his..

KOAM 04 Oct 2019
GlobeNewswire 26 Sep 2022

Global Trade Finance Market 2022-2026 The analyst has been monitoring the trade finance market and it is poised to grow by $12. 20..
Business Insider 28 May 2020

 Dugway Proving Ground tests and stores some of the deadliest chemical and biological agents on Earth.

 The facility,..
Intelligence Organisation(NIO) boss Maika Bruno has been jailed for three years for misappropriating K91,000 belonging to the organisation. Bruno was jailed yesterday by the National Court after Justice David Cannings considered aggravating factors which included Mr Bruno abusing a position of trust, his actions undermined the integrity of both NIO and the public sector and he had pleaded not guilty. Justice Cannings also noted that there were more mitigating factors including Mr Brunos lack of prior conviction, 25 years of good service to the country, health problems, age and a positive presentencing report. Mr Bruno, 54, from Namatani in New Ireland was employed by NIO between 1990 and 2014.





Last month Justice Cannings found him guilty of two counts of misappropriation under the Criminal Code Act. Both offences took place in 2013 when Bruno was acting director-general of NIO. For the first charge, Justice Cannings found Mr Bruno guilty of paying a law firm K55,000 to initiate court proceedings to keep now Police Commissioner Gari Baki from taking over his office. According to Justice Cannings, Mr Brunos position allowed him to use money to the purposes of the NIO. However, the proceedings only benefited him personally.





Justice Cannings pointed out that even if NIO had benefited, the approval of the attorney-general was not sought as required by law. For the second charge, Justice Cannings found Mr Bruno guilty of unlawfully using K36,000 in cash because there were no acquittals. Mr Brunos explanation that he was prevented from acquitting by Mr Baki was rejected as evidence only went as far as to show that immediately after he took office, Mr Baki barred Mr Bruno from entering the NIO office from November to December 2013. There is no evidence that Mr Baki took any steps to prevent him from acquitting the funds. Justice Cannings found Mr Brunos explanation that the cash was used to pay sources in Operation Black Tee-Shirt vague and unconvincing, even if he was subject to the secrecy provisions of the National Intelligence Organisation Act. No attempt was made to relieve Mr Bruno of the consequences of giving such evidence. Post Courier/ ONE PNG
Kindred Group plc to Close 175 Million Deal to Take Over 32Red

Published February 24, 2017 by Ivan P

Kindred Group plc, formerly known as Unibet, has made a 175 million offer to purchase their UK competitor 32Red, looking to boost their presence in the UK market.

Formerly known as Unibet, Swedish Kindred Group has reached an agreement with 32Red which should see Kindred become the new owner of 32Red. The deal, worth 175.6 million, is the first acquisition of this sorts for the company since Unibet bought Stan James back in 2015.

Similar Business Philosophy

In the press release announcing the takeover, 32Red's Ed Ware emphasized the two companies have always had similar business philosophies, and they are looking forward to continuing their joint efforts in the future.

The 32Red share price has been on a steady uptick as the company continues to improve their presence in the regulated markets like Italy and UK. Under the terms of the takeover bid, Kindred will pay 196p per share, while 32Red has agreed to pay the interim dividend of 4p per share to company's shareholders.

Finalizing Takeover Details

The Kindred Group offer, although almost a done deal, isn't there just yet. For the deal to go through, Kindred needs the acceptance of more than 75%, and up to this point, they've received confirmation from shareholders to the tune of 71.1%. The rest of the shareholders are expected to follow suit, especially given the fact Kindred has presented the recommended cash offer.

Once shareholders are on board, relevant gaming regulators will also need to give their approval before the deal goes through, but given the reputation of both companies, this seems like a pure formality.

New Approach for New Challenges

For Kindred Group, this acquisition is important as it will strengthen their position in the highly relevant and attractive UK market. At the same time, the deal follows the consolidation pattern that's been present in the gambling and bookmaking industry, with companies coming together in an effort to meet new tax and regulation burdens.

Not surprisingly, after the deal announcement has been released, the 32Red share price experienced a big 16% surge, increasing to 200p per share.


Steve Mtrallet Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva:

Banque Bonhote, a 200-year old Swiss private bank, last year launched a community of investors - heads of Swiss family and advisory offices and wealth managers - with the aim of co-investing in the kind of managers they wanted to invest in, either by way of seed or as acceleration capital. They created a pool and called it Bonhote Fund Solutions.

Today, this community includes 12 partners, including Bonhoete (Bonhote means "good host"), who regularly share ideas, meet altogether twice a year, and invest in whom they chose. The pool amounts to CHF30bn, and they have already invested a total of CHF100m.

"It's a philosophy of cooperation and collectivism," said Steve Metrallet, head of Bonhote Fund Solutions, who calls himself the "animator" of the group.

"We put our resources together, we share ideas and we invest as equals. There are no veto, no need for unanimity," he told Opalesque.

"We did not want to take the marketing push route," he continued. "We wanted to add value, deliver something that promoters can't bring. Our first objective is to support talents.

"Fund promoters, if you leave aside the large fund house that eat up most of the fund market, have 8% of the market share. We work with a few of those. So our portfolio does not look like a typical UBS portfolio."

A recent Swiss Data study shows that UBS, Credit Suisse and Swisscanto, three large banks, account for about 51% of ......................

To view our full article Click here
Legault focuses on mergers and acquisitions, both public and private, with a particular emphasis on private equity transactions across a range of industries, including life sciences, manufacturing and financial services.

His clients include public and private companies, private equity funds and family offices. He also regularly represents both issuers and investors in early stage venture capital transactions. His experience includes domestic and cross-border transactions, joint ventures and strategic alliances. He has also been involved with proxy fights and other corporate governance issues, including representing clients before the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Jeff is a talented lawyer with long-standing and substantive relationships in the private equity and corporate arenas," said Daniel Eisner, co-chair of DLA Piper's US Private Equity practice. "His experience with both US and international transactions complements the firm's global private equity presence, which has developed substantially in recent years."

Richard Hans, managing partner of the firm's New York office, said: "We are pleased to welcome Jeff to the firm. His skills and experience will bolster our corporate team of leading lawyers in New York and firmwide."

Legault joins DLA Piper from Mayer Brown, where he was a partner. He received his J.D. from the University of Toronto and his B.A. from Queen's University.
ASR is a leading independent FINMA-regulated Swiss representative firm founded in 2014 by Anne Simond and Greg Taylor to provide local representation and distribution services to foreign funds. ASR currently represents over 400 funds and has presence in Switzerland, London, Hong Kong and New York.

 In January 2017, FINMA granted ASR the license to act as representative for FINMA authorized funds distributed to non-qualified investors.

 To lead the development of this activity, ASR hired Julien Dif, a Swiss & Luxembourg lawyer with extensive experience in the UCITS universe.

 ASR will offer a fully digitalized onboarding, monitoring and audit tool aimed at reducing costs for its clients whilst ensuring the speed and accuracy of execution.

 In addition, ASR has launched ASR Link, a free introduction service to Swiss allocators active in the alternative investment universe exclusively for its clients. ASR also offers a full pan-European distribution service on a case-by-case basis.

Anne Simond, CEO of ASR commented, "Switzerland is a key market for fund managers looking to distribute their products in Europe. This approval by FINMA is affirmation that ASR stands as an authority in the representation of fund managers in Switzerland. We are delighted to offer this enhanced and broadened service to the investment management industry".

Press release

Bg



Related:

June.2015 Article: The role of the Swiss representative

April.2015 Opalesque TV: Almost twice as many foreign managers comply with Swiss than with AIFM distribution rules
specialty silica market, projecting the market to increase at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-577

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-577

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Specialty silica demand will continue to be strong in 2016, fuelled by its wide-ranging applications in the rubber and plastics industry. Global demand will reach 3,188.1 KT (thousand tonnes) in 2016, up by 3.7% y-o-y, representing market value worth US$ 5.6 Bn.Rubber industry will continue to be the largest application segment for specialty silicas in 2016, accounting for 1,933.0 KT. Use of specialty silica in tyre manufacturing will drive demand, as focus on improving fuel-efficiency of automobiles continues to gain momentum. Plastics will be the second largest application segment, representing a revenue share of 8.8% in 2016.Precipitated silica will continue to witness the highest demand on the basis of product type, with total consumption set to reach 2,280.3 KT in 2016. Precipitated silica is a highly sought-after performance additive in tyre manufacturing, representing 70.7% worth of revenues in 2015. By 2016, global precipitated silica revenues are anticipated to reach US$ 3,997.5 Mn.Request Report Sample@Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) will remain the largest specialty silicas market in 2016, accounting for 1,315.8 KT in volume. High demand for speciality silica from the rubber sector, including footwear, industrial & mechanical rubber, and automotive tyres will continue to create sustained demand for specialty silica in the region.China is expected to continue its dominance as a major supplier for specialty silica in the global market in 2016 and beyond. To cater to the rising demand, China-based manufacturers are ramping up their production capacity. Global companies are following suit by setting up manufacturing bases in China. While regional Chinese players are increasing their capacity for conventional silica, global players are focusing on high-performance product grades, such as highly dispersible silica (HDS) that require use of advanced technical manufacturing process.Evonik AG, Solvay SA and Huber Engineered Materials are the leading players in the specialty silica market. These players are highly focused in expanding their market shares for high-end products and applications. This strategy of these players has made the market for high-performance products extremely consolidated. For instance, Solvay SA alone supplies over 50% HDS thats currently in use for manufacturing fuel-efficient tyres.Send An Enquiry@Long-term Outlook: FMI maintains a positive long-term outlook on the specialty silica market, projecting the market to increase at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period 2016-2026. Asia Pacific will remain the largest market throughout the forecast period, increasing at a CAGR of 7% during the forecast period.About Us  Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
New Trends of Deployable Military Shelter Systems Market with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2025

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-678

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-678

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Advancements in military activities, tactics, exercises and joint operations necessitated the development of niche products used by army personnel. Furthermore, witnessing the opportunity, a handful of equipment, system and solution manufacturers engaged in niche product development suitable for military application, as a result competition intensified in niche products segment used for military applications. Deployable Military Shelter System is one of such product which is used in applications ranging from temporary medical support centres to incident commands and fatality management centres to emergency distribution centres. These systems are deployed in remote area for temporary period. These systems are totally mobile in nature and are made up of technical textiles. These systems are largely used by infantry, rescue team and medical support team but constant research and development in this niche product segment unfolded new opportunities. Nowadays, availability of shelter systems for military application has not limited to support and shelter to just soldiers but also vehicles and aircrafts. A few of the North American and European companies developed deployable shelter systems to be used as hanger for aircrafts.Drivers & ChallengesMilitary shelter systems demand is directly influenced by increase in military expenditure across the globe. Annual increase in defence budget allocation has been observed in across countries, whereas the year on year increase is very high in countries with stronger economy. Global military expenditure in 2014 was estimated at over US $ 1.7 Trillion; and with growing political and military tensions in different geographies, it is projected to increase at 1.5% annually through 2025. Moreover, a substantial share of military expenditure is channelized for buying equipment and systems for on the field military support. Since, deployable shelter systems are used in field exercises, it is anticipated that the increased military expenditure across countries will bolster the demand for deployable shelter systems viz. a viz. global deployable military systems market.Request Report Sample@Regional LandscapeIn terms of geography, the global deployable military shelter systems is concentrated in few of the pockets. Usage of deployable military shelter systems is very high in developed countries of North America and Europe. However, the trend is gradually picking up the pace in developed markets. A majority of the deployable military shelter systems manufacturers are dependent on NATO member countries for sales. Meanwhile, in recent years they also registered orders from Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries. Currently, European market for deployable military shelter systems is growing at a higher growth rate than the global average, but industry experts indicate a shift in demand from Asian countries, particularly Middle East and South Asia. In order to capitalize the opportunity, global majors engaged in manufacturing deployable shelter systems have deployed sales representatives in these countries.Deployable Military Shelter Systems Market SegmentsDeployable shelter system is differentiated on the basis of size and application.Deployable Military Shelter Systems Sizes :SmallMediumLargeVisit For TOC@Key PlayersAlaska StructuresRoder HTS HockerReevesZeppelinHDTAbout Us  Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Manuka Honey Market: Need for Additional and Abundant Resources Encouraging Investments

https://marketreportscenter.com/reports/346341/global-manuka-honey-market-research-report-to-2021

https://marketreportscenter.com/request-sample/346341

https://marketreportscenter.com/request-discount/346341

https://marketreportscenter.com

Global Manuka Honey Industry 2021 Market Research Report analysed 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 Manuka Honey 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.Get the Exemplified Analysis for the Products of Manuka Honey at: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 Manuka Honey industry in the future years to come. Furthermore, each and every important variable which is responsible for shaping the Global Manuka Honey 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.For Sample Copy, click here:Future Development Trends in the Global Manuka Honey 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 Manuka Honey 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 Manuka Honey which will be beneficial for them.Ask for Discount @About Us:Market 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 website.Contact for more details:Sam Collins303, Astral Court,Aundh, Pune,MH - 411045, IndiaEmail: info@marketreportscenter.comWeb -
IT Enabled Healthcare Market Worth US$ 262 Billion Globally by 2022

https://www.marketresearchengine.com/reportdetails/it-enabled-healthcare-market

https://www.marketresearchengine.com/requestsample/it-enabled-healthcare-market

https://www.marketresearchengine.com/

New York, February 23: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as IT-Enabled Healthcare Market (By Software Type - Healthcare System Applications and mHealth Applications; By Service Type - Tele-health and mHealth; By End-user - Public/Private Healthcare Institutions, Physicians, Healthcare Workers and Individuals) - Global Industry Analysis, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2022The IT-enabled healthcare market is expected to exceed more than USD 262 Billion by 2022.Browse Full Report:IT enabled healthcare is huge field which uses the IT for maintaining, developing, creating and designing information system in the area of healthcare. Healthcare information technology system contains new, latest and advanced technology which enhanced the healthcare system globally. In IT enabled healthcare system the organisation will communicate with each other through electronic message and exchange information or data electronically. The main advantage of this system is that it will maintain many clients with minimum cost efficiency and minimize the errors related with healthcare service. Different wireless technique are present in market includes WMAN, WWAN, WLAN and bluetooth so it increases the effectiveness of the IT enabled healthcare systemThe major driving factors of IT-enabled healthcare market are as follows: eHealth programs and government projects Increasing frequency of chronic diseases includes cardio vascular diseases, cancer and diabetes Improved accuracy and efficiency of IT-enabled healthcareThe restraints factors of IT-enabled healthcare market are as follows: Data Security concern in healthcare IT Systems Problem regarding to interoperability of various IT-enabled healthcare SolutionsDownload Free Sample Report:The IT-enabled healthcare market is segmented on the lines of its software type, service type and end user. Under software type segmentation it covers healthcare system applications, ancillary information systems and mHealth applications. The healthcare system application is further segmented into administrative information systems, clinical information systems, electronic medical record, nursing information systems and computer aided diagnosis. Under ancillary information systems segmentation it covers pharmacy information systems and laboratory information systems. The IT-enabled healthcare market is segmented on the lines of its service type like tele-health and mhealth. Under tele-health segmentation it covers healthcare diagnostics, remote patient monitoring and healthcare education. mHealth is further segmented into solutions for patients and healthcare system strengthening solutions. Based on solutions for patients segmentation it covers information and reference services, monitoring services, diagnostic services, wellness services, treatment services and prevention services. Under healthcare system strengthening it covers emergency response services, healthcare practitioner support and healthcare surveillance. The IT-enabled healthcare market is segmented on the lines of its end user like public/private healthcare institutions, physicians, healthcare workers and individuals. The IT-enabled healthcare market is geographic segmentation covers 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 IT-enabled healthcare 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 2020.3) Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans for IT-enabled healthcare4) 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 coatings 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 GE Healthcare, Siemens AG, IMS Health Holdings Inc., Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., eHealth Technologies, E*HealthLine.Com Inc., AirStrip Technologies LP, Aerotel Medical Systems Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Systems Inc., AT&T Inc. and Apple Inc. Company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary,business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.The IT-enabled Healthcare Market has been segmented as below:By Software Type Analysis Healthcare System Applications Administrative Information Systems (AIS) Clinical Information Systems (CIS) Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Nursing Information Systems (NIS) Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) Ancillary Information Systems Pharmacy Information Systems (PIS) Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) mHealth ApplicationsBy Service Type Analysis Tele-health Healthcare Diagnostics Remote Patient Monitoring Healthcare Education Others (Electronic prescribing software and online support)mHealth Solutions for Patients Information and Reference Services Monitoring Services Diagnostic Services Wellness Services Treatment Services Prevention ServicesHealthcare System Strengthening Solutions Emergency Response Services Healthcare Practitioner Support Healthcare SurveillanceBy End User Analysis Public/Private Healthcare Institutions Physicians Healthcare Workers IndividualsBy Regional Analysis North America Europe Asia-Pacific Rest 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
Jankel Reaffirms UK as Major Production Base

Jankel Armouring

Jankel Armouring Ltd, the world-class protection systems specialist, has increased its UK production facility and its workforce as a result of growth in projects around the world. The company is expanding its Small Dole facility in West Sussex just 18 months after opening a manufacturing division at the site.This expansion puts the companys UK production at the heart of the global companys operation, with the majority of all production now undertaken across its two UK sites in Surrey and West Sussex, alongside sister facilities in Jordan and the USA. This exceptional UK growth is a direct result of the company being selected for a range of prestigious international projects, including a recent New Zealand Defence Force contract.The West Sussex facility will increase to 46,000 and has already increased the workforce by 50% since this time last year. Jankel believes that further growth is likely, and that investment in the UK as its key production base will continue.Jankel designs, develops and builds state-of-the-art performance vehicles for military, security, international aid and NGO sectors across the world and its reputation means that its expertise and specialist production skills are in high demand.We are delighted to be able to continue our investment in the Small Dole facility, said Dan Crosby, Commercial Director at Jankel. We have a dedicated, talented workforce in one of the best locations in the country, and we are continuing to keep our UK production at the forefront of our business plans for the future.Jankel is a world class specialist in protection systems. Undertaking design, development, prototyping and production of armoured vehicles, light tactical vehicles, counter terrorism vehicles and equipment, and customised occupant survivability solutions for military, security, government, aid agencies and NGOs throughout the world. The vision of marrying protection, performance and quality has been at the heart of the business since 1955.Jankel Armouring LimitedPO Box 1, Weybridge, SurreyKT13 8XR
Sequence Health Named a TAG Top 40 Innovative Technology Company

www.tagonline.org

http://www.hubga.com

http://www.tagedonline.org/

https://sequencehealth.com/contact-us

The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), the states leading association dedicated to the promotion and economic advancement of Georgias technology industry, announced Sequence Health 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.Its an honor to be recognized as one of the top innovative companies in Georgia, said John Richmond, Sequence Healths CEO. We are excited to grow our marketplace through our proprietary Sequence platform and continue to help healthcare providers track and manage their patients progress.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."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 ator TAGs community website atTo learn about the TAG-Ed Collaborative visitHeadquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Sequence Health is a performance-optimizing healthcare technology and service company whose focus is on helping bridge the communication, education and participation gaps within the patient-provider relationship.Sequence Health offers an intuitive patient engagement and care management SaaS platform supported by a full staff of clinical and non-clinical professionals skilled at keeping patients engaged throughout their steps of care.To learn more about Sequence Health's services, please contact us at 888.930.3367 or contact us online.Sequence Health115 Perimeter Center Place NE,Suite 1045Atlanta, GA 30346
Multiple Myeloma (Plasma Cell Cancer), Treatment & Drug Global Market 2016: Market Share, Revenue and Cost Analysis with Key Companys Profiles-Forecast to 2027

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/ask-sample-request/hydroxyethyl-cellulose-market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/articles/multiple-myeloma-treatment-drug-market

Article Brief:This article provides an overview about the global multiple myeloma (plasma cell cancer), treatment & drug market during the forecast period 2016-2027, there by offering insights on key present growth indicators and forecast indicators such as drivers, restrains, opportunities and trends, that are involved in shaping the market.About Multiple Myeloma:Multiple Myeloma is the type of the cancer that occurs in the plasma cells. In human body the plasma cells are responsible for producing the antibodies. In myeloma the abnormal plasma cells start accumulating into the bone marrow which hampers production of the regular body cells. Multiple myeloma can be diagnosed through the blood tests (serum protein electrophoresis, serum free kappa/lambda light chain assay), bone marrow examination, urine protein electrophoresis, and X-rays of commonly involved bones.Multiple Myeloma is one of the most chronic diseases. It is considered as considered to be incurable but treatable. Its intensity can be reduced by steroids, chemotherapy, proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs such as thalidomide or lenalidomide, and stem cell transplants.Multiple Myeloma Market:In last few years the multiple myeloma market has grown significantly as it had an impressive sale in the years 2013 & 2014 regardless of its relatively low incidence. Multiple Myeloma market is promises the significant revenue as compared with other oncology markets significant developments in the clinical practice. Since the last decade, there have been launches of effectual, treatments and drugs that are priced at premium due to their high cost and patents. These continual processes development in future is expected to drive multiple myeloma market 2023. However, there is still an untapped market potential of developing the treatment that will help to survive the multiple myeloma patients.Request a Sample Report @Multiple Myeloma Market by Geography:The myeloma market is expected to be concentrated across the eight major countries such as US, Canada, France, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, and, Japan. It will be primarily driven due to the rising multiple myeloma prevalence as a cause of the aging population.This project report provides the market information & market data about the following segments and products: Disease Managemento Treatment Overviewo Diagnosis, By Countryo Clinical Practice for Therapy Type, By Country Primary Therapy for SCT-Eligible Patients, By Country Primary Therapy for Non-SCT Patients, By Country Chemotherapy, By Country Salvage/Relapse Therapy, Country Leading Prescribed Drugs, Country Radiation therapy Surgery Chemotherapy Overviewo Induction chemotherapyo Consolidation chemotherapyo Maintenance therapy Global Chemotherapy Market By Delivery Typeo Intravenous (IV)o Swallowed (orally)o Topicallyo Direct placement Chemotherapy Market By Class Typeo Anthracycline Antibiotic Liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil) Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)o Alkylating Agent Melphalan (Alkeran) Cyclophosphamide (Neosar, Cytoxan) Vincristine (Oncovin) Carmustine (BiCNU) Bendamustine (Treanda)o Plant Alkaloid Etoposide (VP-16/ Toposar, VePesid, Etopophos) Vincristine (Oncovin, Vincasar Pfs)o Antiangiogenic Agent Thalidomide Lenalidomideo Otherso Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) Inhibitor Panobinostat Velcade (bortezomib) Dexamethasoneo Proteasome Inhibitor Carfilzomib (Kyprolis) Ixazomib (Ninlaro) Otherso Antiangiogenic Agent Lenalidomide (Revlimid) Pomalidomide (Pomalyst) Thalidomide (Synovir, Thalomid) Daratumumab (Darzalex) Elotumumab (Empliciti)o CorticosteroidAccess Report Details @Every report 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 dynamics which includes trends, drivers, and restraints, opportunities along with the macro economical and governing factors. The report also gives a comprehensive study of the different market segments and regions.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 Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.comAbout 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.Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Global Microserver Sales Market Report 2017

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/991200-global-microserver-sales-market-report-2017

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/991200-global-microserver-sales-market-report-2017

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=991200

Microserver MarketSummaryWiseguyreports.Com Adds  Microserver -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities and analysis of Top Key Player Forecast to 2021 To Its Research DatabaseThis report studies sales (consumption) of Microserver 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, coveringHewlett Packard (U.S.)Dell (U.S.)Fujitsu (Japan)Hitachi (Japan)NEC (Japan)IBM (U.S.)Quanta (Taiwan)AMD (U.S.)Tyan (Taiwan).....For Sample report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Microserver 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 intoIntelARMOthersSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Microserver in each application, can be divided intoMedia StorageData centerData analyticsCloud computingOthersEnquiry before buying @Table of ContentsGlobal Microserver Sales Market Report 20171 Microserver Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Microserver1.2 Classification of Microserver1.2.1 Intel1.2.2 ARM1.2.3 Others1.3 Application of Microserver1.3.1 Media Storage1.3.2 Data center1.3.3 Data analytics1.3.4 Cloud computing1.3.5 Others1.4 Microserver 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 Microserver (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Microserver Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Microserver Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)9 Global Microserver Manufacturers Analysis9.1 Hewlett Packard (U.S.)9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Microserver Product Type, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 Hewlett Packard (U.S.) Microserver Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Dell (U.S.)9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Microserver Product Type, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 Dell (U.S.) Microserver Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Fujitsu (Japan)9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Microserver Product Type, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 Fujitsu (Japan) Microserver Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 Hitachi (Japan)9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Microserver Product Type, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 Product A9.4.2.2 Product B9.4.3 Hitachi (Japan) Microserver Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.5 NEC (Japan)9.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.5.2 Microserver Product Type, Application and Specification9.5.2.1 Product A9.5.2.2 Product B9.5.3 NEC (Japan) Microserver Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.6 IBM (U.S.)9.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.6.2 Microserver Product Type, Application and Specification9.6.2.1 Product A9.6.2.2 Product B9.6.3 IBM (U.S.) Microserver Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.7 Quanta (Taiwan)9.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.7.2 Microserver Product Type, Application and Specification9.7.2.1 Product A9.7.2.2 Product B9.7.3 Quanta (Taiwan) Microserver Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.8 AMD (U.S.)9.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.8.2 Microserver Product Type, Application and Specification9.8.2.1 Product A9.8.2.2 Product B9.8.3 AMD (U.S.) Microserver Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.9 Tyan (Taiwan)9.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.9.2 Microserver Product Type, Application and Specification9.9.2.1 Product A9.9.2.2 Product B9.9.3 Tyan (Taiwan) Microserver Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview..........Buy This Report @Continued...Contact Us:NORAH TRENTSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Cook Restaurant Features Authentic Mardi Gras Specials In Honor of Annual Celebration

www.cooknewton.com

www.cooknewton.com

Cook, the award-winning restaurant located in the heart of Newton, MA, is featuring a parade of Mardi Gras specials inspired by New Orleans favorite feast. Known for its elevated take on classic American dishes, on Tuesday, February 28th, 2017, the Newton restaurant is expanding its intimate neighborhood vibe to include the carnivals vibrant energy.Guests can indulge in small plates like Bourbon Honey Mustard Wings ($10), or feast on flavor-packed entrees like Drunken Mussels made with Andouille Sausage ($14), and a Cajun Shrimp Flatbread with a spicy garlic cream ($16). Sweeten the Mardi Gras meal with an order of house-made Beignets ($6). Toast the night with the Special Fat Tuesday cocktail with Bulleit Rye, Myers Dark Rum and grapefruit ($12). Reservations are recommended. For more information, visitor call 617.964.2465.February 28, 2017  Mardi Gras; 4:30PM to Close.Cook Newton | 825 Washington Street | Newton, MA |02467Reservations recommended by calling (617) 964-2465.About Cook:Cook restaurant is an 80-seat New American bistro is located in the Greater-Boston area in Newton, Massachusetts. Cook presents a menu that crosses all cultural lines and spans from the simple to the complex. The perfect place to meet for lunch, brunch or dinner, or simply to stop in and enjoy items from their snack menu while sampling craft cocktails, or something from the extensive beer and wine list. Cook is a true neighborhood restaurant in every way. Executive Chef/Owner Chef Paul Turano is dedicated to using only the freshest local ingredients. At Cook the food is dressed up, but you can dress down. Cook serves lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30AM- 3:30PM, Dinner: Sunday- Saturday from 4:30PM - close, and brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10:30AM -2:30PM. Cook is located at 825 Washington Street in Newton, MA. For more information please visitCook Newton | 825 Washington Street | Newton, MA |02467
The Legacy of Barack Obama

www.bcae.org

www.bcae.org

No matter the political party, Barack Obamas two-term presidency is one made up of milestone accomplishments and controversies. On Wednesday, March 8th 2017 from 6:00PM  8:00PM Boston Center for Adult Education (BCAE), Bostons award-winning adult education center, is dedicating an entire evening to the 44th President with Barack Obamas Legacy: A Public Conversation.Massachusetts State Senator, Sonia Chang-Diaz, Civil Rights Commissioner, Charlotte Golar Richie, and Lawyer, Architect, and Social Activist, Ted Landsmark, all of whom are featured in Portraits of Purpose, the recent photography exhibit by acclaimed photojournalist Don West, will serve as the esteemed panel leading a discussion to answer an array of questions and topics. Additionally, the BCAE welcomes political and communication strategist, Joyce Ferriabough-Bolling, as the evenings moderator. Dig deep into Obamas high and low points in office, how national events created a worldwide impact, and what future generations will say about his time in office. With a strong group of leaders to guide the conversation, students will have the opportunity to dissect the Obama administration and delve into the intricacies of Obamas foreign policy and international relations, the fight for Obamacare, his plan to salvage Americas economy after the 2008 economic crisis, the fight against social injustices, pushing for gun control reform, and much more.Join the BCAE on Wednesday, March 8th 2017 from 6:00PM  8:00PM for the opportunity to participate in a reflective conversation regarding one of the most influential presidents in history. Please register online ator call 617-267-4430 as space is limited.WHERE: Boston Center for Adult Education, 122 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116WHEN: Wednesday, March 8th, 2017 from 6:00PM  8:00PMCOST: Members: $13 | Non-members: $15RSVP: Registration is necessary. Please visitor call the Boston Center for Adult Education at 617-267-4430 to sign up.About the Boston Center for Adult Education:Founded in 1933, the Boston Center for Adult Education (BCAE) is the first, nonprofit adult education center in New England. The Boston Center for Adult Education serves as a meeting place for the Boston community to gather, learn, discuss and create. The BCAE offers educational classes taught by well-qualified leaders, staff, and volunteers who share the mission of enhancing our community. Today the BCAE teaches classes in Boston for almost every interest. Students can experience everything from yoga, photography, belly dancing, and stand-up comedy, to scotch tasting, cooking, achieving financial freedom, ESL classes and much more. At their recently renovated headquarters on Arlington Street (Boston, MA) you'll find professional grade kitchens, top-notch technology, and versatile classroom space with free Wi-Fi. The BCAE offers a variety of personal and corporate membership levels with benefits including discounted tuition costs and discounts on local retailers. Browse classes, become a member, or support the BCAE online at bcae.org. The BCAE is located at 122 Arlington Street, Boston MA 02116. The BCAE administrative offices are open Monday- Friday 9:00 AM-5:00 PM. The Student Services office is open Monday-Thursday, 9:00 AM-7:00 PM and Friday 9:00 AM-5:00 PM. The BCAE is open on weekends during class times only.Image Unlimited Communication46 Waltham StreetBoston,MA 02118
* European value gap "biggest in the world", says UBS

* Corporate profit outlook best since 2010

* Carmakers, banks, builders seen as good investment

* German blue chips could provide shelter against populism

* Big funds yet to move into European stocks

* Europe vs peers: http://reut.rs/2kL5YEd

* European earnings outlook: http://reut.rs/2553txN

By Danilo Masoni and Vikram Subhedar

MILAN, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Hampered by persistent political risks and sluggish economic growth, Europe's equity markets have disappointed investors for years.

But some fund managers, cheered by the brightest outlook for European corporate profits since 2010 and valuation discounts that are becoming harder to ignore, are looking to snap up the bargains on offer - and taking a particularly close look at automakers, builders and German bluechips.

Political worries compounded by a series of uncertain national elections in Europe this year are sometimes cited as a factor holding investors back.

Yet for those who have drawn lessons from how European stocks reacted last year to the Brexit vote, Donald Trump's U.S. election win and a referendum on constitutional reforms in Italy, time looks ripe to prepare the buying campaign.

While each event caused a market shock, its impact was increasingly short-lived and the snapback to fresh highs was swift.

"We will aim to take advantage of market volatility to buy good quality stocks at unwarranted discounts," said Philip Dicken, European equities head at fund manager Columbia Threadneedle Investment fund, who expects the economic recovery in the region to continue and earnings to rise.

Earnings for constituents of the STOXX 600 index are expected to grow 14 percent this year, according to Thomson Reuters data, against 10 percent for the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 .

European stocks have lagged Wall Street over the last five years, leaving them a tenth cheaper on a price-to-earnings basis, a value gap which UBS said is the "biggest in the world".

Story continues

Yet Europe remains an uncrowded market and any jitters ahead of elections in France and Germany could be buying opportunities, analysts say.

Morgan Stanley on Thursday recommended investors buy European stocks and French banking shares, adding that fears of a far-right presidential election win were likely overdone.

GERMAN HEDGE

German blue chips look another promising bet. The DAX , at 13.3 times forward earnings, trades at a discount to its long-term average valuation of 14.6.

Heavily geared to stocks that benefit from economic recovery, the index also proved to be a safe harbour when the euro fell sharply and bond yield spreads shot up during Europe's sovereign debt crisis six years ago.

As a hedge against a populist vote in France, JPMorgan strategist Mislav Matejka has recommended investors buy the DAX and short the French blue chip CAC index. On a price earnings basis the CAC is 6 percent more expensive than the DAX.

"German equities will be a relatively safe haven within (the) euro zone into the (French) election if uncertainty remains and a clear relative winner" in the case of victory by far-right leader Marine Le Pen, Matejka said.

Others are also upbeat about the DAX, and DZ Bank Chief Investment Strategist Christian Kahler in Frankfurt expects the index to climb to record highs this year.

JPMorgan is overweight on autos, financials and energy and has a buy recommendation on German plays like carmaker Daimler and insurer Allianz.

Analysts at UBS highlight French builder Vinci and carmaker Renault, Italian oil major Eni and Norwegian phone group Telenor as attractively valued stocks that have lagged the recent rally.

EUROPEAN REVIVAL?

In another sign the tide may be turning, some U.S. funds and large investment banks have set their sights on Europe, having been scared away last year by Brexit and Italy's political troubles.

Earlier in February BlackRock raised its outlook on European stocks to the highest possible rating for the first time since last May, saying risks were overblown.

For now, greater interest for European stocks from the other side of the Atlantic, where most of the big global investors are based, has yet to translate into heavy buying.

Europe's busy election year only compounds worries over its exposure to possible trade wars prompted by protectionist noises from Trump, but some investors expect that, as the political hubbub fades, volumes and prices could pick up.

Tempted by bargains on offer in the aftermath of the euro zone debt crisis, U.S. investors were key buyers of European equities from 2012 to 2014. And they could make the difference if they step in again.

Albeit from a low base, global fund managers increased their exposure to the euro zone in January more than any other investment category, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey.

"We could be in the early days of a trend," said BlackRock Managing Director Emanuele Bellingeri, who heads the group's Exchange Traded Funds business, iShares, in Italy. "Even though big flows are still missing, conditions for a European revival are all there".

(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; graphics by Vikram Subhedar; editing by John Stonestreet)
How to Make It in America: An Interview with the Austin Regional Manufacturers Association (ARMA) Executive Director

Industrial Automation

https://formaspace.com/articles/manufacturing/digitizatio...)?

https://formaspace.com/articles/manufacturing/how-to-make-it-in-america-arma-interview/?utm_source=openpr&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=article-120716

ARMA (Austin Regional Manufacturers Association) is a non-profit organization based in Austin, TX, on a mission to 'be the voice and advocate of manufacturing in the Austin metropolitan are.' Formed in 2013, with just eight members, they have grown from strength to strength and currently have a membership of over 165. We met with Ed Latson, ARMA's Executive Director and one of its founding members, to find out more.Let's start with a short bio and a brief history of how you started ARMA.My background is in consulting and business development. Prior to working with ARMA, I was the director of marketing for a group called TMAC (Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center).TMAC is non-profit, and receives a grant from the Department of Commerce to provide consulting services to small and medium-sized manufacturers. The Department of Commerce recognized the strategic importance of manufacturing in the United States, so they created the MEP (Manufacturing Extension Partnership) program to provide expertise on operational efficiency, quality management, and other strategic resources. The affiliate program in Texas was TMAC.Then my wife got a couple of international assignments, and we moved overseas to live in Ireland and Malaysia. When I got back two years later, I was looking for a project. I knew there wasn't a manufacturing association in Austin, so I proposed it to my old group, and they supported the idea with funding.We started ARMA four years ago, as a way to bring manufacturers together and solve problems, as well as making sure companies are forming the local relationships they need to strengthen their business.What does ARMA do now?Since we're a start-up, initially we were limited by bandwidth, but four years into it and we've grown tremendously. We're at 165 members now, and our three focuses are on Advocacy, Workforce Development, and Networking.Under Advocacy, we're out trying to influence policymakers and make sure they know what's important for our businesses to survive. We're also promoting manufacturing to make sure that people in the region understand the kind of businesses that are here, understand that manufacturing is hi-tech not old world smokestacks and dirty jobs. We're talking about people who make cell phone chips, IV bags, gas pumps  some really advanced products. Some great customized furniture as well for your office  I'm sure you guys can speak to that  but there are some really solid companies in the Austin area.For Workforce Development, we're looking at the skills gaps in the community  what companies need out of the labor pool to succeed and grow. We partner with groups like ACC, Texas State Technical College, and other training providers to make sure that they are focused on our needs.Then with our Networking, we bring people together to make sure peer relationships are being built that can support people's professional development.Awesome. Out of curiosity, what's something that you see as a major gap in the workforce development?...Why do you think we'll lose business to Mexico? It is because of our government regulation or tax, or that it's more expensive in general to be in North America?People are making decisions based on landed cost, now. Asia picked up a lot of American manufacturing initially, because when people analyze labor costs, they sell it for much cheaper. However, if you factor in transportation and quality issues, it ends up not being such a good deal.Now, when they're trying to relocate their facilities, they're looking strategically at best cost, highest quality, proximity to key customers, and shortening supply chains, rather than just labor cost. I think they see Mexico, and Central America maybe, as better options. But, again, there are plenty of good examples of companies moving back to the United States  I'm just saying, overall, I don't expect a huge wave of reshoring.Okay. What's the importance of digitalization in manufacturing (Do you think automation and robotics could be the end of unions?I don't know if I have a huge opinion on how important it is, but it's certainly something that's taking place, and that's going to drive efficiency in the next factories. ARMA is involved with the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition to ensure that those technologies are pushed out to small and medium-sized companies so that they can keep up.As for a statement on unions, Texas is a right-to-work state, and obviously, that won't be an issue here. I think it could be good for Austin and the workforce in this area. We already have one of the most advanced workforces in the nation and those are the kind of skills that workers are going to need to pick up to win business. The more advanced the manufacturing gets, the more Austin has a chance of being at a competitive advantage to attract businesses.Do you think it's a threat for the workers?Read more...Formaspace advances the spirit of discovery and creation through the design and manufacture of custom business furniture. Our furniture marries form to function with flexible solutions for clients in the laboratory, industrial, and office environments.Formaspace serves over 80% of the Fortune 500, as well as universities, governments, small businesses, and individuals800.251.1505design.consultant@formaspace.com1100 E. Howard Lane, Suite 400 Austin, TX 78753
Global CCTV Market Regional Outlook, Analysis, Size, Share, Forecast -2020

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/677

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cctv-market

Market Synopsis Of CCTV MarketThe global CCTV market is likely to be valued around $19 billion in 2015. This market is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 20%. There is a precipitous rise in the demand of CCTVs across the globe due to growing focus of governments towards public safety and city surveillance. Furthermore, the CCTV market is shifting from unorganized sector to organized which is another factor fueling the growth of the market. Citing the demand and potential of CCTV market, various venturing capitalist firms are also investing in this market and aiding companies to develop new and advanced products. This is another major reason for the high growth of this market. However, low awareness of people in the developing countries regarding advanced CCTV products can hinder the market growth up to some extent.Video Content Analysis (VCA) is one of the major trends observed in this industry. There is a clear trend to embed intelligence in the CCTVs for automatically analyzing video to detect and determine temporal and spatial events. Another major trend followed in the industry includes growing preference towards fixed dome camera from box cameras. Fixed dome cameras are easy to install and aesthetically pleasing. The industry is witnessing various other trends as well, which are discussed in report in detailed manner.SegmentationsThe CCTV market is segmented on the basis of types of CCTVs. Analogue, HD analogue, and internet protocol cameras are the major types of CCTVs. The IP cameras market is further sub divided into wired IP cameras, and wireless IP cameras. The IP camera market is poised to witness the highest CAGR in the CCTV market by type due to technological advancements.On the basis of technology, the CCTV market is divided into CMOS and CCD technology. The demand for CMOS technology is poised to increase in coming years due to its user friendliness. The CCTV market is again subdivided on the basis end users into educational centers, hospitals, hotels, real estates, religious places, government, retail, IT sector, and transport sector. Amongst all the above mentioned end users, government is the largest end user for CCTVs. The large share is attributed to wide usage of CCTVs in government offices and roads.The market is further divided according to the channel structure into distribution channel and retail channel. The distribution channel accounted for the largest share in the global CCTV market. However, the retail market will witness a high growth.Request a Sample Report @Scope of the ReportThis market research report covers the global CCTV market by type, technology, end user, distribution channel, and region.Global CCTV Market, by Type Analogue Camera HD Analogue Camera Internet Protocol (IP) Camera Wired WirelessGlobal CCTV Market, by Technology CMOS Technology CCD TechnologyGlobal CCTV Market, by EndUser Educational Centers Hospitals Hotels Real Estates Religious Places Government Retail IT Sector Transport Sector Global CCTV Market, by Channel Structure Distribution Channel System Integrator/Retail ChannelBrowse Report Details @Key PlayersThe prominent players in this market include: Hikvision Digital Technology Honeywell Security Bosch Security System Safran Security Dahua Technology AssaAbloy Tyco Security Products Flir Systems Samsung Axis Communications amongstRegional AnalysisBased on region, North America is the largest market for CCTV followed by Europe and Asia. The Asian market especially India and China are focus for the growth the global CCTV market. Improving infrastructure, government initiatives, and high economic growth in this region has triggered the growth of this market.The reports also cover brief analysis of Geographical Region including: North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany France U.K. Italy Spain Rest of Europe Asia Japan China India Rest of Asia Rest of the WorldAbout 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
Utah business awarded by Inc, Fortune and now Entrepreneur FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Shante Schroeder

97th Floor

shante@97thfloor.com

801.341.1986



97TH FLOOR RANKED ON 2017 TOP COMPANY CULTURES LIST PRESENTED BY ENTREPRENEUR AND CULTUREIQ



Lehi, UT97th Floor was recently ranked on Entrepreneur's Top Company Cultures list, a comprehensive ranking of U.S.-based businesses exhibiting high-performance cultures created in partnership with culture management software and service provider CultureIQ. The Top Company Cultures list has placed 97th Floor as the 26th in the Small Company category. 97th Floor is recognized for creating an exceptional culture that drives employee engagement, exceeds employee expectations and directly impacts company success.



CEO Chris Bennett says, Company culture is our top priority and we find investing in our employees is the best application of our resources. Strong culture not only attracts the best candidates but encourages and entices the best work.



"Great company cultures dont happen on their own. Theyre the result of great leadership, and a conscious effort to make everyone on a team feel engaged and important, says Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur. The honorees on our 2017 list are proof that strong cultures make even stronger companies. Entrepreneurs at all levels can draw inspiration from them.



The full list, presenting a total of 153 companies categorized as small, medium-sized or large companieswith 25-49 employees, 50-99 employees and more than 100 employees respectively is available on Entrepreneur.com. Core insights, behaviors and attributes that have helped to shape the high-performing cultures presented by the top companies are shared alongside practices to help other companies develop their own workplace environments.



"A high-performance culture leads not only to employee engagement but also to measurable business results," says Greg Besner, founder and CEO of CultureIQ. These organizations show us that great companies start with great culture.



The rankings for all companies were determined using CultureIQ's methodology for measuring high-performance cultures. Employees at each company received a survey of multiple-choice questions and the answers were used to assess a company's strength across 10 core components of culturecollaboration, innovation and communication to name a few. The companies with the highest scores became the Top Company Culture list in ranking order. To be considered for the ranking, a company must have at least 25 employees, have been founded before Jan. 1, 2015 and be headquartered in the U.S.



To view 97th Floor in the full ranking, visit entm.ag/TopCultures



ABOUT 97TH FLOOR

97th Floor is a full-service, digitally-savvy collection of marketing specialists that understand the connection between content and customers. We help our clients achieve exceptional results by finding the most valuable opportunities, and executing each component at the highest level.



###

ABOUT ENTREPRENEUR MEDIA INC.

For nearly 40 years, Entrepreneur Media Inc. has been serving the entrepreneurial community providing comprehensive coverage of business and personal success through original content and events. Entrepreneur magazine, Entrepreneur.com and publishing imprint Entrepreneur Press provide solutions, information, inspiration and education read by millions of entrepreneurs and small business owners worldwide.

To learn more, visit entrepreneur.com.

Follow us on Twitter at @Entrepreneur and like us on Facebook at facebook.com/entmagazine.



About CultureIQ

CultureIQ is a platform that enables organizations to make positive, measurable changes to their culture, and a community that connects peers and experts around the topic of culture. The CultureIQ platform helps companies actively manage their culture through an ongoing process of collecting, understanding and responding to internal feedback to drive employee engagement, retention and success.

Based in New York City, CultureIQ was founded in 2013 by Greg Besner, an adjunct professor at New York University Stern School of Business and one of the original investors in Zappos.com. CultureIQ is backed by a group of notable investors including Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Founder Collective and Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsiehs VTF Capital.

For more information, visit www.cultureiq.com , follow us on Twitter at @CultureIQ and like us on Facebook at facebook.com/CultureIQ.



Shante Schroeder

97th Floor

shante@97thfloor.com

801.341.1986



2600 Executive Pkwy, #180

Lehi, Utah

84043



https://97thfloor.com/



This release was published on openPR.



Permanent link to this press release: Copy Please set a link in the press area of your homepage to this press release on openPR. openPR disclaims liability for any content contained in this release.
Envirosite Appoints Industry Veteran Kevin Gibbons as Director of Business Development

Kevin Gibbons

www.envirositecorp.com

Gibbons Sales Leadership Enables Envirosite to Scale and GrowEnvirosite Corporation, a leading provider of environmental data solutions, today announced the appointment of Kevin Gibbons as Director of Business Development. Mr. Gibbons will be responsible for developing and executing Envirosites sales strategies and driving new growth across all industry sectors. He has also been entrusted to expand strategic customer accounts and partner relationships that tactically meld with Envirosites core business objectives.Mr. Gibbons brings a broad range of experience to his new position at Envirosite, with over 20 years of executive sales & leadership experience in both the environmental due diligence and laboratory industry. Previously, he was the Director of Business Development at Con-Test Laboratory where he was responsible for sales, marketing & client services. Also, Mr. Gibbons was the National Sales Manager at Accutest Laboratory where he led a team of over 25 sales professionals. Prior to that, he was at EDR for 12 years as National Account Manager and a Regional Sales Manager.Kevin shares our values, customer focus, and drive for innovation. Plus, his deep industry experience within the environmental data industry coupled with a proven record to drive growth within an organization make him an extraordinary leader for our team, said Mark Cerino, President of Envirosite. Kevin will be a tremendous asset for Envirosite as we continue to develop new solutions and build stronger relationships with new and existing clients.I am pleased to join the company at a time of rapid growth and am excited about Envirosites ability to expand its market share as a data provider of choice due to our robust platform, market-leading reporting capabilities, and exceptional time-to-value proposition, said Gibbons. I am ready to hit the ground running leveraging new business opportunities throughout the United States and advancing Envirosites commitment to customers.About EnvirositeEnvirosite is a data solutions company that develops breakthrough technology that enables stakeholders to put environmental data into action. Our solutions are used throughout the industry for environmental risk management, site assessments, due diligence and research on commercial properties and companies. By uniting years of industry experience with innovative technical expertise, our responsive, cost-effective solutions provide stakeholders with the ability to harness multiple sources of environmental data quickly so they can explore it at scale to uncover business-critical insights. For more information visit our website atEnvirosite CorporationCindy Caserta - Director of Marketing1175 Post Road EastWestport, CT 06880
Getting higher energy efficiency

Volkswagen, Slovakia

www.climaveneta.com

https://www.climaveneta.com

Mitsubishi Electric Hydronics & IT Cooling Systems, through its brand Climaveneta has supplied 32 units to the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava.The plant was opened in 1991, covering a total area of 1.780.058 m, and manufactures five brands under one roof. The vehicles are mainly exported to European countries, China, the USA, and Russia. Following the most innovative operation models, the plant is divided into different bodies, each one focused on a particular production step and served by dedicated M&E plants and air conditioning units, to better satisfy the different needs of each area.According to Volkswagen Groups sustainability policy, in recent years the previous HVAC units have been replaced to achieve a higher energy efficiency and to respect the environment. That is to say from 2002 to 2016, 32 Climaveneta units (27 chillers and 5 close control units) have been installed for a total cooling capacity of about 16.000kW. High efficiency, no local CO2 emissions, and perfect internal temperatures all year round, these are the key factors of the HVAC unit replacement taking place at the VW plant in Bratislava, the key factors which lead to the choice of a Climaveneta solution.Follow Climaveneta:youtube.com/user/climavenetaweb, @ClimavenetaHVAC, linkedin.com/company/climaveneta, facebook.com/climavenetahvac/Media RelationsSara Di Clementesara.diclemente@melcohit.comClimaveneta, a leading brand in HVAC and HPAC with more than 40 yearss experience provides energy efficient heating, air conditioning and data center cooling solutions that enhance everyones comfort, improve the profitability of a building and do not contribute to an increase in CO2 levels.ClimavenetaPlant of via Sarson, 57/c36061 Bassano del Grappa (VI)Italy+390424509500
Monaghan's Drug-Free Aerobika Device Helps Reduce the Real-World Impact of Exacerbations in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

http://www.monaghanmed.com

http://www.monaghanmed.com/Aerobika-OPEP

http://goldcopd.org

http://www.monaghanmed.com

Syracuse, NY, USA -- Monaghan Medical Corporation (MMC) (), today announced the publication of a study in Pulmonary Therapy showing that treatment with Monaghan's Aerobika device can significantly reduce the recurrence of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the crucial 30-day period following hospitalization or emergency room visits.(1) The study also showed that per-patient cost of exacerbations was significantly lower in the group using the Aerobika Oscillating Positive Expiratory Pressure (OPEP) device. This study provides the first real-world evidence for the benefits of using the Aerobika device in reducing exacerbation-related emergency department visits and hospital readmissions.COPD is a major (and growing) source of morbidity, mortality and healthcare utilization, with hospitalization for acute exacerbations being the biggest cost driver. Once a patient experiences an exacerbation, the risk of further exacerbation is increased two- to four-fold(2), and many patients experience two or three exacerbations every year.(3-5) As many as one in five patients discharged from hospital following an exacerbation are re-admitted within 30 days.(6)This retrospective study analyzed hospital database records for 810 COPD Chronic Bronchitis patients who were hospitalized or visited the emergency room, and showed significantly fewer patients given the Aerobika device experienced moderate-to-severe exacerbations or severe exacerbations compared with matched controls within the critical 30-day follow-up period. The study also showed a statistically significant savings in exacerbation-related costs in the Aerobika device group compared with the control group for moderate-to-severe and severe exacerbations. The Aerobika device was given in addition to the patients' regular COPD treatments."This is the first study to evaluate the benefits of any OPEP in a real-world setting. It provides encouraging evidence that the Aerobika device can help reduce recurrence of exacerbations in high-risk patients over the crucial early 30-day period," noted Dr. Michael Bauer, Pulmonary Physician, Cooperstown, New York.Dominic Coppolo, MBA, RRT, FAARC, Vice President Clinical Strategy and Development at Monaghan Medical, explained how the Aerobika device may provide these benefits: "During an exacerbation, airways are compromised by (among other factors) inflammation and mucus build-up. This can continue to disrupt ventilation mechanics and lung function after the event, and lead to prolonged respiratory impairment. The Aerobika device, with its proprietary mechanism of action, helps stent open and clear excess mucus from the upper airways, and may also aid drug deposition, providing a potential mechanism of protection from exacerbations."The internationally-recognized GOLD guidelines(7) for COPD treatment stress the importance of exacerbation management, stating that a major treatment goal is to 'minimize the negative impact of the current exacerbation and to prevent subsequent events.' A recent analysis(2) predicts that the absolute number of COPD cases could increase by between 150% and 220% in the period from 2010 to 2030, with the burden of inpatient care (total annual inpatient days) growing by around 185%. This further underlines this need to address the burden of COPD exacerbations.About the Aerobika device studyA retrospective cohort study utilizing patient data from the U.S. hospital Charge Detail Master (CDM) claims database (data selection period between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2015). This real-word study involved 810 COPD patients with a diagnosis of chronic bronchitis, 405 receiving treatment with the Aerobika device and 405 matched controls, (propensity matched to reduce bias and mimic randomization). The data showed significantly fewer patients given the Aerobika device experienced moderate-to-severe exacerbations (18.5% vs 25.7%, p=0.014) or severe exacerbations (13.5% vs 19.0%; p < 0.046) compared with matched controls over the 30-day follow-up period, with consequent reductions in costs.About the Aerobika DeviceThe Aerobika device is hand-held, robust, easy-to-use, and drug-free with a proprietary mode of action. When the patient exhales through the device, intermittent resistance creates a unique pressure-oscillation dynamic, which expands the airways, helps expel the mucus to the upper airways where it can be coughed out, and may also aid in improved drug deposition. The Aerobika device is designed to function independent of angle of use or flow rate, and allows for a direct aerosol pathway for patients using a nebulizer for medication delivery. The Aerobika device has been shown to significantly improve forced vital capacity (FVC), 6-min walk distance (6MWD), and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score in COPD patients.(8) The Aerobika device is available in the U.S. from Monaghan Medical Corporation, and in Canada, Mexico, and select European countries including the UK and Germany through Trudell Medical International. (References:1. Burudpakdee C et al. Pulm Ther 2017 DOI 10.1007/s41030-017-0027-5. Pub online 6 February 2017.2. Khakban A, et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2017 Feb 1;195(3):287-291.3. Balter MS, et al. Can Respir J 2003; 10 (Suppl B):3B-32B.4. Perera PN, et al. COPD J Chron Obst Pulm Dis 2012;9(2):131-41.5. Puhan MA, et al. Respir Res 2005;6 (1): 1.6. Shah T, et al. Chest. 2016 Oct;150(4):916-926.7. The Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management and Prevention of COPD, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2017. Available from:(Last accessed 2 Feb 2017).8. Svenningsen S, et al. COPD 2016;13(1):66-74.About Monaghan Medical Corporation (MMC, USA)MMC offers leading aerosol drug delivery devices and respiratory management products including AeroEclipse II BAN, AeroChamber Plus aVHC and the Aerobika device exclusively in the United States. MMC's strength lies in product development around core capabilities in mechanical design complimented by collaboration with a state-of-the-art aerosol research laboratory. MMC focuses on developing cost-efficient, outcome-based solutions for its customers. (For clinical inquiries, please contact:Dominic P. Coppolo, MBA, RRT, FAARCVice President of Clinical Strategy and DevelopmentMonaghan Medical Corporation5 Latour Ave # 1600, Plattsburgh, NY 129011-800-343-9071
Medium Molecular Weight Polyisobutylene Market - Recent Industry Developments And Growth Strategies By 2023

Medium Molecular Weight Polyisobutylene Market

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=7370

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

The global market for medium molecular weight polyisobutylene (MMW PIB) appears to be consolidated owing to the presence of a few number of manufacturers, who have been adopting strategies such as acquisitions and mergers. The top four manufacturers, BASF SE, Shandong Hongrui Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Shunda New Material Co.,Ltd., and JX Holdings, Inc. held a massive share of 42.4% in the global MMW PIB market in 2014. The growing number of market players from Asia Pacific will pose a challenge to the leading firms, finds Transparency Market Research (TMR).The global MMW PIB market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.3% during the forecast period between 2015 and 2023, reaching a valuation of around US$610.1 mn by the end of 2023, according to TMR.High Flexibility, Low Cohesive Strength of Adhesives Boost GrowthSome of the major growth drivers of the market are rapid expansion of construction activities, technological advancements in medical applications such as drug delivery, prosthetics, and dental and disposable medical devices. The increasing demand for sealants and adhesives has also been assisting the growth of the global medium molecular weight polyisobutylene market. Factors driving the growth of this segment are low cohesive strength and flexibility of these products at low temperatures and their excellent barrier properties. The adhesives that use MMW PIB are extensively used in commercial applications such as paper, cement, roofing sealants, pressure sensitive adhesives, and cable glazing. These adhesives are also used in insulation, panel, flooring, partition, and roofing. Therefore, the market for MMW PIB will witness an upsurge over the coming period.GET PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS:On the other hand, strict regulatory policies because of the potential harm posed by these products to aquatic animals might restrict growth. However, the chewing gum segment is slated to rise up with considerable opportunities. Most modern chewing gums deploy food-grade polyisobutylene as central gum base, as this substance enhances the gums elasticity and stickiness.Infrastructural development in MEA, Latin America to Trigger DemandBased on geography, the global MMW PIB market is categorized into Middle East and Africa, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. In terms of volume, Europe accounted for more than 29.7% share of the global MMW PIB market. The rapid rate of growth of this region can be attributed to the flourishing heavy machine manufacturing and automobile industries which are driving the growth of lubricants segment in the region. Germany is a prominent country segment of this region.However, it is Asia Pacific that presently leads the market for MMW PIB market in terms of volume, as per TMRs findings. The regional market is projected to account for a share of 35.4% by the end of 2023. The tremendous demand for MMW PIB primarily comes from the adhesives application in numerous end-user industries of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and China. The presence of strong manufacturing industries in India and China are likely to prove beneficial to the overall market growth. The regions of Middle East and Africa and Latin America are also likely to grow extensively, due to advancement of real estate and infrastructure industries.On the basis of application, sealants, adhesives, gum base, lubricants, and others (including bitumen modification) are the major categories. The adhesives application is growing at a phenomenal rate due to high demand from construction and automotive segment. This segment is expected to expand with a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period, achieving a revenue worth US$258.7 mn by the end of 2023.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. 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 Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
2-Methylfuran Market, 2016-2026 by Segmentation Based on Product, Application and Region

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1832

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1832

www.futuremarketinsights.com

The global pharmaceuticals market is expected to increase at a CAGR of over 4-5% during forecast period. 2-Methylfuran is expected to gain traction in the near future as it is primarily used in pharmaceuticals industry. It is a light yellowish green volatile organic compound with an ethereal odor and is also known as sylvan. 2-Methylfuran changes its shading to black or yellow when exposed to sunlight. It is highly flammable and hence is stored in a ventilated, cool dry place far from heat & fire. 2-Methylfuran is widely used in manufacturing of drugs like atropine, sodium acetate, furadantine, anisodamine and thiamine furan. In pharmaceuticals industry, synthesis of vitamin B1 is done using 2-Methylfuran. It is less dense than water but its vapors are heavier when contrastedwith air. 2-Methylfuran also finds application as a tool for screening of lung cancer and production of anti-malarial drug like chloroquine. It is also used to produce methyl furfural, aliphatic compounds and sulfur and nitrogen heterocycles. Moreover, 2-Methylfuran is also used for making pesticides, flavors or fragrances and has narcotic effect. Hence, the global 2-Methylfuran market is expected to grow at a moderate CAGR during the forecast period.Global 2-Methylfuran Market Dynamics:2-Methyl furan is soluble in alcohol and ether and has the potential to be used as an alternative fuel. This factor is expected to drive the demand for 2-Methylfuran in chemical industry. The growing pharmaceutical industry is also anticipated to be the major driving factor for the growth of global 2-Methylfuran market. Moreover, increasing demand for pesticides coupled with growing agricultural sector is expected to set an opportunity for the growth of 2-Methyl furan market. One of the major factor restricting the growth of the global 2-Methylfuran market is its high flammability and lower flash point. This makes the transportation of 2-Methylfuran difficult, which in turn is expected to restrain the growth of 2-methylfuran market in the near future. Moreover, environmental regulation are imposed for limited usage of 2-Methylfuran because of its toxic effects and thus expected to challenge the overall growth of the market. Additionally, the key players are responding to the challenges and are expanding their global presence in order to sustain their share in the global 2-Methylfuran market.Request Report Sample@Global 2-Methylfuran Market: SegmentationThe global 2-Methylfuran market can be segmented on the basis of applications and regions. On the basis of applications, the global 2-Methylfuran market is segmented into pharmaceuticals, agricultural and chemical industry. Pharmaceutical industry is estimated to account the largest share in global 2-Methylfuran market. On the basis of regions, the global 2-Methylfuran market can be segmented into North America, Western Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Japan and Eastern Europe.Global 2-Methylfuran Market: Region wise OutlookNorth America is expected to be the most dominant region in global 2-Methylfuran market. Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the most promising revenue generating region for 2-Methylfuran and is expected to grow at significant rate. Due to availability of labor and low cost of raw material, China is projected to be one of the highest revenue generating country in Asia Pacific region in 2-Methylfuran market. Middle East & Africa and Latin America are also expected to show positive growth in the near future.Request For TOC@Global 2-Methylfuran Market: Key PlayersSome of the major key players identified in the global 2-Methylfuran market are as follows:Capot Chemical Co. Ltd.Angene ChemicalA&J Pharmtech Co. Ltd.Sigma-AldrichFinetech Industry Ltd.ChemExper Inc.MP Biomedicals, LLC.Amadis Chemical Co. Ltd.AN PharmaTech Co. Ltd.Tractus Company Ltd.Haihang Industry Co. Ltd.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:
Learn details of the Advances in Aroma Ingredients Market Forecast and Segments, 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1833

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1833

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Aroma chemical is a complex fusion of natural and/or synthetic ingredients that are added to various products in order to incorporate desired odor. These ingredients are widely used in consumer care and personal care products. Personal care industry is one of the major application industry for aroma ingredients market. The global aroma ingredients market has witnessed steady growth over the recent past owing to increasing demand for natural aroma ingredients. Soaps and detergent is estimated to account for a significant share in the global aroma ingredients market followed by cosmetics and toiletries applications. The global aroma ingredients market is expected to register a steady growth during forecast period.Global Aroma Ingredients Market: DriversIntroduction of innovative and novel products especially in cosmetics, toiletries, and skin care and hair care products has driven the overall growth of the global aroma ingredients market. The increasing demand for natural ingredients coupled with change in consumer preferences are considered to be the important driver for global aroma ingredients market. Furthermore, significant technological advancements have also fuelled the growth of the market. Moreover, the increase in demand from the emerging and developing nations for natural fragrance due to health concerns related to synthetic chemicals is likely to act as an opportunity for the growth of the global aroma ingredients market. These factors are likely to drive the global aroma ingredients market during the forecast period. A key trend witnessed in global aroma chemicals market is that the key aroma chemical producers are responding to growing opportunities by expanding their global presence. One of the major factor that is likely to restrict growth in demand for natural aroma ingredients is high costs associated with switching from synthetic chemical to natural ingredients.Request Report Sample@Global Aroma Ingredients Market: SegmentationThe global aroma ingredients market can be segmented on the basis of type, application and region. On the basis of type, the global aroma ingredients market can be segmented intoessential oilsaroma chemicalsEssential oils segment can further be sub-segmented into menthe arvensis, cedar wood, orange, eucalyptus, citronella and others (basil, clove, jamrosa, litsea cubica, sassafras, coriander, patchouli, camphor and lemon grass) Whereas, aroma chemicals segment can further be sub-segmented into turpenes, musk chemical, benzenoids and others (alicyclic, heterocyclic and aliphatic compounds).On the basis of application, the global aroma ingredients markets can be segmented intocosmetic and toiletriessoap and detergentsfine fragranceOthers (household products, aroma therapy and pesticides).Global Aroma Ingredients Market: Region Wise OutlookOn the basis of regions, Europe is expected to be a promising revenue generating region for the global aroma ingredients market and is expected to grow at steady growth rate during forecast period. Latin America and Asia Pacific are anticipated to witness relatively faster growth both in terms of value and in terms of volume. Potential opportunities in Asia Pacific and Latin America due to availability of labor and low cost of raw materials are expected to drive growth in these regions over the forecast period. North America and Middle East & Africa are also expected to show positive growth in the near future.Request For TOC@Global Aroma Ingredients Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the global aroma ingredients market are as follows:BASF SEMane SAInternational Flavors and Fragrances Inc.Givaudan SAFermenich International SAFrutarom Industries Ltd.Symrise AGAgilex Flavors and Fragrances, Inc.Hindustan Mint & Agro Products Pvt. Ltd.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:
(Adds U.S. comment, background)

BAGHDAD, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Iraqi warplanes have struck Islamic State targets inside Syria in retaliation for recent bomb attacks in Baghdad by the group, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Friday.

It appeared to be the first time Iraqi jets have conducted such raids across the border. A Syrian source said the strikes had been coordinated with Damascus.

Islamic State, which is now on the defensive after losing control of eastern Mosul in Iraq to a U.S.-backed Iraqi military offensive, has claimed responsibility for several car bombs in Baghdad in the capital in the past few weeks.

"We are determined to chase terrorism that tries to kill our sons and citizens, wherever it is found, so we gave orders to the air force command to strike Islamic State positions in (the Iraqi town of) Hosaiba and Albu Kamal inside Syrian territory as they were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad," Abadi said in a statement.

"The heroes of the sky executed the operation and responded to the terrorists with amazing success."

A military statement said the strikes had taken place on Friday morning using F16 fighter jets and had destroyed Islamic State headquarters in Albu Kamal.

"The strikes targeted Islamic State's headquarters used for making car bombs in Albu Kamal... after Iraqi intelligence received tips from their sources inside Syria," a senior security official told Reuters.

A source close to Syria's foreign ministry said the operation had been carried out in "complete coordination" with the Damascus government.

The United States said it had also helped the Iraqis by providing intelligence.

"Yes we were aware, yes we supported it as well with information," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. "It is a good strike, it is a valid strike, it was a strike against ISIS targets," he said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

The jihadist group has separately come under attack in Syria by warplanes from Russia, Turkey and a U.S.-led coalition, all of which are supporting different offensives against it in the country.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Additional reporting by Kinda Makieh in Damascus, John Davison in Beirut; Writing By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Tablet Based E-Detailing Market , 2016-2026 by Segmentation: Based on Product, Application and Region

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1891

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1891

www.futuremarketinsights.com

The technological advancements and innovations in the pharmaceutical promotion techniques has unlocked potential for the companies that are striving to promote pharma products. E- Detailing is a process that uses electronic devices to provide sales presentations to physicians. E-Detailing is a solution for pharmaceutical sales professionals looking to interact with doctors in more efficient manner and increase the value of communication. Previously sales representatives were supposed to wait for long hours and then get a chance to brief about their product to physician. The E-Detailing enables online product presentations. Key pharmaceutical players have realized the need to allocate resources for e-detailing strategies in order to ensure that their products can create better brand value. E-detailing is beneficial to enhance the brand value, and facilitate sales. This eliminates the need of face to face meeting with physician. Global Tablet let based e-detailing market is anticipated to exhibit a significant CAGR over the forecast period.Tablet Based E-Detailing Market: Drivers and restraintsE-Detailing provides wide range of benefits to pharmaceutical companies to promote products in efficient and effective manner and this helps to bolster the global tablet based e-detailing market during the forecast period. Physicians are always fond of advanced technologies such as tablet based e-detailing that can help them to access the information any time possible, thus it is a driving factor for tablet based e-detailing market. The reduction in manual errors in detailing process, market access effectiveness, and the elimination of complex value stories based on health economics evidence to the payers from value communication apps are further expected to contribute in the growth of global tablet based e-detailing market.Request Report Sample@However, there are some disadvantages in the use of e-detailing system that includes the need to train the sales professionals to manage advanced technologies. Also Tablet let based e-detailing is costlier than conventional detailing method. These factors can slowdown the growth of tablet based e-detailing market.Tablet Based E-Detailing Market: SegmentationGlobal E-Detailing Market can be segmented as following typesBy Product:Tablet letsLaptopsiPodsBy End UserPharmaceutical IndustryBiotechnology IndustryTablet Based E-Detailing Market: OverviewThe demand of tablet based e-detailing market is increasing in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies due to its efficiency and effectiveness in promotion of pharmaceuticals brands. Through e-detailing companies can share their product updates or information to the physician. The global tablet based e-detailing market is expected to account a lucrative market as well as robust growth rates over the forecast period.Tablet Based E-Detailing Market: Region-Wise OutlookE-Detailing market is segmented into seven key regions: Those are North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Western Europe, and Asia pacific excluding japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is anticipated to dominate the tablet based E-Detailing market due to the presence of pharmaceutical stalwarts in the countries like US and Canada. North America is followed by Asia Pacific in terms of market share of tablet based e-detailing market owing to the rise of pharmaceuticals industry in the countries like China and India. Europe is growing at a modest CAGR in the global tablet based e-detailing market. Latin America and Middle East and Africa are at a nascent stage in the global tablet based e-detailing market and is expected to have a significant contribution in the market in the forecast period.Request For TOC@Tablet Based E-Detailing Market: Key playersSome of the key players areAstraZeneca, Plc.Abbott Health care, Inc.Novartis, and AG.Hoffmann La RocheMerck & Co.Johnson and JohnsonPfizer, Inc.Sanofi AventisBoston Scientific.GlaxoSmithKline, Plc.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:
Malaysia Commercial Aircraft Battery Market is Expected to Witness Highest Growth During 2017 - 2022

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/213370

http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/2017-2022-malaysia-commercial-aircraft-battery-market-report-status-and-outlook

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/213370

https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research

The Commercial Aircraft Battery market size will be XX million (USD) in 2022 in Malaysia, from the XX million (USD) in 2016, with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) XX% from 2016 to 2022.Request a sample copy of Report @In Malaysia market, the top players include many company. With key sales data like sales (volume), revenue, market share for top players.such asConcorde BatteryCella EnergySaftSion PowerGill BatteryAerolithium BatteriesEaglePitcherTrue Blue PowerGS YuasaBrowse Full Report with TOC@Split by product types/category, covering many types. with sales, revenue and market share for each type, such asLithium-based BatteryNickel-based batteryLead acid batterySplit by applications/end use industries, covers many application. This report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Commercial Aircraft Battery in each application.suach asMain BatteryAPU BatteryEnquiry Before buying Report@About 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 customised 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 specialisation. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.comFollow Us on Linkedin:
Research report covers the Functional Water Market share and Growth, 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1941

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1941

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Functional water is a non-alcoholic beverage, which is altered by adding additional ingredients, to offer health and other functional benefits. Most commonly used ingredients which are added to water, for transforming it to functional water includes vitamins, minerals, acids, herbs, and raw fruit or vegetables. Functional water contains additives which offer extra nutritional values, and also known as aquaceutical.Functional water market is expanding rapidly owning to change in beverage consumption habits, preference has shifted from high sugar, carbonated beverages to functional and flavored water. Functional water market is expected to grow in the forecast period due to increasing demand from health conscious consumers.Request Report Sample@Functional Water Market Segmentation:Functional water market can be segmented on the basis distribution channel, packaging type and regions that constitute the key markets.Functional water on the basis of distribution can be segmented into Hyper/Supermarket, grocery and departmental stores, convenience and drug stores and others (includes foodservice, vending and delivery). Grocery and departmental stores accounts for the highest share in sales of functional water, followed by other distribution channels. Functional water are also available in different specialty stores, which offer healthy food and beverage, but there are no exclusive stores for functional water.Functional water market can be further segmented on the basis of packaging which includes, functional PET bottled water, functional glass bottled water, and others (including flexible pouches and cans). Functional water mostly comes in PET bottles, which are highly recyclable and preferred by manufacturers. Functional glass bottle water is offered at higher price and account for significant share in total market value. With the advancement of packaging technology, and increasing usage of recyclable packaging, PET bottles are preferably used by manufacturers, to supply Functional Water products to end-users.Regional Outlook of Functional Water Market:Geographically Functional water market can be segmented by regions such as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), Middle East and Africa and Japan. Among all these regions, Western Europe market is expected to dominate the functional water market, in term of revenue, and also expected to expand at highest CAGR followed by North America. Asia-Pacific and Latin America functional water market is at nascent stage, but the region has potential to grow at higher pace as compared to other developed regions due to changing eating habits, and growing urban population and increasing disposable income of the huge middle class population.Functional Water Market Drivers:The size of functional water market is increasing with respect to the growth of non-alcoholic beverage market and due to maturity of soft drinks market. Consumers increasing preference for healthy variant, and preference for high nutritional drinks is expected to drive the functional water market. Functional water has the potential to become one of the major non-alcoholic beverage due to its high vitamin, mineral and extra-oxygen properties. Functional water offer healthy hydration while offering refreshment and health benefits to consumer. Health conscious consumers are expected to result in demand pull effect for the functional water products. Functional water market is not just driven due to increasing health concerns, but major brands are also looking forward to offer functional water with additional skin benefits, which is expected to support the growth of functional water market.Request For TOC@Major manufacturers of functional water are expected to offer various products, which are natural, contains vitamin C, botanicals and antioxidants, which and target exclusive market for such products.Functional Water Market Key Players:Functional Water market is moderately concentrated with number of major players holding high share and domestic players offering functional water in the local market. Leading players in functional water market are Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., Nestle S.A., PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, Groupe Danone, Hint Water, New York Spring Water, Balance Water Company and Sunny Delight Beverages 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.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:
China Mica Tape for Insulation Market is Expected to Rise at a Remarkable CAGR During 2017 - 2022

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/213319

http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/2017-2022-china-mica-tape-for-insulation-market-report-status-and-outlook

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/213319

The Mica Tape for Insulation market size will be XX million (USD) in 2022 in China, from the XX million (USD) in 2016, with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) XX% from 2016 to 2022.Request a sample copy of Report @In China market, the top players include many company. With key sales data like sales (volume), revenue, market share for top players.such asISOVOLTA GroupVonRollPamicaMeifeng MicaChhaperiaGlory MicaNippon RikaSpbsludaHaiying InsulationOKABE MICAElectrolockJyotiCogebiSakti MicaRuby MicaBrowse Full Report with TOC@Split by product types/category, covering many types. with sales, revenue and market share for each type, such asMica Glass TapeMica Polyester TapeOtherSplit by applications/end use industries, covers many application. This report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Mica Tape for Insulation in each application.suach asMotors (Medium Voltage)Motors (High Voltage)GeneratorOtherEnquiry Before buying Report@About 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 customised 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 specialisation. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.com
Malaysia Decabromodiphenyl Ethane Market is Expected to Boost Up Over the Period of 2017 - 2022

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/213376

http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/2017-2022-malaysia-decabromodiphenyl-ethane-market-report-status-and-outlook

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/213376

The Decabromodiphenyl Ethane market size will be XX million (USD) in 2022 in Malaysia, from the XX million (USD) in 2016, with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) XX% from 2016 to 2022.Request a sample copy of Report @In Malaysia market, the top players include many company. With key sales data like sales (volume), revenue, market share for top players.such asAlbemarleICL Industrial ProductsChemturaWeidong ChemicalSuli ChemicalHaiwang ChemTianyi ChemRunkeNovistaOceanchem GroupUnibrom CorpLuyuan Salt ChemicalHongkun GroupShandong BrotherBrowse Full Report with TOC@Split by product types/category, covering many types. with sales, revenue and market share for each type, such asBromine Method PreparationDichloroethane Solvent Method PreparationOthersSplit by applications/end use industries, covers many application. This report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Decabromodiphenyl Ethane in each application.suach asStyrenic PolymersThermoplasticThermosetting PlasticsOthersEnquiry Before buying Report@About 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 customised 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 specialisation. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.com
Global Fishing Equipments Market 2017 - Newell, Globeride, Shimano, RYOBI, Pokee Fishing, Cabela's Inc, Eagle Claw, Humminbird

http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/30791/request-sample

www.fiormarkets.com

www.9dimenreports.com

The recent report on Fishing Equipments market offers insightful information about the present scenario of the market across the globe. The report, titled Fishing Equipments points out the key factors affecting the growth of the market. Latest market trends as well as the future growth opportunities have been mentioned in the report. The report takes into account the various micro- and macro-economic factors governing the overall growth of the Fishing Equipments market and assesses the valuation and size of the market in the coming years.The report talks about the distinct traits of the Fishing Equipments market and provides in-depth study of the various segments of the market. The report especially focusses on the development of the Fishing Equipments market in China owing to the increased demand from the region which has attracted the attention of the key manufacturers. Various regulations directly or indirectly affecting the Fishing Equipments market in the region have been discussed in the report. The report takes note of the present state of the global economy, which after witnessing double-digit growth for three decades, is slowing down. Governments efforts to push the economy is expected to positively affect the various sectors and increase demand from the market.The report discusses the competitive vendor landscape of the Fishing Equipments market in the globe. Some of the key players in the market have been profiled in the report and crucial information about them such as their business overview, revenue segmentation, and product segmentation have been mentioned in the report. The report takes note of the market share held by the key players and estimates their future growth through SWOT analysis. It serves as a useful guide for the new entrants in the Fishing Equipments market.Download Free Sample Report @Several analytical tools such as market attractiveness analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis are employed to study the global Fishing Equipments market, whereas SWOT analysis and Porters five forces analysis are utilized to evaluate the major players in the Fishing Equipments market in this report.This report not only provides a complete picture of the overall condition of the Fishing Equipments market, but also assists the players in this market to create profitable market strategies in order to gain a competitive edge.Fior 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:
Children Anti Toe Walker boot Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth by 2026

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/13744

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/13744

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

Children anti-toe walker boot market is dependent on several factors. The change in the mentality of the parents is playing a crucial part in the development of the children anti-toe walker boot market. Parents are aware and sensitised about this disease, and they are combating this disease with proper steps. Trends have shown that parents and doctors prefer children anti-toe walker boots for treatment rather than surgeries as this is safe and it cures easily. There are minimal side effects of this treatment, and it is cost effective in comparison to other costly means of treatments. The market of children anti-toe walker boot is expanding as the population affected by toe walking is swelling every day. Overall boom in the healthcare equipment industry is also playing a crucial role in the development of this market. Several new players are pumping in money in the healthcare equipment segment. Emerging startups are also cementing the base of the healthcare equipment market. This fast changing scene of the healthcare market is likely to stretch the periphery of the Children Anti Toe Walker boot market.Toe walking is a common ailment found amongst toddlers and young adults. Toe Walking is a type of gait abnormality in which a child loses the right contact with the ground. If a child continues to walk in a flawed posture without any clinical interruption, then he or she might stumble into a severe neuromuscular problem. Physicians believe that an early detection and treatment of this ailment is always better for the affected person. There are several anti-toe walking cures available in the global market. From simple observations to critical operations all healing processes are distinctly used to cure this postural imbalance. Orthopedics mostly use tenotomies which are an age-old treatment used to cure this disease. Apart from this cure doctors often recommend anti-toe walker boots for these children who are affected by this problem. Studies revealed that children affected by developmental problems or autism become an easy prey of anti-toe walking. Children affected by cerebral palsy lose their healthy posture and starts toe-walking.Toe-walking can be handled through proper medication and apart from that it also needs a backup from an experienced practitioner. Several parents of the children affected by this postural disorder opt out for anti-toe walking shoes. Doctors prefer Anti-toe walking shoes, and it can cure the problem easily with passing time.A proper toe-walking shoe can do wonders on the child who is crippled by this disorder. There are several advantages of ATW shoes which are available in the global market. Anti-toe walking shoes are specially designed to cure this problem which is prevalent amongst children. Toe walking can come into a child from his or her ancestors. Though toe-walking is a normal part of the entire growth process and it does not have a larger effect on the mind and body of a growing child, thus the most of the parents opt for treatments such as buying an anti-toe walking shoe to combat this prevalent disease.Children anti-toe walker boot market is expanding with time. But alternative medicines to treat this gait problem might impact the development of the market in the days to come. Minimal awareness about this disorder is also a hurdle in the expansion of this market. Developed healthcare markets in North America, Europe might witness a steady growth, but the developing healthcare markets such as APEJ and MEA will register a slow growth as people are less aware of these boots and customers are economically weak.North America, Europe being the leading healthcare markets will dominate the Children Anti Toe Walker boot market. Most of the world-class companies are present in this region which manufactures boots to cure toe walking. Regions such as APEJ, MEA will probably the largest emerging markets as the demand will rise because malnourished children crowd these regions. Millions of children are fighting diseases like cerebral palsy, autism in this region which will probably aid the growth of the Children Anti Toe Walker boot market in this region.Request to view table of content @Soft Star Shoes, The Good Feet Store, TheFootWorksStore, Bails Custom are some of the suppliers of the children anti-toe walker boots.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, types and applications.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @The final report customized as per your specific requirement will be sent to your e-mail id within 7-20 days, depending on the scope of the report.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.comPersistence 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 Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Automotive Refinish Coatings Market Set for Rapid Growth And Trend, by 2025

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-413

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-413

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Automotivevehicles require timely maintenance and repairing to enhance the appearance and durability of vehicle by protecting them from external factors such as extreme temperature and UV radiation. For the need of refinishing the automotive refinishing coatings are frequently used in automotive aftermarket by end-users like automotive body shops and automotive repair centers. For durability, speed and perfect matching color the service providers use advance technology such as spray gun to apply primer and color coats of paints. Refinishing coatings are also applied to components and body of vehicle to protect from deterioration caused by foreign particles such as stone and other debris.An increasing demand for refinishing of vehicles across the globe, has led to significant improvements in automotive refinish coatings market such asdevelopment of advance coating material which are eco-friendly and low-solvent content. These products also provide good blend of ease of use, speed, durability and color match.Some of the underlying growth factors in global automotive refinish coatings market is consistent increase in number of vehicles in operation worldwide. Increase in miles driven, road accidents, and demand for recreational vehicles are the major drivers responsible for the growth of global automotive refinish coatings market. However, volatility of raw material prices and enhanced road safety parameters are some of the major challenges inglobal automotive refinish coatings market.Request For Report Sample@The global automotive refinish coatings market is geographically segmented into seven key regions which are, North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and Middle East & Africa. Asia-pacific is leading automotive refinish coatings market in terms of revenue due to rising vehicles in operation and increasing sales of pre-owned cars. However the growth in North America, Eastern Europe and Western Europe is expected to remain stagnant for the forecast period. Growth in automotive refinish coatings market is relatively high in BRIC nations when compared with matured economies due to developing automotive aftermarket in these countries. This rapid growth in automotive refinish coatings market is fuelled by multiplemacro-economic factors such as rising number of cab-services, increasing car customization and rising capacity of collision repair& vehicle body shops. In addition, it is expected that in the next 30 years the total number of passenger cars in developing countries would reach around 3.5 to 4 billion.On the basis of product type the global automotive refinish coatings market is further segmented into two sub-segments which are Solvent-borne Coatings and water-borne Coatings. The solvent-borne coatings dominates the global automotive refinish coatings market, whilst for the forecast period the growth rate of water-borne coating type is estimated to be high. In Europe and North America automotive refinish coatings market adoption of water-borne coating material segment is increasing rapidly due to government regulationsto reduce volatile organic compounds (VOC) level, which is generally high in solvent-borne coatings.Visit For TOC@Some of the examples of market participants in global automotive refinish coatings market are DuPont Performance Coating, BASF SE, Kansai Paint Co. Ltd, Akzo Nobel N.V, KCC Corp, Noroo Paint Coatings Co. Ltd., PPG Industries Inc., and Matrix System Automotive Finishes.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:
Implantable Medical Devices Market Is Expected to Reach $116,300 Million by 2022, Globally

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/implantable-medical-devices-market

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/492

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

Implantable Medical Devices Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to garner $116,300 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 7.1% during the period 2016-2022. North America accounted for nearly half of the global market share in 2015, and is projected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period.View Detail Summary of this Report:The implantable medical devices market is driven by factors such as increase in geriatric population, rapid technological advancements, growth in incidence of chronic diseases, and upsurge in adoption of advanced implantable medical devices. However, high cost of implantable medical devices and limited coverage of insurance schemes hamper the market growth. The implantable medical devices market has attained maturity in the developed region. However, increase in awareness for implants among individuals has supplemented the market growth in the emerging economies.Cardiovascular implants market is expected grow with a CAGR of 6.5% from 2016 to 2022. This is due to the rising prevalence of cardiovascular disorders (CVD), technological innovations, increasing geriatric population and favorable reimbursement policies by government and healthcare agencies. The other implants segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 10.6% during the forecast period, due to increase in prevalence of neurological diseases, craniomaxillofacial deformities, and eye disorders, and preference for cosmetic surgeries.The North American implantable medical devices market contributed the highest revenue to the global market in 2015, accounting for nearly half of the market share. The U.S. was the major contributor to the revenue of the North American market due to growing awareness about the use of medical implants and high prevalence of chronic diseases in the region. Although the market has attained maturity due to the widespread adoption of these devices over the past few years, the introduction of technologically advanced devices is expected to provide ample scope for the market growth.Key Finding of Implantable Medical Devices Market: The orthopedic implants segment generated the highest revenue in the global market in 2015, accounting for one-third share. The reconstructive joint replacement segment accounted for nearly two-thirds share of the global orthopedic implants market in 2015. Reconstructive joint replacement was the highest contributor in the orthopedic implants market and projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% from 2016 to 2022. In terms of volume, spinal implants segment is estimated growth with a CAGR of 6.5%. The intraocular lens segment was the predominant segment in 2015 expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.9% (in volume) during the forecast periodAsia-Pacific is projected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period due to high demand for medical implants, healthcare reforms for infrastructure development, and high prevalence of chronic diseases in this region. In addition, growing awareness about the benefits & availability of implantable devices and presence of high unmet needs in the emerging markets, such as India and China, drive the market.For More Information Visit:The development of technologically advanced implantable medical devices is the key strategy adopted by companies to strengthen their position in the market. The major companies profiled in this report include Stryker Corporation, Boston Scientific Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corporation, Medtronic Plc., Smith & Nephew Plc., St. Jude Medical, Inc., Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., C.R. Bard Inc., LivaNova Plc., and Straumann AG.Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Allied Market Research5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesDirect: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Real-Time E-Healthcare System Market 2015-2025 by Segmentation Based on Product, Application and Region

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-593

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-593

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Real-time e-healthcare system is one of the best ways to keep your health records and track it anytime, without any geographical constraint. Patients can always stay in touch with their doctors and communicate with them about any health issue. They can self-check also for an immediate result without any third partys dependence. With advanced technology and rapid innovation, these days products are being made in such a way that it should be more consumer friendly and easy to use. Real-time e-healthcare system fulfills all the above criteria and hence, the market is growing at a positive rate.Recently, Kaiser Permanente implemented an EMR protocol in Community Health Centres in Oregon, US, to improve clinical decision support for patients with diabetes, which can remind them to prescribe hypertension medications to reduce heart attack and other strokes. iPatientCare EHR, Praxis, EMR, Insta HMS, e-MDs Chart, WRS Health, AccuMed, WEBeDoctor, A.I.med are some of the top Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software products.Request For Report Sample@Real-Time E-Healthcare System Market: Drivers & RestraintsTechnological advancement, increasing disposable income, increase use of online services, increase use of mobile devices, increased health cost and expenditure, increasing need of an integrated healthcare system are the most important driving factors in real-time e-healthcare system market. Sine real-time e-healthcare system reduces medical errors and easily accessible information, the demand for real time e-healthcare system has increased regardless of the geographical location.Lack of inexperienced professionals, high maintenance and service cost, privacy concerns, the complexity of systems, less presence of real-time e-healthcare system in rural areas including developed nations like Europe and are acting as a barrier for real-time e-healthcare system market.Real-Time E-Healthcare System Market: SegmentationReal-time e-healthcare system is broadly classified on the basis of the following segments By Product:Fitness Bands/wristband deviceClip on monitor devicesThermometerBlood-pressure monitor deviceM-health applicationsBlood glucose monitor devicesBy End-user:Public/Private HospitalsPharmacyIndividualsOthersReal-Time E-Healthcare System Market: OverviewThe real-time e-healthcare market has grown substantially at a healthy CAGR due to rising disposable income, increasing health awareness by consumers, ageing population and increasing healthcare expenditure. With rapid technological advancement and variety of options available in the market, real-time e-healthcare market is expected to grow globally. North America represents the largest market for this product category. Asia Pacific will emerge as the fastest growing region in real-time e-healthcare market.Real-Time E-Healthcare System Market: Region-wise OutlookThe real-time e-healthcare market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, real-time e-healthcare market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market due to the improved healthcare infrastructure and high healthcare cost and rising disposable income. Increase demand of cloud computing from the developed nations like Europe and North America may also increase the demand for real-time e-healthcare systems by the end of forecast period.Visit For TOC@Real-Time E-Healthcare System Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in real-time e-healthcare market are Fitbit, Garmin, Jawbone, Misfit Wearables, DexCom, Medtronic, Abbott, Cerner Corporation, GE Healthcare, Epic Systems Corporation, Medical Information Technology Inc. (MEDITECH).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:
TOKYO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond prices gained on Friday, helped by a regular Bank of Japan buying operation, with the yield curve at its flattest in three weeks as the market tracked a recent decline in global debt yields.

The benchmark 10-year JGB yield fell a basis point to 0.065 percent, its lowest in a month.

The 10-year yield has spiked to a one-year peak of 0.150 percent at the start of February as doubts mounted towards the Bank of Japan's commitment to its massive debt-buying scheme.

But the yield has since declined as the central bank has helped soothe nerves by conveying to the market that it remains committed to JGB buying, at least for the foreseeable future.

Super long JGBs, already on a bullish footing after Thursday's 20-year auction attracted strong investor demand, outperformed as the BOJ conducted a regular JGB buying operation in the zone.

The 30-year yield fell 4 basis points to 0.810 percent.

The yield curve flattened as a result, with the 10-year/30-year yield spread at its tightest in three weeks.

U.S. Treasury debt yields fell on Thursday as investors fretted about the lack of clarity in the Trump administration's policies.

In Europe, recent debt market volatility eased slightly, with French government bond yields pulling back after rising earlier in the week. French yields fell as a new centrist pact in the country's presidential election race eased market concerns about far-rightist Marine Le Pen gaining ground.

(Reporting by the Tokyo markets team; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market to Record an Impressive Growth By 2024

Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/request-for-sample.html?flag=S&repid=61750

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/market-analysis/automatic-passenger-counting-and-information-system-global-industry.html

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com

Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: OverviewAutomatic passenger counting and information system is an electronic device utilized by many public transit vehicles which correctly records boarding and alighting data. Automatic passenger counting system can be used autonomously as well as being integrated into existing system structures. The automatically transferred counting data is processed by statistical tool. This device offers reliable and permanent data on the degree of utilization of vehicles used in public transit systems.Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: Growth FactorsThe global automatic passenger counting and information system market is mainly driven by growing demand for smart telematic solutions coupled with technological advancement is expected to positively affect on market within the forecast period. Additionally, government support and increasing urbanization are anticipated to fuel the growth in the years to come. However, high installation cost of the system may curb the market growth during the forecast period. Furthermore, dynamic ticket pricing and increasing adoption of real time passenger information systems may open up new avenues for the growth of the market in the years to come.Get Sample Research Report at :The report provides a compressive view of the automatic passenger counting and information system market based on system, devices, applications and region. The automatic passenger counting and information system market can be classified in terms of systems into passenger information display systems, passenger information announcement systems, emergency communication systems and others. Passenger information display system is the leading segment and expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period.Based on device, the market has been segmented into multimedia displays, networking and communication devices and sensors. In terms of revenue, multimedia display was the largest segment in 2014 due to increasing installation of passenger information systems. Some of the key application in automatic passenger counting and information system includes roadways, railways, waterways and airways. Railway application segment is expected to be fastest growing market in the near future.Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: Regional AnalysisGeographically, the automatic passenger counting and information system market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, further bifurcation of region on the country level, which include U.S., Germany, UK, France, China, Japan and India. North America has witnessed significant growth of automatic passenger counting and information system in recent past years on account of technological advancement. North America is expected to exhibit moderate growth over the forecast period.Browse the full report atThe report provides comprehensive view on the automatic passenger counting and information system market. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the automatic passenger counting and information system market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: Competitive PlayersSome of the key players operating in the automatic passenger counting and information system market Alstom, Cisco systems, Inc., Eurotech SpA, iris-GmbH, Urban Transportation Associates, Inc., DILAX Intelcom GmbH, Hella Aglaia Mobile Vision GmbH, GE Transportation, Hitachi, Ltd and Siemens AG. The detailed description of players includes parameters such as company overview, financial overview, business and recent developments of the company.This report segments the global automatic passenger counting and information system market as follows:Global Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: System Segment AnalysisInformation Display SystemsPassenger Information Announcement SystemsEmergency Communication SystemsOthersGlobal Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: Devices and Component Segment AnalysisMultimedia DisplaysNetworking and Communication DevicesSensorsGlobal Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: Application Segment AnalysisRoadwaysRailwaysWaterwaysAirwaysGlobal Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and 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:
Glufosinate Market to Reach $2,097 Million, Globally, by 2022

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/glufosinate-market

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/1432

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

According to a new report by Allied Market Research, titled, "Glufosinate Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014 - 2022", is projected to reach $2,097 million by 2022. The oilseeds & pulses application segment held about one-fourth share of the overall market in 2015.Read More At:The demand for glufosinate herbicides has witnessed tremendous growth driven by development of genetically modified glufosinate-tolerant crops. In the last five years, significant capacity expansion has been witnessed in the industry and this trend is expected to continue in the future as well. Bayer Crop Science is the largest producer of glufosinate and intends to expand its capacity to almost twofold by end of 2017, owing to strong demand from regions such as North America and Asia-Pacific. Similarly, the Chinese companies such as Lier Chemical Company Ltd., Inner Mongolia Jiaruimi Fine Chemical Co., Ltd., and others are also expanding to meet the growing demand for glufosinate. Currently, there are about five major synthesis process for glufosinate. However, the number of producers in the industry are limited due to high technological barriers in its commercial production.The soluble (liquid) concentrate segment occupied more than half of the share in 2015 and is expected to maintain its lead throughout the forecast period. Presence of amine (ammonium salt) or mineral salt in the molecules of formulation enables water solubility which makes it most preferred in the glufosinate industry. Other major formulation types used in the industry are aqueous suspension, liquid, and suspension concentrate.Key Findings of Glufosinate Market: Cereals & grains is expected to be the fastest growing segment with a CAGR of 19.4% during the analysis period. North America is anticipated to lead throughout 2022, growing at a CAGR of 20% from 2016 to 2022. Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing segment. In the year 2015, the soluble (liquid) concentrate was the most widely accepted formulation type and is expected to maintain its lead in the future. U.S. was the leading country in the global glufosinate market in 2015, and is anticipated to maintain its dominance.In the year 2015, North America and Asia-Pacific collectively accounted for nearly two-thirds of the global demand for glufosinate and are expected to maintain their lead position throughout the period under consideration. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing segment, with a CAGR of 21.4%, followed by North America. Growing concern towards wide usage of agrochemicals in various crops, which has led to a shift toward bio-based solutions, is the driving factor for glufosinate herbicides demand in all the regions.For More Information:In this industry, all the major players are expanding to meet their growing demand for glufosinate in North America and other developing regions. The major companies profiled in the report include Bayer CropScience, Lier Chemical Company Ltd., Zhejiang Yongnong Chem. Ind. Co., Ltd., Hebei Veyong Bio-chemical Co., Ltd., UPL Ltd., Jiangsu Huangma Agrochemicals Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Jiaruimi Fine Chemical Co., Ltd., Hebei Bestar Bio-Technology Co., Ltd., and Jiangsu Sevencontinent Green Chemical Co., Ltd.Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Allied Market Research5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesDirect: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Petrochemicals Capacity and Capital Expenditure Outlook Industry Expansion Market Report

Market Research Hub

http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=990983

http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=990983

http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-petrochemicals-capacity-and-capital-expenditure-outlook-report.html

http://www.marketresearchhub.com/

https://twitter.com/MktResearchHub

https://www.linkedin.com/company/market-research-hub

https://www.facebook.com/MarketResearchHub/

Albany, New York, February 24, 2017: Market Research Hub has recently announced the addition of a new report to it broad database titled as Global Petrochemicals Capacity and Capital Expenditure Outlook - Ethylene and Methanol Spearhead the Petrochemicals Industry Expansion. Global petrochemicals capacity will experience considerable growth in the next nine years with increase from 1,447.9 mmtpa in 2016 to 1,619.3 mmtpa by 2025.Request for Sample Report:SummaryLarge capacity additions with more than 700 planned projects are expected to come online primarily in the China, US and Iran in the next nine years. NW Innovation Works Inc, Janus Methanol AG and Petroliam Nasional Berhad are the top three companies by capacity additions expected to come on-stream over the next nine years.Global petrochemical industry is expected to spend around US$243.1 billion by 2025 for the upcoming projects. The US, Russia and China are the top three countries by capital expenditure for projects by 2025.ScopeReport provides information and insight on -- Historic and forecast global petrochemical capacity by region- Global petrochemical planned plants details- Capacity share of the major petrochemical producers in the world- Global petrochemical capital expenditure forecast by regionReasons to buyThe report will clarify -- Understand the key trends in the global petrochemical industry- Understand the regional petrochemical supply scenario- Identify opportunities in the global petrochemical industry with the help of upcoming projects and capital expenditure forecast- Understand the current and likely future competitive scenarioMake an Enquiry:1 Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 31.2 List of Figures 72 Global Petrochemicals Industry 82.1 Key Highlights 82.2 New Project Announcements 93.1 Definitions 1063.1.1 Installed Capacity 1063.2 Abbreviations 1063.3 GlobalDatas Research Methodology 1063.3.1 Coverage 1063.3.2 Secondary Research 1073.3.3 Primary Research 1073.3.4 Expert Panel Validation 1083.4 Disclaimer 108CONTINUED@...Get Full Info. With TOC:About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Details:90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Follow Us on: Twitter, LinkedIn, FacebookTwitter:LinkedIn:Facebook:
Document Imaging Scanner Market Headed for Growth and Global Expansion by 2024

Document Imaging Scanner Market

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/request-for-sample.html?flag=S&repid=67201

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/market-analysis/document-imaging-scanner-market-global-industry-perspective-comprehensive.html

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com

Document Imaging Scanner Market: OverviewDocument imaging or electronic imaging is a technology that allows users to scan hard copy documents into computer system. Scanned documents are stored digitally in a system called digital version of document. Microfilm, printers, copiers, facsimile machines, document scanners, multifunction printers, archive writers and computer output microfilm (COM) are some forms of document imaging systems. Due to growing standardization of imaging from the business point of view, document imaging scanner modernizes various business processes. Additionally, improved effectiveness also generates competitive advantage and better customer satisfaction of document imaging scanner.Document Imaging Scanner Market: Growth FactorsThe advancement in technology coupled with adoption of compliance initiatives and the need for minimization in operating cost are the key factors associated with development of document imaging scanner market. The increasing demand of network scanners has affected the growth of document imaging scanner market positively. Document imaging scanners are referred as a larger infrastructure strategy. Document imaging scanner increases the sales potential for the resellers, especially when it is considered as a standalone solution.Get Sample Research Report at:The report covers forecast and analysis for the document imaging scanner market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with a forecast from 2016 to 2021 based on revenue (USD Million). The report also offers detailed competitive landscape of the global document imaging scanner market. It includes company market share analysis, product portfolio of the major industry participants. The report provides detailed segmentation of the document imaging scanner market based on application segment and region. Home, corporation, public office, retail store, medical institution, bank, educational institute, insurance and others are application segment of document imaging scanner market.Document Imaging Scanner Market: Regional AnalysisMajor regional segments analyzed in this study include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. This report also provides further bifurcation of region on the country level. Major countries analyzed in this reports are U.S., Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India, and Brazil.Browse the full report at:Document Imaging Scanner Market: Competitive PlayersThe report covers detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Newgen Software, Inc., Epson America, Inc., Fujitsu Technology Solutions, Canon, Inc., Hewlett Packard Company and Eastman Kodak Company.The report segments the global document imaging scanner market into:Global Document Imaging Scanner: Application Segment AnalysisHomeCorporationPublic OfficeRetail StoreMedical InstitutionBankEducational InstituteInsuranceOthersGlobal Document Imaging Scanner: 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:
Fire Sensors and Detectors Market Forecast to 2024 with Key Companies Profile and Competitive Landscape Analysis

Fire Sensors and Detectors Market

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/request-for-sample.html?flag=S&repid=69259

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/market-analysis/fire-sensors-and-detectors-market-global-industry-perspective.html

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com

Fire Sensors and Detectors Market: OverviewFire sensors and detectors are designed to detect and respond to the presence of a fire or smoke in the areas. Fire sensor and detector system has the property to sense radiations coming out fire. Fire sensors and detectors are security systems that provide protection against fire. Fire sensor and detector systems integrate a variety of technology such as gas detection and smoke sensing technology, which help to speedup response time. There are different types of fire sensors and detectors such as carbon monoxide and smoke sensors that provide early fire warnings.Fire Sensors and Detectors Market: Growth FactorsThe fire sensors and detectors market is mainly driven by the increasing security issues and accidents. Presence of government regulations regarding citizen and worker safety is also expected to propel market demand in the near future. Fire sensor and detector systems offer various benefits such as rapid fire detection, location identification, and easy maintenance and are expected to positively impact the fire senor and detector market growth over the forecast period. However, high cost of installation and maintenance may hamper the market growth over the years. Nonetheless, technological advancement is expected to open up new growth avenues in the near future.Get sample report@The study provides historic data of 2015 along with a forecast from 2016 to 2021 based on revenue (USD Million). The global fire sensor and detector market is segmented on the basis of application, end-user, and region. Some of the key applications include of the fire sensor and detector market such as perimeter security, port security, energy security, public safety and security and others.Based on different end-user, fire sensor and detector market is segmented as manufacturing, mining, transportation & logistics, healthcare & life science, energy & utilities, retail and wholesale distribution, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and government sector. Fire sensor and detector systems are widely used in hospitals or medical facilities.Browse the full report at:Fire Sensors and Detectors Market: Regional AnalysisGeographically, the fire sensor and detector market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa, further bifurcation of region on the country level, which include U.S., Germany, UK, France, China, Japan and India. North America has witnessed significant growth of fire sensor and detector market in recent past years on account of increasing technological advancement in these region. Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit significant growth in the near future.Fire Sensors and Detectors Market: Competitive PlayersSome of the key players in the global fire sensors and detectors market includes Tyco International Ltd, Bosch Security Systems, United Technologies Corporation, Siemens AG and Honeywell International, IncThis report segments the global the fire sensor and detector market as follows:Fire Sensors and Detectors Market: End-User Segment AnalysisManufacturingMiningTransportation & LogisticsHealthcare & Life ScienceEnergy & UtilitiesRetail And Wholesale DistributionBankingFinancial Services And Insurance (BFSI)Government SectorFire Sensors and Detectors Market: Application Segment AnalysisPerimeter securityPort securityEnergy securityPublic safety and securityOthersFire Sensors and Detectors 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:
Hemostats For Wound Closure Market to register a healthy CAGR for the forecast period, 2015-2025

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-827

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-827

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Historically wound types remain the same over the ages with only a slight exception being the emergence of femoral punctures associated with catheterization procedures. But with the advent of newer technologies the practice of closing those wounds are changed.These new products are commonly available on hospitals & trauma centers and have wide range of usage area. Among them Hemostat has become a very popular tool to be used as wound closure material with its excellent properties. When applied to a wound, quickly absorbs blood and other body fluids, transforms into a gel to seal the wound with a protective transparent layer, actively aids in stopping bleeding, and creates an environment for wound healing.Request For Report Sample@Treatment of damaged cardiac tissue in patients with high bleeding tendency can be very challenging. In this category of surgery Hemostat proved to be a very effective with the combination of collagen sponge for the management of a myocardial woundTopical hemostatic agents and tissue adhesives are used as an adjunct or alternative to standard suturing techniques to control bleeding or for wound closure.Hemostats for Wound Closure: Drivers and RestraintsWound closure has become a very frequent clinical practice which is growing very rapidly. The sophisticated procedures ensure rapid cessation of blood loss, prompt closure, strong adhesion of wound edges, tight sealing, reduced scarring, reduced risk of infection and more rapid healing. There is a pool of patients throughout the world which makes the market of this product is very lucrative. As the price is also very reasonable so acceptance of this product is gradually progressing.On the other hand some reports come which could restrict the growth. Surgical staples are emerging as the most useful tool on this wound closure segment. Also the market of suture which is there traditionally remains constant if not growing to some parts of the world. Few reports also suggested that patients may suffer with irritation, heat inflammation or redness on skin when hemostat are applied, though its not clear the exact reason for these.As the market is growing and price is low, so tough competitions will prevail in this segment too.Hemostats for Wound Closure: SegmentationGlobal market for wound closure products consist of hemostat are mainly driven the use of Fibrin which is the combination of thrombin & fibrinogen. Also collagen finds it use as hemostat though it still needs the approval of USFDA.Thrombin based HemostatsCombination HemostatsOxidized Regenerated Cellulose HemostatsGelatin HemostatsCollagen based HemostatsHemostats for Wound Closure: OverviewWith the rapid technological advancement in healthcare industry the Hemostats is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR in the forecasted period (2015-2025).Hemostats for Wound Closure: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, the wound closure products market has been segmented into seven major geographical regions which include North America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific exclude Japan, Japan & Latin America, Middle east & Africa. North America contribute the most in this market followed by Europe. With the new product approvals, change in regulatory policies encourages, patient acceptance helps the market to grow. Asia Pacific & Japan pose good growth potential too for wound closure products specially Hemostat.Visit For TOC@Hemostats for Wound Closure: Key PlayersWound closure product market is highly fragmented with presence of big & small companies. The market leaders in this area are Johnson & Johnson, Covidien, B. Braun, and 3M.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:
Beverage Packaging Market to be Worth Nearly US$ 200 Billion in 2017

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-196

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-196

www.futuremarketinsights.com

The global beverage packaging market is expected to be worth nearly US$ 200 billion in 2017, up from US$ 186 billion in 2015. Demand will be sustained by increasing consumption of packed food and beverages and increase in the number of one-person households in key markets. Advances in packaging technology will continue to shape up the global market, with intelligent packaging expected to gain traction.Plastics to Account for Over 50% Revenue ShareBeverage packaging manufacturers will continue to rely on plastic for bulk of production, with glass, metal, and paperboard among other key raw materials. Overall, plastics will account for over 50% revenue share by raw material type, with metal a distant second at approximately 24% market share. Benefits of plastic packaging, such as low production costs, easy transportation, and lower weight will continue to make it a preferred raw material for manufacturers. PET, polystyrene, and polypropylene will remain the highest-selling plastics in the beverage packaging marketcollectively, they are expected to account for US$ 52.64 billion in revenues in 2017.Request Report Sample@Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) Largest MarketAsia Pacific (excluding Japan) will continue to be the largest market for beverage packaging in 2017. Increasing demand for packed food products will continue to fuel market revenues in the region. The APEJ beverage packaging market is expected to surpass US$ 50 billion in revenues by 2017 and continue to be the largest market for beverage packaging globally.North America and Western Europe  the other leading markets for beverage packaging  will continue to post moderate gains. Adoption of advanced packaging technology will witness higher growth in these two regions vis-a-vis APEJ. Collectively, North America and Western Europe will account for nearly half of global beverage packaging market revenues in 2017.CSD/soda manufacturers will remain the largest application segments in the global beverage packaging market, followed by dairy and juice/soft drinks. Demand for beverage packaging from CSD/soda segment is anticipated to be worth US$ 58 billion in 2017, up from nearly US$ 55 billion in 2015. Plastics will remain the largest product type for CSD/soda, followed by cans and glass bottles.Vendor InsightsLeading players in the global packaging market are focusing on creating functional and sustainable packaging that caters to the swiftly changing needs of consumers. Increasing investment in R&D to develop next-generation packaging solutions and strengthening of distribution networks in emerging nations remain key strategic endeavours of beverage packaging brands. The key players profiled in the report include Ampac Holdings, LLC, Amcor Limited, Alcoa Inc., Ball Corporation, Crown Holdings, Inc., Owens-Illinois, Inc., Rexam PLC, Reynolds Group Holdings Limited, SIG Combibloc, Ardagh Group S.A., Tetra Laval International S.A. and Compagnie de Saint-Gobain.Send An Enquiry@Long-term Outlook: During the forecast period, 2015-2025, the global beverage packaging market is expected to grow at 3.3% CAGR through 2025, totalling US$ 257.5 billion in revenues. Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) will remain the largest market for beverage packaging throughout the forecast period 2015-2025.About Us  Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market with Current Trends Analysis, 2015-2025

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-953

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-953

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Therapeutic drug monitoring is a branch of clinical chemistry and clinical pharmacology which aims at maintaining the drug concentration levels in the body fluids within the particular therapeutic range. The purpose of therapeutic drug monitoring is refining patient care by individually adjusting the drug dosage for better outcomes.Some of the situations where measurement of drug dosage concentration is useful include, non-response at therapeutic dose, suboptimal tolerability, pharmacokinetic drug-drug interaction and drug adherence. TDM is regarded as a module of personalized medicine that interacts with various other disciplines such as pharmacogenomics and pharmacokinetics. Most commonly monitored drugs are digoxin, valproate and carbamazepine.Request For Report Sample@The global therapeutic drug monitoring market showed significant growth over the last few years and is projected to grow at a robust CAGR during the forecast period.Therapeutic Drug MonitoringMarket: Drivers and RestraintsTherapeutic drug monitoring is driven by various key factors which include, ageing population with better health care services, increasing demand for genetic testing, increased government and private sector participation in therapeutic drug monitoring markets, rise in drug profiling.Ongoing problems with reimbursement, retrenchment in the hospital fields and a weak global economy. Fluctuating exchange rates further weakens the global market.Therapeutic Drug MonitoringMarket: SegmentationGlobal therapeutic drug monitoring market is segmented on the basis of product type as following:AntibioticsAnticonvulsantsAntiarrhythmicAntineoplasticBronchodilatorsImmunosuppressiveHIV/AIDS drugsTherapeutic drug monitoring market is further segmented on the basis of technology as:SpectrometryChromatographyElectrophoresisProteomic technologyTherapeutic Drug MonitoringMarket: OverviewWith the advancement of technology and increase incidence in disease population, therapeutic drug monitoring, is gaining wide acceptance as a method of choice among patients. This market is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR in the forecast period (2015-2025).In the upcoming years, the TDM market will undergo significant transformation. These alterations will be done by convergence of new and more stringent regulations improvements in diagnostic technologies, automation and system engineering.Therapeutic Drug MonitoringMarket: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, therapeutic drug monitoring market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.In terms of geography, North America dominates the therapeutic drug monitoring market, followed by Europe. During the earlier stages of this market development growth rates were higher, while the value of the market was relatively low. As the market value started to rise the annual growth rate declined slightly, but is expected to increase again as the market develops and the advantages of therapeutic drug monitoring is appreciated in the established markets and as the techniques and products appear in the emerging market.Visit For TOC@Therapeutic Drug MonitoringMarket: Key PlayersCoulter, BioChem Pharmaceuticals, BioRad, OraSure Technologies,and Roche Diagnostics. The market is currently led by Some of the key players in compression therapy market are,Abbott Laboratories, Bayer AG, Beckman Roche diagnostics followed by Abbott Laboratories.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:
Sourdough Market: Industry Analysis, Future Growth, Business Prospects and Global Forecast by 2022

Sourdough Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1823

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/sourdough-market

Market Research Future published a half cooked research report on the global sourdough market has been estimated to grow over 5% post 2022.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 60 market data tables and figures spread over 100 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Sourdough Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022.Market Highlights:Robust demand across wide range of applications including traditional stuffing recipe, pizza, pastry and other bakery products is driving the sourdough market. Advancement in processing technologies, inclusion of various ingredients and catering to meet niche applications like low-fat, gluten-free and other healthy bakery foods is also supporting the growth of the market.Sourdough has lower bread deterioration rates, which has increased the demand for sourdough. As other bakery products are deteriorated in short span of period, sourdough products can be easily stored for a longer time. Tangy flavor of sourdough imparted to the bread, has been appreciated by many consumers worldwide which is growing traction for sourdough derived products. Whole grain sourdough products have higher demands because consumers are aware of the health benefits. Hence, global sourdough market is expected to grow at CAGR over 5% post the year 2022.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players of Sourdough Market: Puratos (Belgium) Riverside Sourdough (UK) FISAG LIMITED (New Zealand) The Bread Factory (UK) Beldem Enzymes Plant (Belgium) Bread SRSLY (USA) German Bakehouse Naock (Germany) Madisonsourdough (U.S.) Sonoma (Australia) Ameliasbread (U.S.) Boudin SF (U.S.) Trueloaf (U.S.)Market Research Analysis: Secondary data reveals that the sourdough imports is projected to grow more than 5.76% annually post the year 2022. The top 5 importers of sourdough include U.S., Germany, Canada, Italy and U.K. Tangy flavor and gluten free nature is gaining attention from the consumers and thereby driving higher demand for sourdough products.Brief TOC for Sourdough:1 Executive Summary2 Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Markets Structure2.4 Stakeholders3 Research Methodology3.1 Research process3.2 Secondary research3.3 Primary research3.4 Forecast model3.5 Market Size estimation4 Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restraints4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges5 Market Trends5.1 Trends in Supply/Production5.2 Trends in Demand/Consumption5.3 Emerging Markets (Supply & Demand)5.4 Emerging Brands5.5 Trade (Import-export) Analysis5.6 Innovations in Products/Process5.7 Macroeconomic indicators Analysis for top 5 Producing countriesContinueReasons to buy: The study includes detailed market analysis of sourdough market encompassing its macro and micro-markets. It covers market segmentation by starter culture type, ingredient type and application. It helps in identifying region-wise major suppliers and understand consumption patterns. The report will provide useful and premium insights that will support in investments for sourdough and allied companies providing details on the fast growing segments and regions. In addition, it will provide key findings that will help the companies to improve profitability by using supply chain strategies, cost effectiveness of various products mentioned in the report. The data used in the report is primarily based on primary interviews with the major producing companies and industry experts and also supported by authentic industry data from secondary sources.Browse Full Report @Intended Audience: Bakery Product Manufactures Pizza manufactures Dessert manufacturers Frozen Food Manufacturers Cold logistics Retailers, wholesalers E-commerce companies Traders, Importers and exportersAbout 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 AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Baby Monitors Market: Emergence of Cutting-edge Products and Busy Schedule of Parents Stoke Growth

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=5156

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The top five players in the global baby monitors market together account for over half the market. This makes the competitive landscape somewhat consolidated. Among the top five players, Motorola Solutions, Inc. held the maximum share of 19.8% in 2015. It was trailed by Summer Infant, Inc., VTech Holdings Limited, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Koninklijke Philips N.V. Other prominent participants in the market are Sony Corporation and Angelcare.Some of the popular strategies adopted the major players in the global baby monitor market is product innovation leveraging advanced technologies and strategic acquisitions. A case in point is the acquisition of Wellcentive, a U.S.-based provider of population health management software solutions by global giant Philips in 2016. At present retail channels, which can be broadly segmented into brick and mortar retail stores and ecommerce platforms, account for maximum sale of baby monitors. Going forward, online retail platforms will likely drive up sales drastically.Get Research Report PDF Brochure for more info:A report by Transparency Market Research forecasts the global baby monitors market to rise at a steady CAGR of 4.4% from 2016 through 2024 to reach a valuation of US$1.292 bn by 2024 from US$0.877 bn in 2015.North America Dominates Market due to Sizeable Proportion of Working ParentsDepending upon the types of products available in the market, the global baby monitors market can be classified into audio baby monitor, fixed video baby monitor, and pan and tilt baby monitors. Of these, the fixed video baby monitor segment leads the market. It had a whopping market share of 48.2% in 2015. Its growth has been fuelled primarily by the demand for high end baby monitoring devices with smartphone monitoring features. This in turn, is because of both sets of parents working these days and an increasing awareness about and means to splurge on advanced baby care products.Geographically, North America holds a dominant share in the global market for baby monitors. This is because of the large number of nuclear families in the region and high spending capacity of the people. Europe follows North America in terms of market share. In the near future, however, Asia Pacific is slated to outshine all other regions vis-a-vis growth. The TMR report predicts the Asia Pacific market, powered by developing economies of India and China, to expand at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2016 to 2024.Daycare Centers Drive DemandBusy schedule of parents these days have forced them to put their children in daycare institutes. And this has led to the swift uptake of baby monitors as daycare institutes find them handy in supervising a number of children. Other factors promoting growth in the global market are the increasing awareness drive conducted by the media about the safety of children, knowledge of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)  also referred to as cot death, and continued progress in technology resulting in more cutting-edge products. Easy accessibility of baby monitors via online platform is also driving the market.Decreasing Fertility Rates Damp DemandAs per the lead analyst of the TMR report, decreasing fertility rates, especially in developed nations of the world, can pose a roadblock to the swift uptake of baby monitors. Recession following the collapse of two global investment banking giants in 2008 has been responsible for hampering the growth of the market. With the onset of recession, there was a rise in unemployment and a decline in GDP levels leading to a fall in consumer confidence. Moreover, the rise in unemployment resulted in falling marriage rates. These factors are resulting in low fertility, adds the analyst.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:
By Dave Kaup and Aditya Kalra KANSAS CITY/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A 51-year-old man has been charged with killing an engineer from India and wounding two other men when he opened fire in a Kansas bar in what federal authorities were investigating on Friday as a possible bias-motivated crime that shocked the victim's home country. The shooting on Wednesday night led news bulletins in India and triggered outrage on social media, where people voiced concern that U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" position on immigration and jobs has fuelled a climate of intolerance. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Friday that any loss of life was tragic, but it would be absurd to link the killing to Trump's rhetoric. Pratik Mathur, spokesman for the Indian embassy in Washington, said India had expressed "our deep concern over the incident" to the U.S. government and requested a "thorough and speedy investigation." Navy veteran Adam Purinton, who is white, was charged on Thursday in Johnson County, Kansas, with one count of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder, District Attorney Stephen Howe told reporters. He declined to elaborate on the details of the incident or the gunman's motive. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking at whether it was a hate crime, the official term for crimes motivated by bias or prejudice. A FBI spokeswoman said agents and police canvassed the area on Thursday and the investigation continued on Friday. Hate crime charges would need to be brought in federal court because Kansas does not have a hate crime statue, the district attorney said in a post on Twitter. If convicted as charged, Howe said Purinton faces "Hard 50," which means a life sentence without eligibility for parole for 50 years. Purinton is accused of killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, also 32, in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday evening, police said. At least one bystander told the Kansas City Star the gunman shouted "get out of my country" before shooting the Indian victims. Purinton is also accused of wounding Ian Grillot, 24, who was shot as he tried to intervene. "People call me a hero," Grillot said in a video released by the hospital where he was undergoing treatment for gunshot wounds to the hand and chest. "I was just doing what anyone should have done for any other human being." Kuchibhotla was married but had no children. His wife, identified by media as Sunayana Dumala, told reporters on Friday that the gunman "has taken a life, a very lovable soul, from everyone." Kuchibhotla received a master's in electronics from the University of Texas in El Paso in 2007, according to LinkedIn. His Facebook page, where he called himself "Srinu," said that in 2014 he joined the Kansas office of Switzerland-based navigation device maker Garmin from Rockwell Collins Inc . Flags at Garmin's offices flew at half-staff on Friday. The company, which held a private service for employees, said it was "devastated by the senseless tragedy." A candle light vigil was planned for Friday evening at the First Baptist Church of Olathe, across the road from the bar. The suspect fled on foot and was arrested five hours after the shooting at an Applebee's restaurant in Clinton, Missouri. He reportedly told an employee there he needed a place to hide because he had killed two Middle Eastern men, the Star reported. Purinton, a former Federal Aviation Administration employee, was transferred back to Kansas on Friday and was being held with bond set at $2 million, according to jail records. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. It was not immediately known whether he had hired a lawyer. Police did not say whether Purinton has faced charges in the past. However, he was not generally known to police in Olathe, a city of 134,000 people about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Kansas City, Sergeant Logan Bonney said Friday. 'BE ANGRY!' At Kuchibhotla's family home near the Indian tech hub of Hyderabad, relatives backed government calls to ensure the safety of Indians living in the United States. "The government should voice out this strongly because our brothers, sisters and our relatives are there," the victim's brother, Venu Madhav, told Reuters Television. Through a window, relatives could be seen sitting quietly, one woman wiping away tears. Many Indians initially welcomed Trump's election, seeing his calls to restrict Muslim immigration as support for their Hindu-majority country. India has been at odds for decades with Pakistan, its mainly Muslim neighbour. But the Trump administration may also have skilled Indian workers like Kuchibhotla in mind as it considers curbing the H-1B visa programme, worrying both India's $150 billion IT services industry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. "Don't be shocked! Be angry!" Siddharth, a well-known South Indian actor who uses one name, tweeted to his 2.6 million followers in remarks echoed across social media. "Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla." (Reporting by Dave Kaup in Kansas City and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Additional reporting by David Ingram in New York, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Ayesha Rascoe and David Brunnstrom in Washington, Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Grant McCool)
Silicon Anode Battery Market size in terms of volume and value 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2134

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2134

www.futuremarketinsights.com

In order to meet the rising energy requirements and to overcome rapidly depleting fossil resources, rechargeable batteries has evolved as one of the efficient means of energy storage. The ongoing technological advancement in power electronics and automotive has brought lithium ion batteries into the frame as an advanced storage systems with high capabilities. The silicon anode batteries are lithium ion batteries with silicon anode. The traditional anode material in lithium ion batteries i.e. graphite doesnt meets the high energy demand of advanced electric automotive due to its limited theoretical capacity, whereas, silicon stores ten times more lithium than the graphite anode resulting in increased energy density which enables fast charging and high current delivery. Thus silicon anode battery is emerging as a substitute for graphite anode battery. Due to its low discharge potential and extreme charge capacity, silicon anode could provide faster charging, greater current delivery and smaller battery size. However, large volume change during electrochemical process remains the major challenge in wide commercialization of silicon anode battery. Silicon anode battery is expected to emerge as next generation of lithium ion batteries. The silicon anode battery market is still between introduction and growth phase, when plotted on product life cycle. Huge investments by market leaders are being made to further develop silicon anode battery technology and bring it on practical grounds and thus market is expected to hold significant growth potential.Silicon Anode Battery: Market DynamicsThe major factor contributing to the growth of silicon anode battery market is the increasing energy requirements from various end-use applications such as consumer electronics and automotive, for more efficient and advanced battery. Further, robust growth of automotive industry and turning focus towards EVs could generate significant opportunity for growth of the silicon anode battery market. Lower working potential and high charge capacity of silicon anode battery could help automotive manufacturers to reach required power ranges by deploying less number of batteries thus achieving high performance. Moreover, abundance of raw material i.e. silicon can turn as a major factor driving its application into lithium ion batteries. Major challenges faced in the silicon anode battery market are limited commercialization of the product due to existing technical challenges particularly large volumetric expansion. Furthermore, high costs silicon anode battery as compared to available alternative is also a factor restraining market growth. The major trends observed in the silicon anode battery market is product development and innovation such as use of nanowire battery with silicon anodes as they allow improved accommodation of volume changes during lithiation. Number of players in the market have filed patents over different advancements in silicon anode battery technologyRequest Report Sample@Silicon Anode Battery: Market SegmentationThe silicon anode battery market can be segmented on the basis of: application and region.On the basis of application the silicon anode battery market can be segmented into:Consumer electronic devicesMedical applications (pacemaker, defibrillator machines)AutomotiveSpace & defenseSustainable energy (wind turbine and photovoltaic)The silicon anode battery market can be segmented on the basis of region into: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan, Middle East and AfricaSilicon Anode Battery: Regional OutlookNorth America holds a major share in the silicon anode battery market due to the substantial growth in the automotive industry and consumer electronics section. Europe and North America collectively holds over 50% share in the market owing to demand from industrial sector. However, Asia Pacific silicon anode battery market is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period due to rapid industrialization and increasing awareness about the use of energy efficient, reliable, safe and economical battery systems.Request For TOC@Silicon Anode Battery: Key PlayersSome of the major key players identified in the silicon anode battery market are: Nexeon Limited, BYD Company Limited, Amprius Inc., ENOVIX, Boston-Power, Inc., LG Chem Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, Samsung SDI, XG Sciences, Zeptor Corporation, California Lithium battery Inc, Yuasa battery Europe Ltd., JTT Electronics Ltd, Vmcell Technology Co., Ltd, Enevate Corporation, Nanotek Instruments.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:
Cigars and Cigarillos Current and Future Market Trends in The Italian Market

Market Research Hub

http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=689674

http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=689674

http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/cigars-and-cigarillos-in-italy-2016-report.html

http://www.marketresearchhub.com/

https://twitter.com/MktResearchHub

https://www.linkedin.com/company/market-research-hub

https://www.facebook.com/MarketResearchHub/

Albany, New York, February 24, 2017: Market Research Hub has recently announced the addition of a new report to it broad database titled as Cigars and Cigarillos in Italy, 2016. The Italian market for cigars and cigarillos is one of the most buoyant in Europe and has recently seen strong growth, boosted by demand for value cigarillos.Request for Sample Report:Volumes overall are forecast to rise between 2014 and 2024 to almost 490 million piecesKey Findings The overall tobacco products market has been in decline since 2011, however cigarettes have been the star performer. Cigars have traditionally accounted for the majority of the total market in volume terms, although recently there has been a switch towards cigarillos which gathered pace during the 1990s, however, by 2000 cigarillos had overtaken cigars as the largest sector in volume terms. The Netherlands and Germany have long been the largest sources of supply in unit terms The Cigar market supports a large number of manufacturers and an even larger number of lines. The market is dominated by MS Toscano which had more than 90% of this segment in 2014, an all-time high for the companySynopsis Cigars and Cigarillos in Italy, is an analytical report by Canadean which provides extensive and highly detailed current and future market trends in the Italian market. What else does this report offer? Market size and structure of the overall and per capita consumption based upon a unique combination of industry research, fieldwork, market sizing analysis and our in-house expertise. Detailed information such as market shares and recent developments of the manufacturers, leading brands along with company profiles. Regulations, taxation, retail pricing, smoking habit and the growing health concerns affecting overall production. Prospects and forecasts of overall sales and consumption for 2014 to 2024.Make an Enquiry:Reasons To Buy Get a detailed understanding of consumption to align your sales and marketing efforts with the latest trends in the market. Identify the areas of growth and opportunities, which will aid effective marketing planning. As consumers' product demands evolve, the dynamics between different countries also change favoring some countries and leaving others increasingly out of line with demand patterns. As a result, understanding the specific dynamics of the UK market is key to ensuring maximum future sales. The differing growth rates in regional product sales drive fundamental shifts in the market. This report provides detailed, authoritative data on these changes -prime intelligence for marketers. Understand the market dynamics and essential data to benchmark your position and to identify where to compete in the future.Companies Mentioned MS Toscano Dannemann Agio STG J Cortes Arnold Andre BAT Swedish Match ETITable of ContentsIntroduction Executive summary DefinitionsMarket context Tobacco Products Market, Tonnes, %, 2005-2015 Tobacco Products Market, Tonnes, 2005-2015Market size and structure Consumption of Cigars & Cigarillos, 2005-2015 Per Capita Consumption, Pieces Per Year, 2004-2014 Cigars & Cigarillos: Market Segmentation, 2005-2015 Total & Per Capita Consumption of Cigarillos, 2005-2015 Cigarillos: Sales by Type, 2009-2010 Total & Per Capita Consumption of Cigarillos, 2005-2015Production and trade Production of Cigars & Cigarillos, Tonnes, 2004-2014 Imports of Cigars & Cigarillos, Pieces, Tonnes, 2010-2014 Imports of Cigars & Cigarillos, 2010-2014 Imports by Country of Origin (Value), Top Six Countries, %, 2014 Imports of Cigars & Cigarillos, Pieces, 2001-2014CONTINUED@...Get Full Report With TOC:About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Details:90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Follow Us on: Twitter, LinkedIn, FacebookTwitter:LinkedIn:Facebook:
Luxury Pens Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth by 2022

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/9887

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/9887

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

The growing global luxury pens market can be attributed to the growing disposable income and brand awareness amongst people. Growing population coupled with the changing lifestyle of people in the developed countries is anticipated to drive the demand for global luxury pens market. Moreover, possessing a luxury pen has become a status symbol these days and hence, high class society people are opting for luxury pens. Likewise, the attractiveness of luxury pens again plays a great role for boosting its market.The growing e-communication among the corporates and other social class people around the world has become a threat for written communication. Due to the increasing brand awareness and high disposable income of people (especially among young adults), the luxury pens market is witnessing a decent growth. Likewise, luxury pens key players which are having brands such as Lamy, Aurora, Mont Blanc, Grayson and Parker are trying to encash the opportunities in this growing luxury pens market. The major players are opting to make their luxury pens more royal by making it diamond studded and gold plated, to grab the maximum market share. One of the key trend in the market is that the manufacturers are strategically investing in product development by modifying the luxury pen nib with platinum and other expensive metals. In spite of the sluggish market and curtailed discretionary spending, the luxury pens market is growing at a good rate. Hence, the global luxury pens market has got a great potential in the forecast period. The global luxury pens market is anticipated to witness a moderate single digit growth in the upcoming years.The luxury pens market is a niche market, and also there are not much retailers available in the market, which can hamper the luxury pens market. Likewise, the import duty of such luxury pens is high enough to impact its market. Due to its high range the inventory cost of the dealers increases, hence it requires more working capital management which can decline the luxury pens market. Moreover, there is an increase in e-communication among people which would further decline the luxury pens market.Request to view table of content @Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region in the global luxury pens market. Countries such as India and China are the upcoming countries where demand for such luxury items are at peak because of the increase in disposable income of people. Even, North America is a flourishing luxury pens market due to the improving brand awareness of luxury pens amongst people.Some of the key players identified in the global luxury pens market are Paradise Pen Company, Montblanc International GmbH, C. Josef Lamy GmbH, Grayson Tighe, Parker Pen Company, A.T.Cross Company, Sanford L.P.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @The final report customized as per your specific requirement will be sent to your e-mail id within 7-20 days, depending on the scope of the report.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.comAbout 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:
Cider Packaging Market Revenue, Opportunity, Forecast and Value Chain 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2137

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2137

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented juice of apples. Cider beverage is made up of cider apples which is mostly produced in U.S. There is great demand of innovation in packaging of cider in market. The growth of hard cider has been driven largely by the highly coveted millennial generation. Market is mainly driven by increased disposable income and demand for innovative packaging product and safe packaging.Global Cider Packaging Market: DynamicsReducing unit cider packagingsize is creating more consumption opportunities.The presence of premium brand such as woodchuck, Kopparberg and angry orchard has increased the demand for premium quality cider packaging. Premium cider packagingbrand are high in demand as compared to economically priced product due to rise in consumption of alcohol as a status symbol, disposable income and association of premium labels with the beverage quality and taste. cider packaging market is highly competitive which led competitors to come up with innovative product and new strategy in packaging world.The vendors in cider packaging are coming with bottles prepared with a high barrier coating technology to upturn its shelf life and minimize the risk of saturation. With the technological innovations in the cider packaging market, there is increasing demand for water-based coating technology as it is environmentally-friendly, tasteless, odorless and decreases the usage of sprig powder. The global demand of cider packaging is expected to grow at impressive CAGR in near future.Request Report Sample@Global Cider Packaging Market: SegmentationThe global cider packaging market can be segmented on the basis of material type packaging type and region. On the basis of material cider packaging market can be segmented on glass, plastic and metal. On the basis of packaging type cider packaging market can be segmented as bottles, cans and stand up pouches. Among all material type used for cider packaging, plastic is gaining preference over glass bottles and metal cans because plastic are light in weight, compatible lower in cost and are available in various design. The development of plastic packaging solution will be key driver for the growth of overall cider packaging market. Another driving factor for cider packaging id the increasing demand for alcoholic beverage has pushed vendors to focus on shelf-life packaging that is easy to store, easy to transport and is convenient to unpack. The manufactures are coming up with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, which shelters the cider products for long period. On the basis of region North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa.Global Cider Packaging Market: Regional OverviewNorth America cider packaging market is expected to register strong growth in near future while cider packaging market is expected to slowdown in largest market of Europe. Europe market is focusing in innovative packaging so that product become more appealing to consumers. The launch of low calorie and craft cider in Europe is expected to create demand in new cider packaging product which can add volume sale in this region. Cider packaging market in Asia Pacific region is expected to show nominal growth during forecast period. Middle East and Africa is expected to dominate the cider packaging market in near future and projected to account highest market share.Request For TOC@Global Cider Packaging Market: Key PlayersThe main player of global cider packaging in market are Amcor limited , Ardagh group, Ball corporation, Crown Holdings, Rexam Owens-Illinois. Some of the other prominent players are Plastipak Packaging, Silgan Holdings, Consol Glass, Vetropack, Allied Glass Containers, Can-Pack, MeadWestvaco, Nampak and VidralaFuture 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:
In-Car Infotainment Market Trending the Automobile Industry with a Rise of $33.8 Billion by 2022

In-Car Infotainment

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/in-car-infotainment-market

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-free-sample/709

In-Car Infotainment Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to garner $33.8 billion by 2022, registering a CAGR of 13.3% during the period 2016-2022.Access Full Summary at :Market is analyzed with regards to revenue contribution made by different segments in globalin-car infotainment market. In global market, in-car infotainment installation type segment is mainly driven by aftermarket sub segment, which accounted for around 54% of the market revenue in 2015. Aftermarket installation is less expensive as compared to OEM installation, thereby driving the growth of aftermarket. However, OEM installation market is expected to grow faster in the near future since OEM manufacturers are increasingly offering personalized infotainment systems as well as standard infotainment systems in the mid-car segment.Within the components segment, hardware accounted for the maximum revenue share in 2015, owing to its high cost and wide-deployment. However, efficient and effective development of infotainment software applications is expected to drive the market in the near future. The software market is estimated to register a CAGR of 14.4% during 2016 -2022.Europe has emerged as the most promising region, exhibiting a huge demand for in-car infotainment within the automotive car sector. In 2015, the market for in-car infotainment in Europe was valued at $4.6 billion in 2015. However, Asia-Pacific would be the fastest growing region during the forecast period owing to the burgeoning automotive production and sales coupled with the increasing disposable income of the consumers in the region.Request for sample report at:Key Findings In-Car Infotainment Market: Hardware component segment accounts for the larger share and is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. The segment is anticipated to lead the market with over 60% revenue share throughout the analysis period. Asia-Pacific would be the fastest growing region over the forecast period OEM installation segment of in-car infotainment market has exhibited a strong growth potential, accounting for a higher CAGR as compared to the aftermarket segment.The report also outlines the competitive environment ofin-car infotainment market, while providing a comprehensive study of key strategies adopted by market leaders. The prominent companies profiled in the report include Panasonic Corporation, Harman International Industries, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), Fujitsu Ten Ltd., Delphi Automotive PLC, Denso Corporation and others.About UsAllied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Allied Market Research5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesDirect: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com
Medium Voltage AC Power Distribution Units (PDU) Market In Data Centers Volume Analysis, Segments, Value Share and Key Trends 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2199

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2199

www.futuremarketinsights.com

The revolution of internet and connectivity in recent years has increased the dependency on digital sources. Trillion bits of data is used and generated every day, which has to be stored at reliable and easily accessible places. This has resulted in tremendous growth of data centers, cloud storage and data warehouses. Also, service providers desire to provide faster communication network and higher internet speed than that of their competitors has enforced organizations to improve infrastructure of data centers. The basic infrastructure including power distribution & management and HVAC plays a vital role in performance of data centers. The power distribution is generally categorized in three bands, i.e. Low Voltage Alternating Current (AC), Medium Voltage AC and High Voltage AC. The distribution and regulation of power supply in data centers is managed by power distribution units (PDU).Conventionally, medium voltage AC power distribution units are widely used in heavy machinery and mining industries but due to increasing loads on data centers, many data centers operators are adopting medium voltage AC power distribution units to meet their industry-size demands. Considering ratio of area consumption and power distribution, the medium voltage AC power distribution units are more compact than low voltage PDU system. Medium voltage AC power distribution units involve less wire-web and provide more interconnectivity. In contrast, a low voltage system require 8-10 times more cables and conduits as compared to medium voltage AC power distribution units. In spite of being compact, cost effective and efficient, the medium voltage AC power distribution units require more space for ventilation and cooling as high power is managed by the system.Request Report Sample@Medium Voltage AC Power Distribution Units (PDU) Market in Data Centers: DynamicsThe raising data usage and digitalization of all conventional means is increasing pressure on data center operators to maximize their efficiency and capacity. To attain secure position in competitive market in which rack density and power consumption are continuingly increasing, the data center operators are intending to improve the efficiency of supporting infrastructure. Also, interconnectivity amongst various organizations, government departments, security systems, transportations etc. are playing a vital role in increasing dependency on data centers which is forcing operators to adopt medium voltage AC power distribution units in data centers.However, the high installation and operating cost of medium voltage AC power distribution units along with failure rate and increased complexity of data center servers are some of the restraints that are expected to affect the market growth of medium voltage AC power distribution units in data centers over the forecast period.Medium Voltage AC Power Distribution Units (PDU) Market in Data Centers: SegmentationThe medium voltage AC power distribution units market in data centers can be segmented on the basis of their type, power phase and power conversion type. On the basis of type, medium voltage AC power distribution units market can be categorized into basic, metered, monitored, switched and others segment. On the basis of power phase, medium voltage AC power distribution units market can be segmented as single-phase and three phase. On the basis of power conversion, the medium voltage AC power distribution units market can be segmented into AC-DC and AC-AC segments.Request For TOC@Medium Voltage AC Power Distribution Units (PDU) Market in Data Centers: Region-wise OutlookThe global market of medium voltage AC power distribution units in data centers is segmented into 7 key regions, namely North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) and Japan. North America, Western Europe and Latin America are anticipated to remain key market in the medium voltage AC power distribution units market by 2016 end. While, APEJ is expected to witness the high growth in the market due to rapid infrastructure growth and digitalization in countries like India and China.Medium Voltage AC Power Distribution Units (PDU) Market in Data Centers: Key PlayersKey players reported in the study of medium voltage AC power distribution units (PDU) market include CyberPower Systems, Eaton, Emerson Network Power, Raritan, Schneider Electric (APC), Server Technology, ABB (ASEA Brown Boveri) and 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.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Radial Compression Device Market Revenue, Opportunity, Forecast and Value Chain 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2401

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2401

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Radial compression devices are designed to assist hemostasis of radial artery after a transradial procedure in order to prevent future radial artery occlusion. The device is composed of a body comprising of a pump, a pressure regulator and a pressure bladder. Radial compression devices are secured to the patients wrist to provide adjustable levels of compression pressure in the radial artery to achieve homeostasis in or at the vascular access site. The pressure is applied in such a manner that the pressure bladder is positioned adjacently to the patients wrist and the user activates the pump to provide varying degree of pressure to the wrist of a patient. Radial compression device is typically a self-contained vascular device and helps in controlling bleeding and facilitating closure of the radial artery.The number of cardiac catheterization procedures and interventions are increasing significantly with current estimates at over 3 million a year. Historically, such procedures were performed via femoral artery. However, the trend rapidly shifted towards use of radial artery occlusion attributed to several benefits the procedure offers such as lower rate of complications at the arterial puncture site and lower direct cost.Radial artery occlusion (RAO) is a most commonly occurring complication of transradial catheterization which leads to permanent radial artery occlusion. The situation is expected to arise in estimated 1-10% of patients after transradial catheterization. RAO is generally overlooked because of the fact that the condition is clinically silent attributed to the dual blood supply to the hand. In fact in more than 50% of RAO cases the transradial operators do not assess radial artery patency before the hospital discharge. RAO is thought to occur immediately after transradial catheterization, and approximately 50% of patients have demonstrated the occurrence of spontaneous recanalization of the artery. Furthermore, several studies have also demonstrated, rates of RAO to be higher with prolonged cannulation times, whereas reduced rates with anticoagulation and non-occlusive hemostasis.The radial compression device market is expected to witness higher penetration in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization and intervention procedures.Request Report Sample@Radial Compression DeviceMarket: Drivers & RestraintsAdoption of radial compression devices has become an important choice of number of cardiac catheterization labs globally. This is attributed to greater comfort the device offers to the patients, allows for earlier ambulation with proven cost-effectiveness. Several studied have demonstrated the benefits of cardiac compression therapy in reducing mortality rates in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary angioplasty procedure, myocardial infarction, and stroke in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing invasive stratification. Factors driving the radial compression device market includes availability of specialized radial compression devices and catheters in the market and consideration of radial access procedure into practice guidelines and various physician fellowship programs.Increased risk of infection during the procedure is the primary factor restraining the market growth of radial compression devices market over the forecast period. The two most important complications associated with the procedure involves formation of radial artery occlusion (RAO) and radial artery spasm (RAS). Rare complications include pseudo aneurysm formation at the radial artery access site.Radial Compression Device Market: SegmentationRadial compression device marketis segmented by application, by end user and geography:By ApplicationDiagnosticInterventionalBy End UserHospitalsCatheterization LabsSpecialty ClinicsRadial Compression Device Market: OverviewGrowing adoption and increasing benefits of radial artery catheterization in terms of reduced complications and faster mobility is expected to drive the market for radial compression devices over the forecast period. However, recent studies have also demonstrated the cost effectiveness of the procedure when compared to the femoral compression devices in terms of procedure and hemostasis time and cost of repeating catheterization.Request For TOC@Radial Compression Device Market: Region-wise OutlookOn the basis of region presence, thrombophilia treatment market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia pacific excluding japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Radial artery access using compression devices is a primary mode of catheterization in the Europe, Canada and Japan. In the U.S. the adoption of radial compression devices gained traction in recent years. The dramatic adoption of radial compression devices percutaneous coronary intervention in the U.S. and tremendous opportunities to educate the physicians and cath lab team regarding the benefits of using radial compression devices are some of the factors expected to drive the radial compression devices market growth in the near future. In addition macroeconomic factors such as increased number of FDA approvals in radial compression device market are also expected to increase the revenues in the developed countries.Radial Compression Device Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in the radial compression device market are Terumo Corporation, Merit Medical Systems, Inc., Vascular Perspectives Ltd., St. Jude Medical, Inc., TZ Medical and Vascular Solutions, Inc.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:
Global Optical Test Equipment Market to 2025 Forecast & Future Industry Trends |The Insight Partners

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/optical-test-equipment-market

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000237

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/discount/TIPTE100000237

Latest market study on Optical Test Equipment Market to 2025 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Product Types, Form Factor, Application and End-User Vertical, 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 Optical Test Equipment Market to 2025 @The optical test equipment are tools used to perform inspection, cleaning and several other function along with analysis of existing cabling. Optics cabling is the lifeline of modern data communication networks. In order to make the installation and integration of fiber optic systems smooth and to ensure the proper passage of light, optical test equipment are used.The report aims to provide an overview of Global optical test equipment market with detailed market segmentation by types, form factor, application, end-user vertical, and geography. The global optical test equipment market is expected to witness decent growth during the forecast period due to enhanced connectivity and rise in automation applications. The demand for higher capacity in communication network is driving the need for optical test equipment in the market.Request Sample Copy @The objectives of Optical Test Equipment report is as follows: To provide overview of the global optical test equipment market To analyze and forecast the global optical test equipment market on the basis of product type, form factor, and application and end user To provide market size and forecast till 2025 for overall optical test equipment 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 optical test equipment players influencing the market along with their SWOT analysis and market strategiesSome of the leading players in optical test equipment market are Anritsu Corporation, AFL Telecommunications LLC, Corning Incorporated, EXFO Inc., Fluke Networks, JDS Uniphase Corporation, Kingfisher International, Keysight Technologies, Tektronix Inc., Viavi Solutions Inc., and Yokogawa Electric Corporation.Inquire about discount on this report @The report segments the global Optical Test Equipment Market as follows:Test Equipment Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 -Product Types Optical Power Meter Market Optical Test Source and Optical Loss Test Sets Market Optical Time Domain Reflectometer Market Optical Continuous Wave Reflectometer Market Optical Spectrum Analyzer Market Other Equipment MarketOptical Test Equipment Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 - Form Factor Bench Top Market Hand Held Market Rack Mount MarketOptical Test Equipment Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 - Application R&D Market Manufacturing Market Installation & Maintenance MarketOptical Test Equipment Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 - End-User Verticals Broadband and Telecommunication Market TV Network Market Military and Aerospace Market Data Centers Market Semiconductors And Electronics Market Others MarketOptical Test Equipment 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
World Baby Rice Flour Market Research Report 2021(Covering USA, EU, China, South East Asia, India, Japan and etc)

http://www.reportbazzar.com/request-sample/?pid=757024&ptitle=World+Baby+Rice+Flour+Market+Research+Report+2021%28Covering+USA%2C+EU%2C+China%2C+South+East+Asia%2C+India%2C+Japan+and+etc%29&req=Sample

http://www.reportbazzar.com/product/world-baby-rice-flour-market-research-report-2021covering-usa-eu-china-south-east-asia-india-japan-and-etc/

http://www.reportbazzar.com/

SummaryICRWorlds Baby Rice Flour market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.Global Baby Rice Flour Market: Application Segment AnalysisGlobal Baby Rice Flour Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaThe Players mentioned in our reportHeinzGerberNestleBEINGMATEEngniceEastwesWeickyFangGuangHippGet Sample Report @Table Of Contents:Chapter 1 About the Baby Rice Flour Industry1.1 Industry Definition1.1.1 Types of Baby Rice Flour industry1.2 Main Market Activities1.3 Similar Industries1.4 Industry at a GlanceChapter 2 World Market Competition Landscape2.1 Baby Rice Flour Markets by Regions2.1.1 USAMarket Revenue (M USD) by Types, Through 2021Market Revenue (M USD) by Applications, Through 2021Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20152.1.2 EuropeMarket Revenue (M USD) by Types, Through 2021Market Revenue (M USD) by Applications, Through 2021Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20152.1.3 ChinaMarket Revenue (M USD) by Types, Through 2021Market Revenue (M USD) by Applications, Through 2021Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 2015Buy Complete Report Visit @About Us:Reportbazzar.com is your trusted source for the most inclusive and informative assortment of market research reports designed to empower you with the latest in industry information that translates to time and cost savings for your business. We not only help you give wing to your latent business ideas but also facilitate you in taking the best informed and strategic decisions that guarantee success in your most promising business endeavors.Contact Us:ReportBazzar30 Wall Street, 8th floor,New York, NY 10005.United States.US: +1 (212) 389-6363India: +91 20 66528525Email Id: sales@reportbazzar.comWebsite:
Wound Closure Device Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 7% during 2016 to 2022

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2001

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/wound-closure-device-market

Market HighlightsGlobal Wound Closure Device Market has been growing rapidly and is expected to grow further. Effective and instant healers and also, these are useful when wound healing is difficult with traditional methods producing high risk of infection, these wound closer option are quick, easy to apply and remove and also had minimum cost associated with them has increased The Global Wound Closure Device Market globally. Other factors which restraint the growth of global wound closer market includes avoidance in highly visible areas such as face to minimize scarring, medical glues used as a wound closer device has less efficiency and is normally only one fifth as effective as sutures decreasing its demand for many procedures and injuries.Wound Closure Device Market will grow at a CAGR of 5% from 2013 to 2019 and reaching a value of 13 billion by 2019 and 21 billion by the end of the forecasted period, 2016-2022.Stapling devices are expected to witness high growth due to increased efficiency, safety and reduced recovery time with the cost effectiveness of the devices.Request a Sample Report @Key Players: Adhezion Biomedical LLC. Aesculap, Inc. Baxter Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc Arthrex, Inc B. Braun Melsungen AG CollPlant Ltd. Connexicon Medical ConvaTec Group PLCTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread over 85 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Wound Closure Device Market  Forecast to 2022Segmentation:Wound Closure Device Market is majorly segmented on the basis of types of wounds, device, application and end users. Based on the type of wound the market is further segmented into chronic, acute and more. . On the basis of type of devices the market is again classified into sutures, wound closure strips, wound closure adhesive, staplers, tissue sealants, hemostats and more. Further depending on the type of wound the market is again classified into surgical wounds, ulcers, burn, trauma and others. Similar on the basis of end-users the market is again classified into hospitals, clinics, trauma centers and others etc.Intended Audience Global Wound Closure Device Manufacturers & Suppliers Contract Research Organizations (CROs) Research and Development (R&D) Companies Government Research Laboratories Independent Research Laboratories Government and Independent Regulatory Authorities Market Research and Consulting Service Providers Academic Institutes and UniversitiesAccess Report Details @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.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Working, partying and traveling across the United States, Indian aviation engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was living his American dream in Kansas. That dream was shattered on Wednesday night. A local man shot dead Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani in a case U.S. federal authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime. Local media quoted eyewitnesses as saying the attacker shouted "get out of my country" before opening fire as the colleagues shared an after-work drink in a local bar. Kuchibhotla was one of many ambitious young Indians who go abroad each year in search of a better education and career prospects. More than 3 million Indians live in the United States. As a community, they are twice as well off as other Americans, with an average household income of more than $100,000. The Southern Poverty Law Center said the number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second year in a row in 2016, linking the increase to U.S. President Donald Trump's presidential campaign. This week's incident further heightened concerns among Indians about their treatment there. "After the nightmarish incident, do we really need to go and work in (the) U.S.?" Madasani's father, Jaganmohan Reddy, told The Hindu newspaper. THE AMERICAN DREAM After obtaining a bachelor's degree in technology in India, Kuchibhotla left his hometown of Hyderabad for El Paso, Texas, to pursue a master's degree in electrical engineering, according to his LinkedIn profile. He then worked as a software and systems engineer in Iowa at Rockwell Collins Inc. Married about four years ago, Kuchibhotla and his wife spent their early years of marriage watching Bollywood movies, celebrating New Year's Eve by clicking selfies and traveling across the United States. "Four states, 1,500 miles, three days and finally at Dallas to end year 2013," his wife wrote on her Facebook page at the time. Later, Kuchibhotla, who called himself "Srinu" on his Facebook page, switched jobs to join Garmin International as an engineer, working on designs and flight test activities. On Wednesday, he and Madasani were at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, a city of about 134,000 people some 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Kansas City, when the gunman opened fire on them. The co-workers were regulars at the watering hole, which they visited once or twice a week to sit on the patio and drink whiskey in the early evening, according to local media. "We know them as the Jameson guys," Garret Bohnen, a staff member who had served the pair in the past, told the Kansas City Star. "They are super-nice guys. They would sit, have a cigarette, have a few drinks and pay their tab and leave." Kuchibhotla's former colleague, Kavipriya Muthuramalingam, fondly remembered him as a dear friend who would never be confrontational. "It's tragic," she told Reuters. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time." (Additional reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
FMI Releases New Report on the Marketing Mix Optimisation Market 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1626

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1626

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Marketing mix optimisation or marketing mix modeling is a method that is used for the statistical analysis of the various advertising and marketing efforts done on a products performance in the market. The key elements of marketing mix modeling are product, promotion, distribution and the pricing, each of these elements are analyzed closely before finalizing the suitable model for marketing a particular product. The marketing mix modeling allows quantifying the sales and revenue generated by the marketing done on a particular product. It also allows planning the strategies for marketing of particular product or marketing service in an optimized manner. The shift of global markets to the emerging regions such as, China, India, Brazil and Russia and the established markets being on the threshold of saturation, manufacturers are looking forward to establish markets in the emerging regions with low investments and high return on investment. With various big organizations adapting the marketing mix modeling for optimized marketing of their products, the global market for marketing mix modeling will register a healthy growth rate by the end of forecast period.The global marketing mix modeling market is primarily driven by the demand for efficient marketing strategies by organizations including the fortune 500 companies, which will help minimizing the lump sum investments in marketing of a particular product and give high return of investment to the companies in terms of marketing costs by increasing the sales for that particular product. The implementation of marketing mix modeling helps in achieving the targeted goals of the company and benefits the organization as a whole. Somehow, there are some challenges related to the marketing mix modeling which might restrain the growth of the market. Some of the challenges includes, unstandardized measurement of the market, lack of transparency in the modeling methods among others, which makes difficult to narrow down actual predictions.Request For Report Sample@The global marketing mix modeling market is segmented based on approach for marketing mix modeling and region. Based on the approach used for marketing mix modeling, the marketing mix modeling market can be segmented into OLS (Ordinary Least Square) regression approach and Constraint regression approach.Based on the geographic regions, global automotive seating systems marketing market is segmented into seven key market segments namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. The marketing mix modeling being a new concept it is being adapted globally in the established as well as the emerging markets. The global trend of big manufacturers and markets shifting the business to Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe markets to tap the growth opportunities in these markets are fostering the growth of marketing mix modeling market in the aforementioned regions as well as in the established markets of North American and Western Europe.Request For TOC@Some of the major players identified in the global marketing mix modeling market includes, Wipro Limited, Polaris Research, Decision Analyst, Inc., The Nielsen Company, Analytic Partners, Inc., Ninah and ThinkVine.com 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:
Healthcare Games & Simulation Market Outlook, Demand and Development, Key Players, Industry Growth Analysis and Forecast to 2027

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/750

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/healthcare-games-simulation-market

Healthcare Games & Simulation could be used in any probable cases which a hospital can face. It gives an overview of the actual situation and gives the enough time to the medical team to understand and analyse the situation and take necessary steps in order to take the patient to life. The various applications of Healthcare simulation includes the patient simulation where doctors perform a virtual analysis of complete body of patient, surgical simulation which gives an idea of performing a surgery in the real life.Request a Sample Report @Key Players Laerdal Medical As Gaumard Scientific Company, Inc. CAE, Inc 3D Systems Inc. Surgical Science Sweden Ab Simulab Corporation Limbs & Things, Ltd Simulaids, Inc. Mentice Ab Kyoto Kagaku Co., Ltd.Regional AnalysisNorth America and Western Europe is the leading market for healthcare games and simulation as countries like US, Canada, UK, and Germany are developed countries and they are technological advanced. These countries spend high amount of revenue to the healthcare resulting more demand for the best healthcare services.The next growing market for Healthcare Games & Simulation is Asia Pacific. Asia-Pacific holds around 61% of population alone which is more than 4 billion. Countries like China, India which is in the developing phase are more open to adapt the new technologies coming in the field of healthcare.Market SegmentationOn the basis of Types Endovascular Simulators Eye Simulators Dental Simulators Task Trainers Ultrasound Simulator Patient Simulators Surgical Simulators (Cardiovascular, Arthroscopic, Gynecology, Laparoscopic, others)On the basis of software Virtual Performance recording On the basis of training Consulting Institutional systems ManufacturingAccess Full Report@Latest TrendsThe latest trends in the healthcare games and simulation are the technological development and introduction of new models in respect with human body and understanding of machines. Companies are also introducing the scenario by taking the reference from hospitals. Various types of scenario is giving the option to prepare in advance and become the more effective in the operation to reduce and eliminate the chances of errors.Table of Content1 Executive Summary2 Market Introductions3 Research Methodologies4 Market Dynamics5 Market Trends6 Market Factor Analyses7. Market-By Type8. Market -By Source9. Market -By Region10. Competitive LandscapeContinued.List of TablesTable 1 Pestle Analysis-U.STable 2 Pestle Analysis- IndiaTable 3 Pestle Analysis- ChinaTable 4 Pestle Analysis- JapanTable 5 Pestle Analysis- GermanyContinued.About 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.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Otoscope Market Value Share, Supply Demand, share and Value Chain 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2474

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2474

www.futuremarketinsights.com

According to a recent report published by WHO (World Health Organization) 360 million people worldwide is presently victims of some kind of audibility related disease. More than 32 million children are victims of deafness. Apart from this a massive pool of an adult population of the world is also crippled by deafness. This population is swelling alarmingly every year in South-Asia, Asia-Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa, which is also promoting the prospects of the emerging otoscope market in these regions of the world. The otoscopes and ophthalmoscopes are predominantly used by ENT specialists across the world for detecting any sort of ENT related disease. Presently a population of 285million visually impaired adults and children are living in this world. The population is rising every day. The otoscope/ophthalmoscope market can fetch the direct benefits of this rise as they are mostly needed for diagnosing eye and ear related ailments. Countries like India, China, Oman, Brazil and Morocco are some of the nation living in the shadows of diseases like glaucoma. Over the years they have made several consorted efforts to eradicate the disease but still it is prevalent amongst a large population. The market is completely untouched and mostly dominated by few domestic players and it is definitely under the radar of some of the biggies of the otoscope market. The US is not only one of the leading producers of otoscope devices, it also caters to the demand of the large global and local population. Statistics shows that almost 37 million Americans are suffering from sinus-related diseases. Thus the US is one of the largest thriving otoscope markets of the world.Otoscope market: DriversThere are several key components which are driving the growth and expansion of the otoscope market. The prime factor which is pushing the growth of this industry is the overall development of the healthcare infrastructure. Apart from this, the steady rise of the ENT related diseases around the world is another significant reason which are multiplying the development of the otoscope markets spread around the world. The constant economic rise of India in the recent past has had an positive effect on the entire healthcare and also on the otoscope market spread across the country The otoscope market in India is not only giving stiff competition to its western contenders but it is also fulfilling the demands of the local and regional demands through its domestic production.Request Report Sample@Otoscope market: RestraintsThough the otoscope market is out of its slumber and ginning pace with every single day. The regional markets spread across US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, India and China, Brazil, Morocco, Chile, Japan are performing properly for the last few years. But the dominance of the bi players based in the first world countries and the cloning of products in the Chinese and Indian otoscope markets are creating a massive gulf. It is also disturbing the uniformity of the otoscope market in this south East Asian regions and Latin American countries.Otoscope market: Key regionsThe growth of the entire otoscope market is concentrated on some of the prime pockets. The market is mushrooming in regions like India, China, US, UK and several other Latin American countries where the spread of disease related to ENT are galloping with time. A massive chunk of the market production is consumed by the healthcare giants present in these regions. The ENT industry is booming in India and it churns a few billion revenue from the different adjacent neighbouring markets. The production is high and cost effective which is also a major factor which is sustaining the players present in this segment in India.Request For TOC@Otoscope market: Key PlayersSome of the front runners of this section are camped in countries like Germany, US, UK , Japan, China and India. Heine, Riester, Welch Allen are some of the market leaders has been impacting the otoscope market for the last 100 years. Their quality products and robust market policies are the key ingredients which are fuelling their exports and providing them with the necessary tinder for survival.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:
Emerging Opportunities in Clinical Alarm Management Market with Current Trends Analysis

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1713

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1713

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Clinical alarm systems are devices that alert caregivers of immediate adverse patient conditions and help in enhancing potential patient-safety. Alarmsmust be accurate, unique and provide alerts, which could be readily identified and understood by caregivers and the products must belong to standardized & approved product categories. These systems are either built-in or attached to other medical equipment & monitoring systems. Alarm fatigue is the psychological effect produced by too many alarms occurring in a clinical environment, causing clinicians to miss true clinically significant alarms. When alarms work well, the environment of patient care is enhanced. When alarms do not work well, they pull caregivers away from their line of respective duties and other patients, or even ignore alarm sounds altogether. Cases of ignored alarms have resulted in patient deaths earlier in extreme cases. Most often, the major usability problem is an alarm flood- too many alarms ringing together, in case of any device failure. Other defects hampering clinical alarm uptake in sophisticated healthcare systems include poorly designed alarms, improperly set alarm points, ineffective alarm announcements, and unclear alarm messages among others.Clinical Alarm Management Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing awareness of care providers towards enhancing patient safety is a prominent factor pushing the revenue growth of the clinical alarm management market. Others revenue drivers include rising medtech investments by governments of all major countries and promoting access to basic healthcare across all sections of the society. Integrated alarm system designs are often not standardized across different medical equipment systems and devices. This could be considered as a restraint for clinical alarm management market. Improper alarm escalation leading to false negative cases - such as a patient needs immediate clinical attention but a clinician is not alerted - substantially compromises on patient-safety. Other factors negatively affecting market growth are lack of product standardization across regions and lack of proper skills to rationalize the alarm adjustment process.Request For Report Sample@Clinical Alarm Management Market: SegmentationClinical alarm management market is segmented based on product type, end user and geography.Based on product type, clinical alarm management market is segmented as follows:Physiological monitorsTelemetry monitorsVentilatorsInfusion PumpsAnesthesia MachinesCompression PumpsFeeding PumpsNurse Call SystemBed AlarmsBased on end user, the clinical alarm management market is segmented as follows:HospitalsClinicsAmbulatory surgical centersLong term and palliative care centersHome careOthersClinical Alarm Management Market: OverviewIn the present market scenario, clinical alarm manufacturers prioritize sensitivity over specificity. This often leads to a large number of false positive cases, which is often misleading. Particularly, when alarm frequency is high, caregivers could become desensitized, develop alarm fatigue, and create a false negative outcome, compromising patient safety. With rise in the number of urban healthcare centers across regions, there clinical alarm management market is witnessing a sustained growth in demand for standard and tested products. To avoid product level dysfunctionalities, the AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation) Foundation had added clinical alarms to its portfolio of multidisciplinary initiatives to advance patient safety and created an Alarm Best Practices Workgroup in 2012. The committee reviews and recommends best practices on clinical alarm management at regular intervals. Developed pharmaceutical markets are expected to create sustainable traction in generating demand for standardized clinical alarm systems over the forecast period, while developing markets are expected to follow suit.Clinical Alarm Management Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global clinical alarm management marketis classified into seven regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is expected to dominate the clinical alarm management market in terms of both revenue and demand generation owing to greater awareness on medtech advancement followed by Western Europe. However, over the foreseeable long term, markets in Latin America and Asia-Pacific could prove lucrative in terms of market opportunities owing to persistence of factors such as greater penetration of access to organized healthcare and rising disposable income level contribution to private healthcare spending.Request For TOC@Clinical Alarm ManagementMarket: Key PlayersSome of the major companies contributing to global clinical alarm management market include Medtronic, Extension Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Koninklijke Phislips N.V., Baxter incorporated, Connexall, Mindray Medical International Limited 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:
Diabetic Nephropathy Market to Spread a Predictable Worth of US $3,145.9 Million by 2020

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3594

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/diabetic-nephropathy-market/toc

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/3594

According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research "Global Market Study on Diabetic Nephropathy Market  Asia to Witness Highest Growth by 2020,".The global diabetic nephropathy market was valued at USD 2,262.2 million in 2014 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2014 to 2020, to reach an expected value of USD 3,145.9 million in 2020.Diabetic nephropathy is a disease of the kidney glomerulus and one of the most significant complications in terms of mortality and morbidity for patients with diabetes. Globally, the diabetic nephropathy market is witnessing significant growth due to increasing prevalence of diabetes and obesity in different regions of the world. In addition, increasing R&D investments in drug discovery and development and raising awareness about diabetes and kidney-related disorders are also driving the growth of the market. However, stringent regulatory requirements and longer approval time for drugs as well as the lack of comprehensive therapeutic management for diabetic nephropathy are inhibiting the growth of diabetic nephropathy market. The global diabetic nephropathy market is estimated at USD 2,262.2 million in 2014. It is likely to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2014 to 2020 to reach USD 3,145.9 million in 2020.In North America, various government programs are spreading awareness about diabetes and related renal complications. For instance, the National Kidney Disease Education Program, one of the major programs organized by the U.S. government, for increasing awareness about the various kidney diseases. In addition, the number of diabetic patients are also increasing in the region; according to the SciELO Public Health, approximately 35 million people were affected with diabetes mellitus in 2000 and this number is expected to reach 64 million by 2025 in North America.In Europe, rise in healthcare expenditure for diabetes treatment and increasing prevalence of diabetes in the various part of Europe is boosting the growth of the European diabetic nephropathy market. According to IDF, approximately 55.4 million people had diabetes in 2010 and the number is expected to reach 66.5 million by 2030 in Europe. According to the IDF, healthcare expenditure for diabetes treatment was approximately USD 105.5 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach USD 124.6 billion by 2030 in Europe.A Sample of this report is available upon request @Asia represents the fastest growing region in the diabetic nephropathy market due to the rise in a diabetic population in various countries such as Japan and the Southeast Asian countries. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), developing countries, such as India and China, are expected to have the highest number of diabetes mellitus patients compared to developed countries, such as the U.S. and Germany.Request to view Table of content @Sanofi is one of the leading players in the diabetic nephropathy market. Other major players in diabetic nephropathy market include Eli Lilly and Company, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Novartis AG, Pfizer, Inc., Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Inc., Bayer AG, Merck & Co., Inc., Bayer AG and Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc.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.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Oncology Biosimilars Market Research Report : Technology Developments & Key Players By Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Biocon, Amgen

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=14696

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/oncology-biosimilars-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

The Major players reported in the market include Biocon, Amgen, Celltrion, Hospira, Biogen, Mylan, Pfizer, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Merck, Sanofi and Sandoz.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.For Any Queries Get Solutions With A PDF Sample :Factors like the arrival of new biosimilars to drive market growth during the forecast period. Unlike generic drugs, which have APIs that are identical to original drugs, biosimilars are similar to their originator biologic compounds. Biosimilars developed by different manufacturers differ from the original product as well as from each other. Since they are less expensive than biologics, patients will be able to afford and access biosimilars more easily than biologics. Rise in number of patent expiries, increase in prevalence of cancer, growing aging population, promising drug pipeline, need for cost-effective treatment, favorable government regulations are some of the key drivers promoting the growth of oncology biosimilars market.The oncology biosimilars market can be segmented by end-user, by application, and by geography. In terms of application, the oncology biosimilars market is classified into cancer treatment drugs, and supportive care drugs. In the terms of end-user, the oncology biosimilars market is classified into hospitals and retail pharmacies. Retail pharmacies occupy the largest share of 52% in the oncology biosimilars market. Retail pharmacies provide a large customer base for biosimilar drugs. Individuals with cancer require biosimilar drugs for maintenance therapy, which helps to successfully treat and prevent relapse of the disease. These drugs can also be obtained from retail pharmacies for use in hospital settings.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :Geographically, oncology biosimilars market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. Middle East & Africa was the highest revenue contributing region in the global oncology biosimilars market. Similarly, Asia Pacific expected to witness higher growth in oncology biosimilars market due to increasing cancer prevalence in the countries like India and China. The market will typically witness a higher growth rate in countries such as the Germany, UK, Spain, Italy and France. The biosimilars market in the UK is developed and well-established, and is comparatively easy to enter, making the generic drugs market in the country stronger than in any other EU countries. The growth of this market in the region is attributed to well-defined regulatory guidelines and expiries of biologics that are anticipated to go off-patent during the forecast period.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:
Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) Devices Market Analysis 2016-2020

http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Negative-Pressure-Wound-Therapy-NPWT-Devices-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2016-2020/sample15

http://www.sa-brc.com/report/Global-Negative-Pressure-Wound-Therapy-NPWT-Devices-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2016-2020/15

www.sa-brc.com

Negative pressure wound therapy is a topical wound management technique that involves the use of a vacuum pump to create a negative pressure at the wound site. Both chronic and acute wounds can be treated by applying sub-atmospheric pressure to the wound bed. NPWT wound dressing is unique and the ideal dressing would be non-adherent, antimicrobial, non-cytogenic and porous. The pump consists of an evacuation canister or exudate canister to collect fluids drawn from the wound. NPWT therapy is observed to provide a much quicker healing process by drawing out infectious necrotic material and toxins that might otherwise increase chances of unfavorable patient outcomes.The global negative pressure wound therapy devices market was valued at US$ 1,227.0 million in 2015 and is forecast to grow to US$ 1,617.3 million by 2020 at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2016 to 2020.Report Sample@This report estimates the global negative pressure wound therapy market for various device types such as single-use pumps, portable pumps and stationary or conventional NPWT pumps. The estimates also include a volume analysis based on average global selling prices of pumps across all product segments. Single-use devices are anticipated to grow the fastest in terms of volume since they are more affordable and easy to use as compared to bulky stationary devices. The report also provides value and volume data for disposables such as foam & dressing kits and exudate canisters. The single-use devices are anticipated to be adopted greatly among homecare and self-care settings. Affordable rental and reimbursement for rental NPWT devices along with availability of single-use devices has propelled the homecare segment which is anticipated to grow the fastest with a CAGR of 7.1% between 2016 and 2020.This report estimates the market for NPWT devices in six regions of North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin-America, Middle-East and Africa. North America continues to lead the combined NPWT pumps and disposables market and Asia-Pacific pegged as the fastest growing region with a CAGR of 6.0% from 2016 to 2020. The global negative pressure wound therapy devices market was valued at US$ 1,227.0 million in 2015 and is forecast to grow to US$ 1,617.3 million by 2020 at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2016 to 2020.Click For TOC@About UsSpearhead Acuity Business Research & Consulting Private Limited (SA-BRC) is a premium Life Science business intelligence and data analytics firm. SA-BRC team offers a wide range of business intelligence services to multiple stakeholders such as Medical Device Manufacturers, Service Providers (Hospitals, Payers, etc.), Suppliers, Group Purchase Organizations, Distributors and all other individuals in the entire value chain of healthcare industry. Our research and consulting capabilities extend across several sub-domains within the sphere of Life Sciences such as Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Medical Devices, Veterinary Sciences, Wellness Products and Pharmaceuticals.Contact UsJohn Whitmore10685-B Hazelhurst Drive,Suite 17411Houston, Texas 77043,United StatesPhone: +1(832)-426-3701Email: sales@sa-brc.comWebsite:
Respiratory Monitoring Devices Market Value Share, Analysis and Segments 2017-2021

http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Respiratory-Monitoring-Devices-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2017-2021/up81

http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Respiratory-Monitoring-Devices-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2017-2021/upcomingdetail81

www.sa-brc.com

Respiratory monitoring devices are experiencing increased demand due to increasing respiratory disorders including asthma, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia, tuberculosis and cystic fibrosis among others. Increasing air pollution and addiction to tobacco smoking is also major factor driving the demand.Respiratory monitoring devices market is segmented by device type into: capnographs (bedside and portable), pulse oximeter (bedside and portable), spirometer, peak flow meter, and others. Technological developments have transformed some of the respiratory devices to become compact and accurate. Integration of these devices with wireless technology has enables real-time remote monitoring of vital parameters. Advent of telemedicine has been a major factor in the evolution of respiratory monitoring devices. Wireless pulse oximeters and capnographs can be integrated with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to central hospital server. Physicians are immediately informed about any major fluctuations in vital parameters. This helps in minimizing complications, and assures better patient care. Due to these technological developments, high volume sale, and higher device price, capnographs and pulse oximeters accounts for largest share in the market.Report Sample@Increasing cases of tobacco addiction and air pollution has led to high prevalence of lung cancer globally. American Cancer Society estimates about 222,500 new cases, and 155,870 deaths due to lung cancer in 2017 in the U.S. alone. Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer globally, mostly affecting individuals above 65 years of age. Statistics published by the European Union states that 401,459 deaths were recorded in the EU due to respiratory disorders in 2013. Asthma is another disorder affected large percentage of global population. World Health Organization states that more than 200 million individuals globally are diagnosed with asthma. Majority of the asthma cases are being registered in low and middle income countries, resulting in over 80% deaths in these countries due to asthma. Africa also records alarming rate of tuberculosis, with more than 400,000 active cases in 2013. Such high disease prevalence demands respiratory medical care for huge population.Currently respiratory monitoring devices market has reached saturation in North America and Europe. However, selective market segments such as wireless pulse oximeters and portable capnographs are experiencing appreciable growth. As new hospitals are emerging in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, the demand for hospital bedside devices is increasing.Click For TOC@Respiratory monitoring devices market is fragmented with large number of local players and intense price competition. Key players include CareFusion Corporation, Smiths Medical, ResMed, Inc., Masimo Corporation. COSMED, GE Healthcare, MGC Diagnostic Corporation, Medtronic Inc., ndd Medical Technologies, Inc., and Omron Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. among others.About UsSpearhead Acuity Business Research & Consulting Private Limited (SA-BRC) is a premium Life Science business intelligence and data analytics firm. SA-BRC team offers a wide range of business intelligence services to multiple stakeholders such as Medical Device Manufacturers, Service Providers (Hospitals, Payers, etc.), Suppliers, Group Purchase Organizations, Distributors and all other individuals in the entire value chain of healthcare industry. Our research and consulting capabilities extend across several sub-domains within the sphere of Life Sciences such as Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Medical Devices, Veterinary Sciences, Wellness Products and Pharmaceuticals.Contact UsJohn Whitmore10685-B Hazelhurst Drive,Suite 17411Houston, Texas 77043,United StatesPhone: +1(832)-426-3701Email: sales@sa-brc.comWebsite:
Meet Us At Chicago Dental Show

http://www.zolartek.com/

This year, it is going to be bigger, better and grander than ever! Yes, we are talking about the Chicago Dental Show, from February 23-25, that hosts top subject experts, dental companies, expert dentists and general public to celebrate the biggest years biggest dental. If its related to the teeth, it will be at CDS.We, at Zolar, follow the CDS religiously since many years now. This is one event that has given us spectacular exposure to the realm of dentistry. Our products have benefited immensely from exhibitions at CDS. Likewise, we have also contributed significantly to the show.This year, we will be at Booth no. 1128 hosting our range of laser dental products to showcase not only their features but also how they help your daily practice. We will be helping you incorporate the best of laser dental practices to ensure you always employ the cutting edge technology to serve your patients better. Our products, namely Photon and Photon Plus, will be covered in detail. We will also have a presentation on the low level laser therapy.Incorporated in 1878, the Chicago Dental Society is the premier global organization that is at the forefront of the dental health practice. From showcasing the latest technologies to representing the interests of the dental community, it represents the pinnacle of the profession.We welcome you to join us at booth no. 1128 and we will guarantee a stimulating discussion, amazing products and a friendly meeting that is sure to be mutually beneficial.For more you can please visit our business website :Zolar provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care at a lower cost. Our aim is to provide surgeons with high quality, next-gen, precise and reliable dental lasers. Our team is dedicated to providing more clinical value to dentists, high safety in dental procedures, and improving surgical outcomes for patients through our advanced laser products.#3725 Walden AvenueUnit 13Lancaster, New York, USA14086
Urgent Care Centers Market : Emergence Of Cost-Effective Medical Care & Key Players By Carespot Express Healthcare LLC, AFC/Doctors Express

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2254

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/urgent-care-centers-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

As per the Urgent Care Association of America, there are approximately 7,100 urgent care centers in the U.S. alone. The high unmet need in the states in the U.S. where there is a low penetration of urgent care centers will present new opportunities to key players. In addition, the availability of economical medical care facilities provided globally is amongst the key drivers fuelling the global urgent care centers market.For Any Queries Get Solutions With A PDF Sample :The study provides an in-depth analysis on the urgent care centers market and presents information including classification, applications, industry chain structure, and definition of the market. Moving further, an evaluation has also been presented on the prime development trends, major players, and expansion of this market in major regions. To provide a thorough understanding of the market for urgent care centers, the tables in this study are categorized on the basis of application, product, revenue generated, and geography.The study presents a forecast for the six-year period from 2014 to 2020. The report provides an analysis on the market in terms of both volume and revenue. Moving next, the key market dynamics including the opportunities, drivers, challenges, restraints, and trends have also been elaborated upon under this report. SWOT analysis has been provided on the major players operating in the market. The structure of this market and the chief projections in forthcoming years are also highlighted in this report.Overview of the Urgent Care Centers MarketUrgent care centers are a type of a walk-in clinics providing ambulatory care services in a dedicated medical facility, outside of a traditional emergency room. These centers primarily treat injuries and illnesses requiring immediate medical care, although these kinds of illnesses often do not merit an ER visit. Urgent care centers comprise unique technologies and present adequate procedures for the swift recovery of patients. These centers also bring about ease of access to their patients and present an economical and convenient healthcare experience.The report states that the rising geriatric population globally and the increasing investments in the urgent care centers market are amongst the chief factors fuelling the growth of the market. Furthermore, factors such as the appointment flexibility and the reduced waiting time in urgent care centers have raised their demand immensely amongst patients, impacting the market positively. However, the dearth of qualified physicians and the soaring costs related to the establishment of these centers may pose a negative impact on the growth of the market in forthcoming years.On the basis of service, the report segments the market for urgent care centers into injury, illness, vaccination, physical, screening, and diagnostic. Amongst these, the segment of illnesses exhibited the largest share on the basis of revenue in 2014 and was trailed by the segment of injuries.In terms of geography, the market is segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). Amongst these, the region of North America held the largest share in the market in 2014. This region was followed by Europe, which took the second-largest share in the market. The rising preference for economical medical care facilities and the increasing demand for walk-in health services are responsible for the dominance of the regional urgent care centers market in North America.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :Key Players in the Urgent Care Centers MarketThe prominent players dominant in the market are CareSpot Express Healthcare LLC, AFC/Doctors Express, Concentra Inc., MD Now, FastMed Urgent Care, MinuteClinic LLC, NextCare Urgent Care, MedExpress, U.S. HealthWorks Inc., and Patient First, 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.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:
Gyroscope Inclinometer Market Report - Industry Overview, Top Manufacturers Analysis and Forecast 2022

Gyroscope Inclinometer Market

http://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/15552-gyroscope-inclinometer-market-analysis-report

http://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-15552

http://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-15552

www.decisiondatabases.com/

DecisionDatabases.com announces a new report 2017-2022 Global Top Countries Gyroscope Inclinometer Market Report added to its database. The report provides key statistics on the current state of the industry and other analytical data to understand the market.This report studies Gyroscope Inclinometer in Global market, especially in United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, China, Japan, India, Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, Brazil, Middle East and Africa.Browse Full Report with TOC @The report focuses on the top Manufacturers in each country, covering Ken-Success Sitan ASIT SPT Wkdzs Landau Ericco RRK TechnologySplit by Product Types, with sales, revenue, price, market share of each type, can be divided into Dynamic Tuning Gyroscope Inclinometer Fiber Optic Gyroscopes Inclinometer Mechanical Frame Gyroscope Inclinometer ROWSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Gyroscope Inclinometer in each application, can be divided into Geological Survey Aerospace ROWDownload Free Sample Report of Gyroscope Inclinometer Market @Table of Contents - Snapshot1 Market Overview2 Global Sales, Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Manufacturers3 Global Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)4 Global Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis5 North America Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)6 Latin America Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)7 Europe Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)8 Asia-Pacific Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)9 Middle East and Africa Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)10 Manufacturing Cost Analysis11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Global Market Forecast (2017-2022)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixOrder a Copy of Complete Gyroscope Inclinometer Market Research Report @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 - 40001E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Website:
Web Real Time Communication Market - Industry Shares, Market Strategies And Key Players

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11816

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Web Real Time Communication (Web RTC) is an open source application programming interface (API) originated by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Web RTC enables end-users with voice calling, video chat and peer to peer file sharing between browsers without the support of any external plugin. World Wide Web Consortium is the international standard organization for the development of standards world wide web. The W3C tries to establish compatibility among industry service providers for adoption of global standards developed by them. The internet protocols required for web RTC are developed, managed and standardized by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).Web RTC comprises of three APIs, GetUserMedia (), PeerConnection () and DataChannels (). The GetUserMedia () request the user for permission to get access to input devices such as microphone and camera. The PeerConnection () establishes a connection between local device and remote device. The DataChannels () represents a bidirectional data channel between both the peers in the connection.View Comprehensive Analysis of the Report :Web RTC provides time efficient, easily accessible and encrypted commercial telephony system. Web RTC is an open source API, hence could be easily accessed by the application developers. This has led to heavy adoption of web RTC in developing communication solutions at a lower cost compared to traditional systems. Web RTC does not depend on platform and device on which it is integrated, thus would attract global customers.Furthermore, web RTC provides better video and audio quality at a lower cost with enhanced security level compared to other telecommunication systems, thus could drive the growth of global web RTC market. Web RTC adapts and adjusts itself according to the changing network conditions. It adjusts according to bandwidth availability and avoids network congestion, thus increases efficiency of the network. The organizations enabled with web RTC technology products could improve customer interaction, promotional activities and increase their sales in a cost-effective way. The growth in customer facing industries such as retail, healthcare and hospitality would further boost the growth of web RTC market. However, web RTC is still an emerging technology, therefore has various challenges such as privacy issues with use of public internet and data security. These issues are expected to restrain the growth of global web RTC market. With big players such as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corporation not supporting web RTC technology, the market is expected to face a hurdle in its growth.Web RTC market is broadly segmented on the basis of type, solution and geography. On the basis of type, the web RTC market can be segmented into software and services whereas, on the basis of solution it can be segmented as video calling solutions, voice solutions, messaging solutions and file sharing solutions. The software segment of the market provides software which have web RTC functionality whereas service segment provides the technology and API to integrate web RTC in their existing websites.Moreover, in terms of geographies, the global Web RTC market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America regions. Web RTC technology show its strong presence in North America as technological advancements and heavy investments are made by the players of this region. AsiaPacific and Europe are also adopting web RTC significantly due to tremendous growth seen in usage of web based applications.The major participants in the web RTC market include companies such as Google Incorporation, Mozilla Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., Opera Software ASA, TokBox, Twilio, Alcatel-Lucent S.A., Voxeo Corporation, American Telephone & Telegraph Corporation and Avaya Inc.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
High-Integrity Pressure Protection System Market - Reduction In Costs And Weight For Downstream Vessels Has Been A Major Drivers

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=19838

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

High integrity pressure protection system or HIPPS is a safety system designed for preventing over-pressurization of any plant. HIPPS is designed for a better process shutdown and emergency systems. High integrity pressure protection system prevents a system to stop from exceeding the rated pressure level. The HIPPS shuts down the source of high pressure of the system before the overall design pressure is exceeded. This helps in prevention of loss resulting from rupture of a line or vessel and thus being used across different industry verticals. The global market for high integrity pressure protection system has been segmented on the basis of standards, component, end use industries and geography. The safety integrity level (SIL) and IEC are the various standards based on which the global market for HIPPS has been segmented globally. On the basis of components the global market for HIPPS has been segmented into valves and actuators among others. Power generation, chemicals, mining, pharmaceutical, oil & gas and food & beverages among others form the various application areas of HIPPS market globally.Global high-integrity pressure protection system market on the basis of geography has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa.The reduction in costs and weight for downstream vessels has been a major driver that is positively impacting the growth of the global HIPPS market. Moreover, the increased capacity supporting the flowline applications has further led to the application of HIPPS in different industries especially the oil & gas sector. Use of HIPPS has also reduced the costs related to transportation and storage as a result of volume and weights reduction that has further enhanced the overall demand for high-integrity pressure protection system globally. Other than this, application of HIPPS also eliminates the necessity for installing relief devices to avoid gas emission in atmosphere as it is covered by HIPPS. All these factors along with the safety security and reliability factor associated with usage of HIPPS for maintaining pressure has resulted in rising application and demand for high-integrity pressure protection system.PDF Sample For Latest Industry Happenings @HIPPS also prevents over pressure in downstream vessels that has been another crucial factor in rising application and demand for high-integrity pressure protection system globally thereby aiding the overall market to grow globally. Considering all these drivers, it is the maintenance of strict standards for the implementation of high-integrity pressure protection system that has been a major restraint for this market globally. Other than this, it is also the technological complexity associated with the implementation of high-integrity pressure protection system that has also been another major restraint restricting the growth of this market globally. The huge application of high-integrity pressure protection system with changing technology across different industries will provide huge growth opportunities for the growth of high-integrity pressure protection system market in the coming years.Geographically, it is North America that forms one of the major regions contributes to the growth of high-integrity pressure protection system market globally. High application of high-integrity pressure protection system in oil & gas industry that is being focused upon in North America will act as a major driver for the growth of this market. Other than this, it is the shale gas exploration in Mexico that will further act as another major driver for high-integrity pressure protection system market because of its huge applications in oil & gas sector. Asia Pacific is expected to be one of the fastest growing regions with China, Japan and India being some of the major regions in this market. Increasing focus for stringent industrial standard and related equipment will act as a major driver for the growth of high-integrity pressure protection system market in this region.Some of the major players operating in the high-integrity pressure protection system (HIPPS) market include Rockwell Automation (U.S.), Emerson Electric Company (U.S.), Schlumberger Limited (U.S.), Schneider Electric SE (France), ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), General Electric Company (U.S.) and Siemens AG (Germany) among others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Implantable Medical Devices Market Trends, Regulatory Landscape and Operational Strategies 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/global-implantable-medical-devices-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=13946

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

Implantable Medical Devices Market: SnapshotAn implantable device is a device that is placed into a surgically or naturally formed cavity of the human body if it is intended to remain there for a period of 30 days or more. In recent past, the global market for implantable medical devices has undergone rapid growth, and the expansion is expected to continue in the near future. The expansion of the market is attributed to the technical innovations in the field of implants, which is motivating implantable device manufacturers to infuse more capital in the research and development of their products. However, high price of sophisticated implantable devices often demotivates the end-users and in turn is hindering the growth rate of the market.The opportunity in the global market for implantable medical devices was valued at US$32.3 bn in 2015. Rising at a healthy CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period of 20162024, the valuation is estimated to reach US$49.8 bn by the end of 2024. This substantiality and sustainability of the market is also attributed to factors such as rising geriatric population, and the rise in the incidences of musculoskeletal, dental, and other chronic degenerative health conditions.Read Full Report:Rising Geriatric Population Driving Reconstructive Joint Replacement Sub-segmentDamage to the joint is highly painful and results in loss of agility and hampers the normal activity of an individual. Such damage can be treated through pharmacological therapies and arthroscopy. But depending upon the severity of the damage to the joint, physicians often prescribe joint replacement, which is the most in-demand sub-segment of the orthopedic implants segment in the global implantable medical devices market. The other sub-segments of orthopedic implants are spinal implants, orthobiologics, and trauma fixation implants.The market for reconstructive joint replacements is primed for the fastest growth rate during the forecast period due to the increase in the instance of orthopedic disorders and growth in aging population. In addition, focus on the development of less invasive surgeries for joint replacement and awareness about its advantages will spur the demand for reconstructive joint replacement. Pricing pressures by bulk buyers will be the major holdback of this market. However owing to the advantages of products such as cement-less implants, patients will continue to opt for reconstructive joint replacement. The other product segments of the global implantable medical devices market are cardiovascular implants, dental implants, intraocular lens (IOLS), breast implants, and other implants.Download exclusive Sample of this report:Japan Emerging as Second Most-lucrative MarketNorth America currently contributes to the most prominent demand for implantable medical devices, accounting for nearly 42% of the revenue in the global market in 2015. The demand is expected to sustain in the region due to factors such as the well-established healthcare infrastructure, effective reimbursement policies, rising geriatric population, increasing number of obese people, and high purchasing power. The U.S. currently is the most profitable country-market for implantable medical devices in the region of North America, serving 92% of the overall demand. However, the Asia Pacific implantable medical devices market is expected to expand at a faster rate due to a vast population base, of which major chunk is geriatrics, and investments by governments in the region toward improving their healthcare infrastructure. Japan is the second-most-prominent country-wise market globally. Factors that are augmenting the demand for implantable medical devices market in Japan are high life-span among the population, which is leading to rising prevalence of orthopedic conditions, and the demand for advanced technologies.This is a fairly consolidated market with the top five companies accounting for more than 50% of the share in 2015. These five companies are Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer Biomet, Medtronic plc, Institut Straumann AG, and Stryker Corporation. Other key vendors in the market include Abbott Laboratories, Smith & Nephew plc, Danaher Corporation, Dentsply Sirona, and Boston Scientific Corporation.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:
Increase in the Usage of Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams (Baby Personal Care) Market in United Arab Emirates : Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/985019

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/985019

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/

"The Report Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams (Baby Personal Care) Market in United Arab Emirates - Outlook to 2020: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"SummaryPersonal Care products designed especially for babies. Includes products related to Bath, Moisturizing and Other Personal Care.Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams (Baby Personal Care) Market in United Arab Emirates - Outlook to 2020: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics is a broad level market review of Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams market of United Arab Emirates. The research handbook provides the up-to-date market size data for period 2011-2015 and illustrative forecast to 2020 covering key market aspects like Sales Value and Volume for Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams and its variants Bath, Lotion, Powder, Oil, Shampoo and Wipes (Baby Toiletries).View Report @Sales Values in the handbook are depicted in USD ($) and local currency of United Arab Emirates and Volumes are represented in M Units. The research handbook acts as an essential tool for companies active or planning to venture in to United Arab Emirates' Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams (Baby Personal Care) market. The comprehensive statistics within the research handbook provides insight into the operating environment of the market and also ensures right business decision making based on historical trends and industry model based forecasting.Key Findings- Overall Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams (Baby Personal Care) market value and volume analytics with growth analysis from 2011 to 2020.- Sales Value and Volume analytics for variants of Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams; Bath, Lotion, Powder, Oil, Shampoo and Wipes (Baby Toiletries)Get Sample Copy Of This Report @SynopsisBaby Talcs, Oils & Creams (Baby Personal Care) Market in United Arab Emirates - Outlook to 2020: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics is a broad level market review of Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams market of United Arab Emirates. The research handbook provides the up-to-date market size data for period 2011-2015 and illustrative forecast to 2020 covering key market aspects like Sales Value and Volume for Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams and its variants Bath, Lotion, Powder, Oil, Shampoo and Wipes (Baby Toiletries).ReasonsToBuy- Get access to authoritative and granular data on the Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams (Baby Personal Care) market and fill in the gaps in understanding of trends and the components of change behind them.- Enhance your understanding of the market to update your strategic and tactical plans based on volume and value changes.- Analyze the components of change in the market by looking at historic and future growth patterns.- Use the data to understand future patterns of the market trends from winners and losers to category dynamics and thereby quickly and easily identify the key areas in which you want to compete in the future.Table of Contents1 Introduction1.1 What is this Report About?1.2 Definitions1.2.1 This report provides 2015 actual sales; while forecasts are provided for 2016 20201.2.2 Category Definitions1.2.3 Volume Units and Aggregations1.2.4 CAGR Definition and Calculation1.2.5 Exchange Rates1.2.6 Methodology Summary2 United Arab Emirates Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams Market Analysis, 2010202.1 Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams Value Analysis, 2010202.1.1 Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams Market by Value, 2010202.1.2 Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams Market Value by Segments, 2010202.2 Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams Volume Analysis, 2010202.2.1 Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams Market by Volume, 2010202.2.2 Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams Market Volume by Segments, 2010203 United Arab Emirates Baby Talcs, Oils & Creams Market Analysis, by Segment 2010203.1 Bath Analysis, 2010203.1.1 Bath Market by Value, 2010203.1.2 Bath Market by Volume, 2010203.2 Lotion Analysis, 2010203.2.1 Lotion Market by Value, 2010203.2.2 Lotion Market by Volume, 2010203.3 Oil Analysis, 2010203.3.1 Oil Market by Value, 2010203.3.2 Oil Market by Volume, 2010203.4 Powder Analysis, 2010203.4.1 Powder Market by Value, 2010203.4.2 Powder Market by Volume, 2010203.5 Shampoo Analysis, 2010203.5.1 Shampoo Market by Value, 2010203.5.2 Shampoo Market by Volume, 2010203.6 Wipes (Baby Toiletries) Analysis, 2010203.6.1 Wipes (Baby Toiletries) Market by Value, 2010203.6.2 Wipes (Baby Toiletries) Market by Volume, 201020MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Wine Market in Canada is Forecast to Grow at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2015-2020

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/984851

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/984851

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/984851

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/984851

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/

"The Report Consumer and Market Insights: Wine in Canada provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The Wine market in Canada is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2015-2020. Among all categories, Still Wine and Fortified Wine categories are expected to register the fastest value growth during 2015-2020. Food & Drinks Specialists is the leading distribution channel. Segura Viudas and Brights are the leading brands in the Canadian Wine Market. Demand for Spanish Wines will increase the sales of Imported Wines. More food retailers in Canada will offer wine to back-up demand in the evening hours.View Report @Key Findings- The Wine market in Canada is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2015-2020- Canadians are opting for value for money products in the Wine market- The Still Wine category has the highest volume share in the overall Wine market- Food & Drinks Specialists is the leading distribution channel in the Canadian Wine market- Stopper is the commonly used closure type in the Canadian Wine marketSynopsisThe Wine market in Canada is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2015-2020. Among all categories, Still Wine and Fortified Wine categories are expected to register the fastest value growth during 2015-2020. Food & Drinks Specialists is the leading distribution channel. Segura Viudas and Brights are the leading brands in the Canadian Wine Market. Demand for Spanish Wines will increase the sales of Imported Wines. More food retailers in Canada will offer wine to back-up demand in the evening hours.Get Sample Copy Of this Report @ReasonsToBuy- Identify high potential categories and explore further market opportunities based on detailed value and volume analysis- Existing and new players can analyze key distribution channels to identify and evaluate trends and opportunities- Gain an understanding of the total competitive landscape based on detailed brand share analysis to plan effective market positioning- Access the key and most influential consumer trends driving Wine products consumption, and how they influence consumer behavior in the market which will help determine the best audiences to target- Access to analysis on products launched in the market- Our team of analysts have placed a significant emphasis on changes expected in the market that will provide a clear picture of the opportunities that can be tapped over the next five years, resulting in revenue expansionTable of ContentIntroduction- Report ScopeCountry Context- Macroeconomic indicators GDP Per Capita, Population, Consumer Price Index and Age ProfileMarket Overview- Value and volume analysis for the Canadian Wine market- Impact of exchange rate fluctuations on the Canadian Wine market- Degree of trade up/down in the Canadian Wine market- Volume analysis by category- Market value and growth rates, by category- Historic and forecast value analysis by category- Winners and losers by categories with change in market share- Segment share in a category (value terms) and change in market share- Average category level pricingRetail Landscape and Key Distribution Channels- Leading retailers in the Canadian Wine & Spirits market- Leading distribution channels (volume terms) in the Canadian Wine market- Leading distribution channels (volume terms) by categoryCompetitive Landscape- Market share of leading brands (in volume terms) by categoryPackaging- Wine market by type of packaging material/container (in volume terms)- Wine market by type of packaging closure/outer (in volume terms)- Wine market by type of packaging, forecast(in volume terms)Consumer trend analysis- GlobalDatas consumer trend framework and explanation of the sub-trends- For key trends in the Canadian Wine market:- How the trend is influencing consumption in the Canadian Wine market- How to target the trend in the Canadian Wine market- How the trend will evolve in the Canadian Wine market- Key target demographic and the rate at which the trend will evolve- What are the key drivers that will influence growth of Wine market in the futureMarketResearchReports.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.Wine Market in Canada is Forecast to Grow at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2015-2020"The Report Consumer and Market Insights: Wine in Canada provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The Wine market in Canada is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2015-2020. Among all categories, Still Wine and Fortified Wine categories are expected to register the fastest value growth during 2015-2020. Food & Drinks Specialists is the leading distribution channel. Segura Viudas and Brights are the leading brands in the Canadian Wine Market. Demand for Spanish Wines will increase the sales of Imported Wines. More food retailers in Canada will offer wine to back-up demand in the evening hours.View Report @Key Findings- The Wine market in Canada is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2015-2020- Canadians are opting for value for money products in the Wine market- The Still Wine category has the highest volume share in the overall Wine market- Food & Drinks Specialists is the leading distribution channel in the Canadian Wine market- Stopper is the commonly used closure type in the Canadian Wine marketSynopsisThe Wine market in Canada is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2015-2020. Among all categories, Still Wine and Fortified Wine categories are expected to register the fastest value growth during 2015-2020. Food & Drinks Specialists is the leading distribution channel. Segura Viudas and Brights are the leading brands in the Canadian Wine Market. Demand for Spanish Wines will increase the sales of Imported Wines. More food retailers in Canada will offer wine to back-up demand in the evening hours.Get Sample Copy Of this Report @ReasonsToBuy- Identify high potential categories and explore further market opportunities based on detailed value and volume analysis- Existing and new players can analyze key distribution channels to identify and evaluate trends and opportunities- Gain an understanding of the total competitive landscape based on detailed brand share analysis to plan effective market positioning- Access the key and most influential consumer trends driving Wine products consumption, and how they influence consumer behavior in the market which will help determine the best audiences to target- Access to analysis on products launched in the market- Our team of analysts have placed a significant emphasis on changes expected in the market that will provide a clear picture of the opportunities that can be tapped over the next five years, resulting in revenue expansionTable of ContentIntroduction- Report ScopeCountry Context- Macroeconomic indicators GDP Per Capita, Population, Consumer Price Index and Age ProfileMarket Overview- Value and volume analysis for the Canadian Wine market- Impact of exchange rate fluctuations on the Canadian Wine market- Degree of trade up/down in the Canadian Wine market- Volume analysis by category- Market value and growth rates, by category- Historic and forecast value analysis by category- Winners and losers by categories with change in market share- Segment share in a category (value terms) and change in market share- Average category level pricingRetail Landscape and Key Distribution Channels- Leading retailers in the Canadian Wine & Spirits market- Leading distribution channels (volume terms) in the Canadian Wine market- Leading distribution channels (volume terms) by categoryCompetitive Landscape- Market share of leading brands (in volume terms) by categoryPackaging- Wine market by type of packaging material/container (in volume terms)- Wine market by type of packaging closure/outer (in volume terms)- Wine market by type of packaging, forecast(in volume terms)Consumer trend analysis- GlobalDatas consumer trend framework and explanation of the sub-trends- For key trends in the Canadian Wine market:- How the trend is influencing consumption in the Canadian Wine market- How to target the trend in the Canadian Wine market- How the trend will evolve in the Canadian Wine market- Key target demographic and the rate at which the trend will evolve- What are the key drivers that will influence growth of Wine market in the futureAbout 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.Contact us:Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E : sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Household Paper Products Market in Canada : Cosmetic tissues, Household paper, Table napkins and Toilet papers

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/985158

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/985158

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/

"The Report Household Paper Products (Household Care) Market in Canada - Outlook to 2020: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Paper products used for household task or cosmetic / personal use. Includes Table napkins, Toilet Papers, Cosmetic tissues / Facial Tissues and Other Household paper products.Household Paper Products (Household Care) Market in Canada - Outlook to 2020: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics is a broad level market review of Household Paper Products market of Canada. The research handbook provides the up-to-date market size data for period 2011-2015 and illustrative forecast to 2020 covering key market aspects like Sales Value and Volume for Household Paper Products and its variants Cosmetic tissues, Household paper, Table napkins and Toilet papers.Sales Values in the handbook are depicted in USD ($) and local currency of Canada and Volumes are represented in M Units. The research handbook acts as an essential tool for companies active or planning to venture in to Canada's Household Paper Products (Household Care) market. The comprehensive statistics within the research handbook provides insight into the operating environment of the market and also ensures right business decision making based on historical trends and industry model based forecasting.View Report @Key Findings- Overall Household Paper Products (Household Care) market value and volume analytics with growth analysis from 2011 to 2020.- Sales Value and Volume analytics for variants of Household Paper Products; Cosmetic tissues, Household paper, Table napkins and Toilet papersSynopsisHousehold Paper Products (Household Care) Market in Canada - Outlook to 2020: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics is a broad level market review of Household Paper Products market of Canada. The research handbook provides the up-to-date market size data for period 2011-2015 and illustrative forecast to 2020 covering key market aspects like Sales Value and Volume for Household Paper Products and its variants Cosmetic tissues, Household paper, Table napkins and Toilet papers.ReasonsToBuy- Get access to authoritative and granular data on the Household Paper Products (Household Care) market and fill in the gaps in understanding of trends and the components of change behind them.- Enhance your understanding of the market to update your strategic and tactical plans based on volume and value changes.- Analyze the components of change in the market by looking at historic and future growth patterns.- Use the data to understand future patterns of the market trends from winners and losers to category dynamics and thereby quickly and easily identify the key areas in which you want to compete in the future.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Table of Contents1 Introduction1.1 What is this Report About?1.2 Definitions1.2.1 This report provides 2015 actual sales; while forecasts are provided for 2016 20201.2.2 Category Definitions1.2.3 Volume Units and Aggregations1.2.4 CAGR Definition and Calculation1.2.5 Exchange Rates1.2.6 Methodology Summary2 Canada Household Paper Products Market Analysis, 2010 202.1 Household Paper Products Value Analysis, 2010 202.1.1 Household Paper Products Market by Value, 2010 202.1.2 Household Paper Products Market Value by Segments, 2010 202.2 Household Paper Products Volume Analysis, 2010 202.2.1 Household Paper Products Market by Volume, 2010 202.2.2 Household Paper Products Market Volume by Segments, 2010 203 Canada Household Paper Products Market Analysis, 2010 203.1 Cosmetic tissues Analysis, 2010 203.1.1 Cosmetic tissues Market by Value, 2010 203.1.2 Cosmetic tissues Market by Volume, 2010 203.2 Household paper Analysis, 2010 203.2.1 Household paper Market by Value, 2010 203.2.2 Household paper Market by Volume, 2010 203.3 Table napkins Analysis, 2010 203.3.1 Table napkins Market by Value, 2010 203.3.2 Table napkins Market by Volume, 2010 203.4 Toilet papers Analysis, 2010 203.4.1 Toilet papers Market by Value, 2010 203.4.2 Toilet papers Market by Volume, 2010 204 Appendix4.1 About GlobalData4.2 DisclaimerMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Service Station Retail Austria Report : : Market Size, Retailer Strategies and Competitor Performance

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/984869

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/984869

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/

"The Report Service Station Retail Austria Report provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"SummaryService Station Retail Austria Report , a Sector Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the Austrian service station market today, with forecasts of values and volumes up to 2021. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into the fuel market, analyzing key trends in the market based on in depth interviews with major fuel card operators across Europe and proprietary data from GlobalDatas service station retail databases. It provides: National Fuel Volumes and Values - Forecasted to 2021. Breakdown of fuel retailer shop, car wash, company owned, motorway and unmanned sites. Company Fuel Volumes, Values and Market Shares - Forecasted to 2021. Major competitor analysis by country. Average fuel volumes per site, motorist and nationally.View Report @Key Findings- Total fuel consumption in Austria declined by 1.9% in 2015 compared to the previous year.- The total number of service stations in Austria marginally grew by 0.7% to 2,641 sites in 2015. As of 2015, 56.4% of service stations in Austria featured a shop.- Eni has the largest number of service stations with a car wash in the country, at 220 sites, amounting to 18.9% of the national network.SynopsisTotal fuel consumption in Austria declined by 1.9% in 2015 compared to the previous year. The total number of service stations in Austria marginally grew by 0.7% to 2,641 sites in 2015. As of 2015, 56.4% of service stations in Austria featured a shop. Eni has the largest number of service stations with a car wash in the country, at 220 sites, amounting to 18.9% of the national network.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @ReasonsToBuy- Identify who are the top five players in each of the service station retail markets in Southern Europe and how many fuel outlets, motorway & unmanned sites, shops & car wash they have. Plan effect market strategies by uncovering market share and average fuel throughput per site of the top five players in the market.- Understand how the service station network evolving and which players are opening new outlets as well as increasing forecourt shops and car washes.- Identify what strategies the key players have across their fuel and non- fuel offerings in terms of products sold, branding, partnerships and suppliers used.Table of ContentTable of ContentsService station competitor overviewService station market overviewMarket SizeService station shopsService station car washMethodologyAppendixMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Flat Steels Market - Plates, Coated Sheet, Hot Rolled Sheets, and Cold Rolled Sheets & Forecast to 2022

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1885

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/flat-steel-market

Flat Steel Market size was valued at around USD 380 Billion in 2015 and is expected to grow at CAGR of approximately 6% by 2022. Flat steel refers to the sheet, coils or other flat-rolled steel product. Rapid growth in the construction & infrastructure sector is the key factor for the flat steel market. It not only reduced the cost of the construction but also reduced the maintenance cost of the building. Additionally, transportation sector & renewable energy sectors are also growing significantly which is another key driver for the flat steel market. On the basis of region, Asia-Pacific is the largest market by value.Request for Sample Report @Key Players United Steel Corporation Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation Essar Steel Tata Steel Ltd Hyundai Steel Co. POSCO SSAB ArcelorMittal Voestalpine ThyssenKruppRegional Analysis of Flat Steel MarketAsia-Pacific region is the largest market for flat steel, followed by Europe. In developing countries especially like China, India, and Japan, the construction & infrastructure sectors are growing rapidly which promotes the flat steel market. This region is expected to grow at a highest rate during the forecasted period.Scope of the ReportThis study provides an overview of the Insulation Products market, tracking two market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the Insulation Products market as Product Types, and End Users.By Product Types Plates Coated Sheet Hot Rolled Sheet Cold Rolled SheetBy End-Users Construction & Infrastructure Automobiles Transport OthersTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 85 market data tables and figures spread in 140 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Flat steels Market Information from 2014 to 2022"Market Research AnalysisThe market is highly application based. The factors contributing to the growth of the flat steel market are, surge in construction & infrastructural activities, and growing transport & renewable energy sector. The market is expected to have higher growth rate as compared to the previous years. Asia-Pacific is the largest region for the flat steel market, followed by Europe.Asia-Pacific is the largest growing marketAsia-Pacific region dominates the market with its largest market share for flat steels. In APAC region vehicle manufacturing, construction & infrastructural sector is growing rapidly because of rapid urbanization which is ultimately driving the flat steel market.Access Full Report@Table of Content1 Executive Summary2 Scope of the Report2.1Market Definition2.2Scope of the Study2.3Markets Structure3 Market Research Methodologies3.1Research Process3.2Secondary Research4 Market Landscape4.1Five Forces Analysis4.2Value Chain of Flat Steel Market5 Industry Overview of Flat Steel Market5.1Introduction5.2Growth Drivers5.3Impact analysis6 Market Trends6.1Introduction6.2Growth Trends6.3Impact analysis7 Flat Steel Markets by Region8 Flat Steel Markets by Product Type9 Flat Steel Markets by End UsersContinued.About 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.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Cardiovascular Monitoring and Diagnostic Devices Market 2024: Analysis, Growth, Drivers, Vendors Landscape, Shares, Size, Trends, Challenges, Segmentation with Forecast

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/crdiovascular-monitoring-diagnostic-devices.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2385

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

Being the leading cause of death and witnessing a high rise in prevalence, the class of ailments that come under the purview of cardiovascular diseases is witnessing increased focus from healthcare, research, and government bodies alike. A large number of companies are venturing into the market with an innovative range of products for diagnosing and treating a variety of cardiovascular diseases. Research and development activities are being granted increasingly more funds and governments bodies are implementing various health schemes aimed at reducing the prevalence and improving awareness about cardiovascular diseases.Transparency Market Research states that the global cardiovascular monitoring and diagnostic devices market held an opportunity of US$1.8 bn in 2015. The market is expected to expand at a 6.4% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024, and rise to a valuation of US$3.1 bn by 2024.Read Full Report:Electrocardiogram (ECG) Systems Lead on Account of Cost Effectiveness and High EfficiencyThe product segment of ECG systems presently holds the largest share in the global cardiovascular monitoring and diagnostic devices market. The widespread presence and high preference for ECG systems in developed and developing regions alike are key to the segments leading market position. ECG systems are expected to remain the key contributor to the markets overall revenues over 206 and 2024 as well, expanding at a 6.3% CAGR in the global market.However, the segment of implantable loop recorders is expected to witness the fastest expansion, a 7.1% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. The segment is projected to benefit from the rising awareness about the use of these devices in diagnosing syncope. As several cases of the disease remain undiagnosed when other conventional diagnostic methods are used, implantable loop recorders are gaining an increased level of adoption across medical diagnostic centers globally. The valuation of the segment is expected to reach US$152.7 mn by 2024.The segment of Holter monitors also holds immense growth promise owing to the rising prevalence of conditions such as arrhythmia and conduction block. The segment was valued at US$416.1 mn in 2015 and is expected to expand at a high single-digit CAGR from 2016 to 2024.North America to Continue Taking Largest Share of Pie but Emerging Economies Hold More PromiseNorth America accounted for the largest share of the overall revenues of the global cardiovascular monitoring and diagnostic devices market in 2015. The region is expected to remain the largest market over the period between 2016 and 2024 as well. Factors such as favorable reimbursement policies, high awareness about available diagnosis and treatment methods among patients and physicians, favorable reimbursement policies, and efficient healthcare infrastructure are factors that will help North America remain at the forefront of the global market. Europe, the second largest contributor to the global cardiovascular monitoring and diagnostic devices market in 2015, will also remain a lucrative owing to large scale healthcare infrastructure development activities and rising prevalence of cardiovascular disease.Download exclusive Sample of this report:However, developing regions such as Latin America and Asia Pacific will present the most promising growth opportunities for the global cardiovascular monitoring and diagnostic devices market over the period between 2016 and 2024. The presence of vast untapped growth prospects, rising healthcare expenditure, and increasing awareness about the efficiency of available techniques and devices in effectively curing several cardiovascular conditions will remain key to the overall growth of the market.Several research studies also state that the risk of cardiovascular diseases is substantially high in mid- and low-income economies. This substantiates the fact that a large variety of cardiovascular monitoring and diagnostic devices will be consumed in Asia Pacific and Latin America in the next few years. The market for these devices will expand at a 7.5% in Asia Pacific and a 7.3% CAGR in Latin America over the period between 2016 and 2024.In the highly dynamic global market for cardiovascular monitoring and diagnostic devices market, the top two vendors, GE Healthcare and Philips Healthcare accounted for a more than 55% of the global market in 2015. Other key vendors in the market are Spacelabs Healthcare, St. Jude Medical, Inc., and Siemens Healthcare.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:
Biomedical Refrigerators and Freezers Market Trends And Opportunities For The Industry By 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/biomedical-refrigerators-freezers-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=4666

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

The rising prevalence of a number of chronic and infectious diseases, increasing global demand for personalized drugs, and the promising pace of technological developments across healthcare infrastructures in emerging economies are cumulatively driving the increased adoption of biomedical refrigerators and freezers globally. The steady rise in the number of blood banks in developing and developed regions combined with government initiatives aimed at raising awareness about blood donation have also favored the sustainable growth of the market in the past few years.In the years to come, stringent emission regulation norms and rising awareness about the harms of greenhouse gases emitted from conventional refrigeration systems to the environment will compel product manufacturers to design greener products. Companies are surely coming to terms with the several changes aimed at fortifying this switchover, such as worldwide bans on refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). As a result, more green refrigerators and freezers will enter the biomedical industry in the next few years.Transparency Market Research forecasts that the global biomedical refrigerators and freezers market will expand at a healthy CAGR of 4.2% over the period between 2016 and 2024. The market, which held an opportunity of US$2.91 bn in 2015, is expected to rise to US$4.28 bn by 2024.Read Full Report:Plasma Freezers to Retain Dominant Stance in Global MarketOf the key varieties of refrigerators and freezers used in the biomedical industry, including plasma freezers, shock freezers, ultra-low temperature freezers, blood bank refrigerators, and laboratory/pharmacy refrigerators and freezers, the segment of plasma freezers presently dominates the market. The segment accounted for a share of nearly 29% in the market in 2015. The vast rise in demand for fresh frozen plasma and rising number of apheresis procedures across the globe will likely aid the segment continue dominating the market across the forecasting horizon as well.The rising global demand for blood transfusion and a vast rise in the number of technologically advanced blood banks across the globe has also resulted in the heightened demand for plasma freezers globally. In terms of rate of expansion, however, the segment of laboratory/pharmacy/medical freezers will outpace the segment of plasma freezers through 2024. The segment of laboratory/pharmacy/medical freezers will exhibit a 5.49% CAGR from 2016 to 2024.Asia Pacific to Present Most Promising Growth Opportunities; North America to Remain Key ContributorRising geriatric population, rising investments towards technological advancements in healthcare infrastructure, and the flourishing medical tourism industry will collectively lead to vast growth opportunities for the global biomedical refrigerators and freezers market in in Asia Pacific in the next few years. The market will expand at the fastest CAGR of 5.84% among other key regional markets through 2024. The region is expected to hold an 18% share in the global market by 2024.Download exclusive Sample of this report:However, North America will continue to hold the largest share in the market and witness only a slight drop in its share in the global market by 2024. North America presently leads the market, accounting for a 52% share in markets overall valuation in 2015.The region holds a dominant position in the global market on account of the highly developed healthcare infrastructures, the presence of a large number of worlds leading biomedical companies, and the vast life sciences research activities undertaken every year. The introduction and high rate of adoption of technologically advanced products such as RFID-enabled equipment, multiple compressor equipment also favor the overall growth of the biomedical refrigerators and freezers market in North America.Vendors Need to Focus on Development of Economic ProductsThe market features intense competition, which has further soared owing to the introduction of technologically advanced and innovative products at a sustained pace in the market. High R&D investments have compelled international companies to increase costs of products, somewhat limiting their appeal to only to the developed regions. This factor has worked well in favor of regional players, especially the ones operating in developing cost-sensitive economies such as Latin America and Asia Pacific.Some of the leading vendors in the market are Haier Biomedical, Eppendorf AG, Aegis Scientific, Inc., Leibherr Group, Terumo Corporation, Philipp Kirsch GmbH, Panasonic Healthcare Co., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., and Helmer Scientific.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 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner Market Trends, Size, Shares and Forecast till 2021

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=873538

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=873538

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Albany, NY, Feb 24, 2017: The analysts at Beige Market Intelligence expects the worldwide robotic vacuum cleaner market to reach approx. US$3,166.9 million by 2021 with a CAGR of more that 11.6%. In developed regions, the growth in the construction industry will contribute to the demand for robotic vacuum cleaners. Robotic vacuum cleaners are increasingly marking their presence among end-users worldwide. The floor care segment of the market offers a lucrative opportunity for vendors as the demand for floor care robotic vacuum cleaning devices has been increasing globally. Pool cleaning robots are popular in European countries whereas in US the demand of pool cleaning robots is comparatively low.Robotic Vacuum Cleaner Market  Trends, Drivers and ChallengesThe latest trend emerging in the robotic vacuum cleaners market is increased adoption of smart robotic vacuum cleaners among end-users across the world. However, adoption of smart home concept and increased sales and marketing of the robotic vacuum cleaners on internet are the emerging trends in the market. Robotic vacuum cleaners have become a popular sensation in the modern consumer electronics market. The demand is growing at a phenomenal rate across the world. The entry of low cost new variant in the market has propelled the growth of robotic vacuum cleaner market. Also, Increased domestic use of the robotic vacuum cleaners, as they are less time consuming and easy to use, is going to propel the sale of the robotic vacuum cleaner.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Robotic Vacuum Cleaner Market  Geographical AnalysisThe report includes the market analysis of different regions such as North America, APAC, Europe and ROW. The report outlines the major market share holder and the market size analysis of all the regions and provides the market size and forecast of the key countries.The penetration of robotic vacuum cleaners in the APAC countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia is increasing rapidly. For instance, the demand for robotic vacuum cleaners in Japan witnessed a surge in 2015 from 2014 against the demand for traditional vacuum cleaners. APAC will continue to dominate the worldwide robotic vacuum cleaner market till 2021. Europe will likely account for 30.83% and 33.13% market share, in terms of revenue and unit shipment, respectively, in 2021. The robotic vacuum cleaners market in North American is characterized by demand for advanced robotic vacuum cleaners with autonomy in functioning and navigating.Robotic Vacuum Cleaner Market  Market Share & Key VendorsThis market research profiles the major companies in the Global Robotic Vacuum Cleaner Market and provides the competitive landscape and market share of key the players. The report covers the entire market outlook regarding the value chain operating within the market.The major vendors included in the report are- iRobot, ECOVACS ROBOTICS, Maytronics Group and Aqua Products.The emerging vendors- DeLonghi, Dyson, Groupe SEB, Hanool Robotics, Hayward Industries, Hitachi, Hoover, LG, Mamirobot, Matsutek Enterprise, Metapo, Miele, Neato Robotics, Moneual, Panasonic, Pentair, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Taurus, Toshiba Lifestyle Products, Vorwerk, Yujin Robot and Zodiac.Enquiry at:Why should you buy Global Robotic Vaccum Cleaner Market report?The report gives reasonable answers for the following questions which leads you to know the in- depth market analysis such as- How has the market been performing and what are some of the current changes which are expected to change the landscape in the coming years?- What are the various factors that can affect the market and in what way over the next few years?- What are the emerging trends and challenges for the market over the next five years?- What is the market size and market forecast for each product segment?- Which regions are going to have the largest market share and what are the factors propelling the market growth in that region?- Which are the key countries and the market size and market forecast in the key countries?- Which companies are the key vendors in the market?- What are the strategies used by the top vendors, and what are the opportunities to grow?- Which companies are the emerging vendors in the 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 Bluetooth Software Market 2017 :Toshiba, B&K Precision, Phoenix Contact, Schneider Electric, Raspberry Pi, Teledyne LeCroy

http://bit.ly/2kTw0t7

http://bit.ly/2lywGTo

A market study based on the Bluetooth Software market across the globe, recently added to the repository of QY Market research, is titled Global Bluetooth Software Market 2016. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the global Bluetooth Software market, and makes predictions on the future status of Bluetooth Software market on the basis of this analysis.The report studies the market for Bluetooth Software across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Bluetooth Software market & dynamics of demand and supply of Bluetooth Software into consideration.Do Inquiry For Report Here:Major Companies covered in this Research Report are,ToshibaB&K PrecisionHirschmann Automation and ControlKeysight TechnologiesMicrochip Technology Inc.Phoenix ContactSchneider ElectricRaspberry PiTeledyne LeCroyAmprobeThe Bluetooth Software industry research study covers each and every aspect of the Bluetooth Software market globally, which starts from the definition of the Bluetooth Software market and develops towards Bluetooth Software market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Bluetooth Software market is classified and analysed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Bluetooth Software market. The geographical segmentation of the Bluetooth Software market has also been covered at length in this report.Global Bluetooth Software Sales Industry Report 2017 Covers:1. Bluetooth Software Overview2. Global Bluetooth Software Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application3. United States, China, Europe, Japan Bluetooth Software (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4. Worldwide Bluetooth Software Manufacturers Analysis5. Bluetooth Software Manufacturing Cost Analysis6. Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers7. Industrial Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders8. Market Effect Factors Analysis9. Worldwide Bluetooth Software Market Forecast (2017-2021)10. AppendixFor Sample Report Click Here:The competitive landscape of the global market for Bluetooth Software is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Bluetooth Software market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Bluetooth Software market worldwide.The global Bluetooth Software market 2016 is also analysed on the basis of product pricing, Bluetooth Software production volume, data regarding demand and Bluetooth Software 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.About Us:Industry Research Report 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:Suite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803
Feminine Hygiene Products Market - Latin America Industry Analysis, Size 2020

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=3969

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Leading market research firm Transparency Market Research has announced the release of a new research report, detailing the Latin America feminine hygiene products market. The markets historical and present figures are detailed and analyzed in order to present reliable forecasts for the markets growth in the period from 2014 to 2020. The Latin America feminine hygiene products market is expected to grow at a 9.6% CAGR in the 2014-2020 forecast period, rising from a 2014 valuation of US$2,198.2 million to a projected 2020 valuation of US$3,809.7 million.The report, titled Feminine Hygiene Products Market - Latin America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2014 - 2020, has been prepared by expert analysts with primary and secondary research and is available on the company website for sale.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights atThe essential nature of feminine hygiene products guarantees a steady demand for them, but growth and profitability will be determined chiefly by innovative products. Brazil, being the most dominant country in this market, will largely influence the trajectory of the market until 2020.The use of modern feminine hygiene products among women in Latin American countries is rising because of more women entering the work force, giving them greater purchasing power. This, coupled with women being more aware about the latest feminine hygiene products on the market, will also augur well for the Latin America feminine hygiene products market, say TMR analysts. Products that seamlessly fit into changing lifestyles of women in the region are seeing encouraging sales.In Brazil, the largest market for feminine hygiene products in Latin America, the demand for premium products is higher than in many neighboring countries. Here, women are seen to prefer products such as tampons over conventional sanitary pads, shields, and pantiliners. Manufacturers, having spotted this changing preference as a key market trend, have been responsive in introducing innovative products in the Brazilian feminine hygiene products market. The scenario is slightly different in Argentina, where purchase decisions are made more rationally and cost remains an important factor on account of the relatively low purchasing power. As a result, mid-range products are more popular in Argentina, says the report.In Chile, on the other hand, there is a palpable demand for feminine hygiene sprays and cleansers meant for use internally. This is attributable to the growing emphasis on maintaining a high degree of hygiene. The demand for premium internal cleansers and sprays is only just picking up in Chile and will be an attractive space in until 2020, according to the report.In Peru, the report notes that the preference for ultra-thin sanitary pads is higher than that for other kinds of sanitary protection products. The status quo will remain unchanged until 2020, predicts TMR. Players in the Peruvian feminine hygiene products market are investing bullishly in advertising and marketing campaigns to attract consumers from middle- and low-income households to achieve high-volume sales.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:
Medical Holography Market 2026: Emerging niche segments and regional markets

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/medical-holography-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=19295

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

Biomedical imaging technology is bringing in numerous innovations in the medical technology field. Medical imaging has become one of the fastest growing industries. Medical holography is one such technical advancement in medical science that is expected to answer the most complicated diagnostic issues. A medical hologram produces three dimension (3D) images of the human body in real time images or in the form of video stream. The real time images produced by the medical hologram are of high resolution and would help to reveal the complexities in the diagnosed body. Some of the medical holograms are interactive in nature that also provide most effective user interface for better understanding.Read Full Report:There is a high demand for advanced medical imaging from the healthcare sector. As the innovations in medical education are growing, medical holography market is expected to benefit from these innovations due to increased technology integration. Increased awareness among the consumers related to advanced medical technologies is expected to have a positive influence on medical holography market. Medical holography facilitates the real-time viewing of the diagnosed body, further improving the analysis process. The medical holography system provides an advanced diagnostic methodology to the doctors. These systems offer doctors a better understanding about the anatomy of the patients body, driving the demand for medical holography market. Medical holography helps the doctors to view complex displacement of bones or tissues that had occurred. The medical holography system is also expected to help the doctors to understand the medical complications more easily and quickly. Hologram guided heart surgeries are expected to gain more importance during the forecast period. With the help of holograms doctors can easily examine patients heart conditions or detect a colon cancer without breaking the skin. It will result in the quick diagnosis of any disease and the doctor can start with his treatment. Furthermore, there are numerous companies across the world investing in medical holography technologies. Introduction of augmented reality in the field of medical holography could be one of the greatest opportunities to the producers of medical holograms. Limited adoption of medical holograms despite its numerous advantages could prove to be a restraining factor for the market. The pricing of such medical holography technology is also higher which could affect its adoption among customers. However, with increasing technology adoption in medical and healthcare sectors this hurdle is expected to be tackled.Download exclusive Sample of this report:The medical holography market can be segmented on the basis of medical hologram types and the technology adopted in medical holography. Volumetric displays, planar/HUD interactive display, segmented displays, static digital holograms are a few of the types of medical holograms. Some of the common technologies viewed in medical holography market are plasma, touchable, electro holographic, semi-transparency, and laser technology.Some of the key players engaged in medical holography market are Dongguan Linbiao hologram manufacturer, Eon Reality Inc., EchoPixel, Inc., Zebra Imaging, General Electric Company, Microsoft Inc, Provision Holdings Inc., RealView Imaging Ltd., Holographic 3d solutions, Holography Industry JV, Ne&Ro Invest SRL., Arnold Herzig GmbH, DPL Industri A/S Denmark and Olomagic.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a 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:
Isocyanates Market: 2017 Global Trend and 2021 Forecast Research Report

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/212841

http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-isocyanates-market-research-report-and-forecast-to-2017-2021

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/discount/212841

https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research

https://twitter.com/orbisresearch

https://plus.google.com/+Orbisresearch/posts

This market analysis includes a detailed segmentation of the Global Isocyanates Market by development trend and by application.The report covers the present year 2017 scenario and the growth prospects of the Global Isocyanates Market for 2017-2021.The report Global Isocyanates Market 2017-2021 has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The report also covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years.The Isocyanates Market By Geography North America Asia-Pacific EuropeRequest a sample of Global Isocyanates Market Research Report @The Global Isocyanates Market research 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. 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.Global Isocyanates Market key players are: Company A Company B Company C Company DBrowse the full Global Isocyanates Market Research Report @The report provides an extensive analysis of current and future market status of the world Isocyanates Market.Some of the points from table of content:Industry Overview Definition Classification Share Analysis Application AnalysisMarket Analysis Product Development History Process Development History Competitive Landscape AnalysisIndustry Development Trend Capacity Production Overview Production Market Share Analysis Demand OverviewMarket Status and Forecast Supply Demand and Shortage Import Export Consumption Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginReasons for Buying this Global Isocyanates Market Research Report This report helps to analyzed the world's main region market conditions It provides product manufacturing processes It provides industry policies and plans It provides overview of product specification It provides cost structures & so on.The Report Contains: 167 Pages.Price of the report: 2850$ (single user license)Check discount @About 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 Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Follow us on G+ :
The Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Market Technology Innovation, Evolution, - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts 2015 - 2030

http://bit.ly/2l6EFn4

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/publisher/45

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/category/96

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressreleases

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/

Worldwide Market studies the current scenario as well as future market potential of "The Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Market: 2015 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts"Due to the bandwidth limitations of their traditional voice-centric LMR (Land Mobile Radio) networks, public safety agencies are keen to leverage commercial cellular network technology to support their growing broadband application needs. Considering its thriving ecosystem, spectrum flexibility and performance metrics, LTE has emerged as the leading candidate for public safety mobile broadband networks.Standardization efforts are still underway to enhance the LTE standard for public safety requirements, including MCPTT (Mission Critical PTT) functionality, group communications and proximity services. However, this has not deterred public safety agencies from early deployments of the technology, particularly in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. The Qatar MOI made headlines when it deployed a private 800 MHz LTE network to complement its existing TETRA network with broadband applications. Since then, several private LTE networks have sprung up across the globe. For example, the Lijiang Police in China is utilizing a 20 site private LTE network for video surveillance and related applications.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report:While most initial public safety LTE investments were limited to small scale networks, South Koreas nationwide public safety LTE rollout is expected to trigger significant large-scale investments throughout the globe. Several early adopter private LTE deployments are also underway in the United States, as part of the planned FirstNet nationwide network. Europe, on the other hand, is predominantly seeing growing adoption of security hardened MVNO services that utilize commercial LTE networks to provide broadband access for public safety subscribers. However, private LTE pilots are also underway in the region, including engagements with armed forces with a major focus on transportable base station form factors, such as CIAB (Cell-in-a-Box).Driven by the thriving ecosystem, we expect public safety LTE infrastructure investments to grow at a CAGR of nearly 40% between 2015 and 2020. By the end of 2020, infrastructure investments which include base stations (eNBs), mobile core and mobile backhaul gear will account for over $2 Billion. The market for ruggedized public safety LTE devices will also witness significant growth, with an estimated 4 Million annual device shipments in 2020.The Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Market: 2015  2030  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts report presents an in-depth assessment of the global public safety LTE market, besides touching upon the wider LMR and mobile broadband industries. In addition to covering the business case, challenges, technology, spectrum allocation, industry roadmap, deployment case studies, vendor products, strategies, standardization initiatives and applications ecosystem for public safety LTE, the report also presents comprehensive forecasts for mobile broadband, LMR and public safety LTE subscriptions from 2015 till 2030. Also covered are public safety LTE service revenues, over both private and commercial networks. In addition, the report presents revenue and unit shipment forecasts for public safety LTE devices and infrastructure.The report comes with an associated XLS datasheet covering quantitative data from all figures presented within the report, as well as a list and associated details of over 60 global public safety LTE network commitments (as of Q22015)."ADDITIONAL DETAILSTopics CoveredThe report covers the following topics:Business case for public safety LTE and mobile broadband services, including key benefits and challengesTechnology, economics, trends, commercial commitments and deployment case studiesList of public safety LTE deployments worldwidePublic safety LTE infrastructure, devices and applicationsIndustry roadmap and standardization initiativesSpectrum allocation, deployment models and funding strategiesProfiles and strategies of over 230 ecosystem players including public safety system integrators and LTE infrastructure/device OEMsTCO analysis of private and commercial public safety LTE deploymentsMilitary and tactical LTE deploymentsPublic safety LTE base station (eNB) form factor analysisExclusive interview transcripts from 6 key ecosystem players: Airbus Defence and Space, Airwave Solutions, CalAmp Corporation, Motorola Solutions, Oceus Networks and Star SolutionsStrategic recommendations for vendors, system integrators, public safety agencies and wireless carriersMarket analysis and forecasts from 2015 till 2030Forecast SegmentationMarket forecasts and historical figures are provided for each of the following submarkets:Public Safety LTE (Private) InfrastructureSubmarketsRAN (Radio Access Network)EPC (Evolved Packet Core) and PolicyMobile Backhaul and TransportRAN Base Station (eNB) Mobility CategoriesFixed Base StationsTransportable Base StationsRAN Base Station (eNB) Cell Size CategoriesMacrocellsSmall CellsTransportable RAN Base Station (eNB) Form Factor CategoriesCIAB (Cell-in-a-Box)COW (Cell-on-Wheels)Airborne CellsPublic Safety LTE DevicesBrowse More Signals And Systems Telecom Market Research Reports:SubmarketsPrivate LTECommercial LTEForm Factor CategoriesSmartphones & Handportable TerminalsVehicle Mount Routers & TerminalsTablets & Notebook PCsUSB Dongles & OthersPublic Safety LTE Subscriptions & Service RevenueSubmarketsPrivate LTECommercial LTEPublic Safety User Subscriptions over Private Mobile BroadbandSubmarketsPrivate LTEPrivate WiMAXPublic Safety User Subscriptions over Commercial Mobile BroadbandSubmarketsCDMA2000/EV-DOW-CDMA/HSPAWiMAXLTE5G & BeyondLMR SubscriptionsSubmarketsAnalogDMRdPMR, NXDN & PDTP25TETRATetrapolOthersLMR Data SubscriptionsSubmarketsP25 - Phase 1P25 - Phase 2TETRATEDSTetrapolOthersPublic Safety LTE ApplicationsSubmarketsVideo ApplicationsGIS, AVLS and MappingMobile VPN Access & SecurityCAD (Computer Aided Dispatching)Remote Database AccessTelemetry and Remote DiagnosticsBulk Multimedia/Data TransfersPTT & Voice over LTESituational Awareness ApplicationsRegional SegmentationClick Here To Get More ICT Market Research Reports:The following regional markets are covered:Asia PacificEastern EuropeLatin & Central AmericaMiddle East & AfricaNorth AmericaWestern EuropeKey Questions AnsweredThe report provides answers to the following key questions:How big is the public safety LTE opportunity?What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?How is the ecosystem evolving by segment and region?What will the market size be in 2020 and at what rate will it grow?Which countries and submarkets will see the highest percentage of growth?How does standardization impact the adoption of LTE for public safety applications?When will MCPTT and proximity services see large scale proliferation?What is the status of private LTE rollouts and public safety MVNO offerings across the globe?What opportunities exist for commercial wireless carriers and MVNOs in the public safety LTE market?Is there a market for 400 MHz LTE networks?What are the prospects of tactical, rapidly deployable and airborne LTE solutions?How can public safety agencies leverage unused spectrum resources to fund private LTE networks?What strategies should system integrators and vendors adopt to remain competitive?Key FindingsThe report has the following key findings:We expect public safety LTE infrastructure investments to grow at a CAGR of nearly 40% between 2015 and 2020. By the end of 2020, infrastructure investments which include base stations (eNBs), mobile core and mobile backhaul gear will account for over $2 BillionThe market for ruggedized public safety LTE devices will witness similar growth, with an estimated 4 Million annual device shipments in 2020By 2020, the installed base of private public safety LTE base stations (eNBs) will reach 150,000. By that time, transportable LTE solutions will account for close to 20% of all public safety LTE infrastructure investmentsCommercial carriers and public safety MVNOs will pocket over $8 Billion in public safety LTE service revenue by the end of 2020, following growth at a CAGR of 50% between 2015 and 2020Almost all major LMR industry players are leveraging partnerships with established LTE infrastructure vendors such as Nokia, Huawei, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, to offer end-to-end LTE solutionsConsolidation efforts are continuing to take place throughout the industry, particularly among the largest LTE infrastructure vendors and public safety system integratorsAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.To View The Latest Industry Press Releases:ContactTel: +1-518-621-2074E-Mail: sales@marketresearchreports.bizWebsite:MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
The 5G Wireless Ecosystem Technologies, Applications, Verticals, Strategies & Forecasts by 2025

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/242146

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/publisher/45

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/category/96

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressreleases

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/

While LTE and LTE-Advanced deployments are still underway, mobile operators and vendors have already embarked on R&D initiatives to develop so-called 5G technology, with a vision of commercialization by 2020. 5G is essentially a revolutionary paradigm shift in wireless networking to support the throughput, latency and scalability requirements of future use cases such as extreme bandwidth augmented reality applications and connectivity management for Billions of M2M (Machine to Machine) devices.Although 5G is yet to be standardized, vendors are aggressively investing in 5G development efforts with a principal focus on new air interface transmission schemes, higher frequency bands and advanced antenna technologies such as Massive MIMO and beamforming. With large scale commercial deployments expected to begin in 2020, we estimate that 5G networks will generate nearly $250 Billion in annual service revenue by 2025.The 5G Wireless Ecosystem: 2016  2030  Technologies, Applications, Verticals, Strategies & Forecasts report presents an in-depth assessment of the emerging 5G ecosystem including key market drivers, challenges, enabling technologies, use cases, vertical market applications, spectrum assessment, mobile operator deployment commitments, case studies, standardization, research initiatives and vendor strategies. The report also presents forecasts for 5G investments and operator services.The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report:Key Findings:The report has the following key findings:Although 5G is yet to be standardized, vendors are aggressively investing in 5G development efforts with a principal focus on new air interface transmission schemes, higher frequency bands and advanced antenna technologies such as Massive MIMO and beamforming.Driven by regional, national government, mobile operator and vendor initiatives, we expect that over $6 Billion will be spent on 5G R&D and trial investments between 2015 and 2020.With large scale commercial deployments expected to begin in 2020, we estimate that 5G networks will generate nearly $250 Billion in annual service revenue by 2025.5G networks are expected to utilize a variety of spectrum bands for diverse applications, ranging from established sub-6 GHz cellular bands to millimeter wave frequencies.The report covers the following topics:5G requirements, use cases and vertical market applications5G market drivers and barriersAir interface and antenna technologies: new waveforms, millimeter wave radio access, MIMO, phased array antennas and beamformingSpectrum technologies: cognitive radio, spectrum sensing, aggregation and LSA (Licensed Shared Access)D2D (Device to Device) communications and self-backhauling networksComplimentary technologies for 5G: NFV (Network Functions Virtualization), SDN (Software Defined Networking), HetNet (Heterogeneous Networking), C-RAN (Centralized RAN), Cloud RAN, MEC (Mobile Edge Computing), drones and satellitesMobile operator commitments, case studies and 5G spectrum assessment5G Standardization and research initiativesCompetitive assessment of vendor strategiesR&D, commercial infrastructure and operator service forecasts till 2030Forecast Segmentation:Market forecasts are provided for each of the following submarkets and their subcategories:5G R&D InvestmentsNew Waveforms & Millimeter Wave Radio AccessMIMO, Beamforming & Antenna TechnologiesInterference & Spectrum ManagementC-RAN, Virtualization & Other Technologies5G Commercial Infrastructure InvestmentsBrowse More Signals And Systems Telecom Market Research Reports:Distributed Macrocell Base StationsSmall CellsRRHs (Remote Radio Heads)C-RAN BBUs (Baseband Units)Mobile CoreFronthaul & Backhaul Networking5G Operator ServicesSubscriptionsService RevenueRegional SegmentationAsia PacificEastern EuropeLatin & Central AmericaMiddle East & AfricaNorth AmericaWestern EuropeKey Questions Answered:The report provides answers to the following key questions:How much will vendors and operators invest in 5G R&D commitments?What will be the number of 5G subscriptions in 2020 and at what rate will it grow?What will be the key applications of 5G networks?What trends, challenges and barriers will influence the development and adoption of 5G?Which regions and countries will be the first to adopt 5G?Will 5G networks utilize new spectrum bands?Who are the key 5G vendors and what are their strategies?Will 5G networks rely on C-RAN architecture?What are the prospects of millimeter wave technology for 5G radio access networking?What will be the impact of 5G on the M2M and IoT ecosystem?Will drone and satellite based communication platforms play a wider role in 5G networks?List of Companies Mentioned:The following companies and organizations have been reviewed, discussed or mentioned in the report:3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project)5G Americas5G Forum, South Korea5G Lab (TU Dresden)5G PPP (5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership)5GIC (5G Innovation Center, University of Surrey)5GMF (Fifth Generation Mobile Communications Promotion Forum, Japan)5GRUSAlcatel-LucentAlpental TechnologiesAmerica MovilARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses)AscentaAT&T MobilityAthena Wireless CommunicationsATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions)AVC Networks CompanyCableLabsChina MobileCisco SystemsCohere TechnologiesDT (Deutsche Telekom)du (Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company)EricssonEtisalatETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research)ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute)FacebookFraunhofer FOKUSFraunhofer HHIFraunhofer-GesellschaftFujitsuFuture Forum, ChinaGoogleGSMAHiroshima UniversityHuaweiIEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)IMDEA Networks InstituteIMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group, ChinaIntel CorporationInterDigitalITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute)ITU (International Telecommunication Union)Click Here To Get More ICT Market Research Reports:KDDIKeysight TechnologiesKT CorporationKumu NetworksLG UplusMegaFonMitsubishi ElectricMOEA (Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan)MoogsoftMOST (Ministry of Science & Technology, China)MOST (Ministry of Science & Technology, Taiwan)MSIP (Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, South Korea)MTS (Mobile TeleSystems)NEC CorporationNew Mexico Spaceport AuthorityNGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks) AllianceNI (National Instruments)NokiaNTT DoCoMoNYU WIRELESS (New York University)OfcomOptusOrangePanasonicQualcommRF DSPRohde & SchwarzSamsungSESSiBEAMSingTelSK TelecomSmall Cell ForumSoftBankSwisscomTAICS (Taiwan Association of Information and Communication Standards)Telecom ItaliaTelefonicaTeliaSoneraTelstraTIA (Telecommunications Industry Association)Titan AerospaceT-Mobile USATokyo Institute of TechnologyU.S. Department of CommerceU.S. FCC (Federal Communications Commission)U.S. NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)U.S. NSF (National Science Foundation)UN (United Nations)University of KaiserslauternUniversity of OuluVerizon WirelessViterbi School of Engineering (University of Southern California)Vodafone AustraliaVodafone GroupVTT Technical Research CenterWWRF (World Wireless Research Forum)XilinxZTEAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.To View The Latest Industry Press Releases:ContactTel: +1-518-621-2074E-Mail: sales@marketresearchreports.bizWebsite:MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Gas Cartridges Market Global Industry Analysis Forecast 2016 - 2024

https://goo.gl/jUB7Jf

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/gas-cartridges-market.html#

A gas cartridge helps in efficiently storing fuel. Gas cartridges are made of metals and usually consist of a mixture of two liquid petroleum gases-butane and propane-stored under high pressure. Key advantages of gas cartridges include their portability along with their ability to control and monitor the ignition flame as desired. These characteristics enable the end users to adhere to various external safety concerns related to the use of gas cartridge. Usually, liquid fuels have been preferred as the storage fuel in gas cartridges. The rapidly rising demand for portable fuel storage solutions across the globe has led to an increased demand for gas cartridges. Constant technological advancements in gas cartridge technology are expected to boost the market in major regions.Interpret a Competitive outlook Analysis Report with PDF Brochure :The report on global gas cartridges market provides an in-depth analysis of the current market scenario, key dynamics, emerging trends, industry value chain, offerings of major manufacturers, technological advancements, and competitive landscape. The research offers insight into market size of leading application segments across various region and analyzes the factors influencing the demand for these segments for different end users. The study provides market shares of different product types and evaluates the impact of key growth drivers in major regions. The report is prepared with the aid of reliable inputs from various industry players, thought leaders, business executives, and strategists and include valuable findings from a range of primary and secondary researches.Global Gas Cartridges Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe global gas cartridge market is primarily driven by the rise in demand for the portable and light-weight gas cartridge, particularly where the consumption of low volume of gas is required. Coupled with this, the increasing adoption of gas cartridge in various applications such as stoves, pest control, metalworking, and food and beverages industries, has fuelled their demand.Depending on external weather conditions, different types of fuel are used in gas cartridges. For instance, instead of butane gas, propane is the fuel used in many gas cartridges to make them suitable to perform in low temperature. However recent initiatives by suppliers have been to use a blended fuel containing a mixture of gases for making it apt for all weather conditions. Generally, manufacturers prefer the blend to contain three different compounds: Propane, isobutane, and n-butane. This gas mixture helps in better ignition rate of fuel.Global Gas Cartridges Market: Regional OutlookAsia-Pacific, Europe and North America are anticipated to exhibit high demand for gas cartridge. The growth of the gas cartridge market in these regions is attributed to the demand for portable fuel storage equipment across various industry verticals. These regional markets are expected to exhibit promising growth opportunities for the players due to increasing initiatives by governments to ensure energy security. In addition, recent technological advancements have led to the design of high-performing gas cartridge equipment with an enhanced ignition control and a better consumption characteristic of gases.Browse Report with Full TOC at :Global Gas Cartridges Market: Competitive Market PlayersProminent market players operating in this market include Praxair Technology, Inc., Aspire Industries, Tae Yang Corporation, and CEPSA. Global manufactures and suppliers of gas cartridges are forging alliances and partnerships with regional players to consolidate their market share and expand their presence across major regions. Manufacturers are making product design innovations and launching high-end products to grab significant share of the gas cartridge market.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207
Remote Patient Monitoring Market is Expected to Reach $2,130 million, Globally by 2022

Remote Patient Monitoring Market

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/remote-patient-monitoring-market

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-free-sample/1727

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to garner $2,130 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 17% during the period 2014-2022. Congestive heart failure segment is estimated to lead the market throughout the analysis period, closely followed by diabetes. Three-fourths of the remote patient monitoring market share was captured by North America and Europe in 2015.Access full summary at:RPM is an innovative care delivery model that securely transmits patients data to healthcare teams, and alerts the providers about the early signs of clinical deterioration, and thus creates opportunities for timely intervention. It allows hospital and healthcare systems to improve and ensure compliance with post-discharge plans. This is because the doctor has access to patients vitals outside the hospital premises. They identify any potential health problems using the historical track records and time-based monitoring, and intervene before they cause any emergency. This reduces readmissions and prevents avoidable hospitalizations. Moreover, these technologies decrease a number of unnecessary trips to the doctors office by automatically updating the patients vital sign database at regular intervals and reduce travel-related expenses. These factors are necessary to receive quality medical care and drive the RPM market growth. However, unfavorable reimbursement policies and limited awareness about the RPM devices restrains the market growth.The congestive heart failure (CHF) is the highest revenue-generating segment in this market owing to the high-risk and life-threatening consequences associated with heart failure, which can be avoided using RPM technologies. In addition, the increase in geriatric population that leads to increase in incidences of age-related heart problems will further drive the market growth. Whereas, diabetes would account for the fastest growing segment owing to the increase in incidence of diabetes, presence of well-established smart glucose monitoring technologies in the market and rise in adoption by end users. The diabetes segment would exhibit significant growth in the Asia-Pacific and LAMEA, supplemented by the increase in awareness and adoption among end users.The devices segment occupied the major market share in 2015, and is expected to grow during the analysis period. This is due to the high one-time capital cost associated with the purchase of RPM devices. Also, improved highly sensitive devices, additional features, and added connectivity will help devices market to grow at a faster pace as compared to software.Presently, North America and Europe are the most lucrative markets supplemented by factors, such as high purchasing power leading to rapid adoption of innovative technologies, increase in prevalence and incidences of chronic diseases in these region owing to the sedentary lifestyle, and established reimbursement policies along with the improved awareness. The Asia-Pacific RPM market is projected to be fastest growing geography globally. The market growth in this region is primarily attributed to the large undiagnosed patient population, improving access to the healthcare systems, and a high risk of developing chronic disease due to rapid urbanization.Do inquire here about the sample @Key Findings of the Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) Market: CHF was the leading segment in 2015, and is expected to maintain its lead throughout the analysis period. Diabetes will be the fastest growing segment throughout the analysis period. Devices will be both the highest revenue generating and fastest growing segment of the global remote patient monitoring (RPM) market. Saudi Arabia market for remote patient monitoring is projected to grow at a high CAGR of 21.3%. U.S. was the largest country market in 2015, and is projected to maintain its lead until 2022.For instance, Medtronic announced the launch of MiniMed 630G system with SmartGuard technology in August 2016. This system was approved for the treatment of diabetes mellitus patients aged 16 years and above. This system combines its proprietary SmartGuard technology with a brand new user-friendly pump design. Boston Scientific Corporation received an FDA approval for EMBLEMTM MRI subcutaneous implantable defibrillator (S-ICD) system in August 2016. This system provides treatment for patients who are at risk of a sudden cardiac arrest. Thus, it reduces the risk of complications associated with conventional transvenous implantable cardioverter-debrillator leads.The key players profiled in this report include Aerotel Medical Systems (1988) Ltd., Biotronik SE & Co. KG, Boston Scientific Corporation, General Electric Company, Nihon Kohden Corporation, Medtornic Plc, Masimo Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Johnson and Johnson, and Omron Corporation. Other players in the RPM market include A&D Company, Limited, Jawbone, Docobo Ltd., Microlife Corporation, Aipermon GmbH & Co. KG, SHL Telemedicine, Sorin Group and Schiller AG.Allied Market Research is a global 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.Our market research department starts with the research task considering specific concerns and ambitions of the client. We understand that every market is driven by certain key factors locally as well as globally. Our analysts dig out those factors, helping clients understand the importance and impact of every such driving force. Moreover, possible restraints of the market are discovered and suggestions to tackle those restraints are formulated after extensive research and analysis of the overall market conditions. Making an even deeper insight, we analyze the market trend including both qualitative and quantitative present market scenario in every geographical region segmented as per the business domain concerned and overall performance in different regions throughout the globe.5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220,United States.Int'l: +1-503-894-6022help@alliedmarketresearch.com
Bio MEMS Market: High Prevalence of Heart Diseases Gives Impetus to Cardio-MEMS

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=15530

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Transparency Market Research has observed the competitive landscape in the global bio-MEMS market to be quite consolidated. The top five players held a whopping share of about 45% in the global market in 2015. Abbott Laboratories, Becton Dickinson, Baxter International Inc., Medtronic, and Boston Scientific have been dominating the global market with their persistent efforts to develop innovative products and continuous research and development to enhance their existing product portfolio. These companies are also expected to strategize important mergers and acquisitions to win larger shares in the global market to remain dominant.According to the research report, the global bio-MEMS market was valued at US$695.0 mn in 2015. However, between the forecast years of 2016 and 2024, the global market is estimated to surge at a CAGR of 20.9% to reach a valuation of US$3.8 bn by the end of 2024.View Comprehensive Analysis of the Report :North America to Lead; Slated to Acquire 37.4% of Global Market by 2024On the basis of application, the global bio-MEMS market is segmented into neural implants, ENT implants, bionics, cardio-MEMS, and others. The cardio-MEMS segment is segment is estimated to show significant growth in the coming years as it is slated to acquire a share of 25.8% by the end of 2024. The high prevalence of heart-related issues is expected to keep the demand for cardio-MEMS to be high in the coming years.In terms of geography, the global bio-MEMS market is fragmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. In terms of revenue, North America is anticipated to lead the global market. This regional market is expected to garner a share of 37.4% by the end of 2024. The growing government grants to improve the healthcare infrastructure are considered to the key element to this growth.Uptake of Microfluidics for Diagnostics Improves Adoption of Bio-MEMSThe global bio-MEMS market has been progressing against the backdrop of widening applications of tissue engineering in advanced surgical procedures. Bio-MEMS sensors, which include topical sensors are used to treat terminally ill patients. Collectively, these two factors are the key driving forces of the global bio-MEMS market. The uptake of microfluidics has also played a significant role directing the trajectory of the global market in a positive direction. Today, bio-MEMS are extensively being used for diagnostic purposes with the help of microfluidics. Furthermore, the market is also being driven by the advantage of bio-MEM such as quick detection of pathogens and bacteria. The high utility of bio-MEMS in the biomedical sector has proven to be essential and crucial to the growth of the global market, notes the lead author of this research report.Complex Manufacturing Processes Threaten ProgressThe complex process of manufacturing MEMS and their sophisticated fabrication techniques have been the precise restraints for the global bio-MEMS market. Excessive dependency on technologically-advanced medical infrastructure has made adoption of bio-MEMS relatively difficulty. Analysts predict that these factors could hamper the growth of the overall market in the near future. In addition, the market will also be restrained from attaining its utmost potential due to the expensive nature of the technology. Implementation of MEMS is exceptionally expensive and unaffordable to many. This is a key restraint in the global bio-MEMS market.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Packaging Inks and Coatings Market - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2016 - 2026

Packaging Inks and Coatings Market

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=20084

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

http://globalresearchmarket.blogspot.in/

Packaging is an essential factor for the sale of any product or commodity. The appearance and acceptability of a product depends highly on its packaging. These days, manufacturers as well as packers are looking out for a technology by which they can have better packaging of their products so that they can be accepted and used on a large scale. This would, in turn, help in growth of the packaging inks and coatings market.Inks and coatings used for packaging not only give a better appearance to the product but also protect the enclosed materials. Packaging inks and coatings are applied onto substrates such as paper, plastics (rigid and flexible), metals, and rubber. Printing onto these substrates is carried out by means of different processes such as digital, flexographic, gravure, and lithographic.Packaging inks and coatings are useful in applications such as beverages, cosmetics, food, pharmaceuticals, and industrial goods.Packaging Inks and Coatings Market: TrendsDemand for better-quality packaging inks and coatings is higher at present, due to the changing lifestyle and customers preference to better packaging of goods. The increase in demand for better packaging in applications such as food and beverages as well as cosmetics is expected to drive the market for packaging inks and coatings in the next few days. Awareness regarding the quality of food and protection from contamination promotes steady growth of the packaging inks and coatings market.GET FREE PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INSIGHTS:On the other hand, the number of regulations regarding the use of packaging inks and coatings in the food & beverages industry is high. The imposition of these regulations is likely to be a major restraint for the global market for packaging inks and coatings in the near future. Currently, concerns regarding the side-effects associated with the incorporation of packaging inks and coatings are growing. This would eventually be a restraint for the market.Manufacturers of packaging inks and coatings can develop formulations that are organic and eco-friendly. This can prove to be an opportunity for players operating in the market to expand their business and hold a strong share in the global market for packaging inks and coatings.Packaging Inks and Coatings Market: Region-wise OutlookIn the past few years, the region of has North America accounted for a major share of the global packaging inks and coatings market, due to the use of packaging inks and coatings in the food industry on a large scale. The market in the region is expected to witness steady growth during the forecast period, due to the increasing demand for packed food and beverages.The market of packaging inks and coatings is in its developmental stages in the region of Asia Pacific. The utilization of packaging inks in food industry in leading economies such as India, Japan, and China is expected to drive the market in this region in the near future.The market in Europe and Latin America is anticipated to witness rapid growth in the next few days, due to changing lifestyles of the people in these regions. However, the market for packaging inks and coatings in Middle East & Africa is likely to expand at a slower pace as compared to other regions during the forecast period.Packaging Inks and Coatings Market: Key PlayersSome of the players operating in the global packaging inks and coatings market include AkzoNobel N.V., Sun Chemical Corporation, PPG Industries Inc., Siegwerk Druckfarben AG & Co. KGaA, Spring Coating Systems, and FlintGroup.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 insights for 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, TMR employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog:
Emerging Trends On Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market Size, Shares, Growth & Forecasts (2016-2020)

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/948220

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.Get The Sample Copy of This Report: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 CoverageUSCanadaUKAustraliaDenmarkItalySpainFranceCompany 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.The online food delivery market has three business models namely pure-media, fully integrated and on-demand delivery models.The global online takeaway food delivery market is expected to increase at a significant CAGR during the years 2016-2020. The global online takeaway food delivery market is expected to increase due to increase in urban population, increase in spending of global middle class population, increasing technological innovations, increase in smartphone usage, increase in internet penetration, etc. Yet, the market faces some challenges such as, fluctuations in profit earning, threat to aggregator business model, data server crash, etc.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
Global Cosmetic Serum Market Research Report 2021 - Skin and Sun Care Serum, Hair Care Serum : Estee Lauder, Shiseido, L'Oreal

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=789838&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

This report studies Cosmetic Serum in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringChanelEstee LauderKAO Corp.L'OrealLVMHShiseidoAmwayClarinsMarkwins Beauty Products, Inc.Proctor and GambleUnileverMarket Segment by Region, this report splits Global into several key Region, with sales, revenue, market share and growth rate of Cosmetic Serum in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaChinaEuropeJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaSplit by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoSkin and Sun Care SerumHair Care SerumOrder a Free Sample Copy of this Report @Table of Contents1 Cosmetic Serum Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Cosmetic Serum1.2 Cosmetic Serum Segment by Types1.2.1 Global Sales Market Share of Cosmetic Serum by Type in 20151.2.2 Skin and Sun Care Serum1.2.3 Hair Care Serum1.3 Cosmetic Serum Segment by Application/End User1.4 Cosmetic Serum Market by Region1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Cosmetic Serum (2011-2021)QYresearchreports.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.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Remote Cardiac Monitoring Market Advancement, Industry Analysis, Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020)

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/910680

The report entitled Global Remote Cardiac Monitoring Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020) provides a detailed analysis of the global remote cardiac monitoring market with analysis of market size by value, volume, segments, etc.The report also includes a detailed regional analysis of the remote cardiac monitoring market of regions such as, US, Europe and Asia Pacific comprising of its market by value. Under competitive landscape, different players in the global remote cardiac monitoring market have been compared on the basis of their revenue and market capitalization.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 global remote cardiac monitoring 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 remote cardiac monitoring market is stiff and dominated by the big players. Medtronic Plc, Boston Scientific Corporation and Life Watch AG are some of the key players operating in the global remote cardiac monitoring market, whose company profiling is done in the report. In this segment of the report, business overview, financial overview and the business strategies of the companies are provided.Get The Sample Copy of This report:Regional CoverageUSAEuropeAsia PacificCompany CoverageMedtronic PlcBoston Scientific CorporationLifeWatch AGExecutive SummaryRemote cardiac monitoring is the continuous monitoring of electrical activities of the heart, which takes place outside hospitals. The monitoring can also be done while the patient is doing the day to day activities. Devices like pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillator is placed with the patient through minimally invasive procedures and the transmission of data takes place via a transmitter which works in sync with the device.The global remote cardiac monitoring market is expected to grow at a healthy rate during the forecast period (2016-2020). The growth is expected on account of many factors, such as an increase in cardiovascular diseases, increasing incidence of obesity, less cost of remote monitoring and rising ageing population.However, the market also faces some challenges, which includes reimbursement issues and the risk of over treatment. Increasing health care expenditure, cardiomems heart failure monitoring system and telesense remote cardiac monitoring device are some of the latest trends in the remote cardiac monitoring market.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. We have built a veritable reputation for our commitment to fulfilling our clients' exacting market research solutions.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Hair Loss&growth Treatments and Products Market 2016 Rapidly Growing Regions - North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, India

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=823138&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

This report studies Hair Loss&growth Treatments and Products in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2011 to 2015, and forecast to 2021.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringProcter & GambleL'OrealUnileverTaishoHenkelMerckShiseidoJohnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.RohtoLifes2GoodGerolymatos InternationalToppikNanogenOxford BioLabs Ltd.Ultrax LabsAvalon Natural ProductsBayerPharma MedicoBy types, the market can be split intoHair Loss and Growth DevicesShampoos and ConditionersMedicine ProductOrder a Free Sample Copy of this Report @QYresearchreports.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.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Limestone Market Professional Survey Report 2016 Industry Application for Construction Materials, Cement : HeidelbergCement, Schaefer Kalk, Mitsubishi Materials, Sanyou-Group

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=816050&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

This report studies Limestone in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2011 to 2015, and forecast to 2021.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringLafargeHolcimCemexGraymontNittetsu MiningHeidelbergCementItalcementi GroupSchaefer KalkSumitomo Osaka CementNALCIndependent LimestoneTodaka MiningCarmeuseLhoistEurocementMitsubishi MaterialsIndiana Limestone CompanyAtlantic Minerals LimitedElliott Stone CompanyFels-Werke GmbHMississippi Lime CompanyAnhui Conch CementSouth CementChina Resources CementBBMGJiangxi WannianqingSanyou-GroupShougang LukuangDalian LimestoneSichuan Golden SummitBy types, the market can be split intoHigh-CalciumLimestoneMagnesian LimestoneType IIIBy Application, the market can be split intoConstruction MaterialsCementLimeBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaTo Get a Free Sample Copy of this Research Report Visit @QYresearchreports.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.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Anti-counterfeit Beverage Packaging Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=9563

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Counterfeiting is globally affecting the beverage industry, resulting into innumerable tangible and intangible losses for the players operating in the industry. It affects the revenue of companies along with the end-users of their products. Beverages industries are continuously taking steps to fight counterfeiting in their supply chain as it seriously affects their sales revenue. Besides, lower quality of counterfeit products affects the brand image of the company and also results in health issues among consumers. Forged packaging products are so well industrialised that it becomes impossible to trace them through regular inspection and, thus, such counterfeit beverage products make entry into the retail market. With their poor product quality, they pose severe concerns related to the consumers health safety, and consequently lead to the deterioration of the brand image of the affected company.Counterfeiting affects the gross revenue of the company and causes immense long term damage to its credibility. Every year, significant amount of losses are incurred by the operating players due to the usage and sale of counterfeit products in the global beverages industry.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights atThe anti-counterfeit beverage packaging technology has emerged as an efficient solution for detecting counterfeit beverage products globally. The beverages industry to get severely affected by counterfeit products as these products are easily available in the local market. Due to rapid surge in the number of beverage counterfeit products, the anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market is expected to witness a significant growth over the forecast period of 2016-2024.The global anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market is projected to become a multi-billion industry, by end of 2024. Several easy-to-work and efficient-in-functioning innovative technologies for validating the authenticity of the original products are penetrating the market. The adoption of such technologies by manufacturers in turn is propelling the demand for anti-counterfeit beverage packaging globally. Use of highly efficient RFID technologies is one of the most significant factors driving the overall growth of the anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market currently.Due to rising health consciousness, consumers are getting increasingly aware about forged or counterfeit products and anti-counterfeit technologies. This factor is affecting the market positively. Increasing government regulations for eliminating the usage of counterfeit beverage products from the local market is also compelling the global companies to invest in advanced anti-counterfeit technologies. The synergistic approach of market players with various government organizations is expected to provide a substantial platform for the growth and development of the global anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market in the coming years.Apart from the above driving factors, there are several others factors restraining growth of the global anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market currently. Among these, high costs of anti-counterfeit technology setups and their impact on the product distribution system and supply chain network are the major factors expected to hinder growth of the anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market in the coming years.The global anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market is segmented on the basis of technology and regions. On the basis of technology, the market is segmented into authentication packaging technology and track and trace packaging technology. The authentication technology segment is further sub-segmented into ink & dyes, holograms, watermarks, and taggants. The track and trace packaging technology segment is sub-segmented into barcode technology and RFID technology.On the basis of geography, the global anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market is segmented into seven main regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, the Middle East & Africa, and Japan. Due to large consumer awareness about the technology and products, North America region is expected to hold the largest share of the global anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market, followed by Europe, in the coming years. The Asia-Pacific anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market is also expected to grow at a significant rate over the forecast period.Some of the key players covered in this study on the global anti-counterfeit beverage packaging market are Zebra Technologies, Alien Technology Corp., AlpVision, Avery Dennison Corp., and SICPA HOLDING SA.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:
Anti-counterfeit Electrical & Electronics Packaging Market: Outlook 2017 & Onwards

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=9572

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The malpractice of counterfeiting has become a severe matter of concern for the OEMs of (Electrical & Electronics) E&E products across the globe. Counterfeiting is globally affecting the E&E industry, resulting into innumerable tangible and intangible losses for the players operating in the industry. A large number of counterfeit E&E products, carrying brand name of the leading industry players, are making their way into the local market. Apart from affecting the companies financially, the market penetration of such products also causes an enormous damage to the brand image of the affected company, earned over a long course of period.The forged electrical & electronics products are so well packaged that there detection during normal investigation becomes impossible and, thus, these products make their way into the local retail markets. The poor quality of these forged E&E products leads to various problems, such as short circuits, small appliance-life, rise in probability of electrical fires, etc., which in turn lead to the further deterioration of the brand image of the affected company. The global electrical & electronics industry endures huge monetary losses every year due to the presence of counterfeit products in the market.Get Research Report PDF Brochure for more info:Anti-counterfeit electrical & electronics packaging technology has emerged as one of the most efficient solutions to limit the market infiltration of counterfeited electrical & electronics products globally. Growing population and urbanization is further propelling the demand for E&E products globally. Due to their high demand, E&E products are available virtually in all markets. Easy availability of these products in the local market makes them more susceptible to being counterfeited. Besides, ever-increasing cases of counterfeiting in electrical & electronics products is compelling the market players to go for anti-counterfeit electrical & electronics packaging.Besides, various new and innovative technologies for the verification and authentication of original electrical & electronic products are making foray into the market. The utilization of such technologies on a commercial scale by E&E OEM manufacturers is leading to the rise in demand for anti-counterfeit electrical & electronics packaging worldwide. High use of this packaging is anticipated to lead to the significantly high growth rate of the market over the forecast period of 2016-2024.Customers too, in order to skip the trouble caused by forged products and for the best utilization of their money, are becoming increasingly concerned about counterfeited products. Various governments are also becoming increasingly active against the use of counterfeit E&E products. This makes the global companies more optimistic about investing in advanced anti-counterfeit technologies. Due to these reasons, the global anti-counterfeit electrical and electronics packaging market is anticipated to expand at a significantly higher growth rate over the forecast period, accounting for multi-millions US$ by the end of the forecast period.There are also some factors which are restraining growth of the anti-counterfeit electrical & electronics packaging market currently. High capital expenditure required to set up anti-counterfeit technology systems and usage-impact of this system on the supply chain network of the companies work are the major factors restraining growth of this market currently.The global anti-counterfeit electrical and electronics packaging market is segmented on the basis of technology and regions. On the basis of technology, the market is segmented into authentication packaging technology and track and trace packaging technology. The authentication technology segment is further sub-segmented into ink & dyes, holograms, watermarks, and taggants. The track and trace packaging technology segment is sub-segmented into barcode technology and RFID technology.On the basis of geography, the global anti-counterfeit electrical & electronics packaging market is segmented into seven main regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East & Africa, and Japan. North America, followed by Europe market, are expected to account for the largest share of the global anti-counterfeit electrical & electronics packaging market. The market in the Asia-Pacific region is also expected to grow at a significant rate, thereby contributing to the overall growth of the global anti-counterfeit electrical & electronics packaging market over the forecast period.Some of the key players covered in this study of global anti-counterfeit Electrical & electronics packaging market are Zebra Technologies, Alien Technology Corp., AlpVision, Avery Dennison Corp., SICPA HOLDING SA, Microtrace, LLC, Impinj, Inc. and 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:
Potassium Phosphate Market 2021 Forecast Research and Analysis Report

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/212448

http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-potassium-phosphate-market-research-report-and-forecast-to-2017-2021

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/discount/212448

https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research

https://twitter.com/orbisresearch

https://plus.google.com/+Orbisresearch/posts

This market analysis includes a detailed segmentation of the Global Potassium Phosphate Market by development trend and by application.The report covers the present year 2017 scenario and the growth prospects of the Global Potassium Phosphate Market for 2017-2021.The report Global Potassium Phosphate Market 2017-2021 has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The report also covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years.The Potassium Phosphate Market By Geography North America Asia-Pacific EuropeRequest a sample of Global Potassium Phosphate Market Research Report @The Global Potassium Phosphate Market research 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. 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.Global Potassium Phosphate Market key players are: Company A Company B Company C Company DBrowse the full Global Potassium Phosphate Market Research Report @The report provides an extensive analysis of current and future market status of the world Potassium Phosphate Market.Some of the points from table of content:Industry Overview Definition Classification Share Analysis Application AnalysisMarket Analysis Product Development History Process Development History Competitive Landscape AnalysisIndustry Development Trend Capacity Production Overview Production Market Share Analysis Demand OverviewMarket Status and Forecast Supply Demand and Shortage Import Export Consumption Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginReasons for Buying this Global Potassium Phosphate Market Research Report This report helps to analyzed the world's main region market conditions It provides product manufacturing processes It provides industry policies and plans It provides overview of product specification It provides cost structures & so on.The Report Contains: 167 Pages.Price of the report: 2850$ (single user license)Check discount @About 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 Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Follow us on G+ :
Prebiotics In Animal Feed Market - Whats In Store For 2019?

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=490

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/animal-feed-additive-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The featured report, titled Prebiotics In Animal Feed Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast, 2013 - 2019, from Transparency Market Research (TMR) offers a 360-degree view of the market. According to this research study, the global prebiotics in animal feed market will expand at a marked CAGR of 11.90% during the forecast period from 2013 to 2019. In 2012, the global prebiotics in animal feed market was worth US$213.9 mn and by 2019, it is projected to be worth US$461.3 mn.Request a Brochure of this Report:The global prebiotics in animal feed market is driven by the rise in global meat consumption. According to the USDA, the per capita consumption of red meat and poultry in 1990 was estimated at 197.5 pounds, and in 2015 it was estimated at 210.8 pounds. In addition to this, the multiple health benefits associated with the usage of prebiotics for animals will also drive the global prebiotics in animal feed market. The ban on the use of antibiotics in animal feed in many nations will also fuel the global prebiotics in animal feed market. On the other hand, the greater market visibility of probiotics will suppress the global prebiotics in animal feed market. The stringent regulations and legislations related to approval of prebiotics used in animal feed will also challenge the global prebiotics in animal feed market greatly.According to the animals that are fed prebiotics, the global prebiotics in animal feed market is divided into aquaculture, cattle, poultry, swine, and others. The segments of poultry and cattle are considered the most lucrative segments. In 2012, these segments collectively held a 60.8% share in the global prebiotics in animal feed market, out of which the poultry segment held the larger share. The segment of poultry is projected to dominate the global prebiotics in animal feed market in the years to come. In 2012, the aquaculture segment held a share of 7.8% in the global prebiotics in animal feed market. According to TMR, this segment is expected to lose its market share in the coming few years due to the decline in aqua feed oxidation.Browse full Prebiotics In Animal Feed Market report at:Geography-wise, the global prebiotics in animal feed market is divided into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World. In 2012, Europe dominated the global prebiotics in animal feed market with a substantial share of 40%. This regional market is projected to continue its dominance during the forecasting horizon. The Europe prebiotics in animal feed market is driven by the ban on antibiotics in animal feed in an increasing number of regions. By the end of 2019, the Europe segment is expected to grow at a strong pace and account for almost half of the market.The rising consumer awareness about the benefits of prebiotics will provide a good growth opportunity for players in the global prebiotics in animal feed market. The research study offers valuable data on the awareness about the uses and benefits of prebiotics in the United States for the period from 2009 to 2011.Some of the key players operating in the global prebiotics in animal feed market are Beghin Meiji, Cargill Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories, Royal Cosun, and Jarrow Formulas.Key segments of the Global Prebiotics in Animal Feed MarketGlobal Prebiotics in Animal Feed Market  by TypeSwinePoultryCattleAquacultureOthersConstruction Equipment Market by GeographyNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeRest of the WorldAbout 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:
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) in Australia, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=915828

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=915828

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Albany, NY, Feb 24, 2017: "Solar Photovoltaic (PV) in Australia, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer comprehensive information and understanding of the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market in Australia.The report provides in depth analysis on global renewable power market and global Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market with forecasts up to 2030. The report analyzes the power market scenario in Australia (includes conventional thermal, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) and provides future outlook with forecasts up to 2030. The research details renewable power market outlook in the country (includes hydro, small hydro, biopower and Solar Photovoltaic (PV)) and provides forecasts up to 2030. The report highlights installed capacity and power generation trends from 2006 to 2030 in Australia Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market. A detailed coverage of renewable energy policy framework governing the market with specific policies pertaining to Solar Photovoltaic (PV) is provided in the report. The research also provides company snapshots of some of the major market participants.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:ScopeThe report analyses global renewable power market, global Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market, Australia power market, Australia renewable power market and Australia Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market. The scope of the research includes -- A brief introduction on global carbon emissions and global primary energy consumption.- An overview on global renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends, generation trends and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources. The information is covered for the historical period 2006-2015 (unless specified) and forecast period 2015-2030.- Renewable power sources include wind (both onshore and offshore), Solar Photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), small hydro power (SHP), biomass, biogas and geothermal.- Detailed overview of the global Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market with installed capacity and generation trends, installed capacity split by major Solar Photovoltaic (PV)power countries in 2015 and key owners information of various regions.- Power market scenario in Australia and provides detailed market overview, installed capacity and power generation trends by various fuel types (includes thermal conventional, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) with forecasts up to 2030.- An overview on Australia renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends (2006-2030), generation trends(2006-2030) and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources in 2015.- Detailed overview of Australia Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market with installed capacity and generation trends and major active and upcoming Solar Photovoltaic (PV) projects.- Deal analysis of Australia Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market. Deals are analyzed on the basis of mergers, acquisitions, partnership, asset finance, debt offering, equity offering, private equity (PE) and venture capitalists (VC).- Key policies and regulatory framework supporting the development of renewable power sources in general and Solar Photovoltaic (PV) in particular.- Company snapshots of some of the major market participants in the country.Enquiry at:Reasons to buy- The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner.- Identify key growth and investment opportunities in Australia Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market.- Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data for Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market.- Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential.- Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events.- Identify key partners and business development avenues.- Understand and respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects.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:
3D Printing Materials Market to Reach $1,871 Million, Globally, by 2022

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/3d-printing-material-market

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/193

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

3D Printing Materials Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to garner $1,871 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 18.3% during the period 2016-2022. Polymers segment is expected to remain the highest revenue-generating segment throughout the forecast period. U.S. held the leading position in the global market in 2015, and is expected to maintain its lead throughout the study period.View Detail Summary of this report:The demand for 3D printing materials has witnessed tremendous growth, driven by the growth in sales of 3D printers (especially desktop printers), increased penetration in automotive, consumer products, aerospace and defense, healthcare, industrial sector, and others. 3D printing material market is in its development stage. All the industry players are investing immensely to find new commercial avenues for their product segments via strategic partnership and collaborations.Some of the major factors that drive the demand for 3D printing material includes expiration of key patents for 3D printers, availability of cheaper 3D printers, ease in prototype development, core and mold manufacturing, along with reduced complexities in manufacturing products or parts. However, factors such as toxicity to human beings and flora and fauna coupled with high cost of materials are expected to hamper the market growth during the forecast period. Growth in research and development, increasing industry collaboration, and increase in number of end-user industry will provide significant opportunities to the industry players across the value chain.In 2015, Polymers was the largest material segment in the global 3D printing materials market. However, metals segment is expected to witness highest CAGR of 24.4% during the forecast period owing to growing penetration in industries such as aerospace and defense, healthcare, industrial sector, and others. Growth in investment towards research and development, towards material innovation and development of low cost printers is expected to fuel the demand phase of the 3D printing materials marketIn 2015, automotive was the leading end-user segment with around one-fifth revenue share followed by healthcare and industrial sector. In automotive industry 3D printing material is primarily used for prototype development along with core and mold manufacturing.Key Findings of the 3D Printing Materials MarketAerospace & defense market revenues are expected to witness highest CAGR of 19.6% during the forecast period.Automotive and consumer product end-user segments together accounted for 40% of the global market in 2015Polymers and metals segments together accounted for more than 90% market share in 2015.Automotive is the largest end user segment with around one-fifth market share in 2015.U.S. was the largest market in terms of demand for 3D printing materials in 2015.Powder form materials are expected to grow at a high CAGR of 19.7% during the forecast periodIn 2015, North America accounted for almost half of the global demand for 3D printing material and is expected to maintain its lead position throughout the forecast period. Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing region, with a CAGR of 19.1% during the forecast period owing to the economic and industrial developments happening in the emerging economies.Major players in the industry are investing significantly on research and development to launch new materials for commercial applications at low cost. Key companies profiled in this report include 3D Systems Corp., Arcam AB, Arkema S.A., Royal DSM N.V., Exone GmbH, Stratasys Ltd., CRP Group, Envisiontec GmbH, EOS GmbH Electro Optical Systems, and LPW Technology Ltd.Connect to analyst at: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:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesDirect: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global LED Lighting Market Size, Segments, Trends & Opportunities (2016-2020): Lighting, Backlighting, Signage, Automotive lightingg

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/676390

The report titled Global LED Lighting Market: Trends & Opportunities (2016-2020), provides an in-depth analysis of the global LED Lighting market with detailed analysis of market size and growth, market share and economic impact of the industry. The report also provides market size of the global lighting market and its segments.The report provides detailed regional analysis of North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific (China and India) for the LED lighting market. 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 global lighting market and global LED lighting 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 market for global LED lighting is facing a tough competition due to price wars and entry of small firms. Further, key players (Cree, Philips and Osram) of the global LED lighting market are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Download Sample Copy Of This Report:Country CoverageNorth AmericaEuropeAsia Pacific (China and India)Company CoverageCree, Inc.PhilipsOsramExecutive SummaryThe LED lighting can be segmented according to its application into lighting, backlighting, signage, automotive lighting and others. Some of the advantages of LED lights over the traditional light sources are long life, energy efficient, ecologically friendly, durable, zero UV emission, design flexibility, low voltage, etc.Global LED Lighting market has increased at a significant annual growth rate in 2015 as compared to the preceding year and projections are made that the market would rise in the next five years i.e. 2016-2020 tremendously. The upsurge in the market was due to various factors such as rapid growth in the global automotive industry, increasing focus on fuel and energy efficiency, etc.The major growth drivers for the LED lighting market are increasing shipment and penetration of LED TVs, growing automobile industry, increasing LED penetration, phasing out of incandescent bulbs in many countries, supportive government policies and focus on energy efficiency. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as temperature dependence, high initial costs of LED, high research and development costs, etc.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. We have built a veritable reputation for our commitment to fulfilling our clients' exacting market research solutions.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Energy Food and Drinks Market demand will increase by 2016-2024

https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/energy-food-and-drinks-market

https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/energy-food-and-drinks-market

https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/energy-food-and-drinks-market

http://www.zionmarketresearch.com

Zion Market Research, the market research group announced the analysisreport titled 'Energy Food and Drinks Market: Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2015  2021'Energy drinks usually comprise stimulating items such as caffeine which provides mental and physical stimulations. These are non-alcoholic soft drinks that help in providing general fitness and freshness of mind. Energy food items are mainly made from protein sources such as eggs, milk, fruits, oats, or whey.Request Free Sample Report @Increasing health awareness among global population of all age is the major factor for the growth of the global energy food and drinks market. Energy consumable items such as beverage or food work as supplement to the regular food or are more often preferred as on go food. Energy food items such as protein chocolates, protein bars, biscuits and so on are experiencing high owing to the growing importance of fitness in the changing lifestyles. The daily routine of people is full of rush, hence such lifestyle consumes more time often leading to the lack of attention towards health. Energy drinks or food items are handy and are easily available to the people to consume at any time during the day. Though some scientists and fitness experts are negatively contributing to the growth of the market, people opting for artificial consumables will favor the growth of the global energy food and drinks market in the near future.The global energy food and drinks market is segmented on the basis of its sources, end-users, and regions. Based on the sources, the global energy food and drinks market is segmented as caffeine, guarana, taurine, B vitamins, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, L-Carnitine, antioxidants, sugars, and others. On the basis of drink types, the global market is segmented as alcoholic energy drinks and non-alcoholic energy drinks. Based on the end-users, the global market is segmented as kids/teenagers, adults, and geriatrics.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @The global energy food and drinks market is segmented regionally into the United States, Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. Owing to the growing population, Asia Pacific is anticipated to show great potential to grow in future. The United States and Europe are the leading market players due to increased awareness of fitness, the efforts from government and private organizations to make nation healthy, and modern and busy lifestyle.Some of the major players dominating the market are Red Bull GmbH, Hansen Natural Corp., Nestle, PepsiCo, Glanbia Nutritionals Ltd., and The Coca-Cola Company. These key companies are finding different ways to make the energy food and drinks market more attractive by providing tasty, healthy energy drinks and food.Browse detail report @Energy Food And Drinks Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaFor more inquiry contact our sales team @ sales@zionmarketresearch.comAbout Us:Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Venture Capital of Electric Vehicle Industry in China 2016-2021: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Report

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=984813

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=984813

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Albany, NY, Feb 24, 2017: Since new energy vehicle industry was listed on the national new emerging strategic industry, electric vehicle becomes a rising point of China automobile industry. From Feb. to Oct. of 2016, output and sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were both nearly 80 thousand, rising by around 31% and 37%. Pure electric vehicles lead in the industry, with output and sales of nearly 280 thousand and 260 thousand, rising by about 98% and 103%. It is predicted that in 2020, the sales of the two vehicles will reach respectively 1.1 million and 3.9 million.For the past ten years, financing and investment present plain in electric vehicle industry. Though led by major companies, such as Tesla, the investment shows a rising trend. Up to 17th Nov 2016, there were 46 financing cases with the amount of nearly RMB1.7 billion. In the light of the unchanged number of investment in electric vehicle industry for three years, it is indicated that the investment has significantly intensified. From the perspective of motor traffic, venture at seed stage of angel investment and investment at A round take 77%, showing that venture capital is still in its starting phase.Although electric vehicle industry in China is too relied on supporting policies and related factors set barriers before the industrys development, it is inevitable that vehicles will be completely powered by electric and become intelligent. Moreover, vehicles will be combined with the internet, urban traffic and passenger transport. To summon up, electric vehicle industry possesses a considerable future and there is large room for venture capital.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:In this report, AskCI will further disclose market potential and commercial opportunities for venture capital of electric vehicle industry in China. Recommendations will be given at the end of the report to provide analysis on opportunities and risks.1)The Aim of Report-To provide readers with comprehensive and in-depth understanding of venture capital in China electric vehicle industry;-To analyze development environment of the industry;-To analyze venture capital of the industry;-To discover drivers and barriers of the industry;-To reveal opportunities for electric vehicle industry in China.2)Benefit from the Report-Obtain latest info of electric vehicle industry, such as status, key players, venture capital, etc.;-Find out how Chinese electric vehicle market will change and how your business can be involved in;-Keep informed of your competitors/their activities in the globe and in China;-Learn about key market drivers and barriers;-Share this information within your organization using free global intranet license.Enquiry at:2. SCOPE OF INVESTIGATIONThe report will investigate Chinese electric vehicle industry from the following aspects:-General situation;-Development status;-Venture capital;-Key players;-Future trend;-Commercial opportunity.3. Time NeededFive work days needed.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 Coffee Market Will be driving the growth of the industry, Trends And Opportunities (2016-2020)

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/703135

The report titled Global Coffee Market: Trends & Opportunities (2016-2020) provides an in-depth analysis of the global coffee market with detailed analysis of market sizing and growth, market share and economic impact of the industry. The report also provides the production and consumption analysis of the market. The report provides detailed market analysis of the global retail coffee market by value and volume along with the segments of the market.The report provides detailed regional analysis of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America Middle East & Africa and Australasia for the coffee market. Regional analysis includes market sizing by value along with the production and consumption analysis. It also provides the retail sales value of each region.The report also includes the country analysis of Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia and India. It provides the production and consumption analysis along with the export-import trends in each of the above mentioned countries.Furthermore, the report 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 global retail coffee 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 global coffee market is stiff and dominated by the big players like Nestle. Further, key players of the coffee market The J.M. Smucker Company, Mondelez International Inc. and Strauss Group Ltd. are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Download Sample Copy Of this report:Regional CoverageWestern EuropeEastern EuropeNorth AmericaAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaAustralasiaCountry CoverageBrazilVietnamIndonesiaEthiopiaIndiaCompany CoverageThe J.M. Smucker CompanyMondelez International Inc.Strauss Group Ltd.Executive SummaryGlobal coffee market increased at a significant CAGR during the span of 5 years i.e. 2011-2015 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next five years i.e. 2016-2020 tremendously. The market can be segmented on the basis of end-users as retail coffee market and food services market, of which global retail coffee market displayed an increase, driving the global coffee market. The increasing consumption of coffee led by the westernization trend in India, China and Latin America drive the market in the positive direction.The growth drivers for the global coffee market are: rise in disposable income, rapid urbanization and increase in the population along with the emergence of caf culture and new consumer base. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as: aging of coffee trees, lack of government support, negative impact of climate change, price volatility and increase in production cost.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. We have built a veritable reputation for our commitment to fulfilling our clients' exacting market research solutions.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Military Radar Systems Market Used For Security And Surveillance Applications During 2017 - 2019

Market Research Report

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=454189

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=454189

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Military Radar Systems Market Used For Security And Surveillance Applications During 2017 - 2019" to its huge collection of research reports.Radar systems are used to detect distant objects and track targets. Radars transmit radio waves in the direction of the target, which bounce off the object and reflect back to a receiver, which are then analyzed by the receiver. Military radars are used mainly for security and surveillance applications (airborne, maritime, and land-based) to monitor a wide range of targets such as aircraft, missiles, UAVs, naval vessels, and military vehicles.Technavio's analysts forecast the global military radar systems market to grow at a CAGR of 4.05% over the period 2014-2019.Covered in this reportIn this report, Technavio covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global military radar systems market for 2015-2019. The report provides a global overview of the market and growth prospects by region (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA). It also presents the market landscape and a corresponding analysis of the prominent vendors in the market. In addition, it discusses the major drivers influencing market growth, outlines the challenges faced by vendors and the market as a whole, as well as the key trends emerging in the market.Technavio's report, Global Military Radar Systems Market 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the Americas, APAC, and EMEA; and their growth prospects in the coming years. The report includes a discussion on the key vendors operating in this market.Key regionsAmericasAPACEMEAKey vendorsGeneral DynamicsIsrael Aerospace IndustriesSaabSelex ES (Finmeccanica)ThalesMake an Enquiry of this report @Other prominent vendorsASELSANBoeingHarrisLockheed MartinNorthrop GrummanRaytheonTermaMarket driverIncreased need for airborne and maritime surveillanceFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeTechnical and operational challengesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendRapid developments in GaN technologyFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat 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?To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Industry Analysis & Outlook Of Global Adhesives & Sealants Market: 2017 - 2021

Market Research Report

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=946149

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=946149

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Industry Analysis & Outlook Of Global Adhesives & Sealants Market: 2017 - 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Adhesive is a non-metallic material which is able to join two substrates using adhesion mechanism which is developed between the adhesive and substrate and cohesive mechanism which is developed within the adhesive itself. Sealant is a substance used to block the passage of fluids through the surface or joints or openings in materials. The main difference between adhesives and sealants is that sealants typically have lower strength and higher elongation than do adhesives.The adhesives and sealants market is quite fragmented. The competition in this industry is high and mainly on the basis of quality, reliability, technology, novelty, durability and broad spectrum usage of adhesives and sealants. Product innovation and product performance play a major role in the defining the competition in the global adhesives and sealants industry.The key factors driving the growth of global adhesives and sealants market are accelerating economic growth, growth in urbanization, increase in global construction spending, growing automobile production and growing demand for thermal and noise insulation. Some of the noteworthy trends and developments of this industry are new developments in adhesives, trend of eco-friendly adhesives, adhesive end market performance trends and strong opportunity in emerging economies. However, the expansion of global adhesives and sealants market is hindered by negative effect of fluctuating raw material prices and strict regulation on volatile organic chemical.The report Global Adhesives & Sealants Market: Industry Analysis and Outlook (2017-2021) provides an in-depth analysis of the market on a global scale. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the industry are being presented in this report. The industry comprises few large players such as Henkel, 3M, H.B. Fuller and ITW. All these companies have been profiled in the present report highlighting their key financials and business strategies for growth.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of Content1. Introduction1.1 Adhesives and Sealants: An Introduction1.2 Application of Adhesives and Sealants1.3 Types of Adhesives/Sealants by Reactive Nature1.4 Types of Adhesives by Technology1.5 Curing of Adhesives and Sealants1.6 Value Chain Analysis2. Global Adhesives & Sealants Market Analysis2.1 Global Adhesives & Sealants Market by Value2.2 Global Adhesives & Sealants Market Forecast by Value2.3 Global Adhesives & Sealants Market by Volume2.4 Global Adhesives & Sealants Market Forecast by Volume2.5 Global Adhesives & Sealants Market by Region2.6 Global Adhesives & Sealants Sales by End Markets2.7 Global Adhesives Market Forecast by Value2.8 Global Sealants Market Forecast by Value2.9 Global Sealants Market by Application Areas2.10 Global Sealants Market by Region3. Regional Adhesives & Sealants Market Analysis3.1 North America3.1.1 North America Adhesives & Sealants Market by Value3.1.2 North America Adhesives Market by Value3.1.3 North America Adhesives Market Forecast by Value3.1.4 North America Adhesives Market by Volume3.1.5 North America Adhesives Market Forecast by Volume3.1.6 North America Sealants Market by Value3.1.7 North America Sealants Market Forecast by Value3.1.8 North America Sealants Market by Volume3.1.9 North America Sealants Market Forecast by VolumeMake 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 @
Morgan Stanley MS, which currently employs nearly 6,000 people in the United Kingdom, is contemplating moving around 300 jobs initially out of London, post Britains exit from the European Union. This action is needed to keep its position secured in the EU and retain its passporting rights. The news was first reported by Bloomberg.



According to the report, three people familiar with the matter said that the U.S. banking giant is considering either Dublin or Frankfurt as its hub and is already looking for office space there, in order to create a larger EU market.



Hugh Fraser, one of the spokesperson for the U.S. lender said, "Our focus is on ensuring that we can continue to service our clients whatever the Brexit outcome." He also added, "Our strong franchise and material presence in Europe gives us many options, and we will adapt as the details of Brexit become clear. Given all of this, no decisions have yet been made."



Recently, many global banks have started taking similar steps to move operations out of London after Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed that Britain will also be leaving the European single market.



This is because many of the companies which operate within the EU, use passporting rights in relation to the UK in some way or the other and their passport status is highly dependent on if Britain remains a part of the single market or not. As a result, any Brexit-related deal will lead these companies to lose their passporting rights and hence they will have to go through the costly and complicated process of being regulated in each market within the EU where they operate.



Apart from Morgan Stanley, other banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Citigroup Inc. C and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS also are planning to move their operations out of London.



Of the available options, Dublin and Frankfurt have been the choice of most of these banks for various reasons. Dublin is a preferred option because Ireland is currently being projected as the only country in Europe that uses English as their language and therefore, can help banks near London to continue their operations. Also, its labor laws are flexible and have good transportation links to the U.S.



On the other hand, Frankfurt has an excellent transport network with an airport serving as a super-connector terminal for flights between America and Asia. Moreover, per the data provided by Knight Frank Estate Agents, letting office space in this German financial hub would be cheaper compared to London.



Notably, in the past one year, shares of Morgan Stanley gained nearly 89.1%, outperforming the Zacks categorized Investment Brokers industrys gain of 66.9%. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.





Story continues





Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017



In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest tickers for the entirety of 2017?



Who wouldn't? These 10 are painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. They are our primary picks to buy and hold. Be among the very first to see them >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



J P Morgan Chase & Co (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report



Citigroup Inc. (C): Free Stock Analysis Report



Morgan Stanley (MS): Free Stock Analysis Report



Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Early Identification Of Hypoglycemic and Hyperglycemic Levels by Using Continuous Glucose Monitoring System to Bolster Growth of the Market

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1169

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/continuous-glucose-monitoring.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS) are portable and real-time glucose monitoring systems employed for glucose level measurement from time to time from the body of a patient. These systems make use of a wireless technology for the transmission of glucose readings which are taken from the interstitial fluid of the skin cells of the patient, unlike the measurement of glucose levels present in the blood which happens in case of blood glucose meters. The swiftly increasing diabetic population globally has substantially raised the preference for effectual diabetes management systems.Transparency Market Research (TMR), a market intelligence company, studies the continuous glucose monitoring market in detail. It provides the reasons behind their increased demand and the type of devices leading the market.Download Exclusive Sample of this Report:Q. Why are CGMS gaining popularity over the conventionally utilized glucose monitoring systems?The utilization of CGMS is immensely rising and they are overtaking the conventionally utilized glucose monitoring systems owing to them being user friendly, more accurate, and their provision of presenting access to real-time trends and values. In addition, continuous glucose monitoring systems aid in the management of diabetes, particularly in patients having diabetes I and also aid in lowering long-terms complexities related to diabetes. Furthermore, the increasing technological innovations are also amongst the prime factors behind the increasing employment of these systems, making the control and management of diabetes mellitus relatively simpler. The early identification of hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic levels by the utilization of CGMS devices will also fuel their demand over other types of blood glucose monitoring systems.Q What are the key opportunities and which factors may negatively impact the growth of the market?There are numerous growth opportunities in the market as a number of companies have made investments in the research and development of CGMS, thus making the management and control of diabetes easier. For instance, Dexcom, Inc. has developed the next generation disposable continuous glucose monitoring device and it will be introduced in the market by 2021. This launch will positively impact the growth of the market. In addition, the artificial pancreas approval, which makes the utilization of CGMS mandatory has also emerged as a key opportunity in the global continuous glucose monitoring devices market. However, the dearth in the reimbursement options and the strict regulatory norms in some nations are amongst the crucial factors impeding the growth of the continuous glucose monitoring market.Research Report:Q. Which device/brand and region have dominated the market?The segment of Guardian Real Time CGM System led the market in 2012 and was trailed by Dexcom Seven Plus CGM system. On the other hand, in the forecast horizon between 2013 and 2019, the development of the segment of FreeStyle Navigator will witness immense growth.Geographically, North America held a dominant share in the market for CGMS on the basis of revenue in 2012. This is due to the increasing geriatric population, the increasing obesity, and the growing acceptance of cutting-edge devices in this region. North America was trailed by Europe, which was further followed by Asia Pacific, constituting the third position in the market. In addition, Asia Pacific is predicted to hold the most lucrative opportunities in the growth of the market in forthcoming years.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 UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Elderly Care Services Market rise of technology-enhanced senior care, booming healthcare industry

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/600613

The report titled Global Elderly Care Services Market: Trends and Opportunities (2016 - 2020) provides a detailed analysis of the elder care services market with description of market sizing and growth, segmentation of market by products & services and major markets, top market players etc. The report recapitulates the factors that will be responsible for the growth in the market in the forecasted period.The market size and forecast in terms of value for the market has been provided for the period 2016 to 2020, considering 2014 as the base year and the estimated value for 2015 has also been provided in the report. The report also provides the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the forecast period 2016 to 2020. In the forecasted period global elder care services market is expected to achieve a double-digit growth.The report provides major market trends, growth drivers and challenges of the global elder care services market. The major market trends of elder care services market are rise of technology-enhanced senior care, booming healthcare industry, federal health care reforms and regulations regarding Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement etc. Rising number of ageing population, increased life expectancy, chronic illness among aged population and increase in health expenditure by senior citizens are the major growth drivers of the market. But the market also has to face lot of challenges in the coming years that will create interruption in the growth of the market. Some of the challenges are lack of qualified employees, less supply more demand and cost affordability etc.Download Sample Copy Of This Report:The report also provides country analysis of the US, Canada, Europe and India in terms of market sizing and growth. The US and Canada (in North America) are the market leaders followed by European countries. Among Asia-Pacific countries, India has been emerged as the market leader in elder care services. In coming years, Asia-Pacific will be the key market player as the growth of ageing population is more than other nations worldwide.Furthermore, the report also profiles key market players such as Extendicare Inc., Brookdale senior Living Inc., Kindred Healthcare Inc. and Genesis Healthcare Inc. on the basis of attributes such as company overview, recent developments, strategies adopted by the market leaders to ensure growth, sustainability, financial overview and recent developments.Country CoverageThe USCanadaEuropeIndiaCompany CoverageExtendicare Inc.Brookdale Senior Living Inc.Kindred Healthcare Inc.Genesis Healthcare Inc.Executive SummarySenior citizens need assistance with daily activities as well as healthcare requirements who needs a quality life. Due to all these requirements there emerged a market known as elder care services market which is specifically came into existence to serve the ageing population worldwide. Elder care services market has divided into various segments. Elderly care business includes in home care, assisted living, nursing home facilities by skilled professionals, hospital care and pharmaceuticals. Among these, in-home care, assisted living and home healthcare segment are getting popular day by day and provide quality life to senior citizens. Adult day care centres are designed for older adults who are no longer managing independently or who are isolated or lonely. Home care services are provided by family members and close relatives.Global elder care market has shown positive trends over the past few years. The primary reasons behind the growth of the market are increased ageing population worldwide, increasing demand for quality life by senior citizens, positive government regulation in healthcare segment to provide cost-effective medical treatment to the aged population, technological advancement, and chronic illness among old age population etc. the market is expected to achieve a moderate growth in the forecasted period. Global elder care services market continued to expand at a swift pace in 2015.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. We have built a veritable reputation for our commitment to fulfilling our clients' exacting market research solutions.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Industry For Dental Implants For 2017 | ResearchMoz

Market Research Report

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=505911

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=505911

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Industry For Dental Implants For 2017 | ResearchMoz" to its huge collection of research reports.The Global Dental Implants Industry Report 2015 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Dental Implants industry.The report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Dental Implants market analysis is provided for the international markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status.Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.The report focuses on global major leading industry players providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Dental Implants industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.With 232 tables and figures the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Make an Enquiry of this report @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview 11.1 Definition and Specifications of Dental Implant 11.1.1 Definition of Dental Implant 11.1.2 Specifications of Dental Implant 11.2 Classification of Dental Implant 21.2.1 Titanium Dental Implant 31.2.2 Titanium Alloy Dental Implant 31.2.3 Zirconia Dental Implant 31.3 Applications of Dental Implant 41.3.1 Hospital 51.3.2 Dental Clinic 51.4 Industry Chain Structure of Dental Implant 61.5 Industry Regional Overview of Dental Implant 61.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Dental Implant 71.7 Industry News Analysis of Dental Implant 82 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Dental Implant 102.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Dental Implant 102.2 Equipment Suppliers Analysis of Dental Implant 102.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Dental Implant 102.4 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Dental Implant 132.5 Other Costs Analysis of Dental Implant 142.6 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Dental Implant 142.7 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Dental Implant 153 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis 163.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Key Manufacturers in 2015 163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Key Dental Implants Manufacturers in 2015 163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Dental Implants Key Manufacturers in 2015 173.4 Raw Materials Sources of Global Dental Implants Key Manufacturers in 2015 18To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Cloud Analytics Market is Expected to Experience Immense Growth During 2016 - 2024

Cloud Analytics Market

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/request-for-sample.html?flag=S&repid=87306

https://goo.gl/9dbWsl

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/market-analysis/cloud-analytics-market.html

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com

Global Cloud Analytics Market: OverviewA cloud analytics is defined as nothing but a set of analytical tools and technology, and techniques that are specially designed to assist the clients to extract data from massive storage of raw data. It is designed to make the statistical data easily dividable and available to the users through web browsersGlobal Cloud Analytics Market: Growth FactorsThe global cloud analytics market is likely to witness a huge growth in the industry in the near future. Increased used of cloud service among the companies is the main reason for the growth of the global market. In addition, the growing awareness about the advantages of the clod analytics is also one of the main reasons driving the global market. Additionally, the low cost for maintenance is also one factor that is elevating the global cloud analytics market. Increased use of advanced technology in cloud analytics is also one significant factor that is boosting the global market.Get a copy of Sample Report@On the other hand, the high cost for transportation is restraining the global market. Furthermore, the high cost for raw materials is also hindering the global cloud analytics market. Moreover, high cost for the ownership of cloud analytics tools is the main reason that is hampering the global market.Global Cloud Analytics Market: SegmentationBased on the solutions, the global cloud analytics market is mainly classified as cloud BI tools, warehouse solutions, hosted data, enterprise information management, complex event processing, enterprise performance management, analytics solutions, and government, risk, and compliance.On the basis of deployment model, the global market is segmented into public cloud, hybrid cloud, private cloud, community cloud, and others.Request for TOC@Based on the organization size, the global cloud analytics market is bifurcated into large enterprises and small and medium businesses.Based on verticals, the global market is mainly classified as banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), education, government, healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing, telecommunication and IT, retail and wholesale, and others.Global Cloud Analytics Market: Regional AnalysisRegionally, the global cloud analytics market is segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. Increased used of cloud service among the companies will boost the global market in North America. India and China is likely to drive the global cloud analytics market due to increased job opportunities in future.Browse detail report with in-depth TOC @Global Cloud Analytics Market: Competitive PlayersKey players in the global market for cloud analytics are Tibco Software, Vmware Inc., Teradata, Sas Institute Inc., Tableau Software, Rackspace, SAP, Pivotlink, Qlik Tchnologies Inc., Oracle Corp., Panorama Software, Microstrategy, Newvem, Kognitio, Microsoft Corp., Information Builders, Jaspersoft, Infor Global Solutions Inc., Informatica, IBM, Indicee Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP. Other major of the global market include Host Analytics, Gooddata Corporation, Google Inc., Birst, Cloud9 Analytics, Adaptive Planning, Bime, and Actuate Corporation.Global Cloud Analytics Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaWhat Report ProvidesFull in-depth analysis of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsSegmentation details of the marketFormer, on-going, and projected market analysis in terms of volume and valueAssessment of niche industry developmentsMarket share analysisKey strategies of major playersEmerging segments and regional marketsTestimonials to companies in order to fortify their foothold in the market.About 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:
Telepathology Service Market: Popular Trends & Technological advancements to Watch Out for Near Future 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13427

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/telepathology-service-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Transparency Market Research evaluates the market dynamics governing the global telepathology service market in complete depth, in its latest research report. The report, titled Telepathology Service Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016  2024, provides a thorough assessment of the market drivers and restraints that are shaping the trajectory of the overall market.For a complete analysis of the global market, the analysts have used Porters five forces analysis and a SWOT analysis. The former explains the competitive landscape, whereas the latter provides a 360-degree view of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats influencing the market segments of the global market.Request a PDF Brochure with Report Analysis:The progress of telepathology services can be attributed to the cost-effectiveness of this technology, a factor that is being upheld by several nations as they are working towards offering affordable healthcare. The ability of quick diagnoses, accurate pathological assessment, and timely delivery of medical assistance and treatment are also encouraging the uptake of telepathology services across the globe.This overall market is expected to thrive as cases of cancer and other chronic diseases are building an immense pressure on health care systems and professionals. This service is also likely to benefit from the remarkable improvements in diagnostic testing, which has raised awareness about diseases and enabled their accurate diagnoses in recent times.The only drawback for the global market is the high capital investment and the possibility of erroneous sampling of pathological data, which can lead to disastrous results. The markets growth could also be hampered by the stringent regulatory framework that demands unmatched competency and quality assurance, both of which remain high aims for vendors to accomplish. However, working on these restraints could present new opportunities to the global telepathology service market in the near future.TMR reports that the Asia Pacific and North America will be the leading contenders in the global telepathology service market. The growing demand for home-based treatment will drive the market in these regions in the coming years. The consistent rise in the population of China, the U.S., Japan, and India is also anticipated to contribute towards the growth of this market. The demand for telepathology service will also be fueled by the rising expenditures on healthcare as disposable incomes improve, bringing in a wave of awareness to change lifestyles for better.View Report:The important players in the global telepathology service market are Wolf Vision Inc., Canada Health Infoway, Meyer Instruments, Inc., AMD Global Telemedicine, Inc., University Health Network, Telemedicine Clinic (TMC), Emerge MD, Focal Point, Polycom, Inc, Nationwide Medical Licensing, Remote Medical Technologies, Visual Share, Inc., and USAC - Universal Service Administrative Company. The research report provides a detailed analysis of the business strategies being adopted by these players along with an evaluation of their recent developments.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Silicon Wafers Market is Growing with CAGR of 8.5% and will Reach USD 503 Million by Year 2022

Silicon Wafers Market

https://marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2052

https://marketresearchfuture.com/reports/silicon-wafers-market

https://marketresearchfuture.com/reports/building-information-modelling-market

The global market for Silicon Wafers is majorly driven by factors such growing electronic industry, increasing demand in Asia-pacific among others.Market HighlightsSilicon wafer provides the data processing capabilities and are majorly used in integrated circuits. The Silicon Wafers Market is segmented into 150mm, 200mm, 300mm, and 450mm on the basis of size of the silicon wafers. Presently, 300mm diameter wafers are widely used by the semiconductor industry. It is also expected that over the next couple of years, the market will show some progress towards the 450mm diameter wafers. But major manufacturers present in the market are restraining to invest in the new technology. The main reason behind it is high manufacturing costs of semiconductor processing tools. In spite of the above challenges, major companies in the market are still working on 450mm wafers. Due to high cost of manufacturing process of the 450mm will restrict the small companies to implement this technology. In 2015, the 300mm silicon wafers segment is dominating the market and accounting for about 60-65% of the market revenue due to high demand in the solar industry.Key Players Elkem AS (Norway) Addison Engineering (CA) Renewable Energy Corporation (Norway) Shin-Etsu Handotai Co. Ltd. (Japan) Siltronic AG (Germany) MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.(California) LG Siltron Inc.(South Korea) Advance Semiconductor Inc.(U.S.) SUMCO Corp.(Japan)Request a Sample Report @Moreover, the growing demand for the solar energy will contribute to the growth of the solar panel and solar cells which in turn will boost up the silicon wafer market as the silicon wafers are widely used in the manufacturing of the solar cells.Countries such as China, U.S and Japan are some of the major leading countries in this market. China is said to have the one of the largest market for the electronics. Semiconductor makers of the china are still behind the international rivals. To support the market, china government is making the effort to promote its domestic technology market by funding to support the industry players. There are also some companies such as Lenovo and Huawei technologies are the largest manufacturer and supplier of the technology.The global Silicon Wafers market is expected to grow at CAGR of 8.5% and estimated to reach at market size of US ~$503 million by the end of forecast period.Intended Audience Silicon wafers developers Integrated chip developers Government Agencies Research Institutes & UniversitiesMarket Research Future Analysis:The Global Silicon Wafers market is estimated to grow at a promising rate in upcoming years. EMEA is the leading region among North America, and Asia-Pacific region. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region which is estimated to show high growth during forecast period. Increasing demand of advanced technological gadgets such as computers, laptops, and smartphones is the major growth drivers for silicon wafers market in Asia-Pacific region. European region will show the steady growth in the silicon wafers market as the automotive, electronic market which make use of the silicon wafers are already established in the region.Browse Report @List of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Global Silicon Wafers Market: By Size (%)Figure 3 Global Silicon Wafers Market: By Type (%)Figure 4 Global Silicon Wafers Market: By Application (%)Figure 5 Global Silicon Wafers Market: By RegionFigure 6 North America Silicon Wafers Market, By Size (%)Figure 7 North America Silicon Wafers Market, By Type (%)Figure 8 North America Silicon Wafers Market, By Application (%)Figure 9 North America Silicon Wafers Market, By Countries (%)Figure 10 Europe Silicon Wafers Market, By Size (%)Figure 11 Europe Silicon Wafers Market, By Type (%)Figure 12 Europe Silicon Wafers Market, By Application (%)Figure 13 Europe Silicon Wafers Market, By Countries (%)Figure 14 Asia-Pacific Silicon Wafers Market, By Size (%)Figure 15 Asia-Pacific Silicon Wafers Market, By Type (%)Figure 16 Asia-Pacific Silicon Wafers Market, By Application (%)Figure 17 Asia-Pacific Silicon Wafers Market, By Countries (%)Figure 18 Row Silicon Wafers Market, By Size (%)Figure 19 Row Silicon Wafers Market, By Type (%)Figure 20 Row Silicon Wafers Market, By Application (%)Related ReportGlobal Building Information Modelling Market is expected to grow at USD 11 billion by 2022 from US ~$4 billion in the 2016 with compound annual growth rate of 16%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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
US Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) Industry Report: 2014 Edition - Vicious Competition with Express Script, CVS Health and Catamaran

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=242175

http://www.researchmoz.us/healthcare-market-reports-56.html

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

http://healthcare-research-report.blogspot.in/

ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " US Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) Industry Report: 2014 Edition " to it's Large Report database.In the US, Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) deals with the management of prescription drug programs. It acts as an intermediary between health plans, drug companies, retail pharmacies and patients. Initially, PBMs used to process pharmaceutical claims for health plans. But nowadays in addition to this, PBMs have created more significant pharmacy benefit by providing a system for reimbursement of drug claims, processing and cost control. The US prescription volume and pharmaceutical sales has witnessed an exceptional growth over the past few years and the same pattern is likely to continue in the near future. Therefore, through rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers, price discounts from retails, and effective mail service pharmacies, the PBMs emphasis on enabling the plan sponsors and individuals to obtain prescribed drugs at lower prices.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:The PBM providers control drug spending and utilization by virtue of their advanced tools and techniques, encouraging use of generics and other lower-cost medications. In the US, there are some independent PBMs while some are owned by managed care organizations and retail pharmacies. Today, the PBM industry has become more determined through a series of mergers and acquisitions.Some of the factors driving the growth of the PBM industry are: accelerating US aging population, increasing life expectancy rate and incidences of chronic and infectious diseases which further increase the healthcare expenditure and pharmaceutical sales in the US. The ongoing trends and development in the PBM industry include rising medicare enrollments and increased acceptance of specialty drugs.This report assesses the US PBM industry in terms of both market volume and market value. The increasing competition in the PBM industry has been analyzed on number of factors: revenue, dispensing specialty pharmaceuticals, claims and PDP lives. The top three companies having a vicious competition with each other and dominating the PBM industry are- Express Script, CVS Health and Catamaran. These players are being profiled in the report along with their key financials and strategies for growth.Read All Healthcare Market Research Reports @Table of Content1. Overview1.1 Introduction1.2 History of PBM1.3 Retail Dispensing Process & Flow of Funds1.4 Mail Dispensing Process and Flow of Funds2. The US PBM Market2.1 Rx MarketMarket VolumeGrowth RateMarket SegmentsBranded Vs Generic GrowthDispensing Channels2.2 Pharmaceutical SalesSales GrowthBranded Vs Generic MarketDispensing Channels2.3 Specialty Drugs3. Market Dynamics3.1 Growth Drivers3.1.1 Increasing Life Expectancy Rate in the US3.1.2 Rising Healthcare Expenditure in the US3.1.3 Rising Pharmaceutical Sales3.1.4 Accelerating US Aging Population3.1.5 Ameliorating Economic ConditionsAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at:
Classified Platform Market to Register Substantial Expansion by 2024

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/10496

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/10496

In the past, classified ads were part of newspapers which offered advertisers cheap, small type notices arranged under specific categories. The media industry has witnessed switch from print media to digital media and has proven itself quite lucrative for classified platform players. Growing number of sites are providing specialized classified marketplaces online catering to niche categories including products and services such as boats, pianos, pets, and adult services. Classified platforms market includes both business to consumer (B2C) and consumer to consumer (C2C) categories. Despite of several advancements in the online classified platforms, the market is currently at a nascent stage due to large of consumers spending time on the print media; however, with increasing internet subscribers and growing number of subscribers on social media, the market for online classified platform is expected to hold promising revenue opportunity during the forecast period.Online advertising of a particular product or service through classified platforms enables consumer to explore and compare a particular product or service in a better way than print advertising. Few of the classified platforms also provides 360 degree view of products which enables consumers to better understand the dimension and esthetics of a product, thereby enhancing consumers experience. Moreover, with the proliferation of business applications on mobile platforms, classified ads platforms is providing greater opportunity to both buyers and sellers in terms of saving time and cost.As classified advertisement platforms do not charge for posting an advertisement, few of the classified platform websites displays clutter of information and lack of genuine content. This is acting as a challenge for classified platforms market. Leading players in this market need to focus on building intelligent processes in order to have genuine content without comprising scale of their business.Countries in Europe region such as France and Norway are witnessing increasing popularity for horizontal classified model. Most of the consumer in the Europe are using classified platforms for searching second hand merchandise across a range of categories. Countries such as U.K and Germany have witnessed increased popularity for online classified with vertical business models.In the North America and Latin America regions, the market of online classified is yet to go as a mainstream business. Few of the enterprises in the countries such as the U.S. and Brazil, prefer advertising their product or service on print media as against online digital media.Although overall e-commerce market in Asia-Pacific region is booming, online classified platform market is witnessing moderate growth. In countries such as China and India, the online classified ad penetration is low, primarily due to presence of this platforms in only tier 1 and tier 2 cities.Request to view Table of content @Craigslist Inc., Finn.no, Gumtree (ebay), Quikr India Private Limited (Commonfloor.com), OLX, Inc., Rightmove plc, Backpage.com are some of the key player of global classified platform market.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report atThe final report customized as per your specific requirement will be sent to your e-mail id within 7-20 days, depending on the scope of the report.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Thepackersmovers.com Introduces Packers and Movers Charges in Delhi

www.thepackersmovers.com/locations/packers-and-movers-delhi.html

www.thepackersmovers.com/car-carriers/car-carriers-delhi.html

New Delhi, India- If youre looking for movers and packers charge in Delhi then Thepackersmovers.com co e up with a list of shifting providers with price.Thepackersmovers since its beginning has been providing people with an online directory of packers and movers. This time they have added the reliant shifting providers of Delhi () which could help people relocate easily from one place to another.Shifting often come as a big problem for people as they dont exactly know what to do or how to shift conveniently. With so much to do they often feel dizzy like situation which is very common to feel. Well, the surge in packers and movers has created a lot of confusion as well. People feel truly confused which packers and movers to choose and which not as there are innumerable companies out there.But Thepackersmovers.com gives them a sigh of relief. It brings the most trusted shifting providers. With a wide directory including all the reliable shifting service providers Thepackersmovers makes sure every customer gets excellent services.We have been planning to bring people the best services around however since our beginning we have been doing that. With movers and packers charges in Delhi listing on our site, customers can now get how much they would be charged. They can even compare two movers based on the price and choose the one that best fits their needs, said one of the spokespersons of Thepackersmovers.com.He further mentioned that there is no need to panic as every mover has been added after being truly satisfied of their services. They can also find car carriers in Delhi () for people who want to move their cars or vehicles. Apart from that there are also packers and movers who provide potted plants and pet relocations as well.It is very easy to hire a packer and mover on Thepackersmovers.com. One just needs to enter the location and search. There will come a list mentioning all the packers and movers in that particular area. Based on their needs people can hire the best ones in no time.Thepackersmovers is one of the online directories for packers and movers in India. The site gives access to a wide range of shifting providers on listing website. From potted plants to pets, home essentials and even commercial, people can get all their relocation needs fulfilled here with the right packer and mover. Thepackersmovers ensures great service as it lists only the ones who are reliable and have gone through their rigorous background checks.Media Contact :-The Packers MoversMayur Vihar Phase 1, Pandav NagarPostal Code :- 110091City - DelhiCountry - IndiaEmail - info@thepackersmovers.com
The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge links the North Korean town of Sinuiju with the Chinese border town of Dandong (AFP Photo/MARK RALSTON) (AFP/File)

North Korea denounced its chief ally and diplomatic protector China for "dancing to the tune of the US" after it banned coal imports in apparent punishment for a missile launch.

Beijing and Pyongyang have a relationship forged in the blood of the Korean War, but ties have begun to fray in recent years, with China increasingly exasperated by its wayward neighbour's nuclear antics.

Last week it announced the suspension of all coal imports from the North -- a crucial foreign currency earner for Pyongyang -- for the rest of the year.

It came days after a missile launch personally overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un in what was perceived as Pyongyang's first show of force against new US President Donald Trump.

An essay bylined "Jong Phil" and carried by the North's official Korea Central News Agency slammed Beijing's move.

It did not identify China by name, referring instead to "a neighbouring country".

"This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the US," it said.

"It has unhesitatingly taken inhumane steps such as totally blocking foreign trade related to the improvement of people's living standard," it added.

"Righteous voices" had condemned the move, it said, while "the hostile forces are shouting 'bravo' over this".

The format was unusual for KCNA, which tends not to carry editorials or commentaries of its own, preferring to reproduce those of Rodong Sinmun, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party.

The tone was also more akin to Pyongyang's denunciations of the US.

It was "utterly childish" to think that the North would stop its nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile programmes if a few pennies of money were cut off, said the KCNA essay.

Its scientists and technicians were "working hard in do-or-die spirit", it added.

China said Friday that Beijing and Pyongyang were still "friendly neighbours" but reaffirmed its opposition to the North's nuclear ambitions.

Story continues

"China's position on the nuclear issue is unequivocal and consistent. The (North) is well aware of that," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

The latest launch -- the first since Trump took office -- showed some progress in Pyongyang's missile technology, Seoul's military said.

The North -- barred under UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology -- staged two atomic tests and many missile tests last year in a quest to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the US mainland.

Trump has described the North as a "big, big problem" and vowed to deal with the issue "very strongly".

The KCNA article came as the murder in Malaysia of Kim's half-brother Kim Jong-Nam, in what is suspected to be a Pyongyang plot, dominates world headlines.

Jong-Nam -- the eldest son of the late ruler Kim Jong-Il -- died on February 13 after being attacked by two women at a Kuala Lumpur airport, with Malaysian authorities blaming a lethal nerve agent.

The North angrily denied involvement on Thursday, blaming Malaysia for "immoral" handling of the case and for plotting with Seoul to frame Pyongyang.

It did not confirm the dead man's identity.
Global Marketing Software and Solution Market Estimated to Flourish by 2024

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/10586

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/10586

Marketing software and solutions are software tools used by various enterprises to track the performance of marketing initiatives. Marketing software and solution enables marketing managers to evaluate the their marketing initiatives by measuring performance using important business metrics such as return on investment (ROI), marketing attribution, and overall marketing effectiveness.Change in the landscape of information technology industry and advent of social media platforms has created potential market for marketing software and solutions. These software solutions helps marketers to analyze the performance of its products in terms of hits that these products have received on digital platforms and its purchase scenario. In addition to this, marketing software and solutions also measures and analyzes customer lifetime value in the real-time. Although, these software solutions helps enterprise in taking real time decisions, they lack capabilities which can help enterprises to explore root-cause behind the triumph or catastrophe of a particular marketing campaign. To elucidate, these software and solutions can provide predictions and recommendations to a marketing team about a particular marketing campaign, however, does not provide key parameters taken into consideration for these predictions and recommendations.In North America region, marketing software and solution are emerging at a rapid pace and are assisting various technology companies in this region. Business organizations that are based in countries such as United States and Canada are aggressively adopting marketing software and solutions.Cloud based marketing software and solution have witnessed traction in its adoption in the Asia Pacific region. IBM is offering its cloud based social media analytics software in this region which provides information about customers sentiment in social media.With the rise of big data in the Europe region, marketing software and solutions are being adopted from many end-user organizations.In Latin America and Middle East and Africa regions, most of the business organizations are still reluctant to deploy marketing software and solution because of the high cost involved in it. In coming future, with increase in cloud based offerings, the adoption of marketing software and solution will also increase as cost associated with deployment of these will come down from cloud based offerings.Request to view Table of content @IBM Corporation, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Accenture PLC, Oracle Corporation, SAS Institute Inc., Harte-Hanks Inc., and Pega-Systems are some of the major players of the market.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report atThe final report customized as per your specific requirement will be sent to your e-mail id within 7-20 days, depending on the scope of the report.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Alphabet Developers LLP - Digital Marketing Services in Economic price

SEO, PPC, SMO, Alphabet

ALPHABET DEVELOPERS LLP is a leading and well known IT & outsourcing company based in Jaipur that provide the quality services and solutions to its clients and customers by development design and implementing solutions .ALPHABET DEVELOPERS LLP is a leading and well known IT & outsourcing company based in Jaipur that provide the quality services and solutions to its clients and customers by development design and implementing solutions .We provide our best IT & outsourcing Services around the globe including Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Web Design & Development , E-commerce application Development , Search Engine Optimization , Pay per click advertising ,and well know to provide the world class customer support in the industry .Alphabet Developers LLP17, Roshan Nagar- A, Front of REIL company, Kanakpura, Sirsi Road, Jaipur- 302012+91-0141-2471706, +91-8824999499, +91-8952881616
Mobile Enterprise Application Development Platform Market Estimated to Flourish by 2024

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/10613

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/10613

Mobile enterprise application development platform is an integrated development environment that provides tools and client and client/server middleware for building, deploying, and managing mobile applications. Mobile enterprise application development platform address the challenges of mobile application development by managing the diversity of devices, platforms, networks, and users. It allows an enterprise to develop an application once and then deploy it to a variety of devices.Mobile enterprise application development platforms allows easier integration of mobile applications with the unique features and capabilities of mobile devices. It interfaces with client management server and backend infrastructure to provide high visibility and control via web-based console over the entire network. This makes it easy for the businesses to centrally manage devices and applications, install and update mobile software over the entire company network.In the North America region, enterprise mobility is the top priority for the business enterprises to stay ahead in the competitive business environment, hence, business organizations are rapidly deploying the mobile enterprise application development platform.In Asia-Pacific region, enterprise are adopting mobile enterprise application development platform slowly and gradually. In China, enterprise mobility is becoming one of the top technology issues for enterprises while in India, most of the business organizations are still reluctant to adoption of enterprise mobility due to security related concerns.In Europe region, huge spending by business enterprises in middleware software is driving the growth of the market. Europe has many economical sound economies such U.K. and Germany and enterprises operating in this region invested significantly in the middleware software market, and that is driving the growth of mobile enterprise application development market in this region.In Latin America and Middle East Africa regions the growth of mobile enterprise application development platform market is still low because enterprise across these regions dont want to increase their capital expenditure by spending money on enterprise mobility solutions.Request to view Table of content @IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, MobileIron, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, and Apple Inc. are some of the big players of the market.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report atThe final report customized as per your specific requirement will be sent to your e-mail id within 7-20 days, depending on the scope of the report.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global Offshore Wind Turbines Consumption 2016 Market Research Report Competitive Landscape, Technology and Pipeline Insights

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=710347

http://www.researchmoz.us/power-market-reports-26.html

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

http://deep-research-report.blogspot.com/

ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Global Offshore Wind Turbines Consumption 2016 Market Research Report " to it's Large Report database.The Global Offshore Wind Turbines Consumption 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Offshore Wind Turbines market.First, the report provides a basic overview of the Offshore Wind Turbines industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. And development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.Secondly, the report states the global Offshore Wind Turbines market size (volume and value), and the segment markets by regions, types, applications and companies are also discussed.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Third, the Offshore Wind Turbines market analysis is provided for major regions including USA, Europe, China and Japan, and other regions can be added. For each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. Whats more, the Offshore Wind Turbines industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Read All Power Market Research Reports @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Offshore Wind Turbines1.1 Definition and Specifications of Offshore Wind Turbines1.1.1 Definition of Offshore Wind Turbines1.1.2 Specifications of Offshore Wind Turbines1.2 Classification of Offshore Wind Turbines1.3 Applications of Offshore Wind Turbines1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Offshore Wind Turbines1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Offshore Wind Turbines1.5.1 Industry Overview of Offshore Wind Turbines1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Offshore Wind Turbines1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines1.7 Industry News Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines3 3 Global Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales and Sale Price Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines3.1 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Offshore Wind Turbines 2011-20163.2 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Offshore Wind Turbines by Regions 2011-20163.3 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Offshore Wind Turbines by Types 2011-20163.4 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Offshore Wind Turbines by Applications 2011-2016About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at:
Global Pregnancy Detection Kit Industry 2014 Market Research Report Emerging Trends, Growth Drivers, Future Outlook and Opportunities

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=244391

http://www.researchmoz.us/healthcare-market-reports-56.html

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

http://healthcare-research-report.blogspot.in/

ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Global Pregnancy Detection Kit Industry 2014 Market Research Report " to it's Large Report database.2014 Global Pregnancy Detection Kit Industry Report is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions of the Pregnancy Detection Kit industry, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia) and the main countries (United States, Germany, Japan and China).The report firstly introduced the Pregnancy Detection Kit basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:The report includes six parts, dealing with: 1.) basic information; 2.) the Asia Pregnancy Detection Kit industry; 3.) the North American Pregnancy Detection Kit industry; 4.) the European Pregnancy Detection Kit industry; 5.) market entry and investment feasibility; and 6.) the report conclusionTable of ContentsPart I Pregnancy Detection Kit Industry OverviewChapter One Pregnancy Detection Kit Industry Overview1.1 Pregnancy Detection Kit Definition1.2 Pregnancy Detection Kit Classification Analysis1.2.1 Pregnancy Detection Kit Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 Pregnancy Detection Kit Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 Pregnancy Detection Kit Application Analysis1.3.1 Pregnancy Detection Kit Main Application Analysis1.3.2 Pregnancy Detection Kit Main Application Share Analysis1.4 Pregnancy Detection Kit Industry Chain Structure AnalysisRead All Healthcare Market Research Reports @1.5 Pregnancy Detection Kit Industry Development Overview1.5.1 Pregnancy Detection Kit Product History Development Overview1.5.1 Pregnancy Detection Kit Product Market Development Overview1.6 Pregnancy Detection Kit Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.1 Pregnancy Detection Kit Global Import Market Analysis1.6.2 Pregnancy Detection Kit Global Export Market Analysis1.6.3 Pregnancy Detection Kit Global Main Region Market Analysis1.6.4 Pregnancy Detection Kit Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.5 Pregnancy Detection Kit Global Market Development Trend AnalysisChapter Two Pregnancy Detection Kit Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend AnalysisPart II Asia Pregnancy Detection Kit Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)Chapter Three Asia Pregnancy Detection Kit Market Analysis3.1 Asia Pregnancy Detection Kit Product Development History3.2 Asia Pregnancy Detection Kit Process Development History3.3 Asia Pregnancy Detection Kit Industry Policy and Plan Analysis3.4 Asia Pregnancy Detection Kit Competitive Landscape Analysis3.5 Asia Pregnancy Detection Kit Market Development TrendAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at:
Automotive Lead-acid Battery 2017 Global Key Players - Panasonic, C&D Technologies, East Penn Manufacturing Company, EnerSys, Exide Technology Market Analysis and Forecast to 2022

Automotive Lead-acid Battery

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/996606-global-automotive-lead-acid-battery-sales-market-report-2017

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/996606-global-automotive-lead-acid-battery-sales-market-report-2017

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=996606

www.wiseguyreports.com

Automotive Lead-acid Battery ReportThis report studies sales (consumption) of Automotive Lead-acid Battery 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, coveringPanasonicC&D TechnologiesEast Penn Manufacturing CompanyEnerSysExide TechnologyGS YuasaSaftFIAMMLeoch International TechnologyPT. GS batteryTrojan BatteryClick here for sample report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Automotive Lead-acid Battery 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 Automotive Lead-acid Battery in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2......Some of the Major Point in Table of ContentsGlobal Automotive Lead-acid Battery Sales Market Report 20171 Automotive Lead-acid Battery Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Automotive Lead-acid Battery1.2 Classification of Automotive Lead-acid Battery1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.3 Application of Automotive Lead-acid Battery1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.4 Automotive Lead-acid Battery 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 Automotive Lead-acid Battery (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Automotive Lead-acid Battery Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Automotive Lead-acid Battery Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)For Detailed Reading Please visit @9 Global Automotive Lead-acid Battery Manufacturers Analysis9.1 Panasonic9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Automotive Lead-acid Battery Product Type, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 Panasonic Automotive Lead-acid Battery Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 C&D Technologies9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Automotive Lead-acid Battery Product Type, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 C&D Technologies Automotive Lead-acid Battery Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 East Penn Manufacturing Company9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Automotive Lead-acid Battery Product Type, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 East Penn Manufacturing Company Automotive Lead-acid Battery Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 EnerSys9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Automotive Lead-acid Battery Product Type, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 Product A9.4.2.2 Product B9.4.3 EnerSys Automotive Lead-acid Battery Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.5 Exide Technology9.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.5.2 Automotive Lead-acid Battery Product Type, Application and Specification9.5.2.1 Product A9.5.2.2 Product B9.5.3 Exide Technology Automotive Lead-acid Battery Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.6 GS Yuasa9.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.6.2 Automotive Lead-acid Battery Product Type, Application and Specification9.6.2.1 Product A9.6.2.2 Product B9.6.3 GS Yuasa Automotive Lead-acid Battery Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview..ContinuedBuy now @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)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
Calcium Nitrate Market: Research Article Outlining Industry Insights Based on Grades, Applications, and Regions

Calcium Nitrate Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/ask-sample-request/calcium-nitrate-market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/articles/calcium-nitrate-market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/ask-toc-request/calcium-nitrate-market

Calcium Nitrate Market IntroductionCalcium nitrate is a colorless crystalline compound with molecular formula Ca(NO3)2. It is anhydrous salt that absorbs moisture from air and is soluble in water and alcohol. Calcium nitrate contains calcium and nitrogen and is mainly manufactured by three processes namely, treating limestone with weak nitric acid, reacting phosphate rock with nitric acid, or reacting ammonium nitrate with calcium hydroxide. Major applications of global calcium nitrate market include waste water treatment chemicals, agriculture, concrete production, latex production and others. Other application comprises niche applications such as molten salts and regeneration of cold packs. Among the prominent applications, fertilizers is estimated to be the largest application. It is used as a source of nitrogen element for the plants which is an essential nutrient for plant growth. Additionally, Calcium nitrate based fertilizer do not acidify the soil nor does it evaporate to atmosphere like ammonia. Owing to such superior characteristics calcium nitrate is widely used in fertilizer application.Moreover, calcium ion in calcium nitrate accelerates the formation of concrete admixtures. In concrete mixing, the iron hydroxide layer formed due to nitrogen ion reduces the corrosion in concrete. It is used at construction sites where instant settling of concrete mixture is required. Furthermore, Calcium nitrate is used in waste water preconditioning in order to reduce odor emissions into the atmosphere. Liquid form calcium nitrate is used to limit the hydrogen sulfide in order to control the odor emission. The global calcium nitrate market is estimated to be significantly consolidated with the production concentrated in China and Europe. In terms of consumption, the market is witnessing shift towards emerging markets in Asia Pacific and MEA, owing to the growing food demand in the regions.Request a Sample Copy of this Research Article @Calcium Nitrate Market DynamicsThe global calcium nitrate market is estimated to be driven by increasing consumption of calcium nitrate fertilizers along with increasing need of municipal and industrial waste water treatment. Rise in population has boosted the food demand globally, which subsequently drives the fertilizer demand in order to increase the crop yield. As calcium nitrate do not sour the soil, nor does it contain heavy metals or chlorides, it remains unaffected during temperature changes. This makes the calcium nitrate based fertilizers stronger compared to urea based fertilizer or ammonia. It is witnessing more in demand specifically in oil & seeds, owing to increasing consumption of oil & seed in the global market. The growing population and increasing industrialization has propelled the growth of calcium nitrate market mainly in developing markets in Asia such as India & China.Water treatment is necessary by using calcium nitrate so that it stops anaerobic conditions and prevent bacteria and virus to spread in environment. Due to rapid industrialization, there is decline in clean water rates. Waste water disposal is high in countries like China, India and Brazil owing to elevating industries and growing food consumption with increasing population. Owing to toxic properties, government has implemented stringent regulations on the emission of hydrogen sulfide in the atmosphere. Such restriction regarding waste water disposal will positively influence the calcium nitrate market growth.Calcium nitrate helps settling of concrete faster as it absorbs moisture from air. Therefore, it is widely used in construction sites where instant concrete settling is required. Concrete manufacturing is growing rapidly in China, India, Indonesia and some parts of Middle East due to growing demand for developing infrastructure and residential buildings. Consequently, rising product application across construction and agriculture can result in business growth.However, Calcium nitrate fertilizers is hydroscopic in nature and has tendency to melt within packaged bags. Hence, it is not durable for long distance transport and is regarded as hazardous product by government. As a result of all such factors, the calcium nitrate market is anticipated to exhibit a CAGR of 5.2% over the forecast period.Browse Article Details @Calcium Nitrate: Market SegmentationFor the purpose of this study, Market Research Future has segmented the global citric acid market into grades and applications.By Grades: Agriculture grade Industrial gradeBy Application: Agriculture Waste Water Treatment Concrete Production Latex Production OthersCalcium Nitrate: Regional AnalysisAs per Market Research Future analysis, the global citric acid market has grown tremendously in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and Japan. Geographically, Asia Pacific dominates the market of calcium nitrate owing to elevating industries and growing grain crop demand. Countries like China and India are looking out for opportunities to generate more business from agriculture as its sector dominating market. This calcium nitrate based fertilizer will boost the demand in China, India and Japan in order to meet food demand of growing population. Increasing fertilizer demand along with waste water treatment will boost the calcium nitrate market growth. Growing manufacturing industries are leading to decline of fresh water resources in China and India. Thus, with insufficient water supply in emerging economies is estimated to generate water treatment facilities which propel the business growth.Rising consumption of food grains and growing use of concrete for building new infrastructure and monuments in developed regions like North America and Europe has further driven the market of calcium nitrate. US in North America accounts for 2nd largest due to extensively use of calcium nitrate in explosive industries. This leads to increase in government spending in defense activities which ultimately boost the global calcium market growth. Stern environmental legislations laid by European government regarding usage of chemicals like calcium nitrate can slow down the growth of business in these regions.Request Table of Contents Covered in this Article @Calcium Nitrate: Trade Analysis (Import/ Export)Owing to increase in agriculture activities and upcoming innovations in industries, global calcium nitrate market trade is expected to increase in future. China is a leading producer and consumer of calcium nitrate in the global market. After China, Russia, South Africa and Israel are the prominent countries in terms of calcium nitrate production. Moreover, Asia- Pacific is estimated to be leading exporter followed by Europe and North America. In 2015, Asia pacific accounted for 41% of the overall export and China is estimated to major revenue generating market with 37.5% calcium nitrate exported in 2015. Moreover, US, Mexico, Spain and India are estimated to be the prominent importers in the global market in 2015.Calcium Nitrate: Key Market PlayersVarious prominent players present in the global calcium nitrate market includes Agrium Inc, Haifa-Group, Airedale Chemical Co. Ltd, GFS Chemicals Inc, Prathista Industries Limited, Aldon Corporation, All-Chemie Ltd, Rural Liquid Fertilizers, Sterling Chemicals Ltd., Yara International ASA.About Market Research Future (MRFR) Analysis and ReportsMarket Research Future introduces about the global citric acid market for the period 2014-2022 mainly includes growth drivers, trends, restrains and how the market will grow in the future across the globe. In report, Market Research Future has focused on the current market scenario which includes market segmentation, market dynamics and competitive landscape along with company profiles.Every report 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 market segments and regions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Pet Wearable Market - Demand for High-end products to Open Opportunities for Small Players

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=12701

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/pet-wearable-market.htm

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Pet Wearable Market: SnapshotOver the last couple of years, the advent of wearable technology and the ever-growing awareness about pet health, fitness, and safety have resulted in the emergence of pet wearables. The pet wearable market is presently in its nascent stage and holds significant potential in the ensuing years. Transparency Market Research projects that the spending on pet wearables is likely to surpass that on pet food by 2017.The global pet wearables market is estimated to be valued at US$1.0 bn by the end of 2016 and is expected to reach US$2.5 bn by 2024 at a 12.0% CAGR therein.Availability of Advanced Substitutes Threatening Uptake of Identification and Tracking Devices for PetsIn terms of application, the pet wearable market is classified into identification and tracking, facilitation, safety, and security, behaviour monitoring and control, and medical diagnosis and treatment. So far, majority of the demand in the pet wearables market has been generated by the identification and tracking segment. However, the adoption rate of identification and tracking devices for pets and farm animals is projected to witness a marginal decline during the forecast period mainly due to the availability of substitute products offering similar as well as more advanced and sophisticated features.PDF Sample For Latest Industry Happenings @Increasing awareness about pet health and fitness among owners, especially in North America and Europe, is expected to fuel the demand for devices providing medical diagnosis. The medical diagnosis and treatment segment, in combination with the facilitation, safety, and security segment, is expected to account for over a quarter of the pet wearables market by 2024.pet wearable marketStringent Regulations Pertaining to Treatment toward Animals Drives North America Pet Wearables MarketGeographically, North America and Europe are expected to be the major markets for pet wearables, with a combined share of around 75% during the forecast period. Market penetration of pet wearables is relatively high across these regions owing to greater purchasing power and stringent regulations pertaining to treatment toward animals. The latter has compelled households with pets to purchase products such as bark collars and behavior modification devices. In addition, the availability of advanced wireless infrastructure and telecommunications technologies has catalyzed the adoption of GPS collars along with monitoring devices for pets. The prevailing technological know-how of mobile devices and interpretation of mobile data among prospective customers in these regions also plays a major role in the uptake of these devices across North America and Europe.The Asia Pacific pet wearables market is projected to grow at a significant pace through 2024. GPS and RFID technology-based identification, tracking, behavior monitoring, and control are expected experience considerable demand during the forecast period. However, in terms of growth rate, the adoption of devices to ensure the safety and security of pets and to facilitate medical diagnosis and treatment is expected be the leading segment. The lack of advanced telecommunication infrastructure across major markets in the Asia-Pacific region has resulted in a relatively lower adoption of pet wearables and they are expected to gain traction only by the next decade.Read Full Press Release @Some of the major players operating in the pet wearables market are DeLaval Inc. (Sweden), Loc8tor Ltd. (United Kingdom), Nedap N.V. (Netherlands), PetPace Ltd. (Burlington), Whistle Labs Inc. (United States), and IceRobotics Ltd (United Kingdom).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:
Industrial Controls System Market - Fierce Rise in Competition in Manufacturing Sector to Bolster Growth

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=4886

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/industrial-controls-market.htm

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The global market for industrial controls system has been covered under the scope of this report. An industrial control network is a system of interconnected equipment used to monitor and control physical equipment in industrial environments. Industrial controls improve product quality, plant efficiency, as well as facilitate uniform production in industries. These are the main reasons for increasing investments in the industrial controls system market. Increasing need of software in industrial automation, rise in infrastructure investments in emerging markets and increasing need for process automation among diverse industry verticals are the major factors responsible for the growth of the global industrial controls system market globally. Moreover, growing application of software in industrial control devices is set to increase scalability of SCADA, DCS and PLC systems in industrial environments.The global industrial controls system market is segmented by region in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (RoW). North America led the global Industrial Controls System Market in 2014 and is also expected to maintain its dominance in 2021 as well in this market. The growth in North America is primarily attributed due to an increase in demand for safer and reliable process automation in different sectors, such as power plants, oil & gas and water & wastewater among others. Asia Pacific held the second largest share of the global industrial controls system market in 2014 followed by Europe and RoW respectively. The growth of the industrial controls system market in Europe can be attributed to the increase in demand for modernization of oil & gas, water & wastewater, and power infrastructures among others. Power and oil & gas industries were major contributors in RoW, in 2014.PDF Sample For Latest Industry Happenings @The industrial controls system market is segmented on the basis of types into supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), distributed control system (DCS) and programmable logic controller (PLC). Distributed control system (DCS) is holding the maximum market revenue share in 2014 and is expected to remain so during the forecast period from 2015 to 2021. The increasing industrial infrastructure investment and expansion of power and oil & gas project activities globally is spurring the demand for this segment. In addition, increasing need of software in industrial automation, rise in infrastructure investments in emerging markets and growth in demand for process automation among different industry verticals are the major factors that are driving the industrial controls system market globally. By components, the global SCADA market has been segmented into a programmable logic controller (PLC), human machine interface (HMI), remote terminal unit (RTU), SCADA communication system, and others.The industrial controls system market is further segmented by application into power, water & wastewater, oil & gas, manufacturing, chemicals, automotive, food & beverages, pharmaceuticals and others (including aerospace, defense, mining and material, etc.). The global industrial controls system market is dominated by power sector segment. High gap in demand and supply of industrial control devices in developing countries such as India and China among others is expected to drive the demand of PLC, DCS and SCADA products in power sector. Chemicals segment was the second largest application sector in the industrial controls system market globally. Rising demand for bulk production of chemical materials is boosting the application of industrial control systems in the chemical industry.Read Full Press Release @Some of the leading players in the global Industrial Controls System Market covered in the report are Siemens AG (Germany), ABB Ltd (Switzerland), Omron Corp (Japan), Emerson Electric Co (U.S.), Rockwell Automation, Inc. (U.S.), Honeywell International, Inc (U.S.), Alstom SA (France), Omron Corp (Japan), General Electric Co (U.S.), Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Japan) and Schneider Electric SE (France) among others.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:
Advanced Driver Assistance Market Low Cost Cars is also Fuelling the Growth of this Market

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2914

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Advance driving assistance system (ADAS) is an overall system which helps driver in driving process and ensures safety at higher level. Some of the most common ADAS features are adaptive cruise control (ACC), blind spot detection (BSD), park assist, lane departure warning system (LDWS), tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), drowsiness monitor and others (night vision, driver monitoring system, forward collision warning, heads up display) provides convenience and safety.Currently, the market of advanced driving assistance system is expected to have a decent growth. The growth of this segment is mainly driven by the rise in safety regulations in developed countries such as Japan, China, and U.S., in past few years.Moreover, increasing focus on consumer safety and deployment of ADAS in low cost cars is also fuelling the growth of this market. However, complexity and cost pressure and environmental factors affecting the systems performance hindering the growth of ADAS market.Request A Sample Of This Report:North America is dominating the market attributed to stringent safety and environmental regulations. North America is closely followed by Europe, owing to mandatory application of tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) in passenger cars, driver comfort and safety legislations.ADAS over the forecast period is expected to take the centre stage for safety and chassis systems in an automobile which aims to channelize research and development in various safety applications.Improving lifestyles, vehicle demand and changing buyers preferences are the most important drivers for the growth of ADAS market in Asia Pacific region. In rest of the world, the growth of ADAS market is largely driven by favorable policies in developing countries such as Brazil, UAE and Russia.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:
Matrix to Display its Innovative Telecom Products and Solutions at Source India 2017, Ghana Exhibition

Matrix, a leading manufacturer of enterprise grade Telecom and Security solutions, is participating in 8th edition of Source India 2017, Ghana. SOURCE INDIA is a unique B2B platform, which is created by the industry to accelerate growth of the Indian electronics hardware manufacturing. This year it will be a three day event concentrating on B-2-B meetings and Conference.Matrix, with strong history of delivering cutting-edge products and innovative solutions in the IP Telephony market, will showcase its complete range of Business Phone Systems, VoIP/GSM Gateways and Converged Voice/Data products.During the event, Matrix will also showcase its latest Unified Communication Solution, encompassing SARVAM UCS and VARTA WIN200. SARVAM UCS is a Unified Communication Solution engineered on the four pillars of Collaboration, Communication, Messaging and Mobility to enhance customer convenience and business productivity. With its intuitive interface and built-in real-time features of Video Calling, Email Integration, Presence Sharing and BLF Keys, Matrix SARVAM UCS empowers an organization to easily extend its reach to the employees. It is designed to overcome geographical, communication device, and user-accessibility barriers with a single platform solution.Source India Ghana17 is a great platform to showcase our industry leading Telecom products and solutions. We look forward to meeting system integrators as well as new customers to let them know how our innovative products can help them improve their experience on communication solutions, said Sagar Gosalia, Vice President - Marketing and Sales.Matrix cordially invites you to visit us at Stand No. B10, Accra International Conference Centre, Accra, Ghana from 28th Feb to 2nd March 2017 and have a glimpse at our perfectly tailored Telecom solutions.ABOUT MATRIXEstablished in 1991, Matrix is a leader in Telecom and Security solutions for modern businesses and enterprises. An innovative, technology driven and customer focused organization, Matrix is committed to keep pace with the revolutions in the telecom and security industries. With more than 40% of its human resources dedicated to the development of new products, Matrix has launched cutting-edge products like IP-PBX, Universal Gateways, VoIP Gateways and Terminals, GSM Gateways, Access Control, Time-Attendance and Video Surveillance solutions. These solutions are feature-rich, reliable and conform to the international standards. Having global footprints in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa through an extensive network of more than 500 channel partners, Matrix ensures that the products serve the needs of its customers faster and longer. Matrix has gained trust and admiration of customers representing the entire spectrum of industries. Matrix has won many international awards for its innovative products.ABOUT MATRIXEstablished in 1991, Matrix is a leader in Telecom and Security solutions for modern businesses and enterprises. An innovative, technology driven and customer focused organization, Matrix is committed to keep pace with the revolutions in the telecom and security industries. With more than 40% of its human resources dedicated to the development of new products, Matrix has launched cutting-edge products like IP-PBX, Universal Gateways, VoIP Gateways and Terminals, GSM Gateways, Access Control, Time-Attendance and Video Surveillance solutions. These solutions are feature-rich, reliable and conform to the international standards. Having global footprints in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa through an extensive network of more than 500 channel partners, Matrix ensures that the products serve the needs of its customers faster and longer. Matrix has gained trust and admiration of customers representing the entire spectrum of industries. Matrix has won many international awards for its innovative products.394 GIDC, Makarpura, Vadodara
Lighting Fixtures Market Improving Power Consumption to Work Performed Ratios

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=6281

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

As an application segment of lighting fixtures, the industrial and commercial sectors are not only currently the largest in value, but also the fastest in growth rate. By the end of 2021, the revenue earned in the lighting fixtures market globally is expected to reach US$89.93 bn.The biggest reason for this growth in lighting fixtures application is the direct regulatory pressure imposed by government bodies. The industrial and commercial sectors are the two largest consumers of a nations power output and the regulatory pressure to reduce their power consumption has scaled up.This, coupled with the growing need for centers to reduce their own production costs is urging key players to replace their current lighting fixtures to new and more efficient ones.Request A Sample Of This Report:The top producers of lighting fixtures across the world are Koninklijke Philips N.V., Acuity Brands, Inc., Hubbel Lighting, Inc., Cooper Lighting, LLC, Zumtobel Lighting GmbH, LSI Industries, Juno Lighting Group and Bajaj Electricals Ltd.By the end of 2021, Asia Pacific is expected to take up a share of 38.2% in the global lighting fixtures market. This region possess several key drivers that allow it to generate the highest demand for lighting fixtures at a consistent rate. One of the key drivers includes the very high density of population.With the two most populous countries  China and India  situated in Asia Pacific, their economic development is expected to boost industrial, commercial, and residential sectors. Additionally, industry-wide transition phases from conventional lighting fixtures to LED ones is creating an additional demand for new fixtures.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 Beef Market  Share, Size, Growth, Trends & Forecast 2017-2025

http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/world-beef-cattle-meat-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/

http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/world-beef-cattle-meat-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/

https://www.slideshare.net/IndexBox_Marketing/world-beef-cattle-meat-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020

www.indexbox.co.uk

IndexBox has just published a new report "World: Beef (Cattle Meat) - Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2025" ().This report provides an in-depth analysis of the global beef 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:beefData coverage: Beef market size and value; Per Capita consumption; Forecast of the market dynamics in the medium term; Global beef production, split by region and country; Global beef trade (exports and imports); Producer, export and import prices for beef; Beef 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:
Totalstation and Theodolite 2017 Global Key Players - Hexagon, Topcon, Trimble, EIE Instruments, South Group, Sanding Market Analysis and Forecast to 2022

Totalstation and Theodolite

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/995845-global-totalstation-and-theodolite-sales-market-report-2017

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/995845-global-totalstation-and-theodolite-sales-market-report-2017

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=995845

www.wiseguyreports.com

Totalstation and Theodolite ReportThis report studies sales (consumption) of Totalstation and Theodolite 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, coveringHexagonTopconTrimbleEIE InstrumentsSouth GroupSandingFOIFTJOPDadiBoifKOLIDATrimbleLeica-geosystemsGeomaxHorizonStonexSokkiaClick here for sample report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Totalstation and Theodolite 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 intoTotalstationTheodoliteSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Totalstation and Theodolite in each application, can be divided intoConstructionIndustryOthers......Some of the Major Point in Table of ContentsGlobal Totalstation and Theodolite Sales Market Report 20171 Totalstation and Theodolite Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Totalstation and Theodolite1.2 Classification of Totalstation and Theodolite1.2.1 Totalstation1.2.2 Theodolite1.3 Application of Totalstation and Theodolite1.3.1 Construction1.3.2 Industry1.3.3 Others1.4 Totalstation and Theodolite 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 Totalstation and Theodolite (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Totalstation and Theodolite Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Totalstation and Theodolite Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)For Detailed Reading Please visit @9 Global Totalstation and Theodolite Manufacturers Analysis9.1 Hexagon9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Totalstation and Theodolite Product Type, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 Hexagon Totalstation and Theodolite Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Topcon9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Totalstation and Theodolite Product Type, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 Topcon Totalstation and Theodolite Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Trimble9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Totalstation and Theodolite Product Type, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 Trimble Totalstation and Theodolite Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 EIE Instruments9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Totalstation and Theodolite Product Type, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 Product A9.4.2.2 Product B9.4.3 EIE Instruments Totalstation and Theodolite Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.5 South Group9.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.5.2 Totalstation and Theodolite Product Type, Application and Specification9.5.2.1 Product A9.5.2.2 Product B9.5.3 South Group Totalstation and Theodolite Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.6 Sanding9.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.6.2 Totalstation and Theodolite Product Type, Application and Specification9.6.2.1 Product A9.6.2.2 Product B9.6.3 Sanding Totalstation and Theodolite Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview..ContinuedBuy now @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)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
Cluster Headache Syndrome Market Research Report by Regional Analysis - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa : forecast 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cluster-headache-syndrome-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cluster-headache-syndrome-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Global Cluster Headache Syndrome Market: OverviewCluster headache is a neurological disorder. It is a condition characterized by recurrence of severe headache usually around the eye on one side of the head. Cluster headache, in most cases, is accompanied by excessive tears, nasal decongestion, and swelling of the eye. Individuals suffering from cluster headache syndrome might often have to endure agonizing attacks of unilateral headaches.The condition shows symptoms that are quite similar to migraine such as nausea and sensitivity to sound and light. The causes that trigger cluster headache are not completely known; however, possible rare causes could include dysfunction of the hypothalamus and smoking. In some patients, cluster headache syndrome could be hereditary. The intense pain felt during cluster headache may be caused by the dilation of blood vessels, which creates pressure on the trigeminal nerve.A physical examination of the pupils can help doctors diagnose the signs of cluster headache. Globally, there have been several reports of misleading diagnosis of cluster headache syndrome. A cluster headache patient could suffer attacks multiple times a day, with each attack lasting not more than three hours. A patient is likely to endure these attacks daily for many weeks or months. These may diminish for a period; however, the relief could be temporary as cluster headache can recur after a year or even a few months in some cases.Cluster headache syndrome is more prevalent in men than in women. The two types of cluster headaches are episodic and chronic. Of these, incidence of episodic cluster headaches is more common than the latter. About 10% patients suffering from cluster headaches are estimated to suffer from chronic syndrome.The report provides a comprehensive overview of the global cluster headache syndrome market. It studies the various factors influencing the markets trajectory and includes exhaustive information obtained from trusted industrial sources. Data thus sourced is presented in a logical chapter-wise format interspersed with infographics, statistics, and relevant tables.Browse full report on Cluster Headache Syndrome Market -Global Cluster Headache Syndrome Market: Key Opportunities and ThreatsIncreasing global geriatric population, rising incidence of cluster headache syndrome, and introduction of latest technologies in the health care industry are the key factors boosting the growth of the global cluster headache syndrome market. Rising willingness among people to spend more on health care treatments and awareness about the importance of early diagnosis of cluster headache is anticipated to boost market growth. However, inadequate knowledge among health care providers and unfavorable health care policies that adversely affect overall health care expenditure are hampering the growth of the global cluster headache syndrome market.Global Cluster Headache Syndrome Market: Region-wise OutlookRegionally, North America dominates the global cluster headache syndrome market, followed by Europe. Increasing incidence of the syndrome and adoption of advanced technologies to diagnose the syndrome drive the cluster headache syndrome market in North America.Asia Pacific offers lucrative opportunities for market players due to increasing geriatric population and rising prevalence of cluster headache syndrome.Global Cluster Headache Syndrome Market: Vendor LandscapeIn order to study the competition prevailing in the market, the report profiles companies such as GlaxoSmithKline plc, ElectroCore Medical LLC, Autonomic Technologies, Inc., and AstraZeneca plc. The recent strategies adopted by these companies to gain a competitive advantage in the market are examined in the report in detail. The report also presents an executive-level blueprint of the strengths and weaknesses of the companies profiled. The threats and opportunities that these companies could face in the near future are also studied in detail.Request for 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:
Uterine fibroid treatment Market Research Report by Regional Analysis - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa : forecast 2023

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/uterine-fibroid-treatment-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11123

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Uterine fibroids (myoma) are benign (non-cancerous) lumps that grow in the muscular wall of the uterus. They vary in sizes, from minute (a quarter of an inch) to the size of more than16 centimeters. The incidence of uterine fibroid is about 20%40% in women during their reproductive ages. Occasionally, these fibroids swell up and make the uterus to grow like full visible pregnancy. Mostly, there are more than one fibroid in the uterus. However, fibroids do not always cause any symptoms, their location, and size results to difficulties for few women, including pain, discomfort and heavy bleeding. Uterine fibroid can be of different types such as intramural fibroids, subserosal fibroids, pedunculated fibroids and submucosal fibroids. There can be many reasons for uterine fibroid formation but genetic problems hormonal imbalance and other factors are predominant. The cardinal symptoms of uterine fibroids are heavy menstrual bleeding, abdominal pain, excessive uterine bleeding, increased urinary frequency, anaemia and infertility. Apart from physical morbidity, uterine fibroid ailment is a frequent cause of significant damage of quality of life and a major reason for hysterectomy. Therapy has traditionally based on two extremes: medicinal management, comprising progestins, oral contraceptives and GnRH agonists and surgical management, including myomectomy, hysterectomy, and ablation for most serious cases.Browse full report on Uterine fibroid treatment Market -Patients suffering from uterine fibroid problem represent an undeserved and huge market due to the absence of satisfactory medical treatments. Uterine fibroids affects nearly 40% of women in the age group of 30 and 55, including 20 million women in North America and 24 million women in Europe with over 7 million patients worldwide presently undergo various symptom management treatments.The market for uterine fibroid are divided based on non-hormonal treatment, hormonal treatment, surgical methods and geographically. Non-hormonal treatment are subdivided into non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDS). Hormonal treatment segmented as Oral contraceptives, Progestins/Antiprogestins, Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists. Surgical Methods are segmented as traditional abdominal myomectomy, laparoscopic or robotic myomectomy, hysteroscopic myomectomy, hysterectomy, uterine artery embolization or fibroid embolization (UAE) and ablation.Some of Major players in uterine fibroid market are Boston Scientific Corporation, Cooper Surgical, C.R. Bard, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, GE Healthcare, Karl Storz Endoscopy, Richard Wolf Medical Instruments and Siemens Medical Solutions, AbbVie Inc., AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited, Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Novartis AG.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisRequest for 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:
Animal Parasiticides Market Research Report by Regional Analysis - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa : forecast 2023

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/animal-parasiticides-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=10841

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The demand for animal parasiticides is growing due to the increasing awareness of zoonatic diseases. With the rising concern towards animal welfare is one of the major reasons behind the growing popularity of animal parasiticides. The market has been segmented by products into ectoparasiticides, endoparasiticides, endectocides, tablets, oral liquids, sprays, injectables, spot on and pour on, ear tags, collars. Furthermore, the market is also segmented by animal types such as Cats, Pigs, Dogs, Cattle, Sheep and Goats. The market by geography has been segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and Rest of the World (RoW).Spot-ons and pour-ons accounted the largest market share of the global animal parasiticides market in 2014. The growth in this segment can be attributed to rising popularity and use of spot-on and pour-on formulations in animal parasiticides market. Furthermore, growing demand for ectoparasites for food-producing animals and companion animals is also expected to stimulate the growth of the market. Availability of wide array of parasiticides product by major players, rising demand for animal-based food and animal protein are some of the driving factors for the animal parasiticides market. In addition, rising animal welfare awareness is increasing the adaption of animals such as dogs and cats among others. Increasing livestock farming as a source of income in developing nations are fueling the demand for animal parasiticides. However, there are some of the restraining factors may hinder the growth of the market in near future such as stringent rules and regulations of authoritative bodies in use of parasiticides in food- producing animals in some of the countries. Moreover, time consuming and expensive procedures of new product development are some of the restraining factors for the market.Browse full report on Animal Parasiticides Market -Europe is leading the market for animal parasiticides followed by North America, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. In developed nations, implementation of animal welfare acts is one of the major driving factors for the animal parasiticides market. The emerging market in Latin America and Asia Pacific is contributing in the positive growth of animal parasiticides market owing to the increasing population of companion animals and livestock. Moreover, increasing per capita expenditure on animal health along with improving infrastructure of animal welfare is some of the major factors fueling the demand for animal parasiticides in these regions. With growing awareness towards animal healthcare, countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand in developing nations like Asia pacific is expected to depict a significant growth over the forecast period from 2015 to 2021. Argentina and Brazil are potential market for animal parasiticides across Latin America.Some of the key players operating in the animal parasiticides market are Ceva Sante Animale S.A., Vetoquinol S.A., Virbac SA in France, Bayer Aktiengesellschaft in Germany, Novartis AG in Switzerland, Merial Limited, Eli Lilly and Company, Zoetis Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. in U.S.The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Request for 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:
Late-Night Treats for Late-Night Peeps

www.lamottaboston.com

www.aquitainegroup.com

WHAT: La Mottas, the neighborhood favorite in Bostons SoWa District, is rolling out the late-night red carpet for its hospitality industry folks and friends, with Chef de Cuisine Justin Winters creative twists on after-hours snacks. Available every Sunday - Thursday from 10:00PM to last call, La Mottas is the neighborhood joint for a late-night bash with flavorful bites and brews.Launching Sunday, February 26th, 2017, guests can expect flavorful options of perfect snack-sized proportion that include Assorted Antipasti with house marinated olives, whipped goat cheese, pickled green beans and peperonata ($7.95), Mortadella Meatballs with Pomodoro sauce and parmesan ($5.95), Deviled Eggs with Sicilian run and spicy artichoke tapenade ($5.95) and Baskets of Garlic Parmesan Potato Chips ($4.95). For those who worked up quite the appetite, enjoy hardier options like Crispy Brussel Sprouts with toasted sesame, truffle pecorino and lemon aioli ($9.95), Italian Sausages with potato bun, peperonata, grain mustard and garlic-parmesan potato chips ($10.95) and Chicken Parm Grinder with sesame roll, Pomodoro, Fior di latte and garlic-parmesan potato chips ($13.95). Pair the late-night tastings with one of La Mottas carefully selected and modestly priced wines, craft brews or hand-crafted cocktails like The Show Pony with apple brandy, whiskey, honey, ginger and citrus ($11.95), or the Blue Steel with gin, creme di Violette, Elderflower, pear and bubbles ($11.95).Opening last year, La Mottas has become the go-to neighborhood hangout, with a casual yet upscale ambiance that embodies familiarity and makes any patron want to cozy up in a corner booth with friends after a long days work. Honoring the eclectic and pulsing vibe of the South End, La Motta is creating not just a late-night hangout, but more so a destination for the young professionals and industry folk to kick-back while showing a more playful side for those who arent ready for the evening to end at 10:00PM.La Mottas late night menu will be available Sunday through Thursday from 10:00PM to last call, weather permitting. For more information or to make a reservation please visitor call 617-338-5300.WHERE: La Mottas Italian Specialties | 1357 Washington Street | Boston, MA | 02118WHEN: Seven nights a week | 10:00PM to last callCOST: Prices VaryAbout The Aquitaine Group:The Aquitaine Group consists of partners Seth Woods, Matt Burns, and Jeffrey Gates, three individuals with distinctly different personal and professional backgrounds, making these destination restaurants as well as the go-to spots in their respective neighborhoods. Restaurants included in the current portfolio are: Metropolis Cafe, Aquitaine (Boston, Chestnut Hill, and Dedham), Cinquecento, Gaslight Brasserie, La Mottas, Gaslight Lynnfield and Greenlight Cafe.Founder/CEO Seth Woods founded what is now the Aquitaine Group with the opening of Metropolis Cafe in 1995, where he received praise from local and national media. In 1998, Woods opened Aquitaine Bar a Vin Bistrot on Tremont Street in Bostons South End paving the way for what is now known as restaurant row. Woods has received accolades for his work within the restaurant community through Boston Business Journal, The New York Times and Food & Wine, but what is the true accomplishment is his commitment to each projects success, and sustainability in an ever changing city.Matthew Burns, a native of Boston, met Seth Woods at Armani Cafe on Bostons Newbury Street where Burns was general manager and Woods was the acting chef. In 2000, Burns teamed up with Woods to open a second Aquitaine location in Chestnut Hill. According to Burns a seamless combination of warm, skilled service, delicious food all in a comfortable yet interesting ambiance is what makes a great and successful restaurant.Jeffrey Gates joined the Aquitaine Group a few years later and in 2003, Gates was instrumental in opening Union Bar and Grille and later Gaslight Brasserie du coin, both in the South End. Recognized for his consummate professionalism, extensive wine knowledge, methodical and meticulous approach to business, Gates brings a wealth of experience and an unprecedented understanding of the Boston restaurant scene to the Aquitaine Group.The Aquitaine Groups restaurants are widely recognized as among the very best in the city of Bostons growing and respected restaurant scene. They have garnered awards and accolades from local and national publications.Please visitfor more information.La Mottas Italian Specialties | 1357 Washington Street | Boston, MA | 02118
Registration opens for Central and Eastern Europes Leading Fast Jet Pilot Training Conference

http://www.fastjettraining.com/openpr

http://www.fastjettraining.com/openpr

http://www.smi-online.co.uk

The Czech Air Forces' second annual Fast Jet Pilot Training Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) conference will return to Prague this summer, on the 5th and 6th June 2017. Book by 31st March to save 200!With growing external threats to national and regional security, the Czech Air Force hope to become leaders in fast jet pilot training, and as such have begun talks with regional partners in the pursuit of a training centre for fast jet pilots, where they can pool their resources, knowledge and expertise to create a joint capability far greater than would otherwise be achievable independently.Official Event Partner Czech Air Force: Our goal is simple, to promote enhanced cooperation for Central and Eastern European fighter jet pilots and standardize the level of training to ensure successful future domestic and joint operations. Major General Jaromir Sebesta, Commander, Czech Air ForceNEW for 2017!1. KEYNOTE WELCOME ADDRESS FROM THE COMMANDER OF THE CZECH AF:The Ongoing Modernisation Efforts of the Czech Air Force and Future DevelopmentMajor General Jaromir Sebesta, Commander, Czech Air Force2. Key insights from the Hungarians on: The Hungarian Acquisition of Cutting Edge Fast Jets in order to take a Leading Role in Regional Air PolicingBrigadier General Csaba Ugrik, Commander HDF 59th SZD Airbase, Hungarian Air ForceLieutenant Colonel Zoltan Litauszki, Head of Flight Training, Hungarian Air Force3. Italian training perspective at the conference:Recent Developments Leading the Italian Air Force to Forefront of Fast Jet TrainingColonel Luigi Casali, Commander 61st Stormo, Italian Air Staff4. Canadian training perspective:The Canadian Experience of Providing Fast Jet Training for International AlliesColonel Denis OReily, Commander 15 Wing, Canadian Air ForceLieutenant Colonel Mike Grover, Commander 419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, Canadian Air Force5. POST-CONFERENCE MORNING WORKSHOP:Learning from the Successes and the Failures of a Modern Air Force: A Guide to Effective Flight TrainingSquadron Leader Tim Davies, Officer Commanding Standards and Instructor Training Hawk T2 Training, Royal Air ForceThe full event agenda is available atThe aim of this conference is to encourage improved cooperation and interoperability among the air forces of regional allies to enhance air force power in the region.There will also be a post conference, half day workshop, on the 7th June entitled: Learning from the Successes and the Failures of a Modern Air Force: A Guide to Effective Flight Training hosted by Squadron Leader Tim Davies, Officer Commanding Standards and Instructor Training Hawk T2 Training from the Royal Air Force.The audience will include, but not be limited to: Commanders of regional and international Air Forces with fast jet capability and those looking to develop new capability Commanders of fast jet trainer and operational conversion squadrons Training Support Staff Contract Training Staff Commercial Flight Training Contractors Flight Simulation Technicians Simulation Programme ManagersFor further information on this conference or the workshop, please visit the conference website.For sponsorship enquiries, please contact Justin Predescu on +44 (0) 207 827 6130 or jpredescu@smi-online.co.ukFor media enquiries, please contact Shannon Cargan on +44 20 7827 6138 or scargan@smi-online.co.ukFast Jet Pilot Training Central and Eastern Europe 20175th-6th June 2017Prague, Czech Republic---- END ----About SMi Group:Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the world's most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found atGround & First Floor 1 Westminster Bridge Road
Global Medical Tourism Market to Reach US$32.5 bn in 2019, Availability of Cost-effective Treatments in Emerging Nations Encourages Medical Tourism

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/medical-tourism.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=900

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

A market study on the global tourism market, recently published by Transparency Market Research (TMR) estimates this market to rise at an exceptional CAGR of 17.90% over the period from 2013 to 2019 and reach a value US$32.5 bn by the end of the forecast period.The research report, titled Medical Tourism Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019, states that the worldwide medical tourism market attained a value of US$10.5 bn in 2012.Browse the full Medical Tourism Market (India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea, Costa Rica, Poland, Dubai and Philippines) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019 report atMedical tourism is defined as traveling from one location to another with a purpose to gain medical assistance. Generally, people from developing nations travel to developed countries for medical treatments that are unavailable in their own countries due to poor medical and healthcare infrastructure. However, in recent years, people residing in developed economies have also begun travelling to lesser developed countries in order to gain cost-efficient medical assistance.According to this study, the falling cost of medical procedures in the Philippines, India, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico, Malaysia, Brazil, Turkey, Taiwan, South Korea, Poland, Costa Rica, and Dubai is encouraging people to travel to these countries for their treatment and, in turn, is propelling the global medical tourism market significantly.In addition, the widening range of medical treatments available in these nations, coupled with technical advancements in the field of medical and healthcare, is likely to boost this market greatly during the forecast period, states the market report.In this study, the global medical tourism market is analyzed on the basis of its regional spread. India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Taiwan, and South Korea are the major medical tourism markets across the world.Thailand has emerged as the most popular destination for cosmetic surgeries among the medical tourists from Western Europe. In 2012, this country had welcomed around 2.5 million foreign patients, accounting for approximately 45% of the overall number of foreign medical tourists arrived in Asia. However, Malaysia is likely to dominate the global medical tourism market in the coming years.Almost 0.7 million patients were treated in this nation in 2012. Analysts expect around 2 mn patients to gain medical assistance in Malaysia by the end of the forecast period, notes the research report.The report further states that India and Singapore are the most preferred destinations in case of complex medical procedures. India has attracted a large number of patients due to its increasing popularity in the field of cardiac treatments. Costa Rica, Dubai, Poland, and the Philippines have been identified as the prospective countries for medical tourism in this market study.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :Samitivej Sukhumvit, Raffles Medical Group, Fortis Healthcare Ltd., Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd., Bangkok Hospital Medical Center, Asian Heart Institute, Bumrungrad International Hospital, KPJ Healthcare Berhad, Min-Sheng General Hospital, and Prince Court Medical Center are some of the major organizations operating in the global medical tourism market.The global medical tourism market is segmented into:By RegionIndiaThailandSingaporeMalaysiaMexicoBrazilTurkeySouth KoreaTaiwanProspective CountriesCosta RicaPolandDubaiPhilippinesAbout 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:
Industrial Emission Control Systems Market is Driven by Industrial Emission

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=7916

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

http://cmfeglobalreports.blogspot.in/

Transparency Market Research has released a new market report titled Industrial Emission Control Systems Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, and Forecast 2015 - 2023. According to this report, the global industrial emission control systems market was valued at US$11.7 bn in 2014 and is projected to reach US$ 22.09 bn by 2023 at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2015 to 2023.Download the Exclusive Report Sample Here :Industrial emission control systems consist of different devices and technologies used for the collection, elimination, and conversion of harmful pollutants through thermal or catalytic combustion, chemical reaction, oxidization, absorption, and adsorption, etc. Industrial emission control systems are selected depending upon the type of pollutant and the emission source. Typical industrial emission sources are large-scale power plants, chemical process industry, and manufacturing industry. These industries emit pollutants, such as particulates, aerosols, vapors, and gases, which are harmful to human health and the environment. These pollutants can be eliminated using various industrial emission control systems and devices. More than one industrial emission control system can be used in a series for obtaining desired emission reduction. Rising emissions of NOx, sulfur dioxide, and particulate emissions, etc. have alarmed different government organizations and people across the globe. Stringent regulations and emission standards have been implemented by government and environmental regulatory bodies to reduce emissions. In order to meet the emission standards, various industries across the globe have installed industrial emission control systems. The market for industrial emission control systems has been rapidly expanding due to growing industrialization, increase in global trade, and high global power demand.industrial-emission-control-systems-marketThe industrial emission control systems market has been segmented on the basis of emission source, type of emission control device, and geography. Based on emission source, the market has been segmented into power plants, chemical process industry, marine industry, waste to energy industry, and other industries. The power plants segment held the largest share constituting 42.3% of the industrial emission control systems market, by emission source, in 2014. In terms of device type, the market has been segmented into electrostatic precipitators, catalytic reactors, incinerators, filters, and others. The electrostatic precipitators segment accounted for the largest share constituting 36.2% of the industrial emission control systems market, by devices, in 2014.Demand for industrial emission control systems is expected to increase gradually in the near future due to growth in various industries globally. The global industrial emission control systems market has been segmented as follows:Industrial Emission Control Systems Market: By Emission SourcePower PlantsChemical Process IndustryMarine IndustryWaste to Energy IndustryOther IndustriesIndustrial Emission Control Systems Market: By Device TypeElectrostatic PrecipitatorsCatalytic ReactorsIncineratorsFiltersOthersIndustrial Emission Control Systems Market: By RegionNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaMexicoEuropeGermanyU.K.Rest of EuropeAbout 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 :
Rising trade activities in the Turkish Straits have Lead to Marine Lubricants Market

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=4462

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

http://cmfeglobalreports.blogspot.in/

Transparency Market Research, a leading market research and intelligence firm, has announced the publication of a new market research report. The new research study, titled Marine Lubricants Market- Turkey Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2022, explores the potential of the Turkey marine lubricants market in the given forecast period by analyzing the historical data regarding the market in the context of the currently prevalent trends in the market.Download the Exclusive Report Sample Here :According to the study, the Turkey marine lubricants market is expected to grow from a volume of 84.5 kilo tons in 2013 to 103.8 kilo tons in 2022. This represents a CAGR of 2.40% between 2014 and 2022. The market is expected to display a higher CAGR in the same timeframe by revenue; the markets revenue is expected to rise at a 3.48% CAGR.Marine lubricants are crucial in any ship, since internal combustion invariably results in the generation of some wasted heat. Accumulation of heat within a ships engine can damage numerous crucial parts, which may not be tuned to operate at high temperatures. Lubricants, which have a high boiling point, help dissipate the heat and thus prolong the lifespan of engines. Despite their importance in the smooth operation of ships, the market for marine lubricants is restrained by the risk posed by conventional lubricants to marine ecosystems.Mineral lubricants, which constitute 83% of the total demand from the Turkey marine lubricants market, are nonbiodegradable, which means accidental spillage has the potential to harm the local ecosystem. Long-term disposal of mineral marine lubricants can have deadly effects on marine life. This has led to growing demand for biobased marine lubricants, which are biodegradable and thus pose a lesser threat to aquatic life in the long term. The EU has championed the usage of biobased lubricants in ships for a long time, and growing interaction with Europes shipping channels has forced Turkish shipping operators to conform.Within mineral oil, engine oils are by far the dominant subcategory, holding the majority of the mineral oils market and 46% of the overall Turkey marine lubricants market. Apart from mineral and biobased lubricants, the Turkey marine lubricants market includes synthetic lubricants. The report provides a forecast for all product segments of the Turkey marine lubricants market, helping the reader figure out which segments are the best to invest in.The rising trade activities in the Turkish Straits have ensured steady demand from the Turkey marine lubricants market for years to come. Combined with Turkeys willingness to incorporate environmental standards into its growing shipping industry, this could make Turkey the dominant player in the Europe marine lubricants market.Apart from the detailed discussion on the major drivers and restraints acting upon the Turkey marine lubricants market, the report describes the markets competitive landscape. Major companies such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Turcas Petrol A.S., and Total Submarine, and others are examined in the report, with the SWOTs, company profiles, product specifications, business strategies, and recent developments of each company analyzed in detail.The Turkey marine lubricants market is segmented as follows:Turkey marine lubricant market, by product typeMineral oil marine lubricantsSynthetic marine lubricantsBio-based marine lubricantsTurkey marine lubricant market, by applicationEngine oil marine lubricantsHydraulic oil marine lubricantsGreaseOthers (turbine oils, gear oils, compressor oils and heat transfer fluids)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 :
(Adds quotes from Kuczynski on wall, comments on Venezuela, context)

LIMA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The first Latin American leader to visit U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House said on Friday that he told Trump he prefers bridges to walls and favors the free movement of people across borders.

However, in a press conference following the meeting, Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski declined to comment specifically on Trump's proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

"I don't want to get into the wall," Kuczynski said in comments broadcast on Peruvian television channel Canal N. "We're interested in the free movement of people ... I emphasized that to President Trump and we prefer bridges to walls."

Kuczynski has previously likened Trump's wall proposal to the Berlin Wall and once joked that he would cut off ties with the United States if Trump were elected president.

Kuczynski later congratulated Trump on his surprise electoral victory and described their meeting on Friday as friendly and positive.

Canal N reported that the meeting lasted about 10 minutes, much shorter than the 45 minutes initially scheduled.

Kuczynski said he only briefly discussed Peru's fugitive former president, Alejandro Toledo, with Trump and said Toledo's fate was now in the hands of the judiciary. Kuczynski said about two weeks ago that he had asked Trump to personally deport Toledo.

When asked if he considered Venezuela a democracy, Kuczynski said "we support democracy in all of Latin America."

(Reporting by Mitra Taj; Editing by Leslie Adler and Meredith Mazzilli)
Bishop Nelson Nzvimbo Speaks on his Life, Ministry and ISI Conference

Overseer Amon Madawo - Pastor of AFM New Life Assembly

Pastor of AFM New Life Assembly. Functions in Apostolic ministry.





Dr Katsande - Campus Crusade for Christ for Southern and Eastern Africa.

He is passionate in raising leaders for the Kingdom.

Apostle Pride Sibiya

Iron Sharpens Iron is a ministry under Ablaze International Ministries aimed at Christian leaders, bringing them together for Sharpening and Encouraging them to stand firm Gods gifts and calling (1 Thessalonians 5:24)The conference also unifies the Christian community as one body of Christ (Ephesians 4:1-7). In addition, it supports builds, correct, and grooming Christian leaders.Called to ministry in 1985. 25 years in full time ministry Holder of Diploma in Ministry, Executive Diploma in leadership and ministry, Bachelors Degree in Biblical Studies and Masters in Theology. Bible College Lecturer since 1999. Overseer Chitungwiza East Province. General Secretary of AFM in Zimbabwe.Dr Katsande is Married to Chipo. He is the Area Team Leader for Campus Crusade for Christ for Southern and Eastern Africa. He hold a Doctorate Transformational Leadership from Bakke Graduate University USA MA in Leading Innovation and Change from York St Johns University UK, Bachelors in Theology and Biblical Studies from Petra Theological Seminary and an Executive Diploma in Business Leadership from Zimbabwe Institute of Management and Diploma in Accounting.Has a proven record spanning more than two decades of unflinchingly loyalty to the Christian ministry, Apostle Pride Sibiya is a recognised end-time apostolic father and scholar offering a fresh and bold interpretation of the gospel truth.A graduate of the University of Zimbabwe and Domboshawa Theological College, Apostle Sibiya is well-known for his profound, yet easy to grasp, scriptural teachings in a wide range of topical issues affecting contemporary Christianity He is also vibrant in the exorcism ministry and the use of supernatural capabilities, which has made him a brand name in Christian circles.His labours in and outside the hallowed halls of worship has made him a sort-after speaker featuring as guest of honour at various platforms in and out of Zimbabwe which also include numerous television appearances on Zimbabwes national broadcaster.A prolific blogger contributing extensively and pragmatically on the Christian discourse, Apostle Sibiya, commands a huge following on social media platforms not limited to Facebook and Tweeter.His hard to ignore voice on the religious landscape has even been more pronounced in the numerous books he has penned which include the bestselling Overcoming Spiritual Spouses  a lucid presentation on how to effectively incapacitate the spiritual spouse demonic phenomena.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The Cornerstone Series, highlighting masterworks of American theater, is now in its second year at the Midland Center for the Arts. Eugene ONeills Long Days Journey Into Night, this years play, started last weekend and will wrap up on Sunday.

Over a span of five years, Center Stage Theatre will bring these masterworks to life.

Not long ago, Neil and Annmarie Hawkins of Midland set out to provide such a series for local audiences.

Annmarie and I are theater-enthusiasts so we go to a lot of theater regionally in places like New York, Stratford, Chicago and Detroit, Neil said. We really felt like there was a canon of plays that were important cornerstones of dramatic theater.

So they met with Dexter Brigham, managing director of Center Stage Theatre and Choirs at MCFTA, and they discussed plans.

We created a list, up front, of 30 or 40 plays that he and I both agreed on. He took that back to his play selection committee and they picked them around the theme of family, Hawkins said.

Hawkins called the production of the first play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, truly excellent. The next play will be Oedipus the King, by Sophocles.

Along with each play, there is also a teaching component shared with local schools.

Its an important example of how this region can do things that really are arts-enriching for the community, including schools, he said. This kind of literature and art is important We are very happy to be able to offer that for the community.

Elaine DiFalco Daugherty of Mount Pleasant directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof last year.

I could not be any happier with our production of Cat. That was the most challenging piece of theater I have ever worked on, and many, if not all, of the cast and crew will tell you the same, Daugherty said.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was recognized in the category of best play at MCFTAs Encore Awards last summer. Ann Russell-Lutenske and John Tanner, who played Big Mama and Big Daddy, also won the Florence Slagh Curtain Call Award for Best Lead Performances in a Play.

The Cornerstone Series, Daugherty said, offers many benefits.

What makes the series invaluable is that it provides a platform for our community to bear witness to some of the most beautifully crafted material ever put to paper  material that is so challenging to bring to life that it does not get produced as often as its worth merits.

What would her wish list of future plays include?

Id love to see a series showcasing our wealth of extraordinary female playwrights. Beth Henley, Wendy Wasserstein, Marsha Norman, Theresa Rebeck, Tina Howe, Suzan Lori-Parks, she said.

Another local director, Bill Anderson Jr. of Midland, explained how the series benefits actors as well as the audience.

(The Cornerstone Series) gives us the opportunity to be in shows that we wouldnt normally get to be in, Anderson said.

He explained that sometimes theaters shy away from shows that are really heavy because its not what the typical theater-goer would want to see.

Because they are more dramatic in nature, often take longer to perform and address heavier themes, the masterworks may not be presented as often as actors or audiences would like. But since these shows, great plays of American theater canons, are already funded for five years, it takes the pressure off from having to sell them.

The community is really hungry for something more thoughtful, Anderson said. There is a constituency of people that really want to come to the theater and experience these stories.

His son participated in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; the actors were outstanding.

Cat was unbelievable. It was so moving to watch Ann Russell-Lutenske (from Saginaw), who played Big Mama, and John Tanner from Bay City, who played Big Daddy, he said. To see them in these iconic roles was just so awesome.

His wish list included a couple of shows that might not necessarily be about family.

Inherit the Wind, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, was at the top of his list.

It was very profound for me when I read it in high school. I joke that its what made me a liberal, he said. The play does such a good job about not trying to make a decision, but just telling the story.

Next on his list was The Crucible, by Arthur Miller.

High schools do it well. I would love to see it done with all the resources we could put behind it at the Center, Anderson Jr. said. Its still a very relevant piece.

He mentioned that Midland High School students performed The Crucible and did a good job of making the show relevant for todays audiences. The directors choice to use various sound clips representing the Red Scare and mob mentality, where fear controlled peoples decisions, was also quite effective in doing that.

Anderson recently directed The 39 Steps at MCFTA and performed in Mary Poppins as well as The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Brigham plays the role of James Tyrone in the second play of the Cornerstone Series, Long Days Journey Into Night.

James Tyrone is the patriarch of the Tyrone family. He is the stage version of Eugene ONeills own father, who was a very well-known and successful actor in the late 19th and early 20th century, a contemporary of Edwin Booth, he said. The play is an act of forgiveness on behalf of the playwright. It is ONeill acknowledging his past and letting it go. I love that. It adds even more power to the words.

Brigham mentioned his ideas for future plays.

I think a second five-year arc would approach the same question from a different angle. Perhaps an exploration of how the modern realisti acting technique developed (its actually a pretty new thing), he said. That would open us up to Henrick Ibsen and David Mamets plays. Another angle might be to explore influential theatrical genres such as Samuel Becketts Theatre of the Absurd or the post-modern political plays of Bertolt Brecht.

He also finds the Cornerstone Series a great benefit for the local community.

Theres a reason we see productions of The Odd Couple almost every year, somewhere. Its funny, it makes us feel good, and deep down we identify with the characters pain, from whence the comedy is derived, Brigham said.

But there are other plays that are even deeper, more serious, more profound. So profound, in fact, that we only take them off the shelf every so often to taste their genius. They are like the very best whiskeys, which is an appropriate analogy for this play. They are so complex and rich, they arent for everyday consumption. And for us, this five-year stretch is our chance to sample some of the very best storytelling that has ever been written.

Neil and Annmarie Hawkins provided funding for the series and The Midland Area Community Foundation supplied a matching grant.

The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekov will be performed in 2019 and August: Osage County, by Tracy Letts, in 2020. Plays by Sam Shepard, Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg will also be performed as part of the series.

Long Days Journey Into Night will have two more performances, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26. Tickets are $20 for adults and $16 for students. For more information, www.mcfta.org
Bay Future, Inc. has announced the election of new officers and directors to its board of directors.

The countywide economic development agency, in the midst of a three-year, $1.2 million strategic plan aimed at generating $300 million in capital investment to create 600 new jobs, will feature the following new board members:
Philippine Senator Leila De Lima, a top critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, sits in the senate in Manila on February 23, 2017 (AFP Photo/TED ALJIBE) (AFP)

Philippine drug war critic Leila de Lima was a highly paid lawyer who switched focus mid-career to human rights, a decision that would draw her into the deadly world of President Rodrigo Duterte.

De Lima was arrested Friday on drug trafficking charges she insisted were manufactured to silence her opposition to Duterte's anti-crime crackdown, which has claimed more than 6,500 lives in eight months.

De Lima, 57, began her career as one of the brightest legal prospects in the Philippines, having scored the eighth highest mark in the country's annual lawyer licence exams in 1985.

She worked as a law clerk for the House of Representatives and as a legal aide of a Supreme Court associate justice, while building a successful law practice that specialised in helping prominent politicians in election court challenges.

De Lima helped now-Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jnr to unseat a senate election rival, and future senator Alan Peter Cayetano beat a suit alleging he was not a Filipino citizen and therefore not qualified to run for office.

Ironically, Pimentel and Cayetano are now among the most powerful allies of Duterte, a longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao who won presidential elections last year after promising to kill tens of thousands of criminals.

De Lima's life turned in 2008 when she accepted her first government post as chairwoman of the government's independent Commission on Human Rights.

During two years in the job she worked with a small team of lowly paid lawyers, investigating extrajudicial killings, abductions and human rights violations by the Philippines' notoriously corrupt security forces.

Another one of her main targets was Duterte, who had for years faced allegations of running death squads in Davao that killed hundreds of drug addicts and petty criminals as part of a ruthless anti-crime campaign.

De Lima opened a probe into the so-called Davao Death Squads.

She left the commission with the probe unfinished in 2010 to become justice secretary in the administration of Benigno Aquino, who swept to power on a pledge to fight corruption.

Story continues

As justice secretary she prosecuted cases linked to the misuse of huge amounts of legislators' so-called pork-barrel funds, and raided the country's biggest prison to dismantle the perks accorded to inmates convicted of drug offences.

She left the cabinet in late 2015 to run for the Senate, winning a seat last year at the same time Duterte was elected president.

As Duterte launched a Davao-style anti-crime crackdown across the Philippines that would go on to claim thousands of lives, De Lima was one of the few politicians willing to criticise him.

"I will have to destroy her in public," Duterte said in August last year, and then proceeded to build a case alleging she was one of the nation's biggest drug traffickers.

"Throughout my entire life, I never imagined myself becoming a victim of a human rights violation myself," De Lima, a divorced mother-of-two, said in October as she insisted the charges against her were absurd.

Just before her arrest at the Senate on Friday morning, De Lima again insisted on her innocence while remaining characteristically defiant.

"They are mistaken if they are hoping that they will silence me and stop my fight for truth, justice and against the daily killings and repression by the Duterte regime," she said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Midlands Zoning Board of Appeals this week approved six variances for The Dow Chemical Co. to build a new visitor center and covered walkway as part of its new corporate headquarters building on East Patrick Road.

In October 2015, Dow gained unanimous approval from Midland City Council for a site plan to build a new 166,580-square-foot, six-story headquarters building at its current site.

Troy-based Kirco Manix, LLC is developing the site with plans to use both Dow materials and recycled resources from the 2020 Willard H. Dow Center. The new building will have space for about 600 employees.

Dow did not state a cost for the project, but the company has said it expects to open the building by the end of 2017.

We remain on track with the accelerated schedule and on budget. The team is focused on site safety, maintaining site services and keeping the community, campus tenants and visitors informed, Dow spokesperson Jamie Ellis said in a statement.

Kevin McVey, speaking on behalf of Dow, told Zoning Board of Appeals members that construction of a new visitor center and covered walkway will have no negative impact on surrounding properties and that the overall impact on the community will be favorable.

Were trying to build this as low to the ground as we possibly can and so that its not as visible, were trying to hide it behind the headquarters building and the business services building, McVey said.

Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris told the Daily News in July 2015 that the campus was in need of a rebirth.

Weve done it everywhere else and its time for the headquarters to see some of the new age workforce design, Liveris said.

Dow is also planning to build a new innovation center in Midland, which Liveris announced in late 2016 at an event in Grand Rapids alongside then-President-elect Donald Trump.

Scientists and engineers at the new center will focus on research and development to further the companys technologies in home and personal care products; enhance and broaden energy-saving building technologies; advance materials for critical infrastructure; and drive closer partnerships with automakers to further efforts toward light-weight automobiles and hybrid, electric and autonomous transportation solutions, according to Dow.

It would complement the work of our more than 1,200 researchers and developers already in Midland, a spokesperson told the Daily News in December.

As part of the plan, 100 new jobs would be created in Michigan and another 100 jobs would be brought to Midland from other global Dow facilities. Dow has not stated a potential location for the center in the city, the size of the facility and a timeline for which it could be built, investment amounts or whether hiring preference will be given to Great Lakes Bay Region and Michigan residents.

  We have no new information or comments to provide at this time, Ellis said on Thursday.
Memorial Presbyterian Church will welcome Kimberly Prime, president of Bay and Saginaw Area Catholic Schools, to speak on the subject of literacy from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 11, in Mayton Hall.

Prime, as an experienced educator, administrator and presenter will share research on the nature of poverty and literacy. There is a direct, positive correlation between education and poverty. Literacy programs and support for primary caregivers of children make a difference.
To the editor:

To the Midland resident who received my daughters masters degree diploma from the University of Manchester (UK) on or about Feb. 1, in their U.S. mail: Thank you for being so inconsiderate as to not return it to your carrier for proper delivery!
Sometime between 7-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, John Moolenaar, Midlands Republican U.S House representative for Michigans 4th Congressional District, conducted a town hall meeting.

It was his first since being sworn into office for his second term in January.

As part of the new 115th Congress, Moolenaar promised to represent the constituent interests of the 700,000-plus mostly white residents in all of Clare, Clinton, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Missaukee, Ogemaw, Osceola, Roscommon, Shiawassee and Wexford counties, and portions of Montcalm and Saginaw counties.

Dont beat yourself up, blame your partner or kick the dog if you didnt know about the time and location of the town hall.

Congressman Moolenaars constituent meeting Wednesday evening wasnt advertised anywhere in the local media, on his government website, in his latest legislative update newsletter or as part of a Official Government Business mailing campaign. It wasnt even posted on his Facebook page or to his Twitter account. Ever!

Why all the secrecy, exclusion and complete lack of any specific event information?

Its because Republican Rep. Moolenaars first public town hall meeting was safely and civilly conducted over the phone from his plush taxpayer-paid office in Washington, D.C.

Personal invitations to participate were privately extended to specially selected voters just one day before Wednesdays hush-hush 4th District conference call.

Only Congressman Moolenaars staff knows the demographic data, political makeup or voting/donation history of those specially-selected individuals who won the town hall notification lottery.

Apparently only 5,000 invited callers listened in. FYI  thats less than 1 percent of the population in the 15 counties that comprise Michigans well-gerrymandered 4th Congressional District.

That are numerous reports floating around Michigans 4th District about how long the top-secret event actually lasted. The length varies from 34 to 58 minutes.

Theres also some difference of opinion about how many tough questions Mr. Moolenaars staff took from his disenfranchised constituents 600 miles away. Most agree that it was less than 15.

One item not in dispute is the number that were satisfactorily answered. Just about everyone who listened in on Congressman Moolenaars carefully scripted and politically edited telephone town hall agrees it was none.

Since our U.S. House representative continues to refuse to schedule an after-hours town hall meeting with his 83,000 constituents in Midland County, perhaps its time to turn the tables on our taxpayer-paid public servant.

Please list in the comment section below the town hall all of your questions and 4th District concerns which Republican Congressman John Moolenaar needs to answer in public for you and your family members.

If its easier, email them to midmichiganmatters@gmail.com

Well consolidate and collate your constituent interests into a simple, easy-to-address list and then share it with various local, regional and national fake news media outlets.

Then be sure to monitor the @RepMoolenaar twitter account and Facebook page to see if he hears us now.

Stay tuned here for future Dear John updates.

Eric Anders

Midland
A four-member team from the 613th Air Operations Center here, joined the crew of the USS Carl Vinson as it was underway transiting the U.S. Pacific Commands area of responsibility.

The team, led by Col. Doug Rice, 613th AOC Chief of Combat Plans Division, was on a 7-day visit to interact with Carrier Strike Group-One staff, the ships company, and Destroyer Squadron One personnel.

Our primary focus here is two-fold; to strengthen our already healthy relationship between Pacific Air Forces and Third Fleet, and to discuss opportunities for integration during CSG-1s Western Pacific deployment, said Rice.

The Air Force team was joined by Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Pohnel, Pacific Fleet Liaison Officer to the Air Force, whose responsibilities fall within a Naval and Amphibious Liaison Element. The NALE is embedded within the AOC to act as a trusted agent representing the PACFLT commander and help bridge the efforts between the AOC and Navy units.

This is a great opportunity CSG-1 has afforded us, said Pohnel. Our time spent on the Carl Vinson will pay dividends with regard to communication and understanding the intent of our joint efforts.

Airpower is not unique to a single service alone, said Lt. Col. Chris Collins, 613th AOC Chief of Master Air Attack Planning. Parochial, divided approaches are not recipes to success. The United States ability to achieve the combatant commanders goals with effects-based strike warfare is at its best when airpower is joint. We seek opportunities with our U.S. Navy counterparts to normalize joint airpower between the services and make those operations seamless.

The interactions have been outstanding, said Senior Master Sgt. Dawn Peters, 613th AOC non-commissioned officer in charge of Air Tasking Order Production. Ive learned a lot from working with our Navy partners. Additionally, the time we took to review our own Air Force processes has been time well spent.

The 613th AOC team, as subject matter experts representing Pacific Commands air component, have collaborated with several departments and warfare commanders.

Sometimes, we need to reach past the emails and phone calls, said Master Sgt. Sidney Kelley, 613th AOC NCOIC of Airspace Management. This chance to reach across the table, shake hands, and look people in the eyes to have serious discussions on joint integration is simply the best way to go. Relationships of all kinds are stronger when made more personal.

As the trip wrapped up, Col. Rice provided his thoughts on the visit.

This is mission success, said Rice. Rear Adm. James Kilby, Carrier Strike Group One commander; his staff, and the excellent members of the CSG have been gracious with their time. The conversations and interactions here have gone a long way to normalize joint integration.

The U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force are natural partners in PACOM, said Collins. This is a challenging area of responsibility, and Im confident our partnership will help us overcome any challenge.
Q: I'm in my 70s. A friend of mine recently fell and broke her hip. I'd like to avoid a similar fate. What steps can I take to avoid falling?

A: Falls send millions of people in the United States to emergency departments each year with broken hips and head injuries. Imbalance is a common cause of falls. Liz Moritz, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, recommends several strategies to people looking to improve their balance.

Physical therapy  Physical therapy for balance focuses on three things: the ability of the joints and brain to communicate, the balance system in the ear (the vestibular system) and vision. Exercises such as standing on one foot, first with the eyes open and then with the eyes closed, can help coordinate all three. Joint flexibility exercises, walking and lower-extremity exercises can also help.

Muscle strengthening  Core strength is very important for balance. If the abdominal muscles in your core are weak, they cannot support your legs when you're walking. And if the muscles in your buttocks and hips aren't strong, they won't be able to propel you forward. Muscle strengthening exercises can help.

Tai chi and yoga  Tai chi and yoga make you pay attention to the control and quality of movement, which improves your balance. In tai chi, you practice slow, flowing motions and shift your weight from one limb to another. Yoga incorporates a series of focused postures and breathing. Both exercises increase flexibility, range of motion, leg and core strength and reflexes.

Vision correction  If your vision is impaired, your risk of falling increases dramatically. If you're having trouble with your vision, the fix may be as simple as a new eyeglasses prescription. Once you hit age 40, you should have regular, comprehensive, dilated eye exams.

Assistive walking devices  A cane or a walker can complement your balance and give you more stability and confidence walking. Walkers are available with wheels intended for different terrain, lockable brakes, seats, baskets and other features such as headlights. Canes are available with various handgrips and bases.

Balance is one of those things that we take for granted. In most of us, it becomes worse as we enter the last half of our lives. But we often don't notice it  until suddenly we do.
LA CROSSE, Wis.  Hans Bishop and his wife, Katie, run a well-organized farmers market stand that reflects the variety of organic vegetables grown at PrairiErth Farm. The way my wife and I feel, its really our customers who are making the choice, Hans said. Theyre voting with their dollars.

Some consumers dont know what to do with vegetables beyond the usual suspects  potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, corn, onions and maybe a beet or two.

But the MOSES Organic Farmers of the Year  the Bishop family of Atlanta, Ill.  solved that problem with Katie Bishops PrairiErth Farm Cookbook, which her husband, Hans, describes as a user's manual for not only the basics but also the more exotic, such as kale, kohlrabi and others.

The Bishop family includes patriarch Dave, another son, Graham, and daughter Kristin, who has taken a different career path from farming  cultivating young minds as an elementary school teacher.

The PrairiErth Farm clan, honored during the kickoff of MOSES Organic Farming Conference Thursday night at the La Crosse Center, operates 300 acres of diversified crops and livestock.

Certified organic in 2004, the farm includes corn, soybeans, oats and wheat crops, as well as forages, vegetables and flowers, and livestock including cattle, pigs and chickens. It also has orchards with peaches, apples and pears. PrairiErth also sells eggs and honey.

They sell through farmers markets, a vegetable community supported agriculture system, direct-to-consumer meats and wholesale to restaurants and stores.

Spring Valley, Wis.-based Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service sponsors the annual conference, which continues today and Saturday and is expected to draw more than 3,000 farmers, advocates and vendors.

The Bishops vegetable production includes 200 varieties ranging from arugula to zucchini, Hans said.

Many members of the familys CSA say they can hear Katie reading the recipes and tips, Hans said during a phone interview before the Bishops came to La Crosse to receive the honor.

The cookbook includes not only recipes and preparation options but also storage tips, Hans said.

If people are not going to use them right away, she tells them natural ways to preserve them, he said.

That avoids the plight of customers who get their boxes of fresh-picked vegetables, just toss them into the refrigerator without separating the items into bags or otherwise preparing them to ensure a longer shelf life and maximum flavor, Hans said.

Dave, 66, bought the farm in 1981 and cultivates another property that has been in his family since 1868. He began moving the operations toward organic in the 1980s.

I was concerned about higher input costs, and I wasnt comfortable with the herbicides, Dave said.

Advertisement (1 of 1): 0:04

Having grown up on a small, diversified dairy farm, he said he learned early on that diversification is a valuable form of self-insurance against one market or another encountering a bad spell.

Switching from traditional methods to organic is a slow process involving extensive soil preparation and patience to let the residue from herbicides and pesticides to dissipate, Dave said.

There never has been a better time to join the organic wave, Dave said. The interest is there. Having said that, it isnt a walk in the park. It isnt easy, but nobody said it would be easy.

PrairiErth Farms production is sustaining not only the two Bishop families but also five full-time workers and several part-timers, Hans said.

Weve been gradually hiring workers to help me in the vegetable operation, he said.

The farm has 15 acres dedicated to vegetables and preparing another 15 to be certified by 2019, Hans said.

They began selling vegetables at farmers markets before expanding into a CSA, he said.

The way my wife and I feel, its really our customers who are making the choice, Hans said. Its like a diamond in the rough  a vegetable in the middle of weeds is worth it. Theyre voting with their dollars.

The Bishops chuckled at the suggestion that running an organic farm is akin to earning a doctorate in a complicated field, with the learning curve escalating rather than settling.

In learning which animals and plants to balance and when, as well as rotating row crops and grazing, We made pretty much every mistake you could make, Dave said with a hearty laugh.

Asked whether the involvement of several families makes it easier to take a vacation, Dave said, Vacation time is always hard to come by. And they say if you really love what you do, it doesnt seem like work.

MOSES is our vacation, Dave concluded.
NORMAL  Curiosity and adaptability are keys to success in international business, according to a graduate of Illinois State University who heads a company with more than 13,000 employees worldwide.

Steve Hagge, president and CEO of AptarGroup, spoke Thursday on Adapting to a Changing International Marketplace as the keynote address for ISU Business Week.

You have to have a lot of curiosity to deal with international business, the 1973 graduate told the crowd of more than 200 in the Center for the Performing Arts.

The world is getting smaller, he said. Be sure you're thinking of the world.

Hagge advised students to be a risk taker and strongly urged them to travel abroad.

It will open your eyes to a lot of different things, he said. The world is full of opportunities.

Hagge also recommended learning another language but he cautioned that it is also important to understand cultural differences, even when sending emails. Where people in one country might use a friendly tone and expect questions about their family, others prefer a strictly business approach, he said.

Based in Crystal Lake, AptarGroup makes dispensing and sealing products for packaging a variety of products, from laundry detergent to ketchup to asthma inhalers. The company has grown from $40 million in revenue when he started there 35 years ago to $2.5 billion today, according to Hagge.

One reason for that growth is a willingness to change, even when things are going well, to stay ahead of trends, he said.

"It's easy to make changes when you're in a crisis and have nothing to lose, he said.

Even Aptar's name reflects that commitment. Hagge said it was based on the Latin verb "aptare" which means to adapt or be flexible.

Among the trends to which businesses need to respond are convenience and safety, changing demographics, health and wellness, sustainability and personalization.

To illustrate the latter point, Hagge noted, You can buy a can of Coke today with your name on it online.

In answer to a question, Hagge said the qualities of a good leader include having a passion for the people you are working with and treating your people as you would want to be treated.

Hagge, who met his wife, Sharon, at ISU, said he didn't have a clue what I was going to do when he was a student in the accounting program. But he said ISU gave him a wonderful base and he was fortunate to have great mentors during his career.
Arthur Miller's Tony Award winning play "The Crucible," a haunting drama set during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, opened this week in Illinois Wesleyan University's Jerome Mirza Theatre.

Though written more than 60 years ago as Miller himself was enduring Sen. Joseph McCarthy's "Red Scare," the brilliantly written piece is eerily relevant in today's current political climate

Under the insightful direction of Thomas Quinn, "The Crucible" brings to light the destructive power of fear as an entire town goes mad at the whim of a vindictive young woman determined to get what she believes she deserves.

The masterfully staged production opens on a gathering of young women chanting and dancing around a fire in the foggy woods. The Reverend Samuel Parris (Evan Rumler) happens upon them in horror, and is sickened by what appears to be the demonic possession of his daughter Betty.

His niece Abigail, whom the Reverend recognized as one of the participants in the evening ritual, begins to spin a tale of witchcraft, and points her accusations toward Tituba (Melissa Iheakam) the good Reverend's Barbadian slave.

Soon hysteria grips the town as others come forward claiming to be victims of the Devil, and still others insisting that their neighbors are working in concert with him.

At the center of this madness it is revealed that Abigail has had an illicit liaison with her employer, John Proctor (Conor Finnerty-Esmonde), while his wife Elizabeth (Cadence Lamb) was ill.

Elizabeth believes that Abigail is trying to kill her, so that she can replace her by her husband's side.

Is she? Does she have the power to manipulate all the young women in town to play along as she plots her revenge on Elizabeth?

A visual masterpiece, this production features dynamic lighting (and special effects) designed by Sunniva Holmund, exquisite costumes by Connor O'Neill, and a haunting sound design by Dani Von Helms, all working in glorious concert with the artful scenic design by Curtis Trout.

Will Mueller gives an impassioned performance as the Reverend John Hale, a man consumed by guilt as he performs his duty in bringing the excused to what passes for justice in the 17th century.

Brooke Teweles as Mary Warren, skillfully portrays the torture that accompanies the relentless peer pressure, that was confidently applied by Libby Zabit, as the troubled Abigail.

Guest artist David Kortemeier commands the second act as Deputy Governor Danforth, providing the students with a master class in drama which is sure to immeasurably impact their career development.

Despite its length, this production is completely captivating, featuring surprisingly humorous moments that met with thunderous audience approval on opening night.
Feb 24 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

- Waymo, the self-driving car business spun out of Google's parent company, claimed in a federal lawsuit on Thursday that Uber was using intellectual property stolen by one of Google's former project leaders. In a federal court filing in San Francisco, Waymo said Anthony Levandowski, who runs Uber's autonomous car division, downloaded 14,000 files from Google a month before leaving to start his own self-driving car company, Otto. http://nyti.ms/2lxZbQS

- Lightspeed, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, was the first institution to invest in Snap Inc and it is now set to reap more than $1 billion from what began as a mere $485,000 investment. Jeremy Liew, a Lightspeed venture capitalist embedded terms in his 2012 investment in what was then known as Snapchat. The terms gave Liew outsize power over the company's future financing round. That ended up irking Snapchat's chief executive Evan Spiegel, who took steps to reassert control over the company. Liew and Snap no longer have close ties, and Spiegel has not had meetings or spent time with Liew since the early investment rounds. http://nyti.ms/2lybcpt

- Federal agents had seized largely brand new Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs and Land Rovers in 2013 claiming that Efans Trading Corporation that planned to resell them to wealthy buyers in China was engaging in an insidious fraud. The federal jury in Manhattan determined that there was not enough evidence to support a civil forfeiture lawsuit filed by federal prosecutors. The court ruled in favor of the Efans and ordered the government to return the luxury cars and $3 million in cash that was also seized from a company bank account. http://nyti.ms/2ly6EzJ

(Compiled by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru)
BLOOMINGTON  The Bloomington-Normal Chapter of the Association for Women in Communications named Aimee Beam of The Baby Fold as the Outstanding Woman in Communication during the annual AWC Crystal Awards dinner held Thursday at Doubletree by Hilton.

The award honors daily dedication to the craft as well as an understanding of the potential of communication as a tool to build and strengthen relationships, and reach into the community, AWC said in a release.

The goal of AWC is to inspire and empower women by recognizing excellence across all fields of communications, said chapter President Julie Navickas. The women honored exemplify those at the forefront of communications in our workforce and society.

Beam is vice president of development and public relations at The Baby Fold. She is responsible for developing a marketing strategy, leading media efforts, cultivating donors, running campaigns and establishing community relations.

Barb Dallinger of Illinois State University received the Innovator Award, which recognizes excellence in communicating a project, mission or event, beyond her professional duties. Dallinger is associate director for event logistics and life safety for the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University.

Christy Germanis of the YWCA McLean County won the Crystal Award, the highest honor given to a member of the Bloomington-Normal chapter. She is the director of marketing and public relations at YWCA McLean County, demonstrates and lives the mission of AWC, empowers women around her and exhibits professionalism, said AWC.

Ashley Shannon, a junior broadcast journalism major at Illinois State, was awarded the annual AWC Student Scholarship.
BLOOMINGTON  For a third straight year, Bloomington set a record-low for serious crimes since the city began tracking the data in 1989.

Last year, there were 1,694 serious crimes reported in the city. That's 5 percent lower  82 fewer reports  than the 1,776 that occurred in 2015. Police Chief Brendan Heffner will present a summary of the city's 2016 FBI Uniform Crime Report during the City Council's meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall.

"It's the lowest level in a generation," said Mayor Tari Renner. "I think that attests to the strength of our community as well as our police force in crime prevention and detection."

"It's always good when (crime) goes down, but we aren't naive enough to think that it can always be that way because we know things soon spike, too," said Heffner. "We will continue our efforts and also look for innovative ways to keep our community safe."

The UCR statistics cover homicide, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated battery, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson and human trafficking.

There were no homicides in 2016, according to the report. There was a single drug-induced death, but drug-induced homicides are no longer counted as homicides for UCR statistics, according to the Bloomington Police Department.

That death stemmed from a fatal overdose that took place in August, said Heffner in his report to the council. Jeremy Aaron Miller, 28, of Bloomington was charged with drug-induced homicide for allegedly providing a woman with the heroin responsible for her fatal overdose.

The 1,694 serious crimes in Bloomington last year were far less than many other Central Illinois communities. By comparison, Peoria had 5,538, Springfield had 6,486 and Decatur had 3,065. Last year, there were 10 homicides in Peoria, six in Springfield and three in Decatur.

Robberies

Bloomington's most notable increase in UCR crime was a 43 percent spike in robberies. There were a total of 60 robberies reported in 2016, compared to 42 the previous year. The increase also was above BPD's five-year average of 47.2 robberies per year.

The change was attributed to a spike in random street-level robberies,

Heffner noted the sentencing of a 16-year-old in adult court on Wednesday for robbing two men at gunpoint of their cellphones on Oct. 20. Keon Spiller of Normal pleaded guilty to a single count of armed robbery in 2016 in exchange for dismissal of six other felony charges. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Spiller's case was moved to adult court in November after a prosecutor cited Spiller's criminal record of more than 10 charges  three involving weapons  since his first appearance in juvenile court at age 11.

"We still have hybrid gang members out here doing things of that nature. It's just something that we're going to work on," said the police chief.

Hybrid gangs are loosely organized groups of youths often involved in criminal activity.

The 208 aggravated batteries last year were an increase of five from 2015. Last year, the 11 arsons were an increase of four from the previous year. There were no human trafficking cases. There were decreases in the UCR crime categories of sexual assault, burglary and theft  15, 69 and 16 fewer, respectively.

Shootings

Although not a UCR-reported offense, the police department noted street-level gun violence increased from 17 reported shootings in 2015 to 39 reported shootings in 2016. Last year, nine people were shot, but none fatally.

"A majority of those have to do with hybrid gang members," said Heffner. "Most are juveniles. Hopefully, some of the juveniles are getting the message, especially after seeing a couple of their cases being moved to adult court."

Vehicle thefts

After four years of increases in vehicle theft, the police department recorded a 14 percent decrease in 2016  from 66 in 2015 to 57 last year.

"I think some of that resulted from creating awareness through a social media campaign to remind people to keep their vehicles locked and remove or keep valuables out of sight, media helping us to get the word out and working with Neighborhood Watch groups as well," said BPD public affairs officer Sara Mayer.

Many of those thefts were committed by juvenile offenders looking for transportation. The incarceration of several habitual juvenile offenders impacted the 2016 totals, said Heffner.

Goals

In 2017, the police department will continue to focus on violent juvenile crime and handgun violations, suppression of DUIs with increased enforcement, increasing crime prevention efforts and department-wide cultural diversity-related training.

Other goals include expanding a trial run of officer-worn body cameras to include all patrol officers, expanding community outreach through positive social contacts and begin community engagement at the new Jefferson Street community house. The department also wants to maintain an open dialogue with the community, said Heffner.

A complete account of crime in Bloomington can be found at www.cityblm.org/police under Uniform Crime Reports.
CHICAGO  As educators around the United States wonder whether a crackdown on illegal immigrants will reach their schoolhouse doors, principals in Chicago have been given a simple order: Do not let federal immigration agents in without a criminal warrant.

The stand taken by Chicago Public Schools, the country's third-largest school system, is among the boldest of the districts that have announced measures to protect those who may be living in the country illegally.

It remains unknown how much interest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will show in schools under President Donald Trump, and there is little schools can do to thwart agents who show up with warrants, but they are acting at least in part to ease concerns of skittish immigrant communities.

Barry Reilly, superintendent of Bloomington District 87 schools, said while the district is required to cooperate with immigration officials, schools would not let an agent meet with any student without the consent of a parent.

This assumes an agent has no criminal warrant, said Reilly.

Reilly said in his 27 years at the district, he has not been aware of one single agent visiting a Bloomington school. He said in the end, FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) protections apply to all students.

The response would be the same for local police on school grounds, said Reilly.

We have a very good relationship with the Bloomington police and they try to avoid having to meet with students at school when the need may arise," he said. "In other words, it is not very common for the police to come into our schools to arrest or speak to a student.

McLean County Unit 5 schools have a similar view on the situation.

Unit 5 has policies regarding interviews by outside law enforcement officers, said Curt Richardson, district attorney.

According to administrative procedures in the Normal-based district, interviews of minor students by outside law enforcement officers without permission of the parents is not permitted at school unless a legal process is presented.

In districts like Chicago, where nearly half of the 381,000 students are Hispanic, there is concern that immigration authorities could grab parents outside the schools and their children inside.

"My 9-year-old son gets upset because he knows some of his friends in school and his father are undocumented and he is scared, and asks 'Am I going to see them again?'" said Gabriela Barajas, who was brought to this country illegally as a child but is allowed to stay as part of a federal program launched in 2012. "When I told him about (what CPS was doing) he was clapping, he was so happy."

Alma Sigala, an immigrant who has a daughter in district, said the relief is not just for the children but for the parents. "Once the parents are inside the schools they'll feel more secure, that in some form they are protected," said Sigala.

Trump's decision to target more people for deportation than had been targeted during the Obama administration has ratcheted up worries about families being torn apart all over the country.

In the note Tuesday to Chicago's principals, Public Schools Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson urged them to not only keep immigration agents outside and to avoid sharing any student records with the agents, but to also put plans in place for the possibility of parents being detained while their children are in school.

"To be very clear, CPS does not provide assistance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law," Jackson wrote.

Principals around the country have been stepping up efforts to make students feel supported, said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

In Syracuse, New York, the school board approved a policy this month requiring schools to deny access to ICE officials until they consult with the superintendent. In Salt Lake City, Utah, on Tuesday the school district discussed a resolution. Connecticut's governor on Wednesday advised school districts in that state to refer any ICE agents to the superintendent. And in New York City, principals there have been told that immigration officers many not be granted access without legal authority.

The latest Trump administration guidance leaves in place Obama-era policies limiting enforcement actions at "sensitive locations," including schools. While those policies say agents should generally avoid apprehending anyone inside those designated areas, they do not stop agents from obtaining records or serving subpoenas.
BLOOMINGTON  In the face of protesters asking U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood for a town hall meeting in Bloomington-Normal, his office is considering it  and a group behind the protests might hold one either way.

"The congressman does not have any public town halls scheduled but will weigh options that present an opportunity and environment that would allow for constructive conversations regarding issues facing the 18th District," said JD D'Alfonso, communications director for the Dunlap Republican, on Thursday.

If LaHood doesn't schedule a meeting, local advocacy group Voices of Reason is prepared to schedule one, invite LaHood and then leave "an empty chair" on stage if he doesn't attend, said co-founder Jodie Slothower.

"People are frustrated and would like a dialogue with their congressman," she said. "We don't think that's a lot to ask."

Such a meeting is unlikely during the current congressional recess, which was for the week of Presidents Day. A two-week recess is scheduled for April.

Voices of Reason hosted two gatherings Thursday to push for town hall meetings on the Affordable Care Act: one in the morning outside Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville's office in uptown Normal and one in the afternoon outside LaHood's office in east Bloomington.

The Twin Cities are divided between the two districts.

Ashley Phelps, communications director for Davis, reiterated that he will not host a town hall meeting about the ACA but "held a tele-town hall on this very issue last week," for which his office "called 120,000 people and 7,500 were able to participate." She said she suspects many protesters participated.

"They dont want to have productive conversations. They want to shout at rallies and be covered by the media," she said of the protesters. "Congressman Davis has a bill that would protect people with pre-existing conditions from losing their health coverage, something this group claims to care about, but the simple fact is these are campaign rallies being pushed by Democrats."

Illinois People's Action also hosted a protest last week in uptown Normal to call for a town hall meeting with Davis.

When asked if IPA might schedule a town hall meeting locally, Executive Director Don Carlson said the group is "looking at the next recess mid-April."

"Anticipating some tangible policies on the table... it will be critical for Rep. Davis to hear from constituents to inform his position," Carlson said. "Telephone conference calls don't count."

Protesters outside LaHood's office chanted, "This is what democracy looks like" and "We cannot keep quiet."

"I couldn't come up with a better example of the breakdown of the Republican Party than going from Ray LaHood to Darin," said Zak Boerger of Normal, referring to Darin's father and predecessor in the 18th District. "Ray would meet with us. His son doesn't seem concerned."
BLOOMINGTON  The Bloomington and Normal city councils are being asked to adopt ordinances that would provide broad protections of immigrants who entered the country illegally from scrutiny that could lead to their deportation and limit the use of local police to enforce federal immigration laws.

Illinois People's Action, a Bloomington-based group that advocates for immigrant rights and other social issues, has given Normal and Bloomington officials a proposed Welcoming Town Ordinance. IPA Executive Director Don Carlson said the group is not yet ready to talk publicly about the proposal.

But speaking generally about recent changes announced in immigration policy by President Donald Trump, Carlson said the expansion of deportation powers has made many Central Illinois immigrants fearful of their future.

"We have heard from immigrants in Decatur and Bloomington who are exploring powers of attorney so if the parents disappear, their children won't be left alone. That should be an outrage," said Carlson.

Statements by federal officials that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will have a much wider latitude to detain immigrants who entered the country illegally "broadens even the definition of what a criminal is," said Carlson.

The six-page proposal outlines how local agencies, including police, can obtain and use information during their interactions with immigrants. Under the proposal, threats of deportation may not be leveled against a person based on their immigration status.

A court order would be required to investigate a person's citizenship or immigration status under the proposed rules that mirror those adopted by so-called sanctuary cities. The federal government has warned cities that have taken similar positions that they risk the loss of federal funding if they refuse to cooperate with efforts to remove immigrants who entered the country illegally.

In this area, Urbana approved its sanctuary city status in December.

Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said the city's legal department has reviewed the document and "has all kinds of concerns about it."

The mayor said the city is sympathetic to the challenges facing local immigrants and he is considering a mayoral proclamation as an alternative to the IPA recommendations.

A proclamation that includes the phrase from the poem dedicated to the Statue of Liberty, "bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses," would reflect the city's support of the immigrant community without putting the city in a potential conflict with federal agencies, said Renner.

"Immigrants don't just come with costs; they are a real benefit to the community," said Renner.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos said he is reviewing feedback from the town's legal staff on the proposal. Reactions from council members "run the gamut from some who are supportive to some who are supportive but not ready to jump in," said Koos.

Like Bloomington, Normal may offer a supportive proclamation, said Koos.

"I'm certainly sympathetic of the fears of a lot of people in this community and across the country that they're now targets" for deportation, he said.

Provisions of the proposed ordinance that place strict limits on what police could ask a person about their citizenship is a concern for Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner.

"If an immigration issue was part of an investigation, we would want that tool" that allows officers to ask questions, he said.

Unless given a warrant for a criminal offense, police would be barred from transferring a person into ICE custody and staff with all agencies would be prohibited from working with ICE, according to the document.

Rules that place a segment of the population in a separate category could make it more difficult for police to do their job, said Bleichner.

"We do have some discretion and we use that discretion across the board. Our goal is to work with everyone in the community," he said.

Bloomington Police Chief Brendan Heffner echoed Bleichners comments that the IPA proposal addresses a problem that does not currently exist in the Twin Cities.

We are already a welcoming community. When we talk to people, their immigration status is not a priority for us, said Heffner, adding we dont work for ICE.

Certain portions of the IPA proposal that restrict what law enforcement can do could jeopardize the safety of our citizens, said the Bloomington chief.

Immigration's ascent to the list of top priorities for the Trump administration has put the issue on the radar of community police departments.

Recently, Normal officers received training on various ICE documents that can be used in a request to detain a person. Detainers are "a low frequency but high risk" situation for patrol officers, said Bleichner, because the majority of federal requests come through jails.

Still, the policy of leaving immigration enforcement to federal agents was a point the Normal chief felt compelled to review with his officers.
Cheers

... to Tahnee and Matt Lathrop, who have organized The Giving Fence in the 1000 block of West Washington Street in Bloomington. The program encourages residents to "take what you need; leave what you can."

Bags and clothespins are provided for donors to leave mittens, gloves, hats, coats or whatever could be used by someone else. For the time being, The Giving Fence will be a cold-weather venture, but vegetables will be grown in planters in front of the fence beginning in April.

Cheers

... and congratulations to the Beyond the Books Educational Foundation that is marking 25 years of enhancing local education with a free celebration from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Evans Junior High School in Bloomington.

Since it began, the foundation has funded 724 projects in Twin City schools with grants totaling more than $550,000.

Talk about giving back to your community.

Cheers

... to the town of Normal, for banning video gaming establishments from residential neighborhoods.

The new rule, sparked by concerns from neighbors in the area of a planned gaming business, bans such businesses within 200 feet of a residential neighborhood. Businesses that already have licenses are not affected.

Normal has about a dozen establishments that allow video gaming.

Cheers

... to Congress for promoting proposed legislation that would benefit and promote historic Route 66.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, the Peoria Republican, is pitching that the Mother Road be named a National Historic Trail. His GOP counterpart, U.S. Rodney Davis of Taylorville, supports 100th anniversary celebrations along the route.

Route 66, which runs from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif. and cuts through more than a dozen Central Illinois communities, including the Twin Cities, was established on Nov. 11, 1926. The historic roadway includes 301 miles in Illinois.

Cheers

... to Cathy Coverston Anderson on her appointment as interim administrator of the McLean County Health Department, following the announcement that longtime director Walt Howe is retiring.

Coverston Anderson has been with the department since 1988 and has the knowledge and experience to do the job. Howe's last day is today.

The department has 90 employees and an $8.4 million budget.

Cheers

... to Illinois State University, for finding yet another way to share its lessons about teaching.

The university, whose roots are traced to a teachers' school, recently started offering podcasts to help teachers. The episodes ranges from what should be in a class syllabus to how to create a teaching portfolio.

Rest in peace

... Condolences to the family and friends of former Congressman Bob Michel, a Peoria Republican who showed the world that politics can be practiced by a gentleman. He never forgot his roots or the people who elected him to office again and again.
Prior to this year, you'd be forgiven for not having heard of Daniel Kaluuya. The British actor has had several premiere television roles in shows like Black Mirror and Skins, as well as in the 2015 film Sicario. But despite that, he's more or less flown under the radarespecially for American audiences. That will be changing after this weekend, when the Jordan Peele-directed horror film Get Out hits theaters nationwide with Kaluuya as its star.

The film follows a young Black man named Chris (played by Kaluuya) as he goes to visit the family of his white girlfriend (Girls' Allison Williams) in a rich suburban town. The film, Peele's directing debut, features the same clever sort of cultural commentary that made Key & Peele such a runaway success. It's harrowing in its pace, blending teeth-chattering suspense, jaw-dropping twists, and just the right amount of comedic relief. We spoke to Daniel Kaluuya over the phone to find out how it feels to work with one of your idols, what makes Jordan Peele such an open director, and why the scariest monster of them all is racism.





How were you originally approached for this role?

I got an email about it and immediately was like, "It's a horror movie!" I remember it saying that in the email. I was just like, "Wow, I have to make this happen." I felt that if I got to do anything with Jordan, I could take that to my grave. So my manager and I are talking and I'm like, "I love Key & Peele! I love it, my friends love it, it's a really big deal," and he was like, "Well, he's a big fan of you." I was shocked! It was likehow is that? That doesn't even make sense! What do you mean?

Thenthis was in March 2015 or right around thenI was chatting with Peele and he was talking about how much he watched Black Mirror and stuff like that. So we started talking about the script and it really resonated. I was just like, I've got to do it. But then for loads of months, I didn't hear anything. I did Sicario, and the weekend that it came out, I went to LA [for the premiere]. While I was in LA, I had a meeting [with the producers of Get Out], and they said in the audition that I got the part but I still wasn't sure. Then they texted me that I got it, but I still wasn't sure. They kept saying, "You got the part!" and I was still just likenah. And then after that, I finally believed it.

You said that you were a fan before. What was it like to work with someone you were such a fan of?

It was great. He's a really open director, which is really quite exciting and rare. He's from an improvisation background and I am as well, so that's what I found to be really exciting. He was just very open to suggestions about what we think, how we think a scene should go. It was like we had as much investment in the character as he did. It was my first lead role in film so it was really exciting to have that experience. And there were times that he would direct as Tracy Morgan, which was amazing. He would just go from normal to talking like Tracy Morgan. And then there would be moments where he was the audience memberlike a typical African-American horror audience memberand he would just be like, "No! Don't! Get out! Get out!" The whole thing was just so hilarious. He's such a cool guy.

Do you think his open approach was a result of this being the first film he had directed?

I honestly think he's just that kind of person. He's open. He's willing to listen. It's refreshing, because he was willing to say, "I don't know." And I find anyone that's willing to say "I don't know" really refreshingbecause the majority of the time, we really don't know. We're all making up what we're doing. I just think he's putting the story first; it's just his approach. I think, from what I hear, that's how he did his own show [too]. He'll change things on set to make people feel better. But that's what makes it feel so alive. It's this idea that something can be made two seconds before it's shot. That element is always so exciting for me to watch on screen, and I've always wanted to be a part of it.

Get Out is a horror film, but also focuses on the ins and outs of interracial relationships. Was that a theme you related to?

I've been in relationships where the girl was a different culture, so I definitely feel that element of it. It's just the truth. The interracial shit is kind of a catalyst for the Black paranoia aspect. You feel it, you know? It's like, I can go to a partycompletely unrelatedand just be around a bunch of white people that have never been around Black people, and they make it a thing. It's not like they're not being nice. They're trying to be welcoming. But the effect of that can make you feel alienated and isolated. So that was the hook in my analysis of being like, "I know that [feeling]."

Like, [my character Chris] just loves this girl. He doesn't see her as white; he just loves her. It's the fact that he loves this girl that has isolated him, because he's been incubating in New York. But then he gets taken out [of that setting] and it changes. It's like when you go to those [rural] places and then realize, "Oh! I'm Black! You have your own baggage and interpretations about me and my Black skin that has nothing actually to do with me as an individual." Even if the relationship is already happening [normally], once you put it into the public space, then it becomes an interracial relationship. So that's what kind of related to me: being seen as an idea instead of an individual.

Kaluuya as Chris and Allison Williams as Rose. Courtesy of Universal.

What was it like to be in a movie that had all of these allusions to being enslaved or sold off? Was this the first time that your Blackness was central to the character you were portraying?

Well, Blackness is a core part of everything I do and who I am. But in terms of narrative, it's an interesting thing. Everybody is going to see this differently and that's what I really liked about the script. The stuff that really got to me was just this question of: Why us? Why Black people? And that's the truth. It really is like, why us? Why Black people? What the fuck? Why the fuck are you doing this to us? It's weird but you have to put it in those terms.

And [Jordan] managed to put that question into this concept. So that's what I found really exciting. I felt like it was true, but it was an American truth. And then, he put that American truth into a certain genre. I found that really exciting because I grew up learning about American civil rights in school. I know that narrative but I haven't lived itI just know what happened. So, with this movie, it was like, I understand this perspective, I understand this viewpoint, and I agree with this viewpoint, so I can be Chris in this situation. But I also feel like I know that Black paranoiathat feeling of being like, is it just me? That overwhelming feeling of deterioration of the mindI know that. I've been that. I've lived that.

What are your feelings about horror as a genre?

I find horror that's grounded in reality scarier. Usually, it's monsters and ghouls and other stuff, but this is a monster from day-to-day: the monster of racism. Racism kills people. It kills people! There are people sufferingtoday! That, to me, is terrifying. It's this social monster that makes people live in an environment where they are hunted because of the color of their skin. There are people being shot because of the color of their skin! That's horrifying stuff! And that's why I always want to be grounded in some kind of truth [as an actor], so you can see a person trying to navigate that. You see someone that has good intentions but also see what that does to a person. I wanted to feel that anyone could watch thisno matter where you're from, no matter what you're about.

I know you're going to be in the new Black Panther film. How is that going?

It's going well. It's really exciting because, even if I weren't in this industry, I would watch a Black Panther movie. If I wasn't in Get Out, I would still watch that movie. Being in stuff that you would watch anyway or are watching anyway, and working with people that you admire, that's the most satisfying thing. To think that, on this journey, they picked me to go on this journey with them, it's amazing. Black Panther is so amazing so far, though. The script and the story, I can't tell you anything about, but it's been quite a life-changing experience.

Get Out is in theaters February 24.



Splash photo courtesy Universal Pictures.


After the Trump administration's revocation of federal protections for transgender students, Caitlyn Jenner, inexplicably avid Trump supporter from day one, is now suddenly concerned about his desire to protect the rights of the LGBTQ community. Fancy that! She released a short video on her Twitter to deliver a message of encouragement to the trans community, speak out against bullies, shade Jeff Sessions, and tell Trump "from one republican to another," that his legislation is a "disaster."

Well @realDonaldTrump, from one Republican to another, this is a disaster. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me. pic.twitter.com/XwYe0LNUOq

 Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) February 24, 2017

I mean, what was your first clue? Let's take a look back at what Caitlyn Jenner said about Donnie on the campaign trail, when she was praising his support of women and LGBTQ issues and offering to be a "trans ambassador":

Everybody looks at the Democrats as being better with these issues. But Trump seems to be very much for women. He seems very much behind the LGBT community because of what happened in North Carolina with the bathroom issue. He backed the LGBT community.

You can really never underestimate how out-of-touch rich white Republican ladies living in sublime isolation in the hills of Malibu can be.

Anyway, welcome to the right side of history, Caitlyn Jenner!

Splash image via BFA
President Donald Trump has imposed a freeze hiring policy across federal agencies and military families are slowly experiencing its effects. Child care programs in Army bases have been suspended as a result, affecting thousands of military parents and their kids. Even military veterans are affected.

In Fort Knox, military families have been advised that child care facilities will close down at the end of February. The same thing has happened in a U.S. military base in Germany, which has sent a memo to all concerned servicemen about shutting down, ATTN reported.

Child care staff members who have left their jobs, for one reason or another, cannot be replaced in the next few months due to a Presidential Memorandum, which was released on Jan. 23. Hence, the facilities are forced to close or not accept new enrollees in the programs due to staff shortages.

Veterans expecting to have their benefits, medical care and loans processed should expect delays as well. Some say that for as long as the policy remains in effect it could potentially become a public health or public safety issue. It's still unclear when the Trump government would lift the policy's ban.

On Feb. 1, the Department of Defense apparently issued a memo to correct the freeze hiring policy. According to Military.Com, 16 job categories should be exempted for military personnel and its civilian staff, such as custodial workers, cooks, child care program instructors or administrative support assistants.

The problem, however, is the process to hiring additional workers could still be long and tedious, thus still effectively delaying or closing operations temporarily. A succeeding memo from the Army's manpower and reserve affairs stated base commanders must still submit requests and obtain permission before filling civilian posts. "It's created an additional level of bureaucracy," U.S. Marine Will Fischer said.

Are you part of a military family? Have you been experiencing a delay in services? Sound off in the comments section below.
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - February 23, 2017) - Primero Mining Corp. ("Primero" or the "Company") (TSX:P.TO) (PPP) announced today that Mr. Ernest Mast and Primero have reached a mutual decision that Mr. Mast will depart Primero to pursue other opportunities effective no later than March 6, 2017. Upon Mr. Mast's departure, Mr. Joseph F. Conway will be appointed Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Mast will continue to assist the Company in facilitating a smooth transition in leadership. The Company thanks Mr. Mast for his service and his assistance in transitional matters.

Mr. Conway is currently Vice Chairman and was previously President and C.E.O. of Primero from June 2010 through January 2016. Mr. Conway has nearly 30 years of mining and financial industry experience. He was President and C.E.O. of IAMGOLD Corporation from 2003 to 2010, growing it from a $50 million joint venture company to a $6 billion leading intermediate gold producer. Mr. Conway has a B.Sc. from Memorial University of Newfoundland (1981), and an MBA from Dalhousie University (1987).

About Primero

Primero Mining Corp. is a Canadian-based precious metals producer that owns 100% of the San Dimas gold-silver mine and the Cerro del Gallo gold-silver-copper development project in Mexico and 100% of the Black Fox mine and adjoining properties in the Township of Black RiverMatheson near Timmins, Ontario, Canada. Primero offers immediate exposure to un-hedged, below average cash cost gold production with a substantial resource base in politically stable jurisdictions. The Company is focused on becoming a leading intermediate gold producer by building a portfolio of high quality, low cost precious metals assets in the Americas.

Primero's website is www.primeromining.com.

Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/2/23/11G131248/PR4-17_CEO_Appointment_Final-c0783048adf3b6c8ab8d1217a12726c6.pdf


Shared parenting laws are finally getting some attention at the Legislative branch. Across the United States, lawmakers are introducing or updating previous bills to provide divorced parents equal rights to their kids.

Current shared parenting situations for most divorced families usually favor moms when it comes to the children's custody. Dads, on the other hand, usually get the children only on weekends or have some type of temporary arrangement. Recent studies, however, point out that children of divorce adjust better physically, mentally and emotionally if they get equal time or 50-50 custody with both parents who are fit to care for them.

One such study, published in early February, recommended kids of separated parents, even as young as infants, must spend frequent overnights with their fathers. The study suggested children who are used to spending equal time with both parents grow up to be well-adjusted adults, as Parent Herald reported.

According to Terry Brennan of the Leading Women for Shared Parenting, these recent studies have opened the eyes of some legislators in light of the fact that current laws keep children away from their fathers. "[They] are just learning the degree to which family courts contribute to this problem," she said, per Life Gazette. She also said that six states have active legislation on equal or shared parenting.



North Dakota lawmakers recently passed a shared parenting bill at the House by a vote of 71 to 21 and it will soon go through the Senate, according to Prairie Republic. Massachusetts lawmakers have a shared parenting bill in the Senate since 2016, Bill H.4544, and it will be discussed in the 2017 sessions. More states are expected to follow suit.

Where do you stand on shared parenting laws? Do you believe that a 50-50 equal time with the parents will be best for the child? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions
TSMC's Co-Chief Executive Mark Liu stated earlier today that they will begin producing cutting-edge 5-nanometer chips in small quantities in the first half of 2019. Liu also updated attendants at a TSMC supplier meeting that the company is progressing well on advanced technologies, disclosing details for 3nm chip technology development.

"We have dedicated around 6,000 [research and development] staff on the 5-nanometer process technology, and we are very optimistic about 3-nanometer chip development though it still takes time," said Liu, "For 3-nanometer, we have already deployed several hundred [research and development] engineers in research programs."

If all goes according to plan, TSMC will be the first chipmaker to possess advanced 5nm chip technology. This will help TSMC to maintain its technological edge over its two major rivals, Intel and Samsung Electronics, in the global contract chipmaking market.

The Taiwanese chipmaker now boasts of a 55% market share and dominates orders for iPhone 7 range core processors, which uses TSMC's 16nm chips.

TSMC is also expected to monopolize the production of iPhone's 10th anniversary range this year. Apple will adopt its 10nm technology for core processors used in the upcoming handsets.

The smaller the nanometer size, the more advanced the chip, but also the more challenging to develop.

Samsung and TSMC are wrestling for market share in 10nm production. TSMC began producing 10nm chips in mass quantities in the third quarter in 2016 and will begin shipping the new product this quarter.

The Taiwanese chipmaker is counting on Apple, Huawei Technologies' chip arm Hisilicon Technology, and MediaTek, the largest mobile chip provider to China, to buy its 10nm chips.

Meanwhile, Intel said it will start shipping 10nm chips for personal computers this year and announced that their 7nm plant is back on their roadmap due to business incentives that the Trump administration will be tabling later this year.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.
Writeth she:

Okay so I have to share a cool story with you. A friend sent me this:

I am currently living in South Africa as my husband is US Air Force working at the US Embassy in Pretoria. A couple of months ago, A friend contacted me to tell me that a Catholic missionary she knows was being flown to Johannesburg from Uganda due to a neck fracture from a bad car accident. She asked if I could go visit him in JoBurg. No problem! I drove down and brought him a few things from where I volunteer, some candy, some cash and your book, Sherry [Forming Intentional Disciples]! He wound up going back to his native England for further (better) treatment. He is truly a miracle a C2 fracture with no paralysis. He contacted me just now to let me know he went to a Called and Gifted workshop in his diocese because he had read your book! This little story spreads THREE continents! Isnt that awesome!?
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
- By Mark Yu





Mexico has not failed to appear on any major news outlet newsfeed recently - because of its currency, its president's decision and the wall among other things.





The Mexico ETF - iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF (EWW) - underperformed the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index in the past year with -10.1% total return vs. 27.6%.

Using Morningstar data, several companies in the ETF's holdings demonstrated below peer average multiple, one of which was Gentera SAB de CV (CMPRF). Gentera SAB de CV is an over-the-counter stock traded on a private exchange that does not have any 10-K annual or 10-Q quarterly reports.

Valuation

Gentera, formerly Compartamos SAB de CV, traded at a lower earnings multiple compared to its industry.

According to Reuters data, the $2.32 billion Mexico-based financial institution had a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12.6 times (industry value of 40.8), price-book (P/B) ratio of 3.1 times (industry value of 3) and price-sales (P/S) ratio of 2.3 times (industry value of 6.1).

Gentera also had a trailing dividend yield of 2.4% with a payout ratio of 33.7%.

Total return

In comparison to the broader S&P 500 index, Gentera has underperformed the former in both short and medium term. Gentera had -10.2% and -2.97% total returns in one- and three-year returns compared to the S&P 500's 27.6% and 10.7% (1).

Earnings performance

On Oct. 24, Gentera reported its third-quarter and nine months fiscal 2016. Nine months into fiscal 2016, the largest microfinance bank in Latin America grew its interest income by 16.3% to 14.7 billion Mexican pesos ($740.8 million) while delivering a 25.3% profit growth to 2.87 billion pesos.





"Gentera concluded another solid quarter of continued growth. As every year happens the third quarter tends to be a time of the year with solid dynamics, and this year was not the exception. At the end of September, the consolidated Total Loan Portfolio reached 31.866 billion pesos, a 15.9% increase compared with third-quarter 2015, with a 12.2% growth at Banco Compartamos, a 30.1% increase at Compartamos Financiera in Peru and a 35.3% growth in Compartamos S.A. in Guatemala.

Story continues

"At the end of the third quarter Gentera's financial subsidiaries served 3.35 million clients, throughout a network of 692 service offices and 107 branches, and a staff of more than 21,000 employees, which are committed to provide financial solutions to our clients.

"With regards to its subsidiaries, Aterna, Intermex and Yastas, all of them delivered once again the results expected for the quarter. Aterna concluded the quarter with more than 5.5 million active life insurance policies; Intermex paid 1.1 million remittances, which represented more 5.5 billion pesos; Yastas finalized the quarter executing more than 1.6 million financial transactions; and finally, Fiinlab, our newest initiative aims to develop new business models to achieve greater financial inclusion." - Carlos Labarthe, Gentera's president and CEO







Gentera trades thinly and lost 2.4% post earnings announcement from Oct. 14 to Nov. 4, 2016.

Gentera

In 2015, Gentera celebrated its 25th year in existence providing financial assistance and serving Mexico, Peru and Guatemala.

According to its filings, Gentera is a Mexican corporation which purpose is to promote, organize and manage all types of civil or commercial entities, including but not limited to, multiple banking entities with the purpose of providing banking and credit services pursuant to the Law of Credit Institutions as well as other financial entities, both domestic and foreign.

(Corporate Structure, Gentera)

Gentera has several subsidiaries: Compartamos, Yastas, Aterna, Intermex and Fundacion Gentera.

Compartamos

Compartamos offers credit, insurance, savings and means of payment to its clients in Mexico, Peru and Guatemala. Several subsidiaries under Compartamos are as follows: Compartamos Banco (with operations in Mexico), Compartamos Financiera (Peru) and Compartamos SA (Guatemala).

In third quarter 2016, Compartamos Banco's loan portfolio grew by 12.2% to 24.6 billion pesos compared to the year earlier period. Compartamos Financiera's loan portfolio, meanwhile, grew by 30.1% to 6.8 billion pesos year on year and Compartamos SA demonstrated 35.3% growth to 475 million pesos.

Yastas

Yastas is a banking correspondent administrator that provides convenient access to financial operations, service payments and cell phones airtime.

In third quarter 2016, it executed close to 1.6 million financial transactions or 2.5 times more than the year-earlier quarter.

Aterna

Aterna is an insurance agency that specializes in prevention services and operates products and services through its partners in Mexico and the rest of Latin America. Aterna's main products include life, health and liability insurances.

In third-quarter 2016, Aterna had more than 5.5 million active life insurance policies compared to 4.19 million the year-earlier period.

Intermex

Intermex is a payer of family remittances in Mexico. According to Gentera, Intermex's operation is linked to remittance companies in the U.S.

In third quarter, Intermex was able to execute more than 1.1 million transactions valued at 5.5 billion pesos compared to over 1 million transactions or 4.4 billion pesos year on year.

Fundacion Gentera

Fundacion Gentera, meanwhile, is a nonprofit organization that guides the social responsibility efforts of Gentera and its companies.

Interest income and loan portfolio

(Annual and Sustainable Report and Press Release, Gentera)

As observed, Gentera derives most of its business from loan portfolio interest. In previous annual report, the financial firm derived 99.4% or 17.2 billion pesos of its interest income from loan portfolio interest (2).

In review, almost all of this interest income, or 99%, was derived from consumer loans and 63% or 18 billion pesos of the total loan portfolio were rated an A-1 risk - safest.

Gentera had 78% or 22.35 billion pesos of its total loan portfolio - including current and past due and accrued interests - in Mexico followed by 18% in Peru and 1% in Guatemala.

Nine months into fiscal 2016, Gentera's total loan portfolio grew by 15.9% to 31.9 billion pesos compared to the year-earlier period.

Other metrics

Net interest margin

Net interest margin is a ratio that measures how successful a firm is at investing its funds in comparison to the expenses on the same investments (Investopedia). Figures above provided by Gentera demonstrated stability in recent third quarter comparisons.

Efficiency ratio

The bank efficiency ratio is a quick and easy measure of a bank's ability to turn resources into revenue. The lower the ratio the better (50% is generally regarded as the maximum optimal ratio). An increase in the efficiency ratio indicates either increasing costs or decreasing revenues (Investing Answers).

Figures above provided by Gentera demonstrated increasing cost rather than declining overall revenue in recent quarterly comparisons.

Nonperforming loan ratio

A nonperforming loan is the sum of borrowed money upon which the debtor has not made his scheduled payments for at least 90 days. A nonperforming loan is either in default or close to being in default (Investopedia).

As it turned out, Gentera reportedly has increased its nonperforming loans in recent years.

Return on equity

Gentera's return on shareholder equity also exhibited a decline.

On average, Gentera had three-year sales and profit growth and profit margin averages of 20.3%, 126.4% and 23%.

Cash, debt and book value

As of September, Gentera had 4.35 billion pesos in cash and other investments. The financial firm also had 10.7 billion pesos in debt or a 0.7 debt equity ratio compared to 0.71 times in December 2015 (1).

Gentera also had 2.3% of its 39.93 billion pesos assets in goodwill while having a book value of 15.3 billion pesos compared to 12.75 billion pesos the same period a year earlier.

Cash flow

Nine months into 2016, Gentera grew its cash flow from operations to 1.97 billion pesos from an actual loss of 955 million pesos the year earlier. Significant cash inflow or 2.45 billion pesos came from Gentera's other assets and liabilities, according to Morningstar data.

Gentera also allocated 98 million in property and equipment leaving the firm with 1.9 billion in free cash flow compared to an actual cash flow loss of 1.3 billion pesos the prior year.

Gentera allocated 2.5% or $47 million in share repurchases while providing no dividends in the period.

Conclusion

Gentera demonstrated a highly profitable financial firm located in Latin America. Looking a little closer, however, revealed that Gentera's operations may be encountering a bit lower profitability in its several businesses compared to recent years.

Aside from having a markedly lower earnings multiple compared to its peers, Gentera trades three times more than its book value in its current share price. Together with absent dividends and minimal share repurchases compared to free cash flow figures, Gentera ADR shares would be a pass.

Notes

Morningstar data. Me: Interest income can also be understood as sales.







Disclosure: I do not have shares in any companies mentioned.

Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






(Adds comment from lawyer)

By Olivia Oran and Nate Raymond

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada is in a court battle with a former executive it dismissed after moving him to the Bahamas where it could continue a lucrative trading business hindered by U.S. regulations.

The dispute, according to court documents, centers on whether the former executive, Tebogo Phiri, has the right to valuable intellectual property such as data and trading strategies underpinning the business he ran for RBC. But it also reveals ongoing fallout from a controversial financial reform measure known as the Volcker rule banning proprietary trading, which banks have tried to fight in sundry ways.

Phiri first filed a lawsuit in New York State court in December against RBC's U.S. investment banking division, saying his former employer had agreed in writing to let him take certain intellectual property if the business did not survive offshore. The information and trading strategies involved generate tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue, according to court filings.

Phiri's group engaged in proprietary trading, in which a bank's own capital is used to place speculative market bets. That type of trading was largely banned by the Volcker rule, which was part of a broad set of U.S. financial reforms after the 2008 crisis.

Lawyers for RBC and Phiri did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for RBC declined to comment. Phiri could not be reached for comment.

According to Phiri, RBC came up with a plan in 2015 to move him and other traders offshore because of the Volcker rule. An exception to the rule allows non-U.S. banks to engage in proprietary trading activity as long as the trading is conducted outside the United States.

But by mid-2016, the bank changed course and decided to shut down the Bahamas operation. RBC terminated Phiri's employment in October, but did not grant him the intellectual property rights he was expecting, according to court papers.

Story continues

VOLCKER HARD TO GET AROUND

Wall Street banks have fought hard against the Volcker rule on Capitol Hill and at regulatory agencies, and have recently been lobbying the new Congress to make changes that would soften its impact.

They have also taken advantage of exemptions related to hedging and merchant banking. But moving proprietary trading offshore has been a challenge for some foreign banks because of compliance issues.

"Many big global banks have ended up implementing Volcker procedures around the world anyway," said John Williams, a partner at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. "Even if banks can take advantage of the exemption it's hard to do so in a global market."

The Botswana-born trader launched an arbitration proceeding before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) seeking a decision that would allow him to use the intellectual property and award him more than $2 million, according to court records.

He also filed the New York lawsuit, through which he obtained a court order in December preventing RBC from selling or transferring the intellectual property to third parties.

On Feb. 15, the FINRA panel granted Phiri's request for an injunction. On Tuesday, RBC filed a new lawsuit seeking an order declaring FINRA's ruling unenforceable.

The bank argues that FINRA's decision is too vague to implement, while Phiri argues it grants him rights to the intellectual property at issue. RBC said doing so would cause "immediate and irreparable harm." (Reporting by Olivia Oran and Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Andrew Hay)
Top Iranian Professor at Zabol University Sentenced to Imprisonment and Flogging

02/22/17

Source: Radio Zamaneh

A highly regarded professor in Zabol University in southeastern Iran has been sentenced to imprisonment and flogging for posting protests against university administration on Telegram, a cloud-based instant messaging application popular in Iran.



Moosa Bohlooli, President of Zabol University





Vaghayeh Etegafhieh daily reports that a member of Zabol University Science Faculty has been sentenced to four years in jail and 75 lashes for protesting against the university's management. Without identifying the professor the report adds that the accused professor had been recognized earlier as an Exemplary Professor by the university faculty.



Zabol University Science Faculty members have filed several complaints against the university administration. However, the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology which oversees Zabol University has not responded to any of these complaints. The Zabol University faculty has complained about instances of plagiarism, favouritism and the university's decline in national ranking from 103 to 127.



Nepotism, coercion to sign petitions in support of the university president, threat of dismissal and fabrication of charges against students are also among other complaints cited by Zabol University faculty.



Members of the university's Science Faculty have written two letters to protest against these problems and have pointed the finger at Moosa Bohlooli the head of the university which was appointed to the position by the Minister of Science, Mohammad Farhadi. They maintain that this appointment "reeks of nepotism".



The letters also refer to instances of plagiarism and false claim of contributions by well-known scholars in articles published by Moosa Bohlooli. The Rohani administration has not addressed any of the accusations listed in the two letters from Zabol University Science Faculty.



Meanwhile Bohlooli has dismissed all the accusations and has told Vaghayeh Etegaghieh that they are all "nonsense".



Zabol University regulations stipulate that faculty members have the right to elect the University head themselves through a democratic process.



Having received no response to their letters of complaint, the faculty members reportedly launched a Telegram page entitled "Transparency Watch" to post their complaints against the university administration. The move allegedly triggers fury from the administration which leads them to file charges against the top university professor known as the Exemplary Professor of their institution.



The unnamed individual has been charged with libel, defamation, spreading lies and disturbing public opinion for which the court has passed a sentence of four years in jail and 75 lashes.

Zabol Unversity president Moosa Bohlooli has claimed that the charges filed against this professor are of a personal nature and are not related to the activities of the Telegram page.



Zabol is the capital of the province of Sistan and Baluchestan in southeast Iran and home to Zabol University, the largest university in a province that the Bluchi ethnic minority resides.



The province has been suffering from lack of access to resources and the central government in Tehran often dismisses the needs and the human rights of the Bluch minority. There is constant conflict that often involves suppression of the locals by the intelligence officers or paramilitary Basijis. Many executive and governmental positions in the province are filled by favoritism to non-locals who are chosen by the central government.
Russia wants to produce Ilyushin planes in Iran

02/24/17

Source: Press TV

Russia says it has presented a proposal to Iran for the joint production of its Ilyushin planes in the Islamic Republic.



Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak was quoted by Iran's domestic media as saying that he had presented the proposal - which involved the production of the renovated version of the Ilyushin Il-114 regional planes - in his meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran over the past few days.



Novak added that Moscow was interested in launching a production line in Iran to produce spare parts and the equipment required for Russian planes.



He added that Russia would take a step to that connection if the Islamic Republic indicated that it was also interested in such a scheme, the Persian-language newspaper Jam-e Jam reported.



Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian energy minister emphasized that Russia was preparing to sell 12 Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger planes to Iran.



Novak emphasized that officials in Tehran had told him that the purchases would be made in the near future.



In mid-February, Maqsoud As'adi Samani, the secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines, was quoted by the domestic media as saying that a deal with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company to purchase the planes was close.



As'adi Samani added that Sukhoi had already started technical talks to obtain a license from the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to sell the planes to Iran.



Hossein Alaei, the head of Iran's Aseman Airlines, had earlier said his company was negotiating with Sukhoi as well as several other leading global plane makers to renovate its fleet.



Alaei added that Sukhoi had carried out trial flights of its Superjet 100 in Tehran in December 2016 - what he said had been carried out at the invitation of Aseman Airlines.
mSecure password manager review TechRadar Pro

Updated In our mSecure password manager review, we take an in-depth look at this password manager to help you decide if its the most secure way to handle your sensitive data.
The man who Riverside police say shot at officers Monday before taking refuge in a house that burned down with him inside had three felony convictions, including one in which he admitted a gang affiliation in 1999, but no active criminal cases against him.

Marcelino Garcia, 39, used the middle names Anthony and Arthur, according to Riverside County Superior Court records. The coroner said he was a resident of Perris.

Garcias cause of death had not been announced by Thursday afternoon, Feb. 23.

His fiancee, Julie Martinez, said Garcia called her after he had a confrontation with police on MacArthur Road late Monday and told her that hed been shot in the foot as he ran from police. Martinez said Garcia told her he was armed but did not fire his gun.

Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback said Thursday that the department could not comment on that claim because the incident is under investigation. He said investigators had found a lot of evidence that he declined to describe.

Police encountered Garcia late Monday as he stood next to a car theyd deemed suspicious, officials have said. He took off running, and as officers gave chase, he opened fire on them, police said.

Garcia then hid in a house on Sage Avenue. Officers using a loudspeaker tried to get Garcia to come out, Railsback said.

They had verbally tried for quite a while  over the course of a few hours, he said.

About 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, as the SWAT team prepared to move in after getting a search warrant, officers noticed the single-story cinderblock house was burning, Railsback said. He said police had deployed a chemical agent that had not been described to him as of Thursday.

Over the next several hours, firefighters wearing ballistic gear kept the flames from spreading to other homes. When the house finally stopped smoldering, Garcias body was found in a bathroom.

CRIMINAL RECORD

Garcia was convicted in 1999 of felony burglary and was found to have committed the crime while armed and to benefit a gang, court records show. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with credit for having served two years while awaiting trial.

In 2009, Garcia pleaded guilty to felony theft. He was sentenced to three years and eight months. With 1,255 days credit for time served, he was ordered released on Dec. 31, 2009.

In May 2015, that felony conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor under the terms of voter-approved Prop. 47, which reclassified some felonies.

Garcia in 2011 pleaded guilty to felony possession of ammunition. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. In June 2015, his petition to have that felony reclassified as a misdemeanor was denied because the crime was not eligible.

Garcias wife, a Perris resident, filed a petition for divorce on Valentines Day 2013. Garcia was serving a prison sentence in Arizona at the time. The result of the petition was unclear, but she was later awarded custody of their three children. Garcia was due in court for a child-support hearing at the end of this month.

FIREFIGHTER SAFETY

The incident on Sage marked the first time in the two years theyve had the gear that Riverside city firefighters had put on their ballistic helmets and vests to fight flames, said Capt. Tim Beeler, chairman of the Unified Response to Violent Incidents committee, whose members also include Riverside police officers.

The gear is kept on every response vehicle, Beeler said. Firefighters had deployed the gear one other time, when they responded to a report of an active shooter that turned out to be a loud smash-and-grab theft at the Galleria at Tyler.

Firefighters train with police monthly for active-shooter situations, Beeler said.

The fire service has evolved into a different area, and whats happened is with the different events from Columbine (a 1999 massacre at a Colorado high school) to present, weve had to change our model of how we respond, Beeler said. That means changing our equipment and how we do our rescues. We see the need, from the chief down to the firefighters.
CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story did not provide a full tweet mentioned in the article. In the post, Evan Morgan wrote: Kind of annoying that its acceptable to tweet #whitepeoplestink but its racist to tweet #blackpeoplestink wheres equality in that.

A Moreno Valley school board member is facing criticism and calls to resign because of past social media posts that some say are sexually inappropriate and racially insensitive.

Evan Morgan, 33, who was elected to the Moreno Valley Unified board in November, also has numerous traffic violations and arrest warrants for failing to appear in court, records show. His critics say the posts and violations set a poor example for children. Morgans drivers license has been suspended 10 times and he has been cited three times for driving with a suspended license, Riverside and San Bernardino county court records show.

The postings, many made on Facebook in 2011 and 2012, include references to masturbation. Others use slurs about women and derogatory terms for the disabled. One tweet says: Kind of annoying that its acceptable to tweet #whitepeoplestink but its racist to tweet #blackpeoplestink wheres equality in that.

A 2010 YouTube video posted under Morgans name uses toys, including a Barbie doll, to narrate a scenario about the doll being raped. Another video  in which he is referred to as Captain Morgan  appears to show him drag racing in Moreno Valley.

Morgan declined to be interviewed by phone Thursday, but at a Feb. 14 school board meeting, he read a statement apologizing for his social media postings.

Morgan said he made the postings while he was in his early 20s and testing material for a stand-up comedy act many years ago, according to a copy of his statement provided by the district. Some of the posts are from 2011 and 2012.

Taken out of that context, I can see how these posts would offend, and for that I would like to apologize, Morgan wrote. He did not address his traffic record.

Morgans first violation came in 2003 and he has about a dozen subsequent citations on charges that include speeding and failing to heed a stop sign or signal since then, records show.

Morgans most recent conviction and license suspension happened last year, records show. His license remains suspended or revoked, a California Department of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman said Thursday, Feb. 23.

Morgan wrote in an email that he has no tickets restricting him from driving legally. He also stated that he is on a payment plan for his fines. Morgan owes $3,281 in court fines in Riverside County for three recent violations from 2014 and 2015, according to court records.

Morgans statement said he has since removed the social media posts and would never make posts like that while Im a member of the School Board, as I take my position, duties and responsibilities very seriously. Life is no longer about making jokes for me; its about building a stronger community and a better future for our students.

His social media posts and arrest records were publicized recently on a Facebook page and by Moreno Valley blogger Gordon Tucker. The Facebook messages call on residents to demand his resignation.

Its a character issue for me, Tucker said.

Donovan Saadiq, a Moreno Valley resident who ran for the city council last year and has criticized Morgans postings and traffic violations on his online radio show, said Morgans behavior sets a poor example for students. He and others plan to address the board Tuesday, Feb. 28.

Let these children know and these young adults know this isnt the type of behavior we look to from our (school board) members, Saadiq said.

Morgan is the latest Inland public official or employee whose social media posts have come under fire.

Last week, several Rubidoux High School educators posted social media messages that some said disparaged immigrant students. The six educators were put on paid leave while Jurupa Unified School District officials investigate.

Earlier this month, parents, teachers and community members called on Alvord school board member Joseph Barragan to resign, saying he posted racist messages that insult undocumented immigrants, blacks and Muslims. Barragan, 21, said he wouldnt step down, denied writing the Facebook posts and said his account was hacked. Alvord serves the western Riverside area and part of Corona.

Last year, faculty members and students denounced then-Riverside Community College board member Nathan Miller for a tweet about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton featuring a noose-holding hangman. Miller lost his November re-election bid.

Moreno Valley Unified went through its own turmoil in 2012 when school board member Mike Rios was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, pimping, pandering and insurance fraud.

Rios refused to resign and was not removed until a year later when he was convicted of the pimping, pandering and insurance fraud charges. He was sentenced to 14 years in state prison.

Moreno Valley school board President Cleveland Johnson said that history was on his mind when he met with Morgan last month to discuss his postings and videos.

We already went through one of those with Mike Rios, Johnson said. He guaranteed me he was no Mike Rios.

Morgan was receptive to his suggestions, including releasing the statement, Johnson said.

He did not want to bring any type of damage to the district, he said.

Johnson said Morgan told him that the drag racing video was a pretend race and acknowledged creating the doll video. Johnson said he was not aware of Morgans traffic convictions, adding he would be concerned if Morgan were driving with a suspended license while on district business.

School board members get mileage reimbursement for driving to board meetings or campuses, Johnson said. District spokesman Tim McGillivray said Morgan told him that he has not submitted reimbursement claims.

Saadiq said a school trustee should not be condoning illegal behavior, referring to the drag racing video and Morgans arrests for driving while his license was suspended.

He called on Morgan to resign, suggesting he wouldnt have been elected if voters knew of his history.

He noted that Morgan made that same point last year when former City Councilwoman LaDonna Jempson faced criticism after revealing that she had a felony embezzlement conviction from 30 years ago. At a council meeting in June, Morgan was among those urging Jempson to resign, a video of the meeting shows.

If you want to be taken seriously as a person whos changed, as a person with integrity, then the only way I can honestly see that happening is if you step down, Morgan said at the meeting.

Johnson said the rest of the board has deferred to him on how to address Morgans posts. For now, Johnson said no further action is needed.

He understands what the expectations are of a board member and an elected official, especially a board member who has 33,000 kids that are watching, Johnson said.

Reach the reporter:

951-368-9558, ighori@scng.com or @ImranGhori1 on Twitter

Moreno Valley school board member Evan Morgans statement by The Press-Enterprise / pressenterprise.com on Scribd
San Bernardino County could pay $48 million for the property of one of the few remaining Chino dairy farmers after the family complained in a lawsuit that most of their spread, located under a landing pattern for Chino Airport, had been turned into a no-build zone without compensation.

The lawsuit, which went into private arbitration, claimed that the county had, bit by bit over the past 25 years, turned most of the 58 acres of dairy land owned since the 1960s by Jim and Annie Nyenhuis into a runway protection zone.

Planes, including private jets, fly low right over the familys ranch-style home and property on Remington Avenue as they come in for a landing at the airport, just west of the dairy.

The designation precluded most of the acreage from development, even as property all around the Nyenhuiss farm turned into commercial and housing developments, the lawsuit said.

The $48 million includes the value of the 58-acres of land, legal costs, and relocation money for Jim and Annie Nyenhuis, said their attorney, John C. Murphy.

The award is not final, county spokesman David Wert said Thursday.

I respectfully submit, its over, said Murphy.

A stipulation in the case said the parties need to participate in a final order of condemnation. Under terms of the agreement, the final judgment cannot be appealed.

Murphy said in an interview that the county agreed to arbitration in the case as evidence mounted that a development plan for the airport was referred to as a draft plan only to avoid admission of language that the county should buy the Nyenhuis property.

The suit in question wasnt filed until 2015. The only reason it took time to settle the case was that the two sides had vastly different opinions on the value of the land, county spokesman Wert said.

We didnt want to bug them, Annie Nyenhuis said of the county in an interview Thursday. We were happy here.

The couple  Jim is 87 and Annie is 81  raised eight children at their home, which faces north and now looks across the street at a commercial building development where other dairy properties once sat. And more development is on the way.

Weve always been happy, but now were getting closed in, Annie said during an interview a the couples home. Today, you need a bigger dairy to operate, and there is no more land.

Its time for us to move, she said. We have been here, longer than some people.

The couple are both postwar immigrants from Holland who worked their way through the Southern California dairy industry, making their way to Chino and developing their property in the 1960s.

A stipulation filed in August of last year followed a February denial of a county motion for summary judgment and the beginning in April of a deposition of San Bernardino County Airport Director James Jenkins.

The stipulation said the parties had engaged in settlement discussions, and that the Nyenhuis family agreed that the county could acquire the property for public use.

The county agreed to compensate the family for the taking of the property under Californias eminent domain law.

The arbitration under retired San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge John W. Kennedy assigned an independent appraiser to value the Nyenhuis land, which came to $47.3 million, Murphy said.

In addition, the mediator also said the county should pay $480,780 for legal fees and relocation expenses of up to $200,000.

There may be something for the county in the agreement: There are 20 acres on the east side of the property that is outside the no-build zoning and viable for development.

The stipulation says the Nyenhuis family will agree to convey some portion of the property , as identified by the county, directly to a third party.
San Bernardino County could pay $48 million for the property of one of the few remaining Chino dairy farmers after the family complained in a lawsuit that most of their spread, located under a landing pattern for Chino Airport, had been turned into a no-build zone without compensation.

The lawsuit, which went into private arbitration, claimed that the county had, bit by bit over the past 25 years, turned most of the 58 acres of dairy land owned since the 1960s by Jim and Annie Nyenhuis into a runway protection zone.

Planes, including private jets, fly low right over the familys ranch-style home and property on Remington Avenue as they come in for a landing at the airport, just west of the dairy.

The $48 million includes the value of the 58-acres of land, legal costs, and relocation money for Jim and Annie Nyenhuis, said their attorney, John C. Murphy.

The designation precluded most of the acreage from development, even as property all around the Nyenhuiss farm turned into commercial and housing developments, the lawsuit said.

The award is not final, county spokesman David Wert said Thursday.

I respectfully submit, its over, said Murphy.

A stipulation in the case said the parties need to participate in a final order of condemnation. Under terms of the agreement, the final judgment cannot be appealed.

Murphy said in an interview that the county agreed to arbitration in the case as evidence mounted that a development plan for the airport was referred to as a draft plan only to avoid admission of language that the county should buy the Nyenhuis property.

The suit in question wasnt filed until 2015. The only reason it took time to settle the case was that the two sides had vastly different opinions on the value of the land, county spokesman Wert said.

We didnt want to bug them, Annie Nyenhuis said of the county in an interview Thursday. We were happy here.

The couple  Jim is 87 and Annie is 81  raised eight children at their home, which faces north and now looks across the street at a commercial building development where other dairy properties once sat. And more development is on the way.

Weve always been happy, but now were getting closed in, Annie said during an interview a the couples home. Today, you need a bigger dairy to operate, and there is no more land.

Its time for us to move, she said. We have been here, longer than some people.

The couple are both postwar immigrants from Holland who worked their way through the Southern California dairy industry, making their way to Chino and developing their property in the 1960s.

A stipulation filed in August of last year followed a February denial of a county motion for summary judgment and the beginning in April of a deposition of San Bernardino County Airport Director James Jenkins.

The stipulation said the parties had engaged in settlement discussions, and that the Nyenhuis family agreed that the county could acquire the property for public use.

The county agreed to compensate the family for the taking of the property under Californias eminent domain law.

The arbitration under retired San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge John W. Kennedy assigned an independent appraiser to value the Nyenhuis land, which came to $47.3 million, Murphy said.

In addition, the mediator also said the county should pay $480,780 for legal fees and relocation expenses of up to $200,000.

There may be something for the county in the agreement: There are 20 acres on the east side of the property that is outside the no-build zoning and viable for development.

The stipulation says the Nyenhuis family will agree to convey some portion of the property , as identified by the county, directly to a third party.
The actor known for playing the meat-eating, wood-carving, anti-government government worker Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation found himself in Temecula on Thursday, Feb. 23, according to a tweet.

Actor Nick Offerman in a reply to twitter user @JimmyDiResta, tweeted in part, I was in Temecula today looking at an elm trunk.

The picture shows a metal pole that says DiResta  the same name as the twitter user  next to the cut-down elm trunk.

Much like his TV alter ego, Offerman has a love for woodworking. In fact, he even wrote a book, Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop.

The Offerman Woodshop is located in East Los Angeles, which is not an inconceivably long jaunt from Temecula.

The tweet prompted a flurry of responses, some of them from Temecula residents who expressed surprise the actor was in their town.
After five straight bone-dry years, a parade of monster storms have delivered a knockout blow to Californias crippling drought, a new federal report shows.

Things have improved so much that no place in the state is considered in extreme drought, the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows. This is the first time thats happened in three and a half years.

In Southern California, the drought map lists Orange County, Riverside County and the northern half of Los Angeles County in moderate drought status. The southern portion of L.A. County and San Bernardino County were listed as abnormally dry.

There is no extreme drought anywhere in California at this point, said Bill Patzert, climate scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena. Thats positive considering we are coming off the driest five consecutive years in our history for Southern California.

Its even more remarkable, he said, when you consider weve been on a longer dry spell punctuated by brief, wet seasons.

The way Patzert sees it, the drought really began at the turn of the century. We had several dry years, followed by a record-breaking soaker in 2004-05, and another string of dryness broken by a wet 2010-11.

But then all of the sudden we switched back and had five more dry years, he said.

Against that backdrop, its going to take more than a season to refill nearby lakes  ones fed by local rain as opposed to water piped in from miles away  and groundwater basins.

Thats why, said Alex Tardy, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego, parts of the region remain under the influence of drought.

Underscoring that point, storage in the crucial groundwater basin along the Santa Ana River that supplies much of Orange County fell dramatically through the drought. And the basin stood at 22 percent full this time last year, said Eleanor Torres, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Water District.

Torres said the basin has rebounded a little, to approximately 25 percent full, a figure that will be confirmed with hard data in March.

Bottom line: Full recovery is nowhere in sight.

Busting the drought is not as simple as counting snowflakes and raindrops, Patzert said. And before people get over their euphoria, we are only halfway through the rainy season.

February is winding down. But we have March and April ahead, before the reliably long, dry summer sets in.

Forecasters thought we were getting another soaking storm this weekend to keep things going. Thats now in doubt.

Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said forecasts of rain amounts for the Sunday-Monday storm have been downgraded to a half inch to three-quarters of an inch in Los Angeles County.

So the Oscars should be able to survive, he said.

Tardy said a mere quarter inch to a half inch is expected in Orange County and the Inland Empire.

After that, Seto said, we could be dry for two weeks.

So its a little early to have a parade, Patzert said.

Still, this has been a winter to write home about.

Throughout Southern California, rainfall totals are off the charts. Even without another drop of rain, most places will wind up with an average season, Tardy said.

And the Sierra Nevada, that great frozen reservoir that accounts for one-third of Southern Californias water, is threatening to set an all-time snow record, he said.

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area offers a winter wonderland-style snapshot. As of Thursday, the giant resort in the Sierra had recorded 510 inches of snow for the season  half in January alone, said Lauren Burke, a Mammoth spokeswoman.

Burke said the resort record is 668 inches, set in 2010-11.

If this level of snowfall keeps up, well be blasting through that in no time, she said in an email. We will be open until July 4, potentially longer.

Even though it takes more than one winter to break a droughts stranglehold, the impact of this season has exceeded expectations.

The takeaway is that, in one season, weve made significant progress in getting rid of the drought, Tardy said. And everywhere weve improved at least two categories (on the drought index).

We had to have an extraordinarily wet rain and snow year to do that, and were seeing that, he said.

RELATED

After 4 years, more than half of state is out of drought, figures show

The end of Californias drought is much closer after recent rain

Should California call off drought emergency?
The Jurupa Unified School District is among nearly two dozen in the state to earn honors for expanding access to Advanced Placement classes.

The district was one of 22 named to the College Boards Seventh Annual AP District Honor Roll for making the college-level courses available to more students.

Jurupa Unified also increased the percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher on AP exams, which are graded on a scale of 1 to 5. Many colleges and universities award credit to scores of 3 or better.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson included the 22 districts as part of a Feb. 22 news release announcing an increase in the number of public high school graduates taking and doing well on AP exams in high school. The number of Class of 2016 students in California taking an AP exam exceeded 170,000, an increase from about 106,000 in 2006, the release stated.

Jurupa Unified was the only Riverside County district to earn the College Board distinction this year. Barstow Unified received the honor in San Bernardino County.
The Russia Foreign Ministry has launched a new feature on its website to flag news stories it considers to be fake.

The new section of the site, first exhibited on Wednesday, showcases screenshots of five media reports from publications including the New York Times, Bloomberg and NBC News. Stamped across each image is a large, red FAKE imprint with a statement below reading, This article puts forward information that does not correspond to reality. There is no further information or evidence provided to back up such a claim, just a link to the original publishers story.

The Times, Bloomberg and NBC News are not fake news.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, announced the initiative during a nationally televised briefing, The Times reports. "We will publish examples of propaganda hoaxes from various media outlets and give links to sources," she said. "The aim is to demonstrate the main trends in fake news publications about our country and do everything to stop their dissemination." She added that any stories that do not include a Russian reaction or position on a report will be deemed fake, as will any articles that cite unnamed or unverified sources.

Russia has been on the defensive following widespread reporting from Western media outlets about the Kremlins use of cyberattacks to meddle in the U.S. presidential election and circulate fictitious media reports.

The Times, one of the Foreign Ministrys targets on Wednesday, addressed the campaign to discredit its reporting.

"It's a dangerous and troubling situation for governments or individuals to simply assign the label of fake news to a story they don't like, instead of challenging specific facts or offering counter evidence," said Eileen Murphy, a spokesperson. "We stand by our reporting."

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
President Akufo-Addo has assured the investor community that his government is not going to embark on contract termination spree, despite the change of administration.



According Nana Akufo Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is investor-friendly and can assure business owners that any genuine contract entered into with the previous government will not be abrogated.



Be assured that the presence of a new government does not mean the abrogation of genuine contracts entered into by the previous government. You have my support to proceed, Nana Akufo-Addo assured officials of Bollore Transport & Logistics, APM Terminals and Meridian Port Services Ltd  the shareholders of the Tema Port expansion project when the group called on him yesterday.



If we can convince more and more companies like yours to invest in our country, then we can thrive as a nation.



President Akufo-Addo thanked the group for calling on him and stated that the major preoccupation of his government is the creation of a good business climate for businesses to thrive.



He was, thus, pleased that companies like Bollore Transport & Logistics, APM Terminals and Meridian Port Services Ltd. have thought of Ghana as the place to do business and invest.



With the port expansion project having commenced in the last few months of the tenure of the previous government, President Akufo-Addo assured that his government, having convinced itself of its viability and immense benefits of the project for the economy, will not abrogate the contract.



The delegation from Bollore Transport & Logistics, APM Terminals and Meridian Port Services Ltd, the shareholders of the $1.5 billion Tema port expansion project, on Thursday, February 23, 2017, paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo to congratulate him on his election to the high office of President.



The delegation, which was led by Cyrille Bollore, Chairman of Bollore Transport & Logistics, indicated that the shareholders of the project have been buoyed up by the vision and determination of President Akufo-Addo to ensure that the private sector regains its pride of place in Ghanas economic setup.



Mr. Bollore, thus, applauded President Akufo-Addo for taking Ghana into a new era of business development.



He told the President that Bollore Ports, a subsidiary of Bollore Transport & Logistics, is the number one port infrastructure operator in Africa and is also the leading container terminal management company on the continent.



Together with APM Terminals and Meridian Port Services Ltd, he indicated that the financing required to execute the Tema Port Expansion Project had been secured, and the project is currently ongoing.



He noted that the expansion of the Tema port will improve Ghanas trade competiveness, facilitate trade growth and improve revenue mobilisation. The project, he added, will allow Tema Port to accommodate some of the worlds largest container ships, and improve cargo handling services and capacity.



Upon its completion, Cyrille Bollore added that the project will enhance the position of the Tema Port as the leading maritime hub in the region.



Mohammed Samara, CEO of Meridian Port Services, the executing contractors of the project, told the President that the port expansion project falls within the GPHA Master Plan for the development of Tema Port, under the Concession Agreement that was granted in 2004.



In addition to the expansion project, Mohammed Samara indicated that, together with Bollore Transport and Logistics and APM Terminals, a project to upgrade the Accra-Tema Motorway into a six-lane, modern highway along with improved, connecting arterial roads, would be undertaken. This project, he added, will be financed solely with funds from the shareholders.

Source: The New Crusading Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Vals Intel, one of the two companies that lost out on the Bank of Ghana contract for the provision of an Interoperability Switch for Mobile Money and other e-lectronic payments and transfers has conceded that it misunderstood portions of the bidding process as a result of which they might have lost the contract.



Executive Chairman of the company, Mr Kojo Graham told JOY FMs Kojo Yankson on Thursday that they their misunderstanding of the process resulted in the company stating in their bid documents that they will prepare bill for the BOG to pay after the period they planned to operate the switch.



Explaining the companys concerns over the raging interoperability contract on the Super Morning Show, Mr Graham affirmed in the positive to a question posed by the programme host to the effect that You didnt quite understand the technical obligations as spelt out in the tender documents.



The contract for a third party to interoperate the electronic retail payment system was awarded to Sibton Switch who are offering to execute the contract using a self-financing mechanism to raise GHC4.6 billion on their own to build a robust interface intended to ensure efficiency and safety, among numerous other benefits. The company hoped to recoup their investments over 15 years.



Two other companies that lost out of the bid were Vals Intel and Mericom Services Ltd. The two quoted GHC 14m and GHC 4m respectively while the winning firm, Sibton opted to undertake the project raising GHC 4.6billion for it.



Mr Graham told the radio station it was true that all 3 companies have international technical partners including Sibton to execute the project.



He agreed with the assertion that the very highly technical nature of the contract compelled the BOG to opt for Restrictive Tendering.



According to him, his company thought it was possible to recoup investments made within a period between 3 and 5 years and that was why they stated same in their documents to the central bank.



He also explained that all 3 firms were afforded the opportunity to engage extensively with all relevant stakeholders during the bidding process.



The BOGs decision to engage a third party for the operation of a national central switch for interoperability has been lauded by many industry watchers. It is proven elsewhere that Interoperability is the only way to create a true inclusive financial ecosystem and because the results have often delivered exponential growth for all participants. Examples in other places have shown that Interoperability has contributed to market growth in a way that has not been experienced before. The system works in a way that develops better understanding for how the telecommunications companies compete among themselves. Competition lies in quality of service, and agent quality and liquidity are far more significant determinants for success. A Telcos's Mobile Money success is measured by driving value into the system, rather than growing segregated networks. That way also, one will find customer engagement more responsive because it is much easier to position.



It is therefore not true that with the coming into being of the interoperability concept, consumers will pay more. May be a simple demonstration will suffice. So for instance, instead of paying GHC 20 for sending GHC 2,000 as it is currently, the figure will reduce to GHC 17.5; GHC 7.5 for GHC 1,000 instead of GHC 10; GHC 3.50 for GHC 500 instead of GHC 5; GHC 1.75 for GHC 200 instead of GHC 2.00 and GHC 0.75 for GHC 100 instead of GHC 1.00. this is how one stands to gain when the interoperability becomes operational.

Source: Business Desk









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
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.
Renowned Law lecturer, Moses Foh-Amoaning has been told to render an unqualified apology to the Board Chairman of Amnesty International Ghana, Mr. George Aggrey for describing him as a homosexual on a live radio interview.



According to the Integrated Development & Empowerment Centre (IDEC Ghana) - Friends of Amnesty International, the lawyer has no cause to tarnish the image of the Human Right activist, so therefore must apologize with immediate effect.



They described words used by lawyer Foh-Amoaning as unfortunate and regrettable in a statement copied to Peacefmonline.com.



The two resource persons held different views on homosexuality  however, their heated argument led to some personal attacks during the live interview on NEAT FMs morning show 'Ghana Montie'.



below is the full statement:



LAW LECTURER, MOSES FOH-AMOANING MUST APOLOGISE TO MR. GEORGE AGGREY, BOARD CHAIRMAN OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - GHANA AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.



We at Integrated Development & Empowerment Centre (IDEC Ghana) - Friends of Amnesty International, friends of Human Rights and Free Speech condemned the unwarranted attack and insults on Mr. George Aggrey, Board Chairman of Amnesty International - Ghana by Moses Foh-Amoaning  Very Respectable Law Lecturer and a Human Rights Advocate and we ask him respectfully to render an unqualified apology to MR. GEORGE AGGREY and Amnesty in general.



We noted with disappointment the insults and the name calling that characterized discussions on the NEAT FMs morning show hosted by Kwesi Aboagye (23/02/2017) where two good Human Rights Authorities were called as resource persons to comment on a statement made by the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye when addressing some members of the Royal House Chapel on Monday, February 20, 2017, called for the amendment of the countrys laws to completely ban homosexuality and make it illegal.



We thought the platform was offered to explain to the public dispassionately the various perspectives to the rights of homosexuals vis-a-vis the call by The Speaker for a complete ban. Instead, the platform was used to hail insults by Moses Foh-Amoaning. These were some of his statements Mr. Aggrey is a homosexual and lying to Ghanaians. I am putting it to you [Aggrey] that you are practicing gayism. You are a disgrace to your family. How can you admit anal sex is a right, Source: http://people.peacefmonline.com/pages/peacefmonline/king_edward_ambrose/



These statements of Lawyer Foh-Amoaning are very unfortunate and regrettably so and he of all people knows that the 1992 Constitution guaranteed freedom of speech and expression by individuals, groups and institutions. Amnesty International spends millions of dollars protecting the rights of people across the World including homosexual, albinos and other minority groups.



We are One-Family dedicated to the promotion and protection of Human Rights in Ghana and beyond. We can/may disagree on values, principles, definitions of human rights on cultural, moral, legal and on religious grounds but we must remember that respect for each others views is a core value in human rights education and practice.



Human Rights is a challenging topic in Africa but in discussing it, we must endeavor to agree to disagree as intellectuals and not to violate the right of others to free speech. Individuals/groups can express their view on the matter however, it is the Ghanaian people who have the right to determine whether homosexuality should be legalized or not.





....Signed.....

Samuel K. Agbotsey

(M.Phil. Human Rights)

Executive Director.

IDEC Ghana

[email protected]

0204676660/0244761749

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Washman007









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Republic of South Korea has expressed interest in establishing defence and security relations with Ghana.



Mr Woon-Ki Lyeo, the Ambassador of the Republic of South Korea to Ghana, said the move was in line with his governments intention to activate bilateral relations with African countries on defence and security.



The Ambassador made this known, when he met with Mr Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister for Defence at the Square as part of efforts to deepen bilateral relations with Ghana.



The Relations between the two countries date back 40 years ago with Ghana benefiting from Korean assistance in a number of ways including Military equipment and training support.



These relations have yielded positive results on both side but this is the first time both were set to start a new relationship in defence and security cooperation.



Mr Woon-Ki, therefore, entreated the new Minister to indicate areas of interest that would inform the new relations.



He also complained to the Minister of the inability of a Korean Construction Company to carry out building project in the country due to some anomaly in the agreement and appealed to him to intervene to enable the company undertake the project.



The Ambassador commended government and the people of Ghana for a peaceful election in December, last year.



Mr Nitiwul acknowledged the long-standing cordial relations between the two countries, indicating that Ghana appreciated the relations with the Republic of Korea and especially Korean government support.



He therefore suggested that since both countries had been friends for 40 years, it was appropriate for them to cement those relations with joint commemorative monumental project.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Former President John Dramani Mahama has refuted claims that he is one of the wealthiest men in Ghana and is worth over 900 million dollars.



The former President talking on Power 98.7 FM in South Africa stated that he does not have even 2 million dollars in his accounts and wonders why people deliberately misinform the public over how much he is worth.



Never, [I am] nowhere near [that] and in Ghana there is an asset declaration commission and I have declared my assets.



The former NDC leader added I am absolutely nowhere near that [amount].



According to the former President, claims that he enriched himself during his presidency are frivolous and deliberately put out by his opponents for political expediency.



He added that most people also confuse him with his brother  Ibrahim Mahama  who is a wealthy businessman in Ghana.



I am not anywhere near even 2 million dollars to talk about 900 million dollars.



Often my brother [Mahama] is confused with me, my brother is a businessman, he has his assets and I have no interest in his business and I dont own shares in his business.



I am a farmer, I have published a book and I have earned royalties from my book and I earn from my farm and that is it, I live a very modest life, the former President who ruled Ghana from 2012 to 2016 said.



The former president is in South Africa to be decorated with the African Political Leader of the Year Award in South Africa today, February 23, 2017.



The African Leadership Magazine is awarding him for his contribution towards deepening and enriching Ghanas democracy and his towering status as one of Africas best.

Source: starrfmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduoms decision to serve Ghana under former President Kufour didnt sit well with most members of the Convention Peoples Party as they saw the move as stab in the back.



According to the former Energy and Public Sector Reform minister, when he accepted to serve under the erstwhile NPP administration, some people claimed he had crossed carpet and bitterly insulted him.



Dr. Nduoms decision to visit the matter was borne out of the similar vilification Hon. E.T Mensah recently suffered from some NDC executives of the Ningo-Prampram constituency because he had opted to join the race to become a representative of the Greater Accra Region on the Council of State.



Hon. E.T. Mensah a former NDC Member of Parliament for the Ningo-Prampram Constituency, was among those contesting to represent the Greater Accra Region on the Council of State.



But contrary to his personal decision to contest, Hon. E.T. Mensah backed off from the contest.



In a letter dated 16th February, 2017 the former MP stated that I wish to inform you of my decision to redraw from the Council of State elections for the Greater-Accra Region



And speaking on ATVs Ghana Great and Strong show, Dr. Nduom noted that I know this issue and I have felt this issue. He explained that Many of you remember I was a member of the CPP and was invited to serve under former President Kufuor led... When I did that they said he has gone to join the NPP.



Dr. Nduom advised that rather than the insults, people should understand that no matter our political colour, we can all help when it comes to nation building.

Source: ATV









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
They might be digging their heels in against a Government-mandated order to rebuild it, but the rogue developers who allegedly levelled a historic Melbourne pub are now facing the wrath of the law.

The men who owned the historic Corkman Irish Pub in the city-fringe suburb of Carlton have now been handed a raft of criminal charges stemming from the highly protested and severely illegal demolition of the 159-year-old pub last October.

The Melbourne City Council and the Victorian Building Authority today lodged 16 charges against Stefce Kutlesovski, Raman Shaqiri, and the holding company for the property 160 Leicester Pty Ltd.

The charges revolve primarily around the unauthorised demolition work, and the defiance of a stop-work order, and carry a combined maximum penalty of around $2 million in fines.

The pub was under a heritage overlay, and no permits for its demolition were issued when workers moved in swiftly to pull the entire building down. Rubble from the site, which included asbestos, was found dumped at a site also owned by Kutlesovski and Shaqiri. Preliminary plans to construct a 12-storey apartment block on the site were also discovered.

The list of charges, handed down to both individuals and the company as a whole, read as follows:

Kutlesovski is facing charges of

Demolition without a building permit .

. Holding himself out as a demolisher when he was not registered .

. Failing to comply with an order to stop building work .

. Demolishing a building in contravention of the planning legislation .

. Carrying out demolition without 48-hours written notice to the Melbourne City Council .

. Carrying out building work (demolition) outside permissible hours.

Shaqiri is facing charges of

Permitting the demolition of a building without a building permit .

. Failing to comply with an order to stop building work .

. Failing to exercise due diligence to prevent the demolition of a building without the requisite consent required under planning legislation .

. Carrying out demolition without 48-hours written notice to the Melbourne City Council .

. Carrying out building work (demolition) outside permissible hours.

Their company, 160 Leicester Pty Ltd, is facing charges of

Permitting the demolition of a building without a building permit .

. Failing to comply with an order to stop building work .

. Demolishing a building in contravention of the planning legislation .

. Carrying out demolition without 48-hours written notice to the Melbourne City Council .

. Carrying out building work (demolition) outside permissible hours.

Or, in other words, a rap sheet as long yr bloody arm.

The men-in-question have yet to comment on the charges.

Meanwhile, the pub they tore down remains an empty building site. An on-going VCAT hearing is set to explore the legality of a rebuild order issued by the Victorian Government.

Dont tear down pubs, kids.

Source: The Age.

Photo: Melbourne Heritage Action/Instagram.
After a light plane crashed into Melbournes DFO only days ago, theres now reports that a small jet has crash landed at Bankstown Airport in Sydney.

The plane is reportedly an ex-military plane (a MiG) that had to make an emergency landing, and crashed upon landing on one of the runways of the airport. Some reports state that the plane experienced a fuel spillage.

All passengers have been evacuated and are thankfully safe.

Bankstown Aiport: An ex-military jet has made a crash landing on a runway. @FRNSW are on the scene. #7News https://t.co/9HUK9EjmIU  7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) February 24, 2017

While theres little information confirmed at this stage, there have been a handful of reports posted to social media from the scene:

BANKSTOWN AIRPORT | #FRNSW on scene. Plane crashed landed on runway. All passengers out. Fuel spillage.  Fire & Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) February 24, 2017

BANKSTOWN | Emergency services responding to #bankstown airport to reports a plane has crashed. Reports 2 ppl on board. Unknown injuries.  BREAKING NEWS NSW (@BreakingNewsNSW) February 24, 2017

Scene from the ground at Bankstown Airport. Ex-military plane emergency landing. @7NewsSydney cameraman on scene. pic.twitter.com/gYeHwV7A1n  Jason Morrison (@JasonMorrisonAU) February 24, 2017

We will update this story as more information arises.

Source: 7 News / Twitter.

Photo: Twitter / @JasonMorrisonAU.
Sweet, humble Vegemite. National spread of Australia. Indispensable curer of hangovers. Surprisingly not awful in chicken marinades.

Of all the versatile uses the beloved and quintessentially Australian spread of congealed brewers muck has, masking the smell of many drugs is apparently not one of them.

A French national is now facing deportation after being caught with a decent amount of various drugs at Melbournes Electric Parade festival last Saturday.

Police stopped 22-year-old Romain Franche and found around $3,000 worth of MDMA, acid, ketamine, ecstasy, hashish, and cocaine in his possession. The kicker? He smeared precious Vegemite over the bag in an attempt to sneak the stuff past sniffer dogs.

Yknow, because no dog ever has copped a whiff of the salty spread and gone in for a closer look. Hasnt happened. Not once.

Franche, who is living in Melbourne to attend business school whilst also working as both a gondolier on the Yarra River and a French vintage furniture salesman because sometimes stereotypes follow their own instructions, was charged with trafficking and had his case heard yesterday.

Franches defence asserted that this was both his first offence, and that he was not carrying a particularly large amount of drugs  although the court noted that he was found in possession of 62 acid tabs which a judge labelled a little bit alarming.

The court convicted Franche and fined him $4,000. As a result, the status of his visa is under question.

Vegemite: Good on toast. Not so good on your Jerry Springers.

Source: Yahoo!7News.

Photo: Graham Denholm/Getty.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture oversees restaurant inspections in the state. Inspection reports are "snapshots" of the day and time the inspections took place. In many cases, violations are corrected on site prior to the inspector leaving.

The following restaurants and other establishments in Lebanon County that handle food were inspected during the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 4 and were recorded as of Feb. 15.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

Feb. 2

AMVETS POST #293 HOME ASSOCIATION INC.

2074 ROUTE 72 N., LEBANON

Regular inspection

Commercially processed refrigerated, ready-to-eat, time/temperature-control-for-safety food -- non-exempt cheese and deli ham -- and held more than 24 hours not being marked with the date it was opened.

AUNTIE ANNE'S AT LEBANON VALLEY MALL

2231 LEBANON VALLEY MALL, ROUTE 422, LEBANON

Regular inspection

Ice machine not cleaned at a frequency to prevent the presence of mold.

GARY'S SPORTS BAR & GRILL

414 N. SEVENTH, LEBANON

Regular inspection

In bar area, unpackaged food/beverages stored or displayed in direct contact with ice; ice machine had black slime/ mold on drop tray and was not clean to sight and touch; non-food contact surfaces not cleaned at a frequency to preclude accumulation of dirt, soil -- glass in walk-in cooler floor; floor/wall/ceiling in the kitchen area -- ceiling tiles missing; walk-in cooler area of the food facility extremely dirty, dusty and in need of cleaning.

SILVER DOLLAR GRILLE

46 N. NINTH ST., LEBANON

Regular inspection

Ice scoop stored in ice machine; standing water/wet and/or unclean in beer-tap cooler area of the facility; condensate drip trays/lines in the beer cooler refrigeration cases not sloped to allow for proper drainage of condensation; no sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration; food-contact surface had mold and slim on it; rear door of facility has 1/2 gaps on bottom door, missing or broken door seal.

Feb. 1

DRAGON GARDEN RESTAURANT

535 CUMBERLAND ST., LEBANON

Regular inspection

Uncovered food stored under dirty ventilation ducts in walk-in cooler and subject to potential contamination; grease trap installed as required under the local/state plumbing codes but not maintained to Local Fats, Oils, Grease Program; toilet rooms do not have a self-closing door; hand-wash sink in the restroom area does not have single-use towels, continuous towels or air-drying device.

EDWIN MINI MARKET INC.

200 LEHMAN ST., LEBANON

Regular inspection

Grease trap installed as required under the local/state plumbing codes but not maintaining to local Fats, Oil, Grease Program.

WEIS MARKETS #094

901 E. MAIN ST., PALMYRA

Regular inspection

Deli turkey and ham date-marked but beyond the seven-day use or sell-by date and requires discarding; Bakery-- floors and doughnut fryer not cleaned at a frequency to preclude accumulation of dirt and soil; dust accumulation on the fan guards/cooling units inside the dairy cooler and meat-cutting room; trash and debris on the ground around the outside dumpster area; standing water on the floor by the hand-wash sink and sanitizer-dispenser unit; mops stored in buckets and not hung to air dry.

Jan. 31

COUNTRY FARE RESTAURANT

498 E. LINCOLN AVE., MYERSTOWN

Regular inspection

Food employee touching toast with bare hands; in-use knives and/or cleavers stored between table edges or between tables; exposed food preparation in grill area under dirty ventilation ducts; storage equipment in prep areas had an accumulation of dust, dirt, food residue, debris on non-food-contact surfaces; litter and debris under and around equipment.

ROY'S PIZZA

443 MOUNTVILLE ROAD, UNIT C, LEBANON

Regular inspection

No sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration; loose door gaskets on the Raetone refrigerator.

Jan. 30

JONESTOWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

135 S. KING ST., JONESTOWN

Regular inspection

Delivery door -- light from the outside is showing through inside of the building, not sealed tight.

LICKDALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

40 FISHER AVE., P.O. BOX 1324, JONESTOWN

Regular inspection

Irreversible-registering temperature indicator provided for measuring the utensil surface temperature not working properly.

Establishments with no violations.

Feb. 3

PANERA BREAD #1956

1541 QUENTIN ROAD, LEBANON

Opening inspection

Feb. 2

A & J PIZZA

2134 W. MAPLE ST., LEBANON

Regular inspection

COLLINS GROCERY

1525 MOUNT WILSON ROAD, LEBANON

Regular inspection

RITE AID #11020

415 S. NINTH ST., LEBANON

Regular inspection

Feb.1

ST. GERTRUDES

304 E. LEHMAN ST., LEBANON

Regular inspection

TRATTORIA FRATELLI

502 E. LEHMAN ST., LEBANON

Regular inspection

Jan. 31

FREDERICKSBURG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

119 E. WALNUT ST., FREDERICKSBURG

Regular inspection

NORTHERN LEBANON HIGH SCHOOL

345 SCHOOL DRIVE, FREDERICKSBURG

Regular inspection

NORTHERN LEBANON MIDDLE SCHOOL

345 SCHOOL DRIVE, FREDERICKSBURG

Regular inspection

SMITH'S CANDIES

114 W. LINCOLN AVE., MYERSTOWN

Regular inspection

Jan. 30

EAST HANOVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

1098 SCHOOL HOUSE ROAD, ANNVILLE

Regular inspection

J & T PRESTIGIOUS PRODUCTS (MFF TYPE 1)

215 ROSE LANE, JONESTOWN

Regular inspection
Sean Spicer

Sean Spicer leads a White House press briefing earlier this month.

(Associated Press photo)

Without an explanation, the White House on Friday blocked several news organizations from a press briefing.

The move came hours after President Donald Trump spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference and again called the press "the enemy of the people."

Media outlets excluded Friday are award-winning organizations known for speaking truth to power and producing thorough, investigative work.

Some of the media outlets that were allowed in the briefing are conservative news organizations that frequently agree with Trump, but other major news organizations were also permitted.

Friday's press ban drew strong reactions from the White House Correspondents Association and media leaders.

Who was kicked out?

CNN

Politico

BBC News

The New York Times

Los Angeles Times

JUST IN: White House blocks news organizations from press briefing https://t.co/QBjbBMvIFh https://t.co/NfsWApEri8  CNN (@CNN) February 24, 2017

Who was allowed in?

Breitbart News

The Washington Times

Fox News

One America News Network

ABC

CBS

The Wall Street Journal

Bloomberg

Who boycotted the briefing in protest?

Associated Press

Time

"The (White House Correspondents' Association) board is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House," association President Jeff Mason said in a statement. "We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff."

Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, noted that such an exclusion is unprecedented.

"Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties," Baquet said. "We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."
West Creek Elementary

More than 100 angry East Pennsboro Area School District residents attended a meeting on Thursday to voice opposition to the proposed closure of West Creek Hills Elementary.

(Eric Veronikis)

More than 100 East Pennsboro Area School District residents on Thursday evening overwhelmingly voiced strong opposition to a proposed plan to close an elementary school.

The meeting on the proposed closure of West Creek Hills Elementary School drew little support for the plan from the audience.

The proposed closure of West Creek Hills, located at 400 Erford Road, is part of a plan to consolidate all district schools to one campus. The school board will vote at its next meeting on the nearly $51 million plan.

Thursday's meeting was the second in a series of community meetings on the proposal, which is based on a 2016 facilities study that examined the needs of district buildings, enrollment trends and educational program needs.

Architectural firm Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates presented seven options and the school board is considering an option that would involve closing West Creek Hills Elementary and consolidating all district buildings on a single campus.

Orange signs urging people to "Save West Creek school" have sprouted in spots in the district following a January meeting to hear comment on the proposal.

The architectural firm's plan calls for the creation of a new building that would house grades 3-5 and administration offices in an intermediate school. It also calls for renovations at the middle school.

Students in kindergarten through second grade would attend East Pennsboro Elementary School, with grades 6-8 attending the middle school, and ninth through 12th grades at the high school.

Last year, the school board and administrators started to look at the district's facilities to find out "what do we need? Where are we at? What needs renovated?" said Superintendent Jay Burkhart.

Modular classrooms at West Creek Hills are more than 20 years old, and the school has an aging HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems, as does the middle school, Burkhart said. The administration building already doesn't afford the school board enough meeting space. And the township is requiring the district to remove the old modular units at the administration building and West Creek Hills, he said.

The plan the district could approve at the board's next meetings will address infrastructure and educational program needs without increasing enrollment at schools, he said.

"Every school district is facing financial pressures. We have to find ways to offer this program the best we can and as efficiently we can for our kids," Burkhart said.

The crowd disagreed, some even shouted out "hogwash."

Some questioned why the district wouldn't use the $51 million it plans to borrow to improve its existing schools, rather than build one new one and improve another.

Chase Slenker, a 10th grade student at East Pennsboro High School, questioned why the district would want to exhaust nearly its entire credit line on two projects when it could spread the money across the entire district.

"The board needs to fix all the problems in all four buildings. A shiny new school doesn't look so beautiful when it's surrounded by others in disrepair," he said to a standing ovation.

East Pennsboro Township resident Mike Speck, whose children attended West Creek Hills, said a past renovation of the school that cost the district millions of dollars, will be wasted if the school is closed.

"It just knocks me silly why you want to do this," he said. "You want to spend money, spend money, spend money. That's not the way it is anymore. People live on a fixed income."

"How you going to pay for it? We're going to pay for it," Speck added. "I see it as a waste to do away with that school."

IF YOU GO:

The school board's next meeting, when it plans to vote on the plan, is scheduled take place in the district administration building, 890 Valley St., East Pennsboro Township, at 7:30 p.m. on March 9.
Eric Frein.

Submitted photo

Accused state police shooter heading to trial

Hes accused of ambushing and shooting two state troopers  one of them fatally  and leading authorities on a nearly two-month-long manhunt through the wilderness of the Pocono region.

And now, more than two years after his capture, Eric Matthew Frein, 33, is going to trial.

Jury selection is set to start March 9 in Chester County, followed by trial on April 3 in Pike County.

Heres a look back at the case, which started with a shooting at the Blooming Grove state police barracks in September 2014.

Don't Edit

Trooper Alex T. Douglass and Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II.

)^

An ambush shooting

It was around 11 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2014. A Friday night in rural Blooming Grove, a township of roughly 4,000 people 35 miles from Scranton and nestled in the Poconos.

The state police barracks there is in a wooded area, surrounded by state game lands.

And it's at that remote barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania that police say a gunman ambushed two troopers.

The gunman shot Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II and Trooper Alex T. Douglass.

Dickson was killed, Douglass was critically injured, and the unknown gunman escaped.

Don't Edit

'You are a coward'

State police quickly got on the case, trying to figure out who killed one of their own.

The day after the shooting, State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens released some details, saying the gunman used a rifle, may have had military or law enforcement training, and may have had issues with the government.

"You are a coward" who "did it from a place of hiding and ran," Bivens said at the time, as if addressing the killer. "I want you to know that troopers are working around the clock to bring you to justice. The act that you committed may have been meant as an act of intimidation. It has not intimidated us. The Pennsylvania State Police is committed to bringing you to justice. We will find you and we will seek justice when we do."

Don't Edit

A suspect named

Two days after that press conference, an abandoned SUV found in a swamp became the big break investigators were looking for.

Police say Eric Frein was the heavily-armed survivalist who perpetrated the ambush, kicking off a massive manhunt through miles and miles of thick wilderness.

And the fact that he was a survivalist would make him hard to find, as the coming weeks would show.

Don't Edit

Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

Saying 'goodbye'

As the hunt for Frein  now on the FBIs 10 Most Wanted List  ensued, thousands of law enforcement officers gathered in Scranton for a somber occasion.

Dicksons funeral.

Remember him for the wonderful person he was, The Rev. Thomas M. Muldowney told the gathered crowd. A proud husband and father, faithful friend and dedicated trooper.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

The manhunt

The manhunt went on for more than 40 days. Freins photo appeared on billboards throughout the region.

Schools closed. Citizens were on high alert. Heavily-armed and camouflaged police, troopers, FBI agents and U.S. Marshals searched the woods, finding the occasional clue.

Here is a timeline and map of some of the events in the ensuing weeks.





Don't Edit

Weapons found

About a week into the manhunt, police found AK-47 style weapon, magazines and ammunition potentially concealed by Frein for later use had been recovered by authorities. Police also said there have been numerous possible Frein sightings as hundreds of tips came in.

Don't Edit

More evidence found

As the manhunt continued, and residents' lives continued to be disrupted, authorities said the search area for Frein was narrowing. Police found empty packs of Serbian-branded cigarettes and soiled diapers they say may have been left by Frein.

State police say they also found a journal, written by Frein, that describes the ambush in which he fired two shots, watched his victim fall "still and quiet," then shot at a second trooper.

Don't Edit

Steve Marroni | smarroni@pennlive.com

Pipe bombs and trip wires

About two weeks into the search, state troopers found two functional pipe bombs. The bombs were not deployed but could have been set off by either a trip wire or fuse. During the conference, as if addressing Frein, Bivens said: "You are clearly stressed. You are making significant mistakes."

Don't Edit

Sightings reported, no results

Numerous Frein sightings came in over the next 40-plus days, yielding no results.

A woman on a walk may have seen Frein covered in mud and carrying a rifle.

A local law enforcement officer reported seeing Frein near the Swiftwater Post Office in the Pocono Mountains, which is located near Pocono Mountain East High School.

A search for Frein in Barrett Township didn't yield any results. A resident there had contacted authorities and said he observed what looked to be a "dark silhouette of a man in the woods."

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Frein captured

Then, on Oct. 30, 2014  a month and a half after the shooting  police found him.

Police say Frein was unarmed and caught by surprise when U.S. Marshals spotted him in the middle of an open field at a shuttered airport.

He did not put up a fight as they took him into custody.

Don't Edit

Seeking the death penalty

Frein was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against him, which include first-degree murder and murder of a law enforcement officer of the first degree.

Pike County District Attorney Raymond Tonkin (pictured) is seeking the death penalty.

Don't Edit

Frein's statements

Though Frein was captured, the story is far from over.

His arrest set off more than two years of legal battles in the lead up to trial.

Both District Attorney Tonkin and Freins attorneys, William Ruzzo and Michael Weinstein, made numerous motions that had to be worked out before a judge.

One of the bigger fights early on was over whether or not recorded statements Frein made to the police after his arrest could be played for the jury.

A ruling will likely come at the time of trial.

Don't Edit

'What county is Honolulu?'

The attorneys also clashed over where the trial should be held.

Defense attorney Weinstein argued that the media coverage of the case could make finding an impartial jury difficult.

But where can you find a jury that hasnt heard about Eric Frein?

What county is Honolulu? he joked.

They ended up agreeing to keep the trial in Pike County but will bring in a jury from Chester County.

Don't Edit

Jury selections in March, trial starts in April

Jury selection began March 9 in Chester County.

Freins trial is slated to start April 3 in Pike County.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

More stories on the Eric Frein case

For more stories on the Eric Frein case:

A timeline and map of the manhunt.

Cpl. Bryon Dickson's funeral.

Wounded trooper speaks out.

40-plus-day manhunt ends with Frein's capture.

Where can you find a jury that hasn't heard about Eric Frein?
FILE IGMR P3

Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation

(Provided photo)

Fort Indiantown Gap has begun its spring prescribed burn season to reduce the risk of wildfire at the Lebanon County military installation.

The burns will be conducted on about 2,353 acres as conditions permit February 22 through May 5 between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., according to a news release. Local residents may notice smoke originating from or in the vicinity of the installation while burns are being conducted.

Announcements of prescribed burns are posted on the day of the burn on the Fort Indiantown Gap Facebook page.

A prescribed burn is a commonly used forestry management technique that reduces the amount of combustible material naturally existing in the wilderness. It is performed only when conditions such as humidity, wind and temperature are ideal for managing fires. Prescribed burns are not conducted unless all required conditions are met.

Fort Indiantown Gap is the only live-fire, maneuver military training facility in Pennsylvania. It serves as headquarters to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and Pennsylvania National Guard and offers more than 17,000 acres and 140 training areas and facilities for year-round training. The installation balances one of the region's most ecologically diverse areas with a military mission that annually supports 19,000 Pennsylvania National Guard personnel and more than 130,000 additional personnel from other branches of service, multinational partners and interagency partners at the federal, state and local level.

For more information, visit the Fort Indiantown Gap website or on Facebook.

Individuals may also call the installation's community information line at 717-861-2007 to hear a recorded message with dates and times of community activities and training events.
Update: Oscar Hernandez had been deported in 2013

A high-speed police chase in Centre County ended in a four-vehicle crash Friday morning and the rescue of a 6-year-old girl who was the focus of an Amber Alert after being abducted by her murder-suspect father.



Two state troopers, 39-year-old homicide suspect Oscar Hernandez and his daughter, Aylin Sofia, were injured in the collision on Interstate 99 that ended a criminal odyssey that began in Connecticut.





Oscar and Aylin Hernandez

Authorities said the Amber Alert was issued after Hernandez fled with his daughter after a double stabbing early Friday in Bridgeport, Conn., that killed the girl's mother and seriously injured another woman.



Agencies in several states, along with the FBI, were looking for the child when a trooper out of the state police Phillipsburg barracks spotted Hernandez's 2017 Hyundai Sonata on I-99 at 11 a.m.



Police said Hernandez refused the trooper's orders to pull over and a chase involved that drew in other state police cruisers. Hernandez was going at a "high rate of speed" when he slammed into a tractor-trailer.



A police cruiser crashed into the back of Hernandez's car and another cruiser rear-ended the other police car. Hernandez was arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment. The girl sustained only minor injuries, as did the troopers in the wrecked cruisers.



Police said I-99 northbound has been closed to traffic near the scene in Benner Township and traffic is being rerouted.





Hernandez is facing numerous charges, including fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person and arrest prior to requisition.

His daughter was released to Children and Youth Services, which is in the process of returning her to Connecticut, police said.

This story was updated to include additional information.
Chad Richard Howell

Authorities have charged Chad Richard Howell with multiple counts of child pornography.

(York County Prison)

A York County police officer has been charged with multiple counts of child pornography.

Citing documents from the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, local TV news outlet ABC27 and CBS21, were Thursday evening reporting that Chad Richard Howell, an officer with the West Manchester Township Police Department, has been charged with 50 felony counts of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility.

Law enforcement agents approached Howell early Thursday morning as he was getting off duty at the West Manchester Township Police Department, according to the reports.

Citing documents from the state AG's office, Howell confirmed to arresting agents the usernames he used for profiles on Pinterest, which were linked to child pornography activity. Howell told agents that one of those usernames, "howellycpd," was a nod to his former employer, the York City Police Department.

Pinterest reportedly alerted law enforcement that Howell's accounts were used to upload explicit images of minors last year. The documents indicate that his account also uploaded images of child pornography in 2013.

Agents from the AG's office found about 50 images of apparent child pornography on Howell's cellphone. Howell consented to a search of his cell phone and laptop.

Howell, 36, was arraigned and taken to York County Prison. He did not post $25,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. on April 24 at District Judge Keith Albright's office.
Swedes should take paid sex breaks from work, says one politician in northern Sweden.

Erik Muskos, of the city council of Overtornea, said he submitted a proposal Monday should take a one-hour paid break from work to go home and have sex with their partners, according to The Local, an English-language newspaper in Sweden.

Muskos told fellow council members his plan could improve employee morale, boost the local population and would be a great form of exercise, The New York Times reported.

According to the Times, Muskos suggested that local municipal employees could use an hour of the workweek already allotted for fitness.

The Associated Press, which referred to that hour as a paid lunch break, said he was proposing to add sex to the list of acceptable activities for that hour. The list includes going to the gym, eating and getting a massage, AP reported.

"There are studies that show sex is healthy," Muskos, 42, told the AFP news agency. He said the proposal is aimed at bettering people's relationships.

Overtornea is a town of about 4,500 people on the Arctic Circle. It has about 550 employees, according to AP.
Penn State Old Main

Penn State's Old Main

( JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News, file)

The state Department of Health is working with Pennsylvania State University to investigate confirmed cases of mumps at the State College campus, Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy said Friday.

The department is also working with University Health Services to investigate additional potential cases. No further information regarding the cases will be released due to confidentiality reasons, she said in a news release.

"In light of these confirmed mumps cases, and with spring break fast approaching, it is very important for PSU students to avoid sharing food and drinks with others and to monitor their overall health," Murphy said in the release. "Students who have been diagnosed with mumps or are experiencing symptoms of the virus should check with PSU Health Services before returning to the State College campus.

"All PSU students and visitors should also take steps to make sure their vaccinations are up to date, as that is the best way to prevent getting the mumps virus," Murphy said. "The Wolf Administration is committed to protecting the health of Pennsylvanians, and reminds individuals of all ages of the importance of getting recommended vaccinations."

Mumps is characterized by swelling of the glands just below or in front of the ear/jaw. Individuals may not experience symptoms at all, and for those who do show symptoms, they usually occur about two weeks after being initially infected.

Symptoms of mumps include:

Swelling and tenderness of one or both salivary glands, usually the parotid glands located just below the front of the ear/jaw

Fever;Headache

Muscle aches

Tiredness

Loss of appetite

Isolation is of critical importance in preventing the spread of mumps, the health department notes. Anyone with a confirmed mumps infection, individuals awaiting test results or close contacts of anyone with mumps who has not been previously vaccinated should remain isolated for a recommended period of time as directed by the health department and health care professionals.

Individuals who think they may have the mumps should immediately call their health care provider or Penn State's University Health Services for instructions.

For more information, visit the Department of Health website or follow the department on Facebook and Twitter.
barbara-hafer-432f178d14a9c38a.jpg

Barbara Hafer

Saying the case should be left for a jury to decide, a federal judge on Friday refused to dismiss an indictment charging former Pennsylvania Treasurer Barbara Hafer with lying to the FBI and IRS amid a corruption probe.



Simultaneously, the same judge rejected a bid by Coatesville businessman Richard W. Ireland to kill separate charges that he tried to bribe former state Treasurer Rob McCord.



The ruling in Hafer's case by U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III keeps that case on track for a trial in June.



Jones' denial of her dismissal motion comes seven months after federal investigators charged the 72-year-old Republican-turned-Democrat from Indiana. Hafer served as state treasurer from 1997 to 2005 and also was a candidate for governor.



The charges against her relate to a private consulting firm, Hafer & Associates, that she formed after leaving office. Investigators claim an unnamed businessman - widely believed to be Ireland - channeled $500,000 to her firm.



Yet when agents from the FBI and IRS questioned Hafer in May of last year she stated that the unnamed businessman didn't help her start the firm and denied getting any of that $500,000, investigators said. They claim both statements were untrue.

Hafer's lawyer has insisted the charges are based on nothing more than Hafer's lapses in memory.

In seeking dismissal of the indictment, Hafer claimed her statements to the FBI and IRS agents were not false "as a matter of law," Jones noted. He noted that Hafer also contended that investigators have no proof that she "knew of the unlawfulness of her statements when (they were) made."



Jones' response to that was, "Whether these statements were untrue is not a matter of law, but a matter of fact to be decided by the jury."



Even though the $500,000 went to Hafer & Associates rather than directly to Hafer, "a jury could still reasonably find that she was intentionally deceptive and that it was literally false to state that she was not paid money...because she received a portion through her interest in the company," Jones wrote.



As for Ireland's case, Jones rejected Ireland's argument that investigators failed to show he actually bribed McCord by channeling money to McCord's election campaign. Prosecutors claim Ireland intended for McCord, who pleaded guilty to federal extortion counts in 2015, to award asset management contracts to companies with which Ireland was affiliated.



Jones also found that an alleged offer by Ireland to put McCord on his payroll after McCord left office could be seen by a jury to constitute an illegal kickback under federal law.



While Ireland is free to make his arguments at trial, they "fail as a mechanism to escape his day in court," the judge wrote.



After dismissing Ireland's plea, Jones ordered his trial to begin on March 9.



Whatever happened to former state Treasurer Rob McCord? Here's an update, courtesy of Philly.com
Col. Tyree Blocker regularly gets letters from borough managers and township supervisors informing him that their municipalities are dropping their local police service.

The implication, of course, is that the state police will take over.

"We incorporate that municipality into our troop's patrol coverage area," the state police commissioner said Thursday, at a Senate budget hearing. "I, in turn, forward a letter back to the local official indicating the date when this will occur."

State Police Commissioner Tyree Blocker.

From that moment on, any calls for service in that municipality will fall to the state police. The agency doesn't get any additional money to help with that new responsibility, Blocker said, and its complement of state troopers doesn't grow to accommodate the new demand.

"We are challenged consistently to do more with less as an agency," he said. "We can't afford to throw our hands up and say we can't do something."

But every new responsibility comes with a cost.

Blocker said providing services to municipalities without any local police force--part-time or otherwise--costs $234 per person. That figure, he said, doesn't include ancillary costs like helicopter flights or lab services that may be needed for specific incidents.

For comparison, Gov. Tom Wolf's budget proposal calls for a $25-per-capita fee municipalities that rely solely on the state police would start to pay in the next fiscal year. Based on data collected in 2014 by the Department of Community & Economic Development, municipalities with their own local police force reported costs of $155 per person, on average.

Wolf's proposal dominated much of Thursday's Senate Appropriations Committee more than 2-hour-long hearing as lawmakers questioned Blocker about how his agency responds to increasing demands from municipalities.

The $25 fee would raise more than $63 million to help fund the state police, which currently faces down a staffing shortfall. Wolf has committed to funding 4,500 troopers versus the agency's authorized complement of 4,719.

For years, the state relied increasingly on the Motor License Fund to keep the agency running. That's problematic, of course, because that fund was originally intended to help pay for necessary upgrades to roads and bridges.

The plan to wean the state off that fund to cover the state police while shifting more of the cost onto municipalities that rely solely on the state police has stirred concern from those towns and from lawmakers.

Much of the debate straddles the urban-rural divide that underpins many key issues in the statehouse. Rural communities, and their lawmakers, point to the tax dollars that already go to the state police and to a perception that they currently receive little state police coverage. More urban areas, and their lawmakers, say they're footing the bill for communities that shuttered police departments (or never had them) to save money.

"I've been meeting with the municipalities since the governor's address," said Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne County. "The question came up: How often do the state police back up the local police forces and vice versa?"

A similar desire for data on current calls for service was reiterated by Sen. Scott Martin, R-Lancaster County: "Truly, that's where the answer in this lies."

But, at least so far, that data remains elusive. PennLive hasn't yet been able to obtain information about calls for service in municipalities.

For one, Blocker said, it would be difficult to determine how much resources were expended in areas with full-time and part-time state police coverage.

"Trying to drill down from that . . . would be very challenging," he said, at the hearing.

Other lawmakers raised questions about the $25 fee and its applicability to small towns for whom several thousand dollars would reflect a major new tax burden.

Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks County, said her proposal would exempt communities with fewer than 5,000 residents. It would also leave the task of determining the fee to the state police.

She was, however, sympathetic toward the state police's position.

"You're making the best of what you've got," she said.

Sen. Bob Mensch, R-Montgomery County, said he worries that the $25 fee would encourage municipalities that are currently paying several hundred dollars per person for their departments to drop local policing.

"I don't think it's the proper approach," he said. "It looks like we backed into $63 million and we arrived at a $25-a-head number. It's admirable that people are trying but I don't see that it's a workable proposal."

Allegheny County Republican Sen. Randy Vulakovich, however, pointed out that the current incentive of no-cost policing is even greater for municipalities looking to cut costs.

For its part, Blocker said the state police had no input with respect to Wolf's $25 figure but he added: "I have full faith and confidence in Gov. Wolf and his staff to work with the Legislature in trying to address that issue."

Another issue that emerged at Thursday's hearing is that of the state police's current radio system.

The Legislature first approved spending $179 million in 1996 to develop a new statewide, 800-megahertz public safety radio system. In the two decades since, costs neared $1 billion due to various upgrades designed to fix a number of problems with the system.

As Blocker noted, Pennsylvania's mountainous terrain means that communications are disrupted in certain areas of the state. For that reason, troopers carry back-up VHF radios.

In October, the state launched a pilot program with Motorola to test a new P25 land mobile radio system that could overcome those signal issues and also allow the system to be compatible with other law enforcement agencies.

That system, at a cost of $44.5 million, is expected to be fully operational in 2021.

The current state police administration--which has been in place since 2015--hasn't tried to recoup any costs from the contract to build the old system, said Lt. Col. Stephen Bucar, a deputy commissioner who's overseen the new radio system.

"My role as project manager has been not necessary to account for the faults of the past but to manage the project moving forward," Bucar said. "That, quite honestly, is something that probably needs to be addressed."

A number of lawmakers encouraged an independent review of the situation with the Office of Attorney General and other authorities--an offer that Blocker said he would be open to.
Security officers stand guard at the residence of abducted German archaeologists professor Peter Breunig and his associate Johannes Behringer in Janjala Village, Nigeria. Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about Dlrs 200,000 US) for the two captives abducted this week from Janjala village in northern Nigeria, the excavation site where the German archaeologists was working. Two villagers were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police confirmed Friday. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi )
JUNEAU (AP)  The University of Alaska system has agreed to resolve issues stemming from a federal review of its handling of campus sexual assault and sexual harassment cases.

The agreement, signed by system President Jim Johnsen on Friday and released Monday, outlines steps the

system will need to take over the next several years. It follows a review, initiated in 2014, by the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Civil Rights.

Johnsen, in a letter to the university community, said the system did not enter into

the agreement grudgingly and is dedicated to improving the climate and...
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.
SVOne Enterprise UX 4

If you've ever been to the eye doctor, you are most likely familiar with the big metal fixture patients peer through while answering questions about the letters on the chart.

That experience could be heading for a massive makeover, complete with an iPhone-powered device that's a fraction of the size.

The technology, from the New York-based Smart Vision Labs, is designed to complete an eye exam in just a few minutes and doesn't require the in-person assistance of an eye doctor.

Smart Vision officially launched for use in stores in July 2016, and it has made its way into 50 stores. The company raised $6.1 million in 2015 in a round led by TechStars Ventures.

Business Insider has also learned that Warby Parker has recently started piloting the device at a few of its New York City locations, including Grand Central Station.

Screen Shot 2017 02 22 at 1.33.41 PM

Here's how it works:

As part of the exam, you're asked a series of questions about your vision and history. The technology then runs you through three different tests: visual acuity (that's your standard letters on a chart), pupillary distance, and refraction error management. It's a pretty passive test in which you mostly just stare right in front of you. Once that's all done, the information gets sent to one of the optometrists and ophthalmologists with whom Smart Vision contracts. In about 24 hours, you get your results sent via email.

The results are pretty straightforward. I took the test as a demo, comparing the result to my eyeglasses prescription. The test reached the same conclusion my optometrist had a few weeks ago when I went in for a checkup.

Smart Vision results

The device is based on a combination of old and new technology that Smart Vision has developed, CEO Yaopeng Zhou told Business Insider. For example, the pupillary distance test, which measures the distance between your eyes' pupils, has traditionally been done with a binocular-like device. The visual acuity isn't any different (just smaller) from your traditional letter chart.

Story continues

The refraction error test  which measures the shape of your eyes to determine what kind of prescription you might need to correct your vision  is the one Smart Vision spent the most time turning into a cheaper, portable technology. It uses technology adapted from what doctors use in Lasik surgery, which is used to correct a person's eyesight.

Smart Vision's technology has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, and the site links to two published papers validating the technology, both funded by the company. As far as accuracy goes, Zhou said it had a 1% remake rate  much lower than the 10% average for traditional optometry practices.

It's important to note, however, that you won't be getting a full workup, like getting your eyes dilated (which can detect eye problems). If a test picks up on anything, Zhou said, the company will let you know to consult a doctor.

This kind of approach worries some eye doctors, who are concerned telemedicine approaches like Smart Vision, in which there a doctor isn't necessarily in the room, could be bad for patients.

"Telemedicine as a tool to help a doctor better care for a patient is absolutely acceptable to most doctors including myself," April Jasper, a practicing optometrist who is the president of the Florida Optometric Association, told Business Insider in an email. "When telemedicine is advertised and promoted as a substitute for a comprehensive eye health examination, most doctors are going to have a serious concern for our patients safety."

Essentially, there's a time and a place for which it could be helpful, but there may not be a future in which we can just get our eyes tested through a series of remote tests without any direct doctor supervision.

"There is no telemedicine technology at this time that is a substitute for a comprehensive eye health evaluation and many of the companies out there are misleading patients into thinking their technology performs as a replacement," she said. "And a disclaimer in small print does not justify placing a patients vision or even life is at risk."

Finding a market in glasses stores, pharmacies, and on the go

Smart Vision labs

Beyond its use in the pilot program at Warby Parker, Smart Vision hopes to place the device in other nontraditional spots that don't necessarily have an optometrist.

Zhou said his goal was to have the device in retail stores and pharmacies and in use in developing countries, since it's portable.

Smart Vision provides the hardware free, instead charging a fee for each assessment the location performs.

Zhou says the stories using their technology have seen a "big jump in revenue."

Today, the technology is being used in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and around New York state (mainly in the city).

NOW WATCH: People with these personality traits have more and better sex





More From Business Insider


Oil giant ARAMCO worth more than 2 trillon?



Wood Mackenzie Ltd. came up with a rough valuation of Aramco's core business of $400 billion .

LONDON/RIYADH

Petroleumworld.com 02 24 2017

Saudi Arabia has said oil giant Saudi Aramco is worth more than $2 trillion, enough to consume Apple Inc. twice, and still have room for Google parent Alphabet Inc.

The kingdom may have to settle for less. A lot less.

Industry executives, analysts and investors told Bloomberg their analysis -- based on oil reserves and cash flow projections under different tax scenarios -- suggests Aramco is worth no more than half, and maybe as little as a fifth, of that amount. This means Saudi Arabia would earn a fraction of the $100 billion implied by its valuation if it sells 5 percent to the public in 2018, as planned.

For example, Wood Mackenzie Ltd. came up with a rough valuation of Aramco's core business of $400 billion, according to clients who attended a private meeting at the oil consultant's City of London office this month and asked not to be named. The Edinburgh-based company, popular for its analysis and valuation of energy companies and assets, declined to comment.

An Aramco spokesperson said the oil producer doesn't comment on rumors or speculation.

While there's a lot of guesswork involved in sizing up a company that's never divulged financial statements and may have its tax rate cut before the initial public offering, this valuation gap reveals the hurdles Saudi Arabia could face in preparing for the post-oil era.

A profitable IPO is meant to anchor a sovereign wealth fund that will, if things unfold as envisioned, generate enough investment income at home and abroad to dominate state revenue by 2030. Demand for oil will peak just before then, according to Royal Dutch Shell Plc projections, as alternative fuels and electric cars gain popularity, putting Middle East energy producers on shakier footing.

Doubts Emerge

Even within the Saudi government, doubts are emerging. A person familiar with the flotation, who asked not to be named, said last week Aramco in its current form would probably be worth about $500 billion because a lot of its cash goes toward taxes and future investors won't have a say on investments in non-core areas. Another person familiar with IPO talks put the figure at a little less than $1 trillion if investors base the valuation on Aramco's ability to generate cash.

Selling a 5 percent stake would therefore raise at least $25 billion, still enough to match Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s unparalleled 2014 offering and dole out millions of dollars of fees to the advisers hired to manage the sale, namely JPMorgan Chase & Co., Moelis & Co. and independent consultant Michael Klein.

For a QuickTake on why Saudis are banking on a giant IPO, click here

The $2 trillion estimate was initially put forward by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last March. There are two key issues, according to interviews with a dozen industry analysts, investors and executives, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The first is that it's premised on a simple calculation: Take the 261 billion barrels of reserves Saudi Arabia says lie under oil fields like the onshore Ghawar and offshore Safaniya, and multiply by $8 (a benchmark used to value reserves). An independent auditor is assessing Saudi reserves, the second-biggest worldwide, before the IPO.

Oil's Future

By that logic, though, Russian producer Rosneft PJSC's market capitalization would be $272 billion instead of $64 billion, and the valuation of Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded energy producer, would be 53 percent smaller than it is.

I didn't know that the value of an oil company was a multiplicator of the reserves of the company," Total SA chief executive officer, Patrick Pouyanne, told investors on a Feb. 9 conference call. Several factors should be discounted before we'll see what will be the real value of" Aramco, he said.

The rationale also assumes Saudi oil, due to last about 73 years if pumped at the existing pace, will be viable for decades even if global warming curbs the world's appetite for crude.

Toyota Motor Corp. wants to rely on hydrogen to all but replace traditional-engine models by 2050. Use of gasoline, which accounts for one in four barrels consumed globally, is already peaking according to the International Energy Agency. Officials including Bank of England Governor Mark Carney have warned investors it's a matter of time before reserves are "stranded" in the ground.

The second factor throwing doubt on the Saudi valuation is the centrality of tax and dividend policy in assessing a company's fair value. Aramco, formally known as Saudi Arabian Oil Co., pays a 20 percent royalty on revenues and an 85 percent income tax. Levies this big reduce cash available for dividends to shareholders, diminishing the appeal to overseas investors.

Different Math

Wood Mackenzie, according to two clients, said it based its calculation on the current tax rate, a cost of capital of 10 percent and an in-house oil-price forecast. It used a so-called discounted cash flow method to value Aramco's upstream business, which is very sensitive to taxation.

So if Aramco CEO Amin Nasser follows through with plans he unveiled in Davos last month to lower taxes "to be aligned with other listed companies," Wood Mackenzie's estimate also stands to rise. But the scope for loosening levies may be limited because oil is the lifeblood of a budget the government is struggling to balance due to depressed oil prices.

Wood Mackenzie's estimate also doesn't factor in Aramco's downstream, or refining, operation. That business is similar in capacity to that of Texas-based Valero Energy Corp., which has a market value of about $30 billion.

Two Apples?

Another caveat is that traders tend to demand discounts for political risks surrounding state-linked companies. A corruption scandal ensnaring Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA sent shares sliding to a 16-year low early last year. Investors in Rosneft, meanwhile, have to contend with sanctions that limit the stock's upside versus emerging-market peers.

Allianz Global Investors, which owns energy shares including Exxon, Shell and BP Plc, is unlikely to buy Aramco stock at the IPO, according to energy analyst Rohan Murphy. We have generally found investing in companies so closely tied to the state to be unattractive," he said.

While Saudi Arabia is relatively stable in the turbulent Middle East, it's not immune to concern that decisions on oil output will be guided more by geopolitics than what's best for minority shareholders.

The kingdom's oil wealth also enabled it to appease its 32 million people as unrest flared regionally during the so-called Arab Spring. At issue is whether Saudi royals can sustain this calm as the government slashes fuel subsidies and imposes value-added taxes.

In the end, Aramco's market size may struggle to equal two Apples and a Google in rankings of the world's biggest companies.






US Secretary of State and Mexico's foreign minister share diplomatic dialogue amid tensions

Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images



Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (l), Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Mexico's foreign minister has expressed "irritation" to President Donald Trump's envoys about recent US policies towards its southern neighbour.

MEXICO CITY

Petroleumworld.com 02 24 2017

Mexico's foreign minister has expressed "irritation" to President Donald Trump's envoys about recent US policies towards its southern neighbour.

Luis Videgaray said he had told visiting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Mexico was worried about respect for immigrants' rights.

Mr Tillerson said in Mexico City that "two strong sovereign countries" would have differences from time to time.

Relations between the neighbours are at their lowest point for decades.

A US plan, unveiled this week, to expel to Mexico all illegal immigrants found crossing the US border regardless of nationality has angered Mexicans most.

The body language at Thursday's meeting between the American and Mexican officials certainly did not suggest that ties had miraculously warmed in the space of a meal and a meeting, but the tone from both sides was more conciliatory than in recent weeks, the BBC's Will Grant reports from Mexico City.

'Hurt feelings'

Speaking first, Foreign Minister Videgaray said rebuilding the relationship would be a long process and would not be easy. He urged all concerned to "overcome the grievances and hurt feelings" to create a relationship based on trust and friendship.

"There's a concern among Mexicans, there's irritation [about] what has been perceived as policies that might be harmful for the Mexicans and for the Mexican industry," he said.

Secretary Tillerson spoke next, saying as a native Texan he had always considered Mexico a "very close neighbour", and echoing his counterpart's spirit of co-operation.

"In a relationship filled with vibrant colours," he said of the two nations, "there will always be differences".

Media caption Republican Senators have faced angry crowds at town hall meetings across the country.

Those differences were complicated further by the Trump administration's new guidelines on deportation of undocumented immigrants, especially those with criminal records.



Homeland Security chief John Kelly (from left), Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong spoke with reporters after initial meetings in Mexico City Thursday.

It fell to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to reassure his hosts that there would be "no mass deportations" and no use of the US military in immigration enforcement.

That appeared to directly contradict what President Trump had said earlier in the day when he told a meeting of manufacturing CEOs that his administration had been getting "really bad dudes" out of the United States - before specifically stating that it was a "military operation".

Media caption US immigration raids leave many 'afraid to open the door'

Mr Tillerson and Mr Kelly later met Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto behind closed doors before returning to Washington.

The Trump administration issued a new policy on Tuesday targeting millions of illegal immigrants for possible deportation, mirroring a previous executive order signed by the president.

The new policy, which seeks to step up enforcement of existing US immigration laws, widens the net on deportation and speeds up their removal.

It also calls for sending back to Mexico immigrants caught crossing the border illegally, irrespective of where they are from, and deporting anyone charged with, or convicted of, any crime.

President Trump has insisted that Mexico will pay billions for a wall along the US border, which prompted Mr Nieto to cancel a planned Washington visit late last month.

Both US and Mexican officials made no mention of Mr Trump's proposed wall at the news conference on Thursday.

Mr Trump has also ordered a report, due on Friday, listing all foreign aid the US provides to Mexico.

Media caption Where do America's undocumented immigrants live?

It is unclear why he requested the review, but its inclusion in Mr Trump's executive order on constructing a wall along the southern border suggests he may use it for leverage in negotiations with Mexico.

Mexican officials are also concerned about Mr Trump's pledge to renegotiate trade partnerships between the two countries.

The president has proposed to levy a 20% tax on Mexican imports to pay for a border wall.

Democratic senators urged Mr Tillerson and Mr Kelly to work through tensions with their Mexican counterparts on Thursday.

"We urge you to use your visit to disavow vitriolic rhetoric and forge a strong partnership based on mutual respect with the government of Mexico," the senators wrote in an open letter






Vegan eating has skyrocketed in popularity over the course of recent decades, with more than 1,400 plant-based restaurants opening all across the US. While Philadelphia is historically known for cheesesteaks, countless vegan restaurants now call the city home. This is
(Adds dateline, company statements, context)

By Naomi Tajitsu and J.R. Wu

TOKYO/TAIPEI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Japan's Softbank Group and Taiwan's Foxconn will soon begin operating a joint venture that deepens ties between two of Asia's biggest technology companies, they said on Friday.

The move will give Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, a 54.5 percent stake in one of Softbank's existing subsidiaries for $600 million and comes as both groups step up investments in the technology sector and consider expansion in the United States.

Under the arrangement, a subsidiary of Foxconn will buy new shares in Softbank Group Capital Apac Pte Ltd for a controlling stake, transforming what had been a wholly-owned Softbank unit into a joint venture, the companies said.

The deal is expected to take effect on March 1, reducing Softbank's holding to 45.5 percent.

The joint venture will invest in initiatives that will integrate SoftBank's investment expertise and Foxconn's advanced manufacturing and technology services, Foxconn said, adding that it will manage the operation.

Foxconn already makes Softbank's human-like robot Pepper.

The Taiwanese company is a a major supplier for Apple Inc and is parent to Sharp Corp, the Japanese manufacturer of liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, in which it bought a two-thirds stake last year.

Softbank owns stakes in many companies, including U.S. telecoms carrier Sprint Corp and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Foxconn founder Terry Gou and Softbank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, both among Asia's richest men, have done business together for years.

In December plans from the two companies on the possible expansion of investment in the United States were revealed after a meeting between Son and Donald Trump shortly after Trump was elected as U.S. president.

Gou later said the outlines of the investment presented to Trump were from a telephone call he and Son shared before the meeting.

The companies have also worked together on investment in India.

(Editing by David Clarke and David Goodman)
Donald Trump

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse this week said he was sure the Russia-related cloud hanging over President Donald Trump's administration would not be clearing up anytime soon.

And he said Republicans were beginning to take the accusations much more seriously.

Whitehouse, who is the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, spoke with Business Insider this week while promoting his newly released book, "Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy."

The Rhode Island Democrat said the investigation from the Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, would first explore the "toolbox that Russia uses in our elections and in other elections to try to engage in election manipulation."

The subcommittee will then evaluate the legality of what took place during the election. Several US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia meddled in the election process to assist Trump and harm the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

Whitehouse said the subcommittee investigation would consist of "three big buckets."

"Russia's importance to Trump's business enterprises and what influence that may have over his conduct, traditional old-fashioned kompromat, and then engagement between his campaign and the Russians around the torquing of the election away from Hillary," he said. "It's one thing if they torqued the election away from Hillary and gave it to him  it's another if they were conspiring with each other or planning with each other. The first is bad, the second is ... worse."

Recent reports have indicated that several Trump associates were in constant communication with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. Trump has denied any knowledge of such contact. Additionally, Michael Flynn resigned as national security adviser last week after multiple outlets reported he discussed sanctions with a Russian ambassador before Trump took office and then was not forthright about the content of his communications with Vice President Mike Pence.

Story continues

Trump has attempted to downplay the stories related to Russia, saying during a press conference last week that "Russia is fake news."

Many of these reports, Whitehouse said, have led his Republican colleagues to become increasingly concerned about Trump's alleged ties to Russia.

"The private conversation around the Senate is that, very much, this is serious," he said. "The experienced Washington reporters that you talk to are all digging. And many of them are very optimistic about being able to find significant things. Somebody in politics can tell when the dogs are hunting, and when they're just running around. And these dogs are hunting. They're making game. They're on their business."

He added that intelligence officials and law enforcement had made it clear "this is a long way from over."

"So I think that helps," he said. "And then I think they wouldn't put it past Trump to do any of this stuff for a second."

"I think it's all converging to a point where people are collectively holding their breath and we will see what is the next shoe to drop," he continued. "My personal observation is that there is very little good will for this man with Republicans in the Senate."

But senators do not want to cross Trump's loyal voters, Whitehouse said, adding that the appearance of going after him too soon would be politically costly for his GOP colleagues.

"But, if something comes out that changes that dynamic, if the switch flips, the elevator goes straight to the basement," he said. "There's very little in terms of arms reaching out to help him."

NOW WATCH: Mexican architects visualized Trump's proposed $25 billion wall to show how unrealistic it would be





More From Business Insider


Here are four stocks with Zacks Rank#1 (Strong Buy) and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, February 24th:

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LPX) : This manufacturer and seller of building products has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rising 13.3% over the last 60 days.

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation Price and Consensus

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation Price and Consensus | Louisiana-Pacific Corporation Quote

Louisiana-Pacific has a PEG ratio of 3.14, compared with 3.26 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A.

Burlington Stores Inc (BURL): This retailer of branded apparel has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings advancing 0.3% over the last 60 days.

Burlington Stores, Inc. Price and Consensus

Burlington Stores, Inc. Price and Consensus | Burlington Stores, Inc. Quote

Burlington Stores has a price/earnings to growth ratio (PEG) of 1.14, compared with 1.22 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A.

Gray Television, Inc. (GTN): This television broadcast company has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings advancing 4.7% over the last 90 days.

Gray Television, Inc. Price and Consensus

Gray Television, Inc. Price and Consensus | Gray Television, Inc. Quote

Gray Television has a price/earnings to growth ratio (PEG) of 2.29, compared with 2.8 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of B.

Potbelly Corporation (PBPB): This owner and operator of Potbelly Sandwich Works sandwich shops has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings advancing 2.2% over the last 30 days.

Potbelly Corporation Price and Consensus

Potbelly Corporation Price and Consensus | Potbelly Corporation Quote

Potbelly has a price/earnings to growth ratio (PEG) of 1.44, compared with 1.68 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A.

See the full list of top ranked stocks here

Story continues

Learn more about the Growth score and how it is calculated here

Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017

In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017?

Who wouldn't? Last year's market-beating Top 10 portfolio produced 5 double-digit winners. For example, oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources and First Republic Bank racked up stellar gains of +44.9% and +44.3% respectively. Now a brand-new list for 2017 has been hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. See the 2017 Top 10 right now>>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Potbelly Corporation (PBPB): Free Stock Analysis Report



Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LPX): Free Stock Analysis Report



Gray Television, Inc. (GTN): Free Stock Analysis Report



Burlington Stores, Inc. (BURL): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Donald trump flag

Economists agree that immigration is good for the economy

Immigration is a source of labor-force growth, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said recently

The right-leaning Cato Institute says the deportation of "Dreamers" could cost $60 billion

Trump's other policies could hurt US workers by making businesses less competitive



Economists disagree on a lot of issues. Immigration is not one of them.

Almost unequivocally, experts from the left and the right ends of the political spectrum see immigration as a net benefit to the economy. They cite everything from population growth to increased tax receipts to diversity of people and ideas.

That's why it is surprising to see Wall Street analysts, who are rather intensely focused at the prospect of corporate tax cuts from President Donald Trump, largely ignore the clearly detrimental impact his immediate immigration orders are already having on economic growth.

During her congressional testimony on February 15, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was not shy about offering a broad retort to immigration restrictions. Trump's plans include blanket travel bans on citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations as well as orders to increase deportations at the Mexican border with still-shifting guidelines.

"Labor-force growth has been slowing in the United States," Yellen said. "It's one of several reasons, along with slow productivity growth, for the fact that our economy has been growing at a slow pace. Immigration has been an important source of labor-force growth. So slowing the pace of immigration probably would slow the growth rate of the economy."

Her comments are striking because Yellen is usually careful not to discuss topics outside her monetary policy and regulation remit, lest her remarks be construed as political. But the Ph.D. economist and career central banker has a strong, bipartisan body of work to stand on.

The Center for American Progress, a liberal policy institute in Washington, estimates that a policy of mass deportation would "immediately reduce the nation's GDP by 1.4% and ultimately by 2.6%."

Story continues

"Because capital will adjust downward to a reduction in labor  for example, farmers will scrap or sell excess equipment per remaining worker  the long-run effects are larger and amount to two-thirds of the decline experienced during the Great Recession," the CAP report says. "Removing 7 million unauthorized workers would reduce national employment by an amount similar to that experienced during the Great Recession."

Over 10 years, US output will have fallen $4.7 trillion short of what it might otherwise have been, CAP says. For comparison, US gross domestic product, the nation's total spending on goods and services, stood at $18.6 trillion at the end of 2016.

Dreamers drag

cap jobs chart

On the other side of the political spectrum, heres how the libertarian Cato Institute describes the dangers of Trump's immigration policies, which advocates fear will eventually encompass immigrants protected under President Barack Obama's "Dreamers" program.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known better as DACA, gives certain rights, including work permits, to immigrants living in the US illegally who were brought to the US as children.

Cato estimates the budget drag from immediately deporting the approximately 750,000 people protected by DACA would be over $60 billion for the federal government. The think tank foresees a $280 billion reduction in economic growth over the next decade from the elimination of this program alone, even though it represents just a sliver of the estimated 11 million people living in the US illegally whose fates are now increasingly uncertain. Keep in mind that figure has been stable for several years, contradicting Trump's suggestion that this is a sudden and pressing problem.

"Donald Trump has proposed eliminating or severely modifying the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program," says Neal McCluskey, the director of Cato's Center for Educational Freedom. "Many Americans believe that the presence of unauthorized immigrants is harmful to the economy and would like to see steps taken to reduce their presence. However, a repeal or rollback of DACA would harm the economy and cost the US government a significant amount of lost tax revenue."

The case for immigrants

pew immigration

But the cost of restricting immigration goes beyond the expense of deporting people on a greater scale.



Immigrants are more likely than native-born Americans to start a business. Some 24.3% of US engineering and technology startup companies and 43.9% of those based in Silicon Valley in recent years were founded by immigrants, according to a 2012 study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Local economies also tend to derive a perceptible boost from bursts of immigration. Businesses near the border stand to lose the most, and some communities  like Rutland, Vermont  are even making refugee resettlement part of their economic policy. The logic is simple enough: Refugees will reverse the population drain on the town as its younger residents move away and its older residents phase out of the workforce.

Some US real-estate markets, as Trump would well know, are also dependent on foreign demand. Even if his immigration policies don't target these specific buyers, the hostility toward outsiders is turning them away.

Fear surrounding Trump's aggressive anti-immigrant positions is already depressing the US real-estate market, Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson told Bloomberg television on Thursday, citing the large sums invested in the market from foreign buyers who had become reluctant to own property in the US.

Hurting constituents

Trump's policy proposals thus far are also likely to hurt the constituency he promised to help: voters in economically depressed manufacturing and farming regions.

On manufacturing, Trump's bluster about striking major deals with specific firms like Carrier is a sideshow. The number of jobs created in each instance is paltry, but pressure to keep jobs in the US will raise costs for US firms.

That makes them less competitive, actually endangering the well-paying jobs that do remain in the US and speeding up the automation of industries that can turn to robots instead of foreign labor.

Trump's proposed offset is to levy a tax on imports, but that creates a whole other set of problems.

Many technology firms, a major source of American corporate strength, are actively fighting Trump's immigration measures for concern they will narrow the pool of available talent. In farming, Trump's popularity is already withering, because many agricultural businesses were in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement with 11 other nations including Japan, Canada, and Mexico. The construction industry, heavily reliant on undocumented labor, could suffer worker shortages if Trump's measures are strictly enforced.

Whether the federal government has the resources to process all these deportations is another major uncertainty hanging over the proposed program.

It's the politics, stupid

immigrant jobs

Beyond the financial effects, it would be callous to ignore the tremendous human toll that extreme uncertainty about a more militant anti-immigration policy puts on families that are potentially affected by them. Many of those living in the US illegally have been in the country for decades, sometimes generations. They have American children and deep cultural and professional ties to the US. Wide-ranging legal challenges to Trump's policies only deepen the foreboding sense of a looming unknown.

The fear factor that begins with Mexicans and other Latin-American immigrants is already sending a chill through other communities, particularly those made up of Muslims, who have faced increased discrimination since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Trump critics are warning, rightly, that America should not forget the stain on its democratic history represented by the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Given how flagrantly ill-advised Trump's immigration stance is, even from the perspective of helping the disaffected workers he promises to represent, why is he sticking to it?

In this case, politics trumps economics, in spades. The reality-TV host turned president is merely pandering to the very base, which includes a significant racist element, that helped launch his campaign. Recall that his opening salvo for the 2016 election was a baseless, broad-brush attack on Mexico in which he mentioned the country 13 times, saying those who cross the southern border are "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime  they're rapists."

For a president who fancies himself a dealmaker, such brutish language is hardly an adequate starting point for good relations with a neighbor and longtime ally whose relationship with the US wasn't always so friendly.

NOW WATCH: 1,500 happily-married people say the key to lasting relationships isnt communication  its respect





More From Business Insider


Black Lives Matter protesters interrupted a ceremony honoring Portland, ME, police chief Michael Sauschuck. (Photo: WABI TV Screen shot)

It was supposed to be a moment of honor for Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck given on behalf of the city council and sponsored by Mayor Ethan Strimling for his service.

But during the mayors proclamation directly behind the chief stood members of the black lives movement with their hands raised over their heads.

Speaking out against the chief.

Saying this to the chief while leaving.

And good job murderer, WABI TV reports.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Outspoken transgender Republican Caitlyn Jenner ripped into Donald Trumps recent move to ax protections for transgender Americans in a Twitter video on Thursday, calling the presidents decision a disaster and urging Trump to give her a call.

From one Republican to another, this is a disaster, said Jenner. You can still fix it. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me.

Video:

Well @realDonaldTrump, from one Republican to another, this is a disaster. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me. pic.twitter.com/XwYe0LNUOq  Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) February 24, 2017

She added: Mr. President, well see you in court.

Jenner also went after the bullies, including new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Now, I have a message for the bullies: Youre sick, she said. Apparently, even becoming the attorney general isnt enough to cure some people of their insecurities.

Jenners harsh criticism comes less than a year after she praised Trump for his stance on LGBTQ issues.

He seems very much behind the LGBT community because of what happened in North Carolina with the bathroom issue, she said last June, according to the Huffington Post. He backed the LGBT community.

Of course, what Jenner didnt seem to realize at the time  though most of us have known this for a while  is that verbal promises are meaningless to this president. Trump says whatever it takes to please the room hes currently standing in.

In an administration full of anti-LGBTQ extremists, there was never a chance that he would keep his phony promises to support the transgender community.

Though Jenner went hard after the new administration, she offered some words of hope for the trans kids of America.

Youre winning. I know it doesnt feel like it today, or every day, but youre winning, she said. Very soon we will win full freedom nationwide and its going to be with bipartisan support.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

The FBI denied a recent request by the new administration to downplay media reports linking Donald Trumps presidential campaign to Russia, according to a new report from CNN.

The news organization reports that officials inside the White House essentially begged the FBI to publicly deny news reports that connected officials in the Trump team to Russia during the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.

This type of communication between the White House and the FBI isnt just strange, but CNN notes that its also a violation of procedures since it relates to a pending agency investigation.

More from the report:

The FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trumps associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign, multiple US officials briefed on the matter tell CNN.

White House officials had sought the help of the bureau and other agencies investigating the Russia matter to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts, the officials said. The reports of the contacts were first published by The New York Times and CNN on February 14.

The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts. Such a request from the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations.

Its clear that the Trump administration is concerned about the ongoing firestorm surrounding his ties to Russia. And why wouldnt they be? With each new revelation, it looks more and more like Trump and his associates were working with Russia to defeat their common foe  Hillary Clinton.

Luckily, the FBI  the same agency that spent an entire campaign downplaying Trumps Russia ties while blowing constant smoke over Clintons emails  appears to have found something that they arent willing to do to help this president.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Just a month after Donald Trump proposed sending the feds to fix Chicagos horrible carnage, he took to Twitter again to slam the Windy City, saying they need help.

Seven people shot and killed yesterday in Chicago, Trump said in his tweet. Chicago needs help!

Tweet:

Seven people shot and killed yesterday in Chicago. What is going on there  totally out of control. Chicago needs help!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

Once again, it seems that Trump is making a knee-jerk response to media reporting and capitalizing on violence that has plagued Chicago in recent years. His tweet comes on the same day that The Chicago Tribune reported that homicides in the city are already outpacing last years numbers.

Trumps post is only the latest sign that he remains fixated with violence in Chicago. Last month he shot this tweet out suggesting that hes open to sending feds into the city:

If Chicago doesnt fix the horrible carnage going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

While Chicago has become a nice talking point for Republicans, including Trump, who like to blame the citys tight gun laws for the increasing violence, it is loose gun laws in neighboring Indiana  Mike Pences state  that drive violence in the Windy City.

If Trump is really serious about reducing violence in big cities (and small towns) across the United States, he should consider doing something that study after study shows is most effective: tighten gun laws.

Until then, his promise to save Chicago is nothing but bluster.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

It is safe to say that there is only one group in America that detests the United States Constitution more than Republicans, and that is significant because as the past 8 years revealed, there is very little Republicans like about the nations founding document and law of the land. There is some correlation between the parts of the Constitution Republicans and the evangelical extremists hate most, and it is possible that if they werent intent on creating a theocratic government to maintain favor with their most reliable voting bloc, Republicans may relax their vicious opposition to equal and civil rights enshrined in the Constitution.

The news yesterday that the Trump administration rescinded protection for transgender students was not the least bit surprising to anyone remotely familiar with the alarming number of evangelical extremists serving in the Trumps government. There is no doubt whatsoever that Trumps preacher-running mate Mike Pence and preacher running the Justice Department, Jeff Sessions, played a significant role in the administrations first theocratic edict; and make no mistake, it was only the first in what will be an avalanche of theocratic dictates to come out of this new government by bible.

The New York Times reported that the push to use religion to discriminate against transgender children was not universally supported among Trumps cabinet. Stunningly, one of the principles that had to sign off on the theocratic edict, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, was opposed to the action because it was discriminatory. However, despite that surprising desire to protect all students from discrimination, DeVos prostituted her beliefs for her other desire to destroy public schools; it was either that or defy Trumps powerful preachers and resign.

As is the case with Republicans, and particularly with Republicans associated with the liar-in-chief Trump, they offered a rash of bovine excrement excuses for why it was crucial to roll-back equal rights protections that affect school-age children. They never dared explain that it is a theocratic edict and nothing else because the people would protest; not that their protests would have any effect on the preachers driving the action. However, Republicans are apparently attempting to avoid socially provocative issues so they came up with a couple of absurd reasons for targeting school-age kids for discrimination.

This [Obama Administration] interpretation has given rise to significant litigation. And the preachers in Trumps government also lied and said that school administrators, parents and students have struggled to understand and apply the statements of policy in the Title IX guidance; guidance informing that the U.S. Constitutions guarantee of equal treatment under the law applies to all Americans, including school-age children.

The Trump preachers also lied and said President Obamas Title IX guidance was improperly and arbitrarily devised without due regard for the primary role of the states and local school districts in establishing educational policy.

Now, there are several issues with all of those statements other than they are just absurd covers for imposing evangelical edicts disguised as states or school districts education policies. The guidance had nothing whatsoever to do with education policies or states issues; it was about imposing religion to deny childrens civil rights, period. As a two-and-a-half decade-long educator, this author can state categorically that which toilet a student utilizes was never an education issue; it was and still is an issue of evacuating bladders or bowels and maybe sneaking a puff between classes.

There is also the issue of the rise in significant litigation that no-one wants to admit is a cabal of evangelical extremists going to great legal lengths to restrict other Americans, in this case young Americans, their constitutionally-guaranteed civil and equal rights. However, the evangelical fanatics controlling the Republican Party have never accepted equal and civil rights for anyone so maybe transgender kids shouldnt feel too singled out, but it does inform the extent the administrations religious fanatics will go to impose religious rules.

One of the administrations cabinet-level preachers, the racist running the Justice Department, has made little secret that he is an ardent opponent of any part of the Constitution that guarantees civil, voting, womens, employment or any other kind of rights the evangelicals reject according to their bastardized version of Christianity. It was very telling that the administrations reason for eliminating transgender students rights was about litigation because religious Republicans were going to lose in federal court; they were only suing to regain their right to discriminate against one class of Americans on the basis of their nasty un-Christian religious belief.

According to Scott Skinner-Thompson of NYUs School of Law, the real impact of rescinding President Obamas guidance is more limited than the Trump preachers realize. Mr. Skinner-Thompson wrote:

As numerous cases have already recognized, the prohibitions on sex discrimination contained within federal civil rights statutes do extend to protect transgender individualsirrespective of what the Trump administration may say about it.

Something that Mr. Skinner-Thompson didnt say was that President Obamas guidance has not yet gone into effect. It puts to rest religious Republican claims that they reclaimed their schools by enforcing institutionalized discrimination against children. Of course they reclaimed nothing informing they are lying again, but it is a dangerous lie all the same. What the religious Republicans are doing is inciting a sense of victory to embolden evangelical fanatics in their next battle to impose religion by way of mandatory bible lessons and prayer in schools; a plan that is already awaiting Trump and DeVos implementation.

Over the next couple of days that this issue will stay in the news, there will be plenty of commentary and debate surrounding whether this is a civil rights or an education policy issue. It certainly is nothing remotely related to education and of course it is a civil rights issue. But only insofar as the religious right is Hell-bent and duty-bound to deny civil rights of transgender children because those rights are contrary to their dirty religious beliefs that are wholly unrelated to the teachings of Jesus Christ; what sane people call Christianity.

Some pundits and political commentators claimed this hateful repeal was part of preacher Jeff Sessions intent to overturn anything the Obama Administration enacted to extend already constitutionally-guaranteed civil rights universally to all Americans, and that might be true. However, it is more likely that it is the first of many actions to create a theocracy under the authority of the Department of Justice. Remember, Sessions has already made it abundantly clear that he thinks the 1st Amendments Establishment and Separation Clauses are not only unhistorical, he is convinced they are patently unconstitutional; something any one of the Founding Fathers and Constitutions Framers would take him to task over.

Until the media, at all levels, and Democrats, at all levels, start citing these kinds of atrocities as establishment of religion, the people will not see the terrifying precedent each one is setting. Trump is a pawn of corporations and Russia, but he is also a puppet of the religious right or he would not have installed so many evangelical preachers in his administration. It is noteworthy that Trump, like his incompetent education secretary, did not have issues with transgender people or gays, but by following the administration preachers directive to legalize discrimination against school-age children, they have officially unleashed the theocrats on the nation and set a dangerous precedent that rivals allowing Vladimir Putin unregulated access to the White House.

**The above article is commentary by R Muse**
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Former White House counsel John Dean is a Watergate cover-up expert, so theres reason to believe he knows a cover-up when he sees one. Dean sees a cover-up in the Trump administration because the Trump White House is trying to lean on the FBI.

Asked if this is indicative of a cover-up, Dean replied during an appearance on CNN Friday afternoon, Indeed it is. I come from the Watergate era, where the White House leaned heavily on the FBI When a White House leans on the FBI, theyre in a cover-up mode.

Watch here:

Video:

When a White House leans on the FBI, theyre in a cover-up mode. There are three FBI investigations going on right now. One goes into what happened pre-election, what was the influence or connection between the Trump campaign and the Russians, Dean said.

The other one is the interim between the election and the inauguration, were trying to figure out exactly who Flynn was talking to and who else was involved, was Trump involved in really undercutting the Obama administrations sanctions, the former Nixon counsel explained.

And the third investigation is looking at the dossier that was produced by the MI6 former intelligence agent, Mr. Steele, to see if there is some validity to some of those things that he outlined in that dossier.

Parts of that dossier have been corroborated so far, which lends credence to the idea that some of the more troubling reports that Donald Trump has been compromised by the Russians are accurate.

So theres a lot of FBI investigations, but the White House is not cooperating in any of this. When the Chief of Staff even talks about this with the number 2 man in the FBI, hes sending signals.

Dean is referring to reports that the Trump White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus talking to the FBI.

The White House and FBI shouldnt be talking at all, 2016 Independent candidate and former CIA operations office Evan McMullin explained, saying he was shocked by how inappropriate those kinds of communication are. McMullin called for an independent investigation and more transparency for the existing investigations.

Earlier Friday afternoon, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called for massive investigations into Trump and his administrations dealings with the FBI. The problem here for Trump is not only is it the cover-up, but it opens the door to investigating the Trump campaigns dealings with the FBI during the election.

There is no other reason for the White House to be leaning on the FBI to silence them about their investigations and try to force them into claiming theres no problem with Russia and Trump.

The day started off with Trump freaked out over the leaks coming from the intelligence community, after the FBI refused to downplay Trumps Russian connections. Trump claims these leaks are the problem, but the only reason the IC is being forced to leak to the media is because the Trump administration is trying to quash investigations into his problematic relationship with Russian intelligence agents.

Donald Trump has placed America in jeopardy and the intelligence communities are the last defense. Theyre doing everything they can to force these investigations, while the majority of Republicans in Congress play the cowards with party-first attitudes blockading what needs to happen here.

This is no email scandal. This is real, and it could destroy the fundamental freedoms of the U.S.A. if not stopped. In fact, it could undermined Western democracies, as Putin has always wanted, since U.K officials now suspect Russian interference took place in the Brexit vote.

John Dean knows a cover-up when he sees one, and he sees one right now in the Trump White House.

Image: John Dean, screengrab via CNN
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

After the FBI refused to deny its investigation into President Trumps ties to Russia, the President threw one of his regular fits on Twitter, because this is how the leader of the free world really gets things done with intelligence agencies.

Friday morning, Trump exploded, The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time. They cant evenfind the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW

Oh, okay then.

The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

Trump is getting nervous that the leaks are exposing his Russian ties, so he wants to go after the leakers. FIND NOW he typed in all caps, like the second grade leader that he is.

But it wasnt so long ago that Trump declared he loved Wikileaks. Here he is loving leaks after Kremlin related spies gave WikiLeaks hacks of the Democrats:

CNN reported on Thursday that the FBI denied the Trump administrations request to downplay media reports linking Donald Trumps presidential campaign to Russia. This request is odd in and of itself, as it violates procedures, but what administration would ask the FBI to collude with it in hiding its unseemly ties to a foreign aggressor, while insulting the FBI? Not a good look.

But this is the Trump administration, so anything is possible. The more ignorant and obvious, the more likely.

The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts. Such a request from the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations, CNN reported.

Trump is mad that the FBI wont do his bidding, which is to publicly deny his ties to Russia. But the leaks reveal the Trump campaign talking constantly to Russia before the election. Trump publicly told U.S. geopolitical adversary Russia to hack Hillary Clinton. That proved impossible, but the DNC was hacked and thus people close to Clinton were hacked.

These hacks made headlines that brought Trump much glee, as they distracted from his bragging about sexual assault and the women marching forward to out him as a predator, his myriad of financial conflicts of interests, failure to release his tax returns, failure to release a real medical report, constant lies, and violent, irresponsible rhetoric.

Then FBI Director James Comey came to the assist to essentially leak info on an investigation, claiming they had found more Clinton emails. So that was another leak that helped Trump win the 2016 election, even though the emails turned out to be nothing.

So its okay to paint Hillary Clinton with an unfair brush of guilt based on nothing, but dont you dare report the truth about Donald Trump. Or, to put it another way, the interpersonal drama of the DNC is relevant and deserves to be hacked and leaked, but a president who has likely been compromised by a geopolitical foe and cant even stand up to said adversary when their ship is hovering menacingly off of the Connecticut coast, this is not worth hacking and leaking.

Those are Republican values, party first no matter what, even when the country is in danger.

The spies warned that the leaks would keep on leaking as long as Trump keeps on lying. And so it is, and so it shall be, until the Titanic of a political crisis hits the Trump White House. Or so the spies say.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

When Sean Spicer claimed yesterday at his press conference that the Trump administration has been constantly in contact with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe it was a lie.

Tribal Chairman David Archambault II released a statement saying, Spicer claimed that the Trump administration has been constantly in contact with our tribe. That claim is absolutely false.

In fact, the photo above most accurately describes the only level of contact the Trump administration has had with the Standing Rock Sioux and reminiscent of a very dark period in American history.

Here is Spicers lie from the press conference:

Q Thanks, Sean. Has the President been briefed at all on the situation at Standing Rock? And is he concerned that a stand-off with protesters could slow down his executive orders on pipelines?



MR. SPICER: Our team has been involved with both the tribe and the governor there, and so we are not only  we are constantly in touch with them. And I think we feel very confident that we will move forward to get the pipeline moving. And so well have a further update on that, but I think were in constant contact with the officials there.

According to Archambault,

We repeatedly asked for meetings with the Trump administration, but never received one until the day they notified Congress that they were issuing the easement. I was on a plane to Washington, D.C. when the easement was issued. It was an insult to me and to the tribe. I cancelled the meeting upon hearing this news. We have since filed a lawsuit for the immoral and illegal issuance of the easement and suspension of the environmental impact study.

So the Trump administration is not only not in contact with the tribe but it has refused opportunities to be in contact with the tribe.

It is no surprise that the Trump administration lied about this. They have lied about everything else, including the biggest lie of all regarding Keystone XL and DAPL, and that is the claim that nobody has protested the two pipelines.

As New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told Wells Fargo last week,

A handful of millionaires and billionaires in the fossil fuel industry might benefit, but this pipeline is a disaster for the rest of us.

And that is the key to Donald Trumps support for an act that violates the sacred treaty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux.

In fact, what Trump is doing is more akin to what his pal Vladimir Putin is doing to Ukraine than to the rule of American law.

The Trump administration has been caught in an easily disproved lie once again. That Donald Trump and his energy secretary both stand to profit from the construction of these pipelines only makes the situation more appalling.

Then again, it might be too much for Americans to expect a man to show concern for tribal sovereignty who shows so little concern for American sovereignty.

Photos: Screen grab ABC News
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Branding and message is everything, so believes the Republican Party and certainly Brand King Donald Trump, our new President. But it seems, the more Republicans tell Americas to hate Obamacare, the more Americans like it.

The morning after Mike Pence called Obamacare Americas nightmare, support for Obamacare reached its highest point since shortly after it was passed in 2010. Support reached 48%, which is a 5 point increase since December.

That increase is courtesy of the monthly tracking poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which also found the unfavorable opinions to be less than the favorables, at 42%.

Here are the words Republicans do not want to hear, especially because as part of their unity message, Republicans are blaming liberal activists for constituents raising concerns over the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare.

The increase in the laws popularity is almost entirely due to a spike in support among independents, whose approval of the law has risen to 50 percent, compared with 39 percent unfavorable, Kaiser Health News determined (independent from the polling end).

Americas Obamacare nightmare is about to end, Pence announced Thursday evening, with that same prideful smirk conservatives wear when they are taking particular pleasure in denying life to others. Pence then went on to blame liberal activists for Americans showing up at town halls concerned about their ability to live.

Watch here:

Yes, your nightmare of being able to keep your sick child alive is about to end, thanks to Republicans. Your nightmare of having an insurance company actually live up to their end of the contract you pay for every month is about to end. Your nightmare of having your womens preventative care made free is over. Your pregnancy is about to become a preexisting condition again, arent you glad? Thats freedom, Republican style.

Republicans might note the pig farmer Senator Chuck Grassley greeted as an old friend at a town hall. He is now the angry Obamacare guy.

What will they replace it with? Well, that havent figured that out yet seven years later. But totes have faith in them, because even though former Speaker John Boehner is laughing at them and admitted that there would be no repeal and replace, you should put your life in the hands of these people who show they care by dodging you and your questions, even when you get around their refusal to hold a town hall by attending a lecture related to healthcare. Oh, they care. They just have insurance and dont know anything about your predicament and dont care to hear about it. But they will totally make a great replacement that takes your needs into account! Just trust.

And. Thats a no to Republican ideas for Medicaid. 6 in 10 people said they did not favor current GOP proposals for turning control of Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income residents, over to the states or changing the federal funding method.

So it is that even as Republicans are unable to come up with an Obamacare replacement, they are determined to repeal the law that not only makes healthcare insurance affordable for all, but protects Americans from being ripped off by insurance companies and protects those with preexisting conditions.

It is the name, of course, which drives the Republican Party mad  but they came up with the name, back in the heyday when they thought for sure Americans would hate being able to keep family members with preexisting conditions alive. It was said with scorn and contempt back then.

But now that people want it, now that they understand the Death Panels arent real and they can buy affordable insurance even when they own a small business, now they like it. It is much harder to take something away from people than Republicans banked on.

Certainly Donald Trump remains as clueless about policy as he is about the basic operations of government. But the man who held a national security meeting in open air with cell phones used to read classified documents as waiters came and went and patrons live-streamed the circus on Facebook has a perhaps insurmountable learning curve and probably wont be getting around to actual policy any time this term.

Ineptitude, chaos and ignorance. That is the modern day Republican Party. Sadly, thats being generous because it leaves out the strong tinge of traitor coloring all that they do right now, as Republicans circle the Putin wagons in defense of their own power.

Living is not a nightmare. Living is something most people can agree is desirable. Living should not be a privilege of the elite in this country.

Someone better tell the GOP that its not just liberal activists who are angry, its people. The people.

Image: Screengrab
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

President Trump begged Democrats to approve his cabinet, and get smart on healthcare, which means he wants them to give him political cover by voting to repeal Obamacare during his speech at CPAC.

Video:

Trump said, You know, I still have people out there waiting to be approved, and everyone knows theyre going to be approved. Its just a delay, delay, delay. Its really sad. Its really sad. And these are great people. These are some great people. We still dont have our cabinet. I assume were setting records for that. Thats the only thing good about it. Were setting records. I love setting records, but I hate holding a cabinet meeting, and I see all these empty seats. I said Democrats, please, approve our cabinet, and get smart on health care if you dont mind.

Republicans are desperate to get Democrats to help them repeal Obamacare because they are trying to figure out a way to avoid taking all the blame for taking away health care from 20-30 million Americans. Democrats are not going to help Republicans repeal Obamacare. Trump and his party are going to own throwing people off of their health care plans.

On the topic of Trumps cabinet, the President has not nominated an Agriculture Secretary yet. The President has only nominated a few dozen candidates for the more than 700 positions that require Senate approval. The reason why Donald Trump doesnt have a full cabinet is that he has not nominated people for the positions.

Senate Democrats are using all of the tools at their disposal, and they have ground this presidents administration to a halt.

In more than a month, Trump has signed only two pieces of legislation. A waiver for Mattis to be Defense Secretary, and a roll back of an Obama regulation so that coal companies can pollute streams.

Those are Trumps two legislative accomplishments.

Senate Democrats are winning, and they are making Donald Trump beg to get anything done.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

And then this happened.

As the Trump White House leans on the FBI to shut it up about their Russian connections, a move John Dean called indicative of a cover-up, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Trump fans waved their pro-Trump fans with gusto  until the flags were hastily confiscated.

Because. You know. They looked just like the Russian flag.

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

Oh, yeah, nothing to see here! Just a little love for our buddy Putin who is Making America Great Again. No worries.

Someone handed out Trump Russian flags on the #CPAC2017 floor before Trump's speech pic.twitter.com/uf1ADMt6ZL  Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) February 24, 2017

The organizers were not too pleased when they caught on.

Do not look at these three FBI investigations going on into Trump and Russia. Nope.

The Trump fans waved that Russian flag bearing Trumps name, because they didnt even know it looked like a Russian flag or they didnt care. And maybe thats part of the problem.

Image: Twitter, Peter Hamby
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

President Trump tried to punish the press by keeping outlets out of a press briefing who are reporting on his scandals, but the Presidents plan backfired as the press has vowed to keep reporting the facts.

CNN responded to Trumps move with a promise to keep reporting the facts:

CNN was blocked from WH @PressSec's media gaggle today. This is our response: pic.twitter.com/8SfY2uYKEI  CNN Communications (@CNNPR) February 24, 2017



The New York Times was also not allowed to attend. Times executive editor Dean Baquet said, Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties. We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest.o

If the ban was meant to stop the reporting of information, it didnt work.

White House Correspondents Association President Jeff Mason urged reporters who got into the briefing to share their info with others who didnt, We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff.

The Trump White House has vastly overestimated their power. If they thought they were going to send a message to the press to stop reporting on leaks or lose access, they failed to realize that they need the press as much or more than the press needs them.

By targeting the press, the White House revealed that they couldnt stop the leaks on their end, so they are attempting to intimidate the media into not reporting the information.

The Trump war on the media is backfiring. Each hostile action that he takes against the press strengthens the resolve of reporters to find and report the facts.

Bullying the media is the best way to make a scandal grow bigger. It looks like the White House has something to hide, which is why the press is going to dig deeper to uncover the truth.

Trumps war with the media could be the mistake that destroys his presidency.
I met Louboutina, the lovable huggable New York City golden retriever, on the corner of 11th Street and 7th Avenue on a Saturday morning. She was out for a walk with Cesardad, as he calls himself on her Instagram pageand it was her day off. Even on her day off, though, she was surrounded by a small, excited group of people who'd recognized her and come for hugs. "Is that Loubie?" asked a girl as I was standing there and the crowd began to grow. Her owner said that since Loubie has become a viral hit, it's impossible to go for a walk without stopping to meet fans and offer hugs.

Loubie is five years old but she learned to hug on her own when she was three. She made her way around our group of fans at her own pace. Cesar tried to console the fans waiting for their turn to meet her and take pictures. He said that he never taught her to give hugs and that he doesn't have a command for it, but that she does it all on her own. She didn't skip anyone, though, and by the time I left even more people had recognized her and come over.

Cesar wanted to give her a day off because she'd had a busy week meeting hundreds of people and doing TV interviews. She was on Telemundo's "Un Nuevo Dia" the day before I met her. "Tomorrow, we have an interview with a Chinese news program," Cesar said.

As a celebrity, Loubie doesn't get much of a break on her walks. She loves it, though, never trying to leave a group of fans waiting for a hug. Just over a week ago, she visited Good Morning America to meet Michael Strahan and Lara Spencer, who got one of her famous hugs.

With over 140,000 followers on Instagram, she's become quite a sensation in Chelsea and worldwide. It's the kind of fame you can't plan. Her owner started taking her to work and, soon, she was attracting everybody with her lovable posture. Gentle with everyone, even The Doctors praised her and her owner for the way she sits on her hind legs instead of jumping onto someone. That can be scary with big dogs but Loubie is unbelievably gentle and patient.

Loubie is one of the friendliest and most photogenic dogs you'll ever meet, posing happily for pictures, in costumes and even ordering coffee.

Loubie usually hangs out in the Chelsea area of New York City. She's doing important work. Just when you're afraid of running into another backpacked person calling to you with a petition on your way to a long workday, there's Loubie, hanging out, making friends and offering love to anyone who needs it.

If you want to meet her (and we know you do), follow her on Instagram, where her owner often posts their location for the day.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 82F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.
Travis Kalanick

Uber is embroiled in yet another controversy, and this time, it's a big one.

As my colleague Biz Carson reported on Thursday: "A former engineer's claims of sexism at Uber is apparently only the tip of a much deeper problem inside the company's culture, according to a scathing report published on Wednesday. A New York Times investigation by Mike Isaac into Uber's workplace shows that the company's culture is worse than even the tell-all by the engineer, Susan Fowler, portrayed."

These allegations follow an episode in which Uber flouted the California Department of Motor Vehicles over unpermitted testing of its self-driving vehicles in San Francisco, had the registrations on those vehicles suspended (in the process embarrassing Volvo, who built the XC90 SUVs that Uber was using), and in a snit sent the test fleet to Arizona.

This all took place after a spectacular debut for Uber's self-driving tech in Pittsburgh last year.

Uber has a history of defying authorities, in the US and in other countries, as it strives to become the world's preeminent ride-hailing service and justify a valuation that's nearing $70 billion. Pittsburgh suggested it might be growing up; San Francisco proved otherwise.

The negative news about Uber's hard-charging culture doesn't seem too surprising, in that context. What is surprising is how wildly Uber pitches back and forth between doing everything right and doing everything wrong.

Doing the right thing

For example, between the San Francisco mess and the sexism allegations, CEO Travis Kalanick resigned from President Donald Trump's council of business leaders because Trump's travel-ban executive order, affecting majority-Muslim countries, set off anti-immigration alarms among Uber's workforce, both in Silicon Valley and out in the cars, actually driving customers around.

It was a brave move by Kalanick  and consistent with his smart tough guy image.

In a short period of time, Uber has shown that it can develop a nearly indispensable (for many people) technology product that threatens not just the traditional taxi business, but the entire auto industry. It's been rewarded by a mega-unicorn valuation and could make many investors and employees very, very rich.

Story continues

Uber self driving

There's no company that currently better embodies the move-fast-and-break-things ethos that defines Silicon Valley in 2017. Facebook has been compelled to be virtuous, as its reach and power broaden and the moral implications of being a "fake news" platform hit home for CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Uber has also edged aside the "make stuff" companies, including Apple and Tesla.

But moving fast and breaking things does not a peaceful company make. Uber also operates simultaneously in two dramatically different worlds: the elite realm of Silicon Valley, where advanced degrees and real estate costs matter more than anywhere else in the US; and on the rough-and-tumble big city streets where Uber's drivers roam for fares rather than spending their days doing computer science.

Doing the wrong thing

Harmonizing these two worlds has proven profoundly difficult. For every Pittsburgh, there have been far more cases of the harsher side of Uber's business influencing the company's entire culture. With the new allegations, it actually seems that you might find more esprit de corps and camaraderie among Uber's contract drivers than its Bay Area knowledge workers.

All companies, even pre-IPO startups, go through a maturation process. But in many cases, their earliest cultural values persist and define how they operate. This can be good: Apple performed far better when unpredictable creative genius Steve Jobs returned to the company.

But it can also be bad, as Uber is now finding out.

uber self-driving car

And that's happening at the same time we're entering a precarious time for Silicon Valley. The way I see it, after the first computer-and-software companies, such as Apple and Microsoft, defined the first wave of the tech economy, the Internet took over. And with each wave since then, there's been a critical survivor.

After the dot-com crash, it was Amazon. Through the financial crisis, it was Facebook. (Also Tesla, but Elon Musk's carmaker is a bit of an outlier because it isn't a pure software firm.) Something big has to emerge from this current cycle, and it's obviously Uber.

As such, Uber is symbolic for all of Silicon Valley, from the risk-taking entrepreneurs and investors  to the, unfortunately, male-biased tech culture that has developed.

Uber will figure out how to deal with its latest crisis, and once again, Kalanick has done the right thing, although we can certainly debate his timing. The larger question is, though, "Will Uber ever learn from its mistakes?" Because if it doesn't, and it perseveres, it will institutionalize many of its worst qualities.

NOW WATCH: Heres how the top Silicon Valley companies are responding to Trumps immigration ban





More From Business Insider


OWATONNA  Shortly before Valentine's Day, Julie Schultz made a note to herself to get in touch with Mary Boosalis. She wanted to know what kind of candy Mary would want to order.

"She always had her candies she wanted for family and friends for holidays," said Schultz. "She had special candies she ordered every year."

This year, though, Boosalis died just before Valentine's Day on Feb. 12 in Owatonna at the age of 79.

Boosalis and her husband, Costas Boosalis, were the long-time proprietors of Costas Candies and Restaurant, a landmark sweet shop in downtown Owatonna. Julie and Grant Schultz bought the store seven years ago, but Mary and Costas Boosalis never really entirely left.

"The first four or five years we were here, she would come and get her hair fixed across the street, and Costas would drop her off and come in here and wait for her," Julie Schultz said. Then the couple would meet friends and have lunch in the restaurant they had owned for so many years.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mary was born Mary Pappas Sept. 2, 1937, in Greece, and immigrated to the United States in 1955. She married Costas Boosalis in 1960, and for the next several decades they operated Costas Candies, making hand-dipped chocolates and serving meals in the restaurant. At the shop, Mary worked as baker, cashier and chocolate retailer.

Costas Candies, which is routinely mentioned in state and regional travel guides as a must-stop, has been at the same location since it was opened in 1919 by George Boosalis.

Mary loved to prepare meals for her large extended family, and share recipes with her friends. She and Costas raised two children in Owatonna: Theodore, who now lives in St. Louis, and Angeline, who lives in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

She was a member of Holy Anargyroi Greek Orthodox Church in Rochester, where the funeral was held Feb. 17.

Tom Brick, owner of Owatonna Shoe, across the street from Costas, was a pallbearer at the funeral. "I was honored," he said. "We were business neighbors for 40 years. She was as kind a lady as you could ever meet."

Brick recalled that his two youngest daughters made Costas a frequent stop. "Mary used to slip them candy from behind the counter," he said. "My responsible older daughter told Mary she didn't have to do that. 'Don't worry,' Mary said, 'I'm putting it on your dad's bill.' She was delightful."

"Her chicken soup was legendary," said Owatonna attorney Mark Walbran, who remembered going to the restaurant with his baby sitter when he was a boy. "She had a generous spirit. She had that glow about her."

Schultz remembered that Mary once called the shop with a special request for candy for Costas. "Apparently, he didn't like chocolate and he didn't like nuts," Schultz said. "So she asked if we could make him almond bark without the almonds."

ADVERTISEMENT

As her health declined in recent months and years, Mary stopped by the shop less frequently, Schultz said. "I wish I had known Mary in her younger years," Schultz said. "She was an amazing lady, always fun, always had a smile."
ST. PAUL  There must be some mistake. There's no fabulous pontoon boat in Jeremy Little's garage, only one that has been crunched in half by some kind of accident.

Then he presses a button, and the thing expands like a balloon to take shape.

"Ta-dah!" said Little, a 33-year-old college student and inventor, as his Unique Pontoons boat expands to its full width.

Little and his now-deceased father invented it in their Oakdale home, in the Minnesota-style version of the American dream. He worked hard, saved enough money and kept the dream alive after his father died in 2013.

Now, the boat made its debut at the Minneapolis Boat Show in January, and Little is taking orders on his website. The base price is $54,900.

ADVERTISEMENT

"I wish my dad could have been here to see this," said Little, gazing at the boat in his Oakdale garage. "He'd have been proud."

As a kid, Little recalls shopping for pontoon boats with his dad.

"They were all 8 feet wide," said Little. That conformed to dry-land trailer regulations, but "on the water, there are no regulations about width."

Little said his father, Mark, came up with the idea of a folding boat.

"Twelve years ago, he pitched it to me," recalled Little. They started with a 4-foot model, then a full-sized, all-steel prototype.

They began to tinker with ideas  built-in trailer with retractable wheels, collapsible trailer hitch, folding deck. The boat is protected by several patents, he said.

His father died in 2013 of a lung disease.

"A week before, we were playing cribbage in our kitchen. He was on oxygen and couldn't talk much," said Little.

ADVERTISEMENT

"He said, 'You know, Jer, we have put our hearts into that thing. Don't give up on it."

But Little struggled. Money was short, so he worked 40 hours a week in a steel foundry and 40 more in overtime.

Finally, he saved enough to get started. He lined up manufacturing sites and contracts and made an all-aluminum version of the boat. It won the grand prize at the Minnesota Inventors Congress Innovation Expo in 2015.

Today, Little is a student at the University of St. Thomas, majoring in entrepreneurship. In fact, he already is a bit of an expert in that field. "Lots of the students come to me for advice," he said.

He showed off his creation in his Oakdale home last week.

When fully unfolded, the boat is a monster  24 feet by 11.5 feet. "You could have a square-dance here," said Little, lounging on one of the benches.

The boat seats 16. It weighs 2,800 pounds  but it's probably easier to get into the water than a canoe.

To launch it, the driver unlocks the trailer hitch and backs into the water. The trailer hitch floats off  no one has to touch it.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the next minute, three things happen at once. The wheels are raised, the deck unfolds flat and the trailer hitch retracts like a turtle pulling its head into a shell.

Little demonstrated it in his garage, grinning like a kid catching his first fish.

"My father used to say," said Little, "that this is going to revolutionize the pontoon boat industry."
Vladimir Putin

The 2011 American military intervention in Libya was a turning point in Russian President Vladimir Putin's attitude toward the US, according to a lengthy report from The New Yorker examining Russia's interference in the 2016 US election.

The intervention was spearheaded by the secretary of state at the time, Hillary Clinton, who persuaded President Barack Obama, wary of war with yet another Muslim country, to join a NATO-led coalition in ousting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

At the time of the Libyan intervention, Putin was Russia's prime minister, and Dmitry Medvedev, widely considered Putin's protege, was Russia's president with whom the Clinton-led State Department was attempting to "reset" relations. After Medvedev decided not to veto a US-backed UN Security Council resolution in favor of military intervention in Libya, Putin voiced his disagreement publicly, comparing the resolution to a "medieval call to the crusades."

Putin saw the move as "a case study in Western intervention: stir up protests, give them rhetorical support and diplomatic cover, and, if that doesnt work, send in the fighter jets," according to The New Yorker.

Several months later, Gaddafi was captured by Libyan rebels, dragged into the street, and killed. A video of the event circulated around the world, while Libya collapsed into chaos.

In a now notorious reaction to news of Gaddafi's death, Clinton joked to a reporter, "We came, we saw, he died!"

Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar has written that Putin saw the takedown of Gaddafi, who had negotiated with the West at various points throughout his rule, as a lesson for Russia.

"When he was a pariah, no one touched him," Zygar wrote. "But as soon as he opened up he was not only overthrown but killed in the street like a mangy old cur."

NOW WATCH: Trump's Attorney General pick wants access to everyone's phones  here's why that's a problem





More From Business Insider


In 2004, Emmy Award-winning CBS News producer Mary Mapes set out to report a story that would hobble George W. Bushs campaign for reelection and lend a helping hand to Democratic nominee John F. Kerry. She had been working on the story on and off for years, longer than Ahab had been in search of Moby Dick. When a mentally deranged source finally produced a set of fabricated documents that had mysteriously appeared to support the story over which she had been salivating, Mapes wrote it up for Dan Rather and the midweek edition of 60 Minutes. They titled the story For the Record, as though it constituted little more than a disinterested historical footnote, and rushed it to air on September 8, 2004. Thus Rathergate.

Rathergate represents a true instance of fake news. It is one of the greatest journalistic frauds of all time. To borrow the term that has come into vogue in connection with the past election, in Rathergate CBS News sought to hack the 2004 presidential election based on fabricated documents.

The presidential election of this past November was supposedly hacked by the Russians. It was part of a story line that led to the sacking of General Flynn as National Security advisor. The story seems to have moved under the surface for the time being.

In connection with his larger argument about the moribund state of American journalism  do read the whole thing  Lee Smith asks: Whos going to break the story proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the president of the United States is so deeply connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the White House has become a Muscovite colony in all but name? Smith answers his own question: Time to use some common senseits not going to happen, there is no story.

At The Nation, Russia expert Stephen Cohen provides a useful if argumentative summary of the story:

The crux of the allegations against Trump was, and remains, that Putin ordered the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the dissemination of stolen e-mails through WikiLeaks in order to undermine the Clinton campaign and put Trump in the White House. A summary of these facts was presented in a declassified report released by the intelligence community and widely discussed in January. Though it quickly became axiomatic proof for Trumps political and media enemies, almost nothing in the report is persuasive. About half are assessments based on surmised motivations, not factual evidence of an actual Kremlin operation on Trumps behalf. The other half is standard whining about the Kremlin-funded television network RT, which is at worst an above-average propaganda outlet. Moreover, a number of American cyber-experts insist that Russian state hackers would have left no fingerprints, as US intelligence officials claim they had. Indeed, the group Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity believes that the DNC documents were not hacked but rather leaked by an insider. If so, this had nothing to do with Russia. (The CIA and the FBI were highly confident about the reports findings, but the National Security Agency, which alone has the capacity to fully monitor e-mails, was only moderately confident.) Still more, at his final presidential press conference, Barack Obama referred to the DNC scandal as a leak and said he didnt know WikiLeaks exact role in the scandalthis despite the allegations by his own intelligence agencies. Nor is it clear that Putin so favored the erratic Trump that he would have taken such a risk. Judging from debates in Kremlin-connected Russian newspapers, there was serious doubt as to which US candidate might be bestor least badfor Russia.

Cohen has been deemed a Putin apologist, so take what he says with a grain of salt. As has frequently been noted, however, the alleged hacking of the 2016 election occurred by the release of mildly interesting but inarguably authentic emails of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. If its not real journalism, its not the fake news perpetrated by CBS in 2004.
Keith Boyer, a police officer in Whittier, California, was shot and killed earlier this week. The killer is believed to be Michael Christopher Mejia.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Mejia is a career criminal with a history of drugs and violence. He has cycled in and out of jail for repeatedly violating the terms of his release.

Here are the details:

Court records show that Mejia was sentenced in 2010 to four years in state prison for robbery and was convicted in July 2014 of grand theft auto and attempting to steal a vehicle. He was given another two-year sentence. . . . [He] has been arrested and jailed for short stints several times since July. State officials said he was on probation and under supervision of the L.A. County Probation Department. In July, he violated terms of his release and got 10 days in jail. He was arrested again in September after authorities moved to revoke his community supervision. He was arrested in January [last month] for again violating the terms of his release and sentenced to a combined 40 days in jail. But he was out again after 10 days, records show. Then, Feb. 2 [this month] he was arrested by East L.A. sheriffs deputies for violating his release terms and flash incarcerated.

How is it that Mejia kept getting out of jail? Bill Otis quotes the Los Angeles County sheriff, who points to three measures enacted in the last seven years  Propositions 47 and 57 [see update] and Assembly Bill 109  that have led to the release of too many criminals without creating a proper safety net of mental health, drug rehabilitation and other services.

Ed Whelan points to the Supreme Court ruling, by a 5-4 vote, to which the aforementioned Assembly Bill 109 was a response. That ruling required California to release the staggering number of 46,000 convicted criminals and to maintain its prison population below a certain threshold.

California prison officials deny a causal relationship between that decision and Mejias releases from prison. They say the decision did not impact time served by Mejia, but only the entity handling supervision of [him] following [his] release.

Even if this is true, and I dont know whether it is, the entity that supervised Mejia after his release clearly did not supervise him properly. With proper supervision, its difficult to see how a chronic offender, who violated the terms of his release last month and this month, would be on the street.

One way or another, Officer Boyer appears to be the victim of sentencing reform, whether by judicial fiat, misguided laws, or the two in tandem.

Weve pointed out repeatedly that America has an under-incarceration problem. Sensible sentencing reform would be dedicated to keeping criminals like Christopher Michael Mejia locked up, not to letting them out of jail.

I agree with Whittier police chief Jeff Piper:

We need to wake up. Enough is enough. This is a senseless, senseless tragedy that did not need to be.

It would not have happened absent the tragically misguided sentencing reform impulse.

UDPATE: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation informs me that Prop. 57 has not yet been implemented. It was passed by voters last November, but requires regulations for its implementation. Those regulations are in the process of being developed.
Khrushchev had thoughtlessly coincided his Caribbean adventure with my upcoming 21st birthday. I was attending 5FTS at Oakington at the time, so on that fateful final Saturday in October 1962 I was being rendered legless by my fellow course students in Cambridge. The excellent information imparted in this video was mostly unknown to us. All we did know was that unless the lead Soviet cargo vessel turned around before entering Kennedy's declared blockade area then...well no-one seemed quite certain what, but it certainly wasn't going to be good. In the event it did so and the world soon settled into the more orderly concept of MAD. Oh, and I duly recovered as well!
The current recession in the economy as a result of the decline in global oil prices has significantly impacted operations at Nigerias oil and gas free zones.

The Managing Director, Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Okon Umana, told PREMIUM TIMES Bassey Udo in an interview in Onne that investors population in the zone dropped by about 33 per cent, from 200 to about 134. But, since assumption of office, he said his management has been working to lay a foundation for the zone as driver of growth and development for the economy.

Excerpts:

PT: What makes the oil and gas free zone such a special territory?

UMANA: This is a geographical area designated by law, where financial regulations applicable in the Customs area are suspended for licensed operators, who enjoy special incentives, like exemptions from all federal, state and local government taxes as well as export/import duties. These incentives translate into huge financial benefits for the companies.

Every equipment brought into the zone does not attract import duties. Export duties will only apply where finished goods move into the Customs territory. If there is value addition in what is brought into the Zone and the state of the product is altered, resulting in the creation of employment, there is a 75 per cent rebate.

The companies also have the benefit of a special process of being issued immigration visas.

The zone started as logistics base to support the oil and gas companies operations. But, it now has companies doing more than just logistics.

The zone is a concentration of companies offering services relating to oil and gas industry operations  fabrication firms, pipes coating company, shipyards, etc. It is a one-stop shop to make life easy for investors in the sector; to enable operators within this environment benefit from economies of scale.

For instance, Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals Limited manufactures and exports over one million tonnes of Urea annually from the zone, and supplies over 300,000 tonnes for the domestic market.

PT: The benefits of the zones appear to be a loss to government, in terms of revenue the companies are not paying for tax, customs duties, withholding tax, etc.?

UMANA: No! The benefits come by way of the foreign direct investments in infrastructures coming into the zones. This is different from portfolio investors who would be ready to move out of the country once there is any unexpected development.

But, with the zones, huge employment is created. At the peak of operations, over 200 companies were licensed to operate in the zones. These companies employ Nigerians. However, because of current economic recession, the number has gone down to about 134.

But, the good news is that fresh applications are still being processed from those wanting to be licensed. Although these licensed investors are exempted from paying taxes, they cannot operate in isolation. They depend on other companies in the Customs territory outside the zones to function.

If there is a company in any of the zones that wants materials to be sourced from outside, and a company comes to perform the service and is paid, the licensed company will deduct withholding tax and VAT in favour of the federal government.

Unlicensed enterprises are obligated to pay taxes. The licensed enterprises still do business with the unlicensed ones. So, there is still revenue from that source to government.

Again, although the companies dont pay tax, their employees within the Zones pay PAYE taxes, which also go to the federal government.

Besides, products that come into the zones, if there is no value addition, when they move to the Customs territory, the full import duties would apply.

Between 2010 and 2015, the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, generated about $2 billion from the activities of the oil and gas in the zones. The Nigeria Customs also made about N400 billion. There are other activities not covered by the Oil and Gas Free Zones Act that still generated revenue for the federal government. There is also transfer of skills and technology.

Today, we are working closely with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board to ensure the companies in the Zone comply with the local content Act.

PT: It appears there is opposition from some quarters to the existence of the zones. What is it about?

UMANA: Well, I dont know! What I know is that the free zones concept is a global strategy to drive economic growth and development.

Free zones have now moved from the initial stage of export processing to economic zones for specialized activities.

Nigeria had moved ahead of other countries when Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne was established by Act No.8 of 1996, to focus on oil and gas industry.

For Nigeria, it was only proper to have a base that would support the oil and gas industry, being the mainstay of the countrys economy.

We are working with the investors to expand the zones. The success story of Onne is an example that public-private partnership can work effectively.

PT: Can you shed some light on the conflict between OGFZA and the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, NEPZA?

UMANA: There is absolutely no conflict between the two agencies as far as OGFZA is concerned. This is what is happening. OGFZA was established by the Act of 1996, empowered to recommend to the President the establishment of free zones and designated economic areas. We are also mandated to regulate and license operators in the oil and gas free zones in the country.

NEPZA was established by the Act of 1992. OGFZA Act was domesticated by the National Assembly. So, it is a valid Act of Parliament. This is the extant law regulating what we do in the oil and gas free zones. I must admit that the law has some flaws.

Even the name in the principal Act, Onne Oil & Gas Export Free Zone has some issues. Section 5(2) of the Act gave the Authority powers to take over all oil and gas free zones hitherto managed and regulated by NEPZA.

What that means is that our jurisdiction extends beyond Onne. That means the law empowers OGFZA to establish oil and gas free zones beyond Onne. But, there have been issues about taking what should really fall within our jurisdiction, which had been licensed by NEPZA. That appears to be what people see as conflict. But, the engagement and conversation on that is on.

The other point is in reference to exports. Not everything that happens here relates to exports. So, that very narrow description of exports was not right. This is also a flaw.

But, again, happily the National Assembly is in the process of amending the OGFZA principal Act. The Bill for the amendment has passed first and second readings. A public hearing was held recently. The Bill was not sponsored by OGFZA. It was sponsored by a member of the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment.

PT: But, it still appears NEPZA is not happy with the effort by the National Assembly to carry out the amendment?

UMANA: I am not in a position to know what NEPZA feels about that. What is important is that there is a clause in the Bill that designated certain ports where oil and gas cargoes could be discharged. Those terminals were Onne, Calabar and Warri. It was just a proposal. But, in our position, we objected to the designation of specific terminals by name, because that would be limiting the scope of our mandate. As a regulator, we will be fair to all. We dont want to create monopolies. Our interest is the entire Nigeria.

The question to ask is: Why would anybody oppose the review of a law that has been in existence for over 20 years, and is overdue for review?

The purpose of the amendment of any law is to correct areas of imperfections, because no law can be perfect. What is the interest of those complaining against the review of the OGFZA Act? Why are they trying to stop the review of a law that is not perfect?

The NEPZA law also has its own issues. Even its own name too has a problem. There is a move to change the name to Nigerian Industrial Zones Development Authority, NIZDA. There is no reference to exports again.

Interestingly, the same people who are attacking OGFZAs move to amend its laws see nothing wrong in NEPZA doing the same. Its funny!

What we should focus our energies on should be for OGFZA and NEPZA to be strengthened to perform better, to the benefit of Nigerians. The non-oil sector is huge. Already government is talking about establishing six new industrial zones within the purview of NEPZA. The development of non-oil is critical if the country is to realize the diversification agenda of government. That is why NEPZA should concentrate on its area of jurisdiction and allow OGFZA to focus on its area.

Part of the problems that led to misconceptions is the communication gap, because Nigerians dont know the truth about what is going on.

PT: NEPZA and their backers accuse OGFZA of tactically amending the law that established it without waiting for parliament to do so. OGFZA has added s to the zone in its name, to become Zones, whereas the law that established OGFZA specifically said Onne Oil and Gas Export Zone. What would you say to this?

UMANA: Whats in a name? Even NEPZA also has a problem with its name. Its name should confine it to exports. But, that is not what they are doing. Have they amended their own law?

But, I think its neither here nor there. Agreed, there are flaws in both laws. NEPZA has made moves to correct the flaws in their own law. So, what is wrong with OGFZA also taking the steps to correct the flaws? Why are they still talking about the history?

What happened was that they went to Oronsayes committee to submit a memo asking for merger, which had nothing to do with names. The federal government considered the report of that committee and rejected the recommendations.

But, in the white paper it was embedded that the recommendation was rejected. The white paper made reference to Section 5(2) of OGFZA law, which empowered OGFZA to regulate all oil and gas fee zones in Nigeria, including the ones that were previously under the control of NEPZA.

It was that white paper that renamed the Authority as oil and gas free zones Authority. If the lawyers are saying that amounts to an amendment of the law, I dont know.

The important thing is that the Senate in its wisdom is taking steps to correct whatever was the problem. Thats where we are. And we are very happy with the Senate.

Nigerians should equally be happy that the oil and gas free zones Authority that has done so well for the country would not be distracted by the matter of one letter in its name.

PT: Since your arrival, what should Nigerians expect from leadership of the Authority?

UMANA: Currently, we have Onne as the biggest zone in the country. We also have Warri zone. Brass is already licensed, but not yet operational. We are working on establishing three more free zones in Ibaka, Ibeno and Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State.

We are also looking at another location in Delta State. Free zones remain veritable tools to drive economic growth and development in Nigeria if properly utilized. We are determined to ensure that Nigeria would benefit maximally from it.

We have already taken steps to provide the right foundation to change the business environment in the zones, with emphasis on enhancing service delivery to our clients.

The first thing we did was to have a retreat to decide on the steps we had to take to chart a new direction. We have developed a road map that looks at the goals we will pursue; the vision statement and values that should drive our performance. We have a target growth rate of 50 per cent within the next three years (2017-2019).

With the road map, we are ready to work to actualize our mandate in accordance with the enabling Act, to ensure that we reposition the Authority and our free zones for the benefit of Nigerians.

PT: What was the situation before your arrival?

UMANA: Before and after the establishment of oil and gas free zones in Nigeria, Onne Port had existed after NPA concessioned the facility to it. The growth rate was a mere 2.5 per cent in the pre-zones era. But, the growth became astronomical with the creation of the free zone. Investment grew to about $20 billion from inception. The impact of free zones on Nigerian could only be imagined.

In terms of cargo thru-puts, Onne Port has the largest thru-put among all the ports in Nigeria, above even Tin Can Island Port in Lagos. That affirms the fact that the decision to establish specialized, dedicated zones for oil and gas operations has been a huge success. By all ramifications, the OGFZA story is a success story.

If we are to talk about success stories in Nigeria, this will rank among the first five.

This is the largest oil and gas service centre in the world at the moment. It has been acknowledged by the Financial Times of London.

One of the steps we have taken since assumption of office is to push for the visibility of these free zones, especially Onne.

We have over $6 billion of investments in the zones so far. If one looks back at those days when NPA could not manage the ports, it was because of its failure, in terms of capacity to develop and expand the ports as well as modernise the ports that led to the concessions in the first place. Seeing what is happening today, Onne is a success story, compared to what is happening in Calabar, Kano and Warri.

PT: What do we expect to see, say in the next three years in the goals and new zones?

UMANA: We will focus attention on the development of the three new zones I mentioned earlier. But, we will go very aggressively for any opportunity that opens up. We are going to be visible globally. Wherever there are exhibitions by free zones looking for investors, we hope to be there to showcase our potentials.

Everything has to do with how solid our foundation is. Once the foundation is right, we are ready to run. That was why when we took over, we had to sit down to ask ourselves: Who are we? Lets define ourselves.

We have since established that it is important that we act professionally if we are to become the premier government agency to attract secure and sustained investments in the sector.

Our clients would see us as professionals who mean business; who are ready to deliver on our mandate. Attitude is everything. Its all about the rebranding and the new posture of the Authority to become a professional organization.

PT: If a new investor is coming to do business in the country, how long would it take to settle down to business?

U0MANA: The position in our law is that we grant licenses within 30 days. Part of our reforms is that we are improving efficiency and making things easy for those who want to register with us. We have reduced the time from 30 to within 21 days. We dont even need to amend the law to achieve that, because 21 days is still within 30 days.

We have also said that when our clients meet the requirements for renewal, which include submission of annual returns and payment of the prescribed fees, the licenses would be renewed within three days. These are in line with the new posture of the Authority to enhance service delivery.

PT: How financially independent is OGFZA?

UMANA: In our road map, we indicated that our goal is to be financially independent. That means we have to think creatively outside the box and position the Authority in a manner that we can deliver on our mandate. What we came to meet is not encouraging. That is why we are taking steps to ensure that we think creatively to enable the Authority fund itself.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


A financial expert on Friday said that the new foreign exchange allocation method of the CBN was aimed at narrowing the wide gap between the official and parallel market rates.

Uche Uwaleke, the Head of Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, made the observation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Mr. Uwaleke said the new method would only narrow the wide gap between the CBN and the parallel market rates and not to halt the slide in the value of the naira.

The university teacher said the recent measure would also improve access to foreign exchange for Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and payment of school fees abroad.

I am sure that the CBN is under no illusion that the tiered exchange rates, which this forex policy has brought about, will halt the slide in the value of the naira.

The don admitted that a complete currency float was capable of unifying rates and reducing round tripping and speculative activities.

He, however, said that toeing such a path would be suicidal for an import-dependent economy that depended on a single commodity for much of its foreign exchange inflows.

The financial expert said that the current depreciation of the naira could be checked by well coordinated fiscal policies.

To reverse the current downward trend in the value of the naira, well-coordinated fiscal policies should be deployed to pursue import substitution and enhance the competitiveness of local production with a view to curtailing forex demand.

On the supply side, the government should fast track efforts to improve the ease of doing business and the state of infrastructure to attract foreign investments as well as develop multiple streams of earning foreign exchange.

In my view, it is only when the supply of forex is guaranteed from diversified sources that the issue of market-determined value of the naira can be tabled for consideration, he said.

The Central Bank on February 20 released new policy actions to address the challenges in the foreign exchange market.

In the new policy, the apex bank said it would provide direct funding to banks to meet the needs of Nigerians for personal and business travel, medical needs and school fees effective immediately.

The CBN said it expected such retail transactions to be settled at a rate not exceeding 20 per cent above the interbank market rate, which currently stands at N305.50k per dollar.

The apex bank said it took the step in continuation of efforts to increase availability of foreign exchange to ease the difficulties encountered by Nigerians in obtaining funds for transactions.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The White House on Friday prevented journalists from three major U.S. news organisations from attending a briefing, the New York Times reports.

Journalists from The New York Times, CNN and Politico, were barred from attending a briefing by President Trumps press secretary.

Reporters from the three media were not allowed to enter the West Wing office of the press secretary, Sean Spicer, for the scheduled briefing; with aides to Mr. Spicer only allowing journalists that, the White House said, had been previously confirmed to attend.

According to New York Times, organisations allowed included Breitbart News, the One America News Network, The Washington Times, ABC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Fox News.

The denial came a few hours after Mr. Trumped railed against the media, saying there was a lot of fake news around and referring to CNN as Clinton News Network.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has received the report of the Joint Police/DSS Special Investigation Panel on Rivers Re-Run elections of December 10, 2016.

The rerun election to elect state and federal lawmakers for Rivers was marred with violence include the death of at least two police officers.

An audio later emerged where the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, was heard admitting to bribing some INEC officials.

Mr. Wike and the Rivers State government boycotted the police investigations accusing the police of having a premeditated agenda.

Six police officers attached to the governor during the elections have since been dismissed by police authorities for alleged partisan roles; a move condemned by the Rivers governor.

An INEC National Commissioner, Solomon Soyebi, said on Thursday in Abuja at a press conference that from the report, we gathered that the police have concluded their investigations and 25 INEC staff who were indicted will be prosecuted. The commission has resolved to co-operate with police in the process.

In addition and without prejudice to their prosecution, the indicted INEC staff will also face the commissions internal disciplinary process.

The commission wishes to reiterate clearly that it will not shield staff that engages in any conduct that will undermine the integrity of the electoral process.

Mr. Soyebi added that the commission had also considered the report of its Administrative Inquiry into the same election in which 28 staff were indicted of misconduct.

He explained that the commission accepted the reports recommendations that all the 28 indicted staff should face internal disciplinary action for gross misconduct, dereliction of duty and negligence.

The commission also accepted the recommendation to commend a number of ad hoc and permanent staff, as well as security officials who performed exceptionally well under very difficult circumstances of the elections, he said.

Those to be commended were Ralph Echebiri and Oji Ekemankama, both professors at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, who served in Rivers West and East Senatorial Districts respectively.

He added that INEC would also offer automatic employment to two National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members, Aguna Isaac and Ademola Oluwatoba, who served as Presiding Officers during the election.

He said that the decision was to reward them for their professional conduct during the election.

He noted that arising from the lessons learnt, the commission would carry out major overhaul of its entire Rivers office.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Nigerians who deposit or withdraw N500,000 and above will now pay between 1.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent charges, according to a new banking policy.

The new policy was approved by the Bankers Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday.

The Director, Banking & Payments System Department of the Central Bank, Dipo Fatokun, explained the new charges on individual and corporate deposits and withdrawals.

According to Mr. Fatokun, while deposits and withdrawals by individual customers of amount less than N500,000 would attract no charges, corporate customers would not be expected to pay any charge for deposits or withdrawals below N3 million.

However, individual deposits between N500,000 and N1 million would attract 1.5 per cent charge, against 2 per cent for withdrawal.

Individual deposits of amount between N1 million and N5 million would attract a charge of 2 per cent, against 3 per cent for the deposit of a similar amount, while depositors above N5 million would pay 3 per cent as against 7.5 per cent for the withdrawal of equivalent amount.

Equally, all corporate deposits between N3 million and N10 million would attract a 2 per cent charge, against 5 per cent charge for withdrawal, while deposits of amounts between N10 million and N40 million would attract 3 per cent surcharge and 7.5 per cent for withdrawal.

The new charges also affect deposits and withdrawals above N40 million, which would henceforth attract 5 per cent and 10 per cent charge respectively for corporate organizations.

While the new charges would take effect from April 1, 2017 in the existing cashless states including Lagos and Abuja, the policy is expected to be implemented effective May 1, 2017 in Bauchi, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Ondo, Osun and Plateau states.

The charges are to take effect on August 1, 2017 in Edo, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger, Oyo, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Taraba and Nasarawa states.

From October 1, 2017, the policy would become effective in Borno, Benue, Ekiti, Cross River, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Yobe, Sokoto and Zamfara states.

The CBN said income generated from the processing fees charged above the allowable cash transaction limits would be shared between the CBN and the banks in the ratio 40:60.

The statement also said existing exemptions remained in favour of revenue generating accounts of the federal, state and local governments, which would attract no charges for lodgements only.

Besides, embassies, diplomatic missions, multilateral and aid donor agencies in Nigeria were also exempted from all processing fees relating to the cashless policy.

The Central Bank directed affected deposit money banks in the affected states to commence enlightenment of the customers on the policy, including the limits of cash withdrawals and deposits for individuals and corporate as well as available e-payment options.

The Bank also approved the extension of the cashless policy to cover the entire country.

The Committee at the end of its 493rd meeting in Abuja reviewed the cashless policy by extending it to cover the remaining 30 states of the federation.

Before now, the policy was operational only in Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Abia, Anambra, Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory under a pilot arrangement.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Ondo State now has a new governor, as Rotimi Akeredolu, a senior advocate of Nigeria, on Friday took the oath of office as the sixth democratically-elected governor of the state.

He replaced Olusegun Mimiko.

Earlier, Ajayi Agboola was sworn into office as deputy governor.

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress, including Bola Tinubu and Bisi Akande attended the event held in Akure, the state capital.

Mr. Tinubus attendance signaled a truce between him and the new governor after the controversy that trailed Novembers gubernatorial elections.

Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors forum, also witnessed the transfer of power from the PDP to APC.

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and state governors of Ogun, Niger, Kogi, Sokoto and Oyo states were also all in attendance.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


More than $672 million (N211.6 billion) to be spread over three years was on Friday pledged by 14 countries at the Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad region in Oslo, Norway.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the conference, co-hosted by Nigeria, Norway and Germany had sought for $1 billion emergency funding to prevent famine in the Lake Chad region and north-east Nigeria.

Nigerias Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said this in a statement issued by Sarah Sanda, the Special Assistant, Media to the minister in Abuja.

Mr. Onyeama expressed Nigerias gratitude to the donors, adding that no donation would be taken for granted.

He said the sheer magnitude of the humanitarian crisis which cuts across Nigeria and countries contiguous to the Lake Chad area was one of the largest and gravest humanitarian crises in the world.

The minister said the gesture came at a time Nigeria was experiencing fiscal constraints as the economy had plunged into a recession in the midst of costly military operation against Boko Haram.

In Nigeria alone, 26 million people have been affected by the Boko Haram insurgency and 10.7 million people have been identified by the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) as needing life-saving assistance.

The root causes of the crises including poverty, underdevelopment and high population pressure must be addressed, he said.

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen OBrien, in a related report said the summits host country, Norway, led efforts by pledging $192 million of the $672 million promised by international donors.

Mr. OBrien said further contributions were still expected later in the year from the UK and the U.S, while two other unnamed countries had indicated to pledge substantial contributions.

The Deputy Director of USAIDs Office of Food for Peace Programme, Matthew Nims, at the conference said the threat of famine in Nigeria was greater than ever.

We could see this and I think we the governments in the region, those around the table here need to accept that there was a failure on all our parts to see where we have come to.

All of us know that its also not the only country.

If you look at 2017, it may be the great year of transition on many levels, but we dont want it to be the year when famine becomes a more commonplace word.

We are in unprecedented times of food insecurity, he said.

The report also quoted Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno as saying some rehabilitation of former fighters had taken place, but insisted the groups make-up had to be seen as a triangle.

At one end, there are the ideologically driven Boko Haram, who will resist any reintegration.

Then you have the forcefully conscripted Boko Haram, then there are the fortune seekers who join for economic reasons, he said.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Ali-Modu Sheriff, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday re-opened the partys national secretariat, Wadata Plaza.

The partys secretariat had been under lock and key since May, 2016 after its National Convention held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Mr. Sheriff, who arrived the party secretariat at about 6 p.m, informed journalists that he was at the premises to inspect the level of repairs to be done at the secretariat.

We are here at the National Secretariat this evening to access the place so that we can resume either Monday or Tuesday. We will go round to access the kind of repairs to be done.

We will get our painters and cleaners over the weekend to work on it, and while they are doing so, we will continue with our consultations just like we have been doing since the judgment was delivered, he said.

Mr. Sheriff, who was on February 17 confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt as the authentic PDP Chairman, had promised to re-open the secretariat latest by Friday.

Those who accompanied Mr. Sheriff to the secretariat include the Acting Deputy National Chairman, Cairo Ojougboh, National Secretary, Wale Oladipo, National Auditor, Buruji Kashamu, and Ahmed Gulak among others.

Meanwhile, Dayo Adeyeye, the Publicity Secretary of the partys factional National Caretaker Committee, led by Ahmed Makarfi, has described Mr. Sheriffs action as illegal.

As far as we are concerned, the forceful entry of Ali Modu-Sheriff and his team into the party secretariat is illegal and most unwelcomed.

We say this because the keys to the secretariat are with the Board of Trustees and weve checked with them, and can confirm that the keys have not been handed over to Sheriff or any of his followers.

The implication of this is that he broke into the secretariat which is a criminal offence.

We also expected that Sheriff should have waited for the conclusion of the Appeal we filed at the Supreme Court before he forced himself in just like we held on when we got court judgment favouring us last year.

According to him, we are condemning his action in totality and we view it as an affront on the rule of law.

Mr. Adeyeye added that Mr. Sheriff should be held responsible for any loss of documents or damage to the property within the party secretariat.

The administrative members of staff as accounting officers were not around to see the event happen, and as the custodians of the partys property, they refused to participate in the illegal entry made by Ali-Modu Sheriff.

He advised Mr. Sheriff to vacate the secretariat immediately in his own interest.

We also call on authority of the Nigerian Police to prevent chaos by flushing Sheriff and his team out of the PDP secretariat.

Let all parties wait for the judgment of the Supreme Court which is the highest court in the land.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


President Jacob Zuma has condemned acts of violence by South Africans against foreigners, his office said on Friday.

Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa against a background of near-record unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs from citizens and getting involved in crime.

Citizens in Pretoria are set to march against foreigners on Friday and domestic media are reporting vandalism and acts of violence in the Atteridgeville area west of the capital.

At least 20 stores in Pretoria owned by foreigners were looted on Tuesday, but police could not confirm that the attacks had deliberately targeted foreigners.

Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively.

It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers.

The threats and counter-threats on social media must stop, Mr. Zuma said in a statement.

The Nigerian government on Thursday urged the South African government to put in place measures to end the incessant xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in that country.

Minister of State Foreign Affairs, Khadija Abba-Ibrahim, gave the task in Abuja during a second summon to the High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria, Lulu Aaron-Mnguni, on the issue.

The Ministry had on Monday, summoned the South Africa High Commissioner over the matter.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Nigerian buildings, properties and places of worship worth millions of dollars were destroyed on Feb. 5 and 18.

The Federal Government strongly urges the South African government to take all necessary measures to protect the lives and foreigners living and working in South Africa.

Furthermore, the federal government urges the South African Government to bring perpetrators of these deplorable acts of violence to justice.

The ministry continues to urge Nigerians in South Africa to remain calm and law abiding, and be vigilant at the same time.

The Federal Government of Nigeria will strenuously work towards the protection of Nigerians everywhere, including in South Africa, she added.

However, the minister said that no Nigerian lost their lives in the attacks contrary to reports in some media.

According to her, the reports that mentioned the killing of Nigerians in the xenophobic attacks are unsubstantiated.

The ministry has not received the report of any death of Nigerian in the latest incidents of attacks against foreigners.

The Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria is in constant touch with the Nigerian Union in South Africa, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) of South Africa, as well as the South African police.

All these agencies have confirmed that no Nigerian life was lost in the recent incident, she said.

(Reuters/NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


South African Police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of citizens and non-nationals marching in the capital on Friday, following looting of stores believed to belong to immigrants.

Anti-immigrant violence has flared in South Africa against a background of near-record unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs from citizens and getting involved in crime.

President Jacob Zuma condemned acts of violence against non-nationals.

At least 20 stores in Pretoria owned by foreigners were looted on Tuesday, but police could not confirm that the attacks had deliberately targeted foreigners.

Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively.

It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers.

The threats and counter-threats on social media must stop, Mr. Zuma said in a statement.(Reuters/NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


A Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday struck out the names of four accused charged with N3.4 billion fraud alongside a former Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi.

Mr. Akpobolokemi, a former D-G Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, was charged with nine others on a 40-count charge bordering on fraud.

Other accused charged with him are: Ezekiel Agaba, Ekene Nwakuche, Felix Bob-Nabena, Warredi Enisouh, Governor Juan, Ugo Frederick and Timi Alari.

Also charged with him are two companies: Al-kenzo Ltd., and Penniel Engineering Services Ltd.

They were arraigned before Justice Saliu Saidu and had all pleaded not guilty to the charges and granted bail by the court.

However, following the transfer of Mr. Saidu from Lagos to the Port Harcourt division of the court, the case was re-assigned to Justice Ayokunle Faji.

On Friday, the prosecuting counsel, Festus Afeyiodion, informed the court of an amended 22-count charge, in which the names of four accused had been withdrawn.

The four accused withdrawn from the charges are: Governor Juan, Ugo Frederick, Timi Alari, and Penniel Engineering Services Limited.

He urged the court to strike out the names of the four accused, while a fresh plea by the remaining accused should be taken.

The counsel to Mr. Juan, Ige Asemudara, expressed mixed feeling while reacting to the withdrawal.

Mr. Asemudara said that his client had been tormented, embarrassed, and emotionally tortured for the past two years on account of the charges.

He said that the damages done to Mr. Juans career and his family, were monumental, but gave all the glory to God.

Consequently, Justice Faji granted the prayers of the prosecution, and struck out the names of the four accused.

Meanwhile, another defence counsel, E.D. Onyeike, raised an objection to the appearance of the prosecutor (Afeyiodion) on the grounds that he could not prosecute without a fiat.

The court has, however, fixed March 17, for arguments on whether or not the prosecutor had a right to prosecute.

In the charge, the accused were alleged to have committed the offences between December 2013 and July 2015.

They were alleged to have converted over N3.4 billion belonging to NIMASA to their personal uses.

The offences contravened Sections 15 (1), (3), and 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (prohibition) Amendment Act., 2012.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Ali Modu Sheriff, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Friday met with Tony Anenih to consult him on the partys leadership crisis.

Mr. Anenih is a founding father of the party.

The Court of Appeal had on February 17, pronounced Mr. Sheriff as chairman of the party, while the Ahmed Markafi group said it would appeal the ruling.

Mr. Makarfi, a former governor of Kaduna State, is being supported by PDP governors.

Mr. Sheriff, after the close door meeting with Mr. Anenih at his Abuja resident, informed journalists that the visit was to seek Mr. Anenihs advice on ways to re-position the party.

If there are two founding fathers, Chief Anenih is one. Therefore, as a father, I came to consult with him.

I came to tell him that this is the situation we are. He as a father who formed this party, should help us on how to re-position the party to the period of 1999.

Baba has given us kind and fatherly advice on all matters, Mr. Sheriff said.

Mr. Anenih, a former Board of Trustees Chairman of PDP, who declined comment on advice he offered to Mr. Sheriff, said it was a meeting between father and sons.

I have spoken to my son. He will speak with others, Mr. Sheriff said.

Also speaking with journalists, the Vice Chairman of PDP, Cairo Ojougboh, said the visit was part of efforts by the Sheriff-led leadership to re-unite members of the party.

He said the consultation with party leaders across the country would continue.

We are doing this in order to come up with a formidable party, he said.

Asked if the Sheriff group actually broke into the party secretariat as insinuated by the party caretaker committee members, Mr. Ojougboh said it was not true.

He said that after the Court of Appeal judgment, the court served the police, and the Directorate of State Security Service the judgment.

Mr Chairman did not break in, it was police who locked the secretariat that re-opened it, he said.

Mr. Sheriff had on Thursday evening re-opened the secretariat which had been under lock since May 2016. (NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


A call by President Muhammadu Buharis aide for Nigerians to patronise locally-made products, ironically at a time the president is receiving medical treatment outside the country, triggered a social media ruckus on Friday, with many accusing the presidency of hypocrisy.

Bashir Ahmad, a media assistant to President Buhari, earned the ire of mostly Twitter users after advising Nigerians to help drive up the value of naira by patronising locally-produced goods.

The clash began when Mr. Ahmad, 25, propped up a newspaper report that said the naira had been making gains against the U.S. dollar at the parallel market, following this weeks foreign exchange decision by the Central Bank.

Within the last 48 hours, dollar crashes to N470, it was N520 before  and external reserves rise by $3.2bn, Mr. Ahmad posted. Good for the Country.

The jubilatory tweet drew a backhanded response from a Twitter user, Toyin Olakanpo, who sarcastically reminded Mr. Ahmad the president promised an equated dollar and naira during his electioneering campaigns.

We are waiting for it to crash more. You promised $1/N1, Ms. Olakanpo, @ToyinO1, said.

To that, Mr. Ahmad offered a seemingly innocuous reply: When we stop going to overseas for everything, start patronising only #MadeInNigeria this may not be far from possible. Govt can (sic) do it alone. He apparently meant to say the government cannot do it alone.

Critics promptly leapt at the evident irony at a time the president is on extended vacation in the United Kingdom.

Buhari that went to Overseas for Medicals when we have state house clinic must be a foreigner then. You just shoot yourself, brother, a user, Mr. Tony, said.

Another user, John O. Balogun, using @orllumeeday, tweeted @BashirAhmaad @ToyinO1 You mean when Baba buhari and other govt functionaries begin to equip our hospitals & seek medical help in Nigeria???

One user even used a parody account of President Buhari to chide Mr. Ahmad.

Tweeting at @idealBuhari, the user said Bashir, you shouldnt say things like this when I am getting medical treatment in the UK, not Nigeria.

Others accused Mr. Ahmad of passing a subliminal insult at his principal.

President Buhari is still alive and youre subbing him this early. Youre the first to decamp! Brother! @alegallawyer said.

Mr. Buhari has been on medical vacation in London since January 2019. The trip is the third of such since he became president less than 2 years ago.

The first officially disclosed vacation was in February 2016, barely eight months in office. He took the second one in June 2016, apparently to receive treatment for ear infection which Nigerian doctors insisted was not above their paygrade.

The frequent foreign trips by the president was in contravention of his own policy against state funding of foreign trips.

Although Mr. Buhari did not particularly ban public officials from seeking medical abroad, he made it clear his government will certainly not encourage expending Nigerian hard-earned resources on any government official seeking medical care abroad, when such can be handled in Nigeria.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday promised that the Federal Government is planning urgent relief to poultry farmers in the country to save the industry from collapse.

He gave the indication during his second meeting in the week with representatives of the poultry industry at the Presidential Villa.

The intervention is part of an urgent effort by the federal government to address challenges in the agricultural sub-sector in line with its policy on self-sufficiency in food production.

The poultry industry has had to contend with a number of challenges including an outbreak of Avian Influenza which affected almost four million birds in 2015.

It also suffered non-allocation of Foreign Exchange for the importation of needed machinery and other critical inputs, and high production costs in the industry.

At the Friday meeting relevant ministers and agency heads came together to fashion out how to bail-out the ailing poultry industry.

The poultry industry is a local industry that needs to be protected urgently, Mr. Osinbajo said at the meeting where specific measures were tabled and considered on how the federal government could be of help.

He said the industry should be a major plank of the agriculture sector and as such the Buhari administration would ensure that it got help regarding the challenges being faced by operators of the sub-sector.

He added that by supporting the local industry, poultry-related importation which was currently a drain on the countrys Foreign Exchange could be a thing of the past.

In his remarks, Ayoola Oduntan, the President, Poultry Association of Nigeria, noted that poultry presently contributed 25 per cent of the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product of the Nigerian economy amounting to N1.6 trillion.

He added that Nigeria was rated as the number one egg-producing nation and number four in poultry meat in the continent.

The poultry sub-sector is said to generate over 14 million direct and indirect jobs in the country.

Present at the meeting were the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, and Agriculture and Rural Development Minister of State, Heineken Lokpobiri.

Others were the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ali, and the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

Mr. Lokpobiri later told State House correspondents that the ministry would embark on aggressive maize and soya bean cultivation to produce surplus of poultry feed input.

What we have is that we are going to develop a programme that will deliberately grow more maize which will satisfy not only our local market but the international market.

We have a demand from Algeria and some other countries.

They are saying that if we are able to grow two million metric tons and above for them they are going to construct a rail line to Kano to come and buy, the minister disclosed.

He also advised farmers hoarding maize with the intention of selling later to the federal government to desist as such produce would not be bought from them by the government.

It is also an opportunity to also send this signal to those who are hoarding maize that anybody who is hoarding maize does so at his own peril.

Federal Government will not buy maize.

The federal government buys grains as the buyer of last resort, he said.

The minister also said that the government was also planning to address the loss suffered by poultry farmers during the outbreak of Avian Influenza.

We also discussed the issue of Avian influenza that led to the destruction of a lot of birds in the country.

Some part of the money has been paid, but we still have an outstanding of N1.7 billion, he said.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Two socio-political groups based in northern Nigeria have warned the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, against making further disparaging remarks against a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar.

The Northern Emancipation Network, NEF, and Adamawa Think Tank, ATT, said the warning was in reaction to remarks credited to the Lagos monarch saying no corrupt persons will rule Nigeria again, in apparent reference to the former vice president.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Nigerian Women Against Corruption Initiative in Lagos, on Wednesday, Mr. Akiolu vowed to work against any corrupt individual becoming Nigerias president again.

I insist that this is not era for somebody who spent the first three years under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo making money and turning public corporations to his own, Thisday newspaper had quoted Mr. Akiolu as saying at the event.

He is planning to come back to be the President of this country again. Ill work against his ambition. I mean it and I mean it, by Gods grace, it shall not be so, he said.

Also, at an event organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice on January 30, Mr. Akiolu said Mr. Abubakar played a prominent role in convincing then president, Olusegun Obasanjo, to retire him from service.

The former vice president denied the claim.

However, in two separate statements signed by Abdul-Azeez Suleiman for NEF and Danladi DanAsabe for ATT, the groups said the recent utterances of Mr. Akiolu t amount to a clear breach of the tenets of royalty and nobility.

Besides, it is unthinkable how a person who was disgraced out of the police service would have the audacity to unjustly accuse others of corruption, Mr. Suleiman said.

We challenge him to provide clear proofs of his allegations otherwise he remains a discredited and lying member of the royal class and a disappointment to nobility and those who hold the institution dear.

He said he wondered how a person who ascended the stool through dubious means and surrounds himself with people of doubtful character should speak about integrity.

We remind the Lagos monarch that those in glass houses dont throw stones about. We categorically tell the monarch that he lacks the capacity to influence any political event even in Lagos, not to talk of influencing any national event, he said.

On his part, Mr. DanAsabe said the Oba was just playing politics, seeing that politicking for 2019 will soon begin.

He also said Atiku relies on the support of all Nigerians as he goes about his politics and cannot help those who harbour unnecessary fears.

Mr. Suleiman also said that Nigerians are not in a hurry to forget the way the Lagos Oba told the Igbo community in Lagos to go die in the lagoon during the build-up to the 2015 elections.

This shows that it is not the first time he will shed the garb of royalty and put on the clothing of motor park tout, he said.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Federal Government has said no Nigerian died during the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

The government on Thursday also urged the South African government to put in place measures to end the incessant attacks on Nigerians in that country.

The Minister of State Foreign Affairs, Khadija Abba-Ibrahim, gave the task in Abuja during a second summon to the High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria, Lulu Aaron-Mnguni, on the issue.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the Ministry had on Monday, February 20, summoned the South Africa High Commissioner over the matter.

Nigerian buildings, properties and places of worship worth millions of dollars were destroyed by South Africans on February 5 and 18.

The Federal Government strongly urges the South African government to take all necessary measures to protect the lives and foreigners living and working in South Africa.

Furthermore, the federal government urges the South African Government to bring perpetrators of these deplorable acts of violence to justice.

The ministry continues to urge Nigerians in South Africa to remain calm and law abiding, and be vigilant at the same time.

The Federal Government of Nigeria will strenuously work towards the protection of Nigerians everywhere, including in South Africa, she added.

NO DEATHS

The minister said no Nigerian lost their lives in the attacks contrary to reports in some media.

According to her, the reports that mentioned the killing of Nigerians in the xenophobic attacks are unsubstantiated.

The ministry has not received the report of any death of Nigerian in the latest incidents of attacks against foreigners.

The Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria is in constant touch with the Nigerian Union in South Africa, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) of South Africa, as well as the South African police.

All these agencies have confirmed that no Nigerian life was lost in the recent incident, she said.

The minister said the government was in touch with South African authorities to ensure the safety of Nigerians there.

The minister therefore appealed to the media not to fuel the crisis further with unconfirmed reports.

Responding, the South Africa High Commissioner to Nigeria said his government was on top of the situation.

Mr. Aaron-Mnguni said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South African will hold a briefing with the diplomatic community in his country on Friday to fashion out more ways to solve the problem.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Development and philanthropic organisation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is giving investigative journalism in West Africa a major boost with a $5 million grant support which will go to six media development groups; one academic institution, and two newsrooms in Ghana and Nigeria.

This is by far the most robust support and recognition for investigative journalism as a mechanism for promoting accountability, transparency, and good governance so far in the country, and according to the West Africa Coordinator for the foundation, Kole Shettima, who announced the grants, the foundation hopes the grants will help in strengthening Nigerian-led anti-corruption efforts and reducing retail or petty corruption.

He said corruption, impunity, and lack of accountability have posed major governance challenges in the region and Nigeria in particular, with far-reaching impacts on the well-being of Nigerians and development in the country.

Mr. Shettima remarked that The nine grants announced in early February seek to strengthen investigative and data-driven journalism in Nigeria and to reinforce the role played by independent media and citizens in revealing and documenting corruption.

The grants will support a range of projects, including trainings for journalists on investigative field work and data-driven reporting, assistance for independent media organizations working to develop sustainable business models, and initiatives to monitor and report on Nigerian regulatory agencies in key sectors, he added.

Media and citizens are playing an increasingly active and important watchdog role in Nigeria, said Mr. Shettima, giving sense to the statutory basis of media in the Nigerian constitution as a watchdog instrument for giving consequence to the deep values of democracy.

With this support we hope to contribute to a culture of investigation and transparency, in which authorities are held accountable and independent voices are empowered to monitor, detect, and report on issues of corruption, the foundation said.

The six media development organisations covered by the three-year grant are:

Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism [PTCIJ] To conduct investigations on financing, security, and terrorism; to create a fact checking website for journalists; and to build civic technology for citizens and journalists to collaboratively learn and produce multimedia reports related to corruption.

Daily Trust Foundation (Abuja): To strengthen the capacity of journalists, media professionals, and students to conduct high quality investigative and data-driven journalism.

International Centre for Investigative Reporting (Abuja): To train journalists on investigative journalism techniques and to support in-depth field investigations.

Reboot (Abuja): To train Nigerian journalism and media organizations on understanding and engaging audiences, developing sustainable business models, strengthening investigative and data-driven reporting, and collaborating with advocacy groups.

Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (Lagos): To support investigative journalism in Nigeria and to educate the public and other important audiences about issues related to corruption, with a focus on the electricity and education sectors.

Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (Lagos): To pilot an initiative that will monitor regulatory agencies in Nigeria using media and investigative journalism.

Bayero University, mass communication department in Kano is the only academic institution covered in the grant to support them enhance training, curriculum, teaching, and learning opportunities for the next generation of investigative journalists.

The two newsrooms, one in Ghana and another in Nigeria, which received support for their investigative journalism, are:

 Tiger Eye Social Foundation (Dzorwulu, Ghana): To strengthen investigative capacity of Nigerian media by training journalists in investigative techniques and supporting field investigations on corruption.

 Sahara Reporters (Abuja): To launch a Lagos-based civic media laboratory to engage citizens in public dialogue on corruption and other social issues.

The foundation said the grants are intended to support [democratic development] by building and strengthening a system of accountability journalism in the country.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


A federal judge in Lagos on Friday withdrew from the trial of human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa citing personal reasons.

Justice Oluremi Oguntoyibo did not elaborate further on her reasons for opting out of the suit instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

She said she would return the case file to the Chief Judge, Ibrahim Auta, for re-assignment to a new judge.

The EFCC had arraigned Mr. Adegboruwa in May last year over allegations of dealing in a property seized by the commission.

According to the EFCC, under Section 32 (1) of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004: Any person who, without due authorisation by the Commission, deals with, sells or otherwise disposes of any property or assets which is the subject of an attachment, interim order or final order, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of five years without the option of a fine.

The commission said Mr. Adegboruwa and Jonathan Udeagbala, said to be at large, committed the alleged offence on August 13, 2013 in Lagos.

But Mr. Adegboruwa insisted he did no wrong, adding that the freezing order said to be on the disputed property had been vacated by a court.

In 2012, Mr. Udeagbala was arraigned before a Lagos High Court for allegedly issuing dud cheques to his business partner, Leonard Okafor.

During the trial, the parties met and decided to resolve the matter amicably by leasing out Mr. Udeagbalas personal house in Nicon Town, Lekki, Lagos.

Mr. Adegboruwa was appointed to supervise the settlement and the court subsequently dismissed the suit.

The EFCC accused Mr. Adegboruwa of conspiring to lease out the property which it said was a subject of interim orders of attachment made by Justice Christopher Balogun of the Lagos State High Court.

The agency said Mr. Adegboruwa had leased the property to Shelf Drilling Nigeria Limited for N61 million which was credited to his Zenith Bank account, with number 1010240758.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Nigerian victims of Boko Haram insurgency will benefit about NOK1.6 billion (N60 billion) in aid from Norway within the next three years, that countrys authorities announced Friday.

About N27 billion of the amount will be disbursed this year alone, according to a statement by Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Borge Brende.

The Government has proposed a three-year commitment to provide up to NOK1.6 billion in humanitarian and development aid for the period 2017-2019, Mr. Brende said.

The diplomats comments came when he spoke at the ongoing international donor conference for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region in Oslo, the Norwegian capital.

Mr. Brende decried the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Northeast, where an estimated 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since 2009.

We urgently need to put an end to this crisis. It is affecting an area with a population of 26 million, and is threatening the whole region.

Unless we make a concerted effort now, the situation will get even worse, with inevitable consequences, Mr. Brende said.

Mr. Brende further stated that NOK150 million (about N5.6 billion) out of Norways NOK729 million (about N27.5 billion) humanitarian intervention budget for 2017 will go into providing food for the displaced Boko Haram victims.

This humanitarian funding will be channelled through the UN, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and various Norwegian NGOs in north-eastern Nigeria and the other countries around Lake Chad  Niger, Cameroon and Chad, Mr. Brende said.

Mr. Brende said Norway will provide other developmental supports for long-term survival of the people of the north-east, especially in the areas of basic infrastructure, health and education.

He said the UN will track all the donations members of the international community have pledged towards the Northeast humanitarian efforts, adding that the world body will ensure transparency and accountability for all the funds received.

The conference was arranged together with Nigeria, Germany and the UN. Around 170 people from 40 countries, UN and civil society organisations took part.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, AKTH, in Kano Statehas successfully conducted a cardiac pacemaker implantation on 87-year-old Shehu Bashir-Nababa.

The hospitals Deputy Director of Information, Aminu Inuwa, disclosed this to journalists on Friday in Kano.

Mr. Inuwa in a statement said that the operation conducted by a team of medical doctors from the Cardiology, Radiology and Anesthesiology Departments and specialised nurses, lasted one and a-half hours.

He quoted the leader of the team, Ismail Muhammad-Inuwa, a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon, as saying the patient was received at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital with third degree heart block.

The third degree heart block represents low heart rate less than 40 beats per minute, sync opal attacks and high blood pressure, he said.

Mr. Inuwa in the statement explained that the pacemaker lead electrode wire was inserted into the right ventricle through the vein in the left upper chest and the electrode was connected to the pulse generator placed under the skin.

The function of the pacemaker is to increase heart rate to at least 60 beats per minute as against less than 40 beats per minute, he said.

The team leader advised the public to be more vigilant in identifying the signs and symptoms of the problem.

He said that some people, even, among health professionals wrongly interpret or treat it as epilepsy.

The patient, Bashir-Nababa , commenting 48 hours after the surgery, expressed his gratitude to Allah for saving him from the trouble of recurrent seizure.

He also appreciated the team of specialists who handled the operation.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, says the force will henceforth recruit no fewer than 10,000 personnel annually to enhance its operations.

Mr. Idris disclosed this in Sokoto on Friday when he addressed officers of Zone 10 of the force in Sokoto, comprising Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara state commands.

He said, The yearly recruitment will be based on local government basis to reflect federal character and equity.

The communities will be engaged meaningfully in the exercise in tune with the principles of democratic policing.

Mr. Idris also promised that the police would continue to accord top priority to training, retraining, promotion, welfare, housing, logistics and other operational needs of its personnel to boost their productivity.

The police boss, who also promised to urgently renovate the existing facilities and barracks across the nation, said most of the barracks were in a sorry state.

Mr. Idris further said that the police management was partnering with the National Assembly to source for more funds for the force.

The police is largely underfunded, hence, Nigeria is under policed, and I am working to redress the ugly trend.

The police boss also said that the force would soon set up a school to train officers attached to the border patrol units to enable them combat cross-border crimes such as cattle rustling, armed robbery, human trafficking and other acts of banditry.

We will also soon reopen the Mobile Police Training School in Gwoza, Borno, establish a marine school in Bayelsa, among others, he said.

Mr. Idris reiterated the ban on check points across the country but told the personnel to maintain visibility policing, but stressing that bail is still free.

We should continue to be of good conduct to earn and sustain the confidence as well as respect of the public we are supposed to be serving diligently.

He described zone 10 command as one of the most peaceful commands  in the country and urged its officers and men to sustain the tempo.

The Assistant Inspector-General of police, AIG, in charge of the zone 10, Yakubu Usman, had earlier commended Mr. Idris for his humility, diligence and commitment to move the Police forward.

Mr. Usman noted that the general security situation in the zone had remained peaceful in spite some attempts to disturb the peace.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Federal University, Otuoke, in Bayelsa, had awarded scholarships to three of its newly admitted 2,430 students to study different courses in the institution.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports on Friday that the Vice-Chancellor, Seth Jaja, announced the awards.

He also presented wheelchairs to five physically challenged persons from Ogbia Local Government.

The beneficiaries are Winifred Betterland of Computer and Informatics Department, Festus Odogwu and David Samuel of English and Communication Studies, respectively.

Mr. Jaja who said that these were parts of the universitys corporate social responsibility, CSR, added that the beneficiaries of the scholarships were indigent students.

He said the action was borne out of the goodwill of the universitys authority to encourage those who were physically impaired within its domain.

He assured the universitys community of its readiness to contribute meaningfully to the growth of its host community.

The vice chancellor also congratulated the newly admitted students for the 2016/2017 academic session.

He said that his administration since its assumption of office had been making efforts to increase its students capacity.

On assumption of office, the major challenge I faced was how to bridge the need-gap in some disciplines in the Faculties of Engineering, Management Sciences and Education which were not available in the university.

The university overcame this challenge when the National Universities Commission (NUC), after due resource verification of its facilities, personnel and programmes, graciously approved 16 new additional courses.

He said that this had now encouraged the university to increase its students intake from its former 1,500 carrying capacity to 2,500.

The Federal University, Otuoke, is a federal government-owned university located in Otuoke, a town in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Southern Nigeria.

The university was established in 2011 and started with 282 pioneer students.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The newly sworn-in governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, at his inauguration on Friday acknowledged a leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu.

Mr. Akeredolu, who enjoyed Mr. Tinubus support when he first ran unsuccessfully for office in 2013, did not enjoy the ex-Lagoss governors support in 2016. He had declined to mention Mr. Tinubu at his victory speech after winning the election, indicating both were not in the best of terms.

After his swearing-in at the Akure Stadium on Friday, Mr. Akeredolu proceeded to make his inaugural speech, and began with the acknowledgement of dignitaries, particularly party chieftains and leadership.

He spent much time lauding the efforts of the Chairman of the APC, John Oyegun, who he described as one who believed in the democratic values and principles and stood for it when it mattered.

He said Mr. Oyeguns persistence resulted in the victory of the party in the governorship polls.

He also took time to acknowledge governors, lawmakers, party members, women groups, journalists and security men.

While the audience thought he was done with his protocols, Mr. Akeredolu began another round of vote of thanks for those who graced the occasions beginning with the traditional rulers and again the leadership of the party.

He then zeroed in on the Mr. Tinubu, thanking him for attending the inauguration despite the path he had travelled, before now.

He thanked him for finding time to attend the event, despite the differences in political opinions. His mention of Mr. Tinubu drew a loud applause from the crowd.

Mr. Akeredolu said his government would help rebuild the states economy by resuscitating damaged infrastructure, restore hope and return the state to a prosperous path.

He said he was aware of the challenges of unpaid salaries, saying while the situation is harrowing, his government would ensure that there is an increase in internally generated revenue to ensure payment of salaries.

The issue of unpaid salaries is not only affecting one state, it is a problem of many states, except one or two, he explained.

We will develop means to increase the internally generated revenue in the efforts to get out the challenge.

The governor said his administration is determined to break down the barriers that had caused stagnation in the state.

We will break down the barriers to honest leadership, to comprehensive development, to physical growth and social security, he promised.

This we intend to do through the promotion of transparent leadership, rule of law, extensive consultation, quality and accessible public utilities and social security, all in a sustainable manner.

Mr. Akeredolu, who was sworn in along with his deputy, Agboola Ajayi, said there would be job creation through agriculture, entrepreneurship and industrialisation.

He also listed infrastructural development and maintenance, provision of functional education and technological growth, provision of accessible and qualitative health care, social service delivery and rural development and community extension services as some of the issues he would be tackling in the next four years.

His oath of office was administered to him by the Acting Chief Judge of the state, Temitayo Osoba.

Other dignitaries at the swearing in ceremony include Senate President Bukola Saraki; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf; Minister for Information, Lai Muhammed; Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; his counterpart from Kano State, Uman Ganduje; Kogi State Governor, Yahyah Bello; Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, and former chairman of the APC, Bisi Akande.

Governor Akeredolu is the son of Ola Akeredolu of Akeredolu family in Owo and Grace Akeredolu of Aderoyiju family of Igbotu, Ese-Odo.

He was born on July 21, 1956 in Owo, Ondo State.

He became the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ondo State between 1997 and 1999. He was conferred with the title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 1998.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Iraq ISIS Mosul soldier troops fighters

The fight to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul from the clutches of ISIS is poised to enter its sixth month.

And Iraqi forces in recent days have advanced on the western half of the city, the last part of Mosul still held by the terrorist group.

A coalition of more than 60 countries, led by the US, has assisted the Iraqi government's efforts since the beginning of the Mosul campaign in October, targeting ISIS weaponry, equipment, and infrastructure across northern Iraq.

In a January 9 strike, show below in footage released by the US Defense Department, an airstrike levels a building believed to be an ISIS headquarters near Mosul.

The January 9 strike was one of 11 conducted in Iraq that day. A total of seven strikes took place near Mosul, targeting ISIS tactical units, fighting positions, ISIS-held buildings weapons, tunnels, and several vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices and a facility producing them.

The terrorist group has relied heavily on VBIEDs through the fighting in Mosul, using them with deadly effectiveness in the cramped confines of the city's historic neighborhoods and narrow streets.

ISIS Iraq civilians refugees Mosul

Some 750,000 civilians are believed to still be in western Mosul, and tens of thousands have already fled the city amid the fighting.

The Iraqi offensive against western Mosul started on Sunday, and government forces have since retaken several villages and desert areas near that section of the city.

On Friday, Lt. Gen. Sami al-Aridhi, of the country's elite Counter-Terrorism Service, said his forces had captured a military base and village southwest of the city and had entered a residential neighborhood in western Mosul for the first time since the campaign started in October.

Story continues

"We have attacked and fully control Ghazlani base, we have also taken Tal al-Rayyan... and we're attacking Al-Maamun neighbourhood," he told AFP.

Iraqi forces have also reportedly taken full control of the city's airport, which is just south of the western half of Mosul.

The US military presence has also increased, though US personnel near or at the front lines are few. The rules of engagement for the coalition have been eased as well, allowing some coalition troops to call in airstrikes directly.

Iraq ISIS missiles Mosul weapons bombs

Quentin Sommerville, the BBC's Middle East correspondent, was with Iraq's Emergency Response Division as it pushed into western Mosul amid thick plumes of dark smoke from fires set by ISIS militants trying to obscure their movements.

Photos he posted showed laundry still drying outside homes in the city.

"Now the real fighting starts," Col. Amer Sabar Gyad, of the ERD's 1st brigade, told Sommerville as Iraqi forces entered the city.

Exclusive: @BBCNews first inside west Mosul as Iraqi forces breach IS defences pic.twitter.com/D2Y2REkihl  Quentin Sommerville (@sommervillebbc) February 24, 2017

While ISIS is expected to put up fierce resistance in the tight confines of western Mosul's ancient neighborhoods, coalition commanders have expressed optimism about how the fighting in the city will progress.

But even if the city is quickly retaken, the fight with ISIS and its remnants will drag on elsewhere.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he plans to develop a plan to address violent extremism "in the broadest sense" and speed up the fight against not only ISIS in Iraq and Syria but other groups, like Al Qaeda, as well.

In other places in Iraq, the specter of ISIS has reappeared, as members of the group seep back into areas it once controlled, abetted by weak institutions and corrupt security forces.

Iraq ISIS soldiers troops flag Mosul

Clandestine ISIS members are not the only lingering threat. During the bombing campaign of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, US aircraft deployed at least 116,000 kilograms of radioactive depleted-uranium ammunition. Logs released in 2013 showed that DU ammunition was used against cars, trucks, and many buildings.

Since then, cancer-related illness has been common in the country, particularly in Fallujah, where the rate of children born with birth defects and the incidence of radiation-related illness was much higher than in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after 1945.

"The depleted uranium left by the US bombing campaign has turned Iraq into a cancer-infested country," artist Nuha al-Radi wrote before she died of leukemia.

And according to a report this month by Airwars and Foreign Policy, the US military used depleted-uranium ammunition in airstrikes on oil trucks in ISIS-controlled areas in Syria in late 2015.

NOW WATCH: Here's the 20-step vetting process refugees must follow to enter the US





More From Business Insider


Julian Miller grew up surrounded by art  truly. As the son of Josh and Kim Miller, owners of Ocean Galleries in Avalon and Stone Harbor, Julian could often be found on non-school days within the walls of these two showplaces, blond curls bouncing as he scampered about, skateboard in his arms, taking great care to not bump it into any precious artwork.

Powerful images loaded with vibrant color by artists such as Howard Behrens, Sam Park and the iconic Peter Max were most likely imbued into his subconscious, for when it came time for university, Miller chose Flagler College in St. Augustine, where he became a Fine Art major.

Now at age 26, hes back home in Avalon, working full-time in the gallerys framing department.

Anyone living year-round at the Jersey Shore knows that it can be quiet, to say the least, in the off-season. It was Millers ennui during the years colder months that prompted him to create his Miniart, a fun, Geocaching-like, street art initiative, that began in the frame shop.

I was messing around  and I developed a small frame. I joked and said I created the smallest frame in the world, Miller says. From that I took colored pencils and drew in them. From there I wanted push it one step further. I wanted to hide them  to make them a form of street art.

Heres how Miniart works: Miller shoots a picture of a 1.5 X 1.5 Miniartwork with a specific  and recognizable  South Jersey location in the background as a hint on where it can be found. He then posts that photo on his Instagram account, along with a few other hints  where the street meets the sand, face the ocean, look high/low and more.

Theres only so much you can do (in the off-season)  if youve been somewhere once, youve been a thousand times. What I want is for people to go and explore this beautiful area that we live in. It caught on immediately  people have been wanting to go out and explore and find my art.

Ive had people find in them 15 minutes, but what fun is that? So now I dont give it away, he says. (But) Ive also had someone who said he looked for two hours and told me that was crazy, but I say at least you were outside being active. Its better than being inside watching television. Thats my thought.

The idea mostly stemmed from a documentary Miller saw.

I was watching a street art documentary ... on graffiti art which was considered vandalism, Miller recalls. I thought it was cool, but I wanted to do something positive, to give people an opportunity to take something away  instead of just seeing it, they could take my art home instead.

Since starting the Miniart project in 2015, Millers images have become more sophisticated, essentially going from quick sketches to more fine art pieces. The Miniart that people find, however, are not Millers originals, but giclee reproductions. The framing for each is unique, though, as no two combinations are being replicated.

An avid traveler, Miller has quite literally left his mark in the form of his Miniart in a myriad of locations around the world, hiding more than 100 of them in various spots from Panama, Ireland and Australia to California, Florida, Utah and the Southwest.

Miniart feedback has only been positive and Miller has accrued quite a fan base.

Within a three week period I added more than 300 followers to my Instagram account. People kept expecting me to do these posts on when was I going to go hide one again, marvels Miller, who now hides one in Cape May County every Sunday. Its just a fun thing that evolved out of nothing.

For Miller, its not about fame or money. Its about spreading happiness, as well as giving people the chance to seek out the beauty in their own backyards, whether in the form of Miniart or in Mother Nature.

Its not really about that (money or fame). Its about me doing something nice for someone. I just like doing it and getting people outside exploring, Miller explains. I want everyone to know about Miniart so they can go out and enjoy the outdoors with their kids or boyfriends or girlfriends.

Of course, there is one thing that Miller hopes to receive from all of his efforts: new friends.

I put a message on the back (of my Miniart). And I do get lucky and get, for example, an email from someone in West Virginia or some place.

Its just really cool. Its cool to connect with new people who enjoy the adventure  and art.
UPPER TOWNSHIP  Officials in this rural township are exploring new ways to bring in businesses and property-tax ratables, and maybe even a hotel.

The Township Committee on Monday may approve the creation of an economic development advisory commission, which Upper Township Business Association President Blanche Adams hopes will put incentives out to get businesses in.

They can see who we want to attract, she said. If we have a vacancy, lets fill it with something that is needed in the township.

Susan Adelizzi-Schmidt, who is set to chair the commission, said it will focus on developing a vision statement in its first year, which will likely include a hotel.

If we had a really nice property, that could be a place where people could stay overnight, enjoy what the township has to offer, she said.

In addition to being a resident, Adelizzi-Schmidt operates Suasion Communications Group in Somers Point, which helped that city market the area to attract second homeowners and new businesses.

The township hopes new businesses will generate increased tax revenue and partially offset local property taxes. While residents have always paid school and county taxes, they only began paying a local purpose tax in 2011  a result, at least partially, of flat aid from the state in the form of energy tax receipts generated from hosting the BL England coal plant.

According to the municipal budget, the energy tax receipts from 2015 were $6.2 million, the same from 2010.

Township Mayor Rich Palombo said there are some challenges to attracting businesses to the rural township, which has 10 different unincorporated communities known as villages.

Several years ago, the township was able to use state Department of Transportation grant money to designate town centers in Marmora, Tuckahoe and Seaville.

Adams said the designations brought in businesses such as ShopRite, which opened in 2009 in Marmora.

That whole shopping center has been a boon, said Adams, vice president of marketing and communication for Thomas Heist Insurance, which has an office there.

In addition to ShopRite, a section of Tuckahoe Road houses several small businesses, including the Village Kitchen at Wayside Village. Heather Harolds family has owned and operated the restaurant for 40 years.

I think this has always been the little hub of the township, Harold said. Weve seen it grow immensely.

On Route 9, a Dollar General made its home in a portion of the former South Shore auto center, but the remainder of the complex is empty.

Nearby, a Verizon office that closed several years ago has not been filled. At a recent Township Committee meeting, Palombo declined an idea to turn the Verizon building into an emergency management office, noting that the building is a vital part of the development in the area.

Much like the designated town centers, the stretch of Roosevelt Boulevard between Exit 25 and Route 9 has a few vacant storefronts interspersed with active businesses.
ATLANTIC CITY  Fur, silk, denim and leather hit the runway as Atlantic City Fashion Week reached its 10th season this weekend at Showboat.

This seasons event featured next seasons trends and also the unexpected: puppies, a New York Giants player as a model, and actor Dante Hoagland, who recently wrapped up a role in BETs The New Edition Story.

It was a weekend of high energy as hundreds turned out for the ready-to-wear and couture shows featuring a raised catwalk and the industrial-style ceiling of Showboats Orleans Ballroom.

Models, spectators and designers said this seasons turnout has been the biggest yet.

This is the third year Ive seen it, said Diane DeLuca, a Linwood resident and current Ms. New Jersey of the Ms. Senior America organization. Its really well put together and diverse. It gets better and better every year.

Producers Lamont and Jeana Bowling introduced the set of New York-style fashion shows spanning three days to the resort in 2011. Each year they have incorporated new attractions into their shows which, for the past few years, included a showcase featuring the work of South Jersey students.

Students debuting their designs are competing for scholarships and other prizes, including a sewing machine and photo shoots of their work. Madelange Laroche, of Philadelphias Moore College of Art and Design, won the showcase Thursday night with intricate, floor-length, white gowns.

Were learning a lot, model Nicole Rosado said. Theres a lot of new stuff. My favorite thing so far is Elona Mitchell. I want her to make me a jacket. Shes so talented.

Mitchell debuted her line at Friday nights ready-to-wear show with embellished denim jackets featuring spikes, patches and prints.

Fresh from New York Fashion Week, New Jersey native Clavon Leonard brought his bold-patterned luxury suits from his line, Clavons Wear, to Showboat with a special guest modeling a metallic silver suit with a black pocket square: New York Giants linebacker Jonathon Casillas.

During 10 seasons, ACFW has become known in South Jersey as an event that pulls hairstylists, makeup artists, models and designers from New York and Philadelphia as well as the regions own fashion talent.

For area fans of style and art, its a weekend-long event that debuts the latest trends right in their own backyard. For designers and vendors, the event is a time to gauge the climate of Atlantic City and its potential for their business.

This has been an amazing weekend, said first-time designer Lori Carter, who debuted her line during Friday nights show. For (the models) to put on my designs was amazing. ACFW has been wonderful.

Carter and a model took a bow with a sign stating, together we will end domestic violence during the ready-to-wear show. The logo on Carters line of multicolored T-shirts reads, I am beautiful. Carter is using the line as a platform to empower those who have been affected by domestic violence.

Carter and Carla Wiley traveled to ACFW from Leesburg, Virginia. Wiley had a booth set up next to Carter featuring dozens of custom-made necklaces and earrings.

We started vending at small events but never something this big, Wiley said. I want to make a housewife feel like shes on a red carpet, without red carpet prices. Were having a ball.

Throughout the weekend, spectators filed into the Showboat lobby to check into rooms. ACFW offered packages including show tickets online.

ACFW has held shows throughout the city, including at Ballys, the Playground, Claridge Hotel, and now the reopened Showboat.

Season 11 of ACFW will be held in September.
Many women say theyre out, while men say theyre in. You either love them or hate them. There is no middle ground.

Were talking about cargo shorts. And judging from the national media, apparently so is everyone else.

Yet despite what seems like a national campaign to rid Americas closets of the clothing item that may be more pockets than pants, theyre as common in South Jersey in the summer as gulls on the boardwalk.

An Aug. 1 Wall Street Journal story zeroed in on the baggy shorts as a central issue in relationships. Wives and girlfriends confessed to hiding or throwing out their significant others cargo shorts, only to often find them somehow back. According to a market-research firm quoted in the story, sales of cargo shorts fell last year for the first time in a decade, but about $700 million worth were still sold.

So why do the shorts cause so much friction in relationships?

Many women simply find the bulky, oversized style ugly. But the men wearing cargo shorts have a simple, overpowering reason for keeping them in their wardrobe: They just dont care what they look like.

Its pretty hard to win a fashion argument with someone armed with that attitude  and enough room to carry half their possessions.

Even National Public Radio took notice of this love-hate cargo phenomenon. An Aug. 3 Morning Edition segment references Craig Ferguson discussing cargo shorts with Matthew McConaughey on The Late Late Show in 2014 in which Ferguson says, Who are you trying to kid, man? Youre not doing any maintenance. You dont need pockets for tools.

In a recent informal survey in Atlantic City, where a large portion of the summer population is made up of visitors, the shorts were ubiquitous. The men wearing them may not have actually been carrying tools, but they were traveling with a lot of electronics.

I keep my phone and wallet in the lower pockets. Theres a pocket for everything, said Al Mortensen, of Staten Island, New York. I even have pants like this. Its convenient. Its a little safer to keep things in the other pockets. I didnt want one of those fanny packs!

Michael Toub, of Philadelphia, shared a similar concern for electronics and dignity.

It makes me mad that more manufacturers dont make device-friendly designs. I used to have dress pants with interior cargos for work and my last pair got trashed, he said. I have my iPod, iPhone, and Im middle-aged now and wear glasses. I dont want to hang glasses or sunglasses on my shirt like a goofball. I refuse to carry a murse. No murse, he said, referring to a mans purse.

The female opinion generally carries a different tune. Cindy Guzman, of Atlantic City, didnt sugar-coat the garments fashion deficit.

I personally dont think its cute. Its not fashionable at all. But the style in this area is very casual, and for a lot of guys I think its just easy to throw them on, she said. All I know for sure is my boyfriend doesnt have any, she said.

Angela Davenport, of San Diego, has a much more forgiving opinion. I feel that beauty is from within, so when I look at a man, I dont care what hes wearing, she said. Im interested in his mind and heart, and he could be wearing a potato sack.

Justin Lee, of New York, said that as a traveler, you cant be too careful.

Im a big fan of them. I carry a lot of stuff. For instance, battery chargers. Youre not going to put that in a back pocket. I always have gum, lip balm, whatever. I dont carry a wallet because I dont believe in them. Wallets you lose, he said. I keep what I need wrapped in a hair tie in a pocket. And you dont want to keep it in your back pocket, A, youll get pick-pocketed. B, it doesnt feel great on your butt.

Lee said hes heard rumblings that cargo shorts have fallen out of style, but he had an argument ready for that.

I saw a Facebook article about how theyre out, but I was thinking, What are you talking about? Ill wear them for the rest of my life, he said. And good brands are making them, like these are by Polo (Ralph Lauren). Im not here for sophistication. Im here to be comfortable.

So, ladies, you can argue against them all day, but if theres one thing for sure, its that the main arguments for cargo shorts comes down to utility, safety and manliness. All of which are very difficult to argue against.

Contact: 609-272-7209

Twitter @ACPressSchweder
An Atlantic County Superior Court judge rejected a request to hold an Atlantic City police officer in jail pending his trial on charges he assaulted his ex-girlfriend.

Officer Dayton Brown, 44, of Galloway Township, was released during a pre-trial detention hearing mandated under new bail reform rules.

The new law, which took effect Jan. 1, is designed to allow for offenders to either be released on a summons or held until trial based on risk factors.

Browns attorney John Zarych said the 11-year veteran of the department had had no contact with the ex-girlfriend the day she was injured.

Brown is charged with aggravated assault in whats been described as a domestic violence incident by prosecutors.

During the hearing, Atlantic County prosecutors recommended Brown be held until his trial.

But Superior Court Judge Michael Blee ordered Brown released, said Zarych.

Were very grateful that hes not in jail, said Zarych, who said Brown will be back in court for a pre-indictment conference April 10.

Brown was arrested and taken to the Atlantic County jail Feb. 14 after the anonymous citizen reported an incident to Internal Affairs Section.

Police interviewed Browns girlfriend, whom authorities did not identify.
MAYS LANDING  A jealous ex-boyfriend fatally stabbed Bessy Blanco and seriously wounded her new boyfriend in Atlantic City last week, Atlantic County prosecutors alleged in court Thursday.

The accused killer then phoned Blancos daughter and blamed his actions on the daughter, specifically for having him kicked out of the home he shared with Blanco, prosecutors said.

Jose B. Lopez, 51, of Ventnor, will remain in jail until trial, Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury ruled Thursday.

Lopez is charged with killing Blanco, 54, of Atlantic City, and the attempted murder of 52-year-old Mark Richart, of Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

Richart remains hospitalized with multiple stab wounds to his head, neck, body and arms, Assistant Prosecutor Richard McKelvey said during a detention hearing for Lopez.

According to the affidavit, Blancos sister told police there was no history of domestic violence between Blanco and Lopez, and that she observed Lopez near Harrisburg Avenue 10 p.m. the night before her death driving a maroon minivan.

About 15 of Blancos family and friends intently watched the proceedings from one side of the courtroom.

Lopez leaned back in his chair throughout the hearing, stone-faced and wearing an orange jumpsuit. A few of his family members sat on the other side of the courtroom.

Lopezs attorney, Stephen Funk, said Lopez has been living in Atlantic County for 32 years and works in construction. He said he has many ties to the area and that his criminal history was not terribly recent.

Funk said the state failed to show probable cause due to lack of eyewitness testimony except for Richart and very little discovery to substantiate the investigations.

DeLury noted Lopezs past criminal convictions and connections to El Salvador, as well as his uncertain immigration status. He said Lopez has proved to be a flight risk and a danger to others.

McKelvey laid out a motive of a jealous ex-boyfriend who lived with Blanco until a week before the killing. He was since staying with his mother in Ventnor, according to testimony.

McKelvey said Atlantic City police were called to the home in the unit block of North Harrisburg Avenue at 8 p.m. Feb. 18, when they found Richart in the street with multiple stab wounds.

Richart told the officers that Blancos ex-boyfriend Jose had stabbed him and Blanco, and Blanco was probably dead. Police found her dead inside.

Detectives spoke with Blancos sister and daughter to identify Lopez and obtain a phone number, for which they were able to subpoena cellphone information.

McKelvey said the phone allegedly belonging to Lopez was used at about the time of the killing in the approximate area of the killing, according to the cell tower information.

Police recovered a 12-inch Fiskars sheath for a knife found the following day in a red car they said Lopez was borrowing. Prosecutors believe it belonged to the knife that killed Blanco, he said.

Meanwhile, friends and family mourned Blanco.

Liz Fuls, of Galloway Township, described Blanco, her friend and former co-worker, as beautiful inside and out.

I could see anyone falling in love with her, and perhaps becoming obsessed, Fuls told The Press of Atlantic City. Her personality glows.

Blancos niece, Rebecca Blanco, 17, of Galloway Township, said Lopez was known to the family.

He was an ex-boyfriend. It was jealousy and obsession, Rebecca Blanco said.

Bessy Blancos funeral will be Tuesday at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Atlantic City, and burial will be in the Atlantic City Cemetery in Pleasantville, her niece said.

Rebecca Blanco has set up a fundraising page to help the family with Bessy Blancos funeral costs. To donate, visit youcaring.com/anitablancofuneralcost-760636/. The page raised more than $5,800 by Thursday night.

Michelle Brunetti Post contributed to this report.
VINELAND  The mayor and City Council members propose to double their government salaries by next year, a plan that comes less than three months after taking office.

The proposal increases the mayors salary from $30,000 to $45,000 this year. It would rise to $60,000 in 2018.

The salary for City Council members would jump from $5,000 to $7,500 this year and to $10,000 the next year.

The increases are contained in an ordinance on which council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and final vote when it meets at 6:30 p.m. tonight at City Hall.

Mayor Anthony Fanucci said the salary-increase proposal came from council. He said he agreed to the mayoral salary increase on the condition he forgo city health, medical and prescription-drug benefits. He said those benefits generally cost about $30,000 annually, enough to offset the salary increase.

Fanucci and council members Paul Spinelli, Angela Calakos, David Acosta, Ronald Franeschini Jr. and Albert Vargas were elected as a team in November and took office in January. Fanucci served as council president for the past four years, while Spinelli and Calakos served on council during that time.

Spinelli, now council president, couldnt be reached for comment.

The proposed increase in the mayoral salary to $60,000 would vault it past the citys median household income of $49,453, U.S. Census Bureau numbers show. It would also be more than the overall $49,984 median household income in Cumberland County, the statistics show.

Census numbers also show about 17 percent of the residents in the city and the county live in poverty.

The citys mayoral and council salaries are already more than those paid annually to elected officials in Cumberland Countys other two most populous municipalities, Bridgeton and Millville.

The mayoral salary in Bridgeton is $10,000. council members earn $7,000, and the City Council president is paid $7,500.

In Millville, the mayor is picked from one of five people elected to City Commission. The mayor is paid $10,039, while the other four commission members each get $9,274.

The census bureau estimates the citys population at 60,818. Thats more than double the combined population of Millvilles 28,230 residents and Bridgetons 25,031, the census numbers show.

According to the ordinance, the salaries for the Vineland mayor and council members were last raised in 1987.

The ordinance says existing salaries are extremely low and discourages many qualified individuals from considering election.
NORTHFIELD  A memorial to Charles Ingram remains outside the VA Outpatient Clinic nearly a year after the former Navy officer set himself on fire and died.

Ingram did not leave a suicide note. But the public nature of the incident had politicians and advocates redoubling their efforts to make sure veterans in South Jersey have the medical care they need.

Those efforts have led to expanded services, more options and faster care for veterans in the region.

The mission to help veterans will never end, said U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd. But there has been a lot of progress, and things will continue to improve.

In 2015, LoBiondo convinced then-Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald to agree to a program in South Jersey that allows veterans who cannot make the commute to VA hospitals in Wilmington or Philadelphia to be referred to a community provider or local hospital for appointments. They can receive care locally at the VAs expense.

The program has the potential to be a great asset for local veterans, Atlantic County Veterans Services Director Bob Frolow said.

There have been some complaints about referrals not being processed like they should or at all, he said. But its still new. I think eventually its going to be tremendous and take care of that transportation headache.

Vince Kane, interim associate director at the Wilmington VA Hospital, said there has been remarkable progress in finding community providers to treat veterans.

Recognizing the unique needs of southern New Jersey veterans, the urgency to reduce travel burden and provide more care locally, VA now has 201 provider agreements with healthcare organizations specific to southern New Jersey, Kane said in a statement. She noted 51 South Jersey provider agreements were added in February alone as we continually seek to expand community partnerships.

LoBiondo will be reintroducing a bill that would allow the VA to issue a card to all veterans so they can make a choice between seeing a doctor at a local hospital or visiting the VA. The secretary of the VA could institute the pilot program immediately without Congress having to pass legislation.

For veterans who still need to go to the VA hospitals, the bus has been replaced with a new, more comfortable van service. But the need to go to VA hospitals is diminishing because of expanded services at the local VA outpatient clinics.

The biggest addition has been the Telehealth system at clinics in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties.

Telehealth allows veterans to have doctor appointments via a screen in real-time instead of having to travel. Doctors perform everything as if they were in the same room with the patient, including writing prescriptions.

The appointments cover physical and mental health issues and are still protected under HIPAA laws, according to the VA.

Facility upgrades and extra staff also have helped in expanding services in the region.

The new outpatient clinic in Vineland has been a godsend for veterans in the area, Frolow said.

The 10,000-square-foot facility on Landis Avenue opened in December and is more than twice the size of the former clinic on Sherman Avenue. VA officials said it provides faster service, diagnoses and treatment options.

The clinics in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties and Sussex and Kent counties in Delaware have added 19 staff members since March 2016, according to David Cowgill, a spokesman for the VA.

LoBiondo said officials are looking to build a new outpatient clinic in Cape May County, but a potential location or timetable are premature.

All of the improvements have come from the federal level at the urging of local advocates. But there are things that also can be done at the state level to help.

Assemblyman Chris Brown, R-Atlantic, is working on a bill that would establish a veterans court in New Jersey. The bill would allow prosecutors to direct veterans to the court, structured like drug court, if the crime is due to a service-related issue, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

You can get them the treatment they need  whether thats addiction or mental health issues  and work toward getting that service member back into society, Brown said.

Veterans placed in the court could have the option of completing a program to have their records expunged.

We can protect the public but also serve the veteran, Brown said, adding that 40 other states across the country have something similar to what he is proposing.

Overall, officials and advocates are pleased with the work that has been done to improve veterans issues in South Jersey.

Things have really improved over the last few years, Frolow said. The new clinics and the Telehealth system are both home runs.
CHERRY HILL  The Pinelands Commission approved the South Jersey Gas pipeline Friday in a raucous meeting in front of several hundred people, with opponents chanting and interrupting with shouts and songs.

A chorus of voices repeatedly shouted, No! No! No! and Do the right thing! along with a simple USA! USA! USA! that went on for several minutes each and seemed designed to both send a message and delay the vote.

Signs hovered by the dozens over the crowd, declaring Protect the Pinelands and Protect the Aquifer.

But there was no stopping the vote, although the audience could not hear how each commissioner voted because of crowd noise.

The vote was nine in favor and five opposed. There was one abstention from the new commissioner representing the federal Department of the Interior, who said he didnt feel he had adequate information to vote.

The 22-mile pipeline is slated to run from Maurice River Township to Beesleys Point in Upper Township, where it will deliver natural gas to convert the B.L. England electric generating station from coal and oil and remain open.

It would travel through 10 miles of protected Pinelands Forest Area, under pavement and along existing roads.

The New Jersey Sierra Club and the Pinelands Preservation Alliance are already suing to stop the pipeline. After the vote, they vowed more lawsuits.

The more vocal members of the crowd were clearly opposed to the pipeline. But others, such as former Commissioner Jay Mounier, who comes to almost every commission meeting and has been an advocate for protection of the Pinelands for decades, said the emphasis on the pipeline was taking attention away from pressing issues of protection.

I dont think its a problem, he said of the pipeline.

The meeting was held in the Crowne Plaza Philadelphia-Cherry Hill in the Grand Ballroom. The ballroom seats about 1,500, and at the height of proceedings it was almost full.

B.L. England plant owner RC Cape May Holdings released a statement expressing happiness with the vote and the desire to be good environmental stewards.

A statement from Folsom-based South Jersey Gas said the commissions action on what it calls the Cape Atlantic Reliability Project recognizes the energy reliability challenges facing southern New Jersey and the balanced solution this project offers.

The company said it would carefully construct the pipeline to address the energy demands of 142,000 customers in Cape May and Atlantic counties, protect and create jobs, and provide a meaningful opportunity to significantly reduce air emissions while supporting the states Energy Master Plan.

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, released a statement of his support, saying opponents had threatened him.

I want to thank the commissioners who voted to approve the project. They had the courage to do what they thought was right, despite the threats to their safety and harassment they endured during this tumultuous process, said VanDrew. This type of intimidation, which was also directed at me, is deplorable.

He said building the pipeline will create a cleaner and more reliable system of energy delivery.

Public comment was over on the application before Friday, so audience members couldnt speak before the vote. Instead they chanted This is what democracy looks like! as well as singing This Land is Your Land.

The commission held a meeting last month to take comments and extended the period for written comments into February.

Commissioner Mark Lohbauer, the former chairman who voted against the pipeline at the last vote in January 2014 when it was narrowly defeated, moved to table the pipeline resolution early in the meeting.

That motion failed 10-5.

All local commissioners for Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean counties voted in support of the pipeline.

They include Atlantic County representative and blueberry farmer Paul Galletta; Cumberland County representative and real estate agent Jane Jannarone; Cape May County representative William Brown, a real estate and insurance broker; Ocean County representative and retired county executive Alan Avery; and gubernatorial appointee Bob Barr, a community activist for the disabled, of Ocean City.

None of the commissioners who voted for the pipeline spoke about their votes, although Galletta said he had enough information to vote Friday after years of hearing from all sides.

Lohbauer spoke extensively about why he felt the pipeline would not meet rules in the commissions Comprehensive Management Plan, saying the electricity generated would not go to Pinelands homes and 60 percent of the cost of the pipeline is being paid by South Jersey Gas ratepayers, the vast majority of whom do not live in the Pinelands, with B.L. England paying only 40 percent.

The CMP says public infrastructure can only be installed in Forest Area if it primarily benefits only the Pinelands.

Lohbauer acknowledged the wording of that requirement is problematic but said the pipeline would not meet even the lesser standard of primarily benefiting the Pinelands.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account.
Ranjbar was ordered to be deported to Afghanistan, but that deportation never came. Ranjbar has no travel documents to prove his Afghan citizenship.

While he doesnt want to be deported, he said he supported Trump.

Donald Trump is right, he said. You come legal, you work and pay tax. Youre not supposed to be illegal.

Ranjbar is one of the estimated 12,000 unauthorized immigrants living in Atlantic County, according to a 2014 study from the Migration Policy Institute. A separate study from the Pew Research Center estimated Atlantic County has 15,000 undocumented immigrants.

As President Donald Trump expands the number of people who are considered a priority for deportation, those Atlantic County figures show the impact changes to immigration enforcement could have locally.

Undocumented immigrants are estimated to make up nearly 5 percent of the countys total population, according to the Pew study. An earlier Pew report said New Jersey had the fifth-largest undocumented immigrant population in the country. And Trumps stance on immigration has already led to a few local protests.

Homeland Security Department memos released Tuesday state that any immigrant living in the U.S. illegally who has been charged or convicted of any crime  and even those suspected of a crime  will now be an enforcement priority. That could include people arrested for shoplifting or minor traffic offenses.

Johanna Calle, a program coordinator for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, expressed concerns that Trumps expansion of those targeted for deportation could lead to racial profiling and separated families.

Youre going to have cases of people who have not committed crimes that are going to be picked up for merely being here, she said. The reality is undocumented people have U.S. citizen children, U.S. citizen parents, and so if one person gets picked up that completely rattles a whole family.

Trumps immigration policies have already drawn scrutiny in Atlantic City.

Several immigrant-owned businesses in the city shut their doors in protest for a day last week to highlight the impact immigrants have on their community. The state is ranked second for the percentage of jobs created by immigrant-owned businesses, according to a WalletHub study released last week.

Earlier this month, city leaders held a vigil in City Hall in response to Trumps proposed travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries.

{span}Our nation has always been a nation of immigrants, Mayor Don Guardian said at the Feb. 2 event. And Atlantic City is a city of immigrants.{/span}

{span}City Councilman Moisse Mo Delgado, who is Hispanic, said he was concerned about how deportations would affect local families.{/span}

{span}To put this amount of fear into so many  we have children who are scared their parents are going to be thrown away, he said.{/span}

Gov. Chris Christie defended recent raids and arrests of undocumented immigrants, saying on CNN that laws that are in effect right now have to be enforced and thats whats happening right now.

In 2015, Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson announced his legal staff would develop protocols with the New Jersey Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to assist in the arrest, detention and ultimate deportation of undocumented immigrants engaged in criminal activity.

Levinson said Tuesday the move was to avoid costly litigation in potential cases of false detention. He cited a 2014 court decision that imposed a financial liability on Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, after its county jail officials held a person they believed to be an undocumented immigrant on detainer for several days when, in fact, he was an American citizen.

We did have a meeting with ICE, and they have agreed that within 48 hours, sometimes even less time, they would come and get these individuals, Levinson said. We wanted to make sure our county taxpayers were not on the hook.

Levinson said he was absolutely astounded by the estimates of how many unauthorized immigrants live in the county.

I dont know how those numbers could possibly be substantiated, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Argentinas state-controlled energy company YPF S.A. YPF recently signed a preliminary agreement with the Anglo Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC RDS.A. The move aims to ramp up the development of Vaca Muerta Shales oil and gas assets.

A pilot project has been planned in Bajada de Anelo area of Vaca Muerta Shale. The project will be equally owned by Shell and YPF. Shell will invest $300 million, in two phases, in the project. The deal is subject to approval of provincial authorities.

The preliminary deal was announced a month after the President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri,signed an agreement with the oil companies aiming to boost investment in Vaca Muerta Shale. The deal is likely to reduce imports of costly gas and lower the nations energy deficit.

A total of $5 billion investment has been made to tap energy sources in Vaca Muerta shale by oil companies like Chevron Corp. CVX, BP plc BP and Total S.A. along with YPF and Shell.

YPF intends to invest $2.3 billion in Vaca Muerta Shale this year. Shell would be investing $300 million every year til 2020 in Argentina for exploration, refining, distribution and marketing of oil and gas. It is expected that that this deal will boost Shells strong and diversified portfolio of global energy by providing ample growth opportunities.

YPF is a vertically integrated company, engaged in the production, exploration, refining and marketing of gas and petroleum products. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Over the last three months, the Zacks categorized Oil and Gas Integrated - International industry has recorded growth of 1.88%. However, shares of YPF have significantly outperformed the industry by registering growth rate of around 28%.

Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017

In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? These 10 are painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. They are our primary picks to buy and hold. Be among the very first to see them >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



BP p.l.c. (BP): Free Stock Analysis Report



Chevron Corporation (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report



Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A): Free Stock Analysis Report



YPF Sociedad Anonima (YPF): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
N.J. politicians already have put a nation-leading tax burden on residents and a nation-leading government pension debt on future generations. But theyre not done. Now they want to increase the tax on electric customers to lavishly subsidize large commercial projects and mainly well-off homeowners.

The tax goes by the euphemism societal benefits charge on electric utility bills, but its still a tax  government taking money from citizens who use electricity and channeling it to favored projects and recipients.

In this case, four North Jersey Democrats have sponsored a bill to increase this tax until it covers 15 percent of the costs of solar panel systems, which would be reimbursed to their owners. Combined with existing federal subsidies, the public would pay for about half the cost of these solar installations. Then on top of that, the public would pay again in the form of energy credits from the state to the owners. And adding one final insult to financial injury, the solar users dont even pay the social benefits charge that funded their installation.

The bill authorizes this latest massive subsidy for commercial solar installations producing up to 2 megawatts of power. Government officials, of course, will get to decide who gets the approvals and benefits for this handout of money from ordinary consumers.

Subsidies for residential solar installations would also be authorized, at 25 kilowatts  systems barely a hundredth the size of the commercial ones.

State Ratepayer Advocate Stefanie Brand said a big problem with solar subsidies is they benefit people who can afford solar installations, people who would invest in solar if they pay it off in 10 years instead of three years.

A worse problem is that a significant amount of the subsidy payoff to well-off owners is taken from low-income households that cant afford a solar investment. This is why the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and the National Policy Alliance, presenting the Congressional Black Caucus, want surcharges on solar users connected to the grid.

Richard Mroz, president of the state Board of Public Utilities, said incentives made sense years ago to encourage the creation of a solar industry and market, but no more. The state has put $2.5 billion into solar and now is second in the nation in residential solar installations  tiny New Jersey No. 2, far from the sunny Southwest. The state already is scheduled to spend another $5 billion on solar programs and the Democrats bill would pile more subsidies on top of that.

Even regarding climate change, solar subsidies dont make sense. Solar installations in New Jersey will never have more than a negligible effect on global warming. A far better approach would be a revenue-neutral carbon tax on emissions, with the proceeds distributed to all citizens. Last month, the U.S. Treasury estimated that would increase incomes for 70 percent of Americans.

N.J. politicians should quit taking money from lower-income ratepayers and handing it to companies and well-off homeowners. End state solar subsidies, dont raise them.
Politics over religion

How sad the world has become with all the protests, marches, etc.

Where were all the thousands of people when they took prayer out of the schools, and started trying to take Christian rights away little by little?

I guess politics is more important and popular than religion and the Creator. May God have mercy on us.

Adeline White

Villas

Backs Brown on taxes

I was appalled to read that Gov. Chris Christie is now attacking Republican legislators like Assemblyman Chris Brown who voted no on the final version of the gasoline tax (after voting in favor of an earlier version).

Once a true fiscal conservative, Christie is abandoning true champions of the taxpayer. While Brown stuck to his guns, insisting on the passage of the largest middle class tax cut in a generation, Christie pulled the tax cut off the table in a backroom deal with the special interests and signed the gas tax increase Brown and other Republicans voted against.

Im glad Brown repeatedly stood up to Christie and the special interests. The days cant come fast enough for Christie to exit the state and when he does, Brown and the legislators who eventually said no to raising the gas tax will still be standing.

Paul A. Rosenberg

Egg Harbor Township

Value, welcome veterans

I am a proud American who votes for the candidate I select and not the political party. In reference to all the recent media photo-ops and coverage of those reunited, etc., after the recent travel ban was readjusted  I could not help but envision if among all those protesting, etc., that that same intensity could be given to every veteran who currently returns home after war.

Imagine if vets (present and past) were met with a huge group at the airport to welcome them home. Envision a vet missing a limb or limbs, eyesight, etc., and there was a crowd awaiting to thank and welcome them (as well as those with invisible wounds, scars and the hidden curse of PTSD)  he or she might for a few moments feel gratitude and love from all, of any faiths, who reside in the U.S.

I have never witnessed that and I am not a veteran, but I wish the media would consider a daily national photo of some veteran (or veterans), with a caption saying Welcome home! We love you and we thank you!

On average 22 veterans a day take their lives and I wish that could be reversed. News is news, and sometimes it may not be new or titillating but may be worthy of coverage. To become aware is an opportunity to care and perhaps an obligation to share. The time to begin is now.

Carol Poshka

Atlantic City

Tired of defiance, tears

I am sick and tired of the tears and defiance of Hollywood, the media (with the exception of Fox News), Sen. Chuck Schumer etc.

The nation finally has a president who truly loves America and is willing to keep its people safe. Let us be grateful if the ban prevents just one terrorist from entering the country.

Im grateful to President Trump and may God bless him for his promise and effort to keep America first and make America great again.

Jennie Hamada

Brigantine

Amplify voice of protest with random kindnesses

United we stand, divided we fall. The nation was divided long before the recent election and the division has increased since President Trumps election. People are desperate for change, yet are often conflicted, confused and rally against it when it actually occurs.

During the Depression, people felt the country must unite for the greater good and to survive. Fast forward to 2017, the we has evolved into an I, as in I want, I need, I must have, etc. It is more about me in the high-tech world. Newspapers, books, socialization, etc., are in second place, as social-media-starved individuals chant and share their thoughts. In-person conversation and dialogue? Whats that?

Everyone currently protesting could add something to their efforts to amplify what they want to be heard. For example, regarding the immigration situation, after protesting they could turn their voices into action by doing random acts of kindness for immigrants. It would strengthen their voices.

If random acts of kindness went viral and became part of social media and news, the me first could become the we. Protesters could unite and chant for veterans, the homeless, the elderly, etc., and initiate change through a positive physical action. Imagine the benefit to the country if random acts of kindness were linked to protests.

Pamela A. Price

Atlantic City

Soros behind the riots

Anarchy: a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority. Examples of anarchy today are in clear sight. Ferguson, Missouri, riots created by the lie Hands up, dont shoot were so out of control. Innocent people injured, property destroyed. Police assassinations, Baltimore riots and Berkeley protests-turned-riots are but a few examples.

The hand of George Soros can be seen in this behavior and any lull is because after striking, the snake must recoil before striking again.

Robert J. Caroccio Sr.

Ocean City
For Immediate Release

Chicago, ILFebruary 24, 2017Zacks.com looks back on the hottest stories of the week featured in the Stocks in the News blog, where analysts and writers discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks, the financial markets, and the greater investing world.

Here are highlights from this weeks Stocks in the News blog:

7 Insane Facts About Apples New $5 Billion Campus

Known as Apple Park, iPhone maker Apples AAPL brand new headquarters is almost ready to go, and will be open to employees starting in April. Th tech giant said it will take over six months to move its 12,000 employees from its old campus in Cupertino, California, and construction of Apple Parks buildings and parklands will continue through the summer.

Popeyes Spikes 12% After $1.8 Billion Acquisition Deal with Burger King Owner

Restaurant Brands International QSR, owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons, has reached a deal with Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen PLKI to acquire the fried chicken chain for $1.8 billion. Restaurant Brands will pay Popeyes shareholders $79 per share, a 19% premium to Fridays price at market close.

GM Keeps Gaining on Driverless Cars and Possible European Merger

Shares of General Motors GM were up on Tuesday on reports that the largest American automaker is looking to sell its European operations to French-based PSA Group, the maker of car brands like Peugeot and Citroen. The deal has already experienced some union pushback, but German officials have voiced support for the GM and PSA deal as fear of plant closures have been curbed.

Retail Earnings Roundup: WMT, M, HD Soar After Impressive Reports

After a spree of disappointing holiday sales announcements, investors have been less-than-excited about a tepid retail industry that has continued to struggle in the face of changing consumer behavior. However, solid fourth-quarter reports from Walmart WMT, Macys M, and Home Depot HD had investors in a frenzy on Tuesday.

Story continues

Learn More About Zacks Investment Ideas

You are welcome to download the full, up-to-the-minute list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks free of charge. There is no better place to start your own stock search. Plus, you can access the full list of must-avoid Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See the stocks free >>

Interested in personal finance? Zacks Money Sense e-mail newsletter is designed to bring you strategies and valuable information that can help you take control of your personal finances, as well as how to get the most out of your money. It covers a range of topics, from retirement planning to money management solutions. Subscribe to the free newsletter today.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Home Depot, Inc. (The) (HD): Free Stock Analysis Report



Apple Inc. (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report



Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT): Free Stock Analysis Report



Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR): Free Stock Analysis Report



Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. (PLKI): Free Stock Analysis Report



Macy's Inc (M): Free Stock Analysis Report



General Motors Company (GM): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
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.




DUBLIN, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Flavors and Fragrances Market - Forecasts from 2016 to 2021" report to their offering.

Flavors and Fragrances market was estimated to be worth $24.939 billion in 2015 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.92% over the forecast period to reach a total market size of $31.410 billion by 2021.

Flavors and Fragrances have become an integral part of different products with application ranging from food and beverages to household care and toiletries. Rapid urbanization, focus towards a healthier lifestyle and increasing application of flavors and fragrances are some of the major factors driving this market. Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the global market in terms of volume and growth followed by Europe Middle East and Africa and Americas region respectively.

Key industry players profiled as part of this section are Givaudan, Firmenich, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, Symrise and Takasago International Corporation along with several other players.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction

2. Research Methodology

3. Executive Summary

4. Flavors and Fragrances Market Industry Overview

5. Flavors and Fragrances Market by Type (US$ Billion)

5.1. Flavors

5.2. Fragrance



6. Flavors and Fragrances Market by Raw Materials (US$ Billion)

6.1. Essential Oils

6.2. Aroma Chemicals

6.3. Others



7. Flavors Market by Application (US$ Billion)

7.1. Food

7.2. Beverages

7.3. Confectionary

7.4. Dairy

7.5. Pharmaceutical

7.6. Others



8. Fragrances Market by Application (US$ Billion)

8.1. Dish and Laundry Detergents

8.2. Skin and Hair care Products

8.3. Perfumes

8.4. Household Care

8.5. Others



9. Flavors and Fragrances Market Forecast by Geography (US$ Billion)



10. Competitive Intelligence



11. Company Profiles

- Givaudan

- Firmenich

- International Flavors & Fragrances Inc

- Symrise

- Takasago International Corporation

- MANE

- Frutarom Industries Ltd

- Sensient Flavors

- The Robertet Group

- Huabao International Holdings Limited

- BASF SE

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/qcdk7z/flavors_and

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com



SOURCE Research and Markets
ALBANY, New York, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Transparency Market Research has released a new market report titled "Automotive Lightweight Materials (Product - Plastics, Rubber, Composites, Metal; Vehicle Type - Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles, Heavy Trucks & Busses; Application - Interior, Exterior, Under Bonnet, and Structural) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2016-2024." According to the report, the global Automotive Lightweight Materials Market was valued at US$ 149.03 Bn in 2015 and is estimated to reach US$ 301.36 Bn by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 8.3% between 2016 and 2024.

Lightweight materials are essential to improve the fuel economy of automobile vehicles while making sure of safety and performance. Use of lightweight materials is nothing but the replacement of conventional materials such as steel & cast iron with lightweight materials such as HSS, AHSS, UHSS, aluminum & magnesium alloys and polymer composites. The use of lightweight materials can significantly improve fuel consumption because it takes less power to accelerate a lighter vehicle. For instance, it is estimated that with a 10% reduction in vehicle weight, a vehicle's fuel economy can be improved by 6-8%.

Lightweight materials can be classified on the basis of product segment such as: Plastics, metals, rubber and composites. On the basis of application types the market can be segmented as: Interior, exterior, under bonnet and structural. Lightweight materials finds applications in various vehicles as: Passenger cars, commercial vehicles, heavy trucks and busses. Metal segment particularly steel held for more than half of the market share in 2015 in terms of volume. Innate properties of steel such as strength, durability, rigidity, machinability and innovation in various grades of steel such as UHSS, DP, and CP to further reduce the weight of the vehicle, are some of the factors expected to drive metal segment during the forecast period. Aluminum intensive design have been developed by automakers such as Ford and Jaguar and the incorporation of the same had resulted in significant weight reduction. Hence, the innovation in various grades of aluminum alloys and use of multi material concept in vehicle design presents a significant opportunity for lightweight materials market.

Download Industry Research Report Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=8509

Currently, North America leads the global Automotive Lightweight Materials market with over slightly more than 30% of the global production volume. Rapid technology, easy availability of raw material suppliers, presence of various automakers in the region are the few factors favoring the growth of automotive lightweight materials market in the region. In terms of revenue, Asia Pacific presents a significant opportunity for the lightweight materials market due to the factors such as rising purchasing power of people, changing lifestyle, growing automotive industry and increasing need of car ownership and is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period growing at a CAGR of more than 6%.

Key players profiled in the report include Automotive Lightweight Materials market include Key players profiled in the report include Automotive Lightweight Materials market include BASF SE, The Dow Chemical Company, Momentive Performance Materials, LANXESS AG, Lear Corporation, Faurecia S.A., Magna International and others.

Browse Research PR: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/automotive-lightweight-materials-market.htm

The report segments the global Automotive Lightweight Materials market as follows:

Automotive Lightweight Materials Market: Product Analysis

Plastics Polypropylene (PP) High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) Polycarbonate (PC) Polyurethane (PU)

Rubber

Composites

Metal Aluminum Magnesium Steels Other Alloys



Automotive Lightweight Materials Market: Vehicle Type Analysis

Passenger Cars Compact Cars Mid-Size Premium Luxury

Commercial Vehicles

Heavy Trucks and Busses

Automotive Lightweight Materials Market: Application Analysis

Interior

Exterior

Under Bonnet

structural

Automotive Lightweight Materials Market: Regional Analysis

North America U.S. Canada Rest of North America

Europe France U.K. Spain Germany Italy Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific China Japan ASEAN Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa (MEA) GCC Egypt South Africa Rest of MEA

& (MEA)

Browse Other Related Market Research Reports:

Automotive Plastics Market : http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/automotive-plastics-market.html



http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/automotive-plastics-market.html Automotive Lubricants Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/automotive-lubricants-market.html

About TMR

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The company's exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend 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.

TMR's data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

Contact

Transparency Market Research

State Tower

90 State Street,

Suite 700,

Albany NY - 12207

United States

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com



Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Blog: http://www.editiontruth.com/









SOURCE Transparency Market Research
VANCOUVER, February 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced that management will attend the following investor conference:

BMO Capital Markets 26th Global Metals & Mining Conference in Hollywood, Florida . Darren Pylot , President and CEO will be presenting on Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The associated presentation will be available at: http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.

About Capstone Mining Corp.

Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, focused on copper. We are committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our three producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in Arizona, US, the Cozamin copper-silver mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects; the large scale 70% owned copper-iron Santo Domingo project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned Kutcho copper-zinc project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile and US. Capstone's strategy is to focus on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable, mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at http://www.capstonemining.com.

Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor Relations and Communications, +1-604-637-8157, cburnett@capstonemining.com

SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.
PEORIA, Illinois, February 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT/Euronext: CATR) informs its stockholders that on February 23, 2017, in accordance with Section 16(a) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, 1 Form 3 and 1 Form 4 were filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") with respect to beneficial ownership of Caterpillar Inc. stock.

Caterpillar files electronically with the SEC required reports on Form 8-K, Form 10-Q, Form 10-K and Form 11-K; proxy materials; ownership reports for insiders as required by Section 16(a) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and registration statements on Forms S-3 and S-8, as necessary; and other forms or reports, as required. All of the forms and reports filed electronically with the SEC are available on the SEC Internet site (www.sec.gov).

Caterpillar also maintains an Internet site (www.Caterpillar.com) and copies of its annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports filed or furnished with the SEC are available free of charge through Caterpillar's Internet site (www.Caterpillar.com/secfilings) as soon as reasonably practicable after the relevant document has been filed with the SEC.

CONTACT: Rachel Potts, Corporate Public Affairs, +1-309-675-6892

This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire.

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.
BENSHEIM and LAMPERTHEIM, Germany and GODALMING, England, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Tectrade will market dsmISI software for IBM Spectrum Protect in UK

Concat AG, a Meridian Group International Company, today announced a strategic partnership with Tectrade to market the dsmISI Suite for environments with Dell/EMC Isilon, IBM Spectrum Protect and Veeam in the United Kingdom. Concat is the distributor of the dsmISI suite developed by its technology partner General Storage for which Tectrade will cover the market in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Market potential is tremendous.

The TSM-as-a-Service concept allows companies to radically increase the degree of automation for backup and restore, while dramatically simplifying storage management. With dsmISI, large storage volumes in the Tera and Petabyte range can be backed up and restored overnight. Since the launch at TSM Symposium in Berlin in 2013 the solution has generated strong demand outside of Germany.

Mike Rickards, Big Data Business Unit Director of Tectrade stated: "Our strategic partnership with Concat AG and General Storage represents an exciting new chapter for Tectrade and further enhances our relevance to organizations using IBM Spectrum Protect who need to protect, and recover, large amounts of unstructured data within hours, not days. The dsmISI portfolio of software is of particular relevance to organizations using EMC Isilon OneFS, or any scale out NAS, and is proven to significantly improve backup and recovery performance whilst dramatically reducing complexity and operational costs. This new partnership is a true meeting of minds and further strengthens our value proposition to users of IBM Spectrum Protect or Veeam and will ensure Tectrade's continued market leadership."

Stephane Criachi, Solution Architect at Concat AG, added: "With Tectrade, we have found a strong partner in the UK, who has been active in the data protection market for more than 20 years and is well aware of the challenges customers are facing today. The cooperation with Tectrade enables us to act more globally and to drive dsmISI solutions even more successfully."

Find more at:

http://www.tectrade.com/solutions/big-data/high-performance-data-protection-recovery/

http://www.concat.de/dsmisi

http://www.general-storage.com/

http://www.onlinemeridian.com

TSM customer event with best practices:

June 28th, 2017, Frankfurt Airport Hotel Sheraton

Press contact:

Concat AG

Claudia E. Petrik, PR

Tel: +49(0)-6157-9194-260, Mob: +49(0)-172-7081045

Email: claudia.petrik@concat.de

Tectrade

Mike Rickards, Business Unit Director, Big Data

Tel: +44(0)1423-340942, Mob: +44(0)7974-356434

Twitter: @rickardsm



SOURCE Concat AG
MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ITL Limited, (ASX: ITD), an innovative diversified healthcare company, is pleased to announce excellent results for the half year ended 31 December 2016 compared with the previous corresponding period. A full "Results and ITL BioMedical Growth Update" presentation can be viewed here.

Highlights

Profit after tax of $2.12m ( Dec 2015 : $1.04m ; up 104%)

( : ; up 104%) Earnings per share of 2.2 cents ( Dec 2015 : 1.2 cents ; up 83%)

( : ; up 83%) Revenue of $17.5m ( Dec 2015 : $15.7m ; up 11%)

( : ; up 11%) Profit before tax of $2.12m ( Dec 2015 : $1.01m ; up 110%)

( : ; up 110%) EBITDA was $2.7m ( Dec 2015 : $1.6m ; up 69%)

( : ; up 69%) Net Debt $5.0m ( June 2016 : $5.5m ; down 9%)

The significant increase in profit was driven by improvements in the BioMedical and Healthcare divisions.

ITL BioMedical won new customers, grew its product portfolio and benefited from improved market conditions.

ITL Healthcare achieved improved profitability from strategic sourcing and customer initiatives whilst costs have been carefully controlled.

ITL's investment in MyHealthTest, the direct to consumer pathology test provider for major chronic diseases, has focused on critical systems development and expanding the range of tests.

ITL intends to continue reducing identified key risks, drive product growth and enter new markets in order to keep driving business growth.

The Board expects a strong result for the full financial year even allowing for some seasonality in the 2nd half year.

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/471428/ITL_Health_Group_Logo.jpg

About ITL Limited

ITL Limited (ASX:ITD) is an innovative global medical technology company that creates and manufactures leading edge medical devices for the clinical, blood banking, and laboratory markets. ITL is a growing provider of specialist ancillary products for the blood culture testing market, estimated to be worth US$3.3bn.

ITL maintains four divisions including ITL BioMedical, ITL Healthcare, ITL Clinical and MyHealthTest. The Company holds an IP portfolio of 48 patents and sells into 55 countries, protecting healthcare workers in millions of procedures annually.

For more information or inquiries please email info@itl-limited.com

Related Links

http://www.itlhealthcare.com



SOURCE ITL Limited
NUREMBERG, Germany, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Independent global researcher, GfK, has released findings showing which vehicle features, from a given list, people see as being 'very important' in a vehicle. Hygiene factors of safety in an accident, reliability, fuel economy and low running costs naturally top of the list. However, significant numbers state that the latest driver technology and passenger technology are 'very important' to them - and the percentage of people claiming this increases notably with income.

Over a third (36 percent) of the online population across 17 countries see having the latest driver technology in a vehicle (e.g., steering or parking assist, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry or ignition) as 'very important', and over a quarter (28 percent) say the same for the latest passenger technology (audio or video streaming, social network connectivity, etc.).

Importance of vehicle technology increases with income

Looking at these results by income - i.e. breaking each countries' earners down into quartiles - there is notable difference in the numbers that say having the latest technology in their vehicle is 'very important'. On average, 44 percent of people in the high income quartile (the top quarter of the total income in each country), see the latest driver tech as 'very important', compared to just 30 percent of people in the low income quartile (the bottom quarter of total income within each country). Likewise, for the latest passenger tech, 35 percent of those in the high income quartile say it's very important, versus 22 percent on those in the low income quartlie.

The effect of income on what people see as important in their vehicle is seen across a range of features, not just the vehicle technology - in particular the quality of workmanship, a comfortable interior, a spacious interior, a powerful engine, the reputation of the manufacturer. In other areas such as the fuel economy or environmentally friendly, the results are much more even across all income bands.

Driver technology is most important in Brazil, China and Korea

Brazil (48 percent), China (43 percent) and Korea (42 percent) have the highest overall percentages saying that the latest driver technology is 'very important'. And for the latest passenger technology, China (37 percent), Brazil (36 percent) and Mexico (30 percent) have the highest percentages saying it is 'very important'.

Siegfried Hoegl, GfK's Global Head of Automotive Research, comments, "The value of these findings for vehicle manufacturers lies in being able to assess precisely which features different consumer segments say appeal most to them - and adjust marketing content and product development to match those aspirations. By combining this attitudinal data with analysis of actual sales across different markets and consumer segments, or insights from running in-depth car clinics, we help our clients to fine-tune their customer insights to the maximum extent - both globally and at country-specific level."

Download full findings for each of the 17 countries, visit http://www.gfk.com/global-studies/global-study-overview/

SOURCE GfK
MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest Military organisation to procure FlightPro is the Belgian Air Component, who will be using the software to manage all aspects of their military flying operations, including training. FlightPro's selection, after a rigorous competitive tender process, is evidence of the critical nature of the capability sought by the Belgian MoD.

The deal with the Belgian Air Component secures Ocean Software's dominant global position in the Enterprise Aviation Operations Management Software space, particularly across Europe, as Belgium joins Ocean's rapidly expanding European customer list which includes the European Defence Agency, the Royal Air Force, the Finnish Air Force, Lufthansa, BAE Systems, and ST Aero.

Ocean Software originally developed FlightPro in 1993 for the Royal Australian Air Force, where it is still relied upon to ensure the day-to-day operations of flying squadrons are handled efficiently and safely.

FlightPro was designed to simplify the multi-dimensional, challenging task of getting correctly qualified pilots into the right aircraft at the right time for both training and military operations purposes. Historically this has required highly skilled and experienced operations personnel, usually flying instructors, to manage multiple manual processes and legacy systems in order to achieve the end goal. FlightPro simplifies and automates many of the tasks associated with this, and brings all the necessary data together within a single system, to handle everything from scheduling, training, qualification and currency management, to maintenance and reporting, as well as everything in between.

Ocean Software's General Manager, Bruce Moors says, "The hard work of the Belgian Air Component and Ocean Software's team to make this happen has assured recognition of the principles behind everything we do; that is to build and deliver high quality systems. FlightPro is a proven and highly regarded product that has been developed and enhanced over more than 20 years by people who understand the extreme complexities of Aviation Operations, particularly within Military environments."

The Belgian Air Component seeks to have the FlightPro Software up and running by the end of this year. The Belgian Project Officer, Steven Van der Vorst, says, "Future challenges such as 'do more with less' and increasingly complex weapon systems including the A400M, NH90 and future fighters will require ever more efficient tools such as FlightPro in order for the weapon systems to be employed effectively."

About Ocean Software

Ocean Software designs, develops, and delivers Enterprise Software solutions for military, government, and corporate customers around the world.

Ocean's solutions are widely regarded as the gold standard in their respective classes due to their completeness, levels of support, ongoing development, training and documentation. Our products form the core systems behind highly complex operating environments including: Command and Control, Operations & Training Management Healthcare, Supply Chain Management, and eCommerce. For more information, visit www.ocean.software.

About the Belgian Air Component

The Belgian Air Component celebrated last year its 70th anniversary, but its roots can be traced back to 1907. Today, the Belgian Air Component, is considered as one of the most active Air Forces in the world with a pivotal role in NATO. The Belgian Air Component is a small but reliable partner for its allies, active in homeland and abroad. Besides its national duties like QRA and SAR, the Belgian Air Component participates in a broad range of operations. Outstanding technology and equipment is mandatory to achieve this.

MEDIA CONTACT

For high-res imagery, please contact:

Nick Timms Burson-Marsteller for Ocean Software nick.timms@bm.com +61-2-9928-1519 Sacha Blomer Ocean Software Sachab@ocean.com.au +61-3-8614-7200

Related Links

http://www.ocean.software



SOURCE Ocean Software
LONDON, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Volume Forecasts (MCM) by Type of Storage (Above Ground Storage and Underground Storage Facilities) by Technology (LNG Tankers, Salt Caverns, Aquifers, Depleted Oil and Gas Reservoirs & Rock Caverns) by Countries (United States, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Iran, Argentina)

The latest research report from business intelligence provider visiongain offers comprehensive analysis of the global natural gas storage market. Visiongain assesses that this market will generate volumes of 406,682 MCM in 2017.

The Natural Gas Storage Market Report 2017-2027 responds to your need for definitive market data:

Read on to discover how you can exploit the future business opportunities emerging in this sector. Visiongain's new study tells you and tells you NOW.

In this brand new report you find 133 in-depth tables, charts and graphs all unavailable elsewhere.

The 195 page report provides clear detailed insight into the global natural gas storage market. Discover the key drivers and challenges affecting the market.

By ordering and reading our brand new report today you stay better informed and ready to act.

Report Scope

The report delivers considerable added value by revealing:

 How is the natural gas storage market evolving?

 What is driving and restraining natural gas storage market dynamics?

 How will each natural gas storage submarket by type of storage grow over the forecast period ? see Volume Forecasts (MCM) for

- Above Ground Storage

- Underground Storage Facilities

 Which individual natural gas technologies will prevail and how will these shifts be responded to?

- LNG Tankers

- Salt Caverns

- Aquifers

- Depleted Oil and Gas Reservoirs & Rock Caverns

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com

 How will political and regulatory factors influence regional natural gas storage markets and submarkets?

 Will leading national natural gas storage market broadly follow macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual country sectors outperform the rest of the economy?

- United States

- Canada

- Russia

- Ukraine

- Germany

- Italy

- China

- Japan

- Iran

- Argentina

 Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period?

- Cardinal Gas Storage Partners LLC

- Centrica Storage Ltd.

- Chiyoda Corporation

- Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc.

- Engie S.A.

- Gazprom

- NAFTA A.S

- Niska Gas Storage Partners LLC

- Spectra Energy Corporation

- TransCanada Corporation

 PESTLE analysis of the major strengths and weaknesses of the natural gas storage market, together with the opportunities available and the key threats faced.

 An exclusive interview with a leading natural gas storage company.

- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), India

 Conclusions and recommendations which will aid decision-making

Who should read this report?

 Anyone within the natural gas storage market.

 Oil & gas companies

 Engineering companies

 Head of policy

 Head of strategic development

 Research analysts

 Investment analysts

 Economists

 Procurement officers

 Commodity traders

 Business operations managers

 Vice presidents (VP)

 CEOs

 COOs

 Commercial managers

 Asset managers

 Business development managers

 Marketing managers

 Technologists

 Suppliers

 Investors

 Banks

 Government agencies

 Contractor

Visiongain's study is intended for anyone requiring commercial analyses for the natural gas storage market and leading companies. You find data, trends and predictions.

Buy our report today Natural Gas Storage Market Report 2017-2027: Volume Forecasts (MCM) by Type of Storage (Above Ground Storage and Underground Storage Facilities) by Technology (LNG Tankers, Salt Caverns, Aquifers, Depleted Oil and Gas Reservoirs & Rock Caverns) by Countries (United States, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Iran, Argentina). Avoid missing out by staying informed - get our report now.

To request a report overview of this report please emails Sara Peerun at sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com or call Tel: +44-(0)20-7336-6100

Or click on: https://www.visiongain.com/Report/1801/Natural-Gas-Storage-Market-Report-2017-2027

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com

SOURCE Visiongain Ltd
DUBLIN, Feb 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "North America Data Center Cooling Market - Forecasts from 2016 to 2021" report to their offering.

North America Data Center Cooling Market is estimated to grow from US$2.275 billion in 2015 to US$3.498 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 7.44% over the forecast period.

Data Center cooling market in North American region is projected to witness the significant growth owing to technological developments and matured IT sector.



Setting up of a large number of startups in the region is also expected to bolster the growth of data center cooling market. Moreover, North America is the home to the biggest software companies in the world such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Twitter.

Thus, huge data traffic in the region need data cooling centers to keep them operational, thereby propelling the growth of North America Data Center Cooling market in the forthcoming years.

Furthermore, high operational cost of traditional cooling methods coupled with stringent environmental regulations is forcing companies to replace them with modern and eco-friendly data center cooling solutions.

Key five industry participants profiled as part of this section are IBM, Hitachi, Emerson, Schneider Electric, and Eaton.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Market Dynamics



5. North America Data Center Cooling Market Forecast by Solutions (US$ billion)



6. North America Data Center Cooling Market Forecast by Enterprise Size (US$ billion)



7. North America Data Center Cooling Market Forecast by End Users (US$ billion)



8. North America Data Center Cooling Market Forecast by Industry Verticals (US$ billion)



9. North America Data Center Cooling Forecast by Geography (US$ billion)



10. Competitive Intelligence



11. Company Profiles



- IBM

- Hitachi

- Emerson

- Schneider Electric

- Eaton



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ghw5q6/north_america

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com



SOURCE Research and Markets
ZHOUSHAN, China, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Jinhai Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (JHI) held discussions with several top intelligent equipment providers regarding the introduction of intelligent shipbuilding production lines and software systems. As one of the world's few shipbuilders dedicated to large-scale investment, JHI will spend 500 million RMB on intelligent transformation. All related business contracts will be signed before June.

Last July, JHI announced an investment of 3 billion RMB in the construction of intelligent shipyard that is "sophisticated, light, flexible and beautiful" according to the requirement of "one workshop, one shipyard, one system". The intelligent upgrading will lay equal emphasis on hardware and software. On one hand, JHI will bring in several dozen units of intelligent manufacturing equipment, construct intelligent steel stockyard, segmented intelligent workshop, intelligent tube workshop, intelligent coating workshop and intelligent shipyard. On the other hand, ERP, MES and other information systems and software will be installed, giving "brain" to the hardware and linking the whole process from design, manufacturing, logistics, quality to on-site operations. The upgrading will lead to automatic, digital and intelligent shipbuilding.

According to a project manager of some equipment provider, to make the need of an industry leader of JHI, they have introduced advanced concepts of auto manufacturing and other industries and come up with a few practical solutions, e.g. intelligent sub-assembly line, intelligent plane line, intelligent tube processing line and intelligent stereoscopic warehouse, etc.

Suo Zhe, director of JHI Chief Engineer's Office, said, "according to the principle of 'overall planning, step-by-step implementation', we will primarily focus on the construction of automatic production lines and improve the capabilities of lean production and flexible manufacturing in the 1st phase. Meanwhile, the interface should be reserved for later use. The project is expected to be completed at the end of the year. In addition, the newest technology like double-curved-surface steel plate bending machine will be co-developed, which is meant to explore a path to intelligent upgrading that fits in with shipbuilding sector."

SOURCE Jinhai Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.
MADRID, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Telepizza has entered into a binding agreement to acquire " Pizza Blitz " , the first pizza delivery brand in Switzerland

The acquisition of 10 additional stores will bring the total number owned by Telepizz a globally to 1,352

Telepizza continues to invest and grow internationally, through company stores, JVC and master franchisees

Telepizza, the world's largest pizza delivery company outside of the USA, is delighted to announce its acquisition of "Pizza Blitz", Switzerland's original pizza delivery brand.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150317/735407-a )

The additional 10 stores bring Telepizza's global network to an impressive 1,352 stores, supporting the brand's aggressive growth plans which aim to triple market share over the next 3 years.

Telepizza CEO and Chairman, Pablo Juantegui Azpilicueta, comments, 'At Telepizza, we are proud of introducing our brand in new markets. For us, Switzerland represents an exciting step for the brand. We have taken into account Swiss people's distinctive features for adapting our recipes to their taste, always keeping our brand essence: the secret is in dough.'

President of International, Giorgio Minardi, comments, 'We are delighted with this new acquisition as it marks another step towards achieving our ambitious expansion plans. Switzerland is an important market for us; we know our outstanding customer service and excellent product quality will appeal to Swiss consumers.'

Note to Editors

Telepizza is the largest non-U.S.-based pizza delivery company in the world by number of stores. Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, Telepizza operates in more than 15 countries through a network of own stores, franchisees and master franchisees, with 1,342 stores globally, including 456 own stores (34%) and 886 franchised and master franchised stores (66%) as of 30 September, 2016.

Including our U.S.-based competitors, we are the fourth largest global player in pizza delivery in terms of number of stores. We are the market leader in our core markets by number of stores (number one in Spain, Portugal, Chile and Colombia and number two in Poland).

The total sales within our network, including own stores, franchisees and master franchisees, are recorded as chain sales, which amounted to 506 million in the twelve months ended 30 September 2016, with an underlying EBITDA of 63.4 million over the same period.

http://www.telepizza.com

Miguel Justribo

Telepizza - +34-91-6576200

prensa.telepizza@telepizza.com

SOURCE Telepizza
UTRECHT, The Netherlands, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

After the huge success of the 'America First, Netherlands Second' video of Arjan Lubach, there will be a cheeky follow up. In many countries parodies of the Arjan Lubach video were made which can be viewed online. So now it's time for an election that reflects the theme! The whole world is invited to vote for the country that has to become second via www.whowillbesecond.com . The highest rated country will officially be called 'The world's second'.

Whowillbesecond.com

With this election Lubach's global satire enters a new phase. According to the producers, collecting all videos and providing them with a voting system will generate even more interaction. By using a special Facebook application people will be able to vote for their favourite video and share this with their social media followers. Very democratic and of course super transparent.

This campaign has just been launched and already tens of thousands of visitors and voters have registered.

It's going to be great!

Note for editors:

Enclosed you will find two pictures that can be used together with the press release. The campaign can be watched via: http://www.whowillbesecond.com or https://app.je/whowillbefirst

Whowillbesecond.com is an initiative of Like No Other and Socialbrands, specialists in online social contests. www.likenoother.nl and www.socialbrands.nl



SOURCE Like No Other
ISTANBUL and KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

- Intelligent solution to support Zain's expanding business

Verscom Solutions, a market leading Systems Integrator and an innovative Cloud PaaS/SaaS Service Provider, announces that Zain, a leading telecom innovator across the Middle East and Africa, has selected Verscom Solutions' ODINE, a suite of intelligent wholesale voice business management applications that enable operators to more efficiently and effectively manage their wholesale interconnect voice business.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/471474/Zain_Group_Verscom_Solutions_Logo.jpg )



"In order for us to succeed in the competitive Wholesale Voice business, we needed a geographically resilient intelligent B/OSS that could scale to meet our expanding business," said Mr. Henri Kassab, Managing Director, International, Wholesale & Roaming of Zain Group. "We chose Verscom Solutions' ODINE due to its dynamic routing policy and its integrated approach, which greatly simplifies enforcing our operational control."

ODINE provides flexible policy driven routing, route optimization, offer management, rating, billing, number portability, technical and business reporting & analytics, as well as dispute management.

"Cooperating with Zain Group is a phenomenal opportunity for mutual growth," said Alper Tunga Burak, Managing Partner of Verscom Solutions. "We're delighted to be chosen by Zain and look forward to many years of working together"

About Zain

Zain is a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 47 million active customers as of 31 December, 2016. With a commercial presence in 8 countries, Zain operates in: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the Group manages 'touch' on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in 'INWI', through a joint venture. Zain is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (stock ticker: ZAIN).

For more, please email info@zain.com or visit:

http://www.zain.com



About Verscom Solutions

Verscom Solutions is a leading Systems Integrator and a Cloud PaaS/SaaS Service Provider to Communication Service Providers as well as Wholesale Voice/Data Aggregators across the globe.

Our "Go Cloud" Service bundles ODINE which provides flexible policy driven routing, route optimization, offer management, rating, billing, number portability, technical and business reporting & analytics, as well as dispute management, with best-of-breed SBC, TDM/SIP Interworking services on the cloud.

With regional offices in Istanbul, London, Dubai and Lahore, Verscom Solutions' geographical presence, experience, and cultural fluency bridges Europe and Asia, while uniquely serving emerging markets across Africa. For more, please email info@verscomsolutions.com or visit:

http://www.verscomsolutions.com

Name: Gokce Bilgili, telephone: +90-2122757484, email: info@verscomsolutions.com

SOURCE Verscom Solutions
TORONTO, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - The Black Arts and Innovation Expo (BAIE) is an event hosted by Excelovate and First Book Canada that ushers in a new way of celebrating Black History Month. While traditional Black History events honour the excellence of ancestors, which is important, BAIE focuses on the remarkable achievements of both current and emerging legends.

Perdita Felicien will be at #BAIE2017 - blackexpo.ca (CNW Group/Excelovate)

Recognizing Modern Day Canadian Heroes

In Canada, heroes come in all shapes, sizes and colours. A hero is defined as a person who is admired for their outstanding achievements or noble qualities. The Black Arts & Innovation Expo is proud to honour 12 dynamic Black Canadians. This group of distinguished pacesetters are proven leaders in their areas of expertise and offer young Canadians many shining examples of the countless ways to achieve goals and truly excel.

Today, we salute:

Dr. Juliet Daniel  Scientist & Biology Professor: www.biology.mcmaster.ca/daniel

 Scientist & Biology Professor: www.biology.mcmaster.ca/daniel Perdita Felicien  World Champion & Olympian-100m Hurdles: www.perditafelicien.com

 World Champion & Olympian-100m Hurdles: www.perditafelicien.com Shad, Recording Artist & Broadcaster: www.shadk.com

Francis Jeffers  Curator, Int'l African Inventors Museum: www.iaimuseum.org

 Curator, Int'l African Inventors Museum: www.iaimuseum.org Claudette McGowan  Technology & Publishing Executive: www.excelovate.com

 Technology & Publishing Executive: www.excelovate.com George Elliott Clarke , Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate: www.lop.parl.gc.ca

, Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate: www.lop.parl.gc.ca Tamar Huggins Grant  Technology CEO & Author: www.techspark.ca

 Technology CEO & Author: www.techspark.ca Robert Small  Legacy Enterprises CEO: www.thelegacyposter.com

 Legacy Enterprises CEO: www.thelegacyposter.com Karlyn Percil  SisterTalk CEO & Success Coach: www.karlynpercil.com

 SisterTalk CEO & Success Coach: www.karlynpercil.com Dalton Higgins  Journalist, Author & PR Strategist www.daltonhiggins.wordpress.com

 Journalist, Author & PR Strategist www.daltonhiggins.wordpress.com That Dude McFly  Social Media Luminary & Entertainer: @thatdudemcfly

Yasmin Warsame  Supermodel & Activist: @yazywarsame

Meet this outstanding group of leaders at the 2017 Black Arts and Innovation Expo. This one-day, one-of-a-kind event takes place on Saturday February 25th 2017 from 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm at York Mills Gallery - 1885 Leslie Street, Toronto. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students. For ticket info go to www.blackexpo.ca.

SOURCE Excelovate

Related Links

www.excelovate.com


TYSONS, Va., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of Augusta Metro Federal Credit Union of Augusta, Ga. voted to merge with America's second-largest federal credit union, PenFed Credit Union of Tysons, Va. As a result of joining PenFed, more than 22,000 members in the greater Augusta area will have access to loans and savings products with nation-leading rates. PenFed's strong focus on the national defense community and those who support them, coupled with its broad field of membership, will enable PenFed to continue serving and expanding in this proud community.

"This is PenFed's second partnership in Augusta and we are very proud to welcome the members and employees of Augusta Metro Federal Credit Union to the PenFed family," said PenFed President and CEO James Schenck. "PenFed is committed to providing exceptional value and first-class service to our loyal members. We are confident that this alliance will help Augusta Metro's members and any new members do better financially. We look forward to serving them and being an active member in this great community," said Schenck.

PenFed Executive Vice President and President of Affiliated Businesses Shashi Vohra also expressed excitement for this partnership. "We worked very closely with Augusta Metro's Board to make sure we could deliver PenFed's powerful credit union experience and add value to its members while taking perfect care of its hard-working staff," said Vohra. "Providing opportunities for career advancement and improved benefits to employees is one of the hallmarks of our partnerships. The staff takes care of our members and we take care of them."

"Augusta Metro's fantastic team, the rich heritage of its membership, and the growing importance of Fort Gordon in our nation's cyber-security efforts make this a perfect partnership," stated Ricardo Chamorro, PenFed Senior Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions. "We look forward to continuing our expansion and increasing credit union membership in this key market."

Augusta Metro's Chairman Michael Johnson expressed his Board's enthusiasm for this alliance. "PenFed's strong array of leading products, rates and services now available to our members, coupled with PenFed's financial commitment to our proud community, make this an exciting opportunity," said Johnson. "We are very pleased to note that our loyal members will receive a one-time special dividend as a result of this merger."

"This was the best long-term strategic decision for Augusta Metro," stated Sherry Saxon, Augusta Metro's CEO. "PenFed is one of our nation's strongest credit unions and we believe that the immediate value to our members and the career opportunities for our staff are very compelling. We are very excited to join the PenFed family."

With its low operating expenses and nationally leading rates, PenFed is on a growth trajectory. The combination is allowing PenFed to continue expanding its member and employee bases while adding additional geographical physical presences into the communities it serves.

About PenFed Credit Union

Established in 1935 as the War Department Credit Union, PenFed Credit Union is one of the largest credit unions in the country, serving over 1.5 million members worldwide with more than $21 billion in assets. Our long-standing mission has been to provide superior financial services in a cost effective manner, while being responsive to members' needs. PenFed Credit Union offers market-leading mortgages, automobile loans, credit cards, checking, and a wide range of other financial services with its members' interests always in mind. PenFed Credit Union offers many paths to membership, including numerous employee groups and association affiliations. No military service is required to join. PenFed Credit Union is federally insured by the NCUA and is an equal housing lender. To learn more about PenFed Credit Union, visit PenFed.org, like us on Facebook and follow us @PenFed on Twitter. Interested in working for PenFed? Check us out on LinkedIn. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer: M/F/V/D.

SOURCE PenFed Credit Union

Related Links

http://www.PenFed.org


MASSAPEQUA, N.Y., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bar Louie today announced the opening of its newest bar and kitchen at Westfield Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, New York. Located near Macy's, Bar Louie Massapequa furthers the company's continued expansion across the East Coast, as the ninth Bar Louie location in the tri-state area and the third in the state of New York.

With an official grand opening ceremony slated for Friday, February 24th at 11:30 a.m., Bar Louie Massapequa's day of celebrations will be followed immediately by lunch and happy hour socializing beginning at 4:00 p.m. Offering handcrafted cocktails and signature martinis, Bar Louie is well-known across the country with more than 120 locations in 29 states throughout the United States.

At Bar Louie Massapequa, beer and wine connoisseurs will be impressed by the extensive selection of 30 beers on tap and wines by the glass, including many regional favorites such as Oyster Bay Barn Rocker Ale. Cocktail drinkers can also revel in the 32 signature cocktails offeredincluding martinis, margaritas and sangrias paired with fresh fruit and hand-squeezed juices. Guest favorites include the Pineapple Express Sangriawhich unites flavored vodka with tropical fruit syrups and juices, topped off with proseccoor the more traditional Havana Classic Mojito, which will please even the most discerning of palates.

"We are thrilled to join the Massapequa community and strive to become a gathering place where neighbors and employees from nearby organizations can come together to relax and connect," said Bar Louie Massapequa general manager, Bret Chicco. "We look forward to taking the bar experience to new heights for those who enjoy premium cocktails, local brews, great food and hanging out with friends."

Each Bar Louie has its own local flavor and feel, making it a go-to community favorite. Patrons can linger, socialize and enjoy custom drinks, local craft beer and wine, as well as specialty burgers, shareable snacks and signature entrees.

In addition to its expansive menu, the Massapequa Bar Louie location will also offer a variety of 'Weekly Rituals' that will keep patrons coming back. Every Monday through Friday, happy hour will run from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and late night happy hour will run Sunday through Thursday from 10:00 p.m. to close. Additionally, Bar Louie staple, 'Five-Dollar Burger Night,' will also be featured every Tuesday from 5:00 p.m. to close. The full menu will be served nightly until 2:00 a.m.

Bar Louie's food menu features a selection of shareable plates, flatbreads, salads, sandwiches, burgers and signature dishes. Innovative recipes help carry Bar Louie's vibes from the atmosphere into the food. Whether it's the Spiked Bulleit Bourbon Burgerwhich packs the punch of actual bourbon and requires an ID to order; the indulgent Grilled Mac and Cheese Sandwich; or the Thai Chicken Flatbread; the menu is sure to boast something for everyone. And let us not forget the spirits! All cocktails are handcrafted from delicious high-quality ingredientsno blenders here!

Bar Louie is also adding more than 70 jobs in the area. While most roles have been filled, Bar Louie Massapequa still has select job opportunities available and is currently hiring service-minded, high-energy servers, bartenders and cooks through its website, www.LouieWantsYou.com.

The new restaurant is located at One Sunrise Mall, Space 1330, Massapequa, NY 11758. For more information about Bar Louie in Massapequa, visit www.barlouie.com.

About Bar Louie

Founded in downtown Chicago in 1990, and headquartered in Addison, Texas, Bar Louie is an award-winning collection of neighborhood bars with a lively, social atmosphere. With more than 120 locations across the United States, Bar Louie is growing through both franchise and corporate openings. Known for its signature handcrafted martinis and cocktails, Bar Louie also features a scratch menu of shareable plates, burgers, and sandwiches served every day until close. For more information on Bar Louie, visit www.barlouie.com. To learn about franchising opportunities with Bar Louie, go to www.barlouie.com/franchise.

Media Contacts

Aaron Blank or Traci Paulk

The Fearey Group for Bar Louie

[email protected]

(206) 343-1543

SOURCE Bar Louie

Related Links

http://www.barlouie.com


PITTSFIELD, Mass., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Berkshire Medical Center (BMC) nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), will hold an informational picket on Tuesday, Feb. 28 to call attention to the hospital's failure during ongoing contract negotiations to agree to improved nurse staffing levels that will ensure safe and effective patient care.

When: Tuesday, Feb. 28 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Outside Berkshire Medical Center at 725 North St. Pittsfield, MA

Who: Press and the public welcome; the registered nurses of Berkshire Medical Center, along with their family, friends and community supporters.

What: Click to see nurses urge public action to help protect their patients.

BMC nurses have become increasingly concerned about the safety of their patients. Over the last several years, there has been a significant increase in BMC's patient census due to the closure of North Adams Regional Hospital. In spite of nurses' concerns about unsafe staffing in nearly every unit of the hospital, last year BMC management increased the number of patients that nurses would be required to care for at one time in seven hospital units.

BMC nurses talk about their experience with unsafe staffing:

Mark Brodeur, RN, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit

"Unsafe staffing at BMC is trying to care for a 10-day-old baby with a severe infection while having 12 other patients at the same time. The baby needed bloodwork, urine samples, constant monitoring and support for its very worried new parents. My 12 other patients also required assessment and care. While all this was happening, my nursing assistant was pulled down to the cardiac area to perform CPR. I felt alone because of the lack of resources. I felt scared for my patients and their loved ones. Our community deserves better than this. Making sure our patients are safe matters more than profit margins and management bonuses."

Marie Geary, RN, Psychiatric Unit

"Unsafe staffing is a serious issue in the hospital's psychiatric and detox units. Psychiatric patients often also have medical complications. Their condition can change rapidly, and so keeping them safe while providing appropriate mental health care requires having enough nurses at one time."

Erin Ramsey, RN, Emergency Department

"The BMC emergency room is not staffed for a bad day, and a bad day is what we are here for. Our ED is frequently filled with a complicated mix of patients, but the hospital is decreasing how many nurses are working at one time. The expansion of urgent care centers means the BMC ED sees more patients who are very sick. We need an appropriate number of nurses to provide safe care."

Krystal Poulen, RN, Medical-Surgical Unit

"Increasing admissions and sicker patients throughout the hospital has hit our medical-surgical units particularly hard. Our patients are sicker than ever, yet we have less time to care for and educate them. We care for patients with significant complications, many of whom should be in specialized units."

Ruth O'Hearn, RN, Emergency Department in North Adams

"Unsafe staffing is also a serious problem at the BMC emergency department in North Adams. BMC's original plan was to use the ED as a satellite facility that served patients who are less sick than those sent to BMC in Pittsfield. But that has not happened. The North Adams ED is getting a high volume of patients and many critically ill patients. Yet BMC has provided limited nursing and other staff, leaving patients underserved.

"We are not providing the level of patient care we should because BMC does not staff appropriately. We do not have enough nurses to safely care for patients who require sudden medical interventions, especially on overnight shifts. Our patient volume and their serious level of illness justifies adding more staff in North Adams to ensure safe care."

Alex Neary, RN, Intensive Care Unit

"I have worked as a registered nurse at Berkshire Medical Center for 40 years. During that time I have seen a lot of changes. Patients admitted to the hospital are sicker than ever. Yet nurses have less time to spend with each patient. That means less time for treatment and less time to educate patients about their care. My fellow nurses and I are proud of the patient care we provide. But we are also concerned about the quality of that care. Keeping patients safe is the number one priority for every BMC nurse. Unfortunately, the hospital refuses to agree to our evidence-based, common-sense solution to ensure safe patient care."

Between October 2015 and October 2016, nurses filed 280 unsafe staffing forms documenting times when there were not enough nurses to care for the number of patients and/or the serious level of illness or injury of the patients on a unit. That number does not include the many more times when nurses encountered unsafe patient care situations but were unable to document the incidents.

An additional 41 unsafe staffing forms were filed by BMC nurses between November 2016 and January 2017.

To address the problem, BMC nurses have proposed placing safe staffing levels or safe patient limits for nurses into their contract. These proposals would be variable based on the type of hospital unit, how many patients are on a unit at any given time and/or the acuity of patients. Years of research shows that when nurses have fewer patients at once, patient outcomes improve and there are lower rates of injury, medication errors and unplanned re-admissions.

BMC nurses have pointed out in negotiations that there is no financial reason why BMC cannot provide safe patient care at all times. BMC posted profit margins more than twice the state and regional averages between 2011 and 2015, making a profit of $181 million, according to the Massachusetts Center for Health and Information Analysis. The hospital made a profit of $35.2 million in fiscal year 2015 and $31.2 million in 2016, according to BMC's own audited financial reporting.

The nurses' previous contract with the hospital expired on Sept. 30, 2016, but was extended. Negotiations between the MNA and BMC began in October 2016. To date 16 negotiating sessions have been held, with the next session scheduled for March 10.

MassNurses.org  Facebook.com/MassNurses  Twitter.com/MassNurses

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association

Related Links

http://www.massnurses.org


Songs From The Cinema celebrated best-loved music from movies, curated by music legend Jackson Browne. Performers included Rita Wilson, Jeff Bridges, Jack Black, Jenny Lewis, Moby, Catero Colbert, Jonathan Wilson, Judith Owen, Paul Beaubrun, The Living Sisters, The Songbirds and The Haden Triplets.

"Since 2013, our partnership with Artists for Peace and Justice continues to uphold the same valued and respected qualities of the house of BOVET. We are proud that all donations since 2013 go straight to supporting APJ's Academy in Haiti. We are proud also to support a cause that shares our commitment to excellence through education," said Pascal Raffy.

As APJ's long-term strategic partner, BOVET 1822's ongoing generosity and extraordinary yearly commitment of one million USD since 2013, makes the organization's work possible and enables the charity to give 100% of every donation directly to its programs. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, where a severe lack of affordable education and healthcare perpetuates the cycle of extreme poverty. APJ is committed to long-term, sustainable development in direct partnership with the Haitian people.

About BOVET 1822:

Since its foundation in 1822, BOVET has artfully combined the most sophisticated mechanisms with the finest craftsmanship, employing artisanal techniques. Under the visionary guidance of Owner Pascal Raffy, BOVET demonstrates its excellence through varied collections that encompass models as emblematic and remarkable as the Braveheart, OttantaSei, Asterium, and Shooting Star tourbillons, to name just a few of its icons. Visit: www.bovet.com

Media Contact

Ana Martins Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE BOVET 1822

Related Links

http://www.bovet.com


LONDON, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

A seminar titled "History of Balochistan Revisited", was held in the British House of Lords, London, on February 23, 2017. Hosted by The Democracy Forum, the deliberations centred around Britain's historical links with the confederacy of Balochistan in the 19th century, and the legality of the subsequent accession of Balochistan to Pakistan in 1948. Dr William Crawley of the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, chaired the seminar.

The keynote speaker was HH Suleman Dawood Jan Ahmedzai, the Khan of Kalat. In his address, the Khan questioned the legality of Balochistan's accession to Pakistan, and in his support, quoted various treaties signed by the British government with the Baloch rulers, in which Balochistan's sovereignty and independence had been repeatedly affirmed. The Khan argued that Pakistan's founding father, Md. Ali Jinnah, who was the attorney for Kalat in all negotiations prior to its annexation by Pakistan, was himself aware that representatives of the British Crown had recognised Kalat as an independent country. He stated that Britain colluded with Jinnah in betraying the Baloch people, and illegally occupying the country. Describing Pakistan today as the cradle of terrorism, the Khan called on the international community to assist the Baloch regain their independence. Later, addressing a press conference, the Khan reiterated that he would even approach western countries and India for assistance in getting his country back, asserting that the people of Balochistan had a right to win back their independence by all means necessary.

Other speakers at the seminar included Professor Sabir Badal Khan, a researcher on Baloch history at the Oriental University of Naples, Maxwell Downman, Parliament Researcher in the service of the House of Lords and Jamal Nasser Baloch, a member of the Free Balochistan Movement. Haider K B Baloch, a lawyer and human rights activist from Balochistan's Turbat district, who was also scheduled to speak, was unable to attend, as he was disallowed from boarding his flight to London by the Pakistani immigration authorities. Another speaker, Dr Yaqoob Bangash, who was also scheduled to speak, could not attend after he was 'warned' by Pakistani security officials not to attend the event.

In his presentation, Maxwell Downman contended that it was the British, who despite the 1876 Treaty with Kalat, constantly undermined the position of the Khan of Kalat, and discouraged Pakistan from recognising Kalat's status as a sovereign independent State. Similarly in his remarks, Prof Badal Khan provided instances from Balochistan's history when the British clearly recognised its independence. Jamal Nasser Baloch, who represented Hyrbyair Marri, leader of the Free Baloch Movement, maintained that the sanctity of the Balochistan Accession Treaty of 1948 was questionable, since it was signed by the then Khan under duress.

There was general agreement among the panellists that the then Khan of Kalat agreed to the accession of Balochistan to Pakistan in 1948 under pressure, and as a result of manipulation by the British government, in conjunction with the Pakistani government.

The seminar was attended, among others, by Members of the British Parliament, including Nigel Huddleston MP and Chairman of The Democracy Forum, academics, diplomats from various embassies including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, media representatives and Baloch nationalists.

SOURCE The democracy forum
HOUSTON, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Widening its U.S. operations into Texas, leading commercial litigation funder Bentham IMF has launched a Houston office, recruiting a prominent Harris County-area attorney to head the new expansion.

Commercial and intellectual property trial lawyer Eric P. Chenoweth arrives from noted Houston-based Yetter Coleman LLP, where he was a partner for the past 13 years. At Bentham, he will head the Houston office, analyzing and managing investments in a wide variety of commercial litigation matters. Mr. Chenoweth will also raise awareness of funding with the bar, bench and wider legal community. He is one of several recent hires by Bentham, whose U.S. team has more than doubled in size in the past two years, with the addition of new investment managers and legal counsel from some of the country's leading law firms.

The company, which has four other North American offices - in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Toronto - is the first global commercial litigation finance firm to open an office in Texas. The geographical expansion is one of several priorities of Bentham's Australian parent company, IMF Bentham Limited, for the 2017 fiscal year. Last week, IMF launched a new $200 million litigation finance vehicle exclusively dedicated to funding U.S. cases and matters.

"Entry into the Texas legal marketplace is the rational next step in Bentham's ongoing expansion, and we are looking forward to having a strong Houston presence," said Charlie Gollow, Bentham's US Chief Executive. "Houston is one of the biggest and busiest litigation venues and home to many of the country's most successful law firms. It also benefits from an entrepreneurial Texas approach to business. We expect to see substantial commercial funding opportunities for area plaintiffs and law firms."

Welcoming Mr. Chenoweth, Ralph Sutton, Bentham's US Chief Investment Officer, said: "As a seasoned local trial attorney, Eric is the ideal person to establish and direct Bentham's litigation funding activities in Houston. He has nearly 20 years of experience trying large IP and commercial suits, and will be critical to expanding Bentham's national footprint in the Texas market. We feel confident in his ability both to help clients who don't have capital to pursue strong claims, as well as to make commercial litigation finance a go-to solution for Texas-based firms looking to become more entrepreneurial."

As a former partner at a boutique recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the top ten litigation-only firms in the country, Mr. Chenoweth is well-equipped to help Bentham invest in winning cases. Among his notable engagements, he obtained a unanimous jury verdict of patent infringement and the full amount of lost profits for a plaintiff in a multi-defendant suit concerning engine exhaust systems used on offshore oil rigs. He also successfully represented a plaintiff in a trial involving claims arising from an insurer's breach of contract to insure and repair property damage. The verdict was ranked among the top 100 national and top 25 Texas verdicts of 2010.

Admitted to practice in Texas and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Mr. Chenoweth holds a J.D. from The University of Virginia School of Law, and received his B.S. from Syracuse University.

Mr. Chenoweth said, "I believe there are many funding opportunities in Texas and the Southwest. Bentham is superbly positioned to serve as a commercial litigation funder of choice for plaintiffs, companies and law firms across the region that recognize the value of sharing financial risk in their litigation matters. Texans have a strong appreciation for innovation, and Bentham, with its risk-sharing models and excellent track record - will fit extremely well in our market."

About BenthamIMF

Bentham IMF is the U.S. arm of publicly listed IMF Bentham Limited (ASX: IMF), one of the most successful litigation funding companies in the world, with a portfolio that has a total claim size value of $3.2 billion AUD. Together, our companies have ten offices throughout the U.S., Australia and Canada and provide funding to clients in jurisdictions including the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. We have reviewed thousands of commercial cases in the past 16 years, funding to completion more than 187 cases and generating over $2 billion AUD in recoveries. We have achieved a 90% success rate, with clients utilizing our funding retaining an average of 63% of all case proceeds.

Contact: Allan Ripp 212-262-7477 [email protected]

Gretchen Lyn Koehler, Chief Marketing Officer | 212-488-5331 | [email protected]

SOURCE Bentham IMF

Related Links

http://www.benthamimf.com


HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy announced that the Department of Health is working with Pennsylvania State University, or PSU, to investigate confirmed cases of mumps at the State College campus. The department is also working with PSU's University Health Services to investigate additional potential cases. No further information regarding the cases will be released due to confidentiality reasons.

"In light of these confirmed mumps cases, and with spring break fast approaching, it is very important for PSU students to avoid sharing food and drinks with others and to monitor their overall health," said Secretary Murphy. "Students who have been diagnosed with mumps or are experiencing symptoms of the virus should check with PSU Health Services before returning to the State College campus.

"All PSU students and visitors should also take steps to make sure their vaccinations are up-to-date, as that is the best way to prevent getting the mumps virus," added Secretary Murphy. "The Wolf Administration is committed to protecting the health of Pennsylvanians, and reminds individuals of all ages of the importance of getting recommended vaccinations."

The mumps virus is characterized by swelling of the glands located just below or in front of the ear/jaw. Individuals with mumps virus may not experience symptoms at all, and for those who do show symptoms, they usually occur about two weeks after being initially infected.

Symptoms of mumps include:

Swelling and tenderness of one or both salivary glands, usually the parotid glands located just below the front of the ear/jaw;

Fever;

Headache;

Muscle aches;

Tiredness; and

Loss of appetite.

Isolation is of critical importance in preventing the spread of mumps. Anyone with a confirmed mumps infection, individuals awaiting test results, or close contacts of anyone with mumps who has not been previously vaccinated, should remain isolated for a recommended period of time as directed by the health department and health care professionals. Individuals who think they may have the mumps should immediately call their health care provider or PSU's University Health Services for instructions.

For more information, visit the Department of Health website at www.health.pa.gov or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT: April Hutcheson, 717-787-1783 or [email protected].

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Health

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us


Strengthening the core business of AL-KO Vehicle Technology

KOTZ, Germany and WIEHL, Germany and PADERBORN, Germany, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DexKo Global, a global leader in highly engineered running gear technology and chassis assemblies and related components, has expanded the operations of AL-KO Vehicle Technology through the acquisition of BPW Fahrzeugtechnik, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPW Bergische Achsen KG and based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The German Antitrust Authority has approved the transaction, effective as of March 1st, 2017.

BPW Fahrzeugtechnik's focus lies particularly on the development and manufacturing of trailer running gear in the low axle load range. The company is an established manufacturer that provides high-quality and reliable products. Approx. 200 employees at the Paderborn location make sure of this.

Fred Bentley, CEO at DexKo Global: "We look forward to being able to access the proven expertise of BPW Fahrzeugtechnik. True to our corporate theme "together is better", we will be utilising the available synergies to continue the dynamic, further development of our companies."

Harald Hiller, President and CEO of AL-KO Vehicle Technology elaborates: "The combination of AL-KO Vehicle Technology and BPW Fahrzeugtechnik will strengthen the portfolio of our core business, provide us access to proven know-how and guarantee our customers top products of the highest quality."

Markus Schell, General Partner of BPW Bergische Achsen KG: "All parties will benefit from this agreement. Within the BPW Group, we will be able to now focus on our core business, the development of system solutions and services for goods transport and logistics. The staff of BPW Fahrzeugtechnik, along with AL-KO Vehicle Technology, will continue to be part of a globally active, long-established company with a long-term strategic focus."

Both parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction price.

ALOIS KOBER GMBH

Founded in 1931, AL-KO Vehicle Technology is now a global technology company with sites in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia. A supplier of high quality chassis components for trailers, leisure vehicles and light commercial vehicles, AL-KO is synonymous with ergonomic and functional excellence, superb comfort as well as innovations to enhance road safety. The company specialises in sophisticated innovation processes and has received many awards for this.

AL-KO Vehicle Technology and Dexter Axle have joined forces as DexKo Global Inc. (USA), one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-quality running gear technology, chassis assemblies and accessories. DexKo Global Inc. has a turnover of over US$ 1 billion.

About BPW Bergische Achsen KG

BPW Bergische Achsen KG is the parent company of the BPW Group. With more than 1,600 employees, the family-run company has been developing and producing complete running gear systems for truck trailers and semi-trailers at its headquarters in Wiehl since 1898. BPW's technologies include axle systems, brake technology, suspension and bearings. BPW's trailer axles and running gear systems are in use in millions of vehicles around the world. An extensive range of services also provides vehicle manufacturers and vehicle operators with the opportunity to increase economic efficiency in their production and transport processes. The BPW Group also includes Hestal (lock systems and cab technology), Ermax (lighting systems), HBN-Teknik (plastics technologies) and idem telematics (user-friendly telematics applications for trucks and trailers).

www.bpw.de

www.wethinktransport.de

About BPW Fahrzeugtechnik

BPW Fahrzeugtechnik based in Paderborn is an established manufacturer of comprehensive chassis technology, especially for trailers, in the private and commercial sector. The company employs approx. 200 people.

www.bpw-fahrzeugtechnik.de

Please send inquiries to: ALOIS KOBER GMBH Thomas Lutzel Press agency: Michael Schneider

Phone: +49 8221 97-8239

kiecom GmbH Ichenhauser Str.14 Fax: +49 8221 97-9214

Fon: +49 89 2323-620 89359 Kotz Mobile: +49 170 9252099

[email protected]

[email protected] AL-KO on the internet: www.al-ko.com

SOURCE DexKo Global Inc.
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson & Weaver, LLP has launched an investigation into whether the board members of DigitalGlobe, Inc. (NYSE: DGI) breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the proposed sale of the Company to MacDonald Dettwiler. DigitalGlobe provides earth-imagery products and services sourced from own satellite constellation and third-party providers in the United States and internationally.

On February 24, 2017, DigitalGlobe announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement, pursuant to which MacDonald Dettwiler will acquire DigitalGlobe for $35.00 per share in a combination of cash and stock. Under the deal terms, MacDonald Dettwiler will offer $17.50 in cash and 0.3132 of its shares for each DigitalGlobe share held. Shareholders will be subject to the future price fluctuation of MacDonald Dettwiler's stock price.

The investigation concerns whether the DigitalGlobe board failed to satisfy their duties to the Company shareholders, including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for DigitalGlobe shares of common stock. Nationally recognized Johnson & Weaver is investigating whether the proposed deal price represents adequate consideration; especially given that the price target for one Wall Street analyst is $44.00.

If you are a shareholder of DigitalGlobe and believe the proposed buyout price is too low and you're interested in learning more about the investigation or your legal rights and remedies, please contact lead analyst Jim Baker ([email protected]) at 619-814-4471.

About Johnson & Weaver, LLP:

Johnson & Weaver, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonandweaver.com. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Contact:

Johnson & Weaver, LLP

Jim Baker, 619-814-4471

[email protected]

SOURCE Johnson & Weaver, LLP

Related Links

http://johnsonandweaver.com


The February 2017 edition of the magazine, read by FinTech leaders across the state, also recognized Equifax CIO Dave Webb as a 2017 Georgia Game Changer for Financial Technology  a category that identifies the top ten leaders in the State driving innovation in the industry.

In Georgia, the FinTech sector processes more than 118 Billion transactions per year, representing over $2 trillion of purchase volume each year. The state's FinTech organizations employ more than 30,000 in the state and over 130,000 globally. The FinTech issue of Hub Magazine offers a glimpse of this vibrant industry in the state.

View the digital version of the magazine at: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/1242839.

About Equifax

Equifax powers the financial future of individuals and organizations around the world. Using the combined strength of unique trusted data, technology and innovative analytics, Equifax has grown from a consumer credit company into a leading provider of insights and knowledge that helps its customers make informed decisions. The company organizes, assimilates and analyzes data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses worldwide, and its databases include employee data contributed from more than 6,600 employers.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs approximately 9,400 employees worldwide.

Some noteworthy achievements for the company include: Ranked 13 on the American Banker FinTech Forward list (2015); named a Top Technology Provider on the FinTech 100 list (2004-2015); named an InformationWeek Elite 100 Winner (2014-2015); named a Top Workplace by Atlanta Journal Constitution (2013-2015); named one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies (2011-2015); named one of Forbes' World's 100 Most Innovative Companies (2015). For more information, visit www.equifax.com.

About Hub Magazine

Hub Magazine features timely news, ideas, people and trends that are at the intersection of Georgia's Emerging technology community. Published quarterly, HUB Magazine reaches a potential 30,000 + subscribers via print and digital distribution.

Learn more at: www.hubga.com

About The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG)

TAG is the leading technology industry association in the state, serving more than 35,000 members through regional chapters in Metro Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Macon/Middle Georgia, and Savannah. TAG's mission is to educate, promote, and unite Georgia's technology community to foster an innovative and connected marketplace that stimulates and enhances a tech-based economy.

Additionally, the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG's charitable arm) focuses on helping science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives thrive.

For more information visit the TAG website at www.tagonline.org or TAG's community website at http://www.hubga.com. To learn about the TAG-Ed Collaborative visit http://www.tagedonline.org/.

SOURCE Equifax Inc.

Related Links

http://www.equifax.com


LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) will be exhibiting at Eurasia Rail 2017 from March 2-4, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey. Greenbrier invites all visitors to Eurasia Rail 2017 to join us:

Venue: Istanbul Expo Center (IFM), Istanbul, Turkey

Greenbrier Stand Location: Hall 10, Stand 313

Contact: Thomas Jackson, Vice President

Email: [email protected]

Eurasia Rail 2017 is the only railway exhibition in Eurasia region and one of the three biggest railway exhibitions in the world. The exhibition, which is hosted by Republic of Turkey Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications and Republic of Turkey State Railways, attracts over 12,000 visitors from over 50 countries, more than 300 exhibitors, and over 40 professional conference speakers from the largest rail companies in the world along with the top government officials.

About Greenbrier

Greenbrier (www.gbrx.com), headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is a leading international supplier of equipment and services to the freight rail transportation markets. Greenbrier designs, builds and markets freight railcars in North America and Europe, we build freight railcars and rail castings in Brazil through a strategic partnership, and build and market marine barges in North America. Through our European manufacturing operations, we recently began delivery of US-designed tank cars in Saudi Arabia. In October 2016, we entered into an agreement with Astra Rail Management GmbH to form a new company, Greenbrier-Astra Rail, which will create an end-to-end, Europe-based freight railcar manufacturing, engineering and repair business. We expect this combination will be completed during 2017. We are a leading provider of wheel services, parts, leasing and other services to the railroad and related transportation industries in North America and a provider of freight railcar repair, refurbishment and retrofitting services in North America through a joint venture partnership with Watco Companies, LLC. Through other joint ventures we produce rail castings, tank heads and other railcar components. Greenbrier owns a lease fleet of over 8,500 railcars and performs management services for over 265,000 railcars.

SOURCE The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX)

Related Links

http://www.gbrx.com


WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Health Coalition on Liability and Access today announced its support of the Protecting Access to Care Act, a comprehensive medical liability reform bill introduced by Representative Steve King (R-IA).

The Protecting Access to Care Act, H.R. 1215, is modeled after proven reforms already in place in Texas, California, and many other states around the country that have had a positive effect on increasing access to care and keeping health care costs affordable for patients and physicians.

The bill ensures full and unlimited recovery of economic damages in cases of medical negligence, allowing for payment of past and future medical expenses, lost wages, rehabilitation costs, and other out-of-pocket expenses. The legislation also permits the additional recovery of up to $250,000 for non-economic damages, such as damages awarded for pain and suffering.

By enacting a reasonable statute of limitations for filing lawsuits, and limiting attorney fees, the bill will ensure a speedier resolution to claims and that damage awards go to deserving patients  not personal injury lawyers. It also protects states' rights by preserving their existing or future liability reforms.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the comprehensive medical liability reforms included in the Protecting Access to Care Act would lead to cost savings of $55 billion over the 2017-2026 period for federal health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and reduce our national deficit by almost $62 billion over the same 10-year period.

"I am encouraged by the fact that Congress has made comprehensive medical liability reform a priority this year, with a focus on increasing access to care and reining in sky-high federal health care spending," said HCLA Chair Mike Stinson. "The HCLA will continue to work towards a bipartisan solution to fixing our broken medical liability system that reduces medical lawsuit abuse and provides a path for deserving patients to be compensated quickly and fairly."

The bill is expected to be considered by the full House Judiciary Committee within the next week.

For more details, visit www.hcla.org. The Health Coalition on Liability and Access is a national advocacy coalition representing physicians, hospitals, health care liability insurers, employers, health care providers and consumers. HCLA believes federal legislation is needed to bring fairness, timeliness and cost-effectiveness to America's medical liability system.

SOURCE Health Coalition on Liability and Access

Related Links

http://www.hcla.org


HOUSTON, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Delivery drivers working for Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits (Southern Glazer) in the Houston area have voted to join Teamsters Local 988. The majority of the 59-driver unit voted in favor of joining the union.

"I am happy that we won because not only did we join the Teamsters, but the union has negotiated other good contracts at Southern Glazer locations," said Daniel Watkins, an employee for the past nine years.

Teamster members from other locations of Southern Glazer visited with and gave encouragement to the Houston drivers and were instrumental in the successful vote.

"We had great assistance from members and the leadership of Local 853 in Oakland, Calif.," said Joachin Galvan, a business agent at Local 988. "For our drivers, hearing about contracts won by Teamsters in other locations of Southern Glazer was important, and I think made a difference in the vote's outcome."

"We will support the drivers and work with them to negotiate their contract," said Robert Mele, President of Local 988. "Having work rules in writing in a collective bargaining agreement brings stability to workplaces  and we look forward to providing that for these Southern Glazer employees."

The Houston workers join over 64,000 brewery and soft drink workers in the U.S. and Canada who are members of the Teamsters Brewery and Soft Drink Workers Conference. 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 "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact: Robert Mele (281) 560-2000

SOURCE Teamsters Local Union 988

Related Links

http://www.teamster.org


The James O. Page/ JEMS Leadership Award is given to individuals or agencies who have exhibited the drive and tenacious effort necessary to develop improved EMS systems, resolve important EMS issues and bring about positive EMS system changes.

This year's winner, Dr. Dunford, has been the medical director for the city of San Diego for over 30 years. In that time, he spearheaded the development of San Diego Project Heartbeat, a program that emphasizes early intervention for cardiac arrest patients and assists businesses in procuring publicly available AEDs. The program has saved 145 lives, including 3 children.

Dr. Dunford has also worked tirelessly to reduce unnecessary 9-1-1 calls. He worked with the San Diego Police Department to develop a serial inebriate program, which became a national model for handling chronic public intoxication patients. In addition, he helps with the Homeless Outreach Team, and created the Resource Access Program to allow field paramedics to easily enroll homeless patients for city and social services specific to their needs.

Furthermore, he championed Project 25, a United Way Housing First initiative that allowed the city's top 25 highest 9-1-1 system users to all be housed in one building with vigilant case management and care for the residents. This has had a significant impact on the frequency of 9-1-1 transports.

The award, sponsored by Hartwell Medical, is named for JEMS founder James O. Page, and was created in 2003 to encourage EMS professionals to work toward improvements in prehospital care. Page's influence on emergency medical services ranged from his writing and advisory role on the television program Emergency!, to legendary essays and speeches. Page's legacy continues to grow as the award is bestowed each year to individuals or groups with a desire to better EMS.

For more information on EMS Today, the James O. Page/JEMS award or the nomination process, please visit the JEMS website at JEMS.com.

About PENNWELL CORPORATION

Founded in 1910 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, PennWell Corporation is a privately held and highly diversified business-to-business media and information company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries: Oil and gas, electric power generation and delivery, hydropower, renewable energy, water and wastewater treatment, waste management, electronics, semiconductor manufacturing, optoelectronics, fiber-optics, aerospace and avionics, LEDs and lighting, fire and emergency services, public safety, and dental.

PennWell publishes over 130 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, websites, research and database services. PennWell Public Safety, a PennWell business located in La Jolla, CA, produces public safety products and services including JEMS (Journal of Emergency Medical Services), JEMS.com, EMS Today Conference and Exposition, and other products.

In addition to PennWell's headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Company has major offices in Nashua, New Hampshire; London, England; Houston, Texas; San Diego and Mountain View, California; Fairlawn, New Jersey; Moscow, Russia; and Hong Kong, China. www.pennwell.com

About JEMS

The top source of information and resources for the emergency medical services community, JEMS (Journal of Emergency Medical Services) is the leading destination for EMTs, paramedics and EMS administrators. Leading the industry in providing the EMS advanced provider, instructor and administrator with clinical breakthroughs, product reviews, continuing education and more, JEMS serves an audience of more than 213,000 professionals through print, online and face-to-face engagement. For more information, visit www.jems.com.

About Hartwell Medical

To address the new protocols the award winning CombiCarrierII combines a scoop stretcher and an extrication board into the most reliable and easy to use patient transfer device that saves rescuers valuable budget dollars and storage space. Known for producing the industry's two best-selling vacuum splint products; the EVAC-U-SPLINT and the semi-disposable FASPLINT Hartwell Medical is proud of its history of innovative design, quality craftsmanship and exceptional customer service. Please visit our website at HartwellMedical.com.

The James O. Page/JEMS Leadership Award is sponsored by Hartwell Medical.

SOURCE PennWell Corporation

Related Links

http://www.pennwell.com


DALLAS, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- While 89% of members say they are connected to their health plan through a member portal, only 21% use their portal regularly. The data comes from a January 2017 HealthMine survey of 750 consumers with sponsored health insurance.

Key survey results are below:

Are you connected to your health plan online through a member portal?

Answer Percent Yes, and I use it sometimes 32% Yes, but I rarely use it 24% Yes, and I use it regularly 21% No 11% Yes, but I do not use it 8% Yes, and I would use it more if there was a good mobile experience 4%

Just 30% of respondents said they were able to find answers to most of their healthcare questions through their member portal, without requiring a phone call.

Is your member portal able to answer most of your questions online?

Answer Percent Some of the time 52% Yes, most of the time 30% Rarely 14% No, not at all 5%

The reasons for low member portal utilization are varied, and include confusing navigation and a lack of motivation or incentive for usage.

What is the primary reason you don't utilize your health plan's member portal?

Answer Percent Too confusing to navigate 24% No incentives 21% I don't know how 20% Doesn't help me 18% Not relevant to me 17%

Brennan Collins, vice president of product at HealthMine said, "Getting members to digitally connect to their health plans requires that plans provide useful dataand do so on a daily basis. As health plans evolve from health insurance to health care, they must find ways to deliver information that fits into each plan member's life and help guide them each day with relevant attainable health actions. It means that plans need to translate the tremendous amount of member data into key insights that make members more aware, and more intelligent about managing their own health."

About the Survey

The HealthMine Health Plan Intelligence Survey queried 750 insured consumers who are enrolled in a wellness program. The survey was fielded by Survey Sampling International (SSI) in January 2017. Data were collected via an opt-in panel. The margin of error is 4%. Survey Sampling International (SSI) has been the Worldwide Leader in Survey Sampling and Data Collection Solutions, across every mode, for 37 Years.

About HealthMine

HealthMine is a leading healthcare technology company that delivers Health Intelligence for plan members and plan sponsors. HealthMine's cloud-based Health Intelligence Solution facilitates better health outcomes and lowers healthcare costs by providing: 1) insight into health status and risk, 2) clinical guidance on necessary health actions, 3) personalized motivation to close gaps in care and 4) measurement of outcomes. The Health Intelligence Solution derives business value from all clinical and lifestyle health data including data from existing wellness programs. HealthMine has more than 1 million users and has saved health plan sponsors more than $100 million in healthcare costs. HealthMine is on the web at www.healthmine.com.

SOURCE HealthMine

Related Links

http://www.healthmine.com


Simpson brings two decades of experience in the areas of finance, operations, accounting, regulatory and information technology to this role. Most recently he served as interim president for the Georgia Region. Prior to this, he served as senior vice president of finance for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Hospitals. During his long tenure with the organization, Simpson also served as vice president and controller for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Northern California.

"It is an exciting time for leadership in health care and at Kaiser Permanente. Jim is a proven leader who is well prepared for this role," said Chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tyson. "I am confident his skill and expertise will support our Georgia Region's positive growth trajectory and allow us to provide care and coverage to more people in our region's communities."

Simpson will report directly to Gregory Adams, executive vice president and group president, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Hospitals. "Jim is a great fit for this role," said Adams. "His strong business background and 20 years of experience with Kaiser Permanente will serve our members, employees and physicians well as we continue to be a model for delivering high-quality and affordable health care in Georgia."

"I'm incredibly honored and truly humbled to be asked to serve in this capacity," Simpson said. "Kaiser Permanente has a proud history of more than 70 years, including 32 years of serving the people of Georgia. I'm looking forward to building upon this legacy as we work to bring our nonprofit mission to new members and additional communities in this great state."

Kaiser Permanente Georgia provides health care and coverage to more than 300,000 members at 26 medical offices and partner hospitals, primarily in the Atlanta and Athens markets. Kaiser Permanente is a nationally recognized leader in care quality, patient safety and member satisfaction. Kaiser Permanente Georgia is among the state's top-ranked health plans by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 11.3 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

For more information:

Marc Brown [email protected]

510-271-6328



SOURCE Kaiser Permanente

Related Links

http://www.kaiserpermanente.org


DALLAS, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In recently published hearings, Kentucky and Texas rejected sale-for-resale claims. (See Kentucky Claims Commission Tax Appeals File Number K16-R-03 and Texas Comptroller Hearing Number 110,655.)

In the Kentucky hearing, the taxpayer provided various services to related insurance providers, including managing group insurance plans. As a part of its service, the taxpayer provided benefit statements to insureds. The benefit statements included other information, such as, appeal rights, health tips, medical information, and advice on how to locate doctors. The taxpayer claimed a sale-for-resale exemption on rolls of paper delivered to its print shop, which were used to print the statements. In finding that the taxpayer used the paper to provide its non-taxable services, the Kentucky Commission explained that the statements were the result of "a number of interrelated and coordinated services, professional and otherwise, that provide information, assistance and advice" to insureds.

In Texas Hearing Number 110,655, the taxpayer leased a building to the General Services Administration (GSA). The lease required that the building be cleaned twice a day, and the GSA reimbursed the taxpayer for the second cleaning. The taxpayer purchased the janitorial services from a third party, paid sales tax on the services, and requested a refund of the tax. The administrative law judge found that services were purchased to enable the taxpayer to fulfill its legal obligations under the lease agreements and denied the refund.

Please note, however, that the Comptroller requires landlords to collect tax from non-exempt tenants on charges for taxable services provided in tenant-occupied space. No tax is due on reimbursements for services provided in common areas. (See Comptroller Letter Ruling 200103322L and 201304670L.)

Both cases highlight the issue of the sale-for-resale concept being utilized in a service industry, and the attention to this issue for the service sector economy will prove to be very important.

About Ryan

Ryan is an award-winning global tax services firm, with the largest indirect and property tax practices in North America and the seventh largest corporate tax practice in the United States. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides a comprehensive range of state, local, federal, and international tax advisory and consulting services on a multi-jurisdictional basis, including audit defense, tax recovery, credits and incentives, tax process improvement and automation, tax appeals, tax compliance, and strategic planning. Ryan is a five-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan's multi-disciplinary team of more than 2,100 professionals and associates serves over 12,000 clients in more than 40 countries, including many of the world's most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTACTS:

Jeremiah T. Lynch

Principal

Ryan

212.871.3901

[email protected]

Adina Christian

Director

Ryan

512.476.0022

[email protected]

Available Topic Expert:

Jerry Lynch

For information on the listed expert, click appropriate link.

ProfNet - http://www.profnetconnect.com/jeremiahlynch

SOURCE Ryan

Related Links

http://www.ryan.com


NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Drug delivery systems optimized to provide flexibility in dosing regimen, reduce the number of hospital visits, decrease dependence on healthcare professionals and enhance adherence to the therapeutic regimen have become the preferred choice of drug administration. The large scale adoption of prefilled syringes, the first ready-to-use injection device to be marketed, demonstrated the growing interest in the concept of such convenient drug delivery systems. In addition, several pen-injectors and autoinjectors have witnessed an impressive growth in the recent past. However, these hand-held devices are only capable of administering drugs with dosing volume close to 1 ml. With over 900 biologics being developed (most of these are highly viscous and are required to be delivered in volumes greater than 1 ml), there is a growing demand for self-administration devices than can overcome this unmet need.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04719478-summary/view-report.html

Large volume wearable injectors, an advanced version of the existing self-injection devices, are expected to gather interest from a wide customer base. In fact, there are a number of such injectors commercially available for delivery of insulin. OmniPod, from Insulet Corporation, is a very well-known device that has generated significant year-on-year revenue growth. However, it is worth highlighting that till date only one large volume wearable injector (SmartDose Electronic Wearable Injector) has been approved for administration of a non-insulin biologic. Despite the uncertainties related to the device development and approval, many companies are investing their time, money and resources to develop these novel devices. In addition to the publically known programs, pharma companies have many undisclosed programs that are likely to provide the necessary growth impetus in the long term.

It is worth noting that the VC community has demonstrated significant interest in funding projects related to such wearable injectors. These investments are expected to drive further innovation and lead to the introduction of novel device candidates in the industry. Quite recently, in January 2017, scPharmaceuticals closed a series B investment round worth USD 45.6 million. The company intends to use the funding to bring Furoscix and the sc2Wear Infusor to the market in the US. Earlier, in July 2016, SteadyMed Therapeutics raised USD 32 million in a private placement round financed by Deerfield Capital Management, Federated Investors and OrbiMed. In September 2015, CeQur completed a USD 100 million Venture (Series C) financing round, which was led by Woodford Investment Management, Arthurian Life Sciences, Endeavour Vision, VI Partners and Schroders.

Several partnerships have also been inked in this domain in the last few years. Most of these are focused on the development / commercialization of a variety of wearable injectors. Such partnerships are important for technological integration, supply of devices and also facilitate the conduct of clinical trials related to drug-device combination products. We believe that the device developers will continue to strive to introduce unique and user-friendly features into their proprietary range of devices. The upgradation of existing devices to more competent / next generation devices will serve as a key driver of immediate near-term growth.

SCOPE OF THE REPORT

The "Large Volume Wearable Injectors Market (3rd Edition), 2017-2027" report features an extensive study of the current landscape and the likely future evolution of this category of drug delivery devices over the next ten years. With the increasing incidence of chronic and lifestyle-related diseases across the globe, the demand for efficient drug delivery systems is growing at a rapid pace. In order to simplify the process of drug delivery, eliminate costs and reduce the incidence of needlestick injuries, the pharmaceutical industry has shifted its focus towards the development of self-injection devices for parenteral drugs / therapies. This report specifically lays emphasis on the emergence of such patient-centric, convenient, cost-effective and user-friendly wearable injectors that are capable of administering large volumes of a drug subcutaneously in a home-care setting.

It is worth noting that the concept behind such injectors is being widely employed for the delivery of insulin. Over 15 such unique series of injectors (excluding variants) have already entered the market. On the other hand, there is only one large volume wearable injector (mentioned above) approved for the administration of a non-insulin biologic in the US. However, with a variety of biologics under investigation, we believe that device developers have a significant opportunity waiting to be tapped. The field is likely to pick up momentum in the next few years. In fact, an increase in the partnerships and investment activities demonstrate that the market is geared towards significant growth in the mid to long term.

One of the key objectives outlined for the study was to evaluate the future potential of the ongoing development programs of both big and small firms. Amongst other elements, the report elaborates on the following areas:

- An overview of the current market landscape in terms of the key players involved, development status of pipeline products (marketed / under development), type of dose (bolus / continuous / both), usability (disposable / reusable) and key indications.

- Detailed profiles of large volume wearable devices that are being developed for the delivery of biologics (including insulin), highlighting their key features, current status of development, recent developments and associated collaborations.

- An exhaustive review of over 300 biologics, which are potential candidates for delivery using large volume wearable injectors. The molecules / therapies have been categorized into most-likely, likely and less-likely candidates for administration using large volume wearable injectors. This categorization is based on various parameters including recommended volume, route of administration, frequency of the dose, standard / weight based dose and the chronicity of target indication.

- Comprehensive case studies on drugs that are being evaluated for delivery via large volume wearable injectors, highlighting their specifications, mechanisms of action, current status of development, sales, respective dosages and any other recent developments.

- An illustrative grid representation of the devices based on the category of device (insulin / non-insulin biologic), type of dose and type of device (infusion pump / patch pump). In addition, the report includes an insightful 2 X 2 matrix analysis, highlighting the positioning of the devices based on product competitiveness and supplier power.

- A discussion on the key drivers and challenges, in terms of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), which are likely to impact the future growth of this upcoming area.

The study provides a detailed market forecast and opportunity analysis for the period between 2017 and 2027. The research, analysis and insights presented in this report include potential sales of the drug-device combinations that are being evaluated and are anticipated to enter the market in the next few years. To add robustness to our model, we have provided three market forecast scenarios, namely the conservative, base and optimistic scenarios. It is worth noting that, although the market of insulin delivery devices is relatively more mature, we have included a high-level opportunity analysis on the large volume wearable injectors being developed for delivery of insulin as well.

Our opinions and insights presented in this study were influenced by discussions conducted with several experts in this area. Specifically, we solicited the opinions of senior representatives including Menachem Zucker (VP and Chief Scientist, Elcam Medical), Michael Hooven (CEO, Enable Injections), Ben Moga (President, Ratio Drug Delivery), Pieter Muntendam (President and CEO, scPharmaceuticals), Graham Reynolds, (VP and GM, Biologics, West Pharmaceutical Services) and Tiffany H. Burke (Director, Global Communications, West Pharmaceutical Services). All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums and primary research discussions. The financial figures mentioned in this report are in USD, unless otherwise specified.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Most of the data presented in this report has been gathered via secondary and primary research. For all our projects, we conduct interviews with experts in the area (academia, industry, medical practice and other associations) to solicit their opinions on emerging trends in the market. This is primarily useful for us to draw out our own opinion on how the market will evolve across different regions and technology segments. Where possible, the available data has been checked for accuracy from multiple sources of information. The secondary sources of information include

- Annual reports

- Investor presentations

- SEC filings

- Industry databases

- News releases from company websites

- Government policy documents

- Industry analysts' views

While the focus has been on forecasting the market over the coming ten years, the report also provides our independent view on various non-commercial trends emerging in the industry. This opinion is solely based on our knowledge, research and understanding of the relevant market gathered from various secondary and primary sources of information.

CHAPTER OUTLINES

Chapter 2 provides an executive summary of the insights captured in our research. The summary offers a high level view on the likely evolution of the large volume wearable injectors market.

Chapter 3 provides a general introduction to the market and highlights the growing demand for self-administration injection devices. The chapter lays emphasis on the need for such devices driven by the rising incidence of chronic diseases and emergency cases reported per day. Subsequently, it covers the different types of self-injection devices available in the market, highlighting their advantages. This section also features a brief discussion on the concerns related to needlestick injuries and emphasizes the growing preference for safe and easy-to-use devices.

Chapter 4 presents two separate lists of the large volume wearable injectors for insulin and the other biologics. In addition, the chapter includes a detailed analysis of both these lists based on the products' status of development, device category (infusion pump / patch pump), type of dose (bolus / continuous) and the capacity of each device. Specifically for insulin delivery devices, we have identified whether the device is equipped with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) monitoring or not.

Chapter 5 presents key takeaways from the market landscape of this emerging field. It features a comparison of product competitiveness and supplier power of each device in the form of a 2 x 2 matrix. In addition, the chapter includes a grid based representation of devices based on the target indication, status of development, type of dose (continuous / bolus / both) and type of device (patch pump / infusion pump). The chapter also provides an analysis of the patents granted / filed in this space over the last three years.

Chapter 6 presents detailed profiles on the large volume wearable injectors being developed for biologics / drugs other than insulin. The profiles include information about the developer of the device, device specifications and features, advantages, current status of development and related collaborations. We have presented such insights on 10 devices capable of delivering large dosage volumes.

Chapter 7 is focused on the devices developed / being developed for the administration of insulin. It presents information on diabetes, the most popular target indication, including information on its epidemiology and the evolution of insulin-delivery systems. Additionally, it includes detailed profiles on some of the large volume wearable devices developed / being developed for the delivery of insulin. Each profile covers information on the device developer, device specifications, advantages and the associated developments. The chapter also includes a social media analysis highlighting the popularity of these devices in the industry.

Chapter 8 provides detailed case studies on the drugs / therapies that are currently being evaluated with the devices mentioned in chapter 4. Each case study includes drug / therapy specifications, respective mechanisms of action, current status of development, information on the sales of each product, dosage and recent developments.

Chapter 9 presents a list of candidates (marketed / pipeline) that have the potential to be administered using large volume wearable injectors in the future. The likelihood of delivery of a molecule was estimated based on the volume of dose, mode of administration, frequency of administration, standard / weight-based dose and the chronicity of the target indication.

Chapter 10 provides projections of the future opportunity of the large volume wearable injectors market for biologics till 2027. It highlights the market size of such injectors (in terms of value) and the number of units that are likely to be sold within the forecast time period. We have clearly laid out the forecast methodology along with the key assumptions that were taken into consideration for estimating the market size.

Chapter 11 includes comprehensive profiles of the key companies that are active in this market. We have profiled companies (presented in an alphabetical order) developing devices for administration of insulin / other biologics. Each company profile includes a company overview, details on its financial performance, product portfolio and collaborations.

Chapter 12 provides a SWOT analysis, highlighting strategic insights on major factors that have contributed to the growth of the market, while highlighting the weaknesses and threats that are likely to have an impact on its future.

Chapter 13 summarizes the overall report and provides a recap of the key takeaways from the study. It also presents our independent opinion on the future of large volume wearable injectors market based on the research and analysis described in the previous chapters.

Chapter 14 is a collection of interview transcripts of the discussions held with key stakeholders in this market. In this chapter, we have presented the insights provided to us by Menachem Zucker (VP and Chief Scientist, Elcam Medical), Michael Hooven (CEO, Enable Injections), Ben Moga (President, Ratio Drug Delivery), Pieter Muntendam (President and CEO, scPharmaceuticals), Graham Reynolds, (VP and GM, Biologics, West Pharmaceutical Services) and Tiffany H. Burke (Director, Global Communications, West Pharmaceutical Services).

Chapter 15 is an appendix, which provides tabulated data and numbers for all the figures presented in the report.

Chapter 16 is an appendix, which provides a list of companies and organizations mentioned in this report.

EXAMPLE HIGHLIGHTS

1. There are over 50 different large volume wearable injectors (including variants) that are either commercialized or are under development. Of these, around 60% are for delivery of insulin and the rest are for delivery of other biologics. Of the devices being developed for delivery of non-insulin biologics, SmartDose Electronic Wearable Injector (by West Pharmaceutical Services) has already received approval by the USFDA for delivery of Repatha.

2. There are several other known references of drug-device combinations that are being evaluated in clinical studies; examples include SteadyMed Therapeutics' PatchPump (with Treprostinil and Ketorolac), NeuroDerm's CRONO ND (with NDO612 and NDO712), Roche's Single-use injection device (with Herceptin) and scPharmaceuticals's scWear Infusor (with Ceftriaxone and Furosemide).

3. The commercially available insulin-based large volume wearable injectors can accommodate volumes of up to 5 ml. OmniPod, from Insulet Corporation, is a very well-known device that has generated significant year-on-year revenue growth. However, with improved design, several devices with capacity of holding up to 20 ml drug are being developed for delivery of biologics. In fact, over 50% of the devices that we identified for administration of non-insulin biologics have the capability of carrying 5-20 ml drug while 16% of these devices can hold over 20 ml drug.

4. Our analysis suggests that close to 100 biologics (marketed / under development) are suited for delivery via large volume wearable injectors and are likely to be evaluated in different drug-device combinations in the near future. These biologics (full list available in the main report) are designed for treatment of chronic conditions, which require frequent dosing, and are not currently available in suitable self-administration systems. We believe that some of these drugs, if tested and approved with large volume wearable injectors, are likely to make a substantial contribution to the market's evolution in the mid-long term.

5. Innovation in the field is primarily being driven by start-ups / small companies; examples of firms working for delivery of non-insulin biologics include (in alphabetical order) Elcam Drug Delivery Systems, Enable Injections, NeuroDerm, scPharmaceuticals, Sensile Medical. Notable examples of start-ups that have taken initiatives for delivery of insulin include Cellnovo, CeQur, Debiotech, PicoSulin, SOOIL and ViCentra. In addition, a number of large companies are making notable contribution in this field; prominent players include Becton Dickinson, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Roche and West Pharmaceutical Services.

6. Several other companies engaged in this domain have reported positive clinical outcomes of their drug-device combinations. scPharmaceuticals is expecting the commercial launch of its two product candidates for the drugs furosemide and cephalosporin in 2017 / 18. In addition, Neuroderm and SteadyMed Therapeutics are also hopeful of making their products commercially available in the near future. At the same time, insulin delivery devices, such as OmniPod, are now also being explored for the delivery of non-insulin drugs, such as the gonadotropin-releasing hormone developed by Ferring Pharmaceuticals.

7. The overall market for large volume wearable injectors is likely to grow at an aggressive rate of over 150%. We believe that OmniPod will continue to lead the market for insulin delivery. However, majority of the growth is likely to come from drug-device combinations under trials for non-insulin biologics. In our base scenario, we have predicted that the annual sales volume of such devices could be over 40 million units by 2027.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04719478-summary/view-report.html

About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

http://www.reportlinker.com

__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


DALLAS, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Arkansas

Earlier this month, the Arkansas Senate passed S.B. 140. If it becomes law, S.B. 140 would require out-of-state retailers, who deliver more than $100,000 in products or services into the state or make at least 200 Arkansas transactions per calendar year, to collect tax. This would be a game changer for many online retailers. Coincidentally, less than a week after S.B. 140 passed the Senate, Amazon announced it would begin collecting Arkansas tax beginning March 1. The next step for this legislation is with the House, and we will continue to monitor.

South Carolina

Last month, we issued a tax development on South Carolina Senate Bill 214, which was introduced in the Senate on January 10, 2017. If enacted, it would create a rebuttable click-through nexus provision. Further details on the provisions of the bill can be found here. On February 14, S.B. 214, was passed by the South Carolina Senate. We will continue to monitor it as it moves to the House.

Pennsylvania

On February 17, Pennsylvania House Bill 542 was introduced. If enacted, it would require out-of-state sellers to notify purchasers of their use tax obligation and responsibility to report the tax on their Pennsylvania income tax forms. We will continue to closely monitor this legislation.

E-commerce is a massive industry, and it is growing by leaps and bounds. With budget shortfalls facing many states, we expect we'll continue to see states take these types of steps in an effort to capture their piece of the e-commerce pie. We'll continue to closely monitor any activity and will provide updates as things develop. We predict this form of legislation will remain very active in 2017.

About Ryan

Ryan is an award-winning global tax services firm, with the largest indirect and property tax practices in North America and the seventh largest corporate tax practice in the United States. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides a comprehensive range of state, local, federal, and international tax advisory and consulting services on a multi-jurisdictional basis, including audit defense, tax recovery, credits and incentives, tax process improvement and automation, tax appeals, tax compliance, and strategic planning. Ryan is a five-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan's multi-disciplinary team of more than 2,100 professionals and associates serves over 12,000 clients in more than 40 countries, including many of the world's most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jeremiah T. Lynch

Principal

Ryan

212.847.0113

[email protected]

SOURCE Ryan

Related Links

http://www.ryan.com


Known as autoantibodies and produced by the immune system's B cells, these defective molecules mistakenly attack the body's own proteins in an example of autoimmune disease. Now the results of a study just published in Arthritis & Rheumatology suggest that clinical trials for new rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drugs should shift from their sole focus on relieving inflammation to eliminating the B cells that produce these antibodies.

"We have developed a test for measuring the underlying autoimmunity in rheumatoid arthritis patients that should be used to evaluate new treatment regimens," says senior author Gregg Silverman, MD, professor in the Departments of Medicine and Pathology at NYU Langone and co-director of its Musculoskeletal Center of Excellence. "We believe this provides a road to a cure for rheumatoid arthritis."

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that affects 1.5 million people in the United States. The current standard of care begins with methotrexate, a drug that reduces inflammation. It is often followed by drugs that block a molecule called tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which promotes inflammation. Both of these classes of drugs can blunt the swelling and inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis and at times even allow patients to go into clinical remission that requires continued treatment. But when patients halt these medications, symptoms generally flare up either sooner or later. According to Silverman, the reduction of inflammation does not directly reflect the autoimmune disease that causes rheumatoid arthritis.

In the study, researchers focused on "memory" B cells, immune system cells that remember the initial errant immune encounter that recognized the body's own proteins as foreign. In rheumatoid arthritis, memory B cells secrete molecules called anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs). Doctors currently confirm an RA diagnosis with a blood test that looks for ACPAs, which are present in 80 percent of RA patients.

Silverman and his colleagues developed sensitive assays to detect a range of different autoantibodies present in the disease. The researchers then established a cell culture system to stimulate memory B cells, and used the assays to test what kind of antibodies the B cells produced.

The researchers tested blood samples from RA patients and from healthy donors. They found high levels of APCA-secreting memory B cells in the blood of patients with these autoantibodies, but not in patients without autoantibodies or in the healthy volunteers.

They then looked at patients who had achieved remission with either methotrexate or a TNF inhibitor. The researchers found that APCA levels were directly proportional to the recirculating memory B cells in the blood stream, confirming that current drug treatments do not affect the underlying autoimmunity in rheumatoid arthritis.

The next step, Silverman says, is to conduct long-term prospective clinical trials of new RA drugs, using the team's new test to determine each drug's effect on autoimmunity. The current metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of new rheumatoid arthritis drugs remain focused on reducing inflammation but not curing the disease, he says.

"We need to develop longer-term vision of how to improve the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis," Silverman says. "This new tool may show that agents that target other molecules or cells have advantages that were previously not considered now that we can better measure those effects."

Silverman's co-authors are Adam J. Pelzek, Caroline Gronwall, PhD, Pamela Rosenthal, MD, and Jeffrey D. Greenberg, MD, at NYU Langone; Mandy McGeachy, PhD, and Larry Moreland, MD, at the University of Pittsburgh; and William F.C. Rigby, MD, at Dartmouth Medical School.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01AI090118, R01AI068063, R01-AR42455, N01-AR-4-2271, an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act supplement, and the NIAID/NIH: NYU School of Medicine-Immunology & Inflammation Training Grant (T32 AI100853)). Research conducted at the NYU Immune Monitoring Core and the NYU Flow Cytometry Core Facility was supported by NYU-HHC CTSI Grant UL1 TR000038, and the NYU Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center support grant, P30CA016087 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

CONTACT: Jim Mandler, 212-404-3525, [email protected]

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise. For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE NYU Langone Medical Center

Related Links

http://nyulangone.org


LOS ANGELES, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ted Scholz, Ph.D. as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer. Dr. Scholz had served as Interim Chief Academic Officer for one year prior to his appointment. TCSPP is one of the leading nonprofit graduate universities devoted exclusively to the study of psychology, and related behavioral health services.

Dr. Scholz has been a passionate advocate for the training and development of TCSPP faculty and staff for the past nine years. After holding a leadership position at Robert Morris University in Chicago, Dr. Scholz joined The Chicago School in 2007 as the director of Faculty Development and Manager of adjunct faculty. Shortly afterward in 2009, he earned the title of Associate Vice President, Faculty Development and Training. He next took on the role of National Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, where he led the development and implementation of institutional policies that impact talent development, employee performance, governance, and development structures.

In 2015, Dr. Scholz was promoted to Associate Provost, Teaching, Learning and Faculty Affairs, overseeing all matters related to faculty and professional development, the National Center for Teaching and Learning (NCTL), faculty scholarship, faculty workload and was the primary liaison for administration and faculty for matters involving shared governance. Dr. Scholz is a 2013 graduate from The Chicago School's Online Doctoral Organizational Leadership Program.

"During his tenure with our University, Dr. Scholz has been an invaluable part of our community, demonstrating leadership at every level and accepting every challenge," said TCSPP President Dr. Michelle Nealon-Woods. "He has always been committed to moving our university forward and I could not be more pleased to have him continue to provide academic leadership as we strive to bring excellence in education to our students."

"I am extremely excited to begin this important next step in my journey within TCSPP and Academic Affairs," said Dr. Scholz. "I am equally thankful to the students, faculty, administration, and staff who have supported me throughout my tenure as interim and during my transition to a permanent role. Academic rigor and quality will be of the utmost importance to me in this position and I look forward to working collaboratively with the faculty in leading Academic Affairs to accomplishing great things in the years ahead"

About The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Founded in 1979, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) is a nonprofit, private university devoted exclusively to psychology, and related behavioral health services. The Chicago School is an affiliate of TCS Education System, a nonprofit system of colleges advancing student success and community impact. The university serves nearly 4,500 students across campuses in Chicago; Southern California (Los Angeles and Irvine); and Washington, D.C., as well as through online programs. The Chicago School is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission, (WSCUC), and its Clinical Psychology Doctoral Programs in Chicago and Washington, D.C. are accredited by the American Psychological Association. With more than 20 graduate degree programs, thousands of hours of real-world training, and a wealth of international opportunities, TCSPP is the leader in professional psychology education. To learn more, visit www.thechicagoschool.edu

MEDIA CONTACT: Elinor Gilbert

213.283.4255

[email protected]

SOURCE The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Related Links

http://www.thechicagoschool.edu


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NxGen MDx, a Company that provides innovative genetic testing solutions, announced the execution of a new national Agreement with Aetna in a press release issued February 9, 2017 indicating that full-gene sequencing is covered under the new Agreement. However, it is not a covered service for Aetna members.

The Company's genetic screening and non-invasive pre-natal testing will still be available on an in-network basis for Aetna members in accordance with Aetna's Clinical Policy Bulletins beginning effective February 15, 2017.

Aetna, the third largest health plan in the United States, now provides coverage of NxGen's services via their published Clinical Policy Bulletin (CPB) following a thorough review of the Company's products. In addition, many physicians supported the inclusion of NxGen MDx in the network due to their stated belief that NxGen MDx's suite of services are best-in-class tools and aid in informed decision-making. According to Dr. Mark Perloe, Medical Director at Georgia Reproductive Specialists in Atlanta, "Having NxGen MDx in the Aetna network allows me the flexibility to use the testing services that I believe are in my patients' best interest."

"Patients will now have in-network access to selected tests, streamlining the billing process and potentially lowering out of pocket costs depending on their benefit plan design" said Kristin Sherman, CFO of NxGen MDx. "This also removes a barrier for many health care professionals who have wanted to use our testing in the past."

About NxGen MDx

NxGen MDx LLC is a leading women's health company delivering highly accurate and precise genetic screening to detect genetic diseases or abnormalities to help guide family planning decisions for couples and their health care providers. Unlike other laboratories, NxGen MDx's technology examines the entire gene rather than parts of the gene, giving families a comprehensive assessment of their true risk. NxGen MDx is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. To learn more, visit the company's website at www.nxgenmdx.com.

SOURCE NxGen MDx

Related Links

http://www.nxgenmdx.com


WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Queen Njinga of Angola is one of the most powerful and brave figures in African history. Her story is often overlooked in history books, but she was one of the most multifaceted rulers in history. At a book signing yesterday at Jamestown Settlement, Dr. Linda M. Heywood, professor of African History at Boston University, discussed her book Njinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen and how Queen Njinga skillfully navigatedand ultimately transcendedthe ruthless, male-dominated power struggles of her time.

The book signing event was hosted by the 2019 Commemoration as part of the build up to 2019, when the Commonwealth of Virginia will commemorate the 400th anniversary of a pivotal year in American history. The 2019 Commemoration is focusing on the themes of democracy, diversity and opportunity and this book illuminates the backstory of the first Africans who arrived at Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia in August of 1619.

"The 2019 Commemoration's goal is to help illuminate the key events that occurred in 1619 that set both Virginia and the United States on a course towards the ideals of democracy, diversity and opportunity," said Kathy Spangler, Executive Director of the 2019 Commemoration. "The story of Queen Njinga adds richness to our history and helps us contextualize the crucial moment when African culture became part of American culture."

"I am proud to be able to share Queen Njinga's story. She had a profound influence on the lives and destiny of the Angolans who traversed the Atlantic and arrived in Virginia in 1619," said Dr. Linda M. Heywood. "Her story is important, as she provides a powerful role model for African Americans and women today. There are myriad direct correlations between the issues Queen Njinga overcame and today's race and gender challenges in leadership and politics."

During the next two years Virginia's 2019 Commemoration will showcase new scholarship and scientific discoveries that facilitate a deeper and richer understanding of America's history and our AMERICAN EVOLUTION, which began with seminal events that occurred in 1619 and their enduring influence over a 400-year arc of history that continues to influence America's future. Please visit www.AmericanEvolution2019.com to learn more about Angola's Queen Njinga and Virginia's 2019 Commemoration.

About the 2019 Commemoration

The 2019 Commemoration, AMERICAN EVOLUTION, highlights events that occurred in Virginia in 1619 that continue to influence America today. Featured programs, events and legacy projects will position Virginia as a leader in education, tourism and economic development. AMERICAN EVOLUTION commemorates the ongoing journey toward the key ideals of democracy, diversity and opportunity.

For more information, please visit www.americanevolution2019.com.

Lauren Wingfield

2019 Commemoration

[email protected]

(202) 884-7305

SOURCE 2019 Commemoration

Related Links

http://www.americanevolution2019.com


BRISBANE, Australia, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Directors from Pharma To Market Pty Ltd and Ador Consulting Pte Ltd announce that the two companies have joined forces, resulting in the founding of Pharma To Market Pte Ltd, based in Singapore.

Pharma To Market are pleased to announce their expansion into Asia with the opening of an office in Singapore. The company are delighted to appoint Joelle Chia, former owner of Ador Consulting as Co-Director of the Singapore based entity. Joelle brings with her an extensive business network throughout Asia as well as over 12 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Joelle and her team will provide support for a range of regulatory services in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.

"I am excited to join Pharma To Market and to continue to grow the business in Asia. I look forward to leveraging my network and expertise using the foundations of Pharma To Market's business practices, reputation and brand," said Joelle Chia, Co-Director, Pharma To Market Pte Ltd.

Pharma To Market aims to establish a foothold in the region by assisting existing clients enter the region and also by promoting their services to new clients. The company aims to build on the brand and reputation it has successfully developed over the last 8 years.

"We are proud to open our new office in Singapore and to expand the Pharma To Market footprint into Asia. We consider this important for the growth of Pharma To Market as this region remains a highly attractive yet challenging market for life science companies," said Johanna Hann, Co-Director Pharma To Market.

"We welcome Joelle to Pharma To Market to lead the business in the region. Her vast experience and expertise throughout Asia will be a terrific asset to the business," said Nick Ward, Co-Director, Pharma To Market.

For more information on Pharma To Market and its services, visit www.pharmatomarket.com.

About Pharma To Market

Pharma To Market is a leading life sciences consulting company with offices in Australia and Singapore. It was founded in 2009 by Co-Directors, Johanna Hann and Nick Ward.

Pharma To Market provides an extensive range of regulatory, market access, compliance, publishing, pharmacovigilance and training services. Pharma To Market assist life science companies to access markets in Australia, New Zealand and now Asia. Pharma To Market's experience in global regulatory affairs enables them to offer first-hand advice to clients seeking marketing authorisations in all major markets (EU, US, CA, APAC) or assisting clients adapt dossiers for multiple regions. Through partnerships they submit to many agencies globally.

Pharma To Market are one of the only consulting companies within Australia offering eSubmission solutions in addition to regulatory services. Through their partnership with LORENZ Life Sciences, Pharma To Market offer implementation and outsourcing solutions for eCTD, NeeS and paper publishing using LORENZ docuBridge, an industry leading eSubmission publishing tool. Pharma To Market has a dedicated publishing specialist and accredited trainer of docuBridge. They are renowned in the region as the eCTD specialists and regularly run their in-house developed eCTD training courses.

Media Contact:

Nick Ward

Phone: +61 (0)7 3122 9979

Email: [email protected]

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Pharma To Market

Related Links

http://www.pharmatomarket.com


TEWKSBURY, Mass., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Co., Woburn, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $1,066,297,129 fixed-price, incentive-firm letter contract for a Qatar early warning radar system. Contractor will provide an early warning radar system that will be integrated into the Qatar integrated air and missile defense enterprise. Work will be performed at Woburn, Massachusetts, and is expected to be complete by June 30, 2021. This contract is 100 percent foreign military sales. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-17-C-0010).

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2016 sales of $24 billion and 63,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 95 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I products and services, sensing, effects, and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Follow us on Twitter @Raytheon.

Media Contact

Ian Davis

+1.978.858.4135

[email protected]

SOURCE Raytheon Company

Related Links

http://www.raytheon.com


LINCOLN, Neb., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sandhills Publishing will host nearly 125 attendees from across the country at an upcoming regional dealer forum event on February 28th in Arlington, Texas. Drawing equipment and parts dealers, manufacturers, rental and leasing companies, auctioneers, and other professionals in the construction, agriculture, commercial trucking, and aviation industries, the forum is an opportunity for professionals in these markets to leverage Sandhills' expansive presence to gain industry insights, forge relationships, and grow business.

The upcoming forum will focus on strategies for improving margins at every step in the equipment lifecycle through successful inventory management, high-value advertising, and internal processes that improve efficiency and accuracy from inventory acquisition to sale. Seminars will feature best practices for inventory management across the lifecycle, with focus on developing and implementing an effective marketing strategy that includes a premium and dynamic online presence and the ability to measure return on investment along the way.

In addition to forum-style seminars, roundtable discussions, and collaborative breakout sessions, forum attendees will consult one-on-one with Sandhills' industry experts. With leading brands that include Machinery Trader, Truck Paper, TractorHouse, AuctionTime, and Controller, Sandhills has served these industries for decades. Its hosted technologies and simple business solutions bring cutting-edge resources to buyers and sellers in these industries at competitive rates. "We're committed to bringing our customers practical, user-friendly tools that are easy to implement and that bring their businesses measurable return on investment," explains Truck Paper Assistant Manager Michelle Ober. "Regional forums provide opportunities for sellers across these industries to strategize ahead of industry trends and begin implementing these tools to grow the success of their businesses."

In the coming months, Sandhills will host additional regional forums: April 25th and 26th in Roanoke, Virginia; June 12th and 13th in Salt Lake City, Utah; October 16th and 17th in Orlando, Florida; and December 4th and 5th in Phoenix, Arizona. Sandhills will also host its annual three-day Global Forum at the company's headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska August 8th, 9th, and 10th.

Contact:

Sandhills Publishing

120 West Harvest Drive

Lincoln, NE 68521

[email protected]

(402) 479-2181

SOURCE Sandhills Publishing Company
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SoFi, a modern finance company taking an unprecedented approach to lending and wealth management, announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to raise $500 million in Series F financing led by Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing. The investment round brings the company's total equity funding to $1.9 billion. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate its expansion into new product areas and countries outside of the United States. Additional investors in the company's fundraising include SoftBank Group and GPI Capital.

"We've seen tremendous growth at SoFi because we know what people expect from their financial partner: they want speed, transparency, and alignment with their interests," said Mike Cagney, SoFi co-founder, Chairman, and CEO. "We're the only personal finance company focused not just on people's money, but their careers and relationships as well. We know this opportunity doesn't just exist in the United States, and look forward to bringing the SoFi approach to finance to more people around the world. Silver Lake's global relationships, technology expertise and value creation capabilities will be an invaluable addition as we expand our business further."

"SoFi's platform -- equal parts technology, community, and exceptional customer experience -- is rapidly transforming personal finance," said Mike Bingle, Managing Partner of Silver Lake. "We are thrilled to partner with Mike Cagney and his talented team, and we look forward to helping SoFi achieve its long-term vision of offering a broad suite of financial services around the world."

SoFi closed 2016 with another strong year of growth, originating $8 billion in loans, up from $5 billion in 2015, and expanding its member base to 225,000 from 100,000 over the same period. It expanded its product offering in lending with the introduction of a first-of-its-kind Student Loan Payoff Refi for home mortgages and student loans in partnership with Fannie Mae. In addition to new lending products, SoFi introduced its SoFi at Work brand for employee financial wellness, SoFi Wealth for modern investment management, and a partnership with Protective to offer term life insurance. Lastly, SoFi added considerable talent to the company, growing its headcount to 750 at year's end from 515.

In 2017, SoFi will take on new areas of personal finance and new geographies. With the recent acquisition of Zenbanx, the company plans to introduce a suite of mobile deposit, credit, and payment products to its members in the United States this year. SoFi also plans to bring its lending products to people in Australia and Canada by the end of the year.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

About SoFi

SoFi is a new kind of finance company taking a radical approach to lending, wealth management, and insurance. From unprecedented products and tools to faster service and open conversations, we're all about helping our members get ahead and find success. Whether they're looking to buy a home, save money on student loans, ascend in their careers, or invest in the future, the SoFi community works to empower our members to accomplish the goals they set and achieve financial greatness as a result. For more information, visit SoFi.com.

About Silver Lake

Silver Lake is the global leader in technology investing, with over $24 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a team of approximately 100 investment and value creation professionals located in Silicon Valley, New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Silver Lake's portfolio of investments collectively generates more than $145 billion of revenue annually and employs more than 300,000 people globally. The firm's current portfolio includes leading technology and technology-enabled businesses such as Alibaba Group, Ancestry, Broadcom Limited, Ctrip, Dell Technologies, Fanatics, Global Blue, GoDaddy, Motorola Solutions, Sabre, SolarWinds, Symantec, and WMEIMG. For more information about Silver Lake and its entire portfolio, please visit www.silverlake.com.

About GPI Capital

GPI Capital is an independent asset management firm focused on making large scale, long-term strategic investments across a broad range of industries globally. GPI specializes in significant minority, non-controlling stakes made to finance transformational initiatives in both privately-held late-stage firms and in publicly-traded companies. The GPI team is based in New York and London, and has extensive experience in this type of investment across the Americas, Asia and Europe, in sectors including financial services, technology/telecom, consumer and industrials. For more information about GPI Capital, please visit www.gpicap.com.

Media Contacts

SoFi

Jim Prosser, 415-634-7634

[email protected]

Silver Lake

Patricia Graue, 212-333-3810

[email protected]

GPI Capital

Mateo Goldman, 646-357-3140

[email protected]

SOURCE SoFi

Related Links

https://www.sofi.com


TSC causes tumors to form in vital organs, including the brain, eyes, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It's also the leading genetic cause of both autism and epilepsy. Approximately 50,000 people the United States have TSC, with 1 million worldwide. Currently there is no cure.

Sound Bites kicks off at 6 pm with bite-sized samplings, wine tasting and a silent auction, then concludes with a short program and an exciting live auction. Throughout the evening, enjoy music provided by the Golden Gup, the "Cadillac of Oldies DJs." As a special addition, he will be joined by a drummer and a bass player, known as "The Rhythmhancers," to create a unique combination of recorded and live music.

In addition, the TS Alliance will present its Courage in Leadership Award to John and Jordan Richards, whose son Thorpe has TSC. Mr. Richards served on the TS Alliance Board of Directors and is currently on its Corporate Advisory Board. Both Richards have been instrumental in the TS Alliance's government advocacy efforts; in fact, Mr. Richards was one of the founders of the government relations effort to secure annual Federal TSC research funding since 2001. Because of their leadership and dedication, Congress has appropriated $65 million to the Department of Defense's Congressionally Directed TSC Research Program over the years.

The organization will also honor former State Senator and newly elected Missouri State Treasurer Eric Schmitt, whose son Stephen also has TSC. Mr. Schmitt will be recognized for working directly with the Missouri State Legislature to appropriate $250,000 in the state's 2016 fiscal year budget then $1.25 million in the state's 2017 fiscal year budget to create and expand the comprehensive Washington University Tuberous Sclerosis Center of Missouri.

Tickets for Sound Bites are available online at tsalliance.schoolauction.net/soundbitesdc.

Established in 1974, the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance is dedicated to finding a cure for tuberous sclerosis complex, while improving the lives of those affected through the stimulation and sponsorship of research; the development of programs, support services and resource information; and the development and implementation of public and professional education programs designed to heighten awareness of TSC. For more information, visit www.tsalliance.org.

CONTACT: Jaye Isham, [email protected]

SOURCE Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance

Related Links

http://www.tsalliance.org


BOSTON, February 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Global digital O.R. technology leader SCAPE kicks off the year with excellent prospects. The firm, which operates its surgical workflow solutions business under the brand caresyntax, has exceeded its ambitious 2016 sales targets with an increase in revenues of over 30%, and an even larger 50% increase in order backlog. It allowed caresyntax to be acclaimed as the world's largest vendor-neutral perioperative workflow integration platform provider. With this achievement, the company joins the select group of high-growth companies in the broader digital health segment worldwide. The company expects to keep expanding at a similar rate in 2017 as it reinforces its leading position in key markets and launches cutting-edge software-focused solutions.

Additionally, caresyntax team has enjoyed a very fruitful first trade show of the year at Arab Health in Dubai World Trade Center from January, 30th to February, 3rd. The company held productive meetings with a continuous flow of visitors from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. As the company took part in leading PPP projects in 2016 in Turkey (e.g., Mersin, Bilkent), it has become one of the preeminent integration platforms in the region. Dennis Kogan and Bjoern von Siemens, the two managing directors, along with Haitham Zaatari, VP of Sales in MEA, Turkey, and India, further advanced collaboration initiatives in the Middle Eastern Hybrid O.R. segment with such distinguished partners as Siemens Healthineers.

caresyntax has an exciting roadmap of releases coming up through the entire year, including first of a kind Software as a Service (SaaS) concept in O.R. integration. Some of these solutions will be exclusively showcased at the upcoming trade fairs: HIMSS and ConhIT. At HIMSS Conference in Orlando, Florida on February 19th-23rd, caresyntax has unveiled the first generation of the SaaS applications suite with an innovative usage-based pricing for lower upfront investment.

About caresyntax (a brand by SCAPE)

caresyntax is a surgical solutions provider with regional hubs all around the world. caresyntax perioperative solutions reduce unproductive time and deliver better care in hospitals. caresyntax enhances concepts of integrated operating room medical devices and workflows by applying its unique vendor-neutral Internet of Medical Things (IoT) approach to the entire horizontal peri-procedural workflow. caresyntax solutions are built and deployed in collaboration with many of the leading vendors in surgical medical device, healthcare IT, and hospital infrastructure fields. Our footprint allows us to help optimize workflow in over 10 million surgical procedures a year.

For further information, please contact:

Marie Loubiere

Head of Marketing and Product Management- SCAPE

Tel: +49 (0) 30 7130297-0, E-mail: [email protected]





Merih Erkovan

Vice President- Advanced Therapies- Middle East & South East Africa- Siemens Healthineers Tel: +971 55 200 1688, E-mail: [email protected]



SOURCE caresyntax inc.
"As we stay true to our vision of creating a unique tech staffing firm with strong core values, we continue to build a company culture that appreciates its employees," says Optomi Co-founder & COO Todd Black. "We're genuine in our relationships and that's a unique way to do business."

By establishing this recognition, Entrepreneur Magazine honors companies in a wide span of industries that are creating vibrant, healthy and sustainable work environments through an effective culture. "Great company cultures don't happen on their own. They're the result of great leadership, and a conscious effort to make everyone on a team feel engaged and important," says Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur. "The honorees on our 2017 list are proof that strong cultures make even stronger companies. Entrepreneurs at all levels can draw inspiration from them."

The rankings for all companies were determined using CultureIQ's methodology for measuring high-performance cultures. Employees at each company received a survey of 21 questions. The answers were used to assess a company's strength across 10 core qualities of culture  performance focus, support and innovation, to name a few. These quality strength scores were combined with the employee Net Promoter Score to create a cumulative CultureIQ Score. The companies with the highest CultureIQ Scores became the Top Company Culture list in ranking order. The full 2017 list can be found here.

ABOUT OPTOMI, LLC

"DRIVING TOMORROW'S TECHNOLOGY WITH TODAY'S OPTIMUM TALENT."

Optomi is inspired by: optimumbeing the best...the ultimate. We are a tech staffing firm with a unique approach. Optomi has developed fresh philosophies as cutting-edge as the technology we represent. With a revolutionary consultant-focused approach, Optomi is completely dedicated to genuinely serving its consultants, clients and employees. By utilizing innovative technologies and developing industry leading recruitment processes, we are able to deploy the best project managers, business analysts and technologists in the ever evolving spaces of mobile technology, information security, network engineering, business intelligence, cloud and application developmentmaking us a leader in the IT staffing world.

SOURCE Optomi

Related Links

http://www.optomi.com


VANCOUVER, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Vanedge Capital Partners Ltd. announces the final close of Vanedge Capital II Limited Partnership at $161 million of committed capital. The partners are grateful for the confidence and support of the Limited Partners and welcome HarbourVest Partners into the Limited Partner group, joining other institutional investors BDC Capital, Export Development Canada, Kensington Capital, Nicola Wealth Management, the BC Tech Fund, Nicola and numerous individual investors and family offices.

About Vanedge Capital:

Vanedge Capital is a Vancouver based early-stage venture capital fund investing in technology inflection points in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cyber security, SaaS and digital media. As entrepreneurs and investors, we have built and led world-class companies using a unique combination of operating leadership and management; subject matter expertise; relationships with technology, creative, and management talent. Vanedge has over $296M in assets under management. To learn more, visit: www.vanedgecapital.com

About HarbourVest Partners:

HarbourVest is an independent, global private markets investment specialist with more than 30 years of experience and more than $40 billion in assets under management. The Firm offers investment opportunities through primary fund investments, secondary investments, and direct co-investments in commingled funds or separately managed accounts. HarbourVest has been making investments in Canada since 1989, with more than $425 million of indirect investments into over 200 Canadian companies through primary fund and secondary investments, and $40 million in Canadian growth equity transactions. To learn more, visit: www.harbourvest.com

About BDC Capital:



With more than $2 billion under management, BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, serving as a strategic partner to Canada's most innovative and high potential firms. It offers a range of equity, venture capital and flexible growth and transition capital solutions to help Canadian entrepreneurs scale their businesses into global champions. To learn more, visit : www.bdc.ca/capital.

About Export Development Canada:

We are Canada's export credit agency. Our job is to support and develop Canada's export trade by helping Canadian companies respond to international business opportunities. We are a self-financing, Crown corporation that operates at arm's length from the Government. To learn more, visit: www.edc.ca

About Kensington Capital:

Kensington Capital Partners is a leading Canadian investment firm in alternative assets, with over $1.1 billion invested to date in venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, and infrastructure. Founded in 1996, the firm is employee owned and fiercely independent. Kensington's active management approach and relationship based business has generated top quartile returns for investors, consisting of institutional investors such as pension and endowment funds, foundations, corporations, wealth managers and individuals. For more information, visit www.kcpl.ca.

About Nicola Wealth Management:

Founded by John Nicola in 1994, today, the Nicola Wealth manages nearly $4-billion in assets, operates with over 130 staff, and has four offices (Vancouver, Kelowna, Richmond, and Toronto), advising institutions and high net worth families of all professions and backgrounds. To learn more, visit: www.nicolawealth.com

About the BC Tech Fund:

Launched in October 2016, the BC Tech Fund is a $100 million fund investing in venture capital funds and technology companies based in the Province of British Columbia. The BC Tech Fund is part of the #BCTECH Strategy to grow BC's technology sector. The BC Tech Fund has been established with the goal of realizing the best financial returns within the Fund's established parameters, with all investment decisions to be made on commercial market-based terms consistent with a developed investment strategy. All investment decisions relating to the BC Tech Fund portfolio are made by Kensington Capital Partners, the Fund's Manager.

SOURCE Vanedge Capital Partners

Related Links

www.vanedgecapital.com


VALLEY FORGE, Pa., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard reported lower expense ratios today for 68 additional mutual fund and ETF shares, saving clients more than $105 million.1 Led by notable decreases in some of the industry's largest international exchange-traded funds (ETFs), this third wave of reductions represents a cumulative $143 million in savings across 124 fund shares reported over the last three months.2

"While Vanguard is lowering  and will continue to lower  the cost of investing, the so-called fee war is essentially over on the beta battleground. Investors have won," said Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb, who noted that broad market equity and bond exposure can be obtained for 10 basis points or less through index funds and ETFs. "The new fronts in the fee war are active management and advice. Again, investors will ultimately win."

Vanguard has been lowering expense ratios across its product line-up, and all of its funds and ETFs are among the lowest cost in their respective categories. In fact, 99% of Vanguard's US-domiciled mutual funds fall within the industry's lowest cost decile and 99% of Vanguard's US-domiciled ETFs fall within the lowest cost quartile of all ETFs.3

"The demand for low-cost funds and ETFs, along with intense competition, have made investing far more affordable today than ever before," added McNabb. "With the broad availability of low-cost options, investors  whether on their own or with the help of a financial advisor or employer  need to focus on the other factors that can lead to investing success, including saving more, developing a suitable asset allocation, using broadly diversified funds, and maintaining discipline through market ups and down."

Ten Vanguard international ETFs are reporting lower expenses, including five that are the largest in their category (VWO, VGK, VPL, VT, and BNDX) and two that are the second largest in their category (VNQI and VSS)4, as follows:

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) declined one basis point to 0.14%.

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK) declined two basis points to 0.10%.

Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF (VPL) declined two basis points to 0.10%.

Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT) declined three basis points to 0.11%.

Vanguard Total International Bond ETF (BNDX) declined three basis points to 0.12%.

Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF (VNQI) declined three basis points to 0.15%.

Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF (VSS) declined four basis points to 0.13%.

Other notable changes in this latest round of expense ratio changes include the Admiral Shares of the actively managed Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund, the industry's largest municipal bond fund with $50 billion in assets, which experienced a 25% expense ratio reduction from 0.12% to 0.09%.5 The Admiral and Investor Shares of Vanguard's factor offering, the $1.6 billion Global Minimum Volatility Fund, experienced three and two basis point reductions to 0.17% and 0.25%, respectively. Vanguard's relatively new municipal bond index ETF, Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index ETF (VTEB), saw a 25% expense ratio reduction from 0.12% to 0.09%.

Expense ratios represent the actual operating expenses for the prior fiscal year (including investment advisory fees, administrative costs, and shareholder-service expenses), meaning investors have already realized these savings by the time they are reported. Vanguard will announce any additional expense ratio changes as funds update their annual prospectuses in the coming months, in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission requirements.

About Vanguard

Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment management companies. As of January 31, 2017, Vanguard managed more than $4 trillion in global assets. The firm, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, offers more than 350 funds to its more than 20 million investors worldwide. For more information, visit vanguard.com.

1Vanguard calculation based on average fund assets over a 12-month period and the change in expense ratios through the fiscal year ended October 2016.

2Vanguard calculations based on average fund assets over a 12-month period and changes in expense ratios for all share classes from December 2016 through February 2017.

3Vanguard calculation based on reported expense ratios pulled from the most recent prospectuses via Morningstar. All share classes are included for mutual funds.

4Based on Morningstar categories as of December 31, 2016.

5Based on Morningstar categories and assets as of January 31, 2017.

All asset figures are as of December 31, 2016, unless otherwise stated.

Vanguard provides its services to the Vanguard funds at cost. More information about Vanguard funds, including at-cost services, is available in a fund's prospectus.

For more information about Vanguard funds and ETFs, visit vanguard.com or call 800-662-7447 to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information about a fund are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.

Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable with the issuing Fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. Instead, investors must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares in the secondary market and hold those shares in a brokerage account. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than net asset value when buying and receive less than net asset value when selling.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

All investments are subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest.

U.S. Patent Nos. 6,879,964; 7,337,138; 7,720,749; 7,925,573; 8,090,646; and 8,417,623.

Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.

Vanguard Expense Ratio Changes: February 2017

Actively Managed Balanced Fund 2015 Expense Ratio 2016 Expense Ratio Basis Point Change STAR Fund 0.34% 0.32% -2







Actively Managed Equity Fund 2015 Expense Ratio 2016 Expense Ratio Basis Point Change Alternative Strategies Fund Investor 0.73% 0.71% -2 Diversified Equity Fund 0.40% 0.36% -4 Emerging Markets Select Stock Fund 0.93% 0.90% -3 Explorer Fund Admiral 0.35% 0.34% -1 Explorer Fund Investor 0.49% 0.46% -3 Global Minimum Volatility Fund Admiral 0.21% 0.17% -4 Global Minimum Volatility Fund Investor 0.27% 0.25% -2 International Explorer Fund 0.42% 0.41% -1 International Value Fund 0.46% 0.43% -3 Mid-Cap Growth 0.43% 0.36% -7 Selected Value Fund 0.39% 0.35% -4 Windsor Fund Admiral 0.29% 0.20% -9 Windsor Fund Investor 0.39% 0.30% -9 Windsor II Fund Admiral 0.26% 0.25% -1 Windsor II Fund Investor 0.34% 0.33% -1







Equity Index Fund 2015 Expense Ratio 2016 Expense Ratio Basis Point Change Emerging Markets Index Fund Institutional Plus 0.10% 0.09% -1 Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Admiral 0.15% 0.14% -1 Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Institutional 0.12% 0.11% -1 Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Investor 0.33% 0.32% -1 European Stock Index Fund Admiral 0.12% 0.10% -2 European Stock Index Fund Institutional Plus 0.08% 0.07% -1 European Stock Index Fund Institutional 0.09% 0.08% -1 FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund Admiral 0.13% 0.11% -2 FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund Institutional Plus 0.09% 0.07% -2 FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund Institutional 0.11% 0.10% -1 FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund Investor 0.26% 0.23% -3 FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund Institutional 0.15% 0.12% -3 FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund Investor 0.31% 0.27% -4 Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Index Fund Admiral 0.18% 0.15% -3 Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Index Fund Institutional 0.16% 0.13% -3 Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Index Fund Investor 0.36% 0.35% -1 High Dividend Yield Index Fund Investor 0.16% 0.15% -1 International High Dividend Yield Index Admiral 0.30% 0.32% +2 International High Dividend Yield Index Investor 0.40% 0.42% +2 Pacific Stock Index Fund Admiral 0.12% 0.10% -2 Pacific Stock Index Fund Institutional 0.09% 0.08% -1 Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral 0.12% 0.11% -1 Total International Stock Index Fund Institutional 0.10% 0.09% -1 Total International Stock Index Fund Investor 0.19% 0.18% -1 Total World Stock Index Fund Institutional 0.13% 0.10% -3 Total World Stock Index Fund Investor 0.25% 0.21% -4







Equity Index ETF Fund 2015 Expense Ratio 2016 Expense Ratio Basis Point Change FTSE Emerging Markets ETF 0.15% 0.14% -1 FTSE Europe ETF 0.12% 0.10% -2 FTSE All-World ex-US ETF 0.13% 0.11% -2 FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF 0.17% 0.13% -4 Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF 0.18% 0.15% -3 High Dividend Yield ETF 0.09% 0.08% -1 International High Dividend Yield Index ETF 0.30% 0.32% +2 FTSE Pacific ETF 0.12% 0.10% -2 Total International Stock ETF 0.13% 0.11% -2 Total World Stock ETF 0.14% 0.11% -3







Bond Index Fund 2015 Expense Ratio 2016 Expense Ratio Basis Point Change Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund Admiral 0.33% 0.32% -1 Total International Bond Index Fund Admiral 0.14% 0.12% -2 Total International Bond Index Fund Institutional 0.09% 0.07% -2 Total International Bond Index Fund Investor 0.17% 0.15% -2







Bond Index ETF Fund 2015 Expense Ratio 2016 Expense Ratio Basis Point Change Emerging Markets Government Bond ETF 0.34% 0.32% -2 Total International Bond ETF 0.15% 0.12% -3







Actively Managed Bond: Tax-Exempt Fund 2015 Expense Ratio 2016 Expense Ratio Basis Point Change High-Yield Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral 0.12% 0.09% -3 High-Yield Tax-Exempt Fund Investor 0.20% 0.19% -1 Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral 0.12% 0.09% -3 Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor 0.20% 0.19% -1 Limited-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral 0.12% 0.09% -3 Limited-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor 0.20% 0.19% -1 Long-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral 0.12% 0.09% -3 Long-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor 0.20% 0.19% -1 Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral 0.12% 0.09% -3 Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor 0.20% 0.19% -1







Bond Index: Tax-Exempt Fund 2015 Expense Ratio 2016 Expense Ratio Basis Point Change Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund Admiral 0.12% 0.09% -3 Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund Investor 0.20% 0.19% -1







Bond Index ETF: Tax-Exempt Fund 2015 Expense Ratio 2016 Expense Ratio Basis Point Change Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund ETF 0.12% 0.09% -3

Source: Vanguard.

All 2016 expense ratios are as of the most recent prospectus. Generally, expense ratios are backwardlooking, meaning they are based on actual operating expenses reported from the prior fiscal year.

For more information about Vanguard funds, visit vanguard.com or call 800-662-7447 to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information about a fund are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.

Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable with the issuing Fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. Instead, investors must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares in the secondary market and hold those shares in a brokerage account. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than net asset value when buying and receive less than net asset value when selling.

All investments are subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest.

U.S. Patent Nos. 6,879,964; 7,337,138; 7,720,749; 7,925,573; 8,090,646; and 8,417,623.

Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.

SOURCE Vanguard

Related Links

http://www.vanguard.com


HOLMDEL, N.J., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vonage (NYSE: VG), a leading provider of cloud communications for business, announced that it will collaborate with Google to provide businesses with enhanced features to the standard messaging experience on mobile devices. Through Nexmo, the Vonage API platform, this SMS upgrade enables delivery of improved business messaging to any Android mobile device, via RCS (Rich Communication Services), helping businesses to engage with their customers for deeper relationships and better business outcomes.

Through Google's RCS Early Access Program, Vonage will offer its business customers, such as G2A.com and BlaBlaCar, this upgraded experience. For these, and other, Vonage customers that rely on messaging in their daily operations, the Early Access Program gives them access to all the new features that RCS messaging offers, from group chat, to high-res photo sharing, to read receipts, and more. These enhanced messaging capabilities will be delivered via the Nexmo Chat App API (patent pending), which provides multi-channel access through one simple-to-connect API.

In an increasingly digital age, customers have the expectation that the businesses and brands they engage with will not only provide an "always on" customer service experience, but that they will have the ability to communicate via any device or medium which the customer prefers, whether it is SMS, RCS, chat or voice.

"More and more businesses today rely on contextual communications to engage customers wherever they are for increased loyalty and better business outcomes," said Vonage CEO Alan Masarek. "RCS business messaging is a natural next step in our goal to reinvent how communications applications are built, providing our customers with the ability to streamline communications in an ecosystem where device and operating systems are irrelevant. RCS offers a much richer experience than either SMS or MMS, and it allows us to provide businesses with the ability to give their customers - no matter the device or operating system they use - the exceptional experience they need to stay competitive."

Via Nexmo, the Vonage API Platform, Vonage provides cloud-based APIs that allow organizations to easily embed voice, messaging, phone verification and more into their applications, ensuring effective communications - via text, social media or chat apps - with both consumers and other businesses. Extending those capabilities to Android users through the RCS upgrade streamlines these communications, enabling consistent contextual communications.

Added Tony Jamous, President of Nexmo, the Vonage API Platform, "This Early Access Program increases our reach within the business space. RCS messages are a great complement to existing SMS capabilities for Vonage customers, bringing additional value to businesses that have the need to deliver rich content, such as read receipts, branded inbound support and multimedia messages, to their customers across the globe."

About Vonage

Vonage (NYSE: VG) is a leading provider of cloud communications services for business. Vonage transforms the way people work and businesses operate through a portfolio of cloud-based communications solutions that enable internal collaboration among employees, while also keeping companies closely connected with their customers, across any mode of communication, on any device.

Nexmo, the Vonage API Platform, provides tools for voice, messaging and phone verification services, allowing developers to embed contextual, programmable communications into mobile apps, websites and business systems, enabling enterprises to easily communicate relevant information to their customers in real time, anywhere in the world, through text messaging, chat, social media and voice.

The Company also provides a robust suite of feature-rich residential communication solutions. In 2015 and 2016, Vonage was named a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as-a-Service, Worldwide. Vonage has also earned Frost & Sullivan's 2015 Growth Excellence Leadership Award for Hosted IP and Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) Services and the 2016 North American Cloud Communications Product Line Strategy Leadership Award. For more information, visit www.vonage.com.

Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey. Vonage is a registered trademark of Vonage Marketing LLC, owned by Vonage America Inc. To follow Vonage on Twitter, please visit www.twitter.com/vonage. To become a fan on Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/vonage. To subscribe on YouTube, visit www.youtube.com/vonage.

(vg-a)

SOURCE Vonage

Related Links

http://www.vonage.com


The project is funded by Mar Yapi, designed by the prestigious designer Philippe Starck. Located in a bustling business district featuring many office buildings, apartments and shopping malls, the new hotel is just a short stroll from the biggest shopping district in Istanbul, five-minute drive from Ataturk International Airport and 25 minutes away from the city center. Its 150 luxury guest rooms and suites will feature modern and local elements, complemented by Wanda's high-quality services, to offer unique experiences to local and international travelers.

"Wanda Vista Istanbul is more than just the first Wanda hotel to be opened overseas; it is also the first brand we have marketed overseas. It marks another significant step toward our goal of becoming a respected international luxury hotel company from China," said Qian Jin, president of Wanda Hotels & Resorts.

Munir Ozkok, chairman of the Turkish company, Mar Yapi, said: "We are delighted to be working together with Wanda Hotels & Resorts, who has a clear competitive edge among hotel brands. Among 50 major cities in China where Wanda hotels operate, more than 50% of them have achieved outstanding performance, being the lead in the market. As China and Turkey move toward closer economic cooperation, I am confident Wanda Vista Istanbul will successfully offer oriental services that delight guests not only from China but from many other countries globally."

By the end of 2016, the number of luxury hotels owned and operated by Wanda Hotels & Resorts had reached 104 in China. Also, the company has re-launched its own brands, including the ultra-luxury brand Wanda Reign, luxury brand Wanda Vista, deluxe brand Wanda Realm, and lifestyle hotel brand Wanda Jin. As China's largest luxury hotel company, Wanda Hotels & Resorts believes that a greater goodness in life is achieved by treating each other with great respect and sincerity. An established industrial leader in China, Wanda Hotels & Resorts works to spread a hospitality approach that is embedded in Chinese culture. Today, Wanda Hotels & Resorts has six international projects, including those in the Gold Coast, Sydney, Chicago, Los Angeles and London. These international hotels are under the same brand, Wanda Vista, positioned as a luxury hotel brand for distinguished guests who relish extraordinary services in oriental elegance that seamlessly blends with local culture. Wanda Hotels & Resorts believes that hotel brands deeply rooted in China's cultural legacy will achieve wide recognition among international markets and global travelers.

About Wanda Hotels & Resorts

Founded in 2012, Wanda Hotels & Resorts endeavors to become a respected international luxury hotel company from China. This vision has been achieved through three business models of hotel owner, owner and operator, and management contracts based on its core values of "People, our business. We hold the highest conduct. We seek mutual growth and success." and corporate belief of "A greater goodness in life is achieved by treating each other with great respect and sincerity." as its. Wanda Hotels & Resorts manages four brands under its portfolio: the ultra-luxury brand Wanda Reign, luxury brand Wanda Vista, deluxe brand Wanda Realm, and lifestyle hotel brand Wanda Jin, all of which are dedicated to providing profound Chinese embedded service experiences and attentive guest services to travelers worldwide. By the end of 2016, Wanda Hotels & Resorts had over 100 high-end hotels in China, including business hotels and resorts under the management of over a dozen international hotel brands, and self-owned and managed hotels. By the end of 2020, Wanda Hotels & Resorts will own and manage over 160 hotels around the world, including Wanda Vista Hotels in Istanbul, London, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sydney and the Gold Coast.

For more information or bookings, please visit http://www.wandahotels.com.

SOURCE Wanda Hotels & Resorts

Related Links

http://www.wandahotels.com


TOLEDO, Ohio, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Welltower Inc. (NYSE: HCN) Chief Executive Officer Tom DeRosa will join CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to discuss long-term value creation strategies at CECP's inaugural Strategic Investor Initiative (SII) CEO/Investor Forum, part of CECP's 12th Annual Board of Boards. CECP, the CEO Force for Good, is a coalition of leaders from the business and investment world who believe a company's social strategy is key to superior shareholder returns over time.

CECP created the SII to connect the world's leading companies and institutional investors and increase dialog on long-term value creation. The initiative was precipitated by comments from nine out of ten CEOs at CECP's 2016 Board of Boards, who said they spent too much time on short-term issues and urged companies and investors to focus on long-term capital deployment and sustainable growth plans.

Tom DeRosa's presentation at the CECP Investor Forum, February 27, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), will be webcast and available for viewing through CECP's website at the following link: http://wsw.com/webcast/cecp. A replay of his presentation will also be available via the above link shortly following the conclusion of the program.

"The 'Silver Economy' opportunity as a result of aging population growth is one of the most important investment themes of this century," said Tom DeRosa, CEO of Welltower. "The elderly are the fastest growing segment of our population, and health care costs are simply not sustainable based on demographic and disease trends. Innovation to help people live well as they age and deliver better care at lower cost is at the core of Welltower's strategy for creating value for our shareholders."

Welltower is at the forefront of investing in innovative health care infrastructure to create the physical and social environments necessary to promote wellness and quality of life for the aging population. Welltower's operating platform supports post-acute care, independent living, assisted living and memory care facilities for more than 200,000 elderly residents and state-of-the-art outpatient medical facilities handling more than 16 million patient visits annually.

"The inaugural CEO Investor Forum will be a watershed moment to accelerate the shift away from short-term myopia on Wall Street towards long-term sustainable value creation," said Mark Tulay, Director, Strategic Investor Initiative, CECP. "SII is looking forward to connecting leading CEOs with long-term investors so that together we can focus on the new normal of driving long-term value creation."

About Welltower

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:HCN), an S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. The company invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience. Welltower, a real estate investment trust (REIT), owns interests in approximately 1,400 properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, consisting of seniors housing and post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties. More information is available at www.welltower.com.

About CECP: The CEO Force for Good

CECP is a CEO led coalition that believes that a company's social strategy  how it engages with key stakeholders including employees, communities, investors, and customers determines company success. Founded in 1999 by actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and other business leaders to create a better world through business, CECP has grown to a movement of more than 200 of the world's largest companies that represent $7 trillion in revenues, $18.6 billion in societal investment, 13 million employees, and $15 trillion in assets under management. CECP helps companies transform their social strategy by providing customized connections and networking, counsel and support, benchmarking and trends, and awareness building and recognition. For more information, visit http://cecp.co.

SOURCE Welltower Inc.

Related Links

http://www.welltower.com


Released this week, " Valuing America's Top Online Retailers: A Guide for Retailers and Investors ," is a 32-page report based on an analysis of 553 privately held retailers ranked in the Internet Retailer Top 1000 , the listing of North America's leading retailers by online sales. It includes estimates of the value of companies versus their web sales based on company size, type, online marketplace exposure and private-label assortment. For example, Internet Retailer estimates the typical e-retailer that primarily sells its own branded goods is valued at 1.04 times annual sales, versus only 0.54 times sales for other e-retailers.

"While we are not offering investment advice with this report, we are providing retailers and investors with valuable guidance on what adds value in online retailing today," says Molly Love, CEO of Vertical Web Media LLC, parent company of Internet Retailer. "We have combined our rich data collected over more than a decade of studying online retail sales with our own staff reporting and interviews with investment bankers and online retailers to analyze hundreds of online retailers and produce a report unlike anything that's been available before."

While the typical retailer in the study is worth 0.81 times annual sales, by Internet Retailer's estimate, some are worth much more. The report lists 10 e-retailers believed to be worth more than two times sales. They range from the more than a century-old outdoor apparel retailer L.L. Bean to relative newcomers like meal service Blue Apron and Poppin.com, which sells its own brand of colorful office accessories and modular office furniture.

"The value of online retailers has gone through big changes in recent years," says Don Davis, Internet Retailer's editor in chief and the principal author of the report. "Our research shows that the value of online retailers has trended down in recent years, probably due to the growing dominance of Amazon. But the recent big deals for e-commerce companies Jet.com and Dollar Shave Club could signal growing interest in e-retailer companies that are unique in some way."

"Valuing America's Top Online Retailers: A Guide for Retailers and Investors," is available now as a downloadable PDF for $199.

ABOUT INTERNET RETAILER

The flagship brand of Chicago-based e-commerce publisher Vertical Web Media, Internet Retailer provides comprehensive e-commerce business intelligence through print and digital channels, including a monthly magazine, research reports and databases, webinars and newsletters. Internet Retailer, launched in March 1999, is the largest e-retailing monthly magazine with 44,500 subscribers. InternetRetailer.com is the most-visited informational website in e-commerce featuring daily industry news and market analysis. The site attracts more than 225,000 unique monthly visitors. IRNewsLink, a daily e-commerce newsletter, is sent to more than 45,000 subscribers.

For more information contact: Don Davis, Editor in Chief at [email protected]

SOURCE Internet Retailer

Related Links

http://www.internetretailer.com


MIAMI, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The inaugural World Happiness Summit, presented by lululemon, today announced Smart Dubai, the initiative that is focused on making Dubai the happiest city on earth, as a Platinum Event Sponsor. WOHASU will hold its inaugural global gathering focusing on exploring the key elements of happiness and wellbeing with the goal of increasing global happiness in Miami from March 16 -19.

"Smart Dubai's commitment to placing happiness at the core of creating smart city transformation is unique in the world and WOHASU welcomes them as the platinum sponsor in both our institutional and academic track regarding happiness and wellbeing as a key indicator to urban and human development," stated Manuel S. Pietra, Chairman of the WOHASU Board and President/CEO of FreeBalance.

The World Happiness Summit (WOHASU) is both a global movement and an event dedicated to increasing awareness around happiness as a life choice, as a human right and as an enabler of human development and social innovation at the individual governmental and collective levels.

On a global level, measures of well-being and happiness are used to assess the progress of nations. WOHASU means to anchor the practice of happiness with this 1st global gathering as a way to improve ourselves, communities, cities and world. The scope of the event encompasses a governmental/institutional roundtable gathering called H(appy) 20 or H-20, an Academic Track featuring the leading academics from around the world presenting the latest findings about happiness, followed by a three-day experiential event for the general public which convenes global thought leaders that are the experts in the science of happiness, mindfulness, social and emotional intelligence, positive psychology, corporate leadership and technology.

"At Smart Dubai, we are committed to impacting individual happiness by enabling innovation across the public and private sector; this partnership with WOHASU supports our commitment on an international level," shared Her Excellency, Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General of the Smart Dubai Office.

Collaborating with the private sector and government partners, Smart Dubai was established to empower, deliver and promote an efficient, seamless, safe and impactful city experience for residents and visitors.

WOHASU is a global movement dedicated to increasing awareness on happiness as a life choice, as a human right and as an enabler of human development and social innovation.

For more information, please visit www.happinesssummit.world.

Contact:

Suzanne Jewell

M: 305-213-3510

SOURCE World Happiness Summit

Related Links

http://www.happinesssummit.world


HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine and Acting Secretary of Drug and Alcohol Programs Jennifer Smith commended South Central EMS today for their active role in providing training for and using naloxone, a life-saving overdose reversal drug. The recognition event also featured Mark McCullough, a recovery specialist and overdose survivor who was saved due to the administration of naloxone by EMS providers.

"A significant part of fighting the opioid epidemic is making sure that naloxone is available to EMS providers and first responders across the commonwealth," Dr. Levine said. "Governor Wolf has proposed $10 million in next year's budget to get more naloxone into the hands of first responders like South Central EMS, who not only have saved so many lives using naloxone, but have taken a real leadership role in training others how to use naloxone as well."

South Central EMS works with Dauphin County to provide services, including the provision of naloxone and the transport of and collaboration with patients to area hospitals. By raising awareness about naloxone, South Central EMS hopes to save as many lives as possible while also removing the negative stigma that is often attached to victims of overdoses.

"We appreciate the work by South Central and other EMS providers to reverse overdoses and help save the lives of Pennsylvanians," said Acting Secretary Smith. "We know that naloxone works  and I want to thank Mark McCullough for standing up today to share with us the story of how his overdose was reversed, and the journey he took to enter treatment and become a recovery specialist to help save the lives of others."

McCullough, who formerly suffered from the disease of addiction, overdosed on heroin in 2013. After being revived by an EMS provider with naloxone, he began the long road of recovery. Today, he works as a recovery specialist at the RASE Project to help others who currently struggle with substance use disorder as he did.

After a patient is revived from an overdose with naloxone, he or she is taken to an emergency room for proper treatment and care. From the emergency room, patients go through a process called a warm handoff in order to get them directly into a recovery program to treat the disease of addiction.

"The warm handoff program is crucial to make sure survivors of overdoses get the support they need for recovery," Dr. Levine said. "But recovery can't happen if the patient doesn't survive the overdose in the first place. That's why naloxone is such an important tool for first responders and the general public."

The Wolf Administration holds the fight against heroin and prescription opioids as a top priority. In order to continue to battle against the opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania, Governor Wolf included the following proposals in his 2017-18 budget:

Maximizing federal Cures Act funding, which includes $26.5 million in each of the next two years for Pennsylvania , to expand access to treatment services, particularly for individuals who are uninsured or underinsured;

in each of the next two years for , to expand access to treatment services, particularly for individuals who are uninsured or underinsured; Expanding access to live-saving Naloxone by providing $10 million through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to first responders and law enforcement across the state; and

through the Commission on Crime and Delinquency to first responders and law enforcement across the state; and Providing $3.4 million to expand specialty drug courts to expand treatment strategies that divert offenders into more meaningful treatment and recovery.

Some of the administration's other initiatives to fight the opioid epidemic include:

Strengthening the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) so that doctors are required and able to check the system each time they prescribe opioids;

Forming new prescribing guidelines to help doctors who provide opioid prescriptions to their patients;

Creating the warm handoff guideline to facilitate referrals from the emergency department to substance abuse treatment;

Establishing a new law limiting the amount of opioids that can be prescribed to a minor to seven days; and

Designating 45 Centers of Excellence, central hubs that provide navigators to assist those with opioid use disorders with behavioral and physical health care, along with medication-assisted treatment, as needed.

If you or someone you know is suffering from the disease of addiction, call 1-800-662-HELP or visit www.pa.gov/opioids for treatment options. For more information on the fight against opioid abuse in Pennsylvania, visit the Department of Health website at www.health.pa.gov or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACTS: April Hutcheson, DOH, 717-787-1783 or [email protected]

Carol Gifford, DDAP, 717-547-3314

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Health; Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us


"Lori is a forward thinker with a passion for developing unique and meaningful business strategies and improving the customer experience," said Jared Turner, Young Living Chief Operating Officer. "She has energized the market and we look forward to continued momentum under her leadership."

Burgher brings more than 23 years of sales and marketing expertise to Young Living. Before taking the helm as General Manager of Canada, she oversaw marketing and communications, where she fostered substantial increases in sales, social engagement, and brand recognition across the Canadian market.

"I am thrilled to see Lori continue to grow her career here at Young Living," said Ben Riley, Executive Vice President of Global Sales. "She has brought an enhanced level of expertise, agility, and marketing energy to Young Living Canada. Her leadership and ability to work in concert with the Young Living management team and our member leaders has dramatically bolstered Young Living Canada's growth."

About Young Living Canada

Young Living Canada opened its doors in March of 2013 to overwhelming growth, crowning its first Diamond level member that same month. In 2015, the first Northern Lights Black Spruce essential oil was distilled at Young Living's Northern Light's Black Spruce Farm in Fort Nelson, B.C. In 2016, Young Living Canada introduced its first Natural Health Products (NHPs) and expanded its overall product offering with 96 new products. For more information, visit YoungLiving.com/en_CA.

About Young Living Essential Oils

Young Living Essential Oils, LC, is the world leader in essential oils, with a strict Seed to Seal process to produce pure essential oil products for every individual, family, and lifestyle. This process ensures that all products are genuine, free of synthetic chemicals, and pure. This commitment stems from the company's 20 years of stewardship toward the earth and its people. For more information, visit YoungLiving.com.

Media Contact:

Jamie Kaneko

Sr. Manager of Global Corporate Affairs

801.221.7128

[email protected]

SOURCE Young Living Essential Oils

Related Links

http://youngliving.com


If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Seoul, Feb 19 : The heir to the Samsung Group once again denied bribery and other charges levelled at him on Sunday during the second consecutive day of questioning by South Korean prosecutors in connection with the swirling corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend.

Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of the largest multinational in the country, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of bribery and other crimes in connection with the corruption case which led to the impeachment of South Korea's first woman President, Efe news reported.

Investigators suspect the 48-year-old tycoon instructed the conglomerate to give financial support to Choi Soon-sil, nicknamed the "South Korean female Rasputin" in reference to her close relationship with Park, in exchange for the government's backing of a merger between two of the group's subsidiaries.

Seoul's central court authorised Lee's arrest after the prosecution presented new charges and evidence regarding obstruction of justice and the violation of a law on the transfer of assets abroad, among others.

During the second consecutive day of questioning, Lee denied all the allegations and said the money was paid to organisations linked to Choi under pressure from Park, sources related to the case told Yonhap News Agency.

The magnate also told prosecutors that Samsung did not expect to receive any favours in exchange for the contributions made.

Lee and other Samsung personnel previously admitted having paid about 43 billion won ($37 million) to entities allegedly controlled by Choi.

The Samsung heir will remain detained while the prosecution begins the 20-day process of filing formal charges against him, while subsequent procedures could extend to three months.

Prosecutors are expected to continue interrogations to shed light on multi-million dollar payments made by Samsung and other large South Korean corporations, which are being investigated separately.
New Delhi, Feb 20 : Pakistan detained Haafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind and a US-designated terrorist, after pressure from India, his brother and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader Hafiz Masood has said.

Masood also said Saeed's house arrest at his Lahore residence and subsequent ban on the LeT front Jamaat-ud-Dawa has not affected the proscribed charity that continued to function under the "supervision" of Punjab government in Pakistan.

"My brother is under house arrest and he will be kept under observation by the Pakistan government," Masood was quoted by CNN-News18 news channel as saying.

"All this has been done under pressure from India and the Pakistan government has given in to the pressure. They (the Indian government) want to send a message to the world, to distract attention from problems in Kashmir, to focus on Hafiz Saeed and Pakistan, so that India's misdeeds are kept hidden. India wants to create a terrorism narrative."

Saeed was put under house arrest on January 30, days after the Donald Trump administration took charge in the US. Last weekend, Pakistan listed him under the country's Anti-Terrorism Act -- a tacit acknowledgment of his links to militancy.

Masood said the Jamaat-ud-Dawa had nothing to do with militant activities in Kashmir as that the charity was a humanitarian organisation running schools and hospitals.

"We have nothing to do with Laskhar that is (operating in) Kashmir. It is indigenous and it is working there," he said in a telephonic interview with the news channel.

Despite his critcism of the Pakistan government for bowed down to the Indian pressure, Masood said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was "a peaceful man who is a friend of Kashmiris".

"Sharif has his own priorities. He has reached out to India in the hope of friendship. It is his strategy. He thinks issues will be solved through peace and friendship. But India has shown arrogance. India has seen Pakistan's gesture of peace as a sign of weakness," he said.

Masood said his organisation has been under pressure for a long time but there were no restrictions as such on the activities of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

"See, even then the United Nations has put sanctions against us. In Muridke (JuD headquarters near Lahore), the Punjab government is running it under its control. So the JuD has been under observation for long. So, we don't know what the next step is. We have not been told of any restrictions on our activities. But Hafiz has been put under house arrest to curb his support to the Kashmir issue."
Jammu, Feb 21 : One militant was killed by troopers of the Border Security Force (BSF) near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, an official said.

"An infiltration attempt was foiled by BSF troopers in Keri sector on Monday night during which a militant was killed," the BSF official said.

Suspicious movement of a group of two-three militants was observed along the LoC fence, after which the troopers fired, the official added.

The militants also fired back on the BSF troops and the exchange continued for half an hour.

The body of the militant and one AK-47 rifle were recovered during a search near the border fencing.
Beijing, Feb 21 : China on Tuesday said it will announce more sanctions against North Korea to implement in its entirety the latest UN Security Council resolution in response to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.

The warning comes after Beijing suspended coal imports from North Korea last week, Efe news reported.

Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said at a press conference in Beijing that China is making sincere efforts to comply with its international obligations, but did not provide details about the new measures against Pyongyang.

China cut off one of the few supplies of foreign capital into North Korea, its traditional ally, by banning coal purchases from that country.

The move came into effect on February 19 and will expire on December 31.

The decision follows the UN Security Council's Resolution 2321, which was approved last November, according to a joint statement by the Ministry of Commerce and the country's General Administration of Customs.

In December, despite the UN resolution, Chinese coal imports from North Korea increased.

However, Gao attributed this to a delay in local laws adapting to international rulings.

Gao stressed China's sincerity in fulfilling its international obligations, saying his country will continue to take measures as per its obligations stipulated in the UN Security Council resolution.
Manila, Feb 21 : A Philippine Senator on Tuesday called President Rodrigo Duterte a "serial killer" and urged the Cabinet to declare him incapable of running the country.

Leila de Lima's call comes after former police officer Arturo Lascanas accused Duterte of activating death squads and hiring contract killers to kill off detractors during his tenure as the Mayor of Davao, Efe news reported.

The Senator, among the staunchest critics of the Duterte-led government, called upon the Cabinet to save the country from a "criminal" President, who she claimed was incapable of running the country.

The Senator said that following Lascanas' confessions, there was no more doubt that Duterte is a "sociopath" and "serial killer", and urged the public to voice their outrage and hold him accountable.

She attacked Duterte over the large number of people killed by the Davao death squad, and the more than 7,000 extra-judicial executions that have taken place during the first seven months of the President's anti-drug war.

De Lima also criticised the anti-drug campaign for causing more deaths than during the 1972-81 period when dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law.

She claimed that Duterte was the "biggest criminal" in the country, if not the entire world.
New Delhi, Feb 21 : India and Bangladesh have decided to implement the Coordinated Border Management Plan in "letter and spirit" to curb the menace of trans-border crime, including smuggling of arms, drugs, and fake currency.

In a joint press statement here on Tuesday, Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) discussed various issues concerning border management during the 44th Border Conference being held in Dhaka.

BSF Director General K.K. Sharma and his Bangladesh counterpart Major General Abul Hossain jointly chaired the five-day conference, which began on February 18.

Hossain expressed grave concern over border firing and alleged killing of Bangladeshi nationals.

He emphasised the need for bringing the death toll to zero through exercise of extreme caution by the BSF and sensitising Indian nationals, the release said.

The Indian side, however, said that though "non-lethal strategy" has proved extremely successful in reducing deaths on the international border, it has also resulted in an alarming increase in attacks by criminals on BSF personnel.

Sharma said BSF personnel fire only in self-defence.

The BSF chief also sought BGB cooperation in stopping Bangladeshi nationals from crossing the International Border (IB).

"The BGB and the BSF will undertake increased coordinated patrols in areas vulnerable to cattle and drug smuggling, educating border population about the sanctity of IB and preventing criminals from crossing the IB," it said.

Both sides also agreed to conduct joint spot verification and appraisal on major incidents or killings in bordering areas to reduce differences of opinion or understanding regarding any major incidents.

Sharma sought cooperation from the BGB to destroy hideouts of Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs) in Bangladesh and safe release of Indian nationals whenever abducted by IIGs.

In response, the BGB chief said there are no IIG hideouts in Bangladesh.

He said Bangladesh does not allow her soil to be used by any entity or element hostile to any country.

The BSF chief also urged Bangladesh to expedite verification of nationality for early repatriation of Bangladeshi nationals lodged in Indian jails and correction homes to ensure their early repatriation.

The statement said both officers decided to approach their respective ministries to increase the number of "border haats" and promote border tourism to help improve socio-economic condition of the border people.
Mosul, Iraq, Feb 24 : Iraqi forces seized control of the airport in the northern city of Mosul from militants of the Islamic State terror organisation after hours of fighting, a senior police official said.

Iraqi federal police chief Shaker Jawdat said that Iraqi troops had reached the gates of al-Ghazlani barracks, located near the strategic airport, EFe news reported.

Jawdat pointed out that the runways, halls and facilities are already in the hands of government forces, noting that regular forces took control of Tel al-Rayan neighbourhood, one of the two districts attacked by troops on Thursday.

Iraqi security forces launched a large-scale offensive on the western suburbs of Mosul.

In addition to storming the airport, the army struck the nearby camp of al-Ghazlani, and the Tel al-Raman and al-Maamun neighbourhoods.

During the clashes to capture the airport, 30 IS extremists were killed and 12 others were taken hostage.
Kabul, Feb 24 : An Afghan army helicopter made a crash landing in Kunduz province, a spokesman of the Defence Ministry said, adding the crew members were rescued after the landing.

"A MD 530 helicopter, which was en route for a combat task to northern Takhar province, made emergency landing in Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province. All crew members were rescued safely by another helicopter," Gen. Dawlat Waziri said in a statement on Thursday.

The official added that as the crashed helicopter was not in a state to be repaired, the wreckage was destroyed by army personnel at the site, Xinhua news agency reported .

Waziri ruled out the involvement of militants in the incident saying the crash was caused by a technical failure in the aircraft.

However, Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, has claimed responsibility for the crash in the restive province.

Mujahid told local media that the helicopter was shot down by Taliban and all the people aboard died following the crash.

The Kunduz province, together with neighboring Baghlan and Takhar provinces, has been the scene of heavy clashes over the past months as Taliban has been trying to challenge the security forces in the once relatively peaceful region.

On November 30, an Afghan army general and an Afghan air force pilot were killed and 10 others injured after a helicopter crashed in western Badghis province.
Rawalpindi, Feb 24 : Conducting targeted strikes across the Afghan border, Pakistan army has succeeded in killing two high-profile terrorists affiliated with terrorist group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, including the Lahore attack mastermind, media reports said.

According to security sources, those killed included Wajihullah alias Ahrar, who was the brain behind the recent suicide attack in Lahore and earlier incidents in Punjab, Geo TV reported.

Sources added that Wajihullah was sponsored by a hostile intelligence agency for terrorist activities in Pakistan.

On February 13, at least 14 people, including senior police officers, were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself near Lahore's Charing Cross, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered for a protest.

Another terrorist killed by the army was Hikmat alias Qari Zubair, who was in-charge of terrorist transit camp in Afghanistan and coordinator for terrorist operations in Pakistan, sources said.
Washington, Feb 24 : The United States imposed economic sanctions on two leadership officials of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Syria, media reports said.

According to a statement by the US Treasury Department on Thursday, Iyad Nazmi Salih Khalil and Bassam Ahmad al-Hasri were responsible for providing key support to Nusra Front by overseeing militant operations and developing the militant group's strategy, Xinhua news agency reported.

Designating Khalil as Nusra Front's third highest-ranking official as of early 2016, the statement said he took part in discussions among the group's senior leadership regarding the group's overall strategy and the feasibility of establishing an emirate in Idlib, Syria.

Al-Hasri was designated for acting for or on behalf of Nusra Front and oversaw the group's military operations in southern Syria, the statement added.

As part of the US sanctions, all property of the two men subject to US jurisdiction are blocked and US persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
Washington, Feb 24 : US President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and his hardline views on Israeli-Palestinian relations, have come under scrutiny during his confirmation process, media reports said.

In a speech delivered by Friedman, he boasted of removing references of the two-state solution and occupation of the West Bank from the Republican Party platform, CNN reported.

He said it would be "ludicrous" to pressure Israel to make peace to create "another Arab dysfunctional state".

On being questioned by Senators on the Foreign Relations committee, Friedman attempted to walk back and soften his positions on Israel, telling senators he believed in the two-state solution and that Israeli settlements -- which he previously strongly supported -- may not be helpful to the peace process.

Apologising for his comments, he said: "The inflammatory rhetoric that accompanied the presidential campaign is entirely over, and if I am confirmed, you can expect my comments to be careful and measured."

Trump's position on a two-state solution was called into question last week, when during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said: "I'm looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like."
Imphal, Feb 24 : The apex body of six insurgent groups in Manipur, the Coordinating Committee (Corcom) has imposed a curfew from 6 a.m. on Saturday.

Corcom said that the curfew shall remain effective till Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves Imphal after his electioneering.

Police said that security measures have been beefed up to ensure that there is no law and order problem during the one hour visit of the Prime Minister.

The Corcom statement levels serious charges against the Indian government including driving a wedge between the communities who have been living in peace and harmony for generations.

Members of public are asked not to venture out during the curfew. However media and those in essential services will be exempt.

The established insurgent groups in Manipur have always boycotted visits of the central dignitaries. Police said, "During such curfews people usually stayed indoors and did not stick out their necks."

There was always a thin attendance in the public functions. There are also some stray violent incidents to drive the message home that the boycott call should not be taken lightly.

Ruling Congress has been saying in election meetings that during his visit Modi should spell out the details the framework agreement New Delhi had signed with the NSCN(IM). Students and women activists have been demanding the disclosure of the details of the agreement.
Kuala Lumpur, Feb 24 : A highly toxic chemical substance was used on the body of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un who died here earlier this month, Malaysian police said on Friday.

According to police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, the Centre for Chemical Weapons Analysis identified the use of VX-nerve agent in Kim's murder at Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13.

"The centre did dry swabs on the eyes and face of the victim," The Star online quoted Khalid as saying.

VX-nerve agent is classified as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention Act 2005.

"Other exhibits are still being analysed," he said.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said embassy documents showed Kim was the half brother of the top leader, but North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia denied the dead man's identity.

Malaysian police have arrested two women who allegedly put liquid on the face of Kim before he died.
We value your privacy.

Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy.
Mumbai, Feb 24 : Film director Hansal Mehta has praised actress Kangana Ranaut, saying she is one of the most unique talents around.

Mehta on Friday also praised filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj and called him one of the "most unique storytellers".

"Vishal (Bhardwaj) is one of the most unique storytellers of our generation and Kangana is one of the most unique talents we have around," Mehta tweeted.

The director says he missed the preview of "Rangoon", which stars Kangana, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor, but will watch it over the weekend.

"I'm a huge fan of Vishal Bhardwaj and Kangana Ranaut," he added.

On the work front, Mehta is shooting for the drama film "Simran" which features Kangana in the lead role.
Washington, Feb 24 : With the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft docked to the International Space Station on Thursday, the crew are now focusing on a Russian cargo delivery, which is scheduled to arrive on Friday, NASA said.

The Russian Progress 66 was launched on Wednesday from Kazakhstan.

Carrying almost three tonnes of food, fuel and supplies to the Expedition 50 crew, it is scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Friday for an automated docking at 3:34 a.m. EST (2.04 p.m. India time), the US space agency said.

Progress 66 will remain docked at the station for almost four months before departing in June for its deorbit into the Earth's atmosphere.

This was the first launch of a Progress cargo ship from Baikonur launch station in Kazakhstan since the Progress 65 supply craft was lost on December 1, 2016.

SpaceX Dragon cargo craft earlier aborted its first docking attempt with the International Space Station on Wednesday as it received an incorrect navigational update. But the cargo carrier was successfully berthed to the station on Thursday.

The Dragon cargo craft carried about 2,500 kg of experimental equipment and supplies as part of the mission.
Vijayawada, Feb 24 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is saddened by the killing of an Indian in shooting in the US.

"Saddened to learn about the death of Srinivas Kuchibotla and injuries to Alok Madasani in Kansas," tweeted Naidu on Friday.

Both the men hailed from Telangana and were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

Kuchibhotla (32), from Hyderabad, was killed and Madasani, from Warangal town were injured when an American fired at them at a bar in Olathe, Kansas State, on Wednesday.

The attacker mistook the Indians for "Middle Easterners" and reportedly yelled "get out of my country".
New York, Feb 24 : Twitter and PBS NewsHour have teamed up to live-stream US President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on February 28.

According to a report in CNET on Thursday, the coverage will feature PBS news anchor Judy Woodruff and several correspondents and analysts commenting on Trump's first major speech to Republicans and Democrats in the same room.

In January too, Twitter and PBS partnered to live-stream Trump's inauguration, which garnered 6.82 million views.

"Trump's inauguration was a top trend globally with more than 12 million related tweets sent, peaking at 58,000 tweets per minute just as the President began his inauguration speech," the report noted.
Washington, Feb 24 : The Donald Trump administration revealed for the first time that 746 individuals nationwide were held during the first weekend of the President's travel ban, a media report said.

The Justice Department on Thursday evening wrote a letter to court listing the names of those who were "encountered or undergoing processing" by US Customs and Border Patrol and "this list includes legal permanent residents" also, CNN reported.

On Tuesday, as requested by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), US District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon ordered the Trump administration to produce the names by Thursday.

Amon's order includes anyone who, at any time during the period from 9.37 p.m. on January 28 until 11.59 p.m. on January 29, was being "held, including being processed" by the US Customs and Border Protection pursuant to the executive order.

Several days after the travel ban went into effect -- and began to face lawsuits in federal court -- the White House counsel's office clarified that legal permanent residents were not covered by the executive order.

"We are pleased to finally get the names, though it took more than three weeks from (Judge Donnelly's) court order," said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt in a statement to CNN.

"But we remain concerned that the list is incomplete and that it needs to be supplemented so we have information to find the affected individuals."

However, the Trump administration has not revealed how many people nationwide were deported after the ban went into effect.

Amon will hold a hearing on Friday to consider whether the government should be ordered to bring back to the US the individuals who were previously deported pursuant to the executive order.
Hyderabad, Feb 24 : Help poured in for the family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead by a former American naval serviceman in Kansas in the US.

Kuchibhotla, 32, from Hyderabad, was killed and his friend Alok Madasani, from Warangal, was injured when Adam Purinton shot the two at a bar in Olathe city on Wednesday evening.

They were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

Purinton mistook the Indians for "Middle Easterners" and yelled "Get out of my country" before opening fire.

Ian Grillot, 24, was injured when he tried to intervene.

A GoFundMe page created to collect money to help Kuchibhotla's family has crossed its $150,000 goal, raising nearly $250,000 in 11 hours.

More than 6,700 people, including Americans, have donated $248,404 on the page created by Kuchibhotla's friend Kavipriya Muthuramalingam.

"Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone. He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being," the page says.

"His wife Sunayana and his family are now faced with incredible grief and a multitude of expenses. We've set up this fund to help them with the funeral expenses and other ongoing grief/recovery support costs."
Ankara, Feb 24 : Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said Islamabad and New Delhi should maintain friendly and good relations, media reported on Friday.

"We [Pakistan and India] should maintain good relations and avoid involving in conspiracies against each other," Dawn news quoted Sharif as saying.

Speaking to media during his Turkey visit, he said his party did not adopt a policy of "India bashing".

He also expressed gratitude to Turkey "for its support on the Kashmir issue and also for its stance on Pakistan's inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group", the report added.

On the recent incidents of terrorism in Pakistan, Sharif blamed "elements" upset with the "progress of Pakistan" and expressed his government's resolve to eliminate terrorism at all costs.

"With our firm resolve, we will defeat those who are not digesting Pakistan's success on different fronts," he was quoted as saying.

Sharif also said Afghanistan's soil was being used against Pakistan, adding that he was in favour of stability in that country as it also in Pakistan's own interest.
New Delhi, Feb 24 : Two firefighters were killed and two injured when a cooking gas cylinder exploded while they were extinguishing a blaze in a snack shop here on Friday morning.

Five firetenders were rushed when a fire broke out at a food and snacks shop in west Delhi around 5.35 a.m. on Friday.

"There was a minor fire in the shop. But an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder exploded when our men were busy dousing the flames," a Delhi Fire Service official told IANS.

Hari Singh Meena, 55, died on the spot and his colleague Hariom, 56, later succumbed to his injuries.

Firemen Naveen and Ravinder received minor injuries and were being treated at B.L. Kapur Memorial Hospital here.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who visited the hospital to meet the injured, said there were "no procedural lapses".

"There was a blast just when the firemen lifted the shutter of the shop. No one could have known there were leaking cylinders inside," Jain said.

"At first glance, there doesn't seem to be any lapse related to following of protocol. However, the real reason would be known only after the inquiry."

Jain urged Delhi residents to take fire safety measures seriously.

"There were four cylinders inside such a small shop. People in Delhi are not scared of fire hazards. There is a need to create awareness on fire safety measures," he said.
Mumbai, Feb 24 : Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor hopes actress Simi Garewal's popular show "Rendezvous With Simi Garewal" makes a comeback on TV soon.

The actor also lauded Simi when her show hit 50 million views on a digital platform.

Rishi took to Twitter on Friday to share an image, which read: "Thank you. 50 million views...'Rendezvous With Simi Garewal' on Youtube."

Rishi, who has worked with the actress in films like "Mera Naam Joker", "Kabhi Kabhie" and "Karz", captioned the image: "Amazing! So very happy Simi, you achieved this by your sheer hard work, dedication and perseverance. We need your show 'Rendezvous' to air ASAP!"

"Rendezvous With Simi Garewal" was a celebrity talk show, which began in 1997. The show featured a string of celebrities like Jackie Chan, Dev Anand, Rekha, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, among many others.
Gonda (Uttar Pradesh), Feb 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh of protecting and patronizing the "copying mafia" in the state which was harming the future of the youth.

Addressing a well-attended election rally here, the Prime Minister said the mafia was not only looting poor people but was also jeopardizing the future of the young generation.

Asking Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to answer his charges on why the future of youngsters was being shattered by the copying mafia where colleges and schools were contracted to them during examinations, Modi said such a situation has to end. "When I was thinking about speaking on the issue, I must honestly admit I was slightly scared as this topic heard on television by people in other parts of the country could give ideas to anti social elements to replicate the 'Sapa (Samajwadi Party) ka karobaar," he said as people applauded.

He also took on the Samajwadi Party (SP) on the poor law and order and said that police stations in the state had turned into offices of the ruling party. "No justice can be expected from these police stations as they are helpless as they await nod for action from SP bosses," he said.

Urging the people to uproot the corrupt government in Uttar Pradesh, Modi asked them to "end" the SP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the state.

Modi also claimed that the BJP had got huge support from the people in the first four phases of polling and that the writing on the wall was evident from the despondent face of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. "You have given a stable government at the Centre by providing huge support to the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, and now you have to strengthen our hands further by voting a majority BJP government in the state," he urged.

He also spoke of the Jan Dhan Yojna and the Rupay card which he said is empowering the poor by bringing them into the banking system. Speaking of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on gas connection, the Prime Minister said millions of women have been benefited under the central government scheme.

"Till now 1.75 crore people have been given free gas connection and they have been saved from the hazardous smoke that choked their lungs," he said amid cheers.
Mumbai, Feb 24 : After the outcome of elections to 10 major civic bodies, including the country's biggest and richest, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, the Maharashtra political landscape now resembles one huge lake full of blooming lotuses -- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) symbol.

The BJP showed huge appetite for success as it gulped down one civic body after the other, in some cases uprooting incumbents entrenched for the past three or four decades, and stunning allies and the opposition alike.

The heavy BJP charge was barely reined in by the Shiv Sena in Mumbai, but was arrested by Thane voters, enabling the Sena's "Bow-Arrow" to hit at least one bull's eye, giving it control over the Thane Municipal Corporation.

Thus, the two publicly-warring partners succeeded in a clean saffron sweep of a state that was, for long, a stronghold of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine.

As the defeated parties returned to lick their wounds and muse over their virtual mass annihilation, the reasons were not too difficult to fathom.

For starters, there was the sheer high-profile campaign undertaken by the BJP, starting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state party President Raosaheb Danve, and aided by several Union ministers, all BJP ministers in the state, MPs, MLAs and party workers.

The party carried out a well-orchestrated campaign harping on its development agenda, the positive impact of demonetisation and the need for single-party rule at all levels of governance, from panchayats to parliament.

The BJP also threw the doors open for defections from other parties and, depending on vote-catching abilities, gave them party tickets and were not disappointed by the outcome.

The Shiv Sena also managed a shrill anti-BJP campaign, but solely by its President Uddhav Thackeray, who was advised by a band of loyalists, yet barely comparable to its ally in the state and Centre.

On the other side, the principal adversary, the Congress presented a sorry, fragmented picture, with ego clashes, dissidence and desertions, which, of course, also affected all other parties, and an inability of party bosses to control local satraps.

Similarly, the other major contender, the NCP, was solely dependent on the Machiavellian machinations of the old Maratha warhorse, Sharad Pawar, and partly those of his family members.

But, far from striking the alarm bells for the opposition, the NCP "Clock" was stuck and timed-out even in its backyard bastions of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which appeared to present a fervent desire to replicate its Nashik achievement in the 2012 civic poll, actually met its Waterloo and was reduced to a single-digit entity there.

Aware of the MNS' shrinking base, Raj even sent open feelers to cousin Uddhav for an "unconditional alliance", but was rudely rebuffed by the Shiv Sena leadership.

The Congress and the NCP made appropriate noises but failed to come together till the last minute and fought independently, and also against each other, all over the state -- and the BJP reaped a rich harvest of the divided votes.

The Congress fate was sealed even before electioneering started when its seniormost leader, AICC General Secretary Gurudas Kamat, threw a sudden tantrum by opposing Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam's style of functioning.

Some others, like former Chief Minister Narayan Rane, also joined in but were quickly mollified by state President Ashok Chavan. The "unhappy" brigade relented soon after -- but the damage was done, throwing cold water on Nirupam's passionate attempt to bag around 70 seats for the Congress, banking on Mumbai's huge north Indian population.

As the combined opposition cacophony hawked their own agenda, Fadnavis' voice boomed out loud and clear to the voters, closely followed by Uddhav Thackeray's BJP-bashing.

Surprisingly, the divided opposition failed to exploit much-hyped issues like the ill-effects of demonetisation on the economy, its impact on the rural masses, the alleged efforts to decrease the importance of Mumbai, growing unemployment, problems of farmers, burning civic issues unique to each civic body, and the like.

Amidst all this, certain outstation entities like the Samajwadi Party, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (both based in Uttar Pradesh) and the Hyderabad (Telangana)-based All India Majlise-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) managed to squeeze in through the opposition cracks.

Capitalising on small pockets of influence, the AIMIM bagged 25 seats, including 10 in Amravati, nine in Solapur, two each in Mumbai and Thane, and one each in Pune and Akola.

The BSP managed to win 19 seats, including 10 in Nagpur, five in Amravati and four in Solapur; while the SP scored a six in Mumbai.

Predictably, the BJP attracted charges of "misuse of government machinery" and "use of money power" et al, but the final tally tells a grim tale to the opposition parties.

A cohesive BJP bagged 628 of the 1,268 seats in the top 10 civic bodies, while all the other parties -- including ally Shiv Sena -- contesting against it, managed just 615 seats. Twenty-five independents also came through.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)
Canberra, Feb 24 : Australia's opposition leader Bill Shorten on Friday said he has held constructive talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about settlements in Palestinian territories.

Shorten, who heads Australia's Labour Party, said he held clear and unambiguous discussions on the delicate issue of West Bank settlements with Netanyahu, and reiterated his support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"We want to see Israel safe and secure of its borders; we support the rights of the Palestinians people to have their own state," the opposition leader said.

Shorten criticised Israel over its settlements, which he said were a "roadblock to peace", Efe news reported.

Netanyahu arrived in Australia on Wednesday for a four-day tour, which included a meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

As well as discussing political matters and closer bilateral trade, both leaders signed agreements on science and innovation.

Turnbull has shown his firm support of Netanyahu in the face of what he has termed "one-sided" resolutions by the UN against Israel for its settlement policy.

Netanyahu's visit comes after the Israeli parliament approved a law to legalise some 4,000 houses built on land privately owned by Palestinians in West Bank settlements.

It also comes after US President Donald Trump, following a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, said he was open to a "one-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Following these statements, the UN reiterated its support of the creation of two states, a position also supported by the Australian government.

Ahead of Netanyahu's visit, a group of 60 prominent Australians signed a statement, issued by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, denouncing Israel's failure to comply with UN demands to stop illegal settlements and abuses against Palestinians.
Srinagar, Feb 24 : Kashmiri youth picked up arms "for a cause" and they can not be intimidated with death threats, former Union Minister and state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said on Friday.

Addressing party workers at the Nawa-i-Subha headquarters of the National Conference, Abdullah said: "They are not afraid of death nor can they be intimidated with the threat because they have handed themselves over to Allah's will."

He said that they did not pick up guns to become MLAs, MPs or ministers, adding that "our generation was deceived, but the fight for our rights has been on since 1931".

The veteran politician blamed both India and Pakistan for not understanding the basic reality of the struggle people in Kashmir have been waging and the travails they have been suffering.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Abdullah said "his words should be for unity and not for division".
New Delhi, Feb 24 : The body of a 65-year-old woman was found in the Hauz Khas lake in south Delhi here on Friday afternoon, police said.

"Initial investigation has found no visible injury marks on her body. The police is trying to identify her with the help of local residents," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal told IANS.

"We are also investigating to ascertain whether it is a case of suicide or homicide," Biswal said.

The body was found by some local residents floating in the lake near the upscale Hauz Khas Village.
Gonda (Uttar Pradesh), Feb 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday termed last November's train accident in Kanpur a "conspiracy" and urged people not to vote for those "who help conspirators".

Speaking at an election rally here, Modi also slammed the Akhilesh Yadav government for "protecting and patronising" the "copying mafia" that harmed the future of the youth.

Modi said: "Gonda shares its border with Nepal... Few days back there was a train accident... Some people were caught and the police found out that it was a conspiracy... the conspirators are on the other side of the border."

He said people should not vote for anyone who would "help conspirators from across the border".

"If the enemies want to run their business from the other side of the border, people in Gonda need to be cautious. If such people are elected who help the conspirators, will Gonda be safe? If Gonda is not safe will the nation be safe?" Modi said.

"The people of Gonda are patriots, they should be in power. There should be no mistake in elections, whether it is the SP or the BSP, none of them should win. Vote for BJP and make it victorious."

In January, the Bihar Police arrested three persons who claimed that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was behind the November 2016 train accident in Kanpur that left over 100 dead and many more injured.

There was also another incident of a bomb that failed to explode on a railway track in Ghorasahan in Bihar's East Champaran.

Modi also accused the Akhilesh Yadav-led-SP government of protecting and patronizing the "copying mafia" in the state which was harming the future of the youth.

The Prime Minister said the mafia was not only out to loot the poor but was also engaged in jeopardising the future of the youth .

Modi said: "When I was thinking about speaking on the issue, I must honestly admit I was slightly scared as this topic heard on television... could give ideas to anti social elements in other parts of the nation to replicate the SP modus operandi."

Inspired by the public applause, Modi said the "copying mafia" business has to end.

He also slammed the law and order situation in the state. Modi said: "No justice can be expected from the police stations (in Uttar Prades) as they are helpless. They await nod from SP bosses."

Urging the people to uproot the corrupt government in the state, Modi asked them to "end" the rule of SP and warned them against the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Modi also claimed that the BJP had got huge support from the people in the first four phases of polling and that the writing on the wall was evident from the despondent face of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

"You have given a stable government at the Centre... and now you have to strengthen our hands further...," he urged.
New Delhi, Feb 24 : A 65-year-old woman was found dead at the Hauz Khas lake here on Friday, police said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal told IANS that the deceased was Veermati, widow of a Delhi Transport Corporation employee.

She was identified by her son Ashok Kumar, who said she used to visit the park which houses the lake for morning walk.

"No visible injury marks were found on the body. The woman's family does not suspect foul play. Prima facie, the death is due to drowning," the officer said.
Lahore, Feb 24 : The blast that killed 10 persons at a shopping centre in Lahore on Thursday was most probably an accident caused by a "gas leak" and not a bomb, as initially believed, Pakistan officials said on Friday.

Panic gripped the cultural city of Pakistan on Thursday after the blast in an upscale market also left 32 persons wounded.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told media here: "Yesterday's (Thursday's) explosion was an accident. It was not caused by explosives or a result of terrorism."

"The presence of gas cylinders and leakage has been confirmed on the site," he said. "We got the forensic report this morning and the results and conclusions are that there was no indication of explosives or related materials."

Sanaullah added that sections of the media did not verify the facts and ran reports with misleading claims that the blast was a terror incident. This, he said, created panic in the city.

Citing the report of the forensic science laboratory, the minister said it confirmed gas leakage at the site of the blast. He said a final conclusion of the findings will be shared with the people.

The blast followed a suicide attack in the provincial capital, on February 13, which claimed the lives of at least 13 people -- among them two senior police officials.
Gurugram, Feb 24 : Five women employees of a call centre and its incharge were arrested from Delhi for online fraud, Gurugram police said on Friday.

Amit Kumar and the five women were arrested on Thursday from Delhi's Nawada-Phase 5, police said identifying the five women, all in their early 20s, as Neha and Kamla from south-west Delhi's Vikas Nagar area, Mamta and Pooja from Rajapuri locality and Poonam, of Palam Vihar.

The arrested women are under-graduates and used to collect information from their victim and pass it on to their employer Amit, who often provided new phone sim cards to his employees for the frauds.

Gurugram's Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar and Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) told media that police acted on a complaint by Pankaj Kumar last year, a resident of Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh, currently living here.

Pankaj told police in his complaint that he received a number of phone calls from persons posing as being from State Bank of India who collected information about his credit card saying that it was to be updated following RBI guidelines.

Police said that Rs 45,000 were withdrawn online from the account of the complainant.

The officer said that the five women were remanded in judicial custody after they were produced in the Gurugram court.

"We are grilling main accused Amit Kumar on three-day police remand. Many more such cases are expected to be exposed," the police added.
Dhaka, Feb 24 : India and Bangladesh on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the sustainable development of Sylhet city with financial aid from India.

Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Additional Secretary of the Economic Relations Division Shah Md. Aminul Haque and Sylhet City Corporation CEO Enamul Habib signed the tripartite agreement on Friday in Sylhet, a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith witnessed the signing.

Under the MoU, three projects -- construction of a five-storeyed Kindergarten & High School Building, a six-storeyed Cleaner Colony Building and Development of Dhupa Dighipar area - will be implemented with Tk 24.28 crore.

The signing was the follow-up of an earlier MoU which was signed by the two governments in April 2013 for the implementation of sustainable development projects in socio-economic sectors of Bangladesh.

"Sylhet is an ancient city and a historically vibrant city. It had been a part of the former Assam province of India. It has been a focal point for 1971 Liberation War. Many eminent personalities of Bangladesh come from this very city. It has been a hub of commercial activities. We are proud to be associated with this city, that too in the educational field," the High Commissioner said, bdnews24 reported.

"We are happy that Government of Bangladesh decided to construct a building for persons who are engaged in cleaning the city," he said, referring to one of the projects which is the construction of a six-storied Cleaner Colony.

"We all should take care of the people around us who are making our surroundings habitable," he said, referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Swachh Bharat Mission' launched in October 2014.

"It has created a general awareness among the people of India, including the rural and remote areas of the country about keeping our surroundings and environment clean".

He highlighted India-Bangladesh relations that began with the 1971 War of Independence and hoped that "this good relationship will continue for times immemorial".

The Indian government will carry out similar sustainable development projects for Rajshahi at the cost of Taka 210 million. A MoU has recently been signed in Rajshahi in this regard.

The High Commissioner said the Indian government also sanctioned an amount of Taka 120 million for the sustainable development of Khulna city. "A MoU for the Khulna projects is likely to be signed shortly," he said.

The inking of the agreement comes a day after Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar was in Dhaka and called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to discuss preparatory aspects of her proposed visit to India in April, besides other aspects of bilateral relations.
Madrid, Feb 24 : Real Madrid on Friday announced that defender Rafael Varane is suffering from a hamstring injury.

The French defender was injured on Wednesday in the postponed La Liga match against Valencia at the Mestalla, where Los Blancos lost 1-2, reports Efe.

After undergoing a MRI on Friday to assess his condition, Varane was diagnosed with "a grade 2 muscle strain in his left hamstring", Real Madrid said.

The defender will be off the field for between three to four weeks to recover and miss the second leg of Champions League's last 16 against Napoli on March 7, as well as La Liga games against Villarreal, Las Palmas and Real Betis.
Chandigarh, Feb 24 : Construction labourers in Haryana will be able to get food at subsidised rates near their place of work, the government announced on Friday.

The food, breakfast for Rs five and full-course meal for Rs 10 per person, will be distributed through mobile vans.

"While they would be provided cheap yet wholesome food right at their work place, mobile vans would be deployed to make food available to the poor at labour chowks," a spokesman said here.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Labour Department held here on Friday to review plans of the Haryana Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board to start canteens under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) to provide food at affordable prices to construction workers and poor people.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who presided over the meeting, issued directions that the scheme be given shape within a month.

Khattar said that initially, the scheme would be started for one year and non-governmental organisations and social organisations would also be involved in its implementation.
Chandigarh, Feb 24 : With potato prices going down, the Punjab government on Friday directed agriculture marketing agencies under it to intervene immediately and bail out potato growers in the state who were suffering heavy losses.

"The Punjab government has directed the Punjab Agro and Markfed to effectively intervene in the market on 'no profit no loss' basis to bail out the potato growers from the current crisis, besides realising better prices to them," a spokesman said here on Friday.

Chairing an emergency meeting to take stock of the prevailing situation here, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal decided to reduce the Market Fee and Rural Development Fee (RDF) on potatoes from 2 per cent to 0.25 per cent.

Badal also decided to slash the rates of commission charged by the commission agents from 5 to 1 per cent with immediate effect.

Potato is grown mainly in Punjab's Doaba belt, the land between Beas and Sutlej rivers, comprising Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr districts.

The Chief Minister asked the Punjab Agro and Markfed to explore the feasibility of export potential of potatoes to Russia, Dubai, Iran, Sri Lanka and other countries.

He said that the state government would subsidise the freight for such exports.

"Apart from this, the agriculture department had also been directed to undertake distant marketing of potatoes in the other parts of the country to ensure better prices to the growers," the spokesman said.

Badal asked the agriculture department to ensure rational utilisation of storing capacity of cold stores across the state to curb the malpractice of hoarding in cold storage space.

"It was decided to issue an advisory to the department of education and jails and other government institutions for optimum utilisation of potatoes in the mid-day meal scheme and for the consumption by jail inmates for rich nourishment, which would also boost the sale of potatoes in the state," the spokesman added.
Kolkata, Feb 24 : Dismissing allegations of having refused to release a patient over money, a city hospital on Friday said it never asked for fixed deposits or deed for securitisation of bill dues, and agreed to refund all money paid by the patient's kin, an official said.

Sanjoy Roy, 30, a resident of Dankuni, who was critically injured in a road accident in West Bengal died on Thursday night due to "inadequate treatment" by a private hospital, which also refused to allow the kin to shift him to a state-run hospital unless they paid up the full amount, the family alleged on Friday.

Roy was admitted to the Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals here.

"The patient was admitted on February 16 with multiple injuries in vital organs -- liver, lung and abdomen. We have provided all the support and best treatments. Patient party wanted to shift the patient to a state-run hospital," the private hospital's Chief Operating Officer Dr Joy Bose told reporters here while explaining the kind of treatments they had offered to Roy.

The entire bill amount was Rs 7.23 lakh and the patient party paid about Rs 4.33 lakh, he said.

Accusing the private hospitals of not extending sympathy to the family, former West Bengal Minister Madan Mitra said: "They demanded deeds, ornaments and fixed deposits as Roy's kin had failed to pay the total billed amount. This is unfortunate. I told them to arrange refund of the amount."

However, Bose refused the allegation.

"We never asked for fixed deposits or deeds of house. Patient party proactively offered us to keep such documents," Bose said.

Roy's family decided to shift Roy to state-run Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (S.S.K.M. Hospital) hospital after the bill amount at the Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals had gone up.

"During the transfer of the patient, we provided ambulance and all the treatment facilities till the patient was transferred to the SSKM Hospital. We ensured that the patient must get the same mode of life support what he was given in our hospital," Bose said.

Speaking on the refund, he said: "We have got phone calls from him (Mitra) and agreed to refund the amount they have paid on humanitarian ground."

The incident comes two days after state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pulled up city-based private hospitals for "unethical money-making".
New Delhi, Feb 24 : Two Delhi firefighters dousing a small fire in a shop here were killed on Friday when a cooking gas cylinder inside the snack store exploded, catching dozens of firemen by surprise, officials said.

Two others were injured in the blaze in Vikaspuri, a congested west Delhi neighbourhood.

"There was a minor fire in the shop. But an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder exploded when our men were busy dousing the flames," a Delhi Fire Service official told IANS.

The official said that when the firemen pulled up the shutter of the shop there was a loud explosion accompanied by blazing flames leaping out of the store.

He said five fire tenders were rushed to the spot after the fire service got a call at 5.35 a.m.

The deceased were Hari Singh Meena, 55, who died on the spot, and Hari Om, 56, who succumbed to his injuries later in a hospital.

Firemen Naveen and Ravinder received minor injuries and were being treated at B.L. Kapur Memorial Hospital here.

The authorities have ordered a probe into the incident that raised questions how the Delhi Fire Service ensures safety of its own men.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said there were "no procedural lapses" in the Vikaspuri fire fighting operation.

"There was a blast just when the firemen lifted the shutter of the shop. No one could have known there were leaking cylinders inside," Jain said.

"At first glance, there doesn't seem to be any lapse related to following of protocol. However, the real reason would be known only after the inquiry."

But Delhi fire chief Atul Garg said that in most of the cases, firefighters have nobody to guide them about the site of the incident and this places their lives in more danger.

"In majority of cases when we respond to a fire call, there is nobody to guide us as to what is inside the building. This is the biggest problem the fire department faces," the Chief Fire Officer told IANS.

Garg said unless the firemen know what is inside the building on fire, they cannot ensure a fool-proof plan to douse the flames.

"I cannot wait for someone to come and tell me what is inside. If there is a fire, I have to go inside. That's what my men did. They risk their lives every time they step out to do their job," he said.

What adds to the problem is that small shops and establishments are not covered under fire safety laws, Garg added.

Jain urged Delhi residents to take fire safety measures seriously.

"There were four cylinders inside such a small shop. People in Delhi are not scared of fire hazards. There is a need to create awareness on fire safety measures," the minister said.

The last time such an incident happened was in September 2016 when two firefighters lost their lives after getting trapped under the debris of a gutted plastic factory in Narela.

As per Delhi government's policy, families of Delhi Fire Service personnel who lose their lives while on duty are provided Rs 1 crore compensation. The government had in September 2016 included firefighters under the policy that till then covered other uniformed services personnel only.
Siliguri, Feb 24 : As many as 100 top rallyists from around the country will be vying for the top honours when the Biswa Bangla JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 5 gets underway here on Saturday.

Scheduled over five days and 1,250 km, the event will have its flag-off here on Saturday but the drive shall begin on Sunday. This is India's first tri-nation rally.

The rallyists will have to navigate through the mountains in Darjeeling hills and various picturesque routes in Bhutan and Nepal.

The format of the rally will be TSD (Time, Speed and Distance).

The JK HD-5 will cover a variety of terrain, ranging from tarmac, river beds, dirt tracks, forest paths and mountainous roads. It will skirt steep slopes which is set to challenge the skill of the participants and can be dangerous too.

Among others, national TSD champions Asgar Ali and Mohammed Mustafa, Nirav Mehta and Subir Roy and Saurav Chatterjee will be pitting themselves against the natural terrain as well as each other for glory.

On the first day, the rallyists will drive through North Bengal's forests before hitting the mountain road to Paro in Bhutan.

The going will get tougher on the second day when they will go to Dochula Pass, situated at an altitude of 3100 metres, going past Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. They will then return to the town of Paro.

The rallyists drive back from Paro through the Dooars on the third day, and climb up the hills to reach Darjeeling. The fourth leg of the rally, on March 1, will see them driving from Darjeeling to Hile in eastern Nepal.

The last leg will have them driving from Hile back to Siliguri, where the gala prize distribution ceremony will take place.
Guwahati, Feb 24 : The Centre will set up several new Passport Seva Kendras in Assam.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh said this during a discussion with Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Dispur on Friday.

Singh said the External Affairs Ministry will extend all required support to open more Passport Seva Kendras in Assam.

Such centres will be opened at district head post offices initially.

"Apart from MEA personnel, such centres will be manned by staff of the postal department with technical support from TCS," Singh informed the Assam Chief Minister.

Singh also assured the Assam Chief Minister that the Ministry will set up Passport Seva Kendras in Dibrugarh, Silchar, Tezpur, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Lakhimpur, Nagaon and Diphu soon.

Keeping in view the hardship faced by the people of northeast states while availing visas for travelling abroad, Sonowal also requested Singh to take measures for setting up of consulates in Assam.

Singh said that he would send Consulate Generals of different countries -- frequently travelled by the people of northeastern states -- to visit Assam to get a first-hand experience and to take steps for setting up of consulates in the state to meet the growing demand for visas.

The Union Minister and the Assam Chief Minister also discussed the potential of the state to be the gateway to South-East Asia and strategies to implement the government's Act East Policy to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Major General Zhao Jin Song, Vice Chief of Staff, PLA HQ Western Theatre Command meeting with Lieutenant General Dushyant Singh, Chief of Staff, HQ Eastern Command at Fort William today. Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata, Feb 24 : A 15-member delegation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army visited the headquarters here of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army, an official said.

The visit is intended to enhance the bilateral defence cooperation mechanism between the Armed Forces of India and China, said an official statement.

The delegation, which arrived in New Delhi on February 21, held meetings with Army officials in the national capital. It also visited Agra before coming to the Indian Army's Eastern Command headquarters.

In Kolkata, the team interacted with Lieutenant General Dushyant Singh, Chief of Staff, at the Eastern Command Headquarters, followed by a meeting with the Eastern Command delegation.

The visit is in continuation of the enhanced engagements between the two Armies, which also saw Western Theatre Commander General Zhao Zongqi visiting India in December 2016.

The delegation from Western Theatre Command of People's Liberation Army is being led by Major General Zhao Jin Song, Vice Chief of Staff of Headquarter Western Theatre Command, Chengdu, China.
Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh), Feb 24 : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying "when he gets sacred, he tries to create tension between two religions".

"When Modi ji gets scared, then he tries to spread communalism and create tension among people belonging to two religions. He tries to spread poison in the society," said Gandhi during a public rally here.

His reference was to Modi's speech on Sunday, where he said: "If you create kabristaan (graveyard) in a village, then a shamshaan (cremation ground) should also be created. If electricity is given uninterrupted in Ramzan, then it should be given in Diwali without a break. Bhedbhaav nahin hona chahiye (there should be no discrimination."

Attacking the Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi said: "He keeps lying. He promised to give Rs 15 lakh to every Indian, two crore jobs, loan waiver to the farmers."

"Prime Minister Modi has been benevolent towards the rich and has waived their loans, but not the loans of farmers," he added.

"We (Congress) waived off the loans of the farmers, gave them food security and MNREGA," said Gandhi.

He also said the Modi government has not been able to send "a single person accused of keeping black money" to jail and that 94 per cent of black money is still stashed away in foreign countries.

At a public rally in Basti, he said: "Farmers came to us. We didn't strike a deal with them. We will never tell them to vote for us first and then we'll do their work."
Hyderabad, Feb 24 : The families of an Indian engineer who was killed and another who was injured in the firing by an American in Kansas have blamed the policies of President Donald Trump for the incident.

While parents of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead, were too shocked to speak, his relatives said the action of the former Navy serviceman was a result of Trump's policies.

"It shows Trump is the prime reason," was how Srinivas' cousin R. Sastry reacted while talking to reporters at the engineer's house at Bachupally on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

"The attacker made racist remark and asked them to get out of the country. It was clear that he wanted to target them," said Sastry.

He said though many of his relatives were living in the US for 10 to 20 years, they never encountered any such incident.

"We feel threatened," said another relative of Srinivas.

A pall of gloom descended on the house of Srinivas as grieving relatives pour in to console his parents.

His father K. Madhusudhana Sastry, 70, who retired as scientist from Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL), and mother Parvata Vardhini, were in a state of shock.

One of the three sons of Madhusudhana, Srinivas was living in US for over a decade. He married in 2012 and his wife was also staying with him.

Srinivas, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani, hailing from Warangal town, was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on Wednesday night.

The two engineers were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country" and "terrorist" before shooting them.

Purinton, according to reports, provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they were better than him.

Alok's father Madasani Jaganmohan Reddy said though they told Purinton that they are legally staying and working in US, he continued to throw slurs and fired at them.

Alok is recovering and is out of danger but Reddy said he would ask his son to return home as the situation had turned bad after Trump became the President. "My son, like many other Indians in US are well qualified and can get better jobs in India," he said.
Shillong, Feb 24 : The Border Security Force (BSF) has proposed to develop two areas along the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya as tourist spots along the lines of the Attari-Wagah border with Pakistan, a BSF official said here on Friday.

Inspector General of BSF in-charge Meghalaya frontier, P.K. Dubey said the two border areas -- Dawki in West Jaintia Hills district, and Kilapara in West Garo Hills region -- have been proposed to be developed as tourist spots.

"We have submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs for approval and the development of the spots would cost Rs 1 crore each," Dubey said.

He said the proposed project also plans to have a joint ceremony in the evening such as joint flag hoisting by the BSF and the BGB personnel, photo exhibition, arms display, documentary screenings, besides construction of sheds, gallery and other facilities for tourists.

Dawki, about 81 km from the capital of Meghalaya, is one of the most busiest exports route in northeastern state. While Kilapara in Garo Hills, is a war memorial which pays homage to the martyrs of the 1971 India-Pakistan War for Liberation of Bangladesh.

"We have also discussed the proposed project with the Border Guards Bangladesh during the five-day Director-General level border conference between the BGB and the BSF held from February 18 to 22 in Dhaka," Dubey said.
Kolkata, Feb 24 : Acclaimed filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj on Friday said the censor board's refusal to certify "Lipstick Under My Burkha" could be due to a "misunderstanding".

"I don't know about it... They can go to Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) or court for redressal. Lady-oriented film toh yeh bhi hai (Even 'Rangoon' is a 'lady-oriented' film). I don't think any government body can say its a lady-oriented film, so there is a misunderstanding or miscommunication," Bhardwaj told the media here at a special screening of "Rangoon".

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has refused to certify "Lipstick Under My Burkha" for its sexual references and use of abusive words, among other reasons.

The film, starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Ratna Pathak Shah, chronicles the secret lives of four women of different ages in a small town in India as they search for different kinds of freedom.

A copy of the CBFC letter to the film's producer Prakash Jha states: "The story is lady-oriented, their fantasy about life. There are continuous sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society, hence film refused."

The film's director Alankrita Shrivastava said she is determined to ensure that the Indian audiences get to watch the film.

The decision has drawn flak from a string of celebrities including Pooja Bhatt, Farhan Akhtar and Vivek Agnihotri.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 24 : Former Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on Friday demanded strong action from the state government against moral policing.

In a statement here in a wake of the suicide of a 24-year-old youth, a victim of moral policing, he said: "The role of police has to be done by them only and none other and it's here that the state government has to step in to stop this undesirable practice."

The youth Aneesh, hailing from Palakkad, was found hanging on a tree near his house on Thursday after he was assaulted by a group of youth on Valentine's Day, February 14.

Aneesh was sitting together with his friend when she, wanting to relieve herself, moved to a secluded place. Here a group of youth behaved indecently with her and hearing her cry, Aneesh rushed to her but assaulted by these youth, who also clicked photos and posted it on the social media.

This incident left Aneesh deeply upset and he was since then keeping to himself. He finally decided to take the ultimate step, leaving a note saying that he was deeply disturbed.

Police have taken into custody five people and have charged for abetting suicide.

Noted neurosurgeon Fazal Gafoor, who is also the chairman of the MES group of institutions, said it is time that the attitude of many Keralites changes.

"The psyche of Keralites have to change if things are to be prevented from going from bad to worse. Moral policing has crossed all limits and this is totally different from harassment of women," he said.

Legal professional V.Maya said in this particular case of Aneesh, those arrested have been charged under sections of abetting suicide but this was not enough.

"This is not the section that should be used. The need of the hour is new laws to tackle these crimes. Even police on most occasions wrongly interpret laws, especially when it comes to issues like this," he said.

Another legal professional B.Gopalakrishnan said moral policing and morality have to be seen differently and when this is seen in the right perspective, then things will be right.

Achuthanandan also pointed out that police at times also engage in moral policing which puts young couples in difficulties and this also has to be stopped for which the state government has to step in.
Damascus, Feb 25 : At least 60 people were killed in a car bombing in a Syrian village on Friday, a British war monitor said on Friday.

The suicide bombing that rocked the town of Susian, in said to be targeting Turkey-backed rebels, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the causalities were rebels.

The IS group announced its withdrawal from al-Bab, came after 100 days of battles against the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels fighting in an operation called the Euphrates Shield.

The Syrian army succeeded recently to besiege al-Bab from its southern edge, a move to prevent IS fighters to withdraw toward other stronghold in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, the de facto capital of IS.
Washington, Feb 25 : US President Donald Trump blocked a number of news outlets from covering White House press secretary Sean Spicers question-and-answer session, media reports said.

Spicer on Friday afternoon, decided to hold an off-camera "gaggle" with reporters inside his office instead of the traditional on-camera briefing in the Press Briefing Room, The Hill magazine reported.

Among the outlets not permitted to cover the gaggle were news organisations that Trump has singled out for criticism, including CNN, The New York Times, The Hill, Politico, BuzzFeed, the Daily Mail, BBC, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News, etc.

Several outlets which were allowed into Spicer's office, include Breitbart, the Washington Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Reuters and Bloomberg..

The White House Correspondents' Association, a non-profit organisation of journalists who cover the White House, sharply criticized the decision.

"The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House," the association's President Jeff Mason said in a statement.

"We encourage the organisations that were allowed in to share the material with others," he added. "The board will be discussing this further with White House staff."

A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Back pain is one of Americans leading debilitating complaints, prompting us to spend billions of dollars annually for relief and costing more than $100 billion, especially in lost work and wages. But an influential physicians group, joining a growing number of other experts, now recommends that we buck up, exercise, keep movingand stay away from a reflexive reach for drugs, especially powerful painkillers, to deal with aching backs.

The American College of Physicians, with guidelines published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, concedes it is breaking with longstanding medical views on treating low back pain. But the groups experts said they conducted a systematic review of randomized, controlled trials and systematic reviews published through April 2015 on noninvasive pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatments for low back pain.

They found that many patients with low back pain recovered over time regardless of treatment, and these individuals might benefit most from heat, rest, exercise, and over the counter, non-steroidal medications. Another group of back pain sufferers might need physical therapy, stress reduction, acupuncture, yoga, or ta-chi. Only after patients have not found relief with non-pharmacological therapy, should doctors consider giving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen or naproxen. If these dont work, tramadol (Cymbalta) or duloxetine (Ultram) might be considered.

Dr. Rick Deyo, a spine researcher and professor at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Ore., and an author of the new guidelines, told the New York Times that, For acute back pain, the analogy is to the common cold. It is very common and very annoying when it happens. But most of the time it will not result in anything major or serious.

But if doctors take a more aggressive course, they can create issues. Patients may want diagnostic tests, including MRI or CT scans, though these routine procedures, like all medical interventions, pose risks, including radiation exposure. Though doctors know these scans are unneeded, costly, and often ineffective, they may order them defensively, especially to keep a patient, research finds.

The New York Times noted that all drugs, including something as seemingly innocuous as aspirin, can be harmful to some patients, and the physicians group guidelines appear even as the nation battles an epidemic of opioid painkiller abuse.

Back pain can be excruciating, and some doctors may relent and prescribe powerful painkillers, despite their risks. New research indicates that some emergency room physicians are more inclined even than their ER peers to order opioids for their patients, perhaps out of reflex or habit, and, other doctors tend to follow up colleagues initial recommendation by further prescribing these painkillers. This can be a bad path for patients to get unneeded drugs, and for the meds to become addictive and destructive.

Meantime, physician preference also plays a key role, other research shows, as to whether patients undergo back surgery, which shows only modest effect on back pain. It is more popular in pockets of the country. After eliminating various potential driving factors, researchers fault this geographic disparity on doctor choice about the intensity of their care-giving response. To reduce wasteful costs that back surgery adds to health care, insurers may need to audit procedures, or systems may want to set up high-quality, high-performing centers to handle specialized cases.

Ive seen in my practice the harms that can result from negligent medical care, including for back, brain, and spinal injuries. Ive written about caring for an aching back, including with the push toward pain-controlling, gentler rehabilitation, without excessive reliance on drugs or invasive procedures. This condition is no fun, and I hope we keep making strides to avoid harming patients or wasting their money.
There is a real need for making camping reservations onlinejust as there is for hotels, vacation rentals, etc.

Outdoor enthusiasts and frequent travelers Sarah & Mike Jirak understand firsthand how difficult it can be for visitors to find information about campgrounds and resorts, especially when the task is so often reliant on the site owners and managers to get the word out themselves. Wanting to help alleviate that burden and to create a solution that makes it easy for travelers to plan and book their vacations, Sarah Jirak, Co-owner, explains how the idea of Stay Outdoors came about:

"When we were preparing for a trip to Colorado, searching for campgrounds was so time consuming and took me to more websites than I even planned on looking at.

Laying in bed one night, thinking about our upcoming trip, I wondered if there was a go-to site for outdoor accommodations. What if there was one website that listed campgrounds where you could search by location and amenities? Imagine how easy that would be. Needless to say, with this idea I couldnt sleep the rest of the night.

I woke up my husband, Mike, and ran the idea past him. Then we both got out of bed and began searching online; neither of us could find anything that jumped out at us. I felt this is one of those one-in-a-million ideas and, though we kept thinking to ourselves Could this really work?, we decided to actually act on it - thus, Stay Outdoors was created."

Stay Outdoors allows campgrounds and resorts to easily list their properties on a platform which can easily be accessed by anyone looking to reserve a campsite, houseboat, etc. When you consider that there are more than 30,000 campgrounds just in the United States, it would be a tall order to expect travelers to remember each one of them by name. Now you only need to know one place to look: StayOutdoors.com.

Here's how it works:

Campgrounds set up a profile of their property, including photos and site specifications, such as dimensions and amenities. Payment options include commission on a per-reservation basis or an annual fee. There are also additional advertising/partnership opportunities on the site and social media. Print advertising is very expensive and the audience is limited; Stay Outdoors is an economical solution for campgrounds and resorts to advertise - entities will also benefit by knowing exactly where the reservation is coming from.

For travelers, the site is completely free. Vacation planners can enter the geographic area where they want to camp, their preferred dates, and even desired amenities to begin their search.

Jirak expands more on the need for such a platform, Having kicked off our social media presence just last year, Stay Outdoors already has acquired nearly 35,000 fans & followers - and that's without a product (we just launched our official website in November 2016)! To Mike and I, that shows there is a real need for and highly-desired solution for making camping reservations onlinejust as there is for hotels, vacation rentals, etc.

Stay Outdoors has been completely self-funded by Sarah and Mike. They have formed affiliate partnerships with other small businesses for software & application development, branding & marketing, and even hooked up with a celebrity spokesperson, Rowdie Mitch Goudy.

The full website, StayOutdoors.com, is currently only available to campgrounds in order to acquire and develop a robust database of properties. Next, in early 2017, the Jiraks plan to release the full website to travelers so they can search and book their outdoor vacations for the upcoming travel season.

You cant imagine how many times Ive heard (Stay Outdoors) is a "really good concept, I wish I thought of it". It confirms to me that, when you have that one-in-a-million great idea, you should follow it, says Jirak.

# # #

It is our mission to provide an easy solution for the outdoor enthusiast to plan and book their travels. In addition, we provide owners and managers of campgrounds and resorts an economical yet effective means of advertising their properties in order to attract more customers.
Kenneth Lowe, Esq.

William Mattar is proud to announce that Kenneth Lowe has joined their attorney staff. Lowe, originally from Juneau, Alaska, received his undergrad from Washington State University Vancouver, Washington, Magna Cum Laude and graduated from SUNY Buffalo School of Law in Buffalo, NY.

A member of the New York State Bar Association and Bar Association of Erie County, Lowe has had many successful positions both in and outside of the field of law. Always ready to help others, one of his notable accomplishments was spending a year teaching conversational English at the Hunagshi Institute of Technology in Hunagshi, Hubei, PRC. Lowe says, "Whether it's helping people or having a positive effect on various systems, I decided that becoming a lawyer was one of the best avenues for affecting change."

"Helping People...it's What We Do," is a phrase that is not only used by William Mattar, but is a clear description of how the entire firm operates. Kenneth Lowe is a valuable addition not only helping clients, but also reaching out to help in the surrounding communities as well.

William Mattar focuses on motor vehicle accident injuries and has a team dedicated to preserving evidence, providing resources for clients to guide them through the process, and working to obtain the best possible results for all clients in the least amount of time. Founded in 1990, William Mattar services all of New York State. Hurt In A Car Call William Mattar. 444-4444. WilliamMattar.com
The Bajio Logistics Center, Yusen Logistics' new warehouse in Mexico, offers services to automotive manufacturers and Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers. Today, we launch not only a first-class warehousing operation and a full-service container and trailer yard, but also our new corporate headquarters for Yusen Logistics Mexico, said Jordan Dewart, President, Yusen Logistics Mexico.

Yusen Logistics, a leading third-party logistics provider, has opened a 53,820-square-foot logistics center near Celaya, Mexico, to meet the growing demands of its domestic and international automotive customers.

Company officials held a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Bajio Logistics Center in Apaseo el Grande, Guanajuato, on February 22, 2017. The event was attended by Yusen Logistics employees as well as Miguel Marquez Marquez, the Governor of Guanajuato State, Gonzalo Gonzalez Centeno, the Mayor of Apaseo El Grande and Ramon Lemus Munoz Ledo, the Mayor of Celaya.

Today, we launch not only a first-class warehousing operation and a full-service container and trailer yard, but also our new corporate headquarters for Yusen Logistics Mexico, said Jordan Dewart, President, Yusen Logistics Mexico. Yusen Logistics has become a tier-one global logistics enterprise by being able to identify our customers needs and deliver unique solutions that can satisfy those needs all over the world. Our Bajio Logistics Center is an excellent example of our power to do that.

The Bajio Logistics Center will serve as the cornerstone for our global automotive network, as well as the control center for the Mexico market, said Kenji Mizushima, President, Yusen Logistics Co., Ltd. By firmly establishing our presence in this region, we can provide additional support to our customers and contribute to the local community.

The facility is located on a 17-acre site in the Amistad Industrial Park in the Bajio region, one of the largest automotive clusters in Latin America. The warehouse features 10,764 square feet of office space, 10 dock doors, a 64,583-square-foot trailer yard and an ocean container depot with capacity for 1,000 TEUs. There is room for expansion, including the capacity to double the amount of warehouse and office space and add a cross-dock facility with 30 dock doors.

The Bajio Logistics Center will initially employ 100 people, with further prospects as the facility grows in size.

Services include just-in-time scheduling, domestic truck, rail and intermodal transportation, international freight forwarding, import/export services and warehousing.

About Yusen Logistics

Yusen Logistics is a global logistics and transportation provider that delivers custom supply chain solutions through one of the largest air, ocean and land transportation networks. We have over 500 offices in 42 countries and regions, with more than 20,000 employees at your service. Combining our services gives you greater control over your supply chain. For more information, visit http://www.yusen-logistics.com.
California Career Institute After completing our medical assistant and nursing programs, students feel a sense of fulfillment in their new careers, helping the sick and comforting the people closest to them.

California Career Institute, Californias premier school for nursing programs, celebrates another booming year for their 2016-2017 graduating class. CCI is planning to build on their fruitful year and add new programs as they continue to change the lives of more and more students.

People come to CCI with the prospect of changing their lives for the better, going on to enjoy thriving careers and working alongside doctors as a team.

What sets California Career Institute apart from other schools is the commitment and time they put into each student. As a smaller school, they offer each person the attention and individual care they need to succeed in both their exams and future careers.

On April 24, 2017, CCI celebrates more than 70 graduates achieving their certifications and meaningful positions in healthcare.

Dr. Rafat Qahoush, Chief Executive Officer of CCI, stated that Each graduate for us is a success story. We see people working two jobs just to live paycheck to paycheck at places they despise. After completing our medical assistant and nursing programs, students feel a sense of fulfillment in their new careers, helping the sick and comforting the people closest to them. I can honestly say its a privilege to be part of their journey.

The nursing programs that California Career Institute currently offers: Medical Assistant, Certified Nursing Assistant, and Vocational Nursing have led the school and their students to flourish.

Looking toward the future, CEO, Dr. Qahoush, prepares to open new programs for students. These programs focus on industries that have seen rapid expansion in recent years and are expected to grow over the next 10 years according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

CCIs new programs will include Dental Assistant (18% project growth), Business Administration (8% projected growth), and Veterinary Assistant (10% projected growth).

Dr. Qahoush stated, This will help us serve the broader community and provide the job market with skilled individuals that care for patients. We take pride in providing career education in Orange County and beyond.

People interested in pursuing careers in healthcare can check out the nursing programs offered by CCI before the start of the February 2017 semester. Dr. Qahoush looks forward to this years lineup of students taking advantage of diverse nursing programs and welcomes others to attain the opportunities ahead.
Purolator International, the leading provider of cross-border logistics, is proud to announce that John Costanzo has been named a 2017 Pro to Know by Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine. This is the third consecutive year that Costanzo has been honored with this award, recognizing his leadership in helping organizations to improve the efficiency of their supply chains to meet changing customer expectations.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive congratulates the 2017 Supply & Demand Chain Executive Pros to Know recipients. The Pros to Know is a listing of exceptional executives who are leading initiatives to help prepare supply chains for the significant challenges in the year ahead, says Ronnie Garrett, editor of Supply & Demand Chain Executive. We commend recipients for their achievements. Their accomplishments offer a roadmap for other leaders looking to leverage the supply chain for competitive advantage. Their efforts in developing the tools, processes and a knowledge base for supply chain transformation, as well as in promoting new approaches to supply chain enablement, earned these individuals a rightful place in this year's Pros to Know listing.

Under Costanzos leadership, Purolator International has continued to evolve its suite of solutions to support customers changing needs. In 2013, Costanzo spearheaded the development and introduction of Purolator Internationals ecommerce solution PuroPost, which now makes up nearly half of Purolator Internationals shipments. Costanzos responsiveness to client needs is also apparent in the way solutions are tailored to meet specific markets. Purolator Internationals new aircraft-on-ground (AOG) service for the aviation industry demonstrates this approach with a guaranteed solution for immediate parts delivery to keep an aircraft in operation.

In 2017, Costanzo is committed to expanding Purolator Internationals intra-U.S. capabilities. Though Purolator International has acted as freight forwarder from the beginning, the bulk of the business has been focused on cross border trade with Canada. This year, Costanzo is focused on raising awareness of Purolator Internationals expedited forwarding services for the domestic U.S. market, which offers the capabilities and coverage of the large providers, combined with the elevated level of personal service and flexibility of being a niche provider.

Whether an organization is in the business of selling fashion to consumers, micro-chips to a computer manufacturer, or pacemakers and artificial heart valves to hospitals, the ultimate goal is to perform at the highest level possible. Supply chains are an integral part of the customer experience, said Costanzo. We are proud of our accomplishments in partnering with our customers to control shipping and logistics costs, while providing the services and tools needed to provide quick, accurate and on-time delivery.

The 2017 Provider Pros to Know are individuals from software firms and service providers, consultancies or academia, who helped their supply chain clients or the supply chain community at large prepare to meet these challenges. Supply & Demand Chain Executive received more than 300 entries for the 2017 Pros to Know Awards. Check out Supply & Demand Chain Executives website at http://www.sdcexec.com for the full list of all of the 2017 Pros to Know and Practitioner Pros winners.

About Supply & Demand Chain Executive

Supply & Demand Chain Executive is the executive's user manual for successful supply and demand chain transformation, utilizing hard-hitting analysis, viewpoints and unbiased case studies to steer executives and supply management professionals through the complicated, yet critical, world of supply and demand chain enablement to gain competitive advantage. Visit us on the web at http://www.SDCExec.com.

About Purolator International

Purolator International is a subsidiary of Purolator Inc., Canadas leading integrated freight, package and logistics solutions provider. Purolator International specializes in the air and surface forwarding of Express, Freight and Parcel shipments, customs brokerage, and fulfillment and delivery services to, from and within North America. Purolator International has received numerous industry awards for its superior service and innovative solutions, including 100 Great Supply Chain Projects by Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine, Top 100 Great Supply Chain Partners by Supply Chain Brain magazine, Top 100 3PL Providers by Inbound Logistics, and Logistics Managements Quest for Quality Award. In addition to facilities throughout New York, Purolator International has locations in key U.S. markets including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Saint Louis.

For more information about Purolator International, visit http://www.purolatorinternational.com

# # #
J. Randall Gladden, also known as Randy These workbooks are a great way to remind each of us how to live the life God intended.

J. Randall Gladden will make his latest workbook available in late March, titled Developing Your Family Legacy. Randy is a financial advisor, public speaker and author who challenges audiences across the world to live to their fullest potential; the one God intended for them. After many requests for more tips and techniques from fans and event attendees, Randy is putting the finishing touches on this daily living workbook.

As I travel to different cities across the country and around the world to speak at events, Im constantly asked for ways to take the principles we discuss home, and apply them to our daily lives, said J. Randall Gladden. These workbooks are a great way to do that. They help remind each of us how to live the life God intended.

In this latest workbook Randy shares tips and techniques that will help readers do more than leave assets to their offspring, instead developing a true legacy. Randy guides readers to build a legacy that allows him or her to ensure important values are imparted to the next generations. Randy offers techniques to help train future generations on how to work together and continue to impact the world around us, while flourishing financially.

In addition to the workbook release Randy will be traveling quite a bit in the coming months, including to Parkland Chapel in Farmington, MO; a meeting of ministry leaders in Branson, MO; and The Church of God in Christ Conference in Fairbanks, AK. To connect with Randy or have him speak at your church or organization please visit http://www.lordgladden.com.

ABOUT J. RANDALL GLADDEN

J. Randall Gladden (Randy) engages, enlightens and challenges audiences across the world to live to their fullest potential by reminding them God created them for a purpose. Randys decades of experience as a wealth adviser have led him to an asset strategy blending moral values with economic realities; he calls this Legacy Wealth. He lives daily to fulfill his God-given mandate to encourage, equip and empower those in the Church to transform their world.

Randy also serves as a university guest lecturer, syndicated media commentator and strategic advisor to businesses and ministries internationally. Additionally, he owns several businesses; one recently was named the small business of the year in the State of Washington. Randy has been married to his wife Elsie for 13 years and together they have two sons, Jack and Alex. When Randy is not traveling to work with clients abroad, the family resides in Southern California.
Craft a Brew Releases New Home Brew Kit and Recipe: Fool's Gold

Craft a Brew, maker of premium home beer-brewing kits, releases its newest homebrew recipe this week: Fools Gold - a Golden Stout.

The non-traditional Golden Stout beer style is a contradiction in a glass, as stouts are traditionally jet black in color. At first sight, Fools Gold pours and looks like a blonde ale, but at first sip, the beer shows its true colors as a stout.

Craft a Brew is releasing its Fools Gold homebrew kits and recipe kits with enough time for homebrewers to make and enjoy their beer by April Fools Day. The finished product is the perfect prank in a glass.

Pale smoked malts and flaked oats give Fools Gold the classic flavor and full body of a stout without darkening the appearance. The Ecuadorian cacao nibs and Nicaraguan coffee beans included with each kit give this beer rich, roasted aromas and a touch of sweetness.

Craft a Brews Fools Gold recipe is available in a full brewing kit, including equipment to make one gallon of beer, for first time home brewers ($48) and in one and five gallon recipe kits, including ingredients alone, for brewers with their own equipment ($18, $50) at CraftaBrew.com.

About Craft a Brew: Craft a Brew is on a mission to turn craft beer lovers into craft beer brewers with its premium home brewing kits, which are designed to help novices and enthusiasts alike make the best possible beer in their own kitchens, right out of the box. Founded in 2010, Craft a Brew has spent years perfecting its easy-to-use kits, sourcing the freshest ingredients and assembling each kit by hand in Orlando, Florida. Craft a Brew currently offers 18+ beer styles, including a gluten-free ale and a hard cider making kit, along with its innovative Catalyst Fermentation System and new Make Your Own Wine Kits, among other brewing accessories at http://www.CraftaBrew.com.
Anne Berner, Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications Ultimately the mutual interaction of 5G, AI, IoT as well AR and VR will be the real game changer. For this reason, we provide Finnish SMEs access to these developing technologies earlier than our competitors do.

Finland is the global tech superpower. Supported by early access to new technologies, Finland and Finnish companies will be displaying their latest solutions and digital innovations at the Mobile World Congress 2017 (MWC 2017). Meet the Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications, Ms. Anne Berner, at the Finland pavilion on Monday 27th at 5pm.

For a country like Finland, a collaborative home field is key for being ahead in the new digital ballgame, where the development of new technologies like 5G, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet of Things and Virtual Reality drive all the players in the technology field to move forward at a remarkable pace.

Take 5G technology. From the R&D perspective, the 5G Test Network Finland (5GTNF) provides the most advanced 5G test environment in the world. It is a flexible and evolving platform for 5G service development and testing. It combines state-of-the-art network infrastructure, standardized interfaces for third party equipment and a comprehensive access to monitoring data.

This is why global connectivity giants like Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei come together with Finnish SMEs in the 5GTNF to develop entirely new and innovative solutions, ultimately benefiting everyone around the world.

Finnish tech collaboration does not end with 5G. The fast growing numbers of connected devices and sensors combined with technological advancements are creating an opportunity for organizations across industry segments and breeding life-simplifying innovations. In Finland, we are already actively pursuing these business cases with robot buses in Helsinki, AR/VR-based smart retail and Fintech solutions such as mobile payments, data management and crowdfunding platforms. Ultimately the mutual interaction of 5G, AI, IoT as well AR and VR will be the real game changer. For this reason, we provide Finnish SMEs access to these developing technologies earlier than our competitors do. Our model enables new innovations for the common good as well as for Finnish companies to stay on the cutting edge of the development. Thats our digital footprint, explains Anne Berner, Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications.Behind the Finnish spirit of collaboration is the deeply rooted culture of partnerships between enterprises, universities and research institutes.

As a rule, working without unnecessary limitations or prejudice opens up the opportunity for Finnish companies to innovate and create something unprecedented. Open data initiatives are a crucial element in application development. Finland provides a unique collaborative environment, which guarantees a constant flow of ambitious companies with fresh innovations, comments Hanna Marttinen-Deakins, Director, ICT & Digitalization at Finpro, the Finnish trade, travel and investment promotion agency.

Finnish innovations will light up Barcelona during the MWC 2017. Altogether 32 Finnish companies will be present at the Finland pavilion (5F31), proving why Finland is a true technology superpower in the fields of mobility solutions, connectivity, IoT, 5G and digital health.

Join us at the event and partner up with Finnish digital forerunners to keep up with the technological transformation and beyond. Full list of Finnish companies at the MWC 2017.

More information

Teija Rasanen, Senior Marketing & Communications Specialist, Finpro

Mob: +358 50 549 9695, Email. teija.rasanen(at)finpro(dot)fi

About Finpro

Finpro helps Finnish SMEs go international, encourages foreign direct investment in Finland and promotes travel to Finland. Finpro is a public organization consisting of Export Finland, Visit Finland and Invest in Finland. Our almost 300 professionals work in 36 Trade Centers in 31 countries and 6 offices in Finland.

At Finland Pavilion, you can experience first-hand our extraordinary talents who create world- changing digital innovations, as well as attract global tech giants to Finland. Finpro  Growth for Finland http://www.finpro.fi
Ideal Credit Union has paid over $2.6 million dollars back to its members through its award-winning VIP program. The VIP program is designed to encourage members to bring all of their accounts to Ideal and when they do, we reward their loyalty by paying an annual VIP dividend." - Brian Sherrick, Ideal CU President/CEO.

Ideal Credit Union has returned 10.5% of its 2016 earnings to members through its exclusive VIP Program, the fifth consecutive year for the generous payout to VIPs. Ideal is the only credit union in Minnesota offering this type of rewards program, believed to be the first of its kind in the state.

The VIP Program rewarded 4,165 VIP Plus members with cash dividends between $50 and $600, which were automatically deposited into members savings accounts in January 2017. A total payout of $501,900 was returned to Ideal CU members as a result of the VIP Program. Ideal CU has paid out over $2.6 million to VIP members since the programs inception in 2012.

The VIP program is designed to encourage members to bring all of their accounts to Ideal and when they do, we reward their loyalty by paying an annual VIP dividend, said Brian Sherrick, Ideal CU President/CEO. Our staff works with members throughout the year to help them identify opportunities to grow their relationship with us and ultimately increase their payout.

To qualify, members must have a savings account, an active personal checking account and conduct a minimum of 144 transactions throughout the year via debit and credit card, checks, ATM and ACH transactions. Some members received a Deposit Bonus Dividend based on their average deposit balances throughout the year, while others earned a Loan Rebate Dividend, calculated on the amount of interest paid in 2016. Many members were eligible for more than one reward based on qualifying relationships. The highest amount paid to a member in 2016 was $600.

Founded in 1926, Ideal Credit Union is a member owned financial institution that specializes in providing excellent member service, great rates and convenience to 50,000 members. Ideal CU offers a complete range of services, including a full suite of electronic banking products, savings, checking, loans, mortgage products and title services, exclusive VIP member payback, business services, investment services and more. Offices are located in Eagan, Hugo, Inver Grove Heights, North St. Paul, Stillwater and Woodbury. Visit idealcu.com for details and directions.
Dunn&Co, a leading full-service advertising agency and production company, today announced it won 18 total ADDY awards, more than any other participating agency, at the recent AAF Tampa Bay (American Advertising Federation of Tampa Bay) 2017 ADDY Awards, held in Tampa Thursday evening, the 16th. The awards haul included two Best of Bay awards (Best of Print category for its Child Safety print ad for ISC2 and a Best of Radio category for its Give you the bird radio spot for Tijuana Flats). Of the 18 awards, eight were awarded either Gold or Best of Show in their respective categories.

The award-winning work was created for a variety of media, including TV broadcast, radio broadcast, print, packaging, digital/web, outdoor, video and illustration. The ADDYs recognized the agencys work on behalf of clients: Tampa Bay Lightning, Tijuana Flats, ISC2, Knockmore Irish Whiskey, St. Petersburg Distillery, Dress for Success and Ralphs Mob.

Im so proud of our team that does this for us year after year, said Dunn&Co. President and CCO Troy Dunn. Making content for our clients that rises above the fray and is consistently recognized as some of the best work made is quite an accomplishment. And again, winning in so many categories and in so many different media is a testament to our range and the talents we have under our roof.

The AAF ADDY Awards is the nations largest advertising competition, with more than 60,000 entries annually. The ADDY Awards is the only creative awards program administered by the advertising industry for the industry. The AAF Tampa Bay serves advertising professionals from the Tampa Bay community, including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Citrus and Hernando Counties.

Dunn&Co.s winning pieces will now move on to compete at the district level competition for a chance to be forwarded to the national stage of the American Advertising Federation Awards in New Orleans, LA.

About Dunn&Co.

Dunn&Co. (http://www.dunn-co.com) is a full-service advertising and marketing communications firm housed in a century-old former cigar factory near Tampas historic Ybor City. Dunn&Co. provides award-winning creative solutions for clients worldwide, including GE Healthcare, The Tampa Bay Lightning, Ahold USA, Tijuana Flats, Baxter Healthcare, Monin, Checkers, Kitchen Crafted, Civco, Sabal Trust, St. Petersburg Distillery, Hexa watches, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Sempermed USA, ATG, and The Untied Way. Dunn&Co. also provides pro-bono services to the ALS Association Florida Chapter to help fight Lou Gehrigs disease.

About AAF  Tampa Bay

The American Advertising Federation  Tampa Bay exists to support its members, the community and the advertising industry. Its mission is to promote fellowship, education and career enhancement among members of the advertising community; foster and recognize excellence in advertising; champion public service causes; build an understanding of the role and benefits of advertising at all levels; and encourage advertising self-regulation and continuous improvement to raise industry benchmarks.

###
Daisy Intelligence Corporation, an artificial intelligence software-as-a-service platform, announced today that they will be offering a total of $30,000 in scholarship support for students in the Engineering Science program at the University of Torontos Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. The new Daisy Intelligence Scholarships in Engineering Science will be awarded each year to three students completing their fourth year of study in each of the programs Electrical and Computer Engineering, Robotics, and Mathematics, Statistics & Finance majors. Three scholarships will be awarded each year based on academic achievement and each recipient will receive a $2,000 Daisy Scholarship.

The Engineering Science program at the University of Toronto is one of the most distinguished engineering programs in the world and attracts top students who are looking for an academic challenge. This enriched program is widely regarded as an innovator in engineering education and provides students with excellent preparation in a wide range of engineering, science and mathematical fields. Historically, about half of the programs graduates pursue post-graduate studies at top graduate schools around the world.

As a U of T Engineering Science alumnus, I wanted to recognize student achievement in one of the best engineering programs in the world. This program is critical to keeping Canada on the leading edge of artificial intelligence and critical to maintaining Canadas global competitiveness. I am so happy we can do our part in recognizing these high academic achievers in this important program. said Gary Saarenvirta, CEO of Daisy Intelligence. This is our first year awarding the Daisy Intelligence Scholarships in Engineering Science and we intend to continue this to help the university recruit and retain the best and brightest students.

Saarenvirta received his undergraduate degree in 1988 and holds both his B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Toronto. His M.A.Sc. was in Computational Fluid Dynamics at the University of Torontos Institute for Aerospace Studies. The Daisy Intelligence Scholarships in Engineering Science recipients are those who attained academic excellence in their fourth year of study.

For more information, contact:

Gary Saarenvirta

CEO, Daisy Intelligence Corporation

gsaarenvirta(at)daisyintel.com

905.642.2629 ext. 221

Christina Heidorn

External Relations Officer, Division of Engineering Science

Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto

engsci(at)ecf.utoronto.ca

416.978.8634
Today, Fortress Deck, an innovator in the decking industry, announced 2017 distribution plans throughout the central United States. Starting in January, Fortress Decks Infinity Decking and HULK Clips and Fasteners will be available in most of the central United States through distributors Hallmark Building Supplies, Inc., Mid-States Wholesale Company and JM Thomas Forest Products.

Fortress Deck is excited to expand its presence in the Central United States, Gary Smith, National Sales Manager at Fortress Deck, said. This is a competitive market, and customer reception in this region has proven strong demand for our innovative product offerings. We have partnered with some of the regions leading distributors and are confident these partnership will deliver results to customers down the channel.

In January, Hallmark Building Supplies, Inc. opened a new division to focus on the distribution of Fortress Deck products in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The business will be supported by distribution centers in St. Louis, Missouri; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Dallas, Texas with planned expansions of the Chicago, Illinois and Houston, Texas areas.

We were so impressed with not only the product but with the story of the how the product came to life. The inability of the current US composite market to perform in the harsh climates of South Africa created a need for a better deck product. This lead to the development of the Infinity product line of deck products. The synergies between our two companies and the passion for providing quality and style were a perfect fit, Robb Buechler, Executive Vice President at Hallmark Building Supplies, Inc., said.

Mid-States Wholesale Company who is already a distributor of OZCO Building Products and Fortress Railing Products two other Fortress Building Products businesses  will begin Oklahoma distribution of the two Fortress Deck product lines, Infinity Decking and HULK Clips and Fasteners.

Mid-States experience in composite decking spans some of the industrys biggest brands, but we have never seen a product like Infinity before, Mark Musgrove, Product Manager at Mid-States Wholesales Company, said. The dense, bamboo and recycled plastic core with a 360 cap is a combination built for longevity, and the boards are beautiful. We are confident it will have a huge impact in Oklahoma and wanted to be the ones to take it to market.

JM Thomas Forest Products was a part of the soft launch of the Fortress Deck business in 2016. JM Thomas has already begun to establish a network of lumberyards and deck builders that are promoting Infinity Decking and Hulk Clips and Fasteners. Even with a limited launch in 2016, the products have been well-received in the Colorado market with high expectations for the full launch in 2017.

The variegated color and matte texture of the post sleeves and Modern Rail have a hit in the Colorado market, Scott Gates, Purchasing Manager at JM Thomas Forest Products, said. The Stair Tread and unique distressed hardwood surface are also getting lots of attention as these products have never been available to this market.

Fortress Deck Infinity Decking and HULK Clips & Fasteners adds to the growing list of products offered by Fortress Building Products, which includes railing, fence, pergola and other exterior focused building products. To learn more, visit http://www.FortressDeck.com

###

About Fortress Deck

Fortress Deck is the newest member of Fortress Building Products, a privately held, family of innovative building product solution providers. Fortress Building Products boasts nearly 50 years of combined experience in building products supply and design. Fortress Building Products is comprised of Fortress Railing Products, Fortress Fence Products, OZCO Building Products and Fortress Deck. Fortress Building Products is based in the Dallas, Texas area with extensive product distribution throughout North America and expansion occurring to many other global markets. A young, innovative and entrepreneurial culture is alive and well at Fortress Building Products where the team is always looking for ways to lead our industries forward. Learn more at http://www.FortressBP.com or http://www.FortressDeck.com.
History was made at the Port of Miami this past Saturday, February 18 as a fleet of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) consisting of aerial drones and miniature aerostats were used to provide live situational awareness at a joint exercise between Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFD), the U.S. Army. and other agencies. The combined forces were assigned the mission to mobilize and deploy to assess and/or mitigate a suspected weapon of mass destruction.

The maritime hazardous materials drill featured the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Special Operations Division and Hazardous material teams working along side reserve Soldiers assigned to the Orlando-based 329th Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Company (Reconnaissance and Surveillance), supported by the Army Reserves 469th Ground Ambulance Company from Wichita, Kansas, and the Florida National Guards Civil Support Team.

As a Federal Response Partner, the Army Reserve seeks training events with local, state and federal agencies to better hone our skills and to further develop symbiotic training relationships, said Col. Mike Vail, Chief, Homeland Operations Division for the Army Reserve. We want both the Soldiers and our firefighters to benefit from the training, he said. We both have something in common. We serve the communities we live in and protect those in need during an emergency or incident where lives are in danger.

I couldnt think of a better training environment than one of the busiest ports, said Lt. Alvarao Tonanez, the HAZMAT lead trainer for one of the largest fire departments in America, with more than 3,000 personnel assigned to MDFR. To put our firefighters and the Army Reserve unit into a realistic scenario where we could use the assistance in a real-world situation is a win-win for both sides.

To evaluate the potential of UAS in providing live situational awareness in rapidly expanding incidents, MDFD requested support from Airborne Response -- a Miami-based drone services and consulting firm. The objective for the UAS was to provide a constant video feed of the exercise into MDFD's mobile command center where the incident command staff and exercise control staff would be stationed.

"This was a tremendous opportunity to highlight the emerging potential of unmanned aircraft systems for emergency response," according to Christopher Todd, President and Founder of Airborne Response. "Our primary tasking was to help increase the operational intelligence coming in to the command team as the exercise evolved. Our flight teams were able to capture and stream video perspectives that would have otherwise have been unavailable."

To accomplish their goal Airborne Response used a combination of three different remote pilot and observer flight teams each flying separate DJI drones -- including the Inspire 2, Matrice 100, Phantom 4 Pro, and Mavic Pro -- at varying times. The flight schedule allowed for a continuous rotation of pilots and aircraft over the more than six hour duration of the exercise.

Airborne Response also had access to a secret UAS weapon that had never before been tested in a live exercise -- a new version of an ALTA SmartBalloon system carrying specially customized DJI equipment and payload.

"Most drones are limited to a finite amount of flight time by their on-board battery packs," says Todd. "This leaves potential coverage gaps when working to provide constant overwatch. The ALTA SmartBalloon system allowed us to have a continuous eye-in-the-sky for the duration of the exercise. The aerostat provided a live video of the wide view, while the drones were able to maneuver as needed to capture unique angles and up-close live stream perspectives of each exercise evolution."

"The new SmartBalloon worked almost flawlessly," according to Candido Hernandez, Chief Engineer for Altametry, the Miami-based firm that developed and manufactures each patented ALTA SmartBalloon system. "The DJI gimbal and camera system handled the wind gusts much better than we anticipated."

Hernandez says the DJI equipment on the SmartBalloon included a Zenmuse Z3 camera systems, N3 flight controller, and a Lightbridge 2 video transmission system, all powered by a single DJI Matrice battery which lasted for the full duration of the exercise.

This exercise was just the first step toward developing a robust UAS solution to help first responders, emergency managers, and military personnel establish more comprehensive situation awareness for a wide variety of mission sets, according to Todd.

"The primary mission of Airborne Response is to help enterprises and government entities innovate with UAS," says Todd. To accomplish that goal, we need to be out in the field working side-by-side with the operators and responders who working toward specific objectives. This is how progress is made, and strategies and tactics are ultimately developed."
Maybe Massachusetts will become the Silicon Valley of drone technology & services and Babson will become the leading university for drone startups. Who knows?

Massachusetts startup Dronegenuity today announced its entry into Babson Colleges annual BETA challenge. Dronegenuity, based out of Hudson, MA and led by CEO and MBA alumnus Dan Edmonson, provides aerial drone services to businesses throughout the United States. The company believes it is in a strong position to compete in the contest that awards cash and prizes to alumni and students who have demonstrated the schools trademarked virtue of Entrepreneurial Thought & Action (ET&A). The ET&A methodology is a fundamental approach taught at Babson and encourages entrepreneurs to balance action, experimentation, and creativity with a deep understanding of business fundamentals and rigorous analysis as the ideal approach to creating economic and social value.

Edmonson got his inspiration to launch Dronegenuity while working for another promising Babson drone startup, DARTdrones last summer. DART drones provides drone training and classes to help aspiring pilots learn to fly drones. In early 2016, Abby Speicher, CEO of DARTdrones, contacted her former MBA classmate Edmonson for help with her business. Edmonson accepted her offer and soon joined the company, where he developed curriculum, taught an online course, created web content, and managed business development while also assisting with both digital and strategic marketing efforts. It was during this time that Speicher would have filmed her appearance on ABCs Shark Tank, which would eventually air on February 24, 2017.

Edmonson believes Massachusetts could become a hub for drone startups now and in the future. This is how entrepreneurship and innovation is supposed to work. A company breaks ground and incidentally creates several off-shoots. Maybe Massachusetts will become the Silicon Valley of drone technology & services and Babson will become the leading university for drone startups. Who knows?

Dronegenuity took flight last year and has already become a leading national provider of aerial photography and drone video services. The industry is booming and the technology is taking off. Uses for drones are quickly evolving beyond just traditional aerial photography and video filming, Edmonson continued. Since its inception, Dronegenuity has helped residential and commercial real estate firms create drone videos, construction firms plan sites, legal practices obtain evidence, and more. Dronegenuity plans to significantly expand its 3D modeling and aerial mapping & surveying services in 2017. The company hopes to continue with its expansion by helping agricultural firms make use NDVI technology to monitor crop yields and measure plant health by determining the level of chlorophyll present in vegetation. The company believes strong demand from warm climates such as California and Florida will spread to include most northern states later in the year.

When asked if he too would apply to compete on Shark Tank, Edmonson said, I think ABC has had all the Babson and drones it can handle for a while. For now, Edmonson seems content with competing with Babson colleagues and developing Babsons reputation as a leading institution for drone startups and Entrepreneurial Thought & Action.
No one organization alone can address...extreme poverty. We are committed to working with our partner Lwala to achieve more impact together than either of us would have separately.

Village Enterprise and the Lwala Community Alliance are launching a new partnership to tackle the most intractable challenges faced by people living in poverty in Migori County, Kenya. This first-of-a-kind project will augment Lwalas pioneering community-led health model with Village Enterprises expertise in community-based economic development.

The idea for this collaboration was seeded when Lwala Community Alliance invited several organizations to submit innovative approaches to increase household incomes for people living at the bottom of the pyramid in Migori County, Kenya. Semi-finalists were then invited to present their intervention strategies at the Sankalp Entrepreneurship forum in February 2016. Village Enterprise was announced as the winner of the competition, leading to this partnership becoming a reality. Community leaders recognized that health and education interventions alone arent enough to break the cycle of poverty, but that economic opportunities that generate incomes and savings are also needed. Lwala Community Alliance Executive Director Ash Rogers comments, We are thrilled to partner with Village Enterprise, an evidence-based, impact-oriented organization that also has a community-oriented bottom-up strategy to ending extreme poverty.

Village Enterprise s graduation program equips the ultra-poor with the resources to create small businesses that generate sustainable savings and incomes. Village Enterprise uses a community-driven process to target the ultra-poor, then provides them with a capital seed grant, business and financial literacy training, and mentoring to start small, sustainable businesses and savings groups. Examples of businesses include livestock, farming, small retail stores, simple restaurants and tailoring and distribution of school uniforms.

Village Enterprise Dianne Calvi adds, No one organization alone can address the complex web of deficiencies that defines extreme poverty. We are committed to working with our partner Lwala to achieve more impact together than either of us would have separately.

Over the next year, Village Enterprise will train 1,320 new entrepreneurs and jump-start 440 new businesses in Migori County. By 2020, over 1,400 new businesses will be created, which will impact the lives of nearly 30,000 people. The Greater Impact Foundation is funding this collaboration. Both the Lwala Community Alliance and Village Enterprise are grantees of the Segal Family Foundation.

About Lwala Community Alliance

Lwala Community Alliance is a community-led innovator operating in western Kenya, a region with some of the highest maternal and child morality rates in East Africa. Lwala has leveraged community initiatives to drive a 97% facility delivery rate and cut under-5 mortality to less than half the regional rate. In partnership with the Ministry of Health, Lwala is expanding its bottom-up, holistic model to reach 1 million rural people.

About Village Enterprise

Village Enterprise seeks to end extreme poverty in rural Africa through innovation and entrepreneurship. Working in rural Sub Saharan Africa, the Village Enterprise Graduation program provides business and financial training, ongoing mentoring, seed capital and business savings networks to individuals living on less than 1.90/day. Since 1987, Village Enterprise has started over 36,000 businesses, trained over 145,000 new small business owners and lifted over 780,000 people out of extreme poverty.
Nick Bass, Global People Director at Isobar talking to LGBT students "The event demonstrated how important it is for organisations to have LGBT+ role models", Stuart Mason, lawyer at Clifford Chance

On Thursday February 16, myGwork a leading global LGBT professional network, offered 75 LGBT university students from London the chance to network with senior LGBT leaders. The list of leaders included:



Paul Reed, The chief executive of trading division at BP

Alicia Millar, EME learning and development Manager at Reed Smith

Daniel Gerring, Partner at Travers Smith

Scott James Pinder, Senior Retirement Consultant at Willis Towers Watson

Michael Shannon, Head of Talent Acquisition Africa & Developing Countries Asia at GSK

Stuart Mason, Lawyer at Clifford Chance

Nick Bass, Global People and Development Director at Isobar

Max Mukhin, Management Consultant Digital & Tech at PwC

Zoe Burdo, Consultant & Pride Network Chair at Willis Towers Watson

Scott Nunn, Director at Gay Star News & Digital-Pride

Pippa Dale, Head of Fixed Income Roadshows at BNP & Founder of LBWomen

Nick Macrae, Senior Vice President at Warner Bros

Alan Hunt, Associate Lawyer at Lewis Silkin

It was a great chance for students to ask these prominent LGBT leaders about topics both personal (such as their coming out stories), and professional (what is it like being out in the workplace?)

For these leaders, it provided the opportunity to showcase to students how their companies support diversity for their LGBTI employees.

The event was hosted at Willis Towers Watson (a new member of the myGwork community), and was coordinated by LSEs LGBT+ Student Union.

The myGwork team believes that LGBT peoples success in their careers and in life is strongly influenced in these formative years. With inspiration as the primary goal of the event, they offered unique access to these senior LGBT leaders while at the same time, provided an opportunity for leaders to give back and support younger generations. A win-win!

During the introduction, Pierre Gaubert from myGwork enhanced the importance of LGBT Role models at all ages: it starts from a very young age when people come out at school and show the way to younger LGBT students. What starts off as a hopeful path for young LGBT, often taken a sudden turn upon graduation Studies have shown that approximately 62%of UK LGBT graduates go back into the closet during their first jobs after graduation. Sadly, they feel they will not be accepted in the workplace. This leads to a second professional coming out process later in their careers after years needed to build up the confidence to do so. The event myGwork organised last week was an important step in helping the young LGBT generation in London feel confident to be themselves in their future careers and to help reverse this trend.

Quote from Willis Towers Watson (host)

Zoe Burdo expressed her enthusiasm about hosting the event: In these dark ages where it seems LGBTI rights are going backward, it is more important than ever for the LGBT community to stick together and send positive messages to the rest of the population - messages saying that being LGBTI is normal and we can succeed. No parents, no friends, no teacher and no manager should advise students to stay in the closet to have a great career. That is why LGBTI role models - and role models in general - are so important.

Quotes from LGBT leaders:

Stuart Mason said: The event demonstrated how important it is for organisations to have LGBT+ role models. It was great to meet so many enthusiastic LGBT+ individuals at the start of their career and to demonstrate that for the next generation, being LGBT+ is no barrier to success at some of the top UK and global employers

Alicia Millar said: Privileged to speak to amazing LGBT students at the myGwork event. Great questions and discussion about being out in the workplace, their curiosity about the relevance of sexuality in a working environment gave me huge insight into the mind-set and personal values of this generation, our future business leaders. I encourage business leaders to take any opportunity to talk with students and be challenged by them!

Nick MacRae said: I really enjoyed last weeks networking event, and thought the format worked well. Fast-moving and informal, and everyone felt relaxed and able to ask questions. A couple of the people who attended your event already reached out to me for some tips, and Im meeting one of them today for a coffee.

Quote from students:

Lorenzo Spinoglio, MSc Student at LSE, said: I would like to thank you very much for the event at Willis Towers Watson, it has been very helpful and inspiring. Thank you myGwork for what you are doing every day.

Quote from myGwork:

Pierre Gaubert, CEO, said: The aim of myGwork has always been to create bridges among the LGBT community. We kept the event small for students to meet as many leaders as possible and build meaningful connections for their future.

About myGwork

myGwork is the global recruitment & networking hub for LGBT professionals and graduates. The platform provides jobs and mentoring opportunities to the LGBT community. individuals who can network online with more than 10,000 members and access a wide range of networking & career-focused events.
SearchBlox is KMWorld Trend-Setting Product of 2016 SearchBlox offers the easiest migration path for Google Site Search with a web based configuration console and zero coding required for integration of search results.

SearchBlox Software, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise search, sentiment analysis and text analytics solutions today launched new hosted search plans designed to offer an enhanced replacement for the Google Site Search product. Google announced that they would discontinue the sale of the Google Site Search product from April 2017.

SearchBloxs new offerings all run on high performance cloud infrastructure and come with 24x7 support as standard. In addition to crawling websites, SearchBlox Cloud Search can also automatically extract content from PDF and Microsoft Office documents and make them available for search.

SearchBlox has migrated more than 100 customers from Google Search Appliance (GSA) to the SearchBlox Enterprise Search platform and now offers the same level of functionality and performance on the cloud for Google Site Search customers for reliable search services.

SearchBlox offers the easiest migration path for Google Site Search with a web based configuration console and zero coding required for integration of search results said Timo Selvaraj, Co-Founder and VP of Product Management at SearchBlox. Combined with our best in class 24x7 support and migration services for customers, what used to take weeks of developer time in setup and integration now takes hours to get running.

About SearchBlox

SearchBlox is a leading provider of enterprise search, sentiment analysis and text analytics solutions based on Elasticsearch and Apache Lucene. More than 400 customers in 30 countries now use SearchBlox to power their websites, intranets and custom search applications. Founded in 2003, SearchBlox was created to provide customers with simple, affordable solutions for their data management needs including web-based administration and integrated data connectors to index enterprise and web content.

In 2015 and 2016, SearchBlox won recognition from KMWorld as a trendsetting product, and we are proud to stand out in the marketplace for enterprise search and text analytics. SearchBlox Software, Inc., is privately held and is based in Richmond, Virginia, USA. For more information, visit https://www.searchblox.com/.
Cruise Planners franchise owner, Jennifer Klingsmith prepares to embrace CEO Michelle Fee after being recognized for her work as a travel agent and foster parent. Cruise Planners franchisees are able to have work-from-home careers in travel that fit their individual needs as business owners, women and travel enthusiasts, said Michelle Fee, CEO and co-owner of Cruise Planners.

Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, has been recognized as a Top Franchise for Women on a newly debuted report by Franchise Business Review. The franchise rankings are based solely on first-hand experiences around franchisee satisfaction and performance.

Cruise Planners is more than just a franchise, it is a nation-wide family of home-based travel agents, said Michelle Fee, CEO and co-owner of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative. Our franchise owners have our support in marketing, technology, business development and training, which all contributed to Cruise Planners recognition as a top franchise for women in the travel industry.

Cruise Planners franchise owner, Jennifer Klingsmith prepares to embrace CEO Michelle Fee at Cruise Planners 2016 Convention in Miami, Fla. Klingsmith was recognized for her work as a travel agent and over time has fostered more than 100 children in her home. She says the Cruise Planners work-from-home business model allows her the flexibility to care for her family and sell travel.

Cruise Planners offers a unique business model and is ideal for women, including those seeking home business opportunities, those looking to supplement their family income and those interested in entrepreneurship. One franchise owner, Jennifer Klingsmith, has benefited from the home-based business model as a foster mother to more than 100 children in addition to having 5 children of her own.

"It's not easy having a large family plus working on top of that, but Cruise Planners makes it easy and you make it what you want it to be," Klingsmith said. We spend our days with lots of kids' activities and we also have our travel business that we love!"

The Klingsmiths work-from-home travel business allows for flexibility. Running her home-based business out of their busy house in Indianapolis allows Jennifer to work when she can and take care of the children first.

"You have to be organized, use a calendar and be flexible, which Cruise Planners helps me do, she said. We love traveling with our special needs family!"

In addition to being one of the best franchises to own for women, Cruise Planners is ranked as a top women-owned business in South Florida. Co-owners Fee and Vicky Garcia, COO, are leaders in the travel industry and have been recognized for their accomplishments with awards such as EYs Entrepreneur of the Year (Fee) and Top 25 Influential Business Women Award (Garcia) and serve on the boards of industry partners such as Royal Caribbean International, American Express Travel and Norwegian Cruise Line.

As a mother and grandmother myself, I understand the importance and need for a career that has a flexible schedule, Fee said. Cruise Planners franchisees are able to have work-from-home careers in travel that fit their individual needs as business owners, women and travel enthusiasts.

About Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative

Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is the nations largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the travel industry. Cruise Planners operates a network of more than 1,800 franchise owners who independently book amazing vacation and travel experiences for their clients. The Florida-based Home Office Team positions a nation-wide network of franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing, booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industrys top executives. The company continues to be lauded and has been named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 14 consecutive years. Cruise Planners was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology, has been consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by the South Florida Business Journal, is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, has been ranked as the #1 travel franchise by Franchise Business Review for 6 years in a row, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel since it started ranking companies.

Headquartered in Coral Springs, Fla. with more than 22 years of experience, Cruise Planners has achieved top producer status with every major cruise line. Accolades include numerous Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly, American Express Travel Representative Excellence Award for 13 consecutive years (2004-2016), American Express Agency of the Year (2010), Royal Caribbean International Chairmans Award (2015), Royal Caribbean International Presidents Award for Overall Achievement (2012 and 2014), Royal Caribbean International Home-Based Partner of the Year (2007-2013), Norwegian Cruise Line Elite Agency of the Year (2016), Norwegian Cruise Line Franchise Agency of the Year (2011-2015), Celebrity Cruises Home-Based Partner of the Year (2016), Celebrity Cruises Field Sales Account of the Year (2015), Celebrity Cruises Home-Based Account of the Year (2013-2014) and Celebrity Cruises Southeast Region Travel Agent Partner of the Year (2010), Travel Impressions Best of the Best Globe Award (2008-2016), Sandals Top Host  Worldwide, Globus Family of Brands Premier Agency Partner (2009-2016), Platinum Circle Member with Viking River Cruises (2009-2015), Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection Top Producer (2008-2014) and Regent Seven Seas Cruises Top Producer. Cruise Planners is one of the Top 50 franchises for Veterans according to GI magazine, the Top Franchise Brand for Veterans according to Franchise Business Review, has been named one of the Top 25 franchises for African-Americans by Black Enterprise magazine and is a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. For more information, visit http://www.cruiseplanners.com.

Stay in Touch: Media can stay up-to-date with Cruise Planners by visiting the Cruise Planners media room, following us on Twitter @Cruisitude or on Facebook. For additional information or to make reservations, vacationers should locate a travel advisor near them. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit the Cruise Planners franchise website.

# # #
Dr. Bob Mason-Charlotte Chiropractor Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"-MLK

As an effort to help alleviate the ongoing stress that Law Enforcement Officers face, Active Life Chiropractic, will provide complimentary Chiropractic care to the men and women of Charlottes Police Department.

The human body is in a constant state of adaptation from physical and emotional stress. Chiropractic adjustments help restore the bodys ability to adapt positively to the stress that is endured on a daily basis. Police Officers endure large amounts of stress and benefit tremendously from chiropractic care. There are an estimated 55,000 assaults on police officers yearly and many other injuries that are a result of the physically demanding job.

As a way to show appreciation, Dr. Bob Mason is donating his time to serve through Chiropractic care. All current Charlotte and Union County Police Officers will receive complimentary Chiropractic Care, as needed, throughout the month of March, 2017.

Charlotte Law Enforcement Officers are encouraged to contact Active Life Chiropractic at 980.406.3862 or visit http://www.ActiveLifeNC.com and click on Special Offer for more details.

Dr. Bob Mason owns one of the largest Chiropractic Offices in Charlotte. He has practiced for 10 years, and is known for uncovering and eliminating the root cause of many ailments so that his patients can live a fulfilling life.
This spectacular blue marble image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together We cannot separate the issues of population growth, resource consumption, the burning of fossil fuels, and climate risk.  and, as the authors show, this has dire potential consequences for societal collapse. The implications couldnt be more profound.

A recent scientific paper by a University of Maryland-led international team of distinguished scientists, including five members of the National Academies, argues that there are critical two-way feedbacks missing from current climate models that are used to inform environmental, climate, and economic policies. The most important inadequately-modeled variables are inequality, consumption, and population.

In this research, the authors present extensive evidence of the need for a new paradigm of modeling that incorporates the feedbacks that the Earth system has on humans, and propose a framework for future modeling that would serve as a more realistic guide for policy making and sustainable development.

The large, interdisciplinary team of 20 coauthors are from a number of universities (University of Maryland, Northeastern University, Columbia University, George Mason University, Johns Hopkins University, and Brown University) and other institutions (Joint Global Change Research Institute, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the Institute for Global Environment and Society, Japans RIKEN research institute, and NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center).

The study explains that the Earth System (e.g., atmosphere, ocean, land, and biosphere) provides the Human System (e.g., humans and their production, distribution, and consumption) not only the sources of its inputs (e.g., water, energy, biomass, and materials) but also the sinks (e.g., atmosphere, oceans, rivers, lakes, and lands) that absorb and process its outputs (e.g., emissions, pollution, and other wastes).

Titled "Modeling Sustainability: Population, Inequality, Consumption, and Bidirectional Coupling of the Earth and Human Systems", the article describes how the recent rapid growth in resource use, land-use change, emissions, and pollution has made humanity the dominant driver of change in most of the Earths natural systems, and how these changes, in turn, have critical feedback effects on humans with costly and serious consequences, including on human health and well-being, economic growth and development, and even human migration and societal conflict. However, the paper argues that these two-way interactions ("bidirectional coupling") are not included in the current models.

The Oxford University Press's multidisciplinary journal National Science Review, which published the paper, also highlighted the paper in a separate "Research Highlight", pointing out that "the rate of change of atmospheric concentrations of CO2, CH4, and N2O [the primary greenhouse gases] increased by over 700, 1000, and 300 times (respectively) in the period after the Green Revolution when compared to pre-industrial rates." See attached figure.

"Many datasets, for example, the data for the total concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases, show that human population has been a strong driver of the total impact of humans on our planet Earth. This is seen particularly after the two major accelerating regime shifts: Industrial Revolution (~1750) and Green Revolution (~1950)" said Safa Motesharrei, UMD systems scientist and lead author of the paper. "For the most recent time, we show that the total impact has grown on average ~4 percent between 1950 and 2010, with almost equal contributions from population growth (~1.7 percent) and GDP per capita growth (~2.2 percent). This corresponds to a doubling of the total impact every ~17 years. This doubling of the impact is shockingly rapid."

"However, these human impacts can only truly be understood within the context of economic inequality, pointed out political scientist and co-author Jorge Rivas of the Institute for Global Environment and Society. "The average per capita resource use in wealthy countries is 5 to 10 times higher than in developing countries, and the developed countries are responsible for over three quarters of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from 1850 to 2000."

"The disparity is even greater when inequality within countries is included," added University of Maryland geographer and coauthor Klaus Hubacek. "For example, about 50 percent of the worlds people live on less than $3 per day, 75 percent on less than $8.50, and 90 percent on less than $23. One effect of this inequality is that the top 10 percent produce almost as much total carbon emissions as the bottom 90 percent combined."

The study explains that increases in economic inequality, consumption per capita, and total population are all driving this rapid growth in human impact, but that the major scientific models of Earth-Human System interaction do not bidirectionally couple Earth System Models with the primary Human System drivers of change such as demographics, inequality, economic growth, and migration.

Instead of two-way coupling with these primary human drivers of change, the researchers argue that current models usually use independent, external projections of those drivers. "This lack of two-way coupling makes current models likely to miss critical feedbacks in the combined Earth-Human system", said National Academy of Engineering member and co-author Eugenia Kalnay, a Distinguished University Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Maryland.

"It would be like trying to predict El Nino with a sophisticated atmospheric model but with the Sea Surface Temperatures taken from external, independent projections by, for example, the United Nations. Without including the real feedbacks, predictions for coupled systems cannot work; the model will get away from reality very quickly," said Kalnay

In this new scientific research, the authors present extensive evidence of the need for a new paradigm of modeling that incorporates the feedbacks that the Earth System has on humans, and propose a framework for future modeling that would serve as a more realistic guide for policymaking and sustainable development.

"Ignoring this bidirectional coupling of the Earth and Human Systems can lead to missing something important, even decisive, for the fate of our planet and our species," said co-author Mark Cane, G. Unger Vetlesen Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences at Columbia Universitys Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who recently won the Vetlesen Prize for creating the first coupled oceanatmosphere model with feedbacks that successfully predicted El Nino.

"The result of not dynamically modeling these critical Human-Earth System feedbacks would be that the environmental challenges humanity faces may be significantly underestimated. Moreover, theres no explicit role given to policies and investments to actively shape the course in which the dynamics unfold. Rather, as the models are designed now, any intervention  almost by definition  comes from the outside and is perceived as a cost," said co-author Matthias Ruth, Director and Professor at the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University. "Such modeling, and the mindset that goes with it, leaves no room for creativity in solving some of the most pressing challenges."

''The paper correctly highlights that other human stressors, not only the climate ones, are very important for long-term sustainability, including the need to reduce inequality'', said Carlos Nobre (not a co-author), one of the worlds leading Earth System scientists, who recently won the prestigious Volvo Environment Prize in Sustainability for his role in understanding and protecting the Amazon. ''Social and economic equality empowers societies to engage in sustainable pathways, which includes, by the way, not only the sustainable use of natural resources but also slowing down population growth, to actively diminish the human footprint on the environment.''

Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University, who is not a co-author of the paper, commented: "We cannot separate the issues of population growth, resource consumption, the burning of fossil fuels, and climate risk. They are part of a coupled dynamical system, and, as the authors show, this has dire potential consequences for societal collapse. The implications couldnt be more profound."

This work was supported by the University of Maryland Council on the Environment 2014 Seed Grant (1357928). The authors would like to acknowledge the following grants and institutions: SM, KF, and KH: National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC)--US National Science Foundation (NSF) award DBI-1052875; JR: The Institute of Global Environment and Society (IGES); GRA: Laboratory Directed Research and Development award by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is managed by the Battelle Memorial Institute for the US Department of Energy; MAC: Office of Naval Research, research grant MURI N00014-12-1-0911; FMW: NSF award CBET-1541642; VMY: The Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET).

"Modeling Sustainability: Population, Inequality, Consumption, and Bidirectional Coupling of the Earth and Human Systems" is available at: https://academic.oup.com/nsr/article/doi/10.1093/nsr/nww081/2669331/Modeling-Sustainability-Population-Inequality and https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nww081; or PDF https://academic.oup.com/nsr/article-pdf/3/4/470/10325470/nww081.pdf

UMD Web Release
FireflySci, Inc is an explosive small business that continues to grow at an exponential rate. Founded in late 2014, FireflySci had the goal of bringing their powerful cuvette and spectrophotometer calibration to the spectroscopy world. Now in 2017, that goal continues to shape the path that FireflySci is going on as they add yet another mark on the global map.

With distributors in almost every major world country, there was one location that needed to have a FireflySci base established. The most logical place for FFS to set up their new shop was in the country that has an untapped resource of a wealth of laboratories and genius scientists. This place is Americas neighbor to the north, Canada.

The main focus of FireflySci Canada is the production and inspection of FireflyScis famous spectrophotometer calibration standards. The new facility in Canada will be the main hub where all of FireflyScis calibration and recalibration work is done. NIST spectrophotometer calibration standards will be made and calibrated in a state of the art laboratory that has all the best equipment on hand.

This alliance is critical for the work that FireflySci USA has worked so hard to accomplish. The new FireflySci USA and FireflySci Canada consortium will allow FFS USA to meet the increasing demand on their calibration department. The tremendous growth has been accredited to FFS using special materials for their calibration standards that never require recalibration due to material aging. In 2016 alone, FFS has seen a 20% growth in their calibration sales and recalibration services.

FFS will also continue on the FFS tradition of superb customer service. FFS has established the reputation on not only having the best spectrophotometer calibration standards in the world, but also the best customer service. The service reps from FFS are really the key to their worldwide success. Each call is answer by a real person, who is courteous and knowledgeable. They provide customers with a friendly experience and fast delivery on their orders.

There is no doubt that FFS Canada will be a huge asset to the FFS network. With the additional support of FFS Canada FFS will have the support they need to further extend their cuvette and spectrophotometer calibration reach.

For more information visit http://www.fireflysci.com.
"Homeowners choose metal roofing for longevity, strength/protection and over all attractiveness."

The International Roofing Expo will be held March 1-3, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada and will feature all the latest trends and new products for the roofing market. The fastest growing innovation in the home remodeling market is the introduction of consumer-friendly metal roofing products. Once relegated to commercial projects, a new generation of eco-friendly, durable metal roofing products have grown in popularity with homeowners.

According to the Metal Roofing Alliance (http://www.MetalRoofing.com), the residential metal roofing market has more than tripled in recent years, growing from 3% market share in 1998 to over 11% in 2016 with more growth expected.

Why the interest in metal roofing for homes? According to a recent independent study conducted by Dodge Data & Analytics, the top reasons homeowners choose a metal roof include: longevity (26%), strength/protection (22%), attractiveness (15%) and good investment/adds value (15%).

Unlike most other home improvement purchases, a quality metal roof will last decades, providing homeowners with investment grade performance. In addition, many residential metal roofs now utilize reflective pigment technology, which results in overall home energy efficiency, and lower utility bills.

The roof is the biggest design element on a home, and metal roofs offer a huge palette of color choices and styles, allowing consumers to choose a truly unique look for their home, explains MRA Executive Director Renee Ramey. Even in areas where roofing styles are mandated, homeowners can choose a long-lasting metal roof that has the same visual appearance as less eco-friendly choices, such as asphalt shingles, but with the added benefits that only metal roofing can provide-durability, low maintenance and even energy savings in certain climates.

For more information on metal roofs, visit the nonprofit Metal Roofing Alliance website at http://www.MetalRoofing.com.
BuildASign.com, an award-winning online custom printing provider of signage and home decor items, today announced current President and CMO, Bryan Kranik, will be promoted to CEO and will be taking over day to day operations, effective March 1, 2017. Current CEO Dan Graham will stay on as a member of the Board of Directors and will assume the role of Executive Chairman where he will continue to provide strategic insight and support for the overall direction of the company.

Graham co-founded BuildASign.com in March 2005 to fill a void in the fragmented sign shop market and ended up creating a multi-million dollar company that transformed the printing industry by focusing on innovative technology, LEAN manufacturing and exceptional customer service. Over the past 12 years with Graham at the helm, BuildASign.com has grown to over 350 employees at their North Austin headquarters and expanded its brand portfolio to include EasyCanvasPrints.com and AlliedShirts.com.

My time at BuildASign.com was unforgettable, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to create and grow something so special, said Graham. For the past 12 years Ive been surrounded by a group of people whose talent and innovation go unmatched -- and Im excited to watch Bryan lead them for the future. I firmly believe Bryan will continue to pioneer the print space, and Im elated to support him in my new role as Executive Chairman."

Working alongside Dan for the past two years has been an honor and a privilege. The business he built and the legacy he leaves is nothing short of tremendous, said Kranik. And while his daily presence will be greatly missed, Im thrilled to build upon this outstanding foundation and continue the growth trajectory for the company.

In addition to his role as Executive Chairman, Dan will continue his quest for community impact alongside his wife, Lisa. Together, they will work to make Austin the Social Innovation Capital of the World through their co-founded organization, Notley Ventures.

Bryan has been with the company since July 2015. Prior to BuildASign.com, Kranik spent 14 years at Dell in the Consumer and Small Business divisions holding leadership roles in marketing, sales and general management. His most recent role at Dell was leading the divisions responsible for marketing and selling to small businesses.

About BuildASign.com

BuildASign.com is a leading online custom printing provider of signage and home decor items. Products include signs, canvas, apparel, business cards, car wraps and more. Founded in 2005, the Austin, Texas-based company has been recognized by multiple highly accredited organizations with placements in the Inc. 5000, Internet Retailers Top 500, Forbes Top 100 Americas Most Promising Companies, and the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. Through the BuildASign.com Giving Program, the company has contributed more than $1 million to over 1,700 local and national nonprofit organizations. It has also received national recognition for its donation of more than 337,000 welcome home banners and signs (valued at more than $10 million) to the friends and families of military service members returning home from a deployment. To learn more visit BuildASign.com.
Gumbiner Savett Inc. We are honored to be recognized again this year by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and look forward to the future as we continue to provide excellent service to our clients.

Gumbiner Savett Inc., a Santa Monica-based full-service accounting, taxation and consulting firm, was recently named the twentieth largest Accounting Firm in the city by the Los Angeles Business Journal. The full list of top accounting firms was published in the February 13-19, 2017 issue.

At Gumbiner Savett, we strive to be a leader in the accounting and finance community in Southern California, said Rick Parent, Managing Director at Gumbiner Savett Inc. We are honored to be recognized again this year by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and look forward to the future as we continue to provide excellent service to our clients.

The Los Angeles Business Journal (LABJ) is an award-winning weekly business publication covering the Los Angeles region. LABJs Lists provide data and statistics on top-ranked Los Angeles companies across all industries.

Gumbiner Savett Inc. received a number of honors in 2016, including recognition by INSIDE Public Accounting as a 2016 Top 200 firm and by Accounting Today as a 2016 Regional Leader.

About Gumbiner Savett Inc. - http://www.gscpa.com

Gumbiner Savett Inc., is a full-service accounting and consulting firm headquartered in Santa Monica. Founded in 1950, the purpose of our work is to enrich our clients lives by facilitating the achievement of their financial objectives and providing career fulfillment for our employees.

We are dedicated to being a preeminent assurance, tax and business advisory firm for growth oriented businesses, middle market enterprises and high-net worth individuals in Southern California. In addition to traditional private and public company accounting and tax services, we specialize in general business consulting, estate and trust planning, fraud examination studies, business services and bookkeeping and litigation support.

Gumbiner Savett Inc. is an independent member firm of BKR International.
Students Prep for Save Our Shores Program Having students make a difference at this age is super important in helping them to realize how they CAN effect the world positively ~ Martha Nitzberg, Natural Bridges Interpreter

With the help of 744 student volunteers from schools throughout the Bay Area, Web of Life Field (WOLF) School removed over 103.5 pounds of trash and recyclables from Natural Bridges State Beach in 2016. These impactful efforts are the result of WOLF Schools 2016 introduction of official Save Our Shores beach clean-ups into their residential outdoor science school program.

Throughout their outdoor science school programs, which annually serve 3,500 students at campuses throughout California, WOLF School advocates a respect for nature and teaches students their own ability to incorporate simple yet impactful acts of stewardship within their communities. For years WOLF School has led field trips from their Santa Cruz-area campus, Camp Monte Toyon in Aptos, CA, to Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, CA during which WOLF School naturalists educate students on environmental stewardship within our public lands through litter pick-up, dune restoration, and weeding of invasive species. Wanting to show students the greater impact their day at the beach was having on environmental stewardship at the community and global level, WOLF School joined Save Our Shores Sanctuary Stewards program in the spring of 2016.

Through this collaboration, WOLF School began cataloging the marine debris they and their student volunteers removed from Natural Bridges State Beach during official Save Our Shore beach clean-ups, contributing to scientific data on the hundreds of pounds of trash and recyclables removed from the beaches within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary each year. Students attending field trips at Natural Bridges with WOLF School now have the opportunity to not only learn the importance of keeping plastic from our own oceans and rivers, but are able to connect their efforts to the global effort of marine conservation at large.

Its so important to show students how all the little pieces can add up to a very large impact, said Sergio Typhoon, WOLF School Program Coordinator. They start the beach clean-up by filling up their own bucket with debris, and it doesnt seem like that much. Then at the end of the day, they get to add their bucket to all of their peers to see how much they removed together as a school. Now we can share our 2016 totals with them, and they can feel pride at their contribution to this community-wide collaboration that really does have a huge impact on global marine stewardship.

In total, WOLF School held 11 beach clean-ups throughout 2016, working with 744 5th and 6th grade students from schools throughout San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area. Together, WOLF School and these students removed 5,917 total pieces of trash from Natural Bridges State Beach, adding up to 83.75 pounds of trash and 19.75 pounds of recyclables, for a total waste removal of 103.5 pounds. 853.5 volunteer hours contributed to this impressive achievement.

This project is so worthwhile! said Martha Nitzberg, long-time interpreter at Natural Bridges. Having students make a difference at this age is super important in helping them to realize how they CAN effect the world positively. I speak for the common good when I say Thank you, WOLF School, for making the beach cleaner for everyone to enjoy and for empowering your students!
The traditional mold puts agency creatives in one office, and platform guys in another, but the connected experiences that everyone wants today require that creative and technical ideas evolve together. Thats the way we work at Glass Eye. ~ Mark Reitz

Glass Eye Screenworks, an Atlanta-based digital agency known for creating immersive digital experiences for connected consumers, announced it will be attending the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, February 27  March 2, 2017. Organized by GSMA, MWC is the largest annual global event in the mobile industry with more than 100,000 industry leaders, 2,200 exhibitors, 374 speakers and 3,600 members of the international media, and dozens of countries represented.

Glass Eye will be on-site as its client partner AT&T showcases its latest iteration of Device Alive, a digital experience recently launched in more than 3,600 U.S. AT&T retail stores. AT&T and its Device Alive program recently switched to Glass Eyes DemoCast creative technology platform, which enables brands to push interactive marketing content to smartphones and tablets as well as large-screen displays, laptops and desktop PCs. The platform can dynamically connect devices to enable interactions between them in addition to synchronized animations and video displays across them. It can also schedule campaigns, update content in real-time, and report usage in real-time, allowing marketers to rapidly deploy micro-adjustments based on up-to-the-moment metrics.

Glass Eye, in close collaboration with its technology partner Think Jineus, develops both the creative content and the technical platforms that support its solutions, laying the foundation for an eco-system that is tightly integrated from a conceptual standpoint, and greatly responsive from an implementation standpoint. All this supports Glass Eyes concept of Omni Channel, Omni Screen Solutions.

The traditional mold puts agency creatives in one office, and platform guys in another, said Mark Reitz, Principal and Creative Director at Glass Eye. But the connected experiences that everyone wants today require that creative and technical ideas evolve together. Thats the way we work at Glass Eye, and the solutions we create are always greater than the sum of their parts.

Reitz voiced his enthusiasm for GSMAs biggest theme, the 4th Industrial Revolution, "Context is crucial across all user touchpoints. Everyone agrees that home, mobile, in-store, AR, VR and IoT experiences should be consistent across a brand, but they also need to serve distinct use cases. Each one needs to be relevant to the consumers needs at that specific point and place, and to the specific attributes of the device it is deployed on. Our solutions help brands integrate user experiences, and our real-time business intelligence allows for rapid adjustments to both content and product design."

During the conference, Glass Eye will meet with technology partners, clients, and vendors to discuss faster and more ubiquitous connectivity. Whether its a national retailer with brick and mortar stores, ecommerce content provider or OEM, we are passionate about re-imagining the way screens work for people. We look forward to this fascinating global discussion about whats next.

About Glass Eye Screenworks

Glass Eye Screenworks is the leading global provider of Omni Channel, Omni Screen Solutions  integrated digital experiences that deliver the right content to the right device at the right time and place. In homes and in stores, on mobile screens and TV screens, from wearables to IoT to DOOH, our seamless creative and technical solutions connect with each other, connect with customers, and connect with brands. For more information visit: http://www.gesw.com.

About Think Jineus

Think Jineus is a software development agency focused on creating media rich multi-screen experiences. We specialize in building native apps for all connected devices, responsive websites and e-commerce solutions with real-time content management, geo-targeting and reporting capabilities. With over 50 million downloads, and a host of awards and recognitions, our work speaks for itself. For more information visit: http://www.jine.us
The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) has been awarded Accreditation with Commendation for six years as part of a resurvey by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

The award follows a 15-month process that included a comprehensive self-study report of the Associations continuing medical education program, development of up to 15 performance-in-practice files of selected activities and an accreditation interview. The reaccreditation process is a requirement for AAOMS to maintain its status as an ACCME-accredited provider of Continuing Medical Education to physicians.

To achieve the top commendation level, AAOMS had to comply with Criteria 1-22, including seven top-level criteria covering engagement with the medical environment. Overall, approximately 40 percent of accredited CME providers achieve the top designation. Providers in compliance with Criteria 1-13 are eligible for a status of Accreditation for a four-year term.

As part of the criteria compliance for achieving -accreditation, AAOMS demonstrated proper gap identification, needs assessment and management of the standards for commercial support. Among the commendation-level criteria, AAOMS provided evidence of the following:



Operating in a manner that integrates CME into the process for improving professional practice  through the development and publication of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, white papers and clinical condition statements that integrates the clinical recommendations into CME activities.

Utilizing non-education strategies to enhance change as an adjunct to its activities  such as its practice management, coding and reimbursement resources, the MyOMS.org patient education web portal and annual health observances in promotion of patient awareness.

Participating within an institutional or system framework for quality improvement  through quality initiatives with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Maxillofacial Surgeons Anesthesia and Third Molar Extraction Benchmark Study. In addition, AAOMS is developing an OMS registry to generate and disseminate outcomes data; developing a national simulation technology program; and has established a special committee on clinical research initiatives that allows the conduction of clinical research in vital OMS areas, including third molars and anesthesia.

The ACCME accreditation process is the nationally recognized model by state and federal governmental agencies, other healthcare accrediting bodies and the profession of medicine as a whole.

ACCME uses a rigorous, multilevel process for evaluating an organizations continuing medical education programs according to the high accreditation standards adopted by all seven ACCME member organizations: the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, the Association for Hospital Medical Education, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies and the Federation of State Medical Boards of the U.S. Inc.
Symposium Keynote Speaker Jean Kutner, MD This conference fosters educational and research opportunities in palliative care for academic faculty, accelerating our ability to ensure a palliative care-knowledgeable new generation of health professionals in all disciplines.

The California State University Institute for Palliative Care is pleased to announce its 2017 national conference convening academic faculty engaged in or interested in palliative care education and research. The Symposium, Innovate. Investigate. Educate: Advancing Academic Palliative Care Education and Research, will be held in North County San Diego on Sept. 28 and 29, 2017, on the campus of California State University San Marcos.

The Institutes annual symposium is the only conference solely focused on the needs of academic faculty who teach and conduct research in palliative care. The Symposium has grown from its roots as a state-wide event in 2014, to a national event which in 2016 attracted 170 attendees from 29 institutions from across the U.S. This year more than 200 participants are anticipated to attend. Registration is now open on the Institutes website.

CSU Institute for Palliative Care Executive Director Helen McNeal explained the Symposiums fit with the Institutes mission: In alignment with our commitment to educating future health professionals, this conference fosters educational and research opportunities in palliative care for academic faculty, accelerating our ability to ensure a palliative care-knowledgeable new generation of health professionals in all disciplines. Through all of our educational endeavors, our goal is to expand access to and awareness of palliative care, to improve the quality of life for patients and families facing serious or chronic illness - whatever the diagnosis or prognosis, and at any point in their illness.

Palliative care is patient and family-centered care for those with serious or chronic illness that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering. Delivered by an interdisciplinary team, palliative care can be provided throughout the continuum of illness and involves addressing physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs while facilitating patient autonomy, access to information, and choice. It offers an extra layer of support for those of any age with serious or chronic illness and their family.

Faculty from any academic institution or setting are being invited to submit a proposal to present their innovations in education and share their research with attendees at the Symposium. The Call for Proposals was issued February 8. Submissions to present are being accepted now through April 6, and are welcomed from faculty and their student collaborators from any discipline, ranging from nursing to philosophy, social work to informatics, geriatrics and more. Four presentation options include:



Paper sessions

Panel sessions

Workshops

Poster presentations

Faculty seeking to present can find more information at the symposium's Call for Proposals website.

The Symposium's opening keynote address will be delivered by Jean S. Kutner MD, MPH/MSPH, FAAHPM, FACP, Chief Medical Officer currently serving the University of Colorado Hospital, and Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Kutner is highly published in research around caregiver burden, symptom distress, quality of life, depression and grief among people with serious advanced illness and their families. She is the chair of the Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group, a community of researchers who seek to build an evidence-base that healthcare providers can use for improving quality of life.

Faculty members and student collaborators interested in palliative care and/or engaged in palliative care education and research are invited to learn more at csupalliativecare.org/symposium, or call the CSU Institute for Palliative Care at 760-750-7289.

About the CSU Institute for Palliative Care

Charged with positively impacting the critical shortage of nursing, physician, social work, spiritual and other professionals with palliative care skills and training, the CSU Institute for Palliative Care has pioneered a groundbreaking online educational model that delivers best practices while expanding the base of professional palliative care providers. Its mission is to increase access to and awareness of palliative care by educating current health care professionals, future health care professionals, and community members.
HG Data was recently ranked on the Entrepreneur's 2017 Top Company Cultures list, a comprehensive ranking of U.S.-based businesses exhibiting high-performance cultures created in partnership with culture management software and service provider CultureIQ. The Top Company Cultures list has placed HG Data 32nd in the medium-sized company category. HG Data was recognized for creating an exceptional culture that drives employee engagement, exceeds employee expectations and directly impacts company success.

Building a great company culture starts with people, said Craig Harris, chief executive officer at HG Data. Although we didnt set out to build a cool company culture, we knew we wanted to create a team of smart, hard-working people who were also kind-hearted, and humble. In hindsight, I now see that by hiring individuals who embody these qualities, weve managed to develop an open, nurturing environment in which people can thrive, do their best work and have fun together in the process. I am delighted and honored that HG Data has been selected as one of the Top 50 company cultures for mid-sized businesses.

"Great company cultures dont happen on their own. Theyre the result of great leadership, and a conscious effort to make everyone on a team feel engaged and important, said Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur. The honorees on our 2017 list are proof that strong cultures make even stronger companies. Entrepreneurs at all levels can draw inspiration from them.

The full list, presenting a total of 153 companies categorized as small, medium-sized or large companieswith 25-49 employees, 50-99 employees and more than 100 employees respectively is available on Entrepreneur.com. Core insights, behaviors and attributes that have helped to shape the high-performing cultures presented by the top companies are shared alongside practices to help other companies develop their own workplace environments.

"A high-performance culture leads not only to employee engagement but also to measurable business results," said Greg Besner, founder and CEO of CultureIQ. These organizations show us that great companies start with great culture.

The rankings for all companies were determined using CultureIQ's methodology for measuring high-performance cultures. Employees at each company received a survey of multiple-choice questions and the answers were used to assess a company's strength across 10 core components of culturecollaboration, innovation and communication to name a few. The companies with the highest scores became the Top Company Culture list in ranking order. To be considered for the ranking, a company must have at least 25 employees, have been founded before Jan. 1, 2015 and be headquartered in the U.S.

View HG Data in the full ranking.

About HG Data

HG Data is the global leader in market intelligence for installed technologies. The worlds largest technology companies, the fastest-growing start-ups, and some of the most innovative OEM partners achieve an unfair advantage by using HG Data in building market analysis, competitive displacement, predictive modeling, marketing campaigns, and client retention initiatives. Every day, HG Data indexes billions of unstructured documents across the open Internet, the archived Web and offline resources to produce a detailed, accurate census of B2B technology installations in use at companies globally. Founded in 2010, the company is based in Santa Barbara, CA. To learn more, visit hgdata.com.

About Entrepreneur Media Inc.

For nearly 40 years, Entrepreneur Media Inc. has been serving the entrepreneurial community providing comprehensive coverage of business and personal success through original content and events. Entrepreneur magazine, Entrepreneur.com and publishing imprint Entrepreneur Press provide solutions, information, inspiration and education read by millions of entrepreneurs and small business owners worldwide.

To learn more, visit entrepreneur.com.

About CultureIQ

CultureIQ is a platform that enables organizations to make positive, measurable changes to their culture, and a community that connects peers and experts around the topic of culture. The CultureIQ platform helps companies actively manage their culture through an ongoing process of collecting, understanding and responding to internal feedback to drive employee engagement, retention and success.

Based in New York City, CultureIQ was founded in 2013 by Greg Besner, an adjunct professor at New York University Stern School of Business and one of the original investors in Zappos.com. CultureIQ is backed by a group of notable investors including Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Founder Collective and Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsiehs VTF Capital.

For more information, visit cultureiq.com.
Dr. Robert Biederman MRI is simply too important a diagnostic tool not to be able to have it in our arsenal to evaluate and help determine the best treatment for patients who have implanted devices.

The results of a major study on the safety of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a diagnostic procedure for patients with implantable cardiac devices were published today in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Robert Biederman, MD, Medical Director of the Cardiovascular MRI Center at Allegheny General Hospitals Cardiovascular Institute, co-authored the study. AGH, part of Allegheny Health Network (AHN), was one of just 19 medical centers nationwide to participate in the study  and the only hospital in western Pennsylvania.

The study, performed from 2009 to 2014, examined a total of 1,000 pacemaker and 500 implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) cases using MRI. Researchers reported no deaths, lead failures or ventricular arrhythmias.

MRI is simply too important a diagnostic tool not to be able to have it in our arsenal to evaluate and help determine the best treatment for patients who have implanted devices, said Dr. Biederman. For years, we had what are essentially two life-saving technologies  MRI and implantable devices  that could not be in the same room together. The findings of this study, though, should help solve this critical dilemma. Hospitals like AGH with advanced capabilities can safely perform MRI on this patient population.

The New England Journal of Medicine article states that an estimated 2 million people in the U.S. and additional 6 million worldwide have implantable cardiac devices that, until now, would have been considered incompatible with MRI because of concerns that the powerful magnetic and radio frequency fields generated during MRI might damage the implanted device and harm the patient. The study also notes that at least half of those patients are expected to require an MRI at some point during their lifetime.

Patients with implanted cardiac devices who are referred for MRI undergo an extensive evaluation of their cardiovascular health and level of device dependence. Once a patient is cleared to undergo MRI at AGH, Dr. Biederman and his team perform a baseline device interrogation and then convert the pacemaker to a safer mode of operation for the length of the test. If patients are determined to be non-pacemaker dependent under baseline conditions, the device may be turned off completely while the imaging takes place.

During the procedure, a patients heart rhythm is monitored in real-time in the MRI suite and the entire process is closely supervised by Dr. Biederman, a cardiovascular physicist and the Cardiovascular MRI Centers team of nurses and technologists. Once the MRI is completed, the implanted device is reprogrammed to its original settings.

In a subsequent study conducted at AGH, Dr. Biederman found that MRI is not just safe for patients with implantable cardiac devices, but also effective. The research, believed to be the first ever focused solely on the value of MRI in this patient population, was presented last year at the annual Society of Cardiovascular MRI Scientific Sessions meeting in Los Angeles.

This ongoing study has shown that using MRI on patients with implanted pacemakers and defibrillators has added substantial clinical value to patient diagnosis and subsequent patient management, justifying the risk of the procedure, said Dr. Biederman.

AGH specialists evaluated 157 patients, including 114 neurology/neurosurgery cases, 36 cardiovascular cases and seven musculoskeletal cases. For 88 percent of the neurology/neurosurgery cases, the MRI scan added value to the final diagnoses  with 18 percent of those cases seeing a change to the original diagnoses thanks to the use of MRI. And 92 percent of the cardiac cases saw a benefit from the use of MRI, while 100 percent of the musculoskeletal cases realized a benefit from using MRI. Additionally, Dr. Biederman reported, there were no adverse clinical events associated with it for any of the patients studied.

About Allegheny Health Network

Allegheny Health Network, part of Highmark Health, is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the Western Pennsylvania region. The Network is comprised of eight hospitals, including its flagship academic medical center Allegheny General Hospital, Allegheny Valley Hospital, Canonsburg Hospital, Forbes Hospital, Jefferson Hospital, Saint Vincent Hospital, Westfield Memorial Hospital and West Penn Hospital; a research institute; Health + Wellness Pavilions; an employed physician organization, home and community based health services and a group purchasing organization. The Network employs approximately 17,000 people and has more than 2,400 physicians on its medical staff. The Network also serves as a clinical campus for Temple University School of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Christian Cinema IOS APP

The worlds largest library of Christian and family films just became easier to access thanks to the new release of Christian Cinemas iOS app for Apple devices. Christian Cinema continues their push to use the latest technology to make faith films available to the world. The latest in Christian films can now be streamed through Christian Cinemas iOS app joining a suite of apps for web-enabled laptops, computers, mobile phones, tablets, and streaming devices like Apple TV and Roku. Christian Cinema powers the only digital platform for the Christian market to buy and rent movies. According to Faith Driven Global, the faith consumer market consists of more than 41 million people with $2 trillion in annual spending power.

"Christian Cinema is the DVD replacement solution for Christian consumers. We have assembled the best films from top Christian filmmakers, all in one place," said Bobby Downes, founder and CEO of Christian Cinema, which weekly adds the latest dramas, documentaries, short films, educational videos, and more. "This just made watching faith and family films even easier for Apple mobile users.

Jared Geesey, Vice President of Christian Cinema, explained, "This new iOS app enables our customers to access their existing movie library and rentals purchased online at ChristianCinema.com or through the Apple TV and Roku apps. Through the app, users can watch a trailer, read reviews, rate films and manage their list of favorites."

Christian Cinemas iOS app most notably adds the option for offline viewing of their movie library, a first for digital platforms exclusively featuring faith and family content. This means that consumers no longer have to rely on intermittent Wi-Fi or plug in to access the movies they have rented or purchased. Consumers can watch in the car, plane, or on the go without an internet connection or using costly mobile plan data.

"Movie libraries are now more accessible," added Downes. "The iOS app allows users to bring faith-and-family content into the home for family viewing and on the go to provide faithful encouragement wherever the audience takes them. No more scratched or broken DVDs to deal with or lug around, no more viewing movies in low quality Standard Definition. Were proud to be on the forefront of faith-based film distribution and retail with apps that make a difference."

The iOS app is available in the Apple App Store: http://www.christiancinema.com/ios

Founded in 1999, when video stores rarely carried faith films, Bobby Downes co-founded Christian Cinema to connect independent Christian filmmakers to their audiences. The site is now the worlds largest selection of faith-affirming and family-approved films on the Internet, hosting over 5,000 movie titles in its database. What began with the sale of just one movie has now grown into a digital video streaming platform serving millions of people. Consumers finally have a reliable source for faith-based films that are pre-screened and curated to ensure a Biblical worldview. To further the goal of connecting filmmakers and audiences, Christian Cinema also carries movie reviews, news articles featuring interviews with filmmakers, and a weekly newsletter that serves a variety of industry leaders. Bobby Downes and Vice President Jared Geesey spent the last two decades developing relationships with filmmakers, retailers, and distributors, whom they now serve with up-to-date movie news, an industry release calendar, a barometer for gauging each weeks most popular movies, and the promotion of films to an audience of 400,000+ social media followers and 135,000 weekly email recipients. Follow @ChristianCinema and @Bobby_Downes on Twitter.
Andrew Romans The Angel Capital Summit has a great track record of success in pairing entrepreneurs with the right investors at the right time.

Andrew Romans speech, The Two Edged Sword, the Conflicts and Opportunities of Working with Corporate VC, is set to occur on March 22 at the 2017 Rockies Venture Club Angel Capital Summit (ACS). Mr. Romans is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Rubicon Venture Capital, an early stage Venture Capital fund. He is also the author of Masters of Corporate Venture Capital and The Entrepreneurial Bible to Venture Capital: Inside Secrets from the Leaders in the Startup Game. Throughout his career, Andrew has raised significant capital from corporations and has advised companies on their Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) programs.

At the summit Mr. Romans audience is expected to swell to over 300 early-stage investors, entrepreneurs, and engaged community members. Romans extensive knowledge will be essential in helping entrepreneurs and investors navigate the fast moving landscape of corporate venture capital. These are VC funds run by corporate entities, which have rapidly grown to account for nearly 20% of all VC investments.

Rockies Venture Club is very excited for Andrew Romans to share his insights at the Angel Capital Summit this year, says Dave Harris, Director of Operations at Rockies Venture Club and host of the ACS. Mr. Romans experience is exactly what we need to better understand the opportunities and pitfalls of engaging with corporations at an early stage.

The Angel Capital Summit is celebrating its 10th year and will be taking place on March 21st and 22nd at Denver Universitys Sturm Hall. In addition to Romans Keynote speech, the Summit will feature pitch presentations from over 20 early stage companies and 3 expert-filled panels focused around the Summits theme of CVC.

According to Peter Adams, Executive Director of Rockies Venture Club, The Angel Capital Summit has a great track record of success in pairing entrepreneurs with the right investors at the right time. The connections that people make here are extremely valuable.

If you are interested in attending the Angel Capital Summit, please visit the website at http://www.AngelCapitalSummit.org to register and learn more.

About the Angel Capital Summit

The Angel Capital Summit is the largest and one of the longest running angel investing events in the state of Colorado. Now in its tenth year, the Summits mission is to actively connect and educate promising entrepreneurial companies, angel investors, venture capitalists, and other service providers. ACS is sponsored by CBIZ MHM, Thrive Workplace, and is hosted by Rockies Venture Club.
Dr. Anna Lint, co-author of Secrets to Getting a Federal Government Job. With the various career paths available in the federal government, such as national security and linguists, this book will prepare jobseekers to successfully pull together their skills and experiences for these sought after jobs. - Dr. Anna Lint

Dr. Anna Lint, professor in Trident University International's (Trident) College of Education, just published the book Secrets to Getting a Federal Government Job in January of this year. Co-authoring the book was her husband, James R. Lint.

Understanding the unique and often challenging nature of obtaining a job at the federal level, the co-authors help job seekers to understand the mindset of hiring managers, how to prepare for positions at the federal level, and the different approaches required for each department.

With the various career paths available in the federal government, such as medical, national security, and linguists, this book will prepare the jobseeker to successfully pull together their skills and experiences for these sought after jobs, said Dr. Anna Lint.

Dr. Lint has spent more than 30 years in both the public and private sector including senior level positions in the financial services sector, as well as in academia, in both the United States and South Korea. Dr. and Mr. Lint co-founded the Lint Center for National Security Studies, a nonprofit charity. Additionally, she worked as a bank officer for Chevy Chase Bank, CitiBank, Nara Bank, and Bank of America.

Mr. Lint recently retired as the (GG-15) civilian director for intelligence and security, G2, U.S. Army Communications Electronics Command. He has 38 years of experience in military intelligence with the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army, government contractors, and civil service agencies.

Mr. Lint has been involved in cyberespionage events from just after the turn of the century in South Korea supporting 1st Signal Brigade to the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis as the first government cyber intelligence analyst. His current roles include serving as a university-level instructor, senior editor for InCyberDefense e-Magazine, and CEO of Lint Center for National Security Studies charity.

Dr. Lint holds Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, while Mr. Lint has earned a Master of Business Administration, both from Trident.

Dr. Lint will present a webinar on this books topic for Tridents Center for Career Planning and Workforce Strategies on March 8th.

About Trident University

Founded in 1998, Trident University International (Trident) is a leading online postsecondary university serving adult learners. Trident developed the Trident Learning Model, which employs case-based learning in an online setting to teach real-world relevant critical thinking skills to enhance the lives and careers of students. Trident offers high-quality bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs, led by a qualified faculty team, over 80% of whom have doctoral degrees. Visit http://www.trident.edu or call at (855) 290-0290 to learn more about Trident's wide range of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs.
Passpot, a cannabis passport and travel journal, mimics the US Passport in size and design with the influence of cannabis found on each page. Passpot appeals to cannabis consumers of all experience levels  from the newbie to the veteran  there is a little something for everyone."

Passpot Publishing announces the launch of Passpot, a cannabis passport and travel journal. Currently available exclusively through the companys Kickstarter campaign, the first run of basic and custom books will ship in time for supporters to enjoy cannabis festivities occurring the week of April 20, 2017 with Passpot in hand.

Passpot appeals to cannabis consumers of all experience levels  from the newbie to the veteran  there is a little something for everyone, says Ryan Vincent, creator and author of Passpot. I modeled the book after the real US Passport, but I altered each page to show the influence of cannabis.

Passpot walks readers through the basics of cannabis laws, product options, and consumption methods as well as the more scientific aspects including cannabinoids and flavonoids. The smell, taste, and terpene charts assist readers with the complicated process of rating cannabis, and the journal provides ample space to record cannabis adventures. Readers collect stamps and stickers from dispensaries, tour companies, events, and other cannabis-related businesses to add to the blank stamp pages found inside. Passpot can also be customized with personal information and a picture.

Vincent started a dispensary in Denver, Colorado in October 2009 where he learned about the benefits of medical marijuana and its potential for many people. On the recommendation of the Chief Enforcement Officer of the Colorado Department of Revenue, former Governor Ritter appointed Vincent to the first cannabis rule-making board. Since then, Vincent has consulted on projects spanning ten states including the opening of 40 dispensaries, 20 cultivation facilities, and ten infused-product manufacturing facilities.

We are extremely excited to launch Passpot and confident cannabis enthusiasts will enjoy the product as much as we enjoyed creating it, says Brianne Bartz, Passpot editor.

To learn more, please visit the Passpot website at http://www.passpot.us or visit the Passpot Kickstarter campaign.
Operation Homefront, the national nonprofit that builds strong, stable and secure military families, today announced a full rebrand and unveiled its new logo, website URL, and other visual elements. The updated logo is an instantly-recognizable evolution of Operation Homefronts commitment to Serving Americas Military Families.

The organization has also transitioned their existing website to http://www.OperationHomefront.org, to better represent its nonprofit status and reputation as a highly rated and trusted organization consistently recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity ratings groups. Ninety-two percent of Operation Homefronts expenditures go directly to program delivery and services.

Im extremely proud of all our entire team does to meet the ongoing needs of military families and help them thrive in the communities  our communities -- they have worked so hard to protect. With over 40,000 charities in the military nonprofit space, a strong brand and visual identity is critical to connecting with those we seek to serve  our military families  as well as those who are interested in helping us  our corporate and foundation sponsors and individual donors  support this special and deserving group of our fellow citizens, said Brig. Gen. (ret.) John I. Pray Jr., president and CEO of Operation Homefront. I believe our new brand identity makes this very important connection with both audiences and is something that clearly reflects who we are and what we trying to do.

Since 2012, the organizations Homes on the Homefront program welcomed nearly 600 military families into their mortgage-free homes, granting them with well over $48 million in home equity. The nationally known Back-to-School Brigade has delivered over a quarter million backpacks with supplies to military children since the program began in 2008. Since 2010, the Holiday Meals for Families program has served 70,000 military families  feeding over 308,000 individual family members.

The updated logo has several key features representing the organizations primary focus to serve Americas military families:



The Military Family Icon is represented by red, white, and blue to reinforce the patriotic feel. The saluting child shows us that in a military family, everyone serves, even down to the youngest child. The military family is gender neutral and non-ethnic to show our unbiased support for all military families.

The angled Red and White Stripes represent a patriotic feel and demonstrates how the organization helps move the military families forward. The three stripes represent Operation Homefronts three pillars of support: Relief through critical financial assistance and temporary housing programs, Resiliency through permanent housing and caregiver programs, and Recurring Support through a variety of seasonally focused and specialty family programs.

The Home Icon represents the strong foundation provided to military families through its programs and services which helps keep a family strong, stable, and secure. Since 2012, Operation Homefront has provided military families with more than $20 million in critical assistance  which enables them to be stronger, self-sufficient and more fully invested in their community.

The Blue Circle represents the multiple avenues Operation Homefront utilizes to work with families, partners, donors, volunteers, and other resource providers to deliver critical support.

The Operation Homefront Text encircling the family icon represents the entire Operation Homefront organization, including thousands of volunteers and supporters who help military families become stronger, stable, and more secure so they may thrive in the communities they have worked so hard to protect.

For more information about Operation Homefront, visit operationhomefront.org

###

ABOUT OPERATION HOMEFRONT: Founded in 2002, Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive  not simply struggle to get by  in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefront expenditures go directly to programs that support tens of thousands of military families each year. Operation Homefront provides critical financial assistance, transitional and permanent housing and family support services to prevent short-term needs from turning into chronic, long-term struggles. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the support from thousands of volunteers, Operation Homefront proudly serves Americas military families. For more information, visit OperationHomefront.org.
WHAT:

The New Jersey Tech Council, an organization that provides business development, education, networking and recognition opportunities as well as advocacy for the state and regions technology businesses, hosted their 2017 Innovation Forcest at Bell Works in Holmdel, NJ on February 23. The Council's Innovation Forecast event highlights innovation throughout the region from small to large companies. This year's Forecast featured presentations from leading innovators, including Michael Jarjour, president and CEO of ODH, Inc. Jarjour, who was expected to focus on technology innovations such as Mentrics, ODHs healthcare data analytics platform designed to transform the behavioral healthcare system also tackled problems facing the behavioral healthcare industry during his presentation. The event included pitches and a panel on how new ideas will be funded in 2017 and beyond as well.

WHEN & WHERE:

Innovation Forecast 2017

Thursday, February 23, 2017, 2:50 EST

Bell Works, 101 Crawfords Corner Rd, Holmdel, NJ 07733

More information: http://www.njtc.org/innovation-forecast17/

WHO:

Michael Jarjour, President and CEO of ODH, Inc., a provider of data analytics solutions for the behavioral health field. In this role, he oversees ODHs overall operations and drives strategy for its flagship product, Mentrics, the leading-edge healthcare data analytics platform designed to transform behavioral healthcare systems. With more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical and healthcare technology, Jarjour has a proven track record of growing businesses, maximizing operations and building highly motivated and effective management teams on a global scale.

About ODH, Inc.

ODH, Inc. is an innovative behavioral health technology and services solution company that leverages technology and clinical expertise to transform the delivery and economics of behavioral healthcare. ODHs team of experts have decades of experience in the behavioral health, medical, clinical, pharmacy, business and data analytics and information technology fields, and is uniquely qualified to support the transformation of the management of behavioral healthcare. ODH is a subsidiary of Otsuka America, Inc. and part of the Otsuka Group of companies, an $11.9 billion global organization. Otsuka aspires to create new products for better health worldwide. ODH is a proud member of The White Houses Data-Driven Justice Initiative. For additional information on ODH, Inc., visit http://www.ODHSolutions.com and follow on Twitter @ODHInc.

ODH, Inc. Contact

ODH, Inc.

Media: Melanie Deck, +1 609 535 9032

Melanie.Deck-CW(at)odhsolutions(dot)com
ISA has consummated an agreement to invest up to USD$80 million in Andean Tower Partners (ATP) for the development of telecommunications infrastructure in Colombia and Peru. ATP owns, operates, and manages passive telecommunications infrastructure in Colombia and Peru, with plans to expand into the Andean Region. Its business is to operate and manage towers and sites for mobile operator infrastructure deployment including new technologies like small cells and DAS (distributed antenna systems) to help meet mobile connectivity growing demand.

With this investment into ATP, ISA increases its presence in the telecommunications infrastructure segment which is projected to grow substantially in the coming years in Colombia and Peru. This growth is due to the increasing demand for connectivity, particularly mobile data, in these countries and globally.

For the development of this business, ISA will partner with Digital Bridge, a North American company with an extensive proven track in the infrastructure sector in the United States, Mexico and Colombia. ISA will have a stake of 48% in ATP.

From a strategic standpoint, this investment is complementary to ISA Groups already existing infrastructure, enabling it to diversify its business portfolio and leverage INTERNEXAs (an ISA subsidiary) unique network elements to provide increased capacity and bandwidth services.

Bernardo Vargas Gibsone, CEO of ISA, commented the participation in this new business, complementary to the infrastructure developed and managed by ISA, is important for us, since it allows us to participate in an industry with strong growth potential, with the right partner who has as outstanding experience and know-how as Digital Bridge. At the same time, this will enable us to leverage our strategy in a profitable way.

Marc C. Ganzi, CEO of Digital Bridge, remarked "We are honored to have a business partnership with ISA and look forward to a successful long-term relationship. ISAs unique footprint of transmission and telecommunications infrastructure in the Andean region will be very attractive to our wireless clients as they deploy their 4G networks in 2017 and beyond."

About Andean Tower Partners

ATP is a privately-owned provider of wireless communication infrastructure in the Andean region. The company owns, operates and manages telecommunications towers, rooftops, and site locations. ATP was founded in 2015 by Digital Bridge executive team with a two-decade proven track record in the telecommunications infrastructure sector. ATP is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.

About Digital Bridge Holdings

Founded in 2013 by Marc C. Ganzi and Ben Jenkins, Digital Bridge is focused on the ownership, investment, and active management of companies in the communications infrastructure sector. Since inception, Digital Bridge has raised over $5.2 billion of debt and equity capital used to acquire and invest in the development of communications infrastructure businesses, including DataBank, ExteNet, Vertical Bridge, Andean Tower Partners, and Mexico Tower Partners.

About ISA

ISA is recognized today as a Multi-Latin leader with broad technical experience who carries out its activities within the framework of corporate sustainability. Directly and through its 33 affiliates and subsidiaries, it is currently implementing important infrastructure projects that boost the continents progress and contribute to the advancement of the inhabitants of Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Panama, and Central America.

ISA carries out important projects in Linear Infrastructure Systems that drive development in the continent. In order to achieve this, it focuses its activities on Electric Power Transmission, Road Concessions, Telecommunication Transmission and Management of Real-time Systems.

For nearly 50 years, ISA has distinguished itself with the efficient and reliable provision of its services, in a framework of respect for human rights and protection of the environment, with the aim to promote regional sustainability and competitiveness, improvement of quality of life and the development of the societies where it operates. All of this is thanks to a team comprised of more than 3,600 highly qualified and committed workers.
Im ready to serve Gods greater purpose as a steward of the college. Together we shall pursue excellence with a servants heart. - Dr. Peter A. Bell

Dr. Ronald E. Hawkins, vice president for academic affairs and provost of Liberty University, has officially announced the appointment of Peter A. Bell, DO, MBA, HPF, FACOEP-dist., FACEP, as the new dean of Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM), beginning April 10. Dr. Bell comes to Liberty from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM), where he has most recently served as assistant dean for undergraduate and graduate medical education.

I believe that Dr. Bell incarnates all of the traits that I envisioned finding in a new dean for Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Hawkins said. He combines a passion for osteopathic medicine with the depth of experience, knowledge, and spiritual sensitivity required for leading LUCOM forward into what I believe will be a very bright future.

Joining him in Lynchburg will be his wife, Irene, a seasoned attorney, financial planning expert, and super mom to many.

Im ready to serve Gods greater purpose as a steward of the college," Bell said. "Together we shall pursue excellence with a servants heart.

Bell is a graduate of Hamilton College and obtained his osteopathic medical degree from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. He earned his M.B.A. from Ohio University College of Business. He is board-certified in both family medicine and emergency medicine. After completing his residencies, Bell began his first staff appointment as the medical director of the Emergency Department at Doctors Hospital, Columbus, Ohio. No stranger to academic leadership, Bell established the Emergency Medicine Residence at Doctors Hospital in 1991. He became a full-time assistant dean at OU-HCOM in 1995. From 2002 to 2006, he was a residency program inspector for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). Bell was appointed clinical professor of Emergency Medicine in 2002 and awarded the distinction of Master Clinical Faculty in 2010. For the past seven years, he has been an active committee member for the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners.

Dr. Bell has been recognized for his outstanding contributions throughout his academic and medical career. He has received the Meritorious Service Award as a Pioneer in Emergency Medicine from Doctors Hospital; the National Teaching Faculty Award from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP); and the William I. Linder, DO, Advocate Award from the Columbus Osteopathic Association. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to emergency medicine from the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians (ACOEP). Bell has completed the National Health Policy Fellowship, a certificate program in health policy coordinated by the AOA and OU-HCOM. The Fellowship is a yearlong leadership training program designed for osteopathic physicians to further their skills in analyzing and implementing health policies on the local, state, and national levels with the purpose of increasing access to affordable, quality health care.

Dr. Bell has served in many national leadership positions, including president of the Ohio Osteopathic Association (OOA) in 2002 and 2003, president of ACEP (OH-chapter) in 2005 and 2006, and most recently as president of the ACOEP in 2006 and 2008. He continues to serve on a variety of state and national bureaus as well as political committees. Currently, Dr. Bell is serving as Chair of the Board for the Centers of Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE) at OU-HCOM.

In commenting on Bells decision to join Liberty University, President Jerry Falwell said, Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine is proud to welcome Dr. Peter Bell as its second dean. We believe Dr. Bell is uniquely qualified as an educator and an innovator to lead LUCOM at this critical juncture in the young colleges existence.

Interim LUCOM Dean Dr. David Klink said, Everyone at LUCOM is very excited about Dr. Bell becoming the new dean. I think that God has uniquely prepared him for this role. His experience, educational background, and spiritual depth will enable him to lead the college to achieve great things for our students, their future patients, and Gods glory.

About Liberty University

Liberty University, founded in 1971, is the largest private, nonprofit university in the nation, the largest university in Virginia, and the largest Christian university in the world. Located near the Blue Ridge Mountains on more than 7,000 acres in Lynchburg, Va., Liberty offers more than 500 unique programs of study from the associate to the doctoral level. More than 250 programs are offered online. Libertys mission is to train Champions for Christ with the values, knowledge, and skills essential for impacting tomorrows world.
Integral Senior Living As part of ISL Inspires, we challenged all our communities to take part and raise funds for the flood victims in Louisiana," said Collette Valentine CEO/COO of ISL.

Integral Senior Living (ISL), a premier senior living management company, is always looking at new ways to innovate. Staying true to its mission, it created ISL Inspires, a program designed to give back to local communities in a variety of ways. Most recently, ISL Inspires took on the mission to engage corporate and community staff, residents, and family members to help raise money for Louisiana flood victims. In all the campaign raised $16,551.00 which was given to the non-profit organization Samaritans Purse to distribute the funds to victims.

As part of ISL Inspires, we challenged all our communities to take part and raise funds for the flood victims in Louisiana. Working together for a common cause and goal, we were humbled by not only the monetary support we received, but the enthusiasm from everyone involved in this wonderful effort, said Collette Valentine, CEO/COO of ISL.

ISL Inspires chose to assist residents of Louisiana who were victims of the devastating flood, which took place in August 2016. It was the worst US disaster since Hurricane Sandy. Thousands of people in Louisiana lost everything and help is needed, many did not imagine nor think they could become victims of a flood of this magnitude.

The check for $16,551.00 was presented to a representative of Samaritans Purse at ISLs Executive Director meeting recently held in New Orleans.

About ISL

Integral Senior Living headquartered in Carlsbad, CA, manages a progressive selection of senior residences to meet the growing needs of todays aging population. It currently manages 59 independent, assisted living and memory care properties throughout Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. It is ranked the 17th largest senior living provider in the U.S. according to Senior Housing News. ISL is founded on a care philosophy that fosters dignity and respect for residents and promotes their independence and individuality. The dedicated staff at each community is trained to maintain the highest standards of senior care services. For more information about ISL, visit Integral Senior Livings website, blog and Facebook page.
National recording artist Traci Braxton, who stars alongside her family on the hit WE tv reality show, Braxton Family Values, has three very personal reasons for supporting the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) as a PHA celebrity champion. Her son and two of her sisters battle diseases that can be associated with pulmonary hypertension (PH), a life threatening, often misdiagnosed progressive lung disease.

Tracis sister, Grammy Award winning artist Toni Braxton, has lupus; her son has rheumatoid arthritis; and her sister, national recording artist Tamar Braxton-Herbert, has battled pulmonary emboli (PE), blood clots in the lungs. Researchers find up to 9 percent of lupus patients also have PH and while rare, PH can also be a complication of rheumatoid arthritis. One form of PH, Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), is believed to occur in up to 4 percent of patients who suffer from an acute PE. PH can exist alone, as well as in conjunction with congestive heart failure; connective tissue disorders like lupus and scleroderma; sickle cell anemia; COPD; HIV and a number of other illnesses.

PH is characterized by increased pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs, which can lead to death from right-heart failure and affects infants, children and adults of all races and ethnic backgrounds. Common PH symptoms are non-specific and can include shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain. Consequently, this complex disease is often misdiagnosed  for example, as asthma  leading to delays in proper treatment and costing patients valuable time. With early and accurate diagnosis, PH treatments can extend and improve the quality of life for many people living with the disease. While most forms of PH are incurable, CTEPH patients may be eligible for a surgical procedure to remove a major cause of the increased pressure, the chronic blood clots present in the lungs.

When I learned about PH and PHA during Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month last November, I began using my social media platform to let others know about the disease and the importance of getting an early and accurate diagnosis, Traci Braxton said. What really struck me was the fact that when it comes to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), the form of the disease for which most targeted treatments exist, African-American women could have some of the highest death rates.

As a PHA celebrity champion, Braxton will appear in digital advertising and share information about PH with her social media fans. She will also join PHA for an east-coast fundraiser this year.

A talented reality TV star, writer, artist and philanthropist, Braxton balances her career with her most important role as wife to her husband, Kevin, and mother to her son, Kevin Jr. In addition to appearing on WE tvs Thursday evening hit show Braxton Family Values with sisters Toni, Towanda, Trina, Tamar and mother Evelyn, she serves as a motivational speaker in support of health-related causes, anti-bullying and education.

PHA relies on charitable donations to fund its programs and supports researchers looking for causes and cures for this complex disease. The heart of the PH community for more than 25 years, PHA is the only national nonprofit providing support and educational resources for patients, families, caregivers, health care professionals who specialize in caring for people with the disease and PH researchers. PHAs new PH Care Center accreditation program and patient registry are already making contributions to improving patient care, and PHAs public service campaigns, which Traci will support, are helping to raise awareness and educate the public about the disease.

About the Pulmonary Hypertension Association

Headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) is the countrys leading pulmonary hypertension organization. PHAs mission is to extend and improve the lives of those affected by PH; its vision is a world without PH, empowered by hope. PHA achieves this by connecting and working together with the entire PH community of patients, families; health care professionals and researchers. For more information and to learn how you can support PH patients, visit http://www.PHAssociation.org and connect with PHA on Twitter and Instagram @PHAssociation and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PulmonaryHypertensionAssociation.

###
Even in sophisticated San Francisco, the community may not know that removing wisdom teeth is a common oral surgery procedure.

Dr. Alex Rabinovich, a leading oral surgeon in the San Francisco Bay Area, is proud to announce an update to his website information page on wisdom teeth extraction. Wisdom teeth extraction is one of the most common reasons that patients seek out a top oral surgeon, not just in San Francisco but throughout anywhere in the United States. Most adults have to have their wisdom teeth removed.

Even in sophisticated San Francisco, the community may not know that removing wisdom teeth is a common oral surgery procedure, explained Dr. Rabinovich. The eruption of wisdom teeth for each person can be different. We recommend San Franciscans who think they are having problems with this issue contact us to take a look find the best way to solve the problem. Our information page has basic information on the procedure, but, of course, the best action is to reach out for a consultation or second opinion.

To review the newly updated page for wisdom teeth extraction in San Francisco, please go to http://www.oralsurgery-sf.com/wisdom-teeth/. Information about wisdom teeth, as well as other tooth problems such as dental implants and broken teeth can be found. Dr. Rabinovich also offers consultation services, which one can reserve via the website. (It should be noted that Dr. Rabinovich has a specialized website at http://www.sfdentalimplants.com/ focused on dental implants for San Francisco Bay Area patients).

Summary of Updated Information Page on Wisdom Teeth

If a San Francisco local has new molars pushing through and causing pain, it may be time to consider wisdom teeth extraction. Dr. Rabinovich, a leading oral surgeon in San Francisco, has recently updated his informational web page for wisdom tooth extraction. This newly updated page is a good first step for someone seeking to understand wisdom teeth and the role of a good oral surgeon for the extraction procedure. The third and final set of molars can sprout from age eighteen to the early twenties. If wisdom teeth have space to grow, patients may not suffer any problems. If the final molars have no space to erupt, other teeth can push out causing pain and health issues. A top-rated Bay Area oral surgeon can easily diagnose the problem and find the best path to individual wisdom teeth extraction. Extracting wisdom teeth has become a common procedure. Each patient can experience different complications from erupted back molars. Meeting with a top oral surgeon skilled in removing wisdom teeth can be a good step after reviewing this newly updated informational page.

About Oral Surgery San Francisco

Oral Surgery San Francisco is located in the Financial District of the City. Under the direction of Dr. Alex Rabinovich, a Board Certified Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon specializing in the field of oral surgery. This additional training, along with his years of experience, sets Alex Rabinovich MD DDS apart from the growing number of general dentists offering oral surgery and other dental procedures. Oral Surgery San Francisco serves all neighborhoods in the city of San Francisco including Pacific Heights, Russian Hill and Noe Valley.

Contact:

Web: http://www.oralsurgery-sf.com/

Tel. (415) 817-9991
Bay Area Jewelers Our buyers and staff look forward to the Centurion jewelry show every year, and it is an open secret that this is one way we preserve our lead.

Davidson & Licht, recognized as one of the top jewelers in the San Francisco Bay Area with jewelry stores in Walnut Creek and Santa Clara / San Jose, is proud to pre-announce its return from the Centurion Jewelry show. Held annually in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Centurion Jewelry show is where the cognoscenti of the jewelry industry go to maintain their lead as the jewelry industry's trend-setters.

"Our buyers and staff look forward to the Centurion jewelry show every year, and it is an open secret that this is one way we preserve our lead as the Bay Area's most innovative jeweler," explained Jason Licht, marketing manager for Davidson and Licht. "Among the trends at this years show was 'wearables,' which can refer either to jewelry that is simply beautiful yet easy to wear on an everyday basis or to high-tech jewelry that may have embedded computing power. Other exciting developments were new jewelry designs from top designers."

High end buyers that would like to see the latest in new inventory as selected by Davidson & Licht from the show are encouraged to reach out to the company at its website. With both a Walnut Creek jewelry store (http://www.davidsonandlicht.com/walnut-creek/) and a Santa Clara / San Jose Jewelry store (http://www.davidsonandlicht.com/santa-clara/), the company makes it easy for high end buyers to set up private viewing appointments as well as welcomes everyone in the Bay Area to stop by their stores to view the latest in jewelry, from watches to earrings, diamond rings to pendants, and everything in between. Davidson & Licht is also known as one of the best places in the Bay Area to shop for engagement rings.

The Latest Jewelry from Not Only the Centurion Show

The Centurion show is an invitation-only event for industry insiders. By participating in shows such as the Centurion, Davidson & Licht's jewelry buyers do their due diligence to "curate" the trends in jewelry. To take one example, pearls were an area of keen interest at this year's show, as were wearables. Many other vendors showcased new concepts and new trends in jewelry, and by announcing their presence, Davidson & Licht is sending a signal to Bay Area consumers, from San Jose to Oakland, Santa Clara to Walnut Creek, that the place to find the latest and most innovative trends in jewelry is right there in their backyard, the Walnut Creek and Santa Clara / San Jose jewelry stores.

About Davidson & Licht Jewelers

Davidson & Licht (http://www.davidsonandlicht.com/) is one of the San Francisco Bay Area's top jewelers, with jewelry stores in Walnut Creek and in Santa Clara / San Jose in the Valley Fair mall. With a storied history, the company boasts the Bay Area's finest selection of engagement rings, wedding bands, and other fine jewelry for weddings and anniversaries. Besides carrying the best jewelry designers from Marco Bicego to Hearts on Fire, Mikimoto to Robert Coin and everything in between, the company also offers in-house Rolex watch repair.

Media Relations. 925-935-0940
85C Bakery Cafe in Tukwila

85C Bakery Cafe, a Taiwanese bakery chain, opened its very first Washington location on February 24, 2017 in Tukwila. The store is located at 1341 Westfield Southcenter Mall, the opening of the Tukwila location is a milestone for the brand as it is not only the first 85C Bakery Cafe in Washington, but also the first 85C Flagship store in the North West. Moreover, Miss Washington USA 2017 Alex Carlson Helo has joined the ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome 85C Bakery Cafe to her home state in Tukwila, Washington.

85C Bakery Cafe forever revolutionized the coffee industry when the chain first introduced the iced sea salt coffee as a perfect balance of salty and sweet. Within the last few years of operation in the U.S., 85C has served over 2 million cups of iced sea salt coffee that may easily accommodate the Washington state. As a grand opening celebration, the 85C Tukwila, Washington store is the first location to offer 10 for an iced medium sea salt coffee. This highly sought after drink from 85C is normally priced at $3.00 but is now offered in medium size for only 10 exclusively on the grand opening day.

Alex Carlson Helo, Miss Washington USA 2017, cheerfully welcomed 85C to her home state. Alex was introduced as an ambassador to the Washington state during 85Cs VIP & Media reception an hour before the grand opening event, there she shared her excitement and open arms to the Taiwanese bakery chain. Upon entering the Northwest State, the Operating Director of 85C Charles Wu stated: This is our first flagship store in the north-west, we are honored to be baking and brewing in Tukwila, Washington. We cannot wait to offer our service and products to the rest of the nation.

Founded in 2004, 85C Bakery Cafe has always been operating with the goal to provide high-quality products at affordable prices. Like the Washington state, rain or shine, 85C also has a big concept with diverse product lines and large selections. Every store offers 60 types of breads, varying from Asian to European styles; plus, over 40 types of cakes and various beverages to enjoy. As a fast-casual bakery and cafe, 85C utilizes a self- serve bread section, where customers have complete freedom to pick out their favorite items.

For more information about the new Tukwila, Washington location visit http://www.85cbakerycafe.com or call

(206) 244-1885.

About Us

The name 85C refers to the bakery chains founder Wu Cheng-Hsueh belief that 85C (185F) is the optimal temperature to brew coffee. Bakery Cafe, a new concept of a bakery cafe, specializes in bread, coffee, tea, and cakes. It is a global bakery & beverage retail business publicly traded in Taiwan with over 900 stores worldwide, including Taiwan, China, Australia, Hong Kong, and the U.S. Top selling products but are not limited to are Brioche, Marble Taro, Iced Sea Salt Coffee and Mango Creme Brule.

85C Bakery Cafe Tukwila

Location: 1341 Southcenter Mall, Tukwila, WA 98188

Hour: Mon  Thu 7:00 am- 10:00 pmFri  Sat 7:00 am - 12:00 amSun 8:00 am - 10:00 pm

Tel: (206) 244-1885
Campaigning for the Dutch election began on Wednesday with anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders frontrunner in a vote that will test the anti-establishment sentiment that swept Britain out of the European Union and Donald Trump into the U.S. presidency.Wilders, a eurosceptic, anti-immigration fan of Trump, has dubbed the March 15 parliamentary election the start of a "Patriotic Spring" in Europe, where French and German voters go to the polls in May and September.Wilders and his Party for Freedom has led in opinion polls for most of the past two years, but the fragmented political landscape means a coalition government of four or more parties is all but inevitable.His main rival, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the conservative VVD Party, is banking on a strengthening economic recovery to restore popularity lost during the austerity years of 2012-2014.The two announced on Wednesday they will face off head-to-head in a televised debate on March 13.Wilders' party is expected to get 20 percent of the popular vote, compared to Rutte's 16 percent. A simple majority is generally sought to govern, but all but one party have ruled out sharing power with Wilders, whose policies are seen by many as offensive and sometimes unconstitutional.There are 31 parties competing for votes, with 14 likely to win at least one seat in the 150-member parliament. The next three largest parties command no more than 10 or 11 percent of the vote each."The overwhelming majority of Dutchmen basically do not vote for (Wilders)," said Kristof Jacobs, a teacher at Radbout University in Nijmegen.NO "NEXIT"So a victory for Wilders is unlikely to lead to the Netherlands leaving the European Union, closing the border to Muslim immigrants or reinstating the Dutch currency, policies only his party endorses.In December, Wilders was convicted of inciting discrimination for leading supporters in a chant that they wanted "Fewer! Fewer!Fewer!" Moroccans in the country.A study published by the Social Affairs Ministry on Tuesday found that up to 40 percent of the Turks and Moroccans in the Netherlands do not feel they belong or are accepted.If Wilders' PVV party finishes first but is unable to form a government, Rutte will be left trying to forge a centrist coalition with several parties that share little more than opposition to Wilders.In that case "we will stay put and manage the country until there is a new coalition," Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Tuesday, quipping the situation could persist for "years" under the constitution.The Netherlands, a country of 17 million that relies heavily on foreign trade, in 2005 rejected the European constitution and last year voted down a treaty for closer EU ties with Ukraine.A poll by Motivaction on Tuesday showed more than 61 percent of respondents see Dutch politicians as "elitist, unreliable and dishonest."Around 37 percent of likely voters said they hadn't decided who to vote for."I find it difficult to make a decision," said Renee Keijzer, from the town of Volendam. "So much has happened in the world that it is hard to position yourself properly."
PPPs newest national poll finds that Donald Trump is losing all of his fights with the media- and voters really think he needs to reduce his cable news consumption.

62% of voters nationally think Trump should keep his cable watching to less than an hour a day, and 82% think he needs to keep it under 2 hours a day. Just 6% of voters in the country think its a good idea for Trump to spend more than 2 hours a day watching cable news.

Last week Trump declared that the news media was the enemy of the American people but we find that only 35% of voters believe that, to 53% who say that isnt the case. By a 48/44 spread they say it is actually Trump who is the greater threat to the American people than the media. We asked voters who they thought had more credibility between Trump and each of the outlets he singled out for attack last week, and Trump loses out to every one of them by double digits:

Who do you think has more credibility: Donald Trump or Winner New York Times New York Times, 52/40 NBC NBC, 51/40 CNN CNN, 51/41 ABC ABC, 51/41 CBS CBS, 51/41

We also in general find that voters find the media outlets Trump considers hostile to him credible, while it finds the outlets more friendly to him less credible.

Outlet Seen as Credible/Not Credible Net Credibility CBS 56/31 +25 ABC 56/34 +22 NBC 54/33 +21 New York Times 53/34 +19 CNN 52/37 +15 Fox News 46/40 +6 Daily Caller 6/37 -31 Info Wars 7/41 -34 Breitbart 12/48 -36

All 5 of the outlets Trump singled out for attack last week are seen as credible by majorities of the public. Out of the Trump friendly outlets only Fox News comes out seen as more credible than not, but it is still seen as less credible than all the mainstream outlets Trump targeted in his media attack tweet last week. Meanwhile Daily Caller, Info Wars, and Breitbart clearly still just appeal to fringes of the population even with Trump in the White House- even within his base only 6-20% of voters consider each of those sources to be credible.

Other notes from our newest poll on the Trump Presidency:

-For the first time ever in our polling we now find an outright majority of Americans in favor of the Affordable Care Act- 50% support it to only 38% who are opposed. Only 33% of voters think the best path forward on the ACA is outright repeal, while 61% think it should be kept with whatever needs to be fixed in it being fixed.

-By a 58/29 spread, voters want an independent investigation into Russias involvement in the 2016 election and its ties to Michael Flynn. Russia (12/61 favorability) and Vladimir Putin (8/73 favorability) continue to be extremely unpopular with Americans, and they want the government to get to the bottom of their interference in our affairs.

-Sweden was not the right foe for Donald Trump to pick a fight with. Sweden has a 58/9 favorability rating with Americans, compared to Donald Trumps 44/52, and by a 48/38 spread voters say they have a higher opinion of Sweden than Trump.

-Members of Congress who dodge open town hall meetings may be opening themselves up to trouble with their constituents. 81% of voters think they ought to hold town halls, to only 5% who think their members of Congress should avoid them. That includes overwhelming majorities of Democrats (88/2), independents (81/2), and Republicans (73/11) who think members of Congress should make themselves available to the public in that way.

Mitch McConnell (25/45 approval) and Paul Ryan (37/43 approval) are both unpopular, and Democrats hold a 46/43 lead on the generic Congressional ballot.

-The basic transparency concerns voters have about Donald Trump arent going anywhere 5 weeks into his tenure as President. 61% of voters think he needs to release his tax returns, to only 33% who dont think its necessary for him to. In fact by a 57/32 spread, voters would support a law requiring Presidential candidates to release 5 years of their tax returns to even appear on the ballot. Concerns about Trumps business conflicts remain as well- 62% think he needs to fully divest from his business interests, to only 29% who dont think its necessary for him to.

-Trump comes in with a 45/48 approval spread this week, and with his favorability rating at 44/52. Weve seen more fluctuation in his approval numbers since he took office than his favorability. Only 43% of voters agree with the claim Trump made last week that the White House is running well, to 51% who say its not. One reason for the perception that the White House is not running well may be the unpopularity of a lot of Trumps most prominent aides. Steve Bannon (19/42 favorability), Kellyanne Conway (33/46 favorability), and Sean Spicer (32/37 favorability) are all seen in a negative light.

Trumps campaign style rally in Florida last week did not come off well with voters- only 39% think he should continue to hold campaign rallies as President, to 51% who say he should not. Speaking of the campaign, despite Trumps repeated claims of having won the most electoral votes since Ronald Reagan most voters arent buying that- only 19% think he had the biggest win since Reagan to 58% who say he didnt. Trumps voters do buy the lie though- 43% of them think he had the biggest win since Reagan to 28% who think he didnt, and 29% who arent sure.

We find this week that support for impeaching Trump is at 41%, with 46% of voters opposed to impeachment. 70% of voters think it should be legal to protest Trump, to 21% who think protesting Trump should be illegal. Among Trumps voters its closer with 51% thinking protesting the President should be legal to 38% who say they think it should be illegal.

-Finally Kyrie Irving is really off on his own with the earth is flat thing. Only 1% of Americans believe that. Its hard to find anything only 1% of Americans believe.

Full results here
BookExpo has invited Senator Al Franken and comedian Marc Maron to appear on a panel discussing politics and their forthcoming books. The conversation is slated for June 1 at 12:30 p.m.

The pairing of the twoFranken is a comedian-turned-politician, and Maron frequently engages his podcast guests in discussions that touch on societal or political issuesmay point to a willingness by BookExpo to feature more charged political commentary. The annual gathering of publishers and booksellers may try, in coming months, to tilt its programming for an audience that has become more outwardly political since the 2016 presidential election.

Franken's upcoming memoir, Al Franken, Giant of the Senate, which Twelve Books will release on May 30, details his run for the senate in Minnesota after his time at Saturday Night Live. Maron's upcoming book, Waiting for the Punch: Words to Live by From the WTF Podcast, will be published by Flatiron Books on October 17.

This article has been updated for clarity.
Anne-Marie Slaughter. Yale Univ., $26 (304p) ISBN 978-0-300-21564-9

This paradigm-changing book cogently encourages fresh ways of thinking about the workplace and the world. Slaughter (Unfinished Business) promotes the use of social networks for solving any challenging problem, whether its spreading new ideas (as done by TEDx) or addressing global problems at a local level (as done by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy). She groups the hardest problems and their corresponding networks into three broad categories: resilience, execution, and scale. This schema is the heart of the book, which outlines considerations for successful networks: how people should be connected to each other, what kind of people should be connected, and how information should be shared. Different types of situations, she explains, may require more diverse or more homogeneous groups. Similarly, sometimes well-networked networkers shouldnt all be on the same team, and sometimes they should. Sometimes the network needs to be decentralized; sometimes a team leader is just the ticket. Slaughter takes a more polemical tone in the third part, in which she advocates for open society, open government, and an open international system. Readers will likely end up taking this book to work with them when especially challenging problems arise.
 Faculty and staff honors:

Bradley Dilger, associate professor of English, has had a project selected for the The Work of the Humanities in a Changing Climate research challenge supported by the Humanities Without Walls Consortium. The research challenge has awarded Bradley $141,708 to use through 2018 for his project. The Corpus and Repository of Writing brings together researchers at Purdue, Michigan State, and the University of Arizona to create a web-based archive for research and professional development in applied linguistics and rhetoric and composition. The Humanities Without Walls consortium is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Monika Ivantysynova, Purdue Universitys Maha Professor of Fluid Power Systems, has been selected to receive an honorary doctorate degree from the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in Finland. The two-day ceremony is planned for June 15-16. The university specifically cited Ivantysynovas valuable contribution to the development of mechanical engineering research at LUT, and her leadership of organizations that evaluate Finnish mechanical engineering research. LUT will award 14 honorary doctorates in its upcoming ceremony. Ivantysynova is director of Purdues Maha Fluid Power Research Center and a professor in both the School of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. She came to Purdue in 2004 and is an expert in fluid power, or hydraulics, which is critical for the operation of aircraft, heavy equipment and many other applications. Her research involves developing hydraulic systems that eliminate the use of valves now needed to control the flow of hydraulic fluid, promising to lead to more compact, lightweight hydraulic technology that use less energy than conventional systems.

The 2017 Leadership in Action Awards, sponsored by the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence, recognized Purdue faculty, staff and a graduate student who have shown exemplary leadership within their respective areas of expertise. Jane Kirkpatrick, associate dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences, and Deborah Rupp, professor and William C. Byham chair of industrial/organizational psychology were selected as faculty winners of the award. Tracie Egger, assistant director of the College of Agricultures Office of Academic Programs, and Brandon Fulk, director of internships for the College of Engineering, were selected as staff winners. Domenique Lumpkin, a Doctor of Philosophy student in the civil (architectural) engineering program, was selected as the student winner.

 Alumni honors:

Thomas A. Gray and Brian C. Bosma were honored with the School of Engineering Educations Outstanding Alumni Award. Bosma, speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, and Gray, senior consultant and fire protection engineer at Global Risk Consultants, South Jordan, Utah, are graduates of the former Division of Interdisciplinary Engineering. Both men were honored for successful careers and achievements that set an example for the schools alumni.

 Student honors:

Purdues School of Engineering Education honored five students in multidisciplinary engineering and interdisciplinary engineering studies. Sean Obrecht (acoustical engineering) and Lucas Ray (pre-medical studies) received the Outstanding Senior Award. Reis Lehman (visual design engineering) and Abby Lemert (foreign policy engineering) are the Outstanding Junior Award winners. The Outstanding IDE Senior Award for Service was presented to Danielle Render (engineering management).
Canadas economy regained momentum in the second half of 2016 and is poised for sustained growth throughout 2017, reveals an RBC report. GDP growth of 1.3% is expected for 2016, 1.8% for 2017 and 2.1% for 2018.



The Canadian consumer drove growth again in 2016, says Craig Wright, senior vice-president and chief economist at RBC, in a release. Despite falling energy investment and the Alberta wildfires weighing on the economy, strong consumer spending and housing market activity supported growth in 2016. In 2017, a bounce-back in energy investment and anticipated fiscal stimulus are expected to provide a further boost.



Consumer spending increased 2.2% in 2016, while home sales rose 4.4%, with average prices jumping 9.5%. While the sources of economic strength are expected to shift in 2017, the net impact will be continued forward momentum in the Canadian economy.



Although core inflation is likely to top the Bank of Canadas 2% target, RBC expects the Canadian central bank will hold the overnight rate steady throughout 2017 with the first rate hike expected to come in 2018.
These are Richard Roeper's mini-reviews (unless otherwise noted) of some of the movies currently playing in the Quad-Cities area.

"Fist Fight" (R, 91 min.). A violent teacher (Ice Cube) challenges a sniveling colleague (Charlie Day) to a fight after school in a comedy that's ugly, mean-spirited and bereft of laughs. The 91 minutes of cinematic detention feel twice as long. Rating: Zero stars.

"Fifty Shades Darker" (R, 118 min.). The humorless dolt Christian Grey entices Anastasia Steele into giving their bedroom gymnastics another try in a sequel that's shallow and uninteresting -- yet still a notch above the execrable original. This is one good-looking, occasionally titillating, mostly soapy and dull snooze-fest. Rating: Two stars.

Currently on video

"Allied" (R, 124 min.). A taut, tense thriller for its first half, this World War II film starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard later becomes a weird hybrid of domestic drama and wartime intrigue that sometimes stretches credulity and veers close to unintentional humor. The highs are so impressive and the lows are so ... weird. Rating: Three stars.



"Moonlight" (R, 110 min.). Gorgeous and yet bleak, uplifting and yet sobering, writer-director Barry Jenkins' modern masterpiece chronicles pivotal periods in boyhood, adolescence and adulthood in the life and times of one person played by three skilled actors. This is a film brimming with memorable work. Rating: Four stars.

"Bad Santa 2" (R, 89 min.). Some 13 years after the fantastic, brutally offensive "Bad Santa" became something of a cult classic, this lazy, crummy-looking, poorly paced, why-bother follow-up lacks the Christmas bells to go full-out politically incorrect. Billy Bob Thornton half-heartedly reprises the title role, with Kathy Bates cracking unfunny jokes as his mother. Rating: One and a half stars.

"Hacksaw Ridge" (R, 130 min.). Director Mel Gibson dishes out the symbolism and the sermonizing in blunt and unrelenting fashion in a gruesomely effective and ultraviolent World War II movie about a man (Andrew Garfield, rising to the occasion) who was so nonviolent he refused to pick up a gun, even during combat in Okinawa. Rating: Three stars.



"Nocturnal Animals" (R, 117 min.). Director Tom Ford tells parallel stories of a gallery owner (Amy Adams) reading a novel by her ex as the ex (Jake Gyllenhaal) lives the story. For all of the exquisitely framed and expertly lit sequences, for all the valiant efforts by some of the finest actors around, it left me as cold and unaffected as just about any prestige, A-list project I've seen all year. Rating: Two stars.



"Manchester by the Sea" (R, 137 min.). With this story of a bitter Boston custodian (Casey Affleck) returning to his hometown after his brother's death, writer-director Kenneth Lonergan has delivered a modern masterpiece reminiscent of the classic, gritty dramas of the 1970s. It's no easy journey, but my goodness is it brilliant. Rating: Four stars.

"Arrival" (PG-13, 116 min.). As confusing as it is enlightening, Denis Villeneuve's high-end alien invasion movie tells of a linguistics expert (Amy Adams) called upon to communicate with extraterrestrial visitors. Even most of the what-the-heck moments are beautiful and challenging and cool in a thought-provoking, intergalactic kind of way. Rating: Three and a half stars.

"Loving" (PG-13, 123 min.). In writer-director Jeff Nichols' rather tepid love story and legal drama, Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga are undeniably good as a real-life interracial couple convicted in 1958 of violating Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute. I was impressed. I just wish I'd been more deeply moved. Rating: Two and a half stars.
More than $15,000 in scholarships are available through the Illinois Pork Producers Association for students pursuing a higher education degree at a two or four-year institution who have a background in the pork industry.

Recipients are selected based on activity involvement, GPA and an essay detailing how the student plans to contribute to the pork industry in the future.

Also available are four $1,000 Ryan & Friends Scholarships sponsored by the Illinois Purebred Swine Council. Applicants must be attending a university, college or community college for the 2017 Fall semester. Applicants must also have been a 4-H or FFA member.

Students also can apply for the $1,000 Ryan Fesser Scholarship sponsored by the Mid-Illinois Pork Producers Association. Applicants must be attending a university, college, or community college for the 2017 Fall semester. Applicants must also have been a 4-H or FFA member and an Illinois resident.

The deadline for all scholarships is April 1, 2017. For scholarship applications and more details, visit ilpork.com under the Producers, Pork Youth tab. Direct questions to Mike Borgic at mike@ilpork.com.
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP)  Former Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd has pleaded not guilty to five counts of perjury.

Rudd entered the pleas Friday in Lake County Circuit Court. The 70-year-old is accused of having nominating petitions with signatures of people who were dead or who later claimed they didn't sign when he was seeking re-election in 2016. Rudd dropped out of the Democratic primary after it was determined he didn't have enough valid signatures on his nominating petitions.

Rudd faces 2 to 5 years in prison if he is found guilty of the felony charges. His trial is scheduled for July 10. He was released from the Lake County jail after posting bail.

Rudd's attorney Jed Stone said he plans to file a motion within the next few weeks to have the charges dismissed.
I'm Richard Nikoley. Free The Animal began in 2003 and as of 2022, contains over 5,000 posts. I blog what I wish...from health, diet, and food to travel and lifestyle; to politics, social antagonism, expat-living location and time independentwhile you sleepincome. I celebrate the audacity and hubris to live by your own exclusive authority and take your own chances. Read More
Last summer, at the first meeting of the Trump Leadership Council -- an advisory group consisting of top CEOs from major companies -- Donald Trump asked business leaders what their biggest problems were.

I expected the answer to be America's anti-growth tax system. Almost all the CEOs did list the federal tax code as an albatross, but not the heaviest one. Instead, I was surprised to learn, most found the biggest restraint on growth to be federal red tape and regulation. Across all industries -- manufacturers, energy firms, financial services, agriculture interests -- federal rules were seen as mindless, inefficient, costly and incomprehensible.

Trump is off to a speedy start in rolling back the rule-making industry in Washington. He has signed an executive order that mandates that any agency wanting to implement a new business regulation must at the same time repeal two existing regulations. This should reverse the tide of regulatory burdens. Yet there's so much more to be done. And Congress, not just the president, will have to play a lead role.

Time out for a civics lesson: One of the mysteries of American government over the last half-century is why Congress has acceded so much lawmaking authority to what is now the fourth branch of government: federal agencies and interest groups. These agencies -- the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration and dozens more -- have become fiefdoms that reign over private industries. They are effectively accountable to no one -- and certainly not to Congress.

But of course, Congress is supposed to make the laws -- not unelected bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In the last decade or so, most of the big laws that affect private industry and consumers have been enacted by non-lawmakers.

The excuse from Congress is that there are so many rules and regulations that the House and Senate can't possibly approve every one of them. Well, it's true that there are tens of thousand of these edicts. But isn't that the crux of the problem?

A bigger problem is that agencies have become arrogant with power and desensitized to the impact of their litany of "thou shalls" and "thou shall nots." Martha Kent of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration once put the attitude of these bureaucrats succinctly: "As long as I'm regulating, I'm happy." She said she "absolutely loves" putting out "a reg" and that she was "born to regulate." This sounds like someone who is clueless about private industry.

But who will stop these bureaucrats who are drunk with power?

A new analysis by my colleague Jason Pye at FreedomWorks finds that under Barack Obama there were well over 500 new regulations with costs to the economy of more than $100 million each. That means these imposed a minimum of $50 billion of cost to the economy. How many of these were overturned by a mostly Republican Congress? Except for the roll back of some midnight regulations passed by Obama, the answer is exactly zero.

The solution is a law that requires congressional approval before a regulation takes place. If I had my way, each and every new rule would only take effect after a vote of approval by the House and Senate. If they have to stay up until midnight to do it, so be it. That's what we pay these people for. At the very least, the Regulations in Need of Scrutiny Act (or the "REINS Act") would require congressional approval of any rule with a cost of $100 million to workers, employers or consumers.

The CEOs on the Trump Leadership Council who called regulation the greatest threat to American prosperity weren't making this stuff up. A 2010 study by the Small Business Administration estimated regulations cost small businesses $1.75 trillion a year. That's more than the entire annual output of Pennsylvania and Ohio combined.

This is a gigantic tax on the American economy -- almost like a second income tax -- sapping us of strength. The regulators enjoy doing it, and it will continue unabated unless Congress stops complaining about regulation and actually does something about it.
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!
The way in which social media and mobile devices consume our lives in 2017 has reached a point where Ive recently been forced to question myself on the amount and reason Im using them. I was living my life on the six-inch iPhone screen and using it to give me validation.

The realisation came to me in two parts. The initial observation came when I was walking home from work and listening to Ryan and Tanya from Hit 104.7 Canberras podcast.

Tanya was telling a story about how her phone died over the weekend when she was visiting friends in Melbourne. As someone who spends hours a day on her device, Tanya expressed her feelings of relief and joy when her phone died because she now had no reason to be on it over the weekend.

She explained how she noticed the citys beautiful architecture, read her book and had a conversation with someone while at the airport waiting to return home to Canberra.

Imagine that. Having a conversation with a human sitting next to you instead of engaging in the online world of Facebook or Instagram.

You could hear the huge smile on her face as Tanya explained that she arrived home and decided to converse with her boyfriend instead of watching TV or sitting on her phone. That got me.

My girlfriend and I have recently been watching Orange Is The New Black. Dont judge me; I was re-watching it with her because she hadnt seen it. She would always complain that I was on my phone while we were watching the show  and I was always on my phone in bed. And whenever were in the car, and Im not driving.

So I thought, it might be worth trying to take a bit of a break from my phone and the digital age of 2017.

Later that day I was listening to another podcast when I had the second part of the realisation, which hit closer to home. Yes, another podcast. I work in radio, so I consider this my homework. I was listening to Amos, Cat & Angus from Hit 107 Adelaide.

Angus was explaining that every time he comes to Victoria to visit his Mum, he doesnt spend any quality time with her. He sits on the couch, scrolling through his phone and has little patience for her. Now that being said, he expressed how grateful he is for everything his Mum has done for him and that he wants to change and repair the relationship because his Mum is the most important person in his life.

Im so glad Angus has the courage to discuss this on-air because for many years Ive thought I was on my own. I love my family, but I dont have the kind of relationship with either of my parents that my friends do.

Ive never been to the pub for a beer with Dad. Never gone to the movies with Dad  although he does constantly ask me and Im always too busy. Probably watching a game of footy on TV or going out with mates somewhere cool so I can get a good upload for Instagram. What a wanker.

And its the same with Mum. Shell ask me how work is and Ill just give short answers because Im too busy watching everyones Snapchat stories from last night to have a proper conversation with my Mother. Again. What a wanker.

Why do I even care what the AFL players I follow on Instagram are doing? Why do I care what that random girl from Tinder who I met up with a few times is doing on Snapchat? Seriously. Its been a very eye opening experience.

So to Tanya Hennessy and Angus OLoughlin  I thank you.

I look forward to logging off and connecting again with the people that matter the most to me.

Listen to Jess and Tommy on Hit 96.9 Goulburn Valley, 6am to 9am weekdays.
St. John's Lutheran Church in Schuyler is having its Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper from 4:30-7 p.m. Tuesday at 821 Denver St. St. John's is handicap accessible.

All-you-can eat pancakes will be served along with breakfast sausage and scrambled eggs. Tickets are $6.50 for adults, $4 for children ages 6-12 and free for children 5 and under. Tickets will be available at the door.

Proceeds from the pancake supper will benefit the Christian education programs at St. John's Lutheran Church.

WELCA will be selling tickets for $2 each for a quilt to be given away at its salad luncheon on Aug. 3. Proceeds from the drawing will go to Habitat for Humanity in Schuyler.
Reading & Northern Railroad has named William Clark as Senior Vice President Coal, where he will be responsible for managing the anthracite coal business, as well as the railroads freight car fleet of more than 1,200 cars. His appointment is effective March 1.

Clark joins Reading & Northern from Talen Energy (formerly PPL) where he managed logistics, coal purchasing and the oversight of a fleet of more than 2,000 railcars serving four power plants. Prior to joining Talen/PPL, Clark spent 14 years at Norfolk Southern, and has also worked at the Chicago South Shore & South Bend and Iowa Interstate railroads.

Michael Sharadin, Assistant Vice president Coal Marketing and Steve Werley, Customer Service Manager for the anthracite business, will assist Clark in his new position. Clark will report to R&N President Wayne Michel.

We are excited to have Bill join our team, said Michel. The roots of our railroad are in the anthracite business; a business that was crucial to the growth of our region and the nation. We have seen evidence of a growing interest in anthracite use in the domestic steel business and for exports. Having Bill join our team at this critical juncture gives us our best opportunity to help our customers, who mine almost all of the North American anthracite, in their efforts to get their material to end users. In addition, Bills 30-plus years of experience in railroad marketing will make him an invaluable resource to all of us at the Reading & Northern as we continue to grow our business.
Three prison inmates, including a man convicted of killing a Culbertson couple and dumping their dismembered remains in a southwestern Nebraska lake, died in the past week.

Harold Nokes was 88 and serving two life sentences at the Nebraska State Penitentiary for killing Edwin and Wilma Hoyt in 1973 in Red Willow County. He admitted to killing the Hoyts and dumping their body parts into Harry Strunk Lake near Cambridge.

His wife, Ena, served two years in prison for helping him get rid of the bodies.

According to newspaper files, Harold and Ena Nokes were having an affair with the Hoyts daughter and argued with them after she broke it off and accused them of blackmail.

Also on Wednesday, Gary Pope, 68, died at the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center, the Corrections Department said.

Pope was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder from Saunders County and had been in prison since 1981. He was convicted in the 1979 death of Richard Don Rogers.

In 2006, Pope asked the state Board of Pardons to commute his sentence to a definite number of years. At the time, his daughter and a nephew asked the board to grant the request because they didnt want to see him die in prison, according to newspaper files.

On Monday, 57-seven-year-old Wayne Stark died in the skilled nursing area of the penitentiary just before 2 a.m., the Corrections Department said. He was serving three to six years for fourth-offense aggravated DUI from Douglas County, a news release said.
Property details:

We are selling this property for $500 down and $120 per month for 24 months Being offered for sale is +/-5 acres of beautiful, undeveloped, untouched land in Hudspeth County, Texas. This property is located just 13 miles north of Sierra Blanca (where the nearest grocery stores & restaurants would be found), 50 miles west of Fort Hancock and the US/Mexico border and the Rio Grande River. Elevation is approximately 4,100 feet which makes for great climates and fantastic views of the surrounding mo...

Price: $ 500 Seller State of Residence: Texas State/Province: Texas Type: Recreational, Acreage Zoning: Residential Zip/Postal Code: 79851 Location: 774**, Katy, Texas

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby 79851
Property details:

UP FOR SALE a nice solid built home with 7 or more bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, full basement, large deck, 2 car garage. on 1.23 acres of land located in north central Missouri. just off hwy 36 between st. joe and Hannibal mo. about a hour and 45 min to kansas city. the home is located in brookfield mo. a nice quiet and safe place to raise a family or start your own bed and breakfast. the home could be used for residential or commercial use. the taxes are approx. 500.00 a year. .the home w...

Price: $ 110,000 Seller State of Residence: missouri Property Address: 608 west helm street State/Province: Missouri City: BROOKFIELD Number of Bedrooms: 7 Number of Bathrooms: 3 Zip/Postal Code: 64628 Location: 646**, Brookfield, Missouri

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby 64628
Caitlyn Jenner has taken to social media to call out President Donald Trump concerning LGBTQ rights in light of his administration's decision to roll back on guidelines that give transgender students the right to use whichever public restroom they are most comfortable with.

ADVERTISEMENT

"I have a message for President Trump from well, one Republican to another. This is a disaster," Jenner says speaking to the camera in a video posted to Twitter Thursday.

"And you can still fix it. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community," the reality star continues. "Call me."

Jenner also left a message for transgender kids in the video and took a shot at Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

"I have a message for the trans kids of America. You're winning. I know it doesn't feel like it today or every day, but you're winning. Very soon we will win full freedom nationwide and it's going to be with bipartisan support. You can help by checking out the National Center for Transgender Equality and letting Washington hear you loud and clear," she said.

"Now I have a message for the bullies: You're sick. And because you're weak, you pick on kids, you pick on women or anyone else you think is vulnerable. Apparently even becoming the attorney general isn't enough to cure some people of their insecurities."

A noted Trump supporter, Jenner previously expressed in an interview with STAT how she felt Trump would help the LGBTQ community.

"Trump seems to be very much for women. He seems very much behind the LGBT community because of what happened in North Carolina with the bathroom issue," the 67-year-old said to the magazine in June.

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

In April, Jenner had documented on social media her ability as a trans woman to use the women's restroom inside Trump Tower in light of the North Carolina law which requires people to use the bathroom that corresponds with the sex stated on their birth certificate.

The move came after Trump had declared that transgender people should be able to use whichever bathroom they want.

"People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble," the former "The Apprentice" star said at the time on "Today."
Traders blame demonetisation for subdued demand in retail segment

It is going to be tough for domestic steel companies to maintain their toplines in coming quarters. With local demand for the industrial commodity not picking up on expected lines and government protection measures to phase out soon, primary producers could come under pressure to cut product prices going ahead.

"If local demand continues to remain sluggish post March, then it is going to be a big problem for the steel producers," Nitin Johari, chief financial officer at Bhushan Steel told Business Standard.

"At present, steel demand is subdued but we need to wait-and-watch as the market sense is that traders will de-stock their material by March and pick up fresh stocks April onwards," he added.

Early this month, the government extended by two months (until early-April) the anti-dumping duty on certain cold-rolled flat steel products from four countries including China and South Korea to guard domestic industry against cheap imports.

It also pulled out the last 19 steel products from the purview of WTO non-compatible minimum import price (MIP), initially imposed on 173 products in February 2016.

Some traders said demonestisation has also played a role in dampening steel demand mainly in the retail segment.

"Overall steel demand is extremely weak. There is major cash flow problem even today. Funds are not being sanctioned as some states are busy with assembly elections and are under model code of conduct," said a Mumbai-based trader close to the development on condition of anonymity.

Domestic steel producers such as JSW Steel, Essar Steel, Tata Steel, Bhushan Steel, Jindal Steel & Power, state-owned Steel Authority of India and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam are among the top steel makers in the country.

Since imposition of MIP in February 2016, producers have raised steel product prices nearly 70 per cent which in turn has translated into better realisations.

In January, domestic steel prices rose to the highest in last five years to Rs 39,750 per tonne from the lowest of Rs 25,250 per tonne in January last year, before imposition of MIP.

Going ahead, however, whether producers will be able to raise prices in same strength needs to be watched.

"Producers can come under tremendous pressure to lower prices in coming months that is if demand remains the way it is. This would be worse for the industry as consumers may then delay their purchases further in anticipation of deeper cuts," said the Mumbai-based trader.

Weaker domestic demand has led to increased exports of steel to the extent that India is emerging as net exporter of the commodity.

"India has already emerged as a net exporter. Indian exports has risen by 73 per cent in Apr-Jan period. We expect this momentum to continue in the coming quarters," said Vikram Amin, executive director (strategy & business development) at Essar Steel.

As per the Joint Plant Committee data, steel exports during Apr-Nov have jumped significantly on year-on-year basis, while imports have almost halved. Consumption, however, remains quite stagnant. (see chart)



"Overall Indian steel demand is still growing between 3-5 percent. However, in the flat segment where we operate the demand is still growing between 5-7 percent.

Of course, there has been impact on certain sectors like retail, construction and part of consumer durables. But, demand in auto, yellow goods, infra and road development is still intact and picking up. Demand from export market has been strong.

Hence Indian steel exports have risen significantly thus bringing in stability to the domestic market. So long as there is no threat from dumping, the demand supply situation is well balanced," explained Amin of Essar Steel.

In the coming year, however, industry expects consumption to pick up significantly.

In 2017-18 (Apr-Mar), steel production is expected to remain higher and will be backed by an expected revival in consumption, said Care Ratings in its recent report.

An increase in infrastructure allocation by the government in the Union Budget 2017-18 is expected to drive the pace of construction and infrastructure in the country, it said.

Apart from this, the National Steel Policy 2017 released by the government also aims to increase steel production. Thus, both production and consumption of steel is expected to remain buoyant in 2017-18, explained the report.

"We are bullish on domestic steel market, The various initiatives taken by government in the last couple of years have started yielding positive results and it's only fair to expect that the steel demand will grow in the coming months.

We expect the demands will come from infra, roads, railways, defence, power. The union budget outlays for these sectors are significant which can drive steel demand solidly," said Essar Steel's Amin.

Domestic steel production is expected to remain higher in coming months as Tata Steel's Kalinganagar and JSW Steel's Karnataka plant are to bring in additional capacities to the market.
Taking a leaf from the US, Canada and the UK, where students and research scholars get to work with Parliamentary panels, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is pushing for induction of interns in the Parliamentary standing committees. Amit Agnihotri reports.

IMAGE: The role of interns is not entirely new to the Parliament as the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training has a provision for select a few scholars to get an exposure of how Parliament system works. But this is the first time that the Parliament is considering involving private scholars with the standing committees.

Marking a step up for democracy, the Parliament may soon rope in bright young scholars who would get an opportunity to work with the standing committees.

Taking a leaf from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, where students and research scholars get to work with Parliamentary panels, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is pushing for induction of interns in the Parliamentary standing committees.

She held a meeting on January 31 with around 16 of the 24 panel heads who supported the idea, but were wary about maintaining secrecy of the proceedings or of the documents available with the panel.

"It is a good idea, but secrecy is a concern," said a panel chairman, who did not wish to be named.

Sources said a way out could be that these interns are attached to the offices of the panel chairpersons, who may ask them to prepare background reports on specific topics, while keeping them away from the proceedings.

The whole idea, said sources, is to make private sector talent available to the Parliamentary system and give exposure of Parliamentary democracy to the students.

The subject-specific panels are critical to the smooth functioning of Parliament and act like a mini-House comprising members from various political parties.

Since they meet in camera, the panel meetings are hardly disrupted by the members and are considered to be more efficient than the main Houses Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, where partisan politics often weighs over national interest.

Besides producing insightful reports on issues mutually identified between the treasury and the opposition lawmakers, reviewing key bills, the standing committees examine the annual budgets of various ministries, a process which contributes to the faster approval of the Finance Bill.

Usually, budget proposal are presented in the Lok Sabha in the first half of the Budget Session and the Finance Bill is debated and passed in the second half. The standing committees become active during the month-long recess thus saving crucial time for the main Houses.

The interesting part is that these panels function even when the parliament remains disrupted.

The role of interns is not entirely new to Parliament as the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST) has a provision for select a few scholars to get an exposure of how Parliament system works. But this is the first time that the Parliament is considering involving private scholars with the standing committees.

Some lawmakers do hire the services of interns, who work in their offices, but this is not a norm with most Parliamentarians.

PRS Legislative Research, which tracks Parliament's functioning, also hosts a programme where select students get to work with the lawmakers for a limited period.

Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs too has started a programme to rope in private domain experts to help the South Block mandarins effectively achieve India's foreign policy objectives.

At present there are 24 subject-related standing committees like finance, external affairs, defence, home affairs, commerce, law and justice, HRD etc

In Canada, the parliamentarians (Members of the House of Commons only) benefit from the assistantship of bright, articulate and dynamic fresh university or law school graduates who are culled out through a merit-based and highly competitive selection process and placed in their chambers via the Parliamentary Internship Programme (PIP).

The brainchild of Alfred Hales, a Member of Parliament who represented the Wellington Constituency from 1957 to 1974, PIP has been successfully administered by the Canadian Political Science Association since 1969.
Akhilesh Yadav has a real chance at capturing the national consciousness with this election, says Vikram Johri.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

At a rally in Meerut, Prime Minister Narendra Modi showcased, once again, his penchant for coining avoidable acronyms.

'I want you to vote out SCAM,' he urged those present, before proceeding to single out the names of the political bigwigs contained in that term.

One of those bigwigs, Akhilesh Yadav, must be rubbing his hands in glee.

He, along with Mayawati, made the last two letters of the prime minister's acronym, an indication of his recently acquired clout within the Samajwadi fold.

Political pundits are divided over whether the coup within the ruling party in UP was organic or staged, but few can deny that Akhilesh has come up trumps against some of the most seasoned players in Indian politics.

His ascension as the undisputed leader of the Samajwadi Party mirrors, in some ways, that of the prime minister who too rode on grassroots support to edge out heavyweight old-timers like Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.

But Akhilesh took a risk far greater than Modi.

Unlike the BJP, for which the word of the Nagpur-based RSS is final, Akhilesh was taking on his own clan.

The timing was fortuitous.

While pollsters remain divided over which way the election will swing, there are indications that the Samajwadi Party will romp home with Akhilesh at the helm.

He is liked by a cross-section of UP society. Even Muslims, who had deserted the Samajwadi Party in the aftermath of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, now say they will vote for Akhilesh 'kyunki unhone kaam kiya hai (because he has worked).'

His 'Dial 100' scheme, since rechristened UP-100, has been a runaway success, especially in rural areas where policing has thus far been lackadaisical.

The Lucknow Metro is due to begin commercial operations in March.

These, together with the Agra-Lucknow expressway, which was unveiled last year after completion in record time, have enabled the chief minister to claim a (albeit belated) development agenda that the UP electorate seems only too happy to bless.

The rise of Akhilesh from a chief minister who was famously embattled running a government where his word mattered little to now, when he is the face of the party and the government, is symbolic of a wider churn in Indian politics.

True, caste and community affiliation continues to matter -- witness the silent coup, since challenged, effected by Sasikala in Tamil Nadu -- but the voters of today are increasingly disposed to rewarding purposeful talk of development.

This may be an outcome of the growth the country has witnessed, where metropolitan areas can boast of lifestyles comparable to the West.

But it is also due in part to Modi's ringing victory in 2014, a victory so massive and, thus, so inexplicable that it could only be attributed to the voters' desire to install a prime minister who, at least in the popular imagination, had decisively focused on development in his home state of Gujarat.

To be sure, the prime minister could not have reached his position without the deft social engineering his team effected in, say, western UP, but the sheer scale of his victory pointed to a national shift away from the traditional levers of patronage towards a development-focused programme.

Akhilesh, for one, seems to have drawn lessons from that victory by pursuing a twin agenda: Of getting projects off the ground, while simultaneously working to rid his party of corrupt elements.

As far back as 2012, he had prevailed upon his party to cancel a proposed alliance with alleged gangster-turned-politician D P Yadav.

More recently, he challenged his uncle Shivpal Yadav when the latter finalised a merger with don Mukhtar Ansari's Ekta Dal.

The merger did not go through, and the episode set in motion events that culminated in Akhilesh's taking over of the party. Tellingly, Ansari has found refuge in Mayawati's camp.

This, as well as the fact that the Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded close to 100 Muslim candidates in this election, suggests that UP 2017, for all of Akhilesh's pains, will continue to hark back to the old days.

On the ground in UP, the Supreme Courts January ruling that political parties cannot seek votes on the basis of religion counts for little.

Yet, if Akhilesh succeeds, it would signal the possibility of a new narrative in a state where development has been held hostage to rabidly communal politics.

Thus far a modernising influence in a party steeped in old politics, Akhilesh has a real chance at capturing the national consciousness with this election.

He may belong to a regional party, but what contours national politics will take in the post-Modi era is anyone's guess.

With the Congress in tatters nationally and the AAP yet to prove its mettle, Akhilesh Yadav is the man to watch out for.

Check out the ENGAGING FEATURES in the RELATED LINKS below...
With 8 out of Maharashtra's 10 municipal corporations under the BJP's belt, and a stunning show in 25 zilla parishads and panchayat samitis, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, says Prasanna D Zore, is all set for an encore when his party next faces the polls.

IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during Ganeshotsav with his daughter Divija, centre, and her friend on their way to the Ganpati immersion at Girgaon Chowpatty in south Mumbai. Photograph: Sahil Salvi

The figures are mind-boggling and indeed tell a tale (Please see these links to see how the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra fared in the elections to the municipal corporations; zilla parishads; panchayat samitis).

The BJP's performance in the most prestigious of all municipal elections in the country, the election to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (with an annual budget of Rs 38,000 crores/Rs 380 billion), and victories in Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune, has helped Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a Nagpur native, become Maharashtra's Narendra Modi, as some in the Marathi media have begun calling this underdog from Vidarbha.

With victories in these elections, Fadnavis has become a pan-Maharashtra brand as he displayed his electoral and organisational acumen across the state, punctured the Maratha pride in the Maratha bastion of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, and bulldozed his way with 82 seats in the Shiv Sena's BMC heartland, almost thrice the seats the BJP won in 2012 (31), and stamped the BJP's big brother mark all over the face of its friend-turned-foe.

Interestingly, Mumbai, and by extension Maharashtra, would have had a political Mahabharata unfold had six BJP candidates, who lost this BMC election by less than 200 votes, made their way to the richest municipal corporation in India.

Fadnavis' intra-party rivals, Pankaja Munde and Eknath Khadse, who had claimed the Maharashtra throne as theirs at different points in the last two years since Fadnavis' ascension in October 2014, have had to eat humble pie.

Dhananjay Munde, Pankaja Munde's cousin who switched sides to Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party before the 2014 assembly election, cut her influence to size in her home borough of Beed. The NCP won 51 seats in panchayat samitis in Beed against the BJP's 44 and 25 zilla parishad seats to the BJP's 19.

Khadse is battling charges of corruption.

With victory in almost 50 per cent seats in the 10 municpal corporations, 28 per cent seats in panchayat samitis, and 27 per cent in zilla parishads at the district level, the BJP under Fadnavis has spread its wings across urban, semi-urban and grassroots areas.

Now that the Maharashtra chief minister has cemented his position firmly within his party and proved that he is capable of taking on an aggressive Shiv Sena and the wily politicians of Western Maharashtra, he will now look to further bolstering Brand Devendra during his government's remaining tenure.

That the Sena was weakened in its Mumbai stronghold -- party president Uddhav Thackeray and senior Sena leaders were confident of winning 100 plus seats in the BMC, but won 16 seats less, 84 -- and the Pawars meekly surrendering their political heft to the BJP in the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations, Fadnavis can comfortably cross swords with ministers roaming around with resignation letters in their pockets.

He will soon joust with the Sena when he likely shuffles his ministers next month. Fresh from the astounding victories across the state, Fadnavis' political skills will face a test in the way he treats the Sena.

But that is if the Sena does not withdraw support to his government if the BJP disallows it to grab the mayor's post in Mumbai.

The fate of the Maharashtra government, some senior Sena leaders say, will depend on how the BJP-Sena love-hate chemistry pans out in the next few weeks and rest on who gets to install the city's first citizen.

Withdrawing support to the state government -- many Sena MLAs and MPs are still bragging about their 'teku' (support) to Fadnavis -- and asking its ministers to resign from the Narendra Modi government at the Centre will be committing political harakiri for the Sena which just has the Thane Municipal Corporation, where it won single-handedly, on its assets side.

In this BJP-sweeping-the-state frenzy one must not forget the venom spewed by the two allies against each other during the municipal election campaign.

Fadnavis and Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar incessantly talked about 'transparency' in the BMC's functioning, alluding indirectly that the Sena's reign in the BMC was corrupt.

Sena leaders ranted about criminalisation of the BJP and its corruption in the Nagpur municipal corporation -- Fadnavis is a former mayor of that city -- where the BJP retained power in this election too.

Given the way the Sena and BJP fought the 2014 assembly election independently and then came together to share the spoils of power in Maharashtra, history is likely to be repeated this time too.

While nobody can predict for sure the course Maharashtra politics will take in coming days, the Maharashtra chief minister can bask in the glory of decimating his rivals at the hustings for now and work harder to burnish Brand Devendra that he has so meticulously carved out.
'The more harder India pushes its nationalism on to its population, the further away we send Kashmiris.'

'We should understand that the unrest in that state cannot be solved by demonetisation,' says Aakar Patel.

Counterfeit notes of the new Rs 2,000 denomination are being seized, only weeks after they were introduced.

The first such fake notes were found on November in Gujarat. And now reports of fakes are coming from all over the country.

We were told that one of the reasons for demonetisation was that it would check counterfeit currency and that has turned out to be untrue.

The fake currency issue was tied by the prime minister to violence. He said that demonetisation was being done to check militancy and terrorism.

This was a promise that should not have been made by the prime minister because it showed little understanding of the causes of militancy in India.

Demonetisation happened in the winter months when violence in Kashmir against the army is low.

As the snows are melting, the violence has returned, as it returns every year, and the claims have been shown as being untrue.

Seven soldiers including a major have been killed in recent days in Kashmir. There has not been any lowering in the levels of the militancy because of demonetisation.

This seems to have come as a surprise to the army which was told that demonetisation would check violence against them.

The army chief has made an angry statement, accusing the 'local population' which he says is preventing the army from doing its work and 'at times even supporting the terrorists to escape.'

More worryingly, he has promised that those Indians who display flags of Pakistan and Islamic State would be treated as 'anti-nationals' and that his soldiers would 'get them' and take 'tough action.'

If the army chief and his soldiers spot what they think is a crime, they should report it to the Jammu & Kashmir police. They are not constitutionally authorised to act against flag wavers and slogan shouters.

The army chief, General Bipin Rawat, has also revealed something many Indians may not have known, and that was the hostility to the army from the population in Kashmir.

'As we are conducting operations against them,' he said, 'we find that the local population is somehow not supportive of the actions of the security forces.'

This should be a cause of alarm to the central government, which is also a partner in the state government.

It is one thing to believe that there are elements being sent from across the Line of Control that are causing mischief in Kashmir. It is quite another to admit that the entire population is against you.

That, rightly or wrongly, is what General Rawat is admitting to. 'While our aim has been to conduct people friendly operations,' he said, '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.'

The BJP and Congress are now fighting over this statement. But there is no essential difference between them on this issue, as we have seen in the last 30 years.

There is a sameness to the recent events in Kashmir is because the attitude from Delhi and the rest of India is not changing.

Last week a Kashmiri student was acquitted on terrorism charges after he was found to have been in college in Srinagar on the day a bomb went off in Delhi.

The attendance on his college register was marked and so he should not have been charged in the first place but he believes he was scapegoated because he was Kashmiri.

And this was in 2005, when the UPA under Manmohan Singh was in power in Delhi and not the NDA under Narendra Modi.

The more harder India pushes its nationalism on to its population, the further away we send Kashmiris.

We should understand that the unrest in that state cannot be solved by demonetisation. There are much deeper causes.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that the new army chief understands them. He added this statement, aimed at his own citizens: 'Our idea is not to kill these young boys. Our idea is to bring them into the mainstream. But if they wish to remain in this manner, we will target them with harsher measures.'

What possible harsher methods can India use against Kashmiris that we have not used before?

We already use pellet guns to disperse crowds, blinding hundreds, we are charging them with crimes without thinking and we are treating their entire population as criminals.

Whatever other success we claim for demonetisation, it is failing on the count of militancy.

We should accept that and begin considering new solutions that do not treat the issue as a currency problem and one that has internal dimensions as much as it does external ones.

IMAGE: Soldiers at the venue of an encounter in Kralgund, Kupwara, north Kashmir, February 14, 2017. Four soldiers including a major were killed in the firefight, in which four terrorists died. Photograph: Umar Ganie
If the people of Tamil Nadu stop deifying their leaders and start evaluating them more objectively, the political masters too may change their wayward behaviour, argues Sudhir Bisht.

In the 1980s, just a few years before his retirement, my father was able to build a small house in Delhi.

At that time, he wanted to rent his 60 square metre house to someone who was least likely to usurp his only property in Delhi.

After all, his retirement was just four years away and he couldn't risk having a nasty tenant who would be unwilling to leave the house when he hung up his boots and shifted from his spacious government accommodation to the little abode of his own.

My father was looking for a "Madrasi" tenant, one of the "oh so gentle Tamilians."

Then, the image of South Indians in general and Tamilians in particular was that of a people at peace with themselves.

They were looked up as God-fearing, not greedy, but hardworking and peace-loving people whom one could trust with one's property.

For many years, from the late 1980s onwards, Tamil Nadu was the state that led India in industrial output, agriculture yield per acre, number of physicists, economists and civil servants per thousand people and many other areas.

Tamil Nadu was one of the leading states in terms of literacy and other economic indicators, be it health, service sector or education or housing.

Tamil Nadu's example was often given to laggard states like Bihar and everyone wished that Bihar also progressed just like Tamil Nadu.

However, in the last two decades, Tamil Nadu's image has been sullied a lot.

The death of Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran, or MGR, the founder of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, in 1987 resulted in the resurgence of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by M Karunanidhi, who was relegated to being a sideshow by the matinee idol turned politician from 1977 onwards.

MGR's death also led to the rise of his friend and confidante J Jayalalithaa.

The tussle for power between Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa was fierce and most analysts believe that the Machiavellian Karunanidhi met more than his match in Jayalalithaa.

Both came up with populist schemes aimed at luring voters.

Introduction of a barrage of freebies by both of them crippled the state's economy.

Jayalalithaa can be called the 'Queen of freebies,' as she doled out free mixer-grinders, dhotis, chadars, baby kits, gold coins, laptops, mobiles and heavily-subsidised cooked food from the numerous Amma canteens.

All this put a heavy burden of debt on the state.

As per the Reserve Bank of India, Tamil Nadu's debt burden grew by almost 95 per cent in the past five years.

Jayalalithaa's reign of freebies was accompanied by illegal accumulation of money.

The Supreme Court recently, in the infamous disproportionate assets case, held Jayalalithaa, accused number 1 in the matter, responsible for amassing illegal wealth.

The following quote from the last pages of the judgment explicitly points to the grave nature of charges for which Jayalalithaa was indicted.

Justice Amitava Roy in the supplement says:

'Corruption is a vice of insatiable avarice for self aggrandisement by the unscrupulous, taking unfair advantage of their power and authority and those in public office also, in breach of the institutional norms, mostly backed by minatory loyalists.'

'Both the corrupt and the corrupter are indictable and answerable to the society and the country as a whole. This is more particularly in re the peoples' representatives in public life committed by the oath of the office to dedicate oneself to the unqualified welfare of the laity, by faithfully and conscientiously discharging their duties attached thereto in accordance with the Constitution, free from fear or favour or affection or ill-will. '

'A self-serving conduct in defiance of such solemn undertaking in infringement of the community's confidence reposed in them is therefore a betrayal of the promise of allegiance to the Constitution and a condemnable sacrilege.'

'Not only such a character is an anathema to the preambulor promise of justice, liberty, equality, fraternal dignity, unity and integrity of the country, which expectantly ought to animate the life and spirit of every citizen of this country, but also is an unpardonable onslaught on the Constitutional religion that forms the bedrock of our democratic polity.'

'This pernicious menace stemming from moral debasement of the culpables, apart from destroying the sinews of the nation's structural and moral set-up, forges an unfair advantage of the dishonest over the principled, widening as well the divide between the haves and have-nots.'

Even before this judgment, the image of Tamil Nadu had taken a severe beating with the alleged involvement of the DMK's young and educated A Raja in the 2G scam.

Thus, to my uncomplicated mind, some of the most corrupt ministers in the United Progressive Alliance government were from Tamil Nadu.

With Jayalalithaa's sudden death, the drama that unfolded in Chennai was shocking.

Had she been alive, Jayalalithaa would also have been in jail with V K Sasikala and others. However, now, she is being hailed as 'Amma,' or mother, and her aide Sasikala is called 'Chinnamma,' mother's younger sister.

Jayalalithaa's memorial is being visited by her followers as the shrine of a goddess.

O Panneerselvam, the former chief minister, always carries Jayalalithaa's picture in his pocket.

And Edappadi K Palaniswami, Tamil Nadu's new chief minister, carries pictures of Jayalalithaa and Sasikala both. The Constitution demands that these two gentlemen pledge loyalty to the country and to the state, not to leaders who are convicted for corruption.

And the elected MLAs are supporting one while the public support seems to be with the other.

This doesn't enhance the stature of Tamil Nadu as a progressive state.

The irony is that the entire state continues to mourn Jayalalithaa who would have been the first CM to be convicted by the Supreme Court if she were alive.

Does she deserve a memorial at the Marina Beach at all?

A memorial for a leader convicted of corruption is weird, but the height of ludicrousness will be when AIADMK leaders start demanding a Bharat Ratna for their Amma as they soon will.

Meanwhile, in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has provided a stable and relatively corruption-free government since 2005.

Even in the company of Lalu Yadav, Nitish has given a sensible government to the people of Bihar.

There is no sign of any major corruption in Nitish Raj and he has managed to imbibe genuine civility in his relationship with the Union government that is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his bitter political rival.

So while Bihar seems to be improving, Tamil Nadu is gaining dubiety for being a state that gets along with corruption, nepotism, lawlessness and immorality.

Is Tamil Nadu the new Bihar then? I shudder to think if the answer is in the affirmative.

I draw some solace from the straight-from-the-heart outburst by Kamal Hassan, the grand master of Tamil cinema.

It was time the people of Tamil Nadu stopped being obsequious to their leaders as if they shared a personal bond with them, Kamal Hassan said.

He questioned the sense in addressing Sasikala as 'Chinnamma' and appealed to the state's people to treat their chief minister as a CEO who is voted to power to achieve some tangible objectives.

If the people of Tamil Nadu stop deifying their leaders and start evaluating them more objectively, the political masters too may change their wayward behaviour.

Otherwise nothing can stop Tamil Nadu from becoming the Bihar of yore.

Sudhir Bisht, author and columnist, tweets at @sudhir_bisht

IMAGE: AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala at J Jayalalithaa's memorial at Marina beach in Chennai. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo
Harshad Karkar, a 23-year-old MBA student who aspired to step into the corporate world, has become the youngest corporator in the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation this time, winning Dahisar East ward on a Shiv Sena ticket.

Karkars entry into the politics was sudden, as his father, Prakash Karkar, a Shiv Sena corporator in the Mumbai civic body for the last 10 years, decided not to contest the polls this time due to his ill health.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party then decided to field Karkar junior instead.

He secured 11,355 votes from ward no. 6, beating rival Neela Rathod from the Bharatiya Janata Party, with a margin of 1,708 votes.

My father has been a Sena corporator for the last 10 years. Due to his health issues, he was not keen on contesting election this time. However, he has earned good name among local people and has established good rapport with them. When the party proposed my name for the polls, local party workers supported the move and that is how I became the candidate, Karkar said.

I never knew that I will be the youngest member in the BMC house. My target was to reach out to people and appeal to voters, he said.

According to Harshad, he was part of Shiv Senas campaign team and used to go through voters profile. It was useful, he said.

Karkar, who is currently pursuing MBA from St Francis Institute of Management and Research in Borivli in marketing field, is planning to appear for its final exam next month.

I am going to use my academic skills during my tenure in BMC as well, he said.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Harshad Karkar/Facebook
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday kicked up a controversy by saying that the new generation of militants in Kashmir were fighting for freedom.

These boys have left (for the path of militancy). Everyone loves life, nobody wants to die. They have made promise to God that you decide the matters of life and death but we will sacrifice our life for the freedom of this nation, Abdullah said at a function held at National Conference headquarters in Srinagar.

The NC chief said the new generation of Kashmiris was fearless and were not scared of guns.

A new generation has taken birth which does not fear guns. It is striving to achieve freedom for this nation, he said.

The former Union minister said the boys rendering sacrifices were not aspiring to be MLAs, MPs or ministers.

They are giving sacrifices to demand their right: (they say) this is our land and we are its rightful owners but they (India and Pakistan) do not understand this, he said, asking the party workers not to forget these sacrifices.

Lashing out at both India and Pakistan, Abdullah said the two countries have not done justice to Kashmiris.

We are not anybody's enemy...This fight started in 1931. But we are asking both the countries to do justice to us. You even forgot promises you made in 1948, he said.
From planting seedlings to holding feasts and shutting down 500 liquor shops, Tamil Nadu government is going all out to uphold Jayalalithaa's fame on her 69th birth anniversary.

Tamil Nadu government, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and dissident leader O Panneerselvam on Friday observed the 69th birth anniversary of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa by planting saplings and disbursing welfare assistance.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami planted a sapling at the Omandurar Government Estate here marking the launch of a drive to plant 69-lakh saplings and a greening project in areas hit by Vardah cyclone last year commemorating Jayalalithaa's birth anniversary.

The planting drive is being taken up across the state at an estimated cost of Rs 65.86 crore and will be completed before December.

"The saplings will be planted and maintained in forest areas, in the premises of schools, colleges, government and private office complexes, road sides and in parks," an official release said.

In districts affected by storm, it has been planned to plant 50,000 saplings in private and government lands and 2.2 lakh saplings in reserve forests.

Besides, 2.62 lakh saplings will be provided to public at subsidised rates and all the initiatives will be implemented at a cost of Rs 13.42 crore.

A photo exhibition on the achievements of the Tamil Nadu government, prominently featuring late Jayalalithaa's tenure, was unveiled by Finance and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar.

Meanwhile, AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala, in her letter published in party mouthpiece "Dr Namadhu MGR" on Friday said, "Let us vow to protect the party, and work for the people."

Lodged in a Bengaluru prison, she said cadres should give welfare assistance, provide community lunches (Annadanam) to the people and carry on by working shoulder to shoulder with the government.

In a veiled attack on Panneerselvam, she said, "When enemies and traitors wanted to defeat the party and the government, Amma's soul guided us and has put up the AIADMK government in the seat of power."

Paying floral tributes to Jayalalithaa, Panneerselvam disbursed welfare assistance to the people at Tondiarpet in North Chennai.

He hit out at Sasikala and her family without naming her for trying to take over the party against Amma's wishes.

"Dharma Yudham will continue (to retrieve the party and government)," he said, reiterated his demand for a judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Jayalalithaa.

Fulfilling Jayalaithaa's announcement that prohibition would be implemented across the state in a phased manner, 500 retail liquor shops in the state will shut down on Friday even as the state government assured employees of these outlets that they will not lose their jobs.

Soon after he assumed office on February 20 after winning the trust vote on Saturday, Chief Minister Palaniswami had issued various orders, including for closing 500 more Indian Made Foreign Liquor outlets of the total 6,300 present in the State.

In an official release, the government said the 500 liquor outlets, operated by State Marketing Corporation, would be closed from Friday across the state and also assured the employees that due to the closure they would not lose their jobs.

AIADMK presidium chairman K A Sengottaiyan led the birth anniversary celebrations of Jayalalithaa at party headquarters here in which Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and other senior leaders participated.

Palaniswami alongwith party Deputy General Secretary T T V Dinakaran inaugurated a medical camp at the party headquarters premises.

Leaders, including Palaniswami, paid floral tributes to a portrait of Jayalalithaa at the AIADMK headquarters.

Similar events were held across the state by senior by AIADMK leaders.

Community lunches, medical camps, blood donation camps and distribution of food for inmates of destitute homes and orphanages were organised to mark the occasion.

Leaders also distributed sweets to public, and gave away notebooks to school children.

Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan released the birth anniversary souvenir which was received by Assembly Deputy Speaker Pollachi Jayaraman.

Later, Health Minister C Vijayabaskar told reporters that across Tamil Nadu, 690 medical camps were being held.

"The camp is being held from today till 28 February at government hospitals, people should avail the opportunity," he said.

Finance Minister D Jayakumar said gold rings were being presented to new born kids and gifts to their mothers in view of the birth anniversary of late Jayalalithaa.

In Tuticorin and Dindigul, gold rings were presented to babies born at government hospitals by senior party leaders following the practice of previous years.
Parleys are on between India and China over the issue of a ban on Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar by the United Nations and such "discussions take time", Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui said on Friday.

He, however, asserted that China was against terror outfits and any form of terrorism.

Earlier this week, India's Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had held strategic dialogue with his Chinese counterpart during which issues ranging from Beijing's opposition to designation of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN and India's bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group were discussed.

"Discussions are going on. (India's) Foreign Secretary (Jaishankar) was in Beijing two days ago. The discussions were very good and covered everything," Luo said.

But he declined to comment on what were the aspects on which China was opposing a ban on Azhar.

"Just wait (for the outcome of the discussions). China's support to India and every country on matters related to terrorism will always be there. Some discussions are going on. It takes time.

"China is against any form of terrorist activity and organisation. So, on this matter, China will always be in same line with the international community and take concrete measures," Luo said after inaugurating Chinese visa application service centre in New Delhi.

Asked about China's aversion to support India's bid for entry into the NSG club, the envoy said, "It is the same (discussions are on)."

After his talks, Jaishankar, during his media interaction in Beijing, had hit out at China for demanding "solid evidence" for getting Azhar banned by the UN, saying the extent of his actions were "well-documented" and the "burden of proof" was not on New Delhi.

China has blocked India's efforts to get Azhar declared as a global terrorist by the UN.

Commenting on the emergence of IS in the Af-Pak region and the six-party talks on Afghanistan held early this month in Russia, Luo said peace in the war-torn country is paramount for stability within that nation as well as in the region.

Asserting that Afghanistan was a neighbour of several central Asian countries, he said therefore, peace in Afghanistan is not only important for that country, but also for the region.

"So all countries concerned are making joint efforts to help Afghanistan and the region to maintain peace. That is good," he said.
The shooter, Adam Purinton, reportedly got into an argument with Srinivas Kuchibhotla and his colleague Alok Madasani over racism, and shouted 'get out of my country', 'terrorist' before shooting them.

A 32-year-old Indian engineer was killed and another Indian man and an American were injured after a Navy veteran yelling get out of my country and terrorist opened fire on them at a bar in Kansas City in an apparent racially motivated hate crime.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, died of bullet injuries in a hospital.

His Indian colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured when the 51-year-old man went on a shooting spree after hurling racial slurs following an altercation on Wednesday night.

A third person, an American man identified as Ian Grillot, 24, who tried to intervene also received injuries in the firing in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe in Kansas City in the state of Missouri.

The shooter, Adam Purinton, reportedly got into an argument with the victims in the terms of racism, and shouted get out of my country, terrorist before shooting them.

Purinton reportedly provoked them into an argument asking about their presence and work in his country, and how they are better than him.

According to police, Purinton left the bar after the argument and then returned with a gun and shot the three men while patrons were watching the University of Kansas-TCU basketball game on television in the bar.

The shooter was arrested yesterday, five hours after the incident and charged with murder and attempted murder.

Authorities declined at a news conference to say whether the shooting was a hate crime although local police said they were working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the case.

It was a tragic and senseless act of violence, Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke told reporters.

The FBI has joined local police authorities in the investigation.

The FBI is investigating to determine if the shooting of Kuchibhotla, was a bias-motivated hate crime in violation of the victims civil rights, Eric Jackson, special agent in-charge of the FBIs Kansas City office told reporters.

Asked if the presence of federal authorities indicated the shooting could be considered a hate crime, Jackson said it was too early to determine.

The shooting incident comes at a time when hate crimes and acts of bigotry have risen notably in America after President Donald Trump came to power.

R D Joshi, Consulate General of India in Houston, meets Kansas victim Alok Madasani

In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed shock over the incident and said two Indian consulate officials from Houston have been rushed to Kansas to render all possible assistance.

I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family, she tweeted.

I have spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Mr Navtej Sarna. He informed me that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to Kansas, she said.

The External Affairs Ministry will make all arrangements to transport to Hyderabad the mortal remains of Kuchibhotla.

Swaraj said she has spoken to the father and brother of Kuchibhotla in Hyderabad and conveyed her condolences to the family.

We will provide all help and assistance to the bereaved family. I have spoken to the father and K K Shastri, brother of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, in Hyderabad and conveyed my condolences to the family.

I have assured all help and assistance to the family. We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderbad, Swaraj said in a series of tweets.

Later, Swaraj tweeted, I have received a report from Mr Anupam Ray, CGI Houston.

Our mission staff have met with Sunayna Kuchibhotla. Indian Government is with her in this hour of grief. We assure her of all our support, she said.

Indian Ambassador in US Mr Navtej Sarna has spoken to me and is keeping me informed, Swaraj added.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Kuchibhotla and Madasani hailed from Hyderabad and Warangal.

Houston Deputy Consul R D Joshi and Vice Consul Harpal Singh will meet the injured and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of the deceased and will be in touch with local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action, Swarup said.

They will also meet the community members in Kansas, he said.

According to Garmin, Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked in the companys aviation systems.

Unfortunately, two associates on our Aviation Systems Engineering team, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, were shot. We are devastated to inform you that Srinivas passed away and Alok is currently recovering in the hospital, Garmin said.

Kuchibhotla posted on LinkedIn in 2014 that he managed helicopter programmes. He had a master's degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso. He earned his bachelors degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad.

A 2014 post on LinkedIn said Madasani was an aviation programme coordinator manager at Garmin.

The shooter, a navy veteran with inactive pilot licence and air traffic controller certificate, told a bartender in Clinton, Missouri, where he was hiding after the shooting that he killed two Middle Eastern persons, local media reported.

He has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder and his bond has been set at $2 million (Rs 13 crore).

According to Kansas City Star, the shooter worked as an air traffic controller in Olathe. He also worked at the Federal Aviation Administration, but left it in 2000.

Friends of Kuchibhotla have set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for sending his remains to India.

Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone. He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being, the fund raising page said.

His wife Sunayana and his family are now faced with incredible grief and a multitude of expenses, it said.

The incident sent shock waves among Indian-American and the Indian community across the United States.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Kuchibhotla, said Jay Kansara, director of Government Relations at Hindu American Foundation.

The third victim, Grillot in an interview from the hospital said that he hid behind a table when Purinton opened fire.

He counted the gunshots and when he thought the gunman was out of bullets, he jumped up to stop him but Purinton still had one round left, and he used it to shoot Grillot.

The bullet went through his hand and into his chest.

Grillot said that he learned Madasani's wife is five months pregnant and that he considers the engineer his new best friend.

The sports bar where the shooting took place has been closed with a sign on the door that said it would remain closed indefinitely.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami on Friday asserted that there was no mystery over the death of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa, as was being made out by some quarters.

"Nothing wrong has happened over her death....there is no problem as being made by some persons," he told reporters in Coimbatore to a question on demands for an inquiry into her death.

Jayalalithaa, who was hospitalised in Chennai for more than two months for various complications, passed away on December 5 last year, after a cardiac arrest.

To another question on opposition leader in the assembly M K Stalin meeting the President and seeking a fresh trust vote, he said, You are all aware of what happened. Since the issue is in Court, it will not be appropriate to comment on it.

Palaniswami had won the February 18 trust vote 122-11 in the 234-member assembly, aided by eviction of main opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and walkout by its allies, amid stormy scenes during which mikes were uprooted, chairs toppled and sheets of papers torn.

The division vote was taken up after two adjournments following tempestuous scenes during which the opposition MLAs insisted on a secret vote, which was rejected by the speaker.

Asked about the hydro carbon exploration and extraction project at Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu, which is being opposed by environmentalists and public, Palaniswami said it was a central government project and that the state will take appropriate measures if it affects people and farmers.

Referring to various schemes being implemented in the district, as announced by late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the chief minister said work on the long pending Avanashi-Athikadavu Irrigation Project would begin soon after getting clearance from the Union government.

The government hospital in Chennai would be upgraded at a cost of Rs 300 crore, he said, adding that steps would also be taken to implement the mono-rail scheme.

*****

EPS meets Modi

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport in Coimbatore on Friday night.

Palaniswami, accompanied by Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, called on Modi at the VIP Lounge in the airport, official sources said.

The meeting lasted about 20 minutes, they said without divulging any further detail.

The prime minister later left for New Delhi, police said.

Earlier during the day at a press meet, Palaniswami said he would meet Modi in New Delhi on February 27 and take up issues such as excluding Tamil Nadu from National Eligibility cum Entrance Test.

This was his first meeting with PM after being sworn-in as the CM.

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Paliniswami with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Coimbatore on Friday. Photograph: PTI Photo
After Ramjas College witnessed large-scale violence over a seminar, SGTB Khalsa College has decided to postpone a street-play competition till peace and normalcy returned to North Campus of Delhi University.

The move came after the Delhi University Students Union, led by RSS' student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parsihad, told the college principal that the security for the event "cannot be guaranteed" if the scripts had "anti-national content".

Principal Jaswinder Singh has denied taking the decision under any pressure from anyone and said the college had simply "postponed" the event.

"I have told the principal to go through the scripts before allowing them to be staged at the competition. I have said that any objectionable and anti-national content will create an alarming situation and the security for the event cannot be guaranteed," DUSU President and ABVP member Amit Tanwar said.

The principal said, "The situation was not conducive for the event in view of the recent violence so we had voluntarily decided to postpone it after discussions with all stakeholders."

However, the theatre convener and assistant professor at the college, Saikat Ghosh, alleged that the event was scrapped after repeated threats from DUSU.

"There were repeated threats from DUSU and police had also appealed to us to call off the event in the interest of restoring peace and normalcy on the campus," Ghosh said.

Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP supporters. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on 'Culture of Protests' which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

Tension continued to simmer across Delhi University's North Campus yesterday with students' groups holding protests against police "high-handedness" during the violent clashes even as three policemen were suspended for "unprofessional" conduct.

Both Ramjas College and SGTB Khalsa College are on North Campus.

While the DU authorities maintained that the varsity proctor's office is looking into the issue, the HRD ministry had on Thursday sought a report from the university over the issue.
Even as February 2017 will be remembered for the fight Americans put up for the rights of immigrants, South Asian Americans recall the February of 1923 when the US supreme court barred South Asians from becoming American citizens, recalls Monali Sarkar.

IMAGE: A Muslim prays during the 'I am Muslim Too' rally in Times Square, New York City, February 19, 2017. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Much of February 2017 in the United States has been marked by a battle over immigrant rights in the wake of US President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration and the increase in the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 'targeted enforcement operations' against immigrants.

The January 27 executive order stopping citizens of seven Muslim majority countries from entering the US and all that followed have been an especially difficult reminder for South Asian and Japanese Americans.

It was on February 19, 1942, that then US President Franklin D Roosevelt signed the executive order 9066, authorising the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

And it was on February 19, 1923, that the US supreme court unanimously ruled against Bhagat Singh Thind in the United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, quashing not just Thind's hope for citizenship, but also that of all South Asians.

IMAGE: A clipping from a March 1923 story in The Literary Digest.

'Thind, who immigrated to the United States in 1913 and even trained at Camp Lewis in Washington to fight with the US army in World War I, had begun his personal struggle for citizenship five years earlier, in 1918,' the South Asian American Digital Archive notes.

The case resulted not just in the US supreme court barring South Asians from becoming American citizens, but also ruling to 'denaturalise' those who had already done so.

IMAGE: A November 18, 1918 photograph of Bhagat Singh Thind, top row fourth from right, with his US army battalion at Camp Lewis, Washington. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikimedia Commons

SAADA.org cites an article published in The Literary Digest, 'Hindus Too Brunette To Vote Here,' to explain the racial logic behind the ruling.

Noting that 'the term "Hindu" in the article is meant as a racial classification, not a religious one,' SAADA points out how 'Thind, and many others, argued that according to the "racial science" of the day, South Asians were descendants of Indian Aryans who belonged to the "Caucasian race".'

The US supreme court disagreed.

It concluded that the Hindu 'is of such character and extent that the great body of our people instinctively recognise it and reject the thought of assimilation.'

The court also felt that the term 'Aryan' was 'inadequate to prove common racial origin.'

'One sees in these supreme court cases what George Lipsitz calls the "possessive investment in whiteness",' SAADA added, 'that is, the structural and material benefits that have historically and contemporaneously been accrued to whites in the US.'

'Thind's case, clearly, shows us the challenges and negotiations faced by South Asians during this period.'

It took over two decades, until 1946, for South Asians to win back the right of citizenship in America.

Scroll down for more stories from desis in Trump's America
President Donald Trump on Friday launched an unprecedented attack on the Federal Bureau of Investigation for not being able to stop the leak of classified information and said it could have a devastating effect on the United States.

'The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time, Trump tweeted.

They cant even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on US. FIND NOW, Trump said, urging the FBI to act.

Trumps public criticism of the FBI, the countrys top intelligence and investigating agency, was a rare one that has not been seen in the past.

It came after CNN reported that the FBI rejected a recent request by the White House to dispute media reports that Trump campaign officials had regular contacts with Russian intelligence officials before the election.

A furious White House has described the report as inaccurate and false.

"What you guys have done is indefensible and inaccurate, a senior administration official told reporters.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official gave a time line of the White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, meeting with the FBI Assistant Director Andrew McCabe on February 15.

During a one-on-one meeting between the two, after the conclusion of their official discussions, McCabe reportedly said, I want you to know (the) story in The New York Times report about the FBI investigating contacts between Trump campaign people and Russian intelligence is BS.

According to the account of the senior administration official, Priebus asked what can we do about this?

McCabe demurred and said he will get back to Priebus.

Later on, McCabe called back and told Preibus that the FBI cannot say anything.

"We'd love to help but we cant get into the position of making statements on every story, he was quoted as saying.

Preibus asked if he could cite senior intelligence officials as saying theres nothing to the New York Times story. McCabe said yes.

Later on, FBI Director James Comey himself called Preibus and reiterated much the same thing that the 'story is BS but can't put out statement'.

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump points to the media up as he walks on the South Lawn upon his return to the White House in Washington on Friday. Yuri Gripas/Reuters
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been taking potshots at the Akhilesh Yadav government over lawlessness in Uttar Pradesh, finds itself in no position to take the high moral ground, data shows.

In their election campaign rallies across Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah have been emphasising how the state had slipped into anarchy and become the crime capital of the country under the Samajwadi Party administration.

However, the National Crime Records Bureau's 2015 statistics may prove that the duo clearly had got their crime figures wrong.

Compared to Uttar Pradesh, 27 states and Union territories had a higher incidence of rapes, 21 had a higher murder rate, 19 had a higher rate of kidnapping and abduction, 16 had a higher rate of riots and 18 had higher theft rates. And, some of these states are BJP-ruled. (see the map below)

That said, the fact is the crime graph in Uttar Pradesh has over the years been showing an upward trend.

The graph, above, indicates how the crime rate rose from 97 per lakh population in 2012 (when the Samajwadi Party was elected), to 109 in 2013 and 113 in 2014.

The graph, above, shows how crimes against women have increased since 2012. The national average for rapes in 2012 was 2.1; it rose to 3 in 2014 and fell to 2.8 in 2015.

There were 27 states and Union territories with higher incidence of rape than Uttar Pradesh in 2015, including 15 states with a population above 10 million. Also, while incidents of kidnapping have also seen a spike, the rate of murder has remained the same since 2012.

THE RACE IN UP

Then again, the BJP, which has been taking potshots at the Akhilesh Yadav government over lawlessness in the state, finds itself in no position to take the high moral ground.



In the four phases of polling so far, in which 3,066 candidates tried their luck, 501 have declared criminal cases against them. Out of these 501 candidates, 404 have declared serious criminal cases against them, including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women etc.

Data analysed by Uttar Pradesh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms show that most of the criminal candidates in fray are either associated with the BJP or the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The phase-wise party breakup of candidates with criminal records is given below:

In Phase 1 of the polls, out of 839 candidates analysed, 168 have criminal cases against them, the ADR report said, while 143 contestants have serious criminal cases against them.

The BJP topped the list with 29 criminal candidates, followed by 28 in BSP, 19 in Rashtriya Lok Dal, 15 in Samajwadi Party, 6 in Congress, and 71 Independents.

In Phase 2, of the 721 candidates from 92 political parties and 206 independent candidates in the fray, 107 (15 per cent) have criminal cases against them.

As many as 84 candidates had declared serious criminal cases, ADR said.

These included 16 out of the 67 candidates fielded by the BJP, 25 from the BSP, 6 from the RLD, 21 from the SP, 6 from the Congress and 13 Independents.

The report for Phase 3 of the polls said that out of 813 of the 826 candidates analysed, 110 (14 per cent) had criminal cases against them.

It added that 82 had declared serious criminal cases -- cases related to murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women etc.

These included 21 candidates each from the BJP and the BSP, 5 from the RLD, 13 from the SP, five from the Congress and 13 Independent candidates who have declared criminal cases against them in their affidavits, the report said.

Out of 680 candidates in Phase 4, 116 have criminal cases against them.

ADR said that 95 candidates were facing serious criminal cases.

Here too, the BJP takes the lead with 19 candidates with criminal cases, followed by 12 from the BSP, 9 from the RLD, 13 from the SP, eight from the Congress, and 24 Independents.
Stung by repeated barbs by the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders at former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the voice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "feebler even than that of a mouse".

"The voice of the PM, who has given the clarion call of Make in India, is not of a roaring lion, but even feebler than that of a mouse," Rahul told an election meeting in Mahsi assembly constituency Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich that goes to polls on February 27.

His retort came hours after BJP president Amit Shah at a rally in Azamgarh, nearly 300 km away, mocked Rahul for "often asking" as to what the Modi government has done for the country.

"Rahul Baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a PM who speaks. You had given a PM who did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard by you and your mother (Congress president Sonia Gandhi)," Shah had said.

Peeved over the remark, Rahul questioned, "What is the utility of these punchlines?"

Ridiculing Modi's 'Make in India' campaign, he said almost everywhere items 'Made in China' are readily available. "Even my phone is made in China," he said.

The Congress leader accused the PM of spitting communal venom and spreading hatred since the SP-Congress alliance was forged.

Rahul said, "PM Modi has been benevolent towards the rich and has waived their loans, but not the loans of farmers."

In an apparent reference to the PM's "adopted son of UP" remark, Rahul said Modi might claim relationships wherever he wants "but relationships should not be confined to lip service."

"PM Modi made a film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge (promising achchhe din), but it later became Sholay (of Gabbar Singh fear) when notes were banned," he said.

"Not a single person accused of keeping black money has been jailed and 94 per cent of black money is still stashed away in foreign countries," he added.

****

Men of steel are needed to solve UP's problem: Shah's salvo at Rahul

Amit Shah pilloried Rahul Gandhi quoting former Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit's statement that he "is still not mature and needs some time".

"If he is not mature, then why has he been enforced upon Uttar Pradesh? Is this a political laboratory or learning ground for someone?" Shah asked at an election rally in Azamgarh.

Noting that the state faces a plethora of problems, he said "men of steel" are needed to solve them.

"Problems of Uttar Pradesh can be solved only under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Shah said.

Citing BJP's election manifesto, which claims there has been significant decline in cattle count in UP under the Samajwadi Party rule, he said that if his party forms government, it would shut all slaughter houses and ensure that instead of "streams of blood", those of milk and ghee flow.

Shah said that the BJP tsunami would help the party get two-thirds majority in the 403-member assembly and put an end to "misrule" of the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party over the last 14 years when development "took a backseat" in the state.

"There is an acute shortage of electricity, medicines and the common citizens, especially women and traders are feeling very much unsafe," he claimed, adding farmers are yet to get their dues from the state government.

Mounting an attack on the SP-Congress alliance, he said, "It is quite amusing that one prince is giving tough times to his mother, the other to his father, and both are troubling UP."

Seeking a performance report from the Congress, Shah said, "Your (Rahul's) family has ruled the country for over 60 years. What has it done for the country? Rahul must answer this."

"Rahul asks what the Modi government has done for the country. Rahul Baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a PM who speaks. You had given a PM who did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard by you and your mother," he said.

The BJP president urged voters to uproot the current SP government from the state, and said 'achchey din' (good days) would dawn upon the state on March 11 when the results are out.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half brother was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare and listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction, Malaysian police said on Friday.

Malaysia's police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the presence of the nerve agent had been detected in swabs taken from Kim Jong-nam's eyes and face.

One of the women Kim interacted with at the airport on February 13 had also fallen ill with vomiting afterwards, he added.

The authorities say they intend to decontaminate the airport and areas the suspects are known to have visited.

Khalid said other exhibits were still under analysis and that police were investigating how the banned substance might have entered Malaysia.

"We will get the experts from the atomic energy department to go to the location and sweep it to see if radioactive (material) is still there," the police chief told reporters.

"If the amount of the chemical brought in was small, it would be difficult for us to detect," he said.

Kim had been living in exile since 2003 after falling out of favour with his father, who had been lining up to succeed him as Supreme Leader.

Two women -- one Vietnamese and the other Indonesian -- are in custody along with a North Korean man. Investigators are also seeking seven other North Koreans wanted in connection with the case, including a diplomat pleading immunity at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Airport CCTV footage shows the moment of the assault, with Kim later seen asking airport officials for medical help, and rubbing his eyes and stumbling as he entered a clinic.

Authorities said he complained of dizziness and died on the way to hospital.

VX is part of a family of nerve agents created decades ago during research into pesticides. It is tasteless and odorless and kills by causing uncontrollable muscle contractions, which eventually stop the victim from breathing.

VX nerve agent can be delivered in two compounds that are mixed at the last moment to create a lethal dose. A dose of about 10 milligrams is enough to kill by skin contact, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

The Chemical Weapons Convention bans the use and stockpiling of chemical weapons, and North Korea is among the world's largest possessors of such weapons. In 2014, the South Korean Defense Ministry said the North had stockpiled 2,500 to 5,000 tons of chemical weapons and had a capacity to produce a variety of biological weapons.

North Korea has accused Malaysia of being unduly influenced by South Korea's early claim that Kim was poisoned by the North.

Pyongyang's ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol, accused his host country of conspiring with "hostile forces," prompting the Malaysian Prime Minister to recall his ambassador to North Korea and summon Kang.

An article published in North Korean state media Thursday fiercely rebuked Malaysia for its continued refusal to hand over Kim's body without DNA from a next of kin.

"This proves that the Malaysian side is going to politicize the transfer of the body in utter disregard of international law and morality and thus attain a sinister purpose," Thursday's article said.
A 24-year-old American who is being hailed as a hero for trying to stop a shooter who killed an Indian in Kansas City, on Friday said it was "actually the right thing to do".

Ian Grillot hid behind a table when the 51-year-old gunman, Adam Purinton, started shooting hurling racial slurs following an altercation at Austins Bar and Grill killing an Indian engineer and critically injuring other.

He counted the gunshots and when he thought the shooter was out of bullets, he jumped up to stop him but Purinton still had one round left, which he used it to shoot him and the bullet went through Grillot hand and into his chest.

"I guess I miscounted," Grillot said in an interview from his hospital room, in a video released by the University of Kansas Health System.

"I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him... I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me," he said.

"I was doing what I should have done for another human being. It's not about where he (victim) was from or his ethnicity. We're all humans, so I just did what was right to do and I didn't want the gentleman to potentially go after somebody else," Grillot said.

Grillot said he learned Alok Madasani, another Indian's, wife is five months pregnant and that he considers the engineer his new best friend, the Kansas City Star report said.

"One of the gentleman who survived... he came in here today and it was the greatest thing. I can't even describe it coming to find his five months pregnant wife. Something was guiding me to do what I did, somebody was watching over me. I am just very grateful that one of the gentlemen is fine and alive. It's terrible what happened to his friend. But I think he was watching over us last night," Grillot said.

He said he hopes the two can spend some time together when they get out of the hospital. "I don't think it's going to be at the bar, though," he said.

"It just put the biggest smile on my face," Grillot said when he saw Madasani earlier in the day.

Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed while another Indian man and his colleague Madasani was injured after Purinton, a Navy veteran, started shooting hurling racial slurs following an altercation on Wednesday night at the bar.

Video: Kind courtesy University of Kansas Health System.
From citizenship rights to hate crimes and police brutality, no wave of persecution in the US has left Indians completely untouched, says Monali Sarkar.

A brief history of the moments that shaped the Indian-American community's battle against hate...

IMAGE: A march against US President Donald Trump in February 2017. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

Indian-Americans were left reeling on the night of February 23 after a white racist, Adam Purinton, opened fire on two Indians at a bar in Kansas City in the United States.

Yelling 'Get out of my country', the Navy veteran killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, an engineer working at the Garmin headquarters, and injured his friend Alok Madasani.

Purinton also shot Ian Grillot, who tried to stop him.

This was the latest in the spate of racially motivated crimes that have erupted all over the US in the past year -- an uptick in violence aimed at South Asian (Muslim, Sikh, Hindu), Middle Eastern, and Arab American communities during the 2016 election cycle that has been documented by civil rights organisations.

In a political climate that has seen many Indians and Indian Americans distance themselves -- and even support -- US President Donald Trump's actions against Muslims, this incident has driven home the reality that no religion, no colour is immune to such actions.

And no number of assurances about how much 'Trump loves Hindus and India' are enough.

As Lakshmi Sridaran, director of National Policy and Advocacy, South Asian Americans Leading Together (a civil rights organisation), warned in her column -- 'When they came for the Muslims, where were you?' -- on Rediff.com, 'The reality of racial and religious profiling in this country is that it is simply enough to be perceived as Muslim to be treated as one.'

We look back at the key moments of persecution that have shaped the history and narrative of Indians in America and why solidarity with others is the only way out.

The 1917 Immigration Act

IMAGE: A clipping from a March 1923 report in The Literary Digest after the US supreme court barred South Asians from becoming American citizens, and ruled to 'denaturalise' those who had already done so.

Though not many in numbers, South Asians have been in America for centuries. And they have faced racism and hate since then.

Neil Padukone, the author of Beyond South Asia: India's Strategic Evolution and the Reintegration of the Subcontinent, described this in a column published in Rediff.com's India Abroad.

'As far back as the 1800s, north Indian traders came bearing "exotic articles from the Orient," selling silks, spices, and hookahs in New Orleans, Detroit, and even the old Southwest (think of Ali Hakim from the play Oklahoma!),' he wrote.

'Not just lacking immigration papers, but having brown skin, these Indian migrants were shown the door at White-owned hotels and neighborhoods. And the racism and antipathy didn't stop there.'

'The 1917 Immigration Act made Indians, as author Vivek Bald puts it, "equivalent in the eyes of the law to alcoholics, professional beggars, and the insane," and the Supreme Court ruled that "Indians who were already in the United States were racially ineligible to become citizens".'

'Fears of a "Hindoo Invasion" and a "Turban Tide" swept American newspapers, and as Erika Lee documents in The Making of Asian America, brown people from Washington state to Florida were denied citizenship (despite American military service, in the case of Bhagat Singh Thind), beaten by white mobs, forcibly removed from entire towns, imprisoned if they sought to marry Caucasian women, and worse.'

Where they did gain acceptance, Padukone pointed out, was in the Black majority enclaves of all of these cities.

IMAGE: A painting representing the Indian-American angst during the Dotbuster scare of the 1980s was part of the Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Photograph: Paresh Gandhi/Rediff.com

The Dotbusters were a hate group targeting Indians that emerged in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1987.

The 'dot' referred to the bindi Indian women traditionally sport on their foreheads.

In a letter published in the Jersey Journal, they wrote, 'We are an organisation called the Dotbusters. We have been around for 2 years. We will go to any extreme to get Indians to move out of Jersey City... We plan some of our most extreme attacks such as breaking windows, breaking car windows, and crashing family parties.'

'We use the phone books and look up the name Patel. Have you seen how many of them there are? Do you even live in Jersey City? Do you walk down Central Avenue and experience what its like to be near them: We have and we just don't want it anymore. You said that they will have to start protecting themselves because the police cannot always be there. They will never do anything. They are a weak race physically and mentally. We are going to continue our way. We will never be stopped.'

They followed up the words with many racial attacks, ranging from vandalism to severe assaults.

A man called Balbir Singh Sodhi

IMAGE: Balbir Singh Sodhi's family donated this turban and many of his other personal effects to the National Museum of American History. Photograph: Paresh Gandhi/Rediff.com

Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner in Mesa, Arizona, became the first person of South Asian origin to be killed in a hate crime targeting Sikhs in retaliation after 9/11.

He was shot by Frank Roque, who was seeking revenge for the September 11 attacks and mistook Sodhi for an Arab because of his turban and beard.

Sodhi's death in 2001 has been followed by a long and terrifying list of hate crimes against Sikhs in America, many of them ending in the death of the victims.

Deaths in a gurdwara

IMAGE: A Sikh mother and daughter pray for the victims of the terror attack on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in 2012. Photograph: Max Whittaker/Reuters

Over the years America has also witnessed arson and vandalism at Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras, but the worst of these attacks was the one on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August 2012.

A white supremacist opened fire on the devotees in the gurdwara on a Sunday, killing six people.

A year after this incident -- and after 12 years of attacks on Sikhs since 9/11 -- the US decided that crimes committed against Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Arabs and three other minority religions would be tracked as hate crimes by US law enforcement agencies.

His crime? Walking while brown

IMAGE: A police dashboard camera recorded the police brutality, left, on Sureshbhai Patel, right, who was left partially paralysed.

Sureshbhai Patel, an Indian grandfather, was walking in his neighbourhood in Madison, Alabama, in February 2015 when he was slammed to the ground and left partially paralysed by a local policeman.

Before the display of police brutality by policeman Eric Parker, Patel, who was in the US to visit his son, was recorded telling the cops who stopped him that he knew 'no English.'

Though Parker was dismissed from his job and charged, and despite the incident being recorded by police dashboard cameras, he was acquitted of all charges and even reinstated in the police force.

The incident took place at the height of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the US, a campaign that grew out of the rise in police brutality against blacks and reiterated that browns were not immune and staying on the sidelines would not help.

Patel's incident was not an isolated one.

In December 2016, Aravinda Pillalamarri, an Indian-American woman who has lived in the US for more than 30 years, was walking in her neighbourhood in Maryland when she was stopped and asked about her immigration status.

According to a report in The Baltimore Sun, a police supervisor who arrived at the scene told her she wasn't free to leave because she 'was under criminal investigation.'

She was allowed to leave and walk to her home a few doors away only after the officers had run her name through their system.

'Only when the supervisor asked "Are you here illegally?" did my sense of colour, and of being unequal, come forth and my interest in my civil rights take a back seat to get out of the situation safely,' Pillalamarri was quoted as saying.

'Public safety does not need to come at the cost of civil rights.'
Tackling hunger crises in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen requires $4.4 billion  UN

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Tackling hunger crises in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen requires $4.4 billion  UN, 24 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58aff7fe4.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.

Sounding the alarm on behalf of more than 20 million people in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and north-east Nigeria facing devastating levels of food insecurity, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joined other top United Nations officials today calling for strong and urgent action from the international community to help the already-fragile countries avert catastrophe.

Famine is already a reality in parts of South Sudan. Unless we act now, it is only a matter of time until it affects other areas and other countries. We are already facing a tragedy; we must avoid it becoming a catastrophe, said the Secretary-General, stressing: This is preventable if the international community takes decisive action.

Briefing the press at UN Headquarters in New York alongside the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O'Brien, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, Helen Clark, and by video conference, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Ertharin Cousin, Mr. Guterres said the UN needs at least $4.4 billion by the end of March to avert a catastrophe.

Despite some generous pledges, just $90 million has actually been received so far  around two cents for every dollar needed. We are at the beginning of the year, but these numbers are very worrying, he said: The lives of millions of people depend on our collective ability to act. In our world of plenty, there is no excuse for inaction or indifference.

In South Sudan, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners aim to assist 5.8 million people this year; in Somalia, 5.5 million people and in Yemen 8.3 million. In north-east Nigeria, humanitarians are reaching more than two million people with food assistance.

These four crises are very different, but are all preventable. "They all stem from conflict, which we must do much more to prevent and resolve," he said, urging all members of the international community to step up and do whatever is in their power, whether that is mobilizing support, exerting political pressure on parties to conflict, or funding humanitarian operations.

"Saving lives is the first priority, but we are also looking to build longer-term resilience to shocks," Mr. Guterres said, noting that UNDP Administrator and the Emergency Relief Coordinator will set up a steering committee to link the UN Development Group and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for humanitarian assistance to ensure a coordinated long-term approach.

Speaking at a joint press conference on humanitarian crises in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, United Nations Secretary-General chief Antonio Guterres today urged the international community to 'step up' and take 'decisive action' to prevent devastating food insecurity levels from becoming a catastrophe.

Speaking next, Mr. O'Brien, who is also the UN Under-Secretary-General for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, reemphasized the ongoing effort to ensure that development and humanitarian partners will work together to tackle these crises. "We want to help people survive," he said, "but we also want to help them build more durable solutions so they will not be left in vulnerable situations."

He went on to stress that almost 1.4 million children are at imminent risk of death from severe acute malnutrition this year, as famine looms in the four countries, an issue spotlighted yesterday by UNICEF. He said that catastrophe can be averted if action is taken now. The funding noted by the Secretary-General must be made available by the end of March to make a difference. "We are ready to scale up [] with brave and committed aid workers already in place."

Miss Clark noted that the way forward on the four crises would very much reflect the "new way of working" among relief and development agencies agreed by the 2016 UN World Humanitarian Summit, which stressed that "the priority is saving lives and part of saving lives is building resilience for the future."

For her part, Ms. Cousin said that in each of these four countries, "the plans are in place and the people are prepared to perform the work that is necessary. What we need is the resources and the access."

"Acting now, before we reach the height of the lean season in these countries will ensure our ability to provide the support that is necessary to avoid what we all see on the horizon, which is a famine in each one of these countries if we fail to act," she stated.

Carla Mucavi, the Director of UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Liaison Office in New York, and Justin Forsyth, the Deputy Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), also attended the briefing.
Perpetrators of recent terrorist attack in Iraq must be held accountable  UN Security Council

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 23 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Perpetrators of recent terrorist attack in Iraq must be held accountable  UN Security Council, 23 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58aff91d4.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.

Condemning, in the strongest terms, the terrorist attack on 16 February in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, the United Nations Security Council underlined the need to bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of such reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice.

The attack killed at least 50 people and injured many more.

In a statement, the 15-member Security Council "reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security."

Further, stressing that those responsible for these killings should be held accountable, the Security Council urged all UN Members States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Iraqi Government and all other relevant authorities in this regard.

Council members also reiterated that "any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed," and reaffirmed the need for all UN Member States to combat by all means, in accordance with the UN Charter and other obligations under international law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

Also in the statement, the Council welcomed the efforts of the Iraqi Government and its partners to defeat Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) and to return stability to the country.
Central African Republic: Senior UN relief official urges access to civilians in north-eastern provinces

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 23 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Central African Republic: Senior UN relief official urges access to civilians in north-eastern provinces, 23 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58aff9814.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.

Amid renewed violence that has led to "successive gross violations" of international humanitarian law in two north-eastern provinces of the Central African Republic (CAR), the most senior United Nations relief official in the country has called for free and unhindered access to civilians impacted by the clashes between rival armed groups.

"It is unacceptable for civilians to pay the price for rivalries between armed groups because of their religious believes or political affiliation," said the Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for CAR, Aboubacry Tall, calling on on parties to the conflict in the Ouaka and Haute Kotto provinces to respect and uphold international humanitarian law.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the country, since the beginning of 2017, there have been deadly clashes between rival armed groups in the Haute Kotto and Ouaka provinces to the detriment of civilians who are forcibly displaced.

The town of Bambari, the capital of Ouaka province, currently has 45,000 displaced persons out of a population of 160,000. Since the end of November 2016, about 20,000 new IDPs have been registered. The town of Maloum (63 kilometres north of Bambari), recently received an estimated 4,000 newly displaced persons due to clashes between armed groups in the Haute Kotto and Basse Kotto provinces as well as in the Ouaka province (Ndjoubissi, Ndassima, Ippy , Belengo, Mbroutchou and Atongo-Bakari).

In order to ensure the provision of assistance in compliance with the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality, Mr. Tall reminded parties to the conflict of their obligation to "ensure unimpeded humanitarian access with no conditions." He strongly urges armed groups not to obstruct "the free movement of civilians or humanitarian actors that humanitarian assistance can be deliver to the people in need."

In a news release issued earlier this month, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA) had stressed that two factions of the ex-Seleka armed group, namely the FPRC (Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de Centrafrique) 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.

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.
UN chief Guterres urges Syrians at Geneva negotiations to seek political solution; Envoy to meet with parties on work plan

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 23 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN chief Guterres urges Syrians at Geneva negotiations to seek political solution; Envoy to meet with parties on work plan, 23 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58affa114.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.

Wrapping up the opening of the intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva this evening, United Nations Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said he would hold bilateral meetings with participants on Friday to decide on a work plan, as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was encouraged the Syrian parties held face-to-face talks.

A statement from UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the Secretary-General is encouraged that the Syrians, who have accepted the Organization's invitation to be in Geneva, sat together in the same room today.

Commending Mr. de Mistura's work in bringing this about, the statement said Mr. Guterres also appreciated the presence of the members of the Security Council and the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) at today's welcoming, and underlined the importance of international unity behind the UN-led political process in the weeks and months ahead.

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.

After six years of bloodshed, the Secretary-General urges the Syrians who have accepted the invitation to be in Geneva to engage in good faith as the Special Envoy seeks to facilitate the process, continued the Spokesman's statement, stressing that while acknowledging that progress will not be easy, Mr. Guterres believed strongly that only a political solution can bring peace to Syria and that all those Syrians who have committed themselves to this goal should redouble their efforts for peace.

For his part, Mr. de Mistrua told reporters in Geneva that everyone was in the room, including members of the UN Security Council and all the ISSG members. I also hope that you noticed that we had behind me, in my team, two important representatives of Syrian women to remind everyone, including myself, Syrian women need to be part of this peace process.

As for the opposition, he said that while there is still work to be done, today [] was a moment for a building block, as there was a heavy weighty delegation on the side of the opposition in the room. I will continue to encourage more dialogue and inclusion among the various Syrian parties.

Announcing that he planned to have bilateral meetings to elaborate with participants Friday about procedure, [which is] is crucial, and the work plan for this round, Mr. de Mistura said his dream as a mediator is to have only one delegation on one side and one delegation on the other. That's when you can do the best job, and I am not giving up on that hope.

Earlier in the day, Mr. de Mistrua welcomed the representatives of the Syrian Government and its opposition to the United Nations-facilitated negotiations, but cautioned: We face an uphill battle. It will not be easy, but we must apply ourselves to this task.

Let's try to work together to end this horrible conflict and lay the foundation for a country at peace with itself, sovereign and unified, he noted.

Making reference to the Palais des Nations where the intra-Syrian negotiations are being held, he said the UN headquarters in Switzerland was a symbol unifying all of us given its history and could be the place where Syrians started a long, hard journey to peace.

He stressed that after six years of conflict, people are waiting for a relief from all suffering and dream for a new road out of this nightmare.

Mr. de Mistura is continuing to push for a resolution to the conflict based on UN Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) that endorsed a road map for peace process in Syria, including specific language on governance, constitution, elections, and even how negotiations should be timed.

Syrian women and children bearing the brunt

The Special Envoy also pledged to do everything to promote the role of Syrian women in the political efforts.

Ahead of the welcoming, he was greeted by a group of Syrian women holding a vigil in Geneva for relatives and friends  sometimes children  who had been arrested, abducted or are still missing apparently as a result of the Government or the opposition.

Calling them Syrian mothers, wives and daughters, Mr. de Mistura said they were symbolic of everyone still missing in this horrible conflict.

He pledged to raise the issue of detainees, abducted and missing people as part of the ongoing discussions.

Meanwhile, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) today urged participants to the talks to put Syria's children first.

In a statement UNICEF Regional Director Geert Cappelaera said at least 20 children were reportedly killed in attacks in the country since the start of this year, and many more injured.

The numbers are a grim indication that the cessation in hostilities announced last December has yet to result in real gains in protection and humanitarian assistance for all children in Syria, Mr. Cappelaera said.
Millions in Lake Chad suffering 'at no fault of their own' need world's support, urges UN aid chief

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 23 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Millions in Lake Chad suffering 'at no fault of their own' need world's support, urges UN aid chief, 23 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58affaa54.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.

Ahead of a major donors conference in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, seeking to generate global action to tackle the complex crisis in Africa's Lake Chad Basin, the top United Nations relief official highlighted that investing in support for the region will in turn help strengthen broader security around the world for all to benefit.

"The opportunity we have at this gathering in Oslo [is for a partnership] between those who have been calling for enormous amounts of support [in the region and] to make sure that we can meet the needs of people as they go through terrible suffering, through no fault of their own," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien told UN News.

The UN aid chief's comments come ahead of the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region, which will be held tomorrow and which will be hosted by Norway, together with Nigeria, Germany and the UN. Aiming to draw attention to the crisis, which has been largely overlooked, the event seeks to mobilize greater international involvement and increased funding for humanitarian efforts to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) - the UN's relief wing - nearly 11 million people in the region, comprising Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, need humanitarian assistance suffer from severe acute malnutrition, among them, about half a million are very young children - babies.

The appeal, amounting $1.5 billion will fund relief operations in the region, including, inter alia, providing life-saving food and nutrition support to 1.6 million people, livelihood support to 1.4 million, primary health care for 4.4 million, measles vaccinations for over one million children, education support for almost 300,000 girls and boys and safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene for 2.3 million displaced families and their host communities.

Of the total population in need (10.7 million), about 8.5 million are in north-eastern Nigeria which has seen years of violence as a result of Boko Haram militancy.

In particular noting the challenges in north-eastern Nigeria, Mr. O'Brien hailed the work of the humanitarian actors on the ground "they are staying, they are delivering - there have been some terrible and tragic losses of very brave and brilliant aid workers - and they continue working in some of the most atrocious and difficult conditions."

Pointing out that the 2016 appeal was only about 50 per cent funded, he underlined that it meant that "we can only do about half of what we know needs to be done," said Mr. O'Brien, also the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the head of OCHA.

Also, noting that the international community had to be a partner and show that it has enough capacity and enable relief programmes for those who need it the most, he said that the support would help ensure that "the people [in need] can get water and food; we can [avert] the terrible severe acute malnutrition, we can seek to avert famine, which is exacerbated by some of the climatic events, and indeed, climate change."
Security Council extends mandate of UN Guinea-Bissau peacebuilding office through 2018

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 23 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Security Council extends mandate of UN Guinea-Bissau peacebuilding office through 2018, 23 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58affb4d4.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 United Nations Security Council today extended for another year the mandate of the UN Integrated Peace-Building Office in Guinea-Bissau, known as UNIOGBIS, and urged all political actors in the country to implement the provisions of the Conakry Agreement signed last October.

The Council endorsed the Conakry Agreement - which carries the name of the Guinean capital where it was signed in 2016 following talks between political leaders, civil society and religious leaders - saying that "it offers a historic opportunity for national authorities and political leaders, as well as civil society, to jointly ensure political stability and build sustainable peace."

The 15-members of the Council welcomed and supported a high-level mission to the country that is expected to be dispatched by the regional bloc Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) as part of a follow-up for implementation of the Agreement.

Under its renewed mandate, which will begin on 1 March 2017 and run through at least 28 February 2018, UNIOGBIS will also continue to work with ECOWAS, its mission in Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB) and other international partners to implement national security sector reform and strengthen the rule of law.

Among its primary responsibilities, the Council mandated the Office to focus its efforts on supporting an inclusive political dialogue and national reconciliation, and providing technical assistance to national authorities.

UNIOGBIS will also focus on supporting the Government of Guinea-Bissau in "mobilization, harmonization and coordination of international assistance," with UN partners, the African Union (AU), the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLC), ECOWAS, the European Union (EU).

In 2014, the West African nation concluded a second round of presidential elections, which are widely seen as essential to restoring constitutional order, economic growth and development following a 2012 military coup.
Pakistan: Wave of violence shows a horrific disregard for human life

Publisher Amnesty International Author Anna Neistat Publication Date 23 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Pakistan: Wave of violence shows a horrific disregard for human life, 23 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58affe390.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.

A bomb attack in Lahore that killed eight people is the latest in a wave of violence that shows a horrific disregard for human life, Amnesty International said today.

Over the past fortnight, a series of bomb attacks claimed by a slew of armed groups has claimed the lives of more than 120 people and injured several more, raising concerns about the protection of human life.

"All those suspected of responsibility for this horrific wave of violence must be brought to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts and without recourse to death penalty," said Nadia Rahman, Amnesty International's Pakistan campaigner.

"Pakistan's authorities have a responsibility to protect the lives of everyone in the country, and they must do so while upholding international law and standards. Resorting to cruel and inhumane methods will not address the root causes of the problem and risks perpetuating a cycle of violence."

The bomb attack in Lahore comes a week after more than 80 people were slain at the famed shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Sindh. Cities attacked earlier include Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, and Dera Ismail Khan.

After the Sehwan attack, the Pakistan authorities claimed to have killed 100 "terrorists". No details have been disclosed about any criminal investigation, who was targeted, what their involvement was in the attacks, and why they were not brought to justice in fair trials.

"The victims of these attacks deserve true justice, not a campaign of violent revenge in their name," said Nadia Rahman.

The Lahore bombing comes as Pakistan's military announced a fresh offensive, "Operation Radd ul-Fasaad", and the paramilitary Rangers force was given special powers to operate in Lahore and other parts of Punjab.

Amnesty International calls on the authorities to ensure that any security operations adhere to Pakistan's obligations under international law.

The organization has documented crimes under international law and human rights violations under paramilitary troops in Karachi, including where people were subject to arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment, denied access to lawyers, medical support, and guarantees of a fair trial.

"The injustices we saw in Karachi must not be revisited on people in Lahore or other parts of the country," said Nadia Rahman.

Pakistan's parliament is currently debating proposals to revive the mandate of military courts to try civilians, after a two year mandate lapsed on January 7.

Amnesty International considers that the criminal jurisdiction of military courts, in Pakistan and in any other country, should be limited to trials of members of the military for breaches of military discipline; it should not extend to crimes under international law or human rights violations.

In accordance with international law, Amnesty International opposes the use of military courts to try civilians and, along with other organizations, has documented a catalogue of human rights violations flowing from them, including coerced confessions, opaque processes, executions, and unfair trials.

"Every government has a responsibility to protect people's lives and take necessary measures to provide for their security, but military courts are not the solution," said Nadia Rahman.

"The only way to tackle with attacks on human rights is with justice, truth and reparation, not further human rights violations."

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Libya: Discriminatory Restriction on Women

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 23 February 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Libya: Discriminatory Restriction on Women, 23 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58affedf4.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.

UPDATE:

On February 23, Abdelrazeq al-Nadhouri, chief of staff of the forces known as the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the military governor of the region that extends from Derna to Ben Jawwad, repealed his order requiring women who wish to travel abroad to be accompanied by a male guardian and replaced it with a new order imposing travel restrictions on all men and women ages 18 to 45. The new order specifies that people in that age group need clearance by relevant security agencies ahead of any international travel from eastern Libya. Justifying these restrictions, the order refers to the "necessity to put in place measures to counter risk from abroad that threaten national security."

Libyan officials in the east should immediately repeal this new order, Human Rights Watch said. While governments have the authority to restrict travel on an individual basis based on narrow and appealable grounds laid out in law, al-Nadhouri's order, by its sweeping nature targeting all would-be travelers of a certain age, gravely undermines the right enshrined in international law that entitles everyone to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

(Tunis)  Officials in eastern Libya should immediately repeal an order, issued on February 16, 2017, that bans women under age 60 from traveling abroad unless they are accompanied by a male guardian, Human Rights Watch said today. The order threatens to curtail freedom of movement for women in eastern Libya, including for medical treatment, education, and professional travel.

Abdelrazeq al-Nadhouri, chief of staff of the forces known as the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the military governor of the region that extends from Derna to Ben Jawwad, issued the order requiring women who wish to travel abroad by land, air, or sea to be accompanied by a male guardian, also known as a mahram. The text of the order justifies it as necessary for "reasons of public interest" and "to limit negative aspects that accompanied Libyan women's international travel." On February 21, after a public uproar, al-Nadhouri reportedly suspended implementation of this regulation until further notice.

"Requiring adult women to have a male guardian with them when they travel is a humiliating step backward for women," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch.

In a television interview on February 19, al-Nadhouri claimed that the order was necessary for the "national security of Libya" and that it had "no religious or political background." Al-Nadhouri claimed, without providing any details, that several young women had collaborated with foreign intelligence agencies, creating a risk that they would disclose information that could harm the national interest. He also warned, "As long as [a Libyan woman] is in Libya, she is free. Once she leaves Libya our eyes will be on her."

Many women's rights activists and human rights lawyers rejected the regulation, saying it violated women's rights, as protected by Libyan laws. On February 22, women's rights activists staged a demonstration in al-Kish square in Benghazi protesting the travel restrictions.

Libyan women have had the right to travel abroad without the permission of a male relative. In 2014, the Tripoli-based religious authority, Dar Al-Iftaa, called for a woman to be accompanied by a male guardian if she wished to travel abroad, but the religious edict, or fatwa, never became law.

The Libyan National Army operates with affiliated militias and the army special forces in eastern Libya under the command of Khalifa Hiftar, a retired general who served under the ousted Gaddafi government. The LNA has gained control over territory in much of eastern Libya since the outbreak of hostilities in May 2014. It is aligned with the so-called Interim Government based in al-Bayda, and the House of Representatives, based in Tobruk, both in the eastern part of the country. The Interim Government is not recognized by the United Nations or the international community and is competing for legitimacy with the Tripoli-based and UN-backed Government of National Accord.

Article 14 of the Libyan Constitutional Declaration guarantees the right to freedom of movement. Libyan authorities are also bound by numerous international treaties ratified by the country. The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which Libya acceded in 1989, legally obligates member states to end all discrimination against women, without delay, and guarantees the right to freedom of movement.

As a state party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Libya must ensure nondiscrimination and the right to freedom of movement for all people, without distinction as to gender. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also provides: "Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state [and] to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Thailand: Quash Editor's Conviction for 'Insulting Monarchy'

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 24 February 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Thailand: Quash Editor's Conviction for 'Insulting Monarchy', 24 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58afff934.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.

Thai authorities should quash the conviction and release a prominent magazine editor imprisoned under Thailand's draconian law on insulting the monarchy, Human Rights Watch said today.On February 23, 2017, the Supreme Court upheld lower court verdicts that found Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, a labor rights activist and former editor of Voice of Thaksin magazine, guilty of lese majeste under article 112 of the Penal Code for publishing two satirical articles in 2010 that Thai authorities considered to defame the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The court reduced his sentence from 10 years to 6 on the grounds that he did not write the articles, he is advanced in age, and he has already served nearly 6 years of the original sentence. Somyot must also serve an extra year for an unrelated criminal defamation conviction.



"Somyot's guilty verdict shows yet again how Thailand's 'insulting the monarchy' law has been misused to punish dissenters," said Brad Adams, Asia director. "Instead of protecting basic rights, the courts are being complicit in clamping down on free speech."

Somyot, 55, is currently Thailand's longest-serving lese majeste prisoner. He was first arrested in 2010 during the period when street protests by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) or "Red Shirts" were taking place against the government of then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. On April 26, 2010, the government's Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situations (CRES) put Somyot and his magazine on a chart containing names of individuals and groups whom it accused of being "anti-monarchy." The CRES never offered any credible evidence to substantiate that allegation. On May 24, the CRES arrested Somyot and detained him without charge for 19 days in an army camp under state of emergency rules then in effect. He was released on June 13, 2010. Somyot then changed the name of his magazine from Voice of Thaksin to Red Power. The Abhisit government forced the shutdown of Red Power in September 2010.

Somyot was arrested again on April 30, 2011, five days after launching a grass-roots campaign to collect 10,000 signatures on a petition calling for amending article 112. Police charged him under article 112 of Thailand's penal code, which states that "whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years." The authorities charged Somyot in connection with two articles that were written by Jit Pollachan, a pseudonym of Jakrapob Penkair, the now exiled former spokesman of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Jakrapob was never charged with any crime for these two articles.



Criticizing the monarchy is a serious criminal offense in Thailand. People charged with lese majeste are routinely denied bail and jailed in pre-trial detention for many months. Somyot has been denied bail 16 times.

While Thailand's Printing Act protects editors from being held accountable for the content of others, the Constitutional Court ruled on October 10, 2012, that the restrictions on freedom of expression and the criminal penalties for lese majeste offenses were constitutional because breaches of lese majeste are considered as threats to national security.

In August 2012, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Somyot's detention was arbitrary and requested the Thai government to release him and provide him an enforceable right to compensation in accordance with international law.

The UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression stated in October 2011 that Thailand's lese majeste laws were "vague and overly broad, and the harsh criminal sanctions are neither necessary nor proportionate to protect the monarchy or national security." The UN Human Rights Committee, the international expert body that monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Thailand has ratified, has stated in a General Comment that laws such as those for lese majeste "should not provide for more severe penalties solely on the basis of the identity of the person that may have been impugned" and that governments "should not prohibit criticism of institutions, such as the army or the administration." In addition, the routine refusal to provide bail in lese majeste cases violates the covenant's provision that it "shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody."

Neither the Thai monarch nor any member of the royal family has ever personally filed lese majeste charges. During his birthday speech in 2005, the King Bhumibol Adulyadej stated that he was not above criticism. "Actually, I must also be criticized. I am not afraid if the criticism concerns what I do wrong, because then I know. Because if you say the king cannot be criticized, it means that the king is not human," he said. "If the king can do no wrong, it is akin to looking down upon him because the king is not being treated as a human being. But the king can do wrong."

However, the police, public prosecutors, courts, and other state authorities appear reluctant to reject allegations of lese majeste out of concern they might be accused of disloyalty to the monarchy. Successive Thai governments have made lese majeste prosecutions a top priority for their administration.

"The heavy-handed enforcement of lese majeste laws severely impacts freedom of expression in Thailand," Adams said. "The government should urgently initiate a serious discussion on how to amend the law and revise the enforcement of its provisions so that Thailand can comply with its international human rights obligations."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Malaysia: Article 19 condemns conviction of human rights activist for screening banned film

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Article 19, Malaysia: Article 19 condemns conviction of human rights activist for screening banned film, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b001524.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.

ARTICLE 19 expressed concern about the conviction of human rights activist Lena Hendry for the screening of "No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka," a documentary about the Sri Lankan armed conflict, and calls for her conviction to be quashed. On 21 February, the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court found Hendry guilty under provisions of the Film Censorship Act of 2002. It set a 22 March hearing date for sentencing, at which she could face up to three years imprisonment. The prosecution violates the right to freedom of expression, and is inconsistent with international rights protections.

Hendry, a former coordinator of the human rights organization Pusat KOMAS, was originally charged in September 2013 for the screening of the award-winning film, which documents human rights violations committed by the Sri Lankan military during the 2009 armed conflict. In March 2016, the Magistrates Court of Kuala Lumpur dismissed the case, but the dismissal was overturned in September 2016 by the Malaysian High Court. Lena Hendry is the first human rights defender to be charged and convicted under the Film Censorship Act, which criminalises the possession or exhibition of films not approved by the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia.

The vague and over-broad language of the Act leaves it open to selective and arbitrary enforcement. Section 6(1)(b) criminalises the circulation, distribution, display, production, sale or hire of any non-approved film and Section 6(1)(a) extends the prohibition to the mere possession of such material. These provisions are inconsistent with international standards governing freedom of speech and expression, and are contrary to Malaysia's obligations under international law.[1] They may also be contrary to Article 10 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which guarantees freedom of speech, assembly and association.

ARTICLE 19 calls upon the Government to drop all charges and quash the conviction against Lena Hendry, and end the practice of utilising vague provisions of law to harass human rights defenders and curtail freedom of speech and expression in Malaysia. In addition, ARTICLE 19 urges the Malaysian authorities to immediately repeal or amend all laws, including the Film Censorship Act, which restrict the right to freedom of expression and to ensure that they comply with international human rights law and standards.

[1] While Malaysia has neither signed nor ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), it is nonetheless obligated to respect human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, as protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, part of customary international law.

Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19
Defense Minister Shoigu Promotes Russian Cyber Warfare Troops and Declares Victory in Syria

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Pavel Felgenhauer Publication Date 23 February 2017 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 23 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Defense Minister Shoigu Promotes Russian Cyber Warfare Troops and Declares Victory in Syria, 23 February 2017, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 23, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b001e04.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.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu used the shortened workweek before Red Army Day (February 23officially rechristened "Defender of the Fatherland Day," following the collapse of the Soviet Union) to promote Russia's military successes. Dressed in an army general's uniform decorated with military ribbons, Shoigu addressed an all-Russia youth forum in Moscow on February 21. The following day, Shoigu, again in military uniform and backed by his top brass army generals, addressed the State Duma. In previous years, Shoigu as well as his predecessors addressed plenary sessions of the Duma behind closed doors; those proceedings were always declared state secrets, and deputies were instructed not to disclose anything to journalists. But this week, Shoigu's address and question time in front of Russian legislators were open to the press and streamed live on the Internet by the Ministry of Defense.

Speaking before the youth forum, Shoigu asserted that Russia has achieved a resounding military-political victory in Syria by defeating the opposition, which was armed by the United States and its allies. He added that the wave of so-called "colored" pro-democracy revolutions, allegedly sponsored by the West, has been decisively crushed and reversed by heroic Russian soldiers fighting in Syria. Yugoslavia, Georgia, Iraq, Ukraine and Libya have been the victims of Western-sponsored pro-democracy "colored revolution" insurgencies, according to Shoigu. He asserted that while opposition fighters and mercenaries in Syria have been receiving arms and munitions from abroad, Russian weapons and soldiers have stabilized the situation by supporting the legitimate government in Damascus (Militarynews.ru, February 21).

In his speech before the Duma, the defense minister declared the mission in Syria accomplished: The possible overthrow of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been thwarted, and the Syrian civil war was effectively stopped after the "liberation" of Aleppo. The Syrian opposition is being separated from the radicalssomething the Western powers, according to Shoigu, could not achieve. Russian naval and air bases in Syria have been secured and will continue to operate indefinitely "to keep the strategic balance in the region and prevent the spread of terrorism." Russia massively used new weapons systems in Syria; and some 86 percent of all Russian air force pilots, according to Shoigu, carried out combat tours in Syria "to gain experience." Russian special forces and military police battalions "have demonstrated their high efficiency" in Syria (Mil.ru, February 22).

Replying to questions from Duma members, Shoigu disclosed that, four years ago, Russia secretly created an "information warfare directorate" within the defense ministryin effect a new branch of the military that will be engaged in cyber warfare "counterpropaganda." Apparently, this will involve hacking into databases and Internet trolling. Duma deputies seemed surprised when Shoigu publicly disclosed this previously secret information. Colonel General Vladimir Shamanov, a former chief of the Airborne Troops (VDV) and the current Duma defense committee chair, told journalists these new troops will "protect [Russia's] national defense interests and engage in information warfare," including cyber warfare (Militarynews.ru, February 22). Retired Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, the former head of the defense ministry's international cooperation department, insists Russia should be more aggressive in information warfare "to open up concealed Western data in the US and in Germany to expose their lies" (Militarynews.ru, February 22). The hacking of e-mail accounts to dump their contents into the public domain could seem to fit the Russian understanding of "information warfare."

Shoigu also announced that newly formed army divisions are being deployed in the west, south, north and on the Kurile Islands. A two-divisional air defense command is being deployed in the Arctic: one division covering the Barents Sea region and the otherfrom Novaya Zemlya Archipelago to Alaska (Militarynews.ru, February 20). Shoigu further noted than an additional division is being deployed in the Kuriles. In fact an entire army corps is reportedly being deployed in the Kuriles: a division and several separate brigades, combining army, anti-aircraft and long-range anti-ship missile units. This corps must defend the entire Kurile Island chain, including the presently uninhabited northern islandsnot only the southern ones claimed by Japanagainst a possible enemy (US and Japan) assault (Mk.ru, February 23). The Kurile corps must deny enemy air and sea assets from penetrating the Sea of Okhotskthus turning this body of water into a fortress from which Russian nuclear strategic submarines based in Kamchatka may target the continental United States. The Kurile defenses are part of a larger Pacific defense rim from the Bering Strait to Vladivostok. Last August, Shoigu announced the creation of such a defensive rim, which will also include the deployment of a coastguard division on the Chukotka Peninsula, facing Alaska. Using long-range anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles, this division will be tasked with denying the US access to the Arctic through the Bering Strait (Mil.ru, August 23, 2016).

Finally, Shoigu announced to Duma lawmakers, on February 22, thatto enhance Russian patriotismthe Ministry of Defense was building a replica of the Bundestag (German lower chamber of parliament, in Berlin) in the ministry-run "Patriot" team park, close to Moscow. Members of the defense ministrysponsored youth movement Yunarmya (Youth Army) will be able to storm this replica of the Bundestag to exercise, according to Shoigu. The storming by Russian troops of the Bundestag in 1945 symbolized the defeat of Nazi Germany. The Duma unanimously voted on a resolution to approve Shoigu's job performance as defense minister (Kommersant, February 22).

Shoiguunlike most of President Vladimir Putin's other ministershas the instincts of a true politician, as demonstrated by this week's public, self-promotional saber-rattling performances. The immediate objective seems obvious: to secure Putin's long-term commitment to allocate sufficient funds to continue the military's massive rearmament program, which is being challenged by the finance ministry wishing to cut defense spending. Some 58 percent of weapons in the immediate battle-ready units of the Armed Forces are today considered modern, and a massive rearmament is underway. In 2017, some 1.4 trillion rubles ($30 billion) have been allocated for arms procurement (Interfax, February 21). But at stake is the overall scope of the rearmament program from 2018 to 2025, which must be approved by next July. Last September, an open conflict was reported between Shoigu and Finance Minister Anatoly Syluanov: Shoigu demanded some 22 trillion rubles ($400 billion) for rearmament, while Syluanov announced he had only 12 trillion ($218 billion) (Kommersant, September 17). On February 23, Putin announced the rearmament program is a topmost priority "to defend against aggression" (Kremlin.ru, February 23). Shoigu seems to be winning.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
NATO Consolidating 'Collective Defense' in Europe's East

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Olevs Nikers Publication Date 23 February 2017 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 23 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, NATO Consolidating 'Collective Defense' in Europe's East, 23 February 2017, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 23, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0032f4.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.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Since the beginning of February 2017, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has begun to implement the decision taken at the Alliance's summit in Warsaw last July to deploy a rotational battalion-sized combat unit to each of the Baltic States and Poland. The bolstering of NATO forces in the east was prompted by Russia's growing regional aggression-as most blatantly exemplified by its war against Ukraine. The force transfer is being conducted under NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence program. Germany is heading the multinational battalion coming to Lithuania; the United States leads the battalion that will be stationed in Poland; Estonia will host a similar unit headed by the United Kingdom; and a Canadian-led battalion is coming to Latvia. These deployments will add to the rotating contingents of US troops already active in the region under Operation Atlantic Resolve. Launched in the spring of 2014, the "Atlantic Resolve" forces demonstrate the US's contribution to collective security along NATO's eastern flanks following Russia's annexation of Crimea (BNS, February 8).

US soldiers have begun relocating throughout the region to train together with their European allies in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. The US deployment to NATO's east includes more than 80 main battle tanks and hundreds of armored vehicles. Brigade headquarters, a support battalion, an artillery regiment as well as cavalry squadrons will be stationed in Poland. In all, Washington plans to deploy three armored brigade combat troops to the region: 4,400 troops of the 4th Infantry division along with 2,800 heavy armored vehicles. This will be the largest new US deployment to Europe since the Cold War. The armored brigade soldiers will be spread out among seven Central-Eastern European countries-Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary (Delfi.lv, February 1).

As a part of these forces, over the course of February, 400 soldiers and 24 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters from the 1st Battalion of the US Army 501st Aviation Regiment (Fort Bliss, Texas) will be deployed to Europe for nine months, under Operation Atlantic Resolve. These troops and rotary-wing aircraft will take part in joint training and aviation support operations in Latvia, on a rotational basis (Leta.lv, February 1).

At the beginning of this month, 15 M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks and 6 M2A3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles from the US 4th Infantry Division were also deployed to Latvia. These forces include anti-mine combat engineers as well as other combat support and security equipment, which will be used in joint exercises with Latvian soldiers. More than 225 troops from the United States have already arrived at the Adazi military base to replace soldiers from the US 173rd Infantry Brigade, who had been present in Latvia under the auspices of Operation Atlantic Resolve since September of last year. The spokesperson for Latvia's Ministry of Defense, Kaspars Galkins, told the Baltic News Service (BNS), that the newly rotated-in US forces will stay in Latvia until the Canadian-led multinational NATO battalion arrives in June (BNS, February 17).

Meanwhile, the German Armed Forces, together with the Armed Forces of the Netherlands, Croatia, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Norway have begun arriving in Lithuania. This military force will count around 1,200 soldiers, most of whom will be from Germany. Ten US tanks will stay in Lithuania as a part of "Atlantic Resolve" (Delfi.lv, February 10).

In Estonia, the first portions of the UK-led NATO multinational battalion are expected to arrive in March. French and Danish soldiers will form the roughly 1,200-strong battalion together with British troops (Delfi.lv, February 1).

As Alliance and US military support begins pouring in to the Baltic States and Central-Eastern Europe, this is pushing the countries in the region to emphasize their own role in helping to fight broader global threats such as international terrorism. As a case in point, Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis confirmed his country's solidarity in the fight against terrorism during a February 16 ministerial meeting of members of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State. "Solidarity is one of the core Latvian values. Our country has supported and will continue to support the United States in the fight against terrorism, contributing to the coalition against the Islamic State. We have a common objective-the effective and successful fight against terrorism," Minister Bergmanis stressed (Mod.gov.lv, February 16).

Latvia has recently sent soldiers of the National Armed Forces to Iraq, where they train local security forces under a Danish-led unit. "Our soldiers have expertise [with using] Soviet Union-produced equipment and weapons," said Bergmanis. "For 15 years, Latvia has participated in NATO's war against terrorism. Our soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder with the troops of the US, Britain, Spain, Poland, Norway, Germany, France, Denmark and other Allied soldiers. Latvia has undertaken this mission together with other allies and, the fight will continue," he declared (Sargs.lv, February 16).

Nora Vanaga, a researcher at the Latvian National Defense Academy, emphasizes that Latvia, as the host nation of the Canadian-led NATO multinational battalion, should attempt to integrate these forces into the Latvian military, in anticipation of possible crisis scenarios. According to Vanaga, the Ministry of Defense, in its communication with the public, should explain the ultimate objectives of the deployment of the multinational Canadian-led battalion on Latvian soil and prevent the spread of Russian propaganda messages like "Latvia is being invaded by occupying forces" or "the presence of NATO forces provokes Russia" (Leta.lv, January 15).

"On one hand, the multinational battalion deployments in the Baltic States are an important political signal of solidarity within NATO. But on the other hand, when assessing their military strength, they [are insufficient] to withstand the overwhelming Russian military might in the region. Therefore, the only way to strengthen NATO's deterrence policy against Russia is to help the Baltics build up their self-defense capabilities, thus increasing the costs for Russia were it to decide to act aggressively in the region," Vanaga argued (Leta.lv, January 15.

The modest redeployment of allied multinational forces to NATO's eastern flank has clearly begun. But perceptions of a looming threat will nonetheless persist until long-term peace and stability is restored in Europe.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Kazakhstan Embarks on Constitutional Reform Amid Uncertain Times

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author George Voloshin Publication Date 23 February 2017 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 23 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Kazakhstan Embarks on Constitutional Reform Amid Uncertain Times, 23 February 2017, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 23, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0039d4.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.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev surprised his fellow citizens and international observers alike when he announced, on January 11, the establishment of a special commission to elaborate wide-ranging constitutional reform. It had been less than two months since Nazarbayev spoke to a group of Western journalists in Astana about his potential succession. At the time, the president joked that he would stay in power as long as his health permitted and for as long as he enjoyed the trust of the population, before inviting his foreign guests to come back for his next inauguration. Nazarbayev, 76, was last re-elected in April 2015 with 97.75 percent of the ballots cast. He can technically run again for an unlimited number of terms, owing to his 2010 status as the Leader of the Nation. The next presidential election is scheduled for spring 2020, but in keeping with a long-standing tradition (the 1999, 2011 and 2015 elections were all held ahead of schedule), the next vote may also be an early one (Inform.kz, January 12, 2017; Tengrinews.kz, December 16, 2016; Kapital.kz, November 24, 2016).

The 12-strong constitutional reform commission is headed by Nazarbayev's chief of staff, former mayor of Astana and Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov. The other prominent members are Prosecutor General Zhakip Assanov, Justice Minister Marat Beketayev, Senate (upper chamber of parliament) vice-chairman Sergey Gromov, deputy head of the presidential administration Talgat Donakov, Mazhilis (lower chamber of parliament) vice-chairperson Gulmira Issimbayeva, Supreme Court chair Kairat Mami and Igor Rogov, the president of the Constitutional Council. The remaining members are drawn from academia and civil society. The commission held its first meeting on January 24. During this session, it told Nazarbayev that it had reviewed 11 constitutional laws, 20 codes and 298 ordinary laws and identified 11 codes and 80 laws that would need to be amended. The media reported that constitutional reform experts had formulated as many as 32 detailed proposals. Despite such extensive diligence, it increasingly seems that Nazarbayev will opt for a nationwide referendum on changes to the constitution rather than a speedy passage through parliament (Akorda.kz, January 24; Lsm.kz, Ktk.kz, January 11).

The likeliest architect of the constitutional package, as it will be presented to the wider public, will be Marat Tazhin. Holding a PhD in social science, he has been a deputy head of the presidential administration since January 12, after having represented Kazakhstan as its ambassador to Moscow since February 2014. To many Kazakhstan-watchers, Tazhin is Nazarbayev's "gray cardinal," who has been instrumental in the formation and refining of the regime's ideology for more than two decades. Nursultan Nazarbayev is widely known as the founding father of Eurasian integration, about which he first spoke at Moscow State University in 1995-that is, well before Vladimir Putin ascended to the presidency of Russia. As for Tazhin, he is the one who had formulated the theoretical underpinnings of what subsequently became the 2010 Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus as well as, eventually, the 2014 Eurasian Economic Union. Throughout the years, Tazhin has worked in the most sensitive jobs: as head of the National Security Committee (2001-2002), secretary of the Security Council (1999-2001, 2002, 2006-2007, 2009-2013) and foreign affairs minister (2007-2009) (Matrica.kz, Time.kz, January 12).

Although the exact content and timing of the ongoing reform are yet to be known, Nazarbayev previously spoke repeatedly about the need to rebalance the distribution of power among the presidency, the government, the legislature and the judiciary. "We needed a strong presidency when we were facing the biggest challenge of building an independent state, and it has fully proved its effectiveness. We have built a new country, a new economy, a new society," the head of state mused last month. Under the new reforms, the parliament should obtain the right to censure the government, which would, in turn, assume increased responsibilities for the general state of the economy, socioeconomic stability and public finance. The judiciary is slated to see its importance grow in parallel with a reduction of public prosecutors' involvement in civil and administrative affairs, with a view to further liberalization and democratization (Nomad.su, January 27; Khabar.kz, January 24).

Preparing Kazakhstan for a post-Nazarbayev era, in which the incumbent will first retreat into the background and then relinquish all powers in favor of a successor, is a tall order. Central Asia's biggest economy has little practical experience with real, functional democracy. Overall, the positive experiences of successful Western democracies are hard to imitate in such a short time span. The example of neighboring Kyrgyzstan, the most democratic country in Central Asia, yet the least stable, is a reflection of this truth. Furthermore, Kazakhstan has been confronted with an unprecedented economic crisis caused by the drastic fall in oil prices since mid-2014. Kazakhstan's GDP grew last year by only 1 percent, after 1.2 and 4.3 percent in 2015 and 2014, respectively. Given that the national currency, the tenge, has lost more than 40 percent of its value since early 2014, the modest growth is actually nothing more than an optical illusion concealing the harsh reality. The economy of Kazakhstan, which is dependent on oil for a quarter of its GDP, has been contracting (Economy.gov.kz, January 18, 2017; Vlast.kz, January 21, 2016; Forbes.kz, January 19, 2015). These weaknesses will need to be overcome to ensure long-term domestic stability conducive to maintaining truly democratic institutions.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Immigration Rules part 11: Asylum (paragraphs 326A to 352H)

Publisher United Kingdom: Home Office Publication Date 3 January 2017 Cite as United Kingdom: Home Office, Immigration Rules part 11: Asylum (paragraphs 326A to 352H), 3 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b016334.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.

326A. Procedure

The procedures set out in these Rules shall apply to the consideration of admissible applications for asylum and humanitarian protection.

326B. Where the Secretary of State is considering a claim for asylum or humanitarian protection under this Part, she will consider any Article 8 elements of that claim in line with the provisions of Appendix FM (family life) and in line with paragraphs 276ADE(1) to 276DH (private life) of these Rules which are relevant to those elements unless the person is someone to whom Part 13 of these Rules applies.

Definition of EU asylum applicant

326C. Under this Part an EU asylum applicant is a national of a Member State of the European Union who either;

(a) makes a request to be recognised a refugee under the Refugee Convention on the basis that it would be contrary to the United Kingdom's obligations under the Refugee Convention for them to be removed from or required to leave the United Kingdom, or

(b) otherwise makes a request for international protection. "EU asylum application" shall be construed accordingly.

326D. 'Member State' has the same meaning as in Schedule 1 to the European Communities Act 1972".

Inadmissibility of EU asylum applications

326E. An EU asylum application will be declared inadmissible and will not be considered unless the requirement in paragraph 326F is met.

326F. An EU asylum application will only be admissible if the applicant satisfies the Secretary of State that there are exceptional circumstances which require the application to be admitted for full consideration. Exceptional circumstances may include in particular:

(a) the Member State of which the applicant is a national has derogated from the European Convention on Human Rights in accordance with Article 15 of that Convention;

(b) the procedure detailed in Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union has been initiated, and the Council or, where appropriate, the European Council, has yet to make a decision as required in respect of the Member State of which the applicant is a national; or

(c) the Council has adopted a decision in accordance with Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union in respect of the Member State of which the applicant is a national, or the European Council has adopted a decision in accordance with Article 7(2) of that Treaty in respect of the Member State of which the applicant is a national.

Definition of asylum applicant

327. Under the Rules an asylum applicant is a person who either;

(a) makes a request to be recognised as a refugee under the Refugee Convention on the basis that it would be contrary to the United Kingdom's obligations under the Refugee Convention for them to be removed from or required to leave the United Kingdom, or

(b) otherwise makes a request for international protection. "Application for asylum" shall be construed accordingly.

327A. Every person has the right to make an application for asylum on their own behalf.

Applications for asylum

328. All asylum applications will be determined by the Secretary of State in accordance with the Refugee Convention. Every asylum application made by a person at a port or airport in the United Kingdom will be referred by the Immigration Officer for determination by the Secretary of State in accordance with these Rules.

328A. The Secretary of State shall ensure that authorities which are likely to be addressed by someone who wishes to make an application for asylum are able to advise that person how and where such an application may be made.

329. Until an asylum application has been determined by the Secretary of State or the Secretary of State has issued a certificate under Part 2, 3, 4 or 5 of Schedule 3 to the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 no action will be taken to require the departure of the asylum applicant or their dependants from the United Kingdom.

330. If the Secretary of State decides to grant refugee status and the person has not yet been given leave to enter, the Immigration Officer will grant limited leave to enter.

331. If a person seeking leave to enter is refused asylum or their application for asylum is withdrawn or treated as withdrawn under paragraph 333C of these Rules, the Immigration Officer will consider whether or not they are in a position to decide to give or refuse leave to enter without interviewing the person further. If the Immigration Officer decides that a further interview is not required they may serve the notice giving or refusing leave to enter by post. If the Immigration Officer decides that a further interview is required, they will then resume their examination to determine whether or not to grant the person leave to enter under any other provision of these Rules. If the person fails at any time to comply with a requirement to report to an Immigration Officer for examination, the Immigration Officer may direct that the person's examination shall be treated as concluded at that time. The Immigration Officer will then consider any outstanding applications for entry on the basis of any evidence before them.

332. If a person who has been refused leave to enter makes an application for asylum and that application is refused or withdrawn or treated as withdrawn under paragraph 333C of these Rules, leave to enter will again be refused unless the applicant qualifies for admission under any other provision of these Rules.

333. Written notice of decisions on applications for asylum shall be given in reasonable time. Where the applicant is legally represented, notice may instead be given to the representative. Where the applicant has no legal representative and free legal assistance is not available, they shall be informed of the decision on the application for asylum and, if the application is rejected, how to challenge the decision, in a language that they may reasonably be supposed to understand.

333A. The Secretary of State shall ensure that a decision is taken on each application for asylum as soon as possible, without prejudice to an adequate and complete examination.

Where a decision on an application for asylum cannot be taken within six months of the date it was recorded, the Secretary of State shall either:

(a) inform the applicant of the delay; or

(b) if the applicant has made a specific written request for it, provide information on the timeframe within which the decision on their application is to be expected. The provision of such information shall not oblige the Secretary of State to take a decision within the stipulated time-frame.

333B. Applicants for asylum shall be allowed an effective opportunity to consult, at their own expense or at public expense in accordance with provision made for this by the Legal Aid Agency or otherwise, a person who is authorised under Part V of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to give immigration advice. This paragraph shall also apply where the Secretary of State is considering revoking a person's refugee status in accordance with these Rules.

Withdrawal of applications

333C. If an application for asylum is withdrawn either explicitly or implicitly, consideration of it may be discontinued. An application will be treated as explicitly withdrawn if the applicant signs the relevant form provided by the Secretary of State. An application may be treated as impliedly withdrawn if an applicant leaves the United Kingdom without authorisation at any time prior to the conclusion of their asylum claim, or fails to complete an asylum questionnaire as requested by the Secretary of State, or fails to attend the personal interview as provided in paragraph 339NA of these Rules unless the applicant demonstrates within a reasonable time that that failure was due to circumstances beyond their control. The Secretary of State will indicate on the applicant's asylum file that the application for asylum has been withdrawn and consideration of it has been discontinued.

Grant of refugee status

334. An asylum applicant will be granted refugee status in the United Kingdom if the Secretary of State is satisfied that:

(i) they are in the United Kingdom or have arrived at a port of entry in the United Kingdom;

(ii) they are a refugee, as defined in regulation 2 of The Refugee or Person in Need of International Protection (Qualification) Regulations 2006;

(iii) there are no reasonable grounds for regarding them as a danger to the security of the United Kingdom;

(iv) having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, they do not constitute a danger to the community of the United Kingdom; and

(v) refusing their application would result in them being required to go (whether immediately or after the time limited by any existing leave to enter or remain) in breach of the Refugee Convention, to a country in which their life or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group.

335. If the Secretary of State decides to grant refugee status to a person who has previously been given leave to enter (whether or not the leave has expired) or to a person who has entered without leave, the Secretary of State will vary the existing leave or grant limited leave to remain.

Refusal of asylum

336. An application which does not meet the criteria set out in paragraph 334 will be refused. Where an application for asylum is refused, the reasons in fact and law shall be stated in the decision and information provided in writing on how to challenge the decision.

337. DELETED

338. DELETED

339. DELETED

Revocation or refusal to renew a grant of refugee status

338A. A person's grant of refugee status under paragraph 334 shall be revoked or not renewed if any of paragraphs 339A to 339AB apply. A person's grant of refugee status under paragraph 334 may be revoked or not renewed if paragraph 339AC applies.

Refugee Convention ceases to apply (cessation)

339A. This paragraph applies when the Secretary of State is satisfied that one or more of the following applies:

(i) they have voluntarily re-availed themselves of the protection of the country of nationality;

(ii) having lost their nationality, they have voluntarily re-acquired it;

(iii) they have acquired a new nationality, and enjoy the protection of the country of their new nationality;

(iv) they have voluntarily re-established themselves in the country which they left or outside which they remained owing to a fear of persecution;

(v) they can no longer, because the circumstances in connection with which they have been recognised as a refugee have ceased to exist, continue to refuse to avail themselves of the protection of the country of nationality; or

(vi) being a stateless person with no nationality, they are able, because the circumstances in connection with which they have been recognised as a refugee have ceased to exist, to return to the country of former habitual residence

In considering (v) and (vi), the Secretary of State shall have regard to whether the change of circumstances is of such a significant and non-temporary nature that the refugee's fear of persecution can no longer be regarded as well-founded.

Exclusion from the Refugee Convention

339AA. This paragraph applies where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the person should have been or is excluded from being a refugee in accordance with regulation 7 of The Refugee or Person in Need of International Protection (Qualification) Regulations 2006.

As regards the application of Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, this paragraph also applies where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the person has instigated or otherwise participated in the crimes or acts mentioned therein.

Misrepresentation

339AB. This paragraph applies where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the person's misrepresentation or omission of facts, including the use of false documents, were decisive for the grant of refugee status.

Danger to the United Kingdom

339AC. This paragraph applies where the Secretary of State is satisfied that:

(i) there are reasonable grounds for regarding the person as a danger to the security of the United Kingdom; or

(ii) having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, the person constitutes a danger to the community of the United Kingdom.

339B. When a person's refugee status is revoked or not renewed any limited or indefinite leave which they have may be curtailed or cancelled.

339BA. Where the Secretary of State is considering revoking refugee status in accordance with these Rules, the following procedure will apply. The person concerned shall be informed in writing that the Secretary of State is reconsidering their qualification for refugee status and the reasons for the reconsideration. That person shall be given the opportunity to submit, in a personal interview or in a written statement, reasons as to why their refugee status should not be revoked. If there is a personal interview, it shall be subject to the safeguards set out in these Rules.

339BB. The procedure in paragraph 339BA is subject to the following exceptions:

(i) where a person acquires British citizenship status, their refugee status is automatically revoked in accordance with paragraph 339A (iii) upon acquisition of that status without the need to follow the procedure.

(ii) where refugee status is revoked under paragraph 339A, or if the person has unequivocally renounced their recognition as a refugee, refugee status may be considered to have lapsed by law without the need to follow the procedure.

339BC. If the person leaves the United Kingdom, the procedure set out in paragraph 339BA may be initiated, and completed, while the person is outside the United Kingdom.

Grant of humanitarian protection

339C. A person will be granted humanitarian protection in the United Kingdom if the Secretary of State is satisfied that:

(i) they are in the United Kingdom or have arrived at a port of entry in the United Kingdom;

(ii) they do not qualify as a refugee as defined in regulation 2 of The Refugee or Person in Need of International Protection (Qualification) Regulations 2006;

(iii) substantial grounds have been shown for believing that the person concerned, if returned to the country of return, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm and is unable, or, owing to such risk, unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country; and

(iv) they are not excluded from a grant of humanitarian protection.

339CA. For the purposes of paragraph 339C, serious harm consists of:

(i) the death penalty or execution;

(ii) unlawful killing;

(iii) torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of a person in the country of return; or

(iv) serious and individual threat to a civilian's life or person by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict.

Exclusion from humanitarian protection

339D. A person is excluded from a grant of humanitarian protection for the purposes of paragraph 339C (iv) where the Secretary of State is satisfied that:

(i) there are serious reasons for considering that they have committed a crime against peace, a war crime, a crime against humanity, or any other serious crime or instigated or otherwise participated in such crimes;

(ii) there are serious reasons for considering that they have guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations or have committed, prepared or instigated such acts or encouraged or induced others to commit, prepare or instigate such acts;

(iii) there are serious reasons for considering that they constitute a danger to the community or to the security of the United Kingdom; or

(iv) there are serious reasons for considering that they have committed a serious crime; or

(v) prior to their admission to the United Kingdom the person committed a crime outside the scope of (i) and (iv) that would be punishable by imprisonment were it committed in the United Kingdom and the person left their country of origin solely in order to avoid sanctions resulting from the crime.

339E. If the Secretary of State decides to grant humanitarian protection and the person has not yet been given leave to enter, the Secretary of State or an Immigration Officer will grant limited leave to enter. If the Secretary of State decides to grant humanitarian protection to a person who has been given limited leave to enter (whether or not that leave has expired) or a person who has entered without leave, the Secretary of State will vary the existing leave or grant limited leave to remain.

Refusal of humanitarian protection

339F. Where the criteria set out in paragraph 339C is not met humanitarian protection will be refused.

Revocation of, ending of or refusal to renew humanitarian protection

339G. A person's humanitarian protection granted under paragraph 339C will be revoked or not renewed if any of paragraphs 339GA to 339GB apply. A person's humanitarian protection granted under paragraph 339C may be revoked or not renewed if any of paragraphs 339GC to paragraph 339GD apply.

Humanitarian protection ceases to apply

339GA. This paragraph applies where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the circumstances which led to the grant of humanitarian protection have ceased to exist or have changed to such a degree that such protection is no longer required.

In applying this paragraph the Secretary of State shall have regard to whether the change of circumstances is of such a significant and non-temporary nature that the person no longer faces a real risk of serious harm.

Revocation of humanitarian protection on the grounds of exclusion

339GB. This paragraph applies where the Secretary of State is satisfied that:

(i) the person granted humanitarian protection should have been or is excluded from humanitarian protection because there are serious reasons for considering that they have committed a crime against peace, a war crime, a crime against humanity, or any other serious crime or instigated or otherwise participated in such crimes;

(ii) the person granted humanitarian protection should have been or is excluded from humanitarian protection because there are serious reasons for considering that they are guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations or have committed, prepared or instigated such acts or encouraged or induced others to commit, prepare or instigate such acts;

(iii) the person granted humanitarian protection should have been or is excluded from humanitarian protection because there are serious reasons for considering that they constitute a danger to the community or to the security of the United Kingdom;

(iv) the person granted humanitarian protection should have been or is excluded from humanitarian protection because there are serious reasons for considering that they have committed a serious crime; or

(v) the person granted humanitarian protection should have been or is excluded from humanitarian protection because prior to their admission to the United Kingdom the person committed a crime outside the scope of paragraph 339GB (i) and (iv) that would be punishable by imprisonment had it been committed in the United Kingdom and the person left their country of origin solely in order to avoid sanctions resulting from the crime.

339GC. DELETED

Revocation of humanitarian protection on the basis of misrepresentation

339GD. This paragraph shall apply where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the person granted humanitarian protection misrepresented or omitted facts, including the use of false documents, which were decisive to the grant of humanitarian protection.

339H. When a person's humanitarian protection is revoked or not renewed any limited or indefinite leave which they have may be curtailed or cancelled.

Consideration of applications

339HA. The Secretary of State shall ensure that the personnel examining applications for asylum and taking decisions on the Secretary of State's behalf have the knowledge with respect to relevant standards applicable in the field of asylum and refugee law.

339I. When the Secretary of State considers a person's asylum claim, eligibility for a grant of humanitarian protection or human rights claim it is the duty of the person to submit to the Secretary of State as soon as possible all material factors needed to substantiate the asylum claim or establish that they are a person eligible for humanitarian protection or substantiate the human rights claim, which the Secretary of State shall assess in cooperation with the person.

The material factors include:

(i) the person's statement on the reasons for making an asylum claim or on eligibility for a grant of humanitarian protection or for making a human rights claim;

(ii) all documentation at the person's disposal regarding the person's age, background (including background details of relevant relatives), identity, nationality(ies), country(ies) and place(s) of previous residence, previous asylum applications, travel routes; and

(iii) identity and travel documents.

339IA. For the purposes of examining individual applications for asylum

(i) information provided in support of an application and the fact that an application has been made shall not be disclosed to the alleged actor(s) of persecution of the applicant, and

(ii) information shall not be obtained from the alleged actor(s) of persecution that would result in their being directly informed that an application for asylum has been made by the applicant in question and would jeopardise the physical integrity of the applicant and their dependants, or the liberty and security of their family members still living in the country of origin.

This paragraph shall also apply where the Secretary of State is considering revoking a person's refugee status in accordance with these Rules.

339J. The assessment by the Secretary of State of an asylum claim, eligibility for a grant of humanitarian protection or a human rights claim will be carried out on an individual, objective and impartial basis. This will include taking into account in particular:

(i) all relevant facts as they relate to the country of origin or country of return at the time of taking a decision on the grant; including laws and regulations of the country of origin or country of return and the manner in which they are applied;

(ii) relevant statements and documentation presented by the person including information on whether the person has been or may be subject to persecution or serious harm;

(iii) the individual position and personal circumstances of the person, including factors such as background, gender and age, so as to assess whether, on the basis of the person's personal circumstances, the acts to which the person has been or could be exposed would amount to persecution or serious harm;

(iv) whether the person's activities since leaving the country of origin or country of return were engaged in for the sole or main purpose of creating the necessary conditions for making an asylum claim or establishing that they are a person eligible for humanitarian protection or a human rights claim, so as to assess whether these activities will expose the person to persecution or serious harm if returned to that country; and

(v) whether the person could reasonably be expected to avail themselves of the protection of another country where they could assert citizenship.

339JA. Reliable and up-to-date information shall be obtained from various sources as to the general situation prevailing in the countries of origin of applicants for asylum and, where necessary, in countries through which they have transited. Such information shall be made available to the personnel responsible for examining applications and taking decisions and may be provided to them in the form of a consolidated country information report.

This paragraph shall also apply where the Secretary of State is considering revoking a person's refugee status in accordance with these Rules.

339K. The fact that a person has already been subject to persecution or serious harm, or to direct threats of such persecution or such harm, will be regarded as a serious indication of the person's well-founded fear of persecution or real risk of suffering serious harm, unless there are good reasons to consider that such persecution or serious harm will not be repeated.

339L. It is the duty of the person to substantiate the asylum claim or establish that they are a person eligible for humanitarian protection or substantiate their human rights claim. Where aspects of the person's statements are not supported by documentary or other evidence, those aspects will not need confirmation when all of the following conditions are met:

(i) the person has made a genuine effort to substantiate their asylum claim or establish that they are a person eligible for humanitarian protection or substantiate their human rights claim;

(ii) all material factors at the person's disposal have been submitted, and a satisfactory explanation regarding any lack of other relevant material has been given;

(iii) the person's statements are found to be coherent and plausible and do not run counter to available specific and general information relevant to the person's case;

(iv) the person has made an asylum claim or sought to establish that they are a person eligible for humanitarian protection or made a human rights claim at the earliest possible time, unless the person can demonstrate good reason for not having done so; and

(v) the general credibility of the person has been established.

339M. The Secretary of State may consider that a person has not substantiated their asylum claim or established that they are a person eligible for humanitarian protection or substantiated their human rights claim, and thereby reject their application for asylum, determine that they are not eligible for humanitarian protection or reject their human rights claim, if they fail, without reasonable explanation, to make a prompt and full disclosure of material facts, either orally or in writing, or otherwise to assist the Secretary of State in establishing the facts of the case; this includes, for example, failure to report to a designated place to be fingerprinted, failure to complete an asylum questionnaire or failure to comply with a requirement to report to an immigration officer for examination.

339MA. Applications for asylum shall be neither rejected nor excluded from examination on the sole ground that they have not been made as soon as possible.

339N. In determining whether the general credibility of the person has been established the Secretary of State will apply the provisions in s.8 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004.

Personal interview

339NA. Before a decision is taken on the application for asylum, the applicant shall be given the opportunity of a personal interview on their application for asylum with a representative of the Secretary of State who is legally competent to conduct such an interview.

The personal interview may be omitted where:

(i) the Secretary of State is able to take a positive decision on the basis of evidence available;

(ii) the Secretary of State has already had a meeting with the applicant for the purpose of assisting them with completing their application and submitting the essential information regarding the application;

(iii) the applicant, in submitting their application and presenting the facts, has only raised issues that are not relevant or of minimal relevance to the examination of whether they are a refugee, as defined in regulation 2 of the Refugee or Person in Need of International Protection (Qualification) Regulations 2006;

(iv) the applicant has made inconsistent, contradictory, improbable or insufficient representations which make their claim clearly unconvincing in relation to having been the object of persecution;

(v) the applicant has submitted a subsequent application which does not raise any relevant new elements with respect to their particular circumstances or to the situation in their country of origin;

(vi) the applicant is making an application merely in order to delay or frustrate the enforcement of an earlier or imminent decision which would result in their removal;

(vii) it is not reasonably practicable, in particular where the Secretary of State is of the opinion that the applicant is unfit or unable to be interviewed owing to enduring circumstances beyond their control; or

(viii) the applicant is an EU national whose claim the Secretary of State has nevertheless decided to consider substantively in accordance with paragraph 326F above.

The omission of a personal interview shall not prevent the Secretary of State from taking a decision on the application.

Where the personal interview is omitted, the applicant and dependants shall be given a reasonable opportunity to submit further information.

339NB. (i) The personal interview mentioned in paragraph 339NA above shall normally take place without the presence of the applicant's family members unless the Secretary of State considers it necessary for an appropriate examination to have other family members present.

(ii) The personal interview shall take place under conditions which ensure appropriate confidentiality.

339NC (i) A written report shall be made of every personal interview containing at least the essential information regarding the asylum application as presented by the applicant in accordance with paragraph 339I of these Rules.

(ii) The Secretary of State shall ensure that the applicant has timely access to the report of the personal interview and that access is possible as soon as necessary for allowing an appeal to be prepared and lodged in due time.

339ND The Secretary of State shall provide at public expense an interpreter for the purpose of allowing the applicant to submit their case, wherever necessary. The Secretary of State shall select an interpreter who can ensure appropriate communication between the applicant and the representative of the Secretary of State who conducts the interview.

339NE The Secretary of State may require an audio recording to be made of the personal interview referred to in paragraph 339NA. Where an audio recording is considered necessary for the processing of a claim for asylum, the Secretary of State shall inform the applicant in advance that the interview will be recorded.

Internal relocation

339O (i) The Secretary of State will not make:

(a) a grant of refugee status if in part of the country of origin a person would not have a well founded fear of being persecuted, and the person can reasonably be expected to stay in that part of the country; or

(b) a grant of humanitarian protection if in part of the country of return a person would not face a real risk of suffering serious harm, and the person can reasonably be expected to stay in that part of the country.

(ii) In examining whether a part of the country of origin or country of return meets the requirements in (i) the Secretary of State, when making a decision on whether to grant asylum or humanitarian protection, will have regard to the general circumstances prevailing in that part of the country and to the personal circumstances of the person.

(iii) (i) applies notwithstanding technical obstacles to return to the country of origin or country of return

Sur place claims

339P. A person may have a well-founded fear of being persecuted or a real risk of suffering serious harm based on events which have taken place since the person left the country of origin or country of return and/or activities which have been engaged in by a person since they left the country of origin or country of return, in particular where it is established that the activities relied upon constitute the expression and continuation of convictions or orientations held in the country of origin or country of return.

Residence Permits

339Q(i) The Secretary of State will issue to a person granted refugee status in the United Kingdom a residence permit as soon as possible after the grant of refugee status. The residence permit may be valid for five years and renewable, unless compelling reasons of national security or public order otherwise require or where there are reasonable grounds for considering that the applicant is a danger to the security of the United Kingdom or having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, the applicant constitutes a danger to the community of the United Kingdom or the person's character, conduct or associations otherwise require..

(ii) The Secretary of State will issue to a person granted humanitarian protection in the United Kingdom a residence permit as soon as possible after the grant of humanitarian protection. The residence permit may be valid for five years and renewable, unless compelling reasons of national security or public order otherwise require or where there are reasonable grounds for considering that the person granted humanitarian protection is a danger to the security of the United Kingdom or having been convicted by a final judgment of a serious crime, this person constitutes a danger to the community of the United Kingdom or the person's character, conduct or associations otherwise require..

(iii) The Secretary of State will issue a residence permit to a family member of a person granted refugee status or humanitarian protection where the family member does not qualify for such status. A residence permit may be granted for a period of five years. The residence permit is renewable on the terms set out in (i) and (ii) respectively. "Family member" for the purposes of this sub-paragraph refers only to those who are treated as dependants for the purposes of paragraph 349.

(iv) The Secretary of State may revoke or refuse to renew a person's residence permit where their grant of refugee status or humanitarian protection is revoked under the provisions in the immigration rules.

Requirements for indefinite leave to remain for persons granted refugee status or humanitarian protection

339R. The requirements for indefinite leave to remain for a person granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, or their dependants granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in line with the main applicant or any dependant granted leave to enter or remain in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 352A to 352FJ of these Rules (Family Reunion), are that:

(i) the applicant has held a residence permit issued under paragraph 339Q for a continuous period of five years in the UK; and

(ii) the applicant's residence permit has not been revoked or not renewed under paragraphs 339A or 339G of the immigration rules; and

(iii) the applicant has not:

a. been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to imprisonment for at least 4 years; or

b. been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to imprisonment for at least 12 months but less than 4 years, unless a period of 15 years has passed since the end of the sentence; or

c. been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to imprisonment for less than 12 months, unless a period of 7 years has passed since the end of the sentence; or

d. within the 24 months prior to the date on which the application has been decided, been convicted of or admitted an offence for which they have received a non-custodial sentence or other out of court disposal that is recorded on their criminal record; or

e. in the view of the Secretary of State caused serious harm by their offending or persistently offended and shown a particular disregard for the law; or

f. in the view of the Secretary of State, at the date on which the application has been decided, demonstrated the undesirability of granting settlement in the United Kingdom in light of his or her conduct (including convictions which do not fall within paragraphs 339R(iii)(a-e)), character or associations or the fact that he or she represents a threat to national security.

Indefinite leave to remain for a person granted refugee status or humanitarian protection

339S. Indefinite leave to remain for a person granted refugee status or humanitarian protection will be granted where each of the requirements in paragraph 339R is met.

Refusal of indefinite leave to remain for a person granted refugee status or humanitarian protection

339T. (i) Indefinite leave to remain for a person granted refugee status or humanitarian protection is to be refused if any of the requirements of paragraph 339R is not met.

(ii) An applicant refused indefinite leave to remain under paragraph 339T(i) may apply to have their residence permit extended in accordance with paragraph 339Q to 339QD.

Consideration of asylum applications and human rights claims

340. DELETED

341. DELETED

342. DELETED

343. DELETED

344. DELETED

Travel documents

344A(i). After having received a complete application for a travel document, the Secretary of State will issue to a person granted refugee status in the United Kingdom and their family members travel documents, in the form set out in the Schedule to the Refugee Convention, for the purpose of travel outside the United Kingdom, unless compelling reasons of national security or public order otherwise require.

(ii) After having received a complete application for a travel document, the Secretary of State will issue to a person granted humanitarian protection in the United Kingdom and their family members a travel document where that person is unable to obtain a national passport or other identity documents which enable that person to travel, unless compelling reasons of national security or public order otherwise require.

(iii) Where the person referred to in (ii) can obtain a national passport or identity documents but has not done so, the Secretary of State will issue that person with a travel document where that person can show that they have made reasonable attempts to obtain a national passport or identity document and there are serious humanitarian reasons for travel.

(iv) For the purposes of paragraph 344A, a 'family member' refers only to a person who has been treated as a dependant under paragraph 349 of these Rules or a person who has been granted leave to enter or remain in accordance with paragraphs 352A-352FJ of these Rules.

Access to Employment

344B. The Secretary of State will not impose conditions restricting the employment or occupation in the United Kingdom of a person granted refugee status or humanitarian protection.

Information

344C. A person who is granted refugee status or humanitarian protection will be provided with access to information in a language that they may reasonably be supposed to understand which sets out the rights and obligations relating to that status. The Secretary of State will provide the information as soon as possible after the grant of refugee status or humanitarian protection.

345. DELETED

345(2A) DELETED

Inadmissibility of non-EU applications for asylum

345A. An asylum claim will be declared inadmissible and will not be substantively considered if the Secretary of State determines that one of the following conditions are met:

(i) another Member State has granted refugee status;

(ii) a country which is not a Member State is considered to be a first country of asylum for the applicant, according to the requirements of paragraph 345B;

(iii) a country which is not a Member State is considered to be a safe third country for the applicant, according to the requirements of paragraphs 345C and 345D;

(iv) the applicant is allowed to remain in the United Kingdom on some other grounds and as a result of this has been granted a status equivalent to the rights and benefits of refugee status;

(v) the applicant is allowed to remain in the United Kingdom on some other grounds which protect them against refoulement pending the outcome of a procedure for determining their status in accordance with (iii) above.

First Country of Asylum

345B. A country is a first country of asylum, for a particular applicant, if:

(i) the applicant has been recognised in that country as a refugee and they can still avail themselves of that protection; or

(ii) the applicant otherwise enjoys sufficient protection in that country, including benefiting from the principle of non-refoulement; and

(iii) the applicant will be readmitted to that country in either case.

Safe Third Country

345C. A country is a safe third country for a particular applicant if:

(i) the applicant's life and liberty will not be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion in that country;

(ii) the principle of non-refoulement will be respected in that country in accordance with the Refugee Convention;

(iii) the prohibition of removal, in violation of the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as laid down in international law, is respected in that country;

(iv) the possibility exists to request refugee status and, if found to be a refugee, to receive protection in accordance with the Refugee Convention in that country;

(v) there is a sufficient degree of connection between the person seeking asylum and that country on the basis of which it would be reasonable for them to go there; and

(vi) the applicant will be admitted to that country.

Safe Third Country connectivity

345D. In order to determine whether it is reasonable for an individual to be removed to a safe third country in accordance with paragraph 345C(v), the Secretary of State may have regard to, but is not limited to:

(i) any time the applicant has spent in the third country;

(ii) any relationship with persons in the third country which may include:

a. nationals of the third country;

b. non-citizens who are habitually resident in the third country;

c. family members seeking status in the third country;

(iii) family lineage, regardless of whether close family are present in the third country; or

(iv) any cultural or ethnic connections.

Dublin Transfers

345E. The Secretary of State shall decline to substantively consider an asylum claim if the applicant is transferable to another country in accordance with the Dublin Regulation.

Previously rejected applications

346. DELETED

347. DELETED

Rights of appeal

348. DELETED

Dependants

349. A spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, or minor child accompanying a principal applicant may be included in the application for asylum as a dependant, provided, in the case of an adult dependant with legal capacity, the dependant consents to being treated as such at the time the application is lodged. A spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or minor child may also claim asylum in their own right. If the principal applicant is granted refugee status or humanitarian protection and leave to enter or remain any spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or minor child will be granted leave to enter or remain for the same duration. The case of any dependant who claims asylum in their own right will be also considered individually in accordance with paragraph 334 above. An applicant under this paragraph, including an accompanied child, may be interviewed where they make a claim as a dependant or in their own right.

If the spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, or minor child in question has a claim in their own right, that claim should be made at the earliest opportunity. Any failure to do so will be taken into account and may damage credibility if no reasonable explanation for it is given. Where an asylum or humanitarian protection application is unsuccessful, at the same time that asylum or humanitarian protection is refused the applicant may be notified of removal directions or served with a notice of the Secretary of State's intention to deport them, as appropriate. In this paragraph and paragraphs 350-352 a child means a person who is under 18 years of age or who, in the absence of documentary evidence establishing age, appears to be under that age. An unmarried partner for the purposes of this paragraph, is a person who has been living together with the principal applicant in a subsisting relationship akin to marriage or a civil partnership for two years or more.

Unaccompanied children

350. Unaccompanied children may also apply for asylum and, in view of their potential vulnerability, particular priority and care is to be given to the handling of their cases.

351. A person of any age may qualify for refugee status under the Convention and the criteria in paragraph 334 apply to all cases. However, account should be taken of the applicant's maturity and in assessing the claim of a child more weight should be given to objective indications of risk than to the child's state of mind and understanding of their situation. An asylum application made on behalf of a child should not be refused solely because the child is too young to understand their situation or to have formed a well founded fear of persecution. Close attention should be given to the welfare of the child at all times.

352. Any child over the age of 12 who has claimed asylum in their own right shall be interviewed about the substance of their claim unless the child is unfit or unable to be interviewed. When an interview takes place it shall be conducted in the presence of a parent, guardian, representative or another adult independent of the Secretary of State who has responsibility for the child. The interviewer shall have specialist training in the interviewing of children and have particular regard to the possibility that a child will feel inhibited or alarmed. The child shall be allowed to express themselves in their own way and at their own speed. If they appear tired or distressed, the interview will be suspended. The interviewer should then consider whether it would be appropriate for the interview to be resumed the same day or on another day.

352ZA. The Secretary of State shall as soon as possible after an unaccompanied child makes an application for asylum take measures to ensure that a representative represents and/or assists the unaccompanied child with respect to the examination of the application and ensure that the representative is given the opportunity to inform the unaccompanied child about the meaning and possible consequences of the interview and, where appropriate, how to prepare themselves for the interview. The representative shall have the right to be present at the interview and ask questions and make comments in the interview, within the framework set by the interviewer.

352ZB. The decision on the application for asylum shall be taken by a person who is trained to deal with asylum claims from children.

Requirements for limited leave to remain as an unaccompanied asylum seeking child.

352ZC The requirements to be met in order for a grant of limited leave to remain to be made in relation to an unaccompanied asylum seeking child under paragraph 352ZE are:

a) the applicant is an unaccompanied asylum seeking child under the age of 17  years throughout the duration of leave to be granted in this capacity;

b) the applicant must have applied for asylum and been granted neither refugee status nor Humanitarian Protection;

c) there are no adequate reception arrangements in the country to which they would be returned if leave to remain was not granted;

d) the applicant must not be excluded from being a refugee under Regulation 7 of the Refugee or Person in Need of International Protection (Qualification) Regulations 2006 or excluded from a grant of Humanitarian Protection under paragraph 339D or both;

e) there are no reasonable grounds for regarding the applicant as a danger to the security of the United Kingdom;

f) the applicant has not been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, and the applicant does not constitute a danger to the community of the United Kingdom; and

g) the applicant is not, at the date of their application, the subject of a deportation order or a decision to make a deportation order.

352ZD An unaccompanied asylum seeking child is a person who:

a) is under 18 years of age when the asylum application is submitted.

b) is applying for asylum in their own right; and

c) is separated from both parents and is not being cared for by an adult who in law or by custom has responsibility to do so.

352ZE. Limited leave to remain should be granted for a period of 30 months or until the child is 17  years of age whichever is shorter, provided that the Secretary of State is satisfied that the requirements in paragraph 352ZC are met.

352ZF. Limited leave granted under this provision will cease if

a) any one or more of the requirements listed in paragraph 352ZC cease to be met, or

b) a misrepresentation or omission of facts, including the use of false documents, were decisive for the grant of leave under 352ZE.

Family Reunion Requirements for leave to enter or remain as the partner of a refugee

352A. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the partner of a person granted refugee status are that:

(i) the applicant is the partner of a person who currently has refugee status granted under the Immigration Rules in the United Kingdom; and

(ii) the marriage or civil partnership did not take place after the person granted refugee status left the country of their former habitual residence in order to seek asylum or the parties have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage or a civil partnership which has subsisted for two years or more before the person granted refugee status left the country of their former habitual residence in order to seek asylum; and

(iii) the relationship existed before the person granted refugee status left the country of their former habitual residence in order to seek asylum; and

(iv) the applicant would not be excluded from protection by virtue of paragraph 334(iii) or (iv) of these Rules or Article 1F of the Refugee Convention if they were to seek asylum in their own right; and

(v) each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as their spouse or civil partner and the marriage is subsisting; and

(vi) the applicant and their partner must not be within the prohibited degree of relationship; and

(vii) if seeking leave to enter, the applicant holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

352AA. DELETED

Granting family reunion to the partner of a refugee

352B. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the partner of a person who currently has refugee status may be granted provided a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the partner of a person who currently has refugee status may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 352A (i) to (vi) are met.

352BA Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person who currently has refugee status may be granted provided a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the unmarried or same sex partner of a person who currently has refugee status may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 352AA (i) - (vii) are met.

Refusing family reunion to the partner of a refugee

352C. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the partner of a person who currently has refugee status is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain as the partner of a person who currently has refugee status is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 352A (i) to (vi) are met.

352CA DELETED

Requirements for leave to enter or remain as the child of a refugee

352D. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom in order to join or remain with the parent who currently has refugee status are that the applicant:

(i) is the child of a parent who currently has refugee status granted under the Immigration Rules in the United Kingdom; and

(ii) is under the age of 18; and

(iii) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried and is not a civil partner, and has not formed an independent family unit; and

(iv) was part of the family unit of the person granted asylum at the time that the person granted asylum left the country of their habitual residence in order to seek asylum; and

(v) the applicant would not be excluded from protection by virtue of paragraph 334(iii) or (iv) of these Rules or Article 1F of the Refugee Convention if they were to seek asylum in their own right; and

(vi) if seeking leave to enter, holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

Granting family reunion to the child of a refugee

352E. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a person who currently has refugee status may be granted provided a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a person who currently has refugee status may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 352D (i) to (v) are met.

Refusing family reunion to the child of a refugee

352F. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a person who currently has refugee status is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain as the child of a person who currently has refugee status is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 352D (i) to (v) are met.

Requirements for leave to enter or remain as the partner of a person with humanitarian protection

352FA. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the partner of a person who currently has humanitarian protection and was granted that status on or after 30 August 2005 are that:

(i) the applicant is the partner of a person who currently has humanitarian protection granted under the Immigration Rules in the United Kingdom and was granted that status on or after 30 August 2005; and

(ii) the marriage or civil partnership did not take place after the person granted humanitarian protection left the country of their former habitual residence in order to seek asylum in the United Kingdom or the parties have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage or a civil partnership which has subsisted for two years or more before the person granted humanitarian protection left the country of their former habitual residence in order to seek asylum; and

(iii) the relationship existed before the person granted humanitarian protection left the country of their former habitual residence in order to seek asylum; and

(iv) the applicant would not be excluded from a grant of humanitarian protection for any of the reasons in paragraph 339D; and

(v) each of the parties intend to live permanently with the other as their spouse or civil partner and the marriage or civil partnership is subsisting; and

(vi) the applicant and their partner must not be within the prohibited degree of relationship; and

(vii) if seeking leave to enter, the applicant holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

Granting family reunion to the partner of a person with humanitarian protection

352FB. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the partner of a person who currently has humanitarian protection may be granted provided a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the partner of a person who currently has humanitarian protection may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements in sub paragraphs 352FA(i) to (vi) are met.

Refusing family reunion to the partner of a person with humanitarian protection

352FC. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the partner of a person who currently has humanitarian protection is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain as the partner of a person who currently has humanitarian protection is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements in sub paragraphs 352FA (i) to (vi) are met.

352FD. DELETED

352FE. DELETED

352FF. DELETED

Requirements for leave to enter or remain as the child of a person with humanitarian protection

352FG. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom in order to join or remain with their parent who currently has humanitarian protection and was granted that status on or after 30 August 2005 are that the applicant:

(i) is the child of a parent currently who has humanitarian protection and was granted that status on or after 30 August 2005 under the Immigration Rules in the United Kingdom; and

(ii) is under the age of 18, and

(iii) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried or is not in a civil partnership, and has not formed an independent family unit; and

(iv) was part of the family unit of the person granted humanitarian protection at the time that the person granted humanitarian protection left the country of their habitual residence in order to seek asylum in the United Kingdom; and

(v) would not be excluded from a grant of humanitarian protection for any of the reasons in paragraph 339D; and

(vi) if seeking leave to enter, holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

Granting family reunion to the child of a person with humanitarian protection

352FH. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a person who currently has humanitarian protection may be granted provided a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a person who currently has humanitarian protection may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements in sub paragraphs 352FG (i) to (v) are met.

Refusing family reunion to the child of a person with humanitarian protection

352FI. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a person who currently has humanitarian protection is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain as the child of a person who currently has humanitarian protection is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements in sub paragraphs 352FG (i) to (v) are met.

Refusing family reunion where the sponsor is a British Citizen

352FJ. Nothing in paragraphs 352A to 352FI shall allow a person to be granted leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the partner or child of a person who has been granted refugee status, or granted humanitarian protection under the immigration rules in the United Kingdom on or after 30 August 2005, if the person granted refugee status or person granted humanitarian protection, is a British Citizen.

Interpretation

352G. For the purposes of this Part:

(a) DELETED

(b) "Country of return" means a country or territory listed in paragraph 8(c) of Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971;

(c) "Country of origin" means the country or countries of nationality or, for a stateless person, or former habitual residence.

(d) "Partner" means the applicant's spouse, civil partner, or a person who has been living together with the applicant in a relationship akin to a marriage or civil partnership for at least two years prior to the date of application;

(e) "Dublin Regulation" means Regulation (EU) No. 604/2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person

Restriction on study

352H. Where a person is granted leave in accordance with the provisions set out in Part 11 of the Immigration Rules that leave will, in addition to any other conditions which may apply, be granted subject to the condition in Part 15 of these Rules.
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Croatia

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Croatia, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0340a2d.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.

Republic of Croatia

Head of state: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

Head of government: Andrej Plenkovic (replaced Tihomir Oreskovic in October, who replaced Zoran Milanovic in January)

Croatia experienced a period of political instability triggered by a no-confidence vote in the newly appointed government. Reception conditions for asylum-seekers were generally adequate; but there was no coherent long-term social integration policy. Discrimination against ethnic minorities persisted. Freedom of the media was undermined. Heightened nationalist rhetoric and hate speech contributed to growing ethnic intolerance and insecurity.

BACKGROUND

A new government was formed in January, two months after general elections which failed to produce an outright winner. The volatile coalition collapsed in June, triggering a vote of no confidence in the government led by Tihomir Oreskovic, and the dissolution of the Parliament in July. Following elections in September, the centre-right HDZ party, that won 61 out of 151 seats, entered into a coalition with small centre-right parties and formed a new cabinet led by Andrej Plenkovic.

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS

Croatia remained a transit country for refugees and migrants heading to Western Europe. Recognizing that only a limited number of people claimed asylum and remained in Croatia for an extended period of time, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights stated that conditions in reception centres were adequate. They noted that there were services available to refugees and migrants, including psychosocial support and language education, but that these were mainly provided by NGOs. Human rights organizations noted shortcomings in asylum and immigration legislation, and criticized a Draft Aliens Law adopted by the government in May and still under consideration by the Parliament as of December. The Bill included provisions criminalizing social and humanitarian assistance to irregular migrants and retained measures requiring migrants subject to deportation to pay the cost of their accommodation and removal from the country.

Croatia had received 50 refugees by December, including 30 Syrians from Turkey, as a part of the EU resettlement scheme, and 10 asylum-seekers each from Greece and Italy under the relocation scheme. Croatia has committed to accept a total of 1,600 refugees and asylum-seekers under the EU resettlement and relocation schemes until the end of 2017. While reception conditions upon arrival in the country remained adequate, the authorities were yet to implement a comprehensive policy to ensure effective long-term social integration of refugees and migrants.

CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia raised concerns about the pace and effectiveness of prosecutions by the national courts of crimes committed during the 1992-1995 war. The law regulating the status of civilian victims of war passed in 2015 helped ease access to reparations and made it easier for survivors to access crucial services, but challenges remained in providing all victims, especially ethnic minorities, with equal and effective access to justice.

For the second consecutive year, no progress was made in establishing the fate and whereabouts of 1,600 persons disappeared during the war.

DISCRIMINATION

Discrimination against ethnic minorities and Roma remained widespread. The legislative framework for the prevention of discrimination provided adequate protection in law, but was severely under-utilized.

Hate speech

The period of political instability around the turn of the year was accompanied by a surge in nationalist rhetoric and hate speech targeting specific groups, in particular ethnic Serbs, refugees and migrants. Civil society groups recorded increased instances of the media and public officials "evoking fascist ideology" from the past by promoting the use of inflammatory iconography and generally fuelling an anti-minority sentiment.

Although instances of incitement to discrimination and even violence against minorities were rarely investigated, courts regularly prosecuted cases of defamation and insult to the honour and reputation of persons. These offences were classified as serious criminal offences under the Criminal Code. Journalists remained vulnerable to prosecution in these cases.

Ethnic minority rights

UNHCR recorded that about 133,000, over half, of the ethnic Serbs who fled the country during the war had returned by the end of 2016, but it expressed concern about persisting obstacles for Serbs to regain their property.

The number of ethnic minorities employed in public services was below the national targets. Serbs faced significant barriers to employment in both the public and private labour market. The right to use minority languages and script continued to be politicized and unimplemented in some towns.

Roma

Despite the authorities' efforts to improve the integration of Roma, Roma continued to face significant barriers to effective access to education, health, housing and employment.

UNHCR registered 2,800 Roma without permanent or temporary residence who were at risk of statelessness. Roma experienced difficulties obtaining identity documents which limited their access to public services.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION  MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS

Persistent threats to freedom of the media and attacks against journalists continued. In March, the government abruptly ended the contracts of nearly 70 editors and journalists at the public broadcaster Croatian Radio Television, in what was perceived as an attempt to influence its editorial policy. Simultaneously, the authorities decided to abolish state subsidies for smaller non-profit media and independent cultural initiatives, further threatening media pluralism.

Croatia was downgraded from place 54 to 63 in the World Press Freedom Index.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Cote d'Ivoire

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Cote d'Ivoire, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0340b13.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.

Republic of Cote d'Ivoire

Head of state: Alassane Dramane Ouattara

Head of government: Daniel Kablan Duncan

The rights to freedom of expression, of association and of peaceful assembly were restricted; scores of opposition members were arrested. Dozens of detainees still awaited trial in connection with post-electoral violence in 2010 and 2011; concerns remained about selective accountability for crimes committed during that period. The trial of Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Ble Goude opened at the ICC. Simone Gbagbo was not transferred to the ICC despite an outstanding arrest warrant; her trial before a national court began. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) launched an audit of the environmental impact following the dumping of tons of toxic waste in 2006. Nineteen people including a child were killed in an attack by an armed group.

BACKGROUND

Opposition parties protested against the proposed Constitution introduced following a national referendum in October. The new Constitution lifted the age limitation for presidential candidates, removed a condition requiring both parents of a candidate to be Ivorian nationals and created a senate where one third of its members would be appointed by the President. In December, the coalition of the ruling party won legislative elections.

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION, ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY

The authorities restricted the rights to freedom of expression, of association and of peaceful assembly under laws that criminalized peaceful protests and other peaceful expression. More than 70 people, mostly opposition members, were arrested and released hours or days later.

In July, Prospere Djandou, Jean Leopold Messihi and Ange Patrick Djoman Gbata were arrested while collecting signatures in support of the release of former President Laurent Gbagbo, and charged with public order offences. They were released two weeks later. In October, following a peaceful protest against the October referendum, at least 50 opposition members including Mamadou Koulibaly, former president of the National Assembly, were arbitrarily arrested in Abidjan, and detained for hours. Some were held in moving police vehicles, a practice known as "mobile detention", driven for kilometres and forced to walk back home. Some were taken as far as Adzope, about 100km from the centre of Abidjan.

IMPUNITY

In February, 24 military officers charged with the assassinations of President Robert Guei, his family and bodyguard, Fabien Coulibaly, in 2002, were tried before the Military Tribunal. Three defendants, including General Bruno Dogbo Ble, former head of the Presidential Guard, and Commander Anselme Seka Yapo were sentenced to life imprisonment. Ten defendants were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment each and the others were acquitted.

At least 146 supporters of former President Gbagbo who were arrested between 2011 and 2015 were still awaiting trial for crimes allegedly committed during the post-electoral violence of 2010. Approximately 87 of them had been in detention since 2011 or 2012.

Despite President Ouattara's commitment to ensure that justice would be applied equally under his presidency, only those suspected of being supporters of Laurent Gbagbo were tried for serious human rights violations committed during and after the 2010 election. Forces loyal to President Ouattara who committed serious violations, including the killing of more than 800 people in Duekoue in April 2011, and of 13 people at a camp for internally displaced people in Nahibly in July 2012, were not prosecuted. Some of them had been identified by victims' families; although the killings were investigated no one was prosecuted by the end of the year.

INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE

The trial of former President Gbagbo and Charles Ble Goude before the ICC began in January and was ongoing at the end of the year. In February, President Ouattara announced that no more Ivorian nationals would be sent to the ICC for prosecution because the national justice system was operational. In May, a national court began trying the former President's wife, Simone Gbagbo, for crimes against humanity, despite an outstanding ICC warrant for her arrest. Prior to this, in May 2015, the ICC rejected Cote d'Ivoire's appeal against the admissibility of her case before the Court.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

David Samba, opposition figure and president of the NGO Coalition des Indignes de Cote d'Ivoire, was charged with threatening national security while he was already serving a six-month prison sentence for public disorder. He remained in detention, awaiting trial on the additional charges at the end of the year.

PRISON CONDITIONS

Prisoners remained held under harsh conditions and overcrowding at the Maison d'Arret et de Correction, Abidjan's main prison. In March, the prison authorities said that the prison, which had capacity for 1,500 inmates, held 3,694 people. Prisoners reported that they were forced to pay bribes of up to 20,000 CFA (US$32) to prisoners who controlled internal security to avoid being placed in filthy cells with floors covered in urine and water. Families were forced to pay bribes to visit their relatives. Prisoners responsible for internal security also administered corporal punishment on other inmates, resulting in at least three deaths in 2015. The authorities did not take measures to protect prisoners from these and other abuses. Health care remained inadequate.

One prison guard and nine prisoners were killed in February during an exchange of fire when prisoners staged an uprising.

CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY

In July, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) undertook an environmental audit of the lasting impact of the 2006 dumping of over 540,000 litres of toxic waste in Abidjan. The waste was produced by the multinational oil trading company Trafigura. The results were expected in early 2017. The authorities reported that there were 15 deaths while more than 100,000 people sought medical attention after the dumping including for serious health issues like respiratory problems. The authorities had still not assessed the long-term risks to individuals of exposure to the chemicals in the waste and had not monitored victims' health. Many victims had not received any compensation payments and compensation claims against the company continued.

ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS

In March, armed men attacked three beachside hotels in Grand Bassam, killing 19 people including a child. The attack was claimed by al-Mourabitoune, an armed group based in northern Mali and affiliated to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). More than 80 people were arrested in connection with the attack and, in August, two military officers were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment each after being convicted of disobedience and criminal association.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Congo (Republic of the)

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Congo (Republic of the), 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0340c13.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.

Republic of the Congo

Head of state and government: Denis Sassou Nguesso

Presidential elections were held amid violence and controversy. Political opponents were detained for peaceful criticism of the elections. Security forces used excessive force and sometimes torture to curb dissent. A new law further restricting the space for civil society organizations was passed.

BACKGROUND

On 20 March, presidential elections were held under a total communications blackout, with telephone and internet connections cut. Denis Sassou Nguesso was re-elected president.

Amnesty International was denied entry to the country to monitor the human rights situation before the presidential elections.

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY

Following the results of presidential elections, which were contested by the opposition, the authorities arrested several leading opposition figures, including senior campaign officials of presidential candidates Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and Andre Okombi Salissa, accusing them of compromising national security. Those arrested and still in detention included Jean Ngouabi, Anatole Limbongo-Ngoka, Marcel Mpika, Jacques Banangazala and Ngambou Roland.

Between 4 April and 14 June, Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko was kept under de facto house arrest, with security forces surrounding his compound without a judicial warrant. He was arrested on 14 June, charged with jeopardizing state security and unlawful possession of weapons and munitions of war, and was detained at the main prison in the capital, Brazzaville. He was later also charged with incitement to disturb public order. Andre Okombi Salissa was believed to have fled the country in June, following a raid by security forces on his home.

A number of leading political figures, including Paulin Makaya, leader of the opposition Unis Pour le Congo, and Okouya Rigobert of the political group Convention d'action pour la democratie et le developpement (CADD) remained in detention, following their arrest in November 2015 for protesting against changes to the Constitution. On 25 July, Paulin Makaya was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of 3,800 for taking part in an unauthorized protest. An appeal he filed on the same day was considered on 6 December, more than four months later, even though the timeline defined by law had expired and a reminder had been sent to the relevant authorities. His appeal was adjourned twice and a decision had not been taken at the end of the year. He remained a prisoner of conscience.

The opposition platform "Initiative pour la democratie au Congo-Front republicain pour le respect de l'ordre constitutionnel et l'alternance democratique" (IDC-FROCAD) claimed that 121 political prisoners remained in detention in Brazzaville's main prison.

On 9 November, the authorities denied authorization for a sit-in organized by the youth movement "Ras-le-Bol" in Brazzaville. IDC-FROCAD reported that protests had been banned on several occasions, generally on the grounds that they would risk disturbing public order, and that documents banning the protests made reference to the April post-electoral violence in Brazzaville.

EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE

Government security forces conducted air strikes on residential areas in the southeastern department of Pool on 5 April. Helicopters dropped at least 30 bombs on residential areas, including on a school in the town of Vindza when targeting the former residence of Pastor Frederic Ntumi, leader of the "Ninjas" armed group. Officials from Pool reported that up to 5,000 people had been displaced. The air strikes followed an outbreak of violence in Brazzaville following the endorsement on 4 April by the Constitutional Court of the result of the presidential elections, in which gunfire broke out in the streets, young people raised barricades in the southern neighbourhood of Makelekele, a local mayor's office and two police stations were set ablaze and armed men attacked an army barracks. The government attributed the violence to the "Ninjas".

On 29 April, a joint mission composed of police, journalists and civil society organizations to assess the security situation in Pool and investigate the bombardments was conducted. It had yet to produce an official report at the end of the year.

Further air strikes were carried out in Pool in September; information on the incidents was limited due to the extreme difficulty in accessing the area, including because of restrictions set by the government.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

On 29 September, Augustin Kala Kala, deputy national coordinator of CADD, was kidnapped by members of the presidential security forces in the Sadelmy neighbourhood of Brazzaville. He said that his hands and feet were handcuffed, and that he was subjected to electric shocks and burned on several occasions with plastic bags on his back and his hands. He was also beaten with wooden sticks and a belt, and spent nine days in a container. He was released on 13 October and dumped near a hospital mortuary in Brazzaville. No investigation was initiated into his allegations.

LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

In September, a draft law regulating civil society organizations was adopted by the Senate and was awaiting promulgation by the President. Civil society organizations had complained that the law was developed without meaningful consultation, and that it limited their freedom of association through measures that included criminalizing activities perceived to threaten institutional stability, preventing religious organizations from working on political questions, and requiring approval by the authorities to carry out activities.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Colombia

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Colombia, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0340d13.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.

Republic of Colombia

Head of state and government: Juan Manuel Santos Calderon

A peace deal reached between the government and the guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was ratified by Congress in November. This marked the official end of the five-decade armed conflict between the two sides after more than four years of talks. However, there was an increase in killings of human rights defenders, including Indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant farmer leaders. The peace process with the second largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) had not begun by the end of the year. Doubts remained over whether the peace agreement with the FARC would ensure that all those suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes would be held accountable in line with international law.

PEACE PROCESS

In June, the government and the FARC signed a bilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities agreement.[1] This came into force on 29 August, although a de facto ceasefire had been in place since 2015. On 24 August, the two sides reached agreement on a peace deal,[2] which was signed on 26 September in Cartagena.[3] However, on 2 October, the peace deal was rejected in a referendum, in part because of concerns over the agreement's lax justice provisions.

On 12 November, the two sides announced a revised peace deal, which was signed on 24 November. The agreement was ratified by Congress on 30 November, after which the FARC was due to begin a six-month process of demobilization and disarmament, to be monitored and verified in part by a mission of unarmed UN observers. By the end of the year, FARC combatants had yet to congregate in the concentration zones from where they were due to start the demobilization process, because of delays in making these areas habitable.

On 28 December, Congress approved a law to provide amnesties or pardons to FARC combatants and the waiving of criminal prosecutions for security force personnel not under investigation for or convicted of crimes under international law. Those who had served at least five years in prison for crimes under international law will, under certain circumstances, be conditionally released. Ambiguities in the law could result in many human rights abusers evading justice.

The modifications made to the peace agreement did not significantly strengthen victims' rights. However, a provision requiring the FARC to provide an inventory of the assets it acquired in the conflict, which would be used to provide reparation to victims, would, if effectively implemented, be a positive development.

The peace agreement established a Special Jurisdiction for Peace  to come into force once approved by Congress  to investigate and punish those responsible for crimes under international law, a truth commission and a mechanism to locate and identify those missing as a result of the conflict.

Despite some positive features, however, it fell short of international law and standards on victims' rights, including punishments that appeared to be inconsistent with the gravity of certain crimes and a definition of command responsibility that could make it difficult to hold to account FARC and security force commanders for crimes committed by their subordinates.

On 30 March, the government and the ELN announced that they would begin peace talks. However, the process had not started by the end of the year because of the ELN's failure to release one of its high-profile hostages.

President Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 7 October for his role in securing the peace deal.[4]

INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICT

By 1 December 2016, the state's Victims' Unit had registered almost 8 million victims of the conflict since 1985, including some 268,000 killings, most of them of civilians; more than 7 million victims of forced displacement; around 46,000 victims of enforced disappearances; at least 30,000 cases of hostage taking; more than 10,000 victims of torture; and some 10,800 victims of anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance. The security forces, paramilitaries and guerrilla groups were responsible for these crimes.

The de-escalation of hostilities between the security forces and the FARC during the year led to a sharp reduction in combat-related violence affecting civilians. But Indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant farmer communities, especially those living in areas of interest to agro-industrial, mining and infrastructure concerns, continued to face human rights violations and abuses.

In August, four members of the Awa Indigenous people were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in three separate attacks in Narino Department. Among the victims was Camilo Roberto Taicus Bisbicus, leader of the Awa Indigenous reservation (resguardo) of Hojal La Turbia, in Tumaco Municipality.

In March, more than 6,000 people, mainly from Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, were forcibly displaced from three river areas in Choco Department as a result of fighting between armed groups.

SECURITY FORCES

There were continued reports of unlawful killings by the security forces, as well as claims of excessive use of force, especially by the ESMAD anti-riot police, during protests.[5]

On 29 February, soldiers killed peasant farmer Gilberto de Jesus Quintero in the hamlet of Tesorito, Taraza Municipality, Antioquia Department. The army initially claimed he was an ELN guerrilla killed in combat. However, witnesses stated they saw soldiers attempting to dress the corpse in military fatigues and the army subsequently claimed that the killing had been a military error.

Criminal investigations into extrajudicial executions implicating members of the security forces made slow progress. A report from the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, published in November, stated that by July the Office of the Attorney General was investigating 4,190 extrajudicial executions. By February, there had been a total of 961 convictions of which only a few involved high-ranking officers. According to a March report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, by the end of 2015, 7,773 members of the security forces were under investigation for extrajudicial executions. In November a judge convicted more than a dozen members of the army for the unlawful killing of five young men from Soacha, Cundinamarca Department, in 2008.

ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS

Guerrilla groups

The ELN and the FARC continued to commit human rights abuses, although cases attributable to the FARC fell as the peace process advanced.

Indigenous leaders and journalists were the targets of death threats. For example, in June, a man claiming to be from the ELN telephoned Maria Beatriz Vivas Yacuechime, a leader of the Huila Indigenous Regional Council, and threatened to kill her and her family. In July, journalist Diego D'Pablos and cameraman Carlos Melo received text death threats from someone claiming to be from the ELN. Both men and fellow journalist Salud Hernandez-Mora had been taken hostage earlier in the year by the ELN in the northern region of Catatumbo.[6]

On 24 March, two men claiming to be FARC members called at the home of Indigenous leader Andres Almendras in the hamlet of Laguna-Siberia, Caldono Municipality, Cauca Department. Andres Almendras was not at home so the men asked his daughter where the "snitch" was as they wanted him to leave the area.

Paramilitaries

Paramilitary groups continued to operate despite their supposed demobilization a decade earlier. Acting either alone or in collusion with state actors, they were responsible for numerous human rights violations, including killings and death threats.[7]

In April, local NGOs reported that an armed group of around 150 paramilitaries from the Gaitanista Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AGC) had entered the Afro-descendant community of Teguerre, part of the collective territory of Cacarica, Choco Department. There were reports of other AGC incursions in the Cacarica area throughout the year. Some community leaders were threatened by the AGC, which declared them "military targets".

There were increasing reports of paramilitary incursions into the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado, Antioquia Department, some of whose members were threatened.[8]

By 30 September, only 180 of the more than 30,000 paramilitaries who supposedly laid down their arms in a government-sponsored demobilization process had been convicted for human rights-related crimes under the 2005 Justice and Peace Law; most appealed against their convictions. Most paramilitaries did not submit themselves to the Justice and Peace process and received de facto amnesties.

IMPUNITY

Very few of those suspected of responsibility for conflict-related crimes under international law were brought to justice. However, as part of the peace process, the government and the FARC formally apologized for their role in several emblematic human rights cases.

On 30 September, in La Chinita, Apartado Municipality, Antioquia Department, the FARC apologized for killing 35 people from the village on 23 January 1994.

On 15 September, President Santos formally apologized for the state's role in the killing in the 1980s and 1990s of some 3,000 members of the Patriotic Union party, set up by the Colombian Communist Party and the FARC as part of the failed peace process with the government of Belisario Betancur.

In February the Constitutional Court ruled that a 2015 reform (Legislative Act No. 1) giving military courts jurisdiction over cases related to military service and over crimes committed on active service was constitutional. The reform also stipulated that international humanitarian law, rather than international human rights law, would apply when investigating armed forces personnel for conflict-related crimes, even though many such crimes were not committed during combat and the victims were overwhelmingly civilians. However, the Court ruled that international human rights law should also apply during investigations. Nevertheless, there were concerns that the Court's ruling would do little to overcome impunity given the military justice system's woeful record in bringing to justice members of the armed forces implicated in human rights violations.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Threats against and killings of human rights defenders, especially community leaders, land rights and environmental activists and peace and justice campaigners, continued to be reported in significant numbers. Most of the threats were attributed to paramilitaries, but in most cases it was difficult to identify which groups were responsible for the killings. According to the NGO Somos Defensores (We are Defenders), at least 75 defenders had been killed by 8 December 2016, compared with 63 during the whole of 2015. In general, these attacks did not occur in the context of combat between the warring parties, but were targeted killings. Several human rights organizations also had sensitive information stolen from their offices. By 20 December the NGO National Trade Union School had recorded 17 killings of trade union members.

On 29 August, three leaders of the NGO Integration Committee of the Colombian Massif (CIMA), Joel Meneses, Nereo Meneses Guzman and Ariel Sotelo, were shot dead by a group of armed men in Almaguer Municipality, Cauca Department.

In August, Ingrid Vergara, a spokesperson for the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (Movice) received a threatening phone call after attending a public hearing on human rights in Congress in the capital, Bogota. Over the years, Ingrid Vergara and other members of Movice have been repeatedly threatened and harassed because of their human rights work.

LAND RIGHTS

The land restitution process, implemented since 2012, continued to make only slow progress in returning land misappropriated during the conflict to its rightful occupants. According to the state's Land Restitution Unit, by 5 December, land judges had adjudicated on cases involving some 62,093 hectares claimed by peasant farmers and 131,657 hectares claimed by one Afro-descendant and four Indigenous communities.

Land rights activists continued to be threatened and killed.[9] On 11 September, Nestor Ivan Martinez, an Afro-descendant leader, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Chiriguana Municipality, Cesar Department. Nestor Ivan Martinez was active in environmental and land rights campaigns and had campaigned against mining activities.

On 29 January, Congress approved Law 1776, which would create large agro-industrial projects known as Zones of Rural Development, Economic and Social Interest (ZIDRES). Critics argued these could undermine the land rights of rural communities.

In February, the Constitutional Court ruled that legislation stipulating that land restitution claims would not be permitted in areas denominated Projects of National and Strategic Interest (PINES) was unconstitutional. It ruled that such lands could be expropriated by the state, but that land claimants would have the right to a formal expropriation hearing and to compensation set by the courts.

On 9 June, the Constitutional Court made public its December 2015 ruling annulling three resolutions by the National Mining Agency and Ministry of Mines and Energy declaring over 20 million hectares of land, including Indigenous and Afro-descendant territories, as Strategic Mining Areas (SMAs). The Court stated that delimitation of any SMAs was dependent on seeking the prior consent of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities living in these areas.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

Allegations of crimes of sexual violence continued to be levelled against all parties to the conflict. By 1 December, the Victims' Unit had registered more than 17,500 victims of conflict-related crimes against sexual integrity since 1985.

In March, the NGO Follow-up Working Group on the Constitutional Court's Judicial Decrees (Autos) 092 of 2008 and 009 of 2015 issued a report on the state's implementation of the two Decrees. The Decrees highlighted the prevalence of conflict-related sexual violence against women and ordered the state to combat these crimes and bring to justice those suspected of criminal responsibility. The report concluded that although the state had made some progress in investigating these crimes, it had failed to take effective action to ensure the right of survivors to truth, justice and reparation. The vast majority of those suspected of criminal responsibility for these crimes had yet to be brought to justice by the end of the year.

In August, the government issued Decree 1314 creating a commission to develop a Comprehensive Programme of Guarantees for Women Leaders and Human Rights Defenders, which would include prevention and protection mechanisms.

In June, the Office of the Attorney General issued a Resolution adopting a protocol for the investigation of crimes of sexual violence.

INTERNATIONAL SCRUTINY

In March the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report which congratulated the government and the FARC on the progress made to reach a peace agreement. However, the High Commissioner warned that paramilitary groups (referred to as "post-demobilization groups" in the report) "constantly undermine human rights and citizen security, the administration of justice and peacebuilding, including land restitution. Dismantling the groups that control stolen land through the use or threat of violence represents a permanent challenge to peace".

In its concluding observations on Colombia, published in October, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances acknowledged the efforts made by the Colombian authorities and noted the reduction in cases of enforced disappearance in recent years. However, it expressed concern about Colombia's continued failure to recognize the competence of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of victims as well as the failure to make meaningful progress in investigating such crimes.

In November, the UN Human Rights Council noted the significant reduction in the conflict's impact on civilians. However, it expressed concern about ongoing violations, including arbitrary deprivations of life, enforced disappearances, torture, and the persistence of impunity. It also expressed concern about abuses by "illegal armed groups that emerged after the demobilization of paramilitary organizations" and allegations that state actors colluded with some of these groups.

1. Colombia: Agreement on a bilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities is an historic step forward (AMR 23/4311/2016)

2. Colombia: End of negotiations over conflict brings hopes of peace (News story, 25 August)

3. Colombia: Historic peace deal must ensure justice and an end to human rights abuses (News story, 26 September)

4. Colombia: Nobel Peace Prize shows Colombia must not close the door on hopes of peace with justice (News story, 7 October)

5. Colombia: Security forces must refrain from excessive use of force during rural protests (AMR 23/4204/2016)

6. Colombia: ELN must release journalists (AMR 23/4134/2016)

7. Colombia: Death threats to defenders and trade unionists (AMR 23/3837/2016)

8. Colombia: Paramilitary activity threatens Peace Community (AMR 23/4998/2016)

9. Colombia: Death threats to Afro-descendant leaders (AMR 23/3938/2016)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - China

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - China, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0340ec.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.

People's Republic of China

Head of state: Xi Jinping

Head of government: Li Keqiang

The government continued to draft and enact a series of new national security laws that presented serious threats to the protection of human rights. The nationwide crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists continued throughout the year. Activists and human rights defenders continued to be systematically subjected to monitoring, harassment, intimidation, arrest and detention. Police detained increasing numbers of human rights defenders outside of formal detention facilities, sometimes without access to a lawyer for long periods, exposing the detainees to the risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Booksellers, publishers, activists and a journalist who went missing in neighbouring countries in 2015 and 2016 turned up in detention in China, causing concerns about China's law enforcement agencies acting outside their jurisdiction. Controls on the internet, mass media and academia were significantly strengthened. Repression of religious activities outside of direct state control increased. Religious repression conducted under "anti-separatism" or "counter-terrorism" campaigns remained particularly severe in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and in Tibetan-populated areas.

LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

Sweeping national security laws and regulations continued to be drafted and enacted, giving greater powers to the authorities to silence dissent, restrict or censor information and harass and prosecute human rights defenders.

The Foreign NGO Management Law was due to come into force on 1 January 2017, creating additional barriers to the already limited rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression. Although the law was ostensibly designed to regulate and even protect the activities of foreign NGOs, it transferred to the Ministry of Public Security  the state policing agency  the responsibility to oversee the registration of these NGOs, as well as supervise their operations and pre-approve their activities. The wide discretion given to police to oversee and manage the work of foreign NGOs raised the risk of the law being misused to intimidate and prosecute human rights defenders and NGO staff.

On 7 November, the National People's Congress (NPC) passed the Cyber Security Law, which purported to protect internet users' personal data from hacking and theft, but made it obligatory for internet companies operating in China to censor content, store users' data domestically, and enforce a real-name registration system in a way that runs counter to national and international obligations to safeguard the rights to freedom of expression and privacy. The law prohibited individuals or groups from using the internet to "harm national security", "upset social order", or "harm national interests"  terms that were vague and imprecise under existing Chinese law and could be used to further restrict freedom of expression. The law enshrined the concept of "internet sovereignty", which justified broad censorship and extensive surveillance powers in the name of protecting national security.

Also on 7 November, the NPC passed the Film Industry Promotion Law which prohibited the production of films that include content endangering national security, inciting ethnic hatred and violating religious policies.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

Shortcomings in domestic law and systemic problems in the criminal justice system resulted in widespread torture and other ill-treatment and unfair trials.

The authorities increasingly used "residential surveillance in a designated location", a form of secret incommunicado detention that allowed the police to hold individuals for up to six months outside the formal detention system, without access to legal counsel of their choice, their families or anybody else from the outside world, and placed suspects at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. This form of detention was used to curb the activities of human rights defenders, including lawyers, activists and religious practitioners.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

At the end of the year, five people remained in detention awaiting trial on charges of "subverting state power" or "inciting subversion of state power", and four on charges of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" or "making arrangements for another person to illegally cross the national border". Their detention followed the unprecedented government crackdown on human rights lawyers and other activists which started in mid-2015, in which at least 248 lawyers and activists were questioned or detained by state security agents. At least 12 of the individuals detained in the crackdown, including prominent human rights lawyers Zhou Shifeng, Sui Muqing, Li Heping and Wang Quanzhang, had been held in "residential surveillance in a designated location" on suspicion of involvement in state security crimes. Family members of those detained were also subject to police surveillance, harassment and restriction of their freedom of movement. Legal assistant Zhao Wei and lawyer Wang Yu were released on bail in early July and early August respectively, although they remained subject to restrictions on their rights to freedom of movement, expression and association for one year and remained at risk of prosecution.

On 2 August, activist Zhai Yanmin was convicted of "subverting state power" and sentenced to three years' imprisonment, suspended for four years. Hu Shigen and lawyer Zhou Shifeng were convicted of the same charge and sentenced to seven and a half years' imprisonment and seven years' imprisonment respectively on 3 and 4 August.

Lawyer Jiang Tianyong went missing on 21 November. His family was notified on 23 December that he had been placed under "residential surveillance in a designated location" under suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power". Liu Feiyue and Huang Qi, both human rights defenders and website founders, were detained in November, accused respectively of "inciting subversion" and "leaking state secrets".

The authorities in Guangdong province, where labour disputes and strikes were on the rise, continued their crackdown on workers and labour rights activists which began in December 2015. At least 33 individuals were targeted; 31 were later released. Labour activist Zeng Feiyang was denied access to lawyers and sentenced to three years' imprisonment, suspended for four years, in early October. Labour activist Meng Han was sentenced to one year and nine months' imprisonment on 3 November. In many cases the detention centres initially denied access to lawyers on the grounds that the cases involved "endangering national security".

Six of the more than 100 people in mainland China detained for supporting the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in late 2014 were sentenced to prison terms. They included Xie Wenfei and Wang Mo, leaders of the Southern Street Movement, who were sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment on charges of "inciting subversion". Two others, women's rights activist Su Changlan and Chen Qitang, remained in detention with no dates set for their trials. Zhang Shengyu, who was among those detained for supporting the Hong Kong protests, reported that he was beaten and Su Changlan reported she was denied adequate medical treatment in detention.

The number of carefully choreographed televised "confessions" increased during the year. They included interviews with detained human rights defenders conducted by Chinese state media and, in two cases, by pro-Beijing media outlets in Hong Kong. Although such "confessions" had no legal validity, they undermined the right to a fair trial. Those shown "confessing" on television included lawyers Zhou Shifeng and Wang Yu, activist Zhai Yanmin, Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai and Swedish NGO worker Peter Dahlin, who was detained and later deported. Zhao Wei and her lawyer, Ren Quanniu, posted confessions on their social media after they were reportedly released on bail.

Several journalists and activists who went missing outside mainland China were detained or feared to be detained in China. Journalist Li Xin, who revealed in media interviews that Chinese state security officials had put him under intense pressure to act as an informant against his colleagues and friends before he fled China in 2015, went missing in Thailand in January 2016. He telephoned his partner in February and said he had voluntarily returned to China to assist with an investigation. He was not heard from again and his whereabouts were undisclosed at the end of the year. Tang Zhishun and Xing Qingxian went missing in Myanmar in 2015 while helping the son of two detained Chinese lawyers. Without providing any explanation for the time lag, the authorities charged them with "making arrangements for another person to illegally cross the national border" in notices dated May 2016.

In May, pro-democracy activists Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping were confirmed to have been detained on suspicion of "subverting state power" and "making arrangements for another person to illegally cross the national border". They had been granted refugee status by UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, but were repatriated from Thailand to China in 2015. Neither had access to family or lawyers of their choice for at least the first six months after their return and Dong Guangping still had no access by the end of the year.

Miao Deshun, a labour activist arrested after participating in the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, was reportedly released in October after 27 years' imprisonment. Activists who commemorated the Tiananmen crackdown continued to be detained, including Sichuan activists Fu Hailu and Luo Fuyu.[1]

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

In March, police reportedly detained at least 20 people in connection with the publication of an open letter criticizing President Xi and calling for his resignation. The open letter blamed President Xi for trying to build a "personality cult" and abandoning collective leadership. Those detained included 16 people working for Wujie News, the website which published the letter on 4 March.

On 4 April the government issued guidelines to increase law enforcement of cultural matters in a bid to "safeguard the 'national cultural and ideological security'". The guidelines would increase regulation of many "illegal" and unauthorized activities, including: publishing, film and TV distribution, foreign satellite TV broadcasting, artistic performances, and imports and exports of cultural products.

China made further efforts to reinforce its already oppressive internet censorship architecture. Thousands of websites and social media services remain blocked, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and internet service and content providers were required to maintain extensive censorship on their platforms.

Six journalists from Sichuan-based website "64 Tianwang" were detained for covering protests in relation to the G20 Summit in Hangzhou in September. One, Qin Chao, remained in detention.

FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND BELIEF

Proposed amendments to the Regulations on Religious Affairs issued on 7 September would extend power to various authorities to monitor, control and sanction some religious practice. The amendments, which emphasized national security with a goal of curbing "infiltration and extremism", could be used to further suppress the rights to freedom of religion and belief, especially for Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims and unrecognized churches.

The campaign to demolish churches and remove Christian crosses from buildings in Zhejiang province, launched in 2013, intensified into 2016. According to international media, more than 1,700 crosses had been removed by the end of 2016, prompting a series of protests.

Zhang Kai, a lawyer who offered legal assistance to the affected churches, appeared on state television on 25 February, looking thin and exhausted, to give a videotaped "confession". He was initially detained in 2015 on suspicion of state security crimes and "disturbing public order" and was later placed under "residential surveillance in a designated location". He was released without explanation and returned to his hometown in Inner Mongolia on 23 March.

On 26 February, Bao Guohua and his wife Xing Wenxiang, pastors from Jinghua city in Zhejiang province, were sentenced to 14 years' and 12 years' imprisonment respectively for embezzling money from their congregation and "gathering a crowd to disturb social order". Bao Guohua had been vocal in opposing the removal of crosses from churches.

Falun Gong practitioners continued to be subjected to persecution, arbitrary detention, unfair trials and torture and other ill-treatment. Falun Gong practitioner Chen Huixia was detained in June and, according to her daughter, tortured in detention because of her beliefs.[2]

DEATH PENALTY

A white paper issued by the government in September claimed that China "[strictly controlled] the death penalty and employ[ed] it with prudence to ensure that it applies only to a very small number of extremely serious criminal offenders". Statistics related to the death penalty continued to be classified as state secrets, making it impossible to verify the number of death sentences handed down and executions carried out.

In December the Supreme People's Court overturned the murder and rape conviction against Nie Shubin, who was executed in 1995. The Supreme People's Court ordered the retrial and agreed with a lower court finding that there was a lack of clear evidence to prove that Nie Shubin was guilty.

TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION AND TIBETAN-POPULATED AREAS IN OTHER PROVINCES

Ethnic Tibetans continued to face discrimination and restrictions on their rights to freedom of religion and belief, expression, association and peaceful assembly. In August, media reported that Lobsang Drakpa, a Tibetan monk who was detained by police in 2015 while staging a solo protest  an increasingly common form of protest in the Tibetan-populated areas  was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in a closed trial.[3]

At least three people set themselves on fire in Tibetan-populated areas during the year in protest against repressive policies by the authorities. The number of known self-immolations since February 2009 rose to 146.

A Tibetan blogger known as Druklo was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in February for "inciting separatism" for his online posts on religious freedom, the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan issues and his possession of the banned book Sky Burial.[4]

Tashi Wangchuk was detained in January and charged with "inciting separatism" for advocating Tibetan language education and giving an interview to the New York Times. He remained in detention at the end of the year.[5]

Housing rights  forced evictions

In July, the government began demolishing a large part of Larung Gar, reportedly the largest Tibetan Buddhist institute in the world, located in Seda (Serta) County, in the Ganzi (Kardze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. Local Chinese authorities ordered the population of Larung Gar to be reduced by more than half to 5,000 in order to carry out "correction and rectification". Thousands of monks, nuns and lay people were at risk of forced evictions.

XINJIANG UIGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION

In March the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region's (XUAR) Party Secretary, Zhang Chunxian, announced that progress had been made in maintaining social stability in the region, and that cases of "violent terrorism" had decreased. Nonetheless, the government said that it would continue to maintain indefinitely its "strike hard" stance against "violent terrorism".

The government continued to detain ethnic Uighur writers and Uighur language website editors. Human rights defender Zhang Haitao, an ethnic Han, was sentenced to 19 years' imprisonment on charges of "inciting subversion" and "providing intelligence overseas". His lawyers believed that the severity of his sentence was in part due to his commentary on ethnic issues.

The government continued to violate the right to freedom of religion, and crack down on all unauthorized religious gatherings. Abudulrekep Tumniyaz, deputy director of the Xinjiang Islamic Association, said in March that all underground preaching sites in the XUAR had been shut down.

In October, media reported that several localities within the XUAR had announced that they will require all residents to hand in their passports to the police. Thereafter, all XUAR residents would be required to present biometric data  such as DNA samples and body scan images  before being permitted to travel abroad. The measure came amid a security crackdown and greater travel restrictions targeting ethnic minorities in the XUAR.

Cultural rights

In August, the provincial government announced a large-scale plan to send 1,900 Uighur teachers to schools throughout mainland China to accompany Uighur students living in boarding schools in Han-majority areas. The government pledged to increase the number of such dispatched teachers to 7,200 by 2020.

The move is billed as a way to "resist terrorism, violent extremism and separatism and promote ethnic solidarity", but Uighur groups overseas have criticized the plan as a means to dilute Uighur cultural identity.

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

Five booksellers who went missing in Thailand, mainland China and Hong Kong in late 2015 reappeared on television in mainland China in January and February of 2016. Gui Minhai, Lui Por, Cheung Chi-ping, Lee Po and Lam Wing-kee worked for Mighty Current Media, a Hong Kong company known for its books on Chinese leaders and political scandals. Lam Wing-kee returned to Hong Kong in June and held a press conference in which he said he was arbitrarily detained, ill-treated in detention and forced to "confess".[6]

Students Joshua Wong, Alex Chow and Nathan Law were tried for their part in events outside government headquarters in September 2014 that triggered the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement. In July 2016, Joshua Wong and Alex Chow were found guilty of "taking part in an unlawful assembly" and Nathan Law was found guilty of "inciting others to take part in an unlawful assembly", vague provisions in Hong Kong's Public Order Ordinance. Appeals from both parties were pending at the end of the year.

In November the Standing Committee of the NPC issued an interpretation of Article 104 of the Hong Kong Basic Law concerning oath-taking by two pro-independence legislators. This happened before the Hong Kong High Court could rule on a parallel case raised by the Hong Kong government seeking to disqualify the legislators.

1. China: Two more activists detained for "June 4 baijiu" (ASA 17/4298/2016)

2. China: Falun Gong practitioner said to have been tortured in detention: Chen Huixia (ASA 17/4869/2016)

3. China: Tibetan monk imprisoned after protest (ASA 17/4802/2016)

4. China: Tibetan imprisoned for "inciting separatism" (ASA 17/3908/2016)

5. China: Tibetan education advocate detained: Tashi Wangchuk (ASA 17/3793/2016)

6. China: Authorities' revelations on detained Hong Kong booksellers "smoke and mirrors" (Press release, 5 February)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Chile

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Chile, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0340fc.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.

Republic of Chile

Head of state and government: Michelle Bachelet Jeria

Impunity for past and continuing human rights violations remained a concern. Legal proceedings relating to allegations of past crimes under international law and other human rights violations continued; in a few cases, those involved were imprisoned. For much of the year, cases of unnecessary and excessive use of force by the police continued to be dealt with by the military courts. However, a law passed in November excludes civilians from military jurisdiction. Abortion remained criminalized in all circumstances, although some steps were taken to decriminalize it in limited circumstances.

BACKGROUND

Between April and August, the government carried out a consultation process open to all citizens as the first step towards the adoption of a new Constitution. The current Constitution, adopted during the military government under General Pinochet, contains several provisions that are not in line with international human rights law.

In January, a law entered into force establishing a new Undersecretariat on Human Rights under the Ministry of Justice. The first Undersecretary was appointed in September.

In April, the government announced that plans to reform the law on migration were postponed indefinitely. In December it was announced that the bill would be filed in January 2017.

POLICE AND SECURITY FORCES

Allegations of unnecessary or excessive use of force by the police, especially in the context of public protests, continued to be reported. Children, women, journalists and employees of the National Human Rights Institute acting as observers were among the victims.

Human rights violations involving members of the security forces continued to be dealt with by military courts. However, a new law entered into force in November that expressly stated that civilians, whether accused or the victims of crime, were excluded from military jurisdiction.

In January, the National Human Rights Institute filed a lawsuit to push for further investigation by the ordinary courts into the enforced disappearance of 16-year-old Jose Huenante; he was last seen being detained by policemen in September 2005. Following the lawsuit, a military court also reopened an investigation. However, at the end of the year, Jose Huenante's fate and whereabouts remained unclarified and neither investigation had established the facts of the case or identified those responsible.

IMPUNITY

During the year, several convictions for past crimes under international law and other human rights violations committed during the military regime were confirmed. In September, the Supreme Court confirmed the four-year sentences of two former military officials for the torture of General Alberto Bachelet in 1973.

Victims, their relatives and civil society organizations opposed several attempts to obtain the early release on parole of people convicted of human rights violations during the military government under Augusto Pinochet. At the end of the year, a bill was before Congress to deny the possibility of parole for those convicted of crimes against humanity.

A law establishing the crime of torture in Chilean law came into force in November. In September, Chile was one of the countries listed by the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture as having delayed complying with the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture, because of the absence of a national mechanism for the prevention of torture.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS

In January, Congress established a commission to investigate violence in Araucania, the region most affected by land conflicts involving the Mapuche. The commission focused on crimes allegedly committed by the Mapuche as a form of protest. However, continued allegations of excessive use of force and arbitrary detentions during police operations against Mapuche communities were not investigated as they did not fall within the commission's mandate. The Chamber of Deputies approved the commission's conclusions in September.

In May, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights extended the precautionary measures ordered in October 2015 in favour of Mapuche leader Juana Calfunao. These measures sought to protect additional members of her family living in the community of Juan Paillalef in the south of Chile from threats to their life and integrity related to a land dispute.

In August, photographer Felipe Duran and Mapuche community member Cristian Levinao were found not guilty of all charges. The two men had been accused of illegal possession of weapons and drug offences and held in preventive detention for over 300 days.

The Machi (Mapuche traditional spiritual authority) Francisca Linconao was detained in March and held pending trial. On four occasions a judge allowed her transfer to house arrest to address serious health concerns. On each occasion this was overturned on appeal and she was returned to prison shortly afterwards. In November she was transferred to hospital. In December she began a hunger strike, demanding to be held in her own home pre-trial, and her defence team filed a writ of amparo calling for the same measure. She remained on hunger strike at the end of the year.

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Abortion remained a criminal offence in all circumstances. Several women seeking medical care for complications following unsafe abortions risked criminal charges after being reported to the authorities by health professionals.

In March, the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill decriminalizing abortion when the pregnancy poses a risk to a woman's life, when it is the result of rape and in cases of serious foetal impairment. However, provisions prohibiting health professionals from reporting women were removed from the bill following their rejection by the Chamber of Deputies. The amended bill was pending before the Senate by the end of the year.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

In September, the Senate Human Rights Commission approved the Gender Identity Bill, the first step towards its approval after three years of debate. Approval by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies remained pending at the end of the year. The Bill proposed establishing the right of individuals over 18 to have their gender identity legally recognized by changing their name and gender on official documents through an administrative process and without the existing requirements of gender reassignment surgery or medical certification.

In July, Chile reached a friendly settlement before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on a complaint on behalf of three gay couples who were denied the right to marry. The settlement included the adoption of a series of measures and policies to promote the rights of LGBTI people. In August, as part of the settlement, the government announced a participatory process with civil society aimed at drafting a bill to establish marriage equality.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Chad

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Chad, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b03410a.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.

Republic of Chad

Head of state: Idriss Deby Itno

Head of government: Albert Pahimi Padacke (replaced Kalzeubet Pahimi Deubet in February)

The armed group Boko Haram continued to commit abuses around Lake Chad, killing people and looting and destroying property. The violence and the government's response displaced tens of thousands of people, who then faced dire living conditions, including little access to water and sanitation. Presidential elections in April took place against a backdrop of restrictions on freedom of expression, excessive or unnecessary use of force against peaceful demonstrators, and enforced disappearances. More than 389,000 refugees continued to live in harsh conditions in crowded camps. Former President Hissene Habre was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) in Senegal for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture committed in Chad between 1982 and 1990.

ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS

Boko Haram carried out attacks on civilians and security forces, killing people and looting and destroying private property and public facilities.

On 31 January, at least three people, including a member of a vigilante group, were killed in two suicide attacks by Boko Haram in the villages of Guie and Miterine, Lake Chad region, and more than 56 people were injured.

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY

The rights to freedom of expression and of association were violated. Human rights defenders continued to be threatened and intimidated, and access to social media was regularly restricted. On 19 March, the government banned all demonstrations that were not part of the election campaign.

On 6 February, 17 peaceful protesters were arrested in the capital, N'Djamena. They were held for two days at the judicial police headquarters, where they were beaten and had tear gas thrown into their cell. At least two of them needed intensive care treatment in hospital.

Between 21 and 23 March, four activists were arrested and charged with "disturbing public order" and "disobeying a lawful order" for planning to organize a peaceful demonstration. They were detained in Amsinene Prison in N'Djamena from 24 March to 14 April. On 14 April they received a four-month suspended sentence and were prohibited from "engaging in subversive activities". On 4 April, activist Dr Albissaty Salhe Alazam was charged with "incitement to take part in an unarmed gathering", "disturbing public order" and "disobeying a lawful order" for organizing a peaceful demonstration on 5 April to demand the release of the four activists. He received a four-month suspended prison sentence.

In mid-April, two human rights activists fled the country after receiving death threats via SMS and anonymous phone calls following their involvement in pre-election protests against the re-election of President Deby.

On 17 November, 11 opposition activists were arrested during an unauthorized protest against the economic crisis and charged with taking part in an "unarmed gathering". They were released on 7 December and the charges were dropped.

EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE

Security forces used excessive or unnecessary force with impunity to disperse demonstrations in N'Djamena and other towns.

In February and March, security forces violently dispersed several peaceful demonstrations across the country demanding justice for Zouhoura Ibrahim, a 16-year-old student raped on 8 February, allegedly by five young men with links to the authorities and security forces. On 15 February, police killed a 17-year-old student during a peaceful demonstration in N'Djamena, and on 22 February security forces shot dead a 15-year-old student and injured at least five others in the city of Faya Largeau.

On 7 August, police used firearms to disperse a peaceful demonstration in N'Djamena against President Idriss Deby's re-election, killing one young man and seriously injuring another.

ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS  JOURNALISTS

Journalists continued to be intimidated and routinely subjected to arbitrary arrests and short-term detention for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

On 28 May, a presenter on a national radio station was interrogated by agents of the Directorate of General Information after accidentally referring to the President as Hissene Habre instead of Idriss Deby while on air. He was released seven hours later and suspended from the show.

On 30 August, Stephane Mbairabe Ouaye, Director of Publication of Haut Parleur newspaper, was arrested, questioned by agents of the Directorate of General Information and charged with "attempted fraud and blackmail" following an interview with the Director of the Mother and Child Hospital in N'Djamena about allegations of corruption. He was tried and acquitted, and released on 22 September.

On 9 September, Bemadjiel Saturnin, a reporter at Radio FM Liberte, was arrested while covering a protest, despite having his professional ID. He was questioned at the central police station and released four hours later.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

On 9 April, at least 64 soldiers were victims of enforced disappearance after refusing to vote for the incumbent President. Witnesses described how security forces identified soldiers who supported opposition candidates, ill-treated them at polling stations, abducted them, and tortured them at both recognized and unrecognized detention centres. Forty-nine of the soldiers were released, but the fate of the other 15 was still unclarified at the end of 2016. Following international pressure, the Public Prosecutor opened an investigation into the case of five of the soldiers, but the case was closed after their release. No investigation was undertaken into the allegations of torture and the other cases of disappearance.

REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE

More than 389,000 refugees from the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Sudan continued to live in poor conditions in refugee camps.

As a result of attacks and threats by Boko Haram, and security operations by the Chadian military, 105,000 people were internally displaced and 12,000 returned from Nigeria and Niger to the Lake Chad Basin. The deteriorating security situation in the border areas of the Lake Chad region from late July onward affected humanitarian access and the protection of vulnerable populations. Internally displaced people in the Lake Chad Basin lived in dire conditions with extremely limited access to water and sanitation, especially in the Baga-Sola sites of Bol, Liwa and Ngouboua.

RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING, EDUCATION AND JUSTICE

People continued to flee the escalating violence in the Lake Chad area, disrupting agriculture, trade and fishing with dire economic and social consequences. The volatile security situation exacerbated food insecurity. In September, the UN estimated that 3.8 million people were food insecure, including 1 million people at crisis or emergency level.

Delays in salary payments led to regular public sector strikes, restricting access to education and justice.

In August, the government adopted 16 emergency reform measures to tackle the economic crisis linked to the drop in the price of oil, including cancelling scholarships for university students in the countryside. In response, students organized both peaceful and violent demonstrations in the main cities, including N'Djamena, Sarh, Pala and Bongor.

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Despite national law providing for the right of couples and individuals to decide freely the number, spacing and timing of their children, to manage their reproductive health, and to have access to the information and means to do so, many people had no access to reproductive information or care, particularly in rural areas. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated that only 3% of women used any form of contraception. According to 2014 figures from the National Institute of Statistics, only 5% of married women used modern contraceptive methods.

In December the National Assembly adopted a reform of the penal code raising the legal age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18 years.

INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE

On 30 May, former President Habre was sentenced to life imprisonment by the EAC in Senegal, a court established under an agreement between the African Union and Senegal. He was found guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture committed in Chad between 1982 and 1990. His lawyers lodged an appeal.

On 29 July, the EAC awarded the victims of rape and sexual violence in the case 20 million CFA (US$33,880) each; the victims of arbitrary detention and torture, as well as prisoners of war and survivors, 15 million CFA (US$25,410) each; and the indirect victims, 10 million CFA (US$16,935) each.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Central African Republic

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Central African Republic, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b034114.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.

Central African Republic

Head of state: Faustin-Archange Touadera (replaced Catherine Samba-Panza in March)

Head of government: Simplice Sarandji (replaced Mahamat Kamoun in April)

Conflict between and within armed groups and militias, as well as between international peacekeepers and these groups, continued and involved serious human rights abuses, including crimes under international law. Impunity persisted for those suspected of abuses and crimes under international law. More than 434,000 people were internally displaced and living in harsh conditions, and at least 2.3 million people depended on humanitarian assistance. Allegations of sexual abuse by international peacekeepers continued to be reported.

BACKGROUND

From June onwards, after a period of relative calm, conflict between armed groups and attacks on civilians increased. The conflict, which began in 2013 with the ousting of President Francois Bozize, claimed thousands of lives. Armed groups, particularly ex-Seleka and Anti-balaka forces, continued to control large swathes of the country, facilitated by mass circulation of small arms.

Elections were held to replace the transitional government and on 11 April a new government was formed.

Some 12,870 uniformed personnel were deployed as part of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), whose mandate was renewed until 15 November 2017. Following criticism of MINUSCA's capacity to respond to attacks, its forces were strengthened.[1] However, it continued to have limited ability to protect civilians, given the vast size of the Central African Republic (CAR) and the significant presence of armed groups and militias. French forces, deployed under Operation Sangaris, were almost completely withdrawn in October.

In October, the CAR acceded without reservation to the UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; the Optional Protocol to CEDAW; and the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR. However, the CAR authorities did not recognize the competence of the relevant treaty bodies.

A major CAR donors' conference was held in Brussels on 17 November. The CAR National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan 2017-2021 was presented to donors and requested $105 million over five years to support measures to both strengthen the domestic justice system and operationalize the Special Criminal Court (SCC).

ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS AND CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

Armed groups and militias committed human rights abuses, including unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, abductions, sexual assaults, looting and destruction of property, and attacks on humanitarian workers and premises. Some of these amounted to crimes under international law. According to the UN, more than 300 security incidents targeting relief agencies were reported and at least five humanitarian workers were killed. More than 500 civilians were also killed in the violence according to international NGOs.

The risk of attack by Anti-balaka forces and their affiliates continued to restrict freedom of movement for Muslims living in enclaves across the country.

On 3 September, two civilians were killed as ex-Seleka fighters clashed with the local population and Anti-balaka forces near Dekoa town, Kemo district. The ex-Seleka fighters had escaped MINUSCA three weeks earlier after the peacekeeping force arrested 11 ex-Seleka members who were part of a convoy of prominent armed leaders, including Abdoulaye Hissene and Haroun Gaye, who also escaped.

On 10 September, 19 civilians were killed during fighting between Anti-balaka and ex-Seleka forces near the southern town of Kouango, Ouaka district. An estimated 3,500 people were displaced and 13 villages burned.

On 16 September, ex-Seleka fighters killed six civilians in the village of Ndomete, near the northern town of Kaga-Bandoro, Nana-Grebizi district, as a result of tensions between the group and Anti-balaka militia.

Between 4 and 8 October, at least 11 civilians were killed and 14 injured in the capital, Bangui, in reprisal attacks triggered by the assassination of a former army colonel by members of a militia based in the Muslim enclave of the capital known as PK5.

On 12 October, at least 37 civilians were killed, 60 injured and over 20,000 displaced when ex-Seleka fighters attacked and burned a camp for internally displaced people in Kaga-Bandoro in reprisal for the killing of an ex-Seleka member.

On 15 October in Ngakobo, Ouaka district, suspected ex-Seleka fighters attacked a camp for displaced people, leaving 11 civilians dead.

On 24 October in Bangui, a protest against MINUSCA led by civilians infiltrated by armed elements left four civilians dead and nine wounded.

On 27 October, 15 people were killed in clashes between ex-Seleka and Anti-balaka in the villages of Mbriki and Belima, near Bambari, Ouaka district.

In late November fighting between rival ex-Seleka factions in Bria left at least 14 civilians dead and 75 wounded.

The southeast of the CAR was also affected by violence, including by the armed group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). International NGOs reported 103 attacks by the LRA leading to at least 18 civilian casualties and 497 kidnappings since the beginning of the year.

VIOLATIONS BY PEACEKEEPING FORCES

Civilians continued to report sexual abuse by international forces. Following the report of an independent panel in December 2015, and a visit in April by the Special Coordinator on improving the United Nations' response to sexual exploitation and abuse, MINUSCA introduced measures to strengthen monitoring, reporting and accountability in relation to such cases.

Countries contributing peacekeeping troops to the CAR whose soldiers were accused of sexual abuse took some steps to ensure accountability, but prosecutions remained rare. In April, three Congolese peacekeepers accused of sexual abuse in the CAR appeared before a military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE

More than 434,000 people remained internally displaced. They lived in harsh conditions in makeshift camps, and lacked access to food, water, basic health services and adequate sanitation. The spontaneous return of a small number of internally displaced people caused intercommunal tensions in some areas, especially in the southwest. The returns significantly decreased following the renewed violence from June onward.

IMPUNITY

Members of armed groups, militias and security forces suspected of human rights abuses and crimes under international law did not face effective investigations or trial. Some suspects appeared to be linked to ongoing armed violence, human rights abuses and crimes under international law, and a few held positions of authority. Among them were prominent ex-Seleka leader Haroun Gaye, the subject of an international arrest warrant and UN sanctions, who had admitted orchestrating the kidnapping of six policemen in Bangui on 16 June; and Alfred Yekatom ("Colonel Rambo"), a feared Anti-balaka commander also on the UN sanctions list, who began sitting as an elected member of CAR's National Assembly in early 2016.

MINUSCA arrested 194 individuals under its Urgent Temporary Measures, including prominent ex-Seleka leader Hahmed Tidjani on 13 August.

A weak national justice system undermined efforts to ensure accountability. The presence and functioning of judicial institutions remained limited, especially outside Bangui. In areas controlled by armed groups, such as Ndele town, the capital of Bamingui-Bangoran, armed groups and/or traditional chiefs administered justice.

Judicial authorities lacked the capacity to investigate and prosecute people suspected of crimes, including serious human rights abuses. In the few cases involving human rights abuses that went to court, defendants were acquitted or convicted of minor offences and immediately released for time spent in prison, and fear of reprisals prevented witnesses and victims testifying.

INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE

Limited progress was made in operationalizing the Special Criminal Court, which would bring together national and international judges to try individuals suspected of serious human rights violations and crimes under international law committed since 2003.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations on the CAR II situation, based on crimes under international law committed from 2012 onward, continued. Two separate teams worked respectively on crimes committed by ex-Seleka and by Anti-balaka and its affiliates. On 20 June, ICC investigations on the CAR I situation, which focused on crimes against humanity and war crimes since 1 July 2002, resulted in the conviction of a Congolese national, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, as a military commander. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and pillaging committed by his militia.

PRISON CONDITIONS

Prison conditions remained poor and security was weak. Of 38 official detention facilities across the country, only eight were functional.

In September, guards severely beat 21 inmates in Ngaragba prison in Bangui. This triggered an attempted prison break, which was foiled by guards using tear gas. An investigation into the events was opened soon afterwards by national authorities.

NATURAL RESOURCES

The Kimberley Process, a global initiative to stop "blood diamonds" from being sold internationally, banned the CAR from exporting diamonds in May 2013. However, the CAR diamond trade continued and armed groups involved in abuses profited from it. In July 2015, the Kimberley Process allowed the resumption of diamond exports from "compliant zones". During 2016, Berberati, Boda, Carnot and Nola, all in the southwest, were deemed to be "compliant zones".

RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING

According to the UN, 2.3 million of the population of 4.8 million needed humanitarian assistance and 2.5 million people remained food insecure. As a result of the conflict, household incomes fell and food prices rose. Basic health services and medicines were provided almost entirely by humanitarian organizations following the collapse of the health system. Less than half of the population had access to effective health care, and virtually no psychosocial support was available. According to the UN, only about a third of the population had access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities.

1. Mandated to protect, equipped to succeed? Strengthening peacekeeping in Central African Republic (AFR 19/3263/2016)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Canada

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Canada, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341162.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.

Canada

Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor General David Johnston

Head of government: Justin Trudeau

Some 38,000 Syrian refugees were resettled. A national inquiry into violence against Indigenous women and girls was launched. Concerns persisted about the failure to uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the face of economic development projects.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS

In January, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled that systemic underfunding of First Nation child protection services constituted discrimination. The government accepted the ruling but failed to bring an end to the discrimination.

In May, the government announced unconditional support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; by the end of the year it remained unclear how it would collaborate with Indigenous Peoples to implement that commitment.

In May, a provincially funded report confirmed that mercury contamination continued for the Grassy Narrows First Nation in the Province of Ontario.

In July, the government issued permits allowing construction of the Site C dam in the Province of British Columbia to proceed, despite unresolved court cases concerning obligations under a historic treaty with affected First Nations.

In October, the government of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador agreed to measures to reduce risks to Inuit health and culture from the Muskrat Falls dam, following hunger strikes and other protests.

In November, the British Columbia government acknowledged the need to address the impact of the resource sector on the safety of Indigenous women and girls.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

In March, the government committed to promoting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls through its international development programme.

In September, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was launched. Its mandate did not explicitly include police actions or measures to address past failures to properly investigate cases. In November, the UN CEDAW Committee called on Canada to ensure that the National Inquiry would investigate the role of policing.

In November, prosecutors in the Province of Quebec laid charges in only two of 37 complaints brought mostly by Indigenous women alleging abuse by police. The Independent Observer appointed to oversee the cases raised concerns about systemic racism. In December the Quebec government announced a public inquiry into the treatment of Indigenous Peoples by provincial bodies.

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

In February, legislation was introduced to reverse 2014 Citizenship Act reforms allowing for dual nationals convicted of terrorism and other offences to be stripped of Canadian citizenship.

In February, the government withdrew an appeal against the 2015 bail decision releasing Omar Khadr  a Canadian citizen held at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for 10 years beginning when he was 15 years old and transferred to a Canadian prison in 2012.

In November, the Federal Court ruled that the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service practice of indefinitely retaining metadata from phone and email logs was unlawful.

Mediation broke off in the cases of Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin who were seeking redress on the basis of a 2008 judicial inquiry report documenting the role of Canadian officials in their overseas arrest, imprisonment and torture.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

Concerns mounted about extensive use of solitary confinement after the case of Adam Capay, an Indigenous man held in pre-trial solitary confinement in Ontario for over four years, became public in October.

In November, the Quebec government launched a public inquiry into surveillance of journalists by police.

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS

Throughout the year, 38,700 Syrian refugees were resettled to Canada through government and private sponsorship.

In April, the Interim Federal Health Program for refugees and refugee claimants was fully restored, reversing cuts imposed in 2012.

In August, the Minister of Public Safety announced increased funding for immigration detention facilities.

CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY

In June, the British Columbia government allowed full operations to resume at the Mount Polley mine, despite an ongoing criminal investigation into the 2014 collapse of the mine's tailings pond and the fact that approval of the company's long-term water treatment plan was pending. In November, a private prosecution was launched against the provincial government and the Mount Polley Mining Corporation for violations of the Fisheries Act.

In May, the fifth annual report assessing the human rights impact of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement was released. It again failed to evaluate human rights concerns linked to extractive projects' effects on Indigenous Peoples and others.

The government failed to adopt measures to fulfil a 2015 election promise to establish a human rights Ombudsperson for the extractive sector. Canada was urged to take that step by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in March and by the CEDAW Committee in November.

Three Canadian companies faced civil lawsuits over alleged human rights abuses associated with overseas projects. A case dealing with HudBay Minerals' Guatemalan mine was proceeding in Ontario. In October, a British Columbia court ruled that a case involving Nevsun Resources' Eritrean mine could proceed. In November, an appeal was heard in British Columbia as to whether a case involving Tahoe Resources' Guatemalan mine could go ahead.

LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

In February, a 2007 policy limiting government efforts to seek clemency on behalf of Canadians sentenced to death in foreign countries was reversed.

In March, the UN CESCR called on Canada to recognize that economic, social and cultural rights are fully justiciable.

In April, the government approved a Can $15 billion sale of light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia despite human rights concerns. A 2015 commitment to accede to the UN Arms Trade Treaty was not met.

In May, the government announced plans to accede to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and launched consultations with provincial and territorial governments.

Also in May, the government introduced legislation to add gender identity and expression as a prohibited ground of discrimination in Canada's Human Rights Act and Criminal Code hate crime laws.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Cameroon

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Cameroon, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341213.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.

Republic of Cameroon

Head of state: Paul Biya

Head of government: Philemon Yang

The armed group Boko Haram continued to commit serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in the Far North region, including killing and abducting hundreds of civilians. In response, the authorities and security forces committed human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detentions, torture and enforced disappearances. As a result of the conflict, more than 170,000 people had fled their homes since 2014. Freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly continued to be restricted. Demonstrations in Anglophone regions from late October were violently repressed by the security forces. Journalists, students, human rights defenders and members of opposition parties were arrested and some faced trial before military courts. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people faced discrimination, intimidation and harassment, although the number of arrests and prosecutions continued to fall.

ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS  BOKO HARAM

Boko Haram committed crimes under international law and human rights abuses, including suicide bombings in civilian areas, summary executions, torture, hostage-taking, abductions, recruitment of child soldiers, looting and destruction of public, private and religious property. During the year, the group carried out at least 150 attacks, including 22 suicide bombings, killing at least 260 civilians. The crimes were part of a systematic attack on the civilian population across the Lake Chad basin.

Boko Haram deliberately targeted civilians in attacks on markets, mosques, churches, schools and bus stations. In January alone, at least nine suicide attacks killed more than 60 civilians. On 10 February in the town of Nguechewe, 60km from Maroua, two women suicide bombers attacked a funeral, killing at least nine civilians, including a child, and injuring more than 40 people. On 19 February, two women suicide bombers killed at least 24 civilians and injured 112 others in a crowded market in the village of Meme, near Mora. Suicide bombings on 21 August and 25 December killed a total of five people and wounded at least 34 at markets in Mora.

ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS

Security forces continued to arbitrarily arrest individuals accused of supporting Boko Haram, often with little or no evidence, and detained them in inhumane, often life-threatening conditions. Hundreds of suspects were held in unofficial detention centres, such as military bases or premises belonging to the national intelligence agencies, without access to a lawyer or their families.

The security forces continued to use "cordon and search" operations, leading to mass arrests.

TORTURE, DEATHS IN CUSTODY AND ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

Dozens of men, women and children accused of supporting Boko Haram were tortured by members of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), an elite army unit, at the military base known as Salak, near Maroua, and by officers of the General Directorate of External Research (DGRE), an intelligence service, in premises in the capital, Yaounde. Some of them died as a result of torture; others disappeared.[1]

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION, ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY

Human rights defenders, including civil society activists and journalists, continued to be intimidated, harassed and threatened. In response to curtailed freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, journalists reported that they self-censored to avoid repercussions for criticizing the government, especially on security matters.

Kah Walla, President of the Cameroon People's Party, was victim of several arbitrary arrests. On 8 April, she was detained along with 11 members of her party at the Judicial Police station located at the Elig-Essono neighbourhood in Yaounde on charges of "insurrection and rebellion against the State", for peacefully protesting against the government. On 20 May, she was detained along with 14 members of her party at the Directorate for the Surveillance of the National Territory in Yaounde charged with "rebellion, inciting insurrection and inciting revolt"; they were all released the same day without any explanation. On 28 October Kah Walla was arrested at her party headquarters in Yaounde and detained at the Yaounde 1 Central Police Station alongside 50 of her supporters as they gathered for a prayer for the victims of the Eseka train crash. The arrest was carried out without any warrant. They were detained for more than seven hours without charge. No reason was given for their arrest.

In late October, lawyers, students and teachers from the Anglophone regions of Cameroon went on strike, in opposition to what they viewed as the marginalization of the Anglophone minority. Protesting erupted in several cities in the southwest and northwest of the country, including Bamenda, Kumba and Buea. Cameroon's security forces arbitrarily arrested protesters and used excessive force to disperse them. In one example, on 8 December, the use of live bullets by security forces led to the deaths of between two and four people during a protest in the northwestern city of Bamenda.

UNFAIR TRIALS

People continued to face unfair trials before military courts.

The trial of Radio France Internationale correspondent Ahmed Abba, who was arrested in Maroua in July 2015, began at Yaounde Military Court on 29 February. It was marred by irregularities, including witnesses not being called to testify, and documents not being shared with defence lawyers. Charged with complicity with and non-denunciation of terrorist acts, he was tortured while held incommunicado for three months.

The trial of three journalists  Rodrigue Tongue, Felix Ebole Bola and Baba Wame  continued at Yaounde Military Court. They were charged in October 2014 with non-denunciation of information and sources. If convicted, they could face up to five years' imprisonment. Trial proceedings were marred by substantive and procedural irregularities, including the refusal by the judges to allow witnesses to testify. Aboubakar Siddiki, leader of the political party Mouvement patriotique du salut camerounais, and Abdoulaye Harissou, a well-known notary, faced trial alongside the three journalists. Arrested in August 2014, they were both held incommunicado at the DGRE for more than 40 days before being transferred to Prison Principale in Yaounde. They faced charges of illegal possession and use of weapons of war, murder, revolution, insulting the head of state and hostility against the state.

Fomusoh Ivo Feh, arrested in December 2014 in Limbe for forwarding a sarcastic text message about Boko Haram, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Yaounde Military Court on 2 November for "non-denunciation of a terrorist act". Convicted on the basis of limited and unverifiable evidence, his trial was marred by irregularities, including the lack of an interpreter.

IMPUNITY

On 11 July, the State Secretary to the Minister of Defence in charge of the national gendarmerie said that a commission of inquiry to investigate crimes committed by the security forces engaged in operations against Boko Haram would be set up. No further information was provided.

In August, the trial of gendarmerie Colonel Ze Onguene Charles, charged with negligence and breach of custody law, started before Yaounde Military Court. The Colonel was in charge of the region where, on 27-28 December 2014, at least 25 men accused of supporting Boko Haram died while detained in a gendarmerie building.

PRISON CONDITIONS

Prison conditions remained poor, marked by chronic overcrowding, inadequate food, limited medical care, and deplorable hygiene and sanitation. Maroua prison housed around 1,400 detainees, more than three times its intended capacity. The population of the central prison in Yaounde was approximately 4,000, despite a maximum capacity of 2,000. In Prison Principale in Yaounde, the majority of suspected Boko Haram detainees were permanently chained until August.

The main factors contributing to overcrowding included the mass arrests of people accused of supporting Boko Haram, the large number of detainees held without charge, and the ineffective judicial system. The government promised to build new prisons and began constructing 12 new cells for the prison in Maroua. The measures were considered insufficient to resolve the crisis.

REFUGEES' AND MIGRANTS' RIGHTS

At least 276,000 refugees from the Central African Republic lived in harsh conditions in crowded camps or with host families along border areas of southeastern Cameroon. Some 59,000 refugees from Nigeria lived in the UN-run Minawao camp in the Far North region, but around 27,000 others struggled to cope outside the camp, facing food insecurity, lack of access to basic services and harassment by the security forces. The insecurity created by both Boko Haram and the military also led to the internal displacement of around 199,000 people in the Far North region. Agreements between Cameroon, Nigeria, Central African Republic and UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, to facilitate voluntary return of refugees were being finalized at the end of the year.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

LGBTI people continued to face discrimination, intimidation, harassment and violence. The criminalization of same-sex sexual relations was retained when the Criminal Code was revised in June.

On 2 August, three young men were arrested in Yaounde and taken to a gendarmerie station where they were beaten, insulted and had their hair partially shaved off. The gendarmes poured cold water on the men, forced them to clean the gendarmerie building, and demanded they "confess" their sexuality. They were released 24 hours later on payment of a bribe.

RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING

The Boko Haram violence exacerbated the hardships of communities in the Far North region, limiting their access to basic social services, and disrupting trade, farming and pastoralism. Some 1.4 million people in the region, most of them children, faced crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity, and 144 schools and 21 health centres were forced to shut down due to insecurity.

An amended version of the Penal Code, passed in July, provided that tenants owing more than two months' rent could be sentenced to up to three years in prison. About a third of households lived in rented accommodation and almost half of the country's population lived below the poverty line.

DEATH PENALTY

People accused of supporting Boko Haram continued to be sentenced to death following unfair trials in military courts; none were executed during the year. The vast majority of cases were prosecuted under a deeply flawed anti-terrorism law passed in December 2014.

1. Right cause, wrong means: Human rights violated and justice denied in Cameroon's fight against Boko Haram (AFR 17/4260/2016)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Cambodia

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Cambodia, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341313.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.

Kingdom of Cambodia

Head of state: King Norodom Sihamoni

Head of government: Hun Sen

Crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly intensified ahead of elections in 2017/2018. The authorities' misuse of the justice system increased; the security forces continued to harass and punish civil society and silence critics. Human rights defenders were arrested and held in pre-trial detention; several were tried and sentenced, including for previous alleged offences, and others were given suspended sentences or had charges pending against them. Political opposition was targeted, with activists serving long sentences handed down in previous years and new legal action taken against opposition party leaders and others. A prominent political commentator was shot dead and impunity continued for past unlawful killings.

BACKGROUND

Tensions between the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the main opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) remained high. The prospect of commune and national elections in 2017 and 2018 respectively created an unstable political environment threatening human rights. From May, CNRP MPs intermittently boycotted the National Assembly in protest at legal action taken against CNRP deputy leader Kem Sokha for failing to appear as a witness in a court case. CNRP leader Sam Rainsy remained in self-imposed exile in France; in October the government formally announced that he was banned from returning to Cambodia. He was targeted with a series of criminal charges against him during the year.

In September, 39 states issued a statement at the 33rd UN Human Rights Council meeting expressing concern about the political situation in Cambodia and calling for a "safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders and civil society".

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND ASSOCIATION

Legal action against the political opposition escalated in an apparent attempt to hamper activities ahead of commune elections in 2017. At least 16 activists and officials from the opposition remained in prison after unfair trials. They included 14 CNRP members who were convicted of leading and/or participating in an "insurrection" related to a demonstration in July 2014. At least two opposition party members were held in pre-trial detention and at least 13 had charges pending against them.

In December, Sam Rainsy and two assistants were sentenced to five years' imprisonment on charges of being "accomplices" in a 2015 forgery case against opposition party senator Hong Sok Hour, who was convicted in November 2016 on charges of fraud and incitement and given a seven-year prison sentence. Rainsy and the two assistants are in exile in France.

In September, Kem Sokha was sentenced in his absence to five months' imprisonment for refusing to appear as a witness in the prosecution of two CNRP MPs who were charged with "procurement of prostitution". He was pardoned by the King in December at the Prime Minister's request.

In October, CNRP MP Um Sam An was sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment for incitement related to the CNRP campaign alleging encroachment by Viet Nam into Cambodian territory.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Human rights defenders were threatened and arrested for peacefully carrying out their work. Intimidation, threats and heavy surveillance caused several to leave the country in fear for their safety.

In May, a landmark case was brought against Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda and Lem Mony, staff members from the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) who were arrested on 28 April and charged with bribing a witness. Ny Chakrya, a former ADHOC staff member and deputy secretary-general of the National Election Committee (NEC), was also charged as an accomplice. The case was related to advice and material support provided by ADHOC to a woman alleged to have had an extra-marital relationship with Kem Sokha. In October, the investigating judge extended their pre-trial detention to one year. In December, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng announced that the five would be released but no action was taken. The alleged affair led to three separate criminal cases involving eight political and civil society actors, as well as one against the woman. The CPP filed a criminal defamation complaint against political commentator Ou Virak for commenting that the cases were politically motivated. Seang Chet, an opposition commune councillor, was convicted on charges of bribery in one of these cases in December. He received a five-year sentence but was pardoned and released two days later.

In a separate case, Ny Chakrya was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for defamation, malicious denunciation and publication of commentaries intended to unlawfully coerce judicial authorities after criticizing a court in Siem Reap for its handling of a land dispute case in May 2015. In April, NEC member and former union leader Rong Chhun was informed that he would be tried on criminal charges in relation to a 2014 demonstration at which a number of protesting factory workers were shot dead by security forces. Ny Chakrya and Rong Chhun both worked for the NEC and their cases were viewed as targeted attempts to exclude them from their appointed positions.

Try Sovikea, Sun Mala and Sim Samnang, environmental activists from the NGO Mother Nature who had been arrested in August 2015, were sentenced in June to 18 months' imprisonment for threatening to destroy property. They were released after the balance of their sentence after time served was suspended.

FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

Peaceful protests continued to be hampered by the authorities. In May, civil society launched a peaceful "Black Monday" campaign to call for the release of four ADHOC staff and one former NEC staff member (see above). Protesters wearing black took part in weekly gatherings and vigils, and posted images on social media. The authorities attempted to ban the protests and threatened, arrested and detained participants who were generally released only after signing undertakings not to protest again. Housing rights activists from the capital, Phnom Penh, were among those routinely targeted.

Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea from Boeung Kak community were arrested on 15 August at a "Black Monday" vigil. They were tried on 22 August and sentenced to six days' imprisonment each for insulting a public official. Bov Sophea was released after time served, and Tep Vanny was held in prison for investigation on a revived charge relating to a 2013 protest. In another revived case, on 19 September, Tep Vanny, Bo Chhorvy, Heng Mom and Kong Chantha, also from the Boeung Kak community, were sentenced to six months' imprisonment for insulting and obstructing public officials in relation to a 2011 protest. Tep Vanny remained imprisoned and the three other women remained free pending an appeal against conviction at the end of the year.

UNLAWFUL KILLINGS

Political commentator Kem Ley was shot dead on the morning of 10 July at a service station where he regularly went to meet people. He was frequently interviewed on radio and news media for his views on political events in Cambodia, including criticism of the government. Oeuth Ang, a former soldier, was arrested shortly afterwards, but the authorities failed to conduct an independent and effective investigation or to inform the public adequately of any investigations into the killing. Prime Minister Hun Sen filed a defamation suit against Sam Rainsy after the latter had posted on Facebook that the government may have been behind the killing. Opposition senator Thak Lany was convicted in her absence of defamation and incitement for allegedly accusing Hun Sen of ordering the killing.

No progress was made in holding anyone to account for the killings of at least six people and the enforced disappearance of Khem Saphath during a violent crackdown by security forces on freedom of peaceful assembly in 2013 and 2014. A renewed investigation ordered in 2013 into the fatal shooting of trade union leader Chea Vichea by unidentified perpetrators in January 2004 also appeared to be making no progress.

RIGHT TO ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING

Land grabbing, Economic Land Concessions granted to private stakeholders, and major development projects continued to impact the right to adequate housing for communities around the country. Work on the proposed Lower Sesan II hydropower dam in the northeast province of Stung Treng progressed, with estimates that around 5,000 members of Indigenous minorities faced relocation due to inundation. The UN Special Rapporteur on Cambodia called for adequate consultation, better understanding of cultural practices and consideration of alternatives proposed by the communities.

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS

In January the Ministry of Interior confirmed that more than 170 Montagnard asylum-seekers who had fled Viet Nam would have their claims assessed for refugee status, after initially refusing to do so. Thirteen who had earlier been granted refugee status were transferred to the Philippines pending resettlement to a third country. During the year, around 29 returned to Viet Nam voluntarily with assistance from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Burundi

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Burundi, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341413.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.

Republic of Burundi

Head of state and government: Pierre Nkurunziza

The political crisis became less overtly violent, although serious human rights violations continued, including unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment and arbitrary arrests. Violence against women and girls increased. The rights to freedom of expression and association were stifled. With increased repression and unchallenged impunity, a climate of fear took hold in the capital and elsewhere. Around 3 million people needed humanitarian assistance by the end of the year due to the political crisis, the collapsing economy and a series of natural disasters.

BACKGROUND

The political crisis sparked by President Nkurunziza's decision in 2015 to stand for a third term became increasingly entrenched and was accompanied by a deepening socio-economic crisis.

Mediation efforts under the auspices of the East African Community stalled, despite the appointment in March of former Tanzanian President, Benjamin Mkapa, as facilitator. The National Commission for Inter-Burundian Dialogue reported that most participants had called for constitutional amendments, including the removal of term limits. With many Burundians in exile or afraid to express dissent, the Commission's findings risked being one-sided.

The AU stepped back from the protection force proposed in December 2015 and decided instead to send a delegation of five African heads of state and government to Burundi in February. In July, the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of up to 228 police officers, a move rejected by the government.

On appeal in May, the Supreme Court sentenced 21 army and police officers to life imprisonment for their involvement in the failed coup attempt in May 2015. Five others received two-year sentences and two were acquitted. The sentences were heavier than those handed down in January.

On 20 August, General Evariste Ndayishimiye was elected Secretary General of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces of Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD).

After several months of consultations, the EU decided in March to suspend direct financial support to the government, pending regular reviews. In October the EU judged that commitments proposed by the government to address its concerns were insufficient to restart support. The EU renewed sanctions against four men "deemed to be undermining democracy or obstructing the search for a political solution to the crisis in Burundi" by inciting acts of repression against peaceful demonstrations or participating in the failed coup. Similarly, the USA issued sanctions against a further three people, bringing the total under US sanctions to 11.

Access to basic services was hampered by the insecurity and deteriorating economy. Cuts to external financial assistance led to massive budget cuts. Natural disasters, including floods, landslides and storms, exacerbated the situation. Humanitarian organizations estimated that 3 million people needed assistance in October, up from 1.1 million in February. A cholera epidemic was declared in August and cases of malaria were almost double those seen in 2015.

UNLAWFUL KILLINGS

Hundreds of people were unlawfully killed in targeted and indiscriminate killings related to the crisis. NGOs continued to report the discovery of mass graves. Amnesty International's analysis of satellite images and video footage from a site in Buringa near the capital, Bujumbura, supported witness accounts that people killed by security forces in December 2015 were later buried in mass graves.[1] In February, the Mayor of Bujumbura showed the media a grave in the Mutakura neighbourhood of the capital that he alleged was dug by members of the opposition. The government did not take up offers from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIIB) to help document alleged mass graves.

In early 2016, there were regular grenade explosions in Bujumbura followed by targeted killings. On 22 March, Lieutenant Colonel Darius Ikurakure, an army officer implicated in numerous human rights violations, was shot dead inside the army's headquarters. On 25 April, gunmen fired on the car of General Athanase Kararuza, killing him, his wife Consolate Gahiro and his assistant Gerard Vyimana and fatally wounding his daughter Daniella Mpundu. The previous day Human Rights Minister Martin Nivyabandi and Diane Murindababisha were injured in an attack. On 13 July, unidentified gunmen killed Hafsa Mossi, a former minister and member of the East African Legislative Assembly. A senior presidential adviser, Willy Nyamitwe, was injured in an assassination attempt on 28 November.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

Reports of enforced disappearances, often implicating the National Intelligence Services (SNR), continued and numerous cases from 2015 remained unsolved.

Jean Bigirimana, a journalist with the independent media outlet Iwacu, was last seen on 22 July.[2] His colleague received a phone call saying he had been taken by people believed to be members of the SNR. Two bodies in an advanced state of decomposition were later found in a river; neither could be identified.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

Torture and other ill-treatment continued to be perpetrated at an alarming rate and with impunity by the SNR, the police and the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the ruling party. Methods documented included: beating with branches, iron bars and batons; electric shocks; stamping on victims; denial of medical care; verbal abuse; and death threats.[3] People who refused to join the Imbonerakure said they were beaten during arrest and in detention, apparently as a punishment. Others were beaten as they tried to flee the country.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

In November, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern about an increase in serious sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls by the police, military and Imbonerakure.

ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS

There were regular police searches and arrests in neighbourhoods of Bujumbura where the 2015 protests had been concentrated. In these neighbourhoods and other parts of Burundi, police regularly checked household notebooks in which residents should be registered.

On 28 May, the police arrested several hundred people in the Bwiza neighbourhood of Bujumbura. A police spokesperson was reported as saying that it was normal to arrest people near a grenade attack as the perpetrators might be found among them.

On 25 August, the police presented to the media 93 people who had been arrested and accused of begging as part of the "clean city" operation.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Freedom of expression was stifled at all levels of society.

Hundreds of secondary school students were suspended for doodling on a photo of the President in their textbooks. In June dozens of students were arrested and accused of insulting the President, including in Muramvya, Cankuzo and Rumonge provinces. Two were charged with participating in an insurrectionary movement and mobilizing students to demonstrate. The rest were released by mid-August.

Burundian and international journalists faced persecution, despite the reopening of two private radio stations in February. Phil Moore and Jean-Philippe Remy, who were working for the French newspaper Le Monde, were arrested in January. Julia Steers, an American journalist; Gildas Yihundimpundu, a Burundian journalist; and their Burundian driver were arrested on 23 October. Julia Steers was taken to the US Embassy the same day, but Gildas Yihundimpundu and the driver were held overnight at the SNR. Leon Masengo, a journalist with Isanganiro FM, was briefly detained on 11 November after he went to cover the interrogation of a police officer accused of many human rights violations.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

Members of opposition political parties faced repression.

In March, at least 16 members of National Liberation Forces (FNL) party were arrested at a bar in Kirundo province. The police said they were holding an unauthorized political meeting. Local opposition party leaders who opposed President Nkurunziza's re-election were beaten and threatened by the Imbonerakure. Throughout the country, the Imbonerakure put pressure on people to join it or the ruling CNDD-FDD, and carried out campaigns of intimidation against those who refused.

In December, the national assembly adopted two laws on national and foreign NGOs which will impose stricter controls on their work.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Human rights work became increasingly dangerous and difficult. The SNR increased surveillance of human rights defenders and other perceived government critics. Victims and witnesses of violations were afraid to speak out.

In October, the Minister of Interior banned five leading human rights organizations that had been suspended in 2015. The Minister suspended five others the following week, one of which, Lique Iteka (the Burundian Human Rights League) was permanently closed in December, following the publication of a controversial report.

Following the review of Burundi by the UN Committee against Torture in July, a Burundian prosecutor called on the Bar Association to strike off four lawyers who contributed to the civil society report submitted to the Committee. Pamela Capizzi of Switzerland-based TRIAL International, an NGO, was asked to leave the country on 6 October despite having a visa.

LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Victims of human rights violations continued to face serious challenges in accessing justice. Journalist Esdras Ndikumana was tortured in August 2015 and filed a complaint at the Supreme Court in October 2015. No progress was made in the case in 2016.

Judicial investigations continued to lack credibility. In March, the Prosecutor General announced the findings of a commission of inquiry into alleged extrajudicial executions committed on 11 December 2015 and the subsequent discovery of suspected mass graves. According to the report, all but one person found dead in the Bujumbura neighbourhoods of Musaga, Ngagara and Nyakabiga had participated in the fighting. While an exchange of fire did take place on 11 December, this was followed by cordon-and-search operations in which many people were killed by a bullet to the head and at least one body was found tied up.

The operational phase of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which covers 1962 to 2008, was launched in March and began collecting testimonies in September. It does not have judicial authority and the special tribunal that was initially envisaged was not established.

REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE

Approximately 100,000 people fled Burundi in 2016, bringing the total number of Burundian refugees who had fled the ongoing crisis to over 327,000. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that 139,000 people were internally displaced due to the crisis and natural disasters.

People trying to flee were abused and robbed. Members of the Imbonerakure were largely responsible, although refugees also accused people in police and military uniforms.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern about: the high secondary school drop-out rate for girls; women's limited access to basic health care and sexual and reproductive health services; the continued criminalization of abortion; and the fact that 45% of incarcerated women were serving sentences for abortion and infanticide. The Committee highlighted the concentration of women working in the informal sector in unskilled and low-paid jobs without social protection. It also noted the lack of protection of domestic workers from exploitation and sexual abuse, and the failure to ban child labour.

INTERNATIONAL SCRUTINY

The situation in Burundi came under intense scrutiny by international and regional bodies, and the government became increasingly hostile in its responses to such initiatives.

In February, the government agreed to an increase in the number of AU human rights observers and military experts to 200. By the end of the year, only a third of these had been deployed and a memorandum of understanding was yet to be signed.

In April, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights presented to the AU's Peace and Security Council the report of its December 2015 fact-finding mission to Burundi. Its recommendations included the establishment of a joint regional and international investigative mechanism.

The UN Committee against Torture requested a special report from Burundi, which was reviewed in July. The government delegation only attended half of the review and did not respond to questions. However, it did submit further feedback in October.

The UNIIB presented its report to the Human Rights Council (HRC) in September.[4] It found that gross, systematic and patterned human rights violations were taking place and that impunity was pervasive. To follow up, the HRC established a commission of inquiry on Burundi. Burundi rejected this move and, in October, banned the three UNIIB experts from Burundi and suspended co-operation with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights pending renegotiation.

In April, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Burundi. On 8 October, both the National Assembly and the Senate voted to leave the ICC.[5] The UN Secretary-General received official notification of Burundi's withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the ICC on 27 October, which will come into effect after a year.

1. Burundi: Suspected mass graves of victims of 11 December violence (AFR 16/3337/2016)

2. Burundi: Whereabouts of Burundian journalist unknown  Jean Bigirimana (AFR 16/4832/2016)

3. Burundi: Submission to the United Nations Committee against Torture, 25 July-12 August 2016 (AFR 16/4377/2016)

4. Burundi: Written Statement to the 33rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (AFR 16/4737/2016)

5. Burundi: ICC withdrawal must not block justice for crisis abuses (News story, 12 October)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Burkina Faso

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Burkina Faso, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341513.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.

Burkina Faso

Head of state: Roch Marc Christian Kabore

Head of government: Paul Kaba Thieba (replaced Yacouba Isaac Zida in January)

The political turmoil of the previous two years largely receded. Armed groups committed abuses. The rates of maternal mortality as well as early and forced marriage remained high, although the government began to address the issues.

BACKGROUND

In September the government established a commission to draft a new Constitution to usher in the "Fifth Republic".

MILITARY TRIBUNAL

In June, the military tribunal indicted 14 people, including former President Blaise Compaore, suspected of involvement in the assassination of President Thomas Sankara in 1987. Seven people, including Colonel Alidou Guebre and Caporal Wampasba Nacouma, were arrested in October and charged. In May, Burkina Faso issued an international arrest warrant for the former President and another of those indicted who were living in exile.

Between July and October, 38 of 85 people charged with threatening state security, crimes against humanity and murder following a coup attempt in September 2015 were provisionally released, including journalists Caroline Yoda and Adama Ouedraogo. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Djibril Bassole and General Gilbert Diendere remained in custody awaiting trial by the military tribunal. In April, the authorities lifted the international arrest warrant for Guillaume Soro, President of the National Assembly of Cote d'Ivoire, who had been investigated for alleged involvement in the attempted coup.

ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS

Throughout the year, armed groups attacked civilians and members of the security forces, in the capital, Ouagadougou, and in the north near the Malian border.

In January, an armed group deliberately and indiscriminately killed and injured civilians in an attack in Ouagadougou. Al-Mourabitoune, a group affiliated to Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb, claimed responsibility. At least 30 people were killed, including a photographer and a driver working on behalf of Amnesty International.

In May, June, October and December, the authorities announced that armed groups had attacked police stations near the Malian border, killing 21 people in total and wounding others.

Self-defence militia called "Kogleweogo", mainly comprising farmers and cattle breeders, committed abuses, including beatings and abductions. Civil society organizations criticized the authorities for doing too little to prevent and remedy such abuses. The Minister of Justice pledged to end the militias' activities. In October, a decree was adopted to regulate their activities.

In September, four Kogleweogo members charged in relation to an armed gathering were sentenced to six months in prison, while 26 others were given suspended sentences of between 10 and 12 months.

IMPUNITY

In July, the UN Human Rights Committee stressed that the government should redouble its efforts to fully and impartially investigate all human rights violations committed by armed forces, including the Presidential Guard (RSP), sanction those found guilty and provide remedy to the victims.

The Commission of Inquiry established in 2015 to investigate the killing of at least 10 people and the wounding of hundreds by security forces in October 2014 submitted its report to the Prime Minister. The Commission's conclusions were not made public.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stated that women in rural areas were particularly disadvantaged regarding economic, social and cultural rights. The Committee recommended that Burkina Faso revise its legislation on the prevention and punishment of violence against women and girls, and provide more support to survivors. It also recommended that all acts of rape by spouses be punished and that the reporting of such offences be encouraged.

In July, the UN Human Rights Committee noted that more women should have positions in public office.

Sexual and reproductive rights

Only 16% of women in Burkina Faso were using a modern method of contraception and nearly 30% of girls and young women aged 15-19 in rural areas were pregnant or already had a child. Some women and girls reported that they did not know that sexual intercourse could lead to pregnancy. Many said the cost of contraceptives prevented their use or meant they did not use them consistently. These factors resulted in high-risk and unwanted pregnancies that sometimes led to dangerous, clandestine abortions.[1]

At least 2,800 women die in childbirth annually in Burkina Faso. In March, the authorities removed some key financial barriers facing pregnant women, including costs relating to caesarean sections and delivery.

Early and forced marriage

Burkina Faso had one of the world's highest rates of early and forced marriage. Women and girls reported that they were forced to marry as a result of violence, coercion and the pressure linked to the money and goods offered to their families as part of the marriage. In the Sahel region, more than half of girls aged 15-17 were married.

The authorities adopted a national strategy to end child marriage by 2025. The plan defines a child as someone under the age of 18, and considers "marriage" to include all forms of union between a man and woman, whether celebrated by a public officer or a traditional or religious leader. However, serious concerns remained about the legal framework and weaknesses in enforcement of the law.

1. Coerced and denied: Forced marriages and barriers to contraception in Burkina Faso (AFR 60/3851/2016)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bulgaria

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bulgaria, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341613.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.

Republic of Bulgaria

Head of State: Rosen Plevneliev Head of Government: Boyko Borisov

Bulgaria failed to provide all required services and access to proper procedures for the rising number of migrants and refugees arriving in the country and failed to address the allegations of summary pushbacks and abuse at the border. A climate of xenophobia and intolerance sharply intensified. Roma continued to be at risk of pervasive discrimination. The parliament adopted in first reading a new counter-terrorism law.

REFUGEES' AND MIGRANTS' RIGHTS

In response to Serbia and Hungary increasing their border control measures, the Bulgarian authorities adopted an approach aimed at limiting the number of migrants and refugees entering the country as an alternative route into the EU. Human rights organizations documented frequent allegations of pushbacks, physical abuse and theft by border police. While not openly condoning pushbacks, Prime Minister Borisov conceded that the government had adopted what he termed a "pragmatic approach" to the refugee crisis. He said that over 25,000 people were returned to Turkey and Greece in the period up to August.

There was continued impunity for reported abuses at the border. In July, Burgas District Prosecutor's Office closed criminal proceedings in connection to the October 2015 death of an unarmed Afghan man who was shot by border police.

The majority of migrants and refugees continued to be routinely subject to administrative detention, often for months longer than the legally prescribed period. Two attempts to irregularly cross the border, whether to enter or leave the country, amounted to a criminal offence. Consequently, migrants and refugees apprehended while trying to leave the country irregularly were prosecuted and jailed, some for longer than a year.

Children

The practice of the unlawful detention of unaccompanied children persisted. To circumvent the prohibition of detention of unaccompanied minors, migration authorities arbitrarily assigned unaccompanied children to adults who were not related to them.

Reception centres had inadequate provisions for unaccompanied children. The authorities routinely failed to provide adequate access to legal representation, translation, health services and education, psychosocial support and a safe and secure environment. Due to the lack of specially designated facilities for children, many unaccompanied children were held with adults and without adequate professional supervision, making them vulnerable to sexual abuse, drug use and trafficking.

DISCRIMINATION

Xenophobia

Human rights organizations highlighted concerns over high levels of xenophobia and intolerance directed at groups including refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, who remained particularly vulnerable to violence and harassment. The government failed to challenge the climate of intolerance and some public officials frequently engaged in discriminatory or xenophobic speech.

In April, local and international media aired footage of so-called "voluntary border patrol" groups rounding up and holding captive Iraqi and Afghan migrants attempting to cross the border from Turkey before handing them over to the police. These illegal "citizens' arrests" were initially widely praised by the authorities and certain sectors of the public. After formal complaints by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, local police arrested some of the perpetrators and the Ministry of Interior issued statements asking citizens to refrain from apprehending refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants.

Roma

Social exclusion and widespread discrimination against Roma continued. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern about the continued limited access of Roma children to education, health and adequate housing. Roma remained grossly overrepresented in "special" schools, mental health institutions and juvenile detention centres. The authorities continued to carry out forced evictions without the provision of adequate alternative housing, leaving many families homeless.

Muslim women

In September, the National Assembly approved a national law that prohibited wearing full-face veils in public places. The law was a part of the package of bills proposed by the Patriotic Front, a member of the ruling coalition, allegedly aimed at preventing what was characterized as radicalization. Other bills, still under consideration at the end of the year, proposed far-reaching measures, including the prohibition of "radical Islam", a complete ban on foreign funding for all religious denominations and a mandatory use of the Bulgarian language during all religious services. Earlier in the year, several regional centres, such as Pazardzhik, imposed bans on wearing full-face veils in public. Only a few women in Bulgaria wear full-face veils or burkas, but the national ban could impact unfairly on women belonging to the ethnic Turkish and Muslim Roma minorities.

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

In July, the National Assembly quickly passed a new counter-terrorism bill that defined a "terrorist act" vaguely and in excessively broad terms.[1] The bill gives the President powers to declare  with approval of the National Assembly  a "state of emergency" in the aftermath of an act of terrorism against the territory. In such a state of emergency, the authorities could impose blanket bans on public rallies, meetings and demonstrations without any effective and independent oversight. The bill additionally provided a list of administrative control measures, including travel bans and controls of individuals' freedom of movement and association, that could be applied to anyone suspected of "preparing or planning a terrorist act".

Non-refoulement

Bulgaria violated the international legal principle of non-refoulement in August. The police apprehended Abdullah Buyuk, a Turkish national who had been residing in Bulgaria since late 2015, and secretly handed him over to Turkish authorities. The authorities acted on the basis of an Interpol warrant, issued at the request of the Turkish government seeking Abdullah Buyuk's extradition on charges of money laundering and terrorism in association with the Gulenist movement. Abdullah Buyuk's lawyer said that he had not been given an opportunity to contact legal counsel or his family, or otherwise challenge the transfer. His request for asylum in Bulgaria had been rejected only days before the handover, which took place despite two earlier court rulings blocking his extradition. In March 2016, Sofia City Court and the Bulgarian Court of Appeal had ruled that Abdullah Buyuk should not be extradited stating that the charges appeared to be politically motivated and that Turkey could not guarantee him a fair trial. The Ombudsman's Office stated publicly that Abdullah Buyuk's return to Turkey had contravened the Bulgarian Constitution, domestic law and Bulgaria's international legal obligations.

1. Bulgaria: Proposed counter-terrorism bill would be a serious step back for human rights (EUR 15/4545/2016)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Brunei Darussalam

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Brunei Darussalam, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341713.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.

Brunei Darussalam

Head of state and government: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah

Lack of transparency made independent monitoring of the human rights situation difficult. The phased implementation of the amended Penal Code continued. The Code, which seeks to impose Shari'a law, provides for the death penalty as well as corporal punishment that amount to torture and other ill-treatment for a range of offences. It also contains provisions which discriminate against women. The Shari'a legislation completed its first phase of implementation. Offences that are punishable with whipping or death sentence such as false claims (Article 206), deriding verses of the Qur'an or Hadith by non-Muslims (Article 111), and abetting or attempt to abet, had not been enforced. In February, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the government to repeal Penal Code amendments which would impose the death penalty and corporal punishment on children; and to raise the minimum age for marriage.

DEATH PENALTY

Although abolitionist in practice, death by hanging was maintained as punishment for a number of offences including murder, terrorism and drug-related crimes. The amended Penal Code provided for punishment of death by stoning for both Muslims and religious minorities for crimes including "adultery", "sodomy", rape, blasphemy and murder.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

The staged implementation of the amended Penal Code, which began in 2014, provides for whipping or amputation for crimes such as robbery and theft. Caning was regularly used as a punishment for offences including those related to immigration.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

A lack of free and independent media continued. In November, The Brunei Times was shut down after it published a politically sensitive article. The act of "printing, disseminating, importing, broadcasting, and distributing publications contrary to Sharia law" constituted a crime for both Muslims and non-Muslims.

FREEDOM OF RELIGION

Muslims as well as religious minorities continued to face restrictions on their right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Crimes including blasphemy, insulting the Hadith and any verses of the Qur'an, declaring oneself a prophet or an apostate (for Muslims) were punishable by death under the law.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

Consensual same-sex sexual activity was a criminal offence with "intercourse against the order of nature" punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment. The amended Penal Code would make punishment of stoning to death for "sodomy" mandatory. Article 198 cites "Man posing as woman or vice versa" as a crime. In August, a man was arrested for "cross-dressing and improper conduct". Punishment on conviction included a fine of BN$1,000 (approx. US$730) or three months' imprisonment, or both.

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

Individuals continued to be arrested under the Internal Security Act which allows authorities to detain suspects without trial for indefinitely renewable two-year periods.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Botswana

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Botswana, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b03419e.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.

Republic of Botswana

Head of state and government: Seretse Khama Ian Khama

The rights to freedom of expression and of assembly were restricted. The rights of refugees were violated. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people continued to have their rights infringed. One prisoner under sentence of death was executed.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The right to freedom of expression was restricted. In March, police arrested freelance journalist Sonny Serite after a whistleblower gave him documents that related to a corruption case he was covering. Sonny Serite was charged with receiving stolen property; the charges were withdrawn in June. The Whistle Blower Act, which provided no protection to whistleblowers who contacted the media, came into effect on 16 December.

In August, Lobatse High Court ruled that Outsa Mokone, editor of the Sunday Standard newspaper, could be charged with sedition. His lawyers had argued that sections of the Penal Code covering sedition infringed his right to freedom of expression and breached the Constitution. Outsa Mokone was arrested in 2014 after an article in the Sunday Standard alleged the involvement of Botswana's President in a road accident. The article's author, Edgar Tsimane, fled to South Africa fearing for his life and was granted asylum.

FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

The right to freedom of peaceful assembly was curtailed. The Public Order Act required a police permit to protest, but applications are sometimes rejected. In June, youth activist Tlamelo Tsurupe was arrested and held briefly after protesting against youth unemployment in front of parliament and refusing to move. He subsequently launched #UnemploymentMovement. In July, the movement applied for a permit to protest but this was rejected. Despite this, on 8 August the group protested outside parliament. They were beaten by police and four were arrested and held overnight at Central Police Station on charges of "common nuisance". Two of the four needed medical assistance. The police also arrested three journalists covering the protest and forced them to hand over video footage of the protest. The police subsequently granted a permit for a demonstration, which took place on 13 August.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

Same-sex sexual relationships remained illegal. In August, a man charged under Section 164 of the Penal Code with "having carnal knowledge with another man against the order of nature" was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by Gaborone Magistrates Court. The Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), which submitted an appeal, argued that Section 164 discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The appeal had not been heard by the end of 2016.

In March, in a landmark case, the Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO) won its appeal in the High Court to register as an independent organization. The LEGABIBO had been denied registration by the Home Affairs Ministry since 2012. The High Court ruled that the refusal to register LEGABIBO violated the applicants' rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Sexual abuse of women and girls was reported. A councillor of the city of Sebina was accused of molesting and impregnating a 16-year-old girl. A case of defilement could not be brought against him because the Penal Code defines defilement as a sexual act with a child aged under 16. No disciplinary action was known to have been taken by the councillor's political party, the Botswana Democratic Party.

RIGHT TO HEALTH  MINEWORKERS

On 7 October, the government closed without warning or consultation the BCL and Tati Nickel mines. The sudden closures threatened anti-retroviral therapy treatment and counselling services for mineworkers living with HIV/AIDS as the government failed to make alternative health care provisions. It also left over 4,700 mineworkers uncertain about their retrenchment benefits.

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS

The encampment policy, which restricts refugees to the Dukwe camp 547km from the capital, Gaborone, continued to limit refugees' freedom of movement.

The government announced that it had revoked the refugee status of Namibians from 31 December 2015, even though Namibians who had fled conflict in the Caprivi region of Namibia in 1998 still faced persecution there. Refugees who returned to Namibia in late 2015 were convicted of charges ranging from high treason to illegally exiting Namibia. Later in January 2016, the Botswana High Court ruled that Namibian refugees should not be repatriated until a legal case brought against the revocation order had been decided. The High Court judgment was upheld on appeal in March.

DEATH PENALTY

In May, Patrick Gabaakanye was executed for a murder committed in 2014. This brought to 49 the total number of people executed since independence in 1966. Executions were conducted in secret. Families were given no notice and were denied access to the burial site.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bosnia and Herzegovina, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341ac.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.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Head of state: Rotating presidency  Bakir Izetbegovic, Dragan Covic, Mladen Ivanic

Head of government: Denis Zvizdic

Despite the adoption of progressive new anti-discrimination legislation, vulnerable minorities faced widespread discrimination. Threats and attacks against journalists and media freedom continued. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued verdicts in relation to crimes committed during the 1992-1995 conflict; at the domestic level, access to justice and reparations for civilian victims of war remained limited.

BACKGROUND

In February, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) submitted an application for membership to the EU, which was accepted by the EU in September.

The authorities of Republika Srpska (RS)  one of the two entities of BiH  refused to implement a decision of the BiH Constitutional Court, which had found the RS Law on Holidays (making 9 January the Day of Republika Srpska) unconstitutional and discriminatory against non-Serbs living in the entity.

Nationwide municipal elections held in October were marked by growing nationalist rhetoric. The results of the first post-war census conducted in 2013 were released in June, although RS challenged the collection methodology and the census results.

DISCRIMINATION

The Council of Ministers adopted its first Action Plan on Prevention of Discrimination in April and, in June, the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopted amendments to the Law on Prevention of Discrimination. Widely welcomed by civil society, the amended law listed specific grounds for discrimination, including sexual orientation, and significantly broadened the prohibited grounds of inciting discrimination beyond the original racial, religious and nationality grounds.

The Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina  the other entity of BiH  adopted amendments to the entity criminal code to include hate crimes as a criminal offence. The definition of hate crime included a wide array of prohibited grounds, although the penalties prescribed for the offence of incitement to hatred, hate speech and violence remained limited to national, ethnic and religious grounds and excluded hate speech directed against other marginalized groups.

Social exclusion and discrimination, in particular of Roma and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, remained widespread. Although the number of Roma without identity documents reduced and their access to housing slightly improved, Roma continued to face systemic barriers to education, health services and employment. The National Strategy on Roma Integration and the accompanying Action Plan ended in 2016, without meeting many of its targets. The Council of Ministers re-purposed a portion of the funds originally designated to support the Plan's implementation.

LGBTI people faced ongoing discrimination and intimidation. Civil society groups documented cases of verbal and physical attacks and discrimination, the majority of which were not thoroughly investigated. In March, a group of young men entered a cafe and cinema popular with the LGBTI community in the capital, Sarajevo, and attacked and threatened the customers. Several people suffered physical injuries, but the police classified the incident as a minor offence. Similarly, the perpetrators of the 2014 attack against the organizers of the Merlinka Queer Film Festival were never criminally charged. The 2016 festival took place under heavy police protection.

The 2009 judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Sejdic-Finci v BiH, which found the power-sharing arrangements set out in the Constitution to be discriminatory, remained unimplemented. Under the arrangements, citizens who would not declare themselves as belonging to one of the three constituent peoples of the country (Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs) were excluded from running for legislative and executive office.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

A pattern of threats, political pressure and attacks against journalists continued in 2016. The Association of Journalists documented repeated attacks against journalists, attacks on freedom of expression and on the integrity of media outlets.

CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

The ICTY issued first-instance verdicts in cases of former high-ranking officials in relation to crimes committed during the 1992-1995 conflict. In March, the ICTY found Radovan Karadzic, the wartime President of RS, guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced him to 40 years' imprisonment. Also in March, the ICTY found Vojislav Seselj, the Serb Radical Party leader, not guilty on any counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Lack of capacity and resources, along with ineffective case management and persistent political obstruction, continued to slow down the progress of prosecution and access to redress before domestic courts. In July, an independent analysis commissioned by the OSCE showed that the National War Crimes Strategy had failed to meet its targets, with a backlog of over 350 complex cases still pending before the State Court and Prosecutor's Office.

Despite earlier commitments by the authorities, no progress was made on the adoption of the Law on Protection of Victims of Torture and the harmonization of entity laws regulating the rights of civilian victims of war to enable their effective access to services, free legal aid and effective reparation.

In October, a local court in Doboj city granted financial compensation to a victim of wartime rape and sentenced the perpetrator to five years' imprisonment. This was the second case of financial reparations for war crimes awarded within a criminal proceeding. However, many victims continued to be forced to pursue compensation claims in civil proceedings, where they had to reveal their identity and incurred additional costs. In April, the Constitutional Court declared that the statute of limitations applied to reparation claims for non-material damage and that claims could be directed only against the perpetrators, not the state, further limiting the ability of victims to claim and obtain compensation.

Although more than 75% of the missing persons from the war had been exhumed and identified, there were still 8,000 people missing in connection with the conflict. The process of exhumations encountered significant challenges, including reduced funding for the Missing Persons Institute and limited expertise domestically. The Law on Missing Persons remained unimplemented, with the Fund for the families of missing persons still awaiting establishment.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bolivia

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bolivia, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341bc.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.

Plurinational State of Bolivia

Head of state and government: Evo Morales Ayma

The creation of a truth, justice and reconciliation commission for human rights violations and crimes under international law committed during the military regimes (1964-1982) remained pending. There were allegations of a failure to seek the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples on oil exploration projects in the Amazon. There was some progress in protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people and sexual and reproductive rights. Concerns remained about conditions in the penitentiary system.

BACKGROUND

In August, Deputy Minister of the Interior Rodolfo Illanes was killed during miners' protests. Protesters were opposing the enactment of an amendment to the Cooperatives Act, which grants the right to unionization.

IMPUNITY

Bolivia still had not created the truth, justice and reconciliation commission on crimes committed during the military governments promised at a March 2015 public hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

In September, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities released its report on Bolivia. Among its recommendations, the Committee urged Bolivia to improve and adapt mechanisms and proceedings to ensure access to justice for people with disabilities and to abolish the practice of sterilizing people with disabilities without their free, prior and informed consent.

FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

In June, peaceful protests by people with disabilities demanding a monthly disability allowance were suppressed by police using tear gas. In August, allegations of excessive use of force to repress the protests were reported to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which urged the Bolivian authorities to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into the incident.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS

In March, leaders of Amazonian Indigenous Peoples and the Centre for Documentation and Information of Bolivia (CEDIB) denounced the failure to ensure prior, free and informed consent for oil exploration projects taking place on Indigenous territories.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

In May, the lower house of the Congress passed the Gender Identity Law, which established administrative procedures for transgender people over 18 to legally change their name, sex and image data on official documents.

In September, the Ombudsman endorsed a bill that would allow same-sex civil marriage and enable LGBTI people to enjoy the same health care and social security rights and guarantees as other couples. The bill was due to be submitted to the Plurinational Legislative Assembly later in the year.

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

In August, the Ministry of Health and the University of San Andres launched the first Observatory of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality to monitor and reduce the high rates of maternal and infant mortality in the country. The Ministry of Health also announced the development of a bill to guarantee timely access to family planning.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

In July, a petition that two articles of the Law Granting Legal Personality and its regulations were unconstitutional was rejected by the Constitutional Court. The petition had been presented by the Ombudsman on the grounds that the law could violate the right to freedom of association to establish NGOs or foundations. In October, four NGOs filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding the law.

PRISON CONDITIONS

In June, the Ombudsman published a report highlighting the serious problem of overcrowding and corruption in the penitentiary system and persistent human rights violations against those deprived of their liberty.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Benin

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Benin, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341ca.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.

Republic of Benin

Head of state and government: Patrice Athanase Guillaume Talon (replaced Thomas Boni Yayi in March)

The authorities continued to restrict the rights to peaceful assembly and expression. Excessive force was used against peaceful demonstrators, causing at least one death. Prisons remained overcrowded.

BACKGROUND

Patrice Talon was elected President in March. Benin became the eighth AU member state to allow NGOs and individuals direct access to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.

FREEDOMS OF ASSEMBLY AND EXPRESSION

The authorities continued to arbitrarily restrict the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, including by banning several opposition group demonstrations, taking retaliatory measures against organizers of peaceful demonstrations, and using excessive and arbitrary force against protesters.

In the context of the presidential elections, in January and February the authorities banned at least three peaceful demonstrations by opposition groups. Supporters of the ruling party were able to hold demonstrations.

In February, the authorities banned a demonstration by human rights groups to protest against the unlawful killing of a member of the military.

In March, security forces shot and killed one man and injured nine other people, including two children, at a demonstration in Bante (Collines department). According to eyewitnesses, the demonstration was largely peaceful until the security forces started firing at the crowd with tear gas and live ammunition.

In July, the security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse a peaceful demonstration by students in Cotonou, injuring at least 20 people. At least nine students were arrested following the demonstrations and detained for several weeks before being released. Twenty-one students presumed to have participated were banned from registering at the university for five years. In August, the university decided to invalidate the academic year for all the students in the faculty where most demonstrators were studying. In October, the Council of Ministers banned all activities by student associations on campuses.

In November, the High Authority of Audiovisual Communication made the arbitrary decision to close seven private media outlets.

UNLAWFUL KILLINGS

In January, Corporal Mohamed Dangou was shot dead by a member of the security services in a military camp in Cotonou. According to an eyewitness he was unarmed. Mohamed Dangou was due to be arrested as part of an investigation into a protest held with other military personnel serving in Cote d'Ivoire calling for the payment of allowances. In July, the Constitutional Court ruled that the armed forces had violated Mohamed Dangou's right to life.

PRISON CONDITIONS

The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture made an unannounced visit to Benin in January. It concluded that detention centres were "overcrowded and lacked adequate staffing and other resources". As of September, Cotonou prison held 1,137 detainees, despite a maximum capacity of 500.

In June, the National Assembly adopted a law on community service which could be used to reduce prison overcrowding by replacing detention with non-custodial sentences.

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS

In February, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child issued its concluding observations on Benin, expressing concerns about the infanticide of children born with disabilities and the persistence of harmful practices, including the rise of female genital mutilation and early and forced marriage. The Committee highlighted the high rates of girls dying from illegal abortion and urged that girls' rights to education, information and access to quality contraceptive products be guaranteed.

DEATH PENALTY

In January, the Constitutional Court abolished the death penalty in a ruling stating that "no one can now be sentenced to capital punishment". The government had yet to adopt laws removing the death penalty from national legislation.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Belgium

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Belgium, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341d6.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.

Kingdom of Belgium

Head of state: King Philippe

Head of government: Charles Michel

The authorities adopted a wide range of new laws and policies in the aftermath of the attacks in the capital, Brussels, in March. Civil society organizations continued to receive reports of ethnic profiling by police. Prison conditions remained poor; the European Court of Human Rights criticized Belgium for its treatment of mentally ill offenders.

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

On 22 March, three suicide bombers killed 32 people and injured hundreds in two co-ordinated attacks in Brussels. In the aftermath of the attacks, the authorities intensified the implementation of the wide range of security measures announced after the attacks in Paris, France, in 2015.

The authorities further broadened the scope of the provisions on terrorism-related offences, loosened procedural safeguards and adopted new policies to address "radicalization". Some measures caused concern regarding the principle of legality, including legal clarity, and the respect of the freedoms of association and expression.

In February, the federal government announced the new policy framework "Plan Canal" to address radicalization in several municipalities in the Brussels area. It included the deployment of increased police and tighter administrative controls on associations.

In April, the federal government agreed to establish a database to facilitate the sharing of information between government agencies concerning individuals suspected of having travelled abroad to commit terrorism-related offences. In July, the government announced a similar database for "hate preachers". In December, Parliament adopted a bill aimed at broadening police surveillance powers.

Also in July, the federal Parliament extended the provision on incitement to commit a terrorism-related offence and eased restrictions on the use of pre-trial detention for those suspected of terrorism-related offences. In December, Parliament passed legislation criminalizing preparatory acts to commit a terrorism-related offence and legislation on retention of Passenger Name Records.

Despite the government's commitment at the UPR in May to ensure that measures to counter terrorism respect human rights, little effort was made to assess the human rights impact of new measures.

PRISON CONDITIONS

Conditions of detention remained poor due to overcrowding, dilapidated facilities and insufficient access to basic services, including to health care. In April, a three-month strike by prison staff further worsened prison conditions and access to health care for prisoners.

Despite the entry into force of positive legislative amendments in October, many mentally ill offenders remained detained in regular prisons with insufficient care and treatment. In September the European Court of Human Rights found in W.D. v Belgium that the detention of mentally ill offenders without access to adequate care remained a structural problem. The Court ordered the government to adopt structural reforms within two years.

DISCRIMINATION

In April, Belgium's equality body Unia reported a rise in discrimination against persons of Muslim faith in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks, especially in the area of employment. Several individuals and civil society organizations reported ethnic profiling by police against ethnic and religious minorities.

On 9 December, the government agreed on a draft bill amending the law on legal gender recognition. If passed, the draft law would allow transgender people to obtain legal recognition of their gender on the basis of their informed consent and without fulfilling any medical requirements.

ARMS TRADE

Regional governments continued to grant licences to sell arms to parties involved in the conflict in Yemen, in particular to Saudi Arabia. In 2014 and 2015, Saudi Arabia reportedly accounted for by far the highest value of arms export licences from the Wallonia region.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

In March, Belgium ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). In June, the authorities adopted a new binding policy framework which identified tackling gender-based and domestic violence as a priority for police and prosecutorial authorities.

In May, the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology said that 70% of reported domestic violence incidents did not lead to a prosecution and that the current prosecution policy has not been effective in reducing the numbers of recidivists of domestic violence.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Belarus

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Belarus, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341e4.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.

Republic of Belarus

Head of state: Alyaksandr Lukashenka

Head of government: Andrey Kabyakou

Severe restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, of association and of peaceful assembly remained in place. The government continued to refuse co-operation with the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus. At least four people were executed and four people were sentenced to death.

BACKGROUND

On 28 February, the EU lifted all its sanctions against persons and entities in Belarus except those against four former officials suspected of involvement in enforced disappearances committed in 1999-2000.

On 1 July, the government redenominated the value of the Belarusian ruble slashing four zeros, among other measures. This was a response to the continuing economic downfall partially prompted by the downturn in Russia, its principal trading partner.

Also in July, the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus  established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2012  was extended for a further year.

In September, the new Parliament was elected against the backdrop of severe restrictions on independent media and the political opposition. Only two parliamentarians regarded as representing political opposition were elected.

On 24 October, the first national Human Rights Strategy was adopted. It outlined legislative reforms, none of which addressed the death penalty, but promised "to consider" Belarus' interest in joining the European Convention on Human Rights and the creation of a national human rights institution.

DEATH PENALTY

On 18 April, Siarhei Ivanou was executed despite the pending review of his case at the UN Human Rights Committee. This was the first execution since November 2014.[1] Around 5 November, Siarhei Khmialeuski, Ivan Kulesh and Hyanadz Yakavitski were executed. Death sentences in Belarus are typically carried out in secrecy and without notifying the family. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Siarhei Vostrykau on 4 October.[2] Siarhei Vostrykau was awaiting the outcome of his plea for clemency from the President at the end the year; clemency had been granted only once in over 400 pleas since 1994.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The Law on Mass Media continued to severely restrict the right to freedom of expression and effectively subjected all media companies to government control. Local journalists working for foreign media were still required to obtain official accreditation, which was routinely delayed or refused arbitrarily.

In January, political blogger Eduard Palchys, known for his critical posts of the Belarusian and Russian authorities and who was residing in Ukraine, was arrested during a visit to Bryansk, Russia. He was remanded in custody by the Russian authorities until his extradition to Belarus on 7 June where he was placed in detention. On 28 October, he was found guilty of "inciting racial, national or religious hatred" and of the "distribution of pornography". He was given a non-custodial sentence on account of having been on remand since January, and was released in court. The hearings of his case were closed, but the courtroom was opened to the public when the sentence was announced.

SURVEILLANCE

The legal framework governing secret surveillance allowed the authorities to undertake wide-ranging surveillance with little or no justification. The System of Operative-Investigative Measures (SORM), a system of lawful interception of all electronic communications, allowed the authorities direct access to telephone and internet communications and associated data. The possible surveillance restricted human rights defenders, other civil society and political activists as well as journalists in exercising their human rights, including the rights to freedom of association, of peaceful assembly and of expression.[3]

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

NGOs and political parties continued to face undue restrictions, including compulsory registration. Registration applications were frequently arbitrarily rejected for minute infractions or on other unexplained grounds. Under Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code, the founding of, or participation in the activities of, an unregistered organization remained a crime punishable by up to two years' imprisonment.

The restrictions imposed on former prisoners of conscience Mikalai Statkevich, Yury Rubtsou and four other activists, as a condition for their early release in 2015, remained in place.

FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

The Law on Mass Events, which prohibits any assembly or public protest unless authorized by the authorities, remained in place.

Civil society activist Pavel Vinahradau was placed under "preventive supervision" from 7 June to 13 September after he participated in four "unauthorized" peaceful street protests.[4]

LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

In October, the tax authorities reported that they had sent notices to over 72,900 individuals who, under the 2015 presidential decree "On preventing social dependency", were required to pay a special tax for being out of work for over 183 days in a given tax year. Failure to comply incurred fines or "administrative arrest" and compulsory community service which could amount to a form of forced labour.

1. Belarus: Amnesty International deplores the execution of Siarhei Ivanou (EUR 49/4014/2016)

2. Further information: Belarus' last prisoner on death row at risk: Siarhei Vostrykau (EUR 49/5274/2016) Belarus: Further information: Gennadii Yakovitskii's death sentence upheld (EUR 49/3890/2016)

3. It's enough for people to feel it exists: Civil society, secrecy and surveillance in Belarus (EUR 49/4306/2016)

4. Belarus: Activist arbitrarily convicted for peaceful protest (EUR 49/4317/2016)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bangladesh

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bangladesh, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0341f3.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.

People's Republic of Bangladesh

Head of state: Abdul Hamid

Head of government: Sheikh Hasina

Armed groups claiming to act in the name of Islam killed dozens of people in targeted attacks, including foreign nationals, secular activists and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. The government's response was marked by human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment. The right to freedom of expression was further restricted as the government applied repressive laws and pressed criminal charges against critics.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Independent media outlets and journalists came under severe pressure by the government. Several journalists faced arbitrary criminal charges, often for publishing criticism of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her family or the Awami League Government. Journalists reported increased threats from government officials or security agencies.

In February, more than 80 sedition and defamation cases were brought against Mahfuz Anam, editor of the newspaper Daily Star. The charges related to his admission that he had, under pressure from military intelligence, published unsubstantiated corruption allegations against Sheikh Hasina when she was out of government during the military rule of the 1990s. All charges were stayed by the High Court but the prosecution could reactivate them in the future. In April, 82-year-old journalist and opposition supporter Shafik Rehman was arrested on suspicion of involvement in an alleged plot to "kill and kidnap" the Prime Minister's son, Joy Wazed. After being held for more than four months without charge, including several weeks in solitary confinement, he was released on bail in August.

The government continued to use a range of repressive laws to restrict the right to freedom of expression extensively. It increasingly used the Information and Communications Technology Act which arbitrarily restricted online expression. The human rights organization Odhikar reported at least 35 arrests under the Act, compared to 33 in 2015 and 14 in 2014. Journalists, activists and others were targeted. Dilip Roy, a student activist, was one of those arrested, in September, for criticizing the Prime Minister on Facebook. He was released on bail on 17 November.

In October, parliament adopted the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act which significantly increased government control over the work of NGOs and threatened them with deregistration for making "inimical" or "derogatory" remarks against the Constitution or constitutional bodies. Several other bills that threatened freedom of expression were proposed in parliament, including the Digital Security Act and the Liberation War Denial Crimes Act.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

Enforced disappearances continued at an alarming rate, often of supporters of opposition parties Bangladesh National Party and Jamaat-e-Islami. Odhikar reported at least 90 people arrested by security forces and not heard from again. In August, three sons of prominent opposition politicians  Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem and Hummam Qader Chowdhury  were arrested by men in plain clothes, some of whom identified themselves as police officers. The authorities continued to deny responsibility and the victims' families were not informed of their whereabouts.

ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS

Armed groups killed at least 32 people in targeted attacks in 2016, including secular activists, LGBTI people and religious minorities. Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Ansar al-Islam, which respectively claimed allegiance to the armed groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Qa'ida, claimed the attacks. In April, Nazimuddin Samad became the sixth secular activist to be hacked to death in a targeted killing in less than two years. The editor of Roopbaan, Bangladesh's only LGBTI magazine, and prominent LGBTI rights activist Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Tanay Mojumdar, were also killed by unidentified men. A range of human rights activists received threats from similar groups and said that the police did not offer enough protection, while others were reluctant to approach the police fearing they would be charged or harassed.

In July, JMB gunmen stormed a restaurant in the capital, Dhaka, and killed at least 22 people, including 18 foreign nationals. Police responded with a heavy-handed "anti-terror" crackdown. At least 15,000 people were arrested, and human rights groups raised concerns that several thousand were politically motivated arrests of opposition supporters. Police said at least 45 suspected "terrorists" were killed in shoot-outs in the months following the July attack. Two of the surviving hostages from the attack were detained by police and held incommunicado for several weeks before being presented to court on 4 August. One of them, Hasnat Karim, was still held without charge at the end of the year.

DEATH PENALTY

Scores of people were sentenced to death and several were executed.

In October, one alleged militant convicted of killing a judge in 2005 was executed. The government afterwards said that it would fast track the trials of people accused of crimes under the Anti-Terrorism Act which could lead to the death penalty, and that at least 64 people convicted under this Act since 1992 were on death row.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), a Bangladeshi court established to investigate the events of the 1971 independence war, sentenced at least six people to death. The proceedings were marked by severe irregularities and violations of fair trial rights, such as the arbitrary restriction of the number of defence witnesses allowed. Two people convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICT were executed, both senior members of Jamaat-e-Islami  Motiur Rahman Nizami in May and Mir Quasem Ali in September. On 23 August a group of UN human rights experts expressed concern about the fairness of ICT trials, and urged the government to annul Mir Quasem Ali's death sentence and grant him a retrial, stating that proceedings were "marred" by "irregularities".

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

Torture and other ill-treatment in custody was widespread; however, complaints were rarely investigated. The 2013 Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act was poorly enforced due to a lack of political will and awareness among law enforcement agencies. Human rights groups accused several security force branches  including police and the Rapid Action Battalion  of torture and other ill-treatment. Torture was carried out to extract "confessions", for extortion or to punish political opponents of the government.

CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS

Police in September asked a court to close the investigation into the disappearance of Kalpana Chakma, an Indigenous Peoples' rights campaigner, from the Chittagong Hill Tracts  an area in southeastern Bangladesh  citing a lack of evidence. She was abducted in 1996. Government restrictions on access to the Chittagong Hill Tracts and on communication with "tribal" people there remained in place, arbitrarily restricting the right to freedom of expression of journalists and human rights organizations. Women and girls in the region faced multiple forms of discrimination and violence including rape and murder due to their gender, Indigenous identity and socio-economic status. Victims of gender-based violence continued to be denied justice because of pressure to settle out of court, non-availability of judges or other bureaucratic delays.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

Human rights groups said that rape conviction rates continued to be extremely low, mainly because investigations were not timely or effective. Many women and girls were reluctant to report rape to the authorities, for fear of being stigmatized and subjected to police harassment. Human rights organization Ain o Salish Kendra confirmed that at least 671 rape cases were reported by media, with the actual number of cases likely to be much higher. The rape and murder of 19-year-old Tonu in March sparked outrage and large-scale street protests. Activists claimed the police deliberately delayed the investigation and pressured the survivor's family into making false statements.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bahrain

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bahrain, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b034203.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.

Kingdom of Bahrain

Head of state: King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa

Head of government: Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa

The authorities tightened restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and association and continued to curtail the right to peaceful assembly. They detained and charged several human rights defenders and banned others from travelling abroad, dissolved the main opposition group and stripped more than 80 people of their Bahraini citizenship, forcibly expelling four. Opposition leaders continued to be imprisoned as prisoners of conscience. There were new reports of torture and other ill-treatment and unfair trials. Women continued to be discriminated against in law and practice. Migrant workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people faced discrimination. There were no new death sentences or executions.

BACKGROUND

In March, Bahrain became a state party to the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

In May, Bahrain's National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) received a "B" status from the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions as it was not fully compliant with the Paris Principles. One of the reasons given by the Committee was that the NIHR decision-making board included government representatives, undermining its independence.

Also in May, the government signed a trade and economic agreement with Switzerland containing two non-legally binding memorandums on the treatment of prisoners and on women's rights in Bahrain. In September the government of the USA blocked sales of fighter jets and related equipment to Bahrain pending human rights improvements.

Bahrain remained part of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition engaged in armed conflict in Yemen (see Yemen entry).

The government did not allow access to representatives from international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, throughout the year.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The authorities continued to severely restrict freedom of expression, arresting and prosecuting human rights defenders and religious activists for using public gatherings or social media to criticize the government, the Saudi Arabian authorities and air strikes by the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in Yemen. Opposition leaders sentenced in previous years for their peaceful opposition remained held as prisoners of conscience.

In February a court sentenced Ebrahim Sharif, former Secretary General of the National Democratic Action Society (Waad), to a one-year prison term after convicting him of "incitement to hatred and contempt of the regime". He was released in July after completing his sentence; his one-year prison term was upheld in November. Also in November the authorities charged him with "inciting hatred against the regime" for comments he made in a media interview about the visit to Bahrain of Prince Charles from the UK. The charges were dropped the same month.

In March, the authorities detained activist Zainab al-Khawaja to serve sentences totalling 37 months following her conviction on various charges, including tearing pictures of the King. Her imprisonment was widely condemned. The authorities released her in May on "humanitarian grounds"; she subsequently left Bahrain.

In April a criminal court imposed a one-year prison term on activist Dr Sa'eed Mothaher Habib al-Samahiji for criticizing the Saudi Arabian authorities on Twitter.

In May an appeals court increased the 2015 prison sentence of Sheikh Ali Salman, leader of the main opposition group al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, from four to nine years. The court had overturned his acquittal of the charge of inciting change of the political system "by force, threats and other illegal means". In October the Court of Cassation rejected this decision and returned the case to the appeals court, which upheld its initial nine-year prison sentence in December.

In June, human rights defender Nabeel Rajab was arrested and charged with "spreading false information and rumours with the aim of discrediting the state" during televised interviews. In July, his trial opened in relation to his Twitter posts in 2015 alleging torture in Jaw Prison and criticizing Saudi-led aerial bombing in Yemen. In December, the court ordered his release on bail while his trial was ongoing but he was immediately re-arrested for investigation into the initial charge for which he had been arrested in June. He also faced separate prosecutions for comments he made in a New York Times article entitled "Letter from a Bahraini Jail" and in a letter published in Le Monde newspaper.

The authorities continued to restrict the media. In February the Minister of Information prohibited media outlets from employing journalists deemed to "insult" Bahrain or other Gulf or Arab states.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

The authorities tightened restrictions on freedom of association, continuing to imprison some leaders of al-Wefaq and other opposition parties and harassing others by summoning them several times for interrogation.

The authorities suspended al-Wefaq, seized its assets in June and obtained a court order for its dissolution in July for alleged breaches of the Law on Political Associations.

FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

The authorities maintained their ban on all public gatherings in the capital, Manama. Frequent protests, including some which turned violent, continued in Shi'a villages, particularly following the enforced dissolution of al-Wefaq. The security forces used excessive force to disperse some protests, firing shotgun pellets and tear gas, and arresting scores of religious activists and other protesters, including children. At least one police officer and one member of the public died in protest-related violence.

In January, the security forces forcibly dispersed people protesting against the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia. Police used tear gas and shotgun pellets and arrested protesters.

In June, security forces blocked access into Duraz village for all but village residents after protesters gathered and began a sit-in protest outside the home of Shi'a Sheikh Issa Qassem after the authorities revoked his Bahraini citizenship. As the sit-in continued, the authorities arrested or summoned scores of protesters for questioning, including at least 70 Shi'a clerics and several human rights defenders, charging some with "illegal gathering". Courts sentenced 11 Shi'a clerics to one- or two-year prison terms on the same charge.

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

The authorities imposed administrative bans that prevented at least 30 human rights defenders and other critics from travelling abroad, including to attend meetings of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. At least 12 of them were later charged, including with "illegal gathering".

Deprivation of nationality and forced expulsions

The authorities obtained court orders that stripped at least 80 people convicted of terrorism-related offences of their Bahraini nationality, rendering many of them stateless. In June the Ministry of the Interior also revoked the nationality of Sheikh Issa Qassem, al-Wefaq's spiritual leader; he had not been convicted of any offence. The authorities forcibly expelled four of those whose citizenship they had withdrawn, including human rights lawyer Taimoor Karimi. An appeal court ruled in March that prisoner of conscience Ibrahim Karimi should be forcibly expelled from Bahrain when he completes his 25-month prison sentence in 2018.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

Torture and other ill-treatment continued to be reported, particularly of people suspected of terrorism and other offences under interrogation by the police Criminal Investigations Directorate. Unfair trials continued; courts continued to rely on allegedly coerced "confessions" to convict defendants on terrorism-related charges.

Prisoners held at Dry Dock Prison and Jaw Prison complained of ill-treatment, including solitary confinement and inadequate medical care.

IMPUNITY

Impunity continued largely to prevail although the Ombudsman of the Ministry of the Interior and Special Investigations Unit (SIU) within the Public Prosecution Office continued to investigate alleged human rights violations by the security forces. Several low-ranking members of the security forces were prosecuted, but no senior officers.

The SIU said it received at least 225 complaints and referred 11 members of the security forces for trial on assault charges during the year. At least four members of the security forces were convicted and at least 12 acquitted during the year. In January the Court of Appeal increased from two to seven years the prison sentences imposed on two police officers for causing the death in custody of Ali Issa Ibrahim al-Saqer in 2011. In March the Court sentenced a police officer to three years' imprisonment for the unlawful killing of Fadhel Abbas Muslim Marhoon in 2014, overturning his earlier acquittal.

In February the Court of Appeal confirmed the acquittal of a police officer whose shooting of a peaceful protester at close range in January 2015 was captured on film, ruling that there was no evidence confirming the victim's presence or any injuries found, despite the video footage. In March the Court overturned the convictions of three police officers sentenced in 2015 for causing the death in custody of Hassan Majeed al-Shaikh in November 2014, and reduced the sentences of three other officers from five to two years.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

The authorities continued to prosecute and imprison people for same-sex sexual conduct under "debauchery" and "obscenity" provisions of the Penal Code.

In January and February, the courts rejected applications by three Bahrainis who had undergone sex-change operations abroad to change their gender in official documents.

In September a court sentenced 28 men to prison terms of between six months and two years after convicting them on "debauchery" and "obscenity" charges for attending a private party at which some wore female clothes. In November, an appeal court reduced their sentences to between one and three months.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Women faced discrimination in law and practice. In May, Parliament agreed to abolish Article 353 of the Penal Code, which had allowed rapists to avoid a prison sentence if their victim consented to marry them.

MIGRANT WORKERS' RIGHTS

Migrant workers continued to face exploitation and abuse by employers. In July, more than 2,000 migrant workers participated in a peaceful march to protest against non-payment of their salaries by employers.

DEATH PENALTY

The death penalty remained in force. The courts did not hand down new death sentences but the Court of Cassation confirmed two and overturned four death sentences passed in previous years, three of which were later re-imposed by the court of appeal. There were no executions.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bahamas

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Bahamas, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0342080.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.

Commonwealth of the Bahamas

Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Marguerite Pindling

Head of government: Perry Gladstone Christie

Widespread ill-treatment and other abuses against irregular migrants from countries including Haiti and Cuba continued. Bahamians voted "no" in a constitutional referendum on gender equality in citizenship matters in June. Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people continued.

LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

On 7 June, Bahamians voted "no" in a referendum on gender equality in citizenship matters under Bahamian law. The proposed amendments  backed by the government  would have strengthened anti-discrimination protections based on sex.

The result maintained inequality in Bahamian laws so that women and men pass on citizenship to their children and spouses in different ways. The result put at risk the citizenship rights of families, in particular the risk of separation of families with diverse nationalities or children born outside of the Bahamas to Bahamian parents.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

Stigma and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people continued.

In April, activists founded the group Bahamas Transgender Intersex United. After its first press conference, members of the group reported receiving threats from members of the public. In May, an MP suggested that transgender people be exiled to another island.

RIGHT TO PRIVACY

Local human rights groups expressed fear regarding government surveillance online. In August, the Supreme Court ruled that the Minister of Education had breached the constitutional rights to privacy and to freedom of expression of members of an environmental group when he obtained and read their private email correspondence in Parliament. Ministers had alleged that the group was seeking to destabilize the government, and argued that parliamentary privilege allowed them to read out the confidential emails. The Court held that parliamentary privilege was subject to the supremacy of the Constitution, and ordered the destruction of the correspondence. At the end of the year, it remained unclear how the government had obtained the emails.

In November, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures to members of the environmental group who allegedly received threats against their lives and personal integrity because of their work as human rights defenders. The government, in response, said the allegations were misrepresented.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Azerbaijan

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Azerbaijan, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0342119.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.

Republic of Azerbaijan

Head of state: Ilham Aliyev

Head of government: Artur Rasizade

Some prisoners of conscience were released, but at least 14 remained in prison. Most human rights organizations forced to suspend their activities in previous years were unable to resume their work. Reprisals against independent journalists and activists persisted. International human rights monitors were denied access to Azerbaijan. Torture and other ill-treatment was widely reported, as well as arbitrary arrests of government critics.

BACKGROUND

Azerbaijan's oil-dependent economy was deeply affected by falling oil prices and the decline of its currency, the manat, by half of its value. Food prices rose without an equivalent rise in wages. From early January, spontaneous, and in most cases peaceful, protests against the devaluation of the manat and consequent price hikes spread across the country. The protests were clamped down on by police and security forces. On 18 January, President Aliyev signed a decree increasing the minimum pension and salaries of state employees by 10%. The measure remained insufficient to address the decline in living standards.

In April, hostilities escalated between Azerbaijan and the Armenia-backed break-away Nagorno-Karabakh region. The fighting lasted four days and resulted in civilian and military casualties on both sides and small territorial gains by Azerbaijani forces.

In September, a referendum approved proposed amendments to the Constitution, giving further powers to the President. The amendments extended the presidential term and granted the President the authority to declare early Presidential elections and to dissolve Parliament.

In November, the EU Council approved a new mandate for the negotiation of a "comprehensive" agreement with Azerbaijan to replace the 1996 Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) which governed EU-Azerbaijan bilateral relations. The political dialogue under the PCA had been halted in recent years as Azerbaijan's human rights record continued to deteriorate.

PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

Government critics continued to be incarcerated. In the early part of the year, several high-profile prisoners convicted following politically motivated trials were released, among them at least 12 prisoners of conscience. None of those released were cleared of criminal charges. Following its visit to Azerbaijan in May, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted that "human rights defenders, journalists, political and religious leaders continue to be arbitrarily detained".

Some released prisoners of conscience, including journalist Khadija Ismayilova and human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, were banned from travelling abroad; most were effectively barred from continuing their work.

The criminal cases opened in 2014 and 2015 against a group of prominent NGOs, which were used as a pretext to arrest several prisoners of conscience for tax evasion and fraud, remained open at the end of the year.

On 10 May, youth activists Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov were detained on trumped-up drug-related charges after they painted political graffiti on a statue of Azerbaijan's former President Heydar Aliyev. They were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on 25 October and 8 December respectively.

On 18 November, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal by prisoner of conscience Ilgar Mammadov, upholding his seven-year prison sentence. The sentence was upheld despite a European Court of Human Rights ruling that found Ilgar Mammadov had been arrested without any evidence, and repeated calls by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for his release.

At the end of the year, at least 14 prisoners of conscience remained in prison. Local human rights activists estimated that more than 100 people remained imprisoned on politically motivated charges.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

All mainstream media remained under government control; independent outlets continued to come under pressure from the authorities. Independent journalists faced intimidation, harassment and physical violence in connection with reporting that criticized the authorities.

On 20 April, the authorities launched a criminal investigation into Meydan TV, an internet-based, independent Azeri-language media outlet, alleging illegal entrepreneurship, large-scale tax evasion and abuse of power. Fifteen Meydan TV journalists, some reporting from abroad, were also under investigation. Those working in Azerbaijan received travel restrictions prohibiting them from leaving the country. The criminal investigations against them were ongoing at the end of the year.

In November, Afgan Sadykhov and Teymur Kerimov, two journalists reporting on social issues, were detained and charged with assault after they were attacked by unidentified persons.

Zamin Gadji, a journalist with the opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat, was summoned and threatened by police at Baku police station on 28 November over a Facebook post criticizing the government's failure to investigate high-profile murder cases.

On 29 November, Parliament approved amendments to the Criminal Code criminalizing online insults against the honour and dignity of the President. The new law provided for fines and imprisonment for up to three years.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

Most of the leading Azerbaijani human rights NGOs were unable to resume their work following the freezing of their assets and ongoing harassment of their members, including criminal prosecution. Several NGO leaders convicted of trumped-up charges remained in prison; others were forced into exile for fear of persecution.

Early in the year, the government unfroze the bank accounts of eight NGOs involved in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international group promoting open and accountable management of extractive resources. The decision came after the EITI downgraded Azerbaijan's membership to a Candidate country in 2015 due to the government crackdown on civil society.

FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

Police continued to suppress and disperse peaceful protests using excessive force.

During nationwide demonstrations in January, in at least two instances police used excessive force to disperse a peaceful crowd and arrested scores of peaceful demonstrators. Across the country, the authorities also summoned for questioning and arrested a number of political activists, accusing them of organizing the protests.

The Constitutional amendments introduced following the September referendum granted the government even more power to restrict the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. The amendments limited property rights and allowed the restriction of freedom of assembly if it breached "public morals".

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

Law enforcement officials continued to commit torture and other ill-treatment with impunity.

Human rights defenders reported torture and other ill-treatment of members of the Muslim Unity movement who had been arrested during clashes with government security forces in the village of Nardaran in 2015. Muslim Unity activists were accused of trying to forcibly change the constitutional system and to create an organized armed group.

The youth activists Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov reported that they were tortured and otherwise ill-treated in detention. Injuries consistent with their allegations were confirmed by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention after visiting the activists in detention. Their findings were ignored by judges during remand and case hearings. Another youth activist, Elgiz Gahraman, told his lawyer he had been subject to torture following his arrest on 12 August. He was held incommunicado for 48 hours and forced to "confess" to charges of drug possession. At the end of the year he remained in detention with his trial pending.

ARMED CONFLICT

Four days of armed clashes between government forces and the forces of the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh took place in April. Azerbaijan reported the deaths of six civilians and 31 military personnel; the Armenian Ministry of Defence reported 93 persons killed on its side, including four civilians. The two parties accused each other of under-reporting military casualties and over-reporting civilian casualties. Both sides reportedly targeted civilian properties, including schools.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Austria

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Austria, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0342248.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.

Republic of Austria

Head of state: Heinz Fischer (until 8 July 2016), then jointly (ad interim) Doris Bures, Karlheinz Kopf, Norbert Hofer

Head of government: Christian Kern (replaced Werner Fayman in May)

The number of asylum claims registered dropped by half compared to the previous year. However, in April Parliament gave the power to the government to rely on an emergency procedure to curtail the number of asylum-seekers in the country. A new law granted far-reaching surveillance and investigative powers to the intelligence agency.

REFUGEES' AND MIGRANTS' RIGHTS

In January, the government announced a cap on the number of asylum applications for 2016 at 37,500. Between January and November, approximately 39,600 people requested asylum in Austria. Almost 32,300 applications were deemed admissible. In the same period in 2015, approximately 81,000 people had requested asylum.

In April, Parliament passed an amendment to the Asylum Act granting the government the power to declare a threat to public order and security when high numbers of asylum-seekers were entering the country. This decree would trigger a fast-track asylum procedure in which border police would determine the admissibility of applications for international protection. Police would also forcibly return asylum-seekers who had crossed the border to neighbouring countries of transit without being required to provide a reasoned justification. Asylum-seekers would only be able to appeal from abroad as the appeals would be non-suspensive. The implementation of the amendment could result in the violation of the principle of non-refoulement and the right to have access to a fair and efficient asylum procedure. At the end of the year, the government had not triggered the procedure.

The amendment also severely limits the possibilities for refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection to obtain family reunification.

While conditions in some reception centres improved, asylum procedures continued to be inadequate in identifying and assisting persons with specific needs, such as victims of torture, human trafficking, or gender-based violence. Support services, including health care for persons in need of special care, including unaccompanied minors, remained insufficient.

DISCRIMINATION

In June, the authorities expressed concern regarding racially motivated attacks on asylum shelters. In the same month, an asylum shelter was set alight before its official opening in the town of Altenfelden. In the first six months of the year, the Ministry of Interior reported almost as many criminal offences against asylum shelters (24) as for the whole of 2015 (25).

In June, an intersex person filed a complaint following the refusal by the civil registry office in Steyr to register their gender as neutral (neither male nor female). The case was pending before the Administrative Court of Upper Austria at the end of the year.

In August, several authorities, including the Federal Chancellor, expressed support for the right of same-sex couples to marry. However, no legislative amendments were tabled to this effect.

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

In July, the Police State Protection Act entered into force. The new legislation grants far-reaching surveillance and investigative powers to the domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism. In particular, the Office can collect and store personal data from a wide variety of sources and launch investigations without informing the affected individuals. The lack of judicial oversight and the discretion with which the Office can exercise its powers raised concerns regarding the respect of the rights to privacy and to an effective remedy, among others.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Australia

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Australia, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0342333d.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.

Australia

Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Peter Cosgrove

Head of government: Malcolm Turnbull

The justice system continued to fail Indigenous people, particularly children, with high rates of incarceration, reports of abuse and deaths in custody. Australia maintained its hardline policies of confining people seeking asylum in offshore processing centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, and turning back those attempting to reach Australia by boat. Counter-terror measures violated basic human rights.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS

Indigenous children were 24 times more likely to be detained than non-Indigenous children. Despite the recommendation by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that the international minimum age of criminal responsibility should be 12, the age was 10 throughout Australia. Children aged 10 or 11 were detained in every state except Tasmania. Nearly three quarters of them were Indigenous children.

Contrary to Article 37(c) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 17-year-olds were tried as, and jailed with, adults in the state of Queensland. The Queensland government passed legislation to change this in November. In December, the Court of Appeal in Victoria found the detention of children in an adult prison to be unlawful and ordered their transfer to a youth justice facility. Instead, the Victorian government officially renamed part of the adult prison a youth facility.

Leaked footage exposed abuse and other ill-treatment of children in detention in the Northern Territory. Similar abuses were reported in Queensland.[1] This led to the announcement of a Royal Commission into youth detention in the Northern Territory and an independent review in Queensland.

Indigenous adults were 15 times more likely to be jailed than non-Indigenous adults. At least five Indigenous people died in custody in various states and territories throughout the year.

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS

In April, the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court ruled that the detention of around 900 men held in the Australian-run facilities on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island was unlawful and ordered that they be closed immediately. No timeframe had been made public for the closure of the centres by either the Australian or Papua New Guinean governments by the end of the year (see Papua New Guinea entry).

As of 30 November, there were 383 people, of whom 44 were children, 49 women and 290 men, in an offshore processing centre on Nauru, where they continued to suffer neglect, ill-treatment and other abuse in a deliberate policy to deter asylum-seekers from trying to reach Australia by boat (see Nauru entry).[2]

Around 320 people taken to Australia for medical treatment remained at risk of being returned to either Nauru or Manus Island.

In November, the Australian government announced that some of the refugees detained on Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, would be resettled in the US.

During the year, at least three boats carrying asylum-seekers were returned directly to Sri Lanka. In June a boat was returned to Viet Nam before the passengers' claims for asylum had been adequately assessed. An unspecified number of boats were turned back to Indonesia.

Australia continued its policy of mandatory indefinite detention of asylum-seekers. As of 30 November, 1,414 people were held in onshore detention.

More than a year after Australia announced it would resettle an additional 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees, nearly 8,400 refugees had arrived by December.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

Despite overwhelming support from the public, there was still no legislation on marriage equality. Under the current law, marriage is permissible only between a man and a woman.

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

New counter-terror laws were proposed and passed. Among those proposed was a continuing detention order allowing for detention beyond expiry of sentence. Legislative changes allowed for children as young as 14 years old to be put under control orders, reduced from 16 years. Citizenship laws with the potential to make people stateless came into effect.

1. Australia: Reforms to justice system essential to protect the rights of Indigenous youth (NWS 11/4730/2016)

2. Australia: Appalling abuse, neglect of refugees on Nauru (NWS 11/4586/2016)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Armenia

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Armenia, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0342411.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.

Republic of Armenia

Head of state: Serzh Sargsyan

Head of government: Karen Karapetyan (replaced Hovik Abrahamyan in September)

Police used excessive force to suppress largely peaceful demonstrations in the capital, Yerevan, in July. Hundreds of individuals were arbitrarily arrested. Many reported being injured, beaten or otherwise ill-treated during the arrest and while in detention.

BACKGROUND

The year was marked by economic and political volatility, and growing security concerns linked to the outbreak of large-scale military confrontation in April in Nagorno-Karabakh, the breakaway region of Azerbaijan supported by Armenia. On 8 September, Prime Minister Abrahamyan resigned, citing his government's failure to address economic and political challenges. On 13 September, President Sargsyan appointed former Yerevan Mayor Karen Karapetyan as the new Prime Minister.

EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE

On 17 July a group of armed men stormed a police compound in the Erebuni district of Yerevan, killing one police officer, injuring two and taking several as hostages.

Following the seizure of the compound, hundreds gathered at the Liberty Square to show solidarity with the gunmen and join their calls for the release of the imprisoned opposition activist Jirair Sefilian  who had been charged with illegal arms possession  and to call for the resignation of the President. A two-week-long standoff with police sparked widespread anti-government protests in Yerevan, resulting in several clashes with the police. The protests took place daily and dwindled after the hostage-takers surrendered on 30 July. While police allowed peaceful gatherings in most instances, they regularly detained protesters and others. On several occasions, protests in Yerevan were dispersed with excessive force.

On 20 July, clashes ensued after police refused to allow protesters to pass food to the armed group inside the compound. Some protesters started pushing police officers and throwing stones and water bottles. Police responded by using stun grenades and tear gas indiscriminately and injured many peaceful protesters and bystanders. Police then started dispersing the rally and arresting participants. Several eyewitnesses said that police officers chased and beat fleeing demonstrators before arresting them; 136 people were reported detained, dozens injured.

0n 29 July police used excessive force against peaceful demonstrators in Sari-Tagh, near the seized compound. The police warned the crowd to disperse; shortly afterwards they fired tear gas and threw stun grenades indiscriminately, wounding dozens of demonstrators and some journalists. A group of men armed with wooden batons then moved into the crowd from behind the police line and ambushed and beat demonstrators and journalists. Meanwhile, the police blocked the street to prevent the crowd from fleeing and proceeded to arrest all demonstrators. At least 14 journalists reported being deliberately targeted by stun grenades and beaten to prevent them from live reporting. At least 60 people were reported injured and hospitalized, including with severe burns from exploding grenades. During the following weeks, five police officers were suspended for using excessive force; the head of Yerevan police was dismissed and 13 police officers, including some of high rank, were formally reprimanded for "failing to prevent violent attacks on protesters and journalists". Investigations into both incidents were ongoing at the end of the year.

ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS

Following the events of 17 July, police summoned political activists for questioning. According to media reports, around 200 individuals, mostly opposition supporters and activists, were brought to police stations, without being formally arrested. Activists reported that police visited their family homes, threatened their family members with arrests and conducted illegal searches. Activists were questioned and held in police stations, some for more than 12 hours, and released without charge. They were not allowed to notify their families or relatives of their whereabouts and were denied access to their lawyers.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

Torture and other ill-treatment by police and in detention facilities continued to be widely reported.

In February, the Nubarashen prison administration forced imprisoned activist Vardges Gaspari to undergo a psychiatric examination after he alleged that the administration had ordered his cellmates to beat, threaten and pour cold water on him.

During the July events, a number of activists reported being denied access to water, medicine and necessary medical aid after being detained by the police for participating in protests; in some cases they were held for more than 12 hours without charge. Several individuals reported being severely beaten or otherwise ill-treated at the time of arrest and in detention, and prevented from notifying their relatives and lawyers of their whereabouts.

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

In July, the government changed the law on abortion to ban sex-selective abortion between the 12th and 22nd weeks of pregnancy. The new law introduced a mandatory three-day waiting period and counselling for women after they had made the initial appointment for an abortion. Some women's groups raised concerns that the waiting period might be used to discourage women from having abortions and result in increased corruption, unsafe abortions and, consequently, an increase in maternal mortality. According to reports by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) sex-selective abortions were "prevalent" in Armenia.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Argentina

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Argentina, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0342531a.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.

Argentine Republic

Head of state and government: Mauricio Macri

Women and girls faced obstacles in accessing legal abortions; the criminalization of sexual and reproductive rights intensified. Discrimination against Indigenous Peoples continued.

BACKGROUND

The National Congress passed the Law on Access to Public Information (Law 27.275). The National Council of Women presented the National Action Plan for the Prevention, Assistance and Eradication of Violence against Women.

In June and October, mass protests took place under the slogan "Not One Less" over pervasive violence against women, femicide and the lack of public policies to address the situation.

Argentina was subject to the scrutiny of the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

In April, a woman from the Tucuman province was found guilty of "murder" and sentenced to eight years in prison after suffering a miscarriage in a hospital, according to her clinical record. She was reported to the police by hospital staff for purportedly inducing an abortion and held in pre-trial detention for over two years. She was first charged with undergoing an illegal abortion and then with aggravated murder for the premeditated killing of a close relative (a crime that carries prison sentences of up to 25 years). In August, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern regarding this case, recommending that the government consider decriminalizing abortion and calling for her prompt release. The Committee further called on Argentina to liberalize its laws on abortion, to ensure that all women and girls have access to reproductive health services, and "that women are not obliged, as a consequence of legal obstacles, the exercise of conscientious objection of health workers or the lack of medical protocols, to resort to clandestine abortions that put their lives and health at risk". The Tucuman Supreme Court ultimately ordered the woman's release that month but had to issue a final ruling on the eight-year sentence imposed on her by the lower court.

In July, a 12-year-old girl from the Wichi Indigenous community was raped by a group of non-Indigenous men. The rape resulted in a pregnancy which she was forced to continue, despite the fact that her parents had reported the rape. At 31 weeks, the girl was allowed to have a caesarean section only because the pregnancy was unsustainable.

In November, the CEDAW Committee urged Argentina to ensure that all provinces approve protocols to facilitate access to legal abortion; ensure that women have access to safe legal abortion and post-abortion services and take definitive steps to prevent "the blanket use of conscientious objection by doctors refusing to perform abortions, considering in particular the situation of early pregnancies as a result of rape and incest that may amount to torture"; and "accelerate the adoption of the draft law for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy increasing legal access to abortion".

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS

Although the Constitution recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their ancestral lands and to participate in the management of natural resources, the majority of Indigenous communities remained without legal acknowledgment of their land rights.

Indigenous Peoples reported over 200 cases of violations of their human rights to land, participation and consultation, equality and non-discrimination and access to justice, among other rights.

2016 marked seven years of impunity in the case of Javier Chocobar, leader of the Chuschagasta Indigenous community, who was killed for peacefully defending his land in the Northern Province of Tucuman.

REFUGEES' AND MIGRANTS' RIGHTS

In August, the National Migration Directorate and the Ministry of Security announced the establishment of a detention centre for migrants. This did not comply with the rights to liberty, freedom of movement and the protection from arbitrary detention.

During the Leaders' Summit on Refugees in New York, USA, in September, Argentina pledged to receive 3,000 Syrian refugees, prioritizing families with children. At the end of the year, details of the resettlement programme remained unspecified.

IMPUNITY

Public trials were held for crimes against humanity during the military regime between 1976 and 1983. Between 2006 and December 2016, 173 rulings had been issued, bringing the total number of those convicted to 733.

In May, a historic sentence was passed on the "Plan Condor" case, a co-ordinated intelligence plan launched in the 1970s by the de facto governing military regimes in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Reynaldo Bignone, the last de facto President of Argentina at the time, was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. A further 14 military leaders were sentenced to imprisonment. In August, the sentence on the "La Perla" historical trial  which included clandestine centres in Cordoba Province  was rendered, sentencing 28 perpetrators to life imprisonment. Nine sentences were passed for between two and 14 years' imprisonment and six acquittals.

By December, the Bicameral Commission to identify economic and financial interests that had colluded with the military dictatorship, created by Law 27.217 in 2015, had not been established.

The public hearing continued of the cover-up of the investigation into the 1994 attack on the Jewish Mutual Association of Argentina (AMIA) building, in which 85 people were killed. Among those accused were former President Carlos Menem, a former judge and other former officials. The main case relating to the attack had been stalled since 2006. In August, the AMIA Prosecutorial Investigation Unit identified Augusto Daniel Jesus as the final victim who still had to be identified.

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY

Reports of unnecessary and excessive use of force by security forces in the context of public protests continued.

On 16 January, the social leader Milagro Sala was arrested and charged for protesting peacefully in Jujuy in December 2015. Despite her release being ordered in this case, further criminal proceedings were then initiated against her in order to keep her in detention. In October the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that her detention was arbitrary and asked for her immediate release.

On 17 February, the "Protocol on State Security Force Conduct during Public Protests" was published, issued by the National Ministry of Security, stating that forces should repress and the justice system criminally prosecute those exercising their right to peaceful assembly.

On 31 March, the Buenos Aires Public Prosecutor's Office issued judgment FG N 25/2016, which led to serious risks of undue restriction on the right to peaceful assembly.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

The human rights defender Ruben Ortiz was threatened and intimidated over his support for the rights of peasant farmer (campesino) communities in the Province of Misiones. An investigation process was ongoing at the end of the year.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

The National Committee for the Prevention of Torture had not been established by the end of the year, despite government regulation of the National System for the Prevention of Torture, comprising legislators, government authorities and representatives of civil society organizations. The duties of the Committee included visits to detention centres, prevention of prison overpopulation and regulations on transfers.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Algeria

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Algeria, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b03427a.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.

People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

Head of state: Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Head of government: Abdelmalek Sellal

The authorities continued to restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and religion, and prosecuted peaceful critics, including human rights defenders, in unfair trials. Refugees and migrants were arbitrarily expelled. Impunity for past serious abuses continued to prevail. Courts handed down death sentences; no executions were carried out.

BACKGROUND

In January, the government dissolved the Department for Information and Security (DRS), the main security agency previously associated with torture and other ill-treatment of detainees. It was replaced with a Security Services Directorate that reports directly to the President.

Also in January, changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure came into effect, including new witness protection measures, limits to the right to appeal in minor offence cases and amendments allowing suspects to contact lawyers immediately when they are taken into police custody. The changes did not give suspects the right to have their lawyer present during interrogation.

Constitutional amendments adopted in February included the creation of a National Human Rights Council to replace the National Consultative Commission for Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. Other amendments included making Tamazight a national language, thus enhancing the cultural rights of the Amazigh population.[1]

The authorities continued to block access to Algeria by UN human rights mechanisms, including those with mandates on torture and other ill-treatment, counter-terrorism, enforced disappearance and freedoms of association and peaceful assembly. The authorities also continued to prevent international organizations, including Amnesty International, from conducting human rights fact-finding visits.

FREEDOMS OF ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY

The authorities continued to leave many civil society associations, including Amnesty International Algeria, in legal limbo by failing to acknowledge their registration applications. Such applications were required under Law 12-06 on associations, which imposed wide-ranging arbitrary restrictions on associations and exposed members of unrecognized associations to up to six months' imprisonment and fines.

The authorities tightly restricted freedom of assembly, maintaining a ban on all demonstrations in the capital, Algiers, under a decree from 2001, and arresting and prosecuting peaceful protesters.

In January a court in Tamanrasset imposed fines and one-year prison sentences on seven peaceful protesters convicted of "unarmed gathering" and "offending public institutions" for protesting in December 2015 about a local land dispute. Six of the seven protesters were released in July under a presidential pardon. The seventh, activist Dahmane Kerami, remained in prison serving a one-year sentence in a separate case. He was convicted of participating in "unarmed gatherings" and "obstructing traffic" during peaceful protests in Tamanrasset in 2015 against shale gas fracking and in support of workers laid off by a local gold mining company. He was released on 31 December after serving his sentence.[2]

In March, a court sentenced activist Abdelali Ghellam to one year in prison and a fine after convicting him of inciting others to participate in an "unarmed gathering" and "obstruct traffic". The charges related to comments about the protest in Tamanrasset that he published on Facebook. He was released in April.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The authorities prosecuted peaceful critics and forced the closure of media outlets.

In March, a court in Tlemcen convicted and fined Zoulikha Belarbi, a member of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH), for defamation and for "offending" the President and a public body. The charges related to her publishing a satirical collage on Facebook depicting President Bouteflika and senior officials. A six-month prison term was added to her sentence on appeal in December.

In June, the authorities arrested the director and the producer of the private Khabar Broadcasting Corporation and a Ministry of Communication official in connection with two popular satirical current affairs programmes. The three were detained for several weeks before a court sentenced them to suspended prison terms of between six months and one year for licensing irregularities. Gendarmes sealed the recording studios in July, forcing both shows off the air.[3]

In July, a court sentenced freelance journalist Mohamed Tamalt to two years' imprisonment after convicting him of "offending" the President and public institutions in comments he published on Facebook and in his blog about corruption and nepotism among leading officials. An appeal court confirmed his sentence in August, following a hearing at which he accused prison guards of beating him. He began a protest hunger strike at the time of his arrest in June, became comatose in August, and died in hospital in December. The authorities failed to adequately investigate his alleged beating in detention, his treatment in prison and his death.[4]

In November, a court in El Bayadh sentenced Hassan Bouras, a journalist and human rights activist, to one year in prison on charges of complicity in offending public officials and a public body after a private television station broadcast film of him interviewing three people alleging police and judicial corruption.[5]

FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND BELIEF

From June onwards, the authorities targeted members of the Ahmadi Muslim community, arresting more than 50 in Blida and Skikda provinces and other parts of the country on account of their faith, according to media reports and civil society groups. Soon after the June arrests in Blida, the Minister of Religious Affairs publicly accused Ahmadis of "extremism" and of serving foreign interests. In November, a court in Skikda sentenced 20 Ahmadis to fines and prison terms ranging from one month to one year; at the end of the year they remained at liberty pending appeal.

In August, a court sentenced Christian convert Slimane Bouhafs from Setif to five years in prison for "denigrating" Islam and "insulting" the Prophet Muhammad in comments he posted on Facebook. An appeal court reduced the sentence to three years' imprisonment.[6]

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

The authorities harassed and prosecuted human rights defenders. In March, a court in Ghardaia charged lawyer Noureddine Ahmine with "insulting a public institution" and falsely reporting an offence, in relation to a complaint of torture that he had filed, apparently on behalf of a client, in 2014. Noureddine Ahmine had defended many protesters and journalists facing charges arising from their peaceful exercise of their human rights.

In June, an investigative judge in Ghardaia issued an arrest warrant against lawyer Salah Dabouz, a member of LADDH, in relation to comments he made about unrest in Ghardaia and for allegedly taking a computer and camera into a prison.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

Dozens of people arrested in connection with communal violence in 2015 in the Mzab region remained in pre-trial detention throughout 2016 as the authorities investigated them on charges of terrorism and inciting hatred. They included political activist Kameleddine Fekhar and other supporters of regional autonomy.

In March the UN Human Rights Committee found that Algeria had violated Articles 2, 7 and 9 of the ICCPR. Its findings related to the failure to investigate allegations by businessman Mejdoub Chani that DRS officers had detained him incommunicado and tortured him during interrogation following his arrest for corruption and money laundering in 2009. He remained in prison at the end of the year awaiting the outcome of appeals to the Supreme Court.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

The Family Code continued to discriminate against women in matters of marriage, divorce, child custody and guardianship, and inheritance. Women and girls remained inadequately protected against gender-based violence in the absence of a comprehensive law. The Penal Code continued to prohibit rape without defining it or explicitly recognizing marital rape as a crime, and allowed men who rape girls under the age of 18 to escape trial by marrying their victim. The Penal Code also continued to criminalize abortions.

REFUGEES' AND MIGRANTS' RIGHTS

The government again failed to enact legislation protecting the right to asylum.

Clashes between local residents and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa occurred in Bechar and Ouargla in March, in Tamanrasset in July, and in Algiers in November.

In December, security forces arrested an estimated 1,500 sub-Saharan African migrants and refugees in Algiers, and arbitrarily expelled hundreds of them to neighbouring Niger within days. Those not expelled were released in the southern city of Tamanrasset and reported being barred from public transport to prevent them returning to Algiers.

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

Security forces and armed opposition groups clashed in several areas. The authorities said the security forces killed 125 alleged members of armed groups but disclosed few details, raising concern that some may have been extrajudicially executed.

In March, the armed group calling itself al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on a gas production site in Khrechba. No casualties were reported.

IMPUNITY

The government continued to allow impunity for serious human rights abuses committed during the 1990s, by failing to investigate past abuses and hold those responsible to account. The unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, rape and other torture committed by the security forces, as well as some abuses committed by armed groups, may amount to crimes against humanity.[7]

DEATH PENALTY

Courts continued to impose death sentences. No executions have been carried out since 1993.

1. Algeria: Constitution needs stronger human rights safeguards (MDE 28/3366/2016)

2. Algeria: Further information: Six protesters released, one remains imprisoned (MDE 28/4437/2016)

3. Algeria: End media restrictions (MDE 28/4369/2016)

4. Algeria: Further information: Health concern for British-Algerian journalist: Mohamed Tamalt (MDE 28/4738/2016)

5. Algeria: One year in prison for denouncing corruption: Hassan Bouras (MDE 28/5299/2016)

6. Algeria: Further information: Prisoner of conscience remains in detention: Slimane Bouhafs (MDE 28/4783/2016)

7. Algeria: Time to end impunity for past and present abuses (MDE 28/3521/2016)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Albania

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Albania, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b03428a.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.

Republic of Albania

Head of state: Bujar Nishani

Head of government: Edi Rama

Roma and Egyptian communities continued to live in poor housing conditions and were at risk of forced evictions. Over 20,000 Albanians sought asylum in the EU.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

The authorities made no progress in bringing to justice those responsible for the enforced disappearance in 1995 of Remzi Hoxha, an ethnic Albanian from Macedonia. His fate and whereabouts remained unknown.

The government started to co-operate with the International Commission on Missing Persons to locate and identify the remains of Albanians forcibly disappeared under the communist governments between 1944 and 1991; however, by the end of 2016, new exhumations were yet to be carried out. An estimated 6,000 persons remained disappeared.

HOUSING RIGHTS  FORCED EVICTIONS

In June, the local authorities in Tirana threatened to forcibly evict over 80 families  mainly Roma and Egyptian  living in the area of Bregu i Lumit, an area at risk of being flooded by the Tirana River. The authorities failed to provide adequate notice, genuine consultation and alternative housing. Following the intervention by housing activists and the Albanian Ombudsperson, evictions were temporarily suspended at the end of September. As part of an "intervention plan", proposed by the Mayor of Tirana, the families were given options on their eviction and resettlement. By the end of the year, it remained unclear if all families would be able to access resettlement and if the offered alternatives were adequate and sustainable.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

In June, a judge suspended the chief of the national police for abuse of power and participation in planting wiretapping devices in police stations. In response, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Affairs accused the judge of serving the opposition and undermining the independence of the judiciary. The national police chief remained in pre-trial detention at the end of the year.

In July, a justice reform was passed in Parliament. The reform amended dozens of articles of the Constitution and introduced new legislation to ensure the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and to prevent political intervention and corruption.

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS

Over 1,000 asylum applications were submitted to the authorities as border closures in Greece and Macedonia prompted people to seek protection in Albania. Some refugees and migrants arriving from Greece were summarily returned.

An estimated 20,000 Albanians applied for asylum in EU countries, the majority of them in Germany, but most of them were rejected. In July, the European Parliament proposed an EU common list of "safe countries of origin" to process asylum applications. The list included Albania. This raised concerns about fair and individualized asylum processes for Albanians.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

Prisons

In March, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) expressed concerns over detention conditions in Albania. The CPT documented numerous reports by detainees  including juveniles  of ill-treatment by police officers, in some cases amounting to torture. It also noted that detention conditions remained poor in several locations across the country, and that progress was lacking in health care, activities and specialized care provided to prisoners.

Children's rights

In May, the torture or other ill-treatment of children, including sexual abuse of girls, in an orphanage in the town of Shkodra, caused a national scandal after the district prosecutor revealed the scale of the abuse. Five persons, including the former director of the orphanage, were arrested.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Afghanistan

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Afghanistan, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b034294.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.

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Head of state and government: Mohammad Ashraf Ghani

The intensifying conflict resulted in widespread human rights violations and abuses. Thousands of civilians were killed, injured or displaced in the violence, while ongoing insecurity restricted access to education, health and other services. While armed insurgent groups were responsible for the majority of civilian casualties, pro-government forces also killed and injured civilians. Anti- and pro-government forces continued to use children as fighters. The number of people internally displaced stood at 1.4 million  more than double the number in 2013  while approximately 2.6 million Afghan refugees lived outside the country, many in deplorable conditions. Violence against women and girls persisted, and there was a reported increase in armed groups publicly punishing women including through executions and lashings. State and non-state actors continued to threaten human rights defenders and impede them from carrying out their work and journalists encountered violence and censorship. The government continued to carry out executions, often after unfair trials.

BACKGROUND

In January, officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the USA held talks on a roadmap for peace with the Taliban. However, at a conference in January in Doha, attended by 55 senior participants from a diverse international range of backgrounds, including the Taliban, a delegation of the Taliban's political commission based in Doha reiterated that a formal peace process could start only after foreign troops had left the country. They also set out other preconditions including the removal of Taliban leaders' names from the UN sanctions list.

In February, President Ghani appointed Mohammad Farid Hamidi, a prominent human rights lawyer, as Attorney General, and General Taj Mohammad Jahid as Minister of Interior Affairs. President Ghani opened a fund to support women survivors of gender-based violence, to which cabinet members contributed 15% of their February salary.

In March, the UN Security Council renewed the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for another year; the UN Secretary-General appointed Tadamichi Yamamoto as Special Representative of UNAMA.

After years of peace negotiations between the government and the country's second largest insurgent group Hezb-i-Islami, led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, on 29 September, President Ghani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar signed a peace agreement granting Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and his fighters amnesty for alleged crimes under international law and permitting the release of certain Hezb-i-Islami prisoners.

Political instability increased amid growing rifts in the Government of National Unity between supporters of President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. In October, an international aid donor conference was held by the EU to pledge aid to Afghanistan over the next four years. The international community pledged around US $15.2 billion to assist Afghanistan in areas including security and sustainable development. Shortly before the conference, the EU and Afghanistan signed a deal permitting the deportation of an unlimited number of failed Afghan asylum-seekers, despite the worsening security situation.

There were serious concerns about a mounting financial crisis as the international presence within the country was diminished and unemployment rose.

There was a rapid increase in September and October of Taliban attacks and attempts to capture large provinces and cities. In October, the Taliban captured Kunduz, during which the city power supply and water was cut; hospitals ran out of medication and civilian casualty numbers rose. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported some 25,000 Afghans internally displaced during one week from Kunduz to the capital, Kabul, and neighbouring countries.

ARMED CONFLICT

In the first nine months of 2016, UNAMA documented 8,397 conflict-related civilian casualties (2,562 deaths and 5,835 injured). Pro-government forces  including Afghan national security forces, the Afghan local police, pro-government armed groups, and international military forces  were responsible for almost 23%, according to UNAMA.

UNAMA documented at least 15 incidents in the first half of 2016 in which pro-government forces conducted search operations in hospitals and clinics, delayed or impeded the provision of medical supplies, or used health facilities for military purposes. This was a sharp increase on the previous year.

Men dressed in Afghan National Army uniforms entered a health clinic in the Taliban-controlled village of Tangi Saidan, Wardak province, on 18 February. The Swedish aid group that ran the clinic said the men beat staff members and killed two patients and a 15-year-old carer. NATO launched an investigation into the incident; no updates were made public by the end of the year.

No criminal charges were brought against those responsible for an air strike by US forces in October 2015 against a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kunduz which killed and injured at least 42 staff and patients, although approximately 12 US military personnel faced disciplinary sanctions. In March, the new commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan issued an apology to the families of the victims.

ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS

The Taliban and other armed insurgent groups were responsible for the majority of civilian casualties, approximately 60%, according to UNAMA.

On 3 February, the Taliban shot dead a 10-year-old boy on his way to school in Tirin Kot, southern Uruzgan. It was believed that the boy was shot because he had fought the Taliban on earlier occasions alongside his uncle, a former Taliban commander who switched allegiance and became a local police commander.

On 19 April, Taliban militants attacked a security team responsible for protecting high-level government officials in Kabul, killing at least 64 people and wounding 347. It was the biggest Taliban attack on an urban area since 2001.

On 31 May, Taliban militants posing as government officials kidnapped around 220 civilians at a fake checkpoint along the Kunduz-Takhar highway near Arzaq Angor Bagh in Kunduz province. They killed 17 of the civilians and the rest were eventually rescued or released. At least 40 more people were kidnapped and others killed in the same area on 8 June.

On 23 July, a suicide attack claimed by the armed group Islamic State (IS) killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 230 during a peaceful demonstration by members of the Hazara minority in Kabul.

On 12 August, three armed men attacked the American University in Kabul, killing 12 people and injuring nearly 40, mostly students and teachers. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

On 11 October, IS conducted a co-ordinated attack against a large group of mourners in a Shi'a mosque in Kabul. The attackers used explosive materials and stormed the mosque, reportedly taking hostage hundreds of mourners. At least 18 people were shot dead and over 40 injured, including women and children.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

The Afghan judiciary said that it had registered more than 3,700 cases of violence against women and girls in the first eight months of 2016. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission also reported thousands of cases in the first six months of the year, including beatings, killings and acid attacks.

In January, a man cut off the nose of his 22-year-old wife in Faryab. The incident was condemned across Afghanistan, including by a Taliban spokesperson.

In July, a 14-year-old pregnant girl was set on fire by her husband and her parents-in-law to punish her father for eloping with a cousin of the girl's husband. She died five days later in hospital in Kabul.

Armed groups targeted women working in public life, including women police officers. Armed groups also restricted the freedom of movement of women and girls, including their access to education and health care, in areas under their control.

UNAMA reported an increase in the number of women punished in public under Shari'a law by the Taliban and other armed groups. Between 1 January and 30 June, UNAMA documented six parallel justice punishments by armed groups of women accused of so-called "moral crimes", including the executions of two women and the lashing of four others.

REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE

According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, approximately 2.6 million Afghan refugees were living in more than 70 countries, making them the second largest refugee population worldwide. Around 95% lived in just two countries, Iran and Pakistan, where they faced discrimination, racial attacks, lack of basic amenities and the risk of mass deportation.

Approximately 1.4 million refugees in Pakistan risked mass deportation with their registration tentatively expiring at the end of the year. UNHCR estimated that a further one million undocumented refugees were in Pakistan. According to UNHCR, more than 500,000 Afghan refugees (documented and undocumented) were repatriated from Pakistan during the year. This was the highest number since 2002. Officials reported up to 5,000 returnees during each of the first four days of October. The situation was intensified with the deal signed between the Afghan government and the EU on 5 October 2016, agreeing to the unlimited return of Afghan refugees from EU member states.

Internally displaced people

By April 2016, the number of people internally displaced reached an estimated 1.4 million. Many continued to live in squalid conditions without access to adequate housing, food, water, health care, education or employment opportunities.

According to UNOCHA, from 1 January to 11 December, 530,000 individuals became internally displaced mainly due to conflict.

The situation facing internally displaced people (IDPs) has worsened in recent years. A national IDP policy launched in 2014 was hindered by corruption, lack of capacity in the government and fading international interest.

IDPs, along with other groups, faced significant challenges in accessing health care. Public facilities remained severely overstretched, and IDP camps and settlements often lacked dedicated clinics. Medicines and private clinics were unaffordable for most IDPs and the lack of adequate maternal and reproductive health care was a particular area of concern.

IDPs also faced repeated threats of forced evictions by both government and private actors.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Armed groups continued to target and threaten human rights defenders. Women human rights defenders in particular faced death threats against themselves and their families.

In early 2016, a prominent human rights defender received a death threat via Facebook from the Taliban against himself and nine others. After the 10 activists approached the authorities about the threat, the intelligence agency National Directorate of Security arrested two people with reported links to the Taliban, but no subsequent information was provided to the human rights defenders. Threats continued against the activists, who self-censored their human rights work as a result.

In August, the brother of a local women's rights activist in a southern province was kidnapped, tortured and subsequently killed by unidentified individuals. The perpetrators used the man's phone to intimidate the activist and her family, threatening her with fatal repercussions if she did not cease her human rights work. No one had been arrested for the kidnapping and killing by the end of the year.

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY

Freedom of expression, which strengthened after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, has steadily eroded following a string of violent attacks, intimidation and killings of journalists.

Nai, a media freedom watchdog, reported more than 100 cases of attacks against journalists, media workers and media offices between January and November. These included killings, beatings, detention, arson, threats and other forms of violence by both state and non-state actors.

On 20 January, a suicide attack on a shuttle bus carrying staff working for Moby Group, the owner of the country's largest private TV station Tolo TV, killed seven media workers and injured 27 people. The Taliban, which had previously threatened Tolo TV, claimed responsibility.

On 29 January, Zubair Khaksar, a well-known journalist working for Afghan national TV in Nangarhar province, was killed by unidentified armed men while travelling from Jalalabad city to Surkhrood district.

On 19 April, police in Kabul beat two staff media workers of Ariana TV while they were carrying out their reporting duties.

Activists in several provinces outside Kabul said they were increasingly reluctant to stage demonstrations, fearing reprisals from government officials.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

Armed groups including the Taliban continued to carry out killings, torture and other human rights abuses as punishment for perceived crimes or offences. Parallel justice structures were illegal.

Between 1 January and 30 June, UNAMA documented 26 cases including summary killings, lashings, beatings and illegal detention. The punishments were imposed for alleged violations of Shari'a law, spying or connections with the security forces. Most occurred in the western region, particularly in Farah and Badghis provinces.

On 14 February, Afghanistan Local Police in Khak-e-Safid district, Farah province, allegedly detained, tortured and killed a shepherd for his alleged involvement in planting a remote-controlled IED (improvised explosive device) that killed two police officers. UNAMA reported that, although it was aware of the incident, the Afghan National Police prosecution office did not initiate any investigation or arrest any suspects.

DEATH PENALTY

On 8 May, six death row prisoners were executed by hanging in Pol-e Charkhi prison in Kabul. The executions followed a speech by President Ghani on 25 April, soon after the large-scale Taliban attack of 19 April, in which he vowed to implement tough justice, including capital punishment.

It was feared that more executions could follow. Approximately 600 prisoners remained on death row, many convicted of crimes such as murder. Many of their trials did not abide by fair trial standards. Around 100 individuals were sentenced to death during the year for crimes including murder, rape and murder, and terrorism resulting in mass killings.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Regional Overview: Asia-Pacific

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Regional Overview: Asia-Pacific, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0342b13.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.

While many governments in the Asia Pacific region  home to 60% of the world's population  increasingly repressed people's human rights, there were also signs of positive change in some countries and contexts.

There were loud and insistent demands for freedom of expression and justice, and activism and protests against violations grew. Young people were increasingly determined to speak out for their and others' rights. Online technologies and social media offered expanded opportunities to share information, expose injustices, to organize and advocate. Repeatedly, human rights defenders  often working in the most difficult circumstances and with limited resources  stood firm against heavy-handed state oppression, taking inspirational and courageous action.

Yet the price was often high. Many governments displayed an appalling disregard for freedom, justice and dignity. They strove to muzzle opposing voices and suppress protest and activism, including online dissent, through crackdowns, by force or cynical deployment of old and new laws.

In East Asia, governmental transparency diminished and the perception of a growing gap between governments and their citizens increased. This was compounded by entrenched repression in countries such as China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). A pattern of deepening intolerance towards criticism and open debate unfolded in South Asia, with bloggers murdered in Bangladesh, media workers assailed in Pakistan and space for civil society in countries such as India shrinking. In Southeast Asia, key rights  freedoms of thought, conscience, religion, opinion, expression, association and assembly  came under extensive assault, with crackdowns by Thailand's military regime and attempts to mute political voices in Malaysia.

As the space for civil society shrank in many countries, discrimination  particularly against racial and ethnic minorities, and women and girls  expanded in a range of countries and contexts.

In many states  including China, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam  torture and other ill-treatment was among the tools used to target human rights defenders, marginalized groups and others.

Such violations were often sustained by a failure to ensure accountability for torturers and other perpetrators of human rights violations. Impunity was pernicious, frequently chronic, and common to many states. Victims were denied justice, truth and other forms of redress. There was some progress on this front, however. They included slow steps towards delivering accountability for alleged crimes under international law that had plagued Sri Lanka for decades, although widespread impunity persisted; and the bilateral agreement between Japan and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) on the military sexual slavery system before and during World War II which was nonetheless criticized for excluding survivors from its negotiations. In a historic ruling, a court in the Philippines convicted a police officer of torture for the first time under the 2009 Anti-Torture Act. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court indicated that it might soon open an investigation in Afghanistan, which could cover allegations of crimes by the Taliban, the Afghan government and US forces.

In Myanmar, intensification of the conflict in Kachin State, and an eruption of violence in northern Rakhine State  where a security operation forced members of the Rohingya and Rakhine communities to flee their homes  aggravated an already serious human rights and humanitarian situation in which tens of thousands of people had been displaced by violence in recent years. Government restrictions prevented access to humanitarian aid in both states. Afghanistan's armed conflict continued due to a resurgent Taliban, inflicting a devastating toll on civilians.

Armed groups fuelled insecurity and suffering in several countries committing abuses such as abductions and unlawful killings in central and northeastern India and in Jammu and Kashmir state. Bombings and shootings in Indonesia by the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) illustrated an utter disregard for the right to life. In Afghanistan armed groups carried out horrific attacks in the capital, Kabul, including on aid agency CARE International, which targeted civilians in an act that constituted a war crime.

The regional backdrop of repression, conflict and insecurity fuelled the global refugee crisis. Across the region, millions became refugees and asylum-seekers, forced from their homes often into appalling and life-threatening conditions. Many were stranded in precarious situations, vulnerable to myriad further abuses. In countries such as Australia and Thailand, governments exacerbated suffering by sending people back to countries where they risked human rights violations. Many others were displaced in their own countries.

Corporations were frequently active or complicit in abuses. The South Korean government allowed private companies to hinder lawful trade union activity, only belatedly addressing ill-health and even deaths caused by exposure to harmful products. In India, the US-based Dow Chemical Company and its subsidiary Union Carbide Corporation failed again to appear before a Bhopal court on criminal charges related to the 1984 gas leak disaster.

The region was frequently at odds with the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty. China remained the world's most prolific executioner, even though the actual figures remained a state secret. In Pakistan, the number of people executed  since 2014 when it lifted a moratorium on executions  rose to more than 400. In contravention of international standards, some of those executed were juveniles at the time of the offence, some had a mental disability, and others had been sentenced after unfair trials. In Japan, executions were shrouded in secrecy. In Maldives, officials threatened to resume executions after a 60-year moratorium. In the Philippines, draft legislation to reintroduce the death penalty was put before Congress. More positively, Nauru became the 103rd country to repeal the death penalty for all crimes.

Major developments included Myanmar's new quasi-civilian government to which Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed de facto leader, a role especially created for her after the National League for Democracy party's election victory in 2015. The new government took steps to improve human rights but faced daunting challenges bequeathed by half a century of repressive military rule. Its power was constrained by the military's enduring influence, including its control of key ministries and retention of a quarter of parliamentary seats. There was little improvement in Myanmar's ongoing conflicts, the Rohingya's plight, humanitarian assistance for displaced communities, impunity for human rights violators and reformation of repressive laws.

In the Philippines, state-sanctioned violence, typically in the form of unlawful killings, occurred on a massive scale under Rodrigo Duterte's presidency. The brutal crackdown on those suspected of involvement in drug crimes led to over 6,000 people killed in the so-called "war on drugs".

In February, the devastating impact of Cyclone Winston on Fiji highlighted the country's inadequate infrastructure when 62,000 people were displaced after their homes were destroyed; discrimination against some groups in aid distribution and a shortage of building materials failed those most in need.

In May, Sri Lanka ratified the International Convention against Enforced Disappearance. It remains to be seen whether Sri Lanka will make enforced disappearance a specific crime in its domestic law. Fiji ratified the UN Convention against Torture with reservations although accountability for torture and other ill-treatment was hindered by constitutional immunities and a lack of political will.

EAST ASIA

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

In East Asia, human rights defenders came under concerted attacks, with a narrowing space for civil society to raise issues deemed contentious by the authorities.

In China's continuing crackdown under Xi Jinping's rule, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and activists faced increasing and systematic intimidation and harassment, including arbitrary arrest and torture and other ill-treatment. Family members of those detained were also subject to police surveillance, harassment and restriction of their freedom of movement. The authorities increased the use of "residential surveillance at a designated location" which allowed police to hold individuals for up to six months outside the formal detention system, without access to legal counsel of their choice or their families. There was also an increase in detainees being forced to make televised "confessions". The authorities continued to block thousands of websites. In Guangdong province, China cracked down on workers and labour rights activists, frequently denying detainees access to lawyers on "national security" pretexts.

The Chinese government also drafted or enacted laws and regulations under the pretext of enhancing national security, but which could be used to silence dissent and suppress human rights defenders under broadly defined offences such as "inciting subversion" and "leaking state secrets". There were fears that the new Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations Management Law could be used to intimidate and prosecute human rights defenders and NGOs, and the new Cyber Security Law could undermine freedom of expression and privacy.

Yet activists dared to be innovative. Four human rights defenders were arrested for commemorating the 27th anniversary of the 4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. They posted an online advertisement for a popular alcohol with a label reading "Remember, Eight Liquor Six Four"  a play on words in Chinese echoing the date of the notorious event, accompanied by "tank man's" picture. The action was covered widely on social media before being censored.

In October, Ilham Tohti  a well-known Uyghur intellectual who fostered dialogue between Uyghurs and Han Chinese  received the 2016 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders awarded for deep commitment in the face of great risk. He is currently serving a life sentence on "separatism" charges.

In Hong Kong, students Joshua Wong, Alex Chow and Nathan Law were convicted of "taking part in an unlawful assembly" in connection with their roles in the 2014 events that triggered the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement.

North Korea exercised extreme repression, violating almost the full spectrum of human rights. There were severe restrictions on freedom of expression and no domestic independent media or civil society organizations. Up to 120,000 individuals continued to be held in prison camps where torture and other ill-treatment, including forced labour, was widespread and routine. State control, oppression and intimidation intensified since Kim Jung-un came to power in 2011. The persistent stranglehold on use of communication technology  designed in part to isolate citizens and obscure the appalling human rights situation  continued. People caught using mobile phones to contact loved ones abroad faced incarceration in political prison camps or detention facilities.

In neighbouring South Korea, regressive human rights trends included restrictions on freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression which took new forms such as civil lawsuits. The authorities undercut press freedom through heavier interference with news reporting and the restriction on the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, often under the pretext of protecting public order.

The South Korean National Assembly passed an anti-terrorism law substantially expanding powers of surveillance of communications and the collection of personal information of people suspected of terrorist links.

In Mongolia, civil society organizations working for human rights protection faced regular intimidation, harassment and threats mainly by private actors.

In a positive development in Taiwan, the new government dropped charges against more than 100 protesters who participated in the 2014 student-led protests against the Cross Straits Services Trade Agreement between Taiwan and China, known as the "Sunflower Movement". The new Prime Minister, Lin Chuan, stated that the previous government's decision to charge the protesters was a "political reaction" rather than a "legal case".

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Japan continued to reject most asylum applications. The South Korean immigration service held more than 100 asylum-seekers for months at Incheon International Airport, including 28 men from Syria whom a court eventually ruled should be released and allowed to apply for asylum. Dozens of asylum-seekers from other countries such as Egypt remained detained at the airport in inhumane conditions.

DISCRIMINATION

Japan's parliament passed its first national law against the advocacy of hatred or hate speech against residents of overseas origin and their descendants, following an increase in pro-discrimination demonstrations. Critics said the law was too narrow and did not contain penalties. Discrimination against sexual or ethnic minorities remained severe.

In China, freedom of religion was systematically violated. Draft amendments to legislation contained provisions to increase state power to control and sanction some religious practices, again in the name of national security to curb "infiltration and extremism". If passed it could be used to further supress in particular the rights to freedom of religion and of belief of Christian communities unrecognized by the state, Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims. In the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the government detained ethnic Uighur writers and Uighur language website editors.

Ethnic Tibetans faced ongoing discrimination and restrictions on their rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, expression, association and peaceful assembly. Tibetan blogger Druklo was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for "inciting separatism", including for his online posts on religious freedom and the Dalai Lama. In the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the government continued to violate the right to freedom of religion, and cracked down on unauthorized religious gatherings.

SOUTH ASIA

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Human rights defenders were targeted for violations throughout South Asia in several ways. Governments used draconian legislation and new laws aimed at censoring online expression.

India used repressive laws to curb freedom of expression and silence critics. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act was used to restrict civil society organizations receiving foreign funding, and to harass NGOs. The sedition law  used by the British to curb free expression during India's independence struggle  was deployed to harass critics. Human rights defenders also faced intimidation and attacks. Journalist Karun Mishra was killed by gunmen in Uttar Pradesh state, apparently for reporting on illegal soil mining. Rajdeo Ranjan, a journalist who had faced threats from political leaders for his writing, was also shot dead.

In Jammu and Kashmir, security forces used unnecessary or excessive force against demonstrators. The Jammu and Kashmir government also imposed a curfew for over two months. A suspension on private landline, mobile and internet service providers undermined a range of rights and residents said it left them unable to reach urgent medical assistance.

Pakistani media workers faced occupational hazards like abduction, arbitrary arrest and detention, intimidation, killings and harassment by state and non-state actors. A grenade attack on ARY TV's offices in the capital, Islamabad, was one of many strikes against media workers, and freedom of expression generally. Pamphlets left at the scene claimed that an armed group allied to IS was responsible.

In Sri Lanka, Sandhya Eknaligoda  wife of disappeared dissident cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda  faced repeated threats and other intimidation after the police identified seven suspects, members of army intelligence, in connection with his enforced disappearance. This intimidation included protests outside the court hearing her husband's habeas corpus case, and a poster campaign accusing her of supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Freedom of expression continued to be under attack in Bangladesh where the authorities grew increasingly intolerant of independent media and critical voices. Amid the severely deteriorating human rights situation, a string of journalists were arrested and arbitrarily detained; peaceful dissent was suppressed under draconian laws invoked to hound critics on social media. Student activist Dilip Roy was detained for criticizing the Prime Minister on Facebook, and faced a possible 14-year prison sentence under the vaguely worded Information and Communications Technology Act, used by the authorities to threaten and punish people who peacefully expressed views they disliked.

In Maldives, where human rights had been under increased attack in recent years, the government intensified assaults on freedoms of expression and assembly by imposing arbitrary restrictions to prevent protest. Authorities also silenced political opponents, human rights defenders, and journalists, using legislation criminalizing "defamatory" speech, remarks and other actions.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Due to its ongoing conflict, Afghanistan was the world's second-largest refugee-producing country. The crisis affected huge numbers of people with over two million in Pakistan and Iran alone and large numbers trying to reach the EU. An EU-Afghanistan deal required Afghanistan to re-admit any Afghan citizen who had not been granted asylum in the EU. However, continuing instability made it impossible for many refugees and asylum-seekers to return home voluntarily in safety.

Although Afghans risking their lives on dangerous journeys to Europe made headlines, the vast majority lacked the resources to leave. The number of people forced to flee their homes and becoming internally displaced reached an estimated 1.4 million in 2016, more than twice that of the three previous years. In the same three-year period, international aid to Afghanistan halved as donors' attention shifted following the withdrawal of international troops. The plight of those suffering in appalling conditions and struggling to survive in overcrowded camps with inadequate shelter, food, water and health care was at risk of being forgotten.

For Afghan refugees in Pakistan, the situation was bleak as the Pakistani government planned one of the largest forcible returns of refugees in modern history putting about 1.4 million people, whose registration was expected to expire at the end of the year, at risk. The authorities imposed several unfeasible deadlines, which they then reluctantly extended, for the return of refugees to Afghanistan. The move triggered waves of harassment from police and officials and the refugees were left trapped in the uncertain limbo of their camps.

In other instances, Pakistan breached the principle of non-refoulement and placed Afghan refugees at risk of serious abuses. For example, the decision to deport Sharbat Gula back to a country she had not seen in a generation and which her children had never known was emblematic of Pakistan's cruel treatment of Afghan refugees. She was the iconic "Afghan girl" featured on the cover of a 1985 National Geographic magazine, and was for decades the world's most famous refugee, a symbol of Pakistan's status as a generous host.

DISCRIMINATION

Thousands protested against discrimination and violence faced by Dalit communities. Marginalized communities continued to be frequently overlooked in the government's push for faster economic growth. Millions demonstrated against changes to labour laws. Black people faced racist harassment, discrimination and violence in various cities. Reports of violent crimes as well as sexual violence against women and girls rose while perpetrators enjoyed impunity, and women from marginalized communities faced systemic discrimination. Indian law criminalized soliciting in public places, leaving sex workers vulnerable to a range of abuses.

Section 377 of India's Penal Code continued to criminalize consensual same-sex relations, despite legal challenges before the Supreme Court. India's cabinet approved a flawed bill on transgender people's rights, which was criticized by activists for its problematic definition of transgender people and inadequate anti-discrimination provisions.

There was a spree of apparently militant-inspired killings and other attacks in Bangladesh, where the authorities arrested nearly 15,000 people in a delayed response to a spate of attacks against bloggers, atheists, foreign nationals and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. The government frequently compromised its obligation to pursue those responsible using measures such as arbitrary and secret detention. Lack of protection for peaceful activists was further underscored by attacks for which no one was held accountable, such as the brutal killing of Xulhaz Mannan, editor of an LGBTI magazine, and his friend Tanay Mojumdar. Human rights activists under similar threat said that the police offered insufficient protection, while others were reluctant to approach the police fearing they would be charged or harassed.

In Sri Lanka, LGBTI people faced harassment, discrimination and violence. High levels of impunity persisted for perpetrators of violence against women and girls, including rape by military personnel, and inadequate efforts were made to address domestic violence. Tamils complained of ethnic profiling, surveillance and harassment by police suspecting them of LTTE links; the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination found that the Sri Lanka Prevention of Terrorism Act was used disproportionately against Tamils. Christians and Muslims were reportedly harassed, threatened and attacked including by supporters of hardline Sinhala Buddhist political groups, with police failing to act or blaming religious minorities for inciting opponents to violence.

SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Human rights defenders were under threat in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Viet Nam and other countries including through increased use of new or existing laws which criminalized peaceful expression.

In Thailand, ongoing suppression of peaceful dissent since the 2014 military coup created an environment in which few dared to criticize the authorities publicly. Human rights defenders faced charges of criminal defamation for speaking out about violations or for supporting vulnerable individuals and communities. The government moved to shut down debate ahead of a referendum on a draft Constitution; in one example, around a dozen people commenting on the proposed Constitution on Facebook were detained or charged, and faced up to 10 years' imprisonment under a draconian new government order.

Crackdowns on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly intensified ahead of Cambodia's elections planned for 2017/2018, and the authorities increasingly abused the criminal justice system. The security forces harassed and punished civil society in attempts to silence critics; human rights defenders were threatened, arrested and detained for their peaceful work; and the political opposition was targeted, with activists and officials imprisoned after unfair trials. The authorities continued to hinder peaceful protest.

In Malaysia, attempts to choke peaceful dissent and freedom of speech included the widespread use of national security legislation and other restrictive laws. Rafizi Ramli  a whistle-blowing parliamentarian who exposed information about major corruption  was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Journalists at news site Malaysiakini faced intimidation and threats from vigilantes.

In Viet Nam, human rights defenders faced threats and attacks. Prisoners of conscience were held in prisons and detention centres, and subjected to enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, including torture with electricity, severe beatings, prolonged solitary confinement sometimes in total darkness and silence, and denial of medical treatment.

The Vietnamese authorities also oversaw suppression of peaceful protesters. As the country hosted a visit by US President Barack Obama in May, the authorities arrested, intimidated and harassed peaceful activists.

Myanmar's new National League for Democracy-led government took steps to amend long-standing repressive laws targeting activists and media workers. Yet cases like the detention of two media workers in November, on suspicion of "online defamation" over an article on allegations of government corruption, showed that much more needed to be done.

Security forces in Timor-Leste were accused of unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests, and the arbitrary restriction of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Fiji's media was affected by arbitrary restrictions curtailing freedom of expression, with journalists fined and imprisoned. Bloggers and dissidents in Singapore were harassed and prosecuted.

Human rights defenders and journalists in the Philippines were targeted and killed by unidentified gunmen and armed militia.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Australia maintained its abusive offshore immigration processing regime on Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Australia's transfer agreement with Nauru contravened international law and effectively trapped refugees and asylum-seekers in an open-air prison. Although not technically detained, these people could not leave and were isolated on the remote Pacific island of Nauru, even when officially recognized as refugees.

The Australian government's policy of "processing" refugees and asylum-seekers on Nauru involved a deliberate and systematic regime of neglect and cruelty, designed to inflict suffering: the system amounted to torture under international law. It minimized protection and maximized harm and was constructed to prevent some of the world's most vulnerable people from seeking safety in Australia.

Mental illness and self-harm among refugees and asylum-seekers in Nauru were commonplace. Omid Masoumali, an Iranian refugee, died after setting himself on fire. Others, including children, suffered inadequate health care, persistent verbal and physical attacks, pervasive hostility, and arbitrary arrests and detentions, with systematic impunity for these types of abuses.

Australia refused to close its centres on Nauru and Manus Island and even planned to introduce a law permanently banning those trapped there from getting an Australian visa, piling injustice onto injustice in violation of international law.

New Zealand publicly reiterated an agreement made with Australia in 2013 to annually resettle 150 refugees from Nauru and Manus Island, although Australia since refused to carry out the deal.

Conditions in Malaysia's overcrowded immigration detention centres were harsh. One thousand people, including over 400 Rohingya  who had been stranded off Malaysia's coastline until the authorities agreed to accept them in May 2015  endured prolonged detention for over a year in harsh conditions. In June, the majority of the Rohingya were released and some were resettled.

Thailand's lack of legal framework, processes or procedures for hosting refugees and asylum-seekers left many vulnerable to arbitrary detention and other violations of their rights. In the absence of a recognized legal status under Thai law, refugees and asylum-seekers, including children, continued to be treated as irregular migrants and under the Immigration Act could be detained indefinitely in immigration detention centres, which might not meet international standards of detention.

Scores of Rohingya from Myanmar were among those detained in immigration centres, having been held since their arrival by boat in 2015.

The Indonesian authorities engaged in crude intimidation tactics in Aceh, including by endangering the lives of a group of over 40 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum-seekers  among them were a heavily pregnant woman and nine children  by firing warning shots and threatening to push them back out to sea, in violation of international law.

DISCRIMINATION

Tens of thousands of people from Myanmar's Rohingya minority fled northern Rakhine State, where security forces mounted reprisal attacks in response to an assault on three border outposts which killed nine police officers in October. The security forces, led by the military, randomly fired at villagers, torched hundreds of homes, carried out arbitrary arrests, and raped women and girls. Villagers were placed under night curfews and humanitarian agencies were barred from the area. The response amounted to collective punishment of the entire Rohingya community in northern Rakhine State and may have amounted to crimes against humanity. Many Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers who made it to Bangladesh in desperate need of humanitarian assistance were pushed back into Myanmar.

The crisis arose in a context of unrelenting and severe discrimination against the Rohingya community, in which a number of rights including freedom of movement remained restricted. There was also continuing religious intolerance  exacerbated in recent years by the previous government's failure to effectively investigate violent incidents  often fuelled by hardline Buddhist nationalist groups and directed particularly against Muslims.

The Indonesian authorities often appeared to be more concerned about hardline religious groups than respecting and protecting human rights. For example, the Governor of Jakarta, the capital, a Christian and the first member of Indonesia's ethnic Chinese community to be elected to that position, underwent a criminal investigation on suspicion of "blasphemy". Discrimination against LGBTI people increased after officials made inflammatory, grossly inaccurate and misleading statements.

In Papua New Guinea violence against women was widespread and sex workers were beaten, raped, arbitrarily detained and killed without recourse to justice. They were not adequately protected largely because of laws criminalizing sex work, the stigmatization of sex work and social and cultural norms.

The UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child criticized New Zealand's high rates of incarceration, child poverty and domestic violence of Indigenous Maori. Sexual and other physical violence against women and girls also remained widespread despite wide recognition of the problem and efforts to address it.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Regional Overview: Africa

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 February 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2016/17 - Regional Overview: Africa, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0342d13.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.

Mass protests, movements, and mobilization  often articulated and organized through social media  swept the continent in 2016. Protesters and human rights defenders repeatedly found inspiring ways to stand up against repression and campaigns such as the #oromoprotests and #amaharaprotests in Ethiopia, #EnforcedDisappearancesKE in Kenya, #ThisFlag in Zimbabwe, and #FeesMustFall in South Africa formed iconic images from the year.

Given the scale and long history of repression, some of the protests  as in Ethiopia and Gambia  would have been unthinkable only a year previously. Demands for change, inclusion and freedom were often spontaneous, viral and driven by ordinary citizens, in particular young people who bear the triple burden of unemployment, poverty and inequality. Although originally largely peaceful, some of the campaigns eventually had violent elements, frequently in reaction to heavy-handed suppression by the authorities and lack of space for people to express their views and organize.

This trend of gathering resilience and the withering of the politics of fear offered cause for hope. People went out to the streets in large numbers, ignoring threats and bans on protest, refusing to back down in the face of brutal clampdowns, and instead expressing opinions and reclaiming their rights through acts of solidarity, boycotts and extensive, creative use of social media.

Despite stories of courage and resilience, repression of peaceful protests reached new highs and there appeared to be little or no progress in addressing the underlying factors behind the mass public discontent.

Dissent was brutally repressed, as evidenced in widespread patterns of attacks on peaceful protests and the right to freedom of expression. Human rights defenders, journalists and political opponents continued to face persecution and assault. Civilians continued to bear the brunt of armed conflicts, which were marked by persistent and large-scale violations of international law. Impunity for crimes under international law and serious human rights violations remained largely unaddressed. And there was much to be done to address the discrimination and marginalization of the most vulnerable  including women, children and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.

CRACKDOWN ON PEACEFUL PROTESTS

The year saw widespread patterns of violent and arbitrary crackdowns on gatherings and protests  hallmarked by protest bans, arbitrary arrests, detentions and beatings as well as killings  in a long list of countries including Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Togo and Zimbabwe.

Ethiopian security forces, for example, systematically used excessive force to disperse largely peaceful protests that began in Oromia in November 2015, which escalated and spread into other parts of the country including Amhara region. The protests were brutally suppressed by security forces, including using live ammunition, which resulted in several hundred being killed and the arbitrary arrest of thousands of people. Following the declaration of a state of emergency, the government banned all forms of protest, and blockage of access to internet and social media, which started during the protests, continued.

In Nigeria, military and other security forces embarked on a campaign of violence against peaceful pro-Biafra protesters  resulting in the deaths of at least 100 protesters during the year. There was evidence that the military fired live ammunition with little or no warning to disperse crowds, and of mass extrajudicial executions  including at least 60 people shot dead in the space of two days in connection with protest events to mark Biafra Remembrance Day on 30 May. This was similar in pattern to the attacks and excessive use of force in December 2015 on gatherings in which the military slaughtered hundreds of men, women and children in Zaria in Kaduna state during a confrontation with members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria.

In South Africa, student protests resumed in August at universities across the country under the banner of #FeesMustFall. The protests regularly ended in violence. While there may have been some violence on the students' side, Amnesty International documented many reports of police using excessive force, including firing rubber bullets at short range at students and supporters generally. One student leader was shot in the back 13 times with rubber bullets on 20 October in Johannesburg.

In Zimbabwe, police continued to clamp down on protest and strike action in Harare using excessive force. Hundreds of people were arrested for participating in peaceful protests in different parts of the country, including Pastor Evan Mawarire, leader of the #ThisFlag campaign, who was briefly arrested in an attempt to suppress growing dissent, and who eventually fled the country when he feared for his life.

In many of these protests and more, including in Chad, Republic of the Congo (Congo), DRC, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Lesotho and Uganda, there was an increasing crackdown on social media and patterns of arbitrary restriction or shutting down of access to the internet.

ATTACKS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AND JOURNALISTS

Human rights defenders and journalists were frequently in the front line of human rights violations, with the right to freedom of expression suffering both steady erosions and new waves of threats. Attempts to crush dissent and tighten the noose around freedom of expression manifested themselves across the continent, including in Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia.

Some had to pay the ultimate price. A prominent human rights lawyer, his client and their taxi driver were subjected to forced disappearance and extrajudicial killing by police in Kenya. They were among more than 177 cases of individuals extrajudicially executed at the hands of security agencies during the year. In Sudan, the murder of 18-year-old Sudanese university student Abubakar Hassan Mohamed Taha and 20-year-old Mohamad Al Sadiq Yoyo by intelligence agents came against a backdrop of intensified repression of student dissent. Two journalists were killed in Somalia by unidentified assailants, in a climate in which journalists and media workers were harassed, intimidated and attacked.

Many others faced arbitrary arrests and continued to face prosecution and detention for their work. Despite some positive steps in Angola  including the acquittal of human rights defenders and release of prisoners of conscience  politically motivated trials, criminal defamation charges and national security laws continued to be used to suppress human rights defenders, dissent and other critical voices. In DRC, youth movements were classified as insurrectional groups. Elsewhere, the whereabouts of politicians and journalists arbitrarily arrested and forcibly disappeared in Eritrea since 2001 remained unknown, despite the government's announcement that they were still alive.

In Mauritania, although the Supreme Court ordered the release of 12 anti-slavery activists, three remained in detention and anti-slavery organizations and activists continued to face persecution by the authorities.

Beyond imprisonment, human rights defenders and journalists also faced physical assaults, intimidation and harassment in many countries including in Chad, Gambia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan.

On 18 April, Zimbabwe's Independence Day, state security agents brutally assaulted the brother of disappeared journalist and pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara, after he held up a placard at an event attended by President Robert Mugabe in Harare. In Uganda, there was a series of attacks on the offices of NGOs and human rights defenders. Continuing lack of accountability for these crimes sent the message that the authorities condoned and tolerated these actions. In one attack, intruders beat a security guard to death.

Media houses, journalists and social media users faced increasing challenges in many countries. Zambia's authorities shut down the independent newspaper The Post in a ploy to silence critical media ahead of the election, also arresting senior staff and their family members.

Burundi's already-decimated civil society and independent media came under increasing attack: journalists, members of social media groups and even schoolchildren were arrested simply for speaking out. In Cameroon, Fomusoh Ivo Feh was sentenced to 10 years in prison for forwarding a sarcastic text message about Boko Haram.

In some countries, emerging laws were cause for concern. A draft law under parliamentary consideration in Mauritania restricted the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. In Congo, a law increasing government control over civil society organizations was passed. In Angola, the National Assembly approved five draft bills that will impermissibly restrict the right to freedom of expression. Elsewhere, existing laws such as terrorism and state of emergency laws were used to criminalize peaceful dissent. The Ethiopian government  increasingly intolerant of opposing voices  escalated its crackdown on journalists, human rights defenders and other dissenters by using the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.

On the positive side, there were some hopeful signs of judicial activism and courage  even in extremely repressive countries  which challenged governments' use of the law and judiciary to stifle dissent. In DRC, four pro-democracy activists were released, a rare positive step in a very difficult year for freedom of expression in the country. A landmark court ruling against repressive laws in Swaziland in September was also another victory for human rights. Zimbabwe's High Court overturned a ban on protests. Although another High Court ruling subsequently made this void, the courageous decision  made after President Mugabe threatened the judiciary  represented a victory in defence of human rights and sent a clear message that the right to protest cannot be stripped away on a whim. In Gambia, more than 40 prisoners of conscience, some of whom had been detained for as long as eight months, were released on bail pending appeal immediately following the elections.

POLITICAL REPRESSION

2016 witnessed several contested elections across Africa, characterized by increased repression. In several countries, including in Burundi, Chad, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC, Gabon, Gambia, Somalia and Uganda, opposition leaders and voices came under severe attack.

In one of the most unexpected developments, tens of thousands of Gambians took part in peaceful gatherings ahead of the Presidential elections, although at the end of the year the election results remained contested.

The months leading up to the elections were marred by serious violations of citizens' rights to express themselves freely. Dozens of opposition members were arrested, and two died in custody after being arrested for participating in peaceful protests. Thirty protesters were sentenced to three years in prison for their involvement in peaceful protests, with 14 others awaiting trial. All were released on bail immediately following the elections on 1 December.

Despite initially conceding defeat to the opposition leader Adama Barrow, President Yahya Jammeh subsequently challenged the results and remained defiant to domestic and international pressure to hand over power.

The Ugandan government undermined the opposition party's ability to legally challenge the results of February's elections. Security forces repeatedly arrested the aggrieved presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye and some of his party colleagues and supporters, also besieging his home and raiding the party's office in Kampala.

In DRC, there was a systematic crackdown on opponents of President Joseph Kabila's attempt to stay in power beyond the constitutionally mandated second term  which ended in December  and those criticizing election delays. Security agents arrested and harassed those taking an explicit stand on the constitutional debate or denouncing human rights violations, accusing them of betraying their country.

In Somalia, an acute humanitarian crisis was compounded by a political crisis over electoral colleges for parliamentary and presidential elections, with the armed group al-Shabaab rejecting all forms of elections and calling on its followers to attack polling venues to kill clan elders, government officials and MPs taking part in elections.

Authorities in Congo continued to detain Paulin Makaya, President of "Unis pour le Congo" (UPC), simply for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. After the opposition rejected the results of the March presidential election, the authorities arrested leading opposition figures and suppressed peaceful protest.

The authorities in Cote d'Ivoire targeted opposition members and unfairly restricted their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, before a referendum on constitutional changes in October. This included the arbitrary arrest and detention of dozens of opposition members at a peaceful protest. Some of them were dropped in several places in the economic capital, Abidjan, others around 100km away from their homes and forced to walk back in a practice known as "mobile detention". In October, during a peaceful protest against the referendum, police fired tear gas, clubbed the leaders and arrested at least 50 people.

ARMED CONFLICT

Civilians in Africa's armed conflicts  including in Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, DRC, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan  faced serious abuses and violations. Gender-based and sexual violence was widespread, and children were recruited as child soldiers.

In west, central and eastern Africa, armed groups such as al-Shabaab and Boko Haram continued to perpetrate relentless violence and abuses, with hundreds of civilians killed and abducted and millions forced to live in fear and insecurity, both within and outside their countries. In Cameroon, over 170,000 people  mostly women and children  were internally displaced across the Far North region as a result of Boko Haram's abuses. In Niger, over 300,000 people needed humanitarian aid during the state of emergency in the Diffa region, where most attacks were carried out by Boko Haram.

Many governments responded to these threats with disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law, including through arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

In Nigeria, 29 children under the age of six  including babies  were among more than 240 people who died in horrendous conditions during the year in the notorious Giwa barracks detention centre in Maiduguri. Thousands rounded up during mass arrests in the northeast, often with no evidence against them, continued to be detained in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, without trial or access to the outside world. Similarly in Cameroon, more than 1,000 people  many arrested arbitrarily  were held in horrific conditions and dozens died from torture, or disease and malnutrition. In cases where detainees suspected of supporting Boko Haram were brought to trial, they faced unfair trials in military courts in which the death penalty was by far the most likely outcome.

Elsewhere, the security and humanitarian situation in Sudan's Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states remained dire. Evidence of the use of chemical weapons by government forces in the Jabel Marra region of Darfur demonstrated that the regime will continue attacking its civilian population without fear of accountability for its violations of international law.

Despite the signing of the peace deal in South Sudan between government and rival forces, fighting continued in different parts of the country throughout the year, and escalated in the southern Equatoria region after heavy fighting broke out in the capital, Juba, in July. During the fighting, armed forces, particularly government soldiers, committed human rights violations including targeted killings and attacks including against humanitarian personnel. The UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was criticized for its failure to protect civilians during the fighting. A UN Security Council resolution to establish a regional protection force was not implemented. The UN Special Advisor on the prevention of Genocide and the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan raised the alarm that the stage was being set for a genocide.

In CAR, despite peaceful elections in December 2015 and February 2016, the security situation deteriorated later in the year, threatening to plunge the country into more deadly violence. Armed groups launched numerous attacks: on 12 October, ex-Seleka fighters from at least two different factions killed at least 37 civilians, injured 60, and set fire to a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), in the city of Kaga Bandoro.

Yet despite such bloodshed and suffering, the world's attention arguably shifted even further away from Africa's conflicts. Certainly, the international community's response to conflict in the continent was woefully inadequate, as evidenced by the UN Security Council's failure on sanctions on South Sudan, and the insufficient capacity of peacekeeping operations to protect civilians in CAR, South Sudan and Sudan. There were hardly any measures, including from the UN Security Council and the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council, to put pressure on the government of Sudan to allow humanitarian access and to investigate allegations of grave violations and abuses. The AU's response to crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations and abuses committed in the context of conflict and crisis remained mostly slow, inconsistent and reactive rather than forming part of a comprehensive and consistent strategy.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Africa's conflicts  including in Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan  remained major drivers of the global refugee crisis, and the internal displacement of people within borders. Millions of women, children and men were still unable to return home, or were forced by new threats to flee into unknown dangers and uncertain futures.

People from sub-Saharan Africa formed the majority of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants travelling to Libya fleeing war, persecution or extreme poverty, often in the hope of transiting through the country to settle in Europe. Amnesty International's research revealed horrifying abuses including sexual violence, killings, torture, and religious persecution along the smuggling routes to and through Libya.

In northern Nigeria, at least two million people remained internally displaced  living in host communities and some in overcrowded camps with inadequate food, water and sanitation. Tens of thousands of IDPs were held in camps under armed guard by the military and Civilian Joint Task Force, which were accused of sexually exploiting women.

Thousands of people have died in these camps due to severe malnutrition.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees from CAR, Libya, Nigeria and Sudan continued to live in poor conditions in refugee camps in Chad. According to the UN, more than 300,000 people fled Burundi, most of them to refugee camps in neighbouring Rwanda and Tanzania. More than 1.1 million Somalis remained internally displaced, with another 1.1 million Somali refugees remaining in neighbouring countries and elsewhere.

In the three years since the start of the conflict in South Sudan, the number of refugees in neighbouring countries reached 1 million, while a total of 1.7 million people continued to be displaced within the country, and 4.8 million people were food insecure.

Kenya's government announced its intention to close Dadaab refugee camp, home to 280,000 refugees. Some 260,000 of these people were from Somalia or of Somali descent, who  as a result of other changes to Kenya's refugee policy  were at risk of being forcibly returned, in violation of international law.

IMPUNITY AND FAILURES TO ENSURE JUSTICE

Impunity remained a common denominator in all of Africa's major conflicts, with those suspected of crimes under international law and gross human rights violations rarely held to account.

Despite having a clear mandate, the AU had yet to take concrete steps towards setting up a hybrid court for South Sudan, as required by the country's peace accord. Such a court would represent the most viable option for ensuring accountability for crimes such as war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict, and for deterring further abuses.

Some progress was made towards setting up the Special Criminal Court in CAR, but the vast majority of suspected perpetrators of serious crimes and gross violations of human rights remained at large, free of any arrest or investigations. In addition to the serious weakness of the UN's CAR peacekeeping mission, impunity remained one of the key drivers of the conflict and civilians faced deadly violence and instability.

In Nigeria there was compelling evidence of widespread and systematic violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by the military, leading to more than 7,000 mainly young Nigerian men and boys dying in military detention and more than 1,200 people killed in extrajudicial executions. However, the government did not take any steps towards investigating such allegations. No one was brought to justice and the violations continued.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) declared the charges against Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Arap Sang dismissed, and thus all cases before the ICC in relation to Kenya's post-election violence in 2007-2008 collapsed. This decision was seen as a major setback by thousands of victims who had yet to see justice.

In a betrayal of millions of victims of international crimes across the world, three states in Africa  Burundi, Gambia and South Africa  signalled their intention to withdraw from the Rome Statute.

The AU also continued to call on states to disregard their international obligations to arrest Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir despite his being wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide. In May, Uganda failed to arrest visiting President Al-Bashir and hand him over to the ICC, failing hundreds of thousands of people killed or displaced in the Darfur conflict.

There were, however, some heartening and historic moments for international justice and accountability.

Many African member states of the ICC affirmed their support for and intention to remain within the Rome Statute's system during the 15th Session of the Assembly of State parties in November. This commitment was previously reflected at July's AU Summit in Kigali where many countries  including Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia  opposed a call for a mass withdrawal from the Rome Statute. In December, Gambia's President-elect announced his intention to rescind the government's decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute.

Positive developments included the conviction of Chad's former President Hissene Habre in May for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture committed between 1982 and 1990. The Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar sentenced him to life imprisonment, and set a new benchmark for efforts to end impunity in Africa. The case was the continent's first universal jurisdiction case and Habre the first former African leader to be prosecuted before a court in another country for crimes under international law.

In March, the ICC convicted Jean-Pierre Bemba, former Vice-President of DRC, for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in CAR. The ICC's sentence of 19 years followed its first conviction for rape as a war crime and its first conviction based on command responsibility. The guilty verdict was a key moment in the battle for justice for victims of sexual violence in CAR and around the world.

The ICC also began the trial of Cote d'Ivoire's former President Laurent Gbagbo and his Youth Minister, Charles Ble Goude, on charges of crimes against humanity. The ICC also convicted Ahmad Al-Faqi Al-Mahdi  an alleged senior member of the Ansar Eddine armed group  for attacks on mosques and mausoleums in Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012, a crime under international law.

Elsewhere, South Africa's Supreme Court rebuked the government for its failure to abide by its domestic and international obligations when it failed to arrest Al-Bashir during a visit to the country in 2015. This affirmed the international norm of rejection of immunity of perpetrators for international crimes, irrespective of official capacity.

DISCRIMINATION AND MARGINALIZATION

Women and girls were frequently subjected to discrimination, marginalization and abuse often because of cultural traditions and norms, and discrimination institutionalized by unjust laws. Women and girls were also subjected to sexual violence and rape in conflicts and countries hosting large numbers of displaced people and refugees.

High levels of gender-based violence against women and girls were reported in many countries such as Madagascar, Namibia and Sierra Leone.

In Sierra Leone, the government continued to ban pregnant girls from going to mainstream schools and taking exams. The President also refused to sign a bill legalizing abortion in certain situations despite it having been adopted by Parliament twice and despite Sierra Leone's high maternal mortality rate. The country rejected UN recommendations to prohibit female genital mutilation by law.

Early and forced marriage in Burkina Faso had robbed thousands of girls as young as 13 of their childhood, while the cost of contraception, along with other barriers prevented them from choosing if and when to have children. But following an intense civil society campaign, the government announced that it would revise the law to increase the legal marriage age to 18.

LGBTI people, or those perceived to be so, continued to face abuse or discrimination in countries including Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. In Kenya, two men petitioned the High Court in Mombasa to declare the anal examination, HIV and hepatitis B tests they were forced to undergo in 2015 were unconstitutional. However, the court upheld the legality of anal examinations on men suspected of engaging in sexual activity with other men. Forced anal examinations violate the right to privacy and the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment under international law.

In Malawi, an unprecedented wave of violent attacks against people with albinism exposed a systemic failure of policing. Individuals and criminal gangs perpetrated abductions, killings and grave robberies as they sought body parts that they believed contain magical powers. Women and children were particularly vulnerable to killings, sometimes targeted by their own relatives.

In Sudan, freedom of religion was undermined by a legal system under which conversion from Islam to another religion was punishable by death.

Lack of accountability for corporations was also another factor for gross violation of the rights of children. Artisanal miners  including thousands of children  mine cobalt in hazardous conditions in the DRC. This cobalt is used to power devices including mobile phones and laptop computers, and major electronics brands  including Apple, Samsung and Sony  are failing to carry out basic checks to ensure that cobalt mined by child labourers is not used in their products.

LOOKING AHEAD

The AU called 2016 its Year of Human Rights, but many member states failed to convert rhetoric on human rights into action. If there was anything to be celebrated about the year, it was the story of people's resilience and courage as they articulated a clear message that repression and the politics of fear can no longer silence them.

Almost certainly, escalating crises in countries such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Gambia and Zimbabwe could have been averted or minimized had there been the political will and courage to open up space for people to freely express their views.

Despite progress in some areas, the AU's responses to violations of human rights  as the structural causes of conflicts, or emerging out of conflicts  remained largely slow, inconsistent and reactive. Indeed, even when it showed concern, the AU generally lacked the determination and political will to confront such violations head-on. There also appeared to be co-ordination gaps between the peace and security organs and mechanisms  such as the AU's Peace and Security Council and its Continental Early Warning System  and the regional human rights institutions, which limited a comprehensive response to human rights violations leading to or emerging out of conflicts.

The AU has less than four years to realize its aspiration to "silence all guns" on the continent by 2020. It is time to translate this commitment into action, by ensuring an effective response to the underlying structural causes of conflicts, including persistent human rights violations.

More effective measures are also needed to tackle the cycle of impunity  including moving away from politically motivated attacks on the ICC and working towards ensuring justice and accountability for serious crimes and gross human rights violations being committed in countries like South Sudan and elsewhere.

The AU has embarked on designing a 10 Year Action and Implementation Plan on Human Rights in Africa, providing yet another opportunity to address its key challenges. The starting point should be recognition that Africans are rising and claiming their rights, despite repression and exclusion.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
U.S. move offers bittersweet hope to struggling Syrian family

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Author Charlie Dunmore & Dalal Mouawad Publication Date 24 February 2017 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), U.S. move offers bittersweet hope to struggling Syrian family, 24 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b037354.html [accessed 6 November 2022]

As he packed his family's belongings into four large suitcases just hours before departing for a new life in Dallas, Texas, 30-year-old Syrian refugee Firas al Ahmad said he felt like he was being torn in two.

"I'm leaving because of my kids, for their future. I hope they can get a good education and have a better life than the one that I have lived," Firas said. "The hardest part is that I am leaving my family behind, especially my father."

Together with his wife Samira and their three children, the former car mechanic from rural Homs was staying at his father's small apartment in the northern Jordanian city of Irbid before boarding a flight to the United States, where the young family is being resettled.

Sitting together on low cushions spread around edge of the bare living room, Firas and his father Hammoud exchanged few words as they sipped glasses of sweet tea and counted down the hours until saying their goodbyes. As Firas described his feelings about the journey ahead, both men bowed their heads to hide their tears.

The conflict in Syria is approaching its sixth tragic anniversary in March. Firas and his family are among a tiny minority of the 4.9 million Syrians currently living as refugees in neighbouring countries in the region selected for resettlement each year.

Resettlement programmes in the United States and other developed countries are designed to offer a lifeline to the most vulnerable refugees, including children at risk, survivors of torture and those with medical needs. Last year governments offered 140,000 resettlement places for refugees globally, and in total less than one per cent of the world's refugees are ever resettled.

Firas and his family fled to Jordan at the end of 2013 with his father, brothers and aunt. As the fighting intensified around their homes near Homs, work dried up and it became impossible for them to afford even the most basic essentials. "We left because our kids could have been killed at any moment," Samira explained.

The last three years as refugees in Jordan have been tough on the family, with the lack of legal work opportunities making each day a struggle to get by. With no prospect of an improvement in their situation, Firas said he had no hesitation when UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, contacted him early last year about possible resettlement in the United States.

What followed was an intensive year-long process of UNHCR selection interviews, medical checks and security screening by U.S. federal agencies including the FBI and Department for Homeland Security. Once complete, they were told that their resettlement had been approved and began the process of selling their furniture and moving out of their apartment in Shobak, 200 kilometres south of the capital Amman.

To those in the United States and elsewhere who fear that refugees pose a threat to security, Firas stressed that he and others like him were the ones fleeing from danger.

He hopes he can put his skills to use and find work as a mechanic once they settle in Dallas. But if it had not been for the conflict that drove them from their homes, and the hardship of exile in Jordan, he said he never would have considered moving to the United States and starting all over again.

"Syria is everything, it is everything to me. The minute the war is over I will go back. Even now I wish it would end today, before we leave, so that we could go home."

The family is now in the United States.
Restive Pakistani city in legal limbo since bombing killed, injured 150 lawyers

Publisher IRIN Publication Date 24 February 2017 Cite as IRIN, Restive Pakistani city in legal limbo since bombing killed, injured 150 lawyers, 24 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b038e84.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.

Pakistan's Balochistan Province has long had a reputation for lawlessness, but it's never been truer on a practical level than it is today. More than half the provincial capital's lawyers were killed or injured in a bombing last August, and thousands of cases remain in legal limbo.

On 8 August, a bomb ripped through a hospital where lawyers had gathered to mourn a colleague who had been shot and killed just hours earlier. Of Quetta's approximately 280 practising lawyers, about 100 were injured and 56 were killed, according to the Balochistan Bar Council.

The blast blew Balochistan's legal system into disarray. Courts were closed for three months, and lawyers continue to strike two days a week to demand more police protection.

"The 56 lawyers who were killed had almost 5,000 cases and 70 percent of them are still stalled," Ali Kakar, a lawyer at the Balochistan High Court, told IRIN.

The bombing has left a gaping judicial hole in a province where the rule of law was already tenuous, and violent attacks and human rights violations commonplace.

Insurgents have been fighting for independence or autonomy for decades, and many people thought to be supportive of the insurgency have "disappeared", according to the International Crisis Group.

Factions of the Pakistani Taliban also operate here, including Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which claimed responsibility for the blast along with the Islamic State group. That bombing was followed by an October attack on a police academy in Quetta, which killed 60 people, and the November bombing of a Sufi shrine in a remote region of the province that killed 52 people.

Jailed

Balochistan watchers have warned that the breakdown in rule of law and rising militancy could further internationalise the conflict, involving ethnic Baloch populations in both Iran and Afghanistan. But it is on the local level that the immediate effects of the legal paralysis are being felt most keenly.

Zar Mina is one of many people who have spent countless hours at court trying to push her case through since her lawyer was killed.

After her husband died, his relatives claimed custody of her three children. One night, her brother-in-law abducted her 10-year-old son. She hired a lawyer, hoping the court would rule in her favour and force her late husband's relatives to return the child.

"My son has spent nine months detained by my brother-in-law, but his case is not concluded yet," she said outside the district courthouse. "I cannot bear to be separated from my son."

Others, like Naseem Khan, have spent time in jail on relatively minor charges simply because nobody was available to argue their cases.

He was part owner of a jewelry shop, which was burgled and thieves stole $7,000 worth of merchandise. His business partner accused him of involvement, which he denied, and they fought. His business partner then had him charged with assault, said Khan.

"There is no justice in our judiciary and I spent five months in lockup," he said.

His new lawyer, Waseem Khan, said that in a minor case like this, the court would usually grant bail after a couple hearings. But the bombing interrupted his case.

Filling the gap

Kakar, the High Court lawyer, estimated that about 300 people who would normally have been granted bail are still in jail on minor charges.

"The blast has left judiciary 70 years back, and lawyers with decades of experience were killed," he said. "The vacuum left by their deaths may take many decades to fill."

Sardar Raza Muhammad Barrech, the advisor on law to Balochistan's chief minister, said the government planned to strengthen the traditional community justice system of Jirgas in order to help fill the void.

Community leaders form a Jirga and provide a judgment after hearing arguments from both sides of a dispute. If both parties agree to the judgment, they may present the Jirga's written statement to a judge in the legal system who can make it a formal ruling.

"The promotion of the Jirga will be my priority in the future," said Barrech.

A commission of inquiry into the August bombing ordered by Pakistan's Supreme Court noted that there were 2,878 "terrorist attacks" in Balochistan between 2001 and 2016, almost three times the national average.

The commission's review of the police investigation after the attack was scathing. In fact, it was only the commission's questioning that prompted police to call on forensic experts to aid in the investigation. As a result of subsequent DNA testing, as well as closer examination of CCTV footage and debris from the blast site, police were able to identify the suicide bomber and track down his alleged accomplices.

"All this was long after the two attacks and only as a result of the intervention by the Commission," said the report, which was released in December. "The police had not made any progress till then."

On 5 December, police raided a compound where the alleged perpetrators were and killed five of them in a gunfight, which also seriously injured two officers. Police took one man into custody, the report said. It's unclear if he has since been tried or not.
Kyrgyz Divorcees Left Out in the Cold

Publisher Institute for War and Peace Reporting Publication Date 21 February 2017 Citation / Document Symbol RCA 806 Cite as Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Kyrgyz Divorcees Left Out in the Cold, 21 February 2017, RCA 806, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b03a5d4.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.

Bermet, a mother-of-three from Bishkek, was recently abandoned by her husband after three years of marriage.

Despite their official divorce - he has since remarried - and a court order ruling him liable for monthly child support payments, 26-year-old Bermet has yet to receive a penny.

She now works as a cleaner to support her family, while her parents take care of the children.

"As far as I know, my husband is not going to pay child support," she said. "What I earn is hardly enough to pay for the apartment. My relatives support me a lot. The court ruled he should pay 5000 soms (70 US dollars) every month, a small amount, but I haven't seen this money."

According to Kyrgyz law, a divorced father must pay a quarter of his monthly wage in child support until the child reaches 18 years of age. If there are two children, the father must pay half of his wage.

In practice, the children of divorced parents rarely receive the financial support they are entitled to.

Supreme Court officials say they have logged about 38,000 complaints about the failure of ex-husbands to pay alimony. The authorities believe the real figure is much higher.

The Kyrgyz criminal code provides for up to two years in prison for non-payers of child support, although this has never been put into practice by a judge.

The interior ministry said that around 1,000 warrants for arrest for non-payment had been issued over recent years.

A new legislative initiative aims to prevent men who have failed to pay child support from leaving the country, as well as withholding driving and hunting licences from them. Child support will also be payable until the dependent turns 21.

The bill, passed in late January by parliament, is waiting for the president's signature to pass into law.

Other proposals include posting photos of men who refuse to pay at railway stations and airports, as well as publically denouncing them.

Until now, men have found it very easy to evade paying child support. One issue is that most private employers don't formally register their workers, leaving many men officially unemployed.

"Bailiffs cannot wheedle child support debts out of debtors as many of them produce evidence of unemployment, while being engaged in business, and don't pay child support," said legislator Maksat Sabirov, one of the authors of the bill.

A large number of men become migrant workers in Russia or Kazakstan, making it hard to track them down

Many husbands leave the country soon after the wedding party, leaving their wives to live with their in-laws. It is not uncommon for these men to go on to marry other women while abroad and announce they are divorcing their wives back in Kyrgyzstan.

In some cases, the parents tell their daughters-in-law to leave their house, even if they have children.

The issue is complicated by the fact that not all couples are officially married.

Many simply go through a traditional Islamic ceremony, known as nikah, which has no legal basis. While many couples, especially in more remote parts of the country, view the nikah ceremony as mandatory, they fail to officially register their marriage.

Since wives in this position are not married in the eyes of the state, their rights to a share of household assets in the event of break-up are greatly reduced.

Zarina Karimjanova, a 22-year-old from the southern Osh region, found herself in this situation after marrying the imam of a local mosque.

"Since he was a preacher, I didn't think I needed any marriage certificate," she told IWPR. "We lived together for two years and, despite the fact that we have a daughter together, he kicked us out of the house," Zarina said. "Lawyers I turned to said they could not help because I didn't have a marriage certificate. My husband does not pay child support to me. I was left without a home."

According to the State Registration Service, the number of officially registered marriages fell by 3,000 in 2016 compared to 2015. The number of divorces, on the other hand, rose by 1,500.

Some labour migrants go as far sending their wives a short text message with the word "talaq" [I divorce you in Arabic] three times to their wives.

Although the government and human rights defenders have roundly condemned this practice, the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan and a number of other Islamic authorities allow this method of divorce, noting that Islamic law mandates that a former husband must support both his wife and children.

Kadyr Malikov, director of the Religion, Law and Politics think tank, said that one solution would be to recognise religious marriage as a legal institution.

He suggested that the imam should, as part of the religious ceremony, issue a document certifying the marriage.

"This should be done to officially register the nikah performed by a mullah without state registration," he said. "In case of divorce, a former wife can sue the husband for non-payment of child support. The document issued and registered by a mullah should be recognized as a legal document," he said.

"If we solve this issue, all nikahs which are not currently registered will be recognised by courts so as to protect the children involved."

However Tolekan Ismailova, head of the Bir duino human rights NGO, strongly opposed awarding nikah legal status.

"Nikah has played only a negative role in Kyrgyzstan," she said, noting that it was often employed when the bride was underage.

"People do nikah anyway, but it never has been helpful for women or provided them with any benefit."

The solution was to strengthen current legal mechanisms, Ismailova argued, as well as better inform women about how to protect their rights. She noted that the ministry of justice and the bar association were both now offering free legal assistance for women in this situation.

"We know that when a woman has an official certificate she can [try to] defend her rights, the rights of her children and protect their future of children through family law, she continued.

"Given the vulnerability of women in our patriarchal society official registration must be mandatory."

Copyright notice:  Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Drowning in Data  EITI in Kazakhstan Must Mean More

Publisher EurasiaNet Author Anton Artemyev Publication Date 20 February 2017 Cite as EurasiaNet, Drowning in Data  EITI in Kazakhstan Must Mean More, 20 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b03d304.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.

Kazakhstan is an implementing country in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and it recently published its 10th annual report, providing exhaustive details about the country's oil, gas and mining sector and the revenues it earned in 2015.

Although they provide the public with a good overview of the industry, these detailed reports risk losing their purpose, unless the government can not only demonstrate its openness to communicating information, but also show that it takes accountability seriously. In Kazakhstan's case, given its current economic predicament, it is important to ensure that every tenge counts.

EITI's purpose is to hold governments and corporations accountable: it compares the revenue of what the government said it received from companies and what companies claimed to have paid authorities. The reconciliation of those two figures is intended to demonstrate publicly that the both sides were acting in a transparent manner. While small discrepancies are occasionally recorded, usually comprising well under 1 percent of the overall money involved, they do exist. An independent administrator, namely a recognized auditing firm, then tries to make sense of any discrepancies.

EITI has evolved internationally to include reporting on beneficial ownership (which physical persons actually own the shares in companies) and contract transparency. Kazakhstan, however, may only begin reporting on beneficial ownership in 2020.

Kazakhstan's first decade of EITI reporting was dedicated to understanding the scope of the industry. Kazakhstan's population knew that the country was wealthy, but it was unclear just how wealthy it was. Now we know.

From 2010-15, Kazakhstan earned approximately $160 billion USD from its oil, gas and mining sector. With just $12 billion USD in 2015, the country suffered a significant decrease in revenue, compared to the consistent years of 2011-14, during which revenue hovered around $30 billion USD per year.

When figured within the context with Kazakhstan's population, revenues between 2010-2015 amounted to about $9,400 USD per Kazakh citizen over the six-year period.

While the government has managed to attract foreign investment to some of the world's most challenging oil and gas fields, and has correctly insisted on strong local content policies to develop those fields, there is still much work to be done.

Despite this revenue, a blessing for any country, significant development challenges remain, as underscored by the OECD's Multidimensional Review of Kazakhstan. The review, published in 2016, measured Kazakhstan against thirteen other countries, including Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Chile, Malaysia, Norway and Russia. Some of the results include:

 At 71 years, Kazakhstan's life expectancy is one of the lowest in the measured countries, with a nearly 10-year difference in life expectancy between men (67.2) and women (75.9).

 In education, math and science were nearly at the bottom, and reading levels were the lowest. There are many possible reasons for these conditions, but one of the likeliest is a lack of quality teachers and comparatively low state expenditures on education. Low teacher salaries offered by the state do not attract enough qualified teachers. Disarray in the education sector has also created fertile ground for corruption: students can buy grades in Kazakhstan, as well as "better" healthcare and other public services.

 Corruption perceptions are still doggedly high, according to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. In the 2015 survey, Kazakhstan, in 123rd place, finds itself below that of Azerbaijan (119), China (86) and even Bosnia and Herzegovina (76). Singapore, Astana's much-discussed example, is in the eighth position, one of the world's least corrupt countries.

A great feature of the EITI system is that it brings together governments, private sector entities and civil society organizations. While all three do work together in Kazakhstan's National Stakeholders Council, there are not as many opportunities for the engagement of broader civil society as there should be. Indeed, one of the EITI's central goals, and a key requirement, is that the transparency initiative leads to a broad "national discussion" about the use of natural resources. After 10 years of EITI in Kazakhstan, that national discussion has yet to really begin.

EITI's main problem in Kazakhstan is that the process's main output - its annual report - is significantly underutilized. Reports are produced, rushed through, presented during a news conference and then sit on a government website, rarely downloaded and indeed used. It is important to note that accountants prepare the reports. While accountants are very good with figures, many have a difficult time writing in a way that is interesting and easily understood by the average reader. This is why recent attempts to produce popular, comprehensible versions of EITI reports are so important and EITI sponsors should focus more on them.

Paper copies, important particularly for the regions, are few and far between. The current attitude is that the annual reports are on the Internet, so the burden is on the public to find them. This is a mistaken approach: even civil society organizations involved in EITI have so far failed in communicating these reports in a meaningful way to the country's citizens.

Kazakhstan takes its reputation in the international community very seriously, and has ambitions to join the OECD in the future. EITI has the potential to cast Kazakhstan's government in a positive light as an exemplar of fiscal responsibility. The country has taken some significant steps within the EITI framework, but more needs to be done.

EITI still lacks meaning to Kazakhstan's most important stakeholders - its own citizens. Kazakhstan's opportunity rests in maximizing the impact of energy sector revenues on such public spheres as health, education and infrastructure development. Under the current, challenging economic conditions, the government needs to be smarter with its money, as well as more transparent and more accountable.

The focus of the last decade for Kazakhstan has been on how much money is at stake in the extractive industries. The next 10 years should focus on government spending decisions and practices. The government of Kazakhstan should prepare itself for those questions when they come.

Copyright notice: All EurasiaNet material  Open Society Institute
Kazakhstan: Reimagining the Past Through Art

Publisher EurasiaNet Author Paul Bartlett Publication Date 17 February 2017 Other Languages / Attachments Russian Cite as EurasiaNet, Kazakhstan: Reimagining the Past Through Art, 17 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b03da54.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.

Imperious khans and assorted dignitaries gaze into the distance. Meanwhile, fierce battles are raging all around. These are scenes from artworks at a recently opened exhibition in Kazakhstan, representing a reimagining of key events in the nation's history.



The A. Kasteyev Museum of Art - Kazakhstan's leading art gallery, situated in Almaty - commissioned the works as part of a national competition to create a pictorial representation of Kazakhstan's past. The idea for the contest came about after the museum discovered a significant gap in its collection: it had almost nothing on Kazakhstan's history.



"We had thousands of paintings and sculptures of Soviet Realism, or Socialist Realism  but we didn't have anything about Kazakh history," Clara Isabayeva, head of the museum's Foreign Relations Department, told EurasiaNet.org.



"[In the Soviet times, there was a policy to] not go too deeply into the national history. It was not welcomed. And that's why we didn't have such historical paintings," Isabayeva explained. "That's why our director, Professor [Gulmira] Shalabayeva, initiated such a contest on historical visual art, including sculptures and paintings."



The exhibition features stirring battle scenes, visits from Russian envoys, tragic national disasters, and portraits of the khans and sultans who once ruled over these lands, as well as other public figures from down the ages.



"I was very pleased that it depicted a lot of historical events of incredible significance for Kazakh people," Isabayeva said. "It created works of the most important historical events in the life of the Kazakh people."



A 15-person panel of art experts selected the winning entries on the basis of artistic merit. The paintings are predominantly in a conservative and didactic style that bears strong resemblances to the Socialist Realism genre that dominated the art scene of the Soviet Union until the late 1960s.



The winner of the competition carries a familiar name. Dauren Kasteyev is the grandson of Abilkhan Kasteyev, after whom the Almaty museum is named. Abilkhan Kasteyev, who died in 1973, a couple months short of his 70th birthday, is widely acknowledged as the father of art in Kazakhstan, and is best remembered for his Socialist Realist interpretations of the nation's communist period.



Dauren Kasteyev's winning entry was a triptych called Aktaban Shubyryndy, in English The Years of the Great Disaster - a reference to the fratricidal 18th century wars among ethnic Kazakhs that almost drove the nation to the point of annihilation at the hands of their longtime enemy, the Zhungars.



Another eye-catching work providing a glimpse into Kazakhstan's tortuous path to independence - Vyacheslav Tseitlin's Independence Bequeathed by Ancestors, or Alash Orda - takes in disparate events like the Zheltoksan protests of 1986, nuclear testing at Semipalatinsk and figures from the Alash Orda provisional government that ruled from 1917-1920. President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the only post-independence leader the country has ever known, also makes an appearance in this pantheon of illustrious figures and is shown in the top left-hand corner of the painting, posing beneath iconic buildings in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.



This use of art and sculpture may be the latest contribution to an ongoing nation-building narrative, but it is an important one, said Rico Isaacs of Oxford Brookes University, who has made a study of how culture has been used as an identity-building tool in Kazakhstan.



"When governments embark on a nation-building project, as the Kazakhstani government is, visual mechanisms such as art and sculpture play a fundamental role in providing for the imagination of the nation, through landscape, allegories, commemoration, historical events and national heroes," he told EuraisaNet.org.



Art also acts as glue that can help bond disparate groups together.



"Art is important for Kazakhstan because it is visually intimate, it benefits the Kazakh nation as it allows people who have never met one another, but who live in the same territory, to visually imagine they belong to the same community and that they share the same common history, myths and heroes. Art, when utilized properly, can foster the ethno-national bond within nations," Isaacs said.



This is not the first time that Kazakhstan has harnessed culture to bolster patriotic feelings. There has been a significant investment in opera and ballet, with the $320 million Astana Opera opening its doors in 2013. The repertoire includes the popular ballet, Karagoz ("Black-Eye"), a Romeo and Juliet-style tale set on Kazakhstan's rolling steppe, and Kyz Zhibek, a lavish opera that is another tale of star-crossed lovers on the steppe and features live horses and camels.



The pressing need to ramp up the nation-building efforts was driven home in 2014, when Russian President Vladimir Putin cast doubt on Kazakhstan's durability as an independent state in remarks made following Moscow's annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine.



The following year, Kazakhstan made an ostentatious show of marking the 550th anniversary of the establishment of the Kazakh Khanate, a proto-Kazakh state set up by two khans, Kerey and Zhanibek, in 1465. The story of the Kazakh Khanate is an important part of the current government's attempts to present a national idea of a unified state with deep roots. "At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, ethnic Kazakhs were in a minority in Kazakhstan. Since then the government has sought to develop the idea of the 'Kazakh' nation as a way to try and embody a sense of national unity and common sense of belonging to a shared historical past," Isaacs said.



To further establish this sense of a shared past in the minds of the general public, the tale of Kerey and Zhanibek has been turned into a 10-part TV series, which is due to be broadcast soon. Elements of the tale are featured in the movie Almas Kylysh (The Diamond Sword), which was released in January.



With Russian MPs once again making noises about Kazakhstan's territorial integrity, Kazakhstan will need to keep pushing this national idea of a common shared history, Isaacs said. "Events in eastern Ukraine, coupled with incendiary comments from Russian Duma deputies, which question Kazakhstan's sovereignty over the northern part of the country, make the promotion of this national idea very important at this time," he said.

Copyright notice: All EurasiaNet material  Open Society Institute
Search Refworld

and / or country All countries Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China) Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau (Special Administrative Region of China) Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Macedonia Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine, State of Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste (East Timor) Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkiye Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Territory Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Georgia: PM Stokes Debate About Discrimination and the Sex Industry

Publisher EurasiaNet Author Giorgi Lomsadze Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as EurasiaNet, Georgia: PM Stokes Debate About Discrimination and the Sex Industry, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0400b4.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.

In the heart of Tbilisi, not far from luxury hotels and high-end shops, lie dingy, Soviet-era catacombs that serve as everything from a public urinal and dumpster to the capital's alleged epicenter of sex tourism. Nightclubs housed in the catacombs recently attracted the Georgian government's attention for their alleged foreign-men-only admissions policy, but critics say the authorities should instead address sex trafficking and violence against women allegedly associated with the establishments. Bar owners ardently deny the existence of either prostitution or discrimination. (Photo: Giorgi Lomsadze)

In the heart of Tbilisi, not far from luxury hotels and high-end shops, lie dingy, Soviet-era catacombs that serve as everything from a public urinal and dumpster to the capital's alleged epicenter of sex tourism.



Ensconced in this multi-level, concrete arcade are largely Middle Eastern-run nightclubs that feature images of scantily clad women portrayed alongside Iranian, Turkish and Emirati flags. This seedbed of vice recently was thrust into the public spotlight due to reports that the nightclubs had supposedly imposed a de facto ban on Georgian men.



Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili vowed to crack down on the clubs' alleged foreign-men-only admissions policy. "We are facing a discriminatory practice there, for, as far as I know, local men are not allowed in these establishments. Unfortunately, they only let the [local] ladies in," Kvirikashvili said during a cabinet meeting in January.



He called on the Interior Ministry and his human rights aide to look into the matter, and make sure the nation's anti-discrimination laws are enforced. "We need neither the tourists nor the income that spurn our laws," he said.



The outburst raised eyebrows across Georgia. Few expected the head of government to weigh in on the matter of who enjoys access to which strip club, especially given the many weightier issues that ought to warrant government attention, including ongoing economic problems and the Russian occupation of Georgian territories.



Political opponents criticized what they depicted as a populist stunt by Kvirikashvili. Social media responded with memes portraying the premier as a hard partier. "You can take our money and lands, but you can never take our right to a strip club," went one joke.



To human rights activists, Kvirikashvili's fulminations missed the point about the real problem - the dark world of sex trafficking and violence against women. "It is just ludicrous that the minister is discussing with a straight face the troubles that Georgian men may face when trying to receive sexual services - we all know what's going on in those places," said Baia Pataraia, a prominent women's rights activist and director of a women's shelter, Sapari.



After the brouhaha erupted, Kvirikashvili addressed the issue again and tried to explain that he is primarily worried about prostitution, which is allegedly rampant in the clubs. Critics, though, were not placated and insist that the government lacks the vision to address the sex trade and concomitant crimes.



Watchdogs say that sex workers are highly vulnerable to violence and abuse: if they are victimized by crime, they often do not go to the police, and, even if they do, police officers often do not take their complaints seriously.



Police officers often are the abusers, according to Tamar Dekanosidze, a legal analyst of Georgian Young Lawyer's Association. "We've had several focus group discussions with sex workers, and most of them reported being subjected to physical violence, often repeatedly," Dekanosidze said. Violence mainly comes from clients, police and family members, in that order, she said.



Down in the bowels of the city, bar owners ardently deny the existence of either prostitution or discrimination. But nobody is willing to speak on the record.



Barrel-chested security guards insist that all club activity is above board. Privately they say that they judge guests based solely on their perceived potential for making trouble, and claim they only turn down "neighborhood boys" who show up intoxicated and spoiling for a fight.



On close inspection, however, there seems to be at least some truth to both the discrimination and sex-trade accusations. By night, the waves of Middle Easterners - all spiky hair, carefully contoured goatees and eyebrows - eddy back and forth through the stygian, underground maze. Only an occasional Georgian customer is sighted. At the top level, past heaps of garbage and putrid odors, are bars like Otantik (Turkish for authentic). More clubs are found a level below, including "Tehran's Nights" and "Laila" - self-described Iranian disco clubs - and "Karadeniz" (Turkish for the Black Sea). Many of these places offer free entry and one free drink for women.



"My job is to work the clients: make sure that they order as many drinks as possible," said Maka, a thirty-something Georgian dancer, who spends her nights bar-hopping in the underground and in its environs. "I do karaoke and dance with the clients, and I get a share of what they spend." She claims she never has sex with clients, but that "other girls do."



"The Georgians tend to have fights, so of course the bars prefer to have foreign customers, and so do the girls," she said. She tends to lump all Westerners together as "Americans," and all visitors from Middle Eastern states as "Arabs." "The Americans are really stingy. Arabs are the best; they spend money and treat you well," she said.



The imbroglio over the nightclubs has a xenophobic aspect to it. Tbilisi has an increasingly vibrant Middle Eastern presence, with investments being made in everything from high-end hotels to shawarma joints. Tourists and students have also been pouring in. But the influx of money and visitors from the Middle East is eliciting feelings of resentment among some in traditionalist circles of Georgian society. History remains an issue: Georgian culture is rooted in Orthodox Christianity, and the nation has a long record of resistance to Muslim invaders.



The prime minister has appealed to citizens to refrain from any vigilante action and let law enforcement tackle the sex trade and the allegations of discriminatory practices. Queried by EurasiaNet, Georgia's Interior Ministry declined to comment on whether instances of sex trade have been uncovered or are being investigated in the area of concern.



One Iraqi man, who holds Georgian residency and works as an informal guide for visitors from the Arabic countries, says he often drops off parties of male visitors at the embattled underground. "The Arabs don't care much about sightseeing, the mountains and all that," he says in fluent Georgian. "They want casinos and girls - things that they can't get at home just like that - and you can find it all in this part of town."

Copyright notice: All EurasiaNet material  Open Society Institute
Azerbaijan: Ruined Village Becomes Showcase for "Great Return"

Publisher EurasiaNet Author Joshua Kucera Publication Date 21 February 2017 Other Languages / Attachments Russian Cite as EurasiaNet, Azerbaijan: Ruined Village Becomes Showcase for "Great Return", 21 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0412a4.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.

Mahammud Mirzaliyev, a soft-spoken farmer clearly unaccustomed to the media limelight, stood in his ruined home village and patiently told his story to one journalist after another.

He used to live in this village, Jojug Marjanli, until it was engulfed by the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the early 1990s. The village changed hands multiple times, and by the time a ceasefire was signed in 1994, it was back under Azerbaijani control but in ruins and mined. Azerbaijan's government said it was unable to demine the village and render it safe to return because Armenian forces, which controlled a strategic hilltop about three kilometers away, would fire at demining experts if they tried. Mirzaliyev thus became one of the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis (numbers are disputed) displaced from their homes as a result of that war.

But in last April's so-called "four-day war," Azerbaijan retook that hill, Lala Tapa. And now Mirzaliyev will be one of the first of those displaced people to be moving back to his old home. The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action is demining Jojug Marjanli, and President Ilham Aliyev has promised about $2 million to reconstruct 50 houses, a school, and other infrastructure. Mirzaliyev, who now lives in a neighboring village, says he hopes to be able to return to his old home by the end of this year.

Jojug Marjanli, a five-hour drive from Baku and on the Iranian border, is a "pilot project" for what Azerbaijan's State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons calls its "Great Return" program, Fuad Huseynov, the deputy head of the committee, said in an interview with EurasiaNet.

The "Great Return" program is aimed at planning for the time when Azerbaijan believes it will regain its lost territories - both Nagorno Karabakh, which is de jure part of Azerbaijan but de facto controlled by Armenian leaders, and the seven Azerbaijani districts that Armenian armed forces still control to ensure the security of Karabakh. Jojug Marjanli is in Jabrayil, one of those seven districts.

"This sends a message to the international community that we are willing to restore and rehabilitate our lands which are currently under occupation," Huseynov said. Huseynov declined to offer further details of the "Great Return," including its estimated cost, but allowed that it will cost "a gigantic amount of money."

It is not clear whether Baku has the money to spend. The state budget of late has come under strain, due to the fall in oil and natural gas prices and the subsequent decline in revenue from energy exports. Even so, Azerbaijan's state oil fund, a reserve accumulated during the years when energy prices were sky high, stood at over $35 billion as of mid-2016.'

Nevertheless, Azerbaijan's success in the four-day war and the repopulation of Jojug Marjanli are rare good news stories for Azerbaijan, which, prior to last April, had little to show after two decades of promising its population that it would retake Karabakh.

"The government is losing the faith of the people, the IDPs," Huseynov said. "People have been very patient until now, and fully trusting the state with the responsibility to resolve this conflict." But, he added, "it's getting more and more difficult for us, for government officials, to keep convincing IDPs to be patient."

Asked if expectations have risen after last April, Huseynov said: "Of course."

"The April war has tremendously changed one thing: the myth that the Armenian armed forces were invincible," Hikmet Hajiyev, the spokesman for Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, told EurasiaNet.

The government is accordingly seizing on the story of Jojug Marjanli, heavily publicizing the reconstruction efforts, including organizing a trip earlier this month for journalists from Baku. "This is a historic event," Aliyev said in announcing the reconstruction program. "We will return our citizens to their ancestral lands after a long hiatus."

Opinions differ on how this may alter Azerbaijan's strategic thinking in the future. Some observers argue that Baku, having tasted military success and seeing how it has rallied the population in the middle of a deep economic crisis, will find further adventurism irresistible.

"The perception of a successful military offensive helped reverse two-decades-old feelings of humiliation, and an upsurge of patriotism helped distract the Azerbaijani population from a shrinking economy and falling currency," wrote Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, in a recent analysis. "There is a temptation for Baku to retry what might be called military leverage - to launch another operation to recapture territory and put pressure on the Armenian side."

Among those who believe Baku may be emboldened by last April's success may be members of the Turkish government, asserts Richard Giragosian, the director of the Yerevan-based Regional Studies Center think tank, who conducts informal "Track II" diplomacy between Armenians and Turks. Giragosian believes Ankara is worried that Azerbaijan may try to escalate the situation in a way that would risk embroiling Turkey.

"Azerbaijan is dangerously overconfident after April," Giragosian said at a recent briefing in Istanbul, paraphrasing the Turkish position. "It's not a question of if, but when the next military offensive from Azerbaijan will occur. Our assessment is: this spring. It was too much of a distraction, for the Azerbaijani government, from its domestic economic pressure, and too much of a distraction in terms of a rare military victory. Instead of President Aliyev threatening, he actually delivered."

Others, though, argue that the success story allows the government a bit of a respite among a population that has been told for years that regaining Karabakh is inevitable, but which may be getting impatient. "Showcasing this tiny spot shows how well you can use this for domestic consumption," a western diplomat in Baku told EurasiaNet, speaking on condition of anonymity. "You've created an expectation among the population, and when you show these successes you've achieved, that can relieve some of the pressure, it buys some time."

At the same time, Azerbaijan is using the perception that it may escalate the conflict to increase pressure on international mediators, the diplomat added. Negotiations conducted by the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have effectively stalled, and inertia favors Armenia. "The veiled threat of military action by Azerbaijan also should be seen as pressure on the Minsk Group, in particular on Russia," the diplomat said.

Copyright notice: All EurasiaNet material  Open Society Institute
Kazakhstan: Police Crack Down on Pickets for Jailed Editor

Publisher EurasiaNet Author Aigerim Toleukhanova Publication Date 24 February 2017 Cite as EurasiaNet, Kazakhstan: Police Crack Down on Pickets for Jailed Editor, 24 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b044354.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.

Police in Kazakhstan have acted quickly to prevent any public gestures of solidarity with the jailed editor of an independent newspaper, whose supporters fear is being subjected to ill-treatment in prison.

On February 23, political activist Yerlan Kaliyev announced his intent to hold a one-man picket in support of Zhanbolat Mamay, who is facing accusations of laundering the proceeds of corruption through his Tribuna newspaper. But before Kaliyev could reach the headquarters of the Security Services Committee, or KNB, in the city of Almaty, he was detained by police.

Other activists, Galym Ageleuov and Askhat Bersalimov, later made it to the same building to report on Kaliyev's fate, only to also find themselves being detained, according to RFE/RL's Kazakh service, Radio Azattyq. Kaliyev and Ageleuov were later released, but Bersalimov has been ordered to served a 15-day jail term for summoning an unsanctioned protest.

Concern has been mounting about Mamay's wellbeing over reports he has been physically maltreated since being taken into custody on February 10.

A independent committee known as the national mechanism for the prevention of torture stated on February 23 that it had visited the detention facility where Mamay is being held and found that there was indeed apparent evidence of abuse in the prison.

"It has been established that the safety of the detainee was indeed not observed as required," the committee said in a statement after meeting with Mamay and his lawyer. "In part, he faced psychological and physical intimidation by those with him in the same cell, who were people with multiple convictions."

Rights activists argue that investigators habitually place suspects in cells with other dangerous prisoners as a form of intimidation.

"We found that Mamay was attacked in the cell where he was kept. The use of physical violence against him only ceased after the issue had reached the attention of the general public," Mamay's lawyer, Zhanara Balgabayeva, told reporters.

Members of the anti-torture committee argued at a press conference revealing their findings that Mamay should be transferred to another cell for his safety.

Investigators have flatly denied any assault took place. Information Minister Dauren Abayev said on February 24 said that according to briefings from the Almaty city prosecutor's office, there were no confirmed instance of any beatings and that no wounds had been found on Mamay's person.

One of Mamay's most vocal defenders, journalist and long-time government critic Guljan Yergaliyeva, dismissed the substance of the charges being leveled at the editor, which center around claims he used his paper to launder money allegedly embezzled by another seasoned opposition figure, the self-exiled businessman Mukhtar Ablyazov.

"The newspaper was in a terrible financial state. I personally lent [Mamay] funds when, in the days before publication in 2014, he was going around looking for money. He only returned these loans in installments. Would he really have to do that if he was taking money from Ablyazov?" Yergaliyeva was quoted as saying by Radio Azattyq.

Copyright notice: All EurasiaNet material  Open Society Institute
Afghanistan: An appeal for the safe and unconditional release of ICRC staff

Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 18 February 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Afghanistan: An appeal for the safe and unconditional release of ICRC staff, 18 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b048bf4.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 International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is calling for the safe and unconditional release of two staff members abducted when their convoy was ambushed on 8 February in Jawzjan province, an attack that resulted in the killing of six ICRC staff members.

"We call on the abductors' sense of humanity and request the immediate, safe and unconditional release of our colleagues," said the head of the ICRC delegation in Afghanistan, Monica Zanarelli. "We also ask that any action that could endanger their lives is avoided. We do not want the agony and heartache of this tragedy to deepen."

We also appeal to all authorities and armed groups operating in the area to do their utmost to secure the safe release of the two ICRC staff members, and to avoid taking any action that could endanger their lives.

The ICRC has been active in Afghanistan for three decades, impartially assisting victims of the conflict with medical care, food assistance, family contacts and the dignified handling of human remains. It is a neutral, impartial and independent organization whose sole mission is strictly humanitarian.

Following the unjustifiable killing of six staff members and the abduction of two others, all ICRC activities in Afghanistan have been put on hold.
Iraq: the ICRC steps up its humanitarian response around Mosul

Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 23 February 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Iraq: the ICRC steps up its humanitarian response around Mosul, 23 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b0490d4.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 fighting intensifies around the Iraqi city of Mosul, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is increasing its presence in the field, in order to respond swiftly to new humanitarian needs. Two additional surgical teams are in the process of being deployed to hospitals receiving wounded from the front lines, while stocks of food and other essentials are ready to be distributed to people displaced by violence.

"When people start to flee the western side of Mosul, we are expecting that many will arrive in bad shape. Supply routes have been cut from that side of the city and people have been facing shortages of food, water, fuel, and medicine. We can only imagine the state people will be in," said the ICRC's field coordinator in Erbil, Dany Merhy. The western side of the city is densely populated, and the ICRC is extremely worried about the safety and welfare of hundreds of thousands there who chose to stay or are currently unable to leave.

The ICRC is sending additional medical staff - surgeons, trauma nurses, anaesthetists - to hospitals receiving wounded from the front lines, to ensure medical facilities can cope with rising demands for emergency treatment and care. This deployment is being supported by Red Cross National Societies from Finland, Norway and Germany. An ICRC surgical team has already been working at Sheikhan hospital near Mosul since October 2016.

"All sides must do everything in their power to protect civilians who stay in Mosul, just as they must ensure safe passage for those who leave the city," said the ICRC's head of delegation in Iraq, Katharina Ritz. "They must also do their utmost to minimize the damage to civilian homes as well as to infrastructure essential for their survival and, given the extensive damage they cause, avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas."

Since the start of the Mosul offensive, the ICRC has provided food, clean water and essential relief items to over 130,000 people. It has set-up operating theatres and provided war-wounded kits and other medical supplies to health structures that can help treat more than 280,000 patients. The ICRC has also helped train emergency staff.
Title The Future of Colombian Refugees in Canada: Are we being equitable?

Publisher Canadian Council for Refugees

Author Francisco Rico-Martinez

Publication Date March 2011

Country Canada | Colombia

Topics Refugees

Cite as Canadian Council for Refugees, The Future of Colombian Refugees in Canada: Are we being equitable?, March 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b04cab4.html [accessed 6 November 2022]

Comments Report of the Canadian Council for Refugees delegation to Panama and Ecuador (jointly with the Refugee Council USA) and to Colombia in November 2010
In this official photo, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks during a meeting at the National Assembly building in Phnom Penh, April 4, 2016.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday said the countrys commune elections that will decide a host of local offices across the nation will be conducted as scheduled.

The election in Cambodia will proceed regularly, and nothing will change the date, he said in a speech Friday to the Ministry of the Interior.

Some people said we would cancel the election. How could they say that? he added. The prime minister has already signed and declared the date for commune election will be June 4, 2017.

It was unclear exactly what Hun Sen was referring to as there have been no notable calls to delay the commune elections. National elections are scheduled for 2018.

While there may be no significant calls to delay the elections, Hun Sen and his Cambodian Peoples Party-led government have been roundly criticized for corruption, intimidation and attempting to smother dissent by throwing opponents in jail.

I think people just want to defame the government, Hun Sen said.

The latest criticism of Hun Sen and the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) was sparked by an administration-backed move to exert more control over political parties.

Among the amendments to Cambodias law on political parties that Hun Sen and the CPP are seeking is one that would bar anyone convicted in Cambodian courts from holding a political partys top office.

The culprit law would also dissolve any party whose president is convicted of a crime and would enable the government to seize the partys property.

Cambodian courts are notorious for their lack of independence. Opposition politicians often find themselves before Hun Sens pliant courts on various charges.

The new party law has already won approval in the CPP-dominated National Assembly.

If the changes are approved by the Cambodian Senate and signed by Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, as expected next week, the amendments would also give the Cambodian Supreme Court the power to dissolve a party caught committing a list of vague offenses.

The Interior Ministry would also be empowered to indefinitely suspend a party for similarly vague reasons.

Opposition party congress planned

In response to the pressure and to prepare for the June 4 local elections, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) is preparing for a party congress on March 2 at party headquarters in Phnom Penh, a CNRP spokesman told RFAs Khmer Service.

We are in the middle of discussing this matter, said CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann. There is only one more week to go.

According to a CNRP statement released Friday, the congress will serve as a rallying point for party candidates for commune offices, election of a new party president and vice president, and the adoption of the political message for the commune election campaign.

The CNRP will have to choose new leaders as its long-time president Sam Rainsy resigned after it became clear that Hun Sen and the CPP would push the new party laws through the legislature.

Under the proposed party law changes Sam Rainsy would be prohibited from serving as a top party officer because he has been convicted of a crime.

Sam Rainsy has been living in France since 2015 to avoid arrest in a defamation case brought by former Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in 2008. In October, Hun Sen ordered police, immigration, and aviation authorities to "use all ways and means" to prevent the opposition leader from returning to the country.

Sam Rainsy was followed by three other opposition party members who resigned from their positions late Thursday, saying they feared the CNRP would be dissolved if they remained, local media reported.

Meach Sovannara, Um Sam An, and Hong Sok Hour all stepped down from their party leadership roles, according to letters posted on Facebook and confirmed by a source close to the situation, The Phnom Penh Post reported.

The three men have all been convicted in high-profile cases that are widely considered to have been politically motivated.

Reported by Moniroth Morm and Vuthy Tha for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sarada Taing. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to two years in prison for Facebook posts that threatened Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, according to news reports.

Ven Sopheap, a resident of eastern Prey Veng province, admitted during his trial last week to posting threats against Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, according to foreign news agency and local press reports.

Judge Ly Sok Leng read the verdict on Friday morning, saying Ven Sopheap was convicted on a charge of making a death threat and incitement to discriminate.

Ven Sopheap confessed to making the post. He was charged in October after reportedly posting a minute-long video with an effigy, believed to be depicting the prime minister, next to burning incense as an unseen voice is heard saying that today would be the premiers last day, the Khmer Times reported.

According to AFP, he reportedly wrote: "Hun Sen, today is the day of your death" and "Beheading Yuons [a derogatory term for Vietnamese people] is the duty of all Khmer children.

Human Rights groups criticized the verdict as the latest attempt by the Cambodian government to smother free speech as Hun Sen clamps down on critics ahead of this years commune elections and national elections scheduled for 2018.

"Flippant social media posts or throwaway comments, without any real intention to follow through, should be handled with a common-sense approach and treated with leniency," Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told AFP.

Prison sentences for social media posts have become increasingly common in Cambodia as the Hun Sen-dominated government attempts to muzzle dissent.

Who likes Hun Sen

Long-time opposition leader Sam Rainsy ran afoul of the government last year after he accused Hun Sens media team of buying likes on Facebook from click farms abroad to increase the appearance of support for the prime minister.

Sam Rainsy told RFAs Khmer Service during a live interview in November that it is Hun Sen who should be liable for compensating the Cambodian people for all his lies and purchasing likes for his Facebook [page].

American companies and Facebook can confirm that Hun Sens Facebook is full of fake likes, he said. He is again a coward for fabricating his popularity and asking his petty people to sue me in his stead.

He went on to say that it was hilarious that Hun Sens Facebook page, which is available only in the Khmer language, had received almost a million likes from people in foreign countries such as India, where Khmer is not spoken.

How could about a million Indians know and support Hun Sen when they dont even speak the language on his Facebook posts? asked Sam Rainsy So, the bottom line is millions of his likes have been purchased.

Reporters at The Phnom Penh Post recently analyzed the countries of origin for likes on Hun Sens Facebook page after he had surpassed 3 million fans and found that only 20 percent of them originated in Cambodia.

According to a study on world leaders' Facebook presence by the consulting firm Burson-Marsteller that was released on Tuesday, Hun Sens Facebook posts have garnered 58 million interactions, placing him second on the companys list of world leaders in the sum total of likes, comments, and shares.

Cambodia has a population of about 15.7 million people, while India has a population of 1.3 billion people.
Supporters of seven Hong Kong police officers found guilty of beating activist Ken Tsang during the 2014 pro-democracy protests hold placards outside the district court in Hong Kong, Feb. 14, 2017.

Remarks by a Hong Kong policeman who compared the status of law enforcement officers in the city to the sufferings endured by Jews during World War II have sparked a diplomatic backlash, with both Israeli and German diplomats saying the comparison was "inappropriate."

The unnamed speaker told a rally of thousands of police supporters on Wednesday that they were treated similarly to Jews in Nazi Germany.

When he asked the crowd if they agreed with the comparison, the crowd shouted "Yes!"

The speaker, a police officer, had been complaining of growing verbal abuse from members of the public directed at officers on duty.

Israel's consulate in the former British colony issued a statement on Thursday saying the analogy was "inappropriate and regretful," and calling for an end to such analogies, while the German consulate in a statement on Friday slammed the reference as "inappropriate and regretful."

"The reported reference to the Holocaust shows a regrettably insufficient knowledge of historical facts," the statement on the consulate's Facebook page said.

"The Jewish population in Germany was persecuted by the state and all its organs during the Nazi dictatorship and millions lost their lives," it said.

"Therefore the comparison between the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and police officers convicted for an abuse of power is utterly inappropriate," it said.



Officers guilty of assault

The rally was organized after a court in Hong Kong on Friday 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 Tuesday of kicking, punching, and stepping on Tsang after he was arrested and handcuffed during clashes in October 2014.

The officers were charged after they were filmed live by a cameraman from Hong Kong broadcaster TVB in November 2014.

Video footage streamed lived from protests on Oct. 15, 2014 showed Tsang being beaten and kicked by a group of police officers in a dark area while they were clearing a main road of protesters in a violent crackdown.

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.

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."

Joe Chan, who heads a police officers' association that helped to organize the rally, said no offense was intended.

But the government said the remarks didn't represent the official position and that it did not endorse them.



Bill on insulting a police officer

Meanwhile, pro-Beijing lawmaker Priscilla Leung told RFA that it may be possible to introduce a private bill criminalizing "insulting a police officer."

"We are thinking that the main point of this legislation would be to act as a deterrent, and make it very clear to the public, especially younger people, that there are some things that they mustn't do,"

Leung said.

But pan-democratic politicians hit out at the idea.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting said such a law could exacerbate tensions between police and the public, which have worsened since police used tear gas and pepper spray against Occupy Central activists campaigning for fully democratic elections.

"What exactly does it mean to insult a police officer?" Lam asked. "Does it mean that you don't have a very good attitude or that you aren't polite? Does it mean swearing?"

"I don't think we should be considering such laws," he said.

Reported by Wang Siwei for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
China on Friday called on the Myanmar government to handle a dispute at a Chinese-invested garment factory in Yangon "according to law" after some 300 striking workers smashed it up, holding Chinese managers captive for several hours.



Reports on the dispute have emerged in China's tightly controlled state media, with photographs depicting damaged property and Chinese people huddled together in a room at the Hangzhou Baiyi Garments factory.



The Chinese employees were released on Thursday with the help of Myanmar officials, Chinese consular official Liu Songhai told reporters on Friday.



He said the embassy has asked authorities to arrest and sentence those responsible.



An employee who answered the phone at the Chinese embassy in Myanmar declined to comment further, saying that an announcement had already been made.



"It has come out online, so you need to read that, OK?" the employee said.



In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing has made "solemn representations" to the government of Myanmar, the interior ministry, and Yangon provincial authorities over the incident.



"We have demanded that Myanmar take immediate and effective steps to ensure the personal safety of Chinese citizens and Chinese-invested property in the country, and to pursue and bring to justice the perpetrators," Geng told a regular news briefing.



Difficulties overseas



An employee who answered the phone at the Baiyi Clothing Factory's parent company in Hangzhou on Friday said the company has no more information about developments there than anyone else.



"We only found out about this online, so we don't know either," she said.



But she said that Chinese companies experience "difficulty" when investing overseas.



"It is definitely hard for Chinese people to set up factories overseas, wouldn't you say?" she said. "I am in the main factory in Hangzhou, and nothing has been happening here."



"We are all just going to work as normal."



The Baiyi factory was set up around three years ago and employs a total workforce of 500, including 10 Chinese nationals as managers, media reports indicated.



The rank and file of the work force are generally Burmese.



The strike appears to have started after the factory rejected the applications of some former employees to return and work at the company, reports said.



The striking workers had already downed tools and blocked the main gate in a series of wildcat strikes since the dispute flared.



Privilege gap



Chinese labor activist Zhang Jun told RFA that there is a huge privilege gap between Chinese factory owners and locally hired workers in Chinese-owned factories in Southeast Asian countries.



"Chinese companies don't have a good reputation overseas, because they don't even respect workers' rights back home," Zhang said. "They are the same when they go overseas."



"The management basically has no respect for the workers, nor for democratic processes. They have an appalling management style," he said. "Now they are exporting it to other countries."



Zhang said Chinese expats also look down on Southeast Asians generally.



"It's not just the Chinese bosses who are like this. The Chinese workers are like it too; they have a belief in their own superiority," he said.



"They look down on local people as poverty-stricken or whatever, which is terrible."



Chinese companies are no stranger to labor disputes, with enterprises across Africa and Asia often embroiled in bitter disputes with workers over pay and conditions.



China is Myanmar's biggest trading partner.



Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Shi Shan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.




Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar demonstrates how suspects rubbed a substance on the face of Kim Jong Nam, during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Feb. 22, 2017.

Updated at 1:30 p.m. ET on 2017-02-24

Kim Jong Nam had traces of a banned potent chemical weapon on his face and in his eyes when he died, Malaysian police said Friday, citing toxicology test results.

The results appeared to confirm widespread speculation that the estranged elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was poisoned by two women who accosted him at a Kuala Lumpur area airport on Feb. 13, smeared liquid on his face and walked away.

In a statement, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said results of preliminary tests at the Department of Chemistry Malaysia indicate with certainty that the substance involved was Ethyl S-2-diisopropylaminoethyl methyl phosphonothiolate or VX Nerve Agent.

The analysis was done on swabs of the victims eye mucus and face, Khalid said. Other exhibits are still being analyzed, he added.

The cause of death is that chemical, the police chief told reporters later on Friday as he prepared to travel to Saudi Arabia for the minor Umrah pilgrimage, adding that a team of experts would inspect the area inside Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, where Kim was fatally attacked, for more traces of the VX and sweep it clean.

Venomous Agent X

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the chemical is a man-made chemical warfare agent that is odorless and tasteless and was developed in the United Kingdom in early 1950s.

VX is the most potent of all nerve agents. Compared with the nerve agent Sarin (also known as GB), VX is considered to be much more toxic by entry through the skin and somewhat more toxic by inhalation, the CDC said on its website.

The United Nations classifies VX nerve agent as a chemical weapon of mass destruction and called for its elimination in the Chemical Weapons Convention, a multilateral arms control treaty that went into force 20 years ago.

It is not something you can get hold of easily. You will need licenses. Even if you are a specialist conducting research, there are strict procedures to follow to get the chemical, Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad, a former toxicologist at University Sains Malaysia, told BenarNews.

It is very toxic. Just 10 mg is enough to kill a person once the chemical touches the skin. So it must be handled with great care, he added.

Banned

Authorities will investigate how the banned substance was brought into Malaysia, Khalid told reporters separately.

This chemical weapon is banned. We will investigate how the chemical substance was brought into Malaysia. It will be difficult to detect if brought into the country in small quantities, the state-run Bernama news agency quoted him as saying.

The man whom Malaysian authorities have identified as Kim Jong Nam died while being rushed to hospital after complaining to medical personnel that he felt ill after a woman attacked him with a chemical at KLIA2.

South Korea has blamed North Korea for Kims death, citing a standing order from Kim Jong Un to kill his older sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after his half-brother criticized the regime.

CCTV footage aired by Fuji TV that went viral on the internet shows two women carrying out the attack. Malaysian authorities arrested two female suspects, whom they identified as an Indonesian and Vietnamese nationals, days later.

In previous statements, Khalid alleged the two women were trained to handle toxins and had practiced at two Kuala Lumpur area shopping malls before carrying out the attack.

One of the two female suspects suffered side-effects after touching the chemical with her hands and was vomiting afterward, the police chief said.

Trained chemist

Apart from the two women in custody, Malaysian police are holding a North Korean man, and have identified seven other North Korean suspects, four of whom already left Malaysia.

According to news reports, the North Korean in custody, Ri Jong Chol, holds a doctorate in chemistry. After the police announced that Jong Nam was attacked with VX, authorities raided a Kuala Lumpur in connection with the investigation but no chemicals were found, Reuters reported.

Among the seven North Koreans sought by police is the second secretary at Pyongyangs embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Earlier this week, Khalid told a news conference that his department had asked the embassy to hand over this man for questioning along with an employee of North Koreas state-run airline  both of whom were believed to be in Malaysia.

However, as of today, we have not received any relevant document from the police or the foreign ministry of Malaysia , Kim Yu Song, a consul at the embassy told reporters Friday.

The investigation into Jong Nams death has resulted in a diplomatic row between North Korea and Malaysia, because Malaysian officials have refused Pyongyangs request to hand over the body without a post-mortem, and has insisted that his next-of-kin come forward to claim the remains and give DNA samples.

Malaysia has recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang and the North Korean ambassador has twice publicly criticized Kuala Lumpur over its handling of the case.

We will wait for the next-of-kin to come, Khalid said Friday, denying reports that Malaysian police were going to Macau to collect DNA from Jong Nams son who lives there.

We need the next-of-kin to identify the body  and we would like to take the DNA samples from the next-of-kin.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Leaders from Myanmar's ethnic armed groups attend a meeting at the headquarters of United Wa State Army in Pangkham, eastern Myanmar's Shan state, May 1, 2015.

A group of ethnic militias decided on Friday not to sign the Myanmar governments nationwide peace pact on the last day of their three-day summit at the headquarters of the countrys strongest ethnic rebel force, but instead formed a committee to discuss a new path to peace, a military official from the conference said.

Leaders from seven ethnic militias that have not signed the governments October 2015 nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA)including the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)and Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), attended the conference which began Wednesday.

The meeting, hosted by Wa and Mongla ethnic groups from the mountainous region of eastern Myanmars Shan state on the border with China, was held at the headquarters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA)Myanmars largest nonstate militiain Pangkham, the administrative capital of the militia's territory.

Col. Ta Phone Kyaw, general secretary of the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), said the participants agreed on nine points, which included not signing the NCA, but rather come up with a new way to forge peace.

Having a nine-point agreement is something through which we can show our ethnic groups unity despite sustaining offensive attacks from government military, he said.

Eight ethnic armed groups signed the NCA in October 2015. Other militias did not endorse the pact because they objected to its lack of all-inclusiveness or because they wereand continue to beengaged in hostilities with Myanmars military.

We think that the government military needs to stop its offensive attacks and hold political dialogue, Ta Phone Kyaw said.

The newly formed committee will try to hold discussions with national government and military representatives to determine what the new approach will be, he said.

Peace process losing momentum

On Thursday, UWSA chairman Bao Youxing told delegates at the meeting in Pangkham that a new path to peace is necessary because the governments efforts to get other ethnic militias to sign the NCA have lost their momentum, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a leaked version of his speech as the source.

The civilian-led government plans to hold the second meeting of the 21st-Century Panglong Conference of peace talks in March.

But Ta Phone Kyaw said the non-NCA signatory groups cannot yet say if they will participate in the summit.

Ethnic leaders said they will try to resolve political problems through political means and discuss with government representatives the 15 points that the UWSA submitted during the first round of the Panglong Conference last August and September.

UWSA delegates walked out of the first round of peace talks because they were designated as observers rather than participants.

Myanmars de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been leading efforts to end decades of civil wars between ethnic armed groups and the military and forge peace. But ongoing skirmishes in Kachin and Shan states in the countrys north have threatened to derail the process.

Reported by Thiha Tun for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Nine years after a controversial Tibetan writer vanished in Sichuan amid widespread protests against Chinese rule, family members now believe the missing man may be dead, Tibetan sources say.



Tsawa Danyuk, also called Lodroe Palden, disappeared in April 2008 after posting a notice on his web log saying he was being harassed by Chinese security officers, according to a recorded statement by a relative recently obtained by RFAs Tibetan Service.



After that last post, we never heard anything more from him or about him, the speaker, a close family member, says.



I think that we can now assume that he has departed this world, he said.



A native of the Tsawagong region of Chamdo (in Chinese, Changdu) prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Danyuk vanished in Dzoege (Ruoergai) county in Sichuans Ngaba (Aba) prefecture after writing his final message.



Three years ago, in order to fulfill my desire to speak a few words on certain issues, I had to leave my parents, siblings, teachers, and even the land of my birth, said Danyuk, whose writings on sensitive subjects had angered not only Chinese authorities but also members of the Tibetan Buddhist clergy.



Now, as I wander in this unfamiliar land, military officers with modern weapons are stamping on my head, he wrote.



Am I really not allowed to remain alive on this planet? I dont understand this.



Thorough search



After losing touch with Danyuk in 2008, close family members and a friend began to search for him, traveling to nearly 50 counties in Gansu, Sichuan, Qinghai, and the TAR, the speaker on the recording said.



We even went to prisons and police stations without result, he said.



Finally, our search led us to a house near Dzoege monastery, where he had rented a room from an elderly Tibetan, and here we discovered some old clothes, utensils, a portable shortwave radio, and some books.



Danyuks laptop computer, on which he had been writing a book on Tibetan history, was missing, though, he said.



Speaking to RFA from his home in Switzerland, a close friend of Danyuks who had kept in close touch with him over the years called the missing writer a man who dared to stick his neck out when it comes to challenging dogma.



He was unmindful of the consequences that his open and critical thinking on politics and religion would bring about, the source named Karma said.



Reported and translated by Dorjee Damdul for RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.




Authorities in Chinas far western region of Xinjiang have arrested three Uyghur officials on charges of failing to perform their duty during a December attack by militants on an office of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, state media reported on Thursday.



The Dec. 28 attack in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefectures Karakash county left at least five dead, including an official and security worker killed by the attackers and three suspects shot dead at the scene by police, sources told RFAs Uyghur Service in an earlier report.



Abdumemet Sadir, party secretary of Jumebazar village in the countys Yawa township, is now in custody for failing to perform his tasks in connection with the attack, according to reports in the state-run Global Times newspaper and China Central National Radio.



Also recently arrested for neglecting their duty were Elighoja Abdulla, vice head of the Karakash Party Committee office, and Memetniyaz Yusup, party secretary of the townships Jihanbagh village, media reports said.



No details of how the three may have failed in their duties were provided in reports, though Sadir was briefly interviewed by RFA following the December attack.



Speaking to RFA on condition of anonymity, a social stability cadre in Jumebazar confirmed that Sadir had been taken into custody, saying the arrest was connected to the incident on Dec. 28.



Yes, Abdumemet Sadir has been arrested, the source said.



We dont know where he is. This kind of case is decided by higher-ups, and they wont tell us what has happened or where he has been taken.



It seems that he was negligent in carrying out his duties, but we dont know for sure, he said.



'Encouraging by example'



Also reached by RFA, a police officer in nearby Jihanbagh village meanwhile declined to comment.



I dont know anything about this case, he said. You should ask the people who know something about it.



Shen Xue, a Canada-based Chinese journalist and activist, said that the officials arrest may be part of a new tactic by Xinjiangs administration of encouraging others by example.



In this way, the Chinese Communist Party can intimidate Uyghur officials who are not fully supportive of its legitimacy, along with Uyghur cadres who might support the Uyghur resistance, she said.



Beijing blames Uyghur extremists for a string of violent attacks and clashes in recent years.



But critics say that the government has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs, and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for violence that has left hundreds dead since 2009.



Reported by Jilil Kashgary for RFAs Uyghur Servce. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Richard Finney.




U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and top White House officials urged conservative activists to rally behind President Donald Trump's efforts to change the country. At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in the U.S. state of Maryland on February 23, Pence and Chief White House Strategist Steve Bannon said media outlets and "elites" were fighting to preserve the status quo. (AP)
This is where Russia and the European Union meet -- the twin towns of Narva, in Estonia, and Ivangorod, in Russia: Separated by a short bridge, but united by ties of blood and language. Current Time TV correspondent Vadim Kondakov has the story.
Dozens of activists protested for a fifth day against the construction of a business center next to a protected memorial area in Belarus where at least 30,000 people were killed and buried by Soviet authorities in the 1930s and 1940s.

Construction works that started on February 16 continued on February 24 despite the protest at the Kurapaty preserve on the outskirts of the capital, Minsk.

Protesters are demanding an immediate halt of the construction works, which they say desecrate the memory of thousands of victims of the Soviet state under dictator Josef Stalin.

Leaders of opposition parties and movements have been participating in the protest.

The protesters have set up tents at the site in order to stay around the clock.

During the night on February 22, at least 15 masked men with wooden bats attacked the protesters' camp, injuring one activist.

Activists say they suspect Minsk city authorities were behind the attack.
Bosnia on February 23 formally asked the United Nations' top court to review its 2007 ruling that cleared Serbia of charges it committed genocide during the 1990s civil war.

The move prompted an angry response from Bosnian Serbs and Serbia and a rare joint statement from the ambassadors of major powers -- including Russia and the United States -- urging all parties in Bosnia to pursue dialogue and avoid worsening tensions.

Many officials in Bosnia had argued against the move, saying it could spark a new political crisis in the ethnically divided country.

Bosnian Serb politicians have threatened to block the work of the federal parliament in Sarajevo over the matter, potentially halting reforms Bosnia needs to draw closer to the European Union and secure more loans from the International Monetary Fund.

"I am afraid that we have entered a really serious crisis," said Mladen Ivanic, the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency. He said the request should have been made unanimously by the presidency.

Serbia's leader had warned on February 22 that reviving the genocide case would open old wounds in the region.

"Our relations have been pushed backward 25 or 22 years," Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said. "The little trust we built over the years...is now gone."

But Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of Bosnia's Presidency, said there was no need for all members of the presidency to unite behind the request for review, since a recommendation to make such a request before the International Court of Justice was originally made by a lawyer representing the entire presidency.

"We've been accused of triggering the crisis in Bosnia and the region," Izetbegovic said. "The crisis was caused by those who committed an aggression... I think that I am on the path of truth and justice."

In the original case launched by the Muslim-dominated government of Bosnia in 1993, Sarajevo accused Belgrade of masterminding a genocide through widespread "ethnic cleansing" during the war, which claimed more than 100,000 lives.

On February 26, 2007, The Hague court found only one act of genocide -- the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica -- and said there was not enough evidence to suggest that Belgrade was directly responsible.

Serb forces captured the eastern town of Srebrenica in July 1995, in the final months of the war, then summarily killed its males in Europe's worst single atrocity since World War II.

The court did find, however, that Serbia, which gave political and military backing to Bosnian Serbs, had breached international law by failing to prevent the slaughter.

Izetbegovic said Bosnia now has "new arguments" that can be presented to the court to further the case, notably those presented during the trial of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime army chief who is awaiting judgement by a UN tribunal.

Bosnia's request for review of the UN court's 2007 decision was prompted by the impending expiration on February 26 of a 10-year period for requesting such a review.

The ambassadors from outside powers involved in putting together Bosnia's peace agreement met in Sarajevo on February 23 to discuss the growing tensions in the region.

In the joint statement they issued afterward, they said: "All political leaders should refrain from unilateral actions and return to the principles of compromise, dialogue, and consensus in making decisions, as well as respecting the Bosnian constitution, institutions, and the rule of law."

With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and Reuters


Lawyers for Russian political activist Ildar Dadin have asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg for assistance in freeing Dadin, who continues to be held in a penal colony despite his sentence being annulled.

Dadin's wife, Anastasia Zotova, wrote on Twitter that an official request was sent to the ECHR on February 24.

On February 22, Russias Supreme Court revoked Dadin's conviction on charges of participating in multiple unsanctioned protests and ordered his release from custody.

Dadin, who has been listed by Russian and international organizations as a political prisoner, was serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence after being convicted under a controversial law that criminalizes participation in more than one unsanctioned protest in a 180-day period.

He is the only person in Russia to have been convicted under that law.

Officials in the penal colony in Altai Krai region in southern Siberia say they cannot free Dadin before they receive the original release order from the Supreme Court.


After propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad and prolonging Syria's civil war; after destroying Aleppo with air strikes that caused massive civilian casualties; after violating cease-fire after cease-fire; after all of this, Russia is now apparently asking world powers to pony up billions of dollars for Syria's reconstruction.

According to a report in The Financial Times this week, European and Gulf states are balking at the idea, saying any aid must be tied to a political transition.

In other words, if there is going to be any aid, Assad must go.

We're entering the phase where Russia's big push into the Middle East gets tricky for Moscow.

They've upended Western policy in Syria and, against the odds, they've kept their client regime in power.

Vladimir Putin is having his "Mission Accomplished" moment. And now comes the hard part.

Because Putin is about to meet the Pottery Barn Rule: You break it, you own it.

Now of course, trying to get others to pay for the messes it creates is par for the course for Putin's Kremlin.

It expects Ukraine to pay for the reconstruction of war-torn territories in the Donbas -- which are war-torn only due to a Russian invasion.

And it's said the West should compensate Moscow for sanctions imposed after Russia's aggression in Ukraine -- as well as for the adverse effects of countersanctions Russia imposed on the West.

Putin's been crowing for some time about reviving Russia's military might and great power status.

But being a great power is expensive -- and the bill is about to come due.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
The Kremlin has confirmed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Moscow in March for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other bilateral meetings.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on February 24 that Erdogan will be in Moscow on March 9-10.

Earlier, Russian and Turkish media reported that the talks would include a meeting of the high-level bilateral cooperation council that will include negotiations on the possible purchase by Turkey of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.

Talks are also expected to include further progress on improving relations, the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and the global fight against terrorism.

Russia and Turkey have supported opposing sides in the Syrian war, but their ties have improved substantially after being badly strained when Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015.

They are now jointly supporting negotiations to end the war and have begun coordinating operations in some cases.

Based on reporting by TASS and TRT TV
A new report calls on U.S. President Donald Trump to commit to engagement in Afghanistan, promote its sovereignty, and work toward an eventual resolution of the nearly 40-year war in the country.

The report, called Focused Engagement: A New Way Forward For Afghanistan, underlines compelling reasons for Washingtons commitment.

[Afghanistan] remains attractive as a safe haven for international terrorist groups that would like protected space to plot attacks against America and its allies, noted the report, released this week by Center For A New American Security, a think tank in Washington. The country is surrounded by nuclear powers that do not get along. State collapse could bring even worse than a Taliban return to power.

The reports author, Christopher Kolenda, a former Pentagon senior adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan, is seeking immediate steps for stabilizing the Afghan battlefield, where the Taliban insurgents have made significant gains since the 2014 withdrawal of most NATO forces.

Stabilize the battlefield by improving U.S.-Afghan strategic alignment, enforcing conditionality for political and security sector reform, and supporting an enduring commitment, he wrote.

Kolenda argues Afghanistan cannot be stabilized unless the Trump administration promotes Afghan sovereignty by reducing the currently destabilizing regional competition and penalizing countries that help the Taliban and other militant groups.

He identifies Pakistan as the main Taliban sanctuary where the insurgents are supplied from, train their fighters, and plan and coordinate operations.

Graduated penalties will raise the price to Pakistan and others of supporting militant groups, he wrote. A support agreement with Pakistan based on a peaceful outcome should encourage results and avoid rewarding duplicity.

In the wake of a new wave of terror attacks in Pakistan, Islamabad has blamed Pakistani militants hiding in Afghanistan for the violence. But in a response to Islamabads list of 76 most wanted terrorists, Kabul sent its list of 85 senior members of the Taliban whom Afghan authorities believe to be hiding in Pakistan.

Despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the longest war in its history, Washington has so far failed to convince Kabul and Islamabad to embark on sustainable result-oriented antiterrorism cooperation.

Kolenda recommends that to end the nearly four decades of war in Afghanistan, Washington needs to advance a peace process.

The Trump administration must avoid a rush to failure, he concluded. A peace process may require more than a decade to produce a general ceasefire and a series of conflict-ending negotiations.

as/fg
The first Iraqi troops have entered a neighborhood in western Mosul as the governments four-month-long offensive to recapture the city from Islamic State (IS) militants enters its final phase, military commanders have said.

Lieutenant General Sami al-Aridhi of the Counterterrorism Service said on February 24 that Iraqi forces have moved into Mosuls Al-Maamun neighborhood.

The previous day, government forces reported capturing the disused Mosul airport and the Ghazlani military base, as well as the village of Tal al-Rayyan southwest of Mosul.

The government declared the eastern part of Mosul liberated in January.

Mosul fell to IS fighters in the summer of 2014.

U.S. officials said on February 20 that some 2,000 IS fighters were still entrenched in the city.

Some 750,000 civilians remain in the city, Iraqs second-largest and the last IS stronghold in the country.

Officials have said taking the western part of the city could be particularly difficult because it contains older neighborhoods with narrow, densely developed streets.

Iraqi forces will have a much harder time using their armored vehicles.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
ALMATY -- A Kazakh blogger has been sent to jail for 15 days after he tried to report on a protest against the incarceration of an independent journalist.

Blogger Askhat Bersalimov's lawyer, Zhanar Balghabaeva, told RFE/RL that her client was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest late on February 23.

Bersalimov was detained hours earlier outside the headquarters of the National Security Committee in Almaty, the Central Asian country's biggest city, where he was trying to report on a man who was calling for the release of journalist Zhanbolat Mamai.

Police quickly and forcibly took protester Erlan Qaliev away and detained Bersalimov.

Bersalimov was later found guilty of organizing of an illegal public gathering -- a charge he denied, saying that he was seeking to cover Qaliev's protests as a journalist and blogger.

Mamai, acting editor of The Sayasi Qalam-Tribuna (The Political Pen-Tribune), was detained on February 10 and later charged with laundering money.

Mamai says the case against him is politically motivated.
Police in Pakistan now say that an explosion in Lahore that killed seven people on February 23 was caused by a gas leak and was not a terrorist attack.

Authorities said on February 24 that the explosion was "an accident" and that there were no indications of explosives.

Earlier, numerous officials sources had said with certainty that the incident was a terrorist attack.

Punjab provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah blamed the error on chaos following the incident and suggested a need for new procedures on communicating with the media in emergencies.

The explosion caused panic in the city, which was the scene of an attack just 10 days previously that left 14 people dead.

On February 23, Pakistans military declared a nationwide antiterrorism operation following a spate of attacks that left more than 130 people dead.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP


Russia says it is ready to veto a draft UN resolution calling for sanctions against Syria over the use of chemical weapons on civilians.



"There is an argument that the resolution itself contradicts the fundamental principle of presumption of innocence before the investigation is over," said Vladimir Safronkov, Russia's deputy UN ambassador, after a Security Council meeting.

Safronkov told reporters there is "tremendous pressure" on an inquiry into the use of chemical weapons in Syria to produce a one-sided result.

We will veto it, Safronkov said of the resolution if it was put to a vote. The inquiry is run jointly by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Russia is the largest international backer of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

Safronkov's statement later drew a rebuke from U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley.



The draft resolution seeks to blacklist 11 Syrian military commanders and officials and 10 government and related entities involved in the development and production of chemical weapons.

It calls for an asset freeze and travel ban for the individuals and entities across all UN member states.

The resolution could be put up for a vote as early as next week, diplomatic sources said.



Assad's government has denied its forces have used chemical weapons.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
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
The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking before a conservative political gathering, promised one of the greatest military buildups in U.S. history -- ensuring, he says, that no one in the future will ever challenge America's power.

Nobody will dare question our military might again, he told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on February 24. We believe in peace through strength, and thats what well have.

In a speech in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside of Washington, Trump touched on other familiar topics, railing against the news media, former President Barack Obama's signature health care reform (known as Obamacare), as well as violent crime, international terrorism, security, embarrassing trade deals, regulations, and taxes, and reiterating his vow to build a wall along the Mexican border.

His campaign-style speech was greeted enthusiastically by a supportive crowd, which chanted "USA, USA" at times and "Lock Her Up" when he mentioned Democrat Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 presidential contest.

He said he would put in a "massive budget request" to rebuild the U.S. military and that he will order U.S. forces to intensify the fight against the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

"Nobody is going to mess with us. It will be one of the greatest military buildups in American history," he said.

He added that as part of my pledge to restore safety for the American people, he has directed U.S. security services to totally obliterate Islamic State from the face of the Earth."

A key goal of his immigration crackdown will be to prevent terrorists from entering the United States, he said.

We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country, he told thecrowd. Foreign terrorists will not be able to strike America if they cannot get into our country.

He indicated "new action" soon on a second version of an executive order to restrict travel into the country from several majority-Muslim nations. His first attempt was struck down by a U.S. federal court.

Trump reiterated his vow to build a "great, great" wall along the border with Mexico to cut illegal immigration, with work to begin soon.

We will build the wall soon, way ahead of schedule, he said. Way, way, way ahead of schedule.

Trump spent the first several minutes of his speech resuming his attacks on the U.S. news media, once again describing journalists as dishonest and the enemy of the people.

He did add a qualifier, however, saying he was only referring to the fake news media and not the media as a whole.

Nobody loves the First Amendment more than me, he said. It gives me the right to criticize fake news.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference.

Trump named CBS, ABC, NBC, and CNN, which he called the Clinton News Network, in his attacks on news outlets.

He said the Middle East was a "mess" and in worse state than it was 15 years ago, adding that the United States had spent $6 trillion in the region.

"If our presidents had gone to the beach for 15 years, we would be in much better shape," he said.

He said Obamacare covers very few people and forced millions of people to lose the insurance policies they preferred.

"We're going to repeal and replace Obamacare," he vowed to cheers.

He also promised to remove regulations on U.S. energy production and other industries to help put people back to work.

Based on a live broadcast with additional reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested he wants to strengthen the U.S. nuclear arsenal, saying the country must ensure it is "at the top of the pack" of nuclear-armed nations.

Trump, in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters on February 23, argued that the United States has "fallen behind on nuclear-weapon capacity."

"It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, were going to be at the top of the pack," Trump said.

He also said that New START, a 2010 strategic-arms limitation treaty between the United States and Russia, was a "one-sided deal."

New START stipulates that both sides must limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to equal levels by February 2018 and maintain those ceilings for 10 years.

Among other limits, it restricts each side to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads.

"Just another bad deal that the country made, whether it's START, whether it's the Iran [nuclear] deal," Trump told Reuters in the interview. He said the United States is "going to start making good deals."

Trump has repeatedly denounced the July 2015 deal between world powers and Iran, which imposed curbs on Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from some economic sanctions.

In the interview, he did not make clear whether he would take any action related to New START, such as withdrawing or seeking to change it.

A senior pro-Kremlin lawmaker in Russia, Aleksei Pushkov, said on Twitter that "Trump's announcement on the expansion of U.S. nuclear potential throws strategic arms limitation agreements into question, returning the world to the 20th century."

Another pro-Kremlin lawmaker, Vyacheslav Nikonov, told the Interfax news agency: "Trump should be aware that any efforts made by the United States to increase its nuclear missile potential will receive a symmetrical and asymmetrical response from us both in the creation of missile defense and...if we find it necessary, an increase of [Russia's] nuclear potential beyond the limits established by [New START]."

Reuters said that Trump made his remarks about nuclear weapons in the interview when speaking about a tweet he posted in December, before taking office, in which he said that the United States "must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability."

But he did not refer directly to an expansion or buildup of the U.S. arsenal in the interview.

Asked about Trump's comments, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a regular briefing later on February 23 that what Trump "was very clear on is that the United States will not yield its supremacy in this area to anybody. That's what he made very clear in there. And that if other countries have nuclear capabilities, it will always be the United States that has the supremacy and commitment to this," Spicer said.

But in a remark that seemed to refer to plans to expand the U.S. nuclear arsenal, Spicer said "that's not what we're seeking to do."

"The question that was asked was about other people growing their stockpiles," he said, adding that Trump has made clear "that our goal is to make sure that we maintain Americas dominance around the world, and that if other countries cloud it, we don't sit back and allow them to grow theirs."

In the interview, Trump also mentioned a Russian cruise-missile deployment that the United States says violated of a 1987 arms control treaty banning land-based U.S. and Russian intermediate-range missiles.

"To me, it's a big deal," Trump said, adding that he would bring up the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin "if and when we meet."

Russia has denied violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Trump also put more pressure on China to solve the security challenge posed by North Korea, saying that Beijing could exert more influence on Pyongyang "very easily if they want to."
KYIV -- A court in Kyiv has prolonged by one year the preliminary arrest of a relative of the late Uzbek President Islam Karimov who is wanted by Tashkent for alleged forgery and embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Akbarali Abdullaev -- a nephew of Karimovs widow, Tatyana Karimova -- stated at the hearing on February 23 that he would face "death" if extradited to Uzbekistan.

However, the judge ruled that he must remain in custody for one year while a decision on his possible extradition is under consideration.

Abdullaev, 33, was detained at Kyiv's Zhulyany International Airport in January where he arrived with Uzbek and Dominican passports.

He was later sent to one-month pretrial detention, which expired on February 22.

Abdullaev was charged in Tashkent with embezzlement and financial fraud in 2014.

It is not clear how or when he left Uzbekistan.
Over the past five years, Iranian officials and state media have touted the "indigenous" ingenuity in the Islamic republic's mass-produced Mohajer-6 combat drone, which Russia has deployed in its war against Ukraine.

But a new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, has found that electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 are far from homegrown.



The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of such technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes  dual-use technology.

The presence of these components in the Mohajer-6 does not mean their producers are in violation of U.S. or EU sanctions, and RFE/RL does not have evidence that this is the case.

The investigation also found Mohajer-6 components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm that said it was "very sorry" that its products were being used in war.

At least one major foreign-produced component of the Mohajer-6 has previously been identified by reporters in a Mohajer-6 recovered from the battlefield by the Ukrainian military: an engine made by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products.

But Ukrainian intelligence assesses that the Iranian combat drone contains components from nearly three dozen different technology companies based in North America, the EU, Japan, and Taiwan, the Schemes investigation has found. A majority of these companies are based in the United States.



A Schemes reporter who personally inspected the foreign-made drone parts identified components produced by at least 15 of these manufacturers.

These include parts made by the U.S. technology firm Texas Instruments, which said in a statement that it does not sell into Russia or Iran and complies with applicable laws and regulations.

To identify these components, Schemes reporters examined parts of the Mohajer-6 drone that the Ukrainian military shot down over the Black Sea near the Mykolayiv region coastal town of Ochakiv. They also reviewed Ukrainian intelligence records on the sources of these components.

The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China.

Both Western officials and experts on illicit technology transfers say Iran has built a broad, global procurement network using front companies and other proxies in third countries to obtain dual-use technology from the United States and the EU.

"Exporters will look at the request coming from the [United Arab Emirates] or another third country, and they'll think that they're selling to an end user based there, when really the end user is in Iran," Daniel Salisbury, a senior research fellow with the Department of War Studies at King's College London, told RFE/RL.

In September, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions specifically targeting Iranian companies that Washington links to the production and transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia for deployment in its war on Ukraine. Fighting rages with no sign of an end more than eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion on February 24.

"Non-Iranian, non-Russian entities should also exercise great caution to avoid supporting either the development of Iranian UAVs or their transfer, or sale of any military equipment to Russia for use against Ukraine," U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement announcing the sanctions.

Chinese Cameras, California Chips

Development of the Mohajer-6, the latest model in a series of drones Tehran has used since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, began in 2017, while mass production began the following year. During a ceremony commemorating the Islamic Revolution, then-Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the new tactical drone could perform surveillance, reconnaissance, as well as help destroy targets.

Hatami extolled what he described as the drones domestic design, a portrayal echoed in later reports by Iranian media.

"The homegrown drone was made through cooperation among the army, Defense Ministry, and Quds Aviation Industries," the English-language Tehran Times quoted an Iranian military official as saying in July 2019.

The dismantling of the Mohajer-6 drone recovered by the Ukrainian military shows that the UAV is packed with foreign components.

One of these parts is a bright-orange real-time mini-camera produced by the Hong Kong-based company RunCam Technology. Documents seen by Schemes show that Ukrainian intelligence has also identified RunCam as the producer of the camera, which likely assists in remote guidance of the drone.

Founded in 2013, RunCam is involved in the development and production of so-called "first-person-view" real-time cameras. "Our users are our friends," the company's website states. The site says that RunCam has two authorized Iranian dealers.

Reached by Schemes for comment about the use of its camera in the Iranian drone deployed by Russia in its war on Ukraine, RunCam said in an e-mailed response: "We are very sorry to know that RunCam's products were used in warfare. RunCam is specialized in producing products for model aircraft hobby. We never contact any customer related to military."

The provenance of the Mohajer-6 drone-s thermal-imaging camera is more difficult to determine. A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Schemes indicates it could be the Ventus Hot model produced by Sierra-Olympic Technologies, based in the U.S. state of Oregon, but that it also resembles a cheaper analog available for sale by the Chinese company Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology.

Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology said in an e-mailed statement that the company did not "have any business with Iran," because "it will affect our business." The company said it specializes in marine services and is not involved in manufacturing. It also said that it did not have a single successful order for its online advertisement of the thermal-imaging camera resembling the one recovered from the Iranian drone.

Sierra-Olympic Technologies did not respond to a request for comment on the possible use of its thermal-imaging cameras in Iranian combat drones in time for publication.

Microchips recovered from the drone also featured the logos of the California-based company Linear Technology Corporation and its parent company, the Massachusetts-based semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). ADI did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment on the possible use of its technology in the Iranian combat drone.

Schemes reporters also observed among the components of the Iranian drone a voltage step-down converter produced by Texas Instruments. The company said in an e-mailed statement that it "does not sell into Russia, Belarus, or Iran."

"TI complies with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and does not support or condone the use of our products in applications they weren't designed for," Texas Instruments said.

Schemes reporters also saw several components produced by the California-based technology manufacturer Xilinx, whose parent company is the multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also based in California.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, one of these Xilinx components was integrated into a video data-link module located in the wing of the Mohajer-6 that helped carry out attack missions.

"This module transmits information from the board to the missile head. That is, guidance for the missile. With the help of this module, it was possible to guide the missile to the target," a Ukrainian military intelligence representative told Schemes.

AMD did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

'No Authorization'

Previous media reports about the components of the Mohajer-6 drone, including by CNN, have shown evidence that its engine was produced by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, whose parent company is the Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).

The Canadian company responded to the reports on October 21, saying in a statement that it "has not authorized and has not given any authorization to its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia."

"As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we started an investigation to determine the source of the engines," BRP said. .

But Schemes reporters found that the authorized Rotax distributor listed on the Austrian manufacturer's website advertised itself as a Rotax aircraft engines distributor for Iran as recently as December 2020.

The distributor, the Italian company Luciano Sorlini S.p.a., has posted multiple magazine advertisements on its websites in which it describes itself as a Rotax distributor for numerous countries. Prior to January 2021, Iran was listed among these countries.

The Rotax website also lists a Tehran-based company -- MahtaWing -- as an official service center for its engines. The company, known in Persian as Mahtabal, conducts repairs of Rotax engines, including the Rotax 912 iS, the engine that was found in the Mohajer-6 combat drone recovered in Ukraine.

BRP said in an e-mailed statement on November 4 that while Luciano Sorlini S.p.a. is the appointed distributor of Rotax aircraft engines in Iran, "since 2019, no Rotax engines have been sold in Iran, and we will not sell any engines to Iran moving forward."

The Canadian company said it had "internal controls" that "significantly" restrict the sale of its products for military purposes.

"For example, the sale of any BRP product to operators with any military activity in Iran, Turkey, and Russia is strictly prohibited," BRP said. "We conduct our business in compliance with all EU, Canadian, and U.S. applicable regulations."

BRP described the Iranian company MahtaWing as a "local service center" that "offers maintenance services for previously sold aircraft engines."

Shahriar Siami of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked the FBI to discredit media reports that President Donald Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, U.S. media reported late on February 23.

The Associated Press, citing unidentified sources in the White House, said Priebus's request to FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe came after the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report describing Trump advisers' contacts with Russia was inaccurate.

Reports said that Priebus asked the FBI officials to at least talk to reporters on background to dispute The Times report and stories spawned by it, but they reportedly refused the request and have not said anything publicly about the matter.

CNN, which originally reported about Priebus's request, said Comey rejected it because the alleged contacts between Russians and Trump associates are the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation.

Such a request from the White House would be unusual and potentially controversial because of long-standing restrictions on communications between the White House and FBI over pending investigations. It already has sparked outrage among some Democrats.

Priebus may have approached other intelligence agencies with the same request to intervene with the media, CNN reported.

The White House itself denied The New York Times story, with Priebus calling it "complete garbage." On Fox News on February 19, Priebus dismissed what he called The Times story's "treasonous type of accusations."

"The top levels of the intelligence community have assured me that that story is not only inaccurate, but it's grossly overstated and it was wrong. And there's nothing to it," Preibus said on the television show.

With reporting by AP, CNN, and USA Today
Photo By Kelly Sullivan

Lionheart Studio teacher Solace Loven poses with one of her students as the class prepares their entries for 2017s Federal Junior Duck Stamp , an annual contest produced by the U.S. Postal Service for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The majority of all money raised through stamp sales goes toward the purchase or lease of wetland habitat. One of Lovens students has won the contest four times.
DuPont Co. is moving production of Kevlar from a factory in South Carolina to its Spruance plant on Jefferson Davis Highway in South Richmond, where the company already does most of its manufacturing of the high-strength fiber used in bullet-resistant vests and helmets.

The announcement this week that DuPont will end Kevlar production at its Cooper River facility, in Berkeley County near Charleston, S.C., comes just six years after the company completed a $500 million Kevlar production facility there. It opened as part of a plan to increase global production capacity for Kevlar by 25 percent on higher demand.

However, DuPont is now reporting sales declines in the business unit that includes Kevlar.

Kevlar manufacturing will cease at the South Carolina site in June, with equipment decommissioning complete by the end of July.

A spokesman for the company said 113 employees at the plant will be impacted. Those employees will be eligible to transfer to jobs at other DuPont facilities, including in Richmond, though it is not clear yet how many will move.

DuPont will continue to operate the Cooper River site to produce Hytrel, a heat-resistant material used in automotive and appliance parts. That production unit employs 50 people.

When DuPont first announced plans in 2007 to open a new Kevlar production line in South Carolina, company officials said growing demand for the product necessitated another production site, though demand for Kevlar in military applications was expected to slow over time.

The same year, the company also announced a $50 million investment at the Richmond plant to expand production of Kevlar.

DuPont, based in Wilmington, Del., does not report its sales specifically for Kevlar. The product is part of the companys Protection Solutions business unit, which includes other high-performance materials such as Nomex and Tyvek that also are made in Richmond.

In 2016, the companys Protection Solutions business unit had net sales of $3 billion, down 3 percent from the previous year. The company said volume declines for Kevlar, Nomex and Tyvek were driven by weakness in the oil and gas industry, military and industrial market.

Besides body armor, Kevlar also is a component in a variety of other applications such as sporting goods, fiber-optic cables and automotive parts.

DuPont has about 1,800 employees at the Spruance site. About 30 jobs are open at the local factory, including ones for electricians, mechanics, operators, engineers and training managers.

The consolidation of Kevlar production also comes as DuPont seeks to complete a merger with Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co. that was first announced in December 2015.

As part of the merger of the two industrial giants, DuPont announced a $730 million global cost-savings and consolidation program that would result in job cuts amounting to about 10 percent of its workforce.

DuPont, which has about 46,000 employees in 90 countries, reported profit for 2016 of $2.5 billion, compared with $1.9 billion for 2015. Revenue for 2016 was $24.6 billion, down from $25.1 billion for 2015.
Employees who worked at Ellwood Thompsons Local Market in Richmond and a sister store in Maryland last year are dealing with compromised personal information, including the disclosure of Social Security numbers.

Customer information appears to be safe.

Ellwood Thompsons recently fell victim to a phishing scam that resulted in the inadvertent disclosure of internal personnel information, according to a statement from the grocer.

We have no reason to believe any customer information has been breached, the statement said.

The company isnt saying how many people were affected.

However, a letter from the company mailed to former employees dated Feb. 10 says the breach involved the W-2 forms of about 360 former and current employees of Ellwood Thompsons and its Dawsons Market store in Rockville, Md. The letter was obtained Thursday by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Wage and tax statements contain names, addresses, Social Security numbers in addition to income information.

The letter explains that an Ellwood Thompsons representative received a phony email on Feb. 3 purportedly from Richard Hood, the companys owner and CEO, requesting that W-2 forms be sent to him. The representative complied with the request.

On Feb. 9, the representative received another email supposedly from Hood, but questioned its legitimacy and forwarded it to other managers in the organization.

It was determined then that the emails were fraudulent and the W-2 forms had been disclosed Feb. 3 to perpetrators of the scam.

Scammers are actively using email schemes to defraud financial institutions, businesses and consumers out of billions of dollars, according to the U.S. Department of Treasurys Financial Crime Enforcement Network. Since 2013, about 22,000 U.S. and international victims have reported email fraud involving losses of $3.1 billion.

Ellwood Thompsons said it immediately notified its lawyers and federal law enforcement about the email scam, according to the letter.

As a small, locally owned and independently operated business, we are committed to our employees and our customers, the grocer said in its statement to media. The moment we became aware of this issue, we immediately notified affected employees and legal counsel, and began working with all parties to respond to this incident.

We immediately notified the proper authorities, and are holding storewide meetings to inform our staff and address questions regarding the incident. Ellwood Thompsons is taking every appropriate action to resolve this incident as quickly as possible. In addition, we are providing free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for one year to all current and former employees affected by this breach.

Bart Yablonsky, director of operations for Ellwood Thompsons, said the company is working with credit reporting service Experian to provide identity theft protection.
Local workers for the nations largest federal call center contractor announced their pledge to go on strike Tuesday morning. Roughly 200 of the companies employees participated. They are demanding better pay, relief from back-to-back calls and protection from abusive callers. The physical strike was planned to take place from about 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
HHHunt Communities, a developer based in Henrico County, said Thursday that it is proposing to build a residential community for people 55 and older in Goochland County.

The plan is to build 520 homes and amenities, including a clubhouse with outdoor entertaining features, a pool, walking trails and open green spaces on 208 acres off Tuckahoe Creek Parkway near Capital One Financial Corp.s West Creek campus.

This proposed community will be our first in Goochland County, and we look forward to being an engaged community partner, said Hans Klinger, HHHunt Communities director of business development.

Jonathan Ridout, director of development at HHHunt Communities, said the goal of the project is to set the bar high by creating the best quality new-home community.

We look forward to engaging with area citizens to hear their perspectives as we finalize the details on amenities and home plans, he said.

Kim Kacani, senior vice president of business development for HHHunt Communities, said construction could start at the beginning of 2018, if everything goes smoothly. Were very early in the process, she said, noting that the developer hopes to file for zoning in early March.

It filed a zoning pre-application with the county Jan. 26.

Were early in our conversations with the county, elected officials and the community, so we havent pinpointed the final selection of builders or final designs for the residences, Kacani said.

Pricing of the homes has not yet been determined.

The plan is to build town houses and detached homes of varying sizes with first-floor master suites, she said.

Its probably an eight-year project, Kacani said.

The companys residential developments in the Richmond region include Rutland in Mechanicsville; Charter Colony in Chesterfield County; and Wellesley, Wyndham and Twin Hickory in Henrico County.

HHHunt Communities is the development arm of HHHunt Corp., a diversified real estate development, building and management firm with residential communities in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland.
Lawmakers want to hand Virginia parents greater power over what their children read in classrooms, but the governor plans to halt any such effort.

The General Assembly has passed legislation that would require teachers to notify parents of any sexually explicit content that may be taught in their classrooms and then allow parents to opt-out their children from the material.

Legislators went further than the Virginia Board of Education as well as previous proposals that left what is sexually explicit open to interpretation. The bill defines sexually explicit as any content punishable as a felony under state codes that deal with rape, bestiality and incest.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe will veto the legislation, his spokesman said Friday.

The House of Delegates originally backed a bill that defined sexually explicit solely as any criminal sexual assault punishable as a felony under the state code that deals with rape.

The Senate later narrowed the definition further by tacking on bestiality and incest and passing the amended language on a 22-18 vote. The House adopted the amended language by a 71-25 vote.

We tried to make this very narrow in scope, Del. R. Steven Landes, R-Augusta, the legislations sponsor, has said.

McAuliffe vetoed similar legislation last year and said the Board of Education already was considering similar proposals. But in early February, the board threw out those proposals, under the belief that defining sexually explicit was a local school board matter.

A host of free-speech groups and the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union have decried the legislation. They say it would censor classic works of literature and authors ranging from Toni Morrison to Shakespeare.

The bill and similar proposals have found more favor among parents who point mainly to the importance of parental notification.

The issue surfaced in recent political debates when Laura Murphy, a Fairfax County parent, raised objections after she said her son, a high school senior, reacted negatively to scenes in Toni Morrisons Beloved.

She said her son was reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel in his AP English class without her knowledge. She took issue with scenes in the book that depict bestiality and gang rape.

Existing policy dictates that public schools provide parents with a synopsis of the curriculum and allow parents to request a review of any instructional materials. Local school boards must lay out how someone can request reconsideration of materials considered sensitive or controversial.

According to a 2013 survey of school divisions conducted by Virginia Department of Education staff, 74 percent of 108 districts and five professional organizations had policies allowing students to be excused from instruction related to sensitive or controversial materials.
The Lee Bridge was closed for about 30 minutes during rush hour Friday morning while fire and rail officials investigated a possible leak from a train car parked beneath the bridges southern end.

A Norfolk Southern Railway car carrying propane had a loose valve, according to Susan Terpay, director of public relations for the railroad. It turns out there was neither a leak nor any threat to the community, said Terpay and Lt. Chris Armstrong, spokesman for the Richmond Fire Department. But the bridge, along with a popular pedestrian path to Belle Isle, were evacuated as a precaution.

The train car was parked in a rail yard that runs under the bridge on the southern bank of the James River when the loose valve was discovered about 7 a.m. Terpay said it is protocol to notify the local fire department when a potential leak is found.

Armstrong said the department decided to close the bridge while fire and rail officials could investigate, but it took some time to coordinate the closure. The bridge was finally evacuated and closed to traffic about 8:30 a.m.

By 9 a.m., the situation was under control and the bridge was reopened. Its closure caused traffic backups in the area.
HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) - An execution date has been set for a man convicted of hiring someone to kill his former girlfriend, who was the mother of his child.

On Friday, the Rockingham County Circuit Court set April 25 as the date Ivan Teleguz will be executed. Teleguz was sentenced to death in 2006 for hiring men to kill Stephanie Sipe.

Lawyers for Teleguz said in a statement that they will submit a petition to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, seeking clemency. The 38-year-old Teleguz maintains he is innocent.
CHARLOTTESVILLE  A petition is circulating online that aims to rename Charlottesvilles federal courthouse after someone who stood up for the rights of the Vinegar Hill community.

Frank Dukes, the former director of and a current fellow at the University of Virginias Institute for Environmental Negotiation, said Monday that a number of people were involved in the creation of the petition, which seeks to name the building after someone who adheres to the citys latest efforts to bring wider recognition of Charlottesvilles racial history.

The petition comes less than a week after Rep. Tom Garrett, R-5th, introduced a bill that would rename the courthouse after Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court justice who served nearly 30 years before his death in February 2016. Early in his career, the conservative stalwart taught law at U.Va.

The petition notes that the courthouse lies within the boundaries of Vinegar Hill, one of the citys first neighborhoods, located in the downtown area.

Once a majority African-American community, the neighborhood was razed in 1964 as part of an urban renewal project that was voted upon by city residents, but few actual residents of the neighborhood, who were inhibited by the citys poll tax. With many of the majority-black residents becoming displaced as a result, the redevelopment was a major point of contention for race relations in Charlottesville.

Available federal funds, black disenfranchisement and officials from outside the community, whose hubris led them to believe they knew what was best for the community, led to the destruction of a neighborhood that was the core of black Charlottesville, the petition states.

Referencing the City Councils recent approval of a funding request for Vinegar Hill Park, set to be erected directly adjacent to the courthouse, the petition asserts that now is an appropriate time to name the building, the most prominent public structure in Vinegar Hill, after someone who stood up for the rights of that community.

Doing so would play a small part in addressing the harm done to this African-American community and helping ensure that anyone entering this building knows that its work is dedicated to providing justice for all, the petition reads. We therefore urge our elected officials to consult the remaining living members of Vinegar Hill who once called this place their home as well as neighborhood associations to select an appropriate name to honor.

The petition suggests three potential candidates for the honor: Eugene Williams, a civil rights leader who fought to desegregate Charlottesville public schools; Teresa Jackson Walker-Price, a community leader and catalyst for saving the historic Jefferson School; and Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court justice and civil rights champion whose work helped to end legal segregation in Charlottesville.

In an email, Dukes said the petition came in response to the announcement of Garretts bill. Dukes said he believes Garrett may not have been aware of Vinegar Hills controversial history or the plans for Vinegar Hill Park. Dukes said he has since contacted Garretts office and asked him to reconsider the bill.

We want him to consult the local community that has been working hard to tell this history  not come up with his own name, Dukes said.

In his announcement of the bill, Garrett said Scalia left a legacy that will continue to inspire jurists in America and throughout the world.

Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer has criticized the bill, calling it political theater.
A shift in U.S. trade policy has the livestock industry concerned.

Brenda Boetel, an ag economist with the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, says President Donald Trumps meeting recently with Japanese officials about a trade agreement is promising, especially with domestic meat supplies growing.

U.S. beef exports are expected to grow 5.6 percent in 2017, and the U.S. is expected to retain the position of fourth largest exporter in the world, behind Brazil, India and Australia, she writes in her In the Cattle Markets column Feb. 13.

In 2016, almost 26 percent of total U.S. exports went to Japan, 18 percent to South Korea, 15 percent to Mexico and 12 percent to Canada. Uncertainty regarding trade policy exposes the beef and cattle industry to less favorable trade policies and potentially a loss of market share in some of these most profitable markets.

Boetel says the U.S. increased its share of the market in Japan, South Korea and Mexico last year, mostly because of less beef coming out of Australia. Exports to Japan carried a value of $1.5 billion, with the value of exports to South Korea and Mexico worth $1 billion and $790 million, respectively.

I mention these three countries not only because they are where a large percentage of U.S. beef exports go, but also because these three countries will be impacted directly by changes in trade policy, Boetel says.

She says the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership leaves a good deal of uncertainty when it comes to trade. A 38.5 percent tariff is placed on beef going to Japan from the U.S., compared to just 9 percent for Australia.

The cattle industry needs to be concerned about whether that market share can be maintained once Australias beef herd has increased, she says. With the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a bilateral agreement with Japan would help to secure a critical market for U.S. beef and increase overall beef demand.

Any agreement to lower the tariff the U.S. faces on beef going into Japan will benefit cattle producers in the long-run.

President Trump has also said he will look into renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Boetel says that adds to the uncertainty with two major beef customers, Mexico and Canada.

And lets face it, recent conversations with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto have not necessarily built goodwill, she says. Pena Nieto has sworn to walk away from NAFTA than accept a new deal that is worse than the current one.
I first met Hayden Hughes six years ago. He was a scrawny young kid, having just graduated from Patrick Henry High School in Ashland. He was headed to James Madison University and just happened to be dating a friends daughter. Like most kids that age, he was full of energy and excitement.

We got to talking one day, and he filled me in on his plans to ride his bike from Virginia Beach to the West Coast the following summer.

To be honest, I didnt really think he would do it. I thought he was just a young kid making empty promises to himself. I know a few things about that from back in the day.

Well, I have been chewing on my crow for quite some time now.

Not only did Hughes make that journey from the East Coast to the West Coast on his bike, he did it by himself. And of course, he stopped along the way and rode a bull at a rodeo in West Yellowstone, Mont.

The next summer, just to try something a little different, Hughes and a college friend, J Keagy, loaded their kayaks and paddled for 52 days and 1,042 miles from the western part of Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico.

Two winters later, Hughes and Keagy longboarded 1,200 miles across Australia from Melbourne to Sydney.

Those are just some of Hughes more adventurous trips. He has traveled to Cuba and been to every state in the U.S. except Hawaii, including a road trip from Anchorage, Alaska, to Seattle in a 43-year-old VW bus.

In my defense, I never vocalized my doubt of Hughes initial adventure; I just didnt believe he would do it.

Hughes lives in Colorado with a few friends from college and is preparing for his next adventure. On April 15, he will hop a plane to Paraguay with a backpack and a longboard. He plans to visit every country in South and Central America in an epic 21-country, 25,000-mile journey home that will be done on his longboard from sponsor, Longboard Larry, by boat, and by hitchhiking, really any means necessary.

I recently asked Hughes a few questions about his journeys.

QUESTION: What was the scariest time during all your travels?

ANSWER: There were a couple of mountains in Australia that probably would have killed me if I crashed my longboard on them. Sliding on gravel near the edge of one cliff shook me up pretty badly.

QUESTION: What does your mother think of your traveling? She must be scared?

ANSWER: She still gets pretty nervous and tries to bribe me out of going, but once she realizes its a lost cause, shes very supportive.

QUESTION: What made you decide on South America and Central America?

ANSWER: Im trying to do at least one big trip through every continent, but the biggest draws for Latin America (is) the Incan, Aztec, Mayan history and just how wild the landscapes and cultures are.

QUESTION: Where does your traveling spirit come from?
A cold front may spark a few storms in the Richmond area this afternoon, followed by the return of some seasonably chilly air.

Some areas will hear thunder this afternoon.

A line of showers with embedded thunderstorms will sweep from west to east across the state this afternoon. The best chance for rain in the Richmond area will be between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., but the duration of any rain is likely to be less than an hour.

Outdoor plans before 2 p.m. are best; the area will still be ahead of the rain chance during the morning and midday hours.

A strong or severe storm cannot be ruled out, but widespread severe weather is unlikely. Damaging wind gusts would be the main concern if the storms turn severe.

Any rain would come to an end before sundown, and the evening is likely to be dry but colder. Due to the fast movement of the showers, most areas will see rain totals lower than 0.2-inches.

Springlike warmth will vanish by tonight.

Today will start out with unusually mild temperatures in the mid and upper 50s.

The high will once again top out in the mid 70s in the afternoon, then drop after the cold front. By evening, itll be back in the 40s with a stiff northwest breeze.

Temperatures may drop close to freezing again on Sunday morning, but for now it looks like most of metro Richmond will start the day in the mid 30s. If the forecast trends colder, sensitive plants might need to be protected.

Despite sunny skies, Sundays high will only make it up to the lower 50s.

Expect chilly mid 30s again on Monday morning, but a mild high in the mid and upper 50s with increasingly cloudy skies. Tuesday and Wednesday will feature showers and more mild weather.
OSAGE | Many brides today are seeking non-traditional locations, dresses, colors and invitations for their special day. In addition, many are starting to choose a non-traditional officiant to oversee the big day.

Thats where Osage resident Jerry Myers can be of assistance to the bride-to-be, with his business, Reverend SCARYjerrys Wedding and Event Service.

Myers said he decided to become a licensed wedding officiant after receiving a call from a high school friend, who was getting married.

One day, I got a call from a guy who was a very good friend in high school, asking me to meet him at the local courthouse, because he was getting married. He wanted me to be there for the event. Myers said. I asked him why he was getting married at a courthouse. He said it was because no one would marry him, because he was going to be in a same-sex marriage.

I told him that wasnt right and to wait while I got my license.

Myers went online and decided to receive a license through the Universal Church of Life, based in Modesto, California.

That was 2010, when the Iowa Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriages were legal in the state. Since then, Myers has completed close to 200 weddings, mainly occurring between April and September.

He has presided over several same-sex marriages, as well as a Christian-Muslim wedding which occurred in Mitchell County.

Many people are not connected to a traditional church, so I offer a non-traditional, personalized wedding experience, Myers said. I spend time getting to know the couple. I then write something for the couple. I can be as religious or non-religious as they want.

Locations of ceremonies are typically community centers or outside locations, although he has done a few in a church. Non-traditional locations have included a biker rally and jail. Myers will also dress accordingly for the wedding, even including a sugar mask for one particular wedding.

Something unique which Myers includes in many of his ceremonies is a Celtic handfasting ceremony. It is when a couple will bind their hands together during the wedding ceremony (before, during or after reciting their vows), often to symbolize their connection and devotion to one another.

I always tell couples the day is about and for them, Myers said, and the people who come are there to just watch.

Myers said the thing he has enjoyed most about being a wedding officiant has been the lasting friendships which have developed.

It has expanded my circle of friends and family, Myers said. I may have never met these people otherwise.

One of the most poignant moments for Myers came this past summer when he married Nicole and Jason Brahm. Jason died in a motorcycle accident shortly after the ceremony.

They were a great couple to work with, Myers said. I did his wedding and his funeral three weeks apart. My wife, Erin, and I continue to be very close to Nicole.

That is just one of many stories of friendships Myers has developed over the past seven years.

Myers had joked his tagline was Marry, bury and baptize. Last summer, he did two funerals.

With working full-time at Harley Davidson in Mason City, which includes Saturdays, Myers is not always able to perform a ceremony, so Erin has also become a licensed officiant.

We have done some ceremonies together, he said. We have traveled as far as Des Moines and Minneapolis for ceremonies.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
BLACKSBURG  Vintage Cellar owner Keith Roberts has learned at least one important lesson after almost 40 years in the craft beer world: The weirder they are, the better they sell.

Thats why he said forget it to wine and cheese on Friday, instead serving up the bottle shops first ever beer and doughnut tasting event.

There was a cinnamon cider served alongside chopped apple-filled doughnuts. Another one of the six featured pairings offered Oskar Blues Death By Coconut stout with coconut doughnuts.

Dale Savoy, a 22-year-old Virginia Tech senior, said he didnt expect the combo to work as well as it did. Even he was a little surprised when he walked away with a blueberry ale and plans to recreate one of the combinations at home.

The whole thing is silly, Roberts admits. But its popular.

A lot of these are dessert beers. Years ago, they used to just roast the malt so you get these hints of chocolate and coffee, he said. Now they just put in the chocolate. So now you dont know if you got a latte down at Starbucks or if youre drinking a beer. I mean, breakfast stout? What the ?

Vintage Cellar, which sells specialty foods, beers and wines, has held free wine tastings for more than 30 years and beer tastings for at least 20 years.

The store used to partner with Next Door Bake Shop for its accompaniments. A couple weeks ago it did a beer and pizza day with Dominos. On Friday, Carol Lee Donut Shop provided 18 dozen treats for the inaugural beer and doughnut event.

For Roberts, its all about giving the people what they want.

Years ago, when people were asking for these chili pepper [beers], I used to just ask why, he said. Well, I stopped that 30 years ago.

Roberts said he was expecting about 200 people at the Friday event, running from noon to 5 p.m. Wine tastings at Vintage Cellar bring up to 600, he said. Many buy something they got to try for free, which helps the business.

A store manager said there is no specific plan to hold another beer/doughnut pairing event, but it may be back by popular demand.

But hes also aware many of his customers in a college town are likely new to the world of high-end beers.

Savoy and his girlfriend, 21-year-old Gabriela Roldan, said theyre just now starting to venture out of the supermarket Bud Light section. Roldan admits she doesnt know anything about beer, but I like dougnuts.

By having knowledgeable people pouring, its always a learning experience, Roberts said. They always come in for their lesson.
An accident that killed a subcontractor employee at the WestRock Co. plant in Covington last October was caused by an explosion, an investigation by state regulators has determined.

The employee was seated on a bleacher step next to a pressure vessel at the paper mill when one of eight man hatches blew out, according to a summary of the incident recently posted to the website of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The metal door, which measured 2 feet in diameter, struck the employee.

The case remains under investigation by OSHAs state counterpart, the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Compliance Program.

WestRock officials have declined to provide details of the accident, which happened at 3:15 a.m. Oct. 6.

An autopsy found that Kent Duane Johnson, 57, of Cushing, Minnesota, died of blunt force trauma to the neck and chest from the blast.

Johnson, a mechanical engineer, was working for Valmet, a contractor hired to do a rebuild project at the paper mill. Johnson was self-employed and traveled across the country to do service engineering work at paper and pulp mills, often when the plants were closed for the night.

A WestRock spokeswoman said Friday that she could not elaborate on OSHAs preliminary report because the accident was still under review and because the victim was not a company employee.

The brief summary of the ongoing investigation does not indicate a cause of the explosion.

WestRock, created in the 2015 merger of Richmond-based MeadWestvaco Corp. and Georgia-based Rock-Tenn Co., is a major employer in Alleghany County. The company makes paper and packaging such as cardboard boxes and folding cartons.
KINGSLEY | The body of a Kingsley woman missing since Sunday was found early Tuesday in a creek near Kingsley.

The Plymouth County Sheriff's Office said that the body of Lisa Derby, 57, was discovered at about 8 a.m. Tuesday by a man living at 43755 County Road C-66.

The man had called authorities to report that he had been checking the unnamed creek, which is near his home, when he found an unresponsive woman in the creek.

Police, rescue and sheriff's personnel responded to the scene and determined that the woman was dead. She was taken to Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars, where she was identified.

Family members had notified Kingsley police at 10:30 p.m. Sunday that Derby has been missing from her home since approximately 5 p.m. Sunday and that family and friends had been unable to find her.

Authorities continue to investigate her disappearance.
Without wanting to kick a gift-horse in the mouth, rural school superintendents said Thursday theyd hoped state help for districts struggling with enrollment losses would be more substantial.

The joint House and Senate budget proposal announced this week sets aside $7.3 million to boost funding for 42 districts that have lost 5 percent of their students or more in a five-year span.

As soon as the proposal was unveiled, superintendents rushed to see if their district made the cut. Initial relief at seeing his district qualify was tempered by the realization that nearby districts didnt, said Greg Mullins, whose Wise County is set to receive the largest supplement, about $416,600.

Its kind of tough to see some walk away without help, Mullins said. I know you cant just say anyone that needs some money just line up and well give you some cash.  But youd just think the tent would have been big enough for everyone to get under.

Wise County and the seven other school districts in Virginias coal-producing localities began pushing for state help last year to address a funding crisis brought on by unprecedented enrollment declines. In coal country, families moved away as mines closed, but similar enrollment losses have been seen in areas with manufacturing job losses like Southside Virginia.

Every lost student means less money for districts, but fewer students doesnt necessarily mean savings. Districts with unexpected enrollment losses used to receive a percentage of funding based on original projections, but the provision guaranteeing that was taken away during the recession.

The initial eight-district coalition grew to include most of Southwest and Western Virginia, from Alleghany to Pittsylvania counties. Restoring this hold harmless clause for enrollment losses was one of three requests the group made; members also requested the state keep its share of a planned 2 percent raise for teachers and asked the state to push back planned Virginia Retirement System rate increases.

The proposed joint budget gives school districts modest relief in two of the three areas, enrollment and raises. The joint proposal rejects the one-time bonus proposed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe and instead provides a state share for a 2 percent raise effective in February 2018.

The districts that qualify for the enrollment loss subsidy are slated to receive between $75,000 and $416,600, money that will come to districts this year. The average boost is about $173,000.

Five of the eight coalfield districts qualified for enrollment loss money; Russell and Scott counties and Norton did not.

Gina Wohlford, Nortons interim superintendent, said she fully expected to be on the list and was shocked to learn the district missed the cutoff by fourth-tenths of a percentage point. For her small district of about 800 students, that means the district missed qualifying for a $75,000 boost by one student.

Its been a very tough day, Wohlford said. Shes hoping that before Fridays final vote on the budget, legislators will agree to round up the cutoff calculation and include Norton.

Though disappointed, Wohlford and other school leaders emphasized how grateful they were for the attention placed on public education during this years General Assembly session.

Jeff Perry, Wythe Countys superintendent, said in all his decades working in public schools hed never seen this level of attention to education concerns, nor had he had an audience with top legislators to talk about concerns until this year. Perry said he credited the coalition for that attention.

When you bring that many folks to the table, they have to listen, Perry said.

Mullins said that while school leaders didnt get everything they asked for, they made huge strides. The group is already strategizing about next year, he said.

Im very proud to be part of that group, Mullins said. Obviously for quite some time our voice has been a very small voice, and at times almost inaudible. I feel a great deal of pride when I think of my colleagues that joined that effort and what we accomplished.
WAVERLY  Gregory Stringfields chest tightened as he described the phone call from his mother confirming the dead, and the worst moment of his life, which followed.

He put his hand over his heart, willing it to keep beating, as he recalled coming to his sisters hospital bedside with the news that her toddler son was among the dead, along with their brother, and her boyfriend, all of whom were sent skyward when a tornado ripped through their mobile home off U.S. 460 in Waverly.

She kept asking us, Wheres my baby? Wheres my baby?  she wouldnt let up, Stringfield said. I couldnt [tell her] alone.

Ian Lewis, 2, Devine Stringfield, 26, and Larry Turner, 50, were directly in the winding path of a tornado with wind speeds up to 110 mph. It snapped trees, halved a house, and sent fences flying along its 9-mile journey.

Eight tornadoes struck Virginia on Feb. 24, 2016, with one person also killed in Appomattox County.

One year later, tarps still cover some roofs in Waverly, a town of about 2,100 dissected by railroad tracks and U.S. 460. Waverly boasts a single stoplight and a McDonalds; residents trek to Petersburg or Wakefield to buy their groceries.

Its amazing that some of these tarps are still up, said Donald Vann, a contractor who volunteered his companys services after the storms, as he inspected a row of houses off West Main Street this week.

Gaps where homes once stood stand out like broken teeth. Paul Logan, then 21, was in one of them when the storms hit.

Logan had just returned from a shift at McDonalds and was sitting in the back of the house when the power cut off. He walked toward the stairs to investigate and heard a noise hell never forget.

There was a curtain over the entrance to the living room and it just got sucked forward, and I saw the front of the house just fly off the frame, Logan said.

The entire living room and upstairs room was in the front yard.

Mayor Walter Mason said Waverly has applied for federal assistance to repair houses of the citys poor. Many people remain displaced a year later, he said.

We are so grateful, especially to members of the faith community who are out there actively working still to help us come back from this tragedy, Mason said.

He was out campaigning for his current job when the skies darkened over Waverly last year, signaling the coming storms. Turner was his second cousin.

It was just devastating, Mason said. Personally, and for the town, where we already have financial problems.

The disaster compounded the harsh economic realities of a town left behind decades ago, when mills and factories closed across Southside Virginia. Waverlys median household income is about half the statewide average.

Its even more unfortunate that the tornados path took it through a part of town where people were less likely to have homeowners insurance, said Vann, the contractor.

He left a project in Florida at 4:30 a.m. the day after the tornado struck and drove straight home. He stopped only to drop off his wife and gather supplies before coming to help.

Vann, his son and company workers stayed over a week.

When offers of paid work flooded in, Vann shrugged them off, unwilling to capitalize on someones tragedy.

Ive been in a position where I really needed help and people were there for me, he said. This time, I got to be there for someone else.

Logan, like many others, still is rebounding. He moved in with extended family at first but had to move again when their circumstances changed.

After a tough period, Logan has found new roommates and more work and said he feels hopeful that things are moving in the right direction.

Mason holds hope, too  not just for the storm, but for grants and loans the town is pursuing to fix aging infrastructure and boost economic development.

His heart is set on luring a grocery store to replace a Fresh Pride that has been shuttered since 2014.

Were coming back. Were hard-nosed people in Waverly, he said. We put our backs into it and we get the job done.
The small black pouch left behind in a Virginia General Assembly conference room last week looked like it couldve been a wallet.

But when a state senator picked it up to try to identify its owner, she didnt find a drivers license and credit cards. She found a gun.

The handguns owner  state Sen. John Cosgrove Jr., R-Chesapeake  had been in the fifth-floor meeting room last Monday to pitch a bill on vehicle safety inspections to a House of Delegates subcommittee on transportation.

After he finished his testimony, he left without his weapon. It lay unattended on a chair.

His colleague found it when she flipped open the holster.

My Northern Virginia heart went pitter-patter, Sen. Jennifer Wexton, D-Loudoun, said of her discovery in an interview Thursday.

When asked about the incident, Cosgrove, a 62-year-old retired naval officer who has served in the General Assembly for 15 years, initially declined to comment and walked away from a reporter. But in a later interview, he acknowledged it had occurred and characterized it as a minor slip-up.

It just basically came off and my colleagues picked it up and brought it right back to me. And that was it, Cosgrove said. No bullet in the chamber. Safety was on.

Cosgrove said he had clipped the new holster next to his pants instead of his belt. He estimated he had lost possession of the gun, which was loaded, for about 20 minutes before it was returned to him.

It was a good lesson for me to make sure I wore it right, Cosgrove said.

Wexton saw a slightly different lesson.

A lot of people in the General Assembly seem to think that more guns are the answer to everything, and then one of my fellow legislators carelessly leaves a gun sitting in the middle of a public place, she said.

It makes me concerned, and there seems to be a disconnect.

The incident appeared to have been kept largely under wraps. Wexton said she immediately showed her find to the subcommittee, presented her bill and left, unsure of what happened to the gun.

Capt. Ronald C Maxey Jr. of Virginia State Police was in the room and offered to return it to Cosgrove.

Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for Virginia State Police, said Thursday that Maxey did not realize that the item contained a firearm and did not return it to Cosgrove. He didnt even know what it was, she said.

How the gun made its way back to its owner remains a mystery.

Cosgrove said the gun was returned by a Democrat, but would not say whom. Del. Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg, the subcommittee chairman, said Del. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, took care of it. Pillion also walked away from a reporter when asked about the matter, but later said: Talk to Cosgrove.

Multiple lawmakers on the panel said Thursday that they were unaware that the item discovered at their meeting was a holstered gun.

If you have something like that, thats your right. But youve got to be extra careful, too, said Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton.

Though Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, has banned guns in most state buildings, firearms are allowed in the Capitol and General Assembly Building, which are under the purview of the GOP-controlled legislature.

Visitors to the buildings are screened in metal detectors, but its not unusual to see gun-rights activists openly carrying weapons.

Lawmakers also are free to carry out their legislative work while armed, and Cosgrove is a longtime concealed-carry permit holder who said he carries all the time.

An infamous gun-related gaffe occurred in the 2006 session, when then-Del. John Reid, R-Henrico, accidentally fired a gun he was unloading in his office. Luckily, the bullet hit a bullet-resistant vest hanging on his office door.

Cosgrove said he feels his dropped gun never posed a danger, because it was found immediately.

It doesnt look like a handgun, Cosgrove said. It looks like an iPod or an iPad.
MUSCATINE | U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said Thursday she is glad people are paying attention to their government, but hopes they will begin to pose thoughtful questions and listen to the answers.

She made the remarks during a private tour of Carver Pump in Muscatine, the 13th stop on her 99 County Tour of Iowa.

During Tuesday's veterans roundtable in Maquoketa  a public event  Ernst was met by about 300 people, many protesters, who chanted phrases like, "you work for us" and "investigate Trump."

"It was on the schedule to be a veteran's roundtable and unfortunately we were not able to get to the crux of some of these issues we were hearing," Ernst said Thursday.

Ernst said it was "OK" to take a variety of questions because it was a public event, but people talked over her, which made it difficult to answer their questions.

"Even though I'm trying to answer questions, they're not really there to listen," she said.

Ernst said she would prefer "thoughtful questions coming from the audience," and a chance to explain what Congress is working on.

"But at least they're coming out, I mean at least people are interested in government," she said.

Similar protests critical of the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress have occurred nationwide, as lawmakers returned to their districts for the Congressional recess, according to national media reports.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, faced a crowd of about 100 in Garner Tuesday and around 125 in Charles City Thursday.

The people who are protesting Iowa's senator delegation may be upset their party is not in office, Ernst said.

"They want to make sure that we're taking note of them, but understanding that when the majority of people in Iowa came out they supported President Trump," she said.

Ernst said the Congressional vote schedule can be erratic, and Congress will be in session more often this year, but that she and Grassley were committed to their 99 County Tour. Stops so far have included a town meeting at a YMCA in Red Oak, an economic development roundtable in Indianola, and a coffee in Winterset.

"We've done it every year, that won't change," she said. "I don't see that changing not at all. So we'll have other forums; we'll have other town hall opportunities to visit with folks."

Ernst said she hopes to hear thoughtful questions from those attending town hall forums.

"And hopefully we can just really have a good dialogue," she said.
DES MOINES  More than a half century after Iowas death penalty ended, a group of Senate Republicans wants to allow capital punishment in cases where an adult kidnaps, rapes and murders a minor.

Senate File 335 would restore capital punishment in Iowa for the first time since 1965 by establishing a two-pronged process whereby a jury or judge could convict a perpetrator of committing multiple Class A offenses, and separately make a decision whether to execute the offender by lethal injection.

Any death penalty conviction automatically would be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, and juvenile offenders would not be eligible for capital punishment.

Its narrowly scoped, said Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel, one of six GOP senators who introduced the measure Wednesday. Sen. Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City, also filed a death-penalty bill with slightly different provisions.

Right now there is no criminal charge difference, said Chapman, who noted that committing one or more Class A felonies carries a maximum of life in prison, so theres no deterrent for a kidnapper or rapist not to kill the victim.

What this says is that if you do all three, you are going to be in line for the death penalty, he noted. Not only is it a deterrent from someone thinking of taking that next step having kidnapped and raped and then considering killing that individual, it also is  for me  the penalty is fitting for the crime. So you have two aspects: you have the deterrence but then you also have if it does happen, what is the proper, just punishment for that crime?

Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a bill co-sponsor, said the bill is arriving with the sessions first funnel deadline approaching at the end of next week for non-money bills to have cleared at least one standing committee to remain eligible for debate this year.

He said he hoped to schedule a subcommittee meeting next week but he was uncertain how far the measure would go this session.

He said the 2005 Eastern Iowa kidnapping and murder of 10-year-old Jetseta Gage is often cited as an example of why the death penalty is needed. In that case, Roger Bentley, a convicted sex offender and friend of Gages family, was convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in 2006 and sentenced to two consecutive mandatory life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole.

We have talked about this for many years, Zaun said of reinstating capital punishment. Theres no higher penalty if you kill off your witness. I typically am not a big death penalty person, but I think in this particular situation where a child is raped then killed, I agree that the death penalty is in order.

Sen. Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, said she was in the House when lawmakers debated reinstating the death penalty in 1995.

We spent an enormous amount of time and emotional energy  thats part of our job  trying to decide whether or not that was a good thing for Iowa to do and the answer was no, Jochum noted. So weve been through this more than once before and I think that in Iowa if you are convicted of a capital crime  life is life. You are going to die in prison and I think thats satisfactory.

Earlier this month, Republicans who control the Legislature introduced a major rewrite of Iowas collective bargaining law and passed it within 10 days using a procedural move that ended debate and brought the issue to a vote. Jochum said if Republicans use the same expedited procedure for this issue it would be an absolute injustice, truly, to give something of that magnitude that short a period of time where the state is sanctioning killing people.

Regardless of the offense they committed, she added, were still going into the same gutter that others are in and I dont think the state should be involved in it. Life is life.
A day after the University of Iowa began notifying 2,440 students they wont get scholarship money they expected this fall due to state budget cuts, House Speaker Linda Upmeyer slammed the move Thursday as "politics at its worst."

Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, suggested the university tap into the $2 billion its foundation collected in a fundraising campaign.

Its very disappointing that the University of Iowa is choosing to play politics with scholarships and the lives of parents and students, Upmeyer said in a statement.

On Wednesday, UI President Bruce Harreld told lawmakers his institution is cutting several non-merit and non-need-based scholarship programs in response to an $8 million takeback in state appropriations in the current budget year.

That means student recipients of the eliminated programs  like the Iowa Heritage Award that gives aid to students with a parent or guardian who is an alumni  wont get money they expected next school year.

Dropping the scholarships  which could affect the recipients beyond next year  is expected to save the university $4.3 million.

But Upmeyer questioned the need to yank the aid, referring to an earlier comment from Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter that state universities would be able to make reductions, based on the governors budget recommendation, with minimal impact on students.

That comment came after Gov. Terry Branstad proposed taking back $25.5 million from the regent universities. But lawmakers softened those reductions further, Upmeyer said.

In December, the Legislature agreed to cut $18 million from the base of state funds allocated to universities  $8 million each from the UI and Iowa State University and $2 million from University of Northern Iowa.

Those cuts, which are part of a larger statewide de-appropriation due to a budget shortfall, are expected to persist past this budget year because they pull from the base of annual allocations.

But Upmeyer seemed to believe otherwise, saying: These cuts to financial aid scholarships are for next school year, and the Legislature hasnt even appropriated money to the regents yet.

Lawmakers still are considering the regents request for a 2 percent increase in state support for the next budget year. Even if approved, that wouldnt make up for the $18 million hit.

Now Rastetter said hed like to know if the Legislature intends to restore this years cuts.

Unless Im misinterpreting Speaker Upmeyer, to add back in that $8 million that just got cut, we have to assume thats a permanent cut, Rastetter said. Well try and clarify that with her, and hopefully that means that they dont plan on it being a permanent cut.

Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said Democrats were ready, willing and able to vote on increased funding to help the UI. But he also called on the university to reconsider  if it can.

This is really bad. I have already communicated with the University of Iowa that if theres any way they can avoid doing this, they should do that, Hogg said. But Im imploring this body and this Legislature to act.

Upmeyer indicated a place to look for the money is the UIs recent historic fundraising campaign, which took in nearly $2 billion.

Surely some of that money could have been used to make up the difference, she said.

Harreld has said that even though the UI brings in major donations through its foundation, that money is restricted by donor intent on how it can be used.
CHARLES CITY | Police in Charles City are searching for the owner of a backpack containing items used to make methamphetamine.

A resident spotted the abandoned backpack and called police about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Police Chief Hugh Anderson said it was off the Charley Western trail in a wooded area behind Charles Street.

It contained items officers believe were used to make meth.

"Basically a discarded meth lab," Anderson said.

No arrests have been made.

In May, a backpack containing similar items was found stashed along tree line in the 1400 block of Gilbert Street.

The Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement took possession of items in both instances. The incidents were both reported by local residents.

Anderson said it's important residents call police when they find containers, jars or bottles laying around.

All of those things could contain chemicals used in meth labs. And, those chemicals may still cause harm even after the the lab is abandoned and the items are thrown away.
Human Rights Watch reported that Israeli authorities denied its application for a work permit submitted by the organizations Israel and Palestine director on the grounds that it is not a real human rights group.

In his reply to the application, Moshe Nakash, Permit Division Director at Israels Administration Service for Employers and Foreign Workers cited the opinion received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which noted that, for some time now, this organizations public activities and reports have engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of human rights, and therefore recommended denying the application.

Emmanuel Nahshon, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman confirmed the decision, according to the Guardian. Suggesting a wider policy, Nahshon said other organisations such as Amnesty International would be assessed on a case by case basis, the daily said.

According to Human Rights Watch, the denial comes as the authorities seek to limit the space for local and international human rights groups to operate in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories increasing pressure on human rights defenders operating there.

The decision marks an ominous turn after nearly three decades during which Human Rights Watch staff have had regular access without impediments to Israel and the West Bank, the organisation said. Israel, though, has refused Human Rights Watch access to Gaza since 2010, except for one visit in 2016.

The latest moves come in the midst of a wider chilling of the atmosphere in Israel against human rights activists, the Guardian said. The daily mentioned that last year, the Israeli parliament passed a controversial law compelling Israeli NGOs that receive most of their funding from foreign state entities to declare it in official reports and added that the law was applicable to some 25 NGOs.

Theodor Lisovoy, Rough&Polished, Moscow




Reading & Northern Railroad has named William Clark as senior vice president  Coal where he will be responsible for managing the anthracite coal business, as well as the railroad's freight car fleet of more than 1,200 cars.

Clark joins Reading & Northern from Talen Energy (formerly PPL) where he managed logistics, coal purchasing and the oversight of a fleet of more than 2,000 rail cars serving four power plants. Prior to joining Talen/PPL, Clark spent 14 years at Norfolk Southern and has also worked at the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad and Iowa Interstate Railroad.

Michael Sharadin, assistant vice president Coal Marketing and Steve Werley, customer service manager for the anthracite business will assist Clark in his new position. Clark will report to Wayne Michel, president of the railroad, once he reports to work on March 1, 2017.

In announcing the hiring Michel said, We are excited to have Bill join our team. The roots of our railroad are in the anthracite business; a business that was crucial to the growth of our region and the nation. We have seen evidence of a growing interest in anthracite use in the domestic steel business and for exports. Having Bill join our team at this critical juncture gives us our best opportunity to help our customers, who mine almost all of the North American anthracite, in their efforts to get their material to the end users. In addition, Bills 30+ years of experience in railroad marketing will make him an invaluable resource to all of us at the Reading & Northern as we continue to grow our business.
Singapore will on Friday release January figures for industrial production, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Output is expected to gain 2.8 percent on month and 7.5 percent on year after spiking 6.4 percent on month and 21.3 percent on year in December.

Taiwan will see January figures for unemployment, with the jobless rate expected to ease to 3.8 percent from 3.82 percent in December.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
Consumer sentiment from France is due on Friday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.45 am ET, the French statistical office is scheduled to issue consumer sentiment data for February. The consumer sentiment index is seen unchanged at 100 in February.

At 3.00 am ET, Spain's INE releases producer prices for January. Prices had increased 2.8 percent year-on-year in December.

In the meantime, the National Institute of Economic Research is set to issue Sweden's economic tendency survey results. The economic tendency survey index is forecast to fall to 111.1 in February from 112 in January.

Also, Czech and consumer sentiment survey data is due.

At 5.00 am ET, Italy's business and consumer sentiment survey results are due. The business sentiment index is forecast to fall to 104.6 in February from 104.8 in January. Also, the consumer sentiment indicator is expected to remain unchanged at 108.8.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
German hospital operator Rhoen-Klinikum AG (RKKPF.PK) said it expects only modest organic growth and revenues of between 1.20 billion euros and 1.23 billion euros for the current financial year 2017

It reported that preliminary net consolidated profit was 58.6 million euros in fiscal year 2016. Corporate revenues stood at 1.18 billion euros with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounting to 156.9 million euros. This included dissolving provisions which affected the income statement in the amount of 42.0 million euros. EBITDA without these subsequent transaction effects amounted to 114.9 million euros.

A total of 813,747 patients were treated in the Rhoen-Klinikum hospitals in financial year 2016.

For the current financial year 2017 the company expects regulatory legislation to place a burden on future . This concerns reduced remuneration for cardiological and special orthopaedic services as envisaged in the DRG catalogue as well as larger discounts for additional services. Against this background it expects only modest organic growth and revenues of between 1.20 billion euros and 1.23 billion euros.

Operative and downstream group structures are currently being assessed with respect to their efficiency and adjustments will be made in the future, if necessary. It is not currently possible to forecast an explicit income statement figure for financial year 2017 due to the resulting effects on the income statement which cannot yet be conclusively specified. This will be given later on during the first six months of 2017.

It can be assumed, however, that both one-off effects as well as the structure of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) will be burdened in 2017 and will be clearly lower in comparison with last year.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
German stocks fell in early trade Friday as sudden falls in copper and other commodity prices coupled with lingering worries surrounding the French presidential election sapped investors' appetite for risk.

Also, with U.S. foreign policy injecting uncertainty, market participants look forward to President Donald Trump's address to House and Senate lawmakers Tuesday for further direction.

The benchmark DAX was down 43 points or 0.36 percent at 11,904 in opening deals after declining 0.4 percent on Thursday.

Chemicals giant BASF lost nearly 3 percent. The company remains cautiously optimistic for 2017 after reporting a rise in fourth-quarter profit adjusted for one-off items.

Nordex shares fell as much as 11 percent after the wind turbines maker lowered its 2017 revenue forecast, citing sluggish conditions in certain core markets.

Rhoen-Klinikum shares plunged 8 percent. The hospital operator said it expects only modest organic growth and revenues of between 1.20 billion euros and 1.23 billion euros for the current financial year 2017.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
Bay Street remains on edge Friday morning amid worries the rally in U.S. equities is nearing an end.

Markets on both sides of the border are showing signs of strain amid valuation concerns, as all major stock indices hit record highs of late.

Energy stocks may struggle today, as WTI light sweet crude oil has slipped near $54 a barrel.

On the flip side, upbeat earnings news may give support to financials.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) beat estimates as its first quarter profit jumped 24%.

Net income rose to $3.03 billion, from $2.45 billion a year ago with earnings per share rising to $1.97 per share, compared with $1.58 a year earlier.

Auto parts maker Magna International (MG.TO) reported a disappointing quarterly profit on higher costs.

Oil producer Husky Energy (HSY.TO) posted a fourth-quarter profit, compared with a year-earlier loss.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA.TO) and DigitalGlobe, Inc. (DGI) announced a merger agreement, pursuant to which MDA will acquire DigitalGlobe for $35.00 per share in a combination of cash and stock.

In economic news, Stats Canada's Consumer Price Index rose 2.1% on a year-over-year basis in January, following a 1.5% increase in December.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index was up 0.7% in January, after increasing 0.4% in December.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 49.02 points to 15,781.20 yesterday.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
MASON CITY | A Wyoming man on parole for armed robbery faces new charges after allegedly trying to steal a machete and B.B. gun from a Mason City store.

Shannon Alton Winters, 41, of Rivertown, Wyoming, was charged Thursday with felony first-degree robbery, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and a misdemeanor theft-detection violation.

Staffers at Mills Fleet Farm called police about 4 p.m. and reported they were trying to detain a man and woman for shoplifting from the store at 3200 Fourth St. S.W.

While en route, officers received a call that the man had displayed a gun in the store parking lot.

Police say they found Winters waving a can of pepper spray.

He was quickly taken into custody, and a search revealed a machete and B.B. gun -- both believed to have been taken from the store -- and hypodermic needle, police say.

Police say Winters pointed the pepper spray can at the Fleet Farm employees and a police officer, but did not fire the pepper spray or pull the B.B. gun or machete out of his waistband.

Mishia Jo Oldaker, 36, of Casper, Wyoming, was arrested for misdemeanor fourth-degree theft.

According to the police, Winters and Oldaker had concealed merchandise with a value of $356.22 and left the store without attempting to pay for the items.

In addition to the Mason City charges, Winters also was held on a Wyoming parole revocation warrant for aggravated robbery.
In stark contrast to the growing number of advocates in favor of universal basic income or UBI, mogul Mark Cuban has said that adoption of such a policy would be the worst possible response to the impending job losses due to robots and artificial intelligence.

Cuban, a tech investor and owner of Dallas Mavericks, tweeted earlier this week that we need to prepare for the impending job losses as a result of robotic automation.

In response to his tweet, Scott Santens, an advocate of universal basic income, asked Cuban whether he agreed that UBI would be the best response. Cuban answered that it would be one of the "worst possible responses" to the problem.

Universal Basic Income is a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country regularly receive an unconditional sum of money, either from a government or some other public institution, in addition to any income received from elsewhere. They will receive the money regardless of whether they are working or not.

UBI advocates say that giving cash to citizens is a better option than the current system of welfare programs in many countries and does not incentivize unemployment.

In response to Cuban's tweet, Santens tweeted with a picture of a fact sheet that showed entrepreneurship surging as a result of UBI.

According to Santens, Namibia saw self-employment rising 301 percent after the implementation of UBI, while a third of recipients in Liberia started their own business. Santens added that in India, recipients of basic income were three times as likely to start a business.

Cuban rejected the argument, saying he had spent a "lot of time looking" at UBI and did not see these countries as "being apples to apples". This resulted in a back and forth exchange between the two.

Santens said that existing safety net programs create disincentives for people to work, to which Cuban replied that it can be fixed.

However, in stark contrast to Cuban, several others in the industry, such as Tesla founder Elon Musk and Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff, have voiced their opinion in favor of UBI.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Jamie Foxx was reportedly the target of a racial slur while he was in Croatia. Two people allegedly used a racial slur to insult him while he was dining in a restaurant.

According to the Associated Press, Croatian police filed disorderly conduct charges against the two people after receiving reports on Sunday of "particularly arrogant and rude" insults made against a restaurant patron, as well as "one of the guests on racial grounds."

Police told the AP they were investigating whether to pursue other charges against the two men.

Foxx took to social media to address the incident in now-deleted posts, in which he filmed the men being escorted out of the restaurant. "They drunk up in here," Foxx said in a video that has been removed from Instagram.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Entertainment News
OSAGE | Taylor Dohlman, a sophomore at Iowa State University majoring in agricultural business and minoring in public relations, recently received her American Farmer Degree.

Dohlman was one of only 131 Iowa FFA members receiving the honor at the organization's national convention in Indiana in October 2016.

Only one percent of the FFA national membership is eligible for the organizations highest degree.

Dohlman, daughter of Jim and Michelle Dohlman, was raised on an acreage near Osage and attended Osage Schools, graduating in 2014.

Her dad, Jim, farms, and her mom, Michelle, is a counselor at Osage High School. The family recently moved to a farm near Chester. Taylor has a brother and sister who are juniors at Osage.

Dohlman says she was exposed to agriculture at an early age, which included a dad who farmed, a mom who was an agriculture instructor in Rockford for more than a decade, aunts who also were involved in ag education, and her grandfather, Richard Schaufler, whose career was teaching agriculture and being an FFA adviser.

Schaufler spent eight years teaching in Osage and was Taylors ag instructor and FFA adviser.

Dohlmans own interest in agriculture began with her involvement in 4-H, while in grade school.

During her freshman year of high school, she joined FFA and became a member of the chapters Conduct of Meeting Team, which qualified for state competition.

Her sophomore year, she became a member of the Parliamentary Procedure Team, which also made it to state. She also participated in soil judging and raised Simmental cattle, which she showed at the Mitchell County Fair.

As a junior, Dohlman was treasurer of the Osage FFA Chapter and as a senior, served as the chapters president. During her junior and senior years, she was a part of the ag sales team, which placed first at state competition during her senior year.

In 2014, Taylor received her State Farmer Degree at the FFA State Convention held in Ames.

Dohlman said the application process for the American Farmer Degree was extensive. You have to fill in all the offices you have held, all the committees you were involved and all the Student Career Development Events you participated in.

The applicants also provide information for any community service projects in which they had been involved.

Dohlmans application covered her 50 hours of community service. Much of her community service was through Catholic Heart Work Camp, where she traveled on mission trips to Tennessee, Kansas and Montana, where her youth group worked in low-income areas in cities.

One year, we worked in a womens shelter, where we painted a basement, and did a bit of yard work for them as well, Dohlman said.

Another part of the extensive application centers on the FFA members Supervisor Agricultural Experiences, which are records kept from their freshman year covering work experiences and projects.

Dohlmans records covered her cattle project throughout the years, which included her beef feeders, heifers and cow calf project her senior year. Another SAE was her work experience at Teluwut, where she worked with food.

Dohlman also spent one summer on a detasseling crew.

Recalling her FFA experiences, Dohlman said, I think the list of memories I have is just going places like the State and National Conventions and building relationships with kids.

Dohlman said many of the relationships she experienced in high school with FFA members from other chapters are now being renewed as she encounters those same members on campus.

Dohlman is currently a member of the Agriculture Business Club and Bacon Expo Club at ISU.

While Dohlman is interested in ag communications and ag marketing, she said, I want to stay in the agriculture field, but Im not exactly sure where. I just know I want to do something with ag.
Some parts of Winnebago and Worth County have received 10 inches of snow since Thursday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

Seven inches of snow has fallen in the Mason City area so far.

An additional one to three inches of snow is expected to fall this afternoon and evening in North Iowa as blizzard conditions continue due to strong northwest winds.

Travel is still not advised along Interstate 35 from Highway 20 north to the Minnesota border.

Conditions are expected to improve later this evening as the storm system leaves the area, according to the National Weather Service.

Our earlier story

Travel is not advised on several of the most heavily-traveled highways in North Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Transportation website, 511ia.org, advised motorists against traveling on the following roads because they are completely covered in snow:

* Interstate 35: Iowa-Minnesota border to Dows.

* Highway 65: Iowa-Minnesota border to Sheffield.

* Highway 218: Iowa-Minnesota border to Plainfield.

* Highway 9: Forest City to Riceville.

* Highway 18: Clear Lake to Nashua.

* Highway 122: Clear Lake to the east side of Mason City.

* Highway 14: Greene to Charles City.

Motorists are also expected to encounter blowing snow with low visibilities.

Many other roads across the region were also completely covered in snow as of 10 a.m.

Tow bans were in effect for Franklin, Hancock, Mitchell, Winnebago and Wright counties. A ban for Floyd and Cerro Gordo counties was lifted.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Weather: Blizzard warning holds for North Iowa through Friday

Our earlier story

MASON CITY | Officials say the heaviest snow occurred overnight, but a blizzard warning remains in effect for North Iowa through Friday due to strong winds and some additional snow accumulation.

Weather may cause Globe Gazette delivery delays; stay connected online Due to the winter storm, there will be delays in the delivery of Friday and weekend editions

In advance of the storm, several schools cancelled classes Friday - including NIACC, Mason City, Newman and Clear Lake - and other events were postponed.

"Varied snowfall intensities" will continue through Friday night, according to the National Weather Services. Officials advised rural areas in particular will be susceptible to blizzard and white-out conditions.

An additional 2 to 4 inches of snow is expected today, but the main theme will be the wind. Gusts will reach 45 mph and remain steady through the day at 20 to 30 mph. Visibility will be reduced to one-half mile "for long periods" of time.

In addition to the travel advisories, several tow bans also remain in effect.

Initial story

MASON CITY | A strong winter storm that caught the attention of experts days ago did its predicted damage overnight, dropping several inches of snow across North Iowa and making roads and highways nearly impassable.

The Iowa Department of Transportation advised no unnecessary travel on Interstate 35 from Story City to the Minnesota border.

The same was true for state highways throughout the area - from Forest City and Clear Lake to Cresco and Jackson Junction; and from the Minnesota border to Greene and Plainfield.

Check back for more on this story.
By SA Commercial Prop News

Investment in European logistics and industrial assets rose to 2.9 billion in the final quarter of 2012, reflecting a 41% increase on the previous quarter according to Jones Lang LaSalle research.

Surging investment activity lifted the years total to 8.6 billion. This still reflects a 13% decline on 2011 but the overall slowdown remained below a previously expected 20%+ drop, thus exceeding expectations for the full-year 2012.

"The strong final quarter reflected the increasing investor appetite we witnessed throughout 2012 in the sector. The overall slowdown in transaction activity during 2012 was driven largely by an uneven spread in liquidity across the region, with falls across much of Southern Europe but strong growth in sought after core markets such as France, Germany and Poland." comments Tom Waite, Associate Director European Capital Markets in Jones Lang LaSalle.



We clearly see upside potential in 2013, driven in particular by further large portfolio and platform and deals. We also expect continued demand for strong income producing opportunities, with new market dynamics such as e-tailing and the structural shift in distribution networks leading to greater potential for new stock he concludes.



The strong final quarter was attributed to accelerating activity outside the Top 3 markets (the UK, France and Germany) where high investor interest seen over the previous quarters finally translated into deal activity. Volumes rose significantly in the Netherlands (+67%), Norway (five-fold), Poland (12-fold) and Sweden (six-fold). However, full-year volumes were still behind 2011 in Norway (-77%) and the Netherlands (-35%) whilst growth in Sweden was a marginal 2%.



Activity also picked up again in the UK in Q4 2012. 920 million was invested, reflecting a 41% increase on Q3, to lift full-year volumes in the market to 3.1 billion. Whilst this was still 23% behind 2001 the UK remained the most liquid market and last year recorded the second highest volume traded since 2007, signalling it continues to strongly appeal to investors.



Despite the strong finish to the year, challenging debt market conditions and a lack of core product continued to put some constraint on the market. Only four markets outperformed in terms of year-on-year growth: Poland (four-fold to 0.5 billion), Germany (+44% to 1.6 billion), France (+38% to 1.3 billion) and Russia (+14% to 260 million). Increasing annual investment activity in the first three markets was mainly driven by large portfolio transactions, accounting for 26% of the total in France, 30% in Germany almost 80% in Poland.



Cross-border flows remained a significant feature albeit marginally slowing from 65% in 2011 to just below 60% in 2012 as a whole. Cross-border buyers continued to seek mostly core, low-risk income yielding assets and therefore, mainly invested in the UK, France and Germany. Poland saw a slightly lower volume of foreign purchases but is now clearly joining the three historic core markets in the perception of investors.



The prospect of higher domestic capital gain taxes imposed by the US government certainly contributed to a significantly rising activity from US investors in the final quarter. Investment in European logistics and industrial assets reached a record 810 million in Q4 and for the first time since the start of the series pushed full-year volumes to the 1.3 billion mark.



The European prime logistics yield stabilized in Q4 2012 at 7.50% with movements over the quarter limited to Budapest and Madrid, up 25bps respectively. Continued yield compression on an annual basis was seen in the Big 5 German hubs only (with yields hardening 10bps in Dusseldorf and 15bps respectively in the remaining hubs). Nevertheless, the weighted average European yield moved out by 10bps over the year. This outward movement was caused by continued high investor caution and risk-averseness leading to softening levels in a number of markets throughout the last 12 months: Budapest (+25bps), Glasgow (+25bps), Leeds (+50bps), Madrid (+50bps), Milan (+15bps), Moscow (+50bps), Paris (+20bps) and Stockholm (+25bps).



Logistics capital values remained robust across the core markets in 2012 with on-going growth reported in Germany. However they have come under pressure in the southern periphery as rental levels declined and yields continued to move out. We expect any capital growth in 2013 to be mainly driven by increasing rental levels, although continued strong investor appetite could lead to some yield compression in selected sub-markets over the year, particularly in the core Western European hubs comments Alexandra Tornow, Associate Director, EMEA Logistics and Industrial Research at Jones Lang LaSalle.



Pressure will remain in the markets most affected by the Eurozone crisis, with some further price adjustment likely. On the flipside, capital values in these markets are still between 20-50% below the last market peak. Over the next 12 months this will lead to increasing activity from equity strong investors in particular in markets such as Italy and Spain she adds.
Salina working to make its parks fully accessible

As Salina looks to update and improve its parks, it's doing so with ADA in mind as it seeks to make the parks and recreation system more accessible.
Hundreds of visitors descended upon Samoa yesterday when the Sirena Cruise Ship docked at the Matautu Wharf.

The visitors received a rousing welcome before they disembarked to check out Upolu.

Some guests preferred to laze around in Apia while others immediately boarded the buses which headed out to the villages.

All in all, it was an enjoyable experience for the visitors from all over the world.

Sirena is part of Oceania Cruises. The boat is one of its newest additions to the fleet. It sails throughout the world in the Mediterranean, South America, the Caribbean and of course the Pacific.

Pictured here is the captain of the ship with some of the local officials upon arrival.

Photos: Posi Tapuai and Lionel Fido.
An International Monetary Fund (I.M.F) team led by Niamh Sheridan visited Samoa last week. They were to hold discussions with authorities on the 2017 Article IV* Consultation.

The team met with the Minister of Finance Sili Epa Tuioti, Chief Executive Officer of Ministry of Finance Lavea Tupa'imatuna Iulai Lavea, the Governor of the Central Bank of Samoa (C.B.S), Maiava Atalina Ainuu-Enari.

They also met with senior government officials, as well as development partners and representatives from the private sector.

Staff from the Asian Development Bank (A.D.B.) and the World Bank joined the mission. The team expresses its appreciation to the authorities and relevant stakeholders for the open and constructive discussions. At the conclusion of the meetings, Ms. Sheridan issued the following statement:

The Samoan economy continues to perform well and activity picked up in FY 2015/16 (ending June 30). Tourism arrivals increased; a new processing plant helped boost fishing revenues; and agriculture benefitted from government initiatives and new export markets. Looking ahead, GDP is expected to grow at around 2 percent annually, driven by construction activity, infrastructure development and improvements in the business environment. However, this outlook is subject to downside risks related to natural disasters, strains in correspondent banking relationships and elevated contingent liabilities from public financial institutions (PFIs) and state owned enterprises (SOEs). The closure of the largest manufacturing employer is also likely to adversely affect growth.

Current policy settings of fiscal consolidation combined with accommodative monetary policy are appropriate. This policy mix helps support economic activity while rebuilding fiscal buffers to handle external shocks and natural disasters. The 2015/16 Budget outcome reflected concerted efforts to rationalize expenditure and improve revenue collection and the deficit declined to 0.4 percent from 3.9 percent of GDP. Efforts to consolidate the fiscal position were appropriate, given strong growth and the need to rebuild buffers. To achieve the governments target of reducing public sector debt to 50 percent of GDP by 2020, continued expenditure restraint is needed but health, education and climate resilient infrastructure expenditure should be prioritized. Additional measures are needed to shore-up revenues including through improved compliance and by broadening the tax base.

Samoas remittance sector is facing increasing challenges and many money transfer operators (MTOs) are experiencing difficulties in accessing financial services  referred to as derisking. Remittances are approximately 18 percent of GDP and about 80 percent are channeled through MTOs. Derisking is increasing the fragility of the remittances sector and is likely to further increase the cost of remittances. The Samoan authorities have taken important steps to address derisking, including active engagement with global stakeholders. Recent publication of the national strategy for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) was an important step and the mission encourages continued efforts to enhance compliance with global AML/CFT standards. The mission welcomes the authorities commitment to establish a database, referred to as Know-your-Customer utility, which can help facilitate remittances by enhancing compliance. The IMF is supporting the governments efforts through a proposed pilot project and an IMF technical assistance mission is planned for June 2017.

Financial stability indicators suggest a generally sound banking system, though there are risks stemming from high loan concentration, the number of borrowers with a high loan-to-capital ratio, and the potential for a sharp deterioration in asset quality in the event of a natural disaster.

Continued structural reforms are needed to improve Samoas growth prospects. The mission welcomes the governments continued efforts to increase the accountability and efficiency of public enterprises, which will also help alleviate financial sector vulnerabilities. The introduction of the personal property register will improve access to finance and will support private sector growth. Skills shortages remain a significant impediment for businesses and targeted efforts to improve vocational skills and accreditation could help ease these shortages.

The IMF continues to support Samoas reform efforts by providing technical assistance and training in government finance statistics, through the implementation of the enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS). A IMF Statistics Department e-GDDS mission overlapped with the Article IV mission to assist authorities in rolling out the system, making Samoa the first country in the Asia and Pacific region to develop a national data hub.
The South Pacific Tourism Organisation (S.P.T.O.) is creating greater awareness of tourism in the South Pacific Islands region across Europe, through a series of marketing events over the next two months.

Meet the Pacific is a series of one-day business-to-business meetings thats held across five European cities, namely Barcelona, Milan, Prague, Zurich and Manchester from 22 February to 6 March.

It creates the opportune platform for Pacific tourism suppliers to meet with key European tour operators (buyers) who are committed to or interested in selling the South Pacific as a destination to their clients.

Meet The Pacific is a great way for South Pacific tourism bodies and operators to meet with key industry buyers in Europe in a short period of time, and maximize their resources with maximum impact for their particular destinations, product and service offerings, said S.P.T.O. Marketing Manager, Alisi Lutu.

Now in its third year, the event is organised by Rosie Holidays (Fiji) and Turama Pacific (Cook Islands) and supported by S.P.T.O.

On 25 February, S.P.T.O. will also participate in a consumer tourism event called Visit Pacific in Malmo, Sweden.

Visit Pacific organiser Tour Pacific, a Swedish-based South Pacific Travel Specialist, has confirmed 33 exhibiting companies including airlines, cruise operators, tourism offices and hotels from Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti and Vanuatu expected to attend.

S.P.T.Os presence at Visit Pacific will help ensure that the regions smaller Pacific Island destinations get a voice at this key event.

These events lead up to South Pacific Islands participation in I.T.B Berlin, the worlds largest consumer and travel trade show in Europe from 8 to 12 March along with national tourism offices and private sector (airlines, resorts, tour operators) from Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu.

The annual event attracts thousands of participants and experts mainly from the European travel and tourism industry, as well as globally.

Participants at I.T.B. range from all sectors of the tourism and travel industry including travel agents, wholesalers, tour operators, hotels, airlines, media, government representatives and other travel related companies.

S.P.T.O. will use the I.T.B. platform to promote the new South Pacific Islands brand identity, launched in October 2016 into the wider European market, which is highly diverse and remains one of the key consistent markets in the world today.

Total visitor arrivals from Europe to the Pacific Islands region have fluctuated from 177,828 visitors in 2011 to 173,278 visitors in 2015. A decrease of 172,824 visitors is estimated for 2016, which may be largely attributed to impacts of Brexit. The forecast for 2017 is 173,222 visitors.

Participation at Meet the Pacific, Visit the Pacific and I.T.B. 2017 allows Pacific Island countries to invigorate key networks; re-establish contracts; enter new markets by creating business opportunities through sales leads and introduce new products and services to the European travel market.

Europe is the 3rd largest tourist source market, representing about 10% of all visitor arrivals to the Pacific Islands region; following Australia and New Zealand holding steadfast, a combined 50% market share.

It is important for the sustainability of Pacific tourism that we are maintaining marketing and promotional presence and engaging productive partnerships with European travel partners on selling our Pacific Island destinations.

This will help encourage the needed growth of visitor traffic and yields out of these long haul markets into our Pacific island economies, said S.P.T.O. Marketing Manager Alisi Lutu.

S.P.T.O will also promote its online South Pacific Specialist programme to train European travel agents on how to best market and sell the South Pacific to their clients.
Dear Editor,

Every time I watch TV scrolling up and down for a favorite programme to watch from the 6 or so local TV stations, I have noticed with disappointment that for the last two months until just 2 minutes ago..., one of the most important Notices or may I regard it as a Matter of life and death notice relating with the Prevention Measures for the Spread of AIDS at Tattooing has been broadcasted ONLY on the EFKS TV2.

Switching to other stations you will never see it.

Believing not to judge before you have evidence, I was so patient enough to verify my allegation before pointing a finger and yesterday [Thursday] for one hour watching EFKS TV, the notice in question was aired on the same station eight times...WOW !!!!

I couldnt believe it.

Now Im just wondering why this notice is not shared on other TV stations, especially to TV 1, which in actual fact has the best and extensive coverage of ALL TV stations in Samoa.

It would be good for our Ta pea to see and prepare....Tei foi ua faaaiga si a kakou menti ae le gao tagata TV2 e maua i le AIDS... lave lava lea o kakou i ga iigei. Vaai aku lava e sese le mea la e fai ae sulu lava le ulu... Can the Ministry of Health explain why. I will follow this Mr. Editor.

Fia ta sata pea ae fefe ile AIDS.

Matamata Pea
Air New Zealands inaugural Apia flight landed 70 years ago this April - the start of our commitment to stimulating Samoas trade and tourism and connecting our island nations.

As Air New Zealands representative in Apia, Im proud of this 70 year milestone and the genuine relationship thats helped put Samoa on the wish list for travellers worldwide.

Against this background its disappointing to read in the Samoa Observer suggestions by several commentators that were illegally working with Virgin Australia to fix capacity and keep airfares high.

Quite simply, this isnt the case.

To make these claims not only misses Air New Zealands sustained capacity growth on the route, it ignores the competitive market dynamics at play.

To dispel the monopoly myth: theres zero relationship between Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia in Samoa. Yes, we have a regulated alliance with Virgin Australia on our trans-Tasman services.

This relationship is restricted to flights between Australia and New Zealand and under the competition laws that govern us, we do not co-operate on services to any other market  including Samoa where we are strong rivals.

As those who follow our promotional offers will be aware, Air New Zealand fights fiercely for every customer to and from Apia.

Weve significantly increased the number of seats we offer, with extra services and larger aircraft giving customers more travel options. In the last decade, weve added an additional 50,000 seats  an annual average capacity growth of four percent.

Weve accelerated this growth in the last two years, making an extra 18.1 percent seats available in 2016 verses 2014. And were set to boost this unprecedented capacity even further, with an additional 3,700 seats in the next six months.

To fill these extra seats, weve worked hard to stimulate travel with regular sales activity, destination promotion (including supporting the All Blacks tour of Samoa to play Manu Samoa) and of course, offering a great on board experience. For the last six months, weve operated our premium Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner nearly weekly to Samoa and will increase its use in coming months.

I understand that despite these realities theres still a perception that our last minute fares are unjustifiably high and take advantage of families requiring urgent travel.

However, its a fact that fares to all our destinations, including Apia, vary constantly due to many factors including operating costs and passenger demand, and the cheapest fares will always sell out well in advance.

Air New Zealand is committed to providing Samoa with services that are commercially sustainable, attractive to visitors and offer the best possible access for communities here. Id like to thank our many customers for their support over the last 70 years and I look forward to working alongside our local partners to ensure our growing and strong relationship endures.
Whats good for Upolu is also good for Savaii.

With that mantra, the government walked the talk yesterday when it launched the Savaii component of the new $57.4 million submarine cable system, which promises to deliver affordable high-speed internet access to Samoa.

And no one was happier than the Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, who spoke on behalf of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi during the groundbreaking ceremony at Tuasivi.

Today we celebrate the historical ground breaking ceremony for the first ever Cable landing station on the big island of Savaii here at Tuasivi where some government agencies are located, said Sili.

This Cable connection will provide affordable and fast internet connection for the people in Savaii as well as visitors.

Sili reminded the Savaii leg of the journey is a key step in the governments efforts to make Samoa the submarine cable hub of the Pacific region.

But the project would not be possible without the support of key partners.

These include the Asian Development Bank (A.D.B.), World Bank and the government of Australia.

The World Bank Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific, Victoria Kwakwa, was present at the launch.

We all know how vital internet and telecommunications connectivity is to development  enhancing everything from business opportunities, delivery of healthcare and education, disaster resilience and response, and even agriculture, she said.

We are proud to continue working with the government and people of Samoa, and development partners, to expedite the delivery of faster, cheaper connectivity.

At a groundbreaking ceremony, officials turned the first sod to mark the start of construction of what a cable landing station for the new 1,300 kilometer system linking the countrys largest islands, Upolu and Savaii, to the Southern Cross Cable Network in Suva, Fiji, and to the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands via a spur.

In a media statement, the Minister of Communications & Information Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupai, said high-speed internet is essential to improving the lives of ordinary Samoan people.

The government of Samoa is working hard to position our nation as a submarine cable hub for the Pacific  we look forward to realizing this vision with the private sector, and the support of development partners.

The project aims to deliver low-cost broadband services to Samoa and strengthen the regulatory and legal environment for information and communications technology.

The submarine cable project is expected to deliver Samoa a wide range of improvements to public services, including an e-health patient information system to improve patient care within the Samoan health system, as well as significant benefits to education, business, tourism, agriculture, as well as disaster planning and response. The cable is expected to reach land in Apia and Savaii in early 2018.

The outer island of Savaii will be connected to the Tui-Samoa cable, enabling it to receive high-speed internet for the first time, said Robert Jauncey, Regional Director of A.D.Bs South Pacific Subregional Office.

Faster, more affordable broadband should open up new domestic and regional economic opportunities and boost the delivery of public and social services.

Australian High Commissioner to Samoa, Sue Langford, said the Cable is a critical piece of infrastructure for Samoa.

This new cable will enable fast and efficient connectivity that aims to benefit all Samoans. It has potential to transform the way businesses operate and improve service delivery across all sectors.
Tributes are flowing in from all over the world for the passing of former American Samoa Congressman, Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin.

Faleomavaega died on Thursday at his home in Provo, Utah. He was 73.

American Samoa's Governor and Lieutenant Governor expressed their sincere condolences to Faleomavaega's family.

In a statement, they said Faleomavaega was a great public servant who gave his life to serve the people and territory of American Samoa.

Faleomavaega's long time Chief of Staff, now Senator Fai'ivae Alex Iuli said it would be hard to forget the many good deeds by this tireless servant of American Samoa.

Congresswoman Aumua Amata said he was a good friend and a champion for the people of American Samoa.

The Director of the Office of Insular Affairs, Department of Interior, Nikolao Pula, said Faleomavaega was a great leader, an effective Congressman representing American Samoa and a good friend. He will be sorely missed.

The former Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Beningo Fitial, also paid tribute to Faleomavaega.

He said Faleomavaega helped the CNMI during his many years as a US Congressional delegate for American Samoa.

He said he had supported "without any reservation" all CNMI requests for financial assistance to help develop the CNMI economy and improve the livelihood of the people.

Mr. Fitial said the residents of the CNMI are eternally grateful to Faleomavaega for his tremendous help and support.

A sister-in-law, Therese Hunkin, confirmed the death but did not disclose the cause.

The House delegate for American Samoa, which is a U.S. territory about 2,300 miles south of Hawaii, can vote in committee but not on the House floor.

Faleomavaega, a Democrat, became a congressional delegate in 1989 and held the position for 13 consecutive terms.

He began his political career in 1973 as an administrative assistant to Paramount Chief A.U. Fuimaono, the territorys first elected representative to Washington. He served as staff counsel to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs from 1975 to 1981 before returning to American Samoa as its deputy attorney general.

In 1985, he was elected lieutenant governor and became a congressional delegate in 1989. He was a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where he was a ranking member of the subcommittee on Asia, and the House Committee on Natural Resources.

In 1996, Faleomavaega participated in a boycott of an address before a joint session of Congress by French President Jacques Chirac. Just days before Chiracs speech, France conducted a series of nuclear tests at the Moruroa and Fangatauga atolls in the South Pacific, despite worldwide protests.

He was born Eni Hunkin in Vailoatai Village, American Samoa, on Aug. 15, 1944. He graduated from Kahuku High School in Hawaii in 1962, then earned a bachelors degree in political science and history from Utahs Brigham Young University in 1966.

After serving three years in the Army with a stint in Vietnam, he received a law degree from the University of Houston in 1972 and a master of laws degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1973.

During his time in the House, Faleomavaega was challenged over the use of his surname, which is a Matai orator title bestowed upon him by the Faiivae family, of Leone, when he was known as Eni Hunkin.

Faleomavaega is the Samoan chieftain title of the family.

High Chief Faiivae Apelu Galeais, who lost an election to Faleomavaega, asked the High Court of American Samoa in 1997 to strip the delegate of his title. Galeais, the leader of the family clan, said Faleomavaega did not attend family and village meetings and did not contribute to their functions.

Faleomavaega dismissed the complaint as vindictive. Faleomavaega was unseated in 2014 by Republican Aumua Amata Radewagen.

Survivors include his wife, Hinanui Hunkin; five children and 10 grandchildren.
KADUNA, Nigeria (AP)  Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about $200,000) for a German archaeologist and his associate abducted this week from a northern Nigerian village, a worker at the excavation site said. Two villagers were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police confirmed Friday.

The worker said he heard a man make the demand in a telephone call Thursday to the site's supervisor. The caller warned him not to involve police or security forces, said the worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Police special forces and a special investigative team for kidnappings have been searching around the village of Jenjela in the state of Kaduna, where gunmen on Wednesday abducted Professor Peter Breunig and his associate, Johannes Behringer, and walked with them into the bush.

Breunig, 65, and Behringer, who is in his 20s, are part of a four-person team from Frankfurt's Goethe University collaborating with the Nigeria's National Commission for Museum and Monuments to recover relics of the Nok culture. The early Iron Age people are considered the earliest ancient civilization of the region that is now Nigeria, famous for their terracotta sculptures.

Two villagers accompanying the Germans were shot and killed in the kidnapping, police spokesman Aliyu Usman confirmed Friday, adding that police were not aware of any ransom demand.

The kidnappers told police to keep away from them or "they will kill the German archaeologists," said Shehu Musa Tafa, chairman of the Kagarko local government area.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, but victims usually are freed unharmed after a ransom is paid.

Nigeria's acting President Yemi Osinbajo summoned the federal police chief for a briefing Thursday on efforts to find the kidnap victims, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.
Not a peep from U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. To quote the president: "SAD!"

President Donald Trump turned his toxic gaze on hundreds of Iowans Wednesday night.

These are people who drove hundreds of miles to force Grassley and Ernst to recognize their displeasure and alarm.

Many trekked from cities to seek out Ernst and Grassley in their hand-picked friendly rural confines. They're citizens simply looking to engage with their elected officials.

And, true to form, Trump wasn't having it. As if on cue, Trump  a man who expects unquestioning devotion from all Americans  looked to delegitimize the very real concerns of these teachers, farmers and pensioners as some liberal conspiracy.

"The so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists," Trump tweeted. "Sad!"

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer doubled-down Wednesday on the "paid protester" myth.

Trump can attack veterans: Grassley and Ernst say nothing. He can attack religious minorities: They say nothing. He can attack the First Amendment: They say nothing. And, now, he can attack Iowans: They say nothing.

The utter cowardice should enrage every Iowans, regardless of political stripe.

Grassley's event was widely covered by national media outlets. The attention, in part, stems from the power of his Full Grassley.

In 2009, tea party activists at Grassley's events played significant roles in killing bipartisan support for Obamacare. Grassley had been working with the Obama administration until right-wing Iowans turned the screw at home.

Now it's Democrats and liberals rallying support on Facebook resulting in big turn-outs. That's hardly the same as Trump's "paid protesters."

To Grassley's credit, he's one of only a handful of senior members of Congress willing to attend a town hall event these days. Of course, he has little choice. The Full Grassley is an integral part of his public persona.

Coverage by the Lee Des Moines Bureau, the New York Times and Politico of Grassley's Iowa Falls town hall spread across the web like wildfire.

Make no mistake, it was Iowans Trump was labeling conspirators. And, when asked, he at least said there's no "evidence" that those attending his forums are paid protesters.

Ernst wants it both ways. Her event in Maquoketa was billed as a "veterans roundtable," a failed attempt to direct the discussion away from the hatred and disdain for dissent pouring from a White House that she wholeheartedly championed during the election cycle.

Both senators took the heat, if grudgingly so, which is notable when so many are ducking town halls altogether. Grassley remarked about the importance of such gatherings within a representative government.

It's a statement that works well in the local media but won't resonate at the national stage. His utter silence was deafening when his president denounced it all as a sham.

It's become par for the course. Republican members of Congress remained mute when hundreds of thousands took the streets in protest and Trump pulled the same card.

They've said little when he pulled out dog whistles that speak directly to the white nationalists within his base. It took a full-blown browbeating from the Anne Frank Center before Trump would dare speak ill of anti-Semites.

Trump knows his base. If you're with him, you're exempt from his wrath. But you're a paid agitator, should you corner your senator in some small Iowa town and express displeasure with the direction he's taking the GOP.

And Republicans in Congress are too weak to defend their constituents.

It's bad enough that Iowa's senators are avoiding large segments of constituent anger by cherry-picking rural conservative towns for their events.

It's unfortunate that, because of this, people looking to engage in the system must hit the road at the crack of dawn to attend such an event.

It's frustrating that too many opportunities to engage with Iowa's senators are scheduled for mid-day during the work week.

But it's downright unacceptable that Iowa's senators lack the spine to defend Iowans who dare question the Trump administration.

"SAD," indeed.

This editorial appeared in the Feb. 23 edition of the Quad City Times, another Lee Enterprises newspaper.

Editor's note: The Quad City Times published a brief update to the editorial on Feb. 25. It appears below.

Thumbs up to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley who, after a slew of nasty town hall meetings, stood up for constituents amid attempts by the White House to delegitimize them.

Grassley initially hedged when the Trump administration blamed the firestorm facing members of Congress on "paid protesters," merely saying he hadn't seen evidence to support the White House claim.

But, in the days since, Grassley has more forcefully rejected the White House assertion, even though it's directed at many of his political opponents. We hope his pushback becomes more vocal, especially in Washington.

That's more like the Grassley we've come to know.
Illumina is the largest genomics company in the world.

The DNA sequencers and related products from the San Diego biotech company have driven down the cost of sequencing a human genome to less than $1,000 each. This reduced expense greatly enlarges the number of patients who might be helped through detection of genetic disorders.

Aside from cost, Illuminas newest instruments make it possible to sequence genomes in batches at the rate of one genome per hour.

Advertisement

These improvements in speed and pricing are enabling scientists, physicians and drug companies to expand the universe of uses for DNA analysis  from forensics to food safety to the tracking of changes in cancerous tumors.

Leading Illuminas path is Francis deSouza, the companys president and, since July, its CEO as well. He recently sat down with The San Diego Union-Tribune to discuss his life and his vision for Illumina. The following is an edited version of that conversation:

Q: Where were you born and what was your education?

A: I was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My parents are both mixed. My mother is half Greek, half Ethiopian, and my father is half Portuguese, half Indian. We stayed in Addis Ababa until I was about 5 years old.

And then, with the communist revolution in Ethiopia, my parents fled and we ended up living in Dubai. Thats where I grew up and went to high school. And then I came to the U.S. for college.

I was always interested in science and math as a child. One of the things that happened as I was growing up is that my dad ended up losing his job.  (To help out the family,) I started to write computer software and see if I could sell that software. That ignited for me a lifelong passion for technology, for entrepreneurship.  Thats what propelled me to come to the U.S. for college and to study engineering.

Q:What did your father do?

A: He worked as a commercial representative for a Japanese company.

Q: When did you come to the United States?

A: I came to the United States in 1987. I was about 16 years old. I went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Q: Why did you choose MIT?

A: I wanted to do something with science and engineering. So I did some research, and MIT was one of the colleges that floated to the top of the list in terms of its terrific tradition of science and engineering, but also its inventions and innovation. I was drawn to that.

And I remember talking to my parents about it. My dad dropped out of school when he was 13, so I told him, This is what I want to do, this is where I want to go. And I remember at the time he was disappointed. That was not the reaction I was expecting.

I finally understood what he meant. In Dubai, if you dont end up in college, you go to an institute as a vocational school, where you learn how to fix air conditioners or be a car mechanic.

And I remember my dad told me, I always thought you would end up going to college. And I said, Dad, MIT is a legitimate college.

Q: What applications for your software skills did you envision at MIT?

A: I wasnt thinking of any specific application, but MIT was such a wonderful place. I studied electrical engineering and computer science and got exposed to so many different disciplines. I really enjoyed my experience there.

I also did a research internship with IBM, so I got exposed to a bunch of incredibly smart people and a whole new set of academic disciplines, and I loved it.

ILLUMINA AT A GLANCE

Founded: 1998 in San Diego

Headquarters: San Diego

Other offices in: U.S. cities of San Francisco, Santa Clara, Redwood City and Madison, Wis. Foreign offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Singapore

Products and services: include DNA sequencers, research supplies and prenatal testing

Employees: about 4,300 globally

Market value: $23.5 billion

Revenue in 2016: $2.4 billion

Main competitors: Roche and Thermo Fisher Scientific

Q: How did you get interested in the life sciences?

A: I got a call from Illumina when I was president of (the digital security company) Symantec. And initially I didnt know what to make of it, but I was intrigued. I spent almost nine months with Jay (Flatley, the Illumina chairman whom deSouza replaced as CEO) and with the leadership team here, but also with people outside Illumina, just trying to understand what was happening in genomics.

And the more I dug in, the more I found that genomics is going to transform human health more than anything else out there. And so once you believe that, and once you believe in the mission of Illumina, I had to join.

Q: Why were they interested in you?

A: We spent a long time talking about it. What Jay was looking for, what the board was looking for, was somebody who had a number of skills. They wanted somebody who understood how to run companies at scale, and who was entrepreneurial. And they wanted both. Because Illumina is getting to be a bigger company, but one of the secret sauces of Illumina is our spirit of innovation and our ability to get things done that are both ambitious and fast.

What they were looking for was someone who had done startups but also had experience in big companies. And Ive been with three startups before: One got sold to Verizon, one got sold to Microsoft, one got to sold to Symantec. And in my heart Im an entrepreneur, even going back as a child trying to sell software.

So Id done that, but Id also done stints at Microsoft for a few years and at Symantec for a few years.

They were looking from a skills perspective at someone who was comfortable and curious (about learning). A lot of genomics is playing out right now. So if youd studied it 20 years ago, that wouldnt represent whats happening today. So they wanted someone who had a certain aptitude and curiosity about new areas. And then specifically, they were looking for more and more software skills for the future.

Q: When did you know that you wanted to join Illumina?

A: It was one of those things where suddenly I knew Id fallen in love with what Illumina could do, and what it was already doing. The more I learned, the more I uncovered opportunities where genomics and Illumina would make that big difference.

Whether its how we treat cancer, how we can improve reproductive-health outcomes, but also agriculture. Across a whole different set of industries, it was clear to me that genomics was leading this revolution. But what really did it for me was the time I spent with the team on the campus.

Illumina is a truly special company with an amazing culture. Its a company of very smart people and of very humble people. Its a company where the ability to collaborate is deeply prized and cherished. So it allows us to do one of these really ambitious projects.

So, spending time here, I thought, I love the mission of the company and I love the people of the company.

Science Playlist  On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
Roughly 200 people gathered outside Rep. Darrell Issas Vista home Thursday evening, part of an organized effort to bring the national debate over immigration and healthcare to the doorsteps of Californias Republican congressmen.

Scores of people held battery-powered candles as they walked down a long cul-de-sac toward Issas home, where they stood and sang quietly for a few minutes. Many said they just wanted to make their presence known.

We just want to keep his feet to the fire, said 70-year-old Faith Attaguile of Encinitas said. We are showing him that we are not going away.

Advertisement

Issa was at an event in Oceanside, but his staffers were outside his home offering cookies to the crowd.

I dont want his cookies  I want affordable healthcare, said 64-year-old Oceanside resident Elizabeth Dale.

The event was one of a handful of so-called emergency vigils held in the state near the homes of U.S. Reps Jeff Denham, Kevin McCarthy, Devin Nunes, Steve Knight, Dana Rohrabacher and Ed Royce.

Issas spokesman Calvin Moore said everyone has the right to peaceably assemble and make their voices heard, but dragging the congressmans wife and family into this goes beyond the pale.

He pointed out that Issa met with protesters and supporters outside his office Tuesday morning, answering questions for more than 90 minutes, and that his schedule this week has included coffee with constituents, roundtables and listening sessions.

If the congressman is missing then apparently they havent been looking all that hard, Moore said Thursday shortly before the vigil began. .. We should absolutely call out this silliness for exactly what it is: manufactured stunts to create political theater.

On Tuesday night, more than 1,000 protesters attended a town hall in Issas 49th congressional district that focused on the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act, as well as other controversial policies put forth by President Donald Trump.

Issa didnt attend the meeting, opting instead to speak earlier in the day with supporters and protesters who gathered outside his Vista office to praise or decry the efforts of the Trump administration.

Had Issa shown up Tuesday night, the vigil in his neighborhood wouldnt have happened, said Rev. Beth Johnson, one of the organizers.

Since late January, grassroots groups  many formed as part of the Indivisible movement  have protested weekly outside Issas office, asking to meet with the congressman. Johnson said the rallies, town hall and vigil highlight the importance and urgency of being heard.

The activists are getting help from organized labor and healthcare advocacy groups, including a coalition called Fight4OurHealth, which promoted the vigils. The events were planned because people are concerned about changes to health coverage, said Anthony Wright, the executive director of Health Access California  one of the forces behind Fight4OurHeath.

Wright said Issas discussion with protesters Tuesday morning wasnt good enough.

I would argue that going outside his office at a random time, while appreciated, is not the same thing as having a scheduled event ... that members of the public can make sure to attend, he said.

He said the umbrella group has not led the charge, but rather is helping grassroots groups trying to channel their energy.

I wish we could take credit for all the turnout and energy that is out there, Wright said. The level of concern speaks to how personal and important healthcare is to people.

Related

Pressure for town halls ratchets up; Issa not biting

Issa appears at morning rallies, addressing supporters, critics

Hundreds turn out for Vista town hall

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
The Jacobs Music Centers Copley Symphony Hall was full of light for Thursday evenings San Diego Symphony Chamber Music Series concert, but heat was in short supply.

In the upper reaches of the nearly sold-out hall, everyone who had a coat was wearing it, some with collars turned up against the energetic air-conditioning. I was reminded of going to concerts in Oslo one long-ago October when the coat-check rooms were empty and every seat held a parka-clad music-lover.

Underwritten by Sam B. Ersan, Chamber Music Series concerts often explore music that requires a pared-down ensemble, or may not be likely to be heard in the orchestras Masterworks Series. This program held a mixture of well-known classic works  Johann Strauss, Jr.s Blue Danube Waltz and Beethovens Symphony No. 7  and a musical miniature of contained but powerful beauty, Czech composer Vilem Tauskys Coventry: Meditation for String Orchestra from 1941.

Advertisement

Guest conductor David Danzmayr generated some welcome personal warmth with a few words about each piece on the program, his charming Austrian accent evoking  as he himself said  the possibility that a certain former California governor might be wielding the baton.

The first notes of An der schonen blauen Donau, thanks to Benjamin Jabers luscious horn solos, over a pianissimo of shimmering strings, put a gorgeous nap on the sound. As the river flowed on, however, Danzmayrs choppy conducting pulled the orchestras sound in and out of focus. An interpretation that seemed deliciously languid at first gave way to stops and starts that robbed the waltzes of a sense of timelessness and sapped their energy.

Coventry: Meditation for String Orchestra abounds in echoes musical and historical. Fleeing the Nazis in World War II, Tausky reached Britain, where he joined the Free Czech Army as a bandmaster. After the war, he stayed in the land where he had found welcome refuge, became an acclaimed educator, headed both the Carl Rosa and Welsh National operas, and conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra for many years. Coventry often evokes English folk music, as well as the orchestral colors of Ralph Vaughan Williams orchestral works.

Its restrained anguish memorializes the awful aftermath of the night-long bombing of the English midlands town of Coventry in November 1940. The San Diego Symphony and Danzmayr gave the work a smoothly polished but not deeply involved reading, which made me want to hear the string quartet original from which it came.

Danzmayrs determination to let the last notes die away completely in the hall before any applause is the kind of dedication that ought to be seen far more often, and everywhere. Bravo to him and the orchestra, who held their instruments in playing position for a full minute at the musics soft close.

Beethovens seventh symphony from 1812 was a disappointment from start to finish.

Lacking grace and finish, this performance sounded more like a first rehearsal read-through than a carefully prepared interpretation of one of the most joyful, indeed jubilant, symphonic masterworks in the world.

The orchestras sound was clotted and opaque, and the rhythmic cells from which each movements overwhelming effect is built were articulated without clarity, particularly and especially in the last movement when what should start as a rushing river of sound and build to a Niagara-like majesty ended as a smudged, pounding pile-driver that broke down not a minute too soon.

Overton is a freelance writer.
As Rep. Scott Peters put it, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer got a promotion Thursday morning. Hes now in charge of an officially designated Coast Guard City.

The Coast Guards 25th commandant, Adm. Paul Zukunft, honored San Diego with the title during a pomp-filled ceremony at the San Diego Convention Center that drew dignitaries from all the regions military and police forces, plus high-ranking Mexican officials.

San Diego becomes the nations 21st Coast Guard City and the largest metropolis on the list. The award recognizes San Diegos commitment to erecting monuments to the maritime service, organizing civic celebrations and helping to boost the morale, welfare and recreational opportunities for Coast Guard personnel in the region.

Advertisement

The designation  bestowed by the commandant with approval from Congress  lasts for five years and then will be re-evaluated.

Praising both the service and the city for Thursdays commemoration, Peters told the audience sitting near the brisk San Diego Bay that as American military forces continue pivoting to the Pacific region, the role of the Coast Guard within the larger military strategy will grow.

San Diego and the Coast Guard will be at the center of their plan to reinforce the maritime strategy, said Peters, D-San Diego.

San Diego has a long relationship with the Coast Guard. In 1935, the city gave 23 acres to the service to establish an air station.

Last year, the Coast Guard  part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security  conducted 444 search and rescue missions in the San Diego region, saving 111 lives and helping to spare 511 more.

Zukunft has long ties to San Diego, too. The commandant married his wife, Fran, 27 years ago in the city.

On Thursday, he pointed to the Coast Guards role in protecting the city from potential terrorist attacks by sea and its ongoing work with municipal, county, federal and Mexican agencies in keeping the bustling San Diego port open for business.

This really is the national standard for jointness  working across all aspects of government. But it really begins at the local level, Zukunft said.

As he presented Zukunft with a ceremonial key to the city, Faulconer called the designation  which San Diego had pursued for several years  exciting and very important.

Our city supports the men and women who served, or have retired from, the Coast Guard and their families. And were darned proud of that, he said.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

cprine@sduniontribune.com
A rare assemblage of Americas maritime service chiefs on Thursday triggered vows to rebuild and modernize their forces to deter a host of potential foes, from crafty terrorists to rising state rivals.

Moderated by retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis, the town hall featured Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. The event capped West 2017, the annual gathering of many of the militarys top brass at San Diegos downtown convention center.

During the Thursday panel, all three flag officers agreed that the United States has returned to an era of great power competition, something Richardson said had disappeared with the fall of the Soviet Union more than two decades ago.

Advertisement

Thats a long off-season, said the career submariner, who pledged to get the Navy back fit to fight.

Neller called the moment a back to the future event, similar to the Cold War rivalry with the Iron Curtain states but now involving weapons designed to be deployed in space and along cyber networks. While he predicted his Marines would quickly adapt to the new global challenges, Neller conceded that they have some work to do.

Zukunfts Coast Guard, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since 2004, urged the audience to consider the far-flung mission of his agency and the challenges that it faces.

He pointed to refugees fleeing northward from Central American states because of destabilization and crime triggered by the United States demand for narcotics, which are smuggled through their homelands. He also talked about increasing commercial and military rivalries in the polar north, where melting ice is opening new pathways for ships.

Zukunft said a lack of icebreakers handicaps American security operations in the Arctic, rendering the United States mere bystanders.

Russia has 40 icebreakers. I have two, Zukunft said. Our one heavy icebreaker (Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, commissioned in 1976) is a real national asset. Its now returning from breaking 65 miles of channel over 10 feet thick. And every evening, Im getting an update on if shes gonna break done. Is she going to get back.

The Coast Guard intends start buying a new line of breakers in 2020, but Zukunft groused that it takes a dozen years to deliver a ship to the fleet because the procurement process is tangled in red tape.

With the new administration of President Donald Trump pledging to broker an end to the so-called sequestration budget deal of 2011 that slashed military spending, the maritime leaders have scribbled spending wishlists.

Finding a replacement for the Ohio-class submarine is important, Richardson said, but so is the urgent need to fix readiness right now. That means more money for fuel, spare parts and weapons so sailors can train more to deter future wars. Richardson compared the promised budget boon to giving a first bottle of water to a dehydrated athlete.

Zukunft said the Coast Guard is already cleared to buy the entire line of 58 Sentinel-class fast response cutters, but his Coasties crewing inland river patrol boats also need bigger and more modern vessels  with the replacements retailing for about $25 million each.

Noting that Marines remain on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan  a reality despite their official roles of handling the noncombat roles of training and advising Iraqi and Afghan security forces  Neller said the operational tempo during 16 years of war has worn down the career force along with the weapons systems they use. He promised to spend money to get the bench deeper and stronger.

Neller also staked out the Marines position on a free press.

In a pair of tweets sent last week  one that was later deleted  Trump called many of the leading American news outlets fake and claimed they were sick and the enemy of the American people.

On Wednesday at West 2017, retired Navy Adm. William McRaven, a career SEAL commando, urged everyone to challenge this sentiment because it was possibly the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.

Saying that he aligned with McRavens views, Neller told the audience Thursday that an active, vibrant press that reports things was vital to a democracy and that commanders had an obligation as Americans to be open, transparent and straight up, just as journalists share a similar burden to report things accurately.

With 1 percent of the population serving in the military, why would we not want to let people know what were doing so that they understand that this is their military? It belongs to the American people, said Neller, a combat veteran who served in Somalia, Panama and Iraq.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

cprine@sduniontribune.com
The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation will expand for the first time beyond the nations capital and open a branch office in Los Angeles on Thursday  and the publics invited to come meet a few war heroes.

Medal of Honor recipients Thomas Tom Kelley, Gary Lee Littrell, Thomas Tommy Norris and William D. Swenson will be on hand to honor the opening of the West Coast branch of the Foundation, which serves to perpetually promote American values such as courage, sacrifice and patriotism as exemplified by the 75 living recipients of the nations highest military decoration.

Advertisement

The celebration kicks off at 5:30 p.m. at the Jonathan Club, 545 S. Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles, a private social club that will rent the nonprofit an office for a dollar per year.

We teach our character development program all across the country but we dont have boots on the ground in lots of places that offer huge opportunity, said retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Ron Rand, the Foundations president and chief executive officer since 2014.

LA, by itself, is the second largest school district in the country. San Diego is the 19th largest. If you go up and down the West Coast, theres probably no better place to expand if were trying to get some urgency and velocity in our goal to reach every kid in America with these values and these programs. Theres no better place for us to start than in Southern California.

The Foundation was created in 1999 by the parent organization, the Virginia-based Congressional Medal of Honor Society, which was established by an act of Congress in 1958.

The average age of a Medal of Honor recipient is nearly 77 years old, a figure that includes the 11 veterans from the war in Afghanistan like Swenson, according to Rand. Most of the surviving recipients, such as Kelley, Littrell and Norris, fought in Vietnam.

But age hasnt slowed their participation in public events. Last year, the Foundation funded 68 training events, mostly for schools, and 40 of them attracted Medal of Honor recipients to share their experiences.

Since 2007, the Foundation has taught 10,074 teachers in 40 states about how to tell the stories of Medal of Honor recipients and many millions of kids, Rand said.

For more information about Thursdays event, call the Foundation at (213) 312-2800.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

cprine@sduniontribune.com
A 22-year-old North Hollywood resident and beneficiary of the Obama administrations immigration relief program was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents near the Southern California border earlier this month on suspicion of attempting to smuggle someone into the country illegally.

Border Patrol officials said Jesus Alonso Arreola Robles and a 17-year-old boy were stopped in a vehicle Feb. 12 on Highway 94 in Campo, Calif., about a mile from the border with Mexico. Arreola Robles was driving, they said.

Officials said he was processed for removal proceedings and is being held in a detention facility in Folkston, Ga. They would not comment further about the teenager detained with Arreola Robles.

Advertisement

Arreola Robles attorney, mother and girlfriend spoke Thursday morning during a news conference at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles office in central L.A. The attorney, Joseph Porta, said he had been unable to speak to Arreola Robles or an ICE representative and that Arreola Robles name was not showing up in the online detainee locator system.

Porta said its worrisome that a detainee would not show up in the system 11 days after being detained.

Thats something I havent seen in my entire career, he said.

Many questions surrounding Arreola Robles apprehension and detention remained unanswered until after the news conference, when Border Patrol released a statement to reporters.

ICE once again dragged its feet and kept Jesus from speaking with his attorney until pressured by the family and the media to do so, said CHIRLA Executive Director Angelica Salas.

Porta said he had heard allegations that something happened leading to Arreola Robles detention but wouldnt comment further until he could clarify the circumstances with his client. Porta said Arreola Robles was transferred from a detention facility in San Diego to one in Arizona and then to the facility in Georgia.

The Border Patrol said Arreola Robles was transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Feb. 15. Officials said ICE routinely transfers detainees to different detention facilities based on available resources and the needs of the agency.

Porta said that Arreola Robles case was one of the first ones he processed in 2012 for President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, better known as DACA, and that he has since renewed it twice. The executive action provides work permits and halts the deportation of people who were brought to the United States as children and remained illegally. Beneficiaries must meet certain requirements, including having never been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor or multiple misdemeanors, and not pose a threat to public safety or national security.

More than 861,000 immigrants have received protection under the program. Roughly 1 in 4 lives in California. According to Border Patrol, about 1,500 DACA recipients have been terminated from the program because of a criminal conviction or gang affiliation.

Porta said Arreola Robles has no criminal history and that the worst thing on his record was a speeding ticket.

Rosa Robles said she brought her son into the country illegally from Mexico when he was a toddler. She and her husband have been legal residents for about three years, and his siblings are U.S. citizens.

His mother described Arreola Robles as a good person who graduated from high school and spent some time in college. She said he has worked alongside his father as a cook in a hotel for the last five years.

Robles said her son has called every day or two but that they can only speak for five minutes each time. She said he has told her when he has been moved to a new city, but never knows where he is exactly.

She said she feels desperate to get him released from detention.

Robles said she didnt know what he was doing at the border.

Crystal Alvarado, Arreola Robles girlfriend of four years, said he has a big heart and lives for his family.

She said the few times she has spoken with him, He tells me take care of his sisters and not to worry, but I know hes scared.

Porta said he plans to file documents requesting that Arreola Robles be released on bond until his hearing before an immigration judge. The judge will decide whether he has a legal basis to remain in the U.S.

At least two other DACA recipients around the country have recently been taken into custody by immigration officials. Daniel Ramirez Medina, a Mexico-born 23-year-old, was arrested in Seattle early this month by ICE agents looking for his father. ICE officials said he was a self-admitted gang member, which his attorneys vehemently denied, saying he was pressured to falsely admit affiliation.

Last week, Josue Romero, a 19-year-old arts student in San Antonio, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a small amount of marijuana and detained by ICE agents. He was released two days later, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

andrea.castillo@latimes.com

@andreamcastillo

ALSO

As Trump immigration crackdown comes into focus, anxiety grows along with anger

Homeland Security chief says there will be no mass deportations of people in U.S. illegally

Federal agents in Texas move hospitalized Salvadoran woman awaiting emergency surgery to a detention facility

UPDATES:

3:50 p.m.: This article has been updated with comments by Rosa Robles and Crystal Alvarado, as well as information about other DACA recipients who were taken into custody.

This article was originally published at 2:05 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown is against a Los Angeles ballot measure that would restrict real estate development, its opponents announced Thursday.

I join with all those who say Measure S goes too far, Brown said in a statement released by opponents of Measure S.

It would impose a moratorium on buildings that seek zone changes or other alterations in L.A. city rules and prevent city officials from amending the General Plan  a document that governs development citywide  to allow individual projects where they would otherwise be barred.

Advertisement

Backers argue that it will prevent out-of-scale development that ruins neighborhoods and displaces longtime residents. Opponents counter that it will eliminate jobs and exacerbate the housing crisis.

Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, appearing Thursday at a No on S event in Boyle Heights, said its rare for a sitting California governor to weigh in on a local ballot measure.

Brown took that stance, Huizar said, out of concern that the measure will slow the regional economy and deprive Angelenos of much-needed housing.

He certainly sees the devastation  that will happen should it pass, the councilman added.

The Yes on S campaign released a statement Thursday saying it was no surprise that the governor opposes Measure S. It cited his unsuccessful push last year to overhaul how the development process works in California, which would have reduced environmental review for some housing projects that set aside units for low-income residents.

Gov. Brown emerged last year as the key force fighting to undo the California Environmental Quality Act, siding not with people but with wealthy developers who blast away these protective state rules that make sure corporate interests dont harm the environment or our health, the campaign wrote.

The ballot measure goes before Los Angeles voters on March 7.

Times staff writers David Zahniser and Liam Dillon contributed to this report.

emily.alpert@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATimesEmily

ALSO

Most of California is out of the drought

Anaheim police release boy held after altercation with off-duty LAPD officer who fired his gun

U.S. Border Patrol accuses detained L.A. DACA recipient of immigrant smuggling
The U.S. government has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit that accuses federal border officers of beating and Tasering a handcuffed Mexican man at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in a confrontation that ended in his death.

The settlement would be split among the five children of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, and about a quarter of the amount would pay attorney costs and fees. The terms must be approved by a federal judge because there are minors involved. A hearing is set for March 2.

The lawsuit, filed in San Diego federal court, is in its seventh year and was being appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on an issue, meaning the case was unlikely to wrap up any time soon.

Advertisement

I didnt think denying relief to the family was worth it, especially in light of the possibility of protracted litigation, said the familys attorney, Eugene Iredale. I think the world knows and the settlement amount attests that Anastasio was wrongfully killed  due to the conduct of the Border Patrol and CBP. It is really a badge of shame.

The U.S. Attorneys Office in Phoenix, which is handling the case for the government to avoid a conflict of interest for San Diego attorneys, declined to discuss the settlement Thursday because it is pending.

The case became a flashpoint in the debate over law enforcement use of force, partly because the violent encounter was witnessed by so many people on both sides of the border and parts of it recorded on cellphone video.

Hernandez Rojas and his brother were caught on May 28, 2010, after having just entered the U.S. illegally near Otay Mesa.

Once taken by bus to the Border Patrol station, an agent told him to throw away a water jug, and Hernandez Rojas in an apparent misunderstanding began to pour out the water into a trash can, according to official reports. The agent then slapped the jug out of his hands, threw him against a wall and kicked his legs apart, striking metal pins in Hernandez Rojas ankle leftover from an old accident, according to the lawsuit.

Hernandez Rojas complained of pain but the agent ignored him and handcuffed him, the lawsuit claims. Inside the station, Hernandez Rojas complained that the agent had injured him and asked several people for medical treatment, but he was again ignored, the lawsuit claims. Authorities determined he was to be returned immediately to Mexico and was transported to the San Ysidro border crossing with that same agent and his partner.

Once outside the vehicle, the agents took his handcuffs off and a struggle ensued. According to the lawsuit, Hernandez Rojas was grabbed from behind when he put his hands down rather than behind his head. Authorities say Hernandez Rojas resisted their efforts to restrain him. Two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rushed over and hit Hernandez Rojas with batons. He was held face down on the ground and handcuffed again, and another agent came over and kneeled on his back, the lawsuit states.

Because of the struggle, Hernandez Rojas was going to be arrested rather than returned to Mexico, and a transport vehicle was requested. But he resisted and tried to kick the agents, according to authorities.

Several Customs and Border Protection officers arrived as backup, and one fired a Taser at him and then two different officers held him face down and secured his legs.

It was then that they discovered Hernandez Rojas had stopped breathing. He died about two days later in a hospital after being taken off a ventilation machine.

An autopsy found numerous factors contributed to a fatal heart attack, including methamphetamine intoxication, heart disease, the Taser shocks, the physical exertion and restraints. The autopsy further said he would not have died if he hadnt been under the influence of meth, the Justice Department said.

The death was investigated by the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Inspector General, as well as a grand jury. They concluded in November 2015 that no criminal charges would be brought against the officers involved.

The investigation found that the officers claims of reasonable force could not be disproved, nor was there evidence they acted with malice.

Human rights activists have filed a complaint to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights in Washington, D.C., an autonomous judicial body, that is pending.

Related

No charges for U.S. officers in border death

Border officers cant keep names secret

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
A state Parole Board on Thursday recommended release from prison for Jesus Cecena, who was convicted of murdering San Diego Police Officer Archie Buggs during a traffic stop more than three decades ago.

The decision marks the third time since 2014 that a Parole Board has cleared the way for Cecena to be released. Twice before, in 2014 and 2015, that decision was subsequently overturned by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Now Brown will have to again decide if it is time for Cecena, who was 17 at the time of the shooting and is now a graying 55-year-old man with bad knees, should get out of prison.

Advertisement

The decision came after a four-hour hearing in a windowless room inside the Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, where Cecena is an inmate. It is also likely to spur an outcry from law enforcement organizations  just as it did in 2014 and 2015 when the board acted similarly, and those groups called on Brown to overturn the decision.

Likewise the San Diego District Attorneys Office, which argued to keep Cecena in prison, will also contest the decision.

We are going to continue to fight this, to raise our appeals to the governor, said Chief Deputy Summer Stephan, who attended the hearing to speak on behalf of the Buggs family.

Browns office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about what action the governor might take.

Cecena, 55, was convicted of murdering Buggs during a routine traffic stop the in the early morning hours of Nov. 4, 1978. He was caught a few hours later along with an accomplice, Jose Arteaga.

Cecena was convicted of first-degree murder. He was tried as an adult and sent to prison for life without the possibility of parole in 1979.

A few years later, in 1982, an appellate court modified the sentence because Cecena was under 18 when he committed the crime, and made him eligible for parole.

Cecena appeared to fight back tears when Commissioner Michele Minor announced after a 40-minute deliberation that he was being granted parole. He had broken down twice during the session, once when he was describing fatally shooting Buggs, and again when Stephan played a 1999 tape recording of Buggss mother Lizzie Buggs talking about the impact of his death.

The commission pointed to several factors weighing in Cecenas favor. He was a juvenile at the time and commissioners considered his lack of maturity when he shot Buggs. Minor also took note of his time in prison. He has shown growth, she said.

He was a member of a Mexican prison gang until 1987, when a religous conversion turned around his life. He had also been a member of a small San Diego street gang when the killing occurred.

He quit the gang  or debriefed as the prison system puts it  and not gone back, at some personal cost. Commissioner Tim OHara noted that he has been stabbed at least twice in retaliation by the gang and is in protective custody.

Minor also said Cecena has trained for jobs, received consistently laudatory assessments by prison officials, and been active in prison programs.Remarkably, he has not had a disciplinary offense since 1987.

However, the board was not completely impressed. OHara flatly told Cecena that he thinks he lied Thursday about key elements of Buggs killing when he testified.

Cecena, who shot Buggs six times with a .38 gun, said he killed him in a kind of panic, afraid his father would become enraged when he found out he had been stopped by police while riding with another gang member.

He said he had never fired a gun before, and denied shooting Buggs in the head with the final shot while the officer was prone. Both claims, OHara said, dont ring true.

He said it was nonsense to me that you were worried about your Dad, so you shot a cop six times, he said.

We dont think you are being completely truthful with us, OHara said.

In the end, however, commissioners said that based on who Cecena is now and the work he has done in prison he is no longer a threat to public safety. That reason, coupled with others about his life inside, was enough to give him parole.

That decision is far from final. Another unit of the Board of Parole will automatically review the parole grant. And then Brown will weigh in. Under state law the governor reviews all parole grants given to inmates serving life sentences, and has the power to overturn the boards decision.

In reversing board decisions on Cecena in the past Brown has said he was not convinced Cecena had yet to confront the true nature of his actions, In January 2016 denial Brown said he believed Cecena was whitewashing the extent of his actions in murdering Buggs.

Another controversy surfaced in the wake of that second decision by Brown denying parole. Retired Superior Court Judge Allen Preckel, who prosecuted the case against Cecena when he was a deputy district attorney, said that Jesse Navarro  Buggss friend and former patrol partner who now works for the San Diego County District Attorneys Office  had made false statements to the board.

Navarro had said that Cecena, who was a member of a street gang, had threatened he and Buggs on many occasions before the shooting. Preckel said no such evidence ever existed. Cecena too denied it.

The parole board eventually conducted an investigation to see whether Navarros statements could be corroborated. A report issued in December concluded some statements Navarro made could be indirectly corroborated, but said there was no documentation backing them up and several people involved in the case refuted them.

Navarro did not attend the hearing Thursday.

Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com
The Green Bay City Council recently discussed spending $80,000 to repair or replace a 9/11 monument that's in "horrible condition."

The Holmen Village Board in La Crosse County approved $34,085 for two pickups, $4,500 for a digital camera, and $2,600 for a radar gun.

The Beaver Dam School Board committed $75,000 for Chromebooks for staff.

The DeForest Village Board approved an agreement with Dane County to reconstruct Highway CV.

All of that information  and so much more  appeared Thursday and Friday in meeting minutes published by local governments in local newspapers.

You might not care about some or any of those details if you don't live in those communities. But if you did, those decisions could significantly affect you and your family.

That's why school districts, counties and municipalities are required by state law to publish  at a discount  the minutes of their meetings in their local newspapers. The Wisconsin Newspaper Association also publishes the notices and a slew of other community announcements on its searchable and free website: wisconsinpublicnotices.org.

The notices are a public service to the hundreds of thousands of citizens who read local newspapers in print and online across Wisconsin, as well as anyone who is curious and has access to the internet.

The result of wide dissemination of this public information  where it is easy to find  is a more involved and knowledgeable citizenry that knows what's going on with public money and policy.

Unfortunately, Gov. Scott Walker and some misguided state lawmakers want to hide much of this information where it's hard for voters to find. They are pushing changes in the state budget and separate legislation that would bury meeting minutes and other public notices about local ordinances and budgets on obscure, often confusing and bureaucratic government websites.

Instead of just picking up your local newspaper and seeing all of the actions your local leaders are taking  including those that don't lead to news coverage and big headlines  citizens will have to search the internet hoping to find more detail about government budgets and decisions.

The politicians claim this will save a little money because local governments won't have to pay for as many notices in newspapers. What they don't say is public access to government will be diminished. And that's just what the politicians want, because fewer notices will mean less scrutiny and accountability for their actions. Over time, that will only lead to greater spending and waste, not less.

The full Legislature should reject Assembly Bill 70 and Senate Bill 42, which will reduce government transparency. Lawmakers also should strip from the governor's budget any language limiting publication of government meetings and actions.

This editorial appeared in the Feb. 19 edition of the Wisconsin State Journal.
While presiding over misdemeanor cases in a San Diego courtroom four years ago, Judge Gary Kreep made comments to attorneys, defendants and others that, at best, were inappropriate and at worst, could constitute sexual harassment, according to evidence presented at a disciplinary hearing this month.

On Thursday, about three weeks after the hearing began, lawyers in the case delivered their oral arguments, which focused on a long list of accusations against Kreep. They include making remarks from the bench about a Mexican-American lawyers ethnicity, addressing attorneys and interns by the nicknames Bunhead, Dimples and Shorty, and commenting on female attorneys appearance.

Kreeps lawyer, James A. Murphy, conceded the judge had made mistakes early in his career as a San Diego Superior Court judge, particularly when he served in a busy misdemeanor department downtown. But the attorney said Kreep he learned from those errors and tried not to repeat them.

Advertisement

Hes hard working, hes industrious and he tries to do his best, Murphy said to the three-judge panel appointed by the state Supreme Court to preside over the hearing.

Attorney representing the San Francisco-based Commission on Judicial Performance, which initiated the formal hearing, disagreed with Kreeps contention that he hadnt had enough formal instruction on how to run the department he had been assigned to in 2013, and that he tried to make it more user-friendly by engaging in informal banter.

Judge Kreep was an attorney for almost four decades before he assumed the bench, said Mark Lizarraga, trial counsel for the commission. It doesnt make any sense He should have understood that this was improper.

The three-judge panel is expected to submit a report to the full commission on its findings. If they determine that the charges have been proved by clear and convincing evidence, Kreep could face a range of punishments from censure to removal from the bench.

Kreep, formerly a private attorney with a practice in Escondido, was elected to the San Diego Superior Court in June 2012. When he decided in February of that year to run for an open seat on the bench, he was a longtime conservative legal activist. His past included working on cases challenging same-sex marriage, anti-abortion cases and whether President Barack Obama was born a U.S. citizen.

Among many accusations, the commission charged Kreep with stating falsely on his campaign website that he was president of the Family Values Coalition and president of two Political Actions Committees.

The commission also charged that in May 2012, Kreep signed and sent fundraising letters from United States Justice Foundation, which he founded and was its executive director, opposing Obamas re-election.

Judicial ethics prohibit judges and judicial candidates from endorsing or opposing candidates for office. Kreep was also accused of improperly spending $41,796 from his personal bank account on the judicial race and not initially reporting mailer expenses, which he later corrected.

The state Fair Political Practices Commission investigated the campaign violations and fined him $6,000 in 2015.

In addition to the alleged ethics violations, which Kreep denies, he is accused of engaging in conduct that reflected a lack of proper courtroom decorum or was otherwise improper, according to the commission.

Former Deputy City Attorney Terri Winbush, who is African-American, testified the Kreep had often referred to her as Star Parker when she entered his courtroom. Parker is an African-American author and conservative activist.

Winbush said Kreep once told her she should be flattered by the comparison and described Parker as beautiful. He told her his friends had tried to set him up on a date with Parker, but it did not work out.

Winbush testified that the comments had made her uncomfortable.

Murphy argued Thursday that Kreep had tried to be collegial while running a misdemeanor arraignment department at the downtown courthouse. Later, after Kreep was made aware that the commission was investigating him, he was counseled by another judge against using nicknames in court and making other comments that could be deemed inappropriate.

He was too informal and he acknowledged that he was too informal, Murphy said.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
As deportation fears grow among college students who are in the country illegally, the head of California State University has told everyone in the 23-campus system to call school police if approached by immigration officials.

CSU Chancellor Timothy White made the request Wednesday in a written statement to faculty, students and staff in response to two recent memos issued by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly regarding increased border security and stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

Dont expect a stand-off between federal and campus officers anytime soon, though.

Advertisement

Neither of Kellys memos said immigration raids were planned at colleges, or mentioned changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which allows enrollment for some students who came to the country illegally as children.

CSU spokesman Michael Uhlenkamp said White issued his statement to ease fears that were heightened after Kellys recent memos.

We dont expect this to happen on any of the campuses, but we know this anxiety exists, he said.

Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said ICE had no comment on Whites statement. She noted that ICE and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection still follow sensitive location policies that lists schools, churches and hospitals as places that should be avoided.

A frequently-asked-question page on the ICE website also states any enforcement actions taken at those places require appropriate prior approval or exigent circumstances necessitating immediate action.

Edwin Darrell, director of San Diego State Universitys Center Intercultural Relations, Womens Resource Center and Pride Center, said he supported Whites message.

I think the chancellors statement was just a re-enforcement of the values of the California State University system, he said.

Darrell also said he appreciated SDSU Police Chief Joshua Mays, who has assured students that they should feel protected on campus.

Hes reached out to student groups and has explained our policy, he said. SDSU (police are) not in the business of detaining or deporting undocumented students. Thats not their role. They dont take direction from ICE. Its really something Im appreciated of.

Whites statement wasnt the first of its kind. San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten recently sent an e-mail to families saying people should refer any immigration officials seen at schools to campus police, and that disruptive immigration raids would not be allowed.

San Diego Community College District, Southwestern Community College District and Chula Vista Elementary School District also have adopted similar resolutions about protecting students.

If an immigration official were to show up on a CSU campus with questions about someones legal status, Uhlenkamp said university police would cooperate with any warrant or subpoena demanding data, but otherwise would stand by federal laws protecting student privacy.

If an immigration officer were to show up and arrest someone, however, Uhlenkamp said he doesnt think there is anything that police officers could do. The scenario also wasnt addressed in Whites memo, which said university police would act as a liaison with onsite officials and coordinate with the Office of General Counsel to provide guidance, references and resources as available.

CSUs policy is that, unless otherwise required by law, we will not enter into agreements with law enforcement agencies for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws, White wrote. Our university police departments will not honor immigration hold requests, and our university police will not contact, detain, question, or arrest individuals solely on the basis of being  or suspected of being  a person who lacks documentation.

This important CSU policy has not changed and is not impacted by Secretary Kellys memoranda, and these memoranda do not affect the policies or practice of the CSU and our university police departments, White said in his memo.

Uhlenkamp added University police departments are not in the business of enforcing federal law.

The university does, however, abide by federal laws such as the U.S. Department of Educations Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects students privacy, Uhlenkamp said.

While campus police would be cooperative and not confrontational, Uhlenkamp said they would not to very helpful in handing over any information that could leave lead to a students deportation unless the agent had a court order.

At SDSU, Student Affairs Vice President Eric Rivera shared Whites memo through a campus e-mail, along information on educational opportunity programs, psychological services and other resources.

Many members of the San Diego State University community have expressed concerns about the recent release of new immigration orders from the Department of Homeland Security and its impact on our undocumented students, Rivera wrote. While we continue to work with the California State University Chancellors Office and our legal counsel to understand the new orders, we want to reassure the campus community that SDSU is committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all students, faculty and staff.

At CSUSM, President Karen Haynes shared Whites message on her page on the universitys website, along with the phone number of the University Police Department.

I remain committed to our values and guiding principles as a university, which compel us to respect and model the diversity of our region within a context of social justice, to strive for educational equity, and to promote a fair and open environment for the exchange of ideas, she wrote.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
State regulators said theyre investigating San Diego Gas & Electrics efforts to influence the local adoption of government-run electricity programs, saying the company doesnt have permission to do so yet.

Officials with SDG&E and its parent company, Sempra Energy, said theyve done no wrong. They said the California Public Utilities Commission cleared their specially designated marketing division to lobby on community choice aggregation, or CCA, a program that would give residents and businesses a government-run alternative to SDG&E.

Until Wednesday night, the commission didnt say it had undertaken a probe of the utility. The agency and Sempra also have spent this week giving fuller explanations for their opposing positions.

Advertisement

At stake are the statewide standards for how investor-owned utilities can weigh in on the program, which a growing number of cities and counties across California have embraced  or are considering  as a way to replace fossil fuels with more renewable power in the fight against climate change.

After publicly lobbying on CCA last week before the county Board of Supervisors, officials with the SDG&E marketing arm, Sempra Services Corporation, said theyve been meeting with lawmakers countywide on this issue since September. Those include San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and several council members.

This lobbying caught the attention of the commissions regulators, who said this week that SDG&Es marketing division has never received approval to lobby on CCA. They also said theyre looking into the lobbying and that violations could be subject to fines as high as $50,000 for each offense.

SDG&E is not in compliance , said Terrie Prosper, speaking on behalf of the commission and its president, Michael Picker. The CPUC is investigating the facts surrounding SDG&Es CCA-related communications.

Officials for the utility and Sempra disagree with that position. They said in August, the commissioners approved a resolution allowing the marketing division to begin operations using only shareholder funds. This arrangement, the first of its kind in the state, was needed after the Legislature banned utilities from tapping ratepayer money to influence the adoption of CCAs.

A key sticking point is whether the resolution is contingent on SDG&E securing final clearance from the commission for its compliance plan, which spells out how the utility would satisfy a state-mandated firewall between it and the marketing division. The states goal is to ensure that information, employees and contractors are not shared between an investor-owned utility and the independent marketing arm.

SDG&E officials have repeatedly said lobbying is allowed while details of the compliance plan are hammered out. The commission has twice rejected the companys blueprint, and a third version is expected to be considered by the agency in the next several days.

Under the rules, whenever SDG&E proposes any changes to the (compliance) plan, it must seek staff approval for the change. That is precisely what were doing now, seeking approval for specific language changes, said Amber Albrecht, senior communications manager for the utility.

A portion of the Aug. 18 resolution said the utilitys application for an independent marketing division and a related compliance plan are approved. But the document also called for some parts of that compliance plan to be revised and resubmitted to the commission.

Officials with the marketing division declined to say whether lobbying will continue ahead of the plans final approval. They did offer a summary of their previous lobbying efforts.

Since the California Public Utilities Commission approved SDG&Es filing in August 2016, Sempra Services has been meeting with elected officials and others in the community to introduce ourselves, gather community input and begin engaging in the ongoing dialogue about how our region can implement climate action plans to reduce (greenhouse-gas) emissions, maximizing potential environmental and economic benefits while minimizing cost and risk to local taxpayers, said Frank Urtasun, regional vice president for Sempra Services.

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.

As more CCAs come online, the specifics of how SDG&E and Sempra are allowed to operate could set a significant precedent for other utilities, said Andrew Campbell, executive director of UC Berkeleys Energy Institute at Haas.

This situation is going to clarify the rules, potentially set new rules, Campbell said. How this is resolved between Sempra and the CPUC and the (local) governments in their territory is whats going to apply for other potential CCAs ...

Californias five existing CCA programs  Marin Clean Energy, Sonoma Clean Power, Lancaster Choice Energy, CleanPowerSF in San Francisco and Peninsula Clean Energy serving San Mateo County  have routinely offered customers more renewable power than competing utilities at the same or lower prices.

The number of such programs in the state is expected to double this year, and more than two dozen more municipalities are exploring the option. That includes the cities of San Diego and Solana Beach.

San Diego expects to release the findings of a rate study for CCA this fall. The program is being considered as part of the citys nationally recognized Climate Action Plan, which calls for San Diego to run on 100 percent renewable energy by 2035.

According to the citys lobbying database, Sempra first disclosed its intention to do CCA lobbying with San Diego in January.

On Thursday, the mayors office said Sempra and the contractor Responsible Solutions, a lobbying firm, met with Faulconer and city staff to discuss CCA once in November and another time in December.

Also, Councilman Chris Cates office said he met with Urtasun from the SDG&E marketing division to talk about the electricity program once in November.

Sempra and Responsible Solutions havent responded to requests asking whether they disclosed their lobbying before January.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
Concerned about logistics of protesters and constituents who have assembled at his district offices by the hundreds, Rep. Duncan Hunters staff will stop inviting small groups of them inside.

We got an email last night where he will not be meeting with us anymore, said Tahra Ludwig, an organizer with Indivisible, one of the progressive groups that has organized protests at the Republican congressmans district offices in El Cajon and Temecula.

Hunters deputy chief of staff, Michael Harrison, said the office decided to stop holding meetings with small delegates of the larger groups. At one point around 300 people were outside the El Cajon district office, and the numbers created parking and crowding issues. It also disrupted nearby businesses in the strip mall where the district office is located, he said.

Advertisement

Obviously, the businesses that were next to us were getting adversely affected because they were taking up parking spots, using bull horns and doing thing that are interfering with their business, he said.

Hunters office, like district offices for every House member, helps constituents solve problems with their veteran, Social Security and public health insurance benefits. Many of the constituents are refugees or immigrants, and many of their cases involve private personal issues. Some who came for assistance felt uncomfortable that protesters were there, Harrison said.

Another reason cited was that protesters were filming each other as they spoke with congressional staff, in violation of a no-filming policy that was implemented to protect privacy.

Crowds were largely civil, but there were so many people in such a small space that Harrison said he was obligated to call the sheriffs department. Protesters were later disrespectful to law enforcement, he said.

You couple all of these things together, with the protocol of office policy, with the businesses being obstructed, and the constituents being in, and law enforcement involvement, we didnt feel how it was going was sustainable, he said.

Except for the claim about videotaping inside the district offices, Ludwig disputes Harrisons claims that Indivisible impeded constituents from getting help or that they were disrespectful to police officers.

There is no evidence of that. Were gathering all the footage from these meetings, she said.

There were immigrants and refugees at the district office, Ludwig said, but they were there to hold signs and protest. They have been respectful to police and have been complimented for being orderly, Ludwig said.

This is completely out of left field, she said.

With no more meetings in the district offices in the foreseeable future, Indivisible and other groups will assemble on a nearby sidewalk, Ludwig said.

A series of progressive organizations, including Indivisible, Together We Will and Swing Left, have been advocating for members of Congress to push against President Donald Trumps agenda. They have encouraged members of Congress from both major parties to meet with constituents in small groups as well as larger town hall events. Hunters office said it plans to hold a public forum in March.

RELATED

Rep. Duncan Hunter has repaid his campaign some $65,000 for personal, mistaken and insufficiently documented charges, but what about the rest?

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841
San Diego police seized thousands of marijuana products and more than $16,000 in cash after a raid at an illegal pot dispensary in San Ysidro Wednesday and another one in Miramar Thursday.

The latest shop to be searched with a warrant was Dank of America on Activity Road near Camino Ruiz. Narcotics officers arrived about 9 a.m.

They confiscated nearly 50 pounds of marijuana, 1,700 edibles, 1,900 concentrates and $13,000 in cash during the raid, police Lt. Matt Novak said. Officers also seized business records.

Advertisement

The previous day, about 8 a.m., police served a search warrant at Luxury Wellness on San Ysidro Boulevard east of Interstate 805.

Officers confiscated roughly 10 pounds of marijuana, hundreds of edibles and concentrates, and about $3,400 in cash, Novak said.

Three Dank of America employees and one at Luxury Wellness were arrested and cited, accused of selling marijuana and operating an illegal business, Novak said. They were not jailed.

Investigators will be working to determine if other people involved in the enterprises, Novak said.

Dank of America and Luxury Wellness are the 21st and 22nd to be raided since San Diego police and the City Attorneys Office started cracking down on them in May. The owner of other unlicensed pot shops have closed on their own because of enforcement and prosecution efforts, Novak said.

Breaking News

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
A man has been charged with murdering a 15-year-old boy whose mutilated body was found dumped in Valencia Park three decades ago, authorities announced Thursday.

Russell Taylor, 56, was serving a 25-year sentence at San Quintin State Prison when San Diego police detectives identified him as the suspect in the brutal slaying of Dewan Emerson, police homicide Lt. Mike Holden said.

Taylor was transferred into police custody and jailed in San Diego two weeks ago, according to prison officials and jail records. He was charged with murder on Feb. 14 and pleaded not guilty.

Advertisement

Dewan was last seen when he left his Valencia Park home the night of April, 28, 1987. He told his mother he was going to meet someone who owed him money for candy sales as part of a fundraiser for his ROTC high school program, his family said at the time.

The next morning, two engineers working on a trolley extension spotted what they thought was a mannequin in a drainage ditch. Instead, it was Dewans nude, mutilated body  roughly 300 feet from his Naranja Street home. His clothes were found nearby, police said.

An autopsy later revealed he had been bound by the wrists, sexually assaulted and strangled.

At the time, detectives were not able to identify a suspect.

Holden said cold-case detectives began to take a new look at the case a year or so ago. They interviewed witnesses and family members.

But it was modern forensic technology that allowed investigators to re-analyze evidence and develop a suspect DNA profile, which led them to identify Taylor as the suspect. Holden would not say what kind of evidence was re-examined by the Police Departments crime lab.

According to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records, Taylor was sentenced to prison for second-degree murder in an unrelated case six months after Dewans killing. He served 12 years.

In 2000, he was sent to prison for possessing a controlled substance, according to records.

Breaking News

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
Hector Gastelum, an elected member of the Otay Water District board, found himself under fire on Facebook this week after San Diegans shared screenshots of his tweets calling Muslims things like #SubhumanMonsters.

Gastelum accused Muslims of being rapists and murderers, among other things. Gastelum, who won his election in November with 56 percent of the vote, is director of Otay Water district 4, which lies east of the 805 and south of the Sweetwater Reservoir. Gastelum, 42, of Chula Vista is a Republican and a real estate agent.

Anisa Hagi, a Muslim woman who spent about six years in San Diego before moving to Minnesota last year, said that while she usually doesnt engage with such comments, she felt compelled to respond because Gastelum is a public official.

Advertisement

I was just really shocked by some of the comments that he was writing, Hagi said by telephone. He had plenty of chances to retract his comments, but he made even more inflammatory comments.

Hagi said her friends in San Diego called the water district and were referred back to Gastelum to talk out their differences.

Thats not a really effective strategy, Hagi said. If theres a school bully, you wouldnt tell the child to go talk to them. You would address the bully.

She said some of her friends are now trying to organize a recall election.

Gastelum did not respond to requests for comment. When confronted on Facebook about use of the #SubhumanMonsters hashtag, he replied, Im trying to think of a different way, but what do you call people that treat women like second hand citizens, stone them to death, honor killings, etc, throw homosexuals from the roof.

He added, It is not hateful, it is the reality of how Islamic men are raised and they are not compatible with civil society.

On Twitter, Gastelum features a photo of himself with President Donald Trump and identifies himself with the Otay Water District.

On Sunday, he tweeted, Lets pressure OUR Legislators to increase list of so-called #MuslimBan to prevent #SubHuman #Scum from #USA to #MAGA.

The general manager of the district, Mark Watton, did not respond to a message left with his secretary.

Edgar Hopida, who lives in the Otay Water District, contacted his divisions director, Mitch Thompson, about Gastelums comments.

For public officials to spout that kind of divisiveness and hate toward a religious minority and also immigrants is troubling and also hurts the integrity of a government institution like the Otay Water District, Hopida said by telephone.

>> Join the discussion on Facebook

Thompson, who represents district 2, said he was concerned by Gastelums posts.

I do not believe in any fashion that they reflect the attitudes of the agency, Thompson said. Obviously individuals  whether theyre public officials or not  are entitled to their opinions and thats part of freedom of speech. Some of the things that Ive looked at deeply concern me.

Thompson said he might make a proposal to reaffirm our agencys long history of inclusiveness at the next board meeting, which is March 1.

With one of the tweets, Gastelum shared Fox News story saying rapes in Sweden are increasing because of the rise in immigrants there. That story led to Trumps controversial comments at a rally in Florida this past weekend.

Trumps comments were denounced on Twitter by former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt. Data from Bra, which tracks reported crimes in Sweden, show that  contrary to the storys claim  the rate of reported rapes compared to the population have stayed relatively stable in the past decade.

Gastelum accused Muslims of imprisoning and killing homosexuals. He also accused Muslims of being pedophiles.

Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego said that while Islam doesnt agree with homosexuality, Gastelums impression of the faith is wrong.

I always tell LGBT people that I work with that I disagree with you when it comes to your lifestyle, but I respect you as a human being and I want you to understand that if anyone attacks you because of who you are, I will be the first person to defend your right as a human being, Hassane said. Disagreeing with someone doesnt mean allowing them to be victimized.

Hassane posted a comment inviting Gastelum to tea to talk about his understanding of Islam.

As a religious leader, my preferable way to deal with these issues is through education, Hassane said by telephone. The vast majority of the people who carry Islamophobic thoughts, its not because they have studied Islam profoundly. They are ignorant.

Hassane said Gastelum had not yet responded to his invitation.

Christian Ramirez, human rights director of Alliance San Diego, also responded to Gastelum after he received numerous messages about the discussion, he said.

Shame on you, Hector Gastelum, as an elected official you have an obligation to be civil and not promote hate-speech, Ramirez wrote. Religious intolerance and xenophobic statements have no place in a democracy and it is unbecoming of a public servant.

Ramirez said when he first heard about the posts, he thought there might be some misunderstanding, but he was shocked when he saw the contents for himself.

We may disagree on policy issues, Ramirez said in a phone interview. We may have passionate debates about immigration and how to enforce immigration laws, but this is clearly a symptom of the sort of irresponsible hyperbole that President Trump has unleashed, and it makes local elected officials feel its okay to use that sort of language.

Its never okay to use these heinous stereotypes to target an entire people, an entire faith, Ramirez added.

Hanif Mohebi, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in San Diego, said, This is essentially disturbing, dumb and absolutely disrespectful to our community. Were looking into the details of this matter, and we urge our community to stand against any bigotry or hate of such sort.

Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate
Jim Brulte hopes to keep a job few would envy: As chairman of the California Republican Party, hes tasked with trying to steer his party out of the wilderness in one of the bluest states in the nation.

As the party looks ahead to a high-stakes governors race and midterm elections in 2018, it faces a grim reality: A Republican hasnt been elected to statewide office here in more than a decade, and the Democrats hold a powerful supermajority in the state Legislature. The GOPs share of registered voters in California is just 27.3%, its lowest since 1980, and it has yet to field a prominent candidate in the 2018 governors race.

Brulte vows that the partys fortunes will improve in the 2018 election, including one or two top-shelf candidates running for governor. Hell make his case in Sacramento this weekend at the California Republican Partys three-day convention, where GOP delegates banking on Brulte to deliver are expected to vote Sunday in favor of extending his reign as chairman for a third term.

Advertisement

Donald Trumps election provides an opening, Brulte said. Californias Democratic leadership is so focused on battling the new Trump administration that they are ignoring growing concerns at home, he said. The states roads, bridges and dams have fallen into disrepair, poverty is on the rise, middle-class families struggle to afford a decent home and massive pension liabilities still loom  all problems that have festered under the watch of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature, Brulte and other state Republican leaders said.

We are looking for opportunities where Democrats are out of step with the districts they represent because they are bowing down to a liberal Washington Democrat establishment that is fundamentally out of touch with where the country is, and where California is, Brulte said in a recent interview.

The difficulty will be convincing Californians that Republicans have the answers, especially as GOP leaders in Washington dismantle the Affordable Care Act, crack down on immigrants in the country illegally and strip away environmental protections  moves that are popular with a conservative base, but dont play well out west.

The first step is honestly acknowledging that the Republican brand is fractured, said Stanislaus County Supervisor Kristin Olsen, vice chairwoman of the state party. Then its taking clear steps to improve that brand, to tell people that we as California Republicans care about their daily struggles with healthcare, immigration policies, schools and economic opportunities.

GOP leaders have seen the 2018 election as a potential Republican spring, a time when years of hard work helping Republicans win seats on city councils, county commissions and local school boards would begin to bear fruit in bigger races.

Despite their low numbers in Sacramento and Californias congressional delegation, Republicans have done well in local government races. As of earlier this year, Republicans accounted for 42% of elected city officeholders in California and Democrats accounted for 46%, according to data compiled by political consulting firm GrassrootsLab. In the California Legislature, Republicans account for 32% of lawmakers and Democrats account for 68%.

Posts on city councils and county boards are nonpartisan. Candidates running for the Legislature, Congress and statewide office have their political party listed on the ballot, and that can be a major obstacle in a deep-blue state.

Republican political consultant Matt Rexroad, who is a Yolo County supervisor and represents a Democratic-leaning district, said local government elections favor candidates with deep roots in their communities. Voters tend to back people they know.

Theyre largely student body president contests, Rexroad said of local elections. People are far more likely to trust the PTA president  than somebody running on a pure policy agenda.

Former Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Marc Steinorth parlayed his local political success into a seat in the California Assembly, an example of the bottom-up political strategy championed by Brulte. Steinorth, who owned an advertising firm and a string of pizza parlors in his community, campaigned door-to-door on issues such as job creation, affordable housing and cutting through government bureaucracy. Hes won two straight Assembly elections in a district that includes San Bernardino and Redlands and where Democrats had a 7-percentage-point edge in voter registration as of November.

I think that its easy for us to define everything based on party lines when were talking about the national level. But when were dealing with issues on a very local level, it really comes down to where are you on the policies, Steinorth said. Where are you on the issues, and are you caring about your community.

Despite Steinorths success, making the leap from city council to the Legislature or Congress has proven to be difficult for Republicans in all but the most deep-red parts of the state.

Brulte admits it could take time for the partys local strategy to pay off.

The Republican Party in California did not get in trouble in one election, Brulte said. It has been a multi-decade decline, and its going to take more than one or two elections for us to climb back.

It will be a steep climb if they do. For the first time in 2014, more voters in California were registered as nonpartisans or with third parties than as Republicans.

Republican political consultant Steve Schmidt said the GOPs declining voter registration numbers in California spell doom for the partys future prospects in the state.

Institutionally, its a third-party entity, said Schmidt, who worked for President George W. Bushs 2004 reelection campaign and helped run the 2008 presidential campaign of Republican Sen. John McCain. Youll see an independent candidate elected [governor] before you see a Republican elected again.

If that happens, it wont be for Republicans lack of trying, Brulte said. The partys No. 1 priority in 2018 is to elect a Republican governor, he said.

We believe there will be one or two very strong candidates on our side, Brulte added, but he declined to say whom they might be. Weve spent a significant amount of money seeing if there is a path for a Republican to win statewide, and we believe there is.

NEWSLETTER: Get the best from our political teams delivered daily 

The path to victory could depend on finding a Republican candidate who can coalesce GOP support and appeal to independents and moderates. That person must also survive a primary election battle against the Democratic heavyweights already in the race, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang.

So far no well-known Republicans have stepped forward to run for Californias top post. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, thought by many to be the GOPs best shot at the office, has said repeatedly that he wont run. Ashley Swearengin, the former Fresno mayor who lost her bid for state controller in 2014, has also said shes not interested.

If you dont field credible and competitive statewide candidates, for some of the offices at least, I think the voters start to take that as a concession. And thats a dangerous place to be in the minds of the electorate, said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist and former spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Theres also a series of potential obstacles for Republicans that has sprung out of Trumps victory. Experts say the Trump White House could distract California Democrats from pressing battles back home, but it could also energize the progressive resistance enough to deter Republican candidates and donors.

And with Trump now the leader of the national party, it could be more difficult for GOP members of Congress to distance themselves from the president, as many California Republicans did in the November election.

Progressive activists have showed up at the district offices of Republican members of Congress to protest votes on Trumps cabinet appointments and plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If the liberal uprising lasts, it could knock Republicans off kilter.

Whatever Trumps impact on California Republicans, its unlikely to be direct, said Tammy Frisby, a research fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution. Republicans running for statewide and legislative offices should have no problem distancing themselves from the president, Frisby adds, but having Trump in the White House could be dangerous for them if either side feels that the presidents policies could leave California Republicans vulnerable in 2018.

Whether a Trump problem for California Republicans is real or not, it could be a self-fulfilling prophecy if good candidates dont run and big donors dont give, she said.

Mike Osborn, chairman of the Ventura County Republican Party, believes that Trumps election may actually work to the advantage of California Republicans. With the Democratic Party so focused on the Trump administration, and the need to protect Democratic U.S. senators up for reelection in 2018, the GOP could land some significant victories, he said.

I think its going to be pulling a lot of big [Democratic] money out of California, Osborn said.

In the early days of Trumps presidency, as Democratic leaders across the state focused on the White House, top Republicans have done anything but. Last week, it appeared, the Democrats began to take notice.

Im tired of talking about Donald Trump, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) told a gathering of California newspaper publishers. If Hillary Clinton had gotten elected president of the United States, we would have started the year with 2.5 million children in California living in poverty. If Hillary Clinton had been elected president of the United States, we would have started the year with crumbling roads.

Mike Madrid, a Sacramento Republican consultant, quickly seized on Rendons comments, congratulating Assembly GOP Leader Chad Mayes for forcing Democrats to finally address poverty in California.

Mayes response was one that state Republicans are likely to keep in their back pocket as they attempt to win back their stature in the Golden State: Im thankful were going to focus on the problems right here in [California].

phil.willon@latimes.com

christine.maiduc@latimes.com

For more on California politics, follow @philwillon and @cmaiduc.

ALSO

After decades of Republican victories, heres how California became a blue state again

Noisy town hall protests show how the left is trying out tea party tactics to fight Trump

California Republicans ask Trump administration to block bullet train funding

Updates on California politics
A Ramona man arrested after an ugly road rage incident was ordered to undergo anger management treatment after he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the July encounter.

Mark Gordon, 52, was charged with misdemeanor counts of battery, assault with his vehicle and vandalism after he stopped to confront Alex Stone who had parked on the side of Rangeland Road to take photographs.

In addition to the classes, Gordon was also sentenced to three years probation and he was ordered to perform 30 days of public service. He also is required to pay $442.91 to Stone to replace the cell phone that was broken when Gordon knocked it out of his hand, according to the Ramona Sentinel.

Advertisement

Additionally, Gordon was told to abstain from alcohol for one year.

Gordon was driving a Ford Excursion when he noticed Stone, who was parked on the side of the road along with a couple associates, on July 9.

In the profanity-filled encounter that followed, Gordon is seen yelling at the men and claiming that they were in his driveway. Why dont you go take f---ing pictures in your own front yard? Gordon yelled. He then aimed his vehicle at the men and drove straight at them before he got out of the truck and batted the phone out of Stones hand.

He and his friends stayed calm and left the area and reported the incident to police.

Stone then posted video of the scary exchange on YouTube where he wrote, A guy tried to run me over today... The video has since been seen almost 1 million times.

Gordon spent one day in jail but was given no additional time in custody. He does, however, have to check back in with authorities in February to prove that he is taking the appropriate steps.

Deputy District Attorney Valerie Ryan told the newspaper that this was the right result for the case.

Gordon was first charged with two felonies that were reduced after he agreed to the plea, the Sentinel reported.
FORM 8.3

PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY

A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE

Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")

1. KEY INFORMATION

(a) Full name of discloser: HARGREAVE HALE LIMITED (for Discretionary Clients) (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):

The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. N/A (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:

Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree PEBBLE BEACH SYSTEMS GROUP PLC (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: N/A (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken:

For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 23 FEBRUARY 2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?

If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" NO

If YES, specify which: N/A

2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

Class of relevant security:



ORDINARY 2.5p



Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 13,400,000 10.7541 (2) Cash-settled derivatives:



(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:



TOTAL: 13,400,000 10.7541

All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options)

Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:

3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

(a) Purchases and sales

Class of relevant security Purchase/sale



Number of securities Price per unit NONE

(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. CFD Nature of dealing

e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit NONE





(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type

e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit NONE

(ii) Exercise

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit

(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

Class of relevant security Nature of dealing

e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable) NONE

4. OTHER INFORMATION

(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:

Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



NONE





(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:

(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or

(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:

If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



NONE





(c) Attachments

Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO

Date of disclosure: 24 FEBRUARY 2017 Contact name: DAVID CLUEIT

HARGREAVE HALE LTD Telephone number: 01253 754739

Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.
America is a nation of immigrants for good reason. It needed them. It began as a small nation of thinly populated British colonies. As it expanded westward to the Pacific on lands largely taken from Native Americans, purchased from France and won in wars with Spain and Mexico, it needed immigrants to populate these vast lands, clear the forests for farms, build villages, cities, roads, bridges, dams and other infrastructure.

And they came, some fleeing hunger, joblessness or prisons and some just in search of adventure and opportunity. They came mostly from Europe, but some from Asia, especially to build the railroads. Some came against their will from Africa and the Caribbean, victims of a cruel slave trade. My ancestors came from Ireland, mostly by sea, booking passage in steerage. One had the misfortune to book passage on the Titanic. They were not warmly embraced at first. They would dilute the culture, it was feared. Catholics would pledge allegiance first to the pope. Ethnic stereotypes proliferated. The Irish, it was said, were prone to fighting and drinking. Irish need not apply appeared on many help wanted signs.

They were, for the most part, eager to assimilate and blend in, adopting the ways of their new country, but adding some of their own customs and traditions to enrich what would become a unique American culture. The nation needed them for their labor, not necessarily because it intended to remain forever a refuge for all the worlds huddled masses. No nation has the capacity for that and still provide sufficiently for the needs of its own citizens.

Advertisement

Related: Trump travel ban is a bad idea that hurts U.S.

Today, our needs are quite different. Technology has greatly reduced the need for raw labor. We still need entrepreneurs to create businesses and provide jobs and there will always be a need for those with advanced technical skills, especially those who come to study at our universities. In short, America needs an immigration policy that puts the nations needs today first, not necessarily those of the huddled masses.

Donald Trump ran for president on a promise to, among other things, enforce our immigration laws and put an end to illegal immigration which has simply been out of control for years. At first, he promised, unwisely, to deport all those here illegally. He won anyway. When elected, he softened that promise and said he would treat people humanely, focusing on those who have committed serious crimes while here, especially drug dealers and gang-bangers. That he is attempting to do this, while novel behavior for a politician, should surprise no one because he is not a politician, but rather a businessman who intends to keep the promises he made to the voters.

TV and print media have been full of images of frightened children and sobbing mothers fearing deportation while posing for the cameras. One of them was Guadalupe Garcia, a Mexican woman who lived illegally in the U.S. for 22 years and has two U.S.-born children. The Mexican government cited her deportation in condemning Trumps policy. But Ms. Garcia is a felon, convicted of identity theft, a serious crime which can ruin the life of the victim and deserves serious prison time, not just deportation. While I dont favor rounding up and deporting those who have not committed serious crimes, those who have deserve to be deported.

Liberals still have their underwear in a knot over Mr. Trumps executive order temporarily banning immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, claiming it discriminates against Muslims. Never mind that the order didnt apply to dozens of other predominantly Muslim nations. While implementation of the order was badly botched, inconveniencing hundreds of green card holders, the choice of the seven nations was perfectly logical. Iran is the worlds leading exporter of international terrorism whose rulers routinely chant Death to America. Syria and Yemen are in the midst of civil wars and have a large ISIL presence. So does Iraq. Sudan just finished a civil war that split the country in two. Libya is in chaos. Somalia has no functioning government at all and is largely controlled by pirates. What do they all have in common? They are unable to properly screen those coming to our country.

America, like any other sovereign nation, has an obligation to its citizens to determine who may enter and stay in their country, especially when terrorism is an existential threat. As a recent email that went viral put it, even heaven has a gate and it does extreme vetting to determine who gets in.

Kelly, a retired Navy captain and bank executive, is a freelance writer based in Coronado.
Imagine serving your country, but needing help to feed your family  and because of a quirk in the law, you dont qualify for food stamps. This is the harsh, underreported reality for thousands of currently serving members of our armed forces.

Thats why the Military Hunger Prevention Act, introduced in the House of Representatives last week, must be passed by Congress. The bills sponsors are Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kansas, and Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minnesota.

The bill remedies a technical error that has prevented military families from qualifying for federal nutrition assistance benefits, particularly the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Advertisement

SNAP is the largest and most impactful anti-hunger initiative in the nation, known in California as the CalFresh program. An estimated 22,000 military households  typically lower-ranking enlisted service members with larger households  receive SNAP benefits to help put nutritious food on the table.

Unfortunately, SNAP eligibility rules have kept thousands of other military families from receiving the same assistance, causing unnecessary and unfair hardship. Service members and their families living in off-base or privatized housing receive a monthly Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) that often disqualifies them from receiving SNAP because their BAH is counted as income for the purposes of determining eligibility.

There is no justifiable reason that BAH should be considered differently for SNAP than other federal programs.

Federal tax law exempts BAH from taxation by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS also lists BAH as one of the tax-exempt military allowances not considered as earned income when determining eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the Head Start program.

By including BAH as income, a barrier to accessing SNAP has been created  one that has led military families in San Diego and across the country to turn in desperation to food banks.

Information obtained by MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a leading national anti-hunger organization, reveals that food pantries operate on or near every single naval and marine base in the United States. At Camp Pendleton alone, a Government Accountability Office report released last year identified four food pantries on base, with one of those programs providing food assistance to an average of 400 to 500 Marine families every month.

The 2015 Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey found that 6 percent of respondents had sought emergency food assistance through a food bank or other charitable organization.

And data obtained from the Department of Defense shows that, on average, of the 19,001 children enrolled in DODEA schools in the U.S. during the 2014-2015 school year, 26 percent qualified for free meals and 25 percent were eligible for reduced-price meals.

If we, as a nation, are committed to fully supporting military families, we must preserve their dignity by ensuring that one of lifes basic necessities  food  is met.

Addressing this issue of hunger requires recognition of the unique circumstances inherent in military life.

Certainly some situations, such as unexpected financial emergencies, are similar to challenges faced by civilian counterparts. Others, though, are specific to active-duty careers, including unemployment or underemployment among military spouses; the costs incurred as a result of frequent permanent changes of station (household moves); and activation and deployment. For example, the 2015 Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey found that 75 percent of military spouses reported that being married to a member of the military had a negative impact on their ability to pursue a career.

Higher levels of unemployment among spouses as well as skyrocketing housing costs in some areas of the country, including San Diego County, have an adverse impact on the financial stability of military families, often leaving them straining to make ends meet.

The SNAP program is an incredibly effective response to food insecurity. By excluding BAH as income when determining eligibility for SNAP, this legislation makes good on our national commitment to take care of all those who proudly serve in our armed forces.

Lets ensure that no military families are left behind to struggle with hunger.

Davis, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, is a San Diego Democrat who was first elected to her congressional seat in 2000. Leibman is president and CEO of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a Los Angeles-based national organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. Website: mazon.org
When my parents came to the United States, one of the first Bible verses they ingrained in my head was from the Book of Matthew: I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

As an advocate for refugees, as the child of immigrants and as an American, there is no choice for me but to vehemently stand in opposition to President Trumps travel ban across seven Muslim-majority nations. Sources within the White House say Trump plans a do-over of his failed immigration ban that was eventually halted by the federal courts, with the new version crafted so it wont face dismissal by our judiciary system. Early reports indicate that it will exclude any religious prioritization for Christians, and it will include all the nations from the previous ban. In case you need reminding, the countries are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and the country whose immigrants have called San Diego home  Iraq. Not a single American citizen was killed on U.S. soil by citizens from any of these countries between 1975 and 2015, as cited by the Cato Institute.

But there are some surprising exceptions to the list of banned countries. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are all countries whose citizens have killed American citizens (the bulk of them in the 9/11 attacks) and who have business ties to President Trump. And yet there was no mention of these countries in the previous immigration travel ban or in the new version that is expected in coming days. Based on precedent, it seems as if this travel ban has very little to do with maintaining our safety and much more to do with targeting arbitrarily named countries to give us the illusion of safety.

Advertisement

Some, including those within my own Chaldean Christian community of San Diego, mistakenly look upon the Trump immigration ban admirably. They see it as protection against those we tried so hard to flee from. These very Chaldean Christians would have been unable to gain citizenship had a Trump immigration ban been implemented during their processing period. It startles me to see how quickly many, especially those within my own community, are willing to turn our backs on those whose situations were not far from ours only a few years earlier.

Related: Trump right to protect nation with travel ban

In the coming days and weeks, the Trump administration will make the case for why this slightly refurbished ban is necessary. They will use fear as seen through fabricated events like the Bowling Green massacre or the Sweden terror attacks. They will try to appeal to our natural yearning for security. But as Americans, and as citizens of a nation founded on the backs of immigrants, it is our responsibility to resist.

Related: U.S. immigration policy must prioritize nations needs

My Chaldean Christian family came to the United States to practice its religion freely, to pursue liberty and to create a better life for itself and future generations. The processing for my family and millions of others like ours took years.

I worked to establish a nonprofit called the Minority Humanitarian Foundation (MHF), which helped to expedite processing for religious minorities in the war-torn Middle East. This put me face to face with the slow-churning machine of refugee processing. Some of the family members I helped in Iraq had waited for years just to receive an interview granting them a chance to reunite with their family members in the United States. The MHF was founded partly because the process for admittance was so rigorous and in many ways broken that many displaced by ISIS were left for dead by our very immigration system. But we cannot be fooled into believing that it is anything short of thorough.

It is time to come down from the lofty heights of Trumps imagination. This planned ban isnt about keeping us safe. In fact, all it achieves is empowering those who wish to hurt us. Building a wall to separate us from our neighbors  creating an immigration impasse between the outside world and ourselves  does not protect us. It makes us a target. I call on all citizens to not give into President Trumps immigration ban redo. Instead, let us open our hearts and our doors to those whose hope for a better life trumps the hatred and persecution of a past they so desperately seek to leave behind.

Arabo, a San Diego resident, is president of the Minority Humanitarian Foundation. Website: minorityhf.org
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly were in Mexico City on Thursday with a difficult task: trying to mend fences with our southern neighbor when their boss wants to build a real fence.

According to reports, the U.S. officials got an earful. Mexican Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told them of Mexicos displeasure with President Trumps plans to increase deportations to Mexico, including residents of nations other than Mexico. Kelly offered private and public assurances that the U.S. had no intention to launch mass deportations. On the record, Tillerson downplayed differences, saying the two nations needed to modernize and strengthen our trade and energy relationship.

Advertisement

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, and Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray give remarks after their meeting in Mexico City on Thursday. Mexican Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong is at far right. (Susana Gonzalez / Bloomberg)

But this came just hours after Trump met with manufacturing CEOs, bragging about his immigration crackdown getting really bad dudes out of this country and at a rate that nobody has ever seen before and calling the present U.S. trade relationship with Mexico unsustainable because of the United States annual $70 billion trade deficit with its NAFTA partner (actually $58 billion, according to the most recent official U.S. data).

Thursdays events could be an illustration of what columnist Charles Krauthammer describes as a good-cop, bad-cop approach  Trump being belligerent and his high-ranking subordinates being conciliatory  which Krauthammer thinks perhaps could be effective.

But when you live in a region so helped by strong ties to Mexico, what the Trump administration is doing doesnt feel like a coherent strategy. It feels inconsistent, more like mockery. An NPR analysis of Thursdays events said Mexico was looking for clarity out of the Trump administration. Many of us in San Diego and the U.S. want the same thing.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: UTOpinion
FILE - In this July 15, 2015 file photo, Caitlyn Jenner accepts the Arthur Ashe award for courage at the ESPY Awards at the Microsoft Theater, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

In a video posted on Twitter late Thursday, Caitlyn Jenner slammed Donald Trump and his administration for rolling back protections for transgender students under Title IX set by the Obama administration.

Jenner, who spoke out in support of Trump last year and also addressed the Republican National Convention, responded to the Trump administrations decision to strip away guidelines that allowed students to use restrooms or locker rooms based on their gender identity as opposed to their birth sex.

Advertisement

Well @realDonaldTrump, from one Republican to another, this is a disaster. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me. pic.twitter.com/XwYe0LNUOq  Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) February 24, 2017

Jenner didnt mince words directed at bullies, the president and even U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

I have a message for the trans kids of America: youre winning, Jenner says in the video. I know it doesnt feel like it today or every day, but youre winning. Very soon we will win full freedom nationwide, and its going to be with bipartisan support.

Now I have a message to the bullies: youre sick. And becasue youre weak, you pick on kids, you pick on women or anyone else you think is vulnerable. Apparently even becoming the attorney general isnt enough to cure some people of their insecurities. As proof, the Supreme Court will soon hear a very important title IX court case thanks to the courage of a very brave young man, Gavin Grimm. Mr. President, well see you in court, Jenner says in the video.

Finally, I have a message for President Trump from, well, from one Republican to another: this is a disaster and you can still fix it. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community.

Call me, Jenner concludes.

Jenners response came at the end of a day she remained mostly silent on the issue, drawing angry objections from members of the LGBTQ and its supporters. Jenner had tweeted about LGBTQ issues on Saturday, drawing a mix of praise and criticism for it in recent days.

You are a strong voice, I'm sure they will listen. #Courage  Morgan Brittany (@MorganBrittany4) January 18, 2017

Congratulations @Caitlyn_Jenner on your #LGBT ambassadorship to the Trump Administration. You can retire now. pic.twitter.com/EXFzXYZYVL  Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) February 23, 2017

Remember when @Caitlyn_Jenner said this about Trump? What now Caitlyn?! What are you going to say to those transgender kids? I just can't... pic.twitter.com/Yniqu8Xruf  Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) February 23, 2017

I wonder how @Caitlyn_Jenner feels now that the man she voted for is taking her rights away.  This Is Not Normal (@AnnTBush) February 23, 2017

Will Trump heed Jenners criticism? Should he?

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez
A handful of news outlets purposely excluded from a White House press briefing Friday expressed immediate concern online over the Trump administrations decision to curtail access even as a former White House press secretary urged the media to calm down.

Journalists from The New York Times , CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and BuzzFeed were among the news organizations selectively left out of an on-the-record press meeting with Sean Spicer , the White House press secretary, the Times and others reported shortly after the meeting.

Update: In recorded audio from the press briefing released hours later, Spicer appears to confirm that the exclusion from the New York Times and CNN is linked to the White Houses discomfort with recent coverage it deemed too critical, including a recent report saying the Trump administration asked the FBI to knock down stories relating to suspected Trump-Russia ties.

Were going to aggressively push back. Were just not going to sit back and let, you know, false narrative, false stories get out there, Spicer told reporters inside the briefing.

Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple admnsitrations of different parties, New York Times editor Dean Baquet said in a statement. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest.

Other news organizations and groups also criticized the White House for denying access to some outlets while granting it to different ones. Among those allowed access to the meeting were Breitbart News, the One America News Network, the Washington Times, ABC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, the Times reported.

CNNs communication team responded by saying Well keep reporting regardless.

BuzzFeed News editor in chief, Ben Smith, said we wont let those antics distract us from continuing to cover this administration fairly and aggressively.

Ari Fleischer, a White House press secretary under President George W. Bush took a different view, saying that the press secretary may have acted unwisely but that aides exclude media members from gaggles all the time.

Journalists from the Associated Press and Time magazine were said to have boycotted the press briefing in solidarity with their colleagues who got blocked. One by one, news outlets offered public reactions.

Associated Press director of media relations, Lauren Easton, explained why the AP chose not to participate in the briefing without colleagues from other outlets.

"The AP believes the public should have as much access to the president as possible," she said.

Meanwhile, journalism personalities weighed in from CNN, Fox News and elsewhere.

A Politico reporter flashed back to an earlier Spicer interview where the issue of media access was discussed.

In a statement on Friday, The Wall Street Journal said it will not participate in such closed briefings in the future.

Joanne Lipman, Gannetts chief content editor and editor in chief of the USA Today, said in a statement that Fridays handling of the press briefing is at odds with the best traditions of the White House and our democracy.

It does not serve President Trump or the American people well, Lipman added.

Los Angeles Times editor Davan Maharaj tweeted a photo of a T-shirt with the words we will not shut up.

The president of the White House Correspondents Association  a trade group that lobbies on behalf of the press in the White House  issued a similar reaction.

The WCHA board is protesting against how todays gaggle is being handled by the White House, WHCA president Jeff Mason said. We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not.

Lynn Walsh, president of the Society of Professional Journalists, also weighed in a statement that reads, in part, by not allowing the news organizations access, the White House was effectively not allowing them to ask questions and hold the administration accountable for whatever information was shared.

Peter Baker, a White House correspondent for the New York Times, tweeted that the Treasury Department under the Obama administration once tried to block Fox News from briefings, which was similarly met with objections from other outlets.

Well update this post as new details emerge.

Meanwhile, stay in the conversation and tell us what you think. Should this concern the American people or are the media making too much of it?

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

UPDATES:

2:34 p.m.: This article was updated with audio from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer explaining why some news outlets were left out of the briefing.

This article was originally published at 1:25 p.m.
Five cannabis plants grow in the backyard of a Southern California residents backyard on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017. (Matt Masin/The Orange County Register via AP)

Will President Donald Trump make any changes to the federal governments position on marijuana ?

Some clues were uncovered by White House spokesman Sean Spicer during a press briefing on Thursday when he implied that a showdown between states and the federal government could be on the way. He was asked about it directly by a reporter from Arkansas.

REPORTER: With Jeff Sessions over at the Department of Justice as attorney general, whats going to be the Trump administrations position on marijuana legalization where its in a state-federal conflict?

SPICER: Theres two distinct issues here: medical marijuana and recreational marijuana. I think medical marijuana, Ive said before that the President understands the pain and suffering that many people go through who are facing especially terminal diseases and the comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana, can bring to them.

There is a big difference between that and recreational marijuana. And I think that when you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this country, the last thing that we should be doing is encouraging people.

REPORTER: So is the federal government then going to take some sort of action around this recreational marijuana in some of these states?

SPICER: Well, I think thats a question for the Department of Justice. I do believe that youll see greater enforcement of it. Because again, theres a big difference between the medical use which Congress has, through an appropriations rider in 2014, made very clear what their intent was in terms of how the Department of Justice would handle that issue. Thats very different than the recreational use, which is something the Department of Justice I think will be further looking into.

So it appears that some level of federal intervention may be on the horizon, or at least under consideration. With eight states (including California) making major changes in marijuana policy in the 2016 elections, this is no small matter. California, for example, is trying to create a set of regulations by January for when it will start issuing retail licenses to comply with the new state law governing recreational marijuana, a task made trickier by the discrepancies between state and federal laws and the uncertainty about federal enforcement.

Theres already a White House petition asking Trump to keep his campaign pledge to respect state marijuana legalization laws. Trumps stance on the campaign trail wasnt a main talking point when it came to recreational marijuana, but he did say in 2015 that in terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state.

It wasnt hard to find frustrated people on social media.

President Barack Obamas approach on marijuana was to not interfere with medical marijuana use in states, and be mostly hands off in terms of recreational marijuana in states. But he also pointed to a belief that imposing federal marijuana regulation isnt an easy thing to do for a president.

Typically how these classifications are changed are not done by presidential edict, he said in 2016, but are done either legislatively or through the DEA. As you might imagine, the DEA, whose job it is historically to enforce drug laws, is not always going to be on the cutting edge about these issues.

Do you want Trump to crack down on recreational marijuana use? Do you find Spicers comments frustrating?

Tell us in the comment section below.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin
A regional forum promoted by a Second Amendment rights group will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

The San Diego County Gun Owners, which describes itself as a political action committee, is sponsoring its 2017 Regional Firearms Law Conference, according to a press release. The public is invited to attend and learn about recent laws regarding firearms, including pistols, rifles, shotguns and accessories such as concealed weapons permits, ammunition and ammunition magazines, the release said.

Poway Mayor Steve Vaus is identified as an event speaker, but Vaus said his role will be limited to a few welcoming remarks. Other expected speakers are Jamie Franks, a Navy veteran, top competitive shooter and star of two History Channel shows, Top Shot and Top Shot All-Stars; John Dillon, an attorney who serves as in-house counsel for the sponsoring group; John Phillips, owner of Poway Weapons and Gear, Inc. and Michael Schwartz, executive director of the sponsoring group.

Carl DeMaio, radio talk show host and former San Diego City Council member, will be the panel moderator.

Admission is $20 per person. Tickets are available at sandiegocountygunowners.org.

San Diego County Gun Owners claims a membership of more than 500 members and $200,000 in fundraising during 2016.

sdreyer@pomeradonews.com
Some conflicts cannot be resolved by human will.

Theyre wired into the human psyche. God must perform an act to restore peace.

A tsunami might do it. Or a sea change in human nature.

Advertisement

San Diegos Exhibit A of perpetual strife is, not coincidentally, located in arguably its most beautiful stretch of coastline.

This is our Helen, the face that launched a thousand ad hominem attacks as well as a slate of lawsuits.

Lets go back to the first shot of this Hundred Years (or so it seems) War.

In February 1993, two dozen years ago, the San Diego City Council voted to create the citys first marine mammal reserve, a 1.4 acre offshore area called Seal Rock.

The seals deserve a piece of the rock, too, joked Councilman John Hartley.

Councilman Tom Behr, defending the zone by La Jollas Children Pool (aka Casa Beach), said it will be just a little blip on the radar screen.

Untruer words have never been spoken.

Over time, cute harbor seals and larger sea lions have commandeered the whole Rock of Gibralter  and the surrounding Mediterranean.

Theyve scoured the ocean stores, turning a teeming ecosystem into a ghost habitat.

Since the mid-90s, the sea critters have multiplied, turning the area from Casa to the sea-lion-infested Cove into a marine latrine that not only stinks but poses a health risk to swimmers.

San Diego is not a sanctuary city for immigrants, but La Jolla has evolved into a church that rules out pinniped deportation.

Despite a series of ballyhooed solutions  opening the seawall for flushing, beach excavation, sounds of barking dogs  activists have rallied, protesting that the animals have a natural right to hunt, procreate and excrete in the Jewels front yard.

I visited the Childrens Pool twice in the last five days.

On Sunday, I took my 5-year-old granddaughter to see the seals.

The pocket beach ringed by a golden-hued seawall is off-limits to humans from Dec. 15 to May 15, the pupping season.

Holding on to Ainsley as she stood on the wall, I explained that some people wanted the beach, which had been designed to help children learn to swim, to be free of seals that hurt human enjoyment.

Many others, I went on, see the pool as a cool natural zoo, a protected place where seals can have babies undisturbed and where people can watch.

Ainsley thought about this dilemma thats divided San Diego into feuding camps for more than two decades.

Thinking deeply, she said, Children can learn how to swim in pools, but seals dont have anyplace else to swim.

We moved on to estimating how many seals were splayed out on the beach. A hundred was our best guess.

On Wednesday, I met Bill OConnor, a Point Loma resident who has braved the rough water at the Cove for some 20 years. A true water man who sired children who also thrived in the ocean.

Im like Scrooge, OConnor conceded as he surveyed the crowd (tourists, he said) going gaga over the seals.

He equates the Childrens Pool stretching to the Cove as an aquatic playground, a marine Balboa Park. By allowing the seals and the sea lions to have the run of the place, a natural beauty has been destroyed, not ennobled.

I reminded him that he and his soul mates are swimming against the tide. Look at those pups and their mamas, I said. Theyre just so postcard cute.

He shakes his head. He brings up Bambi, a dear deer who, if she proliferates out of control, becomes a polluting pest akin to rats or pigeons.

OConnor had contacted me after he read a newsletter from the office of newly elected District 1 Councilwoman Barbara Bry.

I was proud, Bry reported, to stand with City Councilmember Lorie Zapf, San Diego Coastkeeper, WILDCOAST, San Diego Audubon Society, and I Love A Clean San Diego in La Jolla Shores to call for the permanent protection of San Diegos coastal waters from offshore oil drilling and gas leasing.

OConnor fired off an incredulous letter. Like all pols, youve supported the obvious givens, including a ban on oil drilling  but you cleverly avoid any mention of the current pollution of the Cove and periodic pollution of the Shores, all resulting from sea lion feces.

In a polite response, Daniel Orloff, Brys aide and a former lifeguard, wrote, Thank you for expressing your frustration with the optics of politics. From the outside looking in, it is understandable that you would be frustrated when you see tertiary issues celebrated and not much mention of the elephant in the room  the sea lions at La Jolla Cove.

Orloff went on to say that his boss informed the Mayor that fixing the sea lion issues  was at the top of her list for La Jolla.  Councilmember Bry is ready and willing to take proactive steps to solve these issues, and she does not feel held back because of politics or future aspirations.

Well, peoples-rights advocates like OConnor can only wish her good luck in cutting the Gordian knot. (If she does it, shell be dubbed Queen Alexandria the Great.)

History records that the war over pinnipeds has brought her predecessors  Harry Mathis, Scott Peters and Sherri Lightner  to the dead-end of their wits.

As OConnor and I were chewing the blubber, we were astonished to see people armed with smartphones swarming a few seals at the accessible cove just south of the Childrens Pool.

From the lifeguard tower, an authoritative voice boomed: It is a federal crime to harass these animals!

Undeterred, the seal lovers pressed in closer, taking pictures. The lifeguard warned that a $1,000 fine could be imposed.

Just then, a woman petted a mother seal from behind.

Stay a safe distance, the lifeguard went on. Honor your children. The seals will bite. Have a nice day.

RELATED

In the most sweeping action yet to protect a seal rookery, San Diego officials on Monday blocked off access to Childrens Pool beach in La Jolla for the next five months. The closure, which covers the seal pupping season, is scheduled to occur each

logan.jenkins@sduniontribune.com
Norwegian English

(2017-02-24) Kitron has signed an agreement with Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles. The potential contract value is NOK 250 million over a five-year period. The agreement covers manufacturing of electronics, measuring instruments and control devices.

The production will take place at Kitron's plant in Kaunas, Lithuania.

"One and a half year ago we announced a new contract with Rheinmetall Defence Electronics. Our operational performance and ability to fulfil our obligations have opened new opportunities with other Rheinmetall divisions. This new contract with Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles is a typical example of how we grow new business through horizontal integration with existing customers," said Tommy P. Storstein, Corporate sales director of Kitron ASA.

For further information, please contact:

Peter Nilsson, CEO of Kitron ASA, tel. +47 94 84 08 50

Tommy P. Storstein, Corporate sales director of Kitron ASA, tel. +47 93 66 99 09

E-mail: investorrelations@kitron.com

Kitron is one of Scandinavia's leading electronic manufacturing services companies for the Data/Telecoms, Defense, Energy, Industry, Medical devices and Offshore/Marine sectors. The company is located in Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Germany, China and the United States. Kitron had revenue of about NOK 2.1 billion in 2016 and has about 1,350 employees. www.kitron.com

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
If approved, Tafinlar + Mekinist will be the first targeted therapy specifically for NSCLC patients with a BRAF V600 mutation

CHMP opinion based on positive data from pivotal study of patients with BRAF V600-positive NSCLC[1]

With new targeted therapy, BRAF becomes fourth actionable oncogenic driver of lung cancer, similar to EGFR, ALK and ROS1

Basel, February 24, 2017 - Novartis today announced the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of Tafinlar (dabrafenib) in combination with Mekinist (trametinib) to treat patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express the BRAF V600 mutation. If approved, Tafinlar + Mekinist will be the first targeted treatment available for patients with BRAF V600-positive NSCLC. Of the estimated 1.8 million new cases of lung cancer diagnosed worldwide each year[2], 1-3%, may be driven by the BRAF mutation[3].

"At Novartis, we are committed to finding treatments for rare cancers with an unmet need. Today's CHMP opinion marks a major milestone for NSCLC patients with the BRAF V600 mutation, who have very limited treatment options," said Bruno Strigini, CEO, Novartis Oncology. "We welcome the CHMP's opinion as a first step towards that goal, and look forward to continuing to work with European health authorities to make Tafinlar + Mekinist available for appropriate NSCLC patients."

The positive CHMP opinion was based on safety and efficacy data from a Phase II study of Tafinlar + Mekinist in patients with BRAF V600-positive NSCLC (36 treatment-naive and 57 previously treated with chemotherapy).

The 57 patients who had tumor progression on at least one platinum based chemotherapy, receiving 150 mg of Tafinlar twice daily and 2 mg of Mekinist once daily, demonstrated an overall response rate (ORR) of 63.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 49.3%, 75.6%) and duration of response of 9.0 months (95% CI, 6.9, 18.3 months). The most common adverse events (incidence >20%) were pyrexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, asthenia, decreased appetite, dry skin, chills, peripheral edema, cough and rash[1]. Updated data from the previously treated and treatment-naive cohorts were included in the overall data package for EMA review and will also be presented at upcoming medical meetings.

The European Commission (EC) typically adheres to the recommendation of the CHMP and usually delivers its final decision within two months. The decision will be applicable to all 28 European Union (EU) member states plus Iceland and Norway. In Europe, Tafinlar and Mekinist is approved for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma who have a BRAF V600 mutation.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Tafinlar + Mekinist Breakthrough Therapy Designation for advanced or metastatic BRAF V600-positive NSCLC patients in 2015 and Priority Review in November 2016. Combination use of Tafinlar + Mekinist is also approved in the US, Australia, Canada and additional countries for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma whose tumors tested positive for the BRAF V600 mutation.

Worldwide, lung cancer causes more deaths than colon, breast, and prostate cancer combined[4], and an estimated 1.8 million new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed each year[2]. Among patients with NSCLC, roughly 30% have an actionable mutation that may be targeted with available therapies[5],[6],[7],[8]. To determine that treatment, medical organizations recommend genetic testing for patients with lung cancer[9].

Novartis Commitment to Lung Cancer

Novartis Oncology's research into targeted therapies has helped transform treatment approaches for patients living with mutation-driven types of lung cancer. Patients with a mutation-driven NSCLC may be candidates for treatment with targeted therapies[6].

Novartis continues its commitment to the global lung cancer community through ongoing studies, as well as the exploration of investigational compounds that target genetic biomarkers in NSCLC.

About Tafinlar + Mekinist Combination

Combination use of Tafinlar + Mekinist in patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma who have a BRAF V600 mutation is approved in the US, EU, Australia, Canada and other countries.

Tafinlar and Mekinist target different kinases within the serine/threonine kinase family - BRAF and MEK1/2, respectively - in the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway, which is implicated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and melanoma, among other cancers. When Tafinlar is used with Mekinist, the combination has been shown to slow tumor growth more than either drug alone. The combination of Tafinlar + Mekinist is currently being investigated in an ongoing clinical trial program across a range of tumor types conducted in study centers worldwide.

The safety and efficacy profile of the Tafinlar + Mekinist combination has not yet been established outside of the approved indications.

Tafinlar and Mekinist are also indicated in more than 40 countries worldwide, including the US and EU, as single agents to treat patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600 mutation.

Tafinlar + Mekinist Combination Important Safety Information for Metastatic Melanoma

Tafinlar + Mekinist combination may cause serious side effects.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist should only be used to treat melanoma with a change (mutation) in the BRAF gene; therefore, doctors should test their patients before treatment, as patients without a BRAF mutation and with a RAS mutation can be at risk of increased cell proliferation in the presence of a BRAF inhibitor.

Doctors should also consider other treatment options for their patients if they had been previously treated with a BRAF inhibitor as single agent, as the limited data available have shown that the efficacy of Tafinlar + Mekinist is lower in these patients.

When Tafinlar is used in combination with Mekinist, or when Tafinlar is administered as monotherapy, it can cause new cancers (both skin cancer and non-skin cancer). Patients should be advised to contact their doctor immediately for any new lesions, changes to existing lesions on their skin, or signs and symptoms of other malignancies.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Mekinist alone, can cause severe bleeding, and in some cases can lead to death. Patients should be advised to call their healthcare provider and get medical help right away if they have headaches, dizziness, or feel weak, cough up blood or blood clots, vomit blood or their vomit looks like "coffee grounds," have red or black stools that look like tar, or any unusual signs of bleeding.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or either drug alone, can cause severe eye problems that can lead to blindness. Patients should be advised to call their healthcare provider right away if they get these symptoms of eye problems: blurred vision, loss of vision, or other vision changes, seeing color dots, halo (seeing blurred outline around objects), eye pain, swelling, or redness.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Tafinlar alone, can cause fever which may be serious. When taking Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, fever may happen more often or may be more severe. In some cases, chills or shaking chills, too much fluid loss (dehydration), low blood pressure, dizziness, or kidney problems may happen with the fever. Patients should be advised to call their healthcare provider right away if they get a fever above 38.5oC (101.3oF) while taking Tafinlar.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Mekinist alone, can affect how well the heart pumps blood. A patient's heart function should be checked before and during treatment. Patients should be advised to call their healthcare provider right away if they have any of the following signs and symptoms of a heart problem: feeling like their heart is pounding or racing, shortness of breath, swelling of their ankles and feet, or feeling lightheaded.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Tafinlar alone, can cause abnormal kidney function or inflammation of the kidney. Abnormal kidney function may happen more often for patients with fever or too much fluid loss. Patients should be advised to call their healthcare provider right away if they have a fever above 38.5oC (101.3oF), decreased urine, fatigue, loss of appetite or discomfort in lower abdomen or back. Tafinlar has not been studied in patients with renal insufficiency (defined as creatinine > 1.5 x ULN) therefore caution should be used in this setting.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Mekinist alone, can cause abnormal liver function. A patient may feel tired, lose appetite, yellow skin, dark urine colour, or discomfort in abdomen. The liver function abnormality needs to be assessed by laboratory test of the blood. Patients should consult their healthcare provider if they have such experience. Administration of Tafinlar or Mekinist should be done with caution in patients with moderate to severe hepatic impairment.

Elevations in blood pressure have been reported in association with Mekinist in combination with Tafinlar, or with Mekinist alone, in patients with or without pre-existing hypertension. Patients should be advised to monitor blood pressure during treatment with Mekinist and control potential hypertension by standard therapy, as appropriate.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Mekinist alone, can cause inflammation of the lung tissue. Patients should notify their doctor if they experience any new or worsening symptoms of lung or breathing problems, including shortness of breath or cough.

Rash is a common side effect of Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or with Mekinist alone. Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Mekinist alone, can also cause other skin reactions which can be severe, and may need to be treated in a hospital. Patients should be advised to call their healthcare provider if they get any of the following symptoms: skin rash that bothers them or does not go away, acne, redness, swelling, peeling, or tenderness of hands or feet, skin redness.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Mekinist alone, can cause muscle breakdown, a condition called Rhabdomyolysis. Patients experiencing muscle pain, tenderness, weakness or a swelling of their muscles should contact their healthcare provider immediately.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Tafinlar alone, can uncommonly cause an inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis). Patients should be promptly investigated if they experience unexplained abdominal pain and closely monitored if they re-start Tafinlar after a prior episode of pancreatitis.

Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist, or Mekinist alone, can cause blood clots in the arms or legs, which can travel to the lungs and can lead to death. Patients should be advised to get medical help right away if they have the following symptoms: chest pain, sudden shortness of breath or trouble breathing, pain in their legs with or without swelling, swelling in their arms or legs, or a cool or pale arm or leg.

Mekinist, alone or in combination with Tafinlar, may increase the risk of developing holes in the stomach or intestine (gastrointestinal perforation). Treatment with Mekinist alone or in combination with Tafinlar should be used with caution in patients with risk factors for gastrointestinal perforation, including concomitant use of medications with a recognised risk of gastrointestinal perforation.

Tafinlar and Mekinist both can cause harm to an unborn baby when taken by a pregnant woman. Tafinlar can also render hormonal contraceptives ineffective.

The most common side effects of Tafinlar + Mekinist combination include fever, tiredness, nausea, headache, chills, diarrhea, rash, joint pain, high blood pressure, vomiting and cough. The incidence and severity of fever is increased when Mekinist is used in combination with Tafinlar. Patients should tell their doctor of any side effect that bothers them or does not go away. These are not all of the possible side effects of Tafinlar + Mekinist combination. For more information, patients should ask their doctor or pharmacist.

Patients should take Tafinlar + Mekinist combination exactly as their health care provider tells them. Patients should not change their dose or stop taking Tafinlar + Mekinist combination unless their health care provider advises them to. Mekinist should be taken only once daily (either in the morning or evening, at the same time as Tafinlar). The first and second doses of Tafinlar should be taken approximately 12 hours apart. Patients should take Tafinlar + Mekinist at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after a meal. Do not take a missed dose of Tafinlar within 6 hours of the next dose of Tafinlar. Do not open, crush, or break Tafinlar capsules. Do not take a missed dose of Mekinist within 12 hours of the next dose of Mekinist.

Please see full Prescribing Information for Tafinlar and Mekinist.

Disclaimer

The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as "positive CHMP opinion," "will," "recommending," "committed," "first step," "goal," "look forward," "upcoming," "recommendation," "usually," "Breakthrough Therapy designation," "Priority Review," "commitment," "may," "ongoing," "investigational," "being investigated," "yet," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential new indications or labeling for Tafinlar + Mekinist, or regarding potential future revenues from Tafinlar and Mekinist, both as single agents and in combination with the other. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that Tafinlar + Mekinist will be submitted or approved for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that Tafinlar and Mekinist, either as single agents or in combination with the other will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding Tafinlar and Mekinist, both as single agents and in combination with the other could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the company's ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; general economic and industry conditions; global trends toward health care cost containment, including ongoing pricing pressures; safety, quality or manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis

Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis and @NovartisCancer at http://twiter.com/novartiscancer

For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library

For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com

References

[1] Planchard D et al. Dabrafenib plus trametinib in patients with previously treated BRAFV600E-mutant metastatic non-small cell lung cancer: An open-label, multicentre Phase II trial. 2016. Lancet Oncol 17: 984-93.

[2] World Health Organization. International Agency for Research on Cancer. GLOBOCAN 2012: Estimated Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide in 2012. Lung Cancer. Available at http://globocan.iarc.fr/Pages/fact_sheets_cancer.aspx?cancer=lung. Accessed February 2, 2017.

[3] Pao W, Girard N. New driver mutations in non-small-cell lung cancer. 2011. Lancet Oncol 12: 175-180.

[4] World Health Organization. Estimated number of deaths, both sexes, worldwide in 2012. World Health Organization. http://gco.iarc.fr/today/online-analysis-pie?mode=cancer&mode_population=

continents&population=900&sex=0&cancer=11&type=1&statistic=0&prevalence=0&color

_palette=default. Accessed on January 19, 2017.

[5] Riess JW, Wakelee, HA. Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Management: Novel Targets and Recent Clinical Advances. Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology. 2012; 10: 226-224.

[6] Pao W, Girard N. New driver mutations in non-small-cell lung cancer. Lancet Oncol. 2011;12:175-180.

[7] Paik PK, Arcila ME, Fara M, et al. Clinical Characteristics of Patients With Lung Adenocarcinomas Harboring BRAF Mutations. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29:2046-2051.

[8] Takeuchi, K, Soda M, Togashi Y, et al. RET, ROS1 and ALK fusions in lung cancer. Nature. 2012;378-381.

[9] Lindeman, N.I., et al. Molecular Testing Guideline for Selection of Lung Cancer Patients for EGFR and ALK Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2013; 137: 828-1174.

###

Novartis Media Relations

Central media line: +41 61 324 2200

E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com

Eric Althoff

Novartis Global Media Relations

+41 61 324 7999 (direct)

+41 79 593 4202 (mobile)

eric.althoff@novartis.com Kristen Klasey

Novartis Oncology

+1 862 778-4763 (direct)

+1 862 754-1732 (mobile)

kristen.klasey@novartis.com

Novartis Investor Relations

Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944

E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com
San Jose and Los Angeles, CA, Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arduino and myDevices today announced the first annual global Automation at Home contest, giving Makers and IoT developers the ability to submit their home automation projects, and offering them a chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to Maker Faire Bay Area 2017, being held May 19-21st in San Mateo, California. The first place winner will showcase their project to the thousands of attendees at MF Bay Area.

The contest is open now through April 10th. Winners will be announced on April 14th. Other cash prizes and Arduino hardware will be given to 2nd through 20th place winners, and the first 100 submissions will receive Arduino and myDevices swag for participating.

We love contests like these, said Kathy Giori, Arduino vice president. Some makers are already inspired to share ideas on community-oriented web sites, but contests like this help expose them even more. Homes vary across the globe, so we expect to see a wide range of fun and useful projects. We wanted to find a way to reward the community for their creativity, and were pleased to have this culminate at Maker Faire Bay Area. And, working with myDevices gives developers an easy way to deploy a web-based dashboard for their invention. Encouraging Makers and inviting them to share helps fuel the IoT industry.





Projects must use at least one Arduino board, use the myDevices Cayenne Project Builder, and focus on automation and monitoring around the home, including (but not limited to) projects like temperature sensing, energy management, automatic or themed lighting, room occupancy, intrusion detection and other security monitoring, and plant, pet, or aquarium monitoring. A panel of distinguished judges steeped in the Maker community will consider the interaction of Arduino with Cayenne software in the home, the use of Cayennes triggers, alerts and scheduling features, the number of devices and sensors connected, along with real world practicality and usability. A team of experts from each company and the Maker community will also be available as mentors to support contest participants during the process.

From home automation to environmental monitoring to smart agriculture, Arduino and myDevices are pioneers in the IoT and IIoT industry, said Benny Estes, myDevices product manager and Cayenne Community Leader. With our easy to use, affordable, drag-and-drop IoT project builder, we are empowering millions of Makers and developers around the world to easily build projects, prototypes, and solutions. We are very much looking forward to seeing what kinds of projects are submitted for this contest, Im sure there are many entrepreneurs wanting to get their ideas out to a broader audience and this is a great opportunity.

Once Makers complete their project, they can submit it to this website in order to be considered. All projects must be entered by April 10th at midnight (pacific time). Winners will be announced on April 14th and the 1st place winner will be showcased in Arduinos booth at MF Bay Area in May.

About Arduino: Arduino is the worlds leading open-source software and hardware ecosystem. The Company offers IoT developers and Makers of all ages the ability to build smart, connected and interactive devices using affordable technologies. Check us out at www.arduino.org.

About myDevices: myDevices, an IoT solutions company, is the creator of Cayenne, the worlds first drag-and-drop IoT Project Builder, which enables customers to bring their IoT projects from prototype to mass production. The company also hosts a vibrant online community of IoT developers where users collaborate and share information. myDevices connectivity and device-agnostic technology empowers engineers and enterprise partners to easily develop and deploy IoT solutions into their existing infrastructure and business. myDevices is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. For more information please visit www.myDevices.com.
On the anniversary of Andrew Johnsons impeachment in 1868, the Post offers a brief guide to what impeachment is and how it works.

Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join

February 24 is the anniversary of President Andrew Johnsons impeachment in 1868. Many Americans are more familiar with Bill Clintons impeachment than with Johnsons, but our un-scientific survey revealed that even well-informed people are a little fuzzy on what impeachment actually is and how it works, exactly. Heres a quick overview:

What Is Impeachment?

Impeachment means indictment  specifically, a charge of serious misconduct against a high official by a legislature. Article II of the Constitution says the president, vice president, and civil officers of the United States can be impeached. Whether or not members of Congress are included in civil officers is still debated.

Two presidents have been impeached, but neither were convicted.

Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today

What Exactly Is an Impeachable Offense?

The Constitution defines impeachable offenses as treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. But these are broad, debatable terms.

Constitutional lawyers define high crimes and misdemeanors as anything that breaks existing law, is an abuse of power, or, as Alexander Hamilton wrote, is the abuse or violation of some public trust.

Gerald R. Ford gave a working definition of an impeachable offense: whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment.

In practice, articles of impeachment have cited acts that exceed the constitutional limits of the powers of an office, behavior at odds with the function and purpose of an office, or use of an office for improper purposes or personal gain.

How Does the Impeachment Process Work?

The House Indicts

The House of Representatives begins the impeachment process. The House Judiciary Committee starts the process by sending to the House articles of impeachment, a resolution that spells out why impeachment is justified. The House then debates and votes on that resolution. An official is impeached only if two-thirds of the House approves the articles of impeachment. But the House cant take action beyond this vote, and the impeached official isnt removed from office.

The Senate Convicts and Expels

The impeached official now faces a trial in the Senate. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court acts as judge in the proceedings, and the Senators are the jury. After hearing the evidence, the Senators meet privately and discuss their verdict. If two-thirds of the Senators agree, the impeached official will be convicted and removed from office. The Senate may even pass a resolution forbidding the official from ever again holding public office.

Who Has Been Impeached?

Moves toward impeachment were made against John Tyler (1841-1845) when Congress resented his use of the presidential veto, but the resolution against him failed.

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) was impeached for his lenient attitude toward the defeated Confederate states, which allowed many of its pre-war officials to return to office. The triggering event was his dismissal of Edwin Stanton, Lincolns Secretary of War, who opposed Johnsons policies. Johnson was impeached by the House, tried in the Senate, and acquitted by a single vote.

Congress was debating the impeachment of Richard Nixon (1969-1974) over the Watergate scandal when he resigned.

Bill Clinton (1993-2001) was charged in 1998 with perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation of his affair with a White House intern. He was impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate.

Extra Credit: The First Impeachment Hearings

Americans are naturally troubled by the prospect of a presidential impeachment. In March 1868, when President Andrew Johnson was being impeached, the Post reassured readers that impeachment was a necessary, vital part of our democratic process. It contrasted, perhaps unfairly, the orderly process of trying the U.S. president to the armed turmoil shaking the governments of Mexico and Santo Domingo (now the Dominican Republic). But it expressed ultimate faith in the American people and their Constitution.

Not Mexico For a short period dining the first excitement of the Impeachment, we began to doubt whether we were living in the United States or in Mexico  but the sober second thought of the people soon rectified the blunders of foolish partisans. The House of Representatives has an undoubted right to impeach the President, or the Acting President, whichever his true position may be. Its members have the right to judge for themselves of the propriety of their course. The Senate has the undoubted right  nay more it is its duty  to sit in judgment on the charges that are brought by the House  and acquit, or find guilty, as a majority of two-thirds sees proper. If the Senate finds President Johnson guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, he must, and doubtless will, without any hesitation, conform to that judgment. It may be said, that both House and Senate may act in the spirit of mere partisans, and alike accuse and condemn without sufficient evidence. Undoubtedly they may. But the Constitution supposes that they will not. If they do act as mere partisans, their punishment will be the rebuke of the people. In the Autumn, the Republican party goes before the People  with its candidate for the Presidency, its candidates for Congress. The fair or unfair manner in which the Impeachment trial has been conducted, will be an important element in the canvass. In fact, the Impeachers themselves will be then put on their trial, before the great Jury of the People of the United States. And thus there is no need of soldiers and bayonets  no need to make these United States a Mexico or St. Domingo. Ultimately all these vexed questions must be decided by the people. Ultimately the will of the people will prevail. Both the contending parties profess to desire this. Let all then be done peaceably, legally, and in order. It will be no recommendation to either party, in the great Presidential and Congressional campaign of the coming Autumn, that it has needlessly broken the peace, and plunged the Union into civil strife. Editorial, March 7, 1868

Featured image: Impeachment ticket for President Johnson (U.S. Senate)
Billings, MT -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/24/2017 -- Stephen Hopkins was from Hampshire, England. He married his first wife, Mary, and resided in the parish of Hursley, Hampshire. They had three (3) children: Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles; all baptized there. It has long been claimed that the Hopkins family was from Wortley, Gloucester, but this was disproven in 1998 with the discovery of his true origins in Hursley.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/hopkins-stephen/



Stephen Hopkins went with the ship Sea Venture on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609 as a minister's clerk, but the ship wrecked in the "Isle of Devils" (Bermuda). Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. Six months into the castaway, Stephen Hopkins and several others organized a mutiny against the current governor. The mutiny was discovered and Stephen was sentenced to death. However, he pleaded with sorrow and tears. "So penitent he was, and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his wife and children in this his trespass, as it wrought in the hearts of all the better sorts of the company." He managed to get his sentence commuted. Eventually the castaways built a small ship and sailed themselves to Jamestown. How long Stephen remained in Jamestown is not known. However, while he was gone, his wife Mary died. She was buried in Hursley on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles.



Stephen was back in England by 1617, when he married Elizabeth Fisher, but apparently had every intention of bringing his family back to Virginia. Their first child, Damaris, was born about 1618. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins brought his wife and children Constance, Giles, and Damaris on the Mayflower (child Elizabeth apparently had died). Stephen was a fairly active member of the Pilgrim group shortly after arrival, perhaps a result of his being one of the few individuals who had been to Virginia previously. He was a part of all the early exploring missions, and was used as an "expert" on Native Americans for the first few contacts. While out exploring, Stephen recognized and identified an Indian deer trap. And when Samoset walked into Plymouth and welcomed the English, he was housed in Stephen Hopkins' house for the night. Stephen was also sent on several of the ambassadorial missions to meet with the various Indian groups in the region.



Stephen was an assistant to the governor through 1636, and volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637 but was never called to serve. By the late 1630s, however, Stephen began to occasionally run afoul of the Plymouth authorities, as he apparently opened up a shop and served alcohol. In 1636 he got into a fight with John Tisdale and seriously wounded him. In 1637, he was fined for allowing drinking and shuffleboard playing on Sunday. Early the next year he was fined for allowing people to drink excessively in his house: guest William Reynolds was fined, but the others were acquitted. In 1638 he was twice fined for selling beer at twice the actual value, and in 1639 he was fined for selling a looking glass for twice what it would cost if bought in the Bay Colony. Also in 1638, Stephen Hopkins' maidservant got pregnant from Arthur Peach, who was subsequently executed for murdering an Indian. The Plymouth Court ruled he was financially responsible for her and her child for the next two years (the amount remaining on her term of service). Stephen, in contempt of court, threw Dorothy out of his household and refused to provide for her, so the court committed him to custody. John Holmes stepped in and purchased Dorothy's remaining two years of service from him: agreeing to support her and child.



Stephen died in 1644, and made out a will, asking to be buried near his wife, and naming his surviving children.



BAPTISM: 30 April 1581 at Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England, son of John and Elizabeth (Williams) Hopkins.

FIRST MARRIAGE: Mary, possibly the daughter of Robert and Joan (Machell) Kent of Hursley, co. Hampshire, prior to 1604.

SECOND MARRIAGE: Elizabeth Fisher on 19 February 1617/8 at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, co. Middlesex, England.

CHILDREN (by Mary): Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles.

CHILDREN (by Elizabeth): Damaris, Oceanus, Caleb, Deborah, Damaris, Ruth, and Elizabeth.

DNA HAPLOGROUP: R1b-M269



Contact Adam Green!

c: 801-809-7766

e: g3president@comcast.net



The Mayflower was hired in London, and sailed from London to Southampton in July 1620 to begin loading food and supplies for the voyage--much of which was purchased at Southampton. The Pilgrims were mostly still living in the city of Leiden, in the Netherlands. They hired a ship called the Speedwell to take them from Delfshaven, the Netherlands, to Southampton, England, to meet up with the Mayflower. The two ships planned to sail together to Northern Virginia. The Speedwell departed Delfthaven on July 22, and arrived at Southampton, where they found the Mayflower waiting for them. The Speedwell had been leaking on her voyage from the Netherlands to England, though, so they spent the next week patching her up.



On August 5, the two ships finally set sail for America. But the Speedwell began leaking again, so they pulled into the town of Dartmouth for repairs, arriving there about August 12. The Speedwell was patched up again, and the two ships again set sail for America about August 21. After the two ships had sailed about 300 miles out to sea, the Speedwell again began to leak. Frustrated with the enormous amount of time lost, and their inability to fix the Speedwell so that it could be sea-worthy, they returned to Plymouth, England, and made the decision to leave the Speedwell behind. The Mayflower would go to America alone. The cargo on the Speedwell was transferred over to the Mayflower; some of the passengers were so tired and disappointed with all the problems that they quit and went home. Others crammed themselves onto the already very crowded Mayflower.



Finally, on September 6, the Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England, and headed for America. By the time the Pilgrims had left England, they had already been living onboard the ships for nearly a month and a half. The voyage itself across the Atlantic Ocean took 66 days, from their departure on September 6, until Cape Cod was sighted on 9 November 1620. The first half of the voyage went fairly smoothly, the only major problem was sea-sickness. But by October, they began encountering a number of Atlantic storms that made the voyage treacherous. Several times, the wind was so strong they had to just drift where the weather took them; it was not safe to use the ship's sails. The Pilgrims intended to land in Northern Virginia, which at the time included the region as far north as the Hudson River in the modern State of New York. The Hudson River, in fact, was their originally intended destination. They had received good reports on this region while in the Netherlands. All things considered, the Mayflower was almost right on target, missing the Hudson River by just a few degrees.



As the Mayflower approached land, the crew spotted Cape Cod just as the sun rose on November 9. The Pilgrims decided to head south, to the mouth of the Hudson River in New York, where they intended to make their plantation. However, as the Mayflower headed south, it encountered some very rough seas, and nearly shipwrecked. The Pilgrims then decided, rather than risk another attempt to go south they would just stay and explore Cape Cod. They turned back north, rounded the tip, and anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor. The Pilgrims would spend the next month and a half exploring Cape Cod, trying to decide where they would build their plantation. On December 25, 1620, they had finally decided upon Plymouth, and began construction of their first buildings.



Master Christopher Jones and several business partners purchased the ship Mayflower about 1607. Its origins prior to that remain uncertain. Its first documented voyage of record was to Trondheim, Norway, in 1609. Andrew Pawling hired the ship to take a cargo of London goods to Norway, sell them off, and buy Norway goods (lumber, tar, and fish) to return back to England. Unfortunately on the return voyage, the Mayflower encountered a severe North Sea storm and the master and crew were forced to toss most of Pawlings goods overboard to lighten the ship. The home of Master Christopher Jones: Harwich, co. Essex, England.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/



Following that, Christopher Jones seems to have stuck with safer trading routes. The Mayflower made numerous trips primarily to Bordeaux, France, returning to London with cargoes of French wine, Cognac, vinegar, and salt. The Mayflower could freight about 180 tons of cargo. The Mayflower also made occasional voyages to other ports, including once to Malaga, Spain, and twice to Hamburg, Germany.



Upon returning from a voyage to Bordeaux, France, in May 1620, the Mayflower and master Christopher Jones were hired to take the Pilgrims to Northern Virginia. This was the first recorded trans-Atlantic voyage for both ship and master, though Christopher Jones had several crewmembers, including pilot and master's mates John Clarke and Robert Coppin, who had been to the New World before.



The Mayflower was supposed to accompany another ship, the Speedwell, to America, but the Speedwell proved too leaky for the voyage so the Mayflower proceeded alone. Departing on 6 September 1620, the ship was at sea for 66 days, arriving November 9. The ship and crew overwintered with the Pilgrims and departed back for England on 5 April 1621, arriving back to England on May 6.



Christopher Jones took the ship out for a few more trading runs, but he died a couple of years later in March 1621/2. The ship was appraised for probate purposes in May 1624, and was referred to as being "in ruins." It was only valued at 128 pounds sterling, and was almost certainly broken up and sold off as scrap.



Billings, MT General Society of Mayflower Descendant, Adam Paul Green (Ancestor Stephen Hopkins / Gen.No. 86,723) Reveals New Geneology Asset Website for Local Enthusiasts http://www.g3-development.co/



Women of Early Plymouth: Governor William Bradford reported that the Pilgrims were worried that the "weak bodies of women" would not be able to withstand the rigors of a trans-Atlantic voyage and the construction of a colony. Prior to the Mayflower, very few English women had made the voyage across the ocean.



Sir Walter Raleigh's Roanoke colony arrived in Virginia in 1587, and amongst those 120 colonists there were 17 women: a baby girl, Virginia Dare, was born after arrival. When re-supply ships came from England, they could not relocate the people. The colony had mysteriously disappeared, and was never seen again. The Jamestown Colony was founded in 1607, but relatively few women had yet made the voyage and taken up residence there.



The Pilgrim husband, as head of the household, had an important and difficult decision to make. Building a colony would be hard on a woman's "weaker body." It might be safer and healthier to leave her behind, and have her come later once the houses were built, and the general safety and successfulness of the colony were better established. But that could be several years. Could he live several years without his wife? How strong was his wife anyway, could she really handle it? Was it right to put your wife's life in danger in this manner?



As the Mayflower left England for America, there were 18 adult women on-board. Three of them, Elizabeth Hopkins, Susanna White, and Mary Allerton, were actually in their last trimester of a pregnancy. All the adult women on the Mayflower were married; there were no single women--although there were a few teenage girls nearing marriageable age.



While no women would die during the Mayflower's voyage, life after arrival proved extremely difficult. In fact, 78% of the women would die the first winter, a far higher percentage than for men or children. Dorothy Bradford was the first woman to die, and the only woman who died in the month of December. While many of the men, including her husband, were out exploring on Cape Cod, she accidentally fell off the Mayflower into the bitter cold waters of Provincetown Harbor. Most of the women's death dates were not recorded, but we do know that Rose Standish died on January 29, Mary Allerton died on February 25, and Elizabeth Winslow died on March 24. Most of the women died in February and March.



The extremely high mortality rate among women is probably explainable by the fact the men were out in the fresh air, felling trees, building structures and drinking fresh New England water; while the women were confined to the damp, filthy and crowded quarters offered by the Mayflower, where disease would have spread much more quickly. The two-month voyage was long enough; the women, however, remained living on the ship for an additional four months while the men built storehouses and living quarters on shore. Many of the sick were no doubt cared for on-board the ship by the women, increasing their exposure to colds and pneumonias. William Mullins died on February 21, apparently on-board the Mayflower since his will was witnessed by the ship's captain and ship's surgeon. His wife Alice and son Joseph had not yet died, but it wasn't too long before they did, orphaning their teenage daughter Priscilla in the New World.



Only five women survived the first winter. One of the five survivors, Mrs. Katherine Carver, died in May of a "broken heart," her husband John having died of sunstroke a month earlier. Weak bodies or not, by the time of the famous "Thanksgiving," there were only four women left to care for the Colony's fifty surviving men and children. The four women were Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna (White) Winslow.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/women



Adam Paul Green was born to a multi-talented beauty queen Mother and a Father who, in addition to being a US Army Spy and a Counter-Intelligence Special Agent, was also a highly accomplished entrepreneur. Adam was taught at a young age that, in both life and business, loyalty is a requirement for success. He's had the honor of working directly with his father in several of the family businesses. In fact, this is where he learned crucial entrepreneurial skills and honed his talents with international business strategies and venture capitalism. http://www.AdamPaulGreen.com, http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



Adam earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in International Business and Marketing from the University of Utah. He was hand-picked by the President of the University's renowned School of Business to compete with dozens of other ambitious nationwide-graduates for the opportunity to secure a lucrative job within a prestigious Fortune 100 company. http://www.Twitter.com/AdamPaulGreen



http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



Adam's hard work and creativity helped him land this job of a lifetime. He obtained incredible business experience there and spent years innovating, improving processes and setting sales records. Although this dream job in Traditional Corporate America was a fun challenge for him, and something he truly enjoyed mastering, Adam's natural entrepreneurial spirit kept nudging him to do something more significant with his time and talents. http://www.MyChocolatePod.com, http://www.Facebook.com/AdamPaulGreen



Since 2001, Adam has been involved in the Health and Wellness Industry as a successful Entrepreneur, Broker, Product Developer and Manufacturer of Cosmeceutical products. During his career, he has worked with some of the most recognizable Fortune 500 businesses along with many top international Network Marketing companies. Adam has consistently proven his unique ability to help his clients achieve their goals through creative Distribution-Channel Placement, innovative Product Development and custom Manufacturing. Adam currently owns three profitable businesses.



http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



Admittedly, Adam was not initially a fan of Network Marketing. He did not understand the business model because it was new to him. However, once he learned that the REAL focus of Direct Sales is to help average people get a taste of entrepreneurialism --- with minimal risk and at a low cost --- Adam was absolutely convinced of the potential with Multi-Level Marketing.



http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



About MayflowerHistory.com

MayflowerHistory.com, the Internet's most complete and accurate website dealing with the Mayflower passengers and the history of the Pilgrims and early Plymouth Colony. The website was first created back in 1994 (when the web was still mostly text!) as a simple, but complete, passenger list of the Mayflower. It has grown over the past twenty years as the author, historian Caleb Johnson, has researched and compiled material.



http://mayflowerhistory.com
Bismarck, ND -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/24/2017 -- Stephen Hopkins was from Hampshire, England. He married his first wife, Mary, and resided in the parish of Hursley, Hampshire. They had three (3) children: Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles; all baptized there. It has long been claimed that the Hopkins family was from Wortley, Gloucester, but this was disproven in 1998 with the discovery of his true origins in Hursley.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/hopkins-stephen/



Stephen Hopkins went with the ship Sea Venture on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609 as a minister's clerk, but the ship wrecked in the "Isle of Devils" (Bermuda). Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. Six months into the castaway, Stephen Hopkins and several others organized a mutiny against the current governor. The mutiny was discovered and Stephen was sentenced to death. However, he pleaded with sorrow and tears. "So penitent he was, and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his wife and children in this his trespass, as it wrought in the hearts of all the better sorts of the company." He managed to get his sentence commuted. Eventually the castaways built a small ship and sailed themselves to Jamestown. How long Stephen remained in Jamestown is not known. However, while he was gone, his wife Mary died. She was buried in Hursley on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles.



Stephen was back in England by 1617, when he married Elizabeth Fisher, but apparently had every intention of bringing his family back to Virginia. Their first child, Damaris, was born about 1618. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins brought his wife and children Constance, Giles, and Damaris on the Mayflower (child Elizabeth apparently had died). Stephen was a fairly active member of the Pilgrim group shortly after arrival, perhaps a result of his being one of the few individuals who had been to Virginia previously. He was a part of all the early exploring missions, and was used as an "expert" on Native Americans for the first few contacts. While out exploring, Stephen recognized and identified an Indian deer trap. And when Samoset walked into Plymouth and welcomed the English, he was housed in Stephen Hopkins' house for the night. Stephen was also sent on several of the ambassadorial missions to meet with the various Indian groups in the region.



Stephen was an assistant to the governor through 1636, and volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637 but was never called to serve. By the late 1630s, however, Stephen began to occasionally run afoul of the Plymouth authorities, as he apparently opened up a shop and served alcohol. In 1636 he got into a fight with John Tisdale and seriously wounded him. In 1637, he was fined for allowing drinking and shuffleboard playing on Sunday. Early the next year he was fined for allowing people to drink excessively in his house: guest William Reynolds was fined, but the others were acquitted. In 1638 he was twice fined for selling beer at twice the actual value, and in 1639 he was fined for selling a looking glass for twice what it would cost if bought in the Bay Colony. Also in 1638, Stephen Hopkins' maidservant got pregnant from Arthur Peach, who was subsequently executed for murdering an Indian. The Plymouth Court ruled he was financially responsible for her and her child for the next two years (the amount remaining on her term of service). Stephen, in contempt of court, threw Dorothy out of his household and refused to provide for her, so the court committed him to custody. John Holmes stepped in and purchased Dorothy's remaining two years of service from him: agreeing to support her and child.



Stephen died in 1644, and made out a will, asking to be buried near his wife, and naming his surviving children.



BAPTISM: 30 April 1581 at Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England, son of John and Elizabeth (Williams) Hopkins.

FIRST MARRIAGE: Mary, possibly the daughter of Robert and Joan (Machell) Kent of Hursley, co. Hampshire, prior to 1604.

SECOND MARRIAGE: Elizabeth Fisher on 19 February 1617/8 at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, co. Middlesex, England.

CHILDREN (by Mary): Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles.

CHILDREN (by Elizabeth): Damaris, Oceanus, Caleb, Deborah, Damaris, Ruth, and Elizabeth.

DNA HAPLOGROUP: R1b-M269



Contact Adam Green!

c: 801-809-7766

e: g3president@comcast.net



Bismarck North Dakota General Society of Mayflower Descendant, Adam Paul Green (Ancestor Stephen Hopkins / Gen.No. 86,723) Declares New Geneology Asset Website for Local Enthusiasts http://www.g3-development.co/



Women of Early Plymouth: Governor William Bradford reported that the Pilgrims were worried that the "weak bodies of women" would not be able to withstand the rigors of a trans-Atlantic voyage and the construction of a colony. Prior to the Mayflower, very few English women had made the voyage across the ocean.



Sir Walter Raleigh's Roanoke colony arrived in Virginia in 1587, and amongst those 120 colonists there were 17 women: a baby girl, Virginia Dare, was born after arrival. When re-supply ships came from England, they could not relocate the people. The colony had mysteriously disappeared, and was never seen again. The Jamestown Colony was founded in 1607, but relatively few women had yet made the voyage and taken up residence there.



The Pilgrim husband, as head of the household, had an important and difficult decision to make. Building a colony would be hard on a woman's "weaker body." It might be safer and healthier to leave her behind, and have her come later once the houses were built, and the general safety and successfulness of the colony were better established. But that could be several years. Could he live several years without his wife? How strong was his wife anyway, could she really handle it? Was it right to put your wife's life in danger in this manner?



As the Mayflower left England for America, there were 18 adult women on-board. Three of them, Elizabeth Hopkins, Susanna White, and Mary Allerton, were actually in their last trimester of a pregnancy. All the adult women on the Mayflower were married; there were no single women--although there were a few teenage girls nearing marriageable age.



While no women would die during the Mayflower's voyage, life after arrival proved extremely difficult. In fact, 78% of the women would die the first winter, a far higher percentage than for men or children. Dorothy Bradford was the first woman to die, and the only woman who died in the month of December. While many of the men, including her husband, were out exploring on Cape Cod, she accidentally fell off the Mayflower into the bitter cold waters of Provincetown Harbor. Most of the women's death dates were not recorded, but we do know that Rose Standish died on January 29, Mary Allerton died on February 25, and Elizabeth Winslow died on March 24. Most of the women died in February and March.



The extremely high mortality rate among women is probably explainable by the fact the men were out in the fresh air, felling trees, building structures and drinking fresh New England water; while the women were confined to the damp, filthy and crowded quarters offered by the Mayflower, where disease would have spread much more quickly. The two-month voyage was long enough; the women, however, remained living on the ship for an additional four months while the men built storehouses and living quarters on shore. Many of the sick were no doubt cared for on-board the ship by the women, increasing their exposure to colds and pneumonias. William Mullins died on February 21, apparently on-board the Mayflower since his will was witnessed by the ship's captain and ship's surgeon. His wife Alice and son Joseph had not yet died, but it wasn't too long before they did, orphaning their teenage daughter Priscilla in the New World.



Only five women survived the first winter. One of the five survivors, Mrs. Katherine Carver, died in May of a "broken heart," her husband John having died of sunstroke a month earlier. Weak bodies or not, by the time of the famous "Thanksgiving," there were only four women left to care for the Colony's fifty surviving men and children. The four women were Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna (White) Winslow.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/women



Master Christopher Jones and several business partners purchased the ship Mayflower about 1607. Its origins prior to that remain uncertain. Its first documented voyage of record was to Trondheim, Norway, in 1609. Andrew Pawling hired the ship to take a cargo of London goods to Norway, sell them off, and buy Norway goods (lumber, tar, and fish) to return back to England. Unfortunately on the return voyage, the Mayflower encountered a severe North Sea storm and the master and crew were forced to toss most of Pawlings goods overboard to lighten the ship. The home of Master Christopher Jones: Harwich, co. Essex, England.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/



Following that, Christopher Jones seems to have stuck with safer trading routes. The Mayflower made numerous trips primarily to Bordeaux, France, returning to London with cargoes of French wine, Cognac, vinegar, and salt. The Mayflower could freight about 180 tons of cargo. The Mayflower also made occasional voyages to other ports, including once to Malaga, Spain, and twice to Hamburg, Germany.



Upon returning from a voyage to Bordeaux, France, in May 1620, the Mayflower and master Christopher Jones were hired to take the Pilgrims to Northern Virginia. This was the first recorded trans-Atlantic voyage for both ship and master, though Christopher Jones had several crewmembers, including pilot and master's mates John Clarke and Robert Coppin, who had been to the New World before.



The Mayflower was supposed to accompany another ship, the Speedwell, to America, but the Speedwell proved too leaky for the voyage so the Mayflower proceeded alone. Departing on 6 September 1620, the ship was at sea for 66 days, arriving November 9. The ship and crew overwintered with the Pilgrims and departed back for England on 5 April 1621, arriving back to England on May 6.



Christopher Jones took the ship out for a few more trading runs, but he died a couple of years later in March 1621/2. The ship was appraised for probate purposes in May 1624, and was referred to as being "in ruins." It was only valued at 128 pounds sterling, and was almost certainly broken up and sold off as scrap.



The End of the Mayflower: "Mayflower's End," by Mike Haywood. The Mayflower returned to England from Plymouth Colony, arriving back on 9 May 1621. Christopher Jones took the ship out on a trading voyage to Rochelle, France, in October 1621, returning with a cargo of Bay salt. Christopher Jones, master and quarter-owner of the Mayflower, died and was buried at Rotherhithe, co. Surrey, England, on 5 March 1621/2. No further record of the Mayflower is found until May 1624, when it was appraised for the purposes of probate and was described as being in ruins. The ship was almost certainly sold off as scrap.



The claim, first originating from J. Rendel Harris' book The Finding of the Mayflower (1920), that the Mayflower ended up as a barn in Jordans, England, is now widely discredited as being a figment of an overzealous imagination on the tercentenary anniversary of the Mayflower's voyage, combined with a tainted oral history. None of the evidence has withstood subsequent investigation. Regardless of the lack of evidence for its authenticity, it has been featured in National Geographic on several occasions and is a tourist destination. It is important to realize that in 1624, when the ship was scrapped, it was not at all famous, and nobody would have thought twice about letting it rot away.



Adam Paul Green was born to a multi-talented beauty queen Mother and a Father who, in addition to being a US Army Spy and a Counter-Intelligence Special Agent, was also a highly accomplished entrepreneur. Adam was taught at a young age that, in both life and business, loyalty is a requirement for success. He's had the honor of working directly with his father in several of the family businesses. In fact, this is where he learned crucial entrepreneurial skills and honed his talents with international business strategies and venture capitalism. http://www.AdamPaulGreen.com, http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



Adam earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in International Business and Marketing from the University of Utah. He was hand-picked by the President of the University's renowned School of Business to compete with dozens of other ambitious nationwide-graduates for the opportunity to secure a lucrative job within a prestigious Fortune 100 company. http://www.Twitter.com/AdamPaulGreen



http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



Adam's hard work and creativity helped him land this job of a lifetime. He obtained incredible business experience there and spent years innovating, improving processes and setting sales records. Although this dream job in Traditional Corporate America was a fun challenge for him, and something he truly enjoyed mastering, Adam's natural entrepreneurial spirit kept nudging him to do something more significant with his time and talents. http://www.MyChocolatePod.com, http://www.Facebook.com/AdamPaulGreen



Since 2001, Adam has been involved in the Health and Wellness Industry as a successful Entrepreneur, Broker, Product Developer and Manufacturer of Cosmeceutical products. During his career, he has worked with some of the most recognizable Fortune 500 businesses along with many top international Network Marketing companies. Adam has consistently proven his unique ability to help his clients achieve their goals through creative Distribution-Channel Placement, innovative Product Development and custom Manufacturing. Adam currently owns three profitable businesses.



http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



Admittedly, Adam was not initially a fan of Network Marketing. He did not understand the business model because it was new to him. However, once he learned that the REAL focus of Direct Sales is to help average people get a taste of entrepreneurialism --- with minimal risk and at a low cost --- Adam was absolutely convinced of the potential with Multi-Level Marketing.



http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



About MayflowerHistory.com

MayflowerHistory.com, the Internet's most complete and accurate website dealing with the Mayflower passengers and the history of the Pilgrims and early Plymouth Colony. The website was first created back in 1994 (when the web was still mostly text!) as a simple, but complete, passenger list of the Mayflower. It has grown over the past twenty years as the author, historian Caleb Johnson, has researched and compiled material.



http://mayflowerhistory.com
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/24/2017 -- In recent years the value of Spain's telecom market has fallen steadily, with the sector affected by the poor economic climate which has contributed to high unemployment and reduced disposable income among consumers. However, a five-year recession, with tumbling GDP, effectively ended in 2014 when the economy showed a steady return to growth for four quarters in succession. Growing confidence among investors was palpable starting in 2015, and the improved business climate augurs well for the sector into 2017.



Spain has one of the largest mobile markets in Europe, with effective competition from four MNOs and a growing number of resellers and MVNOs. This competition, together with regulated roaming and MTRs, has driven down the cost of mobile calls in recent years though the number of subscribers has fallen since 2011 as customers cancel multiple SIM card ownership in response to the economic crisis. The market has seen considerable changes in recent years, including the acquisition of Yoigo by Masmovil and the release of 900MHz frequencies for mobile broadband use. There have also been growing investments in network upgrades to support LTE and HSPA+ technologies, while MNOs and vendors are also investing in 5G technologies and services. The auction of additional spectrum in 2016 is helping operators keep pace with the growth in demand for mobile data. Both Orange Spain and Vodafone Spain have acquired fixed-line operators in a bid to compete more effectively with Movistar in their bundled service offerings.



Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC: http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=991011



Broadband penetration is on a par with the EU average. Subscribers continue to contend with relatively high access price, though access speeds have recently begun to improve in line with upgraded networks. The incumbent telco Telefonica, operating under the Movistar brand, has invested in fibre infrastructure while cablecos now commonly provide data at up to 300Mb/s. The regulator has in recent years promoted fibre network sharing, and has developed a pricing structure for shared fibre infrastructure. In early 2017 it formulated new conditions for wholesale access to Telefonica's fibre networks covering some 65% of the population. In the cable sector, Vodafone Spain is in the process of delivering DOSCIS3.1 technology capable of providing data at above 1Gb/s.



The strong growth in the number of fibre broadband connections is beginning to tell on the sector's dynamics. Although several operators are investing in fibre, either in their own networks or through sharing arrangements, Telefonica is by far the dominant player.



This report introduces the key aspects of the Spanish telecom market, providing statistics on the fixed-network services sector, and profiling the main players and their strategies to meet an increasingly competitive environment. The report also assesses the main regulatory issues, noting the status of interconnection, local loop unbundling, number portability and carrier preselection. In addition the report provides statistics and market analyses on the mobile sector, including an assessment of regulatory issues, a profile of the major providers, and an analysis of mobile data services such as SMS, MMS, i-mode, HSPA, LTE, 5G and mobile TV. The report also covers the fixed and wireless broadband markets, together with developments in related technologies such as fibre and broadband powerline. It includes broadband subscriber forecasts to 2021.



Enquiry at: http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=991011



Key developments:



- Telefonica prepares to sell Telxius infrastructure business;

- Oran-Valencia (Orval) submarine cable expected to be ready for service in June 2017;

- Vodafone Spain launches Spain's first NB-IoT network;

- Vodafone and Orange launch VoLTE and VoWi-Fi services;

- Orange planning to provide 95% population coverage with LTE by 2017;

- Telia sells its stake in Yoigo to Masmovil;

- Vodafone Spain contracts Huawei to upgrade its HFC network with DOCSIS3.1;

- Movistar boosts fibre to 300Mb/s;

- Report update includes the regulator's market data updates to November 2016, telcos' operating and financial data to Q4 2016, recent market developments.

- Companies mentioned in this report:



Orange Spain, Telefonica, Jazztel, Ono, Movistar, Vodafone Spain, Lebara, Lycamobile, Masmovil, YouMobile, Canal+, Prisa.



About ResearchMoz

ResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.



Contact Us:

Mr. Nachiket

Albany NY - 12207

United States

Tel: +1-518-621-2074

Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)

Email: sales@researchmoz.us

Follow us on LinkedIn at: http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/24/2017 -- Switzerland has a sophisticated telecom sector and enjoys one of the highest broadband penetration rates in the OECD. Its competitive mobile market is served by three network operators and a small number of MVNOs while the broadband market is dominated by Swisscom and the main cableco UPC, though there are a large number of smaller players in the market, many providing services to local communities. UPC has gained scale in recent years by acquiring a number of its partner networks.



The mobile market has undergone a number of changes in recent years, with the operator Salt (formerly Orange Switzerland) having been acquired by NJJ Capital in February 2015, and with Sunrise having been acquired by a private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners. Following an IPO in February 2016 Sunrise raised CHF2.274 billion. Shortly afterwards a 23.8% stake in Sunrise was sold to the German mobile services provider freenet. The market has also benefited from the entry of UPC, which provides mobile voice and data services as an MVNO. As a full-service provider of quad-play bundles UPC can compete more effectively with Sunrise and Swisscom.



Mobile penetration is on a par with the European average while mobile data use among consumers has increased rapidly in line with the expended reach of technologies including HSPA and LTE. Customer use of mobile data services is helping to offset declining ARPU and lower traffic in the SMS segment as consumers adopt a range of OTT messaging services. Higher data usage also encouraged Swisscom to decide to switch off its 2G infrastructure and utilise these network assets for LTE and forthcoming 5G services.



Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC: http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=991013



In the broadband sector there is effective cross-platform competition. The DSL market is dominated by Swisscom's retail offerings, while UPC offers cable broadband in most cities and towns. Its extension of 500Mb/s services helped spur Swisscom to intensify its own VDSL, G.fast and FttP network rollouts in a bid to remain competitive.



There has been a government focus on broadband deployment of 'ultra-fast' broadband, or that defined as at least 100Mb/s. This depends on the growing footprint of technologies based on fibre, LTE and the new DOCSIS3.1 standard. By 2020 fixed-line networks are expected to deliver at least 100Mb/s to 85% of the population, while LTE should cover 100% by that date.



This report presents a statistical profile of Switzerland's telecom market. It assesses the regulatory environment, noting the status of local loop unbundling, as well as recent developments in the universal service obligation. It also evaluates the strategies and performance of major service providers Swisscom, UPC and Sunrise, and looks ahead to market developments in coming years. The report in addition analyses the broadband market, including profiles of the main players in the DSL, cable, fibre and wireless sectors. It details technological developments, provides broadband forecasts to 2021, and examines regulatory issues related to municipal fibre, local loop unbundling, and the provision of broadband as a universal service. This report also assesses the mobile market, presenting an analysis on the regulatory environment, profiles of the main providers and updates on developments with emerging technologies including 5G.



Enquiry at: http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=991013



Key developments:



- Swisscom expands LoRa networks;

- Regulator redefines USO minimum broadband speed at 3Mb/s; Swisscom has USO licence renewed to 2022;

- Reduced MTRs kick in for 2017;

- Sunrise considers sale of parts of its mobile network infrastructure;

- Swisscom partners with Ericsson to prepare path for commercial 5G services by 2020, prepares launch of LTE-A Pro services later in 2017;

- Swisscom planning to switch off its 2G network by 2020;

- Regulator measures eliminate FttP network duplication;

- Swisscom to concentrate on G-fast to deliver fast broadband to 2020;

- Laussane to be connected with FttP by end-2017; Swisscom contracts Huawei for FttS network upgrade;

- UPC expands the reach of its 500Mb/s cable broadband service;

- E-government Strategic Plan 2017  2019 adopted;

- Report update includes the regulator's market data, telcos' financial and operating data to Q4 2016, recent market developments.



Companies mentioned in this report:



- Swisscom, Sunrise, UPC, Swisscom Mobile, Salt (Orange Switzerland), Cybernet



About ResearchMoz

ResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.



Contact Us:

Mr. Nachiket

Albany NY - 12207

United States

Tel: +1-518-621-2074

Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)

Email: sales@researchmoz.us

Follow us on LinkedIn at: http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG
HENDERSON, Nev., Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- U.S. Lithium Resources Inc. (OTC:LITH) (the Company) is pleased to announce it entered an agreement to acquire 100% of the Gochagar Lake Nickel-Copper-Cobalt project claims from Diamond Hunter Ltd (the Vendor).



The project, which consists of four claims covering 3,759 hectares, is located in northern Saskatchewan approximately 75 km north of the town of La Ronge. Historical exploration has identified semi-massive and massive Ni-Cu deposits with significantly elevated levels of Cobalt, a vital component in the manufacture of the latest generation of lithium ion batteries.

This acquisition aligns with the Companys strategy to find, acquire and develop mineral deposits that are key to the growing energy storage market, particularly electric vehicles. Cobalt and nickel, along with lithium, are all critical components in the rapidly developing rechargeable battery market.

Greg Rotelli, Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Lithium, commented, We are excited to be acquiring this large block of claims in the Saskatchewan province of Canada. Cobalt, as well as nickel and copper, are vital raw materials in the green energy space. US Lithium remains committed to helping satisfy the needs of this growing industry.

He added, With over 50% of the worlds cobalt currently supplied from the conflict-stricken Democratic Republic of the Congo, we welcome the opportunity to explore for this critical mineral in the mining friendly jurisdiction of Saskatchewan.

Following review of the property, Eric Allison, Director of LITH and Chief Geologist said, The initial review of the historical technical data indicates favorable conditions for the presence of a viable Ni-Cu-Co deposit. Application of the latest technology and exploration methods should significantly increase our understanding of the deposit and I look forward to our initial results and planned future drill programs. The proximity to the historic Rottenstone Ni-Cu Mine and the Lynn Lake Mining Center puts us in the same neighborhood with other high- quality massive sulphide deposits.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Company will issue 8 million shares to the Vendor who will retain a 2% Net Smelter Royalty on the current claims as well as on any additional claims acquired by the Company within 5 km of the current claim boundaries. The Company will have the right to buy back 1% of the NSR for a purchase price of US$1.25 million. In addition, the Company agrees to incur development expenditures of not less than US$50,000 on or prior to June 1, 2017 and not less than US$225,000 on or prior to July 12, 2018.

Background and Technical Summary

Nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide mineralization was discovered at Gochagar Lake, located in the La Ronge meta-volcanic belt, in the mid-1960s with subsequent exploration carried out mainly by the Scurry-Rainbow Oil Company Limited. Exploration activities included soil sampling, trenching of gossans, geophysical surveys and diamond drilling. A total of 85 mostly vertical drill holes (total of 27,400 m) delineated the mineralized Gochagar A-Zone (or Main Zone) with a strike length of 330 meters, widths of up to 120 meters, and depths of up to 305 meters. The Gochagar A-Zone mineralization consists of disseminated mm-cm size blebs of sulphide, net-textured sulphide and, in places, semi-massive to massive sulphide pods. Assay grades of up to 3.1% Ni, 0.28% Cu, and 0.22% Co were reported. Saskatchewan government records (Mineral Property # 0880) reported assay values as high as 3.92%Ni, 0.70% Cu and 2.86% Co. Historical resource estimates reported 4.3 million tonnes grading 0.30% Ni and 0.08% Cu in 1968 and 1.8 million tonnes at 0.735% Ni equivalent in 1990. Neither of these historic estimates are compliant with NI43-101 or any other currently recognized standards and should not be relied upon.

Examination of the available geological and geophysical data, plus first-hand experience on the property by a senior Ni-Cu-PGE consultant, indicates the property has some very positive exploration attributes not previously recognized. These include:

The semi-massive and massive sulphide concentrations in the Gochagar mineralized zone have extremely high Ni/Cu ratios (>10), and Pd/Ir ratios (6-11). No other Ni-Cu sulphide deposits in Saskatchewan fall into this metal ratio range. These metal ratios are only found in nickel ores from Komatiitic geological terranes like that of the world class Thompson Nickel Belt and the Australian Kambalda nickel mining camp. Since 1980, it has been speculated that komatiitic nickel sulphide mineralization and potential ores should exist in the central La Ronge meta-volcanic belt because of the recognition of komatiite lavas in the belt. Research has clearly demonstrated that the komatiitic composition of the massive sulphides in the Gochagar Lake deposit are not compatible with the host rock and rock forming mineral compositions that the sulphides reside in. This suggests that these high grade Ni-Cu-Co sulphides were introduced through an interconnected mineralized plumbing system that was tapping into a much more primitive mineralized komatiitic system at depth or proximal to the main deposit. This is further corroborated by discoveries in the Gochagar Lake area of discrete high grade massive Ni-Cu-Co sulphides in the surrounding country rock. These sulphides are devoid of any mafic or ultramafic rock material like that hosting the Gochagar Lake deposit. The Gochagar Lake area and deposit sit on the boundary between the Rottenstone Domain and the La Ronge Domain. It is well known that structural boundaries between two major geological terranes are an excellent geological environment for the formation of world-class Ni-Cu deposits. Voiseys Bay Ni-Cu camp being the most recent example of this. The area is extensively covered with glacial debris and muskeg so surface geological prospecting should not reveal any new gossans or outcrop showings, as was the case in the early exploration of the 1960s. However, a 2,284 km deep penetrating state of the art airborne electromagnetic and magnetic survey (VTEM) was flown in June 2008 and identified numerous potential targets that have yet to be investigated.

US Lithiums initial work plan will involve a digital compilation of all available data into a comprehensive data base, reprocessing of all geophysical data and a complete reinterpretation of the geology. A new 3-D model will be generated which will allow the Company to better visualize the deposits potential size and geometry and prepare its Phase 2 drilling plan.

About U.S. Lithium Corporation

U.S. Lithium Corporation is an exploration and development company focused in North America on lithium and related resources for the rapidly growing energy storage industry. The Company looks to capitalize on opportunities within the lithium sector including providing lithium to the ever expanding next generation battery market. Lithium demand is projected to triple by the year 2025 according to a recent report by Goldman Sachs and for many analysts is considered the new gasoline of the future. As the demand for lithium expands, U.S. Lithium Corp intends to be an integral part of this next booming industry. Our current focus is in the Basin and Range province of Nevada where the only producing lithium brine mine in North America, Albemarles Silver Peak Project, is located. Elon, our first project, is located in Clayton Valley and is in close proximity to Silver Peak and several other active explorers and developers

Forward-looking Statements:

Some of the statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including the risks and uncertainties related to the progress, timing, cost, and results of technology programs; competition from other companies; and the Company's ability to obtain additional funding required to conduct its activities. Please refer to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a comprehensive list of risk factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.
Phoenix, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/24/2017 -- Bill Trott, from Bills Pest & Termite Control, is warning customers in his service area about tropical bed bugs. These bugs tend to harbor in warm, humid areas. After a 60 year hiatus, there has been a confirmed tropical bed bug sighting in Florida.



Travelers are at an increased risk for spreading these bugs to other parts of the country.



Bill Trott reports, "Tropical Bed Bugs were the dominate species in Asia, Africa, and South America while common bed bugs were found throughout the U.S. It takes an experienced bed bug exterminator to detect the subtle differences in these public health menaces."



The last time tropical bed bugs were seen in this country was in the early 1940's. Scientists have discovered what they believe to be the reemergence of the once plaguing pest.



The first case was in a home in Brevard County. The homeowners called the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to research their findings. While this is only the first sighting, researchers believe this is not an isolated incident.



Many people travel to Florida each year for vacation. Even those from Phoenix make their way to see that famous mouse and the tranquil beaches. However, a vacation this year could leave travelers bringing home more than memories.



The conditions are right in this Southern state to help spread this tropical bed bug. People are traveling and could be moving these bugs from state to state.



The tropical bed bug, like their cousins, feed on human blood. A bite from either species can cause itchy, rash-like reactions along with psychological distress.



State officials in Florida are urging homeowners to report any bed bug sightings that fit the criteria for this tropical bug. They are urging customers to send their bugs to the University of Florida in Gainesville for further identification.



Though these bugs have not been spotted in Arizona, it is just a matter of time before they could arrive.



As a pest control specialist, Mr. Trott wants customers to know that to reduce the risk of an infestation, they should reduce the clutter in their home. If they see any bed bugs at all, they should have them treated and evaluated by an expert.



About Bills Pest Termite Control

Bill Trott is the owner of this family owned pest control company. They offer free termite inspections and can help with all pest control needs.



They urge customers to call about bed bug problems. These are not do-it-yourself projects. When dealing with bed bugs, it requires professional intervention.



Contact:

Bill Trott

Company: Bills Pest Termite Control

Address: 24820 North 16th Avenue Suite 130, Phoenix, AZ 85085

Phone: 602-308-4510

Email: tustep@aol.com

Website: http://billstermiteco.com/
According to an international research team led by University College London Professor Chronis Tzedakis, a simple rule can accurately predict when Earths climate warms out of an ice age.

Prof. Tzedakis and his colleagues from Belgium and the United Kingdom combined existing ideas to solve the problem of which solar energy peaks in the last 2.6 million years (Quaternary period) led to the melting of the ice sheets and the start of a warm period.

During this interval, Earths climate has alternated between cold (glacial) and warm (interglacial) periods.

In the cold times, ice sheets advanced over large parts of North America and northern Europe. In the warm periods like today, the ice sheets retreated completely.

It has long been realized that these cycles were paced by astronomical changes in the Earths orbit around the Sun and in the tilt of its axis, which change the amount of solar energy available to melt ice at high northern latitudes in summer.

However, of the 110 incoming solar energy peaks  about every 21,000 years  only 50 led to complete melting of the ice sheets.

Finding a way to translate the astronomical changes into the sequence of interglacials has previously proved elusive.

The basic idea is that there is a threshold for the amount of energy reaching high northern latitudes in summer, Prof. Tzedakis explained.

Above that threshold, the ice retreats completely and we enter an interglacial.

From 2.6 to 1 million years ago, the threshold was reached roughly every 41,000 years, and this predicts almost perfectly when interglacials started and the ice sheets disappeared.

Simply put, every second solar energy peak occurs when the Earths axis is more inclined, boosting the total energy at high latitudes above the threshold, said University of Cambridge Professor Eric Wolff, co-author on the study.

Somewhere around a million years ago, the threshold rose, so that the ice sheets kept growing for longer than 41,000 years.

However, as a glacial period lengthens, ice sheets become larger, but also more unstable.

The team combined these observations into a simple model, using only solar energy and waiting time since the previous interglacial, that was able to predict all the interglacial onsets of the last million years, occurring roughly every 100,000 years.

The next step is to understand why the energy threshold rose around a million years ago  one idea is that this was due to a decline in the concentration of carbon dioxide, and this needs to be tested, said co-author Dr. Takahito Mitsui, from the University of Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

The results explain why we have been in a warm period for the last 11,000 years: despite the weak increase in solar energy, ice sheets retreated completely during our current interglacial because of the very long waiting time since the previous interglacial and the accumulated instability of ice sheets.

Intriguingly, the authors found that sometimes the amount of energy was very close to the threshold, so that some interglacials were just aborted, while others just made it.

The threshold was only just missed 50,000 years ago. If it hadnt been missed, then we wouldnt have had an interglacial in the last 11,000 years, said University of Louvain Professor Michel Crucifix, co-author on the study.

However, statistical analysis shows that the succession of interglacials is not chaotic: the sequence that has occurred is one among a very small set of possibilities.

Finding order among what can look like unpredictable swings in climate is aesthetically rather pleasing, Prof. Tzedakis said.

The research is published in the Feb. 23 issue of the journal Nature.

_____

P.C. Tzedakis et al. 2017. A simple rule to determine which insolation cycles lead to interglacials. Nature 542: 427-432; doi: 10.1038/nature21364

This article is based on a press-release from University College London.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley has filed a lawsuit against the Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries services. The lawsuit is against the Obama-era regulation that will give the federal government the power to assign entire land as critical home of endangered species.

Since Missouri river is the home of an endangered species pallid sturgeon, it will be part of the new law. The pallid sturgeon was declared an endangered species in 1990. Since then, the Fish and Wildlife Service has made projects to protect and restore its habitat. It has been destroyed by numerous man-made wastes and other dangerous stuff that is going to the river, KBIA reported. "We're bringing suit against an Obama-era regulation that gives the federal government the power to designate whole swathes of land as critical habitat," Attorney General Josh Hawley said.

According to News Leader, the complaint stated that rules are very unlawful. They are just another way to enlarge the control of the federal government to the lands and waters of the country. It also tramples the right of the people as landowners and stewards of natural resources. If continued, the government might declare many lands and waters as "critical habitat" just for them to have it or use it for their own good, the complaint also stated.

Even though there are no endangered species in the said land or water it might be declared as critical by the government, the complaint continued. The rule that the complaint is referring to is the Critical Habitat Rule of the Endangered Species Act, or ESA. Before, it only stated to protect the land or water where an endangered species is living. Federal agencies will stop whatever their doing that is harming the said habitat.

With the new law that was passed this February, it changed that. Many anti-Trump and animal rights activists plus lawyers are afraid the government might take advantage of it.
Heart disease is very common lately. Thus, a new study has found that people that underwent mild heart disease are more likely to say that they are experiencing anxiety, negative outlook and poorer health compared to the general population. Not only that, it is also common to female compared to male patients.

In the case of mild heart disease, the blood flow to the heart has a partial blockage. Hence, people with such condition have a higher risk of serious heart problems, heart attack and, even worst, death.

The senior author of the study who is also an assistant professor of the medical and clinical psychology at Tilburg University in Netherlands, Paula Mommersteeg, shared that the perception of the overall mental and physical health, as well as the personality can have an impact on health outcomes.

Mommersteeg said that, "We were very intrigued by these sex and gender differences -- we had not thought they would be so apparent," as UPI reported. She said that because of the reality that the doctors should consider the factors such as negative attitude to be a potential risk for heart disease.

In the new study that has been published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes involves more than 500 people with mild heart disease. Also, it includes a control group of more than 1,300 people without heart problems.

The volunteers of the study were all in the age range of 52 and 70. The researchers asked them a series of questions through a questionnaire, with regards to their mental and physical health.

As follows, though the study could not prove any cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers have found that people who have a heart trouble tend to report that they have significantly higher rates of anxiety, poor health and negative emotions combined with social inhibition compared to the control group of people. In line with this, the researchers also found that females reported higher rates of anxiety and health problems compared to the male patients.

The researchers said that there were a number of factors that could have explained the gender differences. Of such, it would be the cultural and societal norms, education level, employment history, marital status and alcohol use, according to Consumer Health Day.
A team of astronomers just discovered seven Earth-size exoplanets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1. Some of these planets are reportedly within the star's habitable zone, which gives scientists hope in discovering extraterrestrial life.

As per NASA's press release, the exoplanet system located about 40 lightyears away from Earth was spotted with the use of the space agency's Spitzer Space Telescope. Three of these planets lie within TRAPPIST-1's habitable zone, often called Goldilocks zone, which could possibly be a home to oceans, lakes and rivers. As liquid water indicates a planet's habitability, scientists are planning to conduct further studies that may lead them to finding potential alien life.

"Answering the question 'are we alone' is a top science priority and finding so many planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward toward that goal," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Space.com reported that a team of international astronomers announced in a news conference on Wednesday that this discovery could be a guide in finding more habitable planets. 15 percent of the stars in the Sun's neighborhood is believed to be ultra-cool dwarf stars like TRAPPIST-1, which means there could be more exoplanets yet to be discovered.

"With this discovery, we've made a giant, accelerated leap forward in the search for habitable worlds, and life on other worlds, potentially speaking," said planetary scientist Sara Seager from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is not part of the discovering team. "With this amazing system, we know there must be many more potentially life-bearing worlds out there, just waiting to be found," she added.

TRAPPIST-1 was named after the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile, which first discovered three of the orbiting planets in May 2016.
The success of the much awaited SpaceX's Dragon capsule was marked after Shane Kimbrough, Commander of Expedition 50, and astronaut Thomas Pesquet caught the capsule with the robotic arm and attached it to the International Space Station (ISS) at 5:44 a.m. EST. It was while the station was crossing over the western coast of Australia.

The capsule was launched off the historic site of Cape Canaveral and was carrying more than 5,000 pounds (2,268 kg) of experiment equipment and other supplies. These include a birthday treat for French astronaut Thomas Pesquet.

SpaceX made the information public by posting it on Twitter and Facebook, while NASA TV covered the whole procedure live.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule's first attempt to dock was aborted automatically on Wednesday. This was after the computers on board the capsule found that the GPS location of the International Space Station was incorrectly calculated, The Washington Post reported.

According to Florida Today, the ISS team will be opening the hatch later on Thursday. The cargo load shipped aboard the capsule includes science instruments required to carry out various NASA experiments, like monitoring the ozone layer and developing robotic devices to repair damaged satellites in space. Furthermore, the capsule will also deliver 20 live mice, which will be joining the astronauts. This will be a part of experiments related to tissue regeneration, stem cell and protein crystal studies intended towards development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer and stroke.

The cargo also contains a special surprise for Thomas Pesquet, who is going to celebrate his 39th birthday in space this coming Monday. Pierre Herme, famous French patisserie, has sent some delicious French macaroons for the astronaut, who will be returning back to Earth in May.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule is historic, since it signifies the growing partnership between NASA and privatized space research companies for the furtherance of space research and exploration programs. Going down the same lane, NASA has already given its consent to Orbital ATK, another privately owned aerospace company, to launch the Cygnus spacecraft from the same historic launch site of Cape Canaveral. The spacecraft will be launched using the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, tentatively on March 19, 2017.
The native people of South America are likely to come from more than one place. It has been found from the trio of researchers connected with the institutions coming from Europe, South America and the United States.

Andre Strauss, Mark Hubbe and Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel described how they used the imaging technology to the skulls that have been unearthed in Brazil and what was revealed by it. The research paper was published in the journal Science Advances.

Phys.org reported that it has been known to many that for many years, it was believed that a single wave of ancient immigrants made their way from Asia to North America and eventually to South America. These immigrants were said to be the first people to exist in the New World.

But the known view was put to challenge in more recent years. In the new research, the experts described the evidence that they have found, which suggests that the first settlers of the New World may have come from more than one place.

To further investigate the ancestry of some of the earliest settlers in South America, the experts used a geometric morphometric. It is a type of imaging technology that enables to create 3-D images of an object, to study the skulls that were found in Lagoa Santa, Brazil.

The prior research had dated the skulls back 7,000 to 10,000 years that places them near the time when the scientists believe that South America was first populated by humans. The researchers reported that the shape of the skull that came from the ancient people differed markedly from those of modern indigenous South Americans. Thus, it suggested that it came from somewhere else.

The study first author Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel told Inverse: "I knew that suggestions about multiple migrations had been made based on the unusual shape of the Paleoamerican skulls, and the wide variation seen in South America - but I approached the project with an open mind."

To date, most in the field believed that at least one wave of immigrants came as Asian people. They then made their way across the Bering Strait, which probably had been frozen over for a time. Though it is not clear where the other immigrants may have come from, some have mentioned that Australia is a likely possibility.
LAKE CITY, S.C.  Michelle Humphrey has been hired as finance director for Florence County School District Three. District Superintendent Laura Hickson said Humphrey comes to the district from Florence County School District One.

She comes with a lot of experience. She came in ready to work and has been working extremely hard this week, Hickson said. So were just glad to have her join the Florence School District Three family.

District Three financial consultant John Thames will continue to serve the school district, Hickson said. He started in his role in late December and has since done a lot of training within the department.

As part of her report to the school board at Thursdays meeting, Hickson gave an update on the districts financial deficit recovery. The general fund restoration plan is broken into three phases. Phase one focuses on the current school year.

We continue to reduce spending. We removed accounts payable personnel rights to override budgets, Hickson said. The person is no longer able to cut any checks if the funds are not there.

As reported at the January school board meeting, a freeze has been placed on all hiring within the district. As positions become vacant, they are placed on hold or eliminated unless absolutely necessary.

According to the restoration plan, the district projects it will be able to reduce the 2015-16 deficit by at least $500,000 by June 30. In January, Thames said the district was $1.3 million in debt.

Weve amended federal budgets to establish a plan to collect indirect costs, Hickson said. Thats going to generate about $300,000 just by applying indirect costs to federal grants, which was not done in the past.

Hickson said that years ago, indirect costs were collected, but somehow the district got away from that.

In the budget process for the 2017-18 school year (phase two), the district will address the deficiency by setting up a line item of approximately $800,000 of reductions to reduce the 2015-16 deficit.

By 2018-2019 school year, we will address that final amount of $324,458, Hickson said. I will say this plan is a very conservative plan. Our plan is to address it within two years. But the plan that Im sharing with you tonight shows three years, but just to be on the conservative side.

Ben Zeiglar of Haynsworth, Sinkler, Boyd, P.A. presented a resolution for a general obligation taxable bond.

According to the resolution, it provides for the issuance and sale of a not exceeding $1,650,000 general obligation bond of Florence County School District Three, South Carolina, to prescribe the purposes for which the proceeds of said bond shall be expended, to provide for the payment of said bond, and other matters relating thereto.

The good news is, this bond has been structured so that it will not result in any tax increases which is right around the 12-mill figure that yall have gotten used to. Zeigler said. So it will not impact your taxpayers adversely. Its got a seven-year maturity on it, one year interest only and six payments of principal interest through 2024.

Zeigler said the bond has already been sold and will be closed next week. The school board approved the resolution that will approve the bond transaction and all the details involving it.
FLORENCE, S.C.  At a forum Thursday, people spoke out about proposed school reconfiguration and about middle schools.

The forum was hosted by Alexis Pipkins Sr., a member of the board of Florence School District One.

The meeting covered two issues that Pipkins said should be addressed separately: the middle school concept and reconfiguration. The middle school concept is having sixth- through eighth-graders in the same schools. Reconfiguration addresses that and moving students around to meet brick-and-mortar building capacities.

Almost everyone agreed that the middle school concept is good. Ngaia Hawl said it addresses the emotional and developmental needs of children.

We were talking about the development of some children and how some are more mature and at 12 years old by being in the sixth grade, and it might be more beneficial for them to be at a school with seventh- and eighth-graders, Hawl said.

Pipkins said that often social and emotional development will affect academics, and if social and emotional problems are resolved through the sixth through eighth middle school model, then that will be reflected academically.

Maretha Downs said she was concerned that the finances would not be available to train new teachers, and she wondered how taking away mobile units would help students.

Other concerns included future growth and the building plan. Pipkins said the current building plan ensures that as soon as a school is built, it is paid for, but that may create future complications.

That approach that weve used has been a very conservative approach; however, in terms of meeting the greater good of the full community, I think, my personal position is, that if were going to look at something aggressively, then it needs to be spread broad, Pipkins said.

Florence City Councilwoman Teresa Myers Ervin said that no matter what happens with the building plan, its important to make sure each part of Florence has equally updated facilities.

As were looking at the reconfiguration of the district, my concern is how the schools are going to be built in the areas that have not received new schools lately, Ervin said. My main concern is that while we do this, we must look at a balance of equality, and I do not want to see one newly reconfigured area take precedence. Our buildings should not be built to meet the desire of the wealthy. Our schools and everything should be built to meet the balance of the city to go forth and have equality as a city.

Diversity and poverty were two of the main issues discussed concerning reconfiguration.

Frances Thomas said that if the district is going to draw new lines, it should draw them to include more diversity.

The tough question is I dont know who did this, but why is it that the lines are drawn for the blacks to have 36 to 61 percent, and then you look at North Vista, white four percent. Thomas said. Was any line drawn to increase that number? How could you even present this to us with a four percent white? If youre going to draw the lines, thats what Im asking.

John Carey asked if the schools that are predominately African-American and that have high poverty levels will receive more money, and Pipkins said poverty is tracked through the free and reduced-price lunch program.

Several people said that diversity and poverty dont affect a students education. Pipkins said he didnt know he was poor when he was growing up, and he had a great education. McClain said its about whos teaching. Pipkins also said that the majority race in District One is African-American, and whites are the minority.

I came up in all black schools until I went to seventh grade, McClain said. I had excellent teachers. My first- through sixth-grade teachers got me through Vanderbilt Graduate School. I was with all black children; I had all black teachers. Its not about the color of the people in the school; its about the quality of what happens in school.

The district superintendent, Dr. Randy Bridges, board Chairman Porter Stewart and Vice Chairman Barry Townsend attended the meeting. The comments were recorded and will be given to the board along with the comments from three previous forums.
ROCKLEDGE, Fla., Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. (OTC Pink:KGKG), a hemp lifestyle brand of exclusivity and status, is pleased to announce that the Company has placed their initial order for their all new sugar free hemp infused energy drink, which will be available for purchase next month. By adding a new sugar free hemp energy drink to its product line, the Company will complement its already popular and great tasting hemp energy drinks currently available in the market.



Kona Gold Sugar Free Hemp Energy drinks are ordered and we couldnt be more excited, stated Robert Clark, CEO of Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. Usually when a company goes sugar free, the taste of their product becomes compromised and just doesnt taste that great. That is not the case with our sugar free hemp energy drink. Our team has out done themselves and have created, hands down, the best tasting sugar free energy drink available on the market today!

Feedback from our distributors, retail locations, and partners has been very positive, highlighting that our branding really makes an impact when hitting new retail locations, added Robert Clark. We have already started talks with industry leaders and partners on bringing several new and exciting products to market very soon, which will provide the company with a solid product portfolio.

Kona Gold is also in negotiations with several distributors around the country, which will allow the company to grow at a rapid pace. Kona Gold recently announced that the company has entered a distribution agreement with American Wholesale Distributors (AWD), based out of Pelham, Alabama. American Wholesale Distributors, established in 1978, offers wholesale products to convenience stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, ballparks, and gift shops within a 120-mile radius of Birmingham, Alabama.

The Company recently announced that the Companys Board of Directors, as well the majority shareholders have consented, to a dividend of approximately 41,296,544 of the Elev8 Brands, Inc. (OTC Pink:VATE) shares of common stock acquired by KGKG in its sale of Elev8 Hemp, LLC to Elev8 Brands, Inc. The record date will be March 31, 2017. Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. shareholders owning common stock, as of the record date will receive 1 share of Elev8 Brands, Inc. (OTC Pink:VATE) stock for every 10 shares of Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. (OTC Pink:KGKG) owned.

For more information regarding Kona Gold Solutions, please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/konagoldhemp

https://twitter.com/konagoldhemp

https://www.instagram.com/konagoldhemp/

http://www.konagoldhemp.com

Kona Gold Solutions, Inc.:

Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. has created Kona Gold LLC, a Delaware Corporation, which has developed a premier Hemp Infused Energy Drink, Energy shots, and Apparel; please visit the Companys new website to view updates and new products at www.konagoldhemp.com. The Company announced it has moved its Corporate Headquarters to Rockledge, FL. Konas new warehouse and office space gives the Company the space needed to expand rapidly.

Safe Harbor Statement:

The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing various engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, and various other factors beyond the Company's control.
FLORENCE, S.C. Congressman Tom Rice hosted a town-hall-style meeting Thursday evening in Florence, and hundreds of constituents were on hand to demand that he explain his political stances and answer some tough questions.

Rice, the third-term Republican from Myrtle Beach, frequently holds these types of events throughout the Pee Dee and Grand Strand regions, though this was his largest one to date for and the most contentious.

Chants of Do your job! and Answer the question! and dozens of protest signs were frequent throughout the evening.

There are a lot of people and a lot of questions to get to, so can we not be rude here? Rice asked at one point, only to be flooded with boos and shouts.

Rice took questions well past the scheduled time and remained after the initial meeting to allow questions to those who werent able to make it inside initially because of capacity limits.

Issues most discussed at the meeting included the Affordable Care Act  often referred to as Obamacare  immigration, taxes and the Trump administration.

Some of the more controversial questions involved his relationship with the Trump administration, and if hed hold the executive branch accountable if and when the time comes.

Rice was one of 23 Republicans to vote against an amendment this month that would have required President Donald Trump to publicly release his tax returns.

Theres a law that says the Ways and Means Committee can see a tax return to make sure tax law is being properly administered, he said. That doesnt allow me to go look at anybodys tax return when I want.

When asked about Trumps ties to Russia, Rice said it's being thoroughly investigated, as it should be.

The FBI, the CIA, the House Intelligence committee and the Senate intelligence committee are investigating. Let them do their job and if theres any smoke worthy of action, well go from there, he said. What Im more worried about is that he wont show restraint with Russia.

Conversations about health care were long and, at time, convoluted. Rice said there are several plans floating around Congress right now, only one of which hes endorsed  tax credits to subsidize health-care costs.

Were trying to find a way transition out of Obamacare that will be the least disruptive and will keep people covered, he said. We want to keep people covered. We also have to make sure the administration is on the same page ...

One point Rice and the crowd agreed on was the necessity of these types of meetings. Rice said he will continue to hold these types of meeting with constituents.
The 1994 crime bill that Bill Clinton signed into law came to haunt Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Bill Clinton signed the bill because of the fact that America faced soaring crime rates. This fact is validated by the polls that indicated that 37 percent of Americans claimed that crime was a big issue.

The bill contained several key provisions. For example, the law gave states federal money to hire 100,000 police officers on the streets. Also, it allocated dollars for states to build prisons. Another item protected women from domestic violence and punished perpetrators for using guns when they committed these acts. Also, the law required states to set up a sex offender registry by 1997.

The most controversial aspect of the law was to deny federal Pell grants to inmates, a move that eliminated their educational opportunities while in prison.

In 1994, Hillary Clinton jumped on the anticrime band wagon by calling criminals super predators. However, by 2016 the mood of the public changed on the crime issue. Several factors contributed to this phenomenon. First, the law has played a role in an explosion of the prison population! The United States has the highest prison population in the world.

This fact is clearly indicated when demographics are studied. Although Latinos make up 26 percent of the population, a Latino male has a 1-in-6 chance of being sentenced to prison. A white male has a 1-in-17 chance of being placed in a detention facility. Yet the laws impact on African-American men is truly stark. A newborn African-American male child has a 1-in-3 chance of being sent to prison in his lifetime. This statistic, along with police shootings of unarmed black men such as Shawn Bell in New York City, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, not to mention Sandra Bland, who lost her life in a Texas jail cell, gave rise to our citizenry turning against Americas law enforcement methods. This point helped to turn public opinion against the Clinton crime measures of the 1990s.

During the election, Hillary Clinton was heckled and booed on the campaign trail. The Black Lives Matter group that was organized in response to police violence constantly reminded the voters of the Clinton role in anti-crime measures.

Hillary Clinton had to deal with an angry African-American electorate. This fact was indicated on Election Day. In 2008 as well as 2012, Barack Obama received roughly 96 percent of the African-American vote. Yet in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost because of a low turnout of African-Americans. She received 92 percent of votes from African-Americans who went to the polls. That was the smallest percentage for a Democratic candidate since 1960.

In other words, the Hillary Clinton of 1994 became an opponent of Hillary Clinton of 2016.

KEVIN L. CRAWFORD

Marion
LAFAYETTE, Ind., Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wabash National Corporation (Wabash or the Company) (NYSE:WNC) today announced that its board of directors has authorized the Company to repurchase up to an additional $100 million of its common stock over the next two years. This authorization is an increase to the existing $100 million repurchase program previously approved in February 2016 and of which approximately $15 million was available as of February 23, 2017. Stock repurchases under this program may be made in the open market or in private transactions at times and in amounts determined by the Company. The Company, at its sole discretion, may limit or terminate the stock repurchase program at any time based on market conditions, liquidity needs or other factors. The program is intended to enhance shareholder value by reducing the overall number of outstanding shares, including by offsetting dilution resulting from stock-based compensation programs.



Dick Giromini, Chief Executive Officer, said, "Board authorization increasing the share repurchase program further validates our continued commitment to deliver return of capital to our shareholders. We are taking this action as part of our ongoing commitment to reward shareholders based on the confidence we have in Wabashs long-term potential of cash generation while continuing to execute our capital allocation strategy. We remain confident that we will have sufficient cash flow to continue both an active share repurchase and a quarterly dividend program while also maintaining strong liquidity, deleveraging our balance sheet and growing the business."

About Wabash National Corporation

Headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC) is a diversified industrial manufacturer and North Americas leading producer of semi-trailers and liquid transportation systems. Established in 1985, the Company manufactures a diverse range of products including: dry freight and refrigerated trailers, platform trailers, bulk tank trailers, dry and refrigerated truck bodies, truck-mounted tanks, intermodal equipment, aircraft refueling equipment, structural composite panels and products, trailer aerodynamic solutions, and specialty food grade and pharmaceutical equipment. Its innovative products are sold under the following brand names: Wabash National, Beall, Benson, Brenner Tank, Bulk Tank International, DuraPlate, Extract Technology, Garsite, Progress Tank, Transcraft, Walker Engineered Products, and Walker Transport. Visit www.wabashnational.com to learn more.

Safe Harbor Statement



This press release contains certain forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements convey the Companys current expectations or forecasts of future events. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the implementation of and timing for the repurchase program, the Companys capital allocation strategy and ability to return capital to shareholders, expectations for cash generation and cash flow, the ability to continue both a share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend, deleveraging the balance sheet, and growing the business. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. Without limit, these risks and uncertainties include changes in economic conditions, changes in the Companys business and results of operations, access to capital, availability of alternative uses of capital, and other risks, including those set forth in the various disclosures made by the Companys filings with the SEC.
In April 2015, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation issued notices of violation to a number of operators, including Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, for alleged violations over the previous five years.

In its just-filed annual report, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. said the company had settled the claims pursuant to a compliance order by consent this month. That involved paying an amount and performing certain remedial actions.

The amounts paid were immaterial, the filing said.

The notices of violation were controversial because Alaska uses human smoke readers who, some cruise operators contend, may not be uniformly following the Method 9 protocols developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

When a ship is observed to be exceeding opacity limits, the state gives notice of a possible violation and asks the cruise line for its opacity meter readings and other data. Later, sometimes much later, a notice of violation may be issued.

In this case, the notices of violation went back as far as five years.
IRVING, Texas, Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Power Equipment Group Inc. (OTC:GLPW) (Global Power or the Company) reported today that, after consultation with its auditors, it has determined that its Mechanical Solutions and Electrical Solutions segments do not meet the required criteria to be aggregated into the Product Solutions reportable segment.



The Company will be reporting the following three segments:

Services focuses on providing nuclear maintenance, construction and specialty services to the nuclear utility industry and also provides maintenance, modification and construction services to the industrial market, pulp and paper, and fossil fuel utility businesses.

focuses on providing nuclear maintenance, construction and specialty services to the nuclear utility industry and also provides maintenance, modification and construction services to the industrial market, pulp and paper, and fossil fuel utility businesses. Mechanical Solutions designs, engineers and manufactures a comprehensive portfolio of equipment for utility-scale natural gas turbines. Its focus is on filter houses, inlet and exhaust systems, diverter dampers, selective catalytic reduction systems (commonly referred to as SCR), auxiliary control skids and enclosures, expansion joints, air filtration elements, retrofit and upgrade solutions.

designs, engineers and manufactures a comprehensive portfolio of equipment for utility-scale natural gas turbines. Its focus is on filter houses, inlet and exhaust systems, diverter dampers, selective catalytic reduction systems (commonly referred to as SCR), auxiliary control skids and enclosures, expansion joints, air filtration elements, retrofit and upgrade solutions. Electrical Solutions focuses on custom engineering and manufacturing of integrated control house systems, engine generator packages and enclosures, industrial tanks and custom-engineered equipment skids for the energy, oil and gas, digital data storage and electrical industries.

As a result of the change in its reporting structure and final revisions to the document, Global Power will not be able to report its 2015 financial results and audited restated 2013 and 2014 financials in February 2017, as previously planned. The Company believes it will be able to make the necessary changes and file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2015 (the 2015 10-K) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within the next few weeks. Changes related to the reporting of three segments will need to be carried throughout the 2015 10-K including the annual financial statements and related information for 2015, 2014 and 2013 in addition to the quarterly and year-to-date financial statements and related information for the first three quarters of 2015 and 2014.

Global Power plans to provide sufficient notice regarding the scheduling of a teleconference for investors and analysts prior to the filing of the 2015 10K and financial results news release.

The Company also no longer expects to report its 2016 financial results and become current with its financial reporting obligations by the end of March 2017 because of the further delay in the preparation of the 2015 10-K. Global Power expects to provide an update regarding its expected timing for the reporting of its financial results for 2016 when it reports 2015 financial results.

About Global Power

Global Power Equipment Group Inc. is a design, engineering and manufacturing firm providing a broad array of equipment and services to the global power infrastructure, energy and process industries. The Company reports in three operating segments: The Mechanical Solutions segment (formerly Auxiliary Products) designs, engineers and manufactures a comprehensive portfolio of equipment for utility-scale natural gas turbines. The Electrical Solutions segment provides custom-configured electrical houses and generator enclosures for a variety of industries. The Services segment provides lifecycle maintenance, repair, on-site specialty support, outage management, construction and fabrication services for the power generation, industrial, chemical/petrochemical processing, and oil and gas industries. The Company provides information at its website: www.globalpower.com.

Forward-looking Statement Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the term set forth in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements include statements or expectations regarding the timing and the Companys ability to file its restated historical financial information, 2015 financials and 2016 quarterly reports, regain SEC reporting compliance, identify new sources of debt financing, and related matters. These statements reflect our current views of future events and financial performance and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties that could cause or contribute to such material differences include, but are not limited to, decreased demand for new gas turbine power plants, reduced demand for, or increased regulation of, nuclear power, loss of any of our major customers, whether pursuant to the loss of pending or future bids for either new business or an extension of existing business, termination of customer or vendor relationships, cost increases and project cost overruns, unforeseen schedule delays, poor performance by our subcontractors, cancellation of projects, competition for the sale of our products and services, including competitors being awarded business by our customers that had previously been provided by Global Power, shortages in, or increases in prices for, energy and materials such as steel that we use to manufacture our products, damage to our reputation, warranty or product liability claims, increased exposure to environmental or other liabilities, failure to comply with various laws and regulations, failure to attract and retain highly-qualified personnel, loss of customer relationships with critical personnel, effective integration of acquisitions, volatility of our stock price, deterioration or uncertainty of credit markets, and changes in the economic, social and political conditions in the United States and other countries in which we operate, including fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, the banking environment or monetary policy.

In addition, more information may arise during the course of the Companys previously-announced ongoing accounting review of its previously issued financial statements that would require the Company to make additional adjustments or revisions or to restate further such financial statements. The time required to complete the financial statements and accounting review may cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Other important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements are discussed in our filings with the SEC, including the section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 9, 2015 titled Risk Factors. Except as may be required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, and we caution you not to rely upon them unduly.
LAKEWOOD, Colo., Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solera National Bancorp, Inc. (OTC:SLRK), the holding company for Solera National Bank (the Bank), a business-focused bank primarily serving the Denver metropolitan area, announced today that the Formal Agreement entered into on November 18, 2014 with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Banks primary regulator, has been lifted. Board and management have improved the policies, procedures and practices and the Bank is operating in a safe and sound manner.



We are pleased that the Board, management and staffs significant efforts over the last two years have resulted in a substantially stronger Solera National Bank. These efforts have now formally been recognized by the OCC. We look forward to continuing to generate profits for our shareholders, excellent service for our clients, and a rewarding workplace for our team, commented Martin P. May, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Wed like to thank our shareholders and our Board of Directors for their perseverance and support as we transitioned to a new era for Solera. With nine consecutive profitable quarters, a 60% increase in our stock price and now the lifting of this agreement, we are poised for solid growth and we have the capital and the team to do it, said Michael Quagliano, Chairman of the Board.

About Solera National Bancorp, Inc.

Solera National Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 to organize and serve as the holding company for Solera National Bank, which opened for business in September 2007. Solera National Bank is a community bank serving emerging businesses primarily in the Front Range of Colorado. At the core of Solera National Bank is welcoming, inclusive and respectful customer service, a focus on supporting a growing and diverse Colorado economy, and a passion to serve our community through service, education and volunteerism. For more information, please visit http://www.SoleraBank.com.
After years of bad news, 2016 looked like it might have been a turnaround for the U.S. nuclear power industry.

The year saw the opening of Tennessee's Watts Bar Unit 2, the first new nuclear reactor to go online in 20 years. State governments in New York and Illinois stepped in keep five struggling plants running in those states.

But 2017 started off with the announcement that the two-reactor Indian Point plant outside New York City would be shutting down by 2021. And work on the only reactors now under construction has been clouded by multi-billion-dollar losses by the Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba, whose subsidiary Westinghouse is building four reactors in Georgia and South Carolina.

The 99 reactors still operating provide about 20 percent of U.S. electric power. But while environmentalists have fought the industry for decades, its biggest opponent has turned out to be natural gas - far cheaper than nuclear, while producing half the planet-warming carbon emissions of coal when burned. And in regions like the Midwest and Northeast, where electricity is sold on deregulated markets, nuclear plants are facing financial meltdowns.

The result has been what Edward Kee, CEO of the Nuclear Economics Consulting Group, calls a "market failure" - one that may require government intervention to fix.

"Do we want nuclear in this country or not?" Kee said. "If we do, we need to fix that problem. We either need to have some additional compensation for these other attributes like zero emissions, or have government ownership or something like that. We can't expect the market to deliver nuclear power that ends up losing money."

RELATED: Seawater Could Provide an 'Endless' Source of Uranium for Nuclear Plants

State governments have stepped in to keep the lights on at three plants in upstate New York and two in Illinois by offering subsidies for producing electricity without carbon emissions. Both programs were sold as part of efforts to address climate change and boost renewable sources like wind and solar power, which brought grudging support from environmental groups.

Both plans are being challenged in court - but they could become models for similar programs in other states where atomic economics are challenging.

Still, five reactors have gone offline in the past five years, and six more are expected to be shut down in the next decade. The Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's leading trade association, says a total of 15 reactors are in danger of being shut down for economic reasons.

"We're working feverishly to prevent that," NEI spokesman John Keeley said.

But Keeley said that if government subsidizes carbon-free power sources like wind and solar, then nuclear should be supported, too. When nuclear plants have closed recently, the lost generating capacity usually gets made up by gas - which, while cleaner than coal, still results in added carbon dioxide.

"These are truly irreplaceable assets," Keeley said. "If they shut down, there is no restarting them. The utilities that own and operate them turn the licenses back over to the NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission]. They disperse a workforce of hundreds ... you have very significant impacts both economically and environmentally."

Advocates like NEI - as well as some prominent environmentalists, like climate-science pioneer James Hansen - say nukes are needed to provide carbon-free electricity with greater reliability than renewables. In Illinois, the state will pay Chicago-based nuclear operator Exelon more than $2 billion in "zero-emissions credits" to keep the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear plants in business for another decade. In New York, the expected subsidies could top $8 billion for Exelon and its rival Entergy.

The subsidies are based on how much carbon dioxide and other gases the plants are estimated to save, using a formula the U.S. government produced to calculate the expected social cost of climate change. And lawmakers in at least four more states - Ohio, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey - are eying similar plans, said Doug Vine, senior energy fellow at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

"The approach is certainly interesting, and I think the jury's still out on whether that will hold up," Vine said.

RELATED: Giant Dome to Seal Chernobyl Reactor for Generations

The costs of operating a nuclear plant safely and securely price them out of deregulated markets, even though their fuel costs are lower than gas or coal producers. Meanwhile, the increasing use of wind power has driven electric prices negative at some points on those markets, making it harder for nukes to compete.

"Nuclear in many instances does need these states to step in and provide them some kind of financial remuneration for their environmental benefits," Vine said. The catch is "trying to come up with a way that uniformly values the desirable attributes we want, or taxes the aspects we don't want - like carbon."

In the South, where state regulators still oversee most utilities and what customers pay, nuclear plants don't face the same challenges. But the first companies to build nuclear power plants in decades have found themselves bogged down in delays that have driven costs up sharply and pushed back the expected start dates at Georgia's Plant Vogtle and the V.C. Sumner plant in South Carolina by three to four years.

Those woes also led to Toshiba's Feb. 14 announcement of $6.3 billion in losses from its U.S. nuclear projects, along with the ouster of its CEO and a decision to give up on building any new nuclear plants in America. That's going to raise "a big question mark" for other projects that power companies have been considering in the past decade, said Sara Barczak, director of the High Risk Energy Choices program at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

"I don't know what would make a utility want to invest in nuclear at this point," said Barczak, whose organization is an outspoken critic of Plant Vogtle in particular. "I don't think shareholders would think that was the best idea."

Two reactors are under construction by a Georgia Power-led consortium at Plant Vogtle, near Augusta. Combined with the two existing units, Vogtle would become the largest U.S. nuclear plant when completed. But its start date has been pushed back from mid-2016 to late 2019, and the projected total costs have ballooned from $14 billion to about $20 billion, Barczak said.

RELATED: Chernobyl: Countdown to Meltdown

Kee said the reactors under construction at both Vogtle and Sumner are the first U.S. products of a new Westinghouse design that was supposed to be not only safer, but simpler and cheaper to build than past units. But Westinghouse had "severe" quality-control problems at a plant in Louisiana that was supposed to supply components for a series of nuclear projects.

"The concept was good, but implementing it in a world where we haven't built one in 30 years, and we're only building four of them, didn't work out so well," Kee said.

South Carolina's SCANA Energy, which has commissioned the two reactors at South Carolina's V.C. Sumner plant, says Toshiba and Westinghouse have committed to finishing that project. And Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning told analysts this week that his firm has the capability to step in and finish work at Plant Vogtle, where Southern subsidiary Georgia Power is the lead owner, if the builders can't. But Southern's chief financial officer, Arthur Beattie, said the company expects Toshiba will complete the job.

"We believe it's in their best interests from an economic perspective to complete these projects," Beattie said.
Press Release

February 24, 2017 Bam on Sen. De Lima's arrest, Lascanas' testimony and EDSA 31

Transcript of Sen. Bam's ANC interview Q: We were able to talk to Rep. Kaka Bag-ao who said that Liberal Party President Kiko Pangilinan was not going to accompany her but going back to the Senate to talk to his partymates. Has that meeting started? Did you have that meeting with Sen. Pangilinan along with other LP members there in the Senate? Sen. Bam: No. Not exactly. I'm actually not in Manila anymore pero magkikita-kita siguro kami bukas sa mga activities to commemorate EDSA. Q: Your thoughts Sir on this whole situation of Sen. Leila De Lima? Sen. Bam: Well, we've already released our statement that this is really political persecution at its worst. Bago pa nagkaroon ng hearings, bago nagkaroon ng kahit na anong ebidensiya, nasabi rin ni President Duterte that he would destroy her. At palagay ko, ginagawa talaga niya iyon. All of these things that are happening is basically in fulfilment of that. You look at the testimonies of the drug lords - magkakaiba iyong mga testimony nila. Hindi naman tumutugma-tugma. Walang money trail. Walang paper trail. And then of course, mukhang the judge, and of course we have to verify this, it seems the judge didn't even look at her motion to quash. Hindi man lang nabasa ang kanyang motion. We've said it before. We're saying it again. We really feel that this is political persecution and this is a way to stamp out dissent in the country. A way to stamp out critics. At nasabi na namin noon na anumang demokrasiya kailangan talaga may mga palitan ng mga isipan. May palitan ng mga kuro-kuro. Hindi puwede na kapag hindi ka sumasang-ayon, kinukulong ka na lang. Q: Sen. De Lima would have her legal team fighting her battles in court but you keep saying this is part of political persecution of this administration. What are you going to do about it? What is the Liberal Party going to do about it? Sen. Bam: Well, Ron, alam mo, we've been keeping the fight and probably we'll continue doing that when it comes to policies at the Senate that we feel aren't good for the country gaya ng pagbabalik ng death penalty, pagbaba ng age of criminal liability. All of these things kailangan ng countervoice - somebody to represent those who think otherwise. And we'll be continuing to do that in the Senate. In fairness to my colleagues in the Senate, cross-party, there was an effort to really push for her security and safety. Kaya ako palagay ko, hindi lang ito laban ng Liberal Party. This is a concern for anyone who will dissent on any of the policies pushed by this administration. Q: Senator, have you been discussing about the possibility of pushing through with that hearing on extrajudicial killings, hearing the testimony of Lascanas? Sen. Bam: Well, that's been the major happenings na nangyayari in the past week in the Senate. And status quo. The Committee on Public Order will hear Lascanas' confession. Hindi naman iyon nagbago kahit may mga rumors na umiikot na babaguhin iyon. The truth is right now it is the status quo which is that the Committee on Public Order will be hearing that soon. Q: OK. We want to get your thoughts as well on the toned down EDSA People Power Revolution commemoration this year. Sen. Bam: Well, honestly, Ron, I've said this before - that's really the prerogative of the government how they wish to celebrate. But ang pag-celebrate kasi ng EDSA hindi lang naman iyon pagmamay-ari ng gobyerno. All of us can celebrate it. Different groups are doing it. Schools are doing it. And that's the spirit of People Power. Hindi lang siya mula sa isang grupo lang. Hindi lang siya mula sa gobyerno, definitely. Talagang galing siya sa tao. So, if that's the way that government wants to celebrate it then, we should allow them to do that. But of course, they should also allow all the other groups who want to commemorate EDSA to do it in their own way. Q: And how are you commemorating it this year, Sir? Sen. Bam: I'll be there tomorrow at the People Power Monument at 4:00 PM. And I hope that everyone listening who do want to commemorate EDSA will be there with us.
Press Release

February 24, 2017 STATEMENT OF SEN. LEILA M. DE LIMA ON HER ARREST What we have feared has come. My arrest is an appalling sign of the return of a power-hungry, morally bankrupt and abusive government. As we expected, the Department of Justice filed criminal cases against me based on manufactured stories accusing me of involvement in the drug trade. According to the mastermind of the filing of cases against me--none other than President Rodrigo Duterte: "She has to face the music. It took months to develop the case." They really have such nerve, all of them! Of course it would take you this long to manufacture lies against me! There must be so much Fentanyl in Mr. Duterte's brain, for him to have the gall to boast of the testimonies of their witnesses who are convicted drug lords, and whose statements contradict each other. Liars! Hypocrites! As reward for testifying against me, this administration, through the Department of Justice restored the privileges of these inmates--the very same privileges that I put an end to during my term as the Secretary of Justice. Their revolting plan: convicted criminals become state witnesses so they can be exonerated from their crimes. They are not the heroes that this administration is forcing us to believe. Where else in the world have you seen drug lords turned into state witnesses? All they have ever done is to follow the badly-written script of this administration to pin me down with baseless accusations for their personal gain. From the very beginning, we have seen the brand of injustice his regime is pushing for. As they continue to malign and persecute me, meanwhile, Mr. Vitaliano Aguirre of the DOJ coddled prisoners in exchange for their testimonies, and Solicitor General Jose Calida sought the acquittal of the convicted kidnapper and indicted mastermind of pork barrel scandal Janet Lim Napoles. From the very beginning, I knew that this regime would not seek true justice. The filing of criminal cases against me is only the fulfillment of Mr. Duterte's fixation for revenge against me, because of my investigation of the Davao Death Squad when I was then the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights. The Filipino people know your style, Mr. President. To put the rule of law in your hands, silence your critics, and destroy those who will go against your caprices. Actually, this should no longer surprise us. If the President supported a policy of killing the poor and drug offenders, what is then stopping him from doing whatever comes into his head: absolve big time drug lords, acquit a kidnapper and queen of pork barrel scandal, fabricate stories and plant evidence against his critics, which he admitted he used to do when he was a fiscal, and continue killing the poor with impunity. We all know now that every action of the President has no clear basis. He does it on a whim. Not because it is right or wrong, but because he can do it, and we are letting him. This is impunity. Whatever he does, he is confident that he is free from any punishment. This all started when he discovered as Mayor of Davao City that he could kill people without accountability. Truth is, even though he has killed over 1,000 in Davao and over 7,000 throughout the Philippines with his death squads and rogue police, he has yet to pay for it under the law. But perhaps now he can be made accountable for his horrible crime against humanity. Recently, the President's right-hand man in the Davao Death Squad, police officer Arturo Lascanas, finally revealed himself. Just like his former comrade, Edgar Matobato, he too made a public confession about the killings they carried out in Davao City upon the orders of President Duterte himself. He, together with police officer Sanson "Sonny" Buenaventura, are the brains and hands of President Duterte in any of the Davao Death Squad operations. With the revelation of Lascanas, there is no more doubt that our President is a murderer and a sociopathic serial killer. This is also the reason why we are experiencing all the madness in government under this regime that is being led by the number one criminal in the entire Philippines, if not in the whole world, none other than President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Let's not ask anymore how come there seems to be a reunion of questionable characters under the Duterte regime--from the Marcoses, to Arroyo, and up to Napoles, together with their lawyers and operators. Also, there are the main enforcers of President Duterte's orders--Secretary Aguirre and SolGen Calida who are among the abusive and arrogant officials in our government. Let's no longer ask why, during the Duterte regime, all the criminals, the corrupt, the savages, and those with evil souls have returned and are thriving. I speak before you with honor and integrity as my only defense. As former Human Rights Chairperson and Justice Secretary, I can look everyone straight in the eye and say: My track record as a public servant has never been tarnished by any wrongdoing, except until now based on manufactured lies. I have never used and will never use my position for my personal interest. I am innocent. I have never betrayed and I will never betray the trust of my country and the Filipino people. Clearly, this administration has evil and dangerous plans: to make an example of me to intimidate, silence, and destroy anyone who dares challenge them; to draw public attention away from the government's abuses and failures; and to cover up their most murderous war on drugs. In the past 7 months, the death toll of this war has exceeded the number of deaths recorded during the 14 years of Martial Law and the Marcos regime. This fight is not mine alone. This fight is our fight for the victims of government's failed war on drugs, especially for 7-year-old Sanino Butucan of Cebu, 5-year-olds Danica May Garcia of Pangasinan and Francisco Manosca of Pasay City, and 4-year-old Althea Fhem Barbon of Negros Oriental. Perpetrators of these hideous crimes have no conscience; even worse than them are those in power who allow these to happen. From all these violence, killings and crooked governance of the Duterte regime, clearly, I am not the Public Enemy No. 1 here, but this regime who has no respect for basic human rights, especially the right to life. Since the start of his term, Mr. Duterte has brought in the entire machinery of the State to silence me, and to destroy my person, credibility and honor as a woman. If they can do this to a sitting Senator, what is stopping this administration from doing the same to ordinary Filipinos? If they think that by jailing me, I will turn my back on my principles, they are mistaken. Instead, they have encouraged me more to pursue truth and justice. I have long prepared myself to be a political prisoner of this regime. Rest assured that I will answer all the accusations against me in the proper time and venue. To the best of my ability, I will fulfill my duties as Senator of the Republic. Even in prison, even as I continue to be persecuted by this government, for as long as I live, I will continue fighting the good fight up to my very last breath. To Mr. Duterte: Stop the killings now! Stop harassing me, stop this madness! Instead, the Filipino people are begging for your undivided attention to address the myriad problems our country face. I call on the members of the Fourth Estate to guard our fragile democracy against attempts to curtail our rights and freedom, and against the return of dictatorship. I urge people of conscience everywhere: Please pray for the Philippines. I ask you to remain vigilant and continue to fight, so that true justice and respect for human rights prevail. Let us not allow this administration to continue violating our Constitution, disrespecting our laws, and taking the lives of our countrymen. I am hopeful that we will not remain silent in the face of the daily killings taking place in our midst, the flagrant violations of our fundamental rights, and the deliberate efforts to poison our minds, and that of our children. Let us fight for our rights, let us fight for justice, let us fight for democracy. See video: https://www.facebook.com/leiladelimaofficial/videos/1938091426421403/ #KeepLeilaSafe
The board of directors of Thin Film Electronics ASA ("Thinfilm") has resolved to issue 105,000 shares to 2 employees, in accordance with the Company's 2012 Subscription Rights Incentive Plan.

Cashless exercise - transfer of rights

On 23 February 2017, in order to establish a cashless exercise of subscription rights, the 2 exercising employees have transferred their rights to receive shares resulting from the exercise of options to a third party.

The issue of the 105,000 shares corresponds to a share capital increase of NOK 11,550 (each share issued having a par value of NOK 0.11). The weighted average subscription price per share was NOK 1.89. The total subscription price therefore is NOK 198,450 of which NOK 11,550 is added to the Company's share capital while NOK 186,900 is added to the Company's funds in accordance with the provisions of the Public Limited Companies Act.

For more information contact:

Ole Ronny Thorsnes, CFO: +47 91 86 66 97 / ole.thorsnes@thinfilm.no

23 February 2016

Thin Film Electronics ASA
STATEMENT OF SENATOR CHIZ ESCUDERO ON SENATOR DE LIMA'S ARREST

As her colleague in the Senate, I am saddened by recent events. I know Sen. De Lima to be a fighter and a courageous person who will not let this dampen her spirits.

I pray that truth and justice will prevail in her case--whomsoever its face may look favorably upon--and likewise pray for her children as she faces perhaps the toughest battle in her life.

I will continue to work with her as a Senator, her incarceration notwithstanding, in crafting meaningful legislation and shedding light on the crimes and shortcomings of abusive and corrupt officials in government.

Finally, I pray that she keep the faith and not lose hope in the knowledge and belief that "this, too, shall pass."
Press Release

February 24, 2017 Statement of Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on the arrest of Senator Leila De Lima Senator Leila De Lima's arrest based on baseless accusations is outright political persecution and a travesty of the country's justice system. It is a throwback to an authoritarian past. It highlights the slow death of our democracy and rule of law. This sets a dangerous precedent for the government to arrest and incarcerate individuals that it perceives as its enemies, on the basis only of mere allegations and without due process. In the first place, the complaint was based only on the testimony of convicted drug lords who were used as state witnesses, in violation of the Witness Protection Act that states that those previously convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude cannot be state witnesses. By stopping at nothing to persecute Sen. Leila, the state sends a chilling message to all--political dissent under this administration will not be tolerated. All those who will oppose will be destroyed. Hindi si Senator De Lima ang sinuko ngayon kundi ang demokrasya. Sinuko ng gobyerno ang demokrasya ng bayan. Laway lang ang puhunan, pwede ka nang kasuhan at ipakulong ng gobyerno. The arrest of Senator De Lima also demonstrated the government's two-faced sense of justice. The government filed cases against Senator De Lima, yet, it will acquit pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim Napoles from the Benhur Luy illegal detention case. President Duterte is hellbent on sending our colleague to jail but the likes of Peter Lim and Jack Lam continue to evade the long arm of the law. Dubious drug charges were filed against the senator while the cases of real high-profile drug traffickers will be dropped. I call on the people to exercise vigilance. I call on them to publicly express their strong disapproval of the blatant abuse of our justice system for political persecution.
Press Release

February 24, 2017 Statement of Senator Trillanes on the arrest of Senator De Lima: The primary objective of the illegal arrest of Sen. De Lima is to send a chilling message to the political opposition and critics that they could be next. Well, the effect to me is exactly the opposite. I am now motivated more than ever to expose him for being a plunderer and mass murderer that he truly is.
Rallies, protests and town hall events are a part of political life in the Bay Area. Heres a roundup of whats happening in the next few weeks.

Friday

Rally: Held outside a ticketed event featuring Sen. Dianne Feinstein calling for her to meet with constituents. The rally is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. outside the Public Policy Institute of California, 500 Washington St., San Francisco.

Health care town hall: Hosted by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St, Helena. Starts at 9 a.m. at Piner High School, 1700 Fulton Road, Santa Rosa.

Saturday

Town hall: A Conversation About America hosted by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Cabrillo Unified School District, 530 Kelly Ave. in Half Moon Bay.

Environmental protest: Meeting in front of the Environmental Protection Agencys regional offices in San Francisco to protest the new head of EPA and fight for environmental justice, from 1 to 3 p.m., 75 Hawthorne St.

Sunday

Empty chair town hall: Hosted by anti-Trump groups in the Bay Area to discuss concerns with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who will not be attending. Statements will be sent to Feinsteins office. The town hall is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Elmhurst Community Prep, 1800 98th Ave., Oakland. Tickets are available online.

New women activist brunch: Meet and greet for women and members of womens organizations working to elect progressive, pro-abortion-rights women to office. Hosted by Democratic Activists for Women Now, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 2302 Zanker Road, San Jose.

Anti-Trump planning meeting: Activists organizing to resist the Trump administration will hold a general meeting from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Finnish Hall, 1970 Chestnut St., Berkeley.

Tuesday

San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting: Residents are planning to attend the meeting to speak out against a Muslim registry and calling for the board to pass an ordinance divesting city funds from the Dakota Access Pipeline. The meeting is from 2 to 4 p.m. at San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B Goodlett Place.

Wednesday

Action meeting: Hosted by San Francisco Berniecrats, featuring a guest speech by Supervisor Jane Kim, to discuss how the grassroots organization can fight for issues they care about. The event is from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Public Library Park Branch, 1833 Page St.

March 5

Volunteer workshop: Hosted by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, on how to shape the 2018 election, from 2 to 4 p.m. Crowne Plaza Cabana, 4290 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. RSVP (650) 328-3700.

March 8

Day Without Women strike: The organizers behind the Womens March on Washington are calling for a general strike to show what a day without women would look like.

March 10

Standing Rock march: A march and rally calling for President Trump to meet with tribal leaders before continuing work on the Dakota Access Pipeline. The event is from 5 to 9 p.m. outside the San Francisco Federal Building, 90 Seventh St.

To list an event, email Sarah Ravani at sravani@sfchronicle.com.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

On the ridge of Knowland Park overlooking five counties and the sparkling waters of the bay, the Oakland Zoos expensive and contentious expansion is beginning to take shape.

After 2 decades of planning and years of wrangling with local opponents, construction has sketched the outline of the zoos ambitious California Trail exhibit. The first of 16 eight-person aerial gondolas imported from Switzerland to carry visitors over the exhibit was being mounted onto its wires Thursday.

The California Trail attraction, envisioned as a showcase of the states biodiversity, ironically drew the ire of local conservationist groups in its planning stages because of its potential impact on Knowland Parks wildlife, particularly the federally protected Alameda whipsnake and a rare type of chaparral plant.

Zoo officials say the expansion will encourage stewardship by offering a unique look at California wildlife past and present, and that building on lower ground would have increased the projects environmental impact, not lessened it.

This project is really the only sort of place in California where were talking about Californias biodiversity, past present and future  looking at what we have in the state and how can we take care of it, said Nik Dehejia, chief financial officer for the Oakland Zoo.

The $80 million expansion will bring the zoos footprint up to 100 acres, making it the same size as the San Diego Zoo, one of the countrys largest.

At the Kaiser Permanente Visitor Center, a wall made of windows looks out on the city of Oakland stretched out below and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.

Those spectacular views come from the expansions use of the ridgeline habitat in Knowland Park, an aspect of the plan that drew criticism in the planning phases from some opponents because the expansion reduced public trail access to one of the parks most beautiful overlooks.

California Trail will eventually be populated with some of the most formidable predators to roam California. The exhibit will house grizzlies, black bears, jaguars, mountain lions, bald eagles and condors.

Bison will roam a large enclosure by April. Although the viewing area for their exhibit will not be accessible to the public until the expansion opening in summer 2018, they will be visible from the parks existing gondola system.

The group of about 20 bison is being provided to the zoo by the Blackfeet Nation tribe of Montana, with the agreement that the offspring the bison might bear at the zoo will be returned to the herd in Montana.

A subspecies of grizzly bear, the California grizzly, once roamed the state by the thousands, but was hunted to extinction by the early 20th century.

In 2016, the Center for Biological Diversity  incidentally, one of the groups that voiced opposition to the zoo expansion in 2014  unsuccessfully petitioned federal wildlife officials to reintroduce grizzly bears to the California wilderness.

Now grizzlies will return to Northern California, albeit within the confines of the Oakland Zoos enclosures.

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.

Most of the California Trail exhibits will be populated with animals who cannot be released into the wild, like young orphaned bear cubs who are bottle-fed by rescuers and lose their natural aversion to humans, making it dangerous to release them once theyre grown.

In the case of the bald eagle, for instance, theyll receive an injury  typically a wing injury  and they wont really have the full strong flight necessary for them to be able to hunt and feed themselves, said Colleen Kinzley, the zoos director of animal care, conservation and research.

In many such cases, animals are euthanized if no facility is available to take them in.

Among the most touted aspects of the expansion is the Interpretive Center, which will encourage visitors to consider their place in Californias ecosystems.

Its very tactile and hopefully really leads kids and adults to think about what its like for these animals out in the wild, said Kinzley. Theyll go around all the areas that these animals occupy and at the end, the last area is the bay, as a way to say: This is where we live; what are the responsibilities that go with that?

Filipa A. Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi
Santa Clara County officials asked a federal judge Thursday to impose a nationwide preliminary injunction against President Trumps executive order threatening to withhold federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions, calling the move extortion by the White House.

The motion was filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco as part of the countys Feb. 3 suit challenging the constitutionality of Trumps Jan. 25 order. In the order, the president calls for federal defunding of sanctuary jurisdictions that willfully violate Federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States.

The request for a nationwide injunction went a step further than a federal lawsuit filed by San Francisco on Jan. 31. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera alleged the executive order targeting sanctuary cities violated the 10th Amendment, which limits the reach of the federal government in state matters.

The executive order sought to withhold funds except as mandated by law. But Santa Clara County officials argued that nearly $1.7 billion in annual health, safety and social services were at stake, even though Medicaid and Medicare are currently mandatory spending programs under the law.

Jenna Lyons / The Chronicle / /

The number amounts to about 35 percent of county revenue, officials said.

County officials gathered in the basement of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center on Thursday for a news conference denouncing the order as coercive, an overreach of Congress power over the federal purse strings, and the catalyst for a possible massive and untenable public health crisis in the county.

Officials estimate that from 20,000 to 50,000 immigrants are living illegally in Santa Clara County, which identifies itself as a sanctuary jurisdiction. San Jose, the countys largest city and the 10th most populous in the nation, follows sanctuary city practices.

If we do not take a stand now against this unlawful power grab by President Trump, theres no telling what he might do next, said Dave Cortese, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. In our opinion, extortion is extortion and coercion is coercion and thats exactly what that kind of behavior is. And we wont be bullied, we wont be forced to abandon our core values. We wont participate in politics of fear. Thats what this lawsuit is all about.

The order, which appears to prioritize deportation of criminal offenders, adds that we cannot faithfully execute the immigration laws of the United States if we exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. In that view, it also aims to target those who have abused public benefit programs or were judged a security threat at the discretion of an immigration officer.

Were going to strip federal grant money from the sanctuary states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants. The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidize this disregard for our laws, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on the day Trump signed the order.

The order includes a provision to produce a weekly list of criminal actions committed by aliens to emphasize the belief that sanctuary city policies in which law enforcement officials do not release people to federal immigration agents for deportation enable such behavior.

Trump has often mentioned crimes committed by immigrants living in the U.S. illegally as justification for his policies, particularly the July 2015 killing of Kathryn Steinle on San Franciscos Embarcadero. She allegedly was shot by a Mexican immigrant freed from County Jail despite federal government attempts to deport him for a sixth time.

James Williams, Santa Clara County counsel, said the government will probably respond to the injunction motion in the coming weeks. A hearing on the motion is set for April 5.

The order is a patently unconstitutional attempt to coerce the county and other state and local governments to participate in the Trump administrations expanded immigration enforcement and deportation efforts, Williams said. This isnt a liberal or conservative issue. This isnt even mainly about immigration. This lawsuit is about preserving local control for every town, city and county in the United States.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
Steven Ansley was upstairs when he heard his wife, Susan, scream.

She wasnt hurt  at least not physically  and she was in no imminent danger.

The source of her shock, it turned out, was the $503 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. bill she had just opened, the highest the Oakland couple had ever been charged.

Weve been here over 30 years, Steven Ansley said. It was the biggest bill Ive ever seen.

The Ansleys werent alone. PG&E customers have been decrying their outsize energy bills over the last two months. In some cases, customers opened their December and January bills to see charges double or triple what they were a year earlier.

And as February draws to a close, many are bracing for another big hit.

The recent spikes in PG&E bills are largely due to increases in natural gas prices, according to Donald Cutler, a spokesman for the utility provider. The utility sells gas to its customers at cost and charges additional fees for transporting it. The most recent hike  a 13 percent increase  was implemented in August.

That was the biggest driver of what was impacting those bills, Cutler said. Residential gas rates for PG&E customers rose 21 percent between December 2015 and December 2016. Those are big numbers, and we know that that can be really frustrating for customers, so we want them to know that were here to help them.

Cutler encouraged customers to go online to take advantage of the tools the utility provider offers to help customers better understand and manage their electricity and gas usage. He also dismissed the notion raised by some frustrated customers that the rate hikes were being used to pay for the fines and penalties levied against PG&E in the wake of the deadly San Bruno pipeline explosion.

Unequivocally, no rates are going to pay for any of the fines or penalties, Cutler said. All of that came out of shareholder money, and thats it. There is no rate increase related to that at all.

Cutler added that the money raised from the rate increases would be put toward investments in safety and monitoring efforts for PG&Es sprawling gas transmission and pipeline system.

Following the San Bruno disaster, PG&E was required to pay $2.7 billion to upgrade its gas transmission system in addition to a $1.6 billion fine from the California Public Utilities Commission. Earlier this year, a federal judge slapped the utility with a more modest $3 million fine in a criminal case related to the blast.

Several years of comparably mild winters in the Bay Area and across California, when people tend to use less gas to heat their homes, have masked the effects of the utilitys gas rate increases. Thermostats got cranked up in recent months, Cutler said, to combat the cold, damp weather this winter, raising the bills of PG&E customers along with them.

Around $396 of the Ansleys $503 bill came from natural gas usage, Steven Ansley said. The couple have taken to wearing fleece around the house and turning on their gas heat as little as possible. Theyre using no heat at all at night.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Mark Toney, the executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group and frequent critic of PG&E, said that his organization has been inundated with calls and emails in recent weeks from the utilitys customers stunned by their January bills.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Most are on very tight budgets, so when they get a surprise like this, it really hits them hard, Toney said.

Laura Estetter of Oakland said her PG&E bill jumped from $120 to $230 in January, despite what she described as only a moderate increase in gas usage this winter.

Paying her bill will be a financial strain for her, but she said her hardship seems trivial compared with the vulnerable families she works with in her role as a director at the Family Resource Center for the Arcata (Humboldt County) School District.

She said parents are telling her that they cant afford to heat their homes or pay their bills, Estetter said. Some of them have had to access some utility assistance programs because they havent been able to meet the high costs.

The PUC saw a sharp uptick in the number of PG&E customers who contacted the regulator about high bills or rates last month, 124 in total, compared with 74 in December, according to data sent by the agency. The PUC regulates the states private utilities and must approve all of PG&Es requests to raise rates.

Toney called for consumers to hold the PUC responsible for setting the rates in the past and setting the rates in the future. What we encourage people to do is get involved when their rate increases are being proposed by the PUC.

We cant control the weather, but what we can control is what the PUC awards in rates, Toney said.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The White House put California and seven other states on notice Thursday that their efforts to end the criminalization of marijuana could soon hit a roadblock. The glimpse into the Trump administrations intentions toward a fast-growing business that could soon see more than $7 billion in annual sales unsettled many in the industry.

Addressing reporters at a news conference, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that states should expect to see greater enforcement of federal marijuana laws under President Trumps Justice Department, the clearest signal yet of the administrations position on marijuana policy.

In response to a question about federal policy toward states that have legalized cannabis, Spicer said, Theres two distinct issues, medical marijuana and recreational marijuana.  I do believe youll see greater enforcement of federal law with regard to recreational pot use. They are going to continue to enforce the laws on the books with respect to recreational marijuana.

The news sent a jolt through the industry nationwide. In California, sales of marijuana to adults 21 and over are set to start next year. Eight states and the District of Columbia, comprising 21 percent of the U.S. population, have legalized recreational pot for adults. Twenty-nine states have legalized medical marijuana.

Nate Bradley, director of the California Cannabis Industry Association, called Spicers remarks unfortunate. He said they will have a chilling effect on cannabis business activity, and could slow the implementation of legalization in California. But the statements did not surprise him.

I was under no illusion that the administration was going to get behind the podium and give the industry a free pass, Bradley said. We were expecting scrutiny.

Exactly what increased federal enforcement would look like is unclear. The Department of Justice, which did not respond to a request for comment, could step up busts on interstate trafficking and leave regulated businesses alone. Or it could try to dismantle state legalization by threatening licensed, tax-paying businesses or even state regulators and local authorities.

Taking apart regulated markets would be counterproductive, said Bay Area cannabis attorney Henry Wykowski, a former federal prosecutor. That would strengthen the black market and punch the people that are trying to comply with state law.

A Quinnipiac poll released Thursday indicated that 59 percent of Americans support outright marijuana legalization, though 61 percent of Republicans remain opposed. Also, 93 percent of respondents support the use of marijuana for medical purposes, with 71 percent supporting the right of states to decide for themselves how to handle recreational use.

The vast majority of Americans agree that the federal government has no business interfering in state marijuana laws, said Mason Tvert, the communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, in a statement after the news conference on Thursday.

This administration is claiming that it values states rights, so we hope they will respect the rights of states to determine their own marijuana policies. Mr. Spicer says there is a difference between medical and recreational marijuana, but the benefits of and need for regulation apply equally to both, Tvert said.

An attack on California could generate a large backlash that would include Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris.

I think that we in California are probably in a better position than others because our state legislators have already made it known they are going to stand up to the federal government, Wykowski said.

I dont think we should put too much weight behind this, said Steve DeAngelo, the founder of Harborside Health Center, a prominent Oakland dispensary. My feeling is that cannabis is not on the top 10 or 20 list of priorities in the Trump administration. There will come a time they would have a serious conversation about this, but I dont think that conversation has happened yet.

Some celebrated the remarks. Anti-pot activist Kevin Sabet with Project Smart Approaches to Marijuana said in an email that the current situation is unsustainable, and states that have legalized marijuana continue to see a black market for the drug.

Were hopeful that the Trump Administration will pursue a smart approach to enforcement that prioritizes public health and safety over political ideology, Sabet stated.

Until more details emerge, some pot businesses are preparing for the worst, assembling lists of customers they will urge to contact elected officials in the event of a raid.

We have prepared a raid plan for our clients, and we are instructing them on it, said Wykowski. This has been a long and hard fight over the years and were making progress, and were just going to move forward.

California legalized adult use marijuana in November. All adults 21 and over can legally possess, grow and transport personal amounts of pot. On the campaign trail, Trump said that he supported marijuana for medical use as well as states right to set pot policy.

Sessions has been a staunch opponent of marijuana legalization during his tenure in the Senate, getting an F grade from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

David Downs is the cannabis editor for The San Francisco Chronicle. Dominic Fracassa is a staff writer. Email:ddowns@sfchronicle.com dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @davidrdowns @dominic fracassa

The timeline for legalization

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

California voters passed Proposition 64 on Nov. 8, allowing the recreational use of cannabis. Marijuanas full legalization will unfold in steps over the next few years, barring federal action to block it.

2016

Nov. 9: Personal possession, cultivation and transportation became legal on the state level.

2017

April-June: State rule-making hearings likely to begin.

2018

Jan. 1: Retail sales begin. Deadline for state departments to start issuing licenses. State starts collecting 15 percent marijuana retail sales tax and commercial cultivation taxes.

Later: $3 million transferred to the California Highway Patrol for DUI research ; $10 million transferred to Governors Office of Business and Economic Development ; $2 million transferred to UC San Diego Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.

2019

Jan. 1: A Prop. 64 impact advisory committee publishes an annual public report, with recommendations. Temporary licenses expire. Performance audit of the marijuana bureaus activities commences.

2020

Jan. 1: Deadline for the Legislative Analysts Office to submit a report to the Legislature, with recommendations for adjustments to the tax rate. Deadline for each licensing authority to prepare and submit to the Legislature an annual report.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) hosted Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, on Thursday for a tour of the companys Newport News Shipbuilding division.



Newport News Shipbuilding President Matt Mulherin accompanied the congresswoman on the shipyard tour, which included progress updates on the aircraft carriers Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), as well as the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) refueling complex overhaul and the Enterprise (CVN 65) inactivation. Granger also learned about Newport News role in the Virginia- and Columbia-class submarine programs.

The exceptional shipbuilders at Newport News are vital to building our Navys future fleet, Granger said. It is their skill and expertise that ensures our nations nuclear shipbuilding enterprise delivers what is needed to support our national defense. In addition, I am pleased by the shipyards efforts to control costs on these complex warships because we must increase the size of our Navy in these dangerous times. This shipyard and other advanced American manufacturers across the country are absolutely critical to keeping us safe.

A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file?fid=58b05493a1383536ba5162ec.

Granger serves as chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committees Defense Subcommittee, which provides funding for all of the Navys shipbuilding, ship maintenance, and research and development programs each year. On appropriations, she is also a member of the State & Foreign Operations and Energy & Water subcommittees. Granger has received numerous awards for her support of national defense issues and is the first and only Republican woman to represent Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Congressional visits are invaluable, Mulherin said. They provide our nations decision-makers with the opportunity to see and experience the complexities of our ships, our business and more importantly, they provide us an opportunity to recognize the many shipbuilders and suppliers from across the country who contribute toward their construction. Congresswoman Grangers commitment to the readiness of our military is clear, and we appreciate her support and her hard work toward stabilizing the defense budget.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HIIs Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Integrated Missions Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs nearly 37,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:
Waymo, the self-driving car company founded by Google, on Thursday sued ride-hailing giant Uber, accusing it of stealing technology that autonomous vehicles use to see the world around them.

The lawsuit pits two of the most prominent companies pursuing self-driving vehicles against each other. And it comes just weeks after Tesla sued the former head of its own autonomous-car research unit on similar accusations involving another startup.

Waymo sued Uber and its subsidiary, self-driving truck startup Otto, co-founded by Anthony Levandowski, formerly a key engineer in Googles self-driving-car efforts. Levandowski is widely considered one of the worlds preeminent researchers in the fast-growing field of autonomous vehicles.

While Waymo invested in research and development of self-driving cars for seven years, Otto and Uber took an illegal shortcut, according to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. It portrays Uber as a Johnny-come-lately whose race to develop self-driving cars lagged despite hiring hundreds of engineers and robotics experts from Carnegie Mellon University.

We take the allegations made against Otto and Uber employees seriously and we will review this matter carefully, Uber said in an email.

The suit alleges that Levandowski and others who followed him from Waymo to Otto stole details of Googles proprietary sensors before his departure. Waymo charged that Levandowski downloaded 14,000 confidential files shortly before he left the company. Mr. Levandowski took extraordinary efforts to raid Waymos design server and then conceal his activities, the lawsuit reads.

The sensors in question, known as lidar, bounce laser beams off objects to gauge their size, shape and distance. While many companies make versions of the technology, Waymo has argued that its lidar will be cheaper and more advanced than that of competitors. The suit said that lidar technology was key to Ubers $680 million August acquisition of Otto, then only 6 months old.

Defendants leveraged stolen information to shortcut the process and purportedly build a comparable lidar system in only nine months, the suit says. As of August 2016, Uber had no in-house solution for lidar  despite 18 months with their faltering Carnegie Mellon University effort  and they acquired Otto to get it.

The suit seeks an injunction to stop the misappropriation of our designs, return all trade secret information and cease infringing our patents, Waymo wrote in a blog post. No hearing date has been set.

Since Waymo is alleging intentional patent infringement (among other claims), if it prevails, it could win triple damages, as well as other relief, said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and an expert in self-driving cars.

The outbreak of a patent war in the nascent field of autonomous vehicles is not surprising, and could eclipse the earlier smartphone patent war, Smith said.

The world of automated driving used to be very small, with ideas and people moving pretty freely within and between various companies and universities, he said in an email. But now that there is real money to be made relatively soon, many of these structures have hardened into actual or potential conflicts.

One result could be to bar startups that dont have a large patent portfolio from entering the field, he said. Companies will discover that trivial yet essential parts of automated driving have already been patented  Googles patent for driving on the left side of the lane when passing a truck comes to mind, he said.

David R. Baker and Carolyn Said are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Emails: dbaker@sfchronicle.com csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF @csaid
Evan Sernoffsky / Evan Sernoffsky

A 27-year-old felon in Santa Rosa decided to try to resolve an argument with another man by shooting him, police said Thursday.

The target, a 50-year-old man from Santa Rosa, had been standing outside a house in the 200 block of Gilbert Drive just after 8 a.m. when the suspect, Joseph Vincent Kauth, took aim and fired, police said.
Ancient aqueducts famously feed water into Romes historic espresso bars. New York Citys tap water makes its pizza and bagels uniquely delicious  or so the story goes. And to some, San Franciscos Hetch Hetchy water is sacred to making its sourdough bread, coffee and beer.

So with the city about to add groundwater to the pristine Hetch Hetchy mix, will these local specialties be forever tainted?

Its an honor and a privilege to do business and dwell in an area that has such great water, said Nicholas Cho, co-owner of Wrecking Ball Coffee in San Francisco. For the coffee people, or at least people really focused on quality, when the water changes, we know it. Its a little bit like the weather for us.

Cho is one of the food and drink industry folks who have been concerned about the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission plan to mix in a small percentage of groundwater, treated with chlorine for safety, to the existing water supply in 60 percent of the city next month. The initial change will be small and gradually increase over four years. While the pH level will stay the same, the added minerals will make the citys typically soft water harder, which can affect flavor in coffee and beer, and texture in bread and bagels.

Before anyone panics, its important to know that the citys water already isnt as pure as a mountain stream. On average, 85 percent of our water comes from Hetch Hetchy and the surrounding lakes and reservoirs, which is soft due to the scrubbing it gets from flowing over Sierra granite; the other 15 percent comes from Bay Area reservoirs, which is harder. At the moment, the city isnt even getting Hetch Hetchy water while repairs are being made on a mountain tunnel. Instead, all of it is coming from Bay Area reservoirs, said Jeff Gilman, hydrogeologist and groundwater project manager at the city PUC.

Mineral content and hardness is often measured as total dissolved solids in the water. San Francisco water is usually in the soft range of 45 to 50 TDS, and when all the groundwater is added, the range will increase to 70 to 120 TDS. (At the moment its at 120 or 125, Gilman says.)

In the coffee trade, higher TDS can change the flavor and can be hard, so to speak, on espresso machines and other equipment.

We have always been aware of the effect water has on our coffee, and have done many tastings with different water over the years, said Kyle Waters, lead equipment technician at Ritual Coffee Roasters, which has a cafe in the Haight-Ashbury, one of the neighborhoods that will get the new groundwater. The TDS and hardness levels are something Ill monitor closely as the program rolls out.

For the true coffee water nerd  a term that surely applies to Christopher Hendon, an MIT chemist and co-author of the textbook Water for Coffee  its not just TDS, but specific mineral content that matters. The new water will have more calcium and magnesium, which can be beneficial, but also more bicarbonate, which can reduce acidity, a vital trait in coffee.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

The San Francisco PUC said that normally, San Franciscos water has 30 to 40 parts per million bicarbonate. With the groundwater fully added in, it will be 50 to 60 parts per million. A trained coffee taster can notice a difference when bicarbonate changes by only 5 parts per million, Hendon said.

I would conclude that people might notice an appreciable difference in their coffee based on this data, said Hendon. He joked, Its doomsday for San Francisco!

Brewers arent feeling quite so apocalyptic.

We seem to be spoiled with really nice brewing water, said Kim Sturdavant, brewmaster of Social Kitchen & Brewery in the Sunset, who attended a meeting between brewers and the utility commission in December to learn about the water changes. If a brewery isnt using water filtration at the moment, nows the time to think about getting it, to sort of buffer any variances that might be occurring.

Depending on the style of beer, brewers often add minerals during beer making to balance the chemical composition or to mimic the beers traditional water source.

Its beneficial to have soft water for pilsner, Sturdavant said. Hard water works really well for hoppier beer.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Hard water can be better for bakers, too  to a point. It can give dough structure, though too much can make it tough and limit fermentation. The new waters composition keeps it in a good range for baking, although too many fluctuations can cause challenges, especially when you consider that bread is up to one-third water.

When youre a baker, you have so many kinds of forces in play, like humidity in the air and where youre getting your flour from, since flour has seasonality as well, said Amy Brown, who bakes several types of bread and bagels at Marla Bakery in the Richmond District, which will get the new groundwater. Its one more component that well have to pay attention to.

Hendon of MIT notes that several food-centric cities identify strongly with their water, especially when its soft, such as Melbourne, Australia, and Kyoto, Japan, as well as New York.

San Franciscos water is not particularly special, Hendon said. Everyone likes to think their water is special.

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan
Elle: The latest from Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct), which is also Frances foreign film entry in the Oscar sweepstakes, provides a signature role for Isabelle Huppert as a woman who is brutally raped in the movies opening sequence and seems bizarrely unaffected. A genuinely perverse and arresting character study. Rated R. 130 minutes. In French with English subtitles.

Fences: Brilliantly written (by playwright August Wilson) and directed by Denzel Washington, this is one for the ages, alongside Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and A Streetcar Named Desire as one of the handful of great movies made from great plays. The ensemble work is flawless, highlighted by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis as a working-class couple in the Pittsburgh of the 1950s. Rated PG-13. 138 minutes.
John Adams wasnt kidding around when he labeled Scheherazade.2 a dramatic symphony. This thrillingly inventive new work for violin and orchestra, which had its local premiere in Davies Symphony Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 22, grabs the listener right from the opening measures, and doesnt let up for 45 minutes.

Theres something happening all the time, and all of it is riveting.

Naturally, a dramatic symphony doesnt use that word in the sense of a dramatic mountaintop rescue, or even a dramatic political showdown. The term, which Adams lifted from Berliozs Romeo and Juliet, is more straightforwardly Aristotelian, and simply suggests that the music covers a certain stretch of narrative ground rather than dealing in pure abstraction.

But try telling that to anyone who sat transfixed through Wednesdays powerhouse performance by violinist Leila Josefowicz and the San Francisco Symphony under Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas. Scheherazade.2 is edge-of-the-seat stuff  evocative, propulsive, fascinatingly unpredictable.

As the oddly software-tinged title suggests, the piece offers a modern retelling of the story that serves as a premise for The Arabian Nights. Traditionally  for example in the lush tone poem by Rimsky-Korsakov that serves as a key reference point for Adams  Scheherazade is cast as a wily seductress, using her inventive storytelling gift to keep herself alive day by day.

Adams isnt having any of that. His Scheherazade  magnificently embodied by Josefowicz in a performance of wild resourcefulness and gritty urgency  is a fierce warrior, always ready to take a stand against the forces of male oppression with some slashing passagework or sinewy, insistent melody.

In the first of the works four movements, she finds herself opposed by a cadre of true believers, in a ferocious battle that interrupts what had been an entrancing swirl of exotic color. During the first minutes of the piece, Adams lures you into thinking that lush sensuality is going to be the order of the day, only to pull a canny switcheroo.

More episodes follow in quick succession  a radiant love scene, a briskly angular confrontation between Scheherazade and a corps of religious zealots, and finally an explosive chase scene forged in scurrying melodic lines and culminating in the protagonists fearless escape.

Because Scheherazades antagonist is represented throughout by the orchestra  and because Adams writing for the violin is so extravagantly virtuosic  theres a strong flavor of the traditional concerto model at work here. Yet Scheherazade.2 is also unmistakably a symphony, working from one point to the next with ironclad musical logic.

It also demonstrates, yet again, the depth and facility of Adams mastery of the orchestra. Like Rimsky-Korsakov before him, he conjures up a palette of instrumental colors and shading that almost seem to have no precedent; as in The Gospel According to the Other Mary, which the Symphony played last week, he uses the cimbalom (a hammer dulcimer, played with unnerving dexterity by Chester Englander) to impart an otherworldly sheen to the orchestral textures.

The piece was written for Josefowicz, and it was obvious from her performance, delivered from memory, just how much her playing had inspired the composer. From breathless pyrotechnic explosions to the episodes of expressive (but still steely) lyricism, she brought every corner of the work to light like a majestic tragedian.

The orchestra, under Thomas taut and alert guidance, rose equally well to the occasion. Adams never makes things easy for the orchestra, but the Symphony players dispatched his off-kilter rhythms and sumptuously blended textures with aplomb.

Sumptuous textures were also on offer during the second half of the program, in a reprise of music from Prokofievs Romeo and Juliet, although rhythmic precision and ensemble cohesion were in somewhat shorter supply. No matter  the Adams work, which crowned the orchestras two-week celebration of his 70th birthday, packed enough glory for all.

Joshua Kosman is The San Francisco Chronicles music critic. Email: jkosman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JoshuaKosman

San Francisco Symphony: 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25. $45-$165. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 864-6000. www.sfsymphony.org
If ever we had to be convinced of the need to see works of art in the original, the Legion of Honors exhibition Monet: The Early Years does the trick. Forget everything you think you know about the work of this most famous of all French Impressionists. Come to it with fresh eyes, just as he entered a world that thought it knew itself  and taught it to see anew.

The show is a solid one, with 53 works he painted between 1858 and 1872  between the ages, that is, of 17 and 31. That time period begins with the first work he showed publicly, made under the tutelage of the great French landscapist Eugene Boudin. It stops with the last paintings he produced before inventing the name for the movement he exemplifies. The exhibition opens to the public Saturday, Feb. 25, and runs through May 29.

Most of the artists most famous paintings  the haystacks, poplars and waterlilies; the extraordinary studies of light effects on Rouen Cathedral and the houses of Parliament  were ahead of him, and so are not included. Instead, and thrillingly, we see the ideas of Monet in the process of formation into the concrete objects that will signal his maturity.

Its easy to get smug about Impressionism in general, and Claude Monet in particular. A Monet show is a reliable blockbuster, and we tell ourselves weve seen it all. But even if we have encountered the occasional original in a museum  maybe an entire, fleeting exhibition at some point  what we know about the paintings, we got from photographs. Reproduced in books, projected on the screens of classrooms, our knowledge of these matchless paintings comes from pictures of pictures.

Slick and slippery, drained of affect, the reproduction can never approach the nuances of texture, color, detail and scale of an original painting. Add to that the history of all the pictures that have followed  paintings, yes, but photographs and movies, commercial and artistic, professional and amateur. Together they create a thick, hard shell, separating our moment from Monets first inspired splotchings of paint on canvas.

Leave all that behind. As you enter the exhibition, you are confronted (there is no better word) with two monumental framed canvases. These, in fact, are fragments of an even larger work, originally meant to be something like 13 by 20 feet. This is Monets famous Luncheon on the Grass (1865-66), the artists audacious, ultimately failed attempt to both honor and compete with Edouard Manets notorious work of the same title, painted three years earlier.

Courtesy Harvard Art Museums/www.bridgemanimages.com

An entire chapter of art history is referenced in Monets Luncheon, and the exhibitions excellent catalog contains an essay by Monet expert Mary Dailey Desmarais (no relation to me) that explores the uses and social meanings of related works through time.

Even without such background, however, the attentive viewer will sense the significance of this grand experiment in technique, with its shattered fragments of ephemeral light represented by contours of color and brushstrokes of paint that have an almost physical weight.

That first room of the exhibition has a smaller work that, quietly but even more insistently, demanded my attention. Unlike Luncheon, Le Pave de Chailly in the Forest of Fontainebleau (1865) is unpeopled. We arent blocked at the pictures entry by flirting and fashion. Were meant to wander down a road, cut deep into the forest.

But something else keeps us from engaging in that illusionistic stroll. The paint itself  scumbled into clouds, or drawn in a thick, long line along the trunk of a tree  becomes a topic of the work of art, just as significant as the scene described.

These works, so of their place and time in subject, are the first indication of the artists great formal awakening. They hint, even at this early point in his career, at Monets eventual mastery of that great tension between the real, the artists perception and the illusion we as viewers are presented.

As the exhibition progresses, we see other clues to the artists development. Grainstacks at Chailly at Sunrise (1865) and La Porte dAmont, Etretat (1868-69) lay claim to subjects that will occupy him as time goes on. More significantly, his painting style continues to develop. Pictures like Seascape, Storm (c. 1866-67) could almost be modernist works from the 1930s; Fishing Boats (1866)  bold diagonals of masts against a stark white sky  knowingly anticipate abstract art that others would make many decades later.

The magical La Grenouillere (1869), a dense weave of color and light, unleashes Monets uncanny ability to tell complex stories with seemingly casual swipes, flips and curls of his brush. It was painted by Monet virtually alongside his friend Pierre-Auguste Renoir, as Renoir produced the most significant works of his own career during the same period, at the same summer boating spot on the Seine.

A work in the final gallery of the exhibition, The Wooden Bridge (1872), startles from across the room. The bridge, under repair, is depicted head-on from the river, creating a strictly geometric frame of intersecting lines around a central rectangle. This abstract form contrasts with a deep-perspective view of a harbor within the rectangle, under the bridge. It is a virtuoso demonstration of the 31-year-olds understanding of, and pleasure in, the balance of form and content.

A smallish work in high-key tones, also in the last gallery, might almost be missed among paintings in deeper colors that look more finished, at least in the traditional sense. But it was the work most obvious to me as the link to all that would come after, as Monet grew into the incomparable figure he would become. I was not surprised when I looked again at the catalog to see that George Shackelford, deputy director of Fort Worths Kimbell Art Museum and the curator of the exhibition (who will follow up in two years with Monet: The Late Years), came to the same conclusion.

The painting is Regatta at Argenteuil (1872), and it is reproduced twice across the books final two pages of illustrations. On the right, an extreme close-up re-creates the experience of looking closely at the pictures surface. Simple striations of color have been stacked, like the logs that appear to have been used to build a house on the shore, one atop the other. So efficient, so workmanlike.

On the left page the work is pictured in full. Even in reproduction, we can get a sense of the dazzling, flickering evocation of a brilliant summer day that will lead to what we now know as Impressionism.

Charles Desmarais is The San Francisco Chronicles art critic. Email: cdesmarais@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Artguy1

Monet: The Early Years: 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. Through May 29. $20-$55. Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave., S.F. (415) 750-3600. http://legionofhonor.famsf.org

To see an excellent free, pre-visit online course: http://digitalstories.famsf.org/early-monet
In the almost three months since a fire tore through the Ghost Ship artist collective in Oakland during an electronic music event, killing 36, charred debris from the Fruitvale District warehouse has languished near the San Leandro Bay, where city officials dumped it in an effort to clear a path for first responders and fire investigators.

Regional water regulators have since asked the city to either remove the debris or cover it before the next rainfall, authorities said Thursday.

Dale Bowyer, an official with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board Watershed Division, said he cant say for certain if the debris could cause any environmental damage to nearby water sources with the rain. Located hundreds of feet and downhill from the bay, theres little chance of any of it washing into the bay in a heavy storm, he said.

The debris was fairly clean debris in the first place, he said. The material was taken in several different directions: hazardous material was taken off and dealt with, evidence was taken in another direction and this is the debris that was not evidence, not hazardous waste, just sort of in the way. It was brought here to take it out of the way.

But the stockpile was only supposed to be temporary, he said  and here it remains almost three months after the Dec. 2 blaze.

Ive asked them to do something about it, Bowyer said.

City officials did not say if they planned to oblige Bowyers request, but spokesman Harry Hamilton said officials chose to leave the debris at those locations because they were available and appropriate for the volume of debris. He said the sites were secure.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Im curious: How are people coping with the fear that their government could fail to protect their basic rights  a reality that has choked black and brown people for centuries?

Yes, Im talking about white people.

White supremacists now have a direct line to the White House, which is newly staffed by xenophobes, transphobes, Islamophobes and racists. So, after construction on the wall along the Mexican border begins, and when mass deportation is as seamless as auto-paying your bills, its anybodys guess who the administrations next target at home will be. But rest assured, there will be one.

Anyone  regardless of race  who doesnt pledge allegiance to the greatest political poker player in American history should be afraid. And Dawn Bachmann is.

The Martinez resident, 60, and her group of friends have been gathering for 15 years for bi-monthly Sunday dinners. They also gather on holidays and plan cruises and other vacations together. On Sunday, theyll have their an annual Academy Awards dinner.

The dinners have always been carefree fun  until the November election. Now, Bachmann said, the dinners will also serve as political action meetings.

I asked for a seat at the table.

I wanted to hear from people who are exploring activism for the first time  the people who realize that standing up for others means standing up for themselves.

What I am doing defines who I am, whether it does anything or not, Bachmann said Feb. 19 as we sat in her living room.

Chairs and couches were arranged in a circle. We were joined by her husband, Doug Bachmann; David Little and his wife, Lita Gloor-Little; Stuart and Barbara McCullough; and partners Danielle Soto and Julie Cosenza.

Theyre fired up.

I cant sit back and do nothing, because all of our basic rights are threatened, said Gloor-Little, 68, a retired marriage and family therapist.

Shes worked with undocumented immigrants. And she knows that aggressive enforcement of the countrys immigration laws increases the likelihood immigrants will be racially profiled or deported, even if they havent committed a serious crime.

Im terrified for them right now, Gloor-Little said. I cant sit back, because its too important. There are too many lives on the line.

Some of the friends watched the election results together. It was supposed to be a party. Instead, Cosenza and Soto, who live in downtown Oakland, joined thousands of others who marched in protest on Nov. 9.

We decided we should march with our neighbors, said Soto, 35, a director with the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco.

We cant just go to meetings, Cosenza, 38, said. We have to take it to the next step.

Sotos father is from Mexico and she said she has family members who are undocumented. She and Cosenza were wearing Womens March T-shirts. Theyve signed up to be civilian witnesses at Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

This is the first real time I felt the need to resist because, as a white person, Im trying to join the movement, said Cosenza, who recently completed a doctoral dissertation addressing the positive aspects of dyslexia.

Barbara McCullough, the daughter of a Southern Baptist minister, grew up in a segregated community in Oklahoma.

I didnt see anybody who didnt look like me until I went to college  except for a couple of significant exceptions, said the 65-year-old CEO of a nonprofit that helps teenage parents and families in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

The McCulloughs recently returned from Vietnam, a trip planned for her husbands 69th birthday and retirement. Hes the most politically active of the group.

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.

I think we need to realize were in a bubble, Stuart McCullough, the former CEO of a nonprofit that served neglected children and adolescents. We need to think very strategically for the good of this country.

He wants to fund a candidate, drumming up people like the Tea Party did  just without racist undertones in the messaging.

Were bright people, and we have money, he said. And we have sat on our hands, and now (resistance to the administration has) begun to get us organized. You have no idea whats coming.

Doug Bachmann, 68 and a retired Episcopal priest, read aloud a passionate plea for help hed written to Sen. John McCain, hoping the Arizona Republican would use his party influence to temper the man he described as a clear and present danger.

This could be your greater service to our country, Bachmann read, his voice quaking.

They applauded.

Theyll need more than applause to brighten the descending darkness.

This whole thing has depressed me a great deal, said David Little, 69, a retired press-room manager. I see a lot of the things that were trying to do as good things, but I dont see that theyre going to be effective.

Dawn Bachmann had had enough talk. The sales executive said it was time to eat, so she put on her apron to serve beef bourguignonne, a traditional French dish that took her four hours to prepare. It was delicious. There was also a pear and lettuce salad, and we had smoked salmon and cheese and crackers as appetizers.

And at least four bottles of wine were emptied.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr
LETHBRIDGE, Alberta, Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robix Environmental Technologies, Inc. (Robix or the Corporation) (CSE:RZX) (Frankfurt:R0X) (OTC:ROBXF) wishes to clarify the terms of agreement in reference to the announcement dated February 23rd, 2017 that Robix has retained Small Cap Invest Ltd. (SCI), a Frankfurt-based business development and PR firm, to provide the company with public relations and business development support in Germany and Europe.



The Corporation has agreed to pay SCI $6,000 per month plus expenses for a six-month term, with the right to extend beyond this term. The company has also agreed to grant to SCI incentive stock options to purchase up to 200,000 common shares of the company at 27 cents per share, exercisable for a period of three years. These options are subject to vesting provisions pursuant to which 25 per cent of the options granted will vest in each quarter over 12 months.

About Robix

Robix is focused on the worldwide market for oil containment, recovery and cleaning equipment specifically for the oil spill protection, oil production and water cleaning and purification industries. To that end, Robix has commercialized its C Series Clean Ocean Vessel and the P Series Stationary Platform; both are based on a patented revolutionary oil recovery technology. The C Series is a vessel that recovers oil in rough ocean waters, lakes, rivers and tailings ponds in virtually any conditions. The P Series is an oil recovery platform designed to accelerate oil recovery from settling ponds at production facilities. The Company also offers a suite of Hydro Cycle Water purification and cleaning products.

No stock exchange or any securities regulatory body has reviewed the contents of this news release.
Not long ago on a farm south of Fresno, I watched a poorly paid mechanic in silence repair a gates hydraulic ram as easily and rapidly as if he were Googling on a smartphone. He seemed to me a genius in oily clothes engulfed in a cloud of cigarette smoke.

Later that same day, in Palo Alto, I talked to lots of mellifluent and highly compensated academics theorize about politics. I wondered whether they could tell hydraulic fluid from the engine oil in their imported cars. Who is really wise, who not?

A red/blue political map of the 2016 election reflects these two antithetical worlds. Eighty-five percent of geographical America voted for Donald Trump. But more than half the countrys voters living in just 15 percent of its land area went for Hillary Clinton.

How did we split into two countries? Why does rural America vote more conservative than liberal?

Those in rural and small-town America  who were more likely to pump their own water, to worry about their septic tank and to fret whether the weather will allow them to profit or lose money  think, talk and vote differently from those who expect the tap always to flow, the toilet to flush regularly and to get paid on time, rain or shine, drought or flood.

Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

Pragmatic, autonomous and struggling people of the countryside think about building new dams and freeways to match population growth; affluent urbanites and suburbanites, with the greater luxury of second and third chances, more often dream of stalling or dismantling them to allow the landscape to return to a pristine paradise.

I work at Stanford University but live on a farm between Fresno and Visalia. What one place values does not necessarily mean much in the other.

Writing an essay no more impresses my rural neighbors than knowing how to drive a tractor or use a chainsaw is of interest to my Palo Alto colleagues. Rural people who mine, log, farm and build hold a tragic view that they are always but a day away from natures revenge  drought, flood or storm  and that the human experience is always a war of sorts.

But urbanites are more assured that their degrees, good intention and sophistication properly bring prosperity and security. They more likely assume that they can move on to greater things than worrying about where their food, water and fuel come from.

What America watches on television and on the silver screen is created either in Los Angeles or New York. The nations world-ranked Ivy League and West Coast universities are almost all in blue America. Wall Street, Silicon Valley and the preeminent financial institutions are likewise centered in urban corridors. The federal government operates in the progressive culture of Washington, D.C. The reasons for this lopsided concentration are part historical and part geographical, but not necessarily a referendum on either contemporary competency or character.

The result nonetheless is an abyss, in which power brokers who shape the way America is entertained, educated, financed and governed are often unaware of how half the country lives  or the effects of their own tastes and policies upon them. Yet the hinterland is no cul-de-sac, but rather the proud generator of most of the nations fuel, food and manufactured goods  the traditional stuff of civilization.

The Trump revolt was also a push back against winner-take-all globalization that enriched the populated coasts far more than the open spaces in between  that made London spiritually closer to Manhattan than to upstate New York, and Tokyo or Bangalore more attuned to the Bay Area than to the Central Valley a hundred miles away.

People outside of New York and San Francisco seemed to have the strange idea that the wheat they grew or the oil they fracked were just as important to Facebook and Goldman Sachs employees as the latters social media pages and stock portfolios were to farmers and oil drillers.

In part, the rural backlash was fueled by a sense that half the country  the quieter and more hidden half  did not like the cultural and economic trajectories on which the cities were taking the country. It was not just that they saw a $20 trillion debt, the slowest economic growth since the Hoover administration, a federal takeover of the health care system, offshoring, outsourcing and open borders as part of their plight.

Rather, they cited these as symptoms of a blinkered elite that had lost its bearings and was insulated from the reality that governs life elsewhere: debt really does have to be paid back rather than doubled in eight years. Something like the Affordable Care Act that is sold as offering more and costing less simply cannot be true. The cyberworld still does not bring food to the table, put fuel in the gas tank or produce wood floors and stainless steel appliances.

Urban elites seldom experience the full and often negative consequences of their own ideologies. And identifying people first by race, tribe or gender  by their allegiance to their appearance rather than to the content of their characters  has rarely led anywhere but to tribalism and eventual sectarian violence.

The result was that when Trump, the outsider without political experience, appeared as a hammer, rural America apparently was more than happy to throw him into the glass of the bicoastal establishment, without worrying too much about the shards that scattered.

There was one final goad that explains the startling Electoral College defeat of Clinton. Voters in key swing states got tired of being talked down to  as if their views on illegal immigration, abortion, identity politics, fracking, campus speech codes and the environment were the result of ignorance (or being deplorable and irredeemable) rather than due to honest differences of opinion and quite different life experiences from those of big city-dwellers.

Red-state America felt that those who lectured about the dangers of school choice often seemed to put their own kids in private academies.

Those who insisted that open borders were good for the country never seemed to live in neighborhoods side by side with undocumented immigrants. Walls on the border were proof of ignorant xenophobia; gates and walls around private tony residences were logical measures to ensure security.

Those who praised sanctuary cities certainly would not approve of other jurisdictions likewise nullifying federal laws that they too found bothersome, whether federal gun registration requirements or the Endangered Species Act. Fairly or not, for the hinterland, the election became a referendum between crude authenticity and polished hypocrisy.

In the age-old stereotyped divide between city and country  the caricature of the city slicker versus the hick, the thinker set against the maker  the urban world during the last 30 years of globalization became richer, cooler, edgier and more powerful, while its rural counterpart became poorer, stagnant, more silent and stymied. A divide widened even as it remained unknown to scientific pollsters and in-the-know pundits.

In 2016, rural America finally pushed back. And not just its conservatives and Republicans. Millions of exasperated red-state Democrats, union members and a displaced middle class sought change through a reckless and unknown outsider rather than more of the same from their own all too familiar and predictable insider.

Victor Davis Hanson is a senior fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at http://bit.ly/SFChronicleletters.
Its not a total surprise, but its still stinging and hurtful. President Trump, with a full shoulder nudge from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is dropping protections for transgender youth looking to use, of all things, a school bathroom.

For a national leader who continually talks about unity and public support, its a divisive and cruel move. Hes erasing a guarantee in the battle for equality and basing the decision on the doctrine of states rights, a cloak that bigots misuse to dodge federal directives  especially those dealing with civil rights.

The net effect overturns an Obama directive and needlessly reignites a culture war issue. It allows states and school districts to set the rules on whether to allow transgender students to use toilet facilities and locker rooms based on their gender identity, not birth certificate. But it also gives license to bullying and discrimination and deepens a sense of separation for an emerging minority.

During his campaign, Trump signaled sympathy, saying transgender people had the right to use the bathroom they feel is appropriate. But he also worked hard to win support from religious conservatives, who oppose the idea. Since taking office, hes continued that shift by picking Sessions, a longtime foe of gay rights, as attorney general.

In California the reversal will have little impact since state laws and most school boards fully support transgender access. Nationally it will be another story. There are an estimated 150,000 transgender youths between 13 and 17 years old, according to the Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA law school.

The White House argues that the Obama administration went too far in using federal laws barring sex discrimination in schools. That, at least, was the legal rationale used by religious minded critics who talked up fears of sexual predators and wholesale loss of privacy.

If theres any consolation, its that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos reportedly struggled to convince Trump to stick with the access rule. But she lost out to Sessions, who viewed access as an intrusion on state powers and wanted no part of defending legal cases testing the law.

By backing away from transgender rights, Trump is punishing the group and rewarding his most strident followers. Hes also showing that his campaign rhetoric about tolerance can mean little when the pressure builds.
English Dutch French

The enclosed information constitutes regulated information as defined in the Royal Decree of 14 November 2007 on the obligations of issuers of financial instruments admitted to trading on a regulated market.

Brussels, February 24, 2017 - Telenet Group Holding NV ("Telenet" or the "Company") (Euronext Brussels: TNET) hereby discloses certain information in relation to its share repurchases, in accordance with Article 207 of the Royal Decree of January 30, 2001 implementing the Belgian Company Code.

In the framework of the Share Repurchase Program 2017, as announced on February 16, 2017, the Company reports today that during the period from February 16 until February 24, 2017, the following transactions took place through the central order book of the regulated market of Euronext Brussels:

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cad76ed6-4a28-4df1-a21a-a02aa83ca3b8
With her first son in a doctoral program, her second son at San Francisco State, and her third son near the end of high school, Ki Giang decided that she could finally open a banh mi shop.

Giang, who has a heart-shaped face and a penchant for colorful blouses, now owns L&G Vietnamese Sandwiches with her husband, Minh Lam; their last names make up the L and G in its name. She is the pulsating nucleus of the 2-year-old shop on Eddy and Larkin streets, never still and yet always at its center.

Assembling sandwiches behind the counter, she can practically touch the four walls of the shop. There is just enough space, between the front window and the workstation, for a few stools, a couple of standing customers, and a table crowded with steamed sticky-rice packets, fried crullers and striped tapioca-and-mung-bean desserts.

For the Cambodian immigrants, the store is a huge achievement, the reward for 25 years of work and child-rearing in the Tenderloin.

Giang and Lam both grew up in Teochew-speaking Chinese communities in Cambodia, but they met in Vietnam after both had fled the Khmer Rouge purges. The Khmer Rouge moved her family into a work camp when she was 14. At the camps, survivors say, long days in the field were followed by grueling political re-education sessions. Middle son Aaron tells most of the familys story while Giang dips in and out, half-listening, half bustling. Pol Pot killed many people, she says, switching to English to punctuate Aarons tale. I am here.

After four years, rumors swirled around Giangs camp that the government was falling apart and that Pol Pot, its leader, was going to liquidate the camp and slaughter everyone in it. The Khmer Rouge pressed her father into fighting for them. Giang, then 17, escaped, making her way on foot and by boat to Vietnam, where she ended up in yet another camp  this one for refugees.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Minh and Lam met there, and spent more than a decade in Vietnam until Lams sister helped them emigrate to San Francisco in 1992. Like many refugees from Vietnam, the couple and their 1-year-old son moved into an apartment in the Tenderloin. Two more sons came along. They never moved.

The couple speaks at least three languages  their native Teochew dialect, Khmer and Vietnamese  but, after spending their teenage years in the chaos of Pol Pots regime, and with no time to master English in the U.S., they took whatever jobs they could find. Lam worked days at a grocery store, followed by nights at a nearby hotel. Once the boys were in school, Giang waited tables at Them Ky, a nearby Vietnamese restaurant, leaving work in time to pick them up from after-school programs at the Tenderloin Rec Center.

Finally, she could trade child care for work. With that extra free time that she doesnt have to watch over us to make sure were on the right path, Aaron says, she felt confident opening the shop. When the owner of the building where L&G is located told Giang he had a space for rent, the couple quit their other jobs. They supplemented their savings with money from family members and a Kiva Zip loan, and opened in January 2015.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

The space was too small for a full kitchen. Giang says she would love to cook Cambodian food, but shes not sure enough people would order it. So the couple settled on Vietnamese sandwiches and spring rolls.

L&G opens at 7 every morning and closes at 6, but thats not the extent of their hours. Shes always moving, says Aaron, now 24, who comes to the shop three afternoons a week, freeing up his father to run errands or drive a few hours for Caviar. While his parents converse with their Vietnamese-speaking clientele, he does what he can to charm the English-speaking customers. Sometimes the family is joined in the shop by their neighbors, who squeeze in behind the counter to gossip in the interstices between sandwiches.

Western customers, weaned on banh mi at Saigon Sandwich just down the block, gravitate to L&Gs barbecued pork and chicken sandwiches. Those who go for L&Gs chipotle pulled pork  the smoky, saucy meat is marinated in citrus before braising for five hours  tend to return for it, too. The recipe came from Minh Lams Mexican co-workers at the hotel, who concocted one for him after recognizing the flavors of cilantro, pickled carrots and green chiles in the sandwiches he brought them.

Giangs own favorite is the sandwich her Vietnamese customers come for: the combination. She warms up each baguette until its edges grow fragile and crisp, then opens it up to slather on pork liver pate and her thick, yellow mayonnaise. Into the shell she folds thin slices of head cheese, steamed pork and rolled pork belly, building them up into a thick U. A few dashes of Maggi, a heap of pickled carrots and cilantro all culminate in a flurry of paper folding and the snap of a rubber band.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Aaron says that, for him, the textures of the combo are what he loves: the gush of mayonnaise, the mild chewiness of the steamed pork, the gelatinous crunch of the head cheese.

Its a simple sandwich, his mother adds. Every little thing is able to shine because nothing is overpowering it.

L&G Vietnamese Sandwich, 602 Eddy St. (at Larkin Street), San Francisco, (415) 345-1878. Open 7 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.

Jonathan Kauffman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jkauffman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jonkauffman
In the first few scenes of ABCs new docudrama When We Rise  an ambitious miniseries that aims to cover 50 years of LGBT history in eight hours  the audience is introduced, one by one, to three San Franciscans who are the principal characters.

Theres Roma Guy, a young womens rights activist who is coming to terms with her sexuality. Theres Ken Jones, a Navy officer who is having a covert affair with another man. And theres Cleve Jones, an Arizona desert rat who is afraid his parents will figure out hes gay before he can get away.

Each of them, conveniently, comes across a copy of the 1972 Year in Pictures edition of Life Magazine and spots the words Gay Liberation, printed in red alongside dozens of other significant issues of the year against a black background. The viewer gets the sense that this moment changes each of them, shakes them awake.

Its a pat, cinematic beginning to three stories that unfold in ways both expected and not  so much so that, at least in those early minutes, it would be easy to lose sight of the fact that Roma Guy, Ken Jones and Cleve Jones, none of them household names, arent stock Disney characters with loosely sketched back stories. Rather, theyre three lifelong activists who still live in San Francisco. And when the series premieres Monday, theyll be watching their lives unfold again  with creative license taken here and there  on a television screen.

The three  and to a somewhat lesser extent, Cecilia Chung, a Bay Area transgender rights activist  have essentially offered up their lives, including the most intimate details, as lenses through which series creator Dustin Lance Black aims to tell the story of the gay liberation movement.

They understood the necessity of us finally having an easily accessible history, says Black, a Sacramento native. They all understand how far we are in recording our history.

I think it was, for most of them, a frightening and selfless act.

The effort began four years ago when Black heard that ABC had been commissioning gay history properties. Black had won a screenwriting Oscar for the movie Milk, which chronicled San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milks rise to political office and his subsequent assassination. Black had his mind set on something broader, something that would cover the sprawling and complex history of LGBT rights from the years immediately following the landmark 1969 Stonewall riots in New York to the present day.

I wanted to do something as diverse as the movement really is  not to be (politically correct), but because thats where our power is, he says.

Ultimately, Black settled on San Francisco  a city that emerged as the epicenter for the early movement  as the series setting, and reconnected with Cleve Jones, an activist who was featured prominently in Milk and had just finished writing his own history of the struggle.

After Cleve Jones book, When We Rise: My Life in the Movement, was optioned for the project and used as partial inspiration, Black asked him to make introductions to other veterans of the LGBT rights struggle. Black wanted the project to focus on lifelong activists, people who had been involved in other causes, people who had found joy even as they fought. Too often, Black says, marginalized characters  in the few cases theyre depicted at all  dont survive, dont experience happiness and dont come across as fully human. That time has come for LGBT people and television, he says.

He wanted to show people that had survived, Cleve Jones says. So I was happy to make those introductions.

Though the series takes some creative liberties  Cleve Jones and Guy didnt actually meet in a laundromat, checking each other out  the principals are all connected. Cleve Jones describes Ken Jones as a dear friend and Guy as one of the few people I can call when Im confused, when Im uncertain. Chung, who is younger than the other three, also runs in the same circles and they share dinner from time to time. The relationships, in other words, are very real.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

For Black, Cleve Jones was an easy sell given his participation with Milk and other projects. The others, though, were new to this sort of thing  and what was asked was huge. They would have to open their lives and allow for a deep excavation. Theyd have to revisit death and sickness and racism and violence, and then share it with others.

I just thought it was a risk worth taking when I balanced it all out, Guy says. Shed actually told Cleve Jones, after Milk had come out, that she wished queer women had been more strongly represented. Blacks project was a chance for that. But she adds, I can't tell you how many meetings I had with my family before they agreed.

After an initial conversation, Ken Jones wasnt quite certain that this was something of interest for him.

The toughest part for me was revisiting all the grief and sadness, he says. The series doesnt shy away from things like his struggle with HIV or the racism he faced as a black man in the Castro. As he put it, at a time when the world was telling him that every door was open, he got to San Francisco and discovered the very opposite. I thought about it for a great while and then I just had some clarity about bringing to dinner tables this discussion of growing up gay in straight America.

Chung calls herself one of the so-called reluctant participants. This was the first time shed been asked to tell her stories in a real way. Her character enters late in the series, as it begins to grapple with trans identity and the more recent movement for trans rights. Because she doesnt show up until later in the series, Chungs story feels less like a history to be told and more like present-day reality for so many trans women of color.

A lot of the struggles that I have gone through are still the same types of struggles you would hear trans women experience today  the violence, the HIV, the homelessness, the difficulty of landing a job after transition  thats still a reality, she says. To me it it means more in some ways than to just think were looking back at a page of history.

In the end, of course, all four agreed to take part. They also made peace with the fact that even if all the details werent quite right, it wouldnt have to be accurate to be truthful, as Cleve Jones puts it. And there were some disappointments. Both Guy and Cleve Jones wish the interconnectedness of other fights  for immigration, health care and labor  had gotten more screen time. But eight hours is a cramped space for 50 years of history, and ultimately they understood.

Our concern was not so much about the accuracy of the details of our lives, but the truthfulness of the movement and what weve fought for, Cleve Jones says.

The result is a series and a story that works in waves. There are victories and crushing defeats. Harvey Milk is elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, then is assassinated by fellow Supervisor Dan White. Gay liberation finds a foothold and then so many are lost to AIDS. Gay marriage is made legal until suddenly it no longer is. And on and on.

In this rhythm, theres also a lesson, and a truth  that people persist. We didnt have a choice to participate or not, Ken Jones says. I had taken at least 30 or 40 people to medical appointment after medical appointment (during the AIDS epidemic). It was really draining but you did it because if you didnt do it, it wouldnt get done.

Aside from simply recording a history, all four principals  and Black, as well  are hoping this project will be useful to future generations of queer people. At points, the series almost doubles as a guide to coalition building.

I think talking about what happened 40 years ago or 30 years ago isnt wallowing in nostalgia, Cleve Jones says. It could be. But I dont think thats what were doing here. I think were drawing on lessons from the past and also finding some inspiration and courage to move forward.

That the series is airing during the first weeks of President Trumps administration and its openly anti-LGBT policies isnt lost on any of the four. Just this week the administration overturned federal guidelines mandating bathroom protections for transgender students.

The political shift Trump represents seems to have opened another chapter in the long fight for rights that When We Rise documents. They are ready to take him on.

Its like, OK. We have work to do, Guy says. So hold on because were coming.

Ryan Kost is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @Ryan Kost

When to watch

When We Rise premieres 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, on ABC. The series takes a break on Tuesday, Feb. 28, for the presidents State of the Union address. It resumes at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and next Friday.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

An Alameda County sheriffs deputy who was struck by an inmate transport bus at Santa Rita Jail died Thursday, officials said.

Deputy Michael Foley, 60, suffered extensive head trauma when he was hit by a bus driven by another sheriffs deputy in the jail parking lot in Dublin at about 6 a.m. Wednesday.

He underwent surgery at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, but efforts to save him were unsuccessful.

Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern called the incident an accident. He said Wednesday that the driver of the bus had been going about 15 mph in the early morning twilight and hadnt seen Foley, who was wearing dark clothes.

The driver and another deputy were leaving the jail to pick up lunches for inmates when the incident occurred, and no inmates were aboard the bus. The driver, whose name was not released, was placed on paid administrative leave. The California Highway Patrol is investigating.

Foley joined the Alameda County Sheriffs Office in 2007 after spending 29 years as an officer with the Concord Police Department. He was a member of the sheriffs office transportation unit, which handles inmate transit.

Officials said Foley had an adult son living in Southern California.

Michael was one of the hardest-working deputies in this agency, sheriffs officials said on the departments Facebook page. He used his experience and wisdom to mentor countless numbers of young officers throughout his career. He was an extremely kind man who loved his family, friends, co-workers and community. He believed in public service and making the world a better place.

All of us who were touched by his life will never forget him. He is a role model and a great example for others to follow. Our hearts are broken today. Please keep Mike and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo
A man who allegedly fired a gun at neighbors and police near the Oakland Zoo and Bishop ODowd High School  prompting officers to fatally shoot him  could have been apprehended three days earlier after he turned his rifle on a man who had been sleeping in a car, that man said Thursday.

Patrick Reddic, appearing at a news conference with civil rights attorney John Burris, said he reported alleged gunman Jesse Enjaian to Oakland police on Feb. 14 but was handcuffed and mistreated as a homeless, disabled black man.

Why didnt police prevent this from happening? Burris said of the Feb. 17 shooting. He said he is investigating grounds for a potential lawsuit on Reddics behalf.

The morning shooting closed Interstate 580 and locked down large swaths of Oakland. Police said the 32-year-old Enjaian, who spray-painted an obscene image on a car and pointed his gun toward a news helicopter, opened fire on responding officers, forcing one to return fire. Enjaian later died at a hospital.

Three days earlier, just before 8 a.m., Reddic said he was sleeping in his 2001 Toyota Camry on Las Vegas Avenue, where Enjaian lived. I was woken up to multiple gunshots, he said. At that time, I was confused. I was scared. I didnt understand.

Though Reddic wasnt seriously injured in the attack, his car was severely damaged, he said. Reddic, who walks with the aid of a cane, said he slithered out of the drivers door and began looking for help. In a disoriented state, the first person he approached was the gun-toting Enjaian, he said.

Enjaian, whom Reddic knew from the neighborhood, shouted at him to get off his lawn and used a racial slur, Reddic said. I left with my hands up in the air, begging him not to shoot me, Reddic said, adding that he went to a neighbors house to call 911.

When Oakland officers arrived, Reddic said he was immediately the one treated as a criminal. After he voluntarily accompanied the officers to a station to identify the man who shot at him, one of them patted him down and cuffed him, Reddic said.

Burris said it was a gray area whether Reddic had been legally detained, and he was driven back to Las Vegas Avenue not long after being cuffed. Back outside the Camry, which had shattered glass, Reddic said police gave him two options: leave the scene or be arrested  even though his tires were blown out by the gunfire. He drove away on squeaking rims, he said.

Reddic said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf personally called him and apologized for the way he was treated.

Officer Johnna Watson, a police spokeswoman, said in a statement that the department opened internal investigations into how police handled two earlier incidents on the 9500 block of Las Vegas Avenue  on Feb. 10 and Feb. 14.

A separate internal probe was opened into the police shooting of Enjaian, which will also be investigated by the Alameda County district attorneys office.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Courtesy Alameda County Fire Department / Courtesy Alameda County Fire Department Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Courtesy Alameda County Fire Department / Courtesy Alameda County Fire Department Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Courtesy Alameda County Fire Department / Courtesy Alameda County Fire Department Show More Show Less 5 of 5









A freight train traveling at low speeds derailed in San Leandro Friday, officials said.

No one was injured in the accident, which occurred before noon on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks that run along Williams Street near Doolittle Drive, according to the Alameda County Fire Department. No spills were reported from the train.
The MacArthur BART station has been reopened after being closed Friday for about 45 minutes as firefighters rescued a person stuck under a train, officials said.

At 11:14 a.m. BART announced that the person was being transported to a hospital after being pulled out from under the train by the Oakland Fire Department.
Officials in the sanctuary city of Santa Cruz ripped the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday over a joint gang bust that also swept up people who were accused only of immigration violations.

This has violated the trust of our community, and we cannot tell you how disappointed we are by the betrayal of the Department of Homeland Security, said Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel, who was joined by the citys mayor and his deputy chief at a news conference.

The police officials revealed in detail how the recent operation was conducted, and just how much local police knew, as they accused federal officials of misleading them on the scope of the raids and said they had contacted members of Congress to investigate.

Hours later, Homeland Security officials sharply rebuked Santa Cruz police, saying they had told Vogel days before the operation that those who were not targeted but were foreign nationals would be held as their identities and histories were checked out.

The chief acknowledged this possibility and it was agreed that no foreign nationals would enter the Santa Cruz Police Departments facility or their police vehicles, said James Schwab, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a Homeland Security agency.

The citys response came just days after the Trump administration released a pair of memos explaining how it will implement the presidents executive orders cracking down on illegal immigration. Experts and advocates for immigrants said the episode highlights the tension local agencies could face  particularly in sanctuary cities like Santa Cruz and San Francisco  if they cooperate with federal authorities in investigations that target gangs, terrorism and other high-profile crimes.

The incident may mark a shift in immigration enforcement under the new president. Advocates say such collateral arrests were rare under President Barack Obama.

I think the fact that the (police department) felt the need for a post-event press conference to apologize to the community indicates how much they believe that their participation in immigration enforcement is going to be detrimental to their public safety goals, said Pratheepan Gulasekaram, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law and an immigration expert.

As a general matter, he said in an email, I dont see police departments apologizing for engaging in law enforcement activities.

The operation, conducted Feb. 13 in Santa Cruz, Daly City and Watsonville, resulted in the arrest of 10 people suspected of crimes including conspiring to commit extortion and conspiring to deal methamphetamine. The goal was dismantling an affiliate of Mara Salvatrucha, known as the MS-13 gang, in Santa Cruz.

Deputy Police Chief Dan Flippo said the investigation started years ago after officers learned the gang had moved into the city. Last weeks raid, he said, stemmed from authorities gaining information that the gang had ordered a killing.

The task force met Feb. 9 and Flippo said he was repeatedly assured by federal officials that immigration status had no role in the probe.

On the day of the operation, however, Flippo said he learned from the local news media that some community members were concerned about federal agents making identification checks during the raids. The deputy special agent-in-charge, he said, told him that no one was being held based on their immigration status.

But Flippo and Vogel heard contradictory accounts from community members at a City Council meeting the next day. Flippo said he called Homeland Security and was given information that elevated his concern.

He got his detectives to follow up because he did not feel he was getting accurate information from the Department of Homeland Security. The detectives, he said, found that 10 people were arrested or detained based on their immigration status  six of whom were taken to a federal facility. Five were released with GPS monitoring, and one was released with a summons for a hearing in immigration court.

The remaining four were detained and given immigration court summons after they had their status checked by agents, Flippo said.

Schwab said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents encountered 11 illegal aliens at the operational locations who were detained initially on administrative immigration violations due to their association with suspected members of a transnational street gang. Ultimately, 10 of those individuals were released.

Ryan Spradlin, the agencys special agent-in-charge in the Bay Area, had harsh words for Santa Cruz officials.

When politics undermine law and order, the only winners are the criminals, he said. I told the deputy chief that rather than disparaging this operation, the community of Santa Cruz should understand that they are safer because of it.

The situation led Santa Cruz police to contact U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley. In a statement Thursday, Panetta said he was disturbed by Homeland Securitys actions and would continue to work with (Santa Cruz police) to demand complete information.

Advocates for sanctuary policies in the state said it was critical that cities like Santa Cruz not devote resources to immigration enforcement.

If the federal government did deceive Santa Cruz police, then both they and these local officials truly betrayed Californians at a deep level, said Angelica Salceda, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

Late Thursday, Vogel sent a response disputing Homeland Securitys statement.

Homeland Security officials were not forthcoming with information about those individuals they detained based solely upon their immigration status, he said. The detentions of those suspected solely of being undocumented immigrants by Homeland Security occurred after my staff had left the scene of the locations where they were detained, which begs the question as to why these detentions did not occur while my staff was present and why Homeland Security officials have not been completely forthcoming to us with information about this. To me, this indicates that these detentions were made solely for immigration violations, which were not supposed to occur.

Earlier, Flippo said he was angry, and that he had never been provided as much misinformation by a law enforcement partner in his 25-year career.

I am disgusted that this was withheld (from) me, he said. He said he felt he had helped capture murderers and robbers on the day of the operation but came to learn that there was another story to this that was completely disheartening.

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz
Driving from the Bay Area to the mountains to enjoy epic powder this weekend?

The National Weather Service says the best travel window for driving-friendly conditions starts Friday and runs through Sunday at 3 p.m., before the next storm hits.

Snow showers are expected late Sunday afternoon and while they'll be light, the Weather Service says they'll be "enough to create travel headaches."

The snowy conditions will continue through Monday morning.

RELATED GALLERY: These photos perfectly capture the insane amounts of snow in Tahoe

But while the skies will be clear heading into the mountains Friday evening, anyone knows the roads will be anything but clear. Rush-hour traffic through Sacramento is notorious and can start as early as 2 p.m. on a Friday and easily run until 9 p.m.

If you want a smooth and easy drive to the mountains, early Saturday morning is probably your best bet.

Case in point: My family made the trip to Tahoe with some friends over President's Day weekend. Our friends left San Francisco at noon on Friday. After inching through Sacramento traffic and facing more stalls on 80 at Donner Pass, they finally arrived at Tahoe Donner in Truckee at 6 p.m. Our family left Saturday morning at 6 a.m., and we were at the cross-country ski center in Tahoe Donner by 9:15 a.m.

More for you Best places to stop for food on the drive to Tahoe

And here's why you shouldn't leave on Monday after the snow starts falling. Cindy Waters of Oakland tried that during a snow storm last Mondaya day when avoiding bad weather conditions was entirely unavoidable. Waters left Tahoe City at 10:45 a.m. and reached her home 11 hours later.

"Yes, it was in the middle of the storm," Waters said. "And we did go to In-N-Out, so we were technically in traffic for 10.5 hours."

What's your strategy for quick and easy drives between Tahoe and the Bay Area?
Shares in Hewlett Packard Enterprise tumbled in after-hours trading Thursday after the company said it is facing significant headwinds that will slow its profit this year.

It reported that revenue in its latest quarter fell 10 percent, coming in short of Wall Streets expectations. The Palo Alto companys stock fell 5.7 percent to $24.66 in extended trading.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise said it now expects its adjusted profit to be between $1.88 and $1.98 per share for its current fiscal year, down from a previous forecast of between $2 and $2.10. Analysts had been expecting $2.03 a share, according to FactSet.

Hewlett-Packard Co. split into two companies in 2015, with Hewlett Packard Enterprise selling commercial tech products and services, while HP Inc. focuses on personal computers and printers.

Gap meets

expectations

Gap met Wall Street expectations with its fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, helped again by results at its Old Navy stores.

The San Francisco clothing company with brands including Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta said it earned $220 million (55 cents per share) in the period that ended Jan. 28. That compares with $214 million (53 cents) a year earlier.

Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains like a tax benefit and costs including store closures, came to 51 cents per share. The results matched Wall Street expectations tallied by Zacks Investment Research.

Venture capital

Managing

drone traffic

The venture capital arms of Microsoft, Airbus and Qualcomm have led a $26 million investment in AirMap, the builder of drone air traffic management software said.

The startup, which opened its first office in Santa Monica in 2015, builds technology that tracks air traffic, weather and flight restrictions in real time to guide unmanned aerial vehicles. AirMaps software supports more than 100,000 flights a day, the company says.

Drones are a hot emerging technology, with companies from Amazon to AT&T and a range of startups betting that the vehicles will play a greater role in the economy.

Chronicle News Services
San Francisco online financial services company SoFi has raised $500 million in a financing round led by technology-focused private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, the company announced Friday.

The money will help fuel the companys international expansion efforts in Australia and Canada and its push into new product areas, particularly personal finance.

Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank and GPI Capital, an investment management firm, also participated in the round. SoftBank led SoFis previous investment round in 2015, which netted the company $1 billion.

SoFi did not disclose its current valuation, but the company was reportedly valued at around $4 billion in 2015.

SoFi has tried to differentiate itself from the crush of startups trying to upend the old-guard banking and lending industries by offering a range of supplemental personal services to its customers, like career counseling and even singles nights.

Were the only personal finance company focused not just on peoples money, but their careers and relationships as well, said Mike Cagney, SoFis co-founder, chairman and CEO, in a statement. We know this opportunity doesnt just exist in the United States, and look forward to bringing the SoFi approach to finance to more people around the world.

Cagney wasnt immediately available for an interview Friday.

SoFi launched in 2011 with a focus on refinancing student loans. The companys original model looked to turn universities alumni networks into investment pools for their current students and recent graduates. The company introduced its first $2 million pilot loan program at Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Business, Cagneys alma mater.

SoFi has looked to broaden its offerings in recent years, rolling out mortgage loans, personal loans, life insurance, employee benefit services and other financial products.

This month, SoFi acquired mobile banking startup Zenbanx for $100 million and plans to offer mobile deposit, credit and other payment products later this year.

Thomas Brown, who specializes in the financial technology and banking industries as a partner at San Franciscos Paul Hastings law firm, noted that traditional financial products like credit and debit services can attract customers for things like mortgages and loan refinancing.

Theyre trying to have the full set of services available, he said.

Even as SoFi markets itself as an alternative to traditional financial services firms, it is beginning to resemble the industry its trying to overturn, at least on the surface, Brown said.

Whats interesting about SoFi is how much they position themselves as the un-bank, he said.

The company has raised $1.9 billion in funding. SoFi said it originated $8 billion in loans, up from $5 billion in 2015. It also said it has expanded its customer base to 225,000, up from 100,000 over the same period.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. (TSX:TNP) (NYSE-MKT:TAT) (the Company or TransAtlantic) today announced the closing of the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Thrace Basin Natural Gas (Turkiye) Corporation (TBNG), to Valeura Energy Netherlands B.V. (Valeura). The Company also announced that it will present at the EnerCom Dallas oil and gas investment conference.



Sale of TBNG

TransAtlantic successfully closed the sale of TBNG to Valeura for gross proceeds of US$20.9 million, and approximate net proceeds of US$16.3 million effective as of March 31, 2016. The purchase price is subject to post-closing adjustments, and the Company has agreed to escrow US$3.1 million of the gross proceeds for 30 days to satisfy any agreed upon purchase price adjustments.

N. Malone Mitchell, 3rd, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated, Valeura has been a great partner, and we are pleased to see the transaction completed. We anticipate the success of their further development of the associated licenses.

Presentation at EnerCom Dallas

TransAtlantics management will be presenting at the EnerCom Dallas oil and gas conference in Dallas on Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time.

A live webcast of the event and presentation of slides will be available on TransAtlantics website at www.transatlanticpetroleum.com. To access the webcast, click on Investors, select Events & Presentations, and click on Listen to webcast under the event listing.

About TransAtlantic

TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. is an international oil and natural gas company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. The Company holds interests in developed and undeveloped properties in Turkey, Albania and Bulgaria.

(NO STOCK EXCHANGE, SECURITIES COMMISSION OR OTHER REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN.)

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements concerning the Company's expectations, plans, goals, objectives, assumptions or information about future events, conditions, results of operations or performance that may constitute forward-looking statements or information under applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect.

Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements or information are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described in the forward-looking statements or information. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; access to sufficient capital; ability to refinance, repay or restructure its debt; success of cost reduction efforts; market prices for natural gas; natural gas liquids and oil products; estimates of reserves and economic assumptions; the ability to produce and transport natural gas, natural gas liquids and oil; the results of exploration and development drilling and related activities; economic conditions in the countries and provinces in which the Company carries on business, especially economic slowdowns; actions by governmental authorities, receipt of required approvals, increases in taxes, legislative and regulatory initiatives relating to fracture stimulation activities, changes in environmental and other regulations, and renegotiations of contracts; political uncertainty and civil unrest, including actions by insurgent groups or other conflict; outcomes of litigation; the negotiation and closing of material contracts; and other risks described in the Company's filings with the SEC.

The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.
Steven Ansley was upstairs when he heard his wife, Susan, scream.

She wasnt hurt  at least not physically  and she was in no imminent danger.

The source of her shock, it turned out, was the $503 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. bill she had just opened, the highest the Oakland couple had ever been charged.

Weve been here over 30 years, Steven Ansley said. It was the biggest bill Ive ever seen.

The Ansleys werent alone. PG&E customers have been decrying their outsize energy bills over the last two months. In some cases, customers opened their December and January bills to see charges double or triple what they were a year earlier.

And as February draws to a close, many are bracing for another big hit.

The recent spikes in PG&E bills are largely due to increases in natural gas prices, according to Donald Cutler, a spokesman for the utility provider. The utility sells gas to its customers at cost and charges additional fees for transporting it. The most recent hike  a 13 percent increase  was implemented in August.

That was the biggest driver of what was impacting those bills, Cutler said. Residential gas rates for PG&E customers rose 21 percent between December 2015 and December 2016. Those are big numbers, and we know that that can be really frustrating for customers, so we want them to know that were here to help them.

Cutler encouraged customers to go online to take advantage of the tools the utility provider offers to help customers better understand and manage their electricity and gas usage. He also dismissed the notion raised by some frustrated customers that the rate hikes were being used to pay for the fines and penalties levied against PG&E in the wake of the deadly San Bruno pipeline explosion.

Unequivocally, no rates are going to pay for any of the fines or penalties, Cutler said. All of that came out of shareholder money, and thats it. There is no rate increase related to that at all.

Cutler added that the money raised from the rate increases would be put toward investments in safety and monitoring efforts for PG&Es sprawling gas transmission and pipeline system.

Following the San Bruno disaster, PG&E was required to pay $2.7 billion to upgrade its gas transmission system in addition to a $1.6 billion fine from the California Public Utilities Commission. Earlier this year, a federal judge slapped the utility with a more modest $3 million fine in a criminal case related to the blast.

Several years of comparably mild winters in the Bay Area and across California, when people tend to use less gas to heat their homes, have masked the effects of the utilitys gas rate increases. Thermostats got cranked up in recent months, Cutler said, to combat the cold, damp weather this winter, raising the bills of PG&E customers along with them.

Around $396 of the Ansleys $503 bill came from natural gas usage, Steven Ansley said. The couple have taken to wearing fleece around the house and turning on their gas heat as little as possible. Theyre using no heat at all at night.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Mark Toney, the executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group and frequent critic of PG&E, said that his organization has been inundated with calls and emails in recent weeks from the utilitys customers stunned by their January bills.

Most are on very tight budgets, so when they get a surprise like this, it really hits them hard, Toney said.

Laura Estetter of Oakland said her PG&E bill jumped from $120 to $230 in January, despite what she described as only a moderate increase in gas usage this winter.

Paying her bill will be a financial strain for her, but she said her hardship seems trivial compared with the vulnerable families she works with in her role as a director at the Family Resource Center for the Arcata (Humboldt County) School District.

She said parents are telling her that they cant afford to heat their homes or pay their bills, Estetter said. Some of them have had to access some utility assistance programs because they havent been able to meet the high costs.

The PUC saw a sharp uptick in the number of PG&E customers who contacted the regulator about high bills or rates last month, 124 in total, compared with 74 in December, according to data sent by the agency. The PUC regulates the states private utilities and must approve all of PG&Es requests to raise rates.

Toney called for consumers to hold the PUC responsible for setting the rates in the past and setting the rates in the future. What we encourage people to do is get involved when their rate increases are being proposed by the PUC.

We cant control the weather, but what we can control is what the PUC awards in rates, Toney said.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
Siana Hristova/The Chronicle

Susan Fowler, the former engineer whose detailed recounting of sexual harassment and management infighting at Uber prompted CEO Travis Kalanick to apologize for the rough-edged culture he created at the San Francisco ride-hailing company, said Friday on Twitter that she was the target of a smear campaign.

Research for the smear campaign has begun. If you are contacted by anyone asking for personal and intimate info about me, please report ASAP, she wrote on Twitter. I don't know who is doing this or why. If someone contacts you, please send me their contact information immediately.
GLEN ELLYN, Ill., Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The new Early Childhood Administration degree at College of DuPage will provide students with a direct route to the Gateways Illinois Director Credential Level 1.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6532ef46-890e-4183-a711-d3dc1e3ff48f

We are one of the first schools in the state to develop an Early Childhood Administration degree, said Jean Zaar, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Early Childhood Education and Care. It will prepare new students for direct entry into the field and give them the desired Gateways Illinois Director Credential Level 1 that will set them apart from other job applicants.

Because of recent and upcoming changes in requirements for child care directors mandated by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, the organization that licenses child care centers, COD has created the new degree to help students gain the Gateways credential once they complete their coursework, said Cindy Rice, Assistant Professor of the Early Childhood Education and Care program. Students who complete the program and have the credential are ready to work as child care center directors, assistant directors, and preschool and child care program administrators.

In addition, the Gateways Illinois Director Credential Level 1 is recognized by ExceleRate, a quality rating and improvement system.

DCFS is looking for an associates degree with a certain number of courses offered in early childhood administration and early childhood education, so we responded with this new program, Rice said. College of DuPage is an entitled institution through Gateways. This allows us to help our graduates earn both an A.A.S. degree and the Illinois Director Credential Level 1, which makes them more marketable.

A new course, Early Childhood Administration Practicum, is a capstone class created specifically for the 64-credit degree, which was recently approved by the Illinois Community College Board. Students gain practical experience working with a child care center director, staff, young children and families in a professional setting as they complete the 300 documented hours required for the Gateways Illinois Director Credential Level 1.

Click here to read more.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Ask any farmer and youll hear the same story: The success of crops depends largely on the whims of Mother Nature.

Over the past three months, a shockingly abundant rainy season has provided Northern California with much needed relief after an epic drought, but for small farms, the accompanying flooding and other headaches have proven there can be too much of a good thing.

Like so many farmers, Nigel Walker, who operates Eatwell Farms in Dixon (Solano County), takes it all in stride. As a farmer you can get all worried about weather and bent out of shape, but theres really nothing we can do, he says.

As long as the fields remain muddy and waterlogged, Walker and other farmers are unable to get into their fields to plant their crops. Rainy, sun-free days also ensure that bees arent flitting about, pollinating orchard fruit blossoms, which have already begun to appear on trees.

For consumers, all of this means that we can expect delays in the arrival of most spring produce. While Walker would normally have planted spinach, lettuce and cabbage by now, he will have to wait until April to plant his spring greens, in tandem with summer crops like eggplants and tomatoes.

Its fine and dandy drinking coffee watching the rain now, but weve got work to do, Walker says.

The rainy season has proven especially harsh for Greg Massa of Massa Organics. Though Massa still has plenty of brown rice and almonds, his two main crops, to sell, his off-season crops  such as oats, wheat and bell beans  were killed because of flooding.

These crops weve already put in tens of thousands of dollars to get going and they drowned, Massa says. That was money thrown away. Financially, its a big hit.

While many farmers may face weather-related losses and delays with their upcoming crops, there is a bright side to be found. Asparagus  a harbinger of spring produce  has already made its first appearance at local markets. Thats a full two weeks earlier than usual, according to Roscoe Zuckerman, owner of Zuckermans Farm in Stockton.

Asparagus is all temperature driven as far as when it comes, Zuckerman says. When you start to see almond trees bloom, or you see spring flowers coming, it means asparagus is starting to grow.

RELATED: Wet winter means bumper season for mushrooms

Like the other growers, the third-generation farmer says the rains have created challenges in production. However, farming below sea level in Sacramentos delta region, where water levels are controlled by levees surrounding the farmland, Zuckerman is well-versed in the importance of striking a delicate balance. Were always pumping water back into the system. Its a constant, trying to keep your water level at a certain level so things dont go underwater, he says.

While the farmers should have a bit of a break from the weather, Walker has a message for Mother Nature: If anyone has a direct line with whoevers doing this, Id appreciate they turn the tap off. At least until next November.

Recipe: Fried Asparagus

Sarah Fritsche is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sfritsche@sfchronicle.com Twitter/Instagram: @foodcentric
This story originally appeared on Hoodline.

The Muni Forward project is bringing a new slew of service changes to transit lines across the city, which are set to kick off this Saturday. Some lines are getting more buses and trains, others less, and one line is getting some bigger new buses added to the lineup. The much-debated stop reductions on the L-Taraval are also moving forward.

According to SFMTA, the changes are based on feedback from Muni riders, adding service to popular routes and reducing frequency on others to prevent terminal crowding or to address under-used service. There are also a few stop and route adjustments in the works.

Increased frequency

The 8AX-Bayshore Express will see increased frequency during morning and evening commute hours. The 25-Treasure Island's service will be increased in the evening, and the 29-Sunset will have more buses in the morning.

The upgrades on the 8AX and 29 were recommended as part of the Muni Equity Strategy, which aims to improve transit performance in selected San Francisco neighborhoods.

Service reductions

In terms of buses, the 7X-Noriega Express and 14X-Mission Express will see less frequent service during morning commute hours, while the 8BX-Bayshore Express and82X-Levi's Plaza Express will be reduced during evening commute hours.

The city's historic streetcars will also experience a reduction in service: expect fewer F-Market and F-Wharves trains in the morning and afternoon hours, to reduce crowding at the F-line's 17th and Market terminus in the Castro. The SFMTA says the reductions will make the line more reliable.

New 60-foot buses

The regular 5-Fulton will get more 60-foot trolley buses, following which have already been introduced on the 5R-Fulton Rapid. The new buses add an additional 20 feet of passenger space, as compared to standard Muni buseswhich is necessary, given that the two lines get a combined 22,000 riders per day.

Later this year, the 5-Fulton Rapid Project will also be making major changes on McAllister Street, adding traffic circles, relocating stops, and installing traffic signals to speed up the bus.

Stop and route changes

L-Taraval & L-Owl: As part of the L-Taraval Rapid Project, the L will no longer stop at the following locations: The inbound and outbound stops on Taraval Street and 28th Avenue and Ulloa Street at 15th Avenue; the inbound stop at Taraval Street and 24th Avenue; and the outbound stops on Taraval Street at 17th, 22nd and 35th avenues.

These changes were controversial with many neighbors; here's more coverage of the debate over the L-Taraval stops.



28R-19th Avenue: The line will get a new stop at 19th Avenue and Noriega Street in both directions, and the southern portion of the 28R route will be shortened, moving the line's terminus from Mission Street and Geneva Avenue to the area near the Balboa Park BART/Muni Station.

The 28R's southern terminal will temporarily be relocated to the southwest corner of San Jose and Geneva avenues, as the SFMTA works with the local community to find a permanent location.

5-Fulton & 5R-Fulton: The inbound 5 and 5R stop at Fulton Street and Masonic Avenue will be moved from the near side of the intersection to the far side.

5-Fulton Owl & 7X-Noriega Express: The inbound 5-Owl and 7X stops on Golden Gate Avenue at Hyde and Jones streets will be discontinued. The 5-Owl stop at Golden Gate Avenue and Leavenworth Street will be moved to the far side of the intersection, and will now also be served by the 7X.

10-Townsend: Inbound and outbound 10-Townsend stops at 2nd and Folsom streets will be discontinued.

12-Folsom/Pacific: The outbound 12 stop at 2nd and Folsom streets will be removed as well.

27-Bryant: While the outbound stop on Bryant Street at 13th and Alameda streets will be discontinued, a new stop will be created at Bryant and Division streets.

48-24th/Quintara: The outbound stop at Quintara Street and 43rd Avenue will be moved from the far side of the intersection to the near side.
WASHINGTON  White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked top FBI officials to dispute media reports that Donald Trumps campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, according to three White House officials who confirmed the unusual contact with law enforcement involved in a pending investigation.

The officials said that Priebus Feb. 15 request to FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe came as the White House sought to discredit a New York Times report about calls between Russian intelligence officials and people involved with Trumps presidential run.

As of Friday, the FBI had not commented publicly on the veracity of the report and there was no indication it planned to, despite the White Houses request.

White House officials said it was the FBI that first raised concerns about the Times reporting but told Priebus the bureau could not weigh in publicly. The officials said McCabe and Comey instead gave Priebus the go-ahead to discredit the story, something the FBI has not confirmed.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi accused Priebus of committing an outrageous breach of the FBIs independence. She called on the Justice Departments inspector general to open a new investigation into all conversations Priebus and other White House officials have held with the FBI on ongoing investigations.

A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations only when it is important for the performance of the presidents duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective. When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

Earlier Friday, Trump accused the FBI of being totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time.

They cant even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW, Trump tweeted.

Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Justin Shur, a former Justice Department prosecutor, said it was imperative that agency investigations not be swayed by political considerations.

Julie Pace is an Associated Press writer.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press

ATLANTA  Out of power and looking for a way forward, Democrats are hoping to harness the energy of an opposition movement that has flourished since President Trump took office.

The ideal for the party is to use a disparate network of liberal and progressive groups  like the Facebook sensation that led to worldwide womens marches the day after Trumps inauguration  to drive voters to the polls in gubernatorial and special House elections this year and congressional midterms next year. The enthusiastic throngs would then watch newly elected Democrats enact policies the movement wants.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska  Former U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski in 2001 gave a speech urging colleagues to approve oil drilling in Americas largest wildlife refuge. The Alaska Republican held up a blank sheet of paper to illustrate his point.

The field of white, he said, was all you could see each winter on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, implying that such a barren landscape would not be harmed by oil rigs.

Sixteen years later, Murkowskis daughter is trying again. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is sponsoring legislation to open the refuge that takes up Alaskas northeast corner and is larger than West Virginia and Connecticut combined. With a Republican Congress and president, shes hopeful that the timing is right.

If you ask me, she said by phone from Washington, D.C., its always been a good time to open it.

The coastal plain is not the apex of Alaska scenery, but its a nursery for polar bears, muskoxen and the vast Porcupine Caribou Herd. Migratory birds from all 50 states nest there. Few people visit, but the coastal plain is part of a refuge thats the very definition of wilderness: no roads, no campgrounds, not even any established trails. Environmental groups are planning strategies to keep drill rigs out.

There are some places that are just too sacred to drill, said Alli Harvey, a Sierra Club campaigner in Anchorage.

Legislation signed by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960 created the Arctic National Wildlife Range. Congress in 1980 changed the name, expanded the refuge to 30,136 square miles and declared much of it wilderness.

However, recognizing the potential for oil, Congress also declared that 2,300 square miles of Beaufort Sea coastal plain were to be studied for natural resources. Another act of Congress can open it to drilling.

The Arctic refuge has since been one of Alaskas great development-versus-environment issues, causing a stalemate that has lasted more than 36 years.

Congress approved drilling in 1995, but President Bill Clinton vetoed it. Drilling has been a non-issue for the past eight years. President Barack Obama instead urged Congress to formally designate the coastal plain as wilderness.

Members of the Gwichin Steering Committee, an Alaska Native organization tied to U.S. and Canadian villages south and east of the refuge, were grateful. They say their subsistence lifestyle, and identity, are closely tied to a healthy Porcupine Caribou Herd, which uses the coastal plain for calving.

This place is so special, said Bernadette Demientieff, executive director. We have to keep some places as is. We dont need to be tearing into everything.

Dan Joling is an Associated Press writer.
1 Immigrant search: U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed Thursday that their agents requested to see the identification of domestic flight passengers landing at a New York airport Wednesday night as they searched for an immigrant who had received a deportation order to leave the United States. According to the agency, two CBP agents asked passengers who had been on Delta Flight 1583 from San Francisco to show their identification while deplaning after landing at John F. Kennedy Airport at about 8 p.m. Wednesday. The search was conducted at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, CBP said in a statement, but the person they were seeking was not on the flight.

2 Private prisons:  Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaled Thursday his strong support for the federal governments continued use of private prisons, reversing an Obama administration directive to phase out their use. Stock prices of major private prison companies rose at the news. Sessions issued a memo replacing one issued in August by Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general at the time. That memo, which followed a harshly critical government audit of privately run prisons, directed the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin reducing and ultimately end its reliance on contract facilities. But Sessions said Yates directive impaired the Bureaus ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON  President Trump unloaded on the news media Friday for using anonymous sources  just hours after members of his own staff insisted on briefing reporters only on condition their names be concealed.

Unleashing a line of attack that energized an enthusiastic crowd at the nations largest gathering of conservative activists, Trump said unethical reporters make up stories and make up sources.

They shouldnt be allowed to use sources unless they use somebodys name, he declared. Let their name be put out there.

Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference that while not all reporters are bad, the fake news crowd doesnt represent the people. It will never represent the people, and were going to do something about it.

Trump didnt expand on what he had in mind or which news organizations he was talking about. But his broadsides represented an escalation of his running battle against the media, which he has taken to calling the opposition party.

The president has chafed at several anonymously sourced stories, including numerous reports describing contacts between his campaign advisers and Russian intelligence agents, which the White House has sharply disputed.

But members of his White House team regularly demand anonymity when talking to reporters. That was the case Friday morning when Trump officials briefed reporters on chief of staff Reince Priebus contact with top FBI officials concerning the Russia reports.

Later Friday, after Trumps speech, several news organizations including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN and Politico were blocked from joining a White House media gathering, according to news reports.

Trumps appearance at CPAC represented a triumph for both speaker and audience  each ascendant after years when they were far from the center of the political universe.

Elizabeth Connors of New York recalled past gatherings as collections of the downtrodden. Today, she said, its energized after years in which weve been just pushed down, pushed down, pushed down.

Trump, who first appeared at CPAC as a reality TV star six years ago, recalled his past visits with nostalgia, saying the crowd helped put him on the path to the presidency.

I loved the commotion, he said. And then they did these polls where I went through the roof and I wasnt even running, right? But it gave me an idea.

Nancy Benac and Mary Clare Jalonick are Associated Press writers.
MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clairmont Financial Group, LLC, an employee benefits firm specializing in the mid-market, announced today that Jonathan Simmons and Josh Pratt, who formerly operated as an account executive and account services manager, respectively, have been promoted. Josh Pratt will be stepping into more of a sales role as an Employee Benefits Consultant (colloquially referred to as brokers), while Jonathan Simmons will become an Account Service Manager. The promotions mark the organizations ongoing commitment to fostering talent from within the company and ensuring that all employees have a customer-centric mindset.



Simmons, formerly of American Security and Investigations, has been with Clairmont Financial for almost two years. At the time of hire, he was primarily responsible for account management, processing new hire enrollments, fostering relationships with both insurance carriers and clients and conducting renewals, among others. With his promotion, he will now be shifting his focus to incorporate more prospecting and independent sales activity, while simultaneously maintaining his former responsibilities.

Pratt, who previously was an outbound sales specialist at Wells Fargo, joined the company in the summer of 2016. When he began with Clairmont Financial, he too was responsible for all customer service issues on his assigned accounts, as well as preparing and executing client renewals and developing his industry knowledge. Since that time, he has begun to build up an independent book of business, while serving as a brand ambassador on behalf of Clairmont Financial and providing an analysis of current market trends.

James Clairmont, CEO and Founder of Clairmont Financial Group, has said of the promotions, Josh and Jonathan are both really bright, really capable individuals. Were excited to see them step into positions that will continue to push them and develop their professional skillsets while also helping to grow our market share.
People around the Bay Area cranked up their heaters Thursday night as a low-pressure system from British Columbia moved into Northern California.

Temperatures plummeted with Downtown San Francisco recording a low of 41 degrees, Napa 30 degrees and Lafayette 29.
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc., a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD), announced that Coleman Aerospace today unveiled its new Space Coast Integration & Test Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e4afeb53-7cc8-4abb-8381-c478d1f03bdd.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Coleman Aerospace, Inc. consummated its previously announced acquisition of Coleman Aerospace from L3 Technologies, Inc. earlier today.



With the opening of this innovative facility, we are building on our expertise as a premier launch vehicle provider for missile defense testing, said Dan Kelly, who will serve as interim general manager of Aerojet Rocketdyne Coleman Aerospace.



We are excited to officially establish our Space Coast presence today, marking the culmination of years of collaboration that brought this facility and its needed capabilities to fruition, said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake. We look forward to working with Space Florida and the Air Force Space Commands 45th Space Wing in this new facility.



The new facilitys Cape Canaveral Air Force Station location was previously used by the U.S. Air Force for rocket processing. The Air Force Space Commands 45th Space Wing made the facility available to Space Florida to sublease to a company that would bring new work onto Cape Canaveral and create jobs. Coleman Aerospace worked with Space Florida to refurbish the facility so it could be used once again for production.



Key attendees at todays ribbon cutting ceremony included Mr. Stan Thomas (Missile Defense Agency); Colonel Matthew Wallace (U.S. Air Force Space Commands 45th Space Wing); Mr. Jim Kuzma (Space Florida); representatives from the offices of Senator Bill Nelson; Congressman Bill Posey; Congressman Ted Yoho and Senator Dorothy Hukill, and other dignitaries.



Coleman Aerospace, based in Orlando, Florida, provides ballistic missile rockets and launch services for the Missile Defense Agency, as well as engineering and analytical services for other government agencies. Coleman Aerospace has been launching rockets since 1995 with 29 successful flights in 22 years. The first successful air launch of a missile target was accomplished in 1999 using a C-130, but has since adapted the capability to the newer and larger C-17.



Aerojet Rocketdyne is an innovative company delivering solutions that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense markets. The company is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne can be obtained by visiting our websites at www.Rocket.com and www.AerojetRocketdyne.com.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Platform Specialty Products Corporation (NYSE:PAH)(Platform), a global specialty chemicals company, announced today that Benjamin Gliklich, Executive Vice President  Operations and Strategy, will be presenting at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Global Agriculture and Chemicals Conference on Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 10:00 am (Eastern Time).



A live webcast will be made available at the time of the presentation in the Investor Relations section of Platform's website at www.platformspecialtyproducts.com, where copies of the slides related to the presentation will also be provided.

A replay of the webcast will be available for three weeks after completion of the presentation at www.platformspecialtyproducts.com.

About Platform

Platform is a global, diversified producer of high-technology specialty chemicals and a provider of technical services. The business involves the formulation of a broad range of solutions-oriented specialty chemicals, which are sold into multiple industries, including agricultural, animal health, electronics, graphic arts, plating, and offshore oil and gas production and drilling. More information on Platform is available at www.platformspecialtyproducts.com.